Chapter 90:

Tris was busy in her alchemy cottage. Ever since Murphy rescued her from the city, she had been living in seclusion. Unless she needed to participate in important events, she would stay here. Outwardly, it was said that she was recovering, but in reality, she spent her days indulging in the various fine wines supplied by the little players, living a leisurely life of drunken dreams. Although the unfortunate place where she now lived had been invaded by the Astral Realm’s shadows and burned by fire, it was still much better than Tris’s previous manor. And when your house is more dilapidated than a pile of ruins, this fact becomes a tragic black humor in an unspoken way. Of course, the little players had never seen Lady Tris’s destitute state before, so their hearts were filled with “awe” towards the mysterious and “powerful” Lady Tris, as one would feel towards a high-level NPC. This modeling! Add to that her unique relationship with Murphy, and she must be a leader-level NPC, right? Finally, with Tris being a noble mage and having a rather eccentric personality, she was an existence that the players in this “newbie village” absolutely couldn’t provoke and absolutely didn’t want to provoke. Lumina and her companions were summoned, and they soon followed the guidance of the three-eyed crow to Tris’s alchemy cottage. The resentful and noisy crow nimbly landed on a withered tree in the courtyard of the cottage, tilting its head and staring fixedly at the girls while cawing incessantly, acting like an old lecher, with intermittent mental frenzy being its most prominent feature. Perhaps it was because this poor fellow hadn’t been summoned by Tris for nearly two hundred years, and the spirit familiar crow brother had been suffering in the Astral Realm. He even doubted whether the crimson witch lady, who had once slaughtered far and wide, had forgotten about him, her “messenger” from the Astral Realm, until the recent Astral Realm invasion of Kadman City when she suddenly remembered. Hmm, this was a strange crow from the Spirit Realm, and not just a “low-grade” raven that Murphy would summon to deliver messages. It had a great pedigree, just like its master, except that now it seemed a bit crazy and frenzied. “Lumina, come in with your friends.” Lady Tris’s lazy voice sounded from inside the house. Lumina immediately pushed open the door and entered, with the others following in a line. They then saw Lady Tris rolling up her sleeves, carving a black stone in the center of the room under the bright illumination of a gas crystal chandelier. The stone had already been roughly carved into shape. An irregular cone shape, with one-third of its surface covered in engraved spirit symbols. The little players, of course, couldn’t understand what Tris was doing, but seeing the mysterious runes with a certain pattern on the stone made them once again feel the “mystery” and “power” of Tris. What is the lady doing? The girls exchanged glances, not daring to ask about this imposing scene, for fear of causing an explosion if they interrupted the casting. “Sit down.” Tris said without turning her head, holding a spirit engraving knife and chisel: “Wait until I finish this line. Little Murphy needs me to create this special spirit device for you to use. He truly cares for you in every detail. Of course, this is also the first time I’ve seen such a wondrous summoning stone and memory storage device with such a unique principle. Capable of supporting a grand illusion for 5-40 people, it is truly marvelous.” The little players obediently sat on the chairs nearby, listening to Tris say things they couldn’t understand at all. They then saw a floating teapot and teacups tinkling as they floated over, pouring fragrant red tea for each of them. Although it was only a very simple spirit enchantment activation technique, it was still filled with a sense of having mistakenly entered Hogwarts. It’s the same old saying: at this stage, the little players were all spirit apprentices, so don’t expect them to see through the practical application of such a simple technique. And Tris had clearly noticed this, so she used a bit of flair to enhance her mystique, in order to better control these little players. After all, how else could one say that Lady Tris’s five hundred years were not lived in vain? An old fox knows the tricks, doesn’t she? “I’ve been studying your life forms recently.” After a few minutes, Tris spoke. She seemed busy with the mysterious work in front of her, running her hand over the runes she had just engraved, while saying: “My little Murphy hopes to share the power of midnight with you, to reward your bravery and loyalty with the best he has to offer. But this is a bit different from the true ‘initial embrace’, since you don’t have physical forms in this world, only spirit projections.” The newly joined Ashina and Orchid Huahua were completely lost, unable to understand what this seductive NPC, whose mystique was so alluring that even as women, they couldn’t help but admire her, was saying. But Lumina and Sister Pomegranate were both startled. They glanced at each other, both seeing the surprise in the other’s eyes. Previously, the forum had been speculating whether players would have the option to join the vampire storyline after the prologue chapter ended, and now this had been presented right before their eyes. Hidden quest! And it was definitely a massive one! It was about the important hidden quest concerning players’ storyline choices, and it might even involve creating a new race or something equally significant! Sure enough, Ah Yuen’s analysis on the forum, which loved to dissect the storyline, was correct. Lady Tris, who had a rather intimate relationship with Lord Murphy, was indeed a heavyweight storyline NPC. And as everyone knew, in this kind of background story movie, the ones who could cause the most trouble were always this group of researchers with a death wish. “Do you mean that we do indeed have the possibility of accepting Lord Murphy’s grace and becoming vampires, er, midnight nobles?” As Lumina, the warrior of Lady Tris, asked in a low voice, the translation through the Computation Bead allowed Lady Tris to understand her meaning, and she then nodded and said: “It’s not very feasible in the conventional way, but there is a slim possibility. If your bodies are composed of pure spirit energy, then we might be able to work on it from this angle. The sacred blood pool possessed by vampires is not only a racial sacred relic that sustains the existence of the clan and perfects the blood pact, but it is also a miraculous spirit item of immense power. It can react to any stimulation of spirit energy, and the theory I have designed may allow us to use it as a medium to interfere with your spirit projections in this world. Accept/Decline this quest?】 “Whoa! These rewards.” Lumina’s eyes instantly turned into dollar signs. In the nearly twenty days she had been playing since the closed beta, she hadn’t seen any quest rewards this generous, the rewards alone were almost a list! But thinking carefully, this was a team quest, so these rewards were probably meant to be split among teammates. That’s why there were five enchanted chests and work orders given at once. “Accept!” Lumina didn’t hesitate for even a few seconds, displaying the fine virtue of a small player. Although the risk of failure meant the goodwill she had painstakingly built with Lady Tris could be reset to zero, do small players who decline quests really exist? “Good, you have once again proven your courage. I did not misjudge you.” Tris nodded in satisfaction, then took out a spirit bag filled with spirit scrolls and handed it to Lumina, instructing: “You had better find some capable companions to prepare for this with you. There are still two days until action begins, so you must quickly enhance your skills and strength. Go to the sewers! Signs of ghouls and wraiths have already appeared there, a decent challenge for newcomers. But do not go too deep, the shadows beneath Kadman City are far more dangerous than you imagine.” After speaking, Tris turned back to continue busying herself around that stone, and the little players politely took their leave. Outside Tris’s courtyard gate, Lumina shared her warrior quest with her companions. The challenge-loving Sister Pomegranate was raring to go. She even had a whole plan ready: “In two days, our character levels need to be at least 10! Job levels need to be maxed too, that’s the only way to survive to the end. Little Ashina and Orchid at least need to get to 8, especially the defender Orchid! Her equipment absolutely must be updated. I’m going to see Lord Maxim now about getting some elite veteran-level gear. After that, we’ll train properly in the sewers.” “Guns! I need powerful guns. These powerful bullets must have powerful guns to maximize their effect. I can take care of the sniping!” Little Ashina patted the single-action revolver at her waist, saying: “A shotgun would be best, for area-clearing. I saw the Witch Hunter camp selling alchemical bombs before, that stuff is awesome, I really like it.” “The problem now is we’re one person short.” Lumina said hesitantly: “Should we find someone from outside to fill in? We don’t have a spirit mage among us four.” “That’s easy, just have Meow King join the group. That Oak Apprentice can both deal damage and heal, really versatile and useful. One-fifth of these rewards would be enough to motivate that cunning social climber.” Sister Pomegranate decided with finality: “But Meow King has his own team. Having him help out occasionally is fine, but long-term, we need our own spirit mage. Don’t you guys have four more in your group? Quickly bring them in! I think it’s more fun playing games with the girls, so casual.” “I wish,” Lumina sighed. “The problem is the remaining four are really hard cases.” “Especially Sister Concrete!” The great traveler Orchid also sighed: “I can’t imagine what could possibly lure that genius freak into gaming for work. She’s too busy, and her level is truly exceptional.” “Lady Aqua is also possible,” Little Ashina squinted her eyes and said. “I’ve seen her before, that chosen healer, her healing output is absolutely overflowing to the point of bursting! More than the three of us combined could ho-” Pa! Orchid’s fist struck the 160cm shorty’s head as she said unhappily: “No dirty jokes! You little runt, and don’t think I don’t understand your vile insinuation! What’s wrong with being small? It’s about the shape, get it? Don’t underestimate gravity, you jerk!” “Before going to the sewers, I plan to go to the inner city first,” Lumina ignored her friends’ squabble, telling Sister Pomegranate: “That’s where my job change lead is, also given by Lady Tris. I know the exact location.” Meanwhile, back in the cottage, Tris set down her engraving knife and sighed: “Who knows if these rookies can handle it, but they are certainly brave enough. It’s said courage can overcome any calamity, and the lives of Little Murphy, myself, and over a thousand survivors now rest in your hands. Hm? Did I engrave this line wrong? Damn! I knew multitasking would lead to trouble. Alas, I’m old and useless now, Weber! Weber, you noisy thing, come here. Help your master go find a few things outside the city.”