The air was thick with the scent of Infant Bell Flowers—rich and piercing.
Infant Bell Flowers were white blossoms shaped like tiny round bells. When first inhaled, the fragrance transford at the tip of the nose into an intensely cool sensation. But as the scent seeped deeper, the odorless coolness gradually shifted toward sothing putrid, ultimately erupting at the back of the nasal cavity in a wave of nauseating stench.
Since slling it induced retching—similar to morning sickness—many ancient civilizations associated the Infant Bell Flower with prayers for children. And thus, the flower's na.
This flower had beco rare by the Civilization Era. Only a handful of nations within the Nature Alliance that worshipped [Birth] still cultivated it in large quantities. In the Life Era, however, it was everywhere.
A dry wind swept across his face, flooding his nostrils with the wretched sll and making Cheng Shi sneeze involuntarily.
Before even opening his eyes, he was already thinking: 'Please don't let this be Dolgod.'
'It can't be. What are the odds?'
He laughed at himself self-deprecatingly. Sensing his vision returning, he slowly opened his eyes—and when he saw the décor of the room, the church robes on himself and the five players across from him, and the conspicuous totem crests on those robes, his heart clenched.
'Well, damn—it really is Dolgod!'
'A place I've visited often enough to feel sowhat familiar.'
Right then, the teammates before him also opened their eyes one after another. They surveyed their surroundings and sized each other up with studied nonchalance.
"I can sll the disgusting Infant Bell Flowers. How are these things not extinct yet?"
"A church? Which church are we in?"
"Life Era. Not surprising—His most glorious period was the Life Era, after all."
"..."
"Dolgod?"
The last to speak was a male player who squinted around the room with furrowed brows. His tone carried uncertainty, as if speaking more to himself.
But Cheng Shi caught it. It wasn't often he ran into soone who recognized such an obscure little city. He looked at this teammate with interest and nodded amiably:
"Yes. This is Dolgod."
But to his surprise, this male player—wearing a loose robe and a deep hood that covered him thoroughly—didn't respond to his confirmation. Instead, the man furrowed his brow and began sizing up Cheng Shi from head to toe.
Just from that one look, Cheng Shi knew he was in for the usual treatnt.
'A follower of [Folly]. Still as brazenly obvious as ever.'
"Dolgod? I recall this is a small city in the southern reaches of the Dol Empire." A brawny, muscular man grinned at Cheng Shi and gave a thumbs-up. "This place isn't exactly famous. You know your stuff, brother. Given that—you wouldn't happen to be... one of His followers?"
Clearly, the "His" in question ant [Birth].
?
Now Cheng Shi was displeased.
'What do you an "given that"?'
'What about
looks like a [Birth] follower?'
'You can't just look at a handso face and start making wild assumptions.'
'Whether I'm His follower is one thing—but you look more like His follower to .'
Cheng Shi eyed the hulking man with a smirk, noting the contented ease in his eyes and the corners of his cheeks.
'Who gets happy about being matched into a [Birth] trial?'
Besides perverts, probably only His followers. So this mountain of a man was very likely one of His faithful. Combine that with his imposing physique, and Cheng Shi hazarded a guess:
"Chieftain?"
The big man blanked, then erupted into hearty laughter: "That obvious, huh? Fine, no point hiding it. I am indeed a Chieftain."
"Gou Feng. Chieftain. 2,381."
Chieftain—the warrior class of [Birth].
A profession with... extraordinarily potent reproductive capabilities.
The "Chieftain" title wasn't earned by recruiting tribe mbers. It was earned through the impregnation ability bestowed by [Birth].
Their attacks carried a terrifyingly potent pregnancy-inducing effect, giving enemies a chance of conceiving their offspring upon taking damage. When the Chieftain then killed a pregnant enemy, the fetus would burst from the corpse, devour the remains to grow, and beco a new mber of "the tribe"—a fanatical follower of the Chieftain.
Hence the na: Chieftain.
So as long as a [Birth] warrior was fierce enough, their tribe would grow with every kill. They could practically claim the title of the profession best suited for group warfare—because a single person was already a team.
Seeing that a Chieftain had shown up in a [Birth] trial, the others' expressions went stiff.
Gou Feng was well aware his profession often drew criticism, so he gave a self-deprecating chuckle:
"Relax—I don't attack teammates."
'You'd better not...'
Though no one said it aloud, the visible relief was palpable.
Gou Feng looked rough, but he was actually a shrewd player. When Cheng Shi dodged his question, he knew they weren't co-believers. He raised an eyebrow and tried again:
"Mage?"
After all, everyone knew that the well-inford intellectuals in trials were usually mages, followed by singers. Other professions didn't particularly stand out in that regard.
Cheng Shi wasn't sure how this unexpectedly-arrived [Birth] trial would unfold, so he decided on a different approach: lead with sincerity, make so friends, and rely on multiple layers of goodwill to hopefully avoid disaster in this accident.
He smiled and nodded earnestly:
"Yes, I'm a mage. Allow
to introduce myself."
"Cheng Shi. [Life]. Mage. 2,401."
"Whoa—another big shot!"
"Cheng Shi? I recently heard so explosive gossip. The male lead's na also seems to be Cheng Shi, though apparently he's a Fate Weaver?"
"..." Cheng Shi's expression stiffened. He forced a fake smile: "I've heard that too. Sharing a na with soone like that is kind of stressful."
The group reacted with mixed expressions, each lost in their own thoughts. Gou Feng just laughed heartily:
"[Life]?"
"No wonder you recognized this place so quickly—you're practically a colleague! Nice, I like you."
?
The instant those words left his mouth, Cheng Shi shuddered three tis where he stood.
His spine going rigid, he stared at the man, running the phrase through his head several tis before finally understanding that "I like you" was probably just a casual way of saying "not bad."
'Dude—could you please change that catchphrase? It's terrifying.'
'Being told "I like you" by a burly athead is bad enough. Rember, you're also a Chieftain?'
'Stack those buffs together and you'll literally scare people to death!'
"..."
It took Cheng Shi ages to thaw the frozen muscles on his face back into sothing approximating a smile. He looked at the alarming Chieftain and laughed it off:
"So, big guy—what did you pray for?"
Gou Feng was a bold, detail-indifferent sort. He didn't hide anything, though he furrowed his brow with a touch of confusion:
"That's the strange part. I clearly prayed for a decent piece of equipnt. How'd I end up in my own Benefactor's trial?"
"Normally with that kind of prayer, it should've been a [War] or [Truth] trial."
At this, the young man beside him—dressed in a slightly assassin-thed outfit—asked in surprise: "Bro, you're nearly at 2,400 and you don't have equipnt?"
Gou Feng shook his head with a laugh:
"Brother, the difference between 2,300 and 2,400 is huge."
"I did have one piece. Got chopped to bits in my last trial. So I figured I'd try to score sothing less fragile."
Cheng Shi raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
Normally, when soone was asked about their prayer and answered, they'd return the question. But Gou Feng didn't—he seed unconcerned about such things, still scratching his head over why he'd been matched into a trial from his own Benefactor.
Since nobody asked, Cheng Shi certainly wasn't going to volunteer. Making up a reason was tiring. So he turned his attention to the teammate beside him.
The [Folly] follower had his own rhythm, and Cheng Shi couldn't be bothered. So he looked to his left.
This teammate had squinty eyes—a squinty-eyed man in retro work overalls who looked like a plumber. A perpetual smile hung on his face, but since the mont he'd opened his eyes, his gaze had never left Cheng Shi.
'He's been watching
this whole ti!'
...
Reviews
All reviews (0)