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Chapter 222: Lordship
Sila and Jundtrathep entered the Information Building, the place managed by a system NPC who had a duty to provide basic assistance. Exactly as Sila had anticipated, finding one building out of the five remaining buildings in the city wasn’t a difficult task. In fact, there were even signs leading to this building.
Inside the building, there was a vast lobby similar to the Hall of Beginnings on the Island of Beginnings which Sila had used once. However, unlike that time, there were no people at the moment.
Sila rang a bell on a counter, and a clerk came running to him from behind a curtain. He was a bespectacled man in a formal suit and he looked drowsy, like he had just woken up.
“Hello, sir. My name is Dan. How can I help you?”
“Hello. Um, I have some questions to ask.”
“Your welcome, sir. Please come this way. How about you, lady? Do you also have questions to ask?” Dan turned to Jundtrathep.
“Ah, no. I’m just accompanying him. I’ll wait here.”
“I see. I’m really sorry that my room can only take a single player inside. It’s for the sake of privacy,” said Dan.
“I only have a few questions, so it won’t take long. Nevertheless, Jund, if you don’t want to wait, you can head back first without waiting for me. I don’t mind.”
“No problem, Big Brother Sila. I will just wait here.” Jundtrathep obediently went and sat on a couch.
Dan led Sila through the curtain and entered the room inside. When he looked around, Sila saw a comfy sofa, a small table, and two chairs. Dan entered first and poured Sila a drink of water before gesturing for him to sit down.
Sila looked around, feeling interested.
Witnessing Sila’s peculiar reaction, Dan asked, “What’s wrong, sir? Are you feeling uncomfortable?”
“Oh, nothing. I’m just surprised at how simple the room is. I’ve come across some strange ones like a flower-decorated room and an interrogation room.”
“I see. About that, the NPCs in charge have the freedom to decorate their rooms, sir. I’m a minimalist so I like it this way. However, an interrogation room? Are you kidding me? Is there actually someone who prefers that kind of room?” Dan chuckled and sat down on the other chair.
“Well, it’s a long story. By the way, Is this service free?”
“Our service is free of charge, sir. However, we can only answer questions which are directly related to you. Also, the questions must be about the system in general.”
“Can I ask about the essences of qi, magic, and psychic power?”
“Certainly, sir. However, I can only talk about the ones in which Mister Sila has received enlightenment. Which one are you asking about? Qi, magic, or psychic power?”
“Can’t I ask about all three of them?”
Dan gave Sila a friendly smile. “Sure, sir, but only if Mister Sila has been enlightened about all three.”
“Mn,” Sila said flatly, and silence shortly filled the entire room.
“...Pardon? Surely, you must be joking. Just one of them is already hard to attain. Each of them requires a completely different set of expertise and understanding. Are you saying that you have received enlightenment for all three of them, Mister Sila?”
“Can’t system NPCs inspect that?” Sila asked back.
“We can, sir. Please pardon me.”
Dan opened his system window, and Sila’s system window automatically popped up accordingly. Reading Sila’s information, Dan’s eyes were wide open.
“Wow. It’s actually true. You are qi type, but you have been enlightened about all three essences. Please accept my apologies for my previous behavior.” Dan politely apologized for his mistake, which made Sila feel better.
“It’s fine.”
“As you might already know, there is the concept of essence for all three energy types. Since you’ve received enlightenment, you have the right to learn about their characteristics and how to acquire them.
“The essence of qi is ‘Fusion’. The conditions for obtaining it are as follows. First, you must have experienced a situation where your qi infused itself in your body at least three times. Second, you must have used any two of eight qi techniques together at least twice. Third, you must have experienced at least two near-death situations. Lastly, you must have invented your own unique qi. Once you have attained the essence of qi, the three energy resources will fuse together and become Special Points, which elevates your ability to utilize your power.
“For magic type, its essence is ‘Unison’. First, you must have acquired all magic-type skills available for any single kind of magic. Second, you must have experienced using all of said skills in actual combat. Third, you must have killed at least one Marquis Rank or above magic-type monster. Fourth, you must have used magic to get yourself out from at least one near-death situation. Lastly, you must have stayed alive in a place condensed with magic energy for at least thirty seconds. The reward for completing all of these is the new stat—Unison Percentage. The stat helps to increase magic-type skills’ effectiveness, reduce delay and cooldown times, and reduce magic power consumption.
“As for psychic type, the essence is ‘Creativity’. First, your primary psychic skill has to reach the maximum level. Second, you must have altered the results of your psychic power at least three times in real combat. Third, you must have used psychic-type power to get yourself out from at least one near-death situation. Fourth, at least one of your emotions must have reached the extreme state at least once. Lastly, you must have mastered and possess a complete understanding of the nature of your psychic power. The reward for enlightenment is the right to unlock the hidden potential of special skills. The number of special skills that you can choose is limited to three, so I recommend you choose them carefully.”
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Sila replied, “Actually, the reason I came here today is that I would like to ask about that reward. I got the hang of qi’s Special Points and magic’s Unison Percentage, but I’m clueless about psychic’s one.”
Dan nodded as he understood Sila’s feeling. “That’s not strange, sir. The psychic type is the most difficult type to comprehend. There are some players who have also obtained the essences of qi or magic. However, for psychic type, I think Mister Sila is the first. About the right to unlock hidden potential, actually, it’s not that hard to understand. May I ask if you know the differences between normal skills and special skills?”
“Normal skills have a concept of skill levels while special skills don’t.”
“Exactly, sir. Like most players, Mister Sila got most of it right. However, there is actually one more minor difference which can greatly affect players’ playstyles. For normal skills, when you first acquire them, they can’t exert their full capability. Only when their skill levels reach the maximum will they grant you an additional ability, such as Mister Sila’s Hidden Weapon Firing.”
With Dan’s example, Sila immediately got it. “Ah, I know what you mean. In the beginning, Hidden Weapon Firing could only bring out small objects from my system window. As its skill level went up, I didn’t see much difference. However, once it reached the maximum level, I became able to bring out any kind of item from my system window.”
“Exactly, sir. Although it takes time to level up a skill, most normal skills will grant players an additional ability upon reaching the maximum level. On the other hand, special skills are powerful from the start but lack the concept of skill levels. You can train to be more proficient at using them, but the skill itself won’t change in any way. Do you get what I’m saying, sir?”
“I think I do.”
“Regarding the essence of psychic power, you have the right to permanently change three of your special skills into normal skills. It provides you with a chance to discover the latent potential within three of your skills. These subtle advantages may, one day, give you a significant edge over your competitors.”
Sila looked at his own system window. “How can I choose the skills?”
“Just voice out your desire to unlock the potential of your special skills, sir. The system shall ask which skills you want to upgrade later.”
Sila nodded as he got it. “What about the Lord Rank’s privilege? I heard I got it when my rank reached Lord.”
“Yes, sir. Mister Sila is among the earliest players to reach this rank, so it isn’t weird for you to wonder about this. The one who reached it before you also came to ask me.”
“You alone, Mister Dan? I thought there are several NPCs doing this job.”
Dan scratched his head. “Ah, about that, there were indeed more staff members in the beginning. However, the game has been operating for years, and the number of players using our service is declining. Therefore, the company trimmed the staff and I am now the only one left. You will reach this room even if you entered buildings located in other main cities. ”
“I see. In the end, what is this privilege about?” Sila got back to the main topic.
“The privilege is called ‘Lordship’, sir. It’s a kind of buff, showing that you are an elite compared to others. With it, you shall have small discounts when using the services provided by the system and you can access a location that is inaccessible by ordinary players. More importantly, you will get an exclusive buff depending on your choice. However, if you want to change the buff you choose, you will have to be demoted to Marquis Rank and reach Lord Rank again, or wait at least three months to change it.”
“Three months? That’s quite long.”
“It’s to prevent players from changing it too frequently, sir. There is no deeper meaning.”
“What kind of buffs can I choose?”
Dan enlarged his screen and flipped it for Sila to see. Witnessing Dan’s system window, Sila was dizzy. There were too many options for him to choose from. There were at least twenty categories, and each category had several kinds of buffs.
“That’s... a lot.”
“Actually, there aren’t that many, sir. Most of them share similar characteristics. The more specific you choose, the more powerful it will be. For example, this one. You will get a 100% increase in all stats when you fight against horse-race beings. Or these ones, you get more experience points when killing monsters of a certain race. On the other hand, if you pick the one that’s versatile, you will only get a small benefit.”
“I see, but that’s still a lot. Can you recommend any to me?”
“Of course, sir. What do you plan on doing during the upcoming three months, then? Oh, right, the war event will start next month. Should I get you the one that is suitable for wartime?”
Sila pondered. Since it would be three whole months before he could change it, he would have to choose wisely. He didn’t want to win the war. He just wanted to prevent Montra from winning it.
“Are there any of them that are specific to just a single player? For example, one that can make the target instantly lose the war.”
“Err... I don’t think there is one, sir. Well, the closest to your request will be this one, I’d say.”
Dan flipped his screen back and selected a certain buff, before flipping the screen again to Sila’s side. As Sila was reading its detail, Dan explained.
“Lordship of Time from the ‘Death Debuffs’ category. When you kill any player, you can forcibly change how long it takes them to respawn. You can make them respawn instantly, or you can make it take longer, to a maximum of seven days In exchange, you lose half of the experience points you would have received for killing them. Likewise, you can do the same for monsters, ranging from instantly to a maximum of three times the length of their normal respawn time.”
“I don’t see how it will be helpful to me though.”
Dan smiled and explained, “Guiding players is also a part of my job. If you pay attention to the war’s rules, you may notice one that says the players have to stay online when the war event starts in order to participate. Although I don’t know who you are planning to use it on, if you kill them in the seven days leading up to the start of the war event and use your Lordship, that person will have no right to participate in the war event anymore.”
“Oh, I see. People are prone to be more careless before the war event starts.”
Sila began to see a light floating down the path before him that was shrouded in darkness. Even though he had an alliance to oppose the Heavenly Dragon Guild, Montra still had several powerhouses with him. If he could depend on their carelessness before the war event and kill them one by one, it would reduce Montra’s forces by a certain extent. In addition, if he was lucky enough to kill Montra, his mission would succeed even before the war started.
“Yes, it sounds good. I will pick this one. Thank you for your recommendation.”
“No problem, sir, it’s my duty.”
Dan pressed his finger on his system window, and a semi-transparent aura flew from the screen to Sila’s palm. The aura formed itself into a tattoo with the shape of a crown with two swords crossed behind it. The tattoo then sank into his palm.
Witnessing Sila’s confused expression, Dan explained, “If you want to activate its ability, please show that symbol. It will come out when you think about using it.”
Sila tried summoning the tattoo several times and found that he felt he was brimming with confidence when it emerged. Well, he didn’t know whether he was thinking things or it really had that kind of ability.
“Thank you very much. I will take my leave now.”
“You’re most certainly welcome. Please feel free to come again, or you can add me to your contacts list as well.”
Thinking that wasn’t a bad idea, Sila did just that. Afterward, Dan walked Sila out. Despite having only spent less than twenty minutes in the room, once they got out, the first thing they saw was Jundtrathep napping on the soft and comfortable couch.
“Ah? She is asleep. It seems I will have to change the couch soon. I also fall asleep often when I sit on it,” Dan said jokingly.
“She must be tired. She had to sleep in the wild for two or three days,” said Sila.
“Oh, I see. I heard a dragon had come into Grea City.”
Sila didn’t say anything. Part of the reason why everyone had to sleep in the wild was his fault. He would have to become stronger and choose his actions wisely in order to prevent people near him from suffering in the war between him and Montra.
Since he didn’t want to disturb Jundtrathep, Sila gently picked her up and held her against his chest. Jundtrathep’s body was significantly lighter than he thought, so it wasn’t a problem for him at all. Sila enveloped her with his soft-attributed qi to help her relax. Juntrathep curled her body within his embrace.
“Nom, nom. Five more minutes, please, Mom...” She murmured in her sleep. It brought a smile to Sila and Dan’s faces.
“Would you like my help, sir?” Dan asked with a smile.
“No problem, her friends are nearby. I will send her there.”
Sila carried Jundtrathep back to her tent surrounded by her comrades. Seeing the situation she was in, the members of Tiger Team didn’t forget to tease her when she woke up later. They also added extra details and exaggerated what happened on purpose, making her want to dig a hole and bury her face in it out of embarrassment.