As an NPC, having a lot of skills is quite reasonable, right?

[Slayed: Icefield Giant Lizard Lv.5]

Experience gained: 30 (base) + 8 (reward for killing enemies above your level)

[Gained Mortal Fragments: 5 + 10 (First Kill Reward)]

Skill exchange is now unlocked.

[Unlock Statue: Icefield Giant Lizard]

Moen leaned against the cold rock wall. The forest was silent except for his heavy breathing.

His left forearm was a bloody mess, and the excruciating pain caused his whole body to spasm uncontrollably.

At his feet, the enormous ice giant lizard's eye sockets had been pierced, and it was completely dead.

If he hadn't been a seasoned player and popular science blogger of "Blood, Fire and Wine" before his transmigration, and had obsessively memorized the obscure characteristics of the Ice Giant Lizard—the blind spot in its right eye and its weak abdomen—he would have been the one who died just now.

He was making a video summary of version 4.1.3 of "Blood, Fire and Wine" before he closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, he was transported into the game world.

Fortunately, there was an adventurer's body frozen to death near the spawn point. Moen stripped him of a set of equipment and weapons, which was enough to barely deal with the wild beasts roaming the forest.

Name: Moen Kalix

[Level: 3]

[HP: 100/280]

[Mana Points: 150/150]

【属性：体力14、奥术10、力量14、技巧11、敏捷12、精神10】

Moen's condition was getting worse and worse, so he closed his eyes and chose to enter the skill exchange pool.

The next second, a strong dragging sensation came over him, and Moen found himself standing in a dark, endless corridor.

Numerous towering statues stand on both sides of the corridor, most of them shrouded in a thick gray mist, obscuring their exact appearance.

Among the rows of statues, Moen saw one that was emitting light, and on a whim, he appeared in front of that statue.

It was a lifelike monitor lizard of the ice field, its mouth agape in a menacing pose.

The moment Moen's fingertips touched the cold stone statue, two skills that could be exchanged flashed into his mind:

The first skill is called [Hidden Scales], which is a skill that maintains invisibility by continuously consuming mana, and its exchange price is 10 Mortal Shards.

The second skill is [Low Temperature Regeneration], which allows you to quickly recover health by consuming mana and stamina in low-temperature environments. It costs 15 Mortal Shards to exchange for.

"Skills can actually be directly redeemed?"

Moen knew all too well what this meant.

In the world of Blood, Fire and Wine, ordinary people can only acquire very basic skills such as slashing and rapid-fire.

Those truly divinely bestowed skills with divine power must be obtained through baptism by various churches, completion of tasks assigned by the churches, and finally exchanged for by the churches using contribution points and materials.

Skills are the absolute authority the church holds over the world.

Looking at the [Low Temperature Regeneration] skill in front of him, Moen chose to exchange for it without hesitation.

"Buzz!"

An indescribable, extremely cold, tingling sensation instantly enveloped my left arm.

Moen looked down and saw that the deep, bone-revealing laceration on his left arm was healing rapidly.

Moen gritted his teeth, cold sweat pouring down his face. The unbearable itching and the inability to move were extremely uncomfortable.

In just five minutes, although his left arm was still in excruciating pain and he couldn't use it, the bleeding stopped and a thick scab formed on the hideous wound.

survived.

After the exchange was completed, the giant lizard statue in front of him changed from stone to jade-like transparency, and the previously selectable [Hidden Scales] also disappeared. No matter how Moen touched the statue, there was no reaction.

"Does that mean one statue can only be exchanged for one skill?"

With too little information, Moen couldn't draw any conclusions. With a thought, he withdrew from the corridor.

In the real world, the wind and snow continued, and the fire that had been lit earlier was reduced to a few embers, proving that time inside the corridor flowed in sync with the outside world.

Moen dared not delay. He endured his hunger and quickly cut off the monitor lizard's most valuable tail spike and stuffed it into his backpack.

Based on the giant lizards of the Icefield and the winter ghost trees that could be found everywhere in the forest, Moen quickly deduced that he was in the Grey Eresh Forest, which separated the North from the West.

With his current equipment, he wouldn't be able to safely survive the night in the Grey Evil Forest.

As darkness fell, he had to reach a populated area before nightfall.

Two hours later.

The wind and snow continued to howl, and finally a dim, yellowish light appeared in the darkness in the distance, indicating what seemed to be a small town.

However, when Moen dragged his half-crippled left arm to the city gate, he found the atmosphere unusually heavy.

The city gates were tightly shut, and a dozen soldiers stood ready for battle.

They were not wearing the leather armor of ordinary guards, but rather uniform black and silver heavy armor, with a sword and scales emblem engraved in the center of their breastplates, reflecting a cold light under the torches.

The Church of the Judgment Ring!

Moen's pupils contracted slightly. This was a prospective knight of the Judgment Knights. Although he was a prospective knight, he wouldn't casually appear in such a remote town.

"stop."

A leading knight blocked his way, his gaze sweeping over Moen's disheveled appearance before finally settling on his left arm, which was covered in blood scabs.

"A refugee? Or a hunter?"

The town is located on the edge of the northern border, and occasionally spies from other countries sneak in. This is considered a routine inquiry.

Moen saw the lie detector of the Judgment Ring, the "Truth Bell," but he didn't panic. He had about three ways in mind to circumvent this ordinary Truth Bell test.

The flaw of the Truth Bell is quite simple: it can only detect whether the speaker believes it to be a lie, but it cannot detect the objective truth of the matter.

As for the more advanced [True Word Spells], only those oath-takers who specialize in this area can master them.

"Displaced people who have suffered disaster, sir." Moen lowered his head, trying his best to look like an ordinary person who had been frightened.

The [Bell of Truth] in the knight's hand did not ring, which meant that Moen had passed the test.

The reason is simple: whether it was time travel or what happened after arriving here, in Moen's view, it was all a disaster.

And what is Moen, who transmigrated here as a completely undocumented person, if not a refugee?

"Go inside. Don't wander around the streets tonight."

The knight pulled a wooden token from his waist and tossed it into Moen's arms.

"Take this to the Ash Furnace Inn; the church has booked it as a temporary shelter for refugees."

Moen took the credentials and, before entering the city, tentatively asked, "Sir, with such a large entourage, has some criminal escaped to the vicinity?"

The knight chuckled softly upon hearing this.

"Criminals? We can't get help from them. Scouts have discovered signs of a beast tide gathering in the north, possibly the largest beast tide gathering in nearly a hundred years."

Seeing Moen feigning fright, the knight patted him on the shoulder:

"But don't worry, kid, you should be glad you're in Nohanville."

The knight turned around and pointed to the tallest tower in the town center in the distance, where a huge banner embroidered with an iris was flying.

"Do you see that flag? Lady Aria Velesa is in the city. She is the youngest Judgment Knight in the Judgment Ring in a hundred years."

"With Lady Arya in charge, those low-level beasts that come out of the Grey Evil Forest are nothing to worry about."

"Get a good night's sleep."

Several knights were praising Lady Arya to themselves, while the knight closest to Moen waved to him, signaling him to leave quickly.

Moen, however, stood stiffly in the cold wind, clutching the certificate.

Arya Velesa.

A name that wasn't extensively documented in the game's history, but which he had seen before.

Moen looked up, his gaze piercing through the swirling snowflakes, and seemed to see a line of emotionless text, like an epitaph, floating above the fluttering flag:

[Historical Archives: The Norhanville Disaster]

Time: 956 AD, Winter Month.

Record: Judgment Knight "Arya Velesa" of the Ring of Judgment encountered an extraordinary beast tide during her garrison mission. After her requests for reinforcements were blocked by a snowstorm, she single-handedly defended the city gate for seven hours before finally succumbing to exhaustion and dying in battle. Only her mutilated head was found beneath the ruins of the tower.

Casualties: A total of 3,422 people, including all residents of Nohanville and the garrisoned Knights.

Moen closed his eyes, and the four scarlet words exploded in his mind, deafeningly loud.

No one survived.