Chapter 2655 The Rapier <TOC> Chapter 2657 Spirit Transformations
Translator: SumTLMan
Everyone looked at Angel’s palm, only to see a familiar object.
A silver-white ring.
“This looks like that ring Speedling found on the Wizard Eye Ghost in that alley before, doesn’t it?” Daus recalled.
“It’s very similar, but not the same. I remember Speedling’s ring was smaller, while this one looks bigger.” The one speaking was Kael. He had touched that silver ring before and remembered it clearly: “Also, this ring has a circle of dark patterns. That wasn’t on the previous ring, and it makes it look more refined.”
Daus observed it carefully for a moment and noticed the differences as well: “There are indeed some discrepancies, but the overall shape is very similar. The material also looks almost the same, ordinary iron wrapped in noble silver.”
At that point, Daus looked at Angel: “Where’d you find this thing? And what does it have to do with the Wood Spirit?”
Everyone else was likewise curious, wondering how this very ordinary ring had anything to do with the Wood Spirit.
Angel said: “I got this from Cecia. It was something the Wood Spirit used as a trade item for passage qualification…a ‘treasure.’”
Upon hearing this, everyone understood what he meant. In other words, this ring originally belonged to the Wood Spirit and was apparently quite precious to it.
Daus frowned: “So you’re saying this worthless piece of junk has some special significance?”
It was possible for ordinary objects to bear significance if their owner had infused them with strong emotions; one could sense this sentiment through inspiration. But it was hard to see anything meaningful about this ring.
Angel shook his head: “There is no significance. Cecia made it very clear that this thing doesn’t carry any sentiment.”
“A worthless item without meaning, yet Cecia still accepted it? Didn’t we lose out before, then? My rapier…that damned woman!” Daus put on a look of righteous indignation, though he only dared to speak so boldly within the mental connection.
Not only Daus, everyone else also found it odd that Cecia would accept something lacking in sentiment.
“There’s a reason for it,” Angel said, sighing lightly. His expression grew a little peculiar: “According to the rules set by the warden ten thousand years ago, if you want to keep going up the platforms, you have two options. Either use a specific item in exchange for a passage permit, or have a ticket that allows you to move onward.”
“But ever since the warden of the Hanging Prison Stairs left, even if Cecia got hold of that specific item, it would do her no good. So she changed the rules for the exchange, replacing that specific item with a ‘treasure’ she liked, namely, objects bearing meaning.”
“When the Wood Spirit arrived, Cecia must have applied the same standard to it. However…”
The Black Count suddenly interjected: “A newly born Wood Spirit can’t possibly have such a meaningful treasure.”
Angel nodded: “The Black Count has it right. The Wood Spirit had nothing at all, and the only thing it did have was this silver-white ring.”
Daus said: “Don’t tell me Cecia, upon seeing that the Wood Spirit had no treasure, just gave up and accepted this ring?”
Angel shook his head: “No… Because even though the ring had no deeper meaning, the Wood Spirit itself was very fond of it and had no intention of trading it away.”
“With no treasure to offer, Cecia wouldn’t want this ring; the Wood Spirit itself was even less willing to give it up.” Angel continued: “Given these three conditions, I think you can guess what happened next.”
The Black Count seemed to understand but did not speak.
Of the others, Daus was the quickest to respond: “That Wood Spirit wouldn’t leave, would it?”
Angel smiled: “Exactly.”
“Think about it. The Wood Spirit had just awakened, realized there were a bunch of scary Wizard Eye Ghosts around, got so frightened that it basically wet itself, and then played dead for dozens of years.”
“When it finally had a chance, the first thing it wanted to do was run away. But it had no idea where this place was or where to go. It saw that the space connects to two tunnels, one behind the Twin Spire Church, and the other the tunnel we came through, which you’d have to wind through numerous alleys to see. From the outcome, it’s clear the Wood Spirit chose the tunnel behind the Twin Spire Church.”
“Even after escaping into that tunnel, it wasn’t safe. Going deeper, it found the only new route: the sewer.”
“We can’t be sure exactly how the Wood Spirit got from the sewer to that alternate dimension space, but it was probably because of the stench… After all, the Wood Spirit represents the purest force of life, and the filth and darkness of the sewer would be something it disliked the most.”
“In any event, it finally found an entrance to that alternate dimension space and made its way step by step to Cecia’s platform.”
“What the Wood Spirit needed was simple,” Angel continued: “Maybe it had grander ambitions, like escaping Nightfall City for a flowery paradise, but that’s basically impossible for something just born, completely ignorant of the world. So, for it, the one and only desire was a safe place.”
“Putting ourselves in the Wood Spirit’s place, Cecia wanted a treasure it didn’t have, and it wouldn’t give up its only possession, that silver ring. Meanwhile, do you think that platform where Cecia stays seems safe?”
Vai answered: “It does look pretty safe… As long as you stay on the platform and don’t fall into the void, you should be fine.”
Angel said: “And there’s your answer. The Wood Spirit found a safe haven. Since Cecia wouldn’t let it pass, it just decided to stay right there.”
“No matter how Cecia tried to drive it away, the Wood Spirit wouldn’t leave. It even resorted to its old trick, playing dead.”
“Faced with that, Cecia had no choice. She also didn’t want to harm the Wood Spirit. After some time of deadlock, Cecia forcibly plucked off the Wood Spirit’s ring and kicked it off the platform.”
“That’s how it all happened,” Angel concluded, then glanced at Daus: “So your belief that Cecia gave the Wood Spirit special treatment is true, but not without reason. If you were lying around playing dead on that platform for a few years, she’d probably grow irritated with you too and just grab some random worthless object to justify punting you away.”
Vai chimed in: “No, I think it’s more likely Cecia wouldn’t go so easy on Daus as she did with the Wood Spirit. After all, Daus can’t control what comes out of his mouth. In less than a day, he’d talk himself to death.”
As soon as he heard this, Daus immediately glared, his eyebrows drawn: “Don’t go making stuff up about things that never happened. And next time, remember to address me respectfully. If you keep calling me by name, watch out, I won’t go easy on you.”
Vai didn’t give Daus’ threat any mind, stuck out his tongue playfully, and scooted over to the Black Count’s side with a look that said: What can you do about it?
Smoke practically fumed from Daus’ nose, but…there really wasn’t anything he could do about Vai, so he could only glare fiercely before turning away, pretending nothing had happened.
Their squabble didn’t affect the others’ discussion. After hearing Angel’s explanation, Kael said in the mental connection: “It really does seem that Wood Spirit is content to go with the flow.”
Privately, Angel gave Kael a thumbs-up in his mind——
High emotional intelligence, “content to go with the flow.”
Low emotional intelligence, “lazy, unambitious, and shirks responsibility.”
Well, Kael was from the academic faction, so he framed it more politely than Cecia. Cecia, having seen firsthand how brazen the Wood Spirit could be, would just roll her eyes at the mention of it, while Kael, who wasn’t even a bystander, could say harmless, distant words like that.
“Anyway, back to the main subject.” Angel continued: “You all remember I took out two gold coins at the time, right? One was my own ticket, and the other I used to exchange for the Wood Spirit’s ring.”
Angel paused for a moment and added a side note: “Only the Wood Spirit’s ring was something Cecia was willing to take the initiative to trade me for, because for her, it’s the only imperfection in her entire collection of treasures.”
“Continuing on, I traded for this ring from Cecia because if one of you could use some sort of tracking prophecy, maybe you could lock onto the Wood Spirit’s location through the ring it once owned.” At the word “tracking,” Angel glanced at the Black Count, who pointedly turned his slate aside and ignored him.
Seeing the Black Count remain silent, Angel could only sigh: “How exactly to use this ring for tracking can wait until later. First, I want to mention something interesting I noticed when I realized the Wood Spirit’s ‘treasure’ was this ring.”
Daus asked: “Interesting?”
Angel didn’t respond immediately. Instead, he summoned four pale-blue hands of magic power. He placed the silver ring with dark patterns onto the first Magic Hand.
Then, from his bracelet, he retrieved a second object, a small silver crown, the one he got when he was ‘unboxing’ earlier. He placed this three-pointed crown on the second Magic Hand.
On the third Magic Hand, he placed the oval silver pendant taken from that special Wizard Eye Ghost.
Finally, Angel used the fourth Magic Hand to pick up Dangros.
With a bewildered expression, Dangros looked around, not knowing what was going on. Angel pointed to the silver ring around Dangros’ thumb, indicating it should remove the ring and set it on the Magic Hand.
Dangros was quite fond of the little silver ring Speedling had found, but since Angel asked for it, Dangros reluctantly took it off and placed it on the Magic Hand, looking very unwilling to part with it.
“Stop making that sad little face. Once I have the time, I’ll craft you a ring for every finger, five of them, shining in all sorts of colors, ones that can even glow for lighting. You’ll definitely be the most dazzling little brat wherever you go.” Angel casually promised while picking Dangros up from the Magic Hand and hanging it back on the Blood Night Sanctuary.
After settling Dangros, Angel indicated that everyone should look at the four Magic Hands.
“What I find interesting is right here. Have a close look. See if you notice anything.”
The moment Angel stopped talking, Vai was the first to speak: “All the colors match. Apart from some faint gold powder in the crown and the oval pendant, they’re basically all silver-white.”
“The materials are almost identical, all using noble silver.”
“And in the end, they’re all ordinary objects,” Vai concluded with a pause: “Okay, that’s all I’ve got. I’m done talking.”
As soon as Vai finished, the Black Count’s voice sounded: “That’s as good as saying nothing; you completely missed the point. How stupid.”
Vai froze. He had blurted out an immediate response only to keep his idol from an awkward silence, not stopping to scrutinize the items. He’d just said whatever came to mind.
But he hadn’t expected that as soon as he finished, the Black Count would reprimand him.
Feeling slightly wronged, Vai looked again at the four Magic Hands, this time examining them carefully.
After a moment of close observation, Vai truly did see things he hadn’t noticed before.
“They look surprisingly harmonious all put together,” Vai said: “It’s like…it’s like…”
“It’s as though they’re parts of a whole object that was split up,” Kael said.
“Yes!” Vai nodded emphatically: “Kael said exactly what I was trying to express. When you look at them separately, you don’t notice it at all, but seeing them together, they feel especially coherent, like they could be combined into a single complete object.”
After speaking, Vai looked at Angel with an expectant expression.
But Angel signaled him to look aside.
Instinctively, Vai turned his gaze and saw the Black Count watching him.
Vai asked: “My lord, did I say something wrong?”
The Black Count said: “No, you didn’t. It just seems you want Angel’s approval more than mine.”
Vai let out an awkward laugh, unsure what to say.
Right then, Angel intervened, offering Vai a way out of his predicament: “Vai’s words are right on target. After I got the Wood Spirit’s ring from Cecia, I noticed these items seemed to form a whole. And that inspiration actually came from Kael’s earlier reminder during my live broadcast.”
During that broadcast, Kael had speculated that the crown and oval pendant might be connected, possibly forming a single item. It was precisely because of Kael’s observation that, when Angel saw Cecia take out a similarly colored silver ring, plus the ring worn by Dangros, the idea immediately leapt to mind.
As Angel spoke, he directed the four Magic Hands to quickly assemble the pieces.
Before long, something neat and cohesive, though at first glance it was unclear what, took shape on the sole remaining Magic Hand.
Though its purpose was not immediately obvious, it looked exceptionally refined and harmonious overall, clearly forming a single entity.
At the top was the silver three-pointed crown, which at first glance didn’t seem too special. But on closer inspection, one could see carved dark patterns, sometimes catching faint golden glimmers. It appeared both understated and, on occasion, quite luxurious.
Below the crown was the small silver ring Speedling had originally discovered. None of them had paid much attention to it before, because it looked so simple and lacked any patterning at all. Now it became clear the ring had a purpose: most of it was hidden by the crown, leaving only a small section visible, like a transition layer beneath it.
Beneath that was the oval pendant. Angel had previously believed the crown might attach directly to the pendant, but that wasn’t quite right. There was a small mechanism inside the crown, not designed for the pendant but rather to fit the small ring. The small ring, in turn, fit perfectly into the oval pendant, covering the rounded top portion.
Finally, the larger ring that Angel had acquired from Cecia, engraved with an encircling motif of “vine leaves,” locked onto the bottom curve of the oval pendant. Because the top and bottom arcs were both concealed, the oval pendant actually appeared rectangular in its middle section once assembled.
Though no one could see what its function was, it was exceedingly elegant and seamless as a whole, perfectly joined, a single entity through and through.
Chapter 2655 The Rapier <TOC> Chapter 2657 Spirit Transformations