Magic Gems Gourmet Chapter 18.1 - A High-Class Magic Stone is Eaten.

A High-Class Magic Stone is Eaten.
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“Ain-sama unconsciously uses two skills and absorbs……no, he eats the magic stones.”
Everyone had a puzzled face that said “Even if you say that, we don’t really understand”.
“Chris, continue explaining.”
“Yes. I think you are aware of the reason why monsters fight each other, Lloyd-sama.”
“For food, and their own growth, these two reasons. With the meat they eat their fill, and when they eat the magic stones, they grow stronger.”
“That’s right. Ain-sama uses Toxin Decomposition to break down the toxic part of the magic stone, and eats it using Absorb. As a result, he becomes stronger the same way monsters do.”
After Chris finished explaining that, Olivia responded, “Why do you think that?” Throwing her a question.
“I had reasons to think this while escorting you both. But the main reason is after looking at his status.”
He ‘ate’ the magic stones using two skills.
Similar to cooking and eating a pufferfish.
“When a monster absorbs a magic stone, its growth value depends on the type of monster the stone belonged to. For example, if they absorb the magic stone of a monster with high magical power, the magic power will be the stat increasing the most.”
“Then, Chris-dono. What does Ain-sama’s growth value looks like? “
Lloyd, being able to understand the story to some extent, wondered about the type of growth Ain had.
“It is a characteristic of us elves that our Magic and Agility are high, but our Defense is hard to increase. And I’ve become sluggish several times. It all happened whenever Ain-sama was hungry, so Absorb might have been activated unconsciously to supply nutrition to the holder. That’s a characteristic of Absorb.”
As far as Ain was concerned, the raise in his stats was a big issue.
However, he was more shocked when Chris said she was an elf.
“C-Chris-san…… an elf? Is that true? But your ears are……”
“Sorry for not explaining it earlier, but I’m an elf. You already know that in Ishtalika, unlike Heim, there are many races living. However, we elves are especially hard to tell just from our appearance.”
“I never noticed since your ears weren’t pointy.”
For Ain, a characteristic of the elves was their pointed ears.
In fact, he had heard back in Heim that white skin and long ears were elven features.
“Ain-sama. Elves change the shape of their ears depending on the environment they live in. Since Chris-dono lives here in the city, she doesn’t have to worry much about the small sounds, contrary to the elves who live in the woods or mountains.”
Hearing Warren’s explanation, Ain was convinced such disposition existed and nodded satisfied.
“The number of elves living in Ishtalika is low. So, this is a misunderstanding that often happens here.”
“…Hey, Chris. If what you say is correct, then that means… Ain can use the magic stones to become stronger, right? “
Olivia joyfully asked Chris.
“It is as you say. However, I feel there is some upper limit to it. Ain-sama, could you absorb this Big Bee’s magic stone?”
As she said that, she handed a magic stone over to Ain.
“Uhmm, what should I do? “
However, Ain had absorbed them unconsciously up until now.
Therefore, he didn’t know how to do it.
“Imagine you’re drinking water, just swallow the magic power.”
That being said, Ain tried to make a mental image similar to what he was told.
Just after he imagined sucking the magic from the magic stone, its color changed, gradually becoming crystal clear.
“Wh-……What’s this!? “
“Ohh…… It seems Chris’ hypothesis was correct.”
“Lloyd-dono. I’ve never seen a case like this before.”
“Neither had I heard about this before. In the first place, if a person absorbs the power in a magic stone, they will soon lose consciousness, and it would turn into a dangerous situation.”
While everyone was reacting, Ain continued to suck the magic out of the magic stone.
After a while, and seemingly having its magic power completely drained, the magic stone became something similar to a glass ball.
“……It looks like it’s over.”
“Certainly. Then, Ain-sama, can you please check your stats in your status card? Did they rise even a little?”
“Uhmm……I don’t see anything different.”
After draining the magic stone, Ain checked his status card, but the numbers written on it remained unchanged.
Then, looking at the magic stone that had turned similar to a colorless glass marble, he licked it.
“Yeah, like I thought, it tastes sweet like a caramel, this would make for a good snack.”
Everyone but Olivia was surprised to see Ain licking the magic stone.
Speaking of her, Olivia was simply smiling as she looked at Ain licking the magic stone.
“No way, he really licked the magic stone……”
“Ain-sama, it seems like you can tell not only the smell but also the taste of a magic stone…… but that is something we can’t.”
“Eh? I though everyone else could. Then, is it just me? “
Warren then pointed this out.
Normal people could never sense the smell or taste of magic stones.
“I understood that you could sense the smell of the magic stones with the apple-like magic stone before…… with that said, I sort of understand now. You can’t use a monster with lower stats than yourself for growth. Or probably there’s a limit to the growth that can be gained from a single type of magic stone.”
“Then, Chris, that means…… the magic stone of such a weak monster is now no more than a snack for Ain? “
“Y-Yeah, I think a ‘snack’ might be a good way to put it.”
“Ku……kuku-hahahaha! Ain-sama is truly a remarkable character. He’s probably the first person to call a magic stone a snack! “
Lloyd laughed out loud.
Looking closely, Silvird and the other were quite surprised, but they smiled after they heard Lloyd’s loud laughter.
“Just as Lloyd-dono says, it looks like you gave birth to an astonishing child, Princess.”
“Without doubt. My daughter has given us topics to talk about since the old days. Whether they were good or not, that’s another matter.”
“Speaking of which, Chris-san! You said I had the growth type with the characteristics of an elf, right? Does that mean elves also possess magic stones……?”
“Indeed, I too have a magic stone inside my body. It’s normal for non-human races to have magic stones.”
Since this fact came as a huge shock, Ain couldn’t help but have his mouth agape.
He had some knowledge on non-human races, but he never expected that they too had magic stones in their bodies.
“O-Okay…… but wouldn’t you die if the magic in your magic stone was absorbed?”
“Non-human races and monsters have a different constitution than normal humans, you see.”
Non-humans and monsters had two important organs in their bodies.
One was a magic stone.
In there, their magic power, their very own life force resided.
It was packed with high-purity magic power that wouldn’t normally be leaked.
That high-purity magic power was gradually released on to the body.
The other was similar to the heart of the humans, and was called ‘core’.
Its role was to circulate blood and nutrients throughout the body.
Instead of having a heart, they possessed a core filling its role.
These two organs weren’t necessarily located in the same position; however, they did share something.
If the magic stone was destroyed, the core would also die. However, even if the core was destroyed, the magic stone would continue to live on on its own.
This was the reason many magic stones were sold at vendors.
“In other words, I can’t die unless you absorb the life force out of my magic stone directly. In your case, Ain-sama, there must be some condition in order to absorb the life force out of a magic stone. From what I can tell, you can’t suck the magic out of a magic stone from a living monster or non-human person.”
“Then, if you take the magic stone out of their bodies, Ain can absorb it? “
Silvird opened his mouth and asked that question.
“The Big Bee’s magic stone just before met that condition.”
“I see. It’s true that he can grow, but with that said, even if he breaks down and absorbs the high-purity magic from Chris’s magic stone, would that be enough? After all, the life force is probably the best nourishment of the magic stone.”
Lloyd spoke about the growth value when absorbed.
When a monster absorbs another monster’s magic stone, it’s not only the magic stone’s power the one that contributes to the growth, but rather the magic stone’s life force the one playing a bigger role.
Therefore, even if he were to draw the high-purity magic power out of Chris’ magic stone, he was convinced that wouldn’t be enough.
“…No growth was shown with the Big Bee’s magic stone. That probably must’ve been because he had already absorbed a large amount of those magic stones. Probably at the Roundhart mansion. There’s also the furnace of today’s water train, if it’s from there, he could absorb as many as he wanted.”
The water train’s furnace was packed with plenty of magic stones, so in a way, it was almost like an all you can eat buffet.
“Your Majesty, this story is becoming more and more credible……no, it almost certain at this point.”
“I agree with you. I’d really love to see him actually grow by absorbing a magic stone.”
“By the way, Chris-san. I heard you saying earlier that the Absorb skill was a racial skill……But why do I have that skill? Both my parents are supposed to be pure human, right?”
Ain’s Absorb skill was not a human skill, but rather one of the non-human races, or so Chris had explained.
But she didn’t explain why Ain had it, or what kind of race the Absorb skill belonged to.
“Ahh, you’re right, I didn’t explain it, the princess is a Drya–“
“Say, Ain, shall we go eat a high-class magic stone? Father also wants to see you getting stronger, okay? “
Just as Chris began to explain, Olivia suggested that they went to ‘eat’ a magic stone.
Seeing Silvird with a face of “There goes my daughter again……”, Ain lost interest in the explanation and got on board with that proposal.