[Book of Divine Transporter, Page 2]
[Type: Truth Fragment (1/6) (Locked)]
[Remaining fragment holders: 2]
[Spawned: 4]
[Description: A freshly-born Truth Fragment. Gather all the fragments to grasp new authority.]
Annan did not tap on it in a hurry.
Instead, he first drank a bottle of healing agent and recovered from his injuries. Then, he notified the players that the main mission was completed. Only then he reached out and touched the page suspended in the air.
Like a phantom, the page shattered out of thin air and merged directly into Annan’s body.
The collection progress of the Book of Truth had also increased by one level.
It also displayed a new special effect.
A long-awaited feature for Annan:
[Book of Divine Transporter (4/6): Summon or dismiss a specified number of players from another world (80/400).]
[Current special effects (4/6): Allow players’ resurrection. Shared Experience Pool (3%). Teleportation Keystone. Unlock friends and party features.]
[Shared Experience Pool: 3% of the experience points (increased from ‘2%’) obtained by players whose level is not higher than the user from any way (‘dungeon instance’) can be deposited into the Shared Experience Pool. Experience points stored in the Shared Experience Pool can be allocated to any ally unit (not limited to players).]
[Friend and Ally: Players can add friends. After adding friends, they can check on each other’s level, health, and city location at any time. The players get to restrict information access from friends too. Friends can form teams of 4, 8, and 20. After defeating a monster, the other teammates will share 50% of the additional experience, and the initial benefactor will gain 50% of the original experience. The feature will invalidate friendly fire, but the controlling effect on teammates persists.]
—Equal distribution of experience points!
—Friendly fire negation!
This was the feature that Annan had been waiting for.
Without an equal distribution of experience points, the players would not adopt the support profession. If the profession stopped them from gaining the last hit, they would rather focus on damage output.
Would they perhaps hope for the other teammates to be merciful and let them take the last hit?
After the experience distribution mechanism was activated, team play would be encouraged.
At the same time, when friend fire was turned off, players could be more inclined to form a fixed team rather than going solo or jumping from team to team. These two conditions were complementary.
Players would be motivated to form a team when it would not interfere with their growth, and they did not have to worry about attacking an ally out of accident.
After collecting a substantial player count, the players had the ability to explore and act in an unfamiliar land. There were only so many things to put in the luggage, and the hassles of an adventure encouraged them to stay put in the original city.
When the “game” was too real, these problems were bound to arise.
Being realistic did keep the realistic hassles persisting.
After all, playing the game of life directly did not have the fantasy element.
With the experience points sharing mechanism, the ability to disable friendly fire, and the previous teleportation ability that Annan unlocked, the players could finally go out and explore without fear and worry.
“Your Highness Annan.” After everything settled down, Hugo Blacktower stepped up and whispered slowly to Annan, “Thank you so much for coming…
“It’s just a pity… We, Swamp’s Black Tower, have nothing left to give you.”
“I didn’t come here for the rewards.”
Annan tightened his white clothes, which had become looser, and responded earnestly, “I’m here to help my friends.”
“Yes, I heard Salvatore mention you.” Hugo’s voice was soft, “I just didn’t expect you to come.”
“To be honest, I didn’t expect it either.” Annan smiled, “I’m actually an impulsive person too.”
“I can tell.”
“Is it obvious?”
“It’s not a bad thing.”
Hugo said slowly, “Let’s forgo the chatter, Your Highness Annan. I need to return to the Black Tower’s center immediately. Otherwise, the flames in the Black Tower will be difficult to extinguish.
“Although my disciples are already… as long as the Black Tower is still there, the legacy and hope are there.”
“What about the books?” Annan asked with concern.
With such an immense flame, I wonder if something will happen to those books — no, something terrible must have happened.
But Hugo didn’t pay much attention to it, “The meaning of the wizard tower is to continue the legacy. Those books are only their outward appearance. Even if they are burned, they can reappear as long as we desire.
“As for the rest of the wealth, they are not a big deal.”
Hugo smiled. The young man spoke in an optimistic and flat voice, “I live alone here anyway. Those tables, chairs, beds, etc… I can’t use them either.”
“Um.” Annan looked at Hugo with complicated eyes.
If he was the Tower Master and the fire engulfed his family, he would definitely not be able to maintain such a calm attitude.
Hugo was more open-minded than an old man.
As if he understood Annan’s doubt, Hugo just smiled, “I won’t live for long.
“It’s not your problem. You came on time. Thanks to you, I can last for a few more years. At least I can last until Salvatore advances to Gold Rank and protects him while he completes his inheritance.
“At that time, my mission will finally end…”
He sighed deeply.
It was not sorrow but the calmness of letting go of the burden.
Before leaving, Hugo handed Annan two pale yellow crystal balls the size of walnuts.
“What is this?” Annan asked.
When he came into contact with this thing, a prompt appeared in front of him:
[Soul Crystal (Clarence Freddy)]
[Type: Raw material/Consumable/sacrifice/mystical item (Purple)]
[Description: The soul crystal made by Hugo Blacktower contains the complete soul of the dead. There may be other uses for it.
[Description: You have never heard of it being used as a sacrifice in rituals (the “Advanced Mysticism” check failed).]
[Effect: When crushing it, it will be regarded as killing the person stored in the crystal. You can also extract curses for it or bring about a nightmare. The time of death is regarded as the moment when the crystal is crushed.]
The properties of the other crystal were exactly the same as the previous one, except that “Isaac Flamel” was marked in parentheses at the back.
“Are they Clarence’s soul and Sir Issac’s soul? To resist your Frost Wheel, he consumed almost all the other souls… Only Clarence’s soul survived.
“But after that person dies, the soul that relies on him to exist will collapse.”
Hugo laughed at himself in a low voice, “That’s the only benefit of dying in a Spiritual Monk’s hand. At least the soul is still intact… There may be a possibility of resurrection.
“He did not kill Sir Issac, and his soul has long since dissipated. This artificial spiritual body is made of ‘stuffing’ other spiritual bodies and his remaining thoughts. However, an artificially created spirit body like him can come in handy sometimes.
“I remember Benjamin researching something like that, or you can find someone else to guide you. Anyway… I’m sorry I can’t give you any reward. It’s the only gift I can give you.”
Hugo replied calmly.
Annan hesitated momentarily, then said, “So, what about his nightmare?
“Will his nightmares still exist after I kill his soul?” Annan was concerned about these nightmares that granted access to the elements.
Hugo nodded, “If you’re interested, I’ll purify this nightmare for you. I’ll purify it to the limit, but I won’t take anything from it. Then, I will give you the key and the relevant information. This way, you can easily inherit all the power in the nightmare.
“It’s not in a hurry for the time being. So come back at the end of June.”
“Ok, no problem.” Annan agreed, slightly relieved.
Bernardino was dead.
Next, Silver Sire would help Kafni ascend to the throne. It could have been better timing for Annan to be involved. Otherwise, it was conspicuous to have the leader of other countries supporting the new king to ascend the throne.
Anna would leave it all to Silver Sire. Even though it could be a hassle for Him, He seemed pleased to do it. Annan would have avoided suspicion for a few months before Kafni came to power.
But what would he do for these few months?
Annan was a little dazed after recognizing he was pretty free.
Should I go back to Austere-Winter Dukedom?
But Maria is there. Can I really come back after returning?
Especially with a Kafni waiting for him on Noah’s side, would his sister let Annan go?
However, Annan had completed the Old Grandmother’s mission. Sooner or later, he still had to go back.
On the Underground Federation side, Annan was a little concerned too. The main reason was that Annan wanted to meet Mysterious Lady and ask what happened at the end of his previous life.
Of course, there was the most crucial mission.
—Annan could not teleport across barriers, which made it temporarily impossible for players to teleport across borders.
But this was not wholly unavoidable.
They could take the subway and insert teleportation waypoints underground. As long as they enter any subway, they could be teleported to the underground of any country.
It sounded like a Skaven [1].
“Let’s go back first and explain the matter to the senior,” Annan whispered.
The deficit of 20 points in the Constitution gave Annan the illusion of being extremely weak.
It will take twenty days to recover…
The elixir granting one extra life is potent, but…
I should have my senior continue to study alchemy, at least to reduce the side effects of this drug.
Looking at the hurried players, Annan stood at the top of the burning Black Tower and looked from above at them.
He smiled and waved to the players.
Annan shouted, “I won—”
“—We are victorious!”
[TN: End of first Volume: Rays of Seven Luminaries]