Chapter 228: Lomyok"s Past 

A group of five people walked through the Fairy Kingdom"s exit, this time without any obstacle blocking their path. During their short journey, the atmosphere was quite awkward since Mamon was complaining, Lomyok was praising himself, and Sila was keeping his mouth shut.

"Lucifer? That Lucifer? How can I stand a chance against him? He can kill me just by snapping a finger, I think."

Sila was trying to come up with a way to make Lucifer bleed. Meanwhile, Mamon, who got summoned at Burapha"s request, was mumbling.

"Don"t ever call me out again for doing something so unimportant like this," said Mamon. He gave a small pouch to Burapha, who was grinning from ear to ear. The reason for this was that Burapha had asked Mamon to modify his large backpack and turn it into a smaller one. Burapha fastened his pouch around his thigh. From now on, he would be able to move nimbly again.

Sila"s reply was rather dry. "Mn. Thanks. Do you want to go back inside?"

"Nah, I don"t. Since I"m already out and a chance for me to play will come soon, I will stay outside for a while." Mamon grinned as if he knew something. He looked at Lomyok with sparkling eyes like a child seeing new toys.

Noticing Mamon saying something like a bad omen, Bluebird argued.

"Sorry, but I think you will be disappointed. The Winter Forest is a place where peaceful fairies live. There will be no problem as long as we don"t light a fire. No, even if we do and the conditions to summon Doloria are met, Doloria still won"t appear since Sila killed it recently. The elemental dragons normally require a year to resp.a.w.n."

"Kiekkiekkiek. You carry such a big fire with you but you are still unaware of it. Never mind, I will just reap the rewards when the time comes," Mamon replied mysteriously while pointing at Sila and Lomyok. "Just one of them is fine. However, if nothing happens when these two are together, I am willing to give up my t.i.tle as the Devil Prince from h.e.l.l."

Sila was, by no means, in the mood to pay attention to Mamon"s nonsense. Moreover, it seemed Mamon wouldn"t explain more if Sila didn"t personally ask.

Bluebird poked Sila several times. "Why do you have to be overly concerned about Lucifer? It"s a very far-off problem. Not to mention fighting him or even making him bleed, how are you going to find Lucifer? Even Lucifer said himself that going to the Monster Realm is difficult. I guess the monsters living in that place are surely s.a.d.i.s.tically strong. Therefore, stop stressing over a future problem. Let"s focus on the problem within our sight. I want to know what we will face, and why."

Bluebird gestured to Mamon, urging Sila to ask for the meaning behind his words. Sila gave up and released a heavy sigh as he turned to Mamon.

"Mamon... What did you mean by that?"

Mamon inspected the crystal cave while taking some of the crystals with him. The souls inside left as soon as he plucked them out though. He stopped and turned back to reply to Sila.

"The meaning behind my words is the Gifts belonging to you two."

Gifts, or rather, Hidden Gifts, were the concept Sila had heard about from Mamon before. He remembered that they were hidden pa.s.sive abilities which were always active regardless of the user"s willfulness. Since he had no means to control them, Sila didn"t think he should spare them any thoughts.

Mamon pointed at Lomyok. "For that kid, his Gift is Twist of Fate. His fortune always comes together with misfortune. Sometimes they come in pairs and sometimes they take turns. However, the surest thing is they always come in short intervals. Because he got his hands on the Queen"s Spirit Raiment, which must have required tremendous luck to obtain, we can certainly expect great misfortune to follow."

"G.o.d must be jealous of my beauty, I"d say. Come to think of it, there was a time when I went all-in and wagered my entire bankroll on roulette and won hundreds of thousands of gold. However, I was penniless in three days," said Lomyok. He didn"t seem to mind at all even when he heard a big misfortune would befall him soon.

Once Mamon said it, everything started to make some sense. Lomyok possessed several rare skills and items, his strength was also not half bad. Yet, he still died a lot and didn"t seem to bother even when the situation turned bad. He was able to smile in the face of all kinds of danger. It wasn"t strange if they considered the fact that he faced these kinds of situations frequently and had already gotten accustomed to them.

Sila recalled something. "Wait. Mamon, don"t you have the skill to stop Gifts from working?"

"Yes, but I can"t use it now. That kid"s Gift has already gone into effect. He already got good luck. I can"t prevent the second part of it from happening."

"d.a.m.n. Turns out he is a jinx," said Bluebird.

Then, Mamon pointed at Sila. "As for you, your Gift is a bit more peculiar than others. It"s called Black Cat of Misfortune..."

Bluebird muttered, "...That doesn"t sound like a good thing."

Mamon continued without minding him, "...that kid"s Gift still provides the user some good luck in exchange for bad luck. However, yours is pure misfortune. Not only that, your misfortune even affects those near you."

"Super d.a.m.n! Two jinxes are here with us!!" Bluebird shouted.

Sila was quite shocked while Burapha c.o.c.ked his head. "But I don"t think Big Brother Sila is that misfortunate, yes? He didn"t bring misfortune anywhere he went, right? I think... erm... he just had bad luck sometimes."

Mamon nodded. "That"s because this Gift isn"t always active. It will be only active in response to some situations such as the appearance rates of monsters, the success rate when crafting items, or gambling. If he stays pa.s.sive, nothing will happen. However, if something happens around him, the event will always lead to relatively bad outcomes."

Bluebird and Burapha recalled several situations where Sila was involved.

"Went hunting the Great Millennium Turtle, but ended up having to fight against the Water Dragon..."

"Solaria suddenly made an appearance in Colossia City"s battle tournament. Tons of people died..."

"Entered Lost Grea City and encountered an entire android army..."

"Spent some time revisiting the Island of Beginnings, but the Town of Beginnings fell into chaos and was engulfed in flames..."

"Lucifer showed up in Zhongsuyuan City..."

"My rank was demoted and I became this small..." Mamon couldn"t help but join in.

"I always got scolded by Boss and suffered a cut in salary..."

Hearing Bluebird"s last statement, Burapha frowned. "Wait, the last one is not right. Don"t just conveniently blame every bad thing that happened to you on Big Brother Sila as if everything negative is his fault."

Bluebird gave a dry smile as he scratched his head. He thought for a moment then asked Mamon, "Isn"t it bad? As far as I understand, everyone has a Gift, right? The ones who get the bad Gifts, like Sila, will be unlucky forever. Isn"t it unfair?"

Mamon showed a smile which clearly expressed his feeling of disgust. "Heh! Don"t worry, humans. With the degree of unfairness your race has against us monsters, there is no way the G.o.ddess will just sit tight and let you suffer."

"The G.o.ddess?" Bluebird was confused.

Like what he did with Sila, Mamon started explaining that all humans were secretly under the divine protection of the G.o.ddess. He also explained the privileges the human race got to exclusively enjoy. It made Bluebird, Lomyok, and Burapha start to see the world of Monster Soul from the monsters" perspective.

"In short, if any human has bad Gifts, the G.o.ddess shall grant another Gift to them as compensation for their bad luck. You also have it. I call this kind of Gift G.o.ddess" Blessing. Even I can"t steal it from you."

It was one of the main reasons Mamon hated humans. For the record, Mamon only temporarily added bad Gifts into Zazae when they fought. He knew that if he did so permanently, the G.o.ddess would soon grant Zazae G.o.ddess" Blessing as compensation.

"Your G.o.ddess" Blessing is Baby Monster. It makes monsters with a higher level than you feel friendlier toward you than normal. Let me guess. You must have some experience conversing with several high-level monsters."

"Isn"t it normal?" Sila wondered.

"It isn"t normal at all, Big Brother. Most high-tier monsters look down on us like we are ants. They don"t normally talk to us. Some of them simply crush us as soon as we meet them."

Sila had never seen monsters interact with anyone else, so he didn"t realize monsters weren"t usually on friendly terms with players. For example, Lucifer only conversed with Sebastian and Thanatos without paying attention to any players except Sila. Some dragons even talked to Sila first before starting the battle even though they and Sila were sworn enemies.

"You shouldn"t feel too elated though. For this G.o.ddess" Blessing, the higher your level, the less effective it becomes."

"Hey, hey, can you tell us what our Gifts are?" Bluebird asked while Burapha was also interested.

Mamon swept his glance to Bluebird and Burapha. "Yours aren"t so distinctive. Sense of Omen, which helps you sense lethal attacks coming your way the instant before you are hit, and Riverside Guardian, which increases your recovery rate by half if you are near sources of water."

Bluebird and Burapha felt a little disappointed. Compared to Lomyok and Sila"s Gifts, theirs were indeed rather normal.

The five of them reached the cave"s exit, which was a similar-looking archway. The scenery behind the arch was a vast snowfield. The strong and harsh cold breeze entered the cave, making them slightly cold. Their next destination was the Winter Forest, which they could see in the distance.

"Let"s rest before moving on. When we exit, we will have to go through the forest. After we come out of the forest, we will reach Belacia City."

"Is the city that close?" asked Burapha.

Bluebird shook his head. "Not quite. Belacia City goes by other names like the City of Freedom or the Borderless City. Although it is a city, the place where people reside is the central part near the city"s rebirth zone. You have to be careful of monsters even when you are inside the city. In Belacia City, monsters can raid whenever."

"You said monsters can invade whenever?" Mamon asked, feeling interested.

"Yes. Why do you ask?"

Mamon walked to Sila and tugged his sleeve. "You, call Sebastian. I have something to ask him."

"I don"t know where he is though. He is not my pet anymore. I can"t rely on the brooch to summon him."

"You can at least contact him, right? He is your partner, so he has almost all the rights you have, including the right to teleport to your Monster Follower. Tell him to meet you in the Single-Horned Dragon Forest. You can go and pick him up there."

Sila nodded and closed his eyes. He concentrated his mind to contact Sebastian. It took him a few minutes before he reopened his eyes.

"Sebastian said he is already there. He is talking to Rex, and told me to wait thirty minutes."

"In that case, we will rest here for thirty minutes. We will enter the forest when Sebastian joins our team," Mamon ordered, but no one objected to his idea. If great misfortune really awaited them as Mamon predicted, more members would be better.

Everybody sat down. Lomyok ate a recovery pellet while circulating qi. On the other hand, the others didn"t lose that much energy in the journey, so they simply sat without doing anything.

"Isn"t your business done? Why are you still here? Please tell me you don"t plan to accompany us," Bluebird asked Lomyok.

Lomyok leisurely waved his fan at himself. "Since I am here, I think I will visit Belacia City at least once. I heard there is a place called the Ten-Thousand-Year-Old Castle where the beautiful Vampire Queen resides. I want to witness her beauty with my own eyes. I doubt she is half as beautiful as me."

Sila nodded. "Let"s travel together, then. I"m relieved that a skilled player like you is joining our team."

Burapha seized the chance to ask Lomyok a question, "Speaking of being skilled, I think Mister Lomyok is stronger than you look. Can I ask for your progress regarding qi?"

"Regarding the Eight Qi Techniques, all of them have been infused in my body. When I achieved that, I got the skill Way of the Hermit, which is quite convenient for poor players. As for Basic Qi, it became Intermediate Qi at maximum level. About Qi of Little Divine Beings, I can proficiently use Qi of Little Fish, but I am still not in the mood to learn the other three," Lomyok replied nonchalantly with an award-winning smile. He took out three unused scrolls that held Qi of Little Tiger, Qi of Little Bird, and Qi of Little Turtle.

"How is this possible? Did you acquire all of these yourself?" Bluebird was shocked.

"Not to mention his learning speed. This is the first time I"ve heard of someone who has already infused all Eight Qi Techniques in their body. As far as I know, even Mister Lone Wolf, the Qi Emperor, is still missing two or three of them."

Sila always thought that he was the only player to achieve infusing all Eight Qi Techniques in his body. With this, he was aware that there was always the sky above the sky. Now that he thought about it, he obtained the Eight Qi Techniques from the Right Arm of the Sealed One. He didn"t know how they were normally acquired.

"Normally, where can we acquire these Qi Techniques?"

"There are eight high-tier quests exclusive to qi-type players. The quests" difficulty level is extremely high. In addition, the difficulty level of each quest will shoot up every time you accomplish one of them," Bluebird answered while staring at Lomyok. He found it unbelievable that Lomyok could complete all eight quests when even the Qi Emperor Lone Wolf couldn"t perform such a feat.

Lomyok shrugged. "In fact, I didn"t perform those quests myself. Someone traded them for my item. Mn, about this, during the early days when I just started playing the game, I got my hands on a certain strange S-grade item. It always sent me to some dark and hot place where I always died before my eyes could see anything..."

Despite the fact that he wasn"t bothered by the story before, suddenly, Mamon jerked up and showed a serious expression. "What did you just say?! What is the name of the item you just mentioned? What is its appearance?"

"Hm? It"s a door-shaped rock with a size that fits into my palm. Its color is black and red like burning charcoal. I didn"t feel hot when touching it though. If memory serves me right, its name is... ugh... something similar to my name, I"d say. I can"t remember it well."

"h.e.l.l Jade," Mamon said with a stern yet hopeful expression.

"Yeah, that"s right. That"s its name. h.e.l.l Jade."

"Where is the jade?" Mamon asked curtly. Even Sila could notice the seriousness in Mamon"s voice.

Nevertheless, Lomyok didn"t mind Mamon"s oppressive gaze at all. "As I said, I traded it with someone else and got something in return. Actually, you will know if you just keep listening."

Knowing the h.e.l.l Jade wasn"t with Lomyok anymore, Mamon sat down and paid his full attention to the story.

"...After I got my hands on it, there was a man who came to me. He wore a mask and covered himself in a full-body cloak, so I didn"t know who he was. All I knew was that he was a man, based on his voice. He said that he truly wanted the h.e.l.l Jade and that it was very important to him. Seeing how polite he was and sensing the sincerity and exhaustion in his voice, I gave it to him. He thanked me and asked me to meet him again next week at the same place."

"You gave the h.e.l.l Jade to a stranger for free?" Mamon gritted his teeth. He was displeased by people like Lomyok who were unable to understand the true value of some items.

"...After a week, I returned to where we met. However, he wasn"t there. Instead, there was an angel telling me his master couldn"t come due to some circ.u.mstances. Still, his master asked him to give a certain bag to me. The angel left, and I opened the bag. Inside it, there were eight scrolls of qi techniques, four qi scrolls of Little Divine Beings, a sheet of paper explaining how to efficiently practice qi and which order I should follow to make the qi techniques easily infuse in my body, undead cards for changing race, and a one-time-use special emblem to visit the Zombie King. In short, they were items for making qi-type players stronger."

"That"s a lot of things you got there in exchange for a single jade." Burapha gaped.

Sila was expressionless as he asked Mamon. "Is the h.e.l.l Jade one of the Gems of Catastrophe?"

Mamon nodded. "Correct. Its ability isn"t as versatile or complicated as the Eternal Onyx though. It can open the gate connected to h.e.l.l or unleash the devils imprisoned there. It"s the item that I must get my hands on at all costs."

"In that case, we now know where it is currently. There is only one person who could search for all those items within the short span of a week and provide instructions for training qi efficiency that even qi players don"t know. Moreover, he had an angel as his subordinate. There is no doubt about it..."

Sila released a heavy sigh and turned to Lomyok.

"...The one you met at that time was Montra."