Ch. 45 The Lost Scion (Part 2)

Entering the forest, Melina stopped her steps.

“Is there something that needs to be kept away from others?”

Mia asked her.

“That is the case,” Melina replied: “I can turn golden runes into your strength.”

“Hmm…” Mia was somewhat puzzled.

“Why do you need to avoid others to talk about this kind of thing?”

“This is the secret for the Tarnished to become King. Even if you are The Lost Scion, you are still a Tarnished.”

It appeared again, the title of ‘The Lost Scion’.

After getting this topic settled, she would ask in detail later.

Better to level up first, hmm, level up first.

Speaking of which, Little Wood is really cautious. Pulling her here alone just to tell her these things.

“Then let’s do it now!” Mia immediately rolled up her sleeves.

“?”

A question mark seemed to appear over Melina’s head: “What?”

“Aren’t you able to convert golden runes into strength?” Mia was eager to try.

“I’ve been waiting for this!”

“Ah… but… I came here wanting to discuss a condition with you…”

As she said this.

Melina suddenly saw, when Mia looked at her, that fiery “gaze” that pierced through the blindfold and gave people goosebumps.

If she possessed the skill of mind-reading, looking at Mia now, the latter’s mind would only be echoing with two thoughts.

Level me up quickly!

Give me Torrent quickly!

But Melina did not have such an ability.

So, she only saw Mia sizing her up with a mysterious, wolf-like, tiger-like gaze.

“Please, do not look at me with such impolite gaze.” Melina crossed her arms and stepped back, looking at Mia expressionlessly.

“…”

Mia.exe not responding.

The atmosphere became awkward, and Mia’s face turned red.

Seeing that Mia had reined herself in, Melina continued from the previous topic: “I came here wanting to discuss a condition with you…”

“But that is all…” Mia replied distressingly.

“Things I know”

But before she could finish, she heard Melina’s voice: “Interrupting others while they are speaking is actually a very impolite behavior. Please pay more attention to this in the future.”

Saying such things while maintaining a blank, emotionless expression…

“Ah, Melina, you’re amazing!”

“So, please let me finish what I have to say.”

“Mm-hmm.” Mia nodded obediently.

Melina sighed helplessly before continuing.

“I can take on the duties of a Finger Maiden and use golden runes to strengthen your power. But I have a condition.”

“I wish for you to take me to the foot of the Erdtree.”

Mia replied without hesitation, “I agree!”

Melina paused, clearly somewhat hesitant.

She couldn’t help but feel that this person was slightly unreliable.

Melina hesitated for a moment, then said resignedly, “Then it’s a deal.”

“There is one more thing.” She reached out, holding a ring in her hand. “I entrust this ring to you.”

“It can summon the spirit of a spectral steed named Torrent. If you need to travel long distances, please use this ring.”

Mia reached out, and as Melina let go, the ring dropped into her palm.

It was cold to the touch and plain in appearance.

“I hope you treat it well; it was Torrent who chose you.”

“Mm.” Mia nodded.

And then, she could finally release the anticipation she had been suppressing!

“How do I turn golden runes into my own strength?”

Even for a woman, the temptation of power is impossible to refuse!

The runes Mia had excavated in the Cave of Learning, along with those obtained and spent in her trade with Kalé, left her with over thirty-six thousand.

How many levels would that allow her to gain?

If it followed the upgrade costs in the game, wouldn’t she be able to take off immediately with her first level-up?

“If you possess golden runes, please give them to me.”

“Okay.”

Mia agreed, sat on the ground, and poured a pile of various gold coins out from her storage space with a clatter.

“Next, please give me your hand.”

Mia reached out her hand.

“Palm down!”

Melina slapped the hand that was practically reaching her face with a “thwack.”

“Ah, oh.” Mia retracted her hand like a marmot.

Palm down.

Mia looked curiously at Melina in front of her, watching as she reached one hand toward the pile of gold coins while grasping Mia’s hand with the other.

The sensation of that hand, a size larger than her own but perfectly proportioned, was cool and soft.

For the first time, she was holding such a beautiful pair of hands.

That soft, cool sensation instantly spread throughout her whole body. Mia felt this tactile sensation and shivered involuntarily.

Ah, pure bliss.

If only she could go a step further…

“Please don’t move,” Melina said.

“Sorry…”

Suddenly, a stinging sensation, like an electric current, flowed through every part of Mia’s body.

“Hiss—” This wasn’t that kind of mild, addictive electric current.

Instead, it was a feeling that made her muscles genuinely sting and spasm!

Mia’s whole body tensed up, and she subconsciously squeezed Melina’s hand tightly.

“Please relax,” Melina reminded her.

But as soon as Mia tried to relax, that electric current-like sensation immediately ran rampant within her body.

The young girl’s face flushed red.

In front of Melina, she at least managed to stifle the cry that would definitely have been misunderstood.

Fortunately, the physiological pleasure brought by leveling up came and went quickly.

Melina let go of her hand.

Mia closed her eyes, trying hard to regulate her breathing, feeling the surging power within her…

As if!

There certainly had been a change, but it wasn’t as significant as she had expected.

Clearly, Mia’s initial stats were already very high.

Therefore, she didn’t feel any qualitative change.

As for the most significant one…

Perhaps her mana bar increased by about ten percent?

Maybe not that much, since Mia didn’t have a quantifiable data sheet.

But this was thirty thousand runes, and it was her first level-up.

She was slightly disappointed.

She turned her head to look at the pile of gold coins, and then she saw that the large pile of gold had turned into sand.

“This…”

Melina explained.

“golden runes are the embodiment of the Erdtree’s grace; the appearance of gold coins is merely a mimicry. When the rune power within them is drained, they naturally become worthless.”

“I see…”

It sounded like a reasonable way to prevent players from exploiting bugs, like using runes to level up here and then using the coins to buy things elsewhere.

Mia squeezed her palm.

“By the way, Xiao Mu… Melina.”

Melina: I think I heard something just now?

“Ahem,” Mia cleared her throat, pretending nothing had happened. “Do you know Ranni?”

Melina nodded. “One of the Shardbearers, Ranni the Lunar Princess.”

Mia looked at Melina. “She called me ‘The Lost Scion’. Do you have any idea about that?”

Melina nodded. “Yes, you are The Lost Scion.”

Mia’s eyes lit up.

Could it be that there was more information about her background?

“Then what is a Lost Scion?”

Melina replied, “I can only explain the meaning of this title literally; I know nothing else. When I was born beneath the Erdtree, all I knew was the mission my mother gave me.”

“Mission?”

Melina closed her eyes, recalling as she spoke, “The Lost Scion, the golden orphan whose eyes hold no color of the Erdtree, but one day she will return. And I must help her become the Elden Lord.”

Finally, Mia heard a proper answer.

Although this statement also sounded like an inscrutable prophecy.

However, the information Melina gave Mia was more concrete than Ranni’s.

Mia lowered her head, murmuring the words to herself, and the young girl reached up to touch the cloth covering her eyes.

‘The golden orphan whose eyes hold no color of the Erdtree… is that it?’

“Hey,” Mia suddenly looked at Melina.

“I say, Mei Mei, is it possible that I am your older sister?”

Melina was silent for a moment.

Then she stood up and walked in front of Mia.

“Eh?” Mia looked at her in confusion.

“Please stand up.”

“Oh.”

The two stood facing each other.

Melina stood very seriously in front of Mia, her gaze scanning her up and down, making the latter’s heart beat wildly.

She looked down slightly, noticing that Mia in front of her was about half a head shorter than herself.

“Hmm.” Melina nodded almost imperceptibly. “There is likely no such possibility.”

“The clues should be quite clear…” Mia, realizing it belatedly, suddenly reacted.

Her face flushed red instantly.

“What do you mean by that! Can’t I have the same constitution as Miquella!”

“Based on the current clues, I have no comment.”

“What are you being so arrogant about, Little Wood!”