Chapter 15: Funeral Rites and the Great Funeral
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 15: Funeral Rites and the Great Funeral
"Why are you here?"
Hearing Edward’s question, the girl known as Ellie replied in a dejected tone.
"Am I not supposed to be?"
"No... that’s not it." Edward looked nervous. "I was just curious why you’d come to see me at a time like this..."
Seeing Edward’s voice trail off, Ellie had no choice but to drop her accusatory expression. She began to explain slowly.
"Master Roland informed me. He said that in order to stop the Assassin Association’s plot to destroy the library, you fought them off and were seriously injured. You were sent here to the First Hospital. As soon as I heard, I came to see you. It’s just a pity you were unconscious when I first arrived. I’ve been waiting for a long time..."
Hearing Ellie’s explanation, Edward was utterly bewildered.
What on earth?
Stopping the Assassin Association’s plot to destroy the library?
Is that what happened? Why didn't I know about this?
However, seeing the growing sorrow on Ellie’s face, Edward’s heart tightened. He didn't care whether it made sense or not; he just didn't want the girl in front of him to be sad.
Edward looked at Ellie, his eyes filled with self-reproach. "Ellie, that... that was my fault. I was careless and ended up stuck in this bed, making you worry."
Hearing Edward blame himself, Ellie couldn't help but let out a soft chuckle.
"Hmph~ you’re doing it again." She gently took Edward’s hands in hers. "When did I ever ask for an apology? As long as you’re safe, I’m happy. Besides, haven't you always been like this? Charging into dangerous places and then escaping by the skin of your teeth? I’m always the one looking after you. In all this time, have I ever once complained?"
Ellie’s voice was so tender that Edward felt his eyes grow hot.
"Ellie..."
Ellie pulled her hands back and picked up a bowl of warm soup from the bedside table.
"Alright, drink this soup first. I made it myself; it’s very good for your recovery."
She picked up a wooden spoon and began to feed Edward, one mouthful at a time.
*
"Damn you, Edward. You’d better pray I don't find out where you went."
Xie Bai struggled to stand up from the floor. Between the psychological and physiological nausea, her expression was one of extreme discomfort.
"Ugh... as expected, it still tastes terrible. Edward, you brat, if I get the chance, I’m going to make your life a living hell."
Xie Bai leaned against the sofa and collapsed onto it, her strength nearly spent.
"Phew, finally feel like I’m back among the living."
She turned her attention to her inventory interface.
[Spirit Mass * 1518]
"Ugh... why are there still so many..."
Just looking at them made her feel sick. She might as well feed them all to Funeral Rites.
With that thought, Xie Bai pulled out the weapon.
[Funeral Rites]
[Quality: Divine Artifact]
[Type: Scythe]
[...]
[Soul Devour: Can absorb soul-related items to gain corresponding growth.]
She wasn't sure if it was an illusion, but Xie Bai felt like the text for "Soul Devour" flickered slightly.
"Come to think of it, this scythe has been the key to my growth. If it hadn't provided those massive attribute bonuses at the start, I probably wouldn't have been able to snowball and become this powerful. It’s a shame it’s starting to fall behind me a bit now."
Of course, she wasn't talking about its mechanics, but rather the base stats Funeral Rites provided. In terms of mechanics, the weapon was still completely broken.
Specifically, the triple-hit affix on Funeral Rites fundamentally changed her basic attacks. It dealt three instances of damage per swing, and since each instance was calculated independently, it allowed her to bypass some of the limitations of the Greed's Curse.
However, because the Void Insects had low intelligence, Gluttony's Blessing hadn't devoured much of that stat. As a result, Xie Bai’s current Intelligence was quite low compared to her other attributes. This meant she couldn't fully utilize the triple-hit mechanic.
Of the three damage instances, the second—the magic damage—was so low it was practically negligible compared to the first physical hit. This pathetic magic damage even dragged down the performance of the third hit, significantly lowering Xie Bai’s overall output.
Even though Xie Bai’s burst damage was already excessive, she felt it was necessary to upgrade this "beginner weapon," both for sentimental and practical reasons.
"It would be great if the upgrade for Funeral Rites could fix my lopsided stats," Xie Bai muttered as she lay on the sofa.
For a moment, the matter of Edward was pushed to the back of her mind. She looked at the detailed information for Funeral Rites again. The description for "Soul Devour" was vague; it didn't say how many Spirit Masses were needed for growth, nor what new abilities would manifest.
Xie Bai decided to test the waters with a hundred Spirit Masses.
Drip.
It sounded like a drop of water hitting a calm surface. As the Spirit Masses entered Funeral Rites, a circle of white ripples radiated across its surface.
[The Divine Artifact "Funeral Rites" has undergone a change!]
"That worked already?"
Then again, it made sense. Spirit Masses weren't easy to come by; normally, Xie Bai would have to kill a boss to get one. If it weren't for the Judgment skill allowing her to farm them easily, it was doubtful she could have produced a hundred of them so casually.
Seeing more intricate silver-white patterns etched onto the surface of the scythe, Xie Bai curiously opened the detailed interface.
[Funeral Rites]
[Quality: Divine Artifact]
[Type: Scythe]
[Requirement: Lv.300 (Ignored)]
[Strength Bonus: 100,000 + (Level * 1000)]
[Intelligence Bonus: 100,000 + (Level * 1000)]
[...]
[Great Funeral: While holding Funeral Rites, you can discover, touch, and absorb lost souls. Absorbed souls are temporarily stored within the weapon. You can consume Spirit Masses (1% of the soul count) to hold a Great Funeral for these souls. Based on the scale of the Great Funeral, you will receive a corresponding Divine Artifact of the same series.]
The stat bonuses had increased tenfold, causing Xie Bai’s Strength and Intelligence to each jump by over 170,000. While this significantly boosted her Mana, the actual damage increase was still a drop in the bucket for her.
"But the highlight of this upgrade isn't the stats."
Xie Bai looked at the new entry: Great Funeral.
The name was just a play on the weapon's name, which felt a bit lazy, but the effect was anything but. Xie Bai read the description carefully.
"Absorb souls, consume Spirit Masses to hold a Great Funeral, and then receive a..."
"Divine Artifact?!"
Xie Bai stared at the final part of the description in shock. It definitely said Divine Artifact. She understood exactly how much weight that word carried. After all, her absurdly powerful Funeral Rites was a Divine Artifact. If one piece of gear could make her this strong, what about more?
Furthermore, the description mentioned they would be from the "same series." This meant any new Divine Artifacts wouldn't conflict with Funeral Rites or compete for the same equipment slot. Instead, they would likely have a special resonance, creating a "one plus one is greater than two" effect.
"In that case, I’ll save the remaining Spirit Masses for now."
Although Xie Bai felt the remaining masses might be enough to trigger a second evolution, she wasn't lacking in damage, so the second upgrade could wait. Rather than raw power, she currently needed new abilities to handle unexpected situations.
"But how am I supposed to find enough lost souls?" Xie Bai rubbed her chin, deep in thought. "I have a feeling that having a large number of lost souls in one place isn't exactly a good thing."
If a location was filled with lost souls, it usually meant a horrific massacre had occurred there. A massive number of people dying, their souls unable to find peace for some reason, left to wander the world as lost spirits.
"That sounds like the kind of thing an evil villain organization would do..."
Wait, an evil villain organization? The kind that was cruel, disregarded life, and only wanted to destroy the world?
Xie Bai remembered one entity that fit that description perfectly.
"The Chaos Church?"