Chapter 547: Preparation
In the western part of Adus, atop a clock tower in Karnak, the ancient monarch of Adus, Rahman, leaned against the body of Nephnis and communicated with Doro through the zombie puppet. From Rahman’s words, Doro learned the truth behind the royal alchemy rituals of the Baruch Dynasty spanning hundreds of years.
Due to his extraordinary powers as a bl**d Knight, Rahman could bestow upon his descendants the power of the Red Tier through their bl**d connection. To ensure that the Baruch Dynasty could perpetually utilize his strength to stabilize the nation, Rahman even chose to imprison his own soul within the royal tomb, presiding over each royal alchemy ritual. With the royal alchemy rituals in place, subsequent kings of Baruch would no longer need to struggle to ascend to the Red Tier through conventional means; as long as they possessed the Chalk level, they could simply undergo the royal alchemy ritual without expending vast energy to train successors.
Though termed a trial, the royal alchemy ritual designed by Rahman did not assess the successor’s prowess as an extraordinary being but rather tested their qualifications to be a king. During the ceremony, Rahman would evaluate the heir from various aspects such as morality, knowledge, strategy, and leadership. If the heir passed the trials, Rahman would grant them his power, which could be reclaimed after the heir’s d*ath through a return ceremony. Rahman believed that while he could provide his descendants with the power to rule, they must excel in qualities beyond just power.
Rahman was seen as the ruler of Adus for fifty years, after which he secretly assisted the openly acknowledged king for two hundred and fifty years. Throughout this period, the kings of Adus and Rahman were referred to as the First Kings in the royal counting of the Baruch Dynasty. It wasn’t until four hundred years ago, after Rahman’s d*ath, that the second generation of Baruch kings officially took the throne.
The inheriting system Rahman designed for the royal alchemy ritual initially functioned well, with each king exhibiting outstanding abilities. Under the governance of successive high-quality monarchs, ancient Adus reached its zenith, and the nation began to prosper rapidly, becoming a major power in Northern Ufeiga.
However, with prosperity came the breeding of corruption. After Rahman ceased to actively manage Adus, various hidden dangers began to surface. Faced with incessant palace intrigues and moral decay, the quality of the Baruch royal bloodline swiftly declined. Each subsequent generation found it increasingly difficult to pass Rahman’s trials, necessitating the evaluation of more potential heirs to select a new king. By the time of the fourth generation’s royal alchemy ritual, not a single member of the Chalk tier was deemed qualified, forcing an exception to allow members of the Black Earth level to participate in the trials. Only after finding a suitable candidate would efforts be concentrated on promoting them to Chalk and officially granting them the power.
This phenomenon peaked during the sixth generation, where, in the royal alchemy ritual, the Baruch royal line faced devastation, with no heirs from Chalk to apprentice qualifying for Rahman’s soul trials. In response, the court priests and others implored Rahman to lower the trial standards, allowing at least one person to pass. However, Rahman remained resolute, refusing to compromise and directly stating to all royal family members that if the royal line was insufficient, they would find another until a suitable king was selected.
Rahman’s stance instilled panic within the Baruch royal heirs, who had held the throne for nearly a century and built extensive networks of interest in Adus. Fearing the loss of their accumulated power and wealth, they initiated a bold scheme.
During the sixth generation’s royal alchemy ritual, members of the Baruch royal heirs deceived Rahman. As Rahman’s soul lay in slumber within the coffin, they enacted a profane ritual acquired from some secret society, using the bl**d of sacrificed relatives to control Rahman’s soul. The king, who left a powerful legacy to secure the throne for his descendants, was ultimately betrayed by them through bl**d.
Thus, in a fit of rage, Rahman was forcibly controlled by his own descendants and reluctantly acknowledged the previously deemed unworthy heir, the sixth Baruch king, Lihan, who was subsequently crowned. From then on, each Baruch king would be directly taken from the first-ranking heir, while Rahman’s spirit, trapped in the control of the bl**d ritual, was made to acknowledge a series of unqualified kings. The royal alchemy rituals became mere formalities, leading to the rapid decline of the entire Baruch Dynasty, ultimately culminating in its overthrow by the revolution instigated by Shadi and the Savior Faction.
“To protect the dynasty of my descendants with bl**d, only to be betrayed by them through bl**d? Truly, it is a tragedy…”
On the clock tower, after hearing Rahman’s story, Doro, controlling the zombie puppet, sighed. Rahman responded with a sigh of his own.
“My distrust of my bloodline… prompted the establishment of the royal alchemy rituals. The truth is, the changes in people’s hearts are far deeper than I ever imagined. In just six generations… such disgraceful events have occurred. Perhaps I should have chosen not to linger in this world and returned to the spirit realm early. Then, after Baruch’s decay, the forces of rebellion would have found it easier to overthrow it. It is my power that has allowed Baruch to rot to this day… truly shameful…” Rahman lamented, then shifted his gaze to the nearby zombie puppet.
“Fortunately, this decay will not continue forever. Thanks to you… and the unyielding rebels of this land, Baruch can finally come to an end, and I may find my release… I thank you, strangers, in the name of Adus…”
With that, Rahman performed a traditional Adus gesture of gratitude towards Doro through Nephnis’s body, to which Doro responded with a smile.
“No need for thanks; we are merely fulfilling our own needs. We actually came to your tomb to rob you. Now that we have what we came for and you, the tomb owner, do not pursue us, we are quite satisfied…”
Doro remarked, before directing the zombie puppet to retrieve a wine cup and the Phantom Pulling Lamp from her clothing. Upon seeing the lamp, Rahman smiled slightly before continuing.
“The Phantom Pulling Lamp… is the most precious treasure I acquired through years of battle. It is said to bear blessings from the Lord of the Spirit Realm. I hope you use it wisely and do not employ it to harm Adus, thieves.”
“You can rest assured about that…” Doro replied, and then instructed the zombie puppet to put the lamp away. She turned back toward Rahman and asked, “Well, it’s time for us to take our leave, Your Majesty Rahman. Are you going to embark on your journey through Adus immediately?”
“No… not just yet. After hundreds of years and dozens of rituals, my spirit has been deeply wounded. What I need to do now is to find a suitable place for my soul to recover. Only when I’m nearly restored will I be ready to traverse Adus. My tomb has been opened and damaged, and this is not the right place.”
Rahman continued speaking to Doro. Upon hearing his words, Doro contemplated for a moment before turning the zombie puppet’s head towards an elderly man’s spirit floating not far away.
“Uta Shaman, is there a suitable place for soul recovery among you?”
Doro instructed the zombie puppet to communicate with the shaman’s spirit using Spiritual Seal Language. At that moment, Uta’s spirit was examining the fragmented soul threads collected from Rahman’s tomb, remnants of the two Wilderness Spirits that had been torn apart. Hearing Doro’s question, he temporarily set aside his research and responded.
“On our land, there are many excellent spirit groves. As long as you can obtain the owner’s consent, you may rest there freely.”
Uta replied to Doro, referring to the spirit grove’s owner, which was undoubtedly the Wilderness Spirits of the New World. After hearing Uta’s response, Doro again directed the zombie puppet to look at Rahman, speaking in Northern Ufeiga.
“If it’s about suitable spirit groves for soul recovery, I have some good options to share.”
…
Doro then introduced Rahman to the spirit groves of the New World. After hearing her suggestion, Rahman consented with some skepticism.
Subsequently, Rahman’s spirit detached from Nephnis’s body, successfully communicated by Uta to the New World. After bidding farewell to Doro, Uta returned to the Tupa Tribe’s camp with the fragmented soul threads of Chabakunka. Once all spirits had been sent away, Doro also reclaimed the zombie puppet and, together with Nephnis, departed Karnak, heading toward Dosa.
Since their return journey was not time-constrained, Doro chose to save spiritual energy instead of flying back on a magnetic carpet; instead, she opted to ride a camel slowly. By the time they returned to Dosa, the sun had already set, and night had fallen.
Upon returning to Dosa, Doro and Nephnis temporarily parted ways, each returning to their respective dwellings to rest well. After a busy and thrilling day, Doro finally had the time to begin organizing the gains and losses from this recent series of actions.
Sitting at her desk under the moonlight, Doro took out her magic box and began to count her possessions.
The first point to clarify was that Doro’s trip to Dosa and Karnak had resulted in considerable depletion, especially regarding her spiritual energy.
First, concerning the “Cup” spiritual energy, Doro expended a total of 3 points during her actions. She used 2 points of the “Cup” energy when subduing the scouts of the Phantom Coffin in Dosa and another 1 point when battling Chabakunka in the royal tomb.
Next was the “Stone.” Doro’s consumption of “Stone” energy during this mission was substantial. The high-frequency use of lightning strikes and magnetic abilities led to significant expenditure. The journey of over twenty kilometers to the royal tomb roughly cost 4 points of “Stone,” and within the tomb, Doro utilized a high degree of movement with her magnetic abilities against Chabakunka, alongside using magnetic controlled bombs. In total, she consumed 8 points of “Stone.”
Regarding “Lamp” and “Shadow,” surprisingly, Doro did not use additional “Shadow” spiritual energy, while “Lamp” consumption was limited to 1 point during her negotiation with Rahman for a self-divination to express assurance. Additionally, two “Lamp” storage items were expended on the golden scepter ceremony at Prit, which were out of Gregor’s pocket. Doro would later seek reimbursement, totaling around six hundred pounds.
As for the “Silence” energy, while Doro didn’t utilize much, Nephnis had made considerable use of it due to multiple soul whisker summons recently. The “cat food” had consumed a lot, and Nephnis’s current supplies of “Silence” storage items were running low, necessitating replenishment. Doro thought she would later reimburse Nephnis around eight hundred pounds for the “cat food” expenses, especially since Nephnis had been summoning souls on her behalf.
In terms of yield, Doro was somewhat disappointed this time. Apart from acquiring the most crucial target, the Phantom Pulling Lamp, her other gains were primarily centered around Moen. From this member of the Phantom Coffin, beyond some usual “Silence” sigils used for spirit guiding and sealing, she found only two new types of sigils labeled Spirit Language Sigils, which would allow non-“Silence” extraordinary beings to understand and speak the language of the soul temporarily.
Aside from the sigils, Moen had only some soul-sealing bone fragments he could utilize and a modest amount of cash from Faraluo that Doro calculated to be approximately 300 pounds.
Based on these, Doro’s current spiritual situation was as follows:
17 Cups, 4 Stones, 9 Shadows, 14 Lamps, 26 Silences, and 50 Enlightenments.
Deducting the anticipated reimbursement expenses, she currently had about 1300 pounds remaining.
It was evident that both her cash and spiritual reserves had dwindled significantly. This was mainly because Doro hadn’t gained any secret transmissions from this series of actions, leaving her spiritual energy unrefreshed. Moreover, the Royal Tomb of Rahman had already been looted by the armed forces of the Savior Faction and the Phantom Coffin before Doro’s arrival, leaving only the Phantom Pulling Lamp to maintain the ritual. Her initial plan to unearth valuable artifacts for sale had fallen through, and what little remained of value at the tomb were likely those heavy and cumbersome underworld cold stones, which she couldn’t carry.
“Alas… it seems I need to find a way to replenish my spiritual energy…”
Looking at her currently scarce reserves and dwindling cash, Doro couldn’t help but sigh, realizing that she needed to promptly boost her “Stone” energy above the safety threshold, as it was her primary source of maneuverability and output. However, her cash supply was insufficient.
At this moment, Doro could only hope that Beverly would expedite the clearing and organizing of Mazale’s assets. Her pressing task was to convert some portions of these assets into liquidity to alleviate her spiritual crisis.
After organizing her spiritual status, Doro tidied up her magic box, preparing for bed. She intended to rest well before setting out again, returning to Kankdar.
As she lay on her bed, Doro began to reflect on the three dragon roars she had unleashed during the day, marveling at the immense power. Unlike her lightning spells, the dragon roar had no apparent consumption, aside from the extended cooldown period, which was indeed astounding.
‘Perhaps… this is the charm of “Earthbone Magic.” By resonating with the Earthbone, one can command the world solely through words, causing change without the need for additional energy…
‘But… if dragon roars can indeed act without consumption in this world, what then is the “Earthbone” of this realm?’
Lost in such thoughts, Doro drifted into slumber.
……
Well… the stage plot comes to an end. There were significant writing blocks, and it seems I’ve again pulled through a whole cycle, successfully staying awake until morning.
That said, the time has come for a break. I’m uncertain of how to write the next stage and need to consider it further, along with adjusting my schedule. Therefore, I’ll take a day off tomorrow, rest, and update the day after. I hope everyone understands.
