Chapter 23: The Crown of Thorns
The girl opened the door and walked slowly inside. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ļ½ļ½ļ½Uļ½Eć ļ½ļ½ļ½ļ½
"Where have you been so late?" asked Elizabeth, rubbing her eyes, as the light in the room was turned on.
Cecilia didn't reply, like a doll that had lost its strength, slowly falling back to the soft bed.
His eyes have lost their lustre, and the corners of his eyes are still a little red, so he must have cried outside.
Elizabeth understood that something was wrong, that the woman who had always been very energetic had become like this, and that it could only be related to that man.
"Alas......" sighed and crawled over to his roommate from the warm bed.
"You really have a hot brain, and then go to confess?" she touched her beautiful cherry blossom-colored long hair, which felt good.
When Cecilia heard the word "confession", her body began to tremble slightly, and tears welled up again.
Self-destructing her image in front of her peers, such a trivial matter, she no longer had time to think about it.
Her mind was still replaying the picture just now, the fountain in the moonlight was beautiful, and the owner was also very handsome.
But the ending was as expected, making her lose all her strength and ...... Some goals.
How she wished for some "accident......
Elizabeth knew that she was right, and she could guess the ending, maybe this was unrequited love.
She leaned down and whispered in her companion's ear.
"Do you want to drink water? I'll get you a hot ......."
The girl's whispering never stopped, and although she knew that she might not be heard, there was not much she could do, and that was all she could do.
Even if it's insignificant.
I don't know how long it took, but the hot water had cooled down and the tears had finally dried up.
The soaked quilt, the little priest who was a little tired, and finally the lovelorn girl who had some reactions.
A ray of sunlight shone through the window into the room, as if trying to drive away the sad breath.
"It's time for breakfast, it's a new day. Elizabeth began to change her clothes.
"Don't tell me you can't even eat, I want to beat someone up when I hear that, because it reminds me of myself when I first came into this world. ā
Cecilia also smiled because of this, and it was quite interesting to think about that time now.
"If you say so, then I'll leave my breakfast to you...... Well, I don't like to eat bread, anything else. ā
Elizabeth nodded, and then left the room directly, she felt like she was going to be a babysitter for a day.
If one day wasn't enough, then she was really going to beat people, and her temper was never good.
Cecilia got up and turned off the light, and when she saw the soaked quilt, a wry smile appeared on the corner of her mouth, also with a hint of self-deprecation.
The water on the bedside table was already cold, although drinking cold water was not good for her health, and she was not very thirsty.
But she still picked up the glass of water and drank it slowly.
......
Bell Bell ...... In the basement of the tavern, Wood is forging new gear.
The blood-red special soul is inlaid on a pair of armor, but there is no reaction, indicating that the soul does not like the body.
Next, the greatsword, the sword, the dagger......
After a long time, the soul still couldn't find a home, but Wood didn't have the strength to continue forging equipment.
Look at the mountains of equipment and weapons in front of her, from advanced to excellent, but none of them can be called her heart!
After all, she was a big lady when she was alive, and her vision was still much higher than that of a rough person like herself.
Wood could only console himself with this, his dignity as a master forging master was about to be swept away!
"I don't believe it today!"
He took the food out of the dimensional bag, ate a few bites in a hurry, and then picked up the hammer again......
The stubborn forger, the even more stubborn special soul, was stalemate for a day.
Wood fell to the ground, gasping for air, still holding the blood-red bead in his hand, and he had to accept it now if he didn't accept it.
Suddenly, the basement door was opened, and a little maid walked in with dinner.
The maid's eyes widened in surprise when she saw the mountains of weapons and equipment, in her impression, the master only wanted quality and not quantity, and she didn't know what was wrong today.
But this is not something she can control, after putting down the meal, she is just about to leave quietly.
"Yaya, wait. The owner suddenly called out to her.
"If you girls were to be equipped with weapons, what would you want to become?"
The little maid was a little confused by this question, but she began to think about it anyway.
She didn't know much about weapons and armor, and she didn't know much about adventurers, but she knew what she liked.
Hands outstretched, wrists exposed, quaint bracelets and silver-white bracelets were displayed in the firelight.
At the same time the girl nodded, she could not speak, but she knew that the master could understand the meaning of this nod.
"Well, I'll try it later. ā
Wood also thought of something, he seemed to have been looking in the wrong direction, and the girl gave him a good reminder.
"Thank you. ā
The girl bowed slightly, she felt that it was nothing, and then quietly left the basement.
She's the boss of the tavern, and she actually has a lot of things on her hands.
Wood hurriedly ate a few bites of food, because he had just received a new inspiration, and hoped that the eldest lady would like the ornaments.
After a while, a golden bracelet came out, and the whole thing was very simple, except for the blood-red bead.
Not knowing how many times, Wood closed his eyes and tried to awaken his sleeping soul.
In the dark world, there was a sudden glimmer of light, and the long golden hair shimmered with a warm glow like the sun.
"Who are you, who am I, and where is this?" Although the woman did not open her mouth, these questions still came to Wood's soul, which meant that the contract was successful.
"I am an adventurer who narrowly defeated you in a duel. Seeing that the woman was still calm, Wood was also slightly relieved.
"I don't know who you are, maybe it's some talented lady, but that was a long time ago. This is my soul and your home in the future. ā
The woman put on a fig leaf, and although she lost her memory, she still knew this bit of common sense.
"What shall I call you, master? I don't seem to be very accustomed to this kind of name in my heart. ā
"Hah...... Just call me Wood, I think we'll be friends. ā
The woman nodded, then pointed to herself, "What about my name?"
After a long silence, the woman understood what it meant, and became a little silent.
"How's the name?" Wood remembered that day, and the shock of the flames.
"It's okay, although I don't quite understand what that means. ā
"Because your flame amazes me, and I hope that your heart will be like a clear spring, never polluted by this somewhat rotten world. ā
The woman nodded, she didn't remember the old name, but she already had a new name and was about to start a new life.
Thinking about all this, then sit in this world of shining golden light, close your eyes and slowly fall asleep.
......
"I'm not convinced, why can't the name of the king?" Maika felt discriminated against.
Klaus slapped the table and once again expressed his disagreement.
How embarrassing it would be for him to carry such a medal on his chest, he couldn't imagine, and he didn't want to have that day.
"For the sake of the future of the party, I will deprive you of the right to choose a name!"
Maika was furious, and he began to argue with his companion again.
Wood sat next to him, and instead of getting involved in the matter, he went to inquire about what he needed to create the party.
After a while......
"How many spars do you have, I'm afraid you will have to contribute today. He cursed the system in his heart.
"How much?" Rebecca was the richest because she didn't have much of a penchant for burning money.
The corners of Wood's mouth twitched, and then he opened his mouth with some trembling.
"It's not much, just 100 million. ā
In an instant, the whole room fell silent, and the two enemies also stopped arguing.
"It costs 10 million to get a name, and so do the team flags, oh, but there are cheap ones. ā
Klaus swallowed, "What?"
Wood already thought he was crazy, and instead smiled.
"Adventure Group Medal, only 100,000 experience points each!"
The adventurers are very stiff now, they admire those seniors more and more, and they feel sorry for themselves.
After a while, a total of 50 million experience points of hedron were handed over to the system, which was all the belongings of the few of them.
Wood sighed, and now he had to be cheeky enough to ask for help......
Another night, a drunken Wood returns to the tavern, taking a beautiful girl with him by the way.
The companions were still worried about the spar, and suddenly saw the beautiful girl freeze.
"You're out on business again, you've said it all, wildflowers aren't necessarily more fragrant than domestic flowers!" Klaus began his paper again.
Wood was very drunk now, and directly threw out a few dimensional bags, which were full of dazzling hedrons.
"I went to drink with Harry, and then ...... And then I don't know why, but he sent a girl over besides the spar. ā
He was unsteady on his feet, and he fell directly on the table, drunk and unable to hear what Harry was saying.
The blonde girl tugged at the hem of her skirt and saluted Wood like a young lady with a pure smile on her face.
"Hello, my name is Alice and I'm from ...... Before she could finish, Wood dropped her downstairs.
They have business now, but they don't have time to take care of women.
"Yaya, this woman will be handed over to you, no matter what happens, don't look for me. ā
After saying that, he closed the door vigorously, and there was no gentlemanly etiquette for a drunk man at all.
Then he handed over the borrowed (cheated) spar to the system, and his heart was also dripping blood, he felt that the spar was so precious for the first time.
But immediately the excitement came again, because the long-awaited moment had finally arrived!
"Please enter the name of the party. The vampire of the system came with a pleasant voice.
Wood finally came to his senses, and then looked at his companion, "Has the name been decided?"
He felt that he had been out for a day, and he should be able to come up with a few no matter what, but ......
Maika and Klaus turned their heads at the same time, not daring to look directly at the "regimental leader".
Although they had the most heated discussions, they all went off track, and they were all names that could not be used!
Wood's face instantly clouded as he decided to repeat the name of the troubled child.
There's no way, his companions don't give it their best, and he can't think of a domineering name in the head of a comedian!
"How about this if you don't do business?"
"Against ......" as a member of the group, they absolutely cannot accept this name.
Though...... Much better than any "king".
Wood was not happy, he thought the name was a good fit for his group, but he didn't expect it to be rejected by a unanimous vote.
"And how about the handle of Kiel City?"
"Not really!
"Alice is a blue pool!"
"You've gone astray!"
...... There are still a lot of customers in the tavern late at night, and it is even more noisy than during the day.
This also made the group of little girls miserable, but fortunately they were used to this kind of life.
In this world, they are already very lucky, so they are also very happy.
Upstairs, Wood, the store manager, is now unhappy.
"Isn't my name better than Meka's, and you've vetoed them all!"
"You go on, I'll go to bed first. Elizabeth, who had been reading a book, was gone, and there was still someone in the family who needed her to take care of.
Yes, she's been a babysitter for a few days, and now she also wants to beat people, the kind that smashes meat with her fists.
As for Ake, this little imp doesn't know where to run for a long time.
Wood's brows furrowed, he wanted to take a random name now, and then spend the ten million happily.
"Crown of Thorns, how about this?" Suddenly, a voice came from his head.
The blonde woman had been asleep for a long time, and as soon as she woke up, she heard those noisy words.
Then, this "crown of thorns" suddenly appeared in her mind, and it could not be dispersed for a long time.
Maybe it has something to do with my old self, but it doesn't matter now......
Wood thought it was a good name, and even if the road ahead was full of thorns, they would still face it bravely, because only then would they be worthy of wearing a heavy crown.
Although he didn't know if it meant that, he understood it that way.
Don't talk nonsense with your companions, just enter your name, pay the handling fee and complete the registration of the adventure group.
Crown of Thorns, beginner adventure group, 1/10 number of people.
A beginner party can be expanded to a maximum of 200 people after paying a certain amount of experience.
Wood's smile stiffened, as it would take another 10 million XP to upgrade to 20 players.
He admires Harry and Charlotte now, because it is also difficult to satisfy the vampire of the system.
Although the junior party is not yet qualified to establish a base, it also has a team aura bonus.
Aura of Strength LV1: Increases the strength of the team's registered adventurers by 1%.
Mana Aura, Speed Aura, Heal Aura......
One of the great things about the Adventure Party is here, and there is no adventurer who doesn't want to get stronger.
Wood clicked on the upgrade button with some trembling, and then smiled very happily, and he greeted the system "kindly" in his heart.
Aura of Strength LV1 to LV2 requires 50 million XP and 2,000 Team Points.
Everyone knows what XP is, and there are many ways to earn points for this team.
Killing in a dungeon earns you team points, and if you take the first stage of goblins as an example, you can get between 1 and 3 points for each one you kill.
Of course, the stronger the monster you kill, the more points you will get, especially the boss.
There are other ways to earn points, such as when someone on the team completes an achievement or does something great.
After reading the content of the halo, there is also personnel management below.
At the top is him, the head of the group, who has all the authority and can even disband the adventure group.
Below him is management, which has most of the team's authority, including escalating the aura and handling team affairs.
Then there is the elite layer of the team, the backbone, and there is also a name called the storming team.
The strength of a team depends largely on this layer.
These are the upper three floors that adventurers often say.
Below that is the growth layer, which, as the name suggests, is filled with adventurers who have not yet caught up with the first group.
Finally, there is the newcomer layer, where adventurers who have just joined will be here.
The name of each floor can be renamed without consuming experience!
It didn't work, but Wood finally felt a glimmer of warmth from the system.
In addition to these, there is another important part of the team system, which is the reserve group.
The Reserve Group does not enjoy the bonuses or other benefits of the team aura, which means that it is just a name, and there is no upper limit to the number of people.
Not to mention the big ones, even the now reborn Estol Adventure Group has three reserve groups underneath.
One is to reserve those talented teenagers, and a team, no matter how strong, needs fresh blood to join.
Only in this way can we continue to maintain competitiveness and not be eliminated by this world.
The second, which is full of people with very high subclass levels, is sheltered by the party, and then uses it to gain a large amount of experience points every month.
Satisfying the vampire of the system is not an easy task.
The rest of the one, which is full of miscellaneous family members of the league, or the harem of a certain member of the league, anyway, everyone has it.
In addition to Estol, Wood had heard that Beryans had a dozen or so reserve regiments, and he now admired St. Lites more and more.
Because it takes 50 million XP to open the first Reserve Group, and 3,000 team points.
He felt like he had become numb to numbers.
There are so many things in the junior adventure group, no wonder those young people want to enter the big adventure party with their heads squeezed out.
He took a deep breath and looked down at the party considerations and upgrade conditions below.
Note: Beginner parties need to pay 5 million XP per month, otherwise they will be forcibly disbanded.
Upgrade conditions: 200 people, pay 300 million XP, pay 50,000 team points.
"System! I'm a ......" Wood suddenly roared, he had hated the system before, but he hadn't been so grumpy as he was now.
The drunken customers downstairs didn't speak again, because the voices above were so loud that they didn't mean to stop at all.
It's also the first time they've seen the store manager go berserk, which is quite fun, and they've learned a lot of swear words!
And although I don't know what happened, Ming'er has another exciting news.
Sell to those lonely noblewomen, and there must be a lot of spars to earn!
And then...... Which party would it be better to sell these hedrons to?
At the thought of this, they all sobered up a lot.
Wood was still running away, and his companions were trembling, because they hadn't joined the adventure group yet, and they had only heard that the adventure group was expensive, but they hadn't seen it with their own eyes.
After a long time, the regiment commander's throat also ached, and he finally calmed down his excitement.
He brought a charming smile, but at this time it brought a chill to his companion.
"Wood Ainz invited you to join the Crown of Thorns (Beginner), do you agree?"
A few friends clicked in with trembling hands, and became very happy when they saw the halo, and even smiled.
And then...... The face is getting worse and worse, and in the end, it can be described as a dead face.
Even the corners of Libaika's mouth twitched a little.
But what can I do, in order to become stronger, I must get on this thief ship.
Wood lit a cigarette and took a few puffs before finally speaking.
"Let's take a day off, and then we go to a painter to draw the flag, and as for the medals...... We're not going to get it. ā
The companions looked up, and they didn't think it was good.
"We're such a unique adventure party, let's get our own tattoos! I think it's cool!"