Chapter 91:

The sister squad was highly efficient. After deciding to set out, it only took them a dozen minutes to cross the crevasse within the city through the stair-like path formed by the collapsed city walls along the edge, arriving at the inner city area. Apart from the four of them, the invited Meow King also joined as a temporary healer. His four Vajra warriors and his old buddy Little Hands happened to form a five-man team to explore the sewers and grind levels, so they didn’t delay each other. “Are you sure there’s intel about a job change here?” Wearing a green spirit wood wreath, Meow King grasped his spirit staff, dressed in a provocative vampire mage robe despite being an Oak Apprentice. It wasn’t that he deliberately mismatched on purpose; the equipment he had confiscated from a vampire spirit mage had attributes that increased spirit perception and manipulation, which he couldn’t bear to replace. Besides, for players, mixed styles were the norm. Which male character in games hasn’t worn a dress with plate armor before? Especially when you played a healing paladin who had to pursue healing output, that provocative blue dress with an open chest and back was a top-tier item you couldn’t miss. Although a bald human male wearing a dress and holding a flower offhand was truly an eyesore, you had to admit this mixed set screamed power. Meow King was clearly a powerhouse player, so he didn’t mind his overly bizarre appearance at the moment. This cunning social creature stood at the base of the half-collapsed city wall, looking at the desolate inner city area ahead, and said to Lumina: “This place looks way worse than the outer city area. At least some buildings were intact over there, but here...sheesh, it’s been completely flattened.” The facts did confirm this. What should have been a magnificent inner city area was now reduced to a pile of rubble and debris, with no standing building remnants within the five’s line of sight. The ground was clearly eroded by energy, turning the soil into a sandy powder-like state. Some buildings even exposed their foundations, and even the sturdy bricks looked devastated, let alone any remnants of human remains. Kadman City’s 400 years of history had been wiped out by the polluting forces of the Astral Realm within seven days, stripping this place of all life force and leaving only a shriveled, pale “corpse.” And these five people now stood atop that corpse. A gust of wind blew, scattering the gray sandy powder like a gray desert scene, and such a tragic sight left the five looking at each other in dismay. They gazed into the distance. They could barely make out the remnants of the Blood Vulture Fortress’s base, looking like it had weathered a thousand years. Even if the best scavenger players were dispatched, they would struggle to find anything valuable on the surface. After witnessing the devastation of the inner city area, Lumina’s heart sank halfway. Although Lady Tris had kindly shared all the information she knew about the suspected wandering bard old lady with Lumina, even drawing her a map, everything had been leveled, making it almost impossible to pinpoint the exact location. “Since we’re here anyway.” Noticing Lumina’s dejection, the sociable Meow King laughed and took a step forward, saying to the four girls behind him: “Let’s go take a look. Where was that place?” “A tavern called ‘Blood’s Fang.'” Lumina also perked up and checked the record document in her player interface, telling the others: “Lady Tris said that old lady would always perform there in her memory, but that was over 100 years ago.” “Ah? Over a hundred years ago?” Meow King blinked and said: “Then that old lady must be long dead, right? And this place has been so polluted, how could any tavern still be around? I think we should check the inner city graveyard instead. Coffins and stuff are buried underground, so they can’t be as devastated as the surface, right?” “Yeah, Uncle Meow is right!” Little Ashina adjusted the witch hunter’s hat she had specially bought with her revolver, strutting with an exaggerated cowboy walking stance while rubbing her hands, saying: “So we’re about to enter the classic evil act phase of the fourth calamity – grave robbing? Awesome! So exciting, let’s go, go, go! We only have an hour of game time left, let’s get this done before logging off!” “Let’s go!” Orchid grabbed the tower shield on her back and decisively took large strides forward. A skinny girl carrying a tower shield as tall as herself was truly a visually striking sight, making Meow King reflexively shrink his head. He felt that if he encountered such a brawny girl in real life, she would probably beat him to death with three punches. Well, to be safe, maybe just one punch could knock him out, a high-level office worker like him who never exercised and only occasionally washed his feet. So what was the deal with Lumina’s mysterious little squad? Why did they keep producing such bizarre rarities unseen by ordinary people? “Wait, there’s something off about the spirit fluctuations ahead.” A few minutes later, Meow King suddenly frowned. As an Oak Apprentice, his perception of natural spirits was extremely keen. Although the inner city had been ravaged to this extent, the wind still carried natural auras warning him of danger ahead. “Be on guard!” He raised his staff, clumsily performing the spellcasting motion. Amid the emerald radiance swirling at the staff’s head, he summoned spirit thorns to bind the shield lady Orchid, while Sister Pomegranate swiftly extended the triple blades on her knuckle dusters. Lumina raised her hunting rifle, aiming ahead. The four girls protected the healer Meow King at the center, and this feeling of being “protected” by four girls made Meow King’s sense of security skyrocket. He thought to himself that choosing the healer profession was the right choice. They cautiously advanced towards the graveyard, and after passing through the corroded and shattered metal fence, they saw a group of armless and legless skeletons aimlessly wandering on the desolate graveyard grounds. Some still dragged the weathered burial clothes, while others looked recently buried, but their flesh and blood had also been utterly corroded by the Astral Realm’s spirit energy. At first, it only swayed its pale skull, nodding as if finding the beat. Soon its swaying grew larger, even dancing its loose body to this unfamiliar music from another realm. As if performing its last dance to the lively accompaniment a century after death. Although a dancing skeleton lacked any sense of beauty, even appearing bizarrely comical and creepy, at that moment the others seemed to see an elegant middle-aged lady gracefully swaying to the music. It was completely immersed. Growing more and more joyful as it danced. As if forgetting the sorrow of a second death, allowing its disrupted rest to return to that warm eternal silence. It even accompanied Lumina. The rhythmic clacking of its swaying bones sounded like drumbeats, continuing to dance after Lumina finished the first tune, utterly absorbed in this otherworldly music. “Keep going! Keep going, she wants to dance till the end, fulfill her wish.” Little Ashina softly urged, so Lumina switched to a smoother melody. This time, the skeleton’s movements became graceful with the changing music, and the skinny skeleton’s “dance” also seemed to affect the other deceased. In the stunned perception of the squad’s spirit mage Meow King, he could feel a special force spreading from Lumina’s increasingly passionate playing, calming the mindless restless souls. They stood dumbly in place, quietly surrounding the five-person squad and the wildly dancing skeleton, like an audience watching a bizarre concert performance. Amidst the music, the skinny skeleton’s dance grew more and more agile, as if regaining its former lively state. It spun and leapt atop the little burial mound where it was buried, even striking an advanced single-leg pose, making this revisited death seem gentle. However, as it danced, its bones began emitting plumes of blue smoke in the slanting sunset rays. Just like the scene when vampires burned. By the end of the second tune, its entire body was shrouded in swirling bone mist, like stage smoke set by prop masters. The dance ended. It gracefully and properly bowed to the accompanying musician, opening its jaw as it raised its pale skull, as if showing the most satisfied smile. Then in an instant, the entire skeleton collapsed into drifting ashes. Leaving only a rusted, tarnished key on the ground. It had defied death’s generosity, finding enough fulfillment to return to peaceful rest. The surrounding skeletons also seemed to awaken, finally realizing their abnormal state. At Meow King’s exclamation, they one by one chose to abandon the cursed power they had enjoyed, collapsing on the spot. In just seconds, the entire uneasy graveyard returned to the tranquility a realm of death should have. The sunset glow bathed the ravaged grounds, leaving the five in a dreamlike state for a moment. Lumina fell silent. She didn’t know how to describe that feeling. She felt like she had witnessed an illusion. But the fact was, while playing the tune to accompany this ancient skeleton, she truly seemed to see a graceful, beautiful dancer swaying contentedly to her less-than-stellar music before walking toward oblivion once more. Her final wish was fulfilled. The otherworldly music had soothed her restless soul. And as Lumina bent to pick up the rusted key from the ground, a line of prompt text entered her player interface: 【Special Music Score《Requiem – Otherworld》has been recorded. Obtained job change item 【Nis’ Music Box Key】. Sub-job ‘Blank’ can be changed to Bard – Elven Music Score Specialization, change jobs yes/no?】 “I got the job change prompt.” Lumina turned to look at Sister Pomegranate, saying softly: “But I’m not feeling happy about it.” “Don’t be melodramatic!” Sister Pomegranate rolled her eyes, came over and patted Lumina’s shoulder, whispering: “You just fulfilled a century-old lost soul’s dying wish, allowing her and her neighbors to rest. Don’t make that sad face. Back in our world, you’d be hailed as a mage for this. Cheer up! Games are meant to be played with a smile.” “Alright.” Lumina pursed her lips. She stood up, looking at the key in her hand, then at the freshly dug grave mound at her feet, saying: “Nis’ music box is underground, it’s her parting gift to me. We need to dig it out.” “Yay, finally the long-awaited grave robbing phase!” Little Ashina squealed, pulling out a few iron shovels from her spirit bag, leaving Meow King staring in surprise: “Why do you have those in your bag?” “Isn’t grave robbing a basic move for a greedy adventurer?” The 155cm sword saint grinned, giving a thumbs up in the sunset that made her white teeth gleam, shouting: “Always be prepared, uncle! Come on, start digging, we might even find a treasure chest!”