Second Class Quest Begins

Chapter Forty-Four: Second Class Quest Begins

World Quest: Pursuit, Void Bubble (Completed)

Reward 1: Character EXP x20000, Gold x50000

Reward 2: Karmas' Trading Tools—Imitation (Karmas' Scale of Fairness, Karmas' Weights of Balance, Karmas' Equal Contract)

"What are these?"

Inside the carriage, Iris watched Linton suddenly pull out several little trinkets and asked curiously.

Linton idly toyed with a thumb-sized weight and a palm-sized balance scale. "Iris, do you know Karmas?"

"I do." Iris nodded. "They say he was a demon god from thousands of years ago who presided over all transactions in the world. Wait, scales and weights... Don't tell me these are his things."

"They aren't. They're just imitations."

Linton shrugged and carefully examined the complete set of tools in his hands.

Karmas' Trading Tools—Imitation: You may initiate a trade with another person. The value of traded items must be determined by the weights. After the other party selects an item they wish to trade, you may use the weights to view items of equivalent value. Once a contract is signed, the trade is completed. (Can only be used once; disappears after use.)

Seeing how intently he was studying them, Iris asked curiously, "What are they for?"

"Scales and weights. What else do you think they could be used for?"

"For buying and selling things, obviously... But since they're imitations of a divine relic, they must have some special function, right?"

"Of course." Linton spoke softly. "Ordinary people trade money for goods, or the other way around. But this scale won't settle for such simple work."

"What exactly do you mean?"

"Everything."

The necromancer's simple words stirred towering waves within Iris's heart.

"Everything... Does that mean lifespan, or even stranger things, can be used in a trade?"

Linton nodded gently.

"If what the other party offers can be met with something of equal value from me, then even lifespan—or souls—can be traded."

Iris's lips trembled. After a long while, she managed only the simplest possible assessment. "That's terrifying."

Linton did not continue the conversation.

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

Mental Weakness: Your Intelligence attribute has decreased by 90%. (Duration: 70 hours)

Though he had won a brief victory in his confrontation with Volg, that very victory had caused the room that resembled an illusion to suddenly shatter, throwing him into a storm of chaotic thoughts without the slightest preparation.

Fortunately, it had not lasted long. Linton had ultimately gritted his teeth and endured it, though it left him with a debuff.

The only fortunate thing was that the debuff would not last long. After resting for a few days, he would recover completely without any lingering effects.

Thinking of his clash with Volg, he recalled Volg's strange behavior before the illusion shattered.

—Volg had suddenly risen to his feet, trembling all over. Two drops of blood seemed to fall from his face, hidden in the shadows.

And when everything returned to nothingness, he had even heard Volg's voice, overflowing with fear.

"True Lord... rejected me."

Why had the True Lord rejected him? What had been rejected?

Questions piled upon questions. Under the debuff's effects, Linton felt his brain twitching. He could not help frowning and temporarily stopped thinking.

"Are you all right?"

Iris looked at him with concern.

Ever since they had left that village, Linton had seemed somewhat off.

On the way there, he had always told her jokes to pass the time. Now, he did not even have an expression on his face.

Miss Knight was anxious. She knew no healing spells, and they were in the middle of nowhere, where even finding a doctor was impossible. She could only use her weak words to offer the man a little comfort.

"It's nothing serious."

Linton waved a hand. "You, on the other hand, don't seem very happy."

"Do I?" Iris instinctively touched her face, then said dejectedly, "After running into something like this, who could possibly be happy?"

"Because of the villagers, or Bella?"

"A little of both." The doll girl said angrily, "Honestly, how can people like that exist? They treat lives as toys for experiments without the slightest reverence. How are people like that not dead yet?!"

"Didn't the books say it long ago? Good people die young, while calamities live for a thousand years."

"Ugh." Iris let out a long sigh. "I never expected people like that to exist in the Truth Society. That blacksmith was actually quite a nice person. I thought your church merely had different beliefs..."

Linton fell silent for a moment before saying, "You have a favorable impression of the blacksmith only because he is still just a blacksmith, not yet called by faith. But I have to remind you—"

"—the Truth Society has never been any kind of wholesome organization."

"Ordinary soldiers have countless reasons for going to war. Perhaps they have no other way out, perhaps they want to defend their homes and country. But what about the Flower Knights?"

Miss Knight closed her eyes and said in a trembling voice, "Because... they are driven by faith."

"That's right. The Truth Society's followers may not possess the knights' strength, but once they don the armor forged by faith, they become terrifying warriors who will never retreat, no matter how many times they die."

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

As her words fell, the carriage sank into silence once more. Their thoughts wandered, and neither knew whether they met at any point.

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

"Iris, you were right."

"Huh?" Iris looked utterly confused, not knowing what he meant.

The man's expression had already calmed. He merely said softly, "We need to become stronger."

"Much, much stronger."

"Why bring that up all of a sudden..." The girl paused, seeming to realize something. She carefully asked, "Are you... angry?"

"Because of that guy from the Truth Society?"

"Heh." Linton chuckled softly, neither confirming nor denying it.

"Is it because of Bella?"

"A bit of everything."

The man raised his eyes slightly and said softly, "But more than that, I don't want my future to be some multiple-choice question whose answer has already been decided in someone else's eyes. How could anyone possibly predict a player's choices?"

Iris did not hear Linton's last sentence, but that did not affect her answer.

"I understand."

Such simple words, yet they held incomparable resolve.

Linton smiled softly and closed his eyes.

At that moment, the familiar crisp chime rang out once more.

[Class Quest: Heart of the Strong] Activated

Objective 1: Create a spell that belongs to you alone.

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

Objective 2: Unlocks after Objective 1 is completed.

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Who is our opponent?