Chapter 16

Chapter 16

“Mass Resurrection.”

“Renewal of All Things.”

Phelos pulled out his wand and almost instantaneously cast two level 300 spells.

[Mass Resurrection]: Holy light resurrects all beings within range who have died within the last two hours, clearing all buff effects and restoring them to 50% health and mana. The minimum mana cost per use is 10,000.

Resurrection and Mass Resurrection were originally priest class skills, learnable at levels 10 and 30, respectively. After all, without a resurrection mechanism, the playability of a game would be reduced by 99%, thus there were many ways to acquire these skills.

However, what were fundamental skills in the game become treasured abilities of levels 150 and 300 under the laws of the real world. The demand for mana is high, but covering the entire demonic cavern in holy light is no burden for Phelos.

[Renewal of All Things]: Drains the enemy's life force to promote rapid growth in the surroundings. Allies gain an increase of +60% in attack power, +50% in magical defense, and +30% in physical defense. At the same time, enemies within the domain lose 100,000 health per second, and their attack power is reduced by 50%, physical defense by 50%, and magical defense by 30%. Consumes 500 mana per second. Note: There is a 10% chance of gaining the creatures' faith.

"Growth of All Things" is a Druid's vocational skill. Unlike the common Resurrection spell, it's inherently a powerful level 300 skill, so its manifestation doesn't change much.

As there were no enemies around, Felos tested the skill using his own health bar, and it worked.

The result, due to buff and debuff conflicts, was an impressive buff: at the cost of 500 health and mana per second, he gained a 30% increase in mana and health regeneration, and a 30% boost in magic attack and defense, and 50% in physical attack and defense.

In "Legends", skills are divided into general and vocational skills. General skills can be learned by any class, while vocational skills are exclusive to specific classes.

To enhance playability, "Legends" features 1000 general skills and 300 unique vocational skills for each of the 12 mainstream classes. Including the niche hidden classes, there are over 5000 skills in total.

Felos, with his main Assassin character and a Mage alt, learned every skill available, mainstream or obscure. As for skills from other classes, though unlearnable, his endless backpack, a perk of being an unlogoutable hardcore player, contained many skill books.

Apart from skills obtainable only through specific class quests, he had nearly all the skill books collected.

Upon realizing that using skill books enabled mastery of skills not learnable in the game, Felos used all the books in his backpack, amassing a total of 4650 skills.

Some of these skills were lesser or duplicates, but with a "might as well have them" attitude, Felos maxed them all out.

However, there is a difference between games and reality, and habits formed by demonstrating skills in-game don't fully translate to real experience.

Therefore, these low-level Devil Vines served as the perfect practice targets.

He used Resurrection to relieve them of any worries, and "Growth of All Things" to win them over.

Over two days and nights, Felos diligently improved his skill proficiency. He stopped only when he could deal just 1 point of damage to a level 1 Devil Vine with a level 300 skill.

Felos maxed out the last skill, figuring that the castle's sugar supplies must be running low, and decided to stop.

"Cloud Shuttle, let's go."

"Hmm~" The Cloud Shuttle Devil Fish gathered the drops, creating a ladder-to-heaven-like spectacle on the ground. As the heart of the demonic cavern, few dared approach, and the only human, Felos, allergic to romance, was destined not to appreciate its masterpiece.

After a last lingering look, it reluctantly followed Felos, tail wagging.

Although Felos was averse to romance, he had a good eye for aesthetics. He glanced at the abstract, ominously eerie creation and fell silent for a second.

"Not bad."

As a dedicated grinder, Phelos's monster hunting efficiency is exceptionally high. After 24 hours, he had almost completely scoured this area over a hundred times. Thanks to the gift of nature's resurgence, the ranks of the devil vines have grown to 20+, with countless mutations and an abundance of discarded (eliminated) branches.

The basic job of a pet is to pick up drops, but there were so many vines here that the Cloud Shuttle Devil Fish neatly sorted the highest-level and most beautiful ones, using the ordinary ones as “blocks” for building.

Thus, an abstract structure thousands of meters tall, imbued with the sinister aura of a malevolent deity, materialized before our eyes!

As Phelos departed, the devil vines made desperate sounds of entreaty; though Phelos was terrifying, their strength surged exponentially in his presence. Who wouldn't want such a privilege?

But Phelos was an unemotional grinder of levels; despite marking the training spot, the fact that he quickly grew bored of the overly high-level devil vines was an undeniable truth.

"Sssshhhhh~~~~~~"

"It's a fine location for a sugar mill plantation."

The devil vines' branches are rich in sugar content; a simple extraction yields a thick, sweet syrup. The higher the grade of the devil vine, the more potent the effects contained within the syrup.

[Syrup (Red)]: A premium syrup extracted from level 25 devil vines, consuming 1ml increases magical power by 100 points.

However, the challenge lies in how to harvest them.

The loot obtained from monster grinding and the raw materials for the sugar mill, though both are devil vine branches, are entirely different entities in Phelos's eyes.

The residents of Lansville have an average low level; while it was once a bustling adventurers' town decades ago, the encroachment of the Endless Plains caused nearly all the capable individuals to flee.

Among those who remained, the highest level was but a subpar swordsman who acted as the magistrate.

Harvesting the branches of the devil vines required a larger workforce.

Glancing back, Phelos observed the deep, long canyon occupied by the devil vines, with the mist of poison drifting from the nearby Sunset Mountains. The hazy poison mist faintly outlined the Tower of Vines against the sky, lending the already malevolent structure an even more terrifying and menacing presence.

But it also sparked an inspiration in Phelos.

"Hmm, this might just be a good direction."

With a plan in mind, Phelos, ever decisive in action, prepared to start making preparations upon his return.

*

"Mmm... what an exquisite aroma... Has the cook been blessed today?" Gis, the sole heir of the Chidi household, was awakened by an irresistibly delicious scent.

His pampered stomach made an inelegant noise under the spell of the aroma, and every sensory cell in his nose and tongue cried out with a "wanting" desire.

As the heir to the magistrate of Dayak City, Gis Chidi had never truly experienced hunger; this novelty piqued his curiosity, but anticipation was the greater part of his feeling.

"Where did father find this cook? If she's even remotely attractive, it wouldn't be out of the question to allow her to bear my children."

The cooks in noble households handle expensive and precious magical ingredients, so naturally, they initially select slaves with a talent for magic.

However, they're not taught to read, nor are they instructed in magic; they're only taught "skills" related to kitchen affairs.

But those "skills" are nothing more than a patchwork of half-baked knowledge combining herbalism, alchemy, and potion-making.

Cultivating a caster is a resource-intensive endeavor, and employing a high-born caster as a cook seems excessively extravagant and wasteful, risking resentment if sufficient resources are not provided.

The Chidi family may hold sway in Dayak City, but outside its bounds, they amount to little, and the cooks they keep are merely "half-baked" in their expertise.

"Someone, I'm ready for breakfast." Gis, who typically couldn't be bothered to rise before noon, unusually decided to "wake early" for once.

Of course, his "early rise" differed from that of common folk; he merely sat in bed, waiting for maids to bring him his toiletries and breakfast, with no need to set foot on the floor, as the well-trained maids would see to everything for him.

However, Gis's good mood lasted only until the moment before he saw his breakfast.

"What is this you've brought me?!"

The young and pretty personal maid, picking up on Gis's rage, turned pale and prostrated herself in fear: "Master Gis, this is roasted Thunderbird meat served with Yellowstone chicken eggs."

Thunderbirds and Yellowstone chickens are lower-level magical beasts. While being low level, they are not cheap; a Thunderbird fetches a purchase price of 50 silver coins. A Thunderbird, the size of an adult man's fist, requires marination with five or six kinds of precious spices for three months. Even without considering the time invested, the cost of a single Thunderbird reaches 2 gold coins.

The Yellowstone chicken eggs are even pricier; these chickens can camouflage as rocks, and their eggs are nearly indistinguishable from stones, making them a rare find in the wild. They are also challenging to breed due to their strong attack capabilities and tendency to escape; even the Chidi family can only keep a few.

A single precious Yellowstone chicken egg has a market price of up to ten gold coins!

Despite the expense, the strength enhancements offered by Thunderbird and Yellowstone chicken are significant enough to bolster one's power effortlessly.

And a level 32 swordsman could not possibly be satisfied with just one Thunderbird and one Yellowstone egg.

In fact, the cost of the ingredients for Gis's breakfast alone amounted to a staggering one hundred gold coins!

But despite the lavish breakfast laid out before him, Gis's expression soured.

"No, this isn't it. Where have you hidden my breakfast?!" Gis thundered in anger. He was certain he had caught the scent of something delicious, but these brazen lowlifes dared to pilfer his food. His excessive leniency had made them too bold!

With this thought, Gis, unable to contain his fury, flung the food, dousing the maid in the lavish spread.

To ensure the optimal taste of the food, the plates were specially made, with a substantial interlayer housing blazing flames.

"Though human skin is soft, Giles had a preference for lean women; beneath the maid's smooth complexion lay scarce fat, so it was no surprise when the plate shattered upon impact, igniting her clothing as the flames kissed her skin and began to burn."

"Ah—" A pained shriek escaped the maid, a mere half-second's outcry before the realization of Giles’ potential wrath swiftly silenced her."

"Master Giles..." she endured the agony, not daring to utter a word in her defense.