A Core Ship From The Start

Chapter 257: Chapter 206 Leyenia_1

After that, Duanmu Huai returned to the God-granted Tower once more. The towering structure was sealed by a heavy stone door; though, for Duanmu Huai, there was no difficulty in pushing the stone door open. As he ascended the staircase and arrived at the top of the High Tower again, a different scene appeared before his eyes.

The two fingers were still buried in the central ring at the top of the High Tower, but this time, between these two fingers, Duanmu Huai saw a brilliant mark identical to the one engraved on the back of his hand. He stepped forward, reached out to touch the mark, and in an instant, the mark shattered and turned into a golden glow, which then merged into the back of Duanmu Huai’s hand.

At the same time, Duanmu Huai felt a warm current filling his body, and then a system prompt appeared before his eyes.

[Gerrick’s Great Rune (Activated)]

[This Great Rune, also known as the Central Gravity Ring, is located in the center of the Elden Ring. King Elden’s Godfrey and his descendants —— the Golden Clan, were the first to emerge as demigods (All attributes +5).]

Not bad.

Looking at the system description before his eyes, Duanmu Huai raised an eyebrow. A divine artifact that offers an attribute bonus of +5 across the board is hard to come by, even in the late stages of the game. Who would’ve thought he could obtain such an artifact? On the other hand, it’s disappointing that the owner of such a powerful artifact is so weak. @@novelbin@@

However… Gerrick… Godfrey… Gedwin…

So, they all had the same surname.

I wonder if there is a Ge’You?

As these superfluous thoughts went through his mind, Duanmu Huai opened up his attributes interface for a look.

All other attributes aside, the only thing he cares about is…

[Charm: 1 (Locked)][Communication -3][Fearful Aura LV1]

Well, it can’t be changed after all.

Apart from Duanmu Huai’s unchangeable [Charm] attribute, the other attributes were all increased. [Strength] rose from 21 to 26; [Agility] from 4 to 9; [Physical Attribute] from 18 to 23; [Intelligence] from 18 to 23, and [Perception] from 8 to 13.

According to the calculation formula of the Soul Card’s attack and defense, Duanmu Huai’s current attack equals 26 strength + 23 intelligence = 49 = 4 attack points, and 23 physical attribute + 9 agility = 32 = 3 defense points…

If [Charm] could be added, it would be perfect. But the current situation is not bad either.

However, for Duanmu Huai, an unexpected boost also brings unexpected benefits… Hmm…

Duanmu Huai stared at one attribute in particular and fell silent for a moment.

Unfortunately, monsters in the World Fragment do not give experience points and cannot be upgraded; otherwise, he could try that move… he will think about it when he’s out.

However, just as Duanmu Huai was planning to leave, a scene beyond his expectation happened —— the two originally still fingers suddenly twitched, and then Duanmu Huai heard a barely audible, mournful scream. The next moment, the two fingers retreated back into the earth, leaving no trace behind.

“…… What happened?”

Watching this unfold, Duanmu Huai furrowed his brows. For some reason, he had a bad feeling about it.

After that, Duanmu Huai left Stonewell Castle and returned to the dilapidated hut. Little Red Riding Hood was still sitting quietly in her place. Duanmu Huai had expected that persuading her would take some effort, but unexpectedly, once she was handed the strange black sphere, she seemed to understand something and immediately burst into tears.

Then, as if remembering something, she looked up at Duanmu Huai.

“I… want to change. Everyone believes in me. Even though right now I can’t do anything, I believe that in the future, I can do something.”

At this point, Little Red Riding Hood stood up, bowed her head to Duanmu Huai.

“Thank you, Steel Warrior. I’ll find my own way.”

After saying this, Little Red Riding Hood turned around and left. Watching her retreating figure, Duanmu Huai shrugged his shoulders, then turned his gaze back to another person sitting where Little Red Riding Hood had previously sat —— it was Magic User Roger. Roger noticed his gaze and greeted him with a smile.

“Ah, you’re back. So, judging by your look, you successfully defeated Gerrick and obtained the Great Rune, didn’t you?”

“Just a weakling. Not worth mentioning.”

Duanmu Huai shook his head and approached Roger.

“What about you? Did you find what you were looking for?”

“I’ve found it.”

Roger gave a wry smile, then shook his head.

“Though I did pay a certain price… But for me, it’s worth it.”

At this point, Roger hesitated for a moment and then looked up at Duanmu Huai again.

“I have a favor to ask of you, brave Steel Warrior.”

“What is it?”

“Do you remember the Night of Assassination I told you about earlier? In fact, just now, I found a clue. In the library of Leila Lucalia Magic Academy, there’s a clue about the graveyard of the Black Dagger Assassins. If possible, could you please help me investigate the library? Perhaps, we may find the Rune of Death.”

“No problem.”

Hearing Roger’s request, Duanmu Huai immediately nodded. In fact, when Roger had previously told him, Duanmu Huai had already set his sights on the Rune of Death. Unfortunately, Roger had no further clues at the time. Duanmu Huai had planned investigate further after that, so now that Roger had a clue, Duanmu Huai was of course not going to refuse.

So, after confirming the location with Roger, Duanmu Huai once again passed through Stonewell Castle to continue his journey.

This region, known as Leyenia, is completely different from the previous one. Most of it is submerged in water, making it look like a vast swamp.

But to Duanmu Huai, the most disgusting thing here is…

“Whooosh!!!”

A water jet whizzed out and hit Duanmu Huai squarely. The powerful impact made Duanmu Huai’s body sway involuntarily. Growling, the jet-pack on his back flared, lifting Duanmu Huai into the air. He flew over the jungle and brought down his war hammer onto the back of a huge lobster, which looked even larger than a crocodile and measured a good four or five meters in length!

“Crack!!”

The heavy shell shattered instantly upon impact. Before the lobster could even react, Duanmu Huai reached out and firmly grasped the lobster’s backline, pulling the filthy substance out. At the same time, the lobster collapsed onto the ground, motionless.

“Boom!!”

However, before Duanmu Huai could breathe a sigh of relief, the earth behind him suddenly churned. Then, another lobster quickly emerged, clamping onto Duanmu Huai with its claw, attempting to cut him in half. But Duanmu Huai was no pushover. He roared and threw his hammer forward, instantly smashing the lobster’s head, and the lobster quivered momentarily before becoming a corpse.

“Can’t believe lobsters could be this disgusting.”

Staring fiercely at the lobster corpses in front of him, Duanmu Huai looked displeased. In this area, the most revolting to him, were these giant lobsters that seemed to have undergone nuclear radiation mutation. They typically hid in the soil, emerging to attack whenever they found prey. Even if one stayed far away, these creatures could still shoot lethal jets of water from their claws.

If Duanmu Huai’s power armor wasn’t tough enough, he would have been pierced by these damn lobsters long ago.

It would probably be tougher for Gerrick to take on these claws!

And these lobsters are not edible…even if they were, there’s no pot big enough to cook them in!

Just as Duanmu Huai was shaking his head and planning to move forward, suddenly, a timid voice came from afar.

“Excuse me… Excuse me…”

“Huh?”

Hearing this, Duanmu Huai turned around and saw a figure waving at him from a nearby pavilion.

“Could you come over here, please?”

“???”

Duanmu Huai approached the pavilion and saw a woman in a green robe with golden hair. She seemed to be hunchbacked, standing nervously in place, looking helpless and pitifully at him.

“You needed me?”

“Hello, nice to meet you…”

The woman respectfully and cautiously greeted Duanmu Huai, then she started to speak.

“The thing is, I was traveling on my master’s command… but I was attacked by a ruffian… could I ask you a favor? That ruffian, he took my important necklace. I would like to ask you to get it back for me… Ah, of course, if you don’t want to, I won’t force you…”

“Where is he?”

“Not far ahead, there’s a cottage, he’s there.”

“All right then.”

Duanmu Huai thought for a moment and nodded.

It’s on the way, I’ll just go and see.

Following the direction the woman pointed, Duanmu Huai marched forward. Soon, he saw a tattered stone house in the middle of the swamp nearby. Not only that…

“Hmm? Mmm??”

As Duanmu Huai approached the stone house, he suddenly smelled a strong aroma!

Is this… the smell of small lobsters!?

Following the scent, sure enough, he saw a man wearing an iron helmet sitting at the door of the stone house, beside him was a pot of cooked, bright red lobsters.

“Who are you?! what do you want?”

Upon seeing Duanmu Huai, the helmeted man was startled, quickly grabbing his weapon and watching him closely.

“I just need a word with you.”

As he spoke, Duanmu Huai pointed back at himself.

“There’s a lady over there, she said you took her pendant. I’m here to get it back.”

“Oh, is that so…”

Hearing Duanmu Huai’s answer, the helmeted man slightly relaxed, eyeing Duanmu Huai with a hint of a smile.

“You want that pendant, huh… hmm, I see… well, you need to show a little sincerity, maybe I’d be willing to sell it to you?”

“Sell it to me? I have no money.”

“Then we can’t do anything about it, maybe you can give me that suit of armor?”

“I have another proposal.”

As he spoke, Duanmu Huai walked up to the man, who was nervously watching him, his hand gripping his weapon.

“What kind of proposal?”

“How about this?”

Duanmu Huai glanced at the pot of bright red cooked lobsters beside him, swallowing his saliva.

“I know a way to make this pot of lobsters taste even better, so let’s make a deal. If I can make this pot of lobsters taste better, you give me the pendant and, as a bonus, treat me to some lobsters. How does that sound?”

“………Huh???”