Chapter 38: Advancement Ritual

Annan had always been very strict with himself.

He would fall asleep immediately when he needed to; he would not dawdle in bed when it was time to get up; he would not go for the next bite after feeling full. He had a balanced diet every day. They said that playing with the phone on the bed was bad. Thus, Annan would not do so. Of course, he would avoid having meals within the 3 hours before bedtime; this applied similarly to playing games.

After all, he was not the product manager like his neighbor next door. No matter how serious he treated his work, he would not die of exhaustion.

He could finish all his tasks before going off work because he never slacked during working hours. Hence, there was no need to stay up late to work overtime. It was a good habit he developed when he was still a student.

Moreover, Annan never accepted any extra tasks outside of his scope. All the workload he undertook was just to the extent that he could complete it when he gave in his 100%.

He was like a perfect and rational machine. He did his work accurately, elegantly, and splendidly. His boss praised him as the top employee, and doctors acknowledged that he was healthy.

His self-control was why he could maintain his reasoning through common sense even after losing half of his feelings.

After he notified Priest Louis and Salvatore of the critical news, he was already at the limit of what he could do.

The rest was not something he could influence by doing well. There was no point thinking about it, so he left Louis and Salvatore, who would be staying up late to work overtime. He fell asleep quickly.

It was the familiar atmosphere of having colleagues staying up late and working overtime while Annan got to sleep in bed early after finishing their work. This gave Annan a sweet dream and refreshed after getting up.

When he woke up again, the players had already logged in one after another.

Obviously, there should be quite a number of players who did not sleep at all but were stuck online for eight hours.

Because Annan did not seem to be awake, they did not bother Annan rudely, nor did they rush to find people to talk to and look for clues to the mission. They went to find some breakfast while chatting in the forums. Some formed a group to stroll around the city and enjoyed the scenery of this new world.

Annan was delighted.

This showed that this group of players was quite mature.

Having an awareness of the importance of mapping out the place and preparing before any mission, the players were not some random brats.

The players’ actions moved Annan. He set up a new mission for them:

[The old viscount from Roseburg wants the life of Don Juan Geraint. Similarly, he wants your life too.]

[Behind him is indeed a force from the royal capital. He also has other forces secretly supporting him, but so what? In any case, you don’t want to give up just yet. Your adventure has just begun.]

[For this, Don Juan Geraint is ready for war.]

[As Don Juan said, ‘this is not revenge, but a murder attempt.’ You have successfully defeated an evil murder conspiracy, and now, it’s time for your revenge.]

[There’s no need to hold back and spare no mercy. Give all you got and do whatever it takes.]

[Just because you’re facing the evil, you are righteous.]

[Obtained the main mission: The Disaster of Roseburg/Defend Freezing Water Port]

[Main mission: The Disaster of Roseburg (0/20)]

[Mission requirements: Infiltrate Roseburg territory by any means and successfully blend in that place (0/1), creating chaos at the right time, assisting Don Juan Geraint’s plan (0/1)]

[Special requirement (+10~100 evaluation ratings): Depends on contribution.]

[Special requirement: Cannot be completed at the same time as “Guarding Freezing Water Port”]

[Main mission: Defend Freezing Water Port (0/20)]

[Mission requirement: Before the plan is successful, assist militia to take security measures to ensure that Freezing Water Port is not attacked (0/1). Ensure the survival of “Priest Louis”, “Salvatore Blacktower” and “Don Juan Geraint” 0/3)]

[Special requirement (+10~100evaluation ratings): Depends on contribution.]

[Special requirement: Cannot be completed at the same time as “Roseburg Disaster.”]

After suddenly receiving the main mission, the players immediately discussed it in the forum.

They generally understood that Don Juan Geraint should have woken up. After he discussed with the other two essential NPCs, the group was determined to retaliate against Roseburg.

This is wonderful.

The players feel this from the bottom of their hearts.

After all, the entire Freezing Water Port belonged to a friendly unit.

After the exciting but not a full-hearted battle, the players fell into a dilemma where there were no creeps to play with, no dungeon instance to tackle, and only some simple missions that could be done in daily life.

Although the world itself surprised them enough and was satisfied enough, they felt something was missing.

At this moment, it did not feel empty anymore.

The main mission had finally advanced to the point where they could battle with creeps.

In the players’ minds, they were eager to visit Roseburg. Not only was it possible to “lawfully kill creeps” there, but they did not have to worry about reducing Don Juan’s affection rate.

It was even more so because that place was a new map. Maybe there would be some items that could not be found in the Freezing Water Port and even new missions.

Annan also knew the players’ thought processes. What he predicted was a fact too.

After all, Roseburg was closer to the inland than Freezing Water Port. When the Freezing Water Port belonged to Chilly Austere Dukedom, it used to be the border fortress of Noah Kingdom. The traffic with the mainland was much denser than the Freezing Water Port. The area was indeed not as large as Freezing Water Port, but the number of residents had more than doubled.

In theory, Don Juan was the feudal lord of the entire North Sea Territory, and Roseburg Viscount was the vassal supposedly guarding him. But after all, Don Juan was only the third son of the Gerant family, having no authority like his father or grandfather.

As for how the situation developed, Freezing Water Port was still the most crucial city in the North Sea Territory. After all, it was the only large port in the North Sea Territory. But after the ban on cross-border trade with Chilly Austere Dukedom, the most prosperous place got to be Roseburg.

But, Annan had already guessed what the players thought.

So, he directly set the two missions to the upper limit of twenty people. In other words, only half of the players could go to Roseburg so that he could prevent the home base from being assaulted.

A tactician surnamed Sun once said that all tactics revolved around home base [1].

Annan was worried. After she sent forty spies in, the opposing side had the same idea as him.

After finishing up the mission setting, the players quickly found the ten people with the strongest head-on combat power in the last battle through discussion and elections. Then, they picked the ten streamers who had the most experience, most evil plans, and the natural ability to stir up troubles. They were chosen for this difficult lurking mission in addition to buying items on behalf of the players in this given opportunity.

The three people who completed the mission perfectly beforehand joined the infiltration team. On the contrary, Jiu Er chose to defend the home base.

After the players assigned the mission among themselves, Annan went to the Silver Sire Church with Salvatore.

“Just in case.”

In this regard, Salvatore explained, “In advancement ritual, you cannot be interrupted. No one dares to attack the church. After all, the power of Silver Sire Church… In short, you will be safer to stay here.”

“You will handle the assaults coming for me?”

Annan raised an eyebrow and asked back.

Salvatore put on a serious face, “Because there may be spies or assassins coming in. They should be by my side. Otherwise, they can’t be sure that I was in the basement at that time. After all, if I happened to be free, these Black Fires won’t get to be detonated at all. Before they detonate, they are just spell-casting materials for me.

“If you are worried about me, finish the advancement as soon as possible and come out. Having one more Transcended will make the Freezing Water Port a much safer place.”

“Got it.”

Annan nodded seriously.

Afterward, he stood on the magic circle that was drawn in advance for the ritual.

The magic circle was made up of red gem fragments. It was not completed yet.

Under Priest Louis’s gaze, Salvatore chanted Alteration School’s spell for the first time in front of Annan:

“The partridge in the east, the crane in the west, the sparrowhawk in the south, and the owl in the north. Black represented iron, albino represented fire, yellow represented gems, and red represented blood-“

The gem fragments on the magic circle gradually melted and separated in the magic circle. The flimsy magic circle turned three-dimensional; Three rings composed of black, yellow, and white began to rotate slowly and quietly around Annan.

At this moment, Salvatore breathed a sigh of relief.

“Great, this can guarantee your safety. I can wake you up at any time. Now, get ready to enter the nightmare.”

With that, he handed a note to Annan, “Just read the name on it.”

Annan took the note and said softly,

“The Venerated Skeleton…”

“I… am listening.”

A low voice suddenly echoed in Annan’s heart.

At the next moment, a line of data stream suddenly appeared before his eyes:

[Detected Nightmare Fragments without complete purification.]

[Rank requirement: Below Gold Rank]

[Profession requirement: None]

[Special requirement: None]

[The requirements are met. Falling into a nightmare after ten seconds. Ten, nine…]

[1] A starcraft reference. It’s a strategy to go straight on enemy buildings while ignoring the armies.