Leveling Up

Rested and ready.

"Melina, can you help me teleport?"

"You mean, return to the Sites of Grace you've visited before? I can do that."

Melina materialized and held out her hand.

Xia Tong extended both hands and took hers.

Warm. Comfortable.

Though she was only a maiden in name, Melina's pale face still flushed faintly as the opposite sex held her hand like this.

"Can you feel it? Whenever you reach a new Site of Grace, you leave your own mark there. Teleportation anchors itself through that mark."

With his eyes closed, Xia Tong followed Melina's guidance and seemed to arrive in a dark starry sky.

Several golden points of light floated amid the darkness, connected by golden threads.

She then asked, "Which Site of Grace are we going to?"

"South of Lake Agheel."

Xia Tong named the location without hesitation.

Of all the places he had visited so far, it was the closest to the Bridge of Sacrifice.

"Try controlling your conscious form to touch that point of light. It will generate a force that tries to pull you in. Don't resist it."

Xia Tong tried touching it. Sure enough, there was a faint pull, and the closer he got, the stronger it became.

However, Xia Tong soon opened his eyes again.

"But before that, let's level up first."

"Which attribute?"

"Dexterity!"

Xia Tong's gaze was resolute.

He still wasn't qualified to sit back and relax. Summoning Spirit Ashes was more of an aid; in a real fight, he still had to rely on himself.

If his Dexterity was high enough, he could avoid more damage in battle instead of taking it head-on!

Holding hands with Melina, Xia Tong felt his body enter that steaming state again as the Runes were refined. It lasted several minutes before gradually subsiding.

He brought up his status panel again:

[Character Data]

Level: 19

Runes Held: 2026

Vigor: 16

Mind: 23

Endurance: 10

Strength: 17

Dexterity: 12

Intelligence: 18

Faith: 2

Arcane: 10

As Xia Tong completed his level-up,

Melina opened her eyes and said apologetically,

"You can only level up once. You don't have enough Runes left."

"Short by over 300 Runes."

Xia Tong was a little stunned.

He had killed that Godrick Knight, seven or eight Godrick Soldiers, three Kaiden Sellswords, and more than a dozen wolves.

He had stripped all their armor and weapons and sold them.

Together with the Runes from the wolves, it should have added up to more than 4,000 Runes.

He hadn't expected to still be more than 300 short.

Xia Tong rummaged through his bag and found a [Golden Rune [1]].

He crushed it hard, and golden light flowed into his body.

200 Runes.

Still not enough.

Xia Tong's damn obsessive-compulsive streak kicked in.

In the end, he had Melina teleport him to the Church of Elleh. Gritting his teeth, he sold the [Lordsworn's Flail] he had originally been reluctant to part with, finally gathering the remaining 300-plus Runes.

[Character Data]

Level: 20

Runes Held: 7

...

Dexterity: 13

...

Xia Tong's Dexterity rose by another point, reaching 13.

He moved his body, rose onto his toes, and lightly jumped onto the broken wall of the Church of Elleh.

"Whoosh!"

Xia Tong landed softly on the bricks, then hopped several more steps on one foot before standing steadily atop the broken wall.

Tap, tap, tap!

Like a nimble bird, he moved up and down, light as a swallow.

"Like a dexterous dancer."

In the distance, Kale, the Nomadic Tribe merchant who had been sorting his goods, also walked over.

He was very pleased with Xia Tong's progress.

The stronger Xia Tong became, the greater his hope of completing his mission.

Perhaps one day, he really would be able to visit the royal capital with Xia Tong.

He had an inexplicable premonition that the truth about the Frenzied Flame and the Nomadic Tribe might be hidden there.

They went nowhere that night and rested where they were.

The Church of Elleh was once again lit by warm firelight.

Xia Tong and Kale, the Nomadic Tribe merchant, began talking like old friends again.

"...Even for a Tarnished, your ruthlessness left quite an impression on me. These Kaiden men are mercenaries from the north. They're hot-tempered and difficult to deal with. Yet you stripped them bare."

"For survival. Or rather... to scrape together some travel money."

"A fine reason. In this damned world, Runes are the only thing that never lies. I gave you fair prices, after all... You're quite a major customer now."

Kale paused, his tone turning serious.

"Oh, right. Since you're traveling far, let me give you a piece of advice. If you meet people like me on the road... don't hurt them."

"Nomadic Tribe merchants?"

"Though our Nomadic Tribe is despised by the world, we are united. If you hurt any one of us... we will never forgive you. Our curse will follow you until death."

And so they chatted idly, one sentence at a time.

Suddenly, Xia Tong remembered something.

"Oh, right. Near the Mistwood Ruins in eastern Limgrave... I heard a wolf howl. Kale, do you know what that was?"

"That sound? It's Blaidd the Half-Wolf. I'll teach you a trick."

As he spoke, Kale snapped his fingers.

Snap!

The crisp sound was especially loud in the night.

Xia Tong tried it several times, but his snaps weren't crisp. They sounded dull.

After Kale corrected him a few times, his snapping finally became proper.

Snap!

Snap!

Crisp finger snaps rang out through the Church of Elleh again and again.

"Very good, very good!"

Kale beamed.

The next day, at first light,

Xia Tong rode Torrent toward the south of Lake Agheel.

New Kaiden Sellswords were patrolling the area again.

However, there were no longer seven or eight of them in the camp as before. There were only four or five.

"It seems they might revive at some point in the future, but definitely not now."

Xia Tong thought to himself.

Reality wasn't a game.

In a game, as long as one rested at a Site of Grace, these monsters would immediately respawn.

But in reality, although they would revive, it might take days or months. It definitely wouldn't happen instantly.

At Gatefront Camp in the distance, only three or five had revived sporadically, and they had no clothes on, wandering around naked.

They were practically no threat to Xia Tong now.

He continued south.

Soon, Xia Tong saw the massive caravan on the road ahead.

Two enormous Trolls pulled a black coffin slowly forward.

Many Wandering Nobles clustered around them.

Among them were noble sorcerers carrying staffs and capable of firing blue magical bolts.

Their garments were made of luxurious fabric, but their silk robes had rotted black, their hats were filthy, and their gray-white skin was shriveled, making them look like walking corpses.

After the Shattering caused the Golden Order to fail, Destined Death was sealed away. These nobles could not die even if they wished to, and could only wander eternally through the Lands Between.

Xia Tong shifted his gaze to the other side.

There were two or three Kaiden Sellswords patrolling on horseback.

Xia Tong had already killed three Kaiden Sellswords, so he had some understanding of their moves.

And now that Xia Tong's Dexterity had reached 13, he was far more confident than before in avoiding the Kaiden Sellswords' attacks.

"These giants are really tall... What a pity. They've now become nothing more than beasts of burden. Though they retain some awareness, they're mostly numb."

Xia Tong hid atop a high slope beside the road, watching the monster horde below and feeling a chill in his heart.

Even after more than ten days in this world, seeing these nearly ten-meter-tall Trolls still made his heart tighten.

Every step the enormous Trolls pulling the coffin took made the ground tremble slightly beneath their several-ton weight.

Boom! Boom!

"I can't ride a horse. I can only crouch low on the slope beside the road and sneak past to barely make it through."