Nightmare's Call - Chapter 179

Chapter 179: Return: Part 3

This time around, there seemed to be many of the same monsters as they tried to surround him in a single go, yet, until now he had no idea exactly what kind of monster he was facing.

“Looks like I can’t return to the dorm for now.” Lin Sheng looked around.

He was standing on an empty ground between the dorms.

There was neither sun nor moon in the sky, only a sea of scarlet that painted everything on the ground crimson.

Lin Sheng turned around and left the dormitory area toward the classroom area. There were three blocks of classrooms, each for different years.

Lin Sheng carried his sword as he slowly walked to the main classroom block. The entrance to the block’s stairway, however, was not the usual one. Rather it was an oval gap that radiated purple light. A gooey substance flowed within the gap that glowed in purple, probably leading to another unknown area.

“This light probably means a new area right…” Lin Sheng recalled the experience of him searching the Fay Vault. He was rather familiar with that purple glow by now.

Suddenly he heard shuffling noises all around him.

He tensed up and quickly looked around, only to find nothing around him. He was the only person before the empty classroom block.

“Invisible?”

Lin Sheng lifted his sword as he tried to sense his surroundings, yet he detected nothing.

He quickly activated his holy powers and let them flow into his eyes. It was still fruitless as the sound got closer and closer.

He could now make out the sound of footsteps converging upon him. These monsters were legion! If it was a single unit, Lin Sheng might have tried to see if he can fight it off, but by the sound of things, they were at least in the hundreds.

So he instantly gave up on fighting back and dashed into the purple gap.

*Dush!*

The purple glow rippled as Lin Sheng crashed into its surface. A moment later, he had passed through it and disappeared.

…

*Crack!*

A bolt of lightning cracked past the sky as rain started to pour.

The second floor of the Baronet’s Manor in Blackfeather City.

Lin Sheng dashed out of the wide rift on the wall.

In his hands was his heavy blade, as purple goo were all over him as he made his way out of the rift.

“This place is…?” Lin Sheng recomposed himself and quickly looked around.

This familiar setting had him quickly recalling that this place was the original place when he had left Blackfeather City.

“I’m back?!” Lin Sheng was in slight disbelief.

Blackfeather City was the place he had obtained everything. From the Beckoning ritual to bonding with animals or the dark ritual, all of them were obtained from this place.

Lin Sheng quickly wiped away the glowing liquid from his body and saw the corpses on the ground.

It was the same scene when he had left.

There were a couple of bodies there, the humanoid monsters he had previously slain in the manor.

He took a deep breath before slowly making his way downstairs.

The first floor of the manor was a total mess, as the collapsed bookshelf was still lying there. Also there were the corpses of the swordswoman and the brute with a helmet.

Lin Sheng recognized them as Ennie and Barde. These two were the monsters that he had slain when he first explored the manor.

He even got the Beckoning ritual from the brute and gained the ability to bond with animals.

But sadly, it was not particularly useful.

Lin Sheng stepped past the bodies and pushed the door open.

Outside the manor was a wide garden with a fountain, and opposite the manor was the small Holy Sanctum in Blackfeather City.

Lin Sheng got out through the main door and looked at the familiar sanctum. He felt a little lost after not seeing it for so long.

But that lasted for a bare moment before he recovered. He pushed open the closed gate and stepped onto the cold floor.

The street was still lit by the faint yellow street lamp. He quickly got across the street and walked to the small sanctum. As he pushed the door open and entered, he once again returned to that wide sanctum hall.

Rows upon rows of pews lined up in the hall, and the sacred tome still lay on the prayer dais.

Lin Sheng felt much safer and comfortable the moment he got in.

He closed the door and made his way through the pews, and got to the storeroom behind the prayer dais.

The storeroom’s door was wide open, and within was that meter tall granite assessment obelisk.

At the top of the obelisk was a picture of a crescent moon with three stars. Underneath it was a series of detailed markings.

And further down were the two handle-like assessment instruments.

Lin Sheng went ahead to place his hands on the handles. He wanted to find out where he stood now.

As his hands wrapped around the handle, and a faint aura flowed out from the obelisk and quickly circulated throughout his body before returning to the rock.

*Hiss…*

The thin white light within the obelisk rose like a thermometer and soon stopped at the marking of a Level 4 paladin.

“So… I’m already considered to be a Level 4 paladin.” Lin Sheng paused for a bit before letting go of the handle and activated his Sacred Blood.

He had been in his half-dragon state all this while, and now with the activation of the Sacred Blood, he was at his strongest now.

And once again, he held onto the handle.

*Hiss…*

The white line that had recently stopped at the Level 4 mark shot up a little again before stopping in the middle of Level 4, with a little more to go to Level 5.

“I’m not Level 5 yet, huh.” Lin Sheng pulled his hands back and deactivated Sacred Blood.

“Too weak…” he sighed. He had thought himself strong, but after that the last fight, he now knew how weak he was. If not for the weakness of his flesh, Khadula too would not have been this passive.

As he stepped away from the obelisk, Lin Sheng demurred before turning away toward the sanctum’s main door.

He needed more fights, and more souls to quicken his strengthening!

He then came out from the sanctum. Lin Sheng paused for a bit as he looked around.

It was late at night, and there was no one on the dimly lit streets. He could see the end of the street by just a glance.

He gripped his sword tightly as he slowly walked down the street toward the inner city area.

He had slain so many mothers and memorized the layout of the city through the memory fragments.

The next place he wanted to go, was the residential quarters of the city’s true nobles.

It was there that the concentration of Blackfeather City’s Transcendents was the highest. It was also the most dangerous area.

And it did not look long for something to astonish him as he saw a black building with three horns and stopped.

Outside the building’s metal gate was a very familiar sign in his memory.

“The Warrior’s Guild.”

“Never thought I’d run into the Warrior’s Guild just after a short while…”

Lin Sheng looked toward the direction of the guild.

In the veil of darkness, the building looked like a sleeping bull, the two massive horns on the top side of the building made it look menacing.

“Hopefully I can run into some trash mobs, and quickly level up the strength of my soul. Then I can increase my holy power and break through to the next level…”

Lin Sheng recomposed himself as he lifted his sword and slowly made his way to the guild’s metal gate.

As long as he had enough soul fragments, he can summon even more help. At the same time, his soul would be stronger and therefore allow him to continue his breakthrough.

Lin Sheng estimated that he needed to absorb another fifty or so Blackfeather swordsman or so in order to increase his holy power to Level 5. Once that happens, the holy power would stimulate growth and strengthen his body, and he would naturally attain Level 5 as well.

Honing their holy power was the most traditional war for the paladins to gain ascendance.

The only difference between Lin Sheng and them was, Lin Sheng’s training did not only involve prayers and meditation, but he could also absorb soul fragments. The reason was that holy powers were, in fact, soul energies that had been converted.