ALL NOVEL Chapter 10
Chapter 10: The Mantis Stalks the Cicada, While the Yellow Bird Awaits
Although the magical beasts within these crystals wouldn’t harm him, they never listened to Carl’s commands. Their top priority seemed to be protecting the altar, with hunting and survival instinct coming second. So when Carl learned that a Nightshade Tiger had appeared outside the forest causing harm, he felt worried but could do nothing about it.
Now that the first guardian beast had been killed by adventurers, Carl felt both happy and vexed. After hesitating for a long time, he decided to release a new guardian beast. He couldn’t afford to lose the power and status he had worked so hard to attain.
Carefully bypassing the altar, Carl approached the shelf where the magical beasts were kept, selected one, and reached for a Sealing Crystal engraved with birds.
This one should do it. I hope there won’t be any problems this time.
“If I were you, I wouldn’t dare move an inch.”
A cold, ethereal voice suddenly rang in his ear. Carl’s pores tightened in fear as he realized a gleaming dagger was now pressed against his neck!
His hand froze in mid-air, cold sweat uncontrollably streaming down his forehead. The man opened his mouth, taking a moment before managing to stutter out, “W-who are you? What do you want?”
“What do I want? That’s a question I should be asking you instead. Mr. Hunter Carl Perkins, why aren’t you resting at home tonight and are instead lurking in this dark jungle? Where did that kind of power come from? How did you know this place?”
The interrogating tone kept resounding behind him, and Carl quickly turned his head to glance at his captor.
The woman wore a simple coarse fabric outer garment, had shoulder-length black hair, no makeup on her delicate face, and sharp features. She looked to be in her twenties—not a great beauty, but still quite pleasing to the eye.
Although the woman smiled, it sent chills down Carl’s spine.
“You—you’re the beautiful woman who came to town a few days ago! You’re not a merchant, are you?! You…”
“Be honest!”
The woman kicked Carl hard in the inner knee, causing him to collapse to the ground, and the dagger on his neck drew a thin line of crimson blood.
“Don’t think about being clever. From now on, I ask, you answer. If you say a wrong word, I’ll chop off one of your fingers. Got it?”
“Yikes! I understand! Please, ask away!”
Seeing the man groveling, a hint of disdain flickered in the woman’s eyes, but her tone remained unchanged.
“First off, where did you get your power? Although it’s only at the amateur level, it’s clearly not part of the kingdom’s normal ability system. You’re just a regular hunter; there’s no way you could acquire this alone.”
“Uh… well… uh! AAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!”
Carl hesitated for just a moment, but all of a sudden, his face went pale as he let out a scream like a slaughtered pig. His pinky finger shot up into the air, blood splattering onto the ground beside him.
“I keep my promises. Don’t think about trying to be slippery.”
“Ahhhhh! I-I’m sorry! This power was actually given to me by an outsider! I don’t know his name, and he hides his appearance under a cloak. He gave me a dark, pill-like substance, and then I could control those black mists! Please spare me; I haven’t done anything wrong!”
“N-no bad deeds, huh… hmph…”
The woman scoffed dismissively, not responding but instead continued to question.
“What are his characteristics? What’s the purpose of this altar?”
“Characteristics… characteristics… oh! I remember! When he handed me the pill, I saw a snake-like green tattoo on the back of his hand! But I really don’t know what the altar is for! I’m just a small fry, really!”
“… Did you release that Nightshade Tiger from this Sealing Crystal earlier?”
“Uh… y-yeah…”
Carl initially thought to evade the question, but the agony from his chopped-off finger was too vivid. He instinctively nodded, realizing it was too late to take it back.
“Tsk.”
The woman seemed to understand she wouldn’t get any more useful information, so she struck his head hard with the knife handle, knocking Carl unconscious. She then collected all the crystals from the shelves, took one last somber look at the black gem on the altar, and dragged the man out through the same passage she came from.
A minute after the woman vanished, two blurred lights flickered in the basement, revealing the forms of a black-haired girl and a blonde girl.
“… Wow, this place is deeper than I imagined. That woman had decent strength; she’s definitely way stronger than Uncle Lester. Did she come just a few days ago…?”
So that means someone has already realized that the events here are unusual and sent that woman to investigate in secret. The relationship between these parties is still unclear.
Miss Vilyric grinned as she glanced at the direction the woman had disappeared, then turned her gaze back to the black gem on the altar. She couldn’t figure out why the woman left the altar untouched, but judging by her expression, she likely didn’t have the confidence to handle it and was going back to gather support.
“Xiao Guang, can you tell what this thing is?”
Unlike the previous two, the two girls approached the altar boldly, closely examining this rather peculiar object.
“I’ve never seen this item before. It shouldn’t belong to the system of our world, but its strength isn’t very high. Mistress, do you need me to destroy it?”
The Little Dragon Daughter touched the edge of the gem, and sparking lights crackled at her fingertips, but she didn’t seem too affected.
“Hmm… let me hold off for now. Let me see… [Item Identification]!”
A faint blue wave radiated from Miss Vilyric’s palm, sweeping across the gem. After a complete cycle, it returned to the girl, who quickly obtained the gem’s information.
[Divine Gem Fragment
Type: Special Item
Quality: Purple Premium
Description: A staff once used by a powerful being during ancient times. The gem embedded within shattered during a great battle; this is one of its fragments. Though its power is greatly diminished, the gem still possesses extraordinary effects impossible for ordinary people to imagine and can be used to store energy.]
“Purple premium, huh… why does it feel a bit low? Is it because it shattered so badly?”
[Item Identification] is a universal skill in [Phantom World], with effects solely dependent on the user’s proficiency and level. Therefore, its evaluations are based on game standards.
Generally, items and equipment in [Phantom World] can be roughly categorized into: white common — green excellent — blue rare — purple premium — golden spiritual tools — orange sacred items — red half artifacts, and the strongest items having unique colors as true artifacts.
Seeing this thing looking so extravagant, Miss Vilyric initially thought it would at least be a spiritual tool or sacred item, but it turned out to be just a broken premium item. It seems quite severely damaged.
I wonder what level its original form was. Could it have been an artifact?
“Well, whatever it is, since it’s so boldly displayed, not taking it would be too rude to the mastermind. Thank you, boss; I’ll take it!”
Placing her hand on the black gem, Miss Vilyric’s thoughts moved, and the item appeared in her inventory. There was no imagined sense of repulsion or unusual circumstances; perhaps it was just that this item’s rank was too low since it hadn’t even developed intelligence yet.
“Alright, I got myself some side money. Although I don’t know what it’s worth, there’s nothing special to focus on here, so let’s go.”
“Yes, Mistress!”
With a flash of light, the figures of the two rogue ladies vanished once again from the dimly lit basement.