In the throbbing firelight, a woman in a gray-silver robe and a light veil stood silently in the shadows outside the campfire.

She wears half a delicate face armor on her face, revealing the lower half of her face with a graceful curve, and her plain white jade hands are crossed over her lower abdomen, looking quiet and elegant.

Compared with the Fire Contractors who sat on the steps around the campfire, the woman had a unique temperament that made people impress at a glance.

"Treading ......"

The shallow footsteps came from far and near, making the fire-picking girl who bowed her head slightly raise her head and looked at the white-clothed young man who appeared in front of her.

"O man without fire, have you come to thirst for the warmth of the flames?"

Leo didn't answer immediately, but looked at the fire-picker in front of him seriously.

In his perception, the fire-scavenging girl had neither the aura of magic nor the blood that spontaneously escaped from her body, and she looked no different from ordinary people.

However, how could the fire-scavenger be an ordinary person if she could appear in the fire area of the "Burning Sacrifice House" and become its administrator?

Because of the first meeting, it was difficult for Leo to further mobilize the celestial and human senses to investigate, but he could vaguely feel that there was an aura in the body of the fire picker girl that even he felt threatened.

"What do you get by signing the Pact of Fire? What is the cost?"

After a brief silence, Leo spoke up.

The sound that spread out attracted the attention of several Fire Contractors in the distance, but they only looked at it slightly, and it didn't take long for them to turn around and regain their immersion in their own affairs.

The bright firelight made the half of the face of the fire-picker more and more mysterious, and the voice with a unique voice came out of her mouth:

"Bathed in the light of fire, it can dispel the infection caused by distortion."

"We have gathered by fire, and all that is necessary is to search for firewood."

As she spoke, the fire-scavenger looked at Leo, but her gaze was a little hollow, as if she was not looking at Leo, but at something deeper.

"In that case...... I want to sign a pact of fire." Leo's face was calm, and he looked at the fireproof woman.

"Yes." The fire-scavenging woman's hands placed on her lower abdomen were raised and held in front of her, and a golden-red flame no larger than the size of a fist leaped over it: "Lay your hands on the flames, one without fire, and you may recite your name in your heart, and that shall be your name for the future."

"The flame brings the scorching, and the scorching brings the imprint."

Leo raised his hand and placed his palm on top of the flame, and the warmth came at first, but gradually, as the temperature rose, the warmth turned into a burn, and eventually, it developed into a stinging pain.

A lifelike imprint in the shape of a flame appeared on the back of Leo's hand in the scorching flames.

Underneath the imprint, there was a blank area, Leo didn't think too much about it, and silently recited "chasing the light" in his heart, and soon, the word "chasing the light" appeared in the blank area, and then disappeared.

"The contract is made."

A clear voice with a faint aftersound reached Leo's ears, and the fire-scavenging girl's hands were put back together, and the golden-red flames on her palms disappeared with it.

"Lord Chasing Light, welcome to the Burning Shrine, the fire is with you."

Leo didn't respond, he was now attracted by the semi-illusory interface projected from the fire mark on the back of his hand.

——

[Code]: Chasing light

[Rank]: First order

[Level]: Lv.0 (0/100)

[Equipment]: None

[Item]: None

[Firewood]: 0

——

"Fun ......"

After scrutinizing it for a while, Leo withdrew his gaze, and the corners of his mouth showed an interested arc.

The reddish semi-illusory interface in front of him closed with his thoughts, and after signing the Fire Contract, there were some more "prompt messages" in his mind:

Fire Contractors can use "Firewood" to upgrade their level, exchange for equipment and items at the bonfire in the Fire Bathing Zone

At higher levels, you can go to the upper floors of the Shrine to unlock more features.

Glancing at the fire-picker standing with her head down, Leo turned around and came to the campfire.

The so-called bonfire, in the introduction of the character panel, is called [Central Tinder].

——

【Central Tinder (Large)】

[Current Status: Burning (329 days, 17 hours, 57 minutes, 33 seconds remaining)]

[The central flame is the convergence of countless tinder, which not only has an enhanced version of the tinder function, but also connects to the core of the Burning Sacrifice Center, with the magical ability to transform the soul into other substances, in addition, it also has a certain "special" role. 】

[Flame is the last hope of humanity! 】

——

The ability of [Central Tinder] to transform souls into other substances was very interesting to Leo.

All along, his treatment of the soul has been direct absorption, and although the effect is excellent, the methods are inevitably rough.

And this [Central Tinder], which is suspected to have been created by the sage of the tower using the collection of countless fires, actually has the function of soul transformation, which represents that Gaild in the prosperous period has extremely high attainments in the soul.

Aberrations are rooted in the pollution of the soul, but Gaeld has a very high attainment in the soul, which makes people wonder where the root of the aberration comes from......

Another point is about the existence of the "Fire Pact".

Previously, although Leo had agreed to sign the Pact of Fire, he maintained the highest degree of vigilance at all times during the signing of the Pact, and if the Pact of Fire had any mandatory "sealing" of his soul, he would resist on the spot and make the pact fail.

However, to his surprise, although the Fire Pact acts on the soul, it is not engraved on the soul core, it is more like an external "communication device" attached to the surface of the soul, allowing the Fire Pact to connect with the [Central Kindling].

The exact mechanics of its "upgrade" are unclear because it has not been tried, but as it stands, the Fire Pact is indeed harmless.

When it came to the Burning Shrine, Leo never let down his guard.

However, if conditions permit, using it can indeed be of great help to him in exploring the sacred tree of Flvidea and exploring the root of the aberration.

Leo stretched out his hand, his palm pressed against the burning [Central Tinder], there was no burning and stinging sensation of the previous contract, and a comforting warmth swept through his body, and at the same time, a semi-illusory interface that could scroll and turn pages appeared in front of his eyes.

At the [Central Tinder], you can use the "Firewood" obtained by killing the monsters of the Holy Tree Floridea to upgrade the level, exchange equipment and items, because there is no "Firewood", Leo can't try the so-called "upgrade", but you can click on the equipment and item exchange list to take a look.

There are a lot of things on the list, there are thousands of strange types of weapons, and many strange-shaped weapons Leo has never heard of, but these are not the point, the point is that these weapons all have a special ability called "combat skill".

The so-called "combat skills", according to the information prompted by the fire contract, are the "special abilities" or "skills" engraved on these soul weapons, and the fire contract holder can use these "combat skills" when they hold the soul weapons, and after a long time, the proficiency is high, and they can still use this "combat skills" even after leaving the weapon.

There are many types of "Combat Skills", such as "Thrust" for armor piercing, "Acceleration" for increasing speed, "Shield Counter" for counterattacks, and "Rolling" for short invincibility for a short period of time.

Different types of soul weapons come with different "combat skills", some powerful soul weapons even have unique "combat skills", but this kind of soul weapons not only requires additional deformed and powerful souls with specific attributes to be exchanged, but also needs to be upgraded to a higher level to unlock the high-level area of the Burning Shrine.

Leo who is not in the "newcomer" stage can touch it.

Therefore, even if he is very interested in these unique "combat skills", Leo cannot see the specific effect of them at present.

In addition to equipment, the items of [Central Tinder].

There are also a lot of interesting things on the change list.

Throwing items with trait damage, special items that enchant weapons, potions that temporarily buff weapons, and more.

He was dazzled by the strange items, but unfortunately he was trapped in the empty "firewood", and he couldn't exchange anything.

……

After browsing the redemption list for a while, Leo withdrew his gaze.

[Central Tinder] is indeed very magical, these weapons and equipment with different effects, their principles, are all transformed by using the soul, and behind these seemingly simple transformations, in fact, there is a brilliant technological crystallization of a soul civilization.

If you can understand the logic and technology behind these transformations......

Leo's heart burned slightly, but he soon calmed down.

A systematic civilization, even if it is completely placed in front of him, it is extremely difficult to learn and understand.

What's more, the simpler the appearance, the more advanced the technology behind it.

For him now, it is better to save some "firewood" to get a soul weapon to try out what the so-called "combat skills" are.

"Lord Chasing Light, welcome to the Burning Shrine, we will be companions from now on."

Vicky's voice came from not far away, and Leo turned his head to see the long, pale green haired girl in leather armor walking forward with a smile that was obviously much closer:

"Of course, unlike a powerful warrior like you, as one of the supporters and a fire seeker, I can only find some lone low-level monsters to hunt in the outer areas, or perform a difficult task like finding a newcomer to obtain some "firewood", which is definitely not comparable to you."

At the end, Vicky's face flashed with obvious bitterness.

"Supporters? Fire seeker?" Hearing this salutation with a specific meaning, Leo moved his expression and asked, "The Fire Contractors also have a clear division of labor?"

"Explaining common sense to newcomers is also one of the tasks of the supporters, Lord Chasei, this is not the place to talk, let's go to the side, I'll explain it to you in detail." Vicky shook her head and pointed to the uninhabited staircase area on the edge of the Fire Zone.

Hearing this, Leo nodded.

Soon, the two sat down on the stairs not far away, and Vicky began her lecture.

"Lord Chasers, do you know how many members there are in the Burning Shrine?"

Without waiting for Leo to answer, Vicky spoke directly, "It's been almost a year since I strayed into the Sacred Tree of Flvedia, and on average, every month, I can find one or two "newcomers" in the outer area who have strayed into the Sacred Tree of Flvidea for various reasons."

"However, there has never been a time when there were more than ten people in the fire area of the Burning Shrine at the same time."

Vicky looked at Leo fixedly, her expression extremely serious: "The danger of the Holy Tree Flvidea is extremely high, even in the outer areas, the mortality rate is as high as ninety percent, and every time you enter the exploration, it is tantamount to a life and death trial. The outer area, which is the "mercy" of the sacred tree Flvidea, is the area with the highest safety factor."

"Before entering the Holy Tree Florvidea by mistake and joining the Burning Shrine, everyone came from different worlds, practiced different abilities, and their strength was high and low, according to the division of the Holy Tree Fleetdea, the lowest also had the strength of the legendary level, because those who did not reach the legendary level, once they entered the Holy Tree Fleetdea, they would be crushed into minced meat by a hundred times gravity in a short time."

"But even if it is a legendary, there is a gap-like gap in strength between them, taking the outer area as an example, its recommended exploration level is lv.0~lv.9, and weak monsters such as [Sacred Tree Resident], even the weakest legend, have the ability to deal with it alone, but the strength is as strong as [Sacred Tree Knight], and those who have not reached the legendary limit can break through the speed of sound in the face of [Sacred Tree Knight] in a hundred-fold gravity environment, there is absolutely no possibility of victory, and even escaping is a luxury."

"And so, as time went on, the Fire Contractors of the Burning Shrine gradually formed two teams, one was the powerful Fire Contractor, who explored the sacred tree of Florvidea in search of hope for an escape, called the Heralds, and the other was a weak force like me

Because they can't kill powerful monsters independently, they can only do some logistical support work within their capabilities, collectively known as "supporters."

"Most of the supporters are between lv.0~lv.9, and as for the pioneers, most of them have left the outer area and gone to explore the inner area."

After listening to Vicky's story, Leo nodded clearly, but he still had doubts in his heart: "Vicky, your strength is almost legendary to the limit, how can you become a supporter?"

When he was in the tree cave before, although the sword he slashed towards Vicky was only a random wave, Vicky could block it, and he couldn't do it without the strength of the legendary limit.

And through this period of contact, he feels that Vicky is not the kind of person who does not dare to move forward because of fear.

Faced with Leo's question, Vicky had a bitter smile on her face: "Lord Chasing Light, if you can become a pioneer, who would want to live in secret, be a supporter? If you don't want to, you can't."

"My current level is lv.9, and if you want to resist the pollution of the medium-intensity distortion environment, you must be promoted to the second order and obtain the exclusive ability of the second-order fire contractor, however, breaking through the second order from the first order requires a special resource, a kind of "Holy Emblem Certificate" that only kills the "boss" in the outer area, and [the wandering Sacred Tree Knight] has a chance to drop."

"However, this kind of "Holy Emblem Certificate" has a low probability of dropping if the Fire Contractor kills the [Wandering Sacred Tree Knight] alone, and if multiple people work together, even if they defeat the [Wandering Sacred Tree Knight] in the end, the drop probability is pitifully low, and the Fire Contractor who has already obtained the "Holy Emblem Certificate" will not drop this thing if he kills the [Wandering Sacred Tree Knight] again."

"It took me three months to reach Lv.9, and then for nearly nine months, I tried to challenge [Wandering Sacred Tree Knight] several times, but all ended in miserably, and if I hadn't spent a lot of "firewood" on each challenge to entrust the pioneer to take care of it, I would have died the first time I challenged [Wandering Sacred Tree Knight]."

Looking at Vicky in front of him, with his fists clenched and his lips pursed tightly, Leo didn't know how to comfort him, so he could only be silent.