Divine Artifact Fragment and a New Quest (Combined 4k Chapter)

Inside the carriage, Lin Ke could not help feeling surprised.

Did the system mean that Garros would not return for another five months?

So when Ove said he would stay until Lin Ke's father returned, that meant he would stay here for five months.

And that meant the system quest was complete!

So that was it... Naturally, Lin Ke clicked the claim button.

"How will that Divine Artifact Fragment get here?"

The Divine Artifact Fragment reward dispelled some of the gloom weighing on Lin Ke's heart, and he began to look forward to it.

Surely it wouldn't just fall out of the sky?

Feeling a little more at ease, Lin Ke began meditating with a sense of anticipation.

He had not even reached level one yet and had no mana at all.

Only at level one could he learn spells such as Fireball, Grease Spell, and Dust-Raising Spell. He would not have a skill slot until level two.

So he needed to work hard and hurry. He could not always rely on outside help from guards or his teacher.

He quieted his mind, entered his soul space, and began catching the individual elements drifting through the darkness.

His "Knowledge" bloodline grew, then fed that growth back into the [Scholar] class within it.

After he had cultivated for a while, an enormous green element appeared within the range of his awareness.

Whoa, what a huge wood element!

Lin Ke felt a flicker of delight. These large elements seemed far more "delicious" to his bloodline than the many smaller ones.

But just then, after swallowing the wood element, his "Knowledge" bloodline flashed.

Wait... Lin Ke froze for a moment, suddenly finding the scene familiar.

"I think I encountered a huge wood element like this in the same place earlier today..." Lin Ke had always firmly believed that anything unusual had a reason behind it.

After all, finding such a large wood element amid an otherwise ordinary elemental environment was unusual in itself.

Opening his eyes, Lin Ke gently laid his mother flat, gestured for John to keep quiet, then went outside and climbed down.

The ox cart was not moving very fast. He could explore along the way and still catch up.

Yet the instant he stepped down, he felt something hard beneath his foot.

A piece of iron? Wood? Or...

"No way..." A little startled, Lin Ke bent down and picked up whatever he had stepped on.

A rotten chunk of wood.

"I really was overthinking it..."

Lin Ke had thought he might step on something like a Coiling Dragon Ring.

But just as he was about to throw the rotten wood away, the "Luck" bloodline in his mind pulsed violently.

Lin Ke's hand froze. A possibility suddenly occurred to him.

Could... could this be that Divine Artifact Fragment?

"Little Lin Ke... what are you doing?" Ove's aged but gentle voice came from the roof.

"Nothing, Teacher. My legs were a little numb, so I'm taking a walk."

Lin Ke was not sure whether this rotten chunk of wood was the fragment, but he slipped it into his pocket anyway and continued walking below.

After asking, Ove said no more. He was here, guards surrounded them, Lin Ke was not a troublemaking child, and the road was wide and open. There was little danger.

So Lin Ke walked another two or three kilometers, but apart from stones, all he found was that rotten chunk of wood.

So it really was this thing... Lin Ke felt the rotten wood in his hand. Its texture was soft, yet tough.

The trouble was that he had absolutely no idea which divine artifact it had come from.

In the end, Lin Ke decided to return to the carriage. Along the way, however, he spotted the lonely figure sitting cross-legged on its roof, so he climbed up on his hands and feet.

"Teacher, are you meditating?"

Lin Ke asked softly.

Ove opened his eyes and smiled kindly. "No. I was reviewing and reinforcing my skill slots, appreciating the wonders of my skills."

Lin Ke sat down beside Ove. At present, the only people Ove could tolerate near him were Lin Ke, John, and Nix.

Anyone else who approached either scared Ove away or was scared or beaten away by him.

"Teacher, I'd like to ask you a few questions."

Lin Ke intended to ask about trait ratios, taking up a class, and enlightenment, laying the groundwork for his future exploration of new classes.

But the instant the words left his mouth, a system quest appeared before him.

[Quest: Before the true King of Azan returns, create enough new classes to give yourself the confidence to face him and the power he commands as an equal!]

[Quest reward: Followers who will never betray you, equal in number to the new classes you create.]

[Hint: The followers awarded possess very good bloodline talent.]

"Very good" talent corresponded to the seventh grade. That really was very good.

It seemed he needed to create more new classes. The more followers of that caliber he had, the better.

Although he still did not know exactly how large the differences between bloodline talent grades were, he could make some guesses from what Ove had told him.

For instance, ninety-nine percent of all living beings on the Nasengge Continent and throughout the Endless Planes had first- or second-grade talent-low or middling talent.

Only the remaining one percent had third-grade talent or higher.

Even if one percent of ten billion was still a hundred million, rare was rare when viewed as a proportion.

Naturally, Lin Ke would seize this opportunity to obtain as many talented followers as possible.

"Little Lin Ke... little Lin Ke?"

Seeing his disciple staring into space, Ove called softly twice.

Lin Ke immediately came back to his senses, gave a dry cough, and began asking about the mysteries of classes and bloodlines, particularly bloodline enlightenment.

Once he learned that enlightening a bloodline merely consumed a certain amount of energy, Lin Ke felt reassured.

He should be able to ask Ove to help enlighten bloodlines when the time came. At worst, he could pay him.

After they had talked for a while, Lin Ke happened to ask about the ugly "Merfolk Root" at that day's auction...

"What? Merfolk Root?!"

Ove sprang to his feet in surprise. "That Baron Puxin from earlier already ate it?"

Even now, he still believed the baron's name was Puxin.

"I think so. What exactly is it, Teacher?" Lin Ke was very curious.

If even the level-nineteen Ove was this surprised, just what was that thing?

"Hmm... fishmen are a vicious and foolish lesser race. You know that, don't you?"

As Ove explained, Lin Ke nodded to show that he did.

Ove continued his explanation.

Simply put, fishmen were an inferior, brainless race. At least, that was how Ove understood them.

This race had gone extinct in Nathang long ago. Apparently, no one had found another one even in the Endless Planes, though of course someone might have hidden them away.

That was nothing unusual in itself. New races were born in this world all the time, such as that Deep Blue Giant Tiger race from earlier.

Races also vanished into history all the time, such as fishmen, kobolds, and boarmen.

But one day, an adventurer on the verge of starvation ate the root of a certain plant in some fishman ruins and gained greater talent.

After investigation, experiments, and the sale of that information, all of Nathang erupted.

Talent meant advancing more easily, catching elements more effectively during meditation, and a bloodline being able to hold more elements in a single meditation session before becoming "full."

And that Merfolk Root seemed capable of greatly improving talent.

Nathang did have other things that improved talent, but they were all extremely precious, and their effects were difficult to stack.

For instance, the legendary Violet Lingzhi Fruit only worked the first time someone ate it in their life, raising their talent by one or two grades.

But the talent-enhancing effects of Merfolk Root... could actually stack without limit!

"The Star Prince's parents traded an enormous amount of resources for huge quantities of Merfolk Root, practically exhausting the supply in Nathang and the other planes. That was how the prince gained Andrew Level talent."

Ove looked wistful. "If only there were still some Merfolk Root left. You could eat it and improve your talent."

The Star Prince was the second person in the Endless Planes to possess Andrew Level talent-or perhaps the first, since no one knew what talent Andrew himself actually had.

In Ove's memories, however, Lin Ke's talent was not Andrew Level. He had sealed his own memories to protect Lin Ke.

Lin Ke knew this, but did not mention it.

Still, what he heard left him rather reflective.

Years after the despised fishmen had gone extinct, something capable of improving human talent had been discovered among their remains. That was something few people would have expected.

But it also proved the might of nature.

Listening to Ove's explanation, Lin Ke could not help recalling everything Ove had done for him.

Ove's concern for him could not be faked.

Humans were creatures that lived in groups, social animals.

Ove had been lonely for so many years. Now that he had Lin Ke as his disciple, he truly cared for him deeply.

In that case...

Lin Ke thought it over carefully, then reached into his pocket and took out the rotten chunk of wood.

"What is it, little Lin Ke?" Ove asked in confusion.

"Teacher, while I was meditating this afternoon, I found a very large green element..." Lin Ke began explaining his observations and suspicions.

After Lin Ke finished, Ove took the rotten wood, examined it closely, then closed his eyes and entered meditation.

A while later, Ove opened his eyes and nodded slightly. "There are indeed elements..."

Next, Ove rubbed the wood, then turned his hand over and took his Thunder Staff out of his Spatial Ring.

Electric currents gradually began coursing over his body, and he brought the gem at the tip of the Thunder Staff close to the wood.

"Hmm..."

The gem gave off a faint purple light.

The rotten wood also emitted a blue-green glow, as though responding.

But it was clear that the rotten wood was suppressing the light from the Thunder Staff's gem.

Suppressing it?

Lin Ke looked at Ove.

"Hmm. It seems this is indeed something above level twenty-one. And from what I can sense, it should be a fragment of a divine artifact, rather than a legendary weapon." Ove put away his Thunder Staff, and the electric currents on his body subsided.

He returned the rotten wood to Lin Ke, then explained, "The owner of this divine artifact should have been one of Nathang's gods. I simply don't know why this rotten wood is now without a master."

As he spoke, Ove smiled. "This wood will be very useful to you. It also seems that its current appearance isn't its original form. Perhaps after you've used it for a long time, it will absorb your aura and recognize you as its master, and its shape will change again."

"This was a god's divine artifact, but it no longer has a master? And this isn't its final form?" Lin Ke mulled it over.

The woods they were passing through were near where they had encountered the Deep Blue Giant Tiger before.

Come to think of it, he had already completed two quests here!

And besides...

That King of the Gods from back then should have been a god, right? Lin Ke began to suspect that this Divine Artifact Fragment might be something the old man had left behind.

After all, Azan lay on an extremely remote frontier, at the southernmost edge of the Gula Kingdom.

From the information Lin Ke had gathered, the gods and legendary figures should mostly have been concentrated in the kingdom's central regions. Such figures were rare in this countryside, if there were any at all.

Even a Baron Puxin was already Parrot City's most powerful figure in the public eye.

Thus, Lin Ke deduced that this rotten wood must have belonged to the King of the Gods' divine artifact.

Judging by his earlier encounter with the King of the Gods, perhaps this rotten wood had been broken off when the King of the Gods fought some other powerful figure, then lost here.

A relic of the King of the Gods!

Lin Ke could not help tightening his grip on the rotten wood, then loosening it again. He looked at Ove. "Teacher, would this Divine Artifact Fragment be useful to you?"

Lin Ke offered him the rotten wood in his palm, his eyes clear and sincere.

Looking into Lin Ke's eyes, Ove suddenly smiled warmly. "This wood will help you the most. Just keep it."

He gently pushed Lin Ke's hand closed around the wood, then explained, "Divine artifacts are merely objects nurtured by gods. Gods nurture them with the aura of their divine offices, and that makes them divine artifacts."

"Teacher..." Lin Ke tightened his grip on the wood.

"But a god's bloodline does not necessarily match their divine office. A legendary figure's weapon, however, matches their bloodline and class perfectly." A trace of pride appeared on Ove's face.

"Those who walk the legendary path have no need to imitate the power of gods. Our power belongs to ourselves, unlike the gods... mere parasites on the rules."

Parasites on the rules... power belonging to oneself...

Lin Ke pondered Ove's words and gained a vague understanding of the two paths, legendary figures and gods.

But he would not approach them with prejudice. As someone who walked the legendary path, his teacher Ove might unconsciously disparage those who followed the path of the gods.

So Lin Ke would view this matter objectively rather than allow preconceived notions to take hold.

"Teacher, then your Thunder Staff is..." Lin Ke was a little curious about Ove's equipment.

Ove smiled and patted Lin Ke's head. "My Thunder Staff counts as a level-nineteen item! In a little while, I'll give you a gift. Then you can gradually raise its level too!"

Hearing that, Lin Ke was filled with anticipation. "All right, Teacher!"

Next, the two began discussing what kind of equipment he should choose in the future.

Lin Ke ruled out things like blades, spears, clubs, and staffs.

The real world was not like a novel, where all one needed to do was fight and kill.

War and combat were only ever extensions of interests.

If interests aligned, armed conflict could often be avoided.

But even after a long discussion, Lin Ke still had not decided what he wanted. He could only wait and choose later, depending on the circumstances.

As time passed, they drew close to Azan Castle.