Rumble! Rumble!
Within the ancient forest, large swaths of trees were knocked down, countless birds and beasts scattering in panic!
Boom! Boom! Boom!! The four-legged golem, driven by mana energy, forcibly carved a straight vertical path through this difficult-to-traverse jungle!
“Ugh… Blegh… Blegh!!” Franlot, sitting atop the golem, felt like he was about to throw up.
It was like playing on your phone while spinning in circles in a car.
“We should almost be there… cough cough.”
And at this moment, compared to the bedraggled “destined protagonist”…
A petite purple-haired loli with faint dark circles under her eyes, wearing a moon-white robe, crystal glasses perched on her nose, appearing to be only eleven or twelve years old from the surface, stood perfectly steady “atop” the golem’s head.
But upon closer inspection, the girl wasn’t actually standing on the golem’s head with her feet planted. Rather, she was floating an inch above it.
And her pair of deep purple, eerie pupils stared straight ahead.
[Demon Eye Sage · Teres]
About a week ago, she had been drawn in by the “alchemy” theories and some experiments that Franlot had provided.
To learn more knowledge, she decided to temporarily… join this little group of his.
And Franlot had previously stated in the White Tower that he wanted to head to the larger human settlement of the East Capital.
After all… it had been over ten days since he’d had a proper meal, and the equipment on him was tattered and worn…
Xue’er naturally couldn’t help much. Or rather, aside from killing people… this demon blade maiden didn’t have any other particularly special skills.
As for Teres… this [Demon Eye Sage]’s status panel was as follows.
[Teres Harington]
HP: 25
MP: 21772
[Race: Human]
[Lv.41]
[Strength: 2]
[Constitution: 2]
[Agility: 1]
[Spirit: 427]
[Talents]
[Analytical Demon Eye·A: A heaven-born demon eye capable of seeing through all things. Can find an enemy’s weak point at the fastest speed and analyze the path to victory.]
[Golem Craftsman·A: A dexterous transcendent craftsman. Give her enough time, and she can raise a sturdy fortress. Give her enough materials, and she can forge an army with her bare hands.]
[Magic Blood·B: Possesses mana capacity far exceeding those of the same rank. Maximum MP 40%.]
[Born Scholar·B: Agile thinking and a clever mind. Knowledge often clicks instantly and is never forgotten. Document and transcendent knowledge learning speed increased by 60%.]
[Sickly Constitution·E-: A naturally frail body. Cannot perform physical labor. Strength and agility experience gain -70%. Cannot increase constitution.]
Honestly speaking, Franlot thought Xue’er was already specialized enough, but he never imagined there was someone even more extreme.
Of course, as a mage… and a craftsman, she was indeed quite formidable.
It’s just… with 35 HP, wasn’t she worried about accidentally falling to her death?
But Franlot had also observed this “Demon Eye Sage,” whose current [affection points] toward him were only 29, in action.
She rarely walked on her own. She always floated in the air just like now.
When she occasionally needed to use her hands for experiments, she would summon her golem.
She had a set of “golem armor” that resembled Iron Man from the movies… somewhat like an exoskeleton.
It’s just… her specialty was golem crafting. She couldn’t forge swords, nor could she forge armor.
She was completely unable to solve Franlot’s pressing problem.
As for the exoskeleton-like “golem armor,” that was even more out of the question… Without a [Spirit] attribute of at least 150 points, one simply couldn’t pilot it.
And Franlot’s spirit… although it had been raised a little, was still only 7 points at the moment.
So…
If he wanted proper weapons and equipment, if he wanted to make money… he had to go somewhere with people.
“At the speed of the [H-201], we should reach the Crystal Capital by tomorrow.” After saying this, Teres nodded quite approvingly.
The speed… was indeed fast, several times that of a carriage.
But… but wasn’t the suspension… blegh——!!
Franlot wanted to speak, but at this moment, he was afraid that the moment he opened his mouth, he’d throw up…
He was dying right now…
All he could do was pray that tomorrow would come quickly…
…
The next day, past noon…
The cool autumn wind blew through the manor’s garden from the side, and in the center of the garden, two people stood facing each other.
“Please go easy on me, Sister Reliel!”
The girl gripping the holy sword with both hands let out a deep breath, looking at the girl before her who only gave a slight nod, her face devoid of any expression yet radiating overwhelming pressure.
“Here I come!!”
Whoosh——!
The next second, the girl gripping the sword with both hands shot forward like an arrow released from a bow, the holy sword in her hands seemingly transforming into a streak of silver light in an instant, slashing out!
This slash was something even a seasoned sub-bronze rank soldier might not be able to block.
No one could have imagined that just two and a half months ago, this girl had been an ordinary person who had never even killed a chicken…
However, such speed, in Reliel’s eyes at this moment, was far too slow.
Holly’s holy sword could shatter mountains and cut through metal.
This had been proven on the road east earlier. Any weapon that clashed with her holy sword… could barely last three exchanges.
So Reliel didn’t choose to directly trade blows with her. Instead, she slightly shifted her body, and the fine sword in her hand shot out like a bolt of silver lightning!
Clang!!
The fine sword precisely tapped the blade of the holy sword, erupting in a burst of dazzling sparks as Holly’s body also became unsteady!
“Wha?!”
Seeing herself about to be carried off by the momentum of her own swing, the holy sword bearer didn’t just sit idly by!
“Desire Paradise: Wing!”
Clank-clank-clank!
The unbreakable holy sword in her hands instantly disassembled, flying autonomously behind Holly, transforming into a pair of metal wings.
After carrying her through several spins in the air, it came to a stable stop three meters above the ground!
Whoosh! As the wings flapped, several wind blades nearly invisible to the naked eye shot toward Reliel!
The wind blades were fast, but they weren’t like the holy sword in that they could destroy an enemy’s weapon.
Reliel simply raised her hand, and each time her fine sword swung out, it precisely scattered the wind blades, turning them into harmless breezes that brushed past her cheeks.
Pfft! After shattering the final wind blade, Reliel couldn’t help but take an extra look at the fine sword in her hand.
An ordinary fine sword would feel a bit too light and floating for Reliel, now that she’d transcended.
But this sword’s overall weight made it feel quite comfortable in her hands right now.
The fine sword’s blade was a little over a meter in total length.
The guard resembled three stacked rings… and from there, all the way up to the spine of the blade, dense runes were carved.
That’s right. This sword… was a transcendent weapon, named [Stacked Rings].
It was something the young lady had given her two days ago.
In her words, it was… a gift for her path of transcendence.
Of course.
The meaning of this sword for Reliel was more than just that.
This was also… the first true, meaningful gift the young lady had given her.
With a chance to test the sword like this, she might as well try out this transcendent weapon…
Sizzle——!
Holly, floating in the air and still thinking about how to attack, suddenly noticed…
Down below, countless serpentine arcs of electricity were dancing along the longsword in Reliel’s hand…
Hum! As the silver runes on [Stacked Rings] lit up, the fine sword, seemingly forged from mithril, instantly transformed into a blade of light!
“Wha?! This is…”
Holly wanted to retreat, but in the next second, she found herself locking eyes with Reliel below!
Those eyes…
[Roooar——!!]
A metallic dragon’s roar echoed in the holy sword bearer’s mind, sending an intense shiver through her body!
“Here it comes!”
And the next second, that clear, cold voice was like a phone alarm set last night, ringing on a morning bedside table! It snapped Holly’s trembling pupils back into focus!
But by now, the air ahead was already filled with shrieking lightning!
How… how was she supposed to dodge this… Sizzle!!
“Eeek… Aaaaah (trembling)——!!”
And watching her disciple get electrocuted into an X-ray photo in midair, Amisa could only smile helplessly and shake her head.
“Ahh~”
Although she had only lit up a bit of the deep sea stars as a first-rank transcendent, Miss Reliel’s foundation was simply too good.
After transcending, her already powerful close-combat abilities had fully stepped into the [white silver rank].
With full burst, that silver-white thunderous breath could even barely reach the level of a “third-rank transcendent.”
On the other hand, her own disciple, despite her strong talent… had far too simple an attack pattern, and her strength and speed were completely inadequate.
She also couldn’t withstand the “dragon’s might”… If not for Reliel’s timely warning, she probably wouldn’t have reacted at all.
Still needed to keep cultivating~
“Wonderful, wonderful~”
While Amisa was sighing, Ileya was off to the side, lightly clapping her hands with a smile.
Although it was her little sister unilaterally beating down the holy sword bearer, in the young lady’s eyes, it was indeed just a spar between novices.
But… as Amisa had said, reaching this level in just over two months was indeed impressive.
And… Ileya’s lips curled up slightly.
She wasn’t some miserable “predestined protagonist.” She was the daughter of the crownless king of the East, the young lady of the Crystal Capital.
The thing she lacked least was money.
And with money… who was afraid of not having equipment?
Earlier, she had already sent Jenny to make preparations.
In the markets, the black markets, the auction houses…
Any transcendent items that could be acquired, whether they could be used or not, were all being bought up at 20% above market price!
As for Mierpasi… Ileya’s lips curled slightly as she toyed with a gemstone ring in her hand.
She would call her the most inconspicuous, yet greatest gain of this eastern expedition.
That’s right… that ring the other had picked up off the ground earlier was a transcendent item.
On the inner wall of the ring and the back of the gemstone, obscure runes were engraved.
This ring’s ability was specifically designed for transcendents, allowing one to store attribute abilities within the ring.
For example, Reliel’s lightning could be stored in the ring, so even an ordinary person could unleash up to three lightning attacks at any time.
Its quality… in Ileya’s eyes, could only be called average, not even as good as the dog training stick…
But if an ordinary person picked it up and sold it, they’d probably be set for life.
Of course, the value of this thing was secondary.
What was important… was still Mierpasi’s ability to find such things…
So, Ileya planned to run an experiment.
Clop-clop-clop…
The carriage left Jenny’s manor and traveled all the way to [Obsidian Street] in the southern part of the city.
Although there were no organized shops here, from one end of the street to the other, it was nearly all continuous stalls…
Especially after the massive influx of refugees into the city, the scale of the street stalls had grown bigger and bigger.
However…
Looking at the scrap metal laid out on tattered cloth, smelling the faint stench of sweat in the air, Jenny subconsciously furrowed her brow and looked at her young lady.
“Young lady, why exactly… did we come here?”
This kind of place… to put it nicely, was a second-hand market, a trading center for old goods.
But in the eyes of both great nobles and petty nobles…
There was only one word to describe it.
And that was… a “garbage dump.”