landbeastnovel Chapter 5 Two Ashes, Five Helpers
Chapter 5 Two Ashes, Five Helpers
As the first rays of morning sunlight dappled the ground.
Xia Tong woke up.
He was so confident that he dared to sleep in the open ruins with the wandering merchant, Kale, because he knew that Melina was keeping watch nearby.
"call……"
Xia Tong rubbed her throbbing temples as her memories gradually returned.
"Last night... after Princess Lani of the Moon finished speaking to me, I seemed to lose consciousness and fell into a deep sleep."
He looked down and noticed two things lying quietly on the tattered felt cloth beside him.
A bottle containing a translucent, grayish-white luminous substance, from which three wolf-shaped phantoms could be vaguely seen moving about, as if they were sealed smoke.
There is also a rustic, dark gray rattle.
[Summoning Bell].
Its material is a dark gray color similar to obsidian, and its surface is covered with the marks of time, giving it a very antique look and a cool touch.
"Since that's the case..."
Looking at the bell and ashes in her hand, and feeling the strange fluctuations, Xia Tong had a bold idea.
........
morning.
Deep in the dense forest near the checkpoint.
Points of blue light converged, and Melina's figure materialized in the air.
She looked at Xia Tong, who was standing in the middle of the open space, eager to try, and frowned slightly, asking in confusion:
"Are you here to summon ashes?"
Melina looked around and explained in a serious tone:
"The summoning of ashes can usually only take place near the Resurrection Monument. That is a law left by Queen Marika. Without the Resurrection Monument as a medium, the summoning bell alone is useless."
"A forced summoning will not only fail, but will also violently tear at your mind, causing excruciating headaches and potentially irreversible damage to your soul."
Despite Melina's stern warning, Xia Tong did not back down.
He gently stroked the cold bell in his hand, a peculiar light gleaming in his eyes, a slight smile playing on his lips:
"Melina, do you know? I had a dream before, a very long dream, in which I failed countless times and died countless times."
In my dream, I was a weak, extremely weak Faded One. But in the end, I grew step by step into the King of Elden.
Even then, I was still thinking about one thing.
"I often get ganged up on and beaten to death by monsters because I can't find the Resurrection Stone. How nice it would be if I could ring the bell even in places where I can't summon it."
Xia Tong raised her head, her gaze becoming sharp and resolute:
"Back then, in my dreams, I couldn't try it."
"But now, it's no longer a dream."
Melina was about to reach out to stop him when she realized the idea was insane, considering how many people had already tried it!
But it was too late.
Jingle Bell!
Xia Tong had already started gently shaking the bell in her hand.
A crisp bell rang.
However, the sound of the bell was extremely strange; it was not a sound wave that radiated outwards, but rather inwards.
It resonated directly in the depths of Xia Tong's soul, stirring up layers of ripples invisible to the naked eye.
In response, the air in front of him began to distort eerily.
hum-
Three soft, cool, moonlight-like blue-white lights rose from the ground, like three tiny stars fallen to earth, emitting a faint, cold glow.
In the light, dust and fog in the air were quickly absorbed and condensed.
The interplay of light and shadow quickly outlined the creature's silhouette.
Hair, sharp teeth, wild eyes...
Those were three gray wolves with their fur standing on end and their eyes fierce!
A lone wolf!
Melina was almost stunned when she saw the three summoned physical forms of light and shadow.
Her mouth was slightly open, and an expression of disbelief appeared on her usually calm face.
In her understanding, almost no one can summon ashes without using the Resurrection Tablet.
The purpose of the Resurrection Tablet is to thin the veil between the real world and the soul world, thereby allowing the soul to manifest and take on a corresponding physical form.
This is an ironclad rule for border areas.
Now, there is no resurrection monument around at all.
Xia Tong was summoned so lightly and without regard for the laws of nature.
In her mind, only demigods, extremely powerful magicians and prayer masters could forcibly summon ashes without the aid of the resurrection monument.
Of course, I've heard that some ancient dragons can do that too.
But the kid in front of me is clearly just a very weak Faded One, and has nothing to do with being strong!
"Toret, he..."
Melina was in shock and subconsciously patted the horse's head next to her, signaling to Torret to quickly look at this illogical scene.
Not to mention Melina, Xia Tong herself was also somewhat surprised.
His desire to try ringing the soul-summoning bell in places without a resurrection monument seemed more like a perverse pleasure.
This is something countless players want to do, and he is no exception.
But to everyone's surprise, it actually succeeded.
According to Melina, it was absolutely impossible for her to succeed.
Xia Tong pondered carefully and came to a guess: perhaps because she had transmigrated here, her soul did not belong to this world, thus replacing the function of the Soul Returning Stele to some extent.
But from my current perspective, it's impossible to get a specific answer.
Perhaps by cultivating a good relationship with Princess Lani of the Moon and viewing this issue from her perspective as a demigod, we can finally find the answer.
Melina hadn't fully recovered yet and was just about to say something more.
Jingle Bell!
Xia Tong actually rang the bell again!
This time, two more figures appeared in the air.
These two creatures were short and hunched over, with skin as hard as stone and a bluish-gray hue, and small gargoyle wings on their backs.
Each of them held a sharp, forked hand axe, the blades gleaming with an unnatural, dark light in the sunlight.
Fangy Little Devil!
As soon as it appeared, the Fang Imp seemed to be able to sense the presence of the spirit.
They suddenly looked in Melina's direction and let out sharp, piercing screechs, as if scratching glass with fingernails, sending chills down one's spine.
That is an instinctive wariness and aggression towards spirits.
Turn around and face me!
Xia Tong immediately issued an order, her voice not loud, but carrying an irresistible authority.
Upon hearing their master's command, the two fanged imps immediately stopped howling, obediently turned around, and looked at him.
The three wolves beside him stopped looking around and began circling Xia Tong, occasionally sniffing his trouser legs affectionately, as if confirming the scent of their leader.
"Not only did it ignore the Resurrection Monument... but it also summoned two sets of ashes at the same time?!"
Melina was truly stunned this time.
Even at the height of the Golden Law, such an ability had never been heard of.
A hand bearing the marks of flames emerged from the wide black robe.
She subconsciously brushed her hair aside, revealing her left eye, which was usually tightly closed and bore three claw-like arc marks.
The left eye seemed to sense a huge fluctuation of the laws and wanted to open.
My eyelids twitched violently for a moment, then finally came to rest.
"……never mind."
Melina sighed softly, lowered her hand, and looked at Xia Tong with a complicated expression.
On the other side, Torret stared wide-eyed, the half-chewed Roja fruit falling out of his horse's mouth.
It also seems to have doubts about Ma Sheng.
"Oh no... I feel a bit tired."
In the center of the battlefield, Xia Tong swayed, her face turning pale instantly.
It's different from playing games back then.
At this moment, after truly experiencing the immersive process of summoning ashes in this world, the feeling of emptiness is extremely strong.
It felt as if something inside my body had been instantly ripped out, leaving me completely empty.
In the game, the Concentration attribute increases your Focus value.
In this world, focus is equivalent to mental strength.
After two consecutive summonings of ashes, Xia Tong's head was now experiencing waves of dizziness and throbbing pain, as if she had been up all night for three days straight.
Glug, glug.
Xia Tong dared not be careless and quickly took out the Blue Dew Holy Grail bottle, taking a big gulp.
The refreshing sensation, like mint in the throat, instantly penetrates to the heart and lungs.
A light, ethereal blue energy surged up my esophagus, lingering in my mind and nourishing my parched spirit.
Instantly, Xia Tong felt her dizziness disappear, her mind became clear again, and her concentration was rapidly restored.
He seemed lost in thought, muttering to himself:
"The existence of ashes does not seem to continuously consume focus points. Only at the moment of 'summoning' does a large amount of mental energy consume it."
"It's like establishing a contractual connection."
Having recovered somewhat, Xia Tong looked at Melina.
The girl still looked incredulous and murmured:
"You actually did it... This defies all logic."
"Amazing?"
Xia Tong responded playfully with a foreign phrase, even though she knew the other person wouldn't understand.
Melina was taken aback:
"What did you just say? Amazing? Is that some kind of ancient spell?"
She paused, her gaze deepening as she looked Xia Tong up and down:
"I've heard all sorts of languages, big and small... Could it be that you're a rare person?"
"I'm not, your mother is."
Xia Tong couldn't help but mutter a curse in her heart.
Yes, your mother—Eternal Queen Marika—was a true rare person, coming from beyond the borderlands.
Of course, Xia Tong maintained a cheerful demeanor on the surface, spouting nonsense with a straight face:
"I'm not some rare person. I'm an ancient... descendant of Yan and Huang."
"Descendants of Yan and Huang?"
Melina lowered her head in thought, trying to search for the word in the vast memory bank of the Golden Tree.
But nothing was gained.
She nodded thoughtfully: "It sounds...like a very ancient and powerful being."
.......
That concludes this boring topic.
Xia Tong's eyes sharpened again as she looked toward the edge of the dense forest.
There, a Grek soldier patrolling with a torch was completely unaware of the danger.
This time, Xia Tong didn't sneak up on him from behind like a thief.
Instead, he led his "little brothers" and walked over with his back straight and in a righteous manner.
The footsteps startled the other party.
"Roar! Roar!"
The Grek soldiers discovered the intruders, flew into a rage, and charged toward Xia Tong, brandishing their Royal Army straight swords.
However, before he could even get close...
Whoosh!Whoosh!
The two fanged imps simultaneously pulled out magic pots from behind their backs and threw them out in perfect unison.
boom!boom!
The dark brown magic pot struck the Grik soldier and shattered instantly.
Blue and white magical flames exploded with a roar!
The soldier screamed, his movements faltered, and his armor was charred black from the explosion.
Although there are no health bars in the real world, this magical damage was clearly causing him immense pain.
"Awooo—!"
Taking advantage of this moment of vulnerability, the three lone wolves, like gray lightning bolts, had already arrived.
They moved in perfect unison, swooping down on the Grik soldiers.
One bit the hand, one bit the leg, and one lunged at the throat!
It would bite and pull at things, its ferocity was unparalleled.
In contrast, the Fang Imp is much simpler and more direct.
While the wolves drew the enemy's attention, they circled around to the side, wielding forked hand axes with extremely high bleeding properties, and began frantically stabbing at the soldier's vulnerable ribs, which were unprotected by any armor.
puff!puff!
Blood splattered.
One of the little devils even used its wings to leap up and ride directly on the soldier's head, delivering a brutal face-smashing blow!
Cluck! Cluck! Cluck!
With a few final, hoarse sounds escaping from his throat.
The poor Grek soldier finally collapsed, twitched a few times, and then fell silent.
Five steps.
Just five steps.
From the moment Xia Tong gave the order to begin the attack until the battle ended, he had only taken five steps forward.
He didn't even draw his sword, nor did he break a sweat.
"Too easy! Is this the benefit of having thugs?!"
Xia Tong was overjoyed at the sight.
It's important to know that there's no such thing as a "multiple summoning build" when playing the Old Man's Ring game.
Only one ashes can be summoned at a time, and the summoning is limited by the range of the Resurrection Monument.
But now, in this real world.
Xia Tong can summon anything, anywhere, and as long as he has enough mana, he can even raise an army!
This is the true way to experience the King of Elden!
Not far away.
Melina leaned against the tree, her semi-transparent figure visible.
She looked at the chaotic battlefield and gazed into the distance at Xia Tong's spirited figure.
A slight smile seemed to curve at the corner of his mouth beneath the hood.
She murmured to herself:
"Perhaps... he really is the chosen one."