Fairy Tale Survival with Ability Copying

In the height of summer, the sea breeze should have carried warmth and moisture as it swept across the shores of Coldwind Keep, bathing the reefs and beaches in gentle sunlight.

Yet the entirety of Coldwind Keep Town was shrouded in a suffocating panic heavy enough to choke the air itself.

Because the food was running out.

Officially—that is, from Levi's lordly castle—this had never been announced.

But the steadily shrinking food rations each day made it obvious to both the original townsfolk and the newly arrived refugees alike.

Panic spread like a plague, engulfing the entirety of Coldwind Keep Town in an astonishingly short time.

Some of the town's original residents had already begun demanding that the refugees get out.

They claimed the refugees were consuming food that had originally belonged to them.

If not for the refugees, the food stores of Coldwind Keep Town would absolutely have lasted until winter arrived.

When Levi and the Rune, the Sky Knight, were present, no one dared voice such things aloud.

But after the two of them boarded a ship and sailed out with a crew of sailors to hunt sperm whales, leaving only Yalina—a lone woman—to oversee the entire territory, some people finally began expressing the dissatisfaction festering in their hearts.

Following Levi's instructions before his departure—that harsh times required harsh measures—Yalina directly had those spreading such talk imprisoned, preventing them from igniting conflict between the territory's original residents and the refugees.

But she also knew this was only temporary.

As time passed and food became scarcer and scarcer, incidents like these would only increase, and suppressing them would become harder and harder.

Suddenly, she found herself desperately missing the days when Levi was here.

Even though he had been gone for less than a single day.

Whenever Levi was around, Yalina would inexplicably feel reassured. No matter what kind of difficulty arose, she always felt she had something solid to rely on.

But the moment he was gone, a nameless anxiety would rise uncontrollably within her.

Still, she could not let anyone else notice.

If even she showed signs of panic, people might realize Levi was absent, and the entire territory could descend into chaos in an extremely short time.

Levi had entrusted the territory to her hands. She could not disappoint him.

So Yalina forced herself to remain calm.

Only when no one else was around—when speaking with Odelle, Miss Nightingale, or the wolf-eared girl Little Red Riding Hood—would she allow that unease to show.

Odelle gently comforted her.

"You don't need to worry."

"You know Levi's abilities better than anyone!"

"So he'll definitely return safely and smoothly."

Hearing Odelle say that immediately made Yalina feel much better.

After calming herself, she continued handling the territory's affairs.

Time slowly passed.

Every so often, Yalina would walk to the castle window overlooking the sea and gaze toward the distant harbor.

A Great Knight possessed exceptional eyesight.

Yet no matter how hard she looked, she could never spot the silhouette of a ship on the horizon.

She clearly knew Levi and the others could not possibly return this quickly, yet she still could not stop herself from doing it.

The salty sea breeze swept across the harbor. Waves repeatedly crashed against the reefs, producing a dull and monotonous sound. Yet the sea remained empty—no ships, no seabirds—only an endless expanse of blue.

The noonday sunlight gradually tilted westward, staining the sky with faint golden hues that heralded the coming dusk.

Yalina had no choice but to oversee the distribution of the evening meal.

People of this era generally ate two meals a day: one in the morning and one in the evening.

The evening meal was effectively their lunch, eaten before sunset.

By the time she finished, the sun was already close to setting.

Yalina looked again toward the harbor.

Many of the town's residents were also staring in that direction. Lord Rune, the lord's most loyal and powerful knight, had taken a group of sailors out to sea to hunt whales.

Naturally, they all hoped Rune would return with a full haul. Only then could the territory endure a little longer.

Otherwise...

They did not dare imagine what would happen.

Yet after watching for a long time, even as the sun neared the horizon, not a single silhouette appeared in the distance.

Whispers began spreading uncontrollably through the crowd.

"Could something have happened?"

"Did Lord Rune abandon the territory and flee?"

"Where is the lord?"

"..."

All sorts of rumors spiraled out of control.

Yalina had no time to deal with them.

Her heart was tightly clenched, intense anxiety written plainly across her face.

Levi had said he would return within a day!

But now night was falling.

Yet neither ship nor people could be seen.

There was not even the shadow of a flying magical creature in the sky.

Hm?

Wait.

What was that?

Yalina had been staring at the skies above the sea the entire time when she suddenly noticed something strange—a dark silhouette flashed across the horizon.

Her heart skipped a beat.

Not long afterward—

At the very edge of the world where the sun's final rays lingered, a familiar ship emerged from the line where sea and sky met.

Then, behind the ship, everyone noticed four colossal shadows.

Those shadows were so enormous they completely surpassed the limits of human understanding, like four slowly moving blue-green mountains. Their backs were broad and heavy, swaying gently with the rise and fall of the waves. Even the portions exposed above the sea were already several times larger than the sailing ship itself.

They moved in a neat line, silent and steady as they followed behind the vessel, slowly approaching the shallows.

The oppressive presence emanating from them was so overwhelming it nearly stole the breath from everyone watching.

Some fishermen recognized the creatures.

Whales!

Though they did not know they were sperm whales.

Because there were many fishermen among the townsfolk, no one panicked, nor did they mistake the sperm whales for horrifying sea monsters.

The four sperm whales were swimming directly behind the ship, slowly approaching the shoreline.

The town's residents were all stunned by the sight.

What exactly was going on?

Meanwhile, Yalina let out a long breath of relief, because she had recognized the inconspicuous dark silhouette in the sky—

It was Levi's transformed Demon Owl.

To her, as long as Levi had returned safely, that was enough.

The townsfolk, however, were completely captivated by the ship and the whales.

They watched the sailing ship that had departed at dawn now racing toward shore through the glow of the setting sun, cutting through the waves with the wind filling its sails. The vessel moved steadily and swiftly, becoming clearer and closer with every passing moment.

In an instant, the harbor erupted with long-suppressed cries of excitement.

Hope—and light long absent from their lives—ignited once more in everyone's eyes.

And at that very moment, no one noticed that the Two-Headed Demon Owl Levi had transformed into suddenly soared higher into the sky.

Its two heads lifted proudly in unison, both massive beaks opening wide as they unleashed a deep, resonant, highly penetrating wave of disruptive sound.

The soundwaves were invisible to the naked eye, yet they caused fine ripples to spread across the sea's surface. Even the air itself seemed to tremble in response.

Sperm whales were highly sensitive to soundwaves, and the waves emitted by the Two-Headed Demon Owl could interfere with the perception of these gigantic creatures, guiding and driving them forward.

This was the key to controlling such massive marine beasts.

The next moment, an unforgettable scene unfolded before everyone's eyes.

The four colossal creatures behind the sailing ship seemed to receive a perfectly precise command all at once. Their gigantic tail fins slammed violently against the sea surface, sending towering white sprays several meters into the air as their enormous bodies abruptly accelerated.

Like four out-of-control warships, they charged straight toward the shallows before Coldwind Keep Town with unstoppable momentum.

BOOM—!

BOOM—!

BOOM—!

BOOM—!

Four deep, earth-shaking crashes exploded one after another.

The beach trembled violently. Seawater sprayed everywhere as massive curtains of water rained down upon the shore, bringing with them a cool, salty mist.

The four unimaginably massive creatures had forcefully beached themselves upon the shallows.

Their gigantic bodies sank deeply into the sand and gravel, stranded completely, no longer capable of movement.

They lay there quietly upon the beach, breathing slowly.

Only now did the people gathered at the harbor finally see them clearly.

Rough, thick gray-black skin.

Enormous square-shaped heads.

Tiny yet gentle eyes.

And those iconic gigantic whale tails.

Four of them.

Every single one exceeded twenty meters in length, their mountain-like bodies sprawled across the shoreline, nearly occupying the entire stretch of shallows.

The sight was so magnificent it left people breathless.

Although the town's fishermen could not identify the species of whale, they knew one thing perfectly well:

Whale meat could be eaten.

Time itself seemed to freeze in that instant.

The thousands gathered around the harbor all stood rooted in place, mouths hanging open, unable to utter a single sound.

Everyone was completely stunned by the unbelievable sight before them. Their minds had gone blank, leaving behind only shock and utter disbelief.

A single day at sea.

One ship and a single crew.

Yet they had truly found a pod of whales in the boundless ocean and somehow driven four gigantic whales all the way back to shore.

This was not merely a harvest.

This was a miracle.

A ray of hope descending from heaven itself in the midst of despair.

After a brief moment of deathly silence, the first ecstatic shout finally burst forth.

Then, like a tsunami, overwhelming cheers instantly swept through the entire harbor, deafening enough to shake the heavens.

"It's whales! Four giant whales!"

"We're saved! We're all saved!"

"Food sent by the heavens! The gods have given us a way to survive!"

Despair vanished completely.

Unrestrained joy drowned everything else.

At last, the sailing ship steadily docked at shore.

A heavy wooden gangplank was slowly lowered, and Rune, the Sky Knight, was the first to leap onto the beach in large strides.

His clothes had been soaked by seawater and half-dried again by the wind. Exhaustion was plainly visible on his face.

When he saw the four sperm whales nearly occupying the entire shoreline, even his eyes filled with deep shock.

But the town's residents knew nothing of that.

They believed these four sperm whales had been brought back by Lord Rune.

No one knew who started shouting first: "Praise Lord Rune!"

The others immediately joined in.

"Praise Lord Rune!"

The roaring cheers became so loud they nearly overturned [Coldwind Keep Town] itself. The sound even reached the refugee camp and nearly caused a disturbance there.

No one noticed that the [Two-Headed Demon Owl] in the sky had disappeared at some point.

Meanwhile, Levi had already arrived on the beach.

He glanced at the four sperm whales, then at the Sky Knight Rune and the sailors aboard his ship.

Levi nodded.

Then, all of a sudden, he raised Rune's arm high and swept his gaze across the gathered crowd at the harbor as his voice boomed like thunder: "Rune—you are heroes!"

"You are the saviors of Coldwind Keep!"

"In my authority as the lord of Hornreach, I hereby declare that all of you shall be rewarded!"

The Sky Knight Rune felt unbearably awkward.

All he could do was cooperate with Levi and continue acting alongside the sailors under his command, who themselves looked both confused and excited.

Other people might not know the truth, but he certainly did.

What role had their ship actually played?

They had merely put on a show.

That was all.

They had contributed absolutely nothing.

If anyone truly deserved credit, it was entirely Levi—the mysterious wizard lord.

Levi simply did not want to expose his identity as a wizard, so he had pushed all the credit onto him instead.

Still...

These so-called sperm whales were truly enormous.

And there were four of them.

With this, the territory would not be lacking food anytime soon.

While countless thoughts churned through the mind of Rune, the townspeople gathered around the harbor grew excited upon hearing Levi's words and began shouting loudly:

"Heroes!"

"Heroes!"

"Heroes!"

The roaring voices were so loud they seemed capable of shattering the sea itself. The sound even spread as far as the Mist Swamp, where some strange, eerie cry suddenly echoed out before vanishing again as if it had never existed at all.

Of course, the people of Coldwind Keep Town knew nothing of this.

They simply shouted "Heroes!" in excitement while staring with blazing eyes at the four sperm whales.

How long would all that meat last?

Levi felt like his ears were about to go deaf.

The atmosphere had reached its peak, so he released the spiritual pressure of a Second-Ring Wizard and swept his gaze across the crowd.

Although he did not say a single word, the entire harbor immediately quieted down.

Everyone shut their mouths, though excitement still burned brightly in their eyes.

Once the scene had calmed, Levi finally spoke.

"Alright!"

"We can celebrate tomorrow!"

"Right now, let's deal with these four big fellows first!"

"Anyone who participates will receive additional rewards."

"Those with experience processing large catches, report to Miss Yalina and await further instructions from me."

"The rest of you, go to Knight Rune."

"Knight Rune, lead the others to transport coal, gather iron cauldrons, and prepare for my next orders," Levi instructed as he looked toward the Sky Knight.

"Yes!" Rune replied immediately, his expression turning serious.

The others also responded one after another before carrying out Levi's orders in an orderly fashion.

Upon the beach, the four sperm whales remained quietly stranded.

Under the golden-red glow of the setting sun, their colossal bodies radiated a warm and heavy brilliance, like four hills standing guard over the coastline.

The participating townsfolk immediately sprang into action.

Under Levi's central command, they skillfully brought out ropes, blades, wooden boards, and carts, beginning to process this heaven-sent gift in a disciplined and organized manner.

Levi divided the crowd into four groups, one for each sperm whale, then further assigned specific tasks.

One group was responsible for removing the whale hides.

The hide of a sperm whale was thick and durable—an excellent material for leather armor, sails, and waterproof clothing—so it had to be removed intact without damage.

Several experienced old hunters wielded sharp, thin-bladed cleavers, slowly cutting along the grain of the whale's body while carefully avoiding the thick fat layer beneath the skin.

Each stroke of the blade across the dense hide produced a dull tearing sound.

Another group specialized in processing whale blubber.

Once rendered into whale oil, it could be used for lighting, heating, and cooking. It could even be traded with the outside world.

Of course, Hornreach currently had no one to trade with.

The men used specially made iron shovels to scrape off chunks of thick white blubber, tossing them into large wooden barrels prepared nearby.

Dedicated workers stood beside the barrels organizing everything carefully to avoid wasting any oil.

A third group handled butchering and removing the meat.

The flesh of an adult sperm whale was dense and coarse in texture, but for ordinary people, it was still an unimaginable delicacy.

The elderly, women, and children were tasked with cleaning impurities from the whale meat, cutting it into suitable portions, rubbing coarse salt over the cuts—salt that seemingly appeared from nowhere—then carrying them beside wind-sheltered reefs to dry.

Others transported miscellaneous supplies, cleaned debris from the beach, handed out tools, and delivered hot water.

Under Levi's command, the entire operation proceeded with clear divisions of labor and flawless organization.

The sun completely sank beneath the horizon, and dusk enveloped everything.

The midsummer sea breeze drifted gently through the air, carrying the scent of salt and moisture.

The waves softly lapped against the shore, producing calm and soothing sounds.

One bonfire after another was lit, flooding the beach with light and illuminating every citizen's face with hope and vitality.

…

During the processing of the four sperm whales, Levi secretly contributed a little himself.

Gathering Technique!

Wizard's Hand!

He repeatedly used both spells to ensure not a single resource from the four sperm whales would go to waste.

Levi did not even discard the whale blood.

As much as possible, he gathered all kinds of storage containers to preserve it.

Whale blood itself was not poisonous.

Whales were mammals, and their blood composition was similar to that of cows or pigs, primarily containing water, red blood cells, proteins, iron, and salt.

However, it could contain bacteria and parasites.

Moreover, whale blood tasted absolutely terrible.

Because whales lived in seawater, the salt concentration in their blood was generally far higher than that of land animals in order to maintain fluid balance.

Drinking it directly would taste overwhelmingly salty—so salty it could become nearly impossible to swallow.

Additionally, due to its extremely high iron content, whale blood carried an intensely fishy odor mixed with a strong metallic taste reminiscent of rust.

In addition, fresh whale blood coagulated extremely quickly.

Without anticoagulants or immediate cooking, it would rapidly turn into gelatinous blood clots.

Because of this, even when people of this era managed to catch whales, very few actually drank whale blood.

But right now, the territory was suffering from severe food shortages, and there were far too many mouths waiting to be fed.

So Levi refused to waste even the whale blood.

Using Gathering Technique in secret, he extracted impurities, bacteria, parasites, and other contaminants from the whale blood.

What remained afterward became extremely pure.

The purified blood was allowed to coagulate into solid blood blocks and set aside, waiting to later be mixed with minced whale meat to make blood sausages before being cooked and eaten.

And so, after three days and four nights of nonstop labor involving several thousand people, Levi obtained the following from the four sperm whales—

5,000 liters of premium luxury-grade spermaceti oil!

Extracting this substance was far from simple.

A hole had to be cut directly into the gigantic square-shaped head of the sperm whale.

A sperm whale's head accounted for nearly one-third of its body weight and contained over a thousand liters of spermaceti oil.

Because the cranial cavity was so enormous, workers sometimes had to physically crawl inside the whale's skull with long-handled scoops and scrapers, scraping the white oily substance—spermaceti oil—from the inner walls and tissues before rendering and refining it.

Unlike ordinary whale blubber oil, this substance behaved differently.

At normal temperatures, it was almost solid, but inside the whale's body temperature, it remained liquid.

The four sperm whales yielded varying amounts, but together they provided more than 5,000 liters in total, weighing over four metric tons.

Representatives from the Sea Serpent Merchant Guild and the Sword and Flower Caravan were still staying in Coldwind Keep Town after Levi had forcibly requisitioned their grain supplies.

The moment they saw such an enormous quantity of spermaceti oil upon the beach, their expressions changed dramatically.

They immediately turned and rushed back to their shops.

They needed to contact the merchant guilds and caravans backing them as quickly as possible.

Because in this era, spermaceti oil was incomparably precious.

It was worth even more than gold—several times more valuable by equal weight.

Candles made from it burned smokeless and odorless, producing an exceptionally stable and brilliant light.

Unlike tallow candles, they carried no foul smell.

Unlike ordinary whale oil, they produced no black smoke.

It was beloved by the highest nobility.

Lighting spermaceti candles during royal banquets was considered a tremendous display of prestige and status, earning admiration and respect from everyone present.

Levi's four-plus metric tons of spermaceti oil weighed roughly the equivalent of one hundred thousand gold coins.

And since spermaceti oil was worth several times more than gold, these four-plus tons were worth at minimum two hundred thousand gold coins.

How could the people from the Sea Serpent Merchant Guild and the Sword and Flower Caravan possibly not be tempted by goods worth two hundred thousand gold coins?

The question they now needed to consider was whether to conduct normal trade with Levi, the lord of Hornreach...

Or use other methods to seize the spermaceti oil for themselves.

That was their problem to worry about.

And what Levi obtained from these four sperm whales was far more than just that.

5 tons of whale blood!

In truth, the four sperm whales had contained far more blood than this.

But the territory possessed only a limited number of containers, and more of them had to be reserved for storing even more important materials.

At the same time, enormous amounts of blood had been lost during the butchering process, leaving only this much remaining.

It would all be used to make whale blood sausages, using a ratio of whale blood, starch, minced meat, and water of 3:1:1:2.

Five tons of whale blood could produce fifteen tons—or even more—of whale blood sausages.

The taste would undoubtedly be extremely salty, and there were also issues involving excessive heavy metal content.

But in this era, and in this place, these whale blood sausages were unquestionably regarded by the territory's residents as supreme nutritional food.

Then there was—

80 tons of whale meat!

This meat came from the sperm whales' muscles throughout the body, including the back, belly, and tail regions.

Among it, approximately forty tons of high-quality red meat would be salted and air-dried into jerky.

It was worth mentioning that although Hornreach was practically barren land where almost nothing could grow, it possessed virtually endless amounts of salt-rich soil.

For a poor coastal fisherman unable to afford expensive salt, using salt-rich earth or seawater-soaked sand to preserve fish was an essential survival skill.

The resulting food might taste coarse and carry an earthy, muddy flavor, but under normal circumstances, no fisherman would willingly prepare food that way if they had any other option.

But now, did they have a choice?

There was simply too much whale meat.

They did not have enough salt.

At minimum, they needed more than ten tons of salt.

Levi could not produce that much.

So he adapted to local conditions and ordered the fishermen and sailors to preserve the whale meat using salt-rich soil soaked in seawater.

This method had two major flaws.

The first was the risk of spoilage.

The salt concentration in salt-rich soil was unstable. If the salinity was insufficient, not only would it fail to preserve the meat, it could actually cause the food to rot even faster by introducing bacteria from the soil itself.

The second issue involved heavy metals.

Directly using contaminated soil could potentially lead to poisoning.

This was where Levi had to step in personally.

Using Detection, he constantly inspected the entire process and dealt with any problems the moment they appeared.

In the end, all forty tons of whale meat were successfully air-dried into preserved meat strips capable of lasting a very long time.

At minimum, storing them for a month would not be a problem.

In addition, the four sperm whales also yielded—

30 tons of secondary-grade meat and minced scraps.

Part of it would be used to make whale blood sausages.

A large portion would be rendered down into cracklings and oil residue.

The remaining smaller portion would serve as daily food for the townspeople and be consumed as quickly as possible before it spoiled.

Beyond that, the tongues and internal organs of the sperm whales were equally valuable.

A sperm whale's tongue was enormous, weighing several hundred kilograms. Its meat was tender, rich in fat, and lacked any fishy taste.

The tongues alone weighed 1.8 tons in total.

The hearts accounted for 700 kilograms.

Although whale hearts were edible, their texture resembled extremely old beef and required long periods of stewing.

Still, for the common folk of this era, merely having meat to eat was already the greatest luxury imaginable.

Who had the right to be picky?

As for the other internal organs, the livers provided 1.5 tons in total weight.

It was worth mentioning that whale liver contained extremely high amounts of vitamin A, and consuming too much could lead to poisoning.

But Levi's territory now housed more than eleven thousand people.

If each person only received a small portion, then although 1.5 tons sounded like a lot, it was actually insignificant.

How could anyone possibly overeat it?

Then there were the kidneys.

They weighed approximately 300 kilograms in total, but they were not suitable for consumption.

However, they could serve well as fish bait or fertilizer.

There were also the intestinal casings.

The four sperm whales provided several thousand meters of intestines, perfectly suited for making whale blood sausages.

Of course, they first needed to be cleaned.

Levi played a considerable role here as well.

Using Gathering Technique in secret, he drastically reduced the time required for the townspeople to clean the intestines.

Once cleaned, the casings were immediately used to produce [whale blood sausages].

Then there was—

Ambergris.

Only an extremely small number of sperm whales contained this substance.

Levi had simply struck incredible luck.

Three of the sperm whales had none at all.

But the final whale contained a full 200 kilograms of [ambergris] within its body!

This substance was extraordinarily precious—even more valuable than [spermaceti oil].

Although it held little personal appeal to Levi himself, it could be traded for gold coins or other resources to help develop the territory.

Levi stored it away carefully.

Next came the harvest from the bones, teeth, and leather.

Sperm whales possessed teeth only in their lower jaws, with none in the upper jaw.

Each whale had approximately forty to fifty large functional teeth, with total tooth weight ranging between 50 and 80 kilograms.

Across four whales, that amounted to roughly 200 to 320 kilograms of teeth.

They could be carved into crafts, chess pieces, knife handles, and dentures, making them highly valuable.

The whale skeletons could also be used as building materials and tools.

The combined skeletal weight of the four whales reached 32 tons, and every part had its own practical use.

Whale hide was extremely thick, ranging from five to seven centimeters, and was rich in collagen.

Removing it was normally very difficult.

But Levi was blatantly cheating.

So once again, he secretly intervened.

These whale hides would later be processed into extremely thick leather used for shield coverings, heavy harnesses, and durable shoe soles.

This was everything Levi had harvested from the four sperm whales.

An enormous harvest.

After all four sperm whales had been fully processed, Levi publicly announced a territory-wide celebration feast centered around the whales.

Every resident of the territory—including the more than eight thousand refugees—would participate in the grand banquet.

That decision instantly transformed the entire territory into an ocean of joy.

If this had been a game, Levi would probably have seen system notifications announcing a massive increase in citizen loyalty.

But this was not a game.

Still, even a fool could feel the change.

At present, the combined population of the territory's original residents and refugees had reached eleven thousand people.

Organizing a feast for the entire population was naturally no easy task.

Levi mobilized every available person and resource within the town.

The clay originally intended for making primitive cement was instead first used to produce pottery—clay pots and bowls—otherwise there simply would not have been enough cookware.

And there were still many other problems that needed solving.

The preparations alone took three to four days.

Moreover, those preparations were carried out simultaneously with the whale-processing operations.

After all, the territory currently had abundant manpower.

Processing the sperm whales had only required one to two thousand workers.

Several thousand more remained available.

By the time the sperm whales had been completely processed, preparations for the grand feast were already mostly complete as well.

Not long after Levi announced the banquet, hundreds of long tables were hastily assembled throughout the town square, stretching all the way toward the seaside.

Then more than a hundred clay cauldrons mixed among iron pots were placed atop temporary stoves, roaring flames blazing beneath them.

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I will post some extra Chapters in Patreon, you can check it out. >> /TitoVillar

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