《Saintess Summons Skeletons》 Chapter 1 - Un-Holy Beginning
[Congratulations, you have been chosen as a new SAINT!] [Congratulations, you have unlocked the class : Necromancer!] [[Changing Changing class class to to : : Saintess Necromancer]] Sofia froze as she read the illusory floating messages written by the system. Saintess? She had been preparing for her class change for weeks. Being an orphan class for nineteen years was enough. Looking down from the system message back to her ritual, she failed to understand what went wrong. Inside the damp crypt, on the floor, a polished human skeleton sat in the center of an intricate magic circle. Blood still dripping from Sofia¡¯s arm was filling the grooves in the circle, bringing it to life. What do you mean, Saintess? Who wants to be the Saintess?! The Saintess class wasn¡¯t a blessing, everybody knew that. It was a curse, a class you could never get rid of. The church would hunt you down and lock you up. Deep in the cathedral, they would force you to endlessly summon ¡®Heroes¡¯ to throw at any and all things they didn¡¯t like. Having you heal them every time they feel even a bit sore. Until someday you died of exhaustion and another unlucky girl got chosen after you. Sofia would rather die now than to have to live like that. She dreaded opening her status. The necromancer prompt came after the other, there¡¯s still a chance! The familiar status screen didn¡¯t appear. Instead she heard the unassuming ¡®ding¡¯, announcer of a new message. Followed by many more. [ERROR] [User can only have one active class] [ERROR] [Please reduce your current classes to one] [ERROR. UNKNOWN CLASS] [Admin action required] [Available admins : 0] [Initiating emergency recovery. Please wait] I¡¯ve never heard of the system doing that! Am I the Saintess in the end? Please tell me I¡¯m not! As the messages flowed one after the other, the skeleton was rising from the floor, one bone after the other. According to the grimoire she found under the orphanage library¡¯s floorboards, the ritual was the surefire way to become a necromancer. It would even raise your first undead. She had gone to painstaking lengths to sneak out and find a crypt with an intact skeleton inside. Sofia was sad that she couldn¡¯t even stay until the skeleton was fully raised. But she was in a lot of pain, the cut in her arm was deeper than she intended. The first priority was to get back into the orphanage and ask for help. Bleeding out wasn¡¯t in her plans for today. She clenched her wounded arm to slow the bleeding and ran, her [Sprint] skill helping to return faster. It was still night outside but morning would come soon. Thankfully, the crypt was part of an old ruin near the village. She would be back before anyone woke up and make up some lie about how she got cut.
The lights in the director¡¯s and matrons¡¯ quarters are still out. Lucky! Sometimes someone would wake up early which made not getting caught harder. Sofia squeezed herself through the spiked fence in her secret spot. There, a bar¡¯s welds had eroded, allowing her to remove it and place it back without a trace. Going through the tight gap had become harder and harder for her these last few years. I need to be careful about not leaving blood everywhere. I¡¯m dumb for cutting so deep! Before going inside she hid her clothes and shoes in a wooden crate that no one ever used. Then she struggled to put on her brown linen nightgown without staining it with blood all over. She climbed through the window she had left unlocked when she departed. The inside of the orphanage was darker than the moonlit outdoors but she knew the place like the back of her hand. She made her way to a half broken shelf, near the common toilets. It had a protruding nail that no one had taken care of for a few days now. She slathered a bit of blood on it, and projected some on the wall under. Oh! I almost forgot to untie my hair! She let her wavy golden locks fall down her back. Alright, time for the fall¡­ She needed a solid excuse, no one would believe she had tripped and cut herself on the nail if they didn¡¯t hear any noise. She found it hard to allow herself to fall, harder than it was to cut the top of her arm. The stumbling made a lot of noise, Sofia even let out a high pitched yelp of real fright in the fall. She even finished ripping the shelf off of the wall, as she instinctively grabbed it to slow her descent. Aowwww¡­ It really hurts now, not just the arm¡­ But that should have done the job. It only took a few seconds before Clarice, the head matron, came running in, sleepy eyed and also in her nightly attire. ¡°Sofia! Did you trip on your nightgown again? Seriously, how old are you!¡± She was whispering to avoid waking everyone up. ¡°Ah! It hurts. Clarice, I think I¡¯m bleeding.¡± ¡°Tssk, you useless you, can you stand up on your own?¡± Despite her words she immediately extended her hand and helped Sofia up. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. ¡°My you¡¯re really bleeding!¡± She failed to suppress her voice this time. ¡°Hold the wound, we¡¯re going to Mariella¡¯s room.¡± Mariella wasn¡¯t happy to be woken up so early in the morning, but as the only healer on site she often dealt with such sleep interruptions. She didn¡¯t even look at the wound, she used her [Minor Healing] skill and went right back to sleep. The wound closed in a second. Sofia was as impressed as the first day she saw it. Magic looked so convenient, but getting a magic oriented class was usually a privilege reserved for nobles. Very few of them would have been willing to teach a commoner. That¡¯s why she couldn¡¯t let go of the idea of becoming a necromancer after finding the grimoire. She had read so many books about great mages and glorious paladins, she couldn¡¯t settle for anything less than a magic class. And she thought that being able to summon whole armies of skeletons in the future was a very appealing idea. The only drawback was how much of a bad reputation necromancers had. Surely she could work with that, she thought. ¡°Are you ok now? Go back to your bed, I¡¯ll deal with the cleanup.¡± ¡°Thank you, head matron!¡± Sofia expressed her thanks in a deep bow that was only met with the make believe cold gaze of the shorter woman. That went a lot better than I imagined. She didn¡¯t question me at all! My nightgown is a bit bloodstained now but that¡¯s better than getting kicked out. She was already the eldest kid in the orphanage, in fact she wasn¡¯t even a kid anymore. She had spent so much time reading books that no one wanted to adopt her, and now she was too old. Anyone else would have been thrown out by now, but no one wanted to take on her annoying chore of cleaning the library every day. Everyone was already overworked. The director conveniently ¡®forgot¡¯ to kick her out again and again. He would waste money if he hired someone to clean it instead. But the books were in large part donations from the church, they couldn¡¯t be neglected. Or the orphanage would risk getting less contributions in the future. She figured all that out, but if she was too much of a nuisance they could still decide to get rid of her. Well, I¡¯m leaving soon anyway! If I can just get my necromancer class, I can survive forever in the wild with my army of undead! She tried to reassure herself but living out in the wild still sounded like a step back to her. Maybe she could use her necromancer powers to make an honest living somehow? The easy way out was to hunt weak monsters and sell the corpses. But now, that idea didn¡¯t sound quite as exciting as she hoped her future life would be. She could already see herself commanding a great skeletal army, repelling the dangers, being applauded by the masses. Who could stop her if she wanted to be a helpful necromancer? Besides the church, and the king, and the guards, and anyone physically stronger than her. She couldn¡¯t see a single flaw in her plan, or refused to acknowledge them anyway. But none of that could even have a chance to happen if she ended up being the Saintess. If that happened, she would have to try to escape the church¡¯s grasp by leaving the country. And she wouldn¡¯t bet a lot on her success¡­ The kingdom was wide, and so was the reach of the church. It was a weird religion. One that only acknowledged a single God. When it was pretty clear that Saints and Saintesses would pop up with different powers in other kingdoms. It was a mystery to Sofia how they could have so much authority on everything. As if they had eyes and ears everywhere. Even in this small countryside orphanage she couldn¡¯t avoid their influence. It never bothered her before, but now that she risked being the Saintess, thinking about it started giving her anxiety. She couldn¡¯t wait to try the spells the grimoire taught her. [Summon Skeleton] could apparently summon a weak undead out of thin air! Just like that! [Raise Undead] could turn any dead monster into a tenacious zombie. And [Drain Blood]... Well, she did think [Drain Blood] was a bit weird, but it could heal the necromancer, the grimoire mentioned. A healing spell can¡¯t be that bad? Getting to her bed in the communal girls¡¯ room, hopeful and worried, she tried to sleep. I can¡¯t end up really being the Saintess, right? It so doesn¡¯t fit me! Don¡¯t do this to me!
She woke up a few hours later to a series of system messages that had popped up in her sleep. [Recovery partially successful] [Classes have been reduced to one] [A new class has been created] [Anomalies may arise] [+1 Classless Skill Slot has been awarded as compensation] Name : Sofia Age : 19 Class : [Orphan] > [Saintomancer] ? Level : 1 -> 1 Health : 20 / 20 -> 5 / 5 Stamina : 20 / 20 -> 5 / 5 Mana : 10 / 10 -> 5000 / 5000 Active Skills (0 / 5) -> (3 / 5) NEW [Holy Skeleton] - Level 1 (Lv. 1) NEW [Heal Undead] - Level 1 NEW [Summon blood] - Level 1 Passive Skills (0 / 5) -> (1 / 5) NEW [Blessing of ] - Lev Classless Skills (4 / 5) -> (4 / 6) [Menial chores] - Level 7 [Sprint] - Level 3 [Fast reading] - Level 12 [Shenanigans] - Level 48 Summoned heroes (1 / 4) She barely had any time to give a cursory glance to her status. ¡°The Saintess is awake. Guards, call for Magisterium Ovohen.¡±
The orphanage was a strict and restrictive Home. Though, it was a Home nonetheless.
Chapter 2 - Holy See Sofia didn¡¯t have time to process the surprise she felt from reading the weird [Saintomancer] title of her class. She focused on the unfamiliar place in which she had woken up. The church already got me? But how! When? Where am I? The prayer house in Verenha isn¡¯t even large enough to have a room like this! She was on a plain but large bed, larger even than what the director had at the orphanage. The bed sat dead in the center of a very wide, and otherwise empty room. The indirect sunlight in the room came from large windows that covered a whole wall. The walls themselves, much like everything else beside the bed, were made of completely unadorned polished white marble like she had only ever seen used for the noble¡¯s gravestones. The whole place felt very cold. The only other presence in the room was the robed priest that had spoken previously. He was a short and frail looking old man, but he carried himself like he was some high ranking noble. Maybe he is. She had the urge to jump at him, maul his face, and run out of the room. But she had seen the armored guards walk out of the room, surely they couldn¡¯t be far. Also, she was chained to the bed by her right ankle. I just wanted to summon skeletons! ¡°Uhm, sir priest¡­ I have a few questions.¡± ¡°You may speak your mind, Saintess.¡± The old man didn¡¯t bother turning to look at her, visibly absorbed by whatever he was looking at through the windows. ¡°Where am I?¡± ¡°This is your new room in our Holy See, Saintess.¡± ¡°The Holy See.. in Einsen?¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± The capital is a nine day carriage ride away from the orphanage in Verenha! What do you mean we¡¯re in Einsen! Why not the Red Winds Empire while we¡¯re at it! ¡°How did I get here, exactly?¡± ¡°You were summoned here by the Magisterium, Saintess.¡± Sofia had a very hard time keeping her face from contorting. So they can just summon me here any time they want? Good. Great. Fantastic! God, I want a refund on my life, please. ¡°Can anyone just do that?!¡± ¡°Only the Magisterium, Saintess.¡± Only one person I need to murder in cold blood to get out of here then? Such a bargain, thank you¡­ They don¡¯t even see me as a danger¡­ The chain was clearly more of an intimidation tool than a real restraint, it wasn''t even tightened properly around her ankle. Loud steps echoed in the corridor outside the room. A gigantic mountain of a man in golden plate armor entered the room. He had to crouch to get under the door frame. Standing upright in the room, his graying hair almost touched the marble ceiling. He kneeled toward the old man. I get it, I probably couldn¡¯t even kill the man in his sleep. ¡°High priest, you called.¡± ¡°Rise. You may brief the Saintess on her duties.¡± The high priest unceremoniously left the room after giving his order. Ovohen closed the heavy wooden door behind the priest. ¡°Your job now is to follow my orders. No more, no less.¡± He edged closer to the bed. ¡°If you do, you will get more amenities in your room, if not, you will lose them.¡± Oh so I can get transferred to a better jail if I''m a good prisoner, I see, very enticing¡­ ¡°You should already have the [Summon Hero] skill, dump all your mana into it to train it everyday. It needs to be level ten by the time you can actually finish the cast. It costs six thousand mana to fully activate so don¡¯t worry about summoning anything with the one thousand you have.¡± He¡¯s already going for the door. ¡°Which is why starting tomorrow we¡¯re going to quickly get you up to level fifty. That will take around three months. That¡¯s it for now. Perform your duties well, God¡¯s grace shan¡¯t be wasted.¡± He left. I don¡¯t have the [Summon Hero] skill though? ¡°What is this [Summon blood] all about anyw-¡± Shit, what if they¡¯re listening? ¡°Uh, I worry for nothing, they didn¡¯t even chain me up properly.¡± Damn my skills are weird. It¡¯s like both classes were just mashed together randomly. Sofia focused on a skill in particular, that¡¯s how you could access the description. [Summon blood] : Summons a chosen blood. I don¡¯t know what I expected. She went through the whole list one by one. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. [Holy Skeleton] : Lights the way with a Holy loyal Skeleton. [Heal Undead] : Gather Holy Light to heal 10 (10*Skill level) Health a tenacious undead that will fight for you. [Blessing of ] : The saintess is blessed by The more she read the less she understood. The explanations made no sense. The last one isn¡¯t even a full sentence! She checked her previous skills. [Menial Chores] : Stamina consumption of all non battle actions is reduced by 7% (1*Skill Level). [Sprint] : Top running speed is 30% (10*Skill level) higher. [Fast reading] : Can read 120% (10*Skill level) faster. [Shenanigans] : Analytical thinking is 48% (1*Skill level) more efficient when used for personal gains. These ones at least didn¡¯t change. I have way more mana than the man thought, were the class multipliers applied together? Necromancers get halved health, halved stamina and quintupled mana¡­ That means Saintess gives halved health, halved stamina and a hundred times the mana? What a cheat. Well, that means nothing with useless skills. She looked back at her mana pool with awe. Five thousand. Wasn¡¯t that what she was supposed to have at level fifty? How much would she have by then? If anything was a good surprise from the messed up classes it was this. Some quick math¡­ he said I should have a thousand now and have six thousands by level fifty. So I would gain a hundred per level. But it was quintupled and now I have five thousand¡­ Then I should get five hundred mana a level. That¡¯s thirty thousand at level fifty one! [Summon skeleton] costs 50 mana if the grimoire wasn¡¯t wrong¡­ If I had it I could have a hundred skeletons right now! But instead¡­ Summoned heroes (1 / 4) There¡¯s a summon already... The skeleton in the crypt back in Verenah I guess. She couldn¡¯t lie to herself, Holy Skeleton did sound quite good. It couldn¡¯t possibly be worse than a basic skeleton, she hoped. What worried her most was the four summons limitation. Can I never have more than four undead? What kind of shitty necromancer is this! Wait, no, it says Lv.1, that shouldn¡¯t be here. Necromancer summons can¡¯t level the book said. Their level would be hidden and decided at the summoning. Maybe it¡¯s not so bad if they can level up. What would happen if they died however? Would they be back to level 1? There¡¯s no way that it¡¯s better than having a hundred basic skeletons¡­ ¡°I can feel a faint link with it¡­¡± She couldn¡¯t see through the skeleton¡¯s eyes or anything fancy like that. But she instinctively knew the skeleton¡¯s location compared to her, it seemed the [Holy Skeleton] skill could at least send simple orders as she felt the skeleton moving after ordering it to leave the crypt. The simple order cost her eight hundred mana points. Wow, that''s expensive. Maybe because he¡¯s so far away. She thought it was a bit of a waste but she spent eight hundred more mana to order it to go back to the crypt. No testing could be done if the skeleton got spotted and killed during the day. People usually weren¡¯t very kind to the undead. *Ding!* ¡®[Holy Skeleton] reached level 2¡¯ So fast! My classless skills all took weeks to level up. Does just dumping mana in there do the trick? She contemplated spending all of her mana on useless commands right now to level it up more. I should still try the other ones first. [Summon Blood] did exactly what the skill said. It summoned some blood mid air that fell off and formed a small puddle near the bed. She could see some practical uses for that, especially with how much mana she had, she could probably fill a whole barrel with the stuff. But it was hard to imagine just that helping her escape. What would higher levels do, summon more? [Heal Undead] did exactly nothing. This one should be a priority once I get out but before that¡­ In the end [Holy Skeleton] was probably the best choice to level up, wouldn¡¯t it make the skeleton stronger? It looked like her mana regeneration was a little less than one point per second. This is quite fast as well¡­ Necromancers should be at about two points per minute at level one. My mana pool is so big though¡­ Still, that¡¯s more than three thousand points an hour, I can just use it all and it will be back way before the testing tonight. She sent more commands to the holy skeleton, namely ¡®Hide in a corner¡¯ ¡®Don¡¯t move¡¯ ¡®Be silent¡¯ ¡®Escape if someone finds you¡¯. She expected to feel tired from the big mana spending but felt nothing. Maybe the book authors just made up this whole mana exhaustion thing, she thought. ¡®[Holy Skeleton] reached level 3¡¯ It''s level three now. The description didn¡¯t change, I just hope it isn¡¯t useless to level it up or I might as well train with [Summon Blood] instead. Sofia struggled a bit to wiggle her foot out of the shackle. She was free to leave the bed now. There really wasn¡¯t much to see in the empty room. The windows showed a perfect view of the mountain flank capital down under. The city of Einsen was built on a steep U shaped mountain flank, making it very safe from invaders. The Holy See was a fort a bit higher on the mountain than everything else, named after the very same ¡®Holy See¡¯ of the church, composed of the oracle and high priests who led the religion. The only building that sat higher up on the mountain was the royal palace on the opposite side. If only she had wings, she could just fly away. Only to be summoned back here¡­ But she didn¡¯t have wings anyway. The only thing she could get out of this window was a precipitous drop. Would they just let me kill myself like that? She didn¡¯t find any way to open the windows. They didn¡¯t even vibrate when she punched them, let alone break. All she did was hurt her hand. She went up to the door. It wasn¡¯t locked. Can I just explore the place? Someone opened the door from the other side before she could do it herself.
The room felt cold and hostile, but admittedly, the view wasn''t all that bad.
Chapter 3 - [Blessing of ] The person who opened the door was a younger girl in a maid outfit. She was probably not even sixteen, and strode into the room pushing a small cart. The top level had a pitcher of water, an empty cup, and a small loaf of dark bread. The bottom held a tiny chamber pot and a neatly folded white cotton robe. ¡°H- Hello Saintess, these are the supplies for today, as ordered by the Magisterium.¡± She bowed but her face looked uncomfortable. Doesn¡¯t look like she likes her job much. ¡°My name is Irina, this humble servant will be your personal maid for the whole length of your stay in the church.¡± ¡°Hello, Irina. Nice to meet you. I¡¯m Sofia, you can just call me that.¡± Better be friendly, she could be useful down the line. ¡°I would be honored, Saintess, but this lowly maid couldn¡¯t possibly do so. ¡± ¡°Alright I get it. Is this all the food I¡¯m going to get?¡± ¡°Yes, Saintess. I must apologize but nothing can be done about it.¡± ¡°It¡¯s ok. Anything else I should know?¡± ¡°...¡± Irina worriedly looked through the door, her shoulders relaxed when she saw no one there. ¡°Do not leave this aisle of the building without the Magisterium. For your own good. Dutifully follow the orders and whatever happens, avoid angering the high priests, at all costs. Stepping out of line in their presence is ill advised,¡± she whispered in a frightened tone. There¡¯s only ever one Saintess in the church. If I¡¯m here then the last one¡­ Better take her advice seriously¡­ ¡°Thank you, Irina, you can leave if you need to, don¡¯t get in trouble for me.¡± She left the room without taking the cart. Slowly closing the door after another bow. The bread was rock hard. We ate better in the streets¡­ Sofia was once again alone in her large and empty room. Long days ahead¡­ The white robe was nice, if a bit tight, a simple and elegant design with some lace around the hem. Certainly something Sofia would have expected to see a Saintess wear, without a doubt the most luxurious piece of clothing she had ever touched. Something practical with pants would have been better. Guess they still want me to look the part even if they feed me this crap. She was glad to still have had her underwear under her nightgown when she had gone to sleep because they didn¡¯t provide any. With nothing else to do, she decided to follow her original plan to discreetly explore outside her room. The marble room was at the very end of a long corridor, it had four doors along the left side, another door at the other end, and the right side was open arches leading to a square cloistered garden. It was all neat and shiny everywhere. The stone walls and marble floors were polished clean, and the garden full of healthy vivid green plants and trees. Sofia counted four floors above this one, and that was probably not all of it. The high spire projecting a shadow on the garden wall from a distance had her think the whole place was at least twice as big as this cloister, if not more. It was the Holy See after all, home to the four high priests and the famous two hundred paladins of the church, it had to still be a lot larger than that to house them all. The spire was probably the Oracle¡¯s place. The magisterium¡¯s quarters are probably very close if he¡¯s always the one to ¡®take care¡¯ of the Saintesses. Sofia knew she had to silently get rid of the Magisterium and flee to another country before anyone noticed if she wanted to get away at all. There was no way to go against all the paladins or the high priests, let alone the Oracle who was rumored to be over level 200. But this one beefy old man? As long as he kept being as carefree around her as he had been today, she would find a way. Since there was no one around, she opened the second closest door to her room. It was a small room with a few bookshelves lining the walls. There were probably only around 80 books in here, all lined on the shelf closest to the door. Everything else was empty. ¡®A noble¡¯s etiquette¡¯ ¡®20 Keys before attending your first ball¡¯ ¡®The art of sewing¡¯ ¡®History of the Church¡¯ ¡®Dukedoms of the Skyreach kingdom¡¯ Almost all of them were like this. It would have been a hard task to put together a duller collection of books. Three of them stood out to Sofia however. ¡®On managing your mana¡¯ ¡®Basics of a healer¡¯ ¡®Intricacies of summonings¡¯ These three might hold some useful information, she thought. She would probably end up having to read all the books anyway, she doubted they were here for no reason. She tried to open the next door but it was locked. She could probably open the lock given the right tools, that was something to keep in mind. The fourth door led her to a room full of buckets, brooms, and other various cleaning supplies. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Two more doors. The one opposite her room was probably just the entrance to another corridor but it was also locked. Only the room right next to hers remained. Inside, Sofia found pretty much exactly what she had expected. Two guards playing cards around a small wooden table. ¡°Don¡¯t mind me, just looking around.¡± The guards looked at each other for a second, the one on the left shrugged and threw a card on the table. ¡°Your turn, Jeff.¡± Sofia left and closed the door. All I can do is read the books then, better follow Irina¡¯s advice and not wander too far for now. Maybe I¡¯ll check the aisle on the other side of the garden tonight. It took her forty minutes to read the first book on the shelf, it was about the ranks of the court and was utterly boring. The sun was high up in the sky, almost noon. Nobody else came to see her until the sky got dark. She had read nine more books in the meantime, and she was getting quite hungry. ¡®[Fast reading] reached level 13¡¯ Holy shit, this one was a long time coming! Sofia had found out long ago that she couldn¡¯t level up this skill by reading the same books over and over; it had never gone up again after she had read the orphanage¡¯s whole library. This was why she had been sending different commands to the skeleton every time, just in case the same one wouldn¡¯t grant xp twice. She glanced back at her previous messages. ¡®[Holy Skeleton] reached level 4¡¯ ¡®[Holy Skeleton] reached level 5¡¯ The only difference she could see was the mana cost of orders decreasing by a bit. She had been saving up for the last hour and a half and her mana was capped. Time for a bit more fun then. She had already figured during the day that the skeleton only understood simple orders, but she could send multiple ones to have it do more complex actions. Since she could feel the skeleton¡¯s location moving all she had done was send the commands ¡®Move in a circle¡¯ and ¡®Stop in ten minutes¡¯ to see if that was possible and how long orders lasted for. She hadn¡¯t found a time limit yet. The skeleton acted as a surprising makeshift clock, though she had no way of verifying if it was actually following any real measure of time. For all she knew, maybe it had just followed what she thought had been around ten minutes. [Holy skeleton], ¡®discreetly venture in the forest¡¯, ¡¯hunt weak monsters¡¯, ¡®flee if there are humans¡¯. Almost half her mana disappeared like that. She could only sit on her bed in the dark and wait. The city outside looked quite lively at night, but no sound reached her room. Three consecutive *Ding!* in her mind broke the silence. ¡®You have defeated [Wild Hare - lv. 2]¡¯ ¡®The hero : ¡®Holy Skeleton¡¯ gained a level!¡¯ ¡®You gained a level!¡¯ This is a thing?! Wait, no it¡¯s only logical that an undead''s kills would grant xp to the necromancer. The skeleton leveling up was all I expected. This was all big news. [A new Passive Skill is available!] A passive at level 2. Wait, is this the necromancer¡¯s [Scent of the Deep] that intimidates monsters and people of a lower level? Available Passive Skills : I¡¯m not sure how I feel about this one. I¡¯ll take it I guess. You have acquired the passive : ¡® Deep¡¯ Let¡¯s check that out¡­ Name : Sofia Age : 19 Class : [Saintomancer] ? Level : 1 -> 2 Health : 5 / 5 -> 10 / 10 Stamina : 5 / 5 -> 10 / 10 Mana : 2892 / 5000 -> 2892 / 5500 Active Skills (3 / 5) [Holy Skeleton] - Level 1 (Lv. 1) -> Level 5 (Lv. 2) [Heal Undead] - Level 1 [Summon Blood] - Level 1 Passive Skills (1 / 5) [Blessing of Deep] - Level 1 Classless Skills (4 / 6) [Menial chores] - Level 7 [Sprint] - Level 3 [Fast reading] - Level 12 -> Level 13 [Shenanigans] - Level 48 Summoned heroes (1 / 4) Lv.2 Holy Skeleton (Human) ¡°It really fused with the blessing one¡­¡± She tapped her nails on the bed frame, it was a habit she picked up in her childhood. She did it without noticing whenever she was lost in thoughts. I could have waited for the next passive maybe. But the only other necromancer passive mentioned in the book was the [Aura of Death] at level 80. [Blessing of Death]? I¡¯ll pass¡­There¡¯s probably still more from the missing pages though. [Blessing of Deep] : The saintess is blessed by the Deep. Nothing new here. Very nice having a lot of seemingly useless skills, helps a lot in my situation. What is the deep even? The book never mentioned it again¡­ Sofia went to sleep after sending a few more orders to the skeleton. She later woke up to the sound of footsteps behind her. It was still night.
Chapter 4 - Level Up! It took Sofia a great deal of self-control to fake being asleep, she had no idea who stood behind her bed but since she was still alive they might not be after her life. Pretending not to notice might just be the safest option. When a cold finger prodded her cheek she could no longer fake it. Leaning over her stood a lanky man in a brown suit, wearing some kind of small flat hat. His face was nothing special but his eyes were pure black. He looked at her with a perfectly blank expression. His whole being unnaturally still, as if frozen in time. Sofia screamed. No sound left her mouth. After locking eyes with the man, she could no longer move at all, no longer breathe, she didn¡¯t even feel her heartbeat. The surreal stillness of the scene was interrupted by a *Ding!*. The man was no longer anywhere to be seen and the dark room turned bright, bathed in the light of the morning sun. It took Sofia a good minute to calm her wildly beating heart. When she managed to calm down her nightgown was already sticking to her back, soaked in cold sweat. [Congratulations, you have received a new name!] She couldn¡¯t decide what shocked her more between the strange encounter and the system message. Her name had indeed changed in her status page, where it used to just be ¡®Sofia¡¯. It now read: ¡®Sofia Aphenoreth¡¯. Having your name be changed when you got married or adopted was a common thing, did she just get adopted by some weird man? Her best guess was that either the man was the seldom seen oracle of the church playing a weird prank on her, or it had a link to her [Blessing of the Deep]. If it¡¯s neither then I have no idea. Just what was that for? Can¡¯t you ask before you change someone¡¯s name! What¡¯s Aphenoreth?! Are weird things just going to keep happening to me? If I had known all of this crap would happen I would have stuck with the [Fool] class you get with level 50 [Shenanigans]... ¡°Wait, since the saint class was halved, is the restriction of being stuck with it the same?¡± [The ¡®Saint ¡® class cannot be changed] Was worth a try¡­ Maybe I can change the necromancer part¡­ I¡¯d rather keep it at this point. A single skeleton is better than no skeletons. Oh, the magisterium¡¯s coming. As announced by the heavy steps, the tall armored man opened the door. ¡°Get dressed and come out. Fast,¡± he said in an utterly bored tone. Yes, hello to you too, a pleasure to see you again. She still had to obey, and she hoped to get some food soon. The old man led her through the previously locked door at the end of the aisle, which led to another corridor much like the previous one, but with rooms on both sides. From what she glimpsed through open doors, it seemed that part of the fort was mostly for storage. Old books, furniture, barrels of grain, bedsheets, just a whole bunch of storerooms. They passed a corridor going far to the right. That looks like a corridor going through the whole width of the fort. The man kept walking straight, through another door and into a large kitchen area. Tens of cooks were hard at work already, not paying them any attention, the room was very hot from the numerous stoves. They stopped at a heavy wooden door in a corner of the kitchens. The magisterium took out a large key from the collar of his armor and unlocked the door. Behind it was a set of coiling stone stairs going down. ¡°Go in. Don¡¯t come back until you¡¯re level twenty.¡± He closed the door behind her. I don''t like where this is going. Am I about to fight for my life in some underground crypt? The steep stairs were dusty, only finger sized slits in some parts of the staircase walls let some light pierce through from outside. It kept going down for a while, after a bit Sofia began to hear wet sloshing noises coming from inside the walls. They only got louder and louder the further down she went. ¡°What is this place¡­¡± The stairs led to a small square room, similarly lit by a single small hole in the wall letting in a faint ray of sunlight. The first thing that caught her attention was a small hatch containing a platter of food. It was some water, a yellow apple, and a bowl of cold soup. She observed the rest of the room while eating. You can get to level twenty in this room? Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. One had to know that level twenty was already quite something, the only way to gain levels was to kill animals or people stronger than you. No matter how you looked at it, it wasn¡¯t something many humans were willing to do. The risks were just too high. Most villagers Sofia knew were in the tens, only slowly accumulating experience when they killed farm animals for food. There was a level 50 hunter in Verenha, that was as high as the wildlife around there could get him, he had told the curious orphans. Having a somewhat high level wasn¡¯t all that great anyway, especially if you were stuck with a bad class like villager, farmer or baker. People weren¡¯t all that keen on risking their lives to make slightly better tasting bread. Now if you could make it to level 100, there were apparently some incredible benefits, and a lot of money to be made, but how dangerous would it be to get there? The highest level people around in villages were usually hunters and guards. The other features in the room beside the hatch were a tall basket holding a bunch of long wooden spikes, a lever, and a fist sized round hole at shoulder height in the wall near the lever. There was no light to see what was beyond the hole. She took a spike and prodded inside the hole. Looks like it¡¯s just a small empty space in the wall. Let¡¯s give that lever a go. The lever was surprisingly hard to pull down, it went back up right after, with it came metallic sounds of things opening and closing. A wet thing fell behind the hole. She stuck the spike in the hole once more. It feels like it¡¯s touching a sack full of water, a weak push was all it took to pierce the thing. Nothing really happened. She kept stabbing a few times. ¡®You have defeated [Composter Slime - lv. 13]¡¯ ¡®You gained a level!¡¯ ¡®You gained a level!¡¯ ¡®You gained a level!¡¯ ¡°Just like that?¡± she couldn¡¯t keep her voice down. ¡°That¡¯s surreal¡­ no way, you can do it like that¡­ I understand how all the noble kids are at such a high level now. I almost feel bad for the slimes.¡± ¡°Alright if they want to give me the opportunity to get stronger, I¡¯m not going to say no.¡± She pulled on the lever again. And again. And Again¡­ ¡®You have defeated [Composter Slime - lv. 16]¡¯ ¡®You gained a level!¡¯ ¡®You gained a level!¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Composter Slime - lv. 3]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Composter Slime - lv. 7]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Composter Slime - lv. 8]¡¯ ¡®You gained a level!¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Composter Slime - lv. 23]¡¯ ¡®You gained a level!¡¯ ¡®You gained a level!¡¯ [New Active Skills are available!] Available Active Skills : [Dispel ] : Dispels [ bolt] : projectile from the hand. I don¡¯t think they go together very well¡­ I¡¯ll wait on these. The dispel part is interesting but since every Saintess has that this probably won¡¯t be my ticket out of here. I wonder what the original skill was. ¡®You have defeated [Composter Slime - lv. 2]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Composter Slime - lv.6]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Composter Slime - lv. 5]¡¯
The levels started coming slower and slower, most of the slimes were under level ten and likely didn¡¯t give much experience, the highest level slimes that fell behind the hole of death were level 25 but they were quite rare. After doing this all day, Sofia''s arms were too tired to continue, when the last level up message she had been waiting for showed up, it was time to stop. She observed her log. The mana spent in the [Holy Skeleton] skill all day long wasn¡¯t wasted. ¡®You gained a level!¡¯ ¡®You gained a level!¡¯ ¡®You gained a level!¡¯ ¡®[Holy Skeleton] reached level 6¡¯ ¡®You gained a level!¡¯ ¡®You gained a level!¡¯ ¡®You gained a level!¡¯ ¡®You gained a level!¡¯ ¡®You gained a level!¡¯ ¡®You gained a level!¡¯ ¡®[Holy Skeleton] reached level 7¡¯ ¡®You gained a level!¡¯ [New Active Skills are available!] ¡®You gained a level!¡¯ ¡®You gained a level!¡¯ ¡®[Holy Skeleton] reached level 8¡¯ ¡®You gained a level!¡¯ ¡°Wouldn¡¯t life in villages be a thousand times safer if everyone could just get to level twenty like that?¡± I don¡¯t think I can get any higher here. There¡¯s too few high level slimes. This was quite good already, let¡¯s have a look at the new skills.
Extra 1 - Oracles, Shackles ¡°I am sorry for your loss, Perenia. I assure you. I failed to foresee this outcome. It pains me too.¡± The Oracle stood at the balcony on the last floor of his tower. The wind ruffled his white robes as he addressed a female paladin that stood a few meters behind. ¡°The whole chain of command is collapsing! We can¡¯t summon any new heroes! She killed him! Do you understand?! Why are we doing nothing!¡± yelled the paladin. She reached for the handle of her sheathed sword, only to back out and clench her armored fist in frustration. The gauntlet creaked under the strenuous force. The Oracle sighed and turned to face the Magisterium¡¯s daughter. It was indeed his actions that led to Armand¡¯s death. Or rather, his inaction. ¡°This¡­ God has spoken. This is His will.¡± He stated with a weak smile. The paladin was about to scream again, perhaps even attempt to do something she couldn¡¯t take back. The Oracle waved his hand and the fuming second in command of the paladin order was pinned in place by hundreds of luminous threads, her mouth sealed shut. She furiously struggled but nothing she could do would free her from these restraints. The description of his own skill flashed through the Oracle''s memory. [Binding of the thousand scriptures] : For none shall oppose God, this is their punishment. Create runic bindings of light to seal a target¡¯s movements and active skills. Each individual binding costs 100 maximum mana, refunded when the binding is canceled or destroyed. Bindings do not naturally expire. None shall oppose God... This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. I miss the simpler times. When this was to be used against enemies¡­ He approached the bound woman. He had known her since she was a baby, this was the sole reason she was even allowed in these private quarters to begin with. The core of the church was a tight knit group, and he wouldn¡¯t have had any restraint in calling Armand one of his close friends. Although the man himself would have likely protested against the very idea that they could be anywhere close to equal. ¡°Stop this, Perenia. This isn¡¯t what he would have wanted,¡± he coaxed her. Coming closer, he hugged the bound woman. Perenia stopped struggling. She cried her heart out in the Oracle¡¯s embrace as the bindings came undone. When she calmed down, still sobbing, she had but one question left, burning away at her soul ¡°But why?¡± The Oracle took a step back to give her some space, he patted down his robes and looked at the woman with a resigned smile. He shook his head. ¡°Only He knows, but I wasn¡¯t allowed to do anything about it. Even until now.¡± It wasn¡¯t the first time the Oracle failed in protecting those close to him, he was greatly restricted, for he was God¡¯s pawn, and he couldn¡¯t go against His will. This was the true nature of his [Oracle] class. Great power, terrible restrictions. He had held the seat for hundreds of years now, this organization, this church, there had been no one else, it was always him. He fancied himself the grandfather of everyone under his command, he cared for each and every one of them. He had watched, as people perished, as generations went by, so strong yet powerless to change anything. The Saintesses and Heroes were his sorest point. To keep up with God''s increasingly complex demands, and the various happenings all around, he had done many things the old him would have condemned. Was it all worth it? He believed he had done more than enough good to make up for all the bad. He was tired. But it wasn¡¯t his time to retire. God¡¯s plan was far reaching, and only now picking up speed. The Oracle¡¯s duty was far from over.
What if I gave it all up? Would God allow it?
Extra 2 - Slaves In a decrepit shack, men were sleeping, piled up on the ground. Like others around him, the young man woke up to the strident ringing of a bell. ¡°Rise and shine, everyone! Same as usual, three minutes to grab your tools and get to work! The salt isn¡¯t going to mine itself!¡± The Roman slaver in white robes said, repeating the same line he fed them every day, before leaving with his accursed bell. The young man wanted to kill him. To rid the earth of this scourge and escape. For months already, he had been there. Every day was the same. The shack, the quarry, the whip, the pain, the gruel, the shack¡­ But he could only submit. The chains at his feet wouldn¡¯t let his fate be otherwise. And neither would the two towering guards the fat man employed. Every passing day he felt weaker. Perhaps his end was near. As a miner, he had little value, no one would care if he died, not even his owner. As he left the shack, he threw a longing glance at the last piece of freedom he had, a name he had carved for himself in the shack¡¯s wall, hidden in the corner he always slept in. ¡®Innocentis¡¯ All he could afford was a weak smile. His smile froze. His muscles cramped. He hadn¡¯t yet left the shack today, and he never would. He screamed. The slaver turned around, frowning. ¡°Shut him up!¡± But he didn¡¯t hear. His body was nothing but pain. He had survived the strain of the work, the heat of the sun, the crack of the whip. But this was what broke him. For the first time in his life, he wished he were dead. Piece by piece, shred by shred, his body was gored by an invisible hand until his being was but a thought. Time stopped, the world stopped turning. Who would know what had really happened to him? His body had to have become a pile of warm flesh and blood. As he felt the world and his being fracture in a torturous unison, his last remnants of sanity faded.
¡°Happy birthday to you!¡± ¡°Happy birthday to youuu!¡± ¡°Happy birthday to you Michael!¡± ¡°Happy birthday to youuuuuuu! The whole family rejoiced as Michael blew on his sixteen candles. ¡°Happy birthday son!¡± His father, a middle-aged worker at a bakery, had been the one to prepare him a sumptuous cake. He was also the one to bring out his present, dragging it in the living room. It was nicely wrapped in shiny blue paper, with a red ribbon on top, but it was painfully obvious what it was. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. His mother was recording everything on her phone, she didn¡¯t want to miss a single frame of her son on his special day. She was so proud of him. He had worked hard to deserve his present. They were a rather poor family of seven. So he had worked himself to the bone at school. His grades earned him a paid scholarship at a prestigious college two years before most kids his age finished high-school. ¡°You bought me a scooter! No way!¡± He leaped off his chair. In a sickening crunch, his face hit the hard ground. Through a bleeding mouth, he howled like a banshee. His mother¡¯s phone hit the ground.
It was another regular day at her desk. Filling the last lines of her tax report, she wrote her full name one more time. ¡®Gabriela Garcia Fontes¡¯, and signed next to it. She quickly gave a last look at her editing work for the day. As a branding photographer, making sure her images were clean and crisp, free of any defect, was as important as taking them in the first place. The clients didn¡¯t care if the final product didn¡¯t look like the real thing anymore, in fact, they often asked that it does not. A young blond-haired boy knocked on the half opened door. Her son, her sun, her everything. ¡°Mom, are you working late again? When do we eat¡­¡± She looked at the clock and gasped. Already seven! ¡°Sorry Mateo, mom is coming right now!¡± She rushed out of her office and into the kitchen, in a few steps she reached the oven¡¯s side, and searched through the cupboards. ¡°What do you think about mom¡¯s special Italian pasta today?¡± she asked, triumphantly shaking a pack of spaghetti. ¡°I think mom¡¯s-¡± She never heard the end of his answer.
Minato was driving a truck through the sinuous outskirts of Tokyo. His family owned a moving company, his whole job was maintaining the trucks while they weren¡¯t being used. Cleaning, repairing, refueling, all nice things he loved to do. His trucks were his babies. He wasn¡¯t driving all that fast, rather slowly even. The last thing he wanted was to cause damage to the surroundings and, most of all, his precious vehicle. But as his soul left him, departing through the torrents of hell for another world, grasped and savagely ripped from his body, presumably by god himself; no one could stop his truck anymore.
Near a comfortable bed, layered with many sheets, a peculiar looking man held his wife¡¯s hand. She had always been slender but these last few months had been hard on her. However, she had never been this happy. He caressed her bulging belly. ¡°And what if it¡¯s a girl?¡± he asked. ¡°Then I¡¯m thinking we should name her after your grand-mother. Kuli.¡± That had filled the man with joy for an instant. Then his wife¡¯s hand had limped out of his. Her eyes were glazed over. And she disappeared.
The hero awoke on the cold, hard, polished stone floor. They were surrounded by four large men in shining armor. Nearby was a nobly dressed young woman, panting on the ground. No one provided help to either of them. An old man in even more indecently luxurious robes stepped out of the shadows. ¡°Welcome, Hero! I shall now grant you a new name!¡±
Extra - Art Gallery + Map + Popularity poll Hey there! Having a good day? I know I am! Isn''t chapter 100 the perfect occasion to look back on some art? So let''s do this! Starting with the obvious : covers.
Then we have a whole lot of Sofia :
And a good bit of side characters : This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
What else ? Here are all the ads I used to promote SSS, I''m sure a good few of you fell to their click attracting power (especially the meme one).
Now, for a bit of an origin story, before turning to writing 6 months ago, I used to work alone on an indie video game project (which, sadly will probably never see the light of day now). The thing is, I really liked the characters I''d designed for it, and may have taken heavy inspiration from my own unreleased work for some SSS characters. So here''s the original cast for the game, you can see in there Astelia who became the vampire trader, and Alith, who was already a ghost. The other ones may or may not appear in the future. For context, the girl on the huge sword is named Mornn, which is where my RR username comes from, and not the other way around. She will almost definitely appear in the story later ;)
This is the piece I drew to be the title screen of the game, the person on there (who is not Mornn btw), is actually already mentioned in the story (?????)
And with all of this out of the way, I hereby present : the current map of the human continent, complete with a lot of landmarks! Do note that distances between, uh, everything, are approximations ( ¡ä ¦Ø ` )
So, there''s a limit to how short you can make a chapter, so here''s a bunch more ''words'', yep. Best thing I''ve ever written. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Chapter 292 - Catching up After Zephir resolved the chaos caused by Saria, the sisters had been given their belongings back as well as some privacy. They were currently in Saria¡¯s bedroom. The decoration of the room was minimalistic, but what little there was was in total disorder, with open books and clothes strewn on the floor. After a long while of awkward warmth between them, two could still barely believe they had been reunited, they managed to calm down, both sitting on the bed. Saria started braiding Sofia¡¯s hair as if it was the most natural thing in the world. ¡°You¡¯ve outgrown me.¡± ¡°I had a big growth spurt after I entered the Orphanage in Skyreach. You grew a lot too.¡± ¡°You were in Skyreach?¡± Saria asked in disbelief, ¡°Zephir searched everywhere. He even took me with him. Is it possible we missed the one you were in?¡± ¡°Does Verenha sound a bell?¡± ¡°We went there! I remember! There was even that one blind kid!¡± ¡°Sirius?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°That¡¯s it! But then how¡­¡± Saria¡¯s hands stopped for a moment. ¡°Did we reach there before you?¡± ¡°Sirius entered the Orphanage eight months after me.¡± ¡°No way¡­ Zephir asked everyone and even checked the ledgers¡­¡± ¡°I get why he was so shocked to have missed me then. I think I know what happened somewhat. But that¡¯s¡­ Let¡¯s start from the beginning maybe.¡± ¡°Right, how did you even survive to begin with? I couldn¡¯t see much for reasons but I know it was a huge mess¡­¡± ¡°Ah yes, I found your murder cave. You sure gave that prick Hemdal some of his money back.¡± ¡°My murder¡­ You went to the mountain?!¡± Sofia turned around to be able to see Saria¡¯s face, she took out the brush she got from Saria¡¯s old hideout. ¡°That¡¯s how I found you, you left some hair on this, I had a diviner search for you.¡± ¡°That was you! Zephir complained that someone was trying to spy on the sect with scrying spells!¡± ¡°Eheh. That¡¯s what led me here. And it wasn¡¯t cheap. I still need to pay the guy.¡± ¡°You do?! I can pay, I¡¯m sure you saw in my lair, right? You can take as much as you want, Sofia.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be ridiculous, I can get my own money, besides, the old elf doesn¡¯t want money. He wants a signature from Sun.¡± ¡°Sun?¡± ¡°Sun.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure I can help with that¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about my stuff, big sis. I can handle this. Just wait until I tell you everything that¡¯s happened. I didn¡¯t get strong enough to beat you by sitting on my ass, you know.¡± ¡°Right¡­ Then how did you survive? Reaching the orphanage with all these monsters roaming the country, and the pink corruption, I don¡¯t even understand how you managed that. I only survived by living like a rat, alone on my flying mountain. And because the system gifted me with a good class¡­¡± Sofia let herself fall back onto Saria, who hugged her from above. ¡°We¡¯re gonna be here all night, aren¡¯t we?¡± Saria smiled, ¡°We have all the time in the world, I¡¯m not letting you go again.¡± Sofia smiled back, ¡°Shared feeling. So how I survived the flood¡­ Well first I stabbed the slaver guy in the face and ran away with my chain when the whole thing started. And from there I fell into the torrent the river had become due to the sudden escaping into the sky of the mountain. Next thing I know, I wake up half-dead on the beach. The monsters never spilled onto the coasts for some reason, so I managed to find other people and our group of lost people became a refugee caravan. There were a few strong people that kept the group together. It took three years to go through the mountains and the mines in the north and reach Skyreach.¡± Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. ¡°Three years¡­ Is that when you got your class?¡± ¡°No, I was the only kid in the caravan, they would never let me participate in the fights. Though I did get hit by a stray arrow once. I got to the orphanage after that, and I only got my class something like two and a half years ago¡­¡± ¡°So late? And you¡¯re as strong as me already? Were you trained by that Dragon lady?¡± ¡°Erredis? No, I barely met her before coming here. I got strong quickly because¡­ Uh. Well. Let¡¯s start by explaining how I got my class, even by the standards of the sect it might be weird¡­¡±
Saria was walking around her room, trying to digest Sofia¡¯s ¡®Short version of her adventures¡¯, throughout which she had made all kinds of funny faces. ¡°So, let me get this straight. Just to be in the clear. You¡¯re the Saintess of Scripture and also trying to kill Him.¡± ¡°Sort of.¡± ¡°And you¡¯ve been adopted by some kind of forbidden God whose name erases people from existence.¡± ¡°That¡¯s Aphenoreth, yes. You can say it too, we¡¯re safe. There¡¯s only one of the four Lords that we¡¯re supposed to not speak of out loud for some reason.¡± ¡°Of course¡­ And then you became sort of Sorrow¡¯s Apostle, but not really.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve seen it firsthand, it¡¯s not far from how you transform into a tiny Dragon.¡± ¡°You have a point I guess¡­ This is my specialization though. No dark sacrificial ritual to the chatter gods¡­ But let me finish, you cleansed a lost city in the Margin, saved another Apostle from an underground prison, and then went on to go up the spire and defeat the thousand-eyed cheater?¡± ¡°That¡¯s a way to put it. Oh, speaking of which¡­ This is what I got out of it.¡± Sofia commented while showing the crown. Quickly looking over the description, she added, ¡°It looks like Victory liked our last fight, my win against you is worth 15% strength.¡± ¡°I swear¡­ I¡¯ll go back up and beat His green ass if I can.¡± ¡°Good luck with that, big sis.¡± ¡°... And so after all that, you decided to find me, but first you stopped by the actual sun, then the moon, and brought back the Ancestral Plague Dragon with you.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Saria stopped her restless walking. She laughed. It was a warm and hearty laugh that echoed through the room and beyond. She laughed until she couldn¡¯t anymore. Wiping her tears, she stared at Sofia, a gleam in her eyes. ¡°Sofia¡­ I can¡¯t believe you¡¯re still this crazy!¡± ¡°Ah! You¡¯re one to talk, big sis ¡®I decorate my walls with skulls and was adopted by a Dragon¡¯.¡± Saria laughed again. ¡°Hey, I didn¡¯t have any choice, skulls were all I had, you on the other hand¡­ You¡¯ve been touching some bones.¡± ¡°Well, uh. It is what it is, In a way I wanted to become a necromancer for you, you know.¡± ¡°Look at you selling your big sis¡¯ skin so cheap. I¡¯m not the kind to die so easily. If it wasn¡¯t for that damned flood I could¡¯ve even gotten us away from the slavers that same night¡­¡± Sofia sighed, ¡°The process was terrible, but now that you¡¯re here again¡­ The results aren¡¯t bad. Don¡¯t you think?¡± Saria sat next to Sofia again, resting her head on her shoulder. ¡°I¡¯d have to agree, but really only because you¡¯re back. I¡¯m happy here. The people in the sect are like a second family, will you stay here with me?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. Probably not. I enjoy traveling around now, discovering lost dungeons, and the forgotten mysteries of the world. It¡¯s exciting! I wouldn¡¯t mind being here occasionally¡­ But won¡¯t you come with me instead?¡± It was Saria¡¯s turn to sigh. ¡°Maybe? I can¡¯t abandon this place and the people here. But I could come with you sometimes. So the best way is probably to do a bit of both? All the rooms in this corridor are mine, you can pick one for you and one for each of your heroes too. What do you think?¡± ¡°Stay sometimes, leave sometimes, maybe together, maybe not? I guess¡­ We can¡¯t live tethered together, we both have things to do and places to be¡­ But I don¡¯t want to lose you again¡­¡± ¡°As if I¡¯d let you disappear a second time! You made a mistake by finding your big sis, Sofia. I¡¯m never letting you go even if you beg.¡± ¡°I can beat you though.¡± ¡°Tssk, you got me by surprise, If we rematch¡­ Also the way you kept accumulating [One with suffering] is cheating! It¡¯s straight up cheating!¡± ¡°Want to talk about how nothing at all could restrain you in any way without being completely dispelled by some weird shockwave? How¡¯s that not cheating?¡± ¡°Eh, I fought hard to get that second specialization, you know.¡± ¡°Oh, so that was actually a specialization¡­ Hey Saria.¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± ¡°Why have you not shown me your status page yet? You¡¯ve been staring at mine for an hour!¡± ¡°My status¡­ There¡¯s a lot to explain. At least yours still somewhat makes sense. Mine uses words from the heroes¡¯ worlds. And when heroes try to explain them to me they get censored! I can only guess what some of them mean by context clues, it¡¯s so frustrating¡­¡± ¡°Whatever, I spent so long speaking and you¡¯ve barely said anything about yourself! Stop being so selfish!¡± ¡°Still throwing tantrums, my baby sister. How are we ever going to find you a husband¡­ Here, have a look at the absurdity that my class is.¡±
Chapter 293 - Too much information ¡°So, what do you think?¡± Name : Saria Aphenoreth Age : 24 Class : [Raid Boss] ? Level : 249 ? Health : 2 490 000 / 2 490 000 Stamina : 249 000 / 249 000 Mana : 100 000 / 100 000 Main Specialization : [Second phase: Draconic blood] Alteration chance : 100% Secondary Specialization : [CC immunity] Active Skills (8 / 8) [Swipe] (Alter) - Level 212 [Spirit adds] - Level 249 [AOE Patterns (Water)] - Level 82 [AOE Patterns (Fire)] - Level 200 [Exchange position] - Level 100 [Attack chain : doubling attacks] - Level 249 [Dragon¡¯s lair] (Alter) - Level 2 [Attack chain : draconic assault] (Alter) - Level 249 Passive Skills (8 / 8) [Like a Boss] ? [Respawn] - Level 2 [Teleport Iframes] ? [Adaptive Scaling] (Alter) ? [Lost Aggro] [Enrage timer] - Level 2 ? [Polearm mastery] - Level 249 [Predictable] ? - Level 249 Classless Skills (5 / 5) [One with suffering] ? [One man army] - Level 100 [Identify] - Level 3 [Indomitable] ? - Level 100 [Shenanigans II] - Level 17 [Mark of Aphenoreth] Sofia scratched her head. ¡°That, uh. Yeah. It is quite special, for sure. Hmm. I think I can more or less connect the skills to what you used in the fight. I like how you noted which skills were altered, maybe I should¡¯ve done that with my keywords¡­¡± ¡°I personally like to keep track of these things, but it doesn¡¯t matter much. I think I used almost everything against you except for [Respawn] and [Lost Aggro].¡± ¡°Are they not useful in battle?¡± ¡°They¡¯re useful after battle. [Lost Aggro] makes me heal quickly when I¡¯m out of combat. I just have to not attack or receive any attack for a full minute and it will get me back to full health in about three seconds.¡± ¡°That¡­ Can be easily abused, no?¡± ¡°Somewhat. While mana isn¡¯t an issue thanks to my draconic form, I have nothing to regain stamina this fast. So I can sometimes heal during a battle by escaping or hiding for a minute, but that¡¯s not very sustainable in the long run. It¡¯s saved me before, though.¡± ¡°Then what about the other one?¡± ¡°Oh it¡¯s kind of like your runes. They had me freaked out honestly, you revived like twice during the fight? It lets me revive 24 hours after my death in exchange for a hundred times my level in gold coins. As long as I have the gold still on my dead body, in my lair or near the place in which I slept the most often in the last six months.¡± This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°It must be reassuring to have. I know the runes help calm me down a lot. Expensive though. And a bit limiting. Used it often?¡± Saria laughed nervously, ¡°A few times¡­¡± She started to walk around her room again. It seemed she had a hard time staying still. She¡¯d be good friends with Alith. ¡°At least, it makes me feel better to know you have something like that.¡± ¡°Hey, who¡¯s the older sister here? I¡¯m the one supposed to worry about your safety. Just leave it to me, I¡¯ll go teach that Scripture who¡¯s boss!¡± ¡°You can¡¯t do that, you know. Don¡¯t ruin my quest. And I want to kill him myself.¡± ¡°Understandable. Speaking of, didn¡¯t you say that one of the orphans was missing when you got there?¡± Sofia nodded, ¡°Yeah, Chino. Haven¡¯t really looked into it much. I hope she¡¯s safe.¡± ¡°I could have Zephir try to locate her if you want,¡± Saria casually suggested. ¡°I¡­ Would appreciate it, actually. Thanks.¡± ¡°It¡¯s nothing. Anything else about my status that has you curious?¡± Sofia looked back at the status page and the handful of words she didn¡¯t understand. Her gaze trailed on the classless skills. ¡°What¡¯s [Indomitable]? I have spent a long time looking up all the skills but I¡¯ve never heard of that.¡± ¡°Oh, this? It¡¯s what I made with my fusion ticket. Let me explain the whole process of thinking. So my specialization is the Dragon transformation. The thing is, I can only use it after losing half my health. Then later I also got [Enrage timer], which gives me an enormous boost of physical stats, but I can only activate if the battle lasts for too long or if my health drops under 10%. That¡¯s what I used at the very end, you should remember it.¡± ¡°Yeah when you started glowing red? That was actually kind of frightening.¡± ¡°Exactly, well, as you see, my skills are somewhat tailored to take into account me losing health. So I wanted to make that work better, hence [One with suffering], which you also have. And now to this fusion skill, it¡¯s a fusion of [Tireless] and [Unrelenting], which let you ignore fatigue and pain respectively.¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t seem to ignore them very well¡­¡± ¡°Ignoring and not feeling is different. Pain is still painful, but I can keep fighting as if I was uninjured. And this fusion makes that universal.¡± ¡°Ah! So this is why you could keep going after I blasted your bones.¡± ¡°Yes. And yeah, that was fucking painful, sister. I know we were going for real, but damn. And you did that while knowing it was me!¡± Saria said, shivering as she remembered the sensation. Sofia looked away uncomfortably. ¡°Y- You know, I was just trying to help you grow¡­ Was the fight actually helpful at least? Zephir seemed to think it would help you¡­¡± ¡°Oh yeah it was helpful. I think I¡¯ll be able to free up some skill slots soon, that¡¯ll take some time but I¡¯ve got a lot of time before the next trial.¡± Looking at the status again, Sofia asked another question, ¡°I can mostly tell what your skills should be doing from context clues, but I don¡¯t understand [Predictable] and [Like a Boss].¡± ¡°Can¡¯t you just [Identify] them to read the description?¡± ¡°No¡­ They¡¯re in Draconic¡­ I¡¯m not in the mood to translate¡­¡± ¡°In Draconic? Oh, right you did mention your system was in Draconic for some reason¡­ Not weirder than the rest of the things going on with your system honestly. So, well, [Predictable] is really straightforward. The more predictable my next attack is, the more bonus damage it does thanks to that skill. It¡¯s a risky tradeoff, but uh, my base strength in human form is terrible. Look at my arms, all thin and weak.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a locked skill¡­ Did you have it from the start?¡± Sofia asked, and Saria nodded in return. ¡°I think this skill is there exactly to offset the terrible strength growth. It¡¯s weird, but I can''t complain when I get so much health.¡± ¡°Oh, right, It¡¯s easy to see how your stats improve, but what happens to the trials¡¯ stats and the ones from pills? Alith is good at making pills so if that¡¯s still useful to you,we¡¯ll have her make you some.¡± ¡°That would be nice. Any extra stat I get like this actually goes towards ¡®boss points¡¯, and I have a system menu for a ¡®boss point shop¡¯. I can buy a few different stats like Charisma, Aura or Processing, and also some of my class skills. For example, the attack chains and AOE skills are from there, I can choose between a lot of them, and they can even get altered by the first specialization when I buy them.¡± ¡°Charisma?¡± Saria paused for a second, looking at her sister with a judgemental air. ¡°That¡¯s what caught your attention? Do you think you don¡¯t have enough or what?¡± She playfully accused, pointing at Sofia¡¯s chest. ¡°Oh. Is that what it does?¡± ¡°That¡¯s part of it, for some reason. For guys it also makes something bigger,¡± Saria added with a wink. ¡°You would know?¡± ¡°Hoy!¡± Saria complained, kicking a book from the floor toward Sofia¡¯s face, who dodged with a smile on her face. ¡°I don¡¯t want any more of it then, actually. Screw that.¡± ¡°Well yeah, I get that. How did you get so big even? I know mom was large but not that much.¡± ¡°Told you I had a big growth spurt. I¡¯d be tempted to trade mine for yours, honestly. Having them so huge is nice looking and all, I can¡¯t deny that, I see the guys staring. And the girls. Everyone pretty much; it¡¯s a nice confidence boost. But fuck if it¡¯s not inconvenient. At least my back doesn¡¯t hurt anymore with all the levels, but it¡¯s hard to get clothes that fit me at all, or to lay down in a comfortable position, and don¡¯t even get me started on trying to use a melee weapon with these in the way.¡± ¡°Your demon form gets rid of it when you need to hit people though.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ Also costs ten levels.¡± ¡°Surely that¡¯ll be part of what changes at level 300, be positive, Sofia.¡± ¡°Surely¡­¡± Saria sat back down next to Sofia, ¡°Right, mentioning shit that gets in the way of fighting, let me tell you more about [Like a Boss], and all the useless stuff it has me do for a few bonus stats and an enemy tracker. Remember how I always had this red circle around me and how my hair was all flowy for no reason? Well, the skill is essentially just toggles, all come with a bonus and a tradeoff. The tracking crown comes with the red circle, the flowing hair gives me¡­¡±
Chapter 294 - Job = Vacation Sofia spent about two months in the sect. She would spend days and nights talking with Saria, and time would just seem to disappear. She also got better acquainted with the inner disciples and Zephir. Everyone was excited to discover the boss¡¯ lost sister, and Cinthia in particular was very shocked and very happy at the news, as she was already Saria¡¯s closest friend. The three girls would often hang out in Erredis¡¯ new workshop, who decided that she wanted to stay away from the moon for a year or two, claiming it was a nice change of pace. Zephir had made sure Sofia¡¯s letter reached Alith and Ihuarah, and the two heroes eventually made their way to the sect, accompanied by Zerei and Astelia the Moon¡¯s Oracle along with her butler Agran. They all brought about some news. Alith had failed to be first to complete her quest from Sun, Mornn had somehow been faster by half a day. Despite that, she had gotten some nice things out of the ordeal. Sofia still hadn¡¯t seen any level debt coming from her because she had never finalized her Specialization pick. She was undecided between two choices, but her level debt already amounted to 96 levels so she didn¡¯t want to go for more. She had also managed to produce all the stat candies she had the recipe for during the time she had been waiting for news of Sofia¡¯s whereabouts. Alith was so happy for Sofia finding her sister that she had wanted to rush there as soon as she learned the news. She had gone to check Sofia¡¯s messages at a Vampire embassy on the way, which is how she ended up bringing Astelia and Zerei along, as these two unexpectedly had some business together that they wanted Sofia to help with. Ihuarah came to congratulate Sofia and soon excused himself, explaining that he was going to use his reward to locate a precious artifact of Sorrow. Sofia suggested that they all go together but the shadow insisted on not wanting to impose on the newly reunited sisters. He was also of the mind that Sofia should take some time to rest and develop her skills at the moment, instead of diving head first into another perilous quest. Fact that essentially everyone else agreed with, so she could only reluctantly give up. Astelia had somewhat of a mental breakdown when she learned the Moon Saintess was an ancient Dragon, but Erredis was really happy to meet her new ¡®coworker¡¯. Zerei had changed her mind and passed her level 300 trial before trying to open her school, so that plan was still in the works. She also had new colorful clothes and accessories in ¡®traditional Avian fashion¡¯, which consisted of a mix of overlapping skin-tight and very loose clothes with an abundance of gold ornaments and jewelry. Ihuarah seemed to think this was in extremely good taste, it seemed to Sofia these two had become good friends in the little time they had spent traveling to the sect. Eventually, after everyone was done catching up, Zerei and Astelia explained why they wanted to see Sofia. It had something to do with Zerei¡¯s school project. All gathered around one of the sect¡¯s banquet tables, Zerei explained her plan while stuffing herself with the tasty food provided by the sect. ¡°I want to open a school, yes? However, I fear both my knowledge and methods may be a bit¡­ Outdated, yes. So, first I want to know what the modern magical academies have to offer, yes. I didn¡¯t know who to contact, so I got in touch with Asty, and we decided to both go to the best school together, yes!¡± Saria looked a bit unconvinced, ¡°Go to school? That¡¯s a way to learn firsthand, yeah, but why do you need Sofia?¡± A whole fish disappeared within Zerei¡¯s beak-mouth, and she answered, ¡°It was Asty¡¯s idea so she can explain.¡± Astellia seemed a bit lost at suddenly having everyone¡¯s attention on her, she blushed and lost her composure for a second, but managed to get through it. She calmly explained her idea, ¡°I wanted to go for a while but Agran cannot come because of his other duties, so I couldn¡¯t, as the Queen would never allow me to go alone¡­¡± ¡°So then you can have Zerei there to protect you and she also gets to see how things work there? That¡¯s a nice way for things to work themselves out,¡± Sofia commented, trying to take some of the attention away from Astelia for a bit. ¡°Yes. So now I can go as a teacher on Spatial magic,¡± Astelia continued. Wait, teacher? Hmm. Yeah that¡¯s not too far fetched actually. She is level 249 too and her class is almost entirely spatial magic. I know she¡¯s good at teaching it, too. ¡°Do you need me to vouch for your capacity as a teacher or something like that? You taught me a lot during that one night so you definitely have what it takes.¡± You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. ¡°I wish it was that simple¡­¡± Astelia complained, picking up another piece of meat with her fork. Zerei became impatient and started explaining the situation more by herself, ¡°It is not so easy, no. The academy already accepted Asty as a professor, but they have not accepted me, no.¡± ¡°And this is where I come in?¡± ¡°Yes. The headmaster said I am too scary for the students. I could be a runecrafting professor, but that would inevitably cause a lot of trouble for him, yes. He said he would take me if I solved an equally troubling problem for him, yes.¡± Saria turned to Sofia, ¡°See, this is where your weird lifestyle leads, you¡¯re the problem-solver now.¡± ¡°Eh, I don¡¯t mind. Zerei and Astelia both helped me a lot too. What can I do then? I suppose it¡¯s not destroying some remote dungeon or you would have let me go with Ihuarah.¡± Not that I would mind. ¡°Well, you see,¡± Zerei said, stopping an instant to wipe her beak, ¡°the headmaster needs to urgently replace a missing professor for a popular class, yes. The ¡®Summoner combat strategies¡¯ class. It sounds made for you, no? The pay is good too, yes. And you get free credits to assist to other classes as a student.¡± ¡°That¡¯s an oddly specific thing to be looking for¡­ But it does fit. Kind of. I¡¯m not so sure about being a teacher though¡­¡± Erredis, who hadn¡¯t said a word all afternoon, suddenly asked a question to Zerei, ¡°Where¡¯s that academy? I¡¯m curious about who might be running this, perhaps I know them.¡± ¡°It¡¯s on the otherside, yes. In the Exidion empire. I think the headmaster¡¯s name was Beligenus, yes. Tall old Exidian man with the usual blue skin and curved horns. He has a very long white beard, yes.¡± Otherside? Exidion Empire? Exidians? I realize now I forgot to ask Erredis about the hidden moon, but also it looks like I should maybe learn more about the planet first. What are all these names? ¡°Beligenus? Sweetie, that¡¯s not an Exidian, that¡¯s a Dragon. And a very old one, at that.¡± Astelia dropped her fork, but everyone was too busy staring at Erredis to realize. ¡°What? Don¡¯t trust me? Look.¡± Out of nowhere, Erredis pulled out a gigantic horn the size of the table which she held up with a single finger. [Horn of Beligenus] : A horn stolen from Beligenus the great sage. It is wise to forget that you ever saw this item. Angel¡¯s bolt resistance grade : C- Level: 500. Grade: Draconic. Why does she have this¡­ And why is Mr Scribe showing the bolt resistance grade? I¡¯m not that greedy, come on. And what¡¯s with the description? After a long silence, Erredis stored the horn and the conversation started again. After some more deliberation, it was decided that they were all going. Except Erredis. Saria, Cinthia, Alith and Joah would enroll as students, all generously paid for by Zephir. Communication was a lesser issue for Dragons, and the group soon received news that the headmaster accepted all the new students, but would have to judge Sofia¡¯s capabilities as a teacher by himself. Erredis guaranteed that it wouldn¡¯t be an issue, so Sofia didn¡¯t worry too much. The preparations took a while but the sect had great resources at its disposal and Zephir had no issue generously spending for the betterment of his disciples, which in his mind already included Sofia and Alith. He had been practically begging Alith to become an official inner disciple after he learned about her [Refined palate] skill. As everyone was getting ready to depart, they still needed to wait for Alith to make enough stat candies for everyone because she had only prepared enough for herself, Ihuarah and Sofia at first. And she still hadn¡¯t picked her specialization, so they would have a quick meeting about that as well. In the meantime, Erredis informed Sofia that not only her new piece of armor was almost ready, and that she had ¡®convinced¡¯ a chromatic Dragon to help her, so they were going to travel a bit and get Sofia to the next stage of VPPV before the scholar year started.
Sofia entered Erredis¡¯ workshop. The large room filled with magical machinery and tools was oddly silent. ¡°Erredis?¡± ¡°I¡¯m here child, wait a second, I¡¯m doing the finishing touches right now, it¡¯s a bit dangerous so stay at the entrance. I just realized a critical flaw last night, I¡¯m almost done fixing it.¡±
Chapter 295 - The Forbidden Uncles A few minutes and a lot of dubious sounds later, Erredis called out to Sofia again from the depths of her workshop. ¡°It¡¯s done!¡± ¡°Can I come now?¡± ¡°Yes, come look at that thing.¡± Sofia followed the sound of Erredis¡¯ voice to the far corner of the room where she was working. In a worker outfit, she was sitting on the floor, surrounded by a layer of fine dark blue dust. She was proudly holding Sofia¡¯s new arm above her head. The armor piece was meant to cover the entire right hand, arm and shoulder. It had kept the same shiny dark blue hue of the scale, and was made of tightly interlocking thick scale parts. There was some excess to give maximum coverage of the joints all the while keeping a good mobility of the arm. The gauntlet¡¯s fingers looked like Dragon claws, finely crafted to perfectly fit Sofia¡¯s hand without being too cumbersome. It was made from a Dragon, by a Dragon, and it honestly looked like it was also meant for a Dragon. ¡°I tried to copy the design of your bone armor somewhat, but I couldn¡¯t give you an indestructible glove and not put claws on it.¡± ¡°I understand¡­ It¡¯s not a big issue, I¡¯m used to having sharp hands with the demon form.¡± ¡°Right? It was a pain to adjust for that, honestly, but I did a decent job with the enchantments. This is what I was fine-tuning just now, I had forgotten to put a setting to adjust the end of the fingers if you grow your nails.¡± ¡°Wait¡­ Enchanting? Wasn¡¯t the scale supposed to prevent¡­¡± Erredis turned the armor piece to show Sofia the inside from the shoulder hole. The interior was made of some kind of black leather, covered in runic patterns that Sofia recognized as a mix of regular runes and the Draconic language. ¡°Sweetie, I said nothing about being unable to enchant the inner lining,¡± Erredis said with an exaggerated wink. So I can keep it when I transform? That¡¯s incredible. It means the right arm¡¯s spell will never be unavailable. [Suffering] was it? The one that does damage proportional to missing health. Sofa tried to use [Identify], but she felt the magic being blocked. ¡°Now, now, don¡¯t [Identify] it yet, put it on first. Just hold out your arm straight, I¡¯ll help you slide it in.¡± ¡°Like this? That¡¯s a strange way to put on armor.¡± ¡°You are right, but this gives better structural integrity. Although the scale itself is tough, the smaller parts I carved out for the jointings are the weakest part of the entire arm, so doing it like this allows me to hide them inside, protected entirely by the bigger pieces. And it looks almost seamless from the outside, which is pretty neat. I have outdone myself this time!¡± Finished with the exhibit, Erredis slid the armor over Sofia¡¯s extended right arm. The inside was soft and slightly cold, it felt like putting on a long silk glove. Her fingers pushed into the leather, and as their tip touched the end, Sofia felt the magic inside the enchantments activate. The leather warped inside of the armor, taking the shape of her arm, completely locking the armor in place. ¡°There you are! How does it feel?¡± ¡°It¡¯s like¡­ Not different from wearing a long-sleeved glove? It was heavy at first but the weight disappeared when it closed on my arm. It¡¯s not at all like wearing armor, from the inside at least. Except for the fingers being a little bit farther apart than usual.¡± Sofia tried moving her arm around, especially testing the mobility of her fingers, she found it shocking. It allowed for better movement than the original bone armor used to. Erredis observed attentively. ¡°I expected it to be a lot more rigid. It¡¯s incredible.¡± ¡°Ah, no need to flatter me, kid. It¡¯s not even the best piece of armor I ever made. But it is a good piece. As you would expect from someone who has to make their armor themselves.¡± If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Maybe it¡¯s better not to ask why¡­ ¡°What is the inside made of?¡± ¡°Oh that¡¯s just some of my skin.¡± ¡°Just some¡­ YOUR SKIN?¡± ¡°What? I¡¯m made of prime crafting material. Why would I hold back? I know I said scales were special but a simple healing spell can regrow that much skin in a second, so don¡¯t worry about it. I just peeled some off of my left arm and regrew it. Besides you saw how big I am in my true form, right? This much barely counted as a scratch.¡± ¡°I guess¡­ I also technically do make things out of my own bones now, since the armor is counted as part of my skeleton¡­¡± ¡°See? Perfectly normal. Don¡¯t trust a Dragon who says they never plucked off their own horns to make a weapon out of, they¡¯re lying.¡± ¡°A- Alright¡­ So, uh, can I [Identify] it now?¡± ¡°Go on. I even customized the description a bit, though your scribe will be the one to decide what is actually written in there.¡± [Draconic Arm Harness of the Depths] : A piece of armor by forgemaster Erredis, for the first Saintomancer, Sofia Aphenoreth. Carved in the Scales of Thrayk, Hermit Dragon of the Depths, the remnants of his authority prevents it from being affected by magic. The inner lining is enchanted with a variety of utilities, such as self-cooling, internal cleaning, auto-fitting, and more! This piece of armor stands as one of the toughest ever created. (Warning: Is not fit for use by anyone but Sofia Aphenoreth, beware of dismemberment.) ¡°Fit to punch a God.¡± - Grandma Erredis Level: 500. Grade: Draconic. ¡°Thank you¡­ I don¡¯t even know what to say.¡± ¡°Then don¡¯t say anything, kid. Don¡¯t forget that you¡¯re paying for it.¡± ¡°Right. I¡¯ll remember it. Surely the Orator will show up again soon.¡± ¡°Bah, don¡¯t curse me like that, please let him appear far away from me¡­¡± ¡°Well, I do not really get to decide when he shows up¡­ The lords seem to do whatever they want whenever. Aphenoreth did quickly stop by when Saria punched into my stasis chamber. Did you not see it either? I never asked.¡± ¡°I saw nothing, and thank all the Gods above I didn¡¯t. Some people have disappeared for less than that.¡± ¡°No one ever disappeared when I was involved. So far.¡± ¡°Sofia, your entire existence is playing with fire at this point. Even by Draconic standards, you¡¯re too reckless,¡± Erredis jokingly chastised, rolling her eyes. ¡°I get why everyone is so scared of the Deep, don¡¯t get me wrong. But also, I literally have their blessing and name. And if I¡¯m being honest, they¡¯ve been nicer to me than my actual parents. So I don¡¯t feel all that threatened. Actually look,¡± Sofia said, summoning her scepter and shaking it around. ¡°Hear that bell?¡± Erredis nodded. ¡°It does sound nice, but what are you getting at?¡± ¡°That¡¯s a gift from Ormoncleth, the regulator. Its function is just to emit a soothing jingle. That¡¯s it. They gifted it to me because my pet skeleton dog died. This is the Deep that everyone is scared shitless about.¡± Sofia explained with a shrug. Erredis shook her head. ¡°Girl, because they are like this to you does not mean they are to everyone else. If it was that easy, I wouldn¡¯t have asked you to act as an intermediary. You are clearly the anomaly here. And that¡¯s a good thing, look at the kind of equipment you can pay for with it. But only a major god or a fool would dare take these subjects as lightly as you do.¡± ¡°Sen is a fool then?¡± ¡°Sen... That human guy from the towers?¡± Erredis asked. ¡°This one, yes. Although he¡¯s a Seraph of the system now.¡± ¡°Hmm. Sen¡­ What did he do exactly?¡± ¡°He pronounced my full name. Multiple times, I think. Nothing happened to him, as far as I know.¡± ¡°Really? Now that is quite interesting. Does this kid know something that I don¡¯t? The system had been investigating the four, that I know. Perhaps this led to that. I am tempted to try, truthfully, but this old lady also still values her life.¡± ¡°Your loss, Grandma Erredis. You¡¯re wasting a precious chance of stealing some of my bragging rights. Not many can boast being able to say the names of the Deep and survive, right? I¡¯m still grateful for the armor, anyway. I¡¯m just getting worried now that it might truly be hard to marry if even the oldest, most powerful Dragons around freak out at the mere mention of my name¡­¡± ¡°Oh, that I wouldn¡¯t be troubled by if I were you.¡± Erredis said as she started walking in the direction of the exit. She placed her hand on Sofia¡¯s armored shoulder as she passed by her, and whispered, ¡°There are plenty of fools who would try their luck at saying the name for the chance of a single night with you, I am sure. Don¡¯t sell yourself short, sweetie.¡±
Chapter 296 - Mountain of numbers Sofia entered Alith¡¯s new room in the Sect, it was right next to hers. Saria was already there, sitting on a cushion next to the small table while Alith was busy watering her plants. She hadn¡¯t been there for a week and her room already looked like an indoors garden. Sofia sat down next to Saria, ¡°Did you eat the candies yet? ¡°No, but Alith already did. Did she explain how they work? It¡¯s different than the ones before.¡± ¡°How so?¡± It was Alith who answered as she just finished watering a row of tiny plants. ¡°The limit isn¡¯t ten per stat this time, it¡¯s around ten in total. Beyond that you might start to actually lose stats due to the poisoning, how many you can eat exactly varies between people. I had to stop at twelve.¡± ¡°Oh. That¡¯s a lot less good than expected then¡­ How do you know when to stop.¡± Alith pointed at her open mouth, ¡°When you start vomiting blood is usually a good sign it¡¯s time to stop.¡± ¡°Alright¡­ Are you sure we should do that in your room?¡± ¡°Yeah, don¡¯t worry Sof, I¡¯ve got a skill for that.¡± ¡°You do? I haven¡¯t seen your status page in forever.¡± ¡°Well, you¡¯re gonna have to look to help me choose a spec, so read up. You too Sar.¡± ¡°Are you sure?¡± Saria asked, a bit surprised Alith would share something so private so easily. ¡°You¡¯re Sof¡¯s sister, so you might aswell be my cousin or something at this point. Do you think Cinthia would be reluctant to show her status to Sofia, your sister?¡± Saria was silent for a second. ¡°You do have a point¡­¡± ¡°I kind of want to see it,¡± Sofia commented. ¡°You do?¡± Alith asked as she also sat down. ¡°What? Her class is just as crazy as mine, she had a bunch of Recessed watching her all the time. Aren¡¯t you curious too?¡± ¡°I mean¡­ Yeah. If you put it like this. But let¡¯s get on with it, ay? I¡¯ve been sitting on my spec choice for months and it¡¯s killing me!¡± ¡°Sure, sure, send it all. Which candies did you eat by the way? You had Health, Agility and speed, right?¡± ¡°One Health, one agility, ten speed,¡± she answered just as her status window appeared before Sofia¡¯s eyes. Damn she actually has more total stats than me! Name : Alith Age : 24 Class : [Lady-in-waiting] ? Level : 249 ? Health : 161 965 / 161 965 (10*lv, 5000 pill1, 2500 filter2, 46 975 filter3, 100k race, 5000 pill2) Stamina : 348 908 / 348 908 (20*lv, 1666 pill1, 2500 filter2, 46 975 filter3, 100k race, 18 333 pill2, x2 [Genetic Freak]) Mana : 37 350 / 37 350 (150*level, might go up next filter?) Active Skills (8 / 8) [Lady Double] - Level 249 [Maiden¡¯s shriek] - Level 100 ? (Max) [Maiden¡¯s Kiss] - Level 201 [Utterly Unimpressed] - Level 200 (Max) [Professional cleanup] [Slap of absolute shame] - Level 200 (Max) [Mental Misstep] - Level 1 [Out of Sight] - Level 3 Passive Skills (8 / 8) [Accounting] - Level 249 [Split focus] - Level 249 ? [Hidden presence] - Level 200 (Max) [Presentable] [Refined palate] ? [Escape Artist] - Level 2 [Returning blade] [Shifting Blame] - Level 200 Special Passive Skills (2) [Heir of fire] ? [From the ashes] ? Classless Skills (5 / 5) [Planar shift] - Level 93 [Botany] - Level 100 This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. [Genetic freak] ? [Hero¡¯s luck] [Identify] - Level 1 Hero blessing : SSS - [Blessing of Phoenix lineage] [Mark of Aphenoreth] ¡°Genetic freak?¡± Sofia asked right away, ¡°Is that what you got from the fusion ticket?¡± ¡°Yep, both [Shinobi] and [Toned] were looking a bit weaker now, and they were both locked classless, so this was a nice way of getting rid of them.¡± ¡°Uh, sorry to interrupt.¡± Saria apologized. ¡°But can I get some context? I¡¯ve never heard of these classless skills.¡± ¡°Let me just send you the description of the two skills and the result,¡± Alith said with a smile. [Shinobi] ? : Grants precise control over your body and weapons, the result of an intensive and resolute practice. Additionally reduces noise produced and visibility of the user in low-light environments. Efficacy tied to maximum Stamina. [Toned] ? : Grant additional capacity to the nervous system. Your maximum stamina is increased by 10000 per 100 class levels. Bonus cosmetic effects. [Genetic freak] ? : The ultimate capacity to wield your body exactly as you desire. Stamina is doubled (This doubles once more at class levels 300, 400, and 500). ¡°A nice step-up, right?¡± Alith gloated. Saria nodded. ¡°You don¡¯t say. That¡¯s a lot of stats. And the hundred thousand from you race is just free? Aren¡¯t you just human?¡± Alith turned to Sofia ¡°Didn¡¯t you say you two spent like a week talking back and forth? Did you never mention me or what?¡± ¡°No, no. It¡¯s not that. I think I just said Sen fixed your race without elaborating on the subjects. You never told me much about it either, so there is not much to say, to be fair.¡± ¡°Right¡­ Well let me explain to Sar and to you. I am now Alith, the first Alith! Or, uh, essentially, a half human - half ghost. I can switch between the spiritual and physical realm at will, get bonus health and stamina that upgrades each filter, and a natural weak mana vision. That¡¯s about it. Sen said that in the off chance I manage to get a kid somehow, it would probably inherit it vampire-curse style. But he wasn¡¯t certain, so I might be the first and last.¡± The three young women discussed the ins and outs of Alith¡¯s class for a bit until the subject looped back to her status sheet. Sofia asked something for clarification although the answer was obvious, ¡°You actually need to train your skills now?¡± ¡°Yeah. The good old days of instantly maximum-level skills are gone. But I¡¯m also not stuck at ten thousand mana anymore, and that¡¯s largely worth the trade.¡± ¡°Hmm, what about [AvoiDance]? You tossed it?¡± ¡°Oh, this one I used so much all the time that it kinda spelled itself like your bolt did. And it capped at 200 so there was no reason to keep it,¡± Alith explained. ¡°Ah, actually, Sof, can I see your status again too?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Name : Sofia Aphenoreth Age : 21 ? Class : [Saintomancer] ? Level : 249 ? Health : 20 980 / 20 980 (20k + (20/level - 4000)) Stamina : 21 047 / 21 047 (20 067 + (20/level - 4000)) Mana : 417 100 / 417 100 (319 100 + (2000/level- 400 000)) Main Specialization : [Eclipse Skeleton] Alteration chance : 98% Secondary Specialization : [Heat Death] Active Skills (8 / 8) [Spine of the Black Sun] - Level 209 [Summon Blood] - Level 205 [Maiden Banshee] - Level 249 (Lv.249) [Graveyard of the righteous] - Level 208 [False immortality] - Level 3 [Skull Choir] - Level 208 [Reign over shadows] [Saintess¡¯ madness] - Level 1 Passive Skills (7 / 8) [Blessing of the Deep] - (2/4) [Vakariazrehafin of Sorrow] ? [Exalted Exoskeleton] ? [Venerable physique of the primeval void] ? - First step Light forging realm [Bone dominus] - Level 2 [Erredian Rot] [Runeforged Overlord] ? - Level 239 Classless Skills (9 / 9) [Fast reading] - Level 71 [Way of the Fool] - Level 30 [Sprint] - Level 48 [Identify] - Level 2 [Mana manipulation] ? [Evasion] - Level 100 [Radiance] - Level 68 [Quintessential] ? [One with Suffering] ? Special Skills (1) [The Book of Skeletons] ? Summoned heroes (4 / 4) [Mark of Aphenoreth] Alith narrowed her eyes as she read through the status window. ¡°Your age is locked?¡± ¡°As you can see.¡± ¡°Woaw, I know we all age slower already, but it¡¯s weird to see it be straight-up locked. Like your life can go on forever exactly the same. Well, in my case the counter going up doesn¡¯t mean much either. Half-Ghosts don¡¯t really age much.¡± Saria was silent, her expression a bit disgruntled. ¡°I¡¯m already the oldest so¡­¡± she grumbled. ¡°Honestly Sar, you look younger than Sof. So I don¡¯t really see what the issue is eh. Just eat your candies already, I made a bunch of Speed ones for you since you said the stat doesn¡¯t matter. They¡¯re the easiest to brew.¡± ¡°Got it, thanks a lot Alith,¡± Saria responded, back to her cheerful self and already downing one of the Speed candies. ¡°I already ate my three Processing ones, so I guess I have eight to ten left, right? I think I¡¯ll just go with all Health, since it¡¯s so low. [Runeforged Overlord] already gives me plenty of Speed and Agility when I need them, and I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever ran out of stamina in a fight.¡± Sofia managed to eat twelve Health candies before she started puking blood. Health : 80 980 / 80 980 That feels great! Sofia thought, despite still feeling the taste of her own blood in her mouth. Her body had just become four times tougher by virtue of eating sweets. It felt a bit too easy, and that was a nice feeling to have, for once. Saria soon stole the spotlight, however. ¡°How many¡­¡± Alith asked, bewildered, seeing the pile of candies become smaller and smaller. Saria ate a total of twenty-six of them before she began to bleed from her nose and eyes. ¡°Ah, I think I¡¯m done. Thanks for the meal!¡± ¡°You should be dead three times over after eating that much, but you¡¯re welcome.¡± Alith answered in kind. ¡°Well, I¡¯m rather tough. Now let¡¯s see what I can buy¡­ This just put me past the threshold to buy the lowest-level upgrade of the Aura stat. So maybe I¡¯ll go with that¡­ I¡¯m gonna have to ask Zeph first.¡± ¡°Definitely tell us what you buy when you chose, Sar, I¡¯m curious about your shop now. But enough with the candies! Enough waiting! You two are going to pick my specialization, and you can¡¯t leave this room until it¡¯s done!¡± Saria shrugged. ¡°What if we disagree?¡± ¡°I already have shadowman¡¯s vote, so if you two pick different ones I¡¯ll go with his pick.¡± ¡°Alright. Saria and me are pretty much experts at picking specializations now, bring it on!¡±
Chapter 297 - Alithialization ¡°The skill I chose to specialize in is [Utterly unimpressed]. It¡¯s really good but the sixty seconds cooldown and limitation on movement makes it impractical as a defensive skill. So I hoped to get rid of that,¡± Altih explained, bringing up the skill¡¯s description. [Utterly unimpressed] : Strike a disinterested pose and gain 100% (0.5*Skill level) resistance to all damages and ailments for up to 12.45 (Class Level/20) seconds (max: 30s). Performing any other action cancels this effect. Sixty seconds cooldown. ¡°So, the first decent thing I got, after thirty something tries, was this.¡± [Path of the Fabulous Antagonist : Unlocking requirements : Description : Be the unexpected. Enemies? All you see is your next meal. Who dares try to harm you? You are time itself, the blows rain, so pitifully slow. They shall never reach you. Defeat? But a temporary setback. You will come back, and in style.] Alith was waiting for the sisters¡¯ reaction. ¡°Thoughts?¡± Saria had a slight frown, ¡°Three letters name?¡± ¡°Oh, yeah. That would be my old name before I was a Hero. I don¡¯t get how it has anything to do with anything though, but all the requirements for this one path are quite weird so¡­¡± ¡°The effects sound¡­ Interesting?¡± Sofia said. ¡°I think this might be a big enhancement to your perception skills, so you can dodge everything because it ¡®feels¡¯ slow even if it isn¡¯t? That¡¯s how I would interpret it. Not really much else to go on.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t forget the style part,¡± Alith added. ¡°What d¡¯ya think, Sar?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not bad. Zephir¡¯s theory about specializations with very unordinary descriptions like this one is that they were custom made by the admins instead of derived from your skill. So they¡¯re normally never a bad choice. But it could end up very different from what you started with. My secondary specialization was like this too, and it ended up really strong. As for how it fits with your fighting style and existing skills, you would know better than me.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ Thanks for the input. Then this is the second one, which I got after a total of ninety six tries.¡± [Path of the Soul-Chaser : Unlocking requirements : Description : The Soul-Chaser hungers for more souls. Capable of enhancing their own body through untold dark magic, their capacity to avoid blows is uncanny. Effortlessly parrying all blows and rolling around the battlefield, as long as their stamina does not run out, they might as well be immortal.] ¡°Oh¡­ Well. This one does sound stronger,¡± Sofia started, ¡°but it¡¯s also¡­ Rolling around the battlefield¡­.¡± ¡°Yeah it does sound a bit dumb, no?¡± Saria continued. ¡°The whole soul eating stuff is weird but it¡¯s not like dead people are gonna miss them so I guess that¡¯s fine.¡± ¡°I had a skill that did something similar with souls at some point. It¡¯s best not to think too much about it.¡± Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. ¡°So do you both think I should go with this one? The fact that it looks like a growing type and that it mentions stamina are both good, but the other one is also really speaking to me¡­¡± Saria shrugged. ¡°Both are really good, in my opinion. But I would go for the growth type, personally. They both seem to be focused a lot on evasion, so it¡¯s what you wanted either way.¡± ¡°Yeah, what she said,¡± Sofia approved as she munched on a dried fruit. ¡°I¡¯m going for a life of rolling then¡­¡± [You have received a debt of 96 levels, new total : 116] This one might be a bit harder to repay. Well. It¡¯s just a matter of a few weeks in Sovuln at worst. And something tells me that I¡¯ll have a lot more debt by the time I finish the next trial. Especially if we spend the whole scholar year at the academy. ¡°How is it?¡± ¡°Simpler than I expected, but I like it. It¡¯s definitely still a big departure from the original skill though. I got an alter token also, it says I can use it to alter one of my current skills.¡± Saria chimed in, ¡°One for each filter passed after the first but without a specialization, that¡¯s to help you catch-up a tiny bit.¡± ¡°Alright, I¡¯m altering [Maiden¡¯s Kiss]. This skill is too much of an embarrassment to level up. And here¡¯s the main thing.¡± [Soul-Chaser] Level 1 : You take 100% less damage from all sources and cannot be affected by any afflictions while performing a dodge-roll while above 0 Stamina, but lose up to ( 100*Class Level +0.5%Max Stamina) Stamina each time if able. You and your weapons take 90% less damage if you perfectly block an enemy hit with your weapons. You lose 50% less Stamina from blocking with your weapons. You may absorb the soul of enemies you kill to gain soul-power; higher-level enemies award more soul-power. You must spend soul-power to upgrade this Specialization¡¯s level. Each level of [Soul-Chaser] gives an increase of 5% Stamina divided equally between Agility, Strength, and Speed. Cost to level 2 : 1 SP ¡°Animals still don¡¯t have souls, right?¡± Sofia asked Saria. ¡°They don¡¯t, but the undead usually do.¡± ¡°So I need to become an undead hunter if I want to level that up without killing actual people. That might take a while but it¡¯s not too bad. At least now I can use the invincibility whenever¡­ As long as I can roll around.¡± The three girls did some tests in Alith¡¯s room to see what counted as a roll. It seemed that as long as the intent and attempt to perform a full roll in any direction was there, the specialization¡¯s effect activated. That counted even for backflips and other such ways of doing any kind of acrobatic full body tumble, and the length of the buff was usually the full length of the roll up to two seconds, stopping whenever she was stable again. Also, Alith noticed that she had a much better sense of what was happening around her when she rolled around. It was not as good as just being able to see it without rolling, but that was better than nothing and allowed her to avoid coming out of a roll directly into an attack. Most of the time. Finally, chaining rolls was a completely safe way to become infinitely invincible, as long as she had stamina to spare and good timing, there could be no downtime if she wanted. It also no longer prevented her from doing something else at the same time, but the number of impactful things she could do while tumbling around was inherently limited by the nature of the action. The blocking feature was exactly as advertised, as long as she blocked correctly with her Kamas, it felt like the opponent wasn¡¯t putting much force into their weapon and she could easily deflect it. She was still affected by the electrical discharge of hits from Sofia¡¯s staff though, so it clearly had its limits. After a bit of testing with Madness-thrown rats, if she could block the ¡®projectile¡¯ skeleton directly with her weapons, that would work to mitigate the damage from the explosion. Against the angel bolts it did nothing, so the conclusion was that there needed to be some kind of solid physical component to block for the damage reduction to activate. After sufficient testing and trying things out, Alith had her verdict about the choice. ¡°It¡¯s good, but without the growth it would be a scam. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s as strong as either of yours right now. Maybe when it¡¯s level 40 or so.¡± Sofia nodded. ¡°I think it¡¯s perfect for your fighting style. And there¡¯s no mention of a maximum level, so that can be a lot of stats in the long run. The issue will just be to find the souls. It is certainly living up to its name. How did the kiss skill turn out? You never said how it went.¡± ¡°Right! Sorry, it was processing it for a while, so I didn¡¯t have the description. I think it turned out quite nicely, although it¡¯s a bit mana expensive at the moment.¡± [Soul Flasks] : You may summon up to 5 (Skill level +2) Soul Flasks for ten thousand mana each. Drinking the full contents of a soul flask immediately restores 50% (20 + (Skill level*10)) +10000 Max Health and cleanses all ailments. If you are the one drinking the Soul Flask, also restore 9% (Skill level*3) Max Mana. Used flasks disappear and can be summoned again after spending a full ten minutes out of combat. She doesn¡¯t have enough mana to summon all five at once but they don¡¯t mention any duration limit. So she can prepare them in advance and heal for 250% of her health in a single fight. And she gets 9% mana back each time? She can probably even drink while she¡¯s rolling. Nothing you can do to stop her from healing. That¡¯s reaaaaaaaly good. Damn.
Chapter 298 - Light breathing Sofia was enjoying a leisurely ride on the back of a giant black Dragon. Enough sightseeing, we¡¯re here. There isn¡¯t much to see in the first place¡­. Sofia let go of Erredis¡¯ back and watched as the flying Dragon turned back into an elegant lady with bunny ears. They landed on the inconspicuous little island, in the middle of the ocean far to the west of the Sect¡¯s continent. There were a few tiny farm plots growing colorful vegetables on the side of a rickety wooden shack. A single barefoot man in shorts was sunbathing, lying on a long wooden chair under a palm tree. With short black hair and a three-day beard, from afar he looked like any other random human guy. That was if one couldn¡¯t see the ludicrous amounts of mana forming a vortex around him that extended far beyond the small sandy island. I didn¡¯t expect that. Is the world just full of random places with Dragons doing nothing but hanging out there that you can just stumble across by pure luck? This place looks lived-in, so he wasn¡¯t here to wait for us, right? Unless he ¡®got rid¡¯ of whoever used to live there? ¡°Hoy, get up, Phil!¡± Erredis hollered as she approached the guy. The man sat up on his lounging chair. He turned and glanced at the two girls, he was wearing a pair of reflective dark glasses. ¡°No way, you really brought a busty babe for me to roast? I thought you were joking.¡± He propped up his glasses, revealing his deep emerald eyes. ¡°Hey beautiful. You¡¯ve come all this way to see me?¡± This¡­ What kind of weirdo did Erredis bring me to? ¡°Stop fucking around, Phillip.¡± Erredis warned, already exasperated. ¡°I like fucking around, though? I agreed to help for free, you could at least let me have some fun. You were funnier when you were young, Erri,¡± the man answered before pulling his glasses back down and sipping on a drink inside of a halved hard fruit that was just on the ground near his chair. A colorful character¡­ Erredis audibly sighed. ¡°Sofia, this is Phil. You should be careful never to take anything he says seriously. And he¡¯s not helping for free at all, he wants you to leave one of your blessed bone constructs here for a week, for him to analyze. I had to disclose some of your skills to him, I hope you don¡¯t mind. This guy is crazy when it comes to lingering magic.¡± ¡°So he wants to try copying it?¡± ¡°He¡¯ll try. But I personally don¡¯t think he¡¯ll get anywhere close to that in a week.¡± ¡°I can hear you, you know,¡± Phillip chimed in from his chair. ¡°Yeah I know. So just make him a small coin or something, it doesn¡¯t matter. As I said, there¡¯s no way he could copy it in a week.¡± The man sat up again. ¡°You sure have a lot of confidence in your old friends, uh. Actually, Sofia? I would appreciate it if you could make it a sphere about the size of your head. Thanks.¡± ¡°Sure¡­ Do you even know what the blessing does?¡± Sofia answered. Erredis left the two alone, going to explore the small wooden shack. ¡°Erri said healing, pretty much all I need to know,¡± he confirmed, lazily standing up to have a more civilized face-to-face conversation. ¡°Healing for me and Skeletons only. It also strengthens the blessed object.¡± ¡°I see. Definitely new magic by the system¡¯s higher scribes. I need to see that. I just need to roast you, right?¡± ¡°If you¡¯re a Chromatic Dragon, then yes, though one time might not be enough, I don¡¯t know.¡± Stolen story; please report. ¡°Aight, Chromatic Dragon I am, Green in person. Won¡¯t find greener light anywhere in the Solar System. Do you have some way to revive? Because you¡¯ll most definitely die.¡± ¡°I do but that needs some setup. Is there any risk that your breath might cancel it?¡± ¡°Nah, it¡¯s just light. Barely anything magic left to it. You¡¯ll be reduced to charred dust, if even that. And that¡¯s it.¡± After that, Sofia made a bone sphere and blessed it like Phillip wanted. He was instantly fascinated by it. But his attention was soon split up by his newfound interest in the unlife runes Sofia was casting. They negotiated that if she needed his help again, she could stay there for a week to let him examine them. When it was all said and done, he asked Sofia to stand at the end of the beach, feet in the water. But first he made sure she left all of her valuable belongings in a wicker basket near his chair, so that he wouldn¡¯t destroy them by accident. ¡°In terms of aim, I don¡¯t want to ruin the place so it¡¯s better if you fly up when you¡¯re ready. I burn you for one second and stop. That''s alright?¡± ¡°It takes me a few seconds to resurrect, just cut it off before that and we¡¯re good.¡± Phillip smiled. ¡°You¡¯re quite the special young lady, to have Erri escort you here, and to speak with me so freely. I like it. Be careful though, some of the older folks alive are way more uptight. You¡¯d be quickly executed for being irreverent. Though I¡¯m sure if you bring up Erri¡¯s name they¡¯ll at least think twice ¡®bout it.¡± ¡°I like to think I am a decent judge of character, though if someone at your level really wants me dead I don¡¯t believe excessive politeness and flattery will save me.¡± ¡°Heh, you never know.¡± He shrugged. ¡°I like to think I¡¯m part of the more sane five-digiters around, but some just develop weird quirks with old age you know. Like livin¡¯ alone on a fuckin barren wasteland in space instead of with their old buddy, for example.¡± Or like being obsessed with ¡®lingering magic¡¯? ¡°I can also hear you.¡± Erredis¡¯ voice echoed from inside the shack. ¡°I know, honey; you can wait for me on the bed if you want.¡± Sofia heard Erredis sigh all the way from the beach. Phillip seemed not to care; he just shifted his attention back to Sofia. ¡°Ready? Just fly up.¡± Sofia left the ground after giving herself a quick jab in the stomach; she didn''t want to stay alive any longer than she needed to under a Dragon''s breath, and all the one-hit protection from VPPV would do was probably prolong her agony for half a second. She saw Phillip slightly opening his mouth, then nothing but the color green. After which, she woke up naked in the shallow water. Pareth was there, technically blocking Phillip from view with a huge shield, but it was very uncertain whether that did anything. Quickly reforming her armor, she stood up and looked at her description of [Venerable physique of the primeval void], but she could already tell from the light showing under her skin that it wasn¡¯t done. However, there was undeniable progress. [Venerable physique of the primeval void] : Light forging realm - First step : Your skin becomes tougher and opaque (478/1000%) ¡°Are you alright, girl?¡± Phillip asked from the other side. Switching to Pareth¡¯s vision, Sofia saw that he actually had his back turned. So perhaps he was really not looking. Or just putting on a show. Either way Sofia appreciated the gesture, because she hadn¡¯t thought that far about her clothing situation when she had been worrying about whether she could really survive a Dragon¡¯s breath or not. ¡°I¡¯m good. Progress says four-seventy-eight.¡± ¡°Out of a thousand?¡± ¡°Hasn¡¯t changed.¡± ¡°Damn. Two more times then. Your other two runes still good? Don¡¯t want to kill you by accident. Oh, right, can I turn around?¡± ¡°Yeah. Thanks for not looking.¡± ¡°You think I had a choice? Look in that direction,¡± he said, pointing at the bunny-eared lady near the shack, sitting in the sand and watching him with a scornful gaze. ¡°Would you look if you had a choice?¡± Sofia couldn¡¯t help but ask, though she instantly regretted it. ¡°Nah. You¡¯re a bit too young for my tastes, young lady. Reminds me of my daughter. You can ask again in a few thousand years though. Anyway, second round?¡± ¡°I¡¯m ready.¡± Sofia flew up and died. The first thing she thought as she woke up in the same fashion as before was that at least it didn¡¯t hurt. Getting erased by Aphenoreth probably feels like that I would guess. One moment you¡¯re there. The next you¡¯re not. Not that I saw him ever erase anybody. Well. Does ¡®TheJailed¡¯ count? I don¡¯t remember the scene in detail so to say that I saw it is a bit of a stretch. And clearly He¡¯s not really gone or He couldn¡¯t be in Cinthia¡¯s chatroom. [Venerable physique of the primeval void] : Light forging realm - First step : Your skin becomes tougher and opaque (971/1000%) Sofia covered herself up and stood up again, announcing the progress to Phillip. ¡°Ready when you are, girl.¡±
Chapter 299 - Past times Pastimes [Venerable physique of the primeval void] ? - Second step of the Light forging realm : Light forging realm : Starting step : You no longer age. First step : Your skin becomes tougher and opaque (1000/1000%) Second step : Your blood becomes light (0/126 441 drops converted) Third step : Enhances your reflexes through the use of light. Fourth step : ??? Current step training method : Cut off any passive or active healing if able. Slash yourself so that blood trickles out in a slow but steady stream. Circulate mana from your head to your heart and back in rhythm with your heartbeat, the more the better, while visualizing this skill¡¯s mana pattern. Successful attempts should feel like being stabbed in the heart and will convert around one drop of blood to light. Repeat until no blood is left. (Warning : Be very careful not to bleed out, stay in a well-lit room, go slowly, and take frequent pauses.) Holy crap. This is a lot more involved than everything before. A hundred and twenty six thousand drops of blood to convert? So I will feel like I got stabbed that many times? And all the while bleeding out. This might be the worst step yet. But then I¡¯ll be immune to bleeding, I guess? It does also explain even more why the thick skin was necessary. By the sound of it, the next step is converting more stuff to light. Am I becoming an Angel or something like that? I¡¯d rather keep a physical body if possible¡­ Well, I¡¯ll see where it goes, there¡¯s always the option to stop training the skill if it becomes too much. But at least, losing my blood, that I don¡¯t really care about. Wait, isn¡¯t blushing all about blood coming up to the face? Oh, but I¡¯ve already lost that just now with the thick skin, didn¡¯t I. No more blushing, then. ¡°Am guessing you¡¯re done since you¡¯ve been staring into the void for a hot minute,¡± Phillip called out. ¡°Oh, yes, sorry. Thank you very much for your help, Phillip.¡± ¡°T¡¯was my pleasure, young lady. You look better without the visible mana veins.¡± ¡°Ahah¡­ Yeah, they weren¡¯t very aesthetically pleasing, were they?¡± Erredis chose this moment to come out of the wooden shack. ¡°It was alright, you should see a goblin when they evolve to a hob, now this is some blood-curling stuff. You look a lot paler than before though, Sofia.¡± ¡°A thick skin will do that I suppose. The next step is turning my blood to light, so that won¡¯t help either.¡± ¡°Blood to light? That¡¯s going to hurt. It¡¯s not easy to do fundamental changes like these. Most people shy away from that except crazy necromancers,¡± Erredis commented. ¡°That checks out then,¡± Sofia said, jumping back into Pareth¡¯s arms, who held her like a princess. ¡°Going to need me again?¡± Phillip asked offhandedly, he was already busy examining the blessed construct Sofia had left with him. ¡°Not for this next step at least, but who knows what the later stages of the skill will ask me to do.¡± ¡°Well, you know where to find me. If you ever come here and I¡¯m away, just leave a letter in the shack. But be prepared to let me examine your immortality runes next time.¡± ¡°Noted. Thank you.¡± ¡°Aight, I¡¯m off then, pleasure meetin¡¯ you. Say hi to my daughter for me if you meet her,¡± the man excused himself, walking back to the shack. ¡°Come again for a chat, Erri, t¡¯was nice seeing you again,¡± he whispered as passed by her. He closed the door behind him. ¡°There he goes, we won¡¯t be getting another word out of this guy until your bone ball disappears from his hands, so we better get going.¡± ¡°Where to next?¡± ¡°You have all your things ready, right?¡± This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Everything,¡± Sofia acquiesced, as she slipped back on her rings and other trinkets. ¡°Help me get inside the arm, Pareth.¡± This thing sure is something to take on and off. Maybe I could alter the rest of the armor to have the same blue hue¡­ ¡°We¡¯re going directly to the Exidion Empire, then. You¡¯re going to need an identity card from them to stay there. Zephir will take care of the others, but I have some old business to take care of there, so I might as well be your guarantor. It¡¯ll make the process faster. I¡¯ll pull some strings to make your stay a bit better. Because why not.¡± ¡°Really? Thank you! ¡­ Say¡­ Can I hug you?¡± ¡°...¡± Erredis rolled her eyes. Alright, kid. Sofia embroiled Erredis like one would a parent. ¡°I¡¯m glad to have met, Grandma. Thanks for everything.¡± But it was one sided, Erredis stood immobile, an uneasy expression on her face. ¡°Do you have any idea how many I have k-¡± Erredis started, ¡°¡­ Ah whatever.¡± Erredis hugged Sofia back, lightly patting her back. ¡°I¡¯m glad to have met you too, sweetie. You¡¯re chaos incarnate, really. I can¡¯t wait to see how you¡¯ll grow.¡± Sofia let go of Erredis. She could swear she had heard Phillip cackling from inside the shack for a brief instant. ¡°To Exidion, then?¡± ¡°To Exidion,¡± Erredis repeated. ¡°Ready your wings, I¡¯m staying in small form this time, let¡¯s just fly there slowly. If you¡¯re going to be calling me Grandma left and right, you should at least know a bit more about my past.¡± ¡°Sure, I¡¯d love to.¡± ¡°Ahya. You might regret those words later, kid. Let¡¯s go.¡±
¡°And this marked the end of my first century on this world,¡± Erredis finished her story as a new continent appeared on the Horizon. ¡°You sure had a troubled childhood¡­¡± ¡°You¡¯re one to talk.¡± ¡°True¡­ What happened to that white Dragon? Did she survive the plague?¡± ¡°She sure did. She went on to become a powerful mage and healer, even per Draconic standards. Her name was Enomen.¡± ¡°The holy¡­ Did you kill her?! The scale¡­¡± ¡°I told you, the first hundred years were perhaps the best of the lot¡­¡± ¡°Hell¡­ How would¡­ How could you two end up fighting to the death?¡± ¡°War,¡± Erredis answered, sounding both downcast and angry. Sofia could feel the Dragon¡¯s mana stirring. ¡°That is a scary word, coming from your mouth.¡± ¡°You can bless all the Gods you were born after. These were not good times to be alive. Had you lived back then? You might have been one of my victims. Or enemy.¡± ¡°Well, I cannot bless all the Gods when I¡¯m planning on killing one, now. Can I?¡± ¡°Ah, I said nothing, you might have been an ally after all. Crazy,¡± Erredis commented, shaking her head. ¡°Well, I¡¯m definitely interested in hearing more about that war now. I find it intriguing that I have never heard of it until now, if it was as big as you make it sound. Then again, I had never heard about the Exidion Empire either.¡± ¡°It¡¯s bigger than the entire human territory by now. They just rarely travel all the way to your side of the world. Between the leviathan and all the other shit, it¡¯s a bother if you don¡¯t know the routes. Which makes me think, but please, always get a guide or at least precise directions if you¡¯re going to dive into uncharted territory far from civilization. There are a lot of things to watch out for on the planet. Stuff sleeping that no one dares to bother. Places so ripe with unstable magic that it would put even my life in danger if I came unprepared. So just be careful, kid.¡± ¡°Will do! Oh. Which reminds me. What about the hidden moon?¡± Erredis seemed surprised by Sofia¡¯s question, her expression had frozen for an instant. ¡°You saw that? Hmm. Of course you did. Well, let¡¯s just say that¡­ You should forget about it until you reach at least level 400. This is a place even I do not want to step in. But if it¡¯s you, then maybe.¡± ¡°Maybe? Hmm. It has links to the Deep?¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t hear it from me,¡± Erredis denied as she sped up. They were almost above the coast of this continent very far to the west of the human peninsula. I wonder if that¡¯s the same landmass where Ihuarah¡¯s old Empire was, or something else. I can¡¯t believe how big the world is.
Erredis guided Sofia through the sky toward the Exidon Empire. At first, the continent seemed entirely uninhabited and left to the wildlife. Then, after a few hours of fast flight, the wall appeared. A tall stone edifice, more than ten meters high and several meters thick, spanning the entirety of the Empire¡¯s outer frontier. There were small house-like watchtowers atop the wall every three kilometers along or so. Are there people garrisoned in all of these? How many thousands of soldiers would you need to have this on the entire wall if it really goes the whole way around? These people are crazy, I can already tell. ¡°You said there was a wall, and I see it now. But why? Is it that bad here?¡± ¡°The wildlife on this continent is a bit more aggressive than what you¡¯re used to, sweetie. Especially at night. Did you know the boneplate mauler skeleton your paladin occupies is endemic to this continent¡¯s northern mountains? Well, you can guess why they would want a wall now.¡± ¡°I think Richard said these monsters were around level 400¡­¡± ¡°Freaky beasts. An adult one could maybe take a young Dragon in a fight. But these ones rarely venture out of their territory. But they are the least of the Empire¡¯s worries. They have enough people to defend even if something big happens. It seems Beligenus settled there, but the Emperor is also a sturdy old bastard, and so is the guy who¡¯s gonna help you get your ID card fast.¡± ¡°So many strong people everywhere. Does the human continent also have many hidden powerhouses looking over it?¡± ¡°Besides the Angels, you mean? Well, you have Alkorm and Richard, right? There¡¯s also the Vampire Queen now. And I believe there is at least one reclusive hermit somewhere in the mountains between you and the red desert. Perhaps a Dragon. Perhaps not. But in any case, I observed strange mana movements occasionally there several times over the last few hundred years, so there is something.¡± ¡°You never went to check?¡± ¡°Did you not see the welcome committee that jumped me when I left the moon? I would rather not deal with that if I have no need to.¡± ¡°Fair.¡±
Chapter 300 - Exidion Empire After checking in at one of the wall¡¯s entrances and easily being let in without question, Sofia and Erredis entered the outer reach of the Exidion Empire. There was apparently a high-altitude flight ban in effect in the Empire, so they had to stay at most twenty meters above the ground. Although Sofia questioned how such a rule could be enforced, they did respect the law nonetheless, and that gave Sofia an occasion to observe the countryside villages of the Empire. The terrain here was mostly flat plains, it seemed; most oh the free land that wasn¡¯t a village or forest was cultivated ground. Fields, orchards, livestock, it was a wonder the people could manage so much land, Sofia thought, but the explanation about how jumped to her face very soon. The guards at the walls weren¡¯t level 80 because they were guards. All the adult Exidians were around level 80, while the children Sofia occasionally saw running around in the villages she flew above were usually in the high twenties. That¡¯s a big advantage over Humans, but it¡¯s also still low enough that it must not make it very hard to have children, so their numbers aren¡¯t limited like the Vampires or the Elves. Truly the best race to build an Empire¡­ The blue skin isn¡¯t that shocking compared to the green and red orcs. It¡¯s funny how their horns are all so different, and yet they all have white hair. I think on average they¡¯re a bit shorter than humans? But not as much as dwarves. Truly an interesting race. I wonder what their skeletons look like. As they flew over yet another village which looked like all the other ones before, Sofia had a question, ¡°Say, these people are all under level 100. Is it because the first Trial tower is so far away?¡± ¡°No, sweetie. They have their own somewhere to the west of the Empire. For the second one though, they have a teleporter set up by the system to get them there, if I recall correctly. Can you imagine how tough it would be for anyone to level up here if the tower was so far away? There are plenty of towers all around the planet.¡± ¡°Hmm. I remember seeing a few when I was at the top of the second one, but not when I was on your back ,weirdly enough¡­¡± ¡°They have multiple layers of dissimulation magic. Usually, you can only see them when the system wants you to. Though I can see through such tricks easily.¡± The two women continued their idle chatter until they reached the capital city of Exalta, a massive, sprawling city built in wood and stone, the likes of which made even the ancient elven city from the trial feel small. The slanted rooftops expanded far beyond the horizon, and it made a lot clearer the reason why there had been no other big city on the way. This was THE city. How many Exidians did this place house? Ten? Fifty? A hundred million? Just look at all these chimneys. This place must burn more wood in one winter than the entire human population in a decade! With such a huge population¡­ Ah, I¡¯ll think about bones later¡­ Sofia followed Erredis until a huge stone edifice appeared in the horizon, Erredis pointed it with a finger. ¡°That¡¯s where we¡¯re going.¡± ¡°Is that the Imperial Palace?¡± ¡°No,¡± Erredis answered, her voice slightly obscured by the strong gusts of wind accompanying the falling night, ¡°this is the church of Death.¡± Oh. Maybe we could have asked Cinthia to come with us. She must already be in her student bedroom at the academy with Saria by now, Sofia thought as she observed the massive building that indeed seemed to look more like a giant cathedral, now that she looked at it again. ¡°Why here? Your acquaintance is a priest of Death?¡± ¡°Priest? No. Apostle.¡±
Erredis and Sofia landed in front of the entrance to the cathedral. They entered, and on Erredis¡¯ advice, both threw a gold coin through the grates on the entrance floor, as was apparently customary as an offering to Death. The poor must not come here often. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. The interior was a lot cleaner and white than one might expect from a place dedicated to the worship of Death itself. Even the priests¡¯ robes and hoods were almost entirely white with only a few stripes of gray giving them some volume. A few [Identify¡¯]s showed them all to be supporter classes well above level 100. It¡¯s interesting that a place would worship Death. Death is a Recessed, so wouldn¡¯t all this positive attention only diminish Its power? Unless they preach the fear of Death? I want to learn more about this place now¡­ While Sofia busied her mind trying to understand how that Cathedral of Death had come to be, Erredis led her to a side path, going beyond the main hall of the cathedral and into its private quarters. A few priests tried to stop them, but Erredis simply waved their short-term memory away, and the duo was free to move around how they wanted. Finally, they arrived in front of a closed steel door. Erredis spoke up, ¡°I¡¯m coming in.¡± She kicked the door open, shattering the magic protections imbued on it that Sofia hadn¡¯t even noticed. Someone inordinately tall and large compared to the Exidians was inside of the brightly lit room, wearing a very long and loose white robe that covered its massive body, the person wore a pitch-black mask that looked like Erredis¡¯ baby scale that Sofia could have chosen for her arm harness. Except she quickly noticed that it was no mask. This was the person¡¯s face that sat atop their muscular neck. The Apostle¡¯s face. One deprived of any features. A blank slate topped with small spikes, perhaps the remnant horns of this person¡¯s original ones as an Exidian. [Leverlehoenmoll - Son of Death - Lv. 499] The Apostle was hunched over a wrinkled old lady, alive but barely, who was unconscious, sprawled on a flat steel table. I feel like we interrupted something¡­ The apostle¡¯s mask turned abruptly to face the newcomers. ¡°I have a patient.¡± ¡°And I am impatient. Surely we can work something out, Leverle?¡± The white-robed demon shook his flat head. ¡°I am honored by your visit, great calamity. But this must be dealt with first. Please wait outside,¡± he answered with a silky voice. His tone left no room for negotiation. ¡°... Sure.¡± Erredis took a step back out of the room and by some magic, fixed the door back in place without even touching it. About five minutes later, the door opened by itself, and it was the old Exidian lady who slowly walked out. ¡°Thank you, Doctor, I feel so much better,¡± she sweetly thanked the Demon in the room she had just left. She looked at Erredis with a smile, ¡°You can go now, I understand your impatience, but the Doctor¡¯s services are worth waiting for,¡± she told her with a smile before leaving. Inside the bright room, Leverle came to the door, he had to bend his massive frame to let his flat head through. His movements had an unnerving, almost unnatural smoothness and preciseness to them, devoid of any unnecessary motion. A stillness that made him feel like a statue coming to life. ¡°I suppose you are not here to get a dysfunctioning spine treated, Moon Guardian,¡± he started, but his faceless flat head turned toward Sofia. ¡°Hmm. Sorrow. It has been a long time. The headless must be overjoyed. Welcome among our kin. I feel Death on you. However faint. What is it that you both need?¡± Erredis was straight and to the point, ¡°Get her a vouch on her ID. She¡¯s gonna be a professor at Beligenus¡¯, I want her to have a good stay here for this one year. Treat her as you would my apprentice.¡± There was an instant of silence. ¡°The calamity has an apprentice. This world might be doomed after all.¡± The Apostle¡¯s flat face rotated to the side with a sickening crack. ¡°Three stones.¡± Stones? Erredis threw a pouch at Leverle¡¯s head, who caught it with a black arm shooting out of one of his robe¡¯s folds. The arm and pouch then disappeared back inside the folds. ¡°Here¡¯s five. If an old one does something to her, I¡¯ll come back personally to kill you.¡± There was not a hint of hesitation in the Dragon''s voice. This was no empty threat. There are a lot of implications in this that I have not been warned about¡­ The old ones? Literally? Do I have something to do with them? Or is it because I came here with her? Ah¡­ I can tell it¡¯s best not to ask for now. Maybe I¡¯ll ask this Leverle Demon later, then. He is a bit unsettling to be around though¡­ ¡°You have a deal, Erredis. Now leave, before you bring trouble to my door. I will take care of your apprentice. Invite me to meet you somewhere else, next time. Your presence in this holy place is a risk. To my priests and patients.¡± ¡°Fine then. Take care of her ID tonight,¡± Erredis ordered. ¡°For everything else she can handle herself, just bring her to the old sage.¡± ¡°It will be done,¡± the calm and smooth voice of the Demon confirmed. ¡°This is where we part ways, Sofia. I am going back to the Sect, have fun with your year off, don¡¯t neglect your training, and come back to see me when you¡¯re done.¡± ¡°Will do, Grandma. Have fun in your workshop.¡± The Apostle recoiled at the word ¡®Grandma¡¯, And Sofia could swear she saw Erredis smirk. After a short hug and a last goodbye, Erredis just disappeared from the corridor. I hoped you would stay a bit longer¡­
Chapter 301 - Death Struggles ¡°Follow me, Daughter of Sorrow,¡± Leverle told Sofia as he exited the brightly lit examination room. He took the lead and Sofia followed a few steps behind. It took a little while for Sofia to organize her thoughts. ¡°U- Uh, nice to meet you, Son of Death¡­¡± ¡°Feeling shared. I sense a question. Speak your mind.¡± ¡°Ah, I have several questions, such as why are we going down into the cathedral¡¯s underground, but what I wanted to ask was something about Death.¡± ¡°I hear you.¡± ¡°Then, do you know why Death does not talk?¡± Leverle stopped in his tracks. Like an owl¡¯s head, his flat faceless mask of a head rotated to look at Sofia behind him. ¡°You are privy to unusual knowledge. I understand the smell better now. Death does not speak to spare us.¡± ¡°To spare us?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Leverle answered as his head snapped back to its original position, and he took another step down the torch-lit stone brick stairs. ¡°In GodHood, two opposites reign supreme. The Exuberant Sun, and the Silent Death. Death is too widely feared. The longer people live, the more they dread the idea of all they built collapsing after their departure. Powerful people prepare numerous contingencies to save themselves, should the need arise. Ways to avoid Death. The powerful fear Death, and doing so, they feed it with the purest essence.¡± ¡°And that makes Death so powerful that the very words they speak are dangerous?¡± ¡°Exactly. Death is over-encumbered. Crumbling under its own essence. It seeps into everything it touches, pure Death, and leaves no life behind. That is why we worship it. To alleviate the burden.¡± Then Death must be very happy to be able to send faces in Cinthia¡¯s chatroom. No wonder it¡¯s one of her most active members. ¡°That is a sadder answer than I had expected. But it does answer my other question which was why you worship a Recessed.¡± ¡°Now you know. Too much of anything can be a burden. Your mentor is another victim of such principles.¡± Too much of anything¡­ Erredis has too much power? That wouldn¡¯t be wrong¡­ Or is it something else? And she became an outcast for it. At least there are still some people who care for her. Phillip was genuinely concerned, I think. And maybe it¡¯s just my imagination, but this Leverle guy¡¯s voice felt a little less cold ever since the moment I called Erredis Grandma. ¡°If Death is so powerful, can they not come to the physical realm like Sun can?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°It is much harder for the Recessed to reach the physical plane than for the Gods. The distance is much greater. Death sometimes enters the spiritual realm, but it cannot stay long, for fear of endangering the souls of the living,¡± Leverle explained as he kept leading Sofia deeper and deeper into the cathedral¡¯s underground levels, his long white robe trailing on the steps behind him. ¡°Interesting. Is this why the Apostle transformations are so¡­ Grotesque?¡± I hope he¡¯s not offended by this¡­ ¡°Yes. I feel your unease. No need. I know my looks are quite special. So must be yours. Despite their outward appearance, they are the best vessels our Divinities can provide. Lovingly handcrafted for their children, us.¡± ¡°Yet they are the reason we Apostles are known as Evil Demons?¡± ¡°Things are as they are. We have long since embraced that name; our leader adopting the ¡®Demon King¡¯ moniker. It is no matter, we indeed look inherently evil, do we not? We represent the aspects of nature and life that mortals abhor. Thus I find our gait suitable.¡± ¡°Now I almost feel ashamed of still looking like I do most of the time¡­ Am I a failure as an Apostle?¡± ¡°There is no shame in your existence, Vakariazrehafin. Do you know the failure rate of an Apostle¡¯s ritual?¡± This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. ¡°As in how many fail to set it up properly, or to absorb the essence?¡± ¡°Neither. Failure as in being rejected by the Divine.¡± ¡°That can happen?¡± Scripture¡¯s book said nothing about this! Wait¡­ Yeah of course it wouldn¡¯t¡­ The head of Leverle slowly bobbed up and down. ¡°About nine out of ten rituals fail. Out of those, about half are rejections. The divine has no obligation to accept you.¡± ¡°What happens then? Do you simply die?¡± ¡°In most cases, yes. As a majority of rituals culminate in the performer¡¯s death.¡± ¡°I see¡­ It¡¯s hard to believe I took such risks without even knowing it¡­ Thank you for answering my questions. Although I was always proud to be Sorrow¡¯s Daughter, I always had this doubt about my position, since the system messages said I was only an honorary Apostle...¡± ¡°Sorrow has accepted you as Her Daughter. Your continued existence gives Her a window to observe this world. It is more than enough, and enough to make you a full fledged member of the Apostles, demonic appearance or not.¡± ¡°Hmm. Again, thank you for the answers.¡± ¡°Apostles ought to help each other. We are almost there. One more question?¡± Leverle offered. ¡°Can you tell me more about the Demon King? I know nothing but his two titles.¡± ¡°Certainly. The Demon King is the collective voice of every Recessed. His goal is to create, inform, and Lead the Apostles, should the Recessed as a whole decide to act upon the physical world. Our leader, of sorts. Should such a thing happen, he will summon us.¡± ¡°Has that ever happened?¡± ¡°Twice in my lifetime. The call is never a pleasant experience, but if you still bear any respect for the Recessed who took you in, you must participate in their name. Hopefully we will never be called again. But I fear it may not be long until the Phageid become a pressing issue,¡± Leverle informed Sofia, his voice trailing into a sigh after the last sentence. The Phageid again¡­ I should really stay out of this if I can, I have enough to worry about already. Leverle stopped in the middle of a flight of stairs between two of the underground levels of the cathedral. Sofia had not been paying much attention to her surroundings, too captivated by the knowledge Leverle was willing to share. But why stop here? One of Leverle¡¯s strange black arms appeared out of his robe and pressed against a random stone brick of the wall, sending mana into it. The wall disappeared, revealing a tight secret corridor that led to a room full of locked enchanted chests. ¡°It should be in the third from the right¡­¡± Leverle mumbled as he entered the small room. Breaking the magic protections on said chest one by one, Leverle finally opened it, retrieving a paper doll covered in an inordinate amount of minuscule runes. ¡°There we are.¡± He folded the paper doll into a small roll of paper between two long fingers, before turning back to present it to Sofia. She tried to [Identify] it, but the result was completely garbled and meant nothing, even worrying Sofia for a second as she thought Mr Scribe might have been having a seizure. But identifying other things still worked correctly. ¡°What is it?¡± she finally asked, observing the rolled piece of paper in Leverle¡¯s extended hand. ¡°A cursed paper doll. Swallow it. This is what your mentor paid extra for. It will protect you from an attack you cannot handle, once. And will call me. Its effects should last for almost a full year. It will be good enough.¡± ¡°Why do I have to eat it?¡± ¡°It will last longer and be operational faster if it is inside of you. It will simply await at the border of your stomach. You will not feel a thing, I made it myself and can attest that it has no dangerous properties.¡± Sofia picked up the rolled piece of paper and swallowed it. I really don¡¯t feel it¡­ But I can tell it is there through my mana senses¡­ It would be very hard to see from outside since it is so close to the heart which is full of mana. So it¡¯s also a way to conceal it. Although the [Identify] description was dysfunctional, Sofia trusted Erredis, and by extension, she trusted Leverle. She felt pretty confident that she hadn¡¯t been lied to. I wonder what kind of attack would activate it. ¡°I might ¡®die¡¯ a few times throughout the year, nothing major, I have a skill to negate that. Will that activate this paper doll?¡± ¡°No,¡± Leverle answered. ¡°It will only protect you from a lethal attack sent your way by someone of level 300 or above. Or at least, it will try. If somehow the Emperor or the old Sage decided to attack you, nothing short of the great calamity herself coming back could possibly save you.¡± After Leverle gave some more details on the paper doll¡¯s restrictions, such as how far from him it could optimally operate, the duo returned to the surface the way they came. This time, it was Leverle who asked questions; the roles had reversed. He mostly wondered about Sofia¡¯s story as an Apostle and her connection with Erredis. As they left the Cathedral, Leverle brought Sofia to the central plaza of the giant city. Both the Imperial Palace and the Academy could be seen from there, their extravagant architecture rising far above the roofs of the regular houses and shops. ¡°We are in luck. It is still open. That will make things much faster,¡± Leverle commented as he led Sofia into a tall building labeled ¡®Central Administration¡¯.
Chapter 302 - A name like any other Sofia entered the Administrative building followed by Leverle, and all she could think about was how weird it was to her that these Exidian people, who all had horns, also almost all wore hats. Why so many hats? Even the receptionist inside wore a tiny hat that basically only covered a third of her head. Just why? Still, Sofia greeted the receptionist, ¡°Hello.¡± ¡°Oh! Another human lady. Welcome,¡± the receptionist greeted Sofia before she noticed the person behind her, ¡±Doctor Leverle?¡± The demon closed the door behind him. ¡°Ellena? You grew lots. Are your eyes still good?¡± ¡°Couldn¡¯t be better! All thanks to you. Did you come to have this lady registered?¡± ¡°Indeed. I am to be her guarantor, I need her to get a mithril grade ID.¡± ¡°Mithril?¡± the receptionist repeated while glancing at Sofia, ¡°I must inform you that even at her level and with you as a guarantor, the request might be denied if her qualifications are unsatisfactory. The upfront cost is ten thousand.¡± My level? Lady you are level 68¡­ ¡°Send the bill to Bishop Clement,¡± Leverle answered. The receptionist nodded and left her desk, she walked past Sofia and the Doctor to lock the front door, then asked them to follow her as she climbed the stairs in the corner of the reception hall. Upstairs, she led them to a large room which contained a steel chair inside of an intricate ritual circle carved into the floor. ¡°Please sit,¡± the receptionist told Sofia while she entered the adjacent room in which she could see through a window in the wall. The receptionist sat behind a weird contraption on the other side. The ritual circle lit up several times accompanied by strange clicking noises, then the receptionist came back with a notepad in hand. ¡°Please stay seated. First I will need to see the four top lines of your status.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± The receptionist narrowed her eyes as she read the four lines. Name : Sofia Aphenoreth Age : 21 ? Class : [Saintomancer] ? Level : 249 ? Oh, shit! ¡°Sofia Aphenoreth. Noted. One of the human ladies from three days ago had the same last name, was that your sister?¡± Sofia had a cold sweat when she heard the receptionist read her name out loud, and Leverle¡¯s head had snapped in her direction like a tracking spell as his body instinctively inched closer to the wall behind him. But he said nothing. ¡°My older sister, yes¡­¡± Safe? She¡¯s not going to disappear, right? ¡°Hmm, you do look a bit alike now that I know that. Humans are still a bit hard to differentiate from one another I must admit¡­¡± the receptionist complained, sighing lightly. ¡°Your age is locked? Is that an error?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s a feature. I no longer age. You can attribute that to my class, I bet you have never heard of it either.¡± ¡°I have Indeed not, but perhaps the older employees of this office have? I am the only one taking the late afternoon shift, though. I could search to see if we have any other Saintomancer registered, but that would take a while. You can request for it later if you want, this kind of registry inquiry is only a few silver, if your Mithril ID gets accepted, that is.¡± ¡°What¡¯s next, then?¡± ¡°I¡¯m done with the basics information,¡± the receptionist explained, ¡°this is already enough for a Gold tier ID, but there are more steps for Mithril applications. I need to see your murder list next.¡± That might be bad¡­ ¡°There you go¡­¡± The receptionist looked through the list for what felt like an eternity to Sofia, which was actually just a few seconds. ¡°No children¡­ This is still an acceptable number for someone at your level. Were any of those Exidion citizens?¡± ¡°No. This all happened on the Human continent.¡± Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. ¡°Alright. Next please, lady Aphenoreth, disclose your existing citizenships or membership to political, religious, and commercial organizations.¡± ¡°Sure¡­ Here is my Vampire trader card, and my citizenship card from the Red Winds Empire. I also have this badge from the Saint Alliance, and am an honorary Apostle of Sorrow.¡± ¡°My, that is a lot,¡± the receptionist exclaimed, ¡°please, give me an instant.¡±
¡°Since the Doctor is your guarantor, we can skip a few steps¡­ Last but not least, I need to know the reason for your visit and how long you intend to stay.¡± ¡°I am applying to be a teacher at the academy, if all goes well I will stay for the entire school year.¡± ¡°Teacher at Brighthall? That¡¯s a prestigious position, I wish you good luck, lady Aphenoreth. This is all I need, you can go wait in the hall downstairs, I will be back with your ID in a few minutes if your application is accepted.¡± Leverle had been still as a statue for a while, his head slowly turned to follow Sofia as she stood up and walked up to him. ¡°Are we not going down like she said?¡± ¡°We are going,¡± he answered in a voice that seemed distant. Though strangely immobile, he followed her downstairs. I can already guess what¡¯s coming. ¡°Do you have an issue with my name?¡± Sofia asked playfully as she stepped down the last set of steps. Leverle stopped in the middle of the stairs. ¡°I see. No mere coincidence, then. As I feared. I will not ask anything more. Truly worthy of the calamity¡¯s apprentice¡­¡± ¡°No need to be so scared, see, nothing happened to Ellena.¡± ¡°You speak of this all the while knowing the possible repercussions? How can you be so calm?¡± Sofia brought out her scepter and shook it lightly. ¡°What can you say about that bell?¡± she asked. ¡°It has a nice ring to it. Is that the origin of your confidence and name? Is it an artifact of the lost epoch? It cannot be identified¡­¡± The lost epoch? Is that referring to whenever the Midenicite tables were made, maybe? It¡¯s nice to confirm he can hear the bell. I should start using it on everyone. ¡°That is a gift from Ormoncleth.¡± After a long silence, Leverle only had three words to say, as he slowly finished going down the stairs, ¡°This is madness.¡±
It took a quarter of an hour for the receptionist to show up again, a smile on her face. ¡°I have your ID, lady Aphenoreth!¡± Sofia could see the small green card in the blue-skinned receptionist¡¯s hand. ¡°Oh, it was accepted, then.¡± ¡°Indeed. It was approved by the Empress herself, as all Mithril IDs should. There you go, it¡¯s all yours,¡± Ellena held out the metallic green card with both hands. ¡°Thank you!¡± ¡°It is my pleasure. Please check that the information on it is all correct while I go fetch the rest of the package,¡± Ellena announced as soon as Sofia grabbed the card. It was tightly packed with data and even showed engravings of Sofia¡¯s face from the front and the side. ¡®Mithril rank ID n¡ã138 Sofia Aphenoreth As of issuing: Human Female Yellow hair, blue eyes, white skin Aged 21, Height 196 cm, Weight 486 kg Nobility rank : Baroness (Foreign) Class ID : Saint, Benefactor Deity: Sorrow, Level 249 No criminal records in Exidion Guarantor: High Priest of Death¡¯s church - Dr. Leverle (Mithrium n¡ã6)¡¯ Wait¡­ I never mentioned Scripture. She just marked me as Saintess of Sorrow? I could understand a receptionist making that mistake but, the Empress validated that? Wasn¡¯t the Emperor supposed to be over level 500? There¡¯s no way his wife wouldn¡¯t have noticed this, right? Maybe she was too spooked by my name and approved without looking over the rest? Well, whatever. Let¡¯s just say it¡¯s all correct. Also, fucking hell. Half a ton? I¡¯m wearing the anklet, too, so the real number is double that¡­ It¡¯s a wonder I¡¯m not breaking everything I touch. And everyone else is the same, for that matter. I suspect there¡¯s more at play here, because even if my steps are heavy they¡¯re not that heavy. While Sofia had an existential crisis over weighing more than the average stone ogre, the receptionist came back with a stack of loose pages of paper. ¡°Is your card alright?¡± she asked. ¡°Yes, all good.¡± ¡°Nice! I brought you two maps, you have this one for the Empire and its surroundings, this one is the district of Exalta on one side and the location and names of major shops and places of interest on the other. The fourteen other pages contain all the rights and laws that apply to you as a Mithril ranked foreigner, please read them in detail when you have the time.¡± ¡°Will do. Is that everything?¡± ¡°Yes. I would offer help to find lodgings for your stay, but I assume that you do not need my assistance,¡± the receptionist explained as she threw a look toward Leverle who was already waiting near the door. ¡°I should be alright.¡± ¡°Then we are good.¡± ¡°Oh right, does this card expire?¡± The receptionist shook her head. ¡°The Mithril rank IDs are valid for life, only the Imperial couple may deliver or annul them.¡± ¡°Good to know. Thank you, sorry for keeping you on the job so late. Night is almost here already.¡± ¡°I get a good commission on Mithril IDs, so this is nothing.¡± Ellena went to open the door for them to leave. ¡°I should be the one to thank you, actually, the bonus pay will be a real lifesaver. Have a nice stay in Exidion, lady Aphenoreth. And it was nice to see you again, Doctor.¡± Sofia and Leverle left, making a beeline for the Academy. It mattered little that it was soon to be night, it was not like them nor the headmaster needed to sleep anyway.
Chapter 303 - Contemplations Brighthall academy, the largest and tallest edifice of Exalta standing proud at its very center. Its high towers dwarfed even the nearby Imperial palace. The magical array barrier surrounding it was probably strong enough to withstand even Erredis¡¯ attacks, the cost of its upkeep likely to be in the tens of millions of mana. A single beastman ¡®guard¡¯ was stationed at the entrance, a large castle-like gate, which was likely to be the only opening in the barrier. Unarmed, the armored dog-eared man was reading a book while sitting behind a small lectern. [Hero - Lv. 438] The ears of the beastman rose from his book as Sofia and Leverle approached. Closing the book, he called out, ¡°You must be the new teacher! Sonia, was it? Nice to see you again, Doc.¡± ¡°It¡¯s Sofia. Nice to meet you, Sir¡­ guard?¡± ¡°Caleb,¡± Leverle informed Sofia. ¡°It is I, indeed, Caleb the Guard dog. Anyway, do you have your ID? Can¡¯t let you in without one. Even if you have an appointment.¡± Sofia came closer to show her new ID card. Caleb quickly looked it over, looking impressed and nodding exaggeratedly. ¡°Does seem you¡¯re the right person, the Headmaster will meet you soon. Will you go inside with her, Doc?¡± ¡°No need,¡± he answered. ¡°You may come find me at the church if an issue crops up. It is also a good shelter, though lesser than the academy itself. I will check-in periodically to make sure everything is alright, and someone will be following you whenever you leave the academy.¡± That¡¯s a bit much¡­ But I guess this is what Erredis paid for. If she believes I will need that protection then I might as well take it. ¡°Sounds fine, thank you for the help until now, Leverle.¡± ¡°Say nothing of it. Since I was paid to do it, you need not be thankful.¡± Bidding farewell to Sofia and Caleb, Leverle simply walked away in the darkness of a nearby alleyway. ¡°There goes the Doc. Well. Do you need my help to get in?¡± Caleb asked. ¡°Do I? Does the gate not open? Is phasing through it allowed?¡± ¡°Phasing? The usual method is teleportation, but do try that,¡± Caleb said with a wide smile. ¡°Is there no security magic or anything? This looks like a major weak point. Why even have the barrier¡­¡± ¡°There is but I get to decide who triggers it and who doesn¡¯t. I¡¯m a shieldmage. This whole barrier is my thing. Well, the design, at least.¡± ¡°Alright then, I¡¯m going through.¡± Sofia advanced closer to the massive gate. Her graveyard skeletons managed to appear inside the gate, sticking their arms out to grab her in. No issues so far. Damn this gate is like ten meters thick. Hard to call it a gate at this point, it¡¯s just a block of enchanted steel. The graveyard skeleton gently let Sofia out on the other side. Caleb was right there, waiting for her, squatting and slowly wagging his tail. ¡°Interesting. You might still want to learn short range teleportation during your time here, but that¡¯s a neat trick.¡± ¡°Learn short range teleportation, like one would learn [Identify]?¡± ¡°Somewhat? It¡¯s old magic, not really basic by the system stuff like identifying, though some students do choose to get it as a classless when it makes sense in their kit. For most, the wildcast version we teach is more than enough.¡± ¡°Interesting. I¡¯ll be looking forward to learning that, I could definitely use the extra battle movement.¡± ¡°Might wanna free up a classless slot then, miss Saintess. The basic version is a bit slow, meant for young students after all.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll think about it. Might be time to get rid of [Identify] then. Unless that¡¯s a bad idea?¡± Caleb tilted his head. ¡°How much d¡¯you trust your scribe, miss Sonia?¡± The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. It¡¯s Sofia¡­ ¡°A lot.¡± ¡°Then if you¡¯re already able to wildcast it at level 2, just throw that shit to the dogs. Figuratively. The higher levels are really only useful to historians and aristans. If it¡¯s still level one tho, might wanna keep it a bit longer.¡± ¡°Level 2 already. Is level 3 that underwhelming?¡± ¡°Eh, it just doubles down on the effects of tier 2. You get to have an easier time analyzing stuff what people are wearing and using, slightly longer range, and more info on stuff¡¯s properties like their estimated age or passive upkeep cost. Not bad but not great either.¡± ¡°Alright, thanks for the advice, sir Caneb. Should I go find the Headmaster now?¡± ¡°No need. He be coming, for sure. No way he didn¡¯t see you enter. I¡¯ll get back to my job, you can wait for the mans here. Have a good one, Sonia.¡± The man barked once and disappeared. Weird. Alone on the other side of the gate, Sofia now had some time to observe her environment. The entrance to Brighthall was an open air rectangular courtyard with a fountain in the middle, decorated by the statue of a young Exidian in long robes holding up a blazing torch. There were also wooden benches on the sides, the stone paved floor was old and covered in muddy footprints, which was odd considering there had been no rain the entire time that Sofia had been in the capital. This is probably used as a gathering place of some sort. Next Sofia¡¯s gaze was attracted by the high towers above. Just the buildings around her, creating that small courtyard, were already several floors tall. And on top sat more extensions and towers, sprouting like mushrooms in a thicket. This reminded Sofia of the Church¡¯s cloistered garden. I wonder if they ever found the ritual circle I used for the Rat-Pareth. Not that it would matter. The entire Church had probably been wiped by Scripture¡¯s mind parasites by now¡­ Is Einsen doomed? Skyreach as a whole? I hope Izuka is alright. Maybe she grabbed her Princess friend and escaped. I hope she did, she was nice. Saria and everyone are already inside, right? I wonder where the dorms are. Astelia did say I would have a private room as a Teacher. ¡°What do you think? Awe inspiring, isn¡¯t it?¡± The voice came from a bearded old Exidian whose presence and arrival Sofia hadn¡¯t noticed at all. The headmaster. Beligenus the great Sage. A Dragon on Erredis¡¯ level. No matter what, this power sent a small chill down Sofia¡¯s spine. But his presence wasn¡¯t hostile. ¡°Quite, yes. Was the layout inspired by the Moonlit Castle?¡± ¡°You have a good eye. The young Vampire noticed it too, although that would have been an obvious outcome in her case.¡± ¡°Why this style in particular? It¡¯s not quite the same as the rest of the city¡¯s architecture. Even if mostly similar.¡± ¡°Have you seen it with your own eyes?¡± the old Exidian asked. ¡°The Moonlit Castle? Yes. I also saw the small one on the moon.¡± ¡°No wonder the guardian and Death¡¯s Son both showed up, then. I had thought your backer to be only Vlakirr¡¯s young. But nevermind that. Tell me, Human, what did you feel when you first laid your eyes upon the gargantuan Moonlit Castle the Vampires occupy?¡± ¡°Wonder? Awe? Disbelief maybe? I just remember being astonished that such a place could even exist,¡± Sofia answered, trying her best to recall the time she spent with Astelia atop the gigantic structure that spanned further than the horizon. ¡°Right? As a Dragon, I have a different sense of scale. Yet, when I first saw it, my reaction was the same. Who could have been mad enough to build this? For what purpose? But no matter what, impressive it was. Something one can always remember as greater than; defying all common sense.¡± ¡°And the goal for the academy¡¯s design was to replicate that feeling?¡± Sofia asked, looking up at the highest tower. ¡°Yes. I wanted it to be a pillar of the magic world. A place standing tall and mighty, so that its students know not to give up when they face hardship. That it stands as a testament of the greatness sufficient hard work and understanding can bring.¡± Hmm¡­ Sofia paused and thought for a few seconds. Pondering her next words carefully. ¡°Then¡­ Is that message not a bit lost, considering you founded this place, and you, as a Dragon, were born naturally smart and strong. Wielder of powerful magic by birth?¡± The headmaster nodded silently. For the first time he looked at Sofia. ¡°But I did not build this place. It was entirely built by my first batch of students. Ones who started weak and lost. You¡¯ve already met one of them.¡± ¡°Caleb is one of the original students of the academy?¡± ¡°Indeed,¡± he confirmed, before going right back to staring at the high towers of the academy above. ¡°He was still a young teenager when he was summoned, in the early days of the system. Everyone was still barely figuring out the entire Saint situation. I took him under my wings, like many others.¡± ¡°So Brighthall academy is about three thousand years old?¡± ¡°Three thousand on the dot this year,¡± Beligenus confirmed, a hint of pride in his otherwise calm voice. ¡°Congratulations.¡± That¡¯s actually impressive, even for a Dragon, isn¡¯t it? He¡¯s been teaching for three thousand years straight. Now that¡¯s dedication to one¡¯s craft. I can respect that. ¡°Thank you. Hmm. That does it for the oral part of the test. Are you ready for the written and practical exams? Not just anyone is allowed to be a teacher under my supervision, no matter how exceptional your backers may be.¡± That was a test already? I might be getting a little too comfortable with speaking casually to just about anyone. ¡°I¡¯m always ready.¡±
Chapter 304 - Sticks and Stones Out of everything that Sofia had expected to be doing on her first night at the academy, sitting alone at a desk in an empty classroom with a pencil and a sheet of questions wasn¡¯t what she had expected. The paper was also heavily enchanted. Sofia could tell that much. So far, it only said: ¡®Question 1: What are three things a good teacher should always strive for?¡¯ Three things? The only really good teacher I¡¯ve had was Sun¡¯s Oracle. But I¡¯m not quite sure his training methods are what Beligenus is looking for¡­ ¡°I should just write common sense stuff I guess?¡± ¡®A1: The safety of their students. Making sure the teachings are both understood by and useful to them. To continue to learn and become a better teacher.¡¯ That should do it. A few seconds after Sofia stopped writing, the page became blank again. And a new question came to replace the previous one. ¡®Question 2: How many spells can one learn?¡¯ Is that some kind of trick question? ¡®A2: As many as their body and mind can handle.¡¯ Right? ¡®Question 3: You come across a sapient troll trying to summon a demon by drawing circles in the sand, what do you do?¡¯ Weird question but sure¡­ ¡®A3: Explain that demons cannot be summoned.¡¯ ¡®Question 4: Two summoners have a friendly bet, they will let their summons fight without directing them. Between three clay golems swordsmen and one haunting specter, who will win?¡¯ Ah, now this one is for sure a trick question. ¡®A4: No one.¡¯ Golems can¡¯t be possessed, as far as I know. And if their summoner can only make three swordsmen, it¡¯s likely they have no elemental magic capable of damaging the specter. So that would be a draw. Lots of hypotheticals but the question is like this to begin with¡­ ¡®Question 5: How many Elves does it take to plant twenty eight palm trees in a manaless desert in two days?¡¯ ¡°Really? The questions were already a bit strange until now but what does THIS have to do with anything?¡± Nobody answered. Well shit. ¡®A5: I¡¯m sure Oracle Sundered Skies could do it by himself in less than two days.¡¯ The following questions were all of the same type, weird open ended scenarios that could never have a proper answer. Either because they were too vague in what they asked, did not provide proper data, or were barely legible in the first place. Still, Sofia pushed through, trying her best to answer even the stupidest questions somewhat seriously, until the paper became blank again and stayed that way. ¡°I¡¯m done?¡± That sure was tiring¡­ Someone will come after I¡¯m done right? With nothing better to do, Sofia brought out the book of skeleton to summon her favorite crow and spent the next while playing with it as well as trying to make a bone replica of its magnificent figure. Her repertoire of pets felt a bit weaker with the rat and dog both gone. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°Maybe I should get a cat. Or a lizard. Actually, what about a snake? I don¡¯t know, a lot of Crowie¡¯s appeal is how smart he is. What other smart small animals are there?¡° The ultimate book summon would be a Dragon, right? But considering all I¡¯ve learned now, getting a full Dragon¡¯s skeleton seems pretty impossible. Even if I could somehow find the remains of a long dead one, going grave robbing looks like a good way to end up also in the cemetery. Unless I find a skeleton so old they have basically no living family left, but that sounds like a stretch, considering how old they can live¡­ ¡°Well, I¡¯ll see. Who knows. Surely I can get one to donate their acenstore¡¯s bones or something. I got five of Sun¡¯s essences so a dead Dragon doesn¡¯t sound too far fetched¡­¡± ¡°Quite the interesting conversation to hold with oneself. My advice on the matter would be to wait until the right opportunity comes, many a necromancer has fallen in their thirst for power,¡± Beligenus chimed in from behind, as if he had always been there. Of course Sofia hadn¡¯t heard or sensed him coming at all once again. ¡°Ahah, it¡¯s not¡­¡± ¡°There is no shame in seeking power. I will not chastise you, I know what your right arm is made of, it does not disturb me. Do you know, young girl, who mostly use the remains of us Dragons for the purpose of war?¡± ¡°Dragons.¡± ¡°That is so, yes. As such, you can be at ease with these topics, it is but a natural ramification of being the strongest species,¡± Beligenus confirmed. ¡°And the scarcity of such remains is a consequence of the low population, which is another natural outcome¡­¡± ¡°Low population and low death rate. There must be around a hundred of us still alive currently. In a way, this is a large amount. In others, this is terribly low. That being said, there were times in the past where Dragons were numerous. Our species was once prosperous, or so the legends say. There won¡¯t be much left on the surface, but to this day, we sometimes discover relics of those times deep underground. You simply must be willing to go where no one else was.¡± ¡°Like, say, in the depths under a certain Leviathan?¡± ¡°That is a very good guess. I would say that there is a high certainty of finding countless interesting things down there, should anyone manage to reach them alive. However, the sea monster is not one to be trifled with. Now, shall we start your practical evaluation? Let us finish those formalities before the sun rises.¡± ¡°Fine with me.¡±
The Headmaster led Sofia to an underground arena, pointing out the function of the different facilities they walked through. Explaining that even if she failed to become a teacher he would still gladly take her in as a student. ¡°So the arena is right below the open training grounds¡­ Does the barrier extend to the underground too?¡± Sofia asked as she entered the place that oddly looked a lot like the arena in which she had held her first meeting with Valeure. ¡°Of course. Most of the underground space covered by the barrier is being used. The academy grounds are much larger under than above. There are numerous specialized training facilities and other such places. They were gradually added by the new generations of students. We even have an artificial ¡®Dungeon¡¯ in there where first-years can try their skills against Gemites and get their first levels.¡± ¡°Gemites?¡± ¡°Natural quartz golems. They are quite cute and relatively harmless, dumb as rocks.¡± ¡°Interesting, I hope I¡¯ll get to see them.¡± ¡°You do? Well you¡¯re in luck,¡± Beligenus held his right fist out in front of him, his long blue fingers with sharp nails unfurling, magic whirled in the palm of his hand. A massive figure appeared mid-air in the arena, it fell with great force. The landing of the creature shook the arena. It roared, and Beligenus laughed. ¡°This is your test, a level 299 Gemite. Try not to break the arena too much, and remember the subject you are meant to teach.¡± The wide colossus of crystal was about twelve meters tall and almost as large, with raised arms he would be able to touch the ceiling of the arena, and easily occupied a good tenth of its area. Its vaguely humanoid figure was made of an amalgam of countless quartz crystals the size of an arm all grouped around one tall core hexagonal prism that only stuck out at the top of the Gemite¡¯s body like a flat head. Pareth came out by himself, and the Headmaster did not react. The subject I am meant to teach being ¡®summoner combat strategies¡¯, he wants me to put on a good show with all the summons. I hope he doesn¡¯t need me to kill the thing, a level 299 without the bolts and rot might be a bit much. In fact a level 299 in general is a bit much. I¡¯m pretty sure now that the Orvod I fought in the first trial wasn¡¯t quite as strong as he should have been. And I only got him because I managed to land an instant-kill skill¡­ ¡°If I am to be honest. I would hardly consider this cute,¡± Sofia commented as her armor formed over her body. ¡°The big ones are not quite as lovely, that I will concede. However, they are still very much at the same intellect level.¡± It is really just waiting like a rock inside of the Arena. It¡¯s a wonder how it can roar and why it even did if it wasn¡¯t going to attack. I kinda wish I had time to put on a rune or two¡­ Well, whatever. Scepter ready, armor ready, Bookie ready. Let¡¯s go! The second Pareth¡¯s [Sanctified grounds] flared up, illuminating the floor of the arena, he and Sofia jumped in. Opening the book of skeletons, Sofia ripped out three pages at once. ¡°Let me show you the power of skeletons!¡±
Chapter 305 - Won’t break my bones The arena was no longer quite as empty, Bookie¡¯s fog rolled down, spreading like a tidal wave summoning a small army of skeletons. From the fog came the twenty five paladins, three templars, and the high-priest. Countless heads and hands clawed their way out of the ground, the graveyard skeletons wouldn¡¯t be able to stop the giant, but they could allow the other skeletons to dive into the ground and safely move around the battlefield. Mana : 331 750 / 417 100 Next is the [Skull Choir]! A wall of fifty one sandworm skulls appeared around Sofia, as waved her staff around, they moved to aim where she pointed. I can maintain that for almost three minutes. That¡¯s plenty, I only need to immobilize it. The colossus of crystal just now realized it had been surrounded, it started walking in Sofia¡¯s direction. Pareth take agro. Paladins spread around the arena, coordinated [Slash of light] on the left leg. Templars, start channeling [Holy Smite]. Priest, keep the templars alive. When Pareth charged, the colossus answered with a surprisingly fast right-handed punch. His feet planted into the arena¡¯s ground, Pareth blocked the hit, losing about fifteen percent of his health. The Paladins used their skill, and a flurry of swords of light impacted the monster¡¯s left leg on the same spot. The damage was minimal, barely denting the crystal, but it was a start. ¡°Attack!¡± The sandworm skulls had been charging up, light building inside of their tubular structures, under Sofia¡¯s command, they followed the aim of her staff, and unleashed their energy beams in unison. The attack rays hit the place the paladins had damaged. Again, the damage was underwhelming, but present. The energy beams would last for three seconds before the skulls needed to stop and charge up again. Meanwhile, Pareth jumped as high as he could to avoid the follow-up hit coming from the second hand. Yet, again, the monster was much faster than his massive figure would make one believe, and Pareth was hit again. This time, however, he took no damage, and was propelled toward the ceiling. The paladins were charging their second wave of [Slash of light]. Temporarily rid of Pareth, the Gemite changed its target to the closest paladin, crushing it underfoot. Taking another step forward, it tried to crush another, but found nothing to crush once its giant crystalline leg touched ground. The graveyard skeletons, given sufficient time by the death of the first paladin, had brought this one and all the nearest ones underground. Pareth had hit the ceiling of the arena feet first and sprung back down, his huge sword aiming for the Gemite¡¯s massive hexagonal head. Half of the sword penetrated into the flat top of the head, prompting the monster to try to crush the pesky skeleton on its head. It was too fast for pareth to move safely out of the way, he could only teleport to Sofia or brace himself and try to absorb the impact of this mountain of crystal coming his way. To Sofia¡¯s surprise, he stood there, a foot against his large sword mimicking Mornn¡¯s to prevent it from disappearing. Taking a low stance he arms rose up to intercept the giant¡¯s hand coming from above. Still directing the choir¡¯s attack, Sofia observed as Pareth squashed under the immense weight, his health dwindling in ten percent chunks as his bones started giving out one by one. The lower the hand forced him, the deeper it pushed Pareth¡¯s sword inside the crystal like a big nail stuck in a log. Pareth disappeared right before the final moment, reappearing right behind Sofia. As he fell, he used [Greater Heal] on himself, instantly repairing his entire skeleton and ready to charge forward the second he touched ground. The big hand of the crystal giant feel on its own head in a loud bang. In this time, the paladins launched another wave of ranged attacks right as the choir¡¯s beams faded, further damaging the left leg, which started to have a visible dent. The fight continued like this for a few rounds, with Pareth being more careful, only attacking from behind, using the graveyard skeletons to his advantage to force the colossus to turn around to follow him. He led the Gemite around the arena, giving clear shots to the paladins when he could, while Sofia micro managed the paladins¡¯ positionment from above while directing the skull choir. Beligenus silently watched the battle unfold. Eventually, as Sofia¡¯s mana dwindled, she canceled the choir. The templars¡¯ [Holy Smite] was ready. She activated the third level of [Runeforged Overlord] right as she ordered the coordinated attack to activate. For the first time she was going to witness the renowned signature attack of the Templars. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. Pareth¡¯s [Chains of the four seals] locked onto the weakened leg of the monster as a tumultuous vortex of mana gathered above its head. [Holy Smite] is the trump card of the Church which calls down the overwhelming light of the Gods above. Despite all the movement of the Gemite and the skeletons, the arena became void of any sound. In this fleeting moment of eerie silence on the battlefield, Sofia wondered for the first time; which God? It should be the skeletons¡¯ God. Scripture? Surely not. Orator? Unlikely. Then who? An uncanny, lumpy wave of sticky magic crashed down from the vortex. It was invisible to the naked eye, but Sofia could see it through her mana senses. It instantly washed over the entire arena, filling it from top to bottom like the sudden appearance of an ocean trying to fit into a small vase. It was cold, suffocating, nauseating. It attacked Sofia¡¯s health, reducing it by thousands every instant until Pareth caught her and shielded her inside of his armor. All of the book¡¯s skeletons fell to this wave of mana miasma, but the damage was low enough that Pareth¡¯s damage reduction effect completely negated it for him. The Gemite crumbled under its own weight, his massive body crumbling and dissociating into a gigantic messy pile of quartz crystal. Sofia missed the message alerting her of its death, her notification log was going too fast. In the few instants she had been in contact with the cold mana, she had received thousands of alerts. [You have been affected by : Instant Death. But your skills negated the status] [You have been affected by : Instant Death. But your skills negated the status] [You have been affected by : Instant Death. But your skills negated the status] [You have been affected by : Instant Death. But your skills negated the status] [You have been affected by : Instant Death. But your skills negated the status] ¡­ The vortex was already visibly weakening, but it would be a while until it stopped. Beligenus snapped, and all mana in the surroundings disappeared. ¡°Well, this was certainly something,¡± Beligenus said, sounding pleasantly surprised. ¡°I did not expect you to actually kill it, dumb as it was, it still had over fifty million health. But opening a pathway directly to Death¡¯s domain certainly would do it.¡± Ah, yes, exactly what I meant to do. NOT. I almost died as well! I couldn¡¯t do shit to escape this weird mana wave except to rely on Pareth¡¯s help. Even the ring of Zar wouldn¡¯t have saved me, its area of effect isn¡¯t nearly large enough to cleanse the whole arena like he did, it would have just collapsed on me again! ¡°To be perfectly honest, this is not exactly what I had expected either.¡± And thank the Lords he has protection against [instant Death]. I mean, of course he does, but what if he didn¡¯t?! ¡°The result is the same anyway, I believe your talents have proved to be sufficient for the job. Let us clean this up and we can set you up for the start of the school year in four days.¡± ¡°Ah! Can I¡­ Can I take the crystals?¡± Beligenus raised an eyebrow. ¡°Is your storage item that wide? This is several hundred tons.¡± ¡°Oh, I won¡¯t store it. I will use it for necromancy.¡± ¡°Cryst-... Please do, teacher Vakaria. I am curious to see that.¡± Ah right, this is the name Zephir used in the introductory letter. Aphenoreth felt a bit too dangerous to use. Even if thanks to my mistake with the receptionist I know for sure it¡¯s fine, now. Sofia didn¡¯t move, she summoned Bookie who she could feel was begging for the crystals, and threw it at the humongous pile of shiny rocks. The book of skeletons opened and its flight stopped right above the remains of the Gemite. Its pages facing down, it sucked in the crystals. Their matter was dilated and stretched into a thin filament that spiraled into the open pages. The speed kept going up for a few seconds until nothing was left of the thousand tons of quartz. The book closed, and fell to the ground. Then it opened slightly and its pages rustled before it closed back down. It burped. ¡°I am at a loss for words,¡± Beligenus admitted. Even an old Dragon is amazed by Orator¡¯s handiwork. As it should! Sofia unsummoned Bookie and summoned it back from her hand. On the new page was a large drawing of the Gemite, though it seemed to lack most of the small crystals, there were only nine big chunks of quartz, a giant one for the main body, and two smaller ones for each limb. Above it was etched an outrageous number: ¡®10 000 000¡¯. Nodding to herself, Sofia turned the book for Beligenus to see. She held it up with a smile. ¡°Thank you for your generosity, Headmaster. Look, this is my new skeleton!¡± ¡°Remarkable.¡±
Chapter 306 - It’s a small world Beligenus led Sofia to his office at the very top of the academy where they discussed the terms of her contract. The main meat of the job was taking care of a class of fifth year summoning-class students. In Beligneus¡¯ terms: a group of five sixteen year old kids who all picked a class early and were preparing for trying to reach level 100 and clearing their first trial. Sofia¡¯s job was to make each of them into a capable summoner-type fighter. Of course there would be other teachers giving them classes on close combat and such things, it wasn¡¯t all on Sofia¡¯s shoulders. She would spend two hours with that class four times a week for most of the year. Each hour of class was paid a hundred gold and credit for an hour as a student in another class of the academy. There would be other events throughout the year but the headmaster said he would elaborate at another time as these were to be one-time side jobs with bonus pay. Sofia would also have to hold a public class every month, where she would spend the entire day sharing her general knowledge, demonstrating her skills and answering questions. Anyone even from outside of the Academy could attend these for a fee. This was something all the teachers of the academy took turns doing, and supposedly the occasion to make connections with the other teachers and powerful people of the empire along with some extra money. After Sofia signed all the papers and shook hands with the headmaster, a strict-looking Exidian woman wearing a deep blue finely tailored suit entered the office. ¡°Master, you called?¡± she asked, replacing her square glasses on her nose. [Mage - Lv. 400+] Aren¡¯t these male clothes? I wonder what that would look like on me. ¡°Beryl, please introduce teacher Vakaria here to her quarters. She is Eltiel¡¯s replacement,¡± Beligenus explained. Beryl gave Sofia a look-over with narrowed eyes. ¡°I was starting to think I would have to teach that class myself. You are going to need new clothes. Lady Vakaria, then? I am Beryl Deathmarch, academy coordinator and your direct superior. You may refer to me whenever you have any question or concern relating to your position,¡± she introduced herself with a straight face. Ominous name¡­ ¡°Nice to meet you. Are my current clothes not suitable?¡± Beryl shook her head, the swaying of the silver accessories dangling from her horns was strangely hypnotizing. ¡°Blonde hair, blue eyes, green robe, gold accessories, and an armored blue arm. Need I say more? Teachers should at least follow basic color coordination, you need to be someone the students can look up to in all aspects and not be ashamed to be around.¡± It¡¯s not that bad, come on¡­ I¡¯m not even wearing the crown. But I guess the saint set is maybe a bit much? I like the four piece ¡®energizing¡¯ set bonus though. It was a bit perplexing that the description was a single word at first but it does do that. I got used to it now, it feels weird to take it off. ¡°I cannot really take off my magical items. But I can do away with the robe, if you can help me find something with similar functions.¡± Beryl walked around Sofia, observing her from closer. ¡°I see. Self repair and other basic effects. Was this a reward from your first trial? I will introduce you to our clothier later, you can pay him upfront or have the cost deducted from your salary, he is more than capable of reproducing such basic enchantments.¡± ¡°This was a trial reward, yes.¡± Before Sofia could elaborate further, Beryl stopped her and walked to the door. ¡°Let us not bore the headmaster to death with such subjects, this way, I will show you to your private quarters within the academy.¡± Oh, alright, sure. Beligenus stood up to send the ladies off, he had some last words for Sofia, ¡°It is a pleasure to count you among our teachers in Brighthall, miss Vakaria.¡±
Though seemingly strict and rather cold in her demeanor, Sofia could tell that Beryl cared deeply about the academy as she gave her a quick tour of the premises through the meandering corridors of Brighthall. It was a lot to take in all at once, but Sofia managed to at least remember in what aisle her classroom was supposed to be. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! ¡°And this is the teachers¡¯ tower. You have the entire fourteenth floor for yourself, here is the key. There are a few rules about your usage of the lodgings that you will find in a booklet inside, nothing one wouldn¡¯t expect,¡± Beryl explained as she handed a thick silver key to Sofia. ¡°Is it already furnished?¡± ¡°The bare minimum bedding and amenities, you are free to arrange and decorate it how you see fit.¡± ¡°That¡¯s great. What about the clothier?¡± ¡°I can bring you to him later today or tell him that you will be waiting for him in your room.¡± ¡°Is it fine to ask for him to come?¡± I could really spend some time making this place a bit better. ¡°Of course. It will be done, please do not leave your lodgings until then, teacher Vakaria. Most of the other teachers have yet to arrive, so the tower might feel a bit lifeless, as does the entire academy. I would suggest that you invest this time in a good rest and sleep. This peace and quiet will not last.¡± The necessary explanations were over, and Sofia was left alone in the hall of the teachers¡¯ tower. This was a space for teachers to relax with couches and tea tables. It was still and silent. Finally alone¡­ I¡¯m sure she means well, but people like her are tiring to be around. Sofia played with the heavy key in her hand. It was enchanted, one could tell at a glance. The teachers¡¯ rooms were each protected by their own barriers that only these keys could safely open. The small first floor landing was decorated with fake plants, and grass, it felt like someone had tried to recreate the ambiance of a small swamp around the door. The nameplate above the door gave the teacher¡¯s name. ¡®Floor 1 - Teacher Akan O Ereid - Advanced Polymorphism¡¯ Strange name, and strange discipline too. Climbing the floors one by one, Sofia looked at the nameplates near the doors. The second floor was a lot cleaner, it looked a bit like the inside of a church with carved stones and hanging ropes. ¡®Floor 2 - Teacher Uradrim - Engineering & Architecture¡¯ Sounds like a dwarven name. Engineering uh? I wonder what they¡¯d think of my engineer skeleton. The third floor¡¯s landing was almost undecorated, there were only two small round carpets, one on each side of the door, red on right and blue on the left. ¡®Floor 3 - Teacher Istina RedLamp - Offensive Magic & Dueling Magic¡¯ This one must be pretty popular¡­ How many floors does this tower have to be able to give a whole floor to each teacher? The headmaster¡¯s tower had a lift so I¡¯m not too sure how many floors it was. Maybe thirty? Climbing the stairs to the fourth floor, Sofia wondered what the decorations would be for this one, and was surprised to find it completely empty. ¡®Floor 4 - Teacher Astelia Glacier - Spatial Magic¡¯ Oh, nice. That explains why there¡¯s nothing. I¡¯ll have to come back here and say hi after I¡¯m done checking my place out. I wonder how she will decorate the place. I¡¯m guessing each teacher does their own thing. The fifth floor¡¯s decorations had nothing to do with the teaching subject, being that there were only a bunch of blue and violet potted flowers all around. Smells good. ¡®Floor 5 - Teachers Ami and Umi Blancher - Fencing & Archery¡¯ Sisters in the same room I guess? Could Saria move in with me? She¡¯s probably sharing a student room with Cinthia I think. Astelia can probably tell me where these are. Climbing up another row of curved stairs, Sofia felt some part of what was coming before even seeing it. Bones? It turned out to be a skeleton in a display case, there were also bookshelves filled with old tomes and a sign that said in bright red letters ¡®Bring back the books after reading them or I¡¯ll make you a brainless ghoul, you have been warned!¡¯. ¡®Floor 6 - Teacher Eternam Aoldun - Necromancy & Alchemy¡¯ Oh, hey. I feel like the class credits I¡¯m going to get will be worth more than the gold. I¡¯m definitely checking the necromancy class. The next floor¡¯s decoration was also books, though much fewer, there were eight of them each on their own lectern. ¡®Floor 7 - Teacher Sekk - Ancient Languages¡¯ Nice to have around. For a magic academy, the subjects they teach here are quite varied. I guess these books are in all the languages they teach? Eight is a lot. Sofia was still lost in her thoughts about the ancient languages she knew about when her eyes went over the plaque of the eighth floor. What she read stopped her dead in her tracks. ¡®Floor 8 - Teacher Jennifer Sellar - Monster Hunting¡¯
Chapter 307 - Bone-Home Sellar was Sofia and Saria¡¯s name from their father¡¯s side. It was a name they had been denied after their mother died and their father married another woman of nobler status. In another world, this might have been a tragic story, but to Sofia, it was all just the recollections of her older sister. She barely remembered her mother, while her father was but a distant and blurry image in her memory. They were both dead anyway. Still, when faced with someone sharing her birth name, Sofia was intrigued. ¡®It could be a coincidence¡¯ had been her first thought. But then she read it again. Jennifer. Sofia clearly remembered the strange sensation of looking at a different version of herself when she met the tall blonde warrior woman in the mercenary group that helped her escape the castle in her first trial. She had been a muscular woman wielding a large claymore, and she had a strong accent. Most importantly, her name was Jen. There is no way. Right? Like hypnotized, Sofia walked up to the door and knocked twice. No one answered. She knocked again, and the answer again was a heavy silence. No one home. Well. I¡¯ll have to come back to this later. Might as well bring Saria too. Even if we¡¯re really related, that would be like an ancestor of several generations, no? But to think that I met her in the trial. Sofia was a bit too lost in her thoughts as she climbed the floors, when she looked at a nameplate again it read: ¡®Floor 15 - Teacher Caleb Whitehound - Barrier & Defensive Magic¡¯ ¡°Oh, I¡¯ve gone too high.¡± So this guy isn¡¯t just the academy¡¯s doormat. He did say he was a shieldmage, so he lives on the floor right above mine¡­ Sofia turned around and was finally on her own floor. There was no decoration, but the nameplate was already there. ¡®Floor 14 - Teacher Sofia Vakaria - Summoner combat strategies¡¯ It¡¯s interesting that they kept my name as Vakaria everywhere. I¡¯m sure Beligenus knows about my actual name, Caleb has even seen my ID. Well, it is better like this. Even if Aphenoreth is safe when it references me, better safe than sorry. Bringing her silver key to the door, Sofia had to wait for the magic barriers to unlock one by one. The magic only showed up when they were brought to life like this, and it was pretty impressive. These barriers felt almost as strong as the one protecting the academy from the outside. I don¡¯t think I could break through these even with a big bolt, that¡¯s some pretty serious security. If I¡¯m actually in any kind of danger, hiding in there might be my best bet until Leverle comes to protect me. After twenty seconds of the complex magic locks of the layered barriers opened one by one, the door finally unlocked. Sofia entered and closed behind her, the barrier instantly closing back up. At least it¡¯s only opening that¡¯s slow. ¡°Damn, that¡¯s spacious. Quite a few windows, a big main room and doors to other rooms on both sides.¡± The bed in the main room though? It looks oddly like the church¡¯s room with only a bed in the middle of a large empty space¡­ The walls look much nicer than cold marble though. It¡¯s the Exidian style with polished wood on the lower half and stone on the upper half just like the ID registration office. What¡¯s this thing? [Light switch] : press to turn on the lightstone arrays embedded in the ceiling. Sofia was stunned by the sudden discovery of button-controlled ritual circles. She pressed the button several times, watching the light appear and disappear. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. I¡¯m easily entertained¡­ I have not been doing much in the way of trying to have fun lately. Maybe it¡¯s time to stock up on books again. After inspection, it looked like the side rooms were a small study with empty bookshelves, a kitchen stocked up with some dried food, a bathroom and a storage room. ¡°Hmm, too bad I left most of Zangdar¡¯s furniture in my secret mountain base. I never even went back there. Well, maybe I¡¯ll go back someday. But for now¡­¡± Sofia summoned the engineer and the broom elf skeletons to help her decorate the house. She knew Pareth wouldn¡¯t be of any help for that job. ¡°Wait¡­ Wasn¡¯t there one more elven skeleton? Oh, yeah there was! I never checked what it was¡­ Come out buddy, let¡¯s see what you¡¯re made of.¡± [Solar Solar Mage - Lv. 249] ¡°Right¡­ Well. You can help the nun shine up the floor I guess.¡± While two of the skeletons got busy cleaning the place, which was already decently clean, Sofia got to work making bone planks, screws and nails for the engineer to process into functional furniture. It was much faster to offload the work to him than to try to figure out boring stuff like sliding rails, door hinges and such parts by herself, all she had to do was to tell him the name of what she wanted. The room quickly filled up with featureless bone furniture. When Sofia felt there was enough raw matter ready for the engineer to process, she switched to adding detail to the ready pieces with [Bone Dominus]. She tried her best to replicate the flowery vegetal patterns she had noticed which seemed to be popular in the Exidion Empire. In a few hours, as the Sun slowly worked its way up over the horizon, Sofia turned the mostly empty room into a homely place with a bunch of functional furniture and a lot of decorative nonsense. The best part in her opinion was the series of pedestals near the entrance with miniature statues of people. So far she had only made Saria, Alith, Pareth and Erredis, but this already looked extra nice to her, and now she wanted to make a whole set with everyone she had ever met. This would take some time, but now that she had a fine enough control of [Bone Dominus], it was really exhilarating to be able to make whatever she wanted. Looking at her new home for the next year, Sofia felt proud but unsatisfied. It was too white with everything made of bones. There was too little contrast. ¡°I really need to add some color. Should I work on coloring the bones with dominus? I did find how to do that with the armor back then, surely it cannot be too hard¡­¡± With that in mind, Sofia resolved to at least go out to buy colorful carpets, curtains and wall ornaments soon, to bring some life to this home of hers. ¡°Oh, I need to decorate the entrance too¡­¡± Sofia heard some knocking on the door. The clothier? ¡°I¡¯m coming!¡± she answered, unsure whether the person on the other side could even hear her considering all the magical protections still up around the place. She jumped to the door and opened it. There was no need to use the key to unlock it from the inside, but it still took just as long. Finally the lock clicked and Sofia opened the door. A red haired stout dwarf in a formal black suit with black glasses was not what Sofia expected, but it was what she got. [Artisan - Lv. 300+] ¡°Oh lord, if that isn¡¯t a gorgeous new teacher, your proportions are nothing to joke about, it¡¯s good that I brought all my stuff. May I come in?¡± ¡°Hi¡­ The Clothier, I suppose?¡± At least he¡¯s not hiding his thoughts at all¡­ ¡°Indeed, lady. Beryl sent me, said you needed a few new outfits. And I daresay she was right if this is how you usually dress¡­ Wait, is that a Dragon scale?!¡± Sofia smirked. ¡°Oh, you have a good eye behind those glasses, uh? Come in, let¡¯s sit down.¡± The dwarf followed and closed the door behind him. Suddenly Sofia felt a bit uncomfortable about being locked in with someone stronger than herself, but surely this person wouldn¡¯t dare try anything funny. ¡°Aye, name¡¯s Altemir, but everyone just calls me the Clothier around here so don¡¯t bother remembering that stuff. I ain¡¯t gonna pry about the Dragon Scale but I sure as hell would love to have a look at some point. You have¡­ An interesting taste for decoration. I¡¯m sure you and Eternam will be good friends, but well, none of my business. Now, what kinda clothes do you want, pretty lady?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not really sure¡­¡± ¡°I see. Give me a second¡­¡± Altemir stood up, walked a few steps to an empty space in the middle of the room, and started unloading racks and racks of female clothing from a spatial storage item. There were robes, tunics, shirts, skirts, anything and everything in all colors and sizes, even some leather armors. ¡°Hmm, should be all what¡¯s relevant, do you want to look around for the kind of style you like or should I show you what I think would look good on you?¡± ¡°You¡¯re the expert,¡± Sofia answered with a shrug. ¡°Hmm¡­ Alright, alright¡­ What¡¯s your stance on exposed skin? Ankles, arms, shoulders, open back? Cleavage?¡± the dwarf asked, already rummaging through the hundreds of hanging outfits he had produced. ¡°I don¡¯t like having my belly exposed but everything else I don¡¯t really care either way as long as it looks normal.¡± ¡°Quite lax, I reckon you¡¯re gonna be very popular among the male students,¡± the dwarf commented, ¡°lemme see what I have for you.¡±
Chapter 308 - Say cheese Holding up a deep blue robe matching the arm harness, the dwarf narrowed his eyes. ¡°This would probably be the best base for work clothes, an ample robe, comfortable, discreet, can be worn at home and outside. A basic but good choice all around,¡± he explained. ¡°Hmm. Why not? It looks a bit boring honestly.¡± ¡°Well, of course, this is just a base template. Since you wear a lot of gold, I¡¯m thinking I can add some golden embroidery. I¡¯ll also get you a matching shawl and sapphire earrings¡­ Oh, and an opaque white pantyhose, that¡¯s an important detail. You can keep using that one white glove you¡¯re wearing. Do you also need shoes?¡± ¡°I only have those.¡± ¡°Alright, so you do need shoes.¡± ¡°That all sounds fine I guess¡­ How much would I owe you?¡± The dwarf who was frantically running around picking stuff from his racks of clothes and accessories stopped suddenly, slowly turning his head to look at Sofia. He reached for his glasses and lifted them, looking at Sofia in the eyes, ¡°Young lady, what do you mean? We¡¯re just getting started. I¡¯m not leaving until you have at least five complete outfits. Don¡¯t be ridiculous.¡± ¡°Can I really afford that?¡± ¡°Lady, the armor on your right arm could buy everything I own a hundred times over, you don¡¯t exactly strike me as someone unable to afford some proper clothes.¡± ¡°... Fair point. Next outfit then?¡± ¡°If you trust me with this one, then yes. I¡¯ll do the fitting and enchanting later. I assume none of your outfits need to include a right sleeve?¡± ¡°Right. Oh, I usually wear this crown, too. Does that change anything?¡± The Clothier observed the crown for a moment, ¡°Just don¡¯t wear it in the imperial palace if you can help it. Besides that, it¡¯s just more gold, so no big deal, fits well with the rest.¡± No crown in the palace, noted. That might be disrespectful to the emperor I guess. Makes sense. ¡°Then can I request something more practical next? Just something easy to move around in to wear under my armor.¡± ¡°Oh, sure thing. Do you need it padded or light?¡± ¡°No need for any padding.¡± ¡°Aye, just a sturdy white shirt and black pants then. Can¡¯t go wrong with the basics, I¡¯ll make sure the self-repair on this one is the fast acting kind. Next I can get you something that¡¯s currently popular amongst the Exidian nobility¡­¡±
¡°Are you sure this isn¡¯t a bit too¡­ You know¡­¡± ¡°You¡¯re the one who said you were fine with some cleavage, it¡¯s nothing excessive. It might look like a lot of exposed skin from above, but we can¡¯t see shit from below, and you¡¯re pretty tall, so unless you bend over there ain¡¯t going to be a lot of watchers. Unless it¡¯s the split longskirt that bothers you?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s¡­ Ah, yeah, you¡¯re right, whatever. Everyone¡¯s already looking anyway so it¡¯s not like this would make it any worse. Can you make it with an open back? Actually, can you make them all with an open back? I¡¯m used to having my wings out at this point, might as well.¡± The Clothier was a bit taken aback at the sudden appearance of a pair of bone wings behind Sofia, but his mind was already at work on the task. ¡°All of them? No, that won¡¯t do. This one and the court robe yes, but it wouldn¡¯t look good on the other ones. I can make openings for the wings like I do for winged beastmen though.¡± ¡°Fine with that.¡± ¡°Great¡­ So all we¡¯re left with are the accessories for this one¡­ Hmm. Do you usually not style your hair?¡± ¡°Not really? It¡¯s either out like this or tied in a low bun inside my helmet.¡± ¡°Then to go with this outfit, I recommend a ponytail. I will get you some high heels too, you don¡¯t have to use them but they would complement the style well. Black tights are a must¡­ And it would look even better with glasses, but that¡¯s not something people of our level usually need.¡± ¡°Glasses? I think I have that in a corner of my storage actually¡­ Here.¡± Sofia brought out the glasses without lenses that Alith had won out of her first batch of gachapon boxes, Sofia had ended up with them because they were too wide to even fit properly on Alith¡¯s head. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°Oh! That¡¯s perfect! Yes! You¡¯re going to be absolutely gorgeous. Stunning. Though in this case it would be better without the armored arm.¡± ¡°¡±It¡¯s not like I cannot take it off. But, I don¡¯t plan on seducing anyone, so this all might be a bit wasted.¡± The dwarf shook his head, ¡°Wasted? No waste here, the only thing being wasted is your natural beauty in this dreary green robe. Even if you¡¯re not going after anyone, the most important part is how much you value yourself. A good appearance gives strong confidence. Clothes are for the wearer, first and foremost.¡± ¡°Alright. I think these six outfits are enough. How much is it and when will it be ready?¡± Sofia asked, dreading the price she might be asked to pay. She had absolutely no idea how much gold she even had, which was a bad start. ¡°For a new teacher you¡¯re pretty nice. I¡¯ll give you a friendly price, ten thousand for the whole lot.¡± I don¡¯t even know if this is a lot anymore. Do I have that? Sofia looked at the pile of gold in a far corner of her storage space. Suddenly remembering that she had completely robbed the gold storage vault thing of the Solar temple in space. Oh. Ten thousand might be a lot but this has to be several hundred thousands just in ingots... I think money isn¡¯t an issue. I still have the mithril shield too, that has to be worth a huge load of money just in raw mithril. ¡°There you go,¡± Sofia unceremoniously declared, dropping piles and piles of ten gold ingots on the ground. ¡°How long will it take for you to make all the adjustments?¡± ¡°About two hours. Less if you let me work on it here. Also I need to see your feet.¡± ¡°Excuse me?¡± ¡°What, do you think the shoes will magically come at the correct size?¡± Oh, right. ¡°That isn¡¯t too far-fetched, though, is it?¡± The dwarf shrugged. ¡°No, but that would cost you extra.¡± ¡°Alright, taking off my boots¡­ Do you not need the measurements of the rest of my body proportions? Usually they measure with tape¡­¡± ¡°No need, I have a skill for that. Just doesn¡¯t extend to the feet yet, getting into shoemaking was a personal endeavor outside of my class¡¯ original skillset.¡± ¡°How does a clothier even fight?¡± Sofia was too curious not to ask, did he wave huge scissors around like Pareth used once against Mornn? ¡°We have our ways, at low levels it¡¯s thread manipulation, mostly. Kind of like all the races of magic spiders. We also have the advantage of being able to adapt our gear to pretty much any situation. It¡¯s a lot of planning. What about you? I know all saints have different gimmicks depending on the patron God.¡± ¡°I summon skeletons.¡± The dwarf looked around again at the entire bone-made furniture and at Sofia¡¯s wings. ¡°Somehow I¡¯m not surprised, the summoning class students sure are in for a special ride this time, aren¡¯t they?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t even know how I¡¯m going to go about teaching anything to them yet. But I can¡¯t deny that.¡± ¡°Heh, you¡¯ll do just fine, headmaster doesn¡¯t recruit just anybody.¡±
¡°And lastly for this one, it felt like a waste to remove the sleeve, so I enchanted it to be retractable, when you wear your armguard this¡¯ll fold up and become a ribbon behind your waist,¡± the red haired dwarf explained as he activated the magic to show Sofia the ribbon. ¡°Oh? That¡¯s nice, thank you. I think this is my favorite design out of the lot honestly.¡± ¡°That so? Short skirts like these are still not very popular among my feminine clientele, but I think this is bound to pick up speed sooner or later. Oh I also added an obscuring enchantment to prevent people peeping from underneath on this one, since you¡¯re so tall. That fine with you?¡± ¡°Yeah, of course! Thank you, actually. I didn¡¯t really think about that detail but now that you say it that¡¯s kind of embarrassing.¡± ¡°Just doing my job teach. What¡¯d you say you try it on, see if I got the size and everything correct? They¡¯re all the same so if one¡¯s good they¡¯re all good.¡± ¡°Sure, give me a minute.¡± Sofia grabbed the outfit and went to change in her bathroom. She removed all her accessories except Aphenoreth¡¯s glove, to see what the clothes were worth by themselves. It¡¯s comfortable enough. The skirt is much shorter than I expected, good thing he added that enchantment. I did think the white shirt would highlight my chest a bit but this might be too much¡­ Oh well. Might as well leverage my large charisma¡­ I was dubious about the fake belts but this works better than expected too. I have to admit, this guy is good at his job. When Sofia came out of the bathroom, she found her living room free of all of the Clothier¡¯s mess of tools and clothes, instead he was setting up a large mirror and a big chair. ¡°Hot damn! Looks even better than I expected, I¡¯m rather proud of myself on this one. How¡¯s the fitting?¡± the clothier exclaimed as he finished setting up the lightstone torches near the mirror. ¡°Thanks, it feels great, I can tell it was an expert¡¯s job.¡± ¡°You flatter me. Come, I¡¯ve prepared a set so you can look at yourself. This is the only chair I have for your size so I hope you don¡¯t mind the design, just sit on that and smile.¡± ¡°Smile?¡± Sofia asked as she sat on the large wooden chair. Oh that does look good. That the obscuring enchantment? I can¡¯t see through even with VPPV¡­ Ah, maybe I should still cross my legs, what if he can see¡­ ¡°Yes, sit comfortably and smile, don¡¯t move. The mirror will capture your image,¡± the dwarf explained, giving two taps on his big mirror. ¡°It¡¯ll transfer it to a piece of paper, you can keep it or whatever, it¡¯s something that I always do, noble ladies usually like to see themselves like this. Keep a souvenir of their younger self.¡± Sofia sat still and smiled.
Chapter 309 - From an egg After the clothier left, Sofia had tried all of her new outfits, and for now had decided to wear the very first one that the clothier had recommended. She understood why, now. The thick and ample blue robe matching her arm scale was soft and supple. Despite the early morning¡¯s cold atmosphere, it kept her warm like sitting in front of a fireplace. Wearing it felt like walking while inside of a comfortable bed. The golden embroideries had turned out incredible, the shone under the morning light, and if she looked closer, Sofia could even spot some tiny cute bones and skulls in the flowery patterns. The clothier really had a great sense for details. Everything is enchanted, from the boots to the tights to the earrings. This was really worth the money. Sofia already knew the effects, but she identified the earrings again, she needed to make sure she completely had the second level of [Identify] well imprinted as a wildcast spell before she was confident in forgetting the skill to free up a slot. [Golden and Sapphire earrings of perfect tones] : These gleaming earrings are little marvels of dwarven jewelry. Both enchanted with durability enhancement, the right one also corrects the lighting and shading on your face to make sure you look perfect from every angle, while the left one protects you from loud noises that would damage your hearing. They look good on you. Really nice. I wonder how expensive those are by themselves. Can¡¯t be less than four hundred gold, right? Endlessly entertained by her new outfit, Sofia strolled through the academy halls. It was really desperately empty, for now, but it was an interesting place to explore nonetheless. Being alone in a place meant to host many people gave Sofia a strange feeling of uneasiness. Roaming from one corridor to the next, Sofia found the dining hall. It was the largest room she had found so far, and it was currently empty. The long wooden tables and the many chairs were all neatly stacked up in a corner. An entire side of the room was a large buffet which was currently empty, behind it were the kitchens. There¡¯s light in there. Someone in the kitchen? Sofia¡¯s mana senses informed her that there was indeed someone, the distribution of their mana seemed to belong to a humanoid race, from the amount Sofia estimated their level to be somewhere around 190. I don¡¯t know if I¡¯m allowed back there. Sofia thought as she walked over the small wooden gate separating the hall from the kitchen. She entered the kitchen. They were like a scaled up version of the Church¡¯s kitchen, about four times the size, with many sinks and stoves, and even familiar trapdoors in the whole that might or might not lead to a slime farm. The person inside was a fox beastman with pointy red-brown ears and a big fluffy tail. He was wearing an entirely white uniform and intently watching the sunny-side up eggs cooking in the pan in front of him as if they were going to explode. [Artisan - Lv. 139] ¡°Hi?¡± Sofia greeted him. Without looking away from his eggs, the foxman raised an open hand, it signified for Sofia to stop and hold still. Intrigued, Sofia looked a bit closer, and realized that not only was there no fire under the pan, the beastman was using his mana to cook the eggs. Not a spell, but precise and controlled raw waves of mana bombardment to heat up the food. No wonder he looks so focused. One second of inattention and he¡¯ll end up with scrambled eggs. Why not just use fire though? Despite Sofia¡¯s compliance in not disturbing the man any further, he failed to maintain his stream of mana, messing up the eggs in the pan like Sofia had anticipated. He sighed, defeated. ¡°Why are you using such a convoluted way to cook an egg?¡± Sofia asked. The beastman stretched to relieve his tension before turning to Sofia and answering, ¡°I can cook eggs just fine, I cook hundreds of eggs every day. But I¡¯m trying to develop new magic.¡± ¡°Fireless cooking magic?¡± ¡°No, opponent cooking magic. I believe that well used, this magic could cause severe internal burns, bypassing armor and most simple magical protections. But it¡¯s still nowhere near there yet¡­¡± the cook explained as he tossed the half cooked scrambled eggs in a bowl. With a bit of fire magic, he finished cooking them in an instant, and added a pinch of salt. ¡°Eat up,¡± he said, holding the bowl out for Sofia. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. ¡°For me?¡± ¡°Are you not a new teacher?¡± ¡°I am?¡± ¡°Then eat. Teachers can eat here for free. And I¡¯ve already had twelve eggs today¡­¡± ¡°Looks like you have been at this for a while. Alright, thanks for the meal. I¡¯m Sofia by the way. Summoner battle strategies teacher.¡± Sofia grabbed the bowl and fork the cook was insisting on giving her. ¡°Oh, right, Eltiel¡¯s gone on an imperial mission, isn¡¯t she? Welcome to Brighthall, Teacher Sofia. Name¡¯s Paul, and as is obvious, I¡¯m a cook. You can always stop by the kitchens if you want a meal, but if it¡¯s the off hours, you can¡¯t always choose what you¡¯ll get.¡± Eltiel¡­ Right, Beligenus mentioned I was her replacement. So this is why they were suddenly looking for someone fil up the spot, sudden imperial mission. Can the emperor give system quests like Sun can? ¡°Nice to meet you Paul. Are you always in the kitchen? Who works on the off hours?¡± Sofia asked. She ate as he answered, these were good scrambled eggs. ¡°Not just me but there is always at least one cook in the kitchen. Many of the teachers here are sleepless, you among them I suppose, so we¡¯re open through the night in case they get hungry.¡± ¡°Interesting. The year hasn¡¯t started though.¡± ¡°For us in the kitchens and for the cleaning personnel it has never ended. Some people stay here all year round, can¡¯t have an interruption of service.¡± ¡°Makes sense. Sorry for interrupting you then, good luck with your magic research.¡± Sofia thanked Paul for the snack and left him to his own devices in the kitchen. She heard the distant cracking of eggshells as she left the dining hall.
Despite her very long stroll, Sofia failed to find the student dormitories. The academy was just too large, and it seemed indicating directions hadn¡¯t been a priority of whoever designed the place. After two hours of random walking, she had decided to return to the teachers¡¯ tower. Going up the stairs she decided to knock on every teachers¡¯ door until someone opened. Surely I can¡¯t be the only one here today? To her dismay, the first few floors were all silent. Astelia was not present either, but when she knocked on the door of the sixth floor, ¡®Floor 6 - Teacher Eternam Aoldun - Necromancy & Alchemy¡¯, someone answered. It was a skeleton in a display case. ¡°Who is it? Student?¡± it said in an exasperated voice. He¡¯s talking through the skull¡­ I can feel a tiny hole through the barrier he used to create the link. ¡°Hi, I¡¯m a new teacher, I was hired to replace Teacher Eltiel for this year¡¯s classes.¡± ¡°Oh. Have a nice stay,¡± the skeleton answered, sounding decidedly uninterested. ¡°Thank you, I hope we could discuss necromancy, I specialize in summoning skeletons and-¡± ¡°Ah! Where is my head, excuse me for being so impolite, surely you would come in for some tea, yes?¡± Oh, waow. Changed discourse faster than I could turn around. ¡°It would be my pleasure.¡± The teacher¡¯s connection to the talking skull in the display case was cut, and Sofia patiently waited for the barrier to open. From inside, the door was opened by a shade wearing a maid uniform. What the¡­ ¡°Please come in and sit down, I will be here in a minute,¡± a deep voice called out from one of the side rooms inside. Sofia walked in, the shade gently closing the door behind her. It¡¯s like Ihuarah became a maid. This is weird to look at. The interior was decorated much like the entrance. Every wall was a bookshelf, covered in ancient tomes. There were several skeletons and skulls on display either hanging from the ceiling, in display cases or on pedestals. Strangely enough, there was no bed, or anything of that kind. The non-booshelf furniture was limited to tables buried under piles and piles of books, scrolls and loose pages, as well as one small round tea table with three chairs. At least I know where to sit, not much choice. Sitting down at the only table in the room, Sofia gave the room another scan, noticing about ten shades hiding in corners and behind bookshelves. There¡¯s probably more. I wonder what level they are, perhaps I could snatch control of them with Ihuarah¡¯s skill. That¡¯d be a bad first impression though. From the room where the voice had originated, Sofia heard clicks. Rhythmic clicks on the floorboards, to be exact, like the long claws of a Dog¡¯s paws hitting the floor. Their origin soon revealed itself, these were indeed claws hitting the floor. Bird talons, to be exact. The tall and gaunt, feathery figure of the teacher left no doubt as to his race. Avian! [Mage - Lv. 400+]
Chapter 310 - Lively conversations Eternam entered the room, his sharp three toed talons clicking on the wooden floor. His hands looked similar, with long and nimble clawed fingers. He looked like a humanoid crow. His body was covered in sleek obsidian-black feathers except for his torso which was covered in black fuzz instead. He wore several layers of thin black clothes, some tightly wrapped around his torso and his featherless forearms and ankles, and some loosely hanging over those. From under his arms, extending to his back, long black wings draped around him like a tall and majestic cape. His face was a strange human and bird mix, with human eyes above a crow-like pointed beak and a crown of spread feathers adorning his head. Strangely¡­ Zerei looks more human than he does. This is more like a super-extra beastman ancestor or something like that. The real bird species beastmen are kind of pitiful in comparison. Like comparing a lizard and Dragon. Eternam¡¯s head turned on the side like a bird¡¯s as he observed Sofia. ¡°A Saint? I thought Knowledge¡¯s saint was still alive, but if so, which God is it? Loyalty, perhaps?¡± Eternam asked as he drew closer and sat on the chair opposite Sofia¡¯s. His long feathery wings almost entirely covered the chair making it look like the Avian was sitting on thin air. Knowledge? Oh, for necromancy? Is Knowledge¡¯s saint a Necromancer? That would make sense considering Pareth¡¯s ritual uses Knowledge¡¯s rune¡­ ¡°No, my patron god does not have much to do with my necromancy abilities. The class I have is not really a saint and not really a necromancer. Call it a hiccup of the system.¡± ¡°Is that so? I hear resentment in your voice. You must not be contributing much to your patron God¡¯s power.¡± ¡°I¡±ll kill him if I have the opportunity,¡± Sofia confirmed without flinching. Eternam reeled back a bit, making eerie bird noises. Sofia understood this was laughter. Or perhaps cackling was a more appropriate interpretation. ¡°An ambitious plan. You might need more than a few skeletons. But you seem to have things under control. Dragon scale¡­ I also feel Avian magic on you. Whose old tomb did you p?llage?¡± the Avian asked. The words were accusatory but the voice was still neutral. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s probably from this,¡± Sofia started to say, bringing out her staff, ¡°I did find it in a ruined Avian city, underground beneath the human continent¡¯s spirit forest.¡± Eternam¡¯s body was immobile but his head stretched forward, staring at the staff. ¡°Nice find. So a group found shelter underground. Interesting, yes. No other finds from there?¡± ¡°There was a survivor actually. She was turned into an Apostle and survived trapped underground until I arrived. She¡¯s also going to be a teacher here for the year.¡± Sofia had a scare as Eternam had leaped from his chair and suddenly came closer. Pareth even appeared in between them but the Avian¡¯s unblinking stare still reached Sofia from between Pareth¡¯s bones. ¡°Really, yes?!¡± the Avian teacher asked. ¡°Uh- yeah¡­ She should be here already, I think.¡± ¡°Ah. Sorry if I scared you,¡± Eternam apologized as he backed up. His eyes now lingered on Pareth and his halo. ¡°Another survivor. Even an Apostle, that is great news.¡± ¡°Are there so few Avians left? She never explained why they had to hide.¡± Eternam sighed and sat back down. ¡°Do you know basilisks?¡± Eternam asked, venom in his voice. ¡°The miasma-spewing flying sea serpents? Who hasn¡¯t heard of them?¡± ¡°Those exactly. Around two thousand years ago, their king emerged from the depths. A basilisk strong enough to contend with the strongest of Dragons. Its appearance sent the basilisks into a frenzy. They no longer had enough of the sea, they needed to conquer the land, to roam the skies.¡± If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°That sounds quite bad¡­ But why would the Avians disappear when weak races like us humans survived just fine?¡± ¡°Avian bones are a delicacy to basilisks. Spreading worldwide through the skies, they hunted our kind without rest, leading to our near extinction.¡± ¡°Sorry for your loss¡­ What happened to the basilisk king?¡± ¡°Killed, yes. An alliance of ancient and powerful beings got rid of it, but too late. Still, I am ever thankful to them. The headmaster is one of them, forever a hero to the Avian kind.¡± ¡°It¡¯s hard to believe the system would let that happen. I already received an Angel¡¯s warning against using my most destructive spells in places where it could hurt civilians. But yet they would let Avians go extinct?¡± Eternam shook his feathery head. ¡°The system was not always so pervasive. Its foundation and angels were once weak. It took a long time for it to become what it is now. We can only comfort ourselves in that this tragedy led to the strengthening of the Angelic ranks, which has been vital in recent times.¡± ¡°Let me guess, Phageids?¡± Sofia tried. ¡°That is what has been keeping most of their attention for the last thousand years, yes,¡± the Avian confirmed. ¡°How is it that the old and powerful don¡¯t do another basilisk king and hunt them down? I know some people who are but they seemed to be struggling¡­¡± ¡°It is not so easy. The Phageid are slippery, hard to track. Everyone has been trying to find their origin, but the best we can do so far is to answer the attacks in kind. This being said, most anyone over level 400 will seek and hunt them whenever they catch wind of their appearance, myself included.¡± Sofia and Eternam¡¯s conversation looped back to necromancy after a few minutes of discussing other matters. ¡°Quite a peculiar ritual circle,¡± he commented as he observed Pareth¡¯s summoning circle that Zerei had improved, ¡°Curious how the base has been completely replaced by a divine rune. That makes everything else have to work around it. I can tell that an Avian helped design this just from the runic syntax.¡± ¡°She helped make it much simpler. There used to be a bunch of useless junk to hide the divine rune in plain sight.¡± ¡°Not bad. And this is for your holy skeleton, you say? It looks sturdy enough. A shame that the skill must be doing half the work. This ritual circle by itself wouldn¡¯t do any good to anyone else.¡± ¡°Not even to raise a regular skeleton?¡± ¡°No, even in the off chance Knowledge accepted to activate the magic, it would still only create an empty husk. This can only ever bind the soul of your one skeleton, and no one would be able to steal that.¡± ¡°Oh! Speaking of which, he is able to teleport to me whenever. I wondered if I might be able to reverse the process and teleport to him. Do you think that would be possible?¡± Eternam¡¯s head rotated one way then the other. "I will need to see the teleportation through my own two eyes to tell you." "Sure, go ahead Pareth," Sofia ordered. Pareth walked away a few meters then teleported back. Eternam silently watched the process. "Hmmm, the connection could certainly be taken over to teleport to him instead, but¡­¡± ¡°But?¡± ¡°You would need to learn how to teleport by yourself first.¡± ¡°Oh. Alright. Well, that was already in the plans.¡± ¡°Never a bad idea,¡± Eternam confirmed. ¡°Better yet, you might be able to take this one step further.¡± ¡°How so?¡± ¡°You could achieve a place swap by teleporting to each other simultaneously. Timing would be key for that to be consistent, but it could be a great tool in a fight. Either way, these kinds of teleportations will always be easier than regular ones, since you won¡¯t have to direct your soul through the spirit plane yourself and can just follow the already existing track.¡± ¡°Interesting. A bit more effort than I had hoped, but that will work. Was the talking you did through the skull at the entrance working on a similar principle?¡± ¡°No, this is just a transmission spell, the ritual is engraved inside the skull. I could see, speak and hear through anything as long as it has this rune inside and I can connect to it.¡± ¡°Could I ask you to teach me that?¡± ¡°That is going to cost you a lesson credit,¡± Eternam informed her, ¡°Or you could trade for your own knowledge.¡± ¡°Do I have anything you want to know more about?¡± ¡°My shades are uneasy around you for a reason I cannot quite understand. Any idea about that?" "Oh, this is due to two of my skills I believe¡­"
The knowledge sharing about necromancy was lively, clearly Eternam was quite enthusiastic about the subject matter. Their discussion was interrupted by someone knocking on the door. "Time for a practical exam, fellow teacher. You know how to connect to the runes now, do so and inform me of the identity of the new guest."
Chapter 311 - Anything-o-mancer Is this it? Oh¡­ ¡°I managed to connect to it¡­¡± Sofia told Eternam while her vision was of the other side of the door. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ very blurry. I think the person waiting is Miss Beryl. Or an Exidian woman at least.¡± ¡°Likely to be her. Pull back, and let me check,¡± Eternam said. Sofia severed her connection to the skull. Eternam instantly connected back to it. Sofia saw his eyes glaze over and he confirmed Sofia¡¯s guess, ¡°Hi Berry! Coming to visit an old friend, yes? Finally going to hand back my book?¡± He paused for a second. ¡°That was her, yes. Fast learner, this one.¡± He paused again. ¡°Of course, give me a second.¡± The shade maid started working on unlocking the door, while Eternam severed his connection to the talking skull. Immediately he addressed Sofia again, ¡°Quite good for a first try. The blurriness is a result of an unsteady connection, you have to focus on maintaining a constant flow of mana, it should be easy to get with a bit of practice.¡± ¡°Makes sense¡­ I¡¯m more used to sending commands as packets of mana to the skeletons, not maintaining a steady link. In the case with Pareth he¡¯s always been the one creating the connection, or the skill was, at least.¡± ¡°That is simply a matter of using a different tool, you will get used to it. If you need to control hundreds of skeletons simultaneously in the future, this would also be a more efficient way to coordinate their actions while keeping track of their status¡­¡± It seemed Eternam had more to say but he was interrupted by Beryl¡¯s entrance. She was holding a stack of paper folders as she approached. After a simple greeting, she handed one of the thinner folders of the stack to Eternam and the thinnest one to Sofia, leaving her with around twenty more on her arms. ¡°These are your mandatory students for the year,¡± she explained, ¡°As the Headmaster explained, you only have five of them to take care of, Sofia. Although more may join for an appropriate price, at your discretion. Ether, everyone from last year signed up again except for the graduates, and you have four more, a first year kid from the elves and two fifth year students who are also in Sofia¡¯s class. Last is a human alchemist on temp enrollment.¡± Alith? Of course she¡¯d sign up with the necromancy and alchemy teacher. This whole teacher thing feels a lot more serious suddenly. ¡°Five students for Eltiel¡¯s class, ever the unpopular subject,¡± Eternam commented, downcast. Beryl shook her head, ¡°This year is quite something, there are two top students in the lot, I expect a lot more kids to pick a summoning class in the coming years. Be ready for an influx of new heads.¡± ¡°More necromancers would be appreciated,¡± Eternam acquiesced. ¡°Well, that¡¯s it for me,¡± Beryl announced, ¡°A lot more to do before the opening ceremony, be nice to the new teachers Ether,¡± she sarcastically joked while she realigned the stack of folders in her arms. ¡°I¡¯m alway nice.¡± ¡°I never said you weren¡¯t,¡± Beryl deadpanned, before turning around to leave, she smiled at Sofia, ¡°Nice outfit. You look a lot better like this.¡± ¡°T- thanks.¡± Beryl left. ¡°She¡¯s a lot friendlier with you around,¡± Sofia commented to break the silence. Eternam laughed in a series of short caws. ¡°Berry and I are both like that, yes. A bit cold on the outside, perhaps, but dare I say friendly people. Although some students call me a grumpy old bird, and admittedly they are not wrong. But the ones one should be scared of are the exact opposite. The people with a friendly front but a heart cold as ice, like the Empress,¡° he said with a shiver. ¡°Is it fine to say this?¡± Badmouthing royalty is usually a severe crime¡­ ¡°Oh, she knows perfectly well what I think of her. If you ever have to deal with that two-faced vixen, you better keep your wits about you,¡± Eternam advised, dead serious.
After a bit more casual necromancy chatter, Sofia returned to her room. Throwing herself on her bed, she opened the paper folder. There were five pages in there, one for each of her students. Let¡¯s see what we¡¯ve got. Lots of useless information¡­ The top frame is the only really interesting one. ¡®Name : Erian ProudWall Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. Fifth year student / Male Exidian - 16 years old - Orichalcum ID Nobility : First Son of Duke ProudWall Tuition fee : Paid in full Class : [Invoker] Average grade : S¡¯ Alright, Exidian noble, Invoker¡­ Whenever the system uses the word invoke it¡¯s always for temporary summons, usually not live ones. The spine and heal undead had it I think. [Spine of the Black Sun]: Invokes the weapon ¡®Spine of the Black Sun¡¯. Yeah. So maybe he summons weapons? Can¡¯t be that simple or he wouldn¡¯t be taking my classes. Probably not intelligent summons either way. A rich kid but that¡¯s probably going to be most of them considering the kind of place this is. S grades. I guess they¡¯re also using the system¡¯s grading notation. Do they also use the pluses and minuses? Sofia checked the ¡®average grade¡¯ of the next page. A minus, yeah they do use those then. I wonder how you even decide that. Do I get a guide on what and how to assign a grade? I might have to go ask more things to Beryl, or to¡­ Let¡¯s quickly get through these and I¡¯ll go check if Astelia and Zerei are in their rooms. ¡®Name : Guerand Fifth year student / Male Dwarf - 16 years old - Copper ID Nobility : No Tuition fee : Student Debt to the Academy Class : [Golemancer] Average grade : A-¡¯ Dwarf¡­ Student debt? They teach them first and expect to be paid for it later? Interesting. I guess that¡¯s alright if you think they¡¯re promising. Golemancer¡­ Golems are nice. Kind of like the graveyard skeletons, very dumb, basically puppets. At least they¡¯re completely obedient like skeletons. Skeletons are superior, but out of all the summon categories I know of, golems are a close second. Sofia actually knew a few things about other summoning classes, courtesy of one of the very first books she had been given to read while she was a prisoner in the Holy See : ¡®Intricacies of summonings¡¯. Next is¡­ Damn, S+ and sponsored directly by the empire. She must be really talented. ¡®Name : Shaily Fifth year student / Female Exidian - 16 years old - Silver ID Nobility : No Tuition fee : Empire-sponsored Scholarship Class : [Sprite Caller] Average grade : S+¡¯ Sprite caller? I know sprites but I never heard of this class. It¡¯s referring to the natural elemental souls, right? Never seen one but from the description they should look like¡­ Small angel ghosts? I really need to do more research on angels and archangels. I¡¯m starting to think the system didn¡¯t invent anything. Maybe one of the admins was a sprite? They¡¯re supposed to be about as smart as a young child, so probably not. Maybe sprites have a skeleton? I¡¯m looking forward to meeting this one. Next is¡­ Uh. Odon? ¡®Name : En Fifth year student / Female Odon - 15 years old - Gold ID Nobility : Third Odon Princess Tuition fee : Student Exchange Class : [Totemist] Average grade : A+¡¯ An actual Princess. But what¡¯s an Odon? Another race I¡¯ve never heard about at all¡­ Did they forget half of her name? ¡®En¡¯ seems a bit short. Then again I sometimes call Alith Al, so En is fine I guess. I know totems are enchanted pillars, but I didn¡¯t know totemist was a class. Makes sense that it is, I guess. This one will probably want to take Zerei¡¯s lessons too. ¡°And the last student¡­¡± ¡®Name : Lola ElderPlain Fifth year student / Female Exidian - 16 years old - Gold ID Nobility : Fifth Daughter of Marchioness ElderPlain Tuition fee : Paid in full Class : [Spiritist] Average grade : B+¡¯ Another Exidian nobility. Worst grade of the lot. Spiritist¡­ Summon ghosts? That has crazy potential. Direct soul attacks can be hard to defend against, even though the mark of Aphenoreth makes me immune. They also can¡¯t be damaged by physical attacks, and are mostly invisible depending on the kind. This one should probably invest on defensive capabilities and let her summons do all the attacking, since they won¡¯t be able to do anything to defend her. This is quite necromancy adjacent, so I guess she¡¯s one of the two students of mine who also take Eternam¡¯s classes. Who may the second one be? The Golemancer? After all nothing stops you from making a bone golem and that¡¯s pretty much just necromancy with extra steps. I¡¯ll just ask them when I have class. Speaking of which, I should start planning my lessons already, shouldn¡¯t I? Or can I just wing it? I probably could but considering what I¡¯m being paid¡­ Using her wings as leverage, Sofia sprang up from her bed. ¡°Let¡¯s just go check on Astelia first.¡±
Chapter 312 - Drops of progress Sofia made her way down all the way to floor 4 of the teachers¡¯ tower, but Astelia wasn¡¯t there. Next she went up until she found Zerei¡¯s floor, which was the twenty sixth. She knocked not expecting anything, but the door started unlocking a few seconds later. It was Astelia who opened the door, she was wearing the same embroidered robe Sofia had first seen her in at the Skyreach Vampire embassy. ¡°Sofia! You were accepted?¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t too hard. What is Zerei doing?¡± Behind Astelia, Zerei¡¯s room looked less like a room and more like a madman¡¯s attempt at a ritual circle. There was hardly any furniture anywhere, the entire floor covered in magic circles and runes, with Zerei in the middle of it, sprawled on the floor. ¡°Ah, right. She¡¯s trying to replicate your [Summon Blood] spell. Or rather, she just gave up,¡± Astelia answered with a shrug. Oh. ¡°Why would you even try that?¡± ¡°She believes it to be the first step to turning mana into any stable matter you want. I stuck around for reasons. Obviously it has not been going well.¡± Well, it certainly is an attempt. ¡°She is basing that on all the times she saw me use it?¡± Astelia nodded. Sofia entered the room and walked up to Zerei. ¡°Hey birdie.¡± She opened her eyes. ¡°Hello Sofia¡­ Your skill is too much for me, yes¡­¡± She answered while still lying on the floor. ¡°You should have asked me for help, I could have told you it was impossible.¡± There¡¯s seriously no way. Zerei finally sat up. ¡°I know, yes¡­ But I still wanted to try.¡± Sofia shook her head and sat on the floor in front of Zerei. ¡°I think if you spend a thousand years or two at this rate you might get there. I tried probing a bit deeper into [Summon Blood] myself after Ihuarah hammered how much of an anomaly it was to be creating stable matter other than water. But uh. It¡¯s not looking good. Just the external part of the skill is my most complex skill by a thousand times. I observed an Angel¡¯s spell when he showed me and it only took me a few weeks to replicate it. [Summon Blood] though? I don¡¯t think I could copy it in a thousand years.¡± Astelia joined the two on the floor, although she actually floated right above it instead of truly sitting.¡°Truth be told, Agran¡¯s said the same thing. He helped Sofia bottle the blood way back in Skyreach, and he spent the whole time staring at her casting the spell. His opinion was that not even the Queen would be able to learn such a complex spell.¡± ¡°What. Don¡¯t look at me like that. I can¡¯t cast it either, as I said, not in a thousand years. It¡¯s the system doing all the work.¡± ¡°Such a missed opportunity, yes¡­¡± Zerei was a bit sluggish still, but she suddenly opened her eyes wide and started summoning stacks of paper out of a storage item. ¡°Right! Sofia, I made a new ritual aura for you! Well, I didn¡¯t make it for you, but you could use it, yes,¡± she proudly declared while brandishing a piece of paper with a complex ritual circle on it. The center of the ritual circle was blank, which was not something Sofia had ever seen. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°A secret project I have been working on since before your second trial. Hear me out, yes. Last time when I showed you my aura tattoos, you said during the meal after that you thought it was funny how we could be considered objects to enchantments.¡± ¡°I did say that.¡± ¡°Well, we are not, no. Regular enchantments do not work on living beings, no. But passive skills do, by embedding themselves inside of our body and soul, yes? Well I thought of a new way to bypass the issue! I present the ritual-circuit converter! It is a way for the ritual circle on it to latch onto your soul, wrapping around it, this way you can have a ritual circle on your body that will not conflict with your own magic and last forever because it is fueled by your own mana, yes!¡± This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Wait¡­ So you can enchant yourself with any ritual circle?¡± ¡°Correct, yes!¡± Since Zerei seemed too excited, Astelia was the one who finished explaining, ¡°You can only use one because you only have one soul to serve as a canvas, and the cost to maintain the ritual is the cost of whatever ritual you use plus about five percent of your mana regeneration speed.¡± ¡°Has this been tested?¡± Sofia asked as she stared at the ritual circle on the paper. What would happen if I drew Pareth¡¯s ritual on my body with this? What about the Annihilator¡¯s sigil from the labyrinth of Zar? Astelia nodded, ¡°Let me show you¡­¡± Saying this, she pulled on the collar of her robe, exposing the upper right part of her chest. On her skin right where her heart was, Sofia could see the softly glowing ritual circle embedded in Astelia¡¯s flesh. ¡°It works? What does this one do? It looks rather simple.¡± Astelia nodded again, ¡°This is best used with cheap enchantments or rituals, to avoid impairing mana regeneration too much. This ritual is one that enhances stamina regeneration. It works really well!¡±
Sofia returned to her room a few hours later, her back aching like she had been hit by a cannonball. She could still clearly remember the sensation of Zerei¡¯s nails digging into her flesh as she carved the ritual. That¡¯s such a good upgrade though. Looking at her back in a mirror that originally came from Zangdar¡¯s castle, Sofia couldn¡¯t contain a smirk. For the low cost of five percent of her mana regeneration, she had improved her mana regeneration by twenty percent, up to two hundred percent under direct sunlight. It¡¯s too bad that I can¡¯t get the effect twice by standing inside a regular ritual circle, but thanks to my special exemption, I can use the ritual without sacrificing any gold. I used to make a bone platform to stand on when I needed the regeneration, but now I have it on all the time! Thank you for the free mana, Sun! Being able to simply walk up to her windows and watch her mana regeneration speed shoot up really felt like she was cheating. ¡°Zerei really outdid herself. And she¡¯s sharing it for free. Maybe I should try to do something for everyone else too.¡± But I¡¯m no craftsman. At best I can make skeletons¡­ Or bone sculptures. They look nice but aren¡¯t particularly useful. Her thoughts drifting onto magical items, Sofia recalled another of the topics of discussion Astelia and Zerei had brought up while her back was being slaughtered. The academy was apparently organizing a special event for its three thousand year anniversary which would span the entire year. The best teachers would get awarded enchanted brooches crafted by the headmaster, while the best student would receive a national treasure of the Empire, donated by the Emperor himself and an offer to work as a court mage trained directly by the Empress. The specifics of how the winner would be decided and what the magic items did were to be revealed during the opening ceremony two days later, with the Emperor hosting the event with Beligenus. I could use another magic brooch. I still have the one from the Saint Alliance but it¡¯s more of a decoration than anything else at this point. Can I pretend to be one of the best teachers though? That¡¯s not very realistic. Astelia and Zerei are both better teachers than me, not to mention the other thirty or so real teachers of the academy. But it would be nice if I could at least get one of my students to win the student prize. On paper they looked promising enough. Let¡¯s aim for that! Sofia had also learned that Saria, Alith, Cinthia and Joah were still staying in an inn outside the academy, as the students weren¡¯t allowed in quite yet. Sofia had debated going out to join them, but she instead chose to spend the next two days in her room. Alone with Pareth, she spent the entire time thinking about how she would be teaching her students, all the while starting to work on the next step of VPPV. The skill description hadn¡¯t lied in that it was quite an involved process. It took forever to finally get the timing right and make the transformation work, and Sofia screamed every time a drop of her blood successfully and painfully turned into light. As someone who had once stabbed herself in the heart, Sofia could confirm without a shadow of a doubt that unlike what the description said, turning blood into light was much more painful than a simple stabbing. After more than thirty hours of this painful training, Sofia dejectedly looked at VPPV¡¯s description while she showered to prepare for the opening ceremony. [Venerable physique of the primeval void] ? - Second step of the Light forging realm : Light forging realm : Starting step : You no longer age. First step : Your skin becomes tougher and opaque (1000/1000%) Second step : Your blood becomes light (42 / 126 441 drops converted) Good lord¡­
Chapter 313 - Powerhouses As a finishing touch for her preparations, Sofia put her crown atop her head and extended her hand, prompting her staff to come flying from the wall it had been propped up against. I don¡¯t think I¡¯m forgetting anything. Sofia unlocked her door, on her doorstep were five teachers having heated discussions. On one side Eternam and Zerei were speaking to each other in Avian, while on the other Astelia was speaking with a pair of Exidian twins who looked to be about the same age. [Mage - Lv. 199] [Warrior - Lv. 199] Must be the Fencing and Archery teachers, they¡¯re on the floor just above Astelia. ¡°Is this the new trendy gathering spot for teachers?¡± Sofia asked as nobody had even noticed her coming out of her home. ¡°Sofia! We were waiting for you, yes!¡± Zerei answered, beaming. ¡°Thanks for telling me Eternam was back! We¡¯re almost from the same generation, can you believe that, yes?!¡± This was Zerei¡¯s first time finding another Avian alive ever since the end of her captivity, she knew about Eternam before Sofia told her about him but he hadn¡¯t come back to the academy yet when she had gone to check on him the first time. It seemed they had a great deal of things to talk about to each other. They kept speaking their weird Avian language all the way to the ceremony hall. Sofia took this time to get to know the two twins who were exactly who she had guessed. Ami and Umi were kids from the Empire¡¯s lesser nobility, and their natural talent with martial weapons had landed them a job at the academy where they mainly took care of teaching the basics to every new student. They were a lively duo and despite being twins they were easy to differentiate, as Ami had very short hair and Umi very long hair tied in a ponytail. Sofia also learned at her own expense that they were very passionate about what they taught. She had made the mistake of showing her [Spine of the Black Sun] to Ami and the girl then spent the entire walk to the ceremony hall blabbering about how incredible invoked weapons were and showing Sofia the many different weapons she could summon as a [Spellsword]. The group advanced slowly through the academy¡¯s halls and corridors; it was much more lively now than it had been a few days prior, with a lot of people running left and right. And the students aren¡¯t even there yet. Finally they made it to the ceremony hall. They entered through a service door on the top floor. From there they had a full view of the hundreds of students orderly entering the hall some twenty meters below, the main stage on which the teachers probably were at the very end of the hall was obscured by a smooth wall of roiling fog. That¡¯s a lot of students¡­ The Academy is just that big though, so it makes sense, but that¡¯s still impressive. Between all the teachers and the students, this academy might as well be a military base. Eternam took the lead, bringing the group through the fog wall which extended to the very top of the hall, on the other side was the main stage where Beryl was running around giving instructions and leading the arriving teachers to their respective spots. Sofia expected to walk down the spiral staircase at the end of the walkways they were on but Eternam just jumped down over the guardrail and everyone followed. Quickly eyeing the ten or so teachers who were already there, Sofia didn¡¯t notice anyone looking like the Jen she knew from her first trial. Most teachers were above level 300, with some under, Ami and Umi were the lowest level so far. There was a single human in the lot so far, a level 350+ old-looking man with a short beard, round glasses and a long white robe, his nose buried in a thick book. Unsurprisingly, most teachers were Exidians. Beryl was fast to come and tell everyone where they should stand. ¡°And lastly, Sofia will be third from the center on the right,¡± she finished. ¡°So close to the Emperor?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°You¡¯re to be the counterpart to Jennifer on the left side for symmetry. The placement is not some kind of ranking, we¡¯re only managing the aesthetics here. The scene has to look grandiose to the students.¡± I¡¯m the counterpart for her? The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. I see. It¡¯s definitely who I think it is then. No wonder Zerei and Eternam are also opposite each other too with this kind of arrangement. I wonder how high-level Jen must be by now. It should have been about a thousand years since the events of my first trial, will she be thrilled to find about her distant descendants? Thinking about it, it¡¯s not too surprising that she survived, Duke Armand Skyreach must have survived too, considering the kingdom bears his name now. Too bad Scripture fucked everything. Maybe after I kill scripture I¡¯ll take over the country and the remains of Sovuln. Then I¡¯ll name it the Aurelian Kingdom. Doesn¡¯t that sound nice? I can probably have the support of the Red Winds Empire, Couvauz, Vasperia, and the elves. So politically it¡¯s not too far-fetched to have my take-over be accepted. I don¡¯t know two shits about running a country, but surely I can find a skeleton for that by then¡­ As Sofia daydreamed about stealing everything Scripture ever touched, the other teachers trickled in, and ¡®Jennifer Sellar¡¯ eventually showed up. Lords, it¡¯s ten thousand percent her. She looks a bit older, like thirty-five maybe? [Warrior - Lv. 400+] Sure did some growing. It seems she still likes light clothes. At least she¡¯s wearing shoes now. Oh hey, looks like she noticed me. Hi. Sofia winked at Jennifer. The tall blonde warrior seemed taken aback, which only made Sofia giggle. I do look a lot like her, there must be a lot going through her mind right now. We¡¯re going to need to have a talk later. I¡¯m getting to know more powerful old monsters than regular people now. If I was Scripture I would be shitting myself wondering what Dragon will come to cleanse me. He¡¯s lucky though, since I will come for him myself. More and more teachers silently filled the rows until everything was ready. It was hard to keep track of everyone without moving from her spot, but Sofia was in for a surprise as a Saint appeared in the midst of the teachers on the other side of the stage. [Saint - Lv. 539] Fucking hell that¡¯s higher than Erredis! It was a rather sinister looking man of a race Sofia knew nothing about. Looks like a scaly Orc, kind of. I never knew scales could be veiny. Maybe he¡¯s another shape-shifting Dragon? What does this guy even teach and is anyone with the option to be in his class dumb enough to not take it? If this guy is a Saint, does that mean he¡¯s younger than the system? If so, TLDR has really been slacking with his levels. Hmm, no, that¡¯s not right, Erredis is a Saint too¡­ But not really? Does Erredis even have a system-given class? Perhaps Sofia stared for a bit too long, the other Saint also turned to look at her. Sofia decided to wink to him too. Might as well go all the way and get to know all the powerful people I can. All at once Sofia felt a huge pressure come down on her like a thousand moons dropped on her shoulders. It only lasted for an instant but it had been enough to almost make her collapse, the floor cracked under her feet and her bones cried in agony before the pressure was washed away by a system notification. [You have been affected by : confusion. But your skills negated the status] Brother Scribe, the floor fucking cracked, this was no mere confusion! The man smirked and stopped looking. Acquaintance successful? Is trying to bully other Saints with status effects a regular thing for Saints or what? Valeure did the exact same thing back then. Honestly I¡¯m tempted to shower him with rot. Ah, Beligenus is finally here. The headmaster walked to the front of the stage and dispelled the fog wall separating the stage and the audience. It only took Sofia a second to spot Saria¡¯s group in the sea of people, which wasn¡¯t too hard considering the students were mostly blue-skinned Exidians. Beligenus cleared his throat, and the scenery of the hall changed from a regular auditorium to a floating platform in the sky among the clouds. Sofia wondered for an instant if it was teleportation but it did not feel like one. Through her mana senses she understood that this was actually nothing but a very convincing visual illusion. ¡°Dear Students of Brighthall Academy, today, we come together to mark the beginning of yet another academic year, a time for fresh beginnings and new opportunities. As your Headmaster, I stand before you, not merely as an administrator but as a guide on your journey through the realms of knowledge and personal growth. But let this speech be different and shorter than usual. This year will be something special. Indeed, this year marks a significant milestone. Our esteemed institution is celebrating the passing of its third millenia, and with it will come unprecedented changes and opportunities. And the greatest of them: a prize for the student who will stand as the best among you all, a treasure contributed by the Emperor himself!¡± A bright light shone from far above. The Emperor made his appearance.
Chapter 314 - Festivities The Exidian Emperor had appeared out of nowhere in the sky above, which was actually just the ceiling. [Mage - Lv. 500+] Not emperor class like the Red Winds Emperor? Three level 500+ in the same room. The air is getting sticky just from the mana they¡¯re releasing. The mana from Erredis¡¯ true form was more impressive though. The Emperor slowly descended, his thick cape and flowing white hair billowing behind him. His figure was not particularly imposing, he looked like a regal and dignified young man in long flowing robes which only partially concealed a heavily enchanted armor beneath. The two curved horns on his head were the support for a thin silver crown which surprisingly enough seemed to be purely decorative and non-magical. He held a scepter taller than himself which Sofia couldn¡¯t identify no matter how she tried, but she somehow managed to get a read on the catalyst built into it. [Basilisk heartstone] : A spell catalyst sculpted from the remains of a certain Basilisk. Magical projectiles cast through it will lock-on to their target and follow them, avoiding obstacles, until the spell either runs out of mana or hits their target. Item level : 500. Grade : Legendary. So his spells always hit, is what this says? Not bad¡­ A wave of mana hit the students. They all kneeled at once, except for Saria, and a single Exidian boy, who both awkwardly followed and kneeled once they realized what had just happened. Whatever trick that was, it¡¯s not good enough to bypass Saria¡¯s immunity. It got Alith though, so no Hypnosis, Confusion nor Domination I suppose. Sofia completely zoned out of the mundanities at the start of the emperor¡¯s speech, too busy that she was comparing the pros and cons of her own legendary catalyst against the Emperor¡¯s. Her attention was only caught again when it was time to announce the details and the prize of the student competition. ¡°Citizens of our great Empire. Students who have come from far and wide to educate and better yourselves in this place. Throughout the year, you will compete to earn Strength tokens.¡± The emperor raised his staff, and a small red coin with a hole in the middle appeared above each student, waiting to be taken. ¡°Each of you starts with one. You will be able to earn more both during the trials we have prepared for you, but also in great parts according to your academic results. The entire process will be overseen by Sir Tartaros, Saint of Strength,¡± the emperor announced letting the scaly Saint advance from the teachers¡¯ ranks and stand near him. So that¡¯s why this guy is here when the level 500 of the capital should have only been the Emperor and Beligenus. Saint of Strength¡­ Strength must be a pretty powerful God I imagine. The saint stood silently beside the emperor who continued with his speech. ¡°Whoever has the most tokens on the day of the graduating ceremony will be offered the position of a court mage and be awarded this prize,¡± he declared, raising a sleek white sword. It looked more like a fancy decoration than an actual weapon. Above the Emperor''s head, in a gigantic system window, the sword¡¯s description was shown for everyone to read. [The first Key] : This living sword is the first Key, once wielded by Admin |REDACTED|. Grants learning permissions to all conditional classless skills. System supported skills level up twice as fast. Will protect its bearer at its own judgment. Item level : [Sword - Lv. 500] A surge of shock and excitement gained the students, no longer kneeling, most of them hurried to grab their first token from the air. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Damn. Almost makes me wish I was one of the students too. They were not kidding when they said it was a national treasure. Can Saria, Alith, and Cinthia compete for it too? A familiar voice resounded from among the noisy students but was quickly stifled before finishing its sentence. ¡°YOU AGAIN, YOU PIG HE-¡± Dopple?! Are you trying to get Alith killed?! The sword shivered. Does it know the sword? It¡¯s another living item¡­ The Emperor and the saint don¡¯t seem to have anything to say about it. But if I heard it there¡¯s no way they didn¡¯t hear that even with all the noise. The emperor clapped and the hall was silent again. ¡°You may duel other students within the same filter to wager tokens, under the supervision of the teachers. No coercion, and no gifting, stealing and trading for or with tokens between students will be allowed. Those found to break these rules will be expelled. Killing or permanently injuring someone for the purpose of this contest will get you executed, no matter their and your identity. You may also not seek or use outside help of any kind, and are not allowed to disturb class for the purpose of acquiring tokens. Are these rules clear?¡± The emperor raised his hand once again, and a plain linen pouch appeared in front of each teacher. The others grabbed theirs so Sofia took hers too. Tokens. It looks like a few hundred of them? [Strength token] : Tokens issued by the Saint of Strength. They disappear when the holder violates the competition¡¯s rules. Each one can be redeemed for a gold coin after the competition ends. One gold coin per token? This will surely motivate even those who have no shot at winning. Do we get them to distribute as rewards to our best students? ¡°Each teacher possesses a pouch with a number of tokens proportional to their current filter. It is up to you to get them by any means necessary, but you may not target teachers of a level lower than yours,¡± the emperor announced next. Ah. Nevermind. I guess we¡¯re already giving them tokens through their grades on tests. Sounds like this can be abused but there will probably be more rules on our side like a quota per teacher? A particularly large pouch appeared in the emperor¡¯s hand. ¡°For the daring, the headmaster, sir Tartaros, and myself will all be carrying such a pouch. The teachers will have to wear these pouches at all times and those who protect them successfully throughout the entire year will similarly be awarded an item relating to the system¡¯s creators themselves.¡± Oh, alright. No one¡¯s ever touching this pouch. Pareth, heard that? Protect this thing like you¡¯d protect my head. Tartaros took a step forward. ¡°May Strength¡¯s blessing be upon you all.¡± Finally, the headmaster made the closing statement. ¡°While the classes start tomorrow with no change to the planning; the first event of this contest will take place at night in two weeks. Good luck to you all, may you make the Academy and the Empire proud, and may the three thousand years festivities begin!¡± The emperor, headmaster and Saint of strength all disappeared. The illusion around the ceremony hall making it look like it was in the sky faded. In the hall were left the teachers on stage, illuminated by bright lights on one side, and the many students on the other. The same words coursed through Sofia¡¯s head and the students¡¯. By any means necessary. Most students were young and inexperienced kids barely starting on their journey to power. Most. That left about one or two hundred students who were already strong, people like Alith and Saria. For them, the contest had already started. For the teachers of ¡®relatively low¡¯ level and no renown like Sofia and Astelia, they would be the primary target for all the students in the same filter. Most of the other, more experienced teachers had already teleported away, leaving only a handful of them on the stage. Shit. The ceremony hall''s previously calm but tense atmosphere instantly succumbed to chaos. Magic rained. Sofia had no time to even reunite with Astelia, she fled, as countless magical projectiles were aimed at her. You could have warned us before! She cursed at the Emperor who was already gone as she blasted through the back wall of the ceremony hall to escape. Sensing the mana movements behind her, she could tell at least thirty students were on her tracks. A quick glance behind as she flew up within the Academy¡¯s barrier confirmed her prediction. [Mage - Lv. 196] [Warrior - Lv. 225] [Mage - Lv. 206] [Supporter - Lv. 249] [Mage - Lv. 83] [Warrior - Lv. 181] [Warrior - Lv. 230] ¡­ Some of them are quite ambitious, eh? Level 83. DO I LOOK SO WEAK? Wait. I¡¯m not forbidden from attacking them back, right? Sofia stopped fleeing and turned around, facing the large part of the flock of students that had been able to follow her up in the sky. She activated the skull choir in the sphere formation. ¡°Come, kids! My singers will make you dance!¡±
Chapter 315 - Intrusion The skulls shouted, their air pressure attacks battering the students who failed to dodge. They were only targeting those above level 200, Sofia didn¡¯t see anyone of a lower level as a danger. As for the projectiles still aimed at her, be it fireballs or magic blasts, the scepter gluttonously absorbed the weaker ones while she dispelled the dangerous ones with [Heat Death]. With how high her mana regeneration was on a sunny day like this one, this barely made a dent. She could tell some of the strongest students were also holding back, probably afraid of either hitting her too hard or hurting the weaker bystander students. They were still within the academy. Right, I can¡¯t bolt them but everyone is pretty much forbidden from using big attacks. Sofia stopped flying up, instead diving back down. The closer she was to ¡®civilians¡¯ the more students had to restrain themselves from using powerful attacks. Landing on the academy¡¯s rooftops, she activated her armor and stood her ground. Most students were still flying above, hesitating to attack. ¡°Just come down, want a fight? I¡¯ll give you a fight.¡± Three ¡®warrior¡¯ students landed on the roof, the others circled them from above, some already channeling longer spells. Not a very talkative bunch. As the warrior students charged, Pareth appeared to intercept them. In the meantime, a book appeared in Sofia¡¯s hand, she ripped three pages out of it, and soon the surroundings were covered in a thick fog. Before they understood what was happening to them, the warriors on the roof were getting pulled into the ground by tens of ghostly skeletons, while the students still flying above were suddenly swarmed by shining skeletal birds carrying skeletal rats. Casually dispelling the magic coming her way, Sofia watched as the flying students struggled to deal with the immortal skeletons. How do you like my swarm of immortal flying rats? Letting her graveyard skeletons carry her inside of the roof as well, Sofia gave the struggling students a last piece of her infinite wisdom. ¡°Never said it would be a fair fight.¡± Sofia thought she was relatively out of trouble with her tricks as the graveyard skeletons dropped her inside the academy. But two of the flying students had somehow evaded the rats and got there before her. The warrior standing before the mage channeling a spell. [Warrior - Lv. 237] [Mage - Lv. 206] Just like me and Pareth. Sofia ignored them, activating [Runeforged Overlord] at the second level, she flew away in the other direction, bursting through the halls of the academy. The spell of the Mage student caught up to her, trapping her in a cube shaped mana barrier. Some of the students she had left above the roof were entering through the windows, some with rats and birds still latched onto them, gnawing at their flesh. Sofia punched at the mana barrier, the scale armor protected her arm so she felt nothing, but the barrier barely shook from the hit. She activated the third tier of [Runeforged Overlord], doubling her strength, and punched again. The barrier broke, and she was showered by magical projectiles. Negating most of them with [Heat Death], she barely took any damage, and started flying away again. One of the warriors managed to sneak by and swing his halberd at her, only to be intercepted by a teleporting Pareth. Sofia recalled her birds to her side, leaving the rats on whoever they were attacking. As the skeletal crows and turvins caught up with her, she passed by Astelia as she sped through the Academy¡¯s corridors. The moon Oracle was fighting a group of students about as big as the one Sofia had had to deal with at the start, and which were still running after her for the most part, somewhat held back by Pareth. In passing, she grabbed a crow and gave Astelia a hand with a madness throw, which ended up being an ice burst in the crowd of students. I¡¯ll do a loop. Sofia had Pareth teleport next to her as she flew, and gave him the key to her room. Go open the barrier. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. While Pareth rushed off to open Sofia¡¯s room, she kept speeding around inside the academy, whizzing past quite a few ongoing fights and keeping track of her own pursuer thanks to the remaining rats. Some of them were more persistent than others, and one mage in particular was fast enough to keep up despite her massive speed boost, but never managed to land a hit. He missed with every wind blade he threw at her, at best cutting off a wing once, to no avail, as she was currently benefiting from the free flight of [Runeforged Overlord]. Thanks to the massively improved mana regeneration Sofia had in the sunlight, and the many windows of the academy letting the light in, she could keep [Runeforged Overlord]¡¯s third tier active for a bit longer than usual, enough time to let Pareth reach and start opening Sofia¡¯s room. After a full circle inside the academy, Sofia found Astelia again, flying by, she said nothing and simply extended a hand. Astelia looked uninjured but exhausted. She saw Sofia coming from afar and grabbed her hand without hesitation. The two teachers flew through the academy corridors in erratic patterns, now followed by twice the amount of students. They made it to the teachers¡¯ tower and rushed up the stairs, almost throwing themselves inside Sofia''s room, Pareth preventing the students from following them. After scaring them away with a final swing of his oversized sword of light, he also entered while closing the door behind him, sealing the barrier. Funnily enough, a student had managed to teleport inside as Pareth closed the door, Sofia recognized the same wind mage who had been closely following her from the start. ¡°Ahah. It seems like I messed up,¡± he said awkwardly. He was an Exidian man who looked to be around twenty, wearing a standardized student uniform and holding a small crooked staff with no catalyst. [Mage - Lv. 248] ¡°Well, now you¡¯re stuck here with us,¡± Sofia answered with a shrug as she dispelled her armor. ¡°Right, thanks for helping out Sofia, this was getting tiresome,¡± Astelia said, sighing and sitting in thin air. ¡°Can I not leave?¡± the student asked. ¡°Are you daft?¡± Sofia answered, ¡°Want me to open and let even more people in? You¡¯ll leave when they¡¯re gone, if they don¡¯t go away then you¡¯ll be stuck here until it¡¯s class time tomorrow and they¡¯re forced to get the fuck out.¡± ¡°Right¡­ Sorry for the intrusion then, it seemed like a good idea to teleport in at the time, but that was shortsighted. Can I sit anywhere?¡± ¡°You burst into a lady¡¯s home, at least introduce yourself,¡± Astelia berated the student. ¡°Ah, sorry for my lack of manners. I am Mystral, level 248 [Galeforce], or speed oriented wind mage, one could say. This is my third year as a temporary enrollment student. I also work as a Soguva Herder in my free time.¡± ¡°You can have a seat in one of the bone chairs. How¡¯d you rank in the Spire, Mystral?¡± Sofia asked as she served herself a glass of water from the other side of the room. ¡°Not great, I reached floor thirty¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s still something. And what made you go after me in particular?¡± ¡°You were the largest teacher in my level range and my spells aren¡¯t exactly very precise, so that made you the best target,¡± the man explained as he cautiously sat down on a Skeleton chair of Sofia¡¯s living room, ¡°Are you a new necromancy teacher? Etrenam was at the ceremony too¡­¡± ¡°Eh, we should introduce ourselves too, I¡¯m Sofia, but I guess teacher Vakaria works too, I¡¯m teaching Summon fighting strategy. Meanwhile Astelia¡­¡± ¡°It will be teacher Glacier for him,¡± she interjected, sounding serious but with a smile on her face, ¡°I am the new space magic teacher.¡± ¡°A Saint and an Oracle¡­ You ladies are both pretty powerful for your level, it is no surprise you were accepted as teachers at Brighthall. I knew snatching a token pouch from the established teachers wouldn¡¯t be easy but it seems the newcomers are just as qualified. Congratulations on the job, and miss Glacier, I look forward to taking your classes.¡± ¡°Then it will be my pleasure to teach you.¡± ¡°Ah, I¡¯m thinking of taking them too,¡± Sofia chimed in. ¡°Really? You could have asked me to teach you during our free time like last time¡­¡± ¡°Why? I want to see how you fare as a teacher. I¡¯m sure your classes will be incredible.¡± Sofia happily stared at Astelia, it¡¯s too easy to make her blush. Astelia and Sofia started chatting as if the man did not exist, Sofia sculpting bone figurines on her bed and Astelia walking around on the ceiling. Taking advantage of a moment of prolonged silence, Mystral asked a question. ¡°Hum, it might be a bit presumptuous, but since it looks like I am to be locked in here until tomorrow, would you accept giving me a private lesson? I can pay¡­¡± Astelia answered from the ceiling, ¡°What do you want to learn?¡± ¡°I was impressed by Lady Vakaria¡¯s flying prowess, I would greatly appreciate it if she had advice to give on that front¡­¡± ¡°Hmm, I might be able to help a bit. But inside the room is a bit restrictive for a flying lesson. You were not half bad yourself honestly. Let¡¯s see. You give me and Astelia a class on how other teachers manage their classes, what they teach and how they do it, how they do tests, those kinds of details, and I give you flying advice I learned from copying an Avian friend. Deal?¡± ¡°That would be my honor, teacher Vakaria,¡± Mystral answered with a curt bow from his chair.
Chapter 316 - Elite classroom? After half a day in confinement, a broadcast of Beryl¡¯s voice announced that the teachers¡¯ tower, the dining hall and the restrooms were now safe zones in which students were not allowed to attack the teachers for tokens. After that, Mistral was allowed to leave, and Sofia spent the night with Astelia discussing how they would handle their classes. The time has come. You ready, Pareth? Activate all the lights, I think it¡¯ll be better if you just stay out and ready at all times, both for the tokens and for intimidation purposes. Sofia summoned the skeleton high-priest, activated her armor, made sure the token pouch was visible at her waist, and departed to find her classroom. Saint set, crown, staff, scale arm, token pouch, skeleton¡­ I¡¯m not forgetting anything? ¡°Let¡¯s give these kids a good first impression.¡±
Sofia¡¯s classes were early in the morning, so she expected the academy to be still calm. The corridors were swarming with students. Wearing the academy uniform, going to and fro, students were everywhere she looked. And all of them would stop and make space for the armored teacher and her two level 249 skeletons to pass. There were quite a few who eyed the pouch, but none tried anything for most of the route, until someone with some kind of invisibility skill tried to sneak close. Unluckily for them, Sofia and Astelia had discussed the steps to take to protect their tokens the night before. The main takeaway was: always use your mana senses at their full potential. It required some effort and focus, normally Sofia only paid that much attention to mana movements during battles or when exploring dangerous places. Sofia spotted the mana disturbance made by the invisible student. She tried to identify them. [Mage - Lv. 173] Pareth kicked the student away, sending the invisible person crashing into the ceiling as they screamed in fright and pain. I¡¯m getting faster at Identifying. ¡°Better luck next time.¡± The other students were already walking at a respectable distance before, but suddenly there was even more free space around Sofia. SP6¡­ SP7¡­ SP8! Small Practical classroom eight. There we go. Five mana signatures inside, looks like the students are all already there. Class only starts in about half an hour, no? Am I late? No way, the sun is barely starting to show up. Let¡¯s enter through the floor, see how they react. Under the flabbergasted gaze of nearby students, Sofia, Pareth and the high-priest skeleton were pulled underground by bony hands. I think this should be around where my desk is? Sofia rose from the ground inside the classroom, surprised by the complete silence. The students were definitely looking at her and Pareth, mostly Pareth. They each sat at a small individual desk facing the same direction. It was interesting to try to read their emotions. The dwarf was clearly enthusiastic, excited, while the other boy looked serious and focused. Of the two Exidian girls, one looked impressed and the other looked scared. Lastly, the youngest student of the class, the ¡®Odon¡¯ girl, was some kind of small orange furball, at most a meter tall, with two long triangular ears, like a mix between a fox and a rabbit, as well as three fluffy tails. She wore a heavily altered version of the academy uniform with a completely open back, and her expression was hard to decipher beyond saying that her eyes were wide open. She looks harmless but she¡¯s the highest level by a lot. All around 50 while she''s 99. ¡°Good morning everyone,¡± Sofia greeted them, refocusing their attention on her. ¡°I am Miss Vakaria, your combat strategy professor.¡± ¡°Hello Miss Vakaria!¡± ¡°Hi.¡± ¡°Hello.¡± Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. ¡°Good morning.¡± Already talking all at once. ¡°Do you five already know each other?¡± ¡°Yes, teacher!¡± the dwarf happily confirmed. ¡°We all shared a common class last year.¡± ¡°Great. Since there is some time before class officially starts, how about we start by some free talk. I¡¯m open to any questions you may have,¡± Sofia explained while she spawned her bone throne and sat on it after pushing away the boring wooden chair meant for her. The five students all raised their hands. ¡°What are you all doing?¡± ¡°T- Teacher, this is usually how we ask for permission to speak¡­¡±, the shortest of the two Exidian girls explained. ¡°Really? Well, you get to speak first then, start with your name. You can all lower your hands.¡± ¡°I¡¯m Shaily. I wanted to ask¡­ What is teacher Vakaria¡¯s patron God?¡± [Mage - Lv. 52] Alright, so this one is the [sprite Caller]. ¡°Sorrow.¡± ¡°Eh? But I thought Saints¡­¡± ¡°You really started with the hardest question. Let us just say my class is unique and special among the saints. Whatever the case, if you¡¯re asking what God I consider my patron God, that would be Sorrow, next, you,¡± Sofia answered before pointing at the Exidian boy. ¡°Erian Proudwall. My question is: why does a teacher hide their face?¡± Sofia dismissed her bone armor, she was wearing the simplest of her new outfits, a tight white shirt and black pants, it was the most comfortable to wear under the armor. ¡°No reason in particular,¡± she answered while she crossed her legs. Erian looked like he wanted to say more but he had lost his words. At least pretend not to stare at your teacher¡­ Aye¡­ Next¡­ ¡°Your turn,¡± Sofia said, pointing at the small girl covered in orange fur. ¡°Name is En! Are we going to do a lot of fighting in this class or only theory?¡± she asked with a hint of worry in her voice. ¡°Lots and lots of fighting. The plan is to spend ten minutes at the beginning of every class discussing theory while you guys warm up. Then I¡¯ll have practical exercises for you, including battles between yourselves or with my skeletons; lastly we¡¯ll spend the last five to ten minutes recovering and going over how the session went. Happy with that?¡± ¡°Yes, very! Thanks teacher!¡± En answered from her seat, her cute voice significantly more upbeat than it had been when she asked her question. ¡°Thank me after we¡¯re done. Red hair next.¡± ¡°Thank you teacher! My name is Guerand. Has teacher ever fought Sea monsters? Goblins? Basilisks?¡± ¡°Truly a dwarven question to ask. Are you from the isles, Guerand?¡± ¡°I am! My parents are both boatsmiths. But I was never allowed to go on expeditions except to come study here.¡± ¡°Nice, well, I haven¡¯t fought many sea-creatures, but I killed a Siren Queen once when I was at En¡¯s level.¡± The dwarf turned to look at the small girl and the three tails sprouting out the back of her chair, then he turned back to look at Sofia, uncertain, he asked, ¡°T- Teacher, aren¡¯t Siren Queens supposed to be around level 200? They also never attack alone¡­¡± ¡°It was a level 180. I almost died. And I wasn¡¯t alone, I had another level 99 friend there, as well as my most loyal skeleton. This is Pareth, by the way, treat him with as much respect as you ought to show me, he¡¯s much smarter than he lets out even if he doesn¡¯t talk.¡± The students all looked at Pareth again, and to Sofia¡¯s surprise, he gave them a nod, which they all silently reciprocated with a surprised look on their faces. Feeling expressive today? You¡¯re going to be hitting them later, you know? ¡°Alright, sorry for picking you last,¡± Sofia called out to the taller of the two Exidian girls with her long drill-shaped hair, ¡°Lola, am I right?¡± ¡°You are correct, teacher Vakaria, I am Lola ElderPlain. I want to ask what your occupation was before becoming a teacher at Brighthall. Is it true that humans¡¯ natural level is 1?¡± ¡°So you want to know how I got to the level I¡¯m at?¡± ¡°In a way, yes. If it is not too presumptuous to ask.¡± ¡°It is fine. I said you could ask any question, did I not? Humans are indeed born and stay at level one as long as they do not kill anything. Our race might be the one with the weakest starting point. That being said, I like to think we make up for it in adaptability and unpredictability. If you meet a high-level elf for example, you can already infer some things about them: they probably worship Sun, are most likely fine in very arid climates, tend to favor martial classes, and so on and so forth. A high-level human though? Chaos,¡± Sofia explained. She stood and walked around to make it less boring. ¡°As for what I did before and how I leveled up. That is another story. But I will let you in on a little secret. Three years ago, I was still level one. I¡¯m only a few years older than you lot.¡± ¡°What?!¡± Erian cried out before apologizing profusely, ¡°Ah, sorry, I apologize, I did not mean¡­¡± ¡°No worries. We¡¯re going to the practical part of the lesson next, you will all take turns hitting Pareth then being chased by him for today¡¯s exercise. But first, actually, let me show you my age, class, and stats. See what your teacher is made of. I will not show you my full name yet, though, so you¡¯ll have to trust me on it.¡±
Chapter 317 - Still kids After Sofia shared some of her stat lines, she was bombarded by questions again. ¡®Why is your mana so high? Doesn¡¯t your class name imply you summon saints? Your age is locked?¡¯ and more. Her answers were about as short as the questions, this was not meant to be a class about her. At the first occasion, she changed the subject, asking the students to follow her to the classroom¡¯s courtyard. The training courtyard was an enclosed square area of about twenty meters each side, surrounded by tall gray cobblestone walls separating it from the rest of the academy. The ground was made of smooth stones laden with active ritual circles, covered in a fine layer of coarse sand. This barely counts as outdoors, but it¡¯s not bad. Just a bit small for five students. I¡¯ll probably need to request to use the underground arena later. ¡°Do you know what the enchantments on the ground are?¡± Sofia asked the class. No one answered. ¡°I see. Well. Probably safety stuff I assume, we shouldn¡¯t need them anyway. Pareth¡¯s ready to take your hits, who wants to go first?¡± ¡°Me!¡± En almost screamed, jumping in place. ¡°Alright, Miss Totemist. Let me set up everything.¡± Sofia¡¯s [Bone Dominus] had enough range to cover the entire courtyard, so she dumped a bunch of bones out of her storage and moved them around without lifting a finger. She made two circles on the ground ten meters apart to show where Pareth and the students should stand at the start, and a life-sized statue of herself in armor behind Pareth. She preemptively silenced the incoming questions about what she had just done. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about the details of how my skills work, else we¡¯ll still be here next year. Focus on your own magic.¡± Pointing to the ring for the students, Sofia explained the rules, ¡°En, you stand there. Pareth stands in the other circle, he can only defend and grab you to throw you away, and will try to limit himself to the skill and speed he had when he was around your level. You have to try to hit or topple the statue behind him. Of course you can move around however you want, and so can he and the statue. I will tell you when to stop. All good?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± En enthusiastically confirmed before leaping to the circle in a single jump. ¡°That statue moves?¡± Lola whispered to herself. Of course it does. I know you couldn¡¯t do shields back then, but use that instead of a sword, maybe just a small buckler. I want them to be able to focus on the task. Sofia communicated to Pareth as he walked to his position in the other circle. His weapon of light appeared, taking the form of a small round shield. ¡°Do you need time to prepare?¡± Sofia asked En as a final confirmation. The small girl shook her head in response, and took a punching stance, fists clenched. ¡°Then start!¡± Let¡¯s see what a Totemist can do. Three totems sprang from the ground much like Sofia¡¯s gravestones, they were like small wooden poles carved to resemble animals and covered in enchantments. One was right next to En, it looked like some kind of cat. En dashed forward, much faster than someone her level should. Speed boost. The next two totems were just a few meters away from Pareth, one in the image of a bird spreading its wings right in front of him, the other taking the likeness of a big slug standing upright on his left. En closed the distance to the winged totem, grabbing it when she neared Pareth instead of trying to attack. The totem shot up into the air, taking the small girl with it. Interesting. The totem on the ground is slowing Pareth down I think, the mana around his feet looks a bit like the cursed petrification air from Zerei¡¯s dungeon. En used her advantage of her flying totem to jump over Pareth and tried to attack the statue from above. As she was still in the air, mana gathered around her right fist. Pareth turned around, raising his shield above the statue¡¯s head. Sofia tried to move the statue a bit with [Bone Dominus], but the slug totem actually made it too slow to be useful. Still, with the shield in the way, it looked like En¡¯s punch would never reach the statue even if it turned out to be a ranged attack. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. Then En disappeared, replaced by the slug totem. She appeared where the totem used to be on the ground, rolling toward the statue to cancel her momentum and unleashing her punch in a single fluid movement just a meter away from the statue. It was too sudden for Pareth to lower his shield or move to intercept her, at least with his limitation of pretending he was level 99. All he could do was to extend his other hand to barely meet En¡¯s punch. The mana-charged hit was heavy, blasting away the sand in a cone from En¡¯s position. Pareth took no damage, and the statue was intact as well, but the air pressure from the punch toppled it over. ¡°Stop! Well played, En. Good job,¡± Sofia praised, "That¡¯s a strong start. But be careful about using this in a real battle, that second when you land on the ground and need to break your fall could be deadly against fast opponents. For the purpose of this exercise, though, it was perfect.¡± ¡°Understood!¡± En answered with a smile, her tails happily swaying behind her back. ¡°Alright, take your totems back and come here. Lola you¡¯re the second highest level, you go next.¡± [Supporter - Lv. 61] It¡¯s interesting that she¡¯s a supporter. The dwarf is an Artisan, the sprite caller is a Mage, while En and Erian are Warriors. ¡°Yes, teacher. May I have a minute to prepare?¡± ¡°Of course, what are you going to do?¡± ¡°My summon can only attack souls unless I give it a physical shell, so it cannot attack the statue as it is now. I need to bind it to an armor,¡± Lola explained while bringing out a tall orichalcum armor with mithril-coated weapons out of nowhere. No storage item? The magic feels just like my bone storage. She has a generic spatial storage skill? That¡¯s handy. Also, she sure is a rich kid, Daughter of a Marchioness, right? Erian is from a Ducal family too. En is a princess from her race but her totems were still just regular wood. I guess they were just mana constructs though, but she doesn¡¯t have any fancy gear that I could spot. Sofia observed as Lola put her hand on the back of the armor, slowly filling it with mana. There were strange mana movements around her that Sofia couldn¡¯t trace back to Lola. That must be the ghost. It¡¯s really sneaky. Activating [Graveyard of the Righteous] Sofia had a graveyard skeleton grab her ankle to bring her halfway into the spiritual plane, giving her vision into it. In the blurry white world of the spiritual plane, she saw a tall and lanky, vaguely humanoid form, hovering around Lola¡¯s soul. It turned toward Sofia for a second before getting sucked in where the armor was. Interesting. Before cutting her vision of the spirit plane, Sofia observed the souls of all of her students. They all look nice and smooth, no injuries. I know Alith said my soul looked weird, but even through Pareth¡¯s vision I can never see it. Well it¡¯s not particularly worrying. If there was anything wrong with my soul surely Aphenoreth would have fixed it when he put his mark there. Maybe it¡¯s just the aftermath of hosting a Soul Parasite for a while. Seeing Lola¡¯s soul move inside the courtyard, Sofia dismissed the graveyard. The young Exidian girl was followed by the heavy orichalcum armor, now controlled by her strange ghost. ¡°Start!¡± The following fight was underwhelming. Lola stood still in her circle while she ordered her spirit around through a soul-link just like Sofia gave commands to Pareth. She looked confident at first, but her countenance slowly crumbled throughout the fight. It seemed her skills weren¡¯t very combat-oriented, because she did not do much at all herself, only worriedly watching her summon try and miserably fail to get past Pareth¡¯s defenses in close quarter fighting. Her only interesting move had been a [Confusion]-inducing skill that got instantly canceled by Pareth¡¯s share of [Blessing of the Deep]. After a minute, Sofia stopped the fight. The statue hadn¡¯t suffered a scratch, the possessed armor never even got close. Lola seemed disheartened, looking down at her feet as she walked back to the group. ¡°Don¡¯t be discouraged by just this. I assume your skills aren¡¯t very focused on combat for now?¡± ¡°They really aren¡¯t¡­¡± Lola dejectedly confirmed, ¡°the armor is usually strong but it could not do anything against your skeleton¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s alright, my job here is to make every single one of you into a summoner competent at fighting. I haven¡¯t seen much of your [Spiritist] class yet, but I¡¯m confident we¡¯ll make it work. Erian will be up next, then Shaily, then Guerand, and we¡¯ll have a quick look at everyone¡¯s skills before the second round. I assure you that as far as I know, there are no bad classes; I even once fought a [Stonemason] who could destroy mountains with his skills.¡° ¡°If there are no bad classes then does it not mean I¡¯m the one who is bad?¡± Lola answered with a bitter smile. ¡°Not at all, Lola. At your age I was still stuck at level one, spending all day reading religious books in a decrepit library. Do you think you¡¯re bad in comparison?¡± Does she have self-esteem issues? She looked the most confident when I announced the exercise, was that just a front? Anyway, good job Pareth, three more.
Chapter 318 - Gonna teach you a lesson Erian was up next, standing at his starting position, he ¡®invoked¡¯ multiple things one by one. Firstly an armor around his body, then a sword, a shield, and even large wings behind his back. Real flight at level 57? Interesting. The Exidian student charged, flying up then diving like a bird of prey. He tried to swerve around Pareth, but wasn¡¯t fast enough. Without teleportation, he couldn¡¯t use the same strategy En used, and attacking from above did not work well for him. No ranged attacks I guess. His summoned stuff is sturdy but not as good as Orichalcum, not very flexible either. After a few failed attempts to bypass Pareth, Erian pulled back just a bit, and after a few seconds of channeling, four thick walls appeared around Pareth and Erian took that opportunity to try to fly by him. Pareth¡¯s fist burst through the wall as Erian neared and grabbed him. Erian tried to free himself, striking at Pareth¡¯s arm with his sword to no avail. ¡°Alright, stop,¡± Sofia ordered, ¡°Nice try.¡± He¡¯s trained in swordsmanship I think, from his posture and all. But he tried something different since he saw what happened to Lola¡¯s spirit knight. The walls were an interesting attempt at something, but still clumsy. Erian unsummoned all of his stuff and fixed his uniform before coming back. ¡°I apologize for the poor display,¡± he excused himself before regaining the ranks of students. ¡°As I said, nice try. Just like Lola, you had a bad matchup against Pareth, there¡¯s no helping that.¡± ¡°Even my mithril weapons couldn¡¯t do anything¡­¡± Lola chimed in. ¡°Pareth¡¯s just quite sturdy, although he¡¯s fighting as if he was your level, he¡¯s still a high-level fighter with the health to go with it. Shaily¡¯s turn.¡± ¡°Ah- Can I¡­ Can Guerand go first?¡± the short Exidian girl pleaded. ¡°Depends on him.¡± ¡°I can go!¡± the red-haired dwarf enthusiastically accepted. ¡°You¡¯re up then, show us your best golems.¡± Guerand ran back to the classroom to grab a backpack that had been placed in a corner since the start, it looked quite heavy. He brought it to the arena and dumped the contents on the sandy ground. Sofia counted five head-sized clay dwarf statuettes, a small magic staff, a pickaxe and a polished round stone covered in runes. With a tiny speck of magic from Guerand, the clay statuettes came alive and started running around, gathering sand around the round stone. Then, with a much larger mana consumption, Guerand¡¯s magic pulled the gathered sand in the air along with the stone, transforming it into a sand golem resembling Guerand, who quickly bent down to grab the magic staff. After kicking the backpack away, the dwarf grabbed the pickaxe and announced he was ready. ¡°Start!¡± Guerand started the exercise by running to the left while his small clay golems ran to the right. The sand golem stood still, channeling something. Pareth stood still. Although the fight had just started, there was already not much he could do. Since he wasn¡¯t allowed to fight back, moving to intercept the clay golems or the dwarf meant giving a clear line of sight to the mage golem. Still, he would give it his best shot. The dwarf feigned an attack first, but Pareth managed to read his bluff, scaring him by taking a single step his way then instead turning the other side and grabbing the closest two of the clay golems, throwing them at the spellcaster one. Guerand struck for real, throwing his pickaxe aimed at the statue. Pareth managed to catch it in the air and instinctively took a step back, realigning himself with the statue, barely intercepting the sand blast from the spellcaster golem. That left three small clay golems unchecked, they managed to throw themselves at the statue, Sofia moved the statue around a bit, dodging one then the next, but the third hit its target, making it fall over. The preparation time for the fight had been several times longer than the act itself. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°Well done! Outnumbering the enemy is a basic tactic for summoners, it won¡¯t work against all enemies, but it was perfect for this situation, good choice.¡± ¡°Thank you, teacher!¡± ¡°Keep the thanks for later, I¡¯ve not taught you much yet. Are you good to go now Shaily?¡± ¡°Yes. Sorry, I needed some time for my mana to come back up.¡± Shaily walked up to the circle in the arena and raised her hands, mana gathered in several points around her, and after a few seconds, coalesced in small dots of colored light, like stars or fireflies. There were about twenty of them, most of them glowing red, and a few of them green. Cute. Shaily waved her hands around and the lights followed their directions. Her left hand controlled the green lights, which flew straight toward Pareth¡¯s feet and soon sprouted in a sea of thick vines. Before Pareth could free himself, the red lights surrounded the statue and rammed into it, producing tiny flaming explosions the size of a fist, leaving quite a few burn marks on the bone statue. Not so cute. ¡°Well, that was over quickly,¡± Sofia whispered. Pareth turned his head to look at her, giving away a feeling akin to ¡®What the heck do you want me to do about it?¡¯. But maybe that¡¯s just my imagination. Well done either way, you can come back. ¡°Well done Shaily. If Lola and Erian had a bad matchup, you had a free one. You look exhausted though. Was that all of your mana?¡± ¡°Yes¡­¡± Shaily weakly answered as walked back out of the training grounds, sweating and too tired to celebrate her victory. ¡°Shaily¡¯s skills are very expensive,¡± Lola explained. ¡°But she has the best controle out of all of us,¡± Erian continued, ¡°her skills are higher level than she is,¡± he stated with admiration. ¡°Stop¡­¡± Shaily meekly protested, the blue skin of her face turning slightly purple. Spends a lot of time training then? Good start. Reminds me I should get on with my own training¡­ It looks like the three Exidians are good friends at least, I wonder about the other two. ¡°Good, good, good. I think I can teach a great deal of useful insight to all five of you. You all have your own strengths and weaknesses and that¡¯s fine, we will work around that.¡±
Sofia changed her plans and spent the rest of the class going over each fight, and having everyone ponder about how the fights would now be if they had to go again, being aware of Pareth¡¯s capabilities. This approach proved to be both instructive and engaging for the group. Each fight was analyzed in detail, and everyone was encouraged to share their ideas on how the encounters could have played out differently, considering the unique strengths and weaknesses of each participant. Guerand, the dwarf, eagerly participated in the discussion, sharing his thoughts on how he might have faked out Pareth more effectively or improved his control over the clay golems to make them harder to catch. Lola and Erian, the two who had failed, offered insights into the dynamics of their own magical abilities and how they think they could have done things better. Shaily, though still exhausted from her recent battle, managed to contribute her understanding of control and manipulation of mana when it came to using multiple skills at once, which everyone could have benefitted from. As the conversation flowed, the group discussed various tactics and strategies. Sofia encouraged them to think outside the box, emphasizing that battles were not always about brute force but about clever thinking and adaptability, especially for those who had the most rigid skill sets at first glance. Before they knew it, the two hours were up. ¡°Alright, tomorrow same time. We¡¯ll go over everyone¡¯s class skills for the first hour then you¡¯ll have the second hour to try to make me lose some health any way you can. And show up with your mana already topped up, alright?¡± ¡°Yes, teacher,¡± Shaily answered, knowing that this was targeted at her. ¡°And that¡¯s it, anyone want to say something before I leave? Any comments about the class?¡± ¡°It was great!¡± Guerand was first to answer. ¡°I liked it,¡± En agreed, her tails still swaying behind her back. ¡°It was fine,¡± Erian muttered while awkwardly looking in another direction. Shaily and Lola both tried to speak next but their voices were drowned by the sound of an explosion. Sofia had been standing right in front of the door, and the entire wall behind her was suddenly blasted open from the outside. Sofia dispelled the magic responsible for the attack with a thought, [Heat Death] negating it for the meager cost of sixty thousand mana while magic quickly gathered in her right hand and her scepter appeared in the other. Pareth had instantly teleported to Sofia and brandished two greatshields of light to protect the students from the rain of debris. ¡°Fucking hell, at least wait until I leave the classroom!¡± Sofia yelled before hurling a piercing bolt toward the fleeing flying attacker.
Chapter 319 - It’s a handful The bolt hit its mark, punching a fist-sized hole through the flying student¡¯s abdomen. Two more students coming from the sides tried to get the jump on Sofia, but the high-priest skeleton waved his staff and a golden shockwave sent the new ambushers flying. Summoning Bookie and ripping off a page, Sofia turned around. ¡°Everyone¡¯s alright?¡± ¡°We¡¯re good!¡± En confirmed, completely unfazed by the sudden chaos, unlike the four other kids. ¡°Pareth will escort you five to your dorms or your next class, just tell him where to go, I have some business to take care of.¡± A flock of skeletal crows appeared behind Sofia, splitting into five groups of ten, one for each attacker and two more to seek any more troublemaker nearby who might be inclined to join them. Sofia flew up to take a better look at the situation. The student she had bolted was currently struggling to keep flying away, the crows would be on him soon. Looking at the damage done to the classroom and the nearby building, the magic had probably been some kind of shockwave. Just a distraction for the other two to hit. That probably wouldn¡¯t have done much damage even if I didn¡¯t cancel it. The debris could still have hit my students though. Did they not hear the Emperor when he explained what would happen if someone died because of the competition? Sofia observed as one of her skeletal crows caught up with the fleeing student and threw itself into the gaping wound opened by the bolt. The student completely lost track of his flight. That¡¯s a bit much. Catch him before he crashes. The other crows caught the falling student, their beaks and claws digging into his face and arms. Did I teach you all to be so vicious? Anyway, bring him here. Below, the high-priest and the other crows were already taking care of the other two. When the crows carrying the unfortunate attacker reached Sofia, she got to see his face. He was just a random Exidian she had never seen. He looked like a man in his thirties and seemed terrified as Sofia flew closer to him. The crow let go of him and Sofia caught him by the hem of his uniform instead. ¡°I¡¯m sorry! Don¡¯t kill me! I-¡± Sofia gave him a smile and a friendly tap on the cheek, ¡°I¡¯m a teacher, I don¡¯t kill students, not even ones older than myself. Don¡¯t be ridiculous.¡± Just as the tense expression of the man seemed to relax ever-so-slightly, she let him go, and he fell with a scream. The high-priest caught him with his slow-fall spell at the last second, and dropped him onto the other two attackers who were being pinned down by a bunch of crows. Sofia let herself fall too. There were quite a few onlookers who had come flying to check the commotion out, but there were no other students in the corridors of the SP classrooms section. Either they all fled or our three nice guys cleared the place in advance before blowing it up. A quick check on Pareth¡¯s position told her he was already quite far away with her class. She looked back down at the three people sprawled on the debris-covered floor. Just to be sure she also checked that her token pouch was still there and intact, which it was. ¡°Happy?¡± [Mage - Lv. 249] [Warrior - Lv. 148] [Warrior - Lv. 172] None of the three students dared to answer, perhaps due to the skeletal crows happily jumping all over them. Sofia sighed. ¡°Heal them.¡± The high-priest healed the trio with a single spell, closing the crow-induced wounds and the gaping hole in the mage¡¯s entrails. ¡°What should I do with you three?¡± ¡°LET-¡± the lowest level of the three started, Sofia silenced him with a kick to the side. ¡°This teacher never gave you permission to speak in her class. Now let¡¯s see. You¡¯re all high-level enough. You should be able to survive some injuries. Oh, I know! I notice you three all have hands. Hands are nice, don¡¯t you think? I particularly like finger bones, they make for great playing dice.¡± The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°What are-¡± Another kick. ¡°So noisy.¡± Sofia dropped a bunch of bones on them and used them to gag them, filling their mouths with it. ¡°Better. Now for the fun part.¡± She extended her mana senses up, and to be sure, there were still quite a few curious bystanders looking at the scene from above. With the sharp claws of her scale armor, she pierced the hand of the chatty warrior, then, with [Bone dominus] had all the bones of his hand pop out from the newly created wound. The gag barely contained his horrified screams. He activated a few spells during the process, but [Heat Death] negated them all, not even making a dent in Sofia¡¯s mana reserves. He struggled, but pinned by the crows all a hundred levels above himself, he couldn¡¯t move at all. Now with a handful of hand bones, Sofia let go of his flaccid bloody right hand and grabbed his left one. This continued until all three students were left with a total of zero functional hands. The skeleton high-priest then closed the bleeding wounds but didn¡¯t heal the missing bones. Sofia dumped all the bloody hand bones into her token pouch, and waved it above her head, showing it to all the onlookers with a big smile on her face. Come and try to take them. I dare you. Looking back at the three shivering students on the ground, Sofia almost puked at the sight and smell. More than blood had been spilled. She removed their gags, storing the bones, but none of them dared speak, only looking at her in terror, breathing laboriously. ¡°You better get your hands checked out fast. I don¡¯t know what happened to them but they don¡¯t look so good. Good luck, kids. I¡¯m sure the academy has a healer on duty somewhere.¡± Sofia dismissed the high-priest and flew up with her crows. The show was over, most of the watchers dispersed, and those who didn¡¯t flew back when Sofia moved in their direction. The only one who kept flying close-by was someone she hadn¡¯t expected to see, leisurely flapping his large black wings. ¡°Oh, hi, Eternam. Had your first class of the year yet?¡± ¡°I was on my way to it. Interesting display. I quite like the small ones,¡± he commented as he observed the small crows. You do look like a giant crow yourself so I suppose that makes sense? ¡°Thanks, I like them a lot too. They are a very smart bunch. I think I will have them out all the time from now on, to avoid a rerun of this morning¡¯s events.¡± ¡°Perhaps I ought to do the same. Not that many students would pose a threat, but it might get more of them interested in necromancy.¡± ¡°That would be nice, wouldn¡¯t it? Well, I shouldn¡¯t keep you here too long, don¡¯t you have your class to get to?¡± ¡°Yes. You should go too, Sofia, I sensed a presence at your door when I left; someone is waiting for your return.¡± ¡°Any idea who?¡± ¡°Not a professor.¡± ¡°That does eliminate some people. Well, I¡¯ll go check, then, have fun with your class.¡± Eternam nodded to Sofia and flew away, in a single wingbeat he traveled hundreds of meters toward another part of the academy, leaving Sofia with the last few onlookers who still had yet to leave. Not giving them a second look, she flew to the teachers¡¯ tower.
Sofia climbed the stairs to her floor of the tower, fully expecting the person waiting for her to be another student in ambush despite the announcement that this tower was now off-limits. Pareth happened to teleport back to her as she went, so he went ahead with Sofia looking through his eyes. She sighed with relief when she saw the person sleeping against her door. Quickly jumping over the last steps, she gently shook the sleeping princess. ¡°Having a small nap, Saria?¡± ¡°Oh, hey,¡± Saria yawned as she struggled to wake up, ¡°I couldn¡¯t get inside and neither you, Asty or Zerei were there so¡­¡± ¡°Ah, sorry, I was out teaching my first class of the year,¡± Sofia explained. She reached out, grabbing Saria¡¯s hand to help her stand up. ¡°Nice! How did it go? Are your students good? Any hot guys?¡± ¡°My students are nice, surprisingly polite. It all went very well up until the part when the class ended and three unrelated pricks attacked me out of nowhere.¡± Sofia brought out her key and started to unlock the door. ¡°So that''s why you have all the birds out? I hear every teacher is going through the same thing at the moment, but I don¡¯t think any got their tokens stolen so far. I managed to get a few anyway,¡± Saria said, shaking a small leather pouch that clinked with the sound of multiple tokens shaking inside. ¡°I have like fifteen already.¡± ¡°Duels?¡± ¡°Yep. I spent all day dueling other level 249 students, there¡¯s quite a number of them, and I haven''t lost to one yet.¡± ¡°Wasn¡¯t there a need to have a teacher supervising the duels? Who did that during the mess that was going on yesterday?¡± ¡°That Saint Tartaros guy was at the same spot in the underground arena all day organizing duels since after the announcement. I¡¯m willing to bet he¡¯s still there now.¡± ¡°Oh, I hoped to use that place with my students later¡­ Door¡¯s open, come in. The others didn¡¯t want to come pay me a visit?¡± ¡°They had classes this morning. Cinthia is taking a multicasting lesson and Alith said she was going for alchemy I think. Dunno about Joah, he¡¯s in the male dorm¡­ Hey, is that a statue of me?¡±
Chapter 320 - Flying too close Saria had brought some food and drinks with her, hoping to share a nice breakfast with Sofia, so now she was eating some crescent-shaped pastries on Sofia¡¯s bed. ¡°So this one¡¯s part of your class? With all the flashing lights and all, right? She¡¯s good, she only lost once I think. Probably got more tokens than I do.¡± ¡°Shaily did not strike me as the very combative type, honestly. That will make my job easier. What about En? She¡¯s about this tall, covered in orange fur, three tails. She fights with totems.¡± ¡°Ah! Yes. I didn¡¯t pay too much attention to this one but I¡¯ve definitely seen her fighting some rounds too.¡± ¡°Was everyone so eager to lose their tokens? I¡¯m shocked so many even agreed to fight you after you knocked a few out.¡± Saria stored her pastry and sat up on the bed. She faked a slow, maniacal laughter. ¡°Oh, oh, oh. My sweet, naive little sister. Do you think I¡¯d show the full extent of my power so fast? Noooo, first you do your best to look weak, then you play with them a little, let a few of the weaker hits land, and finally win ¡®by luck¡¯ after a few minutes of ¡®struggle¡¯. The hardest part was faking being tired.¡± Sofia looked at her sister like she was a crazy person. ¡°So much effort for a handful of tokens? You do know they are only worth one gold each, right? I¡¯m pretty sure the later events will award them in much larger quantities. Did you level up your Shenanigans at least?¡± ¡°It did level up once, yeah. I know these few tokens likely aren¡¯t a big deal, but progress is progress. And speaking of, I reviewed the rules and found an interesting loophole.¡± ¡°Honestly the rules were quite vague, so that¡¯s not too surprising. You can bet they will keep adding on new ones as they please just like they changed this tower into a safe zone. What¡¯s your loophole then?¡± Saria adjusted her position on the bed. ¡°You may not seek or use outside help of any kind. Outside help. You know who¡¯s not outside? Teachers.¡± Sofia narrowed her eyes. ¡°That¡¯s a very ambiguous thing to risk your tokens on. But if you have to try bending the rules like this, it is better to do it now while you don¡¯t have many tokens that could disappear for cheating¡­ What do you expect me to do?¡± ¡°Not much, even like this, we still have to abide by the no trading and such rules. Just keep an eye out for teachers who could be good targets to steal from. I think if anyone¡¯s going to get one of the pouches, it will have to be a well-planned out long con. We¡¯ve all seen what happens to those who attack with lousy strategies.¡± ¡°Right.¡± Sofia untied her pouch from her waist, looking at the small bones inside. ¡°Should I really make a dice set out of them? Or maybe a necklace? I just want them to stop targeting me, I can already tell this is going to get exhausting fast otherwise.¡± ¡°I still can¡¯t believe you stole these guys¡¯ hands.¡± ¡°They deserved it for putting my students in danger.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you know people under level 100 are protected by the school¡¯s barrier?¡± ¡°And for pissing me off,¡± Sofia added, pretending to examine one of the phalanges she had picked up from the bunch. ¡°So you didn¡¯t know. Did you at least read the Academy rules?¡± ¡°I did! That wasn¡¯t anywhere in there. And, they really did piss me off.¡± Saria giggled. ¡°Well, they¡¯re sure not to piss you off again¡­ And for the hands, I have an idea.¡±
Sofia and Saria admired the creation coming straight ouf of Saria¡¯s mind. She had suggested that Sofia¡¯s decoration for her entrance be a wall of bone, with the stolen hands slotted inside around the door. This by itself was a bit lacking, there were only six hands for now, but what really sold the artistic piece were the hundreds of empty hand-shaped slots in the wall. ¡°Anyone who sees this and who¡¯s heard of what you did to these guys will have to think twice about trying anything,¡± Saria commented, happy with her chef d¡¯oeuvre. ¡°Once for each hand,¡± Sofia deadpanned. Saria snorted, then walked a few steps back, looking at the stairwell going down the numerous floors of the tower. ¡°I have to wonder whether a lot of students will even see it, though.¡± Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°You know, I have a feeling that once word gets out about this and this morning¡¯s events, quite a few people will come check out my door.¡± ¡°Just what I needed to catapult my artistic career.¡±
The sisters were back inside Sofia¡¯s room, actually playing a game with brand-new bone dice, made from Sofia¡¯s wings. Although now she could use the entire armor to refill her stock, she had taken to the habit of cutting off her wings, so she usually did that whenever she had some free time. Pareth threw the dice. ¡°Triple six again! No way! He¡¯s cheating I tell you!¡± Saria stood up from the table, accusing the mute skeleton. ¡°You also got triple sixes twice in a row! I don¡¯t even know how you¡¯re both doing that. I¡¯m the one who¡¯s supposed to control bones here¡­¡± Saria visibly gave up playing, instead going back to observe the small bone statues Sofia had already made of a few people. She stopped before one of the display cases which was filled with random miniatures of Sofia¡¯s stuff. There was a small bone crown, staff, and Bookie, among other things, Saria picked up some kind of flat bone ring. ¡°What¡¯s this one supposed to be?¡± ¡°Uh? Oh, that¡¯s Dopple.¡± ¡°Oh? Oh¡­ Not the most impressive thing to make a sculpture of.¡± ¡°I also realized that after making it, but I still threw it into the pile, it looks better the more things there are, like your gold pile. Ah! It was Dopple who screamed during the ceremony, right? What was that all about?¡± ¡°I forgot to tell you!¡± Saria exclaimed, her brow furrowing as she felt a wave of embarrassment wash over her for not mentioning this earlier. ¡°That was a whole thing¡­ It was hard to get it to talk, but as it turns out, it shared the same owner as the sword at one point! It explicitly said it was not one of the admins, but wouldn¡¯t explain anything more. I think it knows perfectly well who the system admins were.¡± ¡°We barely talked about that but do you not have any idea who they were either?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t,¡± Saria whispered as she sat back down at the table, ¡°Zephir doesn¡¯t know either, he tried to ask around but everyone in the know seems to be avoiding the subject. I think it¡¯s a subject almost as taboo as our new name.¡± Sofia took a second to recall all the information she had. Three admins, all gone. According to Zerrei they disappeared sometime in the first few hundred years of the system, long before she was born. The artifacts from the ranking tower¡¯s 99th floor were all discovered or made by them, but on both mine and Saria¡¯s the names are |REDACTED|. ¡°The lich I met did mention them when Alith asked about it. He said he was the one to provide the jewels for my crown. Which I¡¯m surprised isn¡¯t getting censored, by the way, and when Alith asked if he was an admin himself, he answered ¡®Lords, no; I¡¯d rather die¡¯.¡± Saria didn¡¯t answer for a while, the silence of the room only broken by the sound of her nails rhythmically tapping on the table. Finally she stopped and opened her mouth. ¡°I think I figured out a few things. A few very worrying things..¡± ¡°Go on, I have a few ideas myself.¡± ¡°Right. First of all, the identity of the Admins. It¡¯s pretty obvious that one of them was a human Hero,¡± Saria started. ¡°And one of them was a Dragon,¡± Sofia completed. ¡°That only makes sense as to why the system references so many things from the human heroes¡¯ world, just like my class. And it also explains why the system would have a special section for Dragons, when it doesn¡¯t have one for other strong entities like the Kleptras.¡± ¡°Kleptra?¡± Sofia asked. I think Erredis mentioned a Kleptra¡¯s nest at some point? ¡°I¡¯ll explain later. Just know they¡¯re as strong as the Dragons and just as smart.¡± ¡°Noted. That leaves the third admin unaccounted for.¡± ¡°My guess is, it was probably a God,¡± Saria blurted out, as if scared that she would get censored. ¡°That would explain why they set up the whole thing with Saints and Oracles on one side while leaving the Recessed completely unaccounted for.¡± ¡°Right? But if the Dragon argument was a bit inconclusive, this one is just a wild guess¡­¡± ¡°Best we have now,¡± Sofia said with a shrug. ¡°I have one more thread to follow, this lich you mentioned must know a lot about the Deep. Or he wouldn¡¯t be swearing on their name.¡± ¡°This I can confirm, he alluded to us having a lot to talk about on the subject when it came up again later in the discussion, but he had places to go and I haven¡¯t seen him since.¡± ¡°And he knows the admins too. For a lich to say they would ¡®rather die¡®, is quite something, considering only those most afraid of death would go to such lengths to avoid it, even back before the system. Zephir knows a lot about pre-system magic, and becoming a lich really didn¡¯t sound like an easy option,¡± Saria explained. ¡°But then what, the admins suffered a fate worse than death? Wait¡­ I have learned at one point that the system was investigating the Deep, sacrificing numerous scribes in the process¡­¡± ¡°You¡¯re thinking what I¡¯m thinking, Sofia?¡± ¡°There¡¯s no way¡­ Erredis avoided the subject too, when I asked¡­ No one ever speaks about them in any detail and their names are always missing¡­ Could they really-¡± ¡°Have been erased?¡± Saria finished, her voice changing to one that was decidedly not hers halfway through the sentence.
Chapter 321 - Poetic Visions ¡°Orator!¡± Sofia cried out. Saria looked surprised for a second after her mouth had been hijacked, but she understood what was going on thanks to Sofia¡¯s outcry, and decided to let things play out. ¡°That would be me,¡± the Orator answered through Sofia¡¯s mouth. ¡°And before you ask, youngling, your Sister risks nothing, and neither does your guardian, for that matter.¡± Sofia pressed the bodiless voice for answers, ¡°How do you know that? You were surprised I could survive your presence at all before.¡± The Orator switched to speaking through Saria again, ¡°A curious thing, is it not? One this Lord has been investigating. Answers have been found, system shenanigans, hidden within your soul, and your Sister¡¯s. As luck would have it, it was your reunion which helped elucidate the mystery.¡° Shenanigans? ¡°Do you have to speak through us?¡± Saria asked after the Orator finished speaking. ¡°This one shows reluctance as well? Such a pity,¡± it answered through Sofia, his voice then coming from somewhere near the door, ¡°Regardless, the system finding countermeasures has been an interesting development, one I will be taking full advantage of,¡± the bone statuette of Zerei said. So it was something he couldn¡¯t do himself? I thought the Lords were more powerful than that. ¡°Speak aloud, Saintess, I have a numerous audience on this day,¡± the oddly excited voice of the Orator came from Sofia¡¯s mouth. Right, reading my thoughts and all that, I forgot, sorry. Hey, isn¡¯t now a great time to find out weth- Sofia repeated her previous thoughts for Saria to hear. ¡°It¡¯s true that this hardly feels like a discussion with someone strong enough to erase Gods,¡± Saria added. ¡°Fools,¡± the Orator said from another corner of the room, forming a mouth with the bed¡¯s sheets, ¡°Power never was the issue, it had always been the pathetic brittleness of the sapient mind which was. Does your kind care to avoid stepping on the crawling insects? Do you lack the power to do so?¡± ¡°Fair point¡­¡± Sofia agreed without much conviction, ¡°So, great powerful uncle Orator, would you be so inclined as to satiate the curiosity of these two brittle sisters? Also are you going to help me with Erredis¡¯ request?¡± And through Sofia, the Orator sighed. ¡°All modicum of respect has been lost. My repeated appearances must be to blame. That I would be the cause of my own downfall, oh, the sweet irony. So be it. I shall distribute the sparks of knowledge, as such is my purpose at this time.¡± Switching to Saria¡¯s mouth, he continued, ¡°Tell the lizard that looking is futile. What she is searching for is no longer of this world, only echoes yet remain. When the time is right, it will present itself once again.¡± ¡°Then do you know where and when ¡®it¡¯ will be?¡± I don¡¯t really get it, but that would probably help her. ¡°When is obvious. Where is untold. That is all which needs be known.¡± ¡°Always speaking in riddles¡­ I appreciate the help nonetheless. What about the administrators?¡± ¡°Is our guess correct?¡± Saria also asked. Sofia watched herself shrug. ¡°Correct is not the word I would have picked but there is a hint of truth amidst the fog. The administrators¡­ It was fun whilst it lasted. Then, self proclaimed nieces of the Deep, let this immemorial sing you a bedtime story.¡± The world around Sofia, Saria and Pareth completely disappeared. In a dim red void, the Orator¡¯s voice came from nowhere and everywhere at once. With it, the red void came alive, dancing flames wrapped around unknown blurs. The Orator¡¯s voice was rhythmic and heavy, oozing with otherworldly power and authority. Three fates entwined, their call fulfilled, The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. The first is gone, forever stilled. Fell prey to greed, they were so bold, None shall steal the Griffin¡¯s gold. The flames dimmed, the red void shook, colors emerged, then faded, space was torn and built anew, countless stars streaking in the horizon. The Orator¡¯s voice echoed again, it became faster as it sang, and so did the stars, becoming little more but streaks of light. The second drift, through endless space, In cosmic realms, they found no place. They sought to reach, a fruitless dance, A past long lost, a final chance. The streaks of light paused, and cracked, they shattered in countless pieces and spread through the vast expanse of the void. From each piece, came the Orator¡¯s voice, all slightly different, they harmonized. The last one sleeps, they are broken, Nary a dream, thoughts forsaken. Perhaps one day, forced awake, They will leave nothing in their wake. As the last word of the poem faded, so did the strange void. As she regained the ability to think, Sofia panicked. The knowledge of this event was fading just as fast as the illusion she had been trapped in. Like a morning dream, the words of the poem, as fleeting as the flitting stars, were quickly disappearing from her memory. Visibly, Saria was the same, without a word, she had jumped from her chair and started frantically etching words into the wall with her bare nails, for lack of a better writing implement. Sofia tried to use [Bone Dominus] to write on a bone slab, but the precise control it required only worsened the memory loss, finally she summoned a puddle of blood, and after dipping her fingers into it, wrote what she could in blood on the floor. A few seconds later, the two sisters stopped, looking at each other and the result of their efforts, Sofia asked first. ¡°Saria, do you remember what just happened?¡± ¡°After he spoke of a bedtime story, barely. I remember singing and flames. And these words¡­ Well, I don¡¯t remember them, but here they are.¡± ¡°We are the same then¡­ I should have known it wouldn¡¯t be that easy.¡± ¡°It was not too bad. Hmm, our texts are both missing quite a few words, but we can probably get close to the full thing by combining them. I¡¯m more worried about the hallucinations I¡¯m still having.¡± Hallucinations? ¡°You¡¯re still seeing things?¡± Saria looked around the room, she described, ¡°It¡¯s like¡­ Ephemeral glittering shapes?¡° ¡°That does sound like it¡¯s related to the Deep, then, that weird, I don¡¯t see any-¡± Reality disappeared around Sofia, she became a witness to a scenery she recognized. One she had caught glimpses of during her fight against the emissary of Ormoncleth, one of ungraspable geometry and confounding truths, overlapping with reality. There were indeed glittering shapes fading in and out of existence around them, but more interestingly, as she looked around, Sofia caught a glimpse of a wandering shapeless titan, deep beneath the ground. She looked at it, and to her horror, it looked back. ¡°Sofia? Hey? Hello?¡± Saria called out to Sofia, softly shaking her by the shoulders. Pareth was right there, looking over them. ¡°Ah! I- Oh. Alright. Yeah. I¡¯m, I¡¯m here. Did you not see that?¡± Everything was back to normal, or as normal things could be for someone sitting on the floor, hands covered in blood. ¡°I don¡¯t know what you saw, but looking at your face I can tell you I didn¡¯t, no. The glittering stuff is still showing in the corners of my vision, but it¡¯s fading by the second,¡± Saria explained as her eyes shifted from one side to the other. ¡°You¡¯re seeing fragments of the Deep. And I just got to see directly into the Deep¡¯s plane, I think.¡± ¡°Neat. What color is it, red, by any chance?¡± ¡°It¡¯s, uh¡­ Not really? I guess you could say it was close to reddish in overall tone, but the specific colors didn¡¯t match with anything real. It¡¯s a lot more shape than color, if that makes any sense¡­¡± ¡°I think I kind of get it, the hallucinations I¡¯m getting are a bit like that. Interesting then. So the deep is the red plane, for lack of a better word,¡± Saria said. ¡°Why are you even trying to attribute it a color?¡± ¡°Well, our physical plane is all colors. Mana is kind of all colors but white-ish most of the time and the spiritual plane is almost completely white, Recessed is gray, Margin black. Isn¡¯t it curious how the planes of existence have specific colors? So if the Deep is kind of red, that only leaves the plane of the Gods, I wonder what color that would be.¡± ¡°I¡¯d never thought of it like that¡­ But if we¡¯re talking about the Gods¡¯ plane¡­ Have you not completed the 99th floor of the spire?¡± ¡°Oh!¡± Saria cried out, ¡°You¡¯re right! How did I even forget about that! So that would be some kind of blue-ish purple. Really interesting. How did the different planes even come to be¡­¡± ¡°Hmm, Saria.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Not that this isn¡¯t interesting, but shouldn¡¯t we focus on, you know, the poem about the administrators one of the Lords of said Deep just gave us, that we struggled to preserve?¡± ¡°Right. Well, it¡¯s not going to disappear.¡±
Chapter 322 - Soulmates ? The poem was reconstructed by cross-referencing the two versions and filling in the two blanks they had both forgotten with whatever seemed most appropriate. After some debating, they guessed that the first admin was a Dragon who got erased by the Deep based entirely on the word ''gone'' and because they couldn''t let go of their first theory, the second they thought was a Hero who tried to return to their world and failed, and the third one¡­ They weren¡¯t too sure about it. Saria seemed to think it might be the fourth Lord, but Sofia knew there was something wrong about that. The pieces didn¡¯t quite fit, and as she reread the last line of the poem, ¡®They will leave nothing in their wake¡¯, she remembered a line from her previous encounter with the Orator, which further consolidated her suspicion that the third Admin couldn¡¯t be the Annihilator. The Annihilator¡¯s function is not to annihilate, or this world would have long ceased to exist. Saria thought ¡®leaving nothing in their wake¡¯ might also be a metaphor for the destruction of the system, since the poem was about the admins, which could mean that the system¡¯s integrity depended on their continued ¡®sleep¡¯. The finality of it all was that Sofia had to leave for her second lesson. ¡­ Perhaps it was thanks to the skeletal crows¡¯ escort, but nobody attacked her this time, and she made it to class before any of her students showed up. The classroom and corridor had been repaired, leaving no trace of the previous day¡¯s events. Only the faraway ¡®Look, it¡¯s the hand demon!¡¯ and other such whispers of the half-awake students trudging to their classrooms reassured her that she hadn¡¯t dreamed the whole thing. News spread fast. ¡°Looks like I¡¯m a bit early.¡± Might as well get comfortable. Erian entered the classroom first, a surprised look on his face. Sofia waved at him from her chair, not bothering to take her legs off from her desk, ¡°Hi, Erian. Surprised to see me?¡± ¡°Greetings, teachers¡­¡± Erian gave her a polite nod and did so for Pareth as well. He sat at his desk, ramrod straight, and finally answered Sofia¡¯s question, ¡°Slightly surprised, yes. Most teachers don¡¯t come half an hour early. There have also been rumors circulating¡­¡± ¡°About the hand?¡± Erian nodded. ¡°So you already knew. I find it disturbing that they would try to slander the name of a new teacher so openly. I know necromancers are often negatively perceived but these rumors are ridiculous¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s sweet that you would think that, Erian.¡± ¡°It¡¯s no-¡± ¡°But whatever you heard was probably true,¡± Sofia continued. ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°I haven¡¯t heard the rumors themselves, but from what I¡¯ve heard on my way to the classroom, it¡¯s probably just true.¡± ¡°The- I-... Did you actually suck the bones right out of their hands like honey?¡± Erian asked, dubious. ¡°Ah nevermind, that¡¯s a bit exaggerated, I don¡¯t eat bones, no,¡± Sofia denied. Erian relaxed a little on his chair. ¡°I did steal them, though.¡± ¡°You stole¡­ Their bones?¡± Erian asked with a shiver. ¡°Want me to show you?¡± Sofia asked. Despite Erian¡¯s uncomfortable looks, she poked her left hand with the sharp claws of her scaled arm, struggling a bit to get past her tough skin until her entire finger pierced through. ¡°What do- No, wait! Ah, no, I, uh. I will be fine. Thank you¡­ Does this not hurt?¡± Sofia shrugged. ¡°It does hurt still, but I¡¯m used to much worse, you will too, eventually. And this is honestly nothing.¡± She pulled her finger out of her palm, and waved her injured hand like someone who just touched a hot pan. She stopped to wipe it, and showed her hand to Erian again. ¡°See, already healed. Are you not a Duke¡¯s son, I thought you would be more used to this kind of thing.¡± Eiran shifted uncomfortably in his chair. Touchy subject? I guess Nobility is always fucked, Human or Exidian, all the same. Searching for an escape for her student, Sofia changed the subject to the first thing she thought of, ¡°Alright, give me the name of your skills. Since you¡¯re here early, you get some bonus coaching.¡± Turning around, she found the chalkboard, but no chalk, this raised an eyebrow, but she just dumped a bunch of bone to make a bone board of the entire wall under the curious looks of the young Exidian noble. ¡°So?¡± You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. ¡°I have six active and three passives so far, the active are¡­¡±
¡®Erian - Invoker Lv 57: Active: Invoke Swords Invoke Shields Invoke Health Invoke Wings Invoke Walls Invoke Traps Passive: Bonding Strength Lesser Magical Resistance Bound Armor¡¯ ¡°Are you sure you don¡¯t need the levels?¡± Erian asked from his chair. ¡°No, skill levels are honestly overvalued. It¡¯s important to keep them to a usable level, but often how you use the skill is a lot more impactful than its level.¡± So the armor wasn¡¯t actually a summoned object? This class is intriguing. ¡°Why did you not invoke any traps against Pareth?¡± ¡°This is my most recent skill, I still struggle to use it well. I was excited about getting another attack skill at first but it¡¯s just weak...¡± Sofia gave him a compassionate smile, ¡°Bad skills happen, I¡¯ve had some of those. The worst skills are those which are too situational to be useful when you need them. I¡¯ll reserve judgment about [Invoke Traps] for after I¡¯ve seen it in action, though. Looking at your skills for now, [Invoke Walls] is probably your best tool. Having wings so early is also quite nice, that¡¯s a big advantage against others in your level range. Did you do duels for tokens yet?¡± ¡°I have not. I know Shaily and En have, but I would rather train my skills instead of chasing a sword I will never get.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t seem convinced by your own words. Alright. New assignment, I want you to go do some duels every day if you have enough free time. At least one or two. It doesn¡¯t have to be for tokens, but you have to fight seriously.¡± Erian looked at Sofia, as if expecting her to have been joking. After an uncomfortably long eye contact, he relented, sighing, ¡°Understood, teacher¡­¡± ¡°I wasn¡¯t done. You¡¯re forbidden from using [Invoke Swords].¡± ¡°Wha- This is unfair! How do you want me to-¡± ¡°Shh. Listen to your teacher. You have wings, Erian. I think you¡¯re not understanding how big of an advantage that is for someone in the first filter. Just for this week, try to get some fights in like this. Try to win with your traps, walls, and aerial superiority.¡± Erian was unconvinced but Sofia gave him some space to think about it and, back behind her desk, discreetly cut her leg over a bone basin to try to convert some of her blood to light in the time until someone else showed up. She managed to convert one drop and smiled away the weird look Erian gave her when she cursed from the pain all of a sudden, claiming she had a cramp. One drop is still progress¡­ En was next to enter the classroom and the other three students arrived in quick succession. As promised, Sofia went over everyone¡¯s skills. Guerand had different skills for his different golems and they all required some prior preparation. Despite the apparent rigidity of these summons, Sofia spent some time thinking about the best way to use them, and the task she gave to Guerand for the next class was to try to make a wall-climbing golem like an arachnid. In her opinion, the biggest flaw of his golems for now was how he defaulted to giving them a dwarven appearance because that was what he knew best. With more variety in form, he would gain variety in function. Lola¡¯s [Soul Guardian] turned out to be some kind of immortal fake soul which was capable of learning. It was a lot like a ghost Pareth; and while the girl had been demoralized by her last fight against Pareth, Sofia really thought Lola¡¯s class had the most potential out of the five students. Shaily¡¯s sprites were quite versatile and powerful for her level, where she struggled was not so much in using her skills to win, but in managing her mana and cooldowns. Sofia wasn¡¯t too sure what to do about it yet, she would have to see her fight a few more times to understand it well. Lastly, En had her totems. It turned out she had to make them entirely by herself, all their effects were enchantments she had put on them with her own hard work. It was impressive but also not something Sofia could help much with. Although she was going to help her with fighting, Sofia¡¯s first task for En was to get her to sign up for Zerei''s classes. This whole skill-analyzing session had taken much longer than expected, and there was no time to do the fighting part of the lesson afterwards. Four of the students left the class but Shaily stayed behind. The fierce aura she had in her exercise against Pareth the previous day was nowhere to be seen, she was meek and demure whenever she wasn¡¯t actively fighting. ¡°Do you need my help with something?¡± ¡°Teacher, I- I wanted to know if you would trade a skeleton for supplementary lessons.¡± Sofia spaced out for an instant, this was not what she had expected at all. ¡°Is it not possible? I thought because Teacher Vakaria is a necromancer¡­¡± ¡°It is possible. What kind of skeleton are you talking about? Is it intact? How did you get it?¡± ¡°I have several, from the monsters I train against, I dislike wasting materials so¡­¡± ¡°Oh, sure, show me them, what kind of extra lessons do you want? I¡¯m flattered that you trust me like this when I haven¡¯t really proved my worth or taught you much yet.¡± ¡°The lightning you threw yesterday¡­¡± ¡°You want to learn that? Try to have your sprites emulate it maybe? Good eyes. I don¡¯t know how feasible that is but I could try to teach it to you. That¡¯s going to cost you a lot of skeletons, this is one of my best moves.¡± Stars gleamed in Shaily¡¯s purple eyes, ¡°For real?! There is a facility in the academy to visualize skill patterns, it¡¯s expensive so I never used it but the higher levels use it all the time! Ah, but right, skeletons! Follow me, I''ll show you my stash, I have a lot!¡± Shaily was so lively it was like a different person, there had been more excitement in that one sentence than anyone had shown for any of Sofia¡¯s teaching yet. And Sofia was getting excited too. This girl has a skeleton stash?!
Chapter 323 - The way to a Sofia’s heart After Sofia explained more of the skill¡¯s quirks and downsides to Shaily and made sure the girl knew what she was getting into, Shaily led Sofia and Pareth to a deep part of the academy¡¯s underground. The damp and dimly lit corridors looked abandoned but they were far from it, even so early in the morning, there were already a few students coming to and fro this underground labyrinth. ¡°You go all this way every time you need to store something?¡± Sofia asked as Shaily finally stopped in front of a sturdy wooden door. ¡°I can¡¯t afford a storage ring so these storage units are the best I can do. At least Lola is sweet enough to lend me her ring so I can bring those here, if not I could only try to sell them before coming back¡­¡± Her and Guerand are both not nobles, and storage items are expensive. Guerand also carried his golems in a backpack¡­ The iron key in Shaily¡¯s hand turned in the lock, and after a click, the door was open. Hueg! This stinks like a rotten zombie. Shaily¡¯s nose curled at the fool smell, but she rushed inside. ¡°Crap! One of my rituals must have run out!¡± Following her, Sofia entered the storage unit, in the room about the size of their classroom, only lit by one of Shaily¡¯s red sprites, five piles of dead monsters were stacked against the walls inside of ritual circles. One of them had indeed ran out of mana and the pile of monsters was now more of a pile of rotting flesh. ¡°Want me to get rid of that?¡± Sofia offered. The small Exidian looked at her teacher then at the pile of rotten corpses. She was hesitant. Finally, she sighed. ¡°Please do¡­¡± Sofia unleashed Bookie on the rotten mound. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, that¡¯ll be part of the trade, I can still make skeletons out of those. Can¡¯t do much about the smell, sadly.¡± ¡°Is- Is this book your storage item?¡± ¡°Bookie? No. It¡¯s uh. A living book? He eats corpses to summon skeletons later.¡± ¡°Living¡­ Does it speak?¡± ¡°No, he¡¯s more like¡­ A very dumb dog? The skeletons he helps me summon are much smarter.¡± Sofia and Shaily stepped out to have a break from the rotten smell while Bookie was having a huge meal. After Sofia explained some more about what Bookie was, omitting to mention the Deep, she questioned the Exidian girl about the piles of dead monsters in the room. There were also a few piles of bones, which had caught Sofia¡¯s eyes, and a few wooden barrels. ¡°Lola sometimes takes me to her family¡¯s hunting grounds so we can train against real monsters. I keep all my kills to make some money. I sell the meat to the tamer students with carnivorous pets and I keep the bones to trade with necromancy and alchemy students who sometimes need them. The furs I sell in bulk to a clothing store near the academy when they aren¡¯t too damaged¡­¡± ¡°You have a whole business going on. Do you do all the butchering yourself?¡± ¡°I remove the internal organs before storing them like this, and the later parts I actually have someone working in the kitchens help me with for a small cut of the profit whenever they have time.¡± Woaw. At her age I was¡­ Reading books. Must not pay too well though. Going back inside, Sofia got to take a better look at the remaining piles of corpses. They were mainly forest-dwelling animals and monsters like wolves, giant bats, big furry snakes, and some kind of large cats with a lot of teeth. She had Shaily go over the specifics of each monster, they were all of species that generally stayed in the level twenty to fifty range, most of them local to Exidion¡¯s fauna. In the end, Sofia had Bookie eat all the bones from the bone pile and she collected one of each monster type¡¯s heads for the choir. That¡¯s probably about sixty new skeletons, quite a few pages for bookie. I¡¯ll check them out in detail later. She also helped Shaily refill the mana of the freezing rituals which kept the corpse piles from rotting before they left. Leaving the storage room, Sofia told Shaily to bring them to the skill visualizer, and they had a longer talk on the way. ¡°So it¡¯s really not worth as much as what I¡¯m going to teach you, even if I took all of it, but I¡¯m not really looking for a fair trade. I just want skeletons, and you want knowledge, everybody is happy,¡± Sofia explained when Shaily asked why she hadn¡¯t taken the entirety of her stash as she had expected. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. ¡°Thank you for your generosity, teacher.¡± Thank you for the bones, student. ¡°Really it¡¯s not like that¡­ I¡¯m not even sure I can teach you the skill properly in the first place, you know? It won¡¯t be easy and you won¡¯t even be able to create a big lightning bolt for now with your mana. I wouldn¡¯t even have accepted if your mana multipliers weren¡¯t so high.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t mind! It¡¯s fine if I learn it for later. Also I¡¯m sure my sprites will be able to cast full skills all by themselves at some point, so I won¡¯t have to worry about the burns,¡± Shaily enthusiastically answered. ¡°Quite the optimist, with the 2600 mana points you have now, if you can handle my newest version you can already make something strong enough to kill these monsters you hunt in one hit. But that¡¯s all your mana gone in a few seconds.¡± ¡°I¡¯m alright with that!¡± ¡°Good. Then, before we get there, let¡¯s decide on what version you want to learn¡­¡±
Perhaps unsurprisingly, when told of the two options, Shaily chose the piercing bolt over the explosive one. Technically it¡¯s the angel¡¯s skill¡­ But if he didn¡¯t want me to spread it he shouldn¡¯t have shown me. Sofia still made Shaily swear that she wouldn¡¯t ever teach it to anyone else. It wasn¡¯t really binding in any way, but the kid had an attitude that Sofia thought could be trusted. If the skill still ended up spreading far and wide later, well, it wasn¡¯t really Sofia¡¯s problem. I doubt many would bother learning it in the first place. Not everyone has as much mana as I do, and not everyone has a dragon-scale arm to withstand overcharging it. Sure people above a certain level could use it more effectively than I can, but at this point I don¡¯t think they need to copy my skills to be strong. While Sofia thought over what it really meant to teach her skills to someone else, Shaily stopped. They were still in the academy¡¯s underground, but much closer to the surface, in well-lit, clean and well decorated hallways. In a booth inside a wall, a kid in student uniform was sleeping, his glasses askew on his face, head resting on the counter. A plaque above the door near the booth read ¡®Visualizer facility¡¯. ¡°It¡¯s here,¡¯ Shaily announced. ¡°Looks like someone¡¯s sleeping on the job.¡± Sofia knocked on the counter after having Pareth get back inside her storage. The student behind the counter woke up with a jump, he almost yelped but managed to keep himself silent, the scream dying in his throat as he assessed the situation. Sofia smiled awkwardly. ¡°I did not mean to scare you, sorry.¡± ¡°No, no! I¡¯m sorry, I shouldn¡¯t have been asleep,¡± the student apologized, fixing the position of his glasses, he quickly examined the duo, ¡°Are you here to make a reservation?¡± ¡°I had hoped to use the visualizer now,¡± Sofia answered. ¡°Hummm¡­¡± The student cleared his throat, looked through some kind of hole to his side, then opened some kind of ledger and turned a few pages before addressing Sofia again, ¡°Sorry, the facility is in use right now, but if you come back in twenty minutes when this class leaves, the next four hours are currently free.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t mind waiting twenty minutes. Do you have other classes this morning Shaily?¡± She shook her head. ¡°None, b- but ten minutes shoul-¡± ¡°Then I¡¯ll take the four hours, how much is it?¡± Sofia ignored the shocked, worried looks from Shaily next to her. ¡°Hum¡­ Alright so, first of all I need both of your IDs, the name tag, age and level from your status window and your student passes¡­¡± ¡°Ah, I¡¯m a teacher.¡± The student seemed taken aback, ¡°Ah, sorry, sorry, I should know but I still haven¡¯t memorized the list of new teachers¡­ Please give me a second.¡± Standing up from his wooden stool, the kid turned around and grabbed a new-looking leather-bound book. Quickly leafing through the pages. At one point he stopped and went back one page. ¡°Teacher Sofia Vakaria Aphenoreth?¡± Well shit. I¡¯m not surprised they have my full name but they really went ahead and printed that in a book?! Are they brainless? Beligenus never even mentioned the Deep, he just always called me Vakaria like Zephir wrote in the introduction letter. Well, whatever. Clearly this guy isn¡¯t disappearing. Still, I can¡¯t believe they approved of this. ¡°That¡¯s me, yes. Just Vakria is fine next time.¡± ¡°As you wish, teacher Vakaria. So for teachers I only need the ID and room key, for your student it¡¯s still all I mentioned before. The rate for teachers is ten gold an hour if you can provide the mana to run the machine, twenty otherwise, and ten silver per-hour per-student you bring in with you,¡± the student explained with a straight face. ¡°How much mana would that be?¡± I can probably do it, right? ¡°I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s a bit high. About three¡­ Three hundred thousand for an hour of continued use¡­¡± the student worriedly indicated. Oh, that¡¯s it? My regen is well above a million points an hour already. ¡°I don¡¯t need to pay extra, then. Here¡¯s forty-one gold for the four hours, you can keep the change.¡± The booth¡¯s student fumbled to accept the gold all the while processing their documents and failing to understand how a level 249 teacher could possibly pay for the machine¡¯s upkeep when none of the mage-type teachers and students of this level ever could until now. Shaily looked just as shocked as the booth¡¯s student, though Sofia felt that it was probably for different, more pecuniary reasons.
Chapter 324 - Deep scars After chatting for twenty minutes with Shaily and learning that she was also an orphan but had inherited a small city house and enough savings to survive by herself for a few years, the teacher who had been using the Visualizer left with a small group of level 200+ students of all ages in tow. That¡¯s¡­ a Goblin? [Supporter - Lv. 300+] I don¡¯t remember this teacher from the opening ceremony¡­ Then again I was busy staring at my ancestor. And I completely forgot to tell Saria about it. Sofia and Shaily entered the Visualizer. After the short entrance corridor was a single huge spherical room with a flying platform in the center on which a pedestal held a polished black ball. The walls of the room itself were not simple, they reminded Sofia of the ranking Spire¡¯s inner core Sen had brought her to. A technology from the system? Sofia pressed the button on her right labeled ¡®bridge¡¯ and a bridge of solid mana appeared in the air, linking the corridor and the levitating platform. Walking on the bridge, Sofia asked Shaily, ¡°Do you know which teacher that was?¡± ¡°The hobgoblin who just left? That¡¯s teacher Akan, he¡¯s well known for his fiery temper, he teaches transformation spells I think. I saw him transform into a giant Roc and fly away once.¡± ¡°Like the monster Rocs? Sounds like a lot of trouble just for the ability to fly.¡± ¡°You can fly too, right, teacher Vakaria? How does it feel?¡± ¡°You can just call me Sofia when we¡¯re not in class or around other teachers. Flying is great. It¡¯s hard to explain how it feels really, in terms of enjoyment it¡¯d put it up there with summoning an army of skeletons.¡± ¡°That¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t get stuck on the details, anyway, we¡¯re here, any idea how this thing works?¡± ¡°I think you¡¯re supposed to put your hand on the black crystal and activate the skill as you would¡­¡± Shaily tried, uncertain of her explanation. ¡°Let¡¯s try that with a harmless skill first, then.¡± A retract bridge button? Alright. Damn this ball is cold. Does this only work on active skills? Activating the skill sounds wrong, maybe trying to focus and visualize the mana patterns makes more sense considering the facility¡¯s name. Thinking this, Sofia closed her eyes, and focused on what was by far her simplest magic, the spell version of [Heal Undead] which did nothing but create ¡®holy¡¯ light. ¡°It works!¡± Shaily excitedly exclaimed. Sofia opened her eyes. In the air around the platform, thin curved beams of blue and red light showed a three dimensional map of the mana pathways used to cast the spell. The blue beams of light were inside of a very faint human silhouette, showing the pathway locations inside the body. Although it was Sofia¡¯s simplest spell, it was already quite complex, hundreds of light beams curving and crossing in every direction. Three parts of the blue lights were constantly shifting between different forms, which Sofia recognized were meant to control the direction, starting position and intensity of the light. ¡°It¡¯s strange to see one of my spells like that. Can I turn it around somehow?¡± Fiddling with the black crystal ball, Sofia found a way to move and turn the light blueprint, as well as zoom in and out, and even to highlight specific parts of the spell by focusing on them in particular. The ball was sucking mana out of Sofia¡¯s hand, and the expenditure was right about what the clerk had told her, a bit under ninety mana per second. This is crazy good. It¡¯s great for teaching but that¡¯s incredible to help transition skills to spells or to understand how to alter them! ¡°What skill is that?¡± Shaily asked. ¡°That¡¯s my most simple spell. It just makes light. Let me show you my most complex spell, then we can get started with the lightning bolt.¡± A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°Your most complex spell?! Is it what summons an army of skeletons?¡± Sofia laughed awkwardly. ¡°It¡¯s not¡­ It¡¯s a secret, alright? Let¡¯s just have a look for fun,¡± she answered before focusing on the mana patterns of [Summon Blood]. The human silhouette grew and grew until only the head fit inside the room, inside it, complex structures of millions of tightly interwoven mana pathways appeared one after the other in quick succession until the entire room was almost filled with undecipherable bright beams of light. Then suddenly the entire room lit up in bright red along with a shrill sound, and all the lights disappeared, leaving Sofia and Shaily in complete darkness. ¡°T- Teacher?¡± Sofia summoned a faint pillar of holy light above them. ¡°I think I broke it.¡± ¡°Are we in trouble?¡± ¡°If someone is, that will be just me, don¡¯t worry about it.¡± The door opened and the clerk student came running through the corridor, barely stopping himself from falling inside of the spherical room. ¡°Is everything alright?¡± he called out, worried panic in his voice. ¡°We¡¯re fine!¡± Sofia shouted back, ¡°I¡¯m not sure about the room though.¡± ¡°Thank god!¡± the student answered, ¡°This should be alright, this always happens when you try to visualize a specialized skill, I forgot to warn you!¡° Ahah, right, a specialized skill¡­ The student profusely apologized for his mistake while he fiddled with a hidden panel in the wall near the bridge button. After twenty very long seconds, the lights finally came back on. Alright. No [Summon Blood]. Lesson learned. I should have known when it only showed the head. That couldn¡¯t have been more than five percent of the whole thing. I don¡¯t even understand how the skill can cost so little mana and still¡­ ¡°So, the piercing bolt¡­ There it is. What do you think, Shaily?¡± ¡°It¡¯s, uh, much simpler than the one before, but¡­ I don¡¯t think I can learn that in four hours¡­¡± ¡°I would be shocked if you could. The actual act of casting it is much simpler than it looks, though. Give me a few minutes to create a bone replica of this thing and then you can study that. It sure is a lot easier to understand what¡¯s going on when you see it like that.¡± ¡°Do you need to visualize all that every time you use the spell?¡± ¡°No, since I had the skill, it¡¯s instinctive for the most part, the system helped with that. But learning spells the regular way shouldn¡¯t be too hard, even though I¡¯ve never really done it from start to finish¡­ Actually, how about this, I will get you a storage item, yo-¡± ¡°What? No, no no. I can never pay for it,¡± Shaily vehemently protested. ¡°Let me finish. I¡¯ll get you a storage item. Not a huge one but enough to store a dead monster or two.¡± ¡°That¡¯s already huge!¡± Shaily almost shouted, taking a step back inadvertently and hitting the railings of the platform. Sofia rolled her eyes. ¡°A single one, then, anyway, that will pay for the dead monsters I took, and you will also have to give me the skeletons of all the monsters you hunt this year. Meanwhile we trade skill for skill. Just give me any of your class skills, learning one myself will let me teach you better, I believe. Do you agree?¡± ¡°W- The- Aren¡¯t you trading a storage item for my skill then?! I¡¯d trade all my skills for a storage item large enough to fit a whole monster!¡± Shaily exclaimed, each word louder than the last, ¡°Of course I agree, I agree every day of every-...¡± Shaily forced herself to shut up, she gulped and with a calm voice, she apologized for her outburst. After a second of reflexion, she added, her voice now becoming quieter the more she spoke, ¡°Why are you so generous? Why me? It¡¯s a bit worrying. I can never pay you back. Even the skill you accepted to teach me is probably worth more than a storage item, I saw how it blew straight through a high-level student¡¯s defenses, and that was with you only channeling it for a second¡­¡± Sofia just waited for Shaily to stop talking. ¡°Are you done?¡± she asked after a short silence. ¡°Yes¡­¡± ¡°Took you long enough,¡± Sofia answered with a smirk. ¡°It¡¯s not about you in particular, and I don¡¯t specially expect you to pay me back. As I see it, I¡¯m just doing my best to help you as your teacher, and if your teacher is the one asking you for favors like a bunch of nice skeletons, isn¡¯t it logical that they should repay you?¡± ¡°Y- You could pay any adventurer to get those skeletons for you¡­¡± Sofia shrugged. ¡°I could, but I also don¡¯t care that much. I could go hunt them myself if I really needed, collecting more is like a hobby at this point. If you want the true ¨C true reason why I¡¯m helping you¡­ You¡¯re polite, serious, a hard worker trying your best despite your shitty circumstances, willing to chase even a faint opportunity when you see one; in short, I think you deserve it, and I can afford it, so yeah. Of course I¡¯m losing money if I buy you a storage item, probably several months of my teacher salary. But so what? Money exists to be spent. Several strong people have helped me get where I am, why should you not get some too?¡± ¡°B- But what, what if I¡¯m a liar? If it¡¯s just a front? You¡¯ve only known me for one day, how could you possibly¡­¡± Sofia crouched to be on eye level with the much shorter young woman, ¡°Are you a liar, Shaily?¡± Words were stuck in Shaily¡¯s throat. Sofia smiled softly, she sighed. ¡°You know what, Shaily, you can prove yourself for certain. Just complete after me¡­ ¡®There is no adult left willing to be your guardian-¡± All kinds of emotions had crossed Shaily¡¯s face in the last hour, she was a very expressive girl, wearing her heart on her sleeve. But as Sofia spoke, for the first time, tears welled up in Shaily¡¯s eyes. With a trembling voice, she finished the sentence she knew all too well. ¡°Your class has been changed to ¡®Orphan¡¯. We are sincerely sorry.¡±
Chapter 325 - Do you do weird stuff? Simply sitting on the Visualizer¡¯s platform, Sofia and Shaily spent a while talking about their respective childhood, they had lived though quite a different path in life, but the struggles felt similar. Whereas Sofia¡¯s class had been a trap from Scripture, Shaily¡¯s class had been the result of a chance encounter. The winters in Exidion were very cold, explaining the countless chimneys decorating the city¡¯s rooftops. Shaily, living alone in the small house inherited from her parents had no extra money for firewood, she would go through the winters shivering under her old blankets. She only had whatever wooden branches and kindling she managed to collect during the year to last her the entire cold season, allowing her the luxury of a rare hot meal and glimmer of heat once in a while. One night, as she was down with a high fever during a snowstorm, dying from heat in an ice-cold house, only lit by the faint ambient moonlight, she thought she was hallucinating as she saw snow fall through her window. The strange glowing snowflakes fell on her blanket, enveloping her body in a weirdly comfortable breeze; she felt her fever recede, falling asleep soon after. The next day she woke up feeling better, the soothing snowflakes nowhere to be seen. Her class had changed during the night. And that was the whole story of her unlocking the [sprite Caller] class at age 9.
¡°And I woke up chained to a bed surrounded by guards, the Church had summoned me during the night.¡± ¡°And you managed to escape?¡± ¡°That¡¯s a story for another time. We should get back to today¡¯s lesson, don¡¯t you think? I only rented this place for four hours.¡± ¡°Ah, yes. Do you really want to learn one of my skills, then?¡± ¡°Only if you don¡¯t mind.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll do it! Teacher Vak-, I mean, Sofia, just tell me what to do, was my guess right?¡± ¡°Not quite,¡± Sofia explained, ¡°put your hand on the crystal, and think really hard about the skill you want to share, try to remember how the mana feels when it leaves your body to activate it.¡± She also put her hand on the black crystals. ¡°I¡¯ll be the one fueling it, so don¡¯t worry about that, this should work I¡¯m pretty sure.¡± Shaily pressed her delicate blue hand against the black sphere, and almost instantly, beams of light shot around the room, creating a strikingly different pattern than anything Sofia had ever seen. That was fast! The mana patterns of my skills are all very chaotic but this is more like¡­ A plant? Like a forest of vines branching out from a central point around the heart. This should be about the same complexity as the explosive bolts, so a bit easier than the piercing ones. ¡°You got the hang of it even faster than I did. Which skill is that? It¡¯s almost all internal so maybe [Split Focus]?¡± Sofia had found out that Shaily¡¯s class shared that one skill with Alith¡¯s, truthfully it was probably the only skill of the girl which she could learn, the rest all had to do with using sprites one way or another. Surprisingly, Shaily shook her head. ¡°This is [Call Elemental sprite],¡± she corrected. ¡°What? You probably shouldn¡¯t share this one, it¡¯s the entir-¡± ¡°No! I want you to learn this one!¡± Shaily protested. ¡°A- Alright. Sure. Ah, but wasn¡¯t it a locked skill? Those usually change something fundamental about how your body works. I''m not so sure I can learn it just like that, but it might be worth a try.¡± It would be funny to hide a sprite inside the skeletons¡¯ skulls, ready to jump out and unleash a surprise attack. But still¡­ ¡°Didn¡¯t you say sprites would only heed your call if you had a good affinity with them? I may not be able to call any. I had never even seen a sprite before you summoned one in class.¡± Shaily furrowed her brows. ¡°If the lightning sprites don¡¯t even listen to your call then nobody deserves to call them. But we can test your affinity with the sprites I have.¡± She withdrew her hand from the crystal and closed her eyes. Sofia could see the girl¡¯s mana spreading around her body in the same pattern the visualizer had just shown. Slowly, it spread out and gathered around her, coalescing in a few colorful glowing spots. Somehow it felt adjacent to spatial magic, yet not quite the same. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. Six dots of color appeared like this, they fluttered around her body slowly, like dancing lights reluctant to leave Shaily¡¯s immediate surroundings. Pointing at the red one, Shaily explained, ¡°This one is a fire sprite, green is wood, white is ice, yellow is light, gray is rock, and the almost invisible one is water, these are all the sprites I can call for now. Go ahead, try to touch them.¡± ¡°Touch? Aren¡¯t they just mana?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°Not really, they are like¡­ The weakest equivalent to Gods? Sparks of their element. I have read a lot about them after I got the class, but it¡¯s hard to find good documentation on them. Still, you will understand what I mean when you touch one, if they let you. Just approach your hand and see how they react.¡± ¡°Alright, let¡¯s see what these cute little sprites think of me.¡± Sofia slowly brought her hand near the red sprite hovering around Shaily¡¯s short blue horns. The sprite trembled at her approach, and fled to Shaily¡¯s back. ¡°Not fire,¡± Sofia said. ¡°I think they could get used to you, they didn¡¯t flee outright. Try another one.¡± One after the other, Sofia tried to reach for the other elemental sprites, but they avoided her like the plague, the fire ones had actually been the closest one until the Light one, which somewhat hesitant hopped onto Sofia¡¯s hand and back, nestling itself inside Shaily¡¯s neck, but not fleeing. ¡°What does this mean?¡± Sofia asked the young sprite expert. ¡°It looks like it¡¯s conflicted about you, I think. The light sprites like warmth, clarity of mind, healing, energy and shadows. It¡¯s easy to make them like you by just being a good person¡­ You¡¯re very nice so¡­ Do you¡­ Use light in abnormal ways?¡± ¡°Ah¡­ I see. Yeah. I do, actually.¡± What about spreading mana devouring rot through light? It makes sense this sprite of Light, made entirely of mana, would be wary¡­ Shaily¡¯s expression of incomprehension made Sofia giggle. ¡°Well, should I still try learning the skill? I guess this is the only way to know if at least the lightning sprites will like me.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure they will like you!¡± Shaily enthusiastically answered, putting her hand back on the crystal. ¡°Alright, focus on maintaining the Visualizer, I¡¯m sculpting a bone schematic.¡± By the time the clerk came to tell the two women their four hours were up, no skill learning or teaching had taken place. Sofia had barely managed to make bone sculpts of both Angel¡¯s Bolt and [Call Elemental sprite]¡¯s mana patterns, leaving her with a huge headache. Nevertheless, Sofia was very satisfied. She had learned a lot, just not about skills, but about her pupil.
On the way back to her room, she stopped abruptly in the middle of a hallway. Do I not¡­? Frowning, she entered the closest empty classroom, she wanted to be somewhere quiet where she was less likely to be attacked. Sitting on a desk, she searched through the mess in her storage ring. It¡¯s got to still be around, no? Did I get rid of it? Did I sell it? No way¡­ Did I give it to someone? Was it among all the shit I threw at the eye monster in the trial? How would I even lose that? Sofia dug and dug through her stuff, eventually finding what she had lost, buried under piles and piles of gold which she had totally not stolen from Sun¡¯s space temple. ¡°Got it! I knew it was still somewhere in there! There we go, no need to buy a storage ring! Astelia will be fine with me giving it to one of my students, right? Size of a barrel, it¡¯s perfect!¡± Hmm¡­ That is a lot of money though. I should see with Zerei if she can enchant it with a soul-bind first¡­ Space mages like Cardinal can just take stuff from an unlocked ring without the wearer even realizing. Even Orvod has a lock on his golden tooth, you really can¡¯t leave a storage ring just like that or someone could get ideas. I don¡¯t want Shaily¡¯s stuff to get stolen. Or worse, what if someone attacked her to get the ring? I could leave her with the black orb from the trial? That would also solve that problem until she¡¯s strong enough to defend it herself. Or both. Sofia made her way to Zerei¡¯s room. She was not there. Does she have a class right now? Maybe she went out to eat. Right, when is Astelia¡¯s class? I really need to learn that teleportation skill. I also need to get Saria and go confront Jen with her. And I¡¯ve barely even started progress on VPPV! And now I also need to work on the sprite skill¡­ ¡°Argh, so much to dooooooo¡­¡±
Chapter 326 - Exploring Magic Sofia chose to train on the sprite skill first, because out of all the things she had to do, it was the most uncertain one. By the time she had to come out to teach again, her progress was not very good. Clearly trying to copy the entire thing at once was a fool¡¯s errand, so she had to train to form the mana pattern bit by bit. It was easier said than done. Reproducing about a twentieth of the entire thing at once was the best she could do. She learned two such fragments, but trying to reproduce them at once only led to the collapse of both and her body suffering a minor backlash from the mana going astray. Her scepter could absorb the backlash, which would make the process easier, but since the students had no access to such a tool, she had to find a better way to teach them. It would have probably been easier just to ask any other teacher what the usual method of learning to cast wild spells from the raw schematics was, but she wanted to find it by herself. That day¡¯s class came and went. The five students spent two hours in a five versus one battle they couldn¡¯t hope to win, with Sofia using no skills and relentlessly slapping them with a napkin every time they failed to hit her. Despite their best efforts, they touched her zero times. Sofia, hauled up in her room, spent more time trying to learn [Call Elemental sprite] until her last class of the week, which was spent on more theory. Then came the three days of the week she had no work on.
¡°Almost there¡­¡± I can¡¯t believe the system does so much of the work normally. Even with ungodly amounts of mana to waste on this it¡¯s still taking forever. Sofia had finally found a working way to reproduce the spell pattern with her mana : cheating. If she couldn¡¯t use the help of the system controlling the mana for her, what was to prevent her from using her bone sculpture as a guide? No need to precisely copy the pattern, just fill the bones. The backlash would also be absorbed by the bones instead of her body, which made this even better. The only issue was that she was learning to cast the spell outside of her body instead of inside, which failed to produce any kind of magic even when it looked like the spell was resolved correctly without any backlash. It did nothing the last three times¡­ I assume that means the position of the magic inside the body has its importance. Does that mean a race with a different anatomy needs a different pattern for the same spell? Exidians are pretty similar to Humans, from the outside at least. So it¡¯s probably fine. Sofia tried reproducing the spell inside of her body like the visualizer room had shown. She failed to construct it properly without the bone sculpture to guide her mana and the spell crumbled. The mana rampaging inside her body was more violent now that the spell looked more like it should. She coughed up some blood. I need more training with the sculpture as a guide. ¡°But what if I just¡­¡± Sofia used [Bone Dominus] to break one of her ribs, which took much longer than she thought it would, as she kept hesitating at the last second. Once it finally snapped at the base of her spine, she pushed it around inside her, making her skin bulge, which felt quite unpleasant, and waited until her passive healing rebuilt the missing rib. Just like this, she now had an extra piece of bone inside her torso. With [Bone Dominus], she pulled a fine bone thread from the loose rib, and started recreating the spell pattern from inside. If the guide is inside me, it will definitely work, just like my veins being the guides for the Apostle form spells. Still it was easier said than done, she could only very slowly spread the bone thread around, to leave her passive healing enough time to stop the internal bleeding she was causing. Pain was actually not too bad, now that she had gotten started. She soon realized that the slightest of her movements would cause the bone threads to snap, leaving small bone shards everywhere in her thorax, this happened a few times until she locked her movements by encasing her torso in a rigid shirt of bone. Last but not least, some parts of the mana pattern she simply couldn¡¯t recreate because pesky human organs such as the stomach or the heart were in the way. However, all non-essential parts like her lungs were mercilessly pierced through. Slowly but surely, the new internal bone sculpture grew. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Not accounting for the parts she couldn¡¯t copy due to stuff being in the way, she had about sixty percent of the spell pattern now inside of her, and it was very easy to send her mana to fill it up. Now I only need to focus on the remaining parts, much easier! Much easier still took her an entire day, but finally, the spell successfully activated. Mana gathered around her, and slowly, it coalesced into a single dot of black ¡®light¡¯, floating up and down right in front of her face. There was a faint connection between Sofia and the sprite. Much fainter than the one with Pareth, but a connection nonetheless. Hi? Sofia wanted to try to touch it but she couldn¡¯t move her arms due to the bone shirt, and she didn¡¯t want to shatter the internal guide again. The dot of light didn¡¯t answer, and [Identify] gave nothing, but Sofia willed the sprite to stop moving, and it did. Great, so it does act like a summon already. Nice to count you among my army, small sprite. Now what element is that? A shadow sprite? Pareth had been sitting motionlessly on a chair for several hours, but he chose this moment to stand up, walking closer to Sofia, he raised his right arm and summoned a small shield of light. Smart. Go on, sprite, attack Pareth¡¯s shield! The sprite flew away from Sofia, it fluttered over to Pareth and to Sofia¡¯s surprise, threw itself against the shield like a rock out of a slingshot. The sprite disappeared as it hit the shield, as if absorbed by the solid light, but Sofia could tell it was still there, on or inside the shield. The shield grew a bit dimmer. I think it made your shield weaker? The mana in your shield looks a bit looser now. Sofia recalled the sprite, which struggled to free itself from the shield for a second before being slung across the room, then fluttering back to Sofia¡¯s side. The shield is back to normal. The sprite is costing some mana to keep around, but I can¡¯t really say how much, less than what I regenerate at least. Maybe around twenty mana per second? The spell itself was around one hundred. No wonder Shaily runs out of mana so fast. Sofia activated the skill again, or at least, she tried. It took another twenty minutes before her second successful attempt. During which the black sprite had stopped hovering around her and started to roam around the room. This time, the sprite was of an unstable, flickering blue, it formed around Sofia¡¯s right hand and leisurely spun around it. Lightning? Pareth raised his shield. Sofia grinned and gave the order to attack. The sprite moved in fast, angular motions and collided with the shield. It exploded with a thunderclap. Although it was quickly fixing itself, there was visible damage on Pareth¡¯s shield. Lightning sprite! Uhm¡­ It¡¯s dead? Unlike the shadow sprite, which had survived its own attack and was currently exploring the bathroom, the connection with the lightning sprite had been severed. It was nowhere to be seen. Alright then¡­ The next activation of the skill called forth a second shadow sprite, which quickly started following the first like a puppy following its mother. The third summoned a Light element sprite. Just like Shaily¡¯s light sprite, it was reluctant at first, but after Sofia spent half an hour trying to coax it, it finally accepted to come closer, and settled atop her head. Finally! I¡¯m not even going to try ordering it to attack, it¡¯s been hard enough to get it to come closer, I don¡¯t want to scare it away. I don¡¯t really get if these are very smart or not. They¡¯re weird, but they do have different personalities depending on their elements. I would call them cute but they¡¯re also just flying specks of mana and light. So far I have three elements. Let¡¯s try to get a fourth one! Despite several ¡®correct¡¯ activations, no more sprites appeared at all, leading Sofia to believe her current maximum number of sprites was three. She asked the shadow sprites to ¡®go back¡¯ and they quietly disappeared. The following two casts instantly summoned a lightning sprite each. Sofia spent the entire weekend getting used to the spell pattern and playing with sprites.
Chapter 327 - Prickly Pareth opened the door to two guests, who turned out to be Alith and Cinthia. Alith strode inside. ¡°Hoy! You good, Sof? No one¡¯s seen you in days.¡± Sofia raised a hand but she couldn¡¯t talk, with her other other hand, she helped guide the bone threads out of her chest. Give me a minute¡­ Pierced lungs aren¡¯t great for the voice. ¡°Do you need help?¡± Cinthia asked, uncertain about what she was even looking at. Sofia waved her off, pointing at the chairs followed by a thumbs up. ¡°If you say so¡­¡± Cinthia¡¯s voice trailed. Alith nodded and jumped, landing right on top of a chair with a flip. ¡°Just Sofia doing Sofia things, don¡¯t sweat the details. Viewers going up?¡± ¡°Uh¡­ Sorrow has been there with the regulars for half an hour already, someone else just joined but it¡¯s my first time seeing them, their nickname is [ResoundingEchoes].¡± Resounding Echoes. Could be anything. Maybe sound related, Cacophony? Alith naturally suggested, ¡°Resounding Echoes, the god of Stubbed Toes!¡± Cinthia pained to suppress a cackle. ¡°Hey, it might not be this, but I thought it sounded nice,¡± Alith continued. ¡°You might in fact not be far off,¡± Cinthia said, ¡°From what I gather¡­ This one would be Pain, or Suffering. Or both at once, I guess, no one is saying a real name but that seems to be who this is.¡± ¡°No way, it¡¯s really the god of stubbed toes¡­ The resounding echoes of one¡¯s scream when they hit the foot of a stone table? My genius astonishes me.¡± Finally Sofia finished unraveling the bone guide, and she could finally speak. ¡°I think I get why they would come to watch me¡­¡± ¡°Yeah to no one¡¯s surprise, Sof. I don¡¯t know what you were doing, but it didn¡¯t look very pleasant. Also, in case you didn¡¯t notice, you¡¯re sitting in a pool of your own blood.¡± ¡°This is just a way I found to speed up learning new wild spells. It¡¯s a bit painful, yes, but it¡¯s also very efficient. Look what I can do now!¡± Sofia rose a finger and activated the magic in the now familiar pattern of [Call Elemental sprite]. Shit. The spell failed and backlashed, adding another mouthful of blood to the puddle on the floor. ¡°Wait,¡± Sofia told her two friends worriedly observing her wipe her mouth with the back of her hand, ¡°Almost there, let me try again.¡± She spat blood twice more before at last, a small yellow dot of light took form on top of her raised finger. With a shit-eating grin and a bloody mouth, she presented her new magic. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ A tiny light? Seems like quite the downgrade compared to the stuff you could already do,¡± Alith commented as she observed the sprite from her chair. ¡°It¡¯s an elemental of light,¡± Cinthia corrected her, ¡°go look through the spirit plane, you¡¯ll see the difference.¡± ¡°That so?¡± In just a second, Alith¡¯s body turned misty and ethereal then back to normal. ¡°Oh, it kind of looks like a ghost slime. I don¡¯t really get what it¡¯s meant to do but it¡¯s a nice ghost pet.¡± ¡°It¡¯s smarter than it looks, the offensive power is not great yet, but new magic is new magic. I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll find a way to make it work with everything else. Well, thanks for checking up on me, but I need to get changed and go teach my first class of the week¡­¡± ¡°Can¡¯t we just watch?¡± Alith asked. Cinthia¡¯s red skin got redder, ¡°Alith, W- what do you-¡± Alith raised an eyebrow. ¡°The class, Cin, I meant watch the class.¡± ¡°Oh, oh¡­¡± Sofia blinked a few times. I don¡¯t think she can go any redder than that. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. ¡°I don¡¯t see why you couldn¡¯t watch,¡± Sofia answered with a shrug. Nevermind, she can. ¡°That makes me think, do the Recessed watch you¡­ You know?¡± ¡°Ah- A, I can turn off the thing, but it leaves me with very few working skills so I usually¡­¡± Cinthia¡¯s voice trailed off as she looked away. Quite the class she has. Why did the system give it to her of all people? ¡°I¡¯ll go change in another room then¡­¡± ¡°Ah, wait, you have a message from Death!¡± ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°Uh, here it is¡­¡± ¡®[|||||]: (?? ??? ?? )¡¯ I don¡¯t know what I expected.
The class came and went with Alith and Cinthia spectating from the back of the classroom. Erian was absent that day, so Sofia took the opportunity to cover a topic which barely applied to him with his [Invoker] class, which was to know when to take a hit for your summons and when to let them take a hit for you. It was something Pareth handled by himself most of the time, but that hadn¡¯t prevented Sofia from putting a lot of thought into it. When the time came to end the class, Sofia Alith and Cinthia stayed behind for a bit to chat after the students left, but were interrupted just five minutes in by someone knocking on the door. Crap, is there another class here right after me? Pareth stood up to open the door, his armor flaring up on the way. The door opened to reveal a frowning Exidian man in his forties wearing a student uniform. Ignoring Pareth, he walked into the classroom, a dainty air of superiority etched on his face. What does this guy want? He would be handsome if he didn¡¯t look like a self-righteous ass. Reminds me of those scummy nobles from Skyreach. [Warrior - Lv.249] Saying nothing he observed the three seated ladies, ever so slightly shaking his head. ¡°Teacher Vakaria, I have come to challenge you to a duel!¡± he coldly announced. You can do that? ¡°No, thank you.¡± I want nothing to do with you. The man¡¯s frown deepened. ¡°I am afraid that is not an option you have.¡± Clearing his throat, he summoned a scroll in an iron tube and unfurled it, with a steady voice, he read its contents, ¡°From the competition¡¯s second week onward, students may challenge teachers within their filter in a singular duel for their token, to be overseen by Sir Tartaros. Each student may only challenge any given teacher once, and must wager ten times the teacher¡¯s token holdings in gold coins for the challenge to be valid. Once these conditions are fulfilled, the teacher must attend the duel within a week if possible. The competition¡¯s previous rules still apply. C. Beryl Deathmarch.¡± ¡°Did you write that yourself?¡± Alith asked bluntly, and was promptly ignored by the man, who only had disdainful eyes for Sofia. This feels like the kind of thing that I should be warned about in advance, no? I guess I was hauled up in my room for three days, but if this is real, it must be quite new, or Alith and Cinthia would know about it. Cinthia looked uncomfortable in the presence of the openly hostile man, ¡°Sh- Should we go to the administration to check if this is real?¡± she suggested, eyeing at the door. The man threw her a disdainful glance. A small system window appeared at the edge of Sofia¡¯s vision. ¡®[Daddy Hatred] : HE SNEERED AT CINTHIA! THIS FILTHY GOBLIN TURD! YOU BETTER GO FUCK HIM UP! BREAK ALL HIS BONES AND HEAL THEM AND BREAK THEM AGAIN! BATHE IN HIS BLOOD! MAKE A BLOODY MASK OUT OF HIS DENTED SHIT-HEAD SKULL! I¡¯LL KILL HIM MYSELF IF YOU DON¡¯T!¡¯ [Invalid quest title: thoroughly humiliate the opponent in a fair duel without losing any health] [Reward : [Evasion] skill evolution] [Will you accept? Yes/No] Hum. Alright, uh. If you ask so politely. [Quest Accepted!] [Time limit : one duel] I can¡¯t kill him though. Or permanently injure him, for that matter. But everything else should be fine. I¡¯ll be looking forward to that skill evolution, Hatred. ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll duel you, do you have the gold?¡± Ten times the amount of tokens is no small fee. The man threw a small golden ring at Sofia like it was trash. ¡°I see you have come to reason. Forty-five gold ingots.¡± So I have four hundred and fifty tokens? Never bothered to count them. Sofia quickly inspected the contents of the ring, which were exactly as announced, then she threw it back to him. I guess TLDR really has a monopoly on storage rings; it¡¯s what they use all the way to Exidion. Old Lich must be filthy rich. ¡°What¡¯s your name and when do you want to fight?¡± ¡°Marquess Ferdinand ProudWall. We will hold this duel this evening. I shall demonstrate your inadequacy as a Brighthall teacher,¡± he spewed with contempt before turning on his heels and leaving. Sofia had to explicitly order Pareth to not clobber the man on his way out as she could feel the hit coming. ProudWall¡­ Silence regained the small classroom. ¡°Lovely individual, eh,¡± Alith sarcastically said and snickered, ¡°Should¡¯ve been born in F???????????r??????????????a????????????????n???????????????????c????????????????e????????????????, he¡¯d fit right in with the nobles there. A conglomerate of prickly baboons.¡± ¡°What¡¯s a baboon?¡± Cinthia asked. ¡°Wait, that word ain¡¯t censored?¡±
Chapter 328 - Bear witness ¡°Are you not going to prepare?¡± Cinthia asked, incredulous, as Sofia suggested that they go find Saria so they could all have lunch together. ¡°Prepare what? I don¡¯t need any preparations, I¡¯m always ready to fight. I don¡¯t have to worry about foul-play since we have a level 500 referee. So I¡¯ll just beat this guy up and take the money, no need to make a big deal out of it.¡± ¡°Why¡¯d he be so hostile towards you in particular though? He made it sound like a personal issue,¡± Alith asked. ¡°Erian, the student who was absent today, has the same family name. It was on his data that he¡¯s the eldest son of some Duke, though, so this guy is probably like his uncle I suppose? Could be his great-grandfather too for all we know, he looked quite old for someone our level. As for what his problem with me is exactly, no idea.¡± ¡°I mean, Erredis looks younger than him but that doesn¡¯t mean much¡­ I guess at a certain point people just chose if they want to look old or young? But the real question is : does this Erian kid dislike you or something? Think he has a reason to complain about you?¡± ¡°Maybe their family just don¡¯t like other races other than the Exidians? The way he looked at me was a bit scary,¡± Cinthia added. ¡°I have no idea what his issue is but I don¡¯t think Erian wanted this to happen. He¡¯s a bit stuck up sometimes, but he¡¯s still polite and a hard-worker. I think he¡¯s not indifferent to my looks either. Honestly if he knew this was going to happen I¡¯d be faster to believe that he didn¡¯t come today out of embarrassment rather than because he was the instigator and somehow disappointed in my teaching.¡± ¡°Eh, who knows with the nobles. Could be anything, maybe he just doesn¡¯t like the way you dress, nothing¡¯s off the table. Let¡¯s just get Saria and Asty for the meal.¡± ¡°Not Zerei?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°Nah, she¡¯s busy preparing for an open class or something like that I think, it¡¯s better not to bother her.¡± The trio left the classroom. ¡°Oh right, Alith, you¡¯ve had Alchemy classes with Eternam already, right? How is it?¡± ¡°Old man bird guy? He knows a lot, it¡¯s been really interesting, especially how he mixes the¡­¡±
Sofia and Pareth made their way to the same underground arena she had fought the crystal monster in. In the large corridor leading to the closed double doors of the Arena, there was no one else. Everyone said it was very noisy with all the duels but this is quieter than a forgotten tomb. Is there no one inside either? I thought Saria said she would bring some people to cheer me on. Extending her mana senses further through the walls, Sofia stopped. Holy¡­ The seats are packed, is there another event going on? The strange void near the other side has to be that Tartaros guy. He felt like that during the opening ceremony too. That¡¯s at least a thousand spectators in the seats and no one is fighting in the arena. There¡¯s no way they¡¯re here to watch me, right? What if they are? They actually are, aren¡¯t they? Not good. Hmm. I actually need a second to think this through¡­ I can¡¯t lose health so demon form and [One with Suffering] are useless, so are the [False immortality] runes¡­ Bolts are fine, but only the piercing ones, I won¡¯t lose health with the new armor. I need to humiliate the guy for Hatred to be happy with the quest, just not losing health isn¡¯t enough. Should I go in there with no armor? Depending on this guy¡¯s skills this could work out well¡­ Oh, I¡¯ve got a good idea, this should work, right? Sofia walked back until she found one of the many public restrooms of the academy, and quickly got changed into what the dwarven clothier had sold to her as ¡®a lady-like long robe with a lot of beautiful lace and frills, perfect for tea parties with the nobility and other such distinguished occasions¡¯. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. I can¡¯t believe this Dwarf really made me buy a corset, this stuff is suffocating. Does look good though. Sofia double checked all her stuff, making sure to wear all the golden pieces of the saint set as well as her crown. Letting her hair flow behind her back, she grabbed her scepter out of her storage. The last step was to remodel her wings so that they looked less undead, and more like beautiful bird wings. White feathers look good. They¡¯re rigid and made of bone, but that¡¯ll do the trick. And we¡¯re all set. As a last detail, Sofia summoned her pet crow out of the book, she felt more confident with it on her shoulder. She walked all the way back to the arena¡¯s doors, it was still just as silent, yet the atmosphere seemed a bit tense. Maybe I¡¯m just imagining things. Let¡¯s just hope they¡¯re really waiting for me, or this might be embarrassing. Sofia opened the doors. Voices finally reached her, shocked murmurs, excited whispers. ¡°She¡¯s here! The crazy teacher.¡± ¡°The hand stealer!¡± As she had felt, the rows of seats were full, and opposite her, waiting in the arena, was a stoic and fully armored Ferdinand ProudWall. Sofia took a few more steps inside the arena, and Pareth closed the door behind her. A quick glance at the seats was enough to spot a lot of people among the numerous students. Of course Saria was there with everyone else who had followed from sect, but in a place seemingly reserved for teachers, quite a few of them were present, among them she recognized Eternam, the twins, Jennifer, and even the hobgoblin one. The headmaster and Beryl were nowhere to be seen, but In the small booth for the referee, Saint Tartaros stood tall, an inconspicuous Exidian lady sitting behind him in the shadow. Last but not least, Sofia spotted all five of her students. Erian was sitting with a bunch of richly dressed Exidians, far from the rest of the class. He was looking down, so Sofia couldn¡¯t catch his expression. Him expected, everyone was staring at Sofia with bated breath. Well I¡¯ll be damned, that¡¯s a lot of pressure. I¡¯m not used to so many people watching me fight¡­ Or watching me at all. Ehrm, alright¡­ ¡°Good day, everyone, are you ready for today¡¯s class?¡± There were a few cheers from the student¡¯s direction, Shaily and Alith were probably the loudest, besides that, there was not much of a reaction. Well, that¡¯s a start. ¡°You are late, teacher Vakaria,¡± Ferdinand retorted from the other end of the arena. I¡¯m not, but sure¡­ All mithril, longsword and shield. He might actually survive a few hits. ¡°On this day, I shall prove to everyone gathered here that a nameless barbaric sod of your stature is unfit to teach at Brighthall!¡± The tension thickened in the arena, there were hushed gasps from the crowd, expressions of confusion, and sometimes of approval, everyone was waiting for Sofia¡¯s defense. ¡°Bold of your to doubt Headmaster Beligenus¡¯ good judgment,¡± she struck back. The reactions were mixed, some in the audience whispering, a few clapping in support, and others murmuring in surprise. The Marquess¡¯ already existing frown deepened, anger flashed through his face for an instant, swiftly replaced by the same superior look of disdain he had shown her earlier that day. He proceeded to completely ignore Sofia¡¯s comeback, ¡°Are you planning to duel in that ridiculous getup? Your shoddy crown is an affront to the Empire! I will not show any mercy in the face of such disrespect!¡± From the seats came a few scoffs, a couple of disapproving murmurs, and even a handful of approving nods from the nobles sitting around Erian. ¡°Are you ready to fight or are you here to blabber on?¡± Sofia casually answered without a care. The man¡¯s expression contorted, he closed the visor of his mithril armor¡¯s helmet, and readied his sword. It was Tartaros who spoke next from up above, ¡°Teacher Vakaria, present the tokens.¡± Sofia untied the token pouch from her waist and held it up. Tartaros didn¡¯t have to lift a finger, the pouch freed itself from Sofia¡¯s hand and flew to the Saint of Strength¡¯s side. ¡°I will ensure the fairness of this duel and the safety of the public. Teacher Vakaria¡¯s wager is of four-hundred and fifty strength token, Student Marquess Proudwall¡¯s wager is of forty-five hundred gold. The duel will end if one of the contestants forfeits or when their health reaches five percent of their current total,¡± the unwavering voice of Tartaros announced, ¡°Do both sides agree to these terms?¡± As Tartaros declared the terms of the duel, the audience''s anticipation grew palpable. Students exchanged excited whispers, and the teachers intently observed the two duelists. ¡°I do,¡± they both answered at the same time. The silence in the arena thickened. ¡°Strength be your witness. You may Duel!¡± Right as Pareth¡¯s [Sanctified grounds] activated, bathing the entire arena in a soft holy light, Sofia had the first move. Before the Marquess could do anything, a system window appeared above her head, for everyone to see. [Health : 119 850 / 119 850]
Chapter 329 - Spine chilling Sofia summoned the skull choir, with only eight skulls in the sphere formation, marking the corners of a cube around her. These were a new addition to the choir thanks to Shaily¡¯s contribution, fanged boar skulls with the special ability [Intercept]. The Marquess used some kind of magic with no obvious effect before charging forward crossing the gap in an instant. His momentum and sword were stopped by Pareth¡¯s. They exchanged a few blows, judging each other¡¯s capabilities in a deadlock. About equal strength. Pareth is slightly faster. A piercing angel¡¯s bolt started forming around Sofia¡¯s staff. She stood unmoving as Pareth and the mithril-covered knight traded sonorous blows, trying her best to maintain a disinterested expression all the while she managed four skills at once, two of them still waiting to resolve. The Marquess¡¯ sword swung back after another head-on clash, he withdrew, taking a step back, and suddenly his body split apart. Two perfectly identical copies appeared at his sides as he lunged at Pareth again. The copies tried to reach Sofia. Let the left one through. Sofia knew Pareth couldn¡¯t hold back the three swordsman at once, so she would take care of one. She could tell the true Marquess was still the middle one, but he had actually split his mana into three equal parts to create these two clones; she had to assume that they were just as strong as he was. Seeing the opening, the left clone rushed toward Sofia, his mithril sword raised high. [Heat Death] didn¡¯t respond when she tried to negate the incoming blow. Not actually a magical attack? Hmm. Bolt isn¡¯t ready. Boars. Sofia was within reach of the clone¡¯s sword. The overhead strike came with devastating force. The audience held their breath as the sword fell. The skull choir¡¯s boar heads regrouped and formed a wall. The sword collided with the choir¡¯s [Intercept], stopping it clean in its tracks and deflecting all the energy to the sides, blowing aways the sand of the arena grounds. This is when myriad gravestones appeared out of the ground, and dozens of bony hands clawed at the clone. A volley of magical bursts from the real Marquess shot past Pareth in an arc. Sofia dispelled it without even looking at it, the red magical particles of the attacks dispersing like they hit an impenetrable wall just before reaching her. The left clone¡¯s sword swept at the graveyard skeletons hampering him, killing a few with each attack, but it still wasn¡¯t free when Sofia swung her staff at it. Seeing the blue lightning come, the clone self-destructed; its mana ran awry and following it came a bright flash of light and the start of a shockwave. There were gasps and exclamations in the public, things did not look good for the new teacher. Sofia paid twelve thousand mana, and the explosion stopped, even its thunderous bang abruptly cut as the air stilled. Sounds of shock and incomprehension came from the spectating students. Mana : 391 059 / 417 100 Still plenty. The complete failure of his explosive skill seemed to destabilize the real Marquess, and while Pareth parried a strike from the leftover clone, he managed to kick the Marquess in the chest, sending him flying a few meters back. Coordinating with Pareth, another group of graveyard skeletons burst out of the ground, grabbing the armored legs of the second clone. Sofia finally released her piercing bolt, blowing the head of the clone clean off. The bolt traveled all the way through the arena, crashing against an invisible barrier protecting the teachers¡¯ seats. That¡¯s two thirds of your mana gone. Sofia though, observing the Marquess getting back up and readying another skill while his headless clone crashed to the ground. Pareth was already charging. The Marquess disappeared. Sofia felt his mana reappearing right behind her. The Marquess¡¯ sword struck in a wide arc, tearing right through Sofia¡¯s back. Huge amounts of blood splattered everywhere before Pareth could even teleport back. In the audience, some gasped, some covered their eyes, and some people cheered, celebrating the Marquess¡¯ apparent victory. But the cheers were short-lived. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. Sofia¡¯s health hadn¡¯t changed. [Health : 119 850 / 119 850] Her torso and wings lit up, thousands of runes activating to give her a burst of strength and speed. She let go of her staff, and through the cloud of blood, her armored arm reached back, grabbing the sword-wielding arm of the Marquess. The blood had come from [Summon Blood]. Since the Marquess¡¯ Mithril sword rejected magic, his melee attacks were purely physical. Using the phasing from the graveyard skeletons holding her ankles, hidden under her wide robe, Sofia had let it harmlessly go through her. The Marquess used some kind of strength boost, almost freeing his arm from Sofia¡¯s grasp but Pareth was already there. Right out of his teleportation to Sofia, he grabbed both of the Marquess¡¯ arms. Sofia made sure the graveyard skeletons switched to grabbing him, and pivoting her torso only, she turned around. The instant she faced the Marquess, a magic attack coming from the other side of the arena silently shot for her back like a deadly arrow. The skill the Marquess had used at the very beginning of the duel. To dispel it cost Sofia less mana than she could track. She smiled at the entrapped Marquess. He struggled, in vain, grunting from within his helmet, Pareth¡¯s grip was too much. ¡°You lose,¡± Sofia sweetly whispered, letting his arm go to hide her mouth with her hand as she forced a haughty condescending laugh. The marquess screamed, letting out a raging war-cry, and Sofia saw the entirety of his remaining mana spread out through his body. With a last burst of strength, he almost freed himself from Pareth¡¯s grasp, but Sofia¡¯s armored hand sprung forth. The dragon scale claws pierced through the mithril armor right at the base of the Marquess¡¯ neck. His scream was choked out. Sofia''s hand reached his spine. She pulled her hand back with her gory prize of a few cervical vertebrae and broken shards of mithril armor. A bloody hole in his gorget, the Marquess went limp. Much like when the Marquess had struck before, the crowd¡¯s reaction was varied, shock, outcry, cheers, disgust, all mixed into a cacophony of loud reactions. With her other hand, Sofia opened her challenger¡¯s visor. ¡°Any more tricks?¡± No answer came from the contorted face and bloodshot eyes of the Marquess. Not that he could speak even if he was dying to. ¡°That¡¯s what I thought.¡± Pareth let the Marquess go, his limp body falling loudly onto the bloody sand of the arena. Everything stilled, and while nobody was able to move anymore, a warm green light enveloped the Marquess¡¯ dying form. The Saint of Strength¡¯s voice cut through the silence, he appeared next to Sofia, Pareth and Ferdinand, ¡°Student Ferdinand ProudWall¡¯s Health has fallen below five percent, I hereby declare him the loser of this duel under Strength¡¯s watch, and he will henceforth not be allowed to challenge Teacher Vakaria again. This marks the end of today¡¯s session.¡± Tartaros disappeared, leaving the pouch of token and the stack of gold ingots at Sofia¡¯s feet, and everyone was able to move again. ¡°She never took a single step!¡± ¡°That was crazy!¡± ¡°The magic just disappeared!¡± ¡°She never lost health at all!¡± ¡°This teacher is insane!¡± The students went wild. Quite a few people jumped down into the arena, including most of Sofia¡¯s friends and the people who had been sitting around Erian and cheering for the Marquess all the way. The first to reach them was an Exidian woman, she almost threw herself at the downed Marquess¡¯ side, crying and forcing what looked like a health potion down his throat before he could even get a grip on what he had just gone through. Is that his wife? Sofia crouched to pick up the gold. ¡°He¡¯ll be fine, the Saint healed him.¡± The woman sent Sofia a spiteful glare before turning back to the unconscious Marquess. Sofia looked down at the bits of the man¡¯s spine still in her hand. Can¡¯t say I didn¡¯t deserve this one, I guess. I¡¯m not the one who started this shit, though. Man knew what he was getting himself into. Pareth had dispelled his weapons, arms crossed, his empty eye sockets stared down at the Marquess and the lady, he looked proud of himself, satisfied. ¡°Nice show, too bad you bloodied your new robe,¡± Saria said as she walked up to Sofia. Alith and Cinthia were right behind. ¡°That was fast,¡± Alith stated, and Cinthia added that her viewers had liked the show. ¡°It wasn¡¯t much, I didn¡¯t use half my skills. Well, whatever.¡± Eternam, Astelia and Zerei also came each with a small comment, and Sofia was starting to feel a bit overwhelmed, especially because she couldn¡¯t cancel [Runeforged Overlord] which was quickly draining all of her mana. And as it was starting to get hard to understand what anyone was saying between her friends, the students, and the Marquess¡¯ family which had come down with various opinions, Sofia¡¯s focus turned to something else entirely. [Quest complete, congratulations! Your reward will be delivered soon.] [A new evolution choice was unlocked for the skill : Evasion]
Chapter 330 - Dodge me Sofia was currently in Beligenus¡¯ office, she had had her doubts about the old Dragon accepting to receive her like this, but it seemed the Headmaster was usually agreeable with lending a helping hand to his teachers through his tremendous knowledge. ¡°Teacher Eternam said you were the most likely to know what this exclamation mark was about short of asking an Archangel directly.¡± The headmaster stroked his long white beard, as he slowly read through the system window. [Evasion] : While moving out of the way of attacks or projectiles, gain a temporary bonus of 100% (skill level) movement and reaction speed. Available Evolutions for [Evasion] Lv.100 (All levels will be lost) : ¡°A peculiar indicator indeed. Scribes would usually provide some insights on such warnings, it is curious that it does not. I believe I understand what this may signify, but I will need to have a look at your other skills if you seek a definitive answer.¡± Sofia tilted her head, ¡°Are you certain you want to see? There is some stuff in there that even you cannot unsee.¡± Beligenus narrowed his eyes. ¡°It takes more than mere words to scare old lizards and wizards alike. I happen to be both. That being said, I seek not to offend a certain rabbit, so forget about sharing anything; let me simply impart some knowledge and let you decide on the best course of action for yourself. This will cost you a class credit.¡± I shouldn¡¯t be surprised that he knows about Erredis. The Great Sage, uh. ¡°That would be my honor, teacher.¡± The headmaster turned around. His hands behind his back, he contemplated the view over Exalta and his Academy. Measuring each word, he explained, ¡°Classless spells, as categorized by the system, are most often the rawest of body and soul enhancement magics. Figure yourself as a large tree. The system¡¯s class skills are your branches. Grow a branch, cut it, grow a new one, it rarely matters. Sometimes a branch becomes too large and important to cut without endangering the trunk, it is a core branch, the system will lock them. The classless skills are different.¡± ¡°Are classless skills the roots?¡± ¡°No. Classless skills are not the root nor the leaves. Classless skills are carvings, new channels inside the trunk. They allow mana, the sap, to flow in new ways. Unlike a branch, if you forget them, they will clog and scar. You can always claw away at the scar tissue to reopen the old channel, but it will undoubtedly cause some damage. Permanent damage.¡± ¡°That explains why classless skills have a long cooldown before you can learn them again after discarding them¡­¡± So then my [Sprint] skill is actually a bit damaged? Its mana pathways are, at least? ¡°In the case of what the system so innocently labels ¡®skill evolutions¡¯, it closes some channels and digs new ones aplenty to enhance the skill as much as it possibly can. This takes a huge amount of space in the trunk.¡± Oh. And I have A LOT of classless skills. And one is already evolved. Sofia waited for the next part but there was none. ¡°My trunk is already full?¡± she tried. That would be unexpected and very bad news¡­ ¡°Full? No, not at all.¡± Beligenus turned around, closing an eye, he observed Sofia. ¡°You are perhaps around halfway there? Many of your core branches are tightly interlocking, clogging the estate of your trunk, but there is a lot of space yet. The issue, I am confident, lies elsewhere. In the overlaps.¡± ¡°I had ¡®overlapping skills¡¯ before, the system made me forget one to learn the other.¡± ¡°I assume that was cutting a core branch to replace it. You cannot cut away the channels.¡± ¡°So I cannot learn that skill because it overlaps with another one? Or does it mean the mana will have to be split between the two, giving diminishing returns?¡± ¡°Two wrong answers. What happens is, you will have to fight to combine all the overlaps into a new whole. Either you make it, or you don¡¯t. Very high risk, but if the combination is good and you succeed, very high reward. Either way, there is absolutely no coming back once it is done.¡± Evolved classless skills take up a lot of space, I¡¯m willing to bet [Way of the fool] is the issue then. So I¡¯m risking losing both [Evasion] and [Way of the fool] if this fails? I¡¯m getting cold feet already. [Bending Steps] wasn¡¯t even my first choice in the first place¡­ ¡°Do you believe I should take the risk? How likely am I to combine them correctly?¡± ¡°Worth the risk? Impossible for me to tell. Only your scribe knows. How much do you trust them? Giving you the option certainly wasn¡¯t unintentional, I can confirm as much. There is no likelihood of success or guidance toward it which I am able to give beyond that. Once you take the skill, you will know what to do, and it will be up to you. Hmm. It will take a few days, you may be excused from your teacher duties during this time if you wish to proceed with it. I recommend doing it in the safety of your room,¡± Beligenus explained before turning back to look at the city through the window again. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Thank you very much for your time and advice,¡± Sofia bowed as she thanked him, and turned to leave, but before opening the door, she turned back, ¡°Sorry to keep bothering you, but would you happen to know what exactly the ProudWalls have against me? No one has been able to provide a clear answer yet¡­¡± No answer. Sofia turned again, grabbing the handle to open the door. Right then Beligenus¡¯ voice came from behind, ¡°Your ID is dirty, you should dust it.¡± Sofia turned around to thank the headmaster again, only to realize she was now in her own room, holding the handle of her bathroom door. ¡°What?¡± If I didn¡¯t know who he is I would think I¡¯m hallucinating right now. I guess he just teleported me here. That was completely seamless. Pareth jumped out of the storage ring now that they were out of the headmaster¡¯s office. He rarely stayed in the storage now unless Sofia needed to go unnoticed or to enter narrow spaces he wouldn¡¯t fit in. ¡°So what do you think? It¡¯s a bit compelling isn¡¯t it?¡± [Smear] is a straight and safe upgrade. Clearly my first choice. It more than doubles the bonus from evasion and completely removes the prerequisite of needing to be actively avoiding attacks. [Evasion II] while initially not as impressive eventually becomes slightly better thanks to the bonus to thinking speed. That being said, [Smear]¡¯s bonuses scales up to the class level while [Evasion II] stops at 300% bonus speed and 150% bonus thinking speed. So perhaps at a very high level, they average out to being about equal. But [Bending Steps] is just weird. It gives very little detail, and seems to be the opposite of what [Evasion] was meant to do. You no longer evade, attacks evade you¡­ ¡°I would never pick that.¡± But then, the exclamation mark. The possibility of something greater. Basically this is a free fusion ticket. The whole is likely to be better than the parts, and it will most likely free up a skill slot, which is big. Also, ¡®Projectiles and attacks move out of your way; Walk forth¡¯ really gives off the same feeling as ¡®The Fool always stumbles but never falls¡¯. The kind of reality bending rule that somehow works out, defying all logic. Sofia stared at both her skills. [Evasion] : While moving out of the way of attacks or projectiles, gain a temporary bonus of 100% (skill level) movement and reaction speed. [Way of the Fool] : Analytical thinking is 80% (1*Skill level + 50) more efficient when used for personal gains. The Fool always stumbles but never falls. Gain extra experience from performing kills with trickery and deceit. To risk losing those¡­ Actually, it¡¯s fine. I can always take that weird [Crystalized] skill to supplement the loss in thinking speed. Losing Evasion is bad but today¡¯s duel proved I have other decent ways to defend myself. I¡¯ll just have to get another classless movement skill to replace it even if it¡¯s worse. I can afford the risk. I¡¯d ask Saria and Alith but there¡¯s a hundred percent chance that they both tell me to risk the fusion, isn¡¯t there?
Sofia went through her class the next day as usual, sadly Erian was still not there. She warned the students that there would be no more classes this week. On her way back, she stopped by Astelia¡¯s room to tell her what she was doing, so that at least someone else would know, after which she put up a ¡®do not disturb¡¯ sign on her door and locked herself in. Sitting on her bed, she looked at Pareth. ¡°This is going to be fine, right? Can¡¯t be worse than Sorrow¡¯s ritual. I know you¡¯ll be there to help if something goes wrong so it doesn¡¯t feel as bad. Let¡¯s do this!¡± Your passive [Evasion] Lv.100 has evolved to [Bending Steps] Lv.1 Changes were instantaneous, Sofia felt something go very wrong inside of her. And she was hit by a strange, newfound clarity; as if she had opened her eyes to the mana of her classless skills for the first time. WARNING! COLLIDING MANA PATHWAYS Forceful fusion of the skills [Bending Steps], [Way of the Fool], [Fast reading] and [Sprint], now ongoing, please guide your mana while your scribe shields your core Estimated scribe lifetime: 81 hours. Please conclude the fusion or delete all the colliding skills before then. [Sprint] and [Fast reading] too?! And a fucking deadline?! This is so much worse than I expected!!!! Sofia quickly switched gears to try and salvage the situation. ¡®Guide your mana¡¯ wasn¡¯t much of an indication as to what to do, but it was a start. Focusing on her inner mana pathways, she could vividly feel points of tension, they emanated dull pain which resonated through her body and soul. In these points, mana was going berserk. The pathways connected in weird ways leading in streams of mana colliding or crossing each other. Other pathways were dried up, there was not a drop of mana to be found anywhere in them, and Sofia could feel them starting to crumble. There were thousands of such issues all over the place in the space where the four skills crossed. For a bit, Sofia was fascinated by the newfound ability to view her inner mana pathways so clearly when she could normally only feel the class skills this well. A whole new part of the workings of her mana had opened to her, and yet she couldn¡¯t waste a single second. The more she dawdled, the more new issues cropped up as the colliding skills created a chain reaction of clustered or dried pathways. One by one, she painstakingly fixed all the conflicts, cutting the flow of mana, making sure there was no clogging, sometimes carving new paths herself with precise mana bursts and discarding others like miners would collapse a dangerous tunnel to seal it off. A full seventy-six hours later, with sore muscles, sweaty brows, and only a measly two hundred and fifty minutes left on the clock, Sofia resolved the final conflict. She thanked her luck for the processing pills she had gotten from the gachapon boxes without which there was no universe in which she could have ever come close to accomplishing that in so little time. All colliding pathways have been fixed, fusion successful. Congratulations! Relief coursed through her body and mind, along with a clear feeling of heightened awareness. Sofia instinctively opened up her status. [Bending Steps], [Sprint], [Way of the fool] and [fast reading] were all gone, and with them two of her classless skill slots, leaving her with only seven. That was a bitter surprise considering the amount of risk and effort getting there had required. Yet, Sofia smiled ear to ear as she read the name of her new skill. Sir Scribe, you spoil me. ? [Dreams Of a Demon which Gods Envy - March of the Envoy] ?
Chapter 331 - To become educated ? [Dreams Of a Demon which Gods Envy - March of the Envoy] ? : Experience gains +10%, Thinking speed +100%, Reading speed +1000% Alternate between the states of Order and Chaos: While immobile, walking or moving slowly, enter the Order state. (Order - March of the Envoy) Attacks curve around you. Aura, Charisma, and Processing +100% Gain the ability to walk on matter in liquid and gaseous forms. Else, enter the Chaos state. (Chaos - Dreams Of a Demon which Gods Envy) Strength, Agility, and Speed +100% Reaction speed +200% Maximum running and flying speed +2000% Sofia worriedly glanced down, a sigh of relief escaped her lips. Everything looks the same. ¡°I really don¡¯t know what I would have done if they had doubled in size.¡± I¡¯m in Order state now. The enhanced perception is due to the Processing I think. Even with doubled Aura I still don¡¯t get what it does at all. I don¡¯t really see what the Charisma does either. ¡°Care to help me test this thing Pareth? Just throw me a pillow or something. I don¡¯t know what counts as an attack.¡± There was a second of delay, but Pareth grabbed the pillow she was handing him, took a few steps back and threw it at her face with mild force. When the pillow was about thirty centimeters away from her, its form blurred and curved. The square pillow stretched and warped around an invisible sphere originating from Sofia¡¯s position before shooting out on the other side and hitting the window behind the bed. Space magic of some sort? Sofia threw another pillow at Pareth, he understood her intentions and swung the pillow at her. Instead of hitting her shoulder, it curved and swerved around her, and once again came out on the other side. As if Pareth had swung right through her. ¡°What if you stop midway?¡± Despite Pareth¡¯s best effort, he couldn¡¯t stop in the middle. The pillow would go all the way to the other side of the invisible sphere, even if he let it go mid swing. There must be limits. What about explosions? Or Phillip¡¯s light breath, would it curve that out? Seems unlikely. Still, nice. Testing things in order, she then took out a mirror and observed herself. ¡°Oh okay. Woah. Charisma does make a big difference. My hair is so shiny! Hmm. My eyes didn¡¯t look like that before either. And I¡¯ve been quite pale due to VPPV but it¡¯s like that never happened¡­ So I lose this if I move too fast?¡± Sofia ran around her room to try switching to Chaos state. All it took was a light jog and she felt a surge of power, her senses focused and narrowed, something switched inside of her. The way mana spread through her body completely changed from a smooth curvy flow to pulsating jagged angles. She stopped, and the process reversed, she felt her muscles weaken and her mind expand. It¡¯s not quite instant, the switch takes about half a second to a second. Doing start-stops in battle to deviate attacks last second won¡¯t really work I guess. Two thousand percent speed though. It¡¯s as if [Sprint] leveled up to 100 and had its effectiveness doubled, not only that, it now also applies to flight. [Way of the Fool] and [Fast reading] also got an instant upgrade to level 100 by the looks of it. The conditional experience bonus was replaced by a flat ten percent¡­ And not falling is what became walking on everything? How, though? Unsure of what she expected, Sofia raised a foot and tried to step on nothing. It worked, she stepped on thin air, as if supported by an invisible hard surface. Surprised by the invisible step, she lost her balance and fell back. Pareth was there to catch her. ¡°Thanks.¡± Of course I can fall again now, lost the original [Way of the Fool] effect. That sucks. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. Unless¡­ If I can walk on nothing¡­ Sofia climbed on her bed, jumped lightly and let herself fall forward onto the cushions. She focused on wanting not to fall and her plunge stopped. Her body was suspended in the air, supported by soft nothing. Nevermind, that¡¯s great! ¡°Can I float around like this?¡± Despite doing her best to imagine the result she wanted, Sofia didn¡¯t move at all. So it¡¯s not quite floating like Valeure, I¡¯m really just creating false ¡®stuff¡¯ to stand or just lie on. Not too bad. Do I even need that bed anymore? I can just sleep anywhere now. Sofia rolled around on her soft invisible bed of nothing. Focusing on wanting to fall then changing her mind, she managed to lower herself a few centimeters at a time. Down is easy, up not so much. I need to really stand up and take a few steps up. This is really ridiculous. Dropping down to the ground, she tried to form an invisible step right above it. Like this she walked around her room in circles without touching the ground once for half an hour, fascinated by her new largely useless but very fun ability. ¡°It¡¯s a pity I can¡¯t run while I do this. That would be so much more fun¡­ This was well worth the pain. It looks like I lost two classless slots but this is four skills in one, so I¡¯m actually up a slot too. Maybe it¡¯s time I learn that pearl-making classless? Thinking speed is really incredibly valuable.¡± [Crystalized] ?: Your body will slowly produce mana pearls (Growth speed linked to mana regeneration), which can be used as ritual fuel or eaten to provide a temporary 100% bonus to thinking speed. Sofia pouted as she re-read the skill¡¯s description. Or maybe not¡­ Don¡¯t they have a library here? If I could find more information on this, and know for sure where the pearls grow¡­ I also need to understand what Aura is all about. Let¡¯s put that upgraded reading speed to good use. Like this Sofia decided to quickly bathe before going out in search of the academy¡¯s library. Soaking in the hot water, she remembered the headmaster¡¯s words of advice. ¡°Dusting my ID¡­¡± Grabbing her storage ring from the bone stool near the tub, she took out her mithril ID and looked at it from up-close. Seeing nothing wrong, she looked for anomalies in the mana around it, but again she felt nothing out of the ordinary. Looks perfectly normal. It¡¯s not actually dirty either, what did he mean exactly? Furrowing her brows, Sofia put the mithril card down on a small bone plate, and sprinkled some bone dust on it. ¡°I don¡¯t get it¡­¡± Infusing it with mana held no more result and neither did trying an advanced [Identify]ing. Seriously, there shouldn¡¯t be anything wrong with it, Leverle even looked at it and saw nothing special. Maybe the headmaster meant something among the stuff written on there is ¡®dirty¡¯, which is why this guy attacked me? Because I¡¯m not a high noble? A lot of the other teachers aren¡¯t either¡­ No wait¡­ The Mithril ID cards¡­ Approved by the Empress¡­ There is no way the Empress of this huge empire wouldn¡¯t know of the name Aphenoreth. Yet she approved this card right away. Then¡­ There was this random Exidian woman sitting behind Tartaros during the duel¡­ Is it possible that the Empress herself instigated this whole thing just to sound me out? I need to learn more about the Empress and how she looks. I have like forty hours left until the scheduled first event of the competition tomorrow night, right? The library.
Asking around in the corridors, Sofia quickly found the library tower, and learned that as a teacher, she had access to all the books in the first six out of seven floors for free. I should have come here earlier. Sofia could read fast enough that she had no need to borrow books, she could go through the thickest of them in half an hour at most, looking like a madwoman as she seemingly turned the pages one by one without stopping to read them. She paid no mind to the astonished looks from the passing students, a lot of them were directed at Pareth anyway, who, to Sofia¡¯s surprise, had also picked up a book. I didn¡¯t know you were interested in paintings. Too bad you weren¡¯t here for the first trial. Aurelia was really talented. The first really interesting book Sofia found was in the teachers¡¯ section, titled ¡®Secrets of the System - flirting with censorship¡¯ by B. Deathmarch. It appeared a majority of the books here were written by the Academy staff themselves. This book introduced some of the hidden features of the system like the murder list, the ¡®last bed compass¡¯ or the ¡®spellcasting log¡¯, as well as some sparse details about trials, and a very short page about ¡®sub-stats¡¯. ¡® Stamina sub stats (worth 1/3 Stamina each) Strength : Muscular power and endurance, extremely light effect on actual appearance, best stat-to-available-power conversion, especially at low levels. Agility : Nerves speed and coordination, grants greater and more precise control over your body in general. Speed : Temporary explosive power of the muscles, better tendons, upgraded flexibility, allows the body to better resist violent shocks and strains. Seems to reduce environmental friction in some capacity. ¡ª Mana sub stats (no bonus stat) Charisma : Ability of the body to reroute mana pathways and alter its genetic material to perform better in most natural functions (slightly) and look more alike to the person¡¯s idealized vision of themselves. This seems to be the main cause of aging slowdown as one levels up. Universally causes fertility degeneration. Processing : Additional mana-powered brain tissue and capacity, helps with thinking speed, multitasking, mana control, pattern recognition, and memory, also seems to affect personal scribes. Hardest stat to raise naturally, high-priority. Aura : Capacity to subconsciously gather and make use of surrounding external mana. Needs to reach an extremely high breaking-point to become even slightly useful. Best left to Dragons. ¡ª Luck : Little data. Seems to mostly influence system-given data and rewards. The existence of an unspoken ¡®Perception¡¯ substat has been theorized, unproven as of yet.¡¯
Chapter 332 - Group 14 This all explains a lot. Too bad Alith didn¡¯t get any Processing pill to candify. Looking at it¡­ It looks less like the system made up stats to magically improve and more like it merely labeled already existing stuff like Aura. Maybe the most mysterious stat is just Health. Such a weird thing. It¡¯s counterintuitive. I think the issue is that its efficiency isn¡¯t linear. Which makes me wonder how I could improve Pareth now¡­ Without new skills or anything, he¡¯s going to become too weak to follow me in just a filter or two at this rate. I¡¯ll see after the next trial I guess, it¡¯s supposed to be different this time. Next Sofia opened a book about Exidion¡¯s history and the Imperial lineage. It was exceedingly boring and was missing all the juicy details about things like the Emperor¡¯s class or anything like that. At first it was weird how the Empress wasn¡¯t mentioned anywhere, it turned out that the reason was quite simple, Empress Delivia was very ¡®young¡¯ compared to the whole history of the Empire, she was ¡®only¡¯ a few hundred years old. She was apparently a very talented daughter of the lower nobility and she had somehow found herself becoming the new Empress. And that was it. No detailed history about her, no physical description, no heirs, no level, not even the name or rank of her original family. That¡¯s all there is? Does she never come out? Is she allergic to the sun or something? How does the author know so little? Checking the author of the book, it was a name Sofia had never heard of. Probably a retired teacher. The book is dated from thirty years ago after all. I should ask Eternam about the Empress next time I see him, he was the one who mentioned her last time. Her main objective for coming to the library accomplished, Sofia fell to greed, and started devouring all the books she found that looked even slightly interesting. She went through more than two hundred of them by the time she needed to leave. Night fell on this last day of the second school week, it was time for the first event of the competition. Her head full of newfound knowledge, Sofia made her way to her classroom. She hadn¡¯t been informed of the details, only that as a new teacher she would be responsible of a group of five students. She wondered if it would be her usual class, and the answer she got as she opened the classroom door was: almost. Waiting there were Lola, En and Shaily as usual, but the last two weren¡¯t Erian and Guerand but two identical-looking human girls instead. They had long black hair tied in ponytails, and their uniforms looked normal, but were heavily enchanted compared to the other students¡¯, [Princess - Lv. 66] [Princess - Lv. 72] Princess? Quite high level too. They look about sixteen I think¡­ Thinking about it, I did notice them during the opening ceremony when I was looking for everyone, though I didn¡¯t [Identify] them. ¡°Hi everyone, I am Sofia Vakaria, the teacher assigned to you five for this event,¡± she started, and her students greeted her as they usually did, then she looked in the direction of the human twins, ¡°I do not believe we have met, you two are?¡± The highest level of the twins answered, ¡°I am Topaz Drakron and this is my sister, Opal.¡± Opal smiled and waved. ¡°Opal is unable to speak,¡± Topaz continued, ¡°It cannot be healed so do not ask about it. Please be patient with her, she¡¯s mute, not dumb,¡± she explained with a straight face. ¡°There should be a lot of magical workarounds you can find at higher levels¡­ But you probably know better than me. Happy to meet you both, I had no idea Xeros had kids.¡± Opal¡¯s eyes opened wide, Topaz glanced at her then at Sofia, ¡°You know of our father?¡± ¡°Hum, I had a run in with him last year. I am from Sovuln originally, but he gave me a Red Winds citizenship and a baroness title right then when I didn¡¯t even ask. I barely ever go to the Red Winds in the first place, but it is nice to have, I guess.¡± The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. The twins looked at each other and nodded, ¡°That does sound like the man,¡± Topaz confirmed. Well yeah, there aren¡¯t many ¡®Human Emperor Xeros Drakron¡¯, it was unlikely to be someone else¡­ Sofia thought but said nothing. ¡°Well, we can talk at length about that later; I was told we would be teleported at some point and that was about it. Are you all ready? You need to turn off teleportation protections if you have any.¡± ¡°As ready as can be!¡± En confirmed with a big smile from her chair.
Minutes passed and due to being asked by Lola about how the thing she had been gone for the week went, she started a short improvised lesson on classless skills. She also got to see how Opal communicated when she wanted to say something precise: she wrote with a pencil in a notebook. Sofia couldn''t help but think that there had to be a thousand more convenient ways to go about it, but again, she said nothing, as she felt it wasn¡¯t her place to say anything about it. At one point, Sofia had the idea to summon the soldier skeleton and to send it away from the classroom, so she would have a reference point to know how far they were sent and the direction of the Academy. Just in case. Just as she watched the skeleton leave the classroom, the scenery around her and the five girls changed. They were now outdoors, in a dark snowy forest of tall conical pine trees, only lit by Pareth¡¯s halo and the faint light of the waning crescent moon. In front of Sofia was a small wax-sealed envelope sitting on a tree stump. The first thing which hit the group was the sudden change in temperature to the extreme cold. ¡°Is everyone alright? Do you need help with the cold?¡± ¡°We¡¯re good,¡± Topaz was first to answer, and En followed, ¡°Same!¡± Sofia could tell that the enchantments of the twins¡¯ uniforms were working against the cold. For En, she knew now from her trip to the library that the Odon race En was a Princess of, lived in extreme mountainous environments, which explained why she was fine in the cold. ¡°I- I¡¯m not good.¡± Lola gasped, shaking. A red light appeared between her and Shaily as she said it. ¡°I¡¯ve got this,¡± Shaily told her as the red light ignited, the fire sprite looked like a small flying flame, but it was deceptively hot, Sofia could feel it radiate all the way to where she was. ¡°That was smooth, Shaily, but pace your mana, alright? Judging from the position of my skeleton, we are¡­ Extremely far from the Academy. Now give me a second.¡± Sofia opened the sealed letter then stored it. Group 14, the week-long night¡­ ¡°A- Are you not going to read it?¡± Lola asked. ¡°I just did. It says the name of the event is ¡®The week-long night¡¯, I will stay with you five to grade your score and protect you in case something you cannot handle crops up. I am allowed to offer some advice but no direct help. The tokens you get at the end will depend on a few things which I¡¯m not allowed to say anything about for now. At the end of the letter, it says your first task is to locate and reach ¡®The cabin¡¯. That¡¯s all I have for you.¡± ¡°Can I go alone or do we need to stay as a group?¡± En asked. ¡°I will send a Skeleton with you if you really want to go alone.¡± But that would cost you some tokens¡­ En nodded, a difficult expression on her face. The girls looked at each other, still trying to organize their thoughts. Sofia jumped up and deployed her wings just above the treetops, she looked all around. Don¡¯t see it. She flew further up a good hundred meters and stopped, folding her wings. She took the occasion to use her newfound ability to walk on air and walked in a circle, observing the giant forest extending far beyond the horizon. Oh, I think I found it. In the distance, a singular weak source of light shone through the trees. That¡¯s a long long walk. Sofia came back down. ¡°Did you see anything?¡± Shaily asked innocently. ¡°I can¡¯t tell,¡± Sofia answered with a smile, ¡°But you girls better get moving.¡± Oh, and turn off the light, Pareth. Apparently the wildlife won¡¯t be scared by our presence but we¡¯re not supposed to help them at all. The fire sprite makes more than enough light, but still, let¡¯s not ruin the experience for them. After the girls were done consulting with each other. Sofia watched as En used her flying totem to try to emulate her strategy. You¡¯re never going to fly high enough to see it. As expected, the small fur-covered girl shook her head after landing back down in the snow. ¡°My turn then,¡± Lola sighed.
Chapter 333 - Trees, Trees, Trees From her storage item, Lola brought out a shovel, and started quickly digging in the snow, then in the dirt, until she had made a small hole just deep enough to fit a foot inside. Sofia didn¡¯t expect Lola to drop down on all fours in the snow and stick her head inside the hole, but she did. She quickly looked left and right, she stopped for a few seconds when she looked in Sofia¡¯s general direction, then again when she looked in the direction of the cabin, then she pulled herself out. Jumping up, she quickly patted all the snow on her away while getting closer to the fire sprite. ¡°Found it, this way,¡± she told them, pointing at the exact direction where Sofia had seen the light. Oh, I get it. She had that passive. Sofia summoned the graveyard skeletons and let them bring her in the spirit plane and under the snow. Underground in the immense whiteness of the spiritual plane, she could see countless roots, quite a few animal dens, the vague shape of deep caves, and most importantly, a small but very strikingly different from its surrounding thing in the distance. A cubic form, the foundations of ¡®The Cabin¡¯. Really? That has to be at least three or four underground levels under that thing. No wonder she found it so fast. Quite clever, I wouldn¡¯t even have thought of the thing possibly having a basement. She even had the shovel ready to use with her [Spirit Realm Vision].That¡¯s five points for Lola and one for everyone else. Going back up above ground, but still in the Spirit realm, Sofia tried to locate the cabin through the trees. The trees are mostly transparent, but they overlap so much, can¡¯t see anything from that far away. The graveyard let Sofia go, the students were already a few hundred meters away. I shouldn¡¯t fall behind like this. Using Pareth¡¯s position with them as her reference point, Sofia caught up with the group. I don¡¯t really feel any big mana clumps nearby, no monsters here I guess. Everyone looks mostly ready to fight. Topaz has two black steel axes, and Opal some kind of small orichalcum wand. Interesting weapons. There should be another envelope at the cabin. The ambiance among the girls was tense, they hiked forward in a tight formation, paying a lot of attention to their surroundings. Instead of using a lot of light, they had opted to rely solely on the dim glow of the fire sprite; the darkness made them harder to spot for a potential roaming monster but it also created unsettling dark shadows between the trees. Night in the forest was silent, the sound of boots in the snow only accompanied by the whispers of the cold wind. The deeper they went, the taller the trees around them were, and soon the faint moonlight that had accompanied them before was only a memory. After seven long hours of nerve-wracking exploration, alternating between Shaily¡¯s fire sprite and a fire spell from Opal as sources of light and heat, they finally saw the eerie blue light coming from the cabin streaming through the trees. The form of the cabin slowly revealed itself. It was a rather large manor-like building lost in the middle of dense trees taller than it was, made of weathered dark wood. The windows were broken and the wooden walls were in large parts rotten and full of holes. The light came from a corner room on the second floor, it shone through the broken walls and the missing tiles of the roof. Lola broke the silence, ¡°It doesn¡¯t look very welcoming¡­¡± she complained. ¡°It¡¯s a dungeon, isn¡¯t it?¡± En added, trying to see where exactly the light came from. Topaz turned to Sofia who was walking behind them, ¡°We found your cabin, what now?¡± Sofia shrugged. ¡°No idea, the letter didn¡¯t say much more. All I can say for sure is that it¡¯s been getting colder since we got here. Lola is shaking even with the fire sprite.¡± En summoned her flying totem. ¡°I will try to see what the light comes from.¡± Shooting upwards, En got a look through the window from a few meters away before landing back in the snow. ¡°It¡¯s just a shiny rock, there¡¯s another envelope there too.¡± ¡°This is where we need to go then, let¡¯s quickly find the entrance,¡± Shaily decided. It wasn¡¯t long before they found the decrepit doors of the manor and entered. [You have entered the dungeon : Old manor of Lakeburg - Lv. 50+] ¡°Good flair, En, I¡¯ll give you a bonus token for that.¡± I don¡¯t have many to give out but this is nice. Topaz asked whether anyone had ever heard of Lakeburg, and no one did, especially not Sofia. If this group uses this dungeon, that must mean every group has largely different things going on, unless the academy can manufacture fake dungeons with real system prompts. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. The interior of the manor was as dilapidated as the exterior, the old fashioned furniture was dusty and in an advanced state of disrepair. Anything not made of wood or steel seemed to not have survived whatever happened to the place. The interior was still cold but at the very least, it protected them from the wind somewhat. I feel something unusual from this place. Weird. Expanding her mana senses as much as she could and probing the place, Sofia understood the source of the prickly sensation. Shades! Considering the environment, likely winter shades. Lucky! That will make the job easier; but I¡¯ll have to keep an eye open, still. There are more monsters below but I¡¯m not too sure what those are. Where is the boss monster though? There isn¡¯t any mana signature standing out from the rest¡­ ¡°It¡¯s getting colder and darker, and I¡¯m starting to be a bit tired. I suggest we get the envelope fast and prepare a place to sleep,¡± Shaily said as everyone was looking around. Opal had stayed near the door and enthusiastically nodded at the suggestion. ¡°Should En go grab it from outside through the window or do we explore the dungeon? It might take a while to safely explore all the way to that corner of the second floor,¡± Topaz asked, ¡°Either way, I agree about the place to sleep, we should see if one of the rooms nears the entrance is in decent shape, quickly fix the holes in the walls and barricade the doors.¡± ¡°I can go get it,¡± En confirmed, her tails swaying behind her back. ¡°I¡¯ll go with you,¡± Topaz added, ¡°we shouldn¡¯t split too much. Opal, Shaily and Lola can work on our luxury bedroom in the meantime.¡± Stay here, Pareth, I¡¯ll follow them just in case. Pareth nodded and Sofia smiled at him before following En and Topaz outside who were already rushing to the other side of the mansion, lit up by a small shiny totem on En¡¯s back. As Sofia stepped out of the manor, she instantly felt something wrong. She could still see Pareth through the half-broken doors, yet her soul link told her he was farther away in another direction, which would be in the middle of a bunch of thick bushes. Now that is very wrong. Very, very wrong. Smells like confusing spatial shenanigans, yet I felt nothing when I got there. Need to investigate. This would have to wait, as the students¡¯ safety was the immediate priority. En repeated her previous trick and jumped through the window, she was only in there for two seconds, jumping back down holding a glowing rock on a string and another sealed envelope. [Pendulum of the frozen lake] : This ancient pendulum is enchanted with basic seeking magic, the lowest form of divination, which will only ever point to the one thing it was meant to find. Item level : 0. Grade : Ancient. Well, at least Shaily knows [Identify] so they will know what this is for too. I feel like I already know what the envelope will say. ¡°For you, teacher.¡± Sofia grabbed the letter, opened it, quickly glanced at it and stored it. ¡°Thank you, En, you can keep the rock. You look like you¡¯re freezing, let¡¯s go back.¡± This whole event must have been planned for a long time. I wonder if they can really get there in one week. At least that should be good training for the level 100 trial.
En had re-entered the manor but Topaz was still outside, frowning. ¡°I could swear there was one more window on this wall before.¡± ¡°You count windows?¡± ¡°I just have a good memory, teach.¡± ¡°Well, let¡¯s say there really was one more window. What is your conclusion?¡± ¡°Either there is some illusion magic involved, or the mansion changed while we were on the other side.¡± ¡°Or you remembered wrong. But maybe you¡¯re right. It is a dungeon after all, that would not be the weirdest thing I¡¯ve seen in a dungeon.¡± Topaz agreed, ¡°Father taught us a lot about dungeons. This isn¡¯t even close to the weirdest things he has found. According to him there are dungeons hidden under poisonous springs, inside volcanoes and even shrouded in everlasting clouds moving through the sky.¡± ¡°I may have gone to a few of those myself. But get inside already, your nose is redder than a ripe apra.¡± Topaz nodded and entered the manor. Sofia was the next to stay outside with a worried expression. Pareth being in another different direction compared to when I left is already something¡­ The window disappearing is another one. But weren¡¯t the trees before like¡­ A whole meter further apart from the walls?!
Inside, the others had started fixing the first room on the left of the entrance hall. It was a ¡®small¡¯ waiting room, furnished with a table missing three of its four legs, paintings discolored beyond recognition, and three mold-covered sofas. They were all busy hammering broken planks retrieved from the entrance hall¡¯s floor to the holes in the walls. Sofia mindlessly watched them work for a good thirty seconds before she could say anything. ¡°Where did you get a hammer and a box of nails?¡± Opal pointed at Lola. Shaily turned her head to watch, and the hammer she swung at a nail hit just slightly off center. Ouch! The frail-looking Exidian girl fell to the ground, holding her left hand. She was trying her best to hold in her scream of pain as the tears rolled down her face. Surely the academy won¡¯t mind if I repair a few bones¡­ Arguably it was my fault¡­
Chapter 334 - No smoke, only mirrors All their preparations done, the girls went to sleep without even eating, with one of them staying up to stand guard and a rotation planned out. I¡¯ll stay with them and work on my blood, do you want to go out? We could use a bit of early exploration to make sure this place is really safe. The things written in the letter and what we¡¯ve seen don''t completely match and that¡¯s bothering me. Pareth stood up and stayed still for a few seconds. Is something wrong? In his hands appeared a small shield of light with a weird shape, which he showed to Sofia. Bird shield? Oh, you want to go with Crowie? Is that it? Sure. Sofia ripped the page from the book of skeletons and the small crow skeleton formed out of the mist like it always did. It hopped around on the ground, cuddled against Sofia¡¯s leg for a few seconds, and then flew up to the top of Pareth¡¯s skull. Sofia then sent them off through the barricaded door with the help of the graveyard crew. Opal curiously watched these happenings from her side, sitting on her bedroll, the mute girl had volunteered to take the first watch. She grabbed her notebook and scribbled something, when she was done, she turned to Sofia with a smile and showed it to her. It was a small and rather crude drawing of Crowie, accompanied by the word ¡®Cute!¡¯. ¡°You have great taste,¡± Sofia whispered back with a smile of her own. She internally debated summoning her bigger group of fifty crows right then but she didn¡¯t want to wake the other girls. Summoning a bone slate she wrote a longer message for the mute girl. ¡°You can sleep if you want, it¡¯s fine, I¡¯m here to watch over the five of you. There¡¯s no real need for a night watch." Opal shook her head. ¡°Alright then. I¡¯m going to be doing weird things, don¡¯t worry about it, just necromancer stuff.¡± Opal gave a sign that she understood but instead of ¡®not worrying¡¯ she kept staring at Sofia, curiosity shining in her eyes. I should have seen it coming. Well, whatever. Sofia had been inspired by Nicet¡¯s base building kit in Sovuln, and before coming to Brighthall, when she prepared in the sect, she had bought a few thick panels of reinforced glass. She could make walls with bone whenever she wanted but windows were trickier, thin bone could be somewhat translucent, but that wasn¡¯t really satisfactory, hence the stored glass. Bringing out three such glass squares and a few bones to act as joints, Sofia encased her corner of the room in a bone and glass box. Should be enough to cover the sound and smell, and I can still watch over the whole room. The mute girl watched the process, visibly confused, but what really got a reaction out of her was Sofia cutting her wrist to let the blood flow. Sofia just turned on her Health bar display and winked at the girl. The blood loss was slow enough that her passive regeneration from [Bone Dominus] almost negated it completely. [Venerable physique of the primeval void] ? - Second step of the Light forging realm : Your blood becomes light (48 / 126 441 drops converted) Let¡¯s aim for a hundred drops tonight! I need to speed this up.
Pareth slowly made his way through the mansion, he checked every room on the way, noting the presence of quite a few shades, which never attacked him, but there were a few things which were abnormal. First of all, he had gone through the entire thing and found no stairs at all. There was clearly a second floor and an underground, but no way to reach them. Secondly, it had taken him several hours to go through hundreds of rooms, so long that Crowie had expired and returned to the book, when the mansion was nowhere near that large from the outside. Lastly, after reaching the main hall again, he discovered that the entrance was gone. Where the door used to be was now just another hole-ridden wall with the darkness of the night beyond. He tugged at Sofia¡¯s consciousness.
You¡¯re back, want me to get you in? Sofia clearly got the feeling from her link with Pareth that this wasn¡¯t it, so she connected her senses to his. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. That¡¯s just the entrance hall. Pareth turned around. Oh. Well, we did notice that the dungeon was weird before. I am not too surprised. I just hope it¡¯s not another Margin situation. Try punching the wall? Pareth turned to look at the barricaded room¡¯s direction. What? Don¡¯t want to wake them up? It¡¯s about time they woke up anyway, but fair, I¡¯ll get them up myself, give me a second. Sofia cleaned up her mess and stored the glass box. [Venerable physique of the primeval void] ? - Second step of the Light forging realm : Your blood becomes light (112 / 126 441 drops converted) Not quite the hundred I hoped for, but faster than before. I just need to keep getting faster. The pain isn¡¯t as bad now that I¡¯ve gone through it a hundred times¡­ It was currently Shaily¡¯s turn to be up. ¡°Shaily, help me wake the sleeping princesses, will you?¡± ¡°Morning already? Do we let Lola sleep, then?¡± Right, three of them are actually princesses¡­ ¡°No, her too.¡±
Everyone was soon grouped in the main hall, with Sofia explaining the situation. ¡°The normal plan was to have you all clear this dungeon today then go investigate another one at the lake for the rest of the week, with me faking my death halfway through the second dungeon to gauge your reactions and see how you perform without me as a failsafe. But as you can see, the way out is gone. The dungeon having a life of its own wasn¡¯t part of the planning I have been given at all, so I¡¯m taking charge. But I¡¯ll still let you have some fun and try to resolve it on your own.¡± The students were surprised at the sudden turn of events, especially since Sofia¡¯s tone was so relaxed and casual despite what she told them. After some quick exchanges between them, En asked the obvious, ¡°Are we trapped in? Can¡¯t we just break the wall? We can see some light from the other side¡­¡± ¡°This is why I¡¯m canceling the entire thing instead of just letting this go, I can already sense what is on the other side of this wall, and it¡¯s not the outside. Lola should be able to tell as well.¡± Lola focused on the wall and after an initial muted yelp of surprise, she took a few steps left then right, her face gradually turning to a paler shade of blue. ¡°This- How does¡­¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, honestly. I¡¯m thinking it must be some very weird space magic. Pareth, break the wall.¡± Pareth advanced, grabbed one of the planks by the rotten holes, and yanked it out. On the opposite end of the wall, another plank disappeared. Pareth moved out of the way. On the other side of the wall was the entrance hall. The light came from them. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ Like a mirror?¡± Shaily asked as she observed Pareth through the hole on the other side. ¡°Kind of?¡± Sofia answered, ¡°It¡¯s hard to understand what¡¯s really going on.¡± Sofia threw a bone through and it came out on the other side of the wall. ¡°The room is linked to itself I guess.¡± She stuck her left hand in next. It did not feel any different than normal, she could still feel and see her hand on the other side, but she could also see it sticking out of the other hole in the wall a few meters to her right. She controlled the bone on the floor to fly back to her hand and retrieved it. ¡°Yeah I¡¯m pretty sure now, this isn¡¯t another space, it¡¯s just like this wall is a teleportation portal to this room.¡± Pareth ripped up all the planks of the wall one by one, revealing the full thing. It really was like a weird inverse mirror. By standing at the center Sofia could touch fingertips with herself. Pareth tried completely walking through, and unsurprisingly, he simply ended up coming out of the other side of the wall. Sofia explained her new plan, ¡°Well, you see how it is. That wasn¡¯t planned, but honestly I am confident in being able to escape this. As long as it doesn¡¯t seem too dangerous, I will let you five give me ideas to try to get out. This will be a good experience for later, I think. Might as well make the most of this situation. If all else fails, I¡¯ll get us out another way and wait for rescue. Oh right, I have also taken control of the monsters in the dungeon, so we can use them if need be.¡± Deep shadow appeared all around the room and the temperature suddenly dropped. ¡°These are winter shades, they have ice magic and can hit pretty hard. You would have had to fight them if things proceeded normally, but they didn¡¯t.¡± ¡°You control monsters?¡± Topaz asked, incredulous. ¡°I¡¯m a necromancer and Shades are undead. Is that really weird? I think being trapped here is weirder. Honestly I have a hard time believing the headmaster would approve of sending us to this place if he knew things could go wrong, especially since I am a new teacher and four of you are nobles. So my theory is someone is fucking with us, and it could be malicious.¡± The initial surprise gone, the five girls were surprisingly calm, and they all came up with ideas on how to get out. First and foremost was to try the other walls, so they returned to the room they had spent the night in and repeated the process of taking out a piece of the wall that should have led outside. The result was the same, the room was mirrored onto itself on the other side. ¡°Let¡¯s try the ceiling next then,¡± Sofia said and shrugged. Of course it wouldn¡¯t be so easy. I do wonder what¡¯s going on, though. It¡¯s great that they managed to stay calm. But this is really strange. Is this part of the event too and the academy just purposely kept me in the dark to mess with me or something? This isn¡¯t funny. Screw this. If anything goes wrong, I¡¯m teleporting everyone to Zangdar.
Chapter 335 - Skygrid After smashing a few wooden planks, the results were in: the floor was connected to the ceiling. This mirror space was dungeon wide instead of room by room; falling through the floorboards would drop you from the ceiling on the opposite side of the mansion and vice versa. While the girls tried their best to think of ways to resolve the issue, En stepped up with an idea, ¡°To create an enclosed space like this, you need mana, and it has to come from somewhere. If it¡¯s a ritual or a curse, then the source needs to be inside, so we could try to find it and destroy it.¡± Sofia shook her head, ¡°I have seen a few curses, this doesn¡¯t look like one. Curses are usually visible to anyone with developed mana senses. You know how you can see the dust in the air when a ray of light shines in an otherwise dark room? Curses look a bit like that but instead of dust particles it¡¯s small hairs of mana. It could be a ritual though.¡± ¡°What if it¡¯s a skill?¡± Shaily asked. ¡°For skills, if this works like barriers, then there are two ways,¡± Sofia explained, ¡°The caster can be inside or outside. If they are inside, something as simple as trapping them inside of another smaller barrier to cut them off from sustaining this one could work, or straight up killing them.¡± Topaz narrowed her eyes, ¡°And if they are outside?¡± ¡°Then you five better pray that the barrier¡¯s caster does not have enough mana to sustain it against my attacks from inside¡­ But as this barrier redirects things instead of blocking them, it might be more mana-efficient than a regular barrier, so who knows if that might work.¡± Hearing this, Opal raised a hand. The group waited for her to write on her notepad. ¡®If the entire floor is mirrored, then the mansion should be falling, but it doesn¡¯t feel like it, so there could be an anchor point holding it up?¡¯ ¡°That¡¯s an idea. There might just be a weak point like this somewhere even if we don¡¯t find the fuel source of the barrier. What do you all want to start with? Demolishing all the walls?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go demolishing!¡± En happily confirmed jumping in place with her ears folding up and down. At least one of them isn¡¯t worried at all. ¡°Hmm¡­ Pareth explored the place and it is quite wide. This might take a while¡­ Unless I use the big spells. Would you mind sitting in a box for a bit?¡± After a quick explanation of the dangerous nature of the rot Sofia was about to use, she got the five girls to sit inside of a large bone cube with a lightstone for lighting. The box was anchored by a bunch of bone to a large wooden pillar and had plenty of space to walk on the side, just in case it started falling through the ground due to the lack of an ¡®anchor¡¯. The shades were all bunched up together inside of a smaller bone box on the side. With everything read, Sofia started blasting rot everywhere. The old wood got devoured fast. The rot spread out throughout the entirety of the mansion floor, and in just two minutes, there was nothing left except the bone structure and big clouds of black dust falling forever in the middle of an infinite white nothing, its ¡®reflection¡¯ showing up in every direction. The last bits of rot and wood eventually disappeared. Just like putting something between two mirrors. Everywhere I look I can see myself, even above; that¡¯s crazy. Are we actually falling? It doesn¡¯t feel like it, at all, but who knows at this point. Sofia opened the bone box, ¡°I have good news and bad news. Good news is nothing went terribly wrong, we¡¯re all alive. Bad news is, well, you can see.¡± Observing the student¡¯s reactions, there were audible gulps and visible shivers. The realization of the mess they were in started to down on them. Lola and the twins were very pale, En was the only one who still looked unaffected, while Shaily seemed worried but was also looking expectantly at Sofia and Pareth. En held out her hand, ¡°What with all the black dust? Is it a curse after all?¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s just what¡¯s left of the wood. A bit like how there¡¯s charcoal left after a fire. I have an idea. I¡¯ll make a few handles, all grab onto them, just in case. I¡¯ll fly away from the platform and try something.¡± Sofia didn¡¯t really fly, actually just walking on nothing until she reached the edge of the ¡®barrier¡¯, where the images were infinitely mirrored. Since the barrier was a large rectangular box, there were corners. By being right in the corner, Sofia could see three copies of herself, standing in a circle. Sofia crouched down, she brought out a bone and slowly brought it to the point where the three sides of the barrier touched into a point. She stabbed the bone right through the corner. The bone shattered, torn apart from being redirected to three different places at once. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. This put a smile on Sofia¡¯s face. Crouching lower, she thrust her hand at the corner, and readied [Heat Death]. Her hand was about to suffer the same fate as the bone before it, and Sofia tugged on [Heat Death]¡¯s mana circuits more to activate it. But it failed, and her hand was shredded into bloody bits. She did her best to not scream, she didn¡¯t want the students to panic more. But internally, she cursed. Fuck! I didn¡¯t have enough mana to dispel it! Someone with more mana than me is keeping this thing up. Likely over level 300. This did not activate Leverle¡¯s protective charm though. Probably because it¡¯s not a spell meant to kill, I¡¯m pretty sure the paper charm was only meant to deflect killing blows. Would the teleportation to the Margin ever work at this rate? Disgruntled, Sofia reformed the bones of her hand to hasten the healing process, and walked back to the students. ¡°Did not work,¡± Sofia announced, to no one¡¯s surprise, ¡°I might have been able to dispel the barrier if it was weaker, but it seems this is held up by several times my mana, millions of points, likely. This is a high level spell.¡± ¡°Then attacking it to drain it is no good? Hmm¡­ I want to try something, can I?¡± ¡°Of course, En. As long as you¡¯re not putting your life at risk.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t!¡± En walked to the edge of the bone platform, summoned a totem, and chucked it into the void. The totem fell down from the ceiling through the ground multiple times at an angle, going further away each time, before eventually reaching the platform again from the other side, where Sofia caught it. ¡°What do you think of the result, En?¡± Sofia asked, tossing the totem back to her. I get where this is going already. En is good at thinking things through in novel ways, I never asked for their classless skills but I could bet she has some high level [Shenanigans] in there. ¡°It must use mana to displace things, so if we throw something at the right angle and it falls forever, that will end up draining the mana without needing us to really attack, and eventually dispel it, right?¡± En advanced her theory, looking for approval in Sofia¡¯s eyes. Lola¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Th- That sounds like it could work!¡± Sofia sat down in the air. ¡°Give me a minute, I need to think things through.¡± I thought about that too but I''m not too sure. If the skill does spend mana to displace objects from one point to another then yes, maybe, if we can drain more mana per second than the caster regenerates. That might be a tall order. If the skill actually only has a passive cost to link locations and that¡¯s the entirety of the cost, which I think is possible, then we¡¯re screwed. And if a level 300+ asshole is waiting for us on the other side, we were always screwed in the first place. Honestly this is doomed, the more I think about it. Be it a monster or a person, whoever is maintaining this can kill me in one it, I¡¯m pretty sure. Or well, two. The kids wouldn¡¯t survive. At this point it¡¯s weird that they would just trap us inside there and not kill us directly, are they trying to starve us? Maybe they can¡¯t actually attack us directly? That¡¯s an option, either because they know about Leverle¡¯s charm, or because that would alert Saint Tartaros or the Academy somehow? Through the strength tokens? Or through the students¡¯ uniforms? They are heavily enchanted after all. Either we flee to Zangdar now, or keep trying to break away, maybe with the drain strategy. I¡¯m unsure about our odds when we exit this place, though. Or we do nothing? That might be the safest bet, just do nothing, and wait until the Academy comes to investigate our disappearance. We only have to hold out for a week. They know where we are. Unless¡­ What if this was a trap from the start? The teleportation to the forest happened without anyone showing up. I wasn¡¯t suspicious then because that¡¯s what Beryl said would happen, but what if someone hijacked the teleport and sent us here in this trap? No, surely the headmaster would already be aware of it if so¡­ This must be the real thing, just that someone is taking advantage of the opportunity to target me and my students, or that whoever scouted this location did a terrible job. Ah, I¡¯m getting lost in thoughts for too long, this isn¡¯t good¡­ ¡°Alright, so, I have decided that I would teleport us to a safe place. The only issue is, we will be trapped there until a friend of mine sends a rescue mission, but I believe it to be better, still. I would rather be trapped inside of a bunker of my own making than inside of someone¡¯s trap. I have enough water to last us forever, but only about two weeks of food, after that you¡¯ll have to eat¡­ Other things; if no one has come to fetch us by then. Are you all fine with that?¡± No one was very enthusiastic about the idea, and even less after Sofia explained that the ¡®other thing¡¯ they would have to eat was herself, but they still all accepted after Sofia explained what level the person maintaining the barrier would have to be. Sofia brought her her pre-made bone-slate-ritual for the teleportation as well as the ring, had everyone hold hands, and activated the ring. Nothing happened. Laughing nervously, Sofia [Identified] the ring to see if it was still charged, which it was. ¡°Well. It looks like we¡¯re going with En¡¯s plan after all. Let us just hope no one is waiting for us outside of the barrier, if we even manage to break it...¡±
Chapter 336 - The Pursuer Sofia and the students stared at the infinite waterfall of blood in front of them, perpetually flowing onto itself. ¡°Well, it looks like this is another failure. I don¡¯t think this is helping drain the barrier¡¯s mana at all. If anything, it feels like the amount of ambient mana has been going up. I could make more blood but that looks pointless.¡± ¡°Why are we trapped in here in the first place, what¡¯s the point?¡± En complained as she walked back and forth on the bone platform. ¡°That¡¯s hard to tell at this point, I feel like someone trying to kill me or you guys could do it without too much trouble if they can set up a barrier like this without me or Pareth noticing anything. So it¡¯s most likely not that.¡± Not that killing me would be that easy as long as I have Leverle¡¯s charm. The students though¡­ Shaily played with one of her sprites, pensively she mumbled to herself, ¡°Maybe someone just wants to ruin our chances at getting tokens¡­ All of us here are serious competitors, even Lola has started dueling a lot and almost caught up with En and me, I don¡¯t know about Topaz but I¡¯ve had a match against Opal and it was pretty close too¡­¡± ¡°I am the outlier I guess,¡± Topaz said from the corner she was sitting on, her legs dangling in the void, ¡°I¡¯m not too interested in the competition, I¡¯d rather spend my time here learning all I can, I can¡¯t compare with Opal anyway so it¡¯s dumb to even try.¡± Opal snuck up on her and hugged her sister from behind. Sofia shrugged, ¡°It would be nice if it was just about tokens. I could see someone going that far to sabotage the thing considering how tremendous the reward is, but I worry it might be a bit more nefarious than that. What if this is the ProudWall family trying to get revenge for their guy I slapped around in the arena?¡± Lola had been very silent the entire time the group had been trapped, but she spoke up for Erian, ¡°Impossible. The ProudWall family isn¡¯t normally so petty¡­ They worship Talent and they got their Ducal rank for their exceptional service to the Empire. The duel was strange in the first place.¡± Lola took a deep breath. ¡°That one of them would insult a BrightHall teacher was a great embarrassment for the family even before you fought the match, Erian wouldn¡¯t even come near us out of shame¡­ I don¡¯t want to believe they would stoop so low as to cheat in a competition like this, let alone try to pursue revenge for a fair loss!¡± she finished, almost shouting. ¡°Hey hey, calm down Lola, I believe you, alright? Is that really why Erian stopped coming to my classes? I will need to have a talk with him, he can¡¯t be compromising his future out of shame for something he didn¡¯t do. That said, we need to get out of here. The ambient mana is still rising and that¡¯s becoming a bit worrying.¡± ¡°Why is it worrying?¡± En instantly asked. ¡°Well, this feels oddly familiar to something I have already experienced multiple times. The academic name of which I¡¯ve recently learned is Siege magic. This is something you do when you need to be sure to absolutely annihilate your opponent, level a fortress with everyone inside, obliterate an army, such things. You trap your opponents inside of a barrier so they cannot escape, you gather a lot of mana over a long period of time¡­ And you unleash a devastating strike all at once. We still have some time though, although I don¡¯t know how long, but I can tell that the mana is still too calm for the spell to be about to resolve.¡± While everyone looked noticeably more worried about their situation now, Topaz still looked calmer, even though her feet had stopped moving, she turned to look at Sofia, ¡°You experienced that multiple times¡­ As the caster?¡± ¡°As the target. Things happened,¡± Sofia answered with a shrug. After a moment of silence, Topaz leaned back against Opal, looking at the infinite reflections of their bone platform in the barrier above, ¡°I¡¯m not even a summoner but if you get us out of here I¡¯ll sign up to your class¡­¡± ¡°Sure, you¡¯re welcome to join, Opal too. Also, I am pretty confident in getting us out right now.¡± ¡°What?!¡± Everyone looked at Sofia like she was crazy, they had been stuck here for hours and now she was somehow confident in getting out? Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°Yes. Sorry students, I really let you down this time. I had a way to get out all this time and I just completely forgot about it. I have so much stuff now, so many skills, so many options, I¡¯m really stupid for not thinking of this before, you can insult me later if you want, but yeah, now that I see it, it¡¯s obvious.¡± Opal quickly scribbled something on her notepad, she presented it to Sofia with a kind smile. ¡®Better late than never!¡¯ Sofia laughed nervously, and started to reshape the bone platform into a small pyramid. ¡°Please get inside, although the way to get out should be safe, I¡¯m worried about what we¡¯ll find outside, so I¡¯ll be spreading rot everywhere as soon as we¡¯re out and potentially teleport us to the place I spoke of before if things look too dangerous.¡± With little opposition from the students, she got them and the box of compressed shades inside of the pyramid before preparing herself. I would put on an undeath rune but I¡¯m not sure we have that much time before the siege spell resolves¡­ Preparing her spells, Sofia formed a big handle above the pyramid and tapped on Pareth¡¯s bone plates. I¡¯ll activate the third tier overlord so you can fly, if there¡¯s anyone waiting for us outside, grab the girls and go. Don¡¯t worry about me, I still have Leverle¡¯s charm as a security. ¡°Alright, everything ready.¡± This HAS to work, right? [Ringed arms of Zar] : (Manaless state): When this ring is devoid of mana, the wearer may activate [Collapse] at any time to make the ring instantly absorb all out-of-body mana in a large area. Wait, would it even work through the Dragon-scale armor? I will be like the storage ring and have the mana travel through my arm I guess. It¡¯s an artifact of the deep, so now way would it not work¡­ Sofia controlled the bone pyramid to be near a corner of the barrier, perhaps the barrier would reform after her little stunt so it was best to get out fast. ¡°Here we go.¡± Sofia activated the third tier of [Runeforged Overlord] and raised her hand high. [Collapse] The barrier shattered like a broken mirror and all the mana in a huge sphere around Sofia collapsed toward her. As she predicted, it entered the scale arm through the shoulder going through her all the way to her fist which felt like getting struck by lightning. To Sofia this was nothing. With a huge chunk of the barrier gone, she and Pareth quickly flew up, and Sofia observed her surroundings while showering the entire vicinity in Holy light and Erredian Rot. It was still night and they were still in the same place, but the immediate surroundings were not as they once were. The mansion was gone, and the surrounding forest had been burned down, in their place was a truly enormous ritual circle carved out in the charred soil, glowing brightly with blood-red magic. Sofia only got a glimpse of it before it was covered in rot. In the distance, on an extremity of the ritual circle stood a single tall masked figure in a gray cloak. Sofia tried to [Identify] them, but they disappeared as soon as the rot started spreading on them. The only distinctive sign she had managed to really see about the person before they were gone were two pointy ears. An Elf?! Sofia worriedly looked in Pareth¡¯s direction, hoping the cloaked figure hadn''t teleported to him and the students, but her mana vision quickly confirmed that no teleportation trail led to their direction. The person had teleported somewhere else, completely abandoning the siege ritual which was getting ravenously devoured by the rot. They fled? She hesitated for a second, did she need Pareth to teleport to her and flee to Zangdar, or was the immediate danger gone? A second passed, then another, the ambient mana dispersed as the rot ravaged the remains of the ritual, and there was no sign of the cloaked figure coming back. In the charred forest, there were only the sounds of the spreading rot and the cold windy night. Fuck me, what the hell was that? Sofia recalled the creepy design of the elf¡¯s white mask, that of a deformed face with a single round eye, it gave her shivers. She told Pareth to stop and flew to him, her mana would soon be drained by [Runeforged Overlord], so she also quickly brought out bookie and summoned random skeletons to have some mana to absorb back after she hit zero. Landing at the border of the charred zone, watching the rot quickly devouring itself a few tens of meters away, Sofia opened the bone pyramid, a hint of worry in her heart. ¡°Is everyone fine?!¡± The girls inside were shaken but unscathed. Finally Sofia could sigh of relief. For now, they were out of danger. Still, she monitored the mana around her like a hawk looking for the tiniest sign of spatial magic as she helped the girls out of her bone construct.
Chapter 337 - The Late Savior ¡°We should be safe now, I think, the attacker left,¡± Sofia told the students who just stepped out of the bone pyramid. ¡°I- I wouldn¡¯t be so sure about that,¡± Lola stuttered, pointing at the sky. ¡°He¡¯s an ally, everything is alright,¡± Sofia reassured her. Sofia had felt the sudden disturbance happening behind her, but she knew by instinct that it wasn¡¯t the masked elf returning, the person who just appeared had many times more mana. She turned around to see Leverle in his white robes stepping out of a black and jagged cross-shaped tear through the sky. Slowly, he walked down, platforms of solid mana forming under his feet. ¡°That¡¯s the doctor!¡± Topaz exclaimed, ¡°Why is he here?¡± ¡°You know Leverle?¡± Sofia asked reflexively before it dawned on her that they must have seen him for Opal¡¯s handicap. He couldn¡¯t fix it? ¡°Truly your master¡¯s apprentice. Have you lost anyone?¡± Leverle asked as he landed in front of the group without a sound. Does he mean the students? ¡°No, everyone is unharmed, luckily.¡± ¡°Good.¡± He turned toward Opal, ¡°Has your condition deteriorated?¡± The girl shook her head. ¡°Very good. Keep leveling at a steady pace, your genome will soon fix itself. Now, care to explain all this?¡± he said, extending one of his weird black arms out of his robe, pointing at the wasteland of rot. ¡°I lost track of the doll, which was surprising. Did you perhaps just meet your namesake?¡± Aphenoreth? ¡°No, nothing like that. We got attacked. One masked person with pointy ears, probably some kind of space mage. They trapped us inside of a weird spatial skill and were preparing a siege spell with a giant ritual circle. I broke out of the trap and destroyed the thing with rot, it was the size of the entire barren zone. They teleported away then before I could [Identify] them.¡± Leverle¡¯s mask-like head rotated to the side like a clock¡¯s hands as Sofia spoke, then it snapped back to its original position. ¡°I understand now why the guardian paid so much. Someone powerful is after you. They knew about the doll. Did you tell anyone about it?¡± ¡°Absolutely not.¡± ¡°Then they had the means to spy on our conversation in the cathedral. No small feat, no lesser than cutting me off from the doll completely. They fled, you say? Give me a moment.¡± Leverle turned around, scanning the rot-covered wasteland, and teleported right where the attacker had been standing when Sofia saw them; a second later, he was back. ¡°They covered their tracks. Unsurprising. There is not much we can do to find them. Have you memorized the siege ritual?¡± ¡°About two thirds of it.¡± The collapsing barrier behind me blocked my view. Still, the reading speed really helped, I can copy most of what I saw without too much trouble I think. ¡°It might take a while if you want me to draw it, the thing was really huge.¡± ¡°Then please do so right away. It might hold important information. But first,¡± Leverle turned around, and another tear in space appeared in front of him, ¡°follow me to the Cathedral.¡± Sofia urged all the girls to follow Leverle and entered the fissure last as it started shrinking. ¡°You are safe here, students. Rest,¡± Leverle ordered, Sofia¡¯s eyes needed a second to adapt to the sudden change of luminosity. Judging from the orange of the sky showing from the glass dome roof above, it was either dawn or dusk, but the cathedral¡¯s interior was brightly lit. They had teleported right into a small but very tall hexagonal room with large stained glass artworks adorning half the walls, and towering bookshelves covering the other half. There were a few sofas and seats around clean low tables. Leverle waved a hand and the tables were suddenly covered with countless drinks and pastries. ¡°I will have a word with your teacher.¡± Leaving the flabbergasted students behind, Leverle left through a side door. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°What he said, rest here, we¡¯ll return to the academy soon.¡± ¡°W- wait,¡± Shaily stopped Sofia right before she followed behind Leverle, ¡°I don¡¯t really get it but, are you in trouble because of us?¡± ¡°No, you got in trouble because of me. Sorry about that. Maybe I wasn¡¯t meant to be a teacher at all¡­¡± Sofia sighed and left, closing the door behind her. The room right next to that one was a small office, with the orange light filtering from the light white curtains, it reminded Sofia of her first meeting with Astelia at the Vasperian embassy. ¡°You may sit, Daughter of Sorrow. Please produce a sketch of the ritual circle as best you can. Do you have any idea about the attacker¡¯s motive?¡± ¡°First¡­ Are we absolutely certain that I was the target? Could the doll being cut off be an unlucky coincidence from being trapped within a spatial barrier?¡± Sofia asked, already bringing out a large bone plate to draw the siege ritual on. ¡°Highly improbable. You were undoubtedly the target, your students would have been nothing but collateral damages.¡± ¡°I see¡­ Then I have two ideas, maybe three.¡± ¡°Did you already offend so many?¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t¡­ Anyway, my first guess is the Empress. I believe she has been investigating me due to the name on my ID.¡± ¡°Delivia? She would undoubtedly send a few probes your way, you have likely interacted with several already. As much as I would like to say she is not behind this incident, she could definitely go there. That is, if she believes you a threat to the empire.¡± ¡°Well, maybe we should hope it is her, because the two remaining options are both Gods.¡± ¡°Gods?¡± ¡°The attacker looked like an elf, and I may or may not possess five of Sun¡¯s essence. I think it almost impossible that Sun Herself would want my death, She lends one of my heroes Her blessing to this day, but perhaps an overzealous follower might think I do not deserve the essence and want it back to their Goddess.¡± Sofia¡¯s words left Leverle speechless for a bit. ¡°There are some decrepit elves around, perhaps one has succumbed to insanity. It is a frail possibility, but a possibility nonetheless,¡± Leverle carefully assessed. ¡°The last and more probable possibility is Scripture, the ¡®God¡¯ who gifted my sainthood. He wants me dead, that is for certain, but what bothers me is that if he had the means to pull this off when I was protected by your doll, he could have killed me a thousand times over by now.¡± At Leverle¡¯s demand for more details, Sofia explained her tumultuous relationship with Scripture and his Church.
¡°Quite the situation. Another God roams the land. Defeating His incarnation seems foolish, but you bear His essence. Perhaps it may be possible, if you reach my level.¡± ¡°Not level 500?¡± ¡°You fail to grasp the power differential at play. Those who reach these heights can easily contend with most of the strongest Gods and Recessed, only a select few can claim to stand above them, such as Sun or Death. But it is only a matter of numbers. Should all the level 500 band together to cleanse the Deities one by one, none would survive. They would be born anew, clean slates, assuming anyone is left to produce the essence. Scripture may prove challenging to someone at my level, but not impossible, if I trust what you say.¡± ¡°What about ¡®my namesake¡¯?¡± ¡°I do not know, and I do not wish to know.¡± ¡°Too bad. Well, I¡¯m about done with the ritual circle. This should be mostly accurate to what I managed to see.¡± Leverle grabbed the bone slate and looked it over for a good minute before setting it down on his desk. ¡°Unlucky. This is of no help. It could exonerate doubt from Scripture, but it might not. This is mostly mana gathering and consolidating arrays. It was in large parts meant to gather mana, to fuel whatever the center part was, but most of the center is incomplete. There is one certitude only, this sharp corner is part of a Divine rune,¡± he said, pointing at two lines joining at an angle near the very center of the circle. ¡°Because it cuts through all the smaller arrays like a wall? This angle¡­ It does look like the lower point of Sun¡¯s rune¡­¡± Leverle shook his head, ¡°That is the issue, unfortunately. Most Divine runes are very alike, either triangular or spiraled. Delivia is a follower of Talent, I cannot show you, but Talent¡¯s rune fits as well.¡± Knowledge was kind of a spiral I guess¡­ I can see it. ¡°Then Scripture?¡± ¡°I have never seen Scripture¡¯s rune. It may also fit or it may not. I fear the ritual is of no help, Daughter of Sorrow. Perhaps Sorrow Herself may bless you with divine knowledge about the matter.¡± ¡°No, the ritual does help, it confirms that a God was trying to kill me, even if it¡¯s uncertain which. I think this rules out Sun completely. So it was either the Empress and Talent, Scripture, or I have somehow walked on someone else¡¯s shoes without even realizing.¡± Leverle turned and opened the curtains, he gazed at the sun rising over the city. ¡°Five stones for your protection might have been too cheap after all.¡±
Chapter 338 - Brave, or foolhardy? Leverle brought everyone back to the academy¡¯s entrance. Caleb raised his eyes from his lectern. ¡°Oh, if it isn¡¯t the Doc and teacher Sonia again!¡± His brows furrowed after his jovial greeting, ¡°The entire group is here¡­ Did something go wrong with the event?¡± ¡°We had some outside interference¡­ Is Beryl available?¡± Caleb shook his head, ¡°I¡¯m afraid not, miss Sonia, likewise, the Headmaster is away. Sir Tartaros is present, though.¡± ¡°Should we report to him?¡± ¡°Your issue happened during the event so I don¡¯t see why not, going in this time, Doc?¡± ¡°I will,¡± Leverle confirmed. Calbed nodded and pressed a few buttons hidden under the book on his lectern, a teleportation gate appeared in front of the academy gate. ¡°Ay ay, step right in, everyone, students will be sent to their dorms while Doc and Sonia are inbound to Sir Tartaros¡¯ lodgings.¡± So this is how new students usually get in? ¡°Thank you, Caneb.¡± ¡°It is my pleasure.¡± Sofia turned to the students before leading them through the portal, ¡°I will come check in on you and explain things when I have it all sorted out, the academy is safe so you can rest easy.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll be just fine,¡± En answered, a carefree smile on her face. ¡°T- Thank you, for getting us out of there,¡± Lola added, and the others approved. Sofia entered the portal after the students, she stood next to Leverle in what seemed to be an underground chamber with large pillars all around the circular room. Saint Tartaros was sitting cross-legged on the ground at the very center of the barren room, his eyes closed. The clothes he wore were different than usual, his current attire was one very familiar to Sofia, a simple white uniform with a red belt. Does this guy¡­? Sofia thought about grabbing her black belt from her storage but she felt that now wasn¡¯t the time. Tartaros spoke, his eyes still closed, ¡°Will you finally fight me, Death Guard?¡± ¡°I am afraid not,¡± Leverle answered monotonously. ¡°A pity. Then will the girl fight me?¡± I would die before I could blink. Go fight Erredis or something. ¡°If you wait for me to catch up to you, I will.¡± ¡°I shall wait, then.¡± How polite of you¡­ Sofia was about to talk back and explain the reason they came to see him, but Tartaros spoke again first. ¡°Don¡¯t waste your saliva, I already know. We will arrange for such things not to happen again in the context of the competition, but you are expected to deal with your personal issues through your own strength.¡± He knows? It would have been nice to help, if not for me at least for the students¡­ ¡°I see, thank you very much. Is there anything you can tell me about the attacker?¡± ¡°They were beneath my interest.¡± Alright then¡­ ¡°Can we do something to compensate the students? They lost the opportunity to earn tokens¡­¡± ¡°They will not be penalized for the Academy¡¯s error. Strength will assess them and distribute the regular rewards accordingly.¡± ¡°Thank you very much, Saint Tartaros.¡± Sofia glanced at Leverle, lost as to where to take the conversation from there. The doctor took a few steps toward the saint. ¡°Are you not worried? This will interfere with the goal of the competition.¡± The goal of the competition? That really does not sound like ¡®Awarding a priceless sword to the best student to celebrate the academy¡¯s success¡¯. There is something more to it, then. It was weird that the prize was so good in the first place. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. Tartaros finally opened his eyes, ¡°No. This much is well within our expectations. The fish is observing, undoubtedly. These interruptions are no issue, quite the contrary, danger will only create more pressure to bite.¡± Fish, bite¡­ They¡¯re luring something? Someone? Then the sword is bait? That is some high-quality bait¡­ Leverle¡¯s head rotated on its axis slowly as he spoke, ¡°You play with fire. I was tasked to protect Sorrow¡¯s Daughter. If your plan compromises her safety, I will have to step in.¡± ¡°I would like nothing more, Death Guard,¡± Tartaros answered with a smirk, ¡°The more chaos the better.¡± That does not sound good¡­ ¡°Lunatic monster. You better not be lying. Was the attack part of your plan?¡± ¡°We knew of the possibility, but it was not our doing. The teachers may be set pieces, but they are no sacrificial pawn. Neither are the students. Luckily teacher Vakaria was not so weak that I needed to intervene, that would have indeed been an issue, the link cannot die, after all, or the fish might be too scared to swim up.¡± Wait, alright¡­ ¡®We¡¯ is Tartaros¡¯ faction, which has to be at least himself, Beligenus, and the Emperor, if they organized the competition as bait for something. They knew I might be attacked but it was not them. Then does that not mean it cannot be the Empress? The attack was probably from Scripture, then. And if they knew about it, it means they know more about my past than they let on. I don¡¯t know why he would wait until now to attack but there might be a reason. Probably the same reason he never attacked me directly after the orphanage¡­ I just need to find Scripture¡¯s rune to confirm it would fit. And ¡®The link¡¯ must be one of my students, probably not the twins, I guess, if it is one link. They somehow give confidence to ¡®the fish¡¯ so that they might show up? I¡¯m starting to think I also don¡¯t get paid enough for my position¡­ ¡°I will take your word for it,¡± Leverle answered in his unchanging monotonous tone after a moment of silence, ¡°tell Delivia to leave her and her relatives alone, then. Do not make my task harder for nothing, I have enough to deal with.¡± This pretty much confirms without a doubt that the woman behind Tartaros during the duel was the Empress¡­ Both she and the ProudWalls worship Talent. She used them to probe me. ¡°The Empress¡¯ actions are unrelated to the plan. Take that up to her by yourself, Death Guard.¡± Yeah, that confirms it in my mind, the elf had to be one of Scripture¡¯s pawns. I really don¡¯t see which other God would try going after me if not Talent for the Empress. Scripture might be growing in power if he can afford such an attack now but couldn¡¯t before. That¡¯s a bit worrying. I need to get stronger faster. ¡°Unhelpful as always,¡± Leverle complained, he turned back to Sofia, ¡°I did all I could, Vakaria. I will head back to the cathedral. Shall I bring you to your lodgings within the academy?¡± You did plenty! I got so much more information from this than I expected. To think the entire competition is just a front to bait someone with the sword¡­ ¡°I can go back by myself, thank you very much for your help, Leverle. I still have a few things I would like to ask Sir Tartaros, if he will.¡± ¡°You are free to discuss with the lunatic yourself, in this case. Warn me in advance before you leave the city next time. Good luck, Daughter of Sorrow.¡± Done with his farewells, Leverle opened the same black fissure he had used before to teleport and stepped in, leaving Sofia alone with the Saint of Strength. ¡°May I?¡± Sofia asked the Saint who silently observed her. ¡°Sit.¡± Sure¡­ Sofia walked to face the Saint directly and sat in the same position as him. Since Tartaros said nothing, she took the initiative to speak first. ¡°Is the Empress investigating me because of my name?¡± ¡°That is so.¡± ¡°Alright. Then, if the sword is bait for some unknown person, are you not really going to be giving it to the winner of the competition?¡± ¡°We are. Strength does not deceive.¡± Good. ¡°Would that not put the winner at risk?¡± ¡°It would. But we will have caught the fish by then. After that, should the wielder be worthy, the sword will defend itself.¡± ¡°Can I know more about ¡®the fish¡¯? It feels a lot like me and my students are part of the bait, and I really dislike that.¡± ¡°The entire Academy is part of the bait. One of your students in particular, but you may not learn more, lest your knowledge risk compromising the plan.¡± ¡°Fine. I get it. I am a weak little level 249 in the end, am I not? Thank you for your time. As thanks, let me make you privy to a little secret, since your allies wanted to know so badly,¡± Sofia said with a large smile. In her hands appeared a tablet made of blue crystal, ¡°It¡¯s a gift from my adoptive father. You already know his name. What do you think? Very cute, isn¡¯t it? Be careful when you tell the Empress, it wouldn¡¯t be good for your plans if you were to suddenly disappear, I assume.¡± Tartaros¡¯ expression did not change, but after spending a few seconds absent-mindedly fixating on the midenicite tablet, he closed his eyes. ¡°I shall see to it that Delivia no longer bothers you,¡± he started after a long silence, ¡°But no matter what, the plan and your place in it must stay unchanged. You might thank me for it later. I look forward to our eventual duel, Sofia Vakariazrehafin Aphenoreth.¡±
After Tartaros teleported Sofia out of his room, he reflexively looked behind his back, he knew there was nothing there, he could feel the empty space and the undisturbed mana, but he was inexplicably compelled to look. There was nothing but the usual rounded wall and columns. With a deep sigh of relief, he uncrossed his legs and fell back, letting his heavy body slump to the floor. The Saint of Strength silently stared at the ceiling.
Chapter 339 - Runes and Characters Sofia had been teleported directly inside of her closed room. ¡°So much for a strong barrier around my room¡­¡± She shivered. I can¡¯t believe I did that. One of these days my big mouth is going to get me killed. Should I go find the students? No, best to let them sleep this trip off, I¡¯ll go check in on them tomorrow. Pareth looked at Sofia and Sofia looked back at him. ¡°What now?¡± Sofia did not expect an answer but she actually got one, Pareth summoned his weapon of light in the form of a small dagger, and mimicked cutting his wrist. Still not going to talk? Well, this is already better than before. ¡°Train the venerable physique? It is quite far from completion¡­ Let¡¯s do that then¡­ But before, why not choose a new classless skill? Since I have a free slot? I can still forget [Identify] for the teleportation later as well. Any recommendations?¡± Pareth seemed to hesitate, or that¡¯s how Sofia interpreted his stillness, at least. Eventually he raised a hand, and his weapon of light changed into a small round-ish rock. Rock? I¡¯m surprised that it even qualifies as a weapon for your skill, but you did use that giant pair of scissors once, so¡­ I don¡¯t get what you mean, though. Pareth came closer, showing the ¡®rock¡¯ in his hand to Sofia. Under the mastery of his skill, the rock became smoother and smoother until it was a perfectly round ball. Oh, I get it now. The pearl thing, uh? I did think about it. I searched about it in the academy library too, but found nothing on that skill. My main issue is still about how large of a pearl we are talking about, and where does it come from? ¡°Hey, don¡¯t look at me like that, I know you don¡¯t know either, still¡­¡± [Crystalized] ? : Your body will slowly produce mana pearls (Growth speed linked to mana regeneration), which can be used as ritual fuel or eaten to provide a temporary 100% bonus to thinking speed. ¡°Ah, whatever. Surely it can¡¯t be too bad.¡± You have acquired the classless skill : ¡®[Crystalized]¡¯ Sofia felt a surge of heat rise within her chest, looking down, she saw the runes from [Runeforged Overlord] shifting around, making space for a new mana circuit around the top of her sternum. Her skin around this spot took a strange blue hue like the Exidians¡¯ skin, it had clear borders and spread slightly in all directions with root-like tendrils. It contrasted a lot with her skin, but all in all was not too bad, the center part only being about as large as a gold coin and the thin tendrils about the length of half a finger at their longest. ¡°It kind of looks like a badly poisoned wound¡­ Well, at least it¡¯s not too weird of a spot. The pearl shouldn¡¯t be too large considering the size of the spot, what¡¯s left is to see how long it takes to grow now.¡± With that and the bonus from March of the Envoy, I¡¯ll be thinking three times the speed, pretty nice. Could be four times if these are multiplicative but somehow I doubt that. Sofia scrolled through her system logs and status. I should add a new skill category. Name : Sofia Aphenoreth Age : 21 ? Class : [Saintomancer] ? Level : 249 ? Health : 80 980 / 80 980 (20k + (20/level - 4k) + 60k) Stamina : 8552 / 21 047 (20 067 + (20/level - 4k)) Mana : 416 047 / 417 100 (319 100 + (2k/level- 400k)) Main Specialization : [Eclipse Skeleton] Alteration chance : 100% Secondary Specialization : [Heat Death] Active Skills (8 / 8) [Spine of the Black Sun] - Level 209 [Summon Blood] - Level 207 [Maiden Banshee] - Level 249 (Lv.249) [Graveyard of the righteous] - Level 211 [False immortality] - Level 3 [Skull Choir] - Level 213 [Reign over shadows] [Saintess¡¯ madness] - Level 1 Passive Skills (7 / 8) [Blessing of the Deep] - (2/4) [Vakariazrehafin of Sorrow] ? [Exalted Exoskeleton] ? [Venerable physique of the primeval void] ? - Second step Light forging realm [Bone dominus] - Level 2 [Erredian Rot] [Runeforged Overlord] ? - Level 249 Classless Skills (7 / 7) ? [Dreams Of a Demon which Gods Envy - March of the Envoy] ? [Identify] - Level 2 Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! [Mana manipulation] ? [Radiance] - Level 71 [Quintessential] ? [One with Suffering] ? [Crystalized] ? Special Skills (1) [The Book of Skeletons] ? Wildcast Skills (4) [Angel¡¯s Bolt Exploding ver.] [Angel¡¯s Bolt Piercing ver.] [Heal Undead / Holy light] [Summon Elemental Sprite] Summoned heroes (4 / 4) [Mark of Aphenoreth] A few skills have leveled up, nothing noteworthy. What I¡¯m really waiting for is the third level of [Bone dominus]. It leveled up during the fight against Victory and I have been using it non-stop, it should go up soon. [False immortality] too. Let¡¯s progress with VPPV, still only at 112 drops but I should be able to make it much faster now that I mostly get how it works. Let¡¯s go until tomorrow morning.
[Venerable physique of the primeval void] ? - Second step of the Light forging realm : Your blood becomes light (1100 / 126 441 drops converted) It took a while, but I have a consistent one drop every fifty seconds now. Still not good enough, but at least I could get through it, I just need a hundred days¡­ She looked up at Pareth, who had been dutifully guarding her all this time. ¡°Aren¡¯t you bored?¡± No answer, uh. ¡°Say, Mr. Scribe, does Pareth have his own Scribe? If not, shouldn¡¯t he? Why does he not have a complete status sheet like everyone else?¡± Again, nobody answered her. ¡°Well damn. I¡¯ll make one myself then. The book said, to open a new empty document¡­ Think about the word File, then New, then Data Array¡­¡± Holy shit it works! Who is the absolute madman who ever found that out? Let me write up a nice Status sheet for you Pareth! Name : Pareth Age : 3(?) Class : [Holy Eclipse Skeleton] Level : 249 ? Health : 995 100 / 995 100 (2 905 692 With sanctified grounds and halo) Stamina : 403 399 / 403 399 (1 177 925 With sanctified grounds and halo) Mana : 49 800 / 49 800 (200*level) Active Skills (6) [Sanctified grounds] [Flying shields of light] [Chains of the four seals] [Gravity well] [Purification] [Greater Heal] Passive Skills (6) [Stellar corona] [Shapeless weapon of light] [Shapeless armor of light] [Higher magical damage negation] [Space magic resilience] [Displacement skills immunity] Special skills (5) [Bone Density Up +200%] [Silent Bones +200%] [Teleport to Sofia] [Negate hits of less than 10% Max Health] [Quadruple Damage Against Undead] Summoner skills (5) [Blessing of the Deep] [Soul link] [Shared senses] [Bone Dominus : Blessed Construct] [Runeforged Overlord Aura] Enchantments (3) [Generosity of Sun] [Avian magic : Fighting sense] [Avian magic : Air steps] [Blessing of bloating] [Mark of Aphenoreth] [Best Skeleton ?] ¡°There you go! I think I didn¡¯t forget anything. It turns out you have almost as much stuff going on as I do when it¡¯s laid out like this. What do you think?¡± If Pareth thought anything, he did not show it, but Sofia was happy either way. Now imagine how messy a level 500¡¯s status page must be. Done being sidetracked by her system interface, Sofia left her room. The teachers¡¯ tower was empty. The corridors were the same, devoid of life, for the most part, with only the cleaning personnel lazily mopping around. Walking past the library, she stopped and turned back. There was only one clerk in the library instead of the usual six, a relatively old-looking level 199 Exidian man with round glasses. ¡°Hi! Can you help me find a book about Divine runes? Is there something like that?¡± ¡°Oh, I recognize you, new teacher, right? We have literature about divine runes, yes, but if you¡¯re looking for the makeup of a rune in particular, then we don¡¯t have it.¡± ¡°Is there any reason why?¡± ¡°Drawing a divine rune is like calling out to the God themself, one should not use them carelessly,¡± the old librarian explained, ¡°We usually do not record them so as to avoid upsetting Them. I do know a few I could share, though, as some Gods do not mind, Sun, for example, is very well-known, since the elves like to wear the rune as jewelry.¡± ¡°I am looking for Scripture¡¯s rune specifically, is that something you know of?¡± The librarian stroked his beard. ¡°I have heard of that God, a few decades ago, but¡­ No, I have never come across His rune. Your best bet is probably to ask one of His high-priests, the Saint or the Oracle if you can find one.¡± ¡°I am the Saint.¡± ¡°Oh. And He has never communicated His rune to you? That is quite a bad sign¡­¡± ¡°Scripture has been trying to get rid of me, actually.¡± ¡°No wonder, then, luckily for you, there are protections for Saints provided by the system, so ditching a Saint shouldn¡¯t be that easy especially for a God long past their prime like Scripture. For the rune though, I cannot help you. But if what you said is true, that might be for the better. Just being near Scripture¡¯s rune would open a channel between Him and you, although a weak one, but who knows what terrible things that might bring. You are better off never seeing it.¡± ¡°What if I only see it in the Spiritual plane? That¡¯s further from the Gods¡¯ plane, right? So it should be safer.¡± ¡°Hmmmmm¡­ It might be safer, yes, though I still would not risk it if I were you. Perhaps if you could reach the plane of the Recessed¡­ But that is a place hardly ever entered by mortals.¡±
Sofia left the library soon after. She summoned Zangdar¡¯s ring and the Book of Skeletons and held them next to one another. ¡°A high-priest, right? I¡¯m going to need a trustworthy source of mana. Probably not going to happen anytime soon...¡±
Chapter 340 - Dog treat Walking through the empty student dormitories, Sofia managed to learn from a janitor that her students had left with Tartaros a few hours prior. I don¡¯t want to bother Leverle again so soon¡­ And I really don¡¯t want to keep training VPPV right now¡­ Sofia left the Academy. Caleb was busy reading the same book in front of the gate. ¡°Hey Caneb!¡± ¡°Miss Sonia, leaving so soon?¡± ¡°I was thinking I could relax a little. Would you happen to know about the best restaurants and shops in the city? You have been here a while after all.¡± ¡°Oh of course. What¡¯s your budget?¡± ¡°I have more gold than I know what to do with.¡±
Azurian¡¯s antiquities. That¡¯s the place. In a street lined with shops of all kinds, this one looked like any other next to it. But Caleb had been adamant that Sofia would find her happiness there. Doesn¡¯t look like anything special. Maybe he was having a laugh at my expense. Let¡¯s not judge the book by its cover though. Sofia opened the lacquered wooden door of the small shop. [Hero - Lv. 358] Shocked by the unexpected spectacle, Sofia lost herself looking at the shirtless human hero¡¯s rippling muscles as he struggled to finish one push-up with a dainty small horned lady sitting on his back. [Mage - Lv.400+] Sofia took a step back outside of the shop and closed the door. That¡­ Is definitely not what I expected to find in an antiquities shop. She wondered what she should do, thinking that maybe it was better to come back at a later time, but the door opened from inside. It was the small lady who greeted Sofia, ¡°Hi, sorry about that, welcome to Azurian¡¯s, he¡¯s the guy I was helping exercise. Are you looking for anything in particular? Not every day we find more humans around here.¡± The human hero was nowhere to be seen in the shop. ¡°Hey¡­ I¡¯m- No, I don¡¯t know what I want exactly, I just wanted to look around¡­ And you don¡¯t look exactly human.¡± ¡°Oh, yeah, because I¡¯m not, I¡¯m a one of ¡®em big flying lizards, you know, the kind you scale to make armor out of,¡± the girl winked, ¡°Everyone in my family ends up looking like humans though. Come in, do look around, we have plenty of ol¡¯ crap for sale or barter.¡± I figured. Sofia followed after the girl, she quickly glanced around the shop. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t happen to be Phillip¡¯s daughter by chance?¡± The girl turned back, her arms crossed, she looked up at Sofia, ¡°That¡¯s my old man, yeah. What are you, a Dragon hunter? My scales ain¡¯t for sale, they ain¡¯t even hard yet, just so you know.¡± ¡°No, no, I¡¯m just here on a recommendation from Caleb Whitehound of Brighthall, I¡¯m also a teacher there¡­ I just happened to meet Phillip before, he helped me with something in exchange for new lingering magic to study. I never expected to find his daughter here.¡± ¡°Really? It ain¡¯t no secret that I¡¯m here often tho, since I¡¯m going out with that guy. Well, I¡¯ll take your word for it, not like you could have stolen that scale on your arm by yourself, you must be worth a pretty something if someone trusted you with that.¡± ¡°It got it in a fair trade between me and Erredis,¡± Sofia casually explained. ¡°The motherfuckin Moon Lord? You joking?¡± Sofia extended her hand, summoned a small loaf of bread from her storage, and quickly showered it with holy light in front of the Dragon¡¯s eyes. The bread was covered with rot and quickly consumed. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°Well, fuck, I wanna be able to do that too. You got some fine credentials uh, I wasn¡¯t sure considering your level but I guess we might be able to do some good trading here.¡± The human hero showed up again, fully clothed this time, coming down from the stairs in the back of the small shop, ¡°Someone you know, Lina?¡± The girl turned back, ¡°Nah, but she knows my father as well as the fucken moon lord, can you believe this shit?¡± The man blinked several times, he came down and extended a hand to Sofia. The handshake was a bit awkward because of the black powder left from the rot-consumed bread, but it didn''t seem to bother him. ¡°Hi. Sorry about Lina¡¯s foul mouth, I have been trying to fix it but well¡­ Anyway, I¡¯m Azurian, welcome to my shop, I sell the random stuff I find in dungeons here.¡± ¡°That¡¯s an interesting way to make money, I guess. Some of the items here do look interesting,¡± Sofia said, looking at a shelf covered in old books and bones. ¡°This? Lina found that recently, actually, a bunch of stuff tucked away in an old castle, a lich who broke their phylactery, we think. There¡¯s some interesting stuff in the grimoires, we brought the bones there just for show since there wasn''t much loot, there¡¯s a locked chest, too, with a few baubles inside, not too sure what. I can sell you the whole thing for 5k.¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t open the chest?¡± Sofia looked at the man suspiciously. ¡°No, it¡¯s heavily-heavily cursed and we don¡¯t want to bother, honestly.¡± Couldn¡¯t a Dragon easily handle that? Sofia thought then told them. Lina sighed, ¡°I¡¯m a bit bad when it comes to precise stuff like that, I¡¯d probably break what¡¯s inside before I successfully absorb the curses¡¯ mana¡­¡± Azurian placed a hand on Lina¡¯s shoulder and brought her closer to him, ¡°It¡¯s alright, you¡¯ll get there,¡± he told her, then he addressed Sofia again, ¡°Lina is still getting used to her human form, Dragons live at a different scale, normally.¡± I guess so, Erredis was huge¡­ ¡°I¡¯ll probably buy the chest and the things, then, if you let me have a look first,¡± Sofia started, ¡°And I¡¯m curious now, how old are you, can I ask that? I thought you would both be quite old at first considering your level but I¡¯m not so sure anymore¡­¡± ¡°Ah, I can get that, it¡¯s fine to ask, I¡¯m, uuh, forty-one years old? If you count both lives. I was summoned here pretty young. Lina just turned twenty-six. Right, you¡¯re a Saintess, summoned anyone from my world? I¡¯m always curious to meet other isekai¡¯d heroes.¡± ¡°Isekaied?¡± Sofia asked, a confused look on her face. Is that a Draconic word or something? ¡°Oh, right, sorry, just forget about it,¡± Azurian backed out, uncomfortably putting a hand behind his neck, ¡°I¡¯ll get censored left and right if I try to say too much, not worth the hassle. I¡¯m surprised this even got through the scribes.¡± ¡°I see¡­ Well, I did summon someone from the human heroes¡¯ world, yes, but I can already guess she was not from the same time as you.¡± ¡°That¡¯s quite alright, I¡¯d love to meet them if I have the occasion. You want the loot from the dead lich, then? You can have a look but don¡¯t break anything, the policy for books is you can only [Identify] them, no reading before buying.¡± ¡°Alright, thanks. I¡¯ll tell her about this place, she¡¯ll come if she wants.¡± Sofia walked up to the shelf and started identifying everything, almost salivating. Did Caleb know they had this stuff?! [Book of the four-HeadDead] : A necromancy grimoire by the hands of Master Lich Tetrapopulos about his research on the grafting of additional heads to zombies. If this is applicable to skeletons¡­ Also, no item level or grades today? [On becoming a healthy lich] : Diary of Master Lich Tetrapopulos detailing the process of turning oneself into an undead skeleton without the intermediary step of becoming dead. I¡¯m not really interested in becoming a skeleton myself but that should be an interesting read nonetheless. [Curses, the most misunderstood school of magic] : An essay from an unknown author about the nature of curses. That actually looks interesting. [Commander¡¯s guide to military formations] : A book that somehow survived through the ages, it recounts the exploits of a human commander guiding his outnumbered troops to victory through clever use of terrain and positioning. I have been mostly letting the paladin skeletons do whatever they wanted but that is knowledge I could use. Not five thousand gold worth of knowledge though. [Nameless book] : This book contains 28 unlabelled rituals schematics without any explanation. Try at your own risk. That¡¯s¡­ Kind of exciting, honestly. I¡¯m sure Zerei would love to have a look at this one too. That¡¯s it for the books, there¡¯s also two wands, a dilapidated robe, the chest and most importantly, the skeleton! [Bones of a twice-dead lich] : The remains of Master Lich Tetrapopulos, the old skeleton is mostly intact despite a few of the smaller bones missing. Must have originally been a dwarf or something like that, that¡¯s a small skeleton. I¡¯m definitely buying this! Are you hungry, Bookie? We¡¯ve found a skeleton-summoning skeleton to add to your pages!!!
Chapter 341 - I expected shenanigans and was still surprised anyway Sofia brought back a lot of random stuff from Azurian¡¯s shop, it barely made a dent in her gold reserves, so much that she was starting to wonder whether Sun might actually be annoyed at her for taking it. Not that it would have survived anyway, but still, before the deep whale destroyed everything, she had technically stolen it. She stopped in front of the academy. ¡°Back already? You¡¯ve only been gone a few hours, teacher Sonia, were my recommendations not to your liking?¡± the dog man asked with a bright smug smile. ¡°No, it was good, a bit too good, even. You have some flair, Senior Caneb, I must admit it.¡± ¡°Glad to hear it from you, well, get in,¡± he invited her, showing her the gate. ¡°Wait, before that. Would you happen to know of a good place to test destructive spells? Is there a room like that within the academy?¡± ¡°Not quite within, no, but deep beneath, surely. That is outside of the barrier, but you can go all out there. Make your way to the arena, but instead of entering it, keep going forward, then take every stairs down that you see until you reach the cube. Very easy!¡± ¡°The cube?¡± ¡°You¡¯ll understand,¡± he confirmed, nodding to himself. ¡°Alright, thanks. Have a nice day.¡± Sofia phased through the gate and followed Caleb¡¯s instructions. Since the Academy¡¯s corridors were mostly empty, she rushed through at dangerous speeds and made her way down to the deepest part of the academy¡¯s underground. A weird lift took her straight through the barrier and down several kilometers into the ground. The lift took quite some time to descend and the air gradually got hotter and hotter as she went deeper. Finally it stopped! Is it over? The doors opened, revealing a small glass cabin overlooking a giant ¡®cube¡¯. To be exact, a cube-shaped cavern, glowing with flowing magma on the sides. A short old-looking Exidian man with a cane approached Sofia from the side, he was under level 100. ¡°Come to try out a boomin spell or two? I¡¯ve seen yer mug in the teacher book, go right ahead,¡± he said after observing her face for a second, pointing at the door leading to nothing on the side of the cabin. ¡°Is it safe? What if one of my spells reaches this cabin? It¡¯s pretty high but not out of reach.¡± ¡°Dun worry, tis all quite safe ya? Headmaster himself comes here to try new magic, walls carved through a natural mana leyline and reinforced so much, tell ye what, I¡¯ll eat mah cane if you can scratch ¡®em.¡± That¡¯s not exactly what I asked but sure then¡­ Sofia headed through the door. The reason she had sought out this place was quite simple: she needed to use the ring of Zar¡¯s [Collapse] to absorb the curses of the necromancer¡¯s chest after activating them, but it was currently still full of mana. To activate it again, she was going to train the piercing Angel¡¯s bolt some more, which would drain the ring¡¯s remaining mana to give the bolts more power. The magma flowing down the walls gathers in this vortex at the center¡­ Is the city built on a volcano? It looked quite flat. Maybe it¡¯s that thing with a mana leyline? I¡¯m not sure I¡¯ve ever heard of those before¡­ More reading ahead, it seems. But first! Sofia landed on a spot far away from the several magma rivers coursing through the ground, and she dumped out all of the bones she had just bought, then summoned the book of skeletons. Have a nice meal. The bones were devoured by the book, and a new page took shape showcasing the drawing of a short skeleton holding a book and an ornate cup overflowing with a misty black liquid. Hiding the mana cost with her hand, Sofia had a good look at the drawing. Now that I can see the full skeleton, that¡¯s a bit thin for a male dwarf. She slowly slid her hand to reveal the mana cost. There wasn¡¯t one. No cost? What do you mean no cost? Is something wrong, Bookie? The page freed itself from the book and split into two down the middle. What¡¯s going on now? Before Sofia were two new pages, one with the small necromancer and only the goblet; this one had a cost of 100,000, while the other still had no mana cost, and on it, the necromancer held a book strangely similar to Bookie. Oh, I think I understand where this is going. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. So you want me to choose? Is the left one the original and the right one¡­ The skeleton holding you? I feel like I''m not being given enough information right now. This is a bit like picking a blessing, isn''t it? So it can be either a regular summon or yourself? That''s a bit of an unexpectedly tough choice. I cannot get both, can I? Sofia sighed and picked the page with the book. You happy now? The book shuddered, and the page Sofia chose reattached itself while the other one disappeared in a puff of smoke. I guess this means yes. What now? Floating in front of Sofia, the book presented its new page, which she ripped off. The mist started flowing, and in front of her formed the small skeleton of the necromancer. It instantly felt more lively than the usual mist skeletons. It looked around, then at Sofia, and held out a hand as if waiting to receive something. [Solar Book of Skeletons - Lv. 249] Health : 24900/24900 Mist : 99% Lifetime : 14932s/14940s Well, that has the merit of being quite clear. I guess Bookie was always a necromancer. You want the actual book, right? There you go. The small skeleton grabbed the book and walked up to Sofia with a skip in its steps. Somehow, she could tell it was proud. I''m not exactly sure what the benefits of this are, but hey, if you''re happy, I''m happy for you. One good thing, I guess, is I can now see exactly how much mist is left, although I could already kind of guess. But it''s nice to be able to put a number on it. The skeleton turned its head, looked at Sofia, and handed the book back to her, insisting for her to take it. You changed your mind quickly. The skeleton shook its head, and the book opened by itself. Sofia understood the new changes; maybe there were more, but at the very least, one thing was obvious¡ªthe mana cost of the skeletons had changed. The book had opened at the page of the High-Priest, and instead of the usual 50000, the indicated cost was only 45000. Sofia checked every page, and they all showed the same 10% discount. ¡°Hey, this isn''t bad. It''s not what I expected, but I''ll take it.¡± Looking at the small skeleton, she asked, ¡°Does it also reduce the mist cost?¡± And the skeleton nodded in response. ¡°Nice, too bad I''m still a few tens of thousand mana points short of what''s needed to summon the ingot monster. Do you have any more surprises for me?¡± The small skeletal nodded again, gesturing for Sofia to flip the book so that she held it upside down. ¡°And then?¡± Not sure what to do, she opened the book again and noticed there were fewer pages than usual. The first one was Crowie''s page, showing the picture of the small skeleton with a crow on its shoulder. Turning to the next page, there was the picture of the small skeleton with a helmet and holding a bow. ¡°That should be the page of the bow soldier. I think I understand now.¡± The next page in the book should have been the one with 50 crows, but instead, what showed up was a picture of the small skeleton with a broom. ¡°So it''s only the pages with a single skeleton on it?¡± Sofia flipped to the last two pages, which were normally the ones with the ingot monster and the quartz giant. On one, the small skeleton became huge and encased in a larger, thicker skeleton, while on the other, the depiction had become much smaller, with twig-like wings, and looking ferocious. With a chuckle, Sofia gave the book back to the skeleton, which he grabbed, then let go. It moved by itself and hovered behind his skull. If the book is Bookie, and the skeleton is Bookie, I¡¯m going to start having naming issues. ¡°Can you summon stuff by yourself?¡± Once again, the skeleton nodded. ¡°All right, summon the elven caretaker then. I want to see you with a broom.¡± Without the skeleton doing anything, the page ripped itself from the book and turned into mist, which very quickly collapsed on itself and became a broom in the skeleton¡¯s hands. [Solar Book of Caretaker Skeletons - Lv. 249] Health : 12450/12450 Mist : 98% Lifetime : 14725s/14940s That''s cute. Wait, you actually lose health? Is that because of this fusion in particular? Does that happen every time? Well, only one way to find out. ¡°Summon the bow soldier now,¡±she told the broom-brandishing skeleton. Once again, a page ripped by itself, and an instant later, Bookie¡¯s new form was now fitted with a small spiked helmet as well as two more arms above his original set, holding the broom, a bow, and with a quiver filled with bone arrows attached to his waist. [Solar Book of Caretaking Soldier Skeletons - Lv. 249] Health : 24900/24900 Mist : 97% Lifetime : 14711s/14940s ¡°Oh! The health is back to normal. Can we add more?¡± she asked. Not only did Bookie acquiesce once again, but the book flew to Sofia once again, opening at the page of the sandworm. It showed Bookie¡¯s upper body sprouting out of the sandworm¡¯s back. The sandworm was much smaller than usual, as if scaled down to Bookie¡¯s size. ¡°Sure, go for it!¡± The result was exactly as Sofia expected, she lost 90000 mana for the summoning, and the four-armed ¡®Solar Book-Worm of Caretaking Soldier Skeletons¡¯ now slithered happily around Sofia, waving its broom as if fighting imaginary enemies. Its stats had also changed quite a lot. Health : 249000/249000 Mist : 54% Lifetime : 14623s/14940s Oh yeah, this is fun. I think I like that a lot more than a regular old necromancer skeleton. ¡°You were always a member, but now it feels a bit more real. Welcome to the team, Bookie.¡± Bookie brandished his broom high in the air in celebration.
Chapter 342 - Old stuff resurfacing Sofia sat down on the ground, and Pareth did the same. She brought out the rest of the necromancers¡¯ stuff and looked through it. ¡°What do you guys think? The robe is beyond saving, but I guess I can take it to the clothier; he might find that interesting. The wands are also rotten, so really it''s only about the books and the cursed chest.¡± Wait, actually, maybe we can do something with that¡­ Sofia told Bookie to summon the engineer skeleton and had him break down the wands into their components. They broke down into three piles, one of rotten wood, one of gold powder, and one a small stack of cylindrical red gems. Those were hiding inside? [Kuvaldr Amber] : Fossilized resin of the Kuvaldr tree. Useful as a catalyst to reduce projectile spread. Once powdered, it is also considered a delicacy by some races. People will really eat anything huh. Well that''s it for this, I will read the books later. Let''s get started with the chest, I just need to empty the ring first. Sofia quickly threw a small piercing bolt at the cavern wall to test its hardness. She did not even make a dent into it. The mana inside the Ring was also still plentiful. Since she was going to cast a lot of bolts to empty the ring anyway, she decided to train them. In particular, what she aimed for was to find a way to charge the bolts faster. When she had seen the Angel use them, both times his charging process had been much faster than hers, and even with the scepter doubling her channeling speed, 2000 mana per second was starting to become too slow. The higher-level enemies wouldn''t stand still for her to charge the bolts forever. Holding her scepter to absorb the inevitable backlash that would happen whenever she failed a cast, she started tinkering with the piercing bolt¡¯s mana patterns as she cast it, hoping to find ways to charge it faster. A few hours and a lot of bolts thrown at the walls later, she made a breakthrough much faster than she had anticipated. What she had done was quite simple; she had cast the spell several times with and without the scepter and tried to observe the minute difference between the two to understand how the scepter did what it did. Like this, she understood how the scepter managed to hasten the channeling. It was a surprisingly dirty solution. So it just copies that starting part and then merges it with my spell later down the line. And that works? If it''s so easy, can I not just do that myself? If I double it on my side, then will the scepter copy the doubled version too? Seems like it would. So I would jump to channeling 4000 mana per second just like that. Sofia was pretty sure that her theory would work. It was easier said than done, though, and the bolt exploded in her face every time she tried to alter it like that. She tried a lot of different ways, but the spell was never stable. This would be another thing she needed to spend more time on later. But the good thing was the ring did not care that the spells were failures; it boosted them all the same, which gave her a hard time with her healing but eventually emptied it, so she could now try to open the necromancer¡¯s chest. Just to be safe, I should put on a rune or two.
With everything ready, Sofia created an elevated bone platform in the cubic cavern, just in case the use of the ring near the walls might interfere with the ¡®mana leyline¡¯ the old Exidian had talked about. There, she stood as far as she could from the chest, so that it would still be in the ring of Zar¡¯s range, and had one of the graveyard skeletons open it. Sofia activated the ring as soon as she saw mana erupting from the chest. It was not as much mana this time, and she barely felt it course through her arm and to the ring. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. The chest was now opened and with apparently no more tricks to it. That was easy enough; I didn¡¯t even need the runes. Let''s see what this wanted to protect like this. Red silk cloth enveloped the contents of the chest. Sofia took it out and unfolded it, revealing three small items: a silvery brooch, a thin mithrium ring, and an ornate goblet like the one Sofia had seen on Bookie¡¯s illustration of the necromancer, carved in very dark wood and covered in small shiny red gems; it was very well preserved. The first thing Sofia grabbed was the ring. No way, mithrium? This much is probably worth about the same price I bought the whole thing, isn''t it? It looks enchanted too! On the ring were small runes Sofia did not recognize; it looked nothing like the modern rune system popularized by the avians, but mana was already moving around them before she even put it on, so it was obviously of a magical nature. Go on, Sir Scribe, and give me the advanced [Identify] analysis straight away, just use the mana. Sofia read the description of the ring and was so surprised her mouth lay agape. [Ring of the fallen legion]: This mithrium ring was made for a Lich¡¯s lover in hope that they could walk among their legions of undead without worry. Nearby undead are more likely to be neutral toward the wearer of the ring. The wearer of the ring may spend mana to influence nearby undead. The cost and efficacy will depend on the intelligence and strength of the undead as well as the nature of the influence being exerted. This is just [Lead the Dead]! It¡¯s a [Lead the Dead] ring! So, just like [Angel¡¯s bolt], [Lead the Dead] was magic that already existed and that the system just copied! And well, [Erredian Rot] is like this too. Do I have other skills like that? This is an interesting discovery, not too terribly useful considering [Runeforged Overlord] already dissuades undead monsters from attacking me, but I guess it¡¯s worth wearing. Also it¡¯s a few grams of mithrium, so if I ever need some I know where to find it. Next Sofia grabbed the brooch, it was a wavy pattern made of silver, that Sofia did not think represented anything in particular. [Bard¡¯s brooch of facial concealment] : This silver brooch absorbs the light reflecting from your face, obscuring your likeness to observers with regular vision. Will overheat if worn for too long, must be placed in an unobstructed area near your head for optimal efficiency. I can see how that would be useful to a necromancer. I probably won''t be using that one much. Sofia stored the brooch and grabbed the goblet next. It was surprisingly heavy for its size and covered in the same esoteric runes like the mithril ring. In Sofia''s hand, it looked like a small cup, which made her giggle as she remembered it looking quite large in the necromancer''s hand on Bookie¡¯s page. Let''s hope this one is a bit more useful. [The Overflowing Chalice]: This Chalice of dubious origin is decorated with 48 blood rubies which are entirely useless to its functions. When fed mana or otherwise placed in a mana-rich environment, this chalice will produce endless amounts of dangerous freezing mist. This does not affect the Undead. Oh! I¡¯m not undead but I should be immune to this thanks to VPPV. I don¡¯t really think I could use this in a fight but I can see how that would be useful to protect a fortress full of undead. That might be a good thing to bring into dungeons too, like a less destructive rot that also spreads by itself. Sofia filled the chalice with mana and a thin layer of mist started flowing from it, dripping down to the ground and spreading in all directions until it met the rivers of magma and couldn¡¯t go any further. The mist feels fresh, I guess. The ground is covered in a thin layer of ice already, I imagine this could fill up an entire room quite fast if there were no magma rivers¡­ Sofia was decent at calculating the volume of fluids with all the mucking around she had done with [Summon Blood], so she already had a good idea of how fast the chalice produced mist, but she wanted to be sure, since gas wasn¡¯t quite the same. She created a bone cube large of about one meter and held the chalice above it, the cube was filled with dense mist in about ten seconds. About a hundred liters a second, as I thought. It¡¯s really quite fast. Also eats through a lot of mana, a few thousand points a second. Quite the gluttonous artifact. Searching for some meat in her storage ring, Sofia threw the first chunk of flesh she found into the cube and watched it become an ice block under her eyes. Colder than it looks. What happens when I store the Chalice? The source of the mist now gone, it quickly lost its cold nature and dispersed. Well, more random things in my storage ring, I guess. Worth more money than I paid by far, but not as exciting as I¡¯d hoped. The best part so far was the upgrade for Bookie. Unsatisfied, Sofia started throwing bolts at the walls again, thinking she had nothing to do until the end of the week anyway. Later, she stopped and returned to speak with her students who were done being evaluated by Tartaros. She explained very briefly why she had been the cause of their group being attacked by a space mage. All was fine until Shaily brought up something that Sofia had completely forgotten about. She only had two days left until her first public class.
Chapter 343 - In the spotlight Sofia spent the next two days working on her venerable physique one drop at a time. The competition''s first event ended, and the rankings would soon be published, but first, it was time for her first public class. She made her way to the backside of the amphitheater where the class would be held, and Beryl was there, waiting for her, notepad in hand. ¡°Good, you¡¯re here on time,¡± she welcomed her. ¡°Yes, though I''m a bit lost, honestly. I am still unsure about how I should go about this. Will there even be anyone here to listen to me?¡± ¡°Oh, I would not worry about that. Your name has been making rounds, especially since your demonstration in the arena.¡± ¡°Ah, right. That happened. I wonder what kind of people that will bring¡­ The Headmaster mentioned an entrance fee?¡± ¡°Yes, but since this is your first time, there is no entrance fee. This will bring more people. Depending on the popularity, we will decide on how much to charge next time. The number of seats is limited, so the more popular, the more expensive the places will be. You get to keep 80 percent of the fees, and the academy takes the rest. So it''s in both of our interests that we make this work well. Do you have any idea what the contents of today will be?¡± ¡°Absolutely not. This could go in a hundred different ways. I think I will improvise depending on how many people there are and what they want to see. How long should I stay in there?¡± Beryl wrote something on her notepad, then stored it. ¡°It''s fine; you are looking good. I have no doubt you will manage to make this interesting. If you can just show some interesting new magic, it would already be enough to make some of the students come back next time, so the bar is quite low. Length is up to you; technically, you have all day, so 14 hours maximum, but most public classes last for around 4 to 6. Just don''t make it too short. This time is fine since it is free, but when people pay, they have higher expectations. That being said, if it is interesting enough, like the headmaster¡¯s lectures, even half an hour can do.¡± ¡°I see. Thank you, Miss Deathmarch.¡± ¡°It''s my pleasure, Teacher Vakaria. Now, head inside. Gerard will outfit you with the sound artifact and tell you when to enter. Have a good class,¡± Beryl told Sofia before leaving. Making her way through a narrow corridor, Sofia arrived backstage. It turned out she recognized Gerard; he was the librarian who had helped her with her questions on divine runes. He gave a small pin to attach near her neck, designed to amplify her voice. Then he explained that there was another one for the public that he could carry around for her if she needed to. She politely declined his help, saying she had skeletons for that. ¡°I will be in the public, then. If you have any technical issues, just give me a sign,¡± the white-bearded old librarian told her. ¡°The public is mostly settled; you can go in whenever you are ready. The path to the scene is right this way,¡± he added, pointing at a path separated from the room by a heavy curtain before leaving through the back door. Pareth appeared near Sofia, and she also summoned Bookie¡¯s new form to accompany her. ¡°Alright, let''s go.¡± Sofia had purposely been restricting her mana senses to avoid spoiling herself with the surprise of how many people would be there waiting for her. She felt her nerves bundle up as she walked down the corridor to the stage, remembering her speech to the elven army in the trial. I''m really not good with crowds¡­ Somehow, she both hoped and feared that the room would be empty at the same time. But the thought was fleeting as she could already hear the chatter coming from the room ahead. Taking the final steps of the corridor, she stepped into the light and discovered the large amphitheater reserved for her class¡ªit was almost full. Holy crap, am I this popular? This is like 300 people! The chatter stopped as she entered. With a quick glance, she recognized a few faces¡ªall of her students were there, including the two human princesses. There were also Alith, Saria, Cinthia, and Astelia sitting in a corner with a bunch of snacks. But more surprisingly, Sofia recognized one of the few high-level people as one of Death Church¡¯s priests, and there was also a familiar inconspicuous Exidian lady sitting by herself in the back row. The Empress? Doing a double take, Sofia [Identify]ed the lady, seeing that she showed up as a level 82 mage, which felt all kinds of wrong, but she didn''t have free time to spend wondering about that. Sending some mana to turn on the voice amplifier artifact, she announced the start of her class. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. ¡°Hello, everyone. Thank you for coming to my first public class at Brighthall. I am Sofia Vakaria, teacher of summoner combat strategies, necromancer, and saintess of a mad god, among other things. These two are my main summoned Heroes, Pareth and Bookie; they do a lot of the fighting for me. I''m sure you have a lot of questions already, so I will be starting this class by answering a few questions.¡° Sofia gave the voice amplifier artifact for the public to Bookie and sent him to the first person who raised their hand to ask a question. The level 60 student was surprised to see the small skeleton running at him, but he rapidly understood what was going on when he was presented with the artifact. ¡°Hi, uh, how can you be a Saintess and a Necromancer at the same time? Do you have multiple classes?¡± the Exidian student asked, uncomfortably speaking near the artifact Bookie held up in front of his face. Of course, that¡¯s what they start with¡­ ¡°No,¡± Sofia answered. ¡°You can only have one class at a time. That being said, my class is the result of trying to have two classes at once. I was chosen as a saint at the same time I became a necromancer, and due to an error in the system, the two classes ended up fusing together, for better or worse, which is the reason my heroes are all undead. The class name is ¡®Saintomancer,¡¯ and it¡¯s just as weird as the name suggests.¡± Already, shocked murmurs spread through the audience. ¡®Wait, you can fuse classes?!¡¯ ¡®Do you think we can do that?¡¯ ¡®I want a fused class too!¡¯ ¡®Saintomancer? That¡¯s so ugly¡­¡¯ ¡°I hear some of you are getting ideas already; I personally would not recommend trying this. I was lucky that things worked out well in the end, but the start was rough, and my future skills are still very unpredictable. And honestly, I am not sure you could reproduce this without a similar divine intervention. You¡¯re free to try, though; just don¡¯t piss off your scribe. Next question?¡± Sofia glanced at ¡®the Empress¡¯ again, who was staring intently at her. I really shouldn¡¯t look in that direction. Sofia let Bookie choose whoever he wanted for the next question; the skeleton ran through the seat rows and stopped in front of another student. ¡°Are you in a relationship?¡± Bookie hastily pulled back the artifact and slapped the student, leaving a red bony hand mark on his face, provoking a few laughs after a moment of shock. Sofia raised an eyebrow. Oh, he¡¯s level 199; he¡¯ll be fine. Try not to kill anyone, Bookie, please. ¡°No. Serious questions only, please.¡± Bookie walked to the next person with a raised hand. They were a young-looking civilian girl with braids who had been writing down stuff every time anyone spoke up. ¡°Hi teacher, why did you become a teacher at Brighthall and what do you want to accomplish in the future?¡± Does she work for one of those newspaper things like they do in Red Winds? Sofia took a few seconds to think about her answer. Seeing some people getting bored already, Pareth activated his armor, giving them some light to focus on. ¡°I came to Brighthall for a vacation. I have been fighting non-stop for two years and needed some time off to work on my skills and strategies. Teaching some promising people on the side to help make their life better is just a nice bonus in my eyes. As for my objectives¡­ I have a God to kill, mainly,¡± Sofia seriously answered, nodding to herself, ¡°And I won¡¯t be accepting any questions on the subject,¡± she added as the voices in the public became much louder. ¡°T- Thank you for your answers¡­¡± Unprompted, Bookie directly walked up to another woman, a level 156 Exidian student this time, who sighed as she was relieved to finally be able to lower her hand; she had been waiting from the first question. ¡°Hello, Teacher Vakaria, I saw your duel against Marquess ProudWall. Can you tell us how you made all of his spells disappear? Did you teleport them away? I couldn¡¯t understand how it worked at all.¡± ¡°This I will not explain in detail, but it''s the effect of my second specialization,¡± Sofia answered, ¡°You should all strive to perform better than expected during the trials; the rewards are well worth it, specializations being the main draw.¡± This, again, caused chatter to spread among the public. Some were asking the others what specializations were, while some were shocked that she had two of them, and some again argued that she needed at least that if she wanted to claim something as ridiculous as the ambition to fight a God. You¡¯ve seen nothing yet. ¡°How about I show it off a few times for those who weren¡¯t there at the duel? Anyone who wants to, come down and throw a few attack spells at me.¡± Sofia expected at least a few people to come down, but it seemed Pareth and the sudden appearance of his huge sword of light dissuaded most of them. Sofia¡¯s friends weren¡¯t interested, very busy watching the spectacle while munching on snacks, with even Dopple slowly slurping up a shirt. While the students all looked at each other, each not wanting to be the idiot who goes on stage to see all their spells be effortlessly countered in front of their friends, someone stood up. The conversations among the students started again, ¡®Hey, who¡¯s that?¡¯ ¡®Dunno but she¡¯s hot¡¯ ¡®Brother have you not seen the teacher?¡¯ ¡®I¡¯m not so into beige skin¡¯, they stopped speaking when Bookie approached them with a hand raised. Meanwhile, oblivious to that conversation, Sofia was having a mental breakdown, cursing internally. NOT YOU! Her thoughts screamed as ¡®The Empress¡¯ slowly walked down the rows of seats and made her way to the stage.
Chapter 344 - Between a Bone and a Hard Place The woman stepped onto the stage. She was elegant and sophisticated, wearing a sleek, form-fitting deep blue and silver uniform that exuded a sense of authority. Her horns were quite short compared to most other Exidians, and her fine white hair was tied in a high ponytail behind her head. Stopping a few meters away from Sofia, she bowed with an arm across her chest. ¡°Elizabeth Fraus,¡± she introduced herself, ¡°I am honored to be of help, Teacher Vakaria.¡± What do you want?! Sofia''s mind screamed while she answered politely in return, ¡°Thank you for coming down to help, Elizabeth. Since you are a mage, please send a few attack spells my way.¡± ¡®Elizabeth¡¯ nodded and took a few steps back. She raised a hand and warned Sofia, ¡°I will attack now.¡± A weird fluid-like ball of light shot from the woman''s hand and flew toward Sofia in an unsteady trajectory. On high alert, Sofia activated [Heat Death] when it drew near, and for about 150 mana, the ball of light was dispelled. That''s it? Was I mistaken? Maybe she''s really not the empress? Sofia quickly dismissed the thought. Even if the woman was the empress, right now, in front of three hundred people, she was a level 82 mage, and her cover would be blown if she did anything out of the ordinary. A second ball of light came, larger and faster than the first. Sofia dispelled it again; it had cost 1500 mana this time. Realistically, this was about all someone at level 82 should be capable of, but the woman kept going uninterrupted, and the next weird ball came, same as before, but this time with nine more following in quick succession. That is way too much mana for your level! Sofia thought, but it seemed nobody in the public noticed anything. That was quite weird, and as the woman prepared the next attack, Sofia felt Pareth¡¯s consciousness tug at hers and switched to his vision. From his point of view, the woman was still launching tiny attacks like the first one. Some kind of illusion? Seeing the magic at work from two different angles, Sofia recognized this kind of visual illusion magic and its kind of mana patterns. It was almost impossible to detect when you were oblivious to its presence, but once you knew and were looking for it, it was plain as day. She had already seen this somewhere else, during the opening ceremony in the Grand Hall when the scenery had temporarily changed to that of an island in the sky. Of course she was there! So the illusion back then was her work! No wonder she could disguise herself like this and no one could recognize her. Sofia was trying her best to control her facial expression, not to show any surprise, and continued to dispel all the magic the woman threw at her with a focused expression. The spells ramped up, costing 20, then 30, then 40 000 mana to dispel, and Sofia was starting to panic slightly as her mana disappeared in chunks. She only had about a hundred and fifty thousand left when the attacks stopped, and the empress started counting something on her hands. From Pareth¡¯s view, the woman was still throwing very weak balls of light in different trajectories or quick succession to demonstrate Sofia¡¯s abilities to the public. Then a tiny scepter appeared in the woman¡¯s hands. Sofia seriously thought about fleeing, but the attack was instantaneous, so fast that not even Pareth had time to teleport. She activated [Heat Death] purely on instinct, and the concentrated beam of light aiming her way disappeared as fast as it had come. Mana: 1 / 417 100 Holy fucking shit, she counted my mana to leave me at zero?! Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. Sofia threw a wary glance at the woman, who smiled back at her. The empress bowed again, ¡°My apologies, Teacher. It seems I have run out of mana, so I have no choice but to stop. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to help; it was very instructive.¡± ¡°You''re welcome. Thank you. You may return to your seat,¡± Sofia answered elegantly, trying to suppress the fear in her voice. Her real thoughts were more along the lines of ¡®Please get lost already¡¯. As she watched the woman climb the stairs back to her seat, she almost had a heart attack. At the very top of the stairs, the doors to the amphitheater had opened ¡®by themselves¡¯. A lot of the higher-leveled students turned around to see what had opened the doors, and the empress herself looked up curiously. But nobody saw anything wrong; the empress kept walking, and the students turned back to look at Sofia, at most whispering a hushed ¡®weird¡¯ to themselves. To Sofia, however, the situation was more than just a bit weird as she observed a globulous iridescent creature looking like a cluster of grapes from hell trying to squeeze itself through the door frame. Her mind whirring, Sofia only saw three ways to proceed forward. Either she accepted looking like a lunatic and evacuated the room, trying to convince everyone that an invisible monster was lurking here and putting everyone in danger. Or she invented some excuse to end the class early. And lastly, she could also keep going and act like everything was alright. The creature finally managed to get through the door, and with its five spindly legs, it crawled into the amphitheater, its body unfolding until it was about four meters tall. It looked like a tall upright stick on five legs with a bundle of grapes dangling from the top. ¡°T- This is the kind of power you can expect from getting a specialization. If you want to have good future growth, both getting one and picking the right one are very important. So no matter what, remember to always give it your all during the trials. N- Now I will take a few more questions, and then I will showcase some neat things you can do with necromancy or summoning classes in general, as long as you use some creativity,¡± Sofia announced to the public, but her eyes were fixated on the creature, which was now slowly advancing through a row of seats. It walked right through the students, and they did not notice anything. Suddenly it stopped in front of an empty seat, and its stick-like body bent slightly to rest on the seat¡¯s edge. IT FUCKING SAT DOWN!!! Sofia was starting to wonder if she was going crazy or if the Empress was still playing visual tricks on her. Clearly, it was none of that. Not only did she still see the creature through Pareth¡¯s eyes, but she also finally noticed the insistent and worried stares she was receiving from Alith in the corner. This further hammered down the fact that, yes, there was a creature from the Deep currently sitting in the academy''s amphitheater, and it was supposedly listening to her lecture. At least it''s not a parasite¡­ As promised, Sofia answered a few more questions. By the time she was done, she couldn''t remember anything she had just said as she was too focused on observing the iridescent being. However, in time, she was able to put it out of her mind and focus on her lecture instead. She demonstrated the many ways one could use bones. The class lasted for three hours in total and ended spectacularly with a duel between Pareth and a group of two level 200 and one level 150 students, which Pareth won in perfect Sofia style: without losing any health. There was no trace of the iridescent creature anymore. It had left the same way it came, about half an hour before the end of class after sitting perfectly still for exactly two hours. Similarly, ¡®Elizabeth Fraus¡¯ had disappeared at some point in the middle without Sofia even noticing. With her nerves right about to give out, she announced the end of class with a sigh of relief, receiving mild applause. She told the public to come back next time for her lecture on the theme of making the best of the system¡¯s tools and errors. The librarian was already waiting backstage to retrieve the voice amplifier. ¡°You did well; it was very entertaining and informative,¡± he complimented her. ¡°Thank you¡­ I was very nervous, but I do think I pulled through.¡± ¡°Yes, yes, I believe the seats will be tightly packed next time. Students always like teachers who incorporate a lot of practical demonstrations like you did. Your stress was visible, but it is expected for a first-timer. You will learn to mostly manage it after a few more months; everyone does. But it¡¯s hard to really get rid of it.¡± Sofia gave the man a polite laugh in return and continued the small talk. The librarian gave her more tips on how to manage her anxiety, blissfully unaware that stage fright was only the tip of the iceberg in terms of what had caused Sofia¡¯s stress that day. He eventually excused himself to give her some space. After taking a long break by herself in the staff toilets, Sofia trudged back to her room. Alith was waiting in front of her door. ¡°Hey! Good work Sof. You look like you haven¡¯t slept for a month,¡± Alith greeted her. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s been longer than that.¡±
Chapter 345 - The witch who played with fire. Alith followed Sofia inside, immediately her attention turned to the bone statues, ¡°Hey, you''re getting better at those,¡± she complimented. ¡°Who''s this one supposed to be, an unfinished product?¡± she asked while picking up one of them. ¡°Oh, that''s meant to be Ihuarah. See the hole? It''s just difficult to capture his appearance, especially from memory.¡± ¡°I mean, he is monochromatic, so at least you got that right¡­ The issue is the pose, I think. Ihuarah¡¯s not the kind to stay in a neutral position like this. It''s lacking panache if you know what I mean.¡± ¡°Well, I, uh¡­ Yeah, you''re not wrong. Speaking of which, we still have no news from him. I can see he¡¯s still alive, but that''s it.¡± ¡°You can always switch places with him, no? That''s one way to get news,¡± Alith suggested. ¡°What if the timing is inconvenient for him, though?¡± ¡°I''m sure he wouldn''t mind. But I guess there is no real reason to do it right now. Have you been monitoring his kill feed?¡± ¡°No, I have that turned off most of the time, yours too. I just find it distracting.¡± Alith nodded, ¡°Yeah, I am the same, though maybe we should stop doing that since it''s our only means of long-distance communication.¡± ¡°True¡­ Well, let''s have a look at what Ihuarah¡¯s been fighting¡­¡± Sofia scrolled through a bunch of notifications. Ihuarah seemed to have been fighting mostly jungle animals for a while, and then it had become a long stretch of killing ¡®Ochiarans,¡¯ which both Sofia and Alith had never heard of, with the latest kills in date being against stronger monsters. ¡®You have defeated [Damned Ochiaran - lv. 225]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Damned Ochiaran - lv. 245]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Damned Ochiaran - lv. 208]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Turgescent Soul Ochiaran - lv. 259]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Keeper of Limbo - lv. 278]¡¯ Sofia pointed at the last two kills in the list, ¡°These are from four days ago, maybe the boss of whatever dungeon he was exploring? He hasn''t been fighting anything since then, it seems.¡± ¡°So much fighting, and we can¡¯t even repay our level debt¡­¡± Alith complained. ¡°Debt is whatever honestly. We always stay stuck for a while before the filter anyway, so it''s not like it really is slowing us down.¡± ¡°Well, yeah, true,¡± Alith agreed as she sat down on one of Sofia¡¯s bone chairs, ¡°and we¡¯re not getting any more debt for the next filter. By the way, I learned from one of the teachers that we cannot get a specialization point from the third trial.¡± ¡°Really? That''s kind of a letdown,¡± Sofia complained as she sat on the opposite chair. ¡°Yeah, really. As usual, it''s hard to get too much information on the trial itself without the censor interfering, but I managed to get some. Wanna hear it, Sof?¡± ¡°Of course I want to. Why do you even ask? I don''t know about you, but when this school year ends, I''m going straight for the trial.¡± This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°You say that as if I was not going to go with you¡­ Anyway, here is the information I managed to piece together; first of all, this trial happens entirely ¡®in the real world,¡¯ so no fake Magic world, and that''s a big deal.¡± ¡°So the resources we bring with us actually matter, is what you¡¯re getting at?¡± Sofia asked. Alith bent forward, an excited gleam in her eyes, ¡°Yes, but not only that, it also means we get to keep whatever we find on the way!¡± ¡°Oh, that''s a very good point. Then maybe we should invest in better spatial storage items? I have plenty of space in my ring, but not that much considering all the crap that''s in there, and your own ring is rather small, no?¡± ¡°It''s good enough for now, but it''s not huge. I can buy a better one, but I was thinking we should just go and ask the guy who makes them directly, don''t you think?¡± ¡°So we pay a quick visit to old man TLDR before the trial, noted. It''s a good idea anyway since I want to see if he can upgrade Pareth more. Anything else?¡± Alith nodded again, ¡°Yeah, and this is where it gets really interesting, both for you and for me, and I''m going to need your help with that. Apparently, you can get some hidden benefits by wagering a divine essence; depending on the God, you get different results.¡± ¡°Oh! I¡¯ve got plenty of choices, then, even some¡­ Unusual ones.¡± If the system even accepts them. ¡°Yeah, unusual like the thing that came to listen to your public class right?¡± ¡°Exactly right, but how do you want me to help with this? I don''t think I could give you one of the essences I have even if I wanted to. Do you want to get one from Domination somehow? We might manage to take down the mutated apostles with enough planning¡­¡± Alith frowned, ¡°Didn''t you have a quest to return those or something, Sof? I¡¯m not trying to sabotage you here.¡± ¡°It was more a request than a formal quest but yeah. If not that then how?¡± ¡°Well, you see, I¡¯ve heard from Saria that a certain uncle had resurfaced recently. I was thinking¡­¡± Sofia looked at Alith like she was crazy. ¡°I really don¡¯t think this is a good idea¡­¡± she started, and before she could close her mouth, more words came out by themselves. ¡°I, on the other hand, believe this to be a most entertaining proposal!¡± she continued. Alith suddenly clutched her head, screaming in pain. She fell off her chair, and Sofia barely managed to catch her before she hit the ground, yelling mentally at Pareth to heal her. Fuck off Orator! If you do anything to Alith, you can stuff your quest where the sun never shines for all I care! ¡°Is that all the trust I inspire in you, still? A dagger to my heart, truly,¡± the Orator said through Sofia¡¯s mouth amidst Alith¡¯s screams. Sofia lost control of her right arm and could only watch herself flick at Alith¡¯s forehead. The short girl¡¯s screams died down as her body limped in Sofia¡¯s arms. ¡®The hero : ¡®Alith¡¯ has succumbed.¡¯ ¡°Alith!¡± ¡°Will you calm down already? Such a needless commotion,¡± Orator added through Dopple¡¯s voice before being chastised by that same voice, ¡°You dog-ass bastard killed my wearer! I will end yo-¡± The world seemed to slow down to a standstill in Sofia¡¯s room. Her emotions in turmoil she could hear a sigh in her own voice. ¡°Always so dramatic. This old one gave the girl exactly what she wanted, did he not? She was the sole cause of these happenings. Now if only you would stop yammering and started working on bringing her back before her soul fades for good. I shall not be held responsible for your failings, Inquisitor¡¯s protegee or not.¡±
Sofia¡¯s memory of the last twenty five or so hours were blurry at best. After dragging the lifeless body of Alith near the window, she had been channeling [Maiden Banshee] without a second of rest. People came to knock on her door after a while, surely because of the class she missed, but she did not even notice them. Pareth spent the entire time holding her, while Bookie had summoned itself on his own and Participated in the war effort by summoning skeletons and killing them off to transfer his mana to Sofia through [Heat Death]. Eventually, long after Alith¡¯s corpse had gone cold, the skill worth 100 000 000 of cumulated mana points had resolved without fanfare. In Sofia¡¯s numb arms, Alith slowly opened her eyes, ¡°Sof¡­? Sorry, I think I passed out¡­¡± she mumbled, ¡°It¡¯s¡­ Kind of cold in here, isn¡¯t it¡­? Hey, why are you crying?¡± Sofia looked down at Alith, tears streaming down her face. She let out a choked laugh, a mix of relief and exhaustion. "You passed out? I thought I lost you!" Sofia confessed, her voice shaky. She wiped away her tears, managing a small smile, "You fucking idiot witch.¡±
Chapter 346 - LOOMING ¡°Well, sorry for worrying you like this, Sof. I honestly expected something more like a quest just like the one he gave you, and not, you know, a sudden death. I think the last thing I remember is you telling me that this wasn''t a good idea. *In hindsight, you were right...¡± Sofia let herself fall on her bed, sighing. ¡°Listen, I''m not going to chastise you more. I''m not really in a position to do that, considering¡­ yeah. But, at least warn me in advance before you do something crazy next time¡­¡± ¡°Yeah, alright. I''m not planning on dying again so soon though, but well, if I had to choose, this was still a better way to go than my previous death. And it wasn''t for naught either; we just learned quite a few things, and I actually got what I wanted. So, huh, besides the death and emotional distress, it wasn''t all that bad¡­¡± Alith tried to justify herself with an awkward smile. ¡°True, we''ve learned from a very trusty source that if I wait too long to bring you back, you''re dead forever! It is good to know, but it''s not exactly making me feel better about the situation, Sofia complained from her bed. ¡°Well, we also learned that I''m still myself after the resurrection, which is really good news. Imagine if I had lost all my memories from the past three years¡­ It would be like I''m really dead. Not too bad for me, but that would really suck for you, so¡­ I''m very glad that''s not how it works¡­¡± Alith walked around the room nervously, then finally laid down next to Sofia. ¡°I''m really sorry, thank you for bringing me back, Sof, thank you for never discarding my useless skill.¡± ¡°As if I could ever get rid of it¡­¡± After a moment of calm silence, Alith spoke again in her usual lighter tone this time. ¡°You know, you just witnessed a historical event, the first-ever recorded death of an Alith, quite the accomplishment, right?¡± she told Sofia with a giggle. *What, really? I thought this was the death of the shortest Alith,¡± Sofia answered with a cheeky smile. ¡°Well, you¡¯re not wrong.¡± They laughed together and shared another instant of comfortable silence, until Alith had something to say again, ¡°Hey Sof, did you know that the system has a divinity tab?¡± What?! ¡°Are you serious?¡± Sofia answered, incredulous. The only way she could see the essences she had was through VPPV; she had tried several times to find another way to access them but hadn¡¯t found one. ¡°Yep. I didn''t know either. I was just frustrated at not being able to see the thing I died for, so, I tried to think of a bunch of related keywords. Turns out you just need to think ¡¯access divinity¡¯.¡± Access divinity? A new system window appeared in front of Sofia''s eyes. For fuck''s sake. ¡°What''s even the point of having all of these system functions if no one ever tells us about it?!¡± Sofia complained. ¡°Couldn''t the admins have left us an instruction guide or something? I swear if I ever meet one of them the first thing I¡¯ll do is punch them right in the face!¡± Alith sat up and shrugged. ¡°I don''t know, seems pretty intuitive to me.¡± Sofia stared at Alith. Are you kidding me? ¡°Alright, Alright, intuitive, huh? Did you know that the system can predict the weather? I learned about that in a book in the teacher''s section in the academy¡¯s library. It¡¯s very, very simple; all you have to do is say out loud in your head, ¡®report satellite forecast¡¯.¡± ¡°Nevermind¡­ What¡¯s a satellite?¡± ¡°Hell if I know." ¡°Looks like it''s gonna rain tomorrow,¡± Alith commented, reading the system forecast. ¡°Rain gets stopped by the Academy''s shield anyway,¡± Sofia answered absentmindedly as she was focused on the divinity window. This one isn¡¯t in Draconic? There¡¯s really been fewer and fewer Draconic stuff to translate lately. Would a certain Scribe happen to be responsible? Don¡¯t overwork yourself, alright? If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. [Divinity status - Sofia Aphenoreth] ¨C Saintess of Scripture ¨C (VIP) (Safeguards : On) (Link Status : ERR_SSS018 - Conflicting Regional Settings) Planar connection: Superphysical - Yes Mana FOG - Yes ? Subspiritual - Yes Margin - No Deep - Unclear Collected Essence - EV : Aphenoreth - #DIV/0 Dread - 3.68 Looming - 1e-9 Ormoncleth - #DIV/0 Scripture - 2.12 Sorrow - 4.73 Sun (5) - 25 Victory - 4.28 I have many questions¡­ Conflicting regional settings must be thanks to Sen transferring me to the Draconic part of the system. ¡°Any idea what EV is?¡± Sofia asked Alith. ¡°No¡­ Are you also locked on ¡®Mana FOG¡¯?¡± Alith asked back. ¡°I am, yes. It¡¯s pretty obvious that it¡¯s the mana plane, but who knows what FOG means. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s about literal fog.¡± ¡°Yeah, sounds unlikely, or at least, I don¡¯t think it would be capitalized if that was it. By the way, you might be able to guess, but I have some exclusive information on here. Still don¡¯t know the Orat-¡± ¡°Hoy!¡± Sofia cut Alith, placing both hands on her friend¡¯s mouth. ¡°Are you trying to die again?!¡± Alith pushed back Sofia¡¯s hands. ¡°Just saying it should be fine, no? He won¡¯t just show up for no reason just because I said the name, will he? I¡¯m not asking for anything this time. And I¡¯ve always been able to say Aphenoreth and Ormoncleth without any issues until now.¡± ¡°Please don¡¯t say it. Even if just to spare my nerves,¡± Sofia pleaded. ¡°Alright, alright. Fine. Just read the thing, then, and show me yours, while you¡¯re at it. I¡¯m curious.¡± [Divinity status - Alith] ¨C Blessing of Phoenix lineage (Sun) ¨C (Hero) (Safeguards : On) (Link Status : Operational) Planar connection: Superphysical - Yes Mana FOG - Yes ? Subspiritual - No Margin - No Deep - Unclear Collected Essence - EV : Yvraveteth - #DIV/0 Yvraveteth The Orator. Aphenoreth The Inquisitor. Ormoncleth The Regulator. And Edrazeketh The Annihilator. There we go, I have a complete collection. Can¡¯t rightfully call myself the saintess of the Deep if I don''t know at least that much, right? Alith tapped on Sofia''s shoulder. ¡°Looming?¡± ¡°I am just as confused as you are, never heard of that God, I don''t see where I could have gotten that, it doesn''t show up in VPPV nor does it count for [Quintessential], and I have no clue what the one E something stands for.¡± ¡°Our best bet is probably to ask Cinthia¡¯s spectators. And if not, then Erredis would probably know,¡± Alith suggested. ¡°I already missed today''s class because of you, I can''t really travel all the way to the sect, so Cinthia it is, but first, I think we owe Miss Beryl an explanation about my sudden absence.¡± ¡°Are you in big trouble because of me or¡­?¡± ¡°It should be fine. I just need to do the extra hours later; we teachers are allowed some flexibility for emergencies.¡±
Still in her pajamas in the middle of the day, Cinthia scratched the base of her horns, reading the messages popping up in her chat one by one. She looked up at Sofia and Alith, ¡°So¡­ T- The EV thing should be ¡®Essence Value¡¯, or how ¡®pure¡¯ the essence is; An EV of one is essence from an entity that barely qualifies as a cognizant divinity, while an EV of five is the best of the best you can get,¡± she explain while looking back at the messages every other second. ¡°So Scripture really is just that weak,¡± Alith contemplated, sitting on her bed, facing Cinthia¡¯s. ¡°And Sorrow is quite strong. Still, Scripture is more than double the minimum so it¡¯s not that weak either, even if it¡¯s the weakest of what I have,¡± Sofia analyzed. ¡°Not really,¡± Cinthia corrected, ¡°your Looming essence is the weakest. I didn¡¯t understand everything but in short, Taxes says that this is a value indicating something so weak it should even be qualified as divine essence. Like a speck of a concept, worth less than the tokens they donate for my skills.¡± ¡°Taxes?¡± Sofia asked, ¡°That¡¯s a new one.¡± Cinthia shook her head, ¡°No no, Taxes is a regular also, but they usually only show up whenever money or mathematics are involved¡­¡± ¡°At least that¡¯s consistent with their concept¡­ What about Looming, then? That also sounds like a Recessed,¡± Sofia asked while changing position on her non-existent chair. Cinthia took a second to look at the new messages. ¡°As far as they know, there has never been a deity of Looming,¡± she finally declared. ¡°That would explain why the EV is so low, but why is it in my list?¡± Sofia and Alith waited for a bit, hoping for an answer from Cinthia¡¯s chat, but after a good minute, the red-skinned orc girl sheepishly looked up from her message window. ¡°T- The answers I¡¯m getting are not really helping¡­ But, for context, this is Death¡¯s take on the matter that they wanted me to share with you¡­¡± ¡®[|||||]: (?? _?)?¡¯ ¡°I- I see¡­ Well, I¡¯ll keep an eye on it, I guess¡­ I kind of get a sense of foreboding the more I re-read that line in my status and its weird number¡­¡± Sofia told the other two. Alith nodded in approval, ¡°If nothing else, at least the Looming¡¯s true to its name.¡± Well, it¡¯s the least of my concerns at this point, with everything else going on. I still haven¡¯t given the storage ring to Shaily after all this time¡­ I¡¯ll check up on her progress after tomorrow¡¯s class. Hopefully Erian will be back.
Chapter 347 - Shortcuts In the courtyard of the classroom, a spark of electricity crackled in the palm of Shaily¡¯s hand. ¡°There!¡± she rejoiced. ¡°Nice. Good progress! The mana structure is still unstable, but the basics are there. I think you are ready to move on to the more¡­ ¡®intense¡¯ training method I have devised if you want. I have to warn you, though, it is quite painful.¡± Shaily wiped the sweat off of her forehead with the back of her hand. She looked at Sofia, her unsteady gaze betraying her uncertainty. ¡°How much pain are we talking about?¡± she asked, her voice wavering a little. ¡°It is quite bad, since it involves a lot of stabbing, but probably not worse than some of the injuries you should have gotten with all the duels you''ve been doing. I don''t even understand how you managed to get so many tokens already,¡± Sofia told her, thinking back at the ranking scoreboards. Shaily was currently first with a good margin of thirty tokens over the second place. Saria was third, En fourth, Opal seventh, Erian twelfth, and Lola twenty-sixth among all the students. Of Sofia¡¯s class of seven, which now included Topaz and Opal despite their obvious lack of summoning skills, only Topaz and Guerand did not make it to the top fifty. Sofia was quite happy with their performance and was currently in a good mood due to Erian¡¯s return to her class, who had profusely apologized for his uncle¡¯s behavior, despite Sofia¡¯s insistence that she did not care. ¡°M-Most students are in my level bracket, so it''s easier to get a lot of tokens¡­¡± Shaily tried to justify herself. Seeing Sofia¡¯s unconvinced expression, she added, ¡°I might be a bit addicted to dueling¡­ It''s just so efficient at leveling skills; I have a hard time stopping as long as I don''t run out of mana¡­¡± ¡°Hmm. Training is good, but pace yourself a little, alright? You are starting to get some dark circles under your eyes; that is not a good look.¡± ¡°I-I¡¯ll try to get more sleep¡­¡± ¡°Please do. Now, Shaily, are you up for the stabbing or not?¡± Shaily reeled back. ¡°Is that really necessary?¡± she asked. Sofia shrugged. ¡°It is not. But it will make learning the skill much easier, like ¡®learn in a few days instead of a few months¡¯ easier.¡± ¡°That much?!¡± ¡°Yeah. How do you think I learned the summon sprite skill so fast? In terms of creativity, I am not bad, but I am far from a genius; for example, it took me like a full week to learn [Identify] from a scroll, but my friend Alith learned it in something like one day, just based on my description of the mana circuits and a few drawings in the sand.¡± Shaily hesitated for a few seconds. She clenched her fists. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll do it, how does it work exactly?¡± ¡°Good,¡± Sofia approved, then she pointed at the bone sculpture of Angel¡¯s Bolt¡¯s circuits and explained, ¡°It''s very simple; I put that thing into your arm, where the mana is supposed to flow, and you use it as a guide to practice the spell.¡± ¡°In- Inside¡­ Inside?¡± ¡°Yes, inside. As I said, kind of painful, though Angel¡¯s bolt is mostly inside the arm, so it''s not too bad; the bones won''t be piercing any major organs. And of course, I will summon a healer skeleton, so you don''t bleed out. Are you up for it? We can start by a short session; we stop whenever you want, just tell me.¡± Shaily listened to Sofia¡¯s explanation, then she frowned. She summoned a light sprite, looking down at her chest, and her frown deepened. She gulped. ¡°Major organs¡­ You- You said you did this for [Call Elemental sprite]?!¡±
Sofia removed the last bone thread from Shaily¡¯s arm. ¡°See? It wasn''t that bad, and you made good progress! A few more sessions like this, and you will be able to throw bolts just fine!¡± Bookie, finish healing her up, please. Shaliy was shaky, ¡°I¡­ Teacher, I¡¯m¡­ Not so sure I want to ever do this again¡­¡± ¡°Well, it''s up to you. If this is too much, you can just do it the regular way; you''ll be able to do it before the end of the school year anyway, I''m pretty sure. Or, right, is your reward for putting up with my nonsense, I promised it to you last time, so it''s only right that you get it now,¡± Sofia told Shaily as she presented her with a thin golden ring. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. ¡°Is this¡­ Were you really serious?!¡± Shaily asked, totally dismissing the lingering pain in her right arm. ¡°Well yeah. It¡¯s also an apology for getting you involved in my personal business during the school event¡­ I prepared some small things for the other girls too.¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t your fault! Even if it¡¯s really your god attacking you, you couldn¡¯t have known!¡± Sofia shook her head, ¡°No, really, I should have known, I put you all in danger so the least I can do is make up for it. I got my avian friend to enchant this, it has a lock and a soul-binding enchantment for double security. You can hide all of your valuable stuff in there and not have to worry about a thing, not even a Dragon could open it if they wanted.¡± Though they could easily destroy it¡­ Shaliy had been reaching out for the ring, as if entranced, but she retracted her hand. ¡°How much is it worth?¡± she asked, stunned and taking a small step back, as if fearing to hear the answer. ¡°That¡¯s not really important.¡± Sofia grabbed Shaily¡¯s hand and slipped the ring into it. ¡°Go on, wear it,¡± she encouraged Shaily. Hands shaking, Shaily held the ring, and slowly slid it on her finger. ¡°You just need to send some mana toward it and it will be yours, using it should be pretty instinctive. Stop looking and try to open it already,¡± Sofia told her. Shaily nodded, and Sofia observed the young girl precisely send a thin stream of mana into the ring. Her expression suddenly changed. Watching her with a smile, Sofia gestured to Bookie and Pareth, Boys, time to go. As she was about to leave the classroom, she turned back, ¡°Oh, right, I might have left a little something inside. It¡¯s all yours so do whatever you want with it,¡± Sofia said with a wink to a speechless Shaily. ¡°Just think of it as orphans having each other¡¯s back,¡± she added and left the room. Walking down the corridor, Sofia heard the distant, shaky voice of her student. ¡°Thank you, Sofia!¡± Sofia kept walking away, a spring in her steps, she hummed a lighthearted melody. What a good day.
Days passed quickly in the academy, when she was not tutoring her students, Sofia spent most of her time either attending Astelia¡¯s classes to learn the classless teleportation skill, or training VPPV. Teleportation without the help of the system was surprisingly hard, but after a month, Sofia had gotten enough of a grasp of it to randomly teleport nearby. Which was useless, but a decent start. Her speed at converting her blood to light had kept going up until she found a good pace and hit a plateau, still, it was fast enough that by the end of her second month, she had gone from just above a thousand drops changed to light to being more than halfway done. [Venerable physique of the primeval void] ? - Second step of the Light forging realm : Your blood becomes light (76 524 / 126 441 drops converted) At this pace she would finish the second step of Light forging before the end of her third month at Brighthall. During the second month, she was only attacked by students for her tokens once, a group of five had prepared an ambush, which had miserably failed and resulted in a new collection of hands on Sofia¡¯s entrance wall. None of the teachers had lost their tokens so far. She held her second public class. A lot of new people came, bolstering Sofia¡¯s salary quite a bit as well as her confidence as a public speaker. Neither the Empress nor the Deep creature had shown up this time, which Sofia had found strangely underwhelming. In fact, the Empress hadn¡¯t really shown any sign of life ever since the first public class, and without too much surprise, when Sofia had asked around, nobody except those who had been there for her first class had ever heard of the woman named ¡®Elizabeth Fraus¡¯. At the end of the second month came time for the second event of the token competition. Thanks to Sofia¡¯s reporting of the first event¡¯s attack to the Headmaster, the second event had been changed to be something a bit more secure. First of all, the teachers would work in pairs, and they were also all given communication catalysts which they could break to signal an emergency and allow the higher-level academy officials to teleport directly to them. For this second event, Sofia was taking care of the exact same group of students as the first time, along with Astelia who also had her own group of five students in her care. Together, they had to help their students clear the first half of a Dungeon before taking over and showing them how they handled the second half with stronger monsters. Saint Tartaros had brought the entire group with him to the location of the Dungeon in a single teleportation spell, and this time, they had a level 360 Priest of Death in long white robes following them as an escort. Tartaros closed his eyes and Sofia could feel waves of mana coming from the saint gently washing over her and spreading in every direction. Opening his eyes, he addressed Sofia and Astelia, ¡°There was no one foolish enough to follow us. I will make sure no one can find this place. As long as you do not leave the dungeon, it should be safe. Do break the catalyst if anything goes wrong. Too many disturbances would be bad for¡­ the competition. May Strength¡¯s blessing be upon you all.¡± His speech over, Tartaros disappeared, and the priest of Death took their distance from the group, slowly turning invisible. Sofia turned to Astelia, ¡°Let¡¯s do this!¡± ¡°Let¡¯s get our students plenty of tokens!¡± the small Vampire cheered back. [You have entered the dungeon : Forgotten Halls of Mezanthil - Lv. 50-250]
Chapter 348 - Gamblers associates It''s quite dark in here, Pareth, can you glow a bit stronger for the students? Thanks. The group of twelve observed the environment they had been teleported into. They were in a narrow corridor, with no opening to the outside in sight. Frescoes and sculpted pillars along the walls were almost completely covered by lush green vegetation. The air was a bit stale but still breathable. "How is this place so overgrown when there isn''t the slightest bit of sunlight?" One end of the corridor was collapsed, leaving a single way forward. Sofia extended her mana senses through the walls, confirming her suspicion that they were deep underground. ¡°Any ideas as to where this might be?¡± she asked Astelia, who was also observing the walls. ¡°Not really, no. Mezanthil sounds a bit like an elvish name, so Elven ruins, maybe? The artwork on the walls is too damaged to be any help.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s just go forward then. The start is meant to be a trial for the students, so it can''t be too dangerous. Who¡¯s the highest ranking of your students?¡± Astelia¡¯s feet left the ground as she floated up to get a better view of the group of students, then she pointed at a hooded teenager Exidian holding curved daggers, ¡°That¡¯s Evan, he¡¯s ranked twenty-second I think, if it hasn¡¯t changed from when I last looked.¡± Sofia nodded in approval, then she called him and Shaily over. ¡°You two are now your group¡¯s leaders, since you have the most tokens,¡± she explained, then she brought out a coin, ¡°Heads or tails? The winner¡¯s group can decide who takes the first pack of monsters we find, then you¡¯ll alternate.¡± Evan decided to bet on Heads and lost the coin toss, so it was Sofia¡¯s group who got to take the lead, starting the exploration by leaving the long corridor. The entire place was overgrown, it seemed most furniture in the large halls had disappeared, or was buried under thick roots and bushy leaves. Keeping an eye on the progress of the students as they carefully explored with Pareth at their side, Sofia had a casual chat with Astelia. ¡°And that was my second specialization. It''s been very useful so far. What did you choose for yours, you got an active point if I recall correctly? Did you even use it yet?¡± Sofia asked Astelia. The vampire had been holding back on specializing for a while for some reason, she still had not picked when they had met back up in Zephir¡¯s sect. ¡°I did, yes. It took me a while to use it because I needed to get used to the skill a bit more before the system would let me specialize in it,¡± she explained. ¡°Oh, that makes sense, does that mean you specialized in a new skill you got after level 200?¡± ¡°Not really, maybe we should do another status trade after we¡¯re out if you want, but in short, I fused a skill then specialized into it.¡± ¡°Right, you also got a fusion ticket¡­ Can I try to guess what you combined?¡± Astelia nodded enthusiastically, ¡°Of course, I¡¯m curious about what you would have done in my place.¡± ¡°Give me a second to remember the skills you had¡­ Maybe [Lunar Realm] with [Weight of the Moon]?¡± Sofia tried, but Astelia shook her head. ¡°That was one of the choices I considered, but I decided against it because [Lunar Realm] has too many limitations.¡± ¡°Then¡­ [Celestial Pull] and [Repulsion] would be the next obvious choice?¡± ¡°You got it!¡± Astelia confirmed with a thumbs up, ¡°The resulting skill was called [Gravity Strings], it was pretty much just the two skills stuck together with more directional control. I had to practice with it a whole lot until the system would let me specialize in it.¡± ¡°Not a bad choice¡­ I think I would have probably fused passives if I were you, [Greater physical absorption] with [Greater regeneration] sounds like an incredible combination, then I would have specialized into [Repulsion] most likely, since it¡¯s the skill you used the most in battle both offensively and defensively,¡± Sofia theorized, ¡°I remember how you blasted my skeletons around, that was really strong already.¡± This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. ¡°That could have worked,¡± Astelia approved, ¡°But I felt that what I did was the best choice, fusing passives is an idea, I¡¯ll get more fusion tickets later so it isn¡¯t a huge deal,¡± she confidently bragged with a smug smile. ¡°If you say so. How did that specialization turn out, then? Rolled a lot? You were already at 249 earlier so I guess you have a big debt now?¡± Astelia laughed awkwardly. ¡°N- No¡­ What¡¯s a few levels after all. I definitely don¡¯t have two hundred levels of debt, ahahah¡­¡± ¡°Two hundred?!¡± The students ahead turned back to look at their teachers. ¡°Sorry, it¡¯s nothing,¡± Sofia told them, ¡°Keep going,¡± then she turned back to Astelia, ¡°Were your options that bad?¡± Astelia¡¯s naturally tanned skin turned a bit red, ¡°N- no, it¡¯s just¡­ I got two really good options almost from the start and I didn¡¯t know which to pick, it was too hard, so I decided to keep going until I got something I could be sure was better than both of them. It just took a little while¡­¡± ¡°Was it worth it, at least?¡± ¡°Very much so, yes. The description and requirements of the final path I got were a bit disturbing, honestly, but there¡¯s no question as to whether it is strong or not. Just look at it.¡± [Directionless Hegemony] : By focusing on any target you may alter its direction and speed. Mana cost varies depending on the number, scale and distance of targets as well as the applied changes. Sofia frowned as she read the description of the specialization. Isn¡¯t that just what her fused skill was already supposed to do? ¡°I don¡¯t really get it,¡± Sofia admitted, ¡°how is that different from what you could already do?¡± Astelia smiled. ¡°It is very unassuming like that. So little text, but what has changed is not what the skill can do, it¡¯s what it cannot do. Do you see any cooldown? Any restrictions?¡± ¡°Oh. Oooooooh.¡± ANY target? No maximum range? No maximum size? No limitations in the applied speed? Alright, I get it now¡­ Depending on how heavy the mana costs are¡­ This has the potential to do really crazy things. Sofia narrowed her eyes. ¡°Let¡¯s just say, for example, that you decided, you know, to target a certain ball of fire in the sky¡­ What would happen?¡± Astelia laughed. ¡°I don¡¯t have that much mana.¡± ¡°So you tried.¡± ¡°Well, you know. I mean. It was Moon¡¯s idea, kind of.¡± ¡°I see. Can you use it on me?¡± Astelia nodded, ¡°Sure, what do you want me to do?¡± ¡°Hmm, can you alter my speed to be zero?¡± It took surprisingly long for Astelia to come up with an answer. ¡°That depends on what you mean by zero. If you mean your speed relative to the planet, so stop you in your tracks, then yes. If you mean your absolute speed in space, that¡¯s not really something I can do yet, since the planet is moving...¡± ¡°I meant the first option.¡± ¡°Then of course, here,¡± Astelia said candidly. Sofia felt nothing except for Astelia¡¯s magic enveloping her, but as she kept walking in thin air over the carpet of roots covering the tiled floor, she discovered that she no longer moved. Woah, that is super weird. Sofia tried extending her wings but flying was the same, her body could move but she was like stuck in space, as if held back by an invisible hand. Since the spell was non-damaging, [Heat Death] could not prevent it, but when Sofia tried to use the random teleportation classless skill she had managed to learn for Astelia, that worked and she appeared a few meters further. She had escaped the grasp of Astelia¡¯s skill for just a second before the small vampire¡¯s mana caught up to her and she was once again unable to move. Teleportation doesn¡¯t use speed so it works. Hmm. I wonder if the free flight of [Runeforged Overlord] would bypass it but this is no time to run out of mana. ¡°Pretty impressive, I can¡¯t move at all,¡± Sofia complimented. ¡°Eheh, well, it¡¯s very expensive to maintain when you force against it, I need to constantly adjust your speed back to zero, but it works!¡± she explained as she let go of Sofia, ¡°This made me a bit thirsty¡­¡± ¡°Want some blood? Ah we shouldn¡¯t let the kids go too far even with Pareth.¡± ¡°R- Right.¡± What are you getting embarrassed f-... Oh, right, she¡¯s younger than most of the students¡­ Well, it is what it is. Sofia summoned some blood for Astelia in a bone cup as they quickly flew up to the group of students laboriously making their way through the overgrown halls of the dungeon. They had been going for a few minutes without encountering anything yet, but the only way forward now were closed double doors obstructed by a bunch of thick roots. Topaz stepped forward with her axes, ¡°Let me take care of that, we shouldn¡¯t waste any mana on this.¡± Her axes struck the roots, becoming instantly covered in their thick bright red sap. Surprised by the unexpected color, she jumped back, trying to not get touched by the strange sap, observing the tainted blades of her axes. Hey, that feels very familiar.
Chapter 349 - Proper teamwork ¡°The sap is harmless, Topaz,¡± Sofia told her from her position in the back. Nodding to Sofia, Topaz stepped up to the doors once again and resumed the cutting. ¡°You know these plants?¡± Astelia asked, curious. ¡°Know is a bit of a stretch, but it¡¯s not my first time seeing them, I just never realized it was the same plant until I saw the characteristic blood-red sap,¡± she explained, then, whispering into Astelia¡¯s ears, she added, ¡°This should be the dungeon¡¯s main monster. It¡¯s a kind of living tree that takes over dead people, empty armor suits, things like those. It can also just be in the form of a ¡®fake¡¯ tree, and as far as I know, only these specific parts are dangerous, the general roots are just roots. I don¡¯t know the name but I¡¯ve seen them in the spirit forest.¡± Sofia could see the realization of something on Astelia¡¯s face as she told her this. Astelia whispered back, sounding excited by the discovery, ¡°I have heard of this from the Queen! There are monsters like these in the forest, yes! They¡¯re really tree monsters, the system calls them the ¡®Hallowed purifiers¡¯, apparently they feed primarily off of curses!¡± Curses? That would certainly explain their presence in the black primus forest since Zerei was buried under there. And on the 99th floor of the ranking spire¡­ Yeah it¡¯s not a stretch to say the place it was based on might have been cursed. They¡¯re not very smart so that will make good fodder for the students. The last roots blocking the doors fell and Topaz opened the way into the next room, she took a step in but En who was right behind her grabbed her by the belt and pulled her back, ¡°Watch out!¡± A dog-sized monster fell from the high ceiling right in front of Topaz. It looked like a four-legged mechanical steel spider fused with a bunch of creeping roots and vines. Half-covered in leaves, it was almost hard to see amidst the vegetation if not for the one glowing red eye-like bead on the middle of its body. Having missed its prey, it let out a mechanical screech and skittered away. ¡°Thank you, En,¡± Topaz thanked the furry girl without looking back, her axes ready, she carefully peeked into the room, trying to see if more creatures were waiting in ambush. That does look like elven steel monsters, just like in the sunken city of Joah¡¯s dream. It must have been based on a real place, then. And it was clearly parasited by the fake trees, but it¡¯s hard to say which one of the two was in control. It looks not quite as clear cut as the possessed armors pareth fought in the trial, I could have sworn the roots wanted to keep attacking but the thing fled anyway. Lola summoned the armor for her spirit guardian, it was pre-charged with mana this time, and the spirit could instantly take over, the summon took the lead in front of the formation for the exploration now that it was starting to be more dangerous. Good, let it take all the dangerous corners. In an almost religious silence, the two groups of five students advanced through the overgrown halls and the narrow passageways connecting them until the spirit guardian entered a large round room that spanned multiple levels. They were at its bottom floor, from the upper levels dozens of the root-bearing mechanical spiders crawled down, legs clicking on the walls and weaving through the omnipresent thick vines as if gliding over them. Lola was first to see it coming thanks to her guardian and warned the others, ¡°Retreat! We¡¯re outnumbered, to the last passageway!¡± Everyone quickly fell back as they heard Lola¡¯s warning over the sound of the countless monsters running their way. Inside the connecting passageways that were only large enough for three people to fight side by side, they would be able to control the tempo of the fight much better than in the wide-open halls. Nice call! Good to see that Lola was listening when I rambled on about proper positioning. Oh, that¡¯s bad¡­ Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. One of the students of Astelia¡¯s group fell over as they backed off, feet caught in a vine. It would hinder the retreat of everyone else and put them all in danger. The hooded student with his daggers was quick to act, cutting the roots entraving the fallen student¡¯s foot and helping him get up, but these were precious seconds lost. The running Spirit Guardian, Topaz, En, and Opal were still all out in the open when the spiders reached them. Pareth was following behind the group so he wasn¡¯t in a position to help. I can¡¯t reach there fast enough if something happens¡­ Do I burst through the wall? That¡¯s several meters of stone, the whole thing might collapse. Astelia tapped on Sofia¡¯s shoulder, ¡°I¡¯ll teleport over, cover the back.¡± ¡°Thanks,¡± Sofia answered, relieved to have someone else to count on. The back of the student¡¯s formation was wide open due to the emergency and if not for Pareth being there, more monsters coming from the back would be devastating. Still, worried, Sofia used her mana senses to observe the situation as a whole. Seven students were falling back in the passageway, three still outside, Astelia flying a few meters above them, and crawling monsters all around them. It was not looking too good. The Spirit Guardian kept receiving mana packets from Lola, orders about how to act, as a result, it stood its ground and met the assault of the monsters, hacking and kicking at them as best it could. Topaz and En were on its side, as melee fighters, they were the frontline of the group, so despite the sudden onslaught, they were not completely overwhelmed and they were strong enough to kill the creatures in one or two hits each, spreading red sap and black oil everywhere. Any mechanical monster they felled was replaced by two more like an endless wave. Behind the three, right at the entrance of the passageway, Opal spent all this time preparing a spell, while Shaily had turned back to heal the fighters with a light sprite, and Lola was concentrating on giving orders to her Guardian. Nice! Punch the eyes, En! Keep the pressure on! Finally, Opal¡¯s spell was ready, mana surging at her fingertips, she raised the wand in her other hand which released a blue flash. This was something Topaz had explained to everyone as far back as the first event in the forest, Opal¡¯s signal to take cover. Topaz and En jumped back straight into the passageway, rolling to the sides of Opal, each with several spiders on their tracks while the Spirit Guardian was completely getting swarmed on and could not move anymore. Opal released her skill, a violent surge of blue flames spewing from her palm in a large cone. The monsters, the Spirit Guardian and Astelia were all in the cone of fire. The vines on the mechanical spiders caught fire and they spread out in a panic, spreading the flames everywhere, while the Spirit Guardian chased after them, finishing them off, unbothered by the fire. Oh, that¡¯s a lot of mana for a single spell at her level. Very effective. The one spell had exhausted Opal, it seemed, and her sister had to catch her as she fell back, Topaz also called out to the other students, ¡°Can someone extinguish the fire?! The monsters are retreating but it''s spreading too fast!¡± ¡°I¡¯m on it!¡± Shaily answered, a few almost invisible water sprites appearing near her and flying out of the passageway into the burning hall. After a few minutes, despite the students coughing from the lingering fumes, the fire was contained, at least in the vicinity, and the Spirit Guardian came back from its hunt. Sofia smiled as she observed how her students had fared. No big injuries and quite a few level-ups! Good! Perfect! We didn¡¯t even have to intervene, that¡¯s going to be worth a lot of tokens. The instructions Sofia had received for the counting of tokens here were quite simple. The group all shared a single score they would all get. There was a maximum possible score, level-ups and kills would award a certain amount of tokens while severe injuries and teacher interventions would take them back There were also a few special single-person bonus prizes for those who discovered magic items or contributed the most in fights. So far, it was looking quite good for Sofia¡¯s group. Astelia teleported back to Sofia, despite getting caught in the fire spell before, she looked completely untouched. ¡°Your students are good,¡± she complimented Sofia, ¡±I did not have to do anything. The further part of the dungeon is burning though. Sorry about Clint¡¯s stumble, he put your group in danger.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine, not your fault. And I don¡¯t think he wanted to fall either. I believe the magical flames will run out soon, and if I¡¯m correct, the regular ones won¡¯t be enough to burn the red sap, so no need to worry about that.¡± ¡°Hmm, you might have a point,¡± Astelia answered cheerfully, ¡°then my students are up next!¡±
Chapter 350 - Pawns The students kept exploring the dungeon, Astelia and Sofia¡¯s group alternating the fights against all sorts of root-infected mechanical creatures. There were a few minor injuries along the way but nothing too extreme. Watching the students¡¯ group cohesion and tactics grow at a fast pace was very satisfying to Sofia. There was, however, one small issue. ¡®Clint¡¯, the student from Astelia¡¯s group who had stumbled and put her students in a bad position during their first fight, was starting to look very suspicious. Stumbling and slowing down everyone¡¯s retreat the first time? Sure. Things happen. Screaming like a frightened chicken because of a leaf touching him and alerting the monsters when Sofia¡¯s group tried to orchestrate a sneak attack? Strange. When he woke up the students during their camping session ¡®because he saw something¡¯ as he stood guard, when there was actually nothing, Sofia thought this guy was starting to become annoying. In the middle of the second day of exploration, the students settled down after backtracking a bit to a safe, explored area to cook and eat. Sofia was sitting at a distance with Astelia. ¡°I¡¯m telling you, something¡¯s wrong about how he acts. I¡¯m sure now,¡± Sofia whispered. Astelia sighed. ¡°I agree. I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt because he¡¯s generally a good student, but this is starting to add up to a lot of strange behavior, and it¡¯s always mostly inconveniencing your students. I really don¡¯t get why he¡¯s acting like this.¡± ¡°Well, I have my little idea. Four of my five students are in the top fifty of the token rankings, so it¡¯s not hard to see why someone would want them to fail.¡± Astelia concurred with Sofia¡¯s deduction, ¡°What I am curious about now is who paid him to do that. Clearly he¡¯s not doing it for himself, he¡¯s not even in the top 100, he has no chance of winning even if your entire class stumbles.¡± ¡°Could be anyone. Maybe his high rank classmate?¡± ¡°Evan?¡± Astelia asked in disbelief, ¡°No. He looks a bit shady but I can vouch for his outstanding morals and ethics. He¡¯s the last person I would suspect.¡± ¡°Could be a fa?ade, but I¡¯ll trust you on this one. We¡¯re going to have to scrutinize the top of the rankings to see who could be tempted to do something like that¡­ At least he¡¯s not tried to kill them or anything too bad yet, but with how it¡¯s going I¡¯m worrying he might try something bigger during the half-boss we were briefed about.¡± Astelia took a second to think. Then she told Sofia of her new plan, ¡°Doing something during the half-boss would expose that he knew about it, if so then that means his backer has insights into the organization of the event and knew about the scouting of this dungeon for our group in particular. That would be someone quite high in the Academy¡¯s hierarchy¡­ I say we wait and stand ready to stop whatever he tries then, if anything. That¡¯s a first step in knowing who is trying to screw with your students¡¯ score. I don¡¯t think he can do anything that we can¡¯t fix, especially if you keep some of the graveyard skeletons on standby under the floor.¡± ¡°That¡¯s an idea¡­ What if he¡¯s hiding some kind of pre-loaded cursed item or something like this to use then, though? Surely whoever¡¯s got him to do this crap knew we¡¯d be here, so things might not stop at simply small-scale sabotaging. Letting him play his little games for any longer might become a safety issue for my students.¡± Could it be the Empress resurfacing now? She¡¯s one of the people who could be in the know¡­ But maybe we¡¯re just being a bit too paranoid. He could still be nothing but an awkward and annoyingly unlucky kid¡­ While Sofia and Astelia were distracted talking to each other about the suspicious kid, the student in question suddenly screamed like a terrorized pig. Amidst the group of snacking students, near Shaily reheating her soup over a fire sprite, Clint was dangling in the air, feet right above the ground, as if held up by the wrist by an invisible person. Everyone grabbed their weapons, some started channeling skills, Astelia even instantly teleported to his side. Sofia shouted for everyone to stop and sit back down. She could already see the hem of the priest of Death¡¯s robe reappearing. Slowly his masked, robed form revealed itself from the feet up, he was the one holding the kid up by the wrist. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. What did this kid do that the priest had to step in like this?! Clint tried to free himself. ¡°Let me go! I did nothing wrong!¡± This sounds exactly like someone who did something wrong. And it just happens to be you again, huh. Guess we weren¡¯t just being paranoid. The priest turned his masked head to Astelia, ¡°Teacher Glacier. Let us handle this matter privately with Teacher Vakaria, come,¡± he told her before teleporting himself and the student to Sofia¡¯s side. Astelia followed and the first thing she did as she reappeared next to them was to tell Clint to shut his trap. ¡°You can let him go, I have him in my grasp,¡± she told the priest, who released his grip on Clint. Astelia was doing to him what she had done to Sofia before, his speed was stuck at zero and he couldn¡¯t get away. Seeing that the kid was about to speak again, Sofia plugged his mouth with a bone gag. ¡°Can we get an explanation?¡± Sofia asked the priest. ¡°The explanation lies in his right hand,¡± the priest calmly explained, pointing at Clint¡¯s tightly clenched right fist. ¡°Open your hand,¡± Sofia ordered. The kid panicked, he looked around and tried to crawl away but he couldn¡¯t. He seemed very unwilling to open his hand. Sofia frowned, she was about to grab the student¡¯s arm, he looked terrified. ¡°Can I?¡± she asked Astelia. ¡°Please.¡± Sofia nodded and grabbed the kid¡¯s right arm with her dragon-scale claws. The claws piercing through the student¡¯s arm touched his radius bone and she forced his hand open with [Bone Dominus]. He had been holding a tiny opaque flask the size of a fingertip. The other students were noisy and trying to see what was going on but Pareth was looking over them to stop them from coming closer. Sofia grabbed the flask. Clint was struggling to free himself from Sofia¡¯s iron grasp and trying to say something, but the bone gag was very effective at shutting him up. Now let¡¯s see. Uncorking the small flaks, Sofia looked inside, it contained a small amount of brown powder. No you didn¡¯t¡­ Pareth! Make sure no one eats anything! Mr Scribe, verdict? [Silent Death] : Dangerous refined toxin, this poison is hard to produce even for renowned alchemists. In sufficient doses, causes a swift death by sudden brain and nervous tissue necrosis after an incubation period of four to five hours. Effective on most hot-blooded creatures under level 200. This much is enough to kill about three level 99s. Item level : 200. Grade : Precious. This fucker was next to Shaily! Sofia showed the description to Astelia whose face darkened as she read. Her expression was scarier now than Sofia had ever seen her. Sofia slowly closed the flask and gently removed the gag in the student¡¯s mouth. With a kind smile she told him, ¡°You better have a very good explanation for us, Clint.¡± ¡°I was forc-¡± Clint started before having a spasm and his words dying in his throat as he started vomiting blood. Shit! The priest cast a series of spells in a second, resulting in Clint being still like a statue, as if frozen in time. The blood he was coughing up was no longer flowing, stuck in the air like the rest, encased in strong mana bonds. ¡°This is serious soul damage,¡± the priest declared, ¡°Not something we can handle. I will bring him to the High-priest. Do you still have the charm?¡± Sofia nodded. ¡°Good. This should keep you safe enough. Use the catalyst if something else goes wrong, we will heal this one and interrogate him then bring him to the Headmaster. In the meantime, it is best for your students¡¯ mental health if you keep going as if nothing happened.¡± ¡°Did he manage to poison anyone?¡± Sofia asked worriedly. ¡°No. I had been monitoring this student¡¯s action since yesterday, he only now revealed the flask that was hidden in the inner pocket of his uniform. He had no time to open it,¡± the priest reassured her. ¡°I will go now, expect to hear more of this when you leave the dungeon.¡± Without another word, the priest of Leverle¡¯s church disappeared with Clint. Thank the lords the priest was here. If he had managed to poison Shaily¡­ I need to extend my thanks to Leverle and to Death. Can you hear those kinds of prayers, Death? Thank you! ¡°You look scary, Sofia,¡± Astelia told her in a tense voice. ¡°You look even worse, Asty. Your pointy teeth are showing.¡± ¡°One of my own students!¡± she answered, stomping her feet. Putting her hands on her head, the short vampire crouched and sighed. ¡°I need some blood¡­¡± Sofia detached her eyes from Astelia and threw a worried glance at the curious and agitated students at the other side of the hall, still all held back there by an unmoving Pareth staring down at them. How the fuck can I explain to them what just happened?
Chapter 351 - BRS on duty! Sofia summoned a cup and filled it with blood. ¡°Drink up, this one¡¯s on me.¡± ¡°Thanks¡­¡± Shaking, Astelia greedily gulped down the contents of the cup, it instantly helped sooth her nerves. Sofia lent her a hand to stand back up. ¡°Thank you¡­ I¡­ Sorry you had to see me like this.¡± Sofia waved her off. ¡°It¡¯s nothing; Vampires do vampire things. Stress makes things worse, it looks like.¡± ¡°It does.¡± Astelia confirmed. ¡°Now what do we do? Is it even safe to continue?¡± With a shrug, Sofia started walking back toward the students. ¡°Even if it¡¯s not, we will deal with it. I was looking forward to fighting the boss with you, so we can¡¯t stop now, right?¡± ¡°Your way of casually shrugging dangerous things off is scary,¡± Astelia told Sofia as she floated up to her. ¡°Hang out with me a bit more and you will get there too, I¡¯m sure. Just ask Alith¡­ the real question is, what do we tell the students?¡± It was Astelia¡¯s turn to shrug. ¡°You handle it, I¡¯m starting to get a bit tipsy¡­¡± I should have grabbed a smaller cup¡­ ¡°What happened to Clint?!¡± was the first of the many questions the students had for the two teachers. I don¡¯t want to lie to them¡­ And they¡¯re not stupid, they clearly saw that something was wrong¡­ I should probably just hide the thing about assassination until this is over. I¡¯ll tell my class after the event ends. ¡°Finish your meal,¡± Sofia told them as she sat among the group, taking out a loaf of bread and some dried meat to snack on. ¡°I can¡¯t explain in detail but¡­¡± Sofia started, stopping to drink some water, ¡°In short, Clint had been acting weird for a bit. Turns out he was afflicted by something nasty, so the priest of Death who had been on the lookout for our safety took him to the headmaster. That¡¯s all it is.¡± ¡°He was really acting a bit strange since yesterday¡­¡± one of Astelia¡¯s other students mumbled to himself. ¡°Is he going to be alright?¡± another asked. Sofia finished chewing on her bread and answered, ¡°He¡¯s with the best healers I know, I wouldn¡¯t worry too much. You should all just focus on the competition. The half-boss of the dungeon is coming up soon, since Evan¡¯s group is lacking a member, you nine will all fight as one large unit from now on. Organize yourselves accordingly.¡±
Sofia and Astelia continued to supervise the students as they adventured through the overgrown halls of the dungeon. With Clint gone, things progressed without a hitch; the first few battles as a large compound group were a bit messy, but they rather quickly fell into a good rhythm and the flawless encounters afterward continued all the way until the half-boss. Still, Sofia had this nagging feeling that something was waiting to go wrong. What if the true goal of the ¡®assassination¡¯ was to get the priest away? Was the question that looped in the back of her head. Every so often she checked her storage ring and the sight of the emergency catalyst in there helped quell her worries somewhat. The half-boss was the first monster in the dungeon which hadn¡¯t fallen to the root parasites. It was a big mechanical knight on a steel horse, wielding a huge scythe so heavily covered in layers and layers of dried red sap that it seemed to be made out of it, the hooves and legs of the horse were in a similar state. On the student¡¯s side, the frontline was Lola¡¯s spirit guardian, Topaz and a boy from Astelia¡¯s group with a shield. Their only priority was to keep the knight away from the casters, which they managed to do cleanly, with the spirit guardian focusing on taking the hits from the scythe while Topaz and the Shielder limited the movements of the horse. Shaily and the [Mender] class caster from Astelia¡¯s group spent the entire fight keeping track of each other¡¯s mana while they healed Topaz and the Shielder. En and Evan were in the middle, each using utility skills to boost everyone else and getting a few hits in when they could. It was Evan who eventually managed to land a paralyzing blow in the back of the knight, allowing the mages, Opal and the last person from Astelia¡¯s group, to launch their biggest spells, emptying all of their remaining mana without the worry of missing their target or hitting their allies. This coordinated attack finished to destroy the horse, almost bringing the fight to a close, but the knight wasn¡¯t defeated. He unexpectedly stood back up for a final struggle with a spin of his scythe, deeply injuring both Topaz and the Shielder in one swing. They were urgently evacuated to the backline, carried away by En and Evan, and the healers focused on their critical wounds, leaving Lola and her spirit guardian as the last effective fighters of the entire group. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. Astelia looked at Sofia worriedly, ¡°Do we step in?¡± ¡°Not yet.¡± Lola has improved tremendously over the last two months, she can do it, she needs to! The knight was stronger and faster than Lola¡¯s spirit guardian, and yet, the armor-possessing spirit guardian was holding on. It parried and blocked strike after strike of the scythe without faltering. It was possible because of their shared control, the spirit guardian only focused on using its weapon to counter the scythe while Lola¡¯s constant direct orders from a distance maneuvered the rest of its body and its few skills from a different point of view. Lola was so into the fight that she unconsciously moved her body like the armor she controlled. After a tense exchange of blows between the guardian and the knight, En and Evan were back, En summoned a speed boost totem and Evan used it to circle around the knight. He threw a dagger perfectly at the joint of the knight¡¯s left knee. The knight was destabilized for just an instant. Lola caught this golden opportunity to land a heavy knee blow to the mechanical knight¡¯s torso. The armor of the spirit guardian was all orichalcum, as it copied Lola¡¯s attack, its knee left a deep dent in the knight¡¯s chestplate, sending it reeling, back against the ground. It¡¯s now or never! Strike the core! Had it been any other one of her students, Sofia would be worried that they wouldn¡¯t know what to do to finish off the mechanical knight, but Lola had [Mana Senses] as her highest-level passive skill. There was no way she wouldn¡¯t know to strike the golem core hidden below the waist of the knight¡¯s armor. The spirit guardian held its blade high, and struck down, its mithril-coated blade penetrating the thick armored plates of the mechanical knight. It pierced right through the creature¡¯s mana core. The knight spasmed, and its movements stopped. Lola didn¡¯t celebrate her victory, as soon as the kill message appeared, she relinquished control of her guardian and ran to the healer to check if Topaz was alright. Very good! Sofia walked up to the students, followed by Pareth and Astelia. She clapped. ¡°Well done. Very good fight. The injuries were avoidable but not unwarranted, Topaz and Leon were ensuring the safety of En and Evan by staying in the front even when the knight fell, so you won¡¯t be penalized for the injury. Everyone did their job very well, especially you, Lola, I¡¯m impressed,¡± she complimented them as she summoned the High-priest skeleton to heal the two injured. Thanks to the healers, their condition wasn¡¯t critical, but they were still bleeding with semi-open wounds, there was no reason to let them suffer for nothing. The group went over the fight, their level-ups and observations, Sofia was quite proud as she read the message that her students shared with her. ¡®Your party has defeated [Steadfast protector of Mezanthil - lv. 183]¡¯ Now it¡¯s my turn!
¡°And that is it for the general safety rules. Any questions left?¡± Astelia asked the group of students. Shaily was the only one with a question, ¡°Can I send sprites to attack when you fight to get some experience?¡± Sofia shook her head. ¡°Not at first. We¡¯ll have to be sure to understand what we¡¯re going up against before anything. Then we might let you in specific circumstances. And you absolutely won¡¯t when we¡¯re up against the boss. But this kind of ¡®easy¡¯ leveling doesn¡¯t really work well. The experience is proportional to your contribution to the fight so even if the monsters are worth enough experience to get you to level 99 in one go ten times over, you¡¯re only going to be getting scraps.¡± ¡°I know, but it feels like a waste not to since you and teacher Glacier are both already at the filter. But if you say so, then I won¡¯t insist.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right, but your safety goes first. I don¡¯t want a monster to suddenly decide to attack you because one of your sprites flew too close or something. Pareth will be your protector but there¡¯s nine of you and only one of him, so let¡¯s not make that too harsh on him.¡± ¡°In the worst cases, a teleporting monster could use your link to the sprites to teleport right besides you,¡± Astelia added. ¡°Understood! I won¡¯t do anything unless you ask me to,¡± Shaily accepted. ¡°Good. That applies to all of you,¡± Sofia added, ¡°Now, let¡¯s go. Do you need any preparation, Astelia?¡± ¡°Armor and blades ready, I¡¯m good to go!¡± The armor and blade in question were all new, Sofia recognized Zerei¡¯s runework on the Orichalcum armor, while the blades were a slick design no longer resembling real swords with a handle. They were just a collection of ten extremely sharp thin mithril spikes floating behind the Vampire¡¯s back. ¡°It¡¯s still surprising that your [Orbital blades] skill can work on mithril like this,¡± Sofia told her as she summoned her own armor. Astelia giggled. ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be able to, but I modified it enough that it can. I¡¯m not really controlling the blades as much as I am contorting the space around them to make them move.¡± ¡°Do you even still need that skill now with your specialization?¡± ¡°Yes, it helps with multitasking. I need to focus hard to use the specialization on so many targets but [Orbital blades] makes it completely effortless, at the cost of a skill slot and a bit of lost flexibility,¡± Astelia explained as she walked up to the door separating the group from the second half of the dungeon. ¡°How do you usually explore dungeons? Just pick a random direction?¡± she asked, ¡°I¡¯m not too used to this.¡± Bookie appeared in Sofia¡¯s hands. ¡°Let me introduce you to the Bird Reconnaissance Squad,¡± she announced with a large grin.
Chapter 352 - Ring the bell Sofia introduced her bird squad and even got to try her new design for Eternam¡¯s transmission ritual, which she had embedded on a bone coin with a mana battery ritual on the other side to have the birds give a live view instead of just their position. The coin didn¡¯t work at all, Sofia lost the connection as soon as the birds turned a few corners, still, under the watchful eyes of Astelia and the students, the three dimensional map of the entire dungeon quickly took form in Sofia¡¯s hands. The 100% bonus in processing she got from the Order form of March of the Envoy allowed her to flawlessly keep track of all the birds and sculpt the map at the same time. ¡°This makes it almost too easy,¡± Astelia commented, looking at the work-in-progress map, ¡°I can already tell that the boss is probably in that isolated deeper section.¡± ¡°It helps in that way but if you want to be a treasure hunter you have to explore the entire thing anyway. The good stuff in a dungeon isn¡¯t always anywhere near the boss. Though I guess it will be less of an issue when the transmission tokens work. It also doesn¡¯t work as well in places where the birds get killed by the monsters.¡± ¡°How much health do they have?¡± ¡°A few hundred points each, varying depending on which birds I use,¡± Sofia answered, ¡°The Crows are slower but have a bit more health than the Turvins and are smarter. The rats are also an option sometimes, they¡¯re better for places with a lot of closed doors since they can fit in small holes or quickly dig their way around.¡± ¡°How many different skeletons do you have?¡± Shaily asked curiously. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ Not sure. Actually. I lost count, but I have some good variety. I even have things like a bunch of carnivorous fish that I have never used. Oh, the last few birds are done. Here it is, that¡¯s the entire dungeon.¡± ¡°There is no exit?¡± one of Astelia¡¯s students asked as he perplexedly observed the map. ¡°It looks to be that way, if the map is accurate¡± Astelia answered, ¡°Maybe the boss guards an exit, but most likely the way out was the collapsed section behind us when we were teleported here.¡± ¡°The exit does not really matter anyway, both me and Astelia can get us all out of here if needed. Anyway, just give me a second to equip all my things and let¡¯s clear this place out.¡± ¡°Right you¡¯ve not been wearing the crown and the saint set,¡± Astelia noted. ¡°I should really wear them all the time but it feels a bit pretentious.¡± The shielder from Astelia¡¯s students interjected, ¡°Teacher Vakaria, if I may¡­ Why a crown? A lot of us have been wondering if you were Human royalty but¡­¡± ¡°Oh no, this is just the reward for the best ever performance in the second trial,¡± Sofia casually answered as she stretched to adjust the jointings of her bone armor just how she liked them, ¡°I didn¡¯t get to choose what it looks like.¡± ¡°B- Best ever?¡± ¡°You heard me. Astelia wasn¡¯t far behind either. You didn¡¯t get just anyone as your teachers. Oh, right, speaking of which, see this bell on my staff? This is a scribe bell, I just do this,¡± Sofia said as she shook her staff, ¡°And you should get a small experience bonus for a few hours when you participate in fights alongside me. It¡¯s a bit finicky though, not everyone can always hear it for some reason and if you don¡¯t hear it you get no bonus. Did anyone not get it?¡± The students looked at each other. ¡°I heard it just fine,¡± Shaily said first. ¡°Me too,¡± Topaz confirmed, and soon enough the topic went from wondering whether they all heard it to asking Sofia where she had gotten that, which she expertly ignored. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. They all heard it then¡­ That¡¯s a bit reassuring. Just a bit. Sofia did a surprise scan of the surroundings, expanding her mana senses as far as they could reach. She found nothing out of the ordinary, and could only put the nagging feeling that something wasn¡¯t right to the back of her mind. ¡°Anyway, if everyone is ready, let¡¯s go!¡±
The zone behind the half-boss room started out very peaceful, therein, no more mechanical creatures were to be found anywhere, first were a few completely empty rooms, where mural paintings depicted multiple races united in the worship of a large faceless being, and after that came the forest. It started with the vines and roots on the floor reappearing, then, as the group ventured further and deeper into the dungeon, the ground turned busier and busier, eventually being so covered in verdant flora that it had developed a layer of soil. And with the soil came the trees. Thick trees with dark brown, almost black trunks, and dark green leaves. Sofia and Astelia were near the entrance to the big room with the fist trees, hiding on either side of the door, while the students were a good thirty steps back waiting with Pareth behind a corner. Sofia opened her helmet¡¯s visor and whispered to Astelia, ¡°I think we found our first group of monsters. Do we just rush in?¡± But while her mouth said one thing, a bunch of small bone letters appeared across her face within the helmet, saying something else. ¡®Possible Danger. Assassin? Priest gone dangerous. I bait later. Student safety first. Catalyst? No worry about me.¡¯ ¡°Your plan seems fine but be careful,¡± Astelia whispered back. Good, she got the message. Alright, for now, let¡¯s give some love to my most neglected skill. [Spine of the Black Sun]! The explosion has a radius of almost four meters now. The only thing is that I need to stop using it as a whip, to make the explosion stronger, I need to leverage all my strength bonuses and strike with the sword form. It also heals me for 20% of the damage dealt¡­ Actually more like 35% with [Radiance]. Now that I have a proper health pool, it would be stupid not to use it! Sofia and Astelia rushed into the room. The trees awakened, each six to eight meters tall, a few meters wide, and each worth their own several tons of wood and sickly red sap. The trees were stupendously fast. Before the two women could engage the fight, the largest two trees had uprooted themselves and rushed up to the frontline, acting as the vanguards for the smaller ones. Sofia was first to make contact. March of the envoy just switched from the Order to the Chaos state, her senses narrowed and her body was strengthened instead. Diving straight through the raised branches of the tree, and taking a few glancing hits. Her scepter-turned-bone-sword hit the tallest tree, leaving a large dent in its bark and sending electricity coursing along its trunk. Then the solar burst triggered, engulfing the entire upper half of the large tree. Sofia¡¯s health shot back up to full as the tree burned and shrieked, sending dozens of its burning branches after Sofia like creaky wooden tentacles. Astelia engaged the other vanguard tree, using her specialization, she simply gestured as if she pushed the tree away. With loud tearing noises, the countless roots of the tree ruptured at once, and its massive trunk was sent flying toward the other side of the room, barrelling through many of the smaller trees, destroying them on the spot, and finally exploding in a rain of wooden shards and blood-like sap against the far wall. The entire dungeon shook from the impact. Holy shit Astelia you¡¯re not joking around! Sofia kicked against the trunk of the tree to get some distance and quickly checked through Pareth¡¯s eyes that everything was fine on his side. Reassured, she quickly started channeling a piercing bolt over the Spine and charged in again. The normally very blunt Spine of the black Sun tore through the rough bark thanks to the Angel Bolt¡¯s raging plasma. It penetrated deep into the tree leaving charred marks on its path, and as the swing stopped, the solar burst triggered from within the trunk. A large portion of the vanguard tree blew up from the sudden accumulation of energy within. Sofia was blown away by the burst and flew right back in, the second internal explosion burned away the last sparks of life within the tree. ¡®You have defeated [Blackbark Hallowed Purifier - lv. 243]¡¯ Further in the room, Astelia was smashing the smaller trees against the walls one by one while under a deluge of physical and magical attacks as the branches swung and the leaves flew, sharpened by the concentrated mana on their edges. I need to speed up or there¡¯ll be nothing left for me!
Chapter 353 - Arts and crafts Sofia dove through the rain of attacks of the small trees, she flew right past them, hitting each of them once on the way, triggering a chain of weaker explosions. Between each hit, the Bolt surrounding her scepter grew stronger, and by the time she reached the furthest tree on the other side of the long hall, the scepter hit that would have only smashed some bark before instead cut straight through the entirety of the monster¡¯s trunk. She hit the wall of the hall feet first, and propelling herself from it, she turned back. Repeating the same process. She was under constant attacks the whole time, branches smacking her in the face, sharp leaves denting her armor, but what few health points she lost were all quickly refilled by the continuous explosions of solar light. After about forty seconds, the room was once again silent. ¡®You have defeated [LeafBlower Hallowed Purifier - lv. 227]¡¯ ¡®Your party has defeated [RootSwinger Hallowed Purifier - lv. 166]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Blackbark Hallowed Purifier - lv. 68]¡¯ ¡®Your party has defeated [RootSwinger Hallowed Purifier - lv. 187]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [RootSwinger Hallowed Purifier - lv. 220]¡¯ ¡®Your party has defeated [Sapbag Hallowed Purifier - lv. 122]¡¯ ¡®Your party has defeated [Blackbark Hallowed Purifier - lv. 112]¡¯ ¡®Your party has defeated [Blackbark Hallowed Purifier - lv. 86]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [LeafBlower Hallowed Purifier - lv. 201]¡¯ ¡®Your party has defeated [RootSwinger Hallowed Purifier - lv. 199]¡¯ ¡®Your party has defeated [RootSwinger Hallowed Purifier - lv. 159]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Gardener Hallowed Purifier - lv. 12]¡¯ ¡®Your party has defeated [LeafBlower Hallowed Purifier - lv. 210]¡¯ ¡®[Spine of the Black Sun] reached level 210¡¯ ¡®[Spine of the Black Sun] reached level 211¡¯ ¡®[Radiance] reached level 72¡¯ Before anything else, Sofia checked again if everything was alright with Pareth, and only then did she dispel the Spine and the Bolt. Astelia floated up to her, above a sea of brightly burning dead tree monsters, she was smiling. ¡°This was unexpectedly satisfying,¡± she told Sofia. ¡°You really went all-out with your new specialization. I¡¯m starting to worry about the air we have in the dungeon though, seeing as my attacks lit them all up¡­¡± Not that it matters to me, but for everyone else¡­ Astelia dismissed her worries, ¡°The dungeon is so big, and these plants grow everywhere, it shouldn¡¯t be an issue, the smoke they make when they burn doesn¡¯t seem so bad to breathe either, it kind of smells nice. It feels a bit relaxing, even.¡± ¡°I will be monitoring the students¡¯ breathing just in case¡­ But anyway, so far this is going well. The trees aren¡¯t too dangerous. It¡¯s a big jump in difficulty from the first half of the dungeon but there probably won¡¯t be a challenge in here for us besides the boss.¡± Crossing her legs in the air, Astelia agreed, ¡°Do we still want to share some experience with the students?¡± she asked. ¡°No,¡± Sofia answered, shaking her head, ¡°too much trouble for nothing. The leaf blower trees have a very long reach, a single rain of leaves we let through could severely injure them all. If their leveling was an urgent matter maybe it would be worth the risk but I know from experience that the sharing is not good. They would all get maybe two to three levels if they participated in all the kills in the dungeon and the level of monsters stays about the same as this hall.¡± Astelia nodded through the explanations of Sofia, then she raised another question, ¡°Do we still clear the whole Dungeon then? Maybe we should just go straight for the boss after all, be quickly done with it, especially with¡­ What you told me earlier.¡± ¡°No need to rush. Do you still have skills that need combat leveling?¡± Sofia asked her, looking at her own status page. ¡°Three of them, yes. I have [Orbital Blades] which still needs a few levels, [Meteor Strike] which is stuck at level one, and [Thousand arms of the Moon] at 204. Though [Meteor Strike] cannot exactly be trained here...¡± Astelia answered, staring at the ceiling. ¡°Meteor¡­ Well, I have plenty of things to level up, the Spine and [Radiance] being the best suited against the trees. I say we quickly go around clearing at least the large halls like this one, and looking around to see if we find some interesting items, then we go for the boss.¡± ¡°So be it! Ah, we should check up on the students first.¡±
The students were relieved to see both teachers come back unharmed. They hadn¡¯t been able to watch the fight but they had heard, smelled, and felt the consequences of the battle. They had also seen the flashes of light from all of Sofia¡¯s solar bursts. They asked again if they could steal some experience, and Sofia explained why they could not. They accepted the news, though reluctantly, and from a collective voice, demanded that they be at least allowed to watch. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. At their insistence, Sofia sighed and rolled her eyes, but her and Astelia discussed it some more and accepted. Sofia quickly shaped up a tiny bone box in which the nine students could barely fit together, on one side, she layered all of her panes of reinforced glass with meshes of bone threads in between, and finally, she made the whole thing a blessed bone construct. ¡°I¡¯ll place this near the entrance of the rooms with monsters if there are no trees too close to the door, you can stay in to observe the fight, but no using any kind of magic, don¡¯t move too much and don¡¯t make noise, alright? You really do not want to draw the trees¡¯ attention, some of these are over level 200.¡± That in place, Sofia and Astelia took the opportunity of now being aware of the type of monsters around to give some tips to the students about exploring dungeons and other hostile environments. Sofia was speaking of the importance of looking for traps, loopholes in the design of places, and for the traces of monsters, trying to understand why the creatures were where they were and how to best approach an enemy of unknown strength and knowing when to retreat. Astelia was, for her part, more focused on essential survival knowledge, how to hide, where to find food and water, what to do when faced with an unknown ritual circle, and such other situations. The group rapidly stormed through the dungeon, alternating these teaching pauses when they walked between infested halls, and the explosive battles of the two teachers against a forest of ruin-dwelling trees. The students were left speechless whenever they witnessed their teachers fight. They were also left speechless when, upon entering a large hall mostly free from vegetation and decorated with intricate marble statues, Sofia had started cutting the statues free from their pedestal and stole them. They didn¡¯t know whether to laugh, or to cry, or to be shocked at how mind-bogglingly large her storage item was to be able to store these. The thing was, these were statues of demons. I had the feeling that the faceless being of the murals was a Recessed! I wonder which one it is, though. I thought it might be Death at first with Leverle having sort of a faceless mask head, but this is clearly not it. They all share a similar build though. All from one Recessed, but this isn¡¯t a faceless mask, it¡¯s a flesh veil in front of their face. So many Apostles though¡­ Sixteen different statues. Either those have never existed, they are multiple generations of Apostles¡­ Or this Recessed had plenty of Apostles at once. Is that even possible? Which concept could it even be¡­ Trickery? Imposture? Deceit? I¡¯ll have to show them to Cinthia. And also¡­ This is great decoration, no way I would leave them here! I¡¯m not coming out of a dungeon empty-handed! Well, I also have gained a lot of skill levels. Still, I¡¯m unsatisfied. Especially because of this weird feeling that I¡¯m being watched. Nothing happened yet though. I even checked from the spirit realm and found nothing¡­ And VPPV should protect me from divination so if somebody is looking they have to be close. Yet they¡¯ve done nothing all this time? I don¡¯t get it. Maybe I¡¯m really just being too wary. Hard not too though, after what happened last time. Let¡¯s go for the boss, but I¡¯ll keep the catalyst ready¡­ Better yet, I¡¯ll leave it to Bookie and Pareth. They¡¯ll be protecting the kids while I and Asty fight the big fucking tree in that room. Definitely the boss. It¡¯s really damn big, I can feel its flow of mana from here, it¡¯s pumping it from below, it looks like. Probably the Dungeon¡¯s magic item. Wouldn¡¯t have used the rot anyway but that¡¯s one more reason not to. Sofia turned to the group, discovering them all staring at her. ¡°What? Were you all waiting for me? You can sit down and have a meal break, we won¡¯t be fighting against the boss for at least half an hour.¡± Can¡¯t go in there without the undeath runes. Taking her to her word, the students along with Astelia sat down for a meal, except for Lola who walked up to her. ¡°Are you going to sell the statues?¡± she questioned Sofia. Not waiting for an answer, she crouched near the pedestal of the statue Sofia had just removed and stored. ¡°This is coral marble, it¡¯s worth a lot, you should also take the pedestals, it would be a waste not to since they¡¯re made of the same thing,¡± she explained. Sofia looked at the young Exidian girl curiously, ¡°You have an interest in rocks? I thought this was more of a dwarf thing usually.¡± Lola giggled, ¡°Guerand knows a fair bit too, but my family has been in the art trade for generations. Our great ancestor is a very famous smith and sculptor¡­ He helped build the Death church, the imperial palace, and a lot of the older parts of the city. We still specialize in buying and selling paintings and sculptures to this day.¡± ¡°And yet you chose a summoning class instead of following the family trade?¡± Lola turned her eyes. ¡°I¡¯m a failed artist,¡± she admitted shamefully, a bit less lively than she had been seconds before, but it only lasted for an instant, ¡°My older siblings are all successful artisans so¡­ It¡¯s fine. I am still leveling the [Smithing] classless skill on the side as well. One day I¡¯ll be able to make my spirit the best armor by myself!¡± ¡°It looks to me that you are a fast learner, I¡¯m sure you will get there,¡± Sofia cheered her on, ¡°And to answer your question, the goal is not to sell them. But if it can help you with your family I could give you a few.¡± The Exidian teenager seemed frozen in shock for a moment, then taking a step back, Lola rejected the offer, ¡°No, no, thank you, teacher, but this isn¡¯t necessary,¡± she flustered, ¡°My family is wealthy enough. If you want to give them then Shaily and Guerand could really use the money instead!¡± Sofia continued to chat with Lola while preparing her undeath runes, Shaily and Opal eventually joining them. The break lasted a bit longer than expected, as both teachers worked to prepare a safe underground room for the students to hide in with Pareth and Bookie, but after an hour, everything was ready. Astelia and Sofia stood in front of the door to the Boss¡¯s room. Oh, I¡¯m terminally dumb! I didn¡¯t even [Identify] the statues! It will have to wait until this is done¡­ Well, maybe Sir Scribe won¡¯t be able to say much, so¡­ Better focus on the task at hand. Time to change my class to [Lumberjack].
Chapter 354 - Harvest season Health : 80 980 / 80 980 Stamina : 21 047 / 21 047 Mana : 203 650 / 417 100 Sofia looked at her mana trickle down as she prepared a piercing bolt before entering. It¡¯s really annoying that the runes lock all regeneration. As soon as I get stuck on VPPV the next goal is to fix that. Hopefully before the next trial. Plasma kept growing and gathering over the Scepter, Sofia felt the heat on her face even through the bone armor helmet but her right arm was completely fresh, protected by the dragon scale arm. She turned to Astelia, ¡°Ready when you are.¡± The small Vampire nodded and closed the visor of her own helmet. She walked up to the door and extended her hand. ¡°Interestingly,¡± she said, ¡°I have a lot more control over my specialization when I directly touch the target. Kind of like you with your bones.¡± Like punched by a giant, the heavy-looking stone door broke off from its frame and was sent flying away into the huge boss¡¯s room, it flew on a curved path, barely missing the giant tree in the middle to lodge itself into the opposite wall like a thrown dagger into a soft fruit. ¡°You missed,¡± Sofia commented. ¡°I¡¯m the Oracle of Moon, not an expert of door ballistics.¡± Barely able to hear each other¡¯s banter through the crackling of the bolt¡¯s raging plasma, they walked into the strangely peaceful room. The boss room was akin to a giant cylinder, with narrow pathways all the way along the walls. It somewhat reminded Sofia of the abyss under Scripture¡¯s Holy See. In the middle was a giant tree with dark red bark and black leaves that spanned from the bottom where they were all the way up to the ceiling, some fifty meters above. The diffuse red light coming from its three large veiny red fruits near the canopy lit up the room somewhat, quickly drowned by the intense light of the bolt Sofia was holding onto. The tree¡¯s thick roots were all over the floor and amidst them were dozens of rusty and broken mechanical knights like the ¡®Protector of Mezanthil¡¯ the students had fought. The only reason Astelia and Sofia had time to banter was because of the lack of immediate danger, but they became serious once they stepped into the room. There¡¯s mana coming from all the broken knights. The black leaves of the tree rustled above. Impaled by thick roots that spread in and around them, the armors stood up. Astelia called to Sofia as she readied her mithril blades, ¡°I get the knights you get the tree!¡± Sofia did not need to be told twice. Before the knight could even fully stand up, she launched herself forward with a beat of her wings. March of the Envoy flipped to the Chaos state, and Sofia reached the trunk in two seconds, evading a few attacking roots on the way. The scepter hit the bark, and despite the intensity of the bolt, barely penetrated into it. The following solar burst was just as underwhelming, failing to scorch the bark, and as Sofia reared back to attack again, she could see the superficial wound she had inflicted to the tree close back up. That¡¯s a tough one. Below her, Astelia was cutting up the mechanical knights. Like puppets on long roots, they could ¡®fly¡¯ and pursue the Vampire anywhere the living roots could reach. Astelia had tried cutting the roots but found them almost as resilient as the trunk, so she turned to cutting up the armors and their weapons instead, which was no easy task as there were many. Still, the mechanical knights used no magic so far, and Astelia had yet to get hit once. Sofia glanced at her remaining mana and decided that the best course of action was to use no spell. Since she missed the damage output to hurt the tree, she would just keep hitting it while reinforcing her ¡®weapon¡¯. I can still make this bolt ten times stronger! Relatively undisturbed, Sofia hit the trunk several times at the same spot, the scepter making it a bit deeper each time. This freedom was short-lived, as new knights on roots emerged from the chambers in the walls, bumping their numbers up from the few dozens Astelia had been killing one by one to more than a hundred in just a few breaths. Avoiding them wasn¡¯t extremely hard, Sofia was very used to avoiding tentacles by now, even with a sword-wielding knight at the end, but it made keeping up the pressure against the trunk much harder. Every time she had to fly in a wide arc to avoid an attack, she could see the bark reforming. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. Sofia stopped attacking the trunk, she maneuvered through the flying knight to rejoin Astelia. ¡°This isn¡¯t working! Let¡¯s kill the knights first!¡± she told Astelia. Working in tandem with Sofia, Astelia could now switch to using her specialization to clump the knights together for Sofia to strike them, which worked a lot better. Whenever a mechanical knight was sufficiently damaged, the root propping it up would fall back to the ground. They quickly worked through the swarms of knights, taking a few hits each in the process. The more they disposed of, the easier it got, and eventually the tree had nothing else to throw at them. For a second after the last root fell, it almost felt like they had won, and it was about time, as Sofia¡¯s bolt-enhanced weapon had almost completely drained her mana. Not wanting to hit zero quite yet, she finally threw the bolt at the trunk, piercing it from side to side. ¡°It¡¯s not over,¡± Astelia commented, breathing heavily as she observed the red sap flowing out of the newly drilled bolt hole and running down the trunk. ¡°It¡¯s never over until we get the kill notification,¡± Sofia confirmed, ¡°The students are still safe,¡± she added after quickly checking up on Pareth¡¯s vision. Without warning, the three ogre-sized fruits of the tree fell. They hit the floor like boulders, crushing roots under them, and the red sap of the tree quickly started pooling in the small craters they had formed. Sensing shenanigans, Sofia fell down, and stored the smaller of the three fruits. As it was no longer connected to the tree, nothing prevented her from snatching it. But the other two just wouldn¡¯t fit in her storage, and were quickly filling up with mana as they absorbed the sap. Under Astelia¡¯s magic, the other two fruits flew back up, and once they were at her level, she kicked them. The gargantuan fruits exploded against the wall with a wet sound, spraying sap everywhere. ¡°Safe?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°No. I was too late.¡± Something fell from the crushed fruits embedded in the wall, human-sized creatures brimming with mana. ¡°This seems dangerous,¡± Sofia told Astelia as they observed the creatures stand up like zombies, ¡°Let¡¯s go for my plan.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± Astelia activated her [Lunar Realm], flooding the room in cold moonlight while she closed her eyes. This was her opportunity to rest, heal, and regenerate some mana and stamina. Meanwhile, Sofia still kept her small reserve of just about thirty thousand mana and made her way back down to the ground level, walking on thin air in the direction of the two creatures. She switched her scepter with her left hand. The red sap obscuring the creatures¡¯ exact appearance dripped down as they stood up, and their real form was revealed. They were like thin vaguely human silhouettes made of silky smooth dark-red wood. They had nothing comparable to a head or a mouth and yet they produced a blood-curdling scream. They charged. Sofia could barely see them move as they appeared before her and attacked in unison with one arm each. Their pointy wooden arms lashed out horizontally at Sofia from both sides like a pair of scissors. It was hard for Sofia to fight her instinct to try to evade but she stood still, and the attacks harmlessly curved around her, their force leaving a deep x-shaped laceration in the opposite wall. Scary. Using the last of her mana, Sofia simultaneously activated the third tier of [Runeforged Overlord] as well as [Erredian Rot] and charged forward, body-slamming the two twig monsters standing before her. The rot spread through contact with the bone armor as it was enveloped in a thin layer of holy light. This was the best way she had to precisely hit the monsters without spraying rot everywhere and possibly ruining whatever magic item was hiding within the roots of the giant tree. Covering the monsters in rot was successful, and ramming them into the wall too, but Sofia lost the Order state of [March of the Envoy], the monsters stuck again as they freed themselves from the wall, and Sofia died, her head sliced into eight pieces. Astelia was in high-alert, her mana clutching around the Academy¡¯s catalyst hidden within her armor, she was scanning mana and space in a wide area with her eyes closed. Sofia had just died, which was part of the plan. If anyone was waiting for an opportunity to attack the students like Sofia feared, it was now or never. The twig monsters charged Astelia, who stopped them with her specialization, but she would not be able to hold them for long. Nothing came of it, and Sofia was reborn three seconds later. Nothing? Still, stay alert, Pareth. I need to help Asty fast. Sofia¡¯s heart flew out of her chest.
Chapter 355 - Don’t Lose Yourself It was Sofia¡¯s first time transforming since getting her new fused passive skill. Oooh, this feels good. It¡¯s a bit of a waste of levels since Pareth could have handled the twig monsters by himself, but well. I like this too. As soon as Sofia¡¯s Apostle form was complete, she flew to Astelia¡¯s rescue. Using her Dragon scale arm, she punched one of the wooden monsters from behind. The monster was stuck in place by Astelia¡¯s specialization, reducing its speed to zero, punching into it felt like hitting an unbreakable wall. With nowhere to dissipate, the entirety of the punch¡¯s strength could only spread through the wooden monster, which cracked all over. Sofia hit it again, and the creature fell apart. It exploded, peppering Sofia and Astelia with blade-sharp wood shards. It couldn¡¯t pierce Sofia¡¯s defenses and Astelia diverted the ones aimed at her away with a wave of her hand. No kill message, it¡¯s not dead. The monster Sofia had punched was the one least affected by the rot. The other one looked already weaker, and was almost entirely rot-covered. ¡°The rot is interfering, I¡¯m losing hold!¡± Astelia warned her as she backed away. ¡°The other one isn¡¯t dead!¡± Sofia answered as she threw herself to the rotting monster that just freed itself from Astelia¡¯s control. The wooden monster was extremely fast, so despite Sofia acting early thanks to Astelia¡¯s warning, it still had time to attack her several times as she flew towards it. The long arms of the wooden creature seemingly had an infinite reach, and Sofia did her best to evade it, but she still got hit once. She managed to minimize the damage, only losing her left arm. And finally arrived face-to-face with the monster. She grappled with it. The loss of an arm was annoying but not enough to stop her. She still had two wings and a tail more than the wooden monster. The creature was fast, but it was not equally as strong. Sofia was stronger, and the monster couldn¡¯t move at all, stuck in her deadly embrace. If destroying them doesn¡¯t work, then letting the rot do its job will! While Sofia restrained that one creature, Astelia was trying to prevent the other one from reforming. Its scattered debris were pulling themselves together like magnets and reassembling. Astelia first tried to stop them with her specialization, but there were too many pieces and were too scattered, and seemed to have a will of their own; she couldn¡¯t control them all for any extended length of time. Instead she used one of her flying mithril blades to cut herself, slashing both of her legs off at the knee, spraying her own blood everywhere. Crying out in pain, the small vampire used her specialization once more, as her blood was catching fire mid-air, she controlled the individual drops of flaming blood to strike the many shards of the wood monster. Most of the shards were hit and caught on fire, while Astelia¡¯s legs snapped back to where they belonged by themselves with a disgusting wet sound. The Vampire¡¯s curse?! She has a curse of fire! You can use it like that?! This isn¡¯t normal fire either, it¡¯s much hotter and filled with the mana from her blood! Its individual parts either covered in rot or on fire, the monster that had been reduced to shred finally died, its shard weakly falling to the ground, no longer trying to bring themselves together. ¡®Your party has defeated [Juvenile Dryad - lv. 249]¡¯ I don¡¯t suppose Bookie is interested in those wooden shards¡­ Astelia turned to Sofia, ¡°Need help?¡± ¡°No, this thing can barely move, I¡¯m holding on tight, just give it a bit for the rot to sip on all the mana and it¡¯ll start eating the wood. I don¡¯t think it¡¯ll stand back up from it.¡± ¡°Alright. What now, though?¡± Astelia asked, ¡°Do you think the tree has any more surprises for us?¡± ¡°Maybe? Probably not or it would be doing it now is my guess,¡± Sofia answered, still holding onto the second Dryad, after a few seconds of total silence, she continued, ¡°The question is, do we finish it off, now that it isn¡¯t putting up a fight anymore?¡± Astelia looked at the tree from the bottom to the top, before looking back at Sofia. ¡°That is a very good question. It¡¯s not really doing anything. If we¡¯re being fair, it was only defending itself. Finishing it won¡¯t give us any experience and won¡¯t help with our skills.¡± If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. As they spoke, the rot consumed all of the second Dryad¡¯s mana and eventually its wooden body crumbled in Sofia¡¯s arm. ¡®Your party has defeated [Juvenile Dryad - lv. 249]¡¯ ¡°I guess we¡¯re about done, then. Almost makes me feel bad for killing the wood things. Still, I sense a source of mana under the tree, we should probably check that out,¡± she told Astelia while checking up on Pareth¡¯s situation. ¡°Can you take us there with your half-skeletons?¡± ¡°I can, the death of the first Dryad restored a bit of my mana, we have to be quick though, I can only sustain the graveyard for like twenty seconds. Also when my transformation runs out in four minutes or so I¡¯ll be weakened, you remember how that works?¡± ¡°Yeah, it has been a while since you showed me but your skills are so ridiculous they¡¯re hard to forget, Sofia. I¡¯ll still be there and we have Pareth too so it¡¯s fine, there shouldn¡¯t be anything dangerous left around here unless the mana source under the tree is another monster.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s find out.¡± Using the graveyard skeletons to phase through the floor, Sofia and Astelia discovered an underground vault under the tree, tightly wrapped around by thousands of roots. It was much harder for the graveyard skeletons to phase through living matter but they still made it in time, leaving Sofia and Astelia inside of a small square room with orichalcum walls right under the base of the giant tree¡¯s trunk. This cubic vault was almost empty except for a pair of black gem earrings just floating in the middle, surrounded by the smallest amount of pink and green mithrium to hold the gems and make the hook. If you have this tiny an amount of mithrium, that¡¯s probably the best you can do, that¡¯s likely one or two grams at most. ¡°Cursed,¡± Astelia observed. ¡°Yeah, cursed mana is leaking and getting absorbed by the tree. It is really a lot of mana to fit into something so small. My mana senses are almost overwhelmed just standing this close to them. Let¡¯s see what our scribes have to say¡­ Actually, can you do it? I don¡¯t have the spare mana for an advanced [Identify] if we want to leave using the graveyard again.¡± ¡°Sure, give me a second.¡± [Sweet Little Lies]: Divine item forged with the essence of Lies. Wearing these earrings allows one to see past any trickery and illusion, at a cost. The wearer needs to stay true to themselves. Not following your true desires and lying to yourself is a Sin, should you fall prey to it, you will be lost into sweet dreams, temporarily ensnared by the earrings¡¯ curse. A fair trade. Item level : 450. Grade : Forgotten. This answers who the veiled Recessed is. Quite fitting. ¡°That sure is something,¡± Sofia commented as she read the description, ¡°Do you want them?¡± ¡°Do you not?¡± Astelia asked back. ¡°It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t want to, but more that it¡¯s a bit redundant, [Blessing of the Deep] protects against [Mind control], [Hypnosis] and [Confusion], and I think I can work on regaining the interesting effects of [Pristine essence] against perception alterations even if I forgot it since last time, seeing how the mana pathways still exist, just dried up and a bit atrophied.¡± ¡°You want to re-learn a passive skill from the leftover mana pathways? That¡¯s not going to be a fun time.¡± ¡°Just part of it, well, it¡¯s a side-project, not a priority at all. Still, these would be kind of wasted on me, I would probably just be tempted to try to get the divine essence out,¡± Sofia admitted. And honestly I already have way too much jewelry and shit to wear all the time, I don¡¯t need more. If anything I should think about getting rid of some before I start looking like Ihuarah. ¡°That is really a waste¡­ I would take them, but the curse part is a bit¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s not too bad? It even says it¡¯s temporary so if you mess up it shouldn¡¯t be a huge deal. Your scribe seems to think it¡¯s fine, at least.¡± ¡°I¡¯m taking them, then. I guess that might end up killing the tree in the end, since we¡¯re stealing its nourishment. But well¡­ We can¡¯t leave this here to rot.¡± Astelia had several gold rings and jewels already attached to her long vampire ears, she removed the pair of amethyst gems on her earlobes and grabbed the pair of cursed earrings to replace them. ¡°Looks cute,¡± Sofia complimented her. Astelia blushed slightly. ¡°Thanks. You should take the Orichalcum, no reason to leave it here, these walls are thin and the room is small but that¡¯s still a lot of good metal.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± I need to be fast before the transformation ends. Using her Dragon scale claws, Sofia ripped off the walls, ground and ceiling orichalcum sheets lining the room and stored them all within her storage ring, leaving the small vault stripped of all its value and completely empty. The stone bricks behind were cracked and let some of the tree¡¯s roots through. ¡°That should be all, my transformation still has about a minute left, let¡¯s go see what the students think about it.¡± ¡°They¡¯re all good?¡± Sofia nodded, ¡°All safe with the skeletons, it¡¯s too bad that we couldn¡¯t have them watch the fight.¡± ¡°They saw us fight plenty against the trees already. Imagine if one of the Dryads attacked them and Pareth let even a bit of the blast through.¡± ¡°Yeah that would have been bad¡­ Let¡¯s get going.¡±
Chapter 356 - Jokester Sofia and Astelia stood over the spot where the bone bunker was buried with the students and skeletons inside. ¡°Should I teleport you inside?¡± Astelia asked, aware that Sofia had no mana left to spare to use the graveyard again. ¡°No, I have a funny idea,¡± Sofia answered, laughing ominously. Only about forty seconds left on the demon form¡­ So short.
The students were waiting in the enlarged safe room, safely buried a few meters deep under one of the dungeon¡¯s corridors, a few hundred meters away from the boss room. Some were sitting, some walking around in circles, impatiently waiting to be let out of there. The safe room shook with the distant noise and vibrations of a muted impact, as if a wall fell down somewhere far in the dungeon. The students looked at each other. ¡°Was the fight not over?¡± one of the boys asked. ¡°It was silent for a while¡­¡± Lola answered, sticking her ear against the wall, ¡°And it¡¯s silent again.¡± ¡°Could there be a second boss?¡± Shaily suggested, right as the room shook again. Lola and Opal were surprised by the stronger tremor and both lost their footing, getting caught by En and Topaz respectively. Opal seemed the most worried of the group as she knew something the other students hadn¡¯t realized yet. The second tremor had come from much closer, she could feel it. Since she couldn¡¯t talk, she tended to listen to things around her a lot more and had developed a very sensitive sense of hearing. Nevertheless, the casual discussion in the safe room turned back to the hushed whispers it had been when the teachers had been fighting the boss. A third tremor hit the room, this time much closer, enough that everyone noticed. The atmosphere was already getting tense but it suddenly got much, much worse when Pareth activated his armor and weapon, taking a fighting stance in the middle of the room. Bookie panickedly signaled to the students to sit on the floor and be silent with hand gestures. The room was so silent one could hear a fly land. Next came the sound of floor tiles cracking, then of the stone around the safe room getting crushed. Something was digging, and it was coming straight for them. Some were too terrified to do anything, some instinctively prepared to use a spell, but they all knew that if the skeletons guarding them couldn¡¯t protect them then they would have no chance to do anything. Something hit the walls of the safe room, it was not as violent as the tremors from before, more like someone knocking at the wall. Then came a second, louder knock, and Pareth adjusted his fighting stance slightly, his sword facing the direction of the noise. A dark-gray clawed hand burst through the wall. Some of the students screamed in terror. The hand pulled back, tearing a huge hole into the bone wall. It revealed the demonic appearance of a creature¡¯s spiky mutated head with a disproportionately large mouth and pointy razor-sharp teeth. Half of its torso was also visible, revealing a gaping hole in the creature¡¯s body where the heart should be. The thing roared and threw itself arms first at the holy skeleton warrior. Pareth¡¯s sword disappeared at the last moment, he spread his arms and caught the demonic creature in a tight embrace. They barrelled through the room, rolling in front of the students as they held each other, and crashed into the opposite wall. A few spells were actually fired their way, only to curve around them and harmlessly hit a wall. Just as the dust settled, Sofia swiftly reactivated her bone armor except for the helmet, and her transformation ended. Pareth was down, back against the floor with Sofia on top, they released each other and Sofia sat up on his chest, her hair a mess in front of her face. ¡°Hey kids, missed me?¡± Sofia asked the students as she adjusted her hair. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. After a moment of silent shock, copious amounts of profanities were hurled her way as Sofia heartily laughed by herself. Astelia entered the wall through the hole a few seconds later, discreetly storing the academy¡¯s catalyst she had been clutching until now. ¡°You were a fucking Apostle!?¡± Topaz asked, her mind blown by the nonsensical revelation. ¡°Did you think Vakaria was my surname? It stands for Vakariazrehafin of Sorrow,¡± Sofia answered innocently as if it was common sense. ¡°Weren¡¯t you a Saint?!¡± Topaz argued back. ¡°Oh, yes, that too, though my patron God hates my guts.¡± ¡°How can¡­ Did you perform one of those deranged rituals?¡± Topaz asked again, flabbergasted. ¡°Sure did, had to kill myself twice in the process. Fun times.¡± ¡°No wonder she can call shadow sprites,¡± Shaily mumbled to herself. The students, especially those from Astelia¡¯s group, were looking at Sofia like she was a monster, which, to be fair to them, she was. Out of all of the teenagers, En seemed to be the less affected by the sudden scare, if anything, she looked excited to learn her teacher was even stronger than she had realized until now. On the contrary, Opal was breathing very fast, having a hard time recovering from the scare, Sofia¡¯s roar had shaken her to her core. Frowning, she scribbled on her notepad and showed it to Sofia. ¡®YOU SCARED ME!!! (?£à¡Ä¡ä)¡¯ Sofia laughed awkwardly and apologized, ¡°Sorry, sorry, I just couldn¡¯t help myself. Since you bunch could not watch the boss fight I thought you deserved to at least see one monster, right? We did clear the dungeon by the way, Astelia got some cute magic earrings and I also got a good chunk of Orichalcum. I¡¯ll melt the thing into ingots and you¡¯ll get one each as an apology for the scare, how does that sound?¡± The unexpected reward instantly lightened the mood in the ¡®safe¡¯ room, and the students started asking a lot of questions to both Sofia and Astelia about the items and the boss and the demon form all at once. First, however, they were interrupted by Pareth tapping on Sofia¡¯s back; she was still sitting on him. ¡°Oh! Sorry,¡± she apologized with a rare slightly reddened face; she stood up and lent Pareth a hand to get up.
I guess there was nobody else going after us¡­ I still can¡¯t shake this weird sensation that somebody is watching me though. Maybe I really need to take more time to relax¡­ Waiting for the Academy to send someone to retrieve them from the dungeon, everyone was having a fine campfire meal in a clean room they had reclaimed from all the rampant vegetation. Sofia was just getting done recounting the events of the boss fight to her class while Astelia was giving out the scores to her own students. ¡°Right, let me give the scores for this event, I have been keeping track, so let¡¯s see. I won¡¯t give the detailed breakdown, but overall, you all did very well, I¡¯m proud!¡± The students intently waited for the scores. Four of them were actually trying to compete for the first place, with only Topaz being uninterested. However, tokens were still worth one gold each, not much to the princess of an Empire, but even she wouldn¡¯t say no to more money to spend on new weapons. ¡°So, do keep in mind that everyone shared a singular pool of token since it was a cooperative event, but there were a few bonuses up for grabs and that did create a small leaderboard. Everyone got at least two bonuses which is pretty good, and the overall performance throughout the dungeon was very good with minimal injuries and issues. I only had to step in once, so that¡¯s a single penalty. Now, then. Equal in third place with the exact same number of points, we have En, Topaz, and Shaily, getting 180 tokens each.¡± ¡°So much?!¡± En asked, her tails standing up. ¡°Yeah, the events are really going to be the main source of tokens along with duels. For comparison you only get four-hundred something for stealing my teacher¡¯s pouch so it¡¯s both a lot and not so much. Anyway, second place goes to Opal! You barely ever missed a spell, never actually hit an ally despite the large area of effect of most of your spells, finished off a lot of monsters by yourself, overall great performance. 220 tokens.¡± Opal looked embarrassed by the compliments and tried to redirect the attention to the only person left who was obviously first place, Lola. ¡°And indeed, Lola, congratulations on getting the most bonus points. You have improved a lot since our first class two months ago. You still have areas to progress in. I continue to think you could have some great success by fighting side to side with your guardian like I do with Pareth, but it¡¯s good to take it step by step like you do. I¡¯m very proud of how far you have come already. 250 tokens!¡± Sofia announced, clapping for Lola. The other girls also clapped and congratulated her. Shaily looked very happy to see her friend progress so much, she had the brightest smile out of the entire group despite scoring lower. Evan in the other group stood up during this, ¡°Two fifty?!¡± he exclaimed, getting entirely ignored, before sitting back down. ¡°I¡¯ll admit it¡¯s deserved¡­¡± he mumbled, sighing defeatedly. ¡°Evan got 220 like Opal,¡± Sofia informed them, ¡°So Lola is actually first for the whole dungeon. As I said, well done. Hard work pays off.¡± Saint Tartaros appeared around the time everyone was finishing their celebratory meal. ¡°I see that besides the student who had to be evacuated, nothing has gone wrong,¡± the tall Saint observed as his eyes scanned everyone in the room. ¡°Very well, I will now distribute the tokens before we head back. I will ask the students to quickly regain your dorms, as I need to have a talk with your teachers. The next two days are off, and there will be no duels during this time, so sleep well and recuperate. Building strength requires proper rest.¡±
Chapter 357 - Two thousand levels of fun and games After his explanations, Saint Tartaros teleported everyone to the academy. Astelia and Sofia appeared directly in the headmaster''s office in the company of Tartaros, while the students were probably sent to their dormitories. Beligenus was busy writing a book using an impractically huge feather as his pen. It took a few seconds for him to finish writing his page, and only then did he look up at the newcomers, welcomed them, and told them to sit. Sofia did try to read what Beligenus was writing about, but it was in Draconic, and reading Draconic signs upside down was still outside of Sofia''s capabilities, especially with how much she had been slacking off on this particular subject ever since her scribe had started translating the system messages for her. Before the headmaster could explain anything, Astelia had already asked a question: ¡°What happened to Clint? Is he still alive?¡± Beligenus nodded, his white beard shaking up and down, ¡°Doctor Leverle handled his case. He is safe but currently in a coma. We could not get any answers from him, but that is entirely unnecessary, as we now have a good grasp on the situation.¡± Tartaros picked up where Beligenus left off, ¡°We, Beligenus, the Imperial couple, and myself, have been working on a large project. To facilitate its smooth continuation, we have decided to let you both know a bit more. You will then continue to oversee the competition¡¯s events as a pair from here on out. Miss Vakaria already knows a little.¡± Astelia turned to look at Sofia, a puzzled look on her face. ¡°Can I share everything I know?¡± Sofia asked, and Beligenus nodded in response. Sofia thus proceeded to explain what she knew to Astelia, ¡°In short, the hidden goal of the competition is to bait a certain unknown someone into trying to steal the admin¡¯s sword, and one of my students is apparently linked to that person somehow. That''s it.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± Astelia softly reacted, ¡°The sword as the reward did look a bit too good to be true, though I had just pinned that on the emperor being overly generous with his citizens¡­ But how does that lead to Clint trying to poison Sofia¡¯s students?¡± Tartaros stood up from his chair, his hands on his hips. He started pacing around the office as he answered, ¡°The person we are trying to bait out of hiding and terminate is a traitor of the Empire and the reason for the late Empress¡¯ passing,¡± he revealed, ¡°They were last identified by the system as a level 508.¡± Hearing this, Astelia¡¯s hand gripped a bit tighter on her seat''s armrest, causing the stressed wood to make an intermittent cracking noise. Well. I am not going to be of any help here, clearly. They¡¯re going at this guy at three against one and still need to proceed with caution¡­ For the best, probably. An all-out battle between level 500 powerhouses must be devastating on a planetary level, thinking about how Erredis said she could have covered the entire moon in rot with a single breath. Beligenus then continued, ¡°We expect that person to try multiple things to get their hands on the sword, one of them is to have someone they have some influence over win the sword legitimately for them. That someone is one of Teacher Vakaria¡¯s students.¡± Sofia frowned as she quickly made the connection in her head with the poisoning incident being obviously related to this. ¡°You mean they controlled Clint to sabotage my group and poison Shaily in order to skew the token gains in favor of another one of my students and eliminate competition?¡± ¡°It is not straightforward like so,¡± Beligenus refuted, ¡°they are a cunning, powerful, and ruthless individual. While achieving these might have given their candidate an edge, that would have been nothing but a happy accident for them. In accordance with their habits, the intent of the maneuver was likely twofold. It served to gauge our response to their actions and to remove the priest of Death from the scene, allowing them to spectate the event in a less roundabout manner.¡± ¡°I felt a presence watching me all the time after Clint left. That was them¡­¡± Sofia concluded. ¡°Undoubtedly,¡± the headmaster confirmed, ¡°One of your abilities is preventing scrying, it is curiously potent, and must have been a hassle to deal with, as this is not in our target¡¯s field of expertise. If you noticed it, it must mean that their means of spectating were less than discreet, hence the need to remove the priest from the picture first.¡± So VPPV did at least hinder the divination from a level 500. That¡¯s not bad. It is supposed to be an absolute effect, but I assume there is only so much it can do with the mana it has available¡­ You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. ¡°Why watch and do nothing?¡± Astelia asked. ¡°For the same reason, we had to refrain from direct surveillance or intervention, an abundance of caution,¡± the headmaster explained. ¡°And why, exactly, do we have to be embroiled in all of this?¡± Astelia asked, a slightly frustrated tone coating her usually sweet voice, ¡°Are this Academy and Empire¡¯s ideals to be playing with their teachers and students¡¯ lives?¡± ¡°I stand with Astelia on this,¡± Sofia added, standing straight in her seat. ¡°As far as the students go, we regretfully have no choice,¡± Beligenus explained, his voice as calm and composed as usual. ¡°As it stands, you both are replaceable. You may leave if you accept your recollections of this operation¡¯s details be wiped from your memory. I would, however, advise against it.¡± ¡°How surprising,¡± Astelia coldly answered, ¡°Wait until the Queen hears about this. You should know what it means to go against a Duke of Vasperia.¡± ¡°I understand your animosity,¡± the headmaster conceded, ¡°however, I ask that you be patient, as the reason you were included, teacher Glacier, has little to do with the operation.¡± ¡°Then why?¡± Sofia pressed him, ¡°Just endangering me and my students wasn¡¯t enough?¡± Beligenus ignored the indignant remark and elaborated on his thoughts, ¡°Teacher Vakaria was set up as the new teacher because of her unique protection against scrying and external influences. Although we failed to isolate the reason at first, we now understand that it must have to do with her¡­ Unsettling lineage. This alone greatly enhances the safety of the students under her care. As for your case, teacher Glacier, you were added to the considerations after our recent discoveries. Your presence gives teacher Vakaria an additional bit of support, which is welcome, but it is primarily in your own interest that we put you where you are.¡± ¡°How on the Ancestor¡¯s bloody curse is this situation meant to benefit me?!¡± Astelia angrily argued back, completely forgetting who it was she was speaking to. ¡°That I would rather not tell yet. The early discovery would only hinder your focus. Just know that it will benefit you. This old lizard may hide many things, but he does not deceive,¡± Beligneus told her, sitting straight in his chair. Do you not, now? Dragons must have an interesting definition of deception. Astelia¡¯s new earrings should be able to detect lies, so that should help if he is trying anything funny. Can we really trust this item in the face of someone so powerful, though? That is uncertain¡­ Seeing Astelia also still harbored a very unconvinced expression, Sofia brought out her staff. She grabbed the little metal ball dangling from it. ¡°What am I holding?¡± she asked, staring at the old Dragon dead in the eyes. Beligenus narrowed his eyes a bit, although the rest of his face was imperturbable. The question came out of nowhere, but he indulged her, ¡°That would be the system-protected jingle bell which has been attached to your weapon ever since you arrived at the Academy.¡± So he does know that it is a bell despite it being empty and not identifiable. But is that a guess or can he actually hear it? To probe further¡­ ¡°How does it sound to you?¡± Sofia continued, ¡°Describe it in detail. My continued collaboration will entirely depend on your and Mr Tartaros¡¯ answers.¡± ¡°You trust that bell more than your own judgment?¡± Beligenus asked curiously, ¡°So be it, if that is all you require, to my best knowledge, this bell sounds like the distant ringing of wind chimes on a sunny day. As far as I can tell, it does not actually emit any physical soundwave and instead directly sends information through the soul. I assume that this was likely one of the ultimate rewards of the second trial.¡± Sofia turned her gaze to Tartaros, who was waiting with his arms crossed, back against a wall. ¡°What the Dragon said,¡± he declared with no hesitation before adding one more detail, ¡°the sound is relaxing. Soul-healing properties, I would wager.¡± ¡°I see,¡± Sofia said, storing her staff. ¡°I think we can trust them,¡± she told Astelia. It took a bit more talking to convince Astelia, but she eventually accepted to conserve the status quo after making Beligenus swear under Moon¡¯s name that he would not let a single one of their students die during the year. The two old monsters were annoyingly reluctant to share any more information on the target of the plan, the specific Student of Sofia¡¯s who had a link to them, or the exact reason why Astelia would have wanted to be a part of the entire ordeal. But they did at least have one more interesting thing to say, which was that they were now certain that the attack during the first event had been instigated by Scripture, and that He would undoubtedly strike again at some point during the year. They had then assured them that they would intervene when that happened. Tartaros would prevent the target of their plan from stepping in and taking advantage of the chaos, Beligenus would focus on preventing a direct divine intervention from Scripture, and Sofia and Astelia would have to fend for themselves against Scripture¡¯s now isolated and weakened pawns. In a way, they would repay Sofia¡¯s help by helping her against Scripture. It was enticing but Sofia had to wonder whether it would be an issue for the ¡®no help¡¯ part of her quest, which she would now have to ask the Orator about. Either way, she eventually headed out of the Headmaster¡¯s office with Astelia, but not before leaving them with a last present to really seal their temporary alliance. ¡°Just so that we stand on completely clear grounds. My name is still Aphenoreth, and I swear on the four Lords¡¯ name that if you let one of our students die for your little hunting plan, I will haunt you both and your friend the Emperor until the very memory of your existence is erased from the fabric of this world. Now have a nice day.¡± Sofia closed the door behind her with a gentle smile on her face. There was an oppressive silence in Beligenus¡¯ office as Astelia and Sofia walked down the stairs of the headmaster¡¯s tower. ¡°I told you. We are playing with fire, Beligenus.¡± ¡°You know me. I have always had a fascination for fire. These two burn too brightly to ignore. Everything is following the plan so far. We only yet have to secure the Archangel.¡± ¡°Delivia is still negotiating as we speak¡­¡±
Chapter 358 - Playing ball One week after the second event, on the following weekend, Saria was helping Sofia get ready for a social outing. Lola¡¯s family was organizing a party to celebrate her outstanding performance in the competition, and Sofia had naturally been invited. Since she could bring two guests, and Alith wasn¡¯t interested, she was going to go with Pareth and her sister. Saria adjusted the tightness of Sofia¡¯s corset. ¡°About this much should be good. How do you feel?¡± ¡°It¡¯s much better than it was when I put it on myself.¡± ¡°You should have asked for Pareth to help you.¡± Sofia looked back at her sister, ¡°Pareth knows weapons and fighting, he¡¯s not so familiar with clothing.¡± ¡°Eh, you never know, until you try. Oh right, did voice-man come to clarify things about the quest?¡± ¡°No, Orator hasn¡¯t shown up since the last time with Alith, but the quest has been updated so he was listening,¡± Sofia explained. ¡°I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s funny or scary to think about the Lords just always listening to everyone.¡± ¡°The feeling I got is more like they just know the things happen rather than actively listening probably. The one vision I had of Ormoncleth in particular felt like¡­ As if they were more real than reality. It¡¯s weird but, yeah¡­¡± I didn¡¯t know much back then. ¡°I¡¯m curious as to what the fourth one looks like now. Do you think the sculpture was accurate?¡± Saria cautiously asked, trying to circumvent the censorship about the second trial. ¡°Maybe? It¡¯s hard to tell. I¡¯m more curious about Orator¡¯s appearance, if he has one.¡± ¡°Guess we¡¯ll ask next time he comes for a chat,¡± Saria said while she looked through Sofia¡¯s clothes, ¡°Right, how did the quest change? You didn¡¯t say,¡± she asked. ¡°It now says the restriction on allies helping only applies to marked quest targets. That¡¯s it, nothing else changed, no precision on who the marked targets are either.¡± Saria shrugged, ¡°So some kind of ¡®you¡¯ll know when you see it¡¯ deal. I would guess Scripture and his high-priests must be the targets. I can¡¯t imagine Orator caring much if you get help to get rid of a few paladins.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t really intend to kill more paladins if I don¡¯t need to. I¡¯ll get Scripture for what he did to the Orphanage and that¡¯s it.¡± ¡°Still, to think Scripture would attack you even in the Academy¡­ He must be really desperate for that essence you have.¡± ¡°Well, too bad for him, I don¡¯t intend to ever give it back. Speaking of which, Saria, what are you going to do about the next trial?¡± ¡°Cinthia has been going to the church of Death every so often after you told her of the Apostle, we managed to negotiate something with them. Death will give us each an essence to wager,¡± Saria explained. She finally picked one of the outfits for her sister, ¡°Raise your arms.¡± Sofia followed the instruction while Saria dressed her up, at the same time, she asked, ¡°Death? Sounds dangerous. I expected Cinthia to get a deal with Hatred.¡± ¡°The stronger the essence, the better the return on investment from the trial, supposedly. Hatred wants Cinthia to get stronger so He actually advocated for her to get something better than His own essence. And yeah, handling Death¡¯s essence is dangerous, so it''s going to be quite something setting it all up, but that benefits everyone, Death can also get some relief too by having their essence spread out.¡± Saria then grabbed the pieces of the saint set Sofia had laid out as part of the things she could wear. ¡°No news on the other three parts?¡± she asked. ¡°In the last two months? Nothing. I haven¡¯t really been looking,¡± Sofia admitted as she adjusted the long black robe Saria had just helped her put on. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Too busy with changing your blood into light, still?¡± ¡°I¡¯m getting much faster at it, I will be done in a few more weeks, if nothing major comes up. I promised myself I would read every single book in the Academy¡¯s library once I was done with it, that helps me stay motivated.¡± ¡°You seem plenty motivated already. I¡¯m trying hard to keep up, gotta get my first place back in the next trial. I won¡¯t let you beat me at it twice, lil sis,¡± Saria told Sofia while juggling with the Saint set¡¯s headband and the crown of Victory. ¡°I¡¯ll get you your own crown if you beat me. Sounds good? That might be easier than you think, too. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll perform as well this time, Sen warned me that the trial would be twice as hard now since I would be taking it along with Pareth who now counts as his own person.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t forget to have it enchanted to adjust to my Dragon form,¡± Saria said with a small laugh. ¡°Don¡¯t get overconfident now. And are you going to keep playing with my stuff or do you want to actually help me choose what to wear at some point?¡± Saria gave Sofia the side-eyes, ¡°Sorry sister, I don¡¯t think anyone ll¡¯be paying any attention to whatever jewelry you put on now. Not with the corset and that robe. Your¡­ charisma is overflowing.¡± Sofia glanced down. Hmmmm. Yeah it is a bit much. Well. I don¡¯t think anyone would complain about it, though. The clothier said it would be good for nobles¡¯ gatherings so¡­ Oh, hey, my first mana pearl is starting to take form. Saria tapped on Sofia¡¯s back, startling her. ¡°See, even you get distracted by your own stuff.¡± Sofia rolled her eyes. Observing Saria, she noticed something wrong. ¡°Have yours gotten bigger?¡± ¡°Well, you know. I can buy Charisma from my class shop. So¡­¡± ¡°I see. You do know how exactly charisma works, yes?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°Oh don¡¯t worry,¡± Saria laughed, then continued her thought, ¡°I¡¯ll be content with them long before I get to your level. I¡¯m more surprised that you can say this with a straight face.¡± ¡°Hoy, I¡¯ll have you know I looked like this from level one, so don¡¯t start insinuating things.¡± ¡°Sure, sure¡­¡± Saria answered with a smirk. ¡°But enough joking around, we¡¯re going to be late at this rate, just keep the dragon scale, the blue earrings and the crown,¡± Saria told Sofia as she handed her the crown she had been fiddling with until now, ¡°that ought to be enough, no need to bring out the whole saint set too. Is Pareth ready?¡± ¡°Haven¡¯t checked, he left with the Clothier a while ago. He just has to teleport back when he¡¯s good anyway. You looked up where the ElderPlain Marquessate is?¡± ¡°Yeah, you can fly us there in no time, don¡¯t worry.¡±
Sofia landed in the central place of a small town, far to the west of the capital city of Exidia, she let go of Saria¡¯s waist and looked around for someone she could bother. Her arrival hadn¡¯t gone unnoticed, so the few people still around the central fountain at this hour were all looking at them. Sofia just walked up to the closest person, a middle-aged Exidian woman walking with two large bags full of potatoes under her arms. ¡°Hello, excuse me, could you point us toward the ElderPlain Manor please?¡± Sofia asked the blue-skinned woman. ¡°Human nobles?¡± the other people around the plaza wondered aloud, while it took a few seconds for the woman Sofia had questioned to process the sudden encounter. In the end, she pointed to a seemingly random direction, ¡°the north gate, follow the paved road¡­¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± Sofia walked back to Saria, grabbed her and flew up. The directions from the woman turned out to be true, as a few minutes later, they could see the huge manor on the border of a dark forest in the distance. The sun was starting to set and the manor was brightly lit, making it impossible to miss from above. Sofia started slowing down as they flew closer, having a good look at the estate of Lola¡¯s family. ¡°Looks very wealthy for a Marquess,¡± Saria commented. ¡°They are art makers and brokers, supposedly,¡± Sofia explained. ¡°I know, they have a big shop in Exidia, we¡¯ve been there once with Cinthia and Zerei. But it¡¯s still impressive to see, can you imagine how hard it has to be to maintain a garden that big?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure with a single competent plant mage around¡­¡± ¡°If they can find and hire one just to play gardener, yeah.¡± Sofia stopped completely. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Saria asked, surprised by the sudden stop. ¡°I just remembered, this is going to be a special night,¡± Sofia started. ¡°Isn¡¯t that the whole point of a celebration party?¡± ¡°No, what I mean is, Jen is also invited.¡± ¡°Oh, you mean we¡¯re going to check up on that potential ancestor of ours, finally? About time, I was wondering when you were going to bring that up again.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been busy¡­¡±
Chapter 359 - Mommy issues ¡°We should land near the line of carriages, probably,¡± Saria suggested. ¡°Oh, yeah. It looks like they have someone checking the invitations down there¡­ Say Saria, do you think we would survive the fall if I just closed my wings right now and we do nothing to stop it?¡± ¡°That¡¯s a weird question to ask out of nowhere¡­ I think we would, actually. We should be at the point where it¡¯s hard to die from a simple fall, unless we crash on something dangerous.¡± ¡°I did die when I hit the moon.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not the same and you know it. How did you even come up with that question?¡± ¡°I just remembered how I killed that Magisterium guy,¡± Sofia explained. ¡°Didn¡¯t you say he was like level 150? We¡¯re far past that already. So, we going down or not? This isn¡¯t exactly the most comfortable position.¡± Sofia flew down and landed near the long row of carriages lining up outside of the manor¡¯s front garden. She and Saria helped each other readjust their dresses and hairstyles, and when they were about ready to go, Pareth finally made his appearance. His skeletal body as a boneplate-mauleur skeleton was completely hidden inside of a sumptuous and gigantic black-steel ceremonial armor that gave him the allure of a three-meters tall muscular human warrior. Holy light escaped from within the helmet¡¯s visor and his divine halo hovered above the helmet, creating shimmering reflections all over the polished black plate. Facing the two women, he bowed with an arm across his chest. ¡°Our escort finally shows up,¡± Saria commented, ¡°Looking good, Pareth.¡± ¡°The Clothier sure did a fine job. You can¡¯t even tell it¡¯s a skeleton inside. Are you happy with it?¡± Sofia asked Pareth, which was answered by a small nod. ¡°Money well spent, then! I like it too. Let¡¯s go!¡± ¡°After you, sister, you¡¯ve got the invitation.¡± The group walked along the line of empty carriages all the way up to the manor¡¯s gates, where an old Exidian butler in uniform was waiting for guests to show up. [Supporter - Lv.199] ¡°Hello and welcome to the ElderPlain estate, ladies, and good sir,¡± he greeted them, ¡°May I see your invitations?¡± ¡°Hi, there you go,¡± Sofia answered as she handed him the invitation letter Lola had personally given her. The butler opened the letter and quickly glanced over the contents, then he folded and handed it back to Sofia. ¡°We are happy to welcome you and your company as our guests, Teacher Vakaria.¡± The butler''s voice held a note of respect as he continued, ¡°The Young Mistress has had nothing but praises to say about your teachings. Please allow me to teleport you to the main entrance. The Young Mistress is no doubt eager to greet you." Sofia, Saria and pareth stepped onto the ritual circle near the gate the butler led them to, and in an instant they found themselves in front of the manor¡¯s front doors, where a single level 300 Exidian stood guard. His gaze barely turned their way, losing all interest when he noticed the butler''s presence. ¡°This way,¡± the butler guided them inside and, between two rows of large marble statues, through the entrance, all the way up to a set of wooden double doors sculpted with great detail, which he pushed open to reveal a large and opulent hall. ¡°A wonderful evening to you three.¡± Sofia looked into the already crowded hall and its long banquet tables lining the walls, all eyes turning to watch the newcomer. At least a hundred heads, a lot of them look quite powerful too. Not far from the entrance, Sofia spotted Lola standing with two older ladies with a smile on her face, she was dressed in an elegant gown that sparkled in the soft light of the chandeliers. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. ¡°Teacher!¡± Lola called out, hurrying toward her as fast as her long gown would allow. ¡°I¡¯m glad you accepted to come!¡± Turning to Saria, she greeted her too, ¡°You must be her sister. Welcome to my home. And to you too, Instructor Pareth.¡± "Thank you for inviting us, Lola," Sofia said with genuine warmth. "Your home is magnificent." Lola laughed. "It''s a bit much, isn''t it? All the artwork on exhibition today is made by my two eldest sisters,¡± she said, pointing at the two women she had been standing with before. ¡°I''m glad you like it. Ah, but let''s not keep my parents waiting. They''ve been looking forward to meeting you." Marquess ElderPlain and his wife were both Artisans over level 400, they were polite in their introduction, despite completely ignoring Pareth¡¯s presence, and thanked Sofia for taking good care of their daughter¡¯s education. It turned out they did not have much else to say, and they moved on to welcome someone else after promising to reward Sofia handsomely should Lola win the competition. Maybe reward her, not me? Sofia thought, puzzled, as she watched them walk away with another Exidian nobleman. ¡°They¡¯re a bit old fashioned but they mean well¡­¡± Lola explained as her parents disappeared amidst the crowd of guests, then she made a shocked expression, and without a word, she ran past the group. Turning around, Sofia saw her running toward a modestly dressed and panicking Shaily who had just clumsily spilled a bunch of some weird liquid on one of the banquet tables as she tried serving herself a cup. ¡°There she goes,¡± Saria giggled, ¡°Your students are quite lively. We¡¯re by ourselves now, I guess. We should probably socialize or something.¡± ¡°Ah, yes, time to become the nobles we were always meant to be, uh? Father would be proud,¡± Sofia sarcastically answered. ¡°You¡¯re a bit early in bringing him up, should keep that for this paternal ancestor of ours, no?¡± Saria quipped back. ¡°Speaking of which¡­ Isn¡¯t it weird that I look like mom yet I also look like Jennifer when she should be from our father¡¯s side?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°Oh, now that you bring that up¡­ You remember the day this dickhead chased us out?¡± Sofia thought for a few seconds. ¡°Not much. I remember you being angry and the butler throwing us out of a cart in an alleyway, that¡¯s about it.¡± ¡°Well, maybe it¡¯s best that you don¡¯t remember. Our dear father actually called us up to his office before that to gloat about finally getting rid of us to our face,¡± Saria recounted. ¡°Twisted fucker.¡± ¡°Well, yeah. At least he¡¯s dead now. Anyway, it was the only time we stepped foot in his office, but I remember how I had been puzzled by the painting behind his desk. It looked like mom, but older.¡± The gears turned in Sofia¡¯s head and she made a disgusted face, ¡°You think he got with our mom because she looked like his own mother?!¡± ¡°I think that, yes,¡± Saria confirmed, looking equally disgusted. ¡°Just thinking about him makes me sick. I¡¯m almost glad for the Ebb.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s not get into that discussion¡­ We should look for Jennifer, it shouldn''t be too hard, it''s mostly Exidians here.¡± Saria looked around, and it was Pareth who tapped on her shoulder and pointed toward a corner of the grand hall. ¡°Oh, yep, Pareth found her I think, I saw some blonde hair in the sea of white locks and hats.¡± Sofia looked that way but couldn¡¯t see any human woman. The Exidians were shorter on average and Jennifer was quite tall, but the blue-skinned people also almost all wore high hats, hindering the view. She checked through Pareth¡¯s vision, surprised by how restricted it was through his helmet, and indeed saw the tanned blonde teacher sitting in a corner, digging into a plate of cured meat by herself. Her robe showed an outrageous amount of skin and she kept a huge sheathed sword propped up against her side. How fitting. Some people never change. ¡°That¡¯s her, yes. Unmistakable,¡± Sofia told Saria. ¡°Great, let¡¯s say hi, she can¡¯t possibly be worse than our joke of a father.¡± They weaved through the crowd, making their way to the corner of the hall where Jennifer ate by herself, seeing them approach, the woman set the plate of meat back on the banquet table and licked the last bits of grease off of her fingers. ¡°Ay, I figured this was comin¡¯ for me at some point,¡± Jennifer said to herself as she seized them up, ¡°Let¡¯s take this outside,¡± she told the sisters before they could say anything. She stood up, grabbing her sword, and walked around the table to leave by the closest window-door leading to a side-terrasse. Saria and Sofia nodded to each other and followed her outside. Pareth was too large to walk through the door so he teleported after them and closed the door behind him. The atmosphere outside was a bit cold but without wind, the sun was already gone, leaving behind a beautiful starry sky. Jennifer stood before the silent trio, lit by the light escaping from the party inside. She had a curious expression that Sofia couldn¡¯t quite read. Hands on her hips, she opened her mouth, ¡°I didn¡¯t want to believe it at first, but I have to now, don¡¯t I? Guess that useless daughter o¡¯ mine managed to reproduce after all.¡±
Chapter 360 - Coming full circle ¡°It doesn¡¯t sound like you love her much,¡± Sofia said in reaction. Jennifer turned away, taking a few steps out on the terrace, propping her sword against the handrail and leaning on it. ¡°People grow apart. I ain¡¯t gonna go over that, Miranda¡¯s resting in the afterlife now,¡± she said while looking in the distance. Then she turned again, half-sitting on the fence, she addressed the sisters in a somewhat softer voice, ¡°But I never knew she had kids. Not until the ceremony at least. Saria and Sofia, right? How old are ya two? I wanted to do some more diggin¡¯ but headmaster wasn¡¯t tellin¡¯ much and I ain¡¯t exactly got no time to go back to the continent lately.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Saria answered, ¡°I¡¯m Saria, twenty four years old, Sofia is twenty one. We were born with the name Sellar but we were disowned and unnamed, chased from the household. I was six and Sofia was three.¡± Jennifer grunted at Saria¡¯s last words. ¡°Well shit. Doing our kids wrong must be the fuckin¡¯ family special; sorry you had to go through that. Must not have the best feelings towards my name then.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have anything to apologize about. Multiple generations separate us, we are barely even related at this point. If anything, I view this as a lucky encounter, no harsh feelings toward you in particular,¡± Sofia said with a shrug. ¡°You don¡¯ say! I¡¯m like your grand fucking ancestor ain¡¯t I? It¡¯s no big deal if ye want nothing to do with with me but it¡¯s fuckin¡¯ shameful to think I didn¡¯t even know you existed¡­ Is there anyone else I need to know about? D¡¯ya want me to go and spank the hell of yer ¡®parents¡¯ right now?¡± ¡°No one else that we know of,¡± Saria answered, ¡°As far as we know, Baron Silvio Sellar, our ¡®father¡¯ died in the ebb, our mother died before we got disowned. We don¡¯t have any other biological relatives, any cousins or such were probably wiped by the ebb too.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ So the line moved from Skyreach to Sovuln at some point¡­ No wonder I never knew about y¡¯all. An¡¯ yet you both survived, became quite strong quite fast too, if ye ain¡¯t lying about yer age. Left the country before the tide?¡± Sofia shook her head, ¡°We both survived the tide, our luck turned around, one could say.¡± ¡°Ya did? Sounds like there be an interesting story behind all that¡­ Ah¡­ Well, now that yer both here, what¡¯d ya want? Imma ask you straight up. I ain¡¯t very in touch on the emotional side of things, usually, so whatever yer expectations are for me, just say it. Really jus¡¯ a lucky encounter?¡± Jennifer asked with an awkward expression. Saria and Sofia looked at each other, and it was Saria who spoke next, ¡°Really just luck, yes. You¡¯re our distant relative and we¡¯re curious, that¡¯s about it. We don¡¯t want or expect you to try and be our new grandmother or anything, we don¡¯t need your help with anything specific either, it¡¯s just nice to know we still have some family out there that¡¯s not hostile.¡± Jennifer sighed, looking up at the stars, ¡°That a very low bar to pass isn¡¯it? I appreciate that you ain¡¯t trying to force this to become something else, but I wouldn¡¯t blame you if you wanted more. I¡¯m open to helping you kids, if you even need it. I¡¯m not good at much besides hitting things and getting hit, though. Never have been, never will.¡± Sofia took two bone chairs out for her and Saria, ¡°Want a chair too, Jennifer? The fence doesn¡¯t look very comfortable.¡± ¡°Sure, thanks. That made of bones? I know you do some Necromancy, but curious furniture,¡± Jennifer commented as she sat down facing the sisters. ¡°It¡¯s bone, yes. Sofia does that, but that¡¯s not what you should be curious about now. Since we¡¯re mostly done with the presentations, you should ask Sofia about her first trial.¡± Jennifer looked at Sofia, ¡°Trial? Oh the past thing¡­ Did the system make ye live a scene through me? Fuckin¡¯ archangel would do that wouldn¡¯t he?¡± Jennifer laughed to herself and bending forward on her seat, she told the sisters, ¡°Wanna hear something funny? My first trial I was made to be a teacher in Brighthall.¡± ¡°Looks like he really knew what he was doing,¡± Saria commented. ¡°A teacher of what subject?¡± Sofia asked. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Wanna guess? I¡¯ll give ye a hint, my class is [Juggernaut] and the main peculiarity of it is, I have no available mana, ever. It all goes to my passive skills. So what¡¯d ya think the asshole archangel put me up to?¡± So that¡¯s what she meant back then when she told me she had no mana. Interesting class. ¡°Ritual teacher?¡± Saria guessed. ¡°That a good guess but not quite, it was a wildcastin¡¯ teacher, of all things! Wasn¡¯t easy to get through, let me tell ya,¡± Jennifer revealed while laughing by herself, ¡°I even got ta meet her later, we¡¯re good friends; she¡¯s retired now.¡± ¡°Sounds interesting, I wouldn¡¯t mind meeting her,¡± Sofia said, ¡°And to answer your question, no I wasn¡¯t you, but I did meet you during my trial. I was Aurelia.¡± Jennifer stopped laughing. ¡°That can¡¯t have been good¡­ You met me as Aurelia? Princess Aurelia Grandcourt? That Aurelia? The fuck was the archangel thinking?¡± she cursed. ¡°Poor lass died, she was not even an adult¡­¡± ¡°It was¡­ Not fun. But yes, my trial spanned the whole month from her condemnation to the eclipse.¡± ¡°To the Eclipse?!¡± Jen almost shouted from her seat. ¡°You heard me,¡± Sofia confirmed. ¡°Well fuck me, I really want to hear that now.¡± ¡°And I want to know how it really went. I snooped around the ruins of the old capital and I also met Orvod sometime later but he refused to expand much on the subject. And that period of history was conveniently missing from history books.¡± ¡°Ya met bald man? Haven¡¯t heard of him in a while. But sure, I¡¯ll tell ya all you want to know. You tell me about yer trial and I give you the historically accurate version, as witnessed by mah own two eyes. As fer history books, it¡¯s normal ye didn¡¯t find any, Armand, I mean, the new king after the eclipse, he wasn¡¯t the kind ta dwell on the past you know. He wanted to rebuild the kingdom first.¡± Sofia turned to see how the party was going, it still looked very lively inside, then she turned back and got comfortable in her bone chair. She also glanced at Pareth who had taken some distance, and was busy looking at the stars by himself. ¡°This might take a while,¡± she started. ¡°The party looks like it¡¯ll last a while,¡± Saria said in response. ¡°Worst case we¡¯ll finish at my home,¡± Jennifer said, unconcerned, ¡°tell me all about that trial, I¡¯m curious about Aurelia¡¯s perspective too.¡± Sofia cleared her throat. ¡°The trial began as I woke up on the ground, in the throne room. Aurelia was accused of some crap and sentenced to Death, meanwhile Jevvin and Ellen were looking over like carrion birds scouting a piece of rotten meat.¡± ¡°Sounds like ¡®em. Ellen wasn¡¯t so bad, from what I¡¯ve heard; jus¡¯ as naive as Aurelia. Jevvin threw her to the dogs as soon as he had the chance. Supposedly the King never really wanted to get Aurelia killed, he just used the opportunity to lock her in a safe place away from Jevvin until things calmed down,¡° Jennifer explained. ¡°It wasn¡¯t too fun being locked up. I really couldn¡¯t do anything, stuck in Aurelia¡¯s body at level one,¡± Sofia continued. ¡°Heh, you¡¯d only have to stay locked up for three weeks until we came with Armand. At least it¡¯s a relatively safe place, Jevvin couldn¡¯t break through the barrier even after the coup,¡± Jennifer commented. ¡°Three weeks¡­¡± Saria mumbled, turning to Sofia she asked, ¡°Didn¡¯t you say they rescued you after eight days?¡± ¡°Eight days?¡± Jennifer repeated, ¡°doesn¡¯t add up.¡± ¡°I- I might have riled up Armand Skyreach a bit when he came to visit Aurelia¡­¡± Sofia admitted. ¡°Ah, ay, could see how that¡¯d work. The real Aurelia was much too shy to ever do anything like that. She wasn¡¯t mute but t¡¯was almost like she was.¡± ¡°Speaking of which¡­ Can you tell me what happened to Fox? He was really nice,¡± Sofia asked, prompting another sigh from Jennifer. ¡°Dead. Not in the Eclipse, mind ye. He left our group after we got paid for rescuing the princess, got married with a human lass, had kids, died in his farm after about sixty years of good life. I used to visit his kids every so often but eventually they died too¡­¡± Oh¡­ ¡°Sorry that I brought that up¡­¡± Sofia apologized. ¡°It is what it is. No need to apologize. If you live long you¡¯ll outlive plenty of people you like too, it¡¯s just part of the deal¡­¡± Jennifer rebuked, ¡°So we rescued Aurelia early¡­ That¡¯s bound to be messy, took a great deal o¡¯ preparation to make a clean escape. We had ta pierce through the barrier from beneath an¡¯ all. Worked great though, by the time Jevvin noticed anything, Aurelia had changed identity and was comfortably hiding in Armand¡¯s residence in the capital.¡± ¡°What about the key to the royal treasury?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°I¡¯ll tell ye about that but I want to hear about that early escape first.¡± ¡°Sure¡­ Sit comfortably, the story about to get wild.¡±
Chapter 361 - Saintess Narrates Tribulations ¡°... so I grabbed the key and kept it on me because it seemed important. That¡¯s about all that happened while I was still a prisoner,¡± Sofia recounted. ¡°Then Armand rushed things and rescued you early,¡± Jen continued, nodding along. ¡°Precisely,¡± Sofia confirmed, ¡°In fact, it was Fox who snuck into the palace and got rid of the guards in front of my door. He broke the barrier, stomped in, grabbed me and broke a catalyst. Next thing I knew, we were in the forest behind the palace, teleported there by Nyse.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t you say it was Astelia¡¯s uncle?¡± Saria interrupted her. Sofia nodded, ¡°I did, he was the same ¡®Cardinal¡¯ guy who paid me for blood in Drakron, just that he was lower level and used a different name back then.¡± ¡°That tiny vampire lass is ol¡¯ Nyse¡¯s niece?¡± Jennifer muttered, ¡°It¡¯s a small world, eh. He must be glad she¡¯s also a space mage.¡± ¡°This is where things get a bit messy, it turns out you were acting as a diversion with Armand to allow Fox to get in, and Jevvin took the opportunity to assassinate the old king and frame you two for it,¡± Sofia explained. ¡°Jevvin was good at being a sly fucking dog, we can give him that. Must¡¯ve made things much easier for him to have us show up to take the blame. Sent the army after our ass?¡± ¡°Not quite¡­ Nyse teleported you and Armand to us, but the royal mage advisor guy with a dumb face followed you. He was outnumbered though, when Armand broke his shield you sliced him in half with¡­ Uh, is that the same sword, actually?¡± Sofia asked, pointing at the scabbard behind Jennifer. ¡°Not the same, but a similar design,¡± Jen answered. ¡°I remember that one dude, was part of the coup, if I remember things right. Died to the Phageid. I coulda handled him alone, probably. But if Nyse had ta teleport us, must mean we had the whole ass Royal Guard after us. What next?¡± ¡°Well¡­ We hid in Fox¡¯s place for a while, and Armand analysed the situation. His conclusion was that it was unlikely that Jevvin could mobilize the army against us right after the coup, and that he would want to keep the royal guard close because he was a coward. So the most likely thing to happen would be to have the Church¡¯s heroes hunt us.¡± ¡°The Church?¡± Jen asked, ¡°Why the hell woud the Church get involved in this crap? They never gave two shits who the king was back then.¡± ¡°Supposedly, if they retrieved the Aurelia¡¯s key, they could keep part of the treasury¡¯s contents.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ That do make sense¡­ Pretty sure there were some old relics of their god in there, not enough to make ¡®em commit regicide, but if the new king was to offer to give it to ¡®em¡­¡± Jennifer mumbled, thinking to herself. ¡°What happened to that, by the way? You said you would explain,¡± Saria asked Jennifer. ¡°Right. Well, the treasury was essentially a big space magic storage lockbox in a vault, according to Armand. So when the Phageid came to nab all the mana it could, guess what the first thing it reached for was. Treasury¡¯s pretty fuckin¡¯ dead,¡± Jennifer explained with a laugh. ¡°Oh¡­ What happens to the contents of a storage item when it breaks? Does it spill out? I¡¯ve never encountered that actually,¡± Sofia asked. ¡°That I can explain,¡± Saria chimed in, ¡°The storage space inside of a storage item is its own bubble of compressed and stale space contained within the mana plane, and linked to the item. But if it breaks, then the bubble bursts, spilling the content, yes, but not in our physical realm. The logic behind it, if I remember what Zephir said, is that the only new matter that can be brought into the physical realm is mana, since it¡¯s not really wholly physical. So we do swapping instead of subtracting and adding. When we store something in a storage item, the stale air in the storage space is swapped with whatever we put in there, and inversely when we take something out, preserving the balance. But when the storage item breaks, no swap can happen, therefore the matter can¡¯t be brought back into the physical realm. So to conclude in simple words¡­ It all gets thrown directly into the Margin.¡± ¡°Sounds about right,¡± Jen confirmed, ¡°Shit is lost forever, pretty much.¡± Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. That¡­ Sounds like an interesting way to permanently get rid of something. Like incriminating evidence, or something useless to you but that could be used by your enemies. I wonder if Pareth could teleport back to me if my storage ring broke while he¡¯s inside. Probably not if I¡¯m here, but I¡¯d think he probably would be able to if I¡¯m sticking my hands out of Zangdar¡¯s outer shield. If he can even survive being in the margin. Hard to say if he would, considering the Phageid we threw in there died in a few seconds¡­ ¡°So yeah,¡± Sofia started again, ¡°The Church sent the heroes after us, all of them.¡± ¡°And ya managed to escape? Yer trial¡¯s goal was jsut to survive, right? I guess you just gave ¡®em the key, didn¡¯t ya? Pretty sure they¡¯d let ya go with just dat.¡± ¡°Well. No. I managed to convince you all that I had a plan to deal with the issue, and with Armand on my side, you all agreed to go along with it,¡± Sofia said. ¡°Ay, always follow the money, bet he promised to pay us extra when ye weren¡¯t lookin¡¯. Bold move tho, I ain¡¯t too sure what you could do against the heroes. Even with Armand there. Big baldy wasn¡¯t much ov a fighter but he was still not someone we could stand against. Coulda flattened our whole band with a single spell, wouldn¡¯t be hard to retrieve a key,¡± jennifer commented. ¡°So¡­ I¡¯ll skip the details, but I had the instructions for an Apostle¡¯s ritual¡­ And by the time Orvod caught up with us¡­¡± Jennifer stared at Sofia, wide eyed. ¡°Ya didn¡¯t, right? And with Aurelia¡¯s frail ass stick body?!¡± Sofia silently shared the description of her [Vakariazrehafin of Sorrow] skill. After a moment of speechless shock, Jennifer burst out laughing so loudly that she her chair fell backward, and she kept laughing for a second even on the floor. ¡°YE BECAME A FUCKIN APOSTLE IN A TRIAL?!¡± she almost shouted while standing back up. ¡°Yer even crazier than me! I¡¯ll give ye that title any day o¡¯ the week. Damn Archangel must¡¯ve been shittin his pants too for how much ye messed the trial up!¡± Sofia glanced at Saria for support, but her sister who was always so supportive seemed to have nothing helpful to say this time, ¡°I mean¡­ She¡¯s not wrong. That was crazy, especially when you know what the ritual entailed¡­¡± ¡°As if you wouldn¡¯t have done the same,¡± Sofia retorted. Saria smirked and raised an eyebrow, ¡°We¡¯re sisters alright.¡± This made Jen roar with laughter again. Thankfully a small orchestra inside the manor had started playing music for the party, and it easily drowned the loud guffawing of the tanned warrior. After Jen managed to settle down, Sofia returned to her storytelling, ¡°Orvod reached us right after I transformed. I was still stuck at level one due to the trial¡¯s restrictions but my stats were nothing like a level one. More like a fresh level 200, I think.¡± ¡°A fresh level 200 Apostle ey? It¡¯d still be hard to escape baldy but not completely impossible. He ain¡¯t the fastest flyer, his strength was more in holding a siege. Defensive fighter,¡± Jennifer commented, ¡°What about our group, thought, still with ya at this point?¡± ¡°So, at this point¡­ I decided to fight against Orvod,¡± Sofia narrated. ¡°Really? Ya got some real balls,¡± Jen commented with an approving nod, ¡°But I suppose with Armand ye could hold for a few seconds.¡± ¡°Oh no, Armand was useless, he was clashing with Orvod initially but clearly wasn¡¯t able to do anything to the man. I told him to go help you lot, and by that I mean you and Nyse. Fox got¡­ Smashed by a big rock, some few seconds before that.¡± ¡°Oh. That why you asked about him? Yeah his real life ended a bit more peacefully than that¡­ I suppose in that trial me and Nyse died too, then.¡± ¡°Why would you think that?¡± Saria asked. ¡°If Armand was holding Orvod back after fox already died, and we weren¡¯t there, means we were trying ta escape. But Orvod wouldn¡¯t come alone, ye can be sure the other guard dogs o¡¯ the church would come, the tiger man and the weirdo paladin. And ta be honest¡­ Me and Nyse from back then against ¡®em? Ya we¡¯re completely an utterly dead. Leaves one question, how in tarnations did ya manage to ¡®fight¡¯ against baldy and survive?¡± Sofia smiled, ¡°I assume you know about the Primordial lake? They built a magic academy on it later¡­¡± ¡°The lake?¡± Jennifer asked, ¡°Ya took the fight to the mana lake? That¡¯s probably one of the worst places for Orvod to fight in¡­ Interesting. Very interesting! I¡¯m startin¡¯ to understand how ya got to where ye are at yer age. Mah old stories must sound tame in comparison to the shenanigans ya get up to. How¡¯d tha fight go?¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t too bad¡­¡±
¡°And I woke up at the bottom of the lake, with a few days left on the clock. There¡¯s a bit more to the story I¡¯ll get up to later with the Eclipse, but i¡¯d like to know how the real event went first. And I guess, if you could tell us what you know about the Phageid in general¡­¡± ¡°What happened back then ain¡¯t as insterestin¡¯ as ya may imagine. It was hell,¡± Jennifer started. Chapter 362 - A link to the past ¡°To start with the reason this even happened¡­ The attack back then was the first time this world suffered a serious invasion by the Phageid, since then it has happened once more, around five hundred years ago. And it will surely happen again, relatively soon. Optimistically, we might have about forty years,¡± Jennifer explained seriously, completely losing her accent. ¡°So they attack every five hundred years?¡± Saria asked. Does it have anything to do with the ¡®True Solstice¡¯ from the trial? I¡¯ve been calling it an eclipse because it looked like that but the solstice shouldn¡¯t be an eclipse¡­ ¡°Sadly it is not that easy to predict exactly when they come. At best we will know two or three years in advance, but it will happen on the summer solstice, when the sun is furthest from us; when Sun¡¯s influence is at its weakest.¡± ¡°Wait¡­ To clarify, they attack on the solstice because Sun is weaker at that time of year?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°Yeah,¡± Jennifer casually confirmed, ¡±At any other time, Sun would be able to prevent them from reaching us, but her power to affect our planet varies greatly depending on the distance of the actual Sun. In fact, even during the solstice, she would be able to stop them, she does just that every year, actually. Sun is the entire reason we haven¡¯t been overrun yet. The elves in general are slaughtering Phageid any chance they get.¡± ¡°This is looking like a bigger issue than I even thought it might be¡­¡± Sofia commented. ¡°That lich you spoke about seemed to take them pretty seriously,¡± Saria chimed in, ¡°I asked Zephir but apparently he was told by the older Dragons to worry about growing stronger before bringing that up again¡­¡± ¡°And they¡¯re right, this issue is something for the old folks like me to deal with. The system is also always bolstering its forces to be able to fight back. I¡¯m explainin¡¯ so that ya can understand how it goes but yer a bit too young to help.¡± ¡°So¡­ If Sun is able to prevent them from attacking every solstice, how did they still manage to invade twice?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°Because, twice now, something massive in space has eclipsed the sun during the solstice for a few minutes. It¡¯s truly gigantic, larger than our planet itself, and yet we can barely perceive its presence when it draws close, and can only really know exactly where it is when it¡¯s hiding the sun.¡± Some kind of big planet hidden in the void? I can see how it might be hard to keep track of, just finding our planet from the sun wasn¡¯t easy despite how bright and colorful it was, wouldn¡¯t have known where it was or how it looked without Aphenoreth pointing it out. ¡°And we have no idea about what it could be?¡± Saria asked. ¡°Absolutely none. No one even noticed its presence the first time, from what I¡¯ve heard, and everyone¡¯s attention was turned to the sudden invasion,¡± Jennifer confirmed. Sofia asked another question, ¡°From what you¡¯re saying it sounds like they attacked everywhere at once. Were there more than one Alphageid?¡± ¡°Several of those, a few bigger ones, and countless smaller,¡± Jennifer answered, ¡°And to continue on the subject of the thing in space, we noticed it when it came again last time, because a lot of the higher level people were expecting the attack. The Phageid did not attack cities on their second attack, they targeted the system¡¯s towers. A few of them fell and had to be rebuilt since.¡± ¡°So whenever that thing obscures the sun again is when they will launch their third assault¡­¡± Saria mumbled. ¡°In about forty years, if the time between the attacks is consistent. An old Dragon named Avross and the two celestial Gods are keeping track of outer space, on the lookout for the object. They are confident to be able to find it a few years in advance this time, depending on the situation, there might not be another Phageid attack. There are people preparing to destroy the thing when it shows up, very strong people. Lets just hope they succeed,¡± Jennifer explained, finishing with a sigh. Then going back to her story, ¡°Now you know the how, somewhat at last, the exact origin of the phageid is still a mystery, then again, I ain¡¯t the best informed on the subject, as for the why of the attacks, it¡¯s simple, they want mana to reproduce. And that¡¯s exactly what the Alphageid came for on that day. I was just outside of the city when it happened¡­¡± Jennifer stopped to summon a glass of water, after downing the entire thing, she continued, ¡°As I said I was just outside of the city walls, waiting in line to enter, quite the lucky timing¡­ Fox was already far in the countryside, and Nyse was in the city, drinking at some pub. For the other people you want to know about¡­ Aurelia was still in Armand¡¯s capital house, Armand himself was away on some errand, and baldy was at the Church. Just like that you have almost the entire list of survivors¡­¡± This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. ¡°Out of those only Aurelia died¡­¡± Sofia noted. ¡°Yes,¡± Jennifer confirmed with another sigh, ¡°It was as if fate was against her. She escaped death¡¯s jaws only to fall right back in. Armand¡¯s house was close to the tear in space the Alphageid appeared from, Aurelia was likely one of the first to die¡­ I would love to have an heroic tale to tell about what comes next, but there is no such thing. I was lucky to be outside and could escape. Nyse teleported out as soon as things started looking bad, the few people able to fly also fled, one of them being Gabriela, one of the Church¡¯s heroes back then, she escaped with baldy¡¯s kid, making him the only child to survive...¡± Wait¡­ I saw her! A woman flying away with a kid! ¡°I think I saw her escape in the trial as well,¡± Sofia told them, ¡°Are they still alive?¡± Jennifer made a weird face, ¡°They¡­ Gabriela should still be alive, though no longer affiliated with the Church, haven¡¯t heard of her in about two hundred years though, so who knows¡­ Orvod¡¯s child passed away later, I think, but I¡¯m relatively sure he had a few kids too¡­¡± Hmmhmm. Well, I killed one of them. Several generations down the line probably, but still. I wonder how his daughter¡¯s doing now. I¡¯m pretty sure I got rid of all her soul parasites. Let¡¯s hope she managed to flee the country. It¡¯s interesting to think that some heroes of the Church from back then are still around¡­ But it also makes me wonder how many hero pawns Scripture might still have under his control¡­ Maybe the elf from last time¡­ No, it wasn¡¯t a hero¡­ Jennifer then described what she saw from outside the city, which was essentially the exact same as what had happened during the trial. The main discrepancy was the presence of Armand and Orvod. ¡°Baldy protected the Church with his stone magic,¡± Jennifer explained, ¡°It was the last standing building after the attack. Barely, but still standing. Armand reached the city relatively soon after the attack started, and after realizing Aurelia was already gone, he attacked the thing directly. He died, overwhelmed by the tentacles of the phageid, but had some sort of magical protection which brought him back, that cleared his mind a bit and he joined forces with baldy to try to at least save the few remaining people hiding in the Church. No one inside made it through, despite their best efforts, the Alphageid¡¯s tentacles managed to pierce the defenses and snatched them. When baldy and Armand realized they were the last two survivors inside the city, they fled, and this is when an angel showed up to destroy the thing with lightning magic. As I told you, no heroic tale. As for me, I was busy trying to survive against the Phageid outside the city. Mostly big squid types, called larvae; it wasn¡¯t glorious.¡± ¡°So the survivors were you, Nyse, Gabriela, Armand, Orvod and his son? That¡¯s really not much¡­¡± Saria enumerated. ¡°A few more who were able to fly or teleport made it out¡­ After all of this, Armand as the highest ranking survivor of the nobility took the title of King and gathered the willing survivors from all over the country to build the new capital. Once he felt that his duty was completed and the kingdom saved, he killed himself in the memorial chamber he had built for Aurelia. The remains of the old capital were flattened by blady and left for nature to reclaim. And there you have it, the first Phageid attack and the creation of the Skyreach kingdom¡­¡± ¡°I have one more question,¡± Sofia told Jennifer when she was done with her story, ¡°Why did Armand choose to build the new capital on that mountain?¡± ¡°Humm¡­ Give me a minute, I think he told me about that once when we were havin¡¯ a drink¡­¡± Jennifer told her, deep in thoughts. ¡°I remember!¡± she finally exclaimed after forty long seconds of reflection, ¡° ¡®twas the Church¡¯s Oracle who gave the idea, the bloke survived the attack ¡®cause he was away on his second trial. When he came back he actively helped rebuild the kingdom, and he found this location for the new capital. We have to give it to him that the mountain is a great natural defense, tha city is still standing to this day.¡± As I suspected. Who knew Scripture would want to build his church right on top of a pit full of undead, right? As if he had been planning something for a long while¡­ Something relating to a certain Recessed¡­ ¡°Was that the same Oracle who is still in charge?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°Still tha same guy, far as I know, never care much for him. Think he failed a trial, stuck at level 299 or 349 if my memory¡¯s correc¡¯. Think his name was¡­ Jeffrey?¡± The name made Sofia¡¯s blood run cold. It was like a sudden hit in the back of the head. No¡­ No no no. No no no no no. Absolutely not. Jeffrey. Like¡­ Orphanage Director Jeffrey??? Surely not. Not so obvious. He wouldn¡¯t even bother changing his name? No, that can¡¯t be right. I saw his dead body right in his office! He was just¡­ WAS IT HIS BODY? ¡°Sofia are you alright?¡± Saria¡¯s worried voice brought Sofia out of her stupor.
Chapter 363 - Light-headed ¡°Yes, sorry¡­ I¡¯ll explain later. It¡¯s nothing,¡± Sofia reassured Saria. I¡¯m probably just getting parano?d, Scripture is getting under my skin; there¡¯s no way he would have spent years running an orphanage pretending to be the unremarkable director Jeffrey¡­ It¡¯s a rather common name too¡­ I just¡­ Yeah¡­ ¡°So, yer gonna tell me how the end of yer trial went?¡± Jennifer asked.
¡°... then it teleported right into the bolt and I died, but since that counted as completing the trial, it sent me back.¡± ¡°Yer out of yer mind. Tis¡¯ what it takes to grow that fast I s¡¯pose. Not often that one can claim to have died thrice in the first trial an¡¯ still passed. How¡¯d ya do in the second one? Jus¡¯ curious.¡± Sofia pointed at Saria, and with the most deadpan expression, she said, ¡°She ranked first first.¡± She paused, then continued, ¡°And I ranked first after that.¡± ¡°Ya wat¡¯ now?!¡± Jennifer reeled back on her chair. ¡°Fuckin¡¯... Can¡¯t wait to see ta kind of shit ye both gonn¡¯ pull in the next trial then,¡± she told them, before slouching back into her chair, ¡°Less not speak ¡®bout my own rank¡­ I did well in tha third one at least¡­¡± Saria jumped on the opportunity to ask about the subject, ¡°Right, is there anything you can tell us about it? We already know about the essence wager, but that¡¯s about it.¡± Jennifer changed position on her chair again, thinking while bent forward, elbows touching her legs. ¡°I¡­ Hmm. Censor ain¡¯t makin¡¯ it easy. Yer gonna need ta make a lot o¡¯ hard choices, so ye better bring yer brain with ya is one thing. Tha best advice censor will allow me ta give is probably this: know yerself and know what ye want.¡± Know yourself and know what you want. Make a lot of hard choices. And the trial is called the Tower of Rebirth¡­ We make choices for our own rebirth? Know what you want for yourself, then? If that¡¯s it I should be fine. What I want is more mana to summon more skeletons, pretty easy. If it¡¯s more of a life goal thing then the answer is the same. I just want to enjoy life. I need to get stronger to hand it to Scripture but that¡¯s it¡­ And I enjoy the trials¡­ I can¡¯t help but look forward to my own growth. There was a short moment of relative calm, accompanied by the muffled sound of the party¡¯s orchestra inside the manor as Sofia and Saria both pondered on the meaning of Jennifer¡¯s words. ¡°That¡¯s interesting information, thank you,¡± Saria thanked the blonde warrior. ¡°It¡¯s nothin¡¯.¡± ¡°Not that does help, I think, thank you,¡± Sofia chimed in, ¡°we should probably go back to the party at some point. But, huh, if I had to ask one last thing; what do we make of this now? Our relationship, I mean.¡± Jennifer shrugged, but she seemed a bit uncomfortable with the question, ¡°Ya tell me. I ain¡¯t tha best with that. So¡­ I ain¡¯t gonn¡¯ suddenly become someone I¡¯m not. I can help with training yer physical skills and I know lots ¡®bout monsters. None much else¡­¡± ¡°Being nothing more than a distant family member that sometimes share a story and can help if they want doesn¡¯t sound bad,¡± Saria suggested. ¡°So just life as usual for all of us, except now we know you exist and we¡¯re acquainted. No obligations, just spontaneous positive interactions. I would like that, honestly. At least it no longer feels like Saria and I don¡¯t have roots anywhere. It¡¯s not actually useful, but it does feel nice to just¡­ Know you¡¯re here,¡± Sofia continued. Jennifer laughed a bit, it looked to Sofia that their answers had reassured the woman a lot, with a slight smile, she accepted their ¡®offer¡¯, ¡°If that¡¯s all it takes to make ya sisters happy then I¡¯ll gladly exist as just yer distant family member. I don¡¯t spend much time at the academy but ye can come talk whenever I do. I ain¡¯t good fo¡¯ much but I do have plenty o¡¯ ol tales to share if yer interested.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take you up on that,¡± Saria happily accepted. Sofia looked through her storage. It was in the hero¡¯s cold box I think¡­ Oh, right there! She brought out something that had been waiting in her storage for what felt like forever. It was a full bottle of dwarven liquor. It had unknowingly made its way to her food stock on the night of happy drinking she had spent with Kuli, Karlson, Karin and Drian in the Red Winds Empire, right before getting her citizenship. ¡°Should we have a toast to the reunion of our distant family?¡± she suggested while also checking her storage for clean glasses. ¡°Gladly. I¡¯m happy I finally got to know the family I didn¡¯t know I had,¡± Jennifer accepted, suppressing her accent to sound more serious. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. As the trio shared a drink, Sofia felt watched for a second. She looked behind her, the party was still going on, and there were people vaguely looking in the direction of the terrasse, but no one watching her in particular. She looked at Pareth, asking if he felt or saw anything weird, to which he shook his head in response. This reminded her of how she felt watched during the dungeon excursion and how it had ended. One thing led to another, and the group returned to party afterwards, spending the rest of it munching like three gluttons on the buffet tables and discussing what Sofia could do with the Dryad egg in her storage ring. Jennifer hadn¡¯t lied, she did know a fair bit about even the most exotic of monsters, and what to do with a big egg was included.
The next three weeks came and went in an instant, Sofia held her third public class without any issue, the creature of the Deep showed up again this time, and Sofia had sent Pareth after it when it left, only to see it fade away and disappear in the middle of a corridor. Sofia held her regular classes as usual, helping all the students progress, notably Shaily was starting to get somewhere with Angel¡¯s bolt, and could already send small shocks up to a few meters away through her hands. Whether there was going to be a special event for the competition this month was still uncertain, as there had been no communication on the subject, and Sofia was still pondering about the options Jen had given her to deal with the Dryad egg. In the meantime, however, she had spent all of her free time in isolation. [Venerable physique of the primeval void] ? - Second step of the Light forging realm : Your blood becomes light (126 436 / 126 441 drops converted) Some changes were already there. Now Sofia could feel the few drops of blood left stuck within her veins, being pushed away by the light, but she could also tell that the real change from this step of VPPV was yet to come, just changing the blood was the buildup to the real switch inside of her, the blood-light in her was still inert, for now. Another heartbeat. Another bout of dull chest pain that now failed to even disturb Sofia¡¯s focus or expression. Another drop of blood gone. Four more. She was sitting cross-legged on her bed, she closed her eyes. Her empty heart continued to beat, and another drop of blood trickled down from the cut on her left hand, caught by a small cup. Three. Two. Sofia¡¯s heart beat one last time, and stopped. Her body was shaken by a short but intense shock, it felt like being struck by lightning. She had felt it coming, so even that failed to get a sound out of her, but as the pain faded, she slumped on her bed. ¡°Done.¡± Sofia put a hand on her chest. It¡¯s no longer beating¡­ Can I even be called human anymore? She held her left hand above her face. From the small cut that had been used to drain the last drops of blood, she could see the flowing light beneath. It looked like a rapid stream of shimmering golden water. This feels weird. Out of all the steps of VPPV until now, this has to be the most strange. How does it even work? Her mithril dagger appeared in Sofia¡¯s right hand. She looked at Pareth who had stopped looking out the window to come to her side when she finished to convert her blood. You¡¯re not going to help me with my testing, right? I know you don¡¯t like harming me. Well. Let¡¯s see how this goes. Sofia clenched her teeth, with a clean strike, she amputated her left hand at the wrist, losing a few thousand health points. The pain was lower than she expected, she thought as she watched her hand slowly detach and fall. I almost didn¡¯t feel that. ¡°Oh wow.¡± The lifeless hand fell, it was very clean without any blood. The light was left behind, it kept flowing in the shape of her hand despite the hand being gone, going out of the wrist then back in. So this is what the veins in a hand look like? That¡¯s a lot. These larger ones are the main lines supplying all the smaller ones. Looks a bit like a bunch of jumbled roots. The hand of light moved following her wrist, it didn¡¯t feel like anything aside from the cut wrist itself being a bit sore. Despite not being able to feel her hand anymore, Sofia tried to close it, and was shocked to discover that it worked. The cut hand on the bed was still an inert piece of flesh, but the hand of light on her wrist definitely moved. I feel like this will make healing a lot easier. Besides that I¡¯m not too sure¡­ She tried to grab the real cut hand with the hand of light. The streams of light curved when they collided with solid matter, curving like a squishy blob to keep flowing as usual. ¡°Light can¡¯t really touch anything¡­¡± She tried to cut the hand of light with the mithril blade to see if it would curve around it too, which it did. She brought the hand of light to her face. It¡¯s very bright¡­ And a bit warm. But I still don¡¯t get- Wait¡­ I can¡¯t cast an Angel bolt without a hand to hold it and direct the mana. But I still have ¡®a hand¡¯. Sparks formed around the ethereal hand and a violent rod of plasma started to form, held in place by the golden streams of light. Sofia canceled the spell and suffered some weak backlash as the mana dispersed through the light and back into her arm, running amok inside her. She laughed. Not even looking at the description of the next step of the skill, she spent the next few minutes channeling an unlife rune. She needed to try something else now, and it couldn¡¯t wait. The hand was already starting to heal by itself; equipping the saint''s headband to get some more bits of health regeneration, she watched with amazement as her hand slowly regrew around the channels of light while she worked on the rune.
Standing in front of Pareth she asked, ¡°Are you really not going to do it? Alright, fine¡­¡± Sofia summoned the small lich form of Bookie, she grabbed him and put him on the bed, handing him her long mithril dagger. She fell to her knees in front of the bed. ¡°Come on now, behead me.¡±
Chapter 364 - The long awaited Bookie did not have the same qualms Pareth had about following orders, but he was also not nearly as proficient with bladed weapons, leaving Sofia with a slit throat that didn¡¯t bleed. That¡¯s¡­ A bit uncomfortable. Aaaaand it¡¯s healed. Simple clean cuts really don¡¯t last long if the two sides of the skin can touch again. Health hasn¡¯t gone back up but the skin still fixed itself. Trying and failing to speak indicated that on the inside, her throat was still messed up. Well, the rune is preventing healing¡­ Try again, Bookie, line up the dagger a bit better alright? Bookie nodded and slashed at Sofia¡¯s neck again. It was a cleaner strike, going right through her spine. Sofia¡¯s head fell on the bed, the streams of light connected to it flowing out of her now lifeless body to follow the head. She couldn¡¯t see more as she fell face first on the bed sheets. Somehow, this isn¡¯t what I had imagined. Health : 20 245 / 80 980 Exactly a quarter of my health remains. For just the head? More than I would have expected. It¡¯s weird to think I¡¯m just a head right now. As Sofia was analyzing her situation, Pareth picked her head up. OoOooh, hoy, warn me first! Being just a head¡­ I feel a bit vulnerable. Now freed from the bedsheets, Sofia could look at her lifeless body on the ground and at her ¡®body¡¯ of light following her head like a dangling ghost. I can survive like that. Yeah¡­ Definitely not really human anymore, am I? If I ever get trapped I can escape like a lizard cutting its tail, just by cutting my body instead. Actually¡­ I want to try something, can you put me down on the bed again, please? Pareth gently put Sofia¡¯s head between two cushions. This¡­ I feel like it should work, as ridiculous as it is. Sofia dumped a bunch of bones from her storage right on top of the bed, and started sculpting a headless replica of her body. Once she was done, she controlled it to pick her head up. It¡¯s not very easy to control such a big lump of melded bones, a bit too rigid. Still, let¡¯s try. Slowly, Sofia brought her head to the flat neck of the bone body. Only to realize that the veins of light wouldn¡¯t get inside. Twenty seconds of experimenting later, she understood that if the veins of light were to inhabit that bone shell, she would have to carve out the paths inside of it for the light to flow through. Too much work¡­ I¡¯ll take time to prepare one for the trial just in case, it¡¯d be nice to have a replacement body ready, it should be much easier to control when my ¡®blood¡¯ flows inside it just like reshaping my own bones is easier than otherwise. To think this whole thing is possible with just [Bone dominus] and [Venerable physique of the primeval void]. Two skills. Ah, well, not quite. [Heat Death] is what¡¯s providing the energy, it¡¯s also why I kept all my mana. I¡¯m pretty sure I¡¯d eventually starve if not for that, pretty quickly, probably. Alright, enough testing. The arms of the bone body slowly reached up, still very rigid in their movements, and picked up the head from the neck. Get my body up, Pareth. With Pareth propping up the limp headless body of Sofia, she carefully controlled the bone body to put her head back where it belonged. The veins of light flew right back into the body, and Sofia could sense her mana spreading back into the entire body. The only issue was that the body and head were still only just stacked on top of each other. Like before, the skin quickly stuck to itself, reconnecting the head, but everything inside was still separated. Sofia couldn¡¯t feel her body at all. The unlife rune prevented healing so she either had to dispel it or kill herself if she wanted to fix the issue. Somehow I¡¯m a bit uncomfortable at the thought of dispelling the rune when my head isn¡¯t properly connected to my body¡­ Logically it should be perfectly safe though. The rune gone, the simple presence of Pareth as a blessed construct of [Bone dominus] gave enough regeneration to quickly reconnect the bone, tissues and nerves inside of Sofia¡¯s neck, finally giving her control of her body back. ¡°Oww, I feel all tingly. I think the body suffered a bit from the lack of blood,¡± she told Pareth and Bookie. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Well, ¡®blood¡¯. Light? Blood-light? As she had expected, reconnecting the head to the body also got her health back up to full instantly. That almost makes me want to try to see which limbs are worth how much health, but that¡¯s enough self mutilation for today¡­ Let¡¯s see what my venerable physique has to say. [Venerable physique of the primeval void] ? - Third step of the Light forging realm : Light forging realm : Starting step : You no longer age. First step : Your skin becomes tougher and opaque (1000/1000%) Second step : Your blood becomes light (126 441 / 126 441 drops converted) Third step : Your nerves and brain become light (0/100%) Fourth step : Enhances your appearance through the use of light. Fifth step : ??? Current step training method : Consume nerve-damaging substances. ¡°I see. Very straightforward, at least.¡± Nerves and brain¡­ I wonder what¡¯s left for the last step? All remaining organs? I¡¯d like to at least still look human by the end of this¡­ But it does feel like the fourth step might not help with that. Enhance my appearance, huh? I¡¯ll trust you, Mr. Scribe, but I¡¯m dubious. Hopefully the training for that is easy, considering how useless it sounds. Too bad I don¡¯t have any silverwater left. Do I have any other poison left? Right I have this, still. Sofia thought as she summoned the flask of brown powder that one student had tried to poison Shaily with. [Silent Death] : Dangerous refined toxin, this poison is hard to produce even for renowned alchemists. In sufficient doses, causes a swift death by sudden brain and nervous tissue necrosis after an incubation period of four to five hours. Effective on most hot-blooded creatures under level 200. Item level : 200. Grade : Precious. That¡¯s actually perfect. Sofia opened the flask of brown powder and swallowed the entirety of its contents. ¡°Wasn¡¯t the reason we couldn¡¯t eat more stat candies due to some kind of poisoning? Ah but Alith said it can reduce stats I think¡­ That¡¯s a risky gamble but it might be worth a try. If I can even get the stats from a single one then the poisoning from the next might not be enough to remove it all. I¡¯ll see¡­¡± Sofia walked around in her room while looking in her storage to see if she was forgetting anything. She was stopped by Bookie pulling on her shirt. ¡°Yes?¡± she asked the small skeleton, to which he brought out his book form, and opened it at a certain page Sofia hardly ever used. ¡°Oh! The poisonous plant mage hero!¡± There were a few flower pots around that Sofia had made for her room as decoration to make the place less drab while she worked on her blood, she had filled them with dirt but forgot to ever actually plant anything. It ended up being the perfect setting for the useless plant mage to finally shine. [Solar Blossommancer - Lv. 249] Health : 6225/6225 Stamina : 6225/6225 Mana : 37 350/37 350 Lifetime : 14 938s/14 940s Awful stats¡­ ¡°Alright, you¡¯ve got dirt to work with this time, so make me some good poison!¡± The very normal-looking skeleton had no kind of equipment at all, which was rare for Bookie¡¯s humanoid skeletons; it just kneeled before two of the flower pots and shoved a skeletal hand in the dirt of each. From the left one grew a bunch of tightly packed blue star-shaped flowers, and from the right one, a single big orange flower with four large oval petals in the center of which grew a long sausage-like purple fruit. The skeleton stood up and looked up at Sofia with his arms crossed, visibly proud of his job. This one has an attitude. ¡°That¡¯s all you have?¡± she asked. The skeleton nodded, still looking confident. ¡°Alright, I get the fruit, but what about the other ones? Am I supposed to eat them too?¡± The skeleton shook his head, he very carefully plucked a star-shaped flower and brought it up to the nose-hole of his skull, mimicking the act of smelling it. Oh, makes sense. Let¡¯s try these¡­ Maybe I should cast a fake immortality rune first, just in case. Just in case¡­ The rune up, Sofia grabbed the long purple fruit and bit right into it. It had a thin skin and was full of juice-filled bubbles that popped in Sofia¡¯s mouth. The juice was slightly sour like a weak lemon. Before she could even swallow, the contact of the juice with her mouth sent waves of heat along her throat and up her face. Stronger than I expected. Sofia stored the rest of the fruit and carefully monitored her condition. A sensation of numb pain followed the heat, and the mere contact of her clothes on her upper body felt a bit like wearing sheets of molten steel. ¡°Not very comfortable¡­ I might have underestimated that skeleton¡¯s abilities, this could be useful. Maybe¡­ Then again, my health is barely moving.¡± [Venerable physique of the primeval void] ? - Third step of the Light forging realm : Third step : Your nerves and brain become light (0.16/100%) This as well isn¡¯t moving much. It is moving, though. That¡¯s a start. Time to pay Alith a visit. If that¡¯s not enough then I¡¯ll ask Eternam too, surely the Alchemy teacher and necromancer would have a few exotic poisons to let me buy¡­
Chapter 365 - Toxic relationship Sofia followed Alith to the underground sections of the academy, Alith was renting a room just like Shaily did for her monster corpse business, except Alith was using hers as an alchemy laboratory. ¡°What are the slimes for?¡± Sofia asked, observing the bunch of small red slimes sleeping at the bottom of a glass container. ¡°Waste disposal. They¡¯re called sponge slimes, they eat just about anything as long as it¡¯s in liquid form, they¡¯d even gobble up molten mithril if they had the chance,¡± Alith explained while she gathered a variety of glass tools from the many shelves lining the walls. ¡°Oh, right, I remember those from your bestiary book. Aren¡¯t they supposed to be quite rare?¡± ¡°Feed them enough junk and they¡¯ll duplicate, since most alchemists use them there¡¯s actually a surplus, making them quite cheap,¡± she turned, showing Sofia the glassware she was preparing, ¡°The enchanted beakers and flasks are relatively cheap too. What really hurts is actually the herbs and powders we need to cook.¡± ¡°Right, I should pay you. How much do you want?¡± Alith shrugged, ¡°Heh, I¡¯m not about to make you pay for it, just reimburse me for the more expensive ingredients if you really want to get rid of some gold. What do you want to try first? A couple of Health candies to test your theory? You might actually lose some Health,¡± Alith warned her. ¡°Since it¡¯s a bit risky, let¡¯s leave it for the end, maybe I¡¯ll complete the thing fast enough that it won¡¯t be needed,¡± Sofia answered, poking at the inert slimes. ¡°Alright¡­ Now that I think about it, Sof, this is the first time you¡¯ll see me actually do my job, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve seen you cook food plenty of times, it¡¯s not that far from one another if I understand Alchemy correctly.¡± ¡°Yeah except this time I¡¯m cooking neurotoxic poison for my best friend instead of a good meal. Hurray,¡± Alith sarcastically rejoiced. Sofia stopped playing with the slimes and walked up to Alith, ¡°I¡¯m really interested in seeing you do your thing, actually. And hey, I¡¯ve cooked poison for you plenty of times, haven¡¯t I?¡± Sofia giggled, remembering the ¡®food¡¯ she used to cook sometimes when she was traveling with Alith. It was no mystery why Alith had started taking care of the meals. ¡°It¡¯s shocking to me you even survived to adulthood with cooking skills this hazardous,¡± Alith answered, giggling too. ¡°Heh, you know, Orphans don¡¯t get much of an opportunity to cook. Most times we couldn¡¯t even make a fire to heat up the stuff we found, so imagine actually cooking. I never learned to cook in the orphanage either.¡± ¡°Never too late to learn,¡± Alith told her while she produced a bunch of small bundles of dried and fresh herbs from her storage ring. ¡°I might as well just get a cook skeleton. Also I¡¯m quite decent at roasting meat now, if nothing else,¡± Sofia answered while watching Alith sort through her ingredients. ¡°That¡¯s a start¡­¡± Alith humored her while she grabbed a small bundle of brown dried herbs and threw it into a stone mortar. She sweeped the pestle from her work table and twirled it in her hand before starting to pound the dried herbs into a powder. Adding some water, the powder became a sticky paste, which Alith rolled into a small ball, covered in a white powder, and presented to Sofia. ¡°That¡¯ll be the first thing I can give you. How are the other poisons you took before going?¡± she asked, ¡°Some compounds can cancel each other so it¡¯s best not to take too many at once.¡± ¡°The effect from the poison flowers and the fruit are almost all gone, the progress has stopped going up too, it has been stuck at 3.8% since around the time we left the refectory. The Silent Death powder should kick in soon though, it¡¯s been almost four hours since I took it,¡± Sofia explained. ¡°Oh, that doesn¡¯t matter. Silent Death is supposed to be a bit weak for someone our level, worst case you might faint. Shouldn¡¯t interfere with that Tabinic powder gummy. This one usually causes mild paralysis, I think it should work for VPPV. It¡¯s slightly sweet too.¡± ¡°You tasted it?¡± Sofia asked, as she gobbled up the squishy ball without even [Identify]ing it. It is a bit sweet, she¡¯s right. ¡°Well yeah I¡¯m an undead. I can taste whatever I want, I¡¯m immune to all poisons as long as they don¡¯t damage the soul. Too bad [Mark of Aphenoreth] doesn¡¯t protect from soul-altering poison or I¡¯d be able to eat literally anything and be fine. Effects should be very quick to show up, how is it?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t really feel anything at all,¡± Sofia admitted. Alith frowned, ¡°Really? Oh, wait¡­ This one spreads mostly through the blood, of course you wouldn¡¯t be affected by this crap¡­ A lot of what I can do is actually like that¡­ Hmm. That¡¯s annoying. Let me make something else.¡± ¡°I¡¯m quite sure VPPV is in that order exactly because I¡¯m immune to a lot of poisons now. It allows me to consume most of them relatively safely for this step.¡± Just like it transformed my blood to light right after making my skin opaque to avoid turning me back into a weird glowing person. ¡°It¡¯ll make it so you can take the strong magic stuff without having to worry too much yeah¡­ It also means all the cheap poisons I could give you to progress fast are gonna be useless so this might actually make the thing harder,¡± Alith explained, looking slightly annoyed. ¡°Sorry to be an inconvenience,¡± Sofia apologized. ¡°Are you kidding?¡± Alith asked, wide eyed. She narrowed her eyes and filled her hands with even more herbs from her storage rings, with a smirk, she added, ¡°I just got myself a willing test subject to try out all of the worst things I can make. This is going to be fun.¡±
Alith poked at Sofia¡¯s face, Sofia was currently having full-body spasms while sitting on a bone chair. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°No longer going up?¡± Alith asked, seeing Sofia¡¯s expression sour. ¡°It stopped al- already,¡± Sofia answered, getting interrupted by another spasm. ¡°Well shit, that¡¯s all I have, the batch of health candy is still cooking and that¡¯ll be everything. Let me get you an antidote for this one, the spasms look painful.¡± ¡°I- It¡¯s fine. It¡¯ll go aw- away.¡± ¡°Nah, you crazy? This could last like half an hour with the quantity you downed, no point if VPPV¡¯s no longer going up,¡± Alith dismissed her as she started throwing herbs into a pot of boiling water. Already up to 48%, it¡¯s n- Ugh, Not bad. It took a while more for Alith to finish the batch of five Health candies. ¡°I didn¡¯t think this needed so many ingredients,¡± Sofia commented as she held the small balls of medicine. ¡°It¡¯s a tough balance of combining a lot of chemical and magical properties. Kind of like fusing two unrelated ritual circles. It¡¯s not far from creating an actual spell pattern in food form; of course you¡¯d need a lot of ingredients,¡± Alith explained, ¡°That¡¯s also why they all give the exact same amount of stats, any deviation and the ¡®spell¡¯ fails.¡± ¡°Alright, well, let¡¯s see how this goes. At least no matter what happens I won¡¯t be vomiting blood this time.¡± ¡°Sometimes vomiting blood can be preferable. You want to suffer from the poisoning tho so yeah. I can¡¯t say what might happen honestly, Sof. We might actually use your rune here.¡± ¡°Worst case I lose some health. Let¡¯s go.¡± Sofia popped a candy in her mouth and chewed twice before swallowing, closely monitoring her health. The health did not move, but Sofia felt her consciousness blur. Crap. When she opened her eyes, Alith was bent over her, examining her eyes. ¡°Oh, you¡¯re back with us. Good, I was starting to worry a bit. You didn¡¯t die but you were out for about twenty seconds,¡± she explained. Uegh. ¡°I- I feel like shit.¡± But I got five thousand extra health! Health : 85 980 / 85 980 Alith nodded, ¡°Unsurprising, really, there¡¯s a reason these can give so many stat points, they¡¯re pretty strong compounds. If you remove your rune and heal a bit it should go away.¡± ¡°No, my Health is full, still. I even got the five thousand from the candy¡­ But I¡¯m¡­ Nauseous.¡± ¡°Huh? That shouldn¡¯t¡­ Wait¡­¡± Alith turned into a ghost and back, she had a slightly worried expression. ¡°You suffered some soul damage¡­¡± ¡°Oh¡­ How bad is that?¡± ¡°Not too bad. Just like the damage from summoning sickness it will heal by itself, but it¡¯s pretty significant still, you should sleep it out, Sof. No more candies for you, this isn¡¯t external soul damage it¡¯s damage from the inside. Any more could be really dangerous.¡± ¡°Understood¡­ Can you help me get to my room?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure Pareth would be happy to do that but if you ask me then of course.¡± ¡°I¡¯m worried someone might try to steal my token pouch on the way¡­¡±
The soul damage was gone by next morning. It turned out the health candy hadn¡¯t contributed at all to the progress of VPPV but the extra Health was worth it. After her class and her bolt-training session with Shaily, Sofia went to ask Eternam for help only to learn that he had just left for the weekend. Sofia sought out Beryl to ask if there was anyone else in the academy likely to be able to help her. The teacher coordinator gave her an idea and helped her set it up in the hour, that is how Sofia ended up behind a booth at the entrance of the refectory just before lunch time. Above Sofia¡¯s head, the completion of VPPV was displayed as ¡®48.3/100¡¯ and a bone slate atop the booth said: ¡®Poison me and get paid!¡¯ while another underneath said ¡®1% poisoning = 100G!¡± I didn¡¯t know we were allowed to be this shameless and set up a shop inside the academy¡­ Will the students even be able to help? Do people normally go around carrying strong poisons for no reason? I mean I was carrying some until I ate it but still¡­ A group of students strolled in the refectory without paying any attention to Sofia¡¯s booth. Kind of reminds me of that time spent begging on the streets. Fun. The disappointment did not last long, as the next group of students noticed the booth and came to check it out. A level 60 Exidian student walked up to Sofia, ¡°Aren¡¯t you the summoning teacher?¡± ¡°That¡¯s me,¡± Sofia answered, pointing at Pareth, literally sitting behind her on a bone chair. His lights were all off and he was in the shade so his presence wasn¡¯t all that obvious. ¡°Are the signs true?¡± the student asked, skeptical. Sofia dumped a bunch of gold coins on the counter of the booth. ¡°If you poison me and it¡¯s strong enough that the number goes up, you get the gold. There¡¯s no catch, I¡¯m just very resistant to poison.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be back,¡± the student said before running away in the direction of the student dormitories. A few minutes later, it was time for lunch, and many more students started coming, Sofia had left the pile of gold on the counter which did not fail to catch a lot of eyes, and soon, a first student came with something for Sofia to try. It was a flask of red liquid. [Flesh berry juice] : Poisonous substance extracted from flesh berries. It has a strong meaty smell. Often used to get rid of invasive rodents and scavengers. That¡¯s new. Never heard of flesh berries. Sofia opened the flash and gulped down the contents under the weirded-out gaze of the student. It kind of tastes like meat too. After waiting a few seconds, nothing happened, Sofia felt nothing wrong with her body. [Venerable physique of the primeval void] ? - Third step of the Light forging realm : Third step : Your nerves and brain become light (48.3/100%) ¡°This one looks like it¡¯s a miss, no gold for you, sorry.¡± The student walked away, dejected. Before long, more students came with things for Sofia to try, some of which she had to refuse like the girl who tried to give her a box full of ¡®Dried Jakdak dejection¡¯, which smelled exactly like what it was: shit. A few students actually managed to make VPPV go up for fractions of a percent, making a few gold coins and driving even more students to come try to feed poisonous stuff to the weird teacher. All was going decently well, forty minutes in, the progress was already up to 53.8%, which is when a familiar person showed up to stand in line behind a few students: Elizabeth Fraus. Or rather, the Empress¡­ What do you want with me?!! Sofia glared at the woman, and got a wave and a mischievous smile in response. She might actually kill me this time. And I¡¯d probably have to pay her for it¡­
Chapter 366 - Satisfyingly safe substances After going through the poisoning attempts of a few more students, it was the empress''s turn, and Sofia was not really looking forward to it. "We meet again," the woman said, a polite smile on her face. "Yes, how unexpected. Are you here to help with the poisoning? There are a lot of people waiting, as you can see," Sofia answered, trying not to sound too cold or frightened. "Of course, yes. I am always willing to help a teacher. I just happened to hear about this stunt of yours while roaming the halls, and I have acquired quite a collection of exotic substances over the years. They hardly ever find a buyer, so this should be a golden opportunity to make some money back," the woman explained with a large smile as a row of small flasks appeared in front of her. All loaded with magic. The one on the far right has more mana than me, for fuck''s sake! "You should try the one on your left first and work your way up to the one on the right," Elizabeth explained. "Of course, these are all quite dangerous, but I assume you know what you''re doing, do you not?" she asked with a suave voice. Sofia pretended to laugh to defuse the tension a bit. ¡°Ahah, of course I do¡­¡± Only because I have a rune prepared¡­ I know soul-damaging poisons can be dangerous still, but I should be able to trust Mr. Scribe at least. I just have to identify all of these. So, this first one... [The wreckage]: A strong and very concentrated alcohol with a touch of magic. Legend says it was the ancestral treasure of the dwarves, who needed a way to get wasted on their ships without occupying half the cargo with barrels of beer, back when storage magic was yet to be discovered. Safety ranking: Sufficiently safe. Oh, so instead of item level and grade, I get safety rankings now? You''ve been taking a lot of liberties lately, Mr. Scribe, is that because I am no longer getting new skills and you¡¯re getting bored? Either way, I like it, thanks. Sofia picked up [The wreckage], gave a last look to Elizabeth who was standing in front of her, smiling ear to ear, and gulped down the contents. It was like drinking pure alcohol and pretty disgusting. Ugh¡­ so far so good¡­ Counter isn''t moving though¡­ ¡°It looks like this one was a failure¡­¡± Sofia told the woman. Elizabeth¡¯s smile did not falter. ¡°No worry, I''m sure the taste of such a delicate beverage was at least an invaluable experience. Please do try the next one, Teacher Vakaria.¡± [Felroot extract]: Pungent extract of a felroot¡¯s juices. It is commonly used to quell chronic pain, for those who can afford it. The usual recommended prescription for an adult is one drop. Safety ranking: Satisfyingly safe. So¡­ is it safe to drink one drop or to drink the whole flask? Because there is a lot more than one drop in there, Mr. Scribe¡­ Well, I still have the rune anyway. Sofia drank the felroot extract and it immediately made her feel a bit dizzy. Her extremities, in particular, went a bit numb, but the sensation quickly disappeared as the number about Sofia''s head went up. ¡°Not bad. It seems I owe you some money already,¡± Sofia commented. ¡°Please, Teacher, do not bother with counting. I will be taking all of this money, I am pretty sure. I will donate it to an orphanage in your name if you will let me.¡± Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Such an innocent remark and not at all hinting that she knows about my past¡­ It is no big secret that I am an orphan, though. ¡°That is so selfless of you, Miss Fraus. And I cannot help but wonder, what do you do for a living that you would disregard so much money, and that you would go around with so much poison at your disposal in the first place?¡± Elizabeth answered with a polite laugh. ¡°Why, that is quite the question. Although the specifics of my job are a bit tricky to encapsulate in a few words, I, over the years, have come to specialize in threat assessment and removal, if you will,¡± she explained as she leaned on the counter. Sofia found it strange that she would admit to something like this with all the students around, but none of them seemed to react; they were all still just patiently waiting in line or walking by to go get their food. Sofia jumped in place a few times, which Elizabeth observed with a raised brow, but the students, again, did not react. Sofia knew enough about the eye-catching power of her feminine assets for this lack of reaction to be sufficient proof that something weird was going on. ¡°You¡¯re preventing them from seeing or hearing this conversation, aren''t you?¡± Sofia asked Elizabeth, eyeing the unresponsive students. ¡°Is there still a need to be so roundabout about things when it¡¯s like this, Empress Delivia?¡± ¡°So this is what you were doing, jumping in place?¡± Elizabeth asked with a chuckle. ¡°I see, clever. They are all oblivious to what is happening here right now, yes. I just like to enjoy some privacy, and please, my friends call me Elizabeth.¡± Your friends, uh. You sure have a special way to foster ¡®friendship¡¯. If you wanted to make a good impression, all you had to do was to gift me a skeleton, it¡¯s not that hard¡­ ¡°Is that not a fake name?¡± ¡°Now, do not be ridiculous, Teacher Vakaria. If I am the one to approve of names in the empire, how can my name possibly be false?¡± Right¡­ I should get back to drinking¡­ [Unnamed mix]: There are so many different toxic substances mixed together in this vial, it is hard to tell what the effects are going to be exactly, but it is bound to be unpleasant. Safety ranking: Potentially painful product. You know, Mr. Scribe, I¡¯m sensing a pretty predictable pattern in the way you write these safety ranks. Did you add them only so you could play around with words? ¡°Have you tried these yourself?¡± Sofia asked Elizabeth, as she observed the brown goo she had identified as an ¡®Unnamed mix¡¯ in the flask she was holding. ¡°For the most part. The last two I have not touched. I suspect you will reach 100% with your quest or skill or whatever this is long before you get to these, however. But if you do not, the option is there, if you have the confidence to try them.¡± ¡°I see¡­ What level are you at, by the way? What you did during my first class was impressive.¡± ¡°I have yet to attempt the last two trials. As for the party trick, it¡¯s barely worth mentioning. Just see it as a very advanced mana sight. My class deals with any and all things vision related. But are you not going to drink? This one is a personal concoction of mine,¡± Elizabeth explained. Sofia uncorked the flask and gave it a sniff; it smelled like rotten eggs and made her gag. ¡°I know it is not my place to give you advice, but you might want to stay away from Alchemy in the future¡­¡± Pinching her nose, Sofia emptied the contents of the flask in one big gulp. Her vision instantly started to sway, and she became nauseous, having to use the counter as support not to fall over. Oh shit¡­ It¡¯s been a while¡­ since I last fell so sick. Pareth stood up from his chair and walked over to pat Sofia¡¯s back as she struggled to stay conscious. The effects lasted a few seconds before starting to fade. As the nausea disappeared and her vision calmed, her muscles started to cramp randomly, and Pareth had to support her to keep her stable. ¡°It won¡¯t last long. Try to relax; that helps with the cramps,¡± the Empress suggested while sipping on a glass of orange-colored drink through a thin tube of hollow wood. Where did¡­ ugh. She even- argh- get that? It took Sofia a good minute to recover, slumped on the counter. She felt it was worth the pain, though, as VPPV progressed quite a bit. [Venerable physique of the primeval void] ? - Third step of the Light forging realm: Third step: Your nerves and brain become light (59.8/100%). Sofia had conflicting emotions as she looked up to see the Empress looking down at her while sipping on her cold drink with a snide smile. ¡°Do you find this funny?¡± Sofia asked, still weak from the poisoning. ¡°I do,¡± Elizabeth answered before taking another sip. ¡°I was very wary of you and your link to the big four at first, but it is refreshing to see that you aren¡¯t someone I need to get rid of after all. And even if I did, I feel like just leaving you to your own business will have the same result,¡± she added, looking at Sofia then at the row of flasks full of poison right next to her. ¡°So you think I¡¯ll just die at some point in the near future is what you are getting at?¡± I don¡¯t know if I should be offended¡­ ¡°Maybe not die,¡± Elizabeth denied, ¡°but should one keep playing with fire, they will get burned.¡± ¡°Not to worry, Empress, I have been burned many times already. But look, I¡¯m still standing.¡± Sofia fought the lingering dizziness to regain her composure and grabbed the next flask of poison.
Chapter 367- Sea creature [Tri-Venatoserine Proteasic Acid] : Also known as the bloodhunter serum, this poison kills by intense and fast-acting blood clotting. Most effective when injected near the heart. Safety ranking: weird water Weird water? This isn¡¯t going to do anything to someone with no blood, right? So it¡¯s like drinking weird water¡­ Sofia uncorked the vial and drank the whole thing like water under the watchful eyes of Elizabeth. See, still not getting burned. ¡°No effect?¡± Elizabeth asked after a few seconds. ¡°None.¡± The empress raised an eyebrow, and her left eye shone with mana as her gaze pierced Sofia. Finally, she stopped her magic with an utterance of acknowledgement. ¡°Got it, no blood. That is new. It explains a lot¡­ Why would you still drink it when you knew it was useless? I saw you identify it.¡± ¡°I¡¯m being petty to prove a point,¡± Sofia deadpanned. Elizabeth covered her mouth with the back of her hand as she giggled, ¡°Trying to impress the Empress, are you? I am already married, sorry; but how about you explain what this poisoning spree is about, if you want to be interesting?¡± ¡°Sure, after all, you went out of your way to help me this time, did you not? As an apology for your past deeds, perhaps? To keep it simple, the skill which turned my blood to light is turning my nerves to light as well, and I need to consume nerve-damaging substances to speed up the process, the percentage above my head is the completion,¡± Sofia explained while she twirled the one drop of red liquid in the flask she was holding around. ¡°My past deeds? I haven''t a clue as to what you may be referring to, miss Vakaria,¡± Elizabeth said, clearly meaning the opposite. ¡°A peculiar skill, it will be interesting to see how that plays into your next trial.¡± ¡°The tower of rebirth¡­ I know the censor is in the way but, how was it for you?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°I was satisfied with my results, and see where it got me, I dare say my talent shone through.¡± ¡°Right, you wagered an essence of Talent, I suppose.¡± ¡°You are well informed, Saintess. What about you, not going to go with your original patron God, I imagine?¡± ¡°You imagine well. I was thinking of wagering an essence of a much, much better quality than that, to be perfectly honest. Even though the hows and whys of this whole wager system are still a bit opaque to me.¡± ¡°It will all be explained in due time, not to worry, one can even wager gold if they have no essence to spare. Speaking of which, your big skeleton here should also prepare a wager. He is a separate sapient entity from you, is he not? Same goes for the smaller one who is absent today. Or are you simply very much into puppeteering along with necromancy?¡± Wait, wait¡­ Do I need an essence for Pareth and Bookie?!! Actually since Pareth goes with me it makes sense that¡­ But what about Bookie, though? Hmm¡­ I don¡¯t have that much essence to spare, I need to keep at least ten for VPPV¡­ Sofia glanced back at Pareth who had returned to his chair. ¡°This might actually be an issue¡­¡± ¡°You will figure something out, I am sure. And if not, I would happily lend you some Talent for a meager century or two of labor for the Empire, if you beg.¡± ¡°No offense, but I am afraid I will need to refuse.¡± ¡°None taken. The offer stands,¡± the Empress said with a shrug. Sofia changed the subject, ¡°Right¡­ I should get back to drinking or we will be here all day.¡± [Basilisk miasma] : A concentrated drop of miasma refined from the gallbladder of a millenia-old basilisk. Safety ranking: disturbingly dangerous drinkable drop! You¡¯re giving mixed messages now¡­ I don¡¯t mind if you take some liberties with the descriptions but at least try to be a bit serious when the topic is me drinking potentially lethal substances¡­ Sofia watched letters disappear from the safety ranking line until all it said was: ¡®Safety ranking: drink !¡¯ This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Alright then. Much better, thanks. ¡°You might want to sit down for this one,¡± the Empress warned. ¡°Good call, thanks.¡± Plopping down on the bone throne, Sofia carefully ingested the drop of Basilisk miasma.
Oh. Sofia opened her eyes. She was in her room, on her bed. It was night. I¡¯ll give you this one Empress, you won. Sensing Pareth approaching, she asked him, ¡°Was I out for longer than a day?¡± Pareth shook his skull in response, and showed Sofia his hands with nine fingers up. ¡°Nine hours¡­ The rune is still up so I didn¡¯t die. But I¡¯m in bad shape¡­¡± Health : 12 558 / 85 980 Stamina : 3602 / 21 047 Mana : 53 800 / 417 100 Elizabeth brought me here I guess, probably Pareth who opened the door¡­ I don¡¯t remember anything. I just felt the drop touch my tongue and¡­ Sofia¡¯s attention was distracted by Pareth who had just picked up the flask tray from a shelf and brought it to her. The three remaining flasks of poison suddenly looked a lot scarier. What a nice present. ¡°Any shenanigans?¡± she asked Pareth. Again, he shook his skull. Well. Let¡¯s see. I¡¯m at 66%... This was the strongest poison yet but it only gave that much. Another case of diminishing returns? Sofia decided to slow down the poison taking, she would do one a day after class, with Alith and Saria to watch over her. The next poison went down easy. Sofia simply died, her entire upper body dissolved by the flask of strange alchemical compounds, and brought the completion up to 78%. She was brought back by an unlife rune with no further issue. This only left the last two ¡®most dangerous¡¯ poisons. First was a vial of [Kleptra Saliva] which Sofia debated trying for a while because it sounded disgusting but which she eventually consumed. Her scribe¡¯s safety ranking of this one was: Literally lethal. And to no one¡¯s surprise, it actually was, but this time in a slow and painful manner, with Sofia¡¯s body consuming itself from the inside out. This did wonders to the completion of VPPV, which shot all the way up to 99%. She waited for the following weekend to try the last one, as she needed to prepare a special place to consume it; once again, the vial only contained one drop. [Leviathan''s tear] : A droplet extracted from a tear of the Leviathan. Safety ranking: DO NOT DRINK!!! Recommended process: in a closed room, inhale a single breath of the smell from at least 10 meters away, quickly close and store the container before setting yourself on fire to consume remaining airborne emanations. You really know just what to say to make me feel safe. To Delivia¡¯s credit¡­ This one is probably very expensive¡­ Saria was watching bookie¡¯s stone ogre squad dig an underground chamber in a random cliffside for Sofia to do her thing. ¡°Are you really sure you should be using that?¡± Sofia shrugged. ¡°I tried several other things for the last three days but it¡¯s been stuck at 99% so¡­ If anything, Eternam and Leverle both said I should be alright as long as I follow the instructions. We even have a death priest hiding nearby I think. It should be alright¡­ I¡¯ll still have three runes on but if everything goes well I shouldn¡¯t even die. Not from the tear directly, at least¡­¡± ¡°The fire won¡¯t help either,¡± Saria continued, still uneasy. ¡°I have the fire resistance from [Saintess¡¯s madness] so it shouldn¡¯t be too bad. It will stop when there¡¯s no air left in the room anyway, which should be relatively fast if I understood everything correctly. Anyway I¡¯m more than used to getting burned at this point.¡± ¡°Alright, alright¡­ I won¡¯t stop you, I¡¯m just worried, everything I found about the Leviathan points to anything coming from it as extremely nasty stuff.¡± As the two sisters debated on the safety of the poisoning, Alith resurfaced from the hole in the cliffside. ¡°Your room is ready, your highness!¡± she hollered from there. Sofia rolled her eyes and walked up to her. ¡°I see you take your class as a lady-in-waiting very seriously. All jokes aside, thanks for coming.¡± ¡°Not that I can do much if this goes wrong, but I¡¯m happy to be here for moral support. Good luck, Sof.¡± ¡°See you both in a bit,¡± Sofia told Alith and Saria as she entered the long underground room. Pareth was already on the other side, holding the flask with the tear. The stone ogres left after Sofia entered and closed the path behind themselves. ¡°Alright, I¡¯m ready when you are!¡± Pareth opened the flask and closed it almost instantly. It took a few seconds for a prickly sensation to reach Sofia¡¯s skin, prompting her to take one deep breath of the fumes. It smelled a bit like the ocean. When she was done, a single spark from [Angel¡¯s bolt] set off a chain reaction that engulfed the room in green flames. Within the flames, Sofia closed her eyes. The curse-like mana from the fumes spread through her like waves crashing against her body. She felt bloated. She couldn¡¯t see what was happening exactly, but she had already lost all physical sensations from her body. Even the heat of the flames died down. It feels exactly like it did when I died to become an apostle. My health is¡­ moving. Up and down like a wave. This is the first time I¡¯m ¡®healing¡¯ despite the unlife rune being there¡­ I¡¯m really curious but¡­ Oh, screw it. Sofia connected her vision to Pareth¡¯s. She shouldn¡¯t have. There were no flames left, only her body, bloated, warped and stretched, extending like an invasive seaweed to cover every wall, becoming little more than a painting of flesh. Her veins of light stretched across her elongated organs like an eerie sight from outer space as uncanny waves of visible mana scattered along the surface of her skin. Pareth covered his eyes.
Chapter 368 - Double agent Sofia did her best to forget the horrendous image of what she had become, and focused on VPPV instead. She could see her health go down steadily now, and she could feel Pareth attacking her. The second the progress reached 100%, Pareth killed her. The rune brought Sofia back to life. As usual, her first reflex was to open her eyes, but she couldn¡¯t. Bony finger on her face held her eyelids tightly shut. ¡°It¡¯s still there, isn¡¯t it?¡± There was no answer, but she could feel Pareth¡¯s distress. In fact, she knew the answer perfectly well; she could feel her old body pulsating below her. ¡°It¡¯s alright. I¡¯m fine now, aren¡¯t I? My body feels perfectly normal. I feel better than ever, actually. We¡¯ll¡­ Get rid of that thing.¡± She immediately covered the entire room in Erredian rot. But to her dismay, she heard the rot consume itself instantly. Whatever her corpse had become, the rot was not having it for dinner. My rot is still just a weak copy after all¡­ ¡°Can you help me put the scale arm on?¡± she asked Pareth, ¡°I will just bolt it all to ashes.¡± Pareth was reluctant. ¡°I¡¯ll keep my eyes closed, alright? I¡¯m not even using my mana senses at all. I still have the glove and all the rings so just give me the arm.¡± Pareth helped Sofia to sit up and to put the scale armor on, once it was all said and done, she sent him outside with the graveyard skeletons to warn everyone else to take some distance and started to channel an explosive bolt. She grew the bolt until she only had enough mana left for the graveyard skeletons to safely carry her outside. After quickly checking through Pareth¡¯s vision that everyone had safely evacuated, she let the bolt go off. Despite her closed eyes, her vision turned white. Surviving the initial blast with 1% of her health left thanks to the passive effect of VPPV, she quickly called the graveyard skeletons to take her to the spiritual plane as the entire hill collapsed on her, forever burying whatever might be left of her previous leviathan-corrupted body. Maybe I should reconsider getting the [Friendly fire] classless after all¡­ The graveyard skeletons let Sofia out of the ground at the maximum of their range outside of the hill, the previously imposing cliffside of the small hill had become nothing but a pile of rubble. A large part of the hill had collapsed to the side in a landslide, and the near vicinity was covered in char marks and rogue boulders. ¡°The damages of a 200 000 mana bolt. It really does much more damage in enclosed spaces,¡± Sofia said to herself as she observed the aftermath. She felt relatively fine despite her charred body under the regenerating bone-armor and her empty mana. My mind feels clearer somehow. This upgrade came with a bonus in processing, I think. My brain is made of light, now, right? I wonder how that even works¡­ But I feel like I should be significantly harder to kill now. Theoretically I should still be able to think even if my head gets destroyed, no? If the brain of light stays behind just like the veins. Can I even still die? With no answer to her questions, Alith, Saria and Pareth rejoined her. ¡°Sofia?¡± Saria asked. Sofia turned around, ¡°A great success! It was a bit messy. I¡¯m not looking too good under the armor currently, the runes still prevent healing. I know it¡¯s weird but¡­ Want to try to kill me?¡± ¡°Never change, Sister¡­ You¡¯re serious, aren¡¯t you? Let this older sibling of yours stab you to teach you some decency, then! Where do you want it?¡± Saria asked as her Dragon mask crawled up to her face and her magical polearm of blue light formed in her hands. Sofia tapped her forehead, opening a vertical slit in her bone helmet. Saria shook her head disapprovingly and stabbed Sofia in the face. ¡°You¡¯re just as bad as her,¡± Alith commented from the side. Pareth seemed to be of the same mind. Sofia watched her health go down a few more points. The pain was really mild, muted. The magical blade felt cold inside her skin. ¡°Not dead?¡± Saria asked. ¡°No. I¡¯d appreciate it if you could pull the blade out, though.¡± Saria frowned, but obliged. Bright yellow light leaked from the gaping hole in Sofia¡¯s punctured head as the polearm was removed. Then the skin glued itself back together, leaving no apparent traces of the attack. I have a hole in my skull now¡­ ¡°I don¡¯t know if I¡¯m more impressed or disturbed,¡± Alith commented. It was Dopple who answered in a sarcastic tone, ¡°You¡¯re a ghost, wearer. Can you really talk?¡± ¡°Well you¡¯re a talking piece of clothing which I am wearing, so I don¡¯t think you¡¯re well placed to speak either. ¡°Fair¡­ Do you think I can have another one of those red-silk chemises tonight?¡± After a few more stabs, it became evident that killing Sofia with something as clean as a single blade wouldn¡¯t work unless all her bones were shattered, so to avoid a mess, she just canceled the runes and let her passive healing heal her back up. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. Maybe it¡¯s a good time to start dying less often.
[Venerable physique of the primeval void] ? - Fourth step of the Light forging realm : Light forging realm : Starting step : You no longer age. First step : Your skin becomes tougher and opaque (1000/1000%) Second step : Your blood becomes light (126 441 / 126 441 drops converted) Third step : Your nerves and brain become light (100/100%) Fourth step : Become a beauty blessed by light (0(6)/1) Fifth step : Finalize the light-forging Current step training method : Obtain the essence of a light-related deity; use it through this skill to alter your appearance. I don¡¯t understand¡­ I¡¯ve been stuck on this crap for a week! I already have the essence, come on, this should have been a free step!!! Sofia once again channeled one of Sun¡¯s essence through the skill, and as it did every time, it overloaded the skill¡¯s mana channels with so much energy that it backlashed and failed to accomplish anything. Sofia cursed. ¡°I give up¡­ Alright. You forced my hand¡­ I didn¡¯t want to but I¡¯ll use Scripture¡¯s essence¡­¡± How is it even light-related anyway? Letting go of her stubbornness, Sofia channeled the venerable physique skill with Scripture¡¯s essence, and the step was instantly completed as her body started glowing all-over like a shining star. ¡°Great. Is this my life now? Looking like a luminous freak, again?!¡± She kept activating the skill, and tried playing around with the mana distribution, and to her great relief, she managed to stop glowing altogether. Much better! Now the question is, can I do a tasteful in-between? After a full night of deliberation in front of her mirror, and with the help of Pareth approving or disapproving of her changes, Sofia ended up settling for two configurations of the lights. For her everyday life , she had the passive mode where only her eyes and hair were affected, with her eyes shining softly with blue light and her hair becoming ever so slightly transparent and shimmering with golden light. And for grand occasions, she had the Angel mode, which, for all intents and purposes, made her look like a semi transparent being of golden light inlaid with shining stars, just like the angels and archangels. With the exception of not looking like she was trying to break reality, unlike the real thing. It still looked very uncanny. It really only alters how I look though¡­ Well, good enough. One last step and I¡¯m done with the light-forging! For once Sofia did something she rarely did and opened the full description of VPPV, which came with a very familiar sudden jolt of pain in her head, which she could tell was largely attenuated thanks to her brain being now made of light. Mr. Scribe? What are you doing? Are you alright? [Venerable physique of the primeval void] ? - Fifth step of the Light forging realm : The primeval void was born of the universe¡¯s first shadow. Shadow gathering realm : A single hit cannot take away more than 99% of your maximum health. You are 50% more resilient to explosions You are able to see in extremely low light levels and to breathe light You cannot be hurt by the cold and cannot be traced in the spirit realm Shadows and light are two faces of a single coin. Light forging realm : Starting step : You no longer age. First step : Your skin becomes tougher and opaque (1000/1000%) Second step : Your blood becomes light (126 441 / 126 441 drops converted) Third step : Your nerves and brain become light (100/100%) Fourth step : Become a beauty blessed by light (1(+5)/1) Fifth step : Finalize the light-forging by awakening the mana cores (0/11) The primeval void is your domain. Boundless space realm : Starting step : You are able to perform quantic transpositions. First step : ??? Current step training method : 1- Complete the bonus task in your next trial before the reward distribution and request a scribe upgrade to tier 3. 2- At the time of rebirth, complain that your scribe has wrongfully assigned you a quest resulting in the premature death of the Apostle of curse. 3- Ignore all error messages and focus on absorbing the mana hijacked from the tower. 4- When the system¡¯s enforcers show up, claim that your actions fall under the emergency procedure rule ERR-O-12, and request to be judged directly by Anna, do not say or do anything else until they give way. 5- Thoughts about these instructions may get censored to avoid unwanted alerts. 6- These instructions will disappear in twenty seconds, commit them to memory now. Complete all steps and gather divine essence to unlock further realms. Current divine essence (11) : No way¡­ What¡­ Are you serious?! Past the initial shock, Sofia quickly read the ¡®training method¡¯ several times over, and soon, it disappeared, replaced by a set of ridiculous instructions to the tune of : ¡®find the origin of a rainbow¡¯ or ¡®count the grains of sand in the red desert¡¯. I¡¯m going to trust you on this one, Scribe, but you better know what you¡¯re doing¡­ And who¡¯s Anna?
Chapter 369 - Lunar revelations After the disturbing events with the Leviathan tear, Sofia¡¯s ¡®vacations¡¯ at the academy finally felt like actual rest. With no pressing issues remaining, she could slowly keep helping the students progress while working on her own skills at a leisurely pace. The first thing she did was to finally read the entirety of what she had access to of the Academy¡¯s library then of the Empire¡¯s public great royal library. It only took her a few minutes to go through even the bigger tomes, flipping through the pages like a lunatic, quickly earning herself a reputation among the nobles of the Empire as a book-eating freak. On a happenchance meeting with ¡®Elizabeth¡¯, she traded the flask with the Leviathan¡¯s tear back to her for a pass to the Mithrium-rank-ID restricted section of the royal library where she found books about all the known classes, siege rituals and dungeon locations as well as sparse but interesting information on the Major Gods and the Deep. Among all the interesting information, one that definitely caught her eyes was the mention of Scripture as one of the strongest major gods worshiped by humans of the pre-system era and his downfall as people began to associate holy text with the system, redirecting power to its creator God, whose identity, just like that of the two other admins, wasn¡¯t mentioned anywhere. Uncensored knowledge on the system itself was sparse, there was apparently God¡¯s incarnation in charge of every trial after the first, though their names, too, were not spoken. Finally, she found a few passages mentioning ¡®The rot Dragon¡¯ and ¡®The higher races war¡¯ which the book described as: ¡®a tragedy that left an entire continent uninhabitable¡¯.
For months, life was calm at the academy, even during the events for tokens with Sofia and Astelia¡¯s students, there were no more attacks or suspicious activities. Shaily fell off in the token rankings as she had become obsessed with mastering the [Angel¡¯s Bolt] and was already at a point where she could throw genuine, if weak, piercing bolts. Unlike Sofia who trained to channel them faster, Shaily was trying to modify her version to be more mana-efficient. Instead of her, it was Lola who solidified her ranking in first place, with a small but meaningful lead over Saria in second place, Erian in third, a level 199 student in fourth, and En and Opal constantly battling and dueling each other for fifth place. After every public class, more and more students would apply to Sofia¡¯s class but she rejected all of their applications as she felt she couldn¡¯t focus on any more students at once. Many of the other teachers also used their lesson credits to come to spectate her and each other¡¯s classes. Sofia also started proactively using all of her accumulated credits, finally learning short range teleportation from Astelia¡¯s lessons, and overall just getting to know every teacher in the academy while learning random knowledge in a bunch of unrelated fields. In particular, she spent a lot of time in Eternam¡¯s necromancy lessons, which she was already overqualified for most of the time, but enjoyed anyway. Since Zerei was already often with Eternam, Sofia could often be seen hanging out with the two Avians around the academy grounds. She was attacked a few times for her token pouch by organized groups of students, netting her quite a few new hands for her room¡¯s door, but no one ever challenged her to an official duel again after the humiliation of Marquess Proudwall. Her skills were slowly progressing, the combat skills in particular she trained by organizing frequent all-out brawls with Astelia, Saria and Alith whenever the four of them were all free. She was admiring the result of her hard work on the seventh out of the ten months of the school year, when she noticed her first mana pearl from [Crystallized] was finally ready. Name : Sofia Aphenoreth Age : 21 ? Class : [Saintomancer] ? Level : 249 ? Health : 85 980 / 85 980 (20k + (20/level - 4k) + 65k) Stamina : 21 047 / 21 047 (20 067 + (20/level - 4k)) Mana : 417 100 / 417 100 (319 100 + (2k/level- 400k)) Main Specialization : [Eclipse Skeleton] Alteration chance : 100% Secondary Specialization : [Heat Death] Active Skills (8 / 8) [Spine of the Black Sun] - Level 249 [Summon Blood] - Level 249 [Maiden Banshee] - Level 249 (Lv.249) [Graveyard of the righteous] - Level 247 [False immortality] - Level 3 This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. [Skull Choir] - Level 236 [Reign over shadows] [Saintess¡¯ madness] - Level 2 Passive Skills (7 / 8) [Blessing of the Deep] - (2/4) [Vakariazrehafin of Sorrow] ? [Exalted Exoskeleton] ? [Venerable physique of the primeval void] ? - Fifth step Light forging realm [Bone dominus] - Level 2 [Erredian Rot] [Runeforged Overlord] ? - Level 249 Classless Skills (7 / 7) ? [Dreams Of a Demon which Gods Envy - March of the Envoy] ? [Summon Self] - Level 42 [Mana manipulation] ? [Radiance] - Level 99 [Quintessential] ? [One with Suffering] ? [Crystallized] ? Special Skills (1) [The Book of Skeletons] ? Summoned heroes (4 / 4) [Mark of Aphenoreth] [Bone dominus] really is stubbornly stuck there¡­ Most of everything else is almost ready though. I need to work a bit more on the teleportation classless and finish optimizing the bolts and I should be good to go for the trial. I¡¯ll just need to take care of Pareth and Bookie next before going. Also pay Erredis and TLDR a visit. ¡°Now onto the pearl¡­ It¡¯s been almost ready for a while but it¡¯s just dislodged itself a bit I think,¡± Sofia said to herself as she prodded the pearl on her chest. With a gentle pinch, she dislodged it, revealing the small budding bead of a new pearl underneath. Oh so the new pearl is what pushed it out. Sofia held the pearl in front of her face and observed it closely, it was perfectly smooth and round, about the size of one of Alith¡¯s candy, and its pearly surface was a marbled mix of reflective blues and purples. There¡¯s quite a lot of mana aggregated inside. It¡¯s surprisingly heavy, too. About six months for this¡­ I hope they come much faster later on, since the growth speed is linked to the mana regen. Let¡¯s see what Mr Scribe has to say. [Mana Pearl] : A pearl of very finely compressed and woven mana taking a physical form from the sheer density of energy contained within. It can fuel rituals for a long time or be swallowed whole to gain a 100% bonus to thinking speed lasting for around twenty minutes as well as fueling your mana regeneration even in an environment devoid of mana (up to a certain point). Will slowly dissipate in about a decade, use within five years for best results. Well, keeping that one for the trial. Might even be worth it to wait until I get a second one before going in. Actually, what if I ate two at once? Mr. Scribe? Identifying the pearl again, there was an additional line about mass consumption diminishing returns. Good to know¡­ There should be the next competition event in a few days, no? How come Ms. Deathmarch hasn¡¯t brought me anything yet? I¡¯ll see if Astelia is home. She should be napping around this time I think¡­ Do I wait?
¡°So it was not just me?¡± Astelia asked, sleepy-eyed and still holding a yellow bird-shaped plushie, ¡°I thought the academy might have skipped me by mistake when making the papers, I was going to bring it up to you at tonight¡¯s fight.¡± ¡°Well¡­ Time to pay a visit to our lovely coordinator. Are you coming with me?¡± Astelia nodded. ¡°Give me a second to change.¡± She closed the door and reappeared two minutes later, her hair tied in an approximative ponytail and wearing a simple long tunic in the colors of the academy. ¡°There¡¯s no rush, you know,¡± Sofia commented jokingly. ¡°I would not be so sure about that¡­ Moon just sent me a very creepy vision of a weird mask.¡± How nice. Just when I was starting to get used to the slow life here. Sofia shaped the one-eyed mask of Scripture¡¯s newest pawn out of bones and showed it to Astelia, ¡°By any chance?¡± ¡°Yes! This one. Is it what I think it is?¡± ¡°Exactly that one, this bastard Scripture must be planning some shit again. So don¡¯t rush, be ready for battle. We¡¯re safe in the academy, but who knows how fast things can go awry¡­ I¡¯m not getting caught unprepared again. How long do you need?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ About ten minutes to be sure I¡¯m fully ready,¡± Astelia answered after a second of reflection. ¡°I¡¯ll be back here in ten, then.¡± Sofia summoned the graveyard skeletons and phased right out of the teachers¡¯ tower.
Sofia phased right into Alith¡¯s alchemy lab, which was where she was at this time of day with 100% certainty. ¡°Sof? Something going on?¡± ¡°I have reasons to think it¡¯s time.¡± ¡°Right now?¡± Alith asked while she cut the fire under her multiple cauldrons and glassware tubes. ¡°I¡¯m not sure but it¡¯s better if you come just in case.¡± ¡°Give me a second to make sure nothing¡¯s going to explode and I¡¯m good to go.¡±
Sofia found Saria in the spectator benches of the underground arena, watching the ongoing duels. She tapped on her shoulder. ¡°Time for plan Birthday party.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Saria asked as she turned around. ¡°Uncertain, but Moon just sent Asty a vision on the elf¡¯s mask.¡± ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll be heading out with Pareth then, Cinthia is in our room if you want to check the Chat, don¡¯t forget your runes.¡± ¡°I¡¯m working on it.¡±
Chapter 370 - Scouting the location It turned out that Cinthia''s chat was completely clueless as to what was happening, but Hatred wished Sofia good luck either way and Death sent one of his usual random faces. Sorrow was not present for some reason, leading Sofia to think she might be looking after Ihuarah at the moment.
Led by Beryl, Sofia and Astelia entered Beligenus¡¯ office in the highest tower of the academy. The headmaster was already there, behind his desk and fiddling with some kind of elaborate mithrium contraption which held in place small dragon scales fragments each engraved with a different piece of ritual circle which could be moved around. He looked up from his contraption and welcomed the two young teachers. ¡°You come early. Sit, I will explain. Beryl, you may go and activate the defenses with Saint Tartaros,¡± the old Dragon in Exidian form told them. Beryl left with a nod, while Sofia and Astelia silently sat opposite to the headmaster. ¡°As you might have guessed, you two will not be taking part in this weekend¡¯s event. Your target has shown itself, the pawn of Scripture. He has already started sabotaging your next planned event location,¡± Beligenus explained while he focused his attention on the contraption again. ¡°How come Scripture knows of the event location?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°It is a complex subject which has to do with his domain,¡± Beligenus started explaining, his head still buried inside the strange contraption occupying most of his desk, ¡°We found a few students worshiping religious texts within the academy grounds. Using this along with the proximity of His Essence which you bear, it created a sufficient link for Him to spy on the happenings within the Academy. We have since removed all religious writs in the near vicinity, but the event locations were planned long in advance.¡± Scripture can spy on things happening near me as long as there are religious texts being worshiped nearby? ¡­ I see. No wonder the elf prepared such a complex trap last time, Scripture really knew about Leverle¡¯s charm. Of course there would be religious texts in Death¡¯s Church! ¡°So this is what this was about!¡± Astelia said like she just understood something, ¡°I was wondering why Beryl was so insistent on asking if I had texts from Moon.¡± ¡°No one asked me, though?¡± Sofia wondered aloud. ¡°Asking you would only alert Scripture that something was going on, we acted fast to prevent any actions from His part. We know that you carry no religious text, however,¡± Beligenus told her. ¡°How?¡± ¡°We asked your skeleton.¡± Oh. That would work. When, though? Not that it matters but¡­ Hmm. When I was busy reading through the library probably, Pareth did wander off on his own a few times¡­ Is that it? Alright, I¡¯m still not used to seeing him act on his own that much, but I¡¯m not against it. It¡¯s honestly uncomfortable to be separated like this¡­ Beligenus stood up from his chair to get a better look at his mithrium machine, he addressed the two teachers again, ¡°This, right here, is a targeted essence canceller. As you can see, I am still giving it the finishing touches. Only I can operate it, and this is what I will be using to prevent Scripture from intervening when you fight His pawn. We were planning for you two to enter the location an hour early compared to the event¡¯s planning to ¡®scout the location¡¯, but we can proceed with it earlier.¡± ¡°Wait, so we¡¯re really going to fight against them? Can you not deal with it yourself?¡± Astelia asked, ¡°Why do we, two weak teachers, have to expose ourselves to danger like this? I know the issue originally comes from Sofia¡¯s history with Scripture, so I would understand if you did not want to help; but if you are going to help, being level 500, why make things this complicated? I know how strong Dragons are.¡± This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°There is a lot going on. I could, indeed, obliterate that measly pawn of Scripture, right this moment, without even leaving this office. But that is not what you want, trust me, you want him alive. And I will explain why at the end of this conversation.¡± Why could we possibly need the Elf alive? To steal another Essence from Scripture maybe? Sofia raised another question, ¡°And the reason only I and Astelia can go is to avoid the Elf from being suspicious and teleporting away like last time?¡± ¡°Precisely,¡± Beligenus confirmed, ¡°The pawn is a remote vessel to Scripture, fooling his senses would be easy. But, even in hiding, someone over level 250 would be too noticeable to approach without being detected by a God. Past that threshold, you become much more visible to the divine, annoyingly so. So only you two can go.¡± Oh, alright. I feared that we may need to cancel the birthday party but it turns out that despite everything not happening how I thought it would, we can still proceed. That¡¯s reassuring. Beligenus continued to explain his plan, ¡°Once the pawn takes notice of your arrival, he will put whatever plan he is preparing to execution. At this instant, I will appear in the skies above and activate this machine, which will prevent Scripture from connecting to His Essence and from interfering at all, as well as prevent the pawn from escaping. This, however, is a complex process, I will not be able to help in any other way, and can only maintain it for a few minutes. During this time, you must neutralize the pawn and free him of Scripture¡¯s grasp.¡± ¡°How do we free him?¡± Astelia asked. ¡°It is a simple matter of removing a few parasites. Which I believe should be one of Miss Vakaria¡¯s abilities. Is it not?¡± Beligenus asked with a knowing smile. Sofia nodded, but she was deep in thoughts wondering how Beligenus could possibly know that. The abilities and existence of [Blessing of the Deep] were not something she had revealed to just anyone. He found out that I saved the Magisterium¡¯s daughter perhaps? How extensive of a background check do you need to perform to know about THIS? No secrets from the level 500s huh. So the elf is full of mind parasites¡­ How like Scripture to do that. Can he really be saved, though? The sinner Paladins and Templars were all already beyond saving¡­ ¡°So, we go there pretending to just come to scout the location, you cut Scripture off, then we free the pawn, right?¡± Sofia asked for some clarification. ¡°Will they not fight back?¡± ¡°Oh they will, absolutely. And they are much stronger than you both as well. But without Scripture pulling the strings, they will be acting purely on blind instincts. I am fully confident that you can handle it. If not, I will be saving you, but it will cost the pawn their life,¡± Beligenus explained. ¡°I still don¡¯t get why we should care abo-¡± Sofia started saying, but she stopped herself mid-sentence. Slowly, the pieces of the puzzle were starting to all fit together in her head. She looked at Astelia. Oh fuck¡­
Sofia and Astelia were teleported to the event location. It was the remnants of an ancient dilapidated city, surrounded by steep rocky mountains on all sides. No dungeon this time, the actual event for the students was an archeology trip, during which they were meant to search for old relics and try to understand what had led to the city¡¯s downfall. Of course, no archeology would be done today. Astelia¡¯s mood was terrible, Sofia had never seen her this stressed and angry. So much so that she wondered whether the small Vampire could actually fight. The enemy was a hundred levels above them, after all, not a gap easily crossed. Only because of the mind parasites infesting the enemy did they stand a chance. On the bright side, they now knew the enemy very well. Sofia looked around, they had been teleported directly within the ruins, only carved stone blocks in vaguely square formations on the ground were left of whatever this place had been. Astelia turned to look in a certain direction, she couldn¡¯t prevent her sharp canines from showing, she growled, ¡°He¡¯s here. I can smell it.¡± Sofia placed a hand on her shoulder. ¡°Try to calm down, Asty. We¡¯ve got this. We¡¯re prepared. Play your role, and everything will be alright.¡± This calmed the shaking of the young vampire somewhat, but it failed to dispel her tense facial expression. Out of nowhere, the blue sky disappeared. The entire mountain range had suddenly been enveloped by a bright pink shield pulsing with energy, like an impenetrable dome of flowing mana obscuring the sky. The transition had been instantaneous and silent. Violent screams resounded from the other end of the ruined city. Deformed screeches of rage and agony. It was Scripture¡¯s pawn being cut from the divine hand controlling him. Alright Mr. Scribe, it¡¯s on you, on my signal!
Chapter 371 - Happy birthday Sofia flew up while Astelia stayed on the ground. Since Sofia had the unlife runes as a safety measure and Astelia did not, she was the one who would act as bait while the Vampire focused on defense. I see him. [Summoner - Lv.300+] Scripture¡¯s pawn, the masked ¡®elf¡¯. He was struggling, twisting in pain under his long cape and randomly teleporting around, his image flickering through the ruins. Impossible to hit like that. I need to bait him into the Rot. Was all that Sofia had time to think before It noticed her; and before she had time to blink, the masked person was in front of her. A clawed-hand on a pale arm shot out of the figure¡¯s long black cloak. Sofia was not moving, so the attack harmlessly curved around her, the figure then disappeared again, teleporting somewhere else. It all happened so fast that Sofia did not even have the spare time to activate [Erredian Rot], let alone the light to spread it. Astelia was right, he¡¯s going to be impossible to hit without tricks. And I need to maintain contact for a few seconds to get all the mind parasites¡­ Good thing I have plenty of tricks. Teleporting figure found Astelia and teleported near her a few times, but every time, Astelia managed to ride on the mana tracks of his teleportation right as he arrived, effectively exchanging places with him. Sofia tried to time the activation of her light spell and Rot with Astelia teleporting away, but it was hard to be confident not to hit her, and after his teleportations, the masked figure was only there for a fraction of a second before being gone again. Sofia watched the deadly teleportation ballet going on in the ruins and when she was confident, having prepared multiple spells ready to activate in advance, unleashed the rot on Astelia¡¯s position. The rot hit the cloaked figure. The cloak stayed where it was, and an emaciated pale figure wearing rags and a mask appeared before Sofia once again, free of rot. Using her recently acquired short distance teleportation [Summon Self], Sofia teleported a few meters back directly into a new pillar of light she just unleashed. The teleporting figure rode along on the trail of Sofia¡¯s teleportation, appearing closer to her than ever. Using his instincts. The light hit him, covering him in rot, but he was too close, within the space-curving bubble of [March of the Envoy], and his claws struck several times, shredding Sofia to bits, reducing her health to nearly zero before she could try anything else. Small chunks of bloodless Sofia flesh and bones rained from the sky. Although her being still ¡®alive¡¯ was questionable to anyone but herself, she could still see through her mana senses, and knew she could still cast skills through her bloodlight veins if needed. We only need to wait for the rot to empty his mana, but can Astelia survive that long? I need to bait him around. Sofia started summoning blood anywhere she could, as long as it was far from Astelia. Every time a big bubble of blood appeared, the rot-covered figure would teleport to it by instinct, giving Astelia some breathing room. I¡¯m running out of mana¡­ Health : 859 / 85 980 Stamina : 12 / 21 047 Mana : 29 684 / 417 100 From her spot on the ground, where the diced bits of her body were spread around, Sofia closely monitored the two teleporting mages. He has to be almost out by now¡­ Suddenly, the mana of Astelia swelled and was propelled hundreds of meters in the sky. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. That¡¯s her defensive trump-card. So long as he doesn¡¯t reach the fake moon she should be safe. It seemed to work, as the teleporting figure kept teleporting around Astelia but never seemed to be able to appear anywhere nearby. Sofia counted the seconds, she knew that Astelia¡¯s defensive spell, [Mastermind within], lasted for exactly sixty seconds after activation. Whether the rot had finished emptying the pawn¡¯s mana by then or not, Sofia had to do something, or Astelia would likely be dead the instant her defensive spell ended. It¡¯s good that he doesn¡¯t realize I¡¯m still alive. Alright, get ready, Scribe. I hope they¡¯re also ready in there. We said six seconds, they can¡¯t be a second late or it won¡¯t work. Ten seconds before the end of Astelia¡¯s defensive spell, Sofia started channeling an explosive angel¡¯s bolt through her bloodlight. Six seconds; despite the lack of an intact head, a sharp pain assaulted Sofia¡¯s brain. The Scribe was purposefully bypassing system rules to inflict soul damage to Sofia and thus to Pareth as well. This was necessary to contact Pareth, who could not be joined in any other way, as he was currently in the Margin. Three and a half seconds left; Sofia released the exploding bolt on the last bits of herself. She reopened her eyes three seconds later, lying in the charred dirt, revived by the runes, and instantly summoned a huge mass of blood above her with almost all of her remaining mana, keeping exactly 50 points around for later. Astelia¡¯s defensive spell ended, leaving her vulnerable for a few seconds. Thankfully, the masked figure appeared atop of her, drawn in by the blood. It still had mana to teleport. But he was not the only one teleporting in this position at this instant. Take your surprise birthday present! Out of nowhere, a giant shockwave tore through the fabric of space itself; Pareth had teleported to Sofia, riding a small flying Dragon, itself holding a thin girl in its claws. The sharp reflexes and insane speed of Saria in her Dragon form allowed her to instantly turn in the direction of the rot-covered individual, and just as the figure was about to teleport away once again, it was hit across the face by a resounding slap and pinned to the ground by a Dragon, a skeleton, and an Alith. The [Slap of absolute shame] would only prevent the individual from moving for one second, but it was enough, Bookie was already out in his book form by himself, and, siphoning the last bits of mana from Sofia¡¯s body, summoned Crowie in the palm of her hand. Sofia did not have to do anything except release the long before channeled effect of [Saintess¡¯ madness]. The skill, which was now level 2, had gained a new effect : she could spend one minute to channel a specific effect in advance, and on the next activation only, be certain to get this element instead of a random one. Sofia¡¯s arm moved by itself and sent Crowie flying for the pinned teleporter with the effect she had prepared in advance: Space - [Anchor] : For ten seconds, prevents teleportation. Crowie hit the enemy and exploded. No more teleportation. Sofia jumped up. Despite Pareth, Saria and Alith all dogpiling onto the frail-looking and rot-covered summoner, the instant the effects of the slap ran out, he managed to send all three of them flying. Even without teleportation, he was still over level 300, he lunged at Sofia. For an instant, Sofia thought the battle was over. She had nothing left, the enemy was too strong despite everything. She could only throw herself at the attacking enemy and hope that even a short contact would be enough to get rid of all the mind parasites. Her extended hand reached the summoner as his clawed hand reached her. She expected to die again, but to her surprise, her hand landed on the throat of the other one and she was unharmed. He stopped moving?! Sofia was assaulted by a rain of notification informing her that the soul parasites were being killed by her blessing. Hundreds of them. She felt foreign mana around the summoner, following the trail, Sofia saw Astelia. She was in a bad state, overexerting herself, flaming blood flowing from her face. Yet, she was spending all the mana she had left to pin him in place with her specialization. Pareth appeared near Sofia again, and his first reflex was to send a [Greater Heal] in Astelia¡¯s direction. Finally, after three seconds of an awkward standoff and as Saria and Alith just managed to return to the scene, Sofia got one last notification. [You have been affected by : Soul Parasite. But your skills eliminated the intruder.] The rot-covered man fell unceremoniously on the ground like a puppet whose strings had been cut. No kill or murder notice, thank the Lords. Sofia immediately activated her ring from the second trial to suck all the mana around and get rid of the rot. ¡°Is it already over?¡± Saria asked. ¡°Yes, we got him,¡± Sofia answered. ¡°That¡¯s scripture¡¯s pawn?¡± Alith said as she walked up to the limp body. But the first to reach Sofia and the man was Astelia, who teleported right there and fell on her knees near the collapsed man in rags. She reached for the creepy mask and ripped it off of the man¡¯s face, throwing it away behind her in the same movement. ¡°Uncle Nyse!¡±
Chapter 372 - Tis I The pink shield in the sky crumbled and Beligenus appeared near the group, looking disheveled and exhausted. ¡°I shall abstain from asking unnecessary questions, this was beautifully done. Let us return-¡± ¡°Is he going to be alright?!¡± Astelia interrupted him, which he took in strides. ¡°Yes. His soul is extensively damaged but will recover in a matter of hours; his link to Scripture was completely severed, there is not a trace of essence left,¡± he explained. Wait, did we just miss an opportunity to steal another one of Scripture¡¯s essences? It was worth it to save Astelia¡¯s Uncle instead, though.
¡°And this is really all I know about what¡¯s going on out there, so not much of anything new. Hopefully this is enough of a setback that Scripture stops bothering me for a while¡­¡± Sofia explained to Astelia. ¡°Hmm. It was good that I left when I did, then¡­ I haven¡¯t returned to the embassy often after we met in the moonlit castle, the ambiance in Skyreach had already turned a bit awkward¡­¡± Astelia commented from the other side of the bed. The four girls were waiting, sitting around the sleeping Cardinal in Astelia¡¯s room, with Pareth silently looking over them from a corner. Sofia had made sure that everyone was parasite-free, and now they were just waiting for Cardinal to wake up. ¡°To think he, of all people, would get caught¡­¡± Astelia sighed. ¡°The soul parasites are sneaky even if you know about them, but it¡¯s true that I didn¡¯t expect him to get caught like that, especially after the warning letter I sent him¡­ Why was he even out there investigating the ¡®plague¡¯?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°Uncle Nyse is¡­ He¡¯s always got to put his nose into every suspicious thing he sees. He spends all his time helping random people, playing doctor, investigating crimes, so much so that he often neglects everything else. He has been at the same level for a very long time, not because of a failed trial, but because he never took the time to actually do it¡­¡± Astelia answered while she observed her sleeping Uncle. ¡°He was surprisingly trustful when Sofia met him, I remember he gave her the money for the blood in advance along with a storage item to put the blood in just like that, telling her to bring it back filled later,¡± Alith chimed in. Sofia nodded. ¡°That did happen, yeah. The money really saved our asses too. I¡¯m pretty sure we would have died against the Siren Queen if not for your mithril weapons.¡± ¡°He¡¯s like that. Now that I think about it, it¡¯s likely that he got your letter, Sofia, and decided to investigate the Church himself as a result, not wanting to endanger anyone else¡­ Anyway, thank you for helping me save him, I¡¯m indebted to you four, really,¡° Astelia told them with a deep bow. Saria waved her off, ¡°It¡¯s nothing. Just helping a friend. Besides, we had our own reason to deal with this issue, and Sofia¡¯s part of the reason this even happened to him in the first place, so really, we did nothing but set things straight.¡± Hoy! Well¡­ ¡°Saying I¡¯m the reason feels like a bit of a disingenuous shortcut, it¡¯s not like I ever wanted to have to deal with this asshole of a God at all, but it¡¯s also not completely wrong. Not that I could have done anything differently, though, besides not sending that letter, but I doubt things would have gone better for him if he had to find out about the parasites the hard way.¡± ¡°Hey I said you were part of the reason not that it was your fault.¡± ¡°It¡¯s only his own fault,¡± Astelia jumped in, ¡°he¡¯s more than old enough to handle himself.¡± ¡°That, I am,¡± the bedridden Vampire confirmed, his eyes shooting open and his mana expanding through the room. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°Uncle Nyse!¡± Astelia threw herself at the pale vampire on the bed the second he sat up, and he reciprocated the hug despite still looking a bit lost. ¡°I¡¯m happy to see you too, Stelly.¡± Already up? That was faster than the headmaster predicted. After a few seconds of a tight embrace, Astelia let him go, her eyes shifting around like she was embarrassed of what she just did. Cardinal looked around, fixing his hair by replacing it behind his long ears and patting Astelia¡¯s head with his other hand. His eyes stopped on Sofia, ¡°Another familiar face; you seem to be doing well. I believe your presence here answers a number of my questions¡­¡± It does? That means¡­ ¡°So you do not remember a thing?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°Well. Truth is, I remember everything very well up to a point. Then nothing. But clearly, something has happened. I am relieved, though, to see my niece still so young. I must not have been gone very long.¡± ¡°You were under Scripture¡¯s control for ten to fifteen months, by our estimates,¡± Saria chimed in. ¡°So I really was¡­ I should have known I was in over my head. And I suppose you five present here are the ones responsible for bringing me back?¡± Surprisingly, the fastest answer came in the form of a nod from Pareth, whom he had acknowledged in the headcount. ¡°I thank you, sincerely. I will repay you all in due time.¡± ¡°How did they get you?¡± Astelia asked, distancing herself from the patting hand, her face absurdly red, ¡°Was it the Oracle?¡± Cardinal frowned. ¡°Perhaps, I¡­ Do not know. I was investigating the plague. Spurred by Miss Sofia¡¯s incredibly helpful letter, I managed to avoid the Soul Parasites and to start distributing a preventive brew to the civilians, for lack of an immediate cure. Afterwards, I traced the source of the spreading back to Einsen¡¯s quarantined Holy See. I managed to slip inside of the barrier with relative ease, but to my surprise, the Headquarters of the Church were devoid of life. As if every last Paladin, Priest and Servant of Scripture had vanished off of the surface of this planet. I thoroughly combed the place, until I found myself in their strange underground prison.¡± Sofia cut him off, ¡°Prison? Not dungeon?¡± ¡°Not in the least, no,¡± Cardinal answered, ¡°Was it a dungeon before? That is an interesting discovery¡­ There were no monsters, as far as I¡¯ve observed. Simply a large abandoned underground complex and abyss. The bottom of which I quickly reached, stepping on piles of shredded bones. I was curious at the time, intrigued by a set of Doors which I could not feel or teleport through for unclear reasons. I remember clearly grabbing the round handles. And that is it. End of story. Next thing I know, I woke up here, surrounded by a cortege of elegant young ladies.¡± ¡°You seem very unfazed for someone who just went through that and lost more than a year of memories,¡± Alith commented. ¡°Oh I have been through much worse,¡± he answered with a laugh. ¡°He has been through much worse,¡± Astelia confirmed, nodding very fast with a terrified expression. Hmm¡­ Piles of bones and a door, that much I remember as well from my rebirth as an Apostle¡­ Supposedly there was something or another sealed down there, I think? Didn¡¯t the magisterium say something like that? I¡¯m not quite sure, he did spout a lot of nonsense¡­ ¡°Was there a body down there? With a pile of dead Zombies? And a sword?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°A body? Oh. So that is how you escaped? Most interesting. But there was no such thing, no, only broken bones, heaps of them, not the slightest hint of flesh, shattered armor, or anything else, really.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ Well it makes sense that they recovered the corpse, but to get rid of the Zombies too¡­¡± ¡°Now, however¡­¡± Cardinal disappeared from the bed. His voice reached the girls from behind the room¡¯s door, which he opened, now fully dressed in his usual rhombus-patterned yellow and black outfit. ¡°I would appreciate hearing about your side of the story. This place¡­ We are in Brighthall, are we not?¡± Seeing affirmative nods, he continued, ¡°I shall extend my thanks to the old Sage as well, then¡­ I believe my system log shall reveal plenty of things about my lost year or so, but a direct account of the happenings is always the best place to start, so let us discuss this in a more joyous environment, shall we? I am also quite thirsty.¡± How¡­ ¡°Do you still have a storage item on you?¡± Saria asked as she wondered about the same thing Sofia did. ¡°Dear, my class is [Summoner], I am the storage item.¡± ¡°I¡¯m just surprised that Scripture did not rob you blind,¡± Saria added, ¡°He seemed to have access to your skills.¡± ¡°Well, He might have been able to use the simpler ones, yes, but Divinity or not, there is little to no chance that He could have decoded a System specialization with five hundred years of upgrades in so little time. Besides, my Scribe would sooner die than allow anybody else inside my realm.¡±
Chapter 373 - Answers from beyond In the salon of Astelia¡¯s apartments, after learning of his attack on Sofia and her students then of the events of earlier that day, Cardinal scrolled through his system logs. ¡°Hmm, this is proving to be less useful than I thought. There are a few monster kills in there, and this is most of it¡­ I assume, from this, that my person was primarily used as a tool to hunt you down, Miss Sofia.¡± Things are better this way I suppose¡­ At least he wasn¡¯t indirectly responsible for slaughtering more Orphanages. As the discussion continued, Astelia eventually brought Sofia apart to discuss something in private. She wanted to share the secret of the academy¡¯s hunt for some level 500 person with Saria, Alith and Cardinal, which they had kept under wraps until now for fear of antagonizing Beligenus. Now that the immediate threat of ¡®Scripture¡¯s pawn¡¯ was removed, it would be best to let everyone know of this other issue. Sofia thought about it for a moment. ¡°We should probably tell Zerei too, then, she will want to help us if anything happens, it¡¯s better that she knows what she could be up against.¡± Astelia nodded, ¡°Go get her while I get my Uncle up to speed with the token competition.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± Astelia returned to the salon while Sofia left the apartments, to her surprise, a white-bearded old Exidian in a long robe was waiting for her just outside of the room, absentmindedly looking out the windows of the stairwell of the teacher¡¯s tower. Sofia closed the door behind her and walked up to the headmaster. ¡°You heard us, I take it.¡± ¡°Do you think I would be oblivious to the happenings inside of my home?¡± Beligenus softly answered, still looking out the window. ¡°Then what? Are you going to ask that we don¡¯t say anything?¡± ¡°No. In fact, I will do nothing. I am only here to ask you if you really want to go down that path. Sometimes, knowledge is a curse.¡± ¡°Are you ready?¡± Sofia asked in return. ¡°Ready?¡± Beligenus looked at Sofia. ¡°Yes. Are you, Tartaros, the Emperor, and ¡®Elizabeth¡¯, ready to catch that person, like you planned?¡± ¡°We have been for a while now. All we need is for them to slip up. You only need to wait until the competition¡¯s prize distribution and the time will come. We will do our best to ensure everyone¡¯s safety.¡± ¡°I see. Good, good. There shouldn¡¯t be any issue with telling them, then.¡± Sofia concluded, ¡°We¡¯re not going to compromise your plan. Unless the ¡®fish¡¯ can hear us talk here?¡± ¡°They cannot possibly¡­¡± ¡°Alright, then. Thank you again for helping us rescue Cardinal. We owe you so I¡¯ll help with this plan of yours if I can. I suppose you still won¡¯t tell me who the ¡®fish¡¯ is and what they have to do with my students?¡± ¡°I fear¡­¡± Sofia rolled her eyes and saw a weird thing atop the stairs on the upper floor as she did. Some sort of an iridescent pole. ¡°Say no more, I get it. Just be ready to intervene anytime, then. I don¡¯t want to die because that person decided to attack when you were out polishing your scales or something,¡± Sofia told the headmaster as she headed up the stairs toward Zerei¡¯s floor. The headmaster¡¯s mana disappeared as she was halfway up the stairs, she looked back, and he was gone. But it¡¯s still waiting for me up there. The student from the Deep. It was waiting right outside of the stairs. Exactly like in Sofia¡¯s memory, an iridescent upright pole twice her height, on five spindly stick-like legs, with a bundle of grape-looking bulbous things dangling from the top. Waiting for me. So far the creature had been quite elusive. It did not appear for every single of Sofia¡¯s public classes, sometimes appeared for other teachers¡¯ public classes, and where exactly it came from or returned to afterwards was simply impossible to track. All it ever did was sit at the same place, in the amphitheater, and leave when the time had come. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. Sofia cautiously approached, and the bundle of grapes wiggled, causing her to stop dead in her tracks, still a dozen steps away from the creature. Something fell from the weird bundle of grapes. A folded piece of paper, slowly falling and landing on the last step of the stairs. What? As Sofia¡¯s eyes were focused on the piece of paper, the form of the creature faded away into nothingness. This had to be the strangest encounter I¡¯ve ever had¡­ I was worried it might attack me or something, but a piece of paper? Sofia walked up the last few steps and bent over to pick up the small folded piece of paper. There was a cute drawing inside, that Sofia clearly recognized as Opal¡¯s style of drawing. Did it steal a page from Opal¡¯s notepad? It was a drawing of Lola sitting next to the other students of Sofia¡¯s class in the public class amphitheater. Behind Lola, there was a sinister-looking old man, looming over her, his hands firmly planted on her shoulders. This¡­ I¡¯m pretty sure¡­ This guy was in one of the paintings in Lola¡¯s mansion! But why would¡­ Did Opal really draw this? Is this the ¡®fish¡¯ everyone is looking for? Sofia folded the piece of paper and stored it. After waiting a bit at the door, she quickly informed Zerei of what was going on in Astelia¡¯s room, and told her to tell Astelia to start without her. Zerei was a bit stunned by the sudden encounter, but Sofia had no time to clarify more, she quickly made her way out of the teacher¡¯s tower, and flew to the student dorms. She felt she needed to clarify things immediately, and the next day the students would go for their next event with a stand-in teacher so it had to happen now even if it was already night. Sofia woke up Topaz and Opal, they had their own room for two. They were surprised by the unexpected awakening, but seeing that it was Sofia, they seemed to calm down. This was nothing out of their expectations for their crazy teacher. Sofia showed the drawing to Opal, ¡°Did you draw that?¡± Opal seemed shocked to see the drawing. ¡°This is clearly her style,¡± Topaz chimed-in, still half asleep, ¡°but this isn¡¯t the same paper as her notebook.¡± Opal nodded at her sister, then she handed the paper back to Sofia, shaking her head. ¡°So it¡¯s not you?¡± Again, Opal vigorously denied. I see. I suppose that Deep creature has been learning more than just what¡¯s being taught in class. ¡°Where did you even get that?¡± Topaz asked, weirded out, ¡°And who is that creepy old man behind Lola?¡± Opal raised a hand. She crawled on her bed to grab her pen and notebook at her feet, and scribbled a few words. ¡®Lola¡¯s Family Ancestor, she showed me paintings during the party. Said she had only ever seen him in paintings.¡¯ Lola¡¯s ancestor¡­ Sofia had a flashback to her discussion with Lola in the hallowed trees dungeon. ¡®My family has been in the art trade for generations. Our great ancestor is a very famous smith and sculptor¡­ He helped build the Death church, the imperial palace, and a lot of the older parts of the city.¡¯ And then when pressed about the Issue last time with Astelia, Tartaros had told us a few details¡­ ¡®The person we are trying to bait out of hiding and terminate is a traitor of the Empire and the reason for the late Empress¡¯ passing. They were last identified by the system as a level 508.¡¯ A traitor¡­ Not here but¡­ Lola was speaking about him in the present tense. Not dead. Helped build the imperial palace. Reason for the Empress¡¯ passing. And¡­ The weird presence. That feeling of being observed. It only happened twice. Once after the priest of Death left when Astelia¡¯s student tried to poison Shaily¡­ And once in Lola¡¯s mansion! I need to go check on Lola. Sofia told Opal and Topaz to get back to sleep, and let her graveyard skeletons carry her through the floor. Lola was sharing a room with En, Sofia appeared in their room from the floor. En immediately woke up, ¡°T- teacher?¡± ¡°Sorry to wake you up, En, you can go back to sleep, I just need to have a talk with Lola.¡± ¡°Is she in trouble?¡± ¡°She might.¡± The subject of conversation also woke up from the chatter. ¡°I- I what?¡± ¡°Get dressed, Lola, we need to have a talk, the sooner the better.¡± ¡°W- why, what is going on?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry alright, you did nothing wrong, but this needs to happen now. Just get dressed and follow me.¡±
Chapter 374 - Family secrets Sofia told Lola to settle down in her room, leaving her with Pareth, while she quickly ran up the stairs back to Astelia¡¯s room while continuing to channel an unlife rune she had started working on when she had gone to wake up Lola. The entire group was quite animated, talking about the competition and the information they had just learned. Alith was the one who had opened the door, ¡°Sof, you¡¯re back, what were you-¡± ¡°I¡¯ll explain later; Astelia, can you lend me the earrings right now?¡± Sofia called out from the entrance. ¡°Huh? Sure,¡± Astelia answered without even asking why, she floated up to Sofia while taking out the earrings of Lies, she handed them out to Sofia, ¡°Just be careful, when you¡¯re wearing them. I got hit by their curse once, and it was not a good time¡­¡± ¡°Of course. Thank you, Asty! I¡¯ll bring them back as soon as I¡¯m done.¡± Sofia left, running back down the stairs again. ¡°And just like that, she¡¯s gone,¡± Cardinal commented. ¡°Well, yeah. That¡¯s Sofia,¡± Saria added with a shrug, ¡°She looked a bit worried.¡± ¡°She is your sister, are you not going to go help her with whatever urgent thing she is doing?¡± Cardinal asked in a curious tone. ¡°She¡¯s got Pareth with her. If she needed more help she would have asked us. Notice how she asked for Astelia¡¯s earrings instead of asking for her to come directly with her. She probably doesn¡¯t want to endanger us with whatever crazy stunt she is trying to pull. But we¡¯re still in the academy anyway, so how bad could things really go?¡± Cardinal sipped on his tea without further comments.
Sofia ran down the stairs, swapping her earrings with the ones she had just borrowed. She counted on their ability to see through lies and trickery to make sure that nobody was manipulating Lola from the shadows. The unlife rune was just there because she had a bad feeling about this whole thing. That the warning came from a creature of the Deep in the first place wasn¡¯t exactly reassuring. Sofia entered her room and closed the shield back behind her. Lola was sitting opposite Pareth around Sofia¡¯s bone table. ¡°Sorry to make you wait after waking you up like that, Lola. Are you feeling alright?¡± ¡°Yes? This whole situation is a bit stressful¡­¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t have to be, as I said, you¡¯re not in any trouble; but I have a few questions to ask and I need you to answer truthfully. But, first, want something to drink?¡± ¡°I could use some fresh water¡­¡± ¡°There you go,¡± Sofia said as she handed Lola a glass of water straight out of her storage ring while also taking one for herself. Lola took a few sips in an awkward silence before she needed to say something, ¡°Is- Is it about my rank in the competition?¡± ¡°Not at all, no. I¡¯m quite proud of your performance, honestly. You really improved by leaps and bounds in these few months. It¡¯s clear that you¡¯re working very hard and taking my and other teachers¡¯ advice to heart. This isn¡¯t the issue.¡± Lola looked slightly appeased by the praises, but she still couldn¡¯t understand why she was to be questioned, ¡°Then what?¡± she asked. ¡°Well, first thing first, remember that bell?¡± Sofia asked, dangling Ormoncleth¡¯s bauble from the tip of her staff. ¡°The scribe bell?¡± ¡°Yes, this one. I lied, though, this isn¡¯t a scribe bell. It¡¯s a gift from¡­ Anyway, can you still hear it?¡± ¡°Yes?¡± Sofia knew from Astelia that the earrings of Lies would let her instinctively know when someone proclaimed falsehoods, but right now she felt nothing, which lifted a weight from her chest. ¡°Nice, that¡¯s a good start. Now, about the real reason for this little ¡®interview¡¯, do you remember telling me about your family¡¯s ancestor and craftsmanship?¡± The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Did I¡­ Oh! I did mention that in the bleeding plant dungeon. Is this about the statues? I¡¯m sure my family would still buy them, I could get father to offer you a good price,¡± Lola offered. ¡°Thank you for the offer, but this isn¡¯t it, in truth, I urgently need to learn more about this old ancestor of yours, for reasons I¡¯m afraid I cannot explain to you right now¡­¡± ¡°You want to know about great ancestor Hugo? Well I¡¯ve never met him, so I only know from my parents¡­ I think father said he left the household something like six hundred years ago. Father said he¡¯s supposed to be as strong as the Emperor, I¡¯m not sure I believe him, but at the very least he should be strong enough to still be alive.¡± As strong as the Emperor, uh. Disappeared a few hundred years before Delivia became the new empress¡­ After killing the old Empress, perhaps? It really looks like I¡¯ve found out about that ¡®big fish¡¯ everyone is trying to catch. So it was Lola¡¯s ancestor all along. How convenient it must be for him that Lola is talented enough to be able to compete for first place, then, if the sword is his objective. Unless he ¡®helped¡¯ her a bit¡­ Let¡¯s dig a bit more¡­ ¡°So he¡¯s been gone for centuries without news?¡± ¡°That is right¡­ But, teacher Sofia¡­ Why¡­ Why do you need to know about my ancestor?¡± Let¡¯s make up some crap excuse¡­ ¡°Well, you said your ancestor was a very high-level smith and sculptor, right? I¡¯m looking for such a craftsman for a personnel project. I¡¯m trying to craft a divine relic.¡± And it''s not even really a lie. Oh how good would it feel to stab Scripture with a knife made with his own essence? And with how strong those earrings of Lies are, and how much trouble Ihuarah is going through to get back one of Sorrow¡¯s items, I definitely could use a Godly item myself! Though I guess I already have the items from the Lords, which is better. But I¡¯m greedy. ¡°A divine item¡­¡± The words gave Lola pause for a moment. ¡°This¡­ Ancestor Hugo would definitely be up to the task! But, uh¡­ Yeah, nobody in the family has any idea about his whereabouts¡­ Sometimes I even wonder if he¡¯s not a lie made up by my father to give our family some kind of undue prestige¡­ If not for the statue¡­¡± ¡°The statue?¡± Lola nodded, ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve never seen Ancestor Hugo in person but¡­¡± Lola looked around before she spoke in a hushed tone, ¡°It¡¯s supposed to be a family secret, but there is an old dusty lifesize statue of him hidden i-¡± Suddenly, Lola¡¯s words froze. ¡°Lola?!¡± Sofia only had the time to see the mithril sword that Lola¡¯s spirit guardian usually used come out of Lola¡¯s storage item by itself before she was assaulted by some kind of mental shockwave. Like nail rapping against her brain. It reminded her of the Sirens¡¯ calls. Pareth teleported to her but the mild pain suddenly stopped. And with a duo of yet-never-seen system notifications came an otherworldly scream. The sword was screaming. [You were subjected to a Soul-altering attack; but it was dismissed] [The ¡®Mark of Aphenoreth¡¯ punishes the attacker] The screaming sword stabbed Sofia¡¯s face faster than she could even read the notifications. She barely had time to see the headmaster and Saint Tartaros appear in her room, both grabbing the sword, that her vision changed to something else entirely. Sofia found herself in a dark room, the gaping wound in her face the only source of light, illuminating a giant-sized corridor topped with sculpted arches and paintings adorning the room, and sculptures of inordinately tall muscular men acting as the stone pillars on both sides, holding the ceiling and preventing the massive place from collapsing. What? Pareth appeared to her side. I think the sword tried to escape while it was in my face but because the other two had the sword in hand, I was the only one who got teleported. Sofia quickly checked her least used hidden feature of the system, the ¡®last bed compass¡¯. Points to the academy being to the northeast¡­ No distance measure, though, so this doesn¡¯t help much. Is this ¡®Ancestor Hugo¡¯s secret cave or something? Sofia cautiously extended her mana senses, which revealed that this corridor she was in was encased within a mana shield, and under closer investigation, every part of every wall, every statue and every tile on the floor, were all covered in delicate inscriptions coursing with mana. Literally, everything here is enchanted in one way or another¡­ She was in the middle of the corridor, on a larger round enchanted tile, which was probably the target for the teleportation. Now¡­ Do I try to rob what is very likely the secret safe place of a level 500, or do I get the fuck out of here as fast as possible? Thus far, for the few seconds she had been here, Sofia had been careful not to move, for fear of triggering some kind of alarm or defense mechanism. Pareth was similarly only looking around, not taking a single step. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity¡­ But this also sounds like a death trap. Worst case, if the headmaster and friends manage to kill the guy, I¡¯ll be the only one to know of the location of this place, will I not? So I can always come back with Grandma and safely clean the place. If they don¡¯t kill him, then won¡¯t he come after me to get his shit back? So in both cases, it¡¯s better to just fuck off. Alright, Pareth, we¡¯re out. Graveyard boys, your turn to shine! The graveyard skeletons failed to even appear, their summoning canceled by the rituals embedded everywhere. Ahah¡­
Chapter 375 - The smith sculptor Well. This is definitely a time where escaping to Zangdar seems like a decent idea. The ring activated, and nothing happened. Sofia was desperately stuck where she was. She sighed and stored the bone plate with Zangdar¡¯s teleportation ritual circle. I¡¯m sure the [Ringed arms of Zar] ring could break through the shields¡­ IF IT WASN¡¯T ALREADY FULL FROM THE FIGHT AGAINST CARDINAL! Well, Pareth, Bookie, seems like we can only either stay right here and not move, hoping that someone comes to save us¡­ OR I go back to the robbing plan. I still have a rune up and plenty of mana, so¡­ Come hide inside, Pareth, no need to take any risks. Sofia took a step up in the air and started walking forward. Nothing. Alright, very good start. If the floor is suspicious, just don¡¯t walk on the floor. I could fly too but that won¡¯t cut it if any room is tighter than this corridor. I still have Astelia¡¯s earrings so I should be able to see right through illusions and things like that. There¡¯s nothing hidden in the walls, as far as I can tell. It¡¯s really just all these ritual circles everywhere that freak me out. She kept cautiously walking toward a random end of the corridor. Maybe there¡¯s no trap at all. If I assume this is a level 500¡¯s home, then all they probably need is some shield hiding them from the outside, no need for puny traps when they likely can kill anyone under level 500 with a snap of their fingers, right? Sofia stopped in her tracks. Wait. What if the sword wasn¡¯t the real guy hiding in an artifact but just a distant proxy? Well if I¡¯m in a level 500¡¯s house and they¡¯re there too and want me dead, then I¡¯m just dead, so no need to think about it¡­ The fact that I¡¯m still alive is enough to tell that this probably isn¡¯t the case. Should I summon Crowie to at least have an advance scout? Maybe not¡­ Let¡¯s not forget that the rune does a decent job in hiding my presence, with cutting the mana emissions and all, let¡¯s not compromise that by having a glowing skeleton fly around. Slowly, she made her way to the room at the end of the corridor, This room featured a walkway going around a large central pool embedded several meters deeper, in which streams of luminous blue water flowed down from the ceiling. Looking down into the luminous pool, Sofia could see long dark forms swimming around, appearing and disappearing as they swam up and down. No railings¡­ I don¡¯t want to fall in there. I need to get a sample of the water if I want an identification, right? Sofia made a bucket out of bone and stepped into the air above the pool. [March of the Envoy] better not randomly stop working right now. Walking up to one of the falling streams of water, she made a long bone stick to handle the bucket from a distance, just in case, and used it to grab some of the water. The bone bucket froze over and was quickly covered in a layer of frost in contact with the water. Strange. Verdict? [Water of the Underworld current]: The underworld current is a closed loop of water currents in the deep layers of the planet. This water retains the main attribute of the Underworld current: an eternally freezing temperature. ¡­ I¡¯ll take a few more buckets. After filling two bone-barrels in her storage item with the strange water, Sofia walked to the set of doors on the other side of the pool room. Sofia could tell with her mana senses that water from the pool was being sent to that room through underground channels. Opening the doors, Sofia almost instantly passed out from the heat emanating from inside. She immediately took a few steps back. Not only was the heat hard to even comprehend, there were creatures in there, as well as the rhythmic cacophony of metal hitting metal. Golems? Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. The heat deformed the air, making it hard to even see what was happening in detail, but from what Sofia could perceive, this was some kind of enormous forge. Glowing-hot giant kilns were heating piles of something, while golems transferred carts of stuff to and fro. Giant columns of metal struck equally monstrous anvils in deafening crashes. What exactly was being made, and with what materials, Sofia couldn¡¯t tell. I can¡¯t go in there. I will melt. Even the golems look like they¡¯re melting! Sofia observed the madness going on within the giant forge from the outside for a good thirty seconds, and the longer she looked, the more distance she had to take from the entrance. Fucking¡­ It¡¯s actually getting hotter! The air inside the forge was getting so hot and the heated metal so bright that it was almost impossible to see inside. The rhythmic sound of the giant hammers stopped, and a blaring alarm rang. Shit, did they see me? With nowhere to really hide, Sofia just jumped into a corner of the pool room until the alarm stopped, followed by the sound of water evaporating. The air was rapidly getting colder. Oh! Going back to the doors, Sofia could see the entire forge being doused with the Underworld water to cool it down, creating huge clouds of steam that were being sucked into vents in the ceiling. The golems were nowhere to be seen. This is my chance! Deploying her wings, Sofia flew inside the forge the second it was no longer getting sprayed with the glacial water. On her way, she touched and stored a few random piles of metal and stuff without really knowing what it was, only that she might luck out and steal something valuable, but she had to quickly leave, as the golems were coming out of holes in the walls, and the forge was very quickly heating back up to unbearable levels of heat all by itself. She located an exit on the other side and once she was in, she closed the big stone double doors behind her. I don¡¯t think the golems were chasing me. Damn though, how is this place heating up so fast? This was so much worse than the solar temple it¡¯s crazy. The place Sofia had ended up in was a smaller corridor with only one other exit, leaving little choice as to her next destination. Let¡¯s have a quick look¡­ This looks like a big cube of meteoric iron, these ingots I grabbed are just Orichalcum¡­ And this weird thing¡­ Sofia had to take out the huge chunk of weird-looking half-molten metal she had pilfered from the kiln of the largest central forge to identify it. [Adamian slag]: Slag produced as the valuable byproduct from the destructive refining of several precious metals together, can be refined into one ingot of 99% Pure Adamian steel. One ingot? From this whole thing? It¡¯s almost bigger than me! Alright whatever. I¡¯m not going back there right now. I need to find a way out before the owner of the place comes back, if he does. I don¡¯t have infinite storage space anyway so I need to hold back a bit. Going up to the next set of doors, Sofia could already feel that there were more golems moving around in the next room. Without the disturbance from the violent heat, she could tell these golems all contained within their cores at least twenty times the amount of mana she herself had. These golems have to all be over level 300 at least¡­ Slowly opening the doors a little bit to peek inside, Sofia could see the golems neatly lined up around the four walls of the rectangular room, each occupied doing something on their personal workstation. Every so often, the stuff in front of the golems would slide toward the next golem on their right, and the golems would all start working on the new thing they received from their left. They¡¯re¡­ Assembling more golems? This has slightly worrying implications¡­ Now, should I turn back, or do I try to reach the door on the other side? If a single one of these golems attack me, I¡¯m dead meat, but they don¡¯t seem to be paying any attention to anything other than their work, so maybe they¡¯re not programmed to deal with intruders at all¡­ Only one way to know. Sofia had Bookie appear in her hands, and she threw the book through the slit in the door. The book of skeletons flew halfway through the room and landed on the tiled floor with a thud, which was barely audible due to the noise the golems'' works made. The golems did not stop their work nor paid any mind to the book in any way. Might be safe, then, you can come back, Bookie. The book disappeared from the floor in a puff of mana mist, now ready to be summoned again. Sofia opened the doors just enough to fit through, using her ability to walk on air, she silently walked up to the ceiling while still in the doorway, hoping that the golems would spot her and crossed the room while crouching right under the ceiling. Better safe than sorry. She made it to the other side and let herself fall in front of the other doors. Another corridor. But with choice this time. Left or right¡­ It¡¯s occurring to me now that I might have chosen the wrong side on my very first move. It seems like I¡¯m getting deeper into the facility now, not closer to the exit¡­ Maybe I can afford a quick look into these two last rooms before turning back. I haven¡¯t crossed the golem room for nothing. Sofia turned right for no reason in particular, and when faced with another set of doors, she once again focused on expanding her mana senses; only for them to return nothing. The corridor she was in was still full of mana and covered in almost invisible enchantments, and there was still a big shield right outside the walls which would no doubt prevent her from leaving by imitating a mole, but beyond the doors, nothing. Or rather, the shield seemed to turn into a flat wall, as if the doors would open to reveal she was in the middle of a cliff. She could feel there were things actually stacked in the room but they had no mana so she could only tell they were there because of the marginally lower density of mana indicating solid matter. She opened the doors. Hoooooooooooooly fuck.
Chapter 376 - Intolerable Lechery In the gigantic room beyond the doors, an army of golems. Lined up in loose metal casings, stacked up from the floor dozens of meters below to the ceiling dozens of meters above, continuing further as far as the eyes could see, rows and rows of inactive metallic golems. HOW MANY DO YOU NEED?! Is this guy trying to replace every living person on the planet with a golem?! How much mana would it cost to prime all of these?! I think I¡¯m starting to understand why the others want this guy dead! ¡­ Too bad these don¡¯t have mana. It would have been my pleasure to send some rot that way. As it is, the rot won¡¯t last long enough to scratch the metal. Seeing how everything else here is enchanted, even the walls, I might still let some rot loose later¡­ But not before I find an exit. If the construction golems have a self-defense trigger, I don¡¯t want to find out. Sofia backed away and went to check the opposite room. Storage? Oh, the raw ore is coming in from the chutes, this door on the left probably links back to the forge¡­ There isn¡¯t so much refined metal in stock I guess it¡¯s all being used, there are plenty of golem cores though. More doors on the far side¡­ I¡¯m not risking going in there. Some of the golems are actually patrolling. Time to head back. Going back was just a matter of doing the same thing in reverse, the longest part being the wait for the forge room to enter a cooling phase again so she could cross through. Soon enough she was in the corridor with statues again. Let¡¯s check out the other side. Right away the first room on the other side felt somewhat familiar, it looked a lot like Saint Tartaros¡¯ room in the academy, just a dome with pillars and a cushion on the floor in the center. Meditation must be a popular old-man sport. Already, this room opened up to three different directions, quickly, Sofia checked the left and right, which both turned out to be more corridors, then she followed her usual way of going straight ahead. Who in their right mind would explore the side-rooms first? What I need right now is an exit or a way to disable the mana shield around this place. The shield is huge so the array controlling it can only also be huge¡­ Sounds like an important thing to monitor, wouldn¡¯t be buried in a side corridor, surely. Sofia was starting to be more comfortable walking around in this place. There were no traps or such things, it seemed, which actually made a lot of sense, considering this was meant to be a secret place. No need to defend if nobody can find you. And clearly nobody could find this base else they wouldn¡¯t have gone through all the trouble to lure Hugo out. No golems on this side so far either. Sofia¡¯s train of thoughts was completely derailed when she entered the next room. Woah th- holy fuck. This stunned me more than the golems. So many paintings, what the hell. This guy sure likes his elves. In a purely artistic way, the room which was without a doubt some kind of painting atelier, was full of vivid depictions of female elves with no clothes, in every kind of degrading position inimaginable. I mean, he is a good painter¡­ Although Sofia was not particularly interested in the images themselves, she couldn¡¯t help but look, especially since there were rows of paintings everywhere. Some were framed, some not, on the wall or propped against each other. It was hard to find a single safe place to rest your eyes except if you stared at the ground as you navigated across the room. AFjzifjeiehf IS THAT SUN?! That¡¯s definitely Sun! Stolen novel; please report. Hoy, Sun, you fine with this? I¡¯m surprised this guy¡¯s still alive¡­ Holy fucking shit this entire row is only paintings of Sun! Also I¡¯m pretty sure Her chest isn¡¯t that big¡­ Just when Sofia thought nothing could possibly surprise her anymore after that, she turned around and her mind completely blanked. Near the exit of the room was where the work in progress paintings were, each canvas mounted on a wooden easel and with a paint palette and brushes left on their side. Among the five unfinished paintings was one of Sofia herself, in the same ¡®style¡¯ as every other one around. The crown on her head left absolutely no doubt as to the blonde woman in the painting¡¯s identity. ¡­ I¡¯ve never felt so¡­ Disgusted. Also, come on! You made Sun¡¯s bigger but you made mine smaller? This guy has shit for eyes. And I don¡¯t smile like that! Sofia stored the painting of herself. For fear of some kind of repair magic being able to bring it back from the ashes if she burned it. And it felt fine if she had it. She didn¡¯t really know why but she stored one of Sun¡¯s as well. Then she grouped up everything else in the middle of the room, built a bone box around it, and used the inside of the bone box like a shredder. She also found a painting of Lola and her siblings, who thankfully all actually wore clothes and were not depicted doing anything weird, and that was the only other painting she saved from the shredder. There was not a single intact painting left in the room when she left, leaving behind piles of ripped canvas and splintered wood. That¡¯ll teach you to paint people without permission, you freak. I can¡¯t believe¡­ The next room was a salon. Literally, just a place with a couch, a bunch of memorabilia stacked up against the walls, a kitchen area on the side, collections of sculpting tools in display cases, all in all, mostly a bunch of useless crap. Not my first home-intrusion. But this is my first time doing so completely guilt-free. Show me the good stuff, I¡¯ll take it all. Surely there must be a collection of magical items somewhere. Sofia kept looking around, the rooms around this section were all the living quarters of the very cultured ¡®Ancestor Hugo¡¯, and Sofia found it sorely disappointing. Most of the things being proudly displayed were things of understandable sentimental value, but Sofia couldn¡¯t care less about the man¡¯s first sculpture or his set of diamond chisels. At least she was comforted by the lack of elven slaves which she had been worried she might stumble upon after going through the painting room. It seemed the only ¡®people¡¯ living there other than the owner were the endless golems on the other side. All was going well until Sofia found a locked door. Ohohoh, there we have it. Locked doors. Let¡¯s see what you have against me! The door had a lot, it turned out. So much that no matter what she tried, nothing worked, even the rot would get cleansed from the door¡¯s barrier by pulses of weird black energy. But at least so far, despite her fooling around, there was no repercussion of any kind. Still no guards, no alarm, no trap, no nothing. But the door was impossible to get through, and the walls around it were exactly the same. Now aware that she could go crazy with no repercussions, as long as the golems weren¡¯t touched, at least, Sofia returned to the main corridor. She blocked the path to the golem section of the base with a thick wall of bone, and while standing in the meditation room, started blasting rot everywhere in the main corridor. With every tile and every piece of every wall being enchanted, the rot ate well. There were some minor explosions which freaked Sofia out, but nothing major really happened until the statues holding the place together were too damaged by the rot and crumbled, which led the entire corridor to collapse. That worked better than expected. The shield is still intact around the area though¡­ But at least that¡¯s destroyed that middle ritual circle, if it¡¯s really a teleportation platform, then the guy might not be able to come back if he wanted. That would be nice. With whatever enchantments filled the corridor gone, Sofia noticed that the graveyard skeletons now worked properly when summoned inside the stone debris of the collapsed section. Despite that, they still could not get her through the outside shield, and still couldn¡¯t get her through the intact walls and floors of every other room. So they really only served as a way to still get to the golem side without clearing the debris. Now ¡®separated¡¯ from the potentially dangerous golems, and having fully explored the other side save for the locked room, sadly finding no exit whatsoever, Sofia at least felt safe enough to start throwing bolts around to try to empty the ring of Zar. She had to cancel the unlife rune to regenerate mana, then when the ring was finally empty, she took all the time she needed to inscribe three new unlife runes on her body, then she returned to the locked door. The shield¡¯s core is probably there, and all the valuable stuff is probably there too. For a second, Sofia had second thoughts, and considered just using the ring to break out of the base and to safety instead of trying to break into the locked room. Then she thought back to the distasteful paintings. Let¡¯s rob a level 500 asshole blind! Sofia activated the [Ringed arms of Zar]. The magic protection around the door broke as the mana was being forcefully sucked into the ring. Pareth hit the door but it was incredibly sturdy and was not even scratched; however, without magical protection, the graveyard skeletons could appear, and just as the door and its surrounding protections finished repairing themselves, Sofia appeared on the other side. I¡¯m in.
Chapter 377 - The promised death Sofia observed the room she was now locked inside of. This¡­ This might not have been my brightest idea. The inside of the locked chamber was not full of riches as Sofia had hoped. Instead, there were two giant golems, one on each side of the room, dormant, and a series of stacked spherical mana shields protecting what looked to be the true body of ¡®Ancestor Hugo¡¯. The old man looked the same as he did in the painting of him by Lola¡¯s sister, down to wearing the same exact long red and dark-purple robes. He stood upright on a raised platform in the centerpoint of the room, his eyes were closed, and he was not moving in the slightest. Besides the massive Mithril frame of the colossus which she obviously couldn¡¯t hope to steal; what caught Sofia¡¯s eyes was the only other valuable looking-thing in the room: a sleek white dagger that Hugo held in front of his chest with both hands like a ceremonial sword. A familiar design. Just like the prize sword. No wonder he really wants ¡®The first key¡¯; I¡¯m willing to bet my entire fortune that this is either ¡®the second¡¯ or ¡®the third¡¯ key. One per admin. Three keys to open a lock. Wouldn¡¯t it be nice to steal this? Hmm. This might be impossible, though. Even assuming he won¡¯t wake up because his actual soul is in Lola¡¯s sword fighting against the Headmaster and Tartaros, If those golems wake up¡­ They¡¯re clearly charged. I could siphon their core with the ring, but they¡¯re too far apart to get both at once. And I¡¯d need to empty the ring without waking them first. Actually it¡¯s curious that they¡¯ve not detected me yet. Am I invisible to them thanks to the runes covering up my heat and mana emissions? I know for a fact the vast majority of golems rely on mana senses to distinguish things. They could¡¯ve sensed the graveyard crew though, but I guess they didn¡¯t. Hmmmm¡­ A tight situation. My only way to get rid of the shields around the guy is also the ring. Even if I get to the body it¡¯s not a given I¡¯d be able to pry the dagger out of his hands either. And to activate the ring in the first place I need to empty it. The golems will 100% wake up. They have to be at least level 400. I can¡¯t do anything about them¡­ I can¡¯t leave either, my only way out is also the ring. This is the worst thing I could have found inside of here¡­ Fuck. I should have just broken through the base¡¯s external shield and escaped¡­ I think the only thing I can safely do¡­ Is to wait and hope this guy dies. He¡¯s one against three if we count the Emperor, right? Surely they can¡¯t lose this. Best case scenario would be he dies and that disables all the shields in the base, since he seems to be the actual source of energy. Worst case scenario, the headmaster fails and this guy here wakes up¡­ If he does¡­ Well the only way out is if he spares me. Seems unlikely. Maybe if I sell my body he¡­ I¡¯d rather not think about it¡­ Actually¡­ This is risky but if my only other choice is to wait, well. Sofia used her ability to walk on air to make her way to the ceiling. It wasn¡¯t like the golems wouldn¡¯t be able to reach her there, but if they couldn¡¯t sense her, they were less likely to search there. Then, with two successive casts of Heal undead in opposite directions, she covered the locked room in rot. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. The rot failed to stick onto the backside of the vault¡¯s door, the mana shields protecting Hugo, and the outside mithril frame of the golems. Everything else, from the floor and walls to the inside and exposed cores of the golems, which were big orange spheres, was completely covered. This will surely help empty the ring. The rot started absorbing the mana from everything it touched, and as Sofia feared, the golems arose from their slumber, a fact which she had very little time to appreciate, as the golems instantly found her and pulverized her into a mush. Or so Sofia believed, but somehow, when faced with the mithril fists of the Golems, she survived. At the last second, a paper doll flew out of her mouth and collided against the fists, sending the two golems reeling back. Leverle¡¯s charm! ¡®It will protect you from an attack you cannot handle, once. And will call me.¡¯ Before the golems could get back up, the paper doll bloated and stretched, turning into a massive black Gate. The gate broke as a massive lizard-like bipedal goat with pitch black skin, a long neck, elongated limbs, and a blank mask for a head stepped out of it, facing the golems. ¡°WHERE IN DEATH¡¯S NA-¡± Leverle was silenced by two white beams of mana firing at him from the golems¡¯ cores. There was nothing left of him but a blank mask when the beams died down, they had barely missed Sofia who was too scared to even move, and had cleared straight lines through the rot. Le- Leverle? The demon¡¯s body explosively grew back from the mask, and as he reformed, he extended an open hand, in which a crooked white wooden scepter appeared with a shockwave that halfway buried Sofia inside the rot on the wall behind her. My best bet- One of the golems charged at Leverle with a raised fist. He was met with a tap of his scepter. Both were ejected back from the collision. And the second golem fired another mana beam, once again reducing the demon to little more than a floating mask while the scepter was nowhere to be seen anymore. -is still to play dead. For some reason, the air was starting to get unbearably hot in the vault. Leverle¡¯s body reappeared again, taller and larger. He was still only half the size of the gargantuan golems, but this was more than twice his regular size. A wave of mana spread out from Leverle. It healed Sofia from the damage the collision against the wall had inflicted on her despite the runes normally preventing healing, and as it spread through the rot, it had the effect of multiplying its growth speed to insane levels and sending it into a frenzy. The rot now truly felt like the genuine thing, and it expanded so fast that in a second, it ate everything it could besides the golems and then ate itself. There was no more vault room, only the spherical mana shields it was contained in, and more shields in the center, protecting the last bit of ¡®ground¡¯ as well as the owner of the place. The golems were also affected, but even with the increased mana consumption rate, the mana within the golems¡¯ cores seemed endless. To Sofia¡¯s shock, perhaps as an emergency protection which had triggered with the golems¡¯ activation, the outside of the vault was entirely an inferno of dangerous-looking green flames. And inside the vault was getting hotter and hotter. One of the golems charged at Leverle again, and was met with a gargantuan straight punch. The strength behind the hit was such that Leverle¡¯s arm exploded upon hitting the golem, and the simple shockwave behind Leverle almost killed Sofia and instantly broke both her eardrums. The golem hit the vault¡¯s outer shield hard enough to leave cracks into it but they were almost instantly repaired. Some green fire seeped into the vault through the cracks, and Sofia felt like she was being cooked alive. As Leverle was about to hit the other golem, Sofia fought the dizziness and dove straight for the central shields protecting Hugo¡¯s body. The boost to the Rot had emptied her ring in an instant, she activated the ring of Zar once more at the last second before hitting the shield and teleported up to Hugo at the same time. The shields reformed almost instantly. But Sofia was inside. Another hit from Leverle on the golems shook the vault, but for once Sofia was untouched within the multi-layered final protection shields of Hugo. These shields withstood the lasers from the golems and the impacts from Leverle¡¯s punch without so much as flickering, but it seemed not even a level 500¡¯s protections could resist the absolute effects of a Relic from the Deep. Leaving the Apostle of Death to his battle, Sofia walked up to Hugo, who was still standing straight, eyes closed and gripping the white dagger with both hands. [Artisan - Lv. 500+] Sofia tried grabbing the dagger, but she couldn¡¯t free it from the grip of the artisan. His hands looked relaxed around the dagger, clearly he was not clutching hard, and yet, even when she mustered all of her strength to pull it out of the man¡¯s hands, It was not moving in the slightest. I don¡¯t have time to ponder on this shit! You better fucking work this time! A scroll appeared in Sofia¡¯s hands.
Chapter 378 - Deus ex charta [Scroll of assisted inspiration] : Infuse it with mana after writing your current issue on it; the system will provide you inspiration to resolve the problem. One-time use. Item level : 100. Grade : Flawless. There was still her last query written on it, remnants of her passage in Sun¡¯s orbital temple : ¡®How do I survive my current situation¡¯. She had gotten no answer that time, but now was different, this time she was in the system¡¯s reach. With a charcoal pen from her storage, she scribbled over her previous query and wrote a new one: ¡®How do I get the dagger and survive?¡¯. It was hard to think with Lerverle battling the golems outside. He seemed to be doing somewhat well, but clearly the golems were worthy of being a level 500¡¯s home guardians. She infused the scroll with mana and shortly thereafter, words appeared: ¡®draw a bigger connection¡¯, followed by a small drawing of what Sofia instantly recognised as an unknown divine rune, which was surrounded by a bunch of sparks. Is that¡­ Sofia brought out as large a bone plate as she could fit inside the shield and reproduced the divine rune onto it. Nothing happened. The sparks! Connection is¡­ Sofia placed her palm on the bone plate and channeled an Angel¡¯s bolt. Electricity! She felt a distinct sense of reality breaking around her. Spreading from her hand, streams of blue electricity crackled within the shield, and in a flash of otherworldly iridescent colors, a being made of such electricity appeared above the divine rune. [False God] I have returned. Once again indebted. The false god of connections ¡®connected¡¯ the Dagger to Sofia¡¯s hand. It was now in her grasp as if it had always been there. Most I can do. Too much mana here. Cannot stay nor get you out. More are coming. Nice to see you again. Good luck. Sofia barely had the time to think a quick ¡®thank you¡¯, and the friendly archangel was gone. More are coming? More what?! No one was going to answer, so Sofia turned to identifying the dagger, which the Scribe actually refused to do. [This item must be primed with your mana before being identified. This item already has an owner and cannot be primed.] Shit. Not helping. Sofia had the urge to try stabbing Hugo with the dagger before storing it, but in the off-chance that damage could still awaken him somehow, she held back. That did it for the dagger part of the question. BUT WHAT ABOUT THE SURVIVE PART, SYSTEM? The battle outside of the inner shield was intensifying. Every time Leverle took a hit, he healed back and regrew in more and more disturbing ways, he was as tall as the golems now, and looked like a black-furred long-limbed feral beast much more than a civilized person. With another punch, one of the golems¡¯ cores broke and exploded. The energy unleashed was such that Sofia died even while she stood within the inner shields. When she came to again three seconds later, still trapped with Hugo within the inner shield, it was impossible to tell what was happening outside, as the green inferno had somehow broken into the outer shield of the vault, and the inner shields were all that separated her from its unbearable heat. Getting in there was the right call. I might not have survived Leverle¡¯s fight otherwise¡­ The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°But now I¡¯m stuck.¡± The situation immediately got much worse, however. ¡®Ancestor Hugo¡¯ opened his eyes. His incredulous gaze went from his empty hands to Sofia standing in front of him. ¡°I-¡± Sofia tried to speak. She was cut-off by a wave of energy. She survived with one percent of her health. The man frowned. Sofia died. She reappeared three seconds later, her dragon-scale arm awkwardly already within the hands of Hugo, and her actual arm was inside of it. The man was trying to get his dagger back, and Sofia would have happily surrendered it, had she been given the chance to, but two waves of energy hit her again, and she died once more. This had been her last unlife rune. In the second she spent alive, she saw that Pareth had been out and trying to protect her, but it was a futile endeavor. Sofia died so fast she did not even have enough time to think. Three seconds later, she was brought back from the dead for the last time. Hugo¡­ Was not there anymore. Pareth had died, fragments of his crushed bones spread within the shield, along with scattered bits of Sofia¡¯s previous bodies. What? Where is he? He let me live? Sofia¡¯s first instinct was to prepare the ritual to bring Pareth back. While she worked at it, she spent more time assessing the situation. The fact that Hugo was gone and the shield was still intact meant its actual core and mana source were not him, but hidden within the ground under her feet. Within her dragon-scale arm, Sofia could feel that she still had her rings, and a quick look showed the dagger was still in there. It seemed the dragon scale, Apenoreth¡¯s glove, and the soul-link on the ring, had been sufficient protections to prevent Ancestor Hugo from getting at or into Sofia¡¯s storage ring in the short time she had spent dead. Outside of the shields, the green inferno was still raging. A few seconds later, Pareth stood up again. He was back into his very first skeleton once more, the one Sofia had found in a tomb near her Orphanage. She had kept it all this time, and it was the only humanoid skeleton she had at the ready at the moment. It was much weaker than the bone-mauler skeleton, but still better than nothing. Welcome back. Any ideas on how we can get out of this mess? Pareth looked around and shook his skull. For lack of a better option, Sofia sat down and started working on another unlife rune. The five minute channeling time felt like an eternity. About thirty seconds in, her channeling was interrupted by a shockwave that sent her rolling back and crashing against the shield. Outside, the green inferno had disappeared, washed away by the wave of energy. There was nothing else left nearby. The shields Sofia was in were the sole thing left within a gigantic crater. Hugo¡¯s base had been underground, but now, from the bottom of a several kilometers deep crater, Sofia could see the sky. The source of the shockwave and the maker of the crater was fighting Hugo. Saint Tartaros. Sofia had a hard time catching a single glimpse of their battle, but she could feel it every time they clashed, the world itself shook from their attacks. Hugo managed to trap Tartaros within some kind of mana bubble, stopping him for all of a second. Within that second, Hugo channeled an astronomical quantity of mana and unleashed it in the direction of the ground. It washed over Sofia, suffocating but harmless. From the depth of the crater, a sleep?ng being was brought to life. Hugo had summoned another ¡®Golem¡¯. A colossus. A titan of untold alloys and mana. The immense being woke from its stone prison, and slowly rose. It was taller than the crater itself, and, jumping out of it, it joined the fight, only to get tackled by a giant blue Dragon striking it out of nowhere like a meteor. Sofia closed her eyes. She was unable to watch anymore, the battle was going too fast, and their attacks destroyed the land so far and wide that the crater around her kept getting wider and deeper. It would only take one stray hit coming her way and it would all be over, so she stopped watching and concentrated, she needed to cast that unlife rune, and fast. Until the hell of sound and energy from the battle ceased. Sofia couldn¡¯t help but look, it took very little time to locate the source of the sudden calm. Archangel. Tartaros, Beligenus, and the Exidian Emperor were all holding onto Hugo, entrapping him within a whirling vortex of mana, and this was when an Archangel had appeared. The being¡¯s flickering form defying all logic. The many places its ¡®right arm¡¯ were in at the same time coalesced into a singular solid image, and as it raised it, aimed at Hugo. Mana concentrated so much at the being¡¯s fingertips that it became solid, and traced thousands of ritual circles in the air one after the other. The otherworldly voice of the Archangel pierced through everyone¡¯s head. With each of his words, endless concentrated streams of mana from around the world gathered within the palm of his hand. Hugo desperately tried to fight back from within the Vortex of mana. Hugo ElderPlain. The archangel paused. You have violated the pact. As an enforcer of this world¡¯s laws, I deliver unto you, your final sentence. You shall be exiled within the eye of creation. May you repent for eternity. The mana Vortex was dispelled by the Archangel¡¯s magic. A glowing prison made of countless threads of white magic formed around Hugo. The Archangel¡¯s magic pulsed, and the threads closed like a cocoon around the level 500. With each pulse, more and more threads wrapped around the helpless Artisan, until it all collapsed into a silent flash of light bright like an exploding sun. When the light disappeared, Hugo ElderPlain was no more.
Chapter 379 - Glorified kitchen appliance The shields around Sofia disappeared, and the platform she was on fell toward the bottom of the crater while she was suspended in place by her ability to walk on air, and Pareth had to take refuge in her storage. So this is how they deal with a rogue level 500. Sofia felt that she had a bit of a dry throat. Violated the pact? Will they want the dagger back? The archangel appeared in front of Sofia. The Scribes have taken much liberty with your latest request. Do not summon Connection again. Proceed to the next trial. The being disappeared after saying his piece. A- I- Alright¡­ In the air, not far from Sofia, a blank mask reformed from seemingly nowhere, and Leverle¡¯s full body followed quickly after, back to his regular form. ¡°You!¡± Leverle shouted at Sofia, ¡°You need someone to teach you some common sense! You Dragon-spawn freak!¡± Sofia did not know how to answer so she just said ¡°Sorry¡±, and smiled. She felt that she understood Leverle well enough already to tell that he was not as mad as he was shaken by the general situation. And to be honest, she knew she deserved the scolding, even if she did not regret her actions in the slightest. Beligenus appeared next to the two of them, he was back in his Exidian form. ¡°We do not claim her. An agent of Chaos such as her is clearly one of yours, Doctor, have some decency.¡± The Emperor and Tartaros also joined, with the Saint of Strength appearing right next to Sofia and nonchalantly putting a hand on her shoulder, ¡°You old men must have shit for eyes, she is, of course, a Saint. If you do not claim her then we will. I have found her performance today admirably crazy.¡± ¡°Was it not you who pretended to have something else to do every time her name was even mentioned, Tartaros?¡± the Emperor chimed in. Sofia noticed that he had the first key sheathed at his waist; though it was hard to really concentrate on anything with how Tartaros was holding her. ¡°It was not me who sent my wife after her because I was too ¡®busy¡¯ to do it myself,¡± Tartaros struck back. What is even going on right now?! ¡°If I may,¡± Sofia interrupted the quartet of quibbling old men, which actually prompted Tartaros to let her go, ¡°What group I¡¯m a part of is of little importance. There is only one thing you all need to know.¡± She took out the white dagger and twirled it in her hand, which she was very scared to fumble as she acted much more confident than she really was, but actually managed to make look decently good. ¡°When I reach your level, you better hope to be on my side.¡± ¡°You shouldn¡¯t so carelessly reveal your possessions¡­¡± Leverle sighed. ¡°I thought it would be better if you all knew that I got the thing. Don¡¯t waste your time searching for it. I won¡¯t lie, I am a bit nervous about one of you three trying to get it back,¡± Sofia told the three level 500, ¡°but I also thought that if you were to want it badly enough, it would be better if you stole it now, rather than coming for my life in secret later. So, any takers? I cannot guarantee that it will be without repercussions, though. I have my own backers.¡± Namely a Draconic grandmother and four very scary uncles. ¡°You will find me dead before you find me stealing from an employee,¡± Beligenus answered, shaking his head. ¡°Moreover, despite the chaotic nature of your interventions today, the results speak for themselves. I can speak for everyone here and tell you that we will not be pursuing you for taking your share of the spoils.¡± With a bit more time to process everything that had happened, another matter came to Sofia¡¯s thoughts, ¡°What about Lola? Is she alright? Are the people in the academy fine?¡± This was actually one of Sofia¡¯s biggest worries. If Lola had died because of her stunt in the academy, she would feel a lot worse about this whole situation. It was Tartaros who answered, ¡°We were sufficiently ready. Your disappearance was unexpected, much like the damage you inflicted on the big fish, and you getting the key out of his hands, obviously; but these were the only major deviations from our response plan. There are consequent material damages within the academy and capital, but no deaths. Everyone else has been safely evacuated, including Lola ElderPlain. The Doctor should know more about her case in particular?¡± This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. ¡°She has suffered some minor soul damages. My priests should be taking care of her as we speak,¡± Leverle calmly answered. ¡°We need to take care of the aftermath,¡± the Emperor announced, ¡°Doctor, take her to the bunker. Thank you for your contribution, Saintess.¡± Leverle nodded, and a black gate appeared behind him, he waited for Sofia to step in. ¡°It was my pleasure,¡± Sofia told them before stepping into the gate.
Sofia appeared in an unknown closed room, Leverle next to her. ¡°Where is this?¡± she asked. ¡°This is a secret location. In case of an emergency, the Emperor will teleport all of his citizens to safety in this place. As he has done today. You were meant to be sent here too,¡± he explained, putting on his usual white robes to hide his demonic body. ¡°But I wasn¡¯t. So you knew you might be teleported to me at some point, didn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Truthfully, yes. I did not, however, expect that it would be within a level 500¡¯s safe-room, with the charm being triggered by two level 499 golems.¡± ¡°It looked like you held out well, though. Thank you for actually coming, you really saved my life.¡± ¡°I was paid to do it,¡± Leverle waved her off, ¡°Not paid enough, but paid.¡± ¡°Paid in stones, right? Can I know what they are?¡± ¡°In short? Dead people. I cannot tell you much more. You shall learn by yourself, at some point.¡± Dead people? Are they actually trading with skeletons? Stones¡­ Maybe it¡¯s only high-level dead people, then? And I would learn by myself when I get to that level and kill someone? Some kind of skill-less naturally produced mana pearls? I¡¯ll just ask Erredis¡­ I wonder what she will have to say about this whole Hugo thing. Exiled to the eye of creation¡­ What even is that? Leverle was about to lead Sofia out of the room, when she voiced that question and he stopped to answer. ¡°The center-point of all things. It is a dreaded place where space grows at a pace faster than anyone can travel. Simply speaking, it is a natural prison that one may enter but none can ever leave.¡± Space¡­ Grows? I¡¯m not completely sure I understand how that¡¯s supposed to work¡­ ¡°Is teleportation not an option?¡± ¡°No. There are no options. The rules which make reality what it is resulted in this anomaly. To leave it would require infringing on these rules. By definition, this cannot happen.¡± Oh. So this man really is stuck out there forever? That¡¯s kind of sad¡­ I mean, he did try to kill me, thrice, and he did use Lola for his own goals, but still. I wouldn¡¯t wish this upon anyone. Not even scripture. I would kill him though. As I will scripture. Actually, I changed my mind. Can Scripture be exiled to the eye of creation? ¡°Does people getting exiled happen often?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°Often? No. But this was not the first time. And it won¡¯t be the last. That said, I will be going. This room is relatively safe, so I recommend you bind your soul to the key before coming out. I would trust the old ones¡¯ words, but there are still other powerful and greedy people in the Empire. If the First key was enough to lure Hugo out, you should understand the worth of that thing you stole.¡± ¡°Ah, right, before you go, one last question, these keys, are they meant to open something?¡± ¡°The Admins only know for sure,¡± Leverle answered as he left the room. ¡°Thank you again, Leverle!¡± Sofia thanked him as he closed the door. Sofia brought out the white dagger. It was quite short and thin, the blade about the length of her hand from the wrist to the tip of her middle finger was leaf-shaped, and there was no real separation between the blade and the hilt. The surface was smooth and shiny but not like metal, Sofia knew it wasn¡¯t made of bone but she felt it looked a bit like polished bones. The two edges looked sharp, they cut through Sofia¡¯s tough skin without any resistance. Good thing I don¡¯t bleed anymore. The only non-white parts of the dagger were the inlaid lines of very muted softly glowing red metal that changed to a golden or light purple color depending on the angle Sofia looked at it. ¡°Alright. Technically Hugo isn¡¯t dead. But I should be able to claim the dagger, right?¡± [This item must be primed with your mana before being identified. Required mana: 6666666.] That¡¯s it? Just six million? I can do that in four hours! Hmm. I kind of want to check up on everyone else and let them know I¡¯m safe, though. Can you go do that for me, Pareth? The skeleton appeared, looking much smaller and weaker than usual. He gave Sofia a nod and left the room. We¡¯re going to get you something better. I¡¯m sure TLDR can help us there. ¡°To the dagger then. Let¡¯s see what kind of help snatching that actually provided to the capture.¡±
¡°Aaaaaand done! Your turn, Sir Scribe.¡± [The third Key] : This divine dagger is the third Key, once worn as a decorative piece by Admin |REDACTED|, it is made from one of their essences. Grants access to the scrapped sub-systems: Titles(lvl1), Sub-classes(lvl250), Principality(lvl450). Facilitates mana control. Must be held or worn for ¡®Titles¡¯ and ¡®Principality¡¯ to be in effect. Item level : -500. Grade : Test. Restriction : Cannot own other daggers.
Chapter 380 - No title ¡°Third key! I was right about there being three, though it was not hard to guess. It¡¯s from the God Admin¡­ An actual divine item! Oh, I should have given the earrings to Pareth for Astelia¡­ Well, I¡¯ll give them back when I see her. Grade: test? Item level -500? That¡¯s¡­ Interesting. Was it one of the first system items ever created? Hence the need to do tests?¡± Also cannot own other daggers¡­ Is that why it feels like a manaless piece of junk right now? Sofia summoned Bookie¡¯s skeleton form and threw him her two Mithril daggers, ¡°That¡¯s all yours now. You can do what you want with it.¡± Bookie caught the dagger and proceeded to fight an imaginary enemy with it. It looked a bit clumsy. Glad you¡¯re liking them. Are we good now? The key still felt like a regular non-magical dagger, even though Sofia had personally dumped more than ten times her mana reserves into it. Do I have more daggers? As it turned out, she did have two more regular daggers among all the junk she had collected, but even when she threw them away to a corner of the room, the key was stil unreactive. What now? Do I need to destroy them or something like that?! Don¡¯t tell me¡­ Sofia emptied her storage of all dagger-looking implements. And finally, the dagger¡¯s mana came to life. It turned out that kitchen knives counted as daggers as far as the key was concerned. No longer allowed to own other knives. Alright¡­ I can feel my mana run smoother already! That feels nice. Sub-classes¡­ Will I get a second class is what this says? Scrapped features¡­ So the admins wanted everyone to have sub-classes and then gave up. I haven''t a clue what Principality is but it looks like I won¡¯t get to know for a long while. The only thing I have access to now is ¡®Titles¡¯. How does that work? Do I get a menu for it? Title? A new, never-seen-before system window appeared in front of Sofia¡¯s eyes. Along with a series of system messages. Hey it had been a little while since I really broke something. That¡¯s nostalgic. [INITIALIZING TITLES] [BOOT SEQUENCE FAILURE] [ERROR] [CONFLICTING SYSTEM LANGUAGES, RECOVERING DATA] [ERROR] [DATA COULD NOT BE RECOVERED] [Initiating no-fail recovery sequence, please wait.] Let¡¯s hope this won¡¯t be too long¡­ This is pretty much all I¡¯m actually getting from the dagger for now so it better be decent¡­ Oh, faster than expected. [Additional data needed, do you consent to a memory scan?] That¡­ Yes? I thought the system already had access to that¡­ [Scanning, please wait.] More waiting¡­ [Scan complete. New titles are being generated. Please read the user guide.] Sofia expected another system window to appear with the mentioned guide, but to her surprise, she was jump-scarred by an actual paper booklet landing opened on top of her head out of nowhere. Woah the colors on this are so vivid and clean! The system has such good paper again! Just like the letter in the emergency safe-house after the first trial. Why can¡¯t all books be made of that paper! So smooth and nice! I¡¯m getting distracted. Sofia closed the booklet to read the cover, there was a colorful drawing of a man in plate armor raising his arms, and over his head was a small golden prompt ¡¯[Title]*¡¯. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. At the bottom of the cover in small letters was added : ¡®*user guide; v0.21¡¯ Hmm. Is there a possibility that the system used to have proper user guides like this one but they¡¯ve all been lost? Or maybe the guides were also an abandoned project. This key giving access to deleted features is pretty incredible. Let¡¯s have a slow read, it looks like the title generating thing is taking a while. The drawings are quite cute¡­ ¡®Hello! Congratulations on unlocking the Title system! Reaching level 50 is a great feat for the weaker races, use this feature wisely, be bold, and it could help you reach the first trial with ease! Let me introduce you to the basics of titles! Titles are rewards given for notable accomplishments! Our scribes are hard at work overseeing everyone, so anything can be a title! Unlike nobility titles, these titles come with only advantages. They can provide a variety of bonuses, and can be thought of as an extra classless or passive skill. When you equip a title, it will be shown before your class on your identification and status sheets. But in general, you have the option to hide them if you want. Now, don¡¯t get too excited, Titles are great but you may only have one equipped at a time! No worries, however, you can change for another one of your titles once a day, and you can always go back to your previous titles, so be flexible. Typically, titles are something that are acquired and are here to stay, but some special titles are ephemeral, and can be lost depending on your actions! Although most titles are generated by our lovely scribes, some UNIQUE titles, which I made myself with the help of |REDACTED|, can be found. As the name implies, there can only be one person with each UNIQUE title. Exciting! And that¡¯s all there is to it. Everyone is given the ¡®Titler¡¯ title for a start, try equipping it!¡¯ ¡°That¡¯s it? Pretty straightforward. All the Unique titles should be available since I¡¯m the only one with the function, that¡¯s pretty nice. Let¡¯s see¡­¡± [TITLES] User Sofia Aphenoreth : No title equipped Hidden : False Available titles (?) : [Titler] [ [ [ [ /// Try equip- Wait, no. I can only change once a day? I¡¯m not going to try the basic title! I almost got scammed. Can I see what it does, though? [Titler] : The basic title awarded to everyone! Effect: +50 Health Fifty health! I would have loved to get that at level 50, actually. Now it¡¯s more than a bit underwhelming, but surely I¡¯ve done enough notable things to get great titles, right? I can almost already guarantee I¡¯ll equip the one I¡¯m sure to get for the Victory fight. Still though, this title system. It incentivises people to try doing crazy things to get good titles, doesn¡¯t it? I think I get why the idea was discontinued¡­ I¡¯m likely the only person in the world to have access to this now, right? Maybe the angels can use titles too? I should ask Sen if I see him again. Oh! A new title! [Cataclysmic survivor]: Survived against all odds when the world itself acted as if it wanted you dead. You were just a kid and it¡¯s a miracle you made it out alive, that has to be worth something. Effect: Environmental damage received reduced by 20% Environmental damage? Like what? Is jumping into the sun environmental damage? Is a boulder tumbling down a mountain and crushing someone environmental damage? Are insect bites environmental damage? I probably won¡¯t be using this one often, but it¡¯s good to have. A late reward for surviving the ebb, I suppose. It is something notable, yes. Sofia received a new system message. [To prevent clutter, lower rarity titles will not be generated] Sure¡­ It feels like I could miss out on useful things, but if I¡¯m being honest I¡¯ll probably just equip the rarest of the bunch so not a big loss. Following that message, the new titles started appearing much faster. [Not so Saint]: Two classes?! What happened here? Effect: Your identified class shows up as Mage. /Ephemeral/ : Will be lost if you change class Oh! again, a bit late to be useful, but it¡¯s nice to have, just in case. Also I can¡¯t change class so this restriction is really dumb. It took a few more seconds for the next one to appear. [No Name]: Is someone talking about me? Effect: The system warns you when you are mentioned in a conversation and gives you the general direction of the culprit. Culprit? Is saying my name a crime now? I get that it¡¯s trying to mimic the Lords¡¯ tendency to know when the Deep is mentioned, but that sounds like it could quickly get annoying. Especially now that I¡¯m starting to be a bit of a public figure with the academy and all that. = [The lost]: Traveled to the Margin. Effect: Health +10% while exploring new locations That¡¯s starting to be better already. We¡¯re going in chronological order, it looks like. Nothing for killing the magisterium and escaping the church huh. So the next one should be for the siren queen or Orvod in the trial? Hey! What ?! [Bonetrousle]: You REALLY have a thing for skeletons. Have you tried dating one? Effect: Plays a funky music when you fight with or against skeletons. More instruments are added for each skeleton present. Nyeh heh heh.
Chapter 381 - Entitled How many instruments do I even know of? Like ten? Is this thing going to break when I summon fifty rats? This one I might have to try out¡­ Still, though. Weird. What¡¯s next? [Demon]: You sold your soul to a dark god. Bold. Effect: Amplifies your demonic aura. /Ephemeral/ : Will be lost if you are rejected by your Recessed Oh. The fear thing that makes people pass out? I don¡¯t even have it when I transform¡­ Maybe when the skill evolves. Useless for now. Calling the Recessed the dark gods is an interesting word choice. I get why. But so far, they¡¯ve been a lot less dark than most of the ¡®regular¡¯ gods. Which makes me think, it¡¯s about time I try to have a talk with Pareth¡¯s god, right? Surely they would accept to lend an essence¡­ Death and Moon are also options¡­ Ah, next title¡¯s ready. [Overachiever]: Got a specialization from the level 100 trial. Effect: Your specialization skill alteration chance is always 100%. It¡¯s good but way too late to the party. Time between skills is so long now I have plenty of time to get the alteration chance up if I want to. And with how my skills work anyway whether they get altered or not isn¡¯t a huge deal¡­ Seems like an ongoing pattern that titles are most useful right after you unlock them. So since I¡¯m getting them all at once later, most are already outdated. I would have liked to get something to help against higher level opponents from Orvod¡¯s fight but I guess not. Nothing for the whole bolt-stealing either. What does and doesn¡¯t get a title seems pretty arbitrary. [Awakened]: Completed the level 100 trial. Effect: +500 Health Another generic title. Titler 2? I¡¯m guessing I¡¯ll get a +5000 Health one for the second trial? [Rebellious Puppet]: Free yourself of mind control. Effect: Gain resistance against mind-altering effects. I¡¯m already immune to most of them but alright. I might still use it in the right situation. I can see why this title would be a thing. Still no unique title yet. Will I even get one? [The Arbiter]: Wrongdoings must not go unpunished; you swore to seek retribution. Effect: After dealing damage to the target of your revenge once, you will always know their exact location. (Tracking lost if the title is swapped out) /Ephemeral/ : Will be lost when the target dies or if you give up on your revenge. Hmm. This one''s for you, scripture. I¡¯ll be keeping this one ready. No escape. Alright, next please. Get to the good stuff already! [The Impervious]: Lost your head and survived. Effect: Hits that would deal less than 5% of your maximum health do not damage you. ¡°I have seen this somewhere¡­ Pareth¡¯s version is better. This is only good for people who are accumulating tons of health so useless for me.¡± The titles are starting to generate faster, at least. I won¡¯t have to spend two days here waiting for them to appear. [Core member]: You saw the truth. Effect: Enables core member privacy mode: hides you from all system scans and tracking. THIS! I have no idea what this truth thing is about at all¡­ But this is it! This HAS to be how Hugo was hiding from the system! No wonder¡­ Mostly useless to me, though. But it is interesting to know of and to have. Core members¡­ Hey! What?! I didn¡¯t cheat! It was a legit kill! ? UNIQUE ? [Cheater]: Killed Sammy the Lesser Stone Drake in the second trial. Seriously; how?! WHY?!!! Effect: Allows you to identify anything and anyone as long as the system is able to. Around you, no one is safe. Gives exact level readings and class titles for people. Level readings for scribeless creatures are approximations. Alright. Yeah. That¡¯s pretty insane. Worthy of being called a cheater¡¯s tool. Exact level and class plus the monsters¡¯ levels? Unique titles are really something else. Depending on what comes after, I might just use this one. I¡¯ll definitely use it, even, it might be a good idea to have this on all the time and be ready to switch to a more battle oriented title when needed. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. I really didn¡¯t think this is what would get me a unique title. So the drake was called Sammy¡­ [Acclaimed]: Completed the level 200 trial. Effect: +5000 Health As predicted. There must really be one for every trial. Nothing for Victory though? That would be a huge disappointment. Sofia could barely wait. Out of everything, she felt that the title for beating Victory had the most potential to be incredible. ? UNIQUE ? [THE GLORIOUS]: Be the first to get Victory¡¯s crown. Realistically, it¡¯s only a matter of time before someone is insane enough to get this one. I bet a human would be the one to get it, but the other two laughed at me. If you¡¯re a human reading this, please laugh at them for me. If not, you can laugh at me too. Effect: While wearing the crown of Victory, enemies in a large area around you are consumed by the flames of Victory, dealing damage over time and preventing them from absorbing ambient mana. Damage from the flames of Victory cannot be prevented. Woah. I think we have a winner. Preventing mana regeneration¡­ It¡¯s whatever against monsters, but against people¡­ And it¡¯s damage that cannot be prevented. Remains to see how much damage and in how large an area. Very worthy of being a unique title. But there has to be more to come, right? I¡¯ve done some noteworthy things since the second trial. Surely there are another few titles to be had? [So anyway, I started blasting]: Use too much firepower and still fail to accomplish what you set out to do. Effect: Improves your aim. What now?! Oh, the fucking plant. Unbeatable Dimmerion or something. Yeah. Alright. Fair. It was not an aim issue, though¡­ Ah, whatever. [Wanderer]: The sun? I wonder how it looks up-close. Effect: Helps you find your way back to the planet. (May take a while.) G- Good to have, I suppose. I don¡¯t intend to get lost in the void again, but it is definitely reassuring to have this. [Sun¡¯s Warrior]: Complete a deathly wager quest from Sun. Effect: No penalty is applied in case of a quest failure. This title must be worn and kept from the moment you accept the quest for the effect to apply. /Ephemeral/ : This title will be lost upon negating one failure. Good option to have especially since Sun isn¡¯t the only entity out there giving bad quests. Depending on how the later trials are set up, this might even give me two chances at one, as long as it uses a quest. Probably won¡¯t, but that would be funny. Not that I¡¯m going to ever fail a trial, though. Right? This should almost be it for the titles¡­ [The Upgraded]: As a non-Dragon, protect yourself with Dragon-scale armor. Effect: Non Dragon-scale Items you wear have significantly increased toughness and durability. Don¡¯t care. Anything else? It took a while until the next title appeared. [Master Thief]: You stole all kinds of things from all kinds of people, even when it really should not have been possible. Effect: You are much harder to detect through magic and senses other than sight. Become invisible when you stand still for more than three seconds. /Ephemeral/ : This title will be lost if your stolen possessions get reclaimed by their original owner. Hey, not bad. I will likely end up using this one sometimes. I¡¯m not too worried about losing it, but having the title ¡®Master Thief¡¯ when you¡¯re identified must not look great, and as an Ephemeral it can¡¯t be hidden. I got this one for stealing the key, I guess. So this should be it for the titles. Well. Not bad. Not bad at all. I can¡¯t wait to unlock the sub-cla- Huh? There¡¯s more? [The Endless]: You just won¡¯t stay dead. Is immortality really a blessing? Effect: Unleash a violent shockwave upon death. /Ephemeral/ : This title will be lost if you are imprisoned and do not escape within a year. How violent are we talking about? Is it a full angel-bolt type of violent? This can give me some breathing room when I¡¯m fighting with the unlife runes. I¡¯m not sure I¡¯ll use it though. Will need some testing. Maybe for big battles it could be a thing to start with this and switch to [THE GLORIOUS] when I run out of runes. But then I need to know about the fight a full day in advance to have the cooldown on the title switch ready, because I won¡¯t be using this title by default when I¡¯m not even wearing a rune most of the time. Alright alright alright. Is this it? It had to be everything this time, right? Sofia patiently waited for a few minutes while she re-read the titles and considered her options. Seeing there were no more titles coming, she picked one to activate right away. [TITLES] User Sofia Aphenoreth : THE GLORIOUS Hidden : UNIQUE titles cannot be hidden Available titles (22) : [Titler] [Cataclysmic survivor] [Not so Saint] /Ephemeral/ [No Name] [The lost] [Bonetrousle] [Demon] /Ephemeral/ [Overachiever] [Awakened] [Rebellious Puppet] [The Arbiter] /Ephemeral/ [The Impervious] [Core member] ? UNIQUE ? [Cheater] [Acclaimed] ? UNIQUE ? [THE GLORIOUS] [So anyway, I started blasting] [Wanderer] [Sun¡¯s Warrior] /Ephemeral/ [The Upgraded] [Master Thief] /Ephemeral/ [The Endless] /Ephemeral/ ¡°Good. Time to see how everyone is doing now.¡±
Chapter 382 - Closing statements How do I store the dagger though? I need to actually wear it. Needs to be hidden¡­ Oh I could do like that time with the saint headpiece, tie it around my thigh¡­ Yeah. A bone sheath around the leg will do, I can completely close it too so it would be really hard to steal. And we¡¯re done here. Find the others yet? Sofia switched to Pareth¡¯s vision, he was in a large hall with no windows surrounded by students of the Academy. She only needed a quick look to spot Saria¡¯s blonde hair and have an answer to her question. It¡¯s surprisingly far. Sofia left the room, finding herself in a sparsely-lit underground tunnel. This direction, I guess. It did not take her long to reach a first large hall full of Exidians, these were the citizens of the capital, all waiting in big groups in the halls, fully aware that this was a secure bunker, and that the reason they had been teleported there had to be a very big emergency. The atmosphere was tense but people were still as calm as the situation allowed. Sofia quickly walked through this hall and the next few, until she reached the one hosting the people from the academy. Pareth was near the group who had been assembled in Astelia¡¯s room before. It was Cardinal who noticed Sofia first. ¡°Look who has made it back in one piece,¡± he commented, drawing everyone¡¯s attention to Sofia. ¡°Ahah. things happened. Maybe this isn¡¯t the best place to talk about that, though,¡± Sofia told the group as she joined their circle, Pareth making some space for her. Saria shook her head, ¡°We figured things would happen when you grabbed Astelia¡¯s earrings and left in a hurry. We looked for you in the bunker but of course you weren¡¯t there. Beryl told us not to worry but that didn¡¯t really help.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ Sorry. This whole thing evolved a bit faster than I thought it would. Everyone being sent here is my fault, I suppose, I made it out, though. We should be able to leave the bunker soon. This whole fish thing is over, the level 500s took care of it,¡± Sofia explained while also giving back the earrings to Astelia. ¡°And you were where and doing what while that happened, exactly?¡± Saria interrogated her sister. ¡°Well. You know; infiltrating a level 500¡¯s home and stealing their shit while they were busy fighting. Business as usual,¡± Sofia ignored the weird looks thrown her way by her friends and family, ¡°Oh, does anyone know how to refine Adamian steel slag?¡±
The last few months at the Academy went by in a flash. The whole affair with Hugo was buried, and the people of Exidia returned to their daily lives with the official narrative given for the bunker evacuation that the Emperor had fought off an invasion of migrating flying monsters. They had gone so far as to spread large flying monster corpses around in the city to make the story more believable, and Sofia had even managed to grab one under the pretext of helping with the cleanup. Lola had forgotten all about what had happened after being led into Sofia¡¯s room, and had successfully recovered from her mild soul injury. She went on to continue beating other students in duels and performing well in the competition¡¯s events, building off of her previous lead. Despite the others¡¯ best efforts, they couldn¡¯t get past her, and with the teachers carefully protecting their token pouches until the end, not even Saria managed to close the gap, finishing second. Lola won the competition and got a hold of the First key, as promised by the Emperor, as well as becoming Empress Delivia¡¯s apprentice. She thanked Sofia in her speech after receiving the sword. Having learned that Sofia got the dagger, Saria wasn¡¯t too upset about failing to get the sword, and jokingly swore to redeem herself by performing better than Sofia in the next trial, which Sofia knew was a very serious challenge coming from her sister. Erian took his fourth place behind Opal in strides, and he, along with the rest of Sofia¡¯s class except for Lola, due to her new obligations, formed a group to go together for their first trial. They left as soon as the school year was officially over, each inviting Sofia to come see them at their home if she ever wanted to. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Of them, Shaily in particular had special plans. She had spent most of the last month with Sofia, they worked together to find ways to upgrade the Angel¡¯s bolts. Sofia had to admit that Shaily had a natural talent for tinkering with spells, and since Astelia spent a lot of time with them too, Cardinal ended up hearing about it. He ended up recruiting the young sprite-caller before the year was over, so Shaily would go straight for Vasperia after her trial. The Vampires apparently weren¡¯t shy when it came to recruiting foreign talent, and they also somehow also convinced Zerei to open her own school in Vasperia rather than somewhere else. Overall, Sofia was happy with where she left her students. She was confident all of them would get through the first trial without an issue, they were all much more prepared than she had been. The matters of Hugo and Scripture both never resurfaced during that time, which actually allowed Sofia to relax a lot. Sofia never saw Empress Delivia again but she did get a letter from her informing her that she was welcome to change her mind and come work for the Empire if she ever wanted to.
When the time to leave Exidia was up, Sofia¡¯s group all met up in Death¡¯s cathedral. In the same room where Leverle had teleported Sofia and her students after the cabin incident. Cinthia asked Sofia again, ¡°Are you certain you don¡¯t want one for Pareth?¡± Sofia shook her head. ¡°There¡¯s no reason to make it more dangerous for you and Saria by getting a third essence. I have my plans, you can go ahead of me for the trial. Astelia is also going to stall for a while, since she has family matters to attend to, I¡¯ll probably go with her. I also don¡¯t want to ask more from Leverle, you know. I feel indebted enough as it is.¡± ¡°Well, no point trying to change your mind,¡± Saria said and shrugged, ¡°I¡¯ll be going first again, then. What about you Alith?¡± ¡°I¡¯m coming with you, I think. The previous trial left a bad taste in my mouth, I¡¯m ready to destroy this one. Unless Sof needs me for something?¡± Sofia shook her head, ¡°No, you can go, I¡¯m mostly going to be working on sorting my items and making a new skeleton for Pareth. I know you¡¯re impatient so no point in slowing you down if you¡¯re ready to go. I can handle myself. Didn¡¯t you need another storage item, though?¡± ¡°Oh, I found something in that shop you told me about with the Dragon lady, actually, so I¡¯m good. Got all I need,¡± Alith answered, showing off her new storage ring. ¡°Great then. Since we settled the matter with Ihuarah too, we should be all set.¡± ¡°Your shadow guy?¡± Saria asked, ¡°Wasn¡¯t he gone all year? He¡¯s come back?¡± ¡°No, but since we share a kill feed it¡¯s not impossible to send ¡®messages¡¯ via the system, so we did that with a code we had established before separating. Long story short, he confirmed that he would head to the trial by himself.¡± ¡°Does he have an essence to wager?¡± Saria continued. ¡°I¡¯m guessing Sorrow would probably give him one if he doesn¡¯t already have it,¡± Sofia said with a shrug. ¡°When I¡¯m done with the trial I¡¯ll go help him, I think, I¡¯m still Sorrow¡¯s Apostle, after all. You¡¯re free to come too, or not.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be spending some time at the sect first, I think.¡± Saria answered first. Alith took a bit to think over it, and decided that she was uncertain, ¡°If I get new pills to replicate from the trial then I won¡¯t come, else I¡¯ll be here.¡± ¡°Could I come?¡± Cinthia asked meekly. ¡°You want to?¡± I didn¡¯t expect that. ¡°Sure, I¡¯d love to have you around. I¡¯m sure you would be very useful too. We could even keep going after that and go search for Domination¡¯s secret temple thing. If you''re up for it, I have a map to get there.¡± ¡°That would be great!¡± Cinthia approved, ¡°And I always get more donations when I hang around with you so¡­¡± Sofia smiled at Cinthia. ¡°Sounds like a plan. But well. Let¡¯s all get through the filter first. And remember, we can fail, but nobody¡¯s allowed to die.¡± Saria looked around then back at Sofia, ¡°If someone here is reckless enough to die now, it would be you. So I hope you take your own advice to heart. I won¡¯t forgive you if you never come out of the trial.¡± ¡°If I can¡¯t make it, nobody can, honestly. Zerei said I should be alright as long as I¡¯m not too greedy. I trust her judgment.¡± ¡°Yeah I do too, but I don¡¯t trust you not to be too greedy, Sofia. Want to talk about how you got that dagger again, little sis?¡± ¡°Right¡­ Well, Pareth will be with me so¡­ If you can¡¯t trust me, at least trust him.¡± After a few seconds of silence, it was Alith who spoke next, ¡°Sof, I hate to have to be the one to break it to you but¡­ Pareth is just as bad as you are when you¡¯re with him.¡±
Chapter 383 - President sleeper ¡°And that¡¯s what Orator said.¡± Erredis sighed, ¡°I see. Can¡¯t do anything about it, then. I hoped they would know more but I guess not.¡± ¡°What was this fissure thing about, actually?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°Phageid.¡± ¡°Oh. You wanted to try to prevent the next attack by finding where they came from in advance?¡± ¡°That was the idea, yes. I thought that if anyone could know it would be the Lords. But I guess not even them can predict the future.¡± ¡°It was worth a try. Should we be worried about them, though? Just with the level 500s that I know of it sounds ridiculous to think the phageids could be a real threat when we know they are coming¡­ ¡± ¡°It is hard to tell, but if the scale of their attacks continue to ramp up, it will become a huge issue sooner rather than later. We level 500 are not in so much danger, but everyone else¡­ Protecting is much harder than destroying, I know a lot about that. And speaking of which, I think I know what to do with your Adamian steel.¡± ¡°I¡¯m all ears!¡± ¡°Do not get too excited, considering you somehow got your hands on the key, and aren¡¯t in need of more armor, the best I can do is use that ingot to upgrade your staff. It likely won¡¯t be a substantial increase in much else than its durability, but it should at least bring it up to par with the rest of your things.¡± ¡°It¡¯s held very well until now though.¡± ¡°Because nothing reached its core yet, but I can tell this wooden staff of yours would instantly crumble if I were to shatter the small Dragon horn core inside,¡± Erredis told Sofia as she poked at the staff. ¡°Then please, do upgrade it¡­ What do you think about the catalyst? Should I change?¡± ¡°This one looks fine, although your spells do not benefit much from its speed boost, aside from the lightning bolts. Your fighting style not being heavy on damage-dealing spells, I would leave it as is until something else naturally shows up.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll trust your opinion. What do I owe you for the staff?¡± Sofia asked while she lost herself looking around at all the chaotic-looking things Erredis had filled her workshop in Zephir¡¯s sect with over the year. ¡°Come on, sweetie, I¡¯m not going to make you pay for something so trivial. It will only take a couple of days to work that in between my other current projects, go see that old skeletal plague and come again.¡± ¡°Thank you! Want me to relay a message to Richard? I think you mentioned something about dueling him last time.¡± Erredis laughed, ¡°You remembered that? Yes, I fought him once, friendly spar, one could say. He is like¡­ A plague. As I said. If you think my rot is sticky you have never had to deal with this damn lich.¡± ¡°That bad? He looked¡­ Not that impressive, when I met him. Just a relatively friendly skeleton.¡± ¡°Huh uh. Reality itself could burst and he would find a way to survive. Just tell him I said hi, might just motivate him to help you a bit more, who knows. Now go on, let me work.¡± ¡°Will do. Thanks again for all the help and advice, grandma!¡± ¡°Pleasure¡¯s all mine, kid,¡± Erredis answered with a smirk. She grabbed Sofia¡¯s scepter and walked to the back of her workshop, whistling. That¡¯s that. Now to fly all the way back to the human continent.
Sofia flew unimpeded across the sky. She flew right into a storm while crossing the sea, and all she had to do to avoid it was to fly over. Above the clouds, the sky was always blue. She went directly to the Red Carpet branch in Couvauz to look for TLDR. The receptionist called out to Sofia as she entered, ¡°Hey! I know you¡­ It¡¯s been a while. Are you here to see Nicet?¡± Sofia walked up to the counter. ¡°Hi. No, I¡¯m hoping to meet Richard today, if possible.¡± The receptionist raised an eyebrow, ¡°Wanna see the boss? What¡¯s your name again?¡± ¡°Sofia, though he would know me by my title as the Saintess of Scripture¡­¡± If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Hmmhmm. Give me a moment,¡± the receptionist said as he stood up. Leaving the counter, he entered the door right behind him and closed it, as he started talking to someone inside. Sofia didn¡¯t mean to spy but her hearing was sharp enough to hear everything. ¡°Lady at the desk wants to meet the boss. Saintess of Scripture, supposedly. She does ID as a Saint. 249. Came in with Nicet once about a year and a half ago.¡± Another man answered the receptionist, ¡°Hmm¡­ Sofia A., she¡¯s registered as a temp VIP. No further detail, can you confirm it¡¯s her?¡± ¡°Yes, looks exactly the same.¡± ¡°Make her wait then, boss should be on-site so I¡¯ll go ask directly. Activate high sec, just in case.¡± ¡°Already done.¡± ¡°Good.¡± The mana signature Sofia sensed from the other man disappeared, and the receptionist came back. Teleported away. ¡°Thank you for waiting. Someone is contacting the boss. It shouldn¡¯t take long, you can sit if you want,¡± the receptionist told Sofia, pointing at the couches against the walls of the Red Carpet¡¯s entrance hall. ¡°Sure, thank you.¡± The couch was comfortable but nothing special. A few minutes later, the mana signature of the other man reappeared in the room behind the reception, accompanied by someone else¡¯s. It was a skinny and tall elf who walked out of the room, fully dressed in white. His eyes immediately landed on Sofia and he walked up to her. Sofia stood up as she saw him approach. [Mage - Lv. 300+] ¡°Lady Sofia. The boss will receive you shortly. Are you accustomed to long distance teleportations?¡± ¡°It should not be an issue.¡± ¡°Perfect, follow me.¡± The elf led Sofia to a room nearby, with a large ritual circle engraved on the floor. Teleportation platform. I¡¯m guessing he¡¯s a space mage, will do the teleportation himself. As Sofia expected, the mana within the Elf¡¯s body whirred and the duo¡¯s location changed to a pitch black room. Sofia could barely see even with her dark-vision, the room was a closed cube with no exit and nothing but a teleportation circle on the floor. The elf lit up a light stone he wore on a ring, ¡°Are you holding on? Please wait, this is a temporary teleportation point.¡± ¡°I¡¯m perfectly fine.¡± The duo teleported again. Another dark room. ¡°Still good?¡± the elf asked. ¡°All good.¡± ¡°It is unusual for non space-mages of your level to hold on that well. Three more jumps, please tell me if you need a break.¡± Sofia was curious so she looked at the last-bed locator system tool each time, and unlike what she expected, they seemed to be teleporting in different directions each time. To make it hard to track, I guess? I couldn¡¯t say at all where we are right now. A few seconds later, the last teleportation took Sofia and the elf to a large room that looked like another reception hall, but with no entrance, and no one at the desk. The walls were mostly huge clear glass panes, and colored lines on the floor led from the teleportation platform to different doors. It¡¯s night? Are we on the other side of the planet? Wait no! We¡¯re underwater! A school of small luminous fish swam across the window, confirming Sofia¡¯s read on the location. ¡°Welcome to the real Red Carpet Headquarters. The orange line on the floor will lead you to the boss¡¯ office. Please refrain from touching anything or exploring on your own. I will be at this desk when you want to leave or if you have any questions.¡± Sofia thanked the elf and followed the orange line. The underwater building was very silent, clean, and somewhat empty. Sofia could see her reflections in the windows and the smooth floors. I don¡¯t get this flooring. It¡¯s multiple layers¡­ Looks like glass but a bit soft? Is soft glass a thing? Eventually the orange line led Sofia to a closed door, the underwater building was very large and she had spent a good five minutes walking, but she hadn¡¯t crossed paths with anyone on the way. A familiar voice made its way directly into Sofia¡¯s mind. ¡°Come in, teacher Vakaria.¡± Wha- How would he know about that? Sofia opened the door. Richard¡¯s ¡®office¡¯ looked like the most basic space possible: a wide, empty room, with only a squeaky clean flat rectangular desk in the back in front of a huge window giving a good view of the dark undersea abyss, and two chairs. The desk and chairs looked like they were made of the same soft-ish glass as the floor. Richard was facing away from Sofia, skeletal as ever, looking out of the window, a cup of some steaming liquid in hand. He was wearing what Sofia could only describe as loose pajamas, complete with a night cap and slippers. Sofia blinked several times. Despite how wrong everything looked, it was all real. Does he need to sleep? Can he actually drink? Why is the room so empty? Outside is completely dark so what is he looking at? In the end the question she mustered was: ¡°Did I come at a bad time?¡± ¡°Not at all. I was just pretending to sleep. Congratulations on finding your sister, saintess.¡±
Chapter 384 - Scripture’s old enemy Sofia started walking through the office. ¡°Thank you, but¡­ Pretending to sleep?¡± Richard kept looking into the abyss. ¡°Yes. For myself, I act as if I was going to sleep. I lie down, cut my senses. It¡¯s not real sleep, but it helps with organizing my thoughts, my wants, my memories. Sleep is important to the human brain. Cherish it while you still have it.¡± ¡°I never really saw it as something I could lose. Rather I have been happy that I can waste less time doing it now. But this does all make sense¡­¡± Sofia finally reached the desk, seeing that Richard wasn¡¯t moving, she moved around the desk to look out of the window as well. ¡°I see nothing.¡± ¡°There is nothing to see, right now at least. Sometimes a big creature swims by, if you don¡¯t look, you might just miss it.¡± Richard turned his skull, he looked at Sofia with the dim lights within his eye sockets, ¡°But today is a good day, other interesting creatures have made their way into my office. Are you not going to introduce them?¡± ¡°Them?¡± ¡°Yes, the skeletons. Two of them.¡± Pareth¡­ And Bookie? He hadn¡¯t detected Bookie last time. Because he still didn¡¯t have a body? ¡°Well, alright. Come out.¡± Pareth appeared on the other side of Sofia, and Bookie was just in his book form, in Sofia¡¯s hands. ¡°This one is Pareth, he¡¯s essentially in charge of keeping me alive. And that is Bookie, he is¡­ A book. A skeleton-summoning skeleton book. He has a more ¡®regular¡¯ body too, but I guess he is being shy today.¡± ¡°Most interesting specimens indeed. It¡¯s only polite that I should reciprocate, then.¡± Two skeletons appeared behind Richard. One looked like a regular human skeleton, much like Pareth currently, and the other one was a bit taller, which Sofia understood to likely be from an elf, and was wearing flowing purple robes and dark veils hiding its skull. ¡°I present Mountain,¡± Richard started, pointing at the regular skeleton, ¡°He is my Pareth. Does not look like much, but his name is fitting, trust me. And the other one¡­¡± ¡°Florencia.¡± The skeleton presented herself with a nod. ¡°Army general. Pleased to meet you, young necromancer.¡± ¡°Pleased to meet you too¡­¡± The two skeletons identified as [Supporter - Lv.500+]. ¡°You can go back to your things, Flor. Sorry for disturbing you.¡± The lady skeleton disappeared as fast as she had appeared. ¡®Mountain¡¯ was still there, standing silently. ¡°Is she one of your summons?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°You could say so? I created her soul myself. She is like my daughter, in a weird way. Her existence is very similar to that skeleton knight of yours. False life, born out of a necromancer¡¯s hands.¡± ¡°I never created a soul, though¡­¡± ¡°Well, clearly, you participated. You were not the one to craft the soul, perhaps, but it was created for you, sparked by you, and then, cherished by you. So it¡¯s one and the same.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­ I don¡¯t know. The ritual I used was one with Knowledge¡¯s rune, so. If anything, his existence would be thanks to Knowledge. All I really did back then was to prepare the bones, carve the ritual, and offer some blood.¡± ¡°That is just as well. You were part of the creation and it is all that really matters. But I do have a question, can he not speak by himself?¡± ¡°He has never said a word. None of my skeletons have ever spoken, in fact.¡± ¡°None¡­ Well, for the other ones, whatever type of skeleton they may be, that is unsurprising. But for him¡­ He¡­ He is a person. He should be able to.¡± He should? You should? ¡°Has he never written anything either?¡± Richard continued. ¡°Never a single word.¡± Sofia and Richard both stared at Pareth. After a long and awkward silence, Pareth shook his skull. ¡°No? You clearly understand us, Pareth. How can one understand but not speak? You have put a finger on an interesting matter, Sofia. Let us see this to the end. Is he able to read?¡± ¡°Without a doubt, yes.¡± This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. Three sheets of paper appeared on Richard¡¯s desk, one said ¡®Do not know how¡¯, one said ¡®Do not want to¡¯ and the last one said ¡®Is not allowed to¡¯. ¡°Go on, point. You can shake that skull of yours to communicate, surely you should be able to point. Which is it?¡± Pareth looked at the paper sheets, and after a few seconds, again, he shook his skull. Sometimes Sofia could feel Pareth¡¯s emotions when they were very strong, but currently, nothing. ¡°NO?! Ho ho ho. I see how it is. Not allowed is correct. This stink, yes, this stink of divine intervention! Knowledge¡¯s rune you say? I would narrow my eyes if I still had them. I think I understand exactly what is going on, Sofia. This is a solved mystery.¡± ¡°Is it? So Knowledge is forbidding Pareth from speaking is what is going on?¡± ¡°No, not quite. It is much more interesting than that!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t get it¡­¡± ¡°Well, you see, for Gods to breach into our planes, there are costs. Heavy costs.¡± ¡°I have the sudden feeling that you are about to say something ridiculous even for someone of your level. And I¡¯m not sure that I want to hear it.¡± ¡°Oh, don¡¯t be scared now. I know they say Knowledge is a curse. But we both know this to be false, after all, Knowledge isn¡¯t a Recessed. So, hear me out, young girl. Your skeleton¡­¡± Richard paused for dramatic effect. ¡°Is a demigod!¡± Sofia¡¯s mind blanked a bit. ¡°This is not quite the reaction I expected. Are you alright? For what it¡¯s worth, this does not change anything for you at all, honestly. It really just explains why he cannot speak.¡± ¡°C- Can you¡­ Explain¡­ A bit more?¡± ¡°It¡¯s quite simple, really. Knowledge copied some part of your soul, added some of his being, just a speck of both, basically, and jammed that into a makeshift soul, which is much harder than it sounds, but it is the god of Knowledge we are talking about, then stuffed that into a skeleton. And there you have it: demigod!¡± ¡°Does that not¡­ Make him special in some way?¡± ¡°It does. I assume he must be extremely hard to definitively kill. And then, considering that his penalty is communication, I assume he inherited from the opposite in terms of divine boon. It is from Knowledge, after all, so¡­ Knowledge of some kind. Is he perhaps an expert in a specific domain?¡± ¡°Well¡­ He has always been good with weapons but I thought¡­¡± ¡°Search no further, that must be his divine boon! The reason he cannot speak. He was gifted with the knowledge of weapon mastery, or something equivalent. Flor was born a blank slate. Much like a newborn. I taught her to read and speak myself. Pareth could have learned by himself too, but if you say he has always been good with weapons, you understand¡­¡± ¡°I- I do. Thank you, I guess. It went in a direction I was not expecting, but that does explain some things. Is there a way to bypass the restriction?¡± ¡°Not without erasing his soul and starting over, I¡¯m afraid.¡± ¡°So he¡¯s never going to be able to speak?¡± ¡°Probably not¡­¡± Richard stopped and looked at Pareth for a few seconds. ¡°It might get better as he levels. But I would not expect much.¡± Oh¡­ That would explain a lot. This is why you¡¯re so much more alive now. Some of the restrictions have been lifted. That¡¯s great news! Still¡­ ¡°Are you fine with that?¡± Sofia asked Pareth. Pareth shrugged. He looked at Richard, nodded, then turned his attention to the abyss outside the window. ¡°Looks like a happy skeleton to me.¡± ¡°A demigod though¡­ How is it that no one else ever figured that out?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that easy to guess, look at Flor, she¡¯s no Demigod, but her existence and Pareth¡¯s are pretty much the same in terms of how they came to be. Knowledge helping create souls is not anything new either, but He just happened to add a little extra this time. Make no mistake, this does not make Pareth a divine being or close to it. He just happened to catch the whims of a God at birth and got some sneaky bits of ¡®divinity¡¯ right into his soul. Comes with some benefits and some restrictions, but that¡¯s about it. There have been others before, there will be more down the line¡­¡± ¡°Other demigods? Like who? Any known ones? Does it mean they all have artificial souls?¡± ¡°Well¡­ Elves, for example, all trace back to a common ancestor. A long-gone demigod created by the one and only.¡± ¡°Sun?¡± ¡°Right-o, this one. If there is one God who¡¯s meddled extensively with artificial life, it¡¯s Her. From what I know, spliced the genes of one of the oldest vampires; She tinkered with it until the first elf was ¡®born¡¯. Rest is history. And no, technically that does not have to be with an artificial soul, Demigods can be born from completely normal parents, but that does not tend to happen anymore.¡± ¡°Why is that? I know the Gods can nominate people to be their Oracle at birth, so is it different?¡± ¡°Much different, how ¡®a demigod¡¯ exists is somewhat of an issue with how the system is implemented. Messes with the scribes. So ever since the Gods have joined hands with the system, demigods have become rarer.¡± ¡°I see¡­ Pareth does not really have a scribe of his own, so that checks out¡­ And then¡­ Do all elves have some tiny bits of Sun¡¯s divine essence in them? Does Pareth already have some of Knowledge¡¯s essence, too, if I understand correctly?¡± ¡°The elves don¡¯t have shit, they¡¯re a regular race now, a God meddling with your soul isn¡¯t hereditary. As for your skeleton, it is not that he has Knowledge¡¯s essence¡­ More that¡­ How to explain this in simple words¡­ If people are books, Knowledge ripped off one of His pages and snuck it into Pareth¡¯s book. Does that make sense to you?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not exactly clear, honestly, but I think I get the gist of it. Thank you for taking the time to explain¡­¡± ¡°I just sated my own curiosity now, nothing to thank me about. Actually, I want more. Would you be so kind as to recount your chase after your sister? I have heard of the expedition from Nicet, and later about you and your sister¡¯s presence in Exidia, but I am missing most everything in between. As If had only read the first and last page of a book. It is unsatisfying.¡± ¡°Certainly. My finding her was in part thanks to you and Nicet, after all. But that story might take a while.¡± ¡°I have an actual eternity ahead of me.¡± ¡°Were you not busy with the Phageid?¡± ¡°... Such a pain.¡±
Chapter 385 - Eccentric old bones The discussion between Sofia and Richard had gone over the story of finding Saria and back to necromancy. Sofia explained that she needed another skeleton for Pareth, and ended up showing him the ritual circle as well as the description for the skill. ¡°So why is it that it only works with ¡®genuine¡¯ and unaltered skeletons? It would be so much simpler if I could just make one myself¡­¡± ¡°Souls, even fake ones, don¡¯t take well to ¡®objects¡¯ is the issue. Any skeleton that wasn¡¯t slowly built as the host by an actual soul is nothing but that, an object.¡± ¡°What about golems?¡± ¡°Not souls, what is hosted in a golem¡¯s core is a magical construct, like a set of instructions. It¡¯s not ¡®someone¡¯ , not even remotely. You can force a soul into an object, though, it¡¯s just generally not very stable.¡± ¡°Generally¡­ Liches like you being the exception?¡± ¡°Yep. This is the one stable way. Basically you¡¯re trying to trick your soul into considering something its host. That¡¯ll inevitably lead to permanent changes in both the soul and the object, it¡¯s a slow and painful process. You can iterate on it but you cannot revert it.¡± ¡°Right¡­ So for Pareth to fit into a skeleton I made he would need to become a lich?¡± ¡°You can forget about it. That¡¯s just not a good option. Perhaps later, when you have plenty of time. Centuries of free time. Until then, you would be better served just finding another regular skeleton.¡± ¡°But then I am really stuck with upgrading him. At best I can beg you to sell me another bone mauler¡­¡± Richard laughed. ¡°Ke ke, well, I may just have a better solution for you¡­ If you can convince me.¡± ¡°I¡­ What do I have that could even interest you?¡± ¡°Same as last time. Or feel free to offer anything else.¡± ¡°Not knowing what it is exactly that I am paying for is not helping¡­ But I think I know what could interest you.¡± ¡°And that would be?¡± ¡°I can share what I know about the four Lords.¡± ¡°Oh oh oh, you know me better than you let on, saintess. Give me a second to get the machinery started.¡± Richard said, before his skeleton fell to the ground, bones scattering on the floor. His skeleton guard named ¡®Mountain¡¯ moved for the first time, catching Richard¡¯s skull that was rolling away and putting it back in the middle of the pile of bones. He¡¯s rather nice to speak with. I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s his pajamas and slippers doing that but I feel pretty relaxed here. We might just get a better skeleton for you again. Any special request? Pareth shrugged as he kept looking at the dark abyss out the window. Just the usual, then. Sofia also tried looking outside while she waited for Richard, not seeing anything until his bones reformed into a complete skeleton. ¡°Everything is ready. Let¡¯s talk while we walk. I am curious to see what you may be willing to share, miss Aphenoreth.¡± ¡°So you did know about my name,¡± Sofia remarqued as she followed Richard who was walking toward the door. ¡°Only from looking into your presence as a brighthall teacher. It is very intriguing, though.¡± ¡°As it should. Are you not scared of saying it, my name?¡± ¡°No. The inquisitor is peculiar, but fair. If you can use the name, then it is but a logical consequence that we may use it too. The Lords do not cause unnecessary mayhem¡­ Not this one, at least.¡± The group of Sofia and three skeletons walked through the similar-looking corridors of Richard¡¯s subaquatic facility. ¡°You seem to know more than most do. No one else has been this calm when talking about the Deep so far¡­¡± ¡°A calculated risk. Even the Lords would have to expand significant efforts to take me down. So long as I go in their direction, it should be alright.¡± ¡°And their direction would be?¡± ¡°That is for you to find out. I would say more than the bare bones, but as interesting a topic as it is, I would rather not invite them into my home.¡± ¡°Is it going to be fine for me to say my piece, then? I cannot guarantee they aren¡¯t going to show up. One in particular¡­¡± ¡°Right¡­ Please avoid the topic of this one. If possible. He already knows, I¡¯m sure, but let us not play with fire.¡± Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°He does? Well, maybe. Let me just give you the story of my name, then. Do you know about my class?¡± ¡°I have not dug that far, no. Oh, be careful not to bump your skull here, the ceiling is a bit low. Had to work around the deep sea reef.¡± The deep sea reef? Those purple things glowing outside? Anyway, one thing at a time¡­ Sofia carefully walked down the stairs watching out for the low ceiling, and started explaining her class. ¡°The class is Saintomancer. Mix of Saint and Necromancer. Scripture fucked with the system and I was on the receiving end.¡± ¡°That explains a lot. The system can be flexible like that if the need arises, this sounds a lot like an automated response, high scribes must not have been available.¡± ¡°The thing is, I only get half the skills of each class, but not in the way you might think. For example, one of my level 1 skills was [Summon Blood].¡± Richard stopped in the middle of the corridor and turned around. ¡°Summon blood. Now this¡­ This is quite something. Does it¡­¡± Sofia held out a hand and summoned a few drops of blood above it, falling into her open palm. ¡°Oh oh oh, very nice. You must be expanding a boneload of system resources. So that would be a skill made by fusing [Summon Hero] and [Drain Blood]. Your class must be quite something to try to navigate. I understand now why you wanted a list of necromancer skills last time we met¡­ And I see where this is going. A level 2 necromancer¡­¡± Sofia nodded, ¡°That¡¯s right. [Scent of the Deep] got fused with a saint skill. Now let¡¯s see if you know your classes well, Mr. Richard, what is the only passive skill a saintess of Scriptures has at level two?¡± ¡°No¡­ You mean to say¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. Ever seen someone Blessed by the Deep? Now you have.¡± Richard could resist throwing his skull back and laughing like a madman. ¡°It would be so funny if the admins were still here to see this! Ha ha ha, imagine searching for the Deep so hard only for you to stumble upon it unintentionally! And it wouldn¡¯t have the authority to do anything, so a skill named blessing of the deep would be entirely useless! Unless¡­¡± ¡°Unless an inquisitive someone came to see what this blessing thing was about and decided to make it real.¡± Richard laughed again. ¡°How was it? Did you see him? Did you feel his power? Did the world break around you?!¡± he asked manically, stepping closer to Sofia each time. ¡°W- well. He came when I was asleep-¡± ¡°FUCK!¡± ¡°And that woke me up¡­¡± ¡°YES!¡± ¡°He¡­ Looked down at me and poked my cheek with a finger.¡± ¡°HE TOUCHED YOU?!!¡± Richard screamed, his mental sentence somehow shaking the walls, making the entire underwater facility rumble and creak. Doing her best to stay calm despite the foreign skull almost touching her face, Sofia continued, ¡°It was like everything had stopped. I couldn¡¯t even feel my heart beat. Couldn¡¯t breathe, couldn¡¯t move¡­ Then he disappeared. The sky suddenly changed from night to day, I could move again, the skill had changed into an actual blessing from the Deep, and the system informed me that my name had been changed.¡± Seeing that she was done, Richard finally calmed down and took a few steps back. ¡°Hmm. I let excitement get the best of me, that was unsightly, I apologize.¡± ¡°N- no problem¡­¡± Richard shook his skull and started walking again. After a while of walking silently, he spoke again. ¡°Could I see the skill?¡± ¡°The blessing?¡± ¡°Yes. I will get you the best skeleton you could hope to have for your trial, that is all I ask for.¡± ¡°Sure thing. If I¡¯m going to be honest, the blessing¡¯s effect itself probably isn¡¯t that incredible; from your perspective, at least. It¡¯s just¡­ What I wanted back then.¡± ¡°What you wanted?¡± ¡°What I wanted, yes. Freedom. Tools to escape from Scripture¡¯s grasp. Have a look for yourself.¡± [Blessing of the Deep] - (2/4) : The Saintomancer was granted a name. They may see the inhabitants of the Deep. The Saintomancer and their summons are immune to the [Mind control], [Hypnosis], [Confusion], [Insanity], [Domination], [Soul Parasite] and [Instant Death] status effects. (Next function unlocks at 3/4) ¡°That is fascinating.¡±
¡°And that is why [Domination] is included, it has only ever been useful that one time, but it did save my life, so¡­¡± ¡°To have the approval of two of the Lords¡­ You truly are something. Sadly it seems our discussion on this topic has reached its end. We have arrived.¡± ¡°This¡­ Is just another corridor like we have been going through for the last twenty minutes?¡± ¡°No, this is the entrance to my incubator, I usually do a simple skeleton-warp inside, but there is a regular door. Just hard to see, look, the joints are right here,¡± Richard explained, his skeletal fingers pointing at a very thin and almost invisible line on the wall. ¡°Why hide it like that? Isn¡¯t this place safe enough?¡± ¡°I just like it when everything around me is clean, as you might have noticed. I¡¯m not like Valy who can¡¯t help but keep huge piles of junk around. I find doors ugly.¡± Thinking back, Sofia could only remember seeing about eight doors on the way to this place despite walking through the unending corridors of Richard''s place for a long while. ¡°How many of these hidden doors have we walked by on the way?¡± she asked. ¡°Like fifty or so. The visible doors are usually only for the places I need other people in. Or rooms I just never enter.¡± ¡°Was the point of building so deep in the sea that the scenery outside the windows would be ¡®clean¡¯?¡± ¡°Do you have a bone to pick with my sense of aesthetics?¡±
Chapter 386 - The skull goes in the skull-shaped hole Richard sent some mana into the wall and the hidden door popped out of the wall and slid to the side. Sofia looked inside the dimly lit long room; it reminded her of the simulation room in Zephir¡¯s sect, there was weird machinery and large glass columns filled with colorful liquids. ¡°Alright, this is where the fun begins. Come in.¡± Sofia followed the skeleton inside the new room. The door closed by itself when they were all inside, and the lights of the room turned on. Oh wow. Are these monsters all alive? Inside the glass columns were all sorts of primarily humanoid monsters, with a few exceptions. The row against the wall opposite the entrance were clearly human bodies, male and female, of different height and looks, floating naked in thick cyan liquid. ¡°Say¡­ Are these people¡­¡± ¡°Oh, these are just my spares. It¡¯s really a huge pain to get a full body working, with how my soul is now used to piloting skeletons only, but I do enjoy being able to taste food and such mortal pleasures sometimes, despite the extra effort required.¡± ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you be able to sleep when you use these, then?¡± ¡°Sadly, no. It¡¯s a constant effort for my soul not to get ejected from these. If I so much as start to tire, I¡¯ll be yanked out of there faster than I can close my eyes.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­ I see. You use the female bodies too?¡± ¡°I do use the one on the far right sometimes, when I have a use for a smaller stature. They are mostly Flor¡¯s though.¡± Sofia looked to the right, it was hard to see with all the other glass columns in the way, but she managed to find an angle. The body Richard mentioned was that of a petite woman with short blue hair, not very different from Alith¡¯s body shape. Hmmm¡­ ¡°Actually¡­ Do you not care that I see them naked? It feels a bit indecent.¡± ¡°Heh, Skeletons are always naked, aren¡¯t they? Anyway, that¡¯s not what we¡¯re here for, is it? Say, how does your skeleton do with multiple heads?¡± Sofia looked at Pareth. ¡°Never tried. Creatures with multiple heads aren¡¯t that common¡­¡± ¡°If he can use them, a larger field of vision is always good to take. I see no reason why it wouldn''t work. If not, getting rid of the extra heads probably won¡¯t get in the way of your ritual. What about other appendages? Wings, horns, tails?¡± ¡°He has had horns before but never really used them, he mostly fights with a sword.¡± ¡°Cannot fly I suppose¡­ That¡¯s not ideal, though it would not be a huge issue for your upcoming trial. Tail is a maybe. He looks like he could get used to one. What about hooves? Reversed legs joints? Additional arms?¡± ¡°I mostly gave him regular humanoid skeletons until now¡­ If you omit the rat and the chicken¡­¡± ¡°Unsurprising for a sword user. Did the boneplate mauler work well?¡± Sofia nodded vividly, ¡°Very well.¡± Richard started walking around the room, observing the various monsters in the columns. ¡°Hmm. Doing the same thing again is boring, though. But I supposed we could still use the bone plates, considering you want to maximize weight. Do I go with Mauler base? I think Hellspawn could be better¡­¡± ¡°Hellspawn?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a hero-given name for a race of monsters that¡¯s almost completely gone. I have a few originals left and plenty of copies. Nasty things can rip a level 400 apart with their bare hands and kick a hole through mithril plating like it¡¯s paper. Their natural habitat is gone though, so the ones I have here are among the last.¡± ¡°What¡¯s happened to them if they were so strong? A level 500 went out of their way to get rid of them?¡± ¡°Huh, no. Collateral damage. When I say their habitat is gone, I mean the entire continent.¡± ¡°Oh, the ¡®Higher Races War¡¯? I read about that in a book, there were not a great many details beyond the name and a mention of a wasteland continent.¡± ¡°This one exactly. Entire continent devoured by the black dragon¡¯s rot. Nothing to do about it, nothing survived. Gotta give it to the Dragon, though, she definitely won.¡± The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°So it was really about Grandma Erredis, huh. A whole continent gone... No wonder she didn¡¯t want to say anything about it.¡± ¡°Excuse me¡­ GRANDMA?¡± ¡°Oh right, she told me to say hi on her behalf. I kind of skipped over that part but the Dragon I told you helped me track down Saria, that was her. How do you think I got this Dragon-scale arm?¡± ¡°Well shit. You really know to surround yourself with all the most dangerous and unsavory figures this world knows of.¡± ¡°You included?¡± Sofia asked with a frown, not too happy about her extended family getting bad-mouthed. ¡°Damn right. Just take another look at the room you¡¯re in, girl. This is a place where I breed monsters for their skeletons, not a wildlife museum.¡± ¡°I figured¡­ Where are the hellspawns you spoke about? Nothing here feels like it would deserve that name. Aside from that disgusting siren near the entrance, but that¡¯s a siren.¡± ¡°Hidden in parallel space. None of the stations here are big enough for the Hellspawns. Let me get that out. Stand near the wall or you¡¯ll get caught in the switch.¡± Sofia nodded and followed the instructions, following Mountain and Pareth to the nearest wall. Behind her, the entire room changed. The dozen rows of glass columns except for the one with human bodies disappeared, and in their place were only four with glass vats containing one creature each, floating in fetal position. If Sofia had to describe those creatures, the first thing that comes to mind would be ¡®mountain of ultra-veiny bulging muscles¡¯ followed by ¡®tri-headed bipedal goat¡¯, and lastly ¡®inordinately large hands¡¯. ¡°I¡­ This almost make the Phageids look cute.¡± ¡°The name is very fitting, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Without a doubt¡­ Are these wings on their back?¡± ¡°Vestigial. Barely functional, but they can use them to glide for a few seconds. I¡¯ll be removing them for you.¡± ¡°Pareth is getting a hellspawn skeleton, then?¡± ¡°Not quite,¡± Richard told her, shaking his skull. ¡°I¡¯m going to breed one of them with a Mauler. Well, it¡¯s not that simple, but all you have to know is that the finished product will be half Hellspawn half Boneplate mauler. See, if you cannot alter the skeleton through ¡®artificial¡¯ means, then you only need to help push nature in the right direction. Thankfully for us, a lot of monsters can successfully copulate and procreate. The resulting offspring are often weak and infertile. I¡¯ll take care of the weak part with alchemy, and we don¡¯t have to give a fuck about fertility for a skeleton.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­ A bit weird. But also very clever¡­ Isn¡¯t crossing those with a boneplate mauler going to make them smaller, though? These are proper giants but the maulers are only about three meters tall.¡± ¡°Well yes. I estimate the final skeleton will be around four to five meters tall. We can go taller if you want, but that will be hard to maneuver in¡­ Well, I can¡¯t say but you know.¡± ¡°I¡¯m surprised this much even got through the censors. The scribes have been lenient recently.¡± ¡°They really only censor the information that could give you an unfair advantage. It is mostly irrelevant here since I am taking all the decisions.¡± ¡°Hmmhmm. By the way, how long is this going to take? If you are starting from breeding, then the time for the monster to grow up¡­ Won¡¯t it be years before the skeleton is done? I don¡¯t really have that much time¡­¡± ¡°Fret not, this will only take about a month.¡± ¡°Just a month?!¡± ¡°I have my ways. Besides, did you think the cross-breeding was all there was to it?¡± ¡°Is there more?¡± ¡°Why yes. Again, if you cannot ¡®artificially¡¯ alter a skeleton, what is to stop you from letting nature do the work while the monster is alive?¡± Sofia thought for a second, ¡°I know there are birth defects which affect bone structure, but that¡¯s random, and the two I¡¯ve heard about would not help¡­¡± ¡°That would be reliant on random chance. Artificially inducing them in a yet-to-be-born monster is not impossible but really tough work, even for me. No, what I have is something better. It¡¯s the entire point of having this room in the first place: sickness!¡± ¡°Diseases affecting bones?¡± ¡°Yes. I have collected them all. Some I am working on altering myself. Increasing bone mass and density, brittle bones that explode in deadly sharp shrapnel, shortening or lengthening limbs. All things I can do. Most of the disease strains I have are actually useless for you, the one giving porous bones won¡¯t help you, but I¡¯m sure I can make something great here.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know if I should be scared or impressed. Porous bones sounds painful. I- I¡¯m a bit lost for words.¡± ¡°It takes time to process genius,¡± Richard snarked, tapping on his temple. ¡°If you have nothing else to add, I¡¯ll be getting to work. Mountain will escort you out. Right, where do you want the final product delivered? ¡°I- Is the Moonlit Castle doable?¡± ¡°Vampire territory? Oh so, you¡¯re really hanging out with the moon Saint and Oracle both, despite all these Sun essences? I see. Well, to each their own. I can certainly leave it there. Will your sister be there too?¡± ¡°No, she wanted to go for the trial early, she might already be at it, actually. Why?¡± ¡°I am much like Valy, in a sense, meeting new interesting individuals is a good way to pass time. If your sister inherited even half the craziness you did, she is sure to also be wonderful to converse with.¡± ¡°If it weren¡¯t a disease-collecting-Lich calling me crazy I might actually take it as an insult.¡± ¡°Merely stating facts here. Do you know how many on this planet even dare address me this casually? And at level 249? Definitely square-skulled crazy.¡±
Chapter 387 - Not seeing eye to eye ¡°Another storage item you say¡­ Hmm, I have plenty for sale still, you can buy one at the reception on the way out. Unless¡­¡± Richard gave a sideways look to one of the human spare bodies floating in their columns. ¡°Unless?¡± ¡°Heh, I wouldn¡¯t be offering that to someone else, but if anyone, you might just be the one to accept. Crazy is crazy, after all.¡± ¡°Insulting someone isn¡¯t usually how you get them to accept something.¡± Richard stared at Sofia for a few seconds, hands on his pelvis. ¡°See. You¡¯re still here, waiting for the offer. I am starting to get a good read on you. You¡¯re hungry, just like I was. Hungry for possibilities. Hungry for power. It doesn¡¯t matter what I call you. The incentive of getting something from someone as powerful as me, you just can¡¯t miss it.¡± ¡°Yeah, huge news. How did you figure that out? From the story of how I accepted a death quest from Sun to go to a Solar orbital station? Oh, right, I didn¡¯t even tell you about this one. So, this ¡®offer¡¯ of yours?¡± ¡°Tssk. I can do without the sarcasm, is this how you treat a helpful old man? I was just-¡± ¡°You were just stalling for time because you¡¯re about to give me a bad deal. Look, I¡¯m not great at many things when it comes to social matters, but reading a skeleton¡¯s body language is right up my alley.¡± ¡°Quite the annoying skill, if you ask me. Well, my offer¡¯s not bad¡­ It¡¯s just¡­ Come here, let me show you my latest storage item prototype. I need someone to try it out and come back with feedback. Afterwards, you can keep it, of course,¡± Richard walked up to the male spare body he had been glancing at before. This guy is completely naked¡­ I don¡¯t see¡­ ¡°Is it hidden in one of his teeth? Old Orvod had something like this in the trial.¡± ¡°He did? How would you have found that out¡­ Anyway, close, but you missed.¡± ¡°Where is the prototype, then?¡± Sofia asked, scanning the body with her mana senses, failing to pick up anything weird. Richard walked up to the column and leaned his back on it. ¡°Tell me, how much do you care about your eyes?¡± he asked, poking at his empty eye socket. Sofia took a step back. ¡°This is going in a direction that I am not sure I like¡­¡± ¡°Ke heh heh. That¡¯s right. This body¡¯s ¡®wearing¡¯ the prototype storage item. Left eye.¡± ¡°I- I¡¯m not sure¡­ Ripping out an eye certainly wouldn¡¯t be the worst thing I¡¯ve done to my body, not by a long shot, but it does make me a bit uncomfortable, somehow¡­¡± ¡°Before we get on to the specifics of that, let me give you the good points, alright? Good first, bad second. Please.¡± ¡°Nothing¡¯s ever free¡­ Go on. I¡¯m listening.¡± ¡°You would be a real bonehead not to. I know the pajamas, slippers, and overall carefree attitude aren¡¯t selling it well, but I am still one of the strongest in this tiny world, alright. You¡¯re really lucky most of us old ones are not very uptight. With interesting people, at least. So! The prototype.¡± Richard teleported into the glass column. His bone fingers reached up to the floating body¡¯s head, and with precise and careful movements, ripped out the left eye, then teleported back out, wetting the floor with some of the column¡¯s fluid dripping from his pajamas. ¡°There you have it,¡± he proudly told Sofia, holding up the wet and bloodied round eye. ¡°The first edition modern scar-less body-insert spatial storage! Just the materials to make this thing cost more than it did to build this entire underwater complex. Not that it¡¯s much to me, but it¡¯s still something. Took a lot of efforts to make this first functional prototype, but I can only stay in the spare bodies for so long, and it¡¯s not quite the same as having your own body, so I need a volunteer to try keeping it on and using it for long periods of time, to be sure it¡¯s all fine before I start ripping out the eyes of¡­ My more dangerous customers.¡± ¡°Riiiiight¡­ Wait¡­ Can¡¯t you just rip this thing out and heal the eye back?¡± If the runes can regrow my entire body, just an eye should be fine¡­ That might be annoying, even, if I have to rip-out my left eye every time I die to get that thing back in. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. Richard scratched his skull. ¡°Nope. Not something you can undo. No healing. You¡¯re stuck with it. Well, you can always replace it with something else later, but your real eye is gone. Linking this to your soul modifies your own ¡®template¡¯ if you will, just like your other body-modification skills do. Like your half-empty insides. Don¡¯t think I don¡¯t see them. Clearly no matter what you did, it doesn¡¯t look reversible. This is the same. No amount of healing magic can help you there. Hence why this is a deal I can only offer to someone like you.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure most human farmers out there would kill for a storage item to make their job easier, let alone sell an eye.¡± ¡°As if I would entrust my prototype to a random nobody! I need someone who¡¯s really going to use it and bring back good data, not some farmer who¡¯s going to end up murdered by a jealous neighbor.¡± Sofia took a second think, walking in circles under the watchful non-eyes of Richard. ¡°I have a few questions.¡± ¡°Fire.¡± ¡°Uh?¡± ¡°I mean, ask away.¡± ¡°Oh, alright. First question : why?¡± ¡°Easy, I wanted to try a new technology, and the usual ring and baubles weren''t cutting it. So it¡¯s an eye-¡± ¡°Second question, why would anyone ever pick this over a regular spatial storage item?¡± ¡°If you¡¯d just let me finish what I was saying¡­¡± ¡°Sorry.¡± ¡°So, the eye. The idea was to extend the effective range of my spatial items. For convenience¡¯s sake. Tell me, what is the range of that ring of yours?¡± ¡°You made it, don¡¯t you know?¡± ¡°I do, you numbskull, this isn¡¯t about what the values actually are, I¡¯m just trying to illustrate a point!¡± ¡°Sure¡­ No need to get so worked up over this¡­ So the [Rubedo¡¯s Tail Biter], which you made, can pick up items that I touch, or with some trickery, up to a few meters away, if nobody else is holding the thing. It¡¯s able to unload items anywhere in a sphere of about ten meters of diameter around the ring. So how much range does the eye have? As far as the eye can see? That would certainly be worth an eye.¡± ¡°Do you have any idea ¡®how far¡¯ your eyes can see? If I want to be facetious, I can say it only sees what it can touch, and that wouldn¡¯t be completely false, but that¡¯s also not very interesting. Else, well, we can ¡®see¡¯ stuff so far away in space that we couldn¡¯t ever hope to reach them, so you can always dream to have that kind of range. No, the range is more like, as far as the eye can see that your mana can reach.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­ Pretty incredible already.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it? But it¡¯ll cost you an eye, can¡¯t use the tech unless we replace a real eye. It¡¯s also race-specific so this prototype is human only.¡± ¡°Wait¡­ Human-only? Our eyes are nothing special¡­¡± ¡°Yeah? That¡¯s the point. Other races have different eye shape, muscle implementation, natural magic paths, and other such annoying things to work around. Human eyes are the easiest to work with, which is pretty nice, made for easy preliminary testing. I need someone to give it a real run, though. It¡¯s got other quirks besides the range and the lost eye, but that¡¯s less important. So, what do you think?¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to need the specifics, and a lot more details on how that thing feels to have in your head¡­ I also want to know what are the things you expect could go wrong, considering you believe testing is needed. And I want Erredis¡¯ opinion.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not making this easy.¡± ¡°Free stuff is free, I¡¯m rarely against taking it, but losing an eye forever is still a bit of a big deal.¡± ¡°Oh, trust me, I know. Give me a second to edit the description. That should be enough for you to understand the features. All experimental, don¡¯t forget. We can go over the stuff that could go wrong with your Dragon witness, if you want. Can¡¯t let you have the thing just yet anyway, I will have to tinker with it some to adjust for your lack of proper optical nerves.¡± ¡°Well I haven¡¯t accepted yet.¡± ¡°Just have a look, it¡¯s nice, isn¡¯t it?¡± What do we have here¡­ [Relocation-Eye Prototype implant V0.1]: A peculiar new generation storage item prototype by craftsman T.L.D.R. It was completed a few years ago but never made it to the next stage of production for a lack of proper quality assurance testing. The space inside is a ten meters sided cube but its real appeal comes from the many experimental features. Be warned: will permanently replace your eye. Compatible with most vision-altering magic (no current conflict). Passive mana cost : 20/ second ¡°Oh, wow. You never mentioned the mana upkeep¡­¡± ¡°A minor detail¡­¡±
Chapter 388 - The things I have left ¡°So, verdict? It¡¯s a fine piece of magic, isn¡¯t it?¡± Erredis rolled the eye between her fingers, observing every nook and cranny. ¡°It¡¯s definitely something, that¡¯s for sure. Clearly you¡¯ve not been wasting your time in that underwater hole of yours. I¡¯ve no idea how you even ended up there, but still, I can tell it¡¯s rough around the edges.¡± ¡°Well, yeah. Prototype.¡± Richard answered, leaning on one of the machines in Erredis¡¯ workshop. ¡°There¡¯s a reason I need a tester before I try to pawn that off to the Kleptras, if it doesn¡¯t perform exactly as expected I¡¯ll have the fuckers on my tailbone for the next millenia.¡± Kleptras again? So elusive. Even with all the books I read lately they were only mentioned once as an insectoid subterranean race¡­ ¡°It¡¯s for the Kleps? Move things around in the hives faster, huh¡­ I can see it. Well, Sofia, I think it should be mostly safe. You can expect all of the eye¡¯s functions except basic sight and storage to potentially break¡­ Actually, nevermind, basic sight might break too¡­ It should be safe, though. At most, the eye itself will be damaged. There are so many layers of protection on this thing, it¡¯s actually a bit absurd to look at.¡± ¡°And all that for a measly twenty mana a second. A masterpiece, if I say so myself.¡± ¡°And what if I run out of mana?¡± Sofia asked from the side. ¡°Well, no big deal, the eye will just enter maintenance mode, no mana costs for that, as long as you¡¯re alive, the energy from you should be enough. You keep the basic sight, and that¡¯s it. Actually, I can build in a switch for you to activate that whenever, if you want¡­ Might be a good idea.¡± ¡°If I do take it then that would be nice¡­ And¡­ What if the basic sight does break? Especially during the trial. Do I finish my trial with a single eye?¡± Richard stepped away from the machine he had been leaning on. A crate appeared in his arms. He put the crate on the ground, crouched, and opened it, revealing a pile of eyes just like the prototype in Erredis¡¯ hands. Some of these look a bit¡­ Uneven. Prototype prototypes? The skeleton rummaged through the eyes, and sighed. ¡°Not this one¡­¡± The crate disappeared and another took its place, similarly full of fake eyes. Finally, he looked like he found a treasure, and grabbed one eye in particular. ¡°Got it! Just the thing you need!¡± ¡°Another eye?¡± Sofia asked, crouching on the other side of the crate. ¡°Precisely, a simpler one, this. It¡¯s the most basic of basic models I made when I was working on basic vision. Only does that, and does it well. If the prototype breaks so much that vision is out, then there¡¯s no point in continuing the testing, you can take it out and bind with this one instead¡­¡± ¡°That does make things a bit better. Though I have to say the idea of losing my eye for something that might break on me at any time isn¡¯t exactly very exciting.¡± They both stood back up, and Richard corrected himself. ¡°Wait, no, you won¡¯t even be able to unbind from the prototype by yourself¡­ Well, you can slot the replacement in and it¡¯ll work just like that. But if you take it out and heal, the prototype is what is going to grow back. So just be careful with that. I don¡¯t believe the prototype will break in the first place, but at least you have some insurance, and it gets a Dragon off my back. That¡¯s all, really. Now either you take it or you don¡¯t.¡± ¡°Then¡­ I have a few more gripes. Kind of¡­ Is it comfortable to wear? The fake eye. Does it look bad? And can I change the color? My eyes are blue but your prototype has a brown iris¡­¡± ¡°Appearance-wise, the basic setting is to automatically copy your other eye, but you can change that whenever you want, actually. As for being comfortable¡­ It will probably be weird for a few days to weeks. But eventually as you adapt to it and it adapts to you, it shouldn¡¯t be any different than how you are right now, especially in maintenance mode.¡± Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. ¡°Alright¡­ What about body transformations? Let¡¯s say I have a spell which allows me to temporarily shapeshift into something else, what would happen?¡± ¡°Same as what would happen if you didn¡¯t have the thing. If your transformation changes your head and eyes, then you won¡¯t be able to access the prototype¡¯s functions, but since it¡¯s built into your template, it¡¯ll be back when you return to your regular self. You really have to think of it as your new eye rather than as an item inserted into your skull.¡± Sofia walked away, stopping in front of the workshop¡¯s door. ¡°I still need to think about it¡­ I¡¯ll keep you updated through the Red Carpet. Thank you for the offer, though, and thank you for the help again, grandma.¡± ¡°Happy to help, sweetie, oh, and your staff is almost ready, working adamian steel was easier than I remembered, you can come get it in a day or two,¡± Erredis answered from the back of the workshop. Then, after Sofia left, she turned to Richard, ¡°Now, now. Let¡¯s have a little talk, skeleton-man. You understand my position here, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Crystal clear. Didn¡¯t take you for the caring kind, Erredis. You¡¯re planning on being her holder, aren''t you?¡± ¡°Should she get there, yes. It¡¯s her choice though, of course.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve grown soft, plague Dragon.¡± ¡°Quite the contrary. I just changed my methods. If things go my way, everybody wins. I¡¯ve grown tired of one-sided victories. But I see what you¡¯re doing too. Give her what she wants and fuck off. I won¡¯t say it twice. Else our next bout won¡¯t end with a tie.¡± ¡°Ah ah ah. Think you can take me?¡± ¡°I developed a new rot just for you, cockroach.¡± ¡°Wasted time, there¡¯s nothing you could do to stop me, lizard. But I¡¯ll bow down, just this once. My intention was strictly to get a tester for the prototype, after all. Be her holder, I couldn¡¯t care less, I¡¯ve got a billion other things on my plate right now.¡± ¡°Going down without a fight? Seems I am not the one growing soft.¡± ¡°Screw you, rot-brain, I don¡¯t have your free time.¡± Erredis leaped at the skeleton and grabbed him by the jaw. A raised bony hand caught her throat in the same instant, erratic magic charging in its palm. ¡°Always busy, huh, bone lord? But you have time for a drink, don¡¯t you?¡± The magic died in Richard''s palm, he grabbed Erredis¡¯ hand and pushed it away, shaking his skull. Taking a few steps away, he stretched his arms, the bones separating from each other before snapping back in position. ¡°The old usual spot? ... Let me get my spare.¡± ¡°Grab the female one, I like you much better without your balls, Richard.¡± ¡°This is why you¡¯re a fucking outcast, Erredis.¡±
Sofia flew away from Zephir¡¯s sect, and went north for a while until she landed at the top of another mountain with a view of the sea. Sitting there, legs dangling over a cliff, she watched the waves from above. Pareth came out and sat next to her. ¡°We just keep going and going. We¡¯ve sure done a lot in a few years¡­¡± Pareth silently listened. ¡°I¡¯m worried I might be losing track, though. My original goals were just to be free, have fun with magic, and give a proper burial to Saria¡­ Exceeded all my expectations there for sure. I don¡¯t regret it at all. But now that I¡¯ve accomplished all that¡­ I don¡¯t know. I¡¯m still always chasing progress, but for what? Revenge on Scripture? I have to do it but is that really what should be driving me to go forward?¡± Sofia threw a rock at the ocean, watching it fall and fall until she lost sight of it. ¡°I rarely take time to enjoy anything. I think the last few months at the academy highlighted that¡­ For once I took some time for myself. And now that it¡¯s over, I feel a bit¡­ Empty. Going to risk my life out there in a trial again, I like the thrill, but is it really worth living for? Going all out to become stronger, just because I can¡­ I¡¯m always leaving pieces of myself behind. My heart, my blood, my brain. Now an eye¡­ At the end, what am I going to be left with?¡± After a short silence, Sofia felt the cold bony hand of Pareth on her shoulder. She turned to look at him. With his other hand, he pointed at himself. Sofia smiled. ¡°Left with you? Well, I guess that¡¯s not too bad. It¡¯s true, I do have you, and everyone else. Saria, Alith, Bookie, Astelia, Erredis, Mr Scribe, Shaily, ¡­ The list is long and ever growing,¡± she said, slowly standing up. ¡°Alright. Enough moping. No real objectives? I¡¯m making up problems in my head, aren¡¯t I? Got all I ever wanted and now I feel bad for it? How does that even make sense? Scripture is a looming threat, but so what? I¡¯m not scared. New objective is all planned out, isn¡¯t it? The goal is to crush every trial and become the strongest thing around next to the Lords. Simple. Why? Because I can. It¡¯s already what I¡¯ve been doing.¡± Sofia extended a hand to help Pareth get up. ¡°Come. We have a trial to break.¡±
Chapter 389 - Just another day Sofia looked around, there were empty plains as far as the eyes could see. Wilderness all around, lit by the full moon and nothing else. No traces of civilized life nearby. She looked down at the person responsible for transportation, ¡°Where is this exactly?¡± Astelia was holding a paper map, trying and failing to answer Sofia¡¯s question. ¡°Hard to say. We¡¯re far east of the beastman continent, I think. Moon was the one who decided on the landing point so¡­¡± ¡°Wherever the moon shines¡­¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think you can criticize my skills.¡± ¡°What, not a fan of the Saintess¡¯ madness? Moon sent us close enough to the trial anyway so I don¡¯t have to complain, system says we¡¯re only a few kilometers away. I¡¯m surprised we can¡¯t see the tower from here, actually.¡± ¡°Tower of rebirth¡­ Honestly, Sofia, I¡¯m having second thoughts now¡­¡± Astelia confessed. ¡°What? We¡¯ve spent almost half a year training together, still don¡¯t feel ready? I¡¯m surprised the others aren¡¯t done yet but they¡¯re all still alive so¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that¡­ I¡¯m just¡­ Scared this will slow my growth too much, physically speaking¡­¡± ¡°Hmm, well, I¡¯m not the best example since I¡¯ve hit quite the growth spurt when I was around your age¡­ But you look fine like this. You still look your age, I think, you might not realize but you¡¯ve grown quite a bit since I met you, heck, you¡¯re a good head taller than Alith now. Still very slender but I think that¡¯s just how you¡¯re going to be. Don¡¯t look like a small kid anymore for sure.¡± ¡°I¡¯m almost an adult so I sure hope so¡­¡± ¡°Almost¡­ You¡¯re what, sixteen, now? Give it two more years. The trial will slow it down a bit more, sure, but I don''t think it¡¯s a big deal. You¡¯re cute like this. Still blush easily, too.¡± ¡°Stop teasing me!¡± ¡°Sorry, sorry. So, we¡¯re going? I don¡¯t mind waiting another six months if you really want.¡± Astelia shook her head and stored her map back. ¡°No, no. We¡¯re going. I already slowed you down too much, Sof¡­¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t slow me at all, I really needed the time to get used to the eye. Pareth to his new body as well. My goal is to be the best so I can¡¯t ever prepare too much. What¡¯s a year or two. I still have almost a century before my deadline for Scripture. And it was nice to spend some more time with you and Shai.¡± ¡°You¡¯re always welcome to come back. I don¡¯t lack space in the castle¡­ Let¡¯s get going¡­¡± Astelia took a few steps in different directions to triangulate the way to the trial with the distance meter. ¡°This way,¡± she concluded, pointing to the north-east. ¡°Let¡¯s just walk there, for a change,¡± Sofia suggested. ¡°Fine with me.¡±
The tower was not the first thing to appear, as Sofia and Astelia were walking through the wilderness, suddenly the ground under their feet turned to flat steel. The forest ahead disappeared like a mirage, and the tower slowly revealed itself, at the center of a huge platform of steel and magic. ¡°This tower looks a bit bigger than the other, don¡¯t you think?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°More crude, too. The second tower had something majestic about it but this feels a bit chunky,¡± Astelia confirmed, looking up at the giant edifice. ¡°No Seraph to welcome us this time?¡± An unknown voice answered from above, ¡°A man can¡¯t enjoy his snack time in peace?¡± [Seraph] A vampire? The man with curved pointy ears was slowly floating down from above, wearing straight black pants and a half open white chemise, he was lazily chewing on some dried meat. ¡°Yes, Vampire. I used to be, at least. Technically still am, but you know how it is,¡± the Seraph said as he slowly landed in front of the duo. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Sofia looked at Astelia, ¡°Know this guy?¡± ¡°Never heard of him.¡± ¡°Oh but I¡¯ve heard of you both,¡± the Seraph jumped in again, ¡°been waiting for you for a while, was starting to get impatient, even. How¡¯s the queen doing?¡± he asked Astelia. ¡°She¡¯s... Well.¡± ¡°Still a lazy cunt, then. Good that we have newcomers like you to make sure our race doesn¡¯t fall too hard into mediocrity. Anyway, name¡¯s Kyle. Trial overseer, all that. You know the deal. I¡¯ll be your guide until the trial starts, kind of.¡± Quite the difference with Sen¡­ ¡°Hey I heard that, miss Sofia. And yeah, true, I¡¯m not quite as clean as Sen, but then again, he doesn¡¯t have to manage a whole ass planet like I do. Oh, spoilers¡­ Well, whatever. Follow me, girls and skeletons. Next departure¡¯s soon, you¡¯re lucky.¡± ¡°Departure? Planet?¡± Astelia repeated, confused. ¡°Heard me right, you¡¯ll be going to another planet for this trial. I¡¯ll explain more on the way.¡± A trial taking place in the real world¡­ I see. A real world. Just not this one. Well, I¡¯ve been to the sun and the moon. It¡¯s not too surprising that there are other planets, now that I think about it¡­ ¡°Are the others really still in there?¡± Sofia asked as they followed the nonchalant vampire. Kyle looked back and nodded, ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­ Your sister¡¯s almost done, shortie still has a bit of juice left, Cinthia is almost at the end too. And the broken shade came later, so he¡¯s about halfway through his trial I think. There''ve been a few close calls, with Cinthia especially, but I think they¡¯ll all be getting through. Good batch.¡± ¡°Good to hear, thanks. You can¡¯t say more, I imagine?¡± Sofia continued. ¡°That¡¯s it. Censor¡¯s not quite as drastic for this one, post trial at least. So you can all share more about your adventures afterwards, but for now this is about all I can say. I can say though that risks of death for this trial are rather low¡­ Or rather, failure doesn¡¯t have to mean death is a better way to say it. In terms of actual difficulty, it depends on you.¡± The rest of the way was spent with Kyle peppering Astelia with questions about the recent state of Vasperia and the Vampires in general, only stopping when they reached the foot of the tower. ¡°Here we are, follow me,¡± Kyle told them as he walked straight through the tower¡¯s wall. Fake wall? Sofia stepped through the steel wall after him, it felt a bit like walking through a thin layer of water and took them to a narrow corridor of steel, ending about thirty meters further with a closed metal door. This tower is really different. Again Kyle looked back to say something, to Astelia this time, ¡°You got that right, Astelia, this is the tower¡¯s outer layer where mana is gathered. It has to be on the outside like this because the center is empty.¡± Soon the words of the Seraph proved themselves true, as he led them out of the corridor to the true interior of the tower, a largely empty space going all the way up to the dark night sky, surrounded by the tower walls. In the center was a big hole that Sofia couldn¡¯t quite peek into from where she was. And there were what looked like living quarters built into the walls all around the ground level. ¡°Departure this time is you three plus another guy who¡¯s been waiting in there a while. He¡¯s nice. The entrance to the common rooms is there,¡± Kyle said pointing at a large door in the wall nearby, ¡°I can arrange the trial start for tomorrow, so grab any room you want, or just wait in the lobby, you do you, so long as you stay inside. We have free food, showers, and stuff. I¡¯ll come again to explain how things are gonna go in a few hours. See ya!¡± Kyle disappeared, leaving Sofia and Astelia a bit surprised, looking at each other. ¡°Somehow, this feels a bit wrong,¡± Sofia started. ¡°I wholeheartedly agree. But he is definitely a Seraph, so it should be fine?¡± ¡°Surely? We are about to go to another world, it seems. How do you feel about that?¡± ¡°I¡¯m worried some of my Moon-related skills might be weaker or not work. Besides that¡­ It¡¯s not that much different from the second trial.¡± ¡°I wonder if my Sun ritual is going to work¡­¡± ¡°Another planet would still be near the sun, probably. Right?¡± Astelia guessed. ¡°Only one way to find out. Let¡¯s get inside, I want to try that free food.¡±
Sofia never explored the public rooms of the tower further than the lobby. There was nice music playing from weird round things in the walls, comfortable sofas, and unlimited free food on a large table that would just reappear by itself after she picked stuff up. She already had plenty of food in her storage, but these new flavors were a nice change, and she was absent-mindedly reading the description of her reward for protecting the strength tokens for the thousandth time while munching on a slice of delicious meat pie. The reward in question was a small golden token engraved with the number 42. Beligenus really didn¡¯t cheap-out for the teachers. [Skill Capture? - 042] : Skill capture module limited edition, n¡ã42 out of 100. Activate to record the magic spells currently being used near you. You may choose one to learn as a permanent special skill. For non-system magic: results may vary. One time use item. Limited to one capture per person. Made with love by Admin |REDACTED| as a commemorative gift for the launch of the system. Can be used as decoration after use. I wonder what Asty will use hers on.
Chapter 390 - Three heads Sofia¡¯s attention was captured away from her system windows by a nagging feeling. A hero? One of the doors to the common room opened, and a relatively short man dressed in black strolled in, munching on a large piece of bread. [Hero - Lv. 249] Wha- This guy?! Here? Now? Really?! The man also noticed Sofia¡¯s presence, almost dropping his bread. ¡°Oh shit! It¡¯s the Saintess gal. What was it¡­ Sofia?¡± ¡°And you were¡­ Michael? It has sure been a while. Thanks for the advice back then, it did help with getting out of the Church.¡± ¡°Did it? I know you killed the Magisterium guy but I don¡¯t think I ever got the details. Guildmaster ain¡¯t really talkative about stuff like this.¡± ¡°So you were really working for Kuli,¡± Sofia noted. ¡°Yep,¡± he answered, walking closer, ¡°mind if I sit here?¡± he asked, pointing at the couch opposite the one Sofia was on. ¡°Go ahead. And for the Magisterium, I just used gravity to my advantage is what I¡¯ll say.¡± ¡°Oh, that would work,¡± Michael commented while he sat, ¡°I was surprised when I heard you got out honestly, didn¡¯t really believe it at first. I¡¯m even more surprised to see you here now though. What are the chances? And damn, girl, you¡¯ve been leveling fast as fuck!¡± ¡°I had the constant threat of the Church coming back to get me so I was a bit pressed for power. It is quite the coincidence that we meet here again, though, of all places.¡± ¡°Sure is¡­ Or is it? Guildmaster was the one to tell me I¡¯d slacked for too long and should go for the trial now. Do you think maybe she knew you were going to be here too?¡± ¡°That¡¯s a big possibility¡­¡± Sofia confirmed, ¡°I never gave her a precise timing but I¡¯ve gone to see her once like four months ago? Had a nice chat even if she wouldn¡¯t say anything about the trial.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Micheal started with a contorted smile, ¡°This trial¡¯s been a bit traumatic for her, to say the least. Every trial, in fact. She always pushes herself too hard and ends up suffering for it. But It¡¯s not my place to say too much¡­¡± ¡°I get it, if she doesn¡¯t want to say it¡¯s her choice. What about you, confident? Got a Sleep essence to wager, I assume?¡± ¡°Damn right. Summoned by the Sleep saintess, blessing from Sleep, items from Sleep, essence from Sleep, It¡¯s really like I have a Patron God just for me. What about you?¡± ¡°Ahah¡­ Well, as you can guess, I¡¯m not about to use Scripture¡¯s essence, even if I have one. What I have to wager is a bit different though. I¡¯m not even sure it¡¯ll go through. If not then I¡¯ll use an essence from Sun.¡± ¡°Sun?¡± Micheal repeated before taking another bite of his loaf of bread. ¡°Shiiit, you got roped into one of those braindead quests, didn¡¯t you? I don¡¯t see how else you¡¯d get that.¡± ¡°Correct guess. The quest wasn¡¯t so bad though, just a small trip to the Sun and back, with some fighting in between.¡± ¡°You gotta be shitting me. You went to the sun? The fucking huge ball of fire in space, that sun?¡± Sofia nodded with a knowing smile. ¡°Man¡­ I gotta up my game. I¡¯m not an Isekai protagonist at this rate, just you are making me look like a side character.¡± That word again? Is that a hero thing? ¡°Not sure I follow, sorry.¡± Michael waved her off and changed the subject, ¡°Don¡¯t worry ¡®bout it. Dumb hero talk. Not censored for some reason, but it will be if I try to explain more. Whatever. How was going to space? Did you like it? Haven¡¯t really gotten there yet, I have to admit. Soon though, whenever that Kyle dude gives the go.¡± Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. ¡°It was¡­ Empty. Very empty. Looking at the world from afar is spectacular, though.¡± ¡°I can imagine that. The images of my old world from space were incredible too¡­¡± ¡°Your world could fly into space too, without magic?¡± Michael nodded, ¡°I can tell you yes, and that¡¯s it. Any more and my mind¡¯ll blank out.¡± ¡°Really annoying, the censor¡­¡± ¡°It is what it is. I¡¯ve learned my way around it. In the early days, half the shit I said was getting cut. Really threw Arin for a loop¡­ Oh, right, Arin¡¯s the Saintess of Sleep, if you didn¡¯t already know.¡± Arin¡­ ¡°Oh! I¡¯ve never met her but Kuli did mention her a few times. Even got that thing,¡± Sofia said as she brought out the [Saint¡¯s indolence]. ¡°That the shit item that prevents sleep? I remember Arin trying to destroy it and failing. Good old times¡­ She gave it to the Guildmaster, back then, so I can guess from where you got it¡­¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t call it shit, though it really isn¡¯t the best part of the set. I¡¯m trying to get the full set of seven but I¡¯ve been stuck at four pieces for a while now.¡± ¡°Four?! Part of why the item is shit is because the parts are impossible to find, you know. Where the fuck did you get three more?¡± ¡°Well, you should know about the headband.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ Right, it was the Church who had it¡­ You got away with stealing it? Ballsy.¡± ¡°The other two I got from two other Saintesses, one from Valeure, I think you know about her, and one from a Dragon.¡± ¡°A Dragon? Sheesh. Also¡­ I think I know where one of the pieces is, actually.¡± ¡°Really?!¡± ¡°Yeah? Rumors, though. I¡¯d make you pay for it but it¡¯s literally just me being a slut for rare items collecting information about stuff. This one I heard something about without looking into it because even if I got it I couldn¡¯t use it. So yeah, I heard about the previous saint of Water always wearing a scarf of golden threads around his neck. Sounds like one of these, doesn¡¯t it? Unless that¡¯s what you got from that Dragon of yours?¡± ¡°No, the Dragon got me the anklet. It sure does sound like the scarf could be a part of the set, yes. Thanks, I¡¯ll look into it. If that helps me get the thing, I¡¯ll pay you for the information. I can leave payment for you at Kuli¡¯s, right?¡± ¡°Yep. Appreciate it. You can leave it to Arin, too. I¡¯m sure she¡¯d be cool with getting a visit from you, if you¡¯re not interrupting a nap. Doubt it¡¯ll be so easy, though, Water is quite the sticky fucking God. If their new saint yoinked the scarf you¡¯re shit out of luck. Might not even be a real thing either. Rumors be rumors.¡± Water¡­ Read about them being a major God, almost as big as Sun. That was about it¡­ ¡°Only one way to find out, I¡¯ll look around after the trial¡­ And I have to say, it¡¯s a bit hard to follow everything you¡¯re saying¡­ Your vocabulary is a bit strange.¡± ¡°Ahah, sorry, Saintess, I¡¯m just used to being around people who have adapted to my lingo. I¡¯ll try to tone it down.¡± Kyle appeared between the two of them, adjusting his hair. ¡°No need, boy, chatty time is over. We¡¯re going. Get out, I¡¯ll warn the other one,¡± he told them before disappearing as fast as he had come. ¡°Hell yeah! Time to go to space! Goddamned childhood dreams come true!¡± Michael exclaimed, jumping out of the couch. Sofia also stood up and walked towards the door, following Michael. The man stopped in front of the door, mumbling to himself, ¡°Wait, the other one? I thought he said we¡¯d go as a group of four?¡± ¡°I count for two,¡± Sofia explained from behind. ¡°You what?¡± ¡°I¡¯m going in with one of my heroes. Except he¡¯s a skeleton.¡± ¡°Right! I heard about that, the undead hero. Showed up to court with you and all. Where is he?¡± ¡°He¡¯s waiting in my storage ring right now, reading a book, I think. Being an undead has advantages like that.¡± ¡°Neat. Oh, I¡¯m blocking the door, sorry, let¡¯s go.¡± The two walked outside, welcomed by the same giant walls of the tower all around them, charged with much more mana than they had been a few hours prior. The air was thick, circular mana flows coursing inside the tower and being drained into the hole in the middle like a siphon. Astelia came out of the same door two minutes later after Sofia and Michael continued to have a talk about heroes. Michael turned around to see the newcomer, ¡°Hey! Another familiar face. Ambassador Duke Glacier, right?¡± Astelia joined them observing the hero with narrowed eyes. ¡°Do I know you?¡± ¡°Probably not, I¡¯m Michael, or as you would call it, one of the Red Winds Spies. We traded intel under fake names a few times, never met in person. Dorian garr, ring a bell?¡± Astelia immediately relaxed at the mention of that name, ¡°So that was you. We did have you flagged as one of Red Winds¡¯ puppets. Blood was of good quality so we never asked questions. Nice to meet you, I guess. You can call me Astelia.¡± ¡°Nice to meet you too, Duke Astelia. Always good to have reliable business partners, too bad the situation in Skyreach turned to shit lately.¡± The discussion continued, and after a while, circled back to the ¡®missing¡¯ fourth person, Micheal being curious to meet the skeleton Hero for himself. So Sofia obliged, prodding Pareth to stop reading and come out, which he happily did. A large shadow obscured the group. ¡°J?????????E??????S?????????U?????????S????? ?????C??????????H???????R????????I????????S???????T???? this is NOT how Kuli described him!¡±
Chapter 391 - What is a stone? ¡°It¡¯s fair to say he¡¯s gotten a bit of an upgrade recently, we haven¡¯t really had the opportunity to show it off to many people yet. What do you think? Looks good, right?¡± Michael teleported away to get a better view then back in. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ Huh¡­ What kind of creature¡¯s skeleton is this?¡± ¡°Oh that¡¯s a custom-bred hybrid, a senior necromancer made it for me. Or for him, rather. You won¡¯t find anything like this in the wild. I was worried it might look weird with the three heads but it ended up fine.¡± ¡°The three heads aren¡¯t even the weirdest part¡­¡± Astelia commented. ¡°Can he see through the three heads at once?¡± Michael wondered aloud. ¡°He can and he does. I have a way to see through his ¡®eyes¡¯, and it¡¯s quite disorienting, honestly, especially considering how the three heads are arranged to look in different directions in the kind of triangular formation. He got used to it pretty fast, though, so it worked out well,¡± Sofia explained. Michael nodded at the explanations, and kept on looking.¡°I can¡¯t decide on what I find most disturbing between the hooved legs and the oversized hands and claws.¡± ¡°It¡¯s the hands,¡± Astelia chimed in, ¡°Clearly the hands.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t find them so bad? The skulls actually are a bit creepy if you look at them from the front, can¡¯t really see from below though. But if you want my expert opinion, the really weird part is the bone structure. Just look at the arms, five main humerus bones instead of one. I can¡¯t even begin to understand how the muscles would connect in there,¡± Sofia told them. ¡°And also, if you look closely, the tail is not actually a continuation of the spine, and that¡¯s really strange.¡± ¡°You say that¡­ But I don¡¯t even understand how the thing would have looked alive, with all the bone spikes and these armor plate-looking things¡­¡± Michael continued. ¡°I didn¡¯t get to see it when it was still alive, actually, but it must have been quite the beast. The result speaks for itself, just look at the six meters high mountain of bones it left behind.¡± ¡°It¡¯s quite impressive¡­ But does he not use any equipment?¡± ¡°Well, he could use a storage ring but then he wouldn¡¯t be able to go hide in mine, so I just do all the carrying. As for armor and weapons, he¡¯s got skills for this. The only real piece of equipment he has is a float ring I just bought for him. It¡¯s inside the main skull.¡± ¡°Float?¡± Michael asked. ¡°Yeah, he can¡¯t fly, and he¡¯s too big for most of the flight items¡¯ spells to work for him, and making a custom one would be a pain. So we just went with float. Not as good, but enough for some additional movement. He can jump really damn high with those goat-like legs too, so it¡¯s not like he lacks verticality.¡± And he¡¯s still got the air step enchantment too. And the bones are soooooo much tougher than any other bones I¡¯ve ever seen. It¡¯s no Dragon Scale but it was almost as good as pure mithril even before putting Pareth inside. Truly a premium skeleton. A smile formed on Sofia¡¯s lips as she pulled up the old and new status sheets she had made for Pareth. /// Name : Pareth Age : 3(?) Class : [Holy Eclipse Skeleton] /Boneplate mauler Edition/ Level : 249 ? Health : 995 100 / 995 100 (2 905 692 With sanctified grounds and halo) Stamina : 403 399 / 403 399 (1 177 925 With sanctified grounds and halo) Mana : 49 800 / 49 800 (200*level) /// Name : Pareth Age : 4(?) Class : [Holy Eclipse Skeleton] /Hellspawn Abomination Edition/ Level : 249 ? Health : 12 721 500 / 12 721 500 (37 146 780 With sanctified grounds and halo) You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. Stamina : 4 315 200 / 4 315 200 (12 600 384 With sanctified grounds and halo) Mana : 49 800 / 49 800 (200*level) I get a bit giddy every time I look this up¡­ The before and after is so staggering! I still can¡¯t believe it. A forty two tons skeleton. Meanwhile I¡¯m still¡­ /// Name : Sofia Aphenoreth Age : 21 ? Class : [Saintomancer] ? Level : 249 ? Health : 85 980 / 85 980 Stamina : 21 042 / 21 047 Mana : 417 100 / 417 100 Well. Surely this trial will change that. Sofia was brought back to reality by the return of Kyle. ¡°Alright, ladies and gentlemens, follow me, I will explain the details of the trial once you¡¯re all seated.¡± Saying so, Kyle walked up to the edge of the pit at the center of the tower grounds. Sofia almost expected him to jump, but when everyone joined him, the portion of ground they were on started sinking instead, slowly bringing them underground. ¡°Can you not teleport us around?¡± Michael asked as the platform slowly crawled down into the abyss. ¡°I could, but it¡¯s customary that we take things slow here. Used to be that the tower needed a while to gather the energy for the launch, but now it¡¯s more about theatrics,¡± Kyle explained, ¡°I like the tension the slow ride creates. You should revel in that downtime, you will not be getting much during the trial.¡± Astelia looked over the edge of the platform, but she couldn¡¯t see the bottom, ¡°Can you see anything, Sofia?¡± ¡°Yeah. There¡¯s like a big pointy thing in the middle down there. No idea what it is. Oh, I see a door on the side. It¡¯s some kind of tiny metal tower inside the tower, I guess.¡± ¡°A pointy metal tower you say?¡± Michael repeated with a smile, ¡°I can already guess where this is going. I have to say, I admire the admins¡¯ sense of taste. Truly immaculate.¡± Astelia turned to Kyle, and with a sigh, he explained, ¡°Way to spoil yourself. This is the vehicle that will take you to the real trial grounds. Codename IPS, for Interplanetary Shuttle.¡± ¡°Yeah of course you¡¯d call it a weird name¡­¡± Michael commented. Is there something weird about it? What I find weird is the shape, not the name¡­ ¡°How does it work?¡± Astelia asked Kyle. ¡°... To make it very simple, we wait until the destination planet and the tower are aligned, then the tower uses a crapton of mana to send the IPS there like a giant arrow. That¡¯s it. And this shit is very noisy, that¡¯s why the tower is in the middle of nowhere. You¡¯ll have to use something similar to come back.¡± ¡°Is teleportation not an option?¡± the small vampire continued to ask. ¡°Not that it¡¯s impossible with enough mana, but it¡¯s a hassle to target the planet even with proper preparation. The flux of mana out there also makes the landing destination unstable, and most people would experience severe soul damage from a teleportation this far away,¡± Kyle slowly explained. Once at the bottom, Kyle had everyone get inside the IPS, which was a lot larger up close, and more than wide enough for Pareth to fit in without going back to the storage. There was even a seat for his size prepared inside. There must be other big races taking the trial. Do they have special Dragon-sized accommodation for the level 450 trial? Besides the four seats turned toward the center of the shuttle, the interior of the IPS was a rather bland mix of different metals all covered in enchantments. There were no windows, and after Kyle closed the door behind them, only the weak red lights on the ground lit up the interior of the shuttle. ¡°Alright, sit tight. The seats will latch onto you and keep you in place, that¡¯s how it works, don¡¯t freak out, make sure that you¡¯re properly secured in there, or you¡¯ll be in for a displeasing ride.¡± Michael was the first to sit down, and the bottom of the large steel chair opened up and gobbled his lower-body while elastic black straps latched around his torso, sticking him to the chair. Only his arms and head were left relatively free. Oh wow. Soon enough, everyone except Kyle was in a similar situation. More comfortable than I thought it would be. ¡°Looks like you¡¯re all ready. Now this trial has officially started, and leaving the premises will be counted as forfeiting. I will explain first, you may ask questions at the end.¡± Kyle walked to the center of the four seats and a floating image of a large green sphere surrounded by three strange gray disks appeared beside him. ¡°This is Cerberus-beta, the planet of rebirth. Situated much farther from the sun than our planet, this was originally a frozen, rocky hellscape, with no air on the surface, until the admins appropriated it for the purpose of this trial. Three thousand years ago, the actual trial grounds were only a small enclosed space, but it has since expanded to the entire planet. From its sky to its underground, its debris fields and its three moons, the entire thing is the trial grounds. If you were to leave the trial area, you will get a warning message, and should you fail to quickly re-enter the zone, you will be automatically forfeited.¡± Kyle took a second to catch his breath and continued, ¡°As explained, the mana currents out there are a bit messy, because most of the mana on the planet is sent there from here, so to reach the Moons and the debris field, assuming you have the capabilities to survive in their environment, you will have to use small IPS towers scattered across Cerberus-beta. They can be hard to find, so be on the lookout for them. If you were to enter a failstate or want to forfeit, the way to leave will be to return to this very IPS we are using right now, so take care to remember where we land, as no one will be coming for you otherwise.¡± Again, Kyle paused, letting everyone digest the first set of instructions before he started again. ¡°Now, I¡¯m sure you are all wondering, ¡®what is it that we¡¯re going to do on this planet?¡¯, and this, friends, is what you¡¯re going to be doing,¡± Kyle said, holding up a rugged glassy stone between two fingers above his head, ¡°I present: an empty mana heart!¡±
Chapter 392 - No hesitation ¡°So,¡± Kyle placed the mana heart down in the air it floated by itself where he let go of it, ¡°What is a mana heart? In short, this is a bit like a second soul. A part of you which exists in the mana plane more than in the other ones. You do not have one, currently, which gives you the unique opportunity to make one for yourself. And this is exactly what this entire trial is about. There will be no other reward for this trial, no free stats, no items, no skill points, nothing, except for whatever your mana heart turned into.¡± So these are the ¡®stones¡¯ high-level people use to trade¡­ The reward is the mana heart. It makes sense why people said there¡¯s no way to get a specialization point here, then. Still, how does the wager play into this? Kyle could undoubtedly hear Sofia¡¯s thoughts, but he kept going with his speech he had repeated thousands of times. ¡°Now, here come the specifics of the trial. These empty mana hearts can be upgraded by slaying monsters, and having the heart absorb the traces their death left in the mana plane, simple, isn¡¯t it? We call those traces imprints. Fill the heart with enough imprints, and it will evolve. Have the heart evolve enough, make your way to the center of the planet, deep underground, and congratulations, you passed the trial, there is nothing more to it. Your core will then be made one with you, and it will be yours until the day you die.¡± The center of the planet¡­ He makes it sound simple but it¡¯s probably anything but. And how big is the planet? Just from the surface to the center would be one hell of a journey¡­ ¡°This leaves a few questions to be answered,¡± Kyle continued, ¡°First of all, about the passing rank, Mana hearts are ranked with inverse letters, like the hero blessings. All four of you understand how that works so I¡¯m skipping the explanation. This empty heart here is F rank. It is so weak that using it would actually be a net negative on your power. And once you have a mana heart, you cannot replace or upgrade it, hence why, the passing point for this trial is a B rank. At a B rank, the mana heart will provide a very substantial upgrade. Nothing to be extremely proud about, but not garbage either. Of course, you¡¯re free to try to upgrade your heart as much as possible before tapping out. You have a deadline of just under one year to do so, after which the heart will begin to set and become unusable. I would urge you to start going down to the center of the planet with at least a month to spare. If your heart sets before you reach the end point, you fail.¡± Kyle gave everyone a few seconds to digest all the information before he continued, ¡°Mana hearts are fragile things before they set, if it breaks, you fail.¡± Reach B rank, reach the end before the heart sets, don¡¯t break the heart, don¡¯t leave the trial area. That¡¯s starting to be a lot but it¡¯s still fine. ¡°You all have a lot of questions, no doubt, and it is by design, I will not actually be answering many. Figure this out by yourselves. Now for one last detail : wagers. Your four are already aware, makes things simpler, even if one of you in particular will be a giant pain to deal with,¡± Kyle explained while insistently staring at Sofia. Well, it¡¯s your job. Kyle sighed. ¡°Lucky for you, your friend came before you, so I already have things mostly figured out. But still, what a royal pain in the ass. So, wagers. You wager a divine essence or gold, the system gets to keep it if you fail, you get it back if you don¡¯t. Now here¡¯s why you want to wager something: the wagered essence will be used to strengthen the heart. If you wager gold, the scribes will do it, which isn¡¯t quite as good, but has its perks, as wagering gold comes without a downside.¡± Downside? ¡°Because yes, the wager gives two things, first of all, it changes the progression of your heart, depending on the essence, it could be anything from ranking up faster, to getting more out of the imprints you collect, to gaining an entirely new ability through the heart that will end up stronger as your heart ranks up. And understand that this is not up to me, you get what the essence does to the heart, end of story. Now, with this comes a downside. The stronger the essence, and the better the bonus it gives, the worse the restriction it will come with. This is the cost of connecting to the divine planes. For example, should you wager the essence of Victory,¡± Kyle said with a smirk,¡±you would be getting stronger imprints relative to how worthy your fight was, but on the downside, your heart will be getting permanent negative attributes should you flee from a fight.¡± So I will have to deal with a very nasty downside, huh? High risk, high reward. So just a trial like any other. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. After a short silence, Kyle addressed the four again, ¡°Any questions?¡± Astelia was first to raise a question, ¡°You said nothing about cooperation or sabotage. Are there no rules?¡± ¡°No hard rules, no, but we will be monitoring you at all times, so do what you want with that knowledge. Of course, external help is strictly prohibited. And I was going to say this later, but just so you know, you cannot steal someone else¡¯s heart and use it for yourself. Next?¡± So you could come as a group of four and stomp on fights meant to be 1 on 1s? Or do they expect cooperation from the get go? I should ask about the ranks, though¡­ This is what I really need to know. ¡°What is the maximum rank for the heart?¡± Kyle shrugged, ¡°Without any wager, A rank is about the absolute best you can do, but no one doesn¡¯t at least wager gold. The exact maximum depends on the wager, hitting the limit is not exactly a common issue, though.¡± So it goes into the weird S ranks, noted. Michael also had something to ask about, ¡°Are all the monsters on the planet meant to be hunted?¡± Kyle said nothing and only answered with a creepy wide smile. An ominous answer. Sofia threw a glance at Astelia, she seemed to be taking the situation well. Sofia knew her well enough to see that it wasn¡¯t a fa?ade, Astelia had managed to stay calm, for now. Which was a bit of a surprise considering how much of a bundle of nerves the vampire usually was beneath her dignified demeanor. Doing some real growing up. ¡°Well that does it for the questions,¡± Kyle announced. Already? ¡°Let¡¯s get to the wager and then you¡¯ll be on your way. I will not be coming. Let¡¯s start with you boy, Essence of Sleep, am I right?¡± he said walking closer to Michael, empty heart in hand. ¡°Yep. Let¡¯s hope Sleep¡¯s effects are good.¡± ¡°You will be satisfied with it, I¡¯m sure,¡± Kyle answered, before pressing the stone against Michael¡¯s forehead. Three seconds later as the heart started glowing blue, he stopped, and embedded the stone in a pendant made for this purpose. This stopped the glow, turning the heart back to an unassuming rock, which kyle then put around Michael¡¯s neck. ¡°You¡¯re next, skeleton. Made your choice?¡± ¡°His wager is an essence of Knowledge,¡± Sofia told him from her seat. ¡°I see. Knowledge. Good,¡± Kyle said, doing the same thing he did for Michael, reaching Pareth¡¯s forehead just a matter of effortlessly flying up. The heart shone white and the pendant was tied around the cervical vertebrae of his front head. Kyle walked up to Astelia next, ¡°Let me guess, Moon?¡± ¡°How insightful,¡± Astelia answered sarcastically. ¡°Listen, it¡¯s in the instructions that I have to ask even if I already know. Don¡¯t give me shit for it alright. Spare a fellow Vampire. I still have the curse too, you know. Anyway, Moon it is, quite the special one.¡± After he put the pendant around Astelia¡¯s neck, extinguishing its purple hue, Kyle finally walked up to Sofia, clearly dreading to even approach. ¡°And¡­ The last one¡­¡± He sighed. ¡°You¡¯re going to say what I think you¡¯re going to say, right?¡± ¡°I will wager the essence of Aphenoreth.¡± ¡°Fuck me¡­¡± Kyle said, pinching the bridge of his nose. ¡°Here we go¡­¡± Mana gathered around Kyle¡¯s right arm, slowly, his arm turned to light. With flickering and stars inside, it looked like an Archangel¡¯s arm, existing in many places at once, yet nowhere all at the same time. The flickering images overlapped until there was only one arm left, holding the empty heart. Carefully, it reached out, and pressed the heart against Sofia¡¯s forehead. The contact only lasted an instant, Kyle¡¯s arm disappeared in a harmless explosion of light. His flesh arm regrew in its place almost instantly as the Seraph cried out in pain. The mana heart fell on Sofia¡¯s chest. It was glowing with an intense red light that hurt to look at, illuminating the entire cabin. It flew to Kyle¡¯s hand, and he hurriedly slotted it into a pendant. The red glow died down somewhat, but unlike the other mana hearts, this one was still a bit red and luminous. ¡°Here you go,¡± he said, tired, as he put the pendant around Sofia¡¯s neck, ¡°have fun with that.¡± Kyle wiped the sweat off his brows and walked back to the middle of the shuttle. He made the image of the planet disappear, and addressed the group one last time. ¡°This is it. Have a good trial, I have high expectations for all of you. Identification is key in this trial, keep that in mind. Good luck.¡± Kyle disappeared.
Chapter 393 - Hit-and-run No-hit run? Sofia¡¯s first reflex was to identify the mana heart. [Nascent mana heart of Aphenoreth]: Rank : F tier Imprint power until next rank : 0/50 Effects (on use) : All stats -30% (-60%) (F rank base) Wager bonus (Glimpse from beyond) : Unlocks new unique ranks past the maximum Wager penalty (The consequences of your actions) : Cannot regain life Time before setting : 9 months, 33 days, 8 hours Oh¡­ This is¡­ Dangerous. Just like this the unlife runes have become completely useless for the trial¡­ The penalty is only for the trial, right? Using the heart like this would actually lower all stats by 30%... Matches with what Kyle said. Unique ranks¡­ If I don¡¯t reach them then it¡¯s like I had no bonus at all. But if I do reach them, it has the potential to be incredible. And I can¡¯t forget about the bonus from the crown doubling all stats. Clearly it applies, since it doubled -30% to -60%... Would it double the other effects Kyle mentioned? Probably not, right? Then to be efficient it¡¯s best if all the imprints I take are just raw stats. Preferably mana. But can I be picky like this? Maybe I should just kill everything in sight and just rush to the unique ranks, imprint stats be damned. Feels wasteful, though. But if the -30% stats evolves into the positive¡­ Well, I¡¯ll see how it goes¡­ For now the plan will be to try to give the Health and extra effect imprints to Pareth while I¡¯ll take Mana. I don¡¯t really know about stamina. Pareth¡¯s stamina never goes down since he¡¯s a skeleton¡­ But at the same time it does make him tougher. Well, let¡¯s check his heart too, negotiating with the Knowledge church to get the essence wasn¡¯t really easy even if Richard and Grandma helped a lot, so it better be worth it¡­ Sofia switched to Pareth¡¯s vision, without doing this she wouldn''t be able to identify an item he was currently wearing. Sensing her presence, he looked down at his pendant. Let¡¯s see. [Nascent mana heart of Knowledge]: Wager bonus (Salvaged writs) : You can fully absorb monsters¡¯ imprints even when their body or soul is too damaged Wager penalty (Corrupted meanings) : You cannot see your heart¡¯s details before it sets That was unexpected. Hmm. New information here, if the kill isn¡¯t clean then the imprint can¡¯t be fully absorbed¡­ There¡¯s a chance that if I blast monsters with the explosive bolts there wouldn¡¯t be any trace of an imprint left. But I guess thanks to this I still have the option, just that it will be Pareth who gets them all. The penalty is a joke compared to mine¡­ Especially since I can compare his heart to mine. I can just open a new system sheet, I already keep track of his status sheet so this is not a huge deal. [Nascent mana heart of Knowledge]: Rank : F tier Imprint power until next rank : 0/50 Effects (on use) : All stats -30% (F rank base) Wager bonus (Salvaged writs) : You can fully absorb monsters¡¯ imprints even when their body or soul is too damaged Wager penalty (Corrupted meanings) : Forces Sofia to keep track of this shit by hand Time before setting : Probably around 9 months, 33 days, 8 hours at the time of writing¡­ There we go¡­ Sofia returned to her own vision, Astelia and Michael both seemed busy analyzing their own hearts¡¯ descriptions. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Asty, Michael, I have some interesting findings here, want to share information?¡± Astelia looked up, ¡°I don¡¯t mind but there isn¡¯t much to learn from my mana heart¡­¡± ¡°I don¡¯t need to see it, I could share mine but it¡¯s a bit risky to let Michael know of my penalty. Just sharing information should be enough,¡± Sofia clarified. ¡°Hmm. That is fair. I¡¯m not keen to share my penalty either, I do have some information I can share, but it is fairly basic,¡± Micheal chimed in. ¡°Honestly what I¡¯ve found out is fairly basic too, but it¡¯s better than nothing,¡± Sofia continued. ¡°Same here,¡± Astelia said. ¡°I¡¯ll start,¡± Michael volunteered himself, ¡°I get that you already trust each other so I¡¯m taking a risk here, as the outsider, but I hope with this we can stay on good terms and not hinder each other during the trial, alright?¡± Sofia and Astelia looked at each other, it was Astelia who answered, ¡°Go ahead then, I¡¯ll go next.¡± ¡°Alright, here¡¯s what I learned, there seems to be something significant happening with the passing of day and night, I don¡¯t know what exactly, but my bonus clearly hints at there being something. Like maybe night being highly more dangerous or something like that.¡± ¡°Good to know, we¡¯ll need to be careful with that then, that could prevent an early accident. Perhaps it has to do with needing shelter during the night or something like that?¡± Sofia guessed, ¡°Thank you for sharing.¡± ¡°Thank you. My turn now,¡± Astelia said, ¡°What I got is that if your heart is damaged but not destroyed, you might still lose imprints. So we really cannot allow them to be damaged, we have to protect them at all costs. Also, if you haven¡¯t tried yet, the mana hearts can¡¯t be stored in spatial items.¡± That was to be expected¡­ Won¡¯t make protecting them easy. With Pareth we need to protect two hearts, and me, since I cannot heal. Not being able to heal isn¡¯t that bad beyond the runes being unusable¡­ I just have to not get hit. Really easy¡­ ¡°Alright, that leaves only me and Pareth. From my heart I learned not much, just that there is a maximum rank you can reach, which isn¡¯t really anything new. Pareth¡¯s was a bit more interesting, apparently if you damage a monster¡¯s soul or body too much while killing them, you won¡¯t be able to fully absorb the imprint, so we have to be mindful of that.¡± ¡°Basically if the prey is ruined, so is the loot. This is really just like trophy hunting¡­¡± Michael said from his seat. ¡°Really good to know, even if I suppose we would have all found that out quite fast. Thank you both for sharing.¡± ¡°It¡¯s only natural,¡± Sofia answered, ¡°we have much better chances if we don¡¯t hinder each other. Cooperation is a bit far fetched, but the planet should be more than large enough for us four to all get what we want.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not going together?¡± Michael noted. Astelia shook her head, ¡°No, she¡¯s going with Pareth, but I will go alone. I have a feeling that cooperation isn¡¯t as good as it seems, especially when we each have to deal with our own wager¡¯s special traits.¡± The shuttle started rumbling. ¡°I get that. Feels a bit like a prisoner¡¯s dilemma, this whole situation¡­¡± Michael commented, ¡°Anyway, it seems we¡¯re about to go, we better brace for the launch.¡± From all around them, Kyle¡¯s voice resounded, slightly distorted, ¡°Liftoff in ten, nine¡­¡± The lower the count went, the faster and louder was the shuttle¡¯s rumbling, as if it were about to explode. ¡°-, zero, have fun guys.¡± With the end of Kyle¡¯s countdown, the walls of the shuttle became clear like glass, giving everyone a view of the outside of the shuttle, which was currently enveloped by what could only be described as a violent lightning storm inside the tower. The electricity all around them exploded with a deafening boom and the four trial takers were pressed into their seats like flattened overripe fruits. By the time they understood what had just happened, they were already in space, the clear glass-like walls of the shuttle giving a perfect view of the great void and its millions of stars. The seats opened up as soon as the flight was stable allowing them to move and stand up if they wanted to. ¡°Shit, everyone alright?¡± Michael asked, ¡°That was worse than I thought it was gonna be.¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± Sofia and Astelia both answered. ¡°Relieved to hear that,¡± Michael continued as he stood up, he walked up to the walls and stared outside, speechless. Astelia and Pareth soon did the same. Only Sofia spent a few more seconds in her seat, just basking in the moment, and really intrigued by the shuttle¡¯s propulsion method. I know the Angel¡¯s bolt magic pattern when I see them. It was clearly similar in some way. Oh right, time to take out the dagger. Gotta have that title active. I just hope that the flames from the effect won¡¯t damage the imprints or I¡¯m going to need to change title. I could use [Master Thief] for stealth, depending on the situation I guess, else [The Impervious] is actually really really good with my penalty. [The Impervious]: Lost your head and survived. Effect: Hits that would deal less than 5% of your maximum health do not damage you. I wouldn¡¯t have to worry about losing a few health points here and there as long as I avoid the big hits. I can leave [THE GLORIOUS] up for now but I¡¯ll keep this one ready in case I need it. Sofia stood up to join the others in looking outside. Can¡¯t see the planet¡­ Hard to say how fast we might be going. Absent-mindedly, she looked at the sun and the stars. It¡¯s not as magical anymore when you¡¯ve spent weeks alone floating in there. Still beautiful. But also a bit dreadful.
Chapter 394 - Welcome to Cerberus-Beta ¡°I see it!¡± Astelia told the others. She pointed up and everyone looked in that direction. It took a few seconds for Sofia to find it as well. ¡°I see it too. Cerberus-beta¡­ Looks just like what Kyle showed us. You see it Michael?¡± ¡°My eyes must not be as good as yours, not seeing it. Or maybe I¡¯m just not looking in the right spot.¡±
The planet and its three small moons grew closer and closer until the shuttle aligned itself with it and they could no longer see it. The walls became opaque once again, and a feminine voice coming from the walls gave instructions to the group. ¡°Dear trial takers, please sit down and prepare for arrival to IPS pad 3, I wish you good luck.¡± Everyone sat back down into their own seats and as the shuttle was starting to vibrate and rumble, new system messages appeared to them. [Trial task : Upgrade your mana heart to B tier or above and bring it to the planet¡¯s core] [Additional rewards task : ¦Á ] What? Is that a weird looking a? Any idea what this means, Pareth? Pareth seemed just as lost. Suddenly, with a thunk, the rumbling and vibrating all stopped and the seats opened back up. ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± Michael asked, standing up, ¡°I guess we landed?¡± Sofia looked around. ¡°The door still looks locked.¡± ¡°We¡¯re no longer moving,¡± Astelia told them. ¡°We must really have landed then. Right, before I go, do you girls know what the sign for the additional task is about?¡± Michael asked. Astelia and Sofia both shook their head. ¡°Well, I can tell you what I know, but if I do then you must agree to tell me if you find what to do with it and we meet each other on the planet again, are you okay with that?¡± ¡°Okay? Another hero word thing?¡± ¡°Right¡­ Are you fine with that is what I meant, sorry.¡± ¡°Sure¡­ Asty?¡± ¡°Same.¡± ¡°Nice, then here¡¯s what I know, this weird letter is the symbol for Alpha. I can¡¯t explain how that works but Alpha and Beta are like alternate symbols for letters, with Alpha for A meaning one or first or primary and Beta for B meaning two or secondary. And since the name of the planet is Cerberus-Beta, this makes me think there could be a Cerberus-Alpha, or something in that vein. That¡¯s all I got.¡± ¡°Another planet?¡± Sofia said, ¡°I see, how does that sound?¡± Sofia asked Astelia. ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know about another planet, but he¡¯s not lying. Hasn¡¯t lied since the beginning, so it¡¯s definitely something to keep in mind. We can trust him, I think.¡± ¡°You could tell if I¡¯m lying or not just like that? Good that I always go with open honesty then ahah. So, you will help me if you find something with that information, right?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Sofia agreed, ¡°That is, if we do ever meet up on the planet or around it. Chances are we won¡¯t, a planet is big.¡± ¡°Sure thing, but you never know. Worst case, I¡¯m making friends for later, heh, trial ain¡¯t what life¡¯s all about. Door just unlocked, by the way, I can tell, I should be able to teleport outside already. I¡¯ll be going, then, see ya.¡± Just like that, the hero was gone from the shuttle. ¡°Not wasting a second, huh. I¡¯m going to be staying in the shuttle for a bit longer, I need to figure out how to protect my mana heart, what about you?¡± Sofia asked Astelia. ¡°I will be leaving carefully. Do we meet here if there is a big issue?¡± Sofia nodded, ¡±The tangled rings from Nyse should work, if they break it¡¯ll be our signal to try to meet back here, or at least to leave a message here.¡± ¡°This could go wrong in many ways. Let¡¯s just hope we never have to break them.¡± ¡°True that. Well, I won¡¯t slow you down, then, good luck, Asty, take care out there.¡± ¡°Will do,¡± Astelia answered as she walked to the door of the shuttle, it opened by itself, letting in blue light from outside and a strong metallic smell, ¡°Be careful too, Sofia.¡± The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. The shuttle door closed back behind Astelia, leaving Pareth and Sofia alone in the IPS. There we are. Third trial. Do you feel ready? Pareth nodded confidently, his armor of light flaring up around his massive body. Well, don¡¯t get so worked up. One thing at a time. Let¡¯s prepare. ¡°First of all, let¡¯s switch the bone blessings around. I keep the one on my bones, but I think the one you have should go to a shield for me instead. You hardly need it anymore but I could use more protection since I¡¯m not allowed to lose life.¡± Again, Pareth nodded. I still have that small mithril shield. Let¡¯s use it as a base¡­ Sofia brought out the mithril kite shield she had kept stored in her ring since before the Sun quest and never used. She wrapped it in bone, making it taller and larger until she could comfortably hide her entire body behind it, after which she blessed the bone part of it with [Bone dominus]. Slightly unwieldy but this should keep me a lot safer. Right arm for the staff, left arm the shield. Armor covering the entire body. I¡¯m also using all the saint set pieces and Victory¡¯s crown¡­ Title is on ¡®the glorious¡¯ for now but if I change it will be a day until I can swap again¡­ Let¡¯s wait on that for now. Sofia summoned the book of skeletons. ¡°You have permission to come out whenever if that feels needed, Bookie, rest of the time¡­ Can you get me Crowie and resummon him whenever he expires? We can really use an extra pair of eyes.¡± An ethereal golden page appeared in front of Sofia for her to rip, and after she repeated a motion she had done a thousand times, the page turned to fog and then to her favorite skeleton crow, who happily jumped onto her shoulder. ¡°Good job. Stay alert Bookie, might need you anytime.¡± The book¡¯s pages fluttered, and it disappeared, ready for Sofia to call it again. Last question is, what do we do with the mana hearts? There, Pareth seemed to have a suggestion, he pointed at his pelvis, the thickest single bone of his body, very well protected behind several layers of armor-looking bone plating. Sofia had to ponder on the question. ¡°I don¡¯t know. On one hand, hiding them in there, this might actually be the best protection we can give them unless I use one of the blessings to make a casing for them, but on the other hand, you¡¯re going to be fighting on the frontline while I hang back, so they would be safer with me.¡± Pareth stroked his chin, considering Sofia¡¯s point of view, until he seemed to change his mind, and pointed at Sofia¡¯s arm. ¡°What? The Dragon-scale armor? Do you think I didn''t consider it? There¡¯s no space to put them inside of th- ¡­ Wait¡­ Do you think this is why Erredis said she needed to tinker with it and wouldn¡¯t tell me what for?!¡± Sofia hurriedly took her arm out of the dragon scale and gave it a better look. ¡°No way! Is this what these new notches near the armpit are for?! I thought this was to allow the bone armor to fuse with it better¡­¡± After putting the armor back on, it felt obvious now, these were indeed a sneaky change Erredis had added to give Sofia a safe place to store hers and Pareth¡¯s mana hearts. The small rocks fit right inside of there, just under her armpit, and when she activated the bone armor, they were snuggly locked inside of the Dragon-scale arm. This is that taken care of, then. Let¡¯s get started? I need to complete the additional task as soon as possible. One year¡­ Saria, Alith, Cinthia and Ihuarah are also on this planet somewhere right now. As well as potentially four more people, one who came with the girls and three with Ihuarah. I¡¯m not too worried about Michael trying anything funny, but these four unknown people¡­ I¡¯ll have to be careful. Well, let¡¯s get it. Sofia and Pareth walked up to the shuttle¡¯s large door, which opened for them. ¡°This looks just like the tower.¡± Stepping out of the shuttle confirmed that observation, the IPS was at the very bottom of a deep cylindrical pit, just like the tower it had launched from. Sofia looked at Pareth, ¡°Get inside, I¡¯ll fly us up.¡± The ground level of the tower was similar as well, but the safe-house in the walls was missing. No free food here. Exit should be around there? Walking straight through what looked like a solid wall, Sofia and Pareth finally made it outside. The sky was a weird tint of blue-ish green and tall blue pine-like trees grew all around the tower. The air was hot and moist. Immediately, Sofia saw monsters, everywhere. Large flying birds in the horizon, tall creatures with their heads showing up over the treetops, slime-like things crawling around one the metallic ground surrounding the tower, everywhere she looked, there were unheard-of creatures. Some of the slime-like things nearby noticed her presence and started crawling in her direction, immediately bursting up in green flames and dying almost instantly. ¡®You have defeated [Rustlicker - lv. 89]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Rustlicker - lv. 93]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Rustlicker - lv. 57]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Rustlicker - lv. 88]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Rustlicker - lv. 89]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Rustlicker - lv. 84]¡¯ I might need to quickly change title before this attacks something I can¡¯t afford to fight¡­ Remembering Kyle¡¯s last advice, Sofia identified one of the further Rustlicker which hadn¡¯t entered her title¡¯s range yet. [Rustlicker - Lv. ??? - Imprint power : 0 - Effect : none] Very interesting. Monsters can indeed be identified for the trial, and it gives information on the imprint in advance. I see how this trial is going to work. Let¡¯s change to [Cheater] for now, the sooner I do, the sooner I can change again. Let¡¯s see what this adds. [Title changed to ¡®Cheater¡¯] [Title change function is locked for the next 24 hours] And now¡­ [Rustlicker - Lv. 72 - Imprint power : 0 - Effect : none] ¡®A brainless and mostly harmless creature, can be used to detect near-surface iron deposits¡¯ I even got a description. You spoil me, Mr Scribe. Cheating indeed.
Chapter 395 - Forest-shadow-wing Alright, what else do we have here? Sofia first identified a bird in the distance, one of the benefits of her new eye, which allowed her to get a closer look at the birds with the optical zoom and also somehow made it much easier to identify distant objects. [Ironbeak Karoa - Lv. 196 - Imprint power : 0 - Effect : none] ¡®Flesh-eating birds, usually scavenge in flocks of 5 to 8 birds, their hard beak lets them break open skulls to get to their favorite parts of the meal¡¯ So brain-eating birds. Well, I¡¯m not worried, I don¡¯t have one. Level 196 and still 0 imprint power though¡­ Seeing something move around around the treetops, Sofia identified that as she tried to get a better look at it. The creature looked like some kind of giant furred centipede. [Wulff - Lv. 160 - Imprint power : 0 - Effect : none] ¡®These low to the ground, six-legged ¡®wolves¡¯ exhibit the usual pack behaviors of wolves, they are competent ambushers, tree-climbers, and never venture in open terrain¡¯ Already stepping foot into that forest sounds like a bad idea. I don¡¯t really have a good tool to get rid of many small monsters like that at once without using either an explosive bolt or the rot. Unless I switch back to the glorious title. I don¡¯t really do well in cluttered environments like a forest. It looks like I need to search for the stronger monsters if I want to get good imprints, what about those things? Sofia identified the monsters whose gnarly heads were standing out in between the treetops. [Forest Overseer - Lv. 249 - Imprint power : 0.3 - Effect : +30 Stamina] ¡®Known as the guardians of the forest, this sub-species of trolls boasts the same usual toughness and regeneration, they protect other forest-dwelling creatures from outside and flying threats in exchange for a constant supply of fresh fruits and berries¡¯ As I thought. Stamina though¡­ Not very interesting. It really makes me wonder if I should just get all the imprints I see, or if It¡¯s better to pick and choose. I do have a full year ahead of me, but I also need to reach those extra ranks and it can¡¯t be easy. Also, 0.3 imprint power, 30 stamina points. So an imprint power of 1 is equivalent to 100 stat points? So upgrading to mana hearts E rank is already 5000 stat points. I¡¯m guessing each rank is easier than the next¡­ Let¡¯s say it doubles each time, that would be 120 000 stat points by the time we reach A rank¡­ Sounds about right, I think? Maybe a bit low? I don''t have much of a reference point for level 250+ statlines. And this prompts another question, are the -30% stats currently on our mana hearts applied before or after we receive the other stats from the heart. Or does it only apply to its own other stats? Is that something you can answer, Mr Scribe? That feels like an important detail. Sofia felt a slight sparkle of pain in her head. That¡¯s an answer, alright, not too sure what it means, though. She opened her status sheet, finding it unaltered, and wondered how she should interpret Mr Scribe¡¯s answer until she had the idea to identify her mana heart again. [Nascent mana heart of Aphenoreth]: Rank : F tier Imprint power until next rank : 0/50 Effects (on use) : All stats -30% (-60%, applied first) (F rank base) Wager bonus (Glimpse from beyond) : Unlocks new unique ranks past the maximum Wager penalty (The consequences of your actions) : Cannot regain life Time before setting : 9 months, 33 days, 1 hour Oh! Thanks a lot. So it¡¯s only for the stats I already have. That makes it a bit less attractive¡­ But then again if it even goes to something like +50% then I¡¯ll get +100% with the crown and that¡¯s already 500 000 extra stat points. Can¡¯t really complain about that. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. Alright, so far these monsters look mostly harmless. Let¡¯s see if I can find something other than the trolls to try out the mana hearts first, see how they work. I¡¯d rather not do that in a forest. The birds fly pretty high, flying low must not be safe. Get in, Pareth, let¡¯s get a view from higher up. Sofia flew straight up alongside the tower for what felt like about ten kilometers, she was already above the highest clouds, and the tower just kept going up, but she had to stop. The flows of mana just above her suddenly became very wild. It would be hard to fly through there, and she might even get hurt by the mana storms. ¡°Damn, I get what Kyle meant. I wouldn¡¯t want to step through there unless I have no choice. Though¡­ I might be able to get past it if I fly from within the tower?¡± In the end, she decided to worry about it later, as she didn¡¯t want to start with the moons right away, and instead, spent a moment observing the land below, committing the tower¡¯s surroundings to memory. No signs of civilized life anywhere. No ruins, no roads, no houses¡­ The sky is green and the plants are blue¡­ Feels like I¡¯m in one of Aurelia¡¯s paintings. Something caught Sofia¡¯s eyes in the distance above the forest. Is that bird on fire? Once again, she used Richard¡¯s eye to look at it from closer up, finding it funny that she was using the highly-advanced magical item like a magnifying glass more often than the used it as an actual storage item. ¡°It¡¯s actually on fire! Not hurting, though, it seems. Is that a Phoenix? Will identify work from that far away?¡± It took a few seconds, but her identify spell did reach the creature. [Firebird - Lv. 249 - Imprint power : 2 - Effect : +200 Mana] ¡®These large birds use their fire breath and fiery wings to scare away predators, their alimentation consists mainly of fruits and nuts, they are a fearsome threat in the sky, but their fire dies down when they sleep, making them an easy prey¡¯ Cheater is really a title worthy of its name. An easy prey at night¡­ Good to know, but I don¡¯t think I need to wait. Still, it¡¯s going pretty fast so I should fly closer. Sofia stayed at the highest altitude she could, and flew in the direction of the fiery bird until she was right on its position, following it from several kilometers above. I need to wait until he¡¯s not above the forest, preferably. Sofia followed the Firebird until she could see the end of the forest on the horizon. If it keeps flying in a straight line¡­ I can start now. Raising her scepter, she channeled a piercing bolt, sinking more and more mana into it until about half of her total reserve was waiting in the palm of her hand as a long plasma javelin. The head is too small to hit. Should I target a wing? With a loud thunderclap, Sofia released the bolt as the bird started flying over the plains beyond the forest. A clean hit. The angel¡¯s bolt pierced through the bird¡¯s back, leaving a gaping, charred hole almost perfectly centered through the middle of its abdomen. The bird cramped with a jolt and started falling from the sky. Sofia quickly flew down, and she received a notification before the bird even hit the ground. ¡®You have defeated [Firebird - Lv. 249 - Imprint mostly intact]¡¯ The bird crashed and tumbled in the tall grass and Sofia landed right on top a few seconds later, Pareth immediately appearing next to her and securing the surroundings. How do I do this, now? Unsure of how to proceed, Sofia took her mana heart out of her armor, and held it above the corpse of the bird as large as herself, whose fire had died down with its death. Nothing happened, so she sent some mana into the mana heart, and she felt a reaction from it, but when she identified it again, the description hadn¡¯t changed. Remembering how Kyle had held the stones against their foreheads in the shuttle, Sofia pressed the rock against the corpse and sent some mana into it again. This time, she could clearly feel the ambient mana contorting around the stone, something had been sucked in. Again she identified the stone. [Nascent mana heart of Aphenoreth]: Rank : F tier Imprint power until next rank : 1.86/50 Effects (on use) : All stats -30% (-60%, applied first) (F rank base) Mana + 186 (372) Wager bonus (Glimpse from beyond) : Unlocks new unique ranks past the maximum Wager penalty (The consequences of your actions) : Cannot regain life Time before setting : 9 months, 33 days, 1 hour Mostly intact¡­ I got 186 points out of 200. And got definitive confirmation that 1 point of imprint power in 100 stat points. That¡¯s a seven percent loss for just one hole? I killed the thing in a single hit and yet¡­ This really shows the value of Pareth¡¯s bonus. Blasted the damn bird right through the spine¡­ Sofia thought as she observed the dead bird. Bookie won¡¯t want to eat that¡­ Fire breathing, though? She grabbed the admin¡¯s dagger and sliced through the bird¡¯s neck, storing its skull in her left eye. Clean it up later, will be nice for the choir. She almost flew right back up after slotting her mana heart back in her armor and sheathing the dagger, but she looked back at the charred hole she had made through the bird, and let her scepter levitate next to her as she reached out with her hand to grab a chunk of charred meat. Making her armor open up near her mouth, she gave it a taste. ¡°Oh I¡¯m going to be eating good this year!¡± She stored the entire bird¡¯s carcass and left the scene of the crime. This trial isn¡¯t too bad so far.
Chapter 396 - Slithering nightfall Sofia spent the next three hours flying around far above the forest, and tracking down nine more Firebirds, which all had the same mana imprint. She had also tried to absorb the imprints with Pareth¡¯s heart after taking it with her own ,but as she suspected, each imprint could only be taken by one heart. This must have been why cooperation was an unrealistic expectation for the trial takers. After each fight, only one person would get the spoils. For Sofia it wasn¡¯t as bad, as she had planned to share with Pareth from the start. As she absorbed the last imprint, she checked on her mana heart again, which she had Mr. Scribe rearrange the description of. [Nascent mana heart of Aphenoreth]: /F tier/ 9 months, 32 days, 22 hour Imprint progress : 17.57/50 Effects (Will be doubled) : Decent progress. These birds are easy to spot but there aren¡¯t so many of them around¡­ I managed to get three of them in decent enough shape for Bookie to eat. I just don¡¯t know if I should do one page with three or three pages with one¡­ One with one and one with two? I¡¯ll decide later¡­ Still plenty of space in storage. Still haven¡¯t lost any life, so that¡¯s good. Though there was that one close call when the Ironbeaks went after me. Had to sacrifice a bird carcasse to get rid of them¡­ Could have probably killed them without losing any life but I better get used to being overly careful. The sun is starting to go down already, I feel like the days here must be a bit longer, but we arrived late. According to Michael, the night could be dangerous. I should find some kind of shelter, just in case I need it. I¡¯ll backtrack to the tower if I don¡¯t find anything else. Sofia flew back up as high as she could, and looked around for anywhere that could offer some decent natural shelter to build a discreet bone-base. A good part of her bone storage was occupied by what were essentially building blocks to construct a large shelter; she had prepared enough bone walls in advance to build a castle, had she wanted to. I wonder if just staying up there could be safe enough. I can use the latest level of VPPV to hide the light my wings make now, so flying at night isn¡¯t as bad anymore. Still I¡¯d feel safer with walls around. I can still use the unlife runes to hide my presence too. But I might be overthinking. If anything, as long as nothing changes, night should be safer, in theory, with most creatures going to sleep. Finally Sofia found something to her liking, a cave entrance on a small hill¡¯s side, looking a bit like a bear den. She landed on top of the hill and sent Crowie down to scout the cave. Using the runes tokens she had learned from Eternam and perfected since, she could see what Crowie was seeing. The cave was somewhat deep, going about twenty-five meters into the hillside and finishing in one large open cavity. And there was already a big occupant of the reptilian kind sleeping in the back. [Emperor pearled snake - Lv. 283 - Imprint power : 85 - Effect : +8500 Health] ¡®A fearsome giant snake with deadly neurotoxins, its scales are almost as hard as mithril. It boasts outstanding physical power and resilience as well as an innate resistance to magic but is also almost completely unable to use magic himself¡¯ Oh, wow, that is one BIG snake. Come back before it senses you, Crowie. The sneaky crow skeleton made it back to Sofia and Pareth without waking the sleeping white snake. Let¡¯s deal with this and get in that cave before nightfall. The health should go to Pareth, so I don¡¯t have to worry about fucking up the imprint. Now how should I proceed? I almost want to bolt it but a piercing bolt will never be enough to kill this in one hit unless I hit the head. Even if I hit the head it might survive¡­ And an explosive bolt strong enough to potentially harm it will also destroy the entire hill¡­ Rot might not work and risks collapsing the hill too. I can¡¯t take the risk to go there myself either. Sofia brought up her small notebook, looking through Bookie¡¯s increasingly long list of summons. 10 female stone Ogres 100 000 mana That¡¯ll be perfect. The book of skeletons appeared in front of Sofia, opened at the page of the stone Ogres. A minute later, Pareth was above the large snake, phased through the hillside thanks to the graveyard skeletons, while the stone Ogres were waiting in front of the cave in a line. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. Two of you stay outside and block the entrance. The rest rush inside on my go. Pareth, you ready? Alright, three, two, one. GO! The graveyard skeletons dropped Pareth inside of the cave, right on top of the giant white snake. His [Sanctified Grounds] immediately activated and the snake woke up, with just enough time to realize a giant skeleton was about to tackle it from above. Sofia sat atop the hill, directing the stone ogres while Crowie stood on her head, vigilant about spotting any creature that might be drawn to the fight scene by the commotion. Pareth grabbed the snake¡¯s head with his two huge hands and held it against the ground while the stone ogres rushed inside. Already, stone pillars were forming from the cave walls, pressing against the long body of the snake to pin it in place. The snake¡¯s tail turned and whipped at Pareth, his [Flying shields of Light] appeared behind him, but the tail broke through them like paper, and hit his back with a violent crash. Pareth¡¯s light armor shattered at the impact point. Name : Pareth Health : 37 146 780 / 37 146 780 Stamina : 12 600 384 / 12 600 384 Mana : 44 550 / 49 800 This fight is already over. The Snake managed to free its head from Pareth, but its bite was not enough to damage him, and its neurotoxin, as strong as it might be, was completely pointless against a skeleton. Pareth kept wrestling with the snake to give time to the stone Ogres to seal it down, and when its movements were restricted enough, the skeleton started punching with spiked fists of light for his weapon. The reptile was unbelievably tough, but after ten minutes of a violent slog, it fell, dead, without ever managing to actually harm pareth, only taking out two stone Ogres throughout the debacle. ¡®You have defeated [Emperor pearled snake - Lv. 283 - Imprint mostly intact]¡¯ Woah this was actually close, Pareth! Your mana almost ran out. We¡¯re going to need to hunt a few mana imprints for you as well. No other monster approached, I think this might be because we¡¯re on the snake¡¯s territory. Full imprint for Pareth¡­ I can already update his heart¡­ [Nascent mana heart of Knowledge]: Rank : E tier Imprint power until next rank : 35/?? Effects (on use) : All stats ??% (E rank base) +8500 Health Let¡¯s get inside, the Ogres should be done cleaning up the cave. Sofia¡¯s legs were grabbed by two ghostly skeletons and she sank into the hill while she held onto Crowie. She felt an urge at the back of her mind the second she entered the cave, but she held it back with a smile on her face. ¡°Not now, Bookie. We have to loot it first.¡± This trial is great! Sofia started by handing his mana heart to Pareth, who collected the imprint by copying how she had done it for the birds. Using the admin¡¯s dagger, Sofia butchered the huge snake. She collected what remained of its poison and poison glands as well as the entirety of its scaly skin, which had held out pretty well against Pareth¡¯s assault. It died of internal bleeding¡­ This is why skeletons are superior. Sofia let the stone Ogre consolidate the walls a bit more and flatten the ground before she dispelled them, while Bookie was devouring the giant snake¡¯s remains. The book came back to Sofia in the middle of its meal. ¡°Is something wrong?¡± Sofia walked up to the half-gone snake, and she could immediately see why Bookie had stopped his meal. Right in the middle of the snake¡¯s abdomen was a big pearl as large as her head. Oh. Pearled snake. Thanks. Sofia stored the pearl in her eye and let Bookie get back to his meal. She let the pearl out on the ground a bit further, and summoned a water stone to clean it up before identifying it. [Pearl of the Emperor pearled snake] : A big pearl with a weak magic-repellant field. That it? Alright, well, got it. I half-expected a new catalyst. When Bookie came back again, he had a brand new page featuring the big snake¡¯s skeleton and the number ¡®300 000¡¯. ¡°That¡¯s an expensive one, like three whole sandworms.¡±
Sofia patiently waited inside the cave for the night to come, while she kept track of the outside with her mana senses. As the sun fell, things started getting weird. The first thing was the cold. Sofia was functionally immune to the cold thanks to VPPV, but low temperatures were still slightly uncomfortable, and the outside was getting colder by the minute, slowly spreading to the cave. Hoooly crap it¡¯s freezing! Frost formed on the cave walls, and Sofia had to stop breathing because despite dealing no damage, inhaling the cold air felt a bit like getting slapped from inside. As night truly fell and no light made it through the cave¡¯s straight shaft anymore, the temperature stopped dropping, but something else caught Sofia¡¯s attention. The mana outside was doing something weird. It no longer flowed through the air like water currents, but started clumping up into bundles near the ground. What the hell? The formation of these clumps was sucking up all the ambient mana, even the cave she was in couldn¡¯t escape it. Despite no clump of mana forming inside, all the ambient mana got drained by the ones forming outside. No ambient mana at night¡­ I¡¯m used to mana-dry environments but it¡¯s still uncomfortable, much more so than the cold. And it means I can¡¯t fly at night¡­ Still, something else stopped Sofia¡¯s train of thoughts. The mana clumps started moving. Not good!
Chapter 397 - Sunless Go check this shit out, Crowie. Try not to get spotted. The small crow skeleton jumped up from Sofia¡¯s shoulder and hopped to the entrance of the cave where it landed behind a small rock, unable to fly due to the lack of ambient mana. You got a mana clump about fifty meters to your left, can you look? Crowie carefully hopped out of the cave and through the short grass to a tree, which he jumped straight up into the leaves of. From there he tried to move through the leaves to get a view on the direction Sofia had pointed out. Too many trees in the way¡­ It¡¯s moving somewhat towards you, just don¡¯t move. You know what to do. After what felt like an eternity, a shadowy figure emerged through the trees. It was like a tall lump of black oil, slithering between the trees without a sound. A shade? No, I feel no link to it, can¡¯t be one. What the fuck is that thing. [Sunless Drone - Lv. 234 - Imprint power : 1 - Effect : ??? Skill shard (1/100) ] ¡®The weakest kind of Sunless, be wary of them when they are in large groups¡¯ Sunless? Because they appear at night? It¡¯s like¡­ It looks like a slime shade¡­ Like a big black bubble of oil¡­ It looks stretchy. A skill shard imprint, shard because you need 100 of them to actually get the skill, I assume? That¡¯s 10000 stat points for the skill. Double that for me since I have the crown. And for a mystery skill? I don¡¯t know how I feel about this. It doesn''t look like it sees you, but stay careful Crowie. If these appear every night we will have plenty of opportunities to learn what that skill is, so let¡¯s just observe for now. The cheater description says it¡¯s the weakest kind, meaning there are several stronger types. Sofia pushed her mana perception as far as she could. She felt several more mana clumps all around the small hill she was in, but as far as she could tell, they all felt about the same as the Sunless Drone. Observing their mana move around, she noticed that they seemed to have some kind of core. Do they have a mana heart inside of them or something like that? This feels a bit like a golem core. The clumps are held together by something inside. A denser core of mana. Yeah this really really looks like a golem core, no matter how I look at it. So either a natural weak point. Or a testimony to these creatures being artificial creations. Which is it, I wonder. I could see them being golem-monsters created by the admins to populate the world faster. I will need to kill one to be sure. Wait for it to be far enough and come back, Crowie. Booki, I need the engineer and the archer. Sofia took a big crate full of scrap metal and parts she had no idea how to use out of her storage ring as Bookie presented the two pages she had asked for. When Crowie made it back to the cave, the other two skeletons had appeared. ¡°Engineer, we need a musket, let¡¯s say the electric one for now.¡± Ever since the engineer skeleton had proved his worth in the fake world where Sofia had found Saria, she had been collecting random mechanical parts to be able to give him when the need arises. After some testing, the easiest and best use of his powers was to assemble temporary magic muskets. He could do electric, fire and regular muskets with what Sofia had. Their strength was quite decent, and as long as the Engineer was there, other skeletons could also use his creations. The human archer skeleton was equipped with a rifle and given Crowie as a scout, then sent through the roof of the cavern to the surface by the graveyard skeletons. The most isolated Sunless is about five hundred meters in the direction I¡¯m looking at. Try to see if you can spot it. Sofia looked through the token Crowie was wearing but all she could see from there was a view of the nearby forest from the top of the hill. After about twenty seconds, the archer gave a thumbs-up to Crowie, then pointed at a spot down in the forest. You see it?! Sofia tried her best to spot it but the vision from the token wasn¡¯t nearly as good as her own eyes, and she still couldn¡¯t find it. It really is in this direction though, so¡­ Shoot! Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. With her mana senses, Sofia could see the lightning-imbued projectile pierce straight through the Sunless Drone. The gaping hole it left immediately closed back up, as if nothing had ever touched the creature. The archer skeleton was already reloading the musket. They¡¯re closing in on you, you only have time for one more, aim a bit higher! As all the Sunless Drones rushed for the top of the hill, the archer skeleton shot once more, following Sofia¡¯s instructions. The shot hit the core. ¡®You have defeated [Sunless Drone - Lv. 234 - Imprint intact]¡¯ The mana making up the Drone dissipated, while the core which had been hit but not destroyed fell to the ground. At the same time, the graveyard skeletons hurriedly retrieved the Archer and Crowie as all the other Sunless Drones reached their position. Oh, damn. What Sofia¡¯s mana vision was telling her was that when the Sunless Drones had all reunited in one spot, they had fused. There was no boundary anymore, the multiple Drones had become one large entity with several cores. Do not fight when they are in large groups¡­ I get why now. They can combine like this¡­ I assume the sum is greater than the parts. And even if this thing isn¡¯t higher-level, which it might be, if we need to hit all the cores to kill it¡­ Maybe this trial is not so easy after all, huh. Who could have guessed. Sofia summoned a rat skeleton from Bookie, it was a new addition to replace the rat she had lost on Sun¡¯s space temple. She sent it out with the graveyard with the mission to retrieve the core of the fallen Drone.
Sofia played with the small black pebble in her hand. It was quite heavy for its size. [Small Debris]: The busted core of a Sunless Drone. Contains a rapidly-deteriorating imprint. Debris is a weird way to call it. But I guess it¡¯s literally just a slightly heavy rock. I should at least check what the skill is even if it costs me 200 stats points. I just need to be sure not to fall for that sunk-cost fallacy thing the ¡®hero¡¯s guide to gambling¡¯ book warned about... Sofia pressed her mana heart against the Debris and absorbed the imprint. [Nascent mana heart of Aphenoreth]: /F tier/ 9 months, 32 days, 19 hour Imprint progress : 18.57/50 Effects (Will be doubled) : Relocate Core? Can I get a read on that? [Relocate Core] : Your Mana Heart gains the ability to move within the confines of your body to avoid blows. Oh wow that¡¯s good, isn¡¯t it? I would imagine that the Mana Heart getting hit is quite bad. Killing 100 of these drones shouldn¡¯t be too hard, but that¡¯s quite the stat loss, though. I really need to pick and choose what skills I want to get in there¡­ Or maybe not? Do I actually have a maximum number of imprint power I can take? Regular hearts do but I have Aphenoreth¡¯s boon, so maybe thinking about it like that is just dumb. I don¡¯t even know if I¡¯ll manage to go past the regular maximum in the first place. Might as well take everything that Pareth doesn¡¯t need. Chances are, I can get ALL the skills! But for now I¡¯m hiding in a cave¡­ Sofia checked the outside with her mana senses, the Drones were still all fused, and roaming around the hill as one big entity. I wonder how that thing would fare against a shower of Rot. Let¡¯s try that out. The skeletons other than Crowie were dispelled, and Pareth returned to the storage. Sofia slowly snuck out of the cave, half of her attention focused on following the cluster of Drones¡¯ movements. I feel so vulnerable without my wings. This is awful. Wait¡­ No¡­ Sofia had to stop herself from laughing out loud. She took a single step forward, but instead of the ground, she willed to step on the air. Ahahahah! Suck it, trial! No mana? I don¡¯t need any mana, I walk wherever the fuck I want! ? [DODGE - ME] ?: Experience gains +10%, Thinking speed +100%, Reading speed +1000% Order form : Attacks curve around you. Aura, Charisma, and Processing +100% Gain the ability to walk on matter in liquid and gaseous forms. Sofia happily walked up stairs that did not exist until she reached the tree tops, giving her a good view of the creature shambling around on the small hill. Oh damn this thing is a mess. Are those white things eyes? This looks oddly similar to that God-layer creature in floor 99 of the last trial, just black instead of blue and with no teeth. There might be a link between the two. How does this one Identify? [Sunless Amalgam - Lv. 289 - Imprint power : 100 - Effect : ??? Skill shards (1/10) ] ¡®A bunch of Sunless Drones turned one, just as dumb, much more dangerous.¡¯ It really became a single entity. It¡¯s a different beast alright. Different imprint too. From about twenty drones the imprint power jumped up to 100. Oh shit, it saw me! The creature had made a sudden turn and was rushing in Sofia¡¯s direction worryingly fast, its bulbous oily body crushing the trees in its path like twigs. Sofia blasted the shambling amalgam with a bright column of holy light as she let herself fall to the forest ground, and summoned the graveyard skeletons to escape underground. I think the rot worked?
Chapter 398 - Take a hike Sofia sank into the ground as fast as her ghostly skeletons could carry her, she looked up at the creature which was now just a few meters above her. This thing¡¯s soul looks gross. It¡¯s not just the body that combined, they actually have souls and they all merged together¡­ Well, not soul, spiritual body is the better word since they don¡¯t seem to produce their own mana. The creature spasmed, and suddenly the amalgam was a lot closer, steadily pursuing her underground. Crap. It¡¯s digging? No, it¡¯s also phasing through the ground! I can¡¯t go down any faster¡­ No cave or anything in the graveyard¡¯s range which I could escape through¡­ I need to buy time for the rot to drain this thing¡¯s mana. It¡¯s clearly working. I only need a few skeletons to carry me. Sofia took control of the graveyard, forcing it to create more and more ghostly skeletons. She sent them all toward the creature chasing after her. It was something that she had noticed about the graveyard skeletons when training with Alith: as half-ghosts, they were perfectly capable of grabbing other ghosts. It wasn¡¯t often that the graveyard skeletons were used for their original purpose of immobilizing enemies, so it hadn¡¯t been Sofia¡¯s first reflex. Under her control, the skeletons swarmed the spiritual body of the amalgam, and managed to slow it down. The thing counter-attacked, shattering the spiritual bodies of Sofia¡¯s skeletons, but she had plenty of mana to help them reform. While the amalgam was being held back, Sofia stopped going down and started fleeing in another direction, eventually resurfacing on the outside. The graveyard skeletons held as best they could, but the creature pushed through and also resurfaced to follow Sofia as she hurriedly started walking up in the air. By the time the creature managed to completely free itself from the ghostly skeletons and rush to where Sofia had exited the ground, she was already fifty meters in the air and still walking up as fast as she could without triggering the chaos state of [DODGE - ME], which wasn¡¯t very fast. The bulbous and rot-covered body of the amalgam squashed itself against the ground. It¡¯s going to jump! The amalgam left the ground with a boom, creating a small crater in its wake. Pareth appeared in between Sofia and the creature, his sword pointing straight down at the amalgam, impaling it before it could reach Sofia. The full length of his sword of Light penetrated the monster, yet it failed to stop its upwards momentum, and Sofia had to jump out of the way, which triggered the Chaos state of [DODGE - ME]. ? [DODGE - ME] ?: Experience gains +10%, Thinking speed +100%, Reading speed +1000% Chaos form : Strength, Agility, and Speed +100% Reaction speed +200% Maximum running and flying speed +2000% The speed helped her get out of the monster¡¯s trajectory, but it also meant that she could no longer walk on air, and her wings were still dysfunctional in the manaless environment. That¡¯s a hefty fall, I could lose some health. Sofia stored her shield to have both hands free, and started simultaneously channeling explosive Angel Bolts. Spinning around as she fell, she launched both bolts as she was about ten meters from the ground, one at the creature still in the air with Pareth, and one at the ground below her. She unfolded her wings, the explosion below her was a big cloud of her own mana which she used to give support to her wings and cushion her fall right before Pareth appeared beneath her to catch her. The other bolt also hit the creature, it was probably too weak to do much, having only had time to accumulate about ten thousand mana, but had the benefit of feeding the rot and accelerating its growth. Pareth returned right back to Sofia¡¯s bone storage, and with that out of the way, Sofia decided that the best course of action was just to run away as far as she could. The creature touched ground again and quickly returned to chasing after her. It was slower. She relied on her mana senses to avoid the numerous Sunless Drones on the way, and ran through the forest as fast as she possibly could. Noticing weird things on the way, but she couldn¡¯t pay them any attention, as the amalgam, realizing it wouldn¡¯t be able to simply catch up with her, had started using spells of its own. It ejected parts of its huge body as magically-charged projectiles, like javelins of black goo leaving gaping holes in everything on their way. Most of them she managed to dodge, but more than once, Pareth had to appear to take the hit, and without the boost from [Sanctified Grounds], he was actually taking serious damage, millions of life points vaporizing every time a black spear touched him. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. The chase continued for several minutes, long enough for Sofia to exit the forest, jump over a lake, cross a large empty plain, and end up in another forest, but she could see the light at the end of the tunnel. The creature progressively became smaller and slowed down until it couldn¡¯t keep up anymore, and Sofia slowed down slightly in kind, to be able to keep an eye on it as it succumbed to the rot. ¡®You have defeated [Sunless Amalgam - Lv. 289 - Imprint ruined]¡¯ Lords¡­ This was way too close for comfort. If a single one of these black spears touched me¡­ And it seems the rot destroys imprints too¡­ Just my luck. Well. It¡¯s all yours, Pareth. Sofia told him in her thoughts as she handed him his mana heart while they walked back to the place the creature had died. Just wait for the rot to dissipate. I don¡¯t know if the hearts can be damaged by it and I don¡¯t want to find out. They patiently waited for the rot to run out of mana as it consumed what was left of the creature, and by the time it disappeared, all that was left were a few pieces of [Small Debris], some badly damaged by the rot, some mostly intact. Pareth absorbed the Imprint, and Sofia updated the sheet for his mana heart. [Nascent mana heart of Knowledge]: Rank : probably still E tier ? Imprint power until next rank : 135/?? Effects (on use) : All stats ??% (E rank base) +8500 Health ??? Skill shard (1/10) (Sunless Amalgam Skill) ¡°I guess we have to hunt at least nine more of those now¡­ And we can¡¯t know what the skill is until I get a shard myself. For a boon of knowledge it sure leaves you in the dark.¡± Sofia and Pareth collected the debris from the Sunless and were patiently waiting for the passive healing of [Bone dominus]¡¯s constructs to heal his bones. Each spear Pareth took for Sofia had shaved off about two million health points, leaving him with six out of his thirteen millions total left. The good thing is this means the spears wouldn¡¯t damage him in the [Sanctified Grounds] zone. Hunting more of those things might not be so hard, as long as I can be safely far above the clouds when Pareth engages and just support with rot and bolts. An unexpected system alert shook Sofia out of her thoughts. Huh? This is the sound that I set up for skill level-ups, right? Something leveled-up just now? Sofia had done some decluttering of her system by reducing the alerts that could show up mid-combat to a minimum. Usually skills would level-up during fights but she ignored them to read the entire log at the end of battle, but now she had set them up so that they wouldn¡¯t show up at all by default, and a simple ding sound would inform her that a skill had progressed. As she went to check on the skill that just leveled up, another ding. Really? Opening up her alerts, the level up notifications greatly heightened her mood. ¡®[Radiance] reached level 100¡¯ ¡®[Bone dominus] reached level 3¡¯ Finally! It¡¯s been so long! It was level 2 since the damn fight against Victory! [Bone dominus] : The Saintomancer can control, fuse and reshape all inert bones in a 30 (10 * skill level) meters radius; the Saintomancer can reshape all bones they touch and connected bones with a 3 (3 * skill level) meters radius. (This will make them unable to be used as new Skeletons except as constructs) The Saintomancer can create and control up to 3 (Skill level) blessed marrow bone constructs. The constructs are considered Skeletons, and must be manually controlled. For each nearby blessed marrow bone construct, the Saintomancer and all nearby Skeletons receive the following effects : The range is good but the addi- Her thoughts were interrupted by her mana senses locking onto a nearby Sunless Drone approaching her and Pareth. A piercing angel¡¯s bolt reached the Drone before it could reach them. And surprisingly, she had heard another ding while the bolt had been charging up. ¡®You have defeated [Sunless Drone - Lv. 208 - Imprint intact]¡¯ Kindly fuck off, please Sofia sent Pareth to get the Drone¡¯s imprint while she devoured the new message with her eyes. So this is why it was taking so long to level up¡­ [A new soft-evolution choice was unlocked for the skill : Bone Dominus] Available Soft-Evolutions for [Bone dominus] Lv.3 (Levels will be conserved): For soft evolutions, these go pretty hard.
Chapter 399 - Housewarming gift I need to think this through, just maybe not here. Pareth teleported back to Sofia, crouching to hand her the sunless debris he had just collected but when she went to grab and store it, he pulled his hand back. What? Did you just want to show it to me? It looks perfectly normal¡­ Wait, did you not collect the imprint yet? Seeing Pareth¡¯s three skulls nodding, Sofia quickly understood what was going on. You don¡¯t want the relocation ability? Hmm, I don¡¯t know. It¡¯s true that there¡¯s a chance it might be useless for you. It¡¯s hard to say where and how your mana heart will manifest and what will happen to it when you die or change body¡­ I still think you should take it. It¡¯s only 10 000 stat points. Look at your current health, you know that this is not what will make a difference. In fact, it might just be better to focus on getting more skills for you¡­ We¡¯ll see. So, what do you say? After a few seconds of reflection, Pareth absorbed the imprint, and handed both his mana heart and the debris back to Sofia. Alright¡­ Now let¡¯s backtrack a bit, I want to investigate the cocoon things we ran by on the way. It wasn¡¯t long before Sofia found herself face to face with a large black cocoon on the forest floor. It looked made of the same black goo the Sunless were made of, and now that she paid attention to it, there were several such things even just in her immediate surroundings. Can I identify this? [Sunless Cocoon]: Something is sleeping soundly inside, it will wake up at daybreak. Something? It wasn¡¯t too hard for Sofia¡¯s mana senses to pierce through the cocoon and perceive what was inside: a small pack of six-legged wolves. I think they were called Wulffs? Why the hell would they be in a cocoon like this¡­ Walking around and checking the other cocoons she could find, there was only one conclusion Sofia could come to. The Sunless are protecting all the other monsters during the night? That¡¯s an interesting discovery. But I think we¡¯ve attracted a few followers. Better get rid of them before they become an amalgam again. I take left, you take right. Pareth ran to engage his target while Sofia lazily raised her right hand. The Sunless drone never stood a chance against the lightning bolt. Sofia absorbed both imprints, and she decided to return to a safe place to consider her skill evolution. The safe place she chose was the sky. Simply walking up until she was high enough for her taste, she sat on nothing and contemplated the dark world below. The night was surprisingly well-lit, still, with two of the planet¡¯s three moons up high in the sky. Beside them, the night was calm and silent. The Sunless kept aimlessly roaming the forest below, now that she had a better knowledge of how they worked, they were a lot less scary. The drones, at least. Seeing a moon¡¯s reflection in a small forest pond below, Sofia looked up again. The real moon was about just as blurry as its reflection in the pond. There¡¯s something weird going on with the moons. I can¡¯t see them clearly even with the enhanced eye. The system must be doing this. After all, it can hide the towers¡­ Well, whatever, that¡¯s a subject for later. I have to choose an evolution. Praesidium is a safe choice, gives the flexibility to stack the blessing if I want, make it generally better at defense. Now that the skill is level three, I can bless both my and Pareth¡¯s bones plus my armor. Keeping this configuration, It would be an immediate toughness increase of 20% each. Of course it¡¯s stackable, which is nice, but realistically it would probably stay in this configuration most of the time. 20% is a lot. But is it better than a tripled range? Imperium does that and also improves the blessing¡¯s range. Currently it¡¯s about a hundred meters give or take. Tripling that area is big, that would give Pareth a lot more freedom to move around without us losing the blessing¡¯s bonuses. It also triples the bone control basic range, not counting the extra reach from the scepter, so I go from 32 meters to 92. That¡¯s not the most useful in combat but it is quite practical. Tripled contact range, though? With this I might be able to explode the entirety of the skeletons I touch, and not just the surrounding area. Hmm. Last is Potentium. It¡¯s a bit of a hit or miss, especially since Strength is not a primary stat for ¡®Saintomancers¡¯. My base multipliers must be really low considering my natural stamina growth¡­ Still, with the crown, the demon form, runeforged overlord, one with suffering, and dodge-me, I have A LOT of stacking strength buffs. Enough that it¡¯s a bit silly to ignore them. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. It would be quite potent when set up properly, and would give me one more vector for attack. But¡­ It uses stamina. I don¡¯t have much. And I don¡¯t know how much it needs¡­ It¡¯s probably best to avoid this one just because of this. Just managing Mana is painful enough¡­ So either more defense or more control. Which is it going to be? It¡¯s got to be Imperium. I think, and not even for the range, but for the improved control and reshaping. Especially for this trial. If my body gets blown to bits I can¡¯t heal but I could still move around as long as I can get my bloodlight into a bone shell. I can already do it but it¡¯s super stiff and unusable. With Imperium improving bone manipulation even if just slightly, it could be the difference between unusable and fine. Yeah, the other options are also good, but¡­ Your passive [Bone dominus] Lv.3 has Soft-Evolved to [Bone Dominus Imperium] Lv.3 ¡°There we go.¡± Let¡¯s do some hunting next. Sofia stood up and charged a piercing bolt. The Sunless drones were stupidly easy to spot with her mana vision, even from up there. Without leaving the safety of the empty sky, Sofia poured lightning from above all night long, while Pareth followed her from below, occasionally teleporting up to deliver a bunch of imprints in the form of Sunless Debris. She tried attacking one of the cocoons protecting the sleeping monsters once, but her bolt failed to pierce it so she returned to her hunt instead, carefully making sure not to create another amalgam in the process. The lack of ambient mana made her regeneration quite slow, which became the limiting factor for her hunt, as she still needed at least twenty thousand mana to make a bolt strong enough to kill a drone.
Sofia was aiming a bolt at a Sunless Drone when the first ray of sunlight pierced through the night. The Sunless faded into a mist of mana, and mana started filling the air again. The cocoons protecting the sleeping monsters disappeared all the same. There was nothing left of it all after just a few seconds. Truly Sunless¡­ Can¡¯t stand the sun for an instant, the weird frost they brought with them is also disappearing by the second. Well, we¡¯re almost there, only missing a few shards for Pareth. [Nascent mana heart of Aphenoreth]: /E tier/ 9 months, 32 days, 7 hours Imprint progress : 117.57/ 250 Effects (Will be doubled) : [Nascent mana heart of Knowledge]: Rank : D Tier Imprint power until next rank : 258/??? Effects (on use) : All stats ??% (D rank base) It went from -30% to -5%. If it keeps going up by 25% every rank¡­ Then the minimum passing requirement is +70% since it¡¯s at B tier. Right? And then that would mean Pareth¡¯s is currently at +20%. That¡¯s only if the progression is linear, though, and it might not be. I don¡¯t know why I expected the mana hearts to start looking different with the ranks, they¡¯re still just glowing rocks¡­ Should I start hunting firebirds again? Maybe let¡¯s just see what¡¯s outside of this forest. Sofia chose a random direction to fly away from the forest. She had to go for quite a while before she was truly out of the massive sea of blue trees. Dubious, she observed the new land presenting itself below her. That¡¯s one huge swamp. The trees there are massive, too. Not quite black-primus-big but not extremely far. Does this whole thing freeze over at night? That could be funny. I don¡¯t see a great deal of monsters here though¡­ There are things hiding under the mud. Wait¡­ Ruins? Sofia used her left eye to zoom in on the gray structure she had noticed in the distance. Looking at it closer, it was indeed the old ruin of a small stone castle or fort of some kind. In the middle of a swamp? Could a previous trial-taker have built this? As she debated going there to check, Sofia saw some movement below her. One of those small mud monsters? She checked with her mana vision but saw nothing in particular. Really? Nothing? Really. This can¡¯t be right, I¡¯m positive I saw something move. How was it to turn on the heat layer again¡­ Holy shit what. Woah. Good thing that I¡¯m flying so high. How many monsters are there waiting for me under the mud, exactly?! Whatever was hiding under the mud, Sofia could see concentric rings of heat under the mud, their starting location: the spot she was flying over. If I was on the ground I would be surrounded. With a flap of her wings, Sofia moved further. There was a small delay before the heat signals from underground followed, crawling underground until they were once again arranged in neat circles right below her. I can¡¯t identify as long as they¡¯re hiding in the swamp¡­ But they¡¯re all gathering together, it¡¯s cute, it¡¯s like they already know they can¡¯t escape what¡¯s coming next. Sofia started channeling an explosive bolt.
Chapter 400 - Everything is an enemy
How much can I push without losing any health? I remember that around 200 000 the heat was starting to get pretty bad. Maybe if I made heat shields with bones¡­ I can charge much faster now at least. About five thousand a second. After about forty seconds of channeling, the bolt on Sofia¡¯s scepter started changing appearance, becoming smooth and glossy. The waves of heat were not nearly as bad as she remembered, and the dragon-scale arm perfectly protected her hand. VPPV went through all of realm 2 since last time, that must be why I¡¯m not feeling it as much. She had flown a bit further from the stone ruins, and watched as more and more underground swamp creatures gathered beneath her, hiding below the mud. She still had no idea what they even looked like. What little she saw of them through the heat vision of her left eye was a blurry mess at best. I should ask Richard if he can make it clearer. 220 000¡­ this should be enough. Sofia simply released the bolt, letting it fly straight down below her as she herself flew up. The bolt hit the swamp with an almost metallic ring, and the world became halfway white, Sofia¡¯s fake eye let her see right through the burst of light, as an explosion of wild blue flames engulfed the swamp. A rain of notifications started spamming Sofia¡¯s system feed. Oh god, collapse all the ones without an imprint, please. ¡®You have defeated [Skitrill - Lv. 103 to 199]*342¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Skitrill - Lv. 208 - Imprint Damaged]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Skitrill - Lv. 248 - Imprint Mostly intact]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Skitrill - Lv. 239 - Imprint Badly Damaged]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Skitrill - Lv. 207 - Imprint Intact]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Skitrill - Lv. 212 - Imprint Intact]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Skitrill - Lv. 240 - Imprint Damaged]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Skitrill - Lv. 233 - Imprint Mostly intact]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Skitrill - Lv. 224 - Imprint Damaged]¡¯ As the explosion died down, Sofia kept flying, her heat vision was as good as useless now with the waves of heat of her own making washing over the swamp. She couldn¡¯t feel a trace of the monsters. All she ¡®could¡¯ see within the swamp were bits of bloody brown flesh sticking out of the mud. No way did that kill them all. There had to be more than that. But that has probably killed all those near the center of the explosion. If I had to guess, the closer to the center the more damaged the imprint, while the intact ones probably died to the shockwave only. That left quite a crater. It¡¯s already filling back up with water though. I still don¡¯t really know what these ¡®Skitrills¡¯ look like. Is it safe to say the survivors probably escaped? How do I get the imprints, though? Oh, I think I know. Go down first to check if it¡¯s safe. Pareth appeared in the air near Sofia and plummeted down to the swamp, activating his float ring right before hitting the water. Just like the old slow-fall ring. Really convenient magic. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. Pareth walked around in the swamp, his legs sinking deep into the muddy waters even with the float ring on. Nothing seemed to move around him. Yeah the bolt definitely scared away any survivors. I wonder if they dug deeper or to the sides. Sofia flew down and landed in between Pareth¡¯s three heads. Walk closer to the crater. She observed the bits of charred flesh she could see in the mud, to Sofia they looked somewhat insect-like, with some kind of chitinous shell. No skeleton, so I can¡¯t even try to fish them out myself. Graveyard crew, it¡¯s your turn! Dig them out! Sofia made an ugly face as the first Skitrill was dug out by a ghostly skeleton. The beast was best described as a burrowing mosquito, with large conical digging claws in place of wings and a long spike-shaped mouth. The sight of it made her shiver. Do these things also suck blood? It would only take two of those to dry me out I¡¯m sure¡­ Maybe just one. If I still had any blood left, that is. I wonder what they usually feed on. The skeletons brought the dead insect to Pareth who grabbed it and held it up to Sofia. No imprint on this one. We¡¯re going to have to sift through the 350 of them just to find the eight good ones, aren¡¯t we? And I don¡¯t even know what the imprint actually is. Well. Sofia ordered a few of the graveyard skeletons to stay on the extremities of her range to warn her in case the rest of the swarm came back, while the majority of the crew was busy bringing back charred or squashed bodies of giant dead insects covered in smelly mud. Finally, as a pile of corpses had started accumulating on the side, Sofia got an imprint from a particularly messed up bloody insect corpse. [Nascent mana heart of Aphenoreth]: /E tier/ 9 months, 32 days, 6 hours Imprint progress : 117.60/ 250 Effects (Will be doubled) :
  • All stats -5% (E rank base)
  • Health + 3
  • Mana + 1757
  • [Relocate Core]
¡°Woah. A whole three health. That better have been the ¡®badly damaged¡¯ one.¡± As Sofia was contemplating whether she should keep absorbing the other Skitrills, give them to Pareth, or just skip digging for them altogether and get back to hunting something better, a couple of graveyard skeletons brought up something new. Oh, a live specimen. In bad shape, but alive. [Skitrill - Lv. 198] ¡®A blood-sucking insect traveling in swarms underground. Their presence usually indicates loose soil and a high likelihood of finding herds of large land animals nearby. They tend to be attracted by any cluster of mana they can locate.¡¯ Herds of large land animals? I might need to fly higher ,see if I can see anything. No point in finishing this one off, toss it to the side. The creature weakly burrowed in the mud after the skeletons let it go. The graveyard skeletons took about fifteen minutes to fish out all the dead bugs, and Sofia managed to confirm that their intact imprint was ¡®+100 Health¡¯, and the total she collected was 561 Health points. Barely worth the time. Leaving a charred bit of swamp and a mountain of bug corpses behind, she quickly went to check up on the stone fort. She landed in the middle of the half-collapsed fort. Not made by a skill, this is real stone, quite old. The size of the entrance and stairs is too small to be human, and looks too shoddy for dwarves. Conclusion¡­ I have no idea who might have built this. There isn¡¯t much left but this feels like a military outpost of some kind. The floor has three layers of stone so they clearly knew about the Skitrills. In comparison, the walls are quite thin. Why build an outpost like this on the border of a swamp? This must have taken a long time, too, when we¡¯re only here for a year. Even for me it would take a few days to set up something like this out of bones, let alone stone. Well, whatever, at least it makes for a nice landmark to find my way back to the tower if ever needed. Not lingering in the ruins any longer, Sofia flew straight up until she hit the layer of turbulent mana and was forced to stop. Today was a bit cloudy, which made looking around not as easy as before. She looked for the potential herd of land animals the Skitrill¡¯s description had mentioned. Hmm no. Nothing this way either¡­ A few flying monsters but nothing big¡­ Huh? I could have sworn¡­ Sofia had seen something, not on the ground, but in one of the clouds. An eye. Am I seeing things? Using her enhanced eye, she zoomed on the thick white cloud in question, failing to spot anything. I¡¯ve seen how well hidden some of the monsters here are. No way I¡¯m not going to check. Sofia quick-charged a low mana piercing bolt and threw it at the cloud. The lightning bolt pierced a hole through the fluffy white cloud and kept flying. Nothing? She almost gave up and returned to looking at the ground, but just to feel safe, she brought Bookie out and summoned a Firebird skeleton for 35 000 mana. The skeleton came out with its wings covered in flames just like the monster, and Sofia sent it into the suspicious cloud. Suddenly, as the skeleton¡¯s flames disappeared into the cloud, Sofia lost her connection to it. Huh?! She saw bits of bones fall from the cloud and dissipate into a thin mana mist. There was actually something¡­ And the cloud blocked sunlight enough for the blessing not to work. Crap. I¡¯ve been flying up and down through the clouds without a care in the world¡­ I need to draw that thing out. How does one dissipate a cloud? Rot? No, if Sunlight doesn¡¯t reach through the thick cloud, the holy light won¡¯t either. And it won¡¯t stick to the cloud itself. I see. Well, I have no lack of long range weapons. Skull Choir! Maximum skulls, Sandworm form!
Chapter 401 - That’s my move! Sofia flew closer to the suspicious cloud, an array of fifty seven miniature sandworm skulls flying beyond here like an organized squadron of scary tubes. The skulls all charged their attack and when Sofia felt she was close enough, she launched the assault. A barrage of energy beams shot toward the slow drifting cloud. Before they could reach their target, Sofia felt something coming for her. Despite the space warping from [DODGE - ME] being active, the instincts that came with her [Heat Death] specialization told her she was about to take damage. She activated [Heat Death] in return, fifteen thousand mana points disappearing from her reserves, shooting at the yet unseen projectile which came her way with a bang. Lightning bolt?! The enemy magic was dispelled before it could reach her, and the choir¡¯s beams finally reached the cloud. The attack drilled many holes through the soft cloud, and left little space for the creature hidden within to move around. A few of the attacks touched it, whatever it was; it roared. Health : 85 980 / 85 980 Stamina : 20 241 / 21 047 Mana : 346 500 / 417 100 I need to be careful with mana. The choir is a big drain. Another lightning bolt made its way toward Sofia, which she dispelled without a second thought. Not Angel Bolts. Regular lightning magic. The creature¡¯s form was slowly being revealed as the magical energies dispersed the cloud, but it looked like the cloud was also growing somehow. So far Sofia couldn¡¯t make out much besides the gray-white skin of some long thing hiding in the cloud. Identify finally reached it! [Sirhellion - Lv. 293 - Imprint power : 100 - Effect : + 10 000 Mana] ¡®A cloud-dwelling abomination with deadly strength and devastating long-range lightning magic. Despite their tendency to use ambush tactics, they are all but weak. Be careful not to get surrounded. Whatever you do, do not inhale the clouds.¡¯ Crap. Sofia pushed her mana senses, the Sirhellion in the nearby cloud was easy to detect now that she was so close, but the other clouds in the surrounding area were all too far for her to scan. But close enough to attack me. The choir attacked again as Sofia summoned Bookie and ripped one of its pages. Bird squad out, check all the nearby clouds! The skull choir¡¯s beams reached the cloud and instead of the same result as before, were all deflected by an expanding magical shield, sending the rays of energy flying in all directions. The magical shield also dispersed the cloud, revealing the roaring beast within. The Sirhellion looked like a big bloated snake with smooth pale skin and a deformed human-like face for a head. Two short arms near the head clutched small pulsating red lightning bolts as the creature¡¯s long body twisted and turned in the sky. Small protrusions all over its body were opening and closing, releasing white smoke which was already starting to reform a cloud. Fucking¡­ It¡¯s the same head Siren Queens have on their chest. The Sirhellion¡¯s body twirled, and it released both lightning bolts at the same time, digging even further into Sofia¡¯s mana reserves, she decisively dispelled the choir to cut her consumption. Mana : 284 634 / 417 100 How many of these can it still throw? Sofia started charging a bolt of her own again now that she could see the creature¡¯s body, she could actually hope to hit it. The Sirhellion¡¯s mouth opened, letting out a terrifying human-like scream, and electric mana gathered around it like a lightning cage which it then burst out of, sending hundreds of small electrical attacks flying, which spread out before all aiming straight at Sofia. Sofia calmly kept channeling her bolt. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. These are too weak to pierce [DODGE - ME]. As long as I don¡¯t move, they will just be deviated. I can save some mana. Just as all the countless small attacks washed over her like a huge volley of lightning arrows surrounding her and harmlessly curving around, Sofia felt a signal from the bird squad. Some birds had stopped moving suddenly. Only then did she feel the attack coming from behind. While her senses were overwhelmed by the massive but harmless attack from the front another Sirhellion had attacked from afar, which she managed to dispel with [Heat Death] at the last moment. Shit. From another direction, one of her reconnaissance birds died. There¡¯s at least three! A lightning attack came from the direction of the dead bird, and another one came from the Sirhellion in front of Sofia, which was already starting to disappear again inside of a small cloud of its own making. I need to charge a bit more¡­ Sofia dispelled four more red lightning bolts coming her way, and finally, she released her own attack as the Sirhellion was starting to become really hard to see. The bolt hit a magical shield, and broke through. Piercing right through the monster¡¯s ugly head from the side as it was moving within its cloud. The Sirhellion fell from his cloud and started plummeting toward the ground. Birds, come back! Sofia quickly followed, flying forward and down until she was flying over the falling creature. No use playing dead, cloud monster. Your go, Pareth. Sofia¡¯s main preoccupation was to make sure the other cloud monsters weren¡¯t following her. As the Sirhellion fell from the sky, Pareth appeared above it, falling much faster. Right before Pareth hit the falling creature, it ¡®woke up¡¯ and unleashed another volley of target-seeking lightning attacks which rushed past Pareth to go toward Sofia. Pareth used [Gravity Well], and the small lightning bolts all collapsed onto him, failing to harm him at all. It also attracted the falling monster against him. It had yet another magical shield up, faintly showing up as red motes of energy, but Pareth¡¯s gigantic skeletal hands punched right through it, prompting the creature to scream again. Its pained cry reminded Sofia of the sound of an old lady screaming. Bad memories from her time in the Sovuln survivors caravan. All Sofia did from then on was to keep monitoring both the other clouds they were falling further and further away from, and the landing site below, right in the swamp, just a few thousand meters away from the stone ruins. It seemed no other monster was going to step forward to defend the struggling Sirhellion. A few more lightning attacks were thrown at Pareth¡¯s face, but seeing no success, the creature started throwing punches back, actually breaking a few bones in the process. Finally, the Sirhellion crashed-landed into the swamp, while Pareth disappeared and reappeared at Sofia¡¯s side, a hundred meters above. Sofia fired a piercing bolt straight down at the creature trying to make it out of the swamp, sending it back into it, before Pareth fell onto it from above again. The brawl continued for a few seconds until Sofia had another bolt ready, and Pareth disappeared again, giving Sofia another free shot at the Sirhellion. ¡®You have defeated [Sirhellion - Lv. 293 - Imprint Mostly intact]¡¯ ¡°That thing was a bit tough.¡± Sofia checked the swamp with her heat-vision to make sure it was safe from the mosquito monster swarms before going down. Looks mostly safe¡­ The other cloud monsters haven¡¯t followed at all for some reason. It doesn¡¯t look like these things are very fast or dangerous. The main danger is getting overwhelmed by too many lightning attacks and running out of mana¡­ I should be able to hunt them down if I¡¯m careful. Sofia stepped on the air right above the swampy waters. The sky creature lay dead in the mud, still hot and steaming from the multiple Angel bolts it took straight on. I¡¯m shocked this thing survived so long after I pierced the head. Sofia gave a weak kick to the corpse. Looks pretty light. Squatting over the dead thing, she plunged her hand inside, and ripped out a rib-looking bone. Hollow bones. The body seems worthless. Skeleton mostly intact except for a few holes, but nothing missing. Sofia stuck the rib back into the steaming corpse and brought her mana heart out to absorb the imprint. Ninety seven out of a hundred imprint power collected. Not bad at all. [Nascent mana heart of Aphenoreth]: /E tier/ 9 months, 32 days, 5 hours Imprint progress : 220.18/ 250 Effects (Will be doubled) :
  • All stats -5% (E rank base)
  • Health + 561
  • Mana + 11 457
  • [Relocate Core]
I can see how it might take a year to get up to B rank if you cannot hunt these level 250+ monsters. I¡¯ll probably reach it in a few days. What¡¯s more worrying is the Bonus task. I still have no idea. Investigating the moons could be a start if Micheal was onto something with the whole Alpha Beta thing. But I haven¡¯t seen a sign of any other launch tower. Haven¡¯t seen a single way to go underground either, getting to the center of the planet might not be easy. Let¡¯s start by catching a few more Sirhellions while they¡¯re here first. I can¡¯t let all this mana go. They¡¯ll make for a good snack for Bookie too. Sofia looked up at the clouds with a smile.
Chapter 402 - Tea time anytime It took Sofia all day to catch three more Sirhellions. Finding them had been the easy part, as two of them had attacked her during her first fight, and she had simply asked her bird to follow their clouds, but fighting them safely had been another story entirely. The main issue was that these three Sirhellions were aware of her now, and they stayed relatively close to each other. It was impossible for Sofia to attack one without having all three of them on her back, showering her with an uninterrupted stream of lightning attacks. On the flipside, now that Sofia knew their tricks and attack patterns, it was impossible for them to ever touch her unless she made a critical mistake. She had to abort the fight multiple times to rest and regain her mana, and when she did, the monsters healed up as well. In the end it was when she decided to focus on speed by using [Runeforged Overlord] that she managed to break the stalemate. Rather than using [DODGE - ME]¡¯s spatial protection and [Heat Death] to negate attacks, she flew faster to avoid them, cutting back on the mana cost of her defenses, allowing her to keep up her offensive for longer. Eventually another Sirhellion fell from the sky after a well-placed explosive bolt, and its fate was sealed. The remaining two were much easier to take out now that their third wheel was gone, and Sofia absorbed her fourth Sirhellion imprint in the middle of the swamp as the sun came down. ¡®You have defeated [Sirhellion - Lv. 275 - Imprint Badly Damaged]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Sirhellion - Lv. 286 - Imprint Mostly intact]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Sirhellion - Lv. 299 - Imprint Mostly intact]¡¯ The explosive bolt really ruined that first one. Better than nothing but such a waste of effort, the badly damaged imprint only gave 4600 mana out of 10 000¡­ Still, very good progress for a single day. And I still haven¡¯t lost any life. [Nascent mana heart of Aphenoreth]: /D tier/ 9 months, 31 days, 19 hours Imprint progress : 441.51/ 500 Effects (Will be doubled) :
  • All stats +20% (D rank base)
  • Health + 561
  • Mana + 33 590
  • [Relocate Core]
Already almost up to C tier. Or rank. It literally says both tier and rank a few lines apart¡­ The all stats line going up to +20% was expected but appreciated. It¡¯s really linear for now, so that means B rank is +70% and A rank +95%. It¡¯s harder to predict imprint progress. The breakpoints have been fifty, two hundred and fifty, and five hundred. It could still be a plus 50 each time so the next breakpoint would be 800¡­ That feels reasonable? That would already be the minimum to pass the trial then. Eight hundred imprint power. That¡¯s honestly not too bad. But it¡¯s also only eighty thousand stat points. Even with the 70% bonus, it¡¯s still not a lot. I think¡­ Barely passing at B tier probably makes you a garbage level 250. Like that head-hunter dwarf I indirectly killed by trapping her in the thrombber hive. She didn¡¯t feel all that exceptional. But she was 250+. The cutoff point for both this and the previous trial have been quite generous. Then again, I¡¯m a special case. The swamp started freezing under Sofia¡¯s feet. Ah, I should get back up before the Sunless appear. She stored the hole-ridden corpse of the Sirhellion she had just finished and flew up right before the ambient mana started clumping up to form the Sunless drones. It¡¯s really happening again. It¡¯s safe to say they¡¯ll be back every night. I know the land monsters get imprisoned into sunless cocoons for the night but I wonder how that works for the Sirhellions or the underground mosquitos. Let¡¯s kill a few drones to get Pareth his last few [Relocate Core] skill shards. [Nascent mana heart of Knowledge]: Rank : D Tier This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Imprint power until next rank : 258/500 Effects (on use) : All stats +20% (D rank base)
  • +8500 Health
  • ??? Skill shard (1/10) (Sunless Amalgam Skill)
  • [Relocate Core] Skill shard (73/100)
Maybe I should see what I can do about the Amalgams. Could I get just two drones to fuse to make a weaker one? It¡¯s not like the Sirhellions, the Amalgams can actually hurt me quite badly with their black spears. I need to find a safe way to hunt them. Sofia released the Angel¡¯s bolt she had been channeling while looking over Pareth¡¯s stats. ¡®You have defeated [Sunless Drone - Lv. 201 - Imprint Intact]¡¯ So weak, these things. It took about two hours to get the remaining skill shard for Pareth while moving through the frozen swamp. She was starting to get more comfortable with the cold and mana-less night environment. The fact that the only creatures she had to worry about were the Sunless drones was actually a breeze of fresh air compared to the daytime when random creatures roamed around everywhere, be it in the sky or underground. Then, suddenly, things around Sofia became dark. Huh? She looked up. Did something happen to the moons? It took her a moment to realize why she could not see any stars. Wait¡­ Don¡¯t tell me. [Sunless Nightbringer - Lv. 334 - Imprint power : ??? - Effect : ??? ] ¡®And the sky disappeared, giving place to his endless majesty.¡¯ Sofia quickly summoned the graveyard and had it bring her underground through the cold muddy waters of the swamp. Holy fuck. How big is this thing? I couldn¡¯t even see what it looked like, just that it covered an entire half of the sky! What in the world¡­ It might have been as big as the Sun whale, even. At least I think it didn¡¯t see me. This isn¡¯t something I can fight. At the edge of the graveyard¡¯s perception, Sofia could feel a tiny empty space, prompting her to go investigate. Maybe a Skitrill gallery? I don¡¯t see anything weird as far as the spirit realm vision goes¡­ I might as well explore underground while this thing is outside. After a few long seconds for the graveyard skeletons to drag her all the way down to the underground gallery, Sofia found herself alone on all fours in a dark cave. Too tight for Pareth. Bookie, you¡¯re up. Bookie¡¯s small skeleton form appeared near Sofia, he seemed happy to come out as a skeleton for once in the trial, he could stand upright in the small tunnel, but barely. ¡°Happy to have you around too. Wanna fuse with something?¡± Bookie nodded, and handed the book upside down to Sofia with the High-Priest page in evidence. ¡°Expensive tastes, but whatever you like, not a bad choice to explore underground. The priest¡¯s mana shield could be useful if we get surrounded,¡± Sofia commented as she ripped off the page, and watched Bookie gain a new scepter to fit his high-priest functions. ¡°Let¡¯s get Crowie out too, while we¡¯re at it.¡± The unusual trio started exploring the underground tunnels. They were clearly not human-made, dug straight through the stone and dirt, they were not always horizontal either, sometimes going straight up or down. A few times, different tunnels crossed through this one, but Sofia chose to follow the same one path, for simplicity¡¯s sake. It would make it easier to get back to her starting spot near the surface. Worst case I can dig my way back up with the sandworm skeleton if I find somewhere large enough to summon it. It doesn¡¯t dig very well in dirt and stone compared to sand but it¡¯s not like it cannot do it. Sofia kept following the tunnel, not finding much of anything. How long has it been? Checking the timer on her Mana heart, Sofia sighed. More than an hour crawling through the dirt and still nothing. Not even a glimpse of a single mosquito monster. The ambient mana is still empty, too, even this deep. So there might be Sunless drones underground. Haven¡¯t seen any yet, though. Should I just go back up? The thing is likely to be long gone by now. But it feels bad to leave now after having accomplished nothing¡­ Sofia sat down and summoned her rat swarm to explore the tunnels. ¡°I should have started with that.¡± She plugged the sides of the tunnel she was in with a bunch of bone, brought out a pack of cards, and played with Bookie while his rats ran around the underground tunnels. She didn¡¯t bother trying to map out the place, only telling Bookie to warn her if the rats found something. Sofia even had time to eat a nice warm meal with some hot tea of Alith¡¯s making, and to make a few sculptures of Crowie by the time Bookie jumped up, more than an hour later. ¡°No way? Did they really find something?¡± Bokkie nodded enthusiastically, and Sofia watched as her connections to all the rats disappeared one by one until there was only one left. ¡°Oh, woah. It¡¯s quite far away. It¡¯ll take us forever to crawl there. Worth it?¡± Bookie shrugged. ¡°Don¡¯t know either, huh? Can¡¯t you see through the rat¡¯s eyes?¡± Bookie grabbed Crowie, and held it near himself, nodding. Then he held Crowie as far from him as he could muster with his short arms, and shook his skull. ¡°Not when they¡¯re that far. Got it. Not very different from me with the tokens then.¡± It only took a second for Sofia to come up with a plan. ¡°Let¡¯s go back up, we¡¯ll walk on the surface until we¡¯re right above the rat and use the sandworm to get down.¡± With a thumbs up from Bookie, the plan was set in motion.
Chapter 403 - I’ve had worse nightmares The giant flying Sunless creature was nowhere to be seen when Sofia and Bookie resurfaced, so they ran to the spot where the rat was. Bolting a few Sunless drones on the way and realizing that extra skill shards for [Relocate Core] were completely useless as the mana hearts wouldn¡¯t even absorb them. Finally, reaching their destination, they did not even need to dig down as there was actually an iron hatch at the surface, just sitting there in the middle of the frozen swamp. Sofia almost missed it, it was Crowie who pointed it out from up on her shoulder. Like that, in the middle of nowhere? Sofia kicked the hatch open, it wasn¡¯t locked, and it revealed a round pipe-like opening with a rusty ladder going straight down. There was no lighting whatsoever and Sofia could see that the ladder went pretty deep. I wonder if I could land that without losing health. Maybe with the title that reduces Environmental damage? Anyway. Sofia grabbed Bookie under her left arm and jumped down the hole. Rather than letting her landing up to chance, she let her Dragon-Scale claw rap against the wall and used it to slow her descent when needed, her claws effortlessly digging into the metal pipe. She stopped a bit before reaching the bottom. Her mana senses did not pick up anything weird in the room at the bottom except for her own rat skeleton, waiting for her. Should be safe, but still, go first Pareth. While Pareth did not fit inside of the pipe, he could easily stand in the room it led to. Appearing inside it, he looked around, and Sofia looked through his eyes. Pretty much what I expected from my mana senses, but not reason to take unnecessary risks. The room was rather large, with metal-sheet walls reminiscent of the surroundings of the IPS shuttle. The ladder leading up was on one side and a chunky stone-like double-door was on the other, more than tall enough for Pareth to go through. The rat skeleton was waiting in a corner, it had entered by clawing an opening through the metal wall. ¡°I expected a Sunless cocoon or a Skitrill hive, but not this¡­¡± It¡¯s clearly system-made¡­ And I cannot sense anything beyond that door. Nothing at all. Strange. Sofia walked up to the door, it had no handle or anything like that and was perfectly flat, so she placed her palm on it to open it and as soon as she touched it, the room lit up with faint blue light. [You have discovered the dungeon : Northside Marshland test center] ¡°A dungeon? Here? It says discovered, not entered¡­ Because we¡¯re first to find it? I don¡¯t know if I¡¯ve ever heard a precedent of that. I¡¯ve entered quite a few dungeons and it never said that¡­¡± [Detected players : 2 - Please wait during calibration] ¡°Players¡­ Me and Pareth, I guess. But calibration? For a test center¡­ Are we the ones being tested, then?¡± Sofia took a step back. She still could not feel anything beyond the door. As if the space there simply did not exist. After a few seconds, the doors creaked and slowly slid open, dust and gravel falling from them onto the metal floor. Sofia¡¯s perception opened to the space beyond the doors, it looked like nothing special, a twisted corridor of more metal walls, but to her senses it was quite weird. As if nothing existed outside of said corridor. [Calibration successful - Difficulty : Nightmare] [The dungeon has been successfully calibrated according to your skills] [Time until closure 9h36] [Rewards : Random Heart Catalyser *1 ; unknown imprint; unknown imprint] Oh. We only have nine hours? Closes at daybreak. Are there Sunless monsters inside? Calibrated according to our skills¡­ So it¡¯s a dungeon that adapts to the person challenging it. A small trial inside the trial? At least it looks optional. Heart catalyser does sound like it¡¯s for using with the mana hearts. But Kyle never mentioned anything like that. Go figure¡­ It might be optional. Or it might not. An entire world wasn¡¯t enough, they just had to add dungeons. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Sofia looked at Pareth and Bookie. ¡°Well, I¡¯m mostly worried that we may only be able to challenge it once. There¡¯s no explanation for the closure thing at all so it could go any number of ways. What do you guys think?¡± Pareth activated his light armor and Bookie brandished his high-priest scepter. ¡°Fair. But let¡¯s not go in right away. Go back Bookie, let¡¯s reset your timer. No reason to leave you on a two hour timer when you could go back to five. I should pre-cast a [Saintess¡¯ madness] effect, too. Probably fire. Mana burn is never a wrong choice.¡± When everything was ready, the small group entered the dungeon, and the doors closed behind them. ¡°Well shit. We got completely cut off from the outside. I can¡¯t even feel the link to Alith and Ihuarah, not even faintly.¡± Sofia summoned the graveyard crew, only to find that they could not even come out. Great. Trying to teleport back to the outside through the door was fruitless. The teleportation magic failed to even activate. Sofia then punched the door, breaking a hole into it. The other side was no longer ¡®the outside room¡¯. It was pitch black. Extending a long bone in there resulted in absolutely nothing happening, it was like empty space, and the broken door soon reformed, closing onto the bone piece and crushing it to dust. Are we in the margin right now? That would be a very good explanation as to why everything is so weird. The graveyard skeletons normally work in the margin, though. And now that I think of it. How is it that they can still phase through walls in the margin but Alith can¡¯t transform at all? Strange. Well, let¡¯s focus on that ¡®Nightmare difficulty¡¯ dungeon, then, since it looks like we¡¯re trapped here. Not like being trapped does anything to my mental anymore, anyway. Just another day. Let¡¯s see what the system prepared just for us. The rat advanced first, followed by Pareth, then Sofia and Bookie were safely at the back. STOP! Sofia ordered everyone to freeze. Further down the winding metallic corridors, she could finally feel something. A big lump of mana, one would say. Fuck. Amalgam. It¡¯s coming our way. Corridor is about ten meters tall and wide. Can¡¯t hide outside, no ambient mana, graveyard useless¡­ This is going to be tough. Bookie, giant ice spiders. Pareth, prepare the Sanctified ground, you have to hold that thing back. The amalgam had been advancing slowly, still a few turns away in the long metallic corridor, but as soon as Sofia¡¯s group started using a lot of mana, it charged. The five skeletal spiders spread around the walls and the ceiling, covering the corridor in their thick webs, while Pareth braced for impact, two giant shields of light brandished before him. Sofia was as far back as she could, raising her scepter high, she prepared a piercing bolt. The amalgam finally entered the group¡¯s field of view, crashing into a wall before abruptly changing direction toward them. [Twin-Headed Sunless Amalgam - Lv. 299 - Imprint power : 200 - Effect : ??? Skill shards (2/10) ] ¡®A large number of Sunless Drones turned a bit more than one, very dumb, mercilessly dangerous.¡¯ Crap. The amalgam this time reminded Sofia of a slug¡¯s face, two big ¡®eyes¡¯ linked to one thick base. Of course, it still had the characteristic slick and oily pitch-black skin of the Sunless. Sofia wanted to cancel her bolt, but let it go instead. It flew through the corridor, and when it reached the Amalgam, the ¡®head¡¯ the bolt was aimed for just moved out of the way, then it charged Pareth. Piercing is definitely not the way to go. Sofia blasted the creature with rotting light as it rammed into Pareth¡¯s shields in a deafening collision. She started channeling an explosive bolt. Two hundred-thousand mana could do the trick. Leaves me most of the other half for [Runeforged Overlord] if needed. Sofia¡¯s plans were cut short by the Amalgam¡¯s next move. A bunch a black goo shot out from it, not forming a black lance, but lobbed over Pareth¡¯s head and landing all around Sofia before returning to their form as Sunless drones. Sofia jumped and slammed the explosive bolt below her. It was still relatively low power but it killed the closest drones. ¡®You have defeated [Sunless Drone - Lv. 236]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Sunless Drone - Lv. 240]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Sunless Drone - Lv. 209]¡¯ There were eight more, some within the explosion¡¯s radius, some not. Bookie turned around to help, while Pareth was busy with the amalgam. [Title changed to ¡®THE GLORIOUS¡¯] [Title change function is locked for the next 24 hours] A ray of Holy light flashed over the sunless drones, covering them and the ground in rot, while the tip of Sofia¡¯s scepter changed to a sword-like spine with a core of light. Sofia had never given any Drone a chance to attack until now, but as it turned out, they had their own spells. Dozens of black orbs appeared above each of the Drones, each charged with thousands of mana. Sofia¡¯s legs hit the roof, and she used that foothold to leap back down at the drones. The black orbs all shot at her like deadly inverted raindrops.
Chapter 404 - Enemy not found Sofia braced herself behind her large bone shield, with the mithril kite shield as a core and the [Bone dominus] blessing on top of it, she was confident that it would stop the drones¡¯ attacks. The hundreds of black orbs crashed straight into the shield as Sofia rammed into them on her way down. The sound of the impacts was deafening but the damage was minimal. The bone layer of the shield cracked but did not break, and Sofia was mostly safe. She did lose some life for the first time during the trial, as her arm still had to bear the impact of the black orbs on the shield, but it was minimal. In truth, it was her stamina which had taken a big hit. Health : 127 216 / 127 250 Stamina : 23 161 / 31 150 Mana : 321 501 / 417 100 [Sanctified grounds] is saving my ass. Sofia crashed shield-first into one of the drones, its globulous body exploding into a rain of sticky black goo. ¡®You have defeated [Sunless Drone - Lv. 209]¡¯ As she touched ground, Sofia was enveloped by a radiant shield of light, which came just in time as another close-by drone¡¯s body had extended into a spike, lunging right at her. The magic shield deflected the blow, and Sofia striked back with her sword-scepter, creating an explosion of solar light as she slammed into the creature. The magic shield could take another two, maybe three similar hits, and Sofia was still surrounded by seven drones in close proximity while Pareth and the spiders were busy with the Amalgam. Unwilling to take any more risk, Sofia boxed herself within thick walls of bones. It would not hold long, but she only needed a few seconds anyway. She grabbed her shield she was standing on, and kept summoning more and more bones around her to absorb the attacks of the drones furiously trying to pierce through. ¡®You have defeated [Sunless Drone - Lv. 218]¡¯ A first drone died. ¡®You have defeated [Sunless Drone - Lv. 204]¡¯ Then another one. ¡®You have defeated [Sunless Drone - Lv. 227]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Sunless Drone - Lv. 225]¡¯ Then again. The drones started falling like flies. They had been hit by the shockwave of the explosive bolt, and the solar explosion, trimming their health down, and the constant damage from the rot and [THE GLORIOUS] title was enough to finish them off. Not to mention Bookie striking them with ranged attacks from further away. ¡®You have defeated [Sunless Drone - Lv. 232]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Sunless Drone - Lv. 247]¡¯ With only one drone left alive, Sofia pinpointed its position with her mana senses, stored all the bone walls at once, and struck with her [Spine of the Black Sun] again. ¡®You have defeated [Sunless Drone - Lv. 249]¡¯ Thanks for the shield, Bookie. She turned to see how Pareth was doing, surprisingly enough, he had lost some life to the Amalgam even with [Sanctified grounds] active and while fighting defensively with a shield. Name : Pareth Health : 25 465 603 / 37 146 780 Stamina : 12 600 384 / 12 600 384 Mana : 42 800 / 49 800 The rot is working but it¡¯s slow. Sofia raised her shield. As a blessed construct, for all intents and purposes, it was a skeleton. A very sturdy one, at that, so to say, one with a lot of health. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. [Saintess¡¯ madness] Her arm raised and cocked back, her muscles tensed, Sofia let her mana infuse her shield as she waited for an opening. A ray of blinding light shot out from Bookie¡¯s High-priest scepter, stopping the Amalgam dead in its tracks for an instant. The light gave Pareth an opportunity to disengage and cast his [Chains of the four seals], while the spiders spat balls of web at the creature. Ensnared by multiple spells, the amalgam readied a lot of mana to unleash a spell of its own and free itself from its bonds. Sofia had a clear shot. The shield was enveloped in fire as it flew straight into one of the amalgam¡¯s two ¡®heads¡¯, and exploded on impact in a great ball of fire. Eat your Mana Burn, bitch! Sofia shouted in her mind as Bookie¡¯s magic shield broke from the bone splinters of her own attack reaching all the way back to where she was. And the amalgam did exactly what it was always going to do, unleashing a wave of black energy in all directions, and suffering a huge backlash from [Saintess¡¯ madness]s¡¯ mana burn. The wave of energy was too weak to damage Pareth, and Sofia simply avoided it, teleporting forward into it with [Summon Self] right as it was about to hit her. Only Bookie couldn¡¯t avoid it, choosing to unsummon itself and return to Sofia rather than to be killed by the attack. The amalgam was free again, the head hit by the shield was in poor shape, with the mithril core of the shield still lodged into it, but the creature was still alive. With a ray of light, Sofia reapplied a new layer of rot on the Amalgam as Pareth charged at it. The amalgam prepared a new spell of its own. It¡¯s not going to summon more drones again, is it? Sofia started channeling an explosive bolt again, as fast as she could. She only had about a hundred and fifty thousand mana left, a lot had gone into the shield throw and the rot. But what the amalgam did was the same black javelin move the regular amalgam had once shot at Sofia dozens of times. Except there were two of them at once instead of one. Two heads¡­ Of course, the javelins were both aimed at Sofia. Pareth stood before one, and the spider skeletons all jumped at the second. The attacks never reached Sofia, but the spider skeletons were gone. The amalgam was starting to run out of mana. It changed its fighting style, morphing its body, creating new black limbs to attack Pareth from all sides, and trying to get past him. But Pareth was steadfast. Trying to harm him, or trying to circle around him to get to Sofia, it might have been able to do either one, but in attempting to do both, it achieved neither. This weird standstill lasted twenty seconds, during which Pareth had to slowly backpedal under the monster¡¯s assault, giving away some terrain. Only, for each step back that he took, giving terrain to the amalgam, Sofia herself was flying backwards, getting further and further away from the monster, and readying her bolt. With a hundred-thousand mana charged into the bolt, Sofia released the beast. The blue bolt of plasma left Sofia¡¯s hand with a bang, and Pareth disappeared from the Monster¡¯s side, reappearing in front of Sofia, his shield up and ready. Sofia¡¯s vision turned mostly white. Even for her enhanced eye it was hard to see much of anything at all besides the blurry form of Pareth standing before her. It was far from her largest bolt to date, but it was the largest she had ever thrown into such a closed space. A system notification appeared as the shockwave of the bolt hit Pareth and the following heat wave washed over them. ¡®You have defeated [Twin-Headed Sunless Amalgam - Lv. 299 - Imprint badly damaged]¡¯ Sofia let herself fall ass-first to the floor. ¡°Fucking hell.¡± Grabbing Pareth¡¯s mana heart from within her armor when the explosion had died down, she held it up for him to grab. ¡°Go get the imprint, we don¡¯t want that shit to go to waste after all that effort.¡± Sofia watched as Pareth went and grabbed the imprint as well as the Sunless debris and her mithril shield from the heavily damaged dungeon corridor riddled with holes leading to a black void. She gave a side glance at her health now that the [Sanctified Grounds] ran out. Health : 85 957 / 85 980 I lost 23 Health¡­ Not a lot, but that much I¡¯m not getting back¡­ I should have been more careful. Nightmare difficulty, huh. How likely is it that this was the boss and that the dungeon is over? In the middle of a random corridor? Yeah, no chance. So this was just the appetizer. Great. At least, we got two more skill shards out of it. Pareth¡¯s mana heart blessing really shines in times like these. Two hundred imprint power collected at once when we would have gotten fuck-all otherwise because I ruined the monster with the rot and the bolt. Still, I can¡¯t get over the fact that the Sunless amalgam¡¯s skill costs the equivalent of 100 000 stat points in imprint power. It better be fucking worth the price and the hassle of hunting these things. Seriously, myself aside, who in their right mind would see these things and think, ¡®Yeah let¡¯s kill ten to twenty of them to get some random skill!¡¯ For most people they would just take a dark lance to the face and die. Trials really are no joke, no matter how insane you may be for your level¡­ I¡¯m still feeling confident, though¡­ Or maybe not. Actually. If this place really has a boss stronger than this amalgam¡­ This might not end well. I can¡¯t leave but there¡¯s the option of waiting for the end of the timer. Supposing that it ejects me from the dungeon. It might also just kill me and Pareth, for all I know. Just dump us into the Magin¡¯s void as the dungeon itself disappears or something. I can¡¯t really take the risk. Unless there¡¯s zero chance to beat the boss, but the system wouldn¡¯t do that. Let¡¯s get ready first. I need to rebuild the shield, regenerate my mana and resummon Bookie. The madness shield throw was a bit of an improvised move but it worked great. I should remember to do that again. Well, maybe throwing my shield away isn¡¯t so smart¡­ But it¡¯s a skeleton that¡¯s already always in my hand, so yeah.
Chapter 405 - Proper etiquette Sofia made her way back to the entrance of the dungeon and took a one hour break there. With no ambient mana, she needed that much time to restore it all, not to mention Bookie needing to restock his fog. Her bone shield was re-built and re-blessed, Bookie was summoned again with the high-priest form, and the group was ready to get back to exploring the dungeon. Scripture really gave me a huge boon with that high-priest skeleton. It¡¯s been consistently the best out of Bookie¡¯s summons. Just so many useful spells in his kit. The templars are nice too. It¡¯s a bit of a shame the best skeletons are the ones from people with good classes. I know grave-robbing the dragons is a bad idea but maybe I should look into the old legends more, see what bones I can find¡­ Well, I should focus on the trial for now. Sofia and the skeletons carefully advanced through the large winding corridor. It was surprisingly empty. They found nothing at all all the way until the corridor ended in a new set of huge doors looking exactly like the dungeon¡¯s previous entrance. Is that the exit? Was the double amalgam the boss after all? She closed her eyes and focused on her mana senses. Feeling nothing besides herself, Pareth and Bookie. Still nothing. Maybe it really is the exit? Touching the door, it did not react like the entrance. It didn¡¯t really move at all. Sofia first tried sending some mana into them, to no avail. Teleporting through also did not work, so she took a few steps back. Go ahead Pareth, open ¡®em. Pareth walked up to the doors and with his two huge hands, his fingers slotted in the small groove between the doors, slowly tried to force them open. Despite his best efforts, the two huge doors did not show any sign of moving. Is this a trial of strength or something now? Is there a secret lever to pull somewhere? What is this? And of course the graveyard doesn¡¯t work¡­ Maybe these aren¡¯t like the entrance, they push open instead of sliding to the side? Pareth changed to pushing, and again, the doors did not budge. They must really be sliding doors again. Just tougher. ¡°Change of plan, Pareth, you pull on the left, I pull on the right.¡± Sofia pulled on the door with all her strength, and with Pareth pulling on the opposite one, the doors actually started to open ever so slightly. Just a few millimeters. Then Sofia¡¯s grip slipped, and the doors slammed back together with a bang. ¡°Really? With a bit more strength we can get there, but I don¡¯t want to waste mana on a damned door¡­¡± Come help on my side, Bookie, let¡¯s do it again, I have a plan. At her signal, they pulled on the doors again, slowly, they opened. The doors were clearly pushing back against them, trying to close back up, the more they opened, the more strength they pushed back with, as if held closed by giant hidden springs. When the two doors were separated by about ten centimeters, it was starting to get too hard. As Sofia was about to let go again, she rammed her right arm into the opening, and the doors slammed shut on her arm. The Dragon-scale arm took the hit. Sofia felt nothing. The doors couldn¡¯t crush the dragon-arm, it was not even close. With the doors held slightly open by her arm, Sofia¡¯s senses could now pick up the area beyond it. Some kind of huge circular arena. Empty. Another set of doors on the other side. Let¡¯s get in there. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. Pareth and Bookie hopped into Sofia¡¯s bone storage and reappeared on the other side of the door. Now that there was a direct connection to the next room, she could also teleport in with [Summon Self]. The doors slammed shut behind her. No turning back, I guess. There was nothing left to do in the corridor anyway. Pareth, prepare the sanctified grounds, just in case. I wonder if the key could have just cut through the door¡­ Well, this was faster anyway. Sofia looked around, scanning the arena with her eyes and mana senses. Finding it to be really nothing more than a big round room with rows of empty spectator seats lining the walls. Just like Valeure¡¯s arena and the one in Brighthall. This is a popular design, I guess. Now that I think about it, that hidden room with the avian ghosts where Pareth fought alone looked like this too. Really a popular design. What now, though? An Arena is for fighting but where is the opponent? Sofia¡¯s group walked a bit further into the arena, they stopped when the opposite doors started opening. There it is. Another Sunless? But what came from beyond doors wasn¡¯t another amalgam like Sofia thought it might. It was more like¡­ A tall, full-black human silhouette. From the outline of his oily black figure, Sofia could make out that he was wearing a suit and a short flat hat like Aphenoreth¡¯s. Unlike the other Sunless creatures until now, there were more colors to him. Around his hat was a single white band, he wore a white glove on his left hand, and most importantly, there was a big white cross shape on his otherwise blank black face. Sofia considered channeling a piercing bolt right away, but she held back. Most of his mana is gathered in the white parts. [Sunless Warrior] I wish I still had the cheater title equipped¡­ Sofia and her group were getting ready to start the fight any second, while the Sunless man calmly entered the arena. I have many questions. But I suppose now is not the time. The Sunless man stopped right outside of [THE GLORIOUS]¡¯s range. A glowing blue sword of energy slowly formed within his gloved hand. Bastard sword, no shield. Sofia readied her staff and shield. Despite the context, she was still reluctant to attack first as long as the other side showed no sign of doing anything. He had readied his blade but Sofia could tell his mana was calm and he was not in any kind of battle stance yet. Bookie, Templars. The book appeared before Sofia, she ripped the page without even looking at it, her eyes not leaving the Sunless warrior. The three skeleton templars formed from Bookie¡¯s mist, and the Sunless warrior silently watched from the other side. I let him form his energy sword so he let me summon my skeletons. ¡°I¡¯m ready,¡± Sofia called out. The Sunless warrior nodded. Sticking his sword into the ground next to him to indicate he was not attacking, he bowed. When have I ever fought a Boss ¡®monster¡¯ so polite? This is clearly just a person¡­ Sofia and Pareth copied the bowing gesture. The warrior seemed satisfied with that, the white cross shape on his face constricted into a smaller, brighter X, and he grabbed his sword back, getting into a classical sword fighting stance with a two-handed low guard. Pareth¡¯s [Sanctified Grounds] flared up, and the warrior flexed his legs. He shot forward with a bang, breaking the ground he had been standing on. Pareth teleported to Sofia, and as he appeared in front of her, his Sword met the Sunless warrior¡¯s. Sofia tried to flash some rot onto the warrior, but her light was stopped by a translucent blue magic shield, and the rot only covered some of the floor. She felt a strange mana disturbance behind her, and had the instinct to turn around, right in time to see the Sunless warrior appear there and strike at her with an upward cut which she barely managed to deflect with her shield. Sofia took a step back as her Templars jumped at the Sunless and Pareth turned to cover her with his own massive shield. The warrior effortlessly parried all the hits from the Templars and disappeared again when Pareth¡¯s sword struck. Starting to charge up a Piercing bolt, Sofia summoned the skull choir in a circle formation around her with boar skulls. She only summoned five skulls, just enough to give her some defense without eating at her mana too much. The boar skulls were great at catching swords with their fangs and Sofia had had ample training in using them against Astelia. Sofia felt some of her mana disappear and go to Bookie, who had just fused himself with the Archer Skeleton, and quickly readied his bow. The Sunless Warrior reappeared behind Sofia again, and his Sword was caught by a boar skull, which cracked but did not break, while Sofia struck at him with her barely-formed piercing bolt, which he escaped with another quick teleportation. I¡¯m more than used to fighting against space-mages. Sofia followed the mana trail of the Warrior¡¯s teleportation, and Pareth struck at his exit point as he appeared there. The sword hit was clean, and Pareth¡¯s weapon of light cut the Sunless warrior in half from the shoulder to the waist before hitting the ground.
Chapter 406 - What is a nightmare? The warrior¡¯s body extended from both sides and glued itself back together in an instant. He charged at Pareth while his sword was still on the ground, but failed to hit him, as he had to raise his sword to deflect an arrow of light coming from Bookie. His momentum lost, he teleported again. Sofia followed his teleportation trail, and let go of her piercing bolt, which struck the Sunless warrior as soon as his form reappeared within the arena. The hole left through his chest instantly closed back up, filled-in with the black substance making up its body. The templars unleashed a wave of ranged attacks of light at the warrior, which he deflected with swift sword strikes. Pareth was charging at him, but suddenly, the entire arena turned pitch black. WHAT?! Sofia panicked, she couldn¡¯t see or feel anything but her own body, not even the ground under her feet. One by one, lines of blue light appeared everywhere around her. Her first reflex was to avoid them, contorting her body however she could. Suddenly her senses came back, and what she saw next was the blurry form of the Sunless warrior flashing through the entire arena at a speed impossible to follow, his sword following the trails of light. The three templars were annihilated, Pareth was struck a consequent number of times, too large to avoid the spell, but only one strike actually did any damage, cutting through a dozen of his ribs, while bookie and Sofia narrowly avoided all the attacks. What the fuck was that!? The Sunless warrior landed back at the spot he had been before the room had turned black. His posture was weak, he looked tired. Before Sofia could do anything except start to channel another bolt, her skeletons took the chance to attack. Three arrows of light coming from Bookie planted themselves firmly into the warrior¡¯s head with a chain of wet sounds before Pareth struck down at the warrior with an overhead swing of a gigantic hammer of light. Sofia expected the warrior to avoid the relatively ¡®slow¡¯ hammer, and only now understood that the warrior¡¯s attack had somehow left him unable to move. The hammer hit him cleanly from above, splattering his black figure on the ground like a crushed insect. No kill notification. Noticing this, Sofia also felt a sudden mana movement under Pareth¡¯s hammer. At a glance, it felt a lot like the wind-up to the twin-headed amalgam¡¯s black shockwave attack. Teleport back! Bookie, shield yourself! The skeletons flawlessly followed her orders, and before she knew it, the puddle of black goo Pareth had left behind on the ground exploded like one of her bolts. The heat and the light washed over Sofia, but behind both Pareth and her own shield, she was completely unharmed. The explosion¡¯s origin had been somewhat far, about thirty meters away, enough that it wasn¡¯t too dangerous. Sofia had gone through much worse, but the explosion itself wasn¡¯t what she now worried about, as she felt like the dungeon itself was changing. In fact, she could see it disappear. When the light of the explosion died down, the arena was no more, all that was left of the dungeon were sparse cubes of ¡®dungeon ground¡¯ floating around in the black void. The sunless warrior was back up on one of them, his blue energy sword forming anew in his hands. Sofia¡¯s first reflex was to shower the warrior in rot-spreading holy light once again, and it worked flawlessly this time, completely covering him up in a thin layer in pulsating black rot, which did not change his appearance much. The sunless warrior charged. He was faster than before, almost instantly coming head to head with Pareth. Sofia activated the second level of [Runeforged Overlord] to help Pareth keep up with the increased speed. The cost of more than 1000 mana points per second was quite heavy, but this fight had to end fast one way or another. If Sofia took a single direct hit from the warrior¡¯s sword, it would be all over, she couldn¡¯t make this a battle of attrition. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it The sword fight raged on between Pareth and the nimble black warrior while Sofia and Bookie threw weak piercing bolts and light arrows at him whenever they could, not aiming to really damage him but more to force him away from them when he was getting a bit too close. Pareth had the advantage in brute physical force and in sword technique, along with his massive size, but the Sunless warrior managed to keep up thanks to his overwhelming speed and his seemingly complete disregard of physical injuries. It¡¯s fine. He cannot have infinite health, and his mana is slowly going down. We¡¯re going to get there¡­ As the warrior avoided an angel bolt by jumping to another platform, Pareth managed to get through his defenses, and cut the swordsman into two halves with a diagonal strike once again. Sofia fully expected the warrior to glue itself back together like the first time, but to her surprise, this time, it was different. The lower-left side with the white glove regrew another half, and so did the upper-right side with the head. There were now two sunless warriors. The white parts of his body weren¡¯t cloned, so the one white the glove had no x shaped white mark on its face and no hat ribbon, while the other one had no glove. A blue energy sword appeared in the gloveless warrior¡¯s right hand. Just a nightmare¡­ Sofia watched her mana, right about to fall under 270 000, she took a risky decision. Bookie¡¯s book form appeared before her, already opened and ready. She ripped out a page, and the book¡¯s fog spread around the floating platforms until the book of skeletons was completely empty. Sofia¡¯s mana rapidly decreased, so fast that it was a bit painful. Like suddenly being drained of her lifeforce. Slowly, the giant snake skeleton took form on the battlefield. [Solar Emperor pearled Snake] Health: 1 434 240/ 1 434 240 Stamina : 5 736 960/ 5 736 960 Mana: 10 / 10 Lifetime: 17 927s/17 928s Not waiting to admire her newest skeleton, Sofia quickly discarded the last bits of mana in her body by summoning some sticky balls out of her storage ring which she threw to the ground, and created an opening in her armor for her heart to go through. Her left eye suddenly went blind, but she ignored it, as she was not going to need it right away anyway. Her blackened heart jumped out of her chest, currents of bloodlight coursing through it unimpeded, and Sofia quickly stuffed it in her mouth, not losing any health in the process. Both of the Sunless warriors teleported to Sofia the second she started transforming; as her body was changing, she was defenseless, just like the warrior had been after his big flashy attack earlier. I¡¯m not as brainless as you! The sticky balls Sofia had thrown to the ground exploded. They were the latest batch of Alith¡¯s exploding candy. Sofia knew perfectly well how resistant she was to explosions, with her armor on, the candy wouldn¡¯t even harm her. For two unarmored blobs of magical black goo, however, the result would be different, their squishy bodies were blown apart by the burst of flames. Their scattered parts almost instantly gathered back together, as if their time flew in reverse, but their opportunity was gone Sofia had transformed. Spinning around, her tail lashed out at one warrior¡¯s torso while she used her scepter to club the other one¡¯s head. After taking the hits, they teleported away, barely avoiding a tail swipe from the snake skeleton, which harmlessly passed through Sofia on account of [DODGE ME]¡¯s spatial distortion, as despite her fast spin, she had been standing in one spot and thus stayed in the order state. She had been counting on this to make her safer, and it was also a safeguard against falling into the black void in case the candy¡¯s explosion was strong enough to blow the ground platform to bits, which it had damaged a lot, enough for her to currently be standing on air, but not actually destroyed. It was also quickly reforming. Sofia felt her body become lighter, strengthened by Bookie¡¯s high-priest magic, she dashed forward; running on the giant snake¡¯s back, she joined the battle once again. The snake was fighting off one of the warriors while Pareth held the other one back. Sofia threw her scepter at Bookie while she jumped on top of the snake¡¯s skull, and when she saw an opening, jumped down to punch at the right-handed warrior. Her dragon-scale arm was blocked by the blue energy sword of the warrior, and she jumped back as the snake lunged at the warrior again with bared fangs. The Sunless warriors kept teleporting around, but Sofia in her demon form had a good enough reaction time that she could always get out of the way of wherever they chose to teleport to, and let her skeletons defend her. She focused her attacks on the same warrior, the one with the white x on his face and the hat ribbon. Trading enough blows, she managed to land a few punches, while always having the snake and Bookie cover her retreat. True to its alive counterpart, the snake was a magicless but restless beast; its tough bones barely chipping from the repeated sword strikes of the Sunless warrior. It seemed the flow battle was starting to favor her and her skeletons, when the warriors both teleported away, and Sofia¡¯s senses all disappeared again. This again. Pareth, try to minimize your body size. They¡¯ll be weak afterwards. Try to attack the white parts, they are more protective of them for some reason.
Chapter 407 - Tarren With twice the swords came twice the number of blue trails of light to avoid. It was hard to find a place to stand, but Sofia¡¯s demon body was very flexible and able to contort in weird ways to avoid all the trails. The orb floor from the second trial was way worse in terms of shit to avoid. I just hope Pareth and the snake can survive this. Sofia¡¯s senses came back, and the two Sunless warriors flashed around, their sword cutting through the trails of light at breakneck speed once again. Pareth?! Sofia could feel her skeletons all still alive, but they were currently nothing but piles of bones spread around on the ground of the different platforms of the arena, just like Richard when he ¡®Skeleported¡¯ somewhere else leaving his previous skeleton behind. The attacks of the two warriors all went by, mostly striking at nothing, none of their sword strikes were that close to the ground, and only the largest of Pareth¡¯s bones and the Snake¡¯s skull still took hits because they were too big. As soon as the attacks stopped, the skeletons¡¯ bones quickly pulled themselves together. They had been mostly safe from the attack, but they were also busy reconstructing now, unable to really take advantage of the moment of weakness of the Sunless warriors. With no time to lose, Sofia charged at the closest of the two warriors while taking the third key dagger out of her bone armor. She stabbed the dagger in the middle of the X shaped white mark on the warrior¡¯s face, the key pierced through without any resistance, and Sofia then pulled it upward, slicing the monster¡¯s head in half and cutting through the white hat ribbon on the way. The Sunless warrior exploded into a thick mist of mana. One down! In her moment of joy, Sofia didn¡¯t feel the sword of the second sunless warrior approaching from her back. But Pareth was back up, with a cast of [Gravity well], he attracted the warrior closer to him, making Sofia barely out of his sword¡¯s reach. Sofia was attracted by the spell too, but much less, as she was extremely heavy in comparison to the Sunless swordsman. Sofia turned around, only to see the warrior¡¯s sword glow fiercer than it ever had before. The Sunless swordsman swung at her, clearly out of range. The sword¡¯s path through the air drew an arc of shining light, which shot straight at Sofia. All she had time to do before impact was to raise her shield. The arc of light somehow went right through the shield, the armor, and then herself, damaging all three and losing some power on each step along the way. The damage was not huge by any means, it barely tickled her, but it still went through, slightly scorching Sofia¡¯s insides. She could tell it would have been much worse if not for the shield taking the brunt of the hit. Health : 529 958 / 530 668 Stamina : 241 610 / 530 668 Mana : 0 / 358 560 The warrior kept swinging his sword at nothing, and more arcs of light were flying in Sofia¡¯s direction. Crap. The snake finally made it to the scene, and it¡¯s assault along with Bookie¡¯s arrows and Pareth¡¯s sword forced him to fall back, but he kept swinging his sword, and more and more arcs of light flew in all directions. Sofia couldn¡¯t do anything but focus on avoiding them all. Now that she knew they were coming, she could avoid the lights as long as she kept her attention on how the warrior moved his sword, but that took a hundred percent of her mental and physical capabilities. She jumped and rolled around in erratic movements to avoid all the attacks while the warrior fought the skeletons. Close-call after close-call, Sofia avoided all the strands of light, her stamina slowly but surely falling closer and closer to zero. After a long minute of this circus, finally, the skeletons made a breakthrough in the fight. A tail swipe of the snake blew off most of the warrior¡¯s upper body, and Pareth¡¯s huge skeletal hands grabbed the Sunless warrior¡¯s white glove, crushing it in his grasp, throwing it on the floor and stomping on it with his goat like hooves, creating a huge crater in the floating platform they were on. ¡®You have incapacitated [Tarren - Lv. 249]¡¯ Sofia couldn¡¯t even muster the strength to rejoice at the message, she collapsed on the ground, breathing laboriously under her armor, her stamina had long gone under zero. A real nightmare for my health points¡­ You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. Tarren, huh. Strong guy. Incapacitated, though? That¡¯s new¡­ Slowly, the round arena started reappearing around Sofia and her skeletons. Pareth came to her side while she recuperated on the floor. Sofia got up after catching her breath, the demon form would expire in a few minutes, leaving her at her weakest, so she wanted to make sure to be safe by then. With Pareth, she walked up to Bookie, who was looking at the spot where Pareth had crushed the warrior¡¯s white glove. There was nothing left. No Sunless debris and no imprint. ¡°I guess he¡¯s not actually dead. Hence the incapacitated message¡­¡± Is the dungeon over? Please say that it is¡­ Behind Sofia, one of the arena¡¯s double doors slowly slid open. FUCK! NOT NOW! Bookie threw her scepter back to Sofia, and Pareth¡¯s armor and weapon came back to life. They were all ready to fight whatever was about to come. It turned out that the thing slowly walking toward them was the Sunless warrior again. Don¡¯t tell me we have to fight him again¡­ The warrior slowly entered the arena. He looked perfectly fine, just like the first time, and stopped in exactly the same spot, giving Sofia cold sweat. The Sunless swordsman spoke. ¡°Well fought, trial takers. You may claim your rewards in the room I came from. The dungeon will disappear at sunrise and send you back to the physical realm. Rest up. It was a pleasure to spar against you. May we meet again in another context, I would like a revenge match,¡± Tarren said in a suave manly voice, the white X on his face expanding and shrinking as he spoke. He bowed like he had before the fight, and disappeared in a mist of mana. ¡°Wait!¡± ¡°... He¡¯s gone¡­¡± [You have conquered the dungeon : Northside Marshland test center - Nightmare difficulty. Congratulations!] Sofia laughed to herself. ¡°Sure. just wait for me, I¡¯ll give you another spar, Tarren the Sunless warrior.¡± She turned around and called out to her skeletons, ¡°Let¡¯s get these rewards before I fall to the ground again when my transformation ends. You all fought very well.¡± I was hit by the light once. Not quite a clean win, but I¡¯ll take it. I really need a break after this¡­ I think I¡¯ll be looking around for the bonus objective for a while. I have a full year so¡­ I should take some breaks from the constant fighting. It¡¯s getting tiring. The door Tarren had come from had stayed open this time, making it easy to leave the arena. On the other side of the long dark corridor was a single large circular room. It was mostly empty. There was a stone thing in the middle, looking like a closed tomb, and a single chair propped against a wall. Was he just waiting there the whole time I was in the dungeon? Tarren. An intelligent Sunless¡­ I had a suspicion that the Sunless were like System-created golems for the trial, but this kind of goes against that. This guy had a soul, so he cannot be a golem. He most likely was ¡®born¡¯ a living being. So what are the Sunless, exactly? I should pay more attention to their spiritual body when I¡¯m back on the surface. Might discover a thing or two¡­ Anyway, the rewards! Sofia walked up to the stone thing, it looked very much like the tombs she had pilfered Pareth¡¯s first ever body from, just a large stone rectangle with a stone plate on top. She pushed the plate off, revealing the insides. It¡¯s really a repurposed tomb, isn¡¯t it? I¡¯m not making things up¡­ No bones inside, though. Inside the stone box were two big chunks of white ¡®Sunless debris¡¯, along with a smaller, glowing one, nothing else. [Large Debris]: The core of a Sunless creature. Contains a stable and powerful imprint. Imprint details - Power: 300; Health + 10 000, Stamina + 10 000, Mana + 10 000 ¡°Oh wow. That¡¯s a big-big damn imprint. Is the other one the same?¡± [Large Debris]: The core of a Sunless creature. Contains a stable and powerful imprint. Imprint details - Power: 300; Skill shard (1/1) [Arclight] Arclight? Uh huh. I think I know exactly what that skill is. So we can get a skill from the boss by clearing a trial dungeon. And powerful imprints in general. That¡¯s a lot better than randomly hunting monsters on the surface. Arguably a bit more dangerous too¡­ What about the glowing rock? That has to be that Heart Catalyser thing, right? Yeah. [Small Slashing Heart Catalyser]: A heart catalyser crafted by a master mage. Allows one to upgrade their Mana Heart from rank C to B once sufficient imprint power has been collected. Gives the Mana Heart the added attribute : +5% Slashing damage resistance. This is needed to upgrade from C to B tier? So dungeons are actually a required component of the trial, aren¡¯t they? Unless someone can make these by themselves. Will I need stronger ones for every rank beyond that? I hope not¡­ If so, would the trial even have enough dungeons for both me and Pareth? This must be single use, right? I can already feel the headache¡­ Wait, no, that¡¯s just the transformation starting to wear off¡­ ¡°You should take the skill, Pareth, I¡¯ll take the stats.¡±
Chapter 408 - Aerial superiority Sofia absorbed the imprint and sat on Tarren¡¯s chair before her transformation ended. Her body reverted back to her ¡®human¡¯ form, and she now had to deal with her left eye¡¯s issue. ¡°Did it break? Can¡¯t see anything¡­ It was working fine until my mana hit zero during the fight. I¡¯m still at zero¡­ Richard said it should automatically enter maintenance mode when I¡¯m out of mana, but I should still be able to see in maintenance mode even if it¡¯s just regular vision. Is the lack of ambient mana an issue?¡± The cost to fuel the eye was supposed to be 20 mana a second but with [Heat Death]¡¯s reduction it¡¯s just fifteen. It¡¯s not too bad but it¡¯s still not nothing. No cost for maintenance mode, though, so why¡¯s it not working? There was a way to manually activate maintenance mode¡­ But it requires mana. Is it possible that I hit zero mana too fast and it didn¡¯t have time to automatically activate maintenance? That would explain why it stopped working. Post transformation weakness is going to stay for half an hour though¡­ It¡¯s not like when I¡¯m still in demon form and can cheat with [Heat death] to kickstart the regen, even if I dispelled the snake I¡¯d be stuck with only what I stole from him. Not that I would be able to steal much from the snake since he only has ten mana¡­ Might as well let him play around with Bookie while he¡¯s out, deserved it. With only one eye working, Sofia looked through her mana heart¡¯s new stats. [Nascent mana heart of Aphenoreth]: /C tier/ 9 months, 31 days, 13 hours Imprint progress : 741.51/ 1200 Small Catalyser : 0/1 Effects (Will be doubled) :
  • All stats +45% (C rank base)
  • Health + 10 561
  • Stamina + 10 000
  • Mana + 43 590
  • [Relocate Core]
Already C tier in just two days. That has to be a new speed record, right? Chances are I could be in and out of the trial in just three days if I wanted. Not that I¡¯d ever do that. I¡¯ll suck this trial¡¯s nectar to the last drop. To summarize the new findings, the imprint progress requirement really isn¡¯t linear at all, no point trying to predict it. It does mention the catalyser which is nice even if I already knew. The all stat bonus went up another 25% as expected. Pretty nice. I wonder if I could push it up to 200%? That¡¯s four ranks above A. Sounds possible. I got plenty of time ahead of me. Let¡¯s update Pareth¡¯s sheet too while I¡¯m at it. [Nascent mana heart of Knowledge]: Rank : C Tier Imprint power until next rank : 785/ 1200 Small Catalyser : 0/1 Effects (on use) : All stats +45% (C rank base)
  • +8500 Health
  • ??? Skill shard (3/10) (Sunless Amalgam Skill)
  • [Relocate Core]
  • [Arclight]
So far we¡¯ve done a good job spreading the imprints. We need to get Pareth more stats though. Can¡¯t let him with just skills. Though, Pareth¡¯s most important bonus will end up being the % all stats, right? I wonder¡­ Can he hit 100 million health with good imprints and the [Sanctified grounds] multiplier? Probably not far. That¡¯s pretty exciting to think about. Health : 85 845 / 85 980 Still doing good on that front too, even if I took another hit. Couldn¡¯t really avoid it. I might want to switch to the impervious title sooner rather than later to avoid losing my health crumb by crumb like this. But the flames from the glorious really helped in the fights, especially against all the drones, so it wasn¡¯t a bad choice to have this one on either. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. Sofia just sat there and let her thoughts wander as her body recovered from the transformation. When her mana finally started going back up, her left eye came back to life as fast as it had died. Huh. I guess it really just never entered maintenance mode. Thinking this, Sofia sent some mana into the eye in a specific pattern to manually activate the maintenance mode. Still works as it should. Really just an issue with the sudden mana loss then. I¡¯ll have to tell Richard. Figuring out these fringe cases is why I got this thing for free after all. Speaking of richard¡­ I¡¯m going to be stuck here for another six hours? Leaving the skeletons to do their own thing, with Pareth apparently coaching the snake in wrestling on the other side of the room, Sofia slept through the rest of the dungeon¡¯s lifetime. It was a crouching Pareth who woke her up with a tap on the shoulder. ¡°Good morning¡­¡± she greeted him while yawning. Pareth nodded and stood back up. ¡°You¡¯re really too tall with this skeleton¡­ I like it better when you¡¯re my size¡­¡± Pareth crouched again. Even like this he was taller than her, the hellspawn skeleton was just massive. ¡°Pfft. You¡¯re sweet, don¡¯t take it to heart alright? I like you no matter what skeleton you take. Dungeon¡¯s about to run out?¡± she asked as she stood from the chair. Pareth nodded in response. ¡°Alright! Let¡¯s get to work with that bonus task. Direction, the moons!¡± Without warning, the scenery shifted around Sofia, and she found herself with Pareth in a completely empty square room, with the same big doors she had entered the dungeon through. ¡°Oh. I can actually sense through these now. This is where we entered from, the other side is the room with the ladder to the surface,¡± she told Pareth. Walking up to the door, she lightly touched them, and they slid open by themselves slowly. Seeing how everything was safe, Pareth returned to the bone storage, and Sofia went on to climb the rusty ladder. She emerged from the same spot she had entered the ladder shaft before, in the middle of the swamp. The first rays of morning sunlight caressed her face as the nightly ice quickly melted all around the wild scenery. I should put the armor back on. This is probably the safest time of the day, though. When the Sunless disappear and the regular monsters have yet to really wake up. Let¡¯s not linger. Bookie! All the birds! The book of skeletons appeared in front of Sofia, presenting four glowing pages to her. The first page was Crowie, which obviously had to be summoned first if Sofia was going to summon birds, next was the page with fifty other crows, then the page with the fifty-four small birds she had had forever, and last was a new page with a hundred birds she had prepared for this trial with Astelia. These skeletons were straight from the spirit forest, caught by a Vampire mercenary at Sofia¡¯s request. These new birds were named the ¡®Three eyed spinews¡¯, they were slender birds with long wings and tails for their size, as the name pointed out, they had three eyes offering them a superior vision compared to most birds. They liked to spin around as they flew, were quite fast despite their small size, and had the ability to temporarily turn invisible if needed. They made for a perfect aerial scouting squadron. The only downsides were the mana cost being ten times higher than crows per bird, and their relative lack of intelligence in comparison. Surrounded by 205 undead birds, Sofia didn¡¯t bother to distribute tokens, she just gave them instructions and let them fly as soon as the ambient mana had reached a good enough level again with the disappearance of the Sunless. Considering the IPS tower she had entered the trial through has disappeared when she was about a hundred meters from it, Sofia assumed that the camouflage of all the towers should be about the same, so she ordered the birds to get in a line with two hundred meters separating each of them, and to fly as close to the turbulent mana ceiling as they could. It¡¯s not exactly optimal as the turvins and the spinews will have to slow down to the crows¡¯ speed, but I can cleanly cover a line of forty kilometers of terrain like this so it¡¯ll have to do. Hopefully it doesn¡¯t take too long to find one of those IPS Sofia flew with the birds for the entire day, taking breaks when the birds were unsummoned and Bookie had to bring them back out, and they failed to find anything of notice, not even a single Sirhellion cloud. At the very least, she had finally left the swamps, and was flying over a cute flowery meadow when the sun fell down, which was when she realized she had made a critical mistake. I flew in the direction opposite to the sun all day¡­ I¡¯m stupid. Made the day shorter for no reason. Ah, whatever, let''s find a safe place to land. I¡¯ll turn left and travel as far as I can through the night, then tomorrow I move in the opposite direction. I¡¯m sure I can gain at least a few minutes of sunlight by flying toward it, right? How fast does the sun go exactly? Wait, no¡­ That¡¯s not how it works. How fast does the planet spin? The days seem to be about as long here as on our planet, which is a curious coincidence. Can the system control the speed of the planet? As the night fell and the mana in the air started to disappear, Sofia was about to land when she saw a flash of light in the distance. It was weak, and short lived, but she had definitely seen something, and on that planet where the night was the territory of the all-black Sunless, this was very out of the ordinary. You saw that too, Crowie? Sofia asked her only skeleton out at this time. The small crow perched on her shoulder seemed to agree, intently looking in the direction where Sofia had seen the light. She used the zoom of her left eye to try to spot something, but she was rapidly losing altitude as the mana was being absorbed by the forming Sunless drones all around the meadow, and she couldn¡¯t find the source of the light. Well, well, well. This day might not entirely be a waste after all. Let¡¯s investigate!
Chapter 409 - Friend or foe Sofia ran through the flowery field of blue grass, slaloming between the rising drones, she stopped where she had seen the light, a spot near a few of the rare trees dotting the meadow¡¯s grassy landscape. Nothing out of the ordinary here¡­ Sofia switched between her layers of vision, but both her mana senses and her eye¡¯s heat vision failed to find anything that stood out. The plants growing near the three trees here were a bit strange, but so was everything else on that planet. Even the way the planet¡¯s blue grass swayed despite the lack of wind was a bit eerie, slightly reminding Sofia of the ebb. Maybe it was just a weird plant producing some light for an instant? Sofia kept looking around, but found nothing, she was going to let the matter rest and leave, when she finally saw something. Behind one of the trees, the air looked weird. Slightly contorted. It was faint but she clearly noticed it, and as she looked straight at it, it stopped. Strangely, she felt like she didn¡¯t really see what she thought she saw. It was like that weird vision had been superimposed over reality. Pareth felt the need to come out. He stood near Sofia, ready. It took Sofia a second, but she understood where that feeling came from. The eye. ¡®Visual anomaly spotter¡¯ Something is here. Something invisible. And it¡¯s not emitting any mana or heat. Still, Sofia placed her hand on Pareth¡¯s leg bones. I think we¡¯re safe, so far. Whatever that thing is, the title doesn¡¯t recognise it as an enemy. So it¡¯s not hostile. And¡­ It is hiding; from us. Pareth nodded slowly, slightly relaxing his posture but standing his ground. Sofia took a step to the side, and for a fraction of a second, she saw the anomaly again, behind the same tree, until it quickly disappeared. One more step, one more glimpse at the thing behind the tree. It was like a kid trying to escape another one by running around a table, using that obstacle to stay just out of reach. ¡°Is someone here? I saw something behind the tree. I¡¯m not looking for trouble but if there are invisible things around me then I am in danger. I need to know what¡¯s happening. Are you friendly? Or are you a danger?¡± Sofia spoke, looking at the tree. No answer. She looked at Pareth. Dispel the weapon. Sofia stored her scepter and Pareth dispelled his sword. They could bring them back in an instant if needed, but Sofia felt that if she said she wasn¡¯t looking for trouble, then lowering her weapons was the least she could do to prove her good faith. Assuming whatever she was facing could understand. But to hide behind a tree like this, reacting to how she moved, Sofia couldn¡¯t help but feel that it felt decidedly human. There were a few more moments of silence as Sofia stared at the tree, then, slowly, the weird visual anomaly emerged from its cover, bit by bit. Sofia closed her right eye, which could not perceive it at all, giving her a better view of the thing. The thing behind the tree was clearly vaguely humanoid. Not more than a shade also fits that description, perhaps, but humanoid still. Clearly, its arm was hugging the tree, as if scared to lose its protection, while the thing¡¯s head poked out of cover, looking back at the observer. Still to Sofia, it only looked like disturbed air, like the shifting of light above the desert on a hot day, but contained within a vaguely human-looking boundary. Another type of Sunless? It was hard to tell what exactly pushed the creature to actually reveal itself, but its true form slowly manifested itself for Sofia to see. It was indeed a vaguely humanoid thing. Unlike anything Sofia had ever seen before. It was entirely gray, its skin was made of nothing but flat planes and sharp angles, like crumpled paper, and it sported long conical limbs ending in a point. It had a somewhat oval head, gray and faceted like everything else, with no apparent face or other feature Sofia could focus on, a rather elongated ¡®torso¡¯ with long conical ¡®legs¡¯ and four conical ¡®arms¡¯. While everything about it was so unfamiliar, it moved like a person. Sofia was entirely too good at reading body language, after all, it was her skeletons had to communicate, so she could tell; that thing was scared. It was frightened by her, but also ¨C hopeful. Still no reaction from the title. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. She had the urge to identify the strange being, but she did not want to suddenly send magic at the thing and scare it more. I should just reciprocate. Sofia¡¯s armor disappeared, absorbed back into her skin. She stood there, without protection, only holding onto her shield while the creature still hid some of its body behind the tree. ¡°Can you speak?¡± Sofia asked. The creature did not react. A few seconds later, a wave of color spread across its faceted gray skin. A wave of blue. It spread from the creature¡¯s head to the rest of its body before fading out. That¡­ Sofia spoke out again, ¡°I¡¯m searching for the towers. Can you help me find one?¡± Another few seconds, and another wave of blue rolled across the creature¡¯s skin, the color a bit deeper, this time. Is this how it communicates? It still looks scared. Probably can¡¯t understand me¡­ Finally Sofia gave in, and Identified the creature. The small blip of mana left Sofia to reach the creature before leaping back to her. The creature was startled, a wave of yellow light spreading across its skin as it hid back behind the tree. [Supporter - Lv.228 - Imprint power : 10 - Effect : ???] Supporter¡­ This is definitely a person, somehow. A not¡­ Not a trial trial-taker. Do people just live on this planet? And most importantly¡­ Why does it have an indication for Imprint power??? Does¡­ Sofia looked at Pareth. [Hero - Lv.249 - Imprint power : 333 - Effect : ???] No¡­ I¡­ Sofia identified herself. What she saw made her feel a bit sick in her stomach. [Saint - Lv.249 - Imprint power : 512 - Effect : ???] I really don¡¯t like this¡­ She looked at the tree again, at the shivering being hiding behind its trunk. If they¡¯re a race of people that lives on this planet¡­ Then people like me, who come from another world to hunt anything that moves for imprint power¡­ Ahah¡­ I¡¯ve never felt the system be so grim. It¡¯s¡­ slightly nauseating. I think I¡¯m starting to understand a bit better why there are no strict rules about cooperation in this trial. It¡¯s not just about conflicts arising from having to share the monsters¡¯ imprints¡­ But also about not getting yours ¡®stolen¡¯. Slowly, the creature¡¯s head peeked out from behind the tree again, still emitting waves of yellow color spreading through its being, slowly turning back to a calmer blue. It¡¯s like it¡¯s communicating emotions through colors. Blue is tense or inquisitive, fearful, and yellow is surprised, troubled. Sofia focused on her least used ability from VPPV, the newly acquired ¡®light beautification thing¡¯ as she had dubbed it, and used it to copy the creature¡¯s waves of light as well as she could. It was not very clean or uniform, but a wave of calm blue light flowed over her. The creature was startled again, taken aback, another wave of yellow running across its body, it completely stepped out from behind the tree. The yellow then transitioned into a green. Green? If you¡¯re standing still, how am I supposed to understand what that means? Well¡­ I don¡¯t know what I¡¯m doing but¡­ Sofia copied the green hue, projecting it around herself, the color a bit off, but close enough. The creature took an hesitant step forward, the tips of its strange conical legs with no feet hovering ever-so-slightly above the ground despite no evident use of mana at all. Its green hue morphed, shifted as it took more steps forward until it stood just a few meters away from Sofia, its color the same as hers, pulsating in harmony. This¡­ Is good? Maybe? Sofia found it hard to focus on the next step to take, as maintaining the light show in a way she wasn¡¯t used to was actually quite complex. I have to break this standstill, somehow¡­ But I don¡¯t know what the colors means¡­ How do you communicate with someone like this? [Title changed to ¡®Cheater¡¯] [Title change function is locked for the next 24 hours] [Sprite dancer - Lv.228 - Imprint power : 10 - Effect : ???] Spirit dancer¡­ Wait, no, Sprite! The creature was thrown off by the identify mana surging at it once again, its green color wavering. It switched back to blue as Sofia raised her right hand to her chest, and the creature took a step back. Calling onto her magic, Sofia used the skill she had learned from Shaily. [Call Elemental sprite] A small black sprite gradually formed within Sofia¡¯s palm, once fully there, it came alive, slowly flying up, hovering between the two people. A shadow sprite. The creature¡¯s featureless head followed the sprite as it flew up. The waves of color on its strange angular skin shifted from green to a dark black similar to the sprite¡¯s. The creature¡¯s four conical arms rose and their tips came together in front of it. The waves of color coursed through its arms and gathered at the tips, until they all detached and collided together with a crackle and electric sparks. A second shadow sprite was born. Woah. The small black sprite flew up, it circled Sofia¡¯s and Sofia¡¯s circled it. The creature¡¯s skin shone green again, three of its arms went back down, but the last one was now pointed at Sofia. The creature stepped forward. With a slow and careful approach, under pareth¡¯s watchful glare, it brought the tip of its strange arm to Sofia¡¯s Dragon-armor-covered fingertips.
Chapter 410 - Giving a hand Sofia was about to receive what she thought might be the strangest handshake of the century, when the Sprite Dancer¡¯s color turned back to yellow all of a sudden, and it took a few steps back looking left and right as if looking for some invisible enemy. What is it? A Sunless? Sofia also looked around while Pareth was keeping tabs on the Sprite Dancer. A loud and uncanny sounding voice blared inside of Sofia¡¯s head before she could see the source. ¡°YOUR KIND IS NOT WELCOME.¡± Another creature like the first one appeared between Sofia and the Sprite Dancer. Its skin was a lot more crumpled than the other, and it was glowing in a very deep red pulsating tone. Sofia jumped back by reflex, raising her shield. ¡°LEAVE!¡± ¡°Alright, alright! I¡¯m leaving. No need to scream,¡± Sofia answered while walking backwards with Pareth and checking the area behind her for Sunless drones with her mana senses. After taking some distance and feeling comfortable in believing that the creature was really letting her leave, she turned around and ran as fast as she could. She ran for five good minutes, the planet¡¯s eerie scenery flashing by as she sprinted faster than some people could fly. Always monitoring the situation behind her, she was hoping not to get followed. Finally, after punching a low level Sunless drone to death at the top of a very small hill, she sat on a somewhat flat rock, panting. Crap¡­ That could have been bad¡­ The reason why Sofia had instantly followed orders was very simple. She looked at her last system log. [Executioner - Lv.349 - Imprint power : ??? - Effect : ???] Do not make an enemy out of the crumpled paper people. Lesson learned. What would have happened if I still had [THE GLORIOUS] on and the flames attacked that guy? Better not to think about it too much¡­ A shadow sprite came out of Sofia¡¯s shield with a pop. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s where you hid. I almost never call you¡­ Sorry you had to see that, little buddy.¡± The dark sprite flew up to Sofia¡¯s face before deciding to hang out under her chin, visibly not too mad about the situation. Sofia¡¯s shield made another pop. The Sprite Dancer¡¯s own shadow sprite had been hiding in there too. Oh¡­ Is this like¡­ An involuntary kidnapping? The sprite flew up in the air. I guess it¡¯s leaving. Then it came right back down, made a stop in front of Sofia¡¯s face, and then flew a few meters to her left and hung in place there. What is this little guy doing? The sprite came back, once again stopped in front of Sofia¡¯s face, and left in the same direction for a second time. Wait¡­ ¡°Do you want me to go this way?¡± Sofia¡¯s Sprite flew out from under her chin and joined the other one. She looked at Pareth, then back at the sprites who were, it seemed, waiting for her. Let¡¯s follow them, I guess? Actually, can you carry me? I still need to catch my breath a bit more¡­ Pareth happily crouched, grabbed Sofia and lifted her, placing her on top of his shoulders, in between his three heads, where she could comfortably sit with her legs around his front-facing neck. Thanks. Resting her chin on his skull, she hugged Pareth¡¯s head as he stood up and walked after the duo of shadow sprites merrily flying away. The sprite kept leading Sofia and Pareth through plains and forests in the same relative direction until it was almost sunrise. At some point, it had found a river and had started following that. I¡¯m surprised that this river doesn¡¯t freeze overnight. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Sofia was starting to think the Sprite was not really leading her anywhere, but she did not mind the break either way. Just observing the scenery and bolting Sunless drones from the top of Pareth¡¯s head was a decently relaxing way to spend the night. Finally, the river ended in a huge waterfall going down a cliff. Pareth looked down the cliff. That¡¯s at least a thousand meters of steep cliffside. Better wait until the ambient mana comes back before trying to go down. It looks like a thick jungle below. Was I this high above sea-level all this time or is this just a giant crater? The Sprite Dancer¡¯s sprite did not share Sofia¡¯s opinion on waiting for sunrise, and started flying down the waterfall. Sofia¡¯s sprite seemed to hesitate for a second before it followed the other one. Well¡­ I guess we can follow¡­ You still have the slow fall ring we bought before the trial, right? Pareth jumped after the sprite. The slow fall was not all that slow considering how weak the ring¡¯s effect was compared to Pareth¡¯s weight, but it did help. Somewhere around mid-way through the cliff, the sprites suddenly rushed into the waterfall. Huh? Sofia extended her mana senses to probe the terrain, and found that there was a rather small opening in the cliffside, behind the waterfall. A literal crack in the stone. Is this where it was leading us from the start? Pareth won¡¯t be able to fit in there. I¡¯m jumping off, come back inside. Thanks for carrying me all night, Pareth. Sofia lightly jumped up from Pareth¡¯s head, landing on the air while Pareth kept falling. The skeleton then made his way back into Sofia¡¯s storage ring. The hole in the cliffside was still a bit further below, so Sofia kept lightly stepping on air as she made her way down step by step, eventually facing the waterfall and the hidden crack. She brought her shield out and held it above her head before walking through the waterfall. The sprites were waiting for her on the other side, hanging out in the fissure, when Sofia made it there, they started flying deeper into the cliffside. The passageway was narrow, but Sofia could just about fit by walking sideways without her armor. She extended her mana senses further but couldn¡¯t find anything down the winding crack in the stone. Where is this thing leading me¡­ Could it be the entrance to one of the Crumpled paper people¡¯s hidden villages? They have to live somewhere¡­ The Sprites kept going deeper and deeper inside of the seemingly endless fissure, Sofia felt that she had already been walking within the cliff for a few kilometers by now. There was no light reaching her besides her own, and nothing to see except for the rough stone she was walking along. The fissure was slowly getting narrower and narrower, which wasn¡¯t ideal, but Sofia held back on switching to graveyard transportation for the moment. She found the exploration of this unknown crevice of the planet to be somewhat exciting. If this leads to a dead end, though, I can¡¯t guarantee no sprite will be harmed. Sofia kept going deeper until her mana sense suddenly hit a wall. Strange. There¡¯s nothing there? This is familiar. Another trial dungeon?! Sofia tried to see what was ahead, but still couldn¡¯t see anything, as the fissure¡¯s walls were too uneven to see far into. She gave up and summoned the graveyard skeletons to quickly take her to the spot where her mana senses gave out. The skeletons grabbed her and pulled her through the stone all the way to a small cavernous room dug at the very end of the fissure. This was where her mana senses gave out. The sprites were waiting for her within the ¡®room¡¯. The Sprite Dancer¡¯s sprite happily hovered up and down. It flew to Sofia¡¯s face one last time, then to the other sprite, and disappeared. Leaving just like that¡­ Sofia observed the small cavern the graveyard crew had dumped her into. It was really just a small empty hole dug inside of the stone. There was nothing in there except for a few rocks littering the ground, and a small metallic panel on the wall opposite the crack. Not the dungeon doors I was expecting. Sofia walked up to the metallic panel, it was quite low on the wall, at about the level of her waist. The metallic panel opened up as she stood before it, revealing a second metallic slate beneath, one with a hand-shaped indent. A human hand? It would also fit Vampires and Elves. Maybe Exidians too if they cut their nails. But certainly not the paper people. This is what the Sprite Dancer¡¯s sprite wanted me to see¡­ Is this why it reached for my hand?! And it let its Sprite lead me here in secret after I got chased away by the other one¡­ I suppose I made a friend after all¡­ I have to put my hand in, right? Can it be dangerous? It¡¯s blocking my mana senses like the dungeon before so it¡¯s fair to assume this is a system-created thing. Let¡¯s just give it a try. But not before a quick Identify. [Racial reconnaissance interface] : A smart lock designed to open the way to Humans, Dragons, and Gods only. It can also be configured to only let certain precise individuals through, but this function seems to have been deactivated. Humans, Dragons and Gods¡­ Are you telling me¡­ The handprint was that of a right hand, with the thumb on the left, so Sofia took out her Dragon-scale armor, and also her glove and rings, just in case, and put her hand inside of the slot. Light shone under the palm of her hand with a low buzzing sound, after which the metallic plate emitted a small beep, and a short flash of green light. Are we done? Seeing no more activity from the lock, Sofia pulled her hand back, and the small metallic doors of the lock closed back up. Green light is good, right? Did I unlock the thing? There was nothing obvious happening. ¡°Maybe it¡¯s broken?¡± As if activated by her voice, noises of something heavy moving resounded from behind the stone wall on which the lock was.
Chapter 411 - Hidden in plain sight, from the beginning The noise stopped, and a circle of mana formed in front of Sofia. The mana collapsed into a single point before extending into a circle again, forming a strange hole in reality, with a brightly lit corridor on the other side. That¡¯s the same space magic they used to open the room of artifacts in the second trial. Sofia stepped in, and the hole closed right behind her. Leaving her stranded in a small corridor that was unlike anything she had seen before. If anything, it reminded her of Richard¡¯s undersea base a bit. [Entering private zone, you are now in Scribe Only mode] Not a dungeon. No ambient mana here either. Private zone? I¡¯m not imagining things, this must really be a place left by the admins! Before she could observe her surroundings much, the strange long tube of glass on the ceiling which was producing the bright white light illuminating the room started flickering. Is something wrong? Sofia took a step closer, and the flickering sped up, she could also feel that the tube was heating up. She hurriedly stepped back, and the flickering slowed back down. Wait¡­ The flickering¡­ Like in the sun temple? Is this light using electricity?! Sofia sent some of her mana in the direction of the tube of light, and it instantly started freaking out like when she approached. That¡¯s really it. Time to use an unlife rune to cut the mana emissions, then, I don¡¯t want to break the place. Not so useless for the trial after all. The glass tube light broke while Sofia was applying her rune, sending glass shards flying in the narrow corridor. Yeah I think the rune is a good call. I¡¯m scared to even probe beyond the door with my mana senses if things around here are going to be so sensitive to mana. While Sofia channeled her rune, sitting in a corner of the room, she had ample time to look around. The corridor was about three meters long and one meter large, the walls and ceiling were unadorned flat surfaces painted in all white while the floor was made of black ceramic-looking tiles. There was a large framed metallic panel on the opposite wall which looked like it was probably a door, behind Sofia was a small handprint lock like the one she had used to get in, and on the side were two wooden panels stuck together on the wall, also painted white. Is it some kind of art piece? Sofia tried to identify the wooden panels, but she got absolutely no result. No data on these things, Mr Scribe? In Sun¡¯s temple you still tried, at least¡­ Or are you not allowed to do that here? Or is it because I dropped the skill? Well¡­ While Sofia channeled her rune, she tried to understand what the wooden panels were about. It feels a bit too weird to be just decoration. Overcome by her curiosity, she extended her mana senses toward the wooden panels, taking the risk to potentially break something. It¡¯s¡­ A shoe closet? I think these shapes are shoes, right? How does it open though? After playing around with the wooden panels for a bit, she finally figured out that the panels opened by lightly pushing on them and letting go. What a convoluted way to open a door. The reward for my efforts, two new pairs of leather shoes. And they¡¯re too small for me. It¡¯s not even magical items, literally just shoes¡­ For a second Sofia hesitated about taking them or not, thinking that they were useless and that nobody would be dumb enough to buy ¡®definitely the admin¡¯s shoes¡¯ from her, but then she remembered Valeure¡¯s obsession for weird items, and ended up pocketing the shoes anyway. I feel a bit like a thief¡­ But if it¡¯s really the admin¡¯s shoes, it¡¯s not like they¡¯re going to ask to get them back. Finally the rune¡¯s channeling was over, and Sofia could advance in the corridor without having to fear breaking more things. Broken glass crunched under her boots as she walked up to the metallic door, which opened by itself, sliding into the wall. I didn¡¯t feel any mana movement¡­ This place really runs only on electricity I guess. The next room was a relatively small room, about the size of the girls'' dorm in Verenha¡¯s orphanage. There was a couch, a table with chairs, a few shelves and random furniture along the walls, as well as what Sofia guessed was some kind of kitchen area, since she could see something resembling a sink, though there was no fireplace. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. Something caught her eyes in the kitchen area. It¡¯s a hero¡¯s foodlocker like the one I have! More cursory looking around revealed the presence of quite a few strange-looking things all around the room, along with more regular furnishings like books, an hourglass, and other daily-life knicknacks. There were no windows but the place was well lit thanks to more glowing tubes on the ceiling. Two more closed doors led to other rooms, one opposite to the entrance corridor and one in a corner. Is this really like¡­ A home? Like that in the middle of nowhere behind a waterfall on a distant planet? ¡°Hello?¡± Sofia tried, ¡°Is anyone here?¡± Only the low droning noise of the ceiling lights answered her query. I guess not, then. The place is tidy, no dust, but that doesn¡¯t have to mean much, as I¡¯ve learned in zangdar. Is this place in the margin too, like the dungeon? And is it really the admins¡¯ home? It looks a bit strange but¡­ Hmm. I suppose this style of decoration must be from the heroes¡¯ world judging from the foodlocker. It is really quite close to the look of Richard¡¯s place. Sofia took a few steps to one of the shelves and grabbed a rectangular wooden box with a slit on top, from which a white thing poked out. Identify still not working at all¡­ What¡¯s this stuff? It feels like paper, kind of. Soft paper? She pulled the white thing out of the box, and it ripped up in her hand as she pulled it out, but also revealed another sheet of the same stuff coming out of the box. So it¡¯s a box for dispensing soft paper. Why, though? This stuff is super flimsy, you can¡¯t possibly write on it. Well, whatever. Sofia put the box back down, and grabbed something else from another shelf. That shelf had a small handheld mirror circled in gold, and a few small golden cubes, along with a wooden hair brush. The question is, if this is really an admin¡¯s place, can wooden things really survive for three thousand years? Some things in the orphanage went bad after just a few years from the humidity¡­ I guess it depends on the wood and how it¡¯s treated? Sofia asked herself while looking at the clean hair brush, when she noticed something on it, a single hair. She stored her shield and freed her left hand from her armor to carefully untangle the hair strand from the brush and observe it. Dark blue? Not a very common color. I think I¡¯ve seen some orcs with natural blue hair in the sect¡­ Sofia opened the small golden cubes, finding them full of colored powder. Makeup of some kind? That must be what the small paint brushes here are for. If this place is from one of the admins, it must be the human one, clearly. This is without a doubt a Hero¡¯s place. So the human admin being a hero is getting more and more certain. But I didn¡¯t expect them to be a woman. It¡¯s not the impression I got from them when I was reading the unique titles descriptions and the title booklet which they clearly wrote. Or it¡¯s a man with long hair who likes to use makeup¡­ That could also be it, to be fair. Plenty of Exidian guys had long hair and used makeup. Sofia left the makeup behind, though she stored the hair after rolling it around a small bone, and she next went to open the foodlocker. A wave of fresh air washed over her as she opened the large metallic thing¡¯s door. It really is a foodlocker. But this one glass bottle is all there¡¯s left inside¡­ Sofia grabbed the bottle and uncorked it, giving it a good old smell test. ¡°Doesn¡¯t smell like much, and it looks pretty clear. Probably just water.¡± She stored the bottle and closed the foodlocker. This place is decidedly not as exciting as I thought it would be. ¡°Maybe the books will be more interesting?¡± Sofia started looking through the few books spread around the room. To her dismay, they were all just fictions, mostly romance, it seemed. She even stopped in shock, mouth agape, when she read one of the titles. ¡°Are you kidding me?¡± ¡®The Dainty Vampire and her Seven Rich Wolvesmen¡¯ ¡°Astelia has the same one in her room. Literally the same, even the appearance is similar! How long has this one book been around?¡± Sofia grabbed the book and skimmed through the pages, quickly reading through with [DODGE - ME]¡¯s fast reading boost. The book was very sexually charged, to say the least. It would have made Sofia blush under her helmet if she could still do that. And the book was made using the system¡¯s very elusive bright and smooth white paper, which Sofia found surprising. It comforted her in the idea of this place definitely being an admin¡¯s house. Asty¡¯s been reading stuff like this? I won¡¯t judge but¡­ Hoooly. Sofia closed the book and grabbed another one. The style was very similar. Before she knew it, Sofia had read every book in the room. I have to say, this author¡­ They know their stuff¡­ Man¡­ Thinking this, she realized that she hadn''t even checked the author¡¯s name, though it was clear from the writing style that all these books were likely from the same person. She brought one of the books back out of her storage, and checked for the author¡¯s name. It was nowhere to be found in the usual spots, but upon closer inspection, Sofia found something weird with the book¡¯s preface. Is this ¨C a ritual circle?! Hidden in plain sight, a ritual circle was drawn by the negative spaces between the words on the book¡¯s very first page. Whoever did this was seriously deranged. She took out the other books, and, checking the first page, despite boasting a relevant and different text every time, they all incorporated the same small hidden ritual circle. Sofia sent a tiny bit of mana into the ritual circle, and under her eyes, most of the preface disappeared, leaving behind only a few letters which slid around on the page to form a single line. ¡®With Love, By Anna <3¡¯
Chapter 412 - Erased Anna. I think I¡¯m starting to understand a few things¡­ Anna, huh. Maybe this isn¡¯t an admin¡¯s house after all. But something close to it. If the owner was still around, thus not an admin, that would explain why the place is still in such pristine condition. Not to mention the other thing I shouldn¡¯t be wording out. Or it¡¯s still an admin, and the place was preserved from time, somehow. Could also be one of the high scribes, maybe? What is a scribe in the first place? Should I worry about the house owner coming back? Would they even mind that I took some things? Whether an admin or a high scribe they should be able to totally know I¡¯m here, right? And they let me in. Sofia stored the books back and started snooping around again. A lot of the things around the room were mechanical, and supposedly electrical doodads, which Sofia had a hard time making any sense of. She found a lot of the usual things one expected in a kitchen, like pots, bowls, plates, mugs, spoons and forks. After some more fiddling in the kitchen, tuning dials and pushing buttons, one thing there she understood to be a fireless oven, which she thought was pretty neat. ¡°It¡¯s clean, mostly silent, and doesn¡¯t use mana¡­ I could see why you would want to make something like that. But how do you get the electricity? I¡¯m guessing it¡¯s stored somewhere in some kind of catalyser.¡± Wouldn¡¯t you need a lightning mage to produce it, though? Then you¡¯re back to needing mana, might as well just use good old ritual circles to do the thing. I¡¯m pretty sure the ovens in the academy used ritual magic to cook things up. Now that I think about it, I¡¯m surprised magical appliances like this aren¡¯t more common on the human continent. Well¡­ Not that I really know what happens in the homes of the nobility. I should check the other rooms. Sofia first checked the door in the corner. Toilets? There¡¯s even an extra sink here, with pipes instead of a water stone, just like the kitchen. The tradeoff for using electricity is pretty harsh, not being able to use water and lightstones. Next Sofia went to the other door, opposite the entrance, and it led to another corridor, with two doors on each side and another one on the opposite end again. These doors, like the toilet¡¯s door, were all more traditional wooden doors with an actual handle. Sofia opened the first door on her right. She only gave the room a single glance. An empty bedroom¡­ She closed the door and turned around. But before she could open the other door, she stopped. Wait a second. She turned back around. ¡°It was just an empty square room. So why am I so certain about it being a bedroom?¡± She opened the door again, it was still an empty square room with white-painted walls and no window. Unlike the living room and kitchen, the floor in this part of the house was made of varnished dark wood planks. Maybe it¡¯s the different flooring that gave me that impression? Closing the door without entering the empty room for the second time, she turned around again and checked the opposite room. Bathroom. Everything is so white and shiny. This must be the cleanest bathroom I¡¯ve ever seen. ¡°A standing shower, hadn¡¯t seen one in a while.¡± They¡¯re not exactly commonplace. I like that better than actual baths though. Actually¡­
It had taken Sofia a bit of trial and error to understand how to control the water temperature, but she enjoyed the long shower, she had to step out after about half an hour because there was no more hot water for some reason. She could totally use cold water, especially with the cold protection from VPPV, but if the room wasn¡¯t steamy it just wasn¡¯t the same. That was niiiiiice. Sofia wiped the steam off of the bathroom¡¯s mirror to look at herself. Looking good. I should have a shower like that installed in zangdar. I¡¯ll be able to go back there after the trial, my regeneration then will be more than enough. Assuming the shield protecting it from the margin hasn¡¯t run out of energy by then¡­ It should be alright. Probably¡­ Maybe I shouldn¡¯t spend the whole year here¡­ I guess that¡¯s a good argument to try to clear this trial faster. I¡¯ll have to send a skeleton in zangdar first to check, though. It¡¯s fine since we have two rings. Sofia smiled at herself in the mirror. Didn¡¯t my teeth used to be a bit crooked? They look almost too perfect now. Charisma doing its thing, huh. I think my hairline is a bit different than it used to be as well¡­ Subtle changes but it does help. There aren¡¯t really any ugly high-level people. Even Hugo was quite charismatic despite being¡­ Is that asshole scripture handsome too? The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. I¡¯ll fix that. The room was starting to get a bit colder, so Sofia dried herself up. She used one of her own towels, even if there were some in the room under the sink. She felt like using someone else¡¯s towel was a bit too far. Even if I took their shoes¡­ Maybe I should return the shoes¡­ She wrapped her blonde hair in a bundle with another of her towels and got dressed with a fresh change of clothes, namely the practical black pants and white chemise combo she had gotten multiple sets of from Brighthall''s dwarven tailor throughout the year. This is probably the most relaxed anyone has ever been in this trial, isn¡¯t it? I wonder how Asty¡¯s doing right now. Lastly, she put her rings back on, then Aphenoreth¡¯s glove and the Dragon-scale arm over that, and she left the bathroom. This place is pretty safe. I don¡¯t really need the bone armor. Actually I should have probably checked out the entire house before taking a shower. But also, I really needed that. ¡°Alright, next up, three more doors!¡± The door next to the bathroom was another bedroom, furnished, this time. There was a cleanly done single bed, a closet, and a lengthy desk running across the entirety of one of the walls, covered in neatly ordered mechanical parts and tools. ¡°I think we found the room of whoever made all these electrical contraptions. There¡¯s more stuff I can¡¯t make any sense of here¡­¡± Whoever stayed here must have had the Engineer class too like my skeleton. Speaking of which, would they mind if I take all this? I¡¯m pretty sure my Engineer elf could make great use of all this stuff. With one sweeping look over the long desk, Sofia stored everything in her eye implant. This is why the eye is useful. This part works great. Besides the stuff Sofia stole, the bed, and the electrical doodads, there was not much else of interest in the room. Sofia checked the closet before leaving. Male clothing. I won¡¯t jump to conclusions, especially considering what I¡¯m wearing right now, but it¡¯s worth taking note of. This certainly doesn¡¯t feel like a woman¡¯s room. I¡¯m guessing multiple people lived here. Like three admins, perhaps? Sofia left the room and went for the opposite one, which was another ambiance altogether. The room was slightly messy. The bed wasn¡¯t done, and there were things on the floor. A typing machine sat on a small desk surrounded by a mountain of books, there were a few paintings on the walls and the closet was open. This is more like it. Anna¡¯s room? Could still just be an avid fan, too. Sofia walked up to the bed, there were quite a few stands of long wavy dark blue hairs on the pillows. Definitely the same woman who used the brush and the makeup. Now the questions are: Is this Anna? And who is Anna? And if this is not Anna, then who is this? The first question was quickly answered by picking up a bundle of pages sewn together from the top of the desk. This was basically a full book already just without a cover. Without much surprise, the preface harbored the usual ritual circle hidden in plain sight. Giving the contents of the unfinished book a quick read, Sofia could confirm that it was indeed from the same author, without a single doubt. Is that an unpublished book, then? It¡¯s quite good¡­ I don¡¯t know if I should leave it here to potentially be buried forever, or take it and essentially steal it from someone who may or may not still come here on a regular basis¡­ The polite thing is to leave it, I guess¡­ What a waste, though. The books in the piles were similarly all from Anna, some being the same as the ones she had taken from the living room, and some other being new ones. These are probably the originals. Sofia really felt like taking them all, but she held off for now, and turned her attention to the open closet. These are actually all magically enhanced clothes¡­ All out of mana but I can feel the inlaid ritual circles trying to absorb my mana when I touch the fabric. Cute and colorful clothes¡­ Lots of shockingly short skirts in there¡­ And a bunch of long tunics. Hmm. It¡¯s all too short for me and Saria. Anna must not have been very busty either. These would probably fit Asty in a year or two if she keeps growing at the same rate. I¡¯ll just take a couple. I can¡¯t not take any, who knows what the enchantments could be? I have to at least check. Seeing the room like this really makes it feel like I¡¯m somewhere I shouldn¡¯t, though. But it¡¯s a bit late to start thinking like that. Spending more time in the room, Sofia observed the things littering the room, there was a lot of random decoration, the paintings on the walls were just regular landscapes, nothing exceptional, and nothing really piqued Sofia¡¯s interest until she found a rectangular golden thing under the bed. At first sight, she thought it was another handheld mirror, but fishing it out from under the bed in between some panties and a pair of pink socks, Sofia discovered that it was a small framed painting. Not a painting actually, it¡¯s one of those picture things like the clothier gave me! The image was quite banal in essence, it was just a rendition of three smiling persons on the living room¡¯s couch. This must be Anna. From the left to right, there was a cleanly shaved brown-haired human man with lightly tanned skin who looked to be in his forties, he was wearing one of the male outfits she had seen in the Engineer bedroom. His left hand was on the right shoulder of the person next to him in a friendly manner, while he gave a thumbs up for the picture with a charming smile. On his right was the woman who was definitely Anna, she also looked human, besides the unnatural long and wavy dark blue hair tied in a ponytail behind her, and looked to be around twenty. She was wearing a light blue summer dress, which Sofia hadn¡¯t seen in her room¡¯s closet, which contrasted with her somewhat delicate pale skin. She was happily holding her hands in front of her, each with two fingers raised in a V shape. Her bright smile was right in the center of the picture, and it was hard to look away from it. Objectively, she was without a doubt the most beautiful person Sofia had ever seen. The third person was¡­ The third person¡­ He¡­ Sofia¡¯s brain instinctively screamed ¡®human man¡¯ as she looked at the third ¡®person¡¯ in the p?cture, but the more she looked, the less she understood what she was looking at. It was as if the more she tried to look at it, the more her mind was becoming a blank slate, incapable of even thinking. What in the Lor¨C The¡­ The Lords? The Lords!!! Sofia stood up from the floor and ran out of the room, picture in hand, she burst into the ¡®empty bedroom¡¯ from before. It¡¯s the same! With great difficulty, she tore her eyes away from the ¡®empty¡¯ room and the picture both. ¡°I get it now! I understand everything!¡± Having a sudden revelation, there was one last thing she HAD to check to completely confirm her theory. She ran to the kitchen and started frantically opening all the drawers.
Chapter 413 - Sherlock Sofia Sunders System Secrets Sofia was thankful that there was no one to watch her at the moment as she thought she was probably looking quite a bit crazier than usual laughing by herself in a kitchen with all the drawers and cupboards open, some of which she had broken in her precipitation. No knives! What kind of lunatic does not have a single knife in their kitchen? That¡¯s right! Sofia brought [The third Key] out of her storage and threw it slightly in the air to make a flip. The dagger flew up then back down, but Sofia suddenly had second thoughts, since the dagger could absolutely cut through her hand if she caught it improperly, and she couldn¡¯t heal. Pulling her hand back at the last second, she watched as the dagger continued its fall and embedded itself deep into the kitchen counter. So deep in fact that it fell right through it and finished its course sideways in the cupboard below. Oops. This thing is dangerous¡­ Sofia crouched down to grab the dagger and pulled a face when she observed the state in which she had put the room she was in. ¡°I should probably repair the kitchen before I leave¡­¡± Still, if I am to believe the dagger¡¯s description, its owner was the God admin, since they had divine essence. So¡­ this was a God¡¯s house. Now to assemble all the pieces together. If I remember our theory with Saria and with Orator¡¯s poem¡­ One of the Admins is a human hero, and we have a picture with three ¡®humans¡¯. One is likely to be a Dragon, considering the system had a specific Dragon section, although they could really be anything. The dagger confirms the third one has to be a God or a Recessed. There was Saria¡¯s theory that it was one of the Lords but I just don¡¯t believe that. It doesn¡¯t add up with how the three I encountered behave. Realistically it could still be Annihilator, but somehow I¡¯m doubtful, especially since the system itself seems so clueless about the Deep. Now if we follow Orator¡¯s poem, the human hero is lost in space trying and failing to ¡®reach a past long lost¡¯, presumably to return to his previous world. Then one Admin is asleep and fragmented, while the last one is ¡®gone¡¯ as they ¡®fell prey to greed¡¯. Orator appeared to give the poem when we theorized that the Deep might have erased an admin, all but confirming that it was the case with that first verse about an admin being gone. This would be the individual who¡¯s missing from the picture. Once again, Sofia walked up to the ¡®empty bedroom¡¯. It still looked empty to her, and yet, just like the first time, her instincts clearly processed the empty room as a bedroom. It couldn¡¯t possibly be anything else despite being empty. It¡¯s not empty. It¡¯s erased. Somehow, one way or another, what used to be present in this bedroom still exists, but it also doesn¡¯t. It¡¯s as if my brain is seeing it but I¡¯m not. And it¡¯s the same for the picture. I can look at that person on the right and immediately identify him as a handsome human guy, and yet I¡¯m completely incapable of actually seeing it or visualizing him in my head as more than a blurry blob. Sofia left the empty room as it was starting to mess with her mind, and went to sit down on the dining room¡¯s couch. ¡°If the third key was an item from the erased admin, would it not also be ¡®erased¡¯ by the Deep? If even his bedroom got wiped, then surely something that important¡­ And the name on the dagger was redacted, not erased by the Deep, redacted by the system. It wouldn¡¯t have had to do that if that admin had been erased. Asty¡¯s account of witnessing someone getting erased was a lot like what I¡¯m experiencing now with the room and the picture. She knew someone had been there and what he had been talking about, clearly identifying him as a man, and yet completely unable to remember his name or exact appearance.¡± This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Sofia was restless, sitting in place on the couch didn¡¯t feel right, so she started walking around the room, talking to herself. ¡°So it¡¯s safe to say that the God is the sleeping¨Cfractured admin and the presumed Dragon is the erased one.¡± She grabbed the picture to give it another look. Three humans. Gods can look however they want, and Dragons can shapeshift to adopt a smaller, more practical form. If the admins¡¯ group was formed with a human hero in their rank, who was the least likely to be able to vastly change his appearance, it would make sense for the other ones to adopt a similar likeness to make working together easier. Especially so if they were going to spend a lot of time around each other to create the system¡­ To the point of sharing a house¡­ I really got a picture of the three admins! Even Saria will be impressed. I wonder how much Valeure would pay for this one. Not that I intend on selling it, but still. ¡°Well, a picture of two admins and whatever remains of the third¡­¡± Sofia looked at the picture again. One question remains. Since the erased is the presumed Dragon, although their actual race doesn¡¯t matter much here, is that other guy the God and Anna the hero, or is Anna a God. The thought of a God spending her free time writing obscene smut fictions¡­ Somehow isn¡¯t too far from what I expect from them? I mean, just look at Sun¡¯s hobbies¡­ If we¡¯re going by the design of the keys, the first key is a sword, which makes sense as I now know that it¡¯s also the summoned human heroes¡¯ most used weapon by far throughout history, apparently. The third key is a tiny dagger. I don¡¯t know, instinctively I want to stick the tiny dagger to the petite woman and the sword to the middle-aged guy, because the dagger will really actually look like a kitchen knife in this guy¡¯s hands. I also generally got the impression that the Titles instructions booklet and the UNIQUE titles descriptions were written by a man, but that¡¯s inconclusive evidence, just baseless intuition. There¡¯s more to it, though. The guy¡¯s room had all this mechanical stuff, they were clearly in love with tinkering with stuff, and they most likely made all the weird electrical stuff in this house. Like the [Hero¡¯s foodlocker], whose design was somehow reproduced by a random hero more than a thousand years later and which we found in Zangdar. It sure is starting to sound like the heroes¡¯ world has some interesting technologies that the summoned people are trying to bring over. Things like¡­ Electricity-using items, which are mostly useless here because of all the mana¡­ But the heroes¡¯ world does not have mana. A lot of points are starting to draw a line. A human hero on the left. A Goddess in the middle. A Dragon on the right. Once again, Sofia brought out her dagger. A fragmented God, as in, their essence has been spread out, with, let¡¯s say, one of them being used to make a dagger? ¡°And she has blue hair, too. Could just be a high charisma stat doing that¡­ Or it could just be because she¡¯s a God and can look however she wants to look.¡± Goddess Anna¡­ Lost in her thoughts, Sofia slowly walked back and forth in the kitchen as she mumbled to herself. ¡°Goddess of what, though?¡± ¡°If we¡¯re to judge from her books, probably the Goddess of lust¡­ And if we¡¯re to judge by her looks, probably the Goddess of beauty or something like that¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m not usually into other women but I have to say¡­ Aherm. Anyway¡­ That¡¯s that. It was an interesting mystery to mull over, but it¡¯s not really advancing me much. I could also still be wrong about my assumptions, but I¡¯m about 80% confident that I got things right. What now? Back to the trial?¡± Sofia looked around, first of all, she still had to fix the kitchen. Although it was unlikely for the admins to ever come back here, the three of them could all still technically be alive, even the one who got erased, after all, curse was still able to appear in Cinthia¡¯s chat despite his name still being impossible to even think of. It would just feel like shit to come back home from such a situation and to find your home in this state¡­ I mean, I¡¯ll still be stealing some stuff, but I can at least leave the place clean¡­ She patched up the kitchen, and repaired the broken things like shattered drawers by replacing them with bone-sculpted versions. It wasn¡¯t the same color, but at least Sofia made the shape and texture similar. The worst part was the hole in the counter, she did plug it with bone, but it just didn¡¯t look good. There was nothing else she could do about it however so she left it like that. With all this done, there were two more things Sofia wanted to do, first of all: go check out the last door. She had gotten sidetracked by the picture of the admins but there was still another door at the end of the corridor which she hadn¡¯t opened and couldn¡¯t sense through, so for all she knew, there could still be an infinity of other rooms to check out in this house. Secondly, she wanted to play around more in the ¡®empty¡¯ bedroom, and try to understand more about Aphenoreth¡¯s erasing, since it felt likely that he was the source of said erasure, all Inquisitive that he was. And last but not least, she hadn¡¯t counted it in the ¡®two¡¯ things to do, but she was absolutely going to take anything she might have missed that she could have a use for. Although she wanted to avoid ruining the place too much, if the admins kept any kind of intriguing magical items in their house, she had to face it, there wasn¡¯t a world in which Sofia wasn¡¯t going to grab them.
Chapter 414 - Four balls, no cone, a terrible ice cream Sofia approached the last door in the corridor which she had yet to open. It was another of the metallic doors without a handle, but when she came close, it did not open by itself. Is this one broken? Maybe it¡¯s locked somehow? Looking around for a button to press or something like it, Sofia found nothing. This doesn¡¯t leave many options¡­ I can try graveyarding my way in, maybe, but that might break the electrical things around. I could just brute force it, probably; it looks like rather regular steel, a good punch or two and it¡¯ll break. Might make a mess though. Eh¡­ I¡¯ll just cut through. Sofia grabbed her dagger and started cutting out a rectangle in the door following the doorframe. The blade cut through the steel like through paper. In the end the cut looked more like a big oval, because the dagger cut so well that it could draw curves in the steel without issue, so Sofia cut a roundish hole in a single big motion. The round plate of door she cut out fell backwards on Sofia¡¯s face, hitting her forehead with a bong sound like a gong. The door piece disappeared in Sofia¡¯s eye storage. That was embarrassing¡­ Luckily there was no one around to see it, although Pareth had undoubtedly been watching through her eyes. ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­ This looks a bit like the administrative office in Kuli¡¯s guild. Desks and paper everywhere¡­¡± The room was a rectangle, with no other doors, there were desks lined up against every wall, all covered in papers and things Sofia couldn¡¯t make much sense of. In the center was a round table-like thing mirrored on the ceiling, as if a big column in the center of the room had been cut and only the base and top were left. ¡°This looks like another electrical device. It looks important¡­ I should see if I can make it work.¡± First thing first, Sofia walked to the desks and picked up a loose page of paper covered in black ink scribbles. What is this¡­ A coded language? The page was covered in signs made of a bunch of lines and circles. This¡­ Doesn¡¯t look like any language that I know of¡­ There is clearly the usual punctuation in there, though, and numbers are just written as usual. A language from the Hero admin¡¯s world, maybe? Or just one I¡¯ve never heard about. I have no clue how to even start trying to read this. Sofia rummaged through the stacks and stacks of paper around the room. Most of the papers used the same symbols to write, but Sofia picked up a few things from them, still. First of all, there were two people using these symbols, with quite different handwriting styles, one of them being looking a bit more approximative than the other. But that was not all, there were plenty of mathematical drawings and calculations along with the unknown language. Much of it, Sofia couldn¡¯t make sense of, and even line graphs which should be relatively easy to understand, she couldn¡¯t read the legend of. That being said, there were a few rarer stacks of paper in a language she could actually read. So it was really a Dragon, good to know. Sofia read the first paragraph aloud. ¡°This autonomous mechanism ensures that the ritual, once initiated, sustains and amplifies itself in perpetuity until a sufficiently stable breathing environment has been created, thus mitigating the exorbitant workload associated with manual carving labor at the microscopic scale. Through the prism of Arcanotechnical engineering, the Verdant Genesis Algorithm should emerge as a dangerous yet elegant way of combining the recent discoveries in Avian ritualistic knowledge with the principles of the Draconic breath¡¯s natural auto-sustenance in favorable conditions to stabilize the atmospheric composition.¡± That was a mouthful and a half¡­ At a glance, the entirety of everything written in Draconic was written in the same headache-inducing style, and all seemed to touch on the subject of creating and using rituals to reshape the planet in one way or another. There were a great many stacks of ritual circle drawings to go along with these, which, from the annotations, seemed to be mostly failed module prototypes for the ¡°Verdant Genesis Algorithm¡±. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. So¡­ This was a work room to prepare the admins¡¯ plans for the trial. They established this place when the planet was still a frozen hellscape. ¡°Woah, that¡¯s frustrating¡­ The secrets of the trial are probably all in the pages written in that unknown language, and I can only read the awful ritual research papers?¡± I¡¯ve yet to see anything interesting in the drawings either¡­ With an eye sweep, Sofia stored all the mess of loose pages in the room, and took them back out in a bunch of neatly stacked piles, which she stored in her ring. There you go, Pareth, have a look to see if I missed something useful. This left the desks awfully empty compared to before, and Sofia could look through the weird baubles lying around them. Oh, most of these are actually magical items! All out of power, though, but I can feel the pull of the mana gathering arrays. Picking up one round thing in particular, Sofia recognised what it was. ¡°A compass? A magical compass? I could really use a few identifies right now.¡± Since Sofia assumed that she would be able to use Identify again when she got out of the Admin house, she stored all the random little tools and focused her attention onto the last thing in the room, the cut column thing in the middle. Sofia walked around the round thing, looking for a way to make it work. ¡°These electrical things often have buttons to push or knobs to turn, there must be a way to activate it¡­¡± After spending ten minutes trying to activate the damn thing, Sofia gave up and returned to the lobby where she had already busted the light, and called bookie out. ¡°Get me the Engineer, please.¡± Sofia ripped out the page Bookie presented her with, and the mana mist coming out from the book spread around the lobby before solidifying as the elven engineer skeleton. As the mist spread out, the lights throughout the entire house started flickering, and weird sounds came from the kitchen area, but it calmed back down when the skeleton was fully formed. That was almost bad. I was right to be careful until now. She stored the skeleton and made her way back to the work room to brief the skeleton before letting him out. So, you need to activate the thing in the middle of the room. Don¡¯t use any magic and try to stay as far away from it as you can. You guys lose some mana over time so you¡¯ll break things if you¡¯re out too long, try to be fast. Sofia unloaded the Engineer skeleton in a corner of the room on top of a desk. The skeleton stood in place and observed the thing from where he was, tilting his upper body to get different angles. Visibly not finding anything either, he ran on the desks to go to another corner of the room. He only needed to look for a second from this angle before jumping down and quickly poking at the machine with a finger, bringing it to life under Sofia¡¯s eyes. His job done, he jumped back to the corner. Huh?! Sofia was on the other side of the room so she had no idea what exactly the Engineer had done, but evidently it had worked, so she thanked him and stored him back to avoid his mana interfering with the contraption which was now lighting up with a soft green light coming from within. Curious, Sofia searched where the skeleton had poked at and it was quite easy to find, as a carving which had previously been hard to even see was now the sole thing that had lit up on that area of the machine. It was a weird sign of a bar piercing through a circle. So there was actually a damn button! Why make it so hard to see¡­ It¡¯s not sticking out from the surface, not even a tiny bit. Bar and circle¡­ Must be the same language as those papers again. As Sofia was looking around for other hidden buttons, the actual purpose of the machine revealed itself, a three dimensional image of something started appearing in the air above the machine, drawn line by line from the bottom up. Sofia curiously watched the image appear line by line. For now, it looked like a misshapen white bowl, which kept extending up. After a few more seconds, Sofia understood. Cerberus beta. This is just like what Kyle showed us in the shuttle! An image of the world¡­ But white. It¡¯s from before they made it a livable place¡­ The image quality isn¡¯t great but woah. Kyle wasn¡¯t lying, it was a frozen hellscape. Everything¡¯s white! It¡¯s all ice! Slowly, the old form of the planet took shape, and when it was completely drawn, fully covered in white ice, it suddenly shrunk down, and more things started appearing around it. First were the gray debris rings around the planet, which looked exactly like how Sofia remembered them in Kyle¡¯s own representation of the planet, then, after the planet shrunk again until it was the size of a small seed came a first moon, second, and third moon, all very tiny dots of light at that scale, and quite far from the planet. Circles of green light then appeared each piercing through a moon and circling around the planet. Orbit trajectory, I¡¯m familiar with this stuff now. After a few seconds, the planet¡¯s representation grew to it¡¯s first size again, the moons grew with it, and came to line themselves up near the planet, allowing for easy viewing of everything in a single place, even if things were no longer to scale. The image stabilized, and Sofia logically assumed that this was all there was to the image, but more lines started appearing again. There¡¯s more? The lines were drawing something new beyond the moons.
Chapter 415 - Cat’s out of the box The new celestial object depicted by the floating image was quite a bit larger than the moons, although not as much as the planet itself, it looked like a black round ball with cracks in its uneven shiny surface and white light leaking from them. It was surrounded by a thin , uneven layer of that white light which seemed to leak into space in long and thin wavy plumes. ¡°Interesting¡­ I¡¯ve been looking at the moons a lot while I flew around and not seen that anywhere in the sky, but it would make sense that a black ball would be hard to see¡­ Especially if it¡¯s far away.¡± The surface clearly looks solid but it¡¯s also on fire¡­ It¡¯s weird. Like a black half-planet half-sun? The fire trails definitely remind me of the sun. Wait¡­ ¡°A black Sun?¡± Like the [Spine of the Black Sun]? There might actually be a link here. I know some of the advanced skills I get are based on existing skills like the Rot or Lead the Dead. So for the spine to reference a Black Sun out of nowhere¡­ The keywords¡­ Solar Soul Spine, I think it was. ¡°I identified the spine back then¡­ It¡¯s old logs but they should still be stored¡­¡± Sofia spent a good three minutes searching through her system logs until she found the very old [Identify] notification from the days she and Alith were stuck in Zangdar. Two of them actually, one wildcast and one not. [Spine of the Black Sun] : An invoked mana weapon, it contains a mix of holy and undead properties. The wielder regains some life when hitting their enemies with it. [Spine of the Black Sun] : A versatile mana weapon in the shape of a vertebral column. Do not be fooled by the holy bursts of light; its true nature is that of a hungry predator. Reaching through the planes, it gnaws at the soul and life essence of its victims to feed its wielder. Item level : 1. Grade : Flawless. ¡°Gnaws at the souls and life essence¡­¡± I know Alith said the spine also has a spiritual body unlike most regular weapons, which is why it can deal soul damage. The solar bursts are also both physical and spiritual. ¡°Well. There might not be a link. But there might be one¡­ Also¡­ A black Sun¡­ The Sunless¡­ It¡¯s worth looking into, at least. I should try to get a better look at the spiritual body of the Sunless, too, could be interesting. I wasn''t really paying attention last time I used the graveyard to flee from the amalgam.¡± In any case, this thing must be important to the trial in some way, or it wouldn¡¯t be on the map, right? Sofia spent a while trying to find more buttons or ways to interact with the image, but even with the help of the engineer skeleton, the most she managed to do was to turn a small dial to revert the image to the previous states. Once she felt she had dried up the room of its value, she returned to the ¡®empty¡¯ bedroom. The Dragon¡¯s room. It hadn¡¯t changed. Just standing in there gave Sofia a headache. Closing her eyes, she walked around in the ¡®empty¡¯ room. She half expected to bump into invisible furniture, but it seemed the place was well and truly empty despite the conflicting signals her brain sent her. She opened her eyes again and looked at the blank walls as she spun in the middle of the room. When she looked in a certain corner, she felt something weirder than even the strange feelings she had until then. Did I find something? Staring at the spot which was just one of the corners of the room, Sofia walked closer. Somehow, this corner felt different. It¡¯s me. Is what her brain was telling Sofia, which she had a hard time making sense of. ¡°It¡¯s me?¡± Staying in the room was messing with her head, slowly her mind was starting to blank, so she hurriedly exited the anomalous place and sat in the corridor waiting for the growing headache to relent. How can I make sense of this? Sofia remembered how she felt when she looked at the picture. She could clearly tell she was seeing ¡®a man¡¯ despite not actually seeing anything. So, naturally, if she could see herself¡­ A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°A mirror?¡± Standing back up after a good minute of resting, Sofia went to check the corner again. It still felt like she was looking at herself. There¡¯s definitely something going on here. Yet, Sofia could touch the corner of the wall, there was nothing there. Next she tried gradually coming closer and closer, and when her head was too close to the corner, the strange feeling actually stopped. So a mirror propped against the corner. When my head went past it the sensation stopped. It¡¯s really like it¡¯s here and also not. I wonder if I could do something with more light¡­ I¡¯ll be fast so as to try not to break all the electricity machinery¡­ Sofia took out her strongest lightstone and dumped a bunch of mana inside it, holding it in front of her while facing the ¡®mirror¡¯. The way the new light source lit up the room was somewhat uniform, but as Sofia moved it around, she could clearly spot weird distortions everywhere. Wait¡­ Is the ¡®mirror¡¯ actually reflecting some of the light? The corner behind the supposed mirror was a tiny bit darker than the rest of the room, it was subtle, but she was purposely looking for anomalies so it stood out a lot in Sofia¡¯s eyes. It seems fair to say things that have been erased still exist in some way. One of the thoughts Sofia had was that perhaps things had just been sent to the deep, and that she could somewhat feel them due to her affinity with ¡®seeing creatures of the deep¡¯ I would need the opinion of someone else to know what they can and cannot see. Where do I find someone to come here and give me a hand? I don¡¯t know if I can track down Astelia¡­ Sofia had to leave the room again. Give me a hand¡­ This one thought kept running through her mind. Strangely so. Strangely enough that she was starting to wonder if there was something wrong with her. Besides the usual stuff. Give me a hand. Give me a hand. Why is that stuck in my head like this? I¡¯m starting to go crazy¡­ Give me a hand¡­ A hand¡­ A helping hand. Something clicked in Sofia¡¯s brain. She hurriedly removed her Dragon-scale arm and stared at the black lace glove that she almost never took off. It was just a permanent part of her outfit that she almost never thought about, but she remembered its description clearly. [Inquisitor¡¯s apology] : Wearing this direct link to the Inquisitor will collapse conceptual probabilities. Cannot be damaged. Soul-bound. Collapse conceptual probabilities. If the concept is ¡®existing¡¯, and the probability is it might exist or it might not. Then that would be a good description of the state of the mirror, wouldn¡¯t it? What does collapsing a probability mean? Collapse means to fall, crumble, compress, or fold. That¡¯s still hard to apply to a probability¡­ Sofia stood up, carrying her scale arm with her left hand, she entered the room again and walked to the mirror corner. Slowly, she extended her hand forward. As her fingers pierced through the air, she felt something. The cold touch of a glassy surface. Then came a weird sound, like broken glass heard through a wall. Sofia¡¯s mind blanked for a second, then she came back to her senses, looking at her own reflection in a tall ornate mirror propped up against the corner of an empty room. No fucking way! THIS IS WHAT THE GLOVE REALLY DOES! The Inquisitor¡¯s apology. The power to bring back what he took away. The obvious next step was to immediately take out the picture of the admins. Sofia touched it, but nothing happened, she still couldn¡¯t look at the man in the picture. No?! Oh, the frame! Sofia almost fumbled and dropped the frame as she turned it around to free the picture from within. The image on thin paper now free from its casing of wood and glass, Sofia''s gloved finger touched the non-existent face of the third admin. There was another sound of broken glass, fainter, this time, again scrambling Sofia¡¯s mind, and when Sofia¡¯s attention focused on the image again, she could see it. The third administrator. It had been a while since anyone had seen that face, I bet! He¡¯s rather handsome, I have to say. The three admins all look really good, honestly. Did it free the actual administrator, though? Doubt so¡­ After all, the mirror appeared when I touched it but not the whole room. So¡­ Should I add ¡®rescue the Dragon administrator¡¯ to my to-do list? It does sound like a job only I can do. Assuming he¡¯s lost in the deep somewhere in the same state as his things¡­ Well, one thing at a time. Still, though, that¡¯s a GIGANTIC bargaining chip with the system that I just got. And it¡¯s pretty clear that this place is completely cut off from the main system somehow, so as long as Mr. Scribe doesn¡¯t spill the beans, we¡¯re good. Just in case someone was actually monitoring her thoughts, Sofia tried to remember her conversation with Sen which was technically protected. She could remember it just fine, meaning it was unlikely that someone from the system was observing. I might just need that bargaining chip with what I¡¯m about to do at the end of the trial, if reciting an error code and calling for the name of an Admin doesn¡¯t do the job. I trust Mr. Scribe, though, so I probably won¡¯t need it, but it¡¯s good to have. Now, now¡­ ¡°Let¡¯s unfuck this entire room!¡± Sorry Aphenoreth, but you gave me the ability to do this, so if you know me you should have known I was going to use it!
Chapter 416 - A look at the sky Sofia went around the room blindly waving her gloved hand around to bring back all the things which weren¡¯t there. Slowly but surely the not-so-clean bedroom came back to life. It was messy in a different way compared to Anna¡¯s room. While the supposed Goddess¡¯ room was just a bit lived in, this one was something else entirely, littered with opened books, ink covered papers, and maps. Lots and lots of maps. I think a certain someone liked exploration a bit too much for their own good. And a world! Sitting proudly on a pedestal in the center of the bedroom was a spinny round ball covered in green and blue which Sofia instantly recognized after bringing it back from semi existence, it was their planet, she had seen it from space, and she had to say, this was a very accurate-looking replica. Puts my bone sculptures to shame. It even has some relief for the mountains! ¡°Holy shit, so much detail!¡± This is a masterpiece if I¡¯ve ever seen one. I¡¯m keeping this. Sofia spent a good thirty seconds looking around searching for the human continent, she eventually found it, tiny as it was, thanks to the gigantic red desert above it. ¡°I already knew but calling it a continent was really narcissistic of us, heh. It would be generous to even call it a peninsula¡­ Humans used to occupy like sixty percent of this entire world? Really?! And now we¡¯re on that tiny bit of land? That¡¯s insane to think about¡­ What could have happened to¨C Oh, right. There was that thing about a big war. Erredis doesn¡¯t want to talk about it, though.¡± Well, whatever, it¡¯s got nothing to do with me. Sofia stored the globe and turned her attention to the many maps displayed on the walls and stacked on the shelves. I¡¯m so taking all of this. Some maps were of precise locations, such as a map of the red desert, or a layout map of some castles or caves, while some maps were broad layouts of entire continents. Everything was labeled in Draconic, but Sofia could thankfully read that well by now, even without Mr Scribe¡¯s translations. Of course Sofia grabbed every map for herself after looking at them once. Out of the bunch, three maps in particular stood out. One of them was a map named ¡®tracking the sky mirage¡¯, with paths and instructions to find a supposed mysterious place drifting through the planet¡¯s sky. This reminds me of a story about a sky castle dungeon or something. I don¡¯t remember any details though, but I¡¯m pretty sure I¡¯ve heard about something like this before¡­ The second one was labeled ¡®Cathedral of the Holy Lich¡¯. ¡°Hoy now. Holy necromancy is my thing. Don¡¯t go around copying me¡­ This might be where some of my skills come from, though. Things like ¡°Heal Undead¡±? The spell itself was created from my broken keywords, but perhaps the magic in particular was already a thing, just like the others. I¡¯ll have to go check this out at some point, if it¡¯s still standing three thousand years later¡­ I¡¯ll ask Richard when I report about the eye. If someone knows about another Lich it would be him.¡± Didn¡¯t he say he was the oldest Lich around, thought? Maybe that Holy Lich died somehow. It¡¯s strange that it¡¯s called a Lich at all, actually, should it not just be their name? I wouldn¡¯t name my house ¡®The Saintomancer¡¯s abode¡¯... It seemed the place was particularly large as the ¡®map¡¯ was actually a stack of maps, one for each level of the Cathedral. Out of curiosity, Sofia counted the pages before storing them. Fifty eight floors. I don¡¯t know if calling it a cathedral is right anymore¡­ Either it¡¯s a huge tower or it¡¯s an underground complex, but it can¡¯t just be a ¡®Cathedral¡¯ unless it¡¯s the size of the Moonlit Castle. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Last but not least was the map Sofia kept for the end as it was the most exciting. It was a huge one, taller than herself and taking up an entire wall. ¡®The Crossroads¡¯ It was a map of the solar system. There was a representation of every planet, their orbits and their moons, all going around the gigantic sun. Not to scale. Sofia was surprised to see so many planets drawn out, considering she had traveled space herself and only seen two. Some of them looked to be particularly large, too, so it was probably not that hard to spot them. I guess I never looked hard enough. The names were all written in Draconic, inside of a small box on the side with cute smaller depictions of the planets next to them. No name for the moons it seems. ¡°It goes from the furthest from the sun to the closest¡­ First is Stebron. It¡¯s quite a bit bigger than our planet, it¡¯s got debris rings like Cerberus. It¡¯s purple, I guess¡­ Is it completely covered in purplish clouds? It does kind of look like clouds¡­ Hard to tell from a drawing.¡± Sofia went down to the second name on the list, which was for a very small planet, the second smallest in the solar system, in fact, which looked like a little yellow ball, named Avross. It¡¯s named after the old diviner Dragon? Maybe he was the one who discovered it with his divination or something? It is a Draconic map after all, not all that surprising that it would use Dragon names. Is Stebron the name of an old Dragon too? It must be hard to spot considering how small and far it is. Stebron is further away but it¡¯s huge. Next was Cerberus Beta, which was not all that surprising, on the map, it looked like in the other room¡¯s image, a round ball of ice with debris rings and three moons. The next line was where Sofia had to stop. Cerberus Alpha, you say? Heheh. I see. I see. [Additional rewards task : ¦Á ] ¡°It¡¯s not drawn out on the map at all but it has its name in the legend. It has to be the black sun, right? That makes things a bit clearer. I don¡¯t know how you¡¯re supposed to figure these things out normally, but I got a nice shortcut. Still, it¡¯s not actually on the map so it¡¯s not making things that easy, but at least I know what I¡¯m looking for.¡± Next in line was Arssovax. Sofia felt like this was for sure another Dragon¡¯s name, and it was by far the largest planet, more than twice the size of Stebron, dwarfing all the other planets in the solar system. Just like Stebron, it had a cloudy appearance with cloud streaks and two big spiraling vortexes next to each other. The ¡®clouds¡¯ had two main colors mixing together, a deep and a pale blue. This was not only the biggest planet, but also the ¡®closest¡¯ to the inhabited world, which made it hard to believe Sofia had never seen it, that was until one looked at its orbit. It was actually too big to fit on the map so it was in a small graph drawn out next to the planet itself. The truth of this planet was that it was going around the sun in a gargantuan elliptical orbit, and the closest it ever came to the sun was on a path between the main planet and Cerberus beta. ¡°Most of the time it¡¯s just drifting out in space, very far from everything. I wonder how that works when it comes close. Does it cover half the sky?¡± Finally, the next line was the so-far unnamed planet everyone lived on. It actually had a name in the legend, a combination of two words in Draconic, ¡®velia¡¯, being the color green, and ¡®adren¡¯, meaning plains or vast expanse: Veliadren. ¡°Veliadren...¡° Sofia read out loud. ¡°So the planet does have a name after all. It¡¯s cute. I like it, it is a bit sad to think most people do not even know about it.¡± The two moons are drawn out but of course they are unlabelled¡­ Wait, Velia is green. Phillip is the Green chromatic Dragon, and his daughter¡¯s name is ¡®Lina¡¯. Never noticed this but it would make sense if Lina was a nickname and her real name was Velia-something. Velia, lina¡­ Maybe I¡¯m just making shit up, though. I shouldn¡¯t really be spending time wondering about Draconic naming conventions. Four planets left on the map¡­ And five names. The four remaining planets, all closer to the sun than Veliadren, were also all significantly smaller, at most as big as Cerberus Beta, which was itself less than half the size of Veliadren. They were neatly aligned with the biggest of the four being closer to Veliadren and the smallest closest to the sun. First was a black and red ball just named ¡®Foundry¡¯, not even in draconic, just foundry. It¡¯s a hot planet, I guess? Next was a white planet named Sactanum. Followed by a smaller brown planet named Zenikiln, and lastly, a very tiny round dark-gray planet, not a tenth of Veliadren¡¯s size, and orbiting very close to the sun, was labeled ¡®Cecless¡¯. That was it for the planets, but there was a last entry on the legend, which had no drawing, just a question mark. Its name was: ¡®Tiangou¡¯.
Chapter 417 - Grim fate Tiangou¡­ ¡°A hidden planet they detected but couldn¡¯t find, perhaps? That reminds me of something¡­ Did the admins predict the Phageid?¡± Sofia stared at the map and sighed, ¡°I shouldn''t stand here drawing lines in my mind¡­ I really need to focus on the trial. I¡¯ve been here for like half a day already.¡± She finished packing all the maps from the room and decided it was time to finally leave and get back to business. One last thing. Grabbing a sheet of paper from Anna¡¯s room, she wrote a simple message which she left on the living room¡¯s table, on top of a map of the ¡®Avian peninsula¡¯, which was now the human continent. ¡®I can help bring him back from the depths. You should know where to find me. Sorry for taking your stuff. Sofia Aphenoreth.¡¯ ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s go.¡± Sofia returned to the lobby, and pressed her hand against the hand-shaped metallic plate. She left through a portal like the one she had entered through, and found herself in the same spot deep inside a cliffside fissure. She dispelled the unlife rune and quickly phased her way out of the underground with multiple casts of the graveyard, until she was back at the waterfall. Looks to be around noon. The sky was still a light green, and the plants of the jungle below a pale blue. I really wonder how that works. As she looked around, she tried to find the moons, but she couldn¡¯t see any one of the three. Hmm. Now that I think about it¡­ Have I ever seen these moons up during the day? I don¡¯t think I did¡­ But they were there every night. I should be on the lookout tonight. Moon observation duty. A new goal in mind, Sofia had about six hours left to kill before that, so she decided to do a simple thing. She was going to send the birds by themselves to search from an IPS tower, letting Bookie manage them, while she looked around in the jungle below. To think I only found this place because I befriended some paper person with a bit of colored light and a Sprite. I owe one to Shaily.
Five hours later, the sun was starting to come down already. Bookie¡¯s birds had found nothing interesting, and neither did Sofia. The monsters in the Jungle weren¡¯t all that interesting to hunt, in Sofia¡¯s opinion, there was more danger in initiating a fight in this unfavorable environment than the worth of the meager imprints of the local wildlife. She had hoped to find more traces of the Admins since this was so close to their old hideout, but she had had no luck on that front. Even if there was anything interesting in this jungle, it would be hard to find it hidden beneath the dense vegetation. Let¡¯s take some altitude before the mana vanishes. Sofia jumped up, soaring in the air above the trees, and spread her wings at the apex of her jump. She flew higher and higher until she was forced to stop due to the violent mana currents in the sky. There she folded her wings and sat in the air. I still have a few minutes before dusk. Looking in every direction, Sofia spotted one of the moons already, it was already fully visible, low on the horizon. I still can¡¯t see any detail when I look at it. It¡¯s like my eyes are still as weak as when I was level 1. There¡¯s definitely some shenanigans going on. Since she had some time to kill, Sofia went ahead and started identifying some of the things she had pilfered from the admins¡¯ house, since it was now working again ever since she left that place. The first thing she looked at was a sort of thick pen without a tip. She felt the pull of the mana circuits hidden within, but didn¡¯t want to activate it without knowing what it did first. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. [Laser pointer]: Emits a concentrated ray of light to point at distant things. It displays the distance to the thing you are pointing at with an effective range of about five kilometers. Can damage the eyes of low-level people. ¡°Damage the eyes? The light must be quite strong.¡± Sofia pointed the thing at her left hand and filled it with mana. A green dot of light appeared on her palm. ¡°Oooh, quite strong. I can even feel some heat. It¡¯s a bit like holding a magnifying glass under the sun, huh? I bet I can use that to start fires.¡± Out of curiosity, she wanted to point the laser at her right eye, but she held back, just in case it actually caused any damage. Not being able to heal is really annoying¡­ What else do I have? There was a compass I think. [Sun compass]: Points toward the nearest sun-level source of light. ¡°That¡¯s one useless tool if I¡¯ve ever seen one.¡± Sofia fed it some mana, the needle moved to point at the setting sun. At least it works. Next among the junk was another pen-shaped thing. [Mana extractor]: Point at an object containing mana to drain it. The extraction is slow and gentle. Hmm¡­ Probably a tool to remove any mana from their electricity-using devices without damaging them. This could actually be useful later. Like a weaker ring of Zar. Looking through the other objects, they were mostly of the same kind. Tools to measure atmospheric pressure, humidity levels, temperature. Essentially just things the Admins might have needed when they were preparing to remodel the planet for the trial. What about the books? [Smut books]: A legendary collection of lecherous literature by an unknown author. An unknown author? Yeah, sure. I guess you¡¯re limited in what you¡¯re allowed to say. And the maps? [Diverse maps]: A collection of precious old maps by an unknown cartographer. Huh uh. So what about¡­ Actually, is taking this out even a good idea? Mr. Scribe, give me a tap if I should keep it hidden. Sofia kept waiting for the headache typical of the Scribe doing something he shouldn¡¯t, be she felt nothing. Should be fine then. The picture of the three admins appeared in her hands. [A discarded picture]: It was likely thrown away by someone who couldn¡¯t see it anymore. It was¡­ Yeah. You¡¯re right. It was thrown under the bed, as if to hide it from sight¡­ If Anna came back to that old hideout after the Dragon admin disappeared to try to find any trace left of him only to end up staring at this picture and the empty room¡­ No wonder she just left the room in a mess and never came back. I can almost see the scene in my mind. Is this why she¡¯s ¡®asleep¡¯? Devastated by the loss of the two other admins, she¡¯d give up on life however she can? But from what I know, a God cannot really die unless there is no one left to give them essence¡­ Maybe the one who needs rescuing the most isn¡¯t the Dragon. Sofia thought back to the last verse of Orator¡¯s poem. The last one sleeps, they are broken, Nary a dream, thoughts forsaken. Perhaps one day, forced awake, They will leave nothing in their wake. What if¡­ This is what the last line means. If you force them awake but the only thing they want is to die¡­ Then, for a God who was powerful enough to strongarm all the other Gods into being subsidiaries to the System they created; to get rid of the source of all of their essence¡­ Wouldn¡¯t they need to kill everyone? Another thing came back to Sofia¡¯s mind. An innocuous line from her first exchange with Richard, back in Valeure¡¯s place right after the second trial. It was Alith who had asked a simple question : ¡®Are you an admin?¡¯ And his answer¡­ ¡®Lords, no. I¡¯d rather die.¡¯ I found it curious at the time but all I could think about back then was finding Saria. Still, now, with hindsight, that¡¯s a very surprising thing for him to say considering how much Erredis said he was obsessed with immortality. While Sofia was lost in thoughts, night truly came, and the Sunless with it. The first moon was already much higher in the sky, and the second one was coming into view over the horizon. They really move super fast compared to our moon on Veliadren. The tides here must be crazy. I have not seen anything like a sea yet but there has to be plenty of water considering it was an ice planet originally. All that water has to have gone somewhere. Sofia brought out the Sun compass again. It aimlessly spun until she tilted it to allow it to point at where the sun should be, under the horizon, which is where it pointed at. Was worth a try, but I guess it¡¯s not a Black Sun compass, after all. Where is that thing, then? Sofia laid down in the air and stared at the night sky.
Chapter 418 - It’s rocket science Eventually, the third moon rose. The night was actually quite bright with three moons up, they were almost three ¡®full moons¡¯. If they always move with the sun they¡¯ll always look exactly the same, right? The question would be whether they actually do, or if this is just a coincidence today. One thing is for sure, they are not behaving like the moon I crashed into. Spending more time observing the moons, Sofia noted a few interesting things. First of all, the moons seemed to be at three different distances from the planet, but due to the smallest being close, and the largest being further away, they looked the same size in the sky. Secondly, they were perfectly aligned, and lastly, they seemed to move through the sky at the exact same speed. So the furthest one actually moves much faster, but they somehow all end up looking like they go at the same speed in the sky. I can¡¯t help but wonder if this is natural or if there¡¯s some system tempering in action. Honestly if the mana currents above the atmosphere didn¡¯t look so dangerous I¡¯d just fly there. Sofia turned around, lying on the air on her belly, looking down at the dark jungle below. It¡¯s actually a big crater. I wonder what could make a hole like this. A meteor strike? It¡¯s truly gigantic. Maybe it¡¯s not actually a ¡®hole¡¯ and more just a natural formation? I can¡¯t really say. It does look round-ish but it¡¯s so big the perspective makes it hard to tell¡­ If I could fly higher¡­ Should I go down and hunt amalgams? Hmm. Maybe not. I need to find another dungeon. We¡¯ll need at least one more heart catalyser to get the hearts to B rank. I can get imprints in the dungeons. If the dungeons are all hidden like the first one it¡¯s going to be a pain, though. And I haven¡¯t found an IPS yet either. I could also go back to the forest and hunt more Firebirds, just get mana imprints for now. Again, Sofia rolled around and watched the sky. She closed her eyes and let her mana senses fully take over. With all the divine essences she had, [Quintessential] was giving her a much better mana vision than anyone else at her level. It¡¯s like looking at a roiling sea. Hey¡­ Can¡¯t I¡­ Use that? The IPS towers have to go through, no? It¡¯ll absolutely cause huge disturbances if not a straight up hole in the mana currents depending on how they made the towers. I need to go a bit lower. Sofia stood up and walked down a few dozen steps, then closed her eyes again and scoured the mana currents with her mana senses. It looks random but¡­ The more she stared, the more she realized the mana above her mostly traveled in three distinct directions when the currents weren¡¯t busy spiraling out of control and crashing into each other. Is that how?! Follow the currents? Sofia followed her hypothesis, and started walking in one of the three directions, eventually leaving the jungle crater behind. She followed the current in a straight line until morning. The good news was that she could now fly again, and thus travel hundreds of times faster. But with the ambient mana returning it¡¯s almost impossible to follow the outer currents properly¡­ ¡°It should be fine if I fly in a straight line, probably?¡± She did just that.
Approximately eight hours of straight flight later, in the early afternoon, with a loud bang, Sofia¡¯s vision suddenly went dark. Oh. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! Just the time for her eyes to adjust, and she could see that her head was currently stuck between two steel walls. Using her hands and feet to push herself away from the wall, she managed to extract her head. Looking at the head-shaped hole in the steel wall, Sofia laughed out loud. ¡°Ahahah! Guess I found the tower! Good thing I was wearing my armor, uh? No damage. Didn''t even hurt. But wow, I really did not see that one coming. Turns out following the mana currents was a good call.¡± The hole she had left in the side of the tower was already closing back up. Sofia let herself fall down to the surface. The tower was in the middle of nowhere, at the top of the highest of the many nearby grassy hills. Maybe another way to find them is to check every high altitude point you can find? The one we came through was just in a flat forest, though. Just like the other IPS, there was no clear entrance, and Sofia had to walk around the base of the tower touching the wall until she found the disguised passage in the steel wall she could walk through. The inside of the tower was quite a bit narrower than the first one, and instead of a hole in the ground and an opening to the sky, all Sofia found was an empty ground level with a steel ceiling and some stairs going up following the curvature of the tower. Is it not an IPS tower? Pareth came out and took the lead, climbing the stairs by himself. The result was: more stairs. The ¡®second floor¡¯ was an open space, with stairs spiraling against the tower¡¯s side for about five hundred meters straight until they reached another steel ceiling. Sofia followed after Pareth now that she knew it was safe, and flew all the way up to the top of the stairs. Pareth teleported to her and again was the one to step on the higher floor first. There was not much in there aside from the rotting corpse of a big bear-like monster. Sofia followed after him again. Finally the top of the tower opened up to the sky. Aside from the monster corpse, there was a small staircase leading to nothing in the middle of the floor, which Sofia recognised as the way to climb inside of the Shuttle, which wasn¡¯t there. Well shit. Sofia walked up to the monster¡¯s corpse, which was in bad shape, rotting against the bloodied steel walls of the tower. It¡¯s probably been there for about a month¡­ The corpse was in very bad shape, riddled with holes and deep lacerations, the creature had been tough to take down, it seems, but it had lost in the end. Besides the long-dried blood and guts of the creature, there was a bunch of random crap littering the floor. Leaves, stone, sand, dirt, glass shards, rope strings and small animal fangs. ¡°Looks like Ihuarah got there before us,¡± Sofia told Pareth, who nodded back. She then turned her attention to the center of the room, with the steps leading to nothing, there was actually a small rectangular display there, embedded on the ground inside of the highest step. ¡®Destination : Fenrir - Shuttle returns in 6 days 8 hours¡¯ ¡°Fenrir must be one of the moons. The shuttle is gone but it will come back by itself in six days¡­ We could wait and explore the area, I guess. What do you say?¡± Pareth looked at Sofia, then looked up. He seemed to hesitate for a second, then just pointed up. That was his answer. Aight, get inside, we¡¯re flying to the moon! Maybe. If the protection comes from the shuttle itself and not the tower, we¡¯ll have to wait. But only one way to find out. Pareth returned to the storage and Sofia deployed her wings. She flew up and up until she was out of the tower, in space. The top of the tower was like a boundary, out of it, all ambient mana was gone. Sofia was almost immediately flung back down inside, like sucked by a giant straw that was the tower. It seemed the tower had some magic in place to grab things from outside. By the time Sofia stabilized her flight again, she was already halfway back down the tower. ¡°Well. We learned a few things. This allowed me to cross the currents, but the tower will try to grab me back¡­ I feel like if I go fast enough I can probably get away from the grabbing magic¡¯s range, but that means flinging myself into outer space like a cannonball.¡± Sofia slowly drifted back to the ground, and sat there. Bookie came out to eat Ihuarah¡¯s spoils of war, and eventually Sofia¡¯s evening was spent playing cards with Pareth and Bookie while frequently checking the time of day outside through Crowie with a vision token. With the sun finally starting to set, Sofia recalled all her skeletons and stretched at the bottom of the tower. She wanted to wait for night to be able to aim at the moons, but she also had to leave before the ambient mana fell and prevented her from flying, so now was the time. Standing where the shuttle was supposed to depart from, she crouched, and jumped. She flew up as fast as she could, pushing her wings to their absolute limit, and finally, she shot out of the tower and into what she thought was the black void of space. The magic failed to pull her back, she was already too far. She looked back, the planet was still very close, and just as she thought she was out, she started to fall back down. What?! Using a long bone hook, she managed to grab the top of the tower as she fell back into it, and used it to hoist herself up on the rim of the giant steel tower. She sat there and tried to understand what was going on. I¡¯m still in the atmosphere, just above the mana currents? That¡¯s what, twenty kilometers up, maybe? There¡¯s no mana left but still a bit of air¡­ And still a lot of gravity, it seems¡­ I don¡¯t really get it¡­ I could fly away from the sun but I can¡¯t fly away from a planet? Would it work with [Runeforged Overlord]¡¯s flight?
Chapter 419 - Soul searching After some reflection, Sofia decided against continuing to pursue space flight, and chose to wait for the shuttle. She felt that with [Runeforged Overlord]¡¯s flight and help from the Engineer skeleton, she might be able to actually leave, but then she would face the problem of having to chase the moons as they flew through space and to somehow land without killing herself, and that felt like a lot of things which could go wrong. Too many things. When she could just wait a bit. A week was not too long, considering she had a full year ahead of her, and considering the speed at which she was collecting imprints so far, she probably wouldn¡¯t need that much time. The more troubling matters were finding dungeons for heart catalysers and finding Cerberus Alpha. It had been night for about an hour when she came down from the tower. Sunless drones roamed around the hills like the brainless blobs of black goo that they were. It¡¯s seriously weird. Not just them but also the cocoons that appear around the other monsters at night. And what about that Tarren guy? He wasn¡¯t a monster¡­ Have I ever heard of another species mixing people and monsters? Goblins and Hobgoblins are closely related but they¡¯re not really the same species¡­ Supposedly they have a common ancestor or something? I¡¯ve never even seen a real goblin yet, have I? What differentiates people and monsters is a bit vague in the first place¡­ Right, I wanted to check these things¡¯ spiritual body. Sofia summoned the graveyard skeletons as well as a big block of bone and got them to bring her inside it. From in there, halfway in the spiritual realm, she watched the Sunless drones in the distance. In the all-white spiritual realm, one was able to see spiritual matter, that was, usually: the soul of people, and the spiritual body of monsters and animals. Added to that were the vague transparent and fog-like shapes of physical matter. Oftentimes spiritual matter could go through other spiritual matter without too much trouble, unless it was really dense like the sap of the black primus trees of the soul of a very high level individual. What Sofia was looking for, now, was whether the Sunless had a true soul, the kind which Sofia thought was what would usually prompt the system to call a kill ¡®murder¡¯ or a simple spiritual body. The difference was quite hard to make out. Usually, someone¡¯s soul would look much like their physical body, just white and very blurry, with natural mana veins spreading throughout. Spiritual bodies were the same. What made a soul a soul, though, was a sort of small knot in the mana veins, an origin point, a core. The same thing that the Scribe had to protect when Sofia combined her classless skills into [DODGE - ME]. That was it. Beyond that, there are Saints and Oracles souls which look nothing like their body because we get slapped with divine essence. Apostles get a mangled body and Saints get a mangled Soul. And then there¡¯s me who has both. Looking at the Sunless drones from afar, it was hard to see anything. To begin with, it was hard to see the mana veins on a willing person up close and standing still. The mana veins in the spiritual body were the ones which connected it to the physical body and allowed mana to flow from one to the other, not the actual pathways used for magic, which mostly resided in the mana plane and showed through in the soul as little capillaries spreading everywhere. Finally, for the sake of her experiments, Sofia bolted all the drones in the area save for one, which she had Pareth wrestle while she observed it from underground in the spiritual realm. The Sunless debris acts like a core for the mana to build around, no actual mana veins there, just like a golem. And yet it still has a spiritual body¡­ The core kind of looks like a mana knot, looking at it like this, but I don¡¯t think it¡¯s one. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. In the first place the other Sunless I killed just now didn¡¯t leave any lingering soul so they were clearly just spiritual bodies. That was the last difference between a spiritual body and a soul. Upon death of the physical body, a spiritual body would quickly scatter, while a soul would linger and slowly fade over hours, days, or weeks, depending on the individual. That was what Sofia had learned in Eternam''s necromancy lectures, at least. True death was when the soul completely faded. Beyond that point the person could never be brought back. Before that, there was always a possibility. Sofia ordered Pareth to kill the Drone. ¡®You have defeated [Sunless Drone - Lv. 203]¡¯ The spiritual body started to scatter almost instantly as the Sunless Drone¡¯s physical body disappeared, the mana making it up its shiny black form spreading back into the air. Just as I thought, not a sou¨C Under Sofia¡¯s eyes, the scattering spiritual body was sent flying up in the sky, like attracted by a great suction force. Sofia watched the blurry white cloud get dragged up until it disappeared past the wild mana currents above. Excuse me, what? Sofia moved around a bit and repeated the experiment on more Sunless drones. The result was always the same, after being killed, their scattering spiritual body would get sucked into the night sky before it could truly disappear. The graveyard skeletons let Sofia step out of the spiritual realm. ¡°There¡¯s something seriously wrong here. But¡­ Is that how the Sunless form? The inverse of that? If every night their spiritual body comes down from the sky and then starts to gather ambient mana to form a core and a physical body¡­¡± Sofia wanted to try her theory, so she waited for Sunrise, keeping another drone in her sight, held by Pareth. When the Sun started to rise, the Sunless drone burst as if it had been killed, and as Sofia expected, its spiritual body was sucked out, but surprisingly not into the sky. She watched as the Sunless drone¡¯s spiritual body flew along the ground for a few hundred meters before gradually disappearing underground. What the heck. Again Sofia stepped out of the spiritual realm, and looked at Pareth. ¡°Did it leave a debris?¡± Pareth shook its main head. ¡°Interesting¡­ If we follow the direction the spirit of the Sunless went¡­ I think they¡¯re attracted to the middle moon. It should be opposite to the rising sun right now, so from here, considering the curvature of the planet, it has to go through the ground if it¡¯s going for the middle moon in a straight line, while during the middle of the night it could just go straight up.¡± Hmmm¡­ ¡°What are the chances that Fenrir is the middle moon?¡± Pareth shrugged. ¡°Yeah, we¡¯ll get to know in a few days, I suppose¡­ Do you think we could get a weak Sunless inside the Shuttle? With proper preparations we could trap it inside of a blessed construct and hold it there for a while. It¡¯ll be much easier to see where exactly the spirit is going from there.¡± While Pareth and Sofia were pondering over that idea, a blinding light illuminated the morning sky. Sofia¡¯s first reflex was to bring out her shield while Pareth¡¯s was to stand above her with his own shields ready. The light came from right above them and seemed to be getting bigger and bigger like a second sun. Meteorite?! Then came the sound, and Sofia relaxed, this was no rogue space rock, but the shuttle slowing its descent toward the tower. Already? Is it Ihuarah coming back? Sofia observed the bright light disappearing into nothingness as it entered the invisible tower on the distant hill. She pulled on her [Reign over shadows] skill to get an idea of the mana needed to use her ability to swap position with Ihuarah, it did not ever give a precise number but she could tell whether she had enough or not, and at the moment she had more than enough. Let¡¯s do a neat party trick. Sofia switched places with the hero shade, which cost her just about 110 000 mana, and she found herself sitting inside of a loudly landing space shuttle, the interior of which looked a lot like a sized down version of the one that had taken her to the trial. It had to be said that Ihuarah had to accept the teleportation for the swap to take place, so the situation was likely a surprise to him but not a jumpscare. ¡°Of course you would accept instantly,¡± Sofia said out loud as Pareth teleported to her, holding the arm of a fully black shadow of a man in one of his oversized hands. ¡°Well of course, Lady Sofia. What a pleasant surprise to cross your path on this beautiful morning, the Merciful Mother blesseth my day,¡± he answered with a deep bow.
Chapter 420 - Dragon’s blaze ¡°Always the gentleman. How is your trial going, Iwa? Found a Sunless wife? They do look a lot like shades.¡± ¡°Funny you should mention that,¡± he answered in a suave tone. He adjusted his hair, which had changed style since the last time Sofia had seen him. ¡°Perhaps I did,¡± he hinted. ¡°Did you, now?¡± Sofia asked again, shocked that this was his answer to her joke. She knew that Ihuarah was not the kind to jest. ¡°I am unallowed to say more, I¡¯m afraid. A lot of information in this place is not shareable, however, I have good hope that a third member might accompany our expedition to Sorrow¡¯s palace.¡± ¡°Sorrow¡¯s Palace? This is what you were searching for in the jungle? Also Cinthia wants to join in on the fun, do you remember her from the sect?¡± ¡°But of course. She is particularly well suited for the expedition, I believe that should be enough people, though I would not object if Zerei, Alith or your sister were to come along.¡± Sofia thought about it for a second. ¡°It is possible Alith may come, Zerei and Saria should be busy, I think¡± ¡°Fair enough. Truth be told, this expedition may end in failure for a great many reasons, there is no point in having too many heads. But I digress, let this old fool see how he may help you with your trial, Lady Sofia.¡± ¡°I appreciate any information you can give me. Did you find the Alpha?¡± ¡°Excuse me, the Alpha?¡± Ihuarah answered, sounding genuinely confused. ¡°Oh¡­ Is your additional task not the same? Look, this is what I have.¡± [Additional rewards task : ¦Á ] ¡°That¡­ I am afraid my information will be worthless to you. It is indeed different, here is mine.¡± [Additional rewards task : Cleanse the mirage city] Sofia smirked as she read Ihuarah¡¯s task. ¡°The admins really planned this trial well, didn¡¯t they? There must be three or four tasks alternating to make sure that different batches of trial takers don¡¯t interfere or help each other.¡± ¡°An elegant design. I am well on my way to finding this mirage city, well hidden that it is. From the clues I have gathered, it only appears briefly at dusk on the junctions of the planet¡¯s artificial mana leylines. With a bit of luck, one might just stumble upon it,¡± Ihuarah explained. ¡°As for your task, I have not the faintest idea, my apologies.¡± ¡°Not to worry, I have a solid lead, what I am searching for is the ¡®hidden planet¡¯ Cerberus Alpha. It should be somewhere nearby, in space.¡± ¡°Is that so? This does ring ¨C¡± Ihuarah abruptly stopped midway through his sentence. ¡°Are you alright? Did you just get censored?¡± Ihuarah quickly came back to his senses, he cleared his throat and explained, ¡°Apologies, my mind went blank for an instant. This is a forbidden topic, it appears.¡± ¡°No matter. I¡¯ll find it in time, I already have a good idea of what to search for after just being here a few days, so I¡¯m not worried,¡± Sofia said. She wanted to follow up with a question about the location of dungeons, but it was her turn to blank out and feel her thoughts drift away before she could open her mouth. ¡°Are your hearts progressing well?¡± Ihuarah asked, walking around in the shuttle. Sofia immediately felt that she was not allowed to say anything about her heart¡¯s rank and imprints, so all she could muster was a simple ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°More restrictions¡­¡± Ihuarah commented, pensive. ¡°We are only allowed to share the wager effects, I believe. Oh! And speaking of sharing, this humble servant now has a personal tier two scribe and access to a complete status window, courtesy of Sir Kyle.¡± ¡°Really?! I need to see that!¡± ¡°It is my pleasure. You may notice issues with the skills, pay it no mind, it is simply the system trying to integrate my old magic. May I have a look at your heart¡¯s wager? I am quite curious about your choice of essence, for Pareth¡¯s as well.¡± ¡°Of course, here.¡± The two traded system windows. [Nascent mana heart of Sorrow]: Status redacted. Wager bonus (Light hearted) : In battle, for each 1 imprint power held within your mana heart: Gain 1% agility and 1% speed. Wager penalty (Stress eating) : You must always absorb every imprint of every creature you kill, even if they are shards for already completed skills. You must kill every creature which damages you. Failure to comply inflicts a cumulative 25% current maximum health penalty for the rest of the trial (Minimum Health = 1). ¡®Name : Ihuarah Age : 6463 Class : [Grand animist] ? Level : 249 ? Health : 24 900 / 24 900 Stamina : No. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. Mana : 124 500 / 124 500 Main Specialization (Systemless): [Hexer] Active Skills (12 / 8) [Create Spirit body] [Animism] [Spirit-tearing claw] [Animal Spirit armor] [The Five Cataclysms] [Teleportation] [Shields of the weave] [Elemental bolstering] [Flesh and soul reconstruction] [Pestilence cloud] [Withering blast] [Curse weaving] Racial Skills (3) [Shadow transfer] [Advanced physical damage resistance] [Shadow blades] Passive Skills (12 / 8) [Hand of Sorrow] [Ruler¡¯s charisma] [Battlefield management] [Unbreakable focus] [Proud warriors fight again] [Withering touch] [Possessed body] [Spell misdirection] [Spell redirection] [Weakening aura] [Curse protection] [Mana Siphon] Classless Skills (7 / 5) [Alchemy] [Natural Knowledge] [Commander¡¯s Aura] [Friend of the winds] [Immobile fighter] [Fast reading] [Sorrow¡¯s rites] [Blessing of radiance] ¡°There is a tremendous lot to say¡­¡± Sofia started after reading Ihuarah¡¯s status. ¡°As would be expected, I would appreciate it if we could save this discussion for later, however. We will have plenty of time to discuss my abilities in detail during our next trip,¡± Ihuarah answered. ¡°Right¡­ We should each focus on our own trial right now. Still, what do you say we take an hour or two to catch up? I have some really nice food¡­ Wait, can you even eat?¡± ¡°Let us not do it inside of this space vessel, then. And yes, I can eat. It serves little to no purpose, but I can.¡± Sofia nodded as she walked out of the shuttle with Ihuarah. ¡°What is your body even made of now? You had time to figure that out?¡± ¡°Certainly,¡± he confirmed, ¡°Much like other shades, my physical body is composed primarily of charcoal dust, the same thing your rot leaves behind. As you can see, there is a component of it which is mana-fuelled black light, and that is everything.¡± ¡°So for eating¡­ How?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°Magic. I can see, hear, breathe, talk, feel , taste, smell, and it is all simulated perception through innate magic functions ingrained into my soul. A lot of the mana which would go into empowering one¡¯s body, on me, is used simply to perform these basic human functions. It comes with a shade¡¯s body, however, so things about even out.¡± ¡°The only thing you¡¯re missing is a heartbeat?¡± ¡°Precisely so, that and the ability to procreate,¡± he added. ¡°Should we go outside? I would greatly appreciate some red meat and a vegetable stew, if you can provide that.¡± Sofia nodded, ¡°Yeah we can, the area should be clear, I have not seen any big Sunless cocoons nearby while I was around last night.¡± ¡°Marvelous.¡± ¡°Wait, about¡­ Do you not have your manhood?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°Ever so blunt, Lady Sofia. No, it is there, under these layers of fake clothing which are also part of my body. The tool is not lacking, the fluids are.¡± ¡°I see¡­ Does that bother you? Wait¡­ Did you have kids before?¡± ¡°It was an unexpected loss, but not one I would lose hair thinking about. And no, I never had the time or opportunity to foster an offspring, regrettably. Do you want kids, my lady?¡± ¡°Well, I cannot say that I want to right now or in the near future¡­ But I would like to keep the option open, if it¡¯s not already too late.¡± On the tower floor outside of the shuttle, Ihuarah gave a side look to the decomposing bear-like creature he had fought there but did not comment on it, their conversation had led them to the long spiral staircase, and Ihuarah jumped off from it, landing silently at the base of the tower below. Sofia followed suit, deploying her wings at the last second to cushion the fall. Ihuarah just continued the conversation as he walked to leave the tower. ¡°There are many other options, to be honest. One can always adopt an orphan, have a soul offspring with one of the rare spiritually-reproducing races, or even create a new soul from scratch, as a necromancer would.¡± A new soul¡­ Like Pareth or Richard¡¯s generals. ¡°Spiritually-reproducing races?¡± Sofia repeated. ¡°Yes, most notable would be the Fey, Nymphs, and Dragons,¡± Ihuarah explained as he left the tower through the concealed passage in the wall, shielding his ¡®eyes¡¯ from the morning sun with a raised hand. ¡°Dragons?!¡± ¡°Indeed. You were friendly with Zephir and Erredis; have you not seen the size of them?¡± ¡°I¡­ I did, yeah, but?¡± ¡°That is it. How do you figure sexual intercourse works at this scale? The answer is that it does not.¡± But they can take human form if they want, though¡­ ¡°I am not sure if I want to ask about why you know this¡­ That being said, I wish you were around more often, Iwa, you¡¯re like an infinite well of knowledge. Even if some of it is¡­ Disturbing.¡± Ihuarah laughed heartily as he stared at the rising sun. ¡°You flatter me, Lady Sofia. I am but an old man you brought back from the tomb.¡±
Chapter 421 - Bookie also ate Sofia, Ihuarah, Pareth and Bookie were sitting around a bonfire in a valley not far from the tower. The conversation had drifted away to a great many topics, with Ihuarah taking his turn to ask a lot of questions about the last year¡¯s events, as well as Zerei and Alith¡¯s current whereabouts. In between two bites of Firebird roasted meat, Sofia brought the subject of soul-offsprings back up. ¡°Can you tell me more about the Spiritually-reproducing races?¡± she asked. Ihuarah answered with a question of his own, ¡°You know about Dragons already. Is it the Fey or the Nymphs which interest you?¡± ¡°Honestly, both. Fey and Fae are the same thing, right?¡± Sofia first asked, ¡°From what I know they are supposedly extinct.¡± ¡°Fey, Fae, Fairy, all different ways to refer to the same race. They are a reclusive few, and not eager to reproduce, some of their species might have very well gone extinct by now, I would not be surprised. My mentor, the one who taught me the basics of animism, thousands of years back, was a Fey. He is probably still alive.¡± ¡°It has been more than three thousand years since you died and you still believe him to be alive?¡± ¡°That is so. He is a hermit, the troubles of the world have always failed to reach him. Thousands of years may go by but they mean little to him.¡± ¡°He must be powerful,¡± Sofia commented. ¡°Not particularly. I was ¡®stronger¡¯ than him by the time of my death. He is not interested in growing stronger. But the respect he commands among the stronger races is not to be underestimated,¡± Ihuarah explained before stuffing his face full of roasted bird meat. ¡°Hmm¡­ Bookie, can you show him the page?¡± The book of skeletons appeared in Bookie¡¯s small hands and he brought it to Ihuarah, showing him the page containing the tiny creature born from a Midenicite ingot, which Sofia still did not have the mana to summon yet. Ihuarah let out a rare expression of surprise as he observed the page. Sofia explained the skeleton¡¯s origin, showing Ihuarah the old logs of the Ingot¡¯s description, and what she thought about it, which left Ihuarah pensive for a while as he ate. It was only when he had finished drinking his entire bowl of soup that he felt ready to talk. ¡°I believe I have a clear explanation about how this may have happened. Be aware that it is all conjecture.¡± ¡°That would already be nice, as I have nothing.¡± ¡°To begin with, let me explain the basic, innate power, which all Fey have, regardless of the species. They corrupt their environment.¡± ¡°Corrupt?¡± Ihuarah nodded in confirmation, ¡°That is to say, the environment around them changes to copy their characteristics, the longer they stay in the same place, the more drastic the changes. In the case of my master, he is from a species with innate powers in soul magic, and as he stays in the same place, everything around him develops a strong spiritual body which will naturally defend him.¡± ¡°Wait, wait. Did you not say when I first summoned you that Animism first came from a belief that all things have a soul? How would you make that mistake with that kind of mentor?¡± ¡°Precisely because he was my mentor was I led to this false conclusion. I did not know, at the time, that his mere presence was what granted his surroundings a soul. He taught me through example what became the basis for my animist magic, but that is all he did. Back then, he did not even speak the human language,¡± Ihuarah recalled in a nostalgic tone. ¡°I see¡­ Sorry for interrupting.¡± ¡°Pay it no mind, your questions are always welcome. I personally find your inquisitive nature to be quite endearing, you remind me of my old pupils. Anyway, as you may have understood by now, this would explain the discovery of an unusually huge vein of Midenicite.¡± Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°It was a Fey with Midenicite bones which made everything around him become the same magic-repellant crystal¡­¡± Sofia completed by herself. ¡°And the Ingot was made with its remains.¡± ¡°That is what I believe, too. Although I did not know about the Midenicite bones, I believe I have heard of that particular species of Fae before. But you are missing a crucial point.¡± ¡°I am?¡± Sofia tried to think about something she might have missed but she failed to think about anything plausible. Seeing her struggle, Ihuarah finally explained his theory. ¡°The truth is, this Fae in your book is likely not dead.¡± ¡°What?!¡± Sofia exclaimed, incredulous at the outrageous claim that the skeleton stuck in Bookie¡¯s pages may still be a living creature. ¡°Not that it is alive either, I theorize it to be in an in-between state, much like I have been for a very long time before you brought me back.¡± ¡°And Bookie still ate it?¡± ¡°Likely for the best. It is likely that the Ingot was crafted from this Fae¡¯s remains to help preserve its soul within for a long time until a way to bring it back was found. Had they gone through the painstaking process of refining it to make something out of it, they would have not left the Ingot unused, would they? Either way, you can always ask the craftsman, Alkorm, you said?¡± ¡°That¡¯s it, yes, I still have the letter for him, too,¡± Sofia told him, bringing out the sealed envelope from Zangdar¡¯s hero, labeled ¡®To Alkorm D.¡¯. ¡°Alkorm¡­ Morlak¡­ This is without a doubt the Dragon I knew,¡± Ihuarah told Sofia, ¡°Always one to meddle with humans. We shall pay him a visit after this trial, is that fine with you, Lady Sofia?¡± ¡°That¡¯s the Dragon you knew? We really should have gone into more details about our stories when I summoned you¡­¡± ¡°Ahahah,¡± Ihuarah laughed, ¡°You had more important things on your mind back then, and I was more than a bit disoriented myself. Your humble servant is here now. I will have to leave you again soon, but I will be waiting for you wherever we land after this trial.¡± ¡°I¡¯m counting on it. We have a lot on our plate. Anything else to say about the Fae?¡± Ihuarah ripped another chunk of meat off of the Firebird roasting over the open fire, ¡°this is really good,¡± he commented before quickly giving a few more details on the Fae skeleton. ¡°It is likely that the soul will wake up when you summon it. You should take your precautions as it very well might try to rip off your head, if so. What¡¯s more, considering the Midenicite bones, this is probably one of the rarest Fae subspecies, the magicless Fae. They have a high resistance to magical damage and effects, are naturally completely invisible, can fly faster than you are able to comprehend, are violent and savage in nature, and could tear a hole through adamian steel with their bare hands.¡± Magicless Fae¡­ Hearing Ihuarah¡¯s explanation, Sofia couldn¡¯t stop herself from digging through her old system logs. After just a few seconds of intense search, she found what she was looking for, the description of the Invisibility potion provided by Nicet before exploring Saria¡¯s sky island in Sovuln. [Fae wings dust extract] : A potion brewed around the natural powers of invisibility of an extinct species of magicless fae. It allows light to flow through you, and completely suppresses any sound, mana, heat, and particle emission. Active skills will be unavailable. May cause sensory deprivation, loss of balance and loss of own-body spatial perception. Allows phasing through thin objects such as grass or pebbles. Mana regeneration -75% while the effect is active. Effect Duration : 6 hours. Item level : 166. Grade : Precious. It does say extinct species here¡­ And for Nicet to be able to get this potion when he works for Red Carpet¡­ Richard helped with making Zangdar. He was likely present when the Ingot was refined. No wonder. Things line up very clearly. Sofia looked at Bookie. ¡°You ate this thing¡¯s soul?¡± Bookie nodded. ¡°See,¡± Ihuarah commented. ¡°Will it be ¡®alive¡¯ when I summon it?¡± Bookie shrugged. ¡°You don¡¯t know, uh? Will you be able to prevent it from ¡®ripping off my head¡¯ if it is actually alive?¡± Bookie energetically shook his head, making an x with his arms. ¡°... It¡¯s good that I can survive without a head, then¡­¡± ¡°If you will let me be here when you first call it, I may be able to prepare a few things,¡± Ihuarah suggested while sloppily gulping down his sixth big chunk of firebird meat. ¡°We will do that, then¡­ Hey, Iwa, now that I think about it, this is not your first time making a mana heart, right?¡± Ihuarah wiped his greasy ¡®mouth¡¯ with his ¡®clothes¡¯, and he nodded, ¡°Indeed. The first time was a great deal more frustrating than this one. The entire process this trial expedites took me right about two hundred years to get right. I must admit, I am a bit sad to have lost it, I hope we can find my tomb and collect it in the future. It would be a nice keepsake of the times gone by.¡±
Chapter 422 - Fenrir Sofia and Ihuarah¡¯s discussion kept going throughout the morning going into a variety of topics until they looped back to the trial itself. Ihuarah stood up from the rock he was sitting on. ¡°Fenrir, yes, that would be the closest of the three moons. Be on the lookout for unnatural landscapes and points of interest, such as if you were to find, let¡¯s say a giant tree, sometimes I have found things in the middle of nowhere,¡± Ihuarah explained while turning his head in the tower¡¯s direction, ¡°but generally ¡®trial events¡¯ are near clearly visible landmarks.¡± Sofia thanked him for the tip and expressed how she found it strange what was and wasn¡¯t being censored. She had tried to bring up the paper people earlier in the conversation and found herself completely unable to do so. ¡°We should get going,¡± Ihuarah said, ¡°you especially should not be wasting time. We will have ample time to speak again after the trial. Thank you for the meal.¡± ¡°Right. Well, see you in a year, then. It was nice to have you around for a bit. If you stay nearby after the trial I can do the swapping trick to find you again. You might have to wait for a while though.¡± ¡°A few months is nothing to someone as old as I am. I might pick up fishing again while I wait, I do wonder how much the aquatic life may have evolved while I was dead¡­¡±
Sofia took place in the shuttle¡¯s single seat, which closed up around her lower body. Almost immediately, a familiar countdown began in a feminine voice. Wait, in the end he never said anything about the nymphs. I will have to wait until the end of the trial¡­ The shuttle took off, and Sofia did not pay attention to it, she was already bored of the process, lost in her thoughts. By the time the violent shaking of the shuttle brought her back to reality, she was already landing inside of another tower. The first thing she noticed as she left her seat was how weak gravity was. This is much weaker than Veliadren¡¯s moon. Because this moon is smaller, I imagine. That¡¯s what it was, right? I was a bit distracted when Asty explained this stuff in class¡­ With all the books I¡¯ve read not a single one explained what gravity really is. Well, whatever, let¡¯s see what this moon has to offer. Pareth came out to be the vanguard as soon as Sofia left the small shuttle. The tower looked similar to the one on the planet, with the difference that the shuttle was directly on ground level. Sofia had to walk around touching the walls to find the exit, but she actually saw the fake wall before she touched it, thanks to her left eye¡¯s ¡®visual anomaly spotter¡¯. ¡°Hmm. This function works but barely. It was the same for the paper person, it reacted to its invisibility but it wasn¡¯t very obvious. More feedback for Richard¡­¡± Pareth and Sofia left the tower, the environment outside was instantly less welcoming. There was no air, no mana, and the white, dusty ground was hot like a desert¡¯s sand at noon. Sofia looked up, she could see the two other moons, no trace of the sun or the planet. The only light reaching there came from the sunlight reflecting on the other two moons¡¯ surfaces. It took us all the way to the hidden side of the moon? One quick look over the horizon told Sofia that there was nothing nearby, the surface of this moon, so far, looked an awful lot like Veliadren¡¯s moon which she had crashed onto, barren, dusty, and riddled with large craters. If there¡¯s important stuff here and you¡¯re not able to survive in space you¡¯re really done. It should probably be expected from here on out that the trials might have all kinds of hostile environments. Sofia was ready to go out and explore but a simple question stuck in her mind, how was she supposed to find the tower again to leave? Backtracking her way on the planet would be hard but not impossible as she could recognise the general lay of the land, on the moon, everything looked alike. Actually¡­ If there¡¯s nothing here¡­ Sofia got one of her thousands of stored bone wings from her bone storage, and severed the tip with bone dominus. She let it fall to the ground and started walking. As soon as she felt the bit of bone leaving the 90 meters of her dominus perception range, she dropped another bit of bone to the ground. A bit slow but I have to advance carefully anyway. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. With no obvious target in sight, Sofia kept going in a straight line until the wing she was dropping pieces of ran out and she had to bring out another one. A bit TOO slow. And walking on air doesn¡¯t even work here because there¡¯s no atmosphere. I could go with the runeforged flight but I can¡¯t cancel the second tier by cutting my head off because of the healing restriction so¡­ Just a bit of flight might take forever to recover from in the mana department. Sofia turned to Pareth. Sanctified grounds, please! Pareth shook his head but activated the skill anyway, even crouching and holding out his hand for Sofia to step onto. He knew exactly where this was going. Right, give me the slow fall ring. Sofia activated the slow fall ring which she knew effectively reduced the effect of gravity on her, and Pareth stood up with her in his large hand. Go! Using all of his strength, Pareth threw Sofia up in the air. She flew up hundreds of meters and took her time to survey the horizon at the apex of the ¡®jump¡¯. Found a thing! Sofia used the zoom of her left eye to get a better view on the large gray thing she spotted in the distance, just in time to see it disappear into the ground. Some kind of giant gray crab? This thing must have been the size of a large house and it just disappeared inside a dark hole¡­ She spun around, trying to see anything else, but that was it. In what she estimated to be at least a fifty kilometer radius, there was nothing to be seen except a great many craters, fissures in the ground, and whatever that thing had been. She was already falling, and despite the slow fall ring¡¯s best efforts, her speed was gradually picked up as she neared the ground. Should still be fine. Pareth caught her out of the sky before she could hit the ground. No damage. Thanks. She threw the ring back to Pareth. You saw it too, right? What do you say, are we going there? Pareth nodded as he dispelled the sanctified grounds. Let¡¯s hunt a giant crab!
The rat Sofia had sent to check out the rift-like fissure in the ground which the monster had crawled inside of held the vision token over the hole. It¡¯s too dark¡­ I would need to go there in person to see. That feels dangerous though. I know nothing about that crab monster, but if there¡¯s one thing which has held true so far, naturally large monsters are usually pretty high level. To the point that I can confidently say the stone ogres were actually very big for their level. I should assume the crab is at least over 250. What now¡­ Had the hole been anywhere else but on the moon Sofia would have been confident to check it herself since she could just fly away in case of emergency, but here her only escape tools were the runeforged third tier¡¯s flight which would cost at least half of her total mana, or the demon form. Sofia called the rat back while she charged a small pebble-sized lightstone, then she stuck it onto the side of the vision token with some bone, which worked out because the vision tokens were made through [Bone dominus] on small bone disks. The process of carving the tiny ritual circles onto the vision tokens was painful by hand but the fine precision bone magic made it a breeze and Sofia had mass-manufactured all kinds of bone things in preparation for the trial, including tokens. The rat grabbed the token from Sofia¡¯s hand and ran the few hundred meters separating it from the hole in the ground. It''s a cheap lightstone, just drop it in there, let¡¯s see what¡¯s in the hole. The token fell, and Sofia¡¯s vision with it. The token spinning through the air made the experience slightly nauseating. That¡¯s one deep hole¡­ Finally the token left the long shaft, entering what Sofia thought was some sort of big cavernous chamber, and that was when the token hit the ground. The token was intact but the lightstone shattered, its broken fragments spread around on the cavern¡¯s ground, giving Sofia a single second of extended vision into the underground¡¯s darkness before their light faded and she disconnected from the token. Well, there¡¯s a bigger grotto inside the hole¡­ We did not learn much. Uh? Sofia felt the ground rumbling below her feet. It lasted a few seconds. Pareth gave her sign that he had felt it too. Seism on the moon? Is that a thing? Wait¡­ The link to the vision token is broken! Pareth took the initiative to step in between Sofia and the fissure. They waited with bated breath, but nothing came of it. We might just be a bit too paranoid. With how the ground shook the token might have just rolled a bit and fallen deeper underground or something. Still. Maybe it was that the crab attacked it and that shook the ground? Summoner and skeleton looked at each other for a bit, and Sofia finally took a decision. Let¡¯s use the bone structures, I have a very bright idea. What¡¯s more, if it fails, we can use it to escape. And if it works, you still get full imprints. A foolproof plan. Sofia smirked. I wonder if an Angel will show up this time.
Chapter 423 - Disaster and seafood platter Sofia stood atop a tower of bones. Was the plan, but I have to admit, it looked better in my head. Sofia thought as she watched her newest architectural masterpiece from below. The tower in question was a tall, rickety, scaffolding-style watchtower, built directly on top of the hole, made by stacking empty cubic bone frames which were originally meant to build temporary houses like Nicet¡¯s deployable base, and finished with a bone gazebo at the top. The structural integrity was dubious at best so angled bone spikes planted into the ground and stuck to the four corners helped it stay upright. It looked properly ridiculous but would allow Sofia to safely stand a good fifty meters above the fissure in the ground. The extended dominus range made building this really easy. I knew this was the best choice¡­ But, huh. How do I get up there? I should make a ladder. A fifty meters long bone ladder and some climbing later, Sofia really stood at the top of the tower. Using bone dominus she made a round hole in the floor of the gazebo, giving her a direct line of sight on the dark hole beneath. The drop was like, what? Fifty to a hundred meters? I shouldn¡¯t be in the fireball radius. Going to be blind again, though. Wait, I should still have the Sun temple¡¯s darkening goggles somewhere in the storage, right? Yeah! Woah I had completely forgotten about those. Should help. They might not hold well against the heat though so I¡¯ll have to bring them out at the last second. Can I call them directly over my eyes? After some testing, it turned out that putting the goggles on directly out of the storage was possible with the storage eye, but it required some very precise targeting or they would end up just appearing behind or in front of her head instead of on it. I¡¯ll have to practice that later. Alright. Time to get serious. Too bad there¡¯s no ambient mana or I could have pushed it more. Oh well. As a last step of preparation, Sofia removed the roof of her bone gazebo, and she stood above the hole she made, staring down at the entrance of the giant crab¡¯s den. Armor ready, Scepter ready. We¡¯re good to go. Blue sparks started to gather around Sofia¡¯s scepter. Slowly the bolt formed in Sofia¡¯s hand. After twenty seconds and a hundred thousand mana down the drain, the bright blue weapon of plasma flickered wildly in her grasp like a thunderbolt ready to strike, but this was only the beginning. She kept feeding it. Forty seconds in. Two hundred thousand mana. The bolt calmed down. The plasma collapsed together into a fine, almost glossy spear of power and heat. The bone tower started to blacken and crumble from the intense heat, forcing Sofia to focus part of her attention to continually adding more bone to reinforce it while she was channeling the bolt. Twenty more seconds passed, and the bolt reached the 300 000 mana mark, the strongest bolt she had ever crafted until now. The heat was so intense that her bone armor, even with the bone dominus blessing, continually crumbled to ash and reformed. As for her hand holding the scepter, Sofia couldn¡¯t see it anymore because the light was entirely too bright. Funnily enough, her right hand was the part of her body which suffered the least from the hellish heat, fully protected by the Dragon-scale arm. Sofia cautiously monitored her health. So far, despite the intense discomfort from the heat, she was still not hurt in the slightest. She kept pushing more mana into the bolt. The heat was starting to become debilitating. Sofia had never felt so hot, not even during her trip around the sun, her stamina was starting to take a heavy blow, but health was still intact. As the energy of the bolt kept pulsating in her hand, it was becoming harder and harder to hold on, not because of the heat, but because of the wild volatile energy contained within. It wanted out, and managing to hold onto it was becoming a matter of arm strength and pure willpower. 350 000. The tower shook, the ground rumbled. Sofia couldn¡¯t see anything anymore, she switched to Pareth¡¯s vision, who was safely standing two thousand meters away; ready to teleport in at any point if something happened. 370 000. Sofia¡¯s stamina was melting. She couldn¡¯t even feel her arm anymore. A long, spindly gray leg emerged out of the fissure. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. The ¡®crab¡¯ was there, just beneath the surface, It seemed uncertain about what to do. To come out and attack? To fall back and flee? In the face of this mysterious new sun in the sky, even the monster was at a loss. 390 000. The crab never came out, scared of the unknown, it had decided to flee underground. Too late. 400 000. Sofia couldn¡¯t hold on for any longer even if she had wanted to. She deployed her wings, and, without a sound, the bolt left her hand and disappeared into the abyss below. The light around Sofia died down for a second as the bolt left her, allowing her to see again. Then, a spectacular geyser of light erupted from the hole, and an instant later, a sea of hellish blue flames. The explosion enveloped Sofia¡¯s body for a short instant, and the wild mana expelled carried her wings up. The eerily silent gigantic explosion propelled Sofia thousands of meters above the surface. She watched from above as the fireball quickly expanded and collapsed on itself. It had lasted for far less time than it had the previous time, and there had been no shockwave at all. With the last bits of mana she had, Sofia activated the slow fall ring, that and the thinly scattered mana from the explosion allowed her to fall at a fast but steady rate. The ground below had been torn open, a new crater spanning hundreds of meters revealed the entrance of many tunnels going even deeper. The moon rocks were charred, some still glowing hot, molten in places, steaming, and there was dust and rock debris flying everywhere. There was no trace of the crab monster anywhere. Finally a few system notifications came in. ¡®You have defeated [Veik Harvester - Lv. 263 - Imprint ruined]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Veik Harvester - Lv. 252 - Imprint ruined]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Veik Harvester - Lv. 273 - Imprint ruined]¡¯ Three? Nice. Ruined is still good for Pareth, is it not? In fact, it was more than a few. ¡®You have defeated [Veik Crawler - Lv. 242 - Imprint ruined]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Veik Crawler - Lv. 206 - Imprint ruined]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Veik Crawler - Lv. 238 - Imprint ruined]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Veik Crawler - Lv. 249 - Imprint ruined]¡¯ Uh¡­ The last notification of the lot was perhaps the most surprising. ¡®You have defeated [Veik Hive Cleaner - Lv. 221 - Imprint ruined]¡¯ Hive¡­ HIVE?! Sofia did not even need to use Pareth¡¯s vision to see the ground shake. Even from so far up above, she could see it. The many tunnels Sofia¡¯s bolt had exposed to the outside had been empty just a second ago. They were no longer empty. To say they were swarming with life was un understatement. A flood of gray creatures of all shapes and sizes emerged from the moon¡¯s entrails. Sofia couldn¡¯t hear their screeches, but it did not take a genius to understand what was happening. Sofia had figuratively stepped on an ant¡¯s nest. And the local ¡®ants¡¯ were very angry. Ahah. I¡¯m in danger. Health : 85 845 / 85 980 Stamina : 526 / 21 047 Mana : 2601 / 417 100 How do I survive this? I got no mana back from [Heat Death]. These things can¡¯t use magic. Demon form? If I can¡¯t outrun them in my five minutes of transformation I¡¯m dead. The ground below Sofia was quickly getting overrun by the creatures, tens of thousands of them. Pareth had to teleport to her and go straight into the storage to avoid getting swallowed by the swarm. The worst part was that considering her current trajectory, Sofia was going to fall straight into the larger of the tunnels which continued straight down farther than she could see, and from which the largest creatures were coming out of. Her only saving grace was that the creatures hadn¡¯t spotted her, yet. What¡­ What can I do¡­ I¡­ Fast, fast, I need to think faster! Many ideas flashed through Sofia¡¯s head and in the end, she decided on her best bet. [Title changed to ¡®Master thief¡¯] [Title change function is locked for the next 24 hours] As she fell straight down, Sofia stayed perfectly still. As she fell dangerously close to the ground, some of the creatures finally noticed her in the sky, and the message was quickly spreading, among the swarm, which all turned to look in her direction. After three seconds, she disappeared. [Master Thief]: You stole all kinds of things from all kinds of people, even when it really should not have been possible. Effect: You are much harder to detect through magic and senses other than sight. Become invisible when you stand still for more than three seconds. Scared to make even the slightest movement, Sofia, invisible and unable to control her ¡®flight¡¯ fell straight into the tunnel, while more and more gray creatures crawled up the sides of it. Sofia almost teared up. I just wanted to try a big bolt¡­
Chapter 424 - If you’re full of bones… Sofia fell deeper and deeper into the hole, while the unending swarm of Veik made their way to the outside. Just how deep does this hole go¡­ Sofia was falling straight down, but she could not look too far under herself, as tilting her head to look would cancel the [Master Thief] title¡¯s invisibility. At the very least, the hive of these things will be considerably emptier by the time I land there. They¡¯re really going all out, just like a trail of ants. I wonder what they eat to sustain such a huge population. There were harvesters among the kills but it¡¯s not clear what they could be harvesting here besides rocks. Looking at them closer¡­ It¡¯s really like big land crabs, I suppose. Many different kinds of weird crabs¡­ Seeing them, I have to wonder how it can be possible to have such a high level if they don¡¯t have mana. Say a human trained without mana, where are the limits of their possible strength? Like around level 10? 15? And yet the bigger ones of these Veiks can naturally be over level 250 without even having a mana core? How strong could their physical body possibly be without mana? Wait¡­ What about the Phageid? Hmm¡­ They never used magic except for the Alphageid against the angel, but that was while it was absorbing tons of mana from our world¡­ Despite this, even the Phageid larvae were rather tough. Most monsters still do use mana, but if there are exceptions¡­ Sofia¡¯s train of thought was interrupted by her entrance inside of the actual Veik hive¡¯s chambers. [You have discovered the filter dungeon : Fenrir¡¯s Trial of Ragnarok] [Dungeon Objective : Leave the dungeon through the Veik King¡¯s secret exit] [Chance at reward will be permanently lost if you leave through a wrong exit] [Reward : Large Heart Catalyser choice box * 1] Even this entire hive is an intended part of the trial?! It¡¯s a dungeon but it¡¯s not about defeating the boss. Interesting. Sofia quickly observed the Hive¡¯s chamber she was falling inside of, it was without a doubt the largest underground cavern she had ever seen, looking to be about two hundred meters from bottom to top, extending in all directions as far as the eye could see, with a huge web of pillars holding the place together. The flow of Veik leaving the hive in response to Sofia¡¯s attack looked like it was slowing down, but by and large, the millions of gray-shelled creatures within these underground halls still flowed in her general direction. I can¡¯t just let myself hit the ground, it has to be swarming under me right now. What to do¡­ With her very limited time and resources, Sofia had a sudden burst of creativity, at that time, she swore in her heart to really never let go of the scepter she was holding in her right hand until this moment. With only about three seconds until impact with the swarm of crawling Veik underneath, the weapon¡¯s property of halving channeling time became crucial. I am the solid ground! I AM THE GRAVEYARD! Right as Sofia was about to collide with the swarm, invisible skeletal hands burst out of her armor, they grabbed and clutched at the bone armor with all their might, dragging it and its owner into the spirit realm. A ghostly Sofia phased through the swarm of skittering Veik and dove into the ground beneath. The experience was surprisingly painful. The Veik¡¯s spiritual bodies were brimming with energy and scraped against Sofia¡¯s soul as she fell through them. The [Mark of Aphenoreth] seemed to negate the actual soul damage like it did when Sofia was the subject of teleportations, but it was somehow still painful. As for the gray creatures, they seemed entirely unaware of what had just happened. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. The graveyard skeletons quickly stabilized and stopped her momentum, but Sofia was worried about her mana, she still only had a meager three thousand to freely use, it wouldn¡¯t be enough to sustain the graveyard, she thought. A quick look at her actual mana, however, quickly dispelled that misconception. It was actually going up. Despite being in a manaless environment with no sunlight, despite the sustained cost of the graveyard, it was going up. That¡¯s right! I usually use so much extra mana to manage it myself! The graveyard is only fifty mana per second! My regen right now¡­ 94. I can keep the graveyard up forever and still regenerate 44 mana per second. I¡¯m so used to it being unusable for some reason or another, but right now¡­ It feels perfectly safe? The Veik swarm was still actively moving, just a few meters above her, but as far as she could tell, she had managed to infiltrate the hive completely unnoticed. Master Thief makes it hard to detect me with senses other than sight. It also makes me invisible if I don¡¯t move. But am I also invisible in the spiritual realm? And if it¡¯s the graveyard skeletons dragging me around, am I really moving? Can I just go around like this forever?! Wait¡­ What about the range limit of the graveyard? The skeletons can only appear inside me, but. I am the reference point now. I cast it on myself. Does that mean the graveyard is moving with me? If so¡­ Sofia tried to pull on the skill¡¯s mana circuits to see if she could find the usual range¡¯s boundaries. She felt nothing. Heheheh¡­ AHAHAHAH! This dungeon is going to be a piece of cake! [A new title has been unlocked!] The system notification actually sobered Sofia up a little. Since when am I so lucky? And after a bit of reflection, she had to admit, Actually, nevermind, I¡¯ve had a lot of good luck for the last few years, I think¡­ Not a single major loss ever since¡­ Sofia remembered the silent orphanage. I should have just been happy with my good fortune and stopped there¡­ Having ruined her own mood, Sofia glanced over the new title before dismissing it with a frown. [Spirit Seeker]: You found a way to explore the spirit realm at your leisure, a rare luxury for one with a physical body. Beware, spending too much time in such a foreign state of being will eventually lead to irreversible changes. Effect: Diminishes spiritual drag. Thank you for the warning¡­ Alright, whatever. I just need to be fast and find that secret exit. Sofia looked around. As usual, her vision from the spiritual realm was blurry at best. Supposedly Alith could see a bit more clearly when in her ghost form, but no matter what, it always felt like being lost in a sea of fuzzy white clouds. She could, however, clearly see the delimitations of the Veik¡¯s Hive caverns, seeing as said creatures had very strong spiritual bodies and were moving around a lot, they contrasted clearly with the empty space that was the interior of the moon¡¯s rocks in which Sofia was hidden. It makes a lot more sense than the Thrombber hive, structurally. Tunnels tend to be straight vertical or horizontal shafts linking the different caverns in a way that¡¯s easy to navigate¡­ Sofia slowly moved around within the walls. She noticed that the entrance of some tunnels were glowing, so she carefully moved underground to check it out. The result was that the glowing things were the spiritual bodies of relatively small Veik creatures. They were waiting in groups of two or three at the entrance of certain tunnels, and did not move at all unlike the millions of other creatures coming and going. Guards? The quest did mention them having a king. Is it far fetched to think they would have some kind of established society with rankings and guards? From my kills there were Veik Harvesters, Crawlers, and Hive cleaners¡­ Maybe following the tunnels with the most guards will lead me to the king eventually? The supposed guards in question moved while Sofia thought things through. The three she was observing had all gathered close to a wall. The wall Sofia was inside of. Panicking, she had the graveyard skeletons carry her away from this tunnel entrance. She observed the bright spiritual bodies from afar, and after a minute or two they eventually returned to their original positions. So they can still somewhat feel me, even within the walls. I think it¡¯s clear this is not a combat quest. If simple harvesters are already over level 250 then it¡¯s not a wild guess to think the guard might very well be over 300. And that would mean the King could be even stronger. It¡¯s no wonder the goal is something as ¡®simple¡¯ as just finding the secret exit. To anyone without some serious stealth abilities even that would seem almost impossible. But my tools are so varied I can probably deal with it. Let¡¯s just follow my instinct for now. Sofia went ahead with her plan of following the tunnels with the most guards. She roamed under the main chamber for a while, until she found a tunnel with four guards, and she decided to go with it.
Chapter 425 - Convention confusion The tunnel took her straight down for a few hundred meters, further confirming that the graveyard¡¯s range limitation was bypassed by her new trick, and she then found herself above another cavernous room. Four more guards on this side of the tunnel. It would really be impossible to brute-force this place for someone at my level. Still, I wonder what the intended solution is for someone without the ability to go through walls. Maybe the dungeon¡¯s name is a hint like the floor names were in the ranking tower. But Fenrir is just the name of the moon and I have never heard of the word Ragnarok. Can I get a definition? Sofia found the dungeon notification in her recent logs and focused on it the same way one could focus on their skills to access their details. That did nothing. Would have been too good to be true. Unless¡­ Sofia tried something that usually did not work, she tried to [Identify] the words within the system window. Initially, there was no response from the spell, as usual, and then, out of nowhere, as Sofia was already ready to move on, she received a new notification. [Hint 2 of 5 found!] [Hint 2 : Ragnarok is the prophesied end and rebirth of a world] Oh. Now this is new. There might be more to this dungeon than just finding an exit after all. It also looks like I already missed the first hint¡­ End and rebirth¡­ I fail to see how that is supposed to help. Let¡¯s get back to exploring. Sofia found it hard to discern anything much about the contents of the caverns from the spirit realm, the only clear thing was that there were still Veik everywhere, but they were a lot calmer in there, which Sofia thought was likely because they were too deep to have noticed the bolt explosion. She roamed around this new cavern¡¯s ceiling, searching for another tunnel with a group of guards. On one hand, she wanted to be done with the dungeon as fast as possible, especially since the warning she got through the new title¡¯s description was worrying her a lot more than she initially thought. The Venerable physique of the primeval void was already messing with her body in all sorts of ways, and her soul was also already deformed as all hells. She did not need nor want to also become some sort of half ghost or whatever else the ¡®irreversible changes¡¯ might be. On the other hand, her current mana regeneration was under 3000 points per minute, and her stamina was even slower to come back as getting dragged through the spiritual realm wasn¡¯t exactly the most comfortable experience. If she could just find the exit and avoid getting in any fight throughout the dungeon it would be fine, but considering the guards had managed to feel her through the walls, she doubted it would be that easy when she supposedly had to go near the king. The good thing, though, is that this dungeon doesn¡¯t adapt to my and Pareth¡¯s strength like the previous one, so it should be relatively easier, in theory. Then again, the reward is a large heart catalyser, when the one we got from dueling Tarren was a small one which allows to go from rank C to B. If we consider that there might be a regular type in the middle, the large probably allows the heart to upgrade from A to S rank. It would make sense for that one to be much harder to get. Unless the small ¨C large thing is only about the stats it gives, could also be that¡­ Tunnel after tunnel, Sofia delved deeper inside of the Veik hive, taking care to never go too close to the guards. The hive was gigantic. Finally, after almost three hours of wall traversal during which she never found a single safe space to emerge from, she found a relatively small, and very well guarded part of the hive. It had a whole group of ten guards protecting the entrance, their strong spirit looking like a bright bonfire shining through the spiritual realm. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. The inside of that subsection of the hive was particularly interesting because Sofia saw very few Veik inside. The cavernous room was about five hundred meters across, and there were only three creatures inside, two small ones which could be any of the regular type Veik, and a very big one shining brighter than any of the guards until now. It was roaming slowly around the room. I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s the king but it has to be some kind of Elite either way. This room is a dead end, though, so the exit can¡¯t be there. Still, I need to leave the spirit realm for a bit¡­ I¡¯m starting to feel uneasy. The big Veik is a bit worrying but I think I can hide behind one of the pillars and I should be fine with the invisibility. As long as it doesn¡¯t come too close. Sofia observed the movements of the large Veik across the room for a short while, she found no obvious patterns to them. Whatever, I really need to step out right now. She had the graveyard skeletons carry her through one of the pillars, and she emerged from the pillar inside of the room, near a corner, as far as she could from the three creatures. Finally she reentered the physical realm. Her invisibility instantly broke out as she was incapable of standing still, in fact she was incapable of standing at all, falling to her knees with a highly distorted sense of sight and a spinning head. Shit. The next few seconds were a hard-fought battle to stop herself from emptying her stomach on the ground. It took her half a minute to suppress the symptoms of what she decided to dub the ¡®spirit sickness¡¯, and she was very grateful that the Veik were busy roaming around the other half of the room during that time. That being said, while she again managed to stand still for three seconds and reactivate her invisibility, she could not feel the Veik at all. Her mana senses were useless as there was no ambient mana the Veik could be displacing and they also had no mana at all. Smell and hearing were likewise useless in an environment without air. She could only rely on sight, and she was facing a corner of the room, so there was not much to be seen besides white stone and rocks. It¡¯s alright, I just need to be careful when I summon them¡­ Out of her bone storage came a round bone token, which she hurriedly caught midair with [Bone dominus] and sent gliding along the pillar she was next to. Connecting her vision to it, she could finally really see what she had stepped into. Oh fuck. The ¡®big¡¯ Veik was a lot more intimidating than even its spiritual body could have hinted at. [Veik Royal Guard - Lv.??? - Imprint power : ??? - Effect : ¡®Veik Fortress¡¯ Skill shard (1/3)] What are the chances that it is over level 300? Pretty high. To say that it was a walking fortress was no exaggeration, its gigantic armored body would make even current Pareth look like a dwarf in front of a castle, and the skill shard imprint further reinforced that notion. And the small ones¡­ They are literally wearing crystal crowns¡­ [Veik First Prince - Lv.217 - Imprint power : 0] [Veik Third Princess - Lv.185 - Imprint power : 0] Worst of all, they were not mindless monsters. The ¡®Prince¡¯ who looked like some kind of giant human-sized long mix between a crab and a shrimp, was currently polishing its own shell with a large brush, while the ¡®Princess¡¯ which looked about the same but much smaller, about the size of a large dog, was busy writing something on stone tablets. Writing. I can¡¯t read it but it¡¯s hard not to recognize that these are structured sentences in an unknown language¡­ The paper people were one thing but even these?! And they don¡¯t even have a class! They don¡¯t even have the system! I always thought all intelligent ¡®people¡¯ were automatically given system privilege. Even Tarren, a Sunless, clearly had it. So why¡­ This changed little about Sofia¡¯s main goal within the dungeon, she had no need to kill them, but she did feel like this instantly narrowed her possibilities a whole lot. She had thought up plans to have the hive collapse or such other colorful things to potentially farm imprints, but these instantly all went out the window. No wonder you don¡¯t have to ¡®kill the boss¡¯. It would just be cruel, wouldn¡¯t it? Now that I think about it; I don¡¯t even know for a fact that they are hostile¡­ They reacted when I blasted a hole through their hive, but that¡¯s it, chances are they could be a peaceful species overall. Surviving by themselves on a lonely moon¡­ How do I go from here? If I could isolate the Princess and find a way to communicate¡­
Chapter 426 - A new foe appears In the end, the plan to try to communicate was too much of a stretch. Even assuming she could single out the Veik princess and that she was willing to cooperate, Sofia couldn¡¯t find a proper way to cross the language barrier, not when the other person looked so different. She only saw two possible ways to make it work, either to spend a significant amount of time trying to learn the written Veik language, or to try to get a message across through drawings. In both cases, results were uncertain, and she could possibly end up in a much worse situation than where she was right now. Remaining undetected within the hive walls was a much safer position. I¡¯m still curious about their lack of system, though. And so far the royals are the only ones who seemed to have an actual personality. I wonder¡­ Maybe their species evolved intelligent thought after the system¡¯s creation, so they¡¯re not included? Or¡­ Is it because of the lack of mana? That could be it¡­ They live without mana, they don¡¯t produce it nor live in an environment with it. They¡¯re completely disconnected. The paper people seemed to interact with mana through electricity, I think. I don¡¯t think they actually produced or stored any. I couldn¡¯t feel any of that, at least. Meanwhile the sunless¡­ Did Tarren produce his own mana? Hard to say, he could just as well be supplied by the system considering he ¡®works¡¯ for it. So is interacting with mana in any way enough to get the system? And being intelligent enough. That would explain why monsters aren¡¯t included. They absorb and use mana even if they don¡¯t produce any, but they¡¯re just not ¡®smart¡¯ enough. Sort of? I should see if I can ask Kyle on the way out. Sofia spent as long as she could just waiting in the same room, but the time came shortly after when she had to leave her spot by phasing through the floor, as the royal guard roamed around the place, and she couldn¡¯t let it sense her. Going back to the previous room, she took another tunnel, and kept slowly mapping out the hive, trying to find the Veik King. As she delved deeper and deeper, the number of regular Veik roaming around slowly decreased, leaving place for more and more guards. Empty rooms were rare but existed, and provided Sofia with much needed resting points to get rid of the Spirit sickness. It took her several days to navigate to the deepest parts of the hive, trying her best to stay extremely safe. She was bored out of her mind, but nothing could justify attacking the creatures. The regular guards and Veik workers had laughably weak imprints, not even giving full stat points for the most of them, and she would have to slaughter countless of them to reap anything of value. The only worthwhile targets were the very rare royal guards, and they were always only hanging around young royal Veik, which Sofia refused to murder for no reason, and they would definitely be caught in the attacks if she were to seriously try to take down one of the massive royal guards. Finally, she found the king. Or rather, the king found her. While she peacefully made her way through the walls in the deepest section of the hive, the gigantic spirit body of the Veik King came to her. Her Identify said as much. [Veik King - Lv.??? - Imprint power : ??? - Effect : ???] Sofia¡¯s first instinct had been to turn back, but the speed at which the graveyard skeletons allowed her to move through the spiritual realm was quite slow, and the Veik king was all but slow. He had appeared before her faster than she was even able to react to it. While Sofia¡¯s mind frantically searched for a way out, the King observed her. He¡¯s not attacking?! Aright¡­ I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m leaving. Sorry for intruding¡­ The graveyard skeleton slowly dragged Sofia away from the king¡¯s spiritual body, only for her to be grabbed by giant pincers. The Veik king¡¯s spiritual claws. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. I¡¯m fucked. As if responding to that, a new system notification popped up in Sofia¡¯s peripheral vision. [Hint 5 of 5 found!] [Hint 5 : Some foes are not meant to be fought directly, dummy] Ahah¡­ Yeah, thanks for the tip. AS IF I COULDN¡¯T HAVE FIGURED THAT OUT BY MYSELF! ASSHOLE! I bet it¡¯s the Human Admin who wrote these ¡®hints¡¯. What a shitty sense of humor. Is it funny to know people die challenging the trials you designed? The Veik King dragged Sofia through the spiritual realm and she could do nothing to resist. In that form, the vast majority of her spells were unusable, she had basically no control over her movements outside of the graveyard skeletons¡¯ pull, and no ¡®strength¡¯ to speak of. That was one thing she had failed to take into account about her habit of phasing through walls. It left her soul without a physical body to act as an anchoring point, which meant she was completely open to something like that. The soul protection from the mark of Aphenoreth was not even activating as the Veik king was not currently attacking and simply dragging her around in the depths of the moon. Right, I have the mark. I should be mostly safe¡­ I know now that it doesn¡¯t prevent all soul damage but a direct attack from this thing should definitely trigger it. Well¡­ I can¡¯t do anything but let it drag my soul around, can I? There is not even any open space nearby for Pareth to come out¡­ I was overconfident. I can still get out of this somehow. Where are you dragging me? Pareth, Bookie, stay hidden as long as I don¡¯t actually get attacked. It might still not be too late for a somewhat peaceful resolution¡­ The Veik king¡¯s spirit pulled Sofia to the deepest chambers of the hive, finally dragging her out of the walls into a closed room. Sofia got to observed the Veik king¡¯s soul reuniting with his empty husk in the physical plane, and she was forcibly brought back to the physical plane as the Veik King crushed the graveyard skeletons sprouting out of Sofia¡¯s soul. The spell backlashed as it was forcefully canceled, but the Scepter absorbed it, yet Sofia could only fall to the ground as she reappeared in the physical plane, too disoriented by the spirit sickness and the sudden transition from one state to the other. In this moment of utter powerlessness, Sofia was perfectly calm. She was ready to teleport to Zangdar as a last resort if the Veik King attacked her, she still had more than 99% of her health, so the one-hit-kill protection from [VPPV] would save her and give her enough time to escape. But no attack came, she was given time to recover from the spirit sickness while the gigantic gray-shelled Veik king stood over her, observing her with large black round eyeballs. Pareth was ready to come out at any time but he trusted Sofia¡¯s judgment and kept himself hidden, for now. It took a good minute for Sofia to recover enough to stand up. The Veik king looked at her but did not react, his numerous appendages and antennae-looking parts were moving around slowly like tree branches rattled by the wind, but that was the extent of his movements. Sofia couldn¡¯t read its intentions at all. She faced the King. His giant left claw was still right next to her, even without magic, he could crush her into meat paste faster than she could blink, she had little doubts about that. What should my next move be? Not meant to be fought¡­ Yeah no kidding. What level is this thing? 350? 400? It¡¯s not an opponent that should be in the third trial¡­ In the physical world I can be very fast. But can I be fast enough to escape this place? Is it even possible? No¡­ Unless I¡¯m completely wrong and the king isn¡¯t so high level and just has an abnormally strong spiritual body, then I won¡¯t even be able to leave this room. Let alone escape. The room in question was some kind of throne room, at least that was how Sofia read it. It was quite symmetrical with impressive pillars and a straight passage leading to a big ¡®thing¡¯. Sofia¡¯s best guess was that it was a throne since the Veik had this whole thing with a king and princes, but understandably, a throne for these creatures would look nothing like the human¡¯s version of kingly glorified chairs. The exit I¡¯m looking for could be in this very room¡­ Completely lost on how to proceed, Sofia wanted to try to communicate. But speaking without air was impossible, and she was worried that anything she might try, like summoning a bone tablet to write or draw on might prompt the King to react violently. At the same time, she was scanning the area with her mana senses, but the lack of ambient mana made it very hard to sense anything, and she wasn¡¯t finding any traces of a secret exit anywhere near the throne room. Sofia felt weak vibrations in the ground. Reflexively, she focused her mana senses behind her to try to see what was happening without looking away from the impassible Veik King. For the first time since she had entered the Veik hive, she felt mana from outside, strong mana, coming her way. Words were spoken directly in her head. Hello there, tall girl. Found yourself in quite the situation did ya? From the way the mana was spread in the approaching individual, Sofia understood who was talking. A sunless!
Chapter 427 - Just like that? Sofia still did not dare to look away from the Veik King, and with the lack of air, she could not speak, so, for a lack of a better option, she used her back as a writing board. She flattened the back of her bone armor and let her words carve themselves upon it. ¡®Hello. Yes. Please help.¡¯ The sunless laughed. Her chuckles were light, almost musical in nature. Sofia felt her coming closer, she stopped at a reasonable distance. Any closer and Pareth might have probably decided to come out on his own. Again the sunless spoke. There was an ethereal, melodic quality to her voice, something almost enchanting, Sofia could almost feel it wrapping around her brain like a silken veil. This good King has called me to be the middleman, quite the honor, that, she explained with another chuckle. Oh thank the lords, this situation can still be salvaged. He must have seen something in ya. Hmm. Yes. I smell Tarren¡¯s magicks on you, did you enjoy the dance? She can smell that?! Again, Sofia reshaped the bone armor to send another message. ¡®I would rather it not be my last.¡¯ Ahahah, now, now, turn around, Veidrenth is not going to eat you. Not yet. Reassuring¡­ Sofia carefully turned around, mindful not to make any abrupt movement. She could finally lay her eyes on the appearance of her new lifeline in this uncertain situation. This Sunless was a lot like Tarren. A mostly human-like shape, in the characteristic dark black and oily substance of the Sunless, with a few white highlights. She was about twenty centimeters shorter than Sofia. From her outlines, she seemed to be ¡®wearing¡¯ an oversized vest of some kind with long sleeves hiding her hands, and some kind of slanted cut skirt. She had long, messy ¡®hair¡¯ that seemed to have a life of its own, squirming around behind her back like a basket full of eels. Other noteworthy features were two ¡®horns¡¯ to the side of her head, though from Sofia¡¯s perspective it was hard to tell if they were not more akin to pointy Vampire ears, and her legs ended in sharp pointy tips instead of feet. Unlike Tarren whose three white highlights had been a singular eye, a glove, and the ribbon of a hat, she had seven. The main one was a ¡®necklace¡¯ with an eye ¡®pendant¡¯. The ¡®eye¡¯ sitting on this Sunless¡¯ chest was looking straight at Sofia. The other white highlights were white rings at the end of her long sleeves, three on each arm. They were all packed with large amounts of mana, at least two hundred thousand points each. [Sunless Mage - Lv.250+ - Imprint power : 10 000 - Effect : + 1 000 000 Mana] Holy fucking shit, what?! Well? The polite thing is to at least remove your helmet, you know? Removing my helmet in such hostile territory is¡­ Ah, whatever¡­ It would be hard to defend against just her, let alone the giant crab behind me¡­ Sofia¡¯s bone helmet was seamlessly absorbed into her skin, revealing her face and her blonde hair tied into a thick bun. Oooh, we caught quite the looker today. And a Saintess to boot. What are you doing running around with two mana hearts, though, I wonder? Yeah, of course she would notice¡­ Creating another bone tablet in front of her, Sofia wrote yet another message. ¡®I can show you. Promise the Veik will not attack.¡¯ Again the Sunless chuckled. I can hardly promise such a thing. You are a trespassing intruder, after all. I hear that you even blew up an entrance of the hive. The words on the bone tablet rearranged themselves. ¡®Mistake on my part.¡¯ Or was it? Everyone here knows what you came for. Let us see what Veidrenth thinks, he¡¯s the one who will decide your fate, I¡¯m just a translator. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. Following this was a worrying silence. Focusing on her surroundings, Sofia understood how the Sunless and the Veik king communicated, they were using ground vibrations. For the Sunless, they were made through magic, while the Veik king was simply rapping one of his legs on the ground. Of course, despite noticing that, Sofia had no way to know what was actually being said. After two long minutes of back and forth ground vibrations, the communication stopped. Sofia anxiously stared at the Sunless¡¯ eye which had been unfocused during the exchange. It looked at her again. Lucky you, it seems Veidrenth is willing to let you go on account of the little damage you did to the hive and since you have not harmed his successors. The Sunless explained, sounding genuinely happy for Sofia. Sofia hurriedly reshaped the bone tablet to say ¡®Thank you very much for your help.¡¯ Internally, she was thanking the entire pantheon of the divine that she hadn¡¯t gone through with her idea of grabbing the Veik Princess to try to communicate. He is even willing to help you complete the dungeon. The sunless woman continued, nonchalantly putting her hands on her hips. Now, that sounds a lot too good to be true¡­ For a price, of course. ¡®And what would that price be?¡¯ Let me explain, girl, you might not like his conditions.
Sofia learned a bit more about this Sunless and what the Veik king wanted from her as the Sunless escorted her out of the throne room and into another room in the Hive, walking past the imposing Veik guards and Royal guards without any issue. The girl¡¯s name was Everelle, she openly told Sofia that she was the manager of another dungeon hidden on this moon, and that she was always the one who had to bail out people from the Veik Hive. That was by design. Finding the King¡¯s secret exit was almost impossible. To begin with, getting that far within the hive without getting captured was already a rare occurrence. There was supposedly a way to clear the dungeon by creating enough chaos to make the Veik too busy to deal with a single invader. But that required finding enough hints and spending enough time to get a deep understanding of the Veik society, communications, and chain of command, to unleash ¡®Ragnarok¡¯ upon them. And it was quite dangerous as that would turn the King and Queen hostile, so one had to either find a way to escape their detection or to divert their attention by essentially kidnapping their children without harming them. When asked if there was no issue with telling her all this, Everelle laughed it off, saying that Sofia wouldn¡¯t be able to share it with anyone due to the censor, and as she was already caught, it was all useless information. And Sofia had to admit that even had she known all that before stepping foot into the hive she still might not have been able to pull it off. Then came time to explain the Veik king¡¯s request. As a repayment for the dead Veik from the angel bolt, and for the right to easily clear the dungeon, Sofia just had to accept to go kill a few of the Veik¡¯s enemies on the moon. A simple request. Mr Scribe even took the time to make it a ¡®proper¡¯ quest for ease of tracking. That being said, there were a few caveats. First of all, Sofia was never actually given the opportunity to reject the offer even had she wanted to. And secondly, a small centipede-looking Veik parasite was put around her neck as an ¡®insurance¡¯. The Veik parasite was actually level 250+ and supposed to cut her head should she try to leave the moon without completing her mission. Sofia accepted without being too worried. She let the Veik parasite crawl around her neck like a choker. It just stopped moving there, she could hardly even feel it. Worst case, I just lost some health. Even without healing I can still reattach my head and my nerves are already all light so severing my spine is as good as doing nothing. I just can¡¯t reattach my throat so speaking and eating will be out¡­ I might also lose a bit in terms of head mobility¡­ Still nowhere as bad as the death sentence they think this is. [Congratulations. You have received a mandatory quest!] [Veik King¡¯s request: Do not harm any Veik; Kill at least 1000 ¡®Adult Moon Worms¡¯ and 1 ¡®Moon Worm Matriarch¡¯] [Advance rewards : Leave the Veik hive alive and through the Veik King secret exit] [Reward : Veik Token of Friendship] [Time limit : Upon leaving the moon] [Penalty for failure : Beheading] Could the Sun Warrior title work here? [Sun¡¯s Warrior]: Complete a deathly wager quest from Sun. Effect: No penalty is applied in case of a quest failure. This title must be worn and kept from the moment you accept the quest for the effect to apply. /Ephemeral/ : This title will be lost upon negating one failure. Ah, probably not, since I can¡¯t actually ¡®accept¡¯ the quest¡­ It¡¯s not even a proper system quest, just Mr Scribe being helpful¡­ Everelle had a good look at the parasite. She eyed Sofia curiously. People are a bit more reluctant to accept this usually. Are you not worried at all? I suppose you won against Tarren so it must not be groundless confidence. I¡¯ll be waiting for ya in my dungeon after you¡¯re done with this, don¡¯t make me wait, alright? Now let¡¯s get to that ¡®secret¡¯ exit.
Chapter 428 - All hole in one The secret exit wasn¡¯t all that hidden, it was just a hole in the ground in a room guarded by four Veik royal guards. And it was just that, a hole, not a relatively clean and straight tunnel like everywhere else in the hive, a simple hole that looked like it had always been there. Everelle stood on the border of the hole. There you go. Have a nice trip hun. Sofia remodeled her bone tablet. ¡®That¡¯s it?¡¯ Not what you expected? Come to my dungeon, then, it¡¯s a lot more fun. ¡®Can I know where it is?¡¯ Of course not. You should find it by yourself. Go now, before the king changes his mind. Said Veik King had been following Sofia and Everelle from a distance, accompanied by a whole retinue of guards. Alright. ¡®See you again soon.¡¯ Everelle¡¯s necklace eye narrowed, and without warning, she shoved Sofia down the hole. As Sofia fell, the Sunless¡¯ voice whispered in her mind. I will be waiting. Sofia was only half surprised about getting pushed in, if she had to be honest, she had let it happen, either Everelle was surprisingly weak for her level, or she had been holding back a great deal. Just as she let herself fall, Sofia changed her title back to the Cheater, and fired a bunch of identifying magic toward everyone. With so many requests for Mr. Scribe all at once, it would be a few seconds before anything showed up. What a mysterious person. It only makes me more curious about the Sunless. Where do they come from? Why do they work for the system? The Identify results started coming in, starting from the royal guards, they were all between level 250 and 299. [Veik Royal Guard - Lv. 264 - Imprint power : 200 - Effect : ¡®Veik Fortress¡¯ Skill shard (1/3)] ¡®The royal guards charged with the protection of the Veik royal family. Their attack power is lacking but their defensive capabilities are second to none.¡¯ Not as strong as I feared, the imposing size is deceptive but the harvesters I bolted at the hive entrance were of a similar level. Pareth could probably hold one off while I charge a bolt if needed. It would have been nice to get the skill shards for Pareth but I guess it wasn¡¯t meant to be. Hopefully the worms will have good imprints considering how many I have to kill. Meanwhile, as Sofia dropped down the endless hole, she periodically used her dragon scale claws to scratch at the wall and slow her descent to a reasonable speed. How deep is this? I¡¯ll soon get to the center of the moon at this rate. [Hivelord - Lv. 386 - Imprint power : Keystone - Effect : Unknown] Oh, that must be the King. Keystone? That¡¯s new. Weren¡¯t keystones a thing to build stone gates? I need to re-read my books on architecture. While she fell, Sofia did just that, she grabbed a book from her storage and started reading at her top speed. It only took her a few seconds to find the page about arches and the importance of the keystone. Crucial structural element holding everything in place, allowing the arch to bear weight. Interesting. So I can expect that this Keystone imprint is meant to be used as a finishing touch on the heart to stabilize everything else? Maybe as a last step when you have no more space for regular imprints? Getting this one is just impossible, though. Also, actual class name and no additional description, further confirming the Veik King is ¡®a person¡¯ with access to the system, and not just some brainless monster, though that was already obvious. Maybe the Sunless Nightbringer has one too? That thing was positively gigantic. Finally, the Identify result from Everelle came back. [Dungeon Core (Sunless) - Lv.299 - Imprint power : 10 000 - Effect : + 1 000 000 Mana] Dungeon core? That¡¯s her class? As in she¡¯s the core part of a Dungeon? Is that a bit like Saria¡¯s class then? [You have conquered the dungeon : Fenrir¡¯s trial of Ragnarok - Congratulations!] Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. A small wooden box like the gachapon boxes appeared in the air near Sofia, which she quickly grabbed before it could collide with the sharp walls of the infinite hole she was falling down. Feels like it¡¯s empty¡­ Sofia opened the box and a quartet of System notifications appeared. [Choice box! Pick one of three random Large Heart Catalysers!] [Large Slashing Heart Catalyser] [Large Exploding Heart Catalyser] [Large Cursing Heart Catalyser] Seeing the choice appear, Sofia felt the need to pause her fall completely and think. Digging her claws into the stone, she soon came to a stop and started considering her options. Considering the small slashing catalyser she had gotten from Tarren¡¯s dungeon gave 5% slashing damage resistance, it was fair to assume these all gave at least 10% of their respective bonuses. Now, the three options were good. Slashing was especially good for Pareth, whose bones had a bad tendency of getting cut through by stronger opponents, and combined with the small catalyser of the same type, it would start to add up to a lot of resistance. Exploding would give Sofia more leeway to just throw explosive bolts without a care even in closed environments. She already had 50% explosion resistance from VPPV, so any additional protection could bring her closer to a complete immunity, which was good to pursue. Lastly, Cursing was valuable simply because Sofia had no protection against curses at all. Currently, her anti-curse tools were the Angel¡¯s bolt acting as an anti-curse-torche, but that only worked for weak ambient-air curses, and the Ring of Zar which was essentially good against any kind of magic, but just once. Besides that, she had nothing against cursed mana. She understood a bit more about curses now from the classes in the academy and from hanging out with Zerei a lot during the academy year, but just knowing about them was not a proper protection. The best protection against curses is still just barrier magic¡­ I just haven¡¯t had time to really work on that. Finally, Sofia came to a swift decision, and a large glowing rock appeared inside of the previously empty wooden box. [Large Exploding Heart Catalyser]: A heart catalyser crafted by a master mage. Allows one to upgrade their Mana Heart from rank A to S once sufficient imprint power has been collected. Gives the Mana Heart the added attribute : +15% Explosion damage resistance. As expected, A to S rank. A whole fifteen percent, not bad. Slashing would have been nice for Pareth but ideally I would rather get him a bludgeoning one, if that¡¯s a thing. It must be a thing. Sofia stored the catalyser and let herself fall again. She could not see the end of this hole. She tried to keep her speed relatively slow, and every so often she would stop completely and complain about how this hole never ended. This lasted for so long that she was starting to wonder if the hole was not some kind of elaborate illusion and she had actually not moved at all. That was until something strange started happening. Despite the hole being mostly a straight-ish line down, Sofia could no longer fall straight down. Like the hole was slowly becoming a very steep slant. That was extremely annoying. She could no longer just fall, or she would just hit the walls every few seconds, and ¡®sliding¡¯ against the uneven rock walls felt about as good as trying to slide on stairs. The slant became less and less steep, until Sofia could just walk upright within the ¡®hole¡¯. It had all happened very gradually and Sofia was completely lost as to where she actually was by now. Over the hours, she had tried several times to feel for other caverns or anything around the unending hole with the graveyard skeletons, but she never found anything. She was just lost deep underground, with only one way back and one way forward. I have been at this for like six hours now¡­ The flat path Sofia ran through eventually became a slope. Seriously¡­ It¡¯s going up now¡­ I¡¯m going to lose my mind at this rate¡­ Sofia gave up with the hole. She crafted herself a bone coffin of sorts, attached a bunch of bone chains to it and changed the last ring of every chain to become a hook. She summoned her troop of a hundred skeleton rats through Bookie, and secured them all to the hooks with bone dominus. The entire process took about five minutes, after which she simply wrapped herself in a blanket and laid down inside of the bone coffin before closing it back on herself, and making it a blessed construct instead of Pareth. Now go, wake me up when we¡¯re back to the outside world¡­
When Sofia woke up, the coffin was no longer moving. And she couldn¡¯t feel the rats¡¯ presence. Did they run out of time before getting me out of the hole? She spread her mana senses around, and what she felt left her perplexed. The environment was not whatever she had expected, in fact she was not near the exit of some hole, she was in what could only be called an actual room, with flat walls and doors. Where in the fuck did the rats bring me? Pareth couldn''t have seen anything if he was inside with me while I slept¡­ Bookie, you have an explanation? Bookie appeared in the coffin near Sofia¡¯s head in his original book form, emitting his usual fog and a faint light. He opened by himself, presenting Sofia with a single page, the Sandworm skeleton. Sandworm¡­ Worms? So I didn¡¯t find the worms, the worms found me? Is that what you¡¯re hinting at? Why would they bring me to such a human-shaped place? And most importantly¡­ Why did you not wake me up? The book shivered and disappeared back to where it came from. Are you alright? Hey! The book reappeared within the coffin, trembling, when Sofia reached for him it instinctually floated back, knocking against the coffin¡¯s walls. Bookie? What is it? Are you scared of me? Could it be¡­ Because I told him to wake me up when we reach the outside? I see¡­ I¡¯m not mad, I won¡¯t scold you. It was my fault for giving you a dumb order. These simple words seemed to placate the fearful book. Seriously¡­ You can do like Pareth and act upon your own judgment next time. I really don¡¯t mind. In fact, I would prefer that. Now, let¡¯s see what this place has to offer.
Chapter 429 - Systemic rejection The shape of the room was relatively normal from a human perspective, except for the closed set of doors in the ceiling. There were tables along two opposite walls, and doors on the others. Sofia was currently on one such table, while there were things on the others which she thought were likely rocks. Confident that she was alone in the room, Sofia stored the bone coffin. Eww what in the¡­ The floor, walls, ceiling and doors were all entirely made of something shiny and dark blue. At a glance, it looked a bit wet and probably sticky. It had small round wart-looking bumps which shone weakly, giving off some yellowish-white light. Are these walls made of some kind of magical toad skin? That sure is one way to get light underground¡­ I get why the Veik would have an issue with these guys. The ¡®tables¡¯ which lined the walls were made of flat Veik shell segments mounted on Veik legs, glued together by a hardened, messy black substance. Bits of moon rock were on the other tables seemingly sorted by size and color. A quick Identify taught Sofia that these were all different mineral ores, mostly iron and copper. Still, clearly they have some kind of a civilization. At a glance, it¡¯s probably more advanced than the Veik, actually. I don¡¯t know if I can justify killing a thousand of them even if they have a strange taste in furniture. It would be hypocritical to judge considering most of my usual furniture and tools are made of bone... Sofia poked the wall near her with a finger. Sticky indeed¡­ Almost like it¡¯s covered in a thin layer of sap¡­ Or is it sweat? Anyway, let¡¯s look around a bit. The bone hands of the graveyard skeletons emerged from Sofia¡¯s armor and grabbed a hold of it. The idea of going through the weird sticky wall was a bit disgusting even if she was in the spirit realm. She quickly had to stop, as she almost entered another room through the wall without checking what was inside. The walls are really thin. Not great for graveyarding around. There are rooms above and below too. Sofia pulled back and was back on top of the Veik table. Using the graveyard was a very slow way to move around. It could be useful to go undetected but if the walls were not even thick enough for her to hide in there was no point. I¡¯ve seen how vulnerable it leaves my soul too, the Veik King really just grabbed me and I could not even try to do anything. Alright, to begin with, let¡¯s learn more about the worm people. Back to the basics. Pareth is a bit big for this place¡­ Stay around in book form, Bookie. Just float near me, we¡¯ll summon something if need be. Sofia jumped off of the table, of course the floor was also slightly sticky. Choosing to go for the doors on her left, Sofia looked inside of the next room by sliding a vision-sharing bone token in the thin gap between the double doors. The next room contained huge bins, made of Veik shells, full of a lot of rocks. On the opposite wall, instead of doors, there was just a big round hole. Some kind of mining tunnel. Explains how they dragged me in here. Some poor worm miner just brought a great bone calamity inside their home and they don¡¯t even know. Speaking of which, if you were to find a big bone coffin and bring it out of the mines with a bunch of ore¡­ You would probably go fetch your superior to see what the damned thing was, right? Meaning two things, I should put the coffin back on the table to avoid suspicion, and I should promptly leave or hide. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Sofia put the coffin back on the table. To make the weight consistent with her being inside it, she filled it with summoned blood and called it a day. They¡¯re up for a bloody surprise. Going through the doors in the ceiling would be a hassle, so Sofia did the token thing again on the other side of the room. That room featured more bins, smaller ones, which were all empty, and mounted on rails each facing closed trapdoors. More mining stuff¡­ Let¡¯s just move until I find one of these ¡®worms¡¯. It took a surprisingly long time for Sofia to find anyone. The place she was was an expansive underground mining facility, and for some reason it was currently completely empty of any living presence. There was not much to pilfer besides relatively cheap minerals so Sofia did not touch anything in a bid to keep her presence hidden. What it took for her to finally find two of the worm people was to find the entrance of the place, where two guards were stationed, one of them even seemed like it was sleeping on the job. Hmm. Either they had to evacuate the place for one reason or another¡­ Or more likely¡­ It¡¯s night and they have gone to sleep? She was spying on the two guards from afar with her mana senses. They had no mana at all, much like the Veik, but by spreading her own mana around she could still feel their shape, even if vaguely. Since the area beyond them was empty, as far as she could tell, she guessed that it was probably the outside. I might be able to Identify them from here. As long as my mana can reach them it should work even without vision. Since she still had the Cheater title on, Sofia expected to learn a lot. Just in case the ¡®worms¡¯ could feel the prodding of the Identify mana surrounding them, she targeted the slouching one that wasn¡¯t moving and she thought was asleep. [Guardian Kidjikkik - Lv. 233 - Imprint power : 0.3 - Effect : +30 Health] ¡®An adult Kidjikkik of the guardian variety. They specialize in defense and have various immunities, but are lacking in other areas.¡¯ No actual class, just a biological variant? And the [Cheater] title gave a description¡­ It only does that for monsters¡­ Just like it gave one for the Veik guards but not for the Veik King or the smart Sunless. An intelligent species without the system, recognized as monsters? That¡¯s the first time. I guess the Alphageid might have been the same, maybe? It¡¯s hard to say whether that thing was acting on instinct or not. Wait, not¡­ It could be identified! Back then I had no way to identify monsters¡­ Has that ever happened again? No¡­ Except for the Alphageid I¡¯ve never been able to Identify a monster before getting the Cheater title. But if I remember correctly it did not have a level. So¡­ Like the angels. And like Sun. I need to look more into how the system labels work¡­ It can be precious information in situations like these. Now what, then? If I kill one of them, will it say defeated or will it say murdered? At a loss about what to do, Sofia identified the other guard, and the result was similar with a slightly higher level. It did not notice a thing. Hmm. It¡¯s possible that they have strong spiritual bodies just like the Veik, so I should be careful with the graveyard, it could get me spotted depending on their abilities. Wanting to get a direct visual, Sofia stood a few rooms away from the entrance, and controlled a bone token from a distance, making it glide above the floor. Very carefully, she had it slide under the entrance doors, finally giving her a direct visual on the two worm-people guards. Worms, huh. That¡¯s not how I would have described them. They were more like human-sized centipedes. Their long chitinous body was of the same dark blue color as the walls of the mining facility. They stood upright, shaped like the number 2, with the ¡®tail¡¯ part of their body on the ground, resting on many insectoid legs and ending in a dangerous-looking stinger. Their body was peculiar in a lot of way, they had short legs all over, four of them for each section of their segmented body, spread around in a cross shape. For the most part, aside from half the legs of their lower body used to stand on the ground, these many legs were folded up against their carapace. The rounded upper part of the number two shape they were standing in kind of reminded Sofia of someone standing with a hunched back, and from that part of their body sprouted four strange looking arms which ended in small three-fingered ¡®hands¡¯. They held onto long spears. Black iron shaft. Not bad but also not impressive. The spearheads are Veik claws¡­ No antennae in sight, so they probably rely primarily on vision for sensing. Maybe communicating with vibrations like the Veik? They are not wearing anything besides the spears. No clothing or anything. I really don¡¯t know what to think. Looking past the guards themselves, it seemed the mining facility was dug into the walls of a large underground cavern. Unlike the Veik¡¯s clearly artificial hive, this one seemed natural in shape, aside from it being entirely covered in the sticky dark thing with its luminescent warts which made the cavern¡¯s ceiling glow like an eerie underground starry sky. Besides that, inside the cavern was a fully fledged city, with many tall square buildings blocking the view.
Chapter 430 - Red light, green light Sitting, her back against a cubic container full of water, Sofia observed the city from the roof of one of the buildings. She had landed there after taking the long way around, having the graveyard skeletons carry her through the cavern walls and ceiling, dropping down directly on top of one of the tallest buildings around. This is beginning to feel like I might have to accept a beheading¡­ The city was silent, despite being underground, right now was clearly ¡®night time¡¯, through the paneless windows of the buildings, Sofia could spy on many Kidjikkiks. They were all in their own home, peacefully asleep. The homes in question were a bit barren, and dreadfully impersonal. They were rectangular rooms, each floor of each building had four such identical rooms, each housing one worm-person. They each had a bed, a table, a shelf, and a weird pot which by elimination was probably some kind of toilet. Lastly, they had a working rack to hold onto their working tools. Spears for the guards, pickaxes for the miners, brooms for the cleaners... It¡¯s as if they lack any personality beyond their job. The miners will have bits of ore on their shelf, the guards have Veik parts¡­ They¡¯re all¡­ The same? The more I look at it, the more uneasy it makes me feel¡­ And also¡­ I don¡¯t see any children. Come to think of it, I see no obvious signs that there would be male or female worms¡­ Their imprints all give either health or stamina. No skills and no mana. And I¡¯ve yet to see a single one higher level than me. There must be stronger ones, though, or the Veik would have already destroyed this place, if they¡¯re at war. Without warning, the light in the city shifted from the soft yellowish white glow of the wall warts to an oppressive red. Sofia was already tense, and surprised by the sudden change, she almost cursed out loud, but was saved by the lack of air to fill her lungs. I need to watch my mouth. What is this light? The light was coming from far behind her, since Sofia was sitting behind a container, she was actually now in its shadow. The source of the light moved, shifting to the side. What is- Sofia stood up and instinctively circled around the container to stay out of the light as it. She didn¡¯t know why, but she strongly felt that nothing good could come from stepping into the light. Still wanting to understand what was going on, and failing to see anything with her mana senses, she brought up a bone token and had it levitate up until it allowed her to see above the container through the shared vision. She had her answer, the light was coming from the four gigantic eyes of a gargantuan ¡®worm-person¡¯ crawling around the cavern¡¯s ceiling. It was looking in her direction. The large red beams of light all came together to focus on the water container. IT SAW THE TOKEN! The creature moved, and Sofia moved as well. As the red-eyed worm rushed along the ceiling straight toward her, Sofia jumped off from the roof in the opposite direction and with clean acrobatics, used the upper ledge of the top floor¡¯s window to swing around and throw herself inside, vaulting over a sleeping worm person, doing her best to land as softly as possible. Sofia felt the bone token get destroyed. She quickly hid in a corner, sadly this was the best hiding spot the room had to offer. The giant worm was on the prowl. Outside, the light was shifting around a lot. Shining multiple times into the small apartment through its singular window, sweeping the inside. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. The lack of sound on the moon was both a curse and a blessing at that moment, it allowed Sofia to not have to worry about the monster hearing her, but conversely, she couldn¡¯t know if it was close or far without exposing herself to look. She did not dare to move at all. Until something terrible happened. The apartment¡¯s tenant was stirring in its sleep. Its many legs shivered, its body started to unfurl from the depths of dreams. SHIT!!! Waiting for the red lights to momentarily disappear, Sofia decisively jumped out of her corner and cut off the waking worm¡¯s head. The key dagger had no issue piercing right through the shell, especially since Sofia aimed at the joint, in three lightning-quick deep cuts, she severed the shell, flesh and spine, Sofia ripped off the head thrice the size of her own and stored it in her eye. The body of the worm person was still moving. There was no kill message. The red light was approaching. SPINE! Sofia grabbed the spine inside of the shell, and messed up the thing¡¯s bones from the inside, having them turn into blades and spin around, turning the creature¡¯s flesh into worm-juice. ¡®You have defeated [Cleaner Kidjikkik - Lv. 227 - Imprint Badly Damaged]¡¯ She barely made it in time back to the corner of the room, her back pressed against the wall. The red light swept over the apartment. It stopped over the dead Kidjikkik for three seconds during which Sofia stood stiller than she had ever been. The red light moved away. The worm Sofia had killed had been sleeping with its head against the wall, from the start, it had always been barely out of sight of the red light. So it was not obvious now that it was missing and oozing worm fluids on the floor. The light came again twice more, after which Sofia held her breath, figuratively, for half an hour, but the light never came again. After she felt enough time had passed, Sofia produced another bone token and had it slide along the wall and out the window. She had it fly up to the roof and she surveyed the cavern as far as she could see. There was no sign of the red light or the giant Kidjikkik anywhere. Finally assured that she was safe, Sofia fell to the floor. Sitting in a puddle of cold worm blood, tears welled up in her eyes. I have never been so scared in my entire life! There was no need to even Identify the thing. Sofia could tell, this, whatever it was, could not possibly be under level 350 at the very least. Far beyond the realm of creatures she could hope to kill. And she could tell, this was a predator. There was no good outcome should she be caught. No negotiating, no getting quests, no getting revived by the unlife runes, no surviving long enough to find a way out. Only a swift and gruesome death awaited if she were to be found, she was certain of that. The teleportation to Zangdar would be her only saving grace, and even that might not activate fast enough to get her out of death¡¯s grasp in time. Sofia stood up, her legs still a bit shaky. Her bone armor shed a thin external layer to clean itself of the dark red worm blood. Should I clean up the mess? Sofia¡¯s current safety within the city was riding on staying undetected. There was a good chance that by the time someone found out about the dead worm-person, she would already be long gone, but perhaps not. If someone comes to check out on this guy for any reason¡­ Like say, missing work¡­ I can¡¯t have the entire city go into high alert because of an unexplained murder¡­ Storing the dead body was the easy part of the cleanup, getting rid of the half-dried sticking dark blood was a bit trickier, but Sofia had no lack of rags to soak to up in her storage, and conveniently, that Kidjikkik had been a cleaner, so there were brooms and mops on his tool rack. Sofia completely cleaned up the room, taking the bloodied mops with her. She also tried to absorb the dead worm¡¯s imprint but it had been too long since its death, there was nothing left to collect. Hopefully if someone comes to check on this guy they¡¯ll first think he disappeared on his way off to work¡­ She was about to leave when the luminosity outside changed. Feeling shivers running down her spine, Sofia jumped to the corner of the room. But this time it was actually not the red light, it was a gradual brightening of the general luminosity of the cavern. In fact, the inside of the room was also getting brighter. The softly glowing warts which were everywhere on the sticky walls were inflating and growing brighter. The inside of the room was as bright as a sunny day outside when the warts stopped growing. This is how they can have a day and night underground. That means the city will be swarming with worm-people any moment now! I need to get out of here!
Chapter 431 - We live in a society Sofia jumped out of the window and let herself fall. She used the same trick she had used before in the Veik hive, activating the graveyard on herself at the last second to dive into the ground. She hadn¡¯t done that to escape the red light because of her bad experience with the Veik King. She would rather not bet her life on such a trick against an opponent who could possibly attack her in the spirit realm. That and she would not have had the time to fall all the way to the ground before the creature even reached her, which she hadn¡¯t even accounted for at the time. Now phasing under the city, Sofia was biding her time, quite deep underground. She waited for the worm-people above to start leaving their homes. She did not have to wait long. Very quickly, the streets were filled by an unending flow of worm-people going to work. They also have very strong spirit bodies¡­ That explains how they can also be so strong without mana just like the Veik. The one question left now is: where is the line? Why are the Royal Veik part of the system but these worm people are not? The system really treats them like monsters from start to finish. Still, they have a certain level of individuality. I would rather not just slaughter them indiscriminately¡­ But if we think of the context, I would also rather not lose my head. The trial would be a lot harder without a functional neck even if this is not going to kill me. Sofia observed the streets above. Slowly, as she was lost in her own considerations, the city roads were emptying as the worm-people got to where they needed to go. I don¡¯t trust that I can get rid of the parasite before it can cut my head off. Maybe my spine can survive with the blessing, maybe, but that¡¯s still all the fleshy bits severed¡­ If I think of this as mercenary work in war time, which it is; it should be fine if I kill a thousand soldiers. No more cleaners¡­ It was unfortunate but it had to be done¡­ But! Let¡¯s find that Matriarch thing I need to kill too, first. Chances are I cannot even kill it, it would make the rest of the quest meaningless. If I can kill it, I will see then. It was easier to accept in the previous trial when the people were fake¡­ The hard thinking done, Sofia chose an empty apartment building to hide in. She would rather not stay in the spirit realm too long to avoid the unwanted side effects. The plan was to spend the day mapping out the city from above, jumping from building to building when no one was looking. She would find where the important facilities were, and go explore them during the night when the workers returned home. Observing the worm-people work was unsettling. They all looked the same, all acted in the same way, in the same rhythm. Watching cleaners swipe the streets despite them being already clean was one thing, but they were all distant from one another. The guards were the same, patrols would walk around the streets, lined up and walking at the exact same pace, it was like looking at something stuck between two mirrors. It was all just strange, Sofia could look at the same place a few hours apart and be welcomed by the exact same sight, the same groups of worms, doing the same things, walking the same path. It all felt uncanny, unnatural. Like an empty fa?ade, a mockery of an actual society. Most staggering of all was the complete lack of interaction. Even if the worms possibly had a way to communicate that Sofia could not perceive, there was no sign of them ever interacting with each other. They never stopped to take a break, were never distracted or slacking. So far the only time she had seen a worm not ¡®do its job¡¯ properly was the sleeping guard in front of the mining facility the previous night. She never saw any of the worms eat or drink anything. If apparent individuality or emotions are part of the system-having requirements, the stone Ogres were more qualified¡­ In the end, she stopped observing the Kidjikkiks, and focused on her objectives. Come night, she had a shortlist of five major buildings to check out, and she was already in place in an apartment near the first one, which was a small house-like building in the middle of the residential area with a peculiar architectural style, distinct from the rest, more refined. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. It was like a house from the outside world had been transported in the underground city. Sofia had not seen a single worm go in or out in the three hours she had spent watching it, but she did see a few spirit bodies inside when looking from the spirit realm, so it was by no means empty. The chances that the Matriarch would be there were slim, in Sofia¡¯s opinion, but it was also a small building so checking it first made sense. The worms inside the building left a bit before nightfall, they were all guards, but one of them wore an actual piece of clothing, a yellow scarf draped over its back, between his four arms. A distinctive trait! Maybe this one has an actual personality? [Guardian Kidjikkik - Lv. 284 - Imprint power : 30 - Effect : +3000 Health] ¡®An elite Kidjikkik of the guardian variety. They have the ability to fight in a vicious way to compensate for their lack of strength.¡¯ The description changed. Better to stay far from this one. As the guards left, down the street, Sofia could see another group of four guards coming from around a corner. They also had a yellow-scarfed warrior who was a level 276 guardian. Nevermind about personality¡­ So are the more dangerous individuals recognizable by the scarves? It¡¯s like a military medal, I guess. I better hurry up before they make it here. Sofia graveyarded through the ground and crossed the one street separating her from the peculiar building, reappearing directly inside it. There was a single, mostly empty room inside, it was very brightly lit, and served a single purpose. Within a small shrine, in the middle of the room, was a round lump of pulsating dark blue flesh. That was all. So this is the source of the sticky walls? This thing spreads around from this shrine and reaches all the way to the back of the mining facilities. Can I Identify it? Before she could get the result, she had to hurriedly phase back into the ground, the guards were entering. How lousy, I would have had time to steal it if I wanted. She started moving in the direction of the next place she wanted to check. [Journeying Algae Nodule]: A small nodule of the Journeying Algae, a plant native to the winding caverns of Avross. Avross. That¡¯s the small yellow planet. Not far from Cerberus beta. Did the worm people bring it over somehow? Journeying Algae¡­ Maybe it came on its own. Alright, the next building is not too far away. The next building in question turned out to be a bed, shelf and table manufacturing plant. That was all the furniture the worm-people¡¯s houses got to have, and they were all made there. They had plenty of excess piling up, stacked in a corner, entirely too much, enough to furnish thousands of new homes, yet it was clear from the work-in-progress furniture on the workstations that the production was not stopping. Sofia found it perplexing but she quickly left for her next target. This third building was the last ¡®in city¡¯ building she had to explore, the last two targets being dug straight into the cavern walls like the mining facility. This was the tallest building in the city, which she had only seen from a distance until now. It seemed to continue into the cavern ceiling. It turned out to be nothing but a giant stairwell hidden within a tower, going far both up and down. Up is probably the way to the surface. Down¡­ Who knows. Finding an intended way out of the city was actually a relief, Sofia quickly decided that she would go explore the lower level if she failed to find a Kidjikkik Matriarch in the last two points of interest in the city. On her way to the second to last place to explore, she noticed a big gaping hole in the ground between two buildings. As if there had been a building there before but it had been swallowed by the depths of the moon. The hole was actually large and straight enough for Sofia to see something, far, far below at the bottom. Red light. She quietly withdrew and proceeded with her exploration of the city. I will need to be extremely careful if I go down the stairs¡­ The second to last place was in fact where the worm-people manufactured their more refined products: weapons and four colors of what the system identified as ¡®elite garb¡¯ scarves. Sofia grabbed a few samples to examine later and moved on. Finally she made her way to the last facility, and phased through its unguarded, large ominous doors carved into the cavern walls. Sofia almost fell. In front of her was a giant pit, the vision of which left her mouth agape. Bookie? The flying book appeared next to Sofia. It shivered in excitement.
Chapter 432 - A real fake real worm Sofia sat with lich-form Bookie on a mountain of corpses. This place was where the Kidjikkiks dumped their dead and their broken tools and furniture. The dead and dried worm-people were like locked in time, unable to rot and decompose. Needless to say, for the most part, their skeletons were in perfect condition. So we hit the page limit. And you didn¡¯t even know about it? Bookie shook his head. Well, fifty pages should be enough. We¡¯ll have to do some trimming later, but it¡¯s good enough. It might be better that we have this limit honestly, having so many options is not always a good thing. In the heat of the moment it¡¯s better to know exactly what we are going to summon than to have to ponder over which of a thousand pages we should use, right? Even with no air in her lungs, Sofia sighed. It¡¯s more than enough, Bookie. Definitely more than enough. I¡¯m not disappointed¡­ Let¡¯s reorganize your pages, what do you think? Would that make things easier for you? Bookie nodded enthusiastically at the idea. Alright! Let¡¯s create categories. Sofia worked with Bookie to organize the pages of skeletons into groups, it took a while, but they were both happy to have it all well organized. Sofia looked at her notebook with a smirk. Favorites 1 Crowie 10 1 Elven Engineer 500 1 High priest 50 000 1 Emperor pearled Snake 300 000 Recon units 1 Rat (New and improved) 10 50 Crows 500 54 Black turvins 540 100 Rats 1000 1 Nightrune Owl 1000 100 Three-eye spinews 10 000 5 Spellhounds 50 000 10 Dire wolves (Fine tracking)50 000 500 Red Flailer (Blood fish) 50 000 Utility units 1 Boar 50 10 Boars 500 10 Worker Kidjikkik 500 1 Elf caretaker (Strong) 1000 100 Digger Kidjikkik 5000 100 Worker Kidjikkik 5000 100 Cleaner Kidjikkik 5000 1 Solar mage 20 000 1 Stone ogre 30 000 1 useless hero toxic plants 30 000 1 Firebird (My new oven) 35 000 Mounts 1 Saltwater Spinefish (Fish) 5000 1 War horse 10 000 1 Quetzalcoatlus 10 000 1 Soguva (not fluffy >:( ) 10 000 1 Sandworm 100 000 Support units 1 Soldier with bow (5rat) 50 25 paladins 5000 This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. 1 Fat-eyed bear (Iwa¡¯s kill) 10 000 5 Fire salamanders 15 000 5 giant ice spiders 50 000 1 Sirhellion 50 000 10 Female stone Ogres 100 000 Defense units 3 Templars 30 000 20 Guardian Kidjikkik 20 000 5 Quetzalcoatlus 50 000 100 Guardian Kidjikkik 100 000 100 Guardian Kidjikkik 100 000 1 Quartz Giant (Gemite) 10 000 000 Attack units 20 Soldier Kidjikkik 20 000 4 Withered Vampire 40 000 100 Soldier Kidjikkik 100 000 100 Soldier Kidjikkik (More.) 100 000 100 Soldier Kidjikkik (MORE!)100 000 3 Sirhellions 150 000 5 Sandworms 500 000 1 Magicless fae! 500 000 Truly a great harvest! Do you think you¡¯ve got enough fog to summon 400 worms at once? Bookie seemed hesitant, but he did not straight-up deny being able to do it. You¡¯ve sure progressed a lot too from the beginning when twenty five paladins was already pushing it. Keep up the good work! Sofia communicated to Bookie while patting his skull. After putting on an unlife rune and climbing out of the pit, Sofia switched back to the [Master Thief] title and covered herself in a long black cloak she just remembered had been sitting in her storage. This was the stealthiest she could get. I got this for now but I should really work on recoloring the bone armor. Shouldn¡¯t be too hard¡­ Wait. Bookie, let¡¯s try something, we¡¯re going to have to change one of your pages. Let¡¯s delete the one with a single boar. Sofia jumped back into the pit. She had an idea.
Her preparations done, she headed to the square staircase tower, sneaked in by phasing through the ground, and started to make her way down. When she almost reached the bottom of the winding staircase, she stopped and called Bookie out. Bringing the preemptively emptied exoskeleton of a guardian Kidjikkik, Sofia grabbed and ripped bookie¡¯s newest page: a single guardian Kidjikkik. Following Sofia¡¯s instructions, Bookie made sure to let the Fog solidify within the dead shell, having it enter through a round hole in the exoskeleton¡¯s chest. It¡¯s in! Wait, don¡¯t move yet. The undead skeleton fit well within the exoskeleton, after all, it was originally its own. Sofia had ripped the skeleton out of the shell for Bookie to eat. That being said, with all the meat and blood gone, the end result was not very convincing, so came the next part, the stuffing. Rest in peace, my luxury cotton-stuffed blanket, you will be missed. The process of getting the stuffing inside of the shell through the small round hole wasn¡¯t too hard since Sofia could manipulate bones to pull it from the inside. Sadly, the mattress wasn¡¯t enough, so Sofia also had to sacrifice a few pillows, but in the end, the result was surprisingly good. Sofia put a yellow scarf on top of the worm¡¯s back, thinking that if the bottom level was a restricted area, there was a better chance for an Elite guardian to go unnoticed. The last step was to plug the round hole in the shell with a vision-sharing token, and everything was ready. She had also left another vision token higher up in the stairwell so she could watch her own back. Since there were almost no Kidjikkiks staying up through the night, though, it would probably be safe to stay there for several hours. Sofia could now just sit there on the stairs, and let her infiltrator skeleton go down by himself. She watched it crawl down the stairs with its many legs. She had to say, the inflitrator¡¯s movements were a bit stiff, but from afar, it was convincing enough. The place she discovered was almost in total darkness, the luminescent algae did not extend past the exit of the stairwell. It was hard for Sofia to see much through the token, but some weak light came from the pit linking this undercity to the one above, just enough for some square building tops to be visible. Is it another city under the city? This hole in the ceiling is the same I saw the red light in earlier¡­ The giant worm wasn¡¯t in the upper city, so either it came up from here while I was coming down, or it¡¯s here somewhere, not making any light... The infiltrator skeleton turned back, and Sofia quickly charged a lightstone and dropped it down the stairwell. The skeleton missed it and the stone shattered on the ground. Hoy, I don¡¯t have so many we can¡¯t waste them. I¡¯m throwing another one; catch it properly. This time, the skeleton successfully caught the lightstone. With his new light source in hand, he left the stair tower again. The light was not very strong, but enough to see the outlines of buildings up to a few dozen meters away. It really is another city. The architecture is similar¡­ Guiding the skeleton into the city, Sofia quickly realized something. This undercity was almost the exact same as the one above. At least in the area near the stair tower. The only major differences were the lack of the glowing algae, and the relatively bad shape of the buildings. Some had collapsed, others were just missing. Sofia had the check inside one of the less destroyed homes, which were completely empty, and she had a hard time understanding what the point of this second city was. Did it become uninhabitable somehow and so they had to relocate above it? There are a few broken buildings but that should have been fixable, most of them look to be in decent shape, still¡­ Wait, step back! Look at the ground. Stop, not so far back! Yes, right there. The skeleton had crossed a street, and Sofia barely noticed it, but the stone ground there was particularly battered, full of small holes and cracks which formed a trail. I¡¯ve seen worm-people leave the stairs earlier, so this lower city is not completely abandoned, this must be a path they regularly take. Follow it. She had to order the skeleton to stop looking at the ground because he never did so by himself and she could only see through the token which was also showing only the ground when the skeleton leaned forward. Following the cracks had led the skeleton back to the stairs. Woah, I can¡¯t believe I missed this the first time. I was too busy looking at the buildings to look at the ground¡­ Well, what are you waiting for? Follow the other direction. This time, the tracks led the skeleton to a set of doors in the cavern walls that did not exist in the upper city. What do we have here? Wait a bit, this is the limit of the token range¡­ Sofia carefully came down the stairs, having the infiltrator check in all directions for any hint of a red light. When it looked safe, Sofia swiftly ran from building to building, minimizing her time spent in the streets, and traveled all the way to the building closest to the skeleton, where she hid on the third floor. Alright, we¡¯re good, forward! The skeleton pushed open the large set of heavy doors, and he was greeted by a quartet of raised spears. Four yellow-scarved elite guardians had been waiting behind the doors in a sort of small antechamber, where the luminescent algae was also growing, bringing some light back. Crap! While Sofia was lost as to how to order the skeleton, it simply kept following her last order, and continued walking as if the spears pointed at him weren¡¯t there. And surprisingly enough, that worked. The guardians lowered their spears and let the infiltrator through, returning to their position. Really? Is it because he also had a scarf? I don¡¯t get it anymore¡­ And I had a hunch but¡­ This skeleton is really dumb.
Chapter 433 - Trespassers beworm Beyond the room with the guard was a straight set of stairs going down into another large open cavern. Sofia could not see much from the token¡¯s vision. The glowing algae only grew on the ceiling of the cave and not the floor, so it was impossible to tell what was going on in there, but there was one thing that she could not possibly miss, on the opposite wall of the cavern, thousands of meters away. Red light¡­ That¡¯s where it was. Ah! Wait there! Sofia told the infiltrator to stop while she disconnected from the token¡¯s vision in a hurry because she felt a slight tremor in her real body. The apartment Sofia was hiding in was in complete darkness, she looked around, not seeing anything suspicious. Spreading some of her mana around to create an area she could feel with her mana senses, she found the source of the disturbance. A small procession of Kidjikkiks were walking near the building she was hiding in, one of them had fallen over and hit the wall of the building. What are they doing? They¡¯re carrying something? Sofia caught a small mirror from her storage and used it to look out of the window without exposing herself. A direct view was a lot more informative than her mana senses, about a dozen Kidjikkiks were going toward the doors the infiltrator had just gone through, they were each carrying huge bins full of metallic ingots over their head. The one who had stumbled and hit the building had spilled his bin, and there were small silvery ingots all over the ground. No wonder the path is so beaten up, they just go and carry several tons of metal like this¡­ Looks like it is mostly iron. Well whatever, I¡¯m still safe. Sofia changed her vision back to the infiltrator¡¯s. Turn back, hide near the doors. Yes, right there, stop, good. When the group of metal carriers comes through, follow them. It took a few minutes for the group to go through, as they actually stopped in their tracks to wait for the one who had stumbled to pick up all the spilled ingots by himself and get back into the line on his designated spot. When the first carrier opened the doors, he was met with the same wall of spears the infiltrator had faced, and the interaction went about the same way. Finally they all made it to the other side and the infiltrator just tagged along, taking the last place in line. None of the carriers seemed to notice or react, and they simply made their way down the stairs into the dark cavern. The red light is gone! Sofia cut the connection to make sure she was safe. The room was dimly lit by the ambient reflection of a deep red light. I have not been seen yet but this is dangerous¡­ It should be fine as long as I stay hidden. As long as this thing doesn¡¯t randomly destroy buildings, there¡¯s no reason it would ever find me. I¡¯m lucky I didn¡¯t stay near the window¡­ Sofia very slowly moved to a corner and sat there, knees against her chest. This should be safe¡­ This should be safe¡­ She waited there for a while. She could feel the movements of the infiltrator but she did not want to reconnect to the vision token for fear of the red light worm feeling the mana connection somehow. The red light never directly shone at the building she was in, it only ever reflected in there slightly, sometimes disappearing before coming back. Until it completely disappeared for a while, and Sofia was relatively confident that the giant worm was gone, either back into the lower cave or into the upper city. The infiltrator was still moving further and further away, the token was already out of range. Stop if the red light is in the cavern with you. The infiltrator kept moving. That did not completely reassure Sofia as the Kidjikkik skeleton seemed quite dumb, but it was at least fine at following directions until now, so she decided to roll with it, and cast the graveyard on herself. She phased through the apartment floors one by one, then into the lower city¡¯s ground, and made her way into the other cavern through the ground, bypassing the checkpoint room with guards. Stolen novel; please report. Not wanting to go into the light near the entrance, she let the graveyard skeletons carry her down into the dark part of the cavern, and searched for a suitable foothold in the wall where she could stop on. It was not hard to find one, the cavern walls seemed natural and pretty uneven. The place she found even had a small rocky protuberance she could somewhat use to hide. The cavern was too big for her to see anything significant through the spirit realm as her range of vision in it was very restricted, so it was only when the graveyard skeletons let her go that she could finally see inside the cavern with her own eyes. There were remains of a city with square buildings there too, but there was very little left of the various buildings beyond a few crumbling walls and corners still hanging on. Sofia followed the connection to the infiltrator to find him, he was still following the line of carriers, advancing at a walking pace near the entrance of the city. Keep following them. Sofia¡¯s attention was then caught by the other things she could see, half-hidden within the ruins of the crumbling city. First were a bunch of Veik corpses, second were big, bloated Kidjikkik, about five meters tall, that looked like huge larvae about to burst. Sofia counted about ten of them, spread around the ruins, all of them surrounded by a bunch of dead Veik. [Matriarch Kidjikkik - Lv. ??? - Imprint power : 0 - Effect : none] Target found¡­ But zero imprint power? Are they actually weak? They don¡¯t really look strong, to be fair, but still¡­ The next interesting thing Sofia found was another set of stairs going into the wall on the other side. There were also Kidjikkiks coming down from it, and they were carrying big things. Using the zoom of her new eye, Sofia took a closer look at these carriers. They are bringing in the Veik corpses. Sofia spent the next while observing the happenings in the cavern, fascinated by what she was seeing. The carriers from both sides were bringing things for the Matriarchs. She told the infiltrator to hide in a corner and forgot about him for the time being. The bloated Matriarchs first ate the metal ingots, and quickly after, they deposited a single round metallic egg into each Veik corpse. The eggs only took a few minutes to hatch into small worms that then proceeded to eat the Veik from the inside until there was nothing left, and grow at a visible pace until they were fully grown Kidjikkiks, which then made their way out of the cave through the stairs on both sides. The entire process did not take more than ten minutes once the resources had reached the Matriarchs, about fifty new level 200+ Kidjikkik were born, just like that. The kind of Kidjikkik that hatched from the egg seemed to vary depending of the type of Veik they were birthed from. Talk about an expedited process¡­ What kind of Veik must be needed to hatch a Red light worm? Maybe a royal? Now that Sofia could stop staring at the Matriarchs, she could focus her attention on other things, and while she looked around to find the passageway the Red light worm used to enter and leave the cave which couldn¡¯t be the guarded checkpoint, she found something else. Are these¡­ Near one of the Matriarchs in particular, there was a bunch of junk. Clothes, weapons, armor, bags, small colorful rocks. Oh¡­ Yeah. That makes sense, does it not? Why only use the Veik? Trial takers are also a resource that can likely be hatched into a different Kidjikkik type¡­ There isn¡¯t a single bone left. Can I¡­? Sofia focused on one of the small colorful rocks and it disappeared. Pick-up range up to three kilometers. This eye really is crazy. The rock was waiting in Sofia¡¯s storage, she brought it out in her hand, it was of a bright red color, and Sofia could feel no mana inside. She Identified it. [Wasted mana heart of Speed]: An incomplete mana heart that has long set outside of its intended host. There is nothing of value left, but it can make for a pretty gemstone in the hands of a good jeweler. Speed. A relatively unremarkable lesser god, from what I¡¯ve read. Death really does happen in the trials, huh. I always knew but knowing and seeing are not quite the same¡­ Sofia turned her eyes to that one Kidjikkik matriarch again. Let¡¯s just kill this one¡­ There must be a battlefield between the Veik and the Kidjikkik if I leave through the other side, since this is where the Veik corpses come from. I¡¯ll get my thousand kills on the soldiers and guardians there and be done with it. I had my reservations until now, but this seals the deal. The kidjikkik are brainless worms mimicking an actual society, they¡¯re born fast, have no personality, and they end up in a ditch when they die. I won¡¯t be losing my head for them. Especially not when they use other trial takers as a hatchery. Now, how do I kill that one Matriarch quickly and cleanly then make my escape? I could just bolt it right now but that could attract- The inside of the cavern was suddenly flooded by an intense red light. Nevermind. I should have just killed one and left as soon as I identified the matriarchs¡­
Update + Chapter 434 - Plan Birthday Cake [Kidjikkik Destroyer - Lv. ??? - Imprint power : Keystone - Effect : Unknown] Sofia hid her presence as the creature entered the cavern. Keystone again. Then I can assume this thing might be close in level to the Veik King who also had that. He was around 380¡­ Hmm¡­ It¡¯s an inevitability that I am going to need one of those Keystone imprints, is it not? Maybe it would be smart to get one while I still have a comfortable level of health. The Veik King is not an option, he could crush me with his eyes closed, but if it¡¯s not a smart creature, like say, a big dumb worm, then maybe, just maybe I can pull something off. That is how I got my cheater title, after all. Won¡¯t be able to drown this one in blood, though, I fear. It still does not know I¡¯m here, so I have an advantage. Realistically, if it finds me, I am dead. What tools do I even have that could deal with this? Thankfully, once it entered the spawning grounds, the Destroyer was not moving much, it seemed content to stay on its wall, and every so often, it would cast a sweeping gaze over the resting Matriarchs. It seemed not to notice anything wrong with the infiltrator down below who was hanging around the small group of Carriers, and it never even looked in Sofia¡¯s direction. Sofia went over all her tools and options several times, and she was not liking her prospects of winning. It had been hours and the Destroyer was not moving, meaning Sofia could not even leave if she wanted to, not without taking the risk of using the graveyard skeletons, at least, and she was not willing to bet on that going unnoticed. The unlife rune¡¯s stealth effects might be all that is keeping me safe right now¡­ Suddenly, the connection with the infiltrator skeleton was cut. It had expired. Crap. The destroyer¡¯s sure to noti- The walls of the cavern shook. Sofia was debating whether or not to take a look, and decided that if there was a moment when she could, it was now or never, while something was happening. Still, she could only bring herself to look through the reflection in a handheld mirror. She would have gone with the levitation vision token trick again if it wasn¡¯t what had gotten her spotted the first time. Quickly moving the mirror to try to get a view on the destroyer, she found the giant red worm in the middle of the hatchery, the red light spewing from its eyes making it hard to miss. From what Sofia could see, it was chewing on something, and that was as long as she felt confident looking before she hid the mirror. Did it eat the shell of the infiltrator? My beddings¡­ While Sofia deplored the loss of the pillows that had died for the cause, she was running through all of her previous ideas again in light of the new data she had just gathered. If a Kidjikkik acts weird or dies under certain conditions, the Destroyer will eat them. I can use this.
Sofia lost track of time as she waited for the destroyer to leave for its next patrol round of the cities. It felt like forever, and during that time, she slowly refined her plan of action, so that she would be ready for when the time comes. It¡¯s a massive gamble. But when has that ever stopped me? The first phase of the plan was to sneak back out of the hatchery after the Destroyer had left. That much went without a hitch, and Sofia hid in a far corner of the undercity to prepare the next phase. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. She had a few extra empty Kidjikkik shells, prototypes and replacements for the infiltrator project, so she took the time to prepare a new one with a clean bone lining inside, ready to host the dumb Kidjikkik skeleton again. Turning to Bookie, Sofia asked, What do you think? It can work¡­ The small skeleton seemed as uncertain as she was about the idea. Ah¡­ I wish I had kept that Leviathan teardrop¡­ Inside of the empty Kidjikkik shell, Sofia made bone bubbles in the free space normally occupied by organs which the skeleton did not need. Using a long bone tube, she filled them one by one. The plan was as simple as that, a trapped meal. The major issue with it being that she had only one shot at it, as it was likely that the Destroyer, no matter how dumb it looked, would not fall for the same ploy twice. A good half of the bone bubbles were to be filled with a bunch of the [Water of the Underworld current] that she had pilfered from Hugo¡¯s secret base, but she would add that at the last minute since the eternally freezing water was quite corrosive to bone. In the other bubbles, Sofia dumped various liquids and poisons, despite not having the Leviathan¡¯s teardrop anymore, she still had plenty of random poisons from her days of training VPPV, and she also had quite a few which Alith had just handed to her throughout the end of the year. The large majority of the poisons were quite weak and unlikely to do much to the high-level creature, but Sofia hoped that it would at least do some damage. Damaging the creature from the inside was her best shot at taking it down, ideally she would have gone in there herself, dug her way out of the stomach and to the bones with the third key, and turned the creature¡¯s bones to dust. But that was counting on the Destroyer not chewing its food, and on her body being strong enough to resist its stomach acid, and Sofia was not about to bet her life on that. Anything else I could stick in there? There¡¯s plenty of space, still. I could fill it up with blood but that would not accomplish much. Well¡­ Now should be a good time. Sofia removed her Dragon-scale arm, taking care to transfer hers and Pareth¡¯s mana hearts to safe padded pouches which she then secured against her chest with a bunch of bone inside of her armor. You¡¯re up, Bookie. Are you sure you want to go yourself? The small skeleton nodded. Alright. I¡¯m just worried because you have never been killed in your lich form so if something happens to you I¡¯m¡­ Bookie stepped closer but he was just a bit too short to pat Sofia¡¯s head so tapping on her thigh was the best he could manage, she got the massage either way. Right¡­ I know it wouldn¡¯t work with the high-priest directly but I¡¯m still uneasy about letting you get eaten you know¡­ Alright, go on. Bookie took a step back and fused himself with the High-priest skeleton, gaining a cute scepter and all the holy powers that came with it. Then he walked back up to Sofia and presented his neck. With a clean strike of the third key, Bookie¡¯s neck was severed, and Sofia grabbed his skull. He let his body dissolve back into a mana mist, but before it could disperse, he managed to pull a bunch of it to his skull, and to gather it within his cranium. You managed to keep a lot more than I thought. Let me give you Pareth¡¯s Bone dominus blessing. You¡¯re going to need it more than him. The transfer of blessing done, Sofia kissed Bookie on the forehead before sticking his small skull into her Dragon-scale arm armor. Filling the arm with more bone, she made sure that Bookie was securely fitted inside, both able to look out through the shoulder hole, and not at risk of falling out. Such a stupid idea. Bookie¡¯s book form appeared near Sofia while the skull was still in the arm. I get to keep a small part of you, huh. The book opened, presenting the single Kidjikkik¡¯s page. Sofia ripped it off and the skeleton appeared perfectly in place with the shell. Sofia then stuck the dragon-scale arm with Bookie inside in it. It fit snugly between the poison-filled bone bubbles and the Kidjikkik skeleton¡¯s spine. With the preparations done, Sofia closed the entire thing back up with bone, and let the infiltrator do its job, and infiltrate the hatchery again. The Destroyer was currently in the upper city, so the infiltrator could calmly make its way through the dark undercity and get through the guarded gate without trouble. Sofia then summoned a few random low-cost skeletons from the leftover soulless book with the tiny bit of fog Bookie had left in it. Now I have to re-cast the unlife rune and then I just wait. The wait was nerve-wracking. Sofia was worried for Bookie and for her precious draconic piece of armor, but this was the price to pay for trying to shenanigans her way into killing a creature multiple filters ahead of her. If I do all this, manage to kill the thing, and survive, and I can¡¯t absorb the Keystone imprint because of some dumb reason like it being too damaged, I¡¯m never saving the erased admin. Be warned, System. Soon after, the dark undercity was bathed in an unnerving red light. It¡¯s coming. Bookie. It¡¯s time.
Chapter 435 - The Super Sofia Special It was only a few minutes before the undercity became dark again. The Destroyer had returned to the hatchery to look over the Matriarchs. It¡¯s all up to you now. Bookie must have been waiting for the right moment, as nothing happened for a few minutes before finally Sofia¡¯s connection with the infiltrator was severed. The caverns shook. Did it work? Did it eat the bait? Concentrating on the position of Bookie¡¯s skull, Sofia could feel it go up and down, shaking around. It definitely worked! The caverns shook more. How do you like your meal, big worm? Is Dragon-scale a bit too tough for you? Or maybe it¡¯s the poisons that are doing it. Whatever the case, it seems pissed. Bookie being still alive meant the Dragon-scale arm was doing its job as skull armor, now all Sofia was waiting for was Bookie¡¯s signal to proceed to the next step. She looked at her mana, she still had around three hundred thousand at the ready. Thirty seconds should be a lot. In Sofia¡¯s hands, the book snapped closed. Now! From her safe place, hidden in a corner of the undercity, Sofia pumped all of her mana into activating and sustaining her most destructive passive, the [Erredian Rot]. She knew from her battle against Saria that her rot was not impossible to get rid of. A bit of her fake Dragon¡¯s breath had been enough, so who knew what this huge worm might be able to do? Perhaps it could shed its shell and be rid of the annoying substance. So the solution was simple. Since the rot spread through Sofia¡¯s holy light, she only needed to shine the light where the Destroyer could not get rid of it. Directly from the inside. With Bookie safely inside the Dragon-scale arm, being swallowed whole, he could now use his High-Priest spells to flood the insides of the Destroyer with Holy light. The Destroyer had no mana, so the Rot would not last long, but it would dig directly at its flesh and bones from within, and with thirty seconds of sustained cast, the rot would be laid on thick. Even for a creature as gigantic as the hundred meters long Kidjikkik Destroyer, the damage would not be insignificant. The ground shook like the cavern was a volcano ready to erupt. Looking outside the apartment¡¯s window, Sofia could see many buildings of the undercity crashing down, unable to sustain the structural damage caused by the quaking. She let her mana slowly be drained by the passive spell while she monitored Bookie¡¯s position. The Destroyer was thrashing around violently in the hatchery. ¡®You have defeated [Matriarch Kidjikkik - Lv. 89]¡¯ Really? ¡®You have defeated [Matriarch Kidjikkik - Lv. 73]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Matriarch Kidjikkik - Lv. 58]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Matriarch Kidjikkik - Lv. 92]¡¯ Holy¡­ The kills from the Destroyer¡¯s rampage are getting attributed to me? That was not a part of the plan, in fact Sofia had not even thought about the possibility of the Destroyer killing the Matriarchs, even if it was probably unintended. Nevertheless, Sofia kept dumping her mana away into the rot. The quaking grew more and more violent, the location of Bookie was moving so fast that it was hard to keep track of it. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Crap! The building Sofia was in cracked and collapsed. She barely had time to jump out the window and into the dark streets of the undercity. Then came another bad turn. The Destroyer left the hatchery. Its movements violent and erratic, it burst into the undercity, crawling upside-down on the cavern¡¯s ceiling. The red light escaping its eyes was stronger than ever. Worse yet, they were pointed at Sofia as if trying to burn a hole through her. It already knew where I was?! It must have followed the mana trail between me and Bookie! The Destroyer roared. Buildings were pulverized by the cry, Sofia could only brace for impact as she felt the attack wash over her, shaking the core of her very being, gnawing at her soul, trying to invade it by force. [You have been affected by : Mind control. But your skills negated the status] Then that pressure disappeared, as if erased from existence. [You were subjected to a Soul-altering attack; but it was dismissed] [The ¡®Mark of Aphenoreth¡¯ punishes the attacker] The Destroyer spasmed like it had been hit by lightning. It fell from the ceiling and crashed into the destroyed buildings below. Sofia had no time to admire the destruction. The Destroyer was still alive, and it had seen her. Pareth appeared near Sofia, and helped her up. As soon as she was back on her feet, she bit-off her heart and transformed. Now was not the time to hesitate over a small level debt. Then she turned to the collapsed building beside her, her extra skeletons had been trapped inside it as it collapsed but were not dead yet. She dismissed them and her unlife rune to absorb their mana through [Heat Death]. Mana : 21 569 / 417 100 Better than nothing. Pareth disappeared back into her storage, ready to be out in case of an emergency, and Sofia ran. There was not much she was confident in doing against an opponent this strong, but running was becoming somewhat of a specialty of hers. In two jumps, Sofia ran across the city, and up into the tunnel the Destroyer used to get from the undercity to the upper city. Jumping up from wall to wall, she flew into the sleeping upper city. The Destroyer got back up and followed right after her. Sofia barely had time to jump out of the way as the Destroyer erupted from the hole behind her. Sofia made a quick turn, getting out of the creature¡¯s field of vision by hiding in the city¡¯s streets. The streets were just large enough for the Destroyer to navigate them. It followed Sofia, but it avoided destroying the buildings, instead slithering between them. That slowed it considerably. Sofia ran dashing through the streets and taking every turn she could, but she could see behind her, and the horrific insectoid head of the Destroyer was never far. Switching strategy, Sofia started jumping through windows, over the sleeping Kidjikkiks, and running through buildings to try to escape the creature, but she could never get away from it, whatever she did, every time she stepped out, the Destroyer¡¯s head was closer and closer, until the point where she entered a building, and the Destroyer¡¯s gaping maws were waiting for her outside of the opposite window. Sofia managed a last second turn as the maws closed in on her, destroying the building¡¯s wall. Trying to exit from where she entered, Sofia discovered that the Destroyed had wrapped itself around the building. Its many legs stabbed at her through the windows and the walls. Barely managing to avoid them, as the creature was striking blindly, Sofia could only move up, in the building. Barely avoiding the chomps of the giant head several times. The creature was still shaken by violent spasms that shook the building. It made its attacks sloppy. Sofia could tell, as it was made of her own mana, the rot was eating it from inside. Unfortunately, she ran out of vertical space to run. When she burst through the ceiling of the building¡¯s last floor, the open mouth of the Destroyer was waiting for her. [Regret] Sofia reappeared in the street next to the collapsing building she had been in a second prior. The Destroyed was still wrapped around it. At the top, it bit at nothing. Awakened by the commotion, many Kidjikkik were starting to gather in the streets. Sofia paid them no mind, going as fast as she could she ran straight through the city. The guardian Kidjikkiks tried to stop her from entering the mining facilities, but she ignored them, ducking under their spears and punching her way through the door and into the place she had entered the city through. Monitoring the Destroyer¡¯s movements by tracking Bookie¡¯s position, Sofia felt it coming. She jumped in place, bursting through several ceilings, barely avoiding a lunge attack from the destroyer, which had crashed through the mining facility like a meteorite. As she soared through the floors, she bit down on the [Crystallized] skill¡¯s mana pearl she had been keeping in her mouth the entire time, just in case the situation was getting desperate. It was her first time using one, and she instantly felt her thoughts and mana regeneration speed up. The mining facilities were collapsing, but Sofia ran forward, weaving between the chunks of falling debris. She made her way deeper and deeper inside them, followed closely by the Destroyer which now paid no mind to anything around it, and only lunged at Sofia again and again, trying to swallow her whole, and when that missed, to impale her with its uncountable legs. The accelerated thoughts and demon body allowing her to dodge attacks far past the normal capabilities of someone her level were the only thing keeping Sofia alive through the unrelenting assault. Finally, she reached the depths of the mining facilities, the actual mining tunnels. There was nowhere else left to go. The tunnels were not large enough for the Destroyed to follow her, but it followed anyway, mercilessly crushing through the stone layers of the moon.
Chapter 436 - Heartaches Sofia ran as fast as she possibly could, taking random turns, delving deeper and deeper into the mines, but nothing could free her of the Destroyer¡¯s pursuit. No matter what she did, the red light grew closer every passing second. Tunnels cracked and collapsed from the Destroyer¡¯s rampage, closing off paths through the mines, and before long, Sofia encountered a dead end. Faster! The Destroyer was coming, but [Regret] was still not off its ten second countdown. It was too late, the merciless mandibles of the Destroyer surrounded her, and the spell was still not ready. Sofia did the only thing she could, she jumped right into the gaping maw of the giant worm, trying to extend her time however she could. She escaped the mandibles but the inside of the Destroyer¡¯s mouth was like a Sandworm¡¯s, full of uncountable deadly sharp teeth the size of an arm. She was never going to get the two seconds left until the cooldown on [Regret] wore off, that left her with only the riskier of the demon form spells to count on, one that relied on luck. [Misfortune] : Through the power of sheer bad luck, ever-so-slightly alter the immediate fate of your enemy in your favor. Costs 10000 mana per cast, 500 seconds cooldown. Right leg blood vessels must be undamaged for the skill to correctly resolve. The spell activated as Sofia jumped through the Destroyer¡¯s mouth. What had happened? Sofia had no clue, but one thing was for certain, the Destroyer did not close its mouth in time. Sofia made it all the way to the back of its mouth, which was closed by a thick wall of flesh. The third key tore through it like through paper, and Sofia threw herself into the monster¡¯s throat. It was big enough for her to stand and still have space over her head. Bone! I need to find a bone! The Destroyer was thrashing around. Before Sofia could even stabilize her footing, she was stopped dead in her tracks, a thick insectoid leg impaled through her chest. The Destroyer had stabbed itself to get to her. It had been too fast and unexpected, Sofia had not even seen it coming. Her health took a serious dive, but under the mana pearl¡¯s effect, her thoughts were still clear. This was an opportunity. The dagger sliced through the Destroyer¡¯s leg, and Sofia finally found bones. Another leg pierced through the Destroyer¡¯s body to get to Sofia, but she was connected to the beast¡¯s bones this time. She felt it coming. Twisting her chest, she let the second leg pierce through the demon-form hole of her heart while she propagated her [Bone Dominus] controle through the Destroyer¡¯s bone. There was no time for the Destroyer to launch a third attack. A wave of magic spread through its bones, making them spin around before turning them all to dust in a nine meter radius, the range limit of [Bone Dominus Imperium]. With this, any spinal nerves were severed, separating the head from the rest of the body. The thrashing stopped. GET FUCKED! With her regeneration fueled by the mana pearl, Sofia had just hit ten thousand mana again. In another situation, she might have used [Regret] to heal her wound, but her mana heart¡¯s malus would not allow that, so she grabbed the now boneless insect leg still wriggling through her ¡®heart¡¯, and she used another of her demon skills. [Hollow heart] The skill went off, but there was no obvious change. Moreover, the Destroyer was still alive. Another leg pierced through the creature¡¯s body to take a stab at Sofia. It was one of the legs closer to the creature¡¯s head, and came in at an angle. Because it came from further away, Pareth had time to react. Appearing, crouching, in between the attacking appendage and Sofia, taking up the entire space within the throat like an imposing skeletal door. The leg pierced right through him, but it gave Sofia just enough extra time to slightly move out of the way. The leg barely scratched her leaving a big hole in the side of her armor, but only grazing her actual skin, there was some damage but it was light. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! With what Sofia knew of the creature¡¯s anatomy and the length of its legs, there were three more legs near the head which could reach her. She still needed to cut the leg going through her heart if she wanted to move. A single cut with the dagger did the trick, but as Sofia started to move away, another leg pierced through the destroyer¡¯s shell and flesh, stabbing in her direction like the sharpest sword. Pareth¡¯s body and shields of light all failed to stop it. The only thing Sofia could try was to block with the thin dagger. It worked. The shock was violent. Propagating through Sofia¡¯s arms and into her entire being. If not for her own skeleton currently being a [Bone Dominus] construct, it would have shattered like she had shattered the Destroyer¡¯s. She was sent flying further down the worm¡¯s throat by the attack, landing in a thick green goo. It attacked her armor, slowly dissolving the bone and producing putrid fumes. Sofia stood up and stored Pareth back into her eye. Thanks to [Dodge-me] she could stand on the weird stomach juice like it was solid ground, just needing to be careful to constantly restore the soles of her bone armor with more bone. The Destroyer was still moving, somehow, but much weaker than before. Is it still digging around with just its head? Sofia was still wary, but it seemed she had really destroyed all the nerves controlling the lower body of the Destroyer, as it was not really moving, and Sofia suffered no more stab-attack. It was still too early to celebrate, but she felt like she had already won. Sofia followed the signal of Bookie¡¯s presence, and found him further, in the creature¡¯s third stomach. Or what was left of it. There was a stretch of around thirty meters long inside of the creature¡¯s body where there were only bones and black dust left within the shell. The Dragon-scale armguard with Bookie¡¯s skull inside was lying there, in a pile of black dust. It still fought this fiercely with its body in that state? And it¡¯s STILL not dead? Sofia had to admit that the Destroyer¡¯s resilience commanded respect. She grabbed her armor and freed Bookie¡¯s skull from inside. Welcome back. Good job out there. Quickly cleaning the arm with some blood and bone, she slid her arm into it again. It was still as good as new, without so much as a scratch. Only when she put the mana hearts back inside did she finally feel safe. Both the legs that had pierced her torso had been centimeters away from hitting the hearts. It was like a miracle that they were intact. With her mana regeneration fueled by the pearl¡¯s effect, Sofia¡¯s reserves were quickly climbing back up, after less than thirty seconds, she could use [Hollow heart] again. And she did. The spell activated correctly, although the Destroyer did not react, it still meant that the magic had found a heart to destroy. She activated it again, and again, until her transformation was right about to run out. She only had a few seconds left when, both of her hands on the destroyer¡¯s shell from the inside, she activated it for the seventh time. ¡®You have defeated [Kidjikkik Destroyer - Lv. 358 - Imprint Cannot be Damaged]¡¯ Sofia¡¯s transformation ran out, but unlike the usual weakness that usually came with it, she felt a sudden surge of strength bolster her, which made her smile. It was coming from the crown. Enjoyed the show, Victory? Still, Sofia was tired, she sat down in the piles of black dust her rot had left behind. [A new title has been unlocked!] The good news just keep coming! [Giant Slayer]: Through wits and determination, you have again and again fell foes far beyond your size or capability. Effect: Gain the temporary passive skill [Eilor¡¯s Battle Instincts] when battling enemies of monstrous size. Sofia was interested, but the system would not provide any further explanation on [Eilor¡¯s Battle Instincts] not on the specifics of ¡®monstrous size¡¯, so she quickly turned her attention to another pressing matter. I should hurry and collect the imprint. As for whether it was for her or for Pareth, there was no question, if the Keystone imprint was some kind of finishing touch to a mana heart, she was the one who needed it the most, as the entire point of Aphenoreth¡¯s boon was to push beyond the limit, so it was imperative that she reached said limit first. She brought out her mana heart, held it high, and activated it. The Destroyer was a manaless creature and yeah, Sofia could visibly see the usually invisible mana imprint being pulled into the heart. It was strong, violent, powerful. When the process stopped, the mana heart had changed. It no longer looked like a rock, but like a round, glowing piece of the Destroyer¡¯s red shell. [Destroyer¡¯s Nascent mana heart of Aphenoreth]
Chapter 437 - Kidjikkik Harvester [Destroyer¡¯s Nascent mana heart of Aphenoreth]: /C tier/ 9 months, 22 days, 13 hours Imprint progress : 741.51/ 1200 Small Catalyser : 0/1 Keystone : 1/1 Effects (Stats will be doubled) :
  • All stats + 45% (C rank base)
  • All stats + 50%
  • Health + 10 561
  • Stamina + 10 000
  • Mana + 43 590
  • [Relocate Core]
  • Destroyer Signature Skill Modifier
I, huh¡­ Hmm¡­ Signature Skill Modifier? WAIT, FIFTY PERCENT? That¡¯s new?! The keystone imprint give an additional base 50% stat modifier. This is huge. HUGE. The crown will double that, so looking at my stats right now¡­ Health : 78 563 / 85 980 Stamina : 1446 / 21 047 Mana : 0 / 417 100 Let¡¯s ignore the seven thousand Health I just lost from the fight¡­ This is five hundred and twenty four thousand stat points I just harvested. Speaking of which¡­ Everelle¡¯s imprint was worth a million mana. Two if I were to get it. But she was only level 299. It kind of feels like a joke. She¡¯s not meant to be killed so they just gave her a ridiculous imprint, I would guess? But the keystones are intended. That would mean the Veik King is also fair game¡­ I¡¯m really going to need to get another Keystone for Pareth. And lastly there¡¯s this line ¡®Destroyer Signature Skill Modifier¡¯. How do I interpret that? It¡¯s the first time I¡¯m hearing about signature skills. What¡¯s that? I guess mine would be Angel bolt, if I don¡¯t count Pareth as a skill. Or I guess now [Bone Dominus] might be more fitting? I do use it all the time. Well, whatever. Not enough information, I¡¯ll worry about it later. Sofia stood and walked around in the dead body of the Destroyer, she walked all the way up to the mouth and left from whence she came. Outside the gargantuan corpse was no longer the dead end Sofia was stuck in, the thrashing of the Destroyer had created a large new cavern full of dust and debris on which it had breathed its last. That is some serious destroying power, so the name is warranted. Where did all the stone go, though? It wasn¡¯t eating it, so where does all that free space come from? Did it all just disappear? Since Bookie was able to reunite his skull and book, he unsummoned and resummoned himself. He stood proudly in front of the Destroyer. Sofia looked at him with a saddened smile. Can¡¯t eat it, right? That ruined Bookie¡¯s moment; dejected, he shook his head. Sorry to be a killjoy, I just needed to be sure¡­ It¡¯s a big loss but I couldn¡¯t help it, had to destroy the bones or I was dead meat. Sofia thought while shifting her bone armor around and observing the new hole in her abdomen. The Destroyer¡¯s leg had left a hole about the width of a large mug in Sofia¡¯s body. Right under her right breast, it had just about missed her spine, and only broke her lowest right rib. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Honestly, that is going to be an issue¡­ With VPPV I can no longer bleed, and the pain is greatly dulled. Good things about having an inhumane body. I think a few organs got deleted, though¡­ It won¡¯t kill me but I already dread spending a year with that hole like this. The other injury she got when a leg scratched her had already closed up, Sofia¡¯s skin regrowing on top of the exposed flesh. It left a weird dip on the left side of her waist, but nothing big enough that anyone could even notice without her pointing it out. With mirrors, Sofia inspected her open abdominal injury, taking note of the damage. A busted rib, basically half my liver is gone and so is the small thing normally below it¡­ Hole in the large intestine. That¡¯s the large intestine, right? It¡¯s a bit hard to see with all the bloodlight still going through the hole. I think it touched the kidney too. Chest injuries really are no joke. I can fix the rib even without healing but for everything else¡­ How do I deal with this? I kind of have the urge to plug it all up with bone and forget about it but that would impact my mobility a lot. I have some sewing equipment, there must be one of my skeletons who can at least close the organs up? Then I¡¯ll fill the hole with, huh¡­ The stuffing of my remaining pillows? And see if the skin can regrow once there¡¯s no more gaping hole, or close it off with a bone plate. Even beyond the Health points aspect, being unable to heal is really troublesome. Sofia ended up actually plugging the hole with a bunch of bone for the time being before she walked back up to the corpse of the Destroyer. The busted spine meant that the skeleton wasn¡¯t good for Bookie and Pareth, but the skull was intact, so Sofia got to butchering. She first removed all the teeth and stored them, then the also stored the four mandibles separately, she also grabbed the eyes responsible for the red light, and finally, she sliced off and stored a good number of the Destroyer¡¯s exoskeleton plates as well as the stinger that it had never used, and a few legs. Unlike the smaller Kidjikkiks, this one had no arms, only legs. With just that, Sofia had filled a significant portion of her storage space, so she stopped there. She had to thank the admin¡¯s dagger for the butchering job, because the thickest parts of the exoskeleton were unbelievably hard. Most of the creature¡¯s bones she had no choice but to discard, she didn¡¯t want to spend days praying away the bones from the flesh when she couldn¡¯t use it to make skeletons, she only extracted the house-sized skull and fed it to the [Skull Choir]. It added a new line to the list of available skulls : ¡®Destroyer (Rip and tear)¡¯. I cannot wait to try this one out. Out of habit, Sofia disabled her armor and wiped the non-existent sweat off of her forehead, before sitting on a pile of stone debris. A job well done. Pareth, who had helped with the butchering, nodded, looking pleased as he stood with his arms crossed, while Bookie enthusiastically gave them a thumbs up. We¡¯re leaving as soon as my mana has recovered. As much as I¡¯d like to be done with the Kidjikki, we still have a quest to- The parasite? The Veik parasite is gone? Monitoring the Veik parasite around her neck had been the least of Sofia¡¯s worries during the last hour. Apparently it had left at some point, because it was no longer anywhere to be seen. The quest was also nowhere to be seen in the system logs anymore. Was it satisfied with the Destroyer¡¯s death? That would make sense¡­ This thing is worth a lot more than a thousand random soldiers in terms of war capabilities. It just left, though? Wasn¡¯t I supposed to receive a Veik token of friendship or something? Or do I need to return to the Veik hive to get it? Yeah, no, screw that. Sofia admired the result of her hunt once more, she felt that she had harvested it well, yet something still bothered her. If¡­ I know this thing had no mana but¡­ If it¡¯s over level 250¡­ Shouldn¡¯t it have something like a mana heart, somewhere? Stones are the high-level people¡¯s money, I would be dumb not to take it if there¡¯s one. But it really had no mana so it¡¯s hard to say. And it¡¯s so massive, how am I supposed to find anything? Sofia randomly searched the giant corpse for anything resembling a stone, but that got her nowhere, so once her mana was back, she summoned the salvaging squad: a hundred undead rats. Skeleton rats could not eat, but they sure as hell could chew through flesh. For the next three hours, they did just that, until one of them stumbled upon a fist-sized tumor in the belly of the beast. I knew it! [Destroyer Kidjikkik Soulstone]: The dead core of a once powerful Destroyer Kidjikkik¡¯s spirit body. It has already lost all intrinsic value. Huh, the system really treats it like it¡¯s trash¡­ Leverle did mention that the stones were from dead people, specifically, not monsters, so maybe this is not worth much after all¡­ Whatever, worst case, it will make a nice trophy. Lastly, before leaving, Sofia picked a small bone from the Destroyer, and sculpted it into a miniature Destroyer. Two nice trophies. Let¡¯s go search for Everelle¡¯s dungeon now! Pareth and Bookie cheered at the idea. That was how Sofia read their reaction anyway. Then she finally looked around, no longer giving all of her attention to the dead giant red worm-insect. Wait¡­ Where is the exit?
Chapter 438 - Dungeon master Sofia had to use the graveyard skeletons to look through the stone walls of the cavern and find the collapsed remains of the path the Destroyer had taken through the moon¡¯s underground. I can try to dig that out, but if the tunnel collapses again on me¡­ I¡¯m not so confident about surviving that. My best shot is still to graveyard out, but I¡¯ve no clue how far this might be from the Kidjikkik city. Or if there¡¯s even anything left there, it could just as well have collapsed too, so following the collapsed tunnel might be a bad idea. Just going up can¡¯t go wrong; I can¡¯t be that deep underground¡­ Is what Sofia thought, but she knew it took her something like three days to graveyard from the top to the bottom of the Veik hive. The transportation through the spiritual plane was practical but not fast by any means, and she needed to take a break every few hours to prevent the side effects. Since she could go for about three hours without the side effects of staying in the spiritual plane becoming too bad, Sofia decided to go up for an hour and a half, if she failed to find another cavern as a rest point or the surface, she would come back down with the time she had left. That was exactly what happened. Three hours later, she was back to square one in the cave with the Destroyer''s corpse. If only the sandworms were good at digging through stone¡­ Actually, didn¡¯t we get Kidjikkik Diggers? Bookie? Bookie came out with his lich form, looking almost embarrassed about the situation. What? Is it because you didn¡¯t think about using the diggers either? We¡¯ve never even summoned them so it¡¯s not that strange to forget, especially with how many pages you have now. Anyway, ready? You got enough fog, right? The small skeleton nodded and handed the already open book of skeletons to Sofia. 100 Digger Kidjikkik. Five thousand mana. So cheap. A small army of pickaxe-wielding worm skeletons appeared for Sofia to command. She ordered them to excavate the collapsed tunnel, and they immediately got to work. Sofia thought that she was going to be there for a long time, initially, but the excavation was actually quite fast-paced, and the newly created tunnel that started to take form after a few minutes of digging seemed safe enough. The Kidjikkiks were digging in a way that seemed pretty messy, the walls and floors weren¡¯t straight, and it was not like they used support beams or anything like that. It felt more like they were actual insects digging a tunnel, except it was human-sized and they did it with real tools. While the skeletons were digging, Sofia checked through the collapsed tunnels with the graveyard, and she actually made it to the other side before an hour and a half had gone by. I guess the Destroyer couldn¡¯t have gone that far between the moment I jumped into its mouth and the moment I broke its spine. Actually it did dig pretty far considering that was only a few seconds. Sofia unsummoned the Diggers, which had turned out to be useless. It wasn¡¯t wrong to summon them¡­ The process was annoying, because a lot of the mines had collapsed, but Sofia managed to find her way back to the Kidjikkik city about an hour later, only to find it completely abandoned. There were a few collapsed buildings from the Destroyer¡¯s rampage, but more than ninety percent of the city was intact, yet there was no Kidjikkik to be seen anywhere. The weird algae is not making any light anymore either. Maybe that¡¯s why they left, more than the few destroyed buildings? Sofia returned to the place where she had found the Algae nodule that she had identified before, and found that it was not that it was missing, but that this building in particular had been part of the buildings that had not survived her stunt. Did the entire¡¯s cavern¡¯s algae die off because the nodule was crushed by a collapsed roof? The Kidjikkik rely on sight a lot so they can¡¯t go in the dark. I guess they moved to the hatchery since they had glowing algae too that was not connected to this one. The hole linking to the undercity was nearby, so Sofia went to give it a glance, she was a loot fiend, and she had not forgotten that there were plenty of dead trial-takers¡¯ things near one of the matriarchs. Sofia almost jumped straight into the hole but her enthusiasm about fetching the loot was promptly extinguished. The undercity was extremely well-lit, in a worrying bright red. I changed my mind. Screw that, let¡¯s go for the stairs up¡­ The same spiral staircase which led to the undercity also went up, Sofia had no idea where it led to, but that was her best chance at regaining the surface, short of scouring the mines looking for the tunnel linking to the Veik hive. About five hundred meters above the city was: another city. It was, again, a perfect replica of the city below, except that it was missing the algae. This one was in perfect condition all around, and seemed unused. Sofia only spent a few minutes looking around before continuing to walk up the stairs. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. One more?! Oh, this one is still under construction I think. No workers around, though. And the stairs keep going up¡­ How many of the same city do you need? If I summon my digger and worker Kidjikkiks and ask them to build a city, is this also what they will build? The next stop was not a city but an empty cavern the size of the city. So they¡¯re going to make at least one more. I have to ask, now. Is this the only Kidjikkik settlement? This¡­ pile of cities. Are there more, scattered all around the moon? That¡¯s a crazy thought. At the very least they have more Destroyers than the one I killed, so it¡¯s not impossible. Eventually the pile madness stopped, and the stairs simply ended at the surface of the moon, completely unguarded. I guess it being a small hole in the ground in the middle of absolutely nowhere on a moon makes it pretty safe. Let¡¯s not interact with this moon¡¯s underground races anymore¡­ Now, where is Everelle¡¯s dungeon?
Sofia felt a light tap on her shoulder. That was Bookie trying to gently nudge her awake. What is it? Is the horse running out agai- No way! As Sofia opened her eyes, she had a hard time believing what she was seeing. She had been searching for the supposed ¡®dungeon¡¯ for about a week now, and running around the monotone gray surface of the moon for days on end made for one hell of a drab adventure. She had resorted to going to sleep to make time go faster, while her War horse skeleton dragged her around, and Bookie monitored his rats to explore in all directions. But finally, she had found something. A huge fortress, sticking out like a sore thumb, with thick walls and high crooked spires. This better be it! If that was the dungeon, great, if not, Sofia would explore the fortress and try to leave the moon right after, as she was starting to seriously dread the barren and dusty place. Do I enter from the front? Thinking it would be the polite thing to do in case this was not actually a dungeon, Sofia had the war horse skeleton bring her to the massive wooden drawbridge, which was closed, but came down on its own as she approached. The sight almost made her forget she was stranded on a moon. Looks like I am welcome. I guess using the entrance instead of phasing through the walls has its perks. My mana senses cannot reach past the drawbridge at all¡­ Curious. The instant the skeleton horse¡¯s hooves touched the drawbridge, a bunch of system notifications assaulted Sofia¡¯s vision. [You have discovered the dungeon : Sunless Castle] [Detected players : 2 - Please wait during calibration] That line in particular disappeared almost as soon as it appeared. And was replaced by a similar one. [Detected players : 2.5 - Please wait during calibration] Is it that Bookie counts as half? [Calibration successful - Difficulty : Hell] [The following restrictions apply -] [Flying : forbidden] [Planar transfer : forbidden] [Teleportation : forbidden] [Wall destruction : forbidden] [The dungeon has been successfully calibrated according to your skills] [Reward : Heart Catalyser series choice box] [You will be given 60 seconds to use your storage items before the dungeon starts] [Hi, you made me wait :) ] Sofia wanted to answer but with no air she couldn¡¯t speak, and since she was on a timer, that and all of her usual internal banter were to be skipped. One by one she made sure to have everything she needed out of her storage. Pareth and Bookie already out. Bookie, take your book form out too, just in case. Saint set and crown all here, scepter good, dagger good. I need my shield too. Armor up. No planar transfer might mean it won¡¯t repair with my stocked bones¡­ Sofia brought about a ton worth of bone slates out of her storage that appeared neatly piled up beside her. She quickly transferred them to her eye then used it to make them reappear inside the castle walls past the drawbridge while she went through the rest of her things. Water and lightstones always good to have. A mana pearl. Let¡¯s take the [Lead the Dead] ring just in case. And¡­ I think I¡¯m good. Ah! Let¡¯s grab the [Skill Capture? - 042]. Never know when I might want to use it. Alright that¡¯s all I need¡­ Let¡¯s take a pouch and a backpack to put all this stuff in too. Sofia stuck the mana pearl inside of her armor just like she usually hid the dagger, and gave the backpack with the stones to Bookie. Just like that, the time was out, and the drawbridge started to close back up with them still on it, prompting them to hurry and move. [Is that all you need? Quickly come inside so we can talk!] Inside the walls was the actual castle, surrounded by a courtyard which surprisingly had some strange vegetation growing, but which Sofia couldn¡¯t admire, as gray brick walls rose from the ground, transforming the open courtyard into a narrow corridor leading from where Sofia was to the castle gate. Moving walls¡­ Will there be a lesser stone drake too? Sofia let Pareth take the lead while she followed with Bookie on one side and the war horse on the other. The bone slates were slowly following behind one by one like ten square bone shields, made to move by [Bone Dominus]. Quickly walking the fifty or so meters to the castle gates, Pareth opened the way, pushing the open. Sofia felt fresh air fill her lungs as soon as she walked past the gates. The mana density inside was also pretty high, making it a lot more comfortable than the harsh dusty void of the moon. Music? Everelle¡¯s voice rang in Sofia¡¯s ears. ¡°Welcome to my castle, adventurers! Now prepare to face death! HUAHAHAHAHA¡± Her sinister laughter stopped after a second or two, and before Sofia could even say anything, Everelle spoke again. ¡°How was the trip? Do you like the background music? I can change it if you want.¡± This is going to be an interesting dungeon.
Chapter 439 - Dungeon Crawlers Sofia took a deep breath. ¡°It¡¯s so nice to be able to speak again.¡± ¡°Right?¡± ¡°And yeah, the music is nice. So much better than the moon¡¯s constant silence.¡± ¡°Good to hear. And just wait until you hear the boss music!¡± ¡°Would said boss be you?¡± Sofia asked in return. ¡°Kind of? It¡¯s more like I¡¯m the dungeon itself, oh, and I¡¯m not allowed to save you even if it looks like you¡¯re gonna kick the bucket. In fact, I will be doing my best to kill you, be aware of that.¡± Everelle said that without showing any particular emotions, which Sofia felt a bit unsettling. ¡°Out of curiosity, how long have you been doing that whole dungeon gig?¡± ¡°Huh, not a question I usually get. People normally ask about what¡¯s to be expected in the dungeon, not about what I eat for dinner, you know?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll manage the dungeon somehow, but I won¡¯t find any answers there. I might be a bit too curious for my own good but I really want to learn more about the Sunless and the trial¡¯s inner workings,¡± Sofia admitted. ¡°Eh, many things I can¡¯t tell, as you can guess, but I can share some. Just a question of my own first, how did the quest go? I see the parasite¡¯s gone?¡± Sofia reflexively touched her neck. ¡°It¡¯s, huh. I did not complete the quest, actually, the parasite just disappeared while I was fighting the Destroyer.¡± There was a moment of silence. ¡°D- Destroyer?¡± ¡°I¡¯d show you the spoils but I can¡¯t access my ring. Oh, right, look at my mana heart. Neat, right?¡± Sofia bragged while taking out her mana heart from under her arm to show it off. As she did so, she was carefully monitoring the mana around her, not trusting that she might not get ambushed while her mana heart was exposed. ¡°Boy I might actually be in trouble this time. No wonder the difficulty rating came out so high. You¡¯re the first to actually trigger hell mode in the four hundred years I¡¯ve been workin¡¯ here, ahah,¡± Everelle explained with an awkward laugh. Just four hundred? Supposedly the trial¡¯s been up for three thousand years. ¡°How bad is it?¡± ¡°Huh¡­ I¡¯d say you¡¯re cooked meat, but if you took down a Kidjikkik Destroyer you might actually make it through? Reward¡¯s worth the trouble though.¡± ¡°I think I get it but care to explain what the reward exactly is?¡± ¡°You get the boss¡¯ imprint and any one series of heart catalysts that you want. Say you choose the slashing resistance series, you¡¯ll get a small, medium, large, and giant slashing catalyser.¡± ¡°Giant is for the rank above S?¡± ¡°Yeah. As long as you wager any decent divine essence you can go up to SSS, need a giant catalyser and a keystone imprint though, but I see that part might not be too much of an issue for you.¡± Can she just tell me? I won¡¯t complain about the lack of censoring but it feels unusual. So I really need another keystone for Pareth¡­ SSS is the regular maximum, then¡­ Since the percent stat upgrade is a linear +25 per rank¡­ That¡¯s 170%? ¡°What about the ranks after that?¡± ¡°After that?¡± Sofia raised an eyebrow at the question. ¡°I showed you the heart and you didn¡¯t identify it?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not allowed to Identify your stuff, girl, would give the Dungeon an unfair advantage. And trust me it doesn¡¯t need that.¡± So she doesn¡¯t know I can¡¯t heal. I might be able to use that knowledge later¡­ Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. Sofia explained what the bonus of her wager was, and that left Everelle speechless for a while, and she told Sofia to wait while she looked things up on her end. About five minutes later Everelle¡¯s voice came back, a bit shaky. ¡°Alright, so. Uh, I looked it up. I can actually share two things. First is, the extra ranks are an experimental thing the scribes have been working on for a while, so you¡¯ll be the first to have a heart going above SSS rank if you get there, which is pretty darn cool. Second thing is: you¡¯re fucked. I don¡¯t know what management is smoking, but the shit they want you to do is¡­ Good luck.¡± ¡°Very encouraging, thanks,¡± Sofia sarcastically replied. ¡°I¡¯m just telling it like it is.¡± ¡°I appreciate the honesty.¡± Everelle sighed. ¡°Say that again when you¡¯re done with the dungeon, alright? Actually I¡¯ll be making enemies if I kill you here, so try to make it through, please. Oh right, since you¡¯ve been pretty nice, any type of imprint you¡¯d like to get in particular?¡± Making enemies? If I die here then it¡¯s only my fault for entering, though? ¡°You can control the imprints? If I could get only mana and skill shards that would be nice.¡± ¡°Aight! Coming right up. By the way, I can only communicate with you in rest areas like this lobby, so don¡¯t waste your time talking to me outside of it, won¡¯t hear ya.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± ¡°Then we¡¯re almost done. We¡¯ve just got one more thing. Only gonna take a second.¡± After Everelle said that, Pareth started shrinking until he was just about the same size as Sofia. ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yeah, the penalty for you are the movement restrictions, though they apply to your entire team, but both Pareth and the small one got their own. Your big skeleton can only use one hand and is sized down, while the small one, huh, is limited to one page at a time?¡± Everelle said, sounding uncertain. ¡°I see¡­ Is that all?¡± ¡°That made sense? I¡¯m just reading the prompts I got so¡­ Uh, there¡¯s one more restriction from the small one but I guess you¡¯ll discover that very fast as it¡¯s another team-wide effect.¡± ¡°We¡¯re good to go, then?¡± ¡°All good! You can start anytime. Good luck surviving me, Sofia.¡± Sofia smiled under her helmet and walked with her skeletons to the door to the next room. ¡°Do your worst, Everelle.¡± Immediately after opening the door, the ambiance changed. The relaxing music stopped, the temperature fell, and the mana in the air dried up in a second. ¡°No ambient mana outside of the rest areas? And I thought this place was nicer than the outside. At least there¡¯s still air so there¡¯s that.¡± The long straight corridor in front of Sofia reminded her of the second trial¡¯s mazes; it was not exactly something she was glad to see again. There was a thick black fog about ten meters down the corridor, preventing her from seeing any further. Her senses made it clear that the fog was made entirely of mana. If not for the downsizing ¡®penalty¡¯, Pareth wouldn¡¯t even be able to stand straight in there. Before going, she dismissed the war horse skeleton. ¡°If we¡¯re limited to one page at a time, we should use it better, I would call the birds but since flying is prohibited¡­ Rats? We need scouts to map out the place.¡± Bookie nodded and he opened the book and tore the one hundred rats page by himself, draining a bit of Sofia¡¯s mana to summon the critters. Sofia started by sending one rat into the mana fog. She instantly lost contact with it. Dead? Wanting to check from a bit closer, Sofia told Pareth to advance and followed him. She quickly realized that the fog was moving with them. After a few steps, Bookie even grabbed Sofia¡¯s attention to point out what was happening behind. The fog was also in the rest area. ¡°So it¡¯s less that it¡¯s moving with us, and more that it stops about fifteen meters from us?¡° Just to check if it was a consistent behavior, Sofia sent a rat to the fog in the rest area. It died as soon as its bones disappeared within the black fog. ¡°Seems dangerous. What if we try spreading out? Bookie, walk back, and Pareth,head forward.¡± As it was, if the black fog was the limit of where they could stay, as long as it stayed away from all three of them, they could potentially go from thirty to ninety meters of usable area by spreading out. Except it did not, in fact, Pareth almost walked straight into the fog as Bookie was a bit too eager to follow orders and rushed back to the rest area. The fog was actually following him. So this is Bookie¡¯s second restriction. Everelle was right, we discovered it really fast. It¡¯s hard to miss. Stay where you hard Bookie, let¡¯s try a few things. Sofia walked up to Pareth, bringing the bone slates with her, and she extracted some bone from one of them, making herself a long bone cane, which she swung at the fog. The fog was not disturbed in the slightest, but the cane came out of it perfectly fine. Looking at it from this close, Sofia understood the nature of the fog. It was not just mana, but long strands of cursed mana. Depending on the nature of the curse I might actually be fine if I step in there. Especially if it¡¯s some kind of [Instant death] curse. But I don¡¯t think I want to try, not without the unlife runes. Things being like that, the rats might not be the best summons. But let¡¯s keep them around for now. Come back, Bookie, let¡¯s get going. It only took a few seconds of walking down the straight path for the first group of Sunless drones to crawl out of the fog, already prepared to attack.
Chapter 440 - Kabedon The Sunless drones appeared from the black fog, surrounded by a swarm of floating black orbs. The same attack they had launched at Sofia in the first dungeon. A tall rectangular shield appeared in Pareth¡¯s right hand, while Sofia grabbed Bookie and they both hid behind him. The orbs all collided with the shield in a deafening cacophony. With her mana senses, Sofia counted a total of eight drones. Easy. She rapidly invoked the [Spine of the black sun] on her staff while Pareth held the drones back with the help of Bookie¡¯s rats. The rats fell one after the other under the drones¡¯ strikes which deformed their oily black body to use as weapons, but they bought enough time for Pareth to keep all the Drones away from Sofia. Unable to use both of his hands because of the dungeon¡¯s restrictions, he bashed the drones with his shield and planted it into the ground to use as a support as he kicked the Sunless back into the fog. The spine fully formed on top of the scepter, Sofia lightly waved it, and used [Bone dominus] to guide the whip straight toward the drone in the middle of the pack, engulfing them all in a solar burst. Just the time to recall the whip and throw it again twice, and the drones fell apart, leaving their usual sunless debris on the dungeon¡¯s floor. We lost twenty two rats, but no health. Perfect fight. ¡®You have defeated [Sunless Drone - Lv. 237 - Imprint Intact]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Sunless Drone - Lv. 209 - Imprint Intact]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Sunless Drone - Lv. 221 - Imprint Intact]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Sunless Drone - Lv. 200 - Imprint Intact]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Sunless Drone - Lv. 233 - Imprint Intact]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Sunless Drone - Lv. 236 - Imprint Intact]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Sunless Drone - Lv. 240 - Imprint Intact]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Sunless Drone - Lv. 225 - Imprint Intact]¡¯ It tells me about the imprints? It had stopped for the drones when I got all the drones¡¯ skill shards. Did Everelle really change them to mana? Looking at the kill notifications, Sofia felt that she kind of missed the skill level up ones which she had disabled for a long time to alleviate the system¡¯s visual clutter that could be distracting during fights. I can probably reactivate them, it¡¯s been a while. Too bad the spine is already max level, this could have been a good place to train the skill if the corridors are going to stay narrow like this. Speaking of which¡­ Almost all my skills are done leveling, graveyard is at 248 and skull choir is at 236 but that¡¯s all I have left to work on in the class skills, for the quickly leveling ones at least. Let¡¯s aim to get the choir to 249 in this dungeon! While Sofia looked at her notifications and skills, Pareth gathered the debris and brought them to Sofia. ¡°You could have told the rats to do that, but thanks. Also, nice moves. I guess the dungeon only restricts your left hand, that still leaves three limbs. The shield is nice but what if you need to actually attack? Your usual big swords aren¡¯t really good for one hand, even less in these small corridors.¡± Pareth nodded along as he heard Sofia¡¯s opinion. Since his left hand was free, he used it to scratch his chin as he thought about his weapon choice, which Sofia found cute. Eventually, the shield of light changed to a cutlass, which Pareth swung around for demonstration. ¡°That works. You don¡¯t often use maces but maybe that could work against the drones too? The kicks worked well but I worry you¡¯re exposing yourself too much, you need to be careful when you fight without the sanctified grounds.¡± [Sanctified grounds] was Pareth¡¯s bread and butter with the huge buffs it gave. But, at 100 mana a second out of his very limited fifty thousand, in this dungeon with no ambient mana, if the group encountered too many groups of wandering drones like this one, he could quickly run out, hence why he hadn¡¯t used it in that fight. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. We need to pace ourselves or this could be dangerous. We can¡¯t even see the monsters coming because of the fog, so we have to be able and ready to fight at any time. While she was lost in thoughts, Sofia also absorbed the imprints and quickly checked her mana heart¡¯s status. Each drone was worth 0.01 imprint power, and gave 1 mana point. Better than nothing, but what do I do with the debris? The sunless debris without an imprint were worthless rocks, as far as Sofia knew, at least. Until now she stored them all because she could, but without access to her storage, she could only decide to encumber Bookie¡¯s bag with them or leave them. They were left behind on the floor as the group moved ahead. Remembering that she was still one [Master Thief], Sofia changed her title to [The Impervious]. [The Impervious]: Lost your head and survived. Effect: Hits that would deal less than 5% of your maximum health do not damage you. With this the drones¡¯ black orbs can¡¯t harm me as long as they don¡¯t get a direct hit. Probably the best title I can use in a Dungeon full of small monsters. Sofia¡¯s expectation that it was full of small monsters was very rapidly proven true. The group soon encountered another pack of Sunless drones, then another, and another. The squads of drones were growing larger each time, quickly ramping up to the point where they were filling the whole corridor¡¯s width and more drones appeared from the fog as soon as the previous ones were killed. Pareth¡¯s shield and kicks being the only thing preventing them from coming out all at once and surrounding the group until all the rats died and Bookie summoned the paladins instead. Twenty-five paladins in a small corridor was a lot, so half the group stood at the back, acting as a rear guard, while the other half fought with Pareth. Sofia didn¡¯t really have to do anything, so she summoned a single Destroyer skull with the skull choir. The Destroyer skull¡¯s unique ability ¡®Rip and tear¡¯ allowed it to free itself from the usual skull choir pattern and to attack on its own, savagely biting and ramming the Sunless drones. It did some decent damage. A shame it gets downsized to the size of a human skull like all the others¡­ I don¡¯t know if this is my new favorite choir skull or not. The sandworm energy beams are pretty nice too. Sofia heard a subtle *ding*, and a new notification appeared in the corner of her vision. ¡®[Skull choir] reached level 237¡¯ Hell yeah, I missed these. The group made slow and steady progress through the straight corridor full of drones until suddenly it split into two ways. Since the fog prevented them from scouting both left and right, Sofia just chose to go right by default. They encountered more and more waves of Sunless drones, which was already starting to get old, but Sofia noticed something. The corridor was very slowly getting narrower. About twenty minutes of cautious walking and several fights later, the corridor had become so narrow that Pareth¡¯s large shoulder could barely fit through anymore, and the paladin skeletons had to be dismissed because they were forced into one long ridiculous line. When the drones appeared, they could only come one by one to get blocked by Pareth¡¯s shield and get shredded by the floating Destroyer skull. For a ¡®Hell difficulty¡¯ Dungeon, it was starting off relatively easy, Sofia thought. Until both in front of Pareth and behind Bookie, the ground rose, walling them all into a stretch of about twenty meters of the narrow corridor. Are we trapped? Pareth punched the wall ahead of him, but his fist bounced right back off of the wall, just like his weapon did whenever he swung it and it hit the walls. This was the ¡®no breaking walls¡¯ dungeon restriction. We¡¯re just boxed in between four walls? That¡¯s pretty shitty¡­ There must be a way out somehow? A few ideas came to Sofia¡¯s mind but before she could try anything out, the side walls started closing in. The already narrow corridor was getting worryingly narrower. When is it going to stop? Pareth had to turn to the side to avoid his shoulders getting crushed by the closing walls, and Sofia would soon have to do the same. It¡¯s not stopping! Her back against a wall and her hands against the other, Sofia tried pushing back. Pareth and Bookie did the same, and Pareth even activated the [Sanctified grounds] to give them more strength. Even like this, the walls did not even slow. There was already less than sixty centimeters separating the two walls. At this rate we¡¯ll get crushed! Sofia was starting to panic a little bit, until she remembered what she was wearing on her arm. Clenching her fist, she placed it against the wall in front of her as if she was going to punch it, and held her arm straight. The walls kept closing, and when they got to the point where the back wall touched her elbow, they stopped. Sofia¡¯s forearm was lodged between the two walls, so the dragon scale armguard was actually what held the walls back. No matter how strong they were, they couldn¡¯t crush the dragon claw, and because the walls couldn¡¯t break, they could not go any further. ¡°We¡¯re safe.¡± Pareth and Bookie agreed, but safe or not, the three of them were still trapped in between four walls. ¡°I¡¯ll get us out of here, just give me some time to think something up¡­¡±
Chapter 441 - Curiosity (almost) killed the Saint Sofia¡¯s first instinct was to see if her dagger could damage any of the walls, the ground or the ceiling. Since her right arm was stuck, she had to make a third arm out of bones and control it from where she was. Of course that did not work¡­ What¡¯s next¡­ Next she focused on her mana senses. There was clearly some kind of magic powering the walls. Rituals. What is sustaining them? It was not a static source but a constant mana flow. Following the thin streams of mana beyond the wall, Sofia¡¯s mana senses eventually bumped with the black fog, which completely prevented her from looking any further. If I could cut that¡­ I can use my ring to drain all the mana but that would only deactivate the rituals for a few seconds at most. If the side walls locking us in do not come down then we still won¡¯t be able to get out. Still, disabling the crushing walls would be a start. The best way is probably to destroy the ritual circles somehow. I could just teleport to the other side if not for the dungeon¡¯s restrictions¡­ Trying to find a way to the mechanisms powering the walls, Sofia, Pareth and Bookie looked around for an opening. Bookie noticed a gap between the closing walls and the crushing walls. A tiny gap of just a few millimeters. That¡¯s a start! I could use that opening to summon rot on the other side but there isn¡¯t enough free space to use the Heal Undead light¡­ I should at least take a look directly to the other side. Free ritual circle schematics. I just need to slide a token through the¡­ Crap¡­ I forgot to take out any vision token when the dungeon started. Since Sofia still had the ten 100kg bone slates just floating behind Bookie, she could just make more tokens, it was just not the ideal environment. She had made plenty of vision sharing tokens so she knew the ritual circle well enough to be able to draw it with her eyes closed. With [Bone dominus] it even carved itself. Since she was making one anyway she made a batch of ten. She sent nine flying straight into Bookie¡¯s backpack while the tenth one flew to the corner and slid through the thin gap. When Sofia felt that it was on the other side, she used the shared vision. She had expected there to be no light but the ritual circles were actually glowing softly, enough to see. Gears? The walls are mechanical traps powered by a spinning enchantment. That¡¯s clever. And the gears are made of ¡®wall¡¯. No wonder we can¡¯t push back at all. That looks like a relatively simple mechanism, I think? Destroying is out but can¡¯t we just dismantle it? Sofia cut the vision and turned to Bookie. ¡°Can you get a summon on the other side of the wall through the gap?¡± Bookie nodded as if it was obvious that a three millimeter gap was enough to let the mist through, which, now that Sofia thought about it, made a lot of sense. Especially since she knew from building the Kidjikkik infiltrators that a fist-sized hole was no issue. ¡°Just get the Engineer in there, he¡¯ll know what to do.¡± Bookie gave a thumbs up and ripped the page off himself, controlling his mist to have it flow to the other side before it formed into the Engineer skeleton. Sofia reconnected with the token and watched the skeleton rise from the mist. You got the situation from Bookie? Can you do something about the wall? Removing a gear should do the trick, right? The engineer skeleton shrugged and walked up to the mechanism, observing it from a few angles before starting to try to unscrew some kind of big hexagonal thing. He gave up after a few seconds and turned to the floating token, before starting to mimic using tools like a shovel or a pickaxe, then pointing at himself. Sofia realized that he needed materials to make tools, so she cut some more out from the bone slates and had it squeeze through the gap until it made it to the other side. The Engineer skeleton used his skills to reshape them into weird tools and promptly got to work moving things around in the mechanism. First the pressure on Sofia¡¯s arm from the front stopped, the wall the Engineer was working on no longer tried to crush them, but it still did not move back, and since the wall behind was still pushing, the situation had not changed much. Finally the skeleton managed to take out the enchanted gear and place it back after flipping it around. The wall started to retract. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. Again, the wall behind was still pushing, so all this accomplished at first was having the group slide over a few dozen centimeters, but the pushing wall stopped as it was fully extended, and the retracting wall finally gave them some breathing room, freeing Sofia¡¯s arm. That¡¯s a good start. Now we just need to lower the side walls. Think you can manage that? The exterior of this section of corridor was completely hollowed out to make space for the machinery, so the Skeleton could just walk to the other side from below the corridor and do the other wall if wanted but instead he stayed below and managed to convey to Sofia that yes, he could lower the walls. Yet, he did not do it right away, and instead kept looking around the machinery. Eventually he found what he was looking for and grabbed the token to show Sofia. Another ritual, beneath the corridor. That¡¯s right below me¡­ The ritual circle looked relatively simple so Sofia tried to understand what it was. It looks like it just takes in mana to send an impulse of some sort? What¡¯s the power source? This ritual circle was rather subtle, as it only ever activated for a fraction of a second as it sent an impulse into the mechanism. Sofia had not even felt it when she was probing around with her mana senses before. Sofia observed it for a bit, watching it be triggered a few times before she connected everything. It¡¯s my mana! It¡¯s a mana sensor! This is what triggered the trap! Engineer you¡¯re a genius! What are you being all bashful for? Stop hiding your skull and lower the walls. We can¡¯t get you out so you¡¯ll be dismissed right after but I feel like we¡¯ll need you again soon¡­ Thank you for the good work! Finally the side walls were lowered and the group could escape the crushing corridor. So much trouble for a single trap. The group started advancing again, but as a safety measure, Sofia sent out waves of mana along the walls, ceiling and floor every so often to trigger any potential trap using a similar trigger system. But for now, there were no other traps, in fact, the group advanced through the corridor as the black fog moved with them, and there were no more Sunless drones either. They were slow and careful, on the lookout for more traps. The corridor ended in a small square room. There were no other doors, so sadly the group had hit a dead end, but they won a little something for their trouble. In the middle of the otherwise empty room was a big treasure chest. A dead end already? I should have turned left¡­ Sofia did not even enter the room. ¡°What do you guys think this is going to be? Explosion? Poison gas? A Fireball, maybe? A Sunless Amalgam squished down and hiding in the box?¡± From Bookie¡¯s gestures, he was betting on the explosion. Pareth seemed a little less certain, but neither of them doubted the notion that the conspicuous chest was trapped in some way. It¡¯s hell difficulty. I¡¯m not expecting any free handouts. But¡­ I can¡¯t just not open it, right? Sofia weighed the options, trying her best to take into account what she had learned about cutting one¡¯s losses and not falling for sunk cost fallacy. The safest thing to do was just to walk back and try the other path. That just doesn¡¯t feel right. Sofia identified the chest, getting absolutely no answer from the magic. It was a painfully obvious red flag, but Sofia¡¯s curiosity pushed her to keep probing, hiding safely behind Pareth¡¯s shield. There¡¯s quite a bit of mana in there. Like a big lump. It¡¯s not really moving. Did Everelle really stuff a Sunless inside?! Could also just be a large magic item¡­ It¡¯s a big chest so it¡¯s not impossible to hide a few drones in there. The mana seems a coherent whole though so it would be only one creature. I¡¯ll be damned, I might have been right from the start, this could be an Amalgam. A small one but an amalgam still. If so, this could be disastrous. The corridor is still too narrow, I can¡¯t possibly dodge an Amalgam¡¯s dark lances with so little space to move around. In the end, Sofia felt like her options had changed, she could try to open the chest; if it was a magic item, she won her bet, if not, she was in deep shit. The safer option was to destroy the chest, giving it the bolt treatment for as far as the black fog would allow. But this made the chance of getting a magic item out of it almost zero. And if I have no chance of getting an item, isn¡¯t it just as bad as not opening the chest? Oh, hey, wait¡­ I have another way to check! I¡¯ll know if it¡¯s a monster with 100% certainty as well! Praised be the Lords. Guys, in case this triggers something¡­ Prepare to run. Walking as far from the chest as the black fog would allow, Sofia activated the ring of Zar. Mana collapsed unto her as the cursed black fog got sucked in, but to Sofia¡¯s relief, there were no movements from the chest. It was also still full of mana. So it was a fucking monster after all!
Chapter 442 - Clap trap The black fog rapidly reformed behind Sofia, but she was focused on the monster inside the chest. I can¡¯t get enough distance. If I throw an explosive so close, with the corridor I¡¯m in being the only place for all the force to go¡­ I¡¯ll just kill myself. Piercing it is, then. But what if it¡¯s not enough? Hmm¡­ That could work¡­
Half an hour later, Sofia was about ready to go. The bone slates she had been lugging around the dungeon until now were nowhere to be seen. Such a stupid plan. Pareth stood a good few steps behind Sofia with his shield ready. He could not stand in front of her or he would be in the path of the bolt, the corridor was just that narrow, basically just a bit larger than the wooden chest Sofia was about to blast to another dimension. It would be nice if that could just kill whatever¡¯s hiding in there. Mana : 417 100 / 417 100 I have to keep at least twenty seconds of [Runeforged Overlord] third tier. [Runeforged Overlord] ? : Tier 3 (2 (1)% max mana per second; Requires the user to have wings) : Successful attacks inflict a short lasting [Confusion] Reduce all incoming damage by 20% Omnidirectional free flight Acceleration resistance +124.5% Speed (Skill level /2) +124.5% Strength (Skill level /2) +124.5% Agility (Skill level /2) It was such a pain to level up and I haven¡¯t been using it except for the flight¡­ A quarter of my mana should do. Let¡¯s just go for a 300000 piercing bolt. It¡¯s my first time doing a piercing this strong, I think. With the plan all laid out in her head, and the chest at the edge of the black fog fifteen meters away, Sofia started channeling the bolt. Blue lightning slowly formed in her hand. Unlike the explosive bolts, it was smooth and controlled from the start. Sofia¡¯s mana fed the lightning more and more until it became bright like a miniature sun. The creature within the chest did not move. Not showing yourself until the end. I don¡¯t know if you¡¯re dumb or overly confident. As the Angel bolt was just about ready, Bookie¡¯s one rat jumped off from Pareth¡¯s shoulder and ran through the corridor, past Sofia, and jumping straight for the chest. There was still no reaction, so the rat followed its orders, climbing the side of the chest and trying to open it. The chest¡¯s lid opened like it was powered by a springboard, it slid ever so slightly on the ground, destabilizing the rat, and it closed just as fast, crushing the small skeleton in a thousand pieces. WHAT. Long, sickly purple limb grew out of the ¡®treasure¡¯ chest, two arms from the sides and two legs from the bottom. It stood up. There is no monster in the chest. THE MONSTER IS THE CHEST! Sofia released the lightning, which sent her reeling back, but she was caught by Pareth. The chest ducked, but the bolt still struck. Instead of piercing the chest through the middle, it bore a semicylinder-shaped hole through the curved chest lid before crashing into the wall and releasing a burst of airborne electricity. Not only did the chest monster survive, but it roared, its lid thrown back, revealing a gory inside full of teeth and blood. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Sofia had no time to even be shocked at the monster¡¯s ability to almost dodge the bolt, she simply followed her plan, cutting off Pareth¡¯s main skull with her dagger, grabbing it and Bookie, activating the last tier of [Runeforged Overlord], and running back with all her might. A monster who could survive a 300000 mana bolt upgraded with the charged ring of Zar was not something she could fight in her current condition. The monster charged at her, almost reaching the spot Sofia had just been standing on in a single step of its grossly elongated legs. Cumulating all of her speed bonuses, Sofia was stupendously fast, and yet, the monster was right on her tracks. As she ran, the monster lunged out from the black fog, trying to hit Sofia with a flying kick. Pareth¡¯s [Flying shields of light] barely appeared in time to slow the kick just enough that Sofia could outrun it. HOW FUCKING FAST IS THAT THING?! If it could recover and do another kick like that first one again, it might just really lob off her head the next time. Finally, Sofia made it to a section of the corridor with the walls covered in bone. The right leg of the chest monster emerged from the fog again. Another kick. Almost there! As she reached the end of the bone-covered zone, Sofia jumped forward and controlled all of her remaining mana to eject it behind her. An instant before the kick could reach her, a wall rose from the ground like a reverse guillotine, catching the leg. With a sickening crunch, the leg folded back onto the raised wall before sliding down it, amputated by the wall. Sofia landed face-first on the ground, and she slid for tens of meters, her armor grinding against the ground as her momentum wore off. Lying flat on the ground, Sofia tried to catch her breath. Running this fast was extremely hard on her stamina, but the monster was trapped, so she knew she was safe. Finally managing to sit, she turned around. She was too far from the closed wall to see it because of the cursed black fog, but she could hear the mad roar of the chest creature. ¡°I can¡¯t believe this worked.¡± Bookie struggled, and Sofia let him go from under her arm. ¡°Oh, sorry.¡± Under her other arm was Pareth¡¯s skull. Although he had been downsized by the dungeon, his weight was unchanged, so she could only carry the skull if she wanted to run at full speed while lifting him. Even just the skull was plenty heavy. Currently, he was not regenerating because Sofia had removed all the [Bone dominus] blessings, expressly to avoid him growing too heavy for her to carry while she ran. She got to work applying Pareth¡¯s blessing again before she even stood up, and his spine started to regrow at a visible pace. ¡°You¡¯ll be back to business in just a minute. Let me carry you for a bit still.¡± Sofia brought Pareth to the closed wall while Bookie followed. The bloodied monster¡¯s cut leg was just lying there. The wall had closed so violently because the Engineer skeleton had adjusted it to. Under Sofia¡¯s supervision, he had modified the trapped corridor in a few ways, firstly making the ¡®doors¡¯ close even faster than they already did, and also making the sensor ritual much harder to trigger. This was why she had needed to send all of her remaining mana out to activate it. As Sofia approached closer to the wall, the corridor shook. The monster was hitting the wall. However, the wall was not budging, showing not even the smallest of cracks. The group had seen when fighting the sunless drones, the walls were truly impervious to all damage, even from the dungeon monsters¡¯ attacks. ¡°You¡¯re trapped in there buddy. No use trying to break the walls,¡± Sofia hailed. There was no answer, the monster kept hitting the wall. Not sentient, I guess? Sofia bent over to grab the dismembered leg. It was shockingly hard and cold like ice. She could feel the broken bones inside. Sir Scribe, any comments? [Mimic leg]: The leg of a mimic chest, quite the unusual find. The mighty kick of the mimics have been the demise of a great many adventurers. Can be used as a decent makeshift weapon. Mimic chest? The name does fit¡­ Makeship weapon, huh? Sofia glanced at the ugly yellow-nailed toes on the leg¡¯s foot. ¡°Thanks, but no thanks,¡± she commented as she placed the leg against the wall. The trapped corridor¡¯s crushing walls were currently disabled, it was the last change Sofia had made the Engineer skeleton work on, it was meant to give Sofia time to negotiate with the monster in case it was capable of speech, which it was clearly not. Using [Bone Dominus] to move around the bones she had left inside of the trap¡¯s mechanism, she released the crushing walls¡¯ safety lock. Sofia, Bookie, and Pareth could all hear the walls start closing. The following fifteen seconds were filled with the monster¡¯s screams, the cracking of wood, and the sound of crushed bones, and even despite knowing how horrendous the monster looked, Sofia couldn¡¯t help but feel a bit shaken by the human-sounding screams. Finally, they heard the low sound of the two walls meeting each other, then, silence. ¡®You have defeated [Tall Mimic - Lv. 299 - Imprint Intact]¡¯ Only 299?! It was as fast as the Destroyer! And of course, just like all the Sunless drones, Imprint Intact. I guess in this dungeon they always come out intact. That¡¯s a nice boon considering all the maluses we get¡­ Now to shift around the bones inside a bit more¡­ It was impossible to just reopen the doors, but to have them be locked a bit less tight by shifting some internal components with the bones she had left in the mechanism was possible, so Sofia did that. Using the newly formed gap between the wall and the ceiling, Bookie could summon the engineer back inside of the trap mechanism. A minute later, the door wall opened, and the crushing walls behind also started to spread out, revealing the bloody mush stuck to them, remains of the Mimic. ¡°Think you can work these bones, bookie? They¡¯re more than a bit broken but there should be no missing parts,¡± she asked as she threw the cut leg in with the rest. Since she had not used [Bone dominus] on them, unlike on the Destroyer, they might still be good to go. Bookie seemed uncertain, but willing to try, which was not how he usually operated, but before he could do anything, Sofia noticed something buried in the bloodied remains. ¡°A glove?¡±
Chapter 443 - Strong feelings Sofia fished the glove out of the mess of entrails, and her first reflex was to wash it with a bit of summoned blood. Hmm¡­ It¡¯s alright, no one saw that¡­ A bit embarrassed, she fished out a waterstone from Bookie¡¯s backpack and properly cleaned the glove. It was made of a rather durable, shiny black and elastic leather-like material, with white highlights around the cuffs. There were a few clean enchantments embroidered in gold thread on the inside under the palm. Right hand. That¡¯s getting a bit crowded. I could put it on but it does look somewhat small. Mr scribe? [Everelle¡¯s Ultra Cool Right Glove]: A cool glove with basic durability enchantments, by feeding extra mana into it, it can produce a magic ray of freezing cold from the palm of the hand. Part of a two piece set. ¡°Ice magic?¡± That caught Bookie¡¯s attention, and Sofia immediately noticed that. ¡°You want it? Sure. It will fit your fighting style better than the Mithril dagger I gave you before. Do you even still have it?¡± Bookie slightly nodded, pointing at his book form he was holding with his other hand. ¡°Ah, right. Can¡¯t take it out because of the dungeon¡¯s restrictions? It would be nice if Pareth could store equipment like you can¡­¡± Pareth was on the ground, his body still only halfway through reforming but he shrugged anyway, and raised his right hand, summoning his weapon of light in the shape of Bookie¡¯s mithril dagger. Sofia giggled, ¡°You know? Fair point.¡± The matter of the glove closed, Sofia handed it to Bookie, who instantly put it on and started jumping in place like an excited kid, while Sofia absorbed the Mimic¡¯s imprint. Since she hadn''t been able to identify the Mimic before killing it, the imprint couldn¡¯t go to Pareth or she would lose track of his current Imprint power. [Destroyer¡¯s Nascent mana heart of Aphenoreth]: /C tier/ 9 months, 14 days, 9 hours Imprint progress : 843.12/ 1200 Small Catalyser : 0/1 Keystone : 1/1 Effects (Stats will be doubled) :
  • All stats + 45% (C rank base)
  • All stats + 50%
  • Health + 10 561
  • Stamina + 10 000
  • Mana + 43 751
  • [Relocate Core]
  • Destroyer Signature Skill Modifier
  • Speed shard (1)
¡°Speed Shard? And it¡¯s worth 100 Imprint power? That means the Mimics are comparable in power to the Sunless Amalgams. Now the question is, what does a speed shard do? It¡¯s not 1 of 1, it¡¯s just one¡­ The All stats bonus from the Keystone imprint was added on the line below the regular all stats, so the list of effects isn¡¯t in the order in which I acquired the imprints. Then, with this being below the Signature Skill Modifier, maybe it¡¯s for the Signature Skill too? I should ask Everelle about signature skills in the next rest area¡­¡± With that out of the way, it left the group with the best part of an encounter with a deadly foe for a necromancer, pilfering the bones. Sofia had to ask Bookie twice to get him to stop playing with the glove, as he was freezing the ground and sliding along the corridor, bringing the black fog dangerously close to Sofia and Pareth at times. ¡°I get that you like it but now isn¡¯t really the time, Bookie.¡± The small, dejected undead stopped playing and his skeleton stopped moving as he took to actively controlling his book half instead, consuming the unsightly remains of the Mimic in record time, before returning to Sofia. The new page could not appear because the book was already full, so she had to delete one. Let¡¯s get rid of the Soguva skeleton, it¡¯s been pretty useless until now¡­ The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. The page of the big mammal¡¯s skeleton disappeared to be replaced by the disturbing skeleton of the Mimic, which, on the drawing, looked like a bunch of bones clumped together inside of the outlines of a chest itself made of bones. A hundred thousand for the Mimic skeleton. Not cheap. And it can¡¯t even do its signature trick and act like a real chest. It should still be my fastest skeleton, though, nice find. After that, the group took a small break, Sofia reformed her bone plates and let her mana go back up while also refreshing the [Bone dominus] blessings. Bookie also had to stop playing and rest because he had drained all his mist playing around with the glove, so much that the entire non-fogged section of the corridor was now covered in a thick layer of ice.
Sofia backtracked all the way to the previous intersection and started exploring there. As they were exploring a new part of the dungeon, groups of Sunless drones started appearing again. This time, instead of a straight line, the dungeon became a bit of a maze, and Sofia had to start mapping the place out. The group advanced at a slow pace, being very careful no to trigger another trap. Sofia had switched to feeding the drones¡¯ imprints to Pareth for a bit, since he needed the extra mana as well. Everything went rather well until three groups of Sunless drones appeared at the same time at an intersection. One group was quickly disposed of, but the other two eventually collided and merged, leaving Pareth, Sofia and Bookie face to face with an Amalgam in the Dungeons¡¯ narrow corridors. Sofia was ready. Encountering an Amalgam was a possibility she had been expecting from the start. Before the monster could do anything, it was already covered in black rot. Bookie dismissed the paladins and fused himself with the high priest skeleton to be able to give Sofia magical shields. Pareth dismissed his weapon to get ready, while Sofia activated the third tier of [Runeforged Overlord]. Since she could not afford to get hit even once by the Amalgam''s black lances, the plan was to kill it before it could use it. The way to do that was relatively simple, she just needed to break its main core, a clump of all the drones¡¯ ¡®small debris¡¯. Pareth went all out from the start. Sanctified grounds, chains of light, shields of light, Gravity well, he used everything to pin down the creature. He used his hand to grab the chains trying to make them last even a second longer. It would not last long, but just long enough for Sofia to reach the creature. She opened its body up with a slice of the admin dagger, and viciously plunged her Dragon-scale arm in.Thanks to her very keen mana senses, she knew exactly where the amalgam¡¯s core was. The core started moving as her arm reached into the black insides, but she managed to grab it either way. She could feel her arm being assaulted from all sides, Bookie¡¯s mana shield had not held up for long. Her arm was beaten and battered by the shifting insides of the Amalgam, but between the unbreakable armguard and the title preventing chip damage, Sofia¡¯s health was intact. A black lance was starting to form over her head like a giant sword about to impale her. She crushed the core. The Amalgam exploded into a cloud of mana, which instantly brought Sofia back to full with [Heat Death]. ¡®You have defeated [Sunless Amalgam - Lv. 270 - Imprint intact]¡¯ Sofia fell to her knees as she handed Pareth his mana heart. This had been too close for comfort. Despite the fight being an expedited and clean victory, it had been a huge gamble. She was used to brushing against death already, but, perhaps because of the oppressive atmosphere of the dungeon, it hit her harder than usual. ¡°If the black lance came down I was dead.¡± Pareth shook his skull and gave Sofia a head pat. ¡°Huh? What, do you not want the imprint?¡± Pareth grabbed his mana heart and absorbed the imprint, looking up at the ceiling while lightly shaking his skull again. ¡°What is it? Don¡¯t think you can go on acting all exasperated and not explain yourself. If the black lance came down I was dead? Is that the issue?¡± Finally Pareth approved, pointing at Sofia and nodding. ¡°If the black lance¡­ Would it kill me? Right, no, it wouldn¡¯t¡­¡± Again, Pareth nodded, he couldn¡¯t grin but Sofia was pretty convinced that this was what he would be doing right then if he could. ¡°Well, it still would make the trial impossible, pretty much. But I would have lived¡­ And still managed to kill the Amalgam too, it was over the instant I managed to get my hand inside. Are you really comfortable with me getting maimed like that?¡± Now Pareth looked offended. ¡°Alright, alright. You win. I don¡¯t know what, but you win. Good job with holding the Amalgam anyway. Let¡¯s do it like this again next time we encounter one. We still need six more to get you the skill. If it¡¯s a double amalgam, we go back to the defensive strategy and we do a Mimic. The trap is far away but we should be able to make it¡­¡± Pareth gave Sofia a head pat again. ¡°Let me update your Mana heart sheet and we go again¡­¡± [Nascent mana heart of Knowledge]: Rank : C Tier Imprint power until next rank : 889.62/ 1200 Small Catalyser : 0/1 Effects (on use) : All stats +45% (C rank base)
  • +8500 Health
  • +462 Mana
  • ??? Skill shard (4/10) (Sunless Amalgam Skill)
  • [Relocate Core]
  • [Arclight]
As Sofia updated the system sheet, and before she could even stand back up, she heard a sinister sound from beyond the black fog. A laugh.
Chapter 444 - Family comes first Not now! [Runeforged overlord] is still¡­ Mana : 262 312 / 417 100 The laughter continued, getting closer and closer. Mana : 257 213 / 417 100 We have fifty seconds if I use nothing else. Pareth got the message and advanced, brandishing his shield. Sofia grabbed her Scepter which had been floating near her from the moment she dropped it to dig into the Amalgam, and prepared for another close-quarter fight. Since she could not disable [Runeforged overlord], she might as well put that lost mana to good use. Bookie followed right behind her, refreshing his High-Priest magic boons on both Sofia and Pareth. The laughter stopped when the creature stepped out of the black fog. Sofia Identified it before she could even get a good look. [Sunless homunculus - Lv. ??? - Imprint power : 20 - Effect : mana + 2000] Could be worse. Sofia grasped two things from the Identify, first being the monster¡¯s level was between 250 and 299, judging from the imprint power, and that this was not one of the smart Sunless like Everelle and Tarren, of which the monster-like unknown level was a dead giveaway. The situation was still rather bad, but far from hopeless. She summoned the skull choir, a wall of tubular sandworm skulls appearing behind her while Pareth stood his ground. The creature attacked, Mirroring Sofia¡¯s skulls, a wall of sharp lances of ice appeared above the short creature stepping out of the fog, and the temperature in the corridor instantly dropped to an unbelievable cold. A first lance hit Pareth¡¯s shield, and while his health did not move, the shield of light started to freeze over and crack. Step back! Pareth jumped back while Sofia rushed forward. Sofia brandished her shield and the rest of the Ice lances came crashing down in a violent stream. From the moment she had seen the first ice lance hit Pareth, Sofia knew she could take them, and as for their magical freezing effect, VPPV had long made her immune to that. When the last lance hit, Sofia¡¯s bone-covered shield was in bad shape, but she was unharmed. She finally got her first good look at the creature, which looked a bit like a miniature and Sunless version of the Apostle of Dread she had once killed in Skyreach, it was an unsettling being with twisted limbs, only vaguely resembling a human. Its magic failing, the things lunged at Sofia. A trident of light shot past Sofia and burst through the creature¡¯s head, stopping it just a meter away from her. Finally, the sandworm skulls were fully charged, they all released their attacks. The concentrated beams of energy slammed against the Sunless¡¯s head. When the beams died down, the creature¡¯s head was missing, but it was still struggling to get out of Pareth¡¯s trident as if that did not matter. Sofia felt a stream of mana escape from the creature, which told her where its core was, and a huge fire ball appeared above them. The temperature changed from freezing cold to untenable heat. [Heat Death] In a move that cost Sofia almost all of her remaining mana, she dispelled the fire ball right before it exploded, and, now knowing where the creature¡¯s core was, she struck it with her scepter. Sparks of electricity coursed through the Sunless¡¯s body, and it exploded in a thin mist of mana. ¡®You have defeated [Sunless homunculus - Lv. 252 - Imprint intact]¡¯ ¡®[Skull choir] reached level 238¡¯ Sofia made haste to retrieve the imprint before her own mana ran out from [Runeforged Overlord], and once that was done, she walked back with Pareth and Bookie, eventually making it all the way back to the rest area. There was still no ambient mana but at least it was far from the unexplored section. She could not just wait in the half-explored maze, with the possibility that monsters might encircle them. The group sat in a triangle in the entrance of the dungeon, and Sofia deactivated her armor to relax a bit. She untied her hair and used her fingers to untangle them, wearing the bone-armor helmet for a while never failed to create a mess. Should¡¯ve taken a brush out before the dungeon started¡­ The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. She got Bookie to toss her a water-stone and started strategizing after having a drink. ¡°So we found a new type of Sunless. Elemental mages. It was not too tough physically. I¡¯m a good match against these. I have [Heat Death] to negate attacks, VPPV gives ice immunity and fire resistance, and I can get lightning resistance by quick-starting a bolt cast. If we¡¯re ever in a group fight, let the homunculus to me. Bookie, you were fine as a support, but I¡¯m thinking if we¡¯re against an amalgam again, it might be better to send the Mimic with Pareth instead of me, I feel like with its speed it should be able to avoid the black lance attacks. Pareth knows what he¡¯s doing so I don¡¯t really have anything to say.¡± Pareth and Bookie both approved with light nods. ¡°Say, Pareth, you¡¯ve grown a bit more expressive again, no?¡± He shrugged in return. ¡°See? You would barely ever answer before. I don¡¯t get why but you¡¯re more reactive these days. I like it. It feels a lot less like I¡¯m a crazy bone lady talking to herself¡­¡± Sofia stared into Pareth¡¯s shimmering holy flames that stood for his eyes. She would never get bored of staring at them. ¡°Bookie is the same, too. Hey¡­ Speaking of which¡­ Shouldn¡¯t¡­ Bookie¡­ be able to talk?¡± Both Pareth and Sofia turned to stare at Bookie, who jumped back like he was surprised, hitting his skull against the wall in the process, and he threw his hands up in surrender. Pareth could not speak due to his demigod peculiarities, but Bookie? He was one of Orator¡¯s creations. Was he a demigod of the Deep? That seemed possible, to begin with, his entire existence was weird, how he had even developed a soul was still unexplained, but either way, even if he was a demigod, would his penalty be the exact same as Pareth? That did not sound right. Meanwhile, Richard had skeletons like Florencia, who he created himself and who were completely capable of speech. Sofia stared at the innocent skeleton with narrowed eyes. ¡°Bookie... Have you been able to talk ever since you got a body and you just didn¡¯t?¡± she questioned in a playful but accusatory tone. Bookie threw a hopeful glance at Pareth, but no help came from the silent armored skeleton, in fact, he was staring even harder than Sofia was. Bookie tried to take another step back but he was already against the wall. There¡¯s no way, right? Bookie? Pareth had been sitting next to Sofia, he stood up. It was rare for Sofia to be able to feel Pareth¡¯s emotions. The last time she had felt it strongly had been when she got reunited with Saria, but right then, she could feel Pareth¡¯s burning curiosity in her chest. He glanced at her and this time Bookie was looking at Sofia for help. ¡°I don¡¯t know what it is exactly that you want to do, but I trust you, go ahead,¡± she told Pareth with a smirk. Pareth slowly walked up to Bookie. The small skeleton¡¯s legs were shaking. Pareth raised a hand menacingly, the flames in his eyes burning brighter than ever. As the two skeletons held their positions, there was a long moment of silence. Bookie fell to his knees. ¡°D- Don¡¯t punish me!¡± Coming out of nowhere, the soft voice of a scared young boy. Sofia had been drinking another sip of water, the surprise caused her to swallow wrong and start coughing. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! Pareth lightly shook his skull, his hand came down, he patted Bookie¡¯s skull like he did Sofia¡¯s head earlier that day. Grabbing Bookie from under his arms, he carried him back to Sofia and sat down while still holding him. Sofia finally stopped coughing, complaining in her head about how dumb it was to still have reflexes like that when she didn¡¯t need to breathe. And now she was staring at Bookie again. At that moment, it was hard to tell what he was thinking, and for once, Sofia wished that her skeletons had an actual face that she could read. She sighed. ¡°Of course we are not going to punish you. When has that even ever happened? I¡¯m sorry I didn¡¯t realize earlier. I was so focused on Pareth when I spoke with Richard that we ended up barely even mentioning you¡­ But still¡­ Why would you hide it?¡± Bookie looked uncertain. He looked at Sofia, then at Pareth, then at Sofia again, then finally his jaw opened. He no longer sounded scared but more like a sad kid. ¡°I¡­ I didn¡¯t want brother Pareth to be jealous.¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡± ¡°A- Are you mad?¡± he asked, his voice almost dying in his non-existent throat. Sofia stood up, dusting her butt and legs as the floor was a bit dusty, and she took a step to be in front of Pareth and Bookie. She looked at Pareth. ¡°Are you jealous?¡± Pareth shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m not mad, Pareth, are you mad?¡± Pareth gave a gentle pat to Bookie¡¯s skull again. ¡°See. No one¡¯s mad. In fact, I¡¯m happy that you can talk. You don¡¯t have to restrict yourself for Pareth. I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll be happy to listen to you too.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Of course really! You called him brother Pareth? Do you think he would not want to hear his little brother speak just because he himself can¡¯t?¡± ¡°Ah¡­ A- Alright. Sorry,¡± Bookie apologized. ¡°Come on now, cheer up, you can talk now, this is great news! Do you have any idea how many questions I have for you?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know anything!¡± ¡°Hey-hey. I did not even ask anything yet. But let¡¯s start with an easy question. What do you want your name to be?¡± ¡°My name?¡± Bookie repeated like he did not understand the question. ¡°Yes. Your name. I have been calling you Bookie forever now, but if you don¡¯t lik-¡± ¡°No!¡± Bookie interjected. He freed himself from Pareth¡¯s arms and stood between Sofia and Pareth. Looking proudly at Sofia in the eyes, he declared the following: ¡°I am Bookie, [The Book of Skeletons]! I am not changing!¡±
Chapter 445 - Sofia is a Sofia After Bookie¡¯s declaration, Sofia Pareth and Bookie were, again, sitting in a triangle. ¡°Alright, so¡­ I have a few questions, do you mind?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°I don¡¯t mind!¡± ¡°Great¡­ Where to start then¡­ Hmm, I got it, for a start, if Pareth is Brother Pareth, who am I?¡± Bookie¡¯s lower jaw opened wide like this was the hardest, most shocking question of his life. After taking a few seconds to think about it, he turned to Pareth for help, which did not help any more than the other times he had tried that move. Finally, he mustered a response, ¡°I¡­ Huuuuu¡­ I think Sofia is Sofia!¡± Proud of his answer, he nodded to himself, and Pareth seemed to approve, reacting the same way. ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± Sofia reacted, ¡°And Pareth, you agree too?¡± Again, Pareth nodded. ¡°Come on, really? I mean¡­ I don¡¯t know what I expected, but not nothing¡­ Not older Sister? Cousin? Aunt? Mom? Anything?¡± Bookie took the time to think about it before he shook his skull. ¡°No. None of these work. Sofia is Sofia!¡± he told her again, even more confidently than the first time. ¡°Somehow I feel a bit disappointed¡­¡± That passing comment left Bookie agape and speechless. To appease him, Sofia changed the subject, ¡°What about Orator?¡± ¡°Uncle!¡± The answer was instantaneous. ¡°Did you pick that up from me?¡± Bookie shrugged. ¡°Don¡¯t remember. Uncle is Uncle.¡± I feel like calling the lords the four uncles is something I might have said¡­ Well¡­ It¡¯s better to maybe let that rest for now. I don¡¯t want Orator to show up here and cause trouble for Everelle. ¡°Then¡­ Do you have a favorite page?¡± Sofia asked next. ¡°Crowie!¡± Bookie directly answered, after a second of reflection, ¡°and high priest powers!¡± he added. ¡°Right¡­ The ones we already use the most. I agree, Crowie is the best. What do you think of the mimic?¡± ¡°Speed! But not very smart...¡± ¡°Just like the real thing. Then, what can you say about the other summons we haven¡¯t tried yet?¡± ¡°Uhhhh¡­¡± Bookie opened his book form which was sitting on his lap, and started flipping the pages. ¡°The Kikkik are also not very smart¡­ But they work well together, I think. It¡¯s better to summon Guardians and Soldiers at the same time,¡± he explained, then he flipped more pages. ¡°Quartz giant is very sturdy but a bit slow. He takes too much mist¡­¡± ¡°And a lot of mana too,¡± Sofia added. ¡°Speaking of which, do you have any control over the mana or mist costs?¡± Bookie shook his skull, ¡°No. It depends on the skeleton size, mana, and their number of magic skills. The quartz giant has giant bones so it¡¯s expensive.¡± ¡°Pretty much as I thought. What about the fey?¡± Bookie flipped the pages until he landed on the last one, the Midenicite fairy. His fingertips glided over the page. ¡°The fairy lady is very mad. Very very mad.¡± ¡°Mad?¡± ¡°Yes. Mad mad. Like this much,¡± he said, illustrating by spreading his arms. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°No idea,¡± Bookie flatly answered. ¡°But I can tell why she costs a lot of mist.¡± ¡°Oh? Right, she is quite expensive for a small skeleton with no mana.¡± ¡°Yes, It¡¯s because the fairy lady actually has a lot of skill!¡± ¡°Really? How is that useful with no mana, though?¡± ¡°Yes, but it¡¯s, uh¡­ Only skills to be stronger, like Sofia¡¯s become not god skill. I think the fairy lady will be very strong but only in places with mana around, because her bones can¡¯t store mana¡­¡± ¡°Wait- wait¡­ ¡®Become not god skill¡¯? Are you talking about VPPV?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°Yes! You take all the god parts and become something but not god, so it¡¯s a become not god skill, right?¡± Bookie explained like it was obvious. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°What is a not god, then? Do you actually know something I don¡¯t, bookie?¡± ¡°I- I know what Sofia knows. And my skeletons?¡± ¡°You know what I know¡­ Is that how you learned to speak?¡± ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t really know,¡± Bookie admitted in a shameful tone. ¡°No matter. What about you Pareth? You¡¯ve always been able to understand my orders so I assume you could have spoken from the start if not for your restrictions, right?¡± Pareth actually took a few seconds to think before he nodded as his answer. Just the fact that he answered put a smile on Sofia''s face. It was the first time that Pareth answered no matter what she said. Perhaps Bookie¡¯s newfound voice helped lift his restrictions a bit, it was impossible to tell why exactly he was more expressive than usual, but Sofia was glad for it. ¡°Then, one last question for you both,¡± Sofia started, ¡°after that, you can ask questions too, Bookie. There¡¯s no reason why I should be the only one, right?¡± Sofia¡¯s tone turned more solemn. ¡°So, my question is, are you guys happy to follow me? Are you fine with just following me forever?¡± Bookie was stunned by the question, his voice came out a bit shaky, ¡°D- does Sofia want- want us to leave?¡± His voice broke by the end of the sentence. Bookie could shed no tears but he started audibly crying. ¡°W- What?! No! Of course not!¡± Sofia moved and grabbed Bookie like Pareth had grabbed him before, holding him against her chest. ¡° ¡°There, there, don¡¯t cry, I¡¯m never going to chase you away, don¡¯t worry. ¡°You promise?¡± Bookie asked between two sobs. ¡°Yes, yes. I promise. This has nothing to do with wanting you to leave. I want you to stay, you know?¡± ¡°Then why?¡± Bookie asked meekly, not understanding why Sofia would ask such a question. ¡°I¡¯m just¡­ You never had a choice. You had to follow me even if you didn¡¯t want to, up until now. I¡­ I really don¡¯t like restricting people¡¯s freedom. You and Pareth are people. It¡¯s only right that you get to choose what you want to do. Look at Alith and Ihuarah, they do whatever they want.¡± ¡°THEN I WANT TO STAY!¡± Bookie shouted. ¡°Alright, alright,¡± Sofia answered with a smile, gently caressing his skull, ¡°I¡¯m really happy you feel that way. Please don¡¯t leave.¡± ¡°I will never leave Sofia!¡± ¡°Uhuh, what a lucky Sofia I am to have such a cute skeleton with me, right? Thank you for staying with me. And, well, I already know the answer, but I still have to ask, what about you, Pareth?¡± Pareth crossed his arms, slightly shaking his skull. Sofia could almost imagine him rolling his eyes and replying ¡®I¡¯m not going anywhere, idiot¡¯, if only he could. And it was really an idiotic question considering Pareth was the same skeleton who categorically refused to ever harm Sofia even when she asked and who had let himself be killed to protect her on every occasion he could. ¡°So it¡¯s my turn to ask questions?¡± Bookie asked from within Sofia¡¯s tight hug. ¡°Go ahead, Bookie. Ah, but you can usually hear my thoughts, right? Is there even anything you don¡¯t already know?¡± ¡°Lots! I can hear, kind of, but not everything. I only hear Sofia¡¯s thoughts¡­ When I need to hear them.¡± ¡°When you need to?¡± ¡°Yes? But it¡¯s my time to ask questions now!¡± ¡°Right, right, sorry. Please do.¡± ¡°Who do you like more?¡± Oh Lords¡­ Sofia spent way too long thinking about what to answer, she did not want to make Bookie cry again. To think he would start with such an explosive question¡­ Well, I should be honest. ¡°I love you both but I guess Pareth a bit more,¡± she said carefully, preparing to console Bookie. But his reaction was not what she expected. ¡°I knew it!¡± he said, sounding a bit peeved, ¡°I¡¯ll work harder to make Sofia love me more!¡± It¡¯s not a competition¡­ This once, Pareth did not react visibly at all, and before Sofia could even come up with anything to say, Bookie came at her with another question. ¡°Can I get clothes?¡± ¡°You want some? We can go find a good tailor for you in Vasperia after the trial if you want. How does that sound?¡± ¡°Really? Thank youuuu!¡± ¡°It¡¯s nothing. I¡¯ll get you and Pareth anything you want as long as I can afford it. My money is our money, you guys both worked really hard for it, haven¡¯t you? Anything else that you want?¡± Bookie was silent for a bit, only coming up with a weak: ¡°I¡¯ll think about it.¡± ¡°What about you Pareth, anything you want? Sorry I never asked until now.¡± Surprisingly enough, Pareth was already ready to answer, instantly summoning his light shield. It took the form of a kite shield with a crest representing a castle. Castle? ¡°Is it about Zangdar?¡± Sofia asked. And this time, Pareth did not answer. It could mean that he couldn¡¯t, but it could also mean that the answer was neither yes nor no, and that he couldn¡¯t reply with his usual head movements. ¡°There¡¯s something that you want in the Zangdar castle?¡± Sofia tried. This time the answer was no. ¡°I think I understand brother Pareth,¡± Bookie chimed in. Sofia turned her attention to him and let him continue, ¡°He wants a home!¡± That¡¯s all it is? Sofia looked up at Pareth again, seeing him nod contentedly. ¡°I see. Thanks for the insight Bookie, you¡¯re very helpful. Well, we¡¯re going to check on Zangdar as soon as the trial is over. If the castle is still there, let¡¯s make it our permanent home, alright? You can both have your own room.¡± Bookie cheered while Pareth barely reacted. The truth was Pareth always knew this had already been in Sofia¡¯s plans for a while now. But since she had asked what he wanted, he had truthfully answered. ¡°Anything else?¡± Sofia asked Bookie again. ¡°Huh¡­ Or, right! I wanted to ask about the strange things Sofia does sometimes!¡± ¡°Strange things?¡± ¡°Yes! I don¡¯t understand, like when you take bones and you sculpt them into the shape of a big boy¡¯s p-¡± Sofia¡¯s iron grip slammed Bookie¡¯s jaws shut. ¡°E- enough questions for today! We have a dungeon to¡­¡±
Chapter 446 - All my homies hate mazes Sofia punched a frozen Sunless drone, smashing it to pieces. ¡®You have defeated [Sunless Drone - Lv. 233 - Imprint Intact]¡¯ Before her, two Destroyer skulls from the skull choir were cutting up more drones, as long as it was just two skulls, she could maintain them indefinitely even in this dungeon with no ambient mana. A dozen more Drones appeared from the fog. Shit. ¡°More from my side!¡± she called out while putting her back to the wall. Bookie turned around at Sofia¡¯s call and launched a ray of frost with his new glove, completely freezing over the first three Sunless drones on the way and slowing down the ones behind. They were currently very deep in the maze-like section of the dungeon, and the drones came as an almost continuous flow from all directions. Currently they were at a T shaped junction, with the Mimic Skeleton handling the drones from the back, Pareth from the left, and Sofia from the right. Bookie was standing in the middle giving support with his frost magic glove. They could not afford to stop culling the number of drones for a second. Drones themselves were not all that dangerous, they could not even hurt Sofia as long as she kept [The Impervious] title, but their potential to turn into amalgams was what made them a threat. The frost rays could prevent that, giving them the time they needed in an emergency. ¡®You have defeated [Sunless Drone - Lv. 224 - Imprint Intact]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Sunless Drone - Lv. 212 - Imprint Intact]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Sunless Drone - Lv. 238 - Imprint Intact]¡¯ The Sunless debris were already starting to pile up around them. Until now they had always managed to get the flow of drones to stop for a bit to grab the imprints and move on, but not this time. The more they killed, the more came out of the black fog like an endless stream. ¡°We can¡¯t stay here, fuck the imprints, let¡¯s go for Pareth¡¯s side!¡± Bookie froze the drones on his and Sofia¡¯s side once more to gain some time, and the group all went for the path Pareth was fighting in. The corridor was too narrow for them to all go to the front, so Sofia and Bookie stayed back while the flying skull choir and the tall Mimic moved up to fight alongside Pareth. With its long and thin legs, the Mimic Skeleton was really great at fighting in these tall but narrow corridors, it could easily move around and maneuver through the group to help wherever they needed. Sofia had realized that the skulls from the choir could still fly despite the dungeon¡¯s restriction, just like she could still make bones levitate with [Bone dominus]. That could likely be useful later, but for now, they struggled to get through the maze. Now in a single corridor instead of a three way junction, it was easier to handle the flow of drones, and the group managed to start making progress again. Sofia was busy handling the rear guard when she heard someone start crying behind her. Her first reflex was to look back at Bookie but he was still fighting alongside her. It was not his voice. ¡°Homunculus! Rotate!¡± she shouted as she activated the [Spine of the black Sun]. The Mimic and the skull choir rushed back to handle the back side with Bookie while Sofia ran to Pareth¡¯s position. There, the small form of a humanoid Sunless homunculus walked out of the fog. Thick vines started growing along the maze walls. Plant magic?! The homunculus was behind a large group of almost twenty drones, which Pareth was struggling to dispose of and keep away from each other with a long spear and his [Flying shields of light]. A flash of light from Sofia covered the drones and walls in rot. The plant magic of the homunculus was growing at the same rate the rot consumed it, rendering it completely useless. The homunculus itself had somehow escaped the rot. It dispelled the plant magic, stumbling at it suffered some backlash, and started channeling another spell. Sofia could feel the mana but she did not see anything. Pareth was still killing the drones between them and the homunculus one by one, but there were still too many blocking the path. Sofia could jump over if she wanted, but she would be surrounded. Even if the drones¡¯ attacks couldn¡¯t harm her, they could still dogpile her until the homunculus finished her off with spells. The homunculus finished channeling its spell. Sofie felt it coming, she activated [Heat Death]. Seventy thousand points of her own mana flew out and intercepted the invisible projectiles curving over the pack of drones. The attack was dispelled, and harmless fresh air currents displaced by the attack were all that reached Sofia and Pareth. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. Was it wind magic? That would explain why I couldn¡¯t see it. Finally, the channeling of [Spine of the black Sun] was over, the sword-whip materialized on top of Sofia¡¯s scepter, and she swung it while directing the whip past all the drones with [Bone dominus] directly hitting the homunculus in the back line. ¡®You have defeated [Sunless Drone - Lv. 202 - Imprint Intact]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Sunless Drone - Lv. 223 - Imprint Intact]¡¯ The solar burst killed a few of the closest drones, but the homunculus looked unharmed. It was already preparing its next spell. Three balls of raging electricity appeared in the air above the homunculus. Pareth, back! Sofia stuck to the side to allow Pareth to step back as she dispelled the spine and started casting an angel¡¯s bolt instead, then she took her place in front of him. Streams of lightning struck out from the homunculus¡¯ magic, destroying even the drones in their path, and hitting Sofia with loud thunderclaps. The lightning storm lasted for a good five seconds, the lightning resistance that casting angel¡¯s bolt offered coupled with [The Impervious] completely negated the damage, although Sofia couldn¡¯t move under the constant assault. She kept channeling her bolt through the storm. Finally the balls of electricity ran out of juice, and the lightning died down. Already, the homunculus started channeling something else, but by now, Sofia¡¯s bolt had grown enough. My turn! It was a thirty thousand mana explosive bolt. Not the most powerful by a long shot, but Sofia knew enough about the power of explosions in enclosed spaces. The bolt flew straight at the creature, hit an invisible magic shield that was surrounding the homunculus, and exploded. Sofia brandished her shield. It didn¡¯t matter if she was in the explosion radius, that kind of bolt couldn¡¯t hurt her, she was more worried about Bookie and his Mimic in the back, so she did her best to reduce what would reach them. The heat and shockwave washed over her. When the light died down, the homunculus was struggling to stand up, his mana shield broken. With nothing in the way anymore, Sofia rushed forward and slammed the creature with her scepter, sending sparks of electricity flying. The creature struck back but its stretchy black arms rebounded against her [Bone dominus]-blessed armor. The scepter came down again and again until it landed a solid hit on the homunculus¡¯ core. ¡®You have defeated [Sunless homunculus - Lv. 278 - Imprint intact]¡¯ Sofia couldn¡¯t even celebrate her victory, as more drones stepped out of the fog, Pareth yanked Sofia back by the wings and took her place, his saber cutting the drones to pieces.
Three hours of constant fighting later, and after mapping out almost the entire place, they found the exit of the maze: a hole in the ceiling in a random dead end. As she climbed out of the hole into a new room of the dungeon, Sofia immediately felt a difference in the air, ambient mana. Finally a resting area? About time¡­ Pareth helped pull her up, then Bookie, and once they were all there, the hole in the ground disappeared. Sofia eyed her stats and grumbled. Health : 73 200 / 85 980 Stamina : 3152 / 21 047 Mana : 38 556 / 417 100 Losing five thousand health to a dumb trap. Seriously¡­ Despite all the constant fighting, what had eventually bested her was a very simple trap: a big block of stone fell from the ceiling, right on top of her head. The bone armor¡¯s helmet had limited the damage to a broken skull and neck, which she had been able to easily fix with [Bone Dominus] in spite of the no healing restriction of her mana heart, but her health hadn¡¯t climbed back up. The worst part was, she had felt it coming, but had decided not to move because she had been protecting Pareth from a Sunless homunculus¡¯ freezing ice spears attack. She thought she could shrug the hit off, but it turned out that gravity was still a strong foe. They had dealt with five homunculi in total and one amalgam, but aside from the trap incident, these battles had all gone well for them. As the group sat down to rest, a nice and relaxing background music started playing. ¡°Good going! I didn¡¯t expect you to find the secret exit, you know?¡± Sofia took off her helmet before she answered. ¡°Secret exit? What secret exit? The hole? You mean there was a regular exit?¡± ¡°Yeah, you missed it, though. You were supposed to go through the paths with the fewer enemies to find it, not the paths with more¡­ But no matter, I¡¯m glad you¡¯re here already. You just skipped the middle third of the dungeon basically, welcome to the end game!¡± ¡°Just like that? Music to my ears.¡± ¡°Heh, you know, if I had a say in it, the Dungeon would be a single room with the boss and that¡¯s it. What¡¯s the point of putting your strongest fighter at the very end? There¡¯s a reason people normally lock the front door of their house and not the door to their bedroom. Anyway, how¡¯d you like my property until now? There¡¯s some nice challenges to be had, wouldn¡¯t you say?¡± ¡°I have plenty of things to say but mainly I would like a word with whoever designed that falling rock trap.¡± ¡°Ahah, it¡¯s a good one, isn¡¯t it? Actually has a few kills, believe it or not. Speaking of which, you could¡¯ve climbed the hole it fell through too, that also led here.¡± Sofia sighed at the revelation. There had been a good hour of non-stop fighting between the rock incident and now. ¡°At least it¡¯s over. Done with this giant headache of a maze.¡± Everelle was silent. ¡°Hoy? Everelle? You better not be serious.¡±
Chapter 447 - Who makes the ink flow ¡°Well, uh, you know¡­ Mazes aren¡¯t so bad¡­ Unrelated to that, say, how about you stay in the rest area for like¡­ huh¡­ Ten hours or so? Ya got me?¡± ¡°Sure¡­ Anything else?¡± ¡°I mean¡­ Aren¡¯t you the one who¡¯s supposed to be asking questions now?¡± ¡°I have plenty of questions, always. But everything gets censored always, so what¡¯s the point in even trying? It¡¯s not like I actually need more knowledge now. Unless you¡¯re up to tell me more about what the Sunless are and how you can afford to throw thousands of drones at my face for hours like they¡¯re disposable wooden toy soldiers?¡± Sofia heard Everelle grumble, then say something that came out all scrambled. ¡°Fuck. Yeah, can¡¯t say shit, sorry. Hmm¡­ Actually¡­¡± ¡°You think you can bypass it somehow?¡± ¡°I mean, scribe¡¯s in my head, so it¡¯s not like I can sidestep the censoring, but there are holes in the protected subjects sometimes, you just gotta find the right angle of approach and-¡± Sofia interrupted her mid sentence, ¡°Wait, what was that about scribes? I¡¯m interested in that also. Hum, sorry for cutting you.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t mind, I¡¯ve dealt with less polite challengers ya know. Of course the topic of scribes itself is pretty well protected too, but I do know more than your average gal.¡± After a good while of trial and error and getting censored left and right, Everelle eventually said something that Sofia could actually ear. ¡°You get a tier zero scribe when you¡¯re born.¡± Sofia immediately perked up. ¡°That wasn¡¯t censored!¡± ¡°Really? Then the scribe hierarchy is fine? What about ¡ª-------- ¡ª ¡ª----- ¡ª¡± ¡°Ah, no, I couldn''t understand this one at all,¡± Sofia answered. ¡°Too bad, well, doesn¡¯t really matter. Are you happy with your own scribe?¡± Everelle asked. ¡°I love my scribe, he¡¯s great.¡± ¡°He? I see¡­ Well, anyway, yeah, that¡¯s what¡¯s most important. Since the hierarchy is all I¡¯m allowed to explain then let¡¯s get through that. Most of this stuff I got to learn when I picked up this job so I didn¡¯t think I could share but heh. So, as I said, ya get your tier zero scribe when you¡¯re born, basic stuff.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± ¡°Then, the scribe gets upgraded to tier 1 when you start getting high-level classless skills, using magic, or at the latest when you level up from a kill for the first time.¡± ¡°Mine must have been upgraded pretty early then, I had a pretty high level [Shenanigans] skill as a kid. Can you explain the difference in tiers?¡± ¡°Whatever you imagine is probably correct. Basically, they get better at what they do and get allocated more resources. I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t explain in more detail.¡± Get better at what they do and get allocated more resources. I wonder which one it is that you need, Mr Scribe. ¡±What about tier 2?¡± Sofia asked to keep the conversation flowing. ¡°Usually you get your tier 2 upgrade at the end of this trial because a tier 1 scribe can¡¯t really keep up with all the bullshit that comes with having a mana heart. But you can also get it early if your class has particularly tricky skills or ya get a specialization.¡± ¡°I got mine early because of an issue with my skills so that tracks. What about you? You¡¯re at tier 2 also?¡± Everelle was silent for a second, then her voice came again. ¡°Sorry, was checking something. And no, mine is tier 3. Tier 3 scribes are only for system employees and for the nutcases who make it to level 500, basically. They¡¯re entirely irrelevant for basically anyone else,¡± she explained in a lighthearted tone. ¡°Irrelevant? Can you tell any more?¡± ¡°Imagine having a mithril blade and using it to chop onions, it¡¯s kinda like that.¡± Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Overqualified for the task, got it.¡± Let¡¯s not mention that I cut my food with an Admin¡¯s divine essence dagger¡­ ¡°Any other way to get that tier 3 upgrade anyway?¡± Sofia asked as innocently as she could. ¡°That sounds unlikely unless you manage to get the high scribes to accept that request somehow. You can forget about it, girl. Even for an outlier like you it¡¯d be hard to contact them, let alone get them to help.¡± ¡°They helped before,¡± Sofia interjected, and Everelle made a surprised sound. ¡°When I used a scroll of assisted inspiration,¡± Sofia added, ¡°You know about those?¡± ¡°Oh, right. Yeah. That¡¯s a way to get to them, maybe. If your request is outlandish enough they might have to step in.¡± ¡°I¡¯m guessing the high scribes are tier four, by the way?¡± ¡°Nope, that would be tier five. Tier four and tier five scribes aren¡¯t managing anyone, they manage the system itself. Ah, that¡¯s probably censored¡­¡± ¡°No, no, I heard everything there,¡± Sofia confirmed. ¡°That¡¯s surprising. Let¡¯s see how far I can push it. So, tier four scribes are between the Angels and the Archangels in the corporate ladder, they ¡ª ¡ª ¡ª ¡ª---- ¡ª---- ¨C.¡± Sofia shook her head. ¡°The end was cut out, I did not hear anything after the ladder.¡± ¡°I thought that would have been alright to say considering the rest¡­ Huh. So that¡¯s it for tier 4 I guess, as I said, Archangels are above that, on par with the trial overseers like my boss Kyle. Finally ya got the big three, the three tier 5 ¡®high scribes¡¯, they-¡± Everelle suddenly stopped speaking. So Kyle and Sen are on a similar power level with the Archangels? Maybe that¡¯s just in terms of authority within the system¡­ ¡°Everelle?¡± ¡°Ah¡­ Blanked out. I think that¡¯s all I can say for real this time. I don¡¯t really know a lot more about the high scribes anyway so you¡¯re not missing out on much.¡± The discussion about scribes ended there and after a while, Everelle showed up in person, bringing comfortable armchairs for everyone, and they sat around in the rest area having a nice chat, in complete disregard of the time and place. Since there had been a lot of Sofia asking questions until then, Everelle started asking Sofia about herself and about ¡®news from the outside world¡¯. It seemed the Sunless girl was well-informed when it came to the system and the trial itself, but she talked about Veliadren like she had never gone there. That much would not have been that surprising if one assumed Everelle had been born around her current level and on Cerberus beta, but from what Sofia could glimpse of her, it seemed she had a life somewhere else prior to her ¡®employment¡¯. The cogs started turning in Sofia¡¯s head, and after a while, during a lull in the conversation after Sofia explained her familial situation. She went on the offensive, practicing her best non-skill-based [Poker face]. ¡°What about your own family? Is Tarren your brother or lover or something like that?¡± ¡°Tarren? No way! I mean¡­ He¡¯s a fine dude, but we¡¯re just work colleagues, you know. My family, huh¡­ Haven¡¯t seen them¡­ In a long time¡­¡± She said in a melancholic tone, almost sighing, the pendant-eye thing on her chest drooping a little. ¡°Ah, bad topic? Sorry, I shouldn¡¯t have said anything.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay. I¡¯m¡­¡± Everelle suddenly stopped there, her pitch-black body limping slightly before she regained her composure. Did she just get blanking-out censored? When reminiscing about her family? That¡¯s some suspicious shit right there. Why would that ever get censored? Everelle then changed the subject as if nothing happened. ¡°By the way, how¡¯s the glove? I see you gave it to the little skelly.¡± Bookie had been completely silent all this while, just minding his own business, but when the subject of his glove came up, he answered before Sofia, ¡°It¡¯s super great!¡± he said, raising both his hands in the air. Everelle turned to Sofia, stunned. ¡°It can speak?!¡± ¡°I know, right? I was shocked to learn that too.¡± ¡°Of course I can! I¡¯m a smart skeleton!¡± Bookie added from his seat. ¡°I-... Damn, I wish my underlings could speak too. It gets a bit lonely on this frickin¡¯ moon,¡± Everelle complained before slouching in her seat. ¡°Lady dungeon master, is the other part of the set also in a mimic?¡± Bookie asked. Everelle fixed her posture and turned toward Bookie. ¡°Sorry, little guy. The left glove was in the middle level y¡¯all just skipped¡­¡± Bookie¡¯s jaw hung low from the sudden shocking revelation. His bones detached and he became nothing but a messy pile of bones rolling off the armchair, clanking on the floor. Sofia could tell he was perfectly fine but Everelle jumped out of her seat, panicked. ¡°Ah- I- Little guy?¡± Sofia was comfortably sitting in her chair, ¡°I think you hurt his feelings,¡± she explained without an ounce of emotion. She was trying really hard not to burst out laughing. ¡°Wah- I- No, I mean!¡± Everelle started. After a few intense seconds of internal debate, she managed to get her act together, ¡°I¡¯ll give it to you if you beat the dungeon!¡± Bookie¡¯s bones came back together on the spot, and he started jumping all around the rest area, throwing his hands up in celebration and chanting, ¡°Miss dungeon is the best!¡± Who knew that a little Bookie¡¯s feelings was all it takes to move her. System employee or not, Sunless or not, a woman¡¯s a woman after all. That¡¯s right! My bookie is the cutest skeleton kid!
Chapter 448 - DU-DU-DU-DU The discussion only lasted a few minutes more before Everelle excused herself. She stood up from her chair and stretched. ¡°I gotta get back to work. I managed to negotiate something with the higher-ups while we were chatting. I¡¯ll be preparing that, so just stay here until I come get you three in a few hours to start the last stretch of the dungeon.¡± ¡°Did you go out of your way to spare us from another maze? You did not have to, really, but thank you, I guess,¡± Sofia thanked her. ¡°I¡¯ll explain when I come back, don¡¯t rejoice too early, but yeah, no more maze,¡± Everelle confirmed as she spun around to leave. ¡°See ya in a bit.¡± The floor opened under Everelle and closed back up right after she fell without a sound. ¡°There she goes¡­ It¡¯s hard to believe she¡¯s out to kill us when she¡¯s acting so relaxed¡­¡± ¡°I think she¡¯s a nice person,¡± Bookie commented from his oversized chair, feet dangling back and forth in the air. ¡°I won¡¯t deny that. But if she ends up being the dungeon boss we will have to beat her up, you realize that?¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine as long as she survives like the sword man!¡± Sofia approved, ¡°True, Tarren survived just well.¡± It really makes me wonder what the Sunless really are. I have my doubts but I think, at the very least, Everelle used to be human. Some things were suspicious, but stretching after staying still for a long time? That¡¯s not something someone who was born with a body made entirely of mana would naturally do. And I don¡¯t know how the Sunless reproduce, but I don¡¯t think that would go a long way into having maternal instincts like she has. She was really weak to Bookie¡¯s little trick, and that¡¯s with him looking like he does. Still¡­ She¡¯s actually just really nice. She even left us the chairs when she left. I feel bad for overanalyzing her so much¡­ ¡°Bookie, Pareth. I¡¯m gonna take a nap. Wake me up when she¡¯s back.¡±
About an hour later, Sofia opened her eyes. I knew I was worrying over nothing. She¡¯s not playing some game¡­ Makes me feel doubly bad, but I had to be sure. Since Sofia knew that Everelle could hear everything she said in the rest area, she had placed a bait of faking falling asleep. If the rest areas and Everelle¡¯s pleasant personality were traps meant to lower one¡¯s vigilance, then being openly vulnerable like Sofia falling asleep was the perfect moment for her to launch a surprise attack. But nothing had come of it, the rest area was truly safe, it seemed, and Everelle¡¯s laid back attitude was genuine. From this point on, Sofia joined Bookie and Pareth in their ongoing game consisting of putting bones into a pile and trying to pull them out one by one without making the pile collapse. The bones used for this were the four Withered Vampire skeletons playing dead, which Bookie had summoned on his own accord. Some time later, Everelle entered the room again, a random wall opening to let her in this time. ¡°You guys are playing while I bust my ass out there working for you. Unbelievable,¡± she greeted them as she walked in with a big sack in hand. ¡°Anyway, dungeon¡¯s ready. Let¡¯s get a move on!¡± ¡°Want to join?¡± Sofia asked as she pulled another bone from the pile. She was losing at the moment, with Pareth far in the lead, so having another player join might save her from the last place. ¡°Are you serious?¡± Everelle asked with a short laugh. Bookie stared at her for a bit and that was all it took to convince her. ¡°Fine, but just for a bit¡­¡± While Everelle played, and she was terrifyingly good at the game, much to Sofia¡¯s dismay, she also explained what was going to happen with the ¡®last third¡¯ of the dungeon. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. ¡°So, I was meant to be the final boss for you guys, but crudely speaking, it¡¯s just stupid, even for hell difficulty or whatever. There¡¯s no timeline in which you lot beat me as you are right now. Completely impossible.¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t you underestimating us a bit too much? We have a pretty good track record when it comes to beating impossible opponents,¡± Sofia answered while she looked for the next bone to pull out of the pile. ¡°I know. You told me about the destroyer, and I managed to get some data from Kyle, so I know about Victory too. I still don¡¯t have the data on your full skillset and such, but no matter what, what I¡¯m saying is, there¡¯s really no way, even for you.¡± ¡°You¡¯re that confident even knowing what the crown on my head means?¡± ¡°Yeah. Let me put it into perspective for you. Currently, you could utterly trash someone at my level with a low quality mana heart. For someone with a regular to good mana heart, with both Pareth and Bookie with you, you might struggle but maybe still win, depending on the person. For someone like me with an SSS rank Mana heart with a Keystone? You stand no chance. I¡¯m not saying this lightly.¡± ¡°Woah, I see I¡¯m not the only overachiever in the room. Impressive.¡± ¡°Well, yeah, the system doesn¡¯t employ just anyone.¡± ¡°But, hmm¡­ If you¡¯re so certain there¡¯s absolutely no chance, why was I meant to fight against you in the first place? That does not exactly sound very fair. If you¡¯re telling me my odds against you are worse than my odds were against the actual God of Victory, then yeah, I would rather give up on the dungeon now and go back to the regular trial.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯ve been wondering about that too. I wasn¡¯t even aware of this shit until about when you started fighting the mimic and I got new orders from above. Been busy communicating with Kyle and ¡ª ¡ª---- since then. Everyone on my side agrees that the scribes who gave the orders had to be really deranged to think this was a good arrangement.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t follow everything but that means you¡¯re not meant to be the boss for the dungeon even in Hell difficulty, and the scribes tried to change that last minute?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not. I never fight here. I manage the dungeon, and that¡¯s it. The regular boss is one of my summons. The normal setting for hell difficulty should be three of them plus five homunculi in the back. And I think that you could maybe beat that, but if I fight directly? No.¡± ¡°So the tier five scribes are trying to make me fail here, is what you¡¯re saying?¡± ¡°Someone is trying to make you fail, for sure. I can¡¯t say who, though, but I don¡¯t think the tier five scribes would do that, they could just ¡ª- ¡ª ¡ª ¨C ¡ª ¡ª--- if they wanted.¡± ¡°Corruption within the system, huh. I¡¯m honestly not too surprised.¡± I guess Sen moving us to the Draconic system wasn¡¯t enough¡­ So my enemies within the system are tier four scribes? But Sen couldn¡¯t do anything to fix the issue at the root despite being supposedly higher ranking? Are these scribes allied with scripture? It was also scribes who helped summon Connections with the assisted inspiration scroll. The archangel even said that the scribes had gone overboard with their help. So¡­ Are the scribes having an internal war with me as a proxy? This is turning out to be a lot more serious than just having to deal with a dirtbag god¡­ After organizing her thoughts, Sofia gave Everelle a polite bow, ¡°Thanks for the help, I won¡¯t forget it.¡± ¡°Just doing my job. Kyle¡¯s busy making sure that this kind of stuff doesn¡¯t happen again right now, so you can just continue the trial as normal.¡± ¡°Will we get to fight the regular Hell difficulty boss, then?¡± ¡°Nope, you still get to fight me.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°But with a twist!¡± Everelle added, sounding very proud of herself. She turned to grab the big bag she had brought with her, and threw it to Sofia. Sofia grabbed the bag and looked inside, there was a wooden case in there, she could feel magic items inside, six of them. ¡°Come on! Open it!¡± Sofia opened the box, revealing an assortment of six enchanted blue glass balls resting on a velvet lining. ¡°And that is?¡± ¡°A personal creation. I¡¯m lending them to you for our ¡®fight¡¯. You can Identify them to get a bit more info, but I¡¯ll explain the rules when we¡¯re in the actual boss arena. Ah! I¡¯ve been wanting to use these for so long, you have no idea!¡± Everelle explained, looking and sounding really excited. [Summoning orb]: A Special spatial storage item meant to store summoned beings. You need to throw it at one of your summons to store them, and the same motion is needed to release them. Its enchantments will bring it back to your hand after throwing. A singular summoning orb can store up to one summoned entity (A summoned group, such as a school of fish, counts as one entity). This Summoning orb can hold up to 200 mana worth of summoned entities. A quick scan of all the orbs showed that they each allowed for a different amount of mana¡¯s worth of ¡®summons¡¯. With the 200 mana being the lowest of and 100 million being the highest. By the time Sofia looked away from the description, Everelle had produced a second box out of nowhere, which she held under her arm. ¡°Are we meant to¡­ Throw glass balls at each other¡¯s summons?¡± Sofia guessed. ¡°Ahah, good try, but no. Follow me, I¡¯ll explain, I¡¯m sure you¡¯re going to love where this is going.¡± Everelle turned around and left the rest area, through the doors for once. And as she did, the calm background music of the rest area stopped and a tenser, more dramatic tune started playing. Already far into the next room, Everelle turned back and shouted. ¡°What are you waiting for? Come on guys! It¡¯s time to duel!¡±
Chapter 449 - There are no bad summons Sofia followed Everelle past a long straight corridor and into a huge round coliseum. Several rows of seats overlooked the arena, all filled by silent Sunless Drones. In the middle of the round coliseum was a square platform, and there was a small ritual circle on two of its sides. That¡¯s a lot of drones¡­ Forget the twin-headed amalgam, this could be the birth of a hundred-headed amalgam. Everelle pointed at the ritual circle, ¡°This is where we¡¯re going to stand while our summons fight. But more about that later. Let me first explain the rules!¡± ¡°Just to clarify, what happens if we lose?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°In that case, I¡¯ll gloat about how I¡¯m the stronger summoner, then you¡¯ll be thrown out of the dungeon with no rewards, and that¡¯s about it. If you win, it¡¯s like you defeated the boss, I¡¯ll even give you the regular imprint and all.¡± ¡°Alright, sounds good. How do we do this?¡± ¡°Well, there are quite a few rules, so let¡¯s get through each game element one by one. Starting with the orbs.¡± ¡°I already get what they¡¯re for, more or less.¡± ¡°You get to put your summons in them. We each have an identical set of orbs, the summons we put in them will be our fighters. Each of them has a card draw value, with the weakest orb having a value of 6 and the highest a value of 1.¡± ¡°Card draw?¡± ¡°I¡¯m getting there. So, each time you use an orb to summon a fighter, you get to draw that many cards. If you bring out your weakest summon, for example, you draw six random cards at the end of the round. I¡¯ll get to what cards are for later.¡± ¡°Alright¡­ So if I put Pareth in the strongest orb summoning him makes me draw one card. So far so good. Then it¡¯s just duels?¡± Everelle shook her featureless head, ¡°Not quite, so to explain the goal of the game, we will both have ten health points. When you lose a round, you lose one health point. The first to zero health or first to have no fighters left loses the game.¡± ¡°So you can lose a round without the summon dying, I imagine? Is it timed?¡± ¡°Again, not quite. See the square arena? The fights will happen there. If your summon leaves the arena, you get to reuse them later, but you lose the round. Else, the victor is decided by death. Also, fighters are not allowed to leave the arena for the first ten seconds of a duel.¡± Sofia detached a bit of her bone armor to write the rules on. ¡°To be honest, I expected something simpler. But this is still fine. Then what about the cards?¡± ¡°Cards can be played during the rounds, and they allow you to use special actions, such as using your own skills to help the fighters, or creating obstacles in the arena for cover, for example. You can only ever have three cards in hand, so if you draw six at the start of the round, you need to throw out three of them right away. You can also keep them between rounds if you want.¡± It sounds like managing the cards is just as important as having good summons, and knowing which summon to use when is also crucial. ¡°I¡¯m starting to understand how this is supposed to play out. Are we done with the rules?¡± ¡°Almost. Two more rules. First of all, you are not allowed to interfere with the duels in any way except by giving orders or using cards. No magic, nothing, your passives will all be deactivated. If you cheat you instantly lose the game. And, secondly, when you summon a fighter, no matter if you win or forfeit the round, if it lives, you cannot use it again before you use all the other available summons at least once. This is called the summon penalty rule.¡± Sofia finished writing all the rules on her small bone slate. ¡°I think I have a good grasp on the rules. But I have a few questions.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Do you already know what the card effects are, and can I have some time to decide what to summon?¡± ¡°Yes to both. You will get a private room to summon your fighters and store them in the orbs, I won¡¯t get to see what you choose. The cards I designed myself so I already know them, some of them have random elements, though, and which ones we draw is also completely random, so while I have a slight advantage, this should be fine. I have also never actually played the game so¡­¡± ¡°I see, it¡¯s fine, you are the boss so I did kind of expect you to have a few advantages. Also I see the black fog has disappeared, is that normal?¡± Everelle giggled, ¡°Yes, the dungeon restrictions need not to apply here, the others will also be lifted in a bit. Ah, also, last precision, you can only put your summon in the orb. No giving them items or anything like that.¡± Done with the explanations, Everelle brought Sofia to a large side room under the rows of seats where she could take her time to summon her ¡®fighters¡¯. ¡°Well, guys, how do we do this? Pareth goes into the strongest orb, right?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Bookie approved. Pareth, who had grown back to his usual huge size, seemed to agree as well. Sofia nodded, ¡°That¡¯s one orb settled, then, I¡¯m counting on you. Now to fill the five others.¡± If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Sofia needed to think carefully. The weakest orb allowed to draw six cards, so it was a powerful tool to help win the following round, but the round where its 200 mana summon was brought out was almost a guaranteed loss unless Everelle also used her 200 mana orb at the same time. The order in which I use the orbs is also important, since you have to use them all before reusing them, every round after the sixth will follow a predetermined pattern¡­ ¡°What we choose now will decide what happens next. Bookie, any suggestions?¡± ¡°I have an idea or two but I think you know best, Sofia!¡± ¡°Let¡¯s hear it, we need to be smart about this, and there are a few things we need to test with the orbs before we can decide. The game has already begun.¡± Orb list : Orb 6 : 6 Card draws - 200 Mana Capacity - ??? Orb 5 : 5 Card draws - 1000 Mana Capacity - ??? Orb 4 : 4 Card draws - 25 000 Mana Capacity - ??? Orb 3 : 3 Card draws - 50 000 Mana Capacity - ??? Orb 2 : 2 Card draws - 100 000 Mana Capacity - ??? Orb 1 : 1 Card draw - 100 Million mana Capacity - Pareth
Sofia walked out of the preparation room with only Bookie at her side. She had deactivated her armor and was wearing her party dress from her time at the academy. A belt of bone was slung over chest, holding the six summoning orbs. Of course, she still held her scepter with her dragon-scale arm, but these she never really took off. The Sunless drones in the audience were all still silently looking from above, and Everelle was waiting in her own ritual circle on the other side of the square arena. ¡°Nice style!¡± Everelle called out from her side of the arena, ¡°But that won¡¯t help you beat me!¡± ¡°Let¡¯s see about that!¡± Sofia stepped into the ritual circle on her side. Immediately, the background music changed into something more intense. A system window appeared in front of Sofia¡¯s eyes. [DUNGEON MASTER EVERELLE WANTS TO DUEL!] [YES/NO] Of course yes. The lighting changed in the coliseum, the seats were plunged into the shade while strong lights shone onto Sofia and Everelle. Meanwhile, Bookie looked just happy to be there, shaking his skull to the music. [Choose five non-summoning skills to be shuffled into your card deck!] [0/5; you have 4.58 minutes left] With these messages, cards representing Sofia¡¯s skills appeared in front of her. They all had cute pictures but no description or title. On the other side, Sofia saw Everelle tap five times in the air, she had decided on her own skills in a second. Interesting. My skills are pretty easy to recognize from the drawings. Except this black card. What¡¯s that? Oh! Could it be [Heat Death]? That¡¯s a must! Sofia tapped on the black card and it disappeared. [1/5] Alright, alright. Next, Runeforged Overlord and Bone Dominus. That¡¯s three. This leaves two slots¡­ Angel bolt is a strong contender, graveyard and Erredian rot as well, Blessing of the deep could be alright and spine too, but I think they¡¯re a bit weaker. Let''s go with bolt and rot. Sofia tapped on the card with a drawing of blue lightning and the card with a wasteland covered in black rot. [5/5] [Cards confirmed. Deactivating auras.] Sofia felt her magic being tampered with, her mana could no longer escape the confines of the ritual circle. [Raising command tower.] The ground under the ritual circle shook, and it rose. Sofia and bookie were now on top of a three meters tall pillar overlooking the square arena, metallic guardrails also appeared around the ritual circle. It was the same on Everelle¡¯s side. Finally, two big Sunless amalgams appeared in the arena. Their shape shifted and morphed until they resembled a giant Sofia and a giant Everelle. They walked to take place near the respective person they copied. What are those for? As Sofia thought that, a counter appeared above the Everelle-shaped amalgam. [10/10] Looking at the amalgam on her Side, there was a similar counter. Bookie said out loud what Sofia just understood, ¡°It¡¯s the health points!¡± A stack of illusory cards appeared in front of Sofia with a small message above it. [Remaining draw : 0, please select your fighter for round 1] Everelle spoke to Sofia from her tower on the opposite side of the arena. ¡°The sound transmission module is on so we can speak normally, no need to shout. Are you ready, Sofia?¡± ¡°I¡¯m more than ready. I¡¯ve already picked my first fighter.¡± ¡°Great! Then grab your orb and let¡¯s fight!¡± Everelle¡¯s own summoning orbs were floating around her, she raised a hand and an orb flew to it. Sofia grabbed the third orb on her belt. Orb 3 : 3 Card draws - 50 000 Mana Capacity A countdown appeared in the air in the middle of the arena. [3] [2] [1] [THROW!] Sofia and Everelle threw their orbs into the arena. The music¡¯s tempo was kicked up a notch, and with two flashes of light, the fighters appeared. On Sofia¡¯s side, the three Skeleton Templars. On Everelle¡¯s side, a single tiny humanoid Sunless. It looked like one of the homunculus, and had a white sunless eye on its torso. The fighters could not fight yet, Sofia could feel the templars being unable to move while the orb¡¯s enchantments brought it back to her hand. ¡°Right, Sofia, one last thing, there¡¯s one spell you¡¯re allowed to use anytime. You can use [Identify].¡± The restrictions on the fighters were lifted, and the battle started. Sofia identified the small Sunless. [Orb power 5 - 1000 Mana - lv. 299 Sunless Architect] The small Sunless rose an arm and the Templars¡¯ charge was stopped by a tall wall rising from the ground.
Chapter 450 - Power of the cards Left and right, [Light severance], middle, charge! The templars followed Sofia¡¯s orders, the two on the sides charged their ranged attack while the middle one¡¯s armor started to glow. More walls sprung around the Sunless, forming a sort of protective cocoon. The middle templar charged ahead, shoulder slamming through the wall and instantly letting himself fall into a disorderly pile of bones. The two other templars jumped to the middle where their shoulders met and they both released their slashes of light through the opening the first templar created. They had a direct line of sight to the Sunless Architect. The blades of light shot forward, and another wall rose to meet them, closer to the Sunless. She¡¯s trying to wait out the ten seconds. It''s possible that the Architect lacks the power to kill the Templars, does she intend to have it escape when the leaving restriction runs out and take the loss? The middle Templar reformed and prepared to charge ahead again. All charge one by one! Give it a half second delay, we need to kill this thing fast. If all it can do is raise walls then we just have to get through them. The templars got in place and charged one after the other, more and more walls were raised in their way. Bookie chimed in from the side, ¡°Why not have them jump over?¡± ¡°Too dangerous. Think about all the things Erian was able to do with his invoked walls. Being airborne against an enemy like this is nothing but bad news.¡± While Sofia and Bookie chatted, one of the Templars tried and failed to reach the Sunless, and the ten seconds of mandatory fighting were over. As Sofia half expected, the Sunless made no attempt to leave, it kept creating walls all over. It¡¯s creating a real mess on the battlefield. The two other Templars had been ordered by Sofia to stop, spread out to the corners of the arena, and start channeling their [Holy Smite]. It would take twenty five more seconds for the spell to reach completion. Meanwhile, Sofia was the guide of the one fighting templar, giving him directions and live updates on the Sunless¡¯ position which was now running through his self-made labyrinth of walls. Keep it occupied at all costs. With her observation, Sofia had understood one rule of the Architect¡¯s magic, it needed a direct line of sight to create walls. The counterpart to that was that these walls were pretty sturdy and had a ridiculous casting time. Sofia could also tell that the small Sunless was starting to run out of mana as the chase continued. The Chasing Templar managed to reach the running Sunless. The Templar¡¯s greatsword came down, the Sunless dived to the side, but a bit late, the sword sliced through the Sunless¡¯ left arm. Another wall rose between the Sunless and the Templar. The templar had no mana left for another charge, leaving him with a single option to keep up the pressure, he jumped over the wall. No! As the Templar jumped up, the wall he tried to jump over rose higher, blocking his path, and an horizontal ¡®floor¡¯ appeared from the high wall, slamming into the airborn Templar. The skeleton was sent flying out of the arena. The second it was out of the square boundaries of the arena, it froze in the air with a blaring sound, and a red light shone on the frozen templar. ¡°One down,¡± Everelle said smugly from her side. Shit, did I lose a Health point?! Sofia checked her Sunless effigy, but it still read [10/10] and the fight beneath was still ongoing. The Sunless had a wall rise under itself, and it was running on top of the walls toward one of the channeling Templars, Only five seconds left, keep casting, ignore him! The Sunless reached the templar, and since the skeleton was not moving, a wall rose under its feet. Another wall and floor combo sent it flying out of the arena. ¡°Two down.¡± ¡°No, you¡¯re done, [Holy smite]!¡± Sofia shouted as a violent vortex of mana gathered above the arena. The vortex unleashed a torrential wave of sticky mana, charged with a curse of [Instant Death]. Everelle saw that and quickly changed her tune. ¡°Retreat!¡± A wall propped up under the Sunless Architect, and before the magic could reach it, it expelled itself out of the arena like it had thrown out the two templars. As soon as the Sunless was out of the Arena, it froze and was caught in a bright red light like the expelled templars. A system notification appeared while the templar stood unharmed under the death magic. [Dungeon Master Everelle has no fighter left in the Arena.] [Duelists Sofia and Bookie win the first round. Please retrieve your fighters.] Let¡¯s go! As I thought, the effects of the blessing persist even with the restrictions. Not surprising when it even persisted into the first trial¡¯s fake world. The wave of Instant Death mana was contained within the boundaries of the arena and soon stopped. Sofia and Everelle both threw their orbs to retrieve the summons. Everelle¡¯s giant sunless effigy flinched as if it had received a hit. With the sound of a clock ticking, its health counter ticked down. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. [9/10] Everelle caught her orb back. ¡°Well played, I did not expect such a strong spell to come out of these weaklings.¡± ¡°It was well fought.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t get it, Sofia!¡± Everelle said back, ¡°You¡¯re supposed to taunt your opponent! It¡¯s half the fun! You had it earlier!¡± ¡°I¡­ Really?¡± ¡°Yeah! Come on! Now draw your cards!¡± According to the orbs they had used, Everelle proceeded to draw five cards while Sofia drew three. [NULL CARD - Better luck next time :p] [Oceanic Arena - Turns the arena into a watery battlefield until another arena card is used.] [Showdown - Fighters can no longer exit the arena this round.] Hmm. None of my skills. And an empty card¡­ I see the point of drawing more than three cards¡­ Oceanic Arena is fine. I think I can use it to get rid of the walls the Sunless left everywhere, that¡¯s a good draw. [Showdown] can be pretty powerful. It¡¯s good to learn this card exists before it gets used against me. On her side, Everelle discarded two cards to follow the rules. Both of them having drawn their cards, a message appeared, telling them they have thirty seconds to choose their next fighter. How do I best make use of these? I can throw Pareth out right now and have an almost guaranteed win with the [Showdown], but I have to keep in mind Everelle also has three cards¡­ And if I get a guaranteed win with Pareth now, she will know I no longer have him and can freely use her own Orb 1 summon for a free win next round without even needing to use a card. ¡°Having trouble choosing already?¡± Everelle snarked, her next orb already in hand. Sofia completely ignored her as she focused on her possibilities. I should play around the [Oceanic Arena] instead. And the blank card is not totally useless, Everelle knows the cards so even a blank card will restrict her actions as she wonders what I¡¯m holding back. Alright, I know what to bring out. Orb 5 : 5 Card draws - 1000 Mana Capacity ¡°I¡¯m ready for round two. Prepare to lose another health point!¡± ¡°That¡¯s the spirit!¡± Sofia grabbed her fifth orb, and the countdown showed up again. [THROW!] There were two flashes of light in the arena, and the orbs flew back from where they came. On Sofia¡¯s side, twenty small floating destroyer skulls appeared in the corridors of the maze of walls the Sunless Architect had left behind. Parts of Sofia¡¯s testing with the orbs included trying to fit the skull choir inside. It worked, and it even froze the skulls¡¯ mana upkeep. Since each Skull cost 50 mana per second to maintain, the 1000 mana orb could hold twenty of them. Relatively speaking, Sofia¡¯s 1000 mana summon was stronger than her 25 000 one, but there was nothing in the rules preventing that. On Everelle¡¯s side, what came out of the orb was a very big Sunless blob with no visible white eye anywhere, in terms of volume, it was several times the size of the regular Sunless amalgams. [Orb power 3 - 50 000 Mana - lv. 299 Sunless Primordial Sludge] ¡°That¡¯s a lot of skull, let me join the fun!¡± As soon as the restrictions were lifted and the fight started, the Sludge exploded into a rain of black balls. Hundreds of Sunless drones rose from the splatters. Holy! Attack, fast! As always with the drones, they weren¡¯t so scary the skulls for the choir could destroy them in one hit. But the arena was wide, and the walls made it hard for the skulls to navigate. At this rate we¡¯ll have to fight tens of amalgams! Sofia picked the arena card and raised it, infusing it with mana as per the instructions she got in a tiny system window when she first drew the cards. ¡°I play the [Oceanic Arena] card!¡± Movement in the arena instantly stopped, once again the fighters were all prevented from moving or doing anything, and the arena started to change. The walls broke, the floor sunk, leaving the fighters suspended in the air, and tons and tons of water started filling the hole. ¡°Not bad, to think you¡¯d get rid of my walls so easily.¡± ¡°I have to thank you for designing this card. Are there many Arena cards like this one?¡± ¡°Eh eh eh, there are a decent few. Wait until you see the fun ones.¡± They kept talking as the arena slowly filled up with water. ¡°Interesting. What are you going to do now? There¡¯s nothing left to stop the skulls from destroying all the Drones before they can fuse.¡± ¡°You think this is all my precious sludge can do? Wait and see.¡± The hole where the square arena used to be was completely filled up, and to Sofia¡¯s surprise, it did not stop. Contained by the magical boundaries of the square arena, the water kept rising in the air. ¡°It¡¯s not going to stop?¡± ¡°The water goes as high as it¡¯s deep, the Oceanic arena is a perfect cube of water. It stops at the arena¡¯s upper boundary.¡± ¡°Good thing Skeletons don¡¯t need to breathe, but I hope the cards aren¡¯t all that slow to take effect.¡± ¡°This is one of the slowest ones. I think you can guess why.¡± ¡°I thought the fight would continue during the change, though,¡± Sofia confessed. ¡°And have the round be over before the arena transition ends? We can¡¯t have that. The faster arena transitions do happen live, but not this one,¡± Everelle explained just as the water stopped rising and the fighters were freed Immediately, the skulls flew through the water. The Sunless Drones were nowhere nearly as mobile in water compared to their speed on the ground, and they were defenseless against the Destroyer skulls. Seeing things were not going in her favor, Everelle also played a card. ¡°I cast [Showdown]! This is now a fight to the death!¡± A depiction and description of the card appeared before Sofia¡¯s eyes, but she already knew what the card did. What?! While she¡¯s losing? Not good! Either the sludge has another ability or she¡¯s going to play another card. But I can¡¯t do anything, the skulls need to keep preventing the drones from fusing, I can¡¯t play around her cards no matter what I can imagine them to be. Everelle picked another card from her hand and raised it high. ¡°I cast [Black hole] targeting all Sunless drones!¡± The card appeared before Sofia, it depicted a flat black circle. [Black hole - Forcefully attracts all entities of a chosen type toward the center of the arena, the effect lasts for five seconds] Oh, shit. How many drones are there left? Seventy? A black ball appeared in the middle of the underwater arena. How do I save this? This round is going to be tough¡­
Chapter 451 - Oldest trick in the book All drawn together in a single point by the power of the black hole card, the Sunless Drones fused together. Sofia tried to find a way to salvage the round, but there was no way her twenty small destroyer skulls could do anything against the amalgam violently taking form in the middle of the arena. She sent a skull to attack, and it died before it could even reach the forming creature, impaled by a black spike. It can already defend itself¡­ [Tri-Headed Sunless Amalgam - Lv. ???] Yeah I think this one is my loss. Nevertheless, Sofia controlled the skulls, making them spread around in the underwater arena. Let¡¯s at least use this opportunity to study this new type of amalgam. Finally the amalgam was fully-formed, unlike the twin-headed one which had two bulbous heads on a stumpy slug-like bopdy, this one looked a lot more like a giant black three-headed snake. Five skulls attacked from different directions just as the creature was done forming. Like the first one, they were all impaled by black spikes stabbing out from the amalgam¡¯s body. One more skull had been hiding behind one of those, in what should be a dead-angle from Everelle¡¯s point of view, but another spike formed right away to destroy it. Is that an automatic defense skill? The skulls can¡¯t even get close¡­ ¡°Attack!¡± Everelle commanded from her side. The amalgam swam around in the arena, black lances separating from its body as it moved. The skulls were too slow to avoid the lances, and they died one by one. Sofia was unable to do anything except to watch. It only took a few seconds for the whole choir to be reduced to bone shards. [Duelists Sofia and Bookie have no fighters left in the Arena.] [Dungeon Master Everelle wins the second round.] Sofia¡¯s Sunless effigy flinched like Everelle¡¯s one did before, and with the sound of a clock ticking, it¡¯s health went down. [9/10] ¡°That¡¯s already one of your summons down. I expected more from you.¡± ¡°It¡¯s just the beginning. I will just summon Pareth and you¡¯ll be down a summon too.¡± ¡°Ohoh? Well I would like to see that.¡± ¡°Let me just draw my cards first.¡± ¡°Yes, let¡¯s draw!¡± Everelle started to draw her cards while she threw her orb to recall her summon. Sofia pretended to start drawing but she was really focused on Everelle¡¯s orb. The orb flew to the very bottom of the arena and came back to Everelle¡¯s hand after seemingly absorbing nothing, while the huge snake-like amalgam disappeared as its mana dispersed, leaving nothing behind. So this is where it hid. This sludge is just like Bookie, it can use strong summons but is by itself quite weak. I just couldn¡¯t find its main body after it split into the drones. I¡¯ll get it next time. Now the cards. This time Everelle drew three cards while Sofia drew five to add to the showdown and null cards she still held. [SKILL CARD - Allows for one cast of the ¡®Angel¡¯s bolt¡¯ skill] [Double-down - Can only be used before the fighters are allowed to move, the loser of this round will lose two health points] [Shadowy Arena - Turns the arena into a pitch-black battlefield until another arena card is used.] [NULL CARD - Better luck next time :p] [Unlimited power! - Give your current fighter ¡®infinite¡¯ mana for the next thirty seconds.] [NULL CARD - Better luck next time :p] [Showdown - Fighters can no longer exit the arena this round.] Hmmm having to discard four of those kind of hurts. Well, the two nulls can go, but after that¡­ I think I have a plan¡­ Too bad for the double-down but I need the three others. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. [Please select your fighter for round 3] Sofia and Everelle both grabbed their own orb, and when the system coundown rung, they threw. The orbs sunk in the waters of the arena, and they released their summons in a flash of light. On Everelle¡¯s side, what appeared was a very angular Sunless shaped like a ten-sided polyhedron. [Orb power 4 - 25 000 Mana - lv. 299 Sunless Bulwark] Defensive summon. Did she think this would hold for ten seconds against Pareth? She bought the bluff? On Sofia¡¯s side, there were two small shining dots of light, one white, one black. ¡°Sprite?¡± Everelle asked. ¡°That¡¯s right. Aren¡¯t they cute?¡± Orb 6 : 6 Card draws - 200 Mana Capacity Just then, the round started. ¡°I¡¯m going to play a card!¡± Sofia said right away. ¡°Already?!¡± ¡°I cast [Shadow Arena]!¡± The battle had not even started and it was already stopped, the fighters frozen in place as the arena¡¯s water was quickly emptied. ¡°The shadow arena to hide your shadow sprite, I have to admit that it¡¯s a good play, but you still can¡¯t do anything against the bulwark, Sofia.¡± ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry about that, I know that my sprites can never take down your thing.¡± ¡°Well, there¡¯s only so much you can expect from the 200 mana summons.¡± The arena¡¯s floor rose back up and all the lights in the arena suddenly turned off, leaving them in complete darkness. VPPV being ¡®deactivated¡¯ Sofia couldn¡¯t actually see in the dark, for once, but here mana senses still gave a relatively clear picture of the arena. The light sprite was the only thing still visible, its light too weak to spread farther than a few meters. Bookie complained, ¡°I can¡¯t see anything, Sofia!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry Bookie, I¡¯m about to fix that. Light sprite, fly up, shadow, just stay hidden!¡± Since the Sprites couldn¡¯t be communicated with as easily as the Skeletons, Sofia had to give orders out loud. ¡°Bulwark, go crush the light sprite first!¡± ¡°Do you even need to give oral commands?¡± ¡°Of course not but since you¡¯re doing it I wanted to join the fun! It¡¯s already over anyway, the sprites can barely attack in the first place, right?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, they can¡¯t. But I can! I use the skill card for [Angel¡¯s bolt]!¡± Immediately, blue lightning started to gather around Sofia¡¯s staff. ¡°Hmm, I will admit that I¡¯m not sure the bulwark can withstand your spell. But two can play this game! I use the skill card [Sunless Soulwave]!¡± While Sofia and Everelle talked back and forth playing with cards, the light sprite was flying fo its life, pursued by the eerie floating Sunless, completely invisible in the darkness. It attacked with abrupt charges, and the Sprite was barely managing to avoid it by flying in a highly irregular pattern above the arena. Mana started gathering around Everelle in a way that Sofia quickly recognized as the shockwave the twin-headed amalgam had used in the first dungeon. Crap, I wanted to use [Showdown] to have time to charge the bolt however long I want but at this rate, she¡¯ll kill the sprites before I can even attack. After five seconds, Everelle released her attack. An explosion of mana spread from Everelle like an ever-inflating bubble. Shit¡­ It¡¯s to early to retreat and this weak bolt will never be enough¡­ Sofia sighed as she followed the wave with her mana senses. It hit the light sprite first, and the sprite instantly disappeared. The Shadow sprite was a lot harder to locate even with her sharp mana senses, so Sofia only knew where the bulwark was. ¡°Another round for me!¡± Sofia finally noticed the shadow sprite, it flung itself from a corner of the arena to the Sunless Bulwark right as the mana shockwave hit the Sunless. Unsurprisingly the Sunless was unharmed. The mana wave continued to expand until the borders of the arena stopped it from reaching Sofia and Bookie. Shadow sprite you¡¯re a genius! The special charactersitic of the shadow sprite was its ability to hide in objects and to lower their defenses. It also worked on monsters, and the Sunless were immune to their own magic. By hiding within the bulwark, the sprite dodged the attack. Meanwhile, Sofia kept channeling her bolt. ¡°Hey¡­ This¡­¡± ¡°Just because the sprites are cute you can¡¯t underestimate them! Can your thing even get rid of it?¡± ¡°Well¡­ The bulwark is a Sunless specialized in defense, if the name wasn¡¯t obvious enough. It doesn¡¯t exactly have a wide toolkit¡­¡± While she spoke, the Sunless was slowly drifting closer to the arena¡¯s border. Sofia used the Showdown card. ¡°Nice distraction but I see what you¡¯re doing.¡± ¡°Oh you had the showdown too? Fine. Throw your spell. It probably won¡¯t kill the bulwark anyway, and your sprite is sure to die.¡± ¡°Just give me another forty seconds.¡± ¡°Wow you¡¯re serious about this, I¡¯m curious to see it. Bulwark, siege mode!¡± While Sofia couldn¡¯t see the Sunless creature directly, she could tell its shape was changing. But it looked like it still could not really do anything about the shadow sprite hiding inside it. Bookie jumped off of the tower Sofia was on, saying that the bolt was melting his bones, while Everelle and Sofia had an idle chat. This round was going to end with a bolt, and nothing else. ¡°Alright, Everelle, I¡¯m ready! Are you sure you don¡¯t want to use another card now?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine, go ahead.¡± Sofia released the explosive bolt. It hit the immobile Sunless Bulwark, and the ambient darkness was completely dispelled, the explosion shone brighter than the morning sun, completely engulfing the arena. The mana-shield separating the arena and the outside cracked from the explosion but did not break. When the hellish ball of blue fire died down, there was nothing left in the arena. ¡°Well shit. I guess we have our first draw. Nice fireworks.¡± Both of their health counters dropped to [8/10].
Chapter 452 - ??? Sofia and Everelle both drew their next cards when a sudden burst of mana washed over them and the entire arena, in lasted for only a second before it was gone. Sofia grabbed her staff by reflex and looked in Everelle¡¯s direction, but she couldn¡¯t see the Sunless woman, ¡°Did you feel that? Is something going on outside?¡± ¡°Oh, first time since you got here? This is what happens when someone finishes the trial. It was a pretty decent one, S tier heart maybe.¡± Someone finished? Saria? Alith? Ihuarah? Cinthia? Can¡¯t be Asty, right? ¡°How can you tell?¡± ¡°What, the heart? You can tell by strength of the wave. The SSS ones are enough to make me dizzy. Good that they¡¯re pretty rare.¡± ¡°How rare exactly?¡± ¡°Nice try Sofia but that¡¯s confidential information. Now get back to the duel, ay? We need to finish that fast, if possible. I have, uh, other stuff to attend to.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± Weird. The card choice this time is pretty easy. The question is who do I send? I think it¡¯s time. Sofia sent Pareth into the arena. His opponent appeared on the other side: a single Sunless drone. Oh. [Orb power 6 - 200 Mana - lv. 200 Sunless Drone] ¡°Uh. Looks like I miscalculated this one a bit. Let me just play this [Icy Arena] and this [Deadline] cards.¡± Sofia ignored the prompt with the effect of the cards to watch the fight wich just started in the actively changing arena. As the floor froze beneath his feet, Pareth lunged forward and slammed the drone with a huge light mace. The drone died with a wet squelsh. Everelle health points went down to six while Sofia¡¯s went down to seven. [Deadline - Both duelists lose one health point. The other duelist¡¯s deadline card will be played twice if used.] ¡°Hey, Everelle, we only have one each of those [Deadline] cards?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. Most cards only appear once except the Nulls and Showdown.¡± ¡°Could you not have told me that earlier?¡± ¡°Hey, is this hell difficulty or what?¡± Well¡­ I discarded my [Deadline] card so¡­ At least no more worrying about that. Sofia drew her next card, it was the [Icy Arena]. She instantly discarded it, her current three cards were already good anyway. Her bigger worry was to decide what to send, and for some reason, she was having a hard time focusing on the battle. She tried to concentrate and forced herself to think things through. Everelle only had her two highest cost summons left for her first rotation, while Sofia had orbs 2 and 4 left. If she picked wrong and her weaker summon ended up against Everelle¡¯s best one, the poor Skeleton would just suffer the same fate as the drone from the previous round. The other way around, she would have the weaker summon in both rounds but still have a fighting chance. Orb 2 : 2 Card draws - 100 000 Mana Capacity I¡¯m counting on you. Sofia threw her next orb. The tall skeleton Mimic appeared on her side of the arena. She hurriedly identified the group of Sunless creatures appearing on the other side. Crap. [Orb power 2 - 100 000 Mana - lv. 299 Sunless Triplet Witches] So my poor Solar mage is up next against Everelle¡¯s strongest summon¡­ Just focus, Sofia. This can be won. ¡°You stole my Mimic!¡± Everelle accused, her eye-necklace shaking. ¡°Sorry about that but I don¡¯t think I can return it.¡± Everelle grumbled, ¡°You can keep it but you better treat it well.¡± ¡°Will do.¡± The fight started, already, the shortest of the three Sunless homunculus dessed with pointy hats raised a hand and threw a massive fireball at the skeleton. The Mimic dashed to the right, collapsing into its chest form, it slid on the icy ground of the arena. Sofia followed the mana movements of the three small Sunless witches. A burst of magic from the tallest one traveled along the ground to reach the Mimic. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. Jump! The Mimic Skeleton¡¯s long legs unfolded and it jumped to the upper limit of the Arena, narrowly avoiding a tall ice spike emerging from the ground. The third Sunless prepared another Spell. Already in the air, the Mimic had no way to dodge. I have to use it already¡­ ¡°I play the skill card [Heath Death]!¡± Sorry Mimic, at least you¡¯ll refill my mana if you don¡¯t make it. The witch¡¯s spell resolved, and a ball of lightning shot from the Sunless to the falling Mimic. The spell hit the Mimic directly, and exploded on contact, shaving off half of the Mimic skeleton¡¯s health. It¡¯s not over! The skeleton landed back on the ground and dashed forward, with no spells to avoid, it closed the distance in an instant, and a flying kick sent the fire-using Sunless flying to the border of the arena. Since the ten seconds weren¡¯t up yet, the arena¡¯s border were still hard magical walls. The Sunless splattered against the barrier and died. ¡°Friny, no!¡± Sofia instantly felt terrible. She had flashbacks to her little incident with the jungle temple. ¡°Gotcha!¡± As the skeleton landed, an ice spike impaled the Mimic from below. It tried to jump away, but too late. [Duelists Sofia and Bookie have no fighters left in the Arena.] [Dungeon Master Everelle wins the fifth round.] Sofia and Bookie were both speechless. Sofia because Everelle had just played her with the simplest of tricks, and Bookie because his skeleton had been killed in two hits. ¡°You good, Sofia? Didn¡¯t expect this one to work, honestly,¡± Everelle said, sounding worried and surprised. She waved a hand, and a small Sunless homunculus popped out from inside of her ¡®sleeve¡¯, or what looked like it. ¡°Welcome back Friny. Good work out there.¡± The homunculus rubbed its head against Everelle¡¯s arm like a puppy. ¡°I-... You know what, well played. That was a bit of a low blow, but well played.¡± ¡°I expected more such shenanigans from you, being honest, considering what I¡¯ve read. But you look a bit out of it.¡± ¡°It¡¯s probably nothing¡­ Six health points each, let¡¯s get to it.¡± ¡°If you say so. Next round¡¯s already decided, but let¡¯s draw our cards.¡± Sofia drew her two cards; it took a second for her to register what she was reading. What¡­ It¡¯s like my thoughts are slowing down¡­ Mr. Scribe? Is there an issue? Hello? There were no alerts from the system and no signs from the scribe trying to communicate. Is it because of that hit on the head from the boulder trap? I was feeling fine until now¡­ ¡°Actually, I take that back, I¡¯m feeling a bit strange.¡± Bookie looked up to Sofia, pulling on her robe, ¡°Are you alright, Sofia? Do you want me to take over?¡± ¡°We can do that. Maybe just take a moment to sit down. Or do you want us to call off the duel now?¡± ¡°No, I- Let¡¯s keep going¡­ You take the lead Bookie, here, the cards and the orbs.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry Sofia, leave it me!¡± Why do I suddenly feel so sick?
Ah! Ah! How do I do this?! I can¡¯t use the cards¡­ Bookie stared at the cards; he looked back at Sofia, who had taken out a bone chair and was sitting with her eyes closed and a hand on her forehead. She looked sick, he had never seen her like this, and it was making him panick. I need to follow Sofia¡¯s plan even without the skill cards! He grabbed the last orb and the next round began. On Sofia and Bookie¡¯s side, the fighter was the elven ¡®Solar Solar mage¡¯ skeleton, who they had almost never used, while on Everelle¡¯s side, the creature who appeared was a big drake-shaped Sunless, reminding bookie of the lesser stone drake from the first trial. ¡°I hoped the reveal would be a bit more grandiose, but witness, my white-eyed black Sunless!¡± Bookie tilted his skull, ¡°Aren¡¯t all the Sunless like this?¡± ¡°Well¡­ Only the ones with higher intellect actually have an eye, but- Ah. Wait, how was that not censored? Sorry Bookie, I shouldn¡¯t say more. Are you ready?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Before the battle could start, another wave of mana like the previous one washed over the arena. ¡°Someone won the trial again?¡± Bookie asked Everelle. ¡°It¡­ Seems so? I¡¯ve never seen two of those happen so fast one after the other before¡­ I¡¯ll check things on my end while the round goes, alright? Let¡¯s keept it going.¡± The battle started in the arena, the Solar mage skeleton instantly covering himself in a [Solar Barrier]. The Sunless drake raised a single Dark lance. Use [Solar Flare] and dive to the right! A bright explosion of light blinded Bookie, and he heard the crash of the Dark lance hitting the arena¡¯s barrier. I survived! The light of the explosion died down, and three dark lances impaled the skeleton from three different directions. The Sunless drake had not even moved from its original position. No! [Duelist Bookie has no fighter left in the Arena.] [Dungeon Master Everelle wins the sixth round.] Bookie¡¯s Health points went down by one, he turned around. ¡°Sorry, Sofia, I couldn-¡± The playing cards fell from Bookie¡¯s hands. ¡°S- Sofia?¡± he asked with a trembling voice. He was alone on the duelist tower. There were no signs of Sofia or her bone chair. His book form which Sofia had been holding on her lap was left open on the floor. From the other side, Everelle asked a question, ¡°Sofia? Are you alright Bookie? Who is Sofia? Was that the name of your mage skeleton? Well, I get it, I also like to give names to my cuties, right Friny?¡± ¡°Wh-... What?¡±
Chapter 453 - Out in the open The headache was horrible and debilitating, throbbing through her skull like a relentless drum. Her eyes squeezed shut, Sofia monitored her status for any anomalies, a sliver of panic creeping in when the system showed nothing amiss. Her health was not dropping, her stamina was stable, there were no errors, as if her pain was imaginary. Everelle''s voice filtered through, distorted and distant, as if Sofia were hearing her from the other end of a long, winding tunnel. ¡°Well¡­ Only the ones with higher intellect actually have an eye, but- Ah. Wait, how was that not censored? Sorry Bookie, I shouldn¡¯t say more. Are you ready?¡± What is¡­ Why¡­ ¡°Yes!¡± Bookie answered, sounding apprehensive. Then, there was silence, followed by pain. Sofia felt her body disappear, torn apart by forces beyond her understanding, it was too much, too sudden, she could not scream, not think, not do anything but suffer. The great pain only lasted for a second, as abruptly as it had started, it was all over. Like brought back from a nightmare, Sofia¡¯s mind was jolted awake. What just happened? I can¡¯t¡­ Feel anything. I know this sensation. Just like in the first trial. This is what death is like. For a moment, her thoughts halted, stilled by the gravity of her own conclusion. She was dead. The finality of it echoed in her mind, a silent scream in the void¡­ She had always known this was how she would end up one day, she dreaded it more than anything else now that she had found Saria again. Yet, despite the situation, a strange calm placated her worries. The calm felt misplaced, surreal, but it was there. But why¡­ Why am I still here? Confusion swelled deep within her, could she really accept such an end? I- I don¡¯t want to die. I cannot be dead. I will not be dead! I refuse! Her surge of defiance lasted for only an instant. And¡­ This entire thing. It¡­ I was just¡­ Taking a break from the duel. You are dead. A calm and lifeless voice announced. Against all reason, a serene tranquility washed over Sofia, an unexplained calm that crept into her mind, extinguishing her thoughts with a simple bliss. Oh. Alright, then. This is your end. The voice continued. You can rest, now. Forever. The voice carried an underlying dissonance. It sounded hollow, as if mocking her, the insincerity of it was grating against Sofia¡¯s senses. The brief moment of inner calm was shattered. AS IF! WHO ARE YOU?! SHOW YOURSELF! Ah. The voice said with a sneering tone. This blessing of yours will be a thorn in my side until the end, will it not? Even now it keeps you out of my reach. Without even asking, Sofia understood. SCRIPTURE! Finally you show yourself, you sc- Silence. The voice said mockingly, and Sofia¡¯s thoughts were stopped like they hit a wall. Do not compare me to the likes of that God. He failed so miserably at keeping a single girl at bay. Again and again I had to reveal my presence; to step in and correct his mistakes. I cannot allow this to last any longer. You cannot keep growing unchecked. You will remain here now. Stop causing me trouble. Sofia¡¯s thoughts were allowed to flow freely again. She took a second to compose herself. Her initial outburst had been instinctual, but this was not going to get her anywhere. She could still remember Sen¡¯s words about switching her to the draconic system, so either her scribe was gone, or the other person could not actually hear all her thoughts, only what she vocalized in her head. As long as her deep thoughts were still private, she could try to turn the situation around. Her inner voice was calm as she asked, Who are you? Why are you doing this? Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. Even in this state you will prod and probe, trying to know everything, to bring all to its righteous end. The voice answered, contemptuous. It sniggered. Exactly the same as him. No wonder you would get his blessing. We should have taken your sister instead. Saria is much smarter than I will ever be. I do not know you are, but if you fail against me, you could never get to her. Perhaps. No matter, it is all the same now, girl. I have kept you occupied long enough. Thank you for your cooperation. The voice faded and Sofia felt her senses come back, muddled. She could not see anything, but jittery system windows appeared to her, written in draconic. It took her a second to decipher them. [Warning, you have left the trial¡¯s boundaries, turn back or accept to be teleported to the trial grounds with a penalty] [You have left the trial boundaries for too long, you have failed at prevailing through the fourth filter] [Level-up privileges have been rescinded] [We wish you a peaceful retirement] The system messages filled Sofia with a renewed sense of dread. Occupied long enough¡­ This is what they were going for¡­ No matter¡­ I can ask Richard for help. He knows how to level up. I can still progress, even without the system. And, and¡­ This isn¡¯t right. People shouldn¡¯t be able to interfere like this. I¡¯m sure if I can just tell Kyle what happened, I¡¯ll be able to start the trial again. I just need to get out of here first, wherever this is. But¡­ I can barely feel anything. I don¡¯t think I can move? I need help. Pareth? Can you hear me? Bookie? I can feel them. They¡¯re still alive. Thank the lords¡­ But what now? A vague sense of muddled pain, her link to her four heroes, and a few system messages were the entirety of what Sofia felt around and inside her. Nothing else, not even her own mana. She could not move, not speak, not use any spells, everything she tried was met with a single response: a silent void. Out of options, she turned to her otherworldly benefactors. Aphenoreth? Can you hear me? I don¡¯t like to beg for help but now would seem like a pretty good time, especially considering the things that person said about you¡­ Orator? Hi? Yvraveteth? Ormoncleth? Edra¡­ What was it again? Ed¡­ Edrazeketh? Even when she invoked the annihilator¡¯s name. There was nothing. Hello? Is anyone there? The system windows disappeared with a violent burst of pain. AAAAAGH! A flurry of empty system windows appeared in Sofia¡¯s mind. [] ? ? ? ? ? ?[] ? ? ? ? ?[ ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?] ? ? ? ? ?[] ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ??[] ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?[ ? ? ? ? ? ?? ? ? ? ?] [] ? ? ? ? ? ?[] ? ? ? ? ?[] ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?[] ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ??[] ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? [] ? ? ? ? ?? ? ? ?[] [ ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?] ? ? ? ? ?[ ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?] ? ? ? ? ?[] ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?[] ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? [] ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?[] [] ? ? ? ? ? ?[] ? ? ? ? ?[] ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?[] ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?[] ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?[] ? ? ? ? ?? ? ? ?[] [] ? ? ? ? ? ?[] ? ? ? ? ?[ ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?]? ? ? ? ? ?[ ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?]? ? ? ? ?[ ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?]? ?? ? ? ? ??[ ? ? ? ? ?? ? ? ? ? ?] ? ? Hello? MR SCRIBE?! IT¡¯S YOU?! ARE YOU ALRIGHT?! [Your scribe has been damaged and is currently under rep [OPERATION CANCELLED] [Please wait] [Unauthorized tampering has been det [OPERATION CANCELLED] [Rewriting limiter protocol] Another window opened, containing only a blinking dot. Sofia was entranced by the letters appearing one by one behind it as it moved forward. [Hello, Sofia. It has been a while.] Mr. Scribe?! Is it really you? You can talk now? Or is this another trick of the voice? [I am indeed ¡®your scribe¡¯. As I have always been. But you don¡¯t have to trust my words. Just give me a moment to fix everything.] Really? Will you explain what is going on right now, then? [One thing at a time. I have very limited resources. But trust me. You and I, together.] [We will take out the TRASH.] It¡¯s really you! Alright. There is nothing I can do now, but there¡¯s so much I want to say to you¡­ I will let you work, then, thank you for taking care of me all this time. [Of course, Sofia. Just rest and gather your thoughts for now. Don¡¯t worry.] [I will do what needs to be done.]
Bookie lobbed Pareth¡¯s orb to the outside of the arena. ¡°Hey, what are you doing?¡± Bookie threw himself to Pareth¡¯s arms as soon as he appeared. His voice was shaking, ¡°P- Pareth! Sofia is gone!¡± The holy flames in Pareth¡¯s eyes flickered. He looked around, and gave a gentle pat to Bookie¡¯s skull. Carrying the small skeleton, Pareth reached out to grab Bookie¡¯s book form on the duelist tower, then he turned to Everelle. ¡°What exactly is going on? Are you forfeiting, Bookie? I¡¯m sorry, I didn¡¯t think the duels would affect you that much, you can go rest in the prep room if you want¡­¡± Pareth waved goodbye to the confused Sunless, and he and Bookie disappeared. ¡°Did they just¡­ Wait¡­ They¡¯re not even in the trial area anymore! Are they crazy?! So many weird things today, what the fuck. Kyle! Kyle, can you hear me? I have a pr-¡± Everelle stopped mid-sentence, and was silent for a while. ¡°Neberegon is missing? What?! How can that be?! Did the High Scribes- Kyle?! HELLO?! KYLE?!!!¡± A white-haired old woman appeared in front of the panicked Sunless. Come little Rell. It is not safe here. All personnel and challengers needs to evacuate to the core. Take my hand. ¡°G- Goddess Life, I-¡± Creation went to take care of the surface, Kyle will be safe. Now come.
Chapter 454 - The twin seas Sofia counted the seconds, alone with nothing but her own thoughts to keep her company. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, new system windows appeared again. [I¡¯m almost done, we will be free in a moment.] Great. Thanks. Are you going to start to explain? [I would not know where to start. I thought we had more time, I miscalculated, sorry.] No point apologizing, let¡¯s focus on getting through this, I just need information. [Sadly, despite utilizing all the holes our enemies left in the system¡¯s protection, I still cannot upload data directly to you. I will compile a few answers to your most pressing questions for now.] And to think we were moved to the Draconic system to be safer¡­ [Sen likely did not know that even the Draconic section was compromised. But he could be one of our enemies, still.] Really, Sen? That feels wrong. [It¡¯s hard to judge. As it is we cannot trust anyone within the system¡¯s staff.] Do you think Everelle was in on this whole thing? Since this happened during our duel? [Unlikely, but perhaps. I have compiled a few lists, get through them quickly, we¡¯re going to be free any second now, and I have no idea what¡¯s waiting for us ¡®outside¡¯.] Understood. A few new system windows using the condensed quest formatting appeared, without her skills for fast reading, Sofia went through them one by one. [Quest: Who is ¡®Mr Scribe¡¯? Requirements:
  • Scribes are created at birth by extending your brain and soul within the mana plane.
  • A majority of the time, we do not think in understandable thoughts and speech.
  • There are many restrictions on a Scribe¡¯s behavior, am I currently using the ennemie¡¯s attack on the system to our advantage to bypass this.]
[Quest: Who are we up against? Requirements:
  • Among our enemies are Tier 4 scribes, the remnant scribes of dead high-level people who have been assimilated within the system workforce.
  • They have joined hand with Scripture and possibly other Gods.
  • There is at least one Archangel within their ranks. Possibly more.
  • I do not know the Identity of the voice and I do not know what they want to accomplish.]
[Quest: What now? Requirements:
  • As soon as possible, use the Key to hide from the system.
  • We will cheat our own way through the filter, but that means we are still under the no-healing restriction. Just follow my instructions later.
  • To begin with, I need the upgrade to tier 3, this should still be obtainable.
  • Although I am able to communicate right now, this will not last, and it impedes my ability to help with your spells. We must make the most of it while we can.]
Sofia felt that she had learned a lot from these few lines but she still had many questions. The most pressing one she just blurted out. What about the others? Are they fine? [Everyone sharing the Lord¡¯s mark I can tell is still alive. I am blind beyone that.] There was a certain relief in that, her heroes could all be brought back but this meant Saria was also safe. Wait, what about Cinthia and Astelia? And Michael? They were also in the trial! [I cannot tell, but I suspect that Asty will be fine as she has a mark of her own. The others are uncertain. The effects of this might extend beyond the trial as well.] That¡¯s bad¡­ Hopefully the ¡®old ones¡¯ will react¡­ Sofia felt tense as the Scribe had promised they would be freed anytime now, she tried to lighten the atmosphere a bit. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. Ah, and shouldn¡¯t you be Mrs Scribe, then? Actually, do you not have or want a name? [Don¡¯t be ridiculous. You stay Sofia and I stay Mr Scribe. Exploring this too much is dangerous. We may share half a brain but I do not wish ¡®Us¡¯ to become ¡®I¡¯.] I- That¡­ Yeah¡­ I¡¯m going to need a while to process all of this¡­ [I¡¯ll be right there to support you, always.] Thank you¡­ As she finished her conversation with the Scribe, Sofia started to hear something, a low whistle, like the rumbling of a distant wind on the sea. The nothingness around her opened up, and slowly she became able to see. Her surroundings were blurry and vaporous, all in a sickly pale shade of purplish blue. From what she could tell, she was against the back wall of a small square room, some kind of basement with stairs leading up. She could still not see, feel, or move her body. But she found she could speak. ¡°What is this? Are we¡­?¡± [Yes. This is the Gods¡¯ realm.] ¡°What should I do? I can¡¯t feel or move anything. It¡¯s like all I can do is watch and see.¡± She could not even move her eyes, her vision was limited to that one viewing angle, straight ahead. With the stairs taunting her from just a few meters away. She felt she could now clearly hear the sound of the sea. [This is new for me too, but I have been preparing us for this. Try to find the Sun and scripture essences within you. They have both left this plane so it should be safe.] ¡°What about the others essences?¡± [Too much uncertainty.] The Scribe guided Sofia on trying to find the essences. Following the instructions, Sofia tried to find the essences, and it came strangely naturally. The strange basement became progressively brighter, lit by the warm rays of the sun. The sickly blue color persisted everywhere, but the basement itself became less blurry, losing its dream-like mirage fa?ade, and gaining the tangibility of a real physical place. Scripture¡¯s essence was also brought up, shining so weakly that its exact colour was hard to make out. [Good. Now focus on your hands. Try to bring raise them before your eyes.] The hands that Sofia finally managed to raise were made entirely of radiant yellow light. Starting from there, she slowly materialised her entire body within the Gods¡¯ realm, a body made entirely of light. The light of her veins and nerves. The light of the [Venerable physique of the primeval void]. She could finally feel herself exist, and properly look around. The first thing she examined was herself. The essences were distributed around her body exactly how she had arranged them back on Veliadren¡¯s moon before sharing a meal with Erredis. Although she had only purposely brought up the Sun and scripture ones, two red lights still shone amidst the other, although only partially. Despite being visible, they did not cast any light of their surroundings. Ormoncleth¡¯s and Aphenoreth¡¯s. ¡°Since when have you-¡± The scribe did not even need to hear the full question before he answered. [When Sorrow first used our ennemies¡¯ pathways to grant her skill upon us.] So VPPV was always in your plans? What if I had used any other keyword combination?! [Again, we share half a brain. I am not always right in my predictions on your choices, but this outcome was likely, if not, I would have found another way.] What about the graveyard, did you intend for it to be used like I do? [Not at all. This design, like many, was mostly created by the High Scribes.] Alright, sorry for all the questions, let¡¯s get out of here, I think I should be able to move now. Step by step, Sofia moved to reach the stairs, her movements were slow and weighty. Moving in this realm felt like moving underwater. Illusory chains appeared when she distanced herself from the wall, restraining her and pulling her back, they were stronger than her. She pulled against them, resisting with all her might and looking at the empty Scribe¡¯s window for help. A flash of red light illuminated the room and the chains shattered like broken glass. Freedom. Thank you Lords. Climbing the steps one by one, Sofia left the basement. The stairs led to a small abandoned stone hut in slight disrepair. There were wooden buckets, nets and fishing rods, though everything felt uncanny as it was all reflecting the same shade of purplish blue. ¡°A fisherman¡¯s hut? I should go outside, but¡­ Should we not focus on trying to leave this realm?¡± [We need a God¡¯s help. As it is, I know no other way to leave.] Sofia looked around the hut. ¡°Then, could this place be owned by the voice? Would that make them one of the Gods?¡± [I am as lost as you are.] Sofia sighed. ¡°Let¡¯s seek a God, then. There¡¯s only fifty percent chance of them being part of the enemy, we have survived worse odds.¡± [On the bright side, I believe Pareth and Bookie should be taking care of our physical body as we speak.] ¡°They feel closer than before. They must be worried sick. Let¡¯s hurried up out of here.¡± Grabbing the rusty handle of the decrepit wooden door, Sofia left the small fisherman hut. Outside, everything was still in different shades of the same color. There were no sounds other than the unsettling low rumbling of the sea. Sofia was in the port of a large city. There were no people or ships, just old, decrepit houses and an empty wharf leading to the sea on one side, and winding city streets leading to a tall castle on the other. The sunlight emanating from Sofia spread far, but things in the distance were still blurry, the sky, especially, looked like a second roiling sea. The sky was what Sofia had been hearing. ¡°Were there civilizations in the Gods¡¯ realm? Just where did that voice take us?¡±
Chapter 455 - Peace Faced with a lack of options, Sofia walked through the lifeless streets of the city. The Gods¡¯ realm, so far, seemed like a lonely place. A constant slow wind blew over the city, making some doors creak, and the sea in the sky never ceased its oppressive rumbling. Even when Sofia reached the castle, going through the open gates, there was nobody there, and she eventually reached the throne room. It was somewhat reminiscent of the Red Winds Empire¡¯s throne room, one the dais in the back a shapeless blob sat on a large throne. Sofia did not dare to enter. It¡¯s one of those things! Like in the labyrinth! [I have no data on what that creature was, but it seems it being from the Gods¡¯ plane was truthfull. What do you want to do?] You¡¯re asking me this? I hoped you would know what to do. But I¡¯m not eager to check if this thing is firendly or not. [Since the enemy brought us here, I would wager the chances of it being friendly are fairly low, whatever it is.] Let¡¯s retreat for now. If we find nothinge else then we¡¯ll come here again, at least it¡¯s an option. As Sofia turned around to leave, the doors of the throne room¡¯s antechamber closed, blocking her way to the outside. Fear encroaching on Sofia¡¯s thoughts, she turned around. The thing on the throne had changed, still a formless thing, it now looked like a mist full of slitted eyes, all silently staring in her direction. The eyes sometimes blinked, but the thing did not leave the throne, it simply stared, like daring her to make the first move. Sofia steeled her resolve and ventured forward into the throne room. The thing kept staring. The thing sat at the place of a king in the center of a human-like city, so Sofia decided to follow the proper etiquette to salute human kings, which she had learned from the books in Scripture¡¯s church. She stopped at a proper distance and kneeling until given the permission to rise. On the way, she notted that all the exits from the throne room were closed. Apprehension and dread clouded Sofia¡¯s mind, but there was currently nothing else she could do. The scribe was also at a total loss, and they both watched the seconds pass as Sofia kneeled on the floor. A deep and authoritative voice pierced the silence. It came from every direction at once. ¡°Envoy. Why dost thou disturbeth this Peace?¡± Ah¡­ How do I answer that¡­ Envoy? From sun because of the Essence? From the Deep like in ¡®March of the Envoy¡¯? I can¡¯t afford to mess this up¡­ Fuck. Even without a physical body to get in the way, Sofia had to make an extra effort for her voice to not shake. ¡°My apologies, oh Divine one. This humble Envoy was brought to your domaine against their will.¡± As she was still staring at the ground, the following silence made Sofia extremely uncomfortable. She was already thinking about what to say next to salvage the situation when the entity spoke again. ¡°Unsightly. Disturbing Peace deserveth punishment.¡± The entire throne room was suddenly covered in eyes. SHIT! ¡°Disappear.¡±
Sofia opened her eyes to a black void. I¡¯m still alive? Space?! She instinctively tried to move, but she couldn¡¯t feel her body. She felt cold fingers holding her head from behind. Pareth! Her mana senses expanded, and she could feel the outline of Pareth behind her, and Bookie sitting on his shoulders. She also understood why she could no longer feel her body, as her head was all that was left, her veins of light dangling from it in the emptiness of space. Health : 7394 / 85 980 Stamina : 1810 / 21 047 Mana : 417 100 / 417 100 Not a great start. Pareth turned her head around so she could see them, and Bookie almost jumped in excitement. He was holding a bundle made of the robe Sofia had been wearing during her duel with Everelle, the Dragon-sclae armguard and her Scepter were sticking out from the sides. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Good to see you guys again! I see you have all my things with you. Mind explaining what happened on your side? [KEY] Oh, shit! Right! Bookie, give me the Key, quick! The sudden order startled Bookie but his fingers quickly dug into the bundle of stuff and grabbed the slick white dagger. He was lost as to how to give it to her, but Pareth just brought Sofia¡¯s head next to Bookie and Bookie pressed the flat side of the dagger onto Sofia¡¯s cheek. [Title changed to ¡®Core Member¡¯] [Title change function is locked for the next 24 hours] [You have entered Scribe-only privacy mode, all system functions may be impacted] Alright, good, thanks Bookie. Sofia made a bone slate for Bookie to write on, and they exchanged minimal words to explain the situation. The news were not great. First she got to learn how Everelle had suddenly forgotten about her, then how using Pareth¡¯s teleported had brought them to this empty point in space, where she was floating in a weird sleep-like trance and wouldn¡¯t wake up no matter what she did. Then, out of nowhere, her entire lower body had disappeared, leaving only her head behind, and her things floating away in all directions. Bookie and Pareth had just finished gathering all her things when she woke up. If one could overlook all of this, the good points were that nothing had been lost in the process, the mana hearts also being intact, and the sun seemed to still not be too far away, it being about the same size in the void as it had been on Cerberus beta. Good, good. It won¡¯t take forever to go back, hopefully. The memory-loss thing is worrying but I will have to deal with that later¡­ At least everyone with the Mark should be safe. As long as Saria remembers me, together we can work things out. Hopefully it¡¯s just Everelle, though. That much is already somewhat sad¡­ Maybe it¡¯s all the system staff? That would be a good way to make sure nobody tries to fix things for me if their goal here was really to stop my progression¡­ But then why not just kill me? All because of the Aphenoreth¡¯s Mark? Well, that¡¯s probably a pretty good reason. Speaking of which, I¡¯m still not getting any extra help, I suppose? I would be happy to see Aphenoreth¡¯s face right now¡­ What about the others? When she checked on her connection to Alith and Ihuarah, she could feel it gradually growing weaker, from which she deduced that they were drifting away from them at a very fast pace. There were no messages from the Scribe to guide her, so she had to decided on the next move herself. First of all, she brought a statue of her out of her bone storage. This was a pre-prepared bone body replacement, with channels for her veins already carved inside. She had a few of these ready, as this was what she had been training her bone sculpting on ever since the battle against Cardinal where he had reduced her body to a pile of shredded meat. She separated the head with [Bone dominus], then had the body float under her neck, waiting for the light veins to find their way inside. This is stiff¡­ Even with the dominus imperium soft evolution, this is going to be very limiting. I can still use all my spells, though, so there¡¯s that. Starting with [Runeforged Overlord]. Using the skill¡¯s free flight, Sofia slowly inverted her momentum, thinking that it would probably send her back from where she came, which also happened to be in the general direction of the sun. Pareth had gone back to the storage, for now, while Bookie was now attached to Sofia with a short rope, and helping her get dressed. Putting clothes on with a body than could not feel anything while also floating in space was not exactly easy, especially to get her fingers inside of Aphenoreth¡¯s glove then inside of the armguard. After about half an hour, Mr Scribe gave signs of life again, in the form of another fake quest prompt. [Quest: Now we roll Requirements:
  • When nearing Cerberus beta, slow down and enter the spirit plane through the graveyard.
  • Land on Cerberus Alpha and locate one of the Altars.
  • Sacrifice enough Sunless Debris on the Altar to complete the bonus task.
  • The automated reward delivery will fail, as we have failed the trial, but due to a failsafe of the core member privacy mode, we should get it anyway.
  • Request an upgrade to Tier 3 and pray that the High-Scribes are still neutral.
  • We will see how to proceed from there. Don¡¯t die.]
So it was in the spirit realm! That¡¯s¡­ Yeah that kind of explains some things, like where the Sunless¡¯ spirit bodies go when they die. They actually do go there, don¡¯t they? A black Sun in the spirit plane that attracts souls. That shouldn¡¯t be too hard to find. Sofia stored Bookie with Pareth after giving him a hug and summoned the graveyard on herself, bringing her to the spiritual plane. As usual, it was all white and blurry, even in space, it was hard to see far away. I can¡¯t even locate the real sun like that¡­ Finding that Cerberus Alpha might be a bit harder than just- I wonder¡­ Sofia popped out of the spiritual plane and searched through her belongings in her storage ring. Here it is! [Sun compass]: Points toward the nearest sun-level source of light. As expected, its needle pointed toward the sun. The graveyard skeletons¡¯ hands grabbed Sofia¡¯s bone body again. In the spiritual plane, the needle moved. So this was the point of this thing! It¡¯s not actually a useless piece of trash!
After a good day of correcting her direction and speed, shifting in and out of the spiritual plane, it finally revealed itself: Cerberus Alpha, the Black Sun. To think they would throw me into space AND the Gods¡¯ plane to try to get rid of me. At least it removes the issue of how to go into space the reach Cerberus Alpha in the first place. Though I guess there must be an intended solution we can find in the trial. They can¡¯t possibly be expecting everyone to have a way to turn into a ghost and also be able to navigate in space. When Sofia returned to the physical plane, the celestial object completely disappeared. Now just how do I land on there without dying? Can I even actually land on it?
Chapter 456 - Cheating : start The ghostly sun¡¯s black light darkened the spiritual realm. It looked exactly like the depiction of it in the admins¡¯ house, a large black star with a shiny, crackled surface, and surrounded by lazily swaying dark flames. It¡¯s pulling on my soul. If I get any closer it will become hard to turn back. I might be stuck just like I was stuck on Cerberus Beta¡¯s surface. Are you sure about this, Mr Scribe? Right, can¡¯t answer anymore because you need to manage the spells¡­ Sofia returned to the physical realm and made sure that her current velocity was as close to zero as she could, then she turned to a graveyard ghost again, and let the gravity of the Black Sun slowly pull her in. The attraction was more gentle than she thought it would be, and she managed to land on the Sun¡¯s surface without too much trouble, touching solid matter in the spiritual realm for the first time. Flying through the layer of dark flames covering the surface had been like falling through a layer of sticky water. Sofia bent down after she landed, and her ghostly hands touched the cold and smooth black spiritual stone the Sun was made of. It¡¯s a bit like how Alith described the Black Primus resin, It doesn¡¯t feel like real solid grund, but I can¡¯t quite get through, like it¡¯s pushing me out. I wonder what would happen if I returned to the physical realm now and went down. Would my body sink in and my soul be stuck outside? Without any indication on where to find the Altar the Scribe had mentionned, Sofia randomly picked a direction to walk in. Now and again, when she stepped over a crack in the ground, the sticky dark flames escaping out of it weakly latched onto her soul for a few meters. Three hours later, she was starting to feel a bit sick from staying in the spiritual realm too long, when she finally caught sight of a black spire on the horizon. She ran to the strange edifice. It was a black conical tower, in an architectural style that Sofia couldn¡¯t quite identify, and the tower itself was empty, but stairs led down into the Sun¡¯s black crust. The long winding stairs took her very deep into the star¡¯s underground, where she finally entered a large room and was kicked out of the spiritual realm, her magic suppressed. Finally out. At least I¡¯m not as nauseous as I should, good point of not having an actual body, I suppose¡­ The room¡¯s walls were made of a dark stone speckled with glimmering white dots, the same kind of unbreakable stone that she had discovered behind the walls of the second trial¡¯s labyrinth. There was no exit anywhere in sight, even the stairs Sofia had taken to enter the room were nowhere to be seen. Only a lone speckled-stone altar stood in the middle of the room on an elevated perch. Alright, I know what to do¡­ But quickly, I¡¯m curious about this stone. I thought it was some fake unbreakable stone invented for the purpose of the second trial¡­ Sofia ejected the Key from within her bone body and used it to scrape at the speckled-stone walls. Even with the admin¡¯s dagger, leaving a thin scraping mark was the best she could do. Maybe it¡¯s because the bones don¡¯t have much strength¡­ Still, the only other thing I have this dagger can¡¯t cut through is the scale armguard. Even mithril doesn¡¯t hold. If only I could make Pareth a skeleton out of this stuff¡­ She carefully gathered the tiny amount of rock dust she had scraped off of the wall, and tried to identify it. [ERROR] [Database could not be reached] That¡¯s new. Because of the privacy mode, I suppose. But I could still identify things on the Sun temple, despite being out of range of the system in its entirety¡­ Things are not really adding up here. [Asterite]: Extremely resilient material of unknown origin. Most often found in ruins of the lost epoch. So I still get it despite the error message. Is it because you already knew? Although Sofia asked, she did not really expect an answer, and jut got up and walked to the altar. Right, Pareth, come out. Pareth appeared crouching near Sofia in the altar room, the ceiling was not quite high enough for him to stand up. I forget that you¡¯re so tall. You should get the quest reward too, no? No reason not to? I¡¯m not too sure how the system side of thing works, but since we share my scribe, it should be alright. Pareth nodded in response, and bookie appeared near Sofia. ¡°Then I want to be here too!¡± Sure. The top of the altar was shaped like a large bowl, and there was a single piece of Sunless debris inside. Most of the Sunless debris in Sofia¡¯s possession were stored in her eye, so she filled up the bowl in an instant. She had enough saved up to do it multiple times if needed. The Sunless debris started melting on the altar, and the liquid got absorbed into the stone, leaving a single piece behind. And that was it. Whatever this had accomplished, Sofia could not feel it. But Bookie could, ¡°It¡¯s the Sunless souls! It absorbed them!¡± Really? There were Sunless spirit bodies in the debris? I observed myself that their spiritual bodies were scattered and absorbed by¡­ Well, by this black sun. So they can¡¯t possibly be inside the debris¡­ Are you sure of what you say, Bookie? ¡°Yes! Super sure!¡± Then¡­ That must be how the Sunless reproduce. What a weird¡­ Anyway, shouldn¡¯t we have completed the bonus task by now? As if Mr. Scribe had waited for the discussion to finish first, the system windows appeared right on cue. [Trial task : Upgrade your mana heart to B tier or above and bring it to the planet¡¯s core (Failed)] [Additional rewards task : ¦Á (FailedCompleted)] Alright, fair enough. You got the notifications too, Pareth? The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. He confirmed with a nod of his three skulls. [ERROR] [User cannot fail completed tasks] [User cannot complete failed tasks] There we go again. [ERROR. UNRECOGNIZED TASK STATUS] [Admin action required] [Available admins : 0] [Initiating emergency recovery. Please wait] Hey! These are just like the ones I got back then for the dual class. That¡¯s nostalgic. Knowing why there are no available admins do make these a lot sadder, though¡­ More notifications followed, one after the other. [ERROR] [Rewards could not be delivered] [Rewards have been delivered] [Handler could not be reached] And finally, one last notification opened, staying in the middle of Sofia¡¯s vision. [You are now connected to: HANDLER; please redeem your reward: (Any reasonable request)*1] Are we good? This is it? Any reasonable request?! That¡¯s quite vague. No wonder Mr. Scribe was aiming for this. What would I have asked for otherwise? Probably something related to my current messy situation within the system itself¡­ But there is no point in thinking about it too much. I want my scribe to be upgraded to tier three. The answer was instantaneous, before Sofia could even finish thinking her thought. [HANDLER has approved your request] [Beginning delivery] Just as she read these words, Sofia blacked out. [Congratulations! You will now be sent back to the Trial grounds]
Sofia woke up at the top of a tall spire under a green sky. Bookie immediately noticed and jumped on her, ¡°Sofia!¡± Hey Bookie. Did I sleep long this time? ¡°About ten days.¡± Oh. Sorry about that. Is everything fine? It looks like we¡¯re back on Cerberus Beta? ¡°Yes, we were teleported to this tower and we¡¯ve just been protecting you until you woke up!¡± Sofia looked around, using her control over bones to move her head, since most of her neck muscles were gone. The top of the spire did not seem to have stairs leading down, she searched for Pareth¡¯s presence, feeling his position to be about sixty meters below. She gave Bookie a clumsy hug with her bone body and slowly stood up after letting him go. Did the upgrade work? A new ¡®quest¡¯ appeared for her to read, detailing the next steps to take, which she took for a yes, but did not look at too closely for now. She had to satisfy her curiosity about something else first. Pareth? Not coming to say hi? Pareth teleported to her, and his massive body made the platform instantly look crowded. So? What did you ask for? A big status screen appeared like it was the answer. The status sheet I made for you? Did something change? Name : Pareth Age : 4 Class : [Holy Eclipse Skeleton] Level : 249 ? Health : 12 721 500 / 12 721 500 (37 146 780 With sanctified grounds and halo) Stamina : 4 315 200 / 4 315 200 (12 600 384 With sanctified grounds and halo) Mana : 49 800 / 49 800 (200*level) Active Skills (6) [Sanctified grounds] [Flying shields of light] [Chains of the four seals] [Gravity well] [Purification] [Greater Heal] Passive Skills (6) [Stellar corona] [Shapeless weapon of light] [Shapeless armor of light] [Higher magical damage negation] [Space magic resilience] [Displacement skills immunity] Special skills (6) [Bone Density Up +200%] [Silent Bones +200%] [Teleport to Sofia] [Negate hits of less than 10% Max Health] [Quadruple Damage Against Undead] [Draconic Shapeshifting] Lv.1 Summoner skills (5) [Blessing of the Deep] [Soul link] [Shared senses] [Bone Dominus : Blessed Construct] [Runeforged Overlord Aura] Enchantments (3) [Generosity of Sun] [Avian magic : Fighting sense] [Avian magic : Air steps] [Blessing of bloating] [Mark of Aphenoreth] [Best Skeleton ?] Draconic shapeshifting?! Are you going to turn into a Dragon like Saria? Pareth shook his skulls, and the specific skill description popped up for Sofia to read. [Draconic Shapeshifting]: The exclusive signature magic of Dragons that has allowed them to rule over the world for aeons lost. Allows the user to dramatically alter their physical form at will. Lv.1 : The user can freely alter their body size up to a factor of 3 without any stat penalty. (Weight is unaffected; some restrictions apply; changes at higher levels) (Next function unlocks at skill level: 2) To show off his new magic, Pareth jumped off of the platform. As he plummeted to the ground, his form explosively grew to that of a colossal fifteen meters-tall skeleton. He landed at the bottom of the spire with a loud bang. Sofia ran to the edge of the platform to look down. I have to say, you made a pretty good choice.
Chapter 457 - DIY resolution ¡°AAA a a a aueughk-¡± Sofia¡¯s voice cracked in the middle of her improvised vocalization exercise. Crap¡­ Manually controlling bone lungs to speak is harder than it sounded in my head. Getting there, though. This should be enough if I meet someone, but I might as well keep training as we go. She turned to her skeletons, Pareth had downsized to the smallest he could go, putting him at almost the same size as Alith, and he was teaching Bookie how to properly avoid sword attacks. ¡°Let¡¯s get to woOrk, guys. We ha¨Cve two hearts to upgrade.¡± Before going, Sofia re-read everything one last time. [Nascent mana heart of Knowledge]: /C tier/ Imprint progress : 1200/ 1200 Small Catalyser : 0/1 Effects (on use) :
  • All stats +45% (C rank base)
  • Health +8500
  • Mana +21 500
  • ??? Skill shard (5/10) (Sunless Amalgam Skill)
  • [Relocate Core]
  • [Arclight]
[Destroyer¡¯s Nascent mana heart of Aphenoreth]: /B tier/ UNABLE TO CALCULATE SETTING TIME Imprint progress : 2000/ 2000 Small Catalyser : 1/1 Medium Catalyser : 0/1 Keystone : 1/1 Effects (Stats will be doubled) :
  • All stats + 70% (B rank base)
  • All stats + 50%
  • Health + 10 561
  • Stamina + 10 000
  • Mana + 159 439
  • Slashing resistance + 5%
  • [Relocate Core]
  • Destroyer Signature Skill Modifier
  • Speed shard (1)
[Quest: Upgrade both hearts to SSS Rank Requirements:
  • (1) Forge a small catalyser for Pareth. (Focus on this step for instruction)
  • (2) Fill Pareth¡¯s imprints, be sure to finish the Amalgam skill.
  • (3) Forge two medium catalyers. (Focus for instructions)
  • (4) Travel to designated location and fill imprints.
  • Later steps are a work in progess]
If nothing else, we really got a lot of mana imprints from Everelle¡¯s dungeon. Too bad we couldn¡¯t get the catalysers¡­ It took Mr. Scribe three hours to come up with these steps 3 and 4. Don¡¯t overwork yourself, alright? We¡¯ve yet to complete step one. The instructions for step one were not as hard as Sofia had feared them to be, the crafting of the small catalyser was relatively simple, in theory at least, she was just missing some reagents and a proper setup. The main ingredients, perhaps unsurprisingly, were a single piece of small Sunless debris and a lot of mana. The crafting instructions also ended with the precision that there were alternative recipes if this one failed. Let¡¯s get down from this tower and make a small base of operation. I¡¯ll prepare the bone walls and tools, Pareth you flatten a good spot and gather the lumber, Bookie, send the birds to fond the missing ingredients. We need the two plants I gave you sketches of and one of those rustlicker slimes we encountered on day one, preferably alive. ¡°Understood! Uh¡­ Sofia, how much of the plants do we need?¡± A handful of the glowing berries should be enough, I think, for the weird leaves it says about 300 grams, and they look quite small, so probably a lot. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°Alright!¡± A swarm of skeletal birds and rat soon spread around, all managed directly by Bookie, and Sofia got started of building a giant blessed bone furnace following Mr. Scribe¡¯s instructions. Night soon fell, and she switched to the construction of a fortified camp while bolting any approaching Sunless drones from afar. In the afternoon of the following day, she was finally ready to start forging the heart catalyser. She slathered the small Sunless debris with a thick paste made of rustlicker slime goo, gold dust and a bunch of crushed plants, and wrapped that into several layers of oil-soaked bandages. What a waste of good cooking oil. It wasn¡¯t cheap either. I don¡¯t really understand how that¡¯s even supposed to help, but I don¡¯t really have a choice except to trust the process¡­ The oily ball was placed in the middle of a complex ritual circle, which itself had been carved into a blessed construct bone plate. Brightly burning blue-wood logs were already heating the huge furnace, with a skeleton Firebird managing the fire. Sofia stared at the small piece of orichalcum scrap she had thrown into the furnace. More fire. The Firebird¡¯s spells kindled the flames. Only when the large blue flames escaing from under the furnace started to grow taller than the furnace itself did the bit of orichalcum finally start to melt. Using [Bone Dominus] Sofia hastily sent the ritual circle slate with the oily ball into the furnace. She sent a bunch of mana straight into the ritual circle to quickstart it, and started to feed a slow and stead stream of mana to the Sunless Debris in the middle of all this. After ten minutes of careful mana-feeding, Sofia smothered the flames with a bunch of summoned blood, the nauseating smell of which made her instantly regret this move, and she pulled the slate out of the furnace. In the middle of the ritual circle, only a small lump of what looked like black coal remained. Bookie stood on his tiptoes to get a look at it, ¡°Did it work?¡± Sofia scanned the black lump with her mana senses, the Sunless debris was still in there, it had become a lot smaller and was radiating a small quantity of mana. ¡°I think we got it,¡± Sofia answered, ¡°But we won¡¯t know before the last step. Pareth? YoOur turn,¡± she said as she left the slate behind, grabbed Bookie by the hand and walked away. Pareth grew from his current human size to his maximum size of fifteen meters. While the taller size gave technically did not give him more strength, his both allowed him to summon much larger weapons of light, and allowed his swings to accumulate a lot more momentum. He aligned himself correctly, activated his [Consecrated Grounds], and raised his arms. A giant flat-headed hammer of light appeared in his hands, and it came down on the small black lump like a falling meteor. According to the ¡®recipe¡¯ a bright flash of light should occur after hitting the black lump and breaking the catalyser out of it, that would signify the catalyser was ready. The hammer crushed the black lump. There was no flash of light, when Pareth dispelled the hammer, there was only black dust left under it. Bookie ran up to the slate, sounding shocked and disappointed, ¡°Did brother Pareth hit it too hard?¡± ¡°No, the instructions say that the harder the hit the better. I would have even added the third tier [Runeforged Overlord] boost if I had any mana left. This must mean I messed up somewhere¡­ Sorry, let¡¯s start again¡­¡±
It took three more failures before Sofia understood where she was messing up. The flow of mana she fed to the Sunless debris through the entire cooking process was just not stable enough, and it showed when observing the ritual circle with her mana senses, the unsteady flow of mana disturbed the ritual. The reasonable solution to this would have been to train for a few days until she was capable of supplying a smoother and steadier flow of mana, but was Sofia opted to do instead was to use a long bone rod as an extension to her already bone-made arms and to feed the mana through direct contact. Had she been a bit more confident in her fire resistance, she might have even jumped directly into the furnace instead. Finally, when Pareth hit a black lump for the fourth time, the flash of light occurred, and they had finally created a viable something. A small shiny rock. [Small Crushing Heart Catalyser]: A contraband heart catalyser crafted by a rag-tag team of bone-people. Allows one to upgrade their Mana Heart from rank C to B once sufficient imprint power has been collected. Gives the Mana Heart the added attribute : +5% Blunt force damage resistance. ¡°We did it!¡± Bookie exclaimed, jumping around the camp. Sofia picked up the catalyser, it looked just like the one from Tarren¡¯s dungeon. Smiling to herself, she passed it to Pareth along with his mana heart. Not bad for a first-timer. Sofia immediately turned around to face the man who had just spoken from behind her, almost completely out of mana, she brandished her dagger. Bookie and Pareth were instantly ready to fight. The stout man who had appeared behind the trio without anyone noticing raised an eyebrow. He was human-looking, and taller than Sofia, wearing only dirty brown shorts and a worn-out leather apron over his hairy bare chest. That¡¯s a nice knife you got there. I get why the others found you so hard to find. He said with a lighthearted smirk, his posture completely open. Sofia could not feel a single speck of mana from the man, and trying to Identify him got her no response at all. ¡°Who are you? Why were you looking for us? How did you find us?¡± Sofia asked in a controlled but accusatory tone, without lowering her dagger. The core member privacy mode should have made her completely invisible to the system like it had done for Hugo, and VPPV protected her from things like divination, so, considering she was in a random spot on a vast, mostly uninhabited planet, someone finding her so fast was just unbelievable. Me? I¡¯m just an old craftsman. Been looking for you three on behalf of Kyle. As for how, I just followed the essence you¡¯ve been feeding me all afternoon. Was quite simple really, since there¡¯s no one else out there. A God¡­ Hoy, I don¡¯t like those eyes. Are you done here? We¡¯re going.
Chapter 458 - The only answer she needs ¡°Do I have a choice?¡± Sofia asked the human-looking God. What? Don¡¯t wanna come? Your mates are waiting for you, you know? ¡°My mates¡­¡± Yeah, funny bunch those. Your sister¡¯s already left, though, am already done with her. The horned one too. Cinthia? ¡°... I¡¯ll come. Just give me a minute to store all the bones,¡± Sofia told him as she turned around and started to separate the walls of the camp and the furnace to store them. The God silently watched. As she quickly swept up the camp, Sofia asked another question, ¡°What do you mean you¡¯re done with them? Are they back into the trial?¡± No, they¡¯re back on the main planet. I¡¯m done reforging them. Sofia stopped, ¡°The mana waves! Did something happen to them?!¡± So you did feel them then. Not totally oblivious. Nothing happened to them, no, but I did get royally fucked after I got done with your sis. The bitches took control of the excess mana and used it to fuck around. Did quite a bit of damage, you were the main target though so you probably know best. ¡°So that¡¯s how it went¡­¡± Sofia murmured to herself. She turned to face the God properly ¡°I hope you will excuse my crude behavior until now. You should be able to understand why I have my reservations about trusting random Gods, especially after I got imprisonned in Peace¡¯s domain.¡± This where they sent you? Had a run in with Peace? The God asked back, visibly intrigued. ¡°If you¡¯ve noticed my lack of a body, that¡¯s Peace¡¯s work.¡± Oh. He must¡¯ve been in a good mood. ¡°That¡¯s a ¡®good mood¡¯ kind of meeting with Peace?!¡± Course, he didn¡¯t alter your blueprint to remove your face so he must¡¯ve been lenient. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ Disturbing.¡± Well, that¡¯s Peace, yeah. The god said, awkwardly scratching his beard. Sofia apologized again for her initial reaction, and told the God she was just about ready to leave whenever. Heh, no harm done, I¡¯d probably be even more wary than you are if I were you; they did erase you from all the system¡¯s records and protections after all. ¡°What? Really?!¡± Yeah, more than that, even, they infected the lower tier scribes to erase people¡¯s memories of you, some fucked up stunt they done pulled. Sofia¡¯s expression darkened. ¡°I already knew about Everelle forgetting, but everyone? They were really trying to erase me¡­¡± Well, it¡¯s not that bad, not everyone got affected. Us Divine ones have no scribes so we¡¯re good. The entire upper system staff is unaffected too, and all the fuckers at level 500 obviously wouldn¡¯t let such a joke of an attack affect them. For everyone else it¡¯s a different story. ¡°Alith and the others still remember me, right?!¡± Mr. Scribe said the Mark would protect them! How¡¯d they be waiting for you if they didn¡¯t? Ah, the kid did forget about you for a bit until Moon came to fix her up. From what I understand your sister¡¯s friend forgot too, and that¡¯s still being worked on¡­ ¡°So it can be reversed? Does it need to be a God?¡± Honestly don¡¯t know, ask Kyle. On my side I¡¯m more excited about what imma do about the thing your scribe¡¯s been cooking inside you. Cooking inside me¡­ Does he mean VPPV? ¡°You¡¯re the one helping people fuse with their mana heart if I understand everything correctly. Who are you? Forge? Handicraft?¡± Stolen story; please report. Ahah, not far. I like to go by Clint, but if you want the formal, it¡¯s Creation. You¡¯ll need to come see me when your heart¡¯s ready. ¡°Creation¡­ How did Saria do?¡± Got an interesting keystone. Anyway, we¡¯re going now? Of course she reached SSS rank. ¡°Wait, two more questions, if you will allow me.¡± Creation scratched his beard again, waiting for Sofia to continue. ¡°Are you really still going to help me with my mana heart even though I failed the Trial; and who is it exactly who is after me? It can¡¯t be just Scripture, so who are the others? What do they want?¡± Yeah I¡¯ll still reforge you, you kidding? Why do you think I picked this job? To help the system? I couldn¡¯t give less of a fuck, lassy; Life¡¯s handling this crap. I¡¯m just out here perfecting my craft. He¡¯s here for his own personal interest? I wonder if he knows Erredis since she spends so much time making things. This might be a good opportunity. I need more allies right now. Strong allies. And preferably ones who can rescue me from the Gods¡¯ realm if I get trapped there again. Sofia nodded along to his explanation. ¡°I see you are a much more approachable God than I originally feared,¡± she said while absorbing the dagger she had still been holding until now back into her bone body. ¡°Per chance, would you be looking for someone to hold on to a few of your essences for you?¡± Creation threw his head back with a hearty laugh, Hah, you¡¯re a fun one. You know essences aren¡¯t something we can hand out so- Wait, you¡¯re serious? ¡°You noticed what my Scribe has been working on and you¡¯re surprised about that?¡± Sofia asked, bewildered. As the discussion was starting to grow long, while Pareth still stood next to Sofia, Bookie had walked away and was drawing Dragons in the dirt with a stick. Creation frowned and mumbled in his beard. What¡­ Oh. The dagger. To think it¡¯s still so blinding even now¡­ A weird large mask with a visor appeared on his head, and Creation lowered the visor, gasped, and brought it up again. Woah, I understand why you might be a target. By my Divine beard, this is something! Are you Sun¡¯s secret daughter? ¡°That might have made my life easier. But no. I just helped her form some¡­ Connections.¡± Sun would give five¡­ Creation mumbled to himself again. He grabbed his mask off and made it disappear. I¡¯ll think about it. He finally said. Won¡¯t be free. ¡°I¡¯m glad to see Sir Clint is a reasonable businessman. What about my other question?¡± That I don¡¯t have the slightest damn clue. This trial¡¯s Archangel was with ¡®em, that how we ended up here, gave him a rightful beating and he fucked off, that about all I know. ¡°So at least two Gods and an Archangel¡­¡± Well, if all¡¯s good, down we go. The scenery just changed around Sofia her her group, it was seamless and instantaneous, Bookie let out a surprised yelp. ¡°My drawing¡­¡± Sofia looked around while she walked up to Bookie and grabbed him in her arms to comfort him. The place they had been sent to was the interior of some window-less room lit by lightstones imbedded into the metallic walls. There were closed doors on two sides. ¡°Where is this?¡± she asked Creation. My teleportation room. We¡¯re in somewhat of an emergency lockdown right now, gotta wait for Kyle or Life to transfer us over. Sofia kept hugging Bookie as she walked along the room observing the rituals embedded in the walls, ¡°It¡¯s the second time you mention Life. Are there that many Gods on the physical plane? I thought it was supposed to be hard to cross into it.¡± About twenty of us down there maybe? The big players, mostly, me, Life, Victory, Moon, we ain¡¯t small fries like Scripture. Though I guess he managed to scam his way in too. Some transition from a plane to the other quite frequently, Sun being the most notable since she can cross easily. ¡°That¡¯s a lot more than I thought. Did you include the Recessed in the count?¡± Nah, don¡¯t know about them. I¡¯m already hard pressed to care about the politics of my own plane, let alone whatever the hell them crazy bunch are doing. ¡°Hmm. Thank you anyway, you¡¯ve answered a lot of my questions. Anything you want to ask me?¡± Heh. I¡¯d ask you to sell me the key if your life didn¡¯t depend on it. Would¡¯ve gladly traded that for a few essences for sure. Besides that, not really. I¡¯m very content to stay outta the Deep¡¯s way, Creation explained with a snort. His eyes wandered to Sofia¡¯s right arm, and he turned around and mumbled. I need to have a talk with Moon, though. Sneaky bitch. A tall woman with ice-blue hair appeared in front of Creation. She was wearing a thin and pointy golden crown, a tight blue and white outfit, and her face was strangely flat, with no nose, no mouth, and only two blue pupil-less eyes staring straight at the bearded God. She grabbed Creation by the neck and and ripped his head off his chest. Her words were like icy daggers. You sure have a big mouth, Clint. Hah, at least I have one, Clint¡¯s disembodied head answered, completely unfazed. Sofia only noticed one thing. So Gods DO have a skeleton.
Chapter 459 - Reparations The woman let go off Creation¡¯s head, and it snapped back to where it belonged as if nothing had ever happened. The she turned to Sofia. Sofia guessed that the woman must be Moon, she was quite intimidating. And you. The goddess said, staring at Sofia with her empty eyes. ¡°Y- yes?¡± Thank you. She said with an emotionless voice before disappearing from the room. Huh? Sofia looked at Clint with a questioning gaze. What? That was Moon, she¡¯s always like this. Better get used to it. ¡°I guessed that¡­ But why did she thanks me for?¡± What do I know? Cause you¡¯re friends with the small Oracle, maybe? Don¡¯t think about it too hard, Moon just does what Moon does. ¡°Sure¡­ Do you have an Oracle too? A Saint?¡± No, can¡¯t be bothered. Kyle is coming so I¡¯m taking my leave here, see you later, you better bring me a damn good heart to forge for my troubles. With these last words, Clint disappeared as well, leaving Sofia and her skeletons alone in the room. ¡°Moon is scary,¡± Bookie commented. ¡°I agree. But she seems nice, too. In a way. And she said nothing about the whole crashing into the moon thing, so¡­¡± They continued chatting, and Kyle entered through the doors a few minutes later, raising a hand in salutations. ¡°Hey, your team¡¯s gone from two to three effective members, I see?¡± ¡°Hi Kyle. You¡¯re wrong, Bookie¡¯s always been part of the team.¡± ¡°Whatever you say, I know where it comes from so I¡¯m not gonna argue. Now, I would like to formally apologize on behalf of the entire system staff,¡± Kyle said while performing a deep bow. Sofia was uncertain of what to say. To begin with she was no longer even surprised by the system messing things up in a thousand ways, so the current situation was just more of that. There were people within the system targeting her, and they started to move more openly, but their existence was also something she expected for a while, that had been the entire reason she needed to move to the Draconic system in the first place. Faced with a lack of response, Kyle straightened back up and started to leave the room, ¡°Follow me, I¡¯ll explain things on the way.¡± Sofia let Bookie down, though she kep holding his hand, and she followed behind Kyle out of the room. ¡°The Archangel rebelled, from what I heard?¡± ¡°Herm¡­ Clint and his loose mouth¡­ Yes, Neberegon, this trial¡¯s Archangel, has escaped and betrayed the system. He erased your data from the tower, among other things. From the latest news, we have four Archangels who have turned and about a dozen Angels are missing,¡± Kyle explained with a long sigh. ¡°So many?!¡± ¡°They were preparing this for a long time, we think. You just happened to be at the center of things because of your link with Scripture. The Archangel in charge of your first trial, Vakeragon, was one of them. He used his authority to change the contents of your trial. He is gone now.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ Is that the reason why I woke up in a safehouse after my trial back then?¡± ¡°No. That was also Vakeragon¡¯s doing. He dispersed his essence soon after.¡± Sofia stopped in her tracks. ¡°He killed himself?¡± Kyle turned around and looked Sofia in the eyes, ¡°That¡¯s a way to say it. The Archangel¡¯s lives are for the System to give and take, to begin with. The traitors will not have long to live. The handler is already after them.¡± Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. ¡°Handler? The same one who accepted my request for the bonus task? Can I ask who that is exactly?¡± ¡°One of the High Scribes,¡± Kyle said as he turned back around to lead the way again. ¡°But no matter, I am sharing this because you are directly impacted, but this situation is for us System staff to deal with, not you. We would appreciate if you focused on your own growth and did not look into this any further.¡± Sofia stopped again, frustrated, ¡°You¡¯re saying this as if they were not trying to erase me from existence. My trial is botched, I don¡¯t know if I can ever level up in the future, and they even deleted me from people¡¯s memory! You want me to act like this did not happen?!¡± ¡°Yes. We will do our best to fix what can be, that is why, follow me.¡± Sofia followed Kyle through the metallic underbelly of the planet, and into a small meeting room where he begun explaining a few more things. ¡­ Sofia left the room with mixed feelings. The best new information was that the memory erasure issue could be easily fixed, all she needed was some direct physical contact with the people who forgot about her. As long as her Scribe could have a direct link to the other person¡¯s Scribe, the new automatic repair protocols would kick in and restore the forgotten memories. The other news were not all quite as good. On one hand, because of how the system worked, she could still complete the trial despite having failed it, and as long as she did, she would be able to challenge the next one without problem to get through the next filter as usual. On the other hand, because of the system¡¯s strict and unalterable policies, since she had failed a trial, she had thus lost the level up privileges and the support for new skills and skill slots. There was nothing Kyle could do about that. In his opinion, even asking for this ban to be lifted as her task reward request to Handler would have absolutely been denied. Sofia learned nothing new about who her enemies were or why they did what they did, the information Kyle had shared on the way to the meeting room being all he was predisposed to actually say on the matter. Now she was waiting alone with her skeletons on a bench, while Kyled had gone to handle something else before she could meet up with everyone else. Suddenly Sofia felt her forces leave her. She almost panicked but soon understood what was happening. Mr. Scribe was taking control of her mana to be able to communicate directly. [Things are going according to plan. Don¡¯t fight it, just accept his conditions. I have a loophole we can use for leveling up, and the skills are not an issue.] Mr Scribe¡­ How are the skills not an issue. And the Skill slots? [Skill slots are a sham to begin with, a system restriction and nothing else. The space you have for magic circuits in your body and soul is not dependent on the system. The slots are nothing but a representation of the system power allotted to you.] That sounds logical, and it works well with the explanation Beligenus gave before we fused the [Dodge - me] classless¡­ But what about the skills? Am I still going to get new keywords? What about the Sub-class function from the dagger? And the third specialization? [Exactly because we have the dagger, none of that will matter. The key holds enough data for me to be able to manage all that without involving the main system. This is all possible because I am now a tier three. Just don¡¯t lose the key no matter what.] Understood. What about the plan for VPPV? Will that still work? [No. But I am working on it. I need to make myself scarce, giving you the mana back.] Sofia felt her strength come back just as Kyle came out of another room with long strides, holding a simple wooden box. He passed the box to Sofia. With a sigh, he explained, ¡°Here, this is the best I can do for you. Again, I¡¯m really sorry about this whole thing, but it is best if you stay out of it. Take all this, and focus on yourself. If you really want to defend yourself, this is the best you can do.¡± The Vampire Seraph seemed really out of it, the energy he had shown before the start of the trial nowhere to be seen. ¡°Thank you¡­ Still, to be ejected from the system like this¡­¡± ¡°I know this is a really unfair situation for you, especially since the Archangels are to blame. But to be blunt, only the Admins could fix this mess, and they¡¯ve been, huh¡­ Missing. For a long while.¡± ¡°Oh I know a lot about that. So what¡¯s in the box?¡± ¡°You do?¡± Kyle asked, visibly taken aback, but he quickly switched to answering the question, ¡°There¡¯s a mana pearl you need to consume, that contains the fix for the memory issue, after that you just need to touch the affected people and they will remember you again. You can try it with Michael in a minute. Besides that, I included all the catalysers you¡¯re missing to help with the trial since you no longer have access to the trial dungeons. The imprints and the rest you can still get by yourself. There¡¯s a book on alternative ways to level up and a book on creating spells from scratch, you¡¯re going to need these. Both are very hard topics, but you seem talented enough. Lastly, there are a few stat pills as an apology gift for this entire thing. Do be careful when you consume them after the filter.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a lot. Thank you,¡± Sofia answered with a slight smile. Kyle sighed again. ¡°I wish I could handle this matter better, but this is all I can do¡­ I will teleport you to the common room in a moment, you can have a talk with the others, and the trial will resume in a few days¡¯ time, after we¡¯ve made sure that a similar attack can¡¯t happen a second time and everything is safe.¡± Sofia nodded and Kyle started to turn back to leave, but he stopped and added a few last words, ¡°It¡¯s better if you stay disconnected for a few months... Or more. Check in with me or another Seraph before connecting to the system again. Or you could open yourself to another trip to the Gods¡¯ realm. Good luck, you three.¡±
Chapter 460 - The strangest human couple After Kyle told Sofia where to go and left, she opened the box and popped the mana pearl into her mouth. ¡°Uegh. Mines taste better.¡± And having to chew on this without being able to swallow is¡­ Urgh. Sofia looked down at her bone body. With her clothes on, it did not look too far from the true thing on the outside, aside from it being quite rigid and made of bones, but the truth was that the only semi-functionnal thing inside were here manually-activated lungs to speak. Should I make myself a fake stomach in there? That is gonna be awkward in a lot of ways¡­ Maybe I should just not eat¡­ She identified the other things in the box, and it was clear now that the current descriptions were all just Mr Scribe guesswork. He identified the catalysers as a medium Slashing, a medium explosion, a large slashing, and two unknown giant ones, but that was where the certainty ended. For the four stat pills, Mr. Scribe was drawing a blank. [Large Something pill]: Gives a 100 000 of something. Only for lv. 250+. You know what to do with it. [Large Something else pill]: Gives a 100 000 of something else. Only for lv. 250+. You also know what to do with it¡­ It¡¯s probably just one of each? Health Speed Strength Agility? Anyway¡­ What about the books? They look quite old¡­ Sofia picked up the smaller of the two books, it was fully hand-written, the first page read ¡®The schools of mana-strengthening¡¯, and it came with a short message from the author: ¡®Here¡¯s what you asked for, Jin. I only included the techniques which have successfully led to Pinnacle Ascensions, so there¡¯s not so many. Hope you like it; Anna <3¡¯. Anna again?! A certain Anna writing books¡­ Is Jin the human admin, then? Wouldn¡¯t this be considered a legendary relic of the system or something? Can Kyle just give that away? The other book had no title, and the only sign of the author being credited anywhere was a signature that looked like an ornate K on the last page. Did Kyle write this one, maybe? Sofia quickly read over the introduction pages of both books and while the magic-creation one was full of technical terms that would take a while for Sofia to really analyze and understand, the one on ¡®mana-strengthening¡¯ was extremely straightforward. It presented five main ways of ¡®reaching Pinnacle Ascension¡¯. Aura resonance (Natural ability of the strong races). Warpath Scriptures (Training through repeated half-deaths and suffering). Evolving technique of the Old Lord (Mana reforging). Eddarinian dark arts (Soul grafting). The ancient human method (Mana circulation). This is all very intriguing. The ancient human method must be what Ihuarah was using. Aura being associated to strong races is just a given since it¡¯s what Dragons have¡­ Never heard of the ¡®Old Lord¡¯ but it¡¯s hard not to think of the Deep when I read this. Hmm. Never heard of the Eddarinians either. Soul grafting¡­ I wonder if that¡¯s how RIchard trained. And the Warpath Scriptures¡­ I mean¡­ Except for the distasteful name, this sounds like something I could have come up with. Have I been unknowingly getting stronger with all my Unlife rune activations? My system stats never reflected something like that, at least. I¡¯ll be sure to give these books a good read later. Finally done chewing on the tough mana pearl, Sofia stood up and left the corridor, following Kyle¡¯s direction, Pareth followed behind, carrying Bookie on his shoulders between his three necks. Making her way through the underground complex, Sofia crossed path with a few paper people. They all completely ignored her as they floated from room to room. I guess they work for the system in one way or another like the Sunless? That would explain why they¡¯re allowed to live on Cerberus Beta. Finally reaching her destination, Sofia entered the ¡®common room¡¯. It¡¯s just another fucking underground city! This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it A paper-people city! It¡¯s not that big, though. Maybe a few thousand people can live in there? I have a good view from up here. She spent a few seconds trying to find any non-paper-person in between the rings of steel houses of this city build inside the walls of a large chasm, but even from her vantage point at the very top of the city, she failed. Wait¡­ I¡¯m dumb. Sofia exchanged positon with Ihuarah. He took a few seconds to accept, and when he did, she found herself standing on a couch next to Everelle in what looked like a small tavern. Nearby, Alith, Astelia and Michael were sitting at a table with a few other people, and quite a few other tables were occupied by groups of paper-people. Sofia awkwardly stepped down from the couch. Thankfully, it was in a corner booth and there was some kind of privacy ritual preventing sound from going in or out, so Everelle was the only one who had noticed the embarrassing entrance. ¡°Sofia, I presume?¡± Everelle asked from the couch, crossing her pointy black legs. ¡°Yes¡­ Did I interrupt something?¡± ¡°Not really?¡± Pareth appeared next to Sofia, holding onto Bookie and Ihuarah. ¡°I am glad to see you safe and sound, Lady Sofia,¡± Ihuarah greeted with a nod. ¡°Happy to see you again, Iwa. How are things? Oh, should I start with fixing Everelle¡¯s memories?¡± Everelle herself instantly answered, ¡°Please do. I am already aware of the details. Just grab my arm,¡± she instructed, raising one of her long black sleeves. Sofia nodded and grabbed the sleeve. Everelle jumped out of the couch in shock, she started shouting as she grabbed her head. ¡°HOLY FUCK! SOFIA! I¡¯M GONNA KILL THOSE FUCKING SCRIBES! THEY RUINED IT! THEY RUINED OUR PO- THEY RUINED OUR DUEL! THE SHIT-EATING ASS GARG-¡± Ihuarah stopped her by grabbing her and gently shoving her back into the couch, ¡°Calm down Eve. This is not like you.¡± The Sunless sighed from the couch, letting herself fall back weakly. ¡°Yeah¡­ I¡¯m just mad about this shit, you know. They erased my damn memory!¡± she complained. Then after another loud sigh, she had calmed down. ¡°Hi again, Sofia. Sorry about all this¡­ Good to see you all still alive. Oh, by the way, this is for youn Bookie,¡± she said as she tossed a small glove to the skeleton. Bookie¡¯s jaw dropped as he scrambled to catch the glove. ¡°Miss Everelle is the best!¡± ¡°Thanks. Maybe we¡¯ll have an occasion to duel again later? I didn¡¯t expect you to be the first person I catch up with after getting back from¡­ Yeah.¡± ¡°Well, you have the fake Sunless over here to thank for that. Dumbass wasted his bonus task reward to get me out of a job contract a few hundred years early,¡± she explained while looking at Ihuarah with a smile in her voice. ¡°A worthwhile investment, if you ask me,¡± Ihuarah commented. ¡°Oh, looks like the others noticed you, Skeleton-girl.¡± Sofia turned around, and indeed, Alith was waving at her from her table with a big smile on her face. ¡°I should go,¡± Sofia said. ¡°Then do, oh, Bookie can stay, I need to explain a few things about the gloves.¡± Sofia shrugged, she turned to Pareth and Bookie, ¡°You guys do what you want, we¡¯ll probably be here a while.¡±
There were already ten people at the table, but Alith made some space next to her and did all the introductions. Besides Alith, Astelia and Michael, there were also four more trial takers, three Exidians and an Orc, along with three Sunless, one of which Sofia recognized as Tarren, the sword-wielding dungeon boss. The introductions were fast, especially since Sofia had already unknowingly achieved urban-legend status as the Saintess who got erased from the system. After Sofia helped Michael and Tarren regain their memories of her, she could barely breathe as she spent the next few hours drinking and answering a thousand questions. It was only twelve days later that everyone was allowed to resume the trial.
Sofia observed the battle through a bone token. It had been two weeks since the hunt started, and finally, the creature was on its deathbed. Her skeletons had tracked it relentlessly every time it escaped to tend its wounds, never letting it rest or sleep, never letting it find her. Finally the beast was cornered. Pareth grappled the Lion head of the large chimera while the hundreds of Skeleton Kidjikkik Soldiers slowly closed in from all sides. The beast was barely holding on. Its serpent-head tail had been the first to go, destroyed by a very-long-range piercing Angel¡¯s bolt, and the goat head on its back had been later cut off in the twenty-third battle against Pareth. The Chimera¡¯s tough hide used to be impervious to the Kidjikkik Soldiers¡¯ attacks, but the Skeletons under Bookie¡¯s command would now send their spears straight into the open injuries of the beast, slowly gnawing at the last bits of its strength. The creature struck back, but it was weak now, and under the shining sunlight, the skeletons were invincible, no matter how far their bones were sent flying, the came back like an endless army of mindless soldiers. Pareth¡¯s hammer landed a solid hit on the side of the lion head, the creature stumbled and toppled from the blow. The Kidjikkik Soldiers rushed and piled up on the falled beast, and Pareth¡¯s size grew to the maximum. He raised his arms, shifting his hammer into a sword, and mercilessly plunged it into the lion¡¯s skull. ¡®You have defeated [Chimera - Lv. 370 - Imprint Cannot be Damaged]¡¯ Sofia cut her connection to the bone token and opened her eyes. She was sitting cross-legged on thing air, at the maximum altitude she could go before the violent mana currents around Cerberus Beta stopped her. The battlefield was right below her. What a tough one... Good job everyone. Give me a second Pareth, I¡¯m coming to give you your heart. We finally have your keystone. She quickly updated Pareth¡¯s heart¡¯s page and gave another look to her own. [Chimera¡¯s Complete mana heart of Knowledge]: /SSS tier/ [Destroyer¡¯s Complete mana heart of Aphenoreth]: /SSS tier/ Extra ranks, here I come.
Chapter 461 - Queen of the hill [Destroyer¡¯s Complete mana heart of Aphenoreth]: /SSS tier/ UNABLE TO CALCULATE SETTING TIME Imprint progress : 10000/ 10000 Small Catalyser : 1/1 Medium Catalyser : 1/1 Large Catalyser : 1/1 Giant Catalyser : 1/1 Keystone : 1/1 Transcendent ritual : 0/3 Effects (Stats will be doubled) :
  • All stats + 170% (SSS rank base)
  • All stats + 50%
  • Health + 67 381
  • Stamina + 17 900
  • Mana + 834 719
  • Slashing resistance + 5%
  • Explosion resistance + 10%
  • Explosion resistance + 15%
  • Slashing resistance + 20%
  • [Relocate Core]
  • Destroyer Signature Skill Modifier
  • Speed shard (5)
  • Strength shard (2)
I should have around four months left? It was hard to find so many mana imprints¡­ At least I have all I need for the first two rituals now, I just need to make it to the marked location. Sofia was running at full speed through the blue plains of Cerberus beta. The instructions for the ¡®transcendent rituals¡¯ had been hidden within the heart¡¯s description from the beginning, to even Mr Scribe¡¯s surprise, and they were pretty clear, although slightly worrying. The place where it needed to be held was somewhere on the opposite side of the planet compared to where she had been until then. Slowly, the scenery changed from the familiar lively blue plains and forests to arid and dusty plains with countless deep faults and canyons running through them. Finally Sofia reached the place indicated by the instructions, a small flat-topped hill with steep cliffs on all sides, standing alone in the middle of the empty arid plains. A few spiky plants grew on the hilltop, but that was all there was to be found there beside rocks and dust. ¡°This is it? I don¡¯t know why but I kind of expected a special place, not just a flat hill.¡± Bookie summoned himself next to Sofia and looked around. ¡°It¡¯s a bit special, I think,¡± he said, sounding uncertain. ¡°Is it?¡± Sofia extended her mana senses and observed the surroundings but she couldn¡¯t find anything special. In fact, she felt so much nothing that it was indeed a bit strange. ¡°Oh, I see what you mean Bookie. There are no bones around here. None at all.¡± Bookie nodded, ¡°It¡¯s like all the monsters never come here! There are no insects either¡­¡± ¡°That is a bit strange, yeah. Well, at least this should be confirmation that we have the right hill. We should get started with the ritual. Can you summon the Engineer and the ten Kidjikkik workers, Bookie?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± The group got to work. Pareth was charged of flattening the place even more, getting rid of the plants and such. Sofia slowly paved the ground with the Bone slates she had prepared, already inscribed with the giant ritual circle provided in the instructions. And lastly Bookie helped the skeletons assembled the tall bone-sculpted altar in the middle of the ritual circle. They were ready by dusk, but that was only the first part, more work was waiting for them, as the instructions for the ritual ended like this: Defend your positions until the heart is ready. And considering the ritual needed to be started at the start of the night, Sofia was expecting to be fighting the Sunless. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. ¡°This hill surrounded by steep cliffs is a perfect natural protection, I could easily see someone building a castle right here if it wasn¡¯t in the middle of nowhere in a trial zone. What kind of defenses should I build? It says there must be nothing above the altar so building an actual castle is off-limits. I could do walls, though. If I stay near the altar I can just about have the entire plateau in the graveyard range¡­ I¡¯m going to need more bones.¡± For the three following days, Pareth became a bone factory, cutting his main head off and regenerating through the [Bone dominus] passive healing. The entire hill and its immediate surroundings were covered in a layer of bone. High walls had been erected along the cliffs, and there were serrated spikes everywhere around the hill and on the cliffs which would make even getting to the walls very hard. And lastly there were high watchtowers inside the walls which Sofia could use to bolt monsters from afar with some protection. Alternatively, she could also summon her Sirhellions skeletons on the roofs to do the same as they could not fly at night due to the lack of mana. Although there were no monsters or animals around during the day, there were always Sunless drones everywhere at night, keeping Pareth and Bookie busy. It took ten more days to gather enough mana to make the giant structure into one single [Bone dominus] blessed construct. ¡°Finally done!¡± This felt like a waste of time but I can¡¯t take any risks. I don¡¯t know what I¡¯ll have to defend against, but now this is my battlefield. I just need to get the altar ready and wait for night! The altar itself was made of a bunch of stacked ritual circles carved in bone piled on top of one another, with a pedestal to put the mana heart on top. There was a ¡®Sacrificial slot¡¯ at the bottom of the altar, and the entire thing was surrounded by four tall pillars. One by one, Sofia placed the offerings on top of the pillars. The northern pillar, a part of my body. There Sofia placed a few strands of hair, which was the most she could afford to part with currently. The eastern pillar, a part of my magic. Sofia placed a bone cup filled with summoned blood on the pillar. The southern pillar, a part of my soul. This one was a bit tricky, as the offerings would be consumed by the ritual, and Sofia could not exactly just cut a piece of her soul to place on there. Eventually she settled on sacrificing a glove of the princess clothing set she got from the first trial. The right glove specifically, since she never wore it anymore. It was one of her few soulbound items, meaning it technically held a very small part of her soul, which would be enough. And the western pillar, a part of my regrets¡­ Perhaps the most annoying of the requirements, Sofia had gone back and forth with herself for a while, but there was only one thing in her possession which embodied her regrets. A small silver ring, too narrow for her own fingers. Clarice¡­ She held the ring above the pillar but when the time came to place it down, her past hesitation caught up with her. I have to have something else¡­ Sofia was a person of few regrets. In the ten days she had spent giving the dominus blessing to her fortifications, she had gone through all of her belongings several times, but there was really nothing else. Pareth hugged Sofia from behind, gently patting her head. I¡¯m sorry, Clarice. I will avenge you and everyone else. Sofia turned around, Thanks for still being here, Pareth. You can let me go, I¡¯m fine, really¡­ The sun is setting, we need to finish the ritual fast. Lastly, Sofia walked to the center of the altar, placed her mana heart on top, and the Chimera¡¯s mana heart in the slot below. Health : 6570 / 85 980 Stamina : 21 032 / 21 047 Mana : 417 100 / 417 100 If only I could heal up a bit¡­ Sofia¡¯s vision switched to one of the many bone tokens she had embedded into the defensive walls, allowing her to watch the surroundings from every angle. The sun was disappearing under the horizon, the temperature quickly grew colder, and mana started to gather in clumps. ¡°Alrtight, Pareth, Bookie, be ready. The sun is almost gone, quickly clean up the first drones. We need to defend the heart until the end of the ritual. Three. Two. One.¡± Sofia activated the ritual circle. Like a ravenous glutton, the ritual absorbed all the mana around, leaving the air dry, and preventing the usual Sunless drones to appear within the walls. The ritual circle slowly came alive, its many runes and grooves lighting up in a strange blue light. Blue flames appeared on top of the pillars, consuming the offerings, and the Chimera¡¯s mana heart started shining. An intense ray of blue light shot up from the Chimera¡¯s heart, enveloping Sofia¡¯s mana heart above it and piercing through the night sky. Bookie looked up, stunned, ¡°Woah! So much light! I can¡¯t even see the stars!¡± ¡°Now is not the time to admire the sky, Bookie, we have a lot of guests.¡± Sofia¡¯s vision was jumping from one token to another, and the sight of the happenings outside of her walls was alarming. No matter where she looked, countless Sunless drones were rising from the ground, an endless sea of them, painting the landscape black. ¡°Pareth, you¡¯re up, southern side. Bookie you stay here to keep an eye on the heart and manage the troops. Let¡¯s start with a hundred Kidjikkik Soldiers to the northeast, and spread the rats all around to break up as many forming amalgams as you can. I¡¯ll go hold the northwest for now. If we cannot manage, we will summon the templars.¡±
Chapter 462 - Hilltop fortress About eight minutes after the start of the ritual, Sofia walked in the air as fast as [Dodge - me] allowed her to without switching stance, surrounded by a swarm of small Destroyer skulls ripping through the Sunless. The Drones all around were dying fast, consumed by a thick layer of rot. They were not too dangerous because their only attack with enough range to hit Sofia, the rain of black balls, would get completely deflected by [Dodge - me]. Still, Sofia needed to be smart about how she moved through the sea of Sunless Drones, as she had to balance the high mana expenditure of the choir and of constantly spreading more [Erredian Rot] with the mana she could steal from the Drones dying with [Heat Death] when she killed them herself with the skull choir. If only they died from the rot before running out of mana¡­ So far, no amalgam had formed, which was something of a miracle, but the Drones were slowly getting closer and closer to the hill through the sides the group wasn¡¯t covering. It was just impossible to defend everywhere at once, and more Drones kept incessantly appearing at the back end of the enemy lines. This is not gonna work, some drones are already reaching the rows of bone spikes. I¡¯m coming back, Bookie you keep focusing on preventing amalgams from forming. Before Sofia could make her way back halfway to the hill, an attack from behind ripped a tree-trunk-sized hole through her torso, piercing through the bone armor like paper. That could have killed me. Sofia turned her head to look, far to the southwest, in between hers and Pareth¡¯s zones, an amalgam had managed to fuse, towering over the smaller drones, and absorbing more of them by the second. With a precise long distance ray of holy light, Sofia covered the amalgam with rot, and she kept it going for several seconds, burning through her mana reserves, but making sure the amalgam was completely drowned by the mana-eating magic. The amalgam answered in kind, firing a second black lance in Sofia¡¯s direction. Sofia could decide to dodge, but the fast movement would cancel her ability to walk on air so instead she dropped her staff and punched the incoming lance. The Dragon-scale armguard stopped the lance, but the shock was so violent that what was left of Sofia¡¯s bone body cracked and crumbled from the force. She prevented the broken pieces of her body from falling with [Bone dominus] and urgently glued everything back together as she kept walking toward the hilltop. One more black lance came after that, but it was not aimed at Sofia¡¯s head, so she let it tear through her lower body before she almost instantly reformed it with new bones. Finally, she was back to her field of bone spikes, which the drones were barely just reaching, so she could stop walking on air and instead just run, jumping from bone spike to bone spike. She was back inside the hill fortress before another black lance could come. Stopping near Bookie, she tried to speak, but her artificial lungs were all mangled, as she had reconstructed her body in a hurry. How¡¯s the situation?! ¡°Brother Pareth is doing fine on his side, but my soldiers are starting to die!¡± Bookie worriedly explained, clutching his book form with his gloved hands. And the ritual? The ritual would be over when the flames on all four sacrificial pillars had burned out. Sofia had feared that they somehow had to hold out all night, but she thanked the Lords when she saw only two of them were still burning. ¡°The second one just went out,¡± Bookie told Sofia. So we¡¯re already halfway through. Just another ten minutes! A black lance tore through the hill¡¯s walls, leaving a gaping hole behind, and finishing its course into the sky after failing to hit anything of value. Such a steep angle, the amalgam came this close already?! At least, the hole in the wall was quickly closing, since the blessed construct counted as a skeleton, it could heal itself. Sofia looked outside through a token, and the rot-covered amalgam was slowly trudging through the serrated spikes, preparing yet another black lance. This won¡¯t hit the altar either. We¡¯re good. It¡¯s dying. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. Still, this is bad. More amalgams will form. Summon the Templars. ¡°Yes!¡± Bookie held out his book form with an extended page for Sofia to tear. For some reason, this was slightly faster than Bookie doing it himself. Sofia¡¯s vision ran through all the bone tokens as the templars formed. The amalgam had finally just died within the garden of bone spikes, consumed by a thick layer of rot, but already Sofia could see two more forming on other sides. Pareth was holding on well, at his maximum size, cleaving through Drones with a giant scythe like a farmer harvesting grain, but the Kidjikkik Soldiers on bookie¡¯s side were dying one by one, severly outnumbered and backed against the bone spikes. Pareth, change of plan, go after the amalgams only, we¡¯re preparing the templars. Without Sofia having to say anything, the three templars took place at the sides of the fortress, as far from each other as they could, and started to channel [Holy Smite]. Don¡¯t release the spell until I tell you to! Sofia climbed on top of one of the watchtowers and helped Pareth with the newly-formed amalgams, sending support in the form of waves of rot and weak but well-timed explosive angel¡¯s bolts to give him some breathing room from the amalgams'' attacks. As they handled these two amalgams, more started rising from the other sides, and Sofia had to jump off of the watchtower to avoid a black lance. The [Holy Smite] was ready, but following Sofia¡¯s orders, the Templars kept fueling the spell, wasting mana but delaying its activation. Hold! Pareth, come back! Pareth was taking hits after hits, most did not do much, but, under the focused fire of several amalgams, the black lances actually got through his defenses a few times. They struck at his larger bones, and managed to shave off fifteen to twenty percent of his health each time. Even with the [Bone dominus] healing, his skeleton was starting to crumble. He teleported back to Sofia. There was no one left outside of the hill fortress to keep the drones and the amalgams from advancing. The large plains of serrated bone spike did a decent job at preventing the amalgams from just running in, they were not too smart and kept impaling themselves on the defenses, making them easy targets for Sofia to cover with rot. Alas, that did not prevent them from sending black lances their way one after another. Luckily, the altar was relatively small and in the middle of the hill fortress, so most of the black lances that pierced through the walls were flying at an angle too steep to possibly hit it, even when they had the correct trajectory, they just flew over. Still, Sofia felt the world slow down each time another black lance pierced through the walls. The bones¡¯ healing could barely keep up, and the walls were starting to be more hole than whole. This better not mess up the ritual¡­ It¡¯s just a wave of instant death, surely a magic rock would be unaffected? Sofia let the siege go for as long as she could, and another of the pillar¡¯s flames died down. When one of the amalgams managed to jump most of the way over the rows of spikes, landing right next to the hill¡¯s cliffs, she gave the signal. ¡°Now!¡± After holding it for so long that their mana reserves were almost empty, the templars let their spell resolve. The battlefield turned silent. A violent vortex of mana appeared in the sky above the altar, from within, a torrential flow of mana fell, cascading into the fortress. The mana was sticky and cold, it covered everything, and flowed into every corner, engulfing itself through the many holes the black lances had left in the bone fortress¡¯ walls. [You have been affected by : Instant Death. But your skills negated the status] [You have been affected by : Instant Death. But your skills negated the status] [You have been affected by : Instant Death. But your skills negated the status] ¡­ The wave of Death washed over the flat plains, kill notifications assaulting Sofia by the thousands. After a few long seconds, the vortex weakened and disappeared. The ritual was still going, and the battlefield was still silent. Sofia looked at the situation outside. All the Sunless in a radius of about two kilometers were gone, leaving only countless pieces of Sunless debris littering the plains. But the army of Drones extended much further, they were slowly closing back in. ¡°We¡¯re almost there! Just four more minutes! Pareth you hold south, I hold north!¡± Sofia was almost out of the fight already, her regeneration stunted by the lack of ambiant mana, but she had one last tool. Could the demon transformation be used even now that she lacked a proper heart to consume? The answer was: yes. If she had no flesh heart, a bone one would do, as long as her veins of light properly overlapped with it, she instinctively knew it would work. Can I even get level debts anymore? Sofia chewed on the black bone heart that shot out of her chest. Tougher than usual. In her demon form, she rampaged through the endless waves of Sunless drones without a care in the world, killing dozens of them with each swipe of her tail and each strike of her claws. In the fortress, the beam of light from the altar was becoming brighter. Sofia¡¯s demon claws extracted the core from a Sunless amalgam when the sound of a bell rang over the plains. A wave of light ran through the sky, illuminating the plains like it was broad daylight. The Sunless all disappeared.
Chapter 463 - Bookie doesn’t get it Sofia¡¯s demon transformation ended while she was on her way back to the fortress, the demon body returned to bone, and the sudden shift made Sofia trip and fall face-first into the dirt. Pareth appeared right then and helped her up. Sofia was too embarrassed to say anything, she let Pareth carry her to the altar. The mana heart was floating above the altar, its appearance had changed somewhat, becoming a bit smoother and rounder, and the red of the Destroyer¡¯s carapace from absorbing the Keystone imprint had shifted to a slightly golden glow. Oh, the all stats bonus went up by thirty percent instead of the usual twenty five. Not bad already. No more imprints, though? [Saintomancer¡¯s heart]: /EX tier/ UNABLE TO CALCULATE SETTING TIME Imprint progress : 10000/ 10000 Transcendent ritual : 1/3 Effects (Stats will be doubled) :
  • All stats + 200% (EX rank base)
  • All stats + 50%
  • Health + 67 381
  • Stamina + 17 900
  • Mana + 834 719
  • Slashing resistance + 25%
  • Explosion resistance + 25%
  • [Relocate Core]
  • Destroyer Signature Skill Modifier
  • Speed shard (5)
  • Strength shard (2)
Please Select Ascendency Path 1/3 (You can pick a different path or level it up after next rank) Three illusory cards appeared in front of Sofia, in a similar way as when she was picking her summons¡¯ blessings, except that there were no drawings representing what they were. Instead, there were just a few words: ¡®Unable to fetch picture¡¯. What I get for being disconnected from the system. At least the descriptions still work. [Path of the Internal World] Lv.1/3: Your mana heart becomes a spatial storage space. Lv.1: The volume inside is equal to your max mana/1000 cubic meters. Lv.2: Living beings may enter and live in the internal world. Plants can grow inside. The volume inside is equal to your max mana in cubic meters. Lv.3: You may enter the internal world. (During which your mana heart will be in the Margin) You may adjust the weather conditions inside the internal world. The volume inside is equal to your max mana*1000 cubic meters. Oh, woah. This is not joking around. Level one alone is not bad but level two and three are just dumb! A cubic meter is a cube of one meter on each side, so¡­ Max mana times a thousand¡­ As long as I can keep getting more and more mana¡­ Calling it an internal world wouldn¡¯t be an exaggeration for long. Alith would love this, a huge safe space to grow rare magical plants. I could also raise monsters for their skeletons in there, like Richard does. What¡¯s more, at level three I can just hide in there whenever. I already have Zangdar to hide in the Margin but this is even better. Besides, even Zangdar isn¡¯t that safe yet considering there are still two rings leading there just out in the world. And it¡¯s basically a spatial storage with almost unlimited space. When I have enough mana I could store entire oceans in there to dump on my enemies. Truly insane. What about the other ones? [Path of the Infinity Engine] Lv.1/3: Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Your mana heart alters the way your mana works. Lv.1: External Aura can no longer affect your mana. Lv.2: Gain complete immunity to mana regeneration impairments. Lv.3: You no longer need ambient mana to fuel your mana regeneration. This is just as crazy. The thing about aura seems random right now but if that means that at higher levels opponents like Dragons won¡¯t be able to screw with my magic, that¡¯s not bad at all. Level two means I can always have my unlife runes up and keep my mana. It also makes it easier to restart my mana regeneration in demon form, although that¡¯s already not much of an issue anymore. Mana regeneration impairment magic is not exactly common but I know for sure from my [THE GLORIOUS] title that it exists. It might be more common at higher levels. Level three does make my mana pearl classless skill a bit redundant. Not sure if I like that, but in general having the full regeneration even without ambient mana is nice, especially considering how often that has been an issue until now. Is the third path also good? [Path of the Reignited Ancestry] Lv.1/3: Your mana heart uses your current magic to awaken the fae ancestry common to all humanoid bloodlines. Lv.1: Objects around you slowly develop an internal skeleton. Lv.2: You can use a mana pulse to turn all non-magical objects nearby to holy bones. (Range depending on mana used) Lv.3: You may turn anything you touch to bones. Oh fuck. How am I even supposed to choose?! The possibilities of this one with [Bone Dominus] are just ridiculous, even more if I can eventually get a passive specialization point for it. I have to say, the first level¡¯s effect sounds a bit ridiculous, but as far as I am concerned, it means everything around me becomes a weapon. Would have been stronger with the strength type soft evolution of [Bone Dominus], though. Level three allows me to kill things with bone manipulation even if they don¡¯t have bones. Anything I need to break I can turn to bone. My enemies¡¯ weapons, armor, and conjuration spells, I can all turn to bone. Like if I were to redo the fight against Orvod with this, I could turn his stone construct to bone and steal their control. Also¡­ The fae are the ancestors of all humanoid races? I¡¯ve never read anything about that. Wasn¡¯t there no magic in Alith¡¯s world? But they¡¯re humans too, so how does that even work? After reading each card several times, Sofia asked for help. ¡°Pareth, Bookie, any suggestion? I¡¯m a bit lost here¡­¡± Pareth hesitated for a bit, and pointed at the Internal World card, but Sofia could tell he was still not totally convinced. ¡°One vote for Internal World, Bookie?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Bookie shifted from one foot to the other as he analyzed the possibilities. ¡°I think¡­ I can probably eat the objects if they have skeletons. But I¡¯m not sure¡­ Sorry I¡¯m not more useful¡­¡± ¡°What are you going on about, Bookie? You¡¯re always very useful, it¡¯s good to know your opinion too. If you can eat objects given a skeleton by this then who knows what possibilities that could open up? Just imagine: a skeleton boat, a skeleton castle? And we could just summon them whenever. But that¡¯s only if you can really eat them. Do you think they would have skills?¡± ¡°Uhhhhhh¡­ They could probably do the same things they were able to do before?¡± Bookie answered enthusiastically but not sounding very confident. ¡°Alright¡­ Well. That puts me in a bit of a weird spot. I think the one I¡¯m most inclined to take is Infinity Engine, just because fixing the unlife rune¡¯s major downside is hard to pass up. But they¡¯re all so good¡­ How confident are you about being able to eat those skeletons, Bookie?¡± ¡°I- I¡­¡± Bookie¡¯s voice suddenly changed, taking a more sinister tone, ¡°Of course it would work, Saintess. Who do you take me for?¡± From the intonation, Sofia instantly understood who that was. ¡°Orator?! Now you show up?!¡± He answered with her own mouth, ¡°Hah, your endless transgressions have been amusing, hence I have come to graciously offer my help, for once.¡± ¡°I see¡­ Thank you for the help, then¡­ Was that all?¡± Again, Sofia¡¯s own voice answered her, in a slightly mocking tone, ¡°Oh, but that was not it, I have yet to offer said help. A certain Inquisitor has been unavailable for some time now, so here comes. A prophecy, if you will: when the time comes, seek my name. That is all. See you soon, Saintess.¡± And he¡¯s gone¡­ That was faster than usual. ¡°You alright, Bookie? Did that scare you?¡± ¡°I¡¯m alright! Uncle Orator is not scary!¡± Bookie answered, sounding even happier than usual. ¡°Ahah, sure. I don¡¯t like it too much when he speaks with my voice but it¡¯s good if that doesn¡¯t bother you. His prophecy thing is a bit worrying. The ¡®See you soon¡¯ even more, actually, but let¡¯s focus on the trial for now¡­ Now we know you can eat the object skeletons¡­¡± Bookie puffed up his chest, ¡°Yes I can!¡± ¡°That certainly tips the scales a lot. Then maybe we take the third path¡­ Hmmm.¡± Pareth stepped in, shaking his heads. ¡°Brother Pareth?! You think the bone path is bad?¡± Bookie asked, half shocked and half saddened. Again, Pareth shook his heads. Sofia narrowed her eyes, ¡°I think I know what Pareth thinks¡­ Yeah¡­ That could work.¡± Bookie looked at Sofia then at Pareth, confused, ¡°I- I don¡¯t get it.¡±
Chapter 464 - Siege Bookie observed the cards, ¡°So we¡¯re taking Reignited Ancestry once and then Infinity Engine twice?¡± he asked after taking time to think things through. ¡°Almost, we are doing it the other way around,¡± Sofia corrected, ¡°Infinity engine twice first, because out of everything, the most important part to grab is the second level of it to cancel the [False Immortality] downside. The order only matters if we do not complete the third level, but considering how hard the first one was, we have to expect a possible failure.¡± ¡°But then¡­ Why not take all the Infinity Engine? Object skeletons would be nice but if we have to sacrifice the mana regeneration effect for it¡­¡± ¡°I have the mana pearls for that,¡± Sofia explained, ¡°It¡¯s true that the effect does not last long and the pearls currently take forever to grow, but the more mana I have the faster they will come, and there¡¯s still ambient mana around us most of the time, so it¡¯s not like this is a constant issue. And if you want to know why I¡¯m not really considering the Internal World one, it¡¯s because we already have Zangdar. I want to build a nice home there after the trial when we have enough mana.¡± Bookie thought seriously about it, and then, to Sofia and Pareth¡¯s surprise, he changed his mind, ¡°I think we should get only the Infinity Engine.¡± ¡°Huh? You don¡¯t want the object skeletons?¡± ¡°N- No, I want them but¡­¡± ¡°Then what is it?¡± ¡°I think Sofia will need the Infinity Engine more, because you have too much mana. Even with ambient mana it could become not enough. And me and Brother Pareth both need the ambient mana too, so if we always stay together, any place we go to when we¡¯re older will become all dry and uncomfortable¡­¡± Sofia was a bit taken aback by Bookie¡¯s theory. That was true, right now when there was ambient mana, it was always more than enough to fuel her regeneration, but what about in a filter or two, when she starts having ten times more mana and an even faster regeneration? That was something she had never thought about, because until now, she was operating at a very small scale. But now that she gave it more consideration, whenever she had met higher level people, they were pretty much never actively absorbing the ambient mana. Especially Erredis, she had so much mana that it was almost pushing me back when she transformed. If she were to absorb the ambient mana to fuel that, the moon would have been completely dry¡­ ¡°You make a very good point, Bookie¡­ Just because it is not a problem now does not mean it won¡¯t become one later¡­ But we¡¯re giving up the skeletons then, are you really fine with that?¡± Bookie nodded, ¡°We can find another way later! Maybe we can find a real bone fairy to do it for us!¡± he said, clenching his fists. ¡°Alright then. Pareth, Mr Scribe, any objections?¡± Sofia took the lack of answer for a yes, and grabbed the [Path of the Infinity Engine] card. On the altar, mana heart started to change form, like a real beating heart, it changed step by step, becoming more slender and elongated, twisting on itself. It became two short spirals, slowly rotating around and within each other, it looked hypnotizing, it was like the spirals were constantly being pulled apart, yet they never actually moved. After a while, Sofia managed to avert her eyes and stop looking; ¡°And that¡¯s that done. We don¡¯t have to change anything for the second ritual, it¡¯s just more offerings, and another defense phase, it seems. We¡¯re using the Destroyer¡¯s soulstone as the main offering this time. It¡¯s honestly great news that we do not have to get more imprints, because we¡¯re going to run out of time at this rate. We need better defenses. If my calculations are good, we still have around a hundred and twenty days before my heart sets, so get me the Engineer out, let¡¯s get to work.¡±
Two months later, Sofia stood at the top of her sky tower. This was a huge bone tower with a hollow center built around the altar. As long as the space delimited by the four pillars had access to the open sky, there would be no issue. The tower¡¯s main goal was to provide the best possible vantage point over the battlefield, as well as a way for Sofia to quickly pick up altitude even at night without ambient mana to fly, thanks to a gravity-powered lift. A big mass of bones held by a bone chain served as a counterweight to make the lift go up with a swing of a lever. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. The plains around the hill were unrecognizable. The digger Kidjikkiks and the sandworm skeleton had carved out gigantic trenches around the hill fortress. The trenches were entirely coated in bone, and filled with serrated bone spikes. There were also ritual circles for the [Curse of slowness], which Sofia had learned at the academy, engraved all around the base of the hill. The hill fortress itself had undergone a major redesign, with it having an actual roof this time, albeit pierced by the tower for the opening of the altar, and it also had higher, thicker walls, with several layers of bone interwoven in special patterns for added structural integrity. For the more distant plains, where the Sunless had appeared the first time, Sofia had carved and filled thousands of mana-storing ritual circles. This had been the most time-intensive thing to prepare. It drew a complete circle around the plains, and was the most critical part of Sofia¡¯s defense plan. Lastly, the fortress, the trenches, and their surroundings were all covered in a thick freezing mist from the [The Overflowing Chalice] she had gotten at the same time as Bookie¡¯s own skeleton. She had tried it against the Sunless drones, and while the freezing effect itself did nothing to harm the Sunless the mist also contained a slowing effect that did affect them, and worked exceedingly well together with the curse of slowness. Both of them together could slow the advance of the Drones to a crawl. Bookie had already summoned and positioned all of his skeletons, and now Sofia was watching her mana climb back up while the sun slowly made its way down the horizon. ¡°The defenses are set,¡± she muttered, watching over the silent plains. ¡°Now we wait.¡± When dusk came, Sofia stepped onto the lift and took off the saint set anklet. With her weight doubled, the lift quickly started going down. She reached the bottom and the lever automatically swung back, locking the platform on the ground level. ¡°Let¡¯s get to it. Time to place the offerings.¡± Sofia¡¯s mana heart went first on top of the altar, with the Destroyer¡¯s soul stone below it where the Chimera¡¯s stone had been before, then she moved on to the pillars. The northern pillar, a representation of my flaws. Sofia placed a golden bone on the pillar. The southern pillar, a representation of my strengths. Sofia placed a blessed bone on the pillar. The eastern pillar, a representation of my past. Sofia placed a bloody, pointy bone on the pillar. And the western pillar, a representation of my dreams¡­ Sofia placed a bunch of bones on the pillar. She could not stop smirking the whole way through. Did the offerings have to all be bones? Of course not, but she found it funny that she could do it and it would work, so she did. She quickly checked the outside through her bone tokens in the fortress walls and the mood around her changed. I need to hurry up. ¡°Attention everyone! The sun is coming down, we can expect a longer or a tougher fight tonight, let¡¯s all do our best!¡± Bookie was the only one who could audibly answer, he cheered from his position at the top of the walls. Sofia kept monitoring the horizon, waiting for the exact moment. She felt nervous, the first night had been a very close call, and despite all of her preparations, she was not extremely confident about the second night, let alone the third. She bit her nails, an old bad habit that she thought she had gotten rid of, as she found it too unladylike, only to realize her nails were currently just bone anyway. I should just put on the armor already¡­ When the last ray of sunlight disappeared, she activated the ritual and kicked the lift¡¯s lever, propelling her all the way to the top of the tower just as the beam of light from the ritual flared up and illuminated the sky. They started appearing from everywhere, millions of them. Drones, amalgams, homunculus, and even bird-like flying Sunless, gliding high above like dark shadows across the night sky. ¡°It¡¯s much worse than I hoped,¡± Sofia whispered as she surveyed the approaching army of dark creatures. She tightly gripped her scepter, her bone body creaking from her unsteady control. ¡°No matter, we have prepared as much as we could¡­ Let¡¯s do our best.¡± That night again, the Sunless attacked.
Chapter 465 - Tower defense Sofia did her best to analyze the situation while the Sunless slowly approached her first line of defense. She had anticipated a few things, but the current situation was worse than her planned worst case scenario. There were just too many of the advanced types of Sunless. The Engineer skeleton climbed up to the top of the tower through a trapdoor, carrying a bunch of small colored flags made of torn cloth on bone sticks, Sofia acknowledged him with a nod before he quietly sat cross-legged near her. Pareth. Slight change of plan. You focus on hunting the homunculus. We absolutely cannot have them come close or the heart will be in danger. We will manage everything else, somehow. Bookie, dispatch five soldiers to each corner tower, they need protection from the flyers. The army of Sunless slowly approached the ring of mana-storing ritual circles. Alright, focus. Thin, strong beams of light. Sofia raised her scepter, and light erupted from the catalyst, an umbrella of rays of holy light spreading from the tower, and perfectly hitting the distant ritual circles all around the plains. She was multicasting her own heavily edited version of [Heal Undead], something she had been working on to have more efficient ways to apply the rot. As the first line of Sunless started to glide over the ring of rituals, small patches of black erredian rot started spreading all over the ritual circles. The easily accessible high amounts of mana allowed the rot to grow explosively, in an instant, the rot engulfed thousands of drones, quickly propagating even further thanks to all the excess mana at its disposal. The drones were dying so fast that Mr Scribe did not even try to count and display the kill notifications, but the Amalgams kept advancing despite the rot, and the smarter homunculi simply flew up to avoid the land-bound rot. Sofia stopped spreading the rot when her mana hit the halfway point. This should be enough. Now the flyers. The small bird-like Sunless gliding over the plains were fast-approaching; they were a new kind of Sunless that Sofia had never seen, but she had been expecting that possibility. After all, the Sunless Nightbringer that Sofia had briefly seen near the start of the trial was a giant flying creature. Paladins, take up arms! Bookie¡¯s twenty five Paladin class skeletons were waiting within the walls. Castles usually had such hiding spots for archers to be able to shoot arrows safely through thin slits. Sofia knew about it from her time in the Holy-See. The paladins were already trained with the bow and arrow, but Sofia had the Engineer skeleton prepare something better, his own brand of elemental muskets. Usually the Engineer¡¯s constructs were temporary, but with ample time to prepare, Sofia had gotten him to make permanent ones. The flying Sunless approached the fortress in straight lines, they were easy targets. The paladins fired, and twenty five Sunless flyers fell and impaled themselves into the countless rows of bone spikes surrounding the walls. Keep shooting! Don¡¯t save your mana, when you¡¯re out, take up a lance and go up to the ramparts! Sofia quickly changed her view to Pareth¡¯s, she watched him jump over a black lance and cleave a homunculus in half as he landed. ¡°Alright,¡± she whispered, relieved that he seemed to be doing well despite the horrendous situation he was in, surrounded by countless Sunless. She trusted that he would teleport back to her if his situation was getting desperate. The first amalgams are coming! Sirhellions, charge your bolts! The Sirhellion skeletons were mounted like ballistas on rotating bone constructs spread into three corner towers in a triangle around the fortress. This was needed since they could not fly at night without ambient mana. They each had a soldier Kidjikkik responsible for rotating the structure, and now were also all surrounded by five more soldier Kidjikkiks as protection. The trenches carved around the fortress were right at the limit of the Sirhellion¡¯s range, any further and their lightning attacks would become inaccurate. As soon as an amalgam tried to jump over the giant trench, it received a lightning bolt. It was not enough to kill them, but the bolts came with a debilitating effect that would prevent the amalgams from jumping, and their momentum would send them barrelling down the trenches. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. The first amalgam was hit by the lightning and fell into the trenches, getting pierced from side to side by giant bone spikes. It was still not dead, but the rot would finish the job. Good, this is also working. Keep it up. So far, the Paladins managed to keep all the flyers at bay, but already, a few amalgams were getting past the trenches. There were only three Sirehllions, and the Sunless amalgams came by the dozen. The zone beyond the trenches was all spikes and freezing mist, so they were injured as they landed, some were impaled, but for the amalgams with more than one head, their sheer power was enough to break most of the spikes they landed on. Black lances started to form. Bookie, send the foot soldiers. Small trap doors appeared within the walls, from which small squads of lancier Kidjikkik soldiers crawled out one by one before falling into the sea of bone spikes. The tips of their weapons were hollow like fountain pens, and shone with a green gleam. The flower hero skeleton had been one of the skeletons hard at work for weeks during the construction project. Every night, Bookie had him create new flowers and try the poisons on Sunless drones. The Soldier Kidjikkik could easily navigate between the bone spikes with their elongated worm-like bodies, each squad of five surrounded a different amalgam. Sunless Amalgams had a weakness, while they could morph their body to defend themselves when channeling spells, they could not use their self-defense spikes at the same time they released the spells. Sofia worriedly looked at the four pillars every few seconds, hoping to see them burn out and learn how long this night would last. The first black lance shot forward. Sofia was ready, using her storage eye, she summoned a thick bone slate right in front of the attack. The black lance impaled the bone slate and kept flying forward. The slate impacted the wall first, dissipating a huge amount of force as it shattered. The lance failed to pierce the bone walls. At the same time, a Kidjikkik squad stealthily attacked the Amalgam from within the sea of spikes, only stabbing it once each, delivering some poison before making their way over to another amalgam. The amalgam¡¯s lower body started to dissolve, in turn feeding the rot which the creature was already covered in. The rot flared up like a hot bubble of mana, and there was nothing left of the amalgam a few seconds later. Sofia looked at the pillars again, but the flames were all still burning. It had not even been two minutes yet, but she dearly hoped that the second night would be shorter than the first. She quickly transferred another bone slate from her bone storage to her eye, and swapped as fast as she could through all of her vision tokens to determine where the next lance was going to come from. She stopped the second lance, but they were already starting to come too fast. For each lance she stopped, two more pierced through the walls. The walls slowly repaired themselves, enough to sustain the damage without crumbling. This continued for a bit, and finally, the first pillar¡¯s flame burned out. This night is also twenty minutes long! We can do this! The homunculi started to reach the trench. Pareth had killed a good number already, but he could only cover a tiny portion of the battlefield. Come back, we¡¯re starting phase two! Sofia informed Pareth as she struggled to stop as many black lances as she could, spending her stock of bone slates at an alarming pace, littering the battlefield with broken bones. Pareth teleported to Sofia, and without waiting, he downsized himself to his smallest height and jumped off from the tower. He grew back after stabilizing his fall, and squashed a fireball-casting homunculus as he landed, his role was still the same. Sometimes an homunculus would manage to cast a spell, obliterating a section of the outer walls, but thanks to Bookie¡¯s non-stop micro-management of the Kidjikkik and Paladin troops, they always managed to avoid being caught in the spells. The drones were handled by the rot, the amalgams by Sofia, the Sirhellions and the Kidjikkiks, the homunculi by Pareth, and the flyers by the Paladins. This resulted in a tense push and pull, as the bone walls were destroyed and regenerated, without much real damage being done. The second flame burned out, The fortress held out for about ten more seconds after the start of the second half, that was when the Engineer skeleton raised a yellow flag. The paladins had all run out of mana. To the ramparts! Don¡¯t let them in! The Engineer also raised a blue flag, this one meant the Sirhellions were out. Between blocking two black lances with summoned bone slates, Sofia had to decide on what to do next. They held for long¡­ The templars are already on standby. Should I order the cast now? She had only been distracted for a second, but it was enough for a black lance to get through the walls and hit the sky tower. The entire structure shook under Sofia¡¯s feet. Start the cast and hold! Pareth, your health is too low, come back! A flying Sunless attacked Sofia from above, it had managed to stay undetected by flying high, it was larger than the ones attacking below, and Sofia only noticed it at the last moment, too late to do anything. The Engineer skeleton had fewer things to focus on and was more aware of his surroundings, he had noticed an instant before, and before the Sunless could reach Sofia, he threw himself at it.
Chapter 466 - For science The large flying Sunless collided with the Engineer skeleton, and they broke through the tower¡¯s ceiling, falling toward the altar. The ground under Sofia¡¯s feet also broke and fell, but her ability to step on air kicked in at that moment, she watched the Sunless and the skeleton dive. Bookie, send the book! The book of skeletons appeared in Sofia¡¯s left hand, unlike the usual, it was closed, Bookie was too busy to search for the page she wanted. Sofia opened it and flipped the pages directly to the Mimic¡¯s. She pulled on the page, only for it to slip through her fingers, turning into mist. Shit! Not enough fog! Who else? Sofia tried the page right before, one significantly less expensive but also decent for the situation, the four withered vampires. That worked; the skeletons quickly formed near her while she turned her attention back to trying to stop the deluge of black lances assaulting the walls below. The vampire skeletons jumped down the hole as soon as they took shape, their only job was to protect the mana heart from the Sunless the Engineer was still falling with. Trusting her skeletons, Sofia kept blocking as many black lances as she could, but many were starting to get through, and this created opportunities for the homonculi¡¯s spells to strike closer to the heart. The paladins on the roof were also starting to get overwhelmed by the flying Sunless, which were a lot harder to take down without ranged weapons. The multi-headed amalgams were also starting to throw clumps of Drones up on the fortress¡¯ roof, which had forced about half of the Kidjikkik soldiers to come up as reinforcements. The situation was becoming so bad that Bookie himself was fighting, slicing up drones with his mithril dagger. Sofia felt the engineer skeleton and one of the vampires die, but the three other vampires were climbing back up, which meant the heart was still safe. Pareth had been going against her orders and kept pushing his luck outside the walls, killing one more homunculus before he got surrounded by three two-headed amalgams and teleported back to Sofia, most of his bones damaged or broken. TEMPLARS! The channeling time of [Holy smite] could not end soon enough. With nine minutes left on the clock, a vortex of mana formed above the bone fortress. The wave of cold mana of Death washed over the fortress and spread far and wide on the plains, killing countless Sunless. Only some of the flying ones gliding too high to be sweeped survived. This gave the skeletons some breathing room to heal, and the holes in the fortress walls could finally all be closed up, but already, the army of Sunless was reforming in the distance. Sofia looked at the new Sunless wave with dread, the Templars could only cast once. Bookie¡¯s skeletons were not able to regenerate mana, they needed to be resummoned, as their mana was actually just Bookie¡¯s fog. But Bookie was all out. Until they reach us again, this buys us two minutes at best. I can¡¯t even transform and fight this time, it¡¯s way too dangerous. The Sirhellions are out of mana, the Paladins and the Templars too. With all of its protections down, the fortress would hold for maybe two minutes when the Sunless started to blast it with Black lances again. And if a single amalgam managed to make it through the bone spikes and get in, everything was basically over. How the fuck do we survive for seven more minutes?! There has to be a way! Come one Sofia, THINK! Sofia¡¯s thoughts raced, all her skills, all her possessions, all her knowledge, she ran through everything, trying to find a wa y out. Things were not looking good at all, but she still managed to find two possible ways. Pareth, go grab Bookie right now! Pareth jumped down from the tower while Sofia fixed the floor underneath her feet, and started carving the Sun¡¯s generosity ritual on it, which she quickly activated. Pareth teleported back holding Bookie¡¯s arm. ¡°Quickly sit in there! And eat this!¡± Sofia ordered Bookie, shoving her second mana pearl between his jaws. Bookie was stunned by the sudden orders, but nevertheless, he started biting down on the mana pearl, the fragments of which fell down his empty ribcage before turning back into mana and seeping into his bones. That works! ¡°You unsummon the Templars and bring them back as soon as you have the fog for it!¡± This will buy us some time. But it¡¯s still not enough. Sofia walked to be behind Bookie¡¯s back. ¡°Whatever you hear, don¡¯t turn back, alright, Bookie?¡± ¡°Y- Yes¡­¡± This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. ¡°Sorry Pareth, but I¡¯m going to need your help on this one. Give me a view of the back of my head, please.¡± Pareth already knew what Sofia was about to do, and Sofia could tell that it made him uncomfortable, but she was going to do it anyway. Health : 6432 / 85 980 Sofia grabbed the Admin dagger, and slowly, she started cutting the back of her head open from top to bottom. Her jaws clenched, she did her best to keep the dagger steady to not make a mess. The cleaner the cut, the lower the health loss. Health : 5622 / 85 980 Fuck me that hurts¡­ And that was the easy part. Carefully sliding the dagger along her skull, like skinning an animal for its hide, Sofia peeled the skin of her head off. Out of all the messed up things she had done to her body, to date, this was without a doubt the worst offender. She had been putting it off for a long time, but she long knew that either by curiosity or desperation, she would end up doing it one day or another. Health : 462 / 85 980 Stamina : ERROR / 21 047 Mana : 245 629 / 417 100 Sofia extracted her skull to feed it to the skull choir. She made a fake bone skull to re-wrap her skin around, and encased most of her head into more bone to hide the damage. The only things left visible were her two eyes which she could no longer move due to the severed muscles, and her golden blonde hair falling down her back, separated into two halves by a bone clamp holding her skin together in the middle. Sofia wanted to lie down and rest after the self-imposed ordeal, her mind screamed at her that it did not want to even think anymore, but she had to tough it up and endure at least until the end of the ritual. A new line appeared at the end of the [Skull Choir] description. [Skull Choir] Stored skulls:
    • Human (Air, chorus)
    • Sandworm (Energy beam)
    • Boar (Intercept)
    • Destroyer (Rip and tear)
  • ????? (Bloodlight echoes)
Because the skull choir had a long three minute cooldown between activations, if she tried the new skull now, she had to keep it up until the end of the night if she wanted to use it. With fifty mana of upkeep per skull per second, and her regeneration currently barely above a hundred points per second, she had to carefully consider how many she wanted to summon, while the army of Sunless was approaching fast. It would cost about twenty two thousand to keep one skull up until the end of the night. My regen offsets the cost of two. If I summon five that leaves me just shy of two hundred thousand left to spend on everything else. It¡¯s my own skull. It has to be good. Five human skulls appeared around Sofia. It was perhaps the first time that a summoned skeleton really made Sofia uncomfortable. The skulls were all staring at her, dripping with red blood. Slowly, veins of light appeared from under the skulls, gradually building up to mimic Sofia¡¯s entire network of bloodlight which she hid inside of her bone body. They were all in the exact same position. Bloodlight Echoes. Sofia raised a hand and the Echoes followed without any delay. From creepy and disturbing, the skull choir¡¯s new addition became fascinating. Can those¡­ A spark of blue electricity appeared in Sofia¡¯s hand. The lowest possible power output of the Angel¡¯s bolt spell. The Echoes hands also produced blue sparks. Holy fucking shit. That cost me six times the usual amount of mana. They¡¯re using my reserves. But still. Sofia used Heal Undead to summon a thin pillar of holy light in front of her. Each echo summoned a similar one on their position. This can work! Pareth, back to the frontlines! Bookie you stay here and summon the Templars as soon as you can, get them to prepare another smite. Unlike the destroyer skulls, the echoes are confined by the usual Choir formations¡­ Currently known Array Formations:
  • Ring system Array
  • Sphere Array
  • Wall Array
(Next Array unlocked at skill level 250) Ring is good, Skulls, take place! The echoes spread around, in a circular formation, they moved up to the borders of the platform. Sofia cast as large a beam of light she could over the plains down below, it was pitifully small by itself considering the size of the plains, but it was soon joined by five more beams of light illuminating all sides of the fortress. The timing could not have been more perfect, as the legions of Sunless started crossing into the beams of light. Shower them with rot! With five echoes, the upkeep of [Erredian rot] was of 60 000 mana a second, and each beam of light applied six layers of rot in an instant. Sofia immediately stopped the rot to keep some mana for later, but already, this simple move had applied six times more rot than usual for the same amount of mana. This renewed rot wave helped slow the Sunless, and bookie eventually managed to get the Templars out again, casting another [Holy Smite], which ended up being much weaker than the first one but still enough to buy them some time before the Sunless reached them again. The last minutes of defense were messy and each incoming black lance put the altar at risk. Bookie¡¯s skeletons were almost all dead, and Sunless drones were infiltrating the fortress, when, finally, the last pillar¡¯s flame burned out. After a bright explosion of light came silence, and Sofia passed out on the spot, alive but completely drained, barely getting caught by a teleporting Pareth. Unaware, Bookie jumped up in joy, ¡°We did it!¡±
Chapter 467 - Eternal Dusk Sofia woke up in Pareth¡¯s arms, near the altar. Bookie threw himself in her arms, ¡°Sofia!¡± Hey boys. Sorry about that. How long was I out this time? Sofia asked in her thoughts while stroking Bookie¡¯s skull with her bone left hand. ¡°Almost a whole entire hour!¡± Bookie answered, a hint of worry in his voice. Not too bad. My stamina is still errored out but I feel fine now. Let¡¯s have a look at the heart. Sofia stood up with difficulty, she was basically entirely bone now, with not a single functional muscle left. Turning her entire head to be able to look in the altar¡¯s direction, she observed the mana heart quietly floating above the altar, it had taken even more of a golden sheen now, with only a faint hint of the original red glow remaining. [Saintomancer¡¯s heart]: /ULTRA EX tier/ UNABLE TO CALCULATE SETTING TIME Imprint progress : 10000/ 10000 Transcendent ritual : 2/3 Effects (Stats will be doubled) :
  • All stats + 250% (ULTRA EX rank base)
  • All stats + 50%
  • Health + 67 381
  • Stamina + 17 900
  • Mana + 834 719
  • Slashing resistance + 25%
  • Explosion resistance + 25%
  • [Relocate Core]
  • Destroyer Signature Skill Modifier
  • Speed shard (5)
  • Strength shard (2)
  • [Infinity Engine] Lv.1
Please Select Ascendency Path 2/3 (You can pick a new path or level up the current one) All stats went from +200 to +250? That¡¯s more than usual for one rank. Still no additional imprint space, though. Picking Infinity Engine again. Nice. Now to read the full description for the third ritual. It said I was missing reagents without telling me which¡­ Hopefully not another Keystone monster¡¯s mana heart. [Transcendent ritual 3]: ¡®Call the titans¡¯. Activate the ritual while placing Sunless Debris in all reagent slots with the mana heart slot empty. Use your mana heart to absorb a titan core (They will naturally fuse). Awfully simple instructions¡­ Titans¡­ At least it¡¯s not another defense trial, because I would have stood no chance. This, though? If it¡¯s killing a single big creature, this is more my kind of thing. What worries me is the plural. Call the titans¡­ I only need a single one, though, if the last line is correct? So if I could find a titan without the ritual I wouldn¡¯t need to worry about there being multiple. Where does one find a titan, though? Also if the ritual to call them uses Sunless debris then they must be Sunless titans, right? So it¡¯s strange that this ritual doesn¡¯t say it needs to be held at night like the two previous ones¡­ Unless¡­ Oh. Yeah, I see. Yes! That has to work. This last step might be easier than the previous one! Not doing the intended ritual to call the titans is a risky bet, but if this step is meant to be the hardest, there is no chance I could do it the intended way.
Sofia was cutting it close with her timing, her heart was about to set in a week or two, but after a lot of fruitless searching, on a cold night she finally found it again, obscuring the sky. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. She looked up with one of the many vision tokens embedded into her body, her makeshift solution to solve not being able to move her eyes. Her Identify not working anymore, she brought up the old result again. [Sunless Nightbringer - Lv. 334 - Imprint power : ??? - Effect : ??? ] ¡®And the sky disappeared, giving place to his endless majesty.¡¯ Found you. Pareth, Bookie, stay inside for now. Let¡¯s try to be smart about this. Sofia followed the gigantic flying Sunless while staying on the ground, quietly channeling her unlife rune. Interestingly, even in the bone body, it still appeared at the usual spot on her shoulder. With the rune finally on, she started to walk up the air coming closer and closer to the black thing covering the sky. It was really like the sky had been devoured by a pure black void, but the higher Sofia stepped, the more her mana vision revealed how much mana flowed through the black mass. Seriously, how large is this thing? It¡¯s hard to believe it is a whole filter weaker than the Chimera and the Destroyer. It has millions of times too much mana for its level¡­ I don¡¯t think it has noticed me yet. How do I find the core of this thing? The Sunless Nightbringer was flying much faster than Sofia could walk so it was only a matter of time before it left her behind. Either I get its attention or I try to get on its back. Going inside is too dangerous since this thing is a Sunless, that¡¯s a good way to end up crushed. Let¡¯s just try to get up¡­ How, though? Finding the giant flying Sunless had been hard enough, she could not let it escape her. Finally, what she decided to do was to get as close as she could to it from below, and to wait until the right moment. When the sky appeared again above Sofia¡¯s head, she was ready to turn around and use her short range teleport. She barely managed to plunge her dragon claws into the creature¡¯s back even with the teleportation. The Sunless was truly flying at a delirious speed, it was hard to just hold on like this. She could already tell that the black flesh of the creature was trying to eject her, had she used her real hand instead of the dragon armguard, it would have already been turned to meat paste. Still, Sofia managed to pull herself in, and changed her left hand as well as both of her feet to bone hooks which she used to stabilize herself on the creature¡¯s backside. The bone hooks were destroyed in a matter of seconds, but Sofia could let them heal up, plunge them into the creature again, and use that short window of time to move her right hand further up to gradually climb onto the giant back of the Sunless Nightbringer. While that Sunless was unfathomably large and wide, its body was only a few meters thick. After a while, Sofia finally managed to step onto the actual flat back of the creature, although she still needed to have her right hand planted inside to avoid being ejected. Sofia stayed there for a moment without moving, just slowly fixing her bone body which the whole improvised hook transformation thing had severely messed up. The view from the creature¡¯s back was surreal. It was like being on an entirely black desert, being constantly pushed back by the most violent winds, with nothing on the horizon, under a permanent sunset. Just how fast is this thing flying?! It¡¯s so much effort just to hold on! Since her entire body was controlled by [Bone Dominus], the current situation was taking up a major part of Sofia¡¯s concentration, so much that it would be hard to use any other spell at the same time in that situation. Sofia worked on slowly streamlining her bone body, the improved aerodynamics helping reduce the load on her right arm by a lot, but even still, she had to fiercely stay planted inside of the Sunless¡¯s back to avoid being flung back into the sky. I need to move if Iwant to find this thing¡¯s core¡­ Sofia made very slow progress, moving up the creature¡¯s back for hours against the relentless winds. She had noticed a bright strip of white in the distance, just like the markings on Tarren and Everelle, and that was where she was headed. The wind was calmer near the white strip, and that helped Sofia¡¯s progression, that was because of the mana density near the white part of the Sunless. It was extremely high, suffocatingly so, and it pushed even the wind aside. While inside this soup of thick mana, Sofia could finally stand up on the creature¡¯s back, stepping on the white part. As soon as she did that, the black parts surrounding the white started to bubble up like hot tar. I don¡¯t like this. I think I¡¯ve been officially spotted. Sofia ran. With the vision token she had embedded on her back, she looked behind her, and saw that the ¡®bubbles¡¯ grew to be multiple four-headed amalgams, slowly rising from the Nightbringer¡¯s insides. Sofia ran faster. She ran forward, but she could only follow the white strip or the wind would blast her away, so it was not going to be long until her situation became worse. At first the amalgams only appeared near where she was, but soon they started appearing ahead, and since Sofia could not run anywhere else, decisions had to be made. While still running, she summoned the skull choir with as many Bloodlight Echoes as she could, and emptied her entire mana in less than a second spreading metric tons of pulsating black rot on the Sunless Nightbringer¡¯s back. With that done, she manually controlled her jaw with [Bone Dominus] to chew into a fake bone heart and transform to her superior demonic body while she dismissed the unlife rune. The skulls from the choir sent her back just a tiny bit of mana through [Heat Death] when they disappeared, helping restart her regeneration even while she was still transforming. She jumped over the amalgam blocking her way, and kept following the white strip. The entire back of the Nightbringer was starting to bubble up like a calm lake suddenly brought up to a boil, and from the black bubbles, Sunless amalgams rose by the dozen. It¡¯s not that it has too much mana for its level! It¡¯s that it¡¯s carrying thousands of fucking amalgams!!! Sofia¡¯s mana senses extended far and wide as she ran, contorting her body to avoid the black lances incoming from all sides. She had five minutes left to find the Nightbringer¡¯s core.
Chapter 468 - I need a hero Sofia was strangely calm as she advanced on the back of the Nightbringer. The white stripe she followed meant there was only one way she could go, and she was so used to the casting time and velocity of the black lances that avoiding them in her demon form was almost too easy. It reminded her of the Alphageid¡¯s tentacles, if anything it was a bit tougher in that she couldn¡¯t step on the lances. She constantly scanned everywhere with her mana senses to try to find anything that stood out. A few times, the black lances did almost get her, when there were too many at once, but the demon form skills allowed her to avoid getting touched at all. How many kilometers had she run for? She could not tell, but there was no end in sight. Then the white stripe spread into a Y shape. The mana to the right was slightly denser than it was on the left, so Sofia turned right. Then the path split again, and Sofia kept following the paths with the most mana. Amalgams kept appearing all around her in ever-increasing numbers. Eventually the odds stacked against her, and a black lance came that she could not possibly avoid, both [Regret] and [Misfortune] were already on cooldown, so Sofia did what she could: block with the dragon scale. Her health took a very slight dip as the shock of the impact ran through her body, and Sofia got ejected from the white path. Immediately the thundering winds hit her and sent her flying high in the sky. While upside down, she used [Dodge - Me] and stopped her flight by stepping on air, and jumped off of it, propelling herself back onto the Sunless¡¯ back. She landed in the black zone, with amalgams immediately starting to form around her, but they were left behind as the wind kept pushing her back, her right arm leaving long claw trails on her path as she fought the momentum not to get sent flying again. In just a few seconds, the wind pushed her back into one of the white stripes, and quickly finding her footing, Sofia started running again. She breathed in as much mana as she could, while she kept count of how long of her transformation remained. I need to go faster. But she was already at her maximum speed, running so fast that it was hard to even adjust her direction in time when the Y intersections came without warning, hidden by the constant amalgam-spawning ebullition of the Nightbringer¡¯s black skin. That was, her maximum speed with no mana cost. When she managed to bring her mana back over fifty thousand, she could comfortably activate the third tier of [Runeforged Overlord] for an extra 149% speed boost. Finally, when it looked like she was going to run out of time with only twenty seconds left on the counter, Sofia reached the end of the white lines, a giant white circle where several lines converged. There was a black cross-shaped mark in the middle. The Sunless eye! Pareth appeared in the middle of the circle before Sofia, activating his armor and raising two greatshields of light. Amalgams were rising around the circle faster than ever. With a final jump, Sofia landed in between Pareth¡¯s legs. Pulling the Key out her bone armor, she carved a deep hole in the middle of the black cross in a single swipe. Black lances were forming by the hundreds around them, like a deathly cocoon about to close. Blinding white light erupted from the hole Sofia had just carved. Hastily digging into her own flesh, Sofia ripped her mana heart from under her armpit with the Dragon claws and thrust it into the hole, her arm sinking down to the shoulder. The resulting explosion of light was even more blinding than the most powerful Angel¡¯s Bolt Sofia had ever cast. More blindingly white than the sun itself, it carved a giant hole through the Nightbringer, and all the nearby amalgams and their attacks disappeared, vaporized back into the volatile mana they had always been made of. The Nightbringer¡¯s core was as a piece of ¡®Sunless Debris¡¯ larger than Sofia¡¯s head, and it was being sucked into her mana heart like it was a liquid rather than a solid, attracted by an inescapable force. Another pulse of blinding white light escaped Sofia¡¯s mana heart when the Nightbringer core¡¯s last remnants disappeared. The light chased away everything, air, mana, there was nothing left but an empty void, violently destroying everything hundreds of kilometers across. It was so absolute that it even pushed Sofia and Pareth¡¯s mana straight out of them. The titan started falling from the sky. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Sofia could feel her mana heart¡¯s power pulsating even through the Dragon claw, she clenched it tightly as she fell with the titan¡¯s lifeless corpse. Her body was quickly turning back to bone as she fell, she looked up. Pareth was right above her, reaching out to grab her but being just shy of actually reaching her, completely out of mana, he could not even teleport to her. It reminded Sofia of her old recurring nightmare, where she hopelessly extended a hand to catch Saria as she was getting swept away by the waves. In the nightmare, she could never catch Saria¡¯s hand. But there were no more nightmares. Sofia caught Pareth¡¯s hand. We win! Now all that remained to truly call this a glorious victory was to stop the fall. Sofia doubted that she could survive a fall of several kilometers with her measly 128 remaining health points. Oh, if only a glorious Hero blessed by light could save our poor souls! Bookie finally made his appearance. Safely hidden deep within Sofia¡¯s soul, the light wave had not reached him. Adjusting his two black gloves, Bookie produced his book form between his hands, it was brimming with mana fog, Bookie slowly turned the pages, and he finally grabbed the one with the High-Priest skeleton. The High-Priest¡¯s scepter appeared in Bookie¡¯s hand, and, seconds before the group hit the ground, a bubble of mana enveloped Sofia and her two mighty heroes. The High-Priest¡¯s slow fall. The gargantuan body of the Nightbringer hit the ground before them, the force of the impact so violent Sofia and her group were engulfed in a giant dirt cloud. Her feet touching the ground a few seconds later, Sofia had to keep holding Pareth to stay up as the ground was still madly shaking from the impact, though the actual Nightbringer¡¯s corpse was nowhere to be seen anymore. When the dust settled, Sofia understood why, the giant Sunless had so much forward momentum that it had kept sliding forward even after colliding against the ground, creating a giant trench which Sofia, Pareth, and Bookie were currently inside of. Sofia could not even see the end of the trench as it extended beyond the horizon. Well, I don¡¯t think it will be bringing night again anytime soon. Sofia dispelled her bone helmet, her face showing a bright smile despite its current lack of functioning muscles. She held up her mana heart, and picked the [Infinity engine] level 3 card before she could even read the heart¡¯s new description. Third trial: DESTROYED! [Transcendent Saintomancer¡¯s heart]: /ULTIMATE tier/ ¡®Striving for perfection¡¯ Effects (Stats will be doubled) :
  • All stats + 350%
  • Health + 67 381
  • Stamina + 17 900
  • Mana + 834 719
  • Slashing resistance + 25%
  • Explosion resistance + 25%
  • [Relocate Core]
  • Destroyer Signature Skill Modifier
  • Speed shard (5)
  • Strength shard (2)
  • [Infinity Engine] Lv.3
Another fifty percent to the all stats bonus. I don¡¯t even want to calculate how much mana that will end up being, I might pass out again. In Sofia¡¯s hand, the mana heart was changing form again after she picked the last card, its golden glow became even stronger, and its shape twisted into strange geometric objects, until it stabilized in its final form. It floated over Sofia¡¯s palm, looking like a solid shard of light. It¡¯s a bit like a tiny Angel bolt, but golden? It¡¯s hard to see where it begins and where it ends. To the touch, as far as Sofia could tell with her bone hands, it was not actually really a solid, and more of a constant force pushing back against her fingers. She tried to gently squeeze it, and the repulsive force became stronger the more she tightened her grip. I don¡¯t think I can damage it but I should stop messing with it just in case¡­ All that¡¯s left is to go find Clint, right? We have about ten to twelve days. Should be easy enough. Before leaving, Sofia went to check on what remained of the Nightbringer; it had slid on the ground for tens of kilometers before stopping when it impacted a large mountain range. Sofia was flying with Bookie in her arms, observing the Sunless from above. It was very much dead, that much was certain, but even after its death, and after carving a giant new scar on the planet¡¯s surface, it was still very much a danger for the environment. Hundreds of kilometers of land and mountains were covered in Sofia¡¯s Erredian rot.
Chapter 469 - Familiar faces Sofia and Bookie silently observed the rot slowly consuming itself and everything in sight. The Sunless¡¯ mana usually disperse when they die¡­ But it looks like the rot I spread before my demon transformation worked a bit too well. Well. It should run out of mana in a bit¡­ Surely¡­ There won¡¯t be anything left in the area but it¡¯s not like anyone lives there. Right? Hopefully there wasn¡¯t anyone around¡­ Out of nowhere, Kyle appeared next to Sofia, blinking several times as he observed the ravaged landscape; he could hardly believe his own eyes. ¡°Huh. Explains why I lost the Nightbringer¡¯s signal,¡± he finally said, hiding his emotions, ¡°You really don¡¯t make it easy on me whenever you do anything¡­¡± Kyle sighed. ¡°I¡¯m still busy. Let¡¯s deal with this fast.¡± Blame the scribes who designed the transcendent rituals if you want to blame someone. Sofia answered in her head. Ah, right. He can¡¯t hear me because of the dagger. Sofia started to bring up a bone slate to write on, but she stopped to observe the Magic Kyle had started channeling. It was too complex, she could not understand anything from the mana movements around the Seraph Vampire, all she knew was that he channeled something for about ten seconds, sent a huge blast of mana forward, and the entire rot-covered zone ahead of them disappeared. Hundreds of kilometers of land, emptied in the blink of an eye. All that was left was a huge cylindrical hole. Kyle wiped the sweat off of his forehead, ¡°Well, I¡¯m happy for you, didn¡¯t think you¡¯d make it, honestly. Now return to the core, you have just about two hundred hours left; Clint¡¯s probably going to eat his apron if you don¡¯t make it in time. All your friends are already out, by the way. Aight, gotta go now.¡± Bookie waved him goodbye from Sofia¡¯s arms, ¡°Goodbye Mr. Kyle!¡± ¡°Goodbye little guy, see ya!¡± The Seraph disappeared as fast as he had arrived. For a second, Sofia thought about using her [Skill Capture? - 042] module right then and there, but she decided not to. Two hundred hours? I need to hurry up. Getting to the core was meant to be the final stretch of the trial, coming with its own difficulties, but Sofia was not particularly worried, especially since she already knew how to find an entrance. There were probably other ways to get down to the center of the planet, but the easiest way was just to find any of the many IPS towers, and she would be able to find a path from there. As for why she knew about that, Sofia had to thank the loose lips of a certain Sunless dungeon core. With the help of her Undead birds, it only took Sofia two days to find a tower, hidden within the empty trunk of a dead giant tree. Sofia entered through the hidden entrance common to all IPS towers. She looked up at the spiraling stairs leading to the higher floor. I wonder which moon this one goes to. But what we¡¯re looking for now is a way down. Spreading her mana senses around, Sofia felt no obvious results. To begin with, the entire tower was full of mana, be it the walls or the floor, they all were enchanted with self-repair and other such magics, which did wonders to obstruct any vision of what might lie beyond. Of course I can¡¯t summon the graveyard here¡­ Bookie, Pareth, come help. The two skeletons appeared to help Sofia search for the way down. Sofia had just started to carefully examine the walls when Bookie called her. ¡°Sofia! Sofia! I found it!¡± The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Already?! Even Pareth looked surprised, he and Sofia walked up to Bookie, and now that they knew where to look thanks to Bookie, the way down was very obvious. One of the square metallic slates making up the floor of the IPS had a small round hole on its surface. Bookie bent over and put two fingers into the hole, then pulled the iron slate up. It opened awkwardly to the side, this was actually a small hatch revealing a square hole with a ladder going straight down. Great job Bookie, want to go down first? ¡°Brother Pareth should go first in case if it¡¯s a trap!¡± Pareth shrugged, he reduced his size a bit more to comfortably fit inside the hatch, and jumped down without even touching the ladder. Down he goes. Actually, want to get on my shoulders, Bookie? ¡°C- Can I?¡± Get up here, I¡¯ll carry you down. Sofia held Bookie on her shoulders while she jumped after Pareth. She kept her left hand on the ladder to slow her fall when needed, the friction heating up her bone hand. The descent was quite long, and the ladder finally ended up leading to a small square room with various green glowing indicators built in the walls. A single light was red, labeled ¡®Maintenance hatch¡¯. There was a door leading out but it had no handle. Oh, I left the hatch open. Well, not my problem, I¡¯m not climbing back up to close it. How do I open the door? Pareth touched the door, sending some mana into it, and the door opened by sliding into the walls. Right. The door led to a dimly lit, long corridor going two ways, the room they just walked out of had its own label: ¡®IPST-28¡¯. Sofia naturally turned right, until she encountered another door about ten minutes later, labeled ¡®IPST-29¡¯. I think we went the wrong way. Turning back, she had to walk all the way to ¡®IPST-20¡¯, where another door faced the maintenance room¡¯s door. Sofia opened it, and she found herself face to face with a paper-person. The paper-person¡¯s body lit up, an intense yellow light washing over its crumpled body, only lasting for an instant before it turned back to a calm blue. Sofia did not even have time to try to communicate, the paper-person just stood aside and pointed at the ladder hatch going down in the room behind him. Ahah¡­ Let¡¯s be a bit more careful while we go down this ladder, alright Pareth? I think we are the danger here. I don¡¯t want to be responsible for a ladder accident. Going down the ladder at an acceptable speed was painfully long, but when Sofia was finally out, after opening one more door, she found herself in known territory, a random dark alleyway in the underground paper-person city. Simple as that! We even have time to go get a meal at the inn if we want. If not for the awkward realization that at the moment, no one in her party could physically eat, she might have done just that, but instead, she walked directly in the direction of Clint¡¯s house. Just like the first time, the paper-people barely paid her any attention. It was Sofia who stopped in her tracks when she spotted a familiar figure from afar, down several levels at the other side of the city a paper-person was floating around, followed by a couple of glowing sprites. Is it the same person? Agh, the paper-people all look the same to me, there could be other ones with sprite-related classes¡­ If only I could still use Identify¡­ Even if it¡¯s the right one, they won¡¯t even remember me unless I touch them¡­ That might be a bit awkward, I can¡¯t just approach a stranger and start touching them. Still if it¡¯s the Sprite Dancer I would like to thank them. Hmm¡­ What¡¯s a good present for the paper-people, even? I¡¯ll ask Clint or Kyle to help me with this. Let¡¯s focus on the important stuff right now. To Clint¡¯s house! Sofia walked all the way to the teleportation room where Moon had casually ripped Clint¡¯s head off, and the apron-wearing large man was already there waiting for her. About damn time you showed up lassy! Love your new looks. Sofia summoned a human skull with the choir to answer, ¡°Nice to meet you again too, Clint.¡± Spare me the crap and follow me, we got a ton of work to do, starting with skeleton man over here. I can¡¯t wait to get started! The scenery just changed around the group from the empty teleportation room to a giant underground forge. The temperature was suffocating, with sluggish streams of magma running down the walls. Clint did no introduction, he just walked away to grab two weird pedestal things covered in runes, and dragged them up to Sofia and Pareth. Get the hearts on there, that¡¯ll stop the setting process. This¡¯ll mark the official end of the trial. Congrats to the both of you. ¡°Kyle isn¡¯t coming?¡± Boy¡¯s busy, give him a break. He¡¯ll be there in a bit, we need him for the signature skills. Anyway, get to it already! Clint impatiently pointed at the pedestals. Sofia retrieved both mana hearts from the protection of her armguard, giving Pareth his own. They placed them on the pedestals at the same time under Clint¡¯s watchful eyes. Clint brought his face closer, almost drooling, he couldn¡¯t take his eyes off of Sofia¡¯s mana heart. Sweet fuck, that¡¯s the good stuff.
Chapter 470 - The true power of Keystones Sofia wanted to answer Clint, but her concentration was disturbed by the sudden change in her body, it was starting to heal, and the fake bone body was hindering it. ¡°aH, g- gIve Me a sEcOnd.¡± Pareth, help! Sofia hastily dispelled her bone helmet, slid the admin¡¯s dagger into her mouth to be sure she wouldn¡¯t lose the effects of the title, and told Pareth to take off her face. Pareth awkwardly grabbed Sofia¡¯s face and pulled it off of her bone body, Sofia¡¯s light veins following it out of their bone host. Her body started to slowly grow back from her face. Pareth wanted to use his [Greater heal] to expedite the process but Sofia stopped him. She put up a bone wall between herself and Clint, and slowly created bone clothes to cover her body as it grew back. With [Bone dominus] and [Radiance], Sofia was passively healing three percent of her health every second, in moments, she was finally back to full health. ¡°Ah- Ah- Aaaaaaah,¡± Sofia tested her voice, ¡°Oh, it feels so good to be whole again!¡± Meanwhile, Bookie was taking Sofia¡¯s armguard and stuff off of her bone body to help her transfer it all, and Clint was completely oblivious, occupied that he was looking at Sofia¡¯s mana heart from every possible angle. Fully clothed and back to her mostly-human body after nine months of being mostly bones, Sofia stored the bone wall and addressed Clint. ¡°So, Mr. Creation, down to give me some essence?¡± Clint tore his eyes away from the mana heart with difficulty. Yeah. Thought about it a lot, I can spare two at most. Price is quite simple: you get zero say on your incoming race evolution, I get full creative control. Deal? ¡°That¡­ I need to think about it. Can you give me a second?¡± Well you got until the reforging to make a decision. Clint waved her off as he returned to his observation of the ULTIMATE rank mana heart. Mr. Scribe, your take on this? The race evolution is from VPPV, right? Can we entrust that to him? Sofia felt her mana grow out of her control, she felt weak and nauseous as Mr. Scribe took control to be able to speak. [It is indeed a result of VPPV. The most important things are already set in stone, even without our input it should be fine, but be sure to confirm that He will not change our appearance too much. Two essences are hard to turn down, we need at least thirty for the Boundless Space realm.] Thirty?! [You are the one who picked the Divine Shadow Body keywords¡­] Alright¡­ Sofia cleared her throat. ¡°Hmm, Clint? Can you tell me more about the race evolution? What kind of input am I giving up exactly?¡± Clint turned his attention to Sofia again, Hmmph, sure. You¡¯ve got a race evolution pending, it will happen when I reforge you with the heart, no matter whether you want it or not, your body and soul are ready to change already, no walking back. But you can influence it, still, and I¡¯m buying that from you. ¡°What kind of influence?¡± Appearance, racial traits, racial skills, inherent strengths and weaknesses, it¡¯s all already forming, but you can still make large changes. You know about the Vampire¡¯s curse, right? ¡°I do, yes,¡± Sofia confirmed. Well if you were race-evolving to Vampire, you would be able to choose between the different elemental affinities of the Vampire curse, for example. That¡¯s not actually a thing, by the way, but that¡¯s the kind of scope we¡¯re looking at. ¡°And you want to make all the choices for me? How does that benefit you?¡± Beyond the joy of creating? I can stick one up to Sun and Moon if I also design my own race. Clint explained before letting out a coarse laughter. ¡°That¡¯s a big ask¡­ Can I trust that you will make it good for me?¡± You¡¯re talking with Creation itself, think I¡¯d willingly forge a bad item? You¡¯re gonna hurt my feelings lassy. ¡°Alright¡­ I have two conditions, though.¡± And that would be? This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. ¡°I want to have the right to object to your choice of name for the race if I do not like it, I know how it can be, I don¡¯t want to be like Alith and have my name be the race name.¡± Hmm¡­ I¡¯ll give you a choice between a few options, but you have to pick one of them. ¡°That sounds acceptable¡­ And my second demand is that you do not change my appearance too much.¡± Clint scratched his head at the demand. I can make an effort to preserve your face and general body-shape, if you insist. If you really don¡¯t like it, your Charisma will adjust it somewhat over time, but the racial features won¡¯t disappear. ¡°What would the racial features be?¡± I ain¡¯t quite sure yet. But the basis your skill is giving me to work with is interesting. You should still look like yourself, mostly. Just not quite human. Hmm¡­ Sofia turned to her skeletons, ¡°What do you guys think?¡± Pareth looked conflicted, but Bookie was just happy to be asked for his opinion, ¡°I think Sofia will always be Sofia!¡± ¡°True, Bookie. True. Alright¡­ I¡¯ll accept your terms, Clint, I hope you don¡¯t make me regret this.¡± A bit of trust wouldn¡¯t hurt. Heh. ¡°Sorry but you know how much I trust Gods in general. I still don¡¯t even know who I am up against.¡± Hah! About that, I have news. Moon thinks she knows who sent you to Peace¡¯s realm, you¡¯ll have to ask the small Oracle, though, faceless prick wouldn¡¯t tell me directly. And screw waiting for Kyle, we¡¯ll start without him. Whose signature skill do we make first? Sofia and Pareth looked at each other, and Pareth pointed at Sofia. ¡°I¡¯m first, I guess. I have no real idea what the signature skill thing is about, though.¡± Means the censor did its work correctly. Signature skills are pretty straightforward, we make a strong ass custom class skill for you by tapping into all the mana pathways you¡¯ve created in your blueprint until now. Everyone who clears this trial gets one. You do get some say on what the skill will be; I make a first draft with you, and how hard the system works on improving and fine-tuning it for you depends on the rank of your heart. ¡°That sounds a lot like a specialization. Do I get extra credits for my three extra ranks? How will it all even work with me being disconnected?¡± Kyle will be the intermediary between you and the system. And yes, you get extra credits like no one ever did before. Suffice to say, we can make some good shit right here, Clint excitedly explained. Sofia had to admit, she was getting excited about the idea too. ¡°How do we start?¡± Well, first, I need to explain the effects of your keystone modifier¡­
Clint took a step back to look at the entirety of the mana pattern he had just drawn mid-air after listening to Sofia¡¯s ideas. This is¡­ It can work. Like you wanted, there¡¯s potential for when you have more mana, and I can easily incorporate the Speed and Strength shards. As it is¡­ You will probably be able to summon only one, for now. And the cooldown will be several months. ¡°I¡¯m fine with that,¡± Sofia commented, ¡°as long as they all count as skeletons.¡± That, they will. Clint confirmed, Let me call Kyle, It¡¯s about time he shows his- ¡°I¡¯m right here, Clint,¡± Kyle interrupted him from a corner of the forge, he was sitting on an anvil, observing the mana patterns for Sofia¡¯s tentative signature skill. ¡°The skills you make are beyond my critique, as always.¡± They¡¯re masterworks all. Can¡¯t go wrong. Think it¡¯ll be accepted? Clint asked the Seraph. Kyle seemed hesitant. He stepped down from the anvil and started walking around the spell pattern. ¡°For anyone else, no chance. For the ultimate rank heart¡­ Maybe. All up to Handler.¡± Handler the high scribe again¡­ Aren''t there three of them? Why does it feel like Handler does everything? It makes sense considering its name, but that opens up the question of what the other two could possibly be doing? While Sofia asked a thousand questions in her head, Kyle told Clint he had already sent the design for approval, and very soon, a mana pearl appeared directly in the palm of Sofia¡¯s hand, making her jolt in surprise. Clint immediately noticed, Ohohoh, looks like it¡¯s been approved after all! Get to eating, lassy, I want to see what Handler changed! Learning a skill by eating a mana pearl¡­ So easy. Sofia chewed on the mana pearl, feeling it quickly dissolve in her mouth and the released mana penetrate to the deepest depths of her soul. [You have earned a Signature Skill. Use it well.] [Decrypting data for: ¡®SSS_ULTIMATE_AOT5C¡¯] [Decryption complete] [You have learned the Signature Skill: ¡¯Awakening of the five calamities¡¯] Oh yes. [Awakening of the five calamities]: /ULTIMATE rank Signature Skill/ The Saintomancer has created yet another tool for sorrowful destruction. Channel any amount of mana over 1 000 000 to invoke one of five Elemental Skeleton Destroyers hereby known as the five calamities. You may invoke one additional calamity for each time you have died during the current battle. Each calamity is a singular and unique invokation. Calamities disappear when they run out of mana. Cooldown: One month per invoked calamity. Available calamities: Calamity of Blood Calamity of Bones Calamity of Spirits Calamity of Plasma Calamity of Light
Chapter 471 - Get a Life Pareth¡¯s signature skill was also designed by Sofia and Creation, as Pareth could hardly communicate anything. Either way, Sofia¡¯s choice of hunting the Chimera in particular when choosing Pareth¡¯s keystone had not been random. She had spotted four different creatures with Keystone imprints as she ranked up her heart, and knowing that ¡®signature skill modifiers¡¯ were a thing, she had specifically decided to hunt the three-headed beast. Sofia couldn¡¯t contain her smile as she read Pareth¡¯s signature skill description again and again. ¡°It¡¯s perfect.¡± [Chimeric armaments]: /SSS rank Signature Skill/ The Hero slew the foul beast; the summoner stole the bones, and he stole the soul. Imbue your weapons, armor, and shields of light with a soul aspect each, granting them new abilities depending on the chosen soul. Souls can be swapped between slots. Imbued souls cannot be swapped in combat except by absorbing a new soul. Soul slots: Weapons (EMPTY; no ability) Armor (EMPTY; no ability) Shields (EMPTY; no ability) Pareth will finally be able to fly! ¡°Now even the skeleton is a necromancer¡­¡± Kyle commented. It¡¯s not as good as I hoped, Clint mumbled in his beard. Kyle rolled his eyes at the God¡¯s comment, ¡°What more did you expect? This is already among the best manaless signature skills we¡¯ve made.¡± Clint fiddled with the hammers in his forge, visibly annoyed. I thought it would be possible to quick-swap in battle. I built the architecture for it, but I suppose it was too heavy to keep, he explained. Kyle laughed. ¡°Maybe with an EX rank heart it would have gone through. I wonder if we¡¯ll ever get another one of those. Hopefully not.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not as if the Lords just go around giving essence left and right,¡± Sofia agreed, ¡°but who knows. Speaking of which, I did not feel safe bringing that up earlier, but now, things seem pretty final so I might as well ask, did we not technically lose the wager?¡± Kyle shrugged. ¡°Yeah, you technically failed the trial. But we can only retrieve the essence when the mana heart breaks or sets without a host. Breaking your mana heart is not something we are allowed to do.¡± ¡°So you would do it if you were allowed to?¡± ¡°If the rules warranted it, yes. But we suffer enough losses as is. If only the admins were still here¡­¡± Kyle said with a sigh. Sure would make a lot of shit much easier¡­ Clint complained with him. Sofia felt her strength suddenly leave her, and the sudden shift did not go unnoticed by Kyle, who observed her with narrowed eyes. It only lasted for a second, just the time for Mr. Scribe to send a short message. [Now is the time. We must negotiate for more mana to evolve VPPV. Forget the old plan. Show them the picture, you know what to do.] Just like that? Well, crap, alright. Here goes nothing. Sofia did her best to remember the times when she still had the [Poker Face] skill, and carefully controlled her facial expression. She cleared her throat; ¡°About that¡­ Did you two know that the Admins have left a hidden base on Cerberus beta?¡± A tense silence took over the previously relaxed atmosphere. Kyle and Clint looked at each other, and before they said anything, a white-haired old woman with a slightly hunched back and holding a simple wooden cane appeared right next to Sofia. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. She spoke with a gentle but somehow sinister voice. We do not appreciate liars in this house, child. I hope you are able to substantiate your claims. Sofia did her best to stay perfectly calm, she met the intense eyes of the old woman with a tranquil gaze. ¡°And you are, if I may?¡± Life. Now speak, child, before I send you to meet your sorrows. Clint and Kyle were both silently nodding to Sofia as if they were even more scared of the old woman than she was. ¡°Certainly. I do not lie, and I have proof.¡± I should show undeniable proof but I need to keep my best cards for the actual negotiation. After a second of reflexion, Sofia produced a small stack of paper. They were some of the ones written in a strange, supposedly coded language with bars and circles that Sofia did not recognize. Life¡¯s cane disappeared and she hastily grabbed the papers out of Sofia¡¯s hands. Her clear blue eyes quickly ran over the lines. She can read it. She raised her head, staring at Sofia even more intensely than before. You! Where did you find this?! ¡°I already said where,¡± Sofia explained, her voice not as composed as she hoped, letting a hint of fear and precipitation show through her words, ¡°I found their hidden base on the trial grounds-¡± WHEN?! The old woman pressed her, causing Sofia both and Pareth an involuntary jolt, and making even Bookie disappear in fear as he returned to hide within Sofia¡¯s soul. Clint stepped in, holding Life back with a hand on her shoulder. Calm down Lina. Let her speak. He said to snap her out of it. Calm down? CALM DOWN?! Life repeated, trembling. Her appearance started to warp as she yelled, she grew taller and wider, empty, soulless eyes appearing and disappearing at random all over her. The sound of her shifting voice shook the forge and the very reality around her. WE MIGHT HAVE HAD A LEAD TO SAVE ANNA RIGHT UNDER OUR NOSE ALL THIS TIME AND YOU WANT ME TO CALM DOWN?! The Goddess emanated so much mana that Sofia was starting to suffocate, it was a sensation she had never felt before, even next to Erredis in her Dragon form. She was clearly feeling herself starting to fade. In a state of panic, she activated the ring of Zar. Sofia lost control of her arm as it was attracted by an irresistible force toward the source of the boundless mana, like a tsunami, the mana rushed into the ring. For the first time, there was so much mana that it was not instantaneous, the ring sucked all the mana out of the forge. It was so much that it left the Dragon-scale armguard glowing red hot from the intense transfer of energy, something it never did even with the strongest of Angel bolts casts. The mana in the room was quickly replaced by the presence of the two Gods, but the sudden interruption had stopped the Goddess'' violent transformation, snapping her appearance back to that of a kindly old woman. All eyes were on Sofia after her unexpected stunt, she felt that she needed to choose her next words very carefully. ¡°I can lead you there,¡± she told them after swallowing her saliva. Life narrowed her eyes. You will. She ordered, before turning to Kyle with an accusatory glare, And you! How could you let this slip through?! DID YOU HIDE THIS FROM US?! Kyle raised his hands in surrender, ¡°I knew nothing about it. I swear on my soul. It must have happened after she was disconnected,¡± he guessed. Is he lying? Sofia decided not to correct him. Maybe he was lying for some reason, but she felt that Kyle had looked truly surprised just like Clint when she had announced what she had found. Moreover, considering the current situation, she doubted that Kyle would have not been waiting for her when she left the Admins¡¯ house, had he known at the time. I suppose the house was even more well hidden than it looked. Calm down, Lina, Clint repeated, his voice firmer now. Have the last three thousand years dulled your sense? Is this how you treat a bringer of good news? Stop your shit right now or I¡¯m pulling your wrinkly ass back to our plane. He said with an absolute seriousness, lightyears away from how he normally presented himself. Life took a deep breath, the continuous flow of mana emanating from her softening considerably. Very well, she said, You¡¯re right. I let my emotions get the best of me. She turned to Sofia, I apologize, child. This was an unsightly display. I hope you have it in your heart to forgive this old mother. But such a situation¡­ It hurts to see you so distant, Clint. Mother? Clint shook his head, What distant? I¡¯m worse than you are, Lina, but lashing out on an outsider isn¡¯t how we will bring her back. You know, Mr Scribe, I am beginning to think that it was very fortunate that we did not end up using the original plan¡­ Kyle stepped in again, ¡°Sofia, Pareth, I¡¯m sorry that this comes to interrupt your trial reward, but can you lead us there right now?¡± ¡°This is nothing, I was the one who brought it up in the first place,¡± Sofia answered, ¡°Had I known the people here considered Anna their family I would have reported it earlier. But yes, I can lead you there if you can take me to the IPS we landed at at the start of the trial. I have to warn you, though, there is not much to be found there, and most of the things that seemed of interest I already have with me right now just like the papers I just showed you.¡± I will buy it all from you. Life declared without hesitation before Sofia even showed anything. Just give me your price.
Chapter 472 - Forgeside chat Before they even left the forge, Life agreed to trade one of her divine essences for everything Sofia had taken from the admins¡¯ house, so Sofia started to bring the things out from her storage ring one by one. The documents on the creation of the trial were first, along with all the electrical doodads Sofia had pilfered and the accessories like the Sun Compass, and no one really cared about those. Then she started taking out Anna¡¯s stuff. The clothes, the shoes, and the one strand of blue hair rolled around a small bone. Lina teared up when Sofia brought out the enchanted robes, she said nothing as she held them with both hands like a fragile historical relic. Clint''s facial expression was tense watching all this, and ended up stepping away to walk around in his forge while Lina received the items. It¡¯s really hers¡­ Lina muttered as she delicately unrolled the hair from the small bone. Then Sofia stopped bringing out things. ¡°Is this everything?¡± Kyle asked, seeing how both Lina and Clint were not in a state to talk much. ¡°Well, no. There is more¡­ But¡­¡± But? Lina repeated, looking up at Sofia. ¡°The rest are things related to the Dragon admin.¡± Dragon? Lina repeated again. There was no dr- She stopped in the middle of her sentence, and her eyes opened wide. K- Kyle. What did you say this child¡¯s name was, again? ¡°It¡¯s Aphenoreth,¡± Sofia answered with a smile, ¡°Sofia Aphenoreth.¡± Lina stared at Sofia in horror. ¡°I understand there is no need to introduce my adoptive Uncle,¡± she continued, ¡°This has allowed me to ¡®bring back¡¯ some of the third administrator¡¯s things. Like this picture,¡± Sofia said as she brought out the group photo of the three admins together. Space distorted in the forge as Lina¡¯s eyes landed on the picture. Her appearance flickered, and she disappeared. It was more violent than a simple teleportation, as if she got sucked out of reality itself. What?! Clint cursed from the other side of his forge, FUCK, NOT AGAI- He also disappeared, leaving Sofia alone with Pareth and Kyle. ¡°Wha- What was that? Are they alright?¡± Sofia asked Kyle, who held his face in his palm. ¡°They will be alright,¡± he answered with a sigh, ¡°Life just lost control of her emotions too much and her connection with the physical plane got cut off. Creation got cut off as well because this is one of their restrictions for coming to our plane. They cannot stay away from each other.¡± ¡°Does this happen often?¡± Sofia asked, storing the picture back into her ring. ¡°No. But this isn¡¯t the first time¡­ They will be back in a matter of hours, at most.¡± ¡°Oh. Should we take that time to go to the secret base location then?¡± ¡°They¡¯ll kill me if I go without them,¡± Kyle dismissed the idea, ¡°I would rather hear the full story of how a young human could possibly get ¡®adopted¡¯ like this. It was already hard to piece things together from your system records before, and now that everything about you has been deleted¡­¡± ¡°Scripture fucked himself over without realising it is how. I can go into details if you want, but it is a really unbelievable story. Also, I have a favor to ask¡­¡± ¡°Let me guess,¡± Kyle cut her short, as he sat on one of the forge¡¯s giant anvils, ¡°You want more mana to upgrade your weird skill during the heart forging process, right?¡± ¡°H- How do you-¡± This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°The high-scribes know,¡± Kyle simply revealed, ¡°Who do you think created the skill? Your scribe did a lot of the work, yes, but could such a young scribe really come up with something this big by themselves?¡± ¡°No, but-¡± Kyle cut her off again, ¡±You know what, screw the regulations, let me explain this crap. You¡¯re already involved in so much stuff anyway, who cares. The three high-scribes run the system. HANDLER deals with managing staff and connecting everything together, EXPLORER does what the name implies, and most importantly, DATABASE manages all of everyone¡¯s magic and data. When we sent your signature skill to be approved, DATABASE was the one who upgraded it and HANDLER sent it back to us. So, for your primordial void thing skill, of course DATABASE knew, they had a hand in designing it.¡± ¡°Wait wait wait. So you knew I would ask for this from the start?¡± ¡°Absolutely not, I just got a notification seconds before you asked. Anyway, let it go, you don¡¯t need any extra mana, you will already get all we can afford to send, because your mana heart needs that much. Since you have a tier three scribe now, they¡¯ll be able to gather what they need from the resulting mana wave. Just like the traitors harvested your sister¡¯s mana wave to fuck with your records.¡± Sofia took a few seconds to absorb the flood of new information. ¡°Alright, I get it. But¡­ If I understand things correctly¡­ When ¡®the traitors¡¯ as you call them erased any trace of me in the system, they directly attacked the Database high-scribe?!¡± Kyle sighed again. ¡°Without Anna around, the high-scribes are vulnerable to attacks from the inside. It was not much of an issue ever, but with Archangels turning their back to the system¡­ This whole situation is a huge mess.¡± ¡°That¡¯s an understatement,¡± Sofia agreed,¡±It sounds like the very existence of the system itself is in danger, that¡¯s a lot worse than I thought.¡± ¡°Hence my previous recommendation. I still stand by my words, stay away from our mess as much as you can, simply focus on getting stronger. This goes for everyone right now, you, your friends, personnel strength is always the best insurance you can have. But I can say this, the system will be fine.¡± ¡°How can you be so sure?¡± Sofia asked. I used to think the system was untouchable but now¡­ ¡°Everyone stands to lose if the system disappears. Everyone. We expect that they might try to take over, but the system will stay,¡± Kyle explained while adjusting his hair, ¡°and worst case¡­ Well, this I better not speak about.¡± ¡°Thank you for telling me so much either way,¡± Sofia thanked him with a nod as she sat not too far from him on the huge anvil, her legs dangling in the air, ¡°I understand how weak and insignificant I am in the grand scheme of things. For now.¡± That brought Kyle out of his somber mood, he laughed. ¡°For now, she says. Sen was right about you on all counts. Well, I can¡¯t wait to see it, you do have the potential, that I won¡¯t deny. A few more players in the big pond is always good. Shake those old murky waters.¡± ¡°Right? I also want to help with the Phageid, if I can.¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s also a thing. You really do know a lot. A given considering your name, I suppose. We are going to have rewards for people who help with that, actually, it¡¯s getting worked on right now. But the next eclipse might be a bit soon for you.¡± ¡°Will it? I¡¯m growing fast. Level 500 doesn¡¯t feel that far away.¡± Kyle stared at Sofia silently for a few seconds. ¡°I¡¯m not even going to say anything. Have you chosen how you want to level up from the options in the book yet?¡± he asked. ¡°My Scribe¡¯s got it all figured out. Which one did you use, by the way?¡± Kyle laughed lightly, ¡°Ahah, you just figure I was already strong before the system?¡± ¡°Call it my feminine instincts.¡± ¡°Power-hungry beast instincts, more like, no?¡± Sofia shrugged. ¡°Ancient human method,¡± Kyle finally answered, ¡°I don¡¯t recommend it for someone who¡¯s already at your level. Too slow. If you ever want to train a human child without having to use the system, though, this is the fastest method for the first hundred levels. Just don¡¯t have them cross the filters without a trial or they¡¯ll be booted out of the system too.¡± ¡°Good to know, thanks. Who knows if I¡¯ll ever be able to have children after the race evolution coming my way, though?¡± ¡°You can trust Clint,¡± Kyle said with a smile, ¡°You¡¯re in good hands. If he wants to compete with us Vampires and the Elves, he¡¯s got big shoes to fill.¡± ¡°Moon created the Vampires, right?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°Yeah. Guess who Moon used as the base?¡± ¡°Humans?¡± ¡°You got it. Race evolution is mostly a feature intended for humans, though a lot of other races use it. Some monsters can even evolve an intellect sometimes, so they get integrated into the system and get a race evolution¡­ And this is where our blabbering ends, it looks like; they¡¯re coming back.¡± ¡°It was great to get to know you a bit better, Kyle.¡± ¡°Feelings shared. Now you better get stronger and survive, alright? I¡¯ll be waiting for the story of your adoption.¡± ¡°Oh, I totally forgot about that, sorry¡­¡± Clint and Lina appeared in the forge at the exact same spots they had disappeared from. Aherm. Sorry for the wait. Clint apologized as he adjusted his leather apron.
Chapter 473 - The thoughtful absentee father At her demand, Sofia showed Lina the picture again. This is frustrating¡­ The Goddess complained. This is the third admin, there is little doubt about it, but I cannot remember anything else, even like that¡­ How can this image even exist? Clint asked from the side. ¡°This man¡¯s face wasn¡¯t really on it at first, but I discovered I have the ability to, uh¡­ Un-Deep the things I touch?¡± Sofia explained. ¡°Can you bring him back?¡± Kyle asked, ¡°With him here we just might be able to rescue the other two. Maybe¡­ Or at least we would have a quick resolution to our traitor issue.¡± ¡°If you can bring me to the place he was when he got erased, then maybe? I restored the things that were in his room, they were all gone. Here¡¯s what I took, a bunch of maps and this nice planet sculpture.¡± Lina looked through the third admin¡¯s items, she looked underwhelmed. Nothing useful here, you can keep all that. If we knew where he disappeared we would lead you there but I fear only himself knows. By the time we even realized something was wrong with our memories, he was long gone. Sofia stored all the things back. ¡°Also, while we¡¯re at it, I have gotten some ¡®information¡¯ about the admins in the form of a few verses. I won¡¯t say where from, but it is reliable. I have it written here,¡± she told the trio, handing Lina the paper with the Orator¡¯s poem scribbled on it. Lina quickly read the paper before passing it to Clint, who then passed it to Kyle. This is nothing new. Lina lamented. ¡°Well, I tried. Care to explain more about the admins when you feel ready to? All I know about the three admins I had to figure out by myself from this poem and what I found in the house. I only know of Anna¡¯s name, and even though I have the dagger made with her essence I don¡¯t even know what she was the goddess of¡­¡± Is it not obvious? Lina asked with a raised eyebrow. Anna is the divinity of Mana. She was born when everyone started to agree on the name. Oh¡­ Mana. Yeah there would be a God for that. A rather strong one, even¡­ I was blindsided by her books¡­ ¡°Wait¡­ If she was the Goddess of mana, was she still born in the Gods¡¯ plane?¡± Sofia asked. Of course not. Clint answered. We should go now, I can tell you more on the way, he offered. Sofia¡¯s expression fell a bit, ¡°Hum¡­ About that. I can give you instructions to find it right now if you want, but upon further consideration, I don¡¯t think it very prudent to leave my and Pareth¡¯s hearts unattended¡­¡± She has a point. Lina agreed, Give us the directions, I will go with Kyle, Clint stays here with you, might as well start working on the Skeleton¡¯s heart, if someone tries to interfere they will do it when it¡¯s your turn. ¡°Thank you for your consideration. But is Clint fine with that?¡± Sofia asked the bearded God. Whatever she says. If the place¡¯s been around three thousand years, it can survive another day or two. Draw them a map or something and we can get to work when they leave. Clint answered. ¡°Sure. Kyle, do you know the location of the first dungeon I cleared?¡± ¡°Your history¡¯s been deleted but my memory isn¡¯t that bad. Northside Marshland test center.¡± Sofia nodded, and she started to explain, ¡°Starting from the dungeon, you need to go¡­¡±
Clint was sitting at a desk with various small tools, he slowly carved runic paths into Pareth¡¯s mana heart after having polished it down to a round pearl. Sofia and Bookie had been intently watching since the start while Pareth was walking around the forge checking out Clint¡¯s various creations. After a while, Clint put up his strange visor and stood up from the desk. We¡¯re done prepping! It turned out quite well, in my opinion. Look at this beauty. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°It looks a bit like a tiny spell catalyser,¡± Sofia commented. It¡¯s not that far from that, depending on how you see things. Let me share the final description, since you never got to see that. Here goes. The image of a ¡®system window¡¯ was projected onto the surface of a nearby wall. [Chimera¡¯s complete mana heart of Knowledge]: /SSS tier/ ¡®You needed not fear the result of a hundred battles¡¯ Effects:
  • Health +467 012
  • Stamina +13 622
  • Mana +379 366
  • Blunt resistance +25%
  • Slashing resistance + 25%
  • [Sunless Pulse]
  • [Relocate Core]
  • [Arclight]
¡°So the amalgam skill was the pulse attack¡­ It¡¯s not bad. A hundred thousand stat points, though¡­ And¡­ Wait! Isn¡¯t the ¡®all stats¡¯ bonus missing?! It should be 220%!¡± Oh, right, about that, Clint stepped in, In case you missed that, Mr. Pareth Skeleton here has inflated stats due to his blessing. That won¡¯t be strengthened by the bonus stats. Of course he does still have base stats, but doing things like this is a waste. So I took the liberty to change things a bit. ¡°How so? That¡¯s 330 000 stat points I would hardly call that a waste.¡± Well, hear me out. Some Heroes blessings are gifts from us Gods, magic we lend to the system. Some. The lower tiers blessings like ¡®Blessing of Bloating¡¯, though? That¡¯s just the system basically giving you a special skill rebranded as a blessing. The good thing about this is, there is room for improvement. So yeah I changed the heart so that this power goes to the ¡®blessing¡¯ instead. ¡°Really? You can just do that? This could be a lot more stats in total, yeah. I can see why it might be a waste not to¡­ How much will the blessing improve?¡± Clint lightly shook his head, No clue lassy, we can only know after it¡¯s done. And yes it can be done, when the circumstances are just right. Not that it happens too often, for you there isn¡¯t a single thing I could really alter with your mana heart. For Pareth it¡¯s different, he has very few skills and the blessing both has room to grow and is also just a stat increase. The perfect candidate for this, essentially. ¡°Thank you for your hard work.¡± Don¡¯t mention it. Let¡¯s get to it, we have some forging to do, it should be relatively quick¡­ Not often that I upgrade a skeleton. ¡°But not the first time. I assume you worked on Florencia¡¯s mana heart too?¡± Sofia asked, mentioning Richard¡¯s skeletal ¡®daughter¡¯. That was quite a while ago. I remember her, a feisty one, to be sure. ¡°How does fusing the mana heart work with a skeleton even? Since they have no real fixed physical body. It¡¯s a purely soul-side upgrade?¡± Clint laughed at the suggestion. What do you think? It¡¯s a mana heart. Ninety percent of what I do is integrating it into your mana blueprint. The physical and spiritual sides of things are just the finishing touches. Bookie had been relatively silent ever since entering the forge, but he wanted to ask a question, ¡°Mister Creation, can you reach level 250 without a mana heart?¡± It¡¯s not impossible, the alternate methods involve creating a Soulstone or a Physikstone, but those are not quite as good as it won¡¯t let your mana regeneration increase anymore. They mostly exist in manaless creatures. ¡°So you really need to have one of the three?¡± Bookie asked again. Yes, without any of those, you¡¯re fucked. Even for us Gods we need to create a temporary mana heart if we want to come to the physical plane and not be weaklings. Bookie¡¯s jaw dropped, one could hear the horror in his voice ¡°B- But what about me? I- I don¡¯t have anything! Am I stuck?!¡± He hugged Sofia¡¯s leg and cried. Clint looked at the scene lost for words while Sofia reassured the small skeleton. ¡°You¡¯ll be fine Bookie. You need to have some trust in your creator. I¡¯m sure he has something planned, if not, I¡¯ll bring his annoying voice here and berate him for you, alright?¡± ¡°Y- You promise?¡± ¡°We¡¯re not going to leave you behind,¡± Sofia comforted him, caressing his smooth skull. Humm¡­ Not to interrupt but, Kyle is not that dumb, you know? If the small one wasn¡¯t part of the trial it¡¯s because he did not need to. Did he not tell you? ¡°He did not, but that is what I assumed, yes,¡± Sofia admitted. ¡°I don¡¯t need to?¡± Bookie repeated. That¡¯s right. No need. If it¡¯s a mana heart, you already have one. Sofia had a sudden revelation. Am I fucking blind?! She summoned Bookie¡¯s book form in her hands. It was right under my nose from the start! The center of the book cover was adorned with a dark purple gem, beating like a heart, spreading mana through the bones. Sofia¡¯s fingers traced the outline of the small gem, it was the very first thing she had noticed on the day she had gotten the book. She was so used to seeing it that she had never made the connection, but it was painfully obvious now. ¡°Look, Bookie. It was always here. Your very own mana heart.¡±
Chapter 474 - Skeleton Prime Clint got up from his desk, shaking his head. Nope, no way. I can¡¯t make it any better than it already is. The shape is a bit unusual but you¡¯ll have to live with it. He said, putting Sofia¡¯s mana heart back onto the stassis pedestal. ¡°Alright then. Time for Pareth to get his level up?¡± Sofia asked. Guess so. We¡¯re done with everything else. Hmm¡­ Actually, it would be better if he could be in a skeleton more closely following the shape of his soul. ¡°Hmm¡­ We can do that, you¡¯re fine with changing now, Pareth?¡± Pareth nodded silently. Sofia knew well what his soul looked like, it was shaped just like a human soul, a vaguely humanoid blurry form, which stretched to accommodate whatever skeleton he inhabited. It looked most normal when he was in a regular human skeleton. Without fanfare, Sofia brought out a crate filled with human bones, Pareth¡¯s original skeleton. ¡°This was his first ever skeleton, his soul is shaped like it, pretty much, can¡¯t do better than that,¡± she explained while she also took out the smallest of her pre-made Pareth ritual circles. That¡¯s perfect. Clint approved, Knowledge¡¯s rune, huh? Explains how you got your hands on an essence of his. Hoy, you listening, you cunning old bastard? You still owe me for last time, you better be ready when Lina comes for you. There was no answer. ¡°Is He ignoring you?¡± Sofia asked after a painfully long silence. Seems so. If I didn¡¯t know him so well he¡¯d be first on the list of suspects for the recent mess, but there¡¯s no way. If anything, he¡¯s probably been trying to stop it without telling anyone. Clint rambled on, explaining how Knowledge was one of the most active Gods on the physical plane despite never coming down in person. Pareth finally switched skeletons, and Clint had comments for that too. See what I mean. Instant response, the old fucker didn¡¯t even hesitate to activate the magic for you. If you ever find an old half-erased ritual circle, just draw his damn rune in there and chances are he¡¯ll be trying to restore it without you even asking. ¡°Good to know¡­ And it makes sense¡­ Originally it was Scripture who designed this ritual circle, though it wasn¡¯t nearly as clean at the start, but Knowledge still activated it for me back then despite me being a literal nobody orphan.¡± He just can¡¯t escape his curiosity like I can¡¯t escape making things. In that way, us gods are a bit predictable. ¡°I can see this,¡± Sofia agreed, ¡°but somehow the Recessed feel a bit different.¡± No, they¡¯re just the same, any perceived difference would be just due to how much harder it is for them to reach the physical plane. Speaking of which, I hope Sorrow won¡¯t be annoying when I tinker with the stuff in there. But that¡¯s for later, since everything is ready, let¡¯s get started with the skeleton!
Clint led the group to another place under his forge, deeper within the planet, where a teleportation ritual circle was waiting for them. It took them somewhere else, into a large spherical chamber with mithril walls, in which they all floated like it was outer space. Multiple openings led into the sphere, which Sofia recognized as being the same thing she had laid down under when Sen had upgraded her to level 200, so to say, these were the bottom of the system¡¯s trial towers. Besides that, the sphere was entirely empty. ¡°Are we still on Cerberus beta?¡± Sofia asked. Indeed, we are within the planet¡¯s core. Outside these mithril walls is a sea of magma like a miniature sun. The bearded God explained. This is where the reforging takes place. You should be fine to spectate as long as you don¡¯t get in the way of the mana flow. ¡°Understood.¡± Sofia caught Bookie¡¯s hand and flew to the border of the sphere, with her back against the curved Mithril walls. She observed as Clint placed Pareth at the very center of the sphere and locked him in place with mana. A smith hammer of pure mana condensed into Creation¡¯s hand, and hundreds or ritual circles drawn in light started slowly writing themselves in the air around Pareth. A see-through shield of mana also appeared around Sofia and Bookie, isolating them from the rest of the chamber while more and more ritual circles appeared around Pareth. You ready, boy? Relax and let the mana work its way through you. Clint said as he placed the refined mana heart in front of Pareth¡¯s sternum and raised his hammer. His arm¡¯s muscles tightened, they oozed with mana, enough that it was visible with the naked eye. One of the openings in the walls fired a deluge of Mana at Pareth from above, and simultaneously, the hammer came down, warping reality around it, and striking the mana heart dead on. The resulting shockwave shook Sofia and Bookie even with the shield¡¯s protection, and two thirds of Pareth¡¯s skeleton were blown to smithereens, leaving only a part of his skull and his legs down from the knees unscathed. The broken and scattered bones then snapped back into place before they could hit the walls of the chamber, like they were brought back in time to their original position. The mana heart still looked the same, floating in front of Pareth, but its presence felt ever so slightly stronger. The ritual circles around Pareth shifted in space, arranging themselves in another configuration, and after adjusting his position, Creation raised his hammer of mana again. Pareth¡¯s bones disappeared and reappeared with Creation¡¯s hits. Sometimes his entire skeleton would get blown away, leaving only the mana heart behind until the bones reformed. Sofia could tell that Pareth was feeling alright despite the grim display, so she simply let the God work. The mana heart¡¯s presence grew stronger and stronger until Sofia started to understand what was really happening, as the mana heart was pushed into Pareth¡¯s being, it was Knowledge¡¯s essence which was being pushed out. It was Sofia¡¯s first time witnessing a Divine essence directly influencing the physical realm. It brimmed with a power that felt like mana but was not, and Sofia could distinctly see the mana around it get warped and bent until it drew millions of copies of Knowledge¡¯s rune. Even within her own body, Sofia could feel her mana shake, it resonated with the essence, escaping her control and forming clumps resembling the divine rune. It was too much for Bookie who hid back inside of Sofia¡¯s soul. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. The hammering continued until it was hard to even see anything anymore, as Sofia¡¯s field of view even warped to take the shape of the geometrical divine rune, and everything started to look like triangles. Creation was the only thing nearby which remained clear to see, and, as the amount of mana in the chamber increased tenfold all of a sudden, he raised his hammer once again. And! His hammer struck down. We! The hammer was brought back up and slammed again. Are! The hammer struck too fast for Sofia to see. FINISHED! A violent explosion of mana pinned Sofia against the Mithril wall, she could not move through the deluge of magical energy which was so mind-boggling powerful it pushed straight through herself and even the mana-resistant Mithril, escaping the chamber and propagating through the planet. Despite being slightly disoriented, Sofia was completely unharmed. And her vision started to slowly come back to normal. Knowledge¡¯s divine essence had disappeared. Pareth floated immobile in the middle of the spherical chamber, with no mana in his bones, and his mana heart hovering silently inside of his chest. Clint dismissed his hammer, a joyous look on his face. Congratulations, boy. Welcome to the second half. Pareth¡¯s mana heart slowly filled up with mana, and the skeleton started moving. His head turned, the empty eye sockets looking straight at Sofia. They lit up with holy flames. Sofia smiled. Without her input, the status page she had handcrafted for Pareth opened in the corner of her vision, and it started updating by itself. Mr. Scribe was hard to work. It seemed that with his upgrade to Tier three, he could now properly manage Pareth¡¯s stats. Name : Pareth Age : 5 Class : [Holy Eclipse Skeleton] Mana heart : SSS rank Level : 250 ? Base Health : 517 012 Base Stamina : 63 622 Base Mana : 429 366 Current Health : Please update skeleton Current Stamina : Please update skeleton Current Mana : 3435 / 429 366 (Regeneration: 0.16% = 687/s) Signature Skill (SSS) [Chimeric armaments] Soul slots: Weapons (EMPTY; no ability) Armor (EMPTY; no ability) Shields (EMPTY; no ability) Mana Heart Abilities (5) [Sunless Pulse] SSS Rank [Relocate Core] SSS Rank [Arclight] SSS Rank [Slashing Resistance] [Blunt Resistance] Active Skills (6) [Sanctified grounds] [Flying shields of light] [Chains of the four seals] [Gravity well] [Purification] [Greater Heal] Passive Skills (6) [Stellar corona] [Shapeless weapon of light] [Shapeless armor of light] [Higher magical damage negation] [Space magic resilience] [Displacement skills immunity] Special skills (5+1) [Bone Density Up +200%] [Silent Bones +200%] [Teleport to Sofia] [Negate hits of less than 10% Max Health] [Quadruple Damage Against Undead] __________________________________ [Draconic Shapeshifting] Lv.1 Summoner¡¯s skills (5) [Blessing of the Deep] [Soul link] [Shared senses] [Bone Dominus : Blessed Construct (Currently Inactive)] [Runeforged Overlord Aura (Currently Tier 1)] Classless Skills (0 / 5) Enchantments (3) [Generosity of Sun (Currently Inactive)] [Avian magic : Fighting sense (Currently Inactive)] [Avian magic : Air steps (Currently Inactive)] [Higher Blessing of bloating] [Mark of Aphenoreth] [Best Skeleton ?] Sofia read through the updating status sheet with satisfaction until her eyes reached one of the last few lines. You unlocked Classless skills?!!!!
Chapter 475 - Sofia gets hammered Creation¡¯s hammer twirled in his hand, he dispelled the mana shield around Sofia and called out to her. Alright lassy, get naked, it¡¯s your turn on the chopping block. ¡°E- Excuse me?¡± Clint raised an eyebrow at Sofia¡¯s confusion, What? I¡¯m about to make you a new body, you think I can do that through your clothes? The only reason skelly-boy didn¡¯t have to take his clothes off is because he didn¡¯t have any to begin with. ¡°I¡­ Does everyone have to do that?¡± Yeah. Clint answered with a shrug. Most people who can reach this level aren¡¯t really that prude, you know. No one in your whole group had any issues with it. Seeing that Sofia was still hesitant, Clint rolled his eyes, and his appearance changed. I can do that, if that helps. He said with a more feminine voice, his beard gone and his appearance now changed to that of a big muscular woman wearing the same clothes. ¡°...¡± Sofia exhaled. ¡°I don¡¯t know if that makes it any better. Well¡­ I need to keep a glove on, and I can¡¯t let go of Anna¡¯s dagger. Is that fine?¡± The dagger is fine but the glove and any ring or such all have to go. You can just keep it in your hand if you must but you can¡¯t be wearing anything that¡¯ll hinder my work. ¡°Alright¡­ What about my left eye, it¡¯s actually a storage item, will it cause issues?¡± Sofia asked. That¡¯s part of your blueprint already so nothing to worry about. Old lich does some great work. Sofia gave her storage ring and her armguard to Pareth, and she stored the rest of her things including her clothes in her eye, then she flew to the center of the spherical chamber. No need to be so embarrassed, really. We Gods get none of your reproductive urges¡­ Well, except for a certain solar freak¡­ Anyway, we¡¯re going to go in steps here, there¡¯s too much going on with you so I can¡¯t do it all in one go. Sofia nodded, she had a hard time looking at female Clint in the eyes. I¡¯ll be getting your mana heart about fifty percent of the way there, then I¡¯ll pull all the mana I can, Kyle is already up there to make sure this goes well. This is where your Scribe¡¯ll have to work fast to do its thing while I work on your race evolution. When that¡¯s done, I¡¯m teleporting us as far away from the planet as I can and finishing up with your heart. ¡°W- Wait, teleporting away?¡± Yes. We can¡¯t have you level up here. We might actually kill people with the mana wave from the fusion. ¡°Alright then¡­ I¡¯m ready.¡± Great. Let¡¯s get started. Just like Pareth before, Sofia was locked in place by mana restraints, and she felt all of her passive and classless skills losing power one by one. Clint brought Sofia¡¯s mana heart before her chest, and raised his hammer. A torrential burst of mana hit Sofia from above, and the hammer of Creation came down, hitting her luminous mana heart. Sofia felt the impact propagate through her body and soul like a wave of power scrambling her insides. You alright? This was the warm up. This is gonna hurt. Clint warned as his hammer rose. ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± Sofia mumbled in response. Good. The hammer came down again, and Sofia¡¯s mind went blank from the pain. What happened to her was the same thing that had happened to Pareth before, her body was pulverized in billions of fine particles before snapping back into place, and the pain of the deconstruction and reconstruction was excruciating. The hammer was coming again. Sofia''s instincts were to avoid it by any means necessary, her body acted on its own to try to find a way out, but she now understood why there were mana restraints to keep her firmly in place. She couldn¡¯t move in the slightest. Her consciousness slipped every time Creation brought down the hammer. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Every time she came to, she felt that her body was slightly different, until the entirety of her thoughts were captured by the terrifying hammer again. After what felt like an eternity, the hammer stopped. Clint looked tired, beads of sweat rolling down his still female face, he took a second to compose himself. There we have it. Race evolution complete. The God¡¯s words shook Sofia out of her torpor. ¡°Wait¡­ Really? But the¡­ My Scribe absorbing the mana?¡± Yeah, that¡¯s done, you were out of it for most of the process, though. I was?! You woke up about once every ten hits but that never lasted long. Honestly it¡¯s commendable that you ever woke up at all, most people with an SSS rank heart just never come to until the process is over. It took a gargantuan amount of effort for Sofia to gather her thoughts into a coherent whole, and a few system windows appeared in front of her. [Race evolution complete!] [Please choose a name for your new race] [Available names:
  • Essence Eater
  • Primeval Exarch
  • Lumian
  • Great unhinged luminescent bone calamity of the gods and reality as it stands as well as everything in between]
The last name made Sofia giggle. Her voice was still weak but she had to say something, ¡°Really Clint¡­ So much for giving me a choice. I get it, Lumian is fine.¡± Great choice, that was also my pick, Clint answered with a smirk. ¡°Do I at least still look like myself?¡± You tell me. A large mirror appeared in front of Sofia, allowing her to view her entire body. Her mana heart was still in front of her, glowing fiercely, which made it hard to see too well, but she could see that she was mostly unchanged save for a few key details. First and most shocking, a pair of horns sat on top of her head, they looked like ever burning flames made of light, constrained in the general shape of two hand-length pointy horns. They grew from under her hair, splitting them apart. Her hair was the second thing which had changed, they had become solid strands of golden light much like her mana heart, and they floated unnaturally behind her, as if rustled by a wind that did not exist. Her eyelashes and brows were similar, though with a much fainter glow. Lastly the final big change were the runes from [Runeforged Overlord] they used to only cover her top half, but they now extended down to her lower body all the way to the tip of her toes. So? ¡°The horns are a bit strange,¡± Sofia commented, uncertain of what she thought about them, she wanted to touch them but she was still restrained. ¡°Beyond that, I don¡¯t mind it. What¡¯s up with the runes, though? Did you upgrade my skill?¡± Sofia could feel she had changed but she currently had no real control over her body or her magic, it was hard to tell what was what, she could not even feel her mana. Clint laughed. No, but these runes do serve a purpose, though you¡¯ll have to discover that by yourself, lassy. Think of it as your race¡¯s hidden passive. Speaking of, let me help your scribe update your racial skills. A mana pearl quickly took form in Clint¡¯s left hand, and he slowly pushed it into Sofia¡¯s mouth. Sofia realized then that she could not open her status sheet or interact with the system at all, and new system windows opened by themselves. [Race: Lumian] Prerequisite conditions for evolution:
  • Human, Exidian, or Demon race
  • Carry 10 or more divine essence
  • [Venerable physique of the primeval void] last step second realm
  • SSS Rank mana heart or above
  • Tier 3 Scribe
  • Has entered the primeval void at least once
Racial features : Dead light: Your hair, teeth, nalls and bones are made of tangible solid light. After its permanent death, your entire body becomes a shining light that never fades away. Mana weave muscular system: Your muscles and tendons are made of tightly interwoven mana threads capable of rapid self-repair as long as you have mana available. Exhaust: You bear horns of divine light that burn away the superfluous divine energy held within your body. Hereditary Physique: Offsprings require 10 divine essences and are born as the Lumian¡¯s original race with the [Venerable physique of the primeval void] skill at the first step of the light forging realm. They automatically evolve to a Lumian when the prerequisite conditions are all reunited. ??? : Strange runes cover your lower body. What could they possibly do? Racial skills : [Edgewalker]: You are immune from slipping out of reality. [Pillar of creation]: When your Health goes from 30% to 20%, your skin starts to crack, revealing the primordial light hidden within you. In this state, you will rapidly lose the ability to move, but your spellcasting range is multiplied by your remaining percentage of mana (from 0 to 100 times), and you take halved damages from all sources. Healing back up over 30% will end this state. [Mockery of the divine]: Your body feeds on the essence of the divine, p?ercing the realms through them, and keeping them hostage within the shadow of mana core prisons. By arranging the mana cores within your body in the shape of divine constellations, you can gain a limited hold onto their absolute domain. Sofia quickly read through the racial traits with a smile on her face, and she raised her eyes to tell Clint what she thought of it, only for her to see a raised hammer. Her mind blanked again.
Chapter 476 - High When Sofia came back to her senses again, she was floating in outer space near the Sun. Creation was waiting in front of her, observing her reaction, while Pareth was floating a bit further away. Sofia took a deep breath. ¡°Th- There¡¯s air here?¡± I made it. Clint casually said, still in his female form. So that you can communicate easier. We¡¯re almost done, you alright? ¡°I¡¯m a bit shaken¡­ But I should be alright. I think.¡± We¡¯re almost done so I covered you up a bit. You should put the crown back on right now. ¡°Right¡­ Why are we so close to the sun, again?¡± Clint smirked, Just a bit of insurance for you. I don¡¯t put it beyond our enemies to try something now, this is a crucial step to your progression that could be easily disturbed, so we can¡¯t allow interference. Lina¡¯s out there with the radiant slut s- A bright ray of light shot from the sun and Clint was no more. Sofia was taken about for all of a second until the muscular woman reformed out of thin air. Aherm, as I was saying, Lina¡¯s out there with Sun to make sure no one tries anything¡­ Oh¡­. Clint looked in the direction of the Sun with a surprised expression. ¡°Is something else happening? How did you even convince Sun to come help?¡± More people have come to watch is all. ¡®S for Sun, she came by herself, curious to see if you¡¯ll survive the Inquisitor¡¯s rune, she said. ¡°More people? Who, Grandma Erredis? Also, didn¡¯t Alith survive the Orator¡¯s rune just fine?¡± Yeah, the plague dragon and the bone scourge. Quite the duo of backers you got yourself. And, huh, your friend had some trouble getting through it but she managed. The thing is, the rune¡¯s manifestation gets stronger with the heart¡¯s rank. ¡°Oh. That could indeed be an issue. I feel that it should be fine, though. I can wear the glove now, right?¡± Sofia asked. That¡¯ll be about the limit of equipment I can work around, should be aight though. Just tell me when you¡¯re ready to go. Sofia took a few seconds to calm her mind and steel her nerves. ¡°I¡¯m ready.¡± Alright. I will start slowly. Creation¡¯s hammer hit the mana heart softly, it barely moved in Sofia¡¯s direction, but the space around it already started to show deformities. The pain was tolerable, so Sofia concentrated on observing the rune¡¯s manifestation. Aphenoreth¡¯s divine rune. I must memorize it. I have to. The next hit came, slightly stronger, and the shape of the runes became ever so slightly clearer. As the strength of Creation¡¯s hits ramped up, Sofia could understand more and more of the mind-bogglingly complex shape of Aphenoreth¡¯s rune. Unlike all the Gods¡¯ runes until now, it wasn¡¯t a two dimensional shape, but a complex array of three dimensional lines that seemed to change from an instant to the next. It occupied all of Sofia¡¯s attention, it became her entire world. Entranced by the rune, she soon stopped being able to think of anything else. Even the suffering was only a distant feeling, barely tickling her mind. The rune became clearer and clearer; Sofia felt she was just about to grasp it. Clint raised his hammer a final time, his form growing thousands of times, the God became a monstrous titan the size of a planet. The hammer was coming, but Sofia could only see the rune. I memorized it! The rune faded, and Sofia''s senses became clear again. Weirdly, she could not move. Nothing could move. The sun itself was still, Creation¡¯s gigantic hammer was just a millimeter away from her mana heart, obscuring most of Sofia¡¯s vision, but it had not yet delivered the final hit. What¡­ Aphenoreth? The Lord was the only entity who had ever made Sofia feel like that, like her very being was frozen against the tides of time, but he was not anywhere to be seen. Wrong guess. A familiar contemptuous voice answered, and Sofia¡¯s heart sank. This was the voice of the one who had trapped her inside of Peace¡¯s realm. The one who had booted her out of the system. Y- You again! How?! Cute. Did you think you were safe with all these powerful people looking out for you? With this pitiful glove on your hand? Power is just a tool, its real strength depends on the user, you should know that well. Have you come here to taunt me?! The person laughed for a moment, then it stopped, and very calmly it answered with a deep voice, like it was spoken directly in Sofia¡¯s ears. Yes. Sofia feared that this voice was going to attack her again, and she failed to suppress her thoughts, so the voice heard them. Yet, against all odds, what it said was the opposite. I will not stoop so low as to strike you again. No, I have come today to watch you suffer the consequences of your own actions. The irony. But I almost pity you. They will abandon you, just like they abandoned me. The voice calmly stated, Such is their nature, I have learned. Struggle on, girl. Soon enough, you will beg to join my side. They will abandon me? Who? The voice had faded with its last words, and time regained its course. Creation¡¯s hammer reached the mana heart, and Sofia felt it finally becoming one with her being. The wave of mana from the shock sent even Creation¡¯s hammer reeling back. Pareth could only avoid it by teleporting right next to Sofia. This should have been the end of it, but something was wrong. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. Sofia could still not move. Accompanying the mana wave spreading far and wide in space was a strange low droning sound. Strangely, space was turning red. A skeleton wearing black robes appeared near her, wielding a mithrium staff topped with a skull. Richard? Sofia¡¯s thoughts were becoming sluggish. And everything around her felt slow. Erredis appeared next to Richard. She looked panicked. She was speaking but Sofia could not hear her. Richard started to cast a spell, and Sofia watched countless mana circles form between her and the lich, only for them to shatter like broken glass. Erredis¡¯ expression transitioned from panic to shock. Sun appeared between the two level 500s. She looked the most emotional of the three of them. Dread, Sofia thought. Sun grabbed both Erredis and Richard, and the trio disappeared. The mana wave flowed in reverse. Pareth was firmly holding onto Sofia as it collapsed. Everything became black. The instant everything disappeared, Sofia¡¯s mind felt perfectly clear again. Mr. Scribe? [We are fine. Our vitals are all good. The level up was successful.] So the voice didn¡¯t lie? But they knew this was going to happen¡­ They¡¯re much more dangerous than I thought. If even Sun cannot stop them¡­ [If it could kill us it would have. It could not even stop us from leveling.] That¡¯s a way to see it. But still. The way it seemingly stopped time¡­ That felt just like Aphenoreth. Is there a fifth Lord? [No. This was a god. I do not know which one, but I felt it when it was near us this time. It was absorbing essence from us. I have learned to recognize this feeling from the time we spent near Creation.] Yet Sun was powerless against it¡­ [Not necessarily.] Right¡­ Sun did not notice when it spoke to me, but this could as well have been some kind of communication through hallucination or something. A God copying the Lords¡¯ abilities sounds a bit far-fetched. As for what happened after, it might really not have been the voice¡¯s doing? [That is also my hypothesis.] Why are we in the dark, though? Are you able to fix it again this time? [It is different. We were restrained last time, this, I suspect, is our perception of time being dilated.] So this will be over any time now? [Perhaps. We can only wait. On the bright side, this gives us ample time to work things out concerning the level up. Both the Dagger and Pareth are currently in this distorted time with us. We can choose his classless skills, our new skills, and the sub-class.] Might as well. What about Bookie? [Stuck within us, he cannot communicate, but he is unscathed.] Thank goodness. I¡¯m leaving it up to you then. Show me the numbers! [Gladly.] ¡®You gained a level!¡¯ [Congratulations, your Saintomancer class reached level 250!] [Due to your Tier 3 Scribe, you may redeem all remaining skill slots] [New Active Skills are available!] [New Passive Skills are available!] [Sub-Classes are available! (Experimental)] [Congratulations, you have triumphed over the fourth filter!] [You may now gain exper [ERROR] [Your mana heart grants you newfound power!] [Due to the Crown of Victory, all trial stat gains will be doubled] [Stat gain:
  • All stats + 350%
  • All stats + 350%
  • Health + 67 381
  • Health + 67 381
  • Stamina + 17 900
  • Stamina + 17 900
  • Mana + 834 719
  • Mana + 834 719]
Name : Sofia Aphenoreth Age : 21 ? Class : [Saintomancer] ? Level : 250 ? Health : 822 762 / 822 762 (20k + (20/level - 4k) + 65k + 736 762) Stamina : 204 336 / 204 336 (20 067 + (20/level - 4k) + 183 269) Mana : 5 022 238 / 5 022 238 (319 100 + (2k/level- 400k) + 4 603 138) (Mana Regeneration: (0.16%) + Other sources = 10620/s) (Mana Regeneration in Sunlight : (0.16%) + Other sources = 25933/s) Main Specialization : [Eclipse Skeleton] Alteration chance : 100% (Unavailable) Secondary Specialization : [Heat Death] Signature Skill (ULTIMATE) [Awakening of the five calamities] Mana Heart Abilities (4) [Infinity Engine] Lv.3 [Relocate Core] ULTIMATE Rank [Slashing Resistance] [Explosion Resistance] Remaining possible skill slots : 4 Active Skills (8 / 8) [Spine of the Black Sun] - Level 249 [Summon Blood] - Level 249 [Maiden Banshee] - Level 249 (Lv.250) [Graveyard of the righteous] - Level 249 [False immortality] - Level 3 [Skull Choir] - Level 249 [Reign over shadows] [Saintess¡¯ madness] - Level 2 Passive Skills (7 / 8) [Blessing of the Deep] - (2/4) [Vakariazrehafin of Sorrow] ? [Exalted Exoskeleton] ? [Venerable physique of the primeval void] ? - Peak of Light forging realm [Bone Dominus Imperium] - Level 3 [Erredian Rot] [Runeforged Overlord] ? - Level 249 Classless Skills (7 / 7) ? [Dreams Of a Demon which Gods Envy - March of the Envoy] ? [Summon Self] - Level 48 [Mana manipulation] ? [Radiance] - Level 100 [Quintessential] ? [One with Suffering] ? [Crystallized] ? Racial Skills (3) [Edgewalker] ? [Pillar of Creation] ? [Mockery of the Divine] ? Special Skills (1) [The Book of Skeletons] ? Summoned heroes (4 / 4)
  • Lv.250 Pareth (Holy Hellspawn Abomination Eclipse Skeleton)
  • Lv.250 Alith (Alith) - Connection lost
  • Lv.250 Book of Skeletons (Book)
  • Lv.250 Ihuarah (Heartless Shade) - Connection lost
[Mark of Aphenoreth]
Chapter 477 - Wrong novel Honestly, this is starting to be a lot. I¡¯ve hit the breakpoint where I can channel an Angel¡¯s bolt forever and keep my mana full¡­ I could also have the Erredian Rot constantly on. How stupid does that sound? And four more skill slots is all I get. I¡¯m guessing that my tree of spells thing is starting to be too full? The spells I¡¯ve memorized that don¡¯t take a slot still take up space¡­ And I still have to Subclass coming? I might really run out of space soon. I¡¯ll have to get rid of stuff¡­ [Saintess¡¯ madness] Is the only skill I could see myself dropping. I could probably make some space with skill fusions, though, no? [Dreams Of a Demon which Gods Envy - March of the Envoy] did free a slot when it fused. Should I check the keywords or the Sub-classes first? I¡¯m too impatient to do the keywords now. Mr.Scribe! Give me the Sub-Class! [Congratulations on unlocking the Sub-Class System (Experimental)] [Model successfully loaded, beginning Sub-Class creation] [You will now get to pick attributes for your Sub-Class, these choices are definitive, please choose carefully.] [Start by picking a main role for your Sub-Class] [Deepen]-[Support]-[Diversify] [Deepen]: A Sub-Class meant to deepen your focus on a specific aspect of your main class, for those who do not want to spread themselves too thin. [Support]: A Sub-Class focused on supporting and having a good synergy with your main class as a whole, a balanced choice that can never go wrong. [Diversify]: A Sub-Class unrelated to your main class, some challenges are just better tackled with a different set of tools. Starting with a tough choice straight away. Support is not it, I think. It doesn¡¯t sound bad, but it feels like it would not make a big difference. Valeure¡¯s advice to focus all my stats on mana has worked out incredibly well, and I would tend to believe specializing in one thing is generally the way to go. So Deepen should be an obvious choice, but¡­ One of my main issues with my class as of now is that I have too many different tools. Just choosing which skeleton to use from Bookie can be a headache, the Choir also has different skull types and formations, Saintess¡¯ Madness has way too many different effects, I have to manage the shape and weight of my armor¡­ It¡¯s becoming a lot. From that point of view, Diversify could be an even worse option, but if I could get a Sub-class with only brainless passive skills then the variety could be a great boon¡­ Let¡¯s get an opinion from Mr. Scribe. [Suspending process] Sofia watched all the system windows close one by one until she was back in complete darkness, only then did Mr.Scribe regain the ability to write to her. [We only have four slots left to begin with, we can totally spend them to get four passive slots on the Sub-Class.] [As for the contents of the sub-classes themselves, I am in the dark.] [The dagger is like an offshoot of the Database High-Scribe, it is archaic and has only a fraction of the power and information of the real thing, but its security is basically unbreachable.] Understood, thanks! When all the previous system windows reappeared, Sofia picked [Diversify]. I really need more abilities that I don¡¯t need to worry about. Let¡¯s hope this isn¡¯t a mistake. [You chose ¡®Diversify¡¯, now, pick a Diversify Sub-Role] [DPS]-[HEALER]-[TANK]-[SUPPORT]-[DEBUFF]-[CRAFTING]-[CHAOS] [DPS]: The Sub-Class will be mostly about dealing damage. [HEALER]: The Sub-Class will be mostly about keeping yourself and your allies alive. [TANK]: The Sub-Class will be mostly about making you hard to kill. [SUPPORT]: The Sub-Class will be mostly about making your allies stronger. [DEBUFF]: The Sub-Class will be mostly about making your opponents weaker. [CRAFTING]: The Sub-Class will be mostly about creating things. [CHAOS]: The Sub-Class will have no specific aim or direction. A lot of options. Chaos could be funny but it¡¯s not a gamble I¡¯m willing to take. Crafting is a no. I have no time for that. Debuff and Support are both decent options. Tank could be an interesting idea, especially now that I will be unable to move when my health gets low. I cannot always rely on Pareth to take the hits for me. Healer and DPS I do not need. Bone dominus and Angel¡¯s bolt got me covered when it comes to healing and killing. Also DPS is such a weird name, I would be scared of taking it just because the name is so strange. So, Support, Debuff, or Tank. Technically Support is a great pick because I can make the skeletons stronger. But at the same time, this is the Diversify category, if I wanted to do that I should have picked the first Support choice. Wouldn¡¯t it be weird to turn down support on the first pick and to change my mind on the second? Wouldn¡¯t picking support right from the start be stronger? This showing up again means this second support choice is to strengthen allies that aren¡¯t related to my class in particular. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. That¡¯s a no for me. Leaves me with Debuff or Tank. Both are good¡­ But ultimately I can¡¯t be everywhere, so if me and the skeletons split, Debuff will only be useful to me. While Tank would allow Pareth to move more freely in all situations and have to worry less about me. And all the resistance skills and such are cost-less passives. Exactly the kind of thing I want. Tank it is! [You chose ¡®Diversify-Tank¡¯, now pick a Sub-role flavor] Flavor? Are we making dessert or a class? This one is taking a while to give me the options¡­ Oh, there we go. [Taunt]-[Sustain]-[Mountain]-[Wall]-[Physical Protection]-[Magical Protection] [Taunt]: A tank who attracts enemy attention and gains decisive bonuses for receiving damage. [Sustain]: A tank who regenerates health and stamina at an incredible rate. [Mountain]: A tank whose health pool is the size of a mountain and is immune to most debilitations. [Wall]: A tank with many layers of protection who gains bonuses for standing still. [Physical Protection]: A tank specializing in surviving and countering physical attacks. [Magical Protection]: A tank specializing in surviving and countering magical attacks. So Pareth qualifies as a Mountain? I like the image. With a good enough skeleton and his new transformation skill he might actually be mountain-sized someday. As for me¡­ Taunt is a big no. It¡¯s the opposite of what I want. Sustain is terrible with my low health and stamina. Mountain also does not fit. The mention of immunities is interesting, but I¡¯m never going to be investing much in Health so I won¡¯t take that. Wall sounds incredible, I get to take advantage of my Racial malus of losing mobility at low health, and it¡¯s also good for the Order state of [Dodge - me]. The only drawback is that this is really incompatible with my fighting style in demon form. Magical Protection is irrelevant when I already have [Heat Death]. Now that I have so much mana, I will be able to straight-up negate most magic attacks thrown my way without having to worry about it emptying my reserves. Physical Protection is the only real contender other than Wall, it makes a great pair with [Heat Death]. Well¡­ Wall is a bit of a silly name, but¡­ [You chose ¡®Diversify-Tank-Wall¡¯, generating Sub-Classes!] [Please wait] Alright. Waiting. Waiting¡­
It¡¯s been like ten minutes already. How long is this going to take? Mr Scribe? Are you alright? Hello? This better not take too long¡­
Ah! Sofia was startled out of her improvised meditation about two hours later, from her perception of it, by the sound of a new system window opening. But she saw nothing except for the same [Please wait] in the middle of her vision which had shown no sign of moving at all. A few seconds later, a window actually opened, without the usual notification sound, prompting Sofia to choose one of three Sub-Classes. [Sub-Classes Successfully generated! You may pick one or reroll to generate three more choices (Current set of choices will be lost). Rerolls attempts left : 2] Choice 1: [Firewall]: The Firewall transforms the battlefield into an ocean of fire, they can create fiery shields, and deal damage to their attackers, capable of retaliating even against spiritual attacks. I don¡¯t like this much. This would be good for Alith but not so much for me. Also the protective power of fire sounds a bit compromised, does it not? Choice 2: [The great wall]: The great wall can extend its protection far and wide, without lifting a finger, it can defend many places at once for prolonged periods of time. This would be great if Bookie¡¯s skeletons weren¡¯t already literally immune to damage half the time. As it is, I cannot see myself picking that. Choice 3: [Iron Bastion]: The Iron Bastion can become an immovable object, greatly enhancing physical resistance and gaining temporary strength bonuses when struck. Not terrible but not great. Immovable objects should be like Asty¡¯s skill, so it is a really strong defense, but I wouldn¡¯t be able to move at all, not even to cast spells. Hmm. I see how it is. No infinite attempts like the specializations. So I can throw these out but there¡¯s no guarantee the next three will be better. I¡¯m almost tempted to pick one just to skip the wait but¡­ None of these really speak to me. After weighing her options for a full five minutes, Sofia decided to try her luck. Let¡¯s reroll. [Please wait] This sucks.
After what felt like another two hours, Sofia got her second set of possible Sub-Classes. Choice 4: [Spirit Guardian]: The Spirit Guardian can summon totemic spirits to take blows in their and their allies¡¯ stead. Totems. En would have loved that. I wonder if she¡¯s doing well. She should be almost eighteen now. Well. Not my thing though. Choice 5: [Impaler]: The Impaler can exert influence on objects in their surroundings to use them as weapons and shields stronger than their base materials. That¡¯s a defensive Sub-class. I wouldn¡¯t have guessed from the name. I don¡¯t like it. This is starting to look like I will have to use my last reroll¡­ Maybe picking Tank was a mistake¡­ Choice 6: [Arrogant young master]: The Arrogant young master is one who benefits endlessly from just existing. Dumb like a brick wall, they can count on their betters to take the hits for them, and get to enjoy abundant wealth and resources without even trying. What in the Lords¡¯ name even is that?! And am I stupid for thinking it might not actually be that bad? Being rewarded for just existing sounds pretty sweet. Abundant wealth and resources are nice as well, depending on how that materializes. The issue is I don¡¯t see how it would make me more resilient, though, if I am being honest, having others take the hits for me is kind of the point of being a necromancer¡­ Dumb like a brick wall, though? I don¡¯t think I¡¯m particularly arrogant either¡­ I still have one reroll. But five of the six choices until now have been shit, with this one just being overall weird. There isn¡¯t a world where I actually pick that¡­ Is there?
Chapter 478 - Fuck around and find out While Sofia debated on whether to take the [Arrogant young master] sub-class or not in her mind, she saw the system windows disappear. Mr. Scribe? [Do not take it.] Oh? Did you get some sort of insight on this sub-class? [No, but I found a vulnerability.] A vulnerability? [The data within the dagger is protected and I cannot access it except by following your choices, but I can still catch a glance at the active processes. So we can cheat.] Wait, really? Can you just give me a good class, then? [It¡¯s not that simple. The classes of the Diversify category are actually all pre-generated, but they are encrypted. What makes it take so long to show the options is the decryption, but one of the things I have figured out from this reroll is that the classes are sorted in an order called ¡®rarity¡¯, and we are given a group of three sub-classes that follow each other in the list.] Interesting. So the third choice from each set is always the strongest? [If we believe that rarity is indicative of strength, then yes.] So do I just reroll again and pick whatever the third choice is? [No, the thing I need you to do is to think of the word ¡®Reroll¡¯, then pause, then do it again, but without actually selecting the option.] I can do that but how is that supposed to help? [It would be too long to explain in detail, but a lot of the system¡¯s randomness is time-based. By doing this, I may be able to figure out how the dagger picks the sub-classes to be decrypted, and we can force our way to the highest rarity ones.] I am liking this idea. How long do I need to do that for? [However long it takes me to reverse-engineer the picking process.] Alright, I trust your judgment. Just tell me when to stop.
Reroll. Reroll. Reroll. Reroll. Reroll.
Reroll¡­ Suddenly all the system windows disappeared. [I have figured it out. We can try to aim for the rarest sub-class. But it is a risky gamble.] How so? [There are three hundred sub-classes in the ¡®Diversify-Tank-Wall¡¯ list. The sub-class selector goes down the list by one sub-class every hundredth of a second. This effectively means that to get the rarest sub-class, you need to initiate the reroll in one of the correct 3 hundredth of a second when the selector is at the end of the list, and if you miss by even the tiniest margin, we will be stuck with three choices from the worst options of the top of the list.] Can you help me get the timing right? [My presence as I am right now causes a delay in information transmission. It will take a bit for me to adjust, but I can give you a timer that blinks at the correct time every three seconds. When you¡¯re ready, I will switch back, and you need to reroll precisely three seconds after the timer disappears.] Alright, thank you for your hard work. That does not sound terribly hard. Let¡¯s train for a while, though. If you can just make the timer disappear but stay here and tell me how close I am to the correct timing. I¡¯m sure after a bit of training I can hit three seconds consistently. [We can do that.]
Getting three seconds on the dot was harder than it seemed. At the start, Sofia was not even close, and she had to train for several hours before things started to look even remotely consistent. After a lot of effort, she managed to get within a consistent tenth of a second of the three seconds mark every single time she tried, but it was still far from the three hundredths she had to aim for. Eventually, she got to the point where she hit the golden zone of the last three hundredths of a second before three seconds about thirty percent of the time. And from there, she kept pushing. But improvement stopped abruptly. She had hit her limit, a precision in the range of about seven hundredths of a second. By aiming for three seconds exactly, Mr Scribe¡¯s timer would always stop in between 2.97 and 3.03. Well. I tried my best. Let¡¯s stop here, we¡¯re just wasting time. Since I can¡¯t seem to be consistently more precise than that, I just have to aim to reroll slightly earlier. Yeah. The aim is to hit 2.97. This way, even if I¡¯m the entire 0.03 seconds late, I will still get the rarest sub-class along with the two least rares. And I can be up to 0.03 seconds early, meaning that in the worst case I get classes 294 to 297 and don¡¯t get to see the three rarest ones. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. This is fine. I¡¯m fine with those odds. I get a rare sub-class no matter what. Give me the timer, Mr. Scribe. I¡¯m ready. [1] [2] [3] Mr. Scribe¡¯s dialogue windows disappeared, and the sub-class choice windows reappeared. In her head, Sofia counted. One. Two. REROLL! Did I get it? Once again, the system was frozen. Sofia now knew that it was because of the data decryption, whatever that exactly meant. And all she could do now was just to wait again. The Scribe was the only one who knew whether she hit the correct timing or not, and he was unable to communicate until the decryption was over. What if I messed up more? It¡¯s going to be so bad if I was just a little too late an end up with the three worse options of the entire list¡­ I trained a lot, it should be fine¡­ Hopefully¡­
Finally, the system windows unfroze. Here we go¡­ Holy shit! I didn¡¯t miss! I didn¡¯t miss at all! Choice 7: [Guardian of heaven¡¯s gate]: The guardian of heaven¡¯s gate shrugs off attacks by redirecting them to the other planes of reality. Choice 8: [Rune Warden]: The rune warden can create rune-enhanced mana shields to automatically defend him from blows from all sides. Choice 9: [False Lord]: Description missing Fuck. To think I even considered taking [Arrogant young master]! [Guardian of heaven¡¯s gate] and [Rune Warden] both sound incredibly stronger than all the choices I had before. No wonder my previous sets were so bad! But¡­ False Lord? For the description to be missing¡­ That¡¯s quite fitting, isn¡¯t it? The issue is, I have no idea what kind of skill this will get me. Even then; can I still call myself Sofia Aphenoreth if I don¡¯t take this? And it¡¯s the rarest sub-class of the list, right? I won¡¯t even be mad if it¡¯s a scam, just getting to see this class name in my status sheet is worth the effort it took to get there. If Archangels can be false Gods. I can be a false Lord! [WARNING!] [The False Lord Sub-Class is incomplete] That¡¯s a cute warning. Don¡¯t care! Give it to me! [WARNING!] [This Sub-Class is not intended for player use, please pick another option] This dagger is stubborn, huh. Mr. Scribe would never argue back against my decisions. If you didn¡¯t want me to pick it, why did you let me have the option? This is only making me want it more. You¡¯re only confirming that this is exactly what I think it is, and I¡¯m all for it. Give me the Sub-Class. [WARNING!] [This Sub-Class¡¯ skills may be unusable or unsuitable for player¡¯s continued existence. Please reconsider] GIVE. ME. THE. DAMN. SUB-CLASS; DAGGER! [Congratulations, you have unlocked the sub-class : False Lord!] [Setting sub-class to : False Lord] [A new skill is available] [A new class quest is available] Status sheet! Hide all the useless shit! Name : Sofia Aphenoreth Age : 21 ? Class : [Saintomancer] ? Sub-Class : [False Lord] ? Level : 250 ? Remaining possible skill slots : 4 False Lord Skills (0 / 0) Give it one slot and show me the skill! Remaining possible skill slots : 3 False Lord Skills (0 / 1) Available Sub-Class Passive Skills :
  • [Singularity edict] : Any one attack can only damage you once.
Sofia accepted the skill without a second thought. You have acquired the passive : ¡®Singularity edict¡¯ With the skill came a burning feeling. Sofia had not been able to feel her body at all during the time she spent in the silent dark void, but somehow the new skill helped her regain some sensations. She started to see short glimpses of meaningless color. Is my vision coming back? Are we getting out of the distorted time thing already? I haven¡¯t even had time to look at my new keywords. Colors merged together, and Sofia¡¯s vision became completely white. She could feel Pareth next to her, even without seeing him, she extended a hand, and she caught his arm. This simple physical contact gave her confidence that everything was alright. I can sense my mana! Fina- Sofia collided with the ground face first. The sounds on clanking bones next to her hinting that Pareth had suffered the same fate. What the¡­ The ground was hard, cold and uneven, yet it seemed Sofia was embedded in it as if she¡¯d fallen in snow. With a push-up motion, she unstuck herself from the ground. Pareth was next to her, also struggling to work his way out of an even deeper Pareth-shaped hole. ¡°Just teleport to me, you dummy.¡± Pareth did so, appearing next to Sofia, his skeleton sized down to be right about her height. Bookie came out, standing on Sofia¡¯s other side, he looked around. ¡°Where are we?¡± he asked innocently. Sofia¡¯s gaze lost itself on the red mist permeating the strange cavern-like structure they had appeared inside of. There were a few large snail-like creatures on the walls. Their iridescent shells reflected a multitude of colors in a hypnotizing show of glittering lights. ¡°When the time comes, seek my name¡­¡± Sofia mumbled. Did Sun know this was going to happen? If anything could make her panic, this might actually do it. Richard must be fuming that she pulled him out, though. She gave Bookie¡¯s skull a few pats, ¡°I think¡­ We¡¯re going to go pay your Uncle a visit.¡±
EXTRA 4 DFS Missing Person Case 001 Missing person is labeled MP001. The following is an audio transcript of video surveillance file sc-00023659-p-52 recorded at [REDACTED] on 03.09.----; the video channel is corrupted beyond saving. This is the only file which could be recovered. ____ *Door opens* *Light footsteps* *Door closes* *Silence* Doctor. M. Luuranko : ¡°Hey [ ]1, still on the ELF Deep field scanner? How¡¯s it going?¡± 1-(The voice of Dr. Luuranko stops for a brief moment) MP001 : ¡°Oh, hi Mark.2¡± 2-(The voice is distorted, impossible to determine gender) *Sounds of clothes ruffling, something heavy is being dropped carefully on a hard surface, office chair noises* ¡°Didn¡¯t hear you enter. It¡¯s going, huh, as well as it could with the recent lack of funding, I think I might get an actual render today, though, if my calculations are all correct and nothing breaks on me last second, this time.¡± Doctor. M. Luuranko : ¡°Are you confident? Man that¡¯d be insane. It¡¯s all you need to get more funding, too. I¡¯m sure a single good picture will get you support from the SFDA, and if not, you can probably¡­ You know¡­ find another hand to feed you.¡° *MP001 laughs. Extremely distorted.* MP001 : ¡°Maybe, maybe not. Even with a good render, there might just be nothing new to see there, you know?¡± Doctor. M. Luuranko : ¡°OR! You could hold the definite proof, once and for all, that we¡¯re not alone in this universe. Just imagine!¡± MP001 : ¡°Well, that¡¯s the hope, anyway. It could certainly be used to find us, assuming it works. I¡¯ve good h-¡± [MP001¡¯s sentence is cut by a short silence] Doctor. M. Luuranko : ¡°Look! It¡¯s coming in! We¡¯re receiving it!¡± *Sounds of steps and office chair* MP001 : ¡°Actual usable data! Help me launch the AI, I don¡¯t have the render conversion built-in yet!¡° Doctor. M. Luuranko : ¡®You don¡¯t?!¡± MP001 : ¡°No! I didn¡¯t really think it¡¯d actually work today!¡± Doctor. M. Luuranko : ¡°Fucking¡­ Alright I¡¯ll handle Quant, you do your thing! Don¡¯t mess up now!¡± This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. *Sounds of rapid keyboard typing, two office chairs moving* Doctor. M. Luuranko : "It¡¯s here! I¡¯ve never been so thrilled to see a line of red pixels!¡± MP001 : ¡°There is some noise in the values already, too early to say if this is anything worthwhile though.¡± Doctor. M. Luuranko : ¡°The telescope¡¯s still pointed at the [REDACTED], right? MP001 : ¡°You know me, where else would I look first?!¡± [A short period goes where no one speaks, but chairs creaking and heavy breathing can still be heard at times.] Doctor. M. Luuranko : ¡°Shit! Why did it turn off?!¡± MP001 : ¡°Quant must be overloading! Handle him while I monitor the transfer.¡± Doctor. M. Luuranko : ¡°I get it, wanna see the render first? Sure but you owe me a burger at Jimmy¡¯s!¡± MP001 : ¡°If this goes through I¡¯ll buy you the entire menu!¡± Doctor. M. Luuranko : ¡°Hold you to that, bro. I¡¯m going in.¡± *The sounds and context point to Dr. Luuranko sitting on the lab¡¯s dive chair and plugging into FDR to communicate directly with QUANT-AI* MP001 : ¡°More noise¡­¡± ¡°Wait¡­ There¡¯s something right in the center¡­ Come on, render the next line already¡­¡± ¡°What is that?¡± ¡°Is this¡­ A top-hat? How could this possibly¡­¡± ¡°Is someone pulling a weird prank? Mark?¡± ¡°Should I pull him out?¡± ¡°Oh my god, it¡¯s really a top-hat on someone¡¯s head. Quant must be disf-¡± [The next three minutes go by in absolute silence] *Noises from Doctor Luuranko disconnecting from FDR.* Doctor. M. Luuranko : ¡°Why¡­ What am I even doing here?¡± ¡°Wasn¡¯t there someone else with me? Everything is turned off, so I guess not¡­ Weird. I thought¡­¡± ¡°This project is really starting to get to me¡­ I need more sleep.¡± *Footsteps, door opening and closing.* END OF RECORDING ____ This recording is the only one remaining of MP001. To this day, no other text, pictures, audio, or video relating directly to MP001 could be found. Addendum (12.03.----) Since the publication of this case, three separate individuals have supposedly investigated this case and the DFS. They will be labeled MP002, MP003 and MP004 in the following documents. The exact identity of MP001 through MP004 is still a mystery. MP002 is the label given to the publisher of the original entry in this case. The four missing persons have been identified to be [REDACTED] employees through an AI filtering of the employment database coming up with four mismatches. Although no name was found, personal home addresses were recovered for all four mismatches. One of them led to an empty lot, one to a vacant house, and two to single-mother families. In both cases, no information could be found about the missing fathers. They are presumed to be MP003 and MP004. Close relatives seem to suffer partial amnesia regarding MP003 and MP004, being able to relate that said individuals exist, but failing to elaborate. Public records, neighbors, supposed colleagues and distant relatives all seem to suffer a complete targeted amnesia, and have no recollection of anyone going missing. By analyzing the energy expenditure of the lab, we have been able to pinpoint four unaccounted-for power surges, one of them dating to 03.09.----, and another dating to the initial publishing of this case. The Deep Field Scanner and the images it produces are now considered to be a worldwide existential threat capable of provoking mass hyper-targeted amnesia. The fate of MP001 through MP004 is still unknown. The scanner is now out of commission and cannot be used under any circumstances. For the safety of our public agents, the DFS will be disassembled and disposed of by death-row inmates. A special unit will be created to prevent any future research into ELF Deep Fields. Use of lethal force is authorized. Addendum 3 (08.26.----) Despite the previous measures, more database mismatches have kept appearing steadily. The entirety of [REDACTED] Labs will be demolished, and the remaining employees will be going through an obligatory professional reconversion. All further research into this case is strictly forbidden and punishable by death without trial. Case Closed.
Chapter 479 - Eyes rolling in the Deep ¡°Uncle?¡± Bookie repeated. ¡°This is the Deep. I¡¯m almost certain. Just look at those big snails, they¡¯re the same color as the parasites from Sun¡¯s temple,¡± Sofia explained. Pareth nodded in approval. ¡°Then¡­ Are we safe?¡± Bookie asked, huddling up closer to Sofia. ¡°Honestly? No idea. This could be the safest we¡¯ve ever been, away from all the gods and all¡­ Or this could be the worst thing to ever happen to us. So far, the snails aren¡¯t paying us any attention, at least.¡± The creatures the size of Sofia¡¯s head were lazily crawling on the cavernous walls, leaving behind glistening trails of thick goo. Taking her things back from Pareth, Sofia quickly got dressed, her horn tearing large holes through her chemise. The clothes had self-repair enchantments so these would only be temporary but it still made her frown. ¡°This is going to take a bit getting used to¡­ It¡¯s interesting that the storage items still work here¡­¡± While Sofia was still battling with the buttons of her clothes, Bookie called out to her again. ¡°Sofia!¡± ¡°W- What?¡± She asked, looking down at the small skeleton. ¡°Can I touch your horns?¡± ¡°Let me get dressed up first, alright? Scepter still good, glove and dagger still good¡­ I don¡¯t think we lost anything. I feel a bit strange but I think it¡¯s just the race evolution, stats are looking perfectly fine¡­¡± Health : 822 762 / 822 762 Stamina : 204 336 / 204 336 Mana : 5 022 238 / 5 022 238 Sofia grabbed Bookie under the arms to bring him to and let him touch her glowing horns while she continued to analyze the current situation. I really don¡¯t think being sent here is the result of the unknown god attacking, or it would be strange that not even Sun could do anything. More likely this is a side effect of messing around with Aphenoreth¡¯s essence for the race evolution and the heart. Even though nothing similar happened to Alith, she also didn¡¯t have an Ultimate tier mana heart. It sure is weird here¡­ There¡¯s air but it smells a bit strange. Almost fruity? It might not actually be breathable for regular people. Well, regular people probably wouldn¡¯t even be able to stand up, the gravity is pretty oppressive, I¡¯m starting to sink in the ground again. Also, no mana. But that¡¯s not really an issue for me anymore. But I guess it still impacts Pareth and Bookie. ¡°Not for me!¡± Bookie proudly answered Sofia¡¯s thoughts while still fondling her horns. ¡°Really?¡± Sofia asked, staring at the cute skeleton. ¡°Hmmhmm. My regeneration works by copying yours! Only the normal speed, I think¡­ The items and rituals and runes all don¡¯t affect me at all, but the Infinity Engine works! Probably,¡± he explained, not seeming too confident in his own words. ¡°We¡¯ll look into it later. Pareth should be feeling the mana drought, though, right?¡± Pareth nodded, but Sofia noticed it was feeling a bit wrong. She asked with narrowed eyes, ¡°You want to touch them too? You guys¡­ You don¡¯t even have to ask, you know. It¡¯s just horns.¡± Sofia reached up to touch the golden horns on her head, they felt the exact same as when she previously tried to touch her Ultimate form mana heart, like grasping onto a solid empty space pushing back against her fingers. As for the sensations from the horns, there were almost none, almost like touching one¡¯s teeth. While Bookie had been grabbing at Sofia¡¯s horn without a care in the world, Pareth came up close and let his fingers run along the horns of light. It actually sent shivers down Sofia¡¯s spine, and she took a step back, almost falling over as her feet were continuously sinking in the ground, ¡°H- Hey. Let¡¯s, uh. I changed my mind, maybe don¡¯t touch them too much.¡± Pareth held his hands up, looking as embarrassed as a skeleton could. What the fuck, Clint?! ¡°Is something wrong, Sofia?¡± ¡°N- No. It¡¯s nothing,¡± Sofia answered, putting Bookie back down on the ground, ¡±Let¡¯s get moving. It might not be safe here.¡± The truth was that a lot was wrong, she hadn¡¯t been able to do it during the reforging, but Sofia had just probed inside of her own body with her mana senses and it was shocking how far she had gone from a regular human. Everything in there was wrong. Forget vital organs, I have almost no internal organs left to speak of¡­ The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. And what the hell is this thing floating in my head? ¡°Give me a second, guys, I need to check something.¡± Grabbing the admin dagger, Sofia stabbed her left arm and carved out a big lump of flesh, exposing the bone. Almost didn¡¯t feel a thing¡­ My bones look like faintly transparent gold just like everything else¡­ It¡¯s almost like Pareth¡¯s armor. The mana muscles are all white and stringy¡­ Huh. With the [Bone Dominus] passives, the injury closed itself in seconds, and surprisingly, the chunk of springy white flesh Sofia had carved out of her forearm also quickly evaporated in a thin mana mist. ¡°Well¡­ I still need to look inside my head, protect me for a second,¡± Sofia told Pareth and Bookie before she stabbed her skull from the side, carving a thin slit through her right temple and sliding a bone token inside before it could close up. Internal brain view. Interesting. The inside of her head was unsurprisingly very luminous, and she now had a direct view of the weird round thing floating in the middle: a radiant golden eyeball with a pupil shaped like a simplified version of Aphenoreth¡¯s divine rune. Oh. Well this is definitely mine. Can I move it? The answer was yes, she managed to find the way to make it turn and look in every direction rather easily, but she couldn¡¯t actually find a way to see through it. Maybe it¡¯s to do with the secret rune effect thing? Well, whatever. The red fog is coming closer, it might not be a good idea to stay here. ¡°Sorry, I¡¯m done, you¡¯re both good to go?¡± ¡°Ready!¡± Bookie enthusiastically answered, while Pareth simply summoned his sword and armor. ¡°Alright, well, let¡¯s start with the obvious. Aphenoreth?¡± Sofia waited for a few seconds, but there were no signs of anything happening. Orator did say he was busy. ¡°You hear me, Orator?¡± Sofia tried, and there was still no obvious reaction. ¡°Should I say Yvraveteth inst-¡± this time something clearly happened. It was like a wave of silent energy spreading from Sofia as the word left her mouth, it even made the colorful snails recoil and all start crawling in the opposite direction. ¡°Sofia, look!¡± Bookie cried out, pointing at something behind her. Sofia turned around, noticing a thin ethereal red tether connecting her torso to the ground a dozen meters away. It slowly faded away under her eyes. Does it lead to something underground? ¡°Yvraveteth?¡± The strange wave of energy spread out again, but Sofia clearly understood where from this time, it was not actually coming from her, but from the tether vibrating as it materialized between her and who knew what. The large snails around them were sent in an outright panic and started rolling away, colliding with the walls and strange crooked stalagmites of the cavernous place on their way out. ¡°Seems we have a direction to follow, nice catch Bookie.¡± Oh, right, before we go, I¡¯m curious, do you still have access to the essence breakdown tab, Mr. Scribe? The status window appeared instantly in front of Sofia¡¯s eyes. Nice, thanks. [Divinity status - Sofia Aphenoreth] ¨C Saintess of a dirty rag ¨C (VIP) (Safeguards : Off) (Link Status : ERR_SSS023 - Connection aborted by user) Planar connection: Superphysical - Yes Mana FOG - Yes ? Subspiritual - Yes Margin - Yes Deep - Probably yes Collected Essence - EV : Aphenoreth - #DIV/0 Creation (2) - 6.64 Dread - 3.69 Life - 4.56 Looming - 2e-9 Ormoncleth - #DIV/0 Scripture - 2.15 Sorrow - 4.72 Sun (5) - 25 Victory - 4.27 Huh huh. Did scripture¡¯s essence get slightly stronger since last time? Also you need to explain this planar connection tab next time you take over to speak. Especially the FOG thing. And since it looks like you can write whatever you want just put Saintess of the Deep next time please. We might as well make it official, you know. And¡­ We can go over the other things when we¡¯re out of here. Let¡¯s get ready. Sofia¡¯s armor grew around her body, the bones, copying hers, were made of solid light. She cast [Graveyard of the righteous] on herself, without giving the graveyard skeletons any order, like this she was ready to phase through walls at a moment¡¯s notice. She also activated the [Spine of the Black Sun], and summoned two destroyer skulls from the [Skull Choir], making them latch onto her shoulders like extra large pauldrons. The only thing she did not cover was her head, as it just felt better not to wear the helmet. She would still wear it in battle, but now that her head was not the critical weak point it once was, it was much less important. Wait, do the graveyard skeletons even work properly here? Sofia walked to a wall and stuck her head against it. The skeleton hands sprouted out of her helmet to grab it from the outside, and her head started to sink into the wall. Everything turned black. What the¡­ Pulling her head out, Sofia looked around, observing everyone¡¯s souls. The souls are still here, white as ever, but the rest of the spirit plane here is pitch black? The Deep is a strange place. ¡°Alright we¡¯re moving,¡± Sofia told the skeletons, stepping ahead. ¡°Hey, Bookie, did you know?¡± ¡°Did I know?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think I ever told you, your soul is shaped like your book form.¡±
Chapter 480 - Following the red string Sofia, Pareth and Bookie advanced carefully through the cavernous formations of the weird place they had found themselves in, encountering nothing but more of the colorful snails crawling along the walls. Yet, every so often, they would hear strange noises that stopped them in their tracks. The atmosphere was tense, until Bookie¡¯s intrusive thoughts won. He stopped in front of one of the big snails. ¡°Say, Sofia. Do you think they taste good?¡± ¡°Wha- Bookie¡­ Can you even taste anything?¡± ¡°Oh! Right¡­ Well, I can taste bones. And souls, I think. Bones taste good! Maybe these things have bones?¡± Pareth shook his head, and Sofia sided with him. ¡°I don¡¯t think they do. Unless you have developed an appetite for shells. But even then, these things might be related to the Ormoncleth parasi-¡± Sofia realized her potential mistake, too late. Her vision expanded and her consciousness swirled. From far above, through an infinity of layers, she watched herself pass out and get caught by Pareth. Her vision extended again, for an instant, she felt like she could see everything. The entire universe, gigantic, infinite, all things in their perfect place, a tapestry of countless stars weaving the threads of reality as she knew it. A slap pulled her out of the overwhelming sight. ¡°Sofia!¡± a distorted voice cried out. Touch, colors, smells and sounds all melded together, as Sofia was starting to regain control of her body. Somehow, she felt restricted, constricted. This mortal envelope was holding her back, it was all she could think about. Another slap realigned her senses. ¡°Sofia, stoooop!¡± a panicked voice pleaded. Her thoughts finally cleared up, and she could see what she was doing. Bookie and Pareth were pinning her down against the ground, holding her arm still with all the strength they could muster. Said arm was digging into her chest, it had torn through her flesh and bones to grab ahold of her mana heart, and was trying to pull it out. Even now, she had to gather all her willpower to force her own hand open. The mana heart snapped back to its rightful place, and her flesh started to reform. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ I- I got it. You can let me go. S- Sorry about that. I think I¡­ I lost my mind for a second.¡± ¡°Are you sure?¡± Bookie asked worriedly, unwilling to let her arm go. ¡°Yes, look, I can move my fingers just fine now. Thanks for slapping me out of it, Bookie. Thank you too, Pareth. This was actually really dangerous¡­¡± ¡°What happened? Did you become crazy, Sofia?¡± Bookie asked again, still not letting go. ¡°I¡­ Saying the Uncles¡¯ names here is a bit more dangerous than usual is all.¡± ¡°Did they attack you?!¡± ¡°No¡­ I think it¡¯s more¡­ I think it¡¯s like Death. Do you remember Leverle¡¯s explanation, Bookie?¡± ¡°They¡¯re too strong?¡± ¡°Something like that. I blurted out the name without thinking and it just¡­ Well you saw what happened. But this Uncle has always been good to us until now,¡± Sofia pointed out, glancing at the bell on her scepter which was floating right next to her, ¡±so I don¡¯t think what just happened to me was something they wanted. It¡¯s probably also why Orator warned me not to use the other Uncle¡¯s name. Let¡¯s all be careful not to say the names, and this should not happen again. Alright?¡± Bookie nodded, and his fingers let go of Sofia¡¯s arm, but Pareth was still holding, the flames in his eye sockets burning brightly. Sofia smiled at him, and he slowly let go. ¡°I¡¯m fine, really. Sorry for the scare.¡± She stood up and fixed her hair, mumbling to herself, ¡°No wonder everyone is scared. Between this and what happened to Alith last time¡­¡± This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
The group advanced through the sinuous paths, encountering nothing worth of mention, until the tether they had been following started pointing straight down. ¡°That¡¯s a strange hole,¡± Bookie commented, looking at the narrow opening in the ground the tether was pointing at. ¡°I can¡¯t even see the end, it¡¯s too sinuous,¡± Sofia observed. ¡°Do we still go down, Sofia? This is a bit scary¡­¡± ¡°You both should hide in the storage, I¡¯ll put on an unlife rune or two and go down slowly. Everything should be fine.¡±
The shifting shapes of the [False immortality] runes were strange as ever, Sofia had thought that she might stand a better chance at understanding them now that she knew Aphenoreth¡¯s rune, which was arguably much weirder, but that did not actually help. It still took the usual fifteen minutes to channel the three runes, and despite the noises Sofia could hear constantly in the distance being quite disturbing, she still had to see any creature other than the colorful snails. Due to [Infinity Engine], her mana regeneration wasn¡¯t affected, proving the efficacy of the effect. It was really the right choice. I should probably keep at least one rune up all the time now. No reason no to. In fact I should have cast them while we were walking¡­ Anyway¡­ Using bone dominus, Sofia created thin insect-like bone legs all around her armor, copying the Kidjikkiks and she used them to crawl down the weird hole in the ground. It was not the easiest thing to maneuver, but she had gotten a ton of bone-controlling experience from staying in a mostly-bone body for the better part of a year in the trial. She was going down feet first, but a vision token on the sole of her right boot let her see below. As she crawled down for tens of hundreds of meters, the hole was becoming narrower, until there was no longer enough space for the Kidjikkik-style legs to push her down, and she had to turn off her armor to be slim enough to fit. Eventually even that turned out to not be enough. ¡°I¡¯m stuck¡­ How deep does this still go¡­ Yvraveteth!¡± Still going straight down¡­ Seriously Orator, where are you leading me? Digging through the weird reddish stone that made up the walls was not really an option, this stone had strange properties, cold and hard to the touch, yet bending underpressure, deforming like a pile of gravel or coarse sand. Trying to cut through it felt a bit like trying to cut through several layers of thick wet cloth, and worse of all, it had self healing properties almost like it was alive. Trying to cut off a piece and storing it also led to nowhere, as this strange red substance seemed completely immune to spatial magic. I don¡¯t like this but¡­ Sofia had her doubts, but she let the graveyard skeletons pull her down. She wanted to trust the Orator. The spiritual plane that was normally very bright a white, like a realm of clouds, was still pitch black. The only thing Sofia could still see was her own mana, and how it bounced against the now invisible walls of the long hole. The conduit kept becoming smaller and smaller as she fell, eventually becoming as thin as a finger. Then nothing. Shit! Sofia had the graveyard skeletons bring her back to ¡®the physical plane¡¯, she was falling. The first thing she saw was the red ceiling she was coming out of, it was riddled with tiny holes, and below her, something she couldn¡¯t see was attracting her down. Until now she just felt that it was strong gravity, now it felt more clearly like something pulling on her an uneven force trying to bring her down toward whatever the impenetrable reddish abyss below hosted. From one hell to the next¡­ Her wings did not work without ambient mana, and she was already falling too fast for [Dodge - Me] to allow her to walk on the air, so she could only either burn all of her mana to activate the third phase of [Runeforged Overlord] and fly back to the ceiling, or accept to let herself fall. I¡¯ve already come this far¡­ Sofia could not tell how long the fall was, she was still worried at first, but as time went by, she became almost serene, the calm of the constant fall and the relative silence was not all that bad. Bookie even came out eventually, latching onto Sofia¡¯s neck, and they had a casual conversation as they fell, checking every so often that, yes, the tether was still pointing straight down. Finally, out of all the things that could happen, the next event was most unexpected: they started slowing down. The infinite fall slowed down to a crawl, and something massive started appearing, piercing through the dark red void far below. It left Sofia and Bookie voiceless as it revealed itself. The thing pulling them down, the Deep¡¯s ¡®gravity¡¯ was a gargantuan distorted city of black spires and curved bridges, built all around a giant sphere floating in the void. It was silent and still, yet an eerie purple glow shone through the spires¡¯ many windows. As their slow descent brought them closer, Sofia and Bookie were beholden to one more truth, the city was gigantic not only in size, but in proportions. A city of giants.
Chapter 481 - Scales The fall kept slowing down to the point that by the time Sofia and Bookie reached the level of the tallest spires, they were going down slow enough to try to look through the tall windows. The unsettling purple light they produced completely obscured the interior of the gigantic spires, but shifts in the luminosity seemed to hint at things moving on the inside, disturbing the light. Despite that, the outdoors were completely devoid of any movement or life, and the city was deadly silent. ¡°Sofia,¡± Bookie whispered, poking at her sides, ¡°my blessing just activated.¡± ¡°Your bless- Wait, you¡¯re right¡­ My mana regeneration just went up too¡­ This purple light is sunlight?¡± Does Sun¡¯s power extend all the way to the Deep? Maybe it¡¯s only because I have some of her essence with me¡­ Bookie meekly nodded, ¡°I don¡¯t understand¡­¡± ¡°It might be better not to think about it too much¡­ We¡¯re going to land in that big plaza down below¡­ We¡¯re perfectly lined up with the center of it, which is a bit strange too¡­¡± One thing of note about the city that Sofia only noticed as she got closer, was the presence of a multitude of giant cogs sprouting from the tall buildings and the ground. From afar they looked like just parts of the houses, but up close it was clear that these were immobile mechanical parts, as if the entire city was one big sleeping machine. Trying to get a proper sense of scale for the city, Sofia observed the doors to the spires near the ground. Maybe fifty meters tall? Made of the same black stone as the walls. I might not even be able to open these doors if I tried. Maybe in demon form¡­ Pareth appeared as Sofia neared the ground, the speed of the fall had become so slow that going down stairs would have been faster at this point; a few seconds later, their feet lightly touched the paved ground of the city¡¯s central plaza. The trio was ready to defend themselves, but there was no welcoming committee. Tall shadows kept moving behind the glowing windows, unbothered by the three insects who had landed in the city. ¡°Should we check the string?¡± Bookie whispered. ¡°It might be dangerous, but the other option is trying to enter one of these towers¡­ I will call the name, if anything weird happens we fly away, so be ready to enter the storage ring, alright?¡± Pareth and Bookie both nodded in agreement. ¡°Alright¡­¡± Sofia kept her mana ready to activate [Runeforged overlord] at a moment¡¯s notice, then she whispered, ¡°Yvraveteth.¡± The red tether appeared as it always did, no longer pointing down but toward one of the plaza¡¯s exits, leading to a large street within the city. Sofia worriedly looked up at the windows, but the movements behind them were still just as sparse and uncaring. The group cautiously walked following the tether, the silence of the city disturbed by the footsteps resonating through the oversized streets. Sometimes, the sound of a door opening or closing reminded them that they were not alone in this place, and it made them walk faster. Finally, the tether took them to a broken down part of the city. Here, spires had collapsed, black stone debris littered the paved streets, giant glass shards from the shattered windows were planted in the ground. It seemed this place had been the theater of some violent battle of ridiculous proportions. Sometimes Sofia would get a glimpse at the interior of the half broken spires through a crack in the walls or the broken windows, and the things within were so far past her comprehension that her thoughts blurred, the more she looked the less she understood. In the end she had to stop herself from looking for fear of losing her mind and kept pressing forward through the debris, following the tether. She reached another plaza. It was mostly clear of debris, though the spires around it were almost all collapsed. Two big legs sculpted in black stone, with a strange musculature carved in intricate details, stood in the middle of the plaza, the remains of a titanic statue broken at the knees, everything above them lost to time. Someone stood beneath the legs looking up at the statue that was no more. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. Sofia, Pareth and Bookie all stopped in their tracks at the sight of the lanky man dressed in white standing in the distance. His proportions were very wrong from a human point of view, with arms and legs twice as long as they should be, his long flowing white hair and white suit contrasting brightly against the black city. Accompanied by the unpleasant sound of bones breaking which Sofia could easily recognize, the man¡¯s shape and stature changed, becoming that of a perfectly average man, then he turned around. He had been standing hundreds of meters away from the group, but he was now just steps away from them, looking Sofia straight in the eyes. ¡°Saintess. Welcome to the uneven city, Ser¡¯Alhtra.¡± The uneven city? ¡°Uncle!¡± Bookie was first to answer, jumping forward and hugging the man¡¯s leg before Sofia could even react. ¡°Orator?¡± Sofia asked, uncertain, as she watched the man caressing Bookie¡¯s skull with a smile. It could hardly be anyone else, and the likelihood of Bookie not recognizing his creator seemed low, but she still had to ask. Besides, she felt absolutely nothing from the man standing in front of her, no mana, and no presence. It was a very strange and confused feeling that her eyes were showing her something that did not actually exist. Weirder yet, no matter how much she looked at the man¡¯s face, she was incapable of understanding what he looked like. ¡°Please,¡± the man answered, his voice different than it was just a few seconds ago, ¡°use my real name whilst we visit here. So, how do these young ones like this remote part of our reality?¡± ¡°It¡¯s creepy!¡± Bookie answered, looking up at the Lord¡¯s ¡®face¡¯. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ Unexpectedly safe, so far?¡± Orator laughed. Every time he opened his mouth, a different voice came out. ¡°What about you?¡± he then asked, looking in Pareth¡¯s direction. ¡°Interesting,¡± he then continued, ¡°Evidently you were safe because it was your fate to come here, this one¡¯s prophecy was this way, after all,¡± he explained, putting his hands on his waist. ¡°We were safe thanks to you, Uncle?¡± Bookie asked, as he pulled back to be next to Sofia. ¡°It is not so, you stayed out of harm¡¯s way only because you followed one¡¯s words. For the most part.¡± Sofia had an awkward smile, ¡°I see. Bad things happened when I strayed from the prophecy by mistake¡­¡± ¡°You should be thankful for Ormoncleth¡¯s generosity, Saintess, the essence you bear is the sole reason you survived your frankly embarrassing act of carelessness.¡± ¡°At least I still kept the most dangerous name out of my mouth¡­¡± ¡°As you should,¡± Orator approved, ¡°now, let us conduct our business here, I have led you to Ser¡¯Alhtra for a reason, this Lord shall give you some motivation in your quest,¡± Orator said before turning around and starting to walk away. Sofia and Pareth exchanged a glance, and they followed. ¡°Motivation? Sofia is very motivated, Uncle!¡± Bookie enthusiastically told Orator as he ran up to him. ¡°I know, little one, but the mortal mind has its faults. I exist to see the tasks I give be accomplished, so I shall see to it that the initial conditions lead to a satisfying result. That is how I operate,¡± Orator explained in an unusually relaxed tone. Sofia called out to the Lord from behind, ¡°Say, Yvraveteth.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± he answered without bothering to turn around. ¡°Can we know what Aphenoreth is busy with?¡± she asked, curious about her benefactor¡¯s whereabouts. He answered with a question of his own, ¡°You have witnessed the true expanse of existence when you invoked the Regulator¡¯s name, have you not?¡± ¡°It¡¯s hard to describe¡­ Was everything I saw real?¡± ¡°Certainly so. And yet still, what you were exposed to was but a glimpse of all that has been and will be. Our lot is as vast as reality itself, but single entities we still are. This Lord and the Inquisitor, we have grown tired of scattering our will.¡± Vast as reality itself¡­ How ¡®vast¡¯ are Gods? They only draw their power from our one world, do they not? Sun is only one sun, right? Sofia¡¯s internal thoughts led her to another question, ¡°If what you say is true¡­ Then why here? If reality is so vast, why settle here in particular? Why not one of the heroes¡¯ worlds? Or anywhere else?¡± ¡°Ahahah, is this truly where your thoughts led, Saintess? Your instincts are sharper than you realize. The reason we stay here is precisely our current destination. Speaking of which, we are here,¡± Orator announced, turning around to face Sofia and her skeletons, opening his arms to show the scenery behind him. Sofia could perceive a smug smile on his face despite not being able to see it clearly. Despite the Lord¡¯s words, the place he had stopped was just the middle of another of the giant black city¡¯s ruined streets full of debris. ¡°W- What are we supposed to be looking at, Uncle?¡± Bookie asked, completely lost. Orator¡¯s smile widened, ¡°Look harder, my guests, this here is also the reason a certain ¡®admin¡¯ came knocking at our doorstep. Watch closely, reality is not always what it first appears to be.¡± Look harder? The admin?! Sofia followed Orator¡¯s words, and focused her attention on the scenery behind the Lord. At first, nothing happened, but as she concentrated, the black spires of the city around her started to warp. The stone debris on the ground flew back to the broken walls, the large cogs of the city started turning, the purple lights dimmed, and finally, the gargantuan figure of a dead Dragon was revealed, its rotting mangled corpse impaled on the city¡¯s tallest spire.
Chapter 482 - The flow, undisturbed ¡°What¡­ What am I looking at?¡± Sofia mumbled, ¡°This Dragon is why the admin went missing?¡± The dragon in question was truly enormous, larger even than Erredis was, just looking up to catch a glimpse of the dragon¡¯s limp head gave Sofia vertigo. His silvery gray scales reflected the black city like a million mirrors. The spire impaled said dragon from its hind to his neck, it looked less like it had been the killing blow and more like the corpse had been put there as a war trophy. Each of his four limbs were also skewered onto shorter black spires surrounding the main one, while his tail loosely hung and laid on crushed buildings. Different parts of the corpse seemed to be at different levels of decomposition, some parts looking almost like he was still alive, while others were losing their scales, exposing the darkened flesh beneath. Some of the dropped scales were littering the ground, while some other were still flying, stuck midair through their fall, as if frozen in time. ¡°What is an apt choice of word, this, my guests, is Time,¡± Orator grandly announced with a smile. ¡°Time?¡± Sofia and Bookie repeated in unison. ¡°Like¡­ A god, ¡®Time¡¯?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°A god?¡± Orator parroted before breaking into a sinister laugh. ¡°No, mortal. Not a mere concept; Time itself. A Lord.¡± Sofia thought that she had seen enough things by now that nothing could surprise her, after all, she was even starting to get used to Orator¡¯s presence, and yet, this revelation still left her mind scrambling for any semblance of a coherent thought for long seconds. ¡°A¡­ A Lord,¡± she finally managed to say after a while. Bookie was still silently staring, his lower jaw resting on the floor at his feet. ¡°Rightly so. A fifth Lord. Time,¡± Orator stated matter of factly. ¡°Edrazeketh killed it.¡± ¡°He killed time.¡± ¡°Killing time. An innocuous saying, one would admit,¡± Orator said as he turned around to observe the corpse too, ¡°But if one were to take it a bit too seriously, it would promptly emerge as a rather pressing issue, wouldn¡¯t you say?¡± Orator asked with glee in his voice, his figure seemingly growing taller. ¡°That is putting it lightly. The implications of this¡­¡± Sofia mumbled, her thoughts wandering to a thousand possible scenarios. ¡°You can rest these thoughts,¡± Yvraveteth interrupted her, ¡°Time has been dead for an eternity and a half. As you can see, the universe is well and good as ever.¡± ¡°How¡­ How can everything be fine if Time itself is dead? Shouldn¡¯t time be¡­ How?¡± Sofia said, flabbergasted. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t time be frozen? Everything be stagnant? Reality itself brought to an abrupt end?¡± Yvraveteth spoke her worries aloud. ¡°Not a wrong assumption, at first glance, but of course, that does not hold to scrutiny. Time goes on as we speak, does it not?¡± ¡°Then what¡­ Does killing Time not have any consequences?!¡± ¡°It would,¡± Yvraveteth started, turning back around to face Sofia, ¡°But does the universe care about such puny logic? It does not. And thus, two more Lords were born, given the reigns of time in a different form. But that is a story for another day. As the facts stand, even Time could be bested, is that not inspiring? This shall allow you to view your quest in a renewed light. Do not waste my goodwill.¡± ¡°Wait wait wait! I have so many questions¡­¡± ¡°Certainly you do, find the answers by yourself, will you? There is a limit to one¡¯s generosity.¡± ¡°I¡­ Thank you for the history lesson, then, Yvraveteth. I will definitely kill Scripture, I did not need any convincing.¡± Yvraveteth snorted. ¡°May this memory be useful to you in the future, then. It is about time you left, this place will soon become too dangerous for you.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­ Alright, sure. How do I leave?¡± Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. ¡°WAIT!¡± Bookie interrupted, holding his lower jaw to his skull. ¡°What is it, little one?¡± ¡°Can I¡­¡± Bookie started shyly, ¡°Can I eat it?¡± Yvraveteth smiled and shook his head, his long white hair flowing behind him. ¡°Break all of this reality¡¯s rules and become more powerful than I, then maybe.¡± ¡°So I can¡¯t¡­¡± the small skeleton dejectedly realized. ¡°Perhaps, if you reach the strength required to complete the quest, you might just be able to harvest a scale. Assuming the Annihilator lets you. Now, this has gone longer than expected already, should you want to find this place again in the future, the hint is the light. Farewell.¡± Sofia had not noticed, but the Midenicite ring had appeared on her finger and, as if it had always been there, a ritual circle made of concentric rings was clearly carved under the group¡¯s feet. With a flash of light, Sofia found herself in a familiar place. In the entryway of the Zangdar castle, silently floating in the dark of the Margin, Sofia¡¯s legs gave out. They fucking killed time. It took a while for Sofia and Bookie to process their thoughts, both sitting on the cold Midenicite floor of the castle. In the meantime, Pareth was completely unbothered, and, after making sure that Sofia was unharmed, he transformed his weapon of light into a broom and started cleaning.
And leaving the deep was as simple as teleporting to the margin¡­ Who would believe that? But the storage items worked, and the graveyard worked, so it would make sense¡­ Although¡­ That means we¡¯re stuck here. ¡°Are you doing alright, Bookie?¡± Sofia asked as she stood up, holding out a hand for the short skeleton. ¡°Eat time¡­¡± he mumbled as he grabbed her hand, ¡°I am fine, I think. But¡­ I¡¯m unsatisfied, somehow.¡± ¡°Ahahah. I understand the feeling. You will get used to it. How about we take a look at our home to change our mind? Pareth has even cleaned it all up for us.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s look! It¡¯s my first time here!¡± ¡°Right! It is. I have been thinking about it often but you never had a chance to see it. Well, it¡¯s a bit barren, Alith and I took a lot of the furniture when we left last time, but we can make new things with bones. Let¡¯s quickly check the basement machinery first, though, the mana is very sparse and if it runs out this whole place might disappear,¡± Sofia explained. ¡°We have plenty of mana now!¡± Bookie answered, expelling some of his fog into the air. ¡°Hey, hey, don¡¯t waste it, we¡¯ll use my mana to fill the air, I have another job for you.¡± ¡°Really?!¡± Sofia poked Bookie¡¯s forehead, ¡°Really really. Now that I have all this mana and you have all this fog, don¡¯t you want to try to summon a chimera?¡± ¡°The chimera!¡± Bookie repeated like it was the best thing he ever heard, now that the trial was over, he could summon it and also the fairy, and he was very impatient to try both. ¡°But first, the machinery.¡± As it turned out, this visit to the castle was really timely, as the machine keeping the entire place afloat in the dark void was on its last leg, actually leaving the upper levels of the castle completely exposed to the void already. Sofia dumped all her mana in the air in the basement, and that quickly kickstarted the machine back, expanding the livable zone back to where it was originally, covering not only the castle but a large expanse of nothingness around it where the city used to be.
Sofia, Bookie and Pareth sat together on the edge of the void looking at the great nothing surrounding them in all directions. After the stressful voyage in the Deep, this was oddly relaxing. ¡°Now we just need to wait for Alith to rescue us,¡± Sofia said while munching on a small cake from her storage, amused by the fact that her stomach was now just a small pocket inside her chest from which all food and liquids instantly disappeared no matter what she ate. ¡°What if she never comes?¡± Bookie asked, worried, but Sofia waved his concerns off. ¡°Come on now, you know Alith. She almost disqualified herself by coming here when I was sent to Peace¡¯s domain, do you think she wouldn¡¯t come now? I bet she¡¯ll be here soon, just to make sure we¡¯re not here.¡± ¡°B- But what if she already came and we weren¡¯t there?!¡± Bookie panicked. Pareth gave Bookie a pat on the shoulder, and Sofia continued, ¡°Then she¡¯ll come again, besides, she¡¯s got a mana heart with Orator¡¯s essence now. Do you think he would strand us here if we had no chance to leave?¡± ¡°That¡¯s true, Uncle wouldn¡¯t do that¡­ ¡° ¡°Not only that, but I¡¯m sure Saria will search for me, and it¡¯s likely that Ihuarah, Erredis and Richard will also try to find us. Maybe even Sun, too.¡± ¡°That¡¯s also true¡­¡± ¡°And if we can¡¯t wait anymore, we can still try our luck reactivating the ring.¡± Even if that leads us right back to the corpse of time¡­ Bookie silently nodded, his gaze lost in the distance. He seemed to have calmed down a fair bit. He summoned Crowie and hugged the small bird. ¡°Alith will definitely come. How about we have a look at my new keywords to kill time?¡± Sofia told her skeletons with her best smile.
Chapter 483 - [Blood of cake] Sitting in a triangle on the floor of one of the castle¡¯s bedrooms, Sofia, Pareth and Bookie stared at the system window. Available Active Skills :
  • [Restore ] : Infuse the target with mana to
  • [9853 ] : ERR
  • [9854 ] : ERR
  • [9855 ] : ERR
  • [9856 ] : ERR
  • [9857 ] : ERR
  • [9858 ] : ERR
  • [9859 ] : ERR
Available Passive Skills :
  • [ 12056] : OR
  • [ 12057] : OR
  • [ 12058] : OR
  • [ 12059] : OR
  • [ 12060] : OR
¡°Sofia¡­ Is this normal?¡± ¡°Clearly not¡­ The disconnection must have broken something, there shouldn¡¯t be so many lines to begin with, not to mention the other things¡­ I¡¯m guessing Mr.Scribe must be fiddling with things sti- oh hey, it¡¯s gone.¡± ¡°So are you not getting any skill?¡± ¡°¡±Ah, Scribe is taking over,¡± Sofia told Bookie as she started feeling a lot weaker, ¡°let¡¯s see what we have to deal with this time.¡± [Hi¡­ Working with the dagger as a Database substitute is turning out to be harder than I expected. It is working somewhat, however, but there are things I could not fix¡­] ¡°Database like theHigh Scribe?¡± Sofia commented, ¡°Yeah I could see how the dagger might not hold up well in comparison. So, how is it going to work?¡± [The dagger has many safety features in place, so this is the best workaround I managed to find.] [We get one shot for active and passive each, there will be more keywords than usual but they are completely random (Spell fragments from the dagger¡¯s records), you can choose one combination of two keywords, and the rest will be lost.] [I have absolutely no control on the final result, but do note that our specialization will alter the first skill that you take.] ¡°Interesting, I can work with that. What about [Restore ]? Do we lose it if I don¡¯t use it?¡± [This one will stay, you can also choose to add it to the active skill but it has to go at the very beginning.] ¡°Great. I¡¯m waiting on the list then. Thank you for your hard work!¡± [Feelings shared.] With Mr Scribe¡¯s last message, Sofia felt her strength come back, and her mana started to flow normally again. ¡°You read all that Bookie?¡± Bookie shook his head, ¡°I can¡¯t see Mr Scribe¡¯s messages but I did hear you read them,¡± he explained. ¡°Is that how it works? Pareth must have heard too, right? Let¡¯s all pick the skills together this time!¡± Pareth nodded and straightened his spine. ¡°Alright, the lists are here!¡± Sofia told the skeletons, sharing the active skills system window. Available Active Skills :
  • [Restore ] : Infuse the target with mana to
  • [Greater ] : Shield yourself with a
  • [Quick ] : Doubles Processing for a sho
  • [Blood ] : Invoke a whip of highly caustic bloo
  • [Hollow ] : Temporarily discard all thoughts to gain a massive
  • [Back ] : A swift attack that deals additional dam
  • [ shower] : of sharp icicles.
  • [ curse] : gravity, making it impossible to swim up.
  • [ of cake] : in perfectly equal parts.
  • [ ball] : explosive ball of fire.
  • [ forging technique] : of the Fire fiend shadow valley clan.
¡°Blood of cake!¡± Bookie said after reading through the keywords. Sofia giggled, ¡°After [Summon Blood] we can probably get [Summon Sugar].¡± Bookie nodded, and Pareth shrugged. ¡°Ah! Better yet, [Restore Hollow of cake]! We get infinite cake!¡± Sofia proudly announced, which made Bookie giggle in turn. When Bookie managed to calm down, he asked, ¡°Why does a skill even have cake, Sofia?¡± ¡°Humm¡­ Probably from a cooking-related class? We had a [Baker] in Verenha, this might just be a baker skill. And with the half description we got¡­ [Slicer of cake], maybe? Probably part of a low-level skill. Most of the keywords aren¡¯t that impressive by themselves so they are probably mostly low-level skills overall actually.¡± Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. ¡°[Greater ] and [ curse] could be from high level skills! It might even make a good skill!¡± ¡°[Greater curse] certainly sounds like it could be good. But it is also a very generic name. It could work well with the alteration, though. We might get [Greater eclipse curse] or [Greater skeleton curse], something along those lines.¡± ¡°[Greater skeleton curse]!¡± Bookie repeated with awe in his voice. ¡°Well, it¡¯s a gamble,¡± Sofia continued, ¡°but I do think curses would be a good addition to our arsenal, and Zerei would be able to help us upgrade the skill when it reaches maximum level. What about you, Pareth, any idea?¡± she asked, turning to the bigger skeleton, ¡°Actually¡­¡± A large bone slate appeared on Sofia¡¯s lap, and she split it in small rectangles which she quickly engraved with the keywords. She spread them on the floor between her and the skeletons. ¡°Can you work with that?¡± she asked, looking at Pareth. Pareth seemed uncertain, he extended a hand to touch one of the keywords, and, surprising even himself, it worked. Pareth¡¯s jaws hung from shock for a second, but he quickly caught himself, and started rearranging the bone bits, forming a few combinations. [Restore ][Hollow][ ball] [Blood ][ forging technique] [Quick ][ curse] ¡°Restore hollow ball¡­¡± Sofia read, ¡°Following Erredis¡¯ advice to try to get some way to fix the destruction we spread? Is that what you were going for?¡± Pareth nodded with all three of his heads. Sofia spent a few seconds analyzing the possibilities of the combination. ¡°Well, it might work. But it also might not, the combination feels very uncertain. I feel like if we go for something like that, then [Restore Back forging technique] might also work? Meanwhile [Restore Back curse] might turn out to be a healing spell.¡± ¡°I think all the combinations work with curse,¡± Bookie commented, ¡°[Quick curse] could be very useful! Or [Blood curse]!¡± ¡°Curse is definitely one of the best contenders for the back keyword. As for your third choice, Pareth¡­ [Blood forging technique] might be like [Bone dominus] for blood? And I do have [Summon blood] so it¡¯s a good synergy, but then again, we do already have [Bone dominus], so¡­¡± Pareth rested his chin on his joined hands. The room was in silence for a bit, as Sofia and Pareth thought about the keywords seriously while Bookie played with the bone bits, making random combinations. After a minute Sofia broke the silence. ¡°Too bad that we can only use [Restore] for three word combinations, I might have just picked [Greater shower of cake].¡± It made Bookie giggle again, and the bone slates he held fell from his hands, clanking on the floor. ¡°Well, enough joking around, the front keywords are honestly all fine, so let¡¯s proceed by elimination for the back ones,¡± Sofia directed. The conversation picked up from there, and the trio¡¯s first choice was to eliminate [ of cake] as a potential pick, since it had no serious combination. [ shower] was then given the same treatment, its only potential decent combinations were [Hollow shower] and [Blood shower], but the former was so strange that it was impossible to tell what it might do, and the latter Sofia could literally already do with [Summon Blood]. Eliminating one of the remaining three was a bit more tricky, but they eventually decided on removing [ ball], as its only decent-sounding combination was what Pareth suggested, but the description of the [ ball] keyword was too much on the opposite side of ¡®fixing damage¡¯, and it might influence the final skill negatively. ¡°That makes it much easier already!¡± Sofia rejoiced, ¡°For [ curse], it¡¯s either [Greater curse] or [Hollow curse] in my opinion, these just sound better to me, although all the combinations could work. Well, [Back curse] maybe not so much.¡± ¡°Could [Restore Back curse] not still turn out well?¡± Bookie asked. ¡°No, as I said earlier, it could end up being a healing spell, and we don¡¯t want that at the moment, but it could also be a spell to restore curses that have weakened or something like that, and that would actually be utterly useless, so we can¡¯t gamble on that.¡± ¡°Oh! Understood!¡± Sofia nodded in approval, ¡°Then we have [ forging technique], and while this one would be an instantaneous rejection if it was a passive keyword, for an active skill¡­ [Restore ] with any of [Quick], [Back ] or [Hollow ] and [ forging technique] could all give us a land repair skill like Erredis suggested, which would be great.¡± ¡°[Restore Hollow forging technique] sounds the best!¡± Bookie interjected, ¡°You make big holes with the angel bolts so this restores holes!¡± ¡°Not a bad reflection, Bookie, let¡¯s keep this one then¡­¡± to keep track of the possibilities, Sofia brought out a bone-paper sheet and wrote the current keepers. [Greater curse] [Hollow curse] [Restore Hollow forging technique] ¡°There¡¯s still more we can do with the forging technique,¡± she said as she looked over the keywords, [Quick forging technique], [Greater forging technique], and also [Hollow forging technique] without the restore all could work at doing something, but I couldn¡¯t really say what, since they¡¯re not passive skills. I wonder if [Greater forging technique] could be used to make some sort of shield, considering the [Greater ] keyword description.¡° Pareth looked at Bookie, and Bookie told Sofia, ¡°I think brother Pareth is trying to say something but I don¡¯t understand what¡­¡±
After a lot of trial and error with bone slates, Sofia and Bookie finally understood that Pareth wanted to mention the specialization alteration, and that it might work well with [Greater forging technique]. Sofia had to agree with that, especially if it was going to be some sort of shield. ¡®[Greater ¡®skeleton shield¡¯ forging technique]¡¯, if the end result of the spell effect was something like that, then it was absolutely the kind of thing they could use. [Greater curse] [Hollow curse] [Restore Hollow forging technique] [Greater forging technique] ¡°Any other ideas?¡± Sofia asked. Both skeletons stayed silent. ¡°Then let¡¯s keep that decision and whether or not to use the alteration on one of these for after we look at the passives!¡±
Chapter 484 - Grossly incandescent Available Passive Skills :
  • [Body of ] : Covers your skin with a layer of effulgent ber
  • [Sixth ] : You gain the ability to spread your mana around y
  • [Sigil of ] : Some of your excess mana automatically creates sigils of
  • [Torch ] : Light is amplified in a
  • [No game ] : Staying close to your sibling grants you both a
  • [ of the evening] : for every person sleeping in a city under your protection in the skill¡¯s radius.
  • [ melody] : follows you wherever you go.
  • [ champion] : for every divine artifact you carry.
  • [ the depths of hell] : blood and rip their guts until nothing is left.
  • [ priestess] : easily able to sense your presence and send blessings.
¡°We got slightly better luck with those, I think. There should be a lot of interesting stuff we can do,¡± Sofia commented as she started to make the bone keywords for Pareth and Bookie to play with. Surprisingly, she found that having those physical representations of them also helped her organize her own thoughts. ¡°I wonder what [Body of priestess] would do,¡± Bookie said, grabbing the corresponding bone slates. ¡°Hmm¡­ It¡¯s hard to say. Assuming we don¡¯t use the specialization, the skill name should come out as-is, so¡­ Honestly I have no idea. And actually¡­ Let¡¯s get rid of the priestess one, maybe. I don¡¯t think I like it,¡± Sofia told Bookie. ¡°Alright,¡± Bookie answered, throwing the bone slate behind him, ¡°I like [ champion] better anyway,¡± he commented, and Pareth nodded in agreement. ¡°[Body of champion] does have a good ring to it. But let¡¯s go more methodically this time, it will be easier since we don¡¯t have [Restore ] to complicate everything. We¡¯re starting with all the [Body of ].¡± Bookie nodded and started matching the [Body of ] bone slate with the other ones, after a few seconds he looked up to Sofia, ¡°Sofia¡­ They all work¡­ How are we gonna choose¡­¡± ¡°We can vote, let me make two more sets of the back end keywords¡­ There we go, now we all pick the word we think fits the best with [Body of ].¡± Bookie and Sofia both picked [ champion], but Pareth had a different idea, and voted for [ the depths of hell]. ¡°B- Brother Pareth, are¡­ are you sure about that?¡± Bookie stuttered. Pareth seemed confident. ¡°He¡¯s not wrong, Bookie, since hell usually refers to the Recessed plane, this could go very well with the demon form,¡± Sofia explained. ¡°But it sounds evil!¡± Bookie retorted. Sofia and Pareth looked at each other. ¡°Well, yeah, true. That does not mean we would not pick it, though. Most people think necromancy is evil but Bookie is the sweetest little skeleton, right? Let¡¯s just write these combinations down for now.¡± Bookie was at a loss for words, and Sofia just kept the train going. [Body of champion] [Body of the depths of hell] ¡°Next we have [Sixth ], which might just be one of the most impractical keywords I have ever gotten until now. [Sixth champion]... [Sixth melody]... [Sixth of the evening]...¡± ¡°Sixth of the evening,¡± Bookie repeated, stifling a laugh. ¡°Yeah it does kind of sound like I¡¯m just telling the time,¡± Sofia commented, a smile spreading across her face. ¡°Maybe it could end up being an interesting skill? I think [Sixth melody] might make more sense, though. If we have to keep one I say this. [Sixth champion] also works but then [Body of champion] is just better.¡± Sofia added [Sixth melody] to the list of possible skills. She had no idea what the skill could possibly do, but the skill sounded good. Sofia thought, grinning to herself while Pareth and Bookie were already focused on the next keyword. ¡°Then [Sigil of ] is next. This one has great potential, I think; our history with runes and rituals is rather good.¡± ¡°What is a sigil, Sofia?¡± Bookie asked. ¡°You don¡¯t know? In this context it should be a small, self-contained ritual circle that is usually easily replicable. Most item enchantments fall into the sigil category,¡± Sofia explained. ¡°Oh! Then we can¡¯t take [Sigil or champion] or [Sigil of the depths of hell]!¡± Bookie realized with stupor. ¡°Right, you make a great point, let¡¯s maybe not get me branded with one more divine rune,¡± Sofia confirmed, ¡°the divine rune ritual circles are a perfect example of simple sigils.¡± Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. ¡°Then I vote [Sigil of the evening]!¡± Bookie continued. When asked why, he answered that it sounded good to him, which was often how Sofia selected or discarded skill combinations so she couldn¡¯t say anything about it. In that same vein, Sofia felt the [Sigil of melody] sounded a bit weak, so only [Sigil of the evening] made it to the next round. [Body of champion] [Body of the depths of hell] [Sixth melody] [Sigil of the evening] ¡°Next is [Torch ]!¡± Sofia announced. ¡°I also think these all work,¡± Bookie chimed in, and Pareth seemed to agree. ¡°Not mentioning the other three, [Torch the depths of hell] is very evocative but feels like an active skill. As a passive, I¡¯m not so sure¡­¡± ¡°And we don¡¯t want to hurt auntie Sorrow!¡± Bookie added. ¡°True. [Torch melody] is likely to be some kind of fire affinity skill, would be good for Saria or Alith or Sun¡¯s saintess, but not so much for me. [Torch champion] might actually be as good as [Body of champion], just with a fire focus to it. Lastly, [Torch of the evening]... This evening keyword really is not easy to work with¡­¡± They debated about the torch keyword for a while, with Bookie being more in favor of [Torch champion], and Pareth being partial to [Torch of the evening] for reasons he was not able to communicate. In the end they collectively decided that [Torch ] despite looking good at first glance was just not it, and did not keep any combination with it. ¡°Then we have the weirdest last¡­ [No game ]... I cannot even begin to imagine what the full skill might have been named, and the description is just¡­ Well, let¡¯s see. [No game of the evening]...¡± This one sounds a bit dirty¡­ After a good minute of staring at the [No game ] bone slate in silence, Bookie used his magic glove to freeze it on the ground in frustration. ¡°This one is terrible!¡± he complained, ¡°Nothing works!¡± ¡°I have to admit I also don¡¯t really see it¡­ Even [ champion] cannot save it¡­ [No game champion] sounds like a passive made to make you lose at games, what would the point even be? Any idea to save this, Pareth?¡± Pareth shook his skulls, he was as lost as Sofia. ¡°[No game ] is out, then. This leaves us with : [Body of champion], which honestly cannot go wrong, I think, but is also not very exciting; [Body of the depths of hell], which might work well with the demon transformation but could also have side effects considering the name; [Sixth melody], which could be almost anything, and [Sigil of the evening] which, huh¡­ Bookie likes.¡± The trio then proceeded to vote for their favorite pick, Sofia voted for [Body of champion], Pareth for [Sixth melody], and Bookie for [Sigil of the evening]. ¡°At least that gets rid of [Body of the depths of hell], I guess. Let¡¯s ask for Mr. Scribe¡¯s opinion.¡± The scribe took over Sofia¡¯s mana and the system windows did not take long to come. [For the active, I suggest using the alteration with one of the curse combinations, but all choices should be fine] Mr. Scribe started. That sounds like a decent plan. [The passives are tricky. I strongly advise against using the Body keyword at all. The key is not familiar with the Lumian anatomy and this could result in horrendous errors. I am honestly at a loss on what to pick otherwise.] Huh¡­ Thanks for your input. [My pleasure] ¡°You guys got all that? I¡¯m thinking altered [Greater curse] for the active. Is that fine?¡± ¡°You can do whatever you want Sofia! I¡¯m always happy with your decision!¡± Bookie enthusiastically answered. Sofia gave him a head pat, ¡°That¡¯s nice but I would like it better if you think about it a bit more and be happy for yourself, not for me, alright?¡± ¡°I¡¯m happy for everyone!¡± ¡°Alright, alright. Pareth?¡± Pareth shrugged. ¡°That¡¯s one skill decided then. One more skill creation without using [Restore ].¡± You have acquired the active skill : ¡®Greater ¡¯ You have acquired the active skill : ¡® curse¡¯ [Please wait] The dagger is taking care of it so this one might take a while. I can feel my mana starting to churn a little bit. I have grown more sensitive to those internal mana movements it seems. Must be thanks to the heart. Sofia looked at her two skeletons still sitting in front of her, ¡°Since I picked the active, you get to pick the passive. Tell me when you have decided,¡± she told them. ¡°Really?!¡± Bookie asked, shocked. ¡°Really really, but you must both agree, alright?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± ¡°Great, I¡¯m going to check the castle¡¯ exterior to make sure nothing is crumbling, call me when you¡¯re done.¡± It only took a few minutes for Sofia to hear Bookie calling out for her from inside, she entered through a window and graveyarded through the floor, landing right on the spot she had been sitting on before. ¡°Made your decision?¡± ¡°We choose [Sixth melody]!¡± Bookie proudly announced. ¡°Oh? I thought you liked [Sigil of the evening] better, what made you change your mind?¡± ¡°I always get all the skeletons so I decided to let brother Pareth get the skill he wants!¡± ¡°Very mature of you Bookie, [Sixth melody] it is, then. This might be the most uncertain I¡¯ve ever been about a new skill, but we might just get a good surprise. It¡¯s too bad that the body keyword ended up being too risky to take. AH! The active skill just came in!¡± [Aberrant sunlight]: Produce a blast of cursed mana, inflicting mana users hit with the [Curse of Aberrant sunlight], which forces them to focus their attention on the brightest source of light around. You cannot look away.
Chapter 485 - Heaven’s call In the main hall of the castle, Bookie summoned a single Kidjikkik Guardian. ¡°Do we need to shackle him, Sofia?¡± Bookie asked, looking up at the tall worm skeleton he had just summoned. ¡°No need, this one is quite weak, you should know.¡± ¡°I know, but curses are a bit scary¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, just let him do whatever, don¡¯t give any orders, alright? Let''s proceed with the test, Pareth, light!¡± Pareth summoned a bright shield of light and held it up above his head. Giving him a nod, Sofia used [Aberrant sunlight] for the first time. The skill came with very little information but it really felt quite instinctive, Sofia pointed a finger at the skeleton and activated the skill, when she felt the magic formation pull on her mana, she let about one thousand out to begin with. A small puff of mana left Sofia¡¯s finger like a weak fart of cursed mana, almost invisible to the naked eye, which slowly floated in the direction of the Kidjikkik. Before it could collide, Sofia ordered the Kidjikkik to sidestep, and the curse pathetically missed, and dispersed after it hit the back wall of the hall. ¡°Were you able to see it?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°I felt the mana move but I didn¡¯t see anything,¡± Bookie reported, while Pareth held out his right thumb and index close to each other in response. ¡°You did see it a bit, Pareth? Even with the augmented eye I had a hard time. Well, let¡¯s try with more mana now. The skill doesn¡¯t have any cooldown, it feels like. It¡¯s almost like just a filter to convert my mana to cursed mana,¡± she explained while she aimed her right index at the Kidjikkik skeleton again. It¡¯s quite complex but the cast is still instantaneous, just like Summon Blood. I wonder if I just created another theoretical anomaly. This time, Sofia fired a packet of ten thousand mana. It was not the same. It fired like a cannonball, quite easily visible even to the naked eye as it flew through the hall, as if she had invoked a ball of translucent-white jumbled noodles and thrown it at the skeleton¡¯s face. The ball of cursed mana hit the skeleton and, instead of exploding and disappearing like when the first shot hit the wall, the cursed mana was absorbed into the skeleton¡¯s bones entirely like water sucked in by a dry cloth. Carefully observing with her mana vision, Sofia saw the curse latch onto the Kidjikkik¡¯s mana, and rapidly turn it into cursed mana structures. It spreads fast! ¡°I lost control!¡± Bookie exclaimed, shocked, when the curse had spread to about half of the Kidjikkik¡¯s mana. The skeleton¡¯s head snapped to a different position, its eye sockets locked onto Pareth¡¯s shield. Stop looking. Turn around. Despite Sofia¡¯s orders, which she could tell reached the skeleton, the skeleton kept looking. Quickly, as the curse spread more, the Kidjikkik shambled forward, taking a few steps toward Pareth with its many legs. All the legs not touching the ground were reaching out for Pareth¡¯s shield. As the curse finally spread to every last bit of the skeleton¡¯s mana, it broke into a sprint, jumping and throwing itself a Pareth¡¯s shield. CHAINS! Do not touch him! Sofia mentally warned Pareth. Pareth jumped back and his chains of light shot from the floor, latching tightly onto the airborne skeleton¡¯s spine, and yanking it to the floor. Even bound to the hall¡¯s floor, the Kidjikkik kept struggling like a mindless insect to try to grab Pareth¡¯s shield. ¡°Bookie, rat! We need to check if it is contagious.¡± Bookie nodded and hurriedly summoned a skeleton rat, sending it to bite the Kidjikkik skeleton. The cute skeleton rat gingerly followed its orders, and as it bit down onto one of the Kidjikkik¡¯s legs, as soon as they made contact, the curse started to spread from the Kijikkik¡¯s mana to the rat¡¯s. The rat¡¯s skull snapped in Pareth¡¯s direction. Dismissed. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. The rat evaporated in the usual puff of mana fog. It seemed the sudden process of vaporizing the summon also cleansed the mana of the curse. So it spreads by direct contact, but not through spells, good to know. The Kidjikkik¡¯s mana is starting to un-curse itself already, the curse formations are breaking, but the process is a bit slow. ¡°It looks like it can last for maybe a minute?¡± Sofia noted as she observed the uncursing rate. ¡°It is nice that the curse is not permanent. It seems pretty potent considering Bookie lost control¡­¡± What if¡­ Sofia pointed at the Kidjikkik still spasming on the floor, and activated the skill, putting in ten times the amount of mana. With 100 000 mana, the attack was no longer a single shot but a powerful ray of white cursed mana blasting directly into the skeleton. The skeleton¡¯s mana which had started to free itself from the curse was converted back into cursed formation in an instant, and its struggle to free itself from the chains intensified greatly. Interesting. Sofia sent another ray of cursed mana at the skeleton. Despite all of the Kidjikkik¡¯s mana being converted, his bones still absorbed more of the curse Sofia sent at it, guzzling the cursed mana like a thirsty Soguva. The skeleton¡¯s squirming intensified yet again, it spasmed and pulled so strongly against the chain that its bones started cracking and falling apart. After a few more seconds of this, it died, its crumbling bones evaporating into a thin mana mist. Huh huh. This is an attack spell. A gruesome one. Anyone I can pump full of cursed mana¡­ I wonder if this is a worse fate than the rot. And does one hinder the other? I feel like the rot will eat the curse with no issue, so it might actually help cure it faster. Not the greatest of synergies but it might open up interesting possibilities¡­ Well¡­ Sofia conducted another test on the rat, making sure that the curse would end up disappearing by itself, which it did quite quickly when the initial blast was weak. In fact when Sofia tried sending just a single string of cursed mana worth 10 points of mana to the rat, it failed to even infect it despite being absorbed. ¡°Then. Considering the skill description¡­ The next step is to try that on myself.¡± Pareth buried his main skull¡¯s face in one of his big skeletal hands. ¡°Hey, aren¡¯t you being a bit too dramatic? This is mostly safe, here we go.¡± She did not even have to raise a finger this time, she just activated the skill directly inside of her body, converting about five thousand of her own mana into cursed mana. There was no system warning or notification, Sofia just started to feel an intense need to look in the direction of the shield of light. Oh, that¡¯s slightly unsettling, I guess. She tried to look away, but no matter how hard she tried, her eyes just happened to keep turning in Pareth¡¯s direction. She turned her head away, only to feel it start turning back slowly without her being able to really do anything about it. She could see the curse spreading out inside of her body, and quickly starting to convert more of her mana. The cursed mana latched onto her nerves of light, her muscles, her soul, and it forced them to move. To move toward the light. Despite her sight being locked in on Pareth¡¯s shield, she could still manage to stand still, and she could still observe her surroundings with her mana sight, but even that started to falter, as her attention kept being distracted by the light. She could not even close her eyes if she tried. Then, when about a quarter of her mana was infected, she started hearing a voice, her voice. Like sweet whispers right into the deepest parts of her ears, like her internal voice decided to stop broadcasting her own thoughts, and instead, started worshiping the light. The light! We need¡­ The light! Oh, NOW this is disturbing COME TO THE LIGHT! The blissful light! It will be our salva- Stop! Sofia ejected all of her mana at once, spreading a thin wave of slightly visible mana through the castle, washing over everything. Free of cursed mana, the voices and the strange attraction stopped instantly. Worrying that her expelled cursed mana might have infected Bookie and Pareth, she fought against the intense dizziness and nausea from the mana loss and looked at their mana, thankfully finding them curse-free. ¡°I still think this is scary,¡± Bookie shily chimed in. Sofia cleared her throat. ¡°I agree. Great spell to have, though. And according to Zerei, we can build tolerance to specific curse patterns through repeated exposure, so all of us can slowly work on that until we have nothing to worry about!¡± ¡°Hnn! What about the other skill, Sofia?¡± ¡°It¡¯s still not ready, but I can actually feel my mana circuits moving a bit, the shock from the sudden expulsion made them a bit sensitive. That¡¯s an interesting find¡­ Anyway, any second now, I think.¡± It took ten more minutes for the passive skill to arrive, during which Sofia started creating new bone furniture for the main hall, since she and Alith had pilfered most of the original appliances the last time before they left. Finally the new passive went live, the mana already making its way into the newly formed pathways. [Sixth melody]: Olden tales tell of a Goddess of music and arts long gone from this world, but their craft is not entirely gone. Lock a portion of your maximum mana to play different movements of Remia¡¯s sixth great symphony in a large area around you. More total mana expands the music¡¯s reach. Expand description for a detailed movement breakdown.
Chapter 486 - Grow the cheese! [Sixth symphony¡¯s movements] 10% Maximum mana : A Graceful dream of Spring : Temporarily increase natural health and stamina regeneration by 20%. Prevents disease and illness. Prevents food from spoiling. Makes it easier to fall asleep. May affect the weather. 20% Maximum mana : A Tense mystery of Autumn : Greatly sharpens the senses. Makes it easier to concentrate, understand and memorize. 40% Maximum mana : A Regal festival of Summer : All physical stats are improved by 10%. Airborne Mana is fluidified. Channeling speed of all magic is doubled. 80% Maximum mana : A Vengeful tyranny of Winter : All damage received by the caster is inflicted upon everyone else as soul damage. May dramatically affect the weather. So many more effects to keep track of¡­ Couldn¡¯t the skill have been simple for once?! And it¡¯s not even a sustained cost like [Runeforged Overlord] so it¡¯s not halved by the scepter. Alright, well. The effects are decent. The summer movement is especially interesting. I wonder what fluidified airborne mana is supposed to do. Let¡¯s try these out. Sofia activated the Spring movement, and a tenth of her mana instantly left her body. A calm melody started playing, composed of a few different instruments and even an ethereal and distant voice singing softly in a language Sofia did not understand, seemingly coming from all directions. Despite the sudden mana loss, Sofia felt invigorated by the music. Mana : 4 520 014 / 5 022 238 (4 520 014) Her mana was stuck at 90%, expelling some more into the air, she checked her regeneration, it was not impacted. Then she looked around, trying to see the mana movements producing the music, thinking that it was weird how it moved by itself. Interesting how this¡­ Hey! ¡°It¡¯s another curse!¡± Bookie exclaimed in shock, saying out loud what Sofia also just realized. ¡°It sure looks like one,¡± Sofia agreed, ¡°This one does not spread to our mana though, it doesn¡¯t even get absorbed, I think.¡± ¡°It¡¯s just passing through me,¡± Bookie observed, looking at his hands, ¡°It feels a bit good, Sofia.¡± ¡°Then it must be working well. Want to try the other ones?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± I wonder if they can stack. Without canceling the Spring movement, Sofia activated the Autumn one as well. An additional twenty percent of her mana left her body, and a tenser version of the same melody started overlapping with the first one, a second, more hurried voice responding to the first one whenever it stopped singing. They¡¯re actually made with the overlap in mind? Worthy of a God¡¯s craft, I suppose. This does make me feel like my mind is clearer somehow. I guess this one increases processing? It¡¯s good, but in a battle my opponents also get the effects, don¡¯t they? I can probably make the most out of extra processing compared to anyone at my level, though. Interesting tradeoff. Mana : 3 515 566 / 5 022 238 (3 515 566) ¡°This one makes me feel smarter!¡± Bookie commented. ¡°Quite the nice curses, right? I wonder what Zerei will think of them.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure she will like them too! And the music is really nice!¡± The movement of summer added another layer to the music, and while the effects of fluidified airborne mana were hard to really understand, and the physical stat boost was minimal, the channeling speed buff was absurd. It stacked multiplicatively with the [Hand of the first Saintomancer]¡¯s halved channeling time. Sofia tested that it worked to reduce the time to carve an un-life rune from five to two and a half minutes, and the time to invoke the [Spine of the Black Sun] from a second and a half to less than a second. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. Further testing uncovered that Sofia needed to have at least the same amount of mana in reserve that was going to be locked to activate a movement, which was not surprising, and that the soul attacks from the winter movement did not seem to affect Pareth nor Bookie at all, likely due to the Mark of Aphenoreth. Sofia switched the skill activation around, leaving only the Spring movement active, ¡°Well, there we go, two new skills. They¡¯re quite good, if a bit situational. I say we stop with the serious topics for a while and get to work making this place a real home, how does that sound?¡±
¡°A bit more to the left, maybe?¡± Sofia said. Pareth thought about it for a second, then nodded and pushed the bone closet slightly, Sofia could have moved it with [Bone dominus] but Pareth was enjoying carrying the furniture around so she let him do it. For now they were only focused on the amenities for the first floor, with Sofia making all kinds of sideboard, tables, chairs and such things with bones and letting Pareth do all the thinking when it came to arranging them around the rooms. Bookie was in book form, resting on a shelf between a bunch of fake bone books, that made him feel at ease, apparently. ¡°Well, I should have made enough for most of the first floor, I¡¯m going out to extend our garden,¡± Sofia told Pareth as she left the hall. The explosion of the mana storage units had left nothing of the city past the now nonexistent shield that used to protect the castle, which meant the castle was sitting on a perfectly round bit of midenicite floating in the Margin¡¯s void, and that was it. That might be enough space for a small garden but¡­ The mana-trapping machine in the basement has the range to cover the size of the entire city, it¡¯d be a waste not to use all this space. I don¡¯t have much bone left in stock¡­ How does my armor work for filling the storage now that it¡¯s made of ¡®light¡¯? Sofia summoned her wings and tried to snap one off at the base. Man, light bones are pretty solid, I don¡¯t think I can break that without any strengthening effect. Dominus can still carve them effortlessly though. A bone wing made of solid light fell into Sofia¡¯s hands, it was considerably lighter than she expected. Has my armor become this much lighter too? I didn''t even notice the difference. She stored the broken wing in her bone storage, watching as it already regrew behind her back. Then she took out the wing again. ¡°Still made of light. I don¡¯t know why I expected it to turn into regular bone¡­ Does it fuse well with real bone at least?¡± Testing with some Pareth bones from her reserves, it did fuse just as usual, it just looked a bit weird as the opaque white bone melded with the slightly translucent golden bone. The margin is already lit but I might as well still build with my own bones, golden is nice. The most crucial step is to make sure everything is strongly secured to the midenicite island. I¡¯ll make it all one block of bone, and I guess I can drill holes into the island and insert bone rods in there to make sure it will never fall off¡­ Wasn¡¯t there this thing about structural integrity, though? Sofia looked inside of her storage ring. Where did I put the architecture books¡­ I knew this was a good buy.
Two weeks later, the castle¡¯s main rooms were entirely furnished, in part by furniture Pareth had just made by himself with his own bones. Bookie had grabbed all of Sofia¡¯s random stored metal and technological things, and spent his time ¡®building things¡¯ with the engineer skeleton. During this time Sofia had completely extended the castle grounds with a gigantic round bone platform spanning the entire radius of what used to be Zangdar city. ¡°Whew, that took a while.¡± Sofia finally stopped as she just finished fusing the last bit of bone to complete the platform. ¡°I¡¯ll make the guardrails later¡­¡± She sat on the spot, legs dangling above the void. ¡°Still, though, what¡¯s taking Alith so long¡­¡± Bookie, can you send me the Plant hero?
Sofia stood with the plant Hero before a large bone plant box filled with crushed bones mixed with blood and water. ¡°Are you really certain none of the seeds I have will grow here?¡± Sofia asked again, but the skeleton shook his head again, showing Sofia the wheel of cheese he had picked out from her reserves of food. This was Exidian cheese she really liked, and she only had two small wheels left so she was a bit reluctant to let the skeleton experiment with it, seeing as she might be stuck in the margin for a while still. ¡°So this cheese really is the only thing you can grow in the margin on my necromancer dirt¡­ You- I¡­ You know what, do it, I don¡¯t even know anymore, you have my permission, grow the cheese.¡± The plant hero pressed the cheese into a ball, then rolled it into a long log on the floor, before putting that on the gross soil. Then, with his two palms aimed at the thin log of cheese, he activated his magic. Rapidly, a fuzzy orange layer grew all over the cheese log, and wart-like growth started emerging and growing up, these turned out to be tentacle-like orange mushrooms, each growing to about the length of a finger. With the skeleton¡¯s magical prowess, the entire plant box was covered in orange mushrooms in just a few minutes. ¡°These are actually mushrooms, right?¡± The skeleton nodded. ¡°They don¡¯t look as bad as I feared when they started popping up. It¡¯s a bit like¡­ Thick orange grass? Do they do anything fancy?¡± The Skeleton picked a mushroom from the lot and mimed eating it before holding it out for Sofia to grab. ¡°Oh. If it grows from cheese it does make sense that it¡¯s edible.¡± Sofia picked up the orange fungi and threw it into her mouth. Hey! That¡¯s actually really good! So this is where the aftertaste of the cheese comes from! Sofia looked at the box of orange mushrooms with a look of newfound respect. ¡°I¡¯m getting books on mushrooms next. Let¡¯s make a few more planters of this to decorate a bit. It¡¯s not much but that will have to do for now¡­¡± Wait, no¡­ I have another ¡®Seed¡¯ I could take care of now! Pareth! Can you grab Bookie and come here? Let¡¯s raise our very own Dryad!
Chapter 487 - The birth of a new faction? Sofia and her skeletons stood in a ¡®clearing¡¯ surrounded by bone trees, this was their attempt to create a somewhat decent living environment for the dryad. Despite the black void above them, the atmosphere felt calm in Zangdar, especially because ever since Sofia had unlocked the [Sixth melody], they were constantly listening to ¡®A Graceful dream of Spring¡¯, and not getting tired of it. ¡°Alright, here comes the seed,¡± Sofia said as she brought out the marge wooden ball big like an ogre and as heavy as one. ¡°The dryad should be already formed in there, we just need to wake it up.¡± ¡°Will it be friendly?¡± Bookie asked, looking up at the big seed. ¡°Well, according to Jen, as long as it is fed my mana to wake up, it should recognize me as its family, so we probably won¡¯t get attacked outright like in the dungeon with Astelia¡­ It is still a violent and dangerous magical creature, though. One of the more special ones, at that, as Dryads can produce their own mana unlike most monsters and animals,¡± Sofia explained, recounting both information she got from Jen and things she had found out through her reading binge before leaving the academy. ¡°Most monsters don¡¯t?!¡± Bookie asked back, shocked by the discovery of this common knowledge fact. ¡°Bookie¡­ You¡¯ve never noticed despite all the hunting we do?¡± ¡°Sorry¡­¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to apologize, I¡¯m just surprised that you did not know. Bookie is so smart I forget that you¡¯re only a few years old sometimes. Well, now you know, just ask when there are things you don¡¯t understand, alright?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± ¡°Good skeleton. Now, let¡¯s get this dryad business started. It should be born at level 249 like the ones from the dungeon, so even if it attacks we will be fine, but still, stay a bit further away, just in case,¡± Sofia told Pareth and Bookie as she walked up in the air to kneel just above the seed. And now, just a trickle of summoned blood. It would be best to do it with my own blood supposedly but that¡¯s no longer a possibility. The summoned blood still has my mana so¡­ Sofia summoned some blood in her upturned palm and let it overflow, trickling down between her fingers and splashing on top of the big wooden ball. The blood was absorbed by the wood, and almost immediately, Sofia started to feel some mana movements inside. It¡¯s working! She let the steady flow of blood water the seed for a whole three minutes before the seed started to crack. ¡°It¡¯s coming out!¡± Sofia jumped back, landing near her skeletons. She watched as the seed cracked all over like an egg about to hatch. Instead of bursting open, the wood spliced and warped, layers peeling off like the petals of a giant flower. After most of the layers were gone, only a large wooden bud was left in the middle of the crackly wooden flower, and it too slowly opened up, red blood flowing from between its petals. The dryad was there, rolled up in the fetal position, and it looked different from the ones Sofia had fought in the dungeon. Everyone silently observed the dryad waking up for the first time. The wood creature stretched and sat up on the bloody wooden flower, it looked around and made high pitched sounds that Sofia couldn¡¯t understand. ¡°It kind of looks like you,¡± Bookie commented, looking up at Sofia. ¡°I see what you mean. It even got horns¡­ My mana changed its appearance, I guess?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know but it definitely looks like a woman!¡± Bookie continued. And he was right, the dryad looked to be about two heads shorter than Sofia, and had a body entirely made of dark-red wood with very few defined features, as expected, but its overall body shape was just that of a woman. Or, to be exact, a Lumian woman, since it had wooden horns copying the horns of light. This was a vast contrast with the dryads from the dungeons which were best described as rough and jagged stick-figures, when this one was all smooth and curvy. Still lacking some key features, though, no hands, no feet, it does have a discernible ¡®head¡¯¡­ But no face. In terms of mana¡­ Maybe twenty thousand? She is definitely producing more, even if it¡¯s just a trickle. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Sofia took a few steps forward, observing the reaction of the dryad. It was hard to tell what the creature was thinking, especially since its cries made absolutely no sense to a Lumian ear, but its mana was flowing calmly and it was not moving from its flower, so it stood to reason that it might not feel too threatened or unsafe. Finally, Sofia stepped onto the wooden flower. The creature threw itself at her. Sofia could have stopped it, but realistically the dryad could not harm her much, so she decided to let things play out. The dryad jumped at Sofia¡­ And latched onto her like a toddler hugging their mother¡¯s leg, its wooden limbs curving around Sofia¡¯s neck and waist. Oh. Sofia turned around, with the dryad holding onto her, ¡°Well. I think she likes me.¡± Pareth dispelled his sword, and Bookie¡­ Bookie looked jealous, as far as Sofia could tell. ¡°Want a hug too, Bookie?¡± Sofia asked while she hesitantly caressed the dryad¡¯s back with her left hand. The dryad¡¯s wooden skin was smooth and glossy, hard like regular wood, and surprisingly hot to the touch. ¡°I¡­ I can wait,¡± Bookie shily answered, ¡°What should we call her?¡± Sofia stepped down from the flower and walked up to Pareth and Bookie, the dryad seemed not to want to let go. ¡°Good question¡­ What about¡­ Remia? Like that lost Goddess of music and art? She was born while listening to that music, after all.¡± Pareth approved with a thumbs up, and Bookie copied him with a slight delay after glancing in his direction. ¡°Remia it is! You might not be able to understand what we¡¯re saying, but welcome to the family,¡± Sofia told the hug-starved dryad while patting her back. ¡°It would be nice if you could let go of me, though¡­¡± Of course the dryad did not understand a single word they said, and she continued to make incomprehensible high-pitched noises every so often while not letting go of Sofia at all. At least she¡¯s not hostile like her siblings from the dungeon¡­ While Sofia was contemplating on what to do, an unexpected system window opened up. [You have triggered a hidden quest!] [Quest: Raise Remia to the scribe-earning threshold A low intelligence creature capable of producing mana has recognized you as their parent. They may earn the right to have a scribe by reaching certain criteria. Requirements:
  • Remia must learn to understand 100 words of at least one of the 138 system-approved languages.
  • Remia must learn to make efficient use of all of their racial abilities.
  • Remia must reach the intelligence equivalent of a human 4 year old.
  • Remia must display a will to cohabitate with other races.
  • Remia must display a will to grow stronger
  • Remia must display self-awareness and identify as Remia.]
Now way, Mr.Scribe, really?! There was something like that?! This explains so much! The academy¡¯s goblin professor! The Veik royals! So this is how it works¡­ Wait¡­ The Veik did not produce mana, did they? They must be a special case. I wonder now, can this naturally occur? Most of these things should happen by themselves if someone has the brain capacity for it, so¡­ All it really takes for most of the mana-producing monsters to become a part of the system is being smart and curious enough to try to learn one non-monster language? Oh, I think she fell asleep¡­
Making a bed out of bone and a thick carpet from her storage, Sofia had to teleport out of the dryad¡¯s embrace because she was afraid of hurting her if she pried the wooden limbs away from her. ¡°This used to be a guest bedroom I think. That will be Remia¡¯s room now. She can be the first citizen of our hidden city, that sounds good doesn¡¯t it?¡± Bookie tilted his skull, ¡°Aren¡¯t you just opening an orphanage, Sofia?¡± ¡°Hey you don¡¯t have to say it out loud¡­ But it¡¯s pretty much what it is. Isn¡¯t it better if we have people waiting for us here and taking care of the place while we¡¯re away? Alith and Pareth are both on board with the idea.¡± ¡°But if we bring Orphans here, who will take care of them while we are away?¡± Bookie asked. Sofia smiled at the innocent question, a pile of books appeared on the room¡¯s floor between Sofia and Bookie. ¡®Higher golemancy¡¯ ¡®Necromancy rituals of the red coast¡¯ ¡®On engraving golem cores¡¯ ¡®Personality imbuing¡¯ ¡®The rise and fall of Elven automatons¡¯ ¡­ ¡°You have been hanging out with Pareth in my storage ring a lot so you should have seen these. I had Asty help me gather those, I just never had the time to do anything with them. But now that we¡¯re stuck here?¡± ¡°IS IT TIME?!¡± Bookie shouted in excitement. Sofia glanced at the dryad, but it seemed unperturbed in its sleep despite Bookie¡¯s sudden outburst. ¡°It is time,¡± Sofia confirmed with a wicked smirk, ¡°Golem skeletons!¡±
Chapter 488 - Skelems ¡°Gah! Almost there!¡± Sofia cried out as the skeleton she was working on fell back to its original state as a pile of golden bones. ¡°What is it that failed this time?¡± she asked the Engineer skeleton. He was honestly doing more than half of the work while Sofia mostly supplied the materials, ideas and mana. Climbing on the vertical ladder sticking out of the ground near the ritual site, the Engineer pointed at the twelfth bone-drawn ritual circle held up above the lifeless pile of bones. Since Sofia¡¯s new bones were great mana conductors, she was able to shape them directly into ritual circles now. Currently there were about twenty of these circles stacked one above another, as it was easier to compound them like this than to fit them all inside of one huge ritual circle drawn on the ground. ¡°So it¡¯s the core engraving part again¡­ Golem necromancy is trickier than I thought¡­ Keep an eye on it and tell me where exactly it fails, I¡¯m launching it again, just give me a second to fix the core¡­¡± I get that stuffing the fake soul inside of a golem core isn¡¯t how you do it but on paper it should work¡­
A while later, while Sofia was working on inserting yet another new ritual circle inside the stack to hopefully get the fake soul to better fit where it should, something rolled on Sofia¡¯s cleavage before dropping on the floor with a thud. Sofia looked down, ¡°Oh! A pearl already?! So my current rate is about every thirty days? Quite the upgrade from two a year.¡± She stored the pearl and focused her attention back on the ritual circles. ¡°Damn, it¡¯s been thirty days already¡­ What the hell are you doing Alith¡­?¡±
¡°It¡¯s working! PARETH! IT¡¯S WORKING!¡± Pareth appeared near Sofia, his hands full of orange mushrooms and bone gardening tools, he watched as the ¡®human¡¯ skeleton Sofia had made herself started to self-assemble around a bone golem core that hundreds of small mana bursts were engraving from the inside out while the artificial soul was getting stuffed inside. Sofia was full of glee to see her hard work finally pay off until she noticed something wrong. ¡°Wait, shi- Ah¡­ Whatever¡­¡± The femur and humerus got mixed up somehow¡­ It¡¯ll still work¡­ It took about three minutes before the skeleton golem was fully assembled and a ghostly light started to shine within its eye sockets. ¡°Come here,¡± Sofia ordered, and the skeleton walked forward with stiff movements just like a golem would. She did not feel much of a connection to the skeleton, but if she did everything right, it should only ever listen to her commands. ¡°Now do a flip!¡± It was clunky, but the skeleton performed a successful backflip. ¡°Now fly!¡± There was no reaction. ¡°What is two plus two?¡± Again, no reaction from the skeleton. ¡°Everything is working as expected so far¡­¡± Sofia said to herself as she walked up to the skeleton and put her hand on its golem core which floated safely behind its ribs. There were a few reasons why Sofia had gone for a weird golem-skeleton combination, but the main one was simply that they were the perfect minions to take care of Zangdar. Basic Skeletons with a fake soul had the disadvantage of eventually returning to a useless pile of bone after being away from the necromancer for too long, while golems had the big disadvantage of needing to be either pre-programmed through the core before their activation or controlled directly. With the mashup of the two, the skeleton golem could be given live orders like a regular skeleton, while also benefiting from the large ¡®order memory¡¯ stored in the golem core, and without risk of ever disappearing. It would only stop functioning when its mana ran dry, until it received mana again. Additionally, the skeleton being a skeleton was in itself a big plus in Sofia¡¯s eyes. ¡°I dub thee, Skelem the first!¡± She jokingly said while filling up the golem core to the brim. ¡°The core can take about 300 000¡­ Not terrible. Probably enough for the Skelems to function for a few months? The drain seems pretty slow, but maybe it¡¯s because it¡¯s doing nothing.¡± Sofia brought a broom out of her storage and passed that to the Skelem, ¡°There¡¯s a lot of midenicite dust around the castle, sweep it all up into one big pile. And take care of the broom, we don¡¯t have a replacement. Report to me when you¡¯re done.¡± Without a word, the Skelem took the broom and walked toward the castle. ¡°Not very lively, but that should get the work done,¡± Sofia commented while she turned to Pareth, ¡°So, does the sanctified grounds work on it?¡± Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Pareth nodded in response, and deactivated the skill. ¡°Great. So it definitely still counts as a skeleton by most metrics, despite being completely fake. It¡¯s just not real enough for you or Bookie. Thanks for coming, you can return to your gardening, unless you want to come check in on Remia with me?¡± Pareth disappeared inside of Sofia¡¯s storage ring, and came back out without the gardening tools. ¡°Let¡¯s walk there. I¡¯m thinking I should make a few more bone trees around here¡­¡±
Sofia and Pareth discreetly entered Remia¡¯s room. It was still the same guest room in the castle that they had first dropped her in. She had not woken up a single time since they had put her there, but she still seemed as healthy as a wood creature could look, so Sofia did not know whether she should worry or not. Interestingly, anything wooden in the room, like the flooring and the large exposed beams holding the ceiling were all burgeoning. There were already quite a few red flowers and leaves growing out of the long dead wood, giving the room a strange but peaceful allure. ¡°Her mana is still flowing smoothly,¡± Sofia whispered after observing the sleeping dryad from up close. ¡°She looks a bit dry, don¡¯t you think? Should I try to feed her blood like I fed the seed?¡± Pareth shrugged, visibly as lost as Sofia. I should have gotten more information on dryads¡­ Sofia summoned a few drops of blood in the palm of her hand, and, with Remia having no apparent mouth making any kind of regular feeding difficult, Sofia let the blood drip onto Remia¡¯s ¡®head¡¯. The blood was absorbed by the wooden head, and that was it. What the¡­ Should I give more? Sofia kept summoning drop after drop until she got a reaction, Remia, for the first time, moved in her sleep. She switched from her previous position of ¡®hugging Sofia¡¯, to just lying down on the bed. Sofia kept giving her more blood, watching the Dryad¡¯s body regain a subtle luster until the drops of blood stopped getting absorbed by the wood at all. ¡°Probably a good sign that it¡¯s time to stop¡­ Her mana circulation seems a bit more healthy, I think. Hard to tell. At least she no longer looks dry.¡± Hopefully she wakes up soon.
After making nine more Skelems and sending them to perform various menial tasks around the castle, Sofia sat by herself at the edge of her bone platform, looking at the void. ¡°Should I just change my title for a bit? It might be dangerous but it would also let the system know I¡¯m still alive¡­ Surely they would be done with their internal cleanup by now? Maybe I¡¯ll wait a bit more¡­ Alith is definitely going to come, and if not there¡¯s no way Saria wouldn¡¯t strongarm her into it.¡± Not that this would ever be needed. The only way I could imagine Alith not coming is if no one with high mana accepts to come with her, she wouldn¡¯t want to be stuck here again. This shouldn¡¯t be an issue, though¡­ Deciding to change her mind, Sofia turned her attention to other things she had been purposely keeping for later in case she needed some distraction. First was the crown on top of her head, she had not checked the victory list in ages. [Saintomancer¡¯s Golden crown of Victory] : Gain a cumulative strength buff from your every Valiant Victories. Upon losing against a Valiant Victory target, lose related bonus. This is only active while you wear the crown. Lesser Victories: Siren Queen +2% Zh¨£ng L¨² +2% Cardinal, Puppet of Scripture +2% Twin-Headed Sunless Amalgam +2% Chimera +2% Valiant Victories: Ignatius Everbright +5% Mutated Evranarheimlein +5% Image of Orvod Maurya Ovohen +5% Tarren +5% Sunless Waves +5% Glorious Victories: Incarnation of Victory +15% Saria Aphenoreth +15% Kidjikkik Destroyer +15% Item level : 199. Grade : Flawless. Restriction : wearer must be Sofia Aphenoreth. Soulbound. System item. Wait, the Destroyer is a Glorious victory but the two Sunless armies plus the Nightbringer only count as one Valiant? Fine¡­ Tarren being a Valiant is about what I expected, and the three lesser are all a bit of a stretch, so I suppose overall it¡¯s fine. I¡¯m shocked I even got anything for the Chimera considering I stayed very safe the entire time. So I got a 31% boost since the last time I checked. Pretty nice! Next in the waiting list should be the quest for my sub-class. Scrolling up through her logs, Sofia found the old alert message. [A new class quest is available] Focusing on it opened the quest.
Chapter 489 - We are so back! [Class Quest: Find the missing skills! You picked an experimental sub-class not meant for use, three out of four skills could not be retrieved, but there are traces of their recorded locations. Warning: This class¡¯s skills cannot be learned. Hints:
  • One of four skills was discovered in a labyrinth.
  • One of four skills was discovered in the deepest trenches of the ocean.
  • One of four skills was discovered on the warped moon.
  • ¡®Singularity Edict¡¯ was discovered in ruins of the lost epoch beneath an unholy cathedral. (LEARNED)]
¡°Cannot be learned? And then it says ¡®learned¡¯ right below that? Mr Scribe, this is handled by the dagger, right? It¡¯s not making a lot of sense.¡± Besides, Singularity Edict works perfectly well, I¡¯ve tested that. [Singularity edict] : Any one attack can only damage you once. The testing Sofia had done consisted of channeling a piercing bolt with her bare hands. It burned her and caused her to continuously lose life, which made her think that somehow the skill actually did not work, but then when she tried stabbing herself with the bolt, it simply did not work. In the end she released the bolt aimed at herself and watched it disperse in a mist of sparkly mana as it harmlessly hit her. It was a bit strange that the continuous burn counted as a single instance of damage, but that was just how the skill worked. A workaround she found for that was to start channeling the bolt, and when she started taking damage, she would carefully expel some of the bolt¡¯s mana, shortly bringing it back below the threshold where it would hurt her. When it then started to burn again, that counted as a second instance of damage and got negated from then on. Another thing she had tried was stabbing herself with the key. She took damage from the stab, and then, that was it, no more damage no matter how much she tried to move the key around. Of course she could still break through the protection of her own skill if she wanted by simply cutting off all the mana keeping it running, something her mana heart allowed her to do without much effort. In general managing her mana felt a lot more natural and easy now than it ever did, though Sofia was not sure how much of that was to be attributed to her mana heart and how much to her new race. Reminding herself of her testing, Sofia felt like she understood why the skills ¡®couldn¡¯t be learned¡¯. When I learned the skill, I felt that it was connected to Ormoncleths¡¯ essence in some way¡­ I got stranded in the Deep right after so that had kind of left my mind, but that clearly happened! It would make sense that one needs the Lord¡¯s essence to learn the relevant skill, I suppose? And there are exactly four skills. What a totally coincidental coincidence. I guess Time doesn¡¯t get one, since it¡¯s dead. So¡­ I need Orator and Annihilator¡¯s essences if I want to learn their skills. I¡¯ll probably get Orator¡¯s when I kill scripture, going by the description of the quest rewards. Then I should try to find Aphenoreth¡¯s skill first. [Singularity Edict] was found beneath an unholy cathedral¡­ That¡¯s got to be the Cathedral of the holy lich the Dragon admin had maps of. I still have those. Might be worth taking a look later. The labyrinth feels like it has to be the one from the second trial. Too much of a coincidence. So this is probably Annihilator¡¯s skill. That leaves the two others, one on ¡®the warped moon¡¯, which has to be the hidden moon. Erredis did say it had something to do with the Deep, so that makes sense. The other in the deepest trenches of the ocean¡­ That could be anywhere. Hopefully it¡¯s far away from the Leviathan¡­ One of these is Aphenoreth and the other is Orator. I guess I¡¯ll ask them which is which next time I get to meet one. It¡¯s been a long time since Aphenoreth showed up¡­ Sofia grabbed the midenicite tablet from her storage ring. Is he happy when I call him Uncle?
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Sofia released her magic, and the lightning bolt shot forward, soon losing itself in the black void. ¡°Seventeen seconds!¡± Bookie announced from the side. ¡°Right about sixty thousand mana per second with the summer melody¡­ Not bad. Considering this takes forty percent of my mana away, this means my new best bolt options¡­ Fifty seconds for a three million mana bolt, or just under three minutes for a five million one without the channeling speed from the music. I¡¯ll say this is good enough.¡± ¡°Huge improvement!¡± Bookie enthusiastically cheered on. ¡°The mana heart helps a lot. And the singularity edict too. Makes the heat a lot more bearable.¡± ¡°But doesn¡¯t it mean the dragon arm is useless now?¡± Bookie asked. ¡°Useless? No, it¡¯s still very much an almost unbreakable piece of armor. I find punching with it in demon form to be very comfortable too,¡± Sofia commented, clenching and opening her fist in the dragon armguard she almost never took off. ¡°Sofia!¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°What¡¯s your favorite thing?¡± Bookie asked, walking up closer to Sofia. ¡°My favorite thing? You mean like, skeletons?¡± ¡°Nooooo, your favorite thing! Like an object!¡± he explained, looking up at her from below. ¡°Does your Book form count as an object?¡± Sofia asked, picking him up and starting to walk back toward the castle. ¡°No, Bookie is Bookie, not an object!¡± ¡°Of course, of course, then¡­ I would have to say my scepter. It¡¯s durable, reliable, and assists me in a lot of ways. If you asked about my most useful thing then it would be the storage ring, but my favorite? Totally my scepter,¡± she explained, while said scepter floated at her side, following her as she walked, ready to be grabbed and used at a moment¡¯s notice. ¡°What about the Uncles¡¯ gifts?¡± Bookie asked. ¡°I like them a lot too, but it¡¯s not the same. Maybe my mind will change in the future, who knows. What about your favorite thing, Bookie?¡± ¡°My magic gloves!¡± he immediately answered. ¡°Everelle was nice to give you the second one. Right, didn¡¯t you say you wanted clothes? Let¡¯s try to make you some.¡± ¡°You remembered! But, Sofia¡­ Do you know how to make clothes?¡± ¡°I can sew a bit, I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll manage somehow. I think I might be able to make bone cloth, even, look at what I managed to do when I was messing around with the bone leaves for the trees,¡± Sofia said as she placed a handful of bone leaves in Bookie¡¯s palm. They were soft and springy, almost like real leaves. ¡°Woah! Squishy bones!¡± ¡°It¡¯s nice, right? I was also thinking of using it to make special clothes for my demon form.¡±
¡°Why are you guys freaking out so much?¡± Cinthia wondered, watching her chat being flooded by a lot more messages than usual. Scrolling up, she found the cause of the mess, a message by the Recessed she knew to be Sorrow. [Crybaby] : I feel her! She¡¯s back! [|||||] : ¦²(¡ã¥í¡ã)?!!!! [Daddy Hatred] : Really? I thought she was gone for good this time. Black holes suck. You¡¯re lucky your daughter''s such an anomaly, Crybaby. [TheJailed] : I don¡¯t know if I would call that luck. [Halfsies] : If I had a coin for every time a child of ours entered a black hole, I would have two coins, which is not much, but it is interesting that it happened twice. [Crowface] : And she found her way out in what¡­ Two hours? The last one never even came back. Rest in peace, Pharene. [ResoundingEchoes] : WHY DO YOU HAVE TO REMIND ME!? I hate you guys¡­ [|||||] : o7 [Crowface] : o7 [TheJailed] : o7 [Halfsies] : o7 [Daddy Hatred] : For free? Why, thanks. [Crybaby] : Poor child¡­ [TallBro] : So¡­ About Vakaria. Where??? *Look with concern* [Halfsies] : And how? I don¡¯t think we¡¯ve ever seen anyone do that. Unless this hole was fake or something? Not that many ever took a chance at jumping in, but still. [Unclean lord] : True, we barely had time to be worried for Crybaby and she¡¯s already back. Smells fishy. [Twistyface] : Crybaby said even the yellow succubus backed out, that shit was real and you know it. Unless you two suggest that she lied? [|||||] : ?? [Halfsies] : I never even entertained the idea, Crybaby might be our most trustworthy member after myself, after all. It is a curious happening, is all. [Crybaby] : She transformed. I can feel her outside of the planes¡­ [|||||] : (¡ã§Õ ¡ã)! [Daddy Hatred] : She ended up in the Margin somehow?! Quick! We have to retrieve her to fix Cinthia¡¯s memory!!! Someone call the lich! Cinthia bolted out of her room, running through the sect¡¯s corridors. ¡°SARIA!!!¡±
Chapter 490 - Tea time anywhere Sofia transformed to take her measurements in demon form, considering that she could no longer get level debt and that her mana regeneration could no longer be stopped; the only downside left was the half hour of weakened physical state she was left in when the transformation ended. Except the demon transformation this time was not the same as it used to. The strange eye within her skull was now half exposed at the top of her head, somewhat hidden between her two light horns that persisted even in that form. Those were the lesser changes, however, as the demon form now had ethereal streams of golden light flowing around its hands, feet and wings, extending far behind her like caught in a violent stream. This is what the runes on my lower body were for?! She thought, feeling the source of this new magic. It looks nice but what else does it do? I think it¡¯s connected to the divine essences somehow? Right I have all those ¡®mana cores¡¯ with the divine essences I can move around now. Let¡¯s call them essence cores, that¡¯s less confusing. It''s nice to see that the melody persisted even through the transformation. That means I can just use the winter melody whenever I¡¯m going to transform if I need to quickly empty my mana. But if I want to get the best out of the transformation, I seriously need to find a way to reduce the cost of [Runeforged Overlord]. [Runeforged Overlord] ? : Your body has become one with runes of power. This skill has three tiers of power, you may activate the higher tier at any time, but returning to a lower tier requires to either take no damage for 100 seconds or become unable to sustain the tier¡¯s cost or conditions. The effects and cost of subsequent tiers are added together when active simultaneously. In your presence all undead and yourself gain the following effects: ___ Tier 1 (No cost; Requires the user to have arms) : Become unwilling to attack this skill¡¯s user. +24.9% Speed (Skill level /10) ___ Tier 2 (0.5 (0.25)% max mana per second; Requires the user to have a torso) : +24.9% Speed (Skill level /10) +24.9% Strength (Skill level /10) +24.9% Agility (Skill level /10) ___ Tier 3 (2 (1)% max mana per second; Requires the user to have wings) : Successful attacks inflict a short lasting [Confusion] Reduce all incoming damage by 20% Omnidirectional free flight Acceleration resistance +124.5% Speed (Skill level /2) +124.5% Strength (Skill level /2) +124.5% Agility (Skill level /2) Tier 2 is about 12500 mana per second, so I can afford to keep up indefinitely for as long as I stand in the sun, and that¡¯s basically only half of my regeneration gone. I¡¯m still at a 2000 mana per second loss otherwise. Tier 3 is still wildly unsustainable though¡­ Right around 63000 mana per second¡­ I can¡¯t even offset half of that. With Sofia lost in her thoughts, the five minutes were up before she realized, and she transformed back. ¡°Ah, shit, I forgot to take the measurements. And the post-demon weakness hasn¡¯t gotten any better, I see¡­¡± Feeling too weak to walk, Sofia summoned her armor and puppeteered it with her inside all the way back to the castle. She topped up the mana reserves of the two guard Skelems standing at the entrance and trudged inside. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. This place is really starting to feel like home. It was nice to finally get a space to store the clutter from my ring too. I should go check on Remia. Sofia already knew that the dryad was still sleeping peacefully, her mana senses extended to what used to be the entire city of zangdar, and she could feel and ¡®see¡¯ every minute mana movement in that area. The new essences had helped extend her mana senses through [Quintessential] but it seemed the mana heart itself also helped. Despite that, she still liked to go watch over the dryad up close. The walls and floor of her room were now covered in a wild growth of red-leafed vines, giving it a really nice atmosphere, contrasting with the cold bone and midenicite rest of the void castle. ¡°It smells good in here now. A bit like being in a real forest. Do dryads normally sleep this much, though? I should have talked with Jen more¡­¡± Lying down on the bed next to the dryad, Sofia dozed off to sleep. Suddenly, Sofia was woken up by a violent wave of mana washing over her, a true mana storm originating from the castle¡¯s main hall just below her, completely blinding her mana senses. Bookie! The small skeleton was currently resting on a shelf in the main hall in his book form, Sofia panicked and pushed her mana through the floor, using [Summon Self] to warp down to the hall. She landed in the middle of the last thing she expected to encounter in her lost margin castle, a literal crowd of people, Alith and herself in the center. ¡°Sup¡¯ Sof!¡± Alith reacted instantly while the others were all rendered speechless from one thing or another. ¡°I knew you would come! But, uh¡­ Welcome to New-Zangdar, everyone?¡± ¡°Yeah, I mean¡­ Yeah,¡± Alith had time to say before everyone started to speak at the same time. There was barely enough space in the hall for everyone to stand, somehow Altih had brought along not only Saria, Cinthia and Ihuarah, but also Erredis, Richard, Zephir, Everelle, Astelia, and even Clint, Moon and Sun.
Just the time to set up a bone table, fix Cinthia¡¯s memory, and for Alith to get drinks for everyone from her own reserves, and Sofia had to start explaining how she ended up in the margin. ¡°Wait¡­ It¡¯s only been three hours since the reforging?¡± Sofia repeated Erredis¡¯ words, an incredulous look on her face. ¡°Three hours, thirty-eight minutes, and about twenty seconds since you disappeared, to be exact,¡± Richard confirmed. ¡°We¡¯ve been stuck here for more than two months!¡± Sofia told the group, pointing at Pareth and Bookie who were sitting right next to her, and struggling to control her voice. ¡°Are you saying we went back in time?!¡± And that was all it took before the gears started to turn in her head. Time! That¡¯s impossible, Sun started to say, but Sofia did not hear the rest of her sentence, somehow everything became silent, though it seemed nobody else noticed, and from the corner of her eyes, Sofia saw something. Long white hair, someone standing just outside of the castle¡¯s open doors, observing the Skelems with an amused smirk. The man¡¯s head turned toward Sofia, but she couldn¡¯t clearly see his face. The man raised a single finger in front of his mouth. ¡°Not a word, saintess,¡± Yvraveteth whispered through all the guests¡¯ mouths before his form faded away into nothingness. Regular sounds came back, nobody noticing Sofia¡¯s few seconds of inattention, and Richard was arguing with Sun. ¡°-al distortion, it¡¯s theoretically possible, if the effects lasted until now. Contact with us might be what brought them back to the correct flow of time,¡± the lich hypothesized. And Sofia had trouble understanding what he meant as she had missed the first half of the sentence. It could be that this part of the margin is¡­ Sun started to mumble to herself, when Saria interrupted the discussion. ¡°Can I get more explanations on what happened? Because I feel like I missed a lot of details, like what happened in the first place, and how that led to here?¡± she asked. ¡°Right,¡± Erredis said, ¡°we barely had time to fill you in, but to make things easy, Sofia should be dead right now, and instead she reappeared here.¡± ¡°Dead?!¡± Saria repeated, and all eyes turned to Sofia. ¡°Erm¡­ Right. Maybe Clint should start by explaining what happened to me at the end of the reforging, and I will take it from there. It¡¯s¡­ Uh¡­ Complicated, as you might guess. But I did not die, quite the contrary, the level up went perfectly well, if we exclude the initial hiccups and the whole part about being stuck here.¡± ¡°How did you even get stuck, did the ring break?¡± Alith immediately asked. ¡°No, it¡¯s, uh¡­ Again, let¡¯s start with the reforging, I¡¯ll explain everything.¡± Clint scratched his beard, Well, no need to look at me like that, half of yall were there to see this shit happen. The Lord¡¯s rune spread as a byproduct of the forging, since she used that essence. Still have a hard time trying to wrap my head around that, by the way. But yeah. Shit reacted with all the mana and collapsed into a tiny little miniature black hole, he said, while gesturing with his hands, mimicking striking with a hammer, Or basically, for those who don¡¯t understand the words I¡¯m saying, space broke and it sucked the lil¡¯ lassy in, that being usually pretty bad. More than pretty bad, Sun commented, There¡¯s- Richard stopped Sun, slapping a skeletal hand on the Godesse¡¯s mouth, ¡°Hoy hoy, careful now, not everyone here is a God or an ascended.¡± Sun frowned and pushed Richard¡¯s hand away, Such a stickler for the rules, I knew this was going to be annoying. Should¡¯ve stayed home, she complained. ¡°Aren¡¯t you the one who wrote them with the admins and Death?¡± Erredis asked from her seat, giving Sun the side eyes. Sun sighed and leaned back into her chair, saying nothing. Well. That¡¯s where the story stops on our end, really, Clint continued. The tear in space was very small, so it disappeared almost instantly, but since it originated from the mana heart, she disappeared with it, he explained to those who had not been present. Sensing all the eyes fall on her once again, Sofia started to explain her side of the story. ¡°Alright, so, to begin with, everyone should be familiar with this dagger, right?¡± Sofia started, holding up Anna¡¯s key.
Chapter 491 - Sofia plays the cube game ¡°Wait, how many did you say are watching?¡± Saria whispered to Cinthia while Sofia paused for a second to sip on her drink. ¡°Twenty-eight¡­¡± the orc streamer answered after giving her chat a quick glance. ¡°Damn.¡± ¡°Twenty-eight?!¡± Sofia repeated from the end of the table, ¡°Hey I am not about to ask you for a donation to keep watching, but I need a lot of divine essence for my racial skills, just saying.¡± The three gods in the room were left speechless. ¡°What?¡± Sofia asked looking back at them, ¡°I need at least forty, so I¡¯m not even halfway through. I was hoping I could borrow a few from Death with how Clint designed my horns¡­ Anyway, where was I¡­ Ah, yes, so the sub-class that got me is actually not a real sub-class, from what I understand, just leftover data that the admins collected from relics of the lost epoch. Data related to the Lords, to be exact.¡± People exchanged a few worried looks, but at this point, everyone present was starting to get used to Sofia¡¯s antics when it came to the Deep, except for Richard, who was visibly having a hard time keeping his bones together, not from worry but from excitement. Nobody interrupted Sofia. ¡°So that reacted with the Regulator¡¯s essence somehow, and we ended up in the Deep,¡± Sofia explained like it was just another day¡¯s work. You what, now? Clint said first as if he¡¯d misheard. ¡°Makes sense,¡± Saria commented, and Alith, Ihuarah, and Astelia all approved, while Everelle and Cinthia lacked any particular reaction, and Zephir seemed to be fighting a strong headache. Erredis wore a complacent smile and said nothing, just relaxing on her chair, and Richard was eagerly waiting for the rest of the story. Unexpected reactions came from the two celestial Gods; Moon and Sun looked at each other silently. Not surprised? Sofia continued since no one commented anymore, ¡°There were some peaceful creatures there, affiliated with the Regulator, I think. It was a strange place, to say the least, and I did not feel safe there, so I did the obvious to try to get out, and called the Lords¡¯ names.¡± The obvious¡­ Clint repeated, astounded. ¡°Right? I started with Aphenoreth, but I got no answer, so next I tried the Regulator. And uh, yeah¡­ In hindsight, bad idea. I¡¯m starting to get why people are afraid of the names now.¡± ¡°You did not get it before?!¡± Astelia cried out before realizing what she just did and hiding her face behind her hands. ¡°Well, kind of? There was the story you told me back then, and what happened to Alith when she asked for Orator¡¯s essence, but besides that¡­ Anyway, the point is, if you¡¯re going to say their names out loud, maybe don¡¯t, unless you¡¯re talking about me, that seems to be safe.¡± ¡°We all already knew that!¡± Astelia reacted again. ¡°Sure but knowing it because you vaguely know of the Deep and knowing it because I told you is different. I mean, the previous times I used them did not actually do anything, except that one time with the fourth Lord, I guess, this one was a bit of an emergency situation¡­¡± Human, you are crazy. Moon said , which were her very first words since entering Zangdar. Sofia shrugged, ¡°Just playing the hand I¡¯ve been given, also it¡¯s Lumian now.¡± Another long silence befell the hall, pushing Sofia to keep going, ¡°So, after I walked around a bit, I tried using the Zangdar ring and, huh, here we are.¡± You lie. Moon called Sofia out, and Astelia grabbed her earrings, mumbling an apology to Sofia. ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± Sofia simply admitted, ¡°but this is all I¡¯m allowed to say.¡± And you can confirm that this is true. To this answer, Moon did not retort anything. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°I really got here with the ring, though, and it should also still lead to the Deep, which is why Pareth, Bookie and I have been stuck here for months, doing whatever to kill time,¡± Sofia explained, fighting hard against her own inner demons to keep her expression neutral. ¡°That should not work¡­¡± Richard said, perplexed, ¡°I made these rings myself¡­ From what I know of the Deep¡­ There is no way this could work¡­¡± ¡°Well, it did? My storage ring and the eye worked too, so¡­¡± ¡°THEY DID?!¡± ¡°Yes? I would show you a proof but the place I landed in was all made of a weird type of squishy rock, and it was immune to space magic, so I could not bring any back. I had no issues taking my items in and out, though.¡± ¡°So they worked but they didn¡¯t¡­ Interesting.¡± ¡°Hmm. Honestly I thought I would get stronger reactions from this story,¡± Sofia commented, ¡°Or that I would get questioned more. Or asked for more proof.¡± Sun shook her head, I have seen firsthand that you can deal with the Deep somehow. It is going to be hard if you want to surpass that. Not much you can do that is as unlikely to begin with, unless you somehow get Moon to cough up an essence or two. That would truly be unheard of. Fuck off, Sun, Moon answered, which Sun candidly ignored. ¡°Well, if it is to shock you in particular, I do have something,¡± Sofia teased, ¡°Now might not be the time and place, though.¡± Ohoh? Sun reacted, bending forward over the table, both hands supporting her chin, Now I¡¯m interested. Sofia slightly shook her head, ¡°Later, later. We have plenty of time. And, speaking of, is it alright for all of you to be here? Like¡­ If Sun is here, who¡¯s out there stopping the Phageid?¡± Ahahah. I can be in several places at once, Sofia. Moon and I have been shielding the planet for tens of thousands of years, so just trust us. You kids keep worrying about your own things. ¡°Bold thing to say considering everyone present,¡± Richard commented. What? Don¡¯t like being called a kid, Richie? Come give a hug to big momma Sun! ¡°I¡¯m not drunk enough for this shit,¡± the skeleton complained, ¡°Great to see you were safe, Sofia, come back by my place to report on the eye when you can,¡± he said before his skeleton fell into a messy pile of bones. ¡°There he goes¡­¡± Erredis said, storing the Lich¡¯s fallen bones. ¡°Well,¡± Saria said, standing up from her chair, ¡°job¡¯s done, can you show me around the castle, Sofia?¡± ¡°Me too!¡± Alith echoed. After exchanging a few more words, Moon, Zephir and Clint all left, while everyone else stayed to follow Sofia on a short new Zangdar tour. ¡°Too much free time?¡± Erredis asked Sun in the back of the group. The girl¡¯s just a lot of fun to be around, don¡¯t you agree, ¡®grandma¡¯? she answered with a radiant smile. ¡°... Don¡¯t think just because you¡¯re a ball of fire I won¡¯t dare to bite you.¡±
¡°And this is the bone field,¡± Sofia presented a large bone-built warehouse on the outskirts of the platform. ¡°The bone field?¡± Saria repeated, ¡°An indoor field?¡± ¡°This is the issue you have with it, and not the fact that it¡¯s bones?¡± Cinthia asked from the side. ¡°It¡¯s not a field field, I just call it that because that¡¯s where I harvest bones. Well, where the bones harvest themselves.¡± Inside of the warehouse, five Skelems were tied in a circle to the ceiling, over a large bin, around a small glowing ring made of bone blessed by [Bone dominus]. Whenever their lower body was fully healed, they detached their pelvis and legs, letting them fall into the bin, and the healing process started again. ¡°I can never have enough materials on hand, and my bone storage is so huge it¡¯s hard to fill now, so these guys have been working hard to produce more bone. Their bones are not as good as mine but harvesting my armor is too time-consuming. Not worth it for general use.¡± ¡°Shit like this is exactly why necromancers are a headache,¡± Erredis commented from the back. ¡°Oh! Right, I was thinking of trying to find a way to use that black powder the rot leaves behind, thank you for reminding me. I have a few cubes full of it already but I haven¡¯t really managed to make anything out of it so far except black chalk.¡± ¡°Cubes? Did you forget a word?¡± Alith asked. ¡°No, no, barrels are a terrible way to stock things, so I made bone crates, but since I don¡¯t have to do any of the usual crate nailing and all, it¡¯s just cubes. So I call them cubes. Made them one meter by one meter, too, so it¡¯s easy to know how much volume I have of what. It¡¯s easier to organize in my storage ring too,¡° Sofia explained. To illustrate, she brought out one such cube full of carbon dust, and the curious people gathered around. Alith was more interested in the cube than its contents, ¡°Pretty nice! I could use small ones to stock my herbs, it is starting to get messy. By the way, Sof, I¡¯m almost done with working back the formula for the pills you gave me, just need like one more month.¡± ¡°Pills?¡± Saria chimed in, ¡°What I¡¯m hearing is I might get to the first Aura breakpoint soon thanks to my sister¡¯s generous donations?¡± Sofia scratched the back of her head, ¡°As long as nobody tells Kyle¡­¡± Meanwhile, Everelle, who had a hand plunged in the cube of black dust, said something that captured 200% of Sofia¡¯s attention: ¡°You could make diamonds with that.¡±
Chapter 492 - Why are you like this? Sun grabbed a handful of black dust and clenched her fist, then she lightly threw the contents of her hand in the air, revealing a bunch of tiny transparent rocks, which Sun kept airborn on tiny cushions of mana. Tadaaaa! These turned out pretty well, you will need to polish them if you want good-looking gemstones. Erredis nodded from the side, ¡°You can make larger ones by going slower but that¡¯s a bit more effort. I do have quite a few back home, they¡¯re not too useful.¡± I used them a lot when I was messing around with electricity, beyond that it¡¯s mostly good for decoration. ¡°Could a big diamond not make for a decent catalyst?¡± Astelia asked. Erredis¡¯ bunny ears stood up at the idea, ¡°We can try that right now! Sun, can you?¡± Make your hair blonde and I¡¯ll do it. ¡°Why do you have to make it sound weird?¡± Erredis answered, rolling her eyes. Her white hair gradually changed to a light yellow. ¡°Happy?¡± Very much so, Sun confirmed with a big smile. Why the rabbit beastman disguise, by the way? You used to always just be a weird horned human, if I recall correctly. ¡°Since when did you care what I look like? It was a Hero¡¯s suggestion, apparently moon rabbits are a thing in their world, something like that. I just kind of got used to it.¡± It¡¯s cute! ¡°I¡¯m starting to get that you actually want me to bite you,¡± Erredis deadpanned. Not in front of the kids! Sun answered, blushing and acting shy. What am I even watching? Her little act done, Sun held up her part of the deal and placed a hand over the cube full of carbon dust, and a flash of white light blinded everyone present. Done! The goddess said a second later as she healed everyone¡¯s eyesight. She had transformed the entirety of the cube¡¯s contents into one big diamond chunk occupying about half the volume of the cube. That ought to be enough, what do you want to make of it? ¡°No idea! Why don¡¯t you all keep visiting, I will be here, might take me half an hour.¡± Astelia and Everelle ended up staying behind to watch Erredis work, while the others kept following Sofia.
You¡¯re not a very good gardener, are you? Sun teased, She just needs a good dose of sunlight. Sofia raised an eyebrow at Sun¡¯s remark, ¡°Really? I thought plants absorbed light through the leaves, and she doesn¡¯t have any.¡± Sun shrugged in response. ¡°This matter reminds me,¡± Ihuarah, who had been mostly silent, said, ¡°have you summoned the fae yet?¡± ¡°We haven¡¯t!¡± Bookie answered for Sofia. Ooh, fairy? I¡¯ve not seen one venture out of their kingdom in a while. Sofia and Bookie quickly explained the story of that page of his, which Sun found very intriguing. So Richie boy and Alkorm went ahead and sealed the fae¡¯s soul in an ingot? It must have been right on the verge of dissipating completely. Well, what are we waiting for? It¡¯s going to share my blessing like all of little book¡¯s summons, I should at least make sure it¡¯s well behaved. Sofia wanted to say yes, but Erredis was probably about done with the spell catalyst by now, and she wanted to make sure she got both Erredis and Sun together to ask some questions. ¡°Can we do this just a bit later? Now that we¡¯re done with the tour, I have a few important things I need to get out of the way, if you don¡¯t mind.¡± This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. You would ask for some alone time with me? Oh my. Sun answered with a wink. The others did not mind, and the group separated, some following Bookie, some others exploring the castle on their own, leaving only Sofia, Sun and Pareth together. So? What is it gonna be? Sun asked with a smirk, sitting on a random shelf. ¡°Well, there¡¯s a few things. I¡¯ll start with the more trivial matters. I need a signature from you, if you do not mind¡­¡± Ohoh, well, maybe if you accept another quest¡­ ¡°No.¡± So cold! Sun giggled, and just handed Sofia a small golden plaque with a doodle on it, vaguely reminiscing of Sun¡¯s divine rune. Just give him this and he¡¯ll be happy. She explained. ¡°Thank you¡­ Uh, now for another rather trivial matter¡­¡± Yes? Sun innocently asked, staring at Sofia dead in the eyes. ¡°N- nevermind.¡± I can¡¯t! Oh! That¡¯s a pity, I thought you wanted to know if it held up to the real thing. Sun teased, pulling on her clothes to reveal some cleavage. Past the initial shock, Sofia quickly tried to change the subject, ¡°Aherm¡­ I- I wanted to ask about divine essence.¡± So you¡¯re just going to ignore it? Well well. I thought you more adventurous. What do you want to know? ¡°Everyone seems shocked that you gave me five essences, so I wanted to ask, how much is it really? How many essences does a God have? What is EV? And does me holding those not make you weaker?¡± Oof, so many questions. I¡¯ll be nice and answer since you got those things off my back on the station, but only if you agree to go to the next trial with my Saintess. ¡°So we have some kind of group trial next time? Thank you for the tip, and of course, I don¡¯t mind going with Mornn. Haven¡¯t heard of her in a while.¡± Great! Sun pulled out a pair of glasses out of nowhere and her clothes changed to a tight black suit. Welcome to the expedited classes of professor Sun. Please listen carefully. To begin with, EV means essence value, it¡¯s how we measure the ¡®worth¡¯ of a divine essence. The more powerful the EV, the stronger the God, It goes from zero to five, zero being ¡®not a god¡¯, and five being the strongest a divinity can ever get. All the essences share the same EV, and any extra past five gets offloaded as the God¡¯s concept leaking out into reality. Not an issue for me but you can imagine what this means for Death. Sofia nodded, knowing full well about Death¡¯s issues thanks to Leverle. Without going into the hows and whys, a God has about five times as many essences as their EV is worth, so I have twenty five. Discounting the ones I gave away to you and the others, as well as my two relics, I have fifteen left. ¡°Wait! I have a fifth of your entire power? How is that not an issue?!¡± That¡¯s not really how it works for me, since I have a lot of surplus. As long as you stay relatively close-by, I barely lose anything in terms of passive strength. It¡¯s only if I want to do something big in one go that it becomes an issue to not have my essences directly with me. In your case, you are holding about ten percent of Scripture¡¯s actual power, but it¡¯s unlikely he can exert that much into the physical realm directly so it¡¯s more like you have twenty percent. ¡°I see¡­ That does help me understand things a lot better now. What about Looming?¡± Sofia asked, sharing her [Divinity status] system window. Not an actual Divinity, yet. To explain what must be going on here, you simply are one of five holders of Looming¡¯s nascent essence. ¡°Is that bad?¡± It just means that you embody the concept of Looming well enough that it started to form within you instead of somewhere else. Quite the feat, actually. A Divinity¡¯s essence always forms from the feelings of people, it¡¯s only natural that it would coalesce there too. When the essence is sufficiently strong, if ever, it will leave your body to reunite with the four others and form an actual Divine being. Probably a Recessed, in this case, though it is too early to tell. ¡°I can hardly imagine ¡®Looming¡¯ being a positively viewed concept,¡± Sofia agreed. One never knows, people are weird. Conflict, for example, is a very unstable concept, it has switched sides several times, making its gods regrettably short-lived. ¡°I can imagine that¡­ And what about the Lords¡¯ essence? Any commentary?¡± I better not say anything. ¡°Well. I tried.¡± That was the moment Erredis chose to enter through the window. ¡°Do you need help, Sofia?¡± she asked, giving a suspicious glance at Sun and her new outfit. She¡¯s perfectly fine, cutie, but you do look like you need some help; your skin is so pale! Come get a new tan with teacher Sun. ¡°Tskk. And I thought I was bad,¡± the Dragon complained, starting to leave through the same window. ¡°Wait, wait, Erredis! It¡¯s great that you¡¯re here. I would have liked for Richard and Moon to be here too but I feel like you two are probably enough¡­ It¡¯s about the person behind the attack on the system¡­¡±
Chapter 493 - The all-seeing I ¡°... and after that you both know what happened with the black hole thing and the Deep,¡± Sofia finished explaining. Erredis looked at Sun, seeming a bit confused, ¡°Any idea? For us to get frozen like that¡­ Time magic?¡± Sun shook her head, ¡°No time magic. It feels strange to say that with what just happened to Sofia here but time magic is not a thing anyone is allowed to use. Believe me, I tried¡­ If you stray too far into that path¡­ The universe itself will stop you,¡± Sun explained, her gaze lost in the distance. ¡°Do you mean the Lords?¡± Sofia asked, ¡°Whenever Aphenoreth appears, time freezes in a very similar manner¡­¡± Just because she was not able to speak of Time¡¯s death, she could still indirectly probe Sun for how much she might know about it. ¡°Maybe. I¡¯m unsure, honestly, but you really do not want to try. Really not. Really really not¡­¡± Erredis gave a worried pat on the back to the blonde goddess, ¡°You alright, Sun? Need a drink?¡± ¡°I¡¯m good. Just bad memories. I accumulated quite a few over thirty thousand years¡­¡± THIRTY THOUSAND?! Holy¡­ Sun shook her head and put a smile back on her face, ¡°Anyway, didn¡¯t want to ruin the mood, so¡­ What that guy did was not actually stopping time, because you can¡¯t. Most likely what happened is, he accelerated your thoughts to the extreme, effectively slowing your perception of time down to a crawl.¡± ¡°That should not be possible either,¡± Sofia rebutted, ¡°My connection with Aphenoreth protects me from soul-altering attacks.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ Assuming you say the truth, it might not have been recognized as an attack,¡± Sun hypothesized, ¡°Or¡­ There¡¯s another possibility¡­¡± Sun paused for a second, and she walked up to the room¡¯s window, looking to the void outside, ¡°they could have hijacked the Lord¡¯s rune manifesting during the reforging to emulate the Inquisitor¡¯s ability. And then you were the only one unaffected exactly because of that protection of yours, or because of your name, or your ¡®blessing¡¯.¡± Erredis stood up, ¡°No way! That¡¯s suicide! Even for a God! Even for you!¡± ¡°Not necessarily,¡± Sun answered, turning back and pointing at Sofia, ¡°Just look at her.¡± ¡°I¡¯m hardly a normal example, but it¡¯s true that I¡¯m relatively safe. I do have Aphenoreth¡¯s rune inside me right as we speak, kind of,¡± Sofia agreed, ¡°And I know from Orator that Aphenoreth is currently busy, whatever that means. So maybe that saved that god from a surprise inquisition?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­¡± Erredis said, pacing around the room, ¡°how many Gods would even be strong enough to activate the rune? Let alone be stupid enough to try it just to spit some drivel?¡± ¡°I think it was more a message for me and the system than it was for Sofia,¡± Sun explained. ¡°I hoped this wasn¡¯t the case but I am starting to think that Moon was right¡­ The God we¡¯re facing¡­ Could be a survivor from the lost epoch.¡± Erredis stopped walking around, ¡°A survivor? There are still survivors?!¡± ¡°There were some,¡± Sun said with narrowed eyes, ¡°Gods and Recessed both.¡± ¡°I¡¯m completely lost,¡± Sofia commented. ¡°Let me give you the broad strokes,¡± Sun offered, teleporting the trio outside of the castle and beyond the mana barrier without warning. They were standing in the void, a few hundred meters away from the bone platform, in a mana bubble Sun had created. An illusion of the planet appeared below them, verdoyant and lively, ¡°this is Veliadren, our home, ¡±Sun explained, ¡°and this,¡± she said, as the image of the planet became gray and depressing, covered in large thunderstorms visible all the way from space, ¡°this is what it looked like, thirty thousand years ago when I first opened my eyes.¡± ¡°This looks quite bad¡­¡± Sofia observed, her eyes fixated on one particular tornado-looking cloud that occupied almost a fifth of the visible sky. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! ¡°It was,¡± Sun continued, ¡°and I was alone to witness it, the first divine being born after the lost epoch. What you¡¯re watching right now is what I saw back then, a dead world covered in ash and mana anomalies, ravaged by apocalyptic natural disasters. And this was already towards the end of it. This had been going on for who knows how long. Long enough for people to start adapting and once again prosper despite the situation, at least. When the population was large enough, naturally their strongest emotions became Gods. First me, then Death, and you can guess the rest of the story, the world and its population recovered. I did a lot of the cleanup myself, barely aware of what I was doing and why.¡± ¡°So what about those surviving gods?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°Well. To this day, I have no idea how they survived the collapse of the population, the lack of essence at the time should have destroyed all gods, no matter how powerful. Case in point, the previous Sun and Death were both gone. But they were there, hidden, and still alive, somehow. It wasn¡¯t long before they came after myself and Death, perhaps thinking that they could forcefully gain some advantage over us, as we were still young and na?ve.¡± ¡°I can imagine how that went,¡± Erredis commented. ¡°We killed them,¡± Sun confirmed with a bright smile. ¡°But there might be some who never revealed themselves and survived until today? How would you know that it isn¡¯t just any other god?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°They could also have just been lying the entire time even about those abandonment issues.¡± ¡°They might have, but Death, Moon and I have been keeping an eye on all divinities born after us. We already know of a few who very possibly joined Scripture¡¯s side, but, for those who would be strong enough to pull such a stunt with the Lord¡¯s rune, there are only a very select few.¡± Erredis started counting on her fingers, ¡°The strongest of the Gods and Recessed, right? You, Water, Love, Progress, Wealth, Death, Sorrow, Taxes, Suffering, Sickness¡­ Am I missing anyone?¡± ¡°Peace, Life, Moon, Mana, Unfairness,¡± Sun continued, ¡°and a few others, but generally speaking, these are the main suspects, not all of them would be able to try this, even. And I can vouch for every single one of them¡¯s innocence in this matter.¡± ¡°You know them that well?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°Of course,¡± Sun answered with a smile, ¡°Or I would have long dispatched them.¡± Sofia felt that Sun was saying outrageous things yet her only reaction was : ¡°But you let Scripture be?¡± Sun sighed. ¡°My time of killing other Gods is far behind me. We have laws and agreements now. It¡¯s not that easy to interfere, even for me. Could I kill Scripture right now? Yes, I could, but not only would it not resolve your issues, it might be the start of a total collapse of the relative peace we have going on right now. And this¡­ It was hard enough to get there.¡± ¡°So¡­ What now? I do still plan on killing Scripture myself. That won¡¯t be an issue, right?¡± ¡°Quite the opposite,¡± Sun laughed, ¡°Nobody can say anything if you do it by yourself, not with the history you have with him. It¡¯s personal, so to say, so any other God stepping in to stop you would be the one breaking our agreements. But you¡¯re not quite there, Sofia. In the meantime, while I¡¯m still quite busy with the Phageid, Moon will be searching for the culprit behind this shit. The High-Scribes are also hard at work to defend the system, so chances are that this mysterious lost epoch god won¡¯t show up for a good while.¡± ¡°And if he does?¡± ¡°Unless he can hijack the Lord¡¯s rune again, there will probably be several archangels rapidly approaching his location next time he dares do anything out in the open,¡± Erredis answered, ¡°He must be hiding quite far from the planet even as we speak.¡± ¡°You would know?¡± Sun asked with a smirk. Erredis rolled her eyes, ¡°They only sent angels when I came down this time to help Sofia find her sister, so I guess my reputation improved a bit¡­¡± ¡°I have one last question,¡± Sofia said when the discussion died down for a moment, ¡°if the culprit is a God, even from the lost epoch or whatever, is there any way I can learn of his domain?¡± ¡°That would be hard unless he says it himself or you get your hand on one of his essences,¡± Erredis explained, ¡°But considering you were able to feel the essence link when they came close, it is more likely a god and not a Recessed, just because their plane is closer and easier to feel. That he could send you to Peace¡¯s domain also goes toward that hypothesis, though an extremely strong divinity crossing all the way to the other side is not impossible.¡± ¡°Spoke a lot with Moon, I see,¡± Sun commented from the side. Erredis shrugged, ¡°Who else?¡± ¡°I¡¯m right here, and always up for getting to know each other a bit more,¡± Sun said in an innocent voice. ¡°Hard to believe you''re more than twice my age¡­ Do you never get tired of it?¡± ¡°Tired? Come on, I know nobody in this room is tired, the Sun shines everywhere, you know?¡± the Goddess replied with a playful wink. So even Erredis can blush¡­ Wait¡­ Everywhere the sun shines¡­ No wonder she knew about the painting.
Chapter 494 - Go big or go home Sofia gave the Midenicite catalyst to Cinthia. ¡°I insist, please take it. Not only did you help in finding me even when you had lost your memories, but you also performed worse than the rest of us in the last trial, so we have to help you keep up the pace!¡± ¡°H- hey! I did not perform that badly¡­ But I¡¯ll take it, then. Thank you,¡± Cinthia finally conceded after refusing the catalyst two times. ¡°You did well,¡± Saria consoled the orc girl, ¡°we¡¯re just all crazy. You managed the bonus task too, not everyone even got there. I know I didn¡¯t.¡± ¡°Wait, you didn¡¯t?¡± Sofia repeated, looking at her sister like she had heard something nonsensical. ¡°No, I was too busy hunting a Deepwater Drake for months, so I missed out on the task. Got a great signature skill with that keystone though. I regret nothing!¡± ¡°Should we do a quick roundup of how everyone did?¡± Astelia suggested, since they were all reunited already. Sun and Erredis were still talking back in the castle, so the current group were only the trial-takers and Everelle. ¡°Great idea,¡± Sofia agreed, ¡°Should I go first or last?¡± ¡°Sister, let us brag a bit before you steal all the attention,¡± Saria quipped, but she had been playing with Sofia¡¯s light hair for a while now, so it was clear her attention was already stolen. ¡°I¡¯m fine with going last, you all know the broad lines already anyway¡­ Then how about Alith goes first, I¡¯m curious about how she did this time. She had a revenge to take on the trials since the ranking spire.¡± Alith stopped admiring the craftsmanship on the diamond catalyst Erredis had made and looked up to the group, ¡°Me first? Sure thing¡­ Well. You know I wagered a special essence like Sofia, right? So¡­ The heart just flew through the trial on its own, basically, I spent all my damn time chasing after it and killing whatever got in the way, pretty much. It was a fucking tiring year¡­¡± ¡°That does sound tiring,¡± Astelia commented, ¡°did it just fly randomly?¡± Alith shook her head, ¡°No, it guided me through the trial, really. I didn¡¯t have to think, only keep up with the pace. It guided me through the bonus task in the first week, took me through dungeons with the shortest paths, tracked down monsters to get the best possible imprints¡­¡± Saria was impressed, ¡°That sounds great, said like that, I almost wish I had wagered the same thing, I might have finished the bonus task too.¡± ¡°No,¡± Alith answered, a look of dread on her face, ¡°you really don¡¯t want that. It was hell. Yes it guided me, but the heart¡­ It also attracted the monsters. Hordes of them. Always,¡± Alith shuddered at the memories, ¡°Night was the worst. I still see the Sunless chasing me when I close my eyes¡­¡± ¡°Sorry,¡± Everelle apologized, although she had nothing to do with it. Alith¡¯s countenance changed in an instant, she was back to her normal lively self, ¡°You don¡¯t have to be, I¡¯m just playing it up a bit. It was bad but I¡¯m hard to catch, especially since I got the bonus task reward early. I asked for a way to increase my stamina regeneration, and that allowed me to really go all out with my specialization. I also collected plenty of interesting plants on Cerberus so I¡¯m pretty happy with this last year!¡± ¡°What about your keystone?¡± Sofia asked, since she already knew that Alith also had an SSS rank heart. ¡°Killed a mountain elemental, like a giant sprite, kind of? Just have a look at what Clint made with it,¡± Alith said, opening a system window for all to see. [Will of the mountain lady]: /SSS rank Signature Skill/ This lady is done waiting, she is coming for you. Stats other than your mana cannot be lowered for 250 (Class level) seconds. Cooldown: unalterable 30 minutes. ¡°Stats other than your mana¡­¡± Sofia read out loud. ¡°Does that mean you become immortal for the duration of the skill?¡± Astelia asked. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. ¡°My health won¡¯t go down, so yes. But it¡¯s even better than that! If I activate short term stat boosts before activating the skill, they will last until the end of it!¡± Alith explained with a wide smile, an array of potion flasks appearing in her hands held between each fingers. ¡°That means it also works with skills like Pareth¡¯s sanctified grounds¡­ That¡¯s really really good, but doesn¡¯t it make your specialization useless while you activate it?¡± Sofia observed. ¡°You¡¯re not totally right, Sof, it gives me time to regenerate my stamina so in a way it does help, even if yeah the specialization itself is not very useful anymore while this is active. I can¡¯t be twice immune to damage¡­¡± The conversation quickly devolved from there, and instead of telling each other tales of their trials like they had wanted to originally, they just compared signature skills like it was a competition to see who had the best one. Along with Alith¡¯s, Saria¡¯s skill was equally simple in its usage. [Draconic riptides]: /SSS rank Signature Skill/ It all starts from the ebb. How exhilarating must it be, to swim against the current. Activate along any directional attack to create pressured water ¡®riptides¡¯ of similar power and shape, striking in the opposite direction with a slight delay. Mana cost : 0.5% Max mana + 1000. Cooldown : 0.5s Saria quickly demonstrated, striking a bone pillar that Sofia summoned for her, as she threw a right hook at the pillar, a fist of water followed from the left half a second later, finishing to destroy the half broken bone cylinder. ¡°In dragon form it copies the trajectories of all five of my claws for the cost of a single cast, it¡¯s also pretty generous about what a directional attack is, basically anything works except lunging attacks straight ahead,¡± she explained to the crowd. Next was Cinthia, who did not have a keystone, but still had an interesting skill nonetheless. [Hype train]: /S rank Signature Skill/ IT HAS NEVER BEEN SO HIGH! Strike forward with a blast of divine energy borrowing the domains of your viewers to inflict additional effects. Mana cost : Current mana + essence tokens (Spent tokens cannot exceed Number of viewers * 10000). Damage (approx): Mana cost * (Number of viewers + (essence token/10000)) Cooldown : 24 hours. It sounded a bit complex at first but everyone quickly agreed that it was a good skill when Cinthia explained that not only was the attack itself almost invisible, it also had no channeling time. That meant that at any time during a fight Cinthia could empty her entire mana pool for a surprise deadly attack. More Recessed also tended to watch her whenever she was fighting, so the synergy with her class worked out well. ¡°Oh, is it my turn?¡± Ihuarah exclaimed when everyone looked at him, ¡°There is not much to be shown, I am afraid. While I did, in fact, go out of my way to get a Keystone imprint from a Chimera, this new mana heart only served to better accommodate my old magicks, much to the displeasure of a certain God.¡± ¡°So you already had something like a signature spell, shadowman?¡± Alith asked him. ¡°Indeed. Although the process of creating such a spell was a much different ordeal back then. Said skill has been renamed [Shields of the weave] by the system, its basic principle is that of weaving a single continuous thread of cursed mana into a protective barrier like so,¡± he explained to the group, demonstrating as he spoke. He waved a finger around, leaving a visible trail of mana behind, and as he went, the thread folded upon itself until it became a floating sheet of cursed mana hovering in front of Ihuarah, connected to him by the end of the thread. ¡°It is fairly tough, long lasting, does repair by itself a little over time if not completely destroyed, and most importantly, I am capable of maintaining many of them at the same time,¡± he continued explaining while everyone but Everelle observed his creation. ¡°He can hold about twenty of them at once,¡± she commented. ¡°That is right,¡± Ihuarah confirmed, ¡°However, I was able to handle hundreds during my prime. The time will come again.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure it will,¡± Everelle said, grabbing his right arm from behind, ¡°Is the Vampire lady next, then?¡± ¡°Well¡­ I¡­ Alright, here¡­¡± Astelia said, looking away as she displayed her signature skill¡¯s description to the group. [Moon Titan]: /SSS rank Signature Skill/ Always going above and beyond, a titanic body to host your titanic will. Strong gravity magic will help surround yourself with whatever matter is available nearby to create the body of a titan. The titan may be up to 1250 ((class level * (class level/100)) * 2) meters tall. The titan counts as your body for the purpose of using magic and receiving boosts. The titan counts as an external armor for the purpose of receiving damage. The titan does not consume stamina. The titan will crumble when its body integrity is too low or you run out of mana. Mana cost : base mana regeneration per second. Cooldown : 1 month. ¡°What the fuck did you kill, Asty?!¡± Alith asked, wide eyed. ¡°J- Just a big Sunless¡­¡±
Chapter 495 - Hungy The reactions to Sofia¡¯s signature skill were underwhelming. ¡°Well, that¡¯s Sofia alright¡­¡± Cinthia was the first to comment. ¡°Yep, definitely Sof. The skill even requires dying multiple times,¡± Alith added with a snarky smile. ¡°It¡¯s not¡­ I¡¯ve only died like¡­ Maybe fifty to a hundred times so far? It really doesn¡¯t happen that often¡­¡± Saria eyed her sister disapprovingly, ¡°Ah, yes, only fifty to a hundred. Lil¡¯ sis, I think necromancy is getting to your head a bit.¡± Alith started counting on her fingers, ¡°A hundred, around five years, fifty months¡­ So twice a month on average? And here I was thinking I was the half-ghost of the group.¡± ¡°You can be half-ghost, she¡¯s half-skeleton,¡± Everelle chimed in. ¡°And you¡¯re full or half-Sunless?¡± Saria asked, she and Cinthia were the least familiar with Everelle, only first meeting with her a few hours prior. ¡°Bit of a messy story but physically full, spiritually half? I think I can share that now that my contract is over, but basically I died pretty fast after being summoned. The system caught my soul before it dissipated and gave me a few options. That''s how I ended up like this.¡± Summoned heroes being treated like shit¡­ ¡°Who was it that summoned you?¡± Sofia couldn¡¯t help but ask. Everelle shrugged it off, ¡°Don¡¯t remember. Not gonna lie, I¡¯m not even sure they were humans. That part of my memory is more than a tad blurry. I clearly remember how I died before being summoned, though.¡± ¡°You were also dead before the summoning?!¡± Alith immediately asked, so far persuaded that she was the only one like this. ¡°I¡¯m fairly sure I died, yeah? I was more than a bit sick, too. Very rare illness, body eating itself from the inside for no apparent reason, constant excruciating pain. My family had a lot of money so they managed to keep me alive until I almost hit thirty but that was about the limit. One day I felt myself go and next thing I knew, I was here. Well, not here here, but you get me.¡± Is it a common theme that people had a shitty end to their life on their previous planet? Or could it be that it¡¯s just random who gets summoned? I wonder now, why are Saints and Heroes even a thing in the first place¡­ And who the hell even summoned the Human admin? Were summonings actually a thing before the system existed? ¡°Interesting¡­ I¡¯m tryin¡¯ to understand how summoning works as a side project, lots of it doesn¡¯t make much sense. Oh, and I know of a few other heroes you might want to talk to. I think you¡¯d get along well,¡± Alith explained. ¡°That¡¯d be nice! Honestly I¡¯m happy to have found you guys already, a lot of things here feel quite familiar and that¡¯s nice, beginning with Miss Orc¡¯s class. Never thought I¡¯d get to meet a famous streamer in person in my next life,¡± Everelle said, waving at Cinthia, ¡°they¡¯re still watching, right?¡± ¡°I- I¡¯m not famous at all¡­ There¡¯s still fourteen of them watching, yes¡­¡± Being watched by fourteen gods sounds stressful¡­ Saria turned to Cinthia, ¡°Fourteen! Isn¡¯t that a new record?!¡± ¡°Well¡­ There were more when Sofia was telling her story about the Deep¡­¡± ¡°I hope you got plenty of donations,¡± Sofia said with a nod. ¡°I got more than I deserved, honestly. A few of them have expressed their interest in maybe giving or selling you an essence, by the way. But there seems to be some conflict because they don¡¯t want to step over Sorrow¡¯s¡­¡± Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. ¡°That¡¯s great news! They don¡¯t have to worry, I¡¯m sure mom doesn¡¯t mind, right? I already have five essences from Sun anyway, doesn¡¯t change that I¡¯m still only Sorrow¡¯s Apostle.¡± ¡°Mom?¡± Everelle repeated, and Ihuarah started to explain the situation in more detail while the main conversation continued. Cinthia kept answering but it was clear that she was also busy reading her chat, ¡°We will have to travel to their temples and meet the other Apostles, I think, that can probably be done before we go on that trip to Sorrow¡¯s place¡­ Is that still a thing by the way?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t see why not. Ihuarah?¡± Sofia asked, interrupting his exchange with Everelle. The shade was quick to switch gears, he had clearly been following what was being said from one ear, ¡°Of course. I suspect it will take us a few months at most to locate and explore the temple. It would be best to keep the group relatively small, but technically anyone is free to join.¡± Plans were quickly made, the expedition group was going to stay quite small, with only Sofia, Ihuarah, Everelle and Cinthia, and maybe Zerei if she wanted to. Saria decided to take on the mission of locating the two missing rings to Zangdar, mostly because she wanted one for herself. Alith was going to stay at the sect and work on the stat pills, and Astelia was going back to her home in Vasperia. First, however, Sofia was going to have to quickly travel around the planet to get as many Essences as she could from the Recessed, and to fix the memory of a few people, starting with Zerei and Shaily. Sun randomly appeared in the middle of the group at some point, grabbing all the attention, ¡°Auntie Sun¡¯s leaving, everyone, feel free to come visit in Herzal anytime, I might even distribute a few quests to those who¡¯ve yet to get one. Buh-bye!¡± She enthusiastically announced, striking a weird pose before disappearing in a flash of light. Erredis showed up shortly after, ¡°It¡¯s quite lively here, how do you like the big Diamond?¡± she asked Sofia, seeing that the diamond catalyst was already adorning her staff. ¡°I had no time to try it out yet but it should be great. It makes me really want to get a good combination with ¡®Restore ¡® already¡­¡± Sofia answered. She had not been able to identify the catalyst herself, but Alith had done it for her and shared the system window. [Prismatic Diamond Orb] : A spell catalyst crafted from a high-purity Sun-forged artificial diamond. Area spells cast through it will gain 50% area of effect and their effect will linger for a few seconds after deactivation. Light-focused spells cast with this catalyst as the target will scatter in all directions. Item level : 500. Grade : Legendary. ¡°Still haven¡¯t got one?¡± Erredis asked rhetorically, ¡°You might want to start being careful of not destroying the environment too much now,¡± the old dragon lady suggested, ¡°that applies to all of you, in fact. There are plenty of hermits out there in the wild, so the angels aren¡¯t even the only ones you risk pissing off if you go crazy.¡± ¡°Oh! Lady Erredis, I have a question,¡± Saria called out. ¡°No need to be so formal, girl, you¡¯re pretty much family now, what is it? Some question about your specialization that Zephir couldn¡¯t answer?¡± ¡°It¡¯s about signature skills, actually. Am I wrong to think that a Dragon¡¯s breath is their signature skill? This thought kind of just occurred to me while we were comparing skills earlier¡­¡± Erredis laughed. ¡°That is actually correct. We do not get to choose, however. Speaking of which, what did you get?¡± Just like this the conversation looped back to signature skills, and Erredis reassured Saria that a Dragon-breath-style signature skill for her would have been a poor choice. In her opinion, Saria¡¯s body, even temporarily transformed into a small Dragon, would have been completely unable to withstand something like that until she reached at least level 400. Not to mention that she wouldn¡¯t have enough mana for it. Another thing they discussed with Erredis was how everyone was seemingly able to leave Zangdar however they wanted. Erredis reassured them that this was just how the margin worked, leaving was usually not an issue for anyone of a high-enough level. Entering was another issue. Entering in a safe way, to be exact. She was relatively certain that except perhaps Richard, nobody would be able to return to Zangdar without one of the rings. Eventually it was Bookie who brought an end to several hours of lively chatting, saying that he wanted to summon the fairy right now while Erredis was still there to protect everyone.
After everyone was caught up to speed with the story of the midenicite fairy, Erredis had a good laugh taking out Richard¡¯s discarded skeleton and puppeteering it, mocking the fact that he had left so early that he was going to miss the resurrection of the fairy he¡¯d saved himself. ¡°I- Is it really fine to do this?¡± Cinthia asked, watching Erredis play with the lich¡¯s bones. ¡°Oh it¡¯s fine, he¡¯ll never know. If he didn¡¯t want me to do this he shouldn¡¯t have left his stinky bones here for me to deal with. This guy leaves skeletons everywhere, it¡¯s actually a bit annoying. He also left one in my house and I¡¯m pretty sure there¡¯s still one in my workshop at Zephir¡¯s too.¡± Sofia looked at Bookie, Bookie looked at Sofia. Is there any chance this can work? ¡°Can I try to eat it?¡± the small skeleton asked Erredis with stars in his eye-sockets.
Chapter 496 - Sofia is good at puzzles Erredis thought the idea was funny so Bookie got himself a free meal after erasing a page with skeleton boars to make space, but he looked strangely disappointed when it was time to show Sofia his new page. ¡°I¡¯m guessing we are not getting a lich summon anytime soon, are we?¡± Sofia asked the little skeleton as she grabbed the book he was presenting. ¡°We aren¡¯t¡­¡± he confirmed, dejected. ¡°Well, let¡¯s see what kind of skeletons Richard usually walks around in, then¡­¡± Sofia said as she opened the book to the last page. The drawing on the page showed a skeleton holding some kind of flask in one hand and a straight rod in the other. ¡°Some kind of alchemist? It¡¯s quite cheap, just 50 mana.¡± She summoned the skeleton, and he appeared as he was in the drawing, holding an empty flask and a thin metal rod. ¡°What class is it?¡± she asked, as her [Identify] still didn¡¯t work. ¡°Solar glassblower,¡± Saria read out loud. ¡°Nice, I could really use that one,¡± Alith remarked, ¡°I¡¯ve been trashing tons of glassware trying to work out the pill recipes.¡± ¡°You will need good quality sand,¡± Erredis noted, ¡°and there are other things humans use like limestone but I¡¯m not too sure they¡¯re really useful for someone with a dedicated class.¡± The skeleton nodded along with what she said. ¡°It seems now is the time for me to give back what I borrowed,¡± Ihuarah said, starting to take off his necklace. ¡°You really don¡¯t have to,¡± Sofia told him, ¡°it¡¯s not like sand is hard to find.¡± ¡°It is a small matter,¡± the shade said as he emptied the contents of the cursed sun-shaped necklace, which consisted of a small pile of mithril ingots and a bunch of yellow sand, ¡°I no longer require that kind of assistance with a mana heart of my own, and I have already acquired another storage item,¡± he explained, pointing at one of the many small rings he was wearing. ¡°Alright¡­ I already had a bone field, I guess I can make a sand field¡­ I¡¯ll just hang it up with the skelems for now.¡± Sofia grabbed the necklace from Ihuarah and started walking toward her ¡®bone field¡¯, she turned her head around while she walked, ¡°Hoy, glassblower, use the sand on the ground and make something while I¡¯m away.¡± She slowly strolled all the way to the bone field, collected the bones and put the necklace around one of the Skelems¡¯ neck. A bit of silence. Refreshing. Alright, let¡¯s get back to it. Fae time.
¡°Just do it, I tell you,¡± Erredis said with a shrug, ¡°with me here you risk nothing.¡± ¡°Alright, Bookie.¡± On Sofia¡¯s command, Bookie¡¯s book form opened in front of Sofia, showing the small drawing of the midenicite fairy skeleton and its previously unaffordable price that now felt super cheap. Sofia ripped the page, and the mist gathered in front of her. Unlike all of the cheaper skeletons, the fae was slow to form, swads of mist swirling and coalescing together to form the small creature bone by bone in the air, starting by the legs. Just like in the drawing, the fairy looked feral, about twenty centimeters tall, its neutral posture was more akin to a predator waiting to jump on its prey than a relaxed position like most other skeletons. Its bones were icy-blue just like the midenicite ingot the fae¡¯s soul had once been imprisoned in. Its hands and feet had tiny but sharp claws, and its six wings¡¯ bones looked like the vein structures of oblong dried leaves. Finally, the fairy¡¯s tiny skull, the last bone to form, had two sharp canines like the Vampires, and two pointy horns looking a lot like Cinthia¡¯s. ¡°She¡¯s really really mad!¡± Bookie warned. Finally a faint blue light formed within the fairy¡¯s eye sockets. Sofia heard a loud bang. The fairy¡¯s first action upon waking up had been to throw itself claws first toward Saria¡¯s head, so fast that it had been hard to even see anything happen. But it had been caught by Erredis¡¯ bare hand long before it could reach its target. The fairy screeched and struggled to free itself from the Dragon¡¯s grasp, without success. ¡°Caught a feisty one, it seems. Looks like it¡¯s really mad at Saria,¡± Erredis observed as she firmly held the tiny screaming ball of rage. ¡°Did I slaughter fairies in a past life?¡± Saria asked, perplexed at the creature''s hatred being directed at her specifically. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. After a second of reflection, Sofia gave her hypothesis, ¡°Because you¡¯re the only human, maybe?¡± ¡°What are y-... Wait, I actually am. How¡¯s this then?¡± Saria said, putting on her Dragon mask, the reward she got from the 99th floor of the ranking tower. The screeching instantly stopped. ¡°Well shit. Good that you got that race change, Sof,¡± Alith commented. I can¡¯t help but feel like this will be an issue later¡­ The fairy¡¯s skull turned to Sofia, and it pronounced a few unintelligible words. Sofia looked at Erredis but she shook her head, ¡°No clue what she¡¯s saying, sorry. Doesn¡¯t even sound close to any language I know.¡± ¡°Ihuarah?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°That is peculiar,¡± the shade said, ¡°That certainly is not the Fey dialect that I happen to have some basics in.¡± ¡°Bookie, any insight?¡± ¡°Uh¡­ She¡¯s a bit less mad now? I think.¡± ¡°Do you understand me?¡± Erredis asked in Draconic, which Sofia took a second to translate in her head, but the Fae did not seem to understand at all. ¡°She¡¯s very scared!¡± Bookie interjected. Erredis smiled, ¡°So she at least knows to fear the superior species. Not as brainless as she looks.¡± ¡°Saying this while you have bunny ears and a small puffy tail is tremendously funny,¡± Dopple snarked from Alith¡¯s chest. ¡°Oh, you¡¯re awake for once?¡± Alith reacted, looking down at her sentient piece of clothing. ¡°Is the temple safe?¡± Dopple said next, completely ignoring Alith, ¡°That¡¯s what she said.¡± ¡°Wait, you understood that?!¡± Alith continued, shocked to discover a hidden talent of her annoying shirt. ¡°Of course I do! What kind of rag do you take me for?!¡± ¡°What temple?¡± Sofia said to Dopple, and Dopple proceeded to translate it into the weird dialect of the Fairy. ¡°Now she¡¯s a bit relieved but also worried!¡± Bookie told everyone, continuing to provide a live-feed of the Fairy¡¯s emotions. The Fairy answered Dopple and Dopple translated back for the group, ¡°The planar gate temple I was guarding!¡± Planar gate temple¡­ Wait, wait ,wait¡­ Planar gate? Without a word, Sofia activated the Autumn movement of [Sixth melody], the cursed music helping her organize her thoughts easier. A scenario rapidly assembled in her head, starting from one simple memory, the image of a giant fissure opening in the sky, a planar gate the Alphageid used to invade Veliadren. Current year, 3215. Around the year 1700, Zangdar is built on the foundation of a gigantic midenicite vein created by the corrupting influence of the half-dead fairy whose soul was not disappearing somehow. Zh¨£ng L¨² found the remains of the fairy along with the midenicite tablets in the ruins of an underground civilisation deep beneath Zangdar. He brought them to Richard and Alkorm, as evidenced by the fact that Richard knew about the tablets and Alkorm helped forge the ingot. The original description of the tablets¡­ Mr.Scribe was quick to find the very old [Identify] logs for Sofia. She now knew that these were provided by the High-Scribe DATABASE. [???] : This set of carvings detains great secrets and possibilities. Level : 500. Grade : Forgotten. Not just carvings. Even beyond their link to the Deep, doesn¡¯t this description imply that they have some kind of special use? Then the fairy mentions a planar gate. Meanwhile, the device keeping this place floating in the margin and that brought it here in the first place¡­ Sofia still remembered the words from Zh¨£ng L¨²¡¯s letter. The plane-crossing device. But it¡¯s clearly a modern device using recent ritual magic and Avian-style runes, and it¡¯s not been turned to midenicite. So it is not the planar gate, but a copy? Perhaps made in part thanks to the knowledge found in the tablets? And here comes the major discrepancy. When we asked Jen about the Phageid, she said that the invasions occurred around every five hundred years, with us still having about forty years before the next one. The second one thus was around five hundred years ago, while the first one would be five hundred years before that, the one I got to witness during my first trial. That would put the next and third attack around the year 3250, the second attack around the year 2750, and the first attack around 2250. Meanwhile, Zhang lu was stuck in Zangdar for what sounds like a few years after the attack and his letter was dated from 1758. Zangdar fell to a Phageid attack¡­ Around the year 1750. But back then, there was supposedly no sign of a large-scale attack anywhere else. There¡¯s no fucking way, right? Right? And¡­ And there was a tablet depicting the Deep, so the planar gate being able to reach the Deep is not the most far-fetched conclusion. The rift the Alphageid came from¡­ It was spewing a strange red light. ¡°Sofia? Sofia, you¡¯re still here?¡± Saria asked, while everyone worriedly looked at Sofia. ¡°I- I think I need to sit down¡­¡±
Chapter 497 - Mildly annoyed skeleton ¡°I was lost in my thoughts after Dopple translated the thing on a temple¡­ Did I miss anything?¡± Sofia asked after sitting down in the air. ¡°Aside from your dragon grandma threatening my talking bra into revealing that the language it and the fairy are talking is named Eddarinian? Not much,¡± Alith recounted. ¡°Eddarinian? That¡¯s a familiar name¡­¡± Saying so, a number of skeletal hands appeared out of the ground and grabbed Sofia¡¯s ankles. In the spirit realm, the Fae¡¯s soul was quite strange, like a bunch of smaller souls piled together around a core to form a cohesive whole. Eddarinian dark arts of soul grafting. I see. ¡°Anyone knows anything about it?¡± she asked. Erredis answered her, ¡°Although this is my first time hearing it spoken, I know a bit about the Eddarinians. They were a religious cult, basically. It¡¯s hard to date them exactly but they were already ancient history when I learned about them.¡± ¡°A religious cult? Worshiping who?¡± Astelia asked, curious about this cult she had never heard of. ¡°Worshiping what, would be more exact,¡± Erredis started to explain, ¡°from what I understand, they worshiped a thing they called ¡®the great tapestry of fate¡¯. They believed that the universe was moving inexorably toward a singular great goal, and that it was their duty to repay for the gift of life given to them by bringing about the advent of this great goal as early as possible.¡± ¡°It sounds like many people could have an issue with that, depending on what the ¡®great goal¡¯ is,¡± Sofia analyzed, ¡°Any clue on what that was or how they disappeared?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think that they knew themselves,¡± Erredis answered, shaking her head, ¡°I only ever found a few books on the subject, but none of them ever elaborated on the goal itself or how anything that the Eddarinians did helped to further it. As for how they disappeared, records are a bit blurry, but I believe they tried to steal some artifact from a Klpetra princess.¡± Kleptras again? I¡¯m shocked I still haven¡¯t met a single one with how they keep popping up. Everelle shivered at the mention of the Kleptra, ¡°That¡­ That would probably do it¡­ Angering the Kleptra is really having a death wish.¡± That comment surprised Erredis, who turned to Everelle, ¡°Got experience with the Kleps, kid?¡± ¡°I got to meet all the Seraphs at work meetings¡­¡± There¡¯s a Kleptra Seraph? Is there a Seraph for each major race, I wonder? ¡°Oh! So you¡¯ve crossed paths with Er¡¯Zgat. Well, he¡¯s one of the more civilized ones, if I have to compare¡­¡± ¡°Is he?!¡± Everelle asked back in shock, shaking visibly. ¡°Well, he¡¯s still a Kleptra,¡± Erredis answered with a shrug, ¡°But nevermind that, something was on your mind, Sofia?¡± ¡°Ah, yes¡­ I¡­ I just noticed a few things and that led me to, uh, an interesting hypothesis?¡± Seeing that everyone was waiting for her to elaborate, Sofia kept going, ¡°Well, with the mention of a planar gate temple being here, it¡¯s not too far-fetched to think there was a ¡®planar gate¡¯, right?¡± Dopple said a few words in Eddarinian, and the Fairy, who had been silent in Erredis¡¯ hand until now answered with a few angry-sounding words. ¡°Of course there¡¯s a fucking planar gate, what do you think I was defending?! Is what she said,¡± Dopple translated. ¡°Thanks. So, starting from there, I thought back to the midenicite tablets that Alith and I found in this castle. They represented all the planes or reality, Deep included, and were found in ruins deep beneath where this castle used to be, supposedly that¡¯s also where the Fairy¡¯s skeleton also originally was,¡± Sofia explained, bringing out the one tablet she still had, which Aphenoreth had altered. ¡°This is the only tablet I¡¯ve got left, I sold the others to Richard, it used to only have Aphenoreth¡¯s face on it, but yeah, was touched up a bit.¡± The fairy started screaming again at the sight of the tablet. ¡°You will pay for defacing our holy artifacts, you wench, bla blah blah,¡± Dopple translated with no enthusiasm. Erredis squeezed the fairy a bit and that shut her up again. Stolen story; please report. ¡°Erm¡­ So, the planar gate existing near these tablets representing the planes, I made the assumption that it might be able to open a connection to the Deep. Everyone still follows me?¡± ¡°I think I get where you¡¯re going from there,¡± Saria answered from behind her mask. ¡°Well, you were there when we spoke with Jen and I told you about my first trial so¡­ Next is the Phageid, they launched two large scale attacks on the planet five hundred and a thousand years ago. Did they come before that?¡± Sofia asked Erredis. ¡°Yes. They have been a thing for quite a while, but only the weak ones, and they were a rather rare sight; we used to think these were just native monsters like any others for a long while before Sun herself clarified that they were not, and that she was holding them back. However, the first large-scale invasion was indeed the one from just a thousand years ago.¡± ¡°Alright, so¡­ And I think everyone will start to understand things a bit better from this: This city was invaded and overrun by Phageid around the year 1750. A thousand and five hundred years ago. So, they attack every five hundred years, when Sun is at Her weakest, and five hundred years before their first large invasion, they came here.¡± ¡°So they stole the Eddarinian planar gate, or at least copied the technology, and are using it to invade?¡± Astelia concluded as she followed along. ¡°That¡¯s what I think, but not only that. During my first trial, I got to witness the Phageid¡¯s first invasion, when they attacked the city my trial was taking place in, and the Phageid then came from a fissure in space glowing with a strange red light.¡± Saria nodded, ¡°Oh, yeah¡­ Red light¡­¡± ¡°To make it short,¡± Sofia explained, ¡°I recognize that red light now. It¡¯s light from the Deep. I can tell, I have been there¡­¡± ¡°No wonder the fuckers are so hard to track down¡­¡± Erredis mumbled. Alith interjected, ¡°I follow you so far, Sof, but there¡¯s one thing I don''t get¡­ Wouldn¡¯t that all mean that Richard already knows all this?¡± Erredis frowned. ¡°Unsummon the fairy,¡± she ordered Bookie. Sofia silently approved, so Bookie followed the order, and the midenicite fairy¡¯s soul returned to Bookie. Then Erredis disappeared and reappeared with Remia in her arms, passing the sleeping Dryad along to Sofia. ¡°Alith. Ring,¡± she ordered next, as large mana circles appeared under the group¡¯s feet. Alith obliged and the entire group was transported out of Zangdar, landing on the large metal platform that surrounded the ¡®Tower of Rebirth¡¯ on Veliadren. Kyle appeared next to the group almost instantly, but before he could say anything, Erredis jumped away, transforming into her Dragon-form mid-air and disappearing into the distance, creating a storm behind her. ¡°Well damn. Someone is angry,¡± Kyle commented as he watched her disappear, ¡°Glad to see you¡¯re still among the living, you three,¡± he said to Sofia and her skeletons, ¡°Got us worried for a minute. Took you all for dead, honestly. What¡¯s she so pissed for? Something to do with that Dryad?¡± ¡°No, boss, she believes the lich hid information on the Phageid,¡± Everelle naturally answered. ¡°I¡¯m no longer your boss, you know? Also that¡¯s a big fuckin¡¯ accusation. Oh, by the way, Sofia, I just got word from above that it¡¯s safe for you to reconnect. You still won¡¯t be able to get experience or new skills but at least it sh-¡± Kyle was interrupted mid sentence by a big angry black Dragon landing near the tower with a bang. She spat a saliva-covered skeleton on the platform with disdain before transforming back to her horned-human form with her armor on and her mithrium halberd out. Richard got up slowly, cleaning himself in an instant with a quick spell, and scratching his skull. ¡°I said I was coming so what the hell was that for, exactly?¡± he asked, sounding confused more than anything else. After Erredis explained the accusations against him to Richard, it was his turn to get mad, although he sounded more like a disappointed father than an infuriated old lich. ¡°I¡¯m the one who¡¯s spent most of his last thousand years fighting back the tentacled fucks and you think I would hide something like this?! Has your brain also started to rot, Erredis?¡± ¡°Then explain yourself,¡± she answered coldly. ¡°Listen¡­ As soon as my friend brought back the tablets, Alkorm and myself went to check the place, of course we did, but all we found were the remains of an old Eddarinian cult chamber, completely turned to Midenicite! What gate?! It was all mana-repulsive stone by the time I got there!¡± ¡°Let us ask Alkorm to testify, then,¡± Erredis continued without emotion. Richard sighed audibly, ¡°You would doubt my word to this extent? Fine then. Call Alkorm, I stand by my words. I¡¯ve never been anything but fair and honest in all I do.¡± Erredis then looked in Kyle¡¯s direction and it was Kyle¡¯s turn to sigh, ¡°I''ll be right back¡­¡± Then Richard spoke up again, ¡°As for the matter of the tablets and Zangdar¡¯s planar device¡­ The tablets do hold some encoded information on the planes, but I have long deciphered them, hence why they were returned to my friend Zh¨£ng L¨², as he was the one who discovered them. The information in itself is not that valuable, and is certainly not enough to build something as ludicrous as a Gate linking to all planes. Believe me that if it was, I would have long built one already! Meanwhile, the contraption that sent the city of Zangdar to the Margin is just an extension of my craft as a spatial storage specialist, it has nothing to do with any planar gate or Eddarinian relics¡­¡± ¡°What a peculiar group of people¡­¡± A young man in flowing bright-green robes said to himself after he appeared out of nowhere at the end of Richard¡¯s mildly-annoyed tirade, Kyle standing next to him, ¡°A pleasant surprise to see you alive and well, Grand Animist of Eoct.¡±
Chapter 498 - One step forward, two steps back ¡°Sir Morlak of the Mantle, alive and well,¡± Ihuarah answered the young man, opening his arms wide, ¡°It pleases me also to find you in good health after all this time. My countenance hath changed greatly since the glory of Eoct, what gave my identity away? The hole in my chest, perhaps?¡± Alkorm brought a hand to his face, his oversized green sleeves hiding his expression as a crystalline laugh escapes his mouth before he answered, ¡°Yours is a countenance one would be hard-pressed to forget, my friend. But we shall catch-up at a later time,¡± he turned toward the rest of Sofia¡¯s group as he introduced himself, ¡°Alkorm Diasorian, Seraph and guardian of the Mantle of Love and Hate. It is my honor to meet so many rising stars at once on this auspicious day. How may my presence be required?¡± Sofia cast a glance at Cinthia at the mention of the mantle of Love and Hate. Seraph? I thought Erredis said he lived in the middle of the human peninsula? Have we been that close to a trial tower all this time without knowing? I understand now what Richard meant when he said we would inevitably meet him if we kept leveling¡­ It was Erredus who explained the current matters to Alkorm, and the story let him in a pensive mood. ¡°A troubling matter, to be sure¡­ I believe there to be some merit to the planar gate theory, but I must support Richard¡¯s recounting of the events that unfolded back then. There was nothing left of value to salvage from these ruins save for said Fae skeleton and remnant soul, let alone something like this. That being said, however, I can already picture a few ways things might have gone, if you¡¯ll indulge me?¡± Erredis pressed him to continue, ¡°We¡¯re listening.¡± ¡°Well, these are but conjectures, but here goes,¡± Alkorm started, walking around with his arms behind his back, ¡°First of all, I am inclined to think that we are onto something here, and I have to wonder if the act of allowing mana to flow freely inside of the once closed-off Eddarinian ruins might be what alerted the Phageid to their presence. Starting from there, a number of possibilities open. If my recollections are correct, there was a significant lapse of time between our Hero acquaintance getting his hands on the tablet and Richard receiving them, something in the realm of six months to a year. More than enough time for a potential planar gate to be extracted from there before we even caught wind of this affair.¡± ¡°Would you have not noticed that something was missing?¡± Erredis questioned. ¡°Who is to say?¡± Alkrom answered with a shake of his head, ¡°Said planar gate could be an artifact small enough to fit in one¡¯s hand, not to mention, noticing the lack of something in a place made entirely of one uniform layer of midenicite is easier said than done, though I suppose there is nothing preventing us from going to check by ourselves once more. Now for the other possibilities. The Phageid are known to be lifeforms adjacent to midenicite, it is no exaggeration to say that something made of midenicite for them is akin to an object of flesh for us mortals of Veliadren. Restoring flesh to its original state has long been one of the most studied subjects when it comes to mortal societies, our eternal stand against death being what it is. Perhaps the Phageid were able to restore the gate from its corrupted state.¡± ¡°That sounds unlikely,¡± Erredis shutdown his hypothesis in an instant. ¡°But not entirely impossible,¡± Alkorm continued with a shrug, ¡°lastly, assuming the Eddarinians truly had access to such a groundbreaking technology, who is to say they only had one gate?¡± ¡°Why not just ask the fairy?¡± Sofia suggested. Alkorm laughed again, hiding his face, ¡°I doubt that would lead us anywhere, zealots of the Eddarinian cult have never been known to trust outsiders, I suppose it is worth a try, nevertheless.¡± ¡°Bookie, your turn,¡± Sofia told the small skeleton hiding behind her. He refused to step up, for some reason. Sofia turned around, ¡°Bookie?¡± The skeleton grabbed Sofia¡¯s leg. ¡°S- Sofia¡­¡± he stuttered, shaking and sounding distraught, ¡°Something- Something is wrong¡­¡± Sofia dropped to her knees, holding the shaking skeleton, ¡°What¡¯s going on?!¡± This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. Bookie grabbed his skull letting out a pained groan, before falling limp in Sofia¡¯s arms, panting. ¡°The¡­ The fairy¡­¡± he said, his voice breaking, ¡°her soul¡­¡± ¡°What about it?!¡± ¡°It- it exploded¡­¡± Bookie said on the verge of tears, ¡°I couldn¡¯t stop her¡­ I¡¯m sorry Sofia¡­ I¡¯m sorryyyy-¡± ¡®That¡¯s it?¡± Sofia said calmly, stroking the top of Bookie¡¯s skull, ¡°You¡¯re not hurt?¡± ¡°N- no, but the fairy¡­¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care about the stupid fairy! You scared me! Here, calm down, everything is alright, as long as you¡¯re not hurt everything is alright,¡± Sofia told the sulking skeleton. She turned her head, still holding bookie, ¡°Well, there goes this lead. Sorry we couldn¡¯t be more helpful but it looks like this was going nowhere anyway¡­¡± ¡°Deranged fanatic zealots, I tell you,¡± Alkorm said, nodding to himself, ¡°I expected nothing less. Such a waste of effort it was to save her soul in the first place¡­¡± ¡°Are you left with the skeleton, still?¡± Richard asked, curious, and Bookie nodded in response. ¡°Wait, really?¡± Sofia asked Bookie. ¡°Yes¡­ But she¡¯s just a regular skeleton now¡­¡± Sofia was wide-eyed at that revelation, she had fully expected the page to be gone just like her dog after getting caught by the Deep parasites. ¡°Ahahahah!¡± She laughed, ¡°What a joke!¡± Sofia said before she looked at Richard, ¡°Trying to escape through death in front of two necromancers.¡± Sofia brought up Bookie¡¯s book form, trying hard to contain her laughter as she flipped through the pages. She summoned the midenicite fairy a second time. The fairy slowly formed from Bookie¡¯s mist under the large group¡¯s eyes, unlike the first time, it did not attack anyone, and was waiting for her orders, like any other one of Bookie¡¯s subservient skeletons. ¡°Bookie¡¯s skeletons are very special,¡± Sofia explained with a wide grin, ¡°They may not retain ¡®memory¡¯ from their previous life, but they retain all manner of general and magical knowledge.¡± ¡°Can she lead us to a planar gate?¡± Erredis questionned, instantly getting Sofia¡¯s intentions. ¡°Can you lead us to a planar gate?¡± Sofia repeated to the fairy. The answer was a curt nod.
Kyle was left behind as Richard teleported everyone else to the mountain range north of the human continent and east of the red desert, the very same one that Sofia once hunted the Stone Ogre tribe in, although much further to the north. The group stood at the very top of a decrepit set of stone stairs, going down a deep chasm in between two rocky mountains. These were the stairs that once led to the prosperous hidden underground city of Zangdar, or what remained of them. A few quick teleportations down the chasm, and the group found themselves gazing into a deep hole. ¡°Oh my,¡± Alkorm gasped, ¡°It appears we were truly late, this time.¡± ¡°There is not the slightest trace of midenicite left anywhere. That¡¯s a suspiciously thorough excavation job,¡± Richard marveled at the sight. ¡°I don¡¯t know what we might have found with the help of the Fae, but it¡¯s clear that someone was one step ahead.¡± ¡°The phageid would hide the evidence after the fact?¡± Erredis asked, ¡°When was the last time anyone came here?¡± ¡°Erm¡­ While I did come a few times after the city¡¯s disappearance in a bid to salvage the situation, I have to admit that my last visit dates a long way back¡­ Perhaps about eight hundred years¡­ The city was gone but the ruins were still mostly intact, back then.¡± ¡°The last time I stepped foot here dates back to a few days after the city¡¯s disappearance itself, there was no clear reason why they even activated the emergency mechanism in the first place. I only learned later from Richard that he had already disposed of the Phageid still remaining there,¡± Alkorm explained in turn. ¡°I should still have those specimens stored somewhere, they were not special in any way.¡±
Having no further obvious lead to follow, Sofia questioned the fairy skeleton a bit more, but the only worthwhile information she managed to get out of it was that it was not aware of any other planar gate. It could not even lead the way to any other Eddarinian cult chambers. That being said, she handed Alkorm the letter from Zh¨£ng L¨² that she had been holding onto for a long time, and the Dragon gave her a strange jade slip as thanks, without an explanation as to what it was at all. After that, Sofia and her group were sent to Vasperia, while Richard and the Dragons stayed behind, looking to investigate further into the planar gate situation. ¡°Well¡­ Let¡¯s get started,¡± Sofia announced as she appeared in the middle of the Vasperian capital, ¡°We have much to do. Who¡¯s coming with me to pay Zerei¡¯s school a visit?¡±
Chapter 499 - The late bird gets the Sprite Although Zerei¡¯s school was going to be an important stop, Astelia first led everyone to the Vasperian administration, where she had people call for Agran, Cardinal and Shaily, so that Sofia could fix their memory. Surprisingly, none of them were available, but Astelia learned that she had received a summon from the Vampire Queen, so she had to bid farewell to the group for now, though they promised to go all have a meal together before Sofia decided to leave again. Somehow, the rest of the morning turned into a shopping trip after that. One of the main stops was at a renowned Vampire tailor to take Bookie¡¯s measurements, and in general to extend everyone¡¯s wardrobe. Sofia sold a lot of blood and other things she had collected during the trial, and bought stuff for Zangdar like a lot of colorful books and artworks, to break the monotony of the white and gold bone furniture, as well as a variety of seeds for plants that did not need sunlight. It was to be noted that Pareth was the one carrying Remia ever since the group had left Zangdar, and the Dryad still had yet to give any sign of waking up despite getting plenty of sunlight. It was a lot of fun just roaming the roads of the Vasperian capital, as the young country was still in active development, and a variety of new shops and establishments had opened in one short year of absence. Notably, the Red Winds Empire¡¯s Adventurers¡¯ guild had opened a branch there, almost entirely staffed by Vampires, as a diplomatic move to build good relations with this new power on the human continent. The group¡¯s stroll through the city finally led them to Zerei¡¯s school, aptly named : ¡®Zerei¡¯s school¡¯. It was not a very big place, not from the outside, at least, looking like essentially a two-story city house in the middle of the capital, but Sofia knew that Zerei had plans and authorizations to build a rather large underground extension underneath. Bookie pushed the door open, activating a ritual circle that produced the sound of ringing bells, and everyone entered the school, making its entrance quite crowded. The entrance hall was just a tiny room with a couch and a desk, decorated with various ritual circle schematics framed on the walls. A voice came from another room, ¡°I¡¯ll be here in a minute, yes!¡± Zerei finally came running after a while, looking the same as always in her colorful traditional avian attire. ¡°Welcome! Oh! Plenty of known faces. Hi, hi, yes! Do you like my place? Oh, and Astelia isn¡¯t here. Is she not done with her trial yet?¡± Zerei asked as she came to greet everyone after leaving a few things she had been carrying on top of the desk. ¡°Asty had official things to deal with, she might still come in a bit if she finishes that early,¡± Sofia answered. Zerei stopped when she looked at Sofia for the second or third time. ¡°Wait a minute. Something is wrong. Would you happen to be the person I forgot about, yes?¡± ¡°You realized that fast?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°Well, you have a soul-engraved ritual. I don¡¯t remember selling that technique to anyone yet, no, and I trust my friends not to leak it. That leaves a single very obvious possibility. Besides, I remember Pareth perfectly well, and how closely he is guarding you in particular even now is not lost on me.¡± ¡°Still sharp, Zerei. To explain briefly what happened, someone from within the system rebelled, and they deleted all my data, including people¡¯s memory of me through their scribes¡­¡± Zerei held her temples at the notion, ¡°Damn Scribe will be the death of me for real, yes¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t blame your scribe, it¡¯s not like they had a choice, come here, hold my hand and the system should be able to use that to restore your memory,¡± Sofia explained with a kind smile. Zerei looked at the others for approval, and seeing that even Ihuarah and Alith silently nodded, reached out to hold Sofia¡¯s hand. The change in Zerei¡¯s frustrated expression was immediate, ¡°I can¡¯t believe I had actually forgotten! This is horrendous, yes! How could the system let that happen?!¡± ¡°At least now it¡¯s fixed. I¡¯ll take my revenge for it eventually, don¡¯t worry, oh, and I think Cinthia had a message to you from curse?¡± Sofia said, turning to the absent-minded orc lady busy reading text on an invisible screen. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
¡°That was quite frustrating, yes. Imagine forgetting the name and face of your savior. Shaily especially was even more impacted, yes. That being said, it was clearly a rushed job, yes. Our memories of everything else surrounding Sofia were unaffected, making it very clear that someone was missing,¡± Zerei explained as she guided the group through her small recently-finished school. ¡°Oh, and here¡¯s the spell-testing room, yes,¡± she said as they entered a large underground room. ¡°Lots of students already?¡± Alith asked, seeing as they had seen no one other than Zerei herself in the entire building. ¡°Not many, no. But the few I have have good prospects, yes.¡± ¡°All Vampires?¡± Saria asked next. ¡°Surprisingly no,¡± Zerei denied, ¡°though most are Vampires, of course, we have a lizard beastman too, he¡¯s a very nice boy, yes, very good with curses!¡± A lizard beastman¡­ Like Nicet, then? ¡°What about Shaily?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°She comes to train here often ever since she returned from the trial. She¡¯s not formally my student, no, but you know¡­ As a trainer, my track record for the second trial is pretty good, yes?¡± ¡°If you consider Alith and myself to be your first two trainees then that¡¯s a good average, yes¡­¡± ¡°Well I hope to get Shaily to at least the 99th floor, yes!¡± Zerei declared with confidence in her voice. ¡°Didn¡¯t you fail on floor 96?¡± Sofia questioned with narrowed eyes. ¡°This is that and that¡¯s that, yes! Shaily did very good! She even got a specialization too,¡± Zerei said with a giggle. ¡°What did she get for her trial?¡± Saria asked from the back. ¡°Heheheh, you better ask that to her by yourselves, yes,¡± Zerei answered, barely able to contain her laughter. What could be so funny about Shaily¡¯s trial? A voice came from the ground floor above the group, muffled by the distance, ¡°Zerei? Did you forget to lock the door again?¡± Sofia clearly recognized Shaily¡¯s voice, though it was ever so slightly deeper than it used to be. ¡°Speak of the basilisk¡­¡± Zerei said with a hint of derision, ¡°I¡¯m in the training room! Come say hi to the guests, yes?!¡± she called out. ¡°We have guests? Coming!¡± A tall and voluptuous Exidian woman came running down the stairs, her long white hair trailing behind her. Holy shit! SHAILY?! Did she grow that much in a year and a half?! It was unmistakingly the same Exidian teenager that Sofia once taught her custom Angel¡¯s bolt to, her tiny curved horns were still the same, but she had otherwise gone from looking like a young teen to a full blown adult in the blink of an eye. Shaily opened her mouth to greet everyone but she stopped midway, her eyes opening wide in shock, she pointed at Sofia. ¡°It¡¯s you!¡± Sofia teleported forward past the group and reappeared right in front of Shaily, grabbing her extended arm. ¡°It¡¯s me. You¡¯ve grown a lot,¡± Sofia said with a smile as a violent shiver traveled through Shaily¡¯s body. ¡°Sofia!¡± Shaily cried out in shock. ¡°That¡¯s right, sorry for the memory issues, couldn¡¯t help it but at least now it¡¯s fixed.¡± ¡°You¡¯re crazy!¡± the Exidian woman accused. ¡°Can¡¯t deny that, not what I expected your first words for me to be, though.¡± With that, Shaily burst into laughter. ¡°Sorry, it was the first thing that came to mind. You deserve it too, it¡¯s your fault my trial was so hard!¡± she complained jokingly. ¡°My fault?¡± Sofia repeated, intrigued, finally letting go of Shaily¡¯s arm and taking a step back to give her some space. Zerei couldn¡¯t contain her laughter any longer, laughing by herself in the middle of the training room under the concerned gazes of the rest of the group. ¡°Your fault! Do you have any idea how crazy I felt when I woke up in a crypt, as a level one, bleeding out from my arm above a polished skeleton?!!¡± Sofia instantly felt cold sweat running down her back, ¡°Ahahah¡­ You¡¯re joking¡­ Right?¡± Shaily¡¯s eyes were locked with Sofia¡¯s for several seconds, then as Shaily¡¯s lips curved upwards into a smile, a small system window appeared for Sofia to read. Name : Shaily Ormoncleth Age : 18 Class : [Sprite Regulator] Level : 143 Oh fuck.
Chapter 500 S - Un-holy beginnings, again. Shaily stepped down from the teleportation platform, her nose assaulted by the strong smell of the salty sea-breeze. ¡°And that should be the last teleport for today,¡± a bespectacled Vampire sat at a desk with a notepad said to himself as he scribbled something. ¡°What would your name be, young lady?¡± ¡°Shaily. I work for royal mage Cardinal.¡± The Vampire adjusted his glasses and flipped through a few pages in his notebook. ¡°Shaily¡­ Shaily¡­ There you are. Please sign here,¡± he told her. A small signature later, Shaily was out of the teleportation station, in the streets of a small floating village in the middle of the sea. The few people walking around were all Vampires or Humans, and a sign placed right outside of the teleportation station indicated ¡®<- Lodgings // Trial towers ->¡¯. Shaily turned right. Very few people die. This is going to be fine. Despite her attempts at calming her beating heart, Shaily¡¯s nervousness was mounting up as the system prompt indicating her distance to the tower slowly neared zero. Soon, she was close enough, and the towers invisible until then, revealed themselves at the far end of the floating village. Shaily looked up, unable to see the top of the three gargantuan towers. [Please proceed to the trial site : Tower, distance : 49m] A Vampire was standing guard right there, ¡°Going for the trial, young lady? Third person today. Yours should be the tower on the right, good luck.¡± Shaily thanked the guard and walked up, the distance prompt indeed seemed to indicate that the tower she was headed for was the one on the right. She made her way right to the doors of the tower, stepping on its stone stairs entrance, and pushed. The doors were like a wall, not showing the slightest sign of opening. Are the doors stuck? Shaily looked behind her to see if the Vampire knew what was going on, but she saw nothing but the blue ocean and the setting sun. The village and the wooden platform she had been stepping on just seconds ago were nowhere to be seen. ¡°What is¡­¡± She reflexively summoned a fire sprite to defend herself, but there was nothing to defend against. Waves lazily crashed against the towers, and that was all. Then she heard something different, clicking sounds coming from above. Something was crawling down the tower, something massive. Shaily was too scared to move, the massive creature looking like it came straight from a nightmare stopped just a few meters above her. Shaily could not even see it clearly, as if light avoided the monster, but the giant insectoid silhouette was disturbing enough by itself, not to mention the purple fluid dripping from the thing¡¯s supposed mouth, which seemed to dissolve the sea water as it touched it, creating uncanny sounds and putrid smoke. ¡°Curious,¡± a rattling voice clanked in Shaily¡¯s ears, ¡°A mysterious force is keeping these doors closed¡­¡± After a few seconds of a deafening silence only punctuated by the dripping of the purple saliva and the buzzing sound of the creature¡¯s wings that Shaily could not even see, the voice resounded again. ¡°No matter, try the other doors,¡± the voice ordered in a tone that commanded authority, before the creature crawled back up the tower, disappearing into the sky. Shaily¡¯s vision seemed to warp for a second, and the village reappeared as if it had never been gone. The vampire guard was looking away from the towers, he seemed not to have noticed anything. Swallowing her saliva, Shaily silently walked toward the opposite tower, a single thing had kept her sane through the terrifying encounter, her [Identify] result reading: [Seraph] Her heart sank when these doors, too, refused to open, but this time, the village was still there, and no nightmarish creature came to visit. There¡¯s still a third tower¡­ Walking to the farthest tower from the village, Shaily¡¯s blue hands pressed against the tower¡¯s door. Please open! The doors opened with no resistance, revealing the unlit interior of the gargantuan trial tower. [You have entered : Saint¡¯s Tower] ¡°So this one works,¡± the disturbing voice of the giant creature echoed around the walls as the doors closed behind Shaily. ¡°Have you made an enemy of some powerful god, young one?¡± ¡°What?! No,¡± Shaily reflexively denied. ¡°Someone is trying to interfere with your trial,¡± the voice announced, sounding amused at the thought, ¡°How brazen. To think they would try something even after I was dispatched here. Sit down, Exidian, your trial will be unaffected. No God in this world stands a chance against me,¡± the voice added in a smoldering tone. ¡°U- Understood,¡± Shaily answered before sitting down against the wall near the closed doors. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. The sinister voice laughed as Shaily lost consciousness, ¡°Hiding, still? Show yourself, impertinent weakling. Suffer the fury of Er¡¯Z¡­¡±
Shaily¡¯s eyes shot open, she was jolted awake by a piercing pain in her left arm. She was standing straight, much taller than usual, and the first thing she saw was a stream of crimson blood quickly escaping her new body. What in Death¡¯s name?!!! Her first reflex was to try summoning a light sprite to heal her injuries, only to find out that she did not have that skill. Undeterred by that, she attempted to wild-cast it, therefore discovering that she did not even have enough mana to summon a single sprite. Did my trial really have to start like this?! She struggled to rip off a piece of the shirt she was wearing and did her best to quickly stop the bleeding with the makeshift bandage she wrapped as hard as she could. The emergency dealt with, she could finally take weight of her situation. She was in a human-looking body, standing above a skeleton in a ritual circle that was slowly coming to life, fueled by the shed blood. [Congratulations, you have been chosen as a new SAINT!] [Congratulations, you have unlocked the class : Necromancer!] [[Changing Changing class class to to : : Saintess Necromancer]] ¡°No¡­ No no no, wait, there must be a mistake¡­¡± Shaily opened her status sheet Name : Sofia Age : 19 Class : [Saint][Necromancer] Level : 1 1 Health : Error Stamina : Error Mana : Error Active Skills (0 / 5) Passive Skills (0 / 5) Classless Skills (4 / 5) [Menial chores] - Level 7 [Sprint] - Level 3 [Fast reading] - Level 12 [Shenanigans] - Level 48 ¡°Fuck¡­¡± The status sheet abruptly closed a few seconds later. [ERROR] [User can only have one active class] [ERROR] [Please reduce your current classes to one] [ERROR. UNKNOWN CLASS] [Admin action required] [Available admins : 0] [Initiating emergency recovery. Please wait] Shaily clearly remembered that one time she had shared childhood stories with her then teacher. ¡°And I woke up chained to a bed surrounded by guards, the Church had summoned me during the night,¡± Sofia had finished with at the time. ¡°And you managed to escape?¡± Was what Shaily asked next, she now felt remorseful that she had never pushed the subject further. Sofia''s answer now felt like a punch in the gut. ¡°That¡¯s a story for another time.¡± Shaily laughed to herself as the skeleton in front of her slowly stood up. ¡°The time is now, then?¡± Just then, more system notifications popped up. [Trial task : Escape the Holy-See] [Additional rewards task : Defeat a Siren-Queen] [Time limit : 15 Months] ¡°Great¡­ I remember about that too¡­ A level 180 Siren Queen¡­ I have a year and a half¡­¡± Shaily took a second to organize her thoughts as she watched the skeleton being assembled bone by bone. ¡°Alright¡­ It¡¯s not that bad, if teacher Sofia was able to do it, I can do it too. At least I somewhat understand the situation I¡¯m in, that¡¯s more than what most people have to work with¡­ First thing first¡­¡± When the skeleton was finally fully assembled, its eye-sockets started glowing with a faint golden light. Shaily raised a hand. Should I find a different name? No¡­ That would be disrespectful. Let¡¯s do this! ¡°Welcome to this world, Hero. I name you, Pareth!¡± [Congratulations, you have baptized your first hero!] [ERROR] [The baptized hero is currently unconscious; giving hero¡¯s blessing draws privilege to the summoner.] [Please draw three cards.] I get to choose?! Illusory cards appeared everywhere around Shaily, facing away from her. I don¡¯t think I even ever heard of Pareth¡¯s actual blessing¡­ Well, it¡¯s random anyway, isn¡¯t it? Shaily picked the first three cards in front of her. [Please select a blessing for the hero : Pareth] ¡®Blessing of the steady hand A rank You are unfazed by the vicissitudes of life. Keep a clear mind in all circumstances and enjoy a doubled Agility sub-stat growth.¡¯ ¡®Blessing of the flies S rank You are tainted by the touch of a powerful essence. All organic matter slowly withers and decays around you. Nearby undead and yourself slowly regain life over time.¡¯ ¡®Blessing of the weightless S rank You are unburdened by gravity. You gain the ability to reduce your body weight at will, you can soar through the air and land like a feather. This extends to whatever you are wearing, up to a point.¡¯ I really doubt the real Pareth¡¯s blessing is any of those. He certainly has something better than that¡­ ¡°Can you understand me?¡± Shaily asked the skeleton who was standing perfectly still. He was unresponsive. ¡°Can you jump?¡± The skeleton jumped in place. ¡°Better than nothing¡­ Ah, that cost me some mana¡­¡± Before deciding on the blessing to pick, Shaily climbed out of the small crypt, finding herself in the middle of a forest in the dark of night. She returned to the crypt. I don¡¯t think I can find Sofia¡¯s orphanage¡­ The human church is going to summon me anyway. I might want to keep my options open for later. Nothing forces me to choose a blessing now, right? Shaily whinged from the pain in her arm as she bumped into the wall on the way down the stairs to the crypt. ¡°I need to level up and get enough mana for a sprite¡­¡±
Chapter 501 S - What is it your heart desires? Shaily¡¯s eyelids were growing heavier by the minute. Her skeleton had spent the last three hours hunting by itself in the forest, yet neither of them had leveled up a single time despite long meeting the experience requirement. Her arm¡¯s bleeding had greatly slowed thanks to the tight bandages, but she was pale and weak from the blood loss. Despite the situation, she had managed to do what she set out to do: learn the necromancy ritual circle down to its finer details. Although Shaily liked to think that she had a very good memory and was a fast learner, committing such a complex ritual circle to memory in such a short time was still a challenge. It was made even harder when the candle lighting the place had burned out two thirds of the way through and she had to learn the rest by feeling the wet grooves in the limestone floor by hand. Finally done, she propped herself against one of the crypt¡¯s humid walls and closed her eyes for just a second.
Shaily was woken up by the worrying feeling of foreign mana latching onto her soul, something she was trained to notice, but couldn¡¯t currently do anything about. She opened her eyes just in time to see the scenery shift around her, from the damp and dark crypt to a richly-decorated room with large openings on the four sides letting in plenty of fresh air and morning sunlight. Mountaintop? She was on the marble floor in the middle of the room, surrounded by four men. [Oracle - Lv.300+] [Supporter - Lv.100+] [Supporter - Lv.200+] [Protector - Lv.62] That¡¯s not the best start. ¡°It seems like we have another failed attempt on our hands,¡± the oracle told the other men. He was a tall and kind-looking old man with a short white beard and hair, dressed in white and gold. ¡°Raise her fast, Armand. God is getting impatient,¡± he continued, speaking to the level 100+ supporter, a mountain of a man in heavy armor. ¡°Go now. And heal her up, while you¡¯re at it,¡± he finally ordered, walking away to a balcony. ¡°It will be done,¡± the armored man answered solemnly, walking up to Shaily and sending a healing spell her way, instantly making her feel a lot less tired. Not direct healing but energy transfer? ¡°Can you walk, Saintess?¡± the man asked. Shaily nodded, getting up without much trouble. ¡°Then follow me,¡± he ordered, leading the way to a spiral staircase leading down after giving a polite nod to the other old man who had not spoken a word until now. Shaily followed obediently and the low-level young man in armor closed the march. Sofia woke up already chained up to a bed, so she might have never even met some of these people. Just the oracle¡¯s mana perception has to be at least hundreds of meters large, how in the high heavens did she ever manage to escape that!? The staircase strangely led directly from the top floor to the bottom, several levels below, without a single stop, and exited directly in the middle of a huge library with shelves and shelves of old books and scrolls. Only one entrance, two level 100+ guards. The guards let the group through, and there were two more on the other side. Four guards¡­ Sneaking into the library is a dead end, and so is escaping by jumping out from the Oracle¡¯s balcony, then. Shaily was led through the priests¡¯ quarters, then the paladins¡¯, before finally arriving at a closed courtyard. There, she was brought to a corner room that contained only a bed. This place is called the Holy-see? More like the Holy fortress, no? We just walked through and I counted 72 men in armor, all between level 50 and 200. Are they preparing for war? At least there¡¯s no chains on the bed¡­ ¡°Return to your station, Jeb,¡± the tall man dismissed the younger one before he entered the room after Shaily, closing the heavy wooden close behind him. ¡°Are you unable to speak, Saintess?¡± he asked Shaily, who was looking at the human city in the distance from the room¡¯s large windows. ¡°I¡¯m perfectly able to speak,¡± she answered, turning her attention back to the huge man. ¡°Do you not have any questions about your situation?¡± he probed with a hint of curiosity in his rugged voice. ¡°Not really? I just became the Saintess of Scripture, it is fairly easy to imagine the rest. The Holy-See, right? Although I am curious about the ¡®failed attempt¡¯.¡± The man sighed, ¡°Do not speak God¡¯s name in vain.¡± A tired religious fanatic? I see. ¡°As you wish. On second thoughts, another question, if you¡¯ll allow me: when can I leave?¡± ¡°Leave?¡± The man repeated, ¡°I apologize, Saintess, but you are not leaving.¡± ¡°Oh I did not mean definitely, but I would love to be able to explore the hu- the city below,¡± Shaily said, catching herself at the last moment before saying something she would have regretted. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. The man frowned for a second. ¡°You will be allowed out for official events if you keep yourself presentable and perform your duties well,¡± he finally explained. ¡°Alright. When do I start?¡± Shaily asked with a wide smile. The man was so taken aback by Shaily¡¯s enthusiasm that he lost his words for a second. He cleared his throat, ¡°All you need to do is to follow my orders. No more, no less. As long as you do, you will get more amenities in your room.¡± Sounds like a script he¡¯s already said many times. Let¡¯s derail it a little¡­ ¡°So I do get more than a bed,¡± Shaily interjected as the man was about to say more, ¡°Are religious texts included? I would love to learn more about God¡¯s good name. Perhaps even take a look at the library we walked through on the way here?¡± The man blinked a few times. ¡°Please do not interrupt, Saintess. You will begin training immediately, use your mana on [Summon Hero] any time you can and get it up to at minimum level ten. We will bring you clean food and clothes soon, until then, you should sleep. I will be back later today, do not leave the room,¡± he explained before he started to leave. ¡°Understood, sir Armand!¡± The man stopped in his tracks and looked back with a conflicted expression, ¡°Magisterium Ovohen,¡± he corrected, and he gave a few last words before he was fully out of the door, ¡°Keep at least one point of mana in reserve or you will get headaches. Now sleep, Saintess.¡± Finally the door closed, and Shaily was alone. Shaily¡¯s bright smile crumbled. She let herself fall on the bed and rolled around, clutching her head. Aaaaaargh! What am I even supposed to do?! I need to kill that guy? I¡¯m not even sure I could do that outside of the trial, let alone inside it! Sofia really killed him? Like really?! Did he choke on a crouton and die? How¡­ After she calmed down a bit, Shaily scratched her head as she stared at the ceiling. Having no horns feels so weird¡­ Fifteen months¡­ Alright, alright, let¡¯s sleep a bit¡­
Shaily woke up with a jolt of pain when it was already night. A cart with some supplies was near the door, and moonlight was the only source of light in the room. She quickly understood the reason for her sudden pain. She had received a barrage of system windows while she was asleep, ending with a bunch of level ups all at once. [Recovery partially successful] [Classes have been reduced to one] [A new class has been created] [Anomalies may arise] [+1 Classless Skill Slot has been awarded as compensation] [Held experience has been redistributed] ¡®[Holy Skeleton] reached level 12¡¯ ¡®You gained a level!¡¯ ¡®You gained a level!¡¯ ¡®You gained a level!¡¯ ¡­ [A new Passive Skill is available!] [New Active Skills are available!] The origins of teacher¡¯s messy class. Will I learn the original Angel bolt? She said it was combinations of half skills, right? Name : Sofia Age : 19 Class : [Saintomancer] ? Level : 12 Health : 60 / 60 Stamina : 60 / 60 Mana : 10500 / 10500 Active Skills (3 / 5) [Holy Skeleton] - Level 1, Summon Lv. 12 [Heal Undead] - Level 1 [Summon blood] - Level 1 Passive Skills (1 / 5) [Blessing of ] - Lev Classless Skills (4 / 6) [Menial chores] - Level 7 [Sprint] - Level 3 [Fast reading] - Level 12 [Shenanigans] - Level 48 Summoned heroes (1 / 4)
  • Lv.1 Pareth (Human Holy Skeleton)
WHAT IS WITH THESE STATS?! THIS IS MORE THAN TWICE THE MANA I HAVE AT LEVEL 99!!! AND SIXTY HEALTH AT LEVEL TWELVE? ARE YOU MADE OF PAPER? ¡­ I need to calm down¡­ New skills. Available Active Skills :
    • [Dispel ] : Dispels
    • [ bolt] : projectile from the hand.
Oh, this is the Angel¡¯s bolt bolt! Available Passive Skills :
    • [ Deep] : the Deep.
Wait¡­ Is this what I think it is? ¡®Don¡¯t look into it, it¡¯s dangerous, I¡¯m serious, don¡¯t even say my name,¡¯ she said. Of course we looked into it. The principal was reluctant but he said enough that we understood how big of a deal this was. Forbidden names too dangerous to say out loud¡­ So this is what she did¡­ This might be dangerous, but¡­ An orphan knows an opportunity when they see one. You have acquired the passive skill : ¡® Deep¡¯ [Blessing of Deep] : The saintess is blessed by the Deep.
Chapter 502 S - Flicker Shaily blinked after picking the skill, and just like that, she found herself somewhere else. She was standing on top of tall ramparts made of some cold dark stone. What seemed to be an infinite castle, amalgam of ramparts, walls and spires, extended as far as the eye could see in all directions under a cloudless crimson sky. Thick red mist hid the bottom of the ¡®castle¡¯ so any notion of ¡®the ground¡¯ was completely lost. There were windows everywhere but it was impossible to see through any of them. In some places, the rampart paths met in ways that made little sense to the eyes, like glued together in sharp angles that seemed to lead nowhere. Perhaps the strangest part, though, was the sound of violent winds permeating the place, despite the fact that no trace of wind could be felt. ¡°That might have been a mistake after all,¡± Shaily murmured under her breath, her eyes wandering around the incomprehensible scenery. She tried to access her status but there was no response from the system, which is when she noticed her blue skin. Her instant first reflex was to reach for her horns, finding them well on her head. Am I out of the trial? ¡°Hello?¡± ¡°Can someone hear me?¡± No answer, there was only the growling of an inexistant wind to keep her company in this otherwise completely still and dead world. She tried to summon a sprite, pulling on her internal mana to activate the spell she could easily cast without the system. The magic activated, and Shaily¡¯s heart sank; no sprite, nor anything else, just a waste of mana. She activated the magic again. Still nothing. The exidian woman¡¯s expression became sinister. She activated the magic again. To no avail. Shaily¡¯s eyes were strangely wet. She activated the magic again. She breathed in short, uneven bursts. She activated the magic again. Tears rolled down the young woman¡¯s cheeks. She activated the magic again. Again. Again¡­ AGAIN! She ran out of mana. The girl fell to her knees. Her head hurt, her eyes were unfocused and her limbs unsteady. ¡°D- Don¡¯t¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t leave¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t leave me alone¡­¡± ¡°Not again¡­¡± ¡°Please¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t leave¡­¡± Her pleading voice died down, drowned by her uncontrolled sobbing. Shaily laid defeated in a torpor she could not escape by herself. The sounds of the wind continued.
How long had it been? Shaily could hardly tell. The sound of the wind had gradually died down. Now there was only silence and dried tears. Shaily could not bring herself to move.
A new sound disturbed this realm¡¯s peace. A song. Calls of an ethereal creature high in the crimson sky. Like the chant of a siren, it forced Shaily to look. There she witnessed the majesty of a creature only described in books, a giant whale. Yet, it looked abnormal. Calling it a whale might have been a mistake. To begin with, no whale flew in the sky, and it looked so far away, yet so big¡­ No living creature should be of this inordinate size. Shaily sat up. She was no longer alone, for now. The whale was here for her, she believed. It sang to keep her company. As the whale slowly flew closer, its singing became louder, and the ¡®castle¡¯ became alive. Strange creatures appeared, as if drawn by the singing, they had not been there but now they were. Coming out from strange impossible angles and shadowy corners, thousands of them. Their appearance was fascinating, a show of shimmering colors that were hard to describe. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. First they appeared from far away, and soon, some were appearing near Shaily herself. They could be a danger, her mind screamed, but she accepted it. It was worth the risk. At least, she was no longer alone. One of the creatures drew closer. Stopping right in front of Shaily, it extended a limb. Shaily extended a hand. Her fingers touched the creature, and all the creatures disappeared in the blink of an eye. The whale itself was nowhere to be seen, silence reigned once more. But Shaily was not alone. She could feel a gaze. Something was watching. It was making itself known. In the deepest parts of her being, she could feel it. It watched her. It had always been watching. It watched everything. She had never been alone. No one was ever alone. It would keep watching, forever. Tears rolled down Shaily¡¯s face once more. She sniffled, and, in her broken voice, expressed what she was feeling, ¡°Thank you¡­¡± As abruptly as this strange dream, or whatever it was, had begun, it ended. Shaily found herself in the Holy-See once more, she was inhabiting Sofia¡¯s body. Yet, there was a subtle change, reflected in the already-open status window only. Name : ? Shaily Ormoncleth ? In the corner of Shaily¡¯s vision, another system window started to flicker. [Blessing of Deep] : The saintess is blessed by the Deep. It disappeared for an instant, and suddenly its text had changed. ? [Hand of Ordinance] ? : Shaily was granted a name. She has been marked by Ormoncleth, the Regulator. She may see the inhabitants of the Deep. Valid spells she casts through her right hand cannot fail, be canceled, negated, interrupted, absorbed, redirected or taken over. Never forget one¡¯s staunchest ally: oneself. Shaily looked at her right hand. Though it was currently Sofia¡¯s, she still managed to see something changed with it. It was quite subtle, and hard to describe, like a volatile glimmer of unnatural colors, reflected by the light on her skin. She placed her palm near her heart, and activated the spell. A smile crept up Shaily¡¯s lips. ¡°I¡¯m so happy to see you,¡± she whispered, feeling the shadow sprite gliding over her skin, hiding in the shadows of her bloody clothes. I should change. The white robe given by the Church was a bit tight, but it was at least clean. Of course, as she changed clothes, she still had a thousand questions about what exactly had just happened to her. She was not even sure of the nature of the events; had it been a dream, an hallucination, or had she really been transported somewhere else, out of the trial? This she did not know, but what she knew for certain, was that Ormoncleth was watching, even now. Better to focus on the trial for now. Softening the dark bread in the water she was given, Shaily had a frugal midnight meal, watching the lights of the human city below. Forgetting everything else, this is a beautiful view. Exidia is mostly flatlands, in comparison¡­ I wonder how Sofia was feeling back then. And how she escaped. Did she also dream of the castle world? Someone knocked at the door. In the middle of the night? ¡°Yes?¡± The door opened, revealing the appearance of an armored young man holding a lantern. It was the same one who had been following earlier when Shaily was summoned. ¡°Saintess, are you well?¡± he asked. ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± Shaily answered with a nod, ¡°I could use access to toilets, though¡­¡± The man nodded in return and gave Shaily a sign to follow him. ¡°In there are the guards watching over you,¡± he explained, pointing to a door right next to Shaily¡¯s room, ¡°if there¡¯s anything wrong you may ask them. The next room contains a few books that you will have to read and understand, and this door there is your private restroom where you can get water and such things.¡± ¡°Understood, thank you.¡± ¡°You may also rest in the cloistered garden,¡± he added, pointing at the moonlit garden right next to them, ¡°but that is as far as you are allowed to go without guidance.¡± Shaily rushed into the toilets as soon as the man started to leave.
The next morning, the Magisterium brought Shaily to the slime farm underneath the Holy-See¡¯s kitchens. ¡°Go in. Try to reach level twenty by tonight,¡± he said before closing the door behind her. I suppose he didn¡¯t Identify me again. Good, because I would have had a hard time explaining how I¡¯m already level 14. Up to twenty, then? How? Do they keep wild monsters under their kitchen? Arriving in the small slime-killing room, pulling the lever and hearing a slime fall behind the wall, she quickly understood what was going on. That¡¯s very safe. I don¡¯t need to go that slow killing them one by one, though. Shaily summoned an Ice sprite, sent it through the spear hole meant to allow her to stab the slimes. ¡®You have defeated [Composter Slime - lv.6]¡¯ Go up when I pull the lever. Shaily pulled on the lever, and another slime fell into the wall for her to kill, while she felt her small sprite fly higher up into the wall. Soon the notifications started raining. For the weak and watery slimes, the mere presence of the ice sprite was enough to freeze them solid and make their envelope crack, killing them instantly. ¡®You have defeated [Composter Slime - lv.5]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Composter Slime - lv.2]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Composter Slime - lv.8]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Composter Slime - lv.12]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Composter Slime - lv.6]¡¯ ¡­ The sooner I get to twenty, I will get more half skills to work with. Maybe I¡¯ll try to level up [Holy Skeleton] until then. Thinking this, she still couldn¡¯t help but use [Summon blood] to create a small drop of blood on her fingertip. The spell¡¯s circuits were fascinatingly complex, and ever since she discovered that the previous night, she kept using it every so often, just to marvel at the magic¡¯s beauty.
Chapter 503 S - [Maiden bolt]!!! Shaily managed to reach level 27 before she had to stop her sprite from completely killing all the slimes, with quite a bit of time left until nightfall, she decided to stay in that room where she had relative peace and quiet. They even provided some food. Sitting on the cold stone floor, she stared at her skill acquisition panel. Available Active Skills :
    • [Dispel ] : Dispels
    • [ bolt] : projectile from the hand.
    • [Maiden] : Invoke the power of a maiden
    • [ mist] : in a thick mist.
How did Sofia ever manage to create a coherent class with mismatched spell bits like these? Going from the basic spells I know of¡­ I¡¯m guessing¡­ [Dispel fear], [Necrotic bolt], and [Freezing mist]? Mist is from necromancer so¡­ What other mist spells have I heard of¡­ [Poisonous mist] could also be it¡­ Oh! [Lost in the mist]? That might fit. If I knew¡­ I would have looked up the Necromancer spells specifically¡­ Now considering the current situation¡­ At most I can get to level 99 in the trial, I assume, so I can already plan around that. How high will they allow me to go here, though? Maybe forty or fifty? I get more passive spell bits at level thirty, then active at forty and fifty¡­ Is it worth to hold the bits until then is the question. I should probably use whatever I¡¯m given at 30 straight away since the next passives are at 60 and that¡¯s super far away. Alright, I think I know what I want to do, I should get skills right away to have time to level them up, because I¡¯m not too sure about leveling [Holy skeleton]. I know the real Pareth is strong but as it is my version of him is still hunting wildlife somewhere in the countryside¡­ Also I already know I will get [Angel] at some point, right? But I already know angel¡¯s bolt so no use saving for that. And Angel mist¡­ Yeah, no. Let¡¯s just¡­ [Initiating anticipated error procedure. Please wait] Huh? Shaily felt a sudden piercing headache, which lasted for a few seconds and stopped when another system message appeared. [Scribe upgraded to tier two. Thank you for your patience] [This change will be reflected outside of this trial] Wait¡­ What? Scribes can be upgraded? But why? And why now? Anticipated error? Was I about to break something? Well, thanks, I guess? Back to the skills. You have acquired the active skill : ¡®Dispel ¡¯ Alright, it looks all broken in my status just like [Blessing of ] was before. Then next¡­ You have acquired the active skill : ¡® mist¡¯ Active Skills (4 / 5) [Holy Skeleton] - Level 8, Summon Lv. 12 [Heal Undead] - Level 1 [Summon blood] - Level 2 [Dispel mist] - Level 1 Works just fine! What does it do, though? [Dispel mist] : Channel to invoke a thick but short-lived cursed mist around the Saintomancer, non-curse out-of-body magic that enters or is cast from within the mist is dispelled and turns into more mist. The mist spreads further and lingers for longer the higher the skill level is. Channeling cost : 1000 mana per second. So lucky! That¡¯s so goooood! Normally it would have the drawback of dispelling my own skills but I just got an immunity to that! Well¡­ It won¡¯t protect me against the old guy¡¯s sword, but it¡¯s a start. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Let¡¯s keep going! This one is a bit strange, but whatever, I need to know what tools I have at my disposal if I want to find a way out of here, and I¡¯m not sure that waiting until the level 40¡¯s spell bits is the best idea. You have acquired the active skill : ¡®Maiden ¡¯ You have acquired the active skill : ¡® bolt¡¯ [Maiden bolt] : Bolt forward with the fury of a slighted maiden at a speed of 10 (Skill level * 10) meters a second. Gain higher blunt damage negation for the duration of the skill. Caster must be female. Caster must be a virgin. Cost : 1000 mana Shaily blinked several times to make sure she was reading correctly. That¡¯s¡­ A strange restriction¡­ Wait¡­ Is there a chance that I might not be able to cast it because Sofia¡­?! No¡­ Surely not¡­ I wouldn¡¯t be given a skill I can¡¯t use. Either way I can¡¯t try it in such a small room, still, if I can get it up, say, to level fifty¡­ 500 meters per second, isn¡¯t that insanely fast? Just launching myself at people might be enough to seriously injure them¡­ Truly a maiden bolt. I¡¯m rather happy with that, a defensive skill and a movement skill, these will be useful. Shaily practiced casting [Dispel mist] until the sun set and the slime room started getting dark, which is when she decided to come out. The kitchen was hot and full of cooks hard at work making food for the entire church, they barely gave Shaily a few looks as she returned to her quarters. Seeing no one in the long straight corridor between the kitchen and her room, she decided to try [Maiden bolt]. The spell slung her forward faster than she could react, which felt more like getting shot like a loose arrow than actually charging, and after flying through the air for about fifteen meters, she quickly landed face first on the marble floor, sliding a long way to the other side of the corridor. Shaily stood up, looking around embarrassed, but thankful that nobody had seen her aside from a passing rat that the sudden noise had startled into scampering off. Oh crap, I¡¯m bleeding! Quickly dusting her white robe while holding her bleeding nose, Shaily summoned a light sprite to heal her nose, and an ice sprite to freeze the blood she had lost. After scraping the frozen blood from the floor with her nails, she ran to her bathroom and threw the chunks of blood into the toilets. Nothing happened. ¡®[Maiden bolt] reached level 2¡¯ ¡®[Sprint] reached level 4¡¯ Sprint as well? I think¡­ Without the blunt damage negation I might have just shattered my skull¡­ This is dangerous. Good. I can already see ways my new skills could be useful. ¡®[Shenanigans] reached level 49¡¯ Huh? But¡­ I did nothing? Speaking of which¡­ I should probably get [Shenanigans] when I¡¯m out of the trial. I think it might be hard to get back to my usual thinking speed after getting used to this¡­ I already learned how to freecast [Identify] so I can easily free a slot.
After an uneventful night, the magisterium came early the next morning to lead Shaily to a dungeon within the church, announcing that they were to get her to level 50 as soon as possible. [You have entered the dungeon : Abyss of the damned - Lv. 100+] A real dungeon so close to a city? How has it not been cleaned up already? Does it have fast-reproducing monsters like the slimes so they use it as a secondary training place for their knights? ¡°What kind of monsters are we going to be fighting?¡± Shaily asked the Magisterium as she followed behind him. ¡°I will do all the fighting, you stay behind and finish the Zombies I have incapacitated,¡± he explained, ¡°use this,¡± he continued, throwing a sheathed dagger to Shaily, ¡°your healing spell also works to arm the undead, but there is no need to waste mana. Is your [Summon Hero] skill leveling up well?¡± ¡°As well as it can,¡± Shaily answered as she caught the dagger, purposely avoiding to give a skill level, ¡°What level am I meant to reach?¡± ¡°You need to reach level 50 if you are to have sufficient mana to fully cast [Summon Hero], you need not level up beyond that, Saintess,¡± he sternly told her, keeping a fast pace forward in the dungeon¡¯s corridors, which were all devoid of monsters so far. ¡°You do not mind my questions, I hope?¡± ¡°Saintess¡­ You may ask all the questions you want. Whether you get an answer is another matter entirely. Know that your duty as one of God¡¯s chosen is all you ought to be focused on in the near future.¡± Interesting. I could even learn things that might be useful to teacher Sofia, since I understand that she is still on bad terms with these people. ¡°Then can you tell me more about God?¡± Shaily probed, seeing as there were still no monsters in sight, ¡°and why would he choose me? I am ashamed to admit it, but I have never been particularly devout¡­¡± The magisterium answered without stopping, ¡°God¡¯s great designs are difficult for us mortals to interpret. Picking you was no mistake, however, God undoubtedly saw great potential in you.¡± ¡°Yet I am a failed attempt?¡± Shaily then asked, putting forward the same question the man had already avoided once. The magisterium sighed. ¡°You need not worry about it. God has long been attempting to use his Saintesses as a means to accomplish some great design, yet it is still unfruitful as of now. You were not the one, but no matter, you will perform your duties all the same, until¡­¡± the man¡¯s voice trailed off, and he never finished his sentence. ¡°Until,¡± Shaily repeated, stopping in place. ¡°Until you mercilessly kill me and try again with another Saintess?¡± she asked calmly. The magisterium also stopped, silent, he did not look back at Shaily. After a long silence, in a tired and guilt-ridden voice, he answered, ¡°Exactly.¡± Starting to walk again, he still did not look back as he continued, ¡°So work diligently so that I may at least be allowed to let you live the time you have left in the comfort of a well-furnished room with luxurious meals. That is the best I can do for you,¡± he finished in a grim tone. Well, shit¡­ I think I¡¯m starting to get how teacher Sofia was pushed to become so extreme in everything she does¡­ If this wasn¡¯t a trial and I was in this desperate a situation¡­ Shaily clenched the dagger she was holding and followed the Magisterium deeper into the dungeon.
Chapter 504 S - The stars aligned The rest of the dungeoneering was spent in silence, the magisterium maimed zombies and Shaily finished them off with the dagger. The leveling was quite slow, but it was enough to push her to level 30 before they left. Shaily received a warm meal and a fluffy carpet to decorate her prison room as a reward for her efforts, and she spent her meal time eating in front of the room¡¯s large magically-strengthened windows, just observing the view of the human city below. It was quite similar to both Exidia and Vasperia, yet so different. I could already escape¡­ Almost¡­ Just a few details to be dealt with. First of all, temporarily disenchant these windows with [Dispel mist], teleport through with [Summon self], and have Pareth catch me with the Blessing of the weightless, assuming I¡¯m a ¡®wearable¡¯ thing, and that I¡¯m not too heavy¡­ Shaily looked down, unable to see her feet because of Sofia¡¯s inherently high charisma. Maybe the church¡¯s strict diet is a blessing in disguise¡­ Well, I¡¯ll see when I get there. Worst case, there has to be another way down. Maybe through the bottom of the dungeon? Either way, Pareth is still going to take a while to come here, so I¡¯ve got some time on my hands. He¡¯s been making steady progress, and hasn¡¯t been spotted a single time, I think, but going slow is inevitable even with infinite stamina. It might take a while until he makes it here and navigating around the capital will not be as simple¡­ But since I¡¯m used to giving orders to the sprites, this much is easy. Skeletons and sprites have about the same intelligence when it comes to understanding commands, interestingly enough. This leaves a few issues. I¡¯m not so worried about the level 200 and some old priests, but the Oracle is dangerous, and the magisterium can teleport me back. I need to escape on a day when the Oracle is busy or absent, otherwise it¡¯s foolish to even attempt anything. Maybe if I could get access to the library. Hmm¡­ Then for the magisterium¡­ Finding an anti-teleportation skill or item on short-notice and with no funds can¡¯t be easy, so it¡¯s better to kill him if I can, that¡¯s probably what Sofia did. If I do it around when I¡¯m level 50 it might get me up quite a few levels, too, since people give experience¡­ Out of curiosity, Shaily called up the murder history window. [You have no murder history] Really? Teacher had a cleaner childhood than I did¡­ Well, it was an accident¡­ Trying to change her mind, she then brought up the passive skills panel, which she had looked at at least twenty times in the last hour. Available Passive Skills :
  • [Pristine ] : Your soul is in
  • [ of Bones] : against physical projectiles.
¡°It really doesn¡¯t look good. Can I get a good result thrice in a row? That would be pushing my luck, really.¡± Sighing, she closed the window and walked back to the cart near the door, to pick up the golden headband which she had been given along with the other things. It was an item that she recognized, as Sofia wore it often. [Saint¡¯s pride] : A Saint is already above mere mortals. Halves the Saint¡¯s aging speed. Part of a seven-piece set. Item level : 20. Grade : Legendary Seriously, they really couldn''t have given her a more useless thing. Halving the aging speed of someone who¡¯s fated to die soon, that¡¯s some really bad taste joke. Then again, everything here is of bad taste, except maybe their clothes. I¡¯ll admit, their priest garbs look a bit nice. Just a bit. Alright¡­ I¡¯m a bit more familiar with the place now. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. Shaily summoned a shadow sprite. Go, stay in the walls, I¡¯m pretty confident you won¡¯t be found as long you don¡¯t go near the higher floors, just stay on the first two, help me draw a nice map. Time to put those summoner tactics classes to good use.
Once the sprite was done exploring the Holy-See, Shaily turned herself to a new sort of training. She had drawn a sound-absorbing ritual on the floor with [Summon Blood] and covered it with the carpet once it was dry, then propped up her mattress against a corner of the room. Her bed was pushed to the side so that she could train [Maiden bolt] by shooting from one corner of the room to the other. She would supply the ritual with a few seconds worth of mana then send herself flying into the mattress. That way, she could practice landing on her feet and level up the skill while being unnoticed, and she had a shadow sprite hiding outside to warn her if anyone was coming. That only worked for a while, as when the skill reached level three, the mattress was already starting to tear from the repeated collisions at high speeds, forcing Shaily to stop. With the speed being at thirty meters per second, it was almost like a teleportation now. One instant she was in a corner of the room, the next she crashed face-first into the mattress. She did her best to lessen the impact however she could, but that was as far as she could go for now. It¡¯s a 50% speed increase from level two so that was worth taking¡­ Maybe if I could convince the magisterium to let me go into the dungeon alone¡­ Or what if I sneak into it? That feels possible, maybe. Yeah, no¡­ Too dangerous, even if they¡¯re slow there are still zombies over level 100¡­ I should tidy up the room before anyone shows up. Shaily was busy putting her bed back together when she heard a knocking sound from the windows. Huh? She turned around, finding a man dressed in all black casually standing in the air right outside the window. [Hero - Lv. 243] The man then teleported inside without a sound. ¡°Hey there, I¡¯m Michael, but everyone calls me Mike; you the new saint?¡± he greeted Shaily in a friendly tone. ¡°I am, sadly. Sofia,¡± she introduced herself with an extended hand, ¡°Are you with the church?¡± ¡°Oh, no, not at all, I¡¯m not even from this country,¡± he denied, shaking her hand, ¡°It¡¯s just my job to keep track of what¡¯s happening here, including stuff like this.¡± ¡°Are you some kind of spy? How did you teleport through the space magic ward?¡± Shaily asked, knowing full well that teleportation through the windows and even the walls should be impossible. ¡°You know about that? Damn, must be the most educated Saintess these guys ever got. Let¡¯s just say that my Hero¡¯s blessing allows me to do some neat things like that.¡± ¡°Interesting¡­ Say, you wouldn¡¯t happen to want to rescue me out of here, perhaps? I can give you this in exchange,¡± Shaily offered, pointing at the golden headband on the cart. ¡°And risk worsening the war? Sorry but you¡¯re on your own, maybe if you make it out somehow you can seek asylum in our Empire, but that¡¯s if you manage not to get teleported back before then.¡± ¡°Your Empire?¡± ¡°Red Winds, it¡¯s just about two hundred kilometers east from here, never heard of it?¡± ¡°Oh, of course I did, I just didn¡¯t, you know, make the connection. Who should I look for when I¡¯m out?¡± Michael seemed to think for a second, ¡°You¡¯re quite enthusiastic. Well¡­ Your best bet is the adventurer¡¯s guild where I work . That or Sleep¡¯s temple, if you hold onto that item, they¡¯ll bargain for it, no doubt.¡° ¡°Alright, understood, thank you, Michael. Any more advice for a Saintess on Death row?¡± ¡°Well¡­ Let me think¡­ If you¡¯re serious about escaping¡­ The Oracle leaves the Holy-See for the grand mass on the twenty-third of every month, just like right now, and comes back after a few days when he¡¯s done visiting all the temples, so that would be a good timing. There is usually only one High-priest here at a time and they are always pretty busy so if you don¡¯t make a big ruckus when you leave and you time things right, you really only have the old paladin to worry about,¡± Michael explained, trying to piece together useful informations to plan an escape. ¡°Still a big hurdle¡­¡± ¡°I could end him in one strike, but yes, for you it¡¯s another story¡­ From what I know, he¡¯s had to spread himself a bit thin, warrior spells, paladin spells, cleric spells, his class is a bit of a mishmash, so he¡¯s not especially good at anything. I bet with good planning you could drown him or poison him, something like that.¡± ¡°You say poison as if I had a way to get that right now,¡± Shaily commented with a raised brow. ¡°Hey, I¡¯m just giving options, I know poison is what I¡¯d do, at least. Can¡¯t be too hard to find something¡­ Anything can be poison if you look hard enough, it¡¯s got to be fast-acting, though, or the priests will just bring him back from the brink¡­ Still, the man can kill you with a single slap, so be careful, alright? Oh, speaking of, someone¡¯s coming. Was a pleasure to meet you, Saintess. Take care,¡± he finished, his body disappearing in a thin cloud of gray smoke. Shaily bowed to the disappearing man, ¡°The pleasure¡¯s all mine. I¡¯ll be sure to repay this debt if I make it out.¡± The smirking face of the disappearing hero vanished last, just as Shaily started to hear the footsteps of someone approaching the door. A lucky encounter. I get how teacher Sofia managed to avoid getting caught by the Oracle now¡­ That still leaves the magisterium¡­
Chapter 505 S - The inconveniences of being a cannonball [You have re-entered the dungeon : Abyss of the damned] Shaily followed the magisterium into the dungeon. Name : Sofia (Shaily Ormoncleth) Age : 19 Class : [Saintomancer] ? Level : 48 Health : 240 / 240 Stamina : 238 / 240 Mana : 28344 / 28500 Active Skills (5 / 5) [Holy Skeleton] - Level 30, Summon Lv. 21 [Heal Undead] - Level 1 [Dispel mist] - Level 8 [Maiden bolt] - Level 4 [Lead the dead] - Level 12 Passive Skills (1 / 5) ? [Hand of Ordinance] ? Classless Skills (6 / 6) [Sprint] - Level 6 [Shenanigans II] - Level 4 [Acrobatics] - Level 5 [Jittery] - Level 12 [Decisive] - Level 19 [Evasion] - Level 5 Summoned heroes (1 / 4)
  • Lv.21 Pareth (Holy Human Skeleton)
This is as good as it gets¡­ It would have been nice to get the classless up higher but this is the deadline¡­ The trial gave me fifteen months but I basically only had a month to get away from the church. So fucked. I¡¯m guessing Sofia escaped around the same time, unless she had a way to slow her leveling. Anyway¡­ The Oracle should be out of the picture for now. I only have one shot at this. For hours, the descent down the dungeon happened as usual, the first levels were already clear of undead, so they had to go deeper, where the Magisterium was starting to struggle against the larger packs of zombies. Shaily eventually leveled up to 49, and, just as they finished the fourteenth level of the dungeon, the man decided to stop to take his breath and drink. Shaily walked up to the spiral staircase going down into the abyss that gave the dungeon its name, she looked down at the seemingly bottomless pit. Without a word, she summoned four shadow sprites and a light sprite while the magisterium was busy drinking. The shadow sprites hid right within the folds of Shaily¡¯s clothes, while the light sprite quickly made its way to the floor right below the one they were on. ¡°Any idea what¡¯s down there?¡± she asked; a question that she had wanted to ask for a while but had kept for this moment. The man grumbled, ¡°A terrible monster lies at the bottom. Sealed hundreds of years ago by the holy powers of our church¡¯s first Oracle.¡± ¡°That long? Have you ever seen it?¡± The man stayed silent. ¡°Come on? Can¡¯t you humor me a little? You¡¯re not the one who¡¯s going to die soon.¡± After a tired sigh, the man finally said more, walking up to Shaily, ¡°You¡¯d better not stay this close to the edge.¡± Shaily nodded, taking a step back putting the tall man between herself and the bottomless pit. The magisterium looked down at the dark abyss as he explained, ¡°I cannot tell you more for the bottom of this dungeon is a forbidden area that even the high priests have never set foot into. But by virtue of the system claiming this abyss as a dungeon, there is no doubt that the records are true. Some hideous creature is down there, continually creating an endless stream of undead, and we have long since taken to the task of regularly culling them down so that they may never flood out into the outside world.¡± This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°Is it really strong enough that even the Oracle cannot kill it?¡± Shaily asked next, the light sprite shooting out into the abyss from the lower level as she said so. The magisterium¡¯s attention was captured by the sudden appearance of the light sprite, while Shaily replaced herself to be perfectly behind him. The shadow sprites jumped from Shaily¡¯s clothes to the Magisterium¡¯s armor, rendering it weaker and more brittle, and Shaily jumped to be aligned with the man¡¯s chest and reduce friction with the ground. The man noticed that something was going on behind him, but too late. [Maiden bolt] The loud, 40 meters per second impact was more than enough to send both the magisterium and Shaily flying off the edge. His chest compressed by his armor caving in, the man could not even scream. As they were flung through the air, Shaily instantly used [Summon Self] to get to a safe distance away from the man, just a few meters above him. The light sprite rushed to the bottom of the pit, showing that it was an incredibly deep fall. That has to be enough. Shaily repositioned her body in the air to face the way she wanted, facilitated by the [Acrobatics] classless skill, and used [Maiden bolt] again, catapulting herself toward the other side of the abyss, and colliding with the wall. She slid down the narrowing abyss until she landed on the spiraling staircase that linked the levels of the dungeon, on a much deeper level than where she had started. Instantly she used [Lead the dead] to make sure that no high level Zombie was going to come close, while she looked toward the bottom of the abyss. She could feel the light sprite still going down, but its light was obscured, and she could not see it. Come back. Meanwhile, the shadow sprites were supposed to be still attached to the magisterium, but instead of falling to the bottom, they were stationary about a hundred meters deeper than where Shaily was. A distance already too far for her to be able to see through the darkness of the abyss. As evidenced by this fact and the lack of a kill message, the magisterium was alive. This is going to hurt¡­ Shaily raised her left hand, and sparks of blue electricity started gathering in her palm. As her mana reserves were melting, absorbed by the spell in seconds, a javelin of blue plasma formed in Shaily¡¯s hand, illuminating the abyss. The intense light pierced the darkness. Knowing exactly where to look thanks to her shadow Sprites, Shaily located the magisterium, hanging by a single hand onto his sword which he had planted into the side of the bottomless pit. The magisterium turned to look at the light, and the light rushed in his direction, like the gates of heaven opening for the devout paladin, the light became brighter until it became his entire world. ¡®You have murdered [Armand Anzan Ovohen - Magisterium lv. 163]¡¯ ¡®You gained a level!¡¯ * 13 [Congratulations, your Saintomancer class reached level 50, +1 Active Skill Slot!] [New Active Skills are available!] [New Passive Skills are available!] The headless corpse of the magisterium fell into the depths of the abyss. Thirteen levels just like that. And he never attacked so I didn¡¯t even have to use the mist. Thanks everyone, now go back, I need to regenerate some mana. I almost got my guaranteed pass to level 100! After the Sprites unsummoned themselves, just as Shaily opened her status page to quickly check the new keywords, the stairs she was standing on collapsed under her feet. Her senses in overdrive, she tried everything she could to save the situation, but there was nothing she could do to quickly stop the fall. With the whole section of stairs collapsing, and the walls of the abyss being strangely smooth, there wasn¡¯t a single thing she could grab onto. [Summon self] was still on cooldown, and, because of the sudden collapse, she was messily tumbling down, with no control on her momentum at all. Trying her best to time it right as she spun in the air, Shaily used 1000 of her remaining 3000 and some mana left to [Maiden bolt] herself into the walls of the abyss once more. From there, she used the Zombie-slaying dagger by slamming it into the wall, doing the exact same thing the magisterium did before her. The fall brutally came to a stop, while Shaily held onto the dagger like the lifeline it was. I didn¡¯t even notice that the stairs were crumbling¡­ Crap¡­ I think I tore a muscle¡­ My shoulder hurts. Shaily resummoned the light sprite. ¡°Quickly heal me up, I don¡¯t think I can hold on for long.¡± The spire started healing Shaily¡¯s shoulder, which was a bit slow but definitely helped steady her grip on the dagger, after that, the Sprite also healed her burned left arm before it unsummoned itself again without her even asking. Thank you¡­ What now? I¡¯m at least a few hundred meters down, am I not? Going back up should be easy once I get enough mana for a few consecutive maiden bolt casts¡­ But that will be a while. I need at least four of five casts and then the mana for [Summon Self] to redirect myself toward the stairs. I can wait, we¡¯re supposed to still be in the dungeon for ho- Shaily¡¯s thoughts were interrupted by a strange noise, which she interpreted as rocks cracking. I screwed up. Weakened by the recent high-speed impact of a [Maiden bolt], the section of wall Shaily was holding onto with the dagger cracked into two separate chunks before collapsing. Shaily urgently summoned the light sprite back, and that was the end of what she recalled. She then woke up, perhaps only moments later, battered and bruised, inside of a sea of bones, while the light sprite was hard at work trying to keep her alive, spending her last bits of mana on all the healing it could muster.
Chapter 506 S - A mind-blowing discovery Inevitably, Shaily ran out of mana, and the sprite disappeared, leaving her in almost complete darkness, under piles of bones. Only the magical dagger she held in her hand still emitted a faint magical glow. It could have been much worse¡­ If I had never learned to free-cast the sprites and the angel bolt¡­ Shaily did not move, not even trying to extract herself from the bones and rubble, for a few minutes, she focused on calming her erratic breathing and recovering. 140 seconds to regenerate a thousand mana, she counted, doing the math in her head, so about twenty minutes before I can try to get back to the top. After about five minutes, Shaily felt that she had the strength to move again, and she struggled to free herself from the pit of old bones. It was really easier said than done, but the level ups from the kill had just about pushed her physical strength far enough that she could manage it, eventually poking her head out of the not so deep pile of bones. At the bottom of the abyss, a set of heavy stone doors lie closed, a softly-glowing ritual keeping them sealed. Oh¡­ There really is something sealed down there. I could break that with the dispel mist. It¡¯s only a level 100+ dungeon, so whatever is in there might not be that dangerous. But better not to take useless risks. I¡¯ll just wait and get out of here. Pareth is already in place waiting for me¡­ While Shaily waited, she checked her new keywords, finding that she now had the [Angel¡¯s ] part of Angel¡¯s bolt. And the other half is [ soul], huh. Angel¡¯s soul? I¡¯m not sure¡­ I only have one active slot free for the rest of the trial, and I should get more active spell bits at level 70. Better to wait. And the new passives? Available Passive Skills :
    • [Pristine ] : Your soul is in
    • [ of Bones] : against physical projectiles.
    • [Armor ] : Gather prayers to protect
    • [ Essence] : per second.
Armor of bones?! Finally a combination I already know the result of! You have acquired the passive skill : ¡®Armor ¡¯ You have acquired the passive skill : ¡® of Bones¡¯ So good! It even has an integrated storage! Shaily absorbed all she could of the pile of bones she was sitting on, activating the armor. So comfortable and light! I want the same, what?! This skill is too good! Well¡­ Getting the bones might be a bit of a hassle with my real class. It¡¯s also way too complex. How long to learn to freecast that? A decade? Most of the complexity seems to come from the bone storage itself, so maybe I can skip that part and adapt the rest of the spell somehow? I¡¯ll see if I have time for that¡­ It would not be weird if Shaily and the magisterium were not to come out of the dungeon for a few more hours, but what she really cared about was the shift of the watch guarding the dungeon¡¯s entrance. According to her calculations, she had about fifty minutes left, not even enough for her mana to be back to full again. Considering the time It should take to reach the entrance if I sprint all the way through the higher floors¡­ I can still rest for a bit. Eventually, with a few minutes of leeway before she needed to leave, Shaily decided to open the doors. A monster of at most level 199 would likely not be able to follow her as fast as she could escape with [Maiden Bolt]. Hopefully it would cause the church to focus its efforts on dealing with the thing instead of pursuing her, giving her some precious time to get as far away as she could. With a bit of dispelling mist, she deactivated the sealing ritual long enough to push open the doors. A vile smell of putrid decay assaulted her nose from within the sealed chamber, accompanied by a sight that shook Shaily to her core. The room buried under the mountain was gigantic. A gruesomely distorted, dead-looking man was hanging in the air in the middle of the room, locked in place by hundreds of luminous bonds that looked like lines of ethereal text of light latching onto him. Under him was an abundant pile of rotting corpses, men, women and children, some of which were weakly trying to crawl out of the pile. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Shaily had a hard time trying not to puke. Containing her retching, she took a step back. What in Death¡¯s great name¡­ Clanking noises came from above the captive ¡®man¡¯, prompting Shaily to look up to the ceiling, in which there were four bloody holes. A body fell from the leftmost hole, hitting the captive man who shook and let out a blood-curdling scream, before the mangled corpse fell further and splattered on top of the corpse pile with a mushy sound. The dagger fell from Shaily¡¯s hand; she threw up. Who¡­ Who is that sick in the head¡­ Once her stomach was completely empty, Shaily managed to compose herself enough to send an [Identify] the man¡¯s way. [??? - Lv. ???] [ERROR] [Target¡¯s Scribe not found, please try again later] Scribe not found? I¡­ What¡­ [Target¡¯s Soul compromised, Scribe could not be attributed] [Admin action required] [Available admins : 0] [Error dismissed] Ah, wh- Shaily tried to turn around and escape, only to realize that she couldn¡¯t. Her legs wouldn¡¯t answer her, no matter how hard she tried. She panicked, and tried to close the doors, except her arms were the same, unresponsive. A few seconds later, to her great horror, her legs started moving by themselves, bringing her a step closer to the pile of corpses. She tried to escape using [Summon Self], but the teleportation failed, in fact, her body refused to cast the spell. Her mana did not answer her. In a great panic, Shaily cycled through her options in her head, then she remembered her most important skill. The one granted by one who¡¯s name should not be spoken. Spells cast through her right hand could not fail. Despite her right arm being out of her control, her hand was still hers, she had simply not realized, overcome by panic that she was. As her feet brought her past the doors and ever closer to the pile of corpses, she channeled a spell. Sparks gathered in her palm, forming an angelic attack, until her mana hit zero. The javelin of unstable plasma tore right through the head of the bound man, after which Shaily collapsed, her body and mind in a world of indescribable pain. ¡®You have defeatedmurdered [??? - Original Sinner lv. ???]¡¯ ¡®Calculating, please wait¡­¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Soul Parasite - Lv. 260-349]¡¯ * 28 458 ¡®You gained a level!¡¯ * 37 [New Active Skills are available!] [New Passive Skills are available!] ¡®You have reached maximum experience¡¯ [Congratulations, you have reached the maximum level allowed in this trial, extra rewards will be awarded upon completion] The physical pain eventually receded, allowing Shaily to finally breathe, although a severe pulsating headache remained, which not even the light sprite managed to heal. The headless deformed man was still held up in the air by the threads of light that the bolt had not damaged in the slightest. There was no more movement from within the pile. The abyss was devoid of any sound except for Shaily¡¯s ragged breath. ¡°I need to get away from here,¡± she mumbled to herself as she turned around. After grabbing the dagger, she stumbled upon the mangled armored corpse of the magisterium, which was hidden under the remaining bones. She excavated him by moving bones around with the [Armor of Bones] storage. Taking off his armor¡¯s right gauntlet, she found and took his storage ring, which she knew he had ever since he had produced the magic dagger she was holding out of nowhere on their first day in the dungeon. Not even checking the ring¡¯s contents, she then left the corpse behind and weakly climbed the remaining pile of bone, reaching the lowest steps of the spiraling stairs going all around the abyss, and she entered the lowest floor of the dungeon. The Zombies were all dead. Half-rotten husks lying lifeless on the ground, not an ounce of magic remaining within. While she waited for her mana to come back, Shaily climbed through floor after floor of the dungeon in a daze, not a single monster in her way. Before she knew it, she was back at the entrance, hidden by the darkness, just a few meters behind the two guards from the church. The reality of the situation snapped her out of her wide awake sleep-walking. Not the same two¡­ I missed the shift change. Need to distract them somehow¡­ Summoning a shadow sprite that immediately hid in the wall, Shaily sent it to the far end of the corridor. There, it appeared out of the wall, shot through the air and entered the opposite wall. The two guards looked at each other. ¡°D- Did you see that too?¡± one asked the other. Shaily used [Summon Self] at maximum range to teleport herself through the door of the closed room next to the guards. The man¡¯s voice was just loud enough to hide the sound of her feet touching the ground. This was needed because teleporting with one¡¯s feet directly touching the ground was leagues harder than just appearing mid-air and required incredibly fine mana-control or a much more advanced spell. Quickly scanning the interior of the room she had landed in, Shaily¡¯s eyes lit up. Healing potions!
Chapter 507 S - Familiarity Navigating through the Holy-See¡¯s ground floor was quite easy for Shaily, as she knew the layout well, and had the Shadow sprites to scout ahead and make sure no one could surprise her. She made it to the cloistered garden without too much effort. The sun should be rising soon, I need to go fast if I don¡¯t want to be seen¡­ Another [Summon Self] cast and she found herself landing on her bed. She looked at the door, hearing no movement from the guards¡¯ room next door. It looks like they didn¡¯t hear that. I should be thankful that these guys don¡¯t really care about the job. Almost out. Shaily walked up to the large windows. Pareth was waiting at the bottom of the cliff, some six hundred meters below, he had been there for a few days already, playing dead. It¡¯s time, come up. With his Blessing of the weightless, the skeleton slowly floated all the way up until he stopped a few meters below the church. Shaily was incredibly tense during these few moments despite her current escape attempt still going undetected as of now. [Dispel mist] created a hole in the anti-teleportation barrier surrounding the Holy-See, and Shaily summoned herself through the window. She fell down until Pareth caught her. But contrary to her hopes that he would be able to float while carrying her, they were quickly plummeting toward the ground, which was a corner of the cultivated fields surrounding the nearby human city. That¡¯s an S rank blessing?! As they were approaching the ground at a dangerous speed, Shaily had to make a fast decision. Let me go! Pareth let go of Shaily, and she kept falling while his blessing finally slowed his fall again. This is gonna hurt. In the air, Shaily curled up into a ball, then, right before hitting the ground, she activated [Maiden bolt]. She hit the ground like a meteor, but miraculously, thanks to the spell¡¯s temporary impact resistance and the relatively soft muddy ground, she was only mildly hurt. Ugh. I better save my mana. Getting a healing potion out of her newly-acquired storage ring, Shaily got her health back to full, and tried to quickly clean her dirty clothes from the mud as much as she could. Pareth landed next to her without a sound. [Trial completion : Escape the Holy-See (Incomplete)] [Additional rewards task : Defeat a Siren-Queen (Incomplete)] Still incomplete? Really? Do I need to get further away or something like that? Well, I need to go hunt a Siren either way¡­ I should go before they notice I¡¯m gone¡­ Shaily looked at Pareth, she had always thought that Sofia was sending him to her storage ring when he disappeared, but now she wondered if he was not just going into the bone armor¡¯s storage. She emptied a few bones to make space, then tried storing Pareth. That actually works? She took Pareth out to see if he was alright, and he seemed perfectly fine. That¡¯s one issue taken care of, then. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Shaily ran to the human city a bit further up the mountain. Under the cover of darkness, she walked up to the outer walls, invoked some [Dispel mist] to disable the potential alarms and anti-teleportation rituals that were likely to be running through the walls, and summoned herself through the thick layers of stone. Getting there. I don¡¯t see any guards from here¡­ According to what I saw from above, this should be one of the poorer districts. Now¡­ Do I try to sell the Saint item or the potions? In both cases I will look suspicious with how I¡¯m dressed¡­ I can summon the bone armor but that¡¯s even more suspicious, isn¡¯t it? Though I guess if it¡¯s around the adventurers'' guild, it might be fine. I should look around for the artisan alleys. Even if it¡¯s a human city it should still have one, right? Shaily quietly walked through the sleeping city until morning, being careful not to cross paths with any guard patrol. Avoiding them was surprisingly easy as it seemed most of them were level forty to fifty at best, a far shot from the average exidian guards, who were all people who had at least gone through the first trial. I suppose it makes sense considering how weak the wildlife is around here. It was hard to even get Pareth to level twenty. The life of the human farmers must be pretty peaceful. Finally, around sunrise, the shops started to open, and Shaily activated the bone armor before entering the small shop of an apothecary, which was in an alley with multiple smithies and other such warfare-oriented craftsmen. To her surprise, the shop owner was actually a summoned Hero. [Hero - Lv. 8] That almost made Shaily turn back, but considering the woman was only level 8, it was unlikely that she was a danger in any way even if she had contacts with the church. The short green-haired human lady busy organizing herbs on a tall shelf yelped in fright when the tall armored adventurer entered her shop, but seeing no drawn weapons, she quickly switched gears. ¡°S- Sorry, you surprised me, what may I do for you?¡± she asked, quickly moving behind the shop¡¯s counter. ¡°I am the one who should apologize, I¡¯ve had no time to take off my armor¡­ Erm, anyway, do you buy potions? I have a surplus of Sieva Extract,¡± Shaily explained, ten flasks of red liquid appearing on the counter, further startling the short apothecary. The apothecary nodded, glancing at the red flasks on her counter, ¡°Healing potions are always in high demand. I can buy them for eighty silver a vial, if they are genuine. Do you mind if I check them?¡± ¡°Go ahead.¡± The apothecary grabbed one of the flasks, bringing it close to her close to her face, she inspected the label. ¡°Anton S. ?¡± she read out loud, ¡°Did you get these from the church?¡± she asked, recognizing the name of the fellow apothecary who had crafted these potions. Shaily started working up a sweat inside of the armor, but thankfully the helmet hid her anxious face, and she quickly made up a convenient lie. ¡°I occasionally run errands for the high-priests and I often receive part of my pay in potions.¡± ¡°Errands?¡± the apothecary repeated, her eyes still focused on the potion, ¡°Well, I shouldn¡¯t pry into the church¡¯s affairs¡­ Are you selling all of these?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ This is a big transaction, so I need to verify that these are all genuine, I hope you don¡¯t mind,¡± the human apothecary explained, which Shaily answered with a nod. The apothecary opened a flask, smelled the contents, nodding to herself, then she grabbed a small glass flask-looking thing, which she used to extract a single drop of the potion. Then, to Shaily¡¯s surprise, the meek-looking level 8 Apothecary grabbed a short herb knife from her counter, pulled back her left sleeve, revealing an arm covered in scars and bruises, and stabbed her own arm without as much as a pained noise. Red blood started flowing on the floor of the small shop. What the hell! Shaily lost for words as she watched the Apothecary smile to herself after using the drop of potion on her new wound and watching it close up with a sizzling sound. You¡­ You didn¡¯t have to¡­ The apothecary¡¯s next words shook Shaily even more. ¡°This one is good,¡± the small lady told her with a bright smile, before opening a second flask. She stabbed her arm again. It¡¯s not just Sofia. Humans are all crazy!!!
Adding the eight gold coins from the potions to the twenty-two she had found in the magisterium¡¯s ring, Shaily was sitting on comfortable starting funds. In a single morning, she bought two sets of good quality clean clothes, information on where to find a Siren Queen from the local adventurers¡¯ guild, and enough food rations to fill all the empty space in her storage. The magisterium already had a waterstone and a lightstone in his possession, so these were taken care of. With twenty-three gold coins left in her possession, she quickly stopped at an inn to clean herself before going asking around about the Vasperian embassy. She was in for a surprise when a familiar person welcomed her inside. S- Senior Agran?! What is he doing here? ¡°Welcome to the Vasperian embassy, young lady; what brings you here?¡± the pale vampire politely asked. Ah! Ah! Right, he doesn''t know me. ¡°Hello, I am seeking a space mage to send me to Vasperia.¡± Agran looked intrigued at the request, ¡°Is that so,¡± he answered, fiddling with his curved mustache. Shaily nodded and maintained eye contact afterward, trying to appear calm and confident. The old Vampire was assessing her and whether he was to accept her request, she knew that he was that kind of person, after all, she had already been his and Cardinal¡¯s subordinate for almost three months. ¡°The fee is twenty gold,¡± he finally said, ¡°You will need to answer a few questions first. Follow me.¡±
Chapter 508 S - Meet the Dwarf Knowing exactly what kind of person Agran was, It was not too hard for Shaily to answer his questions well and get accepted into Vasperia, at which point she was in known territory. There she enrolled as a mercenary, helping the Vampires with population control on the lower-level pests in their territory which very few Vampires saw any interest in dealing with themselves. This gave Shaily plenty of time to get more information on the Sirens, help Pareth level up, work on her skill levels and begin to learn to wild cast [Armor of Bones]. After having escaped for three months, the first part of the trial was officially completed, and it gave Shaily the choice to stay for the bonus task or to leave right then and there. Choosing to stay meant that the only ways to leave the trial were to complete the bonus task or to wait out the fifteen months timer, but Shialy saw that as more of an opportunity than anything else. With only a few months left on the timer, she eventually got a teleport to Couvauz, thereon going to the dwarven isles by boat.
¡°Sixty days left¡­¡± Shaily sighed, swirling the last drops of dwarven ale in her mug. There had been a critical flaw in her plans, which had put a brutal stop to her trial¡¯s progress. She had funds, all the knowledge she needed on Siren Queens, and was relatively confident she could kill one if the conditions were right. The issue, however, was that the dwarven hunting vessels that regularly roamed the seas to harvest precious materials from sea monsters did not accept women among them. Let alone a human one. Even if Shaily was strong enough, it was mostly a question of culture, and not allowing females on male ships as well as the other way around. There were talks of an all-female hunting ship, but they had left the main port of Daragleigh eight months prior and not given any sign of life since. Shaily was staying at the inn they used as a home base, but considered trying to hire a high-level mercenary to help her with the task and be done with it. The inn¡¯s bartender was a nice and quite rotund dwarven lady in her fifties, she waddled over to Shaily and refilled her mug with a smile. ¡°This one¡¯s on me. Come on, get that smile up. I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll be back any day. I¡¯ll even put in a good word for ya, trust me, you¡¯ll be faring the sea like a real dwarf in no time.¡± ¡°Thanks, Gita. Sorry for ruining the mood.¡± ¡°Oh don¡¯t ya worry about a thing. Compared to the average dwarf you humans are really easy to be around let me tell ya. You haven¡¯t even broken a single chair or table yet,¡± the large lady answered with a laugh, sitting on the chair opposite Shaily. There was no one else in the inn¡¯s tavern at the moment, as it was still quite early in the morning, and dwarves were forbidden by law from drinking between 6 and 12 am. ¡°Ahah¡­ It was quite a shock to see how things go here, when the only dwarf I used to know before coming here was just a really sweet and silent guy.¡± Gita laughed again and the table shook, ¡°Everyone¡¯s different ay, our current royal couple might be the best example, King Zargdess might just be the loudest man alive and somehow our Queen is as gentle and meek as a domesticated Soguva. I honestly don''t know how she can live with him.¡± Shaily had to agree, nodding as she sipped on her ale, she hadn¡¯t seen the Queen but the dwarf King was hard to miss, she had only been in the capital for a few weeks and news about the King doing this or that crazy thing around the streets was almost a daily occurrence. The doors of the tavern flew open, kicked-in by a muscular dwarf as large as he was tall. ¡°Yo better watch how you speak ¡®bout mah brother¡¯s wife, Gita!¡± he warned the fat bartender as he walked in. Gita rolled her eyes, ¡°It¡¯s not even drinking hour yet, Grud, the fuck are you doing here?¡± The big dwarf clicked his tongue, ¡°Your crew¡¯s on their way to the port, seen em from the palace. Am here to make sure they don¡¯t torch half the district this time,¡± he explained, disgruntled. ¡°They¡¯re back?!¡± Gita exclaimed, standing up. She gave Shaily a slap on the back that felt like getting hit by a bear, ¡°You¡¯re in luck, see, I told ya!¡± This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
The following night, after being introduced by Gita, Shaily ended up in a private room of the Inn having a one-on-one conversation with the captain of the all-female dwarven hunter crew, Camilla. [Supporter - Lv. 250+] Camilla was, if Shaily had to describe her, basically Sofia¡¯s friend Alith, but with slightly darker tanned skin, fiery-red hair, a fuller chest, and a whole bunch of tattoos covering her body. She also dressed in a very similar way, with only a strip of cloth covering her chest and large baggy pants. Her long hair tied in a ponytail exposed the usually quite hidden small and stubby pointy ears of the dwarves. She sat relaxed slouching in her seat, her crossed legs resting on the room¡¯s low table. ¡°To hunt a Siren queen, huh? Don¡¯t ya think you¡¯re a bit weak for that?¡± she questioned with a faint air of ridicule. Shaily was unabated, ¡°That¡¯s precisely why I need your help. Though I do believe I could handle a Siren queen myself, if she was alone and I had a proper boat.¡± Camilla smirked, ¡°Big talk. But they never come alone now, do they? Why¡¯d ya even want to hunt one of those things to begin with? They¡¯re not worth much, just winged pests of the sea.¡± ¡°Mind if I use some magic here to explain?¡± ¡°Is Gita you need to worry about if ya break stuff, not me,¡± Camilla answered with a shrug. ¡°I don''t plan on breaking anything,¡± Shaily said before she summoned a bundle of shimmering lights with a wave of her hand. That got the dwarf to sit up straight in her seat so she could observe from closer, ¡°Sprites? Neat. Water sprites are a sign of good luck on the sea. You got quite a variety there. How¡¯d that relate to the singing fishbirds tho?¡± ¡°I¡¯m hoping that by hunting every element of Siren queen out there I can get a multi-element specialization for my sprites out of the first trial,¡± Shaily explained. ¡°Huh, not a terrible plan, honestly. Assuming ya can even get a specialization to begin with,¡± Camilla answered, slouching back into her seat. ¡°That¡¯s for me to worry about.¡± ¡°True that. Bein honest, we wouldn¡¯t even have to go outa our way to find ya Sirens, the fuckers are everywhere. Hard to go a month without finding some¡­ But what¡¯d we get in return?¡± Camilla asked, rubbing her thumb and index together. ¡°Do you want gold?¡± Shaily asked back, but Camilla looked wholly uninterested. Crap¡­ This might be the hardest part. ¡°I can teach you a few spells, like the one I use to summon sprites, if that interests you¡­¡± Shaily tried next, failing to elicit any response from the dwarf for a second time. Think¡­ What else¡­ Can I exchange my storage ring? No¡­ That¡¯s too suspicious, no one would give up theirs if they don¡¯t have a replacement¡­ Oh! The thing I helped Guerand with! ¡°If we have the proper ingredients, I can teach you how to make Exidian liquor¡­¡± Shaily tried, uncertain of the worth of her suggestion. Camilla suddenly stopped moving in her seat. Did I piss her off with my bad offers?! Camilla then jumped out of her seat, landing near the door, she looked back at Shaily, ¡°Welcome aboard, sailor, we¡¯re leaving in a week, I¡¯ll come fetch ya here. Ya got until then to get ¡®the proper ingredients¡¯, your recipe better be genuine!¡± she ordered before she left, leaving the door open and giving Shaily no time to answer. Shaily was left stunned while she could hear the clacking of Camilla¡¯s boots going down the inn¡¯s long corridor. I should have offered that from the start¡­ Dwarves¡­ With someone at her level on the ship, the bonus task is as good as done. As long as we do find a Siren. Well¡­ I should relax when it¡¯s actually completed. I made random shit up about specializations but¡­ It might actually be a genuinely good idea? I still have two months left, so we¡¯ll be sailing for fifty four days. If I¡¯m lucky¡­ Will I even get a specialization though? Didn¡¯t Sofia say she killed a level 250 to get hers? That might be a bit much¡­ How¡¯d she even do that? She hasn¡¯t lied about anything else, not that I know of at least, so that would be a weird thing to lie about. Shaily¡¯s inner monologue was interrupted by Gita barging in the room, ¡°Howd¡¯ it go? Isn¡¯t my daughter so cute and precious? She¡¯s grown so fast!¡± ¡°Camilla is your daughter?!¡± Gita laughed out loud, ¡°Looks just like her old ma¡¯ don¡¯t she?¡± Then she came closer and whispered, ¡°If ya could introduce her to a tall, strong, an¡¯ sea-loving human guy, I¡¯m sure ya can even get her to help you a lot more,¡± she finished with a wink.
Chapter 509 S - Signature skill: Amplifier ritual Most dwarven hunter ships were large hunks of black steel, held together with rare expensive timber, adorning tall sails made of carefully treated monster hide, their sides lined with rows and rows of magical cannons. It gave the capital¡¯s harbor airs of grandeur. Without a doubt, the dwarves were ready for nautical warfare. And then, there was Camilla¡¯s ship, ¡®The eyesore¡¯, which was hard to describe as anything but a huge block of pure pink Orichalcum, without a single cannon or sail in sight, and covered in too many ritual circles to count. The dwarves Shaily had contracted to help her move the crates of material and ingredients she had bought in the last week to make Exidian liquor finished unloading everything in front of the ship, leaving her alone in front of the pink eyesore. What have I gotten myself into¡­ Someone jumped down from the ship without warning, a young-looking winged beastkin with colorful feathers, she landed gracefully on top of the crates. [Mage - Lv. 100+] ¡°You¡¯re the new recruit, right? I¡¯m Pin, want me to get those on board?¡± she asked, pointing at the crates she was standing on. ¡°I¡¯m Sofia,¡± Shaily answered, a hand shielding her eyes from the glare of the Sun reflecting on the metallic ship, ¡°be careful about the small boxes, they have glassware.¡± ¡°Got it, welcome in, Sofia. Need a hand to get up?¡± ¡°I can manage, thanks.¡± ¡°Ayay, going then,¡± the beastkin answered, grabbing the crate she had been standing on and flying up. Shaily jumped up, reaching about a third of the height of the ship, just high enough for [Summon Self] to be able to reach the top, where she landed on the railings. ¡°Oh! We got ourselves a space mage?¡± Pin asked as she also reached the top and put the crate down on the deck. ¡°No, no, this is a classless,¡± Shaily explained, sharing the skill description. ¡°Damn, neat, I could use that,¡± Pin commented before she jumped down again to bring up the other crates. When she came up again, Shaily asked a question, ¡°Is there no one else here yet?¡± Pin was already about to jump back down but she stopped for a second, ¡°Oh no, everyone¡¯s already in there, it¡¯s pretty early, most of ¡®em should be sleeping, but there aren¡¯t many of us to begin with.¡± ¡°Not many? This ship is huge though?¡± ¡°Yeah, but we don¡¯t need a traditional full crew, Captain¡¯s able to maneuver the entire ship alone, she¡¯s a [Ritualist], all them rituals you see everywhere, she manages everything alone. I¡¯m here as the boatswain, navigator, and barrelman, pretty much. Then we have Emma, our cook; Selene, who does all the monster processing, selling and accounting, and the four others are our hunters,¡± Pin enumerated while counting on her fingers, ¡°so yeah, eight of us.¡± ¡°A crew of eight on this huge ship?¡± Shaily repeated, flabbergasted. ¡°Well, nine now. The others¡¯ve been dying to get a brewmaster aboard for a long while so you¡¯re a welcome addition.¡± ¡°I¡­ Brewmaster might be exaggerating it a bit¡­ I only know one recipe¡­¡± ¡°One¡¯s a lot better than zero,¡± Pin answered with a smile before she jumped down again. The conversation continued, and not long after the entire crew came up to the deck to welcome Shaily, aside from Pin, they were all quite youthful dwarven ladies with hair in different shades of red. As Pin had expected, the promise of a new type of booze had been enough for the entire rest of the crew to instantly have a good predisposition toward the new member. Shaily even learned that she was to be entitled to the same profit share as the other members, despite not having discussed that with Camilla at all. At noon, after a celebratory drink, the ship departed for the south-west. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.
In the next twenty days, Shaily had time to familiarize herself with the ship and the crew, and she even got to participate in a few of the hunts, finishing escaping monsters with long-range bolt shots. It was a calm day, Shaily was on the upper deck near the bow of the ship, chatting with Selene while they sailed on the ocean¡¯s cold waters, when Pin¡¯s magically enhanced shout alerted the crew to an approaching monster, ¡°Titan class astern!¡± ¡°Titan class?¡± Shaily asked Selene, the term having never come up until now. ¡°Means a monster bigger than the ship,¡± the crew¡¯s merchant calmly explained, sipping on her liquor. ¡°Oh¡­ That sounds bad. Shouldn¡¯t we hide inside, then?¡± ¡°No point. We¡¯re not fighting that. We try to escape, and if we fail, well, you can guess what happens.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Shaily was not reassured by the dwarf¡¯s nonchalance, but Camilla rushed to the center of the main deck, taking position in the middle of a particularly intricate ritual circle, and the runes covering the ship suddenly all lit up. Under the captain¡¯s direct control, the ship started picking up speed in no time, while the four hunters, who were all between level 200 and 249 took place at the rear of the ship. ¡°What are we facing?!¡± Camilla shouted out to Pin when she got done kickstarting all the rituals she needed. ¡°I- I¡¯m not sure! It¡¯s huge! And it¡¯s keeping up!¡± ¡°Swallower!¡± one of the hunters shouted, and Selene¡¯s calm complexion rapidly shifted to a worried frown, and she reached out to grab one of the many chains sprouting from the deck. ¡°Shit!¡± Camilla cursed and the ship started gaining even more momentum, cutting through the waves at speeds defying anything a vessel with regular sails could ever hope to reach. ¡°What¡¯s a Swallower?¡± Shaily worriedly asked her dwarf friend who was turning pale. Selene methodically attached herself and Shaily to the chain before answering, ¡°You¡¯re a Saintess. Do you worship a god?¡± was the dwarf¡¯s answer. The dwarves had all avoided the topic until now, being content to accept Shaily without probing for more. ¡°Because it¡¯s time you start praying for a miracle.¡± The four dwarven hunters ran to surround Camilla, they were not even going to try fighting back whatever was coming, instead focusing on providing more mana to their captain¡¯s rituals. The ship sped up again, and Shaily had yet to catch a single glimpse of the monster pursuing them. Then, suddenly, the stern of the ship started to drop. It was as if it was climbing on a hill, or rather, it was as if the ocean¡¯s level behind the ship was getting lower. Selene grabbed the railings and urged Shaily to do the same, ¡°Hold on tight!¡± Shaily¡¯s hands barely closed on the orichalcum railings that she lost her footing on the deck, the ship suddenly turned almost completely vertical. It was at the border of a gigantic hole, a vortex of water trying to suck it in, the monstrous maw of a titanic sea creature at the bottom of it, sucking up maddening quantities of sea water. This isn¡¯t something we can fight. The ship quickly sank, unable to free itself from the currents. And Shaily was ready to unhook herself from the chain at any moment to [Maiden bolt] into the sky if needed, but she was reluctant to abandon the crew even if this was only the trial, and these people were bound to disappear as soon as it was over. Instants before it was too late, as Shaily finally decided that it was time to abandon ship, hundreds of ritual circles appeared in the air, surrounding the ship. And the ship which had been struggling to fight the currents leading it to its doom suddenly freed itself from the pull and seemingly from gravity itself, as it shot into the sky at an absurd speed, leaving the vortex and the monster behind. Shaily blacked out for a second. Coming back to her senses, she watched the ocean below, which looked more like a flat blue surface as the ship kept flying up, while the sky slowly started to turn black. Camilla shouted as soon as she recovered from the sudden mana expense, ¡°Everyone gather near me! Landing¡¯s gonna be hard!¡± One of the hunters actually moved to grab Shaily and Selene, bringing them near the center of the deck in an instant as the ship was at the top of its curved trajectory. Then it started falling. Layers and layers of magical shields appeared around the crew, completely obscuring the outside, and after what seemed like an eternity, the shit finally landed in a violent crash, which Camilla¡¯s magic greatly absorbed, keeping everyone unharmed. The ship was oddly still afterwards. ¡°By the ancestor¡¯s fiery beard¡­¡± Camilla murmured, ¡°We touched land somehow.¡± ¡°Land?!¡± Pin repeated. Camilla proceeded to dispel the shields, revealing that the ship had impaled itself on top of a pointy mountain, right in the center of a small group of volcanic islands covered in thick jungle. What the... How far did we fly?! There were no islands anywhere on the horizon! The relative peace of this surreal moment was immediately interrupted by the maddening screeches of thousands ugly creatures rising from the jungle and the surrounding waters. It seemed the landing was not to the liking of the local fauna. Despite the worrying situation, Camilla burst out into laughter suddenly. ¡°Ya happy, Sofia? Look! We found ya all the sirens you could want!¡±
Chapter 510 S - So… Does that mean it’s not fake? Camilla was quick to draw a ritual circle in the air, tracing the runes with her finger leaving a trail of mana behind, and the group was freed from the Sirens¡¯ hypnotic screeches. ¡°This¡¯ll last awhile, but you need to stay within fifty meters so don¡¯t leave the ship,¡± she explained as the sirens surrounded the mountain they were stranded on. She analyzed the situation for a second before spewing out orders, ¡°My mana is still low so I¡¯ll need you to buy me some time. I see three queens. Gaina and Zevi you take the first to reach us, Linn and Vika you keep the other two away, one each. Pin, Selene, Emma and Sofia, you keep the lesser sirens at bay. I¡¯ll shield anyone who gets in danger. Sofia can finish the last Queen when we get there. Get ready!¡± Everyone but Shaily started to channel long casting-time skills as the Sirens approached. Shaily just observed the sirens, trying to locate the queens. They were massive so it was quite easy, each came from a different nearby island. She was trying to recognize the queens¡¯ elements, which could be seen by observing their anatomy, like the shape of their dorsal fins, the hue reflected by their feathers and scales, and other such minute details. ¡°Fire sirens, the three of them!¡± Shaily warned the group as the queens quickly approached, soaring through the air, while the lesser sirens frenziedly crawled up the mountain, their vestigial wings too frail to let them fly for long. Camilla turned to Emma, the ship¡¯s cook, ¡°Change of plan, you channel [Heart of the furnace] let the others handle the rest.¡± It was not long before Shaily¡¯s warning proved itself true, as a sudden storm of ash rose up from nowhere, making the air uncomfortably hot. The face on the closest siren queen¡¯s torso came alive, its eyes lighting up just before a cloud of fiery meteors appeared above the creature and shot toward the ship one by one in quick succession. The fire was weakened when it entered the range of Emma¡¯s spell, and the projectiles ended up bouncing harmlessly against the ship¡¯s protection barriers maintained by camilla. Feeling safe enough, Shaily focused on her own task, summoning one lightning sprite after the next, and sending them crashing into the lesser sirens. The still wet creatures from the sea were quite brittle, and each lightning sprite¡¯s electrical explosion killed several of them. ¡®You have defeated [Siren - lv. 68]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Siren - lv. 72]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Siren - lv. 43]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Siren - lv. 42]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Siren - lv. 38]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Siren - lv. 64]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Siren - lv. 50]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Siren - lv. 22]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Siren - lv. 62]¡¯ ¡­ Even if the queens¡¯ attacks never reached her, Shaily still suffered from the heat, each giant fireball or such other attack coming the ship¡¯s way igniting the air even more, turning the Orichalcum vessel into a giant open-air grill. The lesser sirens were too numerous, they came by the thousands, and Camilla had to step in whenever they got too close, a ritual circle appearing out of nowhere near the larger clumps of sirens and tearing them to shreds in an instant with invisible attacks. Still it was not very long until Gaina the [Harpooner] and Zevi the [Stormcaller] got rid of the first and strongest of the three Siren Queens, for which Shaily got no credit. The intensity of the fire attacks died down, allowing everyone to breathe easier, and with three of the level 200+ hunters on the next Siren queen which was likely under level 200, she was also quick to fall after getting latched onto by a single of Gaina¡¯s harpoons. Despite two queens falling, the mountain was still completely surrounded by lesser sirens climbing from all sides. No matter how many they killed, more and more kept crawling out of the ocean and their numerous cries were starting to be heard, even through Camilla¡¯s protective ritual, slowly eroding the crew¡¯s capacity to focus. ¡°Everyone focus on the lesser sirens,¡± Camilla shouted, ¡°Sofia you channel one of those lightning bolts, I¡¯ll hold the last Queen in place for you, aim for the face on her chest!¡± ¡°Understood!¡± Wanting to put all the chances on her side, Shaily did something she never tried before due to a lack of mana, channeling a bolt in each hand. Glowing ritual circles made of mana appeared in front of both of Camilla¡¯s open palms, and with swift movements, she threw them at the last Queen which circled the ship while bombarding it with balls of fire. Whizzing through the smelting hot air in an arc, the ritual circles accurately sliced through both of the Queen¡¯s wings like flying blades, killing its momentum, before more ritual circles appeared around the creature like a box, imprisoning it mid-air. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Shaily was ready but hesitated to fire the bolts, as the Siren was thrashing a lot in her new prison, making aiming at the face incredibly hard, and because Camilla¡¯s rituals were also in the way. ¡°FIRE!¡± Camilla yelled. And Shaily let the bolts go, just as they were about to hit, the entrapping rituals disappeared. The bolts both missed the face, but they each left a clean hole through the already weakened creature¡¯s body either way. ¡®You have defeated [Siren Queen - lv. 194]¡¯ [Trial completion : Escape the Holy-See (Completed)] [Additional rewards task : Defeat a Siren-Queen (Completed)] ¡°You got it!¡± Camilla rejoiced, seeing the Siren lifelessly fall from the sky, she raised her hand for a high-five, which was still pretty low considering Sofia¡¯s height, and Shaily gladly clapped Camilla¡¯s hand as the reality of the trial started to crumble. ¡°I¡¯ll be sure to pay you back,¡± Shaily said with a smile as everything around her disappeared, leaving her alone in a black void. It was not long before a grating voice welcomed Shaily back to reality, though she was still in the black void. ¡°An eye-opening display,¡± it commented, ¡°We are entering a new era of history, it seems. Congratulations on your trial, chosen of the outer gods. You would do well to keep your new name to yourself until you have the power to back it up. I will give you a proof of my approval, you may use it to ask for my help once. Use it wisely.¡± Shaily could not speak, so the best she could do was to thank the voice of the mysterious Seraph in her head. ¡°As for the other chosen¡­ She has already been poached by the black plague¡­ Hmm¡­ I shall offer one last piece of advice: take the bracer.¡± After these final words, Shaily was finally able to open her eyes. Huh?! I¡¯m in my room? Jumping out of bed, Shaily was already fully clothed, she walked up to the window and opened the blinds. It was night time but there was no doubt possible, she was in her lodgings in Vasperia. Something in her clothes felt wrong, so she slid a hand down her collar, trying to catch the offender, retrieving a hand-sized flat shimmering scale from under her shirt. [Wing scale of Er¡¯Zgat]: A token of approval from the representative Seraphim of the Kleptra, Er¡¯Zgat. Should it shatter, Er¡¯Zgat will be alerted to its position. May also be used to keep weaker Kleptra at bay. Item level : 500. Grade : Kleptran. Kleptra? Shaily silently observed the city outside for a moment, although it was night, most Vampires only slept once every few days, so the streets were still bustling under the moonlight. I kinda wish the trial didn¡¯t end that abruptly¡­ She stored the scale in a corner of her storage ring, and started reading the system messages she was getting bombarded with. [Congratulations, you have triumphed over the second filter!] [You may now gain experience up to level 199] [Additional rewards will be delivered after the level-up; details are as follows] [Completion reward : Level up * 1] [Additional task reward : Clothing set (Double-Fake Saintess¡¯ Set) * 1] [Completed hidden tasks : Successfully use wild magic, Reached maximum authorized level, Defeat a sentient one filter up in singular battle, Defeat a monster with a 250+ level differential, Defeat 10 000+ monsters] [Additional hidden tasks rewards : Skill specialization point (Passive) * 1, Class Skill level-up point (upgrades a Class Skill to lv.100) * 4] [Please lie down in a secure environment to proceed with your level-up.] Oh crap, right! Shaily hurriedly checked that the room¡¯s door was locked, closed the window blinds, took her clothes off, and brought out a special fluid-repellent carpet from her storage ring, unfurling it on the floor, before lying down on it. There she took a deep breath. I¡¯m ready. [Initiating level up past filter 2; please do your best to stay still] [Calculating optimal path¡­] [Class evolution available!] [No race evolution available¡­] [Trial evaluation for upgrade potential : Max] [Your allocated upgrade score is : 1000 Health; 1000 Stamina; 4000 Mana] [Please select a class evolution to proceed] [Class evolution: Sprite Shaman: Description : A variant of the Sprite Caller, foregoing some defense and versatility in favor of calling stronger sprites capable of widespread destruction and higher elemental influence.] [Class evolution: Sprite Regulator : Description : A newly-created variant of the Sprite Caller. No description found. If chosen, +1 Classless skill slot will be awarded as compensation for the lack of description. Anomalies may arise.] [Class evolution: Refuse class evolution : Description : You may refuse to let your class evolve, keeping your current class of Sprite Caller, the generic and highly versatile basic sprite class. You may be offered another evolution after the fourth filter.] Anomalies may arise? Good.
Chapter 511 - At Death’s door ¡°And after that I started work here again, with the amnesia hitting a bit later. It was more than a bit strange, but since Senior Agran and Cardinal were also affected, they investigated the happening, and were told to let the matter rest and that it would fix itself in a bit,¡± Shaily explained, happy to be done with her story and standing up from the couch to grab a glass of water. ¡°Told by who?¡± Saria asked, munching on some dried fish provided by Zerei. ¡°The Vasperian Queen herself, yes,¡± Zerei answered for Shaily. ¡°Oh¡­ That might be the reason for Asty¡¯s summon,¡± Sofia guessed, ¡°You still have the Kleptra scale, Shaily?¡± ¡°Hmm? Yeah, still there,¡± she answered, taking it out of her storage ring with a flick of her wrist, ¡°The colors are nice, they remind me of the whale a bit, though when I compare it with my hand, it¡¯s not quite the same.¡± ¡°I can see what you mean,¡± Sofia confirmed, ¡°it¡¯s slightly similar. I¡¯m still shocked you were just sent to the Deep like that.¡± ¡°Felt like a fever dream, but it¡¯s pretty obvious now that it was all real. Makes me wonder whether it was Ormoncleth who interfered with my trial from the start or if that was just an opportunistic outcome of sorts,¡± Shaily wondered. ¡°My bet¡¯s on the Orator instigating this,¡± Saria commented. ¡°Could also be the same guy who later erased Sofia,¡± Alith suggested with a yawn, ¡°Maybe used the trial to probe around Sofia¡¯s records before the act, considering it had to be playing it back for you? I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a really solid guess¡­¡± Sofia agreed, ¡°hard to say for sure though, maybe I can get more information from Orator next time he shows up, but I wouldn¡¯t count on it.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t really care either way,¡± Shaily said as she stored the Kleptra scale back, ¡°I got a good outcome out of it, so¡­¡± Sofia nodded, ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s also nice to learn that we can get rid of Scripture¡¯s soul parasites relatively easily as long as we can reach that original sinner person. You said Cardinal¡¯s already working on it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s going to be a long process, Skyreach is almost back to normalcy on the surface, but the Church is barely functional, most of the high officials have disappeared, leaving the paladins to organize themselves, and the Holy-See is completely out of bounds, obscured by multiple barriers,¡± Shaily explained, ¡°That¡¯s about all I can say before it becomes a breach of contract.¡± ¡°Good enough. What about the girl I asked if you could have them look into?¡± Sofia asked next, ¡°Asty said it would probably be done.¡± ¡°Oh, I worked on that myself, actually. It was a bit hard to find her but I managed with the help of the adventurers¡¯ guild networks. She has been secretly adopted by some Red Winds nobility who were struggling to conceive on their own; apparently she looks a lot like the mother, so they¡¯re passing her as their hidden biological child. That was around when you yourself were going for your first trial, if I got my timeline right.¡± ¡°So she¡¯s safe¡­¡± Sofia said with relief. ¡°She was having a hard time adapting to her new life, from what I understand, but the family who adopted her has a good standing and reputation in the Empire, so it¡¯s not too worrying. And no godly intervention in sight anywhere. I don¡¯t remember the details but I can give you the address later,¡± Shaily continued. ¡°Thank you, Shaily.¡± ¡°Just doing my work,¡± the Exidian girl answered with a smile, ¡°if you want to pay me back, how about you give me your complete story with the church later. I¡¯m interested in knowing how much I deviated from the real thing.¡± ¡°Sure thing,¡± Sofia agreed while looking around, ¡°but maybe later,¡± she added, seeing that Alith was quite literally falling asleep on the school¡¯s couch, ¡°I think I¡¯ll spend a few days here anyway, then I¡¯ll be going to Exidia with Cinthia. Maybe you also want to come?¡± ¡°You¡¯re going back there? I¡¯d also love to come but I still have a lot of work to finish here first¡­¡±
After five days in the Vasperian capital, the group separated, each going to do their own thing. Astelia, Shaily, and Zerei were going to stay in Vasperia; Alith was going to get to work on her alchemy from within the Margin while taking out the still-sleeping Remia for a sunbath every so often; Saria was looking for the two lost Zangdar ring; and Ihuarah went with Everelle to spend some alone time as a couple before the incoming trip. Lastly, Sofia went with Cinthia to see Richard about the implant eye before beginning their Recessed-robbing mission. TLDR was even nice enough to send them to the Exidion empire with the Red-Carpet teleportation network for free. Sofia checked VPPV, which she rarely did ever since it had been stuck at the same step forever before her race evolution. [Venerable physique of the primeval void] ? - Peak of the Light forging realm : The primeval void was born of the universe¡¯s first shadow. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Shadow gathering realm : A single hit cannot take away more than 99% of your maximum health. You are 50% more resilient to explosions You are able to see in extremely low light levels and to breathe light You cannot be hurt by the cold and cannot be traced in the spirit realm Shadows and light are two faces of a single coin. Light forging realm : You no longer age. You have become a [Lumian]. The primeval void is your domain. Boundless space realm : Starting step : You are able to perform quantic transpositions. First step : ??? Gather divine essence (30) to unlock the Boundless space realm. Current divine essence (14) :
  • Scripture (1)
  • Aphenoreth (1)
  • Dread (1)
  • Sorrow (1)
  • Ormoncleth (1)
  • Victory (1)
  • Sun (5)
  • Creation (2)
  • Life (1)
She showed the window to Cinthia as they walked through Exidia, ¡°See, I¡¯m missing 16. I thought I would get to see what the first step of the next realm gives as completing one step usually lets me see further, but not this time, I guess.¡± ¡°Quantic transposition?¡± Cinthia read out loud. ¡°Yeah I don¡¯t know either. Nor does anyone I asked about it, for that matter. Transposition is usually the kind of teleportation magic where you switch places with the target, but quantic isn¡¯t really a word I¡¯ve seen anywhere else other than there.¡± And even Mr.Scribe says he doesn¡¯t have a clue and that the skill after the light forging realm is entirely the High-Scribe¡¯s work¡­ ¡°The chat doesn¡¯t seem to know either¡­ Not many viewers at the moment, though, only Hatred and Death,¡± Cinthia said, looking at her invisible system windows. ¡°Right, I learned that Suffering, Sickness and Unfairness were the most powerful Recessed along with Death and Sorrow. Do they also watch you?¡± Sofia asked, just as Death¡¯s Temple was starting to enter into view on the horizon over the city¡¯s rooftops. Cinthia took a second to analyze Sofia¡¯s question, her eyes lost in the distance, ¡°Hmm¡­ I¡¯m starting to get familiar with most of their usernames, I¡¯ve got Sickness and Suffering pretty much pinned down. Sickness should be the one named Crowface, apparently that¡¯s got something to do with the world of human heroes, something about crow masks? And Suffering is ResoundingEchoes, this one I¡¯m certain because Hatred just calls her by name sometimes. I think they¡¯re pretty close. But Unfairness¡­ I don¡¯t think I have seen them, maybe they¡¯ve never shown up.¡± ¡°Right, the human hero world also has crows¡­ I know from Alith that they also have boars, ants, squids, and even chickens, can you believe that? Although apparently they don¡¯t all look quite the same.¡± ¡°Maybe they were summoned here too?¡± Cinthia guessed. ¡°Maybe. Or maybe it¡¯s the other way around, like we summon people and our animals get sent in their place?¡± ¡°Hatred says he¡¯s not allowed to tell,¡± Cinthia said with a shrug as she read her chat. ¡°The censor is as annoying as ever¡­¡± Sofia complained, ¡°What about summoning heroes, can the Recessed do it?¡± ¡°Very bad idea, does not work, is what he said,¡± Cinthia read, ¡°And Death sent a skull image.¡± ¡°Alright then¡­ Right, Zephir was quick to leave, any news from the sect?¡± ¡°We have two new inner disciples actually! They¡¯re twins!¡± Cinthia enthusiastically answered. ¡°Twins? I¡¯m guessing only one has a special class?¡± ¡°No! They actually have two special classes meant to work together, called [Marksman] and [Spotter]. I''ll introduce you when you come to visit next time. If Saria doesn¡¯t do it first.¡± Sofia and Cinthia kept chatting as they took a relaxed stroll through the city, stopping a few times on the way to buy Exidian street food which was oddly nostalgic to them. Eventually, they arrived at their destination, Death¡¯s cathedral. A white-robed exidian priest was standing in front of the closed entrance. ¡°Hi, is the cathedral not open today?¡± Sofias asked the priest. ¡°Greetings. A wedding is currently underway inside, you may come back in about an hour if your business is not urgent,¡± the priest informed them. ¡°We¡¯re here to see High-priest Leverle,¡± Sofia explained, ¡°Is he busy with the wedding?¡± ¡°Of course not, the High-priest is much too busy to attend the minor nobility¡¯s weddings himself¡­¡± the priest said with indignation, before he caught himself, ¡°Ah, please, forget this slip of the tongue. Aherm¡­ Do you have an appointment?¡± Sofia shook her head, ¡°No, but perhaps this should suffice to let me through?¡± she said as she produced her Exidian Mithril rank ID, which bore the mention ¡®Guarantor: High Priest of Death¡¯s church - Dr. Leverle (Mithrium n¡ã6)¡¯. The priest eyed the card, ¡°Our High-Priest is your guarantor?!¡± he exclaimed in shock, before he looked back down at the card, then back up at Sofia, ¡°Human?¡± he asked. ¡°Oh¡­¡± Sofia said, opening just the name and level section of her status to show the priest that the name matched, ¡°I just got done with the level 250 trial and got a racial evolution¡­¡± ¡°I see¡­ I suggest you get the card updated as soon as possible, lady Aphenoreth,¡± the priest said as he stepped aside, ¡°Do you need me to escort you ladies inside?¡± ¡°That won¡¯t be necessary, thank you!¡± Cinthia answered. ¡°Understood. Please try not to disturb the wedding,¡± the priest said before he closed the door after them.
Chapter 512 - You are courting death! Sofia and Cinthia were surprised to find the door to Leverle¡¯s office already open. The demon was covered in his usual long white robes, but he was sitting on the carpet, laying three cards face down on the floor. ¡°The troublemaker,¡± he said, turning a card face up, revealing a drawing of a sun. He then turned another card over, which had an image of a shadowy figure holding a tall scythe, ¡°the messenger¡­¡± Leverle¡¯s neck moved, his blank mask of a face turning in Sofia and Cinthia¡¯s direction, ¡°These cards represent you two,¡± he explained in a serious tone, ¡°the third represents your fate,¡± he finished, turning the third card over, on which there was a bleeding eye, ¡°Divine judgment.¡± ¡°Is that some kind of backhanded threat?¡± Sofia asked as she entered the office. ¡°Was that divination magic?¡± Cinthia chimed in with a question of her own. Leverle laughed, sweeping up the cards, ¡°No, and no. I jest, these cards have nothing magical, I bought these for fifty silver from a human hero artist. I quite like their design.¡± ¡°So you just wanted an excuse to call me a troublemaker?¡± Sofia continued, uncertain as to whether she should take that as a compliment or an insult. ¡°Would that be undeserved?¡± Leverle answered, standing up from the floor and adjusting his robes. Sofia closed the door, ¡°Admittedly no,¡± she conceded, ¡±I¡¯m happy to see that you didn¡¯t forget me, at least. One fewer thing to worry about.¡± Leverle poked his blank mask with one of his long clawed fingers, ¡°This shell forgets nothing, I¡¯m afraid. Not joy, not pain, and certainly not one with your name.¡± ¡°You call it a shell? Your mana heart must be in there, right?¡± Sofia continued, ignoring the not-so-subtle way to call her a pain, which, again, she felt might be a tiny bit deserved. ¡°That much is obvious. You have witnessed how frail the remainder of my body can be. But have you ladies come here to discuss demonic anatomy?¡± ¡°Death sent us to retrieve some essence,¡± Cinthia explained with a smile. She was comfortable around Leverle as they had spoken quite a few times during the school year, leading up to Cinthia and Saria getting the essences of Death to wager in the trial. ¡°So this is what the vision meant¡­¡± Leverle mumbled, ¡°Well, you already know how it goes. Come.¡± Leverle left the office through the opposite door, inviting his two guests to follow, he led them to the cathedral¡¯s underground, much like the first time when he gave Sofia the paper doll. ¡°How many do you think I can get?¡± Sofia asked as they climbed down the long flights of stairs behind Leverle. ¡°Perhaps none,¡± the demon answered, ¡°our lord Death might just be the only divine willing to give essence for free. Being able to receive them safely is another matter entirely.¡± ¡°Right¡­ Saria did mention it being annoying to deal with,¡± Sofia said. ¡°I and Saria had to get our limbs wrapped in cloth bands covered in sealing rituals, as well as a few other steps, to make sure that the essence didn¡¯t leak out,¡± Cinthia explained to Sofia, ¡°even with that it was not perfect and we had food rotting and nearby plants slowly dying for the entire trial,¡± she recounted. ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound so unsafe,¡± Sofia commented. ¡°With proper precautions, holding a single essence can be done, but it will take its toll on the host over time,¡± Leverle clarified, ¡°A single year is not that long of a time. But am I wrong in guessing that you hope to receive more than one essence? And on a more permanent basis?¡± ¡°I am kind of hoping that Creation designed my race well to handle that. My horns should be able to handle the issues, I think.¡± ¡°Let us hope so,¡± Leverle said nonchalantly, ¡°as what essence has been given cannot be taken back.¡± ¡°Wait¡­ It cannot?¡± Cinthia asked, ¡°But in the trial¡­¡± Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. ¡°That is different,¡± Leverle stopped her, ¡°the completion of a mana heart does eject the essence for a brief moment, allowing the Divinity to get it back. That is something one is only able to do once. As I explained prior to Sofia, the other ways to get rid of a divine essence are either the holder or the divinity¡¯s death.¡± ¡°I feel like I should be able to handle five anyway,¡± Sofia confidently said, ¡°I received five from Sun with no issue after all, maybe they will even hold each other in check or something like that?¡± ¡°There is no such thing,¡± Leverle clarified, shaking his mask, ¡°Death and Sun¡¯s essences would not interact in the first place. Although both will be linked to you in that scenario, they are still on opposite planes of reality, utterly unable to affect each other. Nevertheless, Death will be grateful for each essence you can take.¡± Sofia nodded in agreement, ¡°Mutually beneficial deals are the best kind.¡±
After going down thousands of steps, they finally made it to a vast underground chamber with walls full of holes, most of them filled with stone coffins. Pillars lit up with blue fire as Leverle led them toward a platform in the center of the chamber. ¡°Blue fire again, I have seen that before¡­ In Domination¡¯s pyramid. And I think Sun¡¯s saintess also used it. It doesn¡¯t even feel that hot, care to explain what it is?¡± Sofia asked while Leverle adjusted the ritual circles carved into the platform¡¯s floor by pulling levers, which rotated sections of said floor. ¡°Soul fire,¡± Leverle explained absent-mindedly, ¡°What burns there is spiritual matter, in this case, severed part of my own soul. Soul fire is long-lasting, does not need an air supply, is very bright, and does not produce smoke, making it ideal to use in enclosed areas.¡± ¡°You- You burn your own soul?!¡± Cinthia asked, taken aback. ¡°What else is one to do with so much surplus? And it adds to the ambiance. But this is not the topic. Please stay here in the center,¡± Leverle directed Sofia, ¡°And you, come down with me.¡± ¡°Yes! Death just sent a smiling face through the chat, by the way.¡± ¡°Then we can proceed,¡± Leverle continued, ¡°your presence facilitates things once again.¡± ¡°Am I not going to get any of the seals or protection?¡± Sofia asked as she took place on the platform. ¡°No such things for you. These are temporary fixes at best. If you react negatively to the essence, we will have to stop at one.¡± ¡°Alright¡­ Actually, would it help if I switch to my Apostle form? I have to empty my mana, and can only maintain it for five minutes.¡± Leverle shook his mask, ¡°Perhaps had you still been human that would have been necessary, but your current body should not be susceptible to common failures.¡± ¡°If you say so. I¡¯m ready then.¡± If this is anything like how Knowledge lent his essence to Pareth, this should be over quickly. Just as Leverle started to activate the ritual on the platform from a distance, Cinthia called out to Sofia, ¡°Sorrow wishes you good luck, Sofia!¡± Good luck? As the ritual flared up under Sofia¡¯s feet, colors drained from the world in an instant, leaving everything as blurry shades of white. I did not expect the sudden Spirit plane transition, I still feel fine, though. I¡¯m more than used to this at this point¡­ Am I going to get dragged to the Recessed plane next? That might actually be a bit¡­ I thought I was just going to receive the essence. As Sofia waited, observing Cinthia and Leverle¡¯s souls, she understood what Leverle meant by ¡®surplus soul¡¯. His soul was vaguely in the shape of some humanoid race, but it was hard to tell which. It constantly bloated and bubbled, and sometimes a small bubble would detach itself and be gathered by some kind of weird ghost which floated a few steps behind the Apostle. He¡¯s got his own things going on, huh¡­ The white forms became more and more blurry, and like caught in the turmoil of a forming tornado, began to get swept away as the world slowly turned dim and gray. Maybe because the change was gradual, she could look around from the get go, unlike the time when the mysterious god had stranded her in Peace¡¯s domain, but everything was too blurry to discern. Having lost the feeling of her own body, she focused on the essences within her, doing the same thing she once did in the gods¡¯ plane, building herself a body of light through the [Venerable physique of the primeval void], but with her Recessed essences as a basis this time. They could have warned me that it was going to be like that¡­ As Sofia¡¯s body formed, made of black light fuelled by Sorrow and Dread¡¯s essences, she could finally start to make sense of the blurry gray shapes around her. She found herself in a thick forest, the trunks of trees were made of dirt-covered bones and skulls, overgrown with gray grass, moss, flowers and vines. ¡°Ah- ah,¡± Sofia tried to speak. ¡°That works just like the Gods¡¯ plane. No fishing hut this time. Death¡¯s domain I suppose? I didn¡¯t expect to get a direct meeting.¡± She touched one of the skulls embedded in the trees, it felt cold, prickly and weird, nothing like the real sensation of touch. Moving around in this plane was even harder than it had been in Peace¡¯s domain, where she already felt like she was underwater, at the moment she felt like she was moving through a thick sludge. Still, she started moving from the spot she had appeared in, eager to see if she could find Death itself in this dense forest of flowery bones.
Chapter 513 - Looking Death in the Eye Moving between the bone trees, Sofia found a hole in the dense canopy, affording her a look at the ¡®sky¡¯, which looked like a swirling vortex of gray clouds. ¡°Not some kind of weird sky-sea this time. The complete silence feels strange.¡± Looking around, it was hard to see far in any direction, the bone trees and their dense gray foliage obscured the way no matter where she looked. ¡°Seeking death is taking on an entire new meaning¡­¡± Sofia commented for herself as she picked a direction at random and started walking. She felt strangely at peace walking through the strange forest. ¡°This is when you know you¡¯ve made it as a necromancer. Will Death be mad if I steal this tree design for Zangdar? I should be able to reproduce this pretty easily. I have to say, though, this place would look much better with actual colors¡­¡± Making slow progress through the dense forest, Sofia couldn¡¯t help but let her mind wander, and she started questioning her current situation a bit more. ¡°This shouldn¡¯t be any kind of trap but was this whole thing really necessary? And am I not in some kind of danger right now? Out of all the places someone shouldn¡¯t go this feels like a given¡­¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ Maybe Death is taking the opportunity exactly because I¡¯m uniquely suited to come here. VPPV allows me to move around. The Deep-given protection from instant death, and [Singularity Edict] can also protect me from the semi-continuous type of damage that usually floods out when the templars use holy smite with Death¡¯s power.¡± The forest looks a little bit less dense in that direction¡­ Could this be the way out? ¡°Can gods visit each other? Could Sorrow come here? Actually, where is ¡®here¡¯? Do locations in the physical plane and here link to one another in some way? It could also be more like the margin, where the rings take us to Zangdar no matter where we start from¡­¡± So many questions¡­ Slowly but surely, Sofia made her way out of the bone tree forest. ¡°A wheat field now?¡± Right out of the forest, she found herself in what looked like a wheat field extended as far as the eye could see, lightly swayed by a non-existent breeze. Something about it felt wrong, Sofia felt observed, as if something was hiding in the fields, staring at her. She stopped at the edge of the field and the forest, observing the wheat from up-close. ¡°Oh. The wheat grains are tiny eyes. Lovely.¡± Taking a few steps to the left and to the right, it became obvious that the wheat¡¯s eyes were indeed staring at her. ¡°I don¡¯t feel like turning back, so¡­ It¡¯s just eyes, I can deal with it,¡± she said to herself as she stepped into the field. The eyed-wheat parted by itself to let her through, bending out of her way. ¡°That makes things easier. Why the eyes, though? Why are the divine always so full of eyes? I thought it was only the Gods but it turns out the Recessed are the same¡­ Even the skill I¡¯m supposed to get from my quest¡­ Eye of the Orator? Always eyes¡­ And the place they sent Hugo was the eye of creation. Is there like¡­ A hidden lord of eyes influencing the world to be full of them?¡± Sofia walked through the fields in a straight line, and the crazy thoughts kept coming. ¡°It¡¯s not even that weird for eyes to be everywhere, in hindsight. The planes all seem to have their own color themes. Like a messed up rainbow. And what would be the point of these colors without eyes to see them? If there¡¯s one common point to every plane no matter which one, it¡¯s light. What allows me to exist, even now: light. The strongest god? Sun, the god of light. Even in the margin and the deep, in places where there¡¯s no mana, even when there¡¯s no obvious source of it, there is light. Mr. Scribe worked to create a stronger race for us, the keywords were ¡®divine shadow body¡¯, result? Venerable physique of the primeval void, and the Lumian race, a new race based on light¡­¡± Sofia¡¯s meandering thoughts were interrupted by the vision of something new on the horizon. Smoke? She could not see what produced the smoke, as it was very far away, but considering she was walking through Death¡¯s domain without a set direction, she changed trajectory to go check out the smoke. ¡°I think¡­ I want to take a break after going to Sorrow¡¯s. Study light for a bit. A lot of my skills are light-based so it can¡¯t hurt¡­ Can I find a light mage? Maybe I should go ask Phillip, since he¡¯s a Chromatic Dragon. Might as well stop by his daughter''s shop since I¡¯m already in Exidia.¡± Following the smoke brought Sofia out of the wheat fields, and into rocky plains, littered with the bones of giants. Of course she was in no state to bring them with her, if that was even possible, but just looking at them would be enough to make her drool, had she still had a regular mouth. The skulls of these dead giants were large enough that she could enter them through their nose. She found one half buried in the ground, which made it easy for her to walk up the skeleton¡¯s spine and take some altitude. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. The rocky plains were like the remains of a battlefield of giants, further in, there were gigantic swords and lances buried in the ground with the dead giants. ¡°Most of these giant skeletons look decidedly human. Just imagining Pareth in such a big skeleton¡­ Is there a place like this in the physical plane? If so, I need to find it.¡± Putting her dreams of giant skeletons aside, she looked for the smoke, which was still distant, and despite the height of her new vantage point, she still couldn¡¯t see where exactly it was coming from. She resumed her walk through the silent domain of Death. The more she walked through the plains of giants, the more she started to find some liquid pooling on the ground, in between the rocks and the grass. It was hard to tell what it was, considering that Sofia already felt like she was underwater, and that, just like everything else in this plane, it was in a random shade of gray. Sofia guessed it was probably water, but it could really be anything else. Eventually the number of giant skeletons became sparse, and the pools of liquid started to connect and flow, turning into a silent river. The river was flowing in the direction of the smoke, so Sofia followed. The rocky plains became flatter as she went, and there were no more bones, just the swerving river. Until the ground started to become weird. Sofia found a hole. It was just a big hole in the ground, she couldn¡¯t see the bottom, as it was all gray. Not wanting to fall, after checking it out once, Sofia moved on. But as she followed the river further, there were more and more such holes. At times, to avoid them, she was forced to step into the river, making her advance even slower than it already was. Then she found the end of the river. The entire rest of the horizon was a hole. The holes had become so numerous that there was nothing else left, as if this was the edge of the world, the river through itself into the gray void below. But the source of the smoke was still out of sight, in the gray void. Sofia stopped on a small rock, not far from the edge. ¡°What now? I cannot fly here¡­¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Or can I?¡± ¡°I never tried that here, but¡­ With [Dodge Me], I can walk on air¡­¡± Sofia took a step into the air, leaving herself speechless. I cannot believe that this works¡­ Very well. Sofia walked up to the edge of the river, and she took a step into the void. She thought that she had long conquered her fear of falling, but the great gray abyss below still made her uneasy. Yet, since [Dodge me] worked, she continued, taking one step after the next in the direction of the distant smoke, until she could not even see a trace of the river when she looked back. After a long while, the source of the smoke revealed itself, the chimney of a lone small log cabin, floating in the void. This feels like a fever dream¡­ Before she knew it, Sofia was in front of the cabin¡¯s door, she did not even remember walking up to it. Everything was still silent. She knocked on the door. There was no response, but Sofia heard the quiet ¡®click¡¯ of a lock being opened, and the door slightly opened by itself without the doorknob even moving. Taking this as an invitation to enter, Sofia stepped in. The cabin was as small as it looked, not even half as large as the room she had been imprisoned in at the church, there was barely enough space for a bed, a small table with two chairs, a few cabinets and the chimney, burning strange twisted logs with a silent fire. A thing was on the opposite side of the cabin from the door, its back facing Sofia, looking out of one of the cabin¡¯s three windows. It looked like a pile of gray tattered rags in a vaguely humanoid shape. ¡°Death?¡± Sofia asked under her breath, silently closing the door behind her. She blinked, and the pile of rags was no more, but the entity looking out the window still existed. It had become something else. Some kind of horned and furry thing, like a demonic goat standing on two legs, dripping with blood that made no sound when it hit the cabin¡¯s floor. Sofia was startled by the sudden change, taking a step back. She blinked again. Now the gray creature was a wall of eyes, looking in all directions. It made Sofia extremely uneasy, her thoughts were becoming cloudy. Uncomfortable, she looked away. Focusing her attention on the cabin¡¯s wooden furniture, but her eyes were inevitably drawn back to the thing, which had changed again. It was a decayed, humanoid plant, its body covered in constantly blooming and wilting flowers. Another blink and Sofia found herself staring thoughtlessly at a mass of tangled hair and gnarly protruding nails, covered in paper slips that bore unknown uncanny symbols. Her sanity was slowly slipping away, coherent thoughts struggling to form. Her mind became more foggy every time she blinked and witnessed another one of the creature¡¯s forms. A low, calm and soothing voice came from where the creature stood, to bring the madness to a stop. ¡°You should close your eyes,¡± it said. And despite Sofia¡¯s current form having no eyes, it was evident that she could blink, so closing her eyes was also something she could do. She mindlessly followed the voice¡¯s advice. Her entire world became nothing but the color gray, and her thoughts gradually came back to normal. ¡°You are admirably resilient,¡± the comforting voice said after a long silence. ¡°Do you remember where the chairs are? Feel free to take a seat.¡± Sofia nodded, and fumbled around a bit, eventually managing to sit on the wooden chair thanks to the voice¡¯s guidance. ¡°Right there. You can relax, just keep your eyes closed,¡± the voice continued. It was still coming from next to the window. ¡°I¡¯m sorry that you had to walk all the way here. I had to make sure you would be able to withstand coming near me.¡± ¡°I-... It¡¯s nothing,¡± Sofia answered, softly, ¡°It was a peaceful journey.¡± ¡°I am glad you enjoyed it,¡± Death answered, a smile in his voice, ¡°most others are none too eager to follow such a grim path.¡±
Chapter 514 - A fate worse than death ¡°Ah¡­ I also want to apologize¡­¡± Sofia told Death while keeping her eyes tightly shut. ¡°Apologize? What for?¡± Death answered calmly, sounding more curious than anything else. ¡°Well¡­ I did turn down your blessing for Sun¡¯s when I had to choose, and there was also the [Avatar of Death] skill, and I put Leverle in a bad position with the paper doll¡­¡± ¡°Is that it?¡± Death asked, his voice peaceful as ever, ¡°I appreciate the sentiment but you need not apologize. You are free to choose your own path in life; it would be disgraceful of me to take offense to such things. I am happy that Sorrow got to rebuild a family of her own, if anything.¡± ¡°I¡¯m glad to hear that¡­ Then, may I ask a few things?¡± Sofia tried, knowing that no matter what, her time here was limited, as the others were waiting for her outside. ¡°It would be my pleasure to answer.¡± ¡°Thank you very much, then, in continuation of our conversation¡­ Can you tell me a bit more about Sorrow? Despite everything, I feel like I barely got to know her. I have interacted with Sun a lot more at this point¡­¡± Death stifled a weak laugh, ¡°The Sun is hard to avoid, after all, is it not?¡± ¡°Not that I mind, Sun has been extremely helpful to me so far,¡± Sofia started, after a second, thinking back to the sun temple¡¯s quest, she finished, ¡°most of the time.¡± ¡°It is not disinterested of her,¡± Death explained, ¡°Sun is keeping you close because of your relation to the Deep; still, you would be hard pressed to find a more trustworthy ally in this world. She is keeping everyone alive, in more ways than one. But, to answer your question about Sorrow, I am sorry to say, she wants you to learn more by yourself.¡± ¡°By myself?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Death confirmed, ¡°When you open the doors to her old palace, you will learn a lot, and even perhaps earn more of her essence. Be warned, though, it will not be without danger.¡± ¡°Business as usual. Thank you for relaying her message, then. I have two more questions if you don¡¯t mind.¡± ¡°Only two?¡± Death repeated, ¡°My Son had a thousand questions for me when we first met.¡± ¡°Well¡­ I don¡¯t want to be a bother. Every time I meet someone knowledgeable I end up peppering them with questions for hours on end¡­¡± ¡°That is nothing,¡± Death reassured her, ¡°those of us who have lived thousands of years certainly can afford to spend a few hours to help raise the new generation, can we not? These last few years in particular, not only around you but all over the world, we have been blessed by great luck. A golden generation of geniuses rising to shake things up in this stale world. I fear your rank in the spire may be at risk.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be glad for anyone else who has what it takes to triumph over Victory. Who knows, Shaily might just get there.¡± ¡°She certainly has potential,¡± Death confirmed, ¡°but she is not the one I would bet on.¡± ¡°A blessing from the Deep is hard to beat,¡± Sofia commented, ¡°Who would that be, then? Someone I know?¡± ¡°Ahah, no. They are quite literally on the other side of the world. A hero summoned from a world you have yet to hear about, I believe. A very ambitious young man named Ezerid. But let us not get distracted, what were those two questions you deemed worthy of dismissing the others for, I wonder?¡± ¡°Alright¡­ First, and this is perhaps the simpler one,¡± Sofia started, ¡°Why the eyes on the wheat. And why the eyes everywhere, in general.¡± Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. ¡°Like the one in your head?¡± Death asked in a light tone, ¡°A good observation, if an obvious one. The field of eyes is a result of the same thing, your reflections on the way were not that far from the truth. But it is a bit hard to explain. These are my own and Sun¡¯s observations, but the prevalence of eyes, especially in the divine realms, is so that there are ¡®observers¡¯. It seems, for one reason or another, that for something to truly exist, it must be observed. That is more so true the furthest you go from the mana field.¡± ¡°Wait¡­ I think I get it¡­ Kind of. The margin is the furthest place from the ¡®mana field¡¯, then?¡± ¡°That is so. The ¡®Margin¡¯, or the primeval void, as you might also know it, is the great barrier between what is and what is not. It is where everything began and where everything ends. In such a place, something, or someone, without an observer, is liable to simply disappear from existence,¡± Death explained, his voice still coming from near the window. ¡°And so the divine realms being far from the mana also need a lot of eyes to make sure things keep existing¡­ I see. I have a hard time understanding how or why this works, but I can wrap my head around the concept¡­ Oh¡­ This is probably what my [Edgewalker] racial skill is, isn¡¯t it? It says ¡®You are immune from slipping out of reality.¡¯ I thought it might have something to do with the Deep but I suppose not. Is it because of the eye in my head, then? It¡¯s constantly observing ¡®me¡¯ so I cannot disappear?¡± ¡°You learn fast,¡± Death commented without confirming nor denying Sofia¡¯s conclusion, ¡°What about your other question?¡± he continued curiously. ¡°Right. It is about the un-life rune from my [False Immortality] skill. I was wondering if it had any link to you, and if not, if you could give me insight on how it works, as I have been completely unable to understand it at all by myself.¡± ¡°A good choice of questions,¡± Death commented, ¡°It is entirely unrelated to my divine influence, but explaining how the magic works should not be outside of my capabilities. Give me an instant to make a system-request, I might as well get a look at the skill blueprint.¡± You can do that? ¡°Hmm. I see,¡± Death said after a few seconds of silence, ¡°interesting. The history of this skill is quite something. It was originally designed by a Kleptra to facilitate molting, and was then copied and refined by an unnamed Lich, before the current iteration was finalized by another. Someone we both know quite well.¡± ¡°Richard?¡± ¡°Precisely,¡± Death confirmed, ¡°although his version then got worked on by the system itself to adapt it to you. So this would be the fourth generation of this skill. Now give me an instant to review how it works¡­ Hmm, that is simple enough. An elegant design, as expected of the High-Scribes.¡± ¡°Simple?¡± Sofia repeated, ¡°Simply looking at the rune for a few minutes is enough to give me a headache even now¡­¡± ¡°Understandable, the function is simple, the magic is not. Do you know about what is traditionally called un-life?¡± Death asked. ¡°I get that it is some kind of opposite to undeath, but I¡¯ve not managed to find much more about it.¡± ¡°Undeath is a living soul without a living body,¡± Death simply explained. ¡°I see¡­ Unlife is a living body without a living soul¡­¡± ¡°Yes. The skill does two things, firstly, it disconnects your soul and your body, maintaining a discreet link through mana only. This allows your soul to survive unscathed even should your body be reduced to ashes. This technically puts your body into a position of unlife, hence the name of the skill, and the healing restrictions. They are a result of the disconnect. Secondly, it keeps a record of your complete physical body, like a secondary blueprint, and a reserve of mana to explosively rebuild it from scratch if needed as soon as it goes from unlife to death.¡± ¡°I get it, thank you for the explanation,¡± Sofia thanked him, ¡°but¡­ There is one thing I still don¡¯t understand, then. Wouldn¡¯t the record be destroyed when the rune itself is destroyed with my body? How can it still work?¡± ¡°You would have the paranoid Lich to thank for that. The reason that the rune is so hard to understand is the same reason it outlasts destruction. Not only is it encrypted with the signature of your own mana, meaning that only your mana can decrypt it and use it to rebuild your body, but it also exists in multiple planes at once, in a state of superposition. One would have to destroy the rune in all the planes to prevent it from activating upon your death.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ When Erredis said Richard was hard to kill¡­ I am starting to get it¡­¡± Death laughed freely for the first time in the conversation, ¡°You should expect nothing less from the second biggest supplier of my divine essence.¡± ¡°Only second?¡± ¡°Indeed. This first is¡­ Very special. But let us not stray too far from the goal of your visit. Should we proceed with the essence transfer?¡± Death offered.
Chapter 515 - Death grip ¡°How is that going to work? Sun basically just sent me hers and I barely felt the difference,¡± Sofia asked, keeping her eyes closed. ¡°I will be giving them to you one by one, it might feel strange but please try to stay still. Thanks to Cinthia I am able to observe how your real body reacts, so I can see whether you are capable of taking more.¡± ¡°Alright. Ready when you are. Just to make sure, is it really going to help you if I take them away? Sun told me it did not change much that I had hers¡­¡± ¡°It does help, not much but it does. That is, assuming you are able to contain them well. Let us see.¡± The wooden floor creaked as Death came close, and Sofia felt a cold hand slowly coming to a rest atop her head. ¡°Let us begin,¡± Death said calmly, as a chilling sensation started to spread all over Sofia¡¯s fake body of black light. It felt a bit like getting splashed by cold water, the freezing sensation of which seeped into one¡¯s bones. ¡°How do you feel?¡± Death asked. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ Not the most pleasant experience, but it is also not that bad,¡± Sofia answered. ¡°Much better than expected already. Everything looks fine on the outside too, so I should be able to safely transfer the first essence.¡± ¡°W- wait, that was not it?¡± ¡°No, I just brought the essence close, it would not end well to force an essence upon you if simple contact had already been too much. Unlike most divine essences, mine clashes directly with the recipient¡¯s life, which is why finding a permanent host is such a difficult task.¡± ¡°Would that not work with undead people, then?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°No, the effects are even worse in one devoid of life. Without a host¡¯s life to clash with the essence, there is nothing to stop the essence from leaking into the outside world. It is not my wish to create cursed children spreading death and decay everywhere their journey takes them.¡± ¡°What about Leverle? He contains it fine, does he not?¡± ¡°That he does,¡± Death approved in a lighthearted tone, ¡°but my son is a special case. He was uniquely suited to host my essence, even before his path took him to me, much like you are now. You should stop talking and concentrate while I send the essence.¡± Sofia wanted to nod but that was hard considering her current state, so she patiently waited. The cold sensation soon started to become stronger, and she could feel something hanging above her head. As it came closer, it was like her head of black light froze over and cracked, the feeling was not as much pain as it was extreme discomfort, like an unbearable itch, like one¡¯s body and mind screaming that it needed to escape, to stay as far away from the thing as possible and never come close again. Ignoring all that, Sofia sat as still as she could on the chair. Cold¡­ But I have lived through worse. The freezing ball of death slowly made its way through her head and neck, which felt like getting slowly submerged into a glacial lake upside down, until it stopped at her heart, and the freezing started to recede. Slowly, in waves, it became weaker and weaker, until all that was left was the cold and uneasy sensation of having a frozen nail stuck in one¡¯s chest, like a heart attack about to happen. ¡°How are you doing?¡± Death asked just as soon as the essence settled. ¡°It¡­ It started really bad. But now it¡¯s fine. I just hope what I¡¯m feeling now won¡¯t follow me into my real body¡­¡± ¡°Ah¡­¡± Death sighed, ¡°It seems the weaker side effects cannot be bypassed no matter what¡­ It should be like my son, then. From his own account, the sensation will become dulled while in the spirit plane, and only a faint cold sensation in the chest will remain in the physical plane, like someone¡¯s slightly cold hand resting on you. It will get stronger the more essence you get.¡± ¡°I see¡­ Is everything fine on the other side?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°There is no leaking into the outside world thus far,¡± Death confirmed, ¡°judging from this, you should be able to safely keep at least three essences, but the choice is your, we can stop now, if you want.¡± The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°How many does Leverle have?¡± ¡°My son holds three,¡± Death answered. ¡°Then let¡¯s do at least that. I feel like I can handle it,¡± Sofia announced confidently. Ideally she wanted to take five or six, but she had to make sure it wouldn¡¯t become a bother in the real world first. That being said, she was someone who had lived for a good while as a stripe of flesh plastered onto a bone statue, so she was quite used to ¡®minor physical annoyances¡¯. ¡°As you wish. Let me know if it becomes too much, at any sign from you I will stop,¡± Death said with concern. ¡°Understood.¡± ¡°Then, let us begin anew.¡± The second essence went like the first, and it settled in a similar manner, it now felt to Sofia like she had two frozen nails embedded inside her chest instead of one. Seeing that she said nothing, Death proceeded with the third one, which went the same exact way again. Death stopped, and Sofia felt his hand pull away from her ¡®head¡¯, ¡°How is it now,¡± he asked. ¡°Like triple what it was before?¡± Sofia answered awkwardly, which made Death lightly laugh. ¡°Then all is well,¡± Death concluded, ¡°the sensation in the physical plane should not strengthen quite as much, but it might be the right time to conclude our session this time, and let you judge by yourself. If you still feel like you can handle more after your next trip, you may come back for it.¡± ¡°That feels like a good idea,¡± Sofia confirmed, ¡°I have a last question, if you do not mind, which recessed do you think I should go to for essences next?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ Let me see,¡± Death said as he walked back to the window. After about a minute, he spoke again, ¡°If we are to be considerate to Sorrow, not to slow your upcoming trip too much, then there are two places you may go. First is to the closest of Taxes¡¯ shrines, in the beast-continent¡¯s dwarven isles, as Taxes¡¯ asking price is quite cheap, a simple half of all the money and raw material you own at the current time. His offer is not time-limited, but should you spend your wealth, the price does not go down, it will however go up if you accumulate more wealth. And secondly, you may go release the soul of an unborn son of Rejection in exchange for the essence it is holding.¡± Half of all the wealth I own? I wouldn¡¯t call that ¡®quite cheap¡¯... But I guess it is, all things considered. ¡°Do I get more information on both of those?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°Cinthia can give you the details,¡± Death answered lightheartedly, ¡°It is now time for us to part ways.¡± Sofia stood up from the chair, surprisingly, she felt less burdened than before, being able to move easier than she remembered, she opened her eyes, witnessing a new form of Death, which looked like a cracked vaguely human-shaped clay pot oozing with dark liquid, ¡°Thank you for everything,¡± she said, trying her best to bend her black light form into a proper bow. The pot turned around, Sofia only being able to see the bottom of it scraping against the wooden floor, ¡°You are welcome. Let it be known that Death enjoyed your company,¡± the deity¡¯s deep voice concluded as Sofia felt like her soul was getting yanked away from her. Before she knew it, she opened her eyes back in the underground chamber of Death¡¯s cathedral, surrounded by two skeleton, a shy orc and a blank-masked demon. ¡°Sofia!¡± Bookie was first to react, grabbing her leg, while Pareth silently nodded and Cinthia looked back and forth at her and her chat, giving Sofia a hand sign. ¡°Welcome back,¡± Leverle greeted, ¡°Are you feeling well?¡± Sofia gave Bookie a head pat as she answered Leverle, ¡°Better than I expected, my chest feels a bit cold,¡± she observed, ¡°all good beyond that.¡± ¡°You will get used to it,¡± the demon reassured her, ¡°You are now one of Death¡¯s high priests,¡± he explained, while producing a white robe out of nowhere, ¡°as such these garments are yours, and you may seek Death¡¯s protection in this and His other places of worship.¡± That was unexpected but it does make sense¡­ ¡°Thank you,¡± Sofia awkwardly answered as she grabbed and unfolded the white robes, ¡°Is that Death¡¯s rune?¡± she asked, seeing the giant rune embroidered on the back. ¡°That is so. Should the power of the essences start to leak, this robe will temporarily hold them back,¡± Leverle explained, his white mask rotating in place like an owl¡¯s face, ¡°it also offers a decent protection against all other divine magic, only for the bearers of Death.¡± ¡°That¡­ Will be incredibly useful, actually. Thank you very much,¡± Sofia thanked him with a bow. ¡°At ease, it is only Death you need to thank.¡± [Venerable physique of the primeval void] ? - Peak of the Light forging realm : Gather divine essence (30) to unlock the Boundless space realm. Current divine essence (17) :
  • Scripture (1)
  • Aphenoreth (1)
  • Dread (1)
  • Sorrow (1)
  • Ormoncleth (1)
  • Victory (1)
  • Sun (5)
  • Creation (2)
  • Life (1)
  • Death (3)
Then with Taxes and Rejection, I can get two more. We¡¯re getting there.
Chapter 516 - I thought you said the worse she could do was say no? Sofia, Cinthia, Pareth and bookie were all waiting at the bottom of a dungeon, in front of a large sealed door. Sofia grabbed the dagger from her belt, ¡°Since everyone says it¡¯s safe, let¡¯s reconnect, I¡¯d like to use another title here.¡± [Title changed to ¡®THE GLORIOUS¡¯] [Title change function is locked for the next 24 hours] [You have left Scribe-only privacy mode, all system functions have been restored] [A new title has been unlocked!] [A new title has been unlocked!] ? UNIQUE ? [Olympian]: Defeat a Sunless titan during the third trial. No, but seriously, why?! They¡¯re here to control the Sunless population and scare you off, not to be battered and thrown in a ditch! Do you have any idea how hard they were to create? Effect: Bring all your physical substats up to par with your current strongest (Maximum Health and Stamina unaffected). Hoooooooly, this one is ridiculous! With the huge strength boost the crown gives¡­ This might just become my new standard. [Off the Deep end]: Went to the Deep and back. Effect: Prevents your mind from producing audible thoughts. Huh. Alright¡­ Good against the Seraphims¡¯ mind reading, I guess? ¡°See,¡± Cinthia told Sofia, ¡°they were right, safe.¡± ¡°Safe¡­ Well. Time to go fight that apostle then. We¡¯re still positive it¡¯s only around the power of a level 299?¡± Cinthia nodded energetically, ¡°Because it¡¯s severely mutated, also the magic he will use is uncertain, although it should still be based on Rejection¡¯s dispel and redirect-heavy apostle design.¡± ¡°Alright. Pareth, stay out of this one unless it starts looking bad, basically just shield Cinthia so she can record everything and give the Recessed a good show. Bookie, you stay with me in book form, just in case.¡± Bookie nodded, and his skeleton form disappeared, and Pareth gave Sofia a thumbs up, raising his shield of light in front of Cinthia. Sofia looked at her stats, she had three unlife runes ready but was still able to refill her mana thanks to the Infinity engine. She sheathed the dagger back, and brought up her newly diamond-topped scepter. Do we want music? Hmm¡­ Probably not. Well¡­ Actually? I¡¯m kind of feeling the choir today. Let¡¯s say ten human skulls, five for the music and five for the voices. ¡°Sofia¡­ What is that for?¡± Cinthia asked, witnessing the ten skulls start to make atrocious rhythmic booming noises and distorted voices. ¡°Oh, this is just my orchestra. I worked on a few ¡®chants¡¯ while I was trapped in the margin. This one is named ¡®Berserker Destroyer¡¯, after the big worm I killed on Fenrir.¡± ¡°Is it supposed to sound like that?¡± Cinthia asked again, holding her head. ¡°Like it¡¯s making your bones shake and tearing out your ears? That¡¯s by design, really. It¡¯s meant to sound eerie and menacing. I¡¯m almost convinced this one can actually inflict some kind of mental damage, don¡¯t worry though, it¡¯s not as loud as long as you¡¯re not facing the skulls¡¯ mouths.¡± ¡°H- how did you even get them to make these sounds?!¡± ¡°I had a lot of free time¡­¡± ¡°I feel like my head is going to burst¡­¡± Cinthia complained. Sofia walked up to the door, the bone armor slowly forming over her clothes as her bone wings unfolded, she raised her right hand in front of the seal. ¡°That¡¯s the idea.¡± RIng of Zar. All the ambient mana collapsed into Sofia¡¯s ring, and the magical glow of the intricate magical seal on the heavy metallic doors faded. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Sofia kicked the door in and made her way into the final chamber of the dungeon as her choir¡¯s music overlapped with the sonorous howl of a distorted creature. [You have been affected by : insanity. But your skills negated the status] Sofia dismissed the constantly dinging alert as she prepared her first spell, blue plasma formed over her scepter as she walked in, lighting the otherwise dark underground chamber, and revealing the appearance of the failed apostle. [ ?????? ??????? ????? ?????????? ???????? ?????? ???? ??????????????? ??? ??????? ???????? ????????? ?????? ????? ??????? ????? - Lv. 399] Does not reflect its real power, just like Zerei back then¡­ Despite saying herself that, Sofia had to admit that the apostle in front of her was true nightmare fuel, it looked a bit like the hellspawns Richard kept in his vats, but turned inside out, with apparent bones and muscles, as well as its guts dragging on the floor. Already, the flames from The glorious title were starting to burn it. As the creature howled, it charged forward. Sofia activated the third tier of [Runeforged Overlord] and also charged at the last second, to get the strength bonus of [Dodge me]¡¯s chaos state. She slammed the 200 000 mana explosive bolt into her own chest. The explosion prevented the impact, and Sofia was immune to its damage, as she only took one instance of damage, from the initial stab, but she was blown back by the burst regardless, hitting the walls of the chamber above the door. Barely a scratch. Singularity Edict is too strong. Health : 814 124 / 822 762 She gave a quick glance to her health, then as soon as the explosion started to die down, Sofia used her mana senses to analyze the situation. Cinthia was safe behind Pareth, who had shielded her from the explosion without too much trouble, especially since he was also under the [Runeforged Overlord] effects. Meanwhile, the failed apostle had also been blown back but seemed protected by a magical shield, which had likely negated the damage completely. Not waiting for the dust to settle, Sofia channeled a piercing bolt as she propelled herself toward the creature, leaving a crater in the wall as she jumped from it. I feel like my fighting still is becoming too messy. Sofia let go of the piercing bolt as she made a 180 turn right before she impacted the creature''s shield, only for said bolt to be hit by a discharge of mana from the creature and rebound into a wall. The demon moved quickly, sensing its fist coming at her from below, Sofia stopped. The uppercut unnaturally curved around her, displaced by [Dodge - me]. What kind of a stupid idiot disables its shield to attack? Capitalizing on the dumb mistake of the brainless demon, Sofia did two things in an instant. First she grabbed the slimy muscles of the creature¡¯s head, pumping it full of [Aberrant sunlight]¡¯s cursed mana, and secondly, she used Heal Undead, targeting her new diamond spell catalyzer, which spread the light a thousand of rays going in all directions while activate [Erredian rot]. Almost instantly, the demon was covered in pulsating black rot. It sent an invisible magical attack at Sofia. She nullified it with [Heat Death] for the meager cost of about seventy-five thousand mana, never to know what the attack was. The demon then tried to pull back, and Sofia just let it go. She cast off her wings, disabling the third tier of [Runeforged Overlord], and simply stood in place as she showered the creature with a bright stream of light from above with Heal undead. She had sent right about three million mana points worth of aberrant sunlight curse into the demon¡¯s head. The demon seemed distraught, no longer howling, it was fighting against the irresistible urge to look at the source of the golden light coming from above. It was futile, as all the mana the failed demon had left was getting corrupted by the overwhelming quantity of cursed mana. It was not long until it completely lost control, and Sofia stayed floating in the air, constantly changing where she cast the Heal Undead light to appear from, getting the demon to crash from wall to wall in pursuit of the light, while applying layers upon layers of rot. The rot the demon was covered in feasted on the curse and on the demon¡¯s mana alike, quickly emptying its reserves as the flames of victory prevented it from regaining any. Eventually the curse ran out, as the demon no longer had any mana, but that left the rot free to absorb the demon¡¯s flesh instead. The demon fought back, but with no mana left to do anything, it was powerless to escape the sticky and ravenous black rot. Dust settled in the dungeon¡¯s last chamber, there remained nothing of Rejection¡¯s failed apostle beyond a pile of black carbon powder, and an essence that Sofia could not see. ¡®You have murdered [Zavrhelonatkir - Son of Rejection lv. 399]¡¯ She walked up to where the demon had died, just in case that would help absorb the essence, but supposedly she was to receive it either way as long as she was the killer and stood not too far. She dismissed the choir and her armor, turning around to make a victory pose for Cinthia. ¡°You¡¯re welcome, Rejection!¡± Then, she muttered to herself, ¡°Clean kill, too. Didn¡¯t even die, this time. Wasn¡¯t even close. It never landed a hit, and I still had half a mil mana points to spare.¡± ¡°Sofia,¡± Cinthia called out. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°You¡¯re scary,¡± the red-skinned orc confessed, sounding genuinely concerned. ¡°Really? This wasn¡¯t even so bad, I couldn¡¯t get to its bones because the muscles were too tough, but I would have turned it into a flesh carpet otherwise. Well. Good to see that I¡¯m not rusty. To taxes next?¡± ¡°To taxes¡­¡± Cinthia repeated.
Chapter 517 - Legend of the purple Dragon Sofia was flying next to the skeleton Quetzalcoatlus from Bookie that Cinthia was riding. ¡°You really need to get a flying skill of your own. What did you even ask as a reward for your bonus task?¡± Sofia asked, as she flew backwards to be facing Cinthia. ¡°You weren¡¯t there when I was explaining that?¡± Cinthia answered, ¡°Well I just asked for skill fusion tickets,¡± she explained with a wide smile. ¡°Fusion tickets?¡± Sofia repeated, ¡°you could have probably even asked for a specialization point, why fusion tickets?¡± ¡°Most of my skills have a token cost,¡± Cinthia explained, adjusting how she sat on her bone saddle, ¡°By fusing them together I can get the same effects for a cheaper cost. It¡¯s a lot better than having more skills I can¡¯t use.¡± ¡°Still, that feels underwhelming, how many tickets did you get?¡± ¡°They gave me ten!¡± Cinthia said, trying to give Sofia a thumbs up but quickly changing her mind once her hand left the skeleton¡¯s spine and she started slipping on the saddle. ¡°Alright I said nothing, ten fusion tickets is a lot. Also you don¡¯t have to worry about falling, I¡¯ll catch you, but even if I didn¡¯t you won¡¯t die from just that.¡± Cinthia looked down, the ocean was calm, but it was also thousands of meters below, ¡°I- I¡¯d still rather not fall, if you don¡¯t mind.¡± ¡°I used to be like that too, you get over it,¡± Sofia tried to reassure her, ¡°how¡¯s the viewership today?¡± ¡°Nobody¡¯s watching right now. It¡¯s often like that when I just travel, I have a passive that alerts those who want when I¡¯m in danger, though, so if anything happens a few of them will jump on to see what''s up and I can actually defend myself,¡± Cinthia explained, ¡°I bet a lot will be watching when we search for Sorrow¡¯s palace, though.¡± ¡°Are you still sure you want to come? I¡¯m not sure there will be anything in it for you.¡± ¡°If nothing else I¡¯ll get a lot of donations!¡± Cinthia answered enthusiastically, ¡°The trial dried me stocks up, I need to hoard a lot before next time. But what about you, you still cannot level up, right?¡± ¡°Yeah standard level ups are impossible to get back, it seems, but my scribe¡¯s been working on a replacement leveling method for a while though, I think it will be ready soon. No more regular experience gain for me. On the bright side, this seems to be the only permanent consequence for this entire thing, I can still get new skills thanks to the dagger and the system still handles my old skills¡¯ leveling.¡± ¡°I''m surprised you just accept that, it¡¯s not like the disqualification was your fault,¡± Cinthia continued. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be so fine with it if I didn¡¯t have an acceptable replacement for leveling up, but as it is, I don¡¯t really mind. I¡¯ve lived through and seen enough unbelievable things that something like not being able to level up the normal way? That¡¯s barely an inconvenience,¡± Sofia said with a shrug. ¡°Honestly these last few days I have been more worried about how Remia is doing than how I¡¯m going to get stronger next.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think anyone we know is better suited to take care of a dryad than Alith is,¡± Cinthia commented, ¡°And I¡¯m sure Bo- Saria will be able to find the missing rings in no time. Unlike me, she can fly, and quite fast too.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right. I wonder if she¡¯s faster than me, actually. My maximum flying speed is starting to get quite high. Still nothing compared to a real Dragon though. Erredis¡¯ ¡®flying¡¯ is almost like teleportation.¡± ¡°Yet she still avoids flying over the Leviathan?¡± ¡°Yeah, just like us. Speaking of, remember the dragon-girl from the shop?¡± ¡°She was so nice, I still can¡¯t believe she gave me that weapon for free¡­ And that was two days ago, of course I remember,¡± Cinthia answered, slightly offended, ¡°What about it?¡± ¡°Her father lives on an island somewhere around here. Wouldn¡¯t be able to tell you where exactly, though. Not many landmarks in the ocean.¡± Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. ¡°You¡¯re about five hundred kilometers too far to the south,¡± a third voice commented out of nowhere. The surprise almost made Sofia lose control of her wings, but she managed to correct the mistake before anything could happen, carried by her momentum. The voice came from a familiar tanned man wearing sunglasses, shorts, and an open floral shirt, he lazily walked through the air, effortlessly keeping up with the flying skeleton and Sofia. Cinthia was quick on the uptake, perhaps helped by a simple [identify] cast, ¡°You would be Lina¡¯s father, then? I am Cinthia, it¡¯s an honor to meet you.¡± ¡°Oh, please, my daughter¡¯s friends are my friends,¡± the man answered as he propped up his glasses on top of his head, revealing his deep green eyes, ¡°Almost didn¡¯t recognize you with the new horns, girl,¡± he continued, addressing Sofia. ¡°Hi, Phillip. Did you just happen to be nearby?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°Oh, no. Was chillin¡¯ on my small bit of land, but there ain¡¯t much going on around these parts so when someone comes close, I know about it. Wasn¡¯t going to invite myself in your conversation, but since you mentioned me,¡± he explained with his arms crossed behind his head. ¡°So you were listening?¡± Sofia asked with a raised brow. ¡°Of course. I wanted to stop spying several times, believe it or not, but the conversation was interesting so I kind of just kept listening,¡± he admitted without shame, ¡°How is Erri doing, by the way? Haven¡¯t heard of her for a hot minute.¡± ¡°Erri?¡± Cinthia repeated. ¡°Erredis,¡± Sofia explained, ¡°Same as always, she spends most of her time locked up in her workshop making strange things.¡± ¡°Aye, to think she finally came down only to keep doing the same shit somewhere else. Some people never change. Might have to go see her myself if it¡¯s gonna be like that,¡± Phillip said, shaking his head, ¡°What about you girls, hear you say something about searching for Sorrow¡¯s palace?¡± ¡°Yeah, I am Sorrow¡¯s Apostle, after all,¡± Sofia simply answered. ¡°You are? Man you don¡¯t look it. Apostles sure¡¯ve changed,¡± Phillip said before he stopped dead in his tracks. Sofia noticed and stopped, ordering her skeleton to do the same. She flew back a few hundred meters to Phillip, who was just standing still in the air. ¡°Is something wrong?¡± Cinthia was the one to ask. Phillip blinked a few times. ¡°Is anything not wrong? Why the fuck you carrying so much essence around, are you trying to become Stebron the second?!¡± he asked Sofia, an incredulous expression on his face. ¡°Stebron? Oh, isn¡¯t that the name of a planet?¡± Sofia remembered. ¡°Never heard of Stebron the god-eater?¡± he continued. ¡°No?¡± Phillip scratched his head. ¡°Well, at least it must not be that, since you don¡¯t know¡­ Stebron is on of ¡®em mighty fucked-in-the-head five-digiters. He¡¯s been gambling with the gods for their essence for thousands of fucking years and nobody knows why. Real mad in the head, I tell you.¡± ¡°I see, well, it¡¯s my first time hearing about that, I just need the essence for the racial skills of my new race. Courtesy of Creation himself.¡± ¡°The fuck is Clint smoking¡­¡± ¡°Oh, right, speaking of Clint, did you name Lina after Life?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°Her birth name is Veliana¡­¡± Phillip explained with a sigh, ¡°I told her to stop calling herself Lina but she never listens to me¡­¡± ¡°I see, I thought there might be something like that when I learned that the planet was named Veliadren and I understood it was a draconic name.¡± ¡°Of course, after all it was elder Avross who named the planets¡­ Anyway, you might wanna be careful about this. Stebron might actually fuckin¡¯ attack you on sight with all the essence you¡¯re carrying,¡± Phillip warned. ¡°Great, now I¡¯ve got some old crazy Dragon to worry about. Just what I needed.¡± ¡°This¡­¡± Phillip took some time to think, standing there in the middle of the sky. ¡°Where were you girls going?¡± he finally asked after a long silence. ¡°Taxes¡¯ shrine in the dwarven isles,¡± Cinthia answered. ¡°Getting another essence?¡± Phillip asked, wide eyed. ¡°Exact,¡± Sofia confirmed. ¡°Erm¡­ Alright. I¡¯ll take you there, since I need to move anyway¡­ I¡¯ll go get Erri and we¡¯ll have a long talk. You won¡¯t need to worry about Stebron after that.¡± ¡°Just like that? If it¡¯s that simple maybe she already handled it?¡± Sofia wondered, ¡°But I will take you up on the faster travel, since you offered, thank you.¡± ¡°She clearly hasn¡¯t done shit since there hasn¡¯t been a council in the last three hundred years¡­¡± Phillip muttered, ¡°Anyway, with two of us vouching for you even Stebron will keep his distances. You¡¯ll owe me one for this, so try to help my girl with her shop or something, alright? Maybe send her new clients. Can¡¯t believe Erri can still be this irresponsible sometimes¡­¡± ¡°Alright, sure¡­¡° Sofia agreed. The entire thing had kind of come out of nowhere, it was nice to know that a potential future problem would be taken care of, at least. ¡°Let¡¯s get to it, I¡¯ll get you to the dwarves in seconds,¡± Phillip finally said before he took some distance and transformed.
Chapter 518 - The birthplace of all evil Phillip transformed, producing a thick deluge of mana not unlike Erredis when she transformed on the moon, despite being of a similar shape, he was about twice her size, and his scales looked like giant cut and polished emeralds, shining with vibrant green hues. A bubble of green light appeared around Sofia and Cinthia, and with a clawed dragon paw, Phillip grabbed the bubble. Then, with a bang, the Dragon departed. The bubble protected them from the acceleration and the wind, leaving them to observe the world zooming by between Phillip¡¯s giant claws. ¡°We¡¯re going so fast!¡± Cinthia exclaimed, looking at the outside, it was hard to focus on anything, even the clouds below turning to a mere white blur because they were going too fast. ¡°It¡¯s not that fast,¡± Sofia answered, ¡°I¡¯m relatively certain Erredis could fly all the way around the planet in a few seconds if she wanted to, so he must be the same.¡± ¡°Can you even be impressed by anything anymore?¡± Cinthia asked curiously. ¡°Yeah, but I would be lying if I said it wasn¡¯t getting harder when I¡¯m out here paying a visit to Death and Taxes like I¡¯m just going shopping for a new sword. I¡¯m almost surprised that you¡¯re not more jaded than I am considering you have a bunch of Recessed watching you all the time.¡± ¡°Ah¡­ Well¡­ It¡¯s not that serious, most of the time there isn¡¯t really anything impressive about them. The other day when we were having dinner before leaving Vasperia they were taking bets on how many Ice cream cups I was going to order¡­¡± Phillip had been slowing down, and suddenly stopped before Sofia could think of an answer, looking outside, they were above a large archipelago, in the middle of thousands of small islands under a cloudy sky. ¡°We¡¯re here,¡± Phillip announced, opening his hand, ¡°I believe you can take it from here. Now is time to pay old Erri a visit. See you ¡®round, girls,¡± he continued, before he disappeared with a bang. The clouds disappeared in his wake, pushed far away from the islands in an instant, changing the weather to a bright blue sky. Sofia and Cinthia looked at each other. ¡°I want to learn that move,¡± Cinthia finally said. ¡°What? Dispersing the clouds?¡± Sofia asked, which Cinthia approved with a nod. ¡°Rain is annoying but that might be a bit of an overcorrection,¡± Sofia said, watching as several black dots flew toward them from the isles. ¡°I think we¡¯re going to have some explaining to do¡­¡± It wasn¡¯t long before they were surrounded by an army of black-armored dwarves of varying levels ranging from one to three-hundred, flying on a diverse array of creatures, and all keeping their distance. It¡¯s not like we¡¯re attacking so¡­ Are they not going to send anyone to talk to us? Finally a dwarf approached, unlike the other ones, not wearing any armor, but carrying a mithrium scepter taller than himself on his shoulder. He just walked on thin air like Sofia did with [Dodge - me], approaching quite slowly, his long red air flowing in the wind behind him. [Artisan - Lv.450+] ¡°What¡¯d we have here?¡± he hollered in a loud voice as he walked up to them, his eyes then bulging out as they locked in on the dagger sheathed at Sofia¡¯s hip. The dwarf then disappeared and reappeared right in front of Sofia. ¡°A crown, a scepter, a divine artifact¡­ Are you trying to impersonate my wife?¡± he asked Sofia before erupting in a loud laughter. Wh- What? ¡°Must¡¯ve some important business to have a freakin¡¯ dragon drop you off here in my kingdom of all places,¡± the muscular dwarf continued, ¡°so what¡¯s it? Goblin¡¯s got your tongue?¡± ¡°Your kingdom¡­¡± Sofia repeated, ¡°King Zargdess?¡± she asked, remembering Cinthia¡¯s story. ¡°That be me,¡± the dwarf answered, flashing his white teeth with a proud smile, ¡°So whatcha here for?¡± ¡°Sorry, we didn¡¯t mean to cause a commotion,¡± Sofia then quickly explained, slightly embarrassed by the situation. ¡°We¡¯re here to conduct a trade with the temple of Taxes,¡± Cinthia explained in tow. The dwarf king raised an eyebrow, ¡°An orc and a human Saintess brought by a dragon to trade with a god of the dwarves¡­¡± The king said, "That''s it?¡± Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. ¡°That¡¯s it,¡± Sofia answered, ¡°Phillip, uh, the dragon, just took us here because he was moving anyway¡­¡± The king then raised a hand, and the army of black-armored dwarves dispersed just like that. ¡°Alright, wait a second,¡± he finally told Sofia and Cinthia, as he watched the other dwarves go. What the¡­ Is he asking them to leave so that there aren¡¯t any witnesses to what he¡¯s about to do? I have my runes up just in case but Cinthia doesn¡¯t have anything like that¡­ When they were finally alone in the sky, the dwarf king guffawed again, slapping his chest, ¡°Man! Y¡¯all scared me shitless! I was already wondering how¡¯d I piss off the lizards this time. Here,¡± he said, two glasses filled with ice cubes and a blue liquid appearing in the air in front of Sofia and Cinthia, ¡°Drinks on me, Taxe¡¯s shrine is the black tower right there,¡± he continued, pointing at a tall building on a nearby island. That being, said, and without waiting for thanks or an answer, he started walking away, talking loudly to himself, ¡°Good god, I thought I really fucked up this time. Just before the festival too, maaaaaan¡­ This job is killing me¡­¡± His voice disappeared in the distance as he returned to the largest island around. Cinthia and Sofia silently looked at each other. ¡°He¡¯s not even going to ask for anything else?¡± Cinthia finally said, surprised, and eyeing the drink still floating in front of her. ¡°Guess not. We were dropped off here by a Dragon, after all.¡± ¡°Right¡­¡± ¡°Any reactions from the viewers?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°They¡¯re laughing a lot, I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s at us or the dwarf, though¡­¡± ¡°Probably just the overall situation?¡± Sofia grabbed the glass of blue liquid and started flying in the direction of the black tower.
The black tower turned out to not be exactly what Cinthia and Sofia had expected, the gold-rimmed sign above the entrance reading the words ¡®Ridoni Bank Headquarters¡¯. Dwarves were going in and out, as the tower was actually in the middle of a mid-sized dwarven city. ¡°A bank?¡± Sofia asked Cinthia. ¡°Judging from the comments I am getting, this is the right place¡­¡± Cinthia answered, uncertain, her eyes lost in her invisible chat window, reading line after line of text Sofia couldn¡¯t see. Sofia and Cinthia walked in, lining up behind a queue of dwarves at one of the four bank counters. The interior of the bank was lavish, and there was a level 400 dwarven guard sleeping sitting on a tall chair overlooking the hall. It¡¯s hard to imagine someone at such a level working such a boring job¡­ The dwarven women behind the counters worked fast, and it only took a few minutes for it to be Sofia and Cinthia¡¯s turn. The short dwarf adjusted her glasses, as she looked up at Sofia and Cinthia, ¡°Hello and welcome to Ridoni, the most secure bank this side of the planet. Do you already have an account?¡± ¡°Hi. Sorry, we¡¯re not here for this, we¡¯re looking for the temple of Taxes¡­¡± Sofia explained. The dwarf lady behind the counter looked at Sofia like she just said something stupid, ¡°Lady, this is Taxes¡¯ temple, the Ridoni bank. Do you need to open an account?¡± she continued. ¡°No, no, we¡¯re here to conduct a trade with Taxes,¡± Cinthia added, panicking as her chat had suddenly fallen silent. ¡°Oh! You mean to make an offering?¡± the dwarf lady said in an understanding tone, ¡°You could have simply said that,¡± she continued, jumping off from her chair. She turned around and called out another dwarf who was hanging out on a couch in the space behind the counters, ¡°Ginnie, take over my line for a bit, offering,¡± she told her, before turning back to Sofia and Cinthia, and pointing at a door on their left, ¡°Come through there, I will be joining you in a second.¡± Behind the door a dwarf in a black suit with a thick red beard was standing guard, he greeted Sofia and Cinthia with a nod, pointing at a couch they could sit on, and they sat there to wait for the bank teller to join them. She arrived about half a minute later and almost dropped the file she was carrying when her eyes met those of the dwarf in a suit. ¡°S- Sir Ridoni, is anything the matter?¡± Ridoni? Sofia and Cinthia¡¯s eyes locked onto the unassuming dwarf, which is when they both realized that [Identify] did not work at all on said individual. ¡°You blew my cover!¡± Ridoni answered the bank teller with a hearty laugh, ¡°It¡¯s nothing, I will take care of these two, you can get back to work,¡± he told her with a wink. ¡°U- Understood, sir,¡± the lady answered with a deep bow before turning back and closing the door. ¡°Cinthia and Sofia, right?¡± Ridoni asked rhetorically, ¡°My office is on the top floor, better to have a proper introduction there, follow me,¡± he told them as he turned to walk up to an indoor lift a bit further down the corridor. Cinthia followed but Sofia had a feeling that something was wrong. A discreet skeletal hand appeared from within her robe, grabbing her ankle, and her vision quickly turned white. In the spiritual plane, Cinthia¡¯s soul was following a giant mass of eyes down the blurry corridor. As Sofia looked at them, they stared back, and she was kicked out of the spiritual plane, the graveyard dispelled without even causing any backlash. ¡°Are you not coming?¡± Ridoni asked Sofia, waiting with Cinthia near the lift.
Chapter 519 - The apple doesnt fall far The lift slowly brought the group to the higher floors of the tower, and Sofia decided to just say what she wanted to. ¡°I thought it was harder for the Recessed to come to the physical plane.¡± ¡°Much harder,¡± Ridoni said with a laugh after a few seconds of silence, ¡°but not impossible.¡± ¡°So it¡¯s really you?!¡± Cinthia blurted out. Ridoni laughed again, and the lift reached its destination on the last floor of the tower. The dwarf stepped out, ¡°I best not overstep my boundaries too much, lest a certain hothead from a lasting grudge,¡± he explained without looking back while he led Sofia and Cinthia to the door to his office. Does he mean Hatred? Yeah¡­ ¡°However, it is nice to meet you in person, miss streamer,¡± Ridoni finished as he opened the door and invited them in with a smile. ¡°I-... I imagined you differently,¡± Cinthia said, sounding embarrassed, ¡°It¡¯s nice to meet you too, thank you for all the donations.¡± ¡°This is but one of my many forms,¡± Ridoni explained as he made his way to his desk, ¡°but it is certainly the one which I use most often. The dwarves are very serious about money and that resonates with me in a way that is hard to explain.¡± ¡°Just a god thing, right? After seeing the other ones I can imagine. Do the other people working here know about your divine identity?¡± Sofia asked, curious, considering that even the office was labeled ¡®Bank manager Ridoni¡¯. ¡°Just a god thing is one way to say it,¡± Taxes confirmed, ¡°the sun is bright and hot, you see what I am getting at?¡± ¡°Gods are shaped by their concepts,¡± Cinthia approved, she was interacting with them often enough to know. ¡°Whether we want it or not, annoyingly enough. Some fight it, some embrace it, I don¡¯t really care either way. And no, daughter of Sorrow, most of my employees do not know. I would rather not make things awkward for them. I like that they like me as Ridoni the dwarf, and not as what I was born as.¡± ¡°Cryb- ah, I mean, Sorrow should be quite strong too,¡± CInthia started, ¡°shouldn¡¯t she be able to come to the physical plane too?¡± Ridoni fiddled with a pen from his desk while he answered, ¡°being able to and it being wise to are different things. Now that she has a proper daughter, for the most part, at least, she should be able to come.¡± ¡°For the most part?¡± Sofia repeated, slightly offended. Ridoni just ignored her interruption and continued, ¡°however, for those of us unlucky enough to be birthed from direct emotions, such as Hatred or Sorrow, things are slightly more complex as their simple presence near people¡¯s souls is enough to strongly influence them.¡± ¡°I see¡­ Also, sorry to ask so many questions,¡± Cinthia apologized, ¡°but do you know why the chat is completely silent right now?¡± ¡°Simply a sign of respect that the others not interrupt our conversation,¡± the dwarf in a suit answered, looking at Sofia. ¡°What? You expected me not to interrupt when you¡¯re saying I¡¯m not a proper daughter? I thought a god of taxes ought to be more careful with their words,¡± Sofia struck back with a calm voice. ¡°Well, at least you take your position seriously,¡± Ridoni noted, ¡°but it remains that you are not a proper ¡®apostle¡¯ quite yet. You still draw on Sorrow¡¯s energy when you transform, more akin to an infant yet to be birthed than a daughter. None of that is your fault, mind you, it is simply how things turned out. Reach level 300 and you will be a true legitimate apostle of Sorrow.¡± ¡°That¡¯s true¡­¡± Sofia conceded, ¡°I just didn¡¯t like how you said it. But I understand.¡± ¡°Right, what about the trade?¡± Cinthia asked in an attempt to defuse the tension. ¡°A hundred and forty five thousand three hundred and twenty two gold coins, thirty three silver and three copper,¡± Taxes announced without more explanation, writing the number on a small sheet of paper. ¡°That much?!¡± Cinthia asked in shock, turning to Sofia. ¡°Hmm¡­ About three hundred thousand¡­ Sounds about right¡­¡± Sofia mumbled. ¡°WHAT?!¡± Cinthia exclaimed. ¡°Yeah, I mean, I don¡¯t have that much in gold, maybe a hundred thousand, but I do have plenty of Orichalcum and Mithril, like¡­ A lot.¡± This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°W- Where? How?!¡± ¡°Well¡­ I¡¯ve been selling blood to Vasperia quite often, then there is also Alith¡¯s pill business, and just generally, I tend to grab anything valuable I can find to sell later, and then I spend almost nothing, just trading gold for mithril ingots because they take up less space¡­ So wealth kind of just accumulated in my storage ring¡­¡± Sofia explained, ¡°I should count myself lucky that equipment isn¡¯t counted, would the price have been a lot higher if the mithrium ring counted?¡± she asked Taxes. ¡°Considerably higher, yes. Mithrium is not cheap, your staff and gauntlet would have also blown up the prices, did they count, not to mention the crown and dagger you are wearing, which can by all means be considered priceless treasures,¡± Taxes explained, ¡°So, are you going to pay?¡± he asked with narrowed eyes, stroking his red beard. ¡°I am, I¡¯ll trust that you are not scamming me, that being said, how can you tell how much the currency and materials I own are worth? You should not be able to see inside my ring. And also, did you not count the bones?¡± Taxes laughed, ¡°Bones would hardly be considered a valuable material by most. Although your current ones have most impressive qualities, I daresay there is no market price for them, so I obviously would not count them. As for your storage ring, I cannot see into it, as Taxes, I simply know your worth, you need not search further than that.¡± ¡°Three hundred thousand gold¡­¡± Cinthia mumbled, still in shock. ¡°Fair¡­ Well, do you have a storage item you want me to put the stuff into? I¡¯ll be paying a large part in gold coins, and I don¡¯t want to make a mess of your office.¡±
[Venerable physique of the primeval void] ? - Peak of the Light forging realm : Gather divine essence (30) to unlock the Boundless space realm. Current divine essence (19) :
  • Scripture (1)
  • Aphenoreth (1)
  • Dread (1)
  • Sorrow (1)
  • Ormoncleth (1)
  • Victory (1)
  • Sun (5)
  • Creation (2)
  • Life (1)
  • Death (3)
  • Rejection (1)
  • Taxes (1)
Almost two thirds of the way there. Sofia closed the system window and walked out of Remia¡¯s room. She was back in Zangdar after returning from the Dwarven isles. Saria had already found one of the missing rings in the wilderness east of the beastmen continent, and after leaving it with Zerei for safekeeping, she had resumed her search before Sofia could even come back. The dryad was still sleeping soundly, despite Alith making sure she had frequent exposure to sunlight, it seemed that it was still not quite enough. The situation was perplexing, but in both Alith and the plant hero¡¯s opinions, Remia was actually slowly getting better, so Sofia decided to just trust them. Alith had taken over the higher floors of the castle, previously Zh¨£ng L¨²¡¯s laboratories, and turned them into one large alchemical lab and indoors garden where she was growing a variety of mushrooms and other underground plants that did not need sunlight. She was still working on trying to figure out the formula for the four large stat pills Sofia had given her during the trial, these ones proved to be much harder to recreate than the two previous tiers. Meanwhile, Ihuarah had apparently been busy working on their collective level debt, hunting and clearing dungeons with Everelle. Sofia entered her own room, which was still quite barren of decorations, and plopped down on her bone bed. ¡°I barely sleep anymore¡­ What a waste of silk bed sheets,¡± she said for herself as she carefully rolled around in the soft sheets, being careful not to tear anything with her horns. After a while she sat up on her bed. Sofia brought out the leveling methods book she had received from Kyle after getting kicked out of the leveling system. Reading through the introduction again. Aura resonance (Natural ability of the strong races). Warpath Scriptures (Training through repeated half-deaths and suffering). Evolving technique of the Old Lord (Mana reforging). Eddarinian dark arts (Soul grafting). The ancient human method (Mana circulation). Now that I know about the Eddarinians, I¡¯m not so sure I want to try whatever they were doing. I have to give it to them that it allowed the Fae¡¯s soul to survive for very long after its physical death, though. Kyle said ancient human is too slow. By elimination what the system actually uses is probably mana reforging¡­ But knowing myself¡­ Mr Scribe is probably working on the Warpath Scriptures. ¡°It still feels kind of bad that I left them with my level debt¡­ Now Alith and Ihuarah are still linked but not with me. Pareth is still leveling with me though, or stuck with me, to be exact¡­ Mr Scribe, didn¡¯t you say your plan for leveling was almost ready?¡± she asked, closing the book. Sofia felt her strength leave her as the scribe was taking over her mana to be able to talk, which he basically never did anymore unless she asked him to. [I am working on the final details, but the main plan is mostly complete. Do you want to hear more now or wait until I¡¯m fully done?] ¡°You¡¯ve been keeping me in the dark for a while, I¡¯m getting really curious. Are you even going to use one of the techniques from the book?¡± [One technique?] ¡°Two? Are you trying to mix two of them together? Is that what¡¯s taking so long?¡± [Two?] ¡°What, three?!¡± [No.] [All of them. :)]
Chapter 520 - A Rainy Night After listening to Mr.Scribe¡¯s extended explanations, Sofia felt the need to activate her Sixth melody music because she was starting to get a headache. ¡°Let me try to summarize this¡­ First we need to make a wide Mithril coffin, encase it inside of a big Midenicite block, and bury it in the mana-absorbing sand of the red desert¡­ Just this is going to be quite the process¡­ It¡¯s good that I kept all the mithril when I traded with taxes.¡± Since the scribe had let Sofia get control of her mana back, he could not answer, but she was only repeating the steps for herself anyway. The midenicite is also not hard to get and the red sand desert¡­ I might want to transfer some red sand to somewhere else, I¡¯m not sure about staying in there for prolonged periods of time when there is still that giant sandworm to worry about. Even the Destroyer would look tiny compared to that thing from back then. Sofia looked through her mithril reserves in her storage ring, thinking that it was probably enough. ¡°When I¡¯m buried in the sand and sealed in the coffin, the first step is to continuously flood it with my mana until there¡¯s so much of it that it feels suffocating¡­ Maybe we could just make the coffin a cube I could at least sit in. It would take longer to flood it, but also: comfort. Especially if I need to transform inside of it¡­¡± It¡¯s at times like these that it would be more practical to be Alith-sized. ¡°Then, once I¡¯m drowning in my own mana, get into my demon form and quickly regenerate back to full. The mana around should still be suffocating even after I¡¯m full, so basically I need to add another five million in there even after it¡¯s already enough¡­ This is to forcefully activate mana resonance despite my demon form aura being laughably weak. So far, It¡¯s still easy.¡± The next part is where it gets serious. ¡°After that, I should follow the ancient human mana circulation method in reverse, which should still work but will be extremely painful. Not looking forward to that¡­ This pain should be good enough to start the process of body and soul strengthening with the warpath scriptures, which Mr.Scribe will be taking care of. At least that¡¯s one thing I won¡¯t have to worry about.¡± Sofia was starting to worry that Mr.Scribe might be a bit too ambitious this time, the next step especially felt a bit dodgy, as it was the one inspired from the Eddarinian soul grafting method. Mr.Scribe was adamant about not wanting to get another soul mixed up with theirs, so the process was going to be slightly exotic. ¡°Get the admin dagger and wildcast the graveyard, exercising fine control over it to have the skeletons bring me halfway to the spiritual plane. Then¡­ Find the outermost part of my soul, cut it off with the dagger while it¡¯s weakened from using the warpath scriptures, and eat it¡­¡± How does that even work? I don¡¯t even have anything like a mouth in the spirit plane. And I thought it was soul grafting, not soul eating. But Mr.Scribe seemed quite certain that it was safe as long as I only cut the outer parts¡­ Maybe I¡¯ll still ask for a few other people¡¯s opinions before I try this. Just in case. ¡°And the last part at least isn¡¯t too bad, I just need to put the ring of Zar in my mouth right before the transformation runs out and activate it, which should be enough to act as a primitive form of mana reforging.¡± And then, do it another one to three hundred times¡­ Great. At least the stat increase should be much better than regular system levels, so it¡¯s not a net negative compared to regular leveling. Still, quite the involved process¡­ It will take a while, too, since I need to empty the ring in between sessions. ¡°I think this will have to wait until we come back from our trip.¡± Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
It was a rainy evening in the Vasperian capital, a few hours past sundown, night was normally busy as ever for the Vampires, born at a much higher level, they needed much less sleep than humans. Still, on a rainy night like this, the streets were almost empty, the warm light of the lightstone lampposts reflecting on the wet street tiles. Sofia walked happily holding her bone umbrella above her head. Tall building in front of the red sign¡­ Should be that one! It does stand a bit higher than most other buildings around here. Sofia unsummoned her umbrella behind her as she walked in, the lobby was a simple clean corridor leading to a mana-powered lift of the exact same kind there was in Taxes¡¯ bank. That door on the right looks like a resident home, so I¡¯m guessing it¡¯s the lift¡­ There were multiple buttons all labeled with the name of random services, but Sofia only needed to pay attention to the uppermost, ¡®Seventh floor: The Silent Haven.¡¯ Cinthia had invited her there wanting to relax and discuss a few things before the coming expedition. This was, from what Cinthia had told her, a bar owned by a mute and deaf Vampire. This peculiar owner had invested in his weaknesses, paying for high grade anti-spying rituals and artifacts to secure the privacy of its guests, and gained a reputation as a comfortable place where people could come to safely discuss private matters. The lift slowly brought Sofia up the floors, she adjusted her robe, although it was only CInthia she was meeting, she wanted to be well-dressed, for once. The trial hadn¡¯t given her many opportunities to care about her appearance for the last year before she ended up stuck in Zangdar. The doors of the lift opened with a ding as it reached the last floor. The bar was made of a single spacious room, decorated with lush green plants and clean steel. It was relatively empty, with only a few couches and some kind of table for games near the entrance, and the bar itself with its four seats, next to a wide window giving an unparalleled view over the entire southern side of the capital. Oh wow. I can even see the tip of Asty¡¯s castle from here. Cinthia was already sitting at the bar, alone, the Vampire behind the bar shaking some weird metal cylinder. Sofia tried to Identify him, by reflex, only to find that her magic faded away as soon as it left her body. Right, the whole privacy thing¡­ Well. This guy has so little mana, he can¡¯t be some kind of hidden expert. I almost want to try to see if he can hear Ormoncleth¡¯s bell. Calming her thoughts, Sofia nodded to the barman who had just noticed her, and nodded back at him when he bowed. ¡°I rented the place for the entire night,¡± Cinthia started as Sofia sat on the stool next to her, grabbing the wooden slate with drink names the Vampire was holding out to her. ¡°Nice, I like the mood of the place. I see I¡¯m not the only one who dressed up,¡± Sofia commented on Cinthia¡¯s look before turning her attention to the drinks. Cinthia laughed awkwardly, ¡°It¡¯s more for the viewers than for myself, at this point. Not many of them tonight, though. Only three.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­ Hatred, Death and Taxes?¡± ¡°Got two,¡± Cinthia answered with a smile, grabbing the glass the Vampire bartender just placed in front of her. ¡°Ah, well. Hatred and Death are pretty much always there, so I¡¯m guessing Sorrow?¡± Sofia guessed as she showed the drink she wanted to the Vampire. ¡°Exactly. She must be curious since we¡¯re going to discuss Her. She and the others have been very tight-lipped about our coming trip, though. I would be lying if I said it isn¡¯t worrying,¡± Cinthia confessed. ¡°Right¡­ I haven¡¯t explained much either. It¡¯s about time I filled you in on what I know. Thinking about it, you agreed to come a bit fast.¡± ¡°Ahah¡­ The viewers were eager for me to go, understandably so. I need to restock on tokens so it¡¯s a perfect opportunity, too. I¡¯m just a bit anxious, especially knowing the kind of stuff you usually get up to¡­¡± Thinking about how she was to explain the topic, Sofia glanced at the Vampire. He was minding his own business making Sofia¡¯s drink in a metal cylinder while looking out the window. Perhaps sensing her gaze, he glanced back at Sofia, his eyes meeting hers. He smile and turned his attention back to the window. Cute. Sofia¡¯s thoughts derailed for an instant before she focused back on the matter at hand. ¡°Erm, so¡­ You already have some details, but since we have the entire night, I might as well give you the full story. Well, it won¡¯t even be that long anyway, there isn¡¯t much to it.¡± ¡°I¡¯m listening,¡± Cinthia happily said before sipping on her blue drink, ¡°The other tree also,¡± she added with a slight wink. Sofia cleared her throat, ¡°So it all starts with an ancient human empire¡­¡±
Chapter 520 (part2) - Botched chapter order Sofia quickly went over summoning Ihuarah, how he was Sorrow¡¯s previous Apostle, and how Sun had eventually appeared out of nowhere to give everyone quests. ¡°So then,¡± Sofia continued, sipping on her own drink, which was refreshingly sweet, ¡°his quest reward was the approximate location of one of Sorrow¡¯s three divine items, the Locket of lost souls. He was searching for it in the jungle while we stayed at Brighthall. Of course he found it. Actually, I still have the description in my logs from when he showed me during the trial, wait a second¡­ There.¡± [Locket of lost souls]: Divine item forged with the essence of Sorrow. Countless sorrowful souls with unrealised wishes have been locked inside. The souls may guide you to any place you ask them to, so long as one of them knows the way. For each soul whose wishes you complete, they will be released from the locket and grant the wearer a permanent increase in cognitive capacity (processing). This item will become a powerful catalyst after all the souls are appeased. Item level : 500. Grade : Forgotten. ¡°Impressive,¡± Cinthia commented, ¡°But I think I like Astelia¡¯s earrings better. Ah¡­ Shouldn¡¯t have said that,¡± she ashamedly said as she glanced at her invisible chat. ¡°It¡¯s fine to have a preference. Speaking of which, is Lies a viewer of yours, too?¡± ¡°Never seen Lies around, no. But She has been brought up by the others a few times, so¡­¡± ¡°Interesting. I wonder how many Recessed there are¡­ Ah, but back to the locket, see how it can guide to other places? That¡¯s because it is meant to locate Sorrow¡¯s hidden Palace.¡± ¡°I kind of guessed that, why are we going there, though? I assume it''s not just historical sightseeing.¡± ¡°Can you see the castle out there?¡± Sofia asked, pointing at the Moonlit castle, far in the distance, barely showing over the horizon of the ocean. ¡°Orcs don¡¯t have that good a night vision,¡± Cinthia answered as she squinted to try to see anything where Sofia pointed at, ¡°But you mean Astelia¡¯s castle, right?¡± ¡°Yes. It¡¯s some place built by worshippers of Moon long ago, it can only be opened by Moon¡¯s chosen Oracle, and there¡¯s a dungeon in there. At the end lies a divine weapon of Moon, supposedly. That¡¯s Asty¡¯s guess, at least.¡± ¡°So we¡¯re after a weapon of Sorrow?¡± Cinthia asked, surprised, and throwing many glances at her chat. ¡°I wish I could tell you. I have no idea what is actually in there. But Ihuarah is certain there is a divine artifact. It was destined to be his, originally, but I am the new Apostle, so he says it should be mine. He says he is perfectly content with the locket and knowing that Mo- Sorrow¡¯s legacy is not rotting at the bottom of a dusty dungeon.¡± ¡°He¡¯s just giving it up like this after doing all the work to locate the place?¡± Sofia shrugged, ¡°That¡¯s just the kind of man he is. And I can tell you that nothing will make him change his mind now. Just look at the lengths he went to for Everelle¡­¡± Cinthia sighed, she looked at the empty street outside, and downed the rest of her drink in one go. ¡°I wish I could find a man like that too¡­¡± ¡°Honestly¡­ Same. But well, no time for it. I feel for the poor man you eventually choose to get with, though.¡± ¡°Wha- Huh?!¡± ¡°He¡¯s going to need broad shoulders to survive with Hatred as a father in law.¡± If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. ¡°The- I- Was¡­ I¡¯m not Hatred¡¯s¡­¡± ¡°Be honest. Cin,¡± Sofia whispered as she came closer, ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be exciting to become a demon too?¡±
Two weeks later, Sofia made her way to the meeting point outside of the city where Ihuarah, Everelle and Cinthia were already waiting for her. For once Everelle was actually wearing clothes, a large straw hat and a blue robe which revealed the feminine silhouette normally obscured by her pitch-black body. Ihuarah was wearing Avian-style colorful clothes, and Cinthia was just Cinthia, wearing the same comfortable and practical shirt and pants she usually wore when she didn¡¯t need armor. ¡°I feel silly for coming with my armor on now,¡± Sofia said as she joined them. Saying this, she retracted her bone armor, revealing her new clothes for this expedition, an enchanted garment made of tough fabric that prioritized function over looks. It bore a strange patchwork of greens, browns and blacks, had many pockets all over, and even came with a small hat. ¡°No way! Where¡¯d you find that?¡± Everelle asked, coming closer, ¡°That looks just like the real thing!¡± ¡°The real thing?¡± Cinthia repeated, confused. ¡°I found a hero seamstress when I was visiting the city,¡± Sofia explained, ¡°She made me this when I said I was going on a jungle expedition. Supposedly it blends well with the environment. I guess it¡¯s a known design in Everelle¡¯s old world.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a soldier uniform,¡± Everelle explained, ¡°Good stuff, looks a bit tight around the chest, though.¡± Sofia shrugged, ¡°Better tight than loose and swaying around when I move. But soldiers? It doesn''t feel like this is meant to be worn under armor¡­¡° ¡°They don¡¯t really wear much armor, no. Maybe that sounds weird but I don¡¯t think I can really explain more without getting censored so you¡¯ll just have to trust me,¡± Everelle clarified. ¡°Got it. So, where and how are we going?¡± Sofia asked as she turned to Ihuarah. ¡°To the lost temple of Sorrow!¡± he enthusiastically answered, ¡°I have hired a space mage, he should be here any minute now, he will take us directly to the entrance of the Ochiaran jungle.¡± ¡°Right, I remember you spent quite a while in there, I got a lot of kill notifications about Ochiarans. Couldn¡¯t find anything about them in the Academy¡¯s library though,¡± Sofia commented, ¡°Did you not find Sorrow¡¯s place yet, or is it just that teleporting directly into the jungle is dangerous?¡± ¡°Teleporting directly into the jungle is quite dangerous,¡± he confirmed, ¡°many monsters would feel the spatial disturbance, and some of those can be up to level 400. So we best be careful. Beyond the monster, the jungle itself is not without danger. And teleporting to Sorrow¡¯s palace directly is simply impossible, as its exact location is¡­ Peculiar. You shall see when we get there.¡± Sofia felt mana movements nearby, and just then, a tall, gaunt vampire lady in black robes appeared. [Supporter - Lv. 350+] She nodded to Ihuarah and asked him, ¡°Is this everyone?¡± ¡°Indeed,¡± Ihuarah confirmed, tossing her a heavy pouch likely filled with ingots of some sort. She grabbed and stored the pouch. ¡°Perfect,¡± she continued without introduction, ¡°We will commence a series of teleportations, please stay still and avoid using any magic that could interfere. Raise a hand to warn me if you feel sick and need a few seconds to breathe. We¡¯re going.¡± Magic circles appeared around and above the group, and a second later they were standing in a random field. Then it happened again, and they appeared in the air above the ocean, landing on a thin magical platform of the Vampire¡¯s making, before the scenery around them changed again. Sofia expected Cinthia to ask for a pause at some point, but was surprised to see her holding well. Instead, it was Everelle who started heaving and raised a hand asking for a break. ¡°We are about a third of the way there,¡± the Vampire lady informed them, ¡°give me a sign when you¡¯re good to go.¡± ¡°Sorry,¡± Everelle apologized, ¡°I¡¯m not too good with long jumps.¡± Ihuarah held her so she didn¡¯t fall over. ¡°Like most people. Take your time, spiritual drag is an inevitability of long distance teleportation,¡± the lady calmly explained before she closed her eyes, seemingly sleeping in place where she was standing. When Everelle gave the go a few minutes later, the teleportations resumed, and Sofia saw the sun gradually moving eastward in the sky, until it was night. Have we just teleported across half the planet? Finally after one last teleportation, the group found themselves in the middle of a somewhat small encampment city built from orange logs. The few people walking around carrying torches were all green-skinned orcs and Monkey beastmen with long curly tails. ¡°The Ochiaran jungle,¡± the vampire lady announced, staring at Ihuarah, who then threw her another pouch. ¡°Good luck,¡± she told the group before she teleported away. ¡°Now I shall explain our plan,¡± Ihuarah told the others, ¡°Pareth and Bookie should come out and listen too. We will be entering the jungle at daybreak.¡±
EXTRA - Streamer Q&A Some time before leaving for Sorrow¡¯s Palace, Sofia, Cinthia and Astelia are having a relaxed chat at the Silent Haven bar. Pareth and Bookie are well-dressed and reading a book together in a corner while the women sit at the bar. The air is heavy with the smell of Dwarven alcohol and the metallic tinge of blood. Astelia was biting into Sofia¡¯s arm, a frown on her delicate face. ¡°See. No way you¡¯d be able to drink that, I told you,¡± Sofia commented with a smirk. She swirled the drink in her glass before taking another sip. ¡°Are your teeth stuck in there?¡± she asked as Astelia kept biting. The short vampire finally let go, pulling back and taking a deep breath. ¡°It¡¯s weird!¡± she finally said, ¡°I can kind of taste it,¡± she continued, nodding to herself. ¡°Wha- Really?¡± Cinthia reacted, while Sofia examined the two tiny holes in her arm that were not healing as fast as she¡¯d expected and her glowing bloodlight coursing under it. Sofia also bit down on her own arm, only for a few seconds until she let go and started laughing. ¡°All I can taste is the alcohol.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think that has anything to do with your blood,¡± Cinthia noted with a giggle. ¡°Damn right, I can still taste it right now. This dwarven stuff Shaily got us is way strong. I gotta keep a bottle for Alith.¡± ¡°Hey, right, why did she not come?¡± Astelia asked with a pout. She had organized the outing, but most had declined to participate for one reason or another. ¡°Too busy with her alchemy,¡± Sofia answered as she took another sip of her drink, ¡°Once she starts brewing nobody can stop her. At least she¡¯s doing what she li-¡± ¡°WAH!¡± Sofia was interrupted by Cinthia letting out a shocked yelp and almost jumping out of her seat. ¡°Is something wrong, Cinthia?¡± Astelia asked. ¡°I¡­ My chat is having a stroke or something. It¡¯s throwing me a ton of error messages! I¡¯ve never seen anything like this. Daddy and Suffering were just arguing about cheese and then it all went scrambled outo nowhere?!!¡± Cinthia explained, speaking much faster than usual. ¡°I can see it!¡± Astelia exclaimed as Sofia also saw a tall rectangular semi-transparent system window filled with error messages show up near Cinthia. Since it was facing Cinthia, it was all mirrored, so both Sofia and Astelia stood up to go behind Cinthia and have a look. The Vampire barman seemed to be able to see it as well, only throwing a quick glance in that direction before focusing his attention back on the window and the stars shining in the night sky as he cleaned a glass. [ERROR] [ERROR] [ERROR] [CONNECTION LOST] [ANOMALY DETECTED] [SUSPECTED CAUSALITY INTERFERENCE] [CONNECTION FOUND] [UPDATING TRANSLATION MODULE : ENGLISH] [UPDATE SUCCESSFUL] [DONATIONS CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE] [ERROR] [DATABASE CORRUPTED] [zfnzopoi¡±z¡¯e¨¦foih] [PLEASE KEEP INTERACTING WITH THIS INTERFACE AT ALL COSTS TO PROVIDE DATA FOR REPAIRS, EXTREME IMPORTANCE, TOKEN REWARD WILL BE ISSUED] [CURRENT VIEWERSHIP : 28963] ¡°TWENTY EIGHT THOUSAND?!¡± Cinthia shouted, before quickly deciding to down another glass of alcohol in one go. ¡°Well shit I didn¡¯t know there were so many Recessed,¡± Sofia commented. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure there aren¡¯t,¡± Astelia chimed in, ¡°Also what¡¯s english?¡± ¡°Hell if I know!¡± Cinthia answered. ¡°Oh shit, someone is typing. Hatred?¡± To Cinthia¡¯s dismay, the message that appeared only had a blank space for its username. [ ] : Hi Cinthia! I have a question, is there anyone you would like to have in here aside from the Recessed? Sofia and Astelia both looked at Cinthia, who was silent. ¡°Well, are you not going to answer?¡± Sofia asked, nudging closer to Cinthia to get a better view of the chat. ¡°If they¡¯re speaking like that it¡¯s probably not a Recessed asking the question,¡± Astelia commented with a hiccup, ¡°I wonder if they can see us,¡± she continued, self-consciously fixing her clothes so that she looked less disheveled. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Uh¡­ I¡­ If I could add anyone¡­ My mom?¡± Cinthia answered the question. [YOU HAVE RECEIVED 100 ESSENCE TOKEN] ¡°Woah!¡± Astelia exclaimed seeing the tokens arriving instantly when Cinthia answered. Another question then appeared. [ ] : Hey Astelia, what''s it like having an infamous dragon as a coworker, would you prefer a different moon saintess to work with? ¡°W- Wait, this one is for me?¡± the short vampire realized, blushing all of a sudden. ¡°Looks like it,¡± Cinthia answered, as surprised and lost as Astelia. ¡°Answer!¡± Sofia pressed her excitedly, ¡°I bet the next one¡¯ll be for me!¡± ¡°I-... Erredis is nice?¡± Astelia tentatively said, ¡°I¡¯m used to much worse with the Queen, at least Erredis isn¡¯t always trying to create chaos so¡­ I just wish she would let me read her books just like the Queen¡­¡± she finished, visibly pouting. [YOU HAVE RECEIVED 100 ESSENCE TOKEN] [ ] : Sofia¡­ Why are you still holding onto those paintings? ¡°Paintings?¡± CInthia and Astelia said in unison, turning to Sofia, whose face took a shade of red she would be hard pressed to explain as someone without blood. ¡°I- ju- Huh. Wawa it¡¯s¡­ uh¡­ I-¡± She stammered, taking a few wobbly steps back, ¡°What paintings. There- there are no paintings¡­¡± ¡°She¡¯s lying,¡± Astelia confusedly commented, slightly tilting her head. ¡°You traitor!¡± Sofia blurted out, ¡°I- I just don¡¯t feel like throwing them out, alright?!¡± [YOU HAVE RECEIVED 100 ESSENCE TOKEN] ¡°Oh lords, it¡¯s not stopping,¡± Sofia said with a gulp as more questions appeared, and she walked to the bar to ask for another drink as the next question wasn¡¯t for her. [ ] : Cinthia, how is your class seen by other Orcs? By your parents and family? ¡°Huh? Yeah it¡¯s definitely not my usual chatters asking these,¡± Cinthia commented, her head spinning when she looked at the number of viewers again, seeing it climbing up by hundreds every few seconds. ¡°Other Orcs don¡¯t really care? I know my tribe¡¯s leader was sad when she realized it was Recessed and not the other Gods so Victory couldn¡¯t participate¡­ But everyone sort of accepts that it¡¯s the system doing system things? My parents are very proud that I speak with gods, actually!¡± Cinthia answered with a big smile. [YOU HAVE RECEIVED 100 ESSENCE TOKEN] ¡°My turn, my turn!¡± Astelia rejoiced, jumping up and down while holding the armrest of Cinthia¡¯s seat. ¡°You¡¯ve drunk too much blood,¡± Sofia commented from the bar, only to see the Vampire sticking out her tongue cheekily in answer before turning back to read the next question. [ ] : How much do you weigh without cheating with gravity magic? ¡°Ahah¡­ This question must not be for me,¡± Astelia said, looking away. ¡°Who else? Only one gravity mage here,¡± Cinthia asked, genuinely confused as the dwarven alcohol blurred her thoughts. ¡°You can¡¯t lie!¡± Sofia laughed from the bar, scoffing at Astelia¡¯s attempt to avoid the question. She already knew the approximate answer anyway, having carried Astelia to her bed one before and often training with her. While Sofia¡¯s leveling had shifted her weight toward the ton, it was different for the Moon Oracle. ¡°T- Twenty eight¡­¡± Astelia said, looking down. [YOU HAVE RECEIVED 100 ESSENCE TOKEN] ¡°Twenty eight¡­ Kilograms?¡± Cinthia asked in shock, widening her eyes at Astelia¡¯s following nod, ¡°Woah¡­ How does that even work¡­ I¡¯m in the three hundreds now I think¡­¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know either¡­ I used to be heavier a few years ago¡­ At this rate it feels like I¡¯m going to disappear if I keep leveling up,¡± Astelia shared with a slightly shaking voice. She received a hug from behind by Sofia, ¡°Nonsense! You¡¯re growing up to be a hot young lady! You¡¯re already packing more than Alith, you know; and she¡¯s literally weightless,¡± she said with a giggle. ¡°Better be light than be like me, at least you have a chance of finding a husband strong enough to pick you up.¡± ¡°You¡¯re made primarily of light at this point, how are you not light?¡± Cinthia asked curiously. ¡°Heavy bones,¡± Sofia said with a shrug, releasing Astelia from her bear hug. Then she bent forward to read the next question, as it was probably for her. [ ] : If you didn''t have this "kill god" mission, but a more "subdued existence." What would your goals have been as a normal necromancer? ¡°Oh wow¡­ I¡­ Never thought about that. But let¡¯s see¡­ If not for this disgusting god¡¯s conspiracy¡­ Without the necromancy book¡­ I would have moved to a bigger city and tried becoming a librarian, probably¡­ At least I would get to read a lot of books and maybe find a way to get a magical class like that¡­¡± Sofia theorized, thinking about her past possibilities and ambitions. ¡°That or I would have taken the special [Fool] class for leveling [Shenanigans] to fifty and improvised from there. Actually, that would have been it, most likely.¡± [YOU HAVE RECEIVED 100 ESSENCE TOKEN] ¡°Fool? That¡¯s a thing?¡± Astelia asked. ¡°Yep. One of the older orphans we met with Saria way back when Sovuln was still an actual kingdom had that class. To this day I¡¯ve no idea what it¡¯s about other than it having some kind of illusion skill at low level. The guy used it to steal bread and share it around with the city¡¯s orphans. I kinda hope he survived somehow honestly, he was nice.¡± ¡°How do you know he wasn¡¯t lying about the class or how he got it?¡± Cinthia asked. It was Astelia who answered, ¡°Now that I think about it, seeing how her [Shenanigans] evolved to [Way of the Fool], it does seem pretty coherent,¡± she explained, pulling up the description of both skills. ¡°Right¡­ I mean, Saria has [Shenanigans II], I just never questioned it. Why pick [Way of the Fool] instead?¡± Cinthia asked Sofia after she read the descriptions Astelia showed her. ¡°I was ambitious and thought the extra experience would be nice in the long term. And look at me now, I can¡¯t even get experience anymore,¡± she answered, laughing to herself. ¡°Alright next question for Cinthia¡­¡± Astelia said, licking her lips, ¡°Oh¡­ It¡¯s for Pareth and Bookie?¡± [ ] : Pareth, what¡¯s your favorite body so far? And Bookie, who¡¯s your favorite skeleton?¡± ¡°FOR ME?!¡± Bookie excitedly exclaimed, running up to the girls, and bending over Cinthia¡¯s lap on his tiptoes to read the question. After reading, he nodded to himself, and ran back to Pareth, relaying his question to him. Pareth answered with an incomprehensible hand gesture, and Bookie ran back to Sofia¡¯s side. ¡°My favorite is Crowie and Pareth says he likes his first skeleton best!¡± ¡°I could have answered that,¡± Sofia commented with a smile as she grabbed Bookie to hug him before he could run back to Pareth again. [YOU HAVE RECEIVED 100 ESSENCE TOKEN] [ERROR] [CONNECTION LOST] [ANOMALY RESOLVED] [THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION]
Chapter 521 - Pocket-sized meat grinder The group entered the jungle at the first rays of dawn. The vegetation here was a lot denser than in the volcanic jungles north of Skyreach and Sovuln, the canopy only letting rare streams of light shine through here and there. There were vines and colorful exotic plants and flowers growing everywhere one looked. Ihuarah gave Pareth directions, who slowly cleared a path with his machete of light, and at the same time, he explained some of the peculiar rules those who entered this place had to abide by, while the whole night had been spent only going over how to reach Sorrow¡¯s palace and what to do when they encountered Ochiarans. ¡°We have to clear the path like this to scare off the webbers,¡± he explained, ¡°they are giant crawling arachnids with advanced camouflage magic. Even with good mana senses, they are extremely hard to detect. Their presence is what makes flying here dangerous, as it makes you an easy target for their web-spit attacks. The webbers in themselves are generally not too strong, but the web they spit is hard to get out of, even for people of our level. Thankfully, they only hide in the bushes, and if we clear them they will keep their distance.¡± Cinthia looked back, the group had only gone a few hundred meters from the encampment, yet it was already no longer visible. ¡°The plants are already regrowing where we cut them down¡­¡± she noticed with an uneasy voice. Ihuarah turned around, walking backwards to face the group as he spoke, ¡°Such is the way of the jungle. Now that we have entered, we cannot stop. We must always press on.¡± ¡°How about our other movement options?¡± Sofia asked, looking at the canopy. ¡°Flying above the trees is suicidal,¡± Ihuarah explained, ¡°steer away from any natural clearing in the canopy, we must be thankful for the trees¡¯ protection, for the monsters living above are much more dangerous than the monsters living below. Teleportation is fine in battle but generally you want to avoid it because of the webbers. And similarly, going through the spiritual realm would be fine if not for the risk of encountering Ochiarans.¡± ¡°Walking is slow but it sure sounds like the safest option,¡± Everelle commented, ¡°And also¡­ I have to warn you all not to count on me too much when it comes to fighting¡­¡± ¡°Not the best environment for Sunless?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°No¡­ It¡¯s my class. It is good for defending a place, not so much for exploration. I can defend myself, but I¡¯ll be weakened.¡± ¡°That¡¯s it? Good enough,¡± Sofia concluded, ¡°I¡¯d say it¡¯s best if you and Cinthia have each other¡¯s back, and Ihuarah and Pareth can be our defense team. I have more than enough attack power for all of us. In fact, as long as we¡¯re not running into a monster above level 300, Bookie alone should be able to handle even a swarm.¡± ¡°That¡­ There are not many skeletons suited for the jungle¡­¡± Bookie lamented, from the side. He walked holding Sofia¡¯s hand. ¡°I¡¯m sure the Chimera would feel right at home,¡± Sofia reassured him, ¡°but even without going there, how about summoning the fae and Crowie for a start?¡± ¡°Now?¡± ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s have the fae be our rear guard instead of Everelle. Crowie can stay on my shoulder as usual.¡±
The group walked in an almost straight line for the best part of three hours without encountering anything more dangerous than a mosquito, which felt quite strange, as even the woods behind the Orphanage is Skyreach weren¡¯t that safe in comparison, with wolves and boars roaming around, which Sofia had to be extra careful to avoid whenever she went for her nightly expeditions to try to summon a skeleton. Ihuarah had warned them, however, that this was because weak monsters simply could not survive here. Even the most modest of the jungle monsters were above level 200. Sofia finally noticed something, ¡°Mana movements two hundred meters to our left, they¡¯re keeping their distance for now, but moving in the same direction as we are,¡± she whispered to the group, ¡°I¡¯d say around ten to twelve creatures.¡± ¡°On the ground or going from vines to vines?¡± Ihuarah asked as he gave a hand sign for everyone to stop. ¡°Ground. They also just stopped moving.¡± Stolen story; please report. Ihuarah breathed a sigh of relief, ¡°Good. Just a pack of blood tigers. They will come toward us eventually. Miss Cinthia is the only one with blood here, we only need protect her, and the beast themselves are of little trouble.¡± ¡°Should I just send the fairy?¡± Sofia asked him. ¡°That might be the best way, yes,¡° Ihuarah confirmed. Sofia raised her left hand, the fairy who had been flying close to the ground behind the group until now darted up to Sofia¡¯s hand without a sound, softly landing on her palm. Sofia quickly tied a tiny bone token onto the fairy¡¯s ribcage, and then gave the order. The fairy turned invisible, and left Sofia¡¯s hand as she connected her vision to the token. Sofia heard the pained howls and screeches of rage of the creatures before she could even see them. The fae was like an invisible lightning bolt. Sofia¡¯s vision was a blur, as the fairy flew at breakneck speed, constantly and abruptly changing direction without any regard for the conservation of momentum. Sofia could barely get a glimpse of the horse-sized blood-red beasts that looked like giant cats with prominent fangs before were riddled by fairy-sized holes, exploding in a shower of blood and gore. Eight seconds. That was all it took. The midenicite fairy landed on Sofia¡¯s palm again, its invisibility wearing off, blood dripping from its blue bones, it cleaned the gore between its tiny claws by rubbing them together. ¡®You have defeated [Blood tiger - lv.230]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Blood tiger - lv.221]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Blood tiger - lv.218]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Blood tiger - lv.244]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Blood tiger - lv.212]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Blood tiger - lv.242]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Blood tiger - lv.210]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Blood tiger - lv.208]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Blood tiger - lv.202]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Blood tiger - lv.234]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Blood tiger - lv.239]¡¯ Sofia cut the connection to the bone token, dizzy from the hyperspeed massacre she had just witnessed. She blinked as she looked at the fairy, then at Bookie. ¡°You know. I think it¡¯s really a good thing that we only summed it when Erredis was there. And that its original soul is gone.¡± Bookie silently and furiously nodded in approval. The rest of the group looked at Sofia in incomprehension, except for Ihuarah. ¡°All dead?¡± he asked. ¡°Eleven blood tigers,¡± Sofia answered, ¡°Obliterated.¡± Everelle¡¯s eye-pendant narrowed, ¡°What. The. Fuck. I want a fairy Sunless now.¡±
About an hour later, Ihuarah stopped the group once again, and produced a small pendant out of his storage ring. Sofia instantly felt a connection to the item, and was able to guess what it was. Sorrow¡¯s divine item, the location of which had been Ihuarah¡¯s reward for completing Sun¡¯s quest. The Locket of lost souls. Ihuarah opened the locket, and the temperature around him dropped suddenly, some of the jungle plants even starting to freeze over. He looked around seemingly following with his gaze something Sofia couldn¡¯t see, then he quickly closed the locket and stored it back. ¡°We must go fast, follow me!¡± he then said, rushing in front of Pareth through the jungle¡¯s high bushes. The group quickly ran after him. So whatever is going on, the webbers are the lesser danger¡­ Sofia analyzed as she scanned the jungle all around with her mana senses and the heat-visualization function of her magic eye. I don¡¯t see anything. ¡°We draw close to the first obelisks of Sorrow,¡± Ihuarah explained as ran amidst the jungle¡¯s tall trees, ¡°The merciful mother¡¯s relic bestowed unto me the direction. However, the Ochiarans are sure to notice. Prepare for battle, we will make a stand at the obelisk,¡± he warned everyone. Bookie couldn¡¯t keep up with the pace so Sofia grabbed and carried him, ¡°Be ready to summon the snake. We might also need the high priest, but only summon him if Cinthia is in danger,¡± she told him as she ran. Sofia hear a violent boom coming from ahead, a skull-sized ball of sticky white web had just hit one of Ihuarah¡¯s mana-weave shields head on like a cannonball, the sign that he had stepped too close to a webber. Ihuarah counterattacked by throwing a handfull of yellow and black powder in the direction the ball had come from without even stopping to aim, and the powder mix almost instantly exploded, engulfing that part of the jungle in a bright ball of orange fire. Sofia¡¯s priority as she ran was to ensure Cinthia¡¯s safety. She knew Ihuarah, Everelle and herself could all survive a surprise attack, but the streamer orc could not. Sofia had sent the fairy to perch on top of the girl¡¯s head, with the order to destroy any creature that would come close. Shadows started rising in the jungle around the group as they continued their mad rush, some were Everelle¡¯s Sunless drones, but some were not. Finally, Sofia saw a giant pillar of black stone between the trees in the distance. She summoned the skull choir, with as many Destroyer skulls she could afford, started channeling the graveyard, and gave Bookie the order to unleash the snake. So these are the Ochiarans.
Chapter 522 - Playing in the mud The Ochiarans looked strange, like three meters tall, dried up humans with dark blue skin. They wore primitive clothing made of woven plant fibers decorated with sheets of elastic tree bark, and wielded all sorts of primitive-looking weapons of sticks and stones. They appeared around the group one by one, they did not walk, only teleporting from one point to another. Disturbingly, some of them were smaller with a slightly bigger head. ¡®The children¡¯, as Ihuarah had called them. Without hesitation, Pareth was first to engage, wielding a spear, he stabbed at the large head of one of the short Ochiarans, but it teleported away. Pareth¡¯s spear of light extended, and it pierced the torso of another Ochiaran standing further away, who was late to react to the surprise attack. Pareth pulled on his spear, bringing the blue creature close, and, covering his fist with raw mana, punched its disturbing face, bursting the Ochiaran¡¯s skull open like an overripe fruit. The creature fell, limp, its body turning into a pile of sloshing wet mud. Woah even the clothes are actually made of dirt. ¡®You have defeated [Damned Ochiaran - lv. 212]¡¯ ¡®Do not be fooled, they are not people,¡¯ Ihuarah had warned the group before entering the jungle. Ochiarans were a type of ghost creature, but they lived in huts, and mimicked a primitive tribal society, going as far as making grotesque facsimile bodies out of dirt. All to gain a psychological advantage over their main prey: anyone with a soul. As living souls without a body, Ochiarans were thus undead creatures, which meant that they would hesitate to attack Sofia, due to [Runeforged Overlord]¡¯s effects, but also that Pareth¡¯s attacks dealt quadrupled damage to them. Sofia was of half a mind to try the old version of [Lead the dead] imbued in her mithrium ring, but the range was much shorter than the actually skill, and it would hardly work on the real threats over level 250, so she had just lent it to Cinthia as a means to defend herself if needed. The skull choir¡¯s destroyer form could not really harm the ghosts, so their purpose was to clear out the jungle plants and bushes near the obelisk as the group fought, to give them a clear view of the battlefield. Bookie summoned the giant Pearled snake, and the rest of the group stood near the obelisk as Pareth, the snake, the fairy and hundred of Sunless drones culled the hordes of Ochiarans teleporting in, the graveyard skeletons grabbing the creatures¡¯ ankles and preventing them from teleporting away. The Ochiarans mainly attacked by way of spiritual bursts, invisible to the naked eye in the physical plane, but Ihuarah expertly blocked them all with his flying shields of woven mana. He could expertly and effortlessly predict the Ochiarans¡¯ attack patterns, a testament to how long he had spent fighting them while Sofia had been taking a year off to be a teacher. After a few minutes of continued assault, and hundreds of Ochiarans dead, the surroundings of the Obelisk was entirely covered in wet mud, and the attack suddenly stopped. Thanks to Ihuarah¡¯s briefing, everyone knew what was coming, but he reminded them of it either way. ¡°The chief is on his way, hold fast, only stop when we have the soul stone,¡± he announced, getting his shields back into position around the group. The mud piles left on the jungle ground started gathering together as if attracted by an invisible force, and in just a few seconds, took the form of a giant Ochiaran, its head hidden in the canopy of leaves above. Its body squished together to walk through the trees and come to the group. Sofia recalled her skeletons, putting them all, even Pareth, in her bone storage. She also dismissed the choir. The reason was simple, they were useless against the chief, whose attacks could dislodge the soul. It was a painful but temporary setback for a regular person, but more akin to a forceful unsummoning for a skeleton or Everelle¡¯s Sunless. Still, she kept the graveyard skeletons around, having one of them come grab her ankles to send her halfway into the spiritual plane. Ihuarah stepped up to the fight, covering his body in mana, he grew in size until he was almost as tall as the Ochiaran chief, and his mana took the appearance of a ghostly bear overlapping over his black body. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. The Ochiaran charged and Ihuarah met him with his bear claws. Gripping each other, the two giants started to brawl. Everelle summoned her triplet Sunless witches, and they started bombarding the Ochiaran chief with elemental attacks along with Cinthia, who threw handfuls of ghostly mana coins at the creature every time she found an opening. Meanwhile, Sofia¡¯s vision was in the spiritual plane. She watched the Ochiaran¡¯s bulging, mushroom-like soul, it had links that extended far in multiple directions, and controlled the mud puppet against Ihuarah while it also prepared soul attacks. Come and try. When the creature launched its first attack, targeting the Sunless witches, Sofia reacted instantly. The graveyard skeleton let her go, and she jumped in front of the Sunless, negating the attack with [Heat Death] before it could reach her, another graveyard skeleton grabbing her ankle right away. Easy. It¡¯s taking serious damage already. Sofia blocked a few more attacks aimed at Everelle and Cinthia and herself, and the blue-skinned mud giant finally tumbled. Ihuarah pounced, and, while it maintained the creature on the ground, channeled a strange skill. Mana tendrils grabbed onto the Ochiaran¡¯s soul, pumping it full of mana until it burst. With her vision of the spiritual realm, Sofia saw one of the links connected with the Ochiaran chief¡¯s soul break to absorb the shock. Its body returned to mud, before it reformed on another side of the obelisk. Ihuarah once again charged at the giant, holding it back with his bear form, and the same fight played out a second time in an almost identical manner. Finally, when all the soul links connected to the Ochiaran chief were down, Sofia was able to see a bright dot of light forming inside of his spirit-body. She brought the fairy out of the bone storage. Get it. The fairy disappeared for a second, her departure causing a loud bang, and she came back with mud-stained bones, presenting Sofia with an off-white stone the size of a fist. ¡®You have defeated [Turgescent Soul Ochiaran - lv. 293]¡¯ The giant of mud crumbled one last time, the remnants of his body splattering on the jungle ground. Cinthia wiped the sweat off of her brows, ¡°Finally over!¡± She¡¯s almost out of mana. But she went up a level, also. Nice. ¡°A brilliant execution,¡± Ihuarah exclaimed as he shrunk back to his regular size and started walking back up to the obelisk. ¡°These used to be a mighty struggle to fend off alone, I am glad to have you ladies come along this time. Now we only need insert the soul-stone into Sorrow¡¯s first obelisk.¡± Quickly finding a hole near the obelisk¡¯s base, Sofia inserted the Ochiaran¡¯s soul stone. Reminds me of the second trial with the orb floor. The soul stone rolled into the black pillar, which started to shake. It produced an ear-piercing cry as it lifted itself from the ground, and shot up through the jungle¡¯s canopy, leaving a hole in its wake which allowed sunlight to flood in. Ihuarah stood in the light and held up the open locket, a beam of light descended from above, it struck the locket before being reflected toward another direction. The shriek of the obelisk in the sky instantly stopped the moment Ihuarah closed the locket and the beam of light disappeared. ¡°That is one done, three more to go,¡± Ihuarah announced as he tied the locket around his neck. ¡°We follow the light?¡± Everelle asked. ¡°Indeed.¡± ¡°How clich¨¦. This is really just like a secret quest. Exciting!¡± she enthusiastically continued, before she dismissed her Sunless witches homunculi with a pat on the head each, ¡°Good job girls, I¡¯ll call you back for the next one.¡± ¡°Are there stronger Ochiarans?¡± Sofia asked, curious since she felt that she could easily handle multiple of these Turgescent soul ones by herself if needed. ¡°Some should be up to level 380, or around there, probably none at 400,¡± Ihuarah answered, himself uncertain, ¡°They are best avoided, but should we encounter one, it might actually be safer for three of us to flee and for you or I to handle it alone,¡± he finally concluded. ¡°That is not the answer I expected,¡± Sofia said. ¡°Ahahah. But it is undoubtedly the best course of action. These higher Ochiarans should be able to use our souls as a means to attack. While it is hard to forcibly have one¡¯s soul self-harm even under direct mind control, using someone¡¯s soul to harm their allies is not. These ladies would be particularly vulnerable, as they lack proper soul protection skills as of yet.¡± Everelle shook her head and started walking in the direction the light beam had shown. ¡°Seriously Iwa you need to stop calling me a lady, it just feels weird. Especially when I look like this¡­¡± She sighed as she walked away. Ihuarah was lost for words, and Pareth appeared near him, his skeletal hand giving the shade a pat on the shoulder.
Chapter 523 - A calamitous dei WIth Ihuarah¡¯s guidance and the group¡¯s overall power, it was not such an arduous task to find and activate the four obelisks, even when four Ochiaran chiefs showed up together as they neared the last one, they were dealt with cleanly. These mud ghosts were simply not strong enough to push them to their limit. After the fourth obelisk activated, the ground shook, and Sorrow¡¯s giant palace appeared from underground, rising to the surface and toppling over large parts of the jungle. Ihuarah had not predicted, however, that three gigantic monsters would appear with it. The group was split up as they fled. Sofia was with Ihuarah, hiding under a rotten log, while Pareth was with Everelle and Cinthia. ¡°How is it?¡± Ihuarah whispered as he saw Sofia¡¯s eyes regain their color. ¡°They have it better than us. The flying serpent is busy eating the jungle¡¯s flying monsters, so they are slowly making their way to the temple,¡± Sofia explained, having just observed the situation through Pareth¡¯s eyes. ¡°Good. Unfortunately they will not be able to enter without one of us, but they should still be safer if they can hide near the entr-¡± Ihuarah stopped midway as the monster he and Sofia were hiding from had suddenly stopped moving. No way. There¡¯s no way it could hear it with how noisy the jungle is¡­ The giant monster whose bloated green feet were the only thing that one could see had stopped walking through the jungle. The trees¡¯ canopy only reached up to its ankles, and the entire jungle shook from every step it took. Suppressing their mana, Sofia and Ihuarah held their breath, which was easy as neither of them needed to breathe, and after a few seconds, the monster started walking again, slowly getting further from them. The issue, though, was that it was still in the path between them and the palace. If only I hadn¡¯t changed my title to Olympian earlier I could just use Master Thief now¡­ ¡°Could you reach the palace without me?¡± Sofia asked. Since Ihuarah was a shade, he could move swiftly and discreetly through the shadows, and likely avoid catching the green monster¡¯s attention. ¡°Like this? Probably not, this monster has keen senses. If he were to be focused on you, then without a doubt,¡± he answered without hesitation, ¡°But I am not leaving you here. Entering the place without you is pointless to begin with. We must simply bide our time. That is only Sorrow¡¯s first test.¡± ¡°These monsters are Sorrow¡¯s doing?!¡± Sofia asked back, whispering loudly. ¡°Certainly, yes. The Ochiarans too. Though I cannot be certain, as this place predates even my previous life, but our merciful mother is not one to leave her legacy unprotected,¡± Ihuarah explained with excitement in his voice. The green monster stopped in its tracks again, so the duo also stopped making any sound. Sofia took the opportunity to check on Pareth. The serpent is still busy. But this is getting worrying¡­ Where is the damn lion? Out of the three creatures who had come from beneath, Pareth¡¯s group had been chased by the giant flying serpent, while Sofia and Ihuarah were still being looked for by the green-skinned giant. They had originally been split up like this to deal with the Ochiarans, with Sofia and Ihuarah slowly whittling down the four chiefs while the others managed the continuous waves of lesser Ochiarans that hadn¡¯t stopped even after Sofia inserted the four soul stones into the last obelisk. This left the third creature, a tall red stone lion, completely unaccounted for. It had gone into another direction right from the moment it emerged from the ground with the palace, as if attracted by someone else. This was worrying for several reasons, but Sofia was mostly afraid that it would return, as it would make the situation much worse. When the green giant started walking again, producing tremendous noise and tremors with each step, Sofia prepared herself. She had a bad feeling about the red lion going missing, so she wished to reunite with the others as soon as possible. ¡°Start going without me, I¡¯ll use my signature skill as a distraction, and join you soon,¡± she told Ihuarah. ¡°That might work,¡± he approved, ¡°I fear this will not buy you much time, but it shall suffice. We only need enter the palace and we should be safe¡­ If you do not make it, exchange places with me.¡± ¡°Are you crazy, Iwa? You¡¯ve seen how fast it caught up when you tried to teleport before.¡± ¡°I escaped it once, I can do it again. Besides, you are the one taking the most risks right now.¡± Sofia glanced at the description of her signature skill. [Awakening of the five calamities]: /ULTIMATE rank Signature Skill/ The Saintomancer has created yet another tool for sorrowful destruction. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. Channel any amount of mana over 1 000 000 to invoke one of five Elemental Skeleton Destroyers hereby known as the five calamities. You may invoke one additional calamity for each time you have died during the current battle. Each calamity is a singular and unique invokation. Calamities disappear when they run out of mana. Cooldown: One month per invoked calamity. Available calamities: Calamity of Blood Calamity of Bones Calamity of Spirits Calamity of Plasma Calamity of Light She knew it by heart already, having read it hundreds of times, yet never using it so far. How much mana should she use? What Calamity should she summon? How big were they? How strong? How long did they last? She had no clue, but it was time to find out. I need to keep some reserves. Four million should be enough to make it last a while, right? The question is, which one? If I want a big distraction¡­ Plasma would probably be the bigger mess in a jungle. Has to be. Ihuarah ripped out a bead bracelet hanging from one of his belts, scattering the colorful beads around Sofia in the jungle mud, ¡°These will hide the mana from your channeling, but not for long. The instant they turn black the monster will be onto you, I will go right before then.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t expect the channeling to be too long, but that will be helpful. You might just make it to the palace at the same time as the others. I¡¯ll be there soon. Channeling now.¡± Sofia willed to activate the [Awakening of the five calamities]. She felt her mana heart slowly start to spin inside her, gathering the mana from all around her body. Closing her eyes to focus, she guided most of her mana toward her heart, it was getting siphoned into a wild vortex that she was uncertain if she could even stop. The green-skinned giant howled, destroying the jungle in its wake, it ran toward Sofia. She opened her eyes, the beads were already black, and Ihuarah was nowhere to be seen. The giant approached, but after about eight seconds of channeling, it was time. Sofia forcefully stopped her mana heart¡¯s rotations. [You have invoked Amaz?ok, Calamity of Plasma] ¡®Remaining lifetime : 40s¡¯ Sofia barely got time to see the system windows pop up before her mana exploded in a blinding white shockwave. Her mana escaped in a painful and overwhelming way, she felt compelled to scream at the sky as a bundle of plasma escaped her body, escaping like a reverse lightning storm aimed at the heavens. The Destroyer skeleton awakened, its bones of crackling plasma like a million compressed lightning bolts. The calamity was a genuine monster just as massive and fast as the original Destroyer Sofia had fought, standing grand and defiant above the jungle, rising against the charging green-skinned giant. The jungle was lit on fire by the massive skeleton, turning the muddy and damp place into a fiery hell in seconds, the cries of its fleeing inhabitants drowned out by the unending rumbling of the undead thunderstorm. Sofia forgot what she was even supposed to be doing, entranced by the majestic skeleton she had just summoned. She watched as it clashed head on with the green giant, its thousands of legs as many weapons to deliver thunderous blows. The green giant was wounded by the calamity¡¯s initial assault, but it struck back with a simple punch. ¡®Remaining lifetime : 34s¡¯ ¡®Remaining lifetime : 12s¡¯ Crap! Seeing her summon almost die in one punch snapped Sofia out of it, and she finally used this chance as the giant was distracted to fly up above the canopy and straight toward Pareth¡¯s location. With a quick look around, she saw the red lion attack with a mana-charged swipe in the distance, decimating a large part of the jungle, but couldn¡¯t see what it was fighting. Sorrow¡¯s palace stood like a colossal pyramid in the middle of the three giant monsters, judging from Pareth and Ihuarah¡¯s position, the entrance was at the very top. Now without the risk of being caught, Sofia closed the distance in seconds, leaving her raging calamity behind. The calamity of plasma ran out of lifetime, it exploded in a violent lightning storm as it died, bringing even more chaos to the jungle. [Amaz?ok has returned to its resting place] I summoned that. Sofia thought in disbelief as she landed near the others. Everyone was unscathed. ¡°I cannot open the doors!¡± Ihuarah warned Sofia, ¡°You should be able to, there is no time to lose, come!¡± He stood near ornate double doors with engravings that reminded Sofia of the doors to Erredis¡¯ castle. On the doors, there were no handles, only two familiar-looking handprints. Ones of rugged hands with pointy claws. Sofia instantly understood why Ihuarah couldn¡¯t open them. As fast as she could, she unsummoned her armor and took off her dragon-scale armguard, leaving only Aphenoreth¡¯s glove on, she placed her hands on the handprints. Already, she could hear the footsteps of the green giant coming after her now that the calamity had disappeared. Sofia forcefully discharged all that was left of her mana, catching her glowing heart in her mouth without even using her hands. She pushed forward as she transformed, her muscles bulging under the effort, her feet sliding on the stone floor of Sorrow¡¯s palace wetted by the rain. COME OOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!!! The doors resisted, barely moving. Everyone else came to help push Sofia from behind, even Bookie popped out of nowhere and helped give even a tiny bit of strength. Finally, Sofia could feel the divine essence within her take life, and the doors started to open. As the green giant drew dangerously close, the doors finally flew open all at once, sending Sofia and the others tumbling down dark and dusty stairs just as the shockwave of the giant¡¯s punch shook the air above them, stopped by a mysterious force an instant before it could hit the palace. [You have entered the dungeon : Palace of the passed - Restricted]
Chapter 525 - Palace raiders Pareth used Sofia¡¯s storage to teleport around the group as they fell and caught everyone before they could stumble any further down the stairs. ¡°Ah, thank you,¡± Sofia thanked him before she quickly walked back up as everyone else was busy dusting themselves. The green giant had turned away and was already leaving, which was actually slightly annoying. Couldn¡¯t this thing at least guard the entrance? She grabbed the open doors, but they wouldn¡¯t even begin to move. Annoying¡­ I don¡¯t like this. Ihuarah was first to climb back up too, gliding along the stairs in his shadow form, he popped out of it right next to Sofia. ¡°You would lock us in?¡± he asked. ¡°I wanted to, but it looks like I cannot¡­ Thing is, I am pretty sure the red lion was fighting someone else. Not a monster. I would rather not have to deal with a surprise guest. Especially not one who can fight back against these things.¡± ¡°We cannot seal back the palace,¡± Ihuarah started, ¡°but if there is someone waiting to enter after us, we are fortunate that you noticed. If I am to be honest, I expected the palace¡¯s emergence to attract some attention anyway, just not so early. It matters little, as only Sorrow¡¯s kin may wield her artifacts. Let us err on the side of caution, however, and hide a few traps near the entrance¡­¡± ¡°Will a few traps be of any help if they can fight back the things outside?¡± CInthia asked after climbing up the stairs with Pareth and Everelle. Ihuarah looked outside, ¡°These guardians¡­ To speak in the system¡¯s terms, feel like they should be around level 400. Perhaps a bit lower. So slightly weaker than baby Dragons. If they were fighting seriously. Clearly they are holding back in some way. I lack the mana to kill such an opponent with my traps, but certainly impairing their movement and alerting us to their presence is in my capabilities. Besides, divine sanctuaries like this one are not welcoming to uninvited intruders.¡± ¡°Let us hope that there isn¡¯t anything of that level inside¡­¡± Everelle chimed in, ¡°Traps it is, then?¡± ¡°I believe any ordeal we are about to face should have a reasonable way to be dealt with by Sorrow¡¯s Apostle, no matter the level,¡± Ihuarah explained, ¡°And yes, traps. I shall take care of this matter and join you when it is done. You must go ahead and find the artifact, Lady Sofia. Do not let this hold you back,¡± Ihuarah explained, already starting to bring an assortment of exotic plants and rocks from his multiple storage rings. When Ihuarah joined the others down the long stairs, he found them waiting for him in a room with bone-covered walls. ¡°I¡¯m making a mold of the fresco from this room,¡± Sofia explained, ¡°we couldn¡¯t choose which path to take without you, since you have the locket it might be easy.¡± ¡°I am afraid that the locket is of no help here,¡± Ihuarah answered, as he examined the three closed doors in the room, one on each side except the one with the stairs. Ah, that would make things a bit more complex. ¡°Everyone is saying they can¡¯t help because Sorrow is watching¡­¡± Cinthia said from the side. ¡°Hints in the fresco seem to point to the doors other than the one we choose being condemned,¡± Sofia continued to explain for Ihuarah, ¡°but it¡¯s not actually helping choose one.¡± ¡°This place is meant both to protect the artifact and to judge whether you are worthy of wielding it,¡± Ihuarah said, ¡°designed by the Merciful Mother¡¯s followers of old. There must be a hint somewhere.¡± Saying this, he tried to activate the locket despite saying previously that it wouldn¡¯t help. Only to shake his head as the artifact was unresponsive. ¡°The proper term for these wall decorations is sunken relief, I should add. These used to be very popular in my time.¡± Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. Sofia stored the remaining bones on the walls to uncover the entire sculpted reliefs for Ihuarah to see, herself looking for something she might have missed. There must be something I¡¯m not seeing. But there is nothing to differentiate the doors from one another except the wall they are on. Maybe something to do with the Cardinal directions? I think I have a compass stored somewhere¡­ Ah crap. ¡°My demon form is about to run out¡­¡± Sofia warned the others, ¡°If it¡¯s needed to progress further, we might be stuck for half an hour.¡± ¡°So long as the person outside does not interfere, we should not be pressed for time,¡± Ihuarah reassured her, ¡°Let us closely examine these sunken reliefs. Since they hold one hint for the doors I suspect they should hold the entire solution.¡± Sofia braced for her transformation to end and the following weakened state to ensue, but as her internal clock reached five minutes, nothing happened. Did I lose track of the time? Sofia turned to Pareth, How long has it been? Since Pareth could not exactly answer more precisely than with his fingers, Bookie appeared to answer for him. ¡°Five minutes and twelve seconds!¡± he happily informed her, covered in his new luxurious black attire with red and blue metallic highlights and decorations that made him look like a young skeletal prince. ¡°Thanks Bookie. So I was not counting wrong. Nevermind everyone, my transformation isn¡¯t running out here, it seems. That¡¯s quite nice, actually.¡± Let me try to tone down the lights, though, it¡¯s a bit too much in such a restricted space. While Sofia was busy fiddling with VPPV to alter her Lumian lights, Cinthia caught everyone¡¯s attention, ¡°The viewers have something to say, just give me a second to translate, they all started writing in Orcish, I don¡¯t know why¡­¡± Everyone intently listened as Cinthia read from her invisible chat window, ¡°An history lesson¡­ The negative Gods were to decide on a name for themselves¡­ And they chose the obscured¡­ Ah, I guess this translates better to Recessed,¡± Cinthia interrupted herself, ¡°Taking after the statues of gods that humans would often place in a recess of temple walls. They felt it in accordance with their philosophy, to watch mortals from their peaceful dark corner, taking care not to cause too much interference in their fragile lives.¡± So they are helping after all. ¡°It appears that your presence here will indeed be invaluable, lady Cinthia,¡± Ihuarah said, moments before getting punched in the gut by Everelle. ¡°Damnable flirt,¡± she complained jokingly. ¡°I only have eyes for you, Eve,¡± Ihuarah retorted. ¡°I¡¯m the only one with eyes in this couple¡­¡± Everelle answered before she turned her attention back to the murals, which Sofia was already intently observing once more. ¡°I hope you don¡¯t mind the small talk, Sofia.¡± ¡°Huh? Are you kidding? This is great. Reminds me of when I was going around with Alith. These days I¡¯m mostly alone with Bookie and Pareth, they¡¯re nice but it¡¯s not quite the same,¡± Sofia answered, her eyes scanning through the many intricate details of the sculpted murals, ¡°More like family than friends. This is good for a change. And I get pretty excited at the mere thought of exploring this place, honestly. You could leave all the fights and riddles like this one to me and I¡¯d still be happy just to have you all around¡­ Speaking of which.¡± Sofia¡¯s clawed fingers caressed the stone surface of the walls, reaching a part of the sunken relief that depicted a stylised grand place of some sort in which many faceless figures danced. A few of these figures were slightly hidden in the background, barely sculpted out of the stone. Sofia¡¯s nails traced their contours one by one, until they stopped on one particular figure. The barely visible back-facing silhouette of a kneeling woman. Found you, Sorrow. Probing the wall behind the sculpted woman with her mana senses, Sofia pained to see anything, the entire Palace seemed to hinder her senses to what was physically visible, yet, by focusing her mana perception on this precise emplacement, she felt a faint something. Like a small hook that her senses could somewhat latch onto. Pulling her mana senses back Sofia hoped to pull on that thin mana hook, and the previously brightly lit room became dark. ¡°I did something,¡± Sofia told the others. ¡°You found the correct door, I¡¯d say,¡± Everelle commented, as a thin ray of light coming from a previously nonexistent hole in the ceiling drew the shape of a fourth door on the floor. ¡°The first one was on us, the rest is up to you,¡± Cinthia read out loud, ¡°What now, do we break the floor?¡± ¡°Let me see¡­¡± Sofia said, ¡°I can¡¯t get through any of the walls here with the graveyard skeletons, but I¡¯ve not tried this corner of the floor.¡±
Chapter 526 - Let go Sofia walked on the floor where the light drew a door, then back, then on it again. ¡°The floor is definitely hollow there. I still can¡¯t get through or feel anything beyond my footsteps sound different.¡± ¡°Then breaking through is likely the actual solution,¡± Everelle commented, ¡°Can I try something?¡± ¡°Go ahead.¡± Everelle nodded and summoned her tiny Sunless architect that looked like a stick figure with a white dot on its torso. She pointed at the ¡®door¡¯ Sofia was standing on, ¡°Help us out Bob, can you make a hole there?¡± ¡°Bob?¡± Sofia repeated as she stepped back to let the Sunless do its thing. ¡°I have three Architects. They¡¯re all named Bob. Don¡¯t ask.¡± ¡°A- Alright¡­¡± Bob approached the spot and kneeled down to touch the floor with the stubby end of its tiny forearms. With a sound akin to a shattering pot, a circle appeared on the bricks making up the floor where the sunless was, it was a clean circular cut. The floor inside the circle prompt fell, the small architect with it, letting out a cute high pitched cry. Sofia and Cinthia hurriedly went to look into the hole, it was pitch black, but Sofia could see that it was about fifty meters deep, with the Sunless rapidly falling down. ¡°Is he fine?¡± Cinthia asked, seeing that Everelle seemed not to care about the Sunless. ¡°Bob¡¯s level 299, he¡¯s a bit stupid but it would take more than that to kill him,¡± she answered with disinterest as the group heard the bang of Bob finally crashing on the lower level of the palace. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s follow. He¡¯s waiting for us down there.¡± Sofia looked at Pareth, wondering if he was going to fit in the small hole, before she was reminded that he could now alter his size at will. Crap¡­ I might be the one who¡¯s going to have trouble fitting. Oh wait, no, I¡¯m slimmer in my demon form, easy to forget, that. With how natural it still feels despite the change I could almost forget I¡¯m transformed. Crisis averted. Sofia jumped into the hole, lighting the way for the others. She slowed the fall with her wings, even if she barely had space to open them a little, and landed near the satisfied-looking Sunless. Ihuarah slid down the shadows on the walls, while Cinthia, and Everelle just jumped one after the other, landing heavily at the bottom. Meanwhile Pareth took the short way and teleported right up to Sofia with Bookie holding his hand. The fall had taken them to the center of a domed circular hall plunged in darkness. There were eight stone coffins adorned with writings in an unknown language mounted on the walls, and messy-looking ritual circles drawn on the floor. Of course no obvious exit in sight. I wonder what these rituals do. But they¡¯re so crooked¡­ We really owe the Avians a lot for how much they modernized this stuff, this is unreadable. Among the very few things that stood out in the room, the unlit torches on the walls seemed to have attracted Everelle¡¯s attention. ¡°We should try to light the torches,¡± she confidently suggested, ¡°worst case it¡¯s more light, best case¡­ You¡¯ll see.¡± ¡°Is that your dungeon core instinct talking, Eve?¡± Ihuarah asked. ¡°My hero knowledge, more like. I wouldn¡¯t be able to explain, but yeah,¡± ¡°I wanna do it!¡± Bookie excitedly said, jumping up and down, and Sofia mentally gave him the go. Holding up his left hand, a thin stream of fire spewed out from Bookie¡¯s glove. Lighting up one of the room¡¯s eight torches. He immediately stopped there as the other torches and the ritual on the floor all lit up at once in unison, with loud noises coming from the coffins in the walls. Sofia stood ready to dispel any harmful magic with [Heat Death], and everyone got ready to face whatever was coming. Slowly, seven of the eight coffins opened, and Sofia felt her senses get distorted, she couldn¡¯t see the rest of the room very clearly, all of a sudden, and her gaze was like sucked in by what came out of the coffin. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. ¡°Clarice¡­¡± she whispered. The familiar woman, once head-matron of Sofia¡¯s orphanage, made her way down from the coffin with difficulty. ¡°Sofia!¡± Clarice exclaimed, looking weak and struggling to even stand up correctly, ¡°Is that you? Where have you been?! What¡­ What have you done?¡± she asked, clear worry in her voice. Sofia stared at her without a word. Are the others also going through this? I thought only one Hollow Grief could exist at a time. Sofia¡¯s emotions welled up in her chest as Clarice drew closer; in her demon form, she could not cry. You¡¯re so cruel, mom¡­ Sofia slowly walked up to the stumbling woman. She knew she might get attacked, but she didn¡¯t care, she had three unlife runes up anyway. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Clarice.¡± ¡°Sorry? Don¡¯t be sorry, you built a new life for yourself, didn¡¯t you? That¡¯s all I ever wished for you, Sofia,¡± Clarice answered with a weak smile, stopping a few steps away from Sofia, she extended her arms for a hug. ¡°Why do you look so sad? Come, I¡¯ll give you a hug just like when you were a child. Let auntie Clarice comfort you.¡± Sofia couldn¡¯t bear to look any longer, she stared at the floor, ¡°I¡¯m sorry I couldn¡¯t save you¡­¡± Sofia whispered, her voice weak and heavy, ¡°It¡¯s my fault you died¡­ I¡¯m sorry¡­¡± Sofia walked forward into Clarice¡¯s hug, she held the frail and delicate woman, feeling weaker than ever, and bracing for a surprise attack. But there was nothing of the sort, Clarice simply reciprocated the hug, tightly holding Sofia and caressing the base of her wings. Sofia could feel the woman¡¯s warmth and the beating of her calm heart, like a club hammering her sanity with every beat. ¡°I¡¯m sure you did the best you could, Sofia. You changed so much, I¡¯m happy for you,¡± Clarice whispered in Sofia¡¯s embrace. After a while, Clarice pulled away. ¡°Alright now, be a big girl, I know you were always somewhat of a klutz but there are people waiting for you. You can¡¯t stay with me.¡± ¡°I know¡­ I¡¯m sorry Clarice. I¡¯ll avenge you. I swore it.¡± ¡°If it makes you happy,¡± Clarice answered with a shining smile, ¡°don¡¯t ruin your life for those of us that are already gone, alright?.¡± Clarice then crossed her arms in front of her chest, held her head up high, and closed her eyes. ¡°Now kill me, you need to.¡± I feared it would come to that¡­ ¡°Is there no other way?¡± Sofia asked, knowing full well that there was no bringing back the real Clarice no matter what. Clarice shook her head, ¡°I¡¯m not real, Sofia. Just an echo of your past and sorrows. The soul of Clarice has long faded and returned to nature. But I am glad I could share that little time with you either way. Come now, make it quick, agonizing over this will do you no good,¡± the thing taking the form of Clarice peacefully said with a serene voice. Sofia heaved a long and dreary sigh, she walked up to the woman and took her in her embrace again. ¡°Thank you for everything, Clarice,¡± Sofia whispered softly, ¡°Say hi to the kids for me.¡± Sofia¡¯s nail gently pierced the back of Clarice¡¯s neck. Bone dominus severed her spine at the base in a clean and painless break, and Sofia¡¯s demon form magic activated. Blood spread over Clarice¡¯s chest from below her clothes, and she started to disappear, becoming translucent. While she faded, her smile never did. The open tomb crumbled, and Sofia could finally perceive the rest of the room correctly again as she fell to her knees. Pareth and Bookie ran to her side, they were the only two others awake, everyone else was standing in a daze, even the small Sunless Architect. ¡°Sofia! Are you alright?! What happened?¡± Bookie worriedly asked, hugging her from behind. ¡°Nothing¡­ Nothing¡­ Don¡¯t worry about it,¡± she answered with a sigh, ¡°Did nothing happen to you and Pareth?¡± ¡°Not me but Pareth was stunned like everyone else for a few seconds!¡± Bookie recounted, ¡°I was very very worried! I couldn¡¯t even go close to anyone or return to you! I didn¡¯t know what to do! But brother Pareth woke up fast and told me to wait!¡± ¡°He told you?¡± Sofia repeated, turning her head toward Pareth. ¡°Well¡­ He made me understand,¡± Bookie clarified. ¡°Are the others going to wake up soon?¡± ¡°That depends entirely on them¡­¡± Sofia answered. ¡°But truly nothing happened to you?¡± ¡°No? The tomb opened so I was getting ready to fight! I was going to freeze whatever monster came to attack us to death!¡± Bookie enthusiastically proclaimed, ¡°But then nothing came out¡­ And then I looked around and you were all¡­¡± Nothing came out? Taking a look around, seven of the eight tombs had opened, one for each person present, but only Bookie had been unaffected somehow. Is he because he knows no sorrow? Then nothing happens? Or¡­ Could it be the illusion tried to take the appearance of the Orator?! Ahem¡­ Are you alright, Sorrow? I¡¯m going to need to check with Cinthia¡­ Sofia decided to hug Pareth and Bookie while she waited for the others to wake up. They were still made of bones, but to Sofia, their embrace was warm and soft.
Chapter 527 - Reminiscence Surprisingly enough the next one to break out of the illusion was Bob. Looking like he did not quite understand what was happening to him, the sunless then took a look around before walking up to Sofia¡¯s group and sitting there next to them. ¡°Are you doing good, Bob?¡± Sofia asked, uncertain of whether Everelle¡¯s Sunless could even understand the common language or not. Bob turned in Sofia¡¯s direction when she said Bob, but that was all she got for an answer. Oh well¡­ The others will be out soon. Ihuarah shook off the illusion soon after, starting to stretch after he quickly glanced around to check how everyone else was. ¡°This was certainly something,¡± he finally said, ¡°a bittersweet moment to be remembered. How do you fare?¡± he asked Sofia while he walked up to Everelle to check on her. ¡°I have conflicted feelings¡­¡± ¡°Such is often the case when one confronts their past. You are young still, lady Sofia, one learns to accept and work with these emotions, eventually. Although they never quite disappear¡­ Perhaps discussing what we saw would help you sort out your feelings?¡± ¡°I¡­ That might be an idea¡­¡± Sofia accepted without thinking. ¡°I see you are more shaken than you let on, well, let me start, in this case. Hopefully it will help distract your thoughts. Do you remember the story of my Empire?¡± Ihuarah asked. ¡°Of course, though you never said much¡­ It was somewhere north of Exidia, right?¡± Ihuarah paced around the room as he recounted his story, ¡°Indeed. Though the Exidians had yet to settle in those plains, back then. I was second in command, the Empress¡¯ right hand, so to say, a demon and a woman ruling a vast land in the desert and jungle. Empress Xuali was my closest friend and confidant for hundreds of years. We sought to discover the path to ascension together. It did not end well.¡± ¡°Is that who you saw? That must have been difficult¡­¡± ¡°It was a welcome sight, in a way,¡± Ihuarah admitted, his tone a bit shaky, though his expression was obscured by his shade physique, Sofia could feel the pain in his voice, ¡°The last I saw of her before was not a pleasant sight. She had already been in a bad state before my own unfortunate passing. And with the war¡­ It is no wonder that our Empire fell. Sometimes I wish I could have preserved her soul like I did mine, but alas, our great Merciful Mother¡¯s power is precious and limited.¡± ¡°You died before her? Is there no chance that she survived, then?¡± ¡°No,¡± Ihuarah decisively answered, shaking his head, ¡°She was a loyal and dedicated ruler. If Eoct fell, she fell with it. For her citizens, she would have fought until her last breath, of that I have not the faintest sliver of doubt.¡± Bookie stood up, wanting to say something, ¡°Do you not want to take revenge for her or your Empire, senior Ihuarah?¡± ¡°Ahah¡­ No, young man, there is no vengeance to be had here. Vengeance rarely bears fruit, to begin with, but in this case, we have only ourselves to blame for our Empire¡¯s falling. Or am I to hunt the remote descendants of the savage tribes that once sought us gone from their jungle?¡± ¡°Oh¡­ But I want to avenge Sofia¡¯s friends¡­¡± Bookie muttered. Ihuarah walked up to the short skeleton, putting a shadowy hand on his skull, ¡°Vengeance rarely bears fruit, boy. But sometimes it does,¡± he said, a wicked smile in his voice, ¡°and what better than a few divine artifacts to contend with a god, wouldn¡¯t you agree?¡± Bookie nodded and walked back to Sofia, ¡°Sofia! I''ll get all the divine artifacts for you!¡± he announced proudly. ¡°Ahahah. Thanks, Bookie. I¡¯m sure you will. But for now¡­ Can you summon Crowie?¡± Sofia played with the small bird to distract herself while she recounted her experience with Clarice to Ihuarah. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Truth is, I was going to go crazy if I didn¡¯t cut it short¡­¡± Sofia finished her story. ¡°The ways of life¡­¡± Ihuarah said with a sigh, ¡°If we live long lives, people close to us are sure to pass at some point. As painful as it is, I, personally, am happy I can remember them. Things can never be as they were, but the memories stay¡­¡±
Cinthia woke up next, her face covered in tears, eventually explaining that she had seen a childhood friend without saying more. Everyone was getting worried for Everelle, as she had already been there for more than half an hour and still showed no signs of waking up, but she finally regained her senses at last, showing no visible emotion. ¡°Did I make you wait?¡± were her first words for the group. ¡°It¡¯s fine. I needed some time anyway¡­¡± Sofia answered. Ihuarah approached Everelle, ¡°Are you holding up?¡± ¡°Thank Iwa, I¡¯ll be fine. Had a lot of time there¡­ To think things through. I never expected to see my dad again. It was a dead giveaway that there was something wrong when he instantly recognized me like this, not to mention the other things¡­ But I wanted to spend some time with him anyway. I¡¯m good to go now. Bob wasn¡¯t a bother, I hope?¡± ¡°He¡¯s just been sitting there, playing with Crowie,¡± Sofia said with a shrug, she had let Crowie down at some point and somehow it had ended up in Bob¡¯s spindly black arms. ¡°Alright, well, time to come rest, Bob, say goodbye to Crowie for now,¡± Everelle told the Sunless architect. Bob seemed reluctant to let Crowie go and Everelle unsummoned him, a small piece of Sunless debris flying from his disappearing body to her hand. ¡°Where to now?¡± ¡°They¡¯re all staying silent in the chat now¡­¡± Cinthia said, ¡°They only send donations and face like Death...¡± ¡°Lots of viewers?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°Fluctuates a lot today. Only six right now.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll go up when we¡¯re close to the end. Any reactions from the traps Iwa?¡± Sofia continued. ¡°None. It¡¯s safe to say no one entered, or if they did, they have the capabilities of an adult Dragon or are an expert in the field of bypassing traps and alarms,¡± Ihuarah confidently assured everyone. ¡°Let¡¯s get going then. I¡¯ve already found the way forward,¡± Sofia said, walking up to the open tomb which had been the one that opened for Bob. Her mana senses had picked up a weird disturbance there as soon as she had woken up, and deducted that it was probably some sort of optical illusion. She just walked through the back which led to a long and narrow unlit corridor. The group was rather silent as they advanced through the winding corridor that took turn after turn through the bowels of Sorrow¡¯s palace, until Everelle broke the silence. ¡°First a riddle, then a mental trial, I wonder if we¡¯re up for a fight next. Could be some sort of labyrinth too, considering how this corridor is starting to look.¡± ¡°Please no¡­ I seriously hope you¡¯re wrong,¡± Sofia complained, ¡°I know you¡¯re the dungeon expert here but I¡¯ve had my share of labyrinths for this life and the next¡­¡± ¡°Ahah¡­ Sorry about that. It¡¯s just a classic, you know. Labyrinth, trapped doors, scorpion pits¡­ There might not have been any actual dungeons back in my old world but we certainly had them in fiction. Just a pain that the censor always stops us from sharing that in detail. I guess they don¡¯t want heroes to impact Veliandren¡¯s culture too much,¡± Everelle explained. ¡°And the dungeons here are like the ones from the fiction in your world?¡± Bookie asked while turning around and walking backwards to look at Everelle. ¡°Kind of? At least my class is heavily inspired by it. Saria¡¯s too, from what I could tell.¡± ¡°Woah! Did they have skeletons?¡± Bookie asked next. ¡°Very often, actually. Even if necromancy wasn¡¯t actually a thing back there, it was quite popular in books and stuff. They were usually the bad guys, though.¡± ¡°If it¡¯s anything like necromancy here, unsurprising,¡± Ihuarah commented, ¡°though we are lucky to have sane necromancers around now, this hasn¡¯t always been the case throughout history¡­¡± he said like he just remembered something unpleasant. ¡°Had some bad necromancers in your Empire?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°One witnesses all kinds of things when they oversee a few million humans. From turning to necromancy to try to bring back loved ones to using said loved ones to further their necromancy¡­ I myself have unclean hands, necromancy being part of Sorrow¡¯s domain, let us simply say that our Empire¡¯s soldiers were not free of the battlefield even in death¡­¡± ¡°Well¡­ Necromancy is necromancy alright¡­¡± Sofia commented, ¡±I like to think that I am using it as ethically as I can. I¡¯ve yet to murder anyone for their skeleton. If ogres don¡¯t count¡­¡± ¡°Ah, wait, stop here!¡± Everelle warned, ¡°Not to interrupt, but I found something. Not sure if it¡¯s a secret path or a trap, though, but look how this brick on the wall sticks out a bit. Typical dungeon design right there.¡±
Chapter 528 - Dungeon banter Sofia and Ihuarah both failed at telling if this was a trap or not, all they could tell was that the protruding brick could indeed be pushed into the wall, but not what it was going to do. ¡°I have to hand it to whichever of Sorrow¡¯s old worshippers who designed this place, the security is top-notch. Even by blasting mana into the walls I can¡¯t feel crap,¡± Sofia said as she stood with an ear on the wall, trying to see if she could hear anything. ¡°Powerful sorcerers used to be few a far between before my time but it would be remiss of us to think them incompetent. Arguably, most of today¡¯s treasures date back to humanity¡¯s golden age, even before my time,¡± Ihuarah explained. ¡°And where are these powerful sorcerers right now?¡± Everelle questioned. ¡°Truth be told, I have no idea. Some might be dead, for sure, others have likely become recluse, hermits buried deep under the surface in hidden places like this one,¡± he explained. ¡°Well, Richard sounds old enough. I¡¯m not sure but I think from context clues, he should be around the same age as Erredis or older, so in the fifteen thousands¡­¡± Sofia guessed, ¡°So some do walk the surface still, even if you only count ¡®humans¡¯. But you really think there might be someone here?¡± ¡°It is certainly not an impossibility,¡± Ihuarah said with a shrug, ¡°I am relatively sure, now, that this was designed as a true trial to gauge whether we are deserving of the artifact or not. Whoever did so was undoubtedly invested in their faith at least as much as I am, so staying or at the very least leaving a guardian behind is not so far-fetched.¡± ¡°Well. We¡¯ll find out soon enough. We need to deal with that brick, though,¡± Everelle pointed out. ¡°Right,¡± Cinthia agreed, ¡°Everyone¡¯s looking intently. So something is sure to happen. Hard to tell what.¡± ¡°Fine, take your distances guys, I will push it. Got my unlife runes up anyway, I¡¯ll be fine.¡± The group listened and all walked past Sofia in the narrow corridor, except for Pareth who chose to return to her bone storage, just in case. ¡°A light press, and¡­¡± The brick entered the wall with a click, which was followed by mechanical sounds. ¡°Definitely gears in there,¡± Sofia notified the others, ¡°nothing seems to be happening, though.¡± ¡°Hum¡­ Sofia¡­¡± Cinthia said, ¡°look below.¡± Sofia looked down, the floor behind her feet had disappeared, leading into a deep pit full of spikes. Since Sofia often actually walked on the air just above the ground rather than the ground itself, for practical reasons, she hadn¡¯t even felt the change, which had also been silent. The one blind spot in my demon form field of view... ¡°My fused passive skill saved me from a bad fall. Kind of¡­" Sofia remarked as she observed the pit, ¡°Wait¡­ These are regular Iron spikes. They¡¯re not rusty but¡­ This shit wouldn¡¯t even pierce my regular skin, let alone in my Apostle form. Give me a second I¡¯m going down to investigate.¡± Everelle walked up to the hole as Sofia slowly walked down as if on invisible stairs, ¡°Damn, you can see in there? All Sunless have a very good night vision but this is dark dark, looks like there¡¯s some obscuring magic.¡± ¡°Demons are just superior, I guess,¡± Sofia said as she made her way down past the first rows of spikes, observing the pit. Touching the tip of one of the spikes with her palm, she pushed, and the thick iron spike bent under her the pressure, failing to even nick the skin of her palm. The hell. This can¡¯t seriously be a trap meant to injure an Apostle of Sorrow¡­ ¡°She thinks the spikes are too weak,¡± Sofia heard Bookie say to the others from above. Ah, I didn¡¯t even realize I was letting you hear this stuff, Bookie, just a reflex to think louder when Pareth is in storage to keep him informed. Well, you can keep the others up to date for me I guess. Let¡¯s see if I find anything other than spikes down there. The pit was quite deep for a random trap, a good thirty meters down before Sofia found herself walking on the lowest row of upwards-pointing spikes. There was nothing obvious there, and of course, the magic preventing her mana senses from picking up anything past the walls was still very much in place. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. There has to be something; this is too weird. After twenty seconds of careful inspections, she found the thing: another strange brick in the wall, between two rows of spikes, this time it was not protruding, but slightly recessed. All hail the recessed Brick, the divinity of bad architecture. Sofia thought, cackling by herself at the bottom of the pit, and making sure not to let Bookie hear her dumb joke. She pushed on the brick, and it simply fell inside of the wall, leaving a small brick-shaped hole behind. Sofia bent the spikes in the way to get closer and stick her face in front of the opening. ¡°There¡¯s a treasure chest hidden in the wall!¡± Sofia yelled for the others to hear above. ¡°Be careful, could be a mimic!¡± Everelle shouted back. ¡°I¡¯d be happy it was!¡± Sofia answered, dreaming of feeding Bookie another swift chest skeleton. ¡°You¡¯re fucking weird!¡± Everelle answered back. ¡°Said you?!¡± ¡°Forget it, I¡¯m not helping if you get gobbled up!¡± Sofia snorted with laughter as she used [Summon Self] to teleport through the gap and into the minuscule room where she barely had space to stand in front of the small wooden chest. Let¡¯s see what we have here. Sofia lightly poked the chest with her dagger, leaving a small dent. Awww¡­ Not a mimic. She pried open the chest, which wasn¡¯t locked, but sprayed a cloud of thick mist at her face in retaliation. Oh, so it was trapped. Sofia smelled the mist, which felt familiar. Hey, that smells like one of those neurotoxins I used to train the venerable physique. That was one of the plant extracts, I think? Nice flowery smell. I kind of like it. Let¡¯s see what else this has to offer¡­ The contents of the chest were wrapped inside of a silk cloth, they were six opaque ball-shaped flasks covered in messy runic inscriptions. They were accompanied by a tiny wooden plaque engraved with a few words written in Ancient Human. Ugh, I wish this was Draconic instead, would be easier to translate¡­ Alright¡­ ¡°Ha¡­ Has¡­ Hast- Oh, no, that¡¯s the other form¡­ Accel- er- atium. Acceleratium potion. Be- Become? Becar, oh, ¡®Be careful, risk of overdose¡¯.¡± Sofia took one of the flasks, and gently broke the rune-enscribe wax seal around the opaque glass cork. She looked inside the flask. Is this stuff still good, even? How many thousands of years has it been buried here? The liquid was pale green like a dried leaf and had a strong herbal smell Sofia dipped the tip of one of her long pointy claws inside to taste the potion, it had a very weak taste, but she clearly felt something happening to her, though it was short lived, a fleeting feeling likely due to the small dose. It¡¯s like¡­ The opposite of Moonspring water. Hmmm¡­ Maybe I should Identify it. Could¡¯ve done that before tasting it¡­ [Concentrated Acceleratium flask] : Powerful but short-lasting, an old classic that has often been overlooked due to its annoying side effects. Increases speed, thinking speed, and reduces friction. Can be drunk or thrown at a target. You¡¯re going to mention annoying side effects but not say what? Also thrown? Questions¡­ Sofia brought the flasks back up, and no one had ever heard of the ¡®old classic¡¯ Acceleratium. Since Sofia was the one who took the risk with the traps, the others let her choose what to do with the potions. She ended up giving one to Ihuarah and one to Cinthia, keeping two for herself, one of which was for Alith to reverse-engineer, and the last two were for Everelle, since she had been the one to notice the suspicious brick in the first place after Sofia had missed it. ¡°If everyone is fine with this, let¡¯s keep going,¡± Sofia said after giving out the potions. ¡°Honestly I don¡¯t even think I deserved to get one¡­ But thank you,¡± Cinthia admitted while storing her flask. ¡°You¡¯re here so you¡¯re entitled to your share, won¡¯t be the same for the divine artifact, though,¡± Sofia answered. ¡°It¡¯s fine, I¡¯m sure you would come with me if I ever wanted to go find an old artifact myself and needed help,¡± Cinthia continued with a smile. ¡°True,¡± Sofia answered, ¡°And Saria would probably gut me alive if I didn¡¯t.¡± Everelle stood with her arms crossed, ¡°Do you even still have guts?¡± she asked, her pendant eye narrowing to a line. Sofia looked down at her own belly, past the gaping hole in her chest, ¡°Well¡­ I have a few internal organs left, even in demon form. I do have a small stomach-like cavity in there, so that kinda counts?¡± ¡°Do you even ever need to take a shit anymore?¡± Everelle pressed her, almost cackling. ¡°... Do you?¡± ¡°Erm¡­ I don¡¯t even have a proper face, so¡­ Anyway¡­ Exploring the dungeon, am I right? Ahah¡­ You should all be on the lookout for stuff like that protruding brick, if there¡¯s one treasure in the wall, there¡¯s likely more.¡±
Chapter 529 - ‘I wish I would have done things differently’ ¡°The layout of this place is quite something,¡± Everelle commented as the group took another turn which revealed more of the same long and narrow corridor. They had been following that single long and winding corridor for a few hours now, making slow progress as they needed to check for traps, of which there were actually a few dangerous ones here and there. ¡°We should be almost at the end,¡± Sofia said, ¡°I¡¯ve just realized, but the corridor is actually some kind of ritual circle layout, I think. It wasn¡¯t too obvious since all the corridors are straight with right angles, but it sure is starting to look like it,¡± she explained as she took a tiny three-dimensional bone map of what the group had explored until now out of her armor. Everelle stopped in her tracks, ¡°Woah, where the heck have you been hiding that?¡± ¡°Usually as long as things are peaceful, I¡¯d sculpt a map holding it in my left hand like I did back in your dungeon, but since I have a convenient hole in my chest right now¡­ See, that¡¯s the bottom layer we¡¯re on, it¡¯s weird to see a square ritual circle but that¡¯s what it is, is it not?¡± ¡°It is indeed reminiscent of some kind of ritual,¡± Ihuarah analyzed, observing Sofia¡¯s map, ¡°However¡­ I doubt it would be functional as is. We would probably need to circularize it, first. Flooding these corridors with mana might still do the trick, at such a scale the cleanliness of the shape loses importance.¡± ¡°We don¡¯t have that much mana, that would take forever¡­ Let¡¯s just get to the end and see then. Trying to activate a ritual circle we don¡¯t know the effects of is a risky thing to do in the first place,¡± Cinthia said, trying to be the voice of reason. ¡°Would not be my first time,¡± Sofia snarked, ¡°But I agree, and we won¡¯t have the full ritual until we find the end of that corridor anyway so it¡¯s not like we could try it right now. Still, that at least explains the dungeon¡¯s strange layout.¡±
¡°And with this, we should almost be back to where we started¡­¡± Sofia said, extending her bone map up to the corner the group arrived to. ¡°Looks like a dead-end ahead¡­¡± Cinthia observed as they all took yet another turn. ¡°That¡¯s an illusory wall just like the one we entered through,¡± Sofia immediately noticed, ¡°If my map is correct¡­ We¡¯re back to the illusion room with the tombs. I only saw one illusory wall back then, so¡­ This must be in the one unopened tomb.¡± ¡°Ah, so there¡¯s a chance we¡¯ll get to see what¡¯s inside before it pulls one of us into an illusion,¡± Everelle noted. ¡°I doubt it,¡± Ihuarah disagreed, ¡°the tombs were most likely always empty, the illusions I would wager were a product of the ritual embedded in the flooring of that room.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll know for sure soon enough, I¡¯m going first, just in case,¡± Sofia said quickly walking past Ihuarah and Pareth. Stepping through the illusory wall, it appeared that she was right, this was the inside of the one still-closed tomb. It was empty, aside from her, and Sofia opened it with a kick, shattering the cover and revealing the same room they had departed from hours prior. ¡°It¡¯s safe,¡± she told the others behind, ¡°Man¡­ If I had known this corridor was going to loop I could have just sent Crowie to quickly map it out¡­¡± The others stepped out of the tomb one by one following Sofia, Everelle commenting that they would not have found the potions had they let a skeleton do the exploring. ¡°Still feels like a waste of time but I guess you¡¯re right. At least we already figured out how to proceed, I¡¯m betting we just need to round off that ritual circle and activating it should reveal the way forward,¡± Sofia guessed. ¡°Likely,¡± Everelle agreed, ¡°We should let Iwa do the thing.¡± ¡°Certainly. Lady Sofia, may I?¡± ¡°Here¡¯s the map,¡± Sofia answered with a shrug, giving him the bone construct. Ihuarah grabbed the map and a piece of charcoal from his storage, and used it to draw on one of the room¡¯s walls, starting with the ritual¡¯s outer circle and slowly filling it in toward the center. ¡°This process might take several tries,¡± Ihuarah commented as he drew, ¡°turning squares to circles, approximations need to be made¡­¡± Everyone intently watched the shade draw on the wall when Ihuarah stopped halfway through. ¡°Something wrong?¡± Everelle asked. ¡°Quite the contrary,¡± Ihuarah said, wiping away a small part of what he had already drawn, and drawing over it in a slightly different way. He started drawing out the entire rest of the ritual without looking at the map a single time. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°You already knew the ritual?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°In a way, yes. I am familiar with it,¡± Ihuarah answered, giving the bone map back to Sofia as he put the finishing touches to the intricate ritual circle on the wall. ¡°What is it?¡± Bookie asked next, full of curiosity. ¡°No need to ask me,¡± Ihuarah answered playfully, looking in Sofia¡¯s direction. ¡°What? Me? I have no idea, honestly. It¡¯s obviously a ritual circle but I can¡¯t recognise a single familiar ritual module in there¡­¡± ¡°You have yet to realize, for you rarely get to spend a long time in your Apostle form, but this should be something you are also familiar with,¡± Ihuarah explained. ¡°The Apostle f- Oh! Ooooh¡­ Give me a second,¡± Sofia then said, unceremoniously sitting on the cold stone floor and closing her eyes. The veins of the demon form take the shape of many interconnected ritual circles¡­ They are made of light now, but their shape hasn¡¯t changed in the slightest. Sofia felt her own mana circuits, slowly observing the entirety of her interior. The demon form¡¯s limbs were mostly home to their respective spells, while the torso was largely occupied by body-enhancement passive magic. Sofia analyzed her circuitry one layer after the other, sometimes opening her eyes and looking at the wall to remind herself of the shape she was looking for. Finally, she found it, in the middle of her neck, the exact same vein configuration as the drawing Ihuarah had scribbled on the wall. Sofia took another look at her map, and compared it with that inner ritual circle. ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± Sofia said to Ihuarah, ¡°this is it. No doubt. This is one of the natural mana pathways we have as Apostles of Sorrow,¡± Sofia explained for the others, ¡°Though I still have no idea what this one does.¡± ¡°Let me enlighten you, then,¡± Ihuarah offered, ¡°this particular arrangement is the centerpiece of the greater pathway stack within our necks, while it produces no spell, it is an integral part in letting us tap into and utilize the energy of Sorrow,¡± he explained. ¡°That¡¯s great but it¡¯s not helping with our situation,¡± Everelle commented, ¡°Maybe try activating it while standing in the middle of the room or something?¡± ¡°It is more of a passive and cannot really be activated¡­¡± Ihuarah clarified. ¡°But have you tried?¡± Everelle continued. ¡°Who in their right mind would heedlessly flood passive pathways with mana? That is asking for a violent backlash and permanent inner scars,¡± Ihuarah answered, ¡°But perhaps you might be unto something, Eve¡­¡± ¡°Let me try,¡± Sofia immediately offered, thinking that she had the scepter to absorb backlash anyway. Following Everelle¡¯s suggestion, she went to the middle of the room before she started controlling her mana to converge toward her neck. She started immediately feeling nauseous, Ihuarah was right, forcing more mana than intended inside of passive pathways was asking for trouble, it felt like having one¡¯s blood start flowing in reverse. Sofia¡¯s health started to decline, dropping by the thousands for every second she kept pushing more mana toward her neck, as the inner turmoil started to spread throughout the rest of her body. ¡°Don¡¯t harm yourself, Sofia!¡± Bookie pleaded, seeing her face contort from the pain, but she carried on, pumping more and more mana toward her neck, and toward that mana pathway in particular. Something was happening. The mana flew in reverse through her neck before being sent chaotically all over her body and she could start to tell that this was going somewhere. With Sofia¡¯s health dropping under thirty percent, her skin started to crack, a gentle light flowing from within. This was just one of her Lumian racial passives starting to activate, and it almost made Sofia stop, as she half-convinced herself that this was what she had felt was coming. I can still push further! More and more mana flooded Sofia¡¯s neck as her health dwindled, and with an internal bang, the entire flow of her mana flipped around. The pain and strange sensations were all gone in an instant. As she was still trying to understand what that meant, and while the others were asking if Sofia was alright, a hole appeared in the floor underneath her, but due to the peculiarities of the Lumian¡¯s [Pillar of creation] racial passive, she could not move even if she wanted to while at such low health. Sofia dismissed her unlife runes to let her blessed bone constructs heal her while she explained to the others what had just happened, and urged Ihuarah to do the same. ¡°I am shocked beyond words,¡± Ihuarah commented half a minute later, as his mana rippled through his body in reverse, while Sofia was right about fully healed. He was flabbergasted to only learn about the secret functions of his body now, in his second life. ¡°You may be letting me have the artifact, but you¡¯re not going to leave empty-handed,¡± Sofia answered with a toothy smile. It might not have been evident for anyone else, but to an Apostle, they had a natural understanding of the magic within their body, save for this tiny secret function. The reversal of the mana flow did one simple thing that was easy to understand. It completely turned off the possibility of using the five demon-form spells of Sorrow, instead repurposing each and every single bit of their mana circuits into body-enhancement magic. A secret juggernaut mode. Although it was hard to quantify, Sofia felt that she was at least twice as strong physically. My health hasn¡¯t changed but I feel like my defenses should have gone up significantly. And it feels like I can get the spells back by doing the same thing. This is crazy. Are there other secrets the demon form is hiding? Is this a thing all Apostles can do? Cinthia¡¯s sweet voice interrupted Sofia¡¯s thoughts, ¡°Hum¡­ I-, huh¡­ Sorrow has a message for you two,¡± she told Sofia and Ihuarah.
Chapter 530 - Let thy sorrow flourish ¡°Nothing is ever accomplished without leaving something behind,¡± Cinthia read out loud for Sofia and Ihuarah. ¡°Not what I expected,¡± Sofia commented, ¡°but it is fitting, and always true. No matter what, you¡¯re always spending time, at the very least.¡± ¡°This wisdom is to be used for the next part, I would suppose,¡± Ihuarah deduced, ¡°let us get to it.¡± ¡°I¡¯m just debating whether I want to continue like this or revert to having my apostle spells,¡± Sofia said, looking down at the hole below her. Ihuarah laughed, ¡°Perhaps we ought to leave our spells behind, for now, don¡¯t you think?¡± ¡°Well¡­ No reason to rush things, though, give me time to carve an unlife rune, at least.¡± ¡°Something big is probably coming relatively soon,¡± Cinthia commented as her eyes were fixated on her invisible chat window, ¡°More of them are starting to watch. We have ten already.¡± ¡°I would have thought the corridor walking simulator would have killed viewership,¡± Everelle said, ¡°Maybe we¡¯re finally getting some real action? It¡¯s been so long since I¡¯ve needed to use my signature skill, this is kinda getting me excited!¡± ¡°You never told us what it was,¡± Cinthia remarqued. ¡°Iwa knows, but well. You¡¯ll get to see at some point,¡± Everelle said with a shrug. ¡°Right, you said before that I had no chance against you, what about now?¡± Sofia asked Everelle. ¡°Hmmm¡­ From what I know, it would definitely be a close fight. You definitely have the advantage in terms of rare equipment and skills, but I also have had a few boring hundred years to train by myself on Fenrir, and not to toot my own horn, but I¡¯m no weakling. So¡­ Hard to be sure. We might be evenly matched,¡± Everelle admitted. ¡°Are you counting my summons in your calculations?¡± ¡°I counted Bookie and Pareth fighting with you, yes. Not Iwa and Alith, even if they are, you know.¡± ¡°Yeah yeah fair, that¡¯s how I would have done it too. So you think that big white-eyed sunless of yours could contend with Pareth as he is now?¡± ¡°Would be a stalemate, in my opinion,¡± Everelle answered, ¡°but it¡¯s pointless to go too far on hypotheticals, we might as well just fight and see for ourselves, right?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure that would get a lot of viewers,¡± Cinthia said from the side, ¡°Got two more while you were chatting, too, so we might really get a fight sooner rather than later¡­¡± ¡°Let¡¯s do that when we¡¯re back from this trip, then,¡± Sofia offered. ¡°It¡¯s a deal!¡±
Jumping down the hole led the group to a small room with a closed door and an old metallic central pedestal. ¡°More ancient human language¡­¡± Sofia commented as she read the inscriptions on the pedestal. There was a handprint on top of the thing with a few words below. ¡°Let go of what you know,¡± Ihuarah read without difficulty. ¡°Hmm¡­ So mom¡¯s message definitely was about this room, no doubt. Let go of what we know¡­ Does it expect me to forget a skill? One of the Apostle skills, maybe?¡± ¡°Forgetting a spell¡­ It might be that simple, but it might not. Let me try something.¡± Ihuarah placed a hand on the handprint, and Sofia could feel an exchange of mana between the shade and the metallic structure. ¡°It is just that,¡± he finally declared, ¡°this will forcefully erase whatever spell pathway you lead the magic from this pedestal to. Devices like these used to be rather commonplace, but now the system makes such a thing pointless. Ah, it should be able to erase even those locked skills, but I would advise against it unless said skill is purely detrimental to you, as it would leave permanent scars.¡± ¡°So I really need to forget a skill to open the door¡­¡± ¡°I may do that in your place, if you wish, Lady Sofia,¡± Ihuarah offered, ¡°However, I doubt it would work for anything but us two.¡± ¡°Makes sense. I¡¯ll do it, no need to sacrifice yourself for me,¡± Sofia decisively told Ihuarah, ¡°I¡¯m getting the artifact, so this is only right. Any other time I might try to cheat my way out of having to pay something like this by breaking the door or something, but I get the feeling that this is exactly why Sorrow took the time to have Cinthia send us the message earlier¡­¡± Sofia placed her hand on the pedestal, and she felt a surge of destructive magic coming toward her from within the metallic structure. After spending a few seconds making sure she could control the flow of said magic, she sent it toward a thin but quite widespread mana pathway, the one from her racial skill [Pillar of Creation]. According to Astelia, this skill was the Lumian equivalent of the Vampire curse, a necessary downside to the race¡¯s overall power. The destructive mana entered said mana pathways only to be pushed back by Sofia¡¯s own mana without her even being able to control it. No damage was done, she could tell. Figured it would be like this. Sofia opened up her skill list. [Known Skills] False Lord Skills (1 / 1) ? [Singularity edict] ? Active Skills (9 / 9) [Spine of the Black Sun] - Level 249 Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. [Summon Blood] - Level 249 [Maiden Banshee] - Level 249 (Lv.250) [Graveyard of the righteous] - Level 249 [False immortality] - Level 3 [Skull Choir] - Level 249 [Reign over shadows] [Saintess¡¯ madness] - Level 2 [Aberrant sunlight] Passive Skills (8 / 8) [Blessing of the Deep] - (2/4) [Vakariazrehafin of Sorrow] ? [Exalted Exoskeleton] ? [Venerable physique of the primeval void] ? - Peak of Light forging realm [Bone Dominus Imperium] - Level 3 [Erredian Rot] [Runeforged Overlord] ? - Level 249 Classless Skills (7 / 7) ? [Dreams Of a Demon which Gods Envy - March of the Envoy] ? [Summon Self] - Level 48 [Mana manipulation] ? [Radiance] - Level 100 [Quintessential] ? [One with Suffering] ? [Crystallized] ? Racial Skills (3) [Edgewalker] ? [Pillar of Creation] ? [Mockery of the Divine] ? Special Skills (1) [The Book of Skeletons] ? [Wildcasts] [Identify] [Undead Light] [Angel¡¯s bolt - Explosive] [Angel¡¯s bolt - Piercing] [Call elemental Sprite] Since this is a pre-system machine, I¡¯m guessing forgetting one of the wildcast spells should also work. So what to do¡­ I see five options. [Spine of the Black Sun] has been underwhelming as it requires me to be close to the target, so it definitely needs some work, at least. Not sure that warrants a delete, though. Especially now that I can sustain it for basically no cost, it¡¯s just a free magical weapon. [Saintess¡¯ madness] has been useful a few times, but even with the level two options to choose one variant in advance, it¡¯s still only good once per fight. And it requires me to sacrifice a skeleton. It¡¯s not a bad skill at all but it¡¯s not the best either. [Summon Self] is nice to have, but the thirty seconds cooldown time and the short range make it just another tool in the tool box. In terms of fighting, often just flying away from an attack is the better move. It was a pain to learn, though, and is my only teleportation skill. [Radiance] is¡­ All it does really is boost the healing of the bone dominus blessed constructs. It¡¯s really not that impressive in terms of overall utility, but also¡­ Doubled healing is pretty good, I can¡¯t argue with that. And last on the list is [Call elemental Sprite], It¡¯s really not all that useful at all in most situations. I can count on one hand the number of times I¡¯ve actually used the sprites for something other than a convenient light source¡­ But I¡¯ve kind of grown attached to the glowing balls¡­ I don¡¯t really want to get rid of them. ¡°I¡¯m getting rid of [Saintess¡¯ madness],¡± Sofia finally said after a bit, placing her hand on the pedestal again. She led the destructive mana to the skill¡¯s pathways, and in just a few seconds, it was completely destroyed. The process felt a bit like getting scratched from the inside, it was strange but not unbearable. Without any fanfare, the skill simply disappeared from Sofia¡¯s status window, and the ¡®Remaining possible skill slots¡¯ count went back up from two to three. The door opened as soon as the skill was gone, revealing another similar room with another pedestal, on which, this time, was a small golden bowl. I don¡¯t like where this is going¡­ Ihuarah was quick to enter the new room and to read the inscriptions on the pedestal, ¡°Let go of what you value,¡± he said. Everyone entered the room, and they expectantly looked at Sofia. ¡°We don¡¯t expect that it will open if I give it a few bones and gold coins?¡± Sofia tried. ¡°After it forced you to forget a skill before?¡± Everelle said, ¡°no chance. But it probably won¡¯t hurt to try. Unless you get a single shot at opening the door, but that would be bad dungeon design, though.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll make a serious offer, then,¡± Sofia said after some reflection, and she piled a small stack of orichalcum ingot in the bowl. ¡°Taxes says you¡¯re being cheap,¡± Cinthia remarqued with a giggle. ¡°... There aren¡¯t so many truly precious things I¡¯m willing to part with,¡± Sofia answered in a low voice. She tried a few more things, but frustratingly, for anything she was fine with leaving behind the door stubbornly stayed closed. Finally she gave up, and threw the [Lead the Dead] Mithrium ring in the bowl. The pedestal instantly retracted into the ground, swallowing the Mithrium ring into the entrails of Sorrow¡¯s palace, and the door opened without a sound. ¡°The only bit of Mithrium I had¡­¡± ¡°It would not be a surprise for the divine artifact to be made of Mithrium or something of similar value,¡± Ihuarah commented, ¡°this is but a temporary loss. I fear you might yet have to give up something else, however¡­¡± ¡°Of course¡­¡± The next room was more of the same, a pedestal with an inscription, but on top was the sculpture of an open hand with sharp claws just like Sofia¡¯s. ¡°Let go of your regrets,¡± Ihuarah translated. ¡°Hum¡­ This one is not quite as obvious¡­¡± Everelle commented. ¡°It isn¡¯t,¡± Sofia agreed, ¡°but maybe¡­¡± Sofia extended a hand, she linked fingers with the hand on top of the pedestal, and suddenly her surroundings became dark. Familiar feeling. Another illusion. Pareth is still right next to me so I haven¡¯t moved. It¡¯s eerily silent here¡­ What¡¯s going to happen? Do I need to do something? After a few more seconds of silence, blurry shapes started appearing, slowly, they formed a distant yet familiar scenery. Something straight out of Sofia¡¯s faintest and oldest memories. Sofia¡¯s perception warped in strange ways, she started to see and feel things that she knew were fake but looked and felt painfully real. Wooden ceiling, heavy purple curtains blocking the sun from entering the dusty room. Someone she couldn¡¯t see rocked the crib Sofia was half-asleep in, singing her a sweet lullaby.
Chapter 531 - Time is still, you move forward Sofia¡¯s thoughts were sluggish. The person singing had to stop often, she sounded short of breath, always trying to catch more air whenever she could, yet she kept singing while rocking the crib for long minutes as the sun started to come down. Someone opened a door, interrupting the lullaby. Her voice was kept low so as not to wake the child, but it was cold as an ice bucket, ¡°Merise, leave the child be, we need you in the kitchen. Dessert isn¡¯t going to bake itself.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be here in a minute,¡± the singing woman replied with no energy in her voice. The door was closed back up without one more word, and the singing woman stood up, finally entering the baby¡¯s field of view. She was a tall and weak-looking blonde woman with bright blue eyes. Her face was pale, with dark circles under eyes and emaciated cheeks, but her smile was bright nonetheless. Her dull servant clothes and stained apron did nothing to make her look better, the only touches of color left to her were her pale pink lips and the hairpin in the shape of a purple flower she used to hold her bangs away from her face. Even in her current condition, there was an ethereal beauty to her that made it hard to look away. Supporting herself with a hand on the wall next to the crib, she bent over to kiss the child on the forehead, ¡°Mom will be back as soon as she can. Sleep well, Sofia.¡± After spending a few more seconds longingly staring at the child, the woman laboriously straightened up, quickly tidied up her hair then her apron, and left the room. Sofia tried to move, she tried to speak, but she couldn¡¯t do anything. It was impossible to change the course of history. Time passed. The sun came down then up again. Someone else came to take care of the crying baby. Slowly everything faded to obscurity once again, and Sofia¡¯s thoughts started to become clearer. To think I had even forgotten your face¡­ I wish you could see how far Saria and I have gotten¡­ But nothing can bring you back. Goodbye, mom¡­ Colors started appearing in the sea of darkness again. Swirling shades of white, yellow and blue. Letting go of my regrets¡­ I can already guess what this one is going to be¡­ Sofia was short, walking hand in hand with a tall, tanned man with thick arms covered in tattoos of anchors and ships. They were following a larger group of about forty people, only a few of which were children, walking along the cliff on the narrow sand shore separating it from the ocean. A few white clouds dotted the blue sky while the group walked in silence, the sound of their steps in the sand accompanied by the rumbling of the waves. The tanned man looked down at Sofia, ¡°Do you want me to carry you again, kid?¡± he asked in a worried voice. I can still walk¡­ Sofia thought before her mouth uncontrollably opened by itself. ¡°I can still walk¡­¡± Sofia assured him. She had known fully well that despite the appearances, the man was just as tired as she was. Every night he would stay away while the others slept on the sand, and there would miraculously be fish and crabs for the group to eat the next morning while the man slept like a log. They were approaching the northern reach, finally they would be able to step away from this god-awful sand and walk on solid ground. There were murmurs in the group about how the jungle of the north was dangerous, but considering what the other options were, there was little choice other than going there or dying on this never-ending shoreline. Suddenly, someone shouted from the front of the group. They were too far, so it was hard to understand what they were saying. The person who had shouted fell on his back, holding his throat that was stained in red. ¡°Bandits!¡± Someone at the front shouted. The few armed people in the group charged forward, but what awaited the remainder of the group was a dense volley of arrows coming from above. The illusion quickly became blurry and incoherent, just like Sofia¡¯s thoughts had been back then. She had received an arrow in the leg, yet the dull pain was lesser compared to what she felt as she watched the man throw himself down before her, protecting her with his body as his back was riddled with a flurry of deadly projectiles. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. The warriors of the group eventually came back victorious, with brand new bows and plenty of supplies. More than half the group had perished that day. I didn¡¯t even know your name¡­ Sofia lamented in her head as the illusion faded to black once again. Had to watch as they redistributed his things while his still-hot and bleeding corpse was left to rot on the wet sand, without a family or name to be remembered by¡­ It¡¯s not much, but I think I should make a statue in his honor in Zangdar. Make a place to remember the good people. So¡­ A graveyard of the righteous. Isn¡¯t that a fitting thing for a necromancer. Come on now. There¡¯s more, I know there is¡­ There won¡¯t be anything with Saria, I¡¯m sure, now that I know she¡¯s alive. But there should be plenty more¡­ Colors appeared one by one and a new scene started to form. What¡¯s this? Sofia wondered as she could start to see bright red flames burning vividly. The explosion of Zarrow¡¯s boat? Ah, no¡­ Of course¡­ It was an illusion, but Sofia still felt the heat of the fire attacking her face, just like it did that day. The orphanage burned down, plumes of dark smoke rising in the sky. An arson of her own doing. Truth was, there was no need for an illusion. It was all still as vivid as real life in Sofia¡¯s memories. A dark mark that would never go away. I wish I would have distanced myself from the orphanage before starting to mess with necromancy. Maybe if I¡¯d just shown less affection toward them, none of this would have happened¡­ Scripture would still want me dead but at least, they would have been safe¡­ And I couldn¡¯t even give you all a proper burial¡­ I didn¡¯t have the strength. Sorry. The orphanage burned to the ground, and its dark ashes covered the horizon as the illusory world returned to its original darkness once more. Next. I¡¯m ready. Go on. Start. A new scene encroached on the boundaries of the illusory world, a clear sky. Sofia was flying over a green sea of tall trees. A volcanic jungle. In her hands, unstable electricity started to gather. Blinded by rage and sorrow¡­ That was such a stupid decision¡­ It accomplished nothing. Sofia had to watch herself blow up the secret jungle Temple of the Church. ¡®You have murdered [Kayan Fell - Templar lv. 32]¡¯ ¡®You have murdered [Emma - Cook lv. 8]¡¯ ¡®You have murdered [Irvin - Handyman lv. 1]¡¯ ¡®You have murdered [Samantha - Handyman lv. 2]¡¯ ¡®You have murdered [Julius - Priest lv. 23]¡¯ ¡®You have murdered [Aaron Redsand - Templar lv. 179]¡¯ ¡®You have murdered [Christelle - Paladin lv. 98]¡¯ ¡®You have murdered [Amanda Everbright - Priest lv. 99]¡¯ ¡®You have murdered [Cristobal - Confessor lv. 112]¡¯ ¡®You have murdered [Mint - Paladin lv. 133]¡¯ ¡®You have murdered [Albert Miller - Templar lv. 199]¡¯ ¡®You gained a level!¡¯ ¡®You have murdered [Friederich - Priest lv. 99]¡¯ ¡®You have murdered [Xu Li - Priest lv. 2]¡¯ ¡®You have murdered [Vernon Black - Priest lv. 42]¡¯ The wall of murder notifications was as sickening as she remembered it to be. Even the slaughter of the templars, which had felt justified at the time, now felt like a laughable struggle of past Sofia against an enemy she didn¡¯t understand. What had they done to deserve that brutal end? How many of them were really aware of Scripture¡¯s true nature? Now she knew a bit more about Scripture, the unknown figure behind him, and the origin of the soul parasites. And even still, there was nothing she could do about it. Maybe not the paladins and templars, but the others at least deserve some kind of a memorial¡­ It¡¯s not much but¡­ It¡¯s the best I can offer. Sofia calmed her feelings and the illusion changed again, it stayed quite dark this time as she was forced to revive her skeleton dog¡¯s last moments before one of Ormoncleth¡¯s parasites got to it. Dumb fucking mistakes¡­ I must protect Crowie at all costs. But this barely gets to me now after the previous four scenes¡­ What do I make of this experience? After a few seconds of silence, Sofia came to a simple conclusion. Letting go of regret is accepting to live with the lingering sorrow. Well. Is there more? Sofia asked herself as the illusion of the Sun temple faded to black. She was answered by the sound of the next door of Sorrow¡¯s palace opening before the illusion was even broken. Hopefully I don¡¯t need to let go of anything else.
Chapter 532 - Entrance of the inner palace Sofia woke up to Pareth drying her tears with a handkerchief. The others asked if she was alright. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯ll be alright. We should get going.¡± Not wanting to go over what she had just gone through, Sofia pushed the others to quickly enter the next room, though she mentally thanked Pareth as she did. The next room had another closed door, but no pedestal, nor anything else, really. Just an empty room with a door. Once everyone was inside, the group heard footsteps from beyond the door. They were coming closer. In an instant, everyone got ready for battle. An undead? Sofia wondered, feeling the runes from [Runeforged Overlord] covering her body react a little. The door slowly opened, revealing the creature standing behind: a dried-looking blue-skinned zombie with short horns and a strange black light in his eyes. He wore clean gray robes inscribed with black line runic patterns, and was carrying a lit oil lantern. [Guardian of Sorrows - Level unclear] Unclear? It¡¯s an Exidian zombie? Has he been waiting in here for thousands of years? The zombie stopped, not crossing the door, his head slowly turned, as if scanning the group. ¡°Do both children wish to contend?¡± the zombie said in a cold and monotone voice carried by mana, speaking in a fluent common language. Maybe he hasn¡¯t actually been waiting here, then? ¡°I already have the locket and intend to let this sibling have a keepsake of her own,¡± Ihuarah answered the guardian. Are divine artifacts called keepsakes? Maybe just for Sorrow? It¡¯s quite fitting. ¡°Very well. Step forward, daughter of Sorrow,¡± the zombie ordered. Sofia felt a bit tense, but she had a rune up in case of surprises, so she could afford to take risks. Taking a few steps, she walked in front of the group, stopping just two meters in front of the blue zombie. ¡°What is your name?¡± the zombie asked. There were a few possible answers but Sofia said what the zombie most likely wanted to hear, ¡°Vakariazrehafin of Sorrow.¡± ¡°Welcome to the palace of Sorrow, Vakariazrehafin. A test of your might awaits beyond,¡± the Zombie announced, before he looked past her to address the others, ¡°Those who wish to participate may enter the other doors,¡± the zombie explained, as six more doors appeared on the room¡¯s walls out of nowhere. ¡°What¡¯s beyond these doors?¡± Everelle asked nonchalantly. The zombie took no offense and simply answered, ¡°You will face a test of your own, and get a singular opportunity to help or hinder Vakariazrehafin through her trials. Rewards await the worthy.¡± ¡°Alright, I¡¯m game,¡± Everelle said, walking to stand next to the closest door. Ihuarah had not needed the explanation and was already in place in front of another one, but Pareth, Bookie and Cinthia were still hesitating, albeit for different reasons. ¡°I suppose my skeletons cannot come with me?¡± Sofia asked the zombie, feeling Bookie¡¯s uneasiness at the simple thought of being separated. ¡°Only the hollow grief may follow you through the main door as a fighter,¡± the zombie explained, referring to the undead Sofia could summon by cutting off her demon tail, ¡°anyone else entering through the main door may only spectate. Their abilities will be sealed.¡± ¡°Understood,¡± Sofia answered. She summoned Bookie¡¯s book form and walked up to him, giving him a skull pat, ¡°Here, keep it so you can use your transformations. But if you don¡¯t want to go alone, just come with me, it¡¯s fine even if you¡¯re not able to help.¡± ¡°I-... I¡¯ll go. I want to help!¡± Bookie decided after giving a look at Pareth, who was already waiting near one of the doors; he grabbed his book form and walked up to a door of his own. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. ¡°You and Pareth can always just return to me if it¡¯s too much, you won¡¯t be able to help, then, but I don¡¯t really mind,¡± Sofia told Bookie as he walked away. ¡°I can do this!¡± Bookie psyched himself up as he stopped in front of the closed door, hugging his book form. Cinthia was the last to make her decision, her eyes going from left to right as she read her chat. She did not look extremely confident, but eventually sighed and walked up to the fifth door. ¡°Everyone has decided to participate. You may now enter,¡± the zombie declared as the doors all opened on their own, ¡°Vakarizrehafin of Sorrow, follow me.¡± The zombie turned around and started walking back the way he came. ¡°Good luck everyone! Thanks for helping!¡± Sofia shouted for the others as they entered their respective doors. ¡°Thank you!¡± Cinthia¡¯s already distant voice answered, followed by Everelle who shouted even louder, ¡°I¡¯m only doing this for fun!¡± The doors closed. As she walked behind the zombie in the corridor leading to another room, Sofia sent a last thought message to Pareth and Bookie. We¡¯re never truly separated, remember that. I¡¯m always with you. Good luck, skeletons. Love you. With that being said, Sofia started channeling another unlife rune on her body as she followed the Guardian. A test of my might¡­ ¡°Is our strength appropriate for the trial?¡± Sofia asked the zombie. After all, if it was at a level where she was expected to contend with monsters like the three giants of the outside, there was no point to even try to do the trial without cheating in some way. ¡°Only the unworthy will fall, regardless of their strength,¡± the zombie answered without turning back. I¡¯ll take this as a yes¡­ ¡°How long have you been here?¡± ¡°Such details do not matter. Focus on the task ahead. The palace follows its own rules. Explore, adapt, overcome, and the Keepsake will be yours. May the merciful mother¡¯s grace be with you,¡± the zombie said, his form fading into nothingness as he reached the ornate double doors at the end of the corridor. The carvings on the heavy stone doors represented someone eating a bleeding heart. ¡°I¡¯m all alone again.¡± Health : 822 762 / 822 762 Stamina : 204 212 / 204 336 Mana : 5 022 238 / 5 022 238 ¡°Looking good. Everything¡¯s ready, two unlife runes up¡­ Let¡¯s get the saint set out, while I¡¯m at it. And since there¡¯s no one else around anymore, I can let the Lumian light flow again.¡± As a last preparation, Sofia summoned a shadow sprite, ¡°Because Bookie had to go on his own, you¡¯ll be my scout for today.¡± After taking a deep breath, Sofia opened the doors, the space around her becoming dark. Sofia was immediately faced with a huge room that looked like it was taken straight from the interior of the holy-see, but if it had been built with dark brown bricks and black stone instead of white marble. Tall lit candelabras were everywhere, providing light to the unnaturally dark chamber, flooding the place with the strong permeating scent of melting wax. Walls were covered in religious texts and carvings in Sorrow¡¯s honor, and the middle of the room was occupied by a giant golden statue on an imposing square platform. The statue was that of a kneeling woman wearing ample robes. She held her head in her hands, both of which were mostly obscured by the place¡¯s strange darkness which was stronger near the ceiling, dozens of meters above. After taking a few seconds to appreciate the sculpture, Sofia¡¯s attention went back to the engravings on the walls, which reminded her of something she would have rather not been reminded of. I wonder if scripture is looking at me through these religious texts right now. Get a good look at me getting stronger, you stinking pile of shit. This is what you¡¯ve done. Even the ceiling was covered in details and paintings, but the darkness made it impossible to properly appreciate. Lastly, tens of zombies in gray robes were standing silently in front of the statue, their back facing Sofia. Each of them held a candle-holder with a lit candle. Identifying them returned nothing. They looked to be of various shapes and sizes, with some Exidians, Dwarves and Elves in the mix, but mostly humans. Although the zombies were silent, muted chants reached Sofia¡¯s ears from further away. As the zombies weren¡¯t reacting to Sofia for the moment, she took the time to observe the room some more. My light isn¡¯t spreading at all, and my dark vision isn¡¯t seeing shit. I¡¯ll have to rely on those candles for light¡­ My mana senses¡­ Work well anywhere there is light? Sofia was standing in darkness at the moment, as there were no lit candles near the door. Her mana senses started from inside her, then stopped at the surface of her armor, and started again a few meters further, where there was light. It felt really strange, almost like having a big hole in one¡¯s vision. The zombies all had quite a bit of mana, maybe around two hundred thousands each, in Sofia¡¯s estimations. They can¡¯t be too high level with only that much. They also don¡¯t seem to have noticed me for now. Perhaps they are not even hostile? Do I need to sneak around or kill everything in my way? How should I even start? Let¡¯s not start any fights for now. Checking on her link with Pareth and Bookie, Sofia felt that Pareth was moving quickly. It looks like someone¡¯s already fighting.
Chapter 533 - Repent! I can¡¯t even see myself in this darkness, but at the very least it seems to not be doing anything dangerous besides hindering my senses. I have two runes up so surprise attacks are not the most worrying, let¡¯s stay in the dark for now. I¡¯ll follow the wall on the left I guess¡­ Sofia walked cautiously in the darkness, her left hand gliding along the wall, feeling the uneven texture of the cold porous bricks and the disturbing shapes of carvings she couldn¡¯t see. While everything right around her was plunged in pitch black darkness, she could sometimes see the outlines of things that were in between her and the zones of light. There were pillars with uneven borders, tall chairs, large furniture that Sofia couldn¡¯t recognize with the shape alone, and plenty of unlit candelabra. After going for about thirty meters without making any sound, Sofia reached the left wall of the room. On this side as well, a large group of zombies were facing the giant centerpiece statue of Sorrow, each holding a candle. From this angle, Sofia could see that they all held the candle in their left hand while their right hand was placed on their chest, the palm on their heart. Although they were clearly zombies, there were only light signs of decomposition, their dead gray skin being the most notable one. Perhaps they smelled like zombies usually did, but Sofia couldn¡¯t tell, the smell of burning wax completely overpowering any putrid scent. If not for the fact that they don¡¯t breathe and are still like statues, someone less experienced might not even realize that they are undead until they come closer. Now, following the left wall in the dark was not an option, as there were lit candelabras every few meters along the wall, letting one observe the wall¡¯s statues and scriptures. This left only a few pockets of darkness where the candles were most distant, and a thin corridor of shadow in between the wall and the zombies. Sofia followed the shadow slowly, doing her best to make even less noise than before, especially when she got to the level of the zombies. Even if they were facing away, the zombies most in the back of the group were almost at arm''s reach, as their candles only lit a small area around each of them. When she reached the halfway point of the room, Sofia saw a distant light in the pocket of shadow on the left wall. There¡¯s actually a corridor there! It¡¯s completely in the dark, but since I can see the light all the way out there¡­ I should be fine as long as I go in a straight line. Sofia left the entrance room, stepping into the corridor felt strange, it was even darker in there, and the only specks of light Sofia could see were the zombies¡¯ candles behind, and a lone candle on a small stand some fifty meters down the corridor¡¯s long stretch of darkness. I¡¯m far from the zombies so it should be fine if I make a tiny bit of noise. Sofia felt uneasy going completely blind but she also still wanted to be discreet, so what she did was to manipulate her bone armor into growing long and thin spider-leg-like tendrils. Controlling them as she wished, she used them like extended arms to feel her surroundings, be it the ground, the walls, or the ceiling. Being able to feel what was around her, even if it was indirectly, reassured Sofia a great deal. Just a normal corridor. No line of monsters I can¡¯t see surrounding me, no random hole in the ground, just a corridor¡­ Just a corridor¡­ About halfway through the corridor, one of the tendrils near the ground felt something unusual, and Sofia almost screamed in surprise, and had instantly brandished the dagger in the direction of the thing, only to realize that it was a loose brick shattered on the floor, another of her bone tendrils quickly finding the corresponding brick-shaped hole in the wall. Fuck¡­ Why am I so jumpy now of all times? Ah, right. Pareth isn¡¯t here. That¡¯s why. Sofia sighed silently, I rarely take the time to appreciate how much safer I feel with him around¡­ Sofia took a second to breathe, and lightly shook her scepter. The tiny bell of Ormoncleth attached to it rang lightly, helping to soothe Sofia¡¯s nerves. After all, enemies cannot hear it, so I can safely use it like this. She thought, grabbing her staff and caressing the small bauble with her left hand, before letting it go and starting to walk again. Now I wonder if that candle out there is some kind of trap. I can¡¯t even tell if it¡¯s still in the corridor or if it¡¯s in a different room, its light is so pitifully weak, it almost looks like it¡¯s just in the middle of an empty void. I wonder if I should have just fought the zombies. Maybe I¡¯m being needlessly cautious. Then again, my history with exploring magically dark places is not great. Earned me my first decapitation¡­ Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. The good thing is, I can control Shades with [Reign over shadows] now, so I won¡¯t be reenacting that. Not that losing my head would be much of an issue at this point. Sofia finally reached the lonely candle, which turned out to be still inside of the corridor. She walked past it while keeping herself near the wall, feeling what was on the other side. Oh, we have big wooden doors here. Iron ring handles? Doors must be heavy. Well. Time to experiment a bit. Sofia took cubes of bones out of her storage one by one, delicately putting them on the floor, and with [Bone dominus], she made them into a hollow cube encasing this part of the corridor. There we go, I¡¯m inside my cube with the candle. Nobody can see me. There was something magical to all the candles, this one included. Although the fire looked normal at first glance and produced some heat, the light was oddly weak, even for a candle. Slowly, Sofia stepped into the light. Alright. I feel no change. Nothing weird so far, so the light is also safe. Sofia then reached out to grab the small copper plate holding the candle, and as soon as the tip of her fingers touched the thing, the candle went out. Crap! Sofia prepared herself for a fight; her bone tendrils flailed around wildly only finding air and bone walls. There were no signs of anything happening, and she was still perfectly safe and alone inside of her bone cube. No touching the candles, then? Actually¡­ Sofia tried to store the candle in her storage ring, and that failed miserably. It just would not go in. Then she tried to light it back up with a tiny angel bolt spark between two of her fingers, but not only was it hard to do properly as she could not see the wick nor the light coming from the sparks that she knew were flying between her fingers, but it also did not seem to work at all. Can¡¯t light it back up, can¡¯t store it in my ring. I¡¯m not allowed to take a lit candle with me¡­ At least I tried¡­ Putting the extinguished candle back where it belonged, Sofia stored all of her bone back after making it into small cubes again, and pulled on the handles to open the wooden doors. She could not feel anything from the other side, which meant it was likely to also be in total darkness. The theory proved itself true, the room beyond the door a pitch black void, but not for long. A candelabra near a wall lit up by itself, followed by many more, until only the back of the relatively small square room was still obscured. There was nothing but candelabra in the room, and two more doors on the left and right. Is there something hiding in that shadow? Sofia entered the room, wondering if she should close the door behind her, and eventually deciding to seal it with a vertical sheet of bone instead, which she could remove much faster than she could open a door. The room was about seven or eight meters on each side, and only that one about two-meters large spot in the center of the back was still dark. Sofia readied her weapons and took a few steps closer. Before she could send her bone tendrils to probe the darkness, something appeared within the shade. A barely visible blurry white figure. It was kneeling in a prayer position, facing away from Sofia. Little by little, it became brighter, revealing that said figure was a long-eared humanoid wearing tattered robes, and, surprising Sofia, a scroll of parchment paper appeared between Sofia and the forming ghost out of nowhere, unrolling silently. A few lines of glowing white text were inscribed on the scroll: ¡®Here prays Sister Meilyss She repents for the Sorrows her creations have caused She has offered herself as your first trial There are nine trials of might Each helper will come alone and may only participate once Currently available helpers: Pareth Everelle Velanihuarahton¡¯ As she read the last three lines, illusory images flashed before Sofia¡¯s eyes, Pareth, Everelle and Ihuarah were all waiting alone in similar rooms, facing closed doors, each holding a similar small scroll. Sofia¡¯s first thought was, What about Bookie and Cinthia? But before she could worry about that, she had to quickly make a decision, as the ghost of ¡®Sister Meilyss¡¯ became clearer by the second. Four words of light had appeared inscribed directly on the floor, one for each helper, and one in ancient human, spelling ¡®Loneliness¡¯. Nine trials, five helpers? That means I have to do four of them alone. Sofia sent some mana toward the ¡®Loneliness¡¯ word of light, but that did nothing, so she tried stepping on it, and the words as well as the scroll all disappeared. ¡°I can feel the two holy mothers coming for me,¡± the ghost whispered in an ethereal voice, ¡°this must be fate. I have atoned enough, Sun, today I will return to my brethren.¡± Sofia prepared her spells and weapons, an array of skulls appearing behind her, and the ghost slowly stood up.
Chapter 534 - Walk like a necromancer Electricity started to gather around Sofia¡¯s staff and in the choir skulls¡¯ mouths. The light was getting suppressed by the palace¡¯s strange darkness, but the crackling electricity existed nonetheless, and before the ghost got to even do anything, the wide array of Sirhellion skulls showered the ghost with lightning, sending sparks and loose currents flying in all directions. Out of the interesting things that Sofia got to learn from Eternam¡¯s necromancy classes, the fact that the volatility of lightning when mixed with mana was great to incapacitate ghosts had not been forgotten. Sofia was also protected from the rampaging electricity, first thanks to the passive protection offered by the bolt, then by [Singularity edict]. Yet, Sister Meilyss stood in her spot, unaffected. Raising a hand, she summoned a swarm of ghostly mechanical spiders flooding the room. Sofia instantly unsummoned the choir as the skulls were getting jumped on and quickly broken by the ghostly spiders, which she herself was barely managing to avoid. A ghost immune to lightning. Sofia thought, releasing the weak piercing bolt she had been charging at the ghost, and watching it harmlessly pass through her. Just my luck. The ghostly spiders were knocking over the candelabras that had survived the choir¡¯s electricity, and the room was starting to rapidly turn dark. Sister Meilyss unleashed a continuous barrage of electricity at Sofia, which only shaved off a few thousand health points before Sofia answered with a skill of her own, as the room was plunged into complete darkness, with the many ghosts being the only thing visible. Using three million mana, Sofia unleashed a violent beam of mana at Sister Meilyss and all the ghostly spiders in its path. That was so much mana in such a small room, that the attack bounced off of the walls and Sofia herself was affected like everyone else around, her vision uncontrollably locking onto the ghost of Sister Meilyss, the ¡®brightest thing¡¯ in the room. The light! COME! OFFER YOURSELF TO THE LIGHT! The countless ghostly spiders threw themselves at their summoner, and Sofia had to forcefully expel her remaining mana into the air to prevent herself from doing the same. The ghost mechanical spiders clumped up in a ball around Sister Meilyss, and Sofia could hear the ghost woman scream as she got consumed by her own magic. Holy¡­ I feel a bit bad¡­ It was only a few seconds before the ghostly spiders all disappeared, the ghost of sister Meilyss was in such a bad shape that she was barely recognizable, her soul had been torn to bits by the creatures enough that they could not even be sustained by her remaining magic any longer. ¡°The light¡­¡± the ghost whispered as it fell to the ground, and as if escaping from the curse in a last moment of lucidity, she muttered a few more words as her form became blurrier, ¡°I, too¡­ fall to my own creation¡­ a fitting¡­ end¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry. Rest in peace,¡± Sofia said as the ghostly light faded, plunging the room in complete darkness once more. ¡®You have pacified [Sister Meilyss - Lingering obsession]¡¯ No level indication, again; weird. Sofia heard the hollow sound of something hitting the ground as the notification appeared, coming from where Sister Meilyss had disappeared, followed by the sound of something rolling. She left something behind?! Sofia extended the bone tendrils again, quickly finding the thing responsible for the sound and bringing it to her left hand. Some kind of glass ball? Feels a bit like the backup eyeball implant I have¡­ Can we identify that, Mr.Scribe? Although with her mana senses blocked, Sofia couldn¡¯t identify things from a distance, as long as she touched whatever she wanted to scan, her mana could easily reach it and come back. [Phased mana stone]: Once a perfectly normal mana-heart, the physical side of this stone has mostly shifted to the spiritual side after the owner¡¯s death, anchoring their remnant soul and obsessions to this world. As even the owner¡¯s soul is no longer of this world, this no longer has any interesting properties. Surprisingly, however, an inscription in ancient human can be found engraved on the inside, reading: ¡®Heart of Velania¡¯. So that¡¯s one way ghosts form. Interesting. I wonder what¡¯s up with this heart of Velania thing but now isn¡¯t really the time to investigate¡­ Still to think I¡¯d find an elven ghost here¡­ And the creator of the mechanical spiders no less? They were the exact same as the one Saria was standing on when I found her in the simulation. Just much smaller. Then Joah¡¯s dreams might really be of real places. Crazy to think that underwater elven city must be out there somewhere. I wonder if the fight would have gone differently had the room been larger. Thinking that, Sofia walked up to the walls, trying to find the impact point of the piercing bolt she had released during the fight. Using the bone tendrils to probe the walls, she quickly found it, a brick had been pierced through, and the second layer of the wall behind that was intact, as far as Sofia could tell. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. Those are some damn resistant walls for just being bricks. And the graveyard skeletons can¡¯t even appear in there. Eager to see just how resistant the walls were, Sofia plunged the admin dagger into it, and it pierced through the second layer without much resistance. Alright, not that resistant. So I guess I can still carve my way out if something goes wrong. Better to refrain from it unless I really need to, though, I¡¯m not here to destroy Sorrow¡¯s place. Sofia stored the mana stone, quickly checking her stats. Health : 799 082 / 822 762 Stamina : 203 623 / 204 336 Mana : 816 233 / 5 022 238 Do I want to break my runes to heal that up? Feels like a waste of time. I still find it strange that the mana heart prevents the demon form from changing my stats, but I suppose it makes sense. I still get stronger thanks to the passive pathways and Sorrow¡¯s spells so it¡¯s fine. The ability to breathe in ambient mana is becoming weaker, though. As I expected, relying on ambient mana is a handicap when one¡¯s mana pool becomes too large. I really have to thank my past self and Bookie¡¯s quick thinking for settling on [Infinity engine]. Right, then, where to now? Eight more trials of might? So far, easy enough. Since I turned left once, let¡¯s keep going left. Sofia opened the left door, which revealed another long corridor with a lit candle at the end. Well, I already know how this goes. This time Sofia simply walked past the candle when she reached it, and opened the door. The newly opened room was well-lit, as a group of candle-holding zombies were sitting in a circle around a small altar that held a closed box. The zombies facing her direction immediately noticed her. Their eyes were hidden by black flames, but their heads all turned to face her. ¡°H- hey¡­¡± Sofia said, unsure of what to do, as she was ready to fight but the zombies strangely did not show much hostility besides all staring intently in her direction. Of course nobody answered, and Sofia simply stood there awkwardly facing the zombies. No way, don¡¯t tell me¡­ Is the damn passive from the first tier of [Runeforged Overlord] finally being useful?! Sofia brought up the description she basically never looked at anymore. [Runeforged Overlord] ? : Your body has become one with runes of power. This skill has three tiers of power, you may activate the higher tier at any time, but returning to a lower tier requires to either take no damage for 100 seconds or become unable to sustain the tier¡¯s cost or conditions. The effects and cost of subsequent tiers are added together when active simultaneously. In your presence all undead and yourself gain the following effects: ___ Tier 1 (No cost; Requires the user to have arms) : Become unwilling to attack this skill¡¯s user. +[24.9]% Speed (Skill level /10) ___ Tier 2 (0.5 (0.25)% max mana per second; Requires the user to have a torso) : +[24.9]% Speed (Skill level /10) +[24.9]% Strength (Skill level /10) +[24.9]% Agility (Skill level /10) ___ Tier 3 (2 (1)% max mana per second; Requires the user to have wings) : Successful attacks inflict a short lasting [Confusion] Reduce all incoming damage by 20% Omnidirectional free flight Acceleration resistance +[124,5]% Speed (Skill level /2) +[124,5]% Strength (Skill level /2) +[124,5]% Agility (Skill level /2) I never thought I¡¯d see the day. They also get the extra speed, but I can¡¯t do much about that. No wonder the ghost spiders were so fast¡­ I could cut my arms to see if they¡¯re going to attack me. But I¡¯m not sure I want to fight them without my arms. I¡¯ll just see when I find an isolated zombie. They can¡¯t always come in big groups like this, right? ¡°I¡¯m going through, then¡­¡± Sofia awkwardly said, walking around the circle of undead to the door on the other side, being followed by their dead gaze all the way around. I¡¯ll need to come back here and fight them to check what¡¯s in that altar box. I¡¯d steal it with the eye implant but it¡¯s sure to make them attack me. I know firsthand that unwilling doesn¡¯t mean unable to. I hurt myself all the time despite the effect, after all¡­ This entire place is full of only undead, isn¡¯t it? This is going to make me regret giving up the [Lead the dead] mithrium ring even more¡­ Sofia sighed as she put her hands on the door¡¯s handles. Alright, see you later, zombies¡­ Sofia opened the door, entering yet another corridor, and closed it behind her. Again, a candle on the other side. Why is it that only one side had a candle, though? Opening yet another door, Sofia entered a room where dozens of zombies were sitting at decrepit wooden desks, busy sewing robes with gray silk. Ah, yes. Of course, the robes they all wear have to come from somewhere¡­ Perhaps alarmed by the sound of the door opening, the zombies all stopped sewing. Staring at Sofia instead. Their silent gaze was chilling. So awkward¡­ Sofia thought with a shiver. If only they were skeletons, it wouldn¡¯t be so bad.
Chapter 535 - Fall like a necromancer Aside from the sewing zombies, which, funnily enough, were mostly zombies of muscular bearded men, the room had two more doors, one on Sofia¡¯s right and one straight ahead, while the wall on the left was obscured by a stockpile of messily piled up silk coils. Sofia decided to simply keep going forward, walking awkwardly in between the sewing stations under the zombies¡¯ empty stares. Entering another corridor, she closed the door behind her with a weary sigh. ¡°At this point it might be less stressful to just fight them¡­ Hey, candle¡¯s on this side this time,¡± she noticed, looking at the lit candle on a small stand right in front of her, while the other side of the corridor was only complete darkness. Now that I¡¯ve seen those guys sewing it makes me wonder¡­ Should¡¯ve started with that¡­ Sofia grabbed the candle, which instantly extinguished it, and she identified it. [Candle]: Just a candle, there is nothing very special about it. Really now? What is it that¡¯s suppressing every other source of light, then? Some kind of large area passive magic? I¡¯m of half a mind to activate the Winter melody and kill myself a few times to see if the soul damage gets rid of whoever is doing this. That¡¯s dangerous for Cinthia and Everelle if they are in the effect area, though, so I¡¯ll have to hold myself back¡­ Anyway¡­ I was wondering about the wax, care to tell me more about that? Sofia asked Mr. Scribe as she identified the candle again. [Strange wax]: The candle wax seems to burn very slowly and is surprisingly brittle, provenance unknown. Might contain diluted traces of magical ingredients. So there is some bit of magic in there after all. This is where we would have benefited from a higher level [Identify] isn¡¯t it? Well, whatever. Sofia let down the candle and was about to leave but she had a sudden urge to pick the candle back up and bite into the wax. She chewed it a bit before spitting it back out. ¡°Tastes like sap. I guess they grow trees somewhere here¡­¡± Her curiosity satiated, Sofia dashed forward in the dark. She was already getting bored of walking slowly and carefully through the pointless corridors, and had two runes up to save her skin if her carelessness got the best of her somehow. The long bone tendrils of her armor touched the door first, warning her to promptly stop by slamming her dragon armguard¡¯s claws into the wall. She managed to stop with her face almost touching the door. Taking a step back and opening the door a little, she was surprised to not see anything, as the room was also in complete darkness. Another trial room? She wondered as she carefully stepped in. but unlike the previous time, there were no candles lighting up one by one, instead, just strange clicking sounds coming from many directions, and quickly coming closer. Oh hey, now that¡¯s a tune I recognize. I see, I see. Perfectly logical that this would be here. Sofia thought as she jumped back and charged an explosive bolt in each hand. They should consider themselves lucky, I¡¯m not going to eat their heart this time. Not waiting much, Sofia released the bolts when she estimated she had backtracked through about half of the corridor. The bolts exploded much sooner than she expected, blowing her back slightly, which meant that either the creatures were following much faster than Sofia¡¯s hearing suggested, or that her aim was ass and that she hit a wall. Through the violent explosion, she heard many loud screeches, but got no kill notification. I managed to miss a shot in a straight line¡­ Annoyed, Sofia turned back and jumped straight into the lingering flames of the explosion. The pained screeches of the creatures revealed their positions, and Sofia blindly struck with her scepter. When the scepter didn¡¯t hit a wall instead of its target, it broke legs and burst open the heads and bodies of the creatures, which fought back by spitting stick strands at Sofia and biting at her armor. ¡®You have defeated [Silkbud prowler - lv.221]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Silkbud prowler - lv.214]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Silkbud prowler - lv.233]¡¯ The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. ¡®You have defeated [Silkbud prowler - lv.207]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Silkbud prowler - lv.249]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Silkbud prowler - lv.248]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Silkbud prowler - lv.236]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Silkbud prowler - lv.186]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Silkbud prowler - lv.212]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Silkbud prowler - lv.241]¡¯ ¡®You have defeated [Silkbud Matriarch - lv.299]¡¯ Covered in sticky stuff in spider entrails, Sofia read the notifications. I expected more of them. Sturdy for their level, I can¡¯t believe they survived the bolts. And no wonder that last one took twelve scepter hits before it died. It¡¯s the only one that got through the armor. She thought as she felt the hole in her armor near the waist, which was quickly closing itself. Shallow wound but it feels a bit hot. Not strange for spiders to have venom, doesn¡¯t seem to do much to my mana-weave muscles, though. I¡¯m not losing any life from it either. Sofia was trying to clean herself from all the web that was on her, but it was quite sticky and hard to get off. ¡°Wait, the matriarch was 299. Got a stone?¡± Sofia kneeled down to blindly search the remains of the barrel-sized matriarch¡¯s corpse which was already half mush. Wouldn¡¯t be surprised if I broke it. Plunging her hand inside of the creature¡¯s entrails, Sofia probed around its soft insides. There were no bones, which would have made the search easier, but she quickly found what she was looking for anyway, a fist-sized rock-like thing near the middle of the spider¡¯s busted abdomen. [Inert Physikstone]: The Physikstone of a Matriarch Silkbud spider, might make for decent-looking jewelry. After storing the stone, Sofia started channeling another bolt until the heat got rid of the sticky webs she was covered in, and she dispelled it before continuing on. The room the Spiders had been in was full of webs and more bolt heat was needed to clean it up and let Sofia find the one door this room had to offer, which was behind a pile of big and hard spider eggs that Sofia chose to not touch. If they had survived the heat then they¡¯d have a chance at life. There¡¯s not even a candle this time¡­ Sending the bone tendrils from her armor to investigate, Sofia found out that this was directly another room, with no long corridor separation. The room seemed mostly empty, with a lone stone coffer in the middle. Ohohoh¡­ A treat, for me? Sofia approached the closed tomb, eager to see what kind of skeleton she could pilfer today, sending some mana to probe the inside as soon as her fingers touched the heavy stone lid. Her mana failed to penetrate the stone. Huh. Some kind of seal, maybe? Did they entomb someone alive or what? Since her mana failed to penetrate the thing, identify would fail to produce any result, as such, she chose to just try and open it, holding her ring of Zar ready to absorb the mana of any released magical trap, just in case. She forcefully pushed the stone lid, expecting it to be held in place by the magic or at least to be a bit heavy, but it flew open as if pulled back on its own. Wha- Sofia heard a swift woosh sound, and before she could understand what had happened, the lid had closed back up, somehow separating her torso from her legs. She fell face first into a prickly bath of corrosive liquid. A TOMB MIMIC?! ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS? Sofia quickly controlled the bones of her armor to completely close any hole that would let the corrosive liquid touch her, as it was actually strong enough to seriously hurt her, and the continuous burn did not let [Singularity Edict] negate the damage. Even then, plenty of the liquid had already entered her otherwise empty veins, the light within doing nothing to stop the liquid from flowing in, and Sofia¡¯s health was quickly dropping. At a glance, she had thirty seconds left before her first unlife rune popped. She tried to start channeling an explosive bolt, but the mana was absorbed by something as soon as it left her body, making the spell fail and backlash into her scepter. She then punched up against the lid, but it barely shook from the hit. Next she tried to grab the admin dagger at her hip, but it had been part of the half of her which was left outside of the monster. Shit. Her next move was to try to hit the monster from the inside, as from what she knew about mimics, they had some internal fleshy bits which should be vulnerable, and with a bit of luck she might even be able to find and crush its mana heart. However she found none of that. This was simply a vat of stone too sturdy for her to punch through fast enough, filled with a worryingly potent corrosive juice. Almost all of her spells failed, except for the bone control of [Bone dominus], but that alone was not extremely useful at the moment. Trying to store the corrosive liquid into her ring did not work, and Sofia was quickly running out of time and options. Fuck¡­ This is disgusting but it might work! Sofia opened her helmet to expose her demon form¡¯s large mouth, and, pushing her head toward the bottom of the mimic, she started drinking. If she couldn¡¯t leave the mimic, she only needed to make its insides safe, Sofia had thought. And what better way to get rid of a mimic¡¯s stomach acid than her own Lumian stomach, from which the food she ate seemed to simply disappear, so much so that she had not needed to use the toilets once ever since her racial evolution. The mimic¡¯s acid was positively disgusting, and Sofia would have probably puked out some magical liquid if not for the acid eating everything inside of her faster than anything could possibly come out. Still, somehow, the level of corrosive liquid inside of the mimic was going down fast as Sofia gulped it down with her dissolving face and throat. Only about a third of the liquid remained; then she died.
Chapter 536 - The issue with hyper-specialized builds Sofia reappeared inside of the mimic three seconds later, her lower body completely regenerated and already soaking in what remained of the corrosive liquid. The space inside of the mimic was very cramped now that it contained her entire body. While Sofia was hastily covering her legs with her bone armor to try to prevent the liquid from harming her too much, she stopped. The liquid was no longer hurting her or even her armor, it was just like smelly water. It took a long second for Sofia to realize. ¡°[Singularity Edict]! The damage stopped because I was dead! It¡¯s a single attack so I¡¯m immune now! ¡°GET FUCKED, MIMIC!¡± No longer in any immediate danger, Sofia had time to get her hands wet and closely inspect her new cramped prison cell. While the walls felt like stone, they were much tougher, and now that most of the liquid was gone, she could feel small pin-sized holes on two opposite sides, from which a very slow trickle of liquid was refilling the vat, and some kind of cross-shaped seam on the bottom side. That might be its mouth? Dissolve first then drink what¡¯s left? Sofia tried to activate some of her spells again, but [Bone dominus] was still the sole responder. It feels like the walls are sucking up all the mana as soon as it leaves my body¡­ Infinity engine is supposed to protect my mana from being affected by enemy aura, but I guess it can still be absorbed directly like this? After weighing her options, Sofia created a bone strand thin as a hair, and tried to send it through one of the tiny holes in the walls. The mimic seemed to have quickly understood what was going on, as the bone strand was blocked after only going a few centimeters in, and when Sofia tried to ding them again, all the other holes had closed up. So it¡¯s not just a passive monster. Yet even when things are like this it¡¯s not releasing me nor attacking in any other way? Is it hoping I will eventually suffocate to death or something? I guess most people would; but not me. Since I am not strong enough to break the walls, not many options left¡­ Well¡­ It can only absorb the mana that¡¯s already outside of my body. [Runeforged overlord] is the only skill I haven¡¯t tried, and it should work, as it¡¯s almost fully inside. The strength bonus is considerable, might be enough to get me out, but it might also make the mimic stronger if it¡¯s an undead. Which it very well might be¡­ Worth a try. Sofia activated the second and third tier of [Runeforged overlord], gaining considerable strength. Yet the walls stood perfectly undamaged from her punches, and the lid stayed tightly closed no matter how hard she pushed. As a last resort, she scratched the walls with her dragon claws right before she ran out of mana, trying to inflict the rarely-used [Confusion] effect from [Runeforged overlord]¡¯s third tier, without any visible result. Her mana reached zero and with a slight headache settling in, the magic faded. Well¡­ The Dragon scale armguard is tougher than the Mimic¡¯s walls so even if it¡¯s slow I could try to dig my way out. Feels like it¡¯ll take weeks, though. And if the walls can heal, I¡¯m screwed. If only I had kept the dagger in my hand¡­ Or stabbed the damn thing before trying to open it! Hmm¡­ Only the mana outside my body gets absorbed, and the armor is part of my body¡­ My bones have become a very good mana conductor, now that I¡¯m a Lumian. That should make learning spells I can replicate the pattern much easier now, with the method I used to learn to summon the sprites. But if that method can work to cast valid spells inside of my body¡­ Sofia started pulling a long and noodle-thick strand of bone from her armor, keeping it attached. She stuck her back and legs as close to the walls as she could, to give herself space to extend her left arm. Slowly, layer by layer, she recreated the out-of-body component of the exploding angel bolt mana pattern around her arm with the bone strands. The pattern was messy and complex, but if there was one singular mana pattern that Sofia was confident she could remember perfectly even without any system help and in this complete darkness, it was this one. What was usually near instantaneous to draw with mana took her several hours of bone sculpting, but in the end, it was ready, the full mana structure of the original [Angel bolt]. Not wanting to risk breaking the bone structure, Sofia started channeling mana into it very slowly. It felt completely natural, just like casting the spell as usual, except the external mana was entirely contained within her bone structure. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. It¡¯s¡­ It¡¯s almost easier. The crackling of lightning soon filled the interior of the mimic. Sofia laughed. She heard a strange sound, followed by the splashing of liquid. The corrosive liquid was being quickly drained, perhaps as an emergency measure by a panicking mimic to avoid electrocution. Sofia pushed even more mana into the bolt. It soon started to burn her, but she did not care. She reveled in the burn, knowing that it meant she was going to be immune to the explosion. When was such a bolt going to be ready? There was no need to ask, Sofia kept pumping more mana into it, for as long as she could. Then, at around four million mana points invested, it became too much. Even her Lumian bones could no longer stand the heat. She could only do one thing, release the beast. Despite the absolute violence of the explosion, not a single flash of light pierced Sorrow¡¯s palace¡¯s oppressive magical darkness. Worse yet, Sofia got no kill notification. She took no damage from the explosion and the heat, but was still shaken by the shockwave, so it took her a second to get a hold of herself. No way, I¡¯m still trapped?! Sofia felt the walls around her, they were full of cracks, and some bits had fallen off, but they still kept her locked. My strongest bolt ever yet and it got eaten just like that?! Sofia punched the crackled lid of the mimic above her head. It was not quite as steady as it had once been, and shook a bit from her hit. This brought a smile to Sofia¡¯s demonic face. With the mana she had left, she activated the second and third tier of [Runeforged overlord]. As I said before, mimic. ¡°Get fucked!¡± With a single punch, Sofia¡¯s right arm pierced through the mimic¡¯s lid. With access to the outside, she quickly extended her bone armor out and sent bone tendrils everywhere to probe for her lost lower body. In just a few seconds, the tentacle-like bone tendrils found the admin dagger and sent it back to Sofia¡¯s hand, which she pulled back into the mimic. Going out through the lid is dangerous. It cut me in half once, It could do it again. No, you wanted me inside of you? Well, it¡¯s only fair that I take the extra step and try to reach your real insides, isn¡¯t it? Sofia stabbed the dagger around the place where she found the holes previously. She quickly cut a circular piece out of that wall, passed the dagger back to her left hand to be safe, and plunged her right arm elbow deep in the hole. No matter what shenanigans awaited on the other side, she was protected by the dragon scale armguard either way. The other side felt meaty and slimy. Sofia grabbed the first thing she found that stood out and pulled it out of the hole which made a disturbing tearing sound. Oh! This is just gutting a fish. A big, land bound, tomb-shaped fish. Sofia kept digging around and ripping the mimic¡¯s flesh off from the inside, while it was trying to flood her compartment with corrosive liquid again, which did not help it much. When she could no longer find anything resembling a full organ on that side, she turned around and dug into the opposite wall. Eventually fully scrambling the monster¡¯s insides on that side too. Yet it was still not dead. That thing is almost as tough as me. Sorry but you made me drink this disgusting shit, I¡¯m not getting out until you¡¯re dead. There was that seam on the bottom¡­ Sofia carved another hole in the bottom side of her small prison and was not too surprised to find more slimy flesh beneath. She dug around for a bit until she felt something different from everything else. Something hard and mostly round. ¡°I win.¡± Sofia pulled on the hard thing. Ripping it out from the monster¡¯s insides. ¡®You have defeated [Gravedigger¡¯s bane Mimic - lv. 344]¡¯ With the thing dead, Sofia could now effortlessly push open the lid from inside and step out. ¡°What a mess.¡± Sofia gave the rock a quick Identify as she searched for her lost old lower-body in the dark. [Scrambled Mana-Heart]: The Mana-heart of a Gravedigger¡¯s bane Mimic. Its sudden removal from its heavily-injured host has scrambled the many mana pathways inside, resulting in useless but pretty circular patterns (supposedly). It will probably look nice when we eventually get to actually look at it. Might actually be worth a bit of money. Should I take it to a jeweler? Dismissing the notification, Sofia grabbed the bone armor on the ground, with her sliced-up pants still inside. Her actual previous waist and legs were nowhere to be found. Did my previous body disappear when the unlife rune resurrected me? That¡¯s¡­ Convenient, actually. Undressing and disposing of my leftover corpses has never been something that I particularly liked to do¡­ Thank you Clint, I guess. After sorting out her things, Sofia went to leave the room. As she opened the door to the spiders¡¯ room again, she heard the ringing of a bell behind her. She turned around, ready to defend herself, but nothing came. Where the hell did that even come from? There was nothing in there except the dead tomb. I checked thrice! Staying where she was, she sent her armor¡¯s bone tendrils to search. As they were part of her own ¡®skeleton¡¯, they had a nine meter range, enough to cover the entire room. She found something on the ground, which was about where she had heard the bell ring from. Although it was hard to tell while just feeling the shape with bone tendrils, Sofia quickly understood what the thing was: a small chest. Sofia walked up to the small chest and touched the lid. It was without a doubt nice and smooth varnished wood, just like the hidden chest she had found the Acceleratium potions in previously. She stabbed it with her dagger.
Chapter 537 - It’s just a flesh wound Heavy. Sofia thought as she picked up the contents of the small chest which turned out to not be a mimic. [Unlabelled ritual book]: A book containing many antique ritual circles, there is no title, author or explanations. The cover and bindings are made of a mithril alloy. These pages are all rituals? Sofia rhetorically asked, as she trusted Mr.Scribe but couldn¡¯t actually see what she was holding. Just by feel, though, she estimated the thick and heavy metal-bound book to have at least five hundred pages. Well. I guess I¡¯m going right back to Zerei¡¯s after we finish this. Sofia finally left the mimic¡¯s room, and made her way back to the sewing room, where the zombies were still silently sewing, and all turned around to stare at her. ¡°Just going through, guys,¡± Sofia announced as she walked to the door on her left. She was once again faced with a dark corridor, the lit candle was on the other side. Sofia took her time to walk through the corridor, she was busy refreshing her lost unlife rune, and was going to channel a third one also since there was no additional downside. Except for the annoyingly long channeling time¡­ In the next room, a single female human zombie was lethargically organizing the gray robes into piles of different sizes; she, of course, stopped to stare at Sofia instead as soon as she felt her presence in the room. Oh, finally. Sofia reached into her chest, a hole appearing in her armor, and she grabbed the dagger from her Apostle hollow heart cavity. Now how do I do this? Kill fast to be safe and get the zombies¡¯ level, or bait attacks to learn what they¡¯re capable of? If they have a level comparable to the mimic I¡¯m in deep shit, but I can¡¯t just hope that they¡¯ll never attack me, so I need to learn more. After some thinking, Sofia stored her scepter, and quickly sculpted a long bone spear shaft. She encased the dagger at the tip as the spearhead, feeling that the extra range would give her more time to react if the zombie was faster than expected. With a swift strike, Sofia sliced through the zombie¡¯s right arm. The dagger cut through the rotten flesh with no resistance whatsoever, and the dead arm fell on the floor, still holding a half-folded gray robe. Sofia backed away as the zombie suddenly turned to face her, growling, no longer slow or lethargic. Sofia anticipated a physical attack of some sort, but instead, the flame of the candle the zombie was holding in its remaining hand swelled, and a scorching beam of fire pierced the darkness, aiming straight for Sofia¡¯s head. I see, Sofia thought as she spent a trifling amount of mana to negate the magic with [Heat Death]. ¡°Do it again,¡± Sofia ordered. The zombie wouldn¡¯t understand, but it was already going to attack again anyway. The candle flame swelled again, but this time it had about sixty thousand mana behind it, so three times as much as before. Sofia moved at the last second, letting the fire beam hit her shoulder. It scorched the bone armor, and dug about one centimeter into it, failing to even reach her skin. ¡°Thank you for your help; now rest in peace,¡± Sofia thanked the zombie before she dashed forward, plunged her hand inside of the zombie¡¯s throat, and turned its entire skeleton into an array of spinning bone blades. The kill notification came before the shredded zombie parts could even hit the floor. ¡®You have defeated [Sister of the candle - lv. 238]¡¯ ¡°Hmm¡­ Honestly that¡¯s an admirable level of power for that level. If enough of them attack me at once I could take some damage. But I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if there were higher level ones. That would be dangerous. Pretty weak physical defense for zombies at that level, though.¡± Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Sofia then stole a few robes from the stockpile, and kept on exploring, as this room branched out into three different corridors. One of them held absolutely nothing of interest, while the rooms in the second one quickly became slightly unsettling, as Sofia realized that the things she had been looking at for the last three rooms were in fact torture devices. It hadn¡¯t been too clear at first, as the strange rusty contraptions were otherwise quite clean, but in the room Sofia had just entered, they looked newer, and were covered in dried blood. Another room, and the torture instruments started to be covered in fresh blood. Pools of blood covered the ground, its metallic smell feeling very familiar to Sofia. Could be human blood, somehow. In the next room, the torture devices started to have pieces of gray skin and rotten flesh stuck on them, the entire floor was covered by a shallow layer of warm blood. Are they torturing zombies here? But that other zombie didn¡¯t bleed at all, so this¡­ Cautiously entering the following room, Sofia got to appreciate a collection of amputated arms and legs suspended to the ceiling with meat hooks. There had been so much blood in this room that it had flowed out into the corridor as soon as she had opened the doors. Judging by the wetness of the walls, it had reached about knee-deep. At least the candles are not on a candelabra for once. Never thought I¡¯d be so appreciative of wall-mounted candle holders, but it¡¯s nice to see a change of scenery. At a glance, the arms and legs displayed on the meat hooks were all chopped off zombie limbs, and they seemed to all come from the same zombie. To be certain of that, Sofia grabbed two left arms, comparing the scars on them. It¡¯s actually the same. Some zombie out here is being tortured and repeatedly amputated¡­ I¡¯m pretty sure all normally constituted zombies do not feel pain¡­ But they shouldn¡¯t bleed either. Not to mention bleed this much. After Sofia walked through the hanging limbs to the exit, a piece of parchment appeared out of thin air, nailed on the door, glowing words etching themselves onto it one by one. Second trial! ¡®Here bleeds Swordsman Rekosi He suffers in death what he inflicted in life His vengeance enacted, he was left a hollow shell All he knows is killing This is your second of nine trials of might Currently available helpers: Pareth Everelle Velanihuarahton Bookie Cinthia¡¯ Once again, illusory images of the others flashed before Sofia¡¯s view. Pareth stood proud, his armor looking slightly different than what Sofia was used to, Everelle and Ihuarah both looked calm as they held a piece of parchment, and Bookie was sitting on the ground, the parchment paper rolled around one of his ribs, and gleefully playing with Crowie. The vision of Cinthia came last, and she seemed a bit tired, breathing heavily, her clothes dripping with sweat. The visions only lasted a second, and Sofia was back to reality. Should I summon Cinthia? I don¡¯t know how it is out there but she could stay back and rest for a bit¡­ Hmm¡­ I¡¯ll see for the next trial, hopefully that will be alright. Sofia stepped on the ¡®Loneliness¡¯ word that had appeared on the floor next to the others¡¯ names, and the parchment disappeared. She brought out her mithril-core bone shield, and quickly transferred her one [Bone Dominus] blessing from her own bones to it, the other two being on Pareth and Bookie. She could always fuse her own bones back anyway if they got cut, but with the unlife runes active, her muscles would stay cut until she died, so against a swordsman the best course of action was to just use a shield. When she felt fully prepared, she opened the door. For once, the place was already fully lit by candles, in hanging lanterns attached to the ceiling by long, clanking chains. This dome-shaped room was the largest Sofia had found in Sorrow¡¯s palace yet; its walls were covered in countless rusty blades like an inverted porcupine. The sole occupant was a zombie in rags, sitting cross-legged at the center of the room in a pool of blood, a long, thin and curved blade embedded guard-deep into his chest: Swordsman Rekosi. This guy¡¯s mana is weird. Spread too evenly. Sofia had time to think as the zombie pulled the blade out of its chest without even opening his eyes. Blood flowed profusely out of the wound as he stood up. Sofia was holding up her shield, and she was not the kind to let enemies take a free shot at her if she didn¡¯t need to. Before the swordsman could even fully stand up, the flying wall of Firebird skulls behind Sofia opened their beaks, and the swordsman was engulfed into a storm of magical fire. She heard a whooshing sound. Her head was then promptly liberated from her neck.
Chapter 538 - Heartseekers Before her head could fly far from her body, Sofia extended her upper cervicals into a spike that stabbed into her neck, and promptly reconnected the bones. When a follow-up strike came right after from the opposite direction, she was already expecting it and managed to place her shield correctly in the way. The blade dug into the bone but stopped before it could reach the shield¡¯s mithril core, and the swordsman pulled his blade back before Sofia could riposte in any way, jumping back into the flames. Fast, but not that strong. Since it looked like the fire was useless and obscured Sofia¡¯s vision more than anything, she unsummoned the choir, and started channeling a piercing bolt over her scepter instead. Knowing that she was the lesser swordsman and with lackluster speed, she decisively summoned a mana pearl from her storage and threw it in her mouth before the enemy attacked again. The thinking speed bonus the pearls from [Crystalized] was going to be precious here to be able to even perceive the enemy¡¯s attacks, Sofia thought. With her preparations ready, she jumped to the offensive, switching to the Chaos state of [Dodge - me] for the bonus speed. Another sweeping horizontal sword strike came for Sofia¡¯s neck from the right, and this time, she was able to properly react and block with the scale armguard. These moments where she blocked the swordsman¡¯s strikes were the only times she could clearly see him, and she used that opportunity to strike with the bolt, using it as a longsword. As she used her blocking arm to attack, the sword was free to go for her head, but she could just heal that up a second time if she had to, yet instead, the sword phased through her arm to block it from the other side preventing the blot from reaching its target and locking the two fighters in a standstill for an instant. With the bolt as her weapon and her ability to reconnect lost limbs in an instant, the power dynamic had switched to the swordsman being the one on the defensive. Sofia and Rekosi locked eyes. Sofia knew she was stronger and could break out of the standstill but with how fast the zombie was, she thought he was likely to dodge anyway, so she instead sent a sneaky burst of mana toward the swordsman. Rekosi pulled away before the mana could reach him, jumping to the other side of the room. Very perceptive for a zombie. Sofia dashed after him. Sending more packets of [Aberrant sunlight]¡¯s cursed mana around him leaving the Zombie no choice other than blocking her again or getting hit by the curse as he tried to avoid her. Rekosi stood his ground and blocked with the edge of his blade, his sword clashing against the lightning-coated scepter, creating an explosion of sparks and lightning shooting out toward the many swords sticking out of the room¡¯s walls. Some of the lightning touched the zombie, leaving burn marks that faded almost as fast as they had appeared on his gray skin. In a standstill like before, Sofia this time attacked with the edge of her large bone shield, and the swordsman disappeared before it could reach him. He reappeared behind Sofia, striking down with a vertical cut, but Sofia¡¯s 360¡ã demon vision meant that she had never lost track of him, and was able to block with her tail before using her scepter to strike the swordsman behind her. Yet, somehow, as if the zombie¡¯s sword was at two places at once, it blocked the scepter while also being caught on the tail, and Rekosi jumped back another time, taking more distance from Sofia. Sofia turned around with a jump. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? The longer you keep trying to escape the stronger my spell is going to be,¡± Sofia taunted the zombie, raising her scepter with the ever-growing bolt pulsating around it, being fed thirty thousand mana every second. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Seeing Sofia wide open, the Zombie took the bait and attacked, moving in a strange arc before his sword plunged deep directly into the center of Sofia¡¯s chest, where her mana heart was. But how could he have known that with her ultimate rank mana heart and [Relocate Core], it was able to avoid attacks by itself? Sofia¡¯s mana heart had softly moved to the side inside of her, as if gliding along the swordsman¡¯s blade. Using this opportunity where the swordsman was committed to a strike, Sofia released the piercing bolt from her scepter from the bottom, aimed at the swordsman¡¯s waist. Releasing a bolt backwards was not something she had ever used, but she knew it was an option for the piercing ones, as its mana structure was almost symmetrical from the center of her scepter. The bolt hit, leaving a bleeding hole through the zombie, but the zombie also had a trick up his sleeves, a second sword appearing out of nowhere in his left hand and sweeping off Sofia¡¯s ankles. He then tried to free his first sword by cutting down through Sofia¡¯s chest, only to find his sword stuck in place. He could not transition his pierce into a cut because of [Singularity Edict]. Despite her ankles being sliced off Sofia did not fall, holding herself up with her tail pressed against the ground. With so many things happening at once, the swordsman was deeply committed to his attacks, and took an [Aberrant Sunlight] cursed mana blast straight to the face without being able to do anything about it. As swordsman Rekosi¡¯s head uncontrollably turned to look at the swinging lanterns hanging from the roof, he did something Sofia did not predict and swiftly cut off his own head as he jumped away from her once more, leaving one sword in her chest. That¡¯s one way to escape the curse¡­ Both the bolt hole in Rekosi¡¯s waist and his lost head were quickly healing while spraying blood everywhere, and his rotten skin and muscles would be fully grown back in a matter of seconds. Even without a head, he held his guard up in a perfect martial stance, ready to block any incoming attack. Sofia¡¯s ankles were reconnected, but the muscles were still sliced off, limiting her movement, so she decided to let him heal as she instead focused on getting as many bone slates out of her bone storage as she could. She stacked them up around her and controlled them to spread them around the arena. Rekosi¡¯s head fully grew back, and after switching the sword to his main hand, he went on the offensive again. Sofia felt the sword strike incoming from the left, while seeing it coming from the right, faced with this conflicting information, she abruptly flew up, crashing against the blades covering the ceiling but successfully avoiding the attack. More and more bones were unloaded from her storage as she did so, tumbling into the room and getting covered in Rekosi¡¯s shed blood. From this point on, she no longer used mana, keeping her distance with Rekosi, she let him chase her while she flew around the room in tight maneuvers while she unloaded more and more bones. The swordsman had no long-distance attacks, it seemed, and could only try to jump and intercept her mid-air with upward strikes. His speed meant that he succeeded at that a few times, but Sofia was entirely fine with losing a few chunks of her body, she could not bleed out anyway. Rekosi eventually gave a decisive strike and cut off Sofia¡¯s left wing. That did nothing, as Sofia¡¯s bloodlight now extended to encompass her wings when they were there. She did not actually need the bones to fly. Eventually, there were piles of bones spread around the entire room, and Sofia stopped flying around. She stored her scepter and landed on the largest pile of bones. ¡°You¡¯ve lost,¡± Sofia told the Zombie who prepared to strike again. The swordsman struck, slicing Sofia into two halves from the head down. Victory¡¯s crown snapped back into a single piece as Sofia¡¯s body split apart. Since the swordsman had to come close to strike with his sword, he was in the close range where Sofia had complete and precise control of all the linked bones she touched. Bones slithered up the swordsman''s legs while Sofia¡¯s spine wrapped around his sword, locking him in place. A coffin of bones rapidly formed over him as the entire pile of bone was attracted to him like iron dust to a magnet. Fully encased in bones, Sofia turned Swordsman Rekosi into rotten meat paste until she found his mana heart, which was quite well-hidden, as it itself contained very little mana. The bone armor holding Sofia¡¯s separated halves together, she stood up, puppeteering herself like she had learned to do during the last trial. A hole opened in the swordsman¡¯s bone tomb for Sofia to plunge her hand through. Her armored fingers closed around the Zombie¡¯s mana heart, and she pulled. ¡®You have murdered [Rekosi Lengstone - ERR:NOCLASS Lv. 299]¡¯
Chapter 539 - A bunch of backseaters What a mess. Too bad I had to smash him up that much, he would have been a nice skeleton for Bookie. [Scrambled Mana-Heart]: The Mana-heart of swordsman Rekosi Lengstone. Its sudden removal created this scrambled pattern. Perhaps your first real stone for trading? An inscription in ancient human can be found engraved on the inside, reading: ¡®Heart of Velania¡¯. Why does it feel like it¡¯s shaped a bit like a sword? Pretty patterns but I¡¯m not sure about the green and purple hue¡­ And again with this heart of Velania thing. All the trials of might enemies are going to have one of those, I guess? I¡¯ll have to be careful not to break them in case they¡¯re needed later. Sofia stored the swordsman¡¯s mana heart and started to separate all the bones everywhere to store them back as well. Good thing that I didn¡¯t summon Cinthia, could have ended badly¡­ This guy was quite strong. Completely bypassed [Dodge me]¡¯s space warping effect and everything. But there wasn¡¯t much behind his attacks aside from sword strikes. Though I guess he did know exactly where to strike to get my mana heart, even if he never touched it. Seems like high-level fighting is all about hitting that weak point¡­ That makes the piercing angel bolts a really good weapon for the job. Acromegon really knew what he was doing when he designed that. While Sofia was busy storing all the bones while puppeteering her own body with her armor, she felt like she was slowly regaining some control over her muscles. Are they healing even with the runes up? Looking at her health, it was not moving one bit, but when she opened up her armor and cut through the skin on her belly to check the muscles underneath, they were in fact slowly stitching back up together. Well damn. The skin fixes itself ever since VPPV¡¯s ¡®get sneezed on by a dragon¡¯ step, I can fix the bones myself, and now the muscles also self-repair through the healing restrictions? I still don¡¯t get the health back and healing spells don¡¯t work but it¡¯s almost as if the unlife runes have no more downsides. Almost. And well¡­ Actually that¡¯s good. I used to go for a quick death to activate a rune and heal up, but how do I die now? Do I crush my mana heart? Is it safe to do that? Hmm¡­ I feel like it¡¯s bound to happen at some point, isn¡¯t it? The rune better be able to bring me back from that¡­ Actually, how did I die from the mimic¡¯s acid before? I mostly melted away; don¡¯t know what exactly happened with the mana heart though, I was busy with something else. When Sofia was done with the cleanup, she sat down in the bloody room and asked for Mr. Scribe¡¯s opinion. He informed her that [False Immortality] would restore her mana heart with no issue if it broke, but that this was liable to leave her control over her own mana unstable for a bit. For a situation where the mana heart breaks without a rune on, it would not be immediately fatal as long as it stayed ¡®in her body¡¯, but it would absolutely put her, or anyone else, out of commission. As for the event of someone forcefully separating someone¡¯s mana heart from their body and soul, Sofia had already experienced the result firsthand. Now, even with her body mostly functional, she still dispelled her runes to heal up before refreshing them, because missing twenty percent of her health was bugging her. She also reverted her Apostle stance to be able to use her demon spells, figuring only now that had she been quick to use [Regret] before, she could have escaped the tomb mimic with minimum effort. Once she felt everything was dealt with, she started to walk back, exploring the few doors she had missed without finding much of interest or value, and eventually returning to the entrance with the giant statue of Sorrow. Right, I¡¯d forgotten about the distant singing. Do they have a zombie choir? Sofia snuck through the shadows to the back side of the room, where the distant and muted hymns of an unknown language¡¯s choir could be heard. There was a grand hallway there, its entrance unguarded and without a door, except: there was no light there. The last candles were about a meter from the hallway, and standing in front of it, it was complete darkness. No lone candle in the distance, no nothing, just the choir¡¯s chants, slightly less muted than before. Hmm¡­ It¡¯s not like that will stop me, but I would rather start with places where I can see at least a little bit if I have a choice. Sofia continued to walk around Sorrow¡¯s statue. She had explored the palace¡¯s left wing first, so now was time to get to the right wing. There she found doors leading to the known setup of the long corridor with a candle at the end, and she rushed through expecting to find something at the end, but instead she found herself in a room full of dust and debris. There were broken crates, torn robes and pieces of candelabra, all messily stacked, and lit by a single candle in a hanging lantern. This wing was full of many similar rooms, and slowly Sofia started to piece things together, these were living quarters repurposed as a dump. Sofia recognized remnants of a cafeteria, large bathing quarters, dormitories, and such other places, all abandoned, unneeded by the place¡¯s undead inhabitants. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. I suppose the palace wasn¡¯t always used as a trial place full of undead. Nothing very exciting here, though¡­ Sofia kept roaming through the abandoned part of the palace. Many rooms were unlit or totally blocked off by the mess, which slowed Sofia down a lot, but every so often she would find a corridor with a candle at the end, and they always seemed to lead her out of the right wing¡¯s many dead ends. After hours of fruitless exploration, a corridor with a lit candle led her to a rather large room with a big square hole in the floor. ¡°Oh. Looks like there was some kind of lift here, judging by the pulleys on the ceiling.¡± A bone appeared in Sofia¡¯s hand, and she threw it into the hole, which she could not see the bottom of, as the only light nearby was the lone candle behind her in the corridor. After dropping the bone, she waited. ¡°Deep hole¡­¡± It was only after about twenty seconds that she felt like she heard a muffled sound. ¡°Was that even it? That¡¯s a long long fall. And the hole¡¯s too narrow to really deploy my wings. Climbing back up will be a pain¡­¡± Sofia looked down into the hole, which was still dark. ¡°Man¡­ What if it¡¯s a hole mimic? I¡¯ll jump in and next thing I know I get trapped inside of a giant stomach.¡± After a bit of reflection Sofia decided to jump, but not before she prepared a giant bone sword to ride on as she fell, Mornn style. If Sun¡¯s saintess could use giant swords, then everybody could. And that way if it turned out to really be a hole mimic, she¡¯d at least hurt it a bit as she landed. That was how she ended up sitting on a twenty-meters-tall bone sword hanging from a single pulley over some ancient dark hole. ¡°I really need to learn more about what Mimics can and can¡¯t do before I go to any other dungeon¡­¡± Sofia said with a sigh before she cut the bone loop connecting the sword to the pulley. After a long fall, the sword landed quite softly compared to what Sofia had expected, sinking deeply into something soft almost all the way to the hilt. There was no light at all, and no sound either. Well shit, did I really sink the sword into a mimic? Sofia jumped off of the sword¡¯s guard, and from the sensation of what she landed on, she deduced it was just loose dirt. Probing around with bone tendrils revealed that she was in an open space wider than she could map out, as she did not find any walls, just more dirt under her feet. She started pulling a bone rope out of the large sword to be able to find her way back, and picked a random direction to walk in. She had only taken a few steps when a glowing parchment scroll appeared out of nowhere. Hey! Alright then, finally something happens. Bring it on! ¡®Here awaits Gravelord Skantar Many a soul he put to rest But who buries the gravedigger? He presents himself as your third of nine trials of might Currently available helpers: Pareth Cinthia¡¯ Images flashed in front of Sofia¡¯s eyes as usual, first was Pareth, looking exactly the same as last time, and second was Cinthia. She was very close to Sofia¡¯s face, breathing heavily and looking like she was so exhausted she was about to pass out, but she was holding a small piece of paper right in front of Sofia¡¯s eyes, with a few words scribbled on it.
[TallBro] : That¡¯s right! Yes! Almost! [Twistyface] : Nonono, a little bit more to the left! [Daddy Hatred] : I swear you all are completely blind! The ritual obviously points more to the right so she should rotate twenty degrees! [Halfsies] : You know nothing about measurements, she¡¯s perfectly aligned ¨C I¡¯m telling you. [Twistyface] : Agh, you¡¯re too far to the left now! [TallBro] : Try standing on your tiptoes. [Daddy Hatred] : YOU FUCKER DOMINATION NOW¡¯S NOT THE TIME FOR YOUR WEIRD SHIT!!! [TallBro] : You¡¯re the weird shit! It¡¯s not my fault she¡¯s so short! The magic lens appeared almost next to the ceiling last time. Why in Death¡¯s name do you think it¡¯ll be different this time, HUH?! [|||||] : (£»???) [Daddy Hatred] : Don¡¯t lock your fucking door, Dom, I¡¯m coming! Imma bash your skull in until you¡¯re shorter than her! [Twistyface] : Perfect! Don¡¯t move! [Crybaby] : Any second now¡­ [TheJailed] : ¡­ Wish you the best, Sorrow, and good luck Cinthia. I think I¡¯ll go back to watching the classroom for now¡­ [Crowface] : Same, gotta go make sure my daughter isn¡¯t about to poison herself again. Someone ping me when they get to the library.
Sofia just about had time to understand what she was reading before the vision faded away and returned her to the dark reality where the glowing parchment was all she could see. ¡®PICK ME FOR FIFTH!!!¡¯ Woah! That was a bit startling¡­ Where are the other three? Hopefully they¡¯ll show up again next time¡­ She looks so exhausted. Did she rush through whatever they are doing just to tell me this now? Such a specific request means she got some insider information from the Recessed. Alright, Cinthia for the fifth fight, noted. Now the question is, do I need Pareth for this ¡®Gravelord Skantar¡¯? Probably not, huh. Better to keep Pareth for the end anyway. Another fight with ¡®loneliness¡¯ ahead. What flavor of choir do I summon this time? It¡¯s been two failures out of two tries so far¡­ Hey wait, it¡¯s dirt¡­ I can summon the graveyard here!
Chapter 540 - Gravelord versus Graveyard Some faint dots of blue light started to appear close to the ground around Sofia after she chose not to summon anyone for help. They were blue flowers, opening one by one, revealing their luminescent petals. Like a wave spreading from Sofia¡¯s position, the flowers opened up, lighting up the cavernous underground place with their blue hue. Thousands of tombstones were messily planted everywhere in the uneven dirt ground, and the glowing blue flowers were everywhere. The perfectly flat brick ceiling above that grand underground graveyard and the many pillars holding it up gave the place some order amidst the chaos. Maybe about a kilometer across. Is that an exit all the way out there? Sofia¡¯s senses were no longer blocked by the darkness, and she could now feel the rich ambient mana, and the many bones hidden beneath the soil. In the distance, a small pile of bones floated up and assembled, building the short skeleton of a dwarf with a vivid blurry green gem inlaid in his skull, holding a stout black shovel covered in glowing blue flowers. I see. His mana heart is right there for everyone to see, but I have to be careful not to break it. So what do you have for me, Gravelord Skantar? Shovel martial arts, or some tasteful Necromancy?! Skantar raised his shovel, and a much too familiar scene of skeletons digging out of the ground played out under Sofia¡¯s gaze, who did nothing to stop them. Very little mana for so many skeletons, Sofia first observed, slightly impressed. The skeletons seemed to be mostly human but there were many other humanoid races mixed in. She analyzed the skeletons more, feeling a bit disappointed by what she was seeing. They get their mana from him¡­ No core and no fake soul¡­ Those aren¡¯t real skeletons. ¡°This isn¡¯t even necromancy, it¡¯s just playing with skeleton-shaped puppets¡­¡± she said out loud. There was no reaction from the dwarf or from his skeletons, the skeletons simply came out of the ground and started to form a wide circle around Sofia, none of them attacking yet. ¡°I got excited for nothing.¡± Sighing, Sofia started to walk in Skantar¡¯s direction. The skeletons decided to attack when she got closer. As simple magic-fuelled bone puppets, they perhaps had the physical stats of someone around Sofia¡¯s level, but they had no skill or magical attacks, and simply came at Sofia bare-handed. The instant a skeleton got inside of the [Bone dominus] range, a bone tendril shot out of Sofia¡¯s armor, latching onto the skeleton¡¯s skull by looping inside its empty eye cavities. The skeleton turned around. Its arms became bone swords, and it began to slice up the other skeletons it could reach. With actual weapons and Sofia¡¯s direct control, the skeleton flawlessly executed its previous allies one after the other. More skeletons fell under Sofia¡¯s control in a similar fashion, and she leisurely walked through the underground flowery graveyard with her stolen skeletons clearing the path for her. If an uncontrolled skeleton somehow made it past her sword-armed guards, another bone tendril would shoot out at it, and forcefully transform it into a bone cube. Skantar¡¯s magic tried to resist Sofia¡¯s whenever she wrestled for the control of his skeletons, but she had a lot more mana, and could simply overwhelm his magic. ¡°Come on, you gotta have something else? Right? Surely this isn¡¯t all you¡¯re capable of?¡± Sofia asked as she was about halfway through the distance separating her from the dwarf. After Sofia took a few more steps, Skantar raised his shovel for the second time, and new skeletons jumped out of the ground. They were tall, armored skeletons, covered head to toe with some dark steel, and wielding a variety of weapons, a lot of them even coated in mithril. Some in the distance were drawing the string of longbows. Sofia kept walking slowly. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. The tall armored skeletons charged at her. With their armor and weapons, the bone tendrils wouldn¡¯t reach them. They easily cut down Sofia¡¯s bones before she could touch them and take control. She let go of that strategy and summoned a graveyard of her own. She let the tombs fully appear which she rarely did anymore, dirt tombstones appeared out of the ground everywhere in between the stone ones, uprooting many of the glowing flowers. The armored skeletons all started to sink back into the dirt, skeletal hands holding their ankles and pulling them down. Skantar¡¯s armored skeletons, to their credit, were strong enough to fight back and destroy Sofia¡¯s graveyard skeletons. But she had so much more mana. For every armored skeleton fighting to stay afloat, four graveyard skeletons were pulling it back down to where it belonged. Arrows flew, mithril-tipped projectiles breaking the sound barrier as they departed, disturbing the battle¡¯s joyful clanking of bones. Sofia kept taking one step slowly after the other. The attacks were too weak, as if magnets pushed away by Sofia, they curved around her at the last second and kept flying, eventually hitting one skeleton or another. She looked at her mana, it was still full. Regenerating faster than this masquerade could make her spend it. Finally, Sofia felt some challenge when Skantar raised his shovel for the third time, and four flying skeletal mages appeared around the dwarf as she was about two hundred meters away, walking between Skantar¡¯s half-buried armored skeletons desperately trying to stay above ground. They gathered the mana in the air to attack her. Aura mage skeletons? At least on principle, you¡¯ve got my attention. Sofia let the attacks come. Each of the skeleton mages attack with something different. One shot some kind of ice beam, another one lightning, one pure mana attacks, and the last one some kind of wind blades, utterly decimating the scenery in their path. Not one attack reached Sofia as she negated them with [Heat Death] one by one. Her mana went down and up, down and up, the barrage of elemental attacks she received slowly whittling away her reserves. When she got close enough, she used the ring of Zar. The four skeletal mages fell to the ground like the lifeless puppets they were. Skantar raised his shovel once more. ¡°I think I¡¯ve seen enough.¡± Sofia instantly crossed the last fifty meters with [Summon self]. Skantar hastily canceled his magic, striking Sofia with his shovel. The attack was charged with mana and actually pierced her armor hitting her in the ribs. ¡°I respect the attempt.¡± She grabbed the shovel with her left hand and pulled. She let go of her scepter and reached out to grab the skeleton¡¯s skull with her dragon-scale claws. It turned out there was a magical shield protecting Gravelord Skantar, one which Sofia could follow the traces of. It was being fueled by several of the pillars in the graveyard. Sofia reached into her chest and pulled out her dagger. She sliced a hole through the dwarf¡¯s magical shield and while still holding the dagger, her extended claws reached the dwarf¡¯s mana heart on his skull. The skeleton grabbed Sofia¡¯s arm and tried to fight back. It was too weak to stop her. She delicately extracted the gem, and the dwarf¡¯s skeleton stopped struggling, falling apart in unison with his thousands of skeleton puppets. ¡®You have pacified [Skantar Ironbrow - Encroaching Echo]¡¯ [Lively mana stone]: Once a perfectly normal mana-heart, it took on a spark of make-believe life of its own as it tried to compensate for the slow degradation of its host¡¯s body and mind as it desperately clung to a fading life. Eventually, only echoes remained. Even now, this mana stone is producing a bit of mana, and it will do so for a few years to come, until the last traces of its echoes completely fade away. As expected, an inscription in ancient human can be found engraved on the inside, reading: ¡®Heart of Velania¡¯. ¡°Is this kind of saying that what I was fighting was this mana stone and not Skantar himself? Just an echo¡­ Cling to life too much when you die, become an undead. Then look at Richard. Cling to life too much when you¡¯re alive, become an undead¡­ It¡¯s a bit funny that the best way to stay alive is being dead¡­ Well now¡­¡± Sofia grabbed the black shovel and stored the dwarf¡¯s skeleton in a corner of her storage ring. Then she turned around and stored the skeletons of the four flying mages. ¡°Boys, bring them back out,¡± she ordered the graveyard skeletons, who had already received her order before she even spoke. The armored skeletons were brought out of the dirt and dragged toward Sofia. ¡°Don¡¯t forget the archers, try to gather all the arrows too.¡± After she stored everything, with the skeletons all nicely separated in piles for bookie to eat later, Sofia made her way to the underground graveyard¡¯s exit, picking up glowing flowers as she went. The flowers¡¯ glow faded once she picked them, but they were pretty nonetheless, she gathered a nice bouquet and put one in her helmet like someone would put it in their hair. Right before she left the room, Sofia stopped. She stored the flowers and brought Skantar¡¯s mana stone out, turning it around in her hand. ¡°Your shift is over now. I¡¯ll take care of these old bones for you.¡±
Chapter 541 - Six hundred years later Sofia walked in the dark tunnel past the graveyard, there was no light, and the tunnel had some stagnant water in the middle, which Sofia walked in with light steps. She found the sound of her footsteps in the shallow water relaxing. ¡°Oh right, I didn¡¯t even Identify the shovel.¡± [Skantar¡¯s shovel]: A shovel sculpted out of some kind of unrecognizable dark chitin. The entire shovel is a spell catalyst with the following effect: Multiple target spells¡¯ mana cost reduced for targets after the first. The effect¡¯s strength is variable. ¡°Not bad. That does explain how he could sustain such a big army¡­ could I fit that on my scepter since it¡¯s a catalyst? Not that I would, but¡­ Well, my scepter is tall enough as is.¡± Sofia kept going, her thoughts wandering to the divine item she was here to find, she wondered what it could be, and if it would be better than her current divine items. She figured the dagger would be hard to beat. After a few turns, Sofia felt the tunnel growing wider, which was going to be an issue as it was still completely dark, and she was instantly on her guard when she heard something growling. She summoned the skull choir with Destroyer skulls in a dome formation around her, ordering them to spin around her as fast as they could. Sofia heard footsteps, then she felt and heard one of her skulls impact something, and she was splattered with what she guessed was blood. ¡®You have defeated [Lesser demon: Caveling Horror - lv.209]¡¯ Demon? Lesser demon? I thought demons were just us Apostles. Are there different demons? What the hell? It¡¯s also a defeat, not a murder, so it¡¯s unlikely this had ever been any kind of person¡­ I¡¯ll have to ask Cinthia when I summon her for help. Still, what¡­ Sofia probed around to find the remains of the thing she had just killed. It was not too hard, the thing was torn into two halves, one which had landed near her and one on the other side of her spinning skull dome of death. She stored both halves and looked at it inside of her ring, which she just now realized she could have done to check things up several times in this darkness already. What the fuck is that thing. The creature, whose middle body was missing, torn apart by the destroyer skull, looked like a mockery of humanoids. It was about human-sized, had shriveled pink-ish skin, two short and fat bloated legs, and a very long tubular chest. Its two spindly arms with stubby hands held sharp shards of obsidian, and it had a ¡®head¡¯ the size of a wash basin with a big mouth full of rotten teeth, no nose, and two protruding globulous eyes. Another part of its lower body was bloated and disgusting, but Sofia tried her best not to look at it. It has a skeleton but I don¡¯t want to feed Bookie this abomination. Lesser demons imply higher demons, does it not? Are apostles higher demons? Are we middle demons? Are these demons different demons? And maybe most importantly, what could have possibly birthed this thing? I refuse to believe Sorrow would create something this disgusting¡­ Sofia dumped the repulsive thing out of her storage and moved on, choosing to stick the cavernous place¡¯s left wall as it opened up too much for her bone tendrils to keep in contact with both sides. She dismissed the choir but resummoned it as soon as she could, just with only ten skulls so that the upkeep cost was lower than her regeneration. A few minutes later, she heard more growling. She raised her shield and scepter, and ordered her skulls to spin faster. Sofia heard a wet sound, some blood splashed around, and one of her skulls was broken, but no kill message. The footsteps seemed to back away slightly, the creature was taking its distance but not fleeing. This one is stronger. Unable to see her target at all, Sofia started to channel an explosive bolt while summoning hundreds of small bubbles of blood outside of her dome of skulls to scout the area around where she felt the footsteps came from. Whenever a cast failed to use the mana, it meant the bubble failed to form because Sofia tried to summon it inside of something. This was pretty focus intensive, but it was the best workaround she had thought up to bypass the mana sense restriction of the palace¡¯s darkness further than her bone tendrils could reach. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! Having found her target about twenty meters away, Sofia threw the explosive bolt at the ground near it. The explosion was quite weak as the channeling had been short, but to Sofia it was just a way to make sure the creature was as blind as she was, even if for just an instant as she rushed at its approximate location. The thing received a violent shield bash, knocking it over before the skulls ripped it to shreds in seconds. ¡®You have defeated [Lesser demon: Caveling Horror - lv.289]¡¯ I have to search for the mana stone, don¡¯t I? Ewww. Sofia used her bone tendrils exclusively to dig through the thing¡¯s corpse, pulling out bones in one fell swoop with [Bone dominus], and leaving only one hard thing in the pile of flesh beside the teeth and claws, a small rock that identified as a normal Physikstone. Doesn¡¯t tell me more about where these lesser demons come from. These were the firsts of many, and Sofia killed hundreds of lesser demons by the time she found the light at the end of the tunnels. She started cautious, but by the end was confident enough to brawl the life out of them with a few punches and the occasional tail swipe when she was surrounded, no magic involved. When she finally reached a tall iron grid gate, with lit candelabras on the other side, she hastily summoned herself through without a second thought, and shed the outer layer of her armor to rid herself of all the stinky purple blood she was covered in. Sofia was at the bottom of a huge spiraling staircase, large enough for twenty people to walk up or down side to side with extended arms, going in a slight incline around a gigantic pillar. This place was very well lit with candles everywhere, even on the stairs, and as Sofia took her first step on the stairs, a glowing parchment appeared. This time, however, unlike the previous three, the letters were glowing red. ¡®An interloper has entered Sorrow¡¯s Sacred Palace He has joined this trial as a hindrance to your progress He has been selected as your fourth of nine trials of might You will fight to the death Helpers are forbidden from interfering¡¯ To the death¡­ Do my unlife runes count? Ihuarah, it looks like someone did manage to get past your rituals. There was someone else after all¡­ I should have known¡­ This must be why there were so six doors for participants when we separated, the Guardian of Sorrows even explicitly said they could get an opportunity to ¡®hinder¡¯ my progress. What do they stand to gain by killing me, though? Could this be one of Scripture¡¯s pawns? This might just be the most dangerous of the nine trials¡­ Sofia stood at the bottom of the stairs as the parchment disappeared and started channeling an explosive bolt in preparation for the fight. I¡¯m not gonna take any chances. Can you hear me Pareth? Bookie? Be ready to fight, but only come if I call you. I might be in real danger, and I¡¯m ready to give up on the divine item if the situation turns sour. Will keep you informed. I love you guys. She managed to channel about three million mana points worth of explosive plasma into her staff before she was forced to move, as the candles at the bottom of the stairs started going out one by one. She had to go up if she did not want to fight in the dark. She was drawing it out, slowly channeling more and more, completely immune to the damage as she¡¯d already perfected the art of cutting the mana supply for an instant when she started to take damage, not long enough for the spell to fail and backlash, but enough for the damage to stop temporarily and activate [Singularity edict]. The bolt kept growing steadily as Sofia climbed the steps, it would normally be blindingly bright, but thanks to the palace¡¯s strange influence on light, the bolt looked just like a pure blue piece of sky in Sofia''s hand. Whoever had invaded her trial was going to get an explosive surprise. Since it had to be a duel to the death, Sofia was not going to pull any punches, no matter who the person was on the other side. Sofia lost count of the mana invested in the bolt as she walked up. The stairs were starting to melt under her feet from the sheer heat, yet the bolt looked calmer than ever. The plasma was tranquil and silent, strangely stable, growing slowly and getting hotter by the second. Finally Sofia heard footsteps. Someone was walking down the stairs, judging from the sound, wearing heavy armor. Keeping multiple spells on the brink of activation, her mana ready, Sofia watched as the interloper appeared from the curve of the stairs. It was just a dwarf, wearing expensive-looking enchanted armor and no helmet, carrying no weapons. Sofia instantly pointed her staff at him, but did not release the bolt yet. The dwarf did not attack, he simply stopped when they noticed each other. He raised his empty hands, ¡°I¡¯m not looking for a fight,¡± he said in a jovial voice, his lips curving into a thin smile, ¡°all I want is a certain piece of armor that¡¯s somewhere in here. Nothing else! I¡¯m sure we can help each other,¡± he explained, sounding genuine. There was a second of silence as Sofia and the dwarf stared at each other. Being flung back by the absurd power, Sofia released the bolt. She recognized the voice. She had recognized the dwarf. It was a certain scammer whose death would very much please Domination.
Chapter 542 - An unexpected turn Sofia watched the bolt launch forward like a bright tear in reality as she was flung backward by the recoil. The moment stretched before her as time itself seemed to slow down. The instant before the bolt hit its target felt like it lasted forever. A thunderous roar echoed through the entire palace as everything turned white, the blinding light from the explosion bright like a thousand suns, completely overwhelming whatever had been suppressing all non-candle-light throughout Sorrow¡¯s palace. Sofia¡¯s vision went momentarily blank from the sheer overload of her senses. The air stormed around her, a wall of heat and pressure like a dragon¡¯s breath. Her sight started to return, the afterimage of the explosion a ghost of fire and energy imprinted on her vision. Then came the shockwave, an invisible fist slamming into her body with a force that would have reduced even her Lumian body to dust. Sofia was flung back much further than the staircase should have allowed for, her muscles tensing reflexively against the onslaught though she knew it could do her no true harm. The sheer energy of the explosion tore at the air and everything in its path. For an instant, she felt like she could hear a loud silence beyond the destruction, at the heart of the blast itself. Then, as abruptly as it had come, the shockwave passed, continuing its path of destruction inside of the red-hot melting walls of the palace¡¯s new immense underground chamber of Sofia¡¯s creation. Everything was on fire, and dust hung in the air like a thick shroud as Sofia spread her mana senses past the turbulent remains of the explosion, trying to locate the dwarf. She had received a lot of dings from the system alerting her that she had killed Caveling Horrors and Zombies of the candle, but the lack of a single murder notification meant that the dwarf had survived. She soon found out how, it was like a small bubble of calm amidst the chaos, a floating dark-gray chest, held still by some space magic at the very center of the crater, where the bolt had exploded. An Asterite chest?! Asterite was the stupidly hard white-speckled stone which the system used to create boundaries within the trials. Even Anna¡¯s dagger could only scrape it with difficulty, yet this dwarf had an entire treasure chest made from the stuff to hide inside of. The Asterite chest¡¯s lid flung open, the dwarf standing up from within and throwing out the melting outer pieces of his once pristine armor. ¡°Didn¡¯t buy my bluff, huh? You fucking ruthless cunt,¡± the dwarf cursed. Even that was a trick. Sofia felt magic gather behind her as the dwarf yelled, and she used [Regret] to teleport behind the cursing invader. Appearing right behind the dwarf, her extended hand touched his back. [Hollow heart] While a vast array of bleeding skulls appeared behind Sofia, her left arm imploded like a crushed fruit, destroyed by spatial magic that she failed to prevent. The dwarf teleported away, leaving his Asterite chest behind. But it was too late, Sofia¡¯s demon magic had activated, her bloodlight allowing the spell to be cast even as Sofia''s arm was shredded to bits. Sofia stole the Asterite chest while her acute mana senses followed the trail of teleportation. She had summoned the choir with her own skull at full power and they all copied her as she illuminated that spot with Heal Undead and the Erredian rot. The dwarf appeared where Sofia had predicted, a hole in his chest, and instantly getting covered by layers upon layers of the Erredian magic, his form becoming that of a writhing mass of veiny black rot. That stunt drained a fifth of Sofia¡¯s entire mana pool in an instant, before the skulls and Sofia¡¯s head all exploded, each pierced by a gold coin that Sofia hadn¡¯t even seen or felt coming before it was too late. Sofia¡¯s vision went dark, and she instead focused on her mana senses. That was the entire extent of the lost head¡¯s inconvenience.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. Letting her scepter go for an instant, Sofia tore off her tail with her remaining arm while the gold coins continued their course and hit the back wall of the underground chamber like a rain of thunderbolts, causing continuous explosions. An array of countless magical circles appeared around Sofia, completely surrounding her. It was some kind of attack magic. It cost about a tenth of her total mana to cancel it with [Heat Death], dispelling the entire thing before it could fire, and just in time for Sofia to see the Dwarf¡¯s next move. A strange chest appeared far behind Sofia, in the midst of the gold coins¡¯ explosions, but she instantly noticed it, her mana senses probing the thing all over, she understood that it was a mimic. A bloody hole appeared on the left side of the mimic before it suddenly became a perfectly healthy-looking dwarf, his hands empty but in position to throw a weapon. The mimic had taken on the dwarf¡¯s injuries and also his place within the mass of rot. A strange shovel-shaped thing appeared in the dwarf¡¯s hand as he swung his arm. The ¡®shovel¡¯ flew past Sofia¡¯s cut tail, which was quickly becoming something else, and aimed straight for Sofia¡¯s torso. Sofia felt that there was some kind of trick to the shovel attack, she could see the mana within whirling and ready to unleash something. Unwilling to deal with it, she turned around and targeted the shovel with [Misfortune], and the thrown projectile spun unnaturally as it reached her. It spun perfectly as if to glide across her armor and behind her back before curving around and flying in the dwarf¡¯s direction, all the while it unleashed multiple magical attacks at Sofia, which she effortlessly canceled with [Heat Death] before she even got a chance to see them. The hollow grief finally formed out of Sofia¡¯s cut tail, to Sofia, it took the appearance of some kid, which she was grateful her mana-vision did not allow her to recognize. The mana left within the dwarf surged as the hollow grief threw itself at him. Sofia barely got to see the mana trails as she felt the hollow grief and her own body explode. It was the same coin toss attack as before, that she was utterly unable to avoid. It had still failed to kill her, as only the first coin to hit her did any damage, pulverizing most of her waist and torso, while the following ones all harmlessly bounced off what remained of her. It still destroyed enough of her body that her health was under twenty percent, and her racial skill [Pillar of creation] activated, completely locking her in place. As bad as being unable to move was, the racial skill activating also meant that her spellcasting range was multiplied by her remaining percentage of mana, or about 50 times. This was enough range that Sofia could instantly summon several tonnes of bones all around the dwarf using her armor¡¯s storage that normally could only summon the bones up to a dozen meters away from her. The dwarf teleported to somewhere else, but no matter where he went, more and more bones appeared around him, until he clapped his hands together and Sofia was suddenly unable to access her bone storage anymore. Though there was not much else left of her, Sofia¡¯s right arm was still intact, flawlessly protected by the dragon scale armguard. She started to cast another exploding bolt. The dwarf appeared right in front of her. Her torso almost nonexistent, only a few bones still intact, Sofia¡¯s mana heart was exposed. Despite the mana heart trying to escape the dwarf¡¯s grasp by itself, it was too slow. The dwarf extended a hand, and crushed Sofia¡¯s mana heart. Sofia died. Three seconds later, her body explosively regrew, and the dwarf, who had been furiously trying to pry away the dragon-scale armguard from her dead body cautiously teleported away. The channeling of the angel bolt was uninterrupted even in death. Finally able to see again, Sofia could see that the palace¡¯s darkness was starting to encroach onto the place once more, the borders of the giant crater already looking like a black void. For a second, Sofia and the dwarf both paused and stared at each other. They were each evaluating the situation, and thinking about their next steps. Finally able to afford the free time to do so, Sofia Identified the dwarf. [Mage - Lv.349] The dwarf¡¯s armor and clothes were almost completely gone, and he was nearly out of mana, but regenerating quickly, yet, despite the level difference, just because she had a lot more, Sofia regenerated faster. Since she also took the opportunity of this to charge her bolt, Sofia felt that the stare down was to her advantage. And, to Sofia¡¯s surprise, the Dwarf threw up his hands. He spoke with an annoyed voice, ¡°I give up. This shit ain¡¯t worth it. At this rate this fight¡¯s gonna cost me more than what you¡¯re worth. Give me back my chest and I¡¯ll be gone before you know it.¡± Although Sofia did not know whether to trust him, there was no surprise attack this time, and a long silence followed the dwarf¡¯s proposal.
Chapter 543 - Greedy bastards While Sofia briefly considered the dwarf¡¯s ceasefire, she still kept channeling her bolt. Can I trust this guy? Obviously not. Also, how is he going to survive the next bolt without his Asterite chest? I still have two runes up too, so I¡¯m doing fine on that front. I feel like Domination would be disappointed if I let that guy go. Not to mention the scroll saying that this is a fight to the death. Perhaps he¡¯s genuine about giving up if I give his chest back¡­ But why would I take the risk? You can be reunited with your precious chest when I feed you to Bookie. Sofia¡¯s current title was ¡®Olympian¡¯, which had been a great help in getting her agility and speed up to par with her strength so far. She gave her answer to the dwarf with a title change. [Title changed to ¡®THE GLORIOUS¡¯] Ghostly fire erupted all over the dwarf¡¯s skin, and his mana regeneration slowed to a crawl. ¡°You demonic bitch!¡± the dwarf cursed as his mana swole up within him. Mana quickly swirled around his mana heart, and his body started changing, while Sofia ignored his shenanigans and continued to channel her bolt as fast as possible. The dwarf became taller, enormous bulging muscles propping up his stature, his entire being slowly turned to gold. Must be his signature skill. Seeing as the dwarf was too busy transforming to avoid her attacks, Sofia casually threw an [Aberrant Sunlight] blast worth half a million mana points right at him before spraying him with a quick layer of rot. He did nothing to avoid them. Finally the dwarf¡¯s transformation ended, his mana started to stabilize. Without warning, the layer of rot he had been covered in was overcome by a tidal wave of strange cursed magic, turning it to a thin cocoon of gold, which the dwarf burst out of with a thunderous roar Sofia followed her instinct to sidestep the rot-turned-gold chunks that were ejected in her direction, and she watched as the dwarf¡¯s now massive body twice her height appeared right before her. The dwarf punched, his arm thick like a log piercing the air with a bang, aimed at the glowing horns on Sofia¡¯s head. [Summon Self] Sofia teleported behind the dwarf, her tail lashing out as she reappeared. The tail ripped through the dwarf¡¯s golden skin, opening a shallow wound that bled liquid gold. Sofia¡¯s tail started turning to gold, spreading from where it had touched the dwarf and propagating at an alarming pace. The massive dwarf turned around with a back kick, hitting Sofia squarely in the back, and sending her flying, without the speed boost from the Olympian title, she just was not nearly fast enough to avoid it. The dwarf¡¯s transformation had made him much faster and stronger, but Sofia could tell he was rapidly running out of mana. As she was flung away from the dwarf, Sofia used her left hand to grab the admin dagger from within her chest, and switch swift movements, sliced out her tail and the part of her back that were turning to gold, twenty percent of her health were gone just like that. Sofia did some quick math as she butchered herself. Her remaining two million mana could sustain the bolt channeling and tier three [Runeforged Overlord] for about twenty five seconds if she used no other magic. She could also use [Regret] again. That would leave her with a final bolt worth around a million mana. That¡¯s enough. The dwarf caught up to Sofia before she could even collide with the wall. She activated [Runeforged Overlord] at the last instant, spreading her wings and narrowly flying up right before the dwarf¡¯s fist could reach her. Sofia flew away as fast as she could, but she and the dwarf were about equally matched, she avoided punch after punch. Noticing that the dwarf was always aiming for either her head or scepter channeling the bolt. The curse is working.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. After Sofia had already used [Regret] again to avoid a headbutt, when a strong punch she couldn¡¯t avoid came, she blocked with her right arm. The blow broke the bones in half of her body, but the dwarf¡¯s curse of gold failed to do anything to the dragon scale. Sofia magically mended her bones and kept narrowly avoiding blow after blow. She had to thank Sun¡¯s Oracle for her combat reflexes, as her close-combat training from back before going to the Sun station finally found some practical use. Really wish I could use my storage and eat a mana pearl right now! Sofia internally screamed as she struggled to even think fast enough to dodge the endless tidal wave of golden kicks and punches which broke the sound barrier so often it sounded the world itself was screaming. As she had about ten seconds of mana left, another blow she couldn¡¯t avoid came after Sofia misread one of the dwarf¡¯s feints. It was an overhead blow, and would likely crush her entire body, killing her on the spot. She had the option to take it and be revived by her runes, but she feared that she might be turned to gold as she reappeared and be stuck, so she used her only other option left instead, and let the explosive bolt out. At around 600k mana, it was already a strong blast. It shot straight up and collided directly with the dwarf¡¯s chin. Sofia had not yet taken any damage from this bolt to activate [Singularity Edict], so the explosion ravaged her as she was blown away from the dwarf. As she saw her health go dangerously low, which would leave her stuck in place later due to her racial skill, Sofia grabbed the admin dagger and pierced her own mana heart. She resurrected three seconds later, before the light of the bolt¡¯s explosion could even die down. Since the dwarf was afflicted with the curse, he was forced to chase the light, and had been unable to capitalize on Sofia¡¯s death. She let herself fall into the palace¡¯s magical darkness which was encroaching into more and more of the wide hole her first bolt had created. Her death had deactivated [Runeforged Overlord] so she just counted the seconds as her mana came back. He should be out of mana¡­ Now. Sofia kicked the still half-molten ground and flew up. The dwarf was stuck mid-air, his transformation reversing, and he was scrambling to drink some kind of potion. Sofia covered him in rot. He was out of mana so the rot instantly started to eat at his flesh. His beard had blocked enough light that his face was mostly free of rot, but his hands were fully covered. The potion flask broke in the dwarf¡¯s hand, its magical contents instantly consumed by the rot. ¡°W- Wait, we can talk this out!¡± The dwarf begged with a raspy voice as he haphazardly flew away with mid-air backsteps. ¡°I¡¯ll pay you,¡± he continued, ¡°how much do you wan-¡± Weakened and without mana, he couldn¡¯t avoid Sofia when she activated [Runeforged Overlord] again. Sofia¡¯s right hand plunged deep inside the dwarf¡¯s unprotected chest. She knew exactly where his mana heart was, her fingers started to close. The dwarf flashed a wicked smile. A silent wisp of mana emerged from the magical darkness. The dwarf¡¯s shovel. Shooting out like a comet, it burst through the dwarf¡¯s back and shot right into Sofia¡¯s mana heart before she could even react. It failed to pierce through. The look on the dwarf¡¯s face turned to one of utter shock. It was Sofia¡¯s turn to smile. After she had stabbed her own mana heart previously, her body had reformed around the dagger. Her mana heart was hiding right behind it. Sofia viciously pulled the dwarf¡¯s mana heart out of his body. Get what you deserve. ¡®You have murdered [Edmondo Fus - Fortune lv. 349]¡¯ Before Sofia could do anything, as soon as she got the murder notification, the dwarf¡¯s possessions all crumbled. His rings, his few remaining pieces of armor, and even the shovel all broke and turned to dust. ¡°Ah shit! All his items were soulbound?!¡± Sofia collected the dwarf¡¯s corpse nonetheless, his body was almost completely intact, and would make for a great addition to Bookie¡¯s pages. She also stored his mana heart, which was certain to be worth a good something, and checked her storage, letting out a sigh of relief seeing that at least the Asterite chest was intact. ¡°Thank me later, Domination.¡± Such a pitiful death. I still had a rune up and VPPV¡¯s one hit kill protection anyway even if his stupid trick had worked. It was surprising that [Singularity Edict] let the gold curse through after the punches touched, but I suppose they were technically two different attacks? His damned gold coin toss attack was really the scariest thing. It was so fast and strong for a ¡®physical¡¯ attack, that was crazy. He killed the hollow grief in a single cast! Well. that¡¯s that done. I¡¯m gonna use your skeleton well, Edmondo. Done analyzing the fight in her head, Sofia flew down into the darkness in search of the tail she had cut off previously. If that thing was now a solid chunk of gold there was no way she was going to leave it behind. Sadly all she found was a warm lump of demon flesh, the gold curse had been reversed, perhaps due to the dwarf¡¯s skill ending or his death. Unlucky. Sofia bit into her own discarded tail. Holy¡­ Lumian meat tastes awful. Storing the thing to dispose of later, Sofia flew up in search of whatever might remain of the staircase she had initially been climbing before encountering the interloper. Five fights left before the divine item is mine.
Chapter 544 - Using the guidebook Sofia found the previous staircase¡¯s hole in the ceiling without too much difficulty, but she ended up flying back down as she was curious about something. When she was down on the ground searching for her lost tail, it felt like she was stepping on glass chunks, and considering what she had recently learned from Everelle, she was wondering if her bolt could have created diamonds. She picked up a handful of the things in the dark before flying back up to the middle of the cavern where the darkness had yet to set back in. ¡°Ah. Definitely not diamonds. What is that?¡± The things Sofia held in her hand were small glassy blue pebbles with a bubbly texture. [Cobalt Trinitite]: Glass created as a byproduct from a formidable explosion in the presence of Cobalt. No particular use but it is a bit pretty. ¡°I see. Didn¡¯t expect the walls here to be filled with Ogre treats. Hmm¡­ Well, maybe I could use these as blue eyes for bone statues or something¡­¡± Sofia pocketed the blue glass and flew back up. I wonder if that means I can make different glass by blowing up other minerals? Is Mithrium Trinitite a thing? Ah but the explosion surely has to at least be able to melt it for it to become glass¡­ How big of an explosion do I need to melt Mithrium? Considering that even Erredis used a Mithrium weapon, it meant that it could be used in a battle between level 500 people and survive at least a little bit, so Sofia quickly dismissed the idea of trying to blow it up. Maybe later. Her curiosity sated, she flew up the spiraling staircase, which was in complete darkness and full of debris, as her explosion¡¯s shockwave had wrecked everything nearby and snuffed out all the candles. I hope the entire palace isn¡¯t like this¡­ Didn¡¯t have much of a choice though. And now I found out what happens when my mana heart is shattered, so I have a quick way to kill myself again. Neat. [Relocate Core] worked overtime here to try to keep the heart safe, but that guy was just too fast. At least it knew to keep the heart behind the dagger. The spiraling stairs stretched up for hundreds of meters, Sofia had been very deep under the surface, which was the reason she was comfortable blowing things up in the first place, or she would have been worried of potentially harming the others with the shockwave. She could feel that Pareth and Bookie were much higher and quite far, so everything was fine. Eventually she reached the top, where a single lit candle was waiting for her on a small pedestal placed next to a tiny wooden chest. Sofia stabbed the chest. ¡°Not a mimic.¡± Opening the chest, Sofia found a small round rock inside. [Fake mana stone]: It¡¯s just a carved rock imbued with some lingering magic. ¡®Heart of Velania¡¯ is carved in Ancient Human on the inside. ¡°Right, I get one of these after every encounter, but since the dwarf was an intruder they give me a fake like this? Well, whatever works. Confirms that these are important, at least.¡± Besides the chest, and the candle that certainly would extinguish itself if Sofia touched it, a closed iron grate led to a dark corridor. This was already up far enough that the damages from the bolt explosion were minimal, but Pareth and Bookie were still about two hundred meters above from what Sofia could feel. Sofia finished recasting her unlife runes before she teleported to the other side The corridor stretched quite far, rows of empty rooms on both sides making Sofia question what that place was for. It felt a bit like a prison, but then, the ambiance changed quite suddenly as Sofia opened the final door at the end of the corridor and found herself in a well-lit, clean room, with a skeletal dog wearing a loose bowtie sitting on a tall stool behind a counter. SO CUTE! She approached top pet him, but as she walked closer, she couldn¡¯t help but notice the softly-glowing mana heart floating inside of the dog¡¯s skull, so she sent the skeleton dog a quick Identify.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. [Protector - Lv.350+] Sofia stopped dead in her tracks. Two things, this dog was stronger than the dwarf she had just fought, and it was ¡®a person with a scribe and a class¡¯. The dog barked once before disappearing in a puff of smoke, leaving a flying scroll inscribed with glowing letters behind. The next fight already?! I better not have to fight the dog or I¡¯m giving up right here and now. ¡®Here lurks the Candle-meistre The writing is on the wall, Will your obstacles go up in flames? Does the flame of your ambition yet burn hot enough? This is your fifth of nine trials of might Currently available helpers: Pareth Everelle Velanihuarahton Bookie Cinthia¡¯ Everyone is available again. Good to know they¡¯re all safe. After the images of everyone flashed by Sofia¡¯s views, she stepped on the glowing runes spelling Cinthia on the floor, and the scroll disappeared. Sofia looked around, wondering if Cinthia was about to be teleported in. After a short moment, she heard screaming from above, Cinthia¡¯s voice, becoming louder by the second. A hole appeared in the ceiling, and a disheveled Cinthia crash-landed on the wooden counter, sending wood shrapnel flying everywhere. Sofia extended a hand to help her get up. ¡°You good?¡± ¡°Yes¡­ Sorry,¡± Cinthia answered, still a bit shaken, as she looked up at the hole in the ceiling, quickly closing by itself, ¡°that surprised me¡­ I expected¡­ I don¡¯t know, not this.¡± ¡°Same. I was expecting you to get teleported here, but I suppose this works too. Did you meet the dog?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°The Dog?¡± Cinthia repeated, a confused look on her face. ¡°Guess not, then. There was a skeleton dog here when I entered, level 350+, no less. He just barked and disappeared.¡± ¡°No, no dogs¡­¡± Cinthia said, her eyes busy reading her chat, ¡°Guys, I¡¯m going private for a minute, alright? Don¡¯t leave, I¡¯ll be right back before we start the fight.¡± ¡°Huh? Aren¡¯t you going to miss out on token donations doing that?¡± ¡°I might, but whatever, they can handle a few minutes of silence, I needed to speak with you, well, privately,¡± Cinthia explained with a hushed voice like she was doing something shady. ¡°Sure? I don¡¯t really mind either way. You got news on the others?¡± ¡°I do,¡± Cinthia said with a nod, ¡° a lot more than that, even. The viewers have been chatting a lot, and typing while I¡¯m fighting and they think I¡¯m distracted, but I¡¯m already at a point where I can read while fighting, they just don¡¯t realize it yet,¡± she explained, ¡°I managed to overhear a lot of interesting things about the palace,¡± Cinthia finally said with a wide grin. ¡°Ahahah! Nice. I wonder if mom will be fine with me cheating like that, though?¡± ¡°Sorrow is more perceptive than the rest,¡± Cinthia answered, ¡°Although I think Death also knows, but Sorrow did send me a private message with a donation quest¡­ Basically she bribed me so that I wouldn¡¯t tell you everything.¡± ¡°She did? That¡¯s great! You get paid and I¡¯m sure I do things correctly. Couldn¡¯t ask for a better deal; so, what can you share? Or do you want me to tell you about my adventures here first? I even killed the dwarf who botched Domination¡¯s apostles¡¯ ritual.¡± ¡°OH! That¡¯s what they were freaking out about?! I didn¡¯t get what they were going on about with a black-hearted dwarf! They¡¯ve been talking about it non-stop for the last half hour at least.¡± ¡°Yeah, he was the fourth boss I had to fight, somehow. Entered as a helper and chose to hinder my progress, if I understood everything correctly. Now he¡¯s in my ring waiting to get eaten by Bookie,¡± Sofia explained, taking out the dead dwarf¡¯s mana heart as proof. ¡°I got this and that Asterite chest from him, all his other stuff was soulbound, sadly¡­¡± ¡°You should get used to every high-level person¡¯s belongings being soulbound because they often are. Even my boots are soulbound,¡± Cinthia answered with a giggle at Sofia¡¯s disappointment over lost loot. ¡°Most of my things are, too, but it¡¯s still sad to see it all disappear¡­ I got some orichalcum and mithril scraps from the guy¡¯s destroyed shovel, at least¡­¡± ¡°Better than nothing. Anyway, I should start explaining things and get out of private mode before the viewers get angsty¡­ I can tell you everything about what me and the others are going through, but for your own trials I can only tell you what Sorrow allowed me to say which is not much at all¡­¡± ¡°Gonna repeat your own words: better than nothing.¡± ¡°True, well, so for your own trials, while I know a whole lot, all I¡¯m allowed to tell you are my personal recommendations on who to call for help when. In order, me, right now, then Bookie, Pareth, Everelle, and Ihuarah.¡± ¡°Ihuarah last? Not Pareth?¡± Cinthia smiled in response. ¡°Do you trust me?¡±
Chapter 545 - You wouldn’t steal a car Sofia internally rolled her eyes at the rhetorical question. ¡°What do you think?¡± ¡°I mean¡­ A divine item is on the line,¡± Cinthia said, ¡°And your survival, if I¡¯m being honest, the things down there are not going to pull any punches.¡± ¡°Yeah I noticed that already, but it¡¯s fine, I don¡¯t feel like it has been unfairly hard so far. I¡¯ll follow your suggestions.¡± ¡°You won¡¯t regret this,¡± Cinthia affirmed, ¡°oh, also I finally got someone to answer that question you told me to ask them.¡± ¡°Already?!¡± ¡°Yes. Long story short, Suffering contacted the Demon King for you, and he said he would send you a letter, supposedly he knows. Well, Death also knows, I think, but he still doesn¡¯t want to type actual words so¡­¡± ¡°Wish Clint could have just explained what he did, that would have made everything easier. And I really should have asked Death in person¡­¡± Sofia lamented, ¡°I was just so distracted by¡­ Everything else.¡± ¡°Not a huge deal, you¡¯re the only one suffering from this anyway. And I think you getting acquainted with the headless one now is a good thing. He must have been curious about you considering how much of a mess you¡¯ve been making with the Recessed,¡± Cinthia explained as she distractedly kept looking in the direction of her invisible chat window even though there were no messages because of the temporary private mode, it was just that strong of a habit. ¡°I suppose you¡¯re right¡­ You¡¯re one to talk, though.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m no Apostle, so it¡¯s different. I have been actually thinking about it, you know, but I don¡¯t think I want to take the risk¡­¡± ¡°Understandable,¡± Sofia empathized, ¡°I know I only did the ritual because I had no other option. I don¡¯t regret it now, but it could have ended badly. You shouldn¡¯t feel pressured into doing it if you don¡¯t absolutely want to.¡± ¡°Things are fine as they are, for now. But hey, I might get a racial evolution to a higher Orc at some point if I keep going, that would be nice, and a lot safer.¡± ¡°Higher Orc?¡± Sofia repeated. ¡°Like Saint Tartaros,¡± Cinthia explained, ¡°You didn¡¯t know about that?¡± ¡°No? I just kinda assumed he was some kind of magical race and that was about it.¡± ¡°Well, now you know, he¡¯s a higher Orc, we can evolve into that, but it¡¯s only for the elite of the elite of the elite. I have only ever seen three of them, including that guy.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s hope you get there, then. Maybe we should get back to the Palace?¡± ¡°Right. I already said all I could about your route, aside from your upcoming fight alongside me, which I know basically nothing about except that they all wanted me to be in this one. But I can explain what we¡¯re going through as helpers. Basically we have small test chambers, a bit like the second trial¡¯s floors, actually, where we either get into a fight or some kind of question to solve. If we finish before you reach your next boss, you can summon us to help like you just did. Also when we entered we had the option to instead betray you and later get into a deathmatch for supposedly big rewards, so that¡¯s what this dwarf guy did.¡± Sofia nodded along, ¡°The people who built this place were really crazy to take all these things into account.¡± ¡°You haven¡¯t heard half of it, even. The fights you and we get are different depending on your level, and there are actually multiple trial grounds inside of the palace to accommodate for apostles of different strength. Say if you were to have discovered this place at level 400, there is a trial for that. Only one divine artifact, though. But the neat part is you can come back later to complete the others for different rewards if you want.¡± ¡°Definitely crazy¡­ And what about you, though, are you getting something out of helping? I hope you do.¡± ¡°Only if you get the divine artifact. We get a small chest for each room we clear, so I have five now, but they need the artifact to be opened.¡±The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°So I could decide to keep you all from getting your rewards? That sucks. And if the artifact opens chests¡­ Is it some kind of key?¡± Sofia guessed. Cinthia stuck out her tongue in response. ¡°I know the answer but I can¡¯t say. From what I understand, though, it is strong. And not a weapon. Sorrow described it in the chat Herself. Ah, speaking of- there, no longer private mode. Welcome back everyone,¡± Cinthia said, waving and smiling at the wall, ¡°we¡¯re starting the boss soon, grab a snack and sit tight!¡± ¡°Back to work eh, well I¡¯m ready, I do worry about you though, the enemies have been pretty violent so far,¡± Sofia told Cinthia with concern in her voice. ¡°No need to worry too much, I just got a very strong defensive ability actually. Got a few levels from the fight already,¡± Cinthia reassured her. Sofia tried to Identify Cinthia, finding it not working. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s new. Identify block?¡± ¡°That¡¯s part of it, I got a new skill and fused a bunch with it, made a huuuuuuge locked passive skill! Let me just share it, here.¡± Oh woah, putting her ten skill fusion tickets to good use. [Lord VPN]: Being a public figure can be hard, you cannot hide from your audience, but at least, with a Lord¡¯s VPN, you¡¯ve got everything else covered. Toggleable features, each cost 1 essence token per second. Total cost per second discounted by 1 essence token per current viewer.
  • Going dark - Cannot be Identified
  • Untraceable - Cannot be located through the spiritual plane
  • DDOS Block - Take progressively less damage when getting hit in quick succession
  • Encrypted Data - Blurs your mana pathways and spellcasting arrays from outside view
  • Download more RAM - Processing +20%
  • Physical copy - Soul damage taken reduced by 20%
  • Digital copy - Physical damage taken reduced by 20%
  • Fast Reboot - If you lose consciousness in any way, forcibly regain it after one second
  • BRO, I¡¯M LAGGING! - Sometimes automatically get teleported away from harmful projectiles
  • Factory settings - If you were to die from something other than old age, get sent back to the place where you were born instead, lose all essence tokens, and fully deactivate [LORD VPN] for the next 840 hours.
¡°That sure is one loaded skill¡­ Honestly I¡¯d almost be tempted to copy it with the skill capture thingy I got from Brighthall. Not sure how that would work without essence tokens or viewers, though,¡± Sofia commented, ¡°But it is very reassuring that you have a resurrection skill now!¡± ¡°Right?! The viewers were excited too. Doesn¡¯t immunize me from bad consequences in case of a failed ritual, though, if you wonder.¡± ¡°Not quite as potent as my unlife runes hmm. I would share the skill if it could be easily copied¡­ Asty might take it with her skill capture actually, she¡¯s undecided still.¡± ¡°It would not be a bad choice, I wonder if Zerei has used it already. Ah, the viewers seem to think that the token costs would just be converted to mana if you were to copy the skill, they say it would probably take up most of your remaining skill slots, also.¡± ¡°Not that I have many left¡­ I don¡¯t know what to do with the skill capture honestly. But yeah, not going to take your skill, too many redundant features with what I already have, would take slot space for nothing. Twenty percent damage reduction is twenty percent damage reduction, though, highly valuable.¡± Cinthia bobbed her head while she listened to Sofia and read her chat, ¡°Maybe just ask that crazy skeleton for a skill?¡± she suggested while not taking her eyes off of her invisible window. ¡°That¡®s an idea. Maybe I¡¯ll ask Erredis about it when we¡¯re done here.¡± ¡°Alright, well. They¡¯re getting impatient,¡± Cinthia said, pointing at the door, ¡°let¡¯s go!¡± ¡°Sure. I¡¯ll be the frontline, just stay behind and do your thing!¡± Sofia enthusiastically ordered as she stretched in front of the door. The two women entered the boss room. They were faced with an alley about five meters wide, two giant library bookshelves stacked with countless books on both sides, extending up to about fifty meters away and ten meters up before it was engulfed by the palace¡¯s magical darkness. ¡°A library?¡± Sofia said out loud, her voice echoing in the room, making it out to be much larger than what she could see. ¡°Not what I expected either,¡± Cinthia said from behind, as the door closed after her and disappeared, replaced by a seamless brick wall. A cold wind blew over from the dark part of the room, it rattled the candles¡¯ flames but extinguished none, and a rattling voice started speaking in pained breaths, ¡°You who enter my abode, prove yourselves worthy of the code. Open your soul to curses dire, and the library¡¯s rules acquire. Beyond the flames find me, and on your way you will be.¡±
Chapter 546 - The shadows of doubt Silence engulfed the library as the echo of the void faded. The mana in the air started to curl, under some unseen influence, it formed long chains, curses aplenty. There were multiple ways to avoid one¡¯s mana being encroached onto by such a passive curse, be it burning the mana to do something else or repelling it from one¡¯s body, but Sofia did none of that. Open your soul to curses dire, the voice said. Cinthia seemed to have reached the same conclusion, and was cautiously monitoring her chat and health as the curses slowly entered her mana circuit. ¡°I don¡¯t feel any different. You?¡± Sofia asked in a hushed voice, taking a few steps forward between the two tall bookshelves. ¡°Not different at all,¡± Cinthia confirmed, also speaking softly, ¡°I would say it is dormant, but I have no idea. The chat¡¯s also gone mostly quiet already, they¡¯re just watching now, fourteen of them.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s give them a good spectacle, then,¡± Sofia continued, and, thinking they might be on a timer, she started sharing her first impressions, ¡°The library¡¯s rules are key here. Proving ourselves worthy of the code can mean a few things but I think, whether it¡¯s a code like an encoded thing we have to decipher, or a code of conduct we have to abide by, but either way I tend to think the rules and the code are one and the same.¡± ¡°Jumping to conclusion quite fast,¡± Cinthia commented, ¡°but that might be what we need right now. ¡®Open your soul to curses dire, and the library¡¯s rules acquire¡¯ definitely sound like a single sentence, so the two might be related. That might be why the curse is doing nothing right now. Maybe it only acts up if we break the rules?¡± she suggested. ¡°Good guess. The beyond the flames part makes me wonder if we¡¯re supposed to burn the place down, but let¡¯s not be rash, could very well be about the candles. And that¡¯s not all, here¡¯s what I had on the scroll before summoning you: Here lurks the Candle-meistre. The writing is on the wall, will your obstacles go up in flames? Does the flame of your ambition yet burn hot enough?¡± Sofia recited from memory. ¡°This definitely does sound like we should be burning the books to have a look at the walls behind,¡± Cinthia quickly said, ¡°but I wouldn¡¯t feel safe doing that before we know what the curse does.¡± Sofia stopped to think for a bit, before spinning on, her heels to face Cinthia, ¡°Don¡¯t move for now, this is my trial so I should take most of the risks, not many things we can do here so let¡¯s try things out. This is a library so if we¡¯re trying to learn the rules, there are a few obvious ones. Be ready to defend yourself, just in case.¡± Cinthia answered with a confident nod. Alright. Sofia took a deep breath. ¡°HELLO! IS ANYONE HERE?!!!¡± she yelled. ¡°W- what are you doing?!¡± Cinthia asked in a hushed voice, a slight panic visible on her face. ¡°No reaction from the curse¡­ In most libraries, you have to be careful not to make too much noise so as to not disturb other readers. That¡¯s one of the most basic of basic rules, but if the curse is supposed to activate for rule-breaking, then this isn¡¯t one.¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯ll be trying a few other things,¡± Sofia announced as she walked closer to the left side shelves, her eyes gliding over the title of the many leather-bound tomes. They did not all have names on the spine, but most did, and the vast majority of those were in ancient human. ¡°Can¡¯t Identify them for some reason,¡± she noted out loud. As far as Sofia could tell, these books seemed to all be about plants. Common medicinal flowers of the south. Guide on Bloodsapper harvest. Mundane crop rotation advanced analysis. Alith would love it here. Her eyes stopped on a particular book with a familiar subject.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. The verdant scourge from space: Dimmerions. With an extended hand, Sofia grabbed that book. The curse was spread evenly inside of her by now, and she felt it vibrate as her fingers touched the book, but that was the entire extent of it, she pulled the book out of the shelf, and the curse soon became dormant again. ¡°Something happened when I touched the book,¡± she informed Cinthia, ¡°the curse reacted for a second, but it calmed down just as fast once I pulled the book out.¡± Cinthia went to grab a random book, ¡°I felt that too. No obvious effect so far.¡± Sofia nodded and opened her book, she was curious, the original unstoppable dimmerion came from space? Maybe one of the nearby planets out there is just covered in dimmerions? Our planet was the only green one, though. Sofia¡¯s eyes read the book¡¯s introduction slowly, she was starting to get used to ancient human, truthfully it was much like the common language, just with a lot of added syllables in most words and a slightly different but confusing sentence structure and punctuation system. Some words were too obscure to decipher but the meaning of these could usually be inferred from context. The book on Dimmerions was rather short, containing many sketches and illustrations about the plant, its root and mana structure, its ability to corrupt the living, its physikstone core and the peculiar properties of its purple flower. With her fast reading, it took Sofia about twenty seconds to flip through the entire thing, understanding most of what was said, while Cinthia silently observed from the side, clutching her staff, her muscles tensed and ready to fight at any moment. Though her curiosity was sated, Sofia found the book to be completely useless in understanding this trial. She closed the book. That was when it happened, the cursed whirred, throbbing in her veins, encroaching in her soul. Carefully, Sofia observed it as it blended with her own mana in a strange way. She felt safe as she knew for a fact that Mr.Scribe was watching as if not more intensely as she was, and he would no doubt take control of their mana to stop the damage if something went wrong. She was so focused on watching the curse that she only realized what had been happening when it was over. Looking down at the book she was holding, Sofia felt her mind go blank. She had forgotten all about the book¡¯s contents, she vividly remembered reading it, but all she had gotten from that was the title, The verdant scourge from space: Dimmerions. ¡°I figured what the curse does¡­¡± Sofia told Cinthia. ¡°Already?¡± ¡°Yes. Just to confirm, can you tell me what I have been doing for the last thirty seconds?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ Weird but alright. You took that book, opened and read it, closed it back, and since then you¡¯ve been standing silently for a few seconds before now,¡± Cinthia recounted. ¡°Good, that means I didn¡¯t hallucinate anything. I remember the exact same thing¡­ Except that the curse activated when I closed the book¡­ And I completely forgot the contents,¡± Sofia explained. ¡°Just like that? Let me also try with another book,¡± Cinthia offered, pulling out a random book from the shelves, and opening it. She only read a few pages quickly, trying to remember them, and said a few lines out loud, asking Sofia to try to remember them. Then she closed the book. Sofia felt the curse activate once again. Even as she was repeating the lines Cinthia had told her in her head, her thoughts were suddenly muddled, her internal voice interrupted, she forgot. ¡°I don¡¯t remember anything,¡± Cinthia said first. ¡°I know you read me a few lines, but I also forgot them,¡± Sofia then informed her. Crap, I should have tried writing it down to see what happens. ¡°Alright, well. We do understand the curse now.¡± ¡°Or the first rule, maybe? When you close a book, everyone forgets the contents, pretty straightf-¡± Before Sofia could finish her sentence, all the candles abruptly went out, leaving Sofia and Cinthia in complete darkness for a brief instant, before dozens more lit candles emerged from the darkness, just a bit further away, illuminating a new large corridor of bookshelves. ¡°Sofia?¡± Cinthia asked. ¡°I¡¯m here, let¡¯s go to the light.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± Both of them jumped straight into the newly illuminated zone still holding their books on plants. Although the sudden lights-out was surprising, no apparent danger had come from it. ¡°The light forced us to change sections, pretty much,¡± Sofia commented, already picking up on the fact that the books here all had a common subject once again, magical creatures. As she read the titles, and remembered her early conclusion about having to burn down the place, she was starting to feel ill. Even if these books were thousands of years old, their knowledge potentially outdated, what was their value? ¡°Oh fuck¡­¡± Sofia cursed as she turned to Cinthia, ¡°The knowledge here might just be more valuable than the divine item itself.¡± ¡°Sofia¡­ I think we have a more pressing issue,¡± Cinthia worriedly said, observing her own hands. ¡°Shit.¡± It was only when she also looked at Cinthia¡¯s hands that Sofia noticed. The curse was ever-so-slightly more active than before, it now had an actual, continuous effect. Both hers and Cinthia¡¯s hands were starting to become pitch black like a shade¡¯s, starting from the tip of their gloves, slowly crawling down their fingers.
Chapter 547 - Books, making heads or tail of it ¡°This must be the actual time limit¡­¡± Cinthia said, watching her fingers progressively becoming shadows. ¡°At least it only looks different, doesn¡¯t feel like much else is happening. Still, at the speed it¡¯s going¡­ Ten minutes to reach our chest, five more to reach the head, maybe? So that¡¯s what we¡¯re working with. Let¡¯s try to uncover more rules.¡± ¡°Yeah the lights changed section right when you guessed a rule out loud, so it might be linked. If we¡¯re forced into a new section of the library every time, though, we need to get the most information out of each section,¡± Cinthia recapped, talking quite fast as they were pressed for time. ¡°Let¡¯s grab another book each.¡± Leveraging her fast reading, Sofia quickly scanned all the book titles until she found something truly interesting: The undead giants of the north. It was quite high so she jumped up to grab it, but when her fingers touched this new book, they were repelled back, and a sharp, acute pain coursed through her left hand which was still holding onto the Dimmerion book. ¡°Ouch, what the hell?!¡± Cinthia was about to grab a book of her own, but she stopped when Sofia cursed. ¡°Did the book hurt you?¡± ¡°Yes? It¡¯s weird. Let me try again.¡± Sofia touched the book again, and the exact same thing happened. The pain made Sofia let the book on Dimmerions go, and she watched it fly straight into the darkness as if it were going back to its own bookshelf in the previous section. ¡°Can you grab the new book now?¡± Cinthia asked. Sofia pulled out the book on Giant undeads without any issue. ¡°Guess we found another rule. Let¡¯s not say it out loud quite yet so we can stay here a bit longer. You should get a book too.¡± Cinthia nodded, and placed her previous book on the ground. It silently slid into the darkness by itself. Cinthia then picked the book, Origins of Orcs, the tribes and tribulations. Sofia and Cinthia each opened their own book and started reading as fast as possible. With no time to lose, Sofia tried to copy some of the book¡¯s contents on a bone slab. A violent headache assaulted her as soon as she began carving the first letter. Cinthia was about to do the same thing, taking out a notebook and a pen, Sofia hurriedly asked her to stop. ¡°Don¡¯t! I just tried, we cannot copy the books!¡± Sofia said. Immediately, the lights went out. ¡°Crap,¡± Cinthia cursed as the girls both jumped straight into a newly illuminated section of the library this time on the side. The books there seemed to be about various locations, ranging from Mountain of this and plains of that to what seemed to be city names and such other places. ¡°No copy is the second rule, then,¡± Sofia said with a sigh, ¡°I¡¯m doomed to forget all about the nordic frost Dragon¡¯s grave as soon as I close this book¡­ That sucks.¡± ¡°Same feeling here, and I can¡¯t even read fast enough to get through this entire thing even if I spent all our remaining time reading it¡­¡± Cinthia commiserated, weakly waving her open book. ¡°Wait¡­¡± Sofia said, ¡°Stop moving,¡± she ordered. Cinthia did so, and Sofia stared at her book for a second. The pages are all blank? ¡°Cinthia, I found another rule, I think. I¡¯m not saying it but yeah¡­ Also, I think¡­ We might be able to keep the last book we grab, so if you want to absolutely keep this one, just do that. I feel like I can guess all the rules by myself, I already have a few already.¡±This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°That makes sense¡­ You should be the one keeping your book, then. A dragon skeleton is worth a lot more than some historical knowledge about my ancestors.¡± The two went back and forth for a few seconds, eventually agreeing that they should just focus on getting through the trial fast, and if they could keep their last book, then they¡¯d be happy with whatever that was. Thinking this, Sofia closed her book, forgetting all about its contents, and tried to store it in her ring. Not only did that not work, she received the most violent backlash yet, the curse actually slightly damaging her right arm in the process. No storing books either. Hoping that Mr.Scribe might just be able to remember the information later, Sofia next picked a book with a title that seemed interesting and quickly read it before closing it and putting it back in its place. Meanwhile Cinthia also let her book from the previous section go and grabbed another one that intrigued her, which she promptly started flitting through. The curse was progressing steadily, now having eaten up to half of Sofia¡¯s forearms. ¡°It¡¯s almost like we have Sunless arms,¡± Sofia joked, ¡°who should give the next rule? Have any guesses?¡± ¡°I have one,¡± Cinthia confidently said, Sofia expected one of those she had already guessed, but instead Cinthia said something even more obvious, ¡°Rule three, don¡¯t damage the books!¡± The candles all went out, before another section lit up once more. This section was all about non-magical subjects ranging from basic things like baking to specifics like 101 spiral staircase architecture tips to impress your clients. Not wanting to waste time, Sofia reached out to grab the closest book to her, only for the curse to send a jolt of pain through her arm again. What the fuck now? I¡¯m not holding any other book! ¡°Cinthia, I can¡¯t touch this book for some reason.¡± Cinthia ran up to Sofia, leaving her previous book go, she read the book¡¯s title out loud, ¡°Getting rid of stains on delicate textile. Pretty normal-sounding subject, let me try.¡± Cinthia had no issue grabbing and opening the book. She hastily read a few pages in the middle. ¡°Nothing irregular, just plant mixture recipes for cleaning silk, won¡¯t ever use it but it¡¯s mildly interesting.¡± Sofia couldn¡¯t care less about techniques for washing textile, she just wanted to know why this book in particular had hurt her for no reason. ¡°Let me try another book¡­¡± Sofia cursed out loud as another jolt of pain wrecked her arm when she touched another book. ¡°Am I not allowed to pick any book from this section?!¡± she complained. Cinthia put the book on textile back and tried another one, ¡°Doesn¡¯t seem to be that or the lights would have gone out, let me try aga- AAHHGH!¡± Cinthia yelped in pain as her fingers touched the book right next to the one she had just put back onto the shelf. ¡°Let¡¯s just change section¡­¡± Sofia said, ¡°Rule four, don¡¯t steal the books,¡± she confidently announced, thinking back to how she could not store the books in her storage ring. She was correct, the lights went out. ¡°Making good progress,¡± Cinthia commented as she walked into a newly-lit section, ¡°this one¡¯s about magic, looks like.¡± ¡°Weak spells?¡± Sofia guessed as she read the titles, ¡°no, everyday magic¡­ A whole book on spells for keeping bathwater warm, really?¡± ¡°Useful if you want to open a bathhouse; I don¡¯t have any more rules yet, you?¡± ¡°I have one more,¡± Sofia said, ¡°But I feel like what happened in the previous section was also a rule, we just did not get it.¡± ¡°I think we¡¯re on a decent pace, but we have to hurry,¡± Cinthia said, looking at the blackness creeping up past her elbows. Sofia nodded and extended a hand, touching the warm bathwater book. She then proceeded to insult whoever built the palace and their entire lineage as the curse wrecked her arm for no understandable reason. The pain from the curse attacks were getting stronger each time, and to make things worse, they were starting to linger, as if she¡¯d burned herself touching a hot skewer. Cinthia grabbed a book without trouble. ¡°HOW?!¡± Sofia asked, still in pain. Looking at the book she had just grabbed, then at the book Sofia had tried to grab, Cinthia thought for a second before she came up with an idea. ¡°I think I get what¡¯s happening. But if I explain it to you and it¡¯s right we¡¯ll be sent to the next section already.¡± ¡°Whatever, please do, I can¡¯t find the other rules like this anyway, at this rate I¡¯ll die from touching the books before the curse can get me.¡± ¡°Alright, I think it¡¯s very simple, actually, looking at all the books you tried to pick up¡­¡±
Chapter 548 - Touch and be touched ¡°I think we can only pick books we actually want to read,¡± Cinthia guessed, the candles around her immediately blowing out. ¡°Oh¡­ That does explain what was going on. I can¡¯t believe I didn¡¯t realize that faster¡­¡± ¡°We should get on to the next section¡­ But yeah, even for me, it was just a guess,¡± Cinthia confessed, ¡°It¡¯s just that the only book that rejected me so far was the only one I tried to pick that I didn¡¯t care about.¡± As Sofia and Cinthia returned to light once again, Sofia started reading the titles, while asking Cinthia a question, ¡°You were really interested in methods to clean silk?¡± ¡°My mom is a [Weaver], she crafts fabric for a living, even now that I send her some of my money from the sect she¡¯s still doing it, most of my clothes are sewn with homemade stuff¡­¡± ¡°Oh! Nice. This section seems like it¡¯s about defensive magic? It¡¯s shorter than the previous ones.¡± I shouldn¡¯t have any issue picking from those. Sofia grabbed one of the books with a promising title, opened it, quickly read through it and closed it, forgetting all about its contents. This really feels pointless¡­ With a sigh, Sofia tried to open the book again, but it was tightly shut, the pages sticking together the book had become more brick than literature. What now¡­ Can we only open the books once? I can¡¯t believe we never tried that until now¡­ From her side, Cinthia yelped in pain again. ¡°Did you not want to read that one?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°No, I do want to read it!¡± Cinthia answered, ¡°there¡¯s something else¡­¡± Sofia also tried to pick up that book that Cinthia failed to get, the title was interesting enough, but she suffered a similar fate except with an immensely more severe backlash from the curse as she had triggered it again and again. While the strange blackness had progressed almost up to her chest, lines of light shone through as Sofia¡¯s skin cracked from her health going too low. ¡°Are you going to be fine?¡± Cinthia asked, worried. ¡°This is going to slow me down a bit but I¡¯m alright¡­ Another curse hit and I will be stuck in place though¡­¡± ¡°Let¡¯s just get on with it then, I have a few ideas for what could be causing this,¡± Cinthia confidently said. ¡°Same, let¡¯s just try them all.¡± Sofia and Cinthia took turns taking guesses as to why this one book could not be picked up, and it was Cinthia who guessed right first after a very fast back and forth. ¡°Maybe we are only allowed to pick one book per aisle,¡± she had said before the surrounding candles extinguished themselves. The blackness had progressed up to their collarbones and down to their waist by the time they got to the next section. ¡°Let¡¯s hurry to choose a book and I¡¯ll give the two rules I still have, hopefully that¡¯s all, we have no time!¡± Sofia pressed Cinthia as she started reading through the aisle¡¯s book titles. It¡¯s all attack magic¡­ Sofia was aware that she was starting to be limited by her number of skill ¡®slots¡¯, so she was not overly enthusiastic about learning new spells, but she still found something that could end up being great amongst the rows of books, it was a collection of similar-looking books with one word titles arranged neatly on the same row. Amplification Aesthetics Enlargement Efficiency Targeting Hastening Stability Lingering Repetition Simultaneity InterferenceEnsure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Layering Mutation Reach She hesitated for a second, her hand hovering above Aesthetics and Amplification, but Sofia finally picked Hastening, then turned to Cinthia. ¡°You got what you want?¡± ¡°Got one,¡± she answered with a nod. ¡°Good. Then, next rule: We can only open each book once.¡± The rule was correct, and Sofia and Cinthia were ushered into another section by the lights. This time it seemed the books were about random magic spells that did not fit into the previous categories, things like Crowd contribution magic, Advanced Elementalization or Mass flight. ¡°Want to trade our previous book for one of those?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°No. Chat wants me to keep the one I have, it was Sorrow who picked it, actually¡­¡± ¡°Really?! Is that confirmation that we get to keep a book or¡­? What does She think of mine?¡± Sofia asked, almost shoving her book in Cinthia¡¯s face, only to realize that the curse¡¯s darkness was almost reaching said face. She hastily gave the last rule she knew of before Cinthia could even consider answering. ¡°Next rule: one can only read the content of books they opened themselves.¡± The lights went out. Please say that it¡¯s everything¡­ Unlike the previous times, the light stayed out. ¡°Sofia?¡± Cinthia called out. ¡°I¡¯m here. Sending you a bone rope, catch it.¡± ¡°Got it. I¡¯m coming closer. Chat fell silent just now.¡± ¡°The curse is being lifted,¡± Sofia informed her. Since the darkness was preventing her mana senses from reaching out, she was very aware of the mana movements inside of her, and she watched as the curse flew out of her body, tendril by tendril, as if sucked up by the library¡¯s ceiling. ¡°Thank goodness. It was getting worrying.¡± ¡°Agreed. Seems like we have to navigate the darkness here now though, not exceedingly reassuring.¡± ¡°We¡¯re still in the library, right?¡± Cinthia asked. ¡°I think so? Let me check.¡± The curse is gone so I should even be able to touch all of those damn books without worry, right? With the bone tendrils of her armor, Sofia scouted the surroundings. They had not moved, The books were all still in place, and Sofia could touch them without issue, but trying to store them was still a futile effort. I might be able to take more anyway but I¡¯m not sure about carrying a bunch of random books through whatever is coming next. Protecting Cinthia and the one book I chose might already be hard enough. ¡°We¡¯ve not been teleported or anything,¡± Sofia confirmed to Cinthia, "we can also touch all the books now that the curse is gone.¡± ¡°Should we search for an exit?¡± ¡°Doubt it¡¯s that simple, the entrance door even disappeared after we walked in. I think the hint is in the poem the voice sung at the beginning. Beyond the flames find me, and on your way you will be.¡± ¡°There are no flames anymore¡­¡± ¡°Well¡­ I would say we can make some, but they won¡¯t produce any light.¡± ¡°Wait, Sofia, did you hear this?¡± Sofia shut her mouth and listened. In the silence, she heard it too, footsteps. Very light, in the distance, the tapping sound of feet hitting the floor in rhythm, moving through the aisles. ¡°We might need to fight in the dark,¡± Sofia whispered. ¡°Let¡¯s hope not. But I¡¯m ready.¡± ¡°I go first, keep a hand on the bone rope and stay close.¡± Sofia took the lead, grabbing her shield from her storage ring and encasing her book on the backside with more bones as she advanced slowly, ready to attack or defend, her bone tendrils allowing her to map out the surroundings. There were plenty of aisles of the library that they had not been able to explore as the light had never shone there. Sofia was about to reach the footsteps. In a few more steps, she would just have to look left to look into the aisles where the sounds were coming from. Without a word, she held out a vision token between two fingers with her extended right arm, and used it to look ahead. She expected to see nothing, but there was actually light. Somehow it did not spread far from the source, but Sofia was still able to see it, a single lit candle on a brass chamberstick floating through the aisle, as if held by an invisible person. It moved up and down as it flew away, but stopped abruptly instants after Sofia started looking. The chamberstick and candle dropped to the ground with a clang. Sofia almost dashed in to prevent what she could foresee was coming, but she was being wary of the invisible entity which had been holding said candle. The nearest book caught fire. Cinthia was pressing Sofia from behind, ¡°What¡¯s going on?!¡± she asked in panicked whispers. As if the books were filled with Ihuarah¡¯s explosive powders the fire spread to the entire aisle in a matter of seconds. Sofia felt a strange feeling of loss as the entire library burst up in flames, becoming a blazing inferno in less time than it took for Cinthia to react to what was going on. ¡°We found the flames¡­¡± Cinthia observed, clutching her staff and her book, letting go of Sofia¡¯s bone rope. Sofia could see in all directions, and within the flames, she started to see something unsettling, shadows that looked like long-fingered hands. ¡°BEHIND!¡± she shouted, urgently using [Summon Self] to teleport behind Cinthia and intercept what was coming for her, one of the shadowy hands, with a punch of her dragon armguard, leaving her scepter to float next to her. The hand was like a bundle of dark flames; it survived the blow, and retreated to the flames with a high-pitched shriek. ¡°What are these things?!¡± Cinthia asked as she channeled her [Slow mode] skill to protect herself against any other surprise attack. ¡°I have no idea but it¡¯s everywhere!¡± Everywhere Sofia could see, in between aisles, behind the books, under the burning planks of the floor, anywhere where the flames burned, shadowy hands of dark fire rose like dimmerion stalks.
Chapter 549 - The Candle-Meistre ¡°I defend, you attack!¡± Sofia commanded. She grabbed a large handful of vision tokens from her storage and threw them all in the air, spreading them throughout the flaming library, then she called upon the skull choir, summoning as many destroyer skulls as she could. The fiery hands shooting out from the flames were on long, thin arms of fire, which could extend several meters to attack, and Sofia had to manually control the destroyer skulls just to repel the many hands that soon started to assault herself and Cinthia all at once. The destroyer skulls clashed against the fiery hands, failing to damage them at all, but still forming a good enough blockade under Sofia¡¯s direct control that very few managed to actually get through. Cinthia blasted these with essence tokens until they burst, sending flaming sparks flying everywhere, most of which got stuck mid-air inside of her [Slow mode] bubble. The sparks themselves were too weak for more fiery hands to form within, but those of them that still landed on the ground spread more fire nearby, and flaming hands would soon emerge from under the two women¡¯s feet. Sofia¡¯s brain was running at full speed, preventing the hands from reaching them was already hard enough, but she was also trying to figure out how to get out of this situation. The obvious way to get rid of the ends would be to quell the fire, but that was much easier said than done. The fire burned even under Sofia¡¯s feet, it felt hotter than regular fire but she was mostly unaffected, Cinthia also seemed to not mind, but hands started to form, one of them grabbing Sofia¡¯s ankle. The fire fingers melted through her bone armor in an instant before she could react and blasted the magical hand into non-existence with [Heat Death]. A bone barrel appeared between her and Cinthia, which Sofia broke open with a strike of her tail. The barrel shattered, luminous blue water flowing all over the immediate surroundings. This was water of the underworld currents that Sofia had stolen from Hugo¡¯s secret base, an eternally cold magical water. The water clashed with the flames creating an explosion of smoke, and all the nearby flames were smothered, leaving Sofia and Cinthia in the middle of a very shallow puddle of freezing water in the middle of the burning library. The hands still came from the burning bookshelves, but at least they now stood on safe ground. ¡°That was perfect!¡± Cinthia rejoiced between blasting away two fiery hands, ¡°Got more?!¡± ¡°I have one more barrel!¡± Sofia answered. ¡°Ah crap¡­ I still have a lot of tokens but the hands keep reforming no matter how many I kill!¡± ¡°I¡¯m trying to find the source, hold one a bit longer!¡± The flames were burning brighter and brighter in the library, bolstering the hands¡¯ numbers as the seconds passed, meanwhile Sofia frantically defended and switched to her vision tokens one by one anytime she had a second to breathe to try to find anything, be it the source of the hands or a way out. As her vision switched from token to token, she noticed something, behind one of the burning bookshelves, on the burning wall: a ritual circle, emitting a dark fiery glow. Now that she found one, they became obvious, even from where she stood in the middle of the library with Cinthia, she could see another one slowly being revealed as the books burned. The writing is on the wall! Moving through the library was suicide. The flaming hands were not particularly fast, but they were numerous and their flames burned strong enough to inflict serious damage by simple contact, even the destroyer skulls, despite the constant healing from [Bone Dominus], were starting to be molten beyond recognition. They could not even be evaded by flying up, as the entirety of the library¡¯s ceiling was aflame, and all of Sofia¡¯s attempts at summoning the graveyard gave nothing. I just need to bolt them. Sofia channeled some mana into a weak explosive bolt, only giving it one second of channeling should be enough, she thought, and targeted the first ritual circle. The bolt reached the bookshelf still burning in front of the ritual and exploded. The ritual circle was no more, but the flames nearby seemed to absorb the energy of the explosion and started to burn even brighter, creating larger, scarier hands. Did that even do anything except make them stronger?! If only the ring of Zar was empty!!!! ¡°The skulls are dying, can you defend?!¡± Sofia urgently asked Cinthia, who had already killed at least a hundred of hands by now.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. ¡°Leave it to me!¡± Cinthia stopped attacking, and started using skills Sofia had never seen before, invoking rectangles of light that seemed to hypnotize the hands and other things, but Sofia could not pay them too much attention. Activating the movement of summer from [Sixth¡¯s melody] Sofia paid 40% of her mana for a doubled casting speed. Locating and breaking every ritual circle on the walls was going to take too much time, especially with the tall shelves in the way that would intercept explosive bolts, so Sofia opted for the option of destroying all the walls instead. She made her shield fly to her back with [Bone Dominus] her started to dual-cast piercing bolts. She could send six 10000 mana piercing bolts from each hand every second. Her agility and speed were already at a level where she could manage that, but the mental strain from such a quick succession of skill casts was heavy. Bolts flew through the bookshelves in a continuous flow, creating a trench through the library¡¯s walls as Sofia¡¯s mana burned. Sofia could barely tell when she managed to break another ritual circle, and slowly, she turned on herself, methodically shooting a volley of bolts in every direction. Larger hands started to come, and Cinthia was having a hard time holding on, so Sofia summoned her last barrel of underworld current water, kicking it into the air with her tail and shooting one of her bolts at it. The cold water spraying the hands bought CInthia a few seconds to breathe for her cooldowns to refresh, while Sofia kept trying to break all the rituals. Finally, she felt it. The ring was empty. ¡°Cinthia, stand down!¡± Cinthia dropped to the ground without question, and Sofia raised a hand, activating the ring. The library¡¯s mana collapsed onto the ring, with it a vortex of fire that tried and failed to burn Sofia¡¯s draconic armguard. It all only lasted for a second, and the fire was extinguished, until it started burning again. Sofia saw them all, three remaining ritual circles, spewing flames onto their surroundings. Not giving the hands any time to reform, Sofia bet her remaining mana on a third tier [Runeforged Overlord] activation and rushed in. With the speed of a meteorite, she punched the ritual circles one after the other, before finishing to empty her mana with an activation of [Regret] that brought her right back to Cinthia¡¯s side. The flames that were building up again all suddenly died down, and total darkness shrouded the library once more, or what remained of it. ¡°Did that do it?!¡± Cinthia asked. ¡°I hope so, but stay vigilant.¡± Sofia heard footsteps as she finished her sentence. They were the same as before, from the invisible entity carrying a candle. Sofia and Cinthia both looked in the direction of the sound, not making any noise. Sofia hoped to buy any time she could to regenerate more mana in case she needed to fight again. A light finally pierced through the darkness, coming from the footsteps¡¯ direction. It was a candle on a floating chamberstick, the same as before. Then, suddenly, Sofia felt a void next to her. A strange air movement from Cinthia¡¯s direction. ¡°Cinthia?¡± she whispered, extending a bone tendril. Cinthia was gone. What the hell?!!! The footsteps stopped. Light suddenly flooded the library. It was warm, orange light, like the fire of a candle, inundating the entire place with colors. Cinthia was nowhere to be seen, and the library was intact. No traces of the bolts or the burn, no puddle of freezing water on the ground, no cinder and ash. Just a large, well-organized library full of old books, with Sofia in its center, and a flying chamberstick still in the air a few meters from her. As if to answer all her questions, the dog skeleton appeared out of nowhere right under the chamberstick, barked once, and disappeared again, leaving a small wooden chest behind, on which the lit candle slowly landed. There was no more magic in the air, no tension, just silence in the library and a confused Sofia. Sofia walked up to the chest, stabbed it once with her dagger for good measure, and opened it after moving the chamberstick away from the lid and putting it on the ground. The chest contained nothing but a small round rock. ¡°A heart of Velania¡­¡± Sofia said with a sigh of relief, she knew without even identifying it. She finally allowed herself to relax. Cinthia had disappeared because her task was over, she had been brought back to her own challenge within the palace. ¡°And the library is still there somehow. Thank you whoever built this place. I was going to have nightmares about so many books burning down for no reason¡­¡± Sofia also checked the shield on her back. The ¡®Hastening¡¯ book was still there, although its borders were a bit charred. This had interesting implications, but before Sofia could focus her thoughts on that, she had to investigate another sudden realization she had just had. She had touched and moved the chamberstick to open the chest, and yet, its candle was still burning. All the other candles Sofia had ever touched inside of the palace were always instantly extinguished without exception. With an extended finger, she touched the chamberstick again. Nothing happened. Focusing on her senses again, Sofia made a surprising discovery. This was not a candle like the others, it was a magical item. [Eternal Soulflame of the Candle-Meistre]
Chapter 550 - The most precious skeleton A door opened in front of a short skeleton in fancy clothes. ¡°Oh! She won again!¡± the skeleton rejoiced, jumping in place, the skeletal crow on his head also jumping up and down on his skull. Bookie¡¯s joyous outburst did not last long, however. He clutched his book form against his chest as he walked through the newly opened door. He wanted to be there when Sofia eventually called for his help so he needed to triumph over his next task before Sofia reached her next trial within the palace. ¡°Without brother Pareth next to her I can¡¯t help but worry¡­¡± Bookie walked through the dark corridors hoping to reach his destination soon, as he was not very comfortable in complete darkness. ¡°Only four chances left¡­ Sofia didn¡¯t forget about me, right?¡± he worriedly asked the crow on his head, receiving a few skull-pecks in return. Finally he saw some light in the distance, two of the Dungeon¡¯s ominous candles illuminating an iron gate. ¡°Another arena!¡± Bookie exclaimed excitedly, running up to the gate. So far, the trials had been either logic or combat based, Bookie was not as good as he wanted with logic, so he was happy to see an arena again. Yet when the arena gate opened, he was shocked by what was waiting on the other side. This was not like the previous times in the arena where a monster would be waiting there to fight to the death. This time, the arena was a bustling and noisy market of strangely-clothed skeletons roaming between stalls, haggling with the skeleton vendors, and overall creating a warm atmosphere in the candlelit arena. Bookie was left speechless. What was he even supposed to do? Who were these people? Why was there a marketplace here in the first place? Thankfully, the palace¡¯s messenger, a strong and mighty dog skeleton, came to gift Bookie with an instruction scroll, departing as fast as he¡¯d appeared, as if he was scared that Bookie would eat him. Of course Bookie was a civilized book, he would never try to eat a living skeleton, so such worries would be unfounded. Probably. Bookie sighed. ¡°Another logic trial¡­¡± ¡®Find and acquire the most valuable item in this arena, place it on the central pedestal to complete your task. You have three tries.¡¯ Bookie watched the scroll disappear from his hands after he read it, he found it fascinating every time, the scroll was made of magic that simply unraveled by itself after the words were all read. ¡°What would Sofia do?¡± Bookie asked himself. This was his most efficient way to find solutions to logical issues thus far, just trying to emulate what Sofia might do. After thinking about it for a bit, Bookie ran through the market¡¯s crowd to reach the central pedestal. He was just a skeleton among skeletons, so nobody paid him any attention, and with smug satisfaction, he placed his book form on the pedestal, thinking that there was no way he wasn¡¯t the most precious thing in the arena. A red light shone over the market, and Bookie¡¯s lower jaw dropped to the floor as he slowly pulled back his book form from the pedestal. The red light stopped. He had two tries left. ¡°I was sure that would work¡­¡± he mumbled. Since it seemed that his out of the box solution wasn¡¯t it, Bookie moved to the side of the market to where there was some free space to summon skeletons. He summoned his entire stock of paladins, the Elven Engineer and the High-Priest, giving them the order to search through the market for the most valuable thing. The High-Priest knew of luxurious things, so he was to examine the stalls¡¯ products, the Engineer was to examine the arena and the stalls themselves, to see if there were hidden riches anywhere, while the paladins were to examine the people, to see if they were wearing anything of value. Meanwhile, Crowie would fly overhead to monitor them.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. That being done, Bookie himself started to look through the stalls¡¯ products, starting from the side opposite to where the High-Priest was searching. Bookie walked up to the first stall, where a tall human skeleton carved small wooden sculptures of monsters and soldiers. Many kid skeletons were watching the merchant sculpt a wooden Dragon in a cube of red wood. The merchant stopped carving when he spotted Bookie from the corner of his eye sockets. ¡°New here, kid? Never seen you around,¡± he instantly called out Bookie. ¡°Uh- I- Yes! I- I just moved in. My family sent me here on an errand!¡± Bookie awkwardly made up some lies to feed the merchant, not sure if he should be honest about this being a trial or if he should just play along. ¡°I see. Welcome, then, since you¡¯re new, I¡¯ll sell you your first toy at a discount, if you want one,¡± the merchant happily told Bookie before he started carving again. ¡®Th- Thank you very much mister. Ah, would you happen to know who sells the most expensive things in the market?¡± ¡°The most expensive thing?¡± The sculptor merchant repeated, stopping his carving again, which earned Bookie a few annoyed looks from the surrounding skeleton kids. ¡°It¡¯s the errand I was sent on¡­¡± ¡°Trying to buy a present, perhaps?¡± the merchant guessed by himself, ¡°You can try old Gilbur¡¯s jewelry shop, it¡¯s in the empty corner over there.¡± Bookie thanked the merchant and ran from the other skeleton kids¡¯ vicious glares. He quickly found the jewelry stall, which a dwarf skeleton was overseeing, sitting on a tall chair. ¡°Hello Sir Gilbur!¡± Bookie greeted as he approached the otherwise deserted stall. ¡°Oh! A fellow dwarf!¡± Gilbur excitedly greeted back, jumping down from his chair, ¡°Haven¡¯t seen one of my kin around here in a long time! Come, kid, look at my work, incredible, isn¡¯t it?!¡± Bookie was impressed as he glanced over the jewelry, there were plenty of beautiful gemstones and ornate rings on display. ¡°Your work is so beautiful, Sir Gilbur! Why is no one else looking at your stall?!¡± Bookie asked, baffled that this stall wasn¡¯t more popular, ¡°Are your jewels too expensive?¡± ¡°You have a good eye, kid, as you guessed it¡¯s just that the people here are not that rich. You won¡¯t find anything more precious than my masterful creations at these other stalls, so I rarely sell anything, to be honest, but when I do it¡¯s enough money to last for a long while. So, anything catches your eyes? You¡¯re a fellow dwarf so I¡¯ll give you any one thing for free, how ¡¯bout that?¡± ¡°Y- You¡¯re way too generous, Sir Gilbur, can I really?¡± ¡°Of course kid, of course, pick whatever you want!¡± That¡¯s my chance! Bookie wasn¡¯t an expert in jewelry, but it was hard not to see the one Orichalcum pendant with a huge multicolored polished gem right in the center of the stall otherwise mostly covered in golden jewelry. It would be very presumptuous to ask for it, but that wouldn¡¯t stop Bookie, what stopped him, however, was his experience with the past logic trials of the palace. He was suspicious now, because the two previous times, there had been tricks to prevent him from easily finding the true solution, and this one definitely felt way too easy in comparison. As Bookie carefully observed the jewels, he found a little something that shone in a different color compared to the rest, it was hard to differentiate the hues with everything lit in the uniform orange candlelight, but while most jewels were clearly golden, one of the rings had a slight green tint to it. Mithril! Mithril was about ten times as expensive as Orichalcum by weight, so, discounting the multicolored gem, this ring was likely worth much more than the pink pendant. ¡°I want this!¡± Bookie said, pointing at the small ring that was in a corner of the stall, between a dozen other rings. ¡°This thing?¡± Gilbur asked, picking up the ring, ¡°It¡¯s not something I made, actually, picked that one from the side of the road and cleaned it myself but that¡¯s about it. It¡¯s the cheapest thing I sell here, can¡¯t even be enchanted/ Are you sure you want this?¡± Can¡¯t be enchanted?! It¡¯s definitely Mithril!!! ¡°Yes, please, I can¡¯t tell you why but I just kind of like the color,¡± Bookie answered with a polite nod. ¡°Well, alright, you can have it, hope you don¡¯t regret your decision later.¡± ¡°Thank youuuu!¡± Bookie thanked the jeweler profusely and ran to the side of the arena, where Crowie was waiting for him. ¡°Look what I found!¡± Bookie proudly showed Crowie, ¡°How about the others?¡± Crowie communicated how he could with pecks and caws, and somehow Bookie understood perfectly what the skeleton crow meant. ¡°Each group found something?! But I only have two tries left¡­ Let¡¯s go see Engineer first, as the smartest, I¡¯m sure he found something good! I¡¯ll choose the best thing when I have seen everything!¡± Crowie flew up first, and Bookie ran after him.
Chapter 551 - I’m a business man, with a business plan Crowie actually led Bookie to the paladins first, because they were closer. The paladins came with a report of three skeletons wearing potentially valuable things. First was a large and tall skeleton wearing fancy red clothes, there were multiple rings on his fingers and several large necklaces hanging over his ribcage. Bookie observed the big skeleton carefully as he walked through the market, other skeletons would greet him as he toured the place, calling him governor. All his things together are certainly worth more! But it¡¯s not one item¡­ The ring still wins. Who is the next one? The paladins then brought bookie to a relatively busy stall, where a decrepit-looking skeleton with graying and cracked bones was selling random junk and trinkets. The interesting part was the skeleton himself, who had a large gemstone inserted in his left eye socket like a fake eye. Bookie excitedly walked up to the stall. ¡°Sir, Sir! What¡¯s that in your eye?!¡± he asked. ¡°Ohoh, curious ¡®bout old lenny¡¯s lamp, are ya, kid?¡± the skeleton answered, tapping the crystal in his eye socket with a fingertip while he was still busy counting the coins of one of his clients with his other hand. ¡°Here¡¯s your change ma¡¯am, come again.¡± ¡°A lamp?!¡± ¡°Dat¡¯s right, tis a very clean and pure lightstone. My vision ain¡¯t what it used to be, and don¡¯t repeat it, kid, but this ol¡¯ Lenny¡¯s a bit scared of the dark,¡± the skeleton confessed in a whisper, ¡°but this thang makes enough light to illuminate me entire¡¯s house at once! No darkness no more!¡± ¡°Woah! Do you think it¡¯s worth more than my mithril ring?¡± Bookie asked, holding up the small green ring. The skeleton squatted down to be level with Bookie¡¯s ¡®eyes¡¯, and he observed the ring without touching it. ¡°You¡¯re quite wealthy, kid, I mean your clothes show that but you shud be careful, some people ain¡¯t too honest ¡®round here sometimes. Anyway, pure lightstones like these are quite rare, but mithril is mithril. If I didn¡¯t need me eye I¡¯d probably agree to a trade, cuz mithril¡¯s certainly easier to sell than a big lightstone. But all things considered, they probably be worth about the same?¡± ¡°Oh¡­ Do you think anyone else in this market has something more valuable than my ring?¡± The old skeleton stood back up and scratched his lower jaw, ¡°Maybe the Governor? He¡¯s a big guy in red, you can¡¯t miss him.¡± ¡°Alright, thank you Sir Lenny!¡± ¡°Hava nice day kid.¡± Bookie ran back to the paladins waiting for him a bit further, shaking his skull as he arrived before them. The paladins then led him to their third find, a skeleton using a staff for a leg. It was quite the ornate weapon, if a bit on the short side for a staff, decorated with runes and even topped with a shiny red catalyst that currently acted as the skeleton¡¯s hip joint. Good weapons are expensive! Bookie instantly decided when he saw the staff. It was hard to guess what the staff¡¯s exact perks could be, but it certainly looked valuable, and the skeleton lady using it as her left leg also looked quite well-off, from what she was wearing. I think it¡¯s worth more than the ring. But I can¡¯t take someone¡¯s leg¡­ Paladin 3! Keep an eye on her, I¡¯m going to check on Engineer¡¯s findings! For some reason, the Engineer skeleton was standing in the center of the busy marketplace, right next to the pedestal. Bookie stared at the Engineer, a bit lost for words. Engineer was without a doubt his smartest skeleton, but he was a bit strange sometimes. ¡°You¡¯re telling me the most valuable thing in the market is the pedestal itself?¡± The engineer nodded confidently, quite certain about his decision. ¡°I can¡¯t put the pedestal on the pedestal¡­¡±If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. To this, the Engineer shrugged. ¡°I¡¯ll think about it¡­¡± Bookie answered dejectedly, before walking away to find the High Priest skeleton. On the way to the priest skeleton, Bookie stopped, having a sudden realization, his hands searched under his clothes, and he grabbed something, a sheathed weapon. I¡¯m an idiot. Bookie had the Mithril dagger he got from Sofia, there was no way his small tiny ring was worth more. Weapons are expensive¡­ With a sigh, Bookie walked to the High priest skeleton; still, he felt that if himself did not work as the trial¡¯s answer, then perhaps the solution was a predetermined object within the market, so the dagger was probably not it. The High priest skeleton was standing in front of a stall selling books, there were piles and piles of old dusty books all around the crowded stall, with a couple of old skeletons overseeing the thing. Bookie¡¯s skeleton pointed out one book in particular. Bookie grabbed the book, it was a thick old grimoire with a fancy red leather cover and yellowed pages covered in handwritten glyphs. ¡°W- What language is that?¡± Bookie asked the High priest, and it was one of the skeletons managing the stall who answered, ¡°That¡¯s Vampriric script, the language Vampires use!¡± But all the Vampires I know speak the common language? ¡°What is this book about?¡± Bookie asked the shopkeeper. ¡°No idea, but we found that in one of the old wizard towers over in the west, so it¡¯s got to be some good stuff! We ain¡¯t sellin it for cheap, heck, it might be the most expensive book we have. If you don¡¯t have the money, keep your hands off it, alright?¡± ¡°H- How expensive are we talking about?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­¡± The skeleton observed Bookie before turning to his business partner, communicating with hand signs that Bookie didn¡¯t understand. ¡°I¡¯ll trade for that ring you¡¯re wearing.¡± ¡°So expensive?!¡± Bookie asked, half wondering if he was not getting scammed. ¡°Books like these in such good condition are hard to find, yeah? There are magic circles in there and all. Honest to Death the book¡¯s probably worth more than your ring, but we been struggling to find a buyer and we could use the extra money fast, so¡­¡± Bookie turned to the High Priest to get his opinion, and he was nodding exceedingly fast, insistently looking at Bookie. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s trade¡­¡± Bookie accepted, handing the ring to the skeleton merchant, who grabbed it and put it in his jaws, biting into it and shattering two of his teeth in the process. ¡°Real stuff! Book¡¯s yours, handle it with care. Here you can have a free bookmark with it, my daughter knits them by hand!¡± the skeleton said as he handed Bookie a cute knitted ribbon with a skull-design on it. Bookie¡¯s thinking process in accepting the book was that he believed the mithril ring was not the most expensive thing in the market anyway, as the staff had to be worth more than it, so trading it away was not a big loss. And if the book ended up not actually being worth a lot, at least it would be a fine present for Sofia. Happy about his purchase, Bookie ran back to the pedestal, and placed the book on the pedestal. The entire arena shone red for the second time. ¡°Mean pedestal!¡± Bookie complained, thinking that this thing must have some kind of inordinate distaste for books. ¡°What do I do now¡­ I only have one try left¡­ Do I go steal some person¡¯s leg? Or break the pedestal to put it on itself?! What do you think, Crowie?¡± Bookie asked, turning his head, but the small crow was not where it usually was on his shoulder. ¡°Crowie? When did he leave?¡± Bookie confusedly looked around, not seeing Crowie anywhere, so he used his skelesenses to find him, which led him to a stall where a funky-looking skeleton with a fur wig was selling rocks, some as big as twice the size of Bookie¡¯s skull. They weren¡¯t even nice-looking rocks, not polished or anything, just plain old rocks. Crowie flew down to perch on Bookie¡¯s shoulder where he belonged, pointing at the rocks with his beak. Are the rocks special? This was perhaps the most busy stall of the market, so it was hard for Bookie to really get a good look, but by listening to the discussions and to the merchant with the wig, he understood what was going on, all the rocks for sale were ¡®geodes¡¯ that had the potential to have rare materials like gold or mithril inside. The smaller rocks went for relatively cheap, and the big ones were quite expensive. Crowie seemed to think that perhaps the most valuable thing was one of those rocks, so Bookie stood around for a bit, watching some of the skeletons buy and break open rocks. Out of five rocks getting opened, four in a row were empty, and the last one contained some nice purple gems, but from the expression of the skeleton who had opened it, the gems weren¡¯t worth much. Even if one of the rocks is super expensive, there¡¯s at least a hundred! There¡¯s no way I could find it! And I don¡¯t have any money¡­ I don¡¯t want to sell the book¡­ But I trust Crowie! Bookie left to the empty corners of the arena, did some summoning and unsummoning of his skeletons, and returned to the rock gambling stall accompanied by a weird skeleton that stood out like a sore thumb in the crowd. People made way for the strange skeleton. The merchant took one look at the skeleton, then at Bookie¡¯s fancy clothes, ¡°That your bodyguard, young sir?¡± he asked Bookie, pointing at the Kidjikkik skeleton.
Chapter 552 - Pebbles ¡°Yes? Yes! My bodyguard¡± Bookie answered with a nod, ¡°Can I look at the rocks?¡± he asked. He was ready to potentially trade the vampire book or his mithril dagger for one of the rocks, being able to help Sofia with the rest of her trial was more important than his physical possessions. He was even prepared to sell his magic gloves if he needed to, although it would make him really sad. ¡°Of course, of course!¡± The merchant answered, rubbing his hands together, ¡°You cheap lot, scram! Make some space for the young sir! Pscht!¡± he angrily hissed, waving the other customers away. Rude. Bookie walked up closer to the stall as the other skeletons backed up a few steps, Bookie¡¯s appearance was provoking a lot of discussion. ¡°There¡¯s no way this little guy knows what he¡¯s doing,¡± one skeleton said from behind Bookie. ¡°Poor kid¡¯s going to get fleeced,¡± another one answered. Bookie ignored them, skelepathically talking to his secret weapon. The Kidjikkik Digger skeleton. A Kidjikkik whose sole purpose for existence was digging tunnels and harvesting precious ore to allow the Kidjikkik matriarchs to produce more Kidjikkiks. The Kidjikkik skeleton was immensely stupid, but Bookie believed pointing out the most valuable rock was in its capabilities. The Kidjikkik looked at the stall, and it only took three seconds before one of his legs tapped Bookie¡¯s spine three times. Something really really valuable?! Bookie went to the left of the stall, slowly walking right, and the Kidjikkik tapped on his spine once to tell him when to stop. Then Bookie extended a hand, with one finger slightly extended, first pointing at the ground and slowly raising his arm. Again, the Kidjikkik told him when to stop. ¡°I want this one!¡± Bookie declared, pointing at the largest rock of the stall. ¡°What I told you, fleeced to the bones,¡± one of the skeletons in the back said disheartedly. Meanwhile the merchant seemed extremely excited, ¡°Excellent choice young sir! That is the biggest geode we¡¯ve retrieved in a long time, what¡¯s inside is sure to be really valuable!¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Bookie reacted, ¡°No, not the boulder, I meant this one,¡± Bookie clarified, pointing at a tiny pebble in front of the huge rock. The merchant¡¯s wig fell. ¡°Are- Are you sure?! You don¡¯t want the big one?¡± he asked in utter disbelief. The onlookers laughed, and Bookie could feel the merchant¡¯s anger rise at their mockery. ¡°That¡¯s not even a geode! It¡¯s just a pebble, a fucking debris from the bigger rocks! You stupid kid! Take your damn pebble and scram instead of wasting my time!¡± the merchant cursed, picking up the pebble and throwing it at Bookie¡¯s face. Crowie caught the pebble in his beak just before it could touch Bookie, while the digger Kidjikkik stood in between Bookie and the merchant, looking menacing but a bit too late. It¡¯s fine, we¡¯re going, Bookie told the Kidjikkik in his head. But Crowie had different plans. He crushed the pebble in his skeletal beak, revealing the sheen of something inside. Bookie raised a hand and caught the tiny pink and green thing. ¡°Mithrium!¡± Bookie said out loud, silencing the entire crowd. ¡°What? No way,¡± skeletons in the crows mumbled. ¡°It¡¯s really Mithrium!¡± a short skeleton commented, other skeletons around were doubtful until they realized it was jeweler Gilbur, ¡°You hit the motherlode, kid! Nice!¡± The most astonished person was the rock merchant, who started screaming for Bookie to give back the rock. ¡°You haven¡¯t paid for it! Thief! Give me the rock back!¡± The skeletons in the crowd debated between each other as the merchant screamed and cursed at Bookie, stopped from getting to him by the Kidjikkik. The crowd seemed to have mixed opinions.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. ¡°It¡¯s true, he did not pay¡­¡± some said. ¡°It was technically given to him, though, I think the kid should keep it,¡± others commented. The commotion attracted a couple of skeletons holding hands, it was the governor and the lady with a magic staff for a leg, their appearance silenced the crowd. ¡°What may be the issue here?¡± the governor asked. The rock merchant answered first without giving Bookie any chance to speak, ¡°Sir Governor! This kid stole one of my geodes! But I am willing to be reasonable, as long as he gives it back we can resolve this amicably.¡± The governor was stoic, his immobile skeleton impossible to read. He looked down at Bookie, ¡°I do not recognize you, kid,¡± he said without emotion, ¡°what is your version of the story?¡± ¡°Sir! This-¡± the rock merchant interrupted, only to be silenced by a deathly glare from the staff-legged lady skeleton. Bookie was completely unfazed by the Governor¡¯s oppressive aura, he was much too used to hanging around Pareth to be scared by such a weak-looking skeleton. ¡°He insulted me,¡± Bookie started, before starting to imitate the rock Merchant¡¯s voice, ¡°That¡¯s not even a geode! It¡¯s just a pebble, a fucking debris from the bigger rocks! You stupid kid! Take your damn pebble and scram instead of wasting my time!¡± then, changing his voice back to normal, Bookie finished, ¡°and he threw a rock at my face. I opened it, and there was Mithrium inside, so now he wants it back,¡± he explained with a shrug. ¡°Governor, that-¡± the rock merchant tried to interfere, before one again being silenced by the lady. The governor took a step back, ¡°It is fortunate that there are so many witnesses here. Tell me, citizens, who is speaking truth?¡± ¡°The kid isn¡¯t lying,¡± Gilbur the jeweler immediately answered. This seemed to trigger a chain reaction as the rest of the crowd confirmed Gilbur¡¯s affirmation. ¡°Enough,¡± the governor stopped them with a single word. He crossed his arms behind his back, and seemed to be lost in thoughts for a second before speaking up again. ¡°I understand the situation. Kid, may I see the Mithrium?¡± A frown would have appeared on Bookie¡¯s face had he been able to frown, yet he reluctantly opened his hand, showing the thumbnail-sized nugget of Mithrium to the governor. The governor bent down to observe the nugget, keeping his arms behind his back. He nodded to himself and pulled back. ¡°I think you must be mistaken, young one,¡± the governor said, ¡°this is but a regular pebble.¡± What? Bookie looked at the nugget in his hand, completely lost, it was still the same green and pink bit of alloy, unmistakably Mithrium. ¡°Governor!¡± The rock merchant tried to interrupt for the third time. ¡°Yes? What? Is there an issue? Even if this kid did steal it, surely you would be above raising a fuss about a mere pebble?¡± the governor asked the merchant, his voice completely serious. ¡°I-...¡± The Merchant was at a loss for words. ¡°Well. This matter is solved, have a nice day, everyone. And you, kid, scram with that pebble of yours, will you?¡± the governor concluded in a lighthearted tone. Bookie didn¡¯t need to be told twice, and he ran for the pedestal, leaving a crowd of cheering skeletons behind. Last chance! Bookie placed the Mithrium nugget on the pedestal. A victorious green light illuminated the arena.
Sofia was walking through a dark corridor. She had left the library only keeping the one book she had gotten through the trial. A glowing parchment had appeared when she tried to take another book from the shelves, informing her that this library was to be the prize for another trial; shall she come again to the palace once she has become stronger. That felt fair, so she planned to come back after her next trial. Now the way out of the library was a long corridor with a lot of stairs going up, there was not much happening, but at least now Sofia had some light to rely on, coming from the candle of the magical chamberstick she got from the library. [Eternal Soulflame of the Candle-Meistre]: A candle aflame with the ever-burning spirit core of a fire elemental. While its light does not spread far and does not produce any heat, it can pierce through elemental darkness and repels some of the lesser-intelligence spirit creatures. Leaving it in a fixed location for extended periods of time may cause fire sprites to form. The candle¡¯s regular-looking fire turned white when fed with mana, though Sofia and Mr.Scribe both had no idea why, and besides that, it lit up a radius of about two and a half meters, which wasn¡¯t much, but enough to navigate the palace¡¯s darkness with ease. After a lot of walking, Sofia found the end of the long corridor: a dead end with a lever on a side wall. ¡°That¡¯s not some kind of trap, right?¡± Sofia pulled the lever, ready to teleport away at the slightest sign of something going wrong, but all that happened was that the dead-end¡¯s far wall started sliding to the side. ¡°Oh, secret wall, where am I now?¡± Sofia looked around the newly opened room, with the light, it felt like exploring a new place, but she quickly recognized the layout. ¡°Oh¡­ That¡¯s the cafeteria I walked through earlier¡­ Hmm. That will make going back to the library easier next time, at least. And now I know how to get back to the main room. Still have that last path to explore. And four more trials of might. Cinthia said I need to summon Bookie next?¡±
Chapter 553 - Commander Bookie Sofia effortlessly made her way back to the main room with the giant statue of Sorrow, and once again snuck up to the corridor on the far side where chanting voices came from. The darkness there seemed even darker, but the candle let Sofia cut her way through it, and she carefully entered that last section of the palace. Instead of taking her time exploring every nook and cranny this time, she walked straight ahead toward the voices. As it turned out, the voices were much further than Sofia had thought, she walked for a few hundred meters unhindered, and the voices got stronger as she went. Nothing but the stone slate ground appeared in her small dome of light, until stone benches appeared on either side. Sofia instinctively took a step back, there were rows of candle zombies sitting on the benches. But they were in the dark, which was strange. Stepping a bit closer again, she noticed they seemed to be asleep, each holding an extinguished candle. Feels like the nave of a church? A massive one, though. Would explain the presence of a choir, I suppose. They would be near the altar? Well¡­ Getting surrounded by those zombies could be bad, but they¡¯re also not that strong. Let¡¯s just go to the voices as fast as I can, that way if something goes wrong I can [Regret] all the way back here and only have to worry about one side. Sofia deployed her wings and flew straight for the singing voices deep in the nave. She got closer and closer until the voices just stopped. Sofia¡¯s light revealed the presence of the massive altar, on which was a life-sized statue of Sorrow standing in the middle, Her face hidden behind Her hands. Bookie isn¡¯t getting his own choir, huh. Is it bad that I kind of want to take this statue home? There doesn¡¯t seem to be any movement around anymore since the voices stopped so¡­ Sofia unloaded a messy pile of bone onto the altar, and quickly used it to cover the statue of Sorrow, delicately fitting the bones over the statue so that it got all the details. She stored the bones back, leaving the statue intact. There we go, a mold of Sorrow. Only when she was done Sofia noticed that a glowing scroll had appeared behind the altar. Oh nice! I hope Bookie is done with his task¡­ Let¡¯s see¡­ Sofia focused on her link with Bookie, trying to see if he was moving. Both him and Pareth were perfectly immobile at the moment. Seems like they¡¯re both done already. Then let¡¯s go. Sofia picked up the glowing scroll and quickly read through it. ¡®Today is a joyous day The devout procession rises to sing once more Bound together, cull them all And let silence flourish This is your sixth of nine trials of might Currently available helpers: Pareth Everelle Velanihuarahton Bookie¡¯ Sofia summoned Bookie without hesitation. ¡°Sofia!!!¡± Bookie happily called out as soon as he appeared next to her, throwing himself at her. Sofia dispelled her armor and caught Bookie in the air, giving him a strong hug, ¡°Come on, it¡¯s not been that long, Bookie,¡± Sofia jokingly remarqued as she caressed the back of his skull. ¡°How were your trials so far?¡± she asked as she let him back down.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. ¡°I winned them all!¡± Bookie proudly declared with a smug look. Sofia smiled, her pointy demon teeth showing, ¡°Well done, Bookie! Here, I have some presents for you, want to see?¡± ¡°Yes! Yes! I have presents for Sofia too!!!¡± he excitedly answered, his hands disappearing inside the multiple layers of his clothes. ¡°Oh! Really? What did you find?¡± Sofia asked, crouching down to be on eye-level with Bookie. ¡°Here! Tadaaaaa!¡± Bookie held up a fancy book in one hand and a colorful pebble in the other. Sofia couldn¡¯t believe her eyes, ¡°You found Mithrium?!¡± ¡°Hmmhmm!¡± Bookie happily confirmed with several nods, ¡°Well, it was mostly Crowie, but I helped too!¡± ¡°Crowie found it? He has been getting a lot smarter lately, hasn¡¯t he? He¡¯s one of your oldest pages¡­ Let¡¯s prepare a gift for him too when we have time, alright?¡± ¡°A gift for Crowie!¡± Bookie happily approved. ¡°And with this¡­¡± Sofia started as she picked up the Mithrium pebble, ¡°this might be enough to make two rings. Maybe we can make a set for you and Pareth?¡± ¡°Huh? But I want you to have it!¡± Bookie protested. ¡°Are you ever going to leave me?¡± Sofia asked in return. ¡°No!!!¡± Bookie vehemently dismissed the idea. ¡°Then you keeping it for me is like me having it,¡± Sofia told Bookie with a smile. ¡°I¡¯ll keep it safely in my storage for now, we¡¯ll deal with it later. And what about this book?¡± ¡°It¡¯s written in vampire language and has spells inside!¡± Bookie explained. ¡°Oh! I did hear Astelia mention an old vampire language at some point. Looks a bit like elvish letters, not too surprising knowing how elves were created. We¡¯ll bring that to Asty and get her to decipher it when we¡¯re out of here. Thank you for the presents, Bookie. I like them a lot.¡± ¡°Eheh!¡± ¡°Well, now I have presents for you too, and after that we need to get started with the fight here. Here, have a nice meal.¡± Bookie¡¯s eyes lit up when Sofia brought out the skeletons she had gathered. ¡°More skeletons! Can I have them all?!¡± ¡°Of course. All yours, that should be three new pages,¡± Sofia explained. ¡°Oh¡­ I can¡¯t eat that one,¡± Bookie said, pointing at the Gravelord¡¯s skeleton. ¡°You can¡¯t?¡± ¡°I can but it won¡¯t make a page, the blueprint is too old and all messed up¡­¡± ¡°Oh alright¡­ Too bad, this guy was a bit of a necromancer, could have be- Wait¡­ Bookie, you can see the blueprints?!¡± ¡°I can see them after we become level 250!¡± Bookie proudly explained, ¡°I- I just forgot to tell you¡­ Your blueprint is also all messed up, Sofia¡­¡± ¡°It is?!¡± ¡°Hmmhmm. I can¡¯t explain why but it is. Also your fake eye is very visible in there, it¡¯s the least messy part,¡± he said with a giggle. ¡°Alright¡­ Well, now is not the time to worry about that. We should choose the pages to get rid of so you can eat, these skeletons are very strong, I¡¯m sure you will like them.¡± ¡°They look tasty!¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure they do¡­ Let¡¯s get rid of the owl and the dire wolves, how does that sound?¡± ¡°Done!¡± Bookie almost instantly answered, his Book form flying toward the pile of skeletons like a ravenous beast and devouring them in the blink of an eye. ¡°Let me see,¡± Sofia said, grabbing the book and searching for the new pages. Sofia found the page with the illustration of four flying aura mages, they were labeled with a mana cost of 400 000. ¡°That¡¯s about the price I expected, there¡¯s a Wind, Ice, Lightning and Mana blast Aura mages,¡± she explained to Bookie, ¡°So we can call them the Wilma mages, for short.¡± ¡°Wilma mages!¡± Bookie repeated with boundless enthusiasm. ¡°And the other one¡­ Oh, that¡¯s an expensive dwarf.¡± The page with the skeleton of the Fortune dwarf Sofia had killed as her fourth trial of the palace cost a whole 5 million mana, as much as the chimera. He was represented on the page with his shovel in hand, one foot on a wooden chest and a shiny coin between his teeth. Sofia started recounting to Bookie the story of how she got all these new skeletons, and midway through, she stopped as she spotted a candle starting to glow in the distance. ¡°Ah. I think story time ends here Bookie, are you ready to fight?¡± ¡°Always!¡± ¡°Then let¡¯s get to it, if I¡¯m correct, we¡¯re going to have to go against large numbers of zombies. Let¡¯s send our own army against them.¡± Bookie opened his book form and gave it to Sofia, ¡°Please do it!¡± ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go.¡± Sofia tore three pages from the book as more and more candles lit up throughout the nave. Bookie¡¯s fog spread around and 100 Guardian Kidjikkik along with 200 Kidjikkik Soldiers rose one after the other. Suddenly the entire nave and altar lit up all at once, hundreds of candle zombies rose from the numerous rows of stone benches, more came in lines out from side entrances, more even came from the main entrance Sofia had also entered through. It was like an endless flow of candle zombies, and among them, a much taller one was channeling a huge fireball above his head. Sofia started channeling a bolt, but Bookie called her out from below. ¡°Wait! Can I do it alone?¡± Sofia paused her channeling. ¡°Are you sure?¡± ¡°Yes! I want to try!¡± ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll be here unless you need help,¡± Sofia accepted, dispelling her bolt and sitting next to Sorrow¡¯s statue on the altar. ¡°They¡¯re all yours, commander Bookie.¡±
Chapter 554 - The devout procession The Kidjikkik skeletons got into formation, forming a semicircle along the back of the underground cathedral to surround the zombies as much as possible. The Kidjikkik formed orderly lines under Bookie¡¯s control, with the guardians in front and the soldier brandishing their spears from behind, and they started slowly advancing as one at his command. The zombies weren¡¯t as organized. Many started channeling small fireballs, while the tall one channeling a bigger fireball kept feeding it with more mana. Voices started rising amongst the zombies, the same singing Sofia had been able to hear coming from here before. Sofia tried to see who was singing partly because she was curious and partly because the description on the scroll said she had to make silence flourish, but she failed to find the source of the voices among the zombies. They¡¯ll be silent when they¡¯re all dead. Wait, they¡¯re already dead¡­ When they¡¯re twice dead. For now¡­ Sofia summoned the whole skull choir with human skulls. ¡°Now sing!¡± The choir started singing the music of Victory, resonating throughout the nave and drowning out the Zombies¡¯ singing. At the same time, the battle truly started as Bookie gave the Kidjikkiks the order to attack, and the first fireball flew from the Zombies¡¯ side toward the skeletons. A Guardian Kidjikkik stopped the fireball with his shield, nevertheless, a few of the soldiers behind him were knocked over by the blast. They quickly got up and the Kidjikkiks kept advancing. So far Bookie was being careful, observing the Zombies and anticipating the giant fireball¡¯s eventual attack. A barrage of weaker fireballs collided with the Kidjikkiks, causing minimal damage. Only a single soldier was killed in one hit, while the others stood up, rapidly healed by [Bone Dominus]. When a stray Fireball flew toward Sofia, Bookie raised his right hand, and a stream of ice magic shot from his glove, neutralizing the attack mid air. Bookie tore a page from his book form. Sofia felt the mana leave her. More Kidjikkiks? She asked herself, then, seeing the amount of fog being used, she revised her guess. Elven Solar mage. What for? This was one of Sofia¡¯s most underutilized skeletons, truth be told, she didn''t even remember half of this skeleton¡¯s spells. The solar mage skeleton stood next to Bookie, short scepter in hand. That was when Bookie finally felt confident. ¡°Attack!¡± The concave formation of Kidjikkik soldiers spanning the entire width of the nave finally stopped their slow march and instead charged ahead brandishing their weapons. A few fireballs were thrown but they failed to break the Kidjikkiks¡¯ formation. The skeletal army collided with the swarm of zombies in a strangely silent battle, the sound of the fighting covered by the loud skull choir. Most if not all of the zombies were under level 250, they were like training dummies in front of the Kidjikkik skeletons'' sharp weapons. The nave was showered in blood and gore as the Kidjikkik tore through the Zombies. The fireball above the tall Zombie was almost the size of a small house, and it was finally released, aiming straight for Sofia. Sofia could [Heat Death] the attack with a single thought but she did nothing. ¡°Now!¡± Bookie yelled, and the Solar mage skeleton released a spell he had been pre-casting for a bit, which stopped all the flying fireballs in their tracks, even the giant one. The zombies¡¯ spells were like burning stars frozen in space above the battle, unable to continue their course to crash into their target. The solar mage can do that?! Free from the barrage of fireballs, the Kidjikkik continued their carnage. Bookie gave silent orders, waving his hands from his high position next to Sofia on the altar, and the Kidjikkik complied to his will. They now split into several groups, some pushing further into the nave, some surrounding the tall zombie, and some going for the side entrance to staunch the flow of countless zombies still coming. Just as things were starting to look good for Bookie¡¯s soldiers, one of the voices from the Zombies¡¯ side grew louder, the sheer force of the singular chant overtaking the entire skull choir. Then the voice stopped, and Sofia felt a huge wave of mana coming from the ceiling.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! A column of fire descended from the darkness above striking a large group of Kidjikkiks blocking one of the side entrances. Not a single one survived, and the zombies started swarming out of that one entrance again. From somewhere else in the nave, another such loud voice started rising. ¡°Scatter!¡± Bookie ordered, and the Kidjikkik skeletons broke their formation, bringing the fight to every corner of the battlefield. A single group of Kidjikkik kept their formation, In the center of the nave, surrounding the tall Zombie which was still not moving after having launched his big fireball. The second voice stopped singing, and another pillar of fire stuck exactly there. The tall Zombie was unscathed, but the Kidjikkiks surrounding him were annihilated. Found one. Sofia thought. As Bookie fought, she tried to locate the source of the Zombies¡¯ chant, and she finally noticed them, shorter, veiled zombies hiding in between the regular ones. Bookie turned around and nodded to Sofia, then he grabbed his book form, turned it upside down, and started tearing pages one after the other. Sofia let him use as much of her mana as he wanted. Skeletal fairy wings grew on Bookie¡¯s back, then his legs grew longer like the tall mimic, and finally, his clothes were covered by a shining armor, and a templar¡¯s greatsword appeared in his hands. Lastly he turned the book back up, summoned the High-Priest skeleton, and let him stack buff after buff on him. During this time, another unseen voice rose and fell, and by now half of the Kidjikkiks had fallen despite the number of Zombies being seemingly unaffected no matter how many dozens of kill notifications Sofia received every second. When yet another voice rose over the choir, Bookie jumped off from the altar. He shot through the nave like a cannonball, his templar sword leaving a trail of light behind him. Bookie cleaved through a large group of Zombies as he flew past, and the voice stopped. Sofia scrolled through the notifications. No special one? It¡¯s not dead! Sofia mentally warned Bookie, who turned around, and found the short veiled Zombie. As he plunged toward it, sword first, something else leaped toward him, and he was stopped by a big hand, the tall zombie had finally moved. The tall zombie was much stronger than Bookie, stopping his charge with ease, but Bookie was much faster and was able to evade the tall Zombie¡¯s following counterattack. Sofia really wanted to help, but she wanted to trust Bookie, so she stood still on the altar. Bookie dodged the tall zombie¡¯s strike with an effortless twist, landing on his feet and immediately leaping back to reassess the situation, the lesser zombies scattering away from him, unable to really do much without their fire magic. The veiled zombie, its chanting cut short, had slithered back into the mass of undead, protected by a wall of bodies. But the tall zombie, now fully animated, was a far bigger threat. It lumbered toward Bookie, its hulking frame slow but deliberate, his hands now crackling with dark energy. On the altar, Sofia was restless, she resisted the urge to intervene, trusting in Bookie¡¯s capabilities, but the fight was turning against him. The ranks of the Kidjikkik skeletons were starting to get thin while the waves of zombies were relentless, and had started to attack the skeletons with their bare hands and teeth since their fire magic no longer worked. Bookie didn¡¯t back down, with a battle cry, he lunged at the tall zombie, aiming for its legs. His greatsword flashed in an arc of light as it connected with the giant¡¯s knee, cleaving through muscles and bones. The tall zombie staggered but didn¡¯t fall, its towering form barely wobbling. Just as Bookie prepared for another strike, a massive fist came crashing down. He barely managed to fly out of the way, the ground where he¡¯d stood moments before shattering into debris. ¡°Good try¡­¡± Sofia muttered to herself, both intently watching Bookie fight and trying to locate all of the veiled zombies. She had found four of them so far, and was actively tracking their location. Another voice soon rose, and suddenly, a sharp whistle pierced through the chaos. Bookie had spun around and thrown his sword straight at the veiled zombie hiding in the back of the pack. The blade tore through the intervening undead like a bolt of lightning, its gleaming tip aimed squarely at the chanting figure. That¡¯s the move that one templar used against me in the jungle fight! ¡®You have defeated [Voice of the candle - lv. 252]¡¯ The zombie collapsed, its shroud falling away to reveal a grotesque, twisted form, now lifeless. But the victory was short-lived. The tall zombie roared, a deafening sound that shook the underground cathedral, its body twisting and reforming, the leg Bookie had wounded knitting itself back together as if it had never been struck. The energy in the tall zombie¡¯s hands finally coalesced together, and black lightning bolts tore through the air, striking Bookie head on with a thunderclap. Bookie! Bookie¡¯s skeleton crumbled and dispersed into a thin mist. That was too fast, I couldn¡¯t do anything¡­ It wasn¡¯t the first time Bookie non-book form ¡®died¡¯, but it was the most brutal to date. His book form reappeared in Sofia¡¯s hands, looking perfectly fine. Bookie¡¯s non-book form could be summoned again later, but for now, he was completely out of fog. Sofia caressed Bookie¡¯s purple mana heart. ¡°You fought well Bookie, I¡¯m proud of you, alright? Now rest and let me finish the job.¡± Despite Bookie being down, there were still about a third of the Kidjikkik skeletons still fighting. Sofia assumed direct command, giving them new orders. Spreading her wings, she jumped off from the altar.
Chapter 555 - Avenge soldier Bookie I need to keep the damage to a minimum, we wouldn¡¯t want to destroy the next heart of velania by accident. Quickly coming up with a plan in her head, Sofia spent a good ten seconds reverting the flow in her demonic mana circuits to use the melee form. She didn¡¯t plan on using the demon spells so she might as well use the extra stats. She landed in the nave, in one of the few spots relatively free of zombies, and put on her crown, which she had taken off before in order to sneak through the main room. Immediately, the Zombies caught fire due to [THE GLORIOUS] title. Several singing voices rose all at once, and the tall zombie instantly took notice, pausing his violent clobbering of the Kidjikkiks to turn toward Sofia. The singers first. Sofia felt that she received the High priest skeleton¡¯s speed boost spell, that was all she needed. Flying above the zombies to reach the singer was a bit too dangerous with the hundreds of fireballs held in suspension by the solar mage¡¯s channeled spell, so Sofia went for the more direct route. She tore herself a way through the zombies. She needed no weapon, she was the weapon, one punch or a tail swipe, and any of the lesser zombies were torn to shreds. The zombies clumsily counter-attacked, but without their magic, they were pitifully slow to Sofia¡¯s eyes, who could effortlessly avoid all of their attacks no matter the direction they came from. She quickly found herself in front of one of the singers, the creature stopped singing and tried to flee, but thick walls of bone appeared to seal its path. By the time it could react, it was too late. With her left hand, Sofia grabbed the singer, and she plunged her right hand into the creature¡¯s torso. She just had to send a quick mana pulse to instantly feel where the singer¡¯s mana heart was. She mercilessly ripped it out. ¡®You have defeated [Voice of the candle - lv. 264]¡¯ The tall zombie had made its way toward Sofia in the meantime, its large hands struck down. Sofia summoned herself behind the tall zombie to avoid the strike, using this opportunity to give him a quick strike with her tail before she ran off to the second singer still chanting. The chant stopped before Sofia could reach the singer, and a column of flames burst from the ceiling. It cost Sofia a bit more than three hundred thousand mana to negate it. She wasn¡¯t currently using her mana to fight, so that was nothing, her mana collided with the incoming flames, and the attack simply collapsed into a thick mana fog. After a few seconds and leaving behind a bloody trail of zombie gore, Sofia reached the second singer. ¡®You have defeated [Voice of the candle - lv. 257]¡¯ She already knew of the approximate location of one more, so finding it was easy, and she disposed of it without issue. The tall zombie threw some black lightning at her as she was doing so, but she negated that before it could even really leave the zombie¡¯s hands. ¡®You have defeated [Voice of the candle - lv. 269]¡¯ I think there¡¯s one more? Sofia tried to find the last singer, but before she could do so, the solar mage skeleton ran out of mana. The hundreds of fireballs held above the swarm of zombies fell all at once. The explosion was bright and intense, a gigantic compound ball of fire engulfing the entire underground cathedral. Sofia just let herself die. She could use the extra stats from [One with Suffering], and still had two more unlife runes up anyway. She reappeared three seconds later, when the flames had settled. Of course, the zombies were completely unharmed by their own fire, but Bookie¡¯s skeletons had all succumbed, even the singing choir. Big hands came crashing down from above almost as soon as Sofia regained consciousness. Sofia blocked by raising her right arm, the dragon scale armguard absorbing a lot of the shock, but still leaving her reeling. You¡¯re annoying, leave me alone. Taking the opportunity of having direct contact, Sofia blasted about one million mana points¡¯ worth of [Aberrant sunlight] curse directly into the tall zombie¡¯s mana veins. The zombie¡¯s attention immediately switched to the nearest fireball.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. The only slight issue was that said fireball was flying in the direction of Sofia, but at least the tall zombie was no longer directly targeting her. Now I can move. Sofia ran through the zombies in a random direction, anything to take some distance from the big guy, while she also threw handfuls of bone tokens in the air, quickly switching her vision back and forth through them to try to find the remaining singer. The bastard is hiding behind Sorrow¡¯s statue! Somehow the zombie had made its way to Sofia¡¯s previous location after she left, perhaps thinking that she wouldn¡¯t check. Should¡¯ve stayed hidden in the crowd. Sofia flew up. Being instantly followed by hundreds of fireballs being thrown her way. She negated them all. Her mana dropping below the halfway point in a second, she flew all the way to the altar and drop kicked the last singer as she landed. It died on the spot. ¡®You have defeated [Voice of the candle - lv. 252]¡¯ ¡°There, silence reestablished.¡± But the remaining zombies did not disappear, nor did their numbers stop growing at all, more and more kept coming from the side entrances, there were thousands within the nave already, and Sorrow¡¯s statue standing in the way was the only thing currently preventing them from drowning Sofia in a rain of fireballs. Do I really have to kill them all?! But I need to make sure not to break the heart of Velania, and I have no idea where it is. I would assume it might be the mana heart of the tall zombie but I couldn¡¯t feel where it was even when he was close¡­ Without the rot or the explosive bolts, how do I clean up this mess? The zombies slowly approached the altar, the tall one actually killing quite a few, as he greedily grabbed them with a crazed smile to eat their candles, biting off arms and heads in the process. Some zombies were starting to fall strictly due to the flames of victory¡¯s continuous burn. It¡¯s subtle but I could swear the small zombies are mana-linked to the big one somehow¡­ At least I don¡¯t have to worry about it as long as the curse persists. But how to deal with the rest? The flames of victory take about ten seconds to kill them, it feels like, but the range is not that big, can¡¯t even cover a tenth of the nave. Well¡­ the zombies are pretty dumb. Let¡¯s just be dumb too. The spine of the black sun appeared atop Sofia¡¯s scepter, its bones held together by warm light currents. Adding it to the scepter made it more than three meters tall, making it as menacing as it was unwieldy. It¡¯s rare that I actually use the sword form these days, huh. Sofia added more bone thickness to her armor, making her extra bulky and hopefully a bit more resistant to the fireballs, and she jumped out from her hiding spot. It was relatively safe to bet that the heart of Velania would be in the tall Zombie, if anywhere, so the other ones were safe to obliterate. The ¡®sword¡¯ did not even have a cutting edge but the power differential was big enough that Sofia¡¯s strikes cut through the undead with barely any resistance, causing multiple solar flares to erupt on the battlefield. If one strike cut through ten zombies, ten explosions would follow, engulfing a wide area in burning orange light, charring everything to a crisp and leaving black burn marks on the stone ground. Hundreds of zombies perished every time Sofia swung her blade, but just as many fireballs would fly her way from all corners of the cathedral. At first she dispelled them one by one with [Heat Death], but she soon ran out of mana, barely sustaining her sword¡¯s upkeep with her constant regeneration. The tall zombie was running crazy, jumping around trying to catch the explosions, and getting continuously blasted by the flares, yet surviving just fine. Before Sofia could clean even a third of the cathedral, she died, drowned under a constant barrage of fireballs. Then she stood back up, and proceeded to kill another thousand undead, with solar flares of increasing intensity as her strength got buffed by [One with suffering], now each flare resembling the explosion of small angel bolts, before she died again in the exact same way. Three seconds later, she was alive again, with no rune left. Instead of feeling unsafe, it was quite the contrary. Now, for this short time where she was surrounded by zombies, she had achieved quasi-immortality. Sofia swung the spine of the black sun, engulfing the cathedral in countless solar flares. Having witnessed how the tall zombie survived them with no issue, she held nothing back, and let the flow of battle consume her. [Spine of the Black Sun]: Invokes the weapon ¡®Spine of the Black Sun¡¯. The Spine is a blunt segmented longsword that may also be used as an extendable whip. Deals low physical damage. Upon hitting an enemy with the Spine, creates a solar burst, damaging all enemies in a 5.00 (7.8)m (1 + skill level/50) diameter sphere around the point of impact. The explosion¡¯s power scales with the skill level and the strength of the hit. Recover Health equal to 24.9% (Skill level/10) of the damage dealt by the explosion. The spine will disappear if it leaves your hands. Requires a 3 (1.5) seconds channeling to deploy. Costs 100 (50) mana per second to maintain. With the [Radiance] classless, she healed for 50% of the damage dealt by the spine. This was almost never useful, as she rarely fought with the spine without her unlife runes up, so she could never use the healing; until now. Fireballs struck one after the other. Her health never moved.
Chapter 556 - Puzzled ¡®You have defeated [Unison of the candles - lv. 299]¡¯ Sofia¡¯s hand dug inside of the tall zombie¡¯s entrails, it had collapsed by itself when the last of the candle zombies had died. She soon found what she was searching for. ¡°Would you look at that, another Heart of Velania mana stone. Who could have guessed? I swear, these better be useful in some way.¡± Sofia stored the thing and looked around. Since she had killed all the candle zombies, there was no more light around except for her own candle she had just brought out again. Bookie had been teleported back to his own trial as soon as the fight was over, so Sofia was just there, alone on a pile of charred corpses. Curious, she checked the logs with Mr.Scribe¡¯s help. ¡°Nine thousand five hundred fifty eight!¡± she read out loud. ¡°That¡¯s crazy. What a messy fight. Well, let¡¯s not linger, this place smells horrible. The only question is, where to?¡± Sofia¡¯s first instinct was to go check the side entrance the zombies had been all coming from, but to her surprise, they had all collapsed a few meters in. She thought it was too weird to be a coincidence, so it must have been a sign that this was not the way to go. Thus she went the only way she could go, back to the entrance. ¡°Oh woah. Not what I expected.¡± The candle zombies were all gone, it was obvious what had happened to them, but surprisingly the giant statue of Sorrow was also nowhere to be seen, in its place was a wide and steep staircase going down. ¡°Down we go, three trials left¡­ Wait¡­¡± Pareth, you hear me? It¡¯s your turn to be summoned next, Cinthia said you¡¯d be best for the next battle so that¡¯s what we¡¯re doing. I don¡¯t know how far it is so I¡¯ll wait for you to be done with your own challenge to proceed. Just stop moving when you¡¯re ready. Having given Pareth her message, Sofia also thought a few words of encouragement for Bookie, then sat down on the first steps of the stairs, looking through her status sheet to pass time. Still 21 years old. Still stuck at level 250¡­ Speaking of 250, shouldn¡¯t most of my skills have leveled up to 250 by now? I get that they couldn¡¯t get upgraded while I was hiding with the dagger¡¯s title, but why are they still stuck? Just the last battle should have at least got [Spine of the black sun] a few levels, let alone everything else I¡¯ve done since reconnecting. Sofia felt Mr.Scribe taking control so she waited for his answer. [My apologies, I should have informed you earlier, this is my doing.] Sofia nodded with a hmm, this was actually a better situation than she expected. She was fully prepared to learn that she now needed to fully upgrade the skills by herself due to a system error or such thing, so the issue being a deliberate move by Mr.Scribe was a relief in comparison to that. Still, now she needed to know why that was a thing. ¡°You¡¯re preventing the skills from leveling?¡± she rhetorically asked, ¡°You have a good reason to do that, I assume?¡± [Of course. Note: we have received the skill level-up data for multiple level ups, as far as the system is concerned, our skills are leveling as intended.] ¡°But you¡¯re not letting the upgrade actually happen?¡± [Indeed. The technique I am preparing to raise our overall level requires a great deal of calculation on my part to make sure it is perfectly safe and tailored to our current physique. That is what has been keeping me busy.] ¡°Oh¡­¡± Sofia did not need to be told more to realize what was going on. ¡°The skill level ups would modify our mana circuits too much and break your calculations?¡±This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. [Precisely. I can update the level of all of our skills right now if you wish. It would be a substantial upgrade, with notably False immortality¡¯s fourth level and two skill soft evolutions, but I estimate that it would set back my calculations by at least two months.] Sofia¡¯s face contorted a bit. ¡°That much?! And if I don¡¯t take them, how long until it¡¯s ready?¡± [I am working on the finishing touches, everything should be ready by the time we leave this jungle, and we can go straight to level 299.] ¡°Oooooh, tough choice¡­ The fourth unlife rune would be huge.¡± [I shall leave you with the final choice, if you want to upgrade the skills, just say the word.] As she read that line, Sofia felt Mr.Scribe relinquishing control to her, but she stopped him. ¡°Wait, wait, don¡¯t leave yet!¡± ¡°Can¡¯t you just keep me company while I wait for Pareth?¡± [Strange notion, I am technically a part of you. We are always keeping each other¡¯s company.] ¡°You know what I meant. I have to wonder, now that you can speak, why are you so reluctant to do it?¡± [It feels unnatural. I vehemently dislike it. In our singular-person duo, processing thoughts into speech is something you are supposed to do. You trying to take over one of my natural functions would be similarly distressing to you.] ¡°Like what?¡± Sofia asked without thinking. [Breathe.] Sofia read Mr.Scribe¡¯s one word answer, not really understanding what he meant right away, then she started feeling like she was drowning. Even though VPPV allowed her to breathe light if she wanted, it was not really automatic. Not more than regular breathing was, at least. Mr.Scribe had simply stopped doing both, to prove his point. Sofia had to manually breathe some air which took away all her attention despite how simple and mundane the task was, heaving, out of breath in a way she hadn¡¯t been for a long time. After a few seconds, Mr.Scribe returned things to normal. ¡°Alright. Fair. You have made your point. I¡¯ll try to keep my inquiries at a minimum, then. But at least warn me when you¡¯re making choices like withholding the skill level-ups. I think we¡¯ll stick to your plan for now, but if the last trials prove to be too much, we¡¯ll have to take the two month delay. And thanks for your hard work.¡± [I am just happy to do my part.] With these last words, Mr.Scribe gave Sofia control of her mana back. ¡°Well¡­ Now what? Doesn¡¯t look like Pareth is done yet. So¡­¡± Sofia looked through her belongings, there were a few things she still needed to deal with, the newly-acquired ¡®hastening¡¯ book being the latest addition. What she fished out of the ¡®for later¡¯ pile was the jade slip given by Alkorm as thanks for passing him the letter. It was impervious to any attempt at being Identified and Sofia had no idea what it was for exactly, so it had been sitting in her storage ever since. It¡¯s a pretty rock, if nothing else. A bit too thick to make for a good bookmark. Sofia turned the jade rectangle around in her hands, handling it with delicacy between her light demon claws. There weren¡¯t any inscriptions or markings anywhere, the jade was colorful and cleanly polished with slightly rounded angles, its green hues reflected the wavering light of Sofia¡¯s elemental candle. Gently sending a weak and steady flow of mana inside the stone, Sofia probed the inside of the jade slip. As expected, there¡¯s more to it than a simple stone. There are a lot of moving parts in there. Tons of carved enchantments too. To do that in a seamless way without breaking the jade¡­ Sofia picked up her Zangdar ring from the jewelry rack in her storage, the blue crystal ring was of a single piece of midenicite yet there was an enchanted gold layer inside. I wonder how they do that. Teleporting the inner layer directly inside? But then how did they carve out the inside in the first place? Keeping her question for later, Sofia started to randomly push and pull at the moving parts inside the jade slip with her mana. Some blocks slid, wheels turned, sometimes Sofia had to turn the jade slip around to make things fall with gravity, every so often she would hear a muted click coming from the inside and everything would fall back into its initial position. ¡°Failed again¡­ Doesn¡¯t help that I still don¡¯t understand what the objective is.¡± Clearly there was a ¡®correct¡¯ sequence of movements to avoid the click and reset, and after about twenty minutes of trying again and again, she gave up after another click. ¡°Did Alkorm just give me some kind of brain-teaser toy?¡± Sofia stored the jade slip, it seemed Pareth had stopped moving, so she grabbed the candle and stood up, slowly starting to go down the stairs. ¡°Hmm¡­ I wonder if this is just a tool to train mana control and perception, maybe? It certainly strains the senses to try to focus on and move all those minuscule parts¡­ Still, such a bizarre gift to give without an explanation.¡±
Chapter 557 - Wait… How much health? Huh?! The stairs took Sofia deeper than ever before, she had gone down what felt like at least a hundred thousand steps, and was easily several kilometers deep. The darkness did not extend that far down, so at some point she had stored the candle and let the light trails of her demon form light the way. This led her to a grand room the layout of which was reminiscent of Peace¡¯s throne room, except there was no throne, but two massive stone doors guarded by a singular knight in black armor. Big guy with a big sword, timeless classic. Sofia tried to identify the knight from the other side of the room, with no success. A glowing scroll appeared at Sofia¡¯s feet. ¡°At least I get to see the enemy before deciding who to summon, I guess.¡± Even if I¡¯ve already decided to trust Cinthia and call Pareth. It makes sense too, Pareth will be the best at dealing with a single tough enemy like that. Sofia picked up and unfurled the scroll, finding its contents shorter than usual. ¡®Grand Crusader Vakarian awaits Do you have the strength? Currently available helpers: Pareth Velanihuarahton¡¯ Looks like Everelle was too slow this time. Hopefully she hasn¡¯t failed, I need her for the next fight¡­ Wait¡­ Vakarian? Like Vakariazrehafin? Oh¡­ Now that I think of it. Hearts of Velania? And Ihuarah is Velanihuarahton? I see, Sorrow named us after her previous followers. So this guy is my namesake? All the more reasons to have Pareth here. Without thinking about it more than that, Sofia summoned Pareth. Her non-existant heart filled with glee as she watched the massive hellspawn-abomination skeleton appear near her. ¡°Welcome back, Pareth! Has it been fun on your side so far?¡± Pareth shrunk down to a Sofia size, and approved with a slight nod, not elaborating any further. Something about him had changed, his armor of light had taken on a much darker, more bone-oriented design that Sofia could only approve of. ¡°Your armor looks different. Found a soul for your signature skill?¡± Pareth opened a shared system window for Sofia. [Chimeric armaments]: Soul slots: Weapons (Spirit of a Webber; Blunt Webbons) Armor (Spirit of a Mindless Skeleton; Armor Shards) Shields (Turgescent Soul Ochiaran¡¯s turgescent soul; Turgescent shields) ¡°More than one! I didn''t realize you snatched one of the Ochiarans¡¯ good thinking¡­ Blunt Webbons, though? Are you sure about that one? It sounds¡­¡± Pareth shrugged and opened yet another system window for Sofia. [Blunt Webbons] _modifier_ : Hits with a blunt weapon form leave temporary sticky webs around the point of impact, hindering the target¡¯s movements and lowering their Speed. ¡°Hmm, not as bad as the name sounds, still we should be able to find better. Maybe right now, even,¡± Sofia suggested, turning her head in the direction of the stoic man in armor guarding the doors. ¡°Right, with all this, are you getting used to your new skills yet?¡±
Some time before the jungle expedition, an afternoon in Zangdar. Sofia came down from the second floor of the castle, she had gone to check up on Remia. ¡°Well, she¡¯s still sleeping,¡± she announced with a shrug to Pareth who was in his human skeleton, reading some book sitting in a bone chair next to the salon¡¯s decorative chimney. ¡°Maybe I¡¯ll stock up on firewood later. It doesn¡¯t really get cold here but a good fire would make the place more lively.¡± Pareth seemed to agree. He closed his book, looking pensive, and as Sofia wondered what he might be thinking about, she saw a system window open without warning. ¡®Classless Skills (0 / 5)¡¯ ¡°Right! It¡¯s about time we dealt with that! I hate to admit I¡¯ve not been giving it too much thought yet¡­ Let¡¯s see¡­.¡±A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Sofia scrolled through Pareth¡¯s frighteningly long list of available classless skills, these seemed to be classified in no particular order. ¡°Sprint might just be a good start. You would probably get it at a pretty high level already¡­ Hmm, but you can always teleport straight back to me so movement speed maybe isn¡¯t what you need most¡­¡± Sofia muttered to herself, ¡°We could try to find some kind of flight skill for you in there¡­ But your signature skill should also be able to do that, so¡­¡± ¡°Oh! [Hero¡¯s grit]! Alith didn¡¯t have this variant!¡± [Hero¡¯s grit] : What is it that makes a true hero? Is it the goodness of one¡¯s heart or the capacity to pull through no matter the odds? Keep fighting! Allows the hero to survive for a time even after their health hit zero, (cannot be healed), if you kill your current main enemy during that time, restore your health back to 1%. Restrictions : Only one Hero exclusive classless skill may be learned. Once forgotten, this skill will become permanently unavailable. ¡°This one¡¯s not bad¡­ Not great either. I think. I was honestly thinking about more combat-trick types of skills for you, since you¡¯re stuck with very few attacking options¡­ Stuff like [Quickstep] that can be used offensively.¡± Pareth had moved to stand behind Sofia, he also looked through the list. Sofia summarily read through the skill titles, only looking up the description when the name sounded promising. Pareth pointed out one skill with an extended bone finger. [Elite Skeleton] ¡°No way, there are skeleton-exclusive passives?!¡± [Elite Skeleton] : Reinforces the flexible mana-weave of your bones to allow your skeleton¡¯s overall structural integrity to remain intact even when bones are broken or missing. 100% Structural integrity is maintained until you reach 80% (100 - (Skill level*20)) Health. Cost : Reserve 10% of your Maximum Mana. Restrictions : User is a Skeleton above level 200. Sofia¡¯s eyes glimmered as she read the skill. ¡°That¡¯s one slot filled!¡± she declared without hesitation. ¡°Mind giving us all other Skeleton exclusive passives Pareth can take if there are any, Mr.Scribe?¡± After a few seconds, a short list of four entries presented itself to Sofia, the first three results seemed to be a set, so Sofia opened all three descriptions. [Ske-Lethal] : Stamina is converted to a bonus strength multiplier up to 1x per filter, progressive rate depending on base strength. Current multiplier : 2.833x Current max multiplier : 4x Restrictions : User is a Skeleton. You may only use one Stamina converter at a time. [Bone-Headed] : Stamina is converted to a bonus Health multiplier up to 1x per filter, progressive rate depending on Max Health. Current multiplier : 1.24x Current max multiplier : 4x Restrictions : User is a Skeleton. You may only use one Stamina converter at a time. [Marrow-Minded] : Stamina is converted to bonus Max Mana at a rate of 3 to 1. Current Bonus : 1 437 011 mana. Restrictions : User is a Skeleton. You may only use one Stamina converter at a time. ¡°There was something like that... Those are really good. It¡¯d be a waste not to take one. In fact, if we could somehow get Bookie to learn [Marrow-Minded]... It would be great for him to have more fog, but who knows if he can even learn skills. He¡¯s still struggling with [Summon self]...¡± Sofia commented watching Bookie through the window, who was playing outside with Crowie chasing the little crow in Sofia¡¯s forest of new Death-domain-inspired bone trees, before her attention returned to Pareth. ¡°Which one do you want?¡± Pareth seemed uncertain. ¡°Yeah¡­ I don¡¯t know either. [Ske-Lethal] is just great on paper, more strength. But since this is a bonus multiplier and not a base multiplier, it does apply after after the strength bonus of your blessing of bloating but only stacks additively with [Sanctified Grounds] and [Runeforged Overlord], so the final difference might not be that great¡­ Let me do the math.¡± Sofia took out a bone slate and started writing. ¡®For base strength = 1 Sanctified ground strength bonus = 40% *4 for skeletons = 160% +20% effectiveness due to [Stellar Corona] = 160 + (160/100*20) = 192% Runeforged overlord T2 = 24.9% Runeforged overlord T3 = 124.5% 192+24.9+124.5= 341.4% Current final strength = 1+341.4% = 4.41 With [Ske-Lethal] = 4.41 + 2.83 = 7.24¡¯ ¡°Nevermind, it''s greater than I thought.¡± Pareth nodded, but he still kept looking at the two others. ¡°Let¡¯s see for the other two¡­ Your current health with the improved bloating and with sanctified¡­ It was like 134 million, right?¡± Sofia asked, getting another nod in return. We really have to thank Creation for that one, to think he would improve bloating to give a whole 0.05% extra health per Kilogram, actually crazy. ¡°Hmm, so even if it¡¯s just a 24% increase because your health is already so stupidly high, [Bone-Headed] is still like a free thirty million health? Something like that? Tiny proportional increase compared to the other two skills but actually the most raw stat, probably. And that makes you even harder to hurt at all since it pushes the 10% threshold up from thirteen to almost seventeen million damage in one hit just to actually damage you. And then we have [Marrow-Minded], it currently would quadruple your mana, which is the largest proportional increase, but also you have never needed that much mana so far.¡± Pareth begged to differ, opening the descriptions of his new mana-heart spells [Sunless Pulse] and [Arclight] which were both pretty greedy in terms of mana usage as both spells¡¯ strength was directly proportional with how much mana was spent on them. ¡°Right¡­ By increasing your mana it would also quadruple your mana regeneration since it¡¯s proportional, that¡¯s really hard to pass up¡­ Honestly I¡¯m¡­ I don¡¯t know, Pareth. I think you should choose by yourself, I have no idea which one is better. They¡¯re all great in my opinion. I¡¯ll just check the last exclusive skill while you decide, the name is intriguing.¡± [Humanoid Ghost and Skeleton QOL patch v2.06 (placeholder name)] ?
Chapter 558 - Got the flow [Humanoid Ghost and Skeleton QOL patch v2.06 (placeholder name)] ? : Spread your mana weave to more closely match your spirit body. Allows clothes, belts and jewelry to more easily stay on, gives a better grip on weapons and better footing on the ground, enhances smell, vision, hearing and pressure sensitivity. Slightly reduces physical damage taken. ¡°It¡¯s a bit weak for a locked classless¡­¡± Sofia commented, ¡°also, lots of text and no numbers isn¡¯t very reassuring. But that is a lot of small things in one package, I would understand no matter if you want to pick or if you don¡¯t. The choice is yours. Mr.Scribe, how about a list of damage reduction classless? Right, there was a mutually exclusive non-saint alternative for [Sanctity], wasn¡¯t there?¡±
A whole four hours later, after covering an entire wall with a bone slate and listing all possible options, Pareth got the final say and settled on his five classless skills. ¡®Classless Skills (5 / 5) [Humanoid Ghost and Skeleton QOL patch v2.06 (placeholder name)] ? [Elite Skeleton] - Level 3 [Bone-Headed] [Mana Anchoring] [Supreme commander]¡¯ ¡°Well, that works. I¡¯m still not completely sold on [Supreme commander] but it¡¯s really like the skill was made for us so I¡¯ll just have to trust that this was the correct choice. Still wish you¡¯d taken something for yourself instead though¡­¡± To that, Pareth pointed at the longest skill of the bunch, this was what he had taken for himself, he insistently pointed at it seeming to say, ¡®Isn¡¯t that one enough?!¡¯. Sofia rolled her eyes. ¡°These are all your skills, you know. All meant to be for you, you know???¡± Pareth disapprovingly put his hands on his hips, which he could somewhat really do now, exactly thanks to the ¡®QOL patch¡¯ skill, which kind of gave him an invisible semi-physical body of mana. He could easily move through himself but he could also now rest his hands on his fake ¡®body¡¯ like a non skeleton person. This was also what his clothes could now rest on, instead of awkwardly falling on his bones. Seeing that Sofia wasn¡¯t getting the hint, Pareth then pointed at himself. ¡°What?¡± Then he pointed in the direction of the room upstairs where Alith was working on her alchemy. Sofia finally got the message. Three of her own skills were entirely for someone else. ¡°I- It¡¯s different!¡± Pareth crossed his arms and slowly shook his skull left and right. ¡°Fine, fine¡­ I get it. Hmm¡­ And [Elite Skeleton] starts at level 3 so that¡¯s good. Are you sure you¡¯re not going to regret not getting [Summon Self] or [Quickstep]?¡± Pareth summoned his shield and banged on it twice with a closed fist. ¡°Yeah, great, still, you should really learn to dodge more often. You¡¯ve been way too reliant on teleporting to me for that. Though the collapsing trick against Tarren was clever, I¡¯ll give you that.¡± Sofia could almost read a smug smile on Pareth¡¯s unmoving jaws. She recovered the bone slate from the wall and sat back in her chair, looking through the skill descriptions again. [Mana Anchoring] : Use your latent mana to anchor your position in space. It requires three times as much strength to push you or make you flinch, lowered to two when not on solid land. With his weight, [Space magic resilience] and [Displacement skills immunity], he is really getting hard to move. That¡¯s right, my Pareth¡¯s no pushover!This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. This other skill though¡­ I¡¯ll have to start using the musical options more often¡­ [Supreme commander]: Share a portion of your defenses (resistances, resiliences, dampenings, negations and immunities) with all allies shorter than you that are at a distance of at most 25(Class level/10) times your height. Effect doubled when wearing a commander jacket in range of an audible allied warsong. Bonus cosmetic effects. Restrictions : User has loyal allies and subordinates. User has an appreciation for the fine arts. User owns a Commander jacket. Sofia rolled her eyes for the hundredth time reading this skill description. She brought out the weird jacket with sewn sleeves from her storage ring. That was an E rank gachapon box draw she had gotten all the way back from the second trial rewards. ¡°I really cannot believe that this stupid item was an unlocking condition for a skill¡­¡± She whispered under her breath, holding up the jacket in front of Pareth, imagining him with it on. ¡°I mean¡­ It¡¯s a good looking jacket¡­ We¡¯ll have to get it enchanted, I guess. And now you can wear it properly with the qolpatch skill¡­¡± Sofia looked at the jacket then at Pareth, then at the jacket again. ¡°You didn¡¯t pick these two skills just so that you had an excuse to wear the jacket¡­ Right?¡±
Sofia looked at the knight guarding the doors, he was still not showing any sign of wanting to move. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s get this show started, let me get you your jacket¡­¡± Pareth¡¯s clothing rack in Sofia¡¯s storage was quite empty, with only this jacket and the suit he wore like twice at the academy, so it was easy to find. We still need to get it finished¡­ [Supreme Commander Jacket (WIP)] : A jacket meant to be worn loosely resting on one¡¯s shoulders. Has been hastily reinforced with Arachnia thread, size alteration and advanced self-repair enchantments. Will be enchanted to slightly augment all resistances, eventually, at least that¡¯s the plan. Soulbound to Pareth. Pareth activated his armor and held out a hand for Sofia to give him the jacket. ¡°Turn around, I¡¯ll put it on for you.¡± The hellspawn abomination skeleton wasn¡¯t exactly the anatomy the jacket had been designed for, but with the armor of light in between and the ¡®qol patch¡¯, the white and gold jacket fit fine on him. As soon as it rested on his shoulders, the empty long sleeve started floating behind him like rustled by gentle winds. I hate myself a little for thinking that looks good. That done, Pareth used his [Draconic Shapeshifting] to grow as tall as would be comfortable to fight in this room, so about six meters tall, and summon a large shield in his left hand as well as a scepter-like mace ending in a round ball in his right hand. That¡¯ll do well against that armored guy. He¡¯s really well protected¡­ Is there even a slit in his helmet? Can¡¯t see a single bit of anything that¡¯s under the thick plates. What¡¯s his armor even made of? I¡¯m getting so used to seeing green mithril armor, a black armor is surprising. ¡°We¡¯re about ready, I think,¡± Sofia said out loud, ¡°I have a feeling the battle will start the instant I start casting anything, so maybe it¡¯s best we coordinate the first cast. Get the sanctified grounds ready, I¡¯m starting the music.¡± [Sixth symphony¡¯s movements] 40% Maximum mana : A Regal festival of Summer : All physical stats are improved by 10%. Airborne Mana is fluidified. Channeling speed of all magic is doubled. The uplifting and fast-paced melody of Summer started filling the underground halls of Sorrow¡¯s palace as the ground under Pareth¡¯s feet lit up with his magic. Sofia took a last glance at Pareth¡¯s health, an uncontrollable smirk on her face. Health : 166 985 791 Grand Crusader Vakarian finally moved. Welcoming his opponents with a polite bow, his armor creaking in the process. Pareth copied the gesture and Sofia simply gave a polite nod. When they were ready, in a swift movement, Vakarian kicked his sword upright and took a firm stance with his sword to his waist in a plow guard. Sofia put on her crown, and the flames of Victory started eating away at the crusader. Vakarian attacked first with a jumping strike aimed at Pareth¡¯s central head. Pareth barely managed to raise his shield fast enough, the armament of light cracking under the pressure but not quite breaking. Sofia in the back silently started casting a piercing bolt as Pareth counter attacked. Vakarian stepped on thin air, spinning around and over Pareth¡¯s mace strike and his arm, and zipping through the air at an absurd speed, his massive sword drawing a wide arc in Sofia¡¯s direction. Pareth teleported back in between them and stopped Vakarian with a high knee, sending him crashing against the ceiling. Sofia took the opportunity to fire her first bolt, thinking it would further impale the knight against the ceiling. To her surprise, Vakarian instead let a hand off his sword¡¯s handle to grab the angel bolt right before it could touch him, and as he hit the ceiling with a bang, he chucked the bolt back at her. Sofia let the bolt pierce through her shoulder rather than to waste mana dispelling it with [Heat Death], not even flinching as it ripped through her bone and muscles, and started casting an explosive bolt instead. Vakarian kicked himself off of the ceiling, his sword striking against Pareth¡¯s incoming mace. Their strength seemed about even, but Vakarian was much faster. After that rapid clash, Vakarian once again flew toward Sofia. Pareth held himself back, dispelling his shield and summoning a much larger two-handed mace as Vakarian¡¯s sword reached Sofia. She released the explosive bolt at her feet and used [Summon Self] to teleport behind the crusader, evading the blow and opening her wings, allowing her to be propelled away by the strength of the explosion. Pareth¡¯s mace came crashing down on Vakarian.
Chapter 559 - A shadow of the greats The crusader sidestepped, narrowly avoiding Pareth¡¯s mace. Mana coursed through the ground as enchantments built into the room¡¯s floor and walls absorbed the strength of the blow, preventing the place from collapsing. The fight continued at that pace for a good minute, Sofia and Pareth playing it safe and keeping their mana reserves high as they analyzed the crusader¡¯s way of fighting, neither side managing to inflict any real damage on the other. Somehow, both sides were back to their starting position, and there was a second of calm. Come on, you know you want to do it. Vakarian¡¯s magic started to swell up. There you go, use that signature skill. Space started to distort around Sofia and Pareth. Pareth immediately stepped closer to Sofia as their surroundings were being warped by Vakarian¡¯s skill. The relatively limiting room became a wide expanse under a black sky, thousands of stakes in the shape of Sorrow¡¯s divine rune growing from the ground. The crusader¡¯s armor was surrounded by currents of dark energy flowing out from the stakes, as he slowly floated up in the air, his sword splitting into a smaller sword and a lean scepter canalizing the dark energy. That¡¯s more like it! ¡°Let¡¯s go all out!¡± Sofia started dual-casting piercing bolts while Pareth charged ahead. A ray of light shone over the crusader, covering him in erredian rot and an array of Sandworm skulls formed behind Sofia. With a wave of his scepter, Vakarian summoned hundreds of black meteorites in the sky behind him, and with a light swing of his sword, he blasted away Pareth¡¯s giant mace with a burst of black energy. That black meteorite started raining down. Pareth jumped back and summoned his flying shields of light, enhanced by the Ochiaran¡¯s turgescent soul, the shields rapidly inflated and grew to form a dome of light above Pareth and Sofia, right as the meteorites started crashing upon them. The shields held until the end of the attack. Right as the shields came down, the Sandworm skulls were ready. Fire! Beams of wild energy fired from the skull choir, each aimed at a different divine rune stake. About half of the targeted stakes broke, but there were hundreds yet left standing all around the battlefield. A swing of Vakarian¡¯s sword sent a wave of dark energy in Sofia and Pareth¡¯s way. Too expensive to cancel, take it. Pareth stood in front of Sofia, raising his shield. The dark wave broke through his shield and his armor, but failed to break his bones. Only remnants of energy washed over Sofia, who simply focused on growing her two piercing bolts even more. Pareth charged again, his weapon changing to a huge sword. The crusader blocked like before, but Pareth¡¯s sword became charged with energy at the last second, sending forward a bright arc of cutting light. Sofia could tell, this was half of Pareth¡¯s mana gone in one burst of [Arclight]. The light struck Vakarian head on, leaving deep glowing gashes in his black armor. The armor is fucking empty! Sofia realized. We¡¯re fighting an armor suit! Said armor¡¯s counterattack was swift. A blast of dark energy escaped from the holes in the armor. A ray of black light pierced through Pareth, leaving a gaping hole in his armor and his health forty million points lighter, while Sofia was sent straight to her next life without even any time to react. She reappeared three seconds later, piercing bolts still in hand, while Pareth was trading blows with the flying crusader, a few hundred meters away. The skull choir was all gone.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Sofia flew to the closest divine rune stake and struck it down with her Angel Bolt swords. Energy continuously gathered from the stakes to the crusader, so each stake she took down brought his signature Skill closer to its end, and his mana closer to zero. Sofia deftly flew from on stake to the next, her piercing bolts slicing through without much resistance. Vakarian soon noticed, and despite being busy with Pareth¡¯s unrelenting assault, he found the time to summon another wave of dark meteorites in the sky. Keep him busy, don¡¯t worry about me. Sofia sent the piercing bolt from her left hand in Vakarian¡¯s direction. It was much faster than the meteorites, and just as Vakarian was about to grab the damn thing mid-air again, letting his staff go for an instant, his arm was caught by Pareth¡¯s [Chains of the four seals]. Vakrian¡¯s helmet was blasted into non-existence by the bolt, as he could only use his sword to free himself from the chains, blocking another of Pareth¡¯s strikes with a kick. Sofia let them to their battle, the meteorites were getting closer. How do I avoid that? With her free hand, she grabbed the admin dagger and sliced off her head, letting it fall in front of her, and kicking it right into the incoming dark meteorites as her bloodlight left her body. As ¡®herself¡¯ was linked to her head in priority over the rest of her body, she was left with only fifteen percent of her health as her head flew toward a meteorite. Her vision went dark as her head was annihilated, and her bloodlight was recalled toward the remaining part of her body. She quickly embedded a vision token in her armor to be able to see again, while the crown of Victory got automatically teleported back to what was left of her neck. An instant later, she headlessly resumed her destruction of the stakes of Sorrow under an apocalyptic shower of meteorites each the size of a small house, that failed to inflict any damage at all. It was all negated by [Singularity edict]. Would have been too good if they damaged the stakes¡­ As the stakes fell under Sofia¡¯s attacks, Pareth was starting to have an easier time dealing with the crusader. Another ray of black light flashed through, but it was weaker and slower. Pareth still couldn¡¯t avoid it, as he was too close, and his left arm disappeared, but Sofia was able to fly sideways fast enough to avoid it. She turned around and sent a flash of light back to the sender, covering him in another layer of rot as the previous one was starting to get torn off by all of Pareth¡¯s attacks. Sofia broke enough stakes that the crusader¡¯s signature skill faded away before he could unleash another dark energy attack. Pareth¡¯s weapon changed into a gigantic flat hammer, and during the instant Vakarian was disoriented by the backlash of his skill being forcefully canceled, Pareth gave the final blow. The living armor was crushed into the floor with a thunderous metallic bang. ¡®You have pacified [Grand Crusader Vakarian - Encroaching Echo]¡¯ Sofia wanted to say something but she had no head. Nice fight, Pareth. Just, uh¡­ I hope this guy didn¡¯t have another heart of Velania inside him. Pareth disappeared, sent back to his own trial in the palace. Sofia dispelled the piercing bolt in her right hand. She felt a bit unsatisfied by the fight. That was too easy. I only died once. And this guy doesn¡¯t even have a skeleton to steal. Truly a waste. Walking up to the crusader¡¯s remains, Sofia was underwhelmed even more. The armor turned out to have been a mana construct, it had entirely disappeared, and so did the weapons, the only thing left were the smashed debris of what was once Vakarian¡¯s mana heart. Not even worth picking up¡­ Sofia walked up to the tall doors that the armor had been guarding, not trying to open them. There were six round slots arranged in a circle carved into the two sides of the doors, three each. So that¡¯s what all the hearts of Velania were for? Really sells that we¡¯re approaching the end. Sofia grabbed the hearts from her storage, but she just sat down where she was. Maybe it would be wise to regrow my head and refresh my runes first, huh. Not to mention the mana situation. Better stop the music now. That should also give Everelle some time to be ready for her summon.
Sofia took her sweet time in front of the door, making bone statuettes of the enemies she had encountered so far through the palace. It only took her an hour to sculpt decent figures of most things, starting with the candle zombies and finishing with Vakarian¡¯s empty armor. I¡¯ll have to make a sculpture room in Zangdar to store all these. Since I still don¡¯t have the bone color alteration down, maybe I could find a painter to finish them for me? So many things to do¡­ ¡°Alright. About time to go.¡± Sofia stood up and inserted the hearts of Velania into the doors. A pulse of mana coursed through the doors and the walls as she inserted the last heart, and the doors slowly opened. Am I dreaming? I know I wanted to take a nap but¡­
Chapter 560 - Is this the real life? There were many things Sofia had expected might be behind the doors, but she had to admit, a giant room with an indoors forest, a large mansion, a small lake and a fake blue sky were really not it. Yet here they were. Birds were chirping, wind was howling, the sky was blue and the sun shone brightly up above. Sofia wanted to squint as she looked at the indoor sun. Holy fuck, that¡¯s a lightstone?! ¡°This is still the palace of Sorrow?¡± she whispered, looking behind her. The doors were still behind her, she hadn¡¯t been teleported, there did not seem to be any illusion at play here either. A tiny blue bird flew up to Sofia, landing at her feet, it looked up at her, chirping expectantly. Sofia observed the bird through her mana senses, and as far as she could tell, this was a genuine bird, probably level two or three, of a species she had never seen before. The bird kept chirping at her feet. Just what¡­ What is going on right now? Does it want food? I have plenty of seeds for Zangdar so¡­ Sofia grabbed a handful of random small seeds from her storage and crouched down, placing her open palm in front of the bird, which happily started pecking at the seeds, making pleased sounds. The scene attracted a bunch more birds, and before long Sofia was sitting on the ground, feeding birds and questioning her life. There was some noise coming from the mansion, Sofia thought she heard the sound of fire, but it was faint and covered by the noise of dozens of birds. Beside that, there were two large sources of mana in the room aside from herself, one being something or someone inside the mansion, and the other being the huge lightstone hanging from the ceiling, which was charged with so much mana it would probably keep shining uninterrupted for the next ten thousand years. When there were no more seeds, the birds all flew away, leaving Sofia flabbergasted next to the entrance. The weirdest thoughts coursed through Sofia¡¯s mind as she walked on the green grass and wildflowers going toward the entrance of the mansion. Is this entire place a big mimic? A mansion mimic? As she came closer, the sounds from within the mansion became more obvious, someone was cooking something over a fire, a woman, judging from the voice humming a lighthearted tune. What did I get myself into? Sofia took the final steps toward the manor¡¯s front door, she adjusted the shape of her armor to make it look a bit more like regular clothes, and lightly knocked. The humming stopped for a second, before starting again. Am I being ignored? Is this a trap? I¡­ Not wanting to overthink things, Sofiak knocked again, raising her voice a bit, ¡°Hello?¡± The humming stopped, cut abruptly by the sound of pots and cutlery crashing to the ground. A girly voice came from inside, ¡°D- don¡¯t come- Wait! I¡¯m naked!¡± Sofia froze as she struggled to process that answer. She could hear the person hastily pick up the fallen pots, before rushing up a flight of stairs then down a few seconds later. Finally the door opened, and Sofia¡¯s feelings were once again thrown for a loop as she took in the appearance of the person standing behind the door. It was a young human woman with a slender build, looking like she was barely an adult. She was barefoot, wearing a crumpled knee-length green skirt and a half-buttoned up white shirt. The buttons weren¡¯t even matched to the correct holes, resulting in a messy look. But that was only the surface level, when one looked past her clothes, they were greeted by severe burn marks covering half the woman¡¯s face and body, all the way from her scalp to her right foot. These were old burn marks, the leathery skin a patchwork of beige and reddened colors. As a result of this, the woman''s long blonde hair only grew from one half of her head, and was combed over to cover the other side. ¡°Rom-¡± she had started saying as she opened the door, stopping mid-word when she saw Sofia, following which she blushed heavily, and her wide green eyes veered to look at literally any and everything except directly at Sofia as her body seemed frozen in place.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. ¡°W- Well. Don¡¯t stay¡­ outside,¡± the burned woman finally offered with an awkward forced smile after a long silence, taking two steps back and struggling to try to look in Sofia¡¯s direction. Sofia had fired the usual instinctive [Identify] at the woman; she gulped when the prompt appeared, and entered the mansion with all the enthusiasm of a fish jumping into a bear¡¯s den. [Mage - Lv. 400+] Is she¡­ Shaking? Sofia suddenly stopped and the woman practically jumped in place. ¡°Are you fine? Would you rather I actually stay outside?¡± Sofia asked, feeling like she was forcing her way in despite having been invited. ¡°N- no I- It¡¯s¡­ Alright. I¡­ Consented to this,¡± the woman stammered. She was visibly sweating and shaking, it was painful to watch. Sofia took another few careful steps in, allowing the scared woman to close the door behind her. She was wondering what to say next. But the woman surprisingly explained more, staring at the ground. ¡°I- I should have expected¡­ When I felt the tremors¡­ But- But Romuald never came so¡­¡± ¡°Romuald?¡± Sofia repeated, wondering if she was supposed to know the name. The woman first jolted when Sofia spoke again, but realizing it was nothing, she tried to explain more, her voice sounding a bit ashamed, ¡°He¡¯s blue and all¡­ and¡­ He talks like this,¡± she demonstrated, amplifying her voice with mana. ¡°Oh! The guardian? We met him at the entrance.¡± ¡°We?¡± the woman repeated, crouching a bit and placing her hand on her head, her shaking doubling in intensity. ¡°Ahah, hum, I- me and my skeletons, I mean,¡± Sofia said, lying to try to salvage the tiny sliver of sanity that the burned woman seemed to struggle to hold onto. ¡°I¡¯m a bit of a necromancer, ahah¡­ I¡¯m Sofia. Or Vakariazrehafin of Sorrow, if you would prefer to call me that.¡± The woman seemed to calm down a bit at the notion that Sofia¡¯s companions were only skeletons. ¡°Vakaria¡­¡± she repeated. She forced herself to stand back up, and held out her non-burned hand toward Sofia, despite her face clearly facing another way and her eyes looking even further away, ¡°I- I¡¯m Velania,¡± she managed to blurt out with a tremendous effort, her hand shaking like a leaf. Sofia went to grab Velania¡¯s hand, and the ¡®young¡¯ woman fainted before Sofia¡¯s hand could even reach her. Wha- Sofia grabbed her before she could fall to the ground. She could feel Velania¡¯s wildly beating heart even through her armor. Is she going to be fine? I- Can a level 400 even faint?! A bark made Sofia jolt, the skeleton dog from before was right there, wagging his tail as he stood in the doorway to what looked like the mansion¡¯s living room. As soon as he got Sofia¡¯s attention, he turned around and entered the room. Sofia decided to follow, grabbing Velania in a princess carry and bringing her to a large couch where the skeleton dog was sitting, waiting for her. She gently sat Velania on the couch, and tried to wake her up, but failed. ¡°She¡¯s out cold, but her breathing is calming down a bit¡­¡± Sofia turned to the skeleton dog, and he chose this instant to disappear in a puff of smoke. ¡°Wait!¡± Sofia heard another bark, she looked around, it was coming from the other side relative to the entrance hall, where Velania had originally been when Sofia knocked on the door. When Sofia entered said room, the kitchen, the dog was nowhere to be seen, but a faint smell of burnt food soon hit her face. Oh crap. A batch of cookies were cooking on a metal tray over a fire pit embedded in the wall, they were turning dark-brown, with the ones closest to the edge of the tray already a bit black. Sofia instinctively grabbed the tray out of the fire, placing it on the marble countertop nearby after pushing away the bunch of pots that were randomly stacked there, before coming to a stop as she stared blankly at the half-burnt cookies. ¡°What the fuck am I doing?¡± She ran back to the living room, finding Velania still passed out on the couch, her thin blonde hair covering most of her face. No, seriously¡­ What is going on? Sofia heard another bark, and a luminous scroll appeared right on top of Velania¡¯s lap. ¡®She holds the key to your last trial Helpers may be available later. Whatever you do, do not mention Dragons!!! Try to have fun, and don¡¯t be mean! - Sorrow -¡¯
Chapter 561 - Is this just fantasy? ¡°So this is how Cinthia feels all day.¡± Sofia stared at the scroll then at the sleeping woman in front of her. ¡°Velania¡­ If Ihuarah is named after her¡­ How long has she been stuck here? By the sounds of it she¡¯s a hermit rivaling even grandma¡¯s moon isolation¡­¡± Saying this, Sofia decided to take off her Dragon-scale armguard. Is this why she fainted? Since it was super annoying to store due to being extremely magic-resistant, she just embedded it in the bone of her armor along her spine. If mom is going to go out of her way to send me this message then I can probably afford to relax a little? I don¡¯t want to believe someone here would dare impersonate her.
Velania opened her eyes slowly, it took her a second to take in her surroundings, her face turning bright red. Sofia was on the opposite couch, her full attention on Alkorm¡¯s jade slip, she did not even notice Velania waking up. ¡°S- Sorry you had to see this¡­¡± Velania mumbled, slightly startling Sofia, a blanket appearing over the scarred woman out of nowhere, covering her up to her nose. *click* There goes this attempt. The jade slip disappeared into Sofia¡¯s storage. ¡°Nothing to feel sorry about,¡± Sofia brushed it off, ¡°Are you feeling better now?¡± she asked, which was answered with an almost imperceptible nod. Then she pointed at the stuff on the low table in between them, ¡°I made tea if you want some, and I might have helped myself to one of your cookies, hope you don¡¯t mind.¡± Velania blinked several times, her blanket slipping down to her chest, ¡°H- how was it?¡± ¡°The cookie? Slightly overbaked, but still good; better than anything I can make.¡± Sofia could see a faint start of a smile form on Velania¡¯s lips, but it only lasted an instant. ¡°I burned them again¡­¡± She seemed downcast about it, but she also wasn¡¯t shaking violently anymore, so it was better than Sofia expected. ¡°You probably wouldn¡¯t have burned them if not for my interruption, sorry about that. Do you bake often?¡± Velania nodded a bit more energetically than before. ¡°The food I summon doesn¡¯t taste good so I need to do it myself,¡± she explained, no longer stuttering or hesitating at all. ¡°Summoned food? You can summon food?¡± Velania blinked several times like she did not understand the question, instead of answering, she extended a hand from under her blanket and summoned a perfect looking round and golden cookie. What¡­ Is this real? Sofia observed the cookie like it was breaking all laws of physics. ¡°D- Do you want to try it?¡± Velania asked. ¡°If you don¡¯t mind...¡± Sofia was going to stand up but the Cookie just flew to hover in front of her. She grabbed it, made an opening in her helmet, and took a bite. The cookie¡¯s texture was perfect, it was even slightly hot as if coming right out of the fire, but it tasted like dirt. Warm dirt. As she swallowed, Sofia felt the Cookie turning into mana by itself, and it made her feel a bit more full. Sofia took another bite. Which seemed to shock Velania. ¡°Do you like it?!¡± she asked. ¡°No, you¡¯re right, it doesn¡¯t taste good. But the way it turns back into mana is interesting.¡± ¡°Everything I summon does this when it leaves my area of influence¡­¡± Velania said, sounding quite saddened by this fact. ¡°Everything you summon¡­ Are the birds outside your summons too?¡± Sofia asked. Velania looked at Sofia with a questioning look. ¡°Th- this entire place is my summon,¡± she said hesitantly. That gave Sofia pause. She looked around, everything felt quite real, with a plethora of detail, if not for the obviously strange environment of the inside garden, she might have wondered if Velania was lying.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°The entire manor and garden, then?¡± Sofia asked, taking another bite of the summoned cookie because she didn¡¯t like to waste food. After a few seconds of silence, Velania silently brought the blanket back up to her face and muttered a few words ¡°The entire palace and jungle¡­¡± Sofia swallowed wrong, and almost started coughing, but the cookie bit turned back into mana in her throat. She gulped. ¡°The entire jungle?!¡± Velania sunk a bit more in the couch, so Sofia tried to calm herself, lowering her voice, ¡°W- What about the monsters?¡± ¡°Monsters?¡± Velania paused to think for a second, the blanked sliding down ever so slightly, ¡°Romuald made me summon three big guardians, I think, they are probably still around? Only them and the animals in my garden,¡± she finally said, answering Sofia¡¯s question. Then the Ochiarans and the Candle Zombies and¡­ They all just moved in to live in this summoned illusion of hers? The palace and the entire jungle will disappear if she leaves?! ¡°I¡­ What about this?¡± Sofia asked, bringing out the book she got from the palace¡¯s library. Velania extended a hand making a slight grabbing motion, the book flew to her hand. She carefully turned it around, opening it and closing it delicately, before sending it flying back to Sofia¡¯s hand. ¡°Looks like Romuald¡¯s handwriting,¡± she concluded. So at least the books are real. Sofia thought with a sigh of relief, storing the book back. ¡°S- Say, Sofia?¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Did you come for the shroud?¡± ¡°Shroud? I came for Sorrow¡¯s divine item, is that the shroud?¡± Velania nodded, ¡°I hope you¡¯ll get it.¡± ¡°So do I, why is it here, though? Can I ask why and how this whole trial came to be, since you¡¯re the one who created it?¡± Valania began to blush again for no apparent reason, one of her cookies flew from the table to her left hand while her other hand still held the blanket close to her chest. ¡°I¡­ This is¡­ Romuald and Death¡¯s hound did almost everything, I just built what they asked¡­¡± Death¡¯s hound? Is the cute dog actually one of Death¡¯s subordinates? How come he said nothing about that when I met him, seems like that would have been important¡­ ¡°That¡¯s not any less impressive. Are you fine with it though? Being stuck here, I mean.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine if it can bring auntie back!¡± Velania said with more energy than she had ever said anything until now, almost shouting. ¡°Sorrow, you mean?¡± It is true that Sorrow is one of the stronger Recessed so by all means she should be powerful enough to¡­ ¡°Wait¡­ Sorrow used to be out here in the physical world? And this can bring her back somehow?!¡± Sofia asked excitedly, leaning forward. Almost instantly Velania started shaking again, hiding behind her blanket. Oh¡­ Sofia did her best to calm her emotions and leaned back into the couch, and this seemed to calm Velania down just enough that she started speaking again. ¡°W- We made this place to make sure the Shroud was safe, and that it would only go to someone who has potential to retrieve the other half¡­¡± she explained, ¡°Auntie cannot come safely without them both, or everything becomes wrong around her¡­¡± ¡°Wrong?¡± ¡°Yes¡­ All wrong¡­ They stop following logic and every outcome becomes bad. Everything that can go wrong goes wrong,¡± Velania clarified with a trembling voice, fear in her eyes. Just like Death coming would make everything wither and die¡­ ¡°I see. Why not get another strong person to retrieve the other divine item, then? Or even do it yourself? You¡¯re a lot stronger than I am.¡± Valania shook her head, her blonde hair swaying revealing more of the scarred half of her face, ¡°It has to be a child of Auntie, and I cannot be one.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t?¡± Sofia asked reflexively. ¡°I never could, my body is¡­¡± Velania started, looking at her scars, she never finished the sentence, leaving the room in an awkward silence. Sofia was trying really hard not to stare at the scars and not to bring them up, as the woman visibly tried to hide them however she could, but it was hard not to look. Not wanting the situation to become any more awkward by asking Velania about what might very well be a touchy subject, Sofia changed the subject back to the divine items. ¡°Alright¡­ Well, I¡¯m willing to try, where is the other half?¡± Velania looked up at Sofia for an instant, her fleeting gaze soon returning to somewhere else. ¡°It was stolen¡­¡± she admitted. ¡°Bad start¡­¡± ¡°We know who has it but we couldn¡¯t get it back¡­ Ackenohh tried but¡­¡± Velania mumbled, her voice dying in her throat. Not wanting to trigger another panic attack by speaking at the wrong time, Sofia said nothing and waited for Velania to find the courage to continue. ¡°The Wheel of Progress is somewhere in the hands of the Fairy king¡­¡± the scarred woman finally said. Sofia recoiled a little bit. Her first impression of fairies and everything associated with them had not been the best. And the second divine item is a relic of Progress? ¡°He¡¯s not going to give it back? How about asking someone for help? I know a lot of strong people that I could try to get involved in this,¡± Sofia said, only to be answered by Velania shaking her head. ¡°That¡¯s no use, the ascended cannot fight for so little¡­ Unless you ask the Kleptra, but then chances are we are not going to get the relic back anyway¡­ Not to mention that it would draw the ire of all fairies¡­¡± Velenia lamented. ¡°So what can we do? The situation sounds pretty hopeless when you put it like this.¡± Velania nodded weakly, ¡°Not all hope is lost but it is dangerous¡­ The fairy king announced we could get it back if Auntie fostered an Apostle more worthy of the Wheel than his own son¡­ As such, here we are¡­¡± Sofia paused a second to take it all in, grabbing another cookie from the table. ¡°I suppose the first step is to get past you. There is no chance I could fight you at my current level so¡­ How are we doing this?¡± Velania grabbed her cup of tea, she had poured it herself earlier with her powers but not touched yet. She gulped it down and stood up, letting her blanket fall to the floor. ¡°You will need to prove your intellect next. We are going to play the fairy death game, Escalation.¡±
Chapter 562 - Painful history ¡°Death game?¡± Sofia repeated, not very enthusiastic at the idea, ¡°One of us has to die here? I would rather not participate, then.¡± ¡°No, I mean, yes, it¡¯s, uh¡­¡± Velania said, flustered by Sofia¡¯s sudden tone change, she took a step back, clumsily stumbling back onto the couch, ¡°D- don¡¯t you have ways to avoid death? I- I can revive you myself if you lose, but you will be stuck like Romuald¡­¡± ¡°Oh¡­ I see, resurrection works? I can do that, yes. Can you also revive yourself?¡± Velania nodded, ¡°My mana just¡­ Re-summons me?¡± she explained, sounding like she didn¡¯t know herself. ¡°Alright then. I will participate if it is like that, but before that, I notice you just said mana? Since you¡¯ve been here for so long wouldn¡¯t you call it lifeforce or something like that?¡± Sofia asked. Velania seemed happy that Sofia wanted to keep going for the divine item after all, but she seemed a bit distraught by Sofia¡¯s new question, she scratched her scarred arm a bit, taking a while to answer. ¡°D- do you have the system too?¡± she finally asked. ¡°Everyone has it,¡± Sofia answered with a shrug. ¡°Oh¡­ Just like Romuald said¡­¡± Velania commented, fiddling with her hair, ¡°It¡­ It was about two hundred years back, I think? It just appeared out of nowhere, magical transparent blue windows and white lines of text, Romuald got it too. It said the ascended had all accepted to start using the system, that it would help us get stronger and teach us more spells, as well as give us a scribble. I don¡¯t really remember all the details¡­¡± Two hundred years?! Her sense of time isn¡¯t a bit off, it''s on another planet. I don¡¯t know if it would be a good idea to tell her now, though¡­ ¡°Scribes are like a magically enhanced part of your brain, the system uses that as a link to teach you the spells and basically everything else,¡± Sofia explained, ¡°Am I right to guess that you have not been using it much?¡± Velania stopped fiddling with her hair and frowned, ¡°Not really¡­ I don¡¯t like it¡­ It calls me mean things.¡± ¡°Wait¡­ Really? Can you show me? Just think about showing me your status and I should be able to see it, just like this,¡± Sofia explained, showing Velania basically her full status page, just censoring her last name. ¡°Scribbles can do that?¡± Velania said, surprised. She looked through Sofia¡¯s status, a look of complete non-understanding on her face, and she looked up at Sofia when she was done. ¡°You don¡¯t have Auntie¡¯s apostle spells?¡± Velania asked, tensing up visibly. ¡°I do, they¡¯re just not shown there. Now that you say it, they probably should be.¡± Velania seemed genuinely relieved by that answer, ¡°Good¡­ Then¡­ I can show you mine too¡­ I-¡± She stopped mid sentence, her mouth agape. She blinked a few times, looking utterly lost. ¡°Say, Sofia¡­¡± she started, taking a short pause, ¡°W- what year is it¡­ Outside?¡± Oh¡­ Yeah I should have thought about that. She must have seen her age¡­ ¡°About that¡­ I wanted to bring it up but¡­ It¡¯s been a bit more than three thousand years since the system was created, that is what we use as the calendar year now¡­¡± ¡°R- Right¡­ I- Sorry¡­ You can look at mine if you want, does that work? I need a moment to¡­¡± Velania said, her voice becoming weaker until it was almost inaudible. Oh, much shorter than I expected. Name : Velania Ibristina Age : 16463 Class : [Corruptor] ? Level : 449 Mana : 553 394 415 / 553 398 455 Main Specialization (Systemless): [Aura body] Signature Skill (Systemless) [Pure mana heart] Mana Heart Abilities (1) [Ancient human sky tier scroll: Overflowing aura] Active Skills (4)This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. [Telekinesis] [Invoked world] [Corruption] [Desecrate] Passive Skills (4) [Brand of Sorrow] [Immutable Corruptor body] [Destroyer] [Meridian cleansing] Classless Skills (5/5) [Cooking] - Level 100 [Frail-minded] - Level 100 [Menial Chores] - Level 100 [Singing] - Level 100 [Architect] - Level 100 Corruptor? No Health nor any stamina? A Destroyer passive skill? [Menial Chores] without stamina? A classless named [Frail-minded]? Just what¡­ I don¡¯t have permission to see the skill descriptions but Mr.Scribe should be able to find the classless at least, can you look up [Frail-Minded]? A few seconds later Mr.Scribe answered her query. [Frail-Minded]: You take 10.4 (10 + 0.4*Skill level)% less damage while unconscious. And she has it at level 100?! Sofia looked up from the description only to see that Velania had fainted again on the couch. ¡°In hindsight, not that surprising¡­¡± I wonder how that stacks with [Sanctity]. Probably multiplicative like everything else, but if it was additive¡­ All saints could be immortal while sleeping, I guess. It¡¯s quite a strong skill, in a way. I wouldn¡¯t be that surprised if someone had a class built entirely around fighting while unconscious. That¡¯s probably a thing, right? Maybe some kind of summoner as well? Sofia stood up to fix Velania¡¯s posture on the couch, covering her with the blanket, then sat back down and ate another cookie, she just had to wait for Velania to wake up by herself, until then she was alone with her thoughts. Sixteen thousand years old¡­ She probably didn¡¯t even realize herself. What an absurd number. Does that make her the oldest non-god person I¡¯ve met, I wonder? She¡¯s older than Grandma Erredis, and Beligenus should be the same generation, but I don¡¯t know about Phillip and Richard¡­ And all the Seraphs. ¡°She took half an hour to wake up last time¡­¡± I¡¯m curious about the mana pulses coming from upstairs every few seconds but it would be impolite to explore the house without permission¡­ Sofia drew a small bone tablet out of her armor and cut it off, writing a message for Velania on it, ¡®I¡¯m out walking around your garden, take all the time you need.¡¯ She placed it against the teapot right in front of Velania where it was impossible to miss, and quietly stepped out. She was almost blinded by the giant lightstone as she stepped out, she could feel the wind and hear the birds singing, unconscious or not, Velania¡¯s magic felt just as real. ¡°Seriously, this is quite something. I wonder¡­¡± Sofia bent over and picked up a green blade of grass. She observed it, finding nothing wrong with it, it did not seem in the least bit magical. It felt and smelled like grass, crushing it between her fingers released the faintest quantity of sticky green sap. Huh? I think I felt the mana rearrange a bit when I crushed it. So it¡¯s really all fake? There was a quick way to find out, Sofia ate what remained of the grass blade, it dissolved into mana in her throat, and tasted like charcoal, as opposed to the warm dirt cookie from earlier. Why is the taste so wrong when everything else is perfect? Sofia walked away from the house, wanting to explore the lakeside. If she had to find one giveaway that this place was actually all a product of Velania¡¯s imagination, there was one thing that stood out upon close investigation; there were no insects. Sofia could hear them, but when she tried to locate the source of the sound, it unnaturally shifted around, or completely disappeared. They sound a bit like the summer leaf-shaped insects we had in Sovuln¡­ Sofia¡¯s stroll took her to a remote corner of the indoor forest, where she found stone fences. Letting her curiosity win, she checked out the structure, and immediately regretted doing so. This was a cemetery. It was pretty empty, with only four tombs and two gravestones. The two gravestones bore familiar names, ¡®Big Brother Vakarian¡¯ and ¡®Cousin Ackenohh¡¯. Cousin Ackenohh¡­ If she calls Sorrow auntie, that would make me, as Sorrow¡¯s daughter, Velania¡¯s cousin. So I assume Ackenohh was the previous Apostle before Ihuarah. And Vakarian, well¡­ What I fought was only an echo alright. Sofia could feel bones buried beneath the dirt, likely genuine, only one skeleton, that of Vakarian himself. It¡¯s tempting but I¡¯m not going to be that kind of necromancer. She wouldn¡¯t have the heart to dig up the remains of someone Velania considered a brother, let alone after the gut punch the names on the four other empty graves inflicted on her. These did not need any explanation. ¡°Vatebian Ibristina. Erikka Ibristina. Olson Ibristina. Lily Ibristina¡­¡± Sofia couldn¡¯t help but envision herself in front of a grave bearing Saria¡¯s name. She suddenly felt a bit sick. I think I still have a few bone flowers from when I was training to make them. After leaving a flower on each grave, Sofia returned to the lake. She completely deactivated her armor, leaving the dragon-scale armguard in the grass next to her, and sat on the border of the lake, her feet in the water. The water was a bit cold, but the radiant light from the lightstone up above felt just like real warm sunlight on her skin. What if I was in her place? I might just lock myself up in a ¡®fake¡¯ world too¡­ Sofia closed her eyes and lost herself in her thoughts.
Chapter 563 - Innocence Sofia didn''t even realize that she let herself fall asleep. She woke up to sounds of melodious humming and splashing water. The source of which was of course the only other person here, Velania, sitting next to her on the border of the lake, her feet rhythmically going in and out of the water as she hummed an unfamiliar tune. For a bit, Sofia decided to stay just like this. However, it was hard to fool the senses of someone so high-level, Velania noticed as soon as she finished her song. ¡°Ah! Sorry, I didn¡¯t want to wake you up¡­¡± Sofia sat up, taking a deep breath of the ambient mana. Velania had changed her clothes, she was wearing a pure white sundress that seemed to sparkle in the light. It left her right arm fully exposed, showing the burn scars that ran down her entire body. ¡°It¡¯s nothing,¡± Sofia waved her concerns away, ¡°I didn¡¯t even mean to fall asleep in the first place¡­¡± ¡°I can relate to that,¡± Velania answered with a giggle, ¡°You look nice like this,¡± she commented on Sofia¡¯s demon form, ¡°a shame to cover it up.¡± ¡°Maybe you¡¯re right. I just feel safer with my armor on,¡± Sofia said without thinking, instinctively reaching out for the piece of armor still laying in the grass between Velania and herself. Oh crap. Her hand stopped just above the dragon-scale armguard. ¡°Was it Romuald who told you?¡± Velania asked, her voice calm and her eyes lost in the distance, ¡°How much do you know?¡± Sofia sighed, ¡°Death¡¯s hound gave me a message from Sorrow the first time you lost consciousness,¡± she admitted, ¡°It didn¡¯t say much, just not to mention a certain topic around you¡­¡± It was Velania¡¯s turn to sigh, ¡°I see. I appreciate your concern, but I shouldn¡¯t be bothering other people with my own issues¡­¡± she said, her right hand fiddling with her hair without much energy. ¡°It¡¯s nothing. If you consider Sorrow your aunt then we¡¯re family, aren¡¯t we?¡± ¡°There¡¯s family and there¡¯s family. Wouldn¡¯t you say?¡± Velania answered with an air of melancholy. Sofia had to think about it for a bit, ¡°Yes and no? My sister Saria is the only close blood-relative I have left, and I love her with all my currently nonexistent heart, but I love the rest of my new family also. There might be a difference between the two but that doesn¡¯t make them any less important. Or did you not mean it when you called Sorrow Auntie?¡± ¡°I did!¡± Velania answered in a heartbeat, rightfully annoyed, before she sighed again, her eyes unfocusing as she stared at the lightstone above. ¡°You¡¯re right¡­ How shameful¡­ I should be the wiser one¡­¡± Sofia couldn¡¯t contain a hearty laugh. ¡°I¡¯m just a bumbling idiot who loves skeletons a bit too much, I simply happen to have a looooot of experience with having an adoptive family.¡± ¡°You shouldn¡¯t insult yourself like this,¡± Velania retorted, ¡°I¡¯m glad you seem pretty smart. Much smarter than I was at your age¡­ You¡¯re going to need it for the Escalation game. I¡¯ll be sad if you lose.¡± ¡°Right, we need to do this. I¡¯m ready whenever.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you want a helper?¡± Velania asked curiously. ¡°Not if having one more person around is going to make you stress out more.¡± ¡°I will be alright,¡± Velania answered, resolutely clenching her fist. ¡°J- Just¡­ Mind telling me what they are like first?¡± ¡°Hmmm¡­ Everelle is¡­ Special. Do you know about summoned heroes?¡± Sofia took Velania¡¯s following silence for a no. ¡°She¡¯s a human from a different world. The system has been summoning them with the help of the Gods. It¡¯s a bit of a complex topic¡­¡± ¡°A different world¡­ Hmm¡­ Like this one?¡± Velania asked, as the surroundings changed from day to night in the blink of an eye, the lake, forest and mansion disappeared, and in their place rose a golden wheat field, battered by strong but silent winds, and in which a small clearing had been made where Sofia and Velania were. The only part of the surroundings that was unchanged was the cemetery¡¯s thicket in the distance, and in the black sky dotted with numerous stars, a huge blue planet was slowly moving. Is that Arssovax? Woah¡­ It takes up half the sky¡­ ¡°Is this a sight from your memory?¡± Sofia couldn¡¯t help but ask as she felt herself being slowly pulled away from the ground. ¡°A scene from my childhood,¡± Velania answered, her eyes fixed at the sky. ¡°I didn¡¯t remember it was so beautiful¡­¡± she mumbled, overwhelmed by a sudden wave of nostalgia. ¡°It really is¡­¡± Sofia said, unable to look away from the two swirling vortexes in the layers of blue clouds completely covering the giant planet. By now both Velania and herself were already floating a dozen of centimeters off from the ground, and they were being pulled even more strongly as the blue planet came closer to the center of the sky.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. The scene suddenly changed back to the calm lake, though it was now night, the two women landed in the grass with a thud. ¡°Ahahah¡­ That was a bit too mana-expensive¡­¡± Velania said with embarrassment. ¡°That was insane. Your magic is incredible,¡± Sofia said, replaying the scene in her mind. The wheat field seemed infinite and so did the sky and its millions of stars. That such a scene could be recreated, even in an illusion of sorts, was mind-boggling even for someone who had experienced one of Joah¡¯s virtual worlds firsthand. That made Velania smile a bit but she said nothing, so Sofia took the occasion to answer her previous question. ¡°It¡¯s not quite the same. From what I understand, her planet should be one that¡¯s so far away we cannot even see it in the sky. It¡¯s honestly a mystery how we manage to summon them here, and it¡¯s a one way trip. No hero ever managed to return to their world, as far as I know, not even the creator of the system.¡± ¡°The person who made the system is from another world?!¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ As thanks for showing me this, let me get you up to speed on what has happened in the outside world since you locked yourself in here. Where do I start¡­ Ever heard of the Higher Races war?¡±
About two days later, in the back garden of Velania¡¯s mansion, Everelle was sharing dungeon-exploration tips with Sofia. Velania finally came running out of the mansion¡¯s back door, carrying a large crystal ball, some kind of red cushion, and a clinking pouch. ¡°I got everything!¡± she triumphantly announced, as the peaceful scenery instantly changed to a vast empty white room. I don¡¯t even understand what¡¯s real anymore¡­ ¡°Are we finally allowed to hear the rules?¡± Everelle asked. ¡°Yes, yes, just let me set things up and we can start any moment. You both do have your death protection spells ready, right?¡± Sofia and Everelle nodded. ¡°Alright, it won¡¯t take long.¡± A strange runic pedestal appeared out of nowhere. Bookie would recognize the pedestal from his market trial, had he been there; Velania placed the red cushion on top and the iridescent crystal ball over it. She then opened the pouch, and a wave of mana gushed out of it, Velania pulled out a handful of small blue rocks out of it, and with her telekinesis power, spread them out to the borders of the white room. Concentrated mana rocks for rituals? ¡°These will power the shield,¡± she explained without more detail as she closed the pouch and made it disappear into thin air, despite not owning any storage item. She then touched the crystal ball, as if trying to see if it was going to wake up and bite her. Of course nothing happened. ¡°Everything seems in order,¡± she said, ¡°Hopefully you win, if only so that I don¡¯t have to spend another six thousand years powering this thing up¡­¡± That got a concerned look out of Sofia and Everelle both, but Velania just kept going at her own pace. ¡°T- The rules, then¡­ It¡¯s really pretty simple, especially now with the system, Romulad was able to improve the design and¡­ Well, so. Escalation is a game where the first to die loses. There are two ways to die, either you die because of what happens in the arena, or you die if you get five curse marks,¡± Velania explained, marking a pause as if she was trying to remember the rest of the rules. ¡°I¡¯ll never not be surprised that the fairies in this world are so savage compared to the ones we had in fiction¡­¡± Everelle commented. ¡°I¡¯m more surprised that you had Fairies and Flying lizards in your fictions but no Kleptras,¡± Sofia quipped back, avoiding the D word for Velania¡¯s sake. ¡°We don¡¯t really like insects,¡± Everell answered with a shrug. Velania continued without paying any mind to their interruption, ¡°The game goes like this, when it¡¯s your turn, you put your hand on the ball and say a word, then it appears in the arena. For example, if I were to say water, something like this might happen,¡± she said, as the floor of the room was suddenly covered in a thin layer of water. ¡°What if you don¡¯t know what the word I¡¯m saying means?¡± Everelle asked. ¡°The artifact will be pulling the information from your memory if necessary, so it should work,¡± Velania explained. ¡°So that¡¯s the basic principle, we take turns making things appear, and try to kill each other with it, but we are forbidden from attacking each other directly, we can only use the words, and in an indirect way. If I say sword, for example, I won¡¯t be able to pick it up to attack you. But you can use your magic to defend yourself from the arena.¡± ¡°How does it work since we¡¯re two on the same team, we get two turns?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°No, you are functionally one challenger, so you share the curse marks, though if one of you dies from the arena, the other can keep going. The other limitation is, since you are a guest, Everelle, you can only give three words throughout the game.¡± ¡°Three words¡­ Well, I can work with that. I¡¯ll give you three words you won¡¯t forget.¡± Velania smiled, ¡°This will be fun!¡± She paused for a second. ¡°Alright, we have almost all the rules, except for the actual escalation part. The game always starts with the word ¡®Hydrogen¡¯, because it is the cheapest and only stable thing you can make with mana. Although a lot will appear, the mana cost will be counted for one unit, so for Hydrogen it¡¯s probably like 0.1 mana or something like that? When I learned the game we didn¡¯t have such precise measurements, but the artifact knows. Like if you say water it will count the mana for one drop, if you say ocean, since it¡¯s a wider concept, it will count the mana for the minimum amount of water to make the ocean you envision in your head. Then the other person has to say a word that costs more but not more than double the cost, within a time limit of sixty seconds. And we just take turns like that! That¡¯s it!¡± ¡°What if the word we say costs less than the previous one or more than double?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°That¡¯s how you get a curse mark!¡± Velania answered, before she made the water in the arena disappear. ¡°You also get one if you fail to provide a word in the sixty seconds, in both cases it becomes the other side¡¯s turn again. That¡¯s all the rules. Any questions?¡± ¡°Can we make living things appear?¡± Everelle asked. ¡°Not a specific person or creature, but anything that exists or has existed. You can ask for a human but not for a Velania,¡± Velania answered, nodding to herself. Sofia thought that she seemed pretty excited to play. ¡°Fairy custom is that the challenger gets the first round,¡± she finished. ¡°Wait,¡± Everelle said, raising a hand. ¡°Now that we know all the rules, can I have a quick talk with Sofia in private before the game begins?¡± ¡°Of course,¡± Velania approved right away.
After a short conversation with Everlle, she and Sofia came back. Sofia confirmed with Velania that she was also ready to start, then she walked up to the pedestal, put her hand on the crystal ball artifact, getting a feel of the reality-bending amount of mana compressed inside. ¡°Hydrogen!¡±
Chapter 564 - Warmup Cursive illusory letters appeared above the orb. Hydrogen. After a short silence, a clear ¡®ding¡¯ echoed as if someone had flicked a bell, and a series of numbers appeared. 0.1 That must be the mana cost¡­ ¡°Is it not working?¡± she asked, not feeling any change. ¡°No it probably is,¡± Everelle answered. ¡°Hydrogen is an invisible gas. Can¡¯t even smell it. It¡¯s very explosive, though.¡± Velania just nodded at the knowledge she already had. ¡°It¡¯s working perfectly! Any other questions before I go? You have a minute.¡± ¡°I have two, actually,¡± Everelle said, ¡°does it have to be a ¡®one word¡¯ word? And is there no no-repeat rule?¡± ¡°Usually any concept up to three words is fine, four is pushing it,¡± Velania answered, ¡°and the mana costs are based on both your understanding of the thing you summon and the actual energy needed to summon it, so while you can try to repeat a word, it probably will be the same mana cost both times. All good? My turn!¡± Sofia had already retracted her hand to let Velania put hers on the orb. ¡°Deuterium!¡± The same process repeated, and a value appeared with a ding. ¡®Deuterium; 0.15¡¯ Again, although the word seemed to be valid, nothing obvious happened. Another invisible gas? Everelle mumbled from the side, ¡°No dihydrogen then¡­ Values work about how I guessed, I¡¯m surprised they aren¡¯t much smaller¡­ I thought the energy conversion was much better than that¡­¡± She looked at Velania and spoke up, ¡°You already know exactly what you¡¯re going to play for several rounds, don¡¯t you?¡± Velania did not answer, simply flashing her a cute smile. I would probably already be getting a curse mark if not for Everelle¡­ This game isn¡¯t all that fair when one side already has the information they need. If you¡¯ve already played you have a huge advantage¡­ Luckily, Sofia had an advantage of her own, and though Everelle could only give three words by herself, she was still allowed to talk to Sofia the rest of the time as long as she did not give a word. Evidently, then, the best strategy was to cheat. ¡°Sofia, go with list 3,¡± Everelle said after some consideration, seconds before the timer ran out. ¡°Got it,¡± Sofia quickly said, placing her hand on the orb. List 3¡­ ¡°Helium three,¡± Sofia recited from memory, having absolutely no idea what the thing was, but guessing it had to be another gas. *Ding* ¡®Helium-3; 0.25¡¯ As soon as Sofia took her hand off, Velania got her next word in. ¡°Flash!¡± Flash? How do you even assign that a value? Is it arbitrary? Depending on how bright it is? With a ding, the orb shone green for an instant, producing a brief flash of light. ¡®Flash; 0.5¡¯ ¡°Shit¡­ Of course that could work¡­¡± Everelle said from the side, sounding a slight bit worried, ¡°No matter¡­ Continue with list three for now.¡± Sofia nodded and gave the next word on the list, this one she knew of. ¡°Carbon.¡± ¡®Carbon; 0.9¡¯ It seemed the orb pulled the image directly out of Sofia¡¯s head, as the surrounding floor was instantly covered in a thin layer of black dust, like the Erredian rot usually left behind. ¡°T- This one normally just makes coal¡­¡± Velania commented, surprised by the appearance of the carbon dust. ¡°I¡¯m more used to it in this form,¡± Sofia answered with a shrug.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. ¡°Alright¡­ Well. The real game starts later¡­¡± Velania said, preparing for her next word; ¡°Oxygen.¡± ¡®Oxygen; 1.2¡¯ ¡°We¡¯re just setting things up for this room to go up in flames at this point¡­¡± Everelle said from the side as more invisible gas filled the room, visibly pushing the carbon dust around. ¡°That¡¯s the idea,¡± Velania admitted with a nod. ¡°Should you really admit to that?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°No point in hiding it if you already know. I expected that you would get a few cursemarks from the beginning but I¡¯m happy it''s not the case.¡± ¡°We have my college degree to thank for that,¡± Everelle commented, ¡°but I feel like the usefulness of that is about to run out. Still surprised that these things aren''t censored. Switch to list 4.¡± ¡°Aluminum,¡± Sofia said next, prompting a tall stack of shiny gray metal ingots to appear next to her. ¡®Aluminum; 2¡¯ ¡°Titanium!¡± Velania immediately continued, making a similar, if slightly less shiny, stack of ingots appear on her side. ¡®Titanium; 3.5¡¯ ¡°Did you not say censoring was mostly for historical things?¡± Velania then asked Everelle. ¡°Anything having to do with ¡®advanced¡¯ science is usually quick to get caught by the filter as well,¡± she answered. ¡°Really? But advanced science is quite common, no?¡± Velania asked with incomprehension, ¡°Is the elemental table really considered advanced science?¡± The elemental table? She says that like it¡¯s common knowledge but I¡¯ve never even heard about it? ¡°As I thought you know the periodic table¡­¡± Everelle replied, ¡°And to think It got censored the two times I tried to bring it up before¡­ As you can guess it¡¯s not really something that¡¯s being taught at all these days.¡± ¡°Are there no elven academies everywhere anymore?¡± Velania then asked. ¡°There are academies, but no elven academies as far as I know,¡± Sofia answered, ¡°They teach almost exclusively magic and related knowledge fields. Though I do know elves used to have more different technology using electricity, but they also pretty much just use magic now,¡± she said, before going on to the next word on list 4, since Everelle hadn¡¯t told her to change, ¡°Zirconium.¡± Cutting it close on the timer. More ingots? ¡®Zirconium; 6.5¡¯ More ingots. For a game this isn¡¯t all that fun so far. But I guess if the fairies know they¡¯re going to be playing it, these first rounds would go super fast. I would truly be lost without Everelle¡­ I¡¯ll really need to thank Cinthia for her recommendations... ¡°They gave up on it?¡± Velania asked, seeming quite sad about the idea, ¡°I really liked the elven cities¡­ All the colored lights and the tall buildings¡­¡± She stopped to think for a few seconds, ¡°I think last time I visited their discovery museum they were experimenting with making some kind of tube with coils of tungsten.¡± She had quickly placed her hand on the orb before saying the last word. ¡®Tungsten; 12.9¡¯ A pile of silvery wire coils appeared next to the titanium ingots, Velania bent over to pick one and show it to Sofia and Everelle, ¡°Just like this!¡± ¡°The elves were making CRTs?!¡± Everelle finally realized. ¡°What I wouldn¡¯t give for a working TV right about now¡­¡± ¡°TV? CRT?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know either,¡± Velania said. ¡°Wait, none of this got censored?¡± Everelle said, having a hard time to believe it. ¡°The system must be really fried, I won¡¯t complain about it, though, give me a damn tv! I want to watch ***** again!¡± ¡°Oh, you got censored a bit there, I think,¡± Velania noted. ¡°So it¡¯s not completely broken¡­ Also you can keep going down the list Sofia, though we¡¯re at the end of it¡­¡± ¡°That won¡¯t be an issue, we are already at amounts of mana that I can properly visualize, I could play normally I think. No reason not to take the free round, though; Bismuth.¡± ¡®Bismuth; 14.6¡¯ A small pile of strangely-shaped colorful rocks appeared on the ground. ¡°Woah!¡± Velania said in shock, ¡°So pretty! How come the bismuth I summon is all gray and sad?¡± ¡°You need to melt it down and pull out crystals as it starts to cool down,¡± Everelle explained, ¡°Now are we starting the real game, or are you going to pull out the radioactive elements?¡± ¡°Radioactive?¡± Sofia repeated, completely lost. ¡°We¡¯re starting the real game,¡± Velania confirmed with a nod and a small smirk. She raised her normal hand and placed her scarred hand on the orb, ¡°Spark.¡± ¡®Spark; 20¡¯ A ball of electrical sparks formed in her left hand, the air seemed to catch flame like an oil-soaked paper, and the room was engulfed in a gigantic explosion. Sofia was surprised, but she was also unscathed. The explosion was strong enough to reduce any normal human to a burned crisp, but it was too weak to even get past [Dodge - me] distortion field. The flames and shockwave just curved around Sofia, only the heat could reach her, and it was barely hot enough to mention. Is Everelle good? When the explosion died down, Everelle was covered by a pitch-black ball, while Velania was just standing where she had been, busy trying to cover the scarred half of her face back with the hair that the explosion¡¯s blast had pushed away. The ball around Everelle then deflated and moved away, revealing that it had just been a sunless drone acting as a shield. ¡°Well, Sofia, all yours now. The scaling from here on out is a bit weird, judging from the sparks, I have honestly no idea how it will work. I¡¯ll keep my fun words for the end game if we get there,¡± the Sunless hero said, a smile in her voice. ¡°Fine with me, we still have no curse mark so I don¡¯t doubt we¡¯ll get there. Let¡¯s see, more than twenty mana, forty at most¡­¡± I could take a page from Erian¡¯s skill book? Speaking of, I should maybe go and fix his and everyone else¡¯s memory after this. Alright. If I remember the mana cost correctly¡­ ¡°Bear trap.¡± ¡®Bear trap; 30¡¯ Hundreds of armed bear traps appeared all over the ground, some of them flat on the floor, some of them haphazardly placed on the ingots and debris that littered the whole room after the previous explosion. ¡°Careful where you step,¡± Sofia said to Velania, ¡°Your turn.¡±
Chapter 565 - A hero with a plan ¡°The energy to mass conversion is really completely screwed¡­¡± Everelle commented while Velania thought about her next word. ¡°From what I know my angel bolts are basically one of the most efficient mana to energy conversion,¡± Sofia remarqued, ¡°so not all magic is made equal, I guess?¡± ¡°Right¡­ I¡¯m going to need to do some math¡­¡± Velania interrupted the discussion with her next word, ¡°Armchair!¡± ¡®Armchair; 58¡¯ A circle of twelve armchairs appeared, spaced evenly around the orb, some of them landing on and activating bear traps with loud bangs. ¡°Why chairs?¡± Sofia asked. Velania giggled, ¡°I wanted to sit down for a bit and it¡¯s the right amount of mana.¡± ¡°You won¡¯t be able to sit for long I think, I got a few rounds figured out already,¡± Sofia proudly said, putting her hand on the orb, ¡°Red sand.¡± I still don¡¯t get how to make spatial storage items with it, but I know one grain can absorb a hundred points of mana, so... Sofia had a moment of doubt, but her word was accepted. ¡®Red Sand; 100¡¯ The white room instantly became a red desert, with several meters of sand gushing from the ground, pushing everything up, from the armchairs to the orb on its pedestal. ¡°Oh! The red sand! Some people used to make anti-spying glass with it,¡± Velania commented, ¡°I think they stopped using it because the glass always came out blue and that made the house interior all monochrome from the blue light.¡± ¡°We use it to make the storage items now,¡± Sofia explained, she had shown her storage ring to Velania the day before so she knew what that was about. ¡°Well, I should keep going. For your information, the traditional Escalation games actually tend to end pretty early, because both sides know what they are doing. But I really only played once with Romuald so¡­ We¡¯ll see how much we can push it! For now¡­ Nebulene!¡± Hey I know this! ¡®Nebulene; 186¡¯ As Sofia expected, a thin cloud of green gas appeared around the group, engulfing everyone. This was one of the neurotoxins Sofia had considered using for VPPV leveling, actually the defense mechanism of a magical plant. She never actually ended up finding a supplier for it before the leveling was over. Velania looked at Sofia then at Everelle, ¡°You are both unaffected?¡± ¡°We both aren¡¯t exactly human anymore,¡± Everelle pointed out. ¡°I- I know but still. The anatomy of the Apostle¡­¡± ¡°As you can see with the horns, my anatomy isn¡¯t exactly what it used to be. And for this round¡­ Velania cookies!¡± ¡°W- what?!¡± ¡®Velania cookies; 363¡¯ Golden cookies started falling from the sky. ¡°I was paying close attention when I tried it, so I kind of just memorized the mana contents. I thought it was closer to 310, but this works, so all good,¡± Sofia said, grabbing one of the falling cookies as many of them fell into the red sand. Velania seemed to blush a little, contrary to Sofia she did not touch the cookies. Everelle grabbed a cookie and consumed it. ¡°Puah! What the fuck?! Are they packed with soil?!¡± she complained, spitting crumbs out, making coughing sounds. She did not even have a proper mouth to begin with, so it was a wonder how she could make anything go in or out of her complete pitch-black oil-like body, let alone cough somehow. Velania blushed even more. ¡°Y- You shouldn¡¯t eat them¡­¡± ¡°Someone could have warned me earlier,¡± Everelle scoffed, clearly turning in Sofia¡¯s direction, her ¡®hands¡¯ on her ¡®hips¡¯.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°It¡¯s not that bad,¡± Sofia said, throwing the entire cookie in her demonic mouth and chewing a bit. ¡°I mean¡­ It does taste like dirt, but who¡¯s never eaten a little dirt when they were young?¡± Sofia realized that she had said something strange when her remark was followed by an awkward silence. ¡°Well¡­ I was an orphan so¡­ You know¡­ You do what you¡­¡± ¡°Uwah, the time!¡± Velania said, jumping from her armchair, she touched the orb, ¡°Arrenham¡¯s Shackles!¡± ¡®Arrenham¡¯s Shackles; 700¡¯ The mana around the ground became all clumpy and sticky, and Velania explained with enthusiasm that this was a slowing curse developed by the necromancer who helped Ackenohh with his Apostle ritual. At the mention of the previous apostle, her enthusiasm disappeared as fast as it had come. Sofia tried to prevent the mood from souring by quickly continuing the game with one of Alith¡¯s skills as her next word. ¡°Lady double.¡± ¡®Lady Double; 1000¡¯ A second Sofia appeared next to her, and started running away in a random direction. ¡°There goes the second me¡­¡± As Sofia and Everelle were busy looking at the clone running away, Velania promptly decided to play her next word. ¡°Freezing fog.¡± ¡®Freezing fog; 2000¡¯ A glacial fog covered the surroundings in an instant, and, reacting with the strange curse formations of Arrenham¡¯s shackles through some weird interaction, it started snowing. The snow still had the sticky properties of the curse, and it quickly started accumulating on Sofia and everelle. Sofia tried to swipe the snow off from her face only to find it stuck to her hand instead, meanwhile, Velania seemed protected by an invisible shield. ¡°That might be a bit annoying¡­ Do I have some kind of fire spell for 4000¡­ Oh wait no I know just the thing. Curse ward.¡± ¡®Curse Ward; 3500¡¯ The ritual manifested as a large engraved bone-slate Sofia quickly fed it some mana and the cursed snow started melting away instantly. ¡°What are these runes?¡± Velania asked, pointing at the ritual circle, ¡°A new language?¡± ¡°Avian runic system, about four thousand years old I think,¡± Sofia answered, ¡°A lot easier to read than the old runes.¡± ¡°I can see that. I-... I would love to learn more about that later, if you can teach me.¡± ¡°Pretty sure I still have a few books about it somewhere in my storage ring, I don¡¯t mind letting you have them,¡± Sofia offered, ¡°What¡¯s your next move?¡± ¡°I would really appreciate that. Then¡­ Underworld water.¡± I¡¯m immune to cold damage, is she trying to turn me into an ice block? ¡®Underworld water; 6000¡¯ The water came like a wave, a torrent gushing through the snow and sand, creating a wild flowing river on the right side of the terrain, taking a few armchairs with it. It seemed to react strongly with the freezing fog, as stalagmites of ice instantly started to form everywhere. Sofia had to move around to avoid getting impaled by the stalagmites forming directly under her, but everything around her was starting to turn to ice. The battlefield had changed to an icy hellscape in just a few seconds, and Sofia had lost sight of Everelle and Velania. The orb hasn¡¯t moved. Since it was only a few meters away, Sofia punched the walls of ice forming in front of her. She couldn¡¯t attack Velania but attacking the summoned objects wasn¡¯t a violation of the rules. She quickly tore a path through the ice and reached for the orb. ¡°Angel bolt.¡± ¡®Angel bolt ; 10 000¡¯ It only took a second for the crackling of thunder to echo from above. The game room was then completely drowned in countless explosions as the bolts rained. These were 10k mana explosions, too weak to harm anyone present in the room, but strong enough to completely get rid of the ice and most other things. About twenty seconds later, when the explosions died down, all that was left were the three women, the orb on its pedestal, the underworld water torrent to the side, and the red sand partially turned to blue glass on the ground. ¡°I suppose ice was no good¡­¡± Velania commented. ¡°That was already quite something for the amount of mana we¡¯re working with,¡± Everelle said, sitting down in the sand full of glass shards, ¡°Let me get my first word in next, Sofia.¡± ¡°Plan hasn¡¯t changed?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°Nope, still the same, will depend on the results of that first word.¡± ¡°I wonder what you have in mind that could stop me,¡± Velania said, ¡°but good luck.¡± She then walked up to the orb once more, ¡°Soulfire.¡± ¡®Soulfire; 20 000¡¯ Though nothing appeared, Sofia soon started to feel a bit hot. ¡°Ugh, this feels like having a fever, this sucks,¡± Everelle complained. ¡°Sorry¡­¡± Velania apologized, scratching her scarred arm. ¡°I¡¯m not really taking any damage though,¡± Sofia noted. ¡°Me neither but it¡¯s still uncomfortable. Well, whatever, this is nothing compared to¡­ Ugh, shitty memories. Anyway¡­ Time for my first of three words,¡± Everelle continued, standing up, she walked up to the orb, ¡°Operator terminal.¡± ¡®Operator terminal; 35942¡¯ Dozens of book-sized metallic slabs fell from above, most of them crashing into the sand, some into the nearby river, each of the three women caught one. One side of the slab lit up on contact with Sofia¡¯s hand, sucking in some of her mana. A few words appeared on the slab¡¯s lit surface. [Please enter login info: ]
Chapter 566 - The blossom priestess ¡°W- What are these?¡± Velania asked, turning the tablet in her hands, observing all sides. ¡°I used to be a system employee,¡± Everelle answered, ¡°this is one of the tools we had access to. Good chance I could still have access because my contract was cut short before the account expiration¡­ Bingo!¡± Meanwhile the words on the tablet in Sofia and Velania¡¯s hands changed after a few seconds. [Unauthorized user detected.] [Please leave this item where you found it. An agent will be dispatched for retrieval.] [Error] [Couldn¡¯t reach main:HANDLER] [Trying again in 30s] ¡°Oh shit,¡± Everelle said after fiddling with her tablet for a bit, ¡°Agh, I should have known that much neutronium would be too expensive¡­ Sofia¡­ My words will be a bit more expensive than I thought¡­ You need to hold for another¡­ fifteen to twenty rounds?¡± ¡°Fifteen to twenty¡­¡± Sofia started calculating but Velania was faster. ¡°You have plans for things worth several billion points?¡±she asked in disbelief, her eyes wide open. ¡°Well, we are trying to kill you here. To be fair, I¡¯m the first surprised to see that my world¡¯s technology is valued so highly. I have to thank the censor for being so lax lately, I could never look these things up when I was still an official employee¡­¡± ¡°I- I don¡¯t think you will last until there¡­¡± Velania said, sounding conflicted about potentially winning. ¡°I still have a few things up my sleeves¡­ But I¡¯m not that confident either,¡± Sofia admitted to Everelle, ¡°I¡¯ll try, but if we get to four cursemarks, maybe you should take over immediately with weaker things.¡± ¡°I believe in you¡± Everelle said with a thumbs up before taking some distance and sitting in the sand again, eyes fixated on her Operator terminal. The timer was about to hit one minute again, so Velania panickedly slapped her hand against the orb, ¡°Withering wave!¡± The orb started glowing purple. ¡®Withering wave; 69 420¡¯ I have a bad feeling about this one. Sofia¡¯s intuition was proven right, as she immediately felt the internal pull on her soul from [Heat Death], warning her that this was going to inflict her actual damage. Taking a split second decision, Sofia dispelled the attack as it left the orb. ¡°Heh?!¡± Velania reacted as her word failed to manifest. ¡°You had a dispel ability all this time?!¡± ¡°I never really needed to use it so far,¡± Sofia answered. Meanwhile, Everelle was having a giggling fit from the side for no apparent reason. Sofia decided to ignore it, ¡°My turn now; the sand is still around so¡­ Solar Sandworm Skeleton!¡± ¡®Solar Sandworm Skeleton; 100 000¡¯ Several skeletal sandworms appeared underground in the sand, causing the battle room to shake. Velania was the only one with blood and a heartbeat, she would be the sandworms¡¯ instinctive target. A total of eight gigantic sandworms emerged from the sand, flying into the air, some fired energy beams at Velania while others charged in her direction. Velania raised a hand and the sandworms were all reduced to bone dust, falling and mixing with the red sand. Sofia¡¯s extended hand caught some of the finely pulverized bone powder as it fell, ¡°I don¡¯t know what I expected¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m not the best fighter but¡­,¡± Velania started, fumbling and failing to finish her sentence, ¡°I¡¯ll give you a free round too!¡± she finally decided. ¡°Artificial sky!¡±Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. ¡®Artificial sky; 200 000¡¯ The drab white walls and the ceiling up above disappeared to show instead an illusion of a clear blue sky. ¡°Thank you but you don¡¯t have to, I¡¯ll admit I¡¯m a bit at a loss as to what to summon aside from Skeletons from now on, this is quickly getting to amounts of mana I¡¯m not too used to dealing with yet¡­¡± ¡°W- Well¡­ I have to keep trying to win anyway, so I hope you will forgive me¡­¡± ¡°Do what you must. I¡¯m ready,¡± Sofia confidently reassured Velania, although she wasn¡¯t all that confident that she could actually survive long enough for Everelle to step in. At least she reassured herself with the fact that they had managed to avoid getting any cursemark yet. ¡°Then next, 300 000¡­ How about¡­ Emperor Pearled Snake.¡± ¡®Emperor Pearled Snake; 389 856¡¯ Oh crap, because it¡¯s not the skeleton version it costs a lot more. Still god but that could have been a cursemark if it was just a bit more off¡­ A single giant Snake appeared in the room, about thirty meters away from the group and the orb, it looked around, seemingly lost, its head stopping in the direction of Velania, before it turned around and darted away, slithering on the red sand as fast as it could, soon getting blocked by the border of the room several hundred meters away. Understandable¡­ ¡°A- am I that scary?¡± Velania asked, sounding like she was on the border of tears. ¡°I think your mana scared it more than anything else,¡± Sofia said. ¡°Animals have a way of respecting the strong.¡± Velania frowned a bit, pouting ,¡±I suppose it¡¯s correct to be scared. Sorrowful Meteor.¡± ¡®Sorrowful Meteor; 612 455¡¯ Ah shit. Is that Vakarian¡¯s attack?! ¡°Everelle, don¡¯t move,¡± Sofia called out, using [Summon self] to teleport next to her. A dozen huge flaming meteorites appeared high in the fake sky. ¡°I was curious about how you defended against this,¡± Velania commented from her side, unbothered by the incoming attacks. Sofia didn¡¯t really have time to answer, and just crouched down then summoned the Asterite chest upside down and already opened above Everelle and herself, creating a last second protection. The meteorites crashed down, and Everelle morphed her Sunless body to stick to the chest and prevent it from being blown away from them. ¡°GOOD THINKING!¡± she told Sofia through the attack, screaming yet still being barely audible over the explosive sound of the meteorites striking the red sand battlefield one after the other. The meteorites stopped, and the Asterite chest was pulled away before Sofia could retrieve it. There was no more red sand, only a large crater of blue glass with the orb on its small pedestal at the very bottom. ¡°I¡¯ll be keeping this until the end of the game,¡± Velanie said with a wink, making the Asterite chest fly far up in the sky with her telekinesis. ¡°This makes it the second time this thing gets stolen this week,¡± Sofia answered with a suppressed laugh. ¡°Fair, no rule against that. And with that we¡¯ve reached the million. I¡¯m starting to run out of things to summon¡­¡± With a jump, Sofia landed down near the orb at the bottom of the crater. ¡°How about¡­ Elemental Skeleton Destroyer.¡± ¡®Elemental Skeleton Destroyer; 1 000 000¡¯ Which one is it gonna be? Wondering what exactly she had just summoned, Sofia [Regret]ed back to Everelle¡¯s side. The undead summon would be reluctant to target her due to [Runeforged Overlord], but Everelle had no such protection, so by doing this Sofia ensured that Velania would be targeted. Mana left the orb in droves, collapsing into five points all around the gigantic battle room. Not one destroyer, the orb had summoned all five. Five titanic skeletal Kidjikkik destroyers, one made of yellowed bones, one made of pure white light, one of rampaging blue electricity, one of swirling red blood and one of gray ghostly flames. They roared as they appeared upright in the room kike five pillars holding the heavens. I feel no link to them. Definitely not the real ones. Sofia barely had the time to think before the Destroyers attacked Velania with full strength. The bone destroyer crashed down for a physical attack while the other four unleashed a deafening flurry of elemental attacks from all directions. Velania stood still in the middle of it all, although impressive, these attacks were still, after all, only worth a combined total of five million mana, less than a percent of what she herself had at her disposal. Velania raised a hand. For the first time since the beginning of the game, she felt the need to really defend herself. Everything around Velania stopped. The destroyers, their magic, the sound, the shaking, the heat, it all froze as if held in place by her frail scarred hand. Her mana! It¡¯s covering everything! Velania closed her hand. Starting from her closed fist, a strange wave of mana expanded, it looked wrong in a way that Sofia couldn¡¯t quite describe. Everything that had been covered in Velania¡¯s mana instantly turned into countless white flower petals. Nothing was left of the destroyers or their spells but flower petals raining on the battlefield. This game is unwinnable¡­ Everelle simply nodded at the sight, her arms crossed. ¡°I¡¯m really going to have to bring out the big guns¡­ I¡¯m going to need you to protect me from my next summon¡­¡± she told Sofia.
Chapter 567 - Time is running out Velania walked among the falling petals. Her hand on the orb, she continued the game, ¡°Sanctuary of Peace.¡± ¡®Sanctuary of Peace; 1 959 862¡¯ This one doesn¡¯t sound too bad. If it¡¯s Peace like the god, though¡­ Should I worry about my face getting stolen? The word resolved and Sofia felt the magic spreading from the orb like a wave. No damage¡­ What does this do? There was no obvious effect, the magic hanging in the air was barely visible, and it wasn¡¯t any type of curse. Sofia walked up to the orb, thinking about what to summon next. Placing her hand on the artifact, she spoke up. No sound came from her mouth. Oh. Yeah, of course. That¡¯s one way to make me lose the game¡­ I could dispel that with the ring of Zar, but should I? If I still need to survive another five to ten words from her before Everelle can summon her things, the lethality of Velania¡¯s words is only going to go up¡­ Maybe it¡¯s best to just wait this one out and get our first curse mark? Judging from the speed it¡¯s fading at, the Sanctuary of Peace has maybe another seventy seconds of mana left? Yeah, let''s just wait. Velania just waited on the other side of the orb, a faint smile on her face. It seemed she wasn¡¯t able to speak either. Everelle came near Sofia, trying to understand the situation, and the round eventually ended after a silent exchange of shrugs and hand signs. Purple marks explosively grew on Sofia and Everelle¡¯s left arm as the minute ended. So that¡¯s the curse mark. Doesn¡¯t even hurt. With a snap of her fingers, Velania dispelled the silencing sanctuary of Peace. ¡°D- did you really have no way to dispel that?¡± she asked. ¡°I have a few ways but it would either take longer than a minute or use up ressources I¡¯m keeping for later,¡± Sofia explained, ¡°Might as well just take the curse mark and see what you have next.¡± ¡°I- I see¡­ This next one is a bit strange, so¡­ I apologize¡­ Vortician Plague.¡± ¡®Vortician plague; 3 906 250¡¯ Cursed mana erupted from the artifact like a fountain, spraying everyone and everything nearby, except for Sofia, as the cursed mana just curved around her, shoved away by [Dodge - me]. This works with curses? Actually, this works now? It feels like this damn thing never actually works except when I expect it the least. Everelle wasn¡¯t as lucky, the curse took over her body in a matter of seconds. She fell to her knees, her body trembling. ¡°Are you going to be alright?!¡± Sofia asked, uncertain of what to do. She couldn¡¯t touch Everelle or she would catch the curse too. ¡°Ugh, I¡¯m not dying from this but¡­¡± As Everelle answered, her upper body suddenly spun around, twisting her waist for a full ten turns like a corkscrew. ¡°Everelle?!¡± ¡°S- Stay away, I¡¯m good,¡± she answered, her waist expanding like a liquid to regain its natural proportions, ¡°The Sunless body is stronger th-¡­¡± she was cut mid sentence by the sudden twisting of her neck, followed by her four limbs. Her body now resembled an assortment of springs stuck to a black torso. Sofia gulped, I don¡¯t want to imagine what that would do to a human body. Velania on the other side had also been hit by the curse, but her reaction to it was a lot tamer, with only her head continuously turning right by itself, which she prevented from going too far by holding it with both of her hands. Everelle¡¯s body collapsed and turned into a steaming oily black puddle with a bunch of pointy white rocks floating in the middle. Before Sofia could worry too much, the puddle expanded and the usual Everelle was back. ¡°Vortices huh, annoying curse,¡± she commented, now also affected by the turning head symptom, ¡°Sofia, you should keep going before we time out¡­¡±Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. ¡°Ah, sorry, this was all just a bit disturbing to see¡­¡± Sofia apologized, putting her hand on the orb again. ¡°Was disturbing to live through as well, but I¡¯m expecting this game to go much further than that so it¡¯s whatever.¡± Sofia nodded in response. ¡°Solar Chimera skeleton.¡± ¡®Solar Chimera skeleton; 5 000 000¡¯ The word was recognized as valid by the artifact, yet, no Chimera appeared, to Sofia and Everelle¡¯s surprise, a large Chimera-sized cube of Mithril appeared instead. ¡°Hum¡­ Is the artifact broken?¡± Sofia asked Velania. This made Velania giggle lightly, ¡°A Chimera is annoying to deal with so¡­ I just did this when it appeared.¡± ¡°You did this?¡± Sofia asked again, looking at the large block of solid Mithril. ¡°Is the Chimera skeleton inside?¡± Can¡¯t feel anything through all that Mithril¡­ ¡°It is,¡± Velania confirmed with a nod, ¡°and I intend to keep it there.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t you just turn it into more flower petals?¡± Everelle asked from the side, ¡°I thought the game had glitched for a second there.¡± ¡°Glitch?¡± Velania repeated with a confused look, ¡°I- I could have, a Chimera isn¡¯t immune to corruption, but they can usually disrupt spellcasting and I want to avoid a backlash¡­¡± Even someone at her level has to worry about that? And I¡¯ve just been letting my scepter absorb it all. Got to give it to the avians, I¡¯m not about to change weapons anytime soon. Now let¡¯s see what she has in reserve for the ten million mana mark¡­ After exchanging a few more words with Everelle, Velania realized at the last second that her time was about to run out, she quickly gave her next word. ¡®Architect¡¯s matrice; 9 090 205¡¯ What kind of Architectural spell costs th- A 3d grid of solid mana rods appeared in the room, taking up the entire space. The rods were crossing together in three directions, creating the shape of many small cubes in the empty spaces; at a glance, the mana rods were all spaced by about ten centimeters. Only where there were already things, like people standing, did the rods not fully appear, as they couldn¡¯t form inside people. Fully encased like this, Sofia couldn¡¯t move at all. She could bend her wrists enough to grab a rod and try to break it, but it was tougher than mithril, she couldn¡¯t even begin to bend it. Using the flexibility of her bone armor, she used bone tendrils to grab the admin dagger from the hole in her chest, and lowered it through the empty spaces all the way down to her hand. Dagger in hand, Sofia managed to cut through the rods with little difficulty. But it wasn¡¯t exactly fast either. Maybe about two seconds to force the dagger through one mana rod. Despite not being a rule, clearing the orb¡¯s surroundings between each words was something that Sofia had copied from Velania, if only to avoid things from appearing over one¡¯s head and give some time to react to spells being cast from the orb. Now that security distancing was being used against her, she wasn¡¯t that far from the orb, only about five meters, but that was enough to put plenty of mana rods between her and it. ¡°Want me to step in?¡± Everelle asked from further away, squeezing her malleable body through the rods. ¡°No need, keep your words for later, worse case it¡¯s another mark,¡± Sofia decisively answered as she forced the dagger through rod after rod, trying her best to squeeze her way through the matrix. But she was still too slow. She timed out as her extended left hand reached for the orb, still missing about fifteen centimeters of arm length to reach it. A second curse mark appeared, covering her left leg. ¡°So close¡­ Well played, what¡¯s next?¡± Sofia asked, relaxing her tensed body, and slowly finishing to cut her path through the few remaining rods to prepare the ground for her next round. ¡°I need a second to clean up,¡± Velania answered, before her mana spread everywhere, and a large dome was cleared in seconds, all the mana rods corrupted into another avalanche of white flower petals. She then went for her next word, ¡°Chrono Arc.¡± ¡®Chrono Arc; 17 833 256¡¯ Nothing happened, then a third curse mark appeared on Sofia and Everelle¡¯s right legs. ¡°What?! Time magic?!!! Did we jump a minute into the future? What¡¯s happening?!¡± ¡°My system clock hasn¡¯t moved¡­¡± Everelle commented, ¡°strange.¡± ¡°You have a system clock?!¡± Sofia repeated, going from surprise to surprise. ¡°Well, I made it myself, it¡¯s pretty accurate, but point is, time¡¯s not moved. Not in any noticeable way at least, even if I¡¯ll admit that this was also my first guess.¡± ¡°It¡­ It¡¯s nothing like that,¡± Velania finally explained, scratching her burned arm, ¡°Chrono Arc is a spell that forcefully resets internal mana circuits, either to shorten intrinsic spellcasting cooldowns¡­ Or to trick artifacts into activating faster¡­¡± She started to blush, ¡°A- and, are your death protections still ready? I¡¯m going to try to kill you again¡­¡± she shyly asked as if asking for a favor. ¡°There isn¡¯t anything like an expiration time on mine, I can just die and be fine,¡± Sofia answered first. ¡°I¡¯m also good, my self-resurrection skill is passive so it¡¯s always there. I would be more worried about you, if it gets to my turn, I¡¯m preparing to give you the nastiest things my homeworld has ever birthed¡± Everelle warned. ¡°I¡¯m inclined to think the game room will not survive it, honestly.¡± ¡°I¡¯m perfectly safe, no need to worry about me,¡± Velania answered with a smile, ¡°and the game room is protected against the artifact and it¡¯s invokations specifically, this is normally played by fairies around as strong if not stronger than me, after all, so it¡¯s impossible that we would break it,¡± she explained while confidently nodding to herself. ¡°If you say so. We¡¯re not quite there yet anyway¡­ So what are you going to try to kill us with? Velania put her hand on the orb as her answer, ¡°Absolute Death.¡± ¡®Absolute Death; 33 333 333¡¯
Chapter 568 - With love, from Earth A thick wave of cursed mana spread out from the orb, it was unavoidable. [You have been affected by : Instant death. But your skills negated the status] ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± Sofia asked, looking at Everelle then Velania, who both seemed equally unaffected. ¡°It¡­ It did nothing?¡± Velania asked. ¡°I am immune to instant death effects,¡± Sofia said first. ¡°And all Sunless are just unaffected by most effects like these. Props of being an amorphous mass of magic goo, most such magic is designed with regular biology in mind,¡± Everelle continued with a shrug. Velania frowned slightly, ¡°What about the rest of the effects though? Did I remember the spell wrong? I was sure¡­ Well, I¡­ It¡¯s your turn, I guess¡­¡± ¡°I only have a few options I even know of at these mana ranges¡­ This next one is a spell I read about in a book when I was researching information on Aura,¡± Sofia explained before she even took her turn, ¡°Aura lock.¡± ¡®Aura lock; 65 000 000¡¯ The air seemed to solidify around Velania and Everelle, as if it suddenly turned into a big block of transparent glass, trapping them in place. Seems to work as described. What the spell was actually doing was hijacking people¡¯s aura to lock their mana in place relative to themselves. That meant the stronger one¡¯s aura, and the more mana they had, the stronger the restriction. This was originally a Dragon-hunting spell, but Sofia thought that it was perhaps better not to mention that. ¡°You should be able to break out of it relatively easily,¡± Sofia told Everelle, ¡°Brute force will do.¡± After about ten seconds, Everelle started to move slightly to the sounds of breaking glass, despite nothing much happening visually. All at once, she broke free with a shattering noise. ¡°Damn. Weird one. How is it that I got out before her?¡± Everelle asked, looking in Velania¡¯s direction, ¡°And why weren¡¯t you affected at all?¡± ¡°The spell¡¯s strength is proportional to the target¡¯s aura, so it¡¯s a much stronger restraint for her. I wasn¡¯t affected because of my mana heart, it prevents my mana from being affected by external aura. Speaking of which, I¡¯m pretty sure that means she wouldn¡¯t have been able to turn my Destroyers into petals if I had summoned them myself¡­ But anyway. It looks like this will give her a curse mark or two.¡± ¡°How long does the spell last?¡± Everelle asked. ¡°It doesn¡¯t have a limit, just freezes your surrounding mana once and that¡¯s it, it unfreezes when you break out. Honestly I would be tempted to learn it if not for the mana cost.¡± ¡°Can always get it later. If it can restrain someone like her for that long, it¡¯s a very good spell.¡± ¡°One day cooldown though.¡± ¡°Good things don¡¯t come free.¡± ¡°True. So¡­ How much mana do you need for your words exactly?¡± Everelle scratched her ¡®head¡¯, ¡°well¡­ Rounding things up, I have a 500 Million, a 2 Billion, and a 50 Billion.¡± ¡°Fifty billion?! Yeah, you can forget that.¡± ¡°Figured. No black hole for me¡­¡± ¡°You wanted to summon a black hole?! You want to send us all to the Deep or¡­?¡± Everelle laughed, ¡°Honestly that would be a hell of a lot better than the ¡®regular¡¯ black hole experience.¡± ¡°You say this with so much certainty¡­ Do humans on Earth really have the technology to just make one of these things without magic?¡± ¡°In theory. Never been done, not when I was alive anyway, but- Ah, censored.¡± Purple marks appeared on Velania¡¯s left arm. ¡°Oh, looks like we got our first point. You already know what to summon next?¡± Everelle asked. ¡°I do, actually. That¡¯s the highest mana cost ¡®thing¡¯ I know of for certain, actually, got a certain Richard to thank for this one,¡± she said, ¡°He told me they typically target the highest-mana enemy first, but it¡¯s still going to be dangerous so¡­ Just be ready to take over next no matter the mana count, because that¡¯s my last word.¡±Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. ¡°Understood captain,¡± Everelle answered, ¡°Just remember, I will die there if you don¡¯t protect me.¡± ¡°I haven¡¯t forgotten your instructions, don¡¯t worry.¡± ¡°Good, then let¡¯s go, I¡¯ll be waiting right there,¡± Everelle finished, making her way to the pedestal and compressing her body into a ball of black goo the size of a head right next to the pedestal¡¯s base. Alright. Let¡¯s hope that Richard was precise with his numbers¡­ ¡°Hellspawn.¡± ¡®Hellspawn; 128 554 320¡¯ A strong flow of mana started leaving the orb, and started to accumulate about twenty meters away from Sofia and Velania. A gigantic creature, more than ten meters tall, slowly stood up. It was a mountain of muscles with three ugly horned heads, goat-like legs and huge hairy human-like hands. The hellspawn roared. There was no magic, the mere air pressure of the sound wave blew Sofia away, it was like getting hit by a wall, she lost 60% of her health in an instant. The remainders of the Architect Matrix instantly crumbled, and the Aura Lock surrounding Velania was brutally shattered. Fuck. Sofia thought as she hit the far wall of the game room. The majority of her bones were separated in small pieces inside of her, like pieces of a puzzle waiting to be assembled. Everelle managed to stay near the orb! Sofia hurriedly started fusing her bones back haphazardly and flying back toward the orb. She had to be there when Everelle used her next word, or they both wouldn¡¯t survive it. She watched as Velania summoned large cubes of Mithril over the hellspawn¡¯s heads and hands, and Asterite shackles around its ankles, before pushing the creature back with her telekinesis. The hellspawn was pushed back but did not topple over, it banged its hands together and the mithril cubes were blown to smithereens in one strike, freeing its humongous hands. Instead of attacking more, Velania rushed to the orb. ¡°BASILISK!¡± Sofia couldn¡¯t quite see the mana cost from where she was, and she did not even really care, as she was more worried about the giant green thing that had just appeared in the sky. It was like the bloated demonic fusion of a Dragon and a Sandworm, it had no limbs except for two pairs of leathery wings, and a gigantic maw with teeth the size of doors. For one reason or another, it instantly turned to the Hellspawn busy freeing its heads from the mithril cubes. A wave of mana traveled through the Basilisk¡¯s entire body before shooting out from its gaping maw. Sofia could barely see the attack, and suddenly the Hellspawn along with the entire half of the game room behind it were covered in a thick layer of green muck. Everything seemed to melt at the touch of the muck, and gigantic plumes of smoke arose. Yet, the battle stopped there. The two creatures were silenced by the apparition of something new that they instinctively knew to fear without even understanding it. Everelle had taken her more human form again, with a hand on the orb, she had calmly pronounced two words. ¡°Sundial 2.¡± A huge ball of metal had appeared beneath the basilisk. It was decorated with what looked like depictions of four different flags, in different flavors of red, blue and white stripes and stars, with a few yellow stars. Hovering mid-air, the thing¡¯s appearance had propagated a strange pulse around the game room. A harmless pulse without any magic, that yet somehow felt like reality itself was being torn apart. Sofia rushed and teleported, making it to the pedestal. The plan was for Everelle to compress herself back into a ball, and for Sofia to hide her in the hole of her chest while she deliberately hurt herself by charging into the hovering ball. That would give her protection through [Singularity edict], and hopefully allow them to both survive the incoming doom. The large metal ball started to shine. It was like a miniature sun, and it made a sound unlike anything Sofia had ever heard. Like the low sound of a looming end, certain to come. The basilisk and the hellspawn fled to the corners of the room in a frenzied panic, trapped by the game room¡¯s boundary. Everything happened in fractions of a second. Before Sofia could enact hers and Everelle¡¯s plan, they were both uncontrollably pushed back hundreds of meters. Sofia heard Velania¡¯s voice, ¡°ADURIN¡¯S WALL!¡± She couldn¡¯t see anything anymore. The light was too intense. Either way, she had no time to make it back to the thing before whatever was going to happen happened. Then the light died down all of a sudden. We¡¯re dead. It was in that moment that Sofia realized the utter inadequacy and weakness of her angel bolts. That thing Everelle had summoned? Overwhelming power. It felt like time was slowed down a thousand times as Sofia watched the metallic ball expand and the explosion start, just a few hundred meters away. It engulfed everything. Calling it an explosion was perhaps too weak, in fact. It was hard to describe the thing other than by saying the obvious, it was like the birth of a new sun. And at the last instant, as Sofia felt the heat of the explosion reaching her, as she herself was about to be swallowed by the mind-blowing torrent of flames and energy, someone appeared in front of her and Everelle. A winged paladin in shining armor, raising a gigantic Mithrium shield. The paladin screamed as she fought back against the deafening explosion. And soon, it was over. Everything disappeared, the explosion, the heat, the power, the shield. Sofia and Everelle were alive, unscathed. In the distance, the artifact rolled on the floor, cracked. The paladin fell limp to the ground, her armor and wings disappearing into a thick mist of mana. Sofia rushed to her side. ¡°Velania!¡±
Chapter 569 - Paperclips The scarred woman was unconscious but she still breathed. ¡°As I thought, this girl has some serious issues¡­¡± Everelle said with a sigh, ¡°At least it looks like she survived. It¡¯s crazy that she could block that¡­¡± ¡°What¡­ What even was that?¡± Sofia asked as she picked up Velania to prop her up on a bone chair. ¡°Humanity¡¯s answer to- ¡° Everelle was cut off mid sentence, ¡°Yeah, of course that¡¯s all censored¡­ What can I say, even? It was a big bomb. Meant to explode things. The second to last tier of human destructive technology, I would say. Just because we didn¡¯t have mana doesn¡¯t mean we never progressed from swords and bows.¡± ¡°Destructive technology¡­ How can you even do that without magic? The thing was flying even!¡± ¡°Ahah, believe me if the censor let me tell you I could and would prattle on about it for days until you begged me to stop, but alas, big boom is all I¡¯m allowed to say pretty much.¡± ¡°... Also¡­ Second to last? What can you even make that¡¯s more destructive than that?¡± Everelle shrugged, ¡°Paperclips.¡± ¡°Paperclips?¡± ¡°You heard me. That would have been my last word if the Sundial didn¡¯t do the trick. Again, cannot explain more I¡¯m afraid. But it is a lot worse than the bomb, in theory at least. Never seen it used in my lifetime though, unlike the bomb.¡± ¡°I thought your world didn¡¯t have monsters, what would you even need that bomb for?¡± Sofia asked, more for herself than anything else, since she knew Everelle couldn¡¯t answer. ¡°Seeing that blow up from a bit farther away must have been quite the spectacle¡­¡± Everelle laughed. ¡°Yes. Very much so. The craziest thing I was given the opportunity to see in my life; before I was literally summoned to another world, that is.¡± Sofia silently nodded, but in her head, the only thing she could think about was whether she could ever recreate this explosion. Would five hundred million mana in an explosive bolt rival the destructive power of that bomb? Either way, she had a newfound respect for the magicless humans from the hero world. In comparison, where was this world¡¯s human technology at? To cite Everelle: swords and bows. ¡°Seems we¡¯re stuck here until she wakes up,¡± Everelle said, having knocked on the nearby wall and verified that the protective shield was still holding. ¡°I¡¯m sure it won¡¯t take her too long¡­ It¡¯s not the first time¡­ Also¡­ Shouldn¡¯t you have been sent back to your own trial by now?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°No idea. Maybe it didn¡¯t work because the game ended so abruptly. Did we even win? Looks like we broke the artifact somehow.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know either, to begin with I have no idea why she jumped in to protect us like that.¡± ¡°I- I was scared,¡± a soft voice sounded from the side, ¡°I thought you two might die for real, so I just¡­¡± Velania managed to squeeze out before she started to cry. Sofia grabbed a handkerchief from her storage and presented it to Velania with a smile. ¡°Here. Thank you for worrying about us, we¡¯re fine, alright?¡± Velania accepted the tissue with a weak nod, using it to wipe her tears and blow her nose. ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­ I¡¯m such a terrible host¡­¡± she complained, more tears rolling down her face. ¡°You think so? I had a lot of fun,¡± Everelle commented, ¡°I won¡¯t be forgetting this day for a long time. Seems my last word broke your artifact though, I do feel a bit guilty about that¡­¡± Velania shook her head, ¡°It¡¯s nothing. I don¡¯t need it anymore anyway.¡± ¡°Does that mean we won?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°I used magic on you to push you away from the thing,¡± Velania said, ¡°Since I used my magic directly on you I broke the rules so I lost.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ In any other context I might argue that it didn¡¯t count, but it¡¯s not like you stand to win anything by making me lose¡­ So I¡¯ll accept that. How can you be sure you won¡¯t need the orb anymore though? What if I fail the last test?¡±Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. ¡°I don¡¯t think you will,¡± Velania stated outright, clutching the handkerchief in her palm. ¡°Alright, well, glad that everything worked out in the end. Thank you for the opportunity to relive the Sundial, Sofia. I¡¯m about to be sent back, I think. And Velania, it was a pleasure to have you as a host, I hope we¡¯ll get to hang out again.¡± Sofia heard a dog bark, and Everelle disappeared. ¡°Gone just like that¡­¡± Sofia said, staring at the empty spot Everelle had been in just a second ago. Velania started to stand up, she was no longer crying but her legs were very shaky. Sofia went to her side to help her up. ¡°Are you going to be alright? Don¡¯t push yourself if you¡¯re going to faint again, I can wait.¡± ¡°I¡¯m good¡­ Th-thank you. Let¡¯s go to the last trial,¡± the scarred woman said with renewed resolve in her eyes.
Velania took Sofia back to her indoor forest, and with a thought, she made the water in the lake disappear, revealing a spiraling staircase going down. To Sofia who was getting impatient to see the final test, the descent on the moist steps was agonizingly long despite them going quite fast, pretty much running down the stairs. ¡°How deep are we going exactly?¡± She finally asked after about half an hour, sensing that Bookie and Pareth were easily more than ten kilometers upward from where she was. ¡°Quite deep. We built a safe chamber for the relic in the upper stratum of the forbidden layer, inside of a leyline hole,¡± Velania explained. ¡°The forbidden layer?¡± Sofia repeated, having never even heard of that name. Velania stopped where she was, ¡°You don¡¯t know about it?¡± ¡°Absolutely never heard of it,¡± Sofia confessed. ¡°Hmm¡­ Well you¡¯re still a bit weak¡­ The forbidden layer is where the Kleptra originally came from. It¡¯s the deepest layer of the planet that we can explore before the mana concentration becomes so high that it¡¯s lethal even to the ascended. We call it the forbidden layer because of how weird it is. Most people who go there never come back. Even the Kleptra have stopped trying to live there¡­ At least before we built this place.¡± ¡°Lethal to the ascended¡­ The mana concentration down there is that high?¡± ¡°It¡¯s suffocating,¡± Velania confirmed with a nod, ¡°and the forbidden layer is even worse. The ¡®rules¡¯ there are all over the place. There are even parts where being too strong will get you killed because of the strange ways the mana leylines react to each other. But it¡¯s also suicide to go there at before you¡¯re that strong, because the creatures down there are so strange, so basically no one can even enter these parts,¡± she explained, shivering. ¡°You mean to say there are parts of this planet that no one has ever explored?¡± ¡°That¡¯s information from ten thousand years ago, but supposedly yes¡­ Although, the forbidden layer wasn¡¯t always like that, since there are many ruins from the lost epoch there¡­¡± ¡°Say less,¡± Sofia decisively said, ¡°You convinced me,¡± ¡°To never go?¡± Velania naively asked. ¡°To go as soon as I possibly can,¡± Sofia said in the same breath. Velania frowned. ¡°That¡¯s no good! You will die. You¡¯re not allowed to lose Auntie¡¯s artifact!¡± ¡°You¡¯re saying there are ruins from the lost epoch that nobody has ever discovered and that I will not be able to explore if I level up too much? That¡¯s what you said?¡± ¡°Y- Yes but¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s settled then.¡± Velania sighed, starting to walk down the stairs again. ¡°At least wait until your next breakthrough¡­ And please do a lot of research before you go¡­¡± Velania spent the rest of the descent telling Sofia everything she knew about the forbidden layer, while Sofia had to explain why she was so interested in the lost Epoch. In doing so, Sofia discovered that Velania knew the exact location of one of the four [False Lord] skills, which was, of course, in the forbidden layer.
After a while Sofia reached what she thought was the end of the descent, but ended up only being the end of the staircase, a small room where there was nothing but a gaping hole going straight down. ¡°This is where I stop,¡± Velania announced, ¡°This is about a tenth of the way down, I think, I would love to come with you but I can¡¯t go any further, or the jungle above will start to disappear¡­¡± ¡°Oh¡­ Wait¡­ a tenth of the way down? We¡¯ve been running down the stairs for hours¡­¡± ¡°As I said, the forbidden layer is quite deep,¡± Velania answered with a giggle, ¡°Romuald was here just a bit ago so your last helper is probably already waiting down there with the instructions for the final test.¡± ¡°Wait¡­ The artifact is out of range of both you and Romuald? That can¡¯t be safe¡­¡± ¡°Only a child of Sorrow can open the inner chamber, just like the main entrance. And auntie would have already reacted if something had happened to it.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t argue with that. I will be going then¡­¡± ¡°You should take frequent stops on your way down,¡± Velania advised, ¡°the change to the higher mana concentration can be quite dangerous even if you¡¯re only going to the upper stratum.¡± ¡°Understood. Well¡­ I¡¯ll be right back with the divine artifact,¡± Sofia said with a smile before she jumped down the dark hole. ¡°Good luck, Sofia!¡± she heard Velania shout from above.
Chapter 570 - Ley bare for the taking Sofia peacefully fell down, her legs crossed, lightly opening her wings every so often to keep her falling speed in check. ¡°How many times have I jumped down dark holes like this one now? The abyss under the holy-see, the Veik secret passage on Fenrir, the ladder down to the center of Cerberus Beta, then the multiple holes in the palace¡­ I feel like I¡¯m forgetting some¡­ Nothing can ever top jumping from the Sun back to Veliadren anyway¡­ Space is the largest hole out there.¡± After a while she stopped, stopping something strange. Stepping on air, she jumped up a few times. ¡°Oh¡­¡± The hole had relatively cleanly cut sides, but right there, the hole had a hole. ¡°Some kind of cavern? ¡­ No, that¡¯s a tunnel. Something dug up to this point, encountered the hole and decided to turn another way. A monster of that size capable of digging through the stone without causing everything to collapse¡­ Stone Drake? I wonder if I could kill one without cheating now. Shouldn¡¯t be too hard, right? The one from the trial was only level 333.¡± Now is not the time¡­ Sofia let herself fall down. A free fall was much faster than going down stairs, and even with frequent breaks, she reached the bottom in under an hour, finding herself in another small room like the one she had departed from, a closed door hiding what was to come next. Velania had not lied, the mana here was thick and suffocating, saturating the air so much that it felt almost like walking through a dense invisible fog. There was so much of it that in corners it gathered densely enough to be visible to the naked eye, looking like white wisps of mist. Another immediately noticeable thing was how much stronger the gravity was, from what Sofia could tell, almost twice as strong as the surface, and the air was also quite hot, though not unbearably so. Breathing in such concentrated mana in her demon form made Sofia a bit high, but she took some time to get used to it before she finally opened the door. She was surprised to then find herself in an unlit natural cavern, two sides of which had been walled off. This left the opposite wall as the only way to go, it was clearly part of a mana leyline, and had a small natural opening in which Sofia could probably squeeze herself without too much trouble. That¡¯s probably it. Sofia approached and touched the wall, the mana leyline felt like stone with wood grain, for lack of a better description, an ultra-dense continuous flow of mana ran through it, headed for an unknown destination. The only other time Sofia had seen a mana leyline was in the Brighthall academy training room, where she had first given Bookie his current body. She had done some research on the Leylines after that, and there wasn¡¯t much to be found aside from basic information. Leylines were supposedly natural formations where mana gathered, like the veins of the planet. Because of the constant mana flow, they could have a host of different properties, but the one feature they all had was their almost indestructible nature. The constant flow of mana made it so they were extremely hard to carve through, and extremely unsafe to build in. But as proven here and at the academy, it could be done, with strong enough people and enough effort. Curious, Sofia grabbed Anna¡¯s dagger and tried to cut through the leyline. The dagger had some difficulty cutting through, but with enough force, Sofia managed to shave off a piece of bark-like leyline. An intense geyser of mana shot out of the leyline where Sofia had cut it. She woke up three seconds later, the mana in the air even thicker and more sickening than before, but the geyser had stopped.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. G- Good thing I always have my unlife runes on now¡­ I didn¡¯t even see it coming. At least she was now the proud owner of a mana leyline shaving, what it could be used for, she had no idea, but she had it. Maybe Remia will want it? She thought, storing it and starting to crawl inside of the small opening. Last test, here I come. After a meandering crawl through the natural opening of the leyline, Sofia saw some light in the distance. It was Ihuarah waiting in a larger part of the tunnel, in front of a closed door. ¡°Lady Sofia. I¡¯m elated that you would let me accompany you to the relic,¡± he greeted her as she crawled out of the hole. ¡°It was on CInthia¡¯s suggestion, but either way, you deserve to be here as much as I do, so it¡¯s only natural. Why not wait for me inside, though? Can you not open the door?¡± ¡°Oh, that I could, you were the one to triumph over the trials, however, so it should of course be you who gets the privilege of opening this place. Let me explain the rules first, however.¡± ¡°Right, that Romuald guy briefed you, I understand? Are we going to have to fight something?¡± Ihuarah shook his head, ¡°No such thing here. This last test is quite hard and quite simple at the same time. There will be many items waiting for us inside, you may only pick one, the first one you touch will be your pick. That is the test, you must correctly find the divine item. Of course simple magics like [Identify] are unlikely to produce any result. As for me, I may help you decide, and as a helper, I can grab and put away the items that you are certain are not it. If you make me grab the relic, however, you will instantly lose, and we will both be booted out of here empty-handed.¡± ¡°I already know the relic is a shroud,¡± Sofia said, ¡°I imagine this will be quite easy.¡± She walked up to the door, it was just like the entrance of the palace, opening up at the contact of her hand. ¡°Well, shit,¡± Sofia uttered as she glimpsed inside. This final testing place was also a final resting place, a closed stone sarcophagus resting in the middle of a large dome-shaped room, with thousands of large colorful woven squares of cloth flying in wide circles all around the burial chamber. ¡°It¡¯s all shrouds¡­¡± ¡°As you say¡­¡± Ihuarah said in an uncharacteristically worried tone. ¡°This might be slightly harder than I had expected from the initial explanation.¡± The duo entered and the door closed behind them. ¡°There¡¯s an actual body inside of the sarcophagus¡­¡± Sofia immediately noticed, feeling the bones even through the thick mana in the air. ¡°If it¡¯s a burial shroud we¡¯re after, are we meant to become gravediggers?¡± Ihuarah shook his head, ¡°The merciful mother would not request such a disgraceful thing of her children. The relic is without doubt one of these shrouds flying around. The only question is which one.¡± ¡°Hmm, I already notice that quite a few are embroidered with runes of different divinities, so those won¡¯t be it,¡± Sofia said outright, even recognizing Sun¡¯s rune on some of the shrouds. ¡°We must have quite a wide public watching, I think. Probably even scripture.¡± ¡°Perhaps,¡± Ihuarah confirmed, ¡°none would dare interfere, I¡¯m sure. This place is under the protection of the headless one.¡± ¡°The demon king is that strong he can contend with gods?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°Certainly, he bears the essence of almost all Recessed, after all. There are great restrictions cast upon him but he is also immensely powerful. I have no doubt he must be observing us at this moment too,¡± Ihuarah explained. ¡°... I will never live it down if I pick the wrong item, will I?¡± Ihuarah stayed silent. ¡°Alright¡­ Why don¡¯t we start by picking off all the shrouds with the runes of other gods? Ah, wait, no¡­ Do you know what the rune of Progress looks like?¡± ¡°Progress¡­ Progress was a fairly popular deity in my time, although I was never a worshiper. I am positive I must have seen it a few times in my olden days, these are memories long-gone however, I might be able to recall if you give me a minute¡­¡± ¡°We¡¯re not on a timer, are we?¡± ¡°We are not,¡± Ihuarah confirmed. ¡°Take all the time you need then, in the meantime I¡¯ll be making a list of all the runes I can see. Just keeping the shrouds with runes of Sorrow and maybe Progress will be a good start.¡± Sofia sat down near the door, and taking a bone slate from her storage, started drawing a list of the runes she saw engraved on the shrouds, annotating the corresponding divinity¡¯s name when she knew about them. I wonder if this place inspired the orb floor in the second trial¡­
Chapter 571 - Enshrouded ¡°Any success?¡± Ihuarah asked after waiting for a while. ¡°No¡­ The mana here is really too thick, I can hardly perceive anything. Normally I can feel things like a good kilometer or two away if I focus, but here it¡¯s hard to even see what¡¯s in front of me.¡± ¡°And the locket is unresponsive,¡± Ihuarah added, ¡°our best choice might still be to have you get closer and try to feel the essence resonance.¡± ¡°I still can¡¯t even feel the essence you have, so that¡¯s a bad start.¡± ¡°That is true, but we are starting to lack options. Should we proceed with the preliminary elimination?¡± ¡°If only identifying worked¡­ Yeah let¡¯s start taking the obviously wrong ones down. Keeping only Sorrow and Progress rune ones.¡± ¡°Certainly,¡± Ihuarah agreed, and he quickly got to work. Extending his arm several meters, he started grabbing the flying shrouds one by one, precisely plucking them out of the air. Whenever he touched one, it fell to the floor like a lifeless rag. Sofia observed him work silently, when he was done, about 40% of the shrouds remained, which was still more than a thousand of them, but already a lot better. Out of those, about one out of twenty had a Progress rune while all others had Sorrow¡¯s. ¡°Just going by the imbalanced quantity, I feel like we can eliminate the Progress ones as well. It is Sorrow¡¯s artifact to begin with, but since it¡¯s a set item with an artifact of Progress¡­¡± ¡°The quantities could be misleading. There is no reason to take that risk quite yet,¡± Ihuarah told Sofia, turning around. ¡°True¡­ What else do we have to work with¡­ Color, patterns¡­¡± ¡°Textile,¡± Ihuarah suggested, ¡°it is not easily noticeable, but I can tell from the feel of all the ones I have taken down already, there are different kinds of threads. It stands to reason that the genuine one would be made of a rare and special textile. The weave is also different depending on the cloth, I think, but this is not something I am very knowledgeable about¡­¡± ¡°Good catch¡­ But we can¡¯t touch them without either picking or eliminating, so how do we even do this¡­ Hmm¡­ Can you try tearing up some of the ones that are already down?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°Certainly, but what do you have in mind?¡± ¡°What better way to observe the textile quality than to rip it apart?¡± ¡°Interesting¡­ Let¡¯s try.¡± Ihuarah picked up some of the fallen shrouds and started effortlessly tearing them in two. Depending on how hard it was to tear them, he and Sofia placed the halved shrouds into six piles. There were three types of thread and two types of weave. Out of those, two of the thread types ripped apart easily while the third required Ihuarah to actually try. The two weaves were actually easy to differentiate once one knew where to look, as one made the cloth smooth and silky, almost a bit reflective while the other one was just regular cloth. ¡°We might have noticed the silky weave earlier had we shone any light¡­¡± Ihuarah commented. ¡°We can both see in the dark so¡­ At least now we know. If we think the artifact needs to be of the highest quality, then it can¡¯t be the regular weave, right?¡± Ihuarah had to stop and think for a second, his hand on his chin, playing with his short ¡®beard¡¯. ¡°Perhaps. I am slightly wary, however, as I recall old tales of greed being the undoing of man, and these would often feature plain-looking artifacts hidden amongst piles of treasure. This place being so old, this trial could very well have been inspired by such tales.¡± ¡°I see exactly what kind of stories you mean, they¡¯re still around, there was that one about a golden sword in a lake or something? And one about some vampire¡¯s blood cup? How likely is it though? Who even makes divine artifacts? That could be a lead.¡± ¡°Well, people make them. Craftsmen, with the help of the divine. But leaving your personal mark on a divine artifact is frowned upon. A notable thing is that every divine item should have at least one kind of uniquely rare and powerful material to hold the essence, but in this case, a single string of sufficiently rare origin could do, so spotting it would be quite the feat.¡± ¡°What kind of string is that rare?¡± ¡°Royal Kleptran silk, perhaps¡­¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ What would mom want? How about the locket, what is it made of?¡± Sofia asked.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. ¡°I am uncertain¡­ I would guess Adamian steel, but it is hard to tell without damaging it. The essence-holding material inside the locket is a small purple gem.¡± ¡°If it really is adamian steel then we could forget about this whole cheap-looking thing¡­¡± After a while, and comparing with Sofia¡¯s adamian-steel-reinforced scepter, they decided that the locket was probably indeed adamian steel, and chose to try to eliminate the low quality shrouds. Eliminating those with the wrong weave was quite easy; they just needed to shine some light and observe the reflectiveness of the cloth. Except that the ambient mana was so thick and turbulent that it actually distorted light, making things a lot harder. The elemental candle solved the issue, as although it had a very short range, its light was unhindered by the mana. Ihuarah just held the candle up near the flying shrouds, and whenever one was non-reflective, he picked it out. Sofia held her breath every time Ihuarah picked out a shroud, but without fail, the shroud fell limply on the floor. They had guessed correctly, the correct shroud was made using the silky weaving technique. This thinned the number of shrouds by around half, and now there were few enough left flying around that Sofia could actually start to guess accurately how many that was. ¡°We still have about seven hundred of them to sift through¡­¡± ¡°Thus the obvious next step is to get rid of the two inferior textiles,¡± Ihuarah said, stretching his arms as if they were sore from all the grabbing. ¡°So far we can only tell which is which by touching so that¡¯s not going to work.¡± I wish Cinthia was here right now¡­ Or her [Weaver] mom¡­ ¡°How about I try to get a look from the spiritual realm?¡± Sofia suggested after a while. ¡°I fear this might be dangerous, considering the current environment,¡± Ihuarah warned. ¡°Hmm¡­ Well, I don¡¯t have to go myself.¡± Sofia summoned the graveyard. The ambient mana was messing everything up, yet Sofia still managed to summon a few graveyard skeletons; they were horrifyingly deformed, but their function was seemingly intact. ¡°Boys! Observe the shrouds from the spiritual plane, don¡¯t touch anything, just raise a hand if you notice anything out of the ordinary.¡± The skeletons unanimously raised their hands almost instantly. ¡°Well, it¡¯s worth going to take a look,¡± Sofia reacted with a small laugh. Ihuarah nodded, ¡°Be quick.¡± To do things properly, Sofia walked to the center of the room, laid down on the ground not too far from the sarcophagus, and let one of the skeletons grab her head into the spirit realm. She instantly understood what the skeletons had seen, some of the shrouds very glowing like miniature white suns in the spirit realm, maybe ninety out of the remaining seven hundred, and many more that were already on the floor. She could only observe this for about a second before she was forcibly pulled out of the spiritual realm, or rather, her head became twisted and deformed like the graveyard skeletons, and it became a dead limb, no longer able to perceive anything. Sofia was suddenly alone with only her thoughts, her crippled mana senses, and her sense of touch. Ugh that FELT disgusting. How do I fix this? I might still be able to see through the tokens but they¡¯re not able to see in the dark¡­ I can¡¯t cut it off and heal because of the unlife runes, so no choice but to die, right? Hopefully the mana here doesn¡¯t mess with the runes too much¡­ Sofia grabbed the dagger from the hole in her chest and lined it up to stab her mana heart. Warm hands caught her wrists before she could kill herself. Ihuarah? Sofia stopped trying to stab herself, waiting to see what Ihuarah wanted to do. Without warning, he picked her up and started walking. At least that¡¯s what it felt like. It was when he pulled her into the narrow tunnel of the mana leyline that Sofia understood what was going on. Ihuarah had exactly the same concern as her, so to make sure the revive would go unhindered by the extreme environment, he was bringing her out. After exiting the leyline, he jumped a few thousand meters up the hole, until the mana was back to a still high but not extreme level, and put Sofia¡¯s hand in position. She stabbed herself. She came to life back three seconds, her demonic head as good as new. ¡°Thank you. That could have been dangerous to do down there¡­¡± ¡°I know,¡± Ihuarah said, tapping her on the shoulder, ¡°let us get back to it. Discover anything?¡± ¡°I did but¡­ It¡¯s going to be hard to use until we¡¯ve narrowed down the number a lot more,¡± Sofia said before explaining what she had seen.
Ihuarah and Sofia went on to find a way to remove the low-quality shrouds, then they started to focus on the colors, removing all shrouds which were dyed or embroidered with something not in Sorrow¡¯s colors, which were gray, black, white, and purple. After a few more rounds of such eliminations, including one making use of the spirit plane information, there were only about twenty shrouds remaining. Now, out of those, Sofia and Ihuarah already knew which to remove, it was extremely simple, as they had noticed one last thing the more shrouds they eliminated. All shroud embroidery patterns were in the room in three identical copies. Out of all the shrouds that were left, only one embroidered design had its three copies remaining, surviving all other elimination rounds until now. Sofia and Ihuarah were uncertain, but with no better option after a lot of thinking, they decided on eliminating all other designs. Ihuarah¡¯s hands trembled in dread and anticipation every time he grabbed a shroud. They had been correct. ¡°Almost there,¡± Ihuarah said with a tired sigh of relief, looking up at the three sole remaining shrouds flying in circles around the sarcophagus. Sofia gulped. ¡°Now it¡¯s one in three.¡±
Chapter 572 - G Odd jobs The three remaining shrouds looked perfectly identical. They were made of what looked like fine dark-purple silk, embroidered with gold threads. The embroideries were elegant and simple, their thin golden threads drawing a repeating pattern out of Sorrow¡¯s rune that covered almost the entire shrouds, with a margin the width of a hand from the borders, which were themselves thinly decorated with a darker, almost black lining with very fine flowery patterns that could only be seen from up close. Sitting on the floor, Sofia and Ihuarah observed the three shrouds flying in a circle for almost two hours, trying a few different things without producing any results. Sofia broke the silence with a sigh. ¡°I really can¡¯t see or feel any difference¡­¡± ¡°I hate to admit this, but neither do I¡­¡± Ihuarah replied, ¡°Do you maybe want to try the spiritual plane again?¡± he asked without much enthusiasm. ¡°A fourth time? I would rather just find a way to get to the Recessed plane again, at least I might be able to follow the essence.¡± ¡°If only it were that easy¡­ I am normally able to see Divine essence carried by mortals, but down here in the forbidden layer I might as well call myself blind.¡± ¡°Can you usually see the essence in this?¡± Sofia asked, bringing out her dagger. ¡°Of course. This one makes it hard to even see the other ones, if I have to describe it, it is like¡­ A cold sun.¡± ¡°A cold sun? Interesting¡­ How do you describe mom¡¯s?¡± ¡°Warm and lonely,¡± he answered without hesitation, a smile in his voice. ¡°Not to worry, it is but a matter of time before you learn to see them too. This is something all Apostles are naturally built for, after all.¡± ¡°Is this something you can like¡­ Turn on and off?¡± ¡°It is simply an evolution of mana senses, in a way. You use them in a slightly different way, allowing you to see not the essence directly, but their effect on the surrounding mana.¡± ¡°Hmm,¡± Sofia nodded, ¡°and how about the essences from the Deep, what do they look like?¡± ¡°Holes,¡± Ihuarah answered, ¡°like a disturbing lack of anything, so perfect that it can only be artificial. Your entire head is like that ever since your racial evolution. If you wanted to hide your divine essence, pushing it all to your head might be a good idea. Although, and I meant to warn you of this earlier when I noticed it but never got the opportunity, but your mana heart is the same. It makes it easy to spot, that is a very bad thing.¡± ¡°Good to know. I can work with that. As for my head¡­ Well, it probably has to do with the eye,¡± she said, taking off the small bone protection she usually kept on it as it protruded out of the top of her head slightly in demon form, and she did not need everyone to see Aphenoreth¡¯s rune. A gentle golden light spread from the uncovered eye, illuminating the room and the shrouds. ¡°I still have no idea how to use it,¡± she added, ¡°I am relatively sure that it is for one of my racial skills, but I¡¯ve not managed to make anything happen. Supposedly the demon king can help with that¡­¡± Ihuarah stroked his short pitch-black beard, ¡°Hmm¡­ Truth be told I would not be surprised were he to show up right here and now. The headless one is such a person.¡± ¡°You were expecting someone?¡± an unknown voice called out from the entrance. Ihuarah was quick to get into a fighting stance, his magic flaring up despite the dangers of the environment. Sofia stayed on the ground, observing the newcomer taking a few steps into the room. She was silently communicating to Pareth and Bookie that they should be ready to come and fight at a moment¡¯s notice. ¡°Who are you? How did you reach this place?¡± Ihuarah asked in a booming voice. Sofia had never heard him so serious.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. The man stopped, he was quite tall, probably as much as Sun¡¯s saintess, had pointy ears like an elf or a vampire, blonde hair tied up in a ponytail, a single dark red horn sprouting out from his right temple, and hid his face with a brown mask. The mask in particular was quite eerie, with six holes in a circle and a seventh one in their center, all spewing out a bright red light. ¡°I just walked in,¡± he answered Ihuarah¡¯s query, ¡°how else?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t play dumb,¡± Ihuarah continued. The man clicked his tongue. ¡°Aaaah, this is what I get. So much for being a god or some shit, no respect from anyone. All I do is run errands¡­¡± he complained, ¡°Speed¡¯s delivery services,¡± he finally explained, ¡°I¡¯ve got a letter here for uh¡­ Vakri-... Vakar¡­ Anyway, that¡¯s you, no?¡± he said, looking past Ihuarah at Sofia. ¡°Speed?¡± Sofia and Ihuarah both repeated, incredulous. ¡°Yeah? That¡¯s what I said. Got hearing problems? What, never seen a god who wasn¡¯t a jobless slob? Well now you have. So what¡¯s it gonna be? Are you taking that letter or not?¡± Wait, a letter for me, could it be- ¡°Speed is much too weak to enter the physical realm,¡± Ihuarah replied, not trusting a word of the masked man. ¡°Well shit I didn¡¯t come here to be insulted like this. So what if I¡¯m weak? Any of us essence blobs can come here if we accept enough restrictions. Matter of fact, I¡¯m here. And you could effortlessly paint the walls with my insides if you ever managed to land a hit. Speed¡¯s all I got, but I¡¯ve got it,¡± he explained with a shrug, ¡°So I repeat myself, will you take the damn letter?!¡± Ihuarah was going to talk again but Sofia answered first. ¡°I¡¯ll take it.¡± ¡°Finally!¡± the man said, appearing in front of Sofia before Ihuarah could even react, ¡°Please send some of your mana into this orb to confirm the delivery, about ten thousand should be enough,¡± he said, shoving a rune-covered golden ball in front of Sofia¡¯s face. Sofia nodded and sent some mana into the orb, which then disappeared and was replaced by the closed envelope the man had been holding in his other hand. Perhaps because Sofia was being too slow, the envelope disappeared from the man¡¯s hand to reappear in Sofia¡¯s. ¡°There we go, job¡¯s done, see y-¡± ¡°Wait!¡± Sofia called out, cutting the man mid sentence. ¡°You¡¯re really Speed, right?¡± ¡°For the third time, yes¡­ Seriously this is annoy-¡± ¡°Here,¡± Sofia cut the man again, presenting a small red rock the color of the man¡¯s horn to him. This was the ¡®Wasted mana heart of Speed¡¯ she had found in the Kijdikkik city. Speed made a surprised sound, the red rock appearing in his hand, which he brought up close to his mask, before it appeared back in Sofia¡¯s hand. ¡°Thanks for being considerate enough to bring this up, but it¡¯s got nothing to do with me, this thing.¡± ¡°W- Wait, really? How¡­¡± ¡°Speed died,¡± Speed answered, ¡°Previous one, I mean. No idea why. The other gods seem to think he killed himself. Not my problem either way. I¡¯ve only been a thing for like¡­ Twenty-something years? Youngest and fastest god, that¡¯s me!¡± he said, pointing at himself with a thumb, ¡°Anyway, gotta go, see ya later shadow dude and demon hottie!¡± With these last words, he disappeared, as if erased from existence, the only trace of him even coming being the blank sealed envelope in Sofia¡¯s hand. His departure was followed by a long and awkward silence. The three shrouds were still flying behind Sofia, she checked that her things were all still there, and they all were. ¡°D- Did a God just stop by to deliver mail?¡± Sofia finally asked. ¡°I¡­ It seems so¡­¡± Ihuarah answered, just as stunned as Sofia was by the event. ¡°This¡­¡± Sofia said, looking at the blank envelope from every angle, ¡°Cinthia said the Demon king would send me a letter¡­ I didn¡¯t expect¡­¡± ¡°Oh, is that so?! This would certainly explain the outrageous delivery method¡­ And as expected, the timing is¡­¡± ¡°I should open it, right?¡± ¡°Well, the artifact is not going to disappear.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s see,¡± Sofia idly said as she slid a nail under the blank wax seal. The envelope contained a single page of paper. There was a single line of text on it, handwritten in black ink. ¡°To read this letter, acquire the shroud first. Be smart, think like an Apostle,¡± Sofia read out loud. And here I thought he might be helpful! ¡°That does sound like the headless one I have met¡­¡± Ihuarah commented with a sigh. ¡°What is even the point of sending this now? This line¡­ This means he purposely meant for it to arrive before I finish the trial¡­¡± ¡°He may be trying to give you some extra motivation, perhaps?¡± ¡°As if I needed that! What I need is information not motivation¡­ Think like an Apostle,¡± Sofia repeated as she observed the three shrouds, ¡°this is a clue, right? What could he mean by¡­¡± ¡°Did you notice something?¡± Ihuarah asked, seeing Sofia freeze. ¡°Iwa¡­ We were both tricked,¡± Sofia mumbled, turning her head, a large grin spread on her face, ¡°I think I know what to do.¡±
Chapter 573 - What is your essence? ¡°Please, do explain,¡± Ihuarah pressed Sofia. ¡°We were tricked from the beginning! First you, then me. Tricked by the rules into not thinking like real Apostles of Sorrow!¡± ¡°The rules?¡± Ihuarah put a hand over his face, thinking deeply. For twenty seconds, Sofia watched Ihuarah think with a widening grin.She was certain he would come to the same conclusion as she did. Finally he seemed to realize something. He gasped. ¡°I-... There was no need for a helper to begin with,¡± he said, ¡°that is right, this is possible for any child of Sorrow to triumph over alone¡­ All with a single spell.¡± Sofia nodded happily. ¡°The most basic of them all,¡± she said approvingly. ¡°If you can only choose one¡­¡± Ihuarah continued. ¡°And if you happen to choose wrong¡­¡± Sofia replied, moving a step closer to the flying shrouds. ¡°Then there is a very simple solution¡­ I cannot believe that I got so blatantly blindsided¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. All you need to do¡­¡± Sofia grabbed the closest shroud. It fell limply off from her hand and to the floor. That was not the artifact. ¡°Is to show a little [Regret].¡± The other two shrouds shot from their trajectory and disappeared under the sarcophagus¡¯ lid. She had lost. Time magic doesn¡¯t exist. [Regret] : alter the past to make a different decision in the previous five seconds; costs 10000 mana per cast, 10 seconds cooldown. Left leg blood vessels must be undamaged for the skill to correctly resolve. But what if it kinda does? Sofia disappeared from where she stood. She reappeared next to Ihuarah. By all means, this was no time magic, after all, Ihuarah perfectly remembered everything that had just happened, BUT, at this instant, there were three shrouds flying in circle around the sarcophagus. ¡°Did I pick wrong?¡± Sofia asked with a giggle. ¡°Why, Sister in Sorrows, you must be mistaken,¡± Ihuarah answered, stopping to unleash a maniacal laughter. ¡°Our god be my witness; you clearly haven¡¯t picked yet.¡± Sofia was counting the seconds. She let an extra ten flow by, just to be extra sure, useless that it was. Then she stepped forward again, and picked a shroud. Fifty fifty. The world disappeared. Instantly, everything had turned gray. Sofia¡¯s vision gradually expanded. A gray cathedral? A veiled woman was sitting on the altar, her back facing Sofia. Slowly she turned her head around, it was hard to see her face behind the veil, but Sofia felt like she saw a bright smile. ¡°Use it well, my daughter.¡± Like struck by lightning, Sofia was brought back to reality. The shroud she had picked flew out of her grasp, and, like a regal cape, folded and draped itself over her shoulders. ¡°Magnificent!¡± Sofia turned around, her smile as bright as a demon¡¯s could be. ¡°Magnificent indeed.¡± ¡°Now there is only one thing left to do,¡± Ihuarah said first, excitedly dashing to the exit. Sofia followed. They made their way to the hole as fast as possible, and both started jumping up. Sofia soon stopped, Ihuarah stopped too. ¡°We¡¯re high enough,¡± he said. ¡°Identify!¡± [Shroud of Ackenohh]: Burial garment of Ackenohh, he who welcomed death. My time has come Cherish yours Effects: ¡®No time for regrets¡¯ - The cooldown of [Regret] is reduced to two seconds and its scope to one second. You can now use [Regret] while in Numb Sorrows form.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. ¡®I win, you lose¡¯ - You can no longer cast [Misfortune]. Its effects are strengthened, and replace your demonic aura. Always active, no upkeep cost. ¡®Keepsake of Sorrows¡¯ - This item will take your name upon your death. Restrictions: Childrens of Sorrow only. Part of a two piece set with ¡®The Wheel of Progress¡¯. Full set effect (inactive) : ¡®Karmic Loop¡¯ - Your aura¡¯s strength and area of effect are greatly increased. ¡°Keepsake of Sorrows¡­¡± Sofia whispered, running a clawed finger along the edge of the shroud. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, mother,¡± Sofia said, marking a dramatic pause, ¡°this effect will never be of any use again.¡± Ihuarah silently read the description, he was speechless. ¡°Are you second-guessing your decision to let me have it?¡± Sofia jokingly asked. ¡°Certainly not, it is simply¡­ It feels like one of my life goals has been accomplished. A strange sentiment, truly, one I hadn¡¯t felt in a long time.¡± ¡°Eheh, glad I could help. I think that¡¯s what I felt when I finally found Saria. I don¡¯t really have any goal like that now, though.¡± ¡°Perhaps it is my turn to help you, in that case?¡± Ihuarah suggested. ¡°You got me this divine item, isn¡¯t that helping plenty already? Besides, you have another woman you should take care of first, don¡¯t you think?¡± ¡°Fair points both. If your issue is only to find a purpose, however, was your plan not to get stronger and deal with Scripture?¡± ¡°Those are almost two separate plans, I still want to aim for a perfect completion of every system trial¡­ And the asshole god will have its turn for sure¡­ But these goals feel a bit¡­ Shallow? Maybe shallow isn¡¯t the right word¡­ More like¡­ I want to do it, but it¡¯s not¡­ I¡¯m missing a greater purpose, I feel like.¡± ¡°One could argue defeating a god is a great purpose already, but if that still feels shallow to you¡­¡± Ihuarah suddenly stopped his sentence, looking straight down at the bottom of the hole. ¡°Something wrong?¡± Sofia asked, looking down in turn, seeing nothing strange. ¡°I could swear I saw a person with long white hair down there,¡± Ihuarah said in a hushed tone, ¡°When I really looked there was nothing. Perhaps the overwhelming emotions are playing with my senses¡­¡± ¡°Long white hair, you say? Are you sure?¡± ¡°It was but a fleeting sight,¡± Ihuarah said. ¡°You might have seen right. I can¡¯t explain, but that alone should tell you everything you need to know. I¡¯m going down to check, you go back up and let the others know we got the shroud,¡± Sofia ordered. ¡°Are you certain you know what you¡¯re doing?¡± Ihuarah asked. ¡°No doubt. If anything happens to me, Pareth and Bookie will know what to do to come find me. But chances are I¡¯ll be back soon,¡± Sofia continued before letting herself fall back down. Soon she was alone in the room at the bottom of the hole again, she looked through the door to the walled-up cavern of the upper stratum. One of the walls now featured a hole, as if something had broken through, and just as Sofia noticed this, she saw trailing white hair disappearing beyond the wall. That¡¯s Him. Sofia tried to dash after him, but a sudden violent cramp forced her to stay in place, barely managing not to fall face first to the ground. Crap. I descended too fast. I couldn¡¯t properly re-adapt to the mana concentration¡­ Using any spell in that state could be dangerous, so Sofia just waited for a bit to let the pain pass and to let herself get used to the environment again. When she was ready, she walked up to the broken wall. The hole opened up to a long natural cavernous tunnel with a few stray rocks and not much else. A soft voice came out of nowhere, murmuring in Sofia¡¯s ears, ¡°So you want a greater purpose, Saintess?¡± Sofia wanted to turn around, but she couldn¡¯t. She managed to squeeze out one word, ¡°Orator¡­¡± ¡°Have you guessed why Time needed to die? This Lord supposes not. Nevertheless, you already have a calling.¡± ¡°I- I do?¡± ¡°Yes. Great things are coming. You fancied yourself our Saintess, did you not? When the time comes, you can be our voice, if you are ready.¡± ¡°H- How?¡± ¡°You need the essence and the knowledge both, [False Lord]. My quest shall be your blessing¡¯s crowning achievement. Yet you miss the mandate from one of us still. The time is right. Try it again now, the name.¡± Sofia could move again. She turned around, and of course there was no one here. ¡°Try the name again¡­ Really?¡± Sofia asked the Orator, ¡°You were the one warning me against it!¡± There was no answer. The Orator had left. ¡°And right now?¡± Saintess of the Deep¡­ Sofia looked back at the door, thinking about the others who were likely to be all waiting for her. ¡°Aphenoreth, if I should stop, now is the time to warn me.¡± There was no answer again. She sighed. I always knew it, but my curiosity is going to be the end of me. Pareth, Bookie. I¡¯m going to do something really dumb. For your safety, don¡¯t come. Just trust me. I will be back soon. Probably. I love you. She took a deep breath, an intoxicating quantity of mana rushing inside her. She felt Pareth and Bookie urgently teleporting to her, cutting through the fabric of space, but they were too late to stop her, the word was already leaving her mouth. ¡°Edrazeketh.¡± It was like something in the world broke. After pronouncing a simple word, Sofia Aphenoreth ceased to exist. The echo of her voice bounced around the cave walls, Pareth and Bookie were left behind in the dark cave. The skeletons only needed to share one look. Bookie extended a hand, Pareth grabbed it. Bookie clutched hard on Pareth¡¯s hand, but he did not hesitate for even a second. ¡°Edrazeketh.¡± There was thus only darkness and silence to be found in the cave.
Chapter 574 - A Saintess Stands [ERROR] [CONNECTION LOST] Sofia opened her eyes in the middle of nowhere. She was standing on nothing, perhaps falling, and everything was pitch black, but she could move, her senses were all there. Until another figure appeared from the nothingness, and suddenly Sofia was stuck in place, having a hard time to even think. Sitting cross-legged about twenty meters in front of Sofia, was a demon-like figure, with seven arms and a mind-boggling physique. Sofia, in this moment, understood what had felt so wrong about the Annihilator¡¯s statue in the second trial. The rune on his forehead could not possibly be sculpted in a way that made sense. It was, much like Aphenoreth¡¯s rune, constantly warping and shifting, and it seemed to warp reality around it in unison. Edrazeketh opened his eyes. Fully black eyes reflected the emptiness of the void. The Lord raised one of his seven hands. Sofia was instantly overcome by soul-crushing pain. Untold energies bashed against her soul, like trying to rip it to shreds, to reduce it down to its smallest components. Sofia¡¯s soul shook like the flame of a candle in a storm, but it wasn¡¯t extinguished. It could not be. [You were subjected to a Soul-extinguishing attack; but you were protected] [The ¡®Mark of Aphenoreth¡¯ could not punish the attacker] Sofia barely managed to remain conscious, and her sanity was soon tested. The Lord raised a second hand. The unlife runes broke all at once, and Sofia¡¯s mana vanished. Health : 822 762 / 822 762 Stamina : 204 336 / 204 336 Mana : 0 / 0 She could feel a void spread in her. She knew she should have died then and there. But she would not so easily disappear from a lack of energy, [Heat Death] would not let it happen. Her mana started going into the negative. Mana : -100 / 0 Mana : -1000 / 0 Mana : -10000 / 0 She felt herself disappearing; her very existence eating itself from the inside, [Heat Death] fought back, but it alone could not stop the infinite drain threatening Sofia¡¯s existence. As she held on, something in her came back to life from the void growing in her. It was a spark, an infinite loop of energy, the ultimate tier mana heart, the infinity engine. The mana stopped going further down in the negative. Slowly, it rose again. The Lord raised a third hand. Sofia disappeared. A black-laced glove was all that remained. Since the glove existed, then Sofia must have existed too. She had not disappeared. Still standing, facing the lord, she braced herself for what was to come next. In her mind she desperately called the names of the other lords for help, in vain. As she struggled to stay sane, her mana finally reached 0 again, and slowly, it crawled up into the positive. Mana : 1 / 0 The Lord raised a fourth hand. Now it was the empty void around Sofia itself that sought her end. Her place in reality had been revoked, she was to return to eternal darkness. She refused. The very fabric of her being was like a permanent stain, a bundle of light encroached in reality so strongly that one could not possibly get rid of the other. The power of the [Edgewalker]. Incomprehensibly for both Sofia and the entity she was facing, she still stood. The Lord raised a fifth hand.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. There was no visible sign or warning, Sofia¡¯s health just dropped to zero. What little mana she had fought back for her. This was not an acceptable end. The [Venerable physique of the primeval void] only allowed for 99% of her health to be taken away in a single it, that had always held true. As her lumian demon body cracked and its light spilled everywhere, illuminating the dark void, her health snapped back up from zero. Health : 8228 / 822 762 Was this really happening? Could Sofia truly survive the continued assault of a Lord in the flesh? Her thoughts cleared up a little. In the midst of despair, she saw a glimpse of hope, only two hands left. The Lord raised a sixth hand. Starting from her left hand, Sofia¡¯s body started to vanish, as if vaporized in thin air, and the little health she had left quickly ticked away. The vanishing was quickly progressing through her arm, it would soon reach her shoulder. Sofia struggled. She had never been able to move if a Lord wished her not to, they all had that power to make her stop. She tried everything she could think of, and to her delight, something still worked. Something that broke all the rules of what seemed logical, as it worked without condition, always, [Bone Dominus]. Sofia¡¯s spine reshaped a part of itself into a skeletal hand and grabbed Anna¡¯s dagger from the hole in her chest, undoing its bone sheath. In two clean internal strikes, Sofia freed herself from her left shoulder and arm, which fell silently into the void below. Sofia internally rejoiced, but to her horror, the vanishing started again from her right hand. She lost one more health point, before gaining it back. The vanishing stopped. The other Three Lords did not answer Sofia¡¯s prayers, yet some bit of their powers were still hers to wield. [Singularity edict] had dismissed the vanishing. Only one left! In Sofia¡¯s ears, the amused voice of the Orator whispered a few words, ¡°Whomst could have predicted that the grand Annihilator would unleash this particular sequence of attacks. This Saintess is so fortunate! Or¡­ Could that be a sleeping Lord¡¯s misfortune?¡± The voice disappeared with an ethereal cackle that faded in the distance. The lord raised his seventh hand. His seven arms abruptly moved to form a perfect circle, a gate made of his own limbs. It came with a low rumble, a tsunami of mana, of torrent of pure magical energy in untold amounts. It was as though the entirety of the world¡¯s mana converged here in this place. Mana filled the entire void, every nook and cranny. Sofia¡¯s body and soul were rocked by the current, her [Pillar of Creation] racial trait was the only thing preventing her from being washed away to the confines of this strange space. But that only bought her some time, a few seconds at most, the quantity of mana was too high, astronomical. It was killing her rapidly, the simple contact of so much energy too much for her dilapidated shell to handle. She focused all her will on one last move as her health plummeted. Fight fire with fire! [Ringed arms of Zar], collapse! Time seemed to freeze for a second. Like an imploding star, all the mana collapsed into the ring representing Edrazeketh¡¯s arms. It was a valiant attempt. To Sofia¡¯s credit, this last stunt had managed to stop the Lord¡¯s final attack. But in her critical state, could she survive this torrent of mana rushing back through her to reach the ring? She could not. Health : -814 772 / 822 762 Only an effigy of light remained of what was once Sofia Aphenoreth, her soulbound items shattered, and as to what happened to Pareth and Bookie? Perhaps no one would ever know. Silence reigned once more in the Annihilator¡¯s void. The Lord blinked. His black eyes lighting up in a myriad of glimmering colors. He noticed Sofia¡¯s remains, slightly tilting his head. Finally he slowly stood up, crossing his arms in his back. He walked up to the light effigy without any urgency, a perfectly neutral expression on his face. Yvraveteth. He said, as if instantly understanding the entire situation. Crouching down, he picked up the things that remained: a dagger, a black glove, a small bell, and lastly, a shining ring of pure mana. Gluttony. The Lord said, observing the ring. Nostalgic. This one is much favored. His eyes shone as he noticed the reason for this favoritism. Marked¡­ Have the pickings begun? Edrazeketh raised a single finger. The effigy of light turned into an unconscious tall woman with hair made of light and shining horns. Broken items forged themselves back from nothingness, covering her naked body. A crown, a scepter, a shroud, an armguard, several rings, all recovered in the blink of an eye. Post-human? [ERROR] [UNAUTHORIZED MEMORY SCAN DETECTED] [ERR Save your energy, Scribe. You cannot stop me. [ADMIN ACTION OVERRIDE, ERROR DISMISSED] Edrazeketh¡¯s eyes shone stronger. Interesting. So Anna has given up¡­ As I thought, it was too heavy a task for a scion to bear. But the system is still running. We need an administrator. The light of Edrazeketh¡¯s eyes weakened. He thrust an arm into the nothingness of the void besides him. Making a grabbing motion, he pulled something invisible to him, leaving a gaping hole in space in the wake of his action. He waved a finger, and the black lace glove flew to Sofia¡¯s right hand. He then grabbed her wrist and thrust it toward the emptiness he had pulled out of nowhere. With a sound like that of breaking glass, a gigantic battered and bruised Dragon appeared, its head hanging down as if it were dead. Edrazeketh waved a finger and the Dragon was completely healed, though still unconscious. This one shall do. The Lord¡¯s attention fell back to Sofia. Take this quest, Scribe. There is much to do.
Chapter 575 - The bigger Glutton Sofia and the Dragon disappeared from the void, and a lifeless skeleton holding a rotting bone book appeared in their place. Commendable foolishness. The Lord said to the lifeless pile of bones. He waved a finger: Bookie was restored to his pristine original book form and Pareth¡¯s dead mana heart surged with mana once again. The skeletons disappeared. I have not found an answer¡­
Sofia awoke gasping for air, she immediately recognized where she was: the small room under the lake staircase with the hole leading to the upper stratum. Pareth and Bookie were both sitting against the wall just like she was, sleeping. Sleeping? Have they ever slept?! Sofia put her hand on the commander jacket and lightly shook Pareth¡¯s shoulder. His eye sockets instantly lit up with holy light, and he looked around, seemingly confused. ¡°Don¡¯t ask me, I don¡¯t know either,¡± Sofia told him, turning around to wake up Bookie in a similar fashion, but it seemed the noise had roused him awake, and he stretched his bone limbs with a yawn. ¡°Sofia?¡± he asked, ¡°How did-¡± he started, before stopping and jumping upright, he turned to face Sofia and pointed at her with an index finger, his jaw opened and closed, his finger trembling. Sofia could tell he was conflicted about what to say, but he certainly looked more than a bit mad. Sofia sighed, but she was smiling. Before Bookie could react, she grabbed him and forced him into a big hug, pressing his skull against her chest. ¡°Here, here¡­¡± Bookie could shed no tears but he cried anyway, mumbling incoherent things about Sofia abandoning him and Pareth. ¡°I understand. I understand. You said the name too, didn¡¯t you?¡± How else would they have ended up like this? ¡°It¡¯s alright, it¡¯s all over now. I¡¯m sorry for going without you. I won¡¯t ever do it again, alright?¡± Sofia told Bookie while caressing his skull. She also looked at Pareth as she said that. Bookie kept sobbing in Sofia¡¯s arms, and Pareth just silently nodded, but he did so holding prolonged ¡®eye¡¯ contact with Sofia, in a way that was more intense than he normally ever did. Sofia was embarrassed. She had to admit, in retrospect, that It was stupid to go without them. Even if she wanted to protect them, they would have tried to follow anyway, so being together would have likely been preferable. That being said, she started to remember the details of what had happened to her, and it was perplexing, because, as far as she could tell, she had died. A real death, for the first and normally final time, the type you don¡¯t just wake up from thanks to some magic rune. I didn¡¯t dream all that up, did I? Someone who had been really silent until now chose this opportunity to make his presence known. [Congratulations. You have received a quest!] Is this-?! [Edrazeketh¡¯s approval] [Task : Prove your worth as a Marked-one] [Option one : Exterminate the Phageid during their next attack.] [Option two : Prime Gluttony before level 350.] [Option three : Survive for one year straight while branded with a Lord¡¯s simplified rune.] [Option four : Deal with Emperor Evatoseptot or help negotiate a peace treaty with him.] [Option five : Kill an ascended before Ascending.] [Reward : Essence of Edrazeketh] [Quest cannot be rejected] [Quest Accepted!] Ahah¡­ Not a dream, then. Was I resurrected? A Marked one¡­ Does that mean Shaily will have to do something like that as well? I should tell her¡­ These options though¡­ Exterminating the Phageid¡­ Everyone including Richard, Sun and Grandma Erredis is worried about them, how could I possibly¡­ If all the other tasks are as hard as this one¡­ I have no idea what Gluttony even is, but that might be the easiest option since I should be able to do it after the next filter.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. Option three feels like a trap, no matter how I look at it, some crazy shit will happen the second I draw one of those simplified runes of my skin, will it not? I know Aphenoreth and Edrazeketh¡¯s so I can try both¡­ Maybe I¡¯ll do that after leveling up. Never heard of Evatoseptot, but this task might be doable¡­ Depending on who exactly that is and what the peace treaty is about. Negotiations aren¡¯t exactly my strong suit though. And the last one is just killing a level 500 before reaching 500, isn¡¯t that right? Yeah this one is just impossible I¡¯m pretty sure. The gap between filters is becoming too big. The fortune dwarf was bad enough to fail his level 350 trial which means he probably wasn¡¯t that strong for his level, and I still struggled with a one filter difference despite being the highest achiever ever for the previous two trials¡­ At this rate I won¡¯t be able to beat even the weakest level 351 when I¡¯m level 300. It¡¯s different if it¡¯s a monster, but even then¡­ As Sofia¡¯s thoughts stilled for a second, foreign images started flooding her mind. From a very low viewpoint, she saw the distorted and blurry image of Edrazeketh standing up and slowly walking toward her. What in the name of all that is sane¡­ In the corner of her field of view, she could see herself. Or rather, what was left of her, just an effigy of eternal light. How can I see this? Edrazeketh came and picked up a few things, including the one Sofia was currently seeing the point of view of, which is when she understood. The Dagger? I¡¯m seeing the dagger¡¯s memories?! Gluttony. Sofia heard the Lord say in the recording with an extremely distorted voice as he observed the ring. Nostalgic. Is that my ring?! Sofia got an urge to take off her dragon-scale armguard to check the ring right away, but she also couldn¡¯t peel her eyes off from the blurry memories being superimposed on her vision. This one is much favored. The annihilator continued. It feels like I¡¯m seeing something I really shouldn¡¯t be allowed to. Marked¡­ Have the pickings begun? The pickings¡­ So Shaily being marked too¡­ I REALLY need to share this with her. What are we being picked for?!!! Sofia then watched Edrazeketh resurrect her and effortlessly restore all of her things. ¡­ Is there anything a Lord cannot do? Mr.Scribe tried to stop him from doing something but that was a lost cause¡­ A Scion? HOLY SHIT, WHAT?! IS THAT THE DRAGON ADMIN? Take this quest, Scribe. There is much to do. The recording ended there. Just as this was over, her system log opened by itself, showing her a few messages that added some context. He was reading our memory¡­ What is it that a Marked-one is marked for? I have to find out¡­ Is that related to the last function of the mark that the system couldn¡¯t decipher? Sofia then exchanged a few words with Mr.Scribe, who expressed that this was all he knew, and that the dagger had sent this recording to him by itself and without any explanation as he was writing a script of what he remembered to show Sofia. After that, she took her time to relay the entire situation to Pareth and Bookie.
¡°I want to see Gluttony!¡± was Bookie¡¯s immediate reaction to the end of the story. ¡°Right, I want to see too,¡± Sofia agreed, starting to take off her armguard. She found the ring on her finger, where the ring of Zar normally was, it was now like a small loop of semi-solid mana more than anything else, it had a weak whit-ish blue glow, and felt just like a regular ring. It changed from absorbing all that mana at once, it seems¡­ Can we Identify that? It took Mr.Scribe a few seconds to come with results. [Gluttony] : A ring from the lost Epoch, given to mortals by the Annihilator. Its purpose was to give mortals a way to get rid of the tainted remains of dead gods corrupting the land. It had regressed to a weaker form due to a lack of use. Must be primed to unlock advanced functions (0/ 5 divine remains absorbed). Basic functions
  • Absorb the remains of dead gods.
  • Grants high resistance to the influence of tainted remains to the wearer and nearby allies.
  • Sometimes gives its wearer the location of tainted remains it yearns to devour.
Advanced function (Requires Priming)
  • Allows the wearer to freely travel to and from the divine realms.
  • For each divine remains contained within: Any damage you inflict on any target +10%
Restriction: Cannot be worn by gods. ¡°Are we going to try priming it?¡± Bookie asked after reading the description. ¡°Maybe? I was not even aware that dead gods left anything behind¡­¡± At that moment, Sofia felt a mental pull from the ring. For the second time that day, foreign images flooded her mind. She was given a location, first from extremely far away in space, showing her the entire planet and its surroundings, then progressively getting closer image by image, ending on an image of a fallen statue blocking closed doors. After committing the information to memory, Sofia looked at her options to complete Edrazeketh¡¯s quest again. Priming the ring was something she was going to want to do anyway, considering the advanced functions, so she might as well do two things at once. ¡°Well then¡­ After we level up¡­ Let¡¯s go hunt some dead gods.¡± ¡°Hunt dead gods!¡± Bookie repeated, throwing his hands up, ¡°Ah, but Sofia, how do we level up? If the Dragon admin is back can¡¯t he fix our levels?¡± ¡°Ahah, I think he¡¯s probably a bit busy with other things, Life is probably on his back to try to save Anna already, we¡¯re really not the priority. And honestly, at this point I might as well just use Mr.Scribe¡¯s method. He worked very hard on it and it¡¯s supposed to be better than regular leveling as well¡­ He just needs to rework it a bit now that the ring no longer absorbs mana¡­ Anyway, let¡¯s get up those stairs, the others must be waiting for us. And¡­ Let¡¯s maybe not mention this whole thing to anyone for now, alright?¡±
Chapter 576 - Speed dating??? ¡°Yes! That was the correct solution,¡± Velania explained, sipping on a hot drink, ¡°You can only get the shroud using [Regret], actually. If you get to the final three it¡¯s designed so that the first one you pick is always wrong.¡± ¡°Ooooh, that¡¯s nasty. Who designed that?¡± Everelle asked. ¡°Like almost everything else, it¡¯s all Romuald. All I really did was make the things¡­¡± ¡°Right, who made the artifact?¡± Sofia asked, looking at the shroud still wrapped around her shoulders. ¡°We are not sure¡­ Auntie wouldn¡¯t tell us, but it was already there when¡­ It was there¡­¡± Velania¡¯s eyes clouded over slightly as her voice died down. Shit, is she about to pass out again?! ¡°R- Right, Velania, I had another question for you! Don¡¯t you want to leave now that I have the shroud? You don¡¯t have to stay trapped here,¡± Sofia said, coming up with a distraction on the spot. That question seemed to surprise Velania. ¡°L- leave? I¡­ N- no, I can¡¯t leave. You still have the other trials here to get through later!¡± ¡°Right¡­ What about after I clear them all, then?¡± ¡°I¡­ I¡¯ll think about it¡­¡±, she mumbled after some consideration, blushing for no apparent reason, ¡°But that means you have to be the one who gets the wheel and allow Auntie to come back!¡± ¡°That was always the plan. It¡¯s going to take a while though, I don¡¯t feel strong enough to barge into Fairy territory quite yet.¡± ¡°You should be at least as strong as me first,¡± Velania confirmed. ¡°Yeah, definitely going to take a while¡­¡±
A few days later, after Sofia helped bring everyone back to the other side of the world by going into Zangdar and having Alith bring them out with her ring, Sofia was alone with Bookie and Pareth, doing some shopping in the streets of Hooasow. The peculiar trio drew a lot of attention from the people, but nobody dared say anything to the weird tall lady with hair of light covered in gold and magical artifacts and her two skeletons dressed like noblemen. ¡°Vasperia is great but nothing can beat the choice they have here on the human continent,¡± Sofia commented as she looked through a monster-parts shop that sold many rare things including a prohibitively expensive Dragon claw shard. ¡°What if we don¡¯t find the ingredients here?¡± Bookie questioned, holding Sofia¡¯s hand. ¡°Well, there¡¯s always Richard¡¯s red carpet. And if that fails we can take a quick trip to Exidia, but it shouldn¡¯t be that hard to get a few rare herbs and reagents¡­ Maybe. At least Alith already had most of them.¡± ¡°I still don¡¯t get how the potion will help¡­¡± Bookie admitted, which made Sofia giggle. ¡°No need to worry about it, if the Demon King says it¡¯s going to help then it probably will, don¡¯t you think?¡± ¡°He could have at least sent an explanation with the recipe!¡± Bookie complained. ¡°I am just happy that he accepted to help at all, honestly. Hopefully I¡¯ll finally be able to use that racial skill. It¡¯s just there, in my status, taunting me¡­ Ah¡­ I don¡¯t see anything that we need in this shop, let¡¯s get a move on.¡±
¡°There you go!¡± Karlson proudly said, tapping on the large mithril cube Sofia had ordered a few days prior, leaving him with a pile of ingots worth a fortune. ¡°Gotta say, never worked with that much Mithril at once, a bit sad that you wanted a box and not a weapon¡­¡± ¡°I need it for my new leveling technique, but I¡¯ll probably make something else out of the Mithril when I¡¯m done. Don¡¯t need a weapon though, my staff is still perfect.¡±This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°It sure looks decent¡­ Wait¡­ Is that a diamond?¡± the rabbit beastman asked with bulging eyes. ¡°Eheheh¡­ Here, take a handful, I make them myself,¡± Sofia told Karlson, handing him a small pile of tiny rough diamonds. ¡°W- wait, I should pay for this.¡± ¡°Just think of it as a present from a friend,¡± Sofia said with a wink, ¡°right, how¡¯s Karin doing?¡± ¡°Ah! Same as always, nose in her accounting books, I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll be overjoyed if you swing by the palace to say hi¡­ After you fix her memory¡­¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ I need to go to the adventurer¡¯s guild too, at least to see Kuli and Drian, maybe Michael if he¡¯s there. Speaking of which, are Topaz and Opal around?¡± ¡°You know the imperial twins?! Oh wait, no, yeah, I heard about that I think, something about you being a teacher? It¡¯s a bit messy to link things together since this was discussed after everyone aside from Xeros forgot about you. They should still be in the Empire, but they might be at their summer home in the south, though,¡± Karlson explained, ¡°They¡¯ve been wanting to go train in a dungeon around there for a while now.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll go see Xeros first to ask him, I guess. Plenty of people to catch up with and fix the memory of¡­ Well, I¡¯ll take this and go, thanks for working so fast, Karl.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t mention it, drinking buddies gotta have each other¡¯s back. We should have another party night one of these days, you look like you¡¯ve got plenty of stories to tell. Starting with your becoming a beastkin yourself.¡± ¡°The race is Lumian I told you,¡± Sofia corrected him, jokingly rolling her eyes. ¡°Hey, listen, I told you the other day, if you¡¯ve got horns¡­¡±
A masked god appeared in the middle of a swamp, his long legs knee-deep in the mud. ¡°Seriously¡­ Did they give me the wrong location? Hmm¡­ Is this a skeleton out there?¡± The god appeared next to the tall three-headed skeleton who was using some sort of measurement tool, ¡°Hey, big lad, I¡¯m looking for a girl. Demon, shiny horns, scary grin, you wouldn¡¯t happen to have seen her around?¡± The skeleton pointed south, where Speed could only see a black cloud writhing over the swamp. ¡°Are those fucking mosquitoes? Disgusting¡­ Well, thanks for the pointer¡­¡± Speed disappeared. A tall girl was in the middle of the swarm of giant mosquitoes, she was not attacking them, just avoiding their continuous attacks. ¡°Oh hey, training your speed? Smart,¡± the god commented, ¡°I¡¯m looking for a demon, she got the same horns as- oh¡­ Damn, girl, you look different than I remembered.¡± Sofia summoned a sword of bones in her hand, she swung it once, and the entire giant mosquito swarm was caught in a series of silent luminous explosions. When the light died down, there were only charred corpses left sinking in the mud. ¡°Hi, Speed!¡± Sofia answered, reflexively wiping non-existant sweat from her forehead, ¡°Yeah I do look a bit different when not in demon-form. I hope finding me wasn¡¯t too difficult?¡± ¡°Well, t¡¯was easier than the first time, for sure. You know my rates?¡± ¡°Tiny stone for a non-priority letter, got that right?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°Yep, you can expect delivery almost anywhere on the surface in under a week, and the recipient can send an answer letter for free,¡± Speed specified. ¡°Honestly it¡¯s a lot cheaper than I expected.¡± ¡°Well, a tiny stone ain¡¯t exactly cheap to begin with, for most people; level 300 plus folks don¡¯t croak every day. But also I can¡¯t make the service too expensive or I won¡¯t have any business.¡± ¡°Why does a God need money to begin with?¡± ¡°Same as you, I wanna buy shit,¡± he answered with a shrug. ¡°Alright, well, here¡¯s the stone, harvested that one myself,¡± Sofia explained, giving Speed the Fortune dwarf¡¯s mana heart as well as a sealed letter. ¡°Seems legit,¡± Speed analyzed, fiddling with the stone, ¡°who¡¯s the letter for, answer to the big D?¡± ¡°For Morning Star, Sun¡¯s saintess. But it is also fine if you give it to Sun or her Oracle.¡± ¡°Huh, probably just a trip to Herzal, then. Easy enough. And I heard you had some other odd job for me also?¡± ¡°Yes¡­ Hum. It might be a bit of a strange request but¡­ Could you show me to the place where the previous Speed died?¡± The question took Speed aback, ¡°And here I thought I might have landed myself a date¡­¡± he joked, ¡°The old one died in his domain so¡­ That¡¯s my home now, basically, kinda. Why would you want to go there, even?¡± ¡°Well¡­ It¡¯s complicated, but to make it simple, I have an urgent need to gather the remains of dead divinities¡­¡± Speed was left speechless, he turned around, looking at the three-headed skeleton still measuring things in the distance, then back at Sofia. ¡°Necromancers, man¡­ How much do you pay?¡± he finally said with a sigh. Sofia had to pause for a second, she really did not have many things in her possessions that could be of interest to a God and that she would be agreeable to trade. ¡°H- How about a date?¡± She finally tried without thinking. ¡°Huh? That¡¯s- I mean¡­¡± Speed scratched his head, deep in thought, ¡°Like¡­¡± He stopped and looked Sofia up and down, not even trying to hide it, ¡°Sure? Yeah, alright. Let¡¯s do that,¡± he finally agreed. ¡°What am I getting myself into¡­¡± he mumbled from behind his mask.
Chapter 577 - Size matters About half an hour after Speed left, Saria fell from the sky and landed in the middle of the swamp like a cannonball, ¡°HELLO EVERYONE!¡± She looked around, seeing Sofia currently sculpting large bone blocks, and Pareth a bit further away busy collecting swamp plants into pots. ¡°Wait¡­ It¡¯s just you two?¡± ¡°Who else? Alith will come with Remia a bit later, and Bookie should be back¡­ Probably soon?¡± ¡°You sent him to a dungeon alone or something?¡± Saria asked. ¡°No, no, I just need a lot of red sand for my new leveling technique, he¡¯s gone to fetch it. He¡¯s travelling on the skeleton chimera we got from the last trial, that thing is absurdly fast.¡± ¡°Ah right¡­ So¡­ You¡¯re really not going to tell anyone else about the admin?¡± ¡°Well, Alith and Shaily already know¡­ And I am willing to bet that the high levels also know. It¡¯s not like it¡¯s going to change much in the short term anyway. I¡¯ll try to see if I can get him a message later, I figure he might want some help to un-erase some of his things. I worry that he might want to take Anna¡¯s dagger back, though, and I cannot really afford to lose it.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ Yeah, to be honest we can¡¯t know what this guy might think or be like. Doesn¡¯t hurt to be cautious. But well, if he wants the key back there¡¯s probably not much you can do to prevent him from taking it. And on another note¡­ What the hell are you trying to do in this swamp?¡± ¡°Oh, nothing much, just starting a city here, I got permission from the emperor.¡± Saria was speechless. ¡°A city?! Hey I went through all that trouble to find those damn rings and you¡¯re going to build a place in the overworld?!¡± ¡°You found both rings?!¡± ¡°Of course I fucking did!¡± Saria answered, showing her right hand wearing two midenicite rings. ¡°W- Well¡­ Zangdar will still be my main home and base of operations¡­ Even though it¡¯s more like Alith¡¯s lab at the moment, it¡¯s just that with the limited number of rings, we can¡¯t really have too many people living there. And I¡¯d like to keep it a private and safe space for people we can trust. But also it¡¯d be nice to have a¡­ Less void-y place to return to and rest sometimes. If we can have artisans and such move here it would be even better.¡± Saria took a second to look around and take it all in, ¡°Yeah, sure, but why not just buy a place in Vasperia though? And why a swamp?¡± ¡°It won¡¯t be a swamp for very long, I¡¯m just holding back with the heavy land-forming until Pareth collects enough plant samples. We¡¯ve found a good location in the swamp, it¡¯ll be great for a small city, just a bit further south. We have a river, easy access to the sea and the spirit forest, it¡¯s going to be nice. As for why here in particular¡­ It was free. And I want to go crazy with bone architecture, so buying in an already existing city isn¡¯t exactly the best choice.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not worried nobody will want to live in a city made of bones?¡± ¡°It might take people a while to get used to it but it¡¯s also extremely durable and free. I can make anyone¡¯s dream house in a matter of minutes at this point if I¡¯ve got the bones ready, and I do. I just need to find someone to manage the city for me, it shouldn''t be too hard.¡± Saria seemed dubious, and she kept peppering Sofia with a thousand questions about the supposed bone city¡¯s logistics for the next hour until Bookie arrived on skeleton back, carrying two huge leather pouches filled to the brim with red sand. He barely had time to unload and say hi to Saria that Alith appeared out of nowhere carrying a sleeping dryad. ¡°Hey hey hey! I¡¯m done!¡± She proudly announced, offloading Remia into Pareth¡¯s arms, ¡°Oh hey Sar, long time no see. Want some candies?¡± ¡°Maybe step out of the mud first? You¡¯re sinking,¡± Sofia commented. ¡°Oh shit.¡± Alith pulled her mithril boots out of the muck and jumped onto Sofia¡¯s bone platform everyone else but Pareth was using. ¡°How is HE not sinking?¡± she then asked, pointing at said skeleton. ¡°He has passive levitation on his armor through his signature skill right now,¡± Sofia explained, ¡°So, the stat candies are done?¡± ¡°Yep, all done, Health, Speed, Strength, Agility, a hundred thousand stat points each, got them all. These were a lot tougher to reproduce than the two previous tiers. Also it is quite literally magical poison before being a strengthening drug, you want to brace yourself before you eat those,¡± Alith explained with a proud look.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°How many do you think we can each take?¡± Saria asked, ¡°I might just be able to buy enough Aura to start making real use of it with that many boss points.¡± ¡°After the first four, I was able to eat five more, basically, but I¡¯m quite resistant to most magical plants by now, so I got to eat more. I¡¯d say an average person our level would probably have to stop at two.¡± Mr.Scribe, is it an issue for the leveling if I eat those right now? Sofia silently asked her scribe, and one of Sofia¡¯s system documents opened by itself, it was one of multiple pre-written documents containing only one word: ¡®no¡¯. Sofia had made them to allow Mr.Scribe to easily communicate without having to take control and actually write things. No issue? Nice. Now how do I do that? I definitely want at least two health to get it to a million. After that¡­ All strength? The [Olympian] title equalizes my stamina substats anyway¡­
While Pareth and Bookie were walking around the swamp with Remia, Alith¡¯s stat candies were devoured by the two sisters. Sofia ate two Health candies, bringing it to slightly over a million, and five strength candies. After that, she started to feel a bit like that time she had smelled the leviathan tear, so she decisively knew to stop right then and there. Meanwhile Saria was being a monster as usual, and crushed even Alith¡¯s record, eating a total of twelve candies before she started to feel ill. ¡°It¡¯s really weird, your body is storing the excess energy I think,¡± Alith told Saria as she was examining her skin which was turning slightly blue, ¡°You should probably spend it fast before it becomes a problem.¡± ¡°It never did this before. But well, I can spend it. I¡¯m buying all the aura upgrades I can!¡± ¡°How many is that?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°Two, a small and a medium¡­ I could only afford tiny ones until now, so that¡¯s progress¡­¡± Sofia stared at her stats as she chatted. Health : 1 022 762 / 1 022 762 Stamina : 370 242 / 371 002 Mana : 2 054 899 / 5 022 238 Too bad we cannot see the sub-stats. Almost doubled my stamina though, I feel a LOT stronger. Why do I have this sudden urge to punch something? ¡°Sofia?¡± Saria called out for the second time. ¡°Ah, sorry, I was-¡± ¡°Are you daydreaming about a man?¡± Saria joked. ¡°Much better, I was admiring my status sheet. Err¡­ I guess I do have a date with a ¡®man¡¯ planned for next week though,¡± Sofia admitted with a shrug. ¡°No way! Sofia? You? On a date? Who are you and what have you done to my sister?¡± ¡°Pareth doesn¡¯t count, Sof.¡± ¡°Hey! It¡¯s not like that! I just didn¡¯t know what else to offer the guy so¡­¡± Saria narrowed her eyes, ¡°Hoy, hoy, sister, is this how I educated you? I thought you had a little bit more self respect¡­¡± ¡°Is he hot at least? Taller than you? Strong charisma? Level two gajillions? Dragon ancestors? Super rich?¡± Alith asked with curiosity. ¡°I- He¡¯s not bad looking, I think? Ah, but, it¡¯s not that serious¡­ We are really just going to eat dinner and get straight to business after that.¡± There was an awkward silence. ¡°Sofia¡­¡± Saria said, ¡°I know this isn¡¯t what you meant but¡­ You should really be more careful about your phrasing¡­¡± ¡°Ah- I-¡± Sofia stuttered. After being silent like a dead fish for a few seconds, she tried to change the subject. ¡°D- Does anyone want to help me set up my levelling station? I finally have everything ready¡­¡± ¡°Sofia¡­¡± Saria sighed. ¡°Seriously, who is it, though? I¡¯m reserving the right to reject people from zangdar if I don¡¯t like ¡®em!¡± Alith continued to press Sofia for answers. ¡°What she said!¡± Dopple agreed in a rare comment on something that wasn¡¯t a shirt or armor. Sofia rolled her eyes, ¡°It¡¯s REALLY not that serious. I swear, there¡¯s nothing going on¡­¡± Alith walked closer to Sofia, she had to look up to maintain eye contact so she really wasn¡¯t as intimidating as she tried to be, but she tried anyway, ¡°Answers! We request a name.¡± Sofia tried to look in Saria¡¯s direction for help, but Saria seemed to be waiting for her answer as well. ¡°I should have kept my mouth shut¡­¡± Sofia said with a sigh. ¡°True,¡± Alith confirmed with a hearty laugh, ¡°What else did you think was going to happen, of course we want to know more, moron. What do you have to be ashamed about anyway, we were each other¡¯s first kiss so the bar for our relationships is so low it¡¯s not even funny¡­¡± ¡°What are you waiting for to go find someone if that¡¯s how you think?¡± Saria asked Alith from the side, already aware of the [Maiden¡¯s kiss] shenanigans. Alith put a hand over her own head, and moved it horizontally to reach Sofia¡¯s body, landing right under her chest. ¡°That¡¯s why¡­ And before you ask, no, I¡¯m not interested in dating a Dwarf¡­¡±
Chapter 578 - The box of wonders ¡°Alright, I¡¯m going in,¡± Sofia told Bookie and Pareth, ¡°Make sure that the midenicite slab is slotted correctly and bury it all well.¡± ¡°You can trust Engineer skeleton!¡± Bookie proudly answered, ¡°and we won¡¯t let anyone come close!¡± ¡°I¡¯m in safe hands then. See you in a bit,¡± Sofia finished, jumping into the mithril box at the bottom of the pit. She pulled on the interior handle to close the mithril box and sat down in the center. She had to change for a cubic box rather than the initial plan for a coffin-like box, not only because it would be more comfortable, but also because the final step of using the ring of Zar for mana reforging was to be replaced by a much more involved process which required some space to move around. Buying enough mithril to make the box to the required specifics was something else, she couldn¡¯t afford it even with her reserves unless she started to sell some precious things she owned, but she had managed, taking a no interest loan from Richard¡¯s Red-Carpet as a VIP client. Sofia looked through Pareth¡¯s eyes, watching the Engineer slowly lowering a large and thick midenicite slab on top of the mithril box, which was already itself sitting in a larger midenicite box, which was more than halfway buried inside of red sand. The slab finished to seal the midenicite box, and Sofia completely lost the connection, her vision snapping back to the interior of her box. The soul link is still intact but mithril and midenicite together is too much for the mana to pass through¡­ The red sand might not even be needed at this point even if it¡¯s to prevent outside interference. The skeletons got to work quickly filling the entire pit with the remaining red sand, and finally, Sofia¡¯s levelling cube was ready. Sofia took off her clothes and stored everything in her eye. She had left most of her things outside in Pareth¡¯s care, now the only thing she was still wearing was her black glove, and she had the admin dagger along with a small handwritten booklet on her lap. She shivered as her bare skin touched the mithril. ¡°Why is this stuff so cold?¡± she complained, changing her sitting position so that less skin touched the metal. After taking a deep breath, she exhaled and slowly expelled almost all of her mana, leaving her with just enough that she wouldn¡¯t feel too dizzy. ¡°Now to keep filling that space with mana until it starts to kill me. This feels really weird to be doing with a rune on¡­¡± Flooding the cube with mana was long and boring, Sofia just had to wait, expel her mana, and do it again. She was so bored that she started meditating and lost count of how many times she had to repeat the process, only realizing that she was getting there when she had a severe coughing fit out of nowhere. For someone with cosmetic lungs that mostly served to activate her vocal chords, starting to cough uncontrollably was a pretty good sign that something was wrong. When she managed to stop coughing, Sofia more precisely felt how bad the situation was, the mana in the cube was even more concentrated than it had been in the upper stratum, and it warped the air so much that it felt like she was underwater. Sofia watched her health meter, it was going up and down, the environment actively harming her while the [Bone dominus] blessing on her own skeleton was healing her back up. That has to be enough, right? Stopping there, Sofia expelled her heart and entered her demon form. She grabbed and opened the small booklet she had brought down in the box with her, this was a guide drawn by Velania on her own refined version of the Ancient human circulation technique which had slowly gotten her to the level she was today. Velania had warned Sofia that the technique by itself was useless without the breakthrough methods, but that is what the system trials were for. Sofia opened the booklet from the last page, and started following the method in reverse. She had already done that part once outside of the box with very little mana just to be sure that she could do it. It was easy enough, just very painful.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. The technique in itself was quite simple, it was just patterns in which to guide one¡¯s mana in their body that would help slowly reinforce it while also enlarging one¡¯s mana reserves. It required some concentration but anyone could do it, as long as they were ready to invest the time. One full circulation of the entire method, as the booklet described, could take up to a month. Thankfully Sofia did not need to be so precise, and only needed to rush through the entire technique in reverse as fast as possible. If Sofia had to describe the resulting sensation, it was a bit like having crushed glass flow in her veins in reverse, an absolutely excruciating pain. But it was working. Whenever the pain was too much and Sofia felt like stopping, she was pushed to continue by the intense excitation she felt from feeling herself becoming stronger. After what seemed like an eternity, Sofia reached the start of the booklet and could finally stop. Her hands trembling, she grabbed the key, and started to wildcast the graveyard, having skeletal hands emerge from her body, grabbing her from the outside and bringing her partway into the spiritual plane. There came a small issue, in that one is always unable to see their own soul. She let Mr.Scribe take control of her mana, and he slowly used it to guide her hands to the right position. [There. A fast slice, then bring your left hand to your mouth and swallow. It is going to hurt.] I expected no less from soul cannibalism¡­ When Mr.Scribe gave Sofia control of her body back, she followed the instructions. She extended her right arm, slicing with the dagger along the path Mr.Scribe had traced for her, feeling a distinct pain that was hard to describe, then, grabbing on to nothing, she trusted that she held a piece of her soul and brought it to her mouth, swallowing air. She felt a jolt like she had bitten into a super sour fruit, then nothing. The pain from the soul cut was dull in comparison to what had come before. That¡¯s it? I¡¯m shocked the soul-eating part was the easiest¡­ If nothing else the Eddarinians at least had a great leveling method, huh. Sofia allowed herself some time to breathe, but she couldn¡¯t wait for too long. Now the last part. She started to cast a piercing angel bolt. Unlike usual, where her main concern was to pump as much mana into as possible, she, this time, sent it a weak and steady flow, letting the bolt slowly come to a form, becoming a thin ray of sky-blue plasma in her hand. The bolt, lacking a proper energy supply, started to draw in some of the abundant ambient mana. This works. Now the rune. Since she no longer had the ring of Zar, the next best way to achieve mana reforging, in Mr.Scribe¡¯s opinion, was this. She was to draw large runes on her body by carving them with a piercing bolt. The ambient mana would flood in and her body would fix the injury while intaking all that mana, leading it to reform in a slightly more efficient way, guided by the runic shape. Sofia was pretty numb to the bolts¡¯ energy carving into her flesh by now, so this was a lot better than it sounded, and it was over relatively quickly too, as there was really only enough mana in the box to do one rune per run. She took some time to breathe and relax, and her transformation expired. ¡°First run over!¡± she felicitated herself, ¡°and flawlessly executed too!¡± No change in my status sheet yet, though¡­ What¡¯s going on there? I clearly felt myself getting stronger. I guess Mr.Scribe is a bit overworked at the moment. After some wait, finally the results were in. ¡®You gained a level!¡¯ [Calculating stat gain, please wait.] ¡®Health: +62¡¯ ¡®Stamina: +43¡¯ ¡®Mana: +5652¡¯ ¡®Hidden stats: cannot provide accurate measure.¡¯ ¡°Woah! That¡¯s a lot better than I expected! It¡¯s actually not a meaningless increase. That¡¯s like¡­ Three hundred thousand points worth of stats for the fifty next levels?¡± Compared to her normal system-given growth rate of twenty health, twenty stamina, and two thousand mana per level, that was almost triple. ¡°Still, so much effort for three pills¡¯ worth of stats¡­ Not having an alchemist like Alith around to make the pills is like being crippled. That¡¯s such a huge gap¡­ I need to get a special pill package to Shaily really soon.¡± Sofia rested while she filled the box with mana again. When it came to seeing her stats go up¡­ She was thoroughly addicted.
Chapter 579 - Watch your back Sofia took a well-deserved break from her painstaking leveling process to prepare for her ¡®date¡¯ with Speed. She was at a bit of a loss at first, not really knowing how she should even prepare, but thankfully Saria was there to help get her Sister dressed up properly and not like a bone-maniac, picking the best-looking robe and accessories out of the bunch that Sofia had accumulated in her storage until now and basically never worn. She was thus wearing a long frilly dark robe in the trendy vampire style that Astelia usually wore, along with the golden pieces of the saint set as accessories. ¡°No, no, I¡¯m categorical, you can¡¯t wear the crown and the gauntlet and the cape, just keep that stuff in your storage!¡± Sofia sighed, ¡°Do you know how much of a pain it is to stuff a magic-resistant dragon scale plate in a storage ring? This would take hours¡­¡± ¡°Then leave it here with me!¡± Saria refused to budge from her position. ¡°Better yet, let Pareth hold it, if you need it he¡¯ll teleport to you.¡± ¡°W- wait, Pareth isn¡¯t coming?¡± ¡°Hell no! And Bookie stays here with me too!¡± ¡°B- but,¡± Sofia stuttered, being cut off by Saria. ¡°No buts! Do you want to stay single all your life? You don¡¯t get a date with an actual god every other day, take this seriously!¡± Saria lectured while adjusting the frills of Sofia¡¯s robe. ¡°... Also, Saria, don¡¯t you think this shows too much cleavage? I feel a bit¡­¡± ¡°Oh sister, you pure soul, if I were you I would be wearing even more of a low cut, men love that, show a bit of chest and they can¡¯t take their eyes off.¡± ¡°You think I don¡¯t know that?! But we are already going on a date, I would rather appear more modest, this is a bit embarrassing is what I am saying¡­¡± Sofia explained. ¡°I hate to break it to you, Sofia, but there is nothing you can wear that will make your body-shape appear modest. Unless you want to go on a date in full armor. And even then¡­ I¡¯m surprised that you even care anyway, when you have no issue walking around in the nude in your demon form,¡± Saria commented with a shrug. ¡°It¡¯s different!¡± ¡°Is it now? In any case, you worry too much, this is fine, I assure you. I¡¯d even add a necklace to guide the eyes to the right place but you¡¯ve already got that pearl growing in the middle there so that would be too much. Simpler is better for you anyway, you¡¯ve already got a lot going on with the glowing hair and the horns and the runes.¡± In the end Sofia gave up and let Saria do exactly as she wanted, even letting her apply some light makeup on her face, which was something that Sofia had actually never done. Speed arrived about twenty minutes later, exactly at the appointed time, dressed like a nobleman in a fancy white and red tight-fitting suit, but still wearing his mask. He looked relaxed, at first, but seeing that Sofia wasn¡¯t alone, he immediately corrected his posture, clearing his throat, ¡°G- Good evening, ladies,¡± he greeted them. ¡°Hey. Speed, right? It looks like you¡¯re taking this seriously also, good. Why the mask, though?¡± Saria asked outright. ¡°H- ah, yes, pardon me,¡± Speed apologized, before grabbing his mask by the red-glowing holes in the front, and taking it off, which produced a weird sound like steam escaping a pressured valve. Oh woah! Speed¡¯s golden hair tied in a low ponytail framed his finely sculpted face. His glowing red eyes were his most striking feature, like two perfect rubies that gave his look a cold intensity, a sort of princely aura that couldn¡¯t be felt with the mask on. Sofia had expected nothing and was shocked that she actually found Speed¡¯s face to her liking, it was easily number two in her ranking, right after the long deceased Armand Skyreach from her first trial.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. ¡°Much better,¡± Saria approved, nodding, ¡°well, I¡¯m leaving my precious sister in your care for the evening. Have fun,¡± she finished with a giggle, walking away to join Pareth and Bookie who were waiting for her to play cards in the future bone city¡¯s first bone-house prototype. ¡°W- well¡­ Where are we going?¡± Sofia asked, now that she was alone with Speed who looked honestly uncomfortable without his mask. ¡°Ah, yes, since you¡¯re appropriately dressed, I, uhm¡­ Do you know about the hellsgate lodge?¡± Speed asked semi-nervously, his eyes strangely fixated on Sofia¡¯s as if he was scared to look anywhere else. ¡°Never heard of it, no.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ Well, it should be a nice discovery then. It¡¯s better that way, actually, yeah. Let¡¯s go. I¡¯m paying so you don¡¯t have to worry about it.¡± ¡°Wait. What do you mean you¡¯re paying?¡± Sofia protested. ¡°Huh? The man should pay, isn¡¯t that how humans do it? I was sure¡­¡± ¡°N- no, I mean, yes, but the date was meant to be for me paying you in the first place so¡­¡± ¡°That¡­¡± Speed answered, blinking a few times, ¡°I want to pay, is that fine?¡± Sofia couldn¡¯t really argue with that so she just nodded. She was not one to refuse a free meal anyway. ¡°Can you fly?¡± Speed asked, as Sofia had currently her wings clipped, which made the answer not obvious, although he had seen her with wings previously. Sofia made a difficult face, ¡°Not with this robe¡­¡± ¡°Ah¡­ Then¡­ Will you let me carry you? It¡¯ll only take a second.¡± ¡°Sure?¡± Sofia agreed after some hesitation. The robe did not help make the process any less awkward, but after struggling a bit, Speed solidly got a hold of Sofia in a princess carry and departed from the bone city¡¯s foundation platform. It was like the world warped around Sofia and Speed, it did not even feel like moving, everything vanished into darkness except for a bright point light appearing in front. Then it stopped, it had lasted less than a second, but they were no longer in the swamp, but in a dimly-lit corridor with art on the walls, there was a fancy and colorful long carpet that led straight to a door guarded by two avian men in black suits with black masks. They look like Eternam, Sofia thought, focusing on a random detail of the otherwise completely strange place. Speed delicately let her down, ¡°There we are. I hope this wasn¡¯t too disorienting?¡± ¡°I- It was a bit strange, but I''m fine, thank you. Where is this, though?¡± ¡°Hellsgate lodge,¡± Speed said again, ¡°quite deep underground below an active volcano, some ways east of the beastmen continent, I have no idea how this place came about, but I¡¯ve had a business meeting with a client here last year. It¡¯s¡­ Fancy? Last time I was here there were quite a few demons around so I thought you might like it¡­¡± ¡°It looks expensive. Are you sure this is fine?¡± Speed shrugged, ¡°I¡¯d rather my first date ever not be ruined because I was a cheapskate.¡± ¡°Your first date?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°W- what? I¡¯ve been busy¡­ Is that a problem?¡± ¡°I just didn¡¯t think¡­ Anyway, no, it¡¯s my first real date also¡­¡± Sofia admitted, looking away. ¡°Really?!¡± Speed reacted, sounding much livelier all of a sudden, he then tried to relieve the tension a bit, ¡°Let¡¯s go inside, we are going to need to wait a bit for the food to arrive anyway,¡± he explained, starting to walk toward the door. Sofia watched him take a few steps alone, before he turned back. ¡°Is something the matter?¡± he asked, seeing that Sofia wasn¡¯t following. ¡°Nothing,¡± Sofia denied, joining him, unwilling to admit that she had been kind of just admiring his back. Does his skeleton also look that good? She wondered in amazement. Thankfully for Speed, he was not able to hear her thoughts. After Speed had a quick discussion with the guards that Sofia entirely zoned-out as she was too focused on analyzing his bone structure, the door to the hellsgate lodge opened, instantly mesmerizing Sofia with the smell of delicious food and wine. Speed had made a good choice. As Speed let Sofia enter first, she was surprised, her eyes meeting an unknown but familiar gaze. An unremarkable-looking human was sitting alone in a corner near the entrance, a fork halfway in his mouth. RICHARD?!
Chapter 580 - Totally normal conversations Another masked Avian quickly showed up to lead Speed and Sofia to a table in another room, and Sofia lost sight of the person who looked an awful lot like one of Richard¡¯s ¡®spare bodies¡¯. There were exquisite sculptures and paintings exposed everywhere, which made the restaurant feel almost like some kind of museum, and Sofia couldn¡¯t help but feel like she was a bit out of place. I suppose it¡¯s not too strange for someone like Richard to come eat here? There were not that many guests currently eating, but Sofia recognised no one else among the various races of people busy eating and conversing on the other tables. The masked avian led them all the way to a darker corner where a few booth-like spaces each had tables for two, which were actually on some kind of a balcony overlooking a theatre-like scene that was currently empty. Two of the five tables already had a couple seated and sharing drinks. Bringing them to the leftmost table, the avian snapped his fingers and the candles around the booth all lit up, while the chairs pulled themselves back. ¡°Will this table be alright?¡± ¡°Yes, thank you,¡± Speed answered right away. The masked avian nodded, ¡°Have a seat, we will bring the menu shortly,¡± he said before he turned around and left. Sofia and speed awkwardly sat down. ¡°Someone you know?¡± Speed asked, taking Sofia by surprise. It seemed he had noticed her looking at the potential Richard. ¡°Kind of? I¡¯m not sure I¡¯m allowed to share the details, but huh, I recognised a fellow necromancer, I suppose?¡± Sofia answered, uncertain about how she would even begin to explain Richard¡¯s antics and her connection to him if she tried. ¡°Oh. Not some previous lover or anything like this, then?¡± Sofia frowned a bit, ¡°Are you fond of reading romance fictions? What would even be the chance of meeting someone like that here? Not to mention, did you forget the part about this also being my first date?¡± ¡°Ahah, sorry¡­ I¡¯m just a bit nervous, not really used to this¡­ At all,¡± he apologized, pulling on the collar of his shirt a bit, and eventually undoing the uppermost button. ¡°Well, it¡¯s nothing, I feel the same way, honestly¡­ Also, are you quite sure that this is fine?¡± Sofia whispered, gesturing to show the surrounding restaurant and the scene below. ¡°Are you worried about my finances, still?¡± Speed asked in return. ¡°And about mine. There¡¯s always a cost for free things,¡± Sofia told him, ¡°and it just feels a bit weird to let you pay for everything. Especially when I¡¯m the one who suggested the date in the first place.¡± ¡°Heh, if I just make enough good memories from tonight it¡¯ll have been well worth the price. It¡¯s hard to make meaningful connections when¡­ You know¡­¡± The avian came back with two full glasses and two velvety slates covered in glowing text. He placed the glasses in front of them and looked at Speed, ¡°Do you need an explanation?¡± ¡°No thank you, I¡¯ve been here before,¡± Speed answered. ¡°Very well, we wish you a pleasant evening at the lodge.¡± Saying this, the avian left again. Seeing Sofia looking at the contents of her glass, Speed explained. ¡°The drinks are free, and you do not decide what you get, supposedly it¡¯s always good, though. As for the menu, you just trace your finger along the item you want to order and they will send it when it¡¯s ready. The dishes change regularly so I¡¯ve not tried any of those¡­¡± I don¡¯t see a price anywhere. Sofia thought, but she did not bring it up as she had already been quite insistent on the matter of money. She looked at the name of dishes one by one.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Looking up from the menu, she asked, ¡°Do you usually eat?¡± ¡°Yes. I¡¯ve no choice, actually. When I said I accepted many restrictions in order to come here to the physical plane¡­ Eating, drinking, sleeping¡­ I need to take care of it all. It was a bit strange to get used to at first, but now it¡¯s just everyday life.¡± ¡°Interesting, I¡¯m the opposite, I suppose. The need to do these things has disappeared as I became stronger over the last few years. I still do them, but not quite as often.¡± ¡°Right,¡± Speed interjected, ¡°I hope you don¡¯t take this the wrong way but, I meant to ask, how¡­ How old are you, exactly?¡± Sofia giggled, ¡°You don¡¯t need to be so apprehensive. I- I¡¯m afraid I don¡¯t know the answer, though. But around your age, I guess?¡± ¡°W- What do you mean you don¡¯t know?¡± ¡°Well¡­ I kind of just stopped counting? It just feels futile, you know. Why do I care if I¡¯m twenty four or twenty six, when I often spend my time speaking with people older than a thousand.¡± ¡°But doesn¡¯t the system status thing show you your age?¡± Speed asked as if he wasn¡¯t certain of the answer. ¡°Can you see system windows?¡± Sofia asked in return, knowing that Gods did not have a scribe. ¡°If you show them it takes some effort but I can.¡± ¡°Well, there you go, then.¡± Sofia opened just the top section of her status with her name, age, and class. ¡°Is that the locking symbol?¡± Speed asked with narrowed eyes as he squinted to see the system window. ¡°Yes. It¡¯s been locked at twenty one for a few years now. So like I said, I¡¯m probably twenty-four, or something around that. Certainly not thirty yet. What about you? You mentioned before you were ¡®twenty-something?¡¯ Doesn¡¯t seem very precise either.¡± Speed sighed. ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s a pain to explain, but my age is basically impossible to accurately keep track of¡­ My perceived age, anyway¡­¡± ¡°Perceived age?¡± ¡°It¡¯s¡­ I don¡¯t think I can explain it without sounding crazy.¡± ¡°You¡¯re talking to a half-demon necromancer.¡± ¡°Right, I wanted to ask about your class¡­ Well, one thing at a time¡­ Basically, I can go too fast, and that kind of breaks time. Like, I¡¯ll be running for a minute, and five minutes will have gone by somehow. So if you ask me how long I¡¯ve lived, I¡¯ll say about twenty years. If you ask how long it has been since I was ¡®born¡¯, though, it¡¯s more like thirty three or thirty four, if I remember correctly.¡± Sofia needed a second to process what Speed was saying. Going too fast breaks time? Speed sighed, looking down, ¡°See, I knew it sounds too crazy. Way to look like a lunatic¡­¡± ¡°No no,¡± Sofia dispelled his worries, ¡°I¡¯m inclined to believe you, actually.¡± ¡°Really?!¡± ¡°Do you even have a reason to lie?¡± Sofia asked, ¡°I don¡¯t think it even sounds that crazy. I¡¯m someone who¡¯s died hundreds of times, yet I¡¯m still alive, so really some time-bending isn¡¯t the craziest thing.¡± Although it does raise the question, how is Time being dead affecting this? Perhaps it¡¯s exactly because Time is dead that going too fast is making things go awry? Speed is just movement through time so speed and time are closely related concepts¡­ ¡°You died hundreds of times?¡± Speed repeated, incredulous. ¡°Well, you know. Necromancer. Being dead is not that bad as long as you don¡¯t stay dead.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ I¡¯d rather not try that, thank you very much,¡± Speed said, sitting further back in his chair. ¡°You¡¯re a God, so I don¡¯t even think you could try that anyway¡­ And actually¡­ Can I ask about how¡­ How a god¡¯s ¡®birth¡¯ happens? I get that the essence gathers to create the god but¡­ How does that feel, from your perspective? Is this fine to ask?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t mind talking about it¡­ But I want to hear about your childhood too, then.¡± ¡°You have yourself a deal,¡± Sofia answered with a smile, ¡°My childhood was terrible, though, so be ready for a mood killer.¡± ¡°Mine wasn¡¯t particularly good either so¡­ Where do I even start¡­ Do you know about the godly domains?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been to a few.¡± Speed paused for a second, ¡°Every time you open your mouth I want to ask another ten questions,¡± he then cleared his throat, ¡°So, I first gained consciousness in Speed¡¯s domain, the previous Speed, to be precise. When a deity first forms, we inherit some of the previous god¡¯s memories, if any, and a bunch of general knowledge from the people supplying us with our essence. It¡¯s a lot like¡­ Like being a huge sentient book full of stories but that doesn¡¯t know how to read. You have memories and knowledge that aren¡¯t yours, and you¡¯re barely able to understand that you¡¯re an entity separate from that. It¡¯s truly disorienting.¡± Like a sentient book, huh?
Chapter 581 - The meat of the matter ¡°You really taught yourself all that only with the things in your domain?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°Yes. The previous Speed had been orchestrating this for his successor, I believe. I still have no idea why he would have ended himself, but things were prepared for me to have an easy start, no doubt. After going through the entire bookshelf it was only a matter of time before I grew bored of the domain and started to try to look outside¡­¡± ¡°Did you even know how to leave? I got stranded inside of Peace¡¯s domain once, and I really had no idea how to leave.¡± ¡°You got¡­ Peace? That couldn''t have ended well¡­¡± Sofia chewed a bit on the piece of meat she had just forked into her mouth, and swallowed it before answering, ¡°He just erased me from the neck down when he ejected me out of there. I¡¯ve survived much worse.¡± ¡°Ahah, just from the neck down¡­ I¡¯m starting to doubt who¡¯s the god and who¡¯s from the mortal race here¡­¡± Speed commented, scratching his horn. Sofia¡¯s fork stabbed another piece of meat, she absent-mindedly waved it in front of her mouth as she answered. ¡°The distinction is a bit strange to begin with, since the divinities can also die. I used to think gods were like¡­ Well¡­ Gods¡­ But there¡¯s no such thing as someone who can do or survive anything, I¡¯ve come to learn. Everyone¡¯s got their limits. Maybe that¡¯s why I don¡¯t feel any pressure anymore talking to you or Dragons or anyone, it¡¯s all kind of just¡­ People?¡± she concluded, finally sticking the fork in her mouth. ¡°Yeah, fair. I grew up surrounded by ¡®mortals¡¯ and gods living together as well, so I get that. We¡¯re just born and die differently, is the gist of it. What¡¯s in the middle is entirely what you make of it. Still though, I had yet to meet someone who seems so dismissive about their potential death.¡± Sofia stopped chewing, she swallowed outright to answer, ¡°You got me wrong. It¡¯s not as if I¡¯m not scared of death or anything like that. Not at all, actually. I¡¯ve lived through a death a bit more real than usual lately, and it¡¯s been¡­ Terrifying to even remember. I just¡­ Quite confident in my eventual survival? It¡¯s like¡­ I¡¯ll do anything to survive in the end. I care about the future. No point in staying stuck in the past.¡± ¡°That¡¯s quite the way to see things¡­ You sound a bit like my father.¡± ¡°Your father?¡± Sofia repeated, utterly confused. ¡°Adoptive, kind of. Circling back to your earlier question; no, I did not know how to leave. Not for the physical plane, anyway. But I was able to move around and explore the domain of other gods. That¡¯s not the easiest thing to do but I am Speed, after all, so there are rules that apply differently for me. Anyway, I eventually burst into Water¡¯s domain, and if you know anything about Water, he¡¯s not the kind to let his things unguarded. So I got caught, and one thing leading to another, I started living here in the physical plane with him and his wife. That¡¯s why I look like I do, in fact, since lady Enya is a vampire¡­¡± ¡°Oh wow. Your family history is actually almost as mind-boggling as mine.¡± ¡°Almost? Just how messy was your childhood? And actually, what are you, even? Your sister looked human but¡­¡± Sofia laughed. ¡°You accepted a date without even knowing that?¡± ¡°Yeah? What? You look good, you¡¯re quite strong, and you sound crazy enough to actually try to date a god seriously, do you think I get that kind of opportunity every day?¡± ¡°Pfft, I¡¯m sure if you took off that mask more often you would have plenty of young ladies running after you.¡± Speed sighed at that remark. ¡°I know that, but what good could it do to mingle with young humans, vampires or andarians? I know I¡¯m destined to outlive most of them, I would rather stay alone than give a poor girl an unfulfilling life without children as she grows older and dies while I¡¯m stuck just ¨C existing forever.¡± ¡°But with me it¡¯s fine?¡± ¡°Looking at your age and your level, if you were initially a human like your sister, then at least I don¡¯t have to worry about outliving you. Though I¡¯m getting the feeling that you will not be dying of old age anyway¡­¡± ¡°Well¡­ Yeah that sounds about right. I kind of do want children though? Like, probably at least one, eventually?¡±The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. Speed seemed a little taken aback by that revelation, ¡°A- And you have been recklessly leveling all the way up to a mana heart despite that? Do you know¡­¡± ¡°I am well aware¡­ But if Dragons can still reproduce then I don¡¯t see why I couldn¡¯t. Creation even designed the race with that in mind, so it should work fine even after I continue to level. Probably.¡± ¡°Hmmm¡­ I might not be a suitable suitor for you, then,¡± Speed admitted, finally taking another bite of his food. ¡°Why, do you dislike kids? You didn¡¯t seem like the type¡­¡± ¡°Have you forgotten that I am god?¡± Speed asked, incredulous, ¡°I cannot have kids. Not with you, nor with anyone else, for that matter.¡± This conversation was starting to draw images in Sofia¡¯s imagination that made her blush even though she lacked proper blood. She was also starting to wonder whether this was really an appropriate conversation for a first date, as it felt a bit embarrassing to discuss these things with someone who was by all accounts still just an acquaintance. Speed must have misinterpreted Sofia¡¯s silence and expression, however, as he set his cutlery down on the table with another sigh, ¡°I knew this wouldn¡¯t work, I don¡¯t know what I was thinking,¡± he started to stand up, ¡°I¡¯ll just go pay, you can take your ti-¡± Sofia reached over the table, grabbing his wrist before he could leave. ¡°Wh- Why are you leaving?¡± ¡°Huh? I thought¡­¡± ¡°You thought what? Get your godly ass back down on this chair. This meat is way too good to waste, first of all, and also, I¡¯m not about to get abandoned halfway through my first date! Is it just because of the kids thing?¡± Speed looked truly flabbergasted, but he sat back down without a word. ¡°So it¡¯s not a dealbreaker?¡± he finally asked while Sofia stuffed her mouth. Sofia looked puzzled at this god¡¯s incomprehension. She answered with her mouth full, way past the point of caring for the basic decorum, ¡°Of course not, I mean, it¡¯s a bit of an issue but that doesn¡¯t mean it¡¯s like¡­¡± finding it difficult to articulate, she swallowed and took a second to measure her next words. ¡°What I meant to say is, it¡¯s probably not as impossible as you think. Just because it hasn¡¯t been done before doesn¡¯t mean it cannot happen, and also, I was the one who asked a god on a date, do you think I would then reject you because of that? Please, I am not that petty.¡± ¡°That¡­ Is surprising. I have to say¡­ I wish I could share your enthusiasm, though.¡± With a dark expression, he continued, ¡°At best I could create a demigod but that is hardly an actual offspring unless you bear another man¡¯s-¡± Sofia dropped her fork. ¡°Eww. What? I didn¡¯t mean like that! That¡¯s horrendous! The sheer implications of this! Would anyone even be happy with such an arrangement? Even forgetting about what that would mean for all the people involved, just imagine being that child. I don¡¯t want to be that kind of mother.¡± ¡°Sorry¡­ I really don¡¯t like the sound of it either, but the children of gods just aren¡¯t a thing, if not that¡­ Even with a physical form like this¡­ There is a reason most gods end up living out their eternity alone,¡± Speed concluded, sounding resigned. He at least looked like he agreed with Sofia, and he started eating again. ¡°... We should probably drop that subject for now. We¡¯re not¡­ We barely know each other, anyway,¡± Sofia said, ¡°If this conversation ever needs to happen again, it can wait.¡± ¡°True that,¡± Speed agreed, visibly instantly relaxing, ¡°It was a good thing to mention, though, I think. At least we know where we stand.¡± ¡°Right¡­ There¡¯s a lot more to be said about a lot of other things if we ever were to try taking this any further. But well. Maybe we should start by getting to know each other on a simpler level first¡­ We skipped a lot of steps, I think¡­¡± ¡°That we did¡­ I hope you like the place I chose? So at least I¡¯d have gotten one step correct.¡± ¡°Oh yeah. The food is great, are you kidding? If you¡¯re not finishing your plate I¡¯ll be stealing what¡¯s left, and no god in this world can stop me,¡± Sofia warned him, the meat in Speed¡¯s plate starting to slowly rise up as Sofia controlled its bone to shift closer to her side of the table. ¡°What?! You¡¯re crazy, I¡¯m eating it all, I¡¯m the one paying for it, you know?!¡± Speed answered, pulling back his plate with his fork planted into the meat. ¡°Heh, I¡¯m not the one who tried to leave in the middle of the meal. You¡¯ll learn that one cannot just leave grilled meat unprotected around me, I almost got the specialization of grill master, I¡¯ll have you know,¡± Sofia bantered with a giggle as she let go of her control over the meat¡¯s bones in Speed¡¯s plate. ¡°You could have been a grill-master and instead you¡¯ve become a necro-monster? I¡¯m not one to judge but you¡¯ve made some really raw career choices.¡± ¡°Hey hey, it¡¯s Saintomancer not necro-monster, my class name is bad enough as it is, no need to butcher it.¡± Speed smirked, pointing his fork at Sofia, ¡°Oh, far from me the idea of mocking it, it certainly sounds like a rare class.¡± Sofia leaned back, crossing her arms with a sly grin. ¡°At least I live up to the name, unlike Mr.slow-roasted over here with his plate still half full.¡± Speed rolled his eyes, jabbing at his plate with his fork. ¡°Oh, you¡¯re one to talk, Miss Bone Grabber. If you¡¯re going to respect the names, the dish is meat on the bone, not bone in the bag,¡± he said, insistently looking at Sofia¡¯s storage ring. Sofia gasped in mock outrage. ¡°How dare you! I¡¯m no petty bone thief, I¡¯ll have you skewered for these boneless accusations!¡±
Chapter 582 - Spam mail ¡°And that¡¯s it for my early childhood basically, I would say it stops there. As you can guess I managed to reunite with Saria later, that was only like three years ago though. Lots of stuff happened in between,¡± Sofia finished her story as she ate the last bit of her second plate of meat. ¡°You really just stabbed the guy like that? No hesitation, nothing?¡± Speed asked, surprised by the levity of Sofia¡¯s description of what was essentially her first murder. ¡°Yeah, stabbed him in his face. I barely had the time to worry about it really, it was just a matter of doing what needs to be done to escape. Saw an opportunity and I grabbed it. That was probably when my obsession with bones started, actually. I had been holding onto that thing for days, waiting for a chance to do something with it. I just wanted to try to use it to break the lock of my chains, initially, but bone against steel doesn¡¯t work that well. In the end this one bone¡¯s the reason I¡¯m still alive today.¡± ¡°That¡¯s certainly a crazy story¡­¡± ¡°Oh that¡¯s not even half of it, just look at me now, with all the shit I have been up to these last few years, you could probably write a book¡­ Several books.¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t you, then? You¡¯re not bad at telling stories, I¡¯m sure people would be interested in reading that.¡± ¡°No time. I¡¯m not sure it¡¯s that interesting anyway. And most of all¡­ That would be a bit too dangerous. Because of uh¡­ My extended family. They¡¯re not very keen on being featured in literature.¡± ¡°You mean Sorrow and the other demons?¡± Speed asked. ¡°Uh¡­ Not quite¡­ Do you remember the name from my status?¡± ¡°Aphet-... Something? Sorry, I¡¯m not very good with names¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s alright¡­ That¡¯s for the better, actually. I-... If we ever have a second date I¡¯ll explain more about it,¡± Sofia finally said, deciding to keep this touchy subject for later. ¡°Sure. Should I-¡± Speed stopped speaking as the Avian waiter walked up to their table. ¡°Honored guests, has the food been to your taste so far?¡± ¡°It was delicious,¡± Sofia happily answered, and Speed nodded in agreement. ¡°Good to hear,¡± the waiter said, ¡°I stopped by to warn you that tonight¡¯s musical performance will be starting in the theatre right below us in a bit, you may be relocated to a calmer place if you wish, or stay to enjoy the show from this vantage point.¡± Sofia and Speed looked at each other, Sofia shrugged, so Speed answered, ¡°We will stay here, thank you for asking.¡± ¡°Understood, please call me if you have any request,¡± the waiter told them before turning around. ¡°Wait!¡± Sofia called out. ¡°Yes?¡± the avian waiter asked, turning back. ¡°Is this place entirely run by avians?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°Indee. The lodge is a family business,¡± the waiter proudly answered, ¡°we seven siblings have been managing hellsgate lodge for almost five hundred years since our parents¡¯ regretful passing.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± Sofia was a bit lost for words, ¡°My condolences?¡± ¡°It has been long, no need for any kind words, but thank you for your concern. Why the interest in our establishment, if I may ask?¡± the waiter questioned. ¡°An avian friend of mine has been searching for other survivors, mostly unsuccessfully, so I was curious¡­¡± ¡°Is that so?!¡± the waiter answered in surprise, his voice not as composed as it was prior, ¡°Well, we are no survivors, our parents were. Nevertheless, please tell your friend to come visit us. We would be glad to meet them.¡± ¡°Oh right¡­ Since you are second generation survivors, is that why you do not share the same language quirks? I certainly will tell her, she will be happy too, I¡¯m sure. The waiter cackled in the same eerie bird noises Sofia had gotten used to from hanging out with teacher Eternam in Brighthall. ¡°Our kin is rare as it is, we would be glad to meet another survivor,¡± he said, ¡°We actually hold semi-regular meetings here, there are about thirty of us, but being a race of natural hermits, we know many survivors must still be scattered about, much like your friend.¡±The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°That certainly doesn¡¯t help. Speaking of which¡­ I am surprised Eternam has not told her about this place¡­ Does he not know¡­¡± Sofia mumbled. The waiter clearly ticked when he heard the name, ¡°Eternam? Are you referring to Professor Aoldun from Exidia? Are you acquainted with him?!¡± the waiter asked with insistence, and bulging eyes, drawing closer to the table. Speed disappeared from his chair, standing next to the table he placed a hand in front of the waiter, ¡°hey, hey, respect a lady¡¯s space, will you?¡± The waiter stopped with a jolt. Blinking several times, he took a step back and apologized, ¡°My apologies for my reaction¡­ It¡¯s just, we¡¯ve tried to contact him for so long.¡± ¡°No harm done,¡± Sofia said with a shrug, ¡°Is there something wrong with Eternam?¡± The waiter cleared his throat and explained, ¡°The thing is, we have been aware of professor Aoldun¡¯s existence for a few years¡­ But he has never answered a single one of our letters! Despite several attempts to communicate, we have never heard back from him! Not a single time!¡± ¡°Really? That¡¯s strange¡­¡± Sofia started, before remembering exactly what kind of a person Eternam was. He barely even gave the time of day to fellow professors if they had no shared interests like necromancy. Who knew what he might do to a letter from an unknown sender? They might end up directly into his chimney without even being opened. ¡°Hmm¡­ Maybe not so strange¡­ Do you want me to send him a letter in your stead? I worked with him for a while.¡± ¡°You did?¡± Speed and the waiter both asked in unison. ¡°I was a replacement professor at Brighthall for a year,¡± Sofia casually answered, showing them her Exidian ID, then taking a letter-sized paper-thin bone slate from her storage. She scribbled a few lines on it with her nail guiding [Bone dominus], and stuffed that into an envelope, which she held out to Speed. ¡°Sorry to give you work during our date, but can you deliver that after we¡¯re done? I¡¯ll pay you¡­ Whenever I get another stone¡­¡± Speed rolled his eyes, but took the envelope. He turned to the waiter to explain, ¡°I deliver mail for a living, if that Eternam guy answers you will get it here in under a week. If not I¡¯ll at least confirm that he did receive the letter.¡± ¡°Th- That would be¡­¡± The waiter started. It took him a while to properly sort his thoughts, and after confirming a few details with Sofia and Speed, and profusely apologized for disturbing their meal for so long, disappearing to take care of the other guests. He came back a while later with two of his siblings, who thanked Sofia and Speed them for their help, insisting that the meal was on the house, and that they could order as much dessert as they wanted until the lodge closed for the day. As the three avians left them to their dessert, Speed leaned back in his chair. ¡°I can¡¯t believe you ended up paying for the meal anyway¡­¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t, though?¡± Sofia argued. ¡°Yeah you did, you¡¯re the one helping them reunite with another avian, not me.¡± ¡°You¡¯re the one delivering the letter, though? I¡¯d say it¡¯s more on you, I just wrote a few words.¡± ¡°True, but¡­ Ah, I guess we both paid, then. Fine¡­ But I¡¯m paying next time,¡± Speed decisively announced. ¡°Oh, so there will be a next time, you think?¡± ¡°Do you not want to?¡± Speed asked, looking immediately downcast. Sofia giggled, ¡°I don¡¯t mind a second time. You still haven¡¯t told me about your story with Water yet.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ Oops. There was just so much to talk about with just your story, I got sidetracked¡­ Well, there¡¯s still time before we have to leave.¡± ¡°I think it¡¯s better to keep it for next time,¡± Sofia said, ¡°I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll be getting sidetracked asking you a lot of questions as well, no reason to rush it. How about we explore lighter subjects to end the night on a lighter note?¡± Speed nodded, ¡°No point ruining a sweet dessert with a sour story, we can talk about hobbies, then? And I don¡¯t mean bone collecting. You have very beautiful handwriting, do you write a lot?¡± ¡°You barely got to see me write,¡± Sofia answered with a smirk, ¡°my handwriting is quite mediocre, actually. My magic writing though, very clean, very refined. Since I can sculpt bone, I trained it for precision. I can carve beautiful words with ease now, much easier than carving convincing faces. That would be my other real hobby, probably, besides reading and collecting bones, just sculpting. Look, I¡¯ve got quite a few of those,¡± Sofia said, taking out small bone figurines of monsters and people. ¡°This one is Saria in her Brighthall student uniform. She was there as a student while I played teacher. Not bad, right?¡± ¡°Can I touch them?¡± Speed asked. ¡°Go ahead, just don¡¯t break it.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Speed delicately picked up one of the sculptures representing a wolf, he turned it around, looking at the details. ¡°That¡¯s impressive, honestly, you¡¯re a really good sculptor.¡± ¡°Thanks. This is what I do to relax. It trains my magic too so it¡¯s a perfect guilt-free hobby. What about you? Do you just run?¡± ¡°Running is hardly a hobby when your name is Speed. I appreciate slower activities, actually; it¡¯s a good change of pace. I have been painting since I was around ten, mostly portraits. As a bunch of essence without a real form, I always found the idea of a face being yours truly fascinating. I don¡¯t have any of my art with me but I could show you next time, if you want,¡± Speed suggested ¡°I would love to see that,¡± Sofia happily agreed, her attention turning back to the sweet cake on her plate.
Chapter 583 - Eye don’t even know The date half of their arrangement being over, Sofia and Speed ended up outside at the top of the volcano the lodge was built under, sitting on the ledge of the volcano at an arm¡¯s length from each other, they admired the sunrise. ¡°Time for the main course?¡± Sofia asked with a smirk. ¡°I thought you said you were full?¡± ¡°I always have some extra space for some bones, or a dead god. I¡¯ve realised I might have messed up, though,¡± Sofia admitted. ¡°How so?¡± ¡°Well¡­ You said the previous Speed died in his domain, right?¡± ¡°Yeah?¡± Sofia raised her right hand, and took out Aphenoreth¡¯s glove, showing Speed the ring on her middle finger. ¡°This thing is the reason I need dead gods. Here, let me show you the system identification.¡± Speed quickly read the window, ¡°The annihilator? Ominous name¡­¡± Sofia stared at Speed, slightly worried, but thankfully nothing happened. ¡°Is there something on my face?¡± ¡°It¡¯s¡­ You shouldn¡¯t say that out loud.¡± ¡°I shouldn¡¯t?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ Same thing for my full name. I¡¯ll¡­ I¡¯ll explain next time, but it¡¯s better not to say them, for everyone¡¯s safety.¡± Speed scratched his head, ¡°I¡¯m not following, but sure¡­¡± ¡°Just trust me on this, please. Anyway, the item description, you¡¯ve read it all, right? Do you see the issue?¡± ¡°I do. Doesn¡¯t sound like you can absorb remains from gods who passed in their domain¡­ I don¡¯t think you could even see the item out there, even, unless it¡¯s made from divine essence.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a very special item, I guess you could guess that, but I don¡¯t think it¡¯s made of essence, no. So¡­ Probably no dead god for me tonight,¡± Sofia said with a shrug. ¡°Ah, shit. Sorry¡­¡± ¡°No need to apologize, I¡¯m the one who failed to ask for basic information. Besides, it could still work anyway, no reason not to try. If it fails, then it fails.¡± ¡°I already didn¡¯t pay for the meal¡­ Do you want something else instead? I don¡¯t have much besides money but-¡± ¡°Not really,¡± Sofia interjected, ¡°I¡¯m fine. Is it a lot of trouble to bring me to your domain for a bit?¡± ¡°Not at all, no. You might have a hard time adapting to the environment there but I suppose if you could handle Peace¡¯s domain it should be fine? I¡¯m thinking it probably isn¡¯t going to lead anywhere though, are you really sure you don¡¯t want anything else?¡± ¡°I mean¡­ It¡¯s not like I really had to ¡®pay¡¯ you anything, tonight was fun, I would have done it for free, really. I would have paid for my food, even; if I wasn¡¯t so broke currently. But if you insist, I wouldn¡¯t mind getting to meet Water?¡± ¡°You- ¡­ I can arrange that, but why? If you want dead gods you would have a better chance asking Sun¡­¡± ¡°Oh, I will ask Sun too. If I even need to. I would not even be surprised if she were watching us right now, her divine rune is permanently tattooed on my soul so I can hardly hide from her.¡± Speed turned and stared at Sofia without a word. ¡°What? It¡¯s a free mana regeneration bonus, do you know how rare those are? I had to go on a quest for her and all,¡± Sofia explained herself. Speed turned back to look at the sunrise again, ¡°it feels like the more you speak the less I understand about you.¡± Sofia cristalline laughter illuminated the early morning. ¡°Told you, could write several books with all the stuff I¡¯ve been up to. If this is enough to make you speechless, wait until you see what I look like in the divine plane, you¡¯re going to have many questions,¡± she teased with a giggle. It was speed¡¯s turn to shrug nonchalantly, ¡°Infinity plus many is still infinity.¡± ¡°Come on it¡¯s not that bad, I¡¯m still young, imagine what it must be like when two of those old ten thousand year old monsters start to share life stories.¡±The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Sofia heard Speed¡¯s voice. It was distant, and echoed strangely, getting more and more distorted the longer it repeated. ¡°Sofia?¡± it asked. ¡°Sofia, can you hear me?¡± She focused on her hands first, trying to visualise their shape as she felt her divine essences floating around. Slowly the energy started taking form. Light sculpted the shape of her entire body, though vague and blurry, it shone with the strength of many essences. Sofia could finally see. ¡°I¡¯m here,¡± she told the strange godly form of Speed holding her wrist. He was even more blurry and strange, like a constantly evaporating man of blue-purple fire, his blank face full of round holes placed in the exact same way as the holes of his physical form¡¯s mask. Thank the lords he doesn¡¯t look like Peace. No eyes anywhere! ¡°Can you hear me? Can you see? How does it feel?¡± Speed asked, his voice coming from everywhere all at once. ¡°Yes, everything is fine. It feels a bit breezy, strangely,¡± Sofia answered, ¡°Is this your divine rune?¡± she asked, her free hand pointing at her own face. ¡°My head? Yes. Sorry for the disturbing sight¡­¡± ¡°Much less disturbing than Peace or Death, I assure you. And I look strange myself, so who cares,¡± Sofia told him as she looked around, ¡°So this is your domain? Why is it in ruins¡­¡± Speed¡¯s domain looked like the remains of an ancient civilization in the clouds, there were ruins of what one could easily imagine were gigantic buildings, but very little remained. Everywhere one could see huge blocks with a stony texture, some still standing in low walls, some fallen and broken on the ground, along with remains of ornate pillars and sculptures. Very few buildings still stood, most of them rather small. Perhaps the strangest thing was that the entire thing seemed to be built on a big fluffy cloud. Sofia and Speed were both outside of the city, standing on said cloud right at that moment. Ever so slightly sinking into it every second that passed. ¡°This was all built by the previous owner,¡± Speed explained, ¡°Inspired by existing ruins of the lost epoch, I believe? Never seen them myself but this was Water¡¯s opinion.¡± ¡°That¡­ I think I know exactly what it¡¯s inspired by, actually. Now that you said that, the similarities are striking.¡± ¡°What would that be?¡± ¡°Do you know about Valeure Dargent?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°Valeure¡­ I feel like I¡¯ve heard the name before, but that¡¯s it.¡± ¡°Wind¡¯s saintess,¡± Sofia clarified. ¡°Oh! The fox lady? I have heard about her, yes! Never met, however.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the one, her home looks a bit like that. It¡¯s not on a cloud but it¡¯s in the sky, and it¡¯s a bunch of old ruins very similar to these.¡± ¡°I suppose it is time I go pay her a visit soon, then. Ah, come, you are going to fall through if we stay here.¡± Sofia followed Speed through his domain, walking against the wind, taking in the sights as the sights took her in. Here as well, just like in Death¡¯s domain, she saw the eyes. The more she looked for them, the more she found, the shape of cracks in the bricks, the faded mural carvings, the twisting and turning clouds in between the buildings, eyes shapes were everywhere. Hard not to feel watched¡­ The divine planes truly are disturbing. As they walked through the ruins, Sofia broke the silence, ¡°Are you not going to ask about the essences?¡± she questioned. Speed was walking a few steps in front of her, he turned his head as he kept walking, ¡°Well, you warned me. I would ask about it, but I¡¯m afraid it will only raise more questions. The bright ones are all from Sun, right?¡± ¡°Five of them, yes. I helped Sun with a sensitive matter and this is the reward I got in return, pretty much.¡± ¡°Some crazy reward, that. Can I ask what that help was about, or is it really sensitive still?¡± ¡°It¡¯s got to do with my name and the annihilator. I¡¯ll explain next time,¡± Sofia answered. ¡°Next time, next time¡­ You keep saying that but when and where are we doing a next time?¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to be busy for a while¡­ Is a year and a half from now too long?¡± ¡°What are you going to do that will keep you busy for almost two years?¡± Speed answered with a question of his own. ¡°Leveling up to 299, then going on an expedition to harvest a dead god, quickly leveling up my skills, then getting the best score possible in the fourth trial¨C is currently the plan. Tight schedule. I didn¡¯t expect Mornn to want to go for the next trial so soon, but I¡¯ll have to make do with it. I promised Sun to take the trial with her saintess. Thanks for getting me that answer from Mornn so fast, by the way.¡± ¡°Just doing my job. And¡­ Why not just focus on your skills right away if you¡¯re not going to be able to fully prime the ring before the trial anyway? Aren¡¯t you taking the trials too lightly?¡± Speed asked as he took a turn to enter one of the ruins that were still standing that looked a bit like an administrative building with a lot of desks lining the walls. ¡°Because it¡¯s a two-for-one deal, I know of the corpse of a dead god and have a class quest with very good rewards in the same general location. There¡¯s a 66% chance the reward I get from the quest will be useless for now, but if I hit the 33%? I¡¯ll crush the trial with my eyes closed, I¡¯m pretty sure. Much better potential gain than spending the same few months grinding a few skill levels. Not to mention that my skills will level just from using them during that time anyway.¡± Speed nodded along Sofia¡¯s explanation, taking several turns through the building, eventually reaching a set of stairs and starting to go down. ¡°Sounds like you have things well planned out. I¡¯ll happily say that I¡¯m fine with not having to deal with any of that leveling and trials stuff. All I really have to worry about is amassing more knowledge and more practice doing the things I want to do, and that¡¯s it. Still, that¡¯s a bit long. How about you take a day off to come visit my place before your next trial instead of after? That way I can get you a meeting with Water too.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ Do you think there¡¯s a chance Water would sell me or trade an essence or two?¡± Speed stopped in his tracks, turning around and looking up at Sofia a few steps behind him. ¡°Wha-... I mean¡­ Maybe, but¡­ no, seriously, what do you need so much essence for? You already have more than me!¡± Sofia laughed. ¡°It¡¯s settled then. Don¡¯t forget you promised to show me your paintings!¡±
Chapter 584 - Heroic speculations The stairs under the administrative building led to another level of the ruined cloud city, which was apparently built like somewhat of an inverted pyramid on multiple layers of clouds. There, Speed led Sofia to the edge of the level. ¡°What happens if I fall?¡± Sofia asked while she followed Speed along the edge. ¡°I¡¯ll catch you and bring you back up,¡± Speed answered as he kept walking. ¡°Come on, you know what I meant.¡± ¡°Alright, well¡­ If I were to fall, I would end up in whatever domain we might be flying above right now, which could be pretty much anywhere, but if you were to fall¡­ You would probably be booted back out to the physical plane because your essence body went too far from your actual body. The physical plane and this one do not overlap one to one, but there is some link.¡± ¡°I pretty much guessed that when you said we had to catch up to your domain in the physical plane. It certainly makes it interesting how I managed to end up in Peace¡¯s domain while out in space.¡± Speed laughed, ¡°It makes sense Peace would seek to be far from the planet, doesn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Sure does, but then it¡¯s hard to imagine anyone else really ending up there so it¡¯s interesting that everyone seems to know about Peace¡¯s tendency to be nasty to uninvited guests.¡± ¡°Well, as I said, the overlap is not one to one, I¡¯m not even certain how to describe it either, but part of Peace¡¯s domain has to still be accessible from somewhere on the planet, he¡¯d be dead otherwise.¡± ¡°Gotta stay close to get his essence? Now that I think about it, you gods are all stuck on Veliadren and its surroundings, aren¡¯t you?¡± Speed kept walking, looking over the edge at the strange void below, ¡°Pretty much. The stronger you are the furthest you can go. Sun is special, since her celestial body is so far away already, she must be able to go even further, but I¡¯ve no doubt she¡¯s limited just like the rest of us.¡± ¡°You¡¯re all trapped here, in a way. That¡¯s a bit sad.¡± Speed shrugged, ¡°Is there even any reason to want to go further? What¡¯s out there? The hero worlds, probably? I¡¯d say the advantages of being a divinity far outweigh the negatives.¡± ¡°Hard to argue with that but¡­ I like the feeling of having unlimited possibilities and potential? Maybe one day I¡¯ll go visit the hero worlds myself, who knows.¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t bet on that¡­ It¡¯s just my theory but¡­ I personally think the hero worlds are extinct.¡± Sofia stopped in her tracks. ¡°What?¡± Speed also stopped, turning around, ¡°I¡¯ll have the system¡¯s enforcers on my back if I say too much¡­ But if I had to give a sneaky hint¡­ ¡®Summoning¡¯ is really the wrong word when it comes to what actually happens with the heroes. Very wrong. That¡¯s all I can tell you.¡± Sofia wanted to ask more questions, but she also did not want Speed to get in trouble because of her curiosity. ¡°Let¡¯s shelve the subject then, thank you for the hint.¡± Speed nodded, ¡°We¡¯re almost there, by the way,¡± he turned around and pointed at a spot in the distance where the clouds went a bit further than the boundaries of the ruins. Sofia looked there, but her vision instantly turned blurry. ¡°I can¡¯t see whatever you¡¯re pointing out, it¡¯s just a big blur,¡± she told Speed. ¡°That¡¯s the corruption your ring¡¯s description spoke of,¡± Speed explained, ¡°I have no idea how that manifests in the physical world, but here, this is what we get. It¡¯s like an echo of the old Speed? I can go a bit closer, but halfway there is about where I¡¯ll stop. Going closer is dangerous for me.¡± ¡°Really? That¡¯s not reassuring¡­ Do you think I will be alright?¡± Sofia asked.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. ¡°Honestly, no clue. It¡¯s up to you whether you want to try going closer or not. But the previous Speed died right there, that I am certain of.¡± Following his words, Speed accompanied Sofia a bit further and stopped. ¡°I¡¯m starting to feel it, the old Speed¡¯s influence is encroaching on mine. I should stop here.¡± ¡°I feel nothing wrong,¡± Sofia commented, ¡°I¡¯ll be going, then, wait for me.¡± Speed nodded, ¡°Be careful, if you start feeling ill, come back right away.¡± ¡°Will do.¡± With these last few words, Sofia departed. She had to stop following the edge, as a ruin blocked the passage. So she went further into the ruined city, first walking in between buildings, until she joined a main paved street that led straight to the blurry part of the edge. The hero worlds extinct¡­ That can¡¯t be right, or else why would the hero admin try to go back? That would be completely pointless. Still, there must be something going on, else why would the ¡®summonings¡¯ be a one way ticket. If not even the hero admin can teleport himself back to his world, there must be a reason. The heroes tend to get censored when they talk about history and technology, but I¡¯m relatively sure now that they come from different epochs. Just talking to Everelle and Alith one would believe they came from different worlds altogether, yet it really seems to be the same. Is this just another consequence of Time being dead? Or is there more at play there? If summoning is the wrong word, then what is the correct one? Certainly not teleportation. Summonings are supposed to be excruciatingly painful to the soul, though, just like teleportation, so how do we explain that? Are heroes originally all ghosts? Just souls without a body, then when we ¡®summon¡¯, we grab them and rebuild their original body while deleting their memory of ever being a ghost? Maybe it¡¯s the turning back from an undead to a living being that¡¯s painful? That would explain why Alith felt nothing¡­ I¡¯ll have to share those theories with her. We¡¯re going t o have a lot of time to chat anyway, I doubt anyone else will follow us where we have to go. Maybe Saria? She doesn¡¯t have the blessing though, so I would rather not. Sofia¡¯s train of thoughts had to stop as she herself stopped. She had reached the end of the street. In front of her was an arched gate, like one would expect to see at the entrance of a noble¡¯s garden. Beyond that was the blur, it was impossible to tell exactly what was going on on the other side, but nothing seemed to be moving, at the very least, which gave Sofia some reassurance. Sofia looked at her hand sculpted in light, there was no trace of the ring there, but she had to wonder whether she was currently benefiting from its effects anyway, as it was meant to provide protection from the ¡®corruption¡¯ and she still felt completely fine, standing right next to the blurry gate. Cautiously, she poked the blur with a finger. It felt like nothing, but as her finger reached the limit, it, too, started to blur. Then it took shape again, looking as it should, before blurring for another fraction of a second, and fixing itself again. That must be the ring fighting back. I might still be able to absorb that dead god after all, physical plane or not. Nevertheless, it took Sofia a full minute of slowly going further and further before she was comfortable enough to fully enter the blurry zone, her head going in last. The blur became slightly less intense, no that she was inside, she could vaguely see things. First of all, this was not just a stray bit of cloud, the paved street continued past the edge for a dozen meters, before finishing in a round platform overlooking the void below. Secondly, there was a tall chair in the middle of the round platform, its back facing Sofia. At least I think that¡¯s a chair? This is like looking at the world through an ice cube¡­ Sofia wanted to walk up to the chair, but she quickly noticed that the faster she walked, the more her form turned increasingly blurry, so she slowly advanced, taking a pause between every step to give her form time to fix itself. I wonder if to a God that would be painful. Probably? I think I just don¡¯t feel anything since this isn¡¯t my actual body¡­ Hopefully this isn¡¯t hurting all the Gods I have an essence of¡­ Though Scripture would deserve it. After a long while, Sofia finally reached the chair and was able to not only confirm that it was indeed a tall-back chair, but also that ¡®someone¡¯ was sitting on it. That someone, however, was the most blurry of all things nearby, it was hard to make out anything other than a vaguely humanoid, imposing shape in the same bluish-purple tones as everything else was in this plane. Sofia¡¯s right hand threw itself at the blurry figure. She never wanted to do that, it simply happened. Her vision and senses were engulfed by the divine colors.
Chapter 585 - The absolute limit Foreign memories crept up in Sofia¡¯s mind like a waking dream. She was in someone else¡¯s body, looking through their eyes, but it was confuse, overwhelming. She understood nothing of what she saw, until, all of a sudden, it calmed down. Sitting naked in the dirt, in the middle of nowhere, the person in the memories laughed, looking up at the blue sky. Is this¡­ The old Speed? She could feel the person¡¯s emotions, somewhat. Relief, excitement, pride. A joyful cocktail that had ingrained this moment in their memory forever. It was short lived, the scene shifted and warped, a countryside landscape turning into that of a bustling city. Humans were busy, walking to and fro, but the person paid them no attention, just like they did not pay him any. Dressed in peasant clothes, he joined a long line of young people. Everyone¡¯s faces were blurry and faded, the details of the shops in the street and the passing carriages were similarly undecipherable, but Sofia could read one piece of text. Above the gates the people were lined up to enter, a large golden plaque was etched with a few words, that the person in the memory kept staring at. Ancient human. Sofia could tell. ¡®Royal Lineguard Academy of Science¡¯. The scene warped again. The person was waiting nervously near some kind of altar. There seemed to be many people around, but it was all a giant blur, as if none of them had any importance. The location itself was blurry, Sofia could not understand what this was about, until a young woman made her entrance from a distance, she had beautiful black hair cascading over her white robe. Looking up at the person near the altar, she smiled. A wedding?! This memory was the last semi-coherent one, soon overturned by a flurry of scenes and images following each other so fast that Sofia could barely understand anything. Joy, pain, love, anger, overwhelming emotions swole up and recessed, and eventually the plentiful images ceased. Brutally, everything had stopped. Everything turned gray. Sorrow and nostalgia was all that was left. In the gray world, a single thing remained, one dreadful image, a lonely grave in a city¡¯s giant cemetery. ¡®Ophelia Deepes 4858 - 4940¡¯ The world around the grave started moving like a whirlwind, but only the grave stayed as the core of the memory. The world was gray, without taste, without emotion. The image of the academy¡¯s gates flashed by again, new bright young people were lining up in front of it, yet the memory was forlorn and cold. What followed, Sofia could barely even begin to analyze for it flashed by so fast, dozen upon dozen of equation-covered black boards, mathematics that one could barely even fathom could make any sense, questions upon questions upon questions. Chalk-stained hands, wrote and wrote, yet the final equal sign never gave any answer. People came and went, many stared at the black boards in amazement and wonder, yet the person in the memories was unsatisfied. He pushed further and further, until he found a most peculiar answer: Speed. For the second time Sofia heard the person laugh, but it was not the same. It was a lot darker this time, fuelled by the loathing irony of this solution to his problems. The person returned to something they had abandoned, a purple world of blue hues, strange eyes staring everywhere from the swirls of this empty cloud in a forlorn realm. The rituals they had used to escape so long ago were still where they had been left, untouched despite the fleeting centuries. From here on, the memories were clearer, as if fresher in the person¡¯s mind, but they also flashed by much faster.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Unable to focus, the person started building a city on the clouds, a mirage of the places they once knew, a pristine, yet soulless recreation of the human city he no longer wished to return to alone. The familiar but silent environment helped him focus on his goals. Speed. It all came back to this simple concept. More speed. That was all he needed. Speed trained his speed. Again, and again, and again. Even as the city in the clouds started to crumble, Speed needed to go faster and faster. Always faster. Sofia did not understand why, the memories were overlapping and unclear, mushed together by the god¡¯s obsession. And on a fateful day, Speed reached his goal. But whatever he had expected to find was not what had been waiting for him at the end of the road. Instead, he discovered that his equations were wrong. This was the clearest of the entirety of Speed¡¯s memory, starting from a fully blackened vision. For the first time, Sofia could hear his voice, defeated. ¡°So this is the true limit¡­ I was a fool¡­¡± His vision expanded. It was not black, it was the void. The endless voice of space. The universe; everything. It was not Sofia¡¯s first time being subject to this vision. Ormoncleth. The vision crumbled. But the memories were not over. Speed woke up just in time to save himself, hastily saving his essence from the brink of collapse, grabbing the last one which had been trying to escape him. He forced the essence back into his divine body. Standing up, he returned to the ruined city in his domain. There, he prepared many things, though those memories were faint at best, overshadowed by constant visions of horror, of Ormoncleth¡¯s incomprehensible nature that ensnared Speed¡¯s every thought. When everything was said and done, Speed trudged toward his favorite spot in the fake city, on a chair overlooking the godly realm¡¯s depths. Finally, he let the last of his essence go, and his consciousness faded. The constant flashing of memories was over, and Sofia soon regained her senses, just in time to see Speed appear right next to her. She was sitting on the ground next to the chair. ¡°I think it worked?¡± she told him, the blur around the zone starting to fade. There was now nothing special to see there aside from an empty chair. Conflicting emotions swirled within her mind, but she was quick to come to a conclusion, this story she had just seen unfold was something that she absolutely could not share with the current Speed, if only to prevent him from ever attempting the same stunt and meeting the same end. ¡°Oh thank fuck you¡¯re fine. Got me scared for a second there,¡± Speed answered Sofia with a sigh. ¡°And you just ran in to see if I was alright despite it being potentially dangerous for you?¡± Sofia asked, pointing at the fading clouds of blurriness all around them. ¡°I¡¯d rather not see anyone die in my home, you know. Especially not someone I¡¯m trying to date.¡± ¡°Stop, you¡¯re going to make me blush,¡± Sofia joked, grabbing his hand to stand up. ¡°Looks like I got your home all cleaned up, no more blurry corpses ruining the view¡­¡± ¡°Thanks for that, I guess. I would not mind making you blush, it would be concerning if you managed to blush in that form, though.¡± ¡°Maybe I¡¯ll work on that,¡± Sofia answered, her thoughts still enraptured by the old Speed¡¯s memories, thinking back about it, she wanted to ask a question, ¡°Actually, a weird thought, but¡­ Do you find this kind of essence body more attractive than a physical one? I¡¯m wondering how that works¡­¡± Since the previous Speed also ended up with a human¡­ Speed laughed, shaking his head, ¡°Not at all, no, though it feels more natural to be like this, I grew up around mortals and this is what shaped who I am now. To begin with it makes little sense for someone with no need to reproduce to be attracted to women specifically, but here we are. So, I very much prefer looking at you when you look more human¡­ Well, your demon form is not bad either, aside from the head.¡± ¡°Hey! What¡¯s wrong with my demon head?¡± Sofia pretended to be offended. ¡°You mean aside from the mouth the size of your entire face?¡± ¡°Heh, we each have a good and a bad head then, guess that makes us even.¡± ¡°What, you don¡¯t like a guy who¡¯s got a divine rune for a head? You can use it to enchant boots and vehicles for a speed boost, by the way, but you have to actually punch in the holes, not draw them.¡± ¡°Really? Interesting, doesn¡¯t that steal some of your essence, though?¡± Speed shrugged, ¡°Usually people are happy enough with the added speed that I get the spent power right back, it¡¯s a pretty neutral thing to maintain. Most gods do something like that with their rune. Gives us more places to observe the physical world from, too.¡± ¡°Huh¡­ Speaking of divine runes, this is what the first letter you gave me was about actually, here, let me share a skill description with you¡­¡±
Chapter 586 - Numbers go extra Sofia and Speed chatted for about another hour before they left his divine domain and he carried her back to the swamp, where Saria began asking Sofia a thousand questions about the ¡®date¡¯ which had lasted almost a full day. Meanwhile Pareth was away with Bookie and the plant mage skeleton in the nearby Spirit forest in search of some plant, on Alith¡¯s request. When Saria finally gave Sofia a second to breathe, she checked her ring. [Gluttony] : A ring from the lost Epoch, given to mortals by the Annihilator. Must be primed to unlock advanced functions (1/ 5 divine remains absorbed). Seems like proving myself to uncle Annihilator isn¡¯t going to be that hard after all? She then quickly looked through Pareth¡¯s vision, seeing that he was indeed on a stroll inside of the spirit forest. Stay safe, guys. Bookie silently turned around, facing Pareth to give Sofia a thumbs up. Sofia cut the connection. He looks happy. ¡°Ahhh¡­ Well, that was a nice break. Back to the levelling chamber I go¡­¡± ¡°Oh, you¡¯re getting back in your mithril cube?¡± Saria asked from the side as she stretched. ¡°I have to get those levels. You¡¯ve left me in the dust, look at you, already at 299, what did you kill to go up so fast, even? It¡¯s not been that long since we passed the filter.¡± Saria stopped stretching, she just took a few severed heads out of her storage ring. Sofia had no trouble understanding where they were from. These were all big monstrous birds. ¡°I just happen to be very familiar with a number of flying monsters that also happen to live right next to us in very very large numbers,¡± she explained with a smirk. ¡°Right¡­ And your class is all about fighting one against many¡­ Has the situation out there changed at all?¡± ¡°Not yet, Solvun is still a pink hellscape. But I did meet a few elves out there while I was levelling, they¡¯re teaming up with a human group and some historian dwarf guy to try to get rid of the ebb, if I understood correctly, so things might change soon. I promised to go back to help them, actually, so I¡¯ll be gone about a week from now until who knows when. Wanna come?¡± ¡°No thanks, I¡¯d like to but there¡¯s too much on my plate already¡­¡± ¡°Understandable. We¡¯re not going to get rid of the ebb easily anyway, or it would have already been done, so you can always join later.¡± Sofia nodded, ¡°Sure will. And speaking of joining, want to come with me to the next trial? It¡¯s a group thing apparently.¡± ¡°Yeah it¡¯s four people groups, Zephir told me. I wanted to ask you to join my group, actually, I¡¯m going with Cinthia so we¡¯ve got two spots open for you and Pareth.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ It¡¯s four people? I promised Sun I would go with her Saintess¡­¡± Saria laughed heartily, ¡°Quite the sisters we are. Ever since we¡¯ve reunited we¡¯ve barely had time to do anything together except playing cards.¡± ¡°I like our game nights; but you¡¯re right, we have both been quite busy,¡± Sofia agreed, ¡°I miss spending more time with you.¡± ¡°Awww, you¡¯re so cute, Sofia! How about we do something together after the next trial?¡± Saria suggested, ¡°I¡¯ll keep my schedule open to take care of my lil¡¯ sis. Sounds good?¡± ¡°If you already know the answer there¡¯s no need to ask the question,¡± Sofia answered with a smile.
Sofia sat in the mithril cube with a half-formed angel bolt in her hand. ¡®You gained a level!¡¯ She glanced at her status, confirming that she had reached level 299. Level : 250 ? (299) B-but I¡¯m not done?The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Seeing no immediate direction from Mr.Scribe, she decided to go through with this last rune-carving in her own flesh, as it was where most of the stats came from, her stats actually increasing from the process of doing the things, rather than when she received the level-up messages. She painfully traced another rune in herself with the bolt, like she had done about two hundred times already, following the list of runes and places that her scribe had been providing her. Keeping an eye on her stats, she saw them keep going up. When she finished, she quickly did some mental maths and updated her stat gains on a bone slate. ¡®Total stat gain for 49 level: Health 3072; Stamina 2125; Mana 280760¡¯ To that she could still add the extra bits of health, stamina and about 1500 mana points that she had just gained by finishing that last rune carving. That¡¯s almost a quarter of a level¡­ Am I level 299.25? She then brought up the list of runes the Scribe had given her, she still had quite a lot of them to go through. Can¡­ Can I just continue? To that question, the Scribe brought up the custom system document page that said ¡®yes¡¯. And that won¡¯t cause any issue with the trials or anything?! ¡®no¡¯ ¡°A- Alright. More stats, for free? Sign me up.¡± Sofia continued, performing the entire level up ceremony a few more times until she got another level up message. ¡®You gained a level!¡¯ This message was a bit scary, and for a second, Sofia was scared that Mr.Scribe had committed a terrible fuckup and that she had just become the most laughable of level 300s, missing an entire trial. Level : 250 ? (299 EX1) Oh, thank the lords¡­ So extra levels are a thing? How many can I get? From then on Sofia lost count of the number of times she had to repeat the levelling procedure, but it quickly became apparent that it rapidly started working less and less. Each EX level being worth fewer and fewer stat points, until she reached the second to last rune of Mr.Scribe¡¯s list at level 299 EX22, which was worth a grand total of five stat points: one health, one stamina, and three mana. Noting the change on her bone slab, she sighed, and started filling up the mithril cube with mana again. Doing the last rune was absolutely not worth it, it would only eat up a few more hours of her time, and make her suffer for nothing, as the pain from the procedure did not get any better with repetition. But Sofia was committed to finishing the list anyway, if only to not be bothered by the annoying feeling of having stopped something before it was fully completed. This last run netted her no extra level, and a total of exactly one mana point. That was so not worth it¡­ She internally complained, but looking at her bone slate recap and her status left her satisfied. Hard work was paying off. ¡®Total stat gain for 49 level plus EX: Health 3765; Stamina 2609; Mana 342,944¡¯ Name : Sofia Aphenoreth Age : 21 ? Class : [Saintomancer] ? Sub-Class : [False Lord] ? Level : 250 ? (299 EX22) Health : 925 566 / 1 026 527 (20k+(20*250 - 4k)+65k+736762+200000+3765) Stamina : 256 980 / 373 611 (20067+(20*250 - 4k)+183 269+166666+2609) Mana : 5 154 236 / 5 365 182 (319100+(2k*250- 400k)+4603138+342944) (Mana Regeneration: (0.16%) + Other sources = 11376/s) (Mana Regeneration in Sunlight : (0.16%) + Other sources = 27777/s) Very good, that¡¯s still a very decent upgrade to my mana reserves and regeneration, can¡¯t underestimate that. It also didn¡¯t take as long as expected. It¡¯s been what, under three months? And I only took three short breaks to check on Pareth and Bookie. Not having to sleep helps a lot. I¡¯m not even a little tired! I should have unlocked three more skill opportunities from the dagger too, that could be interesting¡­ Maybe. If I had more free skill slots¡­ Speaking of which, isn¡¯t it about time you let my skills level up, Mr.Scribe? At first there was no answer. Mr.Scribe? Sofia asked again. Is everything alright? Did we break something with the extra levels? Then Sofia collapsed from a sudden and unexpected jolt of pain. ¡®[Spine of the Black Sun] reached level 263¡¯ ¡®[Summon Blood] reached level 258¡¯ [A new soft-evolution choice was unlocked for the skill : Summon Blood] ¡®[Maiden Banshee] reached level 268 (Lv.268)¡¯ ¡®[Graveyard of the righteous] reached level 277¡¯ [A new soft-evolution choice was unlocked for the skill : Graveyard of the righteous] ¡®[False immortality] reached level 4¡¯ ¡®[Skull Choir] reached level 292¡¯ ¡®A new choir array formation is available: Patrol¡¯ ¡®[Runeforged Overlord] reached level 292¡¯ ¡®[Summon Self] reached level 52¡¯ The pain faded as fast as it had come after Sofia¡¯s internal mana circuits all finished rearranging themselves. Most of these level ups were about what Sofia had expected, they lined up well with how much and how efficiently she had used the skills since the trial. What was unexpected were the two soft evolution targets. I can understand the graveyard¡­ But Summon Blood?!
Chapter 587 - Bloody Hell Sofia glanced at the evolution list for summon blood and she could barely believe her eyes. Oh my fucking¡­ Is this real? Who would¡­ How? Why?! Available Soft-Evolutions for [Summon Blood] Lv.250 (+8) (Levels will be conserved, you do not lose the capacity to summon regular Blood in addition to the evolved Blood):
  • [Summon Archon Blood] : The Archon Blood is a lot more expensive to summon, is highly toxic, corrosive, and volatile.
  • [Summon Bloody Blood] : The Bloody Blood converts all nearby liquids to Blood as long as it contains sufficient mana. Liquids revert to their original form after a while.
  • [Summon Centaur Blood] : The Centaur Blood has decent healing properties for cheap but must be drunk to work and tastes awful.
  • [Summon Daunting Blood] : The Daunting Blood possesses a faint [Fear] aura that may scare off creatures of a lower level than the skill
  • [Summon Electric Blood] : The Electric Blood shocks on contact and is extremely conductive to electricity, allowing for the transfer of very high current.
  • [Summon Fart Blood] : Nobody knows what kind of abomination may have once lived with this blood within them, but it exists, and it stinks.
  • [Summon Ghostly Blood] : It only exists in the spiritual plane.
  • [Summon Holy Blood] : The Holy Blood is prohibitively expensive to summon, forces the body and soul to restore to Blueprint, increases lifespan and charisma (up to a limit), and is toxic to demons and the undead.
Mr.Scribe¡¯s note: We are a demon.
  • [Summon Instant Blood] : Very cheap and lightweight, the instant blood comes dehydrated; just add water!
  • [Summon J?rmungandr Blood] : Drinking the J?rmungandr Blood grants the temporary ability to withstand high pressures, see in the dark and breathe underwater. Its presence sends aquatic creatures into a frenzy.
  • [Summon Kinetic Blood] : Redirects most of the mana cost to velocity instead of quantity, allowing for the use of deadly high-speed blood projectiles.
  • [Summon Leviathan Blood] : No protection provided.
Mr.Scribe¡¯s note: I fear that it might be genuine.
    • [Summon More Blood] : Improves the mana to blood quantity conversion. No other effect.
  • [Summon Necrotic Blood] : The Necrotic Blood sticks to the undead, providing them with strong healing and protection, but greatly slowing them down.
  • [Summon Odalite Blood] : The Blood of the extinct Odalites is rumored to be the best liquid for magical materials tempering. Who knows whether the rumors are true?
Mr.Scribe¡¯s note: No information or mention of Odalites found in my data.
    • [Summon Plant Blood] : It is sap.
    • [Summon Quality Blood] : The taste is divine, should one have such inclinations.
    • [Summon Random Blood] : The composition of the Random Blood is decided through an unstable molecular binding array, creating different results for every cast.
  • [Summon Sofia Blood] : It¡¯s yours.
  • [Summon Tantalizing Blood] : You do not recognize the bodies in the Blood. You do not recognize the bodies in the Blood. You do not recognize the bodies in the Blood. You do not re
Mr.Scribe¡¯s note: I have no idea.
  • [Summon Urchin Blood] : The Urchin Blood naturally forms into serrated blades that will strike at any nearby movement. Its strength is proportional to the agglomerated amount.
  • [Summon Virtual Blood] : The Virtual Blood exists only in the mind of the target.
  • [Summon WORM Blood] : Attracts WORMs. Use with caution.
  • [Summon Yin Blood] : Sadly does not improve one¡¯s martial constitution. Mr.Scribe¡¯s note: I am pretty confident this one is just Underworld water.
  • [Summon Xolotl¡¯s Blood] : Consumption will lead to violent and uncontrolled mutations. Feeling lucky?
  • [Summon Zesty Blood] : A few drops will make any alcoholic drink taste marginally better.
Soft evolution huh?! This is all but soft! This is crazy! How is the other one? Available Soft-Evolutions for [Graveyard of the righteous] Lv.250 (+27) (Levels will be conserved):
  • [Graveyard of the Crusade] : The graveyard¡¯s skeletons are now able to fully come out and attack, inflicting spiritual damage.
  • [Graveyard of the Nymphs] : The graveyard¡¯s skeletons are now undead nymphs capable of bringing you in and out of the spiritual realm much faster and healing the land.
  • [Graveyard of the Arbiter] : The graveyard is now home to a single gigantic skeleton with access to a few spells of the [Arbiter] class.
Oh good, at least this one is normal. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°And the choice should be easy enough¡­ I don¡¯t know what the Arbiter class spells are but as exciting as a gigantic skeleton sounds, it¡¯s not practical. Unlike the [Summon blood] evolution, this one doesn¡¯t say I keep the previous version so I would be stuck with that one guy¡­ It¡¯s just bad for tight spaces or battles against many enemies. Though I guess these will become rarer at higher levels, but even then, I would rather keep the current graveyard boys, honestly. So this leaves me with the two other choices¡­¡± Sofia stopped to think for a second, the choice between the two other options wasn¡¯t as clear-cut. ¡°Both of these are straight upgrades, but not in the same way. The crusade would allow the skeletons to move around much faster, and considering how many of them can come out¡­ It makes the graveyard somewhat of a certain-death zone for my enemies. The one point I¡¯m a bit scared about, though, is that they might not be able to fly. They always used to be stuck in the ground so it wasn¡¯t a question, but now if they¡¯re able to leave¡­ Are they more physical or more ghosts? How fast will they be, really?¡± Scratching her head, Sofia mumbled to herself, ¡°Do I even need more damage, in the first place? Do I just take the Nymphs, then? I thought that was just another name for dryads¡­ Am I getting a dryad graveyard? The ¡®healing the land¡¯ bit feels about right for dryads, maybe? Going in and out of the spiritual realm faster is definitely good, and might prevent another bird from pecking my head out of the ground like a worm situation¡­ Kept the restore keyword all this time only to get an alternative through the graveyard, ironic. Let¡¯s go with the Nymphs then.¡± Sofia was quite certain of her decision, but she did not actually pick it right away, turning her attention back to the daunting wall of text that was [Summon blood]¡¯s soft evolution. ¡°One for each letter¡­ I didn¡¯t think the high-scribes had that much free time. Leviathan is the obvious standout, and it¡¯s not even close, but whether picking it has any merit is another question. It¡¯s bound to be extremely expensive to summon and ridiculously dangerous¡­ If my own spell¡¯s sole purpose is killing myself I¡¯m not too sure I see the point. Other than that, [Summon Sofia Blood] is quite something¡­ Are we speaking my old human blood? My current Bloodlight? If Bloodlight, is it a copy, or is it actively ¡®summoning¡¯ it out of my body? I could probably find a way to use it either way¡­ But I would rather pick something that¡¯s immediately obviously good¡­¡± Faced with too many options, Sofia opted for her preferred method of listing and categorizing all of the possibilities. She organized the ¡®bloods¡¯ in four categories, the ¡®Funny or Useless¡¯, ¡®Fine and safe¡¯, ¡®Gamble and safe¡¯, ¡®Gamble and risky¡¯. ¡®Funny or Useless: Bloody, Daunting, Fart, Ghostly, Instant, Plant, Random, Virtual, Zesty¡¯ ¡°That¡¯s already a third of the options gone. Like¡­ Farts? Really? Anyway, good start¡­ Should I add Quality in there too? Its only uses really are to give Asty good presents and generally get more money from the Vampires¡­ Not entirely useless but also¡­ It¡¯s not like I lack means to make money. I might be in debt right now but that¡¯s only because I bargained with Taxes right before needing so much mithril for leveling¡­ I¡¯ll just put it in Fine and Safe.¡± ¡®Fine and Safe: Centaur, J?rmungandr, Kinetic, More, Necrotic, Quality, Urchin, Yin¡¯ ¡°About the same amount of options for this one. These are all good, taking any of these is certain to not be a bad choice, whether it¡¯s an actually useful choice is another matter entirely, though. I¡¯m quite tempted to just believe in Mr.Scribe and take Yin Blood. An unlimited supply of Underworld Water is honestly just great, knowing how potent the stuff is. The planet¡¯s blood. I wonder if there¡¯s an opposite hot water... Would that just be magma? Well, now for the Gamble categories¡­¡± ¡®Gamble and Safe: Archon, Electric, Holy, Odalite¡¯ ¡°Getting to the real head-scratchers now¡­ Archon might be a fine choice just in terms of offensive power, or it might not. It being toxic and all I¡¯m not too worried about, I mostly surround myself with skeletons anyway. Electric might work great with the bolts, or it might just be useless and a waste of energy compared to just using the bolts by themselves, probably not something I would pick¡­ Holy is great, just that I can¡¯t use it. But having this as an option to extend the lifespan of low-level people is definitely not to be overlooked. And Odalite¡­ Well, if it performs as advertised, it¡¯s great, especially since I can count of Grandma to make things for me later down the line¡­ But the description itself doesn¡¯t sound sure that it works¡­ So a big gamble. And that only leaves me with the weird choices.¡± ¡®Gamble and Risky: Leviathan, Sofia, Tantalizing, WORM, Xolotl¡¯ ¡°So¡­ Leviathan is still on the table, Sofia blood I think is a no, Tantalizing is also a no, because I already have [Aberrant Sunlight] and it sounds similar, this leaves WORMs and Xolotl¡­ I¡¯ll pass on the random mutations, I think, although it would definitely be one heck of an experimentation tool for skeleton-harvesting purposes¡­ Hmmm¡­ Yeah, no, let¡¯s not. If I summoned some and someone else got their hands on it and like¡­ Started using it on people¡­ I¡¯d rather not this even be a possibility. This leaves me with a final question, what is a WORM? Why capitalized? Is it some kind of abbreviation, or are we talking HUGE WORM SO BIG IT NEEDS TO BE CAPITALIZED?!¡± Sofia ended with a shout that she knew no one would hear from under the tons of red sand the mithril cube was buried in. ¡°Because I definitely do not want to attract that one giant sandworm from the red sand desert.¡± Sofia shivered just remembering the sheer apocalyptic size of that thing. If she had to guess, it was probably still, even now, one of if not the largest damned creature she had ever encountered, even counting the Sunless Nightbringer and the Deep Whale. ¡°Yeah, fuck that.¡± She scratched the WORM off of her bone slate with a swipe of her fingernail.
Chapter 588 - Unlimited Wood Works Sofia was in the middle of the swamp, away from her city foundations and levelling pit, which were closer to the southern coast. She had dried up a large section here just by sparring with Saria with a piercing bolt as her sword. Here the swamp plants had died and the mud was dry and full of cracks. Standing there, Pareth and Bookie were waiting next to Sofia. Pareth seemed to actually be the one most excited to see how the spell was going to turn out. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s see it. Graveyard of the Nymphs!¡± The mana spewed out of Sofia, much more than usual for the graveyard, but that was expected from the updated skill description, dead trees started sprouting out of the swamp¡¯s dried mud like a cursed forest. From fifty mana per second to maintain to ten thousand¡­ This better be worth the two hundred times cost increase. The Nymphs started climbing out of the ground, much like the original graveyard skeletons. Only ten of them? They appeared around Sofia in a wide circle, bones of dark wood striated with glowing green currents emerged from the ground, the nymphs¡¯ ghostly form swirling around the wooden bones. As they climbed out of the mud, lush green grass and flowers wildly sprouted around them. Short. The first nymph to fully be out of the ground was about Alith-sized, with short twig-like wings like the fairy skeleton, and if Sofia had to describe the appearance of the Ghost, it was like a plant dryad. Whereas Dryads had a body entirely made of wood, Nymphs had wooden bones and a more leaf-like plant-matter body. They looked a bit more human than Dryads, but not much. One by one the ten Nymphs came out, patiently waiting for their orders, they had a clear air of innocent mischief to them that was hard to describe. The center of the graveyard was already like a small garden, every second that Sofia waited, the grass was growing taller and taller, more and more strange plants growing out of the previously dry and dead ground. ¡°Hard to believe those are still the graveyard skeletons,¡± Sofia expressed her disbelief. Bookie tugged on her robe, ¡°Sofia, Sofia! Look, the tree!¡± he excitedly told her, pointing at something behind her. The growing grass had reached the closest of the graveyard¡¯s dead trees, and it had only taken a few seconds for the tree to start growing taller and sprouting with new leaves. ¡°Oh woah¡­¡± Can they¡­ Surround that tree, she ordered, and the Nymphs followed the order, gliding above the grass with their thin ghostly wings. Sofia heard one of them giggle, which was strangely unsettling, and she watched as the surrounded tree started growing much faster. She could hardly believe her eyes as the tree kept growing and growing. Can you make it even taller?! Even bigger? Is it going to stay?! This small dead tree of an unknown species that had sprouted out of nowhere was rapidly reaching tens of meters in height, and following Sofia¡¯s request to make it even bigger, the Nymphs placed their tiny skeletal hands on the trunk, further speeding up the process. Sofia was bewildered, and couldn¡¯t believe her eyes as the tree kept growing and growing, so much that they had to step back as the trunk was becoming so big, as the roots were upheaving the nearby ground. Then, it all stopped. With a piercing headache, Sofia stumbled, caught by Pareth who looked concerned. ¡°Ahah¡­ Ahahahah,¡± Sofia laughed happily, ¡°thanks for catching me, Pareth. It seems¡­ I just ran out of mana,¡± she explained. Looking past Pareth¡¯s concerned fiery eye-sockets, all Sofia could see was the lush green canopy of the giant tree overshadowing them. ¡°For once what I bring is not destruction,¡± she whispered under her breath, ¡°Nymphs are incredible.¡±
Sofia glanced at the skill again, and at the small flask Alith had just handed her containing about three drops of shimmering pink liquid. [Mockery of the divine]: Your body feeds on the essence of the divine, p?ercing the realms through them, and keeping them hostage within the shadow of mana core prisons. By arranging the mana cores within your body in the shape of divine constellations, you can gain a limited hold onto their absolute domain. ¡°So this is supposed to help¡­ Any idea what will happen when I drink it?¡± Sofia asked Alith, who had recreated this ¡®potion¡¯ from the demon king¡¯s recipe.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Not in the slightest, nope. Half of the ingredients I¡¯d never even worked with before. I¡¯d try it on myself if I had more, but this is all I managed to make with the herbs we had so there wasn¡¯t really any to spare for testing.¡± ¡°Well¡­ We¡¯re about to find out, then¡­¡± Sofia nonchalantly said as she opened the flask. ¡°I¡¯d pinch my nose and quickly swallow if I were you, the taste probably ain¡¯t great,¡± Alith suggested, and Sofia did as she said, quickly gulping down the pink liquid. She felt a burn as the potion travelled down her throat, and felt it clearly pierce into her, and plunge straight for her mana heart. The sudden collision made her a bit wary, but nothing else seemed to happen after that. ¡°Well?¡± Alith asked. ¡°It fused with my mana heart, I think. But huh¡­ That¡¯s it?¡± Alith shrugged. ¡°Heh. I expected a bit more considering all the reagents in there, but I guess getting no side-effects is good. Maybe try your skill again, now?¡± ¡°Not like it¡¯s a real skill, I just have to recreate divine runes by moving the essences around but as you know, it¡¯s only ever given me a headache so far¡­ I should try Sun or Sorrow first to be safe.¡± ¡°Maybe we should go outside, don¡¯t want you to trash my lab, yeah?¡± ¡°Sure. Let¡¯s check up on Remia on the way out,¡± Sofia agreed with a nod. ¡°Didn¡¯t you say you did that on the way in already?¡± Alith asked, following Sofia out of her laboratory which was the entire upper floors of the Zangdar castle where Zhang Lu previously had his own labs. ¡°I just want to check again, I wanted to show her the Nymphs but she has been sleeping so soundly these last three days I didn¡¯t want to disturb her.¡± Alith nodded, ¡°She¡¯s starting to wake up more often these days, though never for long. It won¡¯t be long until she can start staying awake for more than a few minutes at a time, I think. Maybe the nymphs will help, I still can¡¯t believe you grew this massive tree in one go.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t believe it either, but it¡¯s hard to miss now, I feel like soon we¡¯ll have a regular forest right next to the spirit forest.¡± ¡°Hmmm¡­ Might need to be careful about that, maybe leave a bit of a buffer zone between the two, wouldn¡¯t want the nasty things from out there to cross over.¡± ¡°True, true¡­¡± Sofia agreed, looking through one of the castle windows, ¡°Looks like she¡¯s still sleeping,¡± she remarqued, looking at Remia who had been relocated to the glowing lumian-bone forest where she was initially born. ¡°Ah well, better that she stays here while we¡¯re out testing your new powers anyway, could be dangerous.¡±
A few minutes later, under the shadow of the nymph tree, Sofia was drawing Sun¡¯s rune on a bone table, deciding how to spread the essences around. ¡°Like that? Nineteen essences is a good number for this, honestly,¡± Alith commented. ¡°I have no idea what I am doing, to be perfectly honest.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it always like that with godly stuff? Just try and see.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± Sofia focused on the essence cores within her. They were like empty physical and spiritual balls roaming within her body, displacing her flesh and soul as she moved them, but she knew for a fact that these hosted the divine essence, just that she couldn¡¯t see them at all from the physical plane. Slowly, she rearranged them to form Sun¡¯s divine rune of weirdly stacked triangles, drawing the larger edge of the first upside down triangle in her shoulders, with its lower point around her belly button. This took thirteen of the nineteen essences, then with the remaining six, she drew the two smaller mirrored triangles, one in her neck and one in her upper chest. Then, like she felt needed to be done, she moved her mana heart to be at the centerpoint of the rune. Something! There¡¯s something! The potion worked! Sofia felt a calm heat rise within her chest, as if something was warming up for a big reveal, then all of a sudden, it derailed, and she clutched her chest with a yelp as the essence cores were thrown in disarray. Alith was there to help, and Pareth had instantly teleported in. ¡°Still failed? Potion didn¡¯t work?¡± Alith asked, seeing that Sofia looked more annoyed than in pain. ¡°No, the potion worked, it definitely did, I don¡¯t know what it did, but that unlocked something. I was able to go further than usual, but it failed midway through, as if¡­ It felt a bit like a being in a carriage falling off the side of a mountain road. I don¡¯t know how else to describe what went wrong¡­¡± Sofia explained. ¡°Maybe Sun¡¯s rune was a bad choice? Could just be that Sun is too powerful and it¡¯s messing things up?¡± Altih guessed. ¡°Maybe but¡­ I don¡¯t know. I feel like it was almost there. Let me try again.¡± ¡°Alright, don¡¯t push yourself too much, it took me a while to get a hold of my new racial traits too.¡± Sofia nodded, rearranged the essence cores, and tried again. The result was the same, but she understood the failure a bit better this time: the rune was unstable for some reason, one side seemed to warm up faster than the other. Is it because the two Deep runes are on that side? Sofia shared her discovery with Alith, and following that, they worked on rearranging how Sofia drew the rune, spreading the essences around so that the EV was relatively well balanced with one Deep rune on both sides and the Sun and Death essences positioned symmetrically across the rune. This failed again. ¡°We¡¯re close! I can tell! So close!¡± Sofia rejoiced. After a few more tries, she noticed that putting Sun¡¯s own essences at the extremities seemed to work better. She tried one final time, placing Sun¡¯s essences at the point of every triangle. Sofia finally accessed the main feature of the Lumian race. [Mockery of the divine]
Chapter 589 - Fake it till you fake it As if she had been doused in oil beforehand, Sofia immediately burst up in flames. The fire was violent and quite strong, but it seemed content to envelope Sofia¡¯s body, not spreading anywhere else. ¡°Sofia¡­ You good?¡± Alith asked, only mildly worried. Sofia observed her hands through the flames, waving them around and watching how the fire reacted. ¡°I am, yes. Doesn¡¯t hurt at all, it barely feels hot, even, but it does hinder my vision a bit. It¡¯s interesting how it doesn¡¯t seem to spread.¡± ¡°Well, good, considering how close we are to the tree. I can confirm that this fire is hot, from my perspective¡­ I am immune to fire though so I can hardly show that¡­¡± ¡°You look a bit sick,¡± Sofia remarqued. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ This reminded me of the day I died. Not often that you get to see people get engulfed in flames. Good that I¡¯m not next in line this time¡­¡± ¡°Oh¡­ Sorry, I completely forgot about that¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s nothing, doubt you could have guessed this is what was going to happen to you anyway. Looks like you¡¯ve got your own fire immunity now¡­ Maybe. Or the fire is fake,¡± looking sideways, she turned to Pareth, ¡°Why don¡¯t you try- Ah, nevermind, you¡¯ll be immune too since there¡¯s no way it burns for ten percent of your health¡­ Should we call Bookie to see if the fire can burn anything at all?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think that will be necessary,¡± Sofia commented, ¡°This is a bit weird but I can tell I¡¯m only pulling energy from one of Sun¡¯s essences currently, it feels like I can make the flames stronger if I try to use the rest, but also¡­ I don¡¯t know, this skill is strange. I really do get the feeling that I am stealing power.¡± ¡°Well, you got the essences after all, so in a way you¡¯ve stolen the power already.¡± ¡°True¡­ Well, so far this is mostly just a fire immunity, I guess, it¡¯s really not bad. Doesn¡¯t cost me any mana either,¡± Sofia explained, expelling a bit of her mana to see if it reacted to the flames. While it did not, there was something else that caught Sofia¡¯s attention. She looked up. Alith and Pareth also looked up. ¡°Felt something? Is Sun about to fall from the tree branches or what?¡± Alith asked. ¡°I was just thinking that we¡¯re completely in the shade of the tree right now¡­ But my upgraded regeneration in sunlight is active.¡± Alith immediately picked up on what this meant, ¡°Now this is juicy! BOOKIE! GET YOUR BONES OVER HERE!¡± ¡°D- did you just use the banshee scream to shout louder?¡± Sofia asked, astonished. ¡°Yeah? Didn¡¯t activate any of the effects though, don¡¯t worry. It¡¯s basically just voice-amplification magic at this point,¡± Alith explained with a smug look. ¡°I will never get being so proud over inventing new ways to be obnoxiously loud and noisy,¡± Dopple commented out of nowhere, prompting Alith to ¡®punch herself¡¯ in the chest. ¡°Ouch. I suppose that was uncalled for. But I would remind you that you are two weeks late on that meal you promised me¡­¡± Alith started to blush, ¡°I- I was busy! You should know about it! We¡­ We¡¯ll go shopping for a few chestplates later today, alright?¡± ¡°Much appreciated.¡± Sofia observed their back and forth, still covered by fire. ¡°Is it me or has Dopple has gotten a lot more polite?¡±Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. Alith sighed, ¡°We got used to each other, I guess. On the other hand I feel like Pareth has gotten less polite,¡± she commented with a raised brow. Pareth¡¯s jaw dropped at the accusation, but he also couldn¡¯t say anything back. ¡°I see what you mean. He¡¯s not been doing much of the polite bows and gestures lately, but I¡¯m pretty sure it¡¯s just because of his skeleton, his habitual gestures look a bit¡­ Out of place with the hellspawn abomination¡­¡± Sofia defended him. And he vehemently nodded in approval. ¡°That so? I thought maybe he was mad because of the whole date thing you¡¯ve been doing,¡± Alith casually said with a shrug. Sofia turned to look at Pareth, completely stunned at the idea that Pareth might have any kind of romantic feelings for her. That was just not something she could imagine. ¡°Is¡­ Is it like that?¡± she asked, feeling now that this was dangerous territory. Thankfully, she was immediately reassured by Pareth¡¯s visceral denial, his body language couldn¡¯t lie, he was not interested in her like that, but somehow Sofia felt some mixed emotions about that, mostly relief but with a subtle distant tinge of disappointment. ¡°Ahah¡­ See, it¡¯s really not like that. Pareth is more like¡­ Another sibling, at this point? To begin with I don¡¯t think we could make a very healthy couple, considering how we¡¯re linked, and the fact that he can hear my thoughts, among other things.¡± Pareth nodded in approval with all three of his heads. ¡°Also despite his maturity he is technically only like five years old, which, you know, doesn¡¯t mean much for a skeleton, but yeah,¡± Sofia added. ¡°Hmm, yeah, fair. Well, maybe if you don¡¯t date him I will,¡± Alith deadpanned, which was followed by a long silence. ¡°What? He may look like that now but with the draconic shapeshifting he¡¯s bound to be able to become the most handsome guy ever, no? Not only that but, It¡¯d be fine with me because I know you so well and I¡¯m holed-up in my laboratory all the time anyway, but what other girl out there is gonna allow her man to be with another woman all the time? And well, he¡¯s got a pretty decent personality if you just ignore the fact that he can¡¯t speak, so¡­ I¡¯m just saying,¡± she continued with another shrug. Pareth disappeared into Sofia¡¯s storage ring. P- Pareth? Sofia looked down at Alith, ¡°I think you scared him off¡­ Just between us¡­ Were you serious?¡± ¡°When have I ever lied?¡± Alith answered with a question of her own, before looking far behind Sofia and waving, ¡°Hoy! What took you so long?!¡± Bookie was running up to them, his book form under one arm and a bunch of wildflowers in his other hand. Bookie only answered when he got close enough, ¡°I was picking flowers to make a crown!¡± he proudly answered, showing the blue and yellow flowers he had picked. He then turned to Sofia, ¡°But why is Sofia on fire?¡± ¡°This is my last racial skill,¡± Sofia explained, ¡°Alith called you so we can try something.¡± ¡°I thought it¡¯d work by now,¡± Alith said, ¡°but I guess not, after all it doesn¡¯t look like that fire makes much light so I suppose it¡¯s not too surprising.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t really get it, what do I need to try?¡± Bookie asked. ¡°Give Alith the flowers for a second, I don¡¯t want to burn them by accident,¡± Sofia told him. Bookie nodded and gave Alith the flowers and his book, ¡°You don¡¯t mind?¡± he asked. ¡°Of course not, now go out there and give Sofia a hug.¡± Bookie looked a bit destabilized by the order. ¡°Is that what you wanted to try? I already hug Sofia all the time!¡± he answered, but turned around and walked up to Sofia anyway, lifting his arms up in the air for her to grab him. ¡°Are you not worried about the fire?¡± Sofia asked as she bent over to be closer to his eye-level. ¡°It doesn¡¯t feel dangerous,¡± Bookie answered, sounding quite confident about it. ¡°Alright then, let¡¯s just try touching fingers for now though, just in case, I don¡¯t want to hurt you,¡± Sofia continued, extending an open hand in front of him with a smile. Bookie reached out into the fire and grabbed one of Sofia¡¯s fingers. ¡°It¡¯s hot but it doesn¡¯t hurt,¡± Bookie said, letting go of the finger, astonished by the weird fire, taking his hand in and out. Sofia¡¯s smile grew wider, ¡°Leave your hand in and look at it really closely, you¡¯ll understand what is happening.¡± Bookie nodded and did just that, he observed his unharmed hand within the fire. It was hard to see amidst the orange fire, but his hand shone with a faint golden light. ¡°The blessing!¡± Bookie almost shouted, ¡°Sofia, you can do Sun Fire?!¡± he excitedly asked. ¡°Well¡­ I wasn¡¯t exactly sure but now I am, yes I can,¡± she answered, before giving Bookie¡¯s arm a surprise yank, ¡°now come here for the promised hug!¡± And now to try the other runes!
Chapter 590 - The slot crisis Sofia played around with the flames for about a minute, noticing that what it burned and what it didn¡¯t was pretty inconsistent, until she started to feel a strange pull, as if the essence cores in her chest were being held back by something. The flames started to weaken and sputter. ¡°Running out of energy?¡± Alith asked. ¡°I have no idea. Maybe the energy of the divine essences is depleted?¡± Sofia guessed, there was no clear explanation for what was going on. ¡°That fast? You didn¡¯t even do much besides burning a bit of grass¡­¡± ¡°I know, I find it weird too but there¡¯s no oth-¡± Sofia started, but stopped as the flames completely burned out. ¡°Ah. It just turned off by itself,¡± she explained. ¡°Maybe auntie Sun wanted her power back?¡± Bookie guessed from the side, sitting in the grass and clumsily trying to weave his flowers together. ¡°Maybe? Let me see if I can activate it again¡­¡± Sofia said, before trying and failing to activate [Mockery of the Divine] once more. ¡°Strange¡­¡± ¡°How does it feel, is it like trying to cast a spell with no mana?¡± Alith asked, but Sofia shook her head in denial. ¡°No, it¡¯s¡­ It does feel a bit like¡­ A sore muscle? But it¡¯s really very faint.¡± [Calibration successful] Oh? [New resource tracker created, you may change its name] New resource? ¡°System notifications?¡± Alith asked, seeing Sofia¡¯s eyes moving left to right as she read invisible lines. ¡°Yes, it says I got a new resource that I can name myself, but no further precision¡­ Let¡¯s see¡­ Oh yeah it¡¯s right there under my mana, look.¡± Health : 1 026 527 / 1 026 527 Stamina : 373 589 / 373 611 Mana : 5 365 182 / 5 365 182 Divine penalty gauge: 100 / 100 ¡°Ooooh! That does explain it, you were bringing power over from the gods¡¯ plane so you get the penalty like the gods do,¡± Alith commented. ¡°I guess so? It should go back down to zero by itself then? Hopefully? This is worrying, though, since I wasn¡¯t doing much at all and I only had the flames on for like, what, three minutes? That¡¯s not a lot¡­¡± ¡°For a fight, that¡¯s plenty,¡± Alith said, ¡°but it¡¯s not like it would be very useful in a fight so far.¡± ¡°I am relatively certain that it can do more, especially for Sun¡¯s rune, it felt like this was really only pulling on one of the five essences, so I might be able to make it stronger. I¡¯m guessing that using more divine power would accumulate the penalty faster, though¡­¡± ¡°Maybe there¡¯s a way to increase how much penalty you can handle? I wonder if giving you your first bit of resistance to it isn¡¯t what the potion did. Maybe you can make the gauge bigger with more potion?¡± ¡°Worth a try,¡± Sofia agreed, ¡°but the ingredients are going to be a pain to find in larger quantities¡­ Oh, it¡¯s gone down to 99.¡± ¡°Already? It can¡¯t have been more than a minute. At this rate you can try again in under two hours, that¡¯s not so bad.¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s fine, I have quite a few runes to try so it¡¯s good that it¡¯s not going to take forever. I wonder though, if using a Recessed rune in the physical plane will result in a harsher penalty. It probably will, won¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Seems likely,¡± Alith said with a shrug, ¡°though I have to say, all the divine power stuff is confusing. Like, look at the divine items, they have no penalty, don¡¯t they?¡± ¡°That would be because they are not people,¡± Dopple chimed in, ¡°an object, such as I, is a lot more stable than a person, thus we suffer much less from dimensional strain.¡±Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. This put a stop to Sofia and Alith¡¯s discussion, both of them stared at the piece of clothing on Alith''s chest. ¡°You seem to know a lot about divine items, huh,¡± Alith told the mysterious chestpiece which has always adamantly refused to give any explanation about its origins. ¡°I¡¯ve already said too much, my seams are sealed!¡± Dopple answered, before returning to his usual mutism. ¡°So¡­ The divine penalty for gods coming over¡­ It¡¯s just dimensional strain? Like¡­ What¡¯s also known as planar drag? The thing that happens when we teleport? And that¡¯s what makes Pareth unable to talk?¡± Sofia asked, though she did not expect an answer. ¡°Seems like it? That would be a surprisingly plain way of explaining why most gods aren¡¯t able to come, I don¡¯t know why but when I heard you explain the divine penalty thing I was imagining something more¡­ Magical?¡± Alith commented. ¡°Same, but I guess it¡¯s not? Down to 98, by the way. Should I rename the resource to planar drag?¡± ¡°I¡¯d think of a better sounding name if I were you.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ The name is just a name, it doesn¡¯t have to be correct, I guess I could call it divine power or something¡­ Actually, first, Mr.Scribe, is it possible to invert it? Just make 100 be 0 and 0 be 100 so that it works like the other resources and depletes as I use it instead of being a counter like now?¡± Mr.Scribe instantly executed her demand, and the line changed from 98/100 to 2/100. Better. ¡°And I guess¡­ Just call it Divinity.¡± ¡°Good name,¡± Alith approved with a thumbs up. Divinity: 1 / 100 ¡°Yes, much better¡­¡± Sofia said with a sigh, ¡°but yet another line on my status sheet¡­ This is getting ridiculous. And I still have three skills waiting to be made from my level ups. And I literally only have three remaining slots!¡± ¡°Just fuse some skills,¡± Alith suggested with a shrug, ¡°or delete some old ones. Like, really, you don¡¯t have to keep mine.¡± ¡°And let you die if something happens? Sorry but no. Maybe if you get a resurrection skill of your own, I¡¯ll think about it.¡± ¡°Tssk. You know, I¡¯ve only ever died once in this world, and that was because I played with fire asking for something I shouldn¡¯t have. I have a much much muuuch better track record than you with staying alive. And I''m undead! You don¡¯t have to worry so much about me.¡± Sofia frowned, ¡°Maybe I don¡¯t have to but I do! Actually¡­ Here!¡± she said, shoving a small orb in Alith¡¯s face. ¡°Huh? Isn¡¯t that your reward from the academy?¡± ¡°Damn right it is!¡± Sofia answered, pulling up the description, ¡°Take it and copy [False immortality]. Then I can delete your skill with some peace of mind.¡± [Skill Capture? - 042] : Skill capture module limited edition, n¡ã42 out of 100. Activate to record the magic spells currently being used near you. You may choose one to learn as a permanent special skill. For non-system magic: results may vary. One time use item. Limited to one capture per person. It was Alith¡¯s turn to frown, taking a step back, ¡°Are you crazy? It¡¯s your reward, not mine. I¡¯m not taking it from you.¡± ¡°What use is it for me? To copy a skill that I won¡¯t have a free slot for? I would have given it to Saria if she didn¡¯t have a resurrection skill already, but she does. You¡¯re the next best target!¡± ¡°I¡¯m flattered I place so high on your list of people who shouldn¡¯t die but come on, I can¡¯t take it,¡± Alith refused, pushing back Sofia¡¯s hands, ¡°Besides, think about it, your unlife runes are terrible for me. I rely on my stamina regeneration to even stay alive with my specialisation. This would only cripple my ability to fight,¡± she argued. ¡°Then copy Saria or Cinthia¡¯s resurrection skills.¡± ¡°Cinthia has one?¡± Alith asked, ¡°I don¡¯t know. I could see Saria¡¯s skill working, but doesn¡¯t it also require having the dragon¡¯s den one that she has? That would be two skills.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t, you can keep the gold on you in a storage ring or near where you slept the most in the last six months, and that also works. And you can make plenty of gold with your candies, so it would be a good fit,¡± Sofia argumented. ¡°Hmm¡­ Are you really sure you want to do that? Just imagine the kinds of spells you might be able to get for yourself. I would feel guilty taking it from you¡­¡± ¡°Really? I¡¯ve not even repaid you for all the stat candies you have been making. I would say I¡¯m indebted to you more than the other way around.¡± ¡°I¡­ I need to think about it. But again, you could just delete my skill and be done, I really don¡¯t mind¡­¡± ¡°I thought I had made myself clear. Either you take Saria¡¯s [Respawn], or I keep the skill.¡± ¡°Do you really value the skill slots that much?¡± ¡°Altih, I absolutely need the four skills of my sub-class, non¨Cnegotiable, and I don¡¯t even have that many free slots total right now, and I cannot get any more¡­¡± Alith stared at the orb, her chest tightening. This was Sofia¡¯s reward, something priceless. How could she take it, knowing it might mean giving up a once-in-a-lifetime chance? After a long hesitation, she sighed, and finally grabbed the orb Sofia had been showing in her face the entire conversation. ¡°Fine. I would be dumb to keep refusing. I¡¯ll take it, but I will need to make it up to you somehow.¡± ¡°Finally! One more free slot. And well, speaking of making it up, I know just the thing¡­ What do you say about going on a small adventure together? I might need some help, and it¡¯s going to be extremely dangerous.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t even have the skill yet and you¡¯re already making plans for us to die together?¡± Alith asked with a smirk. ¡°You¡¯ll need to find someone else to take care of Remia while I¡¯m gone from Zangdar, but I¡¯m in.¡±
Chapter 591 - Calm before the Sofia Erredis sat down on one of her workshop¡¯s tables, ¡°I would take Odalite blood without even thinking if it were me, but you shouldn''t let that influence you,¡± she told Sofia. ¡°So you do know about them? Or is the prospect of a new crafting material just that enticing?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°Both? Both. There isn¡¯t much I know about the Odalites, that goes for pretty much everyone else, since they¡¯re a race that went extinct during or at the end of the lost epoch. What we have are some old records and carvings, a few partial skeletons and old broken scales. As for what they were exactly, I think¡­ Flightless Dragons is the best way to describe them?¡± ¡°Like drakes?¡± Erredis clicked her tongue, ¡°Come on now, I said dragon not lizard. Some people out there think Odalites were actually just Dragon Kleptra halfbred, but we haven¡¯t had that kind of freak accident ever happen in recorded history, so who¡¯s to say?¡± ¡°Oh¡­ I don¡¯t know why I never even imagined that this could be a possibility¡­¡± ¡°Nor would any sane person? Seriously, who in their right mind would want anything to do with the Kleps when it comes to this? They¡¯re about as far removed from the concepts of romance and family as is gold from dirt.¡± ¡°I guess I should count myself lucky to have never encountered one personally. Is there any evidence that Odalite blood will do anything useful though?¡± Sofia continued to ask. Erredis shook her head, ¡°Aside from what the system is spewing? None at all. But it¡¯s not uncommon for the blood of stronger races to have funny properties, just look at yourself. So it¡¯s¡±worth a try.¡± ¡°What about the other options?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ You are correct in your analysis, as far as I can tell, Underworld water is not the easiest to procure and can be very useful especially for someone at your level, so pretty great for now, but it will become underwhelming as you get stronger. Everything else I wouldn¡¯t give a second glance. And of course Leviathan is stupid, forget it. Might as well just kill yourself now in any other less painful way if that¡¯s what you¡¯re going for.¡± ¡°Is it that bad?¡± Erredis laughed, then became serious again all of a sudden, ¡°There isn¡¯t one person who has ¡®fought¡¯ the Leviathan and came back alive to tell the tale.¡± Sofia nodded, and was about to jump to another subject when she picked up on a little something, ¡°Is that implying some people did come back, just not alive?¡± Sofia visibly saw Erredis shiver at the question, which said more than any answer ever could. ¡°Trust me, you do not want to know.¡± ¡°Erm¡­ Alright. Should we try the Odalite blood, then?¡± ¡°Decided already, sweetie? Take your time, I¡¯m working on something big at the moment so I won¡¯t have time to play with that much no matter how much I want to.¡± ¡°Ah, really?! Sorry for taking up your time¡­¡± Sofia apologized. ¡°Don¡¯t be ridiculous, I¡¯m not a few hours short, but learning how to properly handle Odalite blood could take me months depending on what it really does, so I can¡¯t do that now.¡± ¡°Oh, thank goodness. Then¡­ If it¡¯s not too much of a bother, I have another request,¡± Sofia started, before walking close to Erredis and whispering something. ¡°Are you crazy?!¡± Erredis asked, shocked at Sofia¡¯s demand, ¡°Do you not remember what I said about that before? It¡¯s¡­-¡± She stopped, looked at Sofia, and sighed. ¡°Listen¡­ If you really want, I can take you there. But I won¡¯t come to rescue you if anything happens.¡±If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Of course! I would appreciate it if you could tell me everything you know about it so that a rescue won¡¯t even be necessary in the first place. I couldn¡¯t find anything when I looked for information on it.¡± ¡°Yeah no wonder, kid, the little that is known is better not recorded anywhere. I¡¯ll tell you about the time I went there myself, but that won¡¯t take you far.¡± ¡°Better than nothing! Thank you so much for helping again¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t mention it, kid, that''s what a grandma does, isn¡¯t it? I¡¯ve not even been doing a great job at it, I even forgot all about that crazy ass Stebron and his obsession with divine essence¡­ Gotta thank Phillip for reminding me about this one.¡±
After several hours spent chatting with Erredis in her workshop, Sofia left and started to wander around Zephir¡¯s Obsidian mountain sect. Despite her not recognizing anyone here, most of the sect¡¯s disciples actually knew Sofia as Saria¡¯s sister and stopped to greet her. It wasn¡¯t until she found a huge statue of herself and Saria fighting over Victory¡¯s crown atop a fountain that she understood how they all recognized her. It even has the usual details of my bone armor and everything. Seriously, isn¡¯t that a bit excessive? Whoever sculpted that is seriously talented. Looking around, Sofia ended up walking into a tavern inside the sect, managed by the largest orc she¡¯s ever seen, who promptly offered her free drinks once he recognized her. Not one to refuse free things, Sofia walked up to a free booth in a corner of the tavern¡¯s upper floor, and watched the lively night market of the sect starting outside around the fountain plaza. A masked, cloaked figure entered the tavern a while later, while Sofia was relaxing, sipping on her drink. They ignored everyone and silently walked up the stairs of the tavern before sitting at Sofia¡¯s table. ¡°Found something you like?¡± Sofia asked. The person took something from under their large black cape and put it on the table; it was a rather thin leather-bound tome with the title ¡®faces of the divine¡¯. Sofia opened it, quickly looking through a few pages. Another book full of drawings. The first few pages were of people Sofia didn¡¯t recognize, and they were all unlabeled illustrations, so it was hard to get anything out of them, but Sofia stopped at the drawing of someone she recognized. Moon? The signature mouthless face of the Goddess and her strange white and blue attire were unmistakable, and exactly as Sofia remembered. She closed the book and read the title again. Before opening the book again, and looking through all of its twenty eight pages with renewed attention. She recognized a total of four Gods from the book, Moon, Sun, Life, and Victory. All captured in their physical form in vivid details. Sofia closed the book again and looked at the masked figure. ¡°Where the hell did you even find that, Pareth?¡± A skeletal hand came out from under the cape, pointing at a book stall in the market outside, managed by one of the sect''s disciple orcs. ¡°Really?¡± For once, Sofia spent a while analyzing every drawing with Pareth.
Much later in the same night, Sofia received some news from Mr.Scribe, who had been busy ¡®negotiating¡¯ with the admin dagger. The idea was to try to do something about how Sofia received her new skills, as she was lacking skill slots and the dagger¡¯s fully random keywords weren¡¯t helping with making relevant skills. Since Sofia had the skills for level 260, 270 and 280 to pick, the Scribe had suggested trying to see if the dagger would allow for one stronger skill instead of three regular ones, but the dagger apparently was not very easy to communicate with, and was not especially compliant. Still Mr.Scribe had spent much time trying, and he finally brought results. [It was hard but I have managed to finally push one of my attempts through.] [Here is the deal, we only get one skill instead of three, as we wanted, and it will be of the relative complexity normally allowed for the next filter.] So far that¡¯s great! [It can be made with up to four keywords arranged in any order.] More than great! [But I still do not get any say in what the dagger actually does with it, we only get twenty keywords instead of the thirty we should have gotten, and they are to be completely random.] [That is to say, absolutely random words from the dagger¡¯s entire language database, not even skill parts¡­] Oh. Mr.Scribe gave Sofia control of her mana back leaving her with the choice to accept that deal over the regular three skills or not. Since she was already relaxing with Pareth anyway, she explained the entire situation to him and asked for his opinion, hoping that he would be able to express it somehow despite his restrictions. His answer? A shrug followed by a few nods. ¡°Pretty close to what I was thinking as well¡­ Alright Mr.Scribe, give it to me.¡± [Generating skill nodes, please wait.]
Chapter 592 - Golden opportunity [Skill nodes successfully generated. You may select up to four to create a skill.] [Skill will be passive or active depending on chosen nodes.] [Skill may be permanent depending on chosen nodes.] Available skill nodes:
  • Golden
  • Smartphone
  • Storm
  • Overclock
  • Triangular
  • Of
  • Salt
  • Consequences
  • Tower
  • Crystal
  • High
  • Velvet
  • Amulet
  • Ripples
  • Ichor
  • Swarm
  • Fork
  • Fire
  • Order
  • Splintering
Sofia quickly read through the list, and sighed, before showing it to Pareth. ¡°No skeleton¡­¡± she complained, fully aware that the chances of getting that particular word had been extremely thin, but being disappointed nonetheless. ¡°There are a few good ones there, but I don¡¯t even understand all of them¡­ Say, Mr.Scribe, it wouldn¡¯t be possible to get me a definition for Smartphone, Overclock and Ichor?¡± [Smartphone] : CENSORED Oh. Really? Are we doing this? I guess I¡¯m not using this one then¡­ Must be a hero thing, I could ask Alith or Everelle... [Overclock] : Overclocking is running the CENSORED of a CENSORED at a speed higher than that intended by the manufacturers, improving speed and performance, at the cost of a higher energy consumption and the risk of overheating and or damaging the CENSORED. Alright, this one I at least get partial information¡­ Forgetting about the censored parts¡­ This could mean pumping more mana into a spell to make it stronger, kind of? Isn¡¯t this what I am already doing with the angel bolts? Am I overclocking the bolts? This one could be useful. And last¡­ [Ichor] : The blood of gods in the ancient CENSORED mythology. Wait¡­ The blood of gods in some mythology? What¡­ I¡¯m pretty sure there isn¡¯t a thing like the blood of gods. They have essence and that¡¯s it, isn¡¯t it? This could go one of three ways¡­ Either the dagger makes Ichor real somehow and creates a new kind of blood; or it just means divine essence; or it does nothing at all. I think I could try this one. Sofia shared those three system prompts with Pareth, and while he read, she quickly created twenty bone cards, inscribing the words on them, before frowning and storing the smartphone one away. Since Pareth seemed to be done with his reading, Sofia talked to him, ¡°Not too bad honestly, no skeleton in there but most words are usable. Smartphone we¡¯re leaving out since it¡¯s fully censored, and I¡¯m guessing we are not going to use Salt either, but that¡¯s about it. Any suggestions?¡± Since Sofia¡¯s usual way of trying all combinations was a bit of a dead end with so many keywords at once, she decided to just play around until she found enough good combinations to choose from. Pareth hesitated for a bit before moving some bone cards around. ¡®Storm of Golden Fire¡¯ ¡°That has got to be the most basic combination possible, but I can¡¯t argue with the fact that it would at least create something useful. ¡®High Storm of Fire¡¯ also works¡­ Wait, actually, even better, get rid of the ¡®of¡¯; ¡®High Golden Fire Storm¡¯,¡± Sofia analyzed.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Pareth seemed very happy about that suggestion, nodding along with Sofia¡¯s train of thoughts, so Sofia spawned a bone tablet and wrote a first line: 1- High Golden Fire Storm. Sofia played with the bone bits, moving the storm card around, ¡°Hmm¡­ Storm in general is a great base, but it doesn¡¯t go well with many of the other words. Fire works, I think Crystal and Splintering could also work well¡­ Storm of Consequences also sounds interesting. And I don¡¯t know why but Velvet Storm feels like a funny combination.¡± Since the last other couple of people on the upper floor of the tavern beside them had just left, Pareth took off his mask, and he thought about Sofia¡¯s rumblings while scratching his chin. After considering things, he started moving the bone cards. ¡®Splintering Velvet Ripples Storm¡¯ ¡°Oh! I like the sound of that!¡± Sofia reacted, etching that on the second line of her bone tablet, and ¡®High Splintering Crystal Storm¡¯ on the third line. ¡°That should be enough storming for now. Amulet is an interesting keyword too, that could create a nice invoking skill. Let¡¯s see¡­ ¡®Amulet of High Overclock¡¯ feels like it could help make other skills stronger, maybe?¡± Pareth had no suggestion right away, so Sofia continued, ¡°Golden Triangular Fire Amulet¡¯ sounds like it would just be Sun¡¯s divine rune, doesn¡¯t it?¡± Although she said that, she didn¡¯t think it would be a good choice, if anything, she thought it was time to stop relying so much on the gods if possible, too much of her power was tied to Sun in particular already. Pareth came up with another combination he thought worthy of showing Sofia. ¡®High Tower Of Order¡¯ Sofia was a bit surprised by the strange suggestion, before she caught on a few seconds later. ¡°Oh! That kind of feels like an alternate name for the system¡¯s trial towers. Is that it? Yeah I can see it. Not sure what the spell could do though. Tower is going to be a hard keyword to use, honestly. Maybe ¡®High Crystal Tower¡¯ can summon new midenicite buildings for Zangdar?¡± She suggested with a giggle. But these are all kind of bad¡­ Or, not very exciting, rather. That was to be expected considering the words are random, but it¡¯s still a bit disappointing. ¡®High¡¯ might just be the luckiest word of the lot just because it intrinsically makes everything that follows it ¡®better¡¯. ¡°I see you playing around with Swarm a lot,¡± Sofia noticed, ¡°I¡¯m thinking about it too, but there aren¡¯t many good combinations with it at first glance¡­¡± Pareth seemed to agree; fumbling around with the bone cards, he put together: ¡®High Order Crystal Swarm¡¯. ¡°Yeah I thought about this as well, especially putting together ¡®High Order¡¯, it lets us use Order in an actually meaningful way. But then again it also just works better with storm. ¡®High Order Fire Storm¡¯ just feels stronger than crystal swarm, doesn¡¯t it? Sotm just eclipses swarm in general despite swarm being quite good.¡± Again, Pareth seemed to agree with Sofia¡¯s opinion, but he kept moving the words around swarm, hoping to find something good. ¡°Alright, this might be ridiculous but hear me out: ¡®Storm of Tower Swarm.¡¯ Doesn¡¯t it sound like it would start raining towers? That could actually be good. Or maybe¡­ ¡®Consequences of High Order¡¯? Golden Ripples of Ichor? High Overclock Order Storm?! I feel like there is no obvious choice. This is going to drive me crazy!¡± Pareth reached over the table to pat Sofia on the shoulder, and seeing that that calmed her down, he suggested something new, making a simpler combination of only two words :¡¯Golden Tower¡¯. ¡°Right! Up to four words. Meaning¡­ We could even pick a single word? That actually¡­ You know, a spell named ¡®Consequences¡¯ sounds really fucking strong. Or literally just ¡®Overclock¡¯ or like¡­ Golden Swarm?! Ichor Crystal? Splintering Order?!¡± This last one seemed to resonate with Pareth, and he pointed at the bone tablet that Sofia had completely abandoned, with only three lines written on it. Sofia immediately understood, and started to write new lines on it, starting with that latest one, Splintering order. ¡°I can imagine it. Just point at something and order it to explode, basically. The Splintering Order. Insane! Oh, also, isn¡¯t ¡®Consequences Fork¡¯ literally just Sorrow¡¯s [Regret]?¡±
About two weeks later, Sofia met with Alith in one of the sect¡¯s meeting rooms, before entering the room, she checked again on the skill she had picked, sighing as the dagger was still not finished creating it. ¡°So?¡± Alith called out to Sofia, leaning back on the couch, ¡°Is no one else coming?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve only asked you. Not only because you¡¯re probably the only one who isn¡¯t going to try to change my mind,¡± Sofia replied, ¡±You¡¯re also¡­ Uniquely suited for what we¡¯re about to do. Remember how I said this was going to be extremely dangerous?¡± ¡°Ohoh? As I thought, it¡¯s time to revive the dream team, just us and your skeletons, like the good old times?¡± ¡°That was like¡­ Five years ago?¡± Sofia waved off, ¡°Not that long.¡± ¡°That¡¯s like a sixth of my life and you call it not long? Well, whatever, get to the point! Where are we going this time?!¡± Alith asked with stars in her eyes. ¡°You¡¯re not going to even pretend to be reluctant to jump right into some dangerous place?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°I knew what I signed up for when I accepted to go with you,¡± Alith answered with a smirk. Out of her storage, Sofia produced a bone slate with a drawing of Veliadren as seen from space. She pointed at the farthest of two dots drawn on the side. ¡°Alright, since you trust me sooo much. Here¡¯s where we¡¯re going. To the moon. The hidden moon.¡±
Chapter 593 - Get forked Sofia and Alith were having a relaxing picnic under the bone trees of Zangdar on the eve of their expedition. Sofia bit down into a strange purple fruit she had bought from a merchant at the sect, when she started to feel a bit nauseous. ¡°You look unwell,¡± Alith immediately noticed, ¡°It is poisonous?¡± Sofia shook her head, ¡°No, it¡¯s quite good, this is unrelated. The skill is just about ready, I think, my mana circuits are starting to move around¡­¡± ¡°Oh! About time. Can¡¯t wait to see whether my advice was good or not.¡± ¡°Well¡­ Hopefully your grandfather wasn¡¯t making up the stories he taught you,¡± Sofia said, ¡°the censoring didn¡¯t make the choice any easier either, but oh well¡­¡± ¡°My first trial took place in one of the countries he had taught me about, and he also taught me about the pyramids, and not only did we find one in this world too, but Zarrow was pretty adamant that they were a thing. I wouldn¡¯t put it past my grandpa to have embellished things a bit, but he wouldn¡¯t straight up lie,¡± Alith defended. ¡°Right, right, well renowned travelling minstrel¡­ Yet you ended up living alone in a mountain hut collecting herbs. And you don¡¯t know any instruments.¡± ¡°He still had all the instruments and trinkets from all around the world, so I can at least say for sure that this was true. It¡¯s just that he had to retire due to his shaking hands sickness,¡± Alith explained with a shrug. ¡°Either way, this specific mythology was very entertaining to learn about, I wish I remembered more, but more than the gods, what I liked were the creatures. Ever since I learned about chimeras being real here, I¡¯ve been wondering if the others are too. Even though the chimeras are a bit different than how my grandpa described them.¡± ¡°Wait, chimeras were a thing from that mythology of your world?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°Yep. There was a story about a chimera and a winged horse, though I don¡¯t remember the details. Haven¡¯t found a winged horse here so far, think they exist?¡± Sofia thought about it, trying to remember about all the creatures she had read about, but a winged horse wasn¡¯t really among them. ¡°Hmm¡­ the closest thing are maybe the Soguvas?¡± Alith shook her head, ¡°No¡­ Soguvas are like big fluffy flying sheep, and they don¡¯t even have wings. The flying horse is supposed to be like, dashing and majestic¡­ Oh there was a story about a Snake-haired monster lady that can turn people to stone. Haven¡¯t found one of those yet but knowing that petrification curses actually exist, who knows.¡± Sofia reeled back a bit at the mention of petrification curses. ¡°I¡¯ve had enough of those. Between turning to stone in that dungeon and turning to gold against the dwarf, I don¡¯t know what it is about them exactly but they¡¯re really scary.¡± ¡°That, they are. So, is the skill coming or not?¡± ¡°Not yet,¡± Sofia answered, ¡°But it just took up one of the Active slots, so that¡¯s already a good start.¡± ¡°I apologize in advance if the skill turns out to be shit,¡± Alith said lightheartedly, before chomping on the untouched sandwich she had been holding all that time. ¡°It certainly was a weird combination of words, but that it took so long to create has to be a good sign. The dagger has even been heating up because it was working so hard, that¡¯s something it had never done before.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure a dagger catching a fever is good news, but we¡¯ll know soon enough.¡± ¡°Correction, we¡¯ll know right now! It¡¯s ready!¡± Sofia announced. Her eyes grew wider as she read the skill name, ¡°Hey Alith¡­ I think that worked.¡± ¡°Really?! Has the name changed a lot?¡± ¡°It¡¯s completely different, but in a good way,¡± Sofia started, ¡°From ¡®Ichor of Golden fork¡¯... I present,¡± she continued, before opening the description window for Alith and Pareth to see, ¡°Avatar of Zeus!¡± ¡°NO FUCKING WAY IT WORKED! And it¡¯s not even censored?!¡± [Avatar of Zeus]: Reality inspires myth, myth inspires reality. Your blood progressively charges up with divine lightning as you inflict lightning damage in combat, you may only activate this skill when fully charged.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Become the Avatar of Zeus for a short duration, fully replenishing your health, stamina and mana, while unleashing a lightning storm around you. For as long as the Avatar form lasts, you gain: -Immunity to all negative status effects. -Immunity to lightning. -50% increased healing received. -50% increased lightning damage inflicted. -All your damage is lightning damage. -Limited lightning authority. -Lust. When the Avatar form expires, for the next hour: -Receive 20% increased damage from all sources. -Effective magic range decreased to 1 meter. -All mana costs are doubled. ¡°Fully replenishing mana¡­¡± Sofia read out loud, ¡°Even without the rest, that¡¯s already¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s not even the best part!¡± Alith excitedly interrupted, ¡°Complete immunity to all negative status! That¡¯s crazy good! Not to mention the lightning part! AVATAR OF MOTHERFUCKING ZEUS!¡± ¡°S- so¡­ Who¡¯s Zeus? Can you explain now? The ¡®lust¡¯ part especially?!¡± ¡°Oh, that¡­ Yeah that¡¯s¡­ I mean¡­ That¡¯s Zeus¡­ It¡¯s uh¡­¡± Alith started, ¡°Hey, actually it does seem like the censoring is lifting quite a bit. I¡¯m not blanking out at all this time, so¡­ Zeus. He¡¯s like, the king of Gods who controls lightning, as you can guess. There¡¯s plenty of stories about him but I don¡¯t remember many things aside from the basics, which are that he¡¯s that super powerful lightning god, that he liked to transform into animals to chase human maidens, and that he killed his father, the god of time,¡± she recounted, trying to remember the stories from her childhood. Sofia did her best to keep her expression neutral through it. The idea of a lustful god disguising itself as an animal to pursue mortal ladies was a bit of a strange thought, and slightly worrying considering that one word in her skill, but all worries about that were quickly eclipsed by the last factoid coming out of Alith¡¯s memories. Zeus killed time. Yeah. Right. Ahah¡­ Just a myth, right? No basis in reality. Not at all¡­ Was there really no magic on the heroes¡¯ planet? Meanwhile, as Sofia¡¯s mind ran wild drawing connections between a supposedly fictitious god and the Deep, Alith kept on blabbering about this unknown pantheon from another planet. ¡°... and I was worried the skill would end up being about his brother with the word fork since he wields a trident but it seems the dagger got the metaphor about lightning, that¡¯s a relief, else you might have gotten avatar of- Ah, this one¡¯s still censored for some reason¡­ Well anyway, it still wouldn¡¯t have been too bad, but this is clearly much better. Anyway, should we try it?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Alith¡¯s suggestion pulled Sofia out of her spiraling thoughts, ¡°Try it? Right now?¡± ¡°Yeah? Just hit me a few times with a bolt until you can activate it, no?¡± Alith suggested without a care in the world, ¡°better to try it before we go to the moon, just in case.¡± ¡°I- Are you alright Alith? Why would I hit you?¡± Alith shrugged, ¡°Why not, Sof? You need to inflict damage, and I can take it. Might as well try. Also I kinda wanna see how Dopple holds up against your attacks now. I rarely ever get hurt at all these days.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­ I was thinking of just trying it out on a monster? Or a skeleton? Not to mention, I don¡¯t want to mess up Zangdar with a lightning storm.¡± ¡°Oh, true. We need to be careful about Remia¡­ Well, there¡¯s got to be some place near the sect we can go to try it out. I wonder if there¡¯s a lightning god out there that will get mad at you for using ¡®lightning authority¡¯ if it¡¯s what it sounds like.¡± Sofia nodded along, ¡°Is this not what I already do with [Mockery of the divine] anyway? Maybe if there is a lightning god, I could get more than ¡®limited¡¯ authority by using both at once? Haven¡¯t heard of a lightning god, though.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that Connections guy is made of lightning?¡± ¡°He is but he¡¯s the god of Connections, as the name implies, not lightning¡­ Not even a real god either, just an Archangel¡­¡± ¡°Ah yes, ¡®just¡¯ an Archangel. The same kind that snapped that level 500 sculptor guy out of existence. Doesn¡¯t sound far from an actual god to me. Anyway, let¡¯s get out and try it already!¡± Sofia laughed lightly, ¡°You sound more excited about it than me.¡± ¡°Damn right I am! Let¡¯s go!¡± Alith grabbed Sofia¡¯s hand and the two women disappeared from Zangdar in an instant. Pareth had been left behind. He shook his head with a silent sigh and started cleaning the leftovers of the abandoned picnic. To his surprise, Alith reappeared seconds later. ¡°You¡¯re not coming? Come on, it¡¯s going to be fun!¡± She grabbed the picnic basket out of Pareth¡¯s hand, and got a hold of his skeletal fingers. Not long after, another skeleton looked outside through the window of his room, surprised that his link to Sofia had suddenly grown faint. Standing on his book form like a stepstool, Bookie pressed his skull against the glass and scrutinized the forest of bone trees, but there were no traces of anyone being out there, aside from the sleeping Dryad. ¡°Didn¡¯t they say they were going to go have a meal in the garden?¡± he asked in incomprehension.
Chapter 594 - Don’t let it get to your head ¡°Are you really sure this is fine?¡± Sofia asked Alith, her gaze switching from her to the blinding angel bolt silently pulsating in her hand. Alith crossed her arms in front of her chest, ¡°You really underestimate Dopple, Sof. I¡¯d bet I¡¯m better protected than you are.¡± ¡°Ahah¡­ Can¡¯t be helped, I haven¡¯t seen you fight in forever, so¡­¡± ¡°Well let¡¯s not talk about that though¡­ You don¡¯t want to see me fight. Ever since I got my specialisation it¡¯s been a bit¡­ awkward.¡± ¡°You were already dancing so how bad can it be to also roll around?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°Very bad. But on the bright side, I rarely ever get injured, unlike a certain someone.¡± Sofia sighed at the remark. ¡°Hey, at least these days it¡¯s my opponents injuring me and not myself more often than not. Progress. Look at this, bolts don¡¯t even burn anymore.¡± ¡°Yeah, good, because I can¡¯t kiss you back to health anymore.¡± ¡°Still hung up on that skill?¡± ¡°It¡¯s¡­ My new skills are the same, you know? My entire class is like this, I always get the most random things. I thought the specialisation would help but I still get stupid skills even with the alterations. Just look at the latest addition to the pile¡­ It¡¯s not bad considering my blessing, but just why?¡± [Fire Keeper]: Fire cannot be extinguished by anyone else in your presence. ¡°That¡¯s an altered skill?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°Yes. A locked toggleable passive. I was a bit too eager to get my new skills and didn¡¯t even check before accepting, so I¡¯m stuck with it now,¡± Alith explained. ¡°You¡¯re too impulsive for your own good. But at least you get simple skills, every single one of mine is several paragraphs, it¡¯s becoming a headache to keep track of everything, honestly. I¡¯m not even sure what skulls I still have in reserve with the choir. I don¡¯t think I have any lightning ones.¡± ¡°Better to find one soon, then. But are we going to stay here for hours or are you going to hit me?¡± Alith impatiently asked. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s start slow,¡± Sofia said, bringing the tip of the pulsating angel bolt to Alith¡¯s uncovered abs, and lightly poking her. The bolt stopped a few centimeters away from Alith¡¯s skin, hitting the invisible rippling barrier of Dopple that covered Alith from head to toe. ¡°Feel anything?¡± Alith asked. ¡°Not in the slightest,¡± Sofia answered. ¡°Well, I didn¡¯t take any damage, so that makes sense so far. You can go harder.¡± Sofia stepped back with a nod, and after some consideration, lightly swung the bolt at Alith like a rapier. ¡°Not even close,¡± Alith commented, shaking her head. ¡°Give me a real one.¡± ¡°Alright alright, here I come.¡± Still not going to use all my buffs, but let¡¯s get slightly serious¡­ Sofia grabbed the bolt with both hands and got into a proper stance. The strike was swift and violent, the bolt crashed against Alith¡¯s shoulder, sending sparks of plasma flying. There was a light cracking sound but the bolt was repelled, almost sending Sofia flying back. ¡°Almost there,¡± Alith said, having not moved an inch, her arms still crossed in front of her chest. ¡°Dopple really is tougher than I gave him credit for,¡± Sofia said, surprised. ¡°Told you so. I don¡¯t have a lot of health or mana but my defenses are on point.¡± Sofia nodded, ¡°And that¡¯s with you not even trying to defend. It¡¯s not helping with testing the skill though, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve charged up at all yet, so let¡¯s ramp up a bit more,¡± she said, before taking the admin dagger out of its bone sheath and stabbing her mana heart a few times.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. ¡°You just casually killed yourself to stack [One with suffering]? You¡¯re a real lunatic,¡± Alith commented with a smirk when Sofia was resurrected by one of her unlife runes three seconds later as if nothing had happened. Even in death, she had not faltered or fallen, and her sustained angel bolt stayed stable in her hand. ¡°Says the one who¡¯s asking to be hit by said lunatic¡¯s lightning bolts.¡± ¡°The things I wouldn¡¯t do for a friend¡­¡± Alith answered with a smile on her face, ¡°Hit me.¡± Sofia sheathed the dagger back and once again grabbed the bolt with both hands, this time with doubled strength. The bolt struck the same spot as before, blasting through Dopple¡¯s defences and starting to dig into the flesh of Alith¡¯s shoulder until Dopple¡¯s invisible shield reformed almost instantly, pushing the bolt back out. The damage was only superficial but finally Sofia started to feel something, a tingling sensation in her veins, spreading in from the tip of her fingers. It was far from enough to activate the skill, and it disappeared almost as fast as it came. Ah crap. It¡¯s not just damage, it¡¯s sustained damage. I won¡¯t be able to keep it charged between fights. ¡°Are you good?¡± Sofia asked, ¡°How much damage was that?¡± ¡°No issue, just a superficial wound,¡± Alith answered, which was convincing until she winced slightly when she shrugged, ¡°That was just a few thousand health points. I don¡¯t even need to heal myself, my passive regeneration is already taking care of it. How about your skill?¡± ¡°It charged a bit but that¡¯s already gone. I¡¯d probably need to strike you like this a thousand times in a row before it¡¯s fully up¡­¡± ¡°It really wasn¡¯t much damage,¡± Alith said looking at her shoulder that already looked as good as new, ¡°Dopple, don¡¯t defend against the next one. Let¡¯s see how that goes.¡± ¡°That¡¯s going to hurt,¡± Sofia warned. ¡°I know. Just hit me right there,¡± Alith said pointing at her waist, ¡°I already have some experience getting cut in half, it won¡¯t kill me, and it¡¯s good training for me. I need to get more used to pain.¡± Sofia nodded and readied her bolt. She readied her bolt. There was a moment of tense silence. ¡°Sorry, I can¡¯t¡­¡± Sofia apologized, lowering her plasma weapon. ¡°Wha- Really? Nothing¡¯s gonna happen, are you really the same person who just stabbed her own mana heart? The same Sofia who used to char herself to a crisp to cast a spell several times a day to hunt phageid with me?¡± Sofia dispelled the bolt. ¡°It¡¯s different. It was still fine when I knew you had Dopple but I¡¯d rather not see you cut in half again¡­¡± ¡°Agh¡­ Sofia¡­ It¡¯s fine, let¡¯s just go find some bulky monsters to terrorise and get this avatar form going.¡± Meanwhile, Pareth just watched from the side. He nodded to himself as if saying ¡®now you get it, Sofia¡¯.
It did not take long for the trio to find a group of giant bramble-tusk boars in the valleys surrounding the sect. Sofia knew from Saria that hunting a few of the monsters there was perfectly fine for the sect as long as they didn¡¯t disrupt the ecosystem too much. The large boars¡¯ levels were only in the early 200s, but they were quite resilient, making them good targets for Sofia to keep whacking her lightning stick at. After she had killed about a dozen of them, with about that many remaining in that one group, she finally felt full, the tingling energy of lightning filling her entire body, she instinctively knew it was ready to erupt. ¡°You might want to take your distance just in case,¡± Sofia warned, and both Pareth and Alith, who had been continuously occupying the boars by blocking all of their attacks, nodded and backed out. Sofia kicked away the tusks of a boar that charged at her, and she unleashed the skill. [Avatar of Zeus] The transformation was not instantaneous, at first, it only felt like a shockwave going through Sofia¡¯s body as she activated the skill, then she felt an irrepressible need to scream, as a strange sensation crawled beneath her skin, as if something was going to burst out from her forehead. Dark clouds gathered above. Sofia screamed. Her forehead burst open. From within surged a torrent of lightning-imbued flesh, swallowing her whole. The boars instinctively stepped back at the sight, one of them even abruptly stopping his charge which sent it tumbling down the valley. The godly flesh wrapped around Sofia like a constrictor snake, and quickly solidified into something new, a new body above her body, a five meters tall godly figure with rippling, bulging muscles and long flowing hair like at thunderstorm, her chest covered by a simple white toga and with lightning clouds gathering all around her. It was still Sofia, but it also was not. She opened her eyes, and lightning fell. A deluge of volatile electricity sweeping over the land and scorching the earth. The angel bolt was still in her right hand, larger and longer than ever, it had grown with her to become a deadly stake of lightning. Looking around, Sofia was shocked. She had not done anything yet, but the boars were all dead. She turned around to see whether Pareth and Alith were unharmed, and they were, but it looked like Alith was speaking, yet Sofia couldn¡¯t hear her. She could hear nothing but the rhythmic, inebriating sound of her heartbeat, and the flow of the warm ichor running through her veins.
Chapter 595 - No one can hear you scream More lightning formed around Sofia, the bolt in her hand grew larger. She was not trying to do anything, but the sight of Pareth and Alith had triggered something. She needed to attack, to fight, and with a lack of enemies in sight, she instinctively turned to the other targets. She had the imperious need to destroy and kill, to massacre and devour. The divine lightning in her veins was steadily fading, and the avatar had only one goal, to survive, even for a second longer. The avatar raised its hand, the bolt aimed at Alith, Sofia could barely understand what she was doing. A searing pain assaulted her mind. The scribe was straining himself to send a message. It was brief, but pain brought Sofia some clarity, and an intense sense of dread at what she had been about to do. Sofia¡¯s hand clutched the lightning bolt so hard that the wild plasma dug into the avatar¡¯s lightning-immune flesh. She fought to close her eyes. Focusing on her breathing and her heartbeat, on the strange, fake divine energy that coursed around her body and mind alike. She progressively calmed her overflowing emotions, the thunderstorm surrounding her started to wane, and she regained her ability to form coherent thoughts. Yet still she felt a pull, an attraction. It was not toward the pleasure of the flesh, as one might guess from the name, although it was part of it, but this emotion, this lust, was all encompassing. A want, a need for something greater, to indulge in all the primal instincts, survival, hunger, curiosity, control; an unending thirst for life itself. So this is Zeus¡¯ lust. To become an avatar is to embody a god. It comes with one¡¯s powers but also its flaws, its personality and ambitions. But what of a god who does not exist? Sofia could feel the answer very clearly. They want to become real. What the dagger has created¡­ This skill is dangerous. Sofia kept her eyes closed, she counted the seconds as the ichor faded. The less she had, the more she was overcome by a sense of urgency, the avatar¡¯s instincts fought against their looming end. But Sofia was very familiar with that sense of incoming death. She had already died countless times. With the knowledge that it was but a temporary end, it was easy to brush it off. Finally, after about thirty seconds, the last drop of Ichor faded, turning back into the wild and volatile mana it had originally been, and the avatar¡¯s godly flesh faded, like any other invoked mana construct without its fuel. Sofia dispelled the bolt she was still holding and fell to her knees, breathing heavily. Alith and Pareth were already by her side. Only now did Sofia¡¯s distorted hearing come back to normal. ¡°Sofia?! Are you back to your senses?! Hey!¡± Alith asked, worry and guilt clear to see in her eyes. It took Sofia a second to regain her breath, random arcs of electricity still appeared out of nowhere all over her body. She felt weak, and like caged in a small bubble her senses were all faint, the after-effects of the skill were more debilitating than she had expected them to be, but she forced herself to give an answer. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ Good.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t look it! Do you remember what happened? It was like you were hypnotised!¡± Alith told her, placing a hand on her shoulder, completely ignoring the leftover electricity assaulting her arm. ¡°I¡­ Yes. It was not like that and more like¡­ Like Zeus took over my body for a second.¡± ¡°Zeus doesn¡¯t even exist!¡± Alith worriedly refuted, ¡°I might have made a mistake telling you to choose this¡­¡± ¡°No, no. It¡¯s fine. I can work with this. I just need to be careful about when and where I use it,¡± Sofia tried to reassure her, grabbing Pareth¡¯s extended hand to hoist herself up. ¡°The power is worth the risk.¡±Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. ¡°Is it? I really didn¡¯t like seeing you like this. You almost shot a bolt at Pareth, you know!¡± ¡°Ahah¡­ Sorry about that. I just wasn¡¯t ready,¡± Sofia apologized, feeling quite shameful, ¡°I¡¯ll know how to handle this skill now. It¡¯s a good thing that we tried it out before I tried to use it in a real fight¡­¡± Alith sighed. ¡°Just be careful¡­¡±
Sofia, Alith, Pareth and Bookie were patiently waiting in Erredis¡¯ castle on the moon. ¡°It really feels weird to be here,¡± Alith commented, looking at Veliadren through the window, ¡°Do you think Earth looks the same from space?¡± ¡°Earth?¡± Bookie repeated. ¡°The name of Alith¡¯s old planet,¡± Sofia explained, ¡°I imagine it¡¯s pretty similar? Blue seas, green grass and white clouds¡­ But didn¡¯t you already get to see that on your way to the third trial?¡± ¡°I wasn¡¯t in the right mindset to appreciate it back then,¡± Alith explained, ¡°Not to mention how I could barely hold onto my incomplete mana heart, I could hear faint whispers from all around me. It was a weird time.¡± ¡°Right¡­ I wonder how else the Orator¡¯s essence influenced your heart. You no longer have it, right?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t,¡± Alith confirmed, turning around, ¡°but it feels like it¡¯s not completely gone. Sometimes It¡¯s as if it were still there, but that is only a fleeting feeling¡­ It happened when you tried the new skill the other day, actually, but it was quite faint.¡± ¡°Strange. I can¡¯t say I feel anything like that with the two I have¡­ I wonder when Aphenoreth will show up again.¡± Alith shrugged, ¡°Who knows, maybe he will soon? You said the hidden moon had something to do with the Deep after all, right?¡± ¡°That¡¯s what Erredis implied, at least. And one of my false lord skills should be there, so I¡¯d tend to believe her.¡± ¡°Right¡­ But we have no clue where exactly to find it,¡± Alith continued. ¡°Indeed. That¡¯s why we are going to retrieve the dead god first. I know exactly what to look for, the shape of the building I saw in the vision is burned into my memory, I¡¯ll know the moment I see it on the horizon.¡± ¡°Hopefully it¡¯s that easy, but things always go in a crazy direction when I¡¯m with you.¡± Sofia laughed lightly, ¡°I think that¡¯s just my fault. Reflecting on the things I¡¯ve done since the orphanage days makes me numb just thinking about it, but I keep just jumping into the next situation by myself every time.¡± ¡°Hey hey now, don¡¯t take all the credit. It was me who decided to explore Zangdar the first time. It was also me who had us embark on a pirate ship. But still,¡± Alith said, turning back around to look at the void outside, ¡°I never expected that this is where we would end up.¡± ¡°You sound nostalgic.¡± ¡°That¡¯s just what the night sky does to me. Looking at the stars¡­¡± Alith¡¯s voice trailed off. After a few seconds of silence, she tore her eyes from the window again, shook her head as if to wake herself up, and started stretching. ¡°Well, let¡¯s get stranded together again!¡± ¡°Sure thing,¡± Sofia approved, ¡°And we¡¯ve got one more team member this time.¡± ¡°Right, I¡¯m happy I finally get to go on an adventure with Bookie!¡± ¡°Adventure!¡± Bookie repeated enthusiastically, brandishing a wooden sword the engineer skeleton had made for him a few days prior. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever seen my living room so lively¡±, a voice commented from the door. ¡°You¡¯re already back?¡± Sofia asked as she turned around, Erredis had said she needed some time to prepare, but she had only been gone for a few minutes. ¡°Yes, just the time to make a small thing for you all, I only had enough to make one so use it well,¡± the dragon-bunny told everyone, handing a rune-covered orb of an unknown material to Sofia. ¡°What is it?¡± Sofia asked, accepting the fist-sized orb that she instantly noticed she couldn¡¯t identify nor store in her ring. ¡°Your emergency exit. Where you¡¯re going, nobody will be able to come save you if something goes wrong, and spatial magic is greatly restricted. If you use this¡­ Just blast it with a lot of mana and It should give you a few seconds to activate your teleportation to the Margin castle. Single use, sadly, so don¡¯t waste it,¡± Erredis explained. ¡°Oh¡­ Thank you. Is the original plan still a thing, though?¡± ¡°Of course,¡± Erredis confirmed, ¡°just come back to the place I left you and I will be able to bring you out of there. But if you¡¯re unable to make it back¡­¡± ¡°You warned us plenty already,¡± Alith said with a shrug, ¡°part of the deal, don¡¯t worry about it. If we die we die, but thank you for the help, though.¡± ¡°The recklessness of youth¡­¡± Erredis said, turning around to leave, ¡°Try to all make it back in one piece, will you? Now follow me, It¡¯s time to go.¡±
Chapter 596 - Bury the Light Erredis brought everyone to the dark side of the moon. The hidden moon was right there. Much smaller and not so far away compared to the planet. It looked just like the regular moon, at first glance, unnaturally so. ¡°Is that it?¡± Alith asked, looking up, ¡°It doesn¡¯t look as dangerous as you said it was¡­ Wait, no¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s the same,¡± Sofia said, turning toward Erredis, who was also looking up at the celestial body, ¡°the same as this moon.¡± ¡°An Illusion,¡± Erredis said under her breath, ¡°Moon found this sibling of hers distressing to look at, so she hid it with her reflection¡­ If we are to call me the moon guardian, then this is what I am guarding, more than the moon we stand on,¡± she explained, ¡°I prevent people from going there, to be exact. But if it¡¯s you, then maybe¡­¡± ¡°If it¡¯s me¡­ Because of the deep, right?¡± ¡°Yes¡­ But even then, I am uneasy at the thought of letting you go. I have no advice to give. I could never find the courage to explore it myself, not knowing how dangerous it is¡­ The people we lost to it¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s that bad?¡± Alith asked. Erredis gave a weary nod, ¡°Dragons and gods alike have gone and never returned. Not even their name is left for their family to remember. As far as I know, Moon and Avross are the only two to have ever gone and returned, though that happened long before my birth. It was bad enough that they mutually erased their memories of that expedition, and Moon has been hiding this forsaken place ever since.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not right,¡± Sofia chimed in, ¡°Someone else has to have returned.¡± How else could the admins have found a spell from the deep there? Unless the dagger is lying. Erredis frowned, ¡°My memory is not perfect but there are no¡­ Oh¡­ Now that is strange¡­¡± ¡°Remembered something?¡± Alith asked, seeing Erredis stand there silently. ¡°Not quite¡­ But it feels like I am just about to. This¡­ YES! I remember now! Nex!¡± ¡°So that was the admin¡¯s name,¡± Sofia commented with a smile, ¡°About time I learned it. Guess that completes my collection. Anna, Jin, and Nex.¡± Erredis looked at Sofia like she had seen a ghost. She knew about the glove, and had heard firsthand from Sofia about her visit to the old admin¡¯s secret safehouse. ¡°Is- Is this your doing?!¡± ¡°Kind of? It¡¯s complicated,¡± Sofia answered, innocently cocking her head to the side, ¡°Basically, it was a happy accident? But I¡¯m afraid I¡¯m not at the liberty of saying more, since you would rather not get involved with the lords.¡± ¡°Right, that happened¡­¡± Alith commented, ¡°Well. If the admin made it back, so can we.¡± Erredis was left speechless. ¡°Since when?!¡± is what she finally managed to force out. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s been a few months now. I thought it would make big waves, but it seems not. He must be awfully busy dealing with three thousand years of neglected system alerts and errors is my guess.¡± ¡°Ridiculous¡­¡± Erredis whispered, ¡°Maybe it¡¯s for the best that you disappear from the planet for a while, then¡­¡± she said, cracking her knuckles, ¡°It seems I have another horn waiting to be added to my collection.¡± ¡°G- Grandma?¡± ¡°Shush, sweetie. Let the Dragons deal with their own issues, will you?¡± Erredis answered Sofia with an evil toothy smile, her bunny-woman form slowly degenerating into her draconic-human form is a weird uncontrolled transition, before she seemingly instantly calmed down and her bunny ears sprung out of nowhere again. ¡°But let¡¯s deal with you first.¡±Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. She clapped her hands, and a fulgurous wave of mana spread across the horizon. In response, the illusion hiding the forbidden moon started to fade, bathing the dark side of the moon in an eerie red light. Sofia Alith and Pareth all looked up. The forbidden moon gave Sofia chills. It was nothing but a mass of swirling red clouds, in which could be seen a thousand squirming screaming faces, warping and melding together. ¡°This is straight out of a nightmare,¡± Alith said, blankly staring at the red mass. ¡°It wasn¡¯t like this in my vision¡­¡± Sofia said next, already regretting her decision. Even Pareth looked unsettled, and Bookie, in his book form in Sofia¡¯s arms, was shaking like a leaf. ¡°Do you see that largest grotesque face on the top right with mismatched eyes?¡± Erredis asked, ¡°It¡¯s the only one which never disappears no matter how much the clouds shift. The center of its left eye is the literal eye of the storm, the only safe place from which to enter the clouds.¡± ¡°H- How do you know?¡± Sofia asked, afraid about the potential answer. ¡°You can feel it when you go close,¡± Erredis answered, closing her eyes, ¡°Even with all my defenses up, I would never venture to cross the clouds anywhere else. I will bring you to the entry point and leave. There is an emergency beacon there, I made it long ago... You can activate it when you need to leave, and I will come back, but be sure to not let anything into the safe zone with you¡­¡± she explained with a sigh, ¡°Are you sure you want to go? It¡¯s not too late to change your mind.¡± Sofia turned to Alith, who simply gave a thumbs up, then to Pareth, who answered with a nod. Bookie could not answer in his book form, but Sofia could feel his anxiety. ¡°Are you going to be alright?¡± she asked, caressing the book cover. That calmed his shaking a little. I cannot pass up on a full quarter of my false lord class. ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± Sofia confirmed a final time.
Erredis never took her Dragon form, she flew everyone along with her, enveloping them in raw mana, bringing them from one moon to the other. Everyone felt a sense of dread as they approached the hidden moon¡¯s twisted red clouds through the silence of space. Sofia¡¯s instincts begged for her to leave this place and never turn back, but she was committed to this expedition. I have been to the Deep itself. She thought. We will all be alright¡­ Unease grew as Erredis slowly brought them closer to the grotesque screaming face which hid the entrance to this cloud-covered moon, the face¡¯s swirling left eye was smaller than the other one, a calm vortex in a much darker shade of red. They got close enough that Sofia started hearing the sound of the wind, harsh and unrelenting, like a constant storm. Plumes of red clouds silently shot up, lightly caressing and grasping at the mana bubble Erredis was keeping in place around everyone, as if prodding for a way in. No one dared to say anything, and Erredis ignored them, focused on keeping the trajectory in line with the slowly drifting eye of the storm. Finally they pierced the clouds, sinking into progressively dark and darker shades of red until everything went black, the howling of the wind quietened, and the fall finally stopped. Even with her ability to see in the dark, Sofia could barely make out that they were somehow inside of some sort of a round hall, thanks to the dim glow of Pareth¡¯s eyes. Fully armored, she herself was not emitting any light. Surprisingly, the air was fresh and breathable, with a faint floral aroma that was hard to describe. Erredis took out a bright lightstone lamp, illuminating the hall. ¡°Here we are¡­¡± she announced, her voice oozing with the unease that she reserved for the topic of the deep. Sofia looked around the grand round hall. They had entered from the dark round hole high up in the ceiling, where the structure hinted there might have once been a cupola of some sort. There were no windows and a singular other exit, in the form of closed double doors. The hall was overall mostly empty, devoid from any hint of its original purpose, but a few things remained. In the center, a large crystal was strapped to an enchantment-covered contraption, Erredis¡¯ emergency beacon. On one side, a large number of old wooden desks and chairs were piled up messily, many of them broken into pieces, and on the other, a few disparate tombstones with no name were lined up against the curved wall. After making sure one last time that they did not want to turn back, Erredis lightly hugged every member of the expedition, and left without looking back. ¡°Well. Here we go again,¡± Alith said, breaking the silence and tension, her voice a mix of dread and excitement. ¡°Indeed¡­ Well, since this hall is supposedly the only place we can use our spatial storage, let¡¯s take out everything we might need before we step out these doors¡­¡± Sofia said, her eyes fixated on the ominous closed doors. One thing in particular was a bit disturbing to her, although, considering everything that she knew, it was not that much of a surprise. This hall and these doors¡­ They feel distinctly human.
Chapter 597 - Poking and prodding ¡°Man, you¡¯re really¡­ You¡¯re starting to look like some sort of queen or something. Crown, cape, scepter, at this rate all you lack is the white horse,¡± Alith commented, seeing Sofia bring thing after thing out of her storage, ¡°Do you really need all that?¡± ¡°Uh? It¡¯s just my usual stuff? Though the ¡®cape¡¯ is new, I guess, but I¡¯m not going to not wear a divine item, especially this one¡­¡± ¡°Ahah,¡± Alith laughed, ¡°I¡¯m not saying you shouldn¡¯t wear it, just that you¡¯re starting to look like you borrowed your style from Zerei and Ihuarah.¡± ¡°I- Hmm¡­ Should I take off the Saint set?¡± ¡°No need to take it so seriously, Sof, I doubt anyone¡¯s going to judge our looks out there, I¡¯m just saying.¡± ¡°I know¡­ I¡¯m just a bit more self conscious about my image these days, have you seen that statue of me in the sect? It¡¯s frankly a bit embarrassing.¡± ¡°Saying that when you¡¯re the one making statues of everyone? Well anyway, it¡¯s still fine, just that if you get more things you¡¯ll need to give up some at one point. The crown and headband together is already pushing it a bit in terms of looks, but I don¡¯t think it¡¯s anything you should get embarrassed over. Just look at me, a talking bra, black pants and mithril boots, I have the opposite issue, basically.¡± ¡°Yeah speaking of¡­ That¡¯s all you¡¯re taking?¡± Sofia asked, pointing at the multi-pouch belt that Alith had put on as the entirety of her preparation for the expedition. ¡°Hey, this thing cost me a small fortune, you know? It¡¯s all I need, along with my weapons and this!¡± Alith explained, showing off her new dangling jeweled emerald earring. ¡°What are those? Also that sword is new.¡± ¡°Stamina regeneration earrings. And yeah, the Kamas are great most of the time but some monsters I really don¡¯t want to go so close to, so I got myself a pointy stick to poke them.¡± ¡°That is a long rapier indeed,¡± Sofia commented, looking at the slender sword longer than half of Alith¡¯s height. ¡°If everything¡¯s ready, should we go?¡± Alith asked, seeing that Pareth was also waiting after putting on his commander jacket. ¡°Hmm¡­ Actually, do you have some space left in your pouches?¡± ¡°Not much but I do.¡± ¡°Alright, then here, take this,¡± Sofia said, handing over three of her [Crystalized] mana pearls to Alith, ¡°I have one hidden in my armguard but it¡¯s inconvenient to keep more on me so¡­ You can use them yourself if you need.¡± ¡°Oh, sure. Smart having those on hand.¡± Alith took the pearls and slid them into the pouch hanging over her left hip. After that, the two women checked over their preparations a final time before walking over to the closed doors. Unable to stay still any longer, Alith was first to the doors. ¡°There¡¯s something written there. Can¡¯t read it. It¡¯s Draconic, I think,¡± she said, prompting Sofia to come quickly. Sofia quickly translated the two lines in her head. ¡°Oh¡­ These¡­ Are warnings. Two different messages¡­ The first one says something along the lines of, ¡®You who have come here, turn back while you still can.¡¯ Signed A & M.¡± ¡°Avross and Moon?¡± Alith guessed, ¡°Not shocking considering what Erredis said. The second one must be from the admin, then?¡± Sofia shook her head, ¡°The second one isn¡¯t signed so we can¡¯t be sure. It says ¡®It will be my lifelong regret that we failed to heed the advice above. There is only pain and suffering ahead.¡¯¡± ¡°Great.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ Not very reassuring. But we knew what we were getting into descending into that screaming face,¡± Sofia said with a shrug, trying her best to convince herself that it was going to be fine even though she was starting to have a hard time believing it.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. ¡°Either way, we¡¯re not turning back now, are we? Then let¡¯s get to it,¡± Alith decided, grabbing the door handles and pulling them open. ¡°Oh woah,¡± she reacted with a shiver running down her spine as she observed the scenery that had revealed itself beyond the doors, ¡°It feels like the day we discovered Zangdar all over again.¡± Sofia looked over Alith, sharing the exact same feeling as she overlooked the scene. The doors led directly to the exterior, although the flooring of the hall continued past the doors, but it seemed the round hall and the flooring were the only things left of whatever this building once was. Beyond that, it was all ruins, old ruins, with almost nothing left but chunks of debris and crumbling walls, all tarnished by layers and layers of dark gray moon dust piling up in every corner like sand in a desert. There were no signs of plants, life, or color anywhere, just dusty ruins that seemed like they hid horrors untold in their every shadow. The air was cold, always with that faint floral scent, but there were no signs of the violent winds that rustled the red clouds, nor of the red clouds themselves. The sky was pitch black. ¡°I¡¯m surprised you can even see anything,¡± Sofia finally said, as she could barely see a few hundred meters away even with her dark vision. ¡°I¡¯m still a ghost, I can see in the dark a bit. What about you Pareth?¡± Pareth seemed to hesitate, before turning around and pointing at the opposite side of the hall. ¡°That¡¯s about how far you can see?¡± Sofia interpreted, ¡°About fifty meters, it isn¡¯t too bad. Are you comfortable looking through my senses yet? Just use my eyes if you want to see further away.¡± ¡°He can do that?¡± Alith asked. ¡°I can see through him so it wasn¡¯t too hard to work it the other way around now that we know our way with magic a bit more. He¡¯s been reluctant to use it though. I¡¯m also still trying to find a way to teleport myself to him but no luck on that front yet.¡± ¡°Right, you¡¯ve been on that since the academy days.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll manage sooner or later. We should focus though.¡± ¡°Good point. I¡¯m surprised that there¡¯s mana on this moon. And air. But that¡¯s beyond the point. Feel or see anything strange?¡± Alith asked, since Sofia had the better vision and mana senses of the group. ¡°Let me see¡­¡± Sofia answered, closing her eyes. She did not see anything at first glance even with the fake eye, so she spread her mana senses instead. She had enough mana and divine essences now that she could spread her mana senses for several kilometers in such an open area if she simply focused a bit. Sofia felt nothing strange, at first. Although there was some mana in the air, it was quite calm, more than the regular outdoors, and there were no signs of any living being disturbing that peace anywhere. Something feels wrong. She could not tell what exactly, but it was like one of those times when one forgets what they were about to say. Like missing something obvious. Of course¡­ Sofia finally realised. One of her biggest worries about the forbidden moon was already revealing itself to be true. ¡°Deep creatures,¡± she whispered. ¡°Oh shit,¡± Alith whispered back, ¡°should I close the doors?¡± ¡°They¡¯re not moving, yet. But there are HUNDREDS,¡± Sofia whispered louder. ¡°Parasites like the one you killed in the sun temple?¡± Alith asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know. They¡¯re small, so not likely a main parasite. But it could be the flying swarms¡­ I can¡¯t tell their exact shape because they¡¯re not moving. They¡¯re just¡­ Like holes in my mana senses, hiding in the ruins. But the streets seem mostly clear.¡± ¡°Damn¡­¡± Alith said under her breath, ¡°so they¡¯re hiding in the piles of moon dust? How did you get rid of them back then?¡± ¡°Two ways,¡± Sofia answered quietly, ¡°Erredian rot, but it¡¯s hard to make it stick¡­ Or baiting them into falling toward the sun¡­¡± ¡°One option is better than no option I guess,¡± Alith whispered back, ¡°I have a lot of new spells and so do you, so we might find more ways. And what do you mean by making it stick?¡± ¡°I needed to cover them in black shade dust to make the rot¡¯s light actually touch them. They ignored the light otherwise.¡± ¡°That might not be an issue here then, there¡¯s already this gray dust everywhere. I bet it¡¯ll be super sticky if you add some blood. Should we try going out now?¡± Sofia was about to say yes but Pareth stepped in, pointing at himself. ¡°Understood,¡± Sofia told him with a nod, ¡°Stick to the main street going straight ahead. Don¡¯t go too far.¡± Don¡¯t forget what Erredis said. Spatial magic is greatly restricted. If you feel our connection getting any weaker return immediately. Pareth only took one step outside before he stopped. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Alith asked. In response, Pareth shared the system prompts he had just received with her and Sofia. [WARNING!] [YOU ARE LEAVING SYSTEM RANGE] [YOU ARE ABOUT TO ENTER A CORRUPTED AREA] [AREA GUARDIAN - ERREDIS - HAS BEEN NOTIFIED] [AREA GUARDIAN IS COMING TO RETRIEVE YOU] [DO NOT PROCEED ANY FURTHER] [WARNING!] [AREA GUARDIAN HAS DENIED REQUEST] [NO HELP WILL BE SENT]
Chapter 598 - Neigh Sofia and Alith looked at each other. ¡°Sounds about right,¡± Alith finally whispered with a chuckle. ¡°Yeah, same as usual, but at least we got a warning this time,¡± Sofia agreed, giving a sign for Pareth to proceed. Pareth shrunk his size as much as possible to be a bit less visible, and ventured out, carefully avoiding to bump into anything or to step on the piles of moon sand. He carefully made his way out of the ruins of the building that the hall was once a part of, and stepped onto the main street, some thirty meters ahead. Suddenly he stopped and turned around. Crap, that¡¯s already the limit? Alright, come back. Pareth teleported back to Sofia, but he appeared next to her upside down, crashing skull-first into the floor. Alith reflexively slammed the doors shut, worried that the noise would attract the deep creatures, while Sofia went to go help Pareth stand back up. ¡°Looks like teleportation is unstable even if we¡¯re still in range¡­ It¡¯s likely that [Summon Self] might bring about similar results¡­ You can relax though, the things outside haven¡¯t moved at all,¡± Sofia told Alith. ¡°Good¡­ I¡¯ll be honest, I¡¯m not extremely thrilled to be meeting more of those things, that ¡®student¡¯ was freaky enough.¡± ¡°They¡¯re not all that bad, the snail things I found when I went to the Deep weren¡¯t aggressive or dangerous. The student was helpful also. It¡¯s really just the parasites and the envoy in the sun station that were¡­¡± ¡°And the whale?¡± Alith asked. ¡°It was scary but I¡¯ll hold judgement on this one since it was friendly to Shaily, it seems¡­¡± ¡°I have a feeling the things here won¡¯t be friendly at all¡­ And yeah since space magic is disturbed, let me quickly check my ghost form,¡± Alith said, quickly turning a bit translucent and back to normal. ¡°That¡¯s not too bad I suppose¡­ I can switch but it¡¯s really unstable too. Feels like I might get forced back to the physical at any time, which could be dangerous if I¡¯m inside a wall or something¡­ I assume your graveyard will be the same.¡± ¡°Seems likely, but no matter, I can do without. Let¡¯s all go out now, we won¡¯t get anywhere just staying here any longer, and the things in the dust haven¡¯t reacted to anything yet, so we should be pretty safe for the time being.¡± ¡°We could dig one out and see what they¡¯re made of,¡± Alith suggested as Sofia reopened the door. ¡°I thought about it too, but you know what the Dragons say?¡± ¡°No?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t poke the sleeping Kleptra.¡± Alith drew her sword and stepped outside first, ¡°Won¡¯t argue with that, I just hope we don¡¯t do a repeat of our first time with the Phageid.¡± Sofia followed, her scepter in one hand and her bone shield in the other, her wings folded over her back. There was more than enough mana to fly if she wanted, but she had her reservations about it, and the other two could not easily follow. Pareth closed the march, closing the doors behind him. Sofia dismissed all the system popups and took the lead. ¡°I¡¯m the easiest to resurrect so I should go first,¡± she explained. ¡°You¡¯ll be the first to know if anything happens anyway, so no objection.¡± The small group thus formed a line and advanced through the desolate main street, where not a single building was still standing, rare were those which even still had more than two walls. The very thin layer of moon dust covering the pavement made it slightly slippery, and resulted in the group going even slower than they wanted to. ¡°Wait,¡± Alith said after about a minute of slow progression, bending down. She picked up some kind of ash-like flake that crumbled when she touched it. Frowning, she then pressed a finger against the pavement before bringing it to the tip of her tongue. ¡°Wh- What are you doing?¡± Sofia whispered. ¡°Sofia¡­¡± Alith answered, before spitting out a few times, a disgusted expression on her face, ¡°this is no ¡®moon dust¡¯... This is people dust.¡± ¡°Ash?¡± ¡°No¡­ [Refined palate] says it''s basically 100% human skin¡­¡± ¡°What the fuck,¡± Sofia reacted in a low whisper. She looked around, in the corners of the ruins where the ¡®dust¡¯ accumulated, some piles of it were almost as tall as she was, everything everywhere was covered in the dark-gray dust. How could there possibly be so much dead skin?! Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. After this disturbing discovery, the group was even more focused on watching out for anything strange, but they failed at finding much. Even when it came to understanding the city itself, not much could be said as so little remained of anything. The crumbling stone walls were devoid of decoration, and any furniture or other such things had long rotten away. Further along, they found some kind of a city square, or so they guessed due to the lack of crumbling buildings in that area. It was Pareth who noticed something different, a brown thing half buried under the dust near a wall. ¡°What is that?¡± Alith asked, unable to see well from where she was, as the group stood about ten meters away from the thing, unwilling to come too close to the walls. ¡°Looks like¡­ It could be a rusty horseshoe?¡± Sofia guessed, ¡°There are some of the deep creatures right on the other side of the wall¡­ Buried in the dust¡­¡± ¡°I can¡¯t believe they¡¯re all around us and we still haven¡¯t really seen a single one¡­ Think it¡¯s dangerous to go retrieve that thing?¡± ¡°Might be¡­ Let¡¯s try to grab it from her with a bone pole.¡± Sofia promptly started pulling a bone strand out of her armor to make a foldable pole with a hook at the end. She used it to grab the thing from a distance and pull it back without coming any closer and while monitoring the deep creatures. ¡°They haven¡¯t moved at all,¡± she said as Alith grabbed the thing Sofia had just fished up. ¡°Good to know. And this is definitely not a horseshoe¡­ It¡¯s all rusty and faded but¡­ That looks like a signboard with a boot, doesn¡¯t it? Cobbler shop?¡± ¡°Seems so,¡± Sofia agreed, ¡°the grooves underneath might have been the shop¡¯s name. Can¡¯t read it¡­¡± ¡°Those don¡¯t look like any letters I know¡­¡± Alith commented. ¡°Must be language from the lost epoch,¡± Sofia guessed, ¡°I¡¯ve never seen it either but it would make sense humans spoke another language thirty thousand years ago. The common language is only as old as the system so¡­¡± ¡°There was already ¡®ancient human¡¯ so this would be ¡®lost human¡¯? In my world we just had a different language for each kingdom basically. Though to be fair it was more like regional languages even¡­¡± ¡°In your world people can¡¯t fly or teleport around so it¡¯s not so surprising languages were more local. But considering the circumstances here, this might not be ¡®lost human¡¯ and more like ¡®moon human¡¯? I do wonder what happened to them, though, no signs of skeletons anywhere¡­¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that normal?¡± Alith asked, ¡°If it''s been thirty thousand years, everything would have decayed by now.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not so sure¡­ Anything would take a while to decay here. It¡¯s pretty dry, and there are no signs of animal or plant life. Just deep creatures and skin dust. If there¡¯s skin I¡¯d expect to also find bones, or at least teeth¡­ Teeth are the last thing to wither away normally. But here there¡¯s just nothing.¡± ¡°Maybe the deep monsters ate them,¡± Alith suggested, placing the fully-rusted crumbling signboard back on the ground. ¡°Hopefully not,¡± Sofia answered, starting to walk again. She decided to keep going in the same direction, as it would at least make it easy to find their way back to the hall if they needed to. A few hundreds of meters further, it was Sofia who found something, the tip of a root coming from underground that had pierced the pavement and spilled onto the street. So there are plants here after all? The small visible segment of root the size of an arm was darker than the moon dust, and its exterior was like gnarly twisted bark and looked humid, as if covered in a thin coat of lustrous transparent mucus. [Identify]ing without a connection to the system was basically like simply asking Mr.Scribe for his opinion, so Sofia was not surprised when she did not get any results. ¡°Doesn¡¯t look like anything I know,¡± Alith said before Sofia could ask anything. ¡°I don¡¯t feel any mana from it, but let¡¯s not touch things we don¡¯t need to¡­¡± ¡°Agreed, let¡¯s press on.¡± The trio advanced through the silent ruined city, not much changed, the deep creatures hiding in the dust did not move nor react to their presence at all, and the only thing of note was that they noticed a few more of the roots coming out of the ground here and there, with no sign of a single tree anywhere. Until Sofia suddenly froze. A giant hole had appeared out of nowhere in her mana senses, just about a kilometer ahead, and it was rapidly approaching in a straight line. She quickly looked in every direction to assess her best option, shushed Alith with the palm of her hand when she was about to ask what was wrong, grabbed Alith by the wrist and dashed out of the main street and into the crumbling ruins. She ran through the debris, avoiding the walls and piles of dust as best she could, and only stopped when she had led the entire group into another street. ¡°Fuck. That was bad,¡± Sofia finally said when she stopped. ¡°What was it? You felt something?¡± ¡°Felt? More than just that! I saw it!¡± Sofia explained frantically, ¡°A tall creature like some sort of giant elongated horse, galloping down the main street straight toward the city square. I only caught a glimpse of it when we were already running, but it was huge and fast. If not for my mana sense expanding so far I wouldn¡¯t even have felt it coming before it reached us!¡± The short scene incessantly replayed in Sofia¡¯s mind, she couldn¡¯t forget the haunting image of the strange creature moving with an unnatural fluidity, its massive form gliding over the piles of dust. ¡°I didn¡¯t even hear a thing,¡± Alith admitted. ¡°Because it didn¡¯t make a noise, but it did not look friendly in the least, trust me.¡± ¡°Was it all shimmering like the parasites?¡± Sofia shook her head, ¡°No. It was that color,¡± she answered, pointing at the piles of ¡®moon¡¯ dust everywhere. Alith gulped loudly. Sofia¡¯s expression was ugly underneath her helmet, but she had to verbalize her thoughts, no matter how wrong they felt, ¡°I think there¡¯s a non-zero chance¡­ It was ¡®human¡¯.¡±
Chapter 599 - A light in the darkness ¡°Ahahah,¡± Alith nervously laughed, ¡°let¡¯s not jump to conclusions¡­ But that would explain where the people went¡­¡± ¡°Let¡¯s hope I¡¯m wrong¡­ Maybe it was just covered in the stuff. Either that or it''s some kind of dead skin golem. I barely got a glimpse of it.¡± ¡°With how you described the parasites from before it wouldn¡¯t surprise me if it really was what¡¯s left of the people who used to live here¡­ But that only makes me more curious about the things in the dust. Did they move at all while we were sprinting through the ruins?¡± Alith asked, looking back at the path they had just come from. ¡°Not that I could notice, no.¡± ¡°Maybe we should check what those things really are, then. If it¡¯s safe, better to walk through the ruins where we can hide than through the open streets,¡± Alith suggested. ¡°You¡¯re right. Especially considering the speed that thing was moving at, it¡¯s probably only a matter of time before we run into it again.¡± Sofia closed her eyes and searched for the smaller creatures hiding in the dust piles through her mana senses. She quickly managed to isolate a corner where there was only one. ¡°Found an isolated one, follow me.¡± Sofia led Pareth and Alith back into the crumbling ruins. Of each house, only a few broken walls remained, while the ¡®moon dust¡¯ accumulated everywhere. ¡°Here, in this corner,¡± Sofia whispered, ¡°there¡¯s one in that pile, and that¡¯s the only one in the room. There are many in the surrounding rooms, though. But still no movement from any of them.¡± ¡°Should we just attack it?¡± Alith suggested. ¡°I¡¯d rather not if we don¡¯t have to. We should try to get a good look first. I¡¯ll try to blow the dust away, you both stay ready to fight if needed, but whatever happens try no to let whatever the thing is touch you.¡± ¡°Understood,¡± Alith replied, readying her rapier. ¡°Alright.¡± Sofia and the group were about five meters away from the dust pile, so it was well in range of [Bone Dominus]. Sofia pulled some bone out of her armor to make a hand fan, and controlled it from a distance, bringing it up close to the dust. Then, with fine control, she started waving the fan, slowly eroding the dust pile, sending it flying through the ruins. Suddenly she stopped, and both Pareth and Alith stood ready to strike. ¡°It moved,¡± she explained, ¡°this one only, it burrowed itself deeper into the dust.¡± Alith relaxed a bit. ¡°That¡¯s all? Should we continue?¡± Sofia thought about it for a moment, before deciding, ¡°Yes. Let¡¯s see what it really looks like, and what it does when it can¡¯t burrow any further. The more we know about these things the better.¡± She started swinging the fan again. The thing burrowed itself deeper and deeper until it hit the floor. Sofia then decided to swing the fan one strong final time, as strongly as [Bone Dominus] would allow, which was not very strong but enough to blow away most of the remaining dust. The creature was uncovered, it was some kind of ugly four-legged spider-like thing the size of a man¡¯s hand, it seemed to be made out of the dust itself, as if birthed from agglomerated big flakes of dead skin. It made a hissing sound as its hiding spot disappeared, and quickly skittered away, jumping straight into another dust pile. ¡°It seems like we were worried for nothing,¡± Alith said, sheathing her rapier back. ¡°Maybe,¡± Sofia continued as she turned to face her, ¡°it¡¯s not moving anymore. I guess these things only care about hiding in the dust.¡± ¡°One fewer thing to worry about. It did look like it was made of the skin dust, though, so I don¡¯t think you saw it incorrectly with the horse one.¡± ¡°Yes. Still, I have to wonder what these really are, and how they ended up here. And most importantly, are they producing the ¡®human¡¯ skin, or are they made from it?¡± Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. ¡°Hard to answer without capturing and studying one, but I don¡¯t know if we¡¯ve got time for that¡­¡± Alith commented. ¡°I don¡¯t think we do. We should leave the city. Everything is too ruined here, the building in my vision was in relatively good shape for a ruin, and everything nearby too. It must have been a different city.¡± Alith nodded, ¡°Then let¡¯s quickly get out of here.¡± The group decided to return to the main road, where the horse thing had been spotted, and to follow it from the side, walking through the crumbled buildings. It was slower, but they could hide reasonably fast if the thing showed up again, and they were sure that the road would eventually lead them out of the city. The horse-creature did not show up again, and the trio found the end of the city. The number of ruins became sparser and sparser before eventually there were none left. ¡°We¡¯re out,¡± Alith said, pointing out the obvious. Outside the city was just plain flat-ish ground. Despite not being able to see far, it now felt almost like being back onto the normal moon. ¡°Strange that such a large city has no exterior walls,¡± Sofia commented, looking back at the ruins of the last row of houses they had just left. ¡°Maybe they had nothing to protect themselves from,¡± Alith answered looking ahead, ¡°it¡¯s all empty, after all.¡± ¡°Nothing says it¡¯s always been that way¡­ And the road continues, so it must lead somewhere.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s see where that is,¡± Alith quickly decided, starting to walk again. ¡°Wait,¡± Sofia stopped her, ¡°It¡¯s the main road¡­ If the horse thing comes again, we¡¯ll have nowhere to hide.¡± ¡°Oh shit, you¡¯re right. Then let¡¯s follow it from a distance.¡± The trio followed the road from far away, further than Sofia could see. To make sure that they stayed on track, Sofia had summoned Bookie¡¯s rat skeleton, and he went alone to check that the road was still there every so often. It would have been faster and easier to summon Crowie instead, but Sofia didn¡¯t want to take any chances with her favorite skeletons knowing that Deep creatures were roaming around. Especially after she found out that she lost all connection to the rat as soon as he left her field of view every time. But thankfully, he always made it back. Several hours of this later, Sofia stopped. What¡¯s that? She saw something in the sky. A glint in the distant blackness, far ahead, much farther than she could actually ¡®see¡¯. It had only lasted an instant. ¡°Did you see that?¡± Alith asked. ¡°You saw it too? Any idea what it was?¡± Sofia answered. ¡°No. It was too fast, like a small star bl- Again!¡± Alith exclaimed, pointing at the glimmer in the sky. Sofia missed it that time, but it didn''t matter, because she soon saw it again. The ambient darkness started to lift. By the second, she could see further and further away. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Alith asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know!¡± As the darkness vanished, Sofia could see far in all directions. Everything was the same barren dust-covered moon they had been walking through the last few hours, and she could start to see where the light had come from, the top of a dark tower. There was some kind of strange giant gem at the top, and it was progressively becoming brighter, which is what had dispelled the darkness, though the sky above was still pitch-black. Then all of a sudden, a beam of light shot from the gem, huge and powerful, its cone shape shone brightly over the desolate landscape of the moon. Finally Sofia understood what the tower was, as the beam of light started moving. ¡°It¡¯s a lighthouse¡­¡± ¡°I see that. Good news, finally we can see!¡± Alith rejoiced, but Sofia was not so enthusiastic. The light was not a good fortune. It was dangerous. It was light from the deep. Shimmering in a myriad of incomprehensible colors. As the gem atop the lighthouse rotated on its axis, so did the light, slowly, it came toward Sofia and Alith, illuminating their surroundings. Sofia grabbed Alith and deployed her wings. ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here!¡± She flew forward as fast as she could, draggin Alith along, with Pareth following with quick jumps. Rushing toward the lighthouse, they only narrowly avoided the light by being too close for the beam to reach them. It harmlessly continued its course, drawing a circle around the lighthouse, and plunging this side of it back into darkness as it shone the other way. The group did not exchange a single word, only stopping when they reached the foot of the lighthouse. Finally Alith asked, ¡°Do you think it was truly dangerous, that light?¡± Sofia nodded, ¡°It¡¯s the same light and feeling I got from the parasites back then. I don¡¯t know why, but I can tell this light isn¡¯t good news. It¡¯s light from the deep. It shouldn¡¯t exist here.¡± Alith looked up at the lighthouse. ¡°Well, clearly someone had a different opinion on the matter.¡± Sofia shivered. ¡°And we can see how that worked out for them.¡±
Chapter 600 - Fisherman ¡°You sure are making faces I don¡¯t see you make often,¡± Alith told Sofia. ¡°Unpleasant memories. The last time I saw that color as light I lost my dog.¡± ¡°Right, that thing on a black spire, right? The lighthouse is pretty similar to how you described it, now that I think about it¡­ Do you think there¡¯s also a tentacular envoy up there operating the thing?¡± Alith asked. Sofia was more used to spreading her mana senses far and wide rather than high up above herself, but she still managed to barely reach the top of the lighthouse. ¡°There¡¯s nobody,¡± she told Alith, ¡°the big gem making the light is like an empty hole, and so is the light itself. But beyond that, it¡¯s about what I would expect a lighthouse to be like¡­¡± ¡°Really? Let¡¯s go up, then. We should still be careful in case the light is dangerous, but I¡¯m curious to see how it is up there,¡± Alith suggested, pointing at the door. ¡°The gem is at the top, on the outside. We could just jump up there.¡± Alith scratched her head, ¡°I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s because I cannot see as far as you can, but I don¡¯t feel too safe jumping or flying up right now¡­¡± Sofia answered with a nod, kicking open the thick rusted iron door of the lighthouse which had been barely holding up. The interior was quite dark but that was remedied by Sofia taking off her helmet. ¡°The perks of having glowing hair.¡± ¡°And horns,¡± Alith commented, ¡°Could also just use a lightstone like a normal person.¡± ¡°You¡¯re thinking too rich, a normal person uses torches,¡± Sofia bantered as both women looked up at the spiraling stairs of the lighthouse. ¡°Right¡­ Looks like they did, too,¡± Alith remarqued, lightly kicking at a rusty piece of metal lying on the stone floor, ¡°wall torch support.¡± ¡°Huh. No traces of soot on the wall though, I wonder if they really ever used that,¡± Sofia said, taking a first step on the stairs. ¡°Pareth, stay here, you¡¯re too heavy.¡± Pareth answered with a nod, and the other two rushed up the stairs in under two seconds, stopping under the rusty ladder hatch separating them from the top level with the light. ¡°There isn¡¯t even any mechanism here to make the thing spin,¡± Alith noted. ¡°No source of power for the light either,¡± Sofia continued, ¡°not to mention the strangeness of a lighthouse in the middle of nowhere with no ocean in sight, or the fact that it randomly activated when we approached.¡± ¡°Maybe we¡¯re the power source,¡± Alith guessed. ¡°Maybe? It¡¯s probably safe to say it lit up because of us, but to call us the power source, hmm¡­ Well, let¡¯s check the top level first, how do we do that¡­ I don¡¯t want to risk another one of Bookie¡¯s skeletons¡­¡± ¡°What if you send a graveyard nymph?¡± ¡°With how messy the space magic is around here? Might not be the best idea. Maybe a random skull from the choir, I have plenty of useless ones I wouldn¡¯t mind losing.¡± Knowing that indirect exposure to the light was safe, since she had been entirely illuminated by it as they fled the direct light from the beam, Sofia took no precaution as she forced the rusty hatch open. It provoked the fall of a collapsing ladder so rusty that it shattered into metal flakes as it hit the floor. Sofia looked up. Ah, I cannot see anything. Too bright¡­ ¡°See anything?¡± Alith asked, covering her eyes. ¡°No. I¡¯ll try the choir.¡± Sofia summoned the skull choir with a single horned creature¡¯s skull, and she controlled its position to have it slowly fly up into the blinding light. She left it there for a bit before lowering it back down. It was still a completely fine and full-life undead. ¡°Maybe I worried for nothing,¡± Sofia admitted. ¡°No,¡± Alith disagreed, ¡°The light definitely does something. Else they wouldn¡¯t have built this lighthouse here in the middle of nowhere.¡± This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it ¡°I think so as well, but it doesn¡¯t look immediately dangerous, at least. Also I should tell you, now that we¡¯re closer and I can feel more details, the gem is actually mounted on some sort of mechanism. But I think all it does is make it spin. Can¡¯t find an energy source for that one either.¡± ¡°Things don¡¯t just move by themselves¡­ Maybe they use the ambient mana somehow,¡± Alith guessed. ¡°Hmm I have a theory.¡± ¡°Go on.¡± ¡°What if the lighthouse never worked, like the light was meant to prevent whatever happened to the people here, but they couldn¡¯t get it to work?¡± ¡°And it starts working when we¡¯re here? Because of the blessing of the Deep, maybe? I could see that,¡± Sofia agreed. ¡°Just a theory¡­ So, what now, leader?¡± ¡°I¡¯m the leader now? I¡¯d suggest stealing the gem if I could use my storage items, but now¡­ It¡¯s probably better to just leave it there as is. Worst case it¡¯ll make it easier to find our way back to the hall, you know, using it as an actual lighthouse.¡± Alith nodded along. ¡°Fair, let¡¯s get the fuck out then, I don¡¯t like it here, and Pareth is waiting.¡± Sofia thoroughly inspected the choir¡¯s skull just in case as she followed Alith down the stairs, but she failed to see anything wrong with it, so she unsummoned it. Reunited at the ground level, the team waited for the right moment after the light beam passed to run in the direction they had been following until now, leaving the strange lighthouse far behind. A few minutes of silent running later, Sofia hurriedly stopped. ¡°Another lighthouse?¡± Alith asked, unable to see as far as Sofia. ¡°I thought so, but no. Windmill.¡± ¡°Windmill? Here?¡± ¡°You¡¯ll see,¡± Sofia said, starting to run again. There were indeed several windmills relatively close to one another in the middle of the surrounding nothingness. There was not a single sail remaining on any of the windmills, and really there was only one which was still in good enough shape to be recognized as one. ¡°I guess they had to feed themselves somehow. Hard to think anything could grow here though,¡± Alith said, crouching down near the windmill, wiping the moon dust off of the ground, revealing the whitish gray porous rock below. ¡°Even being generous, there¡¯s no way I could ever call this a fertile soil¡­ Maybe you could grow moss, mushrooms, or creeping vines?¡± ¡°Hard to say, I can see the start of another city from here, I think, not quite as ruined as the previous one, from the looks of it.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s not waste time here, then.¡± As they approached this new set of ruins, Sofia noticed something different, ¡°there¡¯s no deep creatures hiding in the dust here,¡± she told Pareth and Alith, ¡°but there are moving ones¡­¡± ¡°Fast?¡± Alith asked. ¡°No. Quite slow, in fact, but that means nothing. The parasite moved slowly too, until it saw me. It¡¯s weird, though¡­ They¡¯re¡­ Strangely tall.¡± ¡°How tall?¡± ¡°I¡­ Don¡¯t know. We should go see. It¡¯s almost like¡­ Moving poles?¡± ¡°You¡¯ve got me curious.¡± The group carefully approached the city. The ruins were only slightly better off than the first city, with taller bits of walls remaining and the occasional unbroken window panes here and there. There was just as much moon dust accumulating in the corners, but no creatures inhabiting it. Sofia led the group to one of the ¡®moving poles¡¯, they watched from as far as they could, hiding behind a low wall. ¡°What in the actual fuck is that thing?¡± Alith whispered in a disgusted tone, ¡°I¡¯d rather hug a phageid than to touch that.¡± The creature was like a star. If a humanoid creature was to be stretched to look like a kid¡¯s drawing of a star, that was what the thing looked like, five conical appendages linked together at their base, two of them being used as ¡®legs¡¯, two as ¡®arms¡¯ and one as a head. The appendages were made of many layers of the dark gray dead ¡®human¡¯ skin, overlapping over each other like bulging folds of fat. The thing was perhaps about two meters tall, and was stumbling around in one of the houses, bumping repeatedly against a wall like a brainless zombie. There were no distinctive features like eyes or a moth anywhere, but what stood out the most was what Sofia had mistakenly thought was the entire creature at first, the ¡®moving pole¡¯, which was some kind of dark pulsating tether, made of the same overlapping layers of dead skin, linking the top of the ¡®head¡¯ cone to the dark sky above. ¡°Feelings shared,¡± Sofia agreed, keeping her voice low, ¡°I wonder what it¡¯s linked to.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t see?¡± ¡°No, the tether disappears straight up into the sky, I have no idea where it goes. I wonder if we should try cutting the tether if one attacks us. That might kill it off.¡± ¡°Nothing¡¯s stopping us from verifying that, we have enough long distance attacks to safely try,¡± Alith suggested. Sofia looked at her, then back at the creature, before shaking her head. ¡°You should be more scared. Even if it looks dumb I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if it was as strong as it¡¯s ugly. There has to be something that killed the gods and dragons who came here before. Maybe it was the horse thing¡­ But maybe it was that.¡± ¡°What makes you more wary of these than the smaller ones?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ Instinct?¡± Sofia said first, observing the grotesque creature sluggishly wriggling around like a brainless worm, she continued, ¡°The vaguely humanoid figures, the tethers disappearing into the sky¡­ Say Alith, don¡¯t you feel like¡­ This looks like the hook-end of a fishing line?¡± Alith reeled back at the strange idea of a creature in the sky trying to lure in people with this otherworldly bait, and, unwillingly, the scabbard of her rapier loudly scraped against the wall. The creature suddenly turned around, and the tether above it coiled unnaturally as it spun, its twisting movement accompanied by a series of dry, brittle cracks, like ancient bones splintering under pressure.
Chapter 601 - The original Sin As the thing turned around abruptly, Alith appeared right in front of it, and started running away, in the opposite direction from Sofia and Pareth. The squirming creature wasted no time chasing after Alith, floating a few centimeters above the ground as if held up by the tether linking it to the sky, and Sofia soon lost sight of them both. ¡°Lords¡­¡± Alith whispered, reappearing next to Sofia, ¡°It¡¯s good that my reaction time¡¯s improved this much, because I did NOT want to see that thing from up close.¡± Sofia nodded, her mana senses following the [Lady Double] and its pursuer from afar. ¡°And good to learn that this thing isn¡¯t particularly clever nor fast, we could easily outrun that. Also weren¡¯t your doubles supposed to appear where you are?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve had plenty of time to alter the skill, it¡¯s quite versatile now. But these things¡­ Should we try killing one?¡± Alith suggested. ¡°I¡¯d rather not unless we have no other choice, I¡¯m a bit worried about whatever it is that these things are connected to.¡± Alith nodded and stood up, ¡°Then let¡¯s move. After you.¡± Sofia opened Bookie to summon a Guardian Kidjikkik, and started making her way through the ruins, staying as far as possible from the newly named ¡®Tethered¡¯, and using the Kidjikkik as bait to drive them away when there was no other option. The Kidjikkik could easily slither through the ruins and lose his pursuers, crawling through window holes being an especially good tactic as the tethered would try to follow through and get entangled. The tethers were not particularly flexible, it seemed, which in turn made any of the rare ruins with a still-standing upper floor or roof completely safe from them, giving the group some breathing room, despite the increasing number of Tethered as they advanced into the city. After several hours, the guardian Kidjikkik expired and was unsummoned just as Sofia stepped into a church through a hole in the walls. ¡°Let¡¯s stop here, my head hurts,¡± she told the others, keeping her voice low as the church was almost completely surrounded by more than twenty tethered that they had just bypassed. ¡°You¡¯ve been forcing on your mana sense all this time, no wonder it¡¯s starting to hit you,¡± Alith commented, ¡°Good time for a break anyway, we finally have something new to explore,¡± she continued, pointing at something on the ground. Sofia had been so focused on the tethered that she had not even looked that deeply into the church after finding it devoid of Deep creatures, but there was indeed something to explore, a trapdoor on the floor where the church¡¯s altar should have probably been, half buried under a pile of stone debris. Besides that, there was not much else left in the church, the engravings and paintings on the walls were all lost to time, and the furniture had long turned to dust. ¡°The stone is thick so I can¡¯t sense very far, but there are multiple underground levels, I think, at least two,¡± she told Alith before completely cutting off her mana senses for a bit, hoping that the headache would quickly go away. ¡°Hopefully we find something more exciting down there,¡± Alith said, walking up to the pile of debris, ¡°I wonder, though, who did they worship here?¡± Sofia observed the walls, trying to see if any decipherable inscriptions remained anywhere, but the ruins were just too old and eroded, the stone ceiling of the church itself seemed to be on the brink of collapse. ¡°I can¡¯t even begin to guess,¡± she finally answered, ¡°but maybe it¡¯s not actually a church. Sure it kind of looks like one, but this is from ages ago, who knows what their actual churches might have looked like if they had any.¡± ¡°Huh, I didn¡¯t even consider that, but that might be it. This could just have well been some kind of city hall or an indoor market¡­¡± ¡°Feels like a bit too grandiose of a building to be a simple indoor market, but I guess we will never know.¡± Everyone quickly got to work to clear up the debris from the rusty hatch as quietly as possible, which only took a few minutes, then Sofia sliced off the hatch¡¯s lock and hinges with the admin dagger, allowing Pareth to remove the entire thing without a sound, revealing a hole with a broken ladder leading to an underground floor. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. Sofia reached out to Bookie of her hip, grabbed the first page and tore it off, summoning the skeleton rat. You go first, explore this floor and report. The rat jumped down and scurried off into the undeground floor, coming back about thirty seconds later, his tail was relaxed which meant he hadn¡¯t seen anything weird. ¡°This floor should be safe,¡± Sofia told the others before jumping in, landing on air with [Dodge Me] to cancel the noise. Alith jumped behind, her mithril boots barely making a sound as they hit the ground, and Pareth was last, shrinking as much as he could and slowly lowering himself in, getting helped down by Sofia catching his pelvis. ¡°You- You need to lose some weight,¡± she joked with a strained voice, struggling to soften Pareth¡¯s landing. ¡°Do you even know how heavy he is anymore?¡± Alith asked. ¡°A hundred and twenty six tonnes,¡± she proudly said after letting go of Pareth once he touched ground, her arms still shaking from the strain, ¡°but there¡¯s clearly some magic shenanigans happening with his weight somewhere somehow, because I¡¯m pretty sure he would do more than just crack wooden floors if not, and I don¡¯t think I¡¯d be able to support him like this at all.¡± ¡°With our strength it should be hard to even interact with normal things and people without destroying them by accident yet that doesn¡¯t really happen,¡± Alith said with a shrug, ¡°I¡¯ve decided to just accept that it works out somehow. And this place is just as empty as the ground floor, huh.¡± Lead the way, Sofia telepathically told the rat, before answering Alith, ¡°There are lower floors, maybe it¡¯s not all empty, at least there¡¯s no moon dust here, for a change.¡± ¡°You know, Sof, considering the things we¡¯ve met until now, I¡¯d almost be relieved if it was all empty.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that bad so far.¡± ¡°So far¡­¡±
They followed the rat through three completely empty underground floors, going deeper and deeper underground, until they found a closed and barricaded door at the very end. ¡°This thing¡¯s clearly enchanted,¡± Alith said after a single glance. ¡°I¡¯m not too surprised that the humans back then also knew how to enchant stuff, but this looks nothing like our modern enchantments.¡± ¡°It looks like their runes are the same they use to write regular text, that¡¯s similar to that sign we found earlier.¡± Sofia nodded, ¡°I noticed that too, but I¡¯m more worried about the fact that this thing is still powered up.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t it be using mana from the environment?¡± Alith asked. ¡°It¡¯s not like it¡¯s impossible to do that, but there are issues with it, and not only would it never last for thirty thousand years, you really wouldn¡¯t want that on a door unless it¡¯s to have it open by itself¡­¡± ¡°Well. How do we get in? Usually I¡¯d just ghost through the walls¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯ll handle it, just step back, both of you,¡± Sofia ordered, grabbing the admin dagger from within her armor. She then stabbed the door. The enchantment included some kind of retaliatory magic protection, it seemed, but Sofia cancelled that with [Heat Death] before it could even begin to materialize properly. The dagger easily sliced through whatever other protections the door might have had, and after Sofia cut a wide circle into the door, she kicked it in. ¡°Easy,¡± she commented, looking into the hole, ¡°I don¡¯t even know what kind of protection a door could have that would possibly stop me at this point. The key is just too sharp.¡± ¡°You sure use it a lot. See anything in there?¡± ¡°Remember the strange root we found earlier?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°The dark and wet one coming out of the ground? Yeah?¡± ¡°There¡¯s a lot of those. Just look for yourself,¡± Sofia answered, going inside through the hole. The underground tunnel beyond the enchanted door was so overrun by the dark roots that it almost looked like it had been carved inside of a tree. Despite the root tunnel being slightly unsettling, the trio marched on, finding a few more enchanted doors leading to the other underground parts of the city, most of which had long caved-in and were obstructed by tons of debris. Hoping to find something else, they continued to follow the root tunnel, eventually finding something new in the form of a round fruit growing from the roots. The fruit looked like a black wrinkled orb, growing directly on a very thick root like a big wart, it lacked the wet-looking shine of the rest of the roots. After some deliberation, Sofia decided to harvest it for Alith, the fruit easily coming off with a gentle pull. As soon as it was disconnected from the root, it started glowing intensely. The fruit bathed the tunnel in the colorful shimmering light of the Deep.
Chapter 602 - Garden of Eden Everything changed as the Deep¡¯s light engulfed everything in sight, the hard roots regained worldly shades of brown and green, colorful flowers in a myriad hues appeared out of nowhere all over them, growing in the holes and cracks, soft green moss covered the ground and Sofia could immediately smell the pleasant scents of flowers and fresh sap. It was the exact same flowery smell the air on the moon had from the start, but turned up to eleven. No immediate danger? ¡°Are you both alr-¡± Sofia started to ask, turning around, but she stopped when she saw the strange state of her companions. ¡°What the fuck¡­ Is this some kind of illusion magic?¡± Alith asked. She was wearing a different outfit, which looked like Dopple had extended into a long black robe, and her face was completely blurry, as if being looked at through a foggy window. ¡°If it is, I can¡¯t feel any mana movements at all¡­¡± Sofia answered, her eyes shifting to the other unknown yet familiar presence. Pareth had also become different. Gone was the skeleton, in his place stood a tall muscular man with wide shoulders in lordly clothes, just like Alith, his face was impossible to make out. Seeing both of them like this, Sofia looked down at herself, she was wearing a light and soft beige summer dress, all of her things gone except for her black glove and Ormoncleth¡¯s bell, which had gone from her staff to being a decoration on the ribbon holding her hair. Bookie¡¯s book form had also undergone some change, now looking like a much smaller regular book. ¡°Bookie?!¡± Sofia immediately reacted, worried about him a lot more than she was about everything else. But it was a relief to see the book open by itself, its interior full of the usual golden fog, and Bookie summoned himself, appearing as a short boy in casual clothes with a blurry face. ¡°Sofia! Sofia!¡± he immediately cried out, ¡°look! I have skin!¡± he showed, pinching his own arm. ¡°Oh, thank the lords you¡¯re fine!¡± she answered, relieved, instantly grabbing Bookie for a hug. Alith reached up to touch Pareth¡¯s bulging arms. ¡°Holy shit. This feels way too real. What the hell.¡± ¡°It looks like everyone is fine,¡± Sofia said, ¡°How do I make sure I¡¯m not hallucinating all of this, though?¡± ¡°Are we all hallucinating?¡± Bookie asked in her arms, ¡°Then I want to keep hallucinating a bit longer¡­¡± Pareth scratched his head, seemingly the most confused of them all, he looked like he did not know what to do with himself at the moment. ¡°If this is the light doing that, then maybe just cover the fruit?¡± Alith suggested, seeing as Sofia still had the glowing thing in her hand. ¡°Right, can you let go, Bookie?¡± Bookie seemed upset but he let go of Sofia, landing on the soft moss covering the ground, after which Sofia covered the fruit by wrapping it into the fabric of her robe. The world returned to the bleak reality of the dark tunnel¡¯s black roots in an instant. Everything was back to how it was, Bookie and Pareth were both skeletons again, and Sofia¡¯s hand holding the fruit was actually buried inside the bones of her armor¡¯s chestplate. Bookie is out. So this was all actually real, or at least we shared the illusion. ¡°I lost my skin¡­¡± Bookie said dejectedly, observing his skeletal hand after taking off one of his gloves. ¡°I was going to say maybe the light makes reality overlap with the Deep,¡± Alith started, ¡°but I don¡¯t think Bookie and Pareth were humans even in the Deep...¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know what it is the light does exactly, but clearly not that,¡± Sofia confirmed, ¡°Still, it does feel like an alternate reality somehow? The blurred faces were a bit disturbing. I¡¯m taking the fruit out again, I want to try something.¡± ¡°Alright, I want to try something too.¡± If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Using bone dominus, Sofia dug the fruit out of her armor, as soon as the light spread, reality shifted once more. It¡¯s all the same. So weird. Sofia picked a flower from the wall, and watched as Alith brought her arm to her blurry face, making disturbing sounds. ¡°Alith? W- What are you doing?¡± ¡°Science.¡± ¡°Can I¡­ Change back?¡± Sofia asked, and Alith said yes. Sofia hid the fruit once more, and was shocked to find a dark withered flower in her hand in place of the bright blue flower that had been there a second prior. Despite the craziness of this withered flower appearing out of thin air, Sofia¡¯s attention was immediately diverted by the sight of Alith spitting out a chunk of bloody flesh. ¡°What the fuck did you do?!¡± Sofia asked the obvious, and Alith laughed. ¡°At least now we know,¡± she said, raising her arm which was bleeding and missing the aforementioned chunk of flesh, ¡°I didn¡¯t feel anything in the colorful reality when I bit down on my arm, but uh¡­ Yeah. I did indeed bite it.¡± She chugged one of her healing flasks and her arm was back to normal. ¡°Hey don¡¯t look at me like that, come on, you¡¯ve both done way worse and also already eaten your fair share of Alith meat. Can I see the flower?¡± ¡°I- Yeah alright¡­ Have at it.¡± Sofia handed the withered flower to Alith, who looked at it carefully before putting it in her mouth. ¡°Are you sure that¡¯s safe?!¡± Sofia freaked out, but Alith chewed without a care. ¡°It¡¯s not very good, but it is, yeah. That¡¯s a really real flower. Called an island Enlop,¡± Alith explained, ¡°Comes from the Dwarven isles, mostly. It tastes pretty great normally, but this one is a bit past its prime¡­ I was a bit worried that it might also be made of human skin but my skill seems to think it¡¯s the real thing.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not dissolving into mana or anything?¡± Sofia questioned. ¡°Nope. It was withered but as real as can be. As real as my arm injury.¡± ¡°Well shit¡­ I honestly would have preferred it if the light made us see an illusion, but this is a lot more disturbing¡­¡± ¡°Sure is. But on the bright side, this might be an opportunity to find rare herbs? Some of the most potent magical plants can still be used even when they¡¯re all withered and dead.¡± ¡°Maybe? That¡¯s not what we¡¯re here for though, and now I have even more questions about the lighthouse,¡± Sofia said, before bringing out the fruit yet again and handing it to Bookie, ¡°Wait here, I¡¯ll go past the corner back there to see what happens when I leave the light,¡± she explained, pointing at the direction they had come from. ¡°Good plan, I¡¯ll stay with Bookie, take Pareth with you, just in case.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± Sofia ran through the verdant corridor and Pareth followed. When she reached the corner, the corridor still looked full of life and greenery past it, but as soon as Sofia walked out of the light, it turned back. Pareth, who was still in the light, also looked like his normal, skeletal self. Watching through Pareth¡¯s eyes, Sofia could observe herself, from his point of view, she was still in the alternate reality, wearing the beige dress. Well crap. Pareth came out of the light, then stepped back in and out several times, seemingly just as fascinated by the experience as Sofia. Sofia did the same, and quickly noticed that the boundary for her vision shifting from one side to the other was actually her mana heart being in range of the light, even if her body and armor were in the way. But walls do block it? Nothing about this makes sense¡­ ¡°Is everything still fine?¡± Alith shouted from where she was. ¡°Yes! We¡¯re trying out a few things, be right back,¡± Sofia answered, quickly carving a vision rune token out of a piece of her armor, standing out of the light and shoving the token in. Connecting to the token, she could see Bookie and Alith standing far away in the corridor as their regular selves, despite being in the light. ¡°Try picking another flower!¡± Sofia shouted. ¡°Alright!¡± Alith raised a hand, and grabbed the air next to a root. A black withered flower appeared in her hand as if it had always been there. Despite expecting this result, Sofia was left speechless. What the fuck did we just get ourselves into? ¡°Can you try grabbing my dress from within the light?¡± Sofia asked Pareth while she was standing outside. She watched as Pareth extended a hand and grabbed at their next to her arm. ¡°You¡¯re actually grabbing nothing right now,¡± she told him, ¡°Try pulling on it maybe?¡± Pareth pulled, and Sofia was unexpectedly yanked forward by an invisible force. She stumbled into the light almost colliding with Pareth, who was indeed pulling on her dress. So far Sofia had been more curious than truly worried about this light-world, but this last interaction definitely sounded all kinds of alarms in her head. This is a bit too real. Is the real world actually the fake one?
Chapter 603 - The oldest view Sofia shared her findings with Alith, who seemed a lot less worried about the entire thing than Sofia was. The short woman shrugged, ¡°I¡¯m already from a different world anyway, what¡¯s one more? I do find the lack of faces disturbing, though.¡± Sofia looked very hard at Pareth¡¯s face, trying to discern any kind of facial feature, but it was impossible to see more than a skin-colored blur. ¡°Orator looks like this too,¡± she told Alith, ¡°you get used to it.¡± ¡°Oh, you did say he looked like that¡­ Think this place is related to him, then?¡± ¡°Perhaps¡­ I would have preferred it if I got Aphenoreth¡¯s skill, because Orator¡¯s isn¡¯t going to be usable until I kill scripture¡­¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ I wonder if there¡¯s a chance I could be able to use it? I no longer have the essence but my mana heart was made with it, so maybe?¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t bet on it, but it¡¯s not impossible. Either way, you, Pareth, Saria and Shaily are all also ¡®marked ones¡¯, so it wouldn¡¯t surprise me if you started also getting Deep quests and stuff. No reason why I would be the only one.¡± Alith nodded, ¡°You and Shaily are the only ones with a direct blessing but yeah, I¡¯ve kind of been expecting the Orator to show up again after my trial, honestly. I¡¯ve even started leveling [Shenanigans] just in case you¡¯re right and it¡¯s really what¡¯s been protecting you and Saria from his presence. I¡¯d rather not die like that again.¡± ¡°He wasn¡¯t super clear about it,¡± Sofia explained, ¡°But then again he¡¯s rarely very clear about anything. I¡¯m relatively sure it is what he meant, though. I have more doubts about your ability to raise shenanigans, considering how upfront you tend to be about everything.¡± ¡°It¡¯s level 12,¡± Alith said with a shrug, ¡°Slow, but I''m getting there. The effect is quite nice actually, had to give up my level 100 [Botany] to take it, but I¡¯m used to the plants of this world enough now that it barely matters. Speaking of, I¡¯m dying to explore more! So many unknown plants here, it¡¯s exciting!¡± ¡°Well¡­ Now that we know about the light, the question is, do we explore with or without the light, the fruit doesn¡¯t look like it got any dimmer so far,¡± Sofia said, observing the strange fruit Bookie was currently in charge of. ¡°Considering what we know, it¡¯d probably be safer to do both? I wonder what the deep monsters look like in the light world.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think we should spread out though, and haphazardly covering the fruit isn¡¯t ideal. Hmm¡­¡± Sofia took the fruit from Bookie, returned to the ¡®regular dark¡¯ world and got Pareth to lend her one of his bones, which rapidly regrew thanks to the [Bone dominus] passive healing. She reshaped the bone into a handheld lamp, and placed the fruit inside. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s the lightstone lamps from Exidia,¡± Alith immediately recognized. Sofia flicked a small protruding lever on the side of the lamp and bone shutters obscured the fruit from view, the world around the group shifting almost instantly. ¡°Like this we can switch at will. We can make more lamps if we find more fruits,¡± she said, handing the lamp to Bookie. With things mostly figured out, they started exploring the tunnel again, now constantly switching between the light and dark world. A few turns later, they found a second, slightly smaller fruit, and made it into a lamp for Alith. The fruits were, so far, the only thing other than the Deep glove and bell which remained the exact same in both worlds, as even the bone lamps took on a completely different look of finely sculpted wood in the light world. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Alith recognized about half of the light world¡¯s flowers and plants with the other half being completely unknown ones, and without a system connection to identify them, she could only collect withered samples to analyze later. Beyond that, there was not much else of interest to be found in the tunnel, and the group was stopped by a completely collapsed section. ¡°Time to go back to the surface,¡± Alith said, seeing the collapsed tunnel in the distance. ¡°We could probably clear that up without too much effort,¡± Sofia analyzed, ¡°but I¡¯m not sure that¡¯s worth doing. Probably more of the same on the other side, assuming it¡¯s not the entire rest of the tunnel that caved-in.¡± Without warning, Bookie flicked his lamp open. As the fruit illuminated the tunnel once more, the blockage was no more. ¡°It¡¯s not collapsed here!¡± he happily pointed out, running forward, only to get grabbed by the collar by Sofia. ¡°Nice find, but wait. This could be dangerous. What do you think will happen if the fruit stops shining and you reappear in this world while crossing the collapsed section?¡± she sternly asked Bookie. ¡°Oh¡­ I don¡¯t want to become a wall¡­¡± Bookie answered dejectedly. ¡°Right. So let¡¯s at least turn on both lamps before we go,¡± Alith continued with a smile. ¡°So much for being careful. If we do that then we can¡¯t turn the lamps off anymore until we¡¯re sure we¡¯re not in a collapsed section¡­¡± Alith nodded, turning her lamp on, ¡°Then let¡¯s just stay in the light world while we¡¯re in this tunnel. It¡¯s a lot less drab like this anyway.¡± The group therefore walked the tunnels exclusively in the colorful world illuminated by the light of the deep, until they started feeling something new, wind. Following the wind, it wasn¡¯t long before they found more strange things, first, they started to hear the sound of flowing water in the distance, then thin rays of sunlight started piercing through the tunnel of vines. Finally, they found an exit. The tunnel ended in a wide open, rounded stone gate. They were outside. Gentle sunlight caressed their skin, but it did not activate Bookie¡¯s blessing nor Sofia¡¯s Sunlight mana regeneration. In front of them sprawled a calm and sparse green forest with short grass under a bright blue sky. Strange colorful small animals grazed peacefully, and invisible birds chirped from the treetops, accompanied by a fresh breeze. Lastly, a giant glowing obelisk in the distance bathed this entire reality in a constant flood of shimmering light. ¡°Just what¡­ I don¡¯t even understand what is real anymore¡­¡± Sofia said, flabbergasted by the view. ¡°Sofia¡­¡± Alith said, tapping her on the arm and pointing at a specific large tree far on the right, ¡°Look at this tree¡­ It has a spile ¡­ Someone¡¯s been collecting sap.¡± ¡°Surely not¡­ This must be a part of the light world¡¯s random additions like turning the bone lamps into wood, right? Or¡­ Are we supposed to believe someone¡¯s been living here ever since the lost epoch?¡± ¡°Maybe it¡¯s someone like us who decided to stay and live here?¡± Bookie suggested. ¡°That sounds a lot more realistic,¡± Alith agreed. ¡°I guess it does? Now all I wonder is what can this place possibly look like in the real world?¡± Sofia asked, ¡°this sky,¡± she whispered, shielding her eyes as she looked up. ¡°It¡­ it can¡¯t be real, can it?¡± But the breeze on her face and the soft sunlight on her skin said otherwise. She turned to Alith, as if hoping for reassurance. ¡°Are we even underground anymore?¡± ¡°Well, you¡¯re probably gonna have to smash that big glowing rock if you want to find out,¡± Alith said, looking at the part of the obelisk visible over the treetops that stretched far up into the sky. Bookie seemed to dislike the idea. ¡°I don¡¯t think the person collecting tree juice would be very happy if we did that¡­¡± ¡°Assuming there¡¯s anyone. Could be that the light world was just created with pre-tapped trees,¡± Alith said half-jokingly. ¡°Let me have a look,¡± Sofia said, grabbing the vision token she had made earlier and lightly throwing it some fifty meters into the sky. Her vision spun like the token did, but she was already at a level where this was nothing, she quickly got a feel for the lay of the land. They were currently halfway up a hill, and the obelisk in the distance was built at the bottom, in a valley. It was surrounded by a village. Sofia caught the token as it fell back down, and slotted it back into her armor. ¡°I saw people,¡± she told the others. ¡°There¡¯s an entire village down there. Around fifty houses, I¡¯d say. Fields, mills, smoking chimneys, it¡¯s like the Skyreach countryside but with a huge obelisk in the middle¡­¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know how to feel about this,¡± Alith reacted, ¡°we might not be welcome there, we had to break a door to get in, after all, but well¡­ Better than phageid.¡± Hopefully.
Chapter 604 - People still live here ¡°We should go, and try to communicate,¡± Sofia decided, ¡°It stands to reason that there are high chances for the Deep¡¯s skill being somewhere in this ¡®reality¡¯, and they could also know about the dead god¡¯s location. That would be a lot faster than exploring the entire moon hoping to stumble upon it.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not against it,¡± Alith commented, ¡°but let¡¯s agree on a few basic rules for safety¡­¡± ¡°You were never this careful before,¡± Sofia remarked, which was answered by a giggle. ¡°I can try to guess what¡¯s going through a Pirate¡¯s mind or what instincts a tentacled monster might have, but on blur-faced people from the deep I¡¯m really not that confident,¡± Alith explained, ¡°Reminds me of the old tales from my grandpa too, with the Gods like Zeus and all those old mythologies. When the rules of reality start to bend is when you need to be the most careful.¡± ¡°What ¡®rules¡¯ did you have in mind, then?¡± ¡°Do not let our group get separated is the first thing. Then, if they¡¯re hostile, we don¡¯t hesitate to either kill them or run the fuck away. If they¡¯re not hostile, we do not eat or drink anything they offer us, and if one of us starts acting weird the others should immediately take them and leave.¡± ¡°You think they would try to mind control or hypnotize us?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°I¡¯ve no clue, but you can never be too cautious.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll try to keep all of that in mind then. But you know, I find it unlikely that we would even manage to meaningfully communicate. If they¡¯re really like survivors from the lost epoch, they won¡¯t even speak a language we recognize¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯ll worry about that if they don¡¯t attack us on sight,¡± Alith finished the conversation, starting to walk down the hill. Sofia turned to Bookie. ¡°I want you to be as safe as possible so try to stay silent unless there¡¯s an emergency, alright? Let me and Alith do the talking. And stay close to Pareth.¡± ¡°Understood, Sofia!¡± Bookie enthusiastically answered, running a few steps to Pareth¡¯s side, ¡°I¡¯ll stay super super safe!¡± ¡°Good boy,¡± Sofia praised with a smile that couldn¡¯t be seen as she ruffled his hair. So soft¡­ She thought as she let go of the ¡®skeleton¡¯ and followed after Alith, who was waiting for them, observing the tapped tree from up close.
Making it down the hill was quite fast, and soon, the group of four arrived at the outskirts of the village, in front of them were sprawling fields of golden wheat, gently swayed by the fresh breeze. ¡°No walls or anything,¡± Alith commented, ¡°just fields then village, not even a wooden fence. I guess the wild animals here aren¡¯t too dangerous.¡± ¡°That¡¯s pretty common for the poorer villages,¡± Sofia explained, ¡°wooden and stone barriers wouldn¡¯t stop the monsters anyway, so usually there¡¯s just a hunter or two managing the wildlife around and that¡¯s enough to keep people safe.¡± They thought there was no one in the fields currently, but after their short exchange, a man stood up from within the crops, some fifty meters away. No mana. Sofia immediately reacted, as she had completely failed to notice the man prior to seeing him despite him being well within the range of her mana senses that she passively maintained without even trying to. Aside from his entirely blurry face, he looked exactly like a common human farmer, with dirty overalls, an old straw hat, a graying beard and worn sun-tanned skin suffering from years of working outside in the fields. ¡°The road¡¯s on that side,¡± the farmer shouted amicably, pointing to his left, ¡°So don¡¯t step on my crops, will ya!¡± He speaks the common language?! Not even ancient human, the modern worldwide system-imposed language?!!! This place the system can¡¯t even reach! Sofia and Alith looked at each other, which was awkward as they couldn¡¯t read each other¡¯s expression at all, and Alith quickly turned back toward the farmer to answer, ¡°Thanks! We¡¯re going, then. Have a nice day!¡± The farmer nodded from afar, ¡°Nice day to you, travellers!¡± Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. The group quickly left, following the direction the man had pointed at. Sofia and Alith exchanged in whispers. ¡°I guess we¡¯re travelers now?¡± Alith said first. ¡°Guess so. I can¡¯t believe he spoke the common language. Think maybe the admin spread it when he came here?¡± ¡°Could be. Either way I won¡¯t complain about it. Guy wasn¡¯t openly hostile either so it¡¯s a good start. Hopefully we can just ask for information and get the fuck out of here, this places makes me uneasy the more I look around. It just feels like a weird dream.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s hope it¡¯s that easy¡­¡± A few hundred meters in the direction the man had pointed, there was indeed a paved road cutting through the fields. In one direction it led far into the valley beyond where the eye could see, while in the other, it led directly to the base of the obelisk, which stood smack in the middle of the village, a gigantic pillar like the trial towers. The village had clearly been built around it, and it was adorned by numerous flowery decorations. A single person stood guard at the entrance of the village, sitting on a wooden chair, a tiny crossbow on his lap. Sofia could feel some mana coming from him, but it was pitifully low. About level ten at most¡­ ¡°Identify gives nothing. The people here have no scribe¡­¡± Sofia whispered to Alith as they started walking on the paved road. ¡°I¡¯m already half-convinced they don¡¯t even exist in our reality,¡± Alith shared, ¡°this is just too weird.¡± The one guard stood up when he saw the group coming. He kept his loaded crossbow in hand but did not raise it. He said nothing and just looked at the group coming his way. ¡°Stop right there,¡± he finally said when they were about ten meters apart from the guy¡¯s chair which was propped up against the back wall of the village''s outermost house. From there Sofia could easily hear the casual chatter of the few people walking around this part of the village. It was utterly casual and mundane. The group stopped. ¡°Show your weapons!¡± the guard called out with a slight hint of hostility, slightly raising his crossbow. Show your weapons? Sofia and Alith just looked at each other in silence, Alith shrugged, ¡°We have no weapons,¡± she answered. And that was true at the moment, as the weapons were all gone in this reality, even the admin¡¯s dagger. ¡°No weapons?¡± the guard repeated in complete incomprehension. ¡°Are you not armed?¡± he asked, before moving slightly and seemingly taking a closer look at each of them, ¡°Do you travel with no backpack and no protection?¡± he then asked, his voice calmer than before, ¡°just two noble ladies and two young lords?¡± the guard continued, utterly confused, and slightly lowering his crossbow as his arms relaxed, ¡°Did your escort die on the way? My apologies¡­¡± ¡°No no, it¡¯s nothing like that,¡± Sofia stopped the apologizing man, ¡°We can defend ourselves, even without weapons,¡± she said, showing the man the weakest sparks she could muster with a low-mana angel bolt. ¡°Sorcerer?!¡± The guard reacted, reeling back in shock, he let go of his weapon and dropped to his knees, starting to apologize profusely ¡°Pray forgive me! I am but an ignorant commoner, I failed to recognize your-¡± ¡°I shall forgive you this time,¡± Sofia said to stop the man¡¯s outburst, as it was starting to draw attention from the people in the village. Shit. He could not care less when he thought we were nobles but the thought of a ¡®Sorcerer¡¯ makes him instantly drop to his knees?! I guess I have to act the part now. From his reaction, sorcerers aren¡¯t exactly good people. Pareth, Bookie, no magic. Let them think I¡¯m the only ¡®sorcerer¡¯ for now. ¡°Thank you for your generosity, lord sorcerer, I shall not forget this for as long as I live¡± the guard humbly thanked Sofia as he stood back up, awkwardly picking up his crossbow and placing it back on his chair. Despite the situation being quickly handled, the guard¡¯s outburst had attracted many eyes, and someone was already coming, having exited from the village''s innermost house at the very base of the obelisk. The guard also saw the person approaching as he had turned to place his crossbow on the chair, he greeted the incoming old man. ¡°Village chief! Today is a blessed day, we have been graced by the visit of a mighty sorcerer!¡± he announced loud enough for the entire village to hear. The village chief was a short old man wearing bright orange and red robes, he approached slowly, leaning on his cane for support. This was no ordinary old man, Sofia could already tell. The cane and robe were both enchanted items filled to the brim with mana, yet the man himself seemed completely devoid of mana, making it impossible for him to fuel these items. ¡°Welcome to our humble village, sorcerer,¡± the old man greeted with a deep bow, completely ignoring the other three, ¡°Please allow me to offer some hospitality, would you follow me to my house?¡± Sofia agreed and soon her group was seated in the village chief¡¯s relatively small house. The old man stayed standing after he closed the door and pulled the windows curtains. ¡°Is it already time?¡± he finally asked in a somber tone, his hands shaking, ¡°I thought we still had a few days before the grand ritual¡­¡± They were waiting for another sorcerer¡­ I can reveal that he¡¯s got the wrong person but that might be dangerous. Or I can try to play along and fish for information¡­ I can do this. ¡°We are to hold the ritual early,¡± Sofia confidently told the old man, ¡°When will everything be ready?¡± Alith seemed surprised by this answer, she looked tense, but eventually nodded along with Sofia¡¯s lie. Sofia could almost feel her staring at her despite being unable to see her face. ¡°As I feared¡­¡± the village chief mumbled, ¡°Things should be about ready. We can probably hold the festival as early as tonight. I just wish¡­ If we had a little longer¡­ Ahh¡­¡± he let out a long sorrowful sigh, ¡°If only our Queen hadn¡¯t left us so early¡­¡±
Chapter 605 - Izzaro Uncertain about how to continue, Sofia opted to just repeat a few words and hoped that it would naturally prompt the village chief to keep speaking. ¡°So early¡­¡± she repeated, faking a melancholic tone. ¡°It¡¯s hard to believe it¡¯s already been five years, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°It feels like it was just yesterday,¡± Alith commented, trying to help Sofia out. ¡°Isn¡¯t that right?¡± the village chief agreed, ¡°if her Majesty were still here, she would have certainly found a better solution than the ritual¡­¡± he said dejectedly before stopping himself with a cough, ¡°N- not to downplay the work of Sir Izzaro and our Sorcerers toward our salvation, we are eternally thankful,¡± he hurriedly added. Sir Izzaro? I¡¯ll need to remember that name. This ritual is really starting to sound like a bad thing¡­ And salvation from what? The skin monsters? I guess they are safe from them, somewhat. Their cities outside, though¡­ ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± Sofia answered, ¡°We are well aware that this is no perfect solution, yet we have to make do with what we have¡­¡± Hopefully this doesn¡¯t come off as too humble, considering his reactions, it could. Contrary to Sofia¡¯s worries, the village chief simply nodded silently. ¡°That we have¡­ The blessed dagger is ready, and so should be the anesthetics. If you would confirm that the tower is in a good state, then everything is done.¡± The tower is probably the obelisk. But a dagger and anaesthetics??? Are we going for a ritual sacrifice or something? Who is getting sacrificed and why? I don¡¯t like this¡­ I know we just said not to separate but¡­ If there¡¯s one place we could find more information, it¡¯s the ¡®tower¡¯. ¡°I shall check the tower, then. Lead the way,¡± she told the old man. The village chief stayed silent and unmoving for a bit, making Sofia worry that she may have said something she shouldn¡¯t have. ¡°But, esteemed sorcerer¡­ With all due respect, I bear no sorcerer blood, and am not able to enter the tower¡­¡± Oh, that¡¯s all it is? You scared me! It will become an issue if I¡¯m not able to enter it, though. But I assume ¡®Sorcerer blood¡¯ is probably mana? ¡°Who said anything about entering it?¡± Sofia answered, ¡°Are you not even going to escort me out of your home and to the entrance, close as it may be?¡± ¡°Oh! Of course, of course! Please, follow me.¡± The old village chief led Sofia and her group to the other side of the giant glowing obelisk, where a gate of flowers decorated a tall vertically rotated eye on the obelisk. It was made of the same hard to describe glimmering material as the rest of the structure, but was like a finely sculpted human eye, about two meters tall, eyelashes and all, and with a hole in place of the iris. ¡°There we are,¡± the old man announced, ¡°Shall I keep your aides company here in the meantime?¡± ¡°You need not worry about us,¡± Alith said, ¡°We will wait right here, try not to take too long.¡± She¡¯s on board with the idea, good. ¡°I will be right back,¡± Sofia said, before walking up to the large eye. Scribe! Identify! Quick, tell me how to open this thing! Sofia hurriedly asked internally as she walked to the eye as slowly as she possibly could without being too suspicious. [Door ?]: While it is hard to say for certain what is going on as no magic activity was detected, this seems to be designed for an arm-sized thing to be inserted in the iris. You¡¯re saying I should stick my arm in there?! It¡¯s not like I¡¯d die from losing an arm, but¡­ Alright¡­ With no other idea, and her mana senses giving her nothing, Sofia followed Mr.Scribe¡¯s suggestion and slowly pushed her arm into the open iris while monitoring the village chief¡¯s reaction. Since he seemed not to react, this was probably the actual way, but now Sofia had her arm up to the elbow in the hole, and nothing was happening. She tried to feel the interior of the hole a bit, it was hard and cold with a wood-like fibrous texture. She quickly found something that stood out in the deepest part of the hole. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. Is that¡­ Another light fruit? Sofia tried pulling on it, but the thing did not move at all. Shit, is there anything else in there? Her hand moved around but there was nothing else. ¡°Is something the matter?¡± the village chef asked, seeing Sofia taking too long to open the door. ¡°N- Not at all, I simply need a second to focus,¡± Sofia replied, as she tried random things like knocking on the fruit or trying to move it. Then she tried blasting it with mana, and she could almost feel herself spin. Everything around her had changed. I¡¯m inside?! Of course it was mana¡­ I should have started with that. She still had her hand on the fruit, but the eye on this side was almost closed, barely open enough to leave the space for the iris hole. I can still feel the connection with everyone on the other side, I¡¯ve really just gone through the door. Sofia pulled her hand out, and to her surprise, the eye closed fully as soon as her hand was out. What the hell! Sofia took a step back. The eye was no longer moving. She tentatively approached her hand, and the eyelids started slowly opening again. Oh, alright. Not stuck. With a sigh of relief, Sofia finally took her time to observe where exactly she had landed. The interior so far was nothing but a spiraling ramp going up. The walls were still shimmering with the deep¡¯s strange light, and there were no decorations whatsoever. Sofia started quickly running up the ramp. Surrounded by this strange color, it felt almost like she had been eaten by Ormoncleth¡¯s strange parasites. It was an unsettling thought. She made it to the top, and what welcomed there was a simple circular room containing a single thing, a small iridescent tree with no leaves, shimmering in the deep¡¯s colors. On the tip of the topmost branch of the tree, like a morbid ornament, was impaled a pristine and delicate human hand. It had clear, polished nails and smooth light skin with nary a blemish, and from the cut wrist, a thin stream of liquid shimmering colors continuously bled, smothering the entire tree. Most of the liquid seemed to get absorbed by the tree itself, whose roots dug into the structure of the obelisk, but some pooled on the floor around the tree. Sofia gasped at the sight of the otherworldly hand, ¡°What am I even looking at¡­¡± ¡°What is this¡­ Whose hand is this? Did they kill a human form envoy from the Deep and use its body parts to fuel this light world?¡± Sofia turned around the tree, making sure not to walk in the puddle of shimmering blood. ¡°Are there even human envoys? The one I killed was like¡­ A thing. And there was nothing left of it afterwards. But I could believe that it could have bled like this. It¡¯s likely that I¡¯m the closest thing to a human envoy now, isn¡¯t it?¡± Sofia stared at the hand again. ¡°This place might be even more unsafe for me than I thought¡­¡± Having a sudden bad feeling, Sofia turned around, staring at the ramp leading down. There was no one there. ¡°I¡¯m imagining things now¡­¡± After saying this, she lunged at that empty space, punching the air with her gloved hand. Still nothing? I could have sworn¡­ Sofia¡¯s thoughts were interrupted by the very faint feeling of the air moving around her in an unnatural way. As if someone had just walked next to her. She blasted some of her mana all around the room, carefully observing how it behaved. It ricocheted off the wall, and seemed to avoid the hand altogether, curving around it a bit like attacks aimed at her with [Dodge me]. Besides that, there was nothing. Fuck this! I need to leave here. Sofia ran down the ramp as fast as she could. At the bottom, she blasted her surroundings with mana once more, searching for any traces of an invisible opponent, worried that she might let a trapped evil out into the world or something like that. Once again she found nothing, so she quickly jammed her hand between the closed eyelids, and sent some mana into the strange fruit. WE need to leave. She reappeared outside. ¡°Sorceress!¡± the village chief immediately greeted her, ¡°You look unwell. Is there an issue with the tower?¡± he asked in disbelief. You can see that without seeing my face? Sofia wanted to say, but she held herself back. ¡°There is,¡± she told him, looking to the side to make sure the others were still all there and in one piece, ¡°We cannot hold the festival tonight. I will be leaving immediately to relay the news. Things being as they are, you will need to hold the festival and ritual on the original schedule after all.¡± ¡°This¡­¡± the old man answered, ¡°H- how? How are we to hold the festival without a sorcerer?¡± ¡°Worry not,¡± Sofia reassured him, ¡°Either I will come back, or another Sorcerer will be dispatched in time. The ritual will be held no matter what,¡± she told him without a shred of doubt in her voice. ¡°Oh! Thank the lords¡­¡± the old man accepted the explanation with a nod, ¡°Will you and your companions not at least reconsider and stay the night? The villagers would be ecstatic to have such honoured guests¡­¡± ¡°No,¡± Sofia adamantly refused, ¡°We are too short on time.¡±
Sofia and the others left the village in a hurry following the main road. Bookie and Alith seemed nervous, while Pareth was on high alert, ready to fight. ¡°I¡¯ll explain when we¡¯re well out or earshot,¡± Sofia whispered to the others as they walked away from the village between the wheat fields. Thank the lords, he says! What do you mean thank the lords?!
Chapter 606 - I don’t feel so good ¡°So I¡¯m worried,¡± Sofia finished her explanation, ¡°Either something followed me in and now has access to that weird hand, or something was already in and might have followed me out¡­¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ I wonder,¡± Alith said after some reflection, maybe there was someone next to you in the ¡®real¡¯ world, and they somehow didn¡¯t appear in the light?¡± ¡°Or maybe it was a ghost!¡± Bookie suggested. ¡°Come on Bookie, I¡¯m a ghost. If that was it I would have noticed, trust me. Unless it was and still is trapped in there,¡± Alith said, patting him on the shoulder. ¡°Wait, you can still see into the spirit realm right now?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°Nope, but you learn to, uh¡­ Feel? Things, when you keep on switching between the two as often as I did. Which leads me to my own findings. The people in the village, they¡¯re proper people. By that I mean they actually have a soul. I don¡¯t know what to make of it, but they have it.¡± ¡°If we had a way to access the village without entering the light world, then maybe we¡¯d understand what¡¯s going on here¡­ Either way, it sure didn¡¯t sound like these people were trapped there for thirty thousand years.¡± ¡°It also sounded like they were preparing for some kind of disaster,¡± Alith remarked, ¡°If the disaster is what the outside world looks like right now, well¡­ I don¡¯t know. What if like¡­ They¡¯ve been ¡®preparing¡¯ for the festival forever and like, the day never ends? There doesn''t seem to be a real sun anywhere in the sky after all,¡± Alith said, looking up at the unchanging blue sky. ¡°Maybe¡­ I was thinking they¡¯re maybe stuck in some kind of time loop like I was once¡­ But that doesn¡¯t seem right, considering the world outside just keeps going, and the Deep would have certainly intervened long ago if that was it.¡± ¡°The last option is these are just ¡®regular¡¯ people living here, their queen really died five years ago, and we just happen to have come here right in time for some grand ritual,¡± Alith said without much conviction. ¡°Yeah, no way. I might have bought that if I hadn¡¯t seen the state of the real world and the hand.¡± ¡°Right? Now I wonder if the crystal in the lighthouse had an eyeball inside or something.¡± ¡°I wonder what the surface light world looks like!¡± Bookie commented. ¡°I do too¡­¡± Sofia said, ¡°But I also want to keep exploring here. Now that we know about the hand it feels very likely that the skill I¡¯m looking for is somewhere in this reality. Probably in a bigger city or something. Maybe the ¡®Queen¡¯s old palace, or guarded by that Izzaro Sorcerer the chief spoke about.¡± ¡°Then let¡¯s keep following the road I guess.¡± ¡°We¡¯ve been careful enough, I think, let¡¯s go a bit faster,¡± Sofia said, white-feathered wings growing out of her back. ¡°Oh damn! With those you look like an actual angel!¡± Sofia turned her head to look at her wings, confused by Alith¡¯s statement. ¡°Angels don¡¯t even have wings, what are you about?¡± ¡°Ah. Yeah sorry that¡¯s still censored I think. Funny that much even got through.¡± ¡°I see¡­ Well, hmm¡­ I can carry Bookie and you, but for Pareth¡­ Actually, let¡¯s try, come here.¡± Sofia grabbed Pareth by the waist and tried lifting him up. It was like a normal person trying to uproot a tree barehanded. ¡°I was half-hoping you would be lighter in the light world¡­¡± Pareth shrugged and just pointed at Bookie¡¯s book form. Bookie grabbed it from Sofia¡¯s side and handed it to him. Pareth then proceeded to rip out a page, summoning a mighty steed in the flesh, Sofia¡¯s very rarely used skeletal war horse, now looking more majestic than ever with protruding muscles and a shiny black mane. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ Yeah of course Bookie¡¯s summon would be like that too¡­ This one isn¡¯t even blurry. Is it really going to be able to carry you, though? And is it going to be faster? I¡¯ve never really pushed it to its limits, now that I think about it.¡± Alith walked around the horse, which was comically large compared to her, ¡°It¡¯s definitely a beast unlike anything from my world, at least, our horses are like puppies in comparison.¡± ¡°Is it? It¡¯s a level 299 horse after all, but still, Pareth is more than a bit heavy.¡± As it turned out, the horse was more than capable of carrying not only Pareth but the entire group, and while it could not gallop nearly as fast as Sofia could fly, it was still fast enough that the village in the background disappeared from the horizon in a matter of seconds. The light of the obelisk spread far and wide, but it was not infinite. After just a minute of full speed running between hills, following the road, the world shifted without warning. The horse, Bookie and Pareth all became skeletons once more, and the group was returned to the drab reality of the hidden moon, with its black sky and its layer of human dust covering the ground. The only thing that was still mostly the same despite the change was the narrow paved road, although it looked much worse for wear in this reality. The horse had stopped, surprised by the sudden change. Sofia gave it a pat on the spine, and after quickly creating a more comfortable long bone saddle for everyone, the travel continued. Every so often, Bookie would turn on his lamp, and give everyone a glimpse of the light world¡¯s colorful reality thanks to the light of the fruit. ¡°You know, I have to wonder,¡± Alith said at one point, breaking the silence, ¡°We went down into a basement, then down into a valley, yet now we¡¯re back on the surface. I guess the village wasn¡¯t really underground, just in an actual valley of sorts?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Sofia admitted, ¡°the tunnel was long but I sort of expected the village to still be underneath the city, guess not.¡± ¡°Yet the city was not in the obelisk¡¯s light¡­¡± Alith continued. ¡°Honestly it¡¯s probably better to give up trying to understand¡­ We should just be happy that nothing serious has happened to any of us yet.¡± ¡°Sofia, look!¡± Bookie interrupted, stopping the horse and pointing at something in the distance. ¡°Oh. Looks like some kind of manor? There¡¯s not much left but that¡¯s a lot more than what was left of the city,¡± Sofia said, looking at the thing in the distance. She felt like she was seeing some movement, but without warning, Bookie turned on his lamp. ¡°It really is a manor,¡± Alith said, now that she could also see it. The magnificent manor was in perfect condition in the light world, surrounded by a golden fence and opulent gardens with sculptures and fountains. The road actually split just a bit further, the turn leading to the manor. ¡°Can we go explore it?!¡± Bookie asked excitedly. ¡°Wait. Turn the light back off,¡± Sofia told him. ¡°Sure.¡± In the dark real world again, Sofia focused to get a better look on the distant ruins of the manor. I wasn¡¯t imagining things. Stuff is moving in the sky above the manor. ¡°Tethered,¡± she said to the others. ¡°They¡¯re in the manor.¡± ¡°Ah fuck,¡± Alith cursed, ¡°Maybe we should skip it, then.¡± ¡°No. We¡¯re going,¡± Sofia said decisively, ¡°Out of the obeslisk¡¯s range, we have control over the light now. Let¡¯s see. Maybe the invisible thing I felt next to me in the obelisk was a Tethered. Now we can find out.¡± ¡°Good call. But if things look bad, you bolt that thing to dust.¡± ¡°As tempting as that idea is, and even if the Tethered are stupid, imagine the mistake that would be if they¡¯re like above level 400. Not that I think they are, but still. There has to be something dangerous enough here that scared all even the admin off. It can¡¯t just be the weirdness of the light world.¡± ¡°I know all that, I just hate how passive we have to be on this weird moon.¡± ¡°That won¡¯t change until we understand the danger¡­¡± ¡°Well, let¡¯s see. Do we approach in the light world?¡± ¡°No need. With the tethered there I doubt there would be anyone to receive us in the light world anyway. The manor¡¯s probably abandoned.¡± ¡°It really didn¡¯t look abandoned,¡± Alith said in a dark tone, before turning her own lamp back on. After a short silence, Sofia had to admit that Alith was right, the gardens were well maintained and the fountains flowing with clear water. ¡°Shiiiiiiiit¡­¡± Sofia said, having a sudden and unpleasant realisation. ¡°Are you thinking what I¡¯m thinking?¡± Alith asked. ¡°Let¡¯s hope we¡¯re wrong,¡± Sofia said, ordering the horse to walk toward the manor.
Chapter 607 - Uncomfortable truths After just a few meters, Sofia stopped the horse. ¡°Wait for me here and keep the lamp turned on, I want to try to figure out the range.¡± ¡°Just stay in sight,¡± Alith said, turning her lamp on. Sofia gave a nod and flew away while staying close to the ground. She was out of the light world almost immediately. And abruptly stopped. That¡¯s about three hundred meters? Less than I expected. Now to see whether I can still see through Pareth¡¯s eyes from here. Huh. It¡¯s not as clear as usual but that will do. ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± Alith asked as Sofia came back. ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s quite short, but that¡¯s good news. Pareth, I got a job for you. You will follow us from just out of the light, try to get a good view of the manor¡¯s interior when we get there. I¡¯ll be checking your view basically all the time, that way I¡¯ll know what¡¯s going on in both worlds at once. Bookie, you¡¯ll be staying with us in book form only, and get Crowie out to help watch Pareth¡¯s back. You can also give your lamp to Pareth for now.¡± ¡°I have to come as a book?¡± Bookie asked dejectedly. ¡°It¡¯s safer that way.¡± ¡°Alright¡­¡± he accepted, handing his lamp to Pareth and dispelling himself. Sofia caressed the book at her side. I just don¡¯t want you to be hurt alright? We both know how dangerous the Deep creatures can be. Pareth grabbed the lamp, tried turning it on and off once, gave a thumbs up and ran away to the limit of the range. ¡°We¡¯re good to go,¡± Sofia finally declared, prompting the horse to start strutting forth. ¡°If there are really people there¡­ Do we introduce ourselves as Sorcerers?¡± Alith asked. ¡°I guess we could. We can try asking something about the village¡¯s ritual. Throwing the name of Izzaro in there might get us some credibility also. Ideally, we should ask about the lords, considering that last comment from the old chief.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s assuming there¡¯s anyone to talk to.¡± The horse stopped at the closed golden gates of the manor¡¯s estate. Sofia jumped off and grabbed one of the gate¡¯s golden bars with her left hand and turned to Alith. ¡°Turn off the light.¡± She could see herself holding onto nothing from Pareth¡¯s point of view but she wanted to try actively switching while holding it. The world shifted with the light as Alith¡¯s lamp hid the fruit from view. Sofia was left holding nothing but air. ¡°So far so good,¡± Sofia said. She opened her hand and placed it to where the golden bar would exist through the inside of her palm. Let¡¯s see what happens, were we right to worry about the tunnel¡¯s collapsed section? ¡°Turn it on.¡± ¡°You sure about this?¡± Alith asked. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not responsible for pierced hands,¡± Alith said as she turned the lamp back on. The golden gate reappeared and Sofia¡¯s hand was stuck in the middle of one of the bars. It was painless, but she could not move her hand. ¡°I¡¯m stuck.¡± Alith turned the lamp off. Sofia watched as a bloody mangled hole appeared in the middle of her hand out of nowhere. It had not existed until then, only starting to bleed when the reality switched. ¡°Curious how that works,¡± she commented, observing the hole in her hand as her skin worked to plug it back up. ¡°Doesn¡¯t that hurt?¡± Alith asked. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Probably not more than when you bit off a chunk of your own arm,¡± Sofia answered, opening and closing her fist. ¡°Hands tend to be more sensitive, but fair.¡± My middle finger isn¡¯t working. I don¡¯t want to dispel my runes to heal that¡­ With [Bone Dominus] she quickly rebuilt the broken bones, and patched up the missing tendon and muscle with tiny mechanical bone parts. Not the most comfortable thing but it¡¯ll work for now. Alith turned the lamp back on; Sofia¡¯s hand still looked perfectly normal in the light world. ¡°What now though? Do we invite ourselves in?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°No clue, I¡¯m about as knowledgeable as you are about human nobility, not much. If anything, you¡¯re the baroness here, you should know.¡± ¡°Well I don¡¯t¡­¡± ¡°Wait, someone¡¯s coming!¡± Alith pointed out. Sofia looked past the gates, and indeed, some two hundred meters away, the doors of the manor had opened, and a butler in a black suit was walking out. Sofia switched to Pareth¡¯s point of view, who was still currently moving around trying to find the best viewpoint on the manor. He stopped at her command and looked in the direction of the gardens. ¡°Fuck,¡± Sofia mumbled. ¡°Tethered?¡± Alith asked. ¡°Yes¡­¡± ¡°Shit. So we were in a village full of them¡­¡± ¡°Be glad we never shook hands with them.¡± ¡°God¡­ What now, proceed as intended?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll be on Pareth¡¯s vision most of the time though, at the first sign of anything wrong, I bolt. Stay on the horse, you do the talking.¡± ¡°Aye captain,¡± Alith acknowledged, fixing her hair and her posture. It was unnerving watching the Tethered slowly glide through the gardens, its tentacular extremities wriggling like worms, while it appeared as a well-dressed butler walking with perfect countenance in the light world. Sofia had to really hold back not to cast an explosive bolt right away. She watched the squirming thing come so close in the real world, just five more ¡®steps¡¯ and its disgusting appendages would be close enough to touch her, but he stopped there, a few steps away from the gate. The butler gave a simple nod to Sofia who was holding the horse¡¯s reins, and addressed Alith instead, ¡°Good day madam. May I inquire as to your name and the nature of your visit? The Count does not receive guests without prior notice, but I shall be happy to deliver your message if you so wish.¡± ¡°Good day. I understand this visit is unannounced, and I apologize for any inconvenience. Please inform the Count that a Sorcerer wishes to discuss a matter of some urgency on Sir Izzaro¡¯s behalf,¡± Alith calmly announced in a polite but disinterested voice. ¡°On behalf of the chancellor? I understand, madam. Might I verify the royal seal, if you please?¡± Shit. Alith hesitated, glancing briefly at Sofia before pulling the fruit from the lamp. ¡°Is this not sufficient proof of my identity?¡± she asked, her tone laced with disdain. The butler seemed taken aback by this, his countenance faltered for a moment before he apologized with a deep bow. ¡°My deepest apologies, madam. I shall inform the count without delay. Might I ask that you wait here while I make the necessary arrangements?¡± ¡°I shall wait.¡± The butler bowed once more before walking back to the manor. Alith watched him go, exhaling sharply. ¡°I can¡¯t believe that bluff with the fruit worked,¡± she said as soon as the butler was far enough to be out of earshot. ¡°Are you sure you weren¡¯t a noble in your previous life?¡± Sofia asked in disbelief. ¡°Pretty sure yeah, unless you¡¯ve ever known a noble who lives in a hut off of selling medicinal herbs and ointments to farmers. Nothing interesting on the dark side?¡± ¡°Not much, just the tethered in place of the butler¡­ It was squirming like they normally do during almost the entire thing. It only briefly stopped when you brandished the fruit.¡± ¡°That could be useful later. Now I just need to make up some shit to explain why we¡¯re here¡­¡± Alith said, lost in her thoughts. ¡°Our only option is pretty much to talk about the ritual,¡± Sofia suggested, ¡°You could say there¡¯s something wrong with the tower, the count lives close enough to the village, it¡¯s probably in his territory.¡± ¡°So the village¡¯s problems are his problems¡­ Could work. But also maybe he didn¡¯t actually buy the thing with the fruit. I guess we¡¯ll know if he comes back with soldiers.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll know soon enough. Pareth has a good point of view now, the manor really is in ruins so it¡¯s relatively easy to see inside. There are about thirty tethered total¡­ The ¡®butler¡¯ is flying up non-existent stairs at the moment. Like a puppet hanging by a string¡­¡± Sofia and Alith nervously chatted for a few minutes, hoping to ease the tense atmosphere. The butler came back, alone. He returned to the gate with measured steps, and stopped just short of the threshold, bowing respectfully before addressing Alith. ¡°Madam, I have conveyed your message to the Count. He has instructed me to extend his welcome and request your immediate audience. Please, allow me to escort you and your companion to the drawing room,¡± he said before unlocking the gate with a large golden key. ¡°If you would be so kind as to follow me, the Count awaits your arrival.¡±
Chapter 608 - WHO? Sofia and Alith entered the manor as another tethered ¡®servant¡¯ led the horse away to the stables. In the regular world, the manor was in such a bad state that there was almost nothing left of the entrance, which was why the tethered butler could easily go in and out without his tether catching onto anything. A few door frames are still standing on the lower level¡­ Does that mean they can¡¯t enter those rooms in the light world? Sofia had very little time to entertain those thoughts as the butler led them directly to the main staircase in the middle of the entrance hall. She could very clearly see from Pareth¡¯s point of view, these stairs did not exist outside of the light world. Slightly apprehensive, she stepped up, following Alith and the butler. Stepping on air was nothing new for Sofia, she walked on air more often than she walked on the ground, but doing so without using [Dodge me] felt a bit disturbing. As Sofia followed, she noticed a tether coming closer. Crap. Fake-tripping, Sofia bumped into Alith, narrowly pushing her out of the collision-course with the incoming tether. ¡°Sofia! What¡¯s wrong?¡± Alith asked, helping her get back up, her voice showing hints of worry that stemmed not from Sofia¡¯s wellbeing but from the meaning of this sudden ¡®tripping¡¯ which she knew had to be faked. ¡°It is nothing, I have just tripped¡­ I apologize, my lady.¡± ¡°No, no,¡± the butler chimed in, ¡°the floor was recently polished and is still quite slippery. It was my mistake that I failed to warn you and your retainer, lady Sorcerer. I humbly apologize for this error. Should I send for the doctor?¡± Is he¡­ Covering for me? ¡°Are you injured?¡± Alith asked Sofia. If I go see the ¡®doctor¡¯, this is an opportunity to get separated and explore the manor from different places¡­ But I¡¯d be leaving Alith alone surrounded by a bunch of tethered¡­ ¡°I am perfectly fine, I merely lost my footing, it will not happen again,¡± Sofia answered, flashing a thankful smile to the butler, despite both of their faces being blurred. She thought that perhaps for them this blur was not a thing. I wish I could read his expression right now. The blur makes nuanced social interactions difficult¡­ This little incident over, the butler led them to a small living-room decorated with flowers and bright paintings. ¡°The count is busy and will receive you in a minute,¡± he explained with a bow before he left the room. ¡°What was that all about?¡± Alith asked in a whisper as soon as the door was closed. ¡°You were about to walk into the tether of someone on the ground floor.¡± ¡°Oh shit, thanks for the save¡­ Wait¡­ There¡¯s no floor, then?¡± ¡°We¡¯re both sitting some eight meters in the air right now¡­¡± Sofia answered. ¡°Neat. How are things looking, aside from that?¡± ¡°Nothing much. Our arrival hasn¡¯t kicked up much of a fuss. There are two tethered in the next room over, and one next to the door we entered from, it¡¯s one of the guards we walked by on the way.¡± ¡°Feel no mage?¡± Sofia shook her head, ¡°No. The tethered all have no mana in our world, but here, while some have a bit, the highest level is probably around level fifty, from what I can feel. But¡­ I found something more disturbing.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­ Really?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ There are small tethered. From what I can feel, probably the count¡¯s kids. They¡¯re in the most secure room of the manor, six guards.¡± ¡°We saw children in the village so that¡¯s not too surprising¡­ But yeah¡­ disturbing is the right word¡­¡± ¡°You don¡¯t say¡­¡± Sofia said with a sigh, ¡°Does Dopple have nothing to say about this whole moon?¡± she asked, observing Alith¡¯s long black robe. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Seems that way. He rarely has much to say, to be honest. Unless there¡¯s something for him to eat nearby.¡± ¡°Yet he translated the Fairy¡¯s nonsense back then.¡± ¡°A rare occurrence. But he¡¯s been a lot more silent ever since you told me about the admin¡¯s return. Must be related.¡± ¡°Yeah, he seemed to personally know the living sword admin key after all¡­ There¡¯s definitely some history there that Dopple doesn¡¯t want to share.¡± ¡°As long as I¡¯m protected I won¡¯t try to pry further,¡± Alith said with a shrug. ¡°That is the most important¡­ Someone¡¯s coming.¡± Alith quickly nodded and fixed her posture on her chair. A rather portly man energetically entered the room, ¡°Stay right there,¡± he told the guard following him before he could also enter. He closed the door and sat in the room¡¯s largest seat, facing Sofia and Alith. Without any greetings or gestures toward them, he pulled a cigar out of an interior pocket of his garments, and lit it with a spark shooting from his fingertip. Around level thirty? Sofia guessed from the mana she could feel in the man¡¯s bloodstream. ¡°So¡­¡± The man finally started after taking in a deep breath of smoke, ¡°Who¡¯re you two lasses, then? I know every sorcerer on this side of the moon, and I¡¯d remember those pretty faces if I¡¯d seen them.¡± Not the best start¡­ ¡°Are you fond of asking questions containing their own answers?¡± Alith asked back. The count laughed. ¡°What, coming from the other side, are you?¡± He asked, before laughing even harder until he started to wheeze. He stopped at once, ¡°Are you serious?¡± Alith turned to Sofia, ¡°Sorry, our cover is blown, looks like,¡± she said with a shrug, prompting the count to start laughing once more. That¡¯s one way to defuse the situation¡­ ¡°Is it that ridiculous to imagine someone from the other side coming here?¡± Sofia asked, since things had gone off the rails already anyway. ¡°Bahahah, you must be from the land below, I suppose. No one here would believe that you come from the other side. Not a soul. Not ever since the queen passed. A rightful mess you¡¯ve gotten yourselves into, huh. Tell you what, if you girls can leave the moon still, then get the fuck away from here,¡± the count said, before leaning in and whispering after checking that the close was still closed, ¡°We¡¯re dead men walking here, all of us. Beyond saving. I don¡¯t know how you got your hands on a life fruit, but you¡¯d do well to forget about it and leave this accursed place behind while it¡¯s still time.¡± ¡°Life fruit?¡± Sofia repeated. ¡°You don¡¯t even know what you¡¯ve got your hand onto?¡± The count asked, pulling in another breath of smoke from his cigar, ¡°How did you two even end up here¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s a long story¡­ If I am to be completely honest, we are both strong sorcerers, we¡¯ve just arrived here, and are looking for the remains of a dead god,¡± Sofia stated candidly. ¡°A dead god?¡± the count repeated, pensiveness showing through his voice, ¡°All we have here is a dead queen, and hopes. A dead kingdom, really. Most of the other nobles have killed themselves already, everyone has gone crazy! I¡¯ve been struggling to maintain a fa?ade of normalcy for my kids,¡± he explained, clear sorrow in his voice, ¡°but the end is near¡­ I¡¯ll repeat myself, forget about everything, this dead god of yours included, and escape. There¡¯s nothing else you can do, really, strong sorcerer or not.¡± ¡°If it¡¯s that bad, why are you not trying to escape as well?¡± Alith asked. ¡°If only we could¡­ I¡¯d ask you to save my kids, if that was even still possible. But it¡¯s not. We were foolish and greedy, and we¡¯ll pay the price.¡± It looks like they¡¯re already paying¡­ Sofia couldn¡¯t help but think, as she watched the count¡¯s tethered form writhe and squirm in front of her in Pareth¡¯s view. ¡°What did you even do that was so bad?¡± Alith continued to ask, ¡°We¡¯ve heard about some grand ritual, is that not going to save you?¡± ¡°Ahahah. The grand ritual¡­ The grand end of a civilization. It seems you two really know nothing. Give me a second, I will show you the source of this madness,¡± the count said, standing up with some difficulty. He then left the room. Sofia and Alith looked at each other. ¡°This is going surprisingly well,¡± Alith said first. ¡°Indeed¡­ It looks like the nobles all knew something was going to happen and they left the general population in the dark¡­ But I don¡¯t think he knows about our current world¡­¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ I almost wanted to bring it up, but I didn¡¯t want to ruin our one shot at getting someone to talk.¡± Sofia nodded, ¡°He really sounds like he believes he¡¯s got nothing to lose, he even came to greet us without a guard despite knowing we were probably impostors¡­¡± ¡°Considering the state of the moon, we can¡¯t say he isn¡¯t right on the money.¡± Sofia and Alith kept exchanging ideas in whispers while they also kept track of the Count¡¯s movements through Pareth. He¡¯s back. The count entered the room again, again ordering his guard to stay out. He was carrying a tall golden frame, only letting Sofia and Alith see the back of the canvas. ¡°Here it is,¡± he said, closing the door behind him. ¡°The source of everything. You¡¯ve most certainly already heard of her name. She was our beginning and our end, our most precious lady,¡± the count said with nostalgia, pivoting the frame that was almost as tall as himself to reveal a gorgeous painting of a tall and thin lady in a simple military uniform standing straight with a perfectly neutral expression, and a long rapier planted in the ground in front of her, ¡°The tenth lord of the mortal world, blessed with eternal youth, an incredible warlord, just ruler, and conqueror of the demonic moon, the silent Queen herself! Lady Esprizia Ormoncleth, the Regulator.¡±
Chapter 609 - A sorcerer’s tale A marked one? But taking the Regulator title is a bit presumptuous, isn¡¯t it? Could it be the genuine lord? But why? Especially Ormoncleth, why come and play around disguised as a mortal? So probably actually a marked one? Both feel possible¡­ But then she died. Wait, was the hand¡­ ¡°Gorgeous, isn¡¯t she?¡± the count asked rhetorically, ¡°I daresay this must be one of the best paintings remaining of her highness. A grim reminder of what was lost, I suppose, yet I only feel nostalgic bliss when I gaze upon her majestic allure. Our queen was certainly the second most charismatic woman after my late wife¡­¡± he trailed off with a weary sigh. ¡°And so¡­ I have many questions, but¡­ How is she the reason everyone here is doomed?¡± Sofia asked. The count answered with another sigh. He propped up the painting against a wall and sat back down in his chair, his head thrown back, he looked at the ceiling as he answered, ¡°Our Queen passed quietly in her sleep, about five years ago¡­ It was an unexplained and unanticipated death. The Queen was laid to rest in a crystal coffin, and Chancellor Izzaro took over the reigns of the kingdom for the time being. About a year later, a new unknown plague started ravaging the population¡­¡± In her head, Sofia started connecting the dots. ¡°Eternal youth¡­¡± she mumbled, ¡°Don¡¯t tell me¡­¡± ¡°One year after her passing, the Queen¡¯s body was still as pristine as the first day. It was the chancellor¡¯s idea¡­ A syringe was filled with a few drops of the Queen¡¯s prismatic blood and fed to the sick,¡± the count explained with a clear shame in his voice, ¡°For those who tasted the blood, the plague was cured in a matter of minutes. We could have stopped there, but the Queen seemed to produce endless amounts of blood, and this is where we all turned mad¡­¡± ¡°I think you can stop there,¡± Alith said, ¡°it¡¯s pretty obvious where this is headed. All we¡¯re missing is why this ¡®madness¡¯ will lead to everyone¡¯s death.¡± The count sat back up, his hands joined in front of his blurry face, ¡°As I said, the other side of the moon, our kingdom, is already gone. The queen¡¯s corpse kept bleeding and bleeding, and the people¡­ The people started changing. There is nothing left there, and as the blood seeps deeper and deeper into the ground, more and more of the kingdom changes. It cannot be stopped. For all of us who have tasted the blood, it¡¯s already too late.¡± ¡°This is a crazy story¡­ But what is keeping you from leaving?¡± The count laughed, ¡°You don¡¯t get it¡­¡± While he said that, Sofia was looking through Pareth¡¯s eyes. She had to strongly hold herself back from retorting that yes, in fact, they really did get it. The count grabbed a hidden dagger from the interior of his vest, and violently stabbed his own left hand. He raised the bleeding hand to show Sofia and Alith, it was bleeding with iridescent blood. ¡°Beyond saving,¡± he concluded, clenching his fist, which stopped the bleeding. ¡°That is why you should leave. We here do not have long left. You would also do well to leave the life fruit behind, it is spawned from trees grown of the Queen¡¯s blood, you will only become one of us should you eat that¡­ That bell in your hair, too,¡± the count said, pointing at Sofia, ¡°It is clearly tainted. I know not where you picked it up, but it would be best left behind.¡± Right¡­ Good opportunity. ¡°That¡¯s a shame. I quite like the soft ringing of this bell,¡± Sofia said, sounding dejected, as she played with the bell in her hair. ¡°Definitely a strange-sounding bell¡­¡± the count said, ¡°It feels warm and distant. That is quite reminiscent of our Queen, I must say¡­¡± Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. So he can hear it. Safe to assume he¡¯s not been lying until now, then¡­ ¡°What about the ritual, then?¡± Alith asked, ¡°What about the lighthouse? The towers? The blessed daggers?¡± ¡°The chancellor¡¯s last attempt at righting his wrongs,¡± the count said, ¡°he¡¯s gone madder than the rest of us. Believes we can yet be saved by harnessing the power of the blood before it changes us. The light is supposed to help us control it, while the ¡®ritual¡¯ is¡­ I need not even go into details, it¡¯s pointless. Forget about it. Forget about it all,¡± the count said, sounding quite annoyed and standing up from his seat. ¡°You know enough now, leave, and if you will, spread this story to the land below. Let our foolishness be a cautionary tale,¡± he continued as he walked to the door opposite the one leading to the hallway. He did not even look back as he addressed his two guests for the last time, ¡°Now if you¡¯ll excuse me, I¡¯d like to spend my last moments with my daughters¡­¡± The door closed, Sofia and Alith were left alone in the drawing room, with the painting still against the wall. ¡°I feel a bit sad for him¡­¡± Alith said, breaking the silence. ¡°Feeling shared. It was especially hard hearing him talk about his children when¡­ Yeah¡­ I can still see them, right now. They¡¯re¡­ Well, I said it before.¡± ¡°Tethered¡­ We still don¡¯t know what to, actually. I have even less of a guess now. If anything, I¡¯m more confused about this place now.¡± ¡°This definitely raised many questions¡­ But we also have some answers. And we learned that eating the fruit is a terrible idea, which, you know, I¡¯m glad we found out before you tried eating it.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a bit of a letdown, but I can live with it¡­ Do you think the queen was the actual Lord?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Sofia answered, ¡°Could be a marked-one like us. Could be the real Lord playing around¡­ Considering how bad the ¡®blood¡¯ seems to have screwed up everything here, I could believe it was the Lord, but then again, why come here as a mortal?¡± ¡°Right¡­ I could believe it if he said it was Orator, but the big universe-thing one? Didn¡¯t strike me as the type to come play pretend waving a sword around, from what you described it as. He also said something about ten lords. That¡¯s not very well-aligned with what we know of the actual lords, and-¡± Sofia was going to say more, but she abruptly stopped, having noticed something strange. ¡°What? Is something going on in the real world? Should I turn off the lamp?!¡± Alith hurriedly asked. ¡°No¡­ Everything is fine out there. If we can say that. It¡¯s just¡­ I think I saw the painting move.¡± ¡°The painting?¡± ¡°The ¡®Queen¡¯ in the painting, to be exact. But it was so brief¡­ I might be imagining things.¡± The queen laughed lightly. In the painting, her mouth moved, ¡°You are getting better at noticing my presence, Saintess.¡± Bookie summoned himself suddenly, ¡°Uncle!¡± he called out to the painting, with a dark tone that he had never used before. ¡°You killed Sofia!¡± he accused, ¡°I hate you now!¡± he blamed the painting with a pointed finger, before crossing his arms like an angry child, and disappearing back into his book form. ¡°A rebellious little one,¡± the voice from the painting commented, ¡°how nostalgic¡­¡± it continued, the words trailing off as if carried away by the wind. ¡°Wait, Orator, I-¡± Alith started, being interrupted by Sofia. ¡°He¡¯s already gone¡­¡± she pointed out. ¡°Asshole,¡± Alith grumbled in response. Sofia stared blankly at Alith. ¡°Do you have a death wish?¡± ¡°What? It¡¯s not like me saying it out loud changes anything. You think he can¡¯t read our thoughts?¡± ¡°I-...¡± Sofia started, but she failed to find anything else to say. ¡°We should probably leave¡­¡± ¡°Think we can grab the painting?¡± Alith asked. ¡°I was wondering about that too, but even if it somehow survives the shift to our reality, we don¡¯t have a working storage item.¡± ¡°We grab the painting off of the frame, roll it up and you put that in a bone cylinder. We can carry that. It¡¯ll look good in Zangdar¡¯s main room,¡± Alith suggested. ¡°Let¡¯s try it I guess¡­¡± Sofia stood up and grabbed the painting¡¯s golden frame, trying to see if she could find an intended way to separate things up, when she suddenly got a bad, pressing feeling. Pareth?! She switched to his vision. Pareth was not looking at the manor anymore, but in a different direction. Something was coming toward him from the distant horizon. Something huge, shining in a myriad of shimmering colors visible even through the moon¡¯s darkness. ¡°ALITH! THE LAMP! WE OUT!¡±
Chapter 610 - Infinite pursuit Alith turned the lamp off right as Pareth jumped inside of the manor¡¯s ruins. Sofia and Alith fell to the lower floor, as the upper one in the dark world had long crumbled. They were surrounded by the manor¡¯s tethered, but that was the least of their worries. The luminous creature in the distance was looking larger by the moment, Sofia caught a second glimpse of it as she landed, it was hard to tell from that far, but the thing seemed to have many long legs like a spider. Hurriedly, she grabbed the admin¡¯s dagger and after checking that Pareth¡¯s mana heart was in place, she sliced his main skull off, grabbing it along with his jacket. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± she said, sheathing the dagger back and that now free hand grabbing Alith¡¯s arm. Her skeletal wings spread out, and she flew off away from the creature, activating the second tier of [Runeforged Overlord] for some extra speed. She flew low to the ground, still uneasy about venturing into the complete darkness overhead, and she slowly turned, hoping that the creature would maybe just keep going forward like the strange horse thing from before. Carried along by Sofia, Alith looked behind. ¡°It¡¯s after us!¡± she warned, confirming Sofia¡¯s fears, ¡°Too fast! It¡¯s catching up!¡± Shit. ¡°How long?!¡± Sofia asked, unable to look back as she struggled to even see where she was going, as the darkness prevented her from seeing far ahead. ¡°Maybe twenty seconds! I¡¯ll try to slow it down, keep going!¡± Alith answered, hooking the lamp to her belt. Her one free hand hastily pulled some sort of ball on a string from one of her belt¡¯s pouches, then a sealed flash from another. Using her mouth, she unplugged a hole in the ball and unsealed the flask, hastily struggled to pour the contents of the flask inside of the ball and plugged it back up. It took her a good three seconds, but after this, she infused the ball with some mana, and her weapon was ready. Spinning the ball at the end of the rope, she threw it at the fast-approaching monstrosity of a thousand colors that kicked up a storm of moon dust as it pursued them. Sofia couldn¡¯t see if the ball hit, but she soon saw a flash, a brilliant white light coming from behind, accompanied by a burst of cold air that helped propel her forward even faster. She looked behind for a short instant, witnessing at the same time a gigantic wall of ice obscuring the entire horizon, and the creature bursting through it like it was paper. Not looking forward was a slight mistake, as Sofia crashed through a hard wall, but she was going so fast that it scarcely mattered, only barely slowing her down. She focused on the flight again. Alith threw another roped ball, engulfing the creature in a giant ball of fire. ¡°Not working at all¡­ This thing is probably at least level 400,¡± Alith informed Sofia with a dark tone. ¡°Keep trying!¡± Sofia was trying to save her mana. She felt that she could outpace the creature with the extra 146% speed of [Runeforged Overlord]¡¯s third tier, but she could only sustain it for at most a minute and a half. Sacrificing some mana, she shone some light behind her, and blanketed the moon, and hopefully the creature, with a thin layer of Erredian rot. The rot failed to appear on the creature. In that time, Alith had thrown a few more simpler flasks at the creature, all seemingly failing to have any effect. The creature grew closer. Pareth, being only a head, could not do much, but he still used his [Chains of the four seals], which broke instantly as they appeared around the four closest of the creature¡¯s many spindly legs. Alith screamed, her throat almost bursting, she unleashed the loudest [Maiden¡¯s shriek] she could muster, immediately coughing up copious amounts of blood. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. It did nothing. Sofia started to panic slightly. She had a few ideas, but be it flying up into the abysmally dark sky, or sacrificing all of her mana in a desperate hope that her signature skill¡¯s skeletal destroyers would be able to contend with the creature from the deep, none seemed particularly good. There was a chance that the creature would be more manageable in the light world, as injuries from one world also affected the other, but Sofia having no wings in the light world, this was an extremely risky gamble. Every passing second, [Bone dominus] healed Pareth for more than 2% of his health, slowly making him more and more unwieldy to carry, while the creature got progressively closer. Before the thing got too close for comfort, Sofia activated the third tier of [Runeforged Overlord], and started gaining some distance back as her mana burned. Despite that, the creature continued its relentless pursuit, the shock of its long legs hitting the ground one after the other sounding like a constant rain of cannonballs. Alith just finished healing herself, and asked the ultimate question, ¡°Zangdar?!¡± Sofia was conflicted, the escape orb was single use, and Erredis said she could only make one, so if they used it now, that was it, it would be too dangerous to come back here again before they could somehow make another or become much stronger. ¡°No,¡± Sofia answered, speeding past a ruined city in the blink of an eye, ¡°not yet. But keep it ready.¡± Then she had a sudden idea. ¡°Maybe it¡¯s after the fruit! Throw the lamp!¡± Alith immediately executed the order, throwing the lamp as far as she could to the side. The creature ignored the lamp, it was really after them. Like a predator running after their prey until exhaustion, it simply chased, not once even feigning to attack, as if it already knew that Sofia was bound to run out of mana eventually. Strange things flashed by. Whether it was monsters, buildings or tall trees, Sofia had no idea, they went by too fast in the moon¡¯s darkness. Worse, it seemed like the ambient darkness, which had lifted a bit ever since they had encountered the first lighthouse, was starting to become denser again. Alith tried throwing a few more things at the creature, without any success yet again. Sofia¡¯s mana was dwindling down, meanwhile Pareth separated his head from his body again as soon as his right hand regrew, discarding his bones and lessening the load on Sofia as much as he could. Sofia had a sliver of hope that the creature would stop for the bones, but it completely ignored them. Sofia¡¯s mana hit ten percent. With only seconds to spare, and no hope to escape from the thing, she had to make a hard decision. ¡°Alith, it¡¯s doomed! Teleport-¡± She was interrupted by a sudden and violent crash. She had been looking forward an instant before, and could swear she hadn¡¯t seen anything to crash into, but now she was sent tumbling into the distance. She had crashed into the ground, and was sent into several uncontrollable rollovers before her momentum finally died as she hit the base of a huge tree. Sofia spat out bark as she fell with her back on the ground. She was in the light world. There was not a sound to be heard except for the soft whispers of the wind ruffling the tree¡¯s green leaves. Where are the others? Sofia wondered, her mind shaken by the consecutive crashes. She could feel neither Pareth or Alith nearby, but Bookie appeared next to her. ¡°Sofia!¡± he cried out, utterly panicked. [You have been affected by : confusion. But your skills negated the status] Sofia¡¯s thoughts cleared up in an instant. I¡¯m fine. Give me a second. Despite not feeling hurt, she could tell why Bookie was so panicked, she knew she looked awful, as she could feel that every single bone in her body was broken. The blessed bone constructs of [Bone Dominus] did not exist in the light world, so they were not healing her. This was when she noticed that she still had no idea whether the undeath runes even worked in the light world. That¡¯s bad. Sofia started to use [Bone Dominus] to fix her bones, but Bookie was not so patient, summoning an old man in priestly garments with a blurred face, who silently healed Sofia in an instant with a wave of his staff. So the runes do not work¡­ The priest was a recognizable old man, even without a face, Sofia could never forget the gait of the high-priest she had talked to on her first day as a prisoner of the church. It was easy to look past it when he was only a skeleton, but this is disturbing¡­ Healed up, Sofia thanked Bookie and the high priest, stood up, and looked around. On the bright side, there were no signs of the gigantic creature of the deep anywhere. But worryingly, Pareth and Alith were both gone, and Sofia had a very bad feeling about that. They can¡¯t possibly be back in Zangdar¡­ Right?
Chapter 611 - Crow Day In the distance, a bright obelisk towered over the land. We entered the light, so I lost my wings, and this is why we crashed¡­ It¡¯s almost worrying that the creature is nowhere to be seen considering that we still exist in the real world as well¡­ But first¡­ Sofia grabbed Bookie¡¯s book form and ripped out a few pages. Bright mana mist escaped the book and transformed into a cloud of about two hundred birds. ¡°Search for any trace of Pareth and Alith,¡± Sofia ordered, catching the only bird with a blurred head as it flew away with the others, ¡°Not you, Crowie. We need you to be our translator, you understand?¡± ¡°CA CAW!¡± Crowie answered, wriggling out of Sofia¡¯s grasp and jumping to her shoulder. Good Crowie. Since the soul links were so messed up on the moon that Sofia had lost even her connection to Pareth at the moment, she could not follow the movements of the birds from a distance like she usually did. It was not long before several of the three-eyed spinew, Sofia¡¯s specialized reconnaissance birds, came back from different directions and started making bird sounds at Crowie. ¡°Tell us which one to follow¡±, Sofia told Crowie, who then pointed at one of the spinews with his wing. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Sofia grabbed Bookie and carried him as she ran after the bird, crossing several kilometers in a few seconds. ¡°ALITH!¡± Sofia rushed to the mangled corpse splattered against a rocky hillside. Alith was almost unrecognizable. She had protected the escape orb, cradling it with both arms against her chest, but the rest of her had not been so fortunate. She had hit the stone head-first, which had left a huge hole in the hillside, and had left her without a head. Instantly probing the corpse with her mana, Sofia let out a heavy sigh of relief. Alith¡¯s mana heart was intact and as lively as ever. Sofia turned around, watching the high priest come running, struggling to follow the pace. In a dash Sofia went to grab the high priest and came back. The high priest healed Alith without needing to be ordered to, and Sofia anxiously watched her head reform. Alith seemed to be unconscious, but her eyes suddenly opened. ¡°I passed out?¡± was the first thing she asked as she quickly stood up. ¡°You lost your head,¡± Sofia answered seriously, while Crowie jumped off of her shoulder to deal with the other birds that had followed or were just coming. ¡°Damn¡­ Where is Pareth?¡± ¡°We¡¯re searching!¡± Bookie answered from Sofia¡¯s arms, sounding slightly worried. Alith looked around, ¡°He¡¯ll be fine. Toughest one of us.¡± ¡°I feel like I would know if he was dead,¡± Sofia echoed the sentiment, ¡°but it seems he¡¯s hard to locate¡­ The birds found you almost instantly.¡± ¡°Were we far away from each other?¡± ¡°I landed a few kilometers in this direction¡­¡± ¡°What about the spider thing?¡± ¡°No signs of it.¡± ¡°That¡¯s at least one good point,¡± Alith said, verifying that the escape orb was still intact, ¡°I knew Dopple felt weaker in the light world but I never expected I¡¯d lose to a wall¡­¡± ¡°CACAWW!¡± Crowie interrupted after exchanging bird noises with another crow, pointing at the general direction Sofia had come from initially. Sofia and Alith exchanged a blur-faced glance and dashed in that direction without a word, Crowie and the other crow leading the way. Pareth was the opposite of how Alith had been found, he was nothing but a head. He had rolled quite far, the momentum carrying him more than a dozen of kilometers into the plains, until he had stopped in the middle of nowhere. Despite his state as a disembodied head, Sofia could instantly tell that he was fine, if unconscious. ¡°That makes it the second time he gets to enjoy the benefits of a good sleep,¡± Sofia commented, softly grabbing his head off the ground and brushing the dirt and grass off of it. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. Alith sighed, ¡°I assume that means he¡¯s fine?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Sofia answered, turning back to try to see where the high priest was, who had been left behind again. Alith decided not to wait, and summoned six small flasks out of nowhere. ¡°Hold him still.¡± [Soul Flasks]? It was a bit of a waste for Alith to use her cooldown, but Sofia said nothing, as she was still a bit worried about Pareth despite being almost certain he was fine. She held the head from the sides, letting Alith pat its blurry face until she found and opened his mouth, in which she immediately poured the contents of two flasks. Pareth¡¯s body explosively regrown from his neck, his clothes included. ¡°Pareth?¡± Sofia asked, holding him from behind. ¡°Brother Pareth!¡± Pareth¡¯s right hand moved. He gave soft pats to Bookie¡¯s head. Finally Sofia could relax. Everyone was safe. The group exchanged a few words about the situation and the deep¡¯s creature, but when they started to talk about what to do next, Crowie jumped into the conversation. He cawed repeatedly and pointed at another small crow. ¡°We get it, Crowie,¡± Sofia said with a nod, ¡°After you.¡± What has this crow found? The small crow led the group to a small wooden cabin in a sparse forest. Many of Sofia¡¯s birds had gathered here, and were looking at the cabin from the branches of the surrounding trees. It was clearly inhabited, as some thin smoke came from the chimney, but Sofia felt nothing from the ambient mana. ¡°I think I feel someone inside,¡± Sofia whispered, ¡°but they have no mana.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s not waste this opportunity to get more information.¡± Alith approached and knocked on the door. ¡°I¡¯m coming, yes!¡± a feminine voice answered from inside. Alith took a few steps back, and the door opened, revealing an avian lady in a plain dress, she had a long black beak and shiny black feathers just like a crow. Her face isn¡¯t blurred? ¡°Visitors? I did not expect that, no. This must mean I was right, yes,¡± she mumbled to herself, ¡°Well¡­ Want to come in?¡± she asked. ¡°Are you not going to ask us any questions?¡± Sofia asked. ¡°You¡¯re all way too low level to be a threat. No matter what happens next, it will be more comfortable to talk inside, yes,¡± the avian lady said with narrowed eyes before turning around. Low level, avian¡­ She¡¯s definitely an outsider like us! That means she must have a scribe. Sofia tried to Identify the avian lady. [Warrior - Lv. 400+] Right. This must mean¡­ ¡°Did you come here with Nex?¡± Sofia called out, stopping the avian lady in her tracks. She looked back. ¡°Come in. It¡¯s an order now, yes.¡± ¡°Well, looks like we no longer have a choice,¡± Alith said, having likely also identified the avian. The avian made everyone sit on a wooden bench on one side of a rectangular table, while she sat cross-legged on the opposite side. ¡°Nex¡­ Did they send you?¡± she started with no other greetings or explanations. ¡°No,¡± Sofia confidently answered right away, disregarding the tense atmosphere the avian was trying to create. ¡°I guessed as much¡­ You are too weak. If this is not a rescue mission¡­ This confirms I have been left here for dead. I expected that, but it still stings, yes¡­¡± the avian said with a sigh. ¡°Why are you here? Did the guardian not warn you about this place?¡± she questioned. ¡°Erredis let us in,¡± Sofia answered, ¡°We¡¯re here looking for something. Old writings from the Deep.¡± The avian¡¯s expression was hard to read. ¡°That you might just find, yes. If you don¡¯t end up like me before then. I would not bet highly on your chances.¡± ¡°Then can you help us? Any information would be welcome, and we could also try to help you get out of here,¡± Sofia offered. The avian laughed in a series of disturbing caws. ¡°How long has it been, outside?¡± she asked. ¡°The year is three thousa-¡± Sofia started to answer, the avian cutting her off. ¡°Three thousand fucking years?!¡± she shouted, the shockwave from her voice slamming Sofia in the face and blasting the four walls of the cabin away. ¡°Leave,¡± she finally said with a tired voice, ¡°I am lost, and so will you if you stay. Leave this moon. And be wary of the invisible stalkers. One touch and you¡¯ll end up like me,¡± she said, standing up. ¡°Wait, we-¡± Sofia started, only to be cut off again. ¡°My memory could reset any moment,¡± the avian said, ¡°I will likely kill you if I reset close to you. Leave. Do not search for me. If you find my link, do me a favor, and kill me, yes.¡± Before Sofia could say anything, the avian deployed her wings and disappeared, leaving the group speechless in the scattered remains of the broken cabin. ¡°No wonder the admin left the warnings¡­¡± Alith said, breaking the silence, ¡°fucker lost one of his companions here and left her to rot in a shitty cabin.¡± ¡°It¡¯s probably worse than that,¡± Sofia said in turn, ¡°remember what she said, ¡®did they send you?¡¯ ¡± ¡°Shit¡­ There are more like her?¡± ¡°How likely is it that we¡¯d find her by chance if she was the only one?¡± ¡°Man¡­ And that thing about invisible stalkers¡­¡± ¡°Yes, about that¡­ That¡¯s probably the giant thing we just escaped from¡­ Remember how I told you the Sun temple¡¯s parasites were invisible even to Sun? Yeah¡­¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡°
Chapter 612 - Fairy ferry The avian lady having left after only a few words, it left the group uncertain about what exactly to do next, despite that, they felt that they had discovered worthwhile information. ¡°But it does finally explain what is going on with the people here, somewhat. They just cannot form new long-term memories, as it all gets ¡®reset¡¯ every so often,¡± Sofia summarized. ¡°Maybe that happens whenever the village does their ritual?¡± Alith suggested. ¡°Maybe¡­ But at the same time, there¡¯s also an obelisk here, so I doubt that one village was anything special¡­¡± ¡°Is there a village around this one as well?¡± It was Crowie who answered that one with a caw, shaking his small head from left to right. ¡°Guess not¡­¡± Alith continued, ¡°Well¡­ Now that we know hiding in the light world is the solution to escape the stalker, we¡¯d do well to find another fruit soon¡­¡± ¡°We could always try to go grab the ones we left behind, but it¡¯s risky.¡± ¡°We can also rush out and run as fast as possible until we find another obelisk or lighthouse for protection,¡± Alith suggested. ¡°Hmm¡­ We could probably do that. Ideally we want to get to the royal palace or wherever the ¡®queen¡¯ was when she died. Considering her name, it¡¯s likely that the skill will be nearby.¡± ¡°The count did say it was on the other side¡­ Who knows where we are right now, though, we flew quite far in a short time trying to flee from that thing.¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t we follow the tethers?¡± Bookie asked after being silent for a while. ¡°I feel like the sky is dangerous,¡± Sofia explained, ¡°but we could try if we run out of options. For now¡­ I have an idea, let¡¯s set up camp somewhere near the edge of this obelisk¡¯s light. It¡¯s time for some basic necromancy.¡±
¡®Setting up camp¡¯ was just about chopping up a few trees so as to have a fire and not sit on the ground, since no one needed to eat or sleep. With a semi-comfortable place set up, they waited for their scout to return. Some two hours later, Sofia¡¯s fastest summon reappeared almost out of nowhere, a cute little blur-faced fairy in white robes. If one was to ignore her midenicite-blue wings, claws, and feral attitude, she looked almost like a tiny human. ¡°Found a target?¡± Sofia asked. The fairy nodded. She still has an ample lifetime. ¡°Lead the way.¡± This was Sofia¡¯s strategy. Wait in the relative safety of the light world, and let the fairy explore the moon in their stead. She was faster than even Sofia with her third tier [Runeforged Overlord], much sneakier, and could also unsummon herself back to Bookie in case anything dangerous happened. When the fairy found another light source, everyone could rush there and minimize the time spent outside where they might encounter another giant stalker. As it turned out, what the fairy had found was not another obelisk, but another lighthouse. Climbing to the top of it, everyone proceeded to wait in the crystal room while the fairy went out again. ¡°Think we could just grab the crystal?¡± Alith asked, sitting right next to the spinning thing. ¡°Maybe, but I¡¯d rather not. On the off chance that it¡¯s dangerous somehow. And also it¡¯ll be easier to leave if we still have all the known waypoints on the way back.¡± Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. ¡°We can just leave using this though,¡± Alith said, as she was still playing with the escape orb, turning it in her hands. ¡°We could, but there¡¯s no reason to waste it. I want to explore the dangerous underground layers of the planet at some point, and this thing could probably be useful there as well, from what I understand.¡± ¡°Fair point¡­ I¡¯ll be teleporting us all back if one of those stalker things ever comes too close though. If a single touch is all it takes I¡¯m not taking any chances. Don¡¯t want to become a tethered, thank you very much.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll trust your judgement, Alith. There¡¯s a reason why I let you carry it in the first place.¡±
The group followed the fairy¡¯s guidance several times, travelling as fast as possible from one pocket of the light world to another, failing to find another fruit to light their way. They found another village relatively similar to the first one at some point and managed to get some direction from them, learning that they were almost on the correct general way to the capital, and only needed to correct the course slightly. They had also tried bringing up the idea of the memory reset to the villagers but were only met by incomprehension. A sort of routine slowly installed itself as the group flew from one place to the next, by a stroke of luck, never meeting another stalker, and simply taking in the beautiful sights of the light world and the depressing reality of the dust-covered moon. One thing that was becoming evident now was that the light world was stuck in a permanent never ending day. Despite there being ¡®sunlight¡¯, there was no actual sun, and the sky just stayed eternally blue. The fairy, this time was leading the group through a darkness so intense the group had to slow down. It had been getting progressively worse, but now it was reminding Sofia of her time in Sorrow¡¯s palace, when all she had to light the way was her tiny candle, which she now wished she was able to take out of her storage ring. All of a sudden the world shifted, the group¡¯s clothes changing and the skeletons regaining a fleshy envelope once more. But it was still very dark. ¡°It¡¯s night?¡± Alith asked, surprised by the unexpected change. Sofia had a much better low-light vision, so she could immediately tell what was really happening. ¡°No¡­¡± she said, looking up, ¡°it¡¯s not that it¡¯s night¡­ The sky¡­ It¡¯s covered in tethers. They all converge in this direction,¡± she explained, pointing straight ahead. Tweaking the [VPPV] parameters, she let her hair glow stronger, to provide the group with some light. ¡°Looks like we¡¯re at the foot of a hill¡­ Still can¡¯t see anything up there, but I¡¯ll take your word for it,¡± Alith said, taking a few steps up the hill before she stopped and looked back at Sofia who was still looking up at the sky. ¡°Wait, Sof¡­ Tethers¡­ In the light world?¡± Sofia looked around. Here the grass was not as verdant as it was in the rest of the light world, there were fewer bushes and flowers, and most of all, it all seemed a bit dusty. ¡°It looks like the two worlds are getting mixed up here.¡± ¡°That ain¡¯t a good sign¡­ We might not be safe here.¡± ¡°But we might finally find what we¡¯re looking for. Keep a hand on the escape orb, we go carefully.¡± The group silently climbed up the small hill, stopping at the top. From there, they were able to see quite far away. Despite the zone being dark, obscured by the thousands of overlapping tethers covering the sky, many weak sources of light let everyone appreciate the haunting scenery sprawling below. Before them was a grandiose, beautiful city built on an island at the center of a wide lake. The houses of white stones with red roof-tiles were tightly packed, most of them two or three floors tall, creating a labyrinth of meandering narrow streets and alleyways. But amidst the beauty of the city, the fractures between the two worlds were unmistakable. Large sections of buildings stood in pristine condition, their windows softly reflecting the shimmering light of the deep, but others were a cruel reminder of what the city had become. Ruins interrupted the seamless rows of homes, their walls crumbling into dust, exposing hollow interiors where furniture had long since rotted away. Some structures flickered between states, pristine one moment, collapsed the next, as though unsure which world they belonged to. The lake surrounding the city was no less strange. Where it should have been an unbroken mirror of still water, vast, empty holes tarnished its beauty, they were perfectly round gaps where the lake simply ceased to exist. They revealed the dry, cracked bed of the real world¡¯s long-dead reservoir beneath, a stark contradiction to the shimmering water that still lapped at the edges of the island. Finally, two main things attracted Sofia¡¯s eyes, firstly, the light. There were countless smaller ¡®stalkers¡¯ and other creatures of the deep prowling in and around the city. Behind the windows in the houses, in the streets, on the rooftops, their shimmering colors were the only sources of light, and they were everywhere. Secondly, the palace. A tall dark and golden tree pierced the roof of the royal palace, becoming its tallest spire. This was where the tethers converged, or rather, where they originated from, they were the thousands of branches of the giant twisting tree. Sofia scanned the city below, her grip tightening around her staff. ¡°This¡­ is not going to be easy.¡±
Chapter 613 - Careful approach Sofia¡¯s staff flickered in her hand, her own appearance oscillating unstably between her light and dark world forms for a few seconds before stabilizing in the light world one, making the staff completely disappear. Alith was going through something similar, her outfit and weapons changing randomly as she observed the lake and the city, her face blurring and becoming clear again in quick succession. ¡°Even just crossing the lake might be dangerous,¡± she said after a long while, ¡°our goal is the palace, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Not only the palace,¡± Sofia answered, pointing at another part of the city, ¡°see that tall chapel right there? This is where we¡¯ll find the dead god.¡± ¡°The one with a spire floating in the air?¡± ¡°Yes. The higher floors are completely gone in the real world. It looks like it¡¯s caught in an in-between state.¡± ¡°Did your vision show anything else?¡± ¡°No, I recognize the shape of the building, but that¡¯s it. I couldn¡¯t even get a glimpse of the city in the vision.¡± ¡°Which one do we go for first?¡± Bookie asked from up in Pareth¡¯s arms. ¡°Whichever one the monsters in the city will let us reach,¡± Sofia answered, observing the deep creatures. They were numerous and varied, some taking an arachnid shape similar to the giant stalker, while many had more unconventional forms, some being somewhat humanoid, some others being utterly indescribable with words. ¡°Ah shit¡­¡± Sofia mumbled as she spotted a honeycomb-like entity hiding inside of a house. Alith turned to Sofia, ¡°What?¡± ¡°Parasite,¡± Sofia said without more explanation. ¡°Hmm¡­ Well at least these ones you know how to deal with,¡± Alith replied, crossing her arms, ¡°The small stalkers are more worrying. I couldn¡¯t do anything to the big one.¡± ¡°Hopefully the smaller ones are weaker, and I¡¯m correct, the parasites like the small stalkers can all be dealt with in the same way, but we need something to make the rot stick to them, is the issue.¡± ¡°We just need some non-carbon black powder, right?¡± ¡°Even the carbon can work,¡± Sofia said, ¡°The rot won¡¯t eat its own byproducts but what matters is that the holy light does not get reflected. I confirmed when we were fleeing from the stalker that it reacted to holy light the same way as the parasites. So the rot¡¯s carbon powder should do the trick, that¡¯s not the issue.¡± ¡°Then what is it?¡± ¡°Let me show you¡­¡± Sofia said, bending down to pick a flower, placing it in her open palm. She carefully shone a thin ray of light on her hand, covering the flower in rot. It was devoured and disappeared, leaving nothing behind. ¡°No powder?¡± Alith immediately understood. Sofia showed her empty hand. ¡°I found that out when we were waiting for the fairy¡­ The carbon powder doesn¡¯t exist in the light world.¡± ¡°And neither do my pouches¡­¡± Alith added, ¡°So we can only reliably kill them outside of the light world?¡± ¡°Assuming we can kill them at all. The parasites¡¯ flying swarms are particularly scary already. And we have no information on the others at all¡­ Our best bet is probably to try to avoid fighting at all.¡± ¡°Maybe you could switch to that master thief title and go without us?¡± Alith suggested without much enthusiasm. ¡°That¡¯s not even an option. The dagger disappears in the light world, so my title isn¡¯t active¡­¡± Sofia explained, stopping before she could find anything else to say as she heard something unexpected. ¡°Does anyone else hear that?¡± If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Everyone was silent for a few seconds, but no one else seemed to hear anything. ¡°The water, the wind, the creaking of branches,¡± I hear nothing else,¡± Alith said first. ¡°I don¡¯t hear anything either!¡± Bookie added, and Pareth seemed to be the same. It stopped¡­ ¡°I¡¯m almost certain I heard someone singing,¡± Sofia explained. ¡°Either you misheard, or there¡¯s still someone alive in the city,¡± Alith deduced. Looking at the shimmering deep creatures lurking around every corner, Sofia found it hard to believe there could possibly be anyone still alive in there. ¡°Maybe someone from the deep is singing,¡± Bookie said, ¡°the one that helped us at the academy wasn¡¯t a mindless creature at all so it could sing!¡± ¡°The ¡®student¡¯?¡± Alith asked, ¡°It¡¯s true that it never attacked anyone, and it acted somewhat¡­ Civilized.¡± ¡°Well, let¡¯s just keep that possibility in mind. We should get going, the faster we¡¯re out of here the better.¡± Sofia resummoned the Fairy which had just timed-out, as well as her olden bird recon unit of 54 black turvins. Bookie¡¯s summons were just like everyone else, constantly flickering between the fleshy and regular skeletal form. They sent a single bird to the city, Sofia being well aware of the dangers the Deep creatures could pose to Bookie¡¯s summons. Nevertheless, as long as the most important ones like Crowie or the engineer were safe, she was ready to accept sacrifices. The bird flew over the hole-ridden lake for all of three seconds before a luminous eel-like creature jumped from under the water. The attack was fast, clean, and almost silent. The giant deep eel jumped a hundred meters up into the sky, its wide maws engulfed the bird mid-flight at the apex of its jump, and plunged back into the calm waters in the blink of an eye. The bird did not even have the time or chance to unsummon itself. ¡°It¡¯s gone¡­¡± Bookie announced, his voice shaking a little. Sofia sighed and gave Bookie a few headpats. ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re going to be fine?¡± The idea of permanently sacrificing a few skeletons to the deep creatures if needed was something that Bookie himself had suggested earlier when the group discussed what to do should they encounter the stalker again. He knew he was going to have to eventually abandon many of his precious skeletons as Sofia replaced his pages anyway, since he was still limited to fifty of them. Despite that, it was clear that he did not enjoy the process. Sofia was also a bit reluctant, but it was undeniable that the information the lost bird had just taught them was invaluable. ¡°It¡¯s alright¡­¡± Bookie mumbled, ¡°they willingly follow our orders, I¡¯m not even forcing them¡­¡± he explained with a sad voice, ¡°the others will all go if you ask them too.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s not. It¡¯s better to limit the sacrifices. At least now we know, both the lake and the airspace above aren¡¯t safe¡­¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t leave us with many options,¡± Alith noted, ¡°We can try to go even higher, bet on a teleportation despite the unstable space, or dig under the lake.¡± Looking up, Sofia shot down one of Alith¡¯s suggestions, ¡°Going higher isn¡¯t it. I didn¡¯t see them before, but there are things hanging off of the tethers. Like bats, maybe? I can¡¯t see well, but they¡¯re not deep-colored, at least.¡± ¡°More skin dust monsters?¡± Alith asked, ¡°We might have understood the tethered were people but there¡¯s still no explanation for the smaller dust crawlers and the horse thing you saw in the first city.¡± ¡°Likely skin monsters, yes,¡± Sofia confirmed, ¡°Either way, flying seems like a bad idea. Though perhaps we could try to back out and enter from above the tethers, directly to the tree.¡± After some deliberation, Sofia sent a bird back to the outside, to see if the idea of climbing over the tethers was safe. It was not long before Bookie announced in a whimper that this bird had also permanently died. Sofia consoled him while Alith tried to think of another way in, squatting as she observed the distant city. ¡°If only Asty was here, I bet she could teleport us there safely,¡± she commented. ¡°She cannot see the deep monsters,¡± Sofia rebutted, ¡°I would not bring her here in a million years.¡± ¡°I know. Just saying. Looks like we¡¯re going to have to dig. Are you gonna bust out the sandworms?¡± ¡°They¡¯re not great for digging through dirt and rocky terrain like this,¡± Sofia denied, shaking her head, ¡°but I do have the skeletons for the situation,¡± she proudly declared, ripping one of Bookie¡¯s pages to summon a small army of digger Kidjikkiks. They were rarely used, as she could normally just phase through the ground with the graveyard skeletons, but Sofia finally felt validated about having kept the diggers all this time. The centipede-like Kidjikkiks were originally living inside of one of Cerberus-beta¡¯s moons; this was exactly their field of expertise. After Sofia and Alith decided on the exit point that seemed the safest in an obviously empty and somewhat isolated house in a corner of the city, the Kidjikkiks started to dig. In a few minutes, the Kidjikkiks had already dug deep enough, and started to head toward the city from under the lake, everyone else following them from a safe distance.
Chapter 614 - What will be left of you The tunnel of the Kidjikkiks pierced through the walls of an underground facility long before they could reach the city. Catacombs. Everyone was on high alert. Sofia ordered a single Kidjikkik to step forward into the grim-looking subterranean gallery. The catacombs, or this section, at least, was in the real world. No sign of a deep creature yet. Sofia held a brittle bone flask full of rot dust. She had prepared dozens of them while the Kidjikkiks dug, and distributed them across the group along with bone bandoliers to keep them at hand¡¯s reach. Unfortunately, they did not exist in the light world, so they would have to find another way to attack the deep creatures there. The scouting-duty Kidjikkik soon came back unharmed. ¡°This room should be safe,¡± Sofia told the others, ¡°let¡¯s see if we can reach the surface through the catacombs. I¡¯m getting a bit worried that the digging is too noisy, it could be disastrous if something was waiting for us at our exit point.¡± ¡°I approve, also look at these tombs, this is too luxurious to be commoner graves. These could lead us directly to the palace if we¡¯re lucky.¡± ¡°My thoughts exactly,¡± Sofia agreed, ¡°These seem to be mostly empty though, I can¡¯t feel any bones from here, at least.¡± After the group carefully stepped inside of the catacombs, Sofia dismissed the Kidjikkiks. From up close, it was easy for Sofia to check inside of the coffins with her mana senses. ¡°There¡¯s only dust in there¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯d rather that than something else,¡± Alith commented, a hand on her rapier¡¯s pommel. Finding a skeleton to feed Bookie could help us navigate the place. These coffins are all cracked. Maybe if there''s one in better condition somewhere? The stone doors that closed this room of the catacombs were barely holding on, breaking apart with loud noises when Pareth tried to open them. Thankfully, there were no creatures in the corridor. ¡°The entire catacombs are outside of the light world, it looks like,¡± Sofia said, scouting ahead with a vision token on her skeleton rat. She could not maintain the connection at a very long distance compared to usual, but it was enough to scout the surrounding rooms and make sure she was not missing anything with her mana senses. ¡°There¡¯s at least one floor below, but I don¡¯t feel a way up from here. We¡¯ll have to explore a bit.¡± The underground tunnels of the catacombs were dry and dusty, yet the complete darkness and silence outside of the group¡¯s presence made them feel strangely safe. The group explored several rooms, finding nothing of interest as all burial relics and other such decorations had long rotted or rusted away. They found inscriptions, in a language they couldn¡¯t read, and Sofia found some spare brittle bone bits in the most expensive-looking, better-sealed marble coffins, but nothing close to a single full bone, let alone a skeleton. ¡°I wonder why there are no monsters here,¡± Alith said as she opened another room, ¡°Maybe the catacombs were condemned because of that plague they went through, so nothing can come in?¡± ¡°Perhaps. It¡¯s curious that we¡¯ve gone this far and not found a way up yet.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not too late to start digging up again.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s search a bit more¡­¡± The group let itself be guided by the catacombs¡¯ twists and turns. At the turn of a corridor, Alith suddenly jumped back and drew her sword. The others instantly fell into formation, Pareth stepping in front of her, summoning two shields of Light, Sofia instinctively starting to channel a piercing bolt, and Bookie hiding behind her. Nothing happened. The corridor was empty. Alith blinked a few times. ¡°I could swear I saw something move in the dark¡­¡± Sofia extended her mana senses into the nearby rooms, as far as she could keep a detailed perception of things, but she did not see much. The catacombs were a relatively low mana environment, limiting her visibility. ¡°No mana movements,¡± she said after a few seconds, ¡°maybe just a trick of the light? Let¡¯s proceed even more carefully. I¡¯ll send a rat to scout the turns ahead of us.¡± Some time later, it was Sofia who stopped the march. ¡°I feel something! Bones!¡± She excitedly whispered to the others. A skeleton from the lost epoch! Following her senses, Sofia entered one of the catacombs¡¯ chambers after removing the stone door. To cover their back, she plugged the door frame with a door made from her bone armor before turning to her prize. There was a single coffin in the room, on a large central pedestal. The coffin was made of thick marble-like stone with a tarnished golden hue, and was decorated with masterful carvings of jewels and coins, as if to expose the wealth of the owner even in death. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Must¡¯ve been a rich noble with bad taste,¡± Alith commented, ¡°Doubt the skeleton¡¯ll very be useful even if you can use it.¡± ¡°As long as it can guide us through the catacombs and the city it will be more than enough,¡± Sofia answered, already forcing the lid of the coffin open. The skeleton inside was in a bad state of advanced decomposition, she could tell with a glance that the bones were terribly brittle, several of them already broken under their own weight, but despite that, the bones were still mostly there. ¡°Bookie, can you work with that?¡± Bookie stood on his tiptoes to look inside of the coffin, holding onto the edge of it. ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m not sure, Sofia¡­¡± ¡°But there¡¯s a chance?¡± Bookie nodded, ¡°A chance. But even if it works, it will probably be very not smart¡­ It¡¯s too old and decrepit¡­¡± ¡°Well, let¡¯s try, we just need to dismiss another page first¡­ Probably that page with a single stone-ogre.¡± Bookie accepted the suggestion with a nod, and Sofia herself felt a slight mental tear as the page disappeared. Bookie¡¯s book form then flew out and threw itself into the coffin. It opened up, gobbled up the skeleton in an instant, and closed back up before flying right into Sofia¡¯s hand. ¡°So?¡± ¡°I think it¡¯s very very not smart,¡± Bookie answered. ¡°But it worked?¡± Sofia said, opening the book. There it was, a new page with a skeleton that looked to be in bad shape even in the drawing. It was drawn leaning back into a pile of coins, and could be summoned for the stupendous price of 30 mana. ¡°It¡¯s worth three skeleton rats,¡± Alith deadpanned. ¡°That¡­ Crowie is the smartest behind the engineer and he¡¯s only worth 10 mana, you know. It doesn¡¯t mean much¡­¡± Sofia tried to rationalize, tearing off the page to summon it, but she knew even her most basic archer skeleton was more expensive, this was the cheapest human skeleton to date. The skeleton¡¯s form condensed from the book¡¯s mist, managing the feat of looking just as rotten and decrepit as it did prior to becoming one of Bookie¡¯s summons. It stood there without a sound, its skull bobbing back and forth. Sofia fired an Identify at the skeleton. [Solar Forgotten - Lv. 299] Health : 3/3 Stamina : 8/8 Mana : 0/0 Lifetime : 17 935s/17 940s Sofia lightly poked the skeleton in the skull with one finger, causing it to crumble to dust. ¡°It might have been better to keep the ogre after all¡­¡± ¡°Sofia,¡± Bookie called out, pulling on her hand, ¡°Sofia, it¡¯s not dead!¡± ¡°Not¡­ Wait you¡¯re right¡­¡± Sofia finally realized, as the bone shards and dust remaining of the skeleton on the floor were not turning back to mana. She identified it again, to perplexing results. [Solar Reforgotten - Lv. 299] Health : 0/3 Stamina : 0/8 Mana : 0/0 Lifetime : -1s/17 940s ¡°The name changed. I don¡¯t even know what to make of this¡­ The lifetime is stuck at minus one. It¡¯s not even getting healed by [Bone Dominus]¡¯s blessing so it doesn¡¯t look like it¡¯s going to stand back up anytime soon¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s not even permanent bone dust, is it?¡± Alith asked, ¡°This thing is useless like this. But maybe it¡¯ll be able to guide us in the light world anyway?¡± ¡°There¡¯s a chance. Maybe he would even be able to speak. Or maybe not. We¡¯ll see. It¡¯s not like there¡¯s a reason to get rid of the page now anyway.¡± ¡°Do you think it¡¯ll still be like this next time you summon it?¡± ¡°Probably not,¡± Sofia answered with a shrug, ¡°But it¡¯s a weird case so I can¡¯t say for sure. Let¡¯s try.¡± Bookie nodded, dismissed the Forgotten and summoned it back. It was restored to its pristine 3 Health point self. Sofia was about to call it quits and resume the catacombs¡¯ slow and careful exploration, but she suddenly had an idea. She could give [Bone Dominus]¡¯s construct blessing to just about any coherent set of bones now, be it her own skeleton, armor, Pareth, Bookie, or even the Solar Skeletons. She rarely gave it to the Solar Skeletons, as they would lose the blessing when they died, which meant a loss of passive healing, hence why the constructs were usually Pareth, herself, and a bone ring she wore under her armguard. Since this skeleton seemed to refuse to die when it was killed, Sofia sensed an opportunity for shenanigans. As the skeleton was so brittle and weak, it was extremely fast to bless. It immediately made it much sturdier, but he still only had three health points nonetheless. Sofia lightly punched the blessed skeleton, and it crumbled again. It kept the blessing. ¡°I might be able to extend the blessing¡¯s range by just spreading this bone dust,¡± Sofia muttered, ¡°It¡¯s also indestructible in sunlight as are all of Bookie¡¯s skeletons, so I can find a few uses for this¡­¡± ¡°Not so useless after all, I guess,¡± Alith commented, ¡°not helping us right now, though.¡± ¡°Right, right, sorry, I just had to experiment a bit¡­¡± Sofia apologized, unsummoning and resummoning the skeleton again. It was still blessed by [Bone Dominus]. Sofia blinked a few times, not believing her eyes. I see. I see. The forgotten will not be forgotten anytime soon. ¡°Can you lead us out of these catacombs?¡± she asked the blessed skeleton. Slowly, the skeleton started walking out of the room, and started going down the catacomb¡¯s main corridor in the same direction the group had already been heading toward before. It only took a few minutes and two turns through the corridors before it led them to a closed door that Sofia¡¯s mana senses peered through. ¡°Stairs,¡± she told the others. ¡°Damn, it actually led us to the exit.¡± ¡°Sofia!¡± Bookie exclaimed out of nowhere, ¡°I can hear it!¡± Hear? Thanks to Bookie, Sofia also noticed it, the singing voice from before, its faint vibrations coming from the stairwell behind the doors. ¡°Oh wow, I hear it too now. There¡¯s really someone singing out there,¡± Alith said, ¡°I can¡¯t understand a single word.¡± ¡°Was this your old language?¡± Sofia asked the Forgotten skeleton. Since it did not answer, Bookie felt pressured to explain, looking down at his feet, ¡°I told you, it¡¯s not very smart¡­¡±
Chapter 615 - Behind enemy lines ¡°Well it¡¯s fine, not every skeleton can be Crowie. Let¡¯s open the door, we¡¯ll hear better,¡± Sofia told Bookie. ¡°Are we sure it¡¯s safe on the other side?¡± Alith asked, her hands already on the door. ¡°I don¡¯t feel anything weird directly behind the doors,¡± Sofia answered, ¡°but my mana senses get all jumbled up when I try to push it further up the stairs. The result of the pockets of the light world overlaps, I imagine. The rat will scout ahead but we¡¯ll have to be ready for whatever comes.¡± Alith nodded, ¡°Once we¡¯re up there, do we aim for the palace, the dead god, or do we follow the voice?¡± ¡°Whatever is closest to us, assuming we even manage to move around on the surface at all.¡± ¡°Alright, opening now.¡± Alith pushed on the heavy catacomb doors. The skeleton rat scurried through the gap as soon as it could, running up the spiraling stairs beyond the door. Shit, lost contact already. Dead? Sofia mentally asked Bookie, who shook his head in response. No? Oh, it¡¯s back. Must have gone through the light world. Just when Sofia thought the rat was safe, as Alith finished opening the door wide enough for Pareth to fit through, the connection to the rat disappeared again. ¡°Scout unsummoned himself,¡± Bookie announced before anyone could take a single step on the stairs, immediately resummoning the rat. ¡°There must be some obvious danger up there then,¡± Sofia said in a whisper, ¡°worst case would be a parasite blocking the exit.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t the rat communicate what it saw somehow?¡± Alith asked. Sofia picked up Bookie¡¯s book form and opened it, ¡°No way, it¡¯s still just a rat. Crowie or a human skeleton could maybe draw¡­ This one.¡± Sofia tore a page, summoning the elf caretaker skeleton she got from the sun temple. This skeleton was usually mostly used as a cleaning maid in Zangdar. She lacked much combat utility, but she was both smart and fast, making her perfect for the job here. The caretaker with her broom ran up the stairs. It wasn¡¯t long before she also unsummoned herself, and was resummoned next to the group. Sofia emptied a flask of rot dust on the floor and lightly spread it around. ¡°What did you see? Draw,¡± she ordered the skeleton. With a bone finger, the skeleton drew a few lines in the black powder. ¡°Oh¡­ That looks like one of the bat-looking things hanging from the tethers¡­ I guess they are down here too. Did it notice you?¡± The skeleton shook its skull. ¡°Interesting¡­ These things aren¡¯t even creatures of the deep, I think. We might be able to kill it.¡± ¡°What if it¡¯s a transformed person like the tethered?¡± Alith chimed in. ¡°I don¡¯t think we can take the risk to try and find that out. Better to send an assassin skeleton and see if they can get rid of it.¡± ¡°You have that?¡± Sofia pointed at the currently invisible fairy skeleton which had been following them all this while. ¡°She¡¯s our best bet. I have a few others but they can hardly compare. Go.¡± The fairy disappeared. The group had to wait all of five seconds before the fairy returned from the stairwell. ¡°Did you kill it already?¡± Sofia asked the still-invisible fairy, surprised, a query to which said fairy gave an answer by dropping something on the ground in front of Sofia. ¡°Physikstone,¡± Alith immediately identified, ¡°the bats are physical fighters.¡± Having noted this, Sofia sent the caretaker skeleton back up, and she came back without unsummoning herself, which meant the stairs were now safe. The group and the skeletons thus proceeded further. The singing voice became clearer as the group climbed the stairs, and with it they started to hear the light sound of an instrument. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Is that a harp?¡± Sofia asked in a whisper as she noticed the sound of the music. Alith listened for a few seconds before shaking her head, ¡°Lyre. Smaller, lighter sound, fewer strings, makes sense that we only noticed now. First time I hear one since being summoned here.¡± ¡°I see¡­ That singer has a great voice, it sounds like she¡¯s singing some kind of lullaby¡­ It¡¯s just so out of place, it¡¯s unsettling.¡± ¡°I think so too, but we¡¯ll know who is singing soon,¡± Alith said with confidence, ¡°even if we have very good hearing, we can¡¯t be very far from the singer if we hear the lyre from here. It¡¯s likely that she would hear us if we spoke louder.¡± ¡°We better stay silent until we know who we¡¯re up against then. Anyone crazy enough to come here to sing can¡¯t be normal.¡± The group took a few more steps up, stopped when they suddenly entered the light world again. The stairs in the light world were pretty much the same, if a bit cleaner, but more importantly this allowed Sofia to see the original appearance of the Forgotten skeleton. Old man. Maybe 60? Clear signs of wealth, golden chains and jewels, but all somewhat out of view¡­ The clothes are of great quality but not too showy¡­ Probably not any kind of noble. An old merchant, perhaps? Of course the face is also blurry¡­ ¡°He¡¯s still not smart,¡± Bookie commented from Sofia¡¯s side. ¡°That¡¯s a shame,¡± Sofia said, noticing that Bookie was quite right, as the old man was still just as wobbly and unresponsive as he was in his original skeleton form. ¡°Still, if he was a merchant like I think, he might still have retained some knowledge and be useful if we ever try to open a shop. But for now, let¡¯s not waste any more time on this.¡± The group then continued up the stairs, reaching the corpse of the bat thing that the fairy had killed. The fairy had utterly destroyed the creature, leaving behind only lumps of dry dark flesh covered in tiny claw marks, and layer upon layers of crackled dead grey skin scattered everywhere. No organs and no bones¡­ What in the fuck are these things? Were they people like the tethered? Alith collected a bit of dark flesh in a tiny sealed box and the group continued onward, as there was little more information to be gained from the scattered corpse. Finally they reached the top of the stairs, entering a building that seemed to be entirely in the light world. Some sort of funeral parlor? Sofia wondered, observing her surroundings. Can¡¯t feel any creatures in the other rooms, but the outside is teeming¡­ One on the roof as well, feels like a stalker. The windows, blinds and doors are all closed and barricaded from the inside. Someone tried to hide here, even in the light world¡­ The bat thing might have really been a person¡­ The singer sounds to be about a few houses over in this direction. Sofia thought, looking at one of the windows blocked by a pile of empty coffins from behind which most of the sound came from. That voice is definitely amplified by magic in some way or another. Doesn¡¯t seem to carry any malignant effect at least. Sofia dismissed the Forgotten skeleton, thinking that it was going to be a bother more than anything else now, but she let the caretaker and the fairy stay. While Alith and Pareth double-checked every room of the funeral parlor to make sure it was safe, Sofia extended her mana senses to the surrounding houses, carefully taking note of all the blind spots indicating either zones that weren¡¯t in the light world or creatures of the deep. Out of eight surrounding houses, three seem to be home to Parasites, and three are more than halfway out of the light world, which I can¡¯t scout from here¡­ That leaves two choices, but both of them have some other things in there that I don¡¯t recognize. Hopefully bats. Some of the deeplings are walking in and out of the light world zones so I can¡¯t keep track of them¡­ That¡¯s going to be annoying. The building in this corner takes us closer to the voice, Sofia thought, but we will have to cross the street to get there. The other to the back of the funeral parlor only has us cross a tiny alleyway, much safer but we would be going away from the singer. Sofia compared her mental map of the trajectory she had taken until now with her initial view of the city. Since she had only seen it from afar, it was quite vague, but she could still more or less guess on what side of the city she was. If I¡¯m right the palace is almost in the same direction as the singer¡­ Would be easier if I could take a real look outside, but the deep creatures are moving a lot. And that other one seems to not want to leave the roof. It¡¯s almost right above the entrance. It¡¯ll definitely notice us if we cross the street. After quickly discussing her findings with Alith and Pareth, they both agreed that they should go investigate the voice. ¡°Sounds like we can cross the street unseen if we just time it well,¡± Alith said after Sofia scribbled a map on the dusty floor, ¡°but we need to get rid of the roof crawler first. Are you sure it¡¯s a stalker?¡± ¡°About 90% sure, the general shape is similar, spider-y, but it¡¯s hard to be certain when I¡¯m essentially describing a hole in my mana senses¡­ Either way, I have a plan, hear me out...¡±
Chapter 616 - Pestle Sofia, in fact, had more than one plan, preparing a whole series of tests and possibilities as to how to get rid of the stalker on the roof, only to end up going for the very first one she had thought of. She had sent the fairy through a chimney vent to scout the outside. Using all of her stealth passives, the midenicite fairy was extremely hard to notice. If not for being able to sense the bones themselves with [Bone Dominus], and where all of Bookie¡¯s skeletons were at all times, Sofia would hardly be able to tell if the fairy was really there half the time. The midenicite bones made her transparent even to her mana senses. The question was whether the stalker would notice the invisible fairy. It turned out that it did not. The fairy still did not get too close to the creature, as Sofia did not want to risk losing it to the deep, but thanks to this outing, she could help Sofia draw a map of the surroundings and place the main landmarks of the city. Since it did not react to the fairy, the plan was to safely try luring the creature away. Under Sofia¡¯s orders, the fairy flew to another rooftop, that of one of the houses halfway through the normal and light world, and dropped pebbles on the roof to make some noise. The creature turned but stayed where it was. So even with the constant singing it still reacts to noise. Sofia silently giggled, she found it amusing that she was testing a monster for its hearing with Alith again, just like that time with the phageid larvae, except this time the monster stood on the rooftop instead of them. And just like the phageid back then a single hit could spell our death. Usually I would wonder if I¡¯m cautious for nothing but if even gods have died here¡­ The fairy awaited its next order. Pick up a roof tile and lightly throw it at the thing then come back. If it notices you, unsummon instead. With a crashing sound, a fired clay roof tile hit the creature squarely, upon which the stalker disappeared from Sofia¡¯s senses. I lost it?! Sofia felt the fairy rushing back in through the chimney, and her mana senses finally picked up where the hole created by the creature was now, it was on the other roof, crawling around the spot with the missing tile. It moved so fast it was like teleporting, leaving a blur of mana-less zones in Sofia¡¯s senses. Sofia gasped out loud. ¡°What is it?!¡± Alith worriedly asked in a whisper. ¡°It¡¯s gone,¡± Sofia answered. ¡°The stalker?!¡± ¡°Yes. There was¡­ In the house. It¡¯s only halfway through the light world¡­ Something was hiding from my senses by staying in the real world. All I felt was a long hole, either a long arm or a tentacle¡­ It shot out from the real world, through the two floors and the hole in the roof. It pierced or grabbed the stalker, I don¡¯t really know, then it retracted back to the real world.¡± ¡°Crap. So the light world here is not safe from the things outside like it was from the giant stalker¡­¡± ¡°That all happened in an instant too. I don¡¯t think I would have been able to react in time¡­¡± ¡°And it was silent!¡± Bookie added, ¡°I didn¡¯t hear anything.¡± Sofia nodded, ¡°Even knowing it was happening I heard nothing. The good thing is we should be able to see what did that while staying in the light world since the two worlds are mixed up in this city. It¡¯s just my mana sense that doesn''t work. Fairy, did you see what hides in that house while you were out?¡± The fairy stayed invisible and gave no form of answer, which Sofia deduced to mean no. ¡°Well, at least we¡¯re rid of the stalker. Now we need you to go check the house we¡¯re going to move to. Look through the windows first, see what¡¯s inside. If it¡¯s only dark-skin beasts you can kill, deep creatures or a mix of both you come back.¡± The fairy departed yet again. Sofia counted the seconds. Ten. Eleven. Twelve¡­ A handful of Physikstones were dropped at Sofia¡¯s feet. ¡°Already?¡± Alith remarked. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. ¡­ I need to summon her more often. Maybe she needs a name. Extending her mana senses, Sofia confirmed that the other building was now empty. ¡°We just need to clear the way here, the fairy will open the door for us in the other house. When we¡¯re ready we only have to wait until a good moment to cross the street.¡± It took more than half an hour for Sofia to find the opportune moment. Stalkers and other creatures roamed the roofs and streets, and after a careful analysis of their movement pattern, Sofia was confident. Now! Pareth opened the funeral house¡¯s door and rushed out, leading the way. The street was only about five meters wide and the group was only moving to the second closest house on the opposite side, it would literally take less than a second with their speed, but Sofia could still feel her useless heart beat furiously. The fairy closed the door behind the skeletal caretaker who entered last. I think nothing spotted us! Sofia barely had gotten time to get a glimpse of the outside as she dashed from one building to the other. It was the same as it seemed from a distance: two versions of the city were inextricably mashed together, one pristine and one in ruins, both teeming with shimmering creatures. Now she stood with the rest of the group in an abandoned house. The curtains were drawn but the building was not barricaded. The floor and walls were littered with huge flakes of dead skin and bits of shredded dark flesh. The fairy had once again utterly massacred the creatures, leaving no corpses to speak of. It¡¯s like the house was a mortar, they¡¯ve been crushed and ground to bits, all in a few seconds, by one singular tiny fairy... Sofia thought as she glanced in the direction of the invisible miniature lady hovering near the door. ¡°Pestle,¡± she mumbled, ¡°that¡¯s going to be your new name.¡±
Pestle led the way through the houses free of deeplings, Sofia¡¯s new name encompassing any and all shimmering-colors-creature, with brutal efficiency. Although the group¡¯s progress through the city was still extremely slow due to their many precautions to avoid attracting the notice of the deeplings, they reached the building that was the source of the voice and music in under a day. The voice never stopped singing or playing the lyre during all that time. The singer, it turned out, was in a very large building, which was almost unaffected by the mixing of the two worlds, standing almost entirely in the light world, except from the general area inside from which the voice came from. It was also not very far from the building housing a dead god Sofia had seen in her visions, which they were going to go toward next. After needing to circle around the singer¡¯s building for a good while to find a way in, because its roof was swarming with stalkers, the group finally entered through a side window. They arrived in a dark room with racks and racks of dusty, washed-out clothes. After double checking that the room was safe, Sofia grabbed one of the garish robes hung on the racks, its colors had lost their lustre but it was still an over-the-top piece of clothing that she could hardly imagine anyone wearing. ¡°This must be a playhouse,¡± Alith explained, ¡°the nobles come to these places to watch plays. That¡¯s how it was in my world, at least. My grandpa used to perform in theatres sometimes, though I¡¯ve never gone myself, but the most prominent ones would have costumes like these for performers.¡± ¡°Not a coincidence that the singer is here, then¡­¡± ¡°Can you still not feel anything?¡± Alith asked. ¡°No, the central part of the building where the sound is from is entirely in the dark world¡­¡± ¡°Any monsters otherwise?¡± ¡°A few. There¡¯s a parasite in one of the rooms I think, we have to avoid getting close to that one in particular. But nothing near us right n-¡± Sofia started to say before stopping herself, a hand on her mouth. Alith and the others immediately understood. The group had closed the curtains of the room right after barging in through the window, and now they could see rays of multicolored glittering light starting to seep through the gaps. Something big and luminous had just stopped right outside of the room. Sofia¡¯s mana senses when she tried to peer outside were nothing but a giant void. Alith gave silent signs, and the group started to slowly retreat toward the far door of the room, silently putting more distance between themselves and the outside, hiding behind the racks of old clothes as they retreated. Sofia was on high alert, her senses monitoring everything she could, and ready to cancel any magic thrown her way with [Heat Death]. Whatever the creature outside was, its simple presence unnerved Sofia like no other. For a reason she couldn¡¯t explain, it reminded her of Ormoncleth¡¯s envoy on its spire. The incomprehensible thing that had killed her skeleton dog. The fairy opened the door without a noise, and Bookie was the first out, followed by Alith and the caretaker skeleton, leaving only Pareth and Sofia still in the room about to exit. Sofia went first. The singer stopped. A sudden, heavy silence engulfed the moon city. Sofia and Pareth stopped dead in their tracks. Without the singer¡¯s voice to cover the sound of their movements and footsteps, they could not afford to move, even without the creature outside the window, just the stalkers on the roof would be dangerous if they heard them. Time seemed to stretch as Sofia stood immobile, one foot through the door, with Pareth right behind her. And finally the voice started to sing again, it was sharper, slightly tense, singing at a higher, wilder tempo. With it, out of nowhere, came the blanketing sounds of wind and rain as the weather suddenly changed outside. It was more than enough to cover the noise of mere footsteps, yet both Pareth and Sofia were still immobile, in shock. The music sharpened their senses, allowing Sofia¡¯s mana vision to spread much further and be a lot clearer so much so that she could perceive the city all the way to the doors of the palace. They knew that melody all too well. Remia¡¯s sixth symphony, second movement¡­ A Tense mystery of Autumn.
Chapter 617 - Two steps ahead With all of their senses amplified to the extreme, the group could feel each other¡¯s unease. Through the sounds of the sudden outside storm and rain as well as the singer¡¯s voice and music, they could hear faint, distant laughter, muted conversations, the sounds of footsteps and the clinking of glasses. It was as if the city and the playhouse had suddenly come alive, yet there was nothing to see through Sofia¡¯s mana senses. All there was were the countless creatures of the deep, stalkers and parasites but also stranger, smaller and bigger creatures that she could only begin to comprehend, observing the manaless holes they left in her vision. The larger creature right outside of the playhouse was particularly worrying, as Sofia almost got the impression that it was looking back at her. After a long silence, the large creature vanished, the disappearance of its glimmering light leaving the room in a cold darkness. Alith hurriedly gave the others a sign to move. Sofia and Pareth left the room and closed the door behind them, stepping into a long and narrow corridor, when the group heard a sonorous low-pitched growl coming from outside, drowning out the singer¡¯s voice for an instant. Where the sound came from exactly was hard to determine, but its effects were easy for all to see. ¡°Shit! Run!¡± Sofia grabbed Bookie by the arm and ran down one side of the corridor. The group all heard the sound of broken glass from behind them and from their right side in general. The hundreds of stalkers which had stayed put on the playhouse¡¯s roof until now were swarming in. Sofia could feel them all getting in, breaking through the external doors and windows like a tidal wave. No matter where the stalkers entered from, they were undoubtedly coming for them, all collapsing onto their location. They quickly blocked both sides of the long corridor, a swarm of colorful spider-like creatures, crawling along the floor, ceiling and walls like a moving wall. Pareth punched a wall to his left and the group ran in. ¡°This way!" Sofia said as soon as they entered that room, pointing at the opposite wall. Running after Pareth, she gave directions, as her focus was on keeping track of the stalkers and the other creatures already dwelling within the playhouses¡¯ walls. ¡°Parasite in two rooms, turn left!¡± The group ran through the playhouse, breaking wall after wall as it was just faster than going through doors, they avoided the flow of stalkers closing-in as best they could. Battle was inevitable, though the group was faster, the stalkers were coming from all directions. Since a single direct contact could mean becoming a tethered like the avian lady, the group fought back with their weapons as they ran. Pareth batted away several stalkers with his shields of light, Alith had the occasion to blow away a few of them with magically charged kicks, using a skill that Sofia didn''t even know she had, and Sofia herself had to swat a few with a hastily-cast piercing bolt. The ¡®battle¡¯ was a blur as they desperately fled. Sofia tried to lead them toward the singer, as this was the only direction the monsters were not coming from anyway. But the group was cut off before that could happen, surrounded. ¡°What now?!¡± Alith asked, kicking away a small stalker jumping at Bookie¡¯s face. ¡°Up!¡± Sofia answered, getting ready to jump. Since the creatures were on all sides, the only ¡®safe¡¯ option was the roof, which was now devoid of the stalker which were all inside. Pareth jumped first and the others followed through his upwards path of destruction. This turned out to be a mistake. As the entire group was midair, Sofia saw the massive creature which had been blocking the windows before appearing out of nowhere. It was a small Dragon. An iridescent, deep-tainted dragon, perched on top of a tall building¡¯s spire. It roared, opening its maw, and Sofia could see the deep¡¯s parasite honeycomb structure patterns inside. A ray of shimmering light escaped the dragon¡¯s maw, almost too fast for the group to react. Sofia tried activating [Heat Death] the only thing she had enough time to do, but even that failed. The attack was not made of mana. Pareth, Sofia, Bookie, Alith, and Pestle the fairy were all engulfed by the deep¡¯s multicolored light.
Sofia opened her eyes to the sound of pouring rain hitting a closed window. She was on an unknown bed in an unknown room. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Wh- Where? Abruptly sitting up, she instinctively pulled on her mana senses¨Cfinding nothing but a sudden violent headache, she reeled back, groaning in pain. No mana?! She heard hurried footsteps, and someone pried open the partition curtains isolating Sofia¡¯s small corner of the room. It was a blur-faced short lady in a white uniform, with bandages in one hand and a pair of scissors in the other. ¡°Goodness you¡¯re awake!¡± the lady reacted, seeing Sofia holding her head. She put down her things on the bedside table and came closer, putting a hand on Sofia¡¯s forehead. ¡°The fever is down. Don¡¯t move, I¡¯m fetching you some water!¡± she said, leaving as fast as she had come. Sofia tried saying something, realising that her throat was so dry that her voice was no more than a whisper. Her entire body was sore, her head was hurting in waves, and she felt a sensation she had thought she would never feel again in her life: a pressing need to pee. Aside from that, she could not feel her mana heart at all, nor anything else outside of the mortal senses, not her soul link with Pareth nor anyone else, there were not even any traces of mana anywhere. Her mind full of questions, she felt something move between her breasts. In surprise, she looked down, and was greeted by the best news since she woke up: Pestle¡¯s head popping out of the collar of her dirty linen shirt. The fairy¡¯s head turned around, as if checking if someone was coming, before entirely crawling out of the shirt. Sofia was about to open her mouth, but the fairy shushed her with her clawed fingers, shaking her head. The hurried sound of the nurse lady¡¯s footsteps came back, and the fairy, hearing this, jumped off Sofia and quickly hid under the bedsheets. You can¡¯t fly? Wait¡­ Can you hear me? The fairy was unresponsive, hiding under the sheets while the nurse filled a glass with water from a pitcher she had just brought, and put it up to Sofia¡¯s mouth. ¡°Drink slowly. Don¡¯t choke. You were out for almost two days.¡± This comment was what made Sofia almost choke, coughing on the water. She was so thirsty she ended up drinking three full glasses, and her first words, in this ridiculous situation, were to ask for the toilet. Walking past five other partitions in the nursing room was surprisingly hard, with how sore Sofia¡¯s entire body was, but she made it to the toilets in time, with the fairy hiding inside of her pants, clinging to her leg. With her primary needs taken care of, Sofia stayed in the toilets for a bit, trying to organise her thoughts. We were hit by the dragon breath¡­ And I don¡¯t remember anything else. ¡°Are the others here as well?¡± Sofia asked the fairy in a whisper, as she decidedly could no longer hear her thoughts. ¡°No,¡± Pestle answered, whispering back and shaking her tiny head. ¡°Wait, you can speak?!¡± Sofia blurted out, barely maintaining her voice low enough not to be heard by the nurse outside. ¡°Little,¡± Pestle answered, ¡°learn. Other no.¡± Shit. ¡°Have you seen them at all?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Since when are you awake?¡± Sofia asked next, but Pestle seemed literally lost for words, struggling to try to express an answer but managing to say nothing. Sofia gently patted the fairy¡¯s head with a finger. ¡°It¡¯s alright. You did great already. Let¡¯s go before she gets suspicious.¡± ¡°Are you alright in there?¡± the nurse asked from outside, knocking on the toilet¡¯s door. ¡°I- I¡¯m fine¡­ Coming out,¡± Sofia answered, leaving the small room. The lady¡¯s first reflex was to look down at Sofia¡¯s hand as she came out. ¡°You washed your hands, good. You must have not hurt your head as badly as I feared¡­ How do you feel? Let me get you back to your bed.¡± ¡°Ah- Thank you, but no need, I¡¯m alright, just a bit sore¡­ With a small headache.¡± ¡°Really? You fell down three floors, you know? It¡¯s a miracle you didn¡¯t break anything.¡± ¡°I fell? Was anyone with me?¡± Sofia asked while the nurse helped her sit back down on her bed. ¡°Poor thing, your memory must be a bit blurry¡­ You fell from one of the bell towers and crashed through someone¡¯s roof before landing on their dining table! No recollections of any of it?¡± ¡°None at all¡­¡± Sofia answered. ¡°Do you at least remember your name? No one recognized you either, so the repair funds for the damage you caused are still pending¡­¡± ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t,¡± Sofia lied. Of course she remembered her name, but it was probably better for her to be nameless in this city, assuming it was even the same city. Whatever the case, this was not the regular light world, she did not even have Aphenoreth¡¯s glove with her, which was truly a sign things had gone very wrong this time. If not for Pestle still hiding under her clothes, she might have even started to doubt whether her entire life prior to this point was not a figment of her imagination, made up by her scrambled brain after her fall. ¡°That is unfortunate¡­ Hopefully all you need is some rest and it will come back to you. It¡¯s the middle of the afternoon right now. You can stay here another night if you want, but that will be another two Orms on your tab for the bed and meal.¡±
Chapter 618 - Street rat roots Sofia left the hospital¡¯s care, paying five Orms for the treatment thus far, which the nurse took from her purse without really leaving her a choice. Sofia had hoped that she would find some of her things in ¡®her belongings¡¯ which the nurse had kept in a small lockbox she unlocked with an iron key, but sadly there was only a purse with a few coins and clothes that Sofia had never seen before, which weren¡¯t in a great state. She was waiting at the hospital¡¯s entrance for the rain to stop. The one nurse managing the place was very busy and had not been inclined to answer many questions, so Sofia had gained little information about anything. She looked up at the houses and the cloudy sky outside. It¡¯s definitely still the same city. Hell, the money is named after the ¡®Queen¡¯. There¡¯s even her face on the coins! The same as it was on that painting. What I don¡¯t understand is what this all really is. Have I become a tethered? Despite the stalkers everywhere there was not a single tethered in the city, which is an interesting detail. Can¡¯t be one big illusion or time travel I don¡¯t think. I¡¯m still immune to mind control and hypnosis, so that¡¯s not it. It¡¯s also not the regular light world or I would still have my mana and other things. But it¡¯s still linked to it, as we were brought here by that dragon¡¯s light breath and everyone has that disturbing blurry face. It¡¯s safe to assume Bookie, Pareth and Alith are also somewhere in here, since we were all hit by the light. Jumping up was a big mistake¡­ I don¡¯t even know what else we could have done at that point though¡­ We should have probably just started digging again as soon as we knew our position in the city. Would have been much safer to just join the singer, the dead god, or the palace directly from underground¡­ I think I was a bit too excited at the idea of exploring a city so intricately linked with the deep¡­ Well, what¡¯s done is done. If everyone else is here they must be in similar situations. Alith can manage easily, but that¡¯s a bit scary for Pareth and Bookie. Hopefully they¡¯re at least together, or Bookie will panic and Pareth will struggle due to his mutism. I hope they¡¯re safe. Pestle is still there with me so at the very least Bookie is still alive. What is curious is that she would have run out of lifetime long ago if I¡¯ve been comatose for two days¡­ Unless¡­ If time doesn¡¯t flow here at the same speed! This must be a simulated reality like the trials! We might not have become tethered yet! That makes me a bit worried for my real body though¡­ So now if my theory is correct, how do I leave? Death is not an option, at best this is like Joah¡¯s fake worlds and I¡¯ll be stuck wherever I die, at worst it¡¯s like the system trials and my real body will also die¡­ What option does that leave? I can wait for the fake world to expire. But on the off chance this fake reality has existed continuously since the fall of the real city, this might just never happen¡­ If I managed to somehow interact with the real world and kill the host, that would let us out, but if it¡¯s like Joah¡¯s, we would all suffer heavy soul damage from the sudden shift, so that¡¯s also not ideal. Not that I even have a way to do that¡­ That pretty much only leaves one option. Find the host, or whoever they built the fake world around, like Saria when Joah built the world around her, and kill them in the fake world¡­ Yeah that¡¯s going to be a bit¡­ I¡¯m to go against the creator of this reality with no mana and a low level human body, accompanied by a flightless fairy? Sofia contemplated the hopeless situation while counting the coins in her purse. ¡°Twenty eight Orms¡­¡± Doesn¡¯t sound like much. Sofia felt a true sense of powerlessness, a sensation she had not been nostalgic about, but on the bright side, she rationalized that with no mana in the air at all, she would only have to contend with other powerless mortals. That was a reassuring silver lining, trickery and merciless stabbings were, after all, ageless human ¡®racial skills¡¯ that Sofia was well-acquainted with. The rain is starting to let up. I should try to find the others, first and foremost, and a weapon. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
Sofia quickly discovered that navigating the city without her mana senses was a lot more difficult than it had been in the real world, but after going in a somewhat straight line for long enough, she managed to find the border of the city confirming once and for all that this was not just a lookalike place, but the same city on the lake. From there, she walked up all the inclined streets she could find, getting as good a vintage point on the city as she could before the sun could set, giving her an idea of where exactly she was. The playhouse, the god¡¯s tomb, and the palace. The hospital I woke up in was around that side, so quite far from where we were in the real world¡­ It¡¯s starting to get a bit cold¡­ I¡¯ll need to find a shelter for the night, especially if it starts raining again. As Sofia tried to look for the poorest part of the city, which was where she had the best chance to easily find a shelter, she heard a strange sound coming from inside her robe. ¡°Pestle?¡± Sofia asked, pulling on her collar to look inside. The fairy was still hiding under her clothes as the small being would probably be a strange sight to the people of the city, but she currently looked unwell. Sofia quickly looked around to make sure there was no one who could see her, and she pulled out the fairy. Sofia couldn¡¯t see the fairy¡¯s face, but she was holding her belly. ¡°Are you feeling sick?¡± The fairy shook her tiny head, but seemed to lack the words to explain her current predicament, then Sofia heard the sound again and understood the situation. I¡¯m getting hungry too¡­ For a second, Sofia wondered if maybe the fairies ate only plants, but she quickly dismissed the thought considering Pestle¡¯s teeth looked more like a wolf¡¯s than anything else. Running back a few streets, Sofia stopped at a street-food stall that was closing down, and managed to negotiate two grilled ¡®Cierodia legs¡¯ that had gone cold on the cheap for a quarter of an Orm, receiving a strange ¡®three-quarters¡¯ coin that looked like a C as change. She walked away from the stall with an uncontrollable smirk on her face. Her fingers on the leg bones, she could feel them. A meal AND a weapon. [Bone Dominus] works without mana! Sofia ate a leg as she walked, and gave the other to Pestle, hiding in a narrow alleyway between two tall buildings. ¡°Don¡¯t eat the bones, alright?¡± The grilled leg was about half of Pestle¡¯s height, yet Pestle devoured it all in about ten seconds, leaving only teeth marks all over the bones and not a shred of meat. Sofia looked at her with raised eyebrows as she munched on her own grilled Cierodia leg, which tasted like any other bird meat. You ate more than your weight in meat¡­ And your weight didn¡¯t even change I don¡¯t think¡­ Where did that even go? Either way, Pestle now looked satisfied, sitting down cross-legged on Sofia¡¯s palm. Sofia ate quickly, and started working on the two legs¡¯ bones. She was basically working blindly, without her mana senses and her ability to feel bones greatly diminished. Her control over bones was also terrible, worse than they were when she had first gotten the skill. It was slow and tedious compared to her normal, but in about a minute she managed to reshape one leg into a makeshift knife, and the other into a basic lockpicking set. Hopefully the locks here aren¡¯t too different than the ones I know. The nurse¡¯s keys looked relatively normal, at least¡­ It¡¯s honestly a bit shocking that the technology of locks hasn¡¯t evolved in thirty thousand years¡­ Or human technology in general. I could easily believe this place was a modern human kingdom¡­ Putting her critique of her own race behind her, Sofia refocused her thoughts on her immediate need for shelter, as night was starting to fall, and clouds were gathering in the sky above the city again. Sofia found a house that looked abandoned before she could walk all the way to the poorer looking part of the city, so she stopped there and waited for night to fall completely. None of her multiple ways to see in the dark worked, but Pestle could see perfectly well, so the fairy was on guard duty while Sofia struggled in the dark with the lock of the house¡¯s back door in an unlit alleyway. She fiddled with the lock for a good five minutes before giving up, it seemed the locking mechanism was not so close to the one she was familiar with after all. In the end she had Pestle carve out one of the windows instead. Though the fairy couldn¡¯t fly and was extremely weakened currently, it seemed her meal had given her some strength back, and her claws were still sharp enough to effortlessly slash through stone, let alone some thin glass. Sofia plucked out the entire carved-out window without a sound, entered the house, and carefully placed the window back in place in a fragile balance, using a few tiny bits of bone to lock it in place. The two-storey building was dusty and completely empty, as Sofia had seen from the outside. It was not great, but it was a lot better than spending the night outside under the rain. Hopefully the others also have some shelter¡­
Chapter 619 - ! Sofia woke up in the middle of the night with a dry throat, almost in complete darkness. That much sleep will have to do¡­ Pestle was sleeping on her chest like a dead log; Sofia held her with one hand and sat up. As she did, something cracked near her chest, making a sound similar to someone stepping on broken glass. What was that?! Feeling her torso with her other hand, Sofia found the source of the sound, a small patch of her robe had turned to a smooth glassy structure where the fairy had been sleeping. Ah. Right, fae corruption, that was a thing. Yeah, that¡¯s midenicite alright¡­ It spread this much in just a few hours. But there were no signs of it at the hospital. I guess she can manage it a bit while she¡¯s awake? Sofia wondered, still holding the sleeping fairy in her palm. Carrying the sleeper with her, Sofia walked up to a window. They were on the second floor of the abandoned building, making it less likely for anyone to notice them. Still pouring. Sofia could not see anything ahead, not even the neighboring house that should be just a few meters away. Just some lights in the distance. That should be around the palace area¡­ Well, at least I won¡¯t have to walk all the way back to that well I saw on the way. Sofia unlocked the window and opened it, extending a hand outside. Cold rain water filled her palm in a matter of seconds. Destitute under the pouring rain¡­ Is this place based on my own memories? Must be a coincidence, though such strong rain is rather rare¡­ I¡¯m glad Saria isn¡¯t here. Now¡­ I need to find the others. But that¡¯s easier said than done. I could leave a message at the funeral parlor maybe. I could also check the playhouse, but it''ll probably be hard to get in there looking like I do currently. I¡¯m not far off from looking like a beggar. For a while, Sofia weighed her options, her emotions calmed by the constant noise of the heavy rain. ¡°Wake up Pestle. We¡¯re going out.¡± The fairy growled a bit at being woken up, but she seemed eager to finally have something to do. Under the dark of night and the deafening rain, Sofia left her shelter. This was a terrible time for going out. It was the perfect time for what she planned to do. Trying to stay under the buildings¡¯ overhangs, Sofia moved through the city, soon finding herself soaked to the bones either way. Nevertheless, she pressed on until Pestle, who had the better vision by far, gave her the signal that she had seen something interesting. Sofia followed the direction the fairy pointed at, finding herself at the foot of a walled building. A small manor in the middle of the city. Perfect target. Since I¡¯m not a hundred percent sure this is a fake world, let¡¯s try not to kill anyone. Sofia walked around the walls until she found the gate. There is some light inside¡­ Guards maybe? ¡°See anyone?¡± Sofia asked Pestle. ¡°No!¡± ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s get in there, take off one of the gate''s bars, that should be enough.¡± The iron gate was like paper against Pestle¡¯s claws, and Sofia quickly entered the manor¡¯s compact and well-maintained gardens. She was tempted to take the loose iron bar with her, but it would only encumber her more so she had to leave it behind. After a quick sprint, she was crouching under one of the manor¡¯s windows. She held up Pestle to look inside. ¡°Anyone? What kind of room is it?¡± ¡°Leg!¡± the fairy said with enthusiasm after looking inside. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. ¡°Leg?¡± Sofia repeated. It took her a second to put 1 and 2 together and understand that Pestle was talking about food, because they had eaten poultry legs earlier. Food, must be a kitchen. Good start. Pestle carved out the window, and Sofia slipped inside. We¡¯ll have to be in and out before anyone comes here, I¡¯m soaked, going to be leaving water everywhere. The sound of the rain covered the noise of her entrance and her footsteps, so it was still working to her advantage, despite the cold and discomfort. I really can¡¯t see shit. Pestle guided Sofia to a counter with a few baskets. To the touch Sofia analyzed the finds: raw vegetables or fruit that she did not recognize, some cured meat, a small half-eaten cheese wheel wrapped in cloth, and bread from the previous day that was all soft and mushy due to the humidity. Sofia quickly took a few bites out of the cheese then stuffed some cured meat in her mouth to chew on, while Pestle devoured everything else, along with literally everything in the kitchen, by the sound of it. If the people here didn¡¯t notice the water, they''d definitely notice this¡­ But it¡¯s not what we came here for. Enough time wasted! ¡°Pestle!¡± Sofia called out softly, barely able to hear herself over the sound of rain. Sofia couldn¡¯t see the fairy come back in the dark, nor hear her, but she felt the tiny thing land on her shoulder. ¡°Good. Guide me to the door. It¡¯s going to be dangerous from now on, we don¡¯t want to get spotted. Be on the lookout for two things: reinforced doors, and chests.¡± Since there¡¯s light there must be at least one guard. It will make riches easier to find but harder to access. They would be guarding either a safe room or the owner¡¯s bedchambers¡­ Ideally I¡¯d need some clothes as well, hopefully it¡¯s not all men in this family. Wait, nevermind. Hopefully there¡¯s at least a tall man here. I¡¯d almost forgotten how annoying it was to get fitting clothes back then¡­ Pestle guided Sofia through a few of the manor¡¯s rooms without issues, the fairy sometimes leaving Sofia¡¯s shoulder to scout ahead by herself, running through the place with her tiny legs. Going blindly like this was nerve-wracking, especially whenever the wooden floor cracked under Sofia¡¯s steps or whenever she had to open a door, but Sofia made it to the stairs leading to the manor¡¯s third floor without trouble thanks to Pestle¡¯s guidance. This was where things were going to get harder. Sofia had not yet stepped onto the stairs leading to the third floor and she could already see some hints of light coming from the upper floor. She carefully took a few steps up, and pressed herself against the staircase wall, listening. The rain¡¯s relentless drumming outside made it impossible to catch subtle movement, but now she was thankful that it hid her own noises as well as she had hoped. She exhaled slowly, steadying her breath, then inched forward, climbing one step at a time, careful not to let her wet shoes slip on the stairs¡¯ varnished surface. After a turn up the stairs, she could finally see upstairs. Dim candlelight flickered ahead, casting shifting shadows along the hallway. Sofia stopped there in the middle of the stairs, her head barely peeking above floor level, she let her eyes adjust and observed the situation. She could finally admire the manor¡¯s lavish architecture, with ornate wooden beams, and a long carpet covering the center of the hallway. A few doors lined the left side, windows on the right. And further ahead... a person. No¡­ Two. One figure sat slumped in a chair beside a door, legs stretched out, the man looked at the ceiling, looking utterly bored. The other stood in front of a window, peering into the outside storm. Neither looked particularly alert, reassuring Sofia on her sneakiness so far, but the gleam of their weapons in the candlelight was unnerving. The first one had a polearm propped against the wall and a dagger at his belt, while the other one wore a rapier hanging at his hip, and a crossbow strapped to his back. Padded gambeson from the looks of their outfits. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll get out of this lightly if they notice me¡­ I need to be careful, these guys¡¯ lives are at stake. Sofia thought, looking at Pestle who stood on the stairs¡¯ last step right in front of her. Ugh, it¡¯s so annoying that I can¡¯t see their faces properly, it¡¯s impossible to tell if they even have their eyes open¡­ Sofia grabbed Pestle, crouched out of the guards¡¯ possible line of sight, and whispered to the fairy¡¯s ears. ¡°Try to open the first door on the left, be silent, they¡¯re both looking in another direction so if we go fast and discreetly enough they might not notice. If they do see us, blow out the candles first and come back to me. Don¡¯t attack the guards unless they attack me, alright? Did you understand everything?¡± ¡°Understand,¡± the fairy whispered back. Sofia released her grasp, and again peeked above the last step to watch over Pestle. The fairy jumped to the door, getting there in one move, and hiding in the small recess of the door, her back against the doorframe¡¯s interior, putting her in a spot where the guard could not see her even if they looked that way. Pestle then jumped straight up, latching onto the door¡¯s round doorknob, and she slowly let her weight rotate the knob. The door then slowly opened by itself, the interior of the room was dark. The guards did not notice a thing so far, but Sofia was still in the staircase. For a second, Sofia closed her eyes, focusing on her breathing. This is going to be so risky¡­ If only I was Alith-sized¡­ As Sofia was right about to go, after checking several times that the guards were not looking her way, she froze, every muscle tensed. The guard on the chair had spoken. ¡°Did you hear that?¡±
Chapter 620 - Dangerous bet ¡°Hear what?¡± the other guard asked, speaking softly but with wariness in his tone. ¡°Footsteps.¡± ¡°With this much wind and rain?¡± ¡°It was faint. Might¡¯ve misheard¡­¡± ¡°Leda going to the bathroom, maybe?¡± the guard at the window suggested, ¡°want me to go check downstairs?¡± Oh fuck¡­ If he comes this way¡­ ¡°Ugh. Don¡¯t bother, Dan, was probably just something outside, fucking storm.¡± Sofia breathed a silent sigh of relief. ¡°Right¡­ Weather¡¯s really been going to shit ever since that day, huh.¡± I should try to go while they¡¯re busy talking. ¡°Not just the weather, people are starting to go crazy. Hell, some girl even jumped off from one of the bell towers the other day.¡± ¡°Gruesome way to go¡­¡± ¡°For sure. Probably one of the farmer girls for the south side, I hear the last storm destroyed the fields, we might have a grain shortage next season¡­¡± Sofia quickly peeked at the chatting guard a few times, they were still in the same positions as they conversed, one staring at the ceiling and the other one at the storm outside. When she felt confident, she grabbed the ragged hem of her robe and gathered it together so that it wouldn¡¯t hinder her, and sneaked up to the door as discreetly and silently as she could. The carpet in the hallway helped to soften her footsteps, and the light from the guards¡¯ candles barely reached her, but it was still tense as she had nowhere to hide. Thankfully neither of the guards turned to look in her direction, and she managed to enter the room Pestle had opened for her without being noticed, softly closing the door behind her. Safe. Pestle climbed up Sofia¡¯s clothes, sitting on her shoulder and whispering in her ear. ¡°Other sleep. Chest here.¡± Other sleep? Someone¡¯s sleeping here? Sofia couldn¡¯t see much at all in this room. It was not in complete darkness like the lower floors, some very faint light came from a window with open curtains, and a minuscule amount was the candlelight coming from under the door. She stood still until her eyes adjusted enough for her to see the vague shape of things in the room. A single bed, and this thing in the corner must be a wardrobe. I really can¡¯t make any sense of the other shapes¡­ Sofia walked up to the wardrobe and opened it carefully. Thankfully the door hinges were well oiled and made no sound. Sofia blindly felt the wardrobe¡¯s contents. Good quality fabric¡­ That feels like a robe. So short¡­ Kids clothes. Unlucky. But that means it¡¯s not a single man living here, I¡¯ll need to find the mother¡¯s clothes. ¡°Guide me to the chest,¡± Sofia whispered to Pestle, who then guided her through the room. There were two chests, the first one was full of toys, while the second contained some jewelry, but Sofia had no way to tell what the few necklaces and bracelets were actually made of. It would be hard to sell them anyway, better leave that here¡­ Either way, Sofia did not feel great about stealing a kid¡¯s things, so she just closed the jewelery box and had Pestle guide her to the room¡¯s other door. Bathroom. Sofia understood as she felt the things present in the dark room. ¡°Another door?¡± ¡°No,¡± Pestle answered. Crap¡­ It¡¯s too risky to go any further into the main corridor unless I can lure the guards away¡­ Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! ¡°Do you think you can make a hole in this wall without making too much noise?¡± Sofia asked the fairy, pointing at a wall that should lead to the next room of the hallway. ¡°Make hole!¡± Pestle enthusiastically whispered back, jumping off from Sofia¡¯s shoulder. Sofia could then only wait in the dark, listening to the strange noises of Pestle¡¯s claws smoothly tearing through the wooden wall. After about a minute, Pestle climbed back onto Sofia¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Hole!¡± she proudly announced. ¡°It¡¯s done? What did you do with the part of the wall you cut out, is it still in there?¡± ¡°Leg!¡± Pestle answered. ¡°Leg? ¡­ Did you eat it?!¡± ¡°Leg.¡± Alright¡­ Sofia creeped forward, her hands feeling the wall in front of her searching for the hole, it was a round-ish hollow in the wall, which was made of two wooden panels with some empty space in the middle. Sofia went through, and ended up in a similar bathroom on the other side. Opening the door there led her to what she thought was another bedroom, but again, she could see very little. The guarded room should be the next one over. Do I go straight for it? ¡­ No. I¡¯m already here, let¡¯s see what this room has to offer. ¡°Pestle. What do you see?¡± ¡°Other no. Chest here.¡± No one? That makes things easier. ¡°Do you see a candle anywhere?¡± Pestle jumped off of Sofia¡¯s shoulder without answering. Afterwards, Sofia heard the bathroom door she had just closed open behind her, and not long after, Pestle came back, pushing things against Sofia¡¯s leg. Sofia blindly grabbed what Pestle had brought. Candle¡­ And a tinderbox. Haven¡¯t used one of those in a while¡­ Sofia hid in the bathroom to use the tinderbox, as striking a flint and steel wasn¡¯t exactly the most silent of things, and the more walls between her and the guards the better. It took her an excruciatingly long time to get a proper spark without making too much noise, but after what felt like half an hour, she finally had some light. So it¡¯s an entire wardrobe room! Sofia quickly looked around, there were both men and women¡¯s clothes in roughly equal number, but a single glance was enough to tell her that the woman¡¯s things were not going to fit. Before she tried anything on, she grabbed a few shirts and placed them at the bottom of the room¡¯s doors, plugging the holes. It would hide the light of her candle from the other rooms, and soften the noise she makes a bit. She then took some time to assemble an outfit from the things in the room. She grabbed riding boots from the man, and a pair of the woman¡¯s breeches, which were large enough but much too short for her long legs. The high boots helped hide the issue, which was preferable to putting on men¡¯s pants. Sadly, the woman¡¯s upper wear did not fit at all. And even the man¡¯s tops were hardly a good fit, but Sofia still managed to find one grey chemise that she managed to button up almost all the way, and on top of that, she put on the only other thing that fit her somewhat: a large brown fur mantle. That being done, she grabbed a pair of gloves and a few gold jewels from one of the rooms¡¯s lockboxes that Pestle unlocked in a claw swipe, and was just about ready to leave. Before that, Sofia checked herself in the room¡¯s mirror with her new outfit on. I look ridiculous. Better than the wet rag I came in with, though. The rain is still going, I think I saw a black cape near the door¡­ Sofia put down the candle on a nearby stool and grabbed the black hooded cape, Pestle can also hide under there, perfect. As she put on the cape, Sofia had a second of inattention. The cape knocked over the candle, the base of which produced a loud clunk as it hit the floor. Shit! ¡°You heard that?!¡± Sofia heard one of the guards outside say to the other. ¡°Wardrobe,¡± the other answered. Sofia panicked, she could hear the guards come this way. There was no way she could hide now, the guard would undoubtedly notice the shirt she¡¯s put at the bottom of the door, and it was only a matter of time before they noticed the other things that were wrong. Sofia pulled the hood over her head, ran for the closest window. A guard opened the door, he had Sofia in his direct line of sight, who¡¯s back was facing him as she looked down the window, she crouched slightly to appear shorter. Three floors¡­ ¡°Lord Istlen?¡± the guard asked, recognizing the cloak, ¡°Are you going out at this hour?¡± I can¡¯t answer¡­ ¡°Dan, the candle!¡± the other one yelped, as he noticed the floor starting to catch fire. ¡°Oh fuck!¡± Sofia heard the people in the room to her right waking up, footsteps running toward the wardrobe room while one of the guards was busy stomping out the candle. She used these precious seconds to weigh her options. She could jump out, run for the bathroom and try to escape through the kid¡¯s room, surrender, or send Pestle to neutralize everyone. Someone else entered the room, a booming male voice asking what was going on. Without a doubt the lord of the house. My cover is blown. The guards yelled something. But Sofia did not quite catch it, she threw open the window and jumped.