Chapter 80: Blasphemer Shaya
The carriage sped through the rain-soaked streets of the Imperial Capital, kicking up splashes of water.
Sylvia sat by the rear window of the carriage, her gaze fixed on the gray city blurring beneath the rain curtain.
Raindrops traced small ravines down the glass.
She was typically a person of few words, and her recent emotional outburst had pushed her to her limits. Consequently, Sylvia was even more reticent than usual.
“Why did you want to go to the Dark Night Garden?”
“I wanted to confirm some theories.”
“For example… whether the history I experienced five hundred years ago was real, or just a dream.”
“Oh.”
That was the only conversation Shaya and Sylvia had exchanged since getting into the carriage.
After that, she sat by the window, lost in thought, while Shaya’s hand restlessly stroked her hair, much like a cat that enjoyed being petted.
A cat only allowed those closest to it to touch its head.
Shaya, for his part, was content with this. He played with the soft, smooth strands of her hair while focusing his mental energy, checking the system panel for his gains. He hadn’t had a chance to review them earlier.
It reminded him that not too long ago, he’d had another cat-like girl by his side.
He wondered if he would ever have the chance to see her again.
[Novice Mission: Cause Sylvia, the young daughter of the Grand Duke of Azure Court Duchy, to experience the betrayal of a loved one (Completed)]
[Historical Echo – “Ancient Azure Court” Cleared]
[Mission Rewards Have Been Settled]
[Based on your overall performance in this mission, the following mission rewards are awarded: Forty “Sands of Time”]
[Novice Tutorial Complete. Novice Protection Period Ends. Mission Guidance Function Disabled.]
[Exchange Mall, Titles, Historical Legend Status, and other functions are now enabled. Please check the new functions yourself.]
[The first mission after the novice period will be available in five days. Please wait patiently.]
[You have new Titles and Historical Legend Status to view.]
…
Shaya sensed something deep within his soul.
In the previously pitch-black Spiritual World, several points of light suddenly flickered to life.
These points of light converged, emitting a faint, clear starlight, like a nebula illuminating the surrounding darkness.
Shaya could feel that under the glow of the starlight, his chaotic, empty, and illusory Spiritual World had become clearer and more stable.
“My mental energy has grown again… combined with the insights from the previous battle, it seems breaking through to Four Rings isn’t too far off.”
Shaya assessed his mental energy and came to a conclusion.
Humans are endowed with wisdom rather than strength. As a Beast Tamer, one cultivates the mind, or rather, the power of the soul, to establish Soul Pacts and contract Familiars.
Generally speaking, until one breaks through to the Four Rings and becomes a so-called Master Grade Beast Tamer, mental energy is merely an illusory and ethereal concept, only vaguely perceivable and not yet tangible.
The process of cultivation for Beast Tamers beyond the Four Rings involves gradually expanding this newly manifested, tiny, and illusory Spiritual World, making it clearer and more real.
One of the hallmarks of a Legend Grade Beast Tamer is the ability to create their own vast and boundless Spiritual Ocean.
Shaya’s mental energy had always surpassed that of his peers. Even before reaching Four Rings, he could perceive his Spiritual World. Now, with the help of the starlight, his Spiritual World had solidified considerably, reaching the level of a typical Five Rings expert.
This meant that breaking through to the Four or Five Rings would no longer present a significant bottleneck for Shaya.
“Is this the reward for the novice mission, those forty “Sands of Time”?”
Shaya felt a surge of joy. These were excellent items that could directly enhance his potential as a Beast Tamer.
Although he considered his own talent and aptitude to be excellent, one could never have too much potential.
Furthermore, as the forty tiny, star-like Sands of Time merged into his Spiritual World, Shaya felt his Affinity with the Laws of Time and Space increase slightly.
If he were to enter another “Historical Echo,” he would undoubtedly be able to withstand the cleansing of the river of time for longer.
“But—”
“Where is my Free Experience Points? And my Skill Seeds?”
He still had three Familiars to care for. While enhancing potential and time Affinity was good, improving his immediate combat power was also urgent.
Fortunately, Shaya soon found the answers in the newly expanded system interface.
[Sands of Time Mall]
[Your current remaining Sands of Time: Twenty-nine]
[Some items in the mall rotate regularly, and new item categories will be unlocked as the host’s mission progress advances.]
…
[Small Experience Crystal]
[Price: 1 (Unit: Sands of Time, abbreviation omitted)]
[Item Description: Grants 10,000 Free Experience Points upon use.]
[Remark: Small is also cute.]
…
[Skill Fusion Book]
[Price: 10]
[Item Description: Fuses multiple skills of the same Familiar to create higher-tier skills. It works best when used in conjunction with “Skill Seeds.”]
…
[Thief’s Gloves]
[Rarity: Purple]
[Category: Extraordinary Item]
[Price: 15]
[Description: When worn and activated on a designated target, randomly obtain two items from the target. The item disappears after use.]
[Remark: Sneaky? Sneaky!]
…
[Pegasus Reins]
[Rarity: Blue]
[Category: Extraordinary Item, Familiar Equipment]
[Price: 30]
[Description: Manifests a fantasy species – “Pegasus” – to fight for you. If equipped on a Familiar with the “Mount” attribute, it will greatly enhance that Familiar’s attributes.]
…
[Twin Soul Rings]
[Rarity: Purple]
[Category: Extraordinary Item]
[Price: 200]
[Description: Increases the number of Soul Pacts a Beast Tamer can establish by 1.]
…
[Dice of Destiny]
[Rarity: Purple]
[Category: Extraordinary Item, Evolution Material]
[Price: 1000]
[Description: Roll the dice, and the luck value is determined by the number of dots facing up.]
[Remark: Orion Fei, ALL IN!]
…
[Black Cup]
[Rarity: Orange]
[Category: Pollutant]
[Price: 10000]
[Description: Originally a miraculous item capable of fulfilling all wishes of a petitioner, it became distorted after being contaminated by an ancient being from beyond the stars. It can still grant wishes, but the method of fulfillment will be twisted to varying degrees depending on the difficulty.]
[Remark: It’s truly Holy Cup Holy Cup, do you guys have such a wish-granting machine? I want to ask.]
…
It took Shaya a long time to skim through the dazzling list of items in the mall.
He had to admit, the System understood how to make enticing promises.
Even Shaya’s eyes lit up at the sight of the high-rarity items.
Putting aside other things, just the “Dice of Destiny” alone sparked a plethora of usage ideas in Shaya’s mind.
And the “Black Cup,” although its description suggested it wasn’t a good thing, could become a universal wish-granter if the contamination were resolved.
The only problem was, he couldn’t afford it.
Previously, to add Crimson’s “Filthy Blood” and “Dark Scion,” the system had likely automatically exchanged them for “Small Experience Crystals.”
This left him with only 29 Sands of Time, not even enough to buy the “Pegasus Reins.”
Shaya was quite tempted by that item. According to its description, it could manifest a fantasy species, a “Pegasus.” Even if the manifested phantom beast’s strength was fixed and couldn’t be improved, it would be equivalent to an additional Soul Pact in the early stages.
Fortunately, the Sands of Time in the mall seemed to be just a unit of currency, not something that needed to be physically exchanged. The number of tiny stars in his Spiritual World remained forty; otherwise, it would have been a significant loss.
Shaya let out a sigh of poverty.
He then shifted his gaze from the high-level rare items back to those he could afford.
“Large Experience Crystal, costs ten Sands of Time, can be exchanged for 110,000 Free Experience Points. It’s profitable, but the quantity is too large to be practical…”
“Skill Seed (Normal), which can allow a Familiar to create a high-tier skill, costs three Sands of Time.”
“The Skill Seed I obtained earlier was likely this one. No wonder “Amaterasu” only reached quasi-super tier after consuming three Skill Seeds.”
“And the Skill Seed (Rare), which can create a super-tier skill, costs ten Sands of Time.”
“I still need to save some to buy Experience Crystals… This means that before the next mission and receiving new mission rewards, I can only create two new super-tier skills at most.”
“And there’s the Skill Fusion Book. If I were to truly use the Fusion Book with the Skill Seed (Rare), I could only afford one.”
Shaya’s gaze swept over the items, finally landing on the very top of the mall.
[Weekly Heartwarming Lucky Bag]
[Price: 1]
[Item Description: Randomly obtain any item currently on sale in the mall. This item can be purchased once per week.]
“Is this system from Tencent? Trying so hard to boost daily active users?”
“They’ve even copied this. Are they going to launch a season pass next?”
Shaya grumbled internally.
But in the end, he paused for a moment.
Then, he chose to purchase it.
It felt so good.
There was no other way; the cheapest item in the entire mall cost one Sand of Time. No matter what, he wouldn’t lose out.
And what if he got lucky and pulled one of those high-rarity items, like the “Black Cup,” for instance? Wouldn’t the System lose so much that it would go bankrupt?
[You have purchased the “Weekly Heartwarming Lucky Bag,” consuming one Sand of Time. Current remaining Sands of Time: 28]
[You have obtained “Small Experience Crystal” * 1]
“Alright then.”
Shaya silently closed the Sands of Time Mall interface.
Africans would always be Africans; no amount of spending would change their luck.
Oh well, it wasn’t a loss since he got at least a guaranteed item.
Free Experience Points were always welcome.
After examining the newly unlocked mall functions, Shaya then looked down at the section with a red notification.
The next moment, lines of new information appeared before Shaya’s eyes.
[Congratulations on your performance in the Historical Echo “Ancient Azure Court”]
[You have obtained a new Title – “Blasphemer”]
[You have obtained new Historical Legend Status – “The Forgotten Man”]
