Strength 99999 but the Holy Sister

"The black under the wound seems to have disappeared..."

"Mine too...what's going on?"

"It's actually recovering on its own..." The knight captain looked at the scene in disbelief. Since he came to Weilin Town yesterday to investigate the black monsters, he has fully experienced the horror of those black monsters. People who are scratched by black monsters will soon go "crazy" if they do not receive timely treatment from the priest or have a strong body and sufficient magic power. This is the first time he has seen such a strange scene.

"I think it's probably because of the thing we defeated..." Brahmute limped to the knight captain's side. He had received treatment from the priest, and his right hand had been reattached, but the wound and bruises had not yet healed. He pointed to the corpse of the black monster that had just been defeated and said to the knight captain, "Look, it seems to be slowly disappearing."

The knight captain looked over quickly and saw that the monster's body was slowly turning into black dust and slowly disappearing into the air - he could clearly feel that the magic energy in the monster's body was dissipating and returning to nature.

"Incredible... This is the first time I've seen this."

"Me too."

The Knight Captain and Bramuth looked at the scene in front of them with serious eyes, and both felt a strong sense of bitterness and powerlessness - the black monsters seemed to appear more and more frequently, and this strange and powerful species was born. Even Bramuth, a former gold medal adventurer, could not deal with it alone.

The danger in the forest is getting closer.

Brahmot looked at the knight captain and said solemnly, "We must report this to the higher-ups as soon as possible. This matter may be more serious than we imagined."

"That's exactly what I meant," the knight captain nodded. "I'll be returning to Dammas City today. When you see me again, I'll be here with our knights... In the meantime, you must be very careful and don't let anyone from the town come into the forest again."

"Don't worry, the walls of Weilin Town are still very strong, and I'm not the only one there."

The knight captain's face showed understanding.

Indeed, the Adventurer's Guild in Weilin Town still has two gold medal adventurers, both of whom are good fighters. The captain of the town's guard force is also a man of considerable strength, and the mercenary agency can also find assistance - as long as the price is right, there is no need to worry about not being able to hire people.

What's more, Father Angus is in charge of Weilin Town, so it is not so easy to capture.

He said no more and nodded slowly.

Bramuth stared at the monster corpses on the ground for a long time and fell into deep thought.

Why did the black scars caused by other monsters disappear with the death of this monster? Why did the bodies of other monsters remain intact while only this one monster's body completely dissipated?

He didn't know the reason, but the scene before him seemed familiar.

Five days ago, the black marks on the villagers rescued by Sister Faris also suddenly disappeared. At that time, Sister Faris was not in the village. Instead, she had eliminated all the monsters near the village and then traveled deep into the forest. Brahmute later went to the forest to investigate, but found no other traces except a large area of ​​collapsed and shattered trees.

The doubts at that time seemed to be answered.

Obviously, Sister Faris encountered a creature similar to the monster in front of her, and then she took action to deal with it, and its body disappeared, so Bramuth found nothing.

Brahmute suddenly recalled what Sister Faris had asked him that day.

"—Do you know the 'Filth One'?"

……

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24. News about the Underground Palace

When Aisha arrived at the guild, it was bustling with activity and the bulletin board was crowded with people.

The bulletin board is a place for posting commissions. The person who issues the commission registers it with the union, and then the registrar of the union will draw up a commission. The commission will make a simple description based on the client's requirements, and indicate the most basic remuneration, commission content, completion time limit and other information. It will be posted on the bulletin board for adventurers to choose. If you want to accept the commission, just tear off the commission form and go to the counter to register.

Elsa saw new papers being posted on the bulletin board, and more and more adventurers were gathering around to watch.

Some people also noticed Elsa dressed as a nun, but church members actually often appear here, so this is not uncommon.

Ignoring the noisy crowd, Aisha went straight to an empty counter, took out an exquisite golden badge from her space ring, placed it on the counter, and asked the receptionist behind the counter, "I wonder if this badge is still usable?"

When the receptionist saw the badge, a look of surprise appeared on her face - the golden badge meant that the nun in front of her was a gold medal adventurer.

Gold medal adventurers are undoubtedly at the top of the adventurer group. Even in the huge city of Dammas, there are less than fifteen gold medal adventurers.

"Please wait a moment. I'll check for you." She placed the badge on the verification tool—a unique magical device. "Please verify your identity."

Elsa placed her hand on it and output 50% of her total magic power - 1 numerical point.

In the past, when Elsa needed to confirm her identity, she had to drain all of her magic power to do it. Now she only needs to drain half of it. This is a huge improvement and it is worth celebrating.

"Has it been two years since you last logged into the guild?"

The receptionist was surprised.

Elsa just smiled and said, "Yes, I got bored for a while, so I went back to the church."

"I see..." The receptionist picked up the badge with both hands. "The badge is confirmed to be correct and there is no damage. Dear Ms. Faris, may I know what business you would like to handle?"

According to Aisha's observations, the various branches of the guild seemed to have a unique communication technology—a form of magic, of course—that synchronized the adventurers' information. This was undoubtedly a groundbreaking technology; if it could be widely used, it would be like the "internet" of the magical world.

However, this technology is unlikely to be popularized as it is too costly and not mature enough. The guild can issue letter delivery commissions but never gets involved in the mailing of letters. This means that this long-distance information transmission method may not be able to easily transmit more complex information, such as long texts.

"I want to send a letter." Aisha explained her purpose.

"Do you need a scribe?"

"No, just give me a piece of paper and a pen."

"Okay, please wait a moment."

After all, there are not many people in this world who can read and write, so many people send letters by dictating and then having scribes write them down. However, Elsa, who knows the importance of words and knowledge, learned the words of this world very early on, and prefers to write letters by hand. Most people in this world don't care whether a letter is written by the sender himself, but for Elsa, she believes that handwritten letters show more sincerity.

Soon, the receptionist came over with a pen and paper. Elsa prostrated herself on the counter and quickly wrote a few paragraphs, explaining the current situation, reporting safety, and then greeting the nuns and the old priest. When she picked up the pen to write about Charlie Bran, Elsa thought for a moment and didn't put pen to paper.

After writing this, Aisha folded the letter and handed it to the receptionist.

"That's all. I want to send it to Wein Town, and the recipient is Father Hugh Angus of Wein Town Monastery."

The receptionist skillfully wrote the address and name on the envelope, then sealed it with wax and pressed out the union seal, which meant that the letter was written by the union.

"I want to check how many points I have left."

Points are a kind of "currency" commonly used between adventurer guilds and can be circulated within the guild. When an adventurer completes a commission, he will receive a certain amount of "points". Those points can be used to exchange for the guild's services and purchase materials, weapons and equipment from the guild, as well as to improve the adventurer's rating. They can also be directly exchanged for cash or as a reward for issuing tasks. In a sense, guild points are a kind of hard currency among adventurers, equivalent to "currency" endorsed by the adventurer's guild.

Of course, in Elsa's opinion, the most ingenious thing about the Adventurer's Guild's points system is that it is a kind of "financial asset". The appearance of this concept in the Adventurer's Guild is a standard dimensionality reduction attack on many forces in this world.

The receptionist quickly confirmed it using Aisha's badge, a hint of surprise in her eyes: "There are still... 3741 points left... Dear Ms. Faris, would you like to use your points to pay for the commission?"

The guild never undertakes the business of delivering letters. It can only publish them to adventurers and then have them deliver them. As for the price offered, it depends on how generous the client is.

"Well, let's use the points. I hope to find someone who can leave as soon as possible. This letter must also be delivered to Father Angus personally."

"I'll write down your request... Is there anything else I can help you with? We've recently released information about black monsters appearing in the western forests, and we also have information for sale regarding the recent rumors of half-elves appearing in the northern province..."

The guild's intelligence sales business is also a big money-maker. After all, everyone needs intelligence, and the intelligence business itself is a business that mainly exploits information asymmetry. If done well, the cost is pitifully low.

But Elsa had no interest in this. She just wanted to get familiar with the city as quickly as possible, and then return to the monastery to prepare for the subsequent selection of holy nuns.

"Nothing else for now, thank you very much."

"Then take care!"

Just as Aisha was about to leave the guild, a commotion erupted from the crowd near the notice board.

"Tsk, is this true? A crypt appeared from a cemetery. Looks like we're going to encounter something really scary this time..."

Elsa had already planned to leave, but the word "underground palace" immediately caught her attention.

——Underground palace?

Elsa paused, turned her head, and glanced at the notice board. Frowning slightly, the small print on the board immediately became crystal clear—"Adventurer Commission Area Adjustment Notice: Recently, an abnormal accumulation of magical elements has been discovered in the northern cemetery of the Rydes Mountains. It has now been confirmed by the Magician Corps as a new underground palace. Effective immediately, all commission activities involving the following areas will be temporarily suspended. Therefore, this notice..."

Aisha read it word by word, a hint of contemplation flashing in her eyes.

A new underground palace, and it happens to appear in the cemetery with the heaviest breath of the dead. This is really a rare thing. That kind of place will give birth to many undead spirits.

……

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25. Tumor of the Earth Vein

"Don't be so alarmist. They're just some undead creatures awakened by magic essence. There's nothing to be afraid of. Once the miasma is dispelled, I'll form a team to take a look. Maybe we can even get some magic stones."

"The Magician Corps will take care of it, right?"

"Don't be naive. The Magician Corps is short-handed. You don't know how many dead people there are, do you?"

The adventurers chatted with each other, looking very excited.

The underground palace is a place full of dangers, but it is also a place full of opportunities for adventurers.

People believe in the goddess of heaven, the goddess Sabrina, who dispels filth and disease and imparts truth and knowledge. She is a deity believed in by all races on this continent.

In addition to the goddess, other gods have been mentioned in legends, one of which is the "Earth Mother Goddess" - it is said that the earth veins are the grace of the Earth Mother Goddess.

The generally accepted view at present is that the underground palace is a typical mysterious area that appears due to the accumulation of magic energy caused by the evolution of relics or some natural or man-made factors, which eventually leads to abnormal ground veins.

The chaotic and sticky magic elements in the underground palace will expand a large area like bubbles. Some of these areas will be crowded together. The rich magic elements inside can easily attract monsters to gather together. Once the monsters gather to a certain number, it is easy for them to devour each other and fight for territory, and evolved high-level monsters will appear. They are extremely difficult to deal with. Therefore, the underground palace is often dangerous and unpredictable.

Since this area is created by abnormal earth veins and almost always appears underground, it is called an underground palace.

Once the underground palace is discovered, the state and the church will immediately send armed forces to clean it up to prevent the underground palace from expanding or the emergence of dangerous monsters that are difficult to deal with. Adventurers and mercenaries will also receive direct employment commissions from the state at this time.

The underground palace with abundant magic essence will produce many precious materials. For example, the magic stones often used by alchemists and mages are processed from the magic ore produced in the underground palace. There is a potion that can quickly heal wounds, which is extracted from a kind of moss growing in the underground palace.

Therefore, the appearance of the underground palace made these adventurers excited - this was a good opportunity to make money.

But at the same time, the danger of the underground palace must not be ignored.

First, there is miasma.

Miasma is actually the product of the mutation of magic essence. The accumulated magic essence is affected by the breath of monsters, and then changes its original properties to form a colorless and invisible "gas". It permeates the air and is harmful to the human body due to its repulsive properties. If you do not take precautions and inhale too much, it may cause the magic power in the body to become disordered, affecting your mind and causing madness or even death.

In addition to miasma, another dangerous factor in the underground palace is monsters.

Attracted by the rich magical essence, monsters gather within the dungeons, wandering and building nests. Each dungeon is mysterious, some housing only a handful of monsters, others teeming with tens of thousands. Some monsters are weak and vulnerable, while others can bring endless disasters. Even the once-invincible Knights Templar lost half their men in a single extremely dangerous dungeon.

Admittedly, most underground palaces will not evolve into such a terrible state, but this possibility must be guarded against.

Because of the above reasons, every time a mausoleum is discovered, it will first be sealed and guarded by the magician group, and a full and detailed preliminary investigation will be carried out. After confirming the number of monsters and the scale of the mausoleum, a purification magic circle will be used to reverse the miasma properties, and finally a crusade and strategy will be carried out.

This newly appeared underground palace in the cemetery should still be in the blockade stage.

Elsa stopped to think for a moment, then turned around and went back to the counter. The receptionist stood up respectfully before she even sat down.

"Has a new underground palace appeared nearby?"

Aisha asked.

Fifty years ago, when the Holy Sisters were being selected, the candidates were sent to the underground palace in order to select the candidates with outstanding abilities - this was the information Elsa heard from Marvin.

So this time, as the selection of the Holy Nun is approaching, a new underground palace has appeared... Will the selection of the Holy Nun this time also be held in the underground palace?

Elsa decided to gather intelligence first to prepare for the selection of the Saint.

"Ms. Faris, I think you saw the notice on the bulletin board?"

The receptionist gave a standard formulaic smile.

"Indeed, a new underground palace has appeared in Mount Ledes, and our guild has been asked by the Magicians' Corps to suspend commissions in the area surrounding the palace. News of the underground palace has spread, and adventurers are waiting every day for it to open, hoping to be among the first to profit."

It was impossible to get the first share of the spoils. The local nobles and royal family held the highest priority for mining rights. When the underground palace was opened, they had already sent people to plunder it. Of course, even so, the underground palace was still a treasure trove. The rulers would not have the ability to sweep everything away, after all, it would require a lot of manpower. Moreover, they needed adventurers and mercenaries to help them develop the underground palace. If there were no benefits, wouldn't they be attracted?

But this has nothing to do with Elsa. Elsa has been to the underground palace once and didn't find anything attractive. What she cares more about is whether what happened in the underground palace this time will affect the selection and assessment of the Holy Nun. Most of the nuns participating in the election are very strong. They are a force that cannot be ignored. Sending them to the underground palace can not only be used for assessment, but also to gain more benefits for the monastery. Why not do it?

Aisha believed that the previous bishop thought and acted in the same way.

"Has the Magician Corps already sealed off the underground palace?"

"Of course, they've already started deducing the changes in the earth veins a few days ago, and they're probably suppressing and dispelling the miasma now. It was supposed to open today, but it seems to have been postponed, which is why so many people gathered..."

The underground palace was created by the disorder of the earth veins. By observing the earth veins, one can infer the concentration and change pattern of the earth vein magic elements, and then infer the number and degree of evolution of the monsters in it.

Once all this is determined, we can move forward with full preparation.

"After all, the Magician Corps has limited manpower. Even with the addition of the Church and the Knights, there are still some shortages. I heard that the Bishop also withdrew some of his men yesterday, causing the current manpower shortage to become even more severe... However, I don't know the specific details of what happened..."

The receptionist seemed to be debating whether to elaborate on this matter. On the one hand, it was internal guild information, and on the other hand, he was a gold medal adventurer with certain privileges...

But Elsa had already guessed what was going on - it was obvious that when Elsa and the others arrived at the monastery yesterday, Bishop Pittman should have been dealing with the underground palace matters in the Ledes Mountains Cemetery. After receiving Mary's report, he immediately rushed back and transferred some personnel from the underground palace to deal with the crisis of the Holy See.

In this light, it is understandable that Bishop Pittman looks so upset.

"I see. I'll come back tomorrow."

Elsa put away the badge, glanced in the direction of the notice board once more, and left.

Since she was planning to go to the underground palace to take a look, Elsa had to make some preparations - of course, Elsa never cared about weapons and armor. In fact, she had not seen any weapons or armor that could withstand her power so far. In short, they were not easy to use.

What Aisha needs to prepare is dry food.