Chapter 334: Serving Fire in Progress

‘An irreplaceable reason, huh…’

Hearing Luo Ge’s words, Noxia fell silent for a moment before her face broke into a smile.

“Thank you for comforting me, Luo Ge.”

Luo Ge smiled but said nothing more.

He turned his head and looked at the Burton Mage again.

“Burton Mage, what are your thoughts on these students?”

“Are you asking about Serving Fire…?”

At these words, the Burton Mage glanced at Luo Ge. Seeing him nod, the mage smiled.

“It seems, Mr. Luo Ge, that you don’t have much confidence in your Warriors.”

Luo Ge didn’t deny the Burton Mage’s words. He simply shook his head slightly. “I don’t deny they have their strengths, but in this particular area…”

Hearing Luo Ge’s words, Burton didn’t respond immediately. Instead, he began to tell Luo Ge a seemingly unrelated story.

“I was once struggling with the Fire Worship Ceremony and sought the counsel of an elder. His answer left a deep impression on me, and I found it greatly enlightening…”

“He said that from the moment the Flame in the Burning Land and Endless Sea began to radiate light and heat, most of those illuminated by the Fire of Wisdom could be divided into two types of people.”

“The first type are those with a Will that is steadfast and strong enough. They change their environment through their own efforts, constantly fighting the gales that try to extinguish their flame, shaping their surroundings to suit them.”

“The second type are those who, due to various innate or circumstantial factors, are not strong enough on their own. Yet, they too have their own ways of surviving.”

“If they have no Flame Material, they search for it. When the gales come, they take shelter. They constantly adapt, finding fertile ground for survival, and in the end, their flame endures…”

At this point, Burton looked at Luo Ge.

“Whether they adapt or change, it’s all for the same purpose.”

“And these Warriors… they’ve never lost their way.”

‘Adaptation…’

‘That’s right. It seems I overlooked that point, leading to some unnecessary worry…’

After hearing Burton’s words, Luo Ge pondered for a moment before nodding, his worries dissipating.

However, he couldn’t help but wonder to himself.

‘Other than ‘changing,’ I don’t think I’ve hinted at or reminded these Xiaojuncai about ‘adapting.’ They… should be fine, right?’

…

[You have entered a special area. Some Candle Spirit Abilities, weapons, and equipment have been temporarily locked.]

After confirming he would proceed with the Fire Worship Ceremony by the Spirit Candle, Shore’s vision swam for a moment before his surroundings reassembled.

It finally settled into a strange platform. The sky and surrounding area were shrouded in darkness, but four paths stretched out in the cardinal directions, extending until they were lost from sight.

Shore slowly got to his feet and saw that many of his Abilities on his information panel were locked and completely unusable. The same went for his item bar.

“What the fuck? Where’s my Magic Staff?” Shore stared at his empty hands and locked item bar in disbelief. “How the hell am I supposed to do anything without my staff!”

No Magic Staff, no equipment.

But no matter how much he cursed, he got no response.

Frustrated, Shore could only focus his attention on the other system messages.

[In this area, your stats—including Physical Strength, Spiritual Power, Blood Volume, Attack, and Defense—are all affected by “Will.”]

[In this special area, you must find the Warfire Manifestation and make your Will one with the Warfire.]

[The Fire Worship Ceremony is about to begin…]

“Wait, wait!” By the time Shore saw the message, the countdown was in its final second. He didn’t even have time to check the information on “Will”…

[The Fire Worship Ceremony has begun.]

As the notification appeared, Shore heard a sharp CRACK from the floor beneath his feet.

He looked down to see cracks already spreading out from beneath his feet.

‘Damn it, I have to pick a path, fast!’

‘Four paths—north, south, east, and west. Which one should I choose?’

Shore glanced left and right, hesitating, but the cracks beneath his feet weren’t about to wait, spreading rapidly like a spiderweb.

‘No time!’

‘Whatever, I’ll just pick one. They all look the same anyway!’

After a moment of hesitation, Shore gritted his teeth and sprinted down one of the paths.

The instant he made his choice, the cracks on the platform spread rapidly, and the structure crumbled and fell away, completely severing his connection to the other paths.

Seeing the path under his feet was still relatively stable, Shore finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He glanced ahead. The path stretched deep into the darkness, its end nowhere in sight. It was clearly a very long way.

After confirming there was no immediate danger, he finally had a chance to check that special stat display.

[Will: Weak]

[Explanation: Your Will is weak. This prevents you from receiving any aid, and all of your stats are reduced by 25%.]

“?”

Shore froze for a second, then practically started hopping in anger.

“The hell? What’s this ‘weak Will’ crap? Bullshit! I’m resolute as fuck, okay? This is complete nonsense! Dammit!”

Just as Shore was getting heated over the system message…

…a faint sound came from up ahead.

RUSTLE.

It sounded like the rustle of clothing.

Shore looked toward the source of the sound and his scalp prickled. A slender figure shrouded in black mist, holding a cold dagger, was walking slowly toward him. He looked like the classic image of an assassin.

[Assassin]

[Tier: ?]

[Explanation: An elusive Assassin who seeks to kill in a single strike.]

“You can’t be serious!” Shore’s scalp tingled as he wailed internally. ‘They won’t even give me a Magic Staff! Am I supposed to get into a fistfight with an assassin-type monster?’

The Assassin slowly drew closer.

The pressure on Shore was immense.

Internally, Shore was furiously cursing the Spirit Candle developers and designers.

He glanced at the broken path behind him and swallowed hard. Knowing he had no retreat, he forced himself to calm down and control his breathing.

He took a deep breath, clenched his fists, and adopted a fighting stance.

“…Shit. No Magic Staff, so what? I’ll still beat the crap out of you!”

Perhaps because of his do-or-die courage, a message suddenly popped up.

[Your Will has grown firmer.]

[Will: Average]

[Explanation: Your Will is of average strength. It is not yet strong enough to receive aid. Your stats are now equal to your normal stats.]

‘Huh? It went up!’

Shore was delighted. A flash of insight struck him, as if he’d figured something out.

But he didn’t have time to think it through.

“Heheheh…”

The Assassin ahead gave a sinister laugh, took one step to the side, and melted into the darkness bordering the path.

And to Shore’s left and right… was nothing but darkness!

“Holy shit!”

Shore’s heart leaped in alarm. He whipped his head left and right, a cold sweat breaking out on his back. It felt as if the Assassin could emerge from the shadows at any second.

‘Damn it! If this is how it’s going to be, I can’t even try to fight it out with my clumsy fists! There’s no way!’

Shore felt utterly hopeless.

To make matters worse, the information panel chose this moment to deliver some “good news.”

[Your Will has decreased drastically.]

[Will: Feeble]

[Explanation: Your Will is incredibly feeble. Your steps have become heavy, and all of your stats are reduced by 50%.]

‘What the fuck…’

Reading this message, Shore felt his body grow heavy. His limbs felt weak, and his despair deepened.

But the system prompts pressed their advantage.

[Your Will has decreased again.]

But Shore didn’t have time to read the new message.

Because, with a sinister laugh, the Assassin burst from the edge of the darkness beside him.

A cold light flashed. Though some part of Shore still wanted to flee, his body felt as if it were filled with lead, impossible to move.

Darkness enveloped everything…

[Fire Worship Failed]

[You have received the “Fire Sacrifice Loser” status. This status will last for 24 hours and can be cleansed by consuming Wax Oil.]

[Fire Sacrifice Loser: During the Fire Worship Ceremony, your Will was severely damaged. All stats are reduced by 25%, and Physical Strength and Spiritual Power consumption is increased.]

His body re-formed beside the Spirit Candle. Shore felt physically and mentally exhausted, and a dull ache throbbed in his head.

Seeing the notifications, he felt like he could cry but had no tears left.

“What the hell was that? I died without even knowing what happened…”

He glanced around and saw that he seemed to be the only one who had failed and been kicked out so far. The sadness in his heart deepened…

…

But Shore wasn’t the only one to encounter danger during the Fire Worship Ceremony.

Though Li Miao had also chosen his path in a hurry, the monster he faced was called the [Eye of Death]—a creature that looked like a giant eyeball.

It simply stared intently at Li Miao.

[You are now Bleeding. Your Blood Volume is draining continuously…]

The constant drain on his Blood Volume forced Li Miao to find a way to deal with it.

But as soon as he tried to approach it, a series of debuffs—[Poisoned], [Slowed], [Frozen], [Death], [Corruption], [Parasite], [Madness]…—were instantly applied. The closer he got, the faster they stacked.

Unarmored and unarmed, Li Miao was already in a perilous situation.

In such dire straits, Li Miao could only force himself to remain calm.

After a moment, a flash of insight struck him.

‘If advancing requires a fight, it wouldn’t make sense for us to remain bare-handed the whole time. The ceremony can’t be designed like this…’

At this thought, he couldn’t help but look down at his empty hands.

‘Will…’

‘In that case…’

Seeing the information in the notification panel, Li Miao seemed to have an epiphany.

Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and slowly reached for the grip of a nonexistent Lance.

The next moment, he felt a cold, solid texture in his hand, and a sudden weight settled over his body.

‘Just as I thought! It worked!’

Li Miao’s spirits soared.

He opened his eyes, lowered his Knight’s visor, and gripped the Large Shield held across his chest.

“Hah!”

With a fierce roar, Li Miao charged toward the [Eye of Death].

All sorts of debuffs and weakening effects descended upon him, stacking rapidly.

It looked as though the debuffs would reach a critical point long before Li Miao could ever reach the [Eye of Death].

However, Li Miao’s mind was no longer on them. He ignored the stream of notifications popping up on his information panel.

He had only one thought now—charge!

WHOOSH—

Finally, a cold glint of light flashed past.

The various debuffs stopped stacking right at their critical point, never activating.

But Li Miao didn’t know any of this. He just panted heavily, his chest rising and falling violently.

The more one thinks, the more one hesitates.

An unrelenting charge was reckless, but it was also a display of courage.

Only when the crisis had passed did he see the messages he had received.

[A worthy Warrior must choose their Weapon and believe in it resolutely!]

[Your Will has increased in strength.]

[Will: Strong]

[Explanation: Your Will is now quite resolute. This has granted you your Weapon and equipment, and all of your stats have been increased by 25%.]