Settlement

Velint picked up the two green jade stones and tossed one to Fran.

Upon receiving the green jade, Fran felt her book vibrate.

"Well... goodbye then..."

Velint said, and Fran responded:

"Goodbye."

Only then did Velint heave a sigh of relief. Truth be told, she had been worried that Fran might suddenly get the idea to snatch the one in her hand to combine them; she certainly couldn't beat her.

She hurriedly chanted the incantation, and five seconds later, her figure gradually turned transparent and vanished.

Fran then began to check what had happened to her book.

When she opened the book, she saw a prompt on the cover page.

[You have collected three jade stones. Chant the incantation to exit the trial.]

Fran was in no rush; she first wanted to check the small pouch she had taken from the person who had ambushed her earlier.

She opened the pouch, but it contained only some colorful crystals.

"What are these?"

Fran was very puzzled. She possessed Extraordinary-level Pharmacy, yet she couldn't identify these at all, meaning they weren't medicinal ingredients.

She also had Proficient-level Runecraft, yet she still couldn't make sense of them, meaning they weren't related to enchanting materials either.

"Forget it, I'll check the Spirit Realm Atlas when I get back; maybe they're in there. I just wonder if I can even bring these back."

Fran had obtained two items dropped by the person she killed. Based on her previous experience with this book, she shouldn't be able to bring these items into the Material Realm, yet Fran had a feeling that she could.

She checked everything one more time, confirmed there were no issues, and chanted the incantation.

Her consciousness began to sink, but it felt as though it only sank halfway.

When she regained consciousness, she found herself in a space with a black background.

Several lines of text appeared in the air. They were characters she didn't recognize, yet she found she could understand them.

[Trial Settlement

Red Jade: Obtained.

Blue Jade: Obtained.

Green Jade: One-half obtained via two-person challenge.]

Fran scanned the text and saw the note about the green jade.

If I can get half from a two-person challenge, wouldn't I get more if I challenged it alone?

That's a bit of a loss. Given the level of that Vine Giant, I feel like I could have taken it down with another minute of effort. If I'd known, I wouldn't have cooperated with anyone.

Fran watched for a while, but nothing changed. She stepped forward and tapped the text, causing the characters to dissipate and rearrange.

Why is there an interaction?

White text gradually emerged in the air.

[Reward: Trial Key, one random spell.]

Then, a key-shaped object appeared before Fran, hovering in mid-air, creating a sharp contrast with the void and background around it.

A green orb of light also floated in the air, emitting a warm glow, waiting for Fran to touch it.

Fran hadn't expected to obtain a Trial Key so quickly.

It seemed that once she returned, she could start preparing for her trial promotion.

However, Fran had no such intention right now. Just listening to Ichi's descriptions, she knew that a Spirit Realm Mage was definitely not a pit one should step into lightly.

She had been lucky this time to find the Trial Key directly, but what about next time?

If she ended up like Ichi, unable to find a Trial Key for the rest of her life, that would be the end of it.

Fran stepped forward and touched the key, and a line of text appeared in her mind.

[The location for this trial is the Brilliant Dream. Countdown to opening: 184:13:46:30. Participants must enter the trial one hour in advance. Entry will cease five minutes before the trial begins. There are no restrictions on the use of any spells or combat techniques.]

At the same time, the last digit of this countdown was constantly decreasing.

The time units used in this other world were identical to those on Earth.

According to Fran's understanding, this string of numbers was arranged as Days:Hours:Minutes:Seconds. Once the last digit hit zero, she saw the preceding digit decrease by one, and the last digit reset to 60, continuing to count down.

In other words, it would be six months before this trial could begin.

She grabbed the key and tucked it into her pocket.

No rush; she hadn't decided whether to participate yet, so keeping it for now wouldn't hurt.

Then, she looked at the glowing green orb, hoping to pull a good spell from it.

As for obtaining a Trial Key, she felt it was only natural; her strength far exceeded that of a Spirit Realm Traveler.

By all logic, someone at her level should have already ascended to an official rank; if the Spirit Realm had any consciousness, it should have given her a key just to stop her from bullying the novices.

Therefore, for Fran, the spell granted by this orb was the true reward; if the reward were subpar, this trial would have been a complete waste of effort.

She also knew what Ichi had said: for a Spirit Realm Traveler, it is nearly impossible to learn techniques from the Material Realm once one has attained an official rank.

This was the price, but the Spirit Realm offered compensation in return.

As long as you explore the Spirit Realm, you are bound to obtain strange spells, combat techniques, and items.

These are infused directly into your mind, and according to the algorithms of Fran's interface, these skills essentially start at the Mastery level.

This was the least elitist chapter of all; if you were a Spirit Realm Traveler, as long as your luck held out, a well-assembled set of skills could allow you to crush a member of any established school of magic with a flick of your wrist.

There were no connections to leverage; the most a "second-generation spirit user" had over you was access to a Guide of the Spirit Realm or better equipment.

They couldn't inherit a single spell, and if their luck was poor, they might remain stuck at the Apprentice rank for their entire lives.

Using skills granted by the Spirit Realm had one drawback: you generally could not improve your proficiency in them. They remained exactly as they were when you first acquired them until the day you died.

However, it seemed that Fran's interface was not restricted by this limitation.

During the trial, Fran had obtained [Light Prayer] from a book; logically, it was also a gift from the Spirit Realm, yet she could actually gain proficiency points when she cast it.

Fran gently touched the orb, and after emitting a dazzling light, it vanished as if it had never existed.

Fran felt the knowledge of a new spell manifest in her mind.

[Hardened Scale Rock (Mastery) (Proficiency: 143/1000): Upon activation, a layer of Hardened Scale Rock will coat your body, slightly reducing movement speed while granting powerful defensive capabilities.]

A defensive skill—Fran wasn't overly thrilled, but it was acceptable; she did indeed need a defensive ability.

Other apprentices didn't learn them because they lacked the energy, but with her interface, learning a few auxiliary skills was no problem at all.

It was just that she had been too busy lately, what with brewing potions, engraving runes, and practicing her swordsmanship from time to time; she had even planned to buy a Mage Armor scroll from Elan the next time she went to deliver her potion orders.

Seeing that there was nothing else to do, she recited the incantation, sank her consciousness, and returned to the Material Realm.

After regaining consciousness, she reached out to touch her body, feeling a key, a short sword, and a small pouch, but the tattered book was nowhere to be found.