As the castle's wide gates slowly swung open, Nalant rode out alone and headed quickly east.
Traveling alone like this went against the rules of nobility, but unfortunately, Nalant's only squad of guards had already been sent to Wheat Leaf Village.
As it happened, the place where the Elemental Sprite had appeared wasn't far from Wheat Leaf Village, so there shouldn't be any serious danger.
Following the Radar Minimap, Nalant reached the vicinity of the red dot in just over ten minutes.
"About fifty meters to go."
The System's Radar Minimap was amazing. As Nalant drew closer to his target, the map kept zooming in, allowing him to pinpoint the Sprite's location.
He tied his horse by the roadside, raised a torch in one hand, drew the longsword at his waist with the other, and headed straight off the dirt road.
After hacking through the thorny bushes blocking his way, the trees ahead soon gave way to a small clearing.
In the middle of the clearing was a small crater, half a meter across, with wisps of heat still rising from it.
"Found it!"
Nalant hurried forward, delighted. Sure enough, a slightly red, two-fist-sized meteorite lay in the crater.
He gently tapped it with his sword.
Crack, crack!
With several sharp snaps, the meteorite's outer shell broke apart, revealing the little creature inside: the most precious and wondrous being in this world, an Elemental Sprite.
A faint purple glow radiated from the Sprite's round body, which had only a pair of tiny eyes and a little mouth.
"It's a Purple Sprite!"
The Sprite was still asleep. Nalant put away his sword and carefully picked it up.
Though the Sprite glowed, its body wasn't hot to the touch. It felt warm and soft.
Nalant quickly pulled a small porcelain bottle from his coat, poured a little powder onto his finger, and held it to the little creature's mouth.
It was powder ground from the magical herb Tulip, one of the Elemental Sprites' favorite foods.
When Nalant put his finger to the little creature's mouth, it parted its lips unconsciously, eyes still closed, and licked at it with its tongue.
What a glutton! It can smell something delicious before it's even awake! Nalant couldn't help feeling amused.
Smacking its lips as it tasted the magical powder, the little creature hesitated not at all. It opened its mouth as wide as it could, showing two tiny front teeth, then bit down hard on Nalant's finger.
"Ah!"
Nalant sucked in a breath, enduring the pain as he watched the Sprite devour the magical powder mixed with his blood.
Hum!
After swallowing the blood, the Sprite suddenly gave off a brilliant purple light. It rippled outward like waves, and then the little creature slowly opened its eyes.
"Migu! Migu!"
The instant it opened its eyes, the little creature gazed at Nalant with its big, watery eyes. At the same time, a warm mental pulse appeared in Nalant's mind: the spiritual bond between him and the Sprite.
The little creature couldn't speak, but it could convey its happiness, anger, sorrow, and joy to Nalant through mental pulses.
"I really don't want to sell her!"
Looking at the Sprite, with whom he was connected heart to heart, Nalant found that he couldn't bear to trade her for gold coins. But without gold, how could he deal with the crisis coming in a week?
"Burn her! Burn her!"
Just as Nalant was wavering, a chorus of shouts suddenly rang out from beyond the woods.
"What's going on? Why are farm serfs shouting in the wilderness in the middle of the night?"
Nalant furrowed his brow slightly, quickly tucked the Purple Sprite into his coat, and headed back to the dirt road.
As soon as he reached the road, he saw a large crowd approaching from over a hundred meters away, carrying torches.
"Burn her! This Daughter of Misfortune brought the Dark Creatures here tonight! If she doesn't die, she'll soon bring disaster upon us!"
"That's right, burn her! Let the lord burn her!"
"A Daughter of Misfortune?"
Nalant finally understood what the shouts were about.
"Daughter of Misfortune" was a term feared by everyone in this world, from kings and nobles to commoners and farm serfs.
That was because a Daughter of Misfortune brought ill fortune and disaster to everyone around her.
After a meteor shower, one of three things usually happened.
First, there was nothing inside the meteorite, just an ordinary rock.
Second, an Elemental Sprite had been born inside it, and whoever found it would make a fortune.
The third possibility was a nightmare: the meteorite concealed a terrifying Dark Creature.
For reasons unknown, a Daughter of Misfortune was like a beacon that summoned Dark Creatures. Whenever a meteor fell within three miles of one, it was certain to contain a Dark Creature. And often, the number of Dark Creatures would surge, enough to threaten an entire territory.
It was easy to imagine how lords felt when a Daughter of Misfortune appeared nearby—and what the commoners thought of her.
Under these circumstances, the world had established an ironclad rule: a Daughter of Misfortune must die!
As soon as one appeared, she had to be sent to the stake at once.
"Who's there?" Just then, the people ahead noticed Nalant. At their head was Nalant's guard captain.
"It's me!" Nalant climbed onto his horse and answered in a deep voice.
"My lord! Why are you alone in the wilderness so late at night?" Recognizing Nalant's voice, the guard captain, Quick, was startled and hurried over.
"I heard two Dark Creatures had appeared in Wheat Leaf Village, so I came to investigate. What's going on?"
"My lord, a Daughter of Misfortune appeared in Wheat Leaf Village. Perhaps she drew the Dark Creatures here tonight!" Captain Quick replied respectfully.
"Take me to see her!"
"The lord has arrived!"
"Greetings, my lord!"
"Greetings, my lord!"
Quick led Nalant toward the crowd with his torch. At his announcement, the farm serfs all dropped to their knees and respectfully greeted their lord.
"Rise," Nalant told the serfs.
"My lord, this girl was found in Wheat Leaf Village. She's the Daughter of Misfortune, and her name is Vivian."
While Nalant spoke with the serfs, Captain Quick had already brought a girl with her hands and feet bound to his horse.
The Daughter of Misfortune looked about fifteen or sixteen.
She was small and thin, with a hungry look about her. She wore nothing but a patched linen dress and didn't even have shoes.
At that age, a girl in Nalant's previous life would still have been a sheltered flower, with her life's brightest days just beginning. But in this world, she would soon be sent to the stake.
"Quick, how did you determine she was a Daughter of Misfortune?" Nalant studied her carefully for a moment before asking.
After awakening, Daughters of Misfortune usually underwent obvious physical changes. But some of the original host's memories had been lost when Nalant's soul crossed over, so he hadn't noticed anything unusual at first.
"My lord, it's her eyes!" Quick replied without thinking. Then he barked at the girl, "Lift your head and show the lord your eyes!"
The frail girl shuddered and slowly raised her head.
Sure enough, Nalant saw a ring of golden markings around the edge of the girl's brown irises.
At a glance, they might have looked like colored contacts worn by a fashionable girl in his previous life. But here, they were irrefutable proof that she was a Daughter of Misfortune.
"My lord, should we take her back to Wheat Leaf Village and deal with her now? If we wait too long, she might bring misfortune upon the territory!"
As natives of this world, neither the farm serfs nor Captain Quick felt any pity for a Daughter of Misfortune.
A Daughter of Misfortune was the source of disaster, and by "deal with her," Quick meant taking her to the stake and burning her, sending her misfortune back to hell.
"Ding! Daughter of Luck detected. The System Codex has automatically recorded one Daughter of Luck. Please check the detailed information yourself, host!"
Daughter of Luck?
Nalant was a little surprised and immediately opened the system to check.
"Dark Creatures are bloodthirsty and powerful. Every appearance of a Dark Creature brings bloodshed and disaster!"
"However, the Creator is fair. Where there is darkness, there is also light—and the light is the powerful Daughter of Luck!"
"They possess all kinds of wondrous talents and are key to countering Dark Creatures!"
When Nalant opened the System Codex, he was immediately stunned by the changes in its pages.
The System Codex had become a thick, ancient-looking tome, both elegant and finely crafted. The first page revealed news that was almost impossible to believe.
To confirm what he was seeing, Nalant turned to the next page.
"Daughter of Luck: Vivian (Half-Awakened)"
"Specialty: Archery"
"Special Talents: Precise Perception, Deadly Strike!"
"She is a powerful archer. The day she becomes a master marksman, even a Frost Bone Dragon will tremble before her."
"She is also an exceptional general. In her Initial Awakening state, the archers she leads can master archery in just one week, and her soldiers will permanently gain ten percent of her Precise Perception talent!"
"Note: In the Initial Awakening state, she can train up to 10 people at a time! This number can be increased by raising her awakening level!"
This Daughter of Luck was still only Half-Awakened, unable to use her talents and detectable by Dark Creatures. A potion could be used to complete her Initial Awakening.
Initial Awakening Potion recipe: one portion of Long Taro Flower, one portion of White Bell Grass, two portions of Silver Shuttle Grass...