Chapter 240 – Volume I: Glimpse of Darkness (1/2)

Chapter 240 – Volume I: Glimpse of Darkness

A blinding radiance blossomed outwards in a flash. The six chapters merged into a whole, transforming into an unassuming black book. The cover was exquisitely manufactured, with a single line of Ancient Common characters written on top. The words, inscribed with tadpole-like strokes, gave off an aura of elegance and wisdom.

It was a rather thick book that looked to have more than six pages. A mysterious yet powerful force emanated from it. The odd energy, which became even stronger when touching the volume, gave Nie Yan a feeling of calmness in his soul.

Looking closely at the words on the cover, Nie Yan could see that it read, “Book of Order, Volume I: Glimpse of Darkness”

Are you sure you wish to bind this item?

Yes! Nie Yan didn’t hesitate before immediately pressing confirm. He would bind it before thinking about anything else, so it wouldn’t drop if he died. So long as it was bound, he wouldn’t have to worry about losing it ever again.

Item has been successfully bound.

Once the book was bound to him, Nie Yan felt an immediate increase to his stats, as if they’d increased by over 50! At the same time, a smaller line of characters wriggled into being in the air before imprinting themselves onto the lower right corner of the book’s cover: “Owner: Nirvana Flame”.

This piece of legendary equipment was now truly and completely Nie Yan’s. It was even marked with his name! No one else would be able to possess Volume I of the Book of Order.

However, he was still being hunted by the half-elves, and the light from fusing Volume I had given away his position. He had no time to look closely at this new item of his because he first needed to find a way out of this realm.

Nie Yan activated Shadow Waltz, bursting forwards with incredible speed. However, this area was just too vast. No matter how far he ran, it seemed like there was no end in sight. Making matters worse, Nie Yan could sense that the five Mages following him were catching up to him.

The five figures behind him were somehow even faster than he was. Slowly but steadily, they closed the distance toward Nie Yan.

Another figure soared high into the sky, and time seemed to stop. Nie Yan could see even from far away that it was the Demonified Lord Sonia. A pair of fleshy wings sprouted from her back, holding her aloft with an occasional mighty flap. She hung from the sky with the moon behind her back.

She looked through the darkness and instantly locked onto the fleeing Nie Yan.

Nie Yan, feeling a piercing pain in his heart, slowed to a stop. He was caught by surprise when he saw the Demonified Lord Sonia flying through the sky. Facing a creature with the ability to fly at his current level was a disaster waiting to unfold. Only Mages could contend with such creatures right now, and even they were at a disadvantage. However, that was still many times better than engaging a flying monster in a melee. The outcome of such a fight held no suspense.

That girl has Demonic sight. Ugh… I guess I can’t hide anymore. Nie Yan thought things over, then put all of his unbound equipment into his bag and sprinted off.

Sonia waved her staff and chanted in a demonic language until her spell was complete. A looming darkness enshrouded Nie Yan, sending out tentacles of darkness to bind him in place. No matter how much he struggled, he couldn’t break free from the prison of shadowy tentacles.

Sonia’s slowly flapped her wings as she floated toward Nie Yan. Her slow flight speed betrayed her unfamiliarity with her wings.

“It was that Thief! He’s over there, caught in the Queen’s Shadow Bind!”

The five white elves quickly moved to surround Nie Yan. As they faced him, balls of magic began to shine from their hands.

I’m finished. This single thought flashed through Nie Yan’s mind.

The glowing orbs arced through the night, leaving behind streaks of light as they blasted into Nie Yan, bursting apart with successive loud bangs. Each spell did over 300 damage to Nie Yan, who collapsed under the elves’ barrage.

Sonia spread her wings as she landed, a puzzled expression on her face. She had no idea why Nie Yan’s corpse didn’t have the Chapter of Virtue on it.

A long time passed before Nie Yan opened his eyes. When he finally did, he found that his soul was in a cemetery.

Despite having struggled against it for so long, he still couldn’t avoid the fate of death.

Do you wish to revive?

There were three ways for a player to revive. The first was to run back to the place you were killed and search for your corpse. Upon resurrection the player would lose 50% of their experience bar. They would also be in a weakened state for five minutes, during which all stats would be lowered by 80%. If the player died with a red name, these penalties would scale with the redness of their name. Choosing this option in PvP made it too easy for an enemy to spawncamp you.

The second way was to wait for a Priest to revive you. This method came with the smallest penalty. The player would lose between 0-50% of their experience bar, and they would be in a weakened state for one minute. If the player had a red name, those penalties would be doubled.

The third and final method was to directly revive at the cemetery. This came with the biggest penalty. The player would drop a full level and be in a weakened state for half an hour. Like with the first method, dying with a red name would result in a penalty increase proportional to how red the name was. Although this option came with the heaviest penalties, it was clearly the safest of the three.

Nie Yan chose to directly revive. He looked sadly at his current level: Level 23. After working so hard for so long, he now had to climb back up from rock bottom. Fortunately, he could still head to Everlasting City and throw Basic Magic Bombs to grind back up.

Since he was in a weakened state right now, Nie Yan knew that it was not a good time to go level. Instead, he returned to Calore while itching to take a look at what Volume I of the Book of Order had in store for him. After all, he’d lost over 10 Levels and almost lost all his equipment for this!