Second Professional Mission, Unlocked

Chapter 44: Second Professional Quest, Activated

[World Quest: Pursuit, Bubble of Nothingness (Completed)]

[Reward 1: Character EXP x20000, Gold x50000]

[Reward 2: Karmas' Trading Tools (Fake) (Karmas' Scale of Fairness, Karmas' Weights of Balance, Karmas' Equal Contract)]

"What is this?"

In the carriage, Iris looked at the small trinkets Linton suddenly produced and asked curiously.

Linton fiddled with the thumb-sized weight and palm-sized scale, casually saying, "Iris, do you know Karmas?"

"I do," Iris nodded. "It's said to be a demon god from thousands of years ago, who controlled all transactions in the world. Scales, weights... don't tell me these are Its things."

"They aren't, just replicas."

Linton shrugged, carefully examining the complete set of items in his hand.

[Karmas' Trading Tools (Fake): You can initiate a trade with others. The value of the traded items must be judged by the weights. After the other party chooses the items they wish to trade, you can use the weights to see equivalent items. Once a contract is signed, the trade is complete. (Can only be used once, disappears after use)]

Seeing him engrossed in studying it, Iris curiously asked, "What's this for?"

"Scales and weights, where else do you think they can be used?"

"Buying and selling things, but since they're replicas of divine relics, they must have special functions, right?"

"Of course," Linton said softly. "Ordinary people trade money for goods, or vice versa, but these scales won't handle such simple transactions."

"Specifically, you mean..."

"Everything."

The Necromancer's simple words sent colossal waves through Iris's heart.

"Everything... Does that mean lifespan, or other more magical things, can also be traded?"

Linton nodded gently.

"If I can provide an equivalent response to what the other party offers, then even lifespan, or even souls, can be traded."

Iris pursed her lips, and after a long pause, managed a simple evaluation: "It's too terrifying."

Linton didn't continue the conversation.

He put the items into his backpack, then held his forehead and slowly closed his eyes.

[Mental Weakness: Your Intelligence attribute is reduced by 90% (Duration: 70 hours)]

Although he had achieved a temporary victory in his confrontation with Volg, it was precisely because of his victory that the room, which felt like an illusion, suddenly shattered, plunging him into a chaotic storm of thoughts without any defense.

Fortunately, the duration was not long. Linton gritted his teeth and endured it, but it left him with a debuff.

The only fortunate thing was that the debuff's duration was not long; he could recover after a few days of rest with no lingering side effects.

Speaking of his encounter with Volg, he was reminded of Volg's strange behavior before the illusion shattered.

—At that time, Volg suddenly stood up, trembling, as if two drops of blood fell from his face hidden in the shadows.

And when everything turned to nothingness, he even heard Volg's words filled with fear.

"True Lord... rejected me."

Why did True Lord reject him? Reject him for what?

Doubts piled on top of each other. Under the influence of the debuff, Linton felt his brain throbbing and involuntarily frowned, temporarily stopping his thoughts.

"Are you alright?"

Iris looked at him with concern.

Ever since they left that village, Linton's state seemed a bit off.

On the way here, he would always make jokes to pass the time, but now, he didn't even have an expression.

Miss Knight was anxious, but she knew no healing spells, and they were in the wilderness, unable to find a doctor. She could only offer a few weak words to comfort the man.

"It's nothing major,"

Linton waved his hand. "More importantly, you don't seem very happy."

"Do I?" Iris instinctively touched her face, then said dejectedly, "With what happened, who could be happy?"

"Is it because of those villagers, or Bella?"

"A bit of both." The doll girl said indignantly, "Honestly, how can there be people like that, treating life as experimental toys without any reverence? Why aren't such people dead yet!"

"Didn't the books say it long ago? Good people don't live long, and disasters last for a thousand years."

"Sigh." Iris sighed, "I didn't expect there to be people like that in the Truth Society. The blacksmith, he was quite nice... I thought your church was just different in its beliefs."

Linton was silent for a moment, then said, "You have a good impression of the blacksmith only because he's still just a blacksmith now, not yet summoned by faith. But I must remind you..."

"—The Truth Society has never been a benevolent organization."

"Ordinary soldiers go to war for a thousand and one reasons. Perhaps they have no other options, or perhaps they want to protect their homes and country. But what about the Flower Knights?"

Miss Knight closed her eyes and trembled, "Because... driven by faith."

"That's right. The followers of the Truth Society might not possess the same formidable strength as the knights, but once they don their armor forged by faith, they will become terrifying warriors who will not retreat even in the face of death."

Iris fell silent, then slowly said, "I understand."

As her words faded, silence once again descended upon the carriage. The two of them were lost in their own thoughts, their minds perhaps intersecting on some unspoken point.

After a long while, Linton suddenly spoke, breaking the less-than-pleasant quiet.

"Iris, you're right."

"Huh?" Iris looked at him, completely bewildered, unsure of what he was referring to.

The man's expression had calmed, and he spoke softly, "We need to become stronger."

"Very, very strong."

"Why are you suddenly saying this?" The girl paused, as if sensing something, and cautiously asked, "Are you... angry?"

"Because of that guy from the Truth Society?"

"Heh." Linton chuckled lightly, neither denying nor confirming.

"Could it be Bella?"

"A bit of both."

The man slightly raised his eyelids and said softly, "But what I want even less is for my future to be a predetermined multiple-choice question in someone else's eyes... How could anyone predict a player's choices?"

Iris didn't hear Linton's latter sentence, but it didn't affect her reply.

She said, "I understand."

Simple words, yet they held an unparalleled resolve.

Linton smiled faintly and closed his eyes.

It was at this very moment that the familiar, crisp chiming sound rang out again.

[[Class Quest: Heart of the Strong] Activated]

[Quest Objective 1: Create a spell that belongs solely to you]

[Reward: Character EXP x50000, Free Attribute Point x1, Free Skill Point x1]

[Quest Objective 2: Unlocks after Quest 1 is completed]

[.]

[Who is our opponent?]