Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 146 Can’t jump?
"Okay, great."

The holy silver light dimmed, and the crystal blade slowly closed. Olvera put down the holy sword in her hand, Oath of Broken Steel, and stared blankly at the passage that was baptized by the light column, muttering: "The light will fall from the sky... heralding such a sacred aura, spreading through the corners and cracks that even the sun cannot reach. The gathered large beams of light pierce into people's eyes like meteors, which is a spectacular sight."

In the dark corridor, there was no trace of those disgusting big lizards. They had obviously been melted by the light column without leaving any residue. The terrifying power that the holy sword had just unleashed even made people feel as if a silver dragon was roaring in front of them, using its holy and sharp breath to evaporate and purify all the filth and evil, leaving no trace.

"Is this the true power of the holy sword?" The girl lowered her head, and the bright and soft star clusters shone in her eyes, clearly reflecting the hilt of the sword with dragon wings and iris branches intertwined with each other. She reached out her hand and gently stroked the sword edge that seemed to still have the afterglow of the holy silver light, as if she could still feel the sacred, grand and majestic aura of justice from it, and suddenly she had more confidence in her future.

"If this is it," the princess seemed to be talking to herself, as if seeking someone's approval, "maybe it can really eliminate the shadow of darkness, break the evil curse, and purify the filth and despair of this castle..."

"You think too much."

Ellie shattered her fantasy without hesitation: "It's just that the special effects are cooler. In fact, the damage of the charged combo is only about two-thirds of the basic damage."

"Eh!?"

"What? Isn't this a matter of course? Think about it, a charged combo is a medium-range attack, and it also deals area damage, and the special effects are so cool. If the damage is also high, then what's the point of a basic combo? Our game is very balanced, don't think too much."

“But,” Olvera’s expression was still rather conflicted, “Didn’t the charged combo just now directly destroy all those shadow beasts? The damage wasn’t as low as you said…”

Olvera didn't know what a European was, so she didn't answer and looked down to check the properties of the small bead called an "ornament".

"What is this?" she asked Alice.

"Woo!"

"It's an ornament. You're so lucky. You got it." Alice smacked her lips, her tone not without envy: "You can get an ornament even by killing small monsters. Are you actually European?"

[Ability Orb - Jump: A long time ago, a kingdom was given a terrible curse, and everyone in this kingdom...cannot jump. After equipping it, the character is given the ability to "jump" and "double jump", and new combo moves are added: using a light attack during the jump can release a downward slash; using a heavy attack during the double jump can release a slash; using a charged combo during the jump can freely control the direction of the light blade's flight. ]

"That's because the health of the giant lizards is fragile. The light blades released by the charged combo happen to be their weakest cutting damage, and hitting their weak points has a 1.5x bonus. Even so, it still takes a full set of combos to clear their health bars. And the giant lizard you killed with the basic combo at the beginning seemed to have only used light attacks, not even heavy attacks, right?" Alice spread her hands in her mind: "Who has higher damage? Isn't it obvious at a glance?"

Olvera put away the holy sword listlessly, and fumbled in the shadowy remains of the melted lizards for a few times, and found a piece of [ash of the ember] and a small purple bead, the latter was about the size of a thumb, and the mysterious dark purple light flowed in its crystal clear interior, forming a vague pattern. Olvera shone the light of the lantern for a long time, and no matter how she looked at it, she felt that the pattern looked like a jumping little man.

"Okay, stop standing here and go see what items those giant lizards dropped."

So complicated, I can't understand it.

Olvera gave up thinking for herself and asked Alice for help: "What's the use of it?"

"It makes you jump." "What's the use?" Ovella couldn't help but muttered, "I can jump by myself."

"No, you can't jump." Alice corrected her misconception: "If you don't believe me, you can try jumping now."

Olvera didn't believe it. Jumping was the instinct of life. Anyone who could walk could jump. This was a truth that didn't need to be verified. How could someone need to rely on external objects to jump? Even if there was, it must be an undead creature with osteoporosis who had come back from the dead.

However, she didn't want to offend Alice, so she jumped tentatively, intending to refute her fallacy with practical action.

Then she realized...she really couldn't jump.

Her legs seemed to be rooted to the floor beneath her feet and no matter how hard she tried, she could not break free from the earth's bondage.

“Hehehe.” Alice’s smug voice echoed in the girl’s mind, “It’s useless! This is the setting of the game, just accept it and equip me with this gem!”

"What a boring setting." Olvera couldn't help but complain: "This 'game' you're talking about must have been created by someone, right? Why would the creator add such a boring setting that is not realistic at all?"

Alice: "..."

In the end, Her Royal Highness the Princess reluctantly accepted this setting and equipped herself with the newly acquired ability orb - Jump. She then tried to jump again. This time she was able to jump up, and after jumping up, a new force would emerge out of thin air under her feet, providing her with a pedal for a second jump, allowing her to jump up a certain distance, and even felt that she could touch the cold ceiling with her hand.

"What a magical magic." Olvera changed her original negative attitude and praised.

"This isn't magic... Never mind. Think whatever you want. Anyway, take some medicine to recover your health, and then move on."

At Alice's suggestion, Olvera ate an [Ember of the Fire] with great pain, replenishing the health previously consumed by the big lizards, and then followed the light of the lantern to move deeper into the corridor. Although Alice added a lot of doors, pillars, domes, and even forks and stairs to enrich the scene, they are actually just maps that can be seen but not touched. There is only one real route, so there is no need to worry about getting lost.

As she advanced, she was still attacked by two kinds of shadow beasts from time to time. After eating three pieces of [Embers of Fire], Ovira finally got familiar with the rhythm of the battle and became more skilled in the operation. She began to learn to switch between two different combos skillfully, using basic combos to deal with the assault-type shadow beasts that liked to get close to her, and using charged combos to deal with the savage and group-moving group-type shadow beasts. Once she got used to it, she no longer looked awkward or stagnant, as if she was originally an experienced swordsman who had been immersed in the sword for decades.

The ability orb - Jump that was dropped by the monsters before also adds more flexibility to her combat. By jumping, she can dodge some attacks that were originally unavoidable, and can also take the opportunity to close the distance. Using light and heavy attacks during the jump can release powerful downward attacks, making the connection of basic combos smoother; and the charging combo controls the flight direction of the light blade, and can launch medium-range attacks on the enemy in a 360-degree range without blind spots, making it basically impossible for any enemy to threaten Olvera.

Unfortunately, the monsters only dropped [Embers of the Fire] and no more accessories, proving that Olvera's luck was not that good. As she pushed forward, when the lantern gradually dimmed, the princess used six [Embers of the Fire] to extend its burning time by half an hour, and prepared to rush to the end with great momentum.

Then, the corridor ahead was blocked.

Copy [The Dark Castle on the southern foot of Sosen, the Belman Ruins], the fifth floor corridor, current exploration progress: 55%.

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)