City of Sin (Yanyu Jiangnan)

Carnage

The beastsoul necklace shone with golden light as it was placed on the pedestal, attracting far more timeforce than Richard had expected. He was pleasantly surprised to find that it approached the level of a greater sacrifice.

A beam of timeforce crashed down from the void, turning into a ball of light on the pedestal. A malevolent serrated sword could be seen floating within.

‘Is the blessing the sword itself, or is it supposed to be any weapon?’ Richard wondered. Although the power of this sacrifice seemed to be great, this was the smallest number of options he had ever received in his life. Before he could even touch the ball of light it had disintegrated, the sword within falling to the pedestal before landing at his feet. It instantly broke into two pieces.

“What the…” It seemed like he would be given a powerful piece of equipment, perhaps a legendary weapon, but this thing had broken apart the moment it fell down!

Richard immediately picked up the broken blade, heaving a sigh of relief when he found that it was meant to break apart. A bit of close study revealed that the jagged blade he had originally seen was like an outer sheath; falling off, it had revealed a more sturdy bone dagger within.

As he grabbed the two-handed hilt of the shortsword, it felt like a tooth had pricked into his palm to draw several drops of blood. A crimson glow pulsed through the blade for a moment before slowly turning a vile green, starting to emit an aura of death.

The information about this blessing was finally transmitted to his mind. This was Carnage, a quasi-divine weapon that absorbed its user’s blood. It could break armour easily, and its serrated edge could lacerate an enemy’s wounds. The weapon was enchanted for speed, and possessed a divine power that grew its power when attacking the race its user hated most. The blessing also told him that the current target of his hatred was Klandor’s barbarians, and the name was thus changed to Klandor’s Carnage.

I hate the barbarians the most? Richard hadn’t ever considered which of his enemies he despised. There were far too many at this point for him to bother with any hierarchy; he normally just dealt with the threats on hand. Now that he thought about it, however, he had to agree. Thinking back to how they attacked him time and time again when he was trying to visit Mountainsea, his blood boiled with rage.

Wouldn’t he have three swords and a staff the next time he went to Klandor? He only imagined the scene for a moment before trying to erase it from his mind, deciding to look for a spacial item to store his weapons in.

Just as he was wondering how he would deal with the sword, a saccharine voice sounded in his ear, “This weapon is made from the claws of an ancient beast, but is far more valuable than the claws themselves. Any offerings from Klandor will be evaluated well beyond their actual price, so what are you waiting for? This bonus will not last much longer.”

Richard was confused for a moment before turning to touch the beast tooth bracelet on his arm. Those he had met along the way in Norland had told him it was a tooth of the Beast God, one of the five sacred items of the Azuresnow Shrine. However, this was something given to him by Mountainsea; he hadn’t sacrificed it back then, and he would not do so now. He just shook his head at the temptation and walked out.

Just as the screen of timeforce around him started to dissipate, the ancient, emotionless voice of the Eternal Dragon sounded out once more, “Mortal, you have obtained my favour with your continued offerings. You are henceforth a Timewalker; the power of time shall cleanse your mortal body, slowing its deterioration. Do not grow complacent. Ten more greater sacrifices and you will become a Planewalker.”

Richard was completely stumped at this unexpected reward. The slowdown in his ageing was pretty much the same as prolonging his lifespan. It wasn’t all that useful right now, but it would amount to a lot in the long term. It immediately got him excited about the next level and what boosts it would bring.

When the screen of light dissipated, Ferlyn smiled softly at him from the hall. “You did well,” she said as he walked over, “I know it must have been difficult to do what you must.”

Richard immediately recalled the temptation of another plane’s coordinates. Thankfully, he had guessed right that sharing one’s grace wasn’t a common blessing. The mind could exaggerate chances when influenced by greed.

“Thank you!” he said with a bow. He now understood that it wasn’t easy even for Ferlyn to include the option to allocate grace.

Ferlyn smiled, “No need. I don’t have anything I want right now, so why would I need divine grace? It’s you children that are bold and vigorous. Anyway, let’s go. The royal family seems to have sent people with the materials you needed.”

A middle-aged noble was pacing back and forth outside the church building, one of the vice-treasurers of the imperial family. Although this earl had seen many things in life, a transaction worth ten million gold was far out of the ordinary.

When he saw Richard walking out, he walked over with a bright smile and greeted him. Although the two had never met before, he had heard of the new royal runemaster’s status and wealth.

Behind the earl were five chests, each as tall as a man. They were all divided into ten layers that could be opened individually, all containing various ingredients and resources that he needed to craft the Lifesbane runes. Not in any specific hurry, Richard took his time to inspect each one of them. Although his blessings and familiarity with these items allowed him to go through quickly, it still took nearly half an hour to inspect it all. The earl nearby remained patient all the while; he wouldn’t mind waiting day and night for such a big sale.

When he eventually closed the last chest, Richard nodded in satisfaction, “Indeed, the royal family’s materials have no flaws to speak of!”

The earl heaved a sigh of relief. He’d considered skimping on the materials and siphoning some off for himself— even the smallest amount would be worth tens of thousands— but Richard’s identity had given him second thoughts. “Grandmaster Richard, the offering…”

“Of course!” Richard turned back towards Noelene who was nearby, “Priestess, could you please assess this item?”

Noelene opened the chest with the holy statue, a pale golden light shining down from the tip of her hands. Looking at the reflection of the light, she nodded her head, “A top-tier offering.”

The earl grew rather excited; he hadn’t seen many top-tier offerings in his life. For a court earl like him without any territory or even a chance to become a saint, he wouldn’t have the opportunity to make such sacrifices in his lifetime.

Noelene then closed the lid, sealing the chest with magic and inscribing her own name on top. This way, anyone without her permission would have to go through a seal to open it, giving away their attempt to steal.

After the transaction was complete, Richard left the materials within the Church for a moment as he talked to Noelene about the ore he had brought back from Faelor. He had originally wanted magic crystals in exchange, but now he wanted a million gold’s worth in actual gold currency instead.

“What good is gold?” Noelene was rather surprised. To someone like her, gold was just baggage.

“I… have to pay my followers a wage!” he smiled awkwardly.

“What do you mean? Don’t you pay them regularly?”

“Umm… I normally just give them runes,” he said shamelessly.

Noelene’s expression warped into a frown. She picked him up on the spot, walking over to the entrance of the church building and throwing him out onto the street.

Confused, Richard hurried back in and stood before her with a bright smile. However, the priestess only glared coldly at him, “What, you miser? Tell me what you want. I’m in a bad mood right now, my prices have gone up 30%.”