Sanctuary Paradise

Chapter 889 First Preview
Letters from the Unknown Nun

……

"To Lord Ashes—"

"When you can understand this text, you have surely received the blessing."

"I know you must have many questions, but please forgive me for not being able to answer them for you at this time."

"The blessing of the Kingfire will grant you the ability to understand in the way you are most familiar with, based on your perception, and will also grant you the ability to contain souls and awaken ancient memories dormant in weapons."

"My frail body is unable to carry a decent weapon for you from the sacrificial site under the watchful eyes of wandering spirits and heroic souls. Therefore, please forgive me for being able to prepare such meager equipment for you."

"Although with the power of the King's Fire you have obtained, even the most worn-out equipment will become an indestructible weapon in your hands, please be careful. The heroic spirits guarding the Hero's Tomb are very powerful and cannot be easily defeated."

"For you who come from another world, the rules of this world are very different, so please make sure you are well prepared before embarking on the road to the sacrificial site."

"I have drawn the specific route on the back of the letter. If you still encounter an unrecognizable road, please follow the path where the bells are ringing. The source of those bells is the place of worship where the kings once visited."

"And even if you have to run away, it doesn't matter, but please do not die before you reach the sacrificial site and touch the fire, otherwise your soul may be plunged into darkness forever."

"May the flames protect your soul, Lord Ash."

……

"..."

"She seems to really trust you, Lai Lai... And that sentence... it seems like that girl knew we were from another world?"

"Perhaps, only those who do not belong to this world are called 'ashes' in her words."

Xin Lailai spoke, her eyes unusually calm.

As he expected, the letter contained a great deal of information, which not only explained to some extent why they saw the 'Blessing Interface' that was so similar to the Branding Interface, but also mentioned several extremely important points.

"Other worlds, the blessing of the royal fire, different rules... So, if I want to understand this world further, I must grasp this clue."

Xin Lailai murmured to herself, turned the letter over, and looked at the route map drawn with simple lines, as well as a certain area that was highlighted. A thoughtful look appeared in her eyes.

"Hey Lai Lai, should we head over there now?"

"No, there's no rush. Since she gave such instructions in her letter, we should make sure we're fully prepared before we set off. Besides... I'm also a little curious about a few other things she mentioned in her letter."

As Xin Lailai spoke, she looked around and finally fixed her gaze on a broken sword lying at her feet, which she picked up:

……

The damaged iron sword

Strength: G-
Agility: G-
Combat skills: (None)
Synopsis: The iron sword is completely damaged, and the memories of the heroic spirits on it have long since faded. Now it is just a piece of useless scrap iron.

……

"Hmm, it's nothing compared to what the nun picked for us. Lai Lai, you're not thinking of taking it..."

"I just wanted to test it out. I don't think she would write anything meaningless in a letter."

Xin Lailai said, looking at the broken iron sword in her hand, covered in cracks and rust, giving the impression that it would break at the slightest force. She gripped the hilt, took a deep breath, and swung it fiercely at the stone coffin beside her—

Clang!
The next second, a crisp metallic clang rang out from within the tomb. A few sparks flew across the stone coffin, and Xin Lailai's broken iron sword snapped back along with her arm with a sharp clang. Xin Lailai's eyes lit up at the sight.

"Indestructible... Is this really not just a simple description?"

Xin Lailai muttered to herself, looking down at the broken sword in her hand that should have been broken in two, a look of understanding flashing in her eyes.

At a glance, one can see that on the rusty blade that has withstood a violent collision, there is not a nick, nor even a further crack. The entire blade is as if the collision had never happened, showing no change whatsoever.

"It's really not broken at all..."

“Blessing… If I’m not mistaken, the so-called Royal Fire and Blessing are probably closely related to the Abnormal Characteristic: Rewind.”

Xin Lailai looked at the broken iron sword in her hand, her eyes flickered slightly, and she spoke in her mind.

Judging from the feel of the sword, it didn't seem like the kind of weapon that could withstand two blows without breaking. However, what had just happened was an undeniable fact, and given that the sword clearly lacked resistance to corrosion and impact before they even touched it, the only explanation he could think of was:
—Something gave this iron sword, which should have broken, the ability to remain in its 'original state'.

And coincidentally, there was something in their memory that perfectly matched this characteristic.

That was the culprit they had just encountered before entering the Macrophage world cluster, the one that nearly caused the complete collapse of this expeditionary front—the Abnormal Characteristic: Rewind!
During the expedition, this thing caused the already transformed elemental barrier to revert to the state of abyssal energy, which is extremely outrageous in terms of its upper limit.

If the retrospective property originated from the so-called 'blessing' rule of this world, then it is not surprising that those who receive the 'blessing' can retrospectively return items to the state they were in when they were obtained.

"I just don't know if there's an upper limit to this kind of backtracking, or... um? The description is different now?"

Xin Lailai pondered, her gaze casually sweeping over the broken sword in her hand. Then, as if she had noticed something, her eyes suddenly lit up:
……

Damaged iron sword (98.3%)

Strength: G-
Agility: G-
Combat skills: (None)
Synopsis: The iron sword is completely damaged, and the memories of the heroic spirits on it have long since faded. Now it is just a piece of useless scrap iron.

……

"This percentage wasn't there before..."

"Perhaps, this is something similar to its 'durability'."

"Let's test it out. I'm curious to know what would happen if this value were to go to zero."

Xin Lailai spoke, looking at the broken sword in front of her. After thinking for a while, she looked at the stone coffin in front of her, raised her arm, and swung it again.

Clang!
The next second, a crisp, clanging sound rang out again from beneath the grave, echoing rhythmically and with unusual regularity throughout the cemetery, until finally…

Ping!

"Hmm... it's broken, and the item description has suddenly disappeared."

"Similar to the exhaustion of the notarization effect of items in the amusement park, it seems... that the retrospective-like behavior is the manifestation of the 'notarization effect' of the 'blessing' rule."

Ten minutes later, Xin Lailai looked at the broken sword in her hand, which was full of cracks, and casually threw it aside. She then looked at the 'precious sword' that the nameless nun had prepared for them at her waist.

"Next up is the combat skill mentioned on the blessing interface... an ancient memory dormant within the weapon?"

Xin Lailai murmured, gripping the worn-out longsword with both hands. She closed her eyes, and a silent realization suddenly flowed from her palms into her mind, causing her eyelids to twitch. As if drawn by some invisible force, she pointed the sword tip diagonally forward, and with a sudden burst of strength, she swung her arms at the rock wall in front of her from the fleeting heat.

Bang!
The dull thud of the impact subsided, and as the upward thrust was executed, a faint white arc of light flashed from the tip of the sword, suddenly increasing the power of the slanted strike, which should have only left a shallow cut, by a large margin. A small piece of rock was actually sent flying off the rock face.

"I see... So this is combat skill?" "Hmm, compared to techniques and moves I've mastered myself, it feels more like an active skill learned from a scroll."

"Indeed, but compared to active skills, the initial proficiency seems to be much higher?"

Xin Lailai looked at the worn-out longsword in her hand, which showed a durability of 95.0%, and spoke.

Based on the experience just now, the combat skills in the 'Blessing System' are more like giving them the memories of the creator of the moves than simple active skills. They can perfectly replicate the moves remembered in the weapon according to their own situation.

Although it was only a simple trial, Xin Lailai instantly judged, thanks to the profound experience brought by the master of techniques, that the moves released in this way, while not as flexible as their self-created techniques, possessed a growth characteristic that the active skills of Paradise did not have, that is, the power could increase accordingly as their physical attributes became stronger.

"Each use consumes 5% of the durability. Considering the consumption in other areas, that means there are only about ten uses in total. However, the most important thing is..."

……

[Black Sword]

Level: LV.1
...

...

Mana: 45/50 (90%)

……

That attack just now consumed 10% of their mana!
If this were outside, it wouldn't be a problem, but now...

"I can't access this magic power at all when I use the Crystal Magic..."

"Indeed, if we can figure out the principle behind the magic power used in that attack, it will be of great help to us in the upcoming battle."

Xin Lailai squinted and communicated in her mind.

While using the damaged iron sword until its durability was exhausted, they also discovered several places in this world that were different from the outside world.

For example, the actions in this world are unusually heavy; whether wielding a sword or running, it gives people the feeling of carrying a thousand-pound burden.

Especially in jumping, those of them with the physical attributes of adult males cannot even jump two decimeters high in this world. A full-force forward jump from a standing position can only cover a distance of less than one meter. Only with a running start and a larger jump can they barely jump two meters. They even have to roll over after landing to dissipate the force.

In terms of endurance, according to their actual tests, in this world, whether they are running or attacking, their endurance will be greatly depleted. They will often be out of breath after swinging their swords a few times, and they will have to slow down and rest after jogging for a few dozen seconds. They are just like useless people who stay at home all day and have never exercised.

However, perhaps due to the retrospective nature of the 'Blessing System', no matter how they consumed their stamina, unless they exhausted it all in one go, they could recover in just a few breaths, as if the energy they consumed automatically returned to their bodies in those few seconds.

This is why it took him more than ten minutes to swing the [damaged iron sword] until its durability was exhausted, because he had to stop and rest after every few swings to wait for his stamina to recover.

Aside from these, the most important discovery was actually their experimentation with magic.

Because there was still a small area left in both the mental and soul spaces, during the time he was wielding his sword, Ling Yuzi was also trying to reproduce the Crystal Element Technique.

The spell model is progressing smoothly. Although they can't even lift their mental energy a centimeter off their body surface, and their precision and strength in manipulating mental energy have decreased significantly, they haven't forgotten their knowledge of spells.

Furthermore, since Crystal Magic is a basic spell created based on spell chips, they were able to successfully construct the spell model of Crystal Magic even with only 5 points of Intelligence.

However, when they attempted to unleash the Crystal Magic, they discovered an extremely serious problem:

They have absolutely no control over the magic in the air of this world... or even within their own bodies.

Or rather, whenever they tried to use their mental energy to invoke this magic, they felt that the magic was as heavy as lead, and even if they used all their mental energy, they could not move even 0.1 points of magic.

This is why they took that battle skill so seriously, as it consumed 10% of their mana. Not long ago, they had exerted all their strength without losing even 0.1 mana, but that attack had unknowingly used up a full 5 mana.

"Ling Yuzi, do you still remember how that attack felt?"

"Hmm, I was so focused on figuring out what this combat technique was with you, Lai Lai, that I didn't pay any attention to the magic power..."

Ling Yuzi murmured that due to the severe decline in their physical attributes, their perception had also plummeted to rock bottom, causing her and Xin Lailai to fail to notice the changes in their magical power immediately. By the time they realized it, the release of their combat skills had already ended.

"There's no other way, I can only try using the combat technique one more time. I'll be in charge of releasing it, and Ling Yuzi, you'll be in charge of sensing the changes in the mana within my body."

"Yes! This time they'll definitely be keeping a close eye on them!"

As the oath, tinged with a hint of ferocity, fell to the ground, Ling Yuzi nodded his head vigorously, closed his eyes, and focused intently on controlling Xin Lailai's mental energy, which Xin Lailai had no time to attend to, carefully sensing every bit of magic power within her body.

Seeing this, Xin Lailai took a deep breath, her eyes flickered slightly, she took half a step back, pointed her sword diagonally, and once again stepped forward along the familiar feeling rising in her mind, thrusting her sword diagonally and with all her might towards the rock wall in front of her.

Combat Technique: Ready Stance

Bang!
A faint white arc of light once again emanated from the tip of the sword, colliding with the hard rock wall and producing a slightly muffled thud. This time, however, Xin Lailai, who had unleashed the enhanced attack, paid no attention to the result. Instead, she suddenly looked down at her own body, her eyes becoming unusually bright.

"Lai Lai, I've discovered the secret of these combat techniques!"

"Yes, I noticed that too. I didn't expect the answer to be so simple!"

As Xin Lailai spoke, she took a deep breath, a hint of undisguised excitement flashing in her eyes, as if she couldn't wait to try it out.

Found.

Or rather... the answer was actually right in front of them, but because it was so obvious, they subconsciously ignored the possibility.

“Endurance… no, I should say the cellular energy tainted by the ‘retrospection’ property. I never imagined that this was the answer that made the magic of this world available for use.”

Xin Lailai murmured to herself, her eyes darting around as she looked at her status bar, which showed only 40 points of mana left.

Cellular energy.

When they first unleashed their combat skills, they felt that their stamina was being consumed much more than when they were swinging their swords normally. However, they had only thought that it was a normal situation like using techniques and moves. They did not expect that the extra consumption was actually used to transfer mana.

Although the specific principles behind this are not yet clear, it seems that as long as they add a step of using cellular energy to the model of Crystal Magic, using cellular energy to drive magic, they will most likely be able to use Crystal Magic normally.

"Fortunately, cellular energy can be manipulated by mental power, and even if it is used up, it can be quickly replenished in this world."

"Perhaps it's because something has happened in the spirit realm of this world that there are two different types of energy, but at least, just understanding that casting spells in this world requires stamina is already a huge breakthrough."

As Xin Lailai spoke, she glanced at the iron sword in her hand, her eyes flickered slightly, she closed her eyes, found a stone coffin and sat down cross-legged, her consciousness sinking into the spiritual world. While deducing the new structure needed for the Crystal Element Technique model in her mind, she and Ling Yuzi quickly began to improve the model in the spiritual world.

Om-! !

Dozens of seconds later, accompanied by a faint, almost negligible mental fluctuation, Xin Lailai, who was sitting cross-legged on the stone coffin, suddenly opened her eyes, stretched out her palm, looked at the small cluster of translucent crystals that appeared on her fingertips, and the 1 point of mana that had been consumed out of thin air on the 'Blessing Interface'. For the first time since waking up, her expression, which had been unusually solemn, showed such a pleasant smile.

18 minutes and 36 seconds after awakening inside the unknown world —

The mysteries of the magical system in the unknown world have been successfully... first glimpsed by them!
……

(End of this chapter)