Chapter 15
Extraordinary Ring: Crimson of Nobility
After both parties had tacitly displayed their abilities, goals, and intentions, Eivass and the Shadow Demon reached a temporary agreement.
As the Shadow Demon once again retreated into Eivass’s shadow, the darkness that had spread throughout the bar like mud was absorbed back into the shadow beneath Eivass.
It was as if a swimming pool with its drain opened, and the shallow lake of darkness quickly became “dry.”
The warm winter sunlight once again shone in, filling the bar room.
It was as if the humid shadows covering them moments ago were merely an illusion.
“–Good.”
Eivass breathed a sigh of relief.
Now, the four main matters were settled.
He had avenged Eivass and killed the “friend” who had betrayed him; successfully destroyed his evidence of wrongdoing; obtained clues for the next stage of investigation; and awakened and appeased the Shadow Demon.
Now, it was time for the joyous treasure chest opening!
Eivass listened carefully and found that Haina was still downstairs searching and had not yet come upstairs.
“Looting time!”
He eagerly rubbed his hands together and began to search for his spoils of war.
Eivass quickly found a thumb-sized round box, which looked like mentholatum. It was etched with a crescent moon pattern with a human face, and below it was a small line of text: “1886-03-071, Quicksilver Workshop.”
He was very familiar with this item.
It was a bottle of Drunken Dream T. A specialty of the Star Antimony Kingdom.
“Good stuff. A promising start.”
Eivass’s lips curved slightly upwards as he casually pocketed it.
Drunken Dream T was a potion that stabilized dreams and numbed the body to prevent it from waking up easily. It was an Alchemical Product of the Path of Balance. It could also be used as a surgical anesthetic, but its primary use was as an auxiliary potion to enhance success rates during advancements.
In Xianxia novels, it was roughly equivalent to a Foundation Establishment Pill. At a low level, it provided a considerable boost to breakthrough success rates.
Drunken Dream T was known among players as a “minor Advancement Potion,” which could improve the success rate of Advancement Rituals. It was similar to the potions in classic MMORPGs that could increase equipment enhancement success rates.
According to the setting, advancing one’s professional level required entering a dream to perform a complex and highly failure-prone ritual. However, in the game, it was determined by a cold advancement success percentage, and preparing certain ritualistic elements or materials could increase the success rate.
Success resulted in special effects followed by advancement, increasing the professional level cap by ten. Then, three traits would pop up for you to choose one.
This was the Path Trait obtained from this successful advancement.
Failure meant being knocked back to level 19. Players could simply use their lost materials to prepare for the ritual again and advance. For NPCs, if the advancement failed, there would be a cooldown period that increased with level, taking at least another half a month.
Veronica was a level 19 Demon Scholar and was close to advancing; or she might have failed several times, hence her preparation of Drunken Dream T.
Judging by the number of ritual spells she had mastered, she should have remained in the Second Tier for a considerable time—with the level cap locked, skill levels could still be increased normally, but it would not grant further professional levels.
Eivass’s advancement from First Tier to Second Tier would not be difficult, and success was almost guaranteed. He didn’t need it for now.
He could use it when he advanced from level 19 to 20 later.
Moreover, since Eivass was advancing on two Paths simultaneously, he would need two doses.
Drunken Dream T itself was not a particularly rare potion, so there was no need to cherish it. Its price in Star Antimony was not high, only forty-six white crown coins. However, it was purely handcrafted by Alchemists, resulting in insufficient supply, so it required appointments and had purchase limits.
More importantly, this potion was quite difficult to obtain in Avalon at the moment.
This was because the Star Antimony Kingdom had become a hostile nation to Avalon two years ago.
All Alchemical Products from the Star Antimony Kingdom were restricted from export to Avalon; conversely, Avalon also prohibited the import of Alchemical Products from the Star Antimony Kingdom and also disallowed the export of its own mineral and timber resources to Star Antimony.
The current market price for Drunken Dream T in Avalon, apart from a few remaining stocks, was from scalpers who booked at ten times the price.
Five hundred white coins was just the starting price.
This was a price Haina wouldn’t even dare to dream of. It was about ten years’ wages for an ordinary worker.
Eivass was not unable to afford it.
He just didn’t want scalpers to make such easy money.
He also had no intention of leaving it for the Inspection Bureau—even if the Inspection Bureau obtained it, they would only resell it at a high price. It was even highly likely that they would sell it to the Moriarty Family.
Because everyone knew that Young Master Eivass had also embarked on the Extraordinary Path recently, becoming a Priest. He would also need to stock up on Drunken Dream T in advance.
“–In that case, there’s no need to specifically let intermediaries profit from the price difference.”
Unfortunately, after finding the Drunken Dream T, Eivass couldn’t find anything else worthwhile.
He only found some ritual materials.
But they were all human materials, such as placentas or infant scalps. Not only were they of little value, but he couldn’t use them either.
Eivass had already sworn not to use materials of his own race for rituals—and he genuinely disliked such cruel acts. Therefore, he did not take them. Instead, he left them on Veronica as evidence of her crimes.
The red robe she was wearing was also valuable.
…However, Eivass felt he wouldn’t be able to take it off.
Setting aside the fact that it was women’s clothing and Eivass couldn’t wear it; besides, Veronica wasn’t wearing anything underneath, and taking off her clothes directly would be somewhat perverted…
Of course, Eivass wouldn’t have much use for the red robe even if he got it.
In the game, players had no identity, which allowed them to infiltrate the society by wearing the red robe. However, he was now Eivass Moriarty, and he could not pass the screening of the Noble Red Society at all.
If he were to succeed in joining, he would be threatened by the society instead. Because if the matter were exposed, Eivass would not be able to survive in the Avalon Kingdom at all. Even his foster father, elder brother, and Yulia would be harmed as a result.
“…Huh?”
Eivass suddenly unearthed a brass ring that shimmered with a brilliant golden radiance.
It was engraved with a scarred fist, clenched tightly, with blood dripping from between its fingers. The “blood” that shone brightly was actually powdered ruby. Under the sunlight, it reflected a viscous, dark red luster as if it were real blood.
The next moment, a light screen popped up:
[Noble Red]
[Extraordinary Accessory (Light Purple)]
[Accessory – Ring]
[Trait: Minor Lawful Speech Resistance (Triggerable only by the Transcendent Path)]
[Spell: Severe Coughing Technique (Once Daily, 1/1)]
[Requirement: Darkness 2]
[Gesture, Medium Range, Immediate Effect]
[“–We are all fists that have been wounded, hands that have grasped blood, blades without scales.”]
Great, a drop!
Eivass’s eyes lit up.
This was the best drop from a “Big Purple”!
Minor Lawful Speech Resistance could nullify the interference and control effects of First Tier Law spells, Lawful Tactics – Shout, and other Authority Path abilities, and weaken control effects below the Third Tier by one level.
The Authority Path was the most common Path ability in Avalon. If Eivass wore it, control skills released by Extraordinary individuals within level ten would no longer affect him; control skills within level thirty would also have their strength reduced by about ten levels. The only drawback was that it was too conspicuous, and wearing it normally could easily lead knowledgeable people to mistake him for a member of the Noble Red Society.
But its effects were indeed good, extremely practical in the early stages… and Eivass was on the Transcendent Path, able to trigger passive effects. It was suitable for carrying in his pocket and putting on when needed.
The spell attached to the ring, “Severe Coughing Technique,” although it sounded a bit silly, was actually quite a practical spell.
The fact that it could be cast with the ring as a medium and required two points of dark Mana to release indicated that it was not a low-level item.
“Coughing Technique” was a First Tier Transcendent Path spell that put a person into a state of choking. If Eivass could obtain the corresponding Occult book, he could learn this spell.
“Severe Coughing Technique” was its upgraded version at the Second Tier. Its effect was to immediately put a person into a state of severe coughing. Based on the text description, it was like an irritant liquid such as red oil or seawater being poured into the nose, causing uncontrollable coughing for several seconds before recovery.
A person who was constantly coughing severely would indeed have difficulty exerting force.
Because they couldn’t breathe properly, their strength would be weakened. The in-game effect was “Damage -10%, Hit Rate -10%, Attack and Movement Speed -10%, lasting for three seconds,” but Eivass felt these figures were conservative.
In reality, if caught off guard by this move, a fatal opening could easily appear.
Similarly, a person in a state of severe coughing could not speak, let alone shout.
Even after the effect ended, they might not be able to speak clearly for some time. The mucous membranes had been irritated, and it was easy to start coughing again accidentally.
And the Lawful Speech-type abilities of the Authority Path required loud shouting.
From this perspective, this equipment was specifically designed to counter the abilities of the Inspection Bureau. Once discovered, it could be used to hinder enemies and escape immediately.
Eivass couldn’t help but feel fortunate.
“–Fortunately, I feigned a weakness and lured Veronica to choose Haina as her breakthrough point.”
She must have thought my shot was too weak to penetrate her defense. So, instead of taking the hit directly, she would pretend to be dead and seize the moment when Haina’s guard was down to cast her spell and instantly kill her.
Therefore, she didn’t want to appear too threatening—because what she needed was Haina’s underestimation.
This kind of academic was very prone to mental weaknesses.
But Veronica knew this… and Eivass naturally knew it too.
He knew Veronica would definitely look down on Haina, so he deliberately laid the groundwork, pretending he was going to shoot her, thereby giving Veronica an opportunity to succeed in her plan. As Veronica watched her plan approach success, she herself also relaxed her guard.
Fortunately, I dug a pit and chose a righteous sneak attack!
Otherwise, if they had fought head-on, even if Veronica’s sustained spell missed, she could have counter-gripped and weakened Haina with the “Severe Coughing Technique.”
Moreover, this ring itself was a symbol of identity for the “Noble Red” society. And only formal members could obtain it; peripheral members like the Wicked Bartender did not have it.
Although it was just a piece of equipment in the game…
Eivass thought.
In reality, it might have other uses.
Just as Eivass dared not wear it normally, fearing it would lead to a misunderstanding of his identity—using it in reverse might also be possible.
I didn’t adjust the length and thought of writing less, but these two chapters turned out to be over six thousand characters…
Please recommend me, I’m asking for your continued reading support~
