Akropolis

The Pirate clearly didn't have much to talk about with Lu Lu and Olive.

After establishing a partnership with the Fox, he barely glanced to his right and closed his eyes again.

Isabel realized— the Pirate were mostly opposed to beauty and transcendence, which was why their attitude was so obvious.

Otherwise, he should at least have come to talk to me.

Regardless of external opinions, she is now a valuable pure support class!

It poses no threat, cannot backstab you, and can even provide assistance.

If it were New Moon Ritual, that would be one thing, but this is Full Moon Ritual that requires teamwork—would any melee class dislike support?

And soon, Isabel's conjecture was proven true.

After some time, as the Promotion Ritual unfolded towards the outer ring, a new person appeared to Isabel's right.

The first person to appear was a man with a gloomy and mysterious demeanor.

He wore a black hooded robe, making it difficult to discern his age, but he was certainly not young. He held a wooden staff in his hand, and several gemstone rings were visible on the fingers of his left hand.

Almost immediately following him were a man and a woman. They were all wearing the same style of black hooded robes, making it clear at a glance that the three of them were together.

After they landed, the man immediately spoke up, "Hello everyone, I am Stranger. An alchemist, I hope we can work together well."

Iver looked up at him with some surprise.

He took a quick look and then confirmed it was indeed him.

But this time, the stranger wasn't disguised as a middle-aged man like last time.

He looked young and clean—and what made him dress like that was probably the equally young and petite girl next to him.

"My name is Grape..."

The girl, who looked to be no more than twenty years old, spoke in a cool voice, "A... necromancer."

Iver immediately realized that it wasn't because she was aloof, but rather because she was somewhat socially awkward. She was clearly uncomfortable introducing herself in front of so many people, so she subconsciously followed after the stranger introduced himself.

The other man who appeared with them did not speak immediately, but instead calmly leaned on his cane and waited for everyone to arrive.

Next to appear was a young man wearing a white coat.

He was very tall, almost 2.5 meters. You could tell at a glance that he was an elf.

The last one to appear was a girl who looked about eight or nine years old.

As soon as she appeared, everyone present turned their surprised gazes toward her.

—This is Promotion Ritual where you advance from three to four levels!

And she didn't look like an elf either...

"Huh?"

Isabel looked at her with some surprise.

She realized she seemed to know the other person. They looked vaguely familiar...

"Is that Sister Lu Lu?"

As it turned out, the girl was the first to realize their identities and immediately became happy. "And Brother Fox —I'm Cheese, long time no see!"

Iver looked over with some surprise.

It took him a moment to recall who the other person was.

That was the little girl on the Path of Love who appeared during Iver and Isabel's first Promotion Ritual.

He wasn't sure if the other person had succeeded in getting promoted that time.

... But could Cheese really keep up with his and Isabel's advancement speed? Thinking this, Iver immediately realized the other party's identity—

A born extraordinary being! She is either a reincarnated Celestial or Apostle, or a pure-blooded Child of the Moon... The latter is much more likely, because she would look like a real child, not an old woman trying to look young by wearing a JK uniform.

That leaves only one possibility—both parents are Child of the Moon, thus she was born Child of the Moon. Just like the Dragonborn, her bloodline contains a vast amount of extraordinary power.

Furthermore, she wasn't yet Child of the Moon when she first participated in the Promotion Ritual. At that time, she mentioned that she was called Cheese because she liked cheese, clearly before she began sucking blood.

Now, only a few months later, she has directly touched the wall of the Fourth Level... This must mean that she has completed the blood-drinking, completely transformed into the Child of the Moon, and retrieved the power in her bloodline.

Even though she was the weakest of them all, her age was still astonishing.

With such pure blood... at least one of her parents was Fifth Level.

Based on this unusual age, Iver immediately identified the other party—

Lucia Tepes, the Moon Princess of the Iris, is a descendant of the last monarch of the Narcissus Duke Narcissus Principality!

The "Dracula" who is quite famous in Avalon should be considered her grandfather by lineage. She is also one of the few Child of the Moon who still believes in Constant Self, and is known as a kidnapping expert who only plays high-level games.

... Well, the reason why Iver knew the other party was also very simple.

Naturally, it's because this girl had also been to university.

However, she is one of the very few bosses who "entered the instance but did not die"—because strictly speaking, the instance's boss is her adoptive father, while she is more like an instance mechanic. Her main role is to act as a power source and a life-restoring Blood Pool for the boss.

She later appeared in minor roles in the main storyline a few times, each time being captured by a boss. This was mainly because her energy level was high enough, her path was pure, her bloodline was pure, her faith was pure... and at the same time, she was weak enough.

She is Child of the Moon who still believe in the Constant Self, and she follows the purest principle—she only drinks the "Blood of the Devoted," that is, the blood voluntarily provided by humans who love her.

It can be said to be excellent material for ceremonies.

She even nearly became the vessel for the Blood Angel's descent once, but it was only through the players' sabotage and interference that the person who kidnapped her became the vessel for the Ouroboros Ring Ritual.

... So Moon Princess only became a superhuman in 1898, Iver suddenly realized.

After all, in the waiting hall of the Promotion Ritual, it was impossible to see the other person's features clearly... and when they first met, Cheese was almost the last to enter, only one person ahead of the woman named "Luo Le". She had just finished introducing herself when the ceremony began.

After Cheese finished introducing himself, the elven youth in the white coat also spoke up, "My name is Physician, Path of Adaptation."

So, Stranger and Grape introduced themselves again. Then, the man in the lead among the three spoke in a deep voice, "I am an advisor, a mage. From Star Antimony."

"I am Olive, Ritual Mage from Parthia."

The old man chuckled, his tone gentle and kind. "Don't worry, he's not some kind of scum like Demon Scholar."

"Lu Lu, the bard of the Path of Beauty."

Isabel realized that Iver wanted to hide his identity, so she took the opportunity to lie and conceal her true profession.

She said with a smile, "I can sing for you."

"Curse Master isn't much better than Demon Scholar, old man."

Director Kent made a sarcastic remark.

Clearly, he harbors strong hostility towards the Path of Transcendence, while his hostility towards Isabel is not as pronounced.

He glanced at the three men clad in black robes and asked, " From the Necromancy Academy?"

"Yes."

The consultant looked up, calmly answered, and then asked in return, "The Bureau of Supervision?"

"Yes, I am Pirate, an observer from Avalon. But I will not be your shield."

The "Pirate '" attitude was unusually resolute.

This is actually quite normal, and no one else came to mediate—the war between Avalon and Star Antimony has been going on for several months now, and even the Iris People should know that the two countries are currently in a state of hostility. As an official armed force inspector, possibly even from a military background, it's understandable that they would harbor hostility towards the Stibnite Person.

Not to mention, that's the Necromancy Academy—

Most people would have some degree of aversion to necromancers who manipulate the dead. But the "Spirit Tower" of Xingti's Necromancy Academy is filled with these monsters who control corpses and spirits.

All three were dressed in the same black robes, clearly indicating that they had no intention of concealing their identities.

Isabel had guessed their purpose.

—It must have been to take care of that girl named "Grape".

As a necromancer, she is likely to be disliked, alienated, or even hostile by her teammates no matter what she does. In scenarios where corpses are scarce, her teammates might even be sacrificed as casting materials.

Moreover, most people have no understanding of necromancers at all—the unknown means fear.

Therefore, they directly formed a team to accompany Grape, the only necromancer among them, to complete his advancement.

Whether they are "consultants" or "strangers," they have clearly been promoted to the second path.

This also means that they had planned ahead... This Promotion Ritual would be conducted independently by the three of them, without relying on other teammates.

This is a very dangerous move.

Dying during the Promotion Ritual from the third to the fourth level is very likely to result in damage to the soul, or even death.

The fact that the three openly formed cliques could lead to them being targeted by the other six people in a dungeon where attacking teammates is not restricted.

After all, there can only be a maximum of six promotion slots. If three people can be eliminated by getting in, the remaining six can then work together wholeheartedly... which greatly increases their chances of completing the task and getting promoted.

"Stranger" and "Grape" clearly sensed this and became somewhat uneasy. The girl named Grape kept her head down, almost huddled up in a ball. Stranger also opened his mouth, unsure of what to say, but his pleading eyes kept turning to "Advisor."

"Then please, Pirate of Avalon, sir."

The "advisor" just sneered and said slowly, "Want to play something exciting? Can't go to the battlefield, so you like to take your anger out on the students?"

"You don't have any children, do you, Mr. Pirate? Are you too busy plundering to look for them, or is your work too dangerous to find? Or perhaps, because of your penchant for kidnapping others, your wife ran away with the children?"

"This is Full Moon Ritual, not a New Moon Ritual for showing off. We're all practically allies. We won't attack you, but if you come looking for us... feel free to give it a try. Have fun."

The consultant was clearly quite confident.

When retaliating against the "Pirate," they showed no hesitation or regret, but were full of aggression and sharp words.

This doesn't seem like a student.

"—Is he a professor from the Necromancy Academy?" Iver guessed at the other person's identity, and smiled as he offered a token attempt to calm things down, "Gentlemen, there's no need to be so confrontational. After all, you might not even run into your teammates when you go in."

"You may call me ' Fox '. I am a pastor of the Nine Pillars God Church, specializing in group healing and dispelling. I can promise that anyone here who requests my healing will receive it equally."

"Indeed, this is the Hippocrates Oath."

The "Physician" beside him nodded in agreement, saying, "I will do my best to heal everyone, and I will neither use nor sell poison to anyone..."

Cheese asked curiously, "Big brother, does that mean you can't attack other people?"

Why would you ask that, cutie?

The Physician chuckled, "The Hippocrates Oath isn't a suicide oath—if someone attacks me or my partner, I'll definitely retaliate first. But if he's still breathing after the battle and begs me for help, I'll bandage him up and stop the bleeding for free, at least I won't let him die like that."

"If I see two people attacking each other, and neither of them kills the other, then they will both receive treatment."

"I am neither a soldier nor a guardian. I will not interfere with the outcome of the battle, nor will I take sides."

"They all only have one name—patient, injured, people in need of treatment. And I am the one who can give them treatment."

He said, paying respectful and polite homage to Iver, "But my healing abilities are far inferior to yours. I hope we can work together successfully."

"Well said..."

Just then, an old and hoarse voice suddenly rang out from the center.

It was an elderly and short Lizardman statue. But compared to modern Lizardman, he was more like a "snake man"—his body was covered in snake scales, and he held a cane with two black and green snakes intertwined.

He appeared at an unknown time, and his life came to life at an unknown time.

The promoted individuals then suddenly realized that none of them had noticed the "host" in the center! It was as if everyone had forgotten that there was even a host for this ceremony.

"I will preside over this ceremony. I am the apostle of the Lord of Scales and Feathers ... the teacher of the ' Hippocrates ' you just discussed, Akropolis."

The unassuming old man with snake scales spoke slowly and deliberately.

Update complete, meow!

Here's a 7,000-word update!