novelraw Chapter 224: Ember's Touch
Chapter 224: Ember's Touch
“I’m the third one. Then who are the first and second? Mad Wolf Fenrir and the Flower Witch?”
“Is anyone here?”
Chen Qi called out as he walked along the dusty path, looking around the huge collection hall, but saw no sign of anyone.
Soon, Chen Qi’s gaze fell on the various display stands.
On the left display stand were daggers, muskets, playing cards, hand crossbows...
A variety of old-era weapons were neatly arranged on the stand.
On the right display stand, there were some skill cards: Burst, Double Kick, Life Breath, Moon Step, Finger Gun, Iron Block...
Can I just pick any weapon plus a skill card?
Chen Qi held Deepsea Water Spirit Number Three in his left hand, bending slightly to examine the weapons and cards.
Although these weapons were preserved here, they were not powerful—at best, only on par with the Black Blade.As for the skill cards, they were all dropped from D-tier and E-tier dimensional rifts.
These cards and weapons won’t work...
Chen Qi shook his head and followed the path beneath his feet, lit by candlelight, quickly reaching a huge central display platform.
From the building’s structure, this platform was located in the exact center. Around it stood four massive armored warrior statues beside giant pillars.
On the large blades held by the four statues burned scorching flames.
The items at this central location should be far more valuable... Chen Qi looked on with curiosity.
At the very center of the platform was a small rectangular slot.
A slot for a rectangular card. Why did it feel so familiar...? Chen Qi reached out a finger to compare.
The size of this card seemed to be exactly the same as the Witch profession card in Fen’s hand!
This place once held a Witch profession card?
The Witch profession card had already been taken...
Chen Qi felt his suspicions confirmed.
In other words, the Blade Witch’s profession card had been taken, and previously, the Blood Emperor had come here... Chen Qi vaguely understood something and then looked at the surrounding items.
Around the Witch profession card were some even more powerful weapons.
Golden small shield, useless big club, bug-controlling big stick, gargoyle mask...
Chen Qi examined them carefully.
These weapons were of considerable rarity. Among them was even a mask that could transform the wearer’s species into a vampire—a divine tool for humans following the Blood Demon path!
However, for Chen Qi right now, none of these were very useful.
This dimensional rift had existed for a full five hundred years...
In this long time, it seemed to have left no universally good weapons for me.
After all, at its core, this was still only a C-tier dimensional rift...
Good news: There’s ‘gold’ here!
Bad news: This ‘gold’ seems to be a collection of unwanted mascots!
Chen Qi sighed and turned his attention to a skill card display stand filled with cards.
Weapons and items were no good; maybe there would be some useful skill cards?
The skill cards in the display case were divided into thirteen sections according to the thirteen affinities.
Among them, the Blade affinity skill card section was already empty.
This place was bleak as well!
Suddenly, Chen Qi’s eyes lit up.
On the Lamp and Shadow affinity display stands, there were still high-rarity skill cards!
Good stuff—
Chen Qi immediately focused on a Lamp affinity skill card.
On the front of the card was a small golden figure with a glowing head, massaging its temples with two fingers.
Chen Qi lightly touched it.
[Super Sense:
Affinity: Lamp, Flower
Description: The original Flower Witch, under the orders of the Moonstone City lord, began researching an ancient meditation method capable of experiencing extreme pleasure.
However, by a twist of fate, instead of creating the intended technique, she created a battle method that Lamp affinity users became obsessively addicted to.
Learning Requirements: Master meditation method, Inspiration 60, minor mental resistance, and minor comprehension of Lamp or Flower affinity.
Effect: Upon learning, permanently increases the brain’s reaction time limit. Upon completion, also grants minor mental resistance.
Additionally, grants the active skill ‘Super Sense.’ While active, all fast-moving objects around you appear slowed down!
Description: In brief moments, I can even catch the sound of the wind.
Note: After activating this skill, there is a chance to gain an uncontrollable ‘Enhanced Sensation’ negative effect lasting over an hour. Tactile, taste, hearing, and pleasure sensations will randomly intensify. Repeated short-term use may lead to Lamp affinity madness or permanent perception disorders.]
Reaction speed boost plus extremely useful mental resistance!
Chen Qi’s eyes brightened involuntarily.
This was a pure enhancement panel skill card!
Reaction speed enhancement was a must-have attribute for many third-tier Transcendents!
The third-tier Lamp affinity Transcendent’s Blade Release ‘Bullet Time’ also required extremely fast reaction speed.
Moreover, upon study completion, it granted rare mental resistance.
Mental resistance was a crucial attribute for releasing many release techniques.
However, this skill’s threshold was very high: 60 Inspiration plus minor mental resistance.
Sixty points of Inspiration and minor mental resistance would exclude many third-tier Lamp affinity Transcendents.
However, Chen Qi, with a high 65 points of Inspiration, perfectly met the skill’s requirements!
This was already a very powerful skill card for a C-tier dimensional rift.
The only drawback was the rather strong side effects...
‘Perception disorder’ was the most common disease among Lamp affinity users.
Chen Qi checked some other skill cards: Shadow affinity’s Stabbing Spear, Book affinity’s Speed Reading, Goblet affinity’s Stomach Enlargement, Thigh Enlargement...
In every aspect, Super Sense was the best skill card here suited for him.
It’s you... Chen Qi lightly rubbed the card and silently took it.
Use!
Soon, a sharp pain spread...
Chen Qi endured the intense pain in his head and once again assimilated the skill card.
The frequency of using skill cards was still too high... Chen Qi slowly lifted his head, but at the next moment, two hands suddenly covered his vision.
Darkness instantly surrounded him.
“!!!”
An ambush... Chen Qi was startled.
After experiencing over two thousand deaths, he instinctively relaxed and did not pay much attention to his surroundings.
However, a pleasant voice came from behind him.
And there was a faint floral fragrance, very fragrant!
“Guess who I am?”
“???”
The Flower Witch... Chen Qi’s mouth curled into a slight smile.
Two people had cleared the trial before him, and one of them seemed to be the Flower Witch.
Chen Qi was about to speak when he suddenly realized that the hands covering his eyes were cold and gloved.
A sense of trap!
That icy touch!
“It’s Number Two.”
Chen Qi answered and moved the ‘hands’ away.
“Ah?”
The Flower Witch’s prank failed, and she sighed with slight disappointment:
“Damn, I didn’t fool you, Qi.”
Chen Qi turned around.
The Flower Witch Fen was holding Number Two in her arms.
Number Two was forming two small water fists, and also wore a pair of gloves.
However, seeing its former master, Number Two showed no excitement, its expression resolute and lifeless.
“Why does Number Two seem... strange?”
Chen Qi asked.
The Flower Witch coughed twice:
“Maybe because it was killed a hundred times by ‘enemies’ in the Trial Grounds. I was able to come out first thanks to Number Two’s sneak attack.”
“...”
Dying a hundred times was indeed a heavy psychological trauma for the young Number Two... Chen Qi reached out to pat Number Two’s head.
“Vaku—”
Deepsea Water Spirit Number Two lacked spirit.
The Flower Witch looked at Chen Qi’s hand and swallowed nervously:
“Qi, congratulations on clearing the trial. What was your score? How many times did you die? My score was exactly 700, with a total of 1,100 deaths!
With that result, I just managed to get the Witch’s relic.”
700 points!
As long as you reach 700 points, you can get an S rating!
Only dying 1,100 times and getting an S rating— the Flower Witch’s combat power was truly fierce... Chen Qi smiled and replied:
“I died quite a lot, 2,601 times, with a score of 900.”
2,601 times! Fen gently patted the tearful Deepsea Water Spirit Number Two in her arms and tried to sound gentle:
“2,601 times, Qi, it seems you suffered a lot and your spirit must have been tormented too, hmm, do you need Sister Fen to comfort you? Your 900 points, though higher than my 700, is still quite good... Wait!”
How many points? The Flower Witch suddenly had a shocked little flower bloom above her head.
“How many points? 900?”
Fen now looked like a top student who was about to comfort a struggling classmate, only to find the struggling classmate scored near perfect and was utterly shocked!
“You actually chose the 900-point entry!”
In this trial, under ‘one-hit kill’ conditions, there really was someone daring enough to choose the 900-point entry!
Fen’s mouth slightly opened as she looked at Chen Qi’s slightly proud smile.
Although Chen Qi usually seemed normal, at crucial moments he often did crazy and bold things.
Successfully fooled her! Chen Qi cleared his throat twice:
“Actually, I didn’t want such a high score, but I had no choice; Lady Luck forced me to complete this achievement...”
“Fen, although you only scored 700, um, um, that’s very good, it’s already a very high score, really good.”
“It’s a very high score...”
Fen frowned. Having gone through hardships, she was ready to show off a bit in front of Chen Qi and then comfort him.
But now it seemed she was the one needing comfort.
Chen Qi sighed deeply, a wave of death feelings from over two thousand deaths flooding him:
“Fen, thanks for your hard work. But of my 900 points, 500 came from the Blade Witch’s random entry...”
“Blade Witch’s entry...”
Fen blinked and roughly understood everything.
In the Trial Grounds, the word ‘Witch’ was absolutely a terrifying symbol.
We’ve all had it tough... The Flower Witch gently comforted:
“Good job, Qi. By the way, did you learn any skills in the Trial Grounds? I learned a Lamp-Flower affinity skill!”
Fen quickly cheered up and smiled proudly.
Little yellow flowers popped up—she wanted to share. Chen Qi followed Fen’s lead:
“Oh? Lamp-Flower affinity? What skill?”
“I’ll show you!”
Fen placed Deepsea Water Spirit Number Two on her head, then sat cross-legged.
“...”
Then Fen began to sway left and right like a roly-poly, and a strange holy light appeared above her head.
“This move is called Summer Sunshine! By swaying like this, I can continuously heal myself. Moreover, if I’m under sunlight, I can heal super fast without consuming spiritual energy!”
The holy light above her head, paired with the lifeless Deepsea Water Spirit Number Two, made the Flower Witch look especially divine sitting cross-legged.
Isn’t this just a sunflower? One wearing a water spirit hat!
Suppressing the urge to make fun and to pat the Flower Witch’s head... Chen Qi couldn’t help but say:
“Sunflower, Fen, won’t this move attract zombies or something?”
The Flower Witch opened her eyes and looked at Chen Qi in surprise again:
“How do you know this move? It actually works on undead creatures?”
Chen Qi’s knowledge even included such obscure skills.
“...”
I don’t know... Chen Qi was silent for a moment.
The Flower Witch stood up and clapped her hands:
“How about it? Not bad, right? This is a divine skill I spent two years trying to learn but couldn’t. Qi, what did you learn? Can you show me?”
“Hound’s Pace, and Blade Release, but I probably can’t show you Blade Release right now.”
Chen Qi circulated energy and instantly flashed behind Fen.
“Blade Release!!”
The Flower Witch’s mouth opened wide again.
It was very rare for a second-tier to master a release technique, especially across affinities.
Chen Qi continued asking:
“By the way, Fen, I still haven’t claimed my ‘free choice’ reward. Do you know any good places?”
Fen had been here for a long time and should know more about the collectibles.
“Free choice item, hmm...” Fen closed her eyes, and a deep blue flower bloomed above her head, showing she was thinking.
“I’ve wandered here quite a while. I took the Witch’s relic, the Blade Witch’s profession card is missing, hmm... Qi, come with me.”
“Okay.”
Chen Qi followed the Flower Witch Fen along the path to a special dark corner.
In this corner was only a dim display case.
“What’s this?”
Chen Qi asked.
The Flower Witch said quietly:
“This is a ‘display stand’ newly set up twenty years ago. My teacher, the Ice Witch, collected many forbidden weapons and placed them here.”
There was such a place...
Chen Qi was surprised and looked at the stand.
On the stand were all forbidden weapons.
Hand of Plague, Venom, Lighthouse Jellyfish Brain...
These weapons were all Flesh Armor! And it seemed they were all Flesh Armor researched by the navy!
The Flower Witch explained:
“Twenty years ago, many humanoid monsters appeared on the sea, and these monsters usually had Flesh Armor and forbidden weapons. My teacher defeated them and collected their spoils here.”
How many humanoid monsters did the Ice Witch kill?
Hopefully, I won’t become part of this display in the future... Unconsciously, Chen Qi’s gaze fell on a ‘burning’ solidified flame.
It wasn’t very big—only palm-sized.
More than a flame, it was a hand made of flames, burning with fiery tentacles!
This is... Chen Qi touched it curiously.
[Ember’s Touch:
Affinity: Lamp, Blade
Description: A creation by the navy and Bonfire Energy Company, forged with special deep-sea fire. It is a unique weapon that can attach to the back, transforming into twelve scorching deep blue flame hands.
Note: This equipment can only be worn by Lamp and Blade affinity Transcendents and requires a special tattoo surgery for perfect fit.]
The Flower Witch thought for a long time:
“Qi, with your current physique, you probably can’t equip this yet. But in terms of rarity, this is definitely the highest. After all, I heard deep blue fire only appears in Dimensional Tide, deep thousands of meters below the sea. Only Bonfire Energy Company can harvest it...”
Chen Qi glanced at other Flesh Armor.
Indeed, just as the Flower Witch said.
The value of this equipment! Even surpasses his Ember’s Touch!
And the most critical point: this is a Lamp affinity equipment. Even when he reaches third tier, he can perfectly equip it.
Chen Qi carefully picked it up and put it into his Backpack Card.
“A big haul!”
At this moment, Chen Qi closed his eyes, suddenly feeling a chill at his neck.
The Flower Witch Fen said:
“By the way, Qi, do you need mental treatment? Since we are the first two out, I can find time to treat your spirit.”
“We are the first two...”
Chen Qi frowned:
“No, Fen, I’m the third one to clear the trial.”
“The third...”
The Flower Witch was stunned for a moment.
She was the first to come out but had not seen the second clear the trial!
If the second was Mad Wolf Fenrir or another crew member, there would be no need to hide.
Could there be hostile clearers in this rift...? Chen Qi slowly turned his head.
In the long corridor behind them, fresh red blood kept dripping down.