[The Poison Immunity has gone up by a good number.]
Lee laid on the floor and his wife was next to him, kneeling on the ground. As the pain went away like fleeting clouds, Lee got up using An's shoulder as a support. The blood stains were the only remaining evidence for his injuries.
"It's okay. You lay down. It's not good to strain yourself."
Lee stretched his limbs and beamed at An. He freed himself from support and stood up tall. He sighed deeply as he glimpsed around. The needles pulled out of his body were on the ground. Upon D's instruction, Lee took the needle into his hand. They were almost weightless and shone bright in light. Lee had to apply all of his strength to slightly bend it. The sturdiness of this little prick ignited a burning curiosity in his mind.
'View.'
A panel popped up instantly and exposed the underlying secrets of this dart.
=====
Weapon: Cold Silver Nyx needle.
Grade: Medium Silver grade.
Description: A unidirectional projectile with poisonous property. Extremely light-weight. Produced by Cold Silver Nyx beast as an offensive measure.
=====
[Lee, I suggest we get out of here. These Nyx beasts are a 3 eyed unholy combination of scorpion, porcupine and meerkat. Since it's a Cold Nyx and a silver-needled, we have enough time to escape before it gets irritated. But make sure you collect all the needles on the ground. They can significantly reduce the Essence cost of remodelling An's sword.]
Lee nodded in agreement and conveyed the information to An. She gasped as she nodded. Together, they collected more than four hundred needles. An and Lee stared at each other's face in amazement. They could not imagine how old and big the beast would have to be to produce so many needles in one go!
=====
5 P.M.
1820 Essence harvested.
=====
When the notification appeared, Lee and An were inspecting the inside of the cave where they found the skeletons. Even though the skeletons were beyond recognition of race or creed, An expressed her wish to bury them properly. Lee was delighted as he was thinking of the same for some time. When they were moving the skeletal remains to a pit they dug, they noticed a neatly folded flag beneath one of the piles of bones.
The flag was not cursed or damaged in any way. When they unfolded it, its shape resembled that of a banner. The turquoise blue colour gave off a wave of emotional balance and spiritual grounding at the first glance. On the flag, a lemon yellow coloured eagle beak was embedded on a deep green pentagon. This two layered design was surrounded by many tiny handwritten scripts around the sides of the pentagon. At a first glance, they can confirm that it belonged to a kingdom.
'D, have you seen this flag before?'
[I have not seen this flag when I was alive. Maybe it is because I lived on the continent of Intellus. It is best to keep the flag in the Inventory instead of shucking off.]
Lee turned at An and repeated the same question. Her answer was not any different from D. Thus, Lee stored it in his Spatial ring. After burying the crumbling bones, the couple climbed the nearest mound and sat on top of it. The sky was turning orange and indicated the approaching end of the day. An used this opportunity to ask her doubts regarding the things she saw till the moment. Lee happily explained the existence of 'the magical space' gifted to him by the Sovereign! He added the information regarding the order of curses and its role in the history.
An sudden and intense trembling pulled their comfortable chat to an abrupt end. They sprang up on their feet and noticed that this is another big earthquake. D explained that the weakening of the curse is acting again. He updated that the city of Crogh has lost a portion of its city walls due to the tremor. Lee turned to An and relayed the current occurrences as he carefully scanned their surroundings.
"We cannot go back to Lorin. We can only hope that those we know are alive and safe. According to the Sovereign, the seismic activity will not come to a halt until the ancient continents reform. What should we do?"
Lee posed a question at An who was flabbergasted by the report on the ongoing events. She quickly analysed the situation as her fists clenched.
"Becoming the strongest is our primary objective. We have to formulate our strategy as soon as possible. The matters regarding the ancient continents and Amortals are unknown to the present world."
"So…."
"Let us depart now and reach the nearest city. It is not safe to rest with a ruthless beast in the vicinity."
Lee nodded and turned in the direction of Alls. They proceeded along the way D suggested and marked in the Map. As they walked side by side, Lee extended his hand and held An's soft palm. A faint blush slipped on her face as they leisurely walked against the setting sun.
=====
6 P.M.
1820 Essence harvested.
=====
The reminder appeared the moment they reached the outskirts of the forest. The thinning treelines indicated that they are nearing Alls. Approximately 10 minutes later, the southern gate of the city was visible to them. The burning torches illuminated the gate and it's perimeter.
The guards on the wall spotted Lee and An walking out of the forest and moving closer to the gate. They informed the guard on the ground about approaching individuals. As Lee and An came near the southern gate, soldiers stopped them.
"Who are you? What are your intentions?"
A guard gripped his spear as his loud voice came out. Two spearmen near him held their spears in a raised manner and pointed at the duo.
"My name is Lee and this is my partner, An. We are survivors of Lorin city. We ran into the forest in a hurry to escape the disaster."
Lee spoke as he pulled out his guild ID. An followed his lead and showed them her ID too. The information on the ID puzzled the guards. His cultivation level was abnormal for his age. The guard to the ID to the gate and their superior checked the legitimacy of the ID. It was only after his approval, that they let both of them inside.
Alls was a fortunate city as the tragedy avoided it by a distance of one and half kilometres. Compared with Lorin, Alls was slightly larger. But the overall development of the city was lower than that of other cities in the kingdom. The lives of the commonfolk were not pleasant. The corrupt mayor and the sects situated in the city performed against the kingdom's motto.
A fountain welcomed them as they walked into the city streets. The gushing water suddenly invoked an intense thirst in An. Lee noticed An slowly pacing towards the fountain with an unfed face. It did not take him more than an instant to comprehend the situation.
"Dear, drink this."
Lee stepped forward and hindered her from jumping into the fountain. He quickly took out the bottle of Horned-Mow milk from his Inventory. It was almost full as Lee had only taken a sip since he bought it.
The bottle of milk in front of her diverted her attention. She smiled wide as she took the bottle and gulped down it in one go. She was in a hurry that a lot of milk spilled on the ground. The fair scent of the special milk spread in the atmosphere.
A deep sigh of satisfaction was visible on An's face as she wiped the milk trails with her palm. Her naive actions nourished Lee with a sense of happiness.
"Hey you!"
Their happy moment was ruined by an impolite voice. Lee turned to his right and saw a beautiful carriage. The coach driver was the one who shouted. His abrupt and unpleasant voice caught the attention of the passersby. It was unnecessary to say that Lee was itching to beat this man to pulp.
--------------------------
STATUS:
==========
Name: Lee
Age: 20
Title: Grim-reaper, Soul Liberator
Fame: 2015
Essence: 11340 (6 PM)
Money: 953 Gold, 0 Silver, 31 Copper
----------
Partner: An
----------
Health: 320
Strength: 320
Vitality: 320
Agility: 320
Defense: 320
Endurance: 320
Sense: 320
Intelligence: 320
Resolve: 320
----------
Immunity:-
• Greater Poison Immunity (1887/1000000)
• Medium Lightning Immunity (3229/10000)
• Medium Air Immunity (200/10000)
Affinity:-
• Greater Poison Affinity (11884/1000000)
• Greater Lightning Affinity (12385/1000000)
• Lesser Fire Affinity (0/100)
• Lesser Water Affinity (0/100)
• Lesser Ice Affinity (0/100)
• Greater Rock Affinity (11975/1000000)
• Greater Metal Affinity (11974/1000000)
• Medium Sand Affinity (286/10000)
• Greater Nature Affinity (11984/1000000)
• Medium Air Affinity (1165/10000)
• Greater Sound Affinity (12371/1000000)
• Greater Dark Affinity (11797/1000000)
• Lesser Light Affinity (0/100)
• Medium Death Affinity (286/10000)
----------
Mastery:-
• Absolute Blade Mastery
• Absolute Nunchuck Mastery
• Medium Bow Mastery (778/10000)
----------
Cultivation: Peak stage Core Formation realm
Qi: 0/1100
Mana: 0
----------
Innate Skills:-
• View
• Foresight
• EsGen
• EsConv
• De-Spell
• Flight
----------
INVENTORY:-
QUESTS:-
MAP:-
SHOP:-
RE-MODEL:-
==========