Chapter 598 - Town Slaughter! (1/2)

Nie Yan thought Cranston was some mysterious NPC with a hidden quest. It turned out he was actually just a merchant! He felt slightly depressed when he thought of how much time he’d wasted. Cranston only started paying attention to him after he finished reading his book!

Were this real life, any merchant that dared to treat their customers this way would surely starve to death!

However, after giving it some thought, Nie Yan realized this was likely a trigger. The player had to sit through Cranston’s entire sermon before they could purchase something from him.

Nie Yan found it strange he’d never heard of such an NPC in his past life.

A shop window popped up in front of Nie Yan. Cranston only had three items for sale. His eyes widened in shock. Damn! Someone actually sells these items?

The first item listed up for sale was a black crystal. It looked like a lump of coal, lacking the slightest sparkle. However, Nie Yan’s heart trembled when he read the name. It was a Resurrection Crystal!

Resurrection Crystal: Revive a fallen pet. Consumed upon use.

Price: 200,000 gold

The other two items didn’t lose out either.

Arcane Gem (Socketable): Increases the damage of arcane magic by 30%.

Price: 200,000 gold

Mysterious Black Egg: Found by Cranston during his prime. A powerful creature slumbers inside.

Price: 500,000 gold

None of these items were things that normal players could afford, and this was after the discount Nie Yan received from his Grand Scholar title.

“When I was still a young man, I slayed a dragon. These are the items I obtained from it…” Cranston started recounting the stories of his youth.

Nie Yan had no interest in listening to Cranston any longer. He quickly had Guo Huai transfer over the gold to him. He couldn’t let this opportunity slip by, no matter what!

Before long, Nie Yan bought all three items from Cranston for 900,000 gold. Spending so much in one go was a bit painful. However, it was definitely worth it. If you put these three items up on the auction house, even 1,500,000 gold wouldn’t necessarily be enough to buy them all.

Cranston continued, “After I defeated the dragon, the father of this little church offered me something. He wanted me to set on the path of a hero and become a legend. Sadly I failed to live up to his expectations. When he passed away many years later, I took over his position and have been keeping watch over this place ever since. The days flew by and before I knew it, I’d become a decrepit. I feel deeply ashamed just thinking of it. Youngster, would you be willing to fulfill this old man’s wish?”

Nie Yan’s heart trembled. It was a quest.

“Of course, sir Cranston. What would you like me to do?

“This is the bracelet the father gave me. It will guide you. Please, if you decide to accept this, prepare yourself mentally for this challenge.” Cranston took out a plain looking silver white link and chain bracelet.

Will you accept Cranston’s request?

As long as it was a quest, regardless of the difficulty, Nie Yan would accept. With his current strength, no quest was impossible for him! If he couldn’t do it, no one could! Then what meaning would there be to have such a quest in the game?

Nie Yan hit yes without the slightest hesitation. As he carefully accepted the bracelet from Cranston, a notification popped up.

You have received the quest Heart of a Hero.

Nie Yan’s mind trembled. Was this Heart of a Hero quest related to the Holy Spirit Heart?

Nie Yan was filled with doubts. However, after some more thought, he decided not to worry about it any further. Be it the Heart of a Hero right now or the Holy Spirit Heart required to rescue Barbarian Kelowitz, they were all shrouded in a veil of mystery. He still didn’t have a real understanding of what they were.

Nie Yan wore the chain and link bracelet on his left hand, wrapping it around his middle finger. It didn’t have any stats whatsoever. Many close-combat classes had this type of accessory. According to rumours, some rare bracelets would become a frightening cursed item after absorbing large amounts of blood.

With the bracelet on, Nie Yan felt an icy coldness course through his hand.

After handing out the quest to Nie Yan, Cranston seemed to age more than 10 years. He said with a feeble tone, “Wear this bracelet as you pursue the path of a hero. It will grant you miraculous power. Well, I wish you success on your journey. I’ll be handing this gold over to my children. One day, just like the father of this church… Let dust turn to dust and earth return to earth. The world is me, and I am the world. Why would I be reluctant to leave?”

Cranston bid farewell to Nie Yan, then disappeared behind the church.

It seemed like the reason Nie Yan had never encountered Cranston before was that he disappeared after handing out his quest. That was probably why whenever he entered the church in the previous timeline, it was completely empty.

Seeing Cranston’s figure disappearing behind the church, Nie Yan withdrew his gaze. He had no idea what he needed to do to trigger the next clue in the quest. After reading over the quest description, he decided to put it off for now. Quests that he hadn’t even started yet or was stuck halfway through on were a dime-a-dozen in his quest window. He could only resolve them one at a time. This wasn’t the first, nor would it be the last.

After waiting a while longer in the church, Nie Yan heard the sound of battle coming from the town entrance. He quickly stood up. Phantom Princess Ina was here!

Nie Yan walked out of the church. Activating his Crawler Ring, he quickly climbed up to the top of the roof. As he looked to see what was happening at the entrance, his eyes trembled with shock.

It wasn’t playing out like he expected at all. He thought Crassus’ residents and defenses were enough to deal with Phantom Princess Ina. However, she had summoned a Giant Steel Golem. It was five meters tall and covered in sharp spikes It acted as a bodyguard and stood right in front of her. Each step it took violently shook the earth.

The women in Crassus let out cries of terror. The men grabbed their weapons. Some people manned the crossbow turrets and took aim at the Giant Steel Golem.

However, their attacks had no effect. The Giant Steel Golem smashed its fist into the wall. BOOM! It instantly destroyed a portion of the wall. Several residents let out miserable cries and collapsed on the ground.

The Giant Steel Golem wreaked havoc on the town’s defenses, killing residents left and right.

Phantom Princess Ina raised her staff, reanimating the fallen residents into her undead army. The number of Phantom Puppets under her control grew with each passing second. They started carrying out a massacre.