11 Chapter 12: Movement part 1

Lu tong skillfully went through the forest, moving nimbly through the gap between the trees towards the unknown.

He moved immediately after Retrieving the Puppet from the Tree even though it seemed broken.

He sort through the things he could get a hold of, and now he had to find shelter. After all, Setaroth was filled with danger everywhere, like Soldiers of any family probably mining and patrolling in the area ormonsters, anything alive here is way too powerful for him at the moment so It would be quite stupid to take pointless risks.

He went passed a small valley all the way to the northwest of where he had been standing, while avoiding several hidden monsters.

He soon spotted an abandoned Cave in the distance not too far away and walked towards it with hurried steps. .

<You have found Nezex>

"Oh!... Nezex, Nice!... I'm not to far from that fate stone!"

On getting to the Cave, He found a two sets of bones that looked like a couple hugging each other.

It's just that the one beneath the two seemed to have been beheaded, so he looked around and sure enough he was right as a skull laid not too far on the ground.

He looked around once more and decided to bury them immediately.

He began to dig out a hole that would contain the two bodies, He quickly returned to the cave as soon as he was done.

Inspecting the cave once more and checking his inventory, He found out that the only thing that counted as food for now was dried bread and little water.

Sadly, it would have to do for now as he really wanted to see what was up with the journal.

He calmly retrieved the Journal from his inventory along with the Puppet he found earlier and set them down in front of him while sitting in a lotus position.

Firstly, He picked up the journal and began inspecting it. He tried flipping the pages but it didn't budge, so he brought it closer to his eyes to inspect it.

It's back and pages seemed to have been made of Brownish red leather Skin, it had an intricate design of an eye at the center of a Moon. Within the iris of the eye was a tiny pin like object.

To his surprise, when he tried to pull out the pin,it didn't budge.

Instead, in the process of pulling he ended up pricking his finger.

"Ouch!"

Hum!...

Suddenly, the Journal began to vibrate making Lu tong to look at it further. It was then he noticed a small drop of blood at the tip of the Pin.

Immediately, he figured that this was one of those items that usually need your blood(HP) in order to activate.

It meant that he could make use of a little blood andobtain control!, he was beginning to worry that it was an item that made you gather materials to slowly unlock.

While sitting, he checked his logs once more:

<You have suffered -5hp to Blood contract >

There was no doubt that Lu tong needed more than 5hp to unlock. when He looked at the new Bar by his quest log, he noticed that it had just gone up to 0.1%.

He wasn't sure how much (HP) he would need to put in this for it to unlock as such, he quickly pulled out all his HP potions and got in a position where he could easily gulp them down should anything happen.

Keeping this journal for a long time without use could only lead him to a disaster as that would just be stupid. he prepared his mind and Decisively pushed his finger onto the pin.

"umph...!"

immediately, the journal began to suck on his blood like a hungry ghost.

His notifications kept popping up like crazy but he wastoo focused on his pain.

-12

-12

-12

-21

When his screen started flashing red,He began to drink his Health potions with urgency.

...

At about 2 minutes later, the Journal stopped taking his Blood but even then Lu tong was utterly speechless due to the ridiculous amount of his HP it took.

After summing it up from the log, He found out it had take a little over 5000hp points to complete the Blood contract and he had exhausted his HP pots except for the last superior Health potion.

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<Ding>

*Superior Health Potion: Restores 1000 HP point instantly and heals you with 300 HP point over time (15 secs) x 1

_______________________________________

HUM!!!!

With one last Shake that seemed to Rock the cave a little while the journal gave off a bright red light that lit up the entire cave. after the light faded, He got the long awaited notification...

<Congratulations! you have completed Blood Contractwith Mangal's Diary...>

<Class has been upgradedto Novice Puppeteer>

<You have received Essence stored within Journal>

<You have Leveled up...>

<You have...>

<You have... >

The so called 'essence' Must have been stored here by Master Wilbur, Lu tong couldn't stop himself from smiling like a Cheshire cat before his face warped into a sad smile.

[Ah idiot...!]

After berating himself, he proceeded to admire his gains. The stored up essence took him straight passed the whole bridge of essence realm (level 25)tothe point his mind Realm(Class Tab) was beginning to flash.(Author's Note: Like I mentioned in the previousChapter, At this point, one begins to level up their class (Mind)after leveling his body to the peak.)

When He Tapped the flashing point, The essence kept pushing forward

<You have Leveled up...>

<You have...>

<You have... >

This continued till it finally stopped at level 30!.

[Don't tell me that this Old man was pushing the essence leaking from his body into the journal... I don't understand!! He could have at least left a note or something]

<You Have Unlocked Class Talent tree>

Immediately, the pages of the journal flipped dramatically until a picture of an odd looking Tree appeared before his eyes as he nodded Calmly with a low sigh. The tree was short but it had massive roots that went deep into the ground.

"Hmm"

Indeed, Every class had a talent tree, This was one other major thing that increased the diversity between people. and it seems that the NPCs have a a different way of looking at theirs.

As mentioned before, There are different paths for each class and even player avatar.

As he studied the talent tree, he noticed that the tree started from the trunk which was him before moving down to one major root before breaking up to three directions.

"Haai... another place to spend Exp... hehe" Lu tong couldn't help but mutter as I remembered why the game was said to not allow rest for too long as you are always in need of EXP.

There are two ways to get Exp,it was either through meditation or monster hunting, ofcourse players preferred the latter.

By carefully reading through the skill tree he found out that the name of The first root of the tree was <String Control>. Just like its name suggested, It helps control of the strings by increasing the accuracy, flexibility and power by 15‰ at Max level before you can get access to the next roots.

Since he had extra Exp he decided to start investing in his talent tree. he maxed string control and almost immediately, the three other roots lit up. it could now be leveled.

* Automaton master

*Weapon specialist

* ?????

Just this point alone made Lu tong Confused.

* Automaton Master : A branch of the Onalphyss that improves control over Automatons.

*Weapon Specialist: Death from a distance, A branch of the Onalphyss which allows strings to be turned into a weapon based on the level.

*?????: ...Tomortals, destruction...in C?l?mity...".

[Great...this part seems bugged] He thought while staring at the Journal intently, [But from the little I can gather from the instruction...it seems to be the path the founder had created and remains the most powerful.]

After some thought, He couldn't help but smile... [If my leveling style was exactly like that of the NPC's instead of that of player... Iwould have been scared of testing it. But it seems to have become a mesh of the both of them]

"I'll Try it out now " He spoke out loudly before pushing Exp to the others.

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Forest of Setaroth

______________________

South of the central plains,

Wu Clan,Wu Juxing's battalion.

Wu juxing, second Son of the Wu family patriarch Wu Lao, He was stationed in Setaroth along with his Third brother. He had Raven Black hair tied up neatly into aponytail with a Crimson Band but had become messy due to the wind.

Earlier this morning, It was reported that they had found Mythril ore within one of the Clan's hidden mines.

Immediately, he set out with his men at the break of dawn. he Followed a worn out path through the Ocean of grass for about six hours, infact Wu Juxing and his NPC army were slowly getting tired but this news wasn't something he could postpone right now. After all, He had to confirm and send a corresponding report to his father in the capital if necessary.

Besides, if it was left unchecked ,news would spread quickly because of those mongrels.

Luckily, they had finally spotted the mining base "Vegalux" and increased their speed.

The crimson banner with a black eagle in flight at its center waving in the wind, Junxing smiled as he hurried through the gates accompanied by his fifty riders. one of His retainers with the remaining 150 were divided into two groups and proceeded to scout the surrounding.

Junxing was utterly impressed by the way the guards in the fort carried themselves, it was utterly different from two months ago when he was here. Infact, The way the place was guarded and built spoke volumes of it's importance to the Wu family .

Conveniently,there seemed to be no problem of communication in chain of command in this place.

Immediately, Although with rough breaths, The Captain appeared before Jumping.

Temporarily putting his thoughts aside and Finding no inconvenience in the Mining Fort beyond the visible Weariness caused to the miner by the presence of Their Young master, Junxing requested exactly what brought him here.

"How long has it been been since it was found? and how much does this newly discoveredportion have" Wu Junxing quickly questioned.

"thirteen hours, Young Master, Enough to equip the entire Wu clan twice, if not more. the downside is that with the amount of miners here, it would take about a year and a half to do that ." The Captain replied without missing a heart beat.

"In other words, if I wish to make it happen in half that time, I need more people?!" Wu Junxing said calmly as he stroked his rough looking goatee and staring at the Captain.

"Yes s... Young Master!!" a New voice suddenly replied.

The one who impetuously replied instead of the captain was a young man with Black hair, emerald green eyes and a sword like gaze, If Lu tong was here to see this youth, he would have been shocked.

When Wu Junxing saw the Captain glare in the young man's direction, he followed his gaze and finally noticed that the youth was wearing a Sack like attire which signified that he was a miner.

Junxing couldn't help but Scowl.

The other guards including the Captain were extremely worried when they saw Junxing's Reaction.

"I would Retire to my prepared chambers, Bring me the report for the last two months" He finally spoke, totally treating the young man as Air as he calmly walked away.

Unlike the rest, who had their heads bowed, The Youth whom although bowed silently watched Junxing leave.

"Such a Fool,You were asked to stand outside!! How did you get in here without alerti...Tch... perhaps your a spy,this efficiency can turn against us..." The Captain Yelled in an enraged manner, disrupting the youths thoughts.

"I-I ...I"

"Silence!!!!.... seize Him!!" He ordered not giving him a chance to speak.

The youth was taken by surprise, it was the first time he had been placed in such a situation!.

A big 'Yes sir!' was shouted by the several Guards as the youth was Grabbed and taken away.

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After five hours of hard work, Junxing was now relaxing on a black wooden chair as he tried to rest his eyes for a bit.

"Now that you've finished Young Master, it's time to get back to our main objective, Ye clan is moving."

After those cold words that showed no emotion and didn't seem to be directed to anyone in particular, A shadowy figure slowly showed itself close to the Lamp.

"It's only natural , especially now when the struggle for which family is to lead the rebellion. What are they up-to." Wu Junxing who was supposed to be asleep suddenly spoke as well.

Among the little over a thousand NPCs in the Wu clan, there were eight that stood out notoriously above the others. Three of them were the sons the patriarch who were well known among the players and the one who possessed a remarkable efficiency in all aspects was Wu Junxing.

Each of them were quite capable of managing even the slightest aspect of the army, no doubt this must be something inherent in them because of their status as Commander class NPCs.

As for the other five individuals, these were the Elders and patriarch of the clan, whose existence only increased the mysteriousness of the Wu Clan and it was only at the end of Version one, people confirmed their existence.

"Several troops marched out of their fort Gate and headed in different directions." The shadow spoke calmly.

"Wait a moment , why would they do that?...hmm,did you have someone follow at least one group?" Junxing could not understand. [Why make such big moves now.]

he could not understand the idea, "If they come here, they will get information about us which they could then hand over to others or use, so Why?! .

And the slightest amount of information might tip the scales in their favor, we are undoubtedly the most disadvantaged in the eyes of the Men... or could he have seen through our plans?"

"that's impossible to say, let my men look into it first!"

"Well, I guess your right, stay alert in the camp and keep the soldiers ready for any sudden change of plans. If there are no problems, we will depart in two to three days."

"Understood, Young Master!"