Chapter 314: Mallows
They heard a knock on the door.
Lin Le stood by the shabby door and whispered, “Who’s signature do you hold in your hand.”
“Sisters…”
Lin Le turned and said seriously, “It’s them…”
He opened the door, and saw Wu Na, FrozenCloud, and the others all standing there speechlessly. You even need to confirm this!?
They slowly walked into the house. Ye Cang took out the equipment. There were 5 in total. What made everyone amazed was that there was actually a gold quality accessory. The other four were Distinguished quality equipment: A mage dagger, a light belt made of plants, a light green mage hat, and a light plant-made shoulderguard.
Paralytic Spore (Gold - Accessory - Spore)
Category: Accessory
Requirements: None
+7 All Attributes
+30 Poison Resistance
Marsh Paralyzing Spores: Can release spores into an area that continuously expand. After 10 seconds, they will reach their max size. At that time if they are attacked, touched, or 20 seconds pa.s.s, they will explode. The time until their explosion can be extended. After exploding, the resulting dust will deal 15 damage a second for 5 seconds. It will gradually cause a 35-75% slow. If target is unable to leave the range before their speed is slowed to 75%, they will become paralyzed for 3 seconds. One spore is created every hour, and 2 can be stored at once. (The one wearing the accessory will not be affected by the spore).
SpyingBlade was interested in the accessory. It seemed useful for ambushes, but not for head on fights. Anyone with eyes would quickly discover this ma.s.sive spore. Taking an entire 10 seconds was a bit long, and was more than enough for someone to run far away or eliminate it. But there were still many ways to use it. For example, when PVPing, create one near yourself to prevent a.s.sa.s.sins and melee cla.s.ses from getting close.
The mage dagger was directly given to Fang Ci. The belt’s attribute suited SpyingBlade, so was given to him. The shoulder guard went to FrozenCloud. The mage hate was given to Nana. Finally, it was the most important piece, the golden accessory. Most of them still haven’t filled this equipment slot, so many people would want it. Even Ye Cang was still using that fishmen sculpture. He took out the thing that looked like a bundle of spores. “How should we do it?”
“Brother Lil’White, I don’t want it. It looks like a pile of p.o.o.p…” Lin Le said, backing away from it.
“……” Everyone shivered. Do you have to gross us out!
“Those who want it, raise your hands…” Ye Cang thought a bit, then said. He raised his own hand. SpyingBlade raised his hand slightly. FrozenCloud, and Zhang ZhengXiong both did too. None of the mages moved. Little Ye Tian hesitated a moment, but chose not to. She had Little Ration, who could fly, so she didn’t need it do defend herself. It was more realistic to use it for ambushes.
“Alright, then let’s play rock-paper-scissors.” Ye Cang gathered all the people who wanted it and began a game. He was better at it than rolling dice. The first to be eliminated were SpyingBlade and FrozenCloud. They saw Zhang ZhengXiong and Ye Cang’s sneer. Naives! Rock Paper Scissors is our specialty!
SpyingBlade faintly frowned. He really was too naive. He had looked down upon Rock Paper Scissors. He had thought it was all luck because he didn’t play this often. Now he realised it was all about reaction speed, observation, and scheming. Of course, luck was still a part of it. Those two had G.o.dly reflexes, so they could wait till the very last moment to show their hand, reacting to the situation. Sc.u.m is sc.u.m as expected. However, the sc.u.m’s observation ability was unusually outstanding. Shaking Bear also had an unusual fast reaction and judgement. Next time he played Rock Paper Scissors, he would take it more seriously. Earlier, he had noticed Ye Cang’s hand and was going to counter him, but it had changed in the very last moment. Careless!
In the end, Zhang ZhengXiong got the accessory. SpyingBlade looked at him. He really was the one most fitting to use it. He had strong poison resistance to go along with it, and he could make use of all 5 attributes.
After distributing, everyone once again ‘died’ because of Ye Cang, buffing up again, and were planning to continue exploring. The wandering spirits were easily dealt with by the pair of holy cla.s.ses: Zhang ZhengXiong and Little Ye Tian. SpyingBlade and FrozenCloud knew, that to physical attackers like them who didn’t have any holy or fire skills, ghost type enemies were the most annoying, especially vengeful spirits. Many non-holy cla.s.s players would carry some reserve equipment for dealing with ghosts and specters, such as holy weapons or spells. Although ghost types had their advantages, their weakness was equally apparent. Holy damage was extremely effective against them. Some spells could even one-shot them (Can instantly kill the target, ending any spellcasting, and not triggering any on death effects. Some spirits, such as vengeful spirits, will deal a final attack after death, which this would prevent. Instant kill skills don’t work on creatures stronger than yourself, such as bosses. It’s a magic that loves to bully the weak but fears the strong.)
“Ice spells aren’t very effective against these. It’s best to use holy attribute. The next best is fire or thunder. I have here some minor healing light spells, just 3 gold…” SpyingBlade’s words made Wu Na and the other delighted. It’s true that Ice spells were feeling a bit weak. Fang Ci shook his head, “I’m fine. Spirit Ball’s damage is alright. My cla.s.s isn’t very compatible with holy spells…”
Ye Cang took 3, learning one himself, then gave SpyingBlade 3 gold. “It’s three gold each…”
“You should have said so earlier, we’ve already used them, so we can’t even give them back. Really! Next time you should say it clearly. Let’s go. I also want to try burning these things with holy light…” Ye Cang grumbled, then turned away, ignoring SpyingBlade. He had no intention of taking out any more money.
“You…” SpyingBlade sighed. Whatever, I’ll treat it as an investment. I’ve earned quite a lot with them.
Wu Na and w.a.n.g felt much better. Healing Light didn’t require much mana, and had a short cast time. It’s damage was also enough. They looked at the effect of Ye Cang’s healing lights, and broke out in cold sweat. Just how did he get such high spell power and intelligence? This was the thing they always doubted, but no one wanted to inquire.
They thoroughly searched the area around the palace, clearing it of enemies, leaving not a single spirit behind. They received many masterwork and superior quality items. Then, they finally set out for the palace.
Ye Cang saw that the sculpture by the entrance had its lower and upper half separated. There was a hand in the corner, and a head completely covered in moss. It was hard to tell, but it was probably a sculpture of a female. Little Ye Tian sc.r.a.ped at the plague under the sculpture, and recognized a language she could read. “It’s the ruins of a shrine to Mallows. Revered by humans and elves who live near mountain forests.”
“Why has it become like this though? Judging from all the ghosts, it doesn’t seem like the elves simply migrated. Some sort of disaster must have happened…” Little Ye Tian pondered out loud. From looking at the palace, this place should have been thriving. Although the place wasn’t too big, what could cause it to become like this? Plague? Coup d’etat? Conflict between believers?
“Thinking out here won’t do you any good. We’ll definitely find some clues inside…” SpyingBlade looked at her and reminded.
“Brother SpyingBlade, you’re right. It doesn’t matter what disaster, our goal is to find treasure, and bosses. Of course, they will all be looted by me…” Ye Cang stroked his chin and nodded.
Everyone looked at him. The first half was still alright, but that last phrase, perhaps it would be better not to go in. It would be useless anyways if it went as he wanted. Besides experiences, there would only be empty bodies, and empty chests.
Ye Cang looked at the entrance that was 10 meters tall. In the darkness were wandering spirits. Everyone began to tidy them up, searching room by room. The rooms were full of cobwebs and old, broken bookshelves. Little Ye Tian took the books and flipped through them. The doc.u.ments on the outer rooms were all illegible, many had rotted away, and others - though intact - still weren’t completely readable. Most of them appeared to be songs and fragments of history, which allowed them to roughly understand the past inhabitants. It seemed that at the time, the other side of the mountain range was not a barren wasteland. Many humans and elves going north to Iskafanda, or south would pa.s.s by here and pray. This place was Black Peak’s second holy grounds dedicated to the second of the G.o.ddess of nature’s three daughters, the G.o.ddess of mountains and forests - Mallows. The first one should be in the direction of the canyon to the north-east and dedicated to the flower and rainbow G.o.ddess - Jam. The third is at Pomeranian Peek, dedicated to the mountain and hunting G.o.ddess - Anya.
Little Ye Tian looked at the three locations names. Iskafanda must have become a sand dune now if it was in the north. Pomeranian, she had never heard of this place before. Black Rock Peaks was virtually unending, no one knows how many peaks there are. The further one went, the more arduous the terrain became. She continued to flip through the other books, but only got some unimportant information. What gave her a happy surprise, however, was that she found a skillbook. It was a nature element healing spell, minor rejuvenation. She used it herself. Although she wouldn’t get any cla.s.s bonus, but it was still good to have one more healing spell. Afterall, even a spell like minor healing light had a cooldown of 10 seconds.
Little Ye Tian found two more pieces of history and explained it to the others, and even got general directions to the other two shrines. SpyingBlade felt antic.i.p.ation. The nature G.o.ddess’s three daughters, then these three ruins must have something connecting them, like a hidden quest. They had to find the clues.
Everyone pa.s.sed through the outer palace and arrived in a garden that had been overtaken by weeds and cobwebs. Under the moonlight, it was clearly untouched for a long time. From what they could tell, it must have once been a beautiful garden, but now there was only a fountain trickling water. Following the road of weeds, they entered the inner palace. From here, it began to look more dignified. Under the light of their torches, the murals and sculptures looked refined. In the innermost part of the palace, Ye Cang saw a stone stage with his night vision. On the stage were bare skeletons. Behind the stage was a stone chair covered in spider webs, with a robed skeleton sitting on it.