GAMMT - Chapter 41
Chapter 41: Healer?
At the very least, if this were a game, the Arcane Palace would be the most powerful faction in this world's established system. In a sense, it even represented "divine authority," because it was the manifestation of the Arcane system itself.
She considered it a system; the people of this world likely considered it a "god."
The Arcane Palace itself was a physical structure, its core built by a divine will beyond human capability. Its construction, maintenance, and promotion all required people to carry them out. The faction that inherited its will and implemented these tasks was the most powerful force in this world.
It even held authority over the government.
After walking into the crowd, Fu Chuan, who had rushed out early and skipped breakfast, casually bought something to eat on the way.
However, she used her Eagle Eye to observe a few people she encountered, assessing their identities and affiliations. When she saw someone arrogantly pushing others aside to cut in line for their child, she walked over.
"Ah, excuse me."
She accidentally bumped into the person and immediately apologized. The person was about to lash out, but upon seeing the noble crest on her chest, their attitude became much more polite, and they offered a friendly smile.
Fu Chuan gave her a cold, imperious glance and slowly approached the front.
Playing the status game.
Seeing her act like a villainous young master causing trouble, the other customers were a bit surprised and couldn't help but step back. The stall owner also grew nervous. It can't be, right? This is right in front of the Arcane Palace. Someone still dares to collect protection fees?
Then they saw the person stop, hands clasped behind their back, and say to the stall owner, "Mildly spicy, add extra crispy pork ribs. Don't make it too salty, or I won't pay."
Everyone: "?"
This kid's got some nerve! It's just a box of fried potatoes, but he's acting like a gangster buying smuggled goods.
The shop owner rolled his eyes at him but did as he was told. Harmony breeds wealth, after all.
But after buying her food and turning around, Fu Chuan glanced at the way the others were looking at her and confirmed something in her heart.
These level 30 Arcanists weren't necessarily law-abiding. They must have thought she was a prodigal noble scion and couldn't resist checking her attribute information.
Then, their expressions all turned a little disdainful.
Fu Chuan had a realization: these people could only see her disguised, superficial attributes.
What about those at level 40?
Fu Chuan walked inside with her food, pondering this possibility.
She had to come to the Arcane Palace, but this place had the highest concentration of powerful individuals.
When playing the game, her knowledge of the people and the world was only a ten-thousandth of the real thing. That included her understanding of the Arcane Palace, and of the entity that commanded it, representing the will of the gods…
Holding a bowl of fried potatoes, Fu Chuan looked up amidst the fragrant aroma and saw the giant statue standing in the center of the plaza.
A goddess held a sword, its tip pointed toward the heavens.
Fu Chuan was very familiar with this statue; every Arcane Palace had one.
A standard goddess, but with no face.
Fu Chuan glanced at it and continued forward. When she reached the entrance, however, she was startled by the two tall guards stationed there.
Their eyes instantly locked onto her.
Fu Chuan's heart skipped a beat. She knew that even though this was just the Arcane Palace for Jingyang City, even the gatekeepers had to be local experts. Especially those guarding the main palace with their backs while watching the plaza in front—they were likely level 40 at a minimum.
If an expert of this level intentionally tried to inspect her, and possessed a blue-tier or higher Eagle Eye-type skill, they could probably see right through her.
However, she wasn't too concerned. She was well aware that one of the ironclad rules of the Arcane Palace was that one must not illegally pry into the privacy of other Arcanists. This was especially true within the Arcane Palace itself, where rules governed everything. The guards were merely enforcers; they did whatever the system commanded them to do.
Besides, what was the big deal about having two bodies created by a low-level Devouring Scroll?
Fu Chuan saw Arcanists coming and going—some unfathomably powerful, others furtive and sneaky. A thousand people, a thousand faces.
She gave the two guards who were staring at her an awkward smile, then moved to the side and squatted by a bench, planning to finish her food before going in.
These guards probably wouldn't dare break the rules. They were likely just looking over because the smell of her fried potatoes was too strong. They had probably never seen anyone so unrefined, about to enter with a greasy bowl of fried potatoes.
But she soon became even more unrefined, sitting by the roadside to eat, completely unconcerned with what others thought of her.
As she was watching, she overheard a father and son chatting as they walked past.
"Daddy, why doesn't the goddess have a face?"
"Because no one has ever seen a real god. We are all mortals. Only the most powerful experts can see them."
"Then how powerful do you have to be?"
"Level 80 or above."
Fu Chuan finished her food, threw the trash in a bin, and then walked inside.
Grand establishments have their own kind of grandeur.
The grandeur of the Arcane Palace lay in its cold, pale colors and sharp angles.
The black stone floor contrasted with the towering white walls, but there were no wall lamps or anything of the sort, because above was a slowly moving starry sky ceiling.
The Arcane Palace had no single central light, for it was meant to encompass the brilliance of the myriad stars in the universe. This was the definition of the Arcane Palace's boundless expanse—a dense tapestry of starlight.
A sense of tolerance?
But Fu Chuan felt it had another layer of meaning.
"Beneath divine authority, all are but ants."
There were many people in the hall, all collecting their dungeon rewards. After all, various places had just experienced the Natural Disaster dungeons, and the younger generation needed to claim their rewards to grow stronger.
"Damn, I'm almost level 15, but I still haven't decided on my next skill. Which school are you planning to apply to?"
"Third High, of course. I did a preliminary assessment, and my scores should be good enough."
"Your grades look pretty good. Aren't you going to try for the four best schools in Beluke?"
"I can't make the cut. It's too hard. The basic requirements are that you have to be under 19 and at least level 18. That's just to apply. Not to mention the four assessments that follow: theory exam, meditation score, Gene Tree, and combat evaluation. I might not even qualify to register."
As the two were talking, Fu Chuan casually listened in, glancing at the two tall and sturdy students who were only a year or two younger than her.
These two seemed to have decent potential; otherwise, they wouldn't be openly discussing which school to apply to.
The more confident one is, the more at ease they are.
These two could probably get into Third High without any issues.
Fu Chuan felt a bit envious of their confidence, a self-assurance that could only be nurtured by abundant resources and a good environment. She also guessed that while they claimed they couldn't get in, they still secretly wanted to apply to the Big Four Academies.
However, she only knew that one of the Big Four was West Jin Academy; she wasn't clear on the other three.
In any case, the threshold for these four schools was not low. Each was the most difficult prestigious school in the entire province, though their admission criteria varied. It seemed that besides the basic requirements mentioned, there were other conditions, but she couldn't remember them. Back when she first started playing and reached the point where she could enter a high school to learn skills, her foundation wasn't as good as it was now. She didn't even meet the threshold and couldn't get into any of the four. She still remembered the system announcement listing the names of those who had been accepted into the province's top schools; they basically all became the strongest figures in her region later on.
"It's just like reality. Provincial key schools, Tsinghua, Peking University, Harvard, Cambridge… these people monopolize the elite class."
"Truly impressive."
Speaking of which, the way she had muddled through in her early years had been an embarrassment to her fellow alumni. Even later on, she was still a long way from the top tier, and she was quite self-aware about it.
Fu Chuan stopped listening to the two and went to find an Arcane Spirit to claim her dungeon rewards.
First, there were cubicles. Inside each cubicle was an Arcane Spirit. After inputting your information to activate it, the Arcane Spirit would guide you through the collection process.
She was very familiar with this procedure, having done it countless times in the game. But she deliberately acted like a country bumpkin, fearing that there might be people from the Xie Clan here, or people she might encounter through her association with the Xie Clan—the probability was certainly high.
"Hey, big brother, where do I get an Arcane Spirit?"
She asked two people in a row, but because her attitude wasn't great, it wasn't until she called the third person "big brother" that someone bothered to answer her, pointing with a look of mild disgust.
"See those doors? A green light above a cubicle door means it's empty. Red means it's occupied. Don't just barge in. First, you won't be able to get in, and second, it'll be recorded as an offense, and you'll get a warning."
"Once you're inside, you have to pay for the usage time. A hundred copper coins should be enough. After all, you don't look like you have many rewards to collect."
Although the person's tone wasn't very polite, he wasn't a bad person. Fu Chuan smiled and thanked him, then looked around. She found that there were people at every door. Because there were so many people today, with many students from Jingyang City present, all 99 cubicles were full.
Fu Chuan got in line behind one of the queues. While waiting, she happened to see the two young men from before come over and line up behind her, still chatting about schools.
However, as they were talking about something Fu Chuan found quite interesting, someone burst out laughing.
It was obvious mockery. After laughing, the person whispered and snickered with their companions, as if in ridicule.
Young people are sensitive, and they immediately looked over.
Fu Chuan saw it too, and her eyes fell on the other party's clan crest.
A sky-blue totem with a gold border. She recognized it at a glance as belonging to another Green Blood family in Jingyang City.
The Lan Clan.
However, the two young men weren't perceptive enough and angrily demanded, "What did you just say?!"
A red-haired youth in brocade robes raised an eyebrow and sneered, "Idiots. You really think getting into the Big Four Academies is that simple? The rules have changed. You have to rank in the top five hundred here in Jingyang first just to qualify for the second round of re-selection in Beluke Province."
This was indeed news to the others. The two young men were both stunned and embarrassed. One of them had a fiery temper and was about to step forward but was immediately pulled back by his companion.
Only then did he realize where he was.
Just then, a team of nine people in formation walked slowly through the hall.
Those in black and gold armor with silver trim were Divine Temple guards.
Those in red robes with white sashes were Divine Temple law enforcement apostles.
…
In any case, none of them were to be trifled with.
As the guards, who were level 40 on average, walked past, Fu Chuan bowed her head in a show of respect, as did most people.
Only after the squad of guards had left did the atmosphere slowly liven up again.
The two young men didn't dare to start a fight in the Arcane Palace; this was something they had known since childhood as locals. They could only glare at the other party.
Fu Chuan, however, was wondering if the new rule the Lan Clan disciple had mentioned was due to a recent education policy issued by the government.
"Strengthening the training of Arcanists… is the Empire that short on people?"
Fu Chuan was a little suspicious, but before she could figure it out, it was her turn.
Fu Chuan immediately swiped her ID on the device and conveniently linked her newly opened bank card. No other registration was needed, and she went straight in.
The interior was a typical punk world—a blend of technology and antiquity, mystery and supernatural power.
A collision of metal and energy.
A fusion of cold and scorching color palettes.
Although Fu Chuan had entered this space countless times, there was a huge difference between playing a game and being there in person. For the first time, she even felt a sense of self-identity as an Arcanist.
In the center was a scaled-down version of the statue, this time of normal height. Fu Chuan walked closer, looking at the sphere floating between the goddess's cupped, ethereal hands.
The sphere was quiet and cold, like an uncut piece of jadeite.
Fu Chuan approached, unable to resist looking at the goddess.
No face meant no feedback, no neural response.
But Fu Chuan had her own thoughts and whispered softly, "That child probably doesn't know. The real reason is that a god's face cannot be imprinted upon a mortal's mind. Human thoughts are uncontrollable, and there's a fear of blasphemy. Yet, a god wouldn't deign to punish mortals for their common flaws, as it would make her seem petty. So, she simply doesn't show her face."
"That makes sense. The reason you allow the stars to shine so brightly is that you are already at the apex of the heavens, looking down on the ants of the mortal world."
And this was basically the stance of the Divine Temple in the current world—it was the strongest.
Fu Chuan reached out and placed her hand on the sphere. It seemed to be activated instantly. Light points gathered, filling the entire orb, and then… the sphere melted and reformed into a new shape.
It had two wings, a small tail with a lightning bolt icon, and a round head.
"Arcane Spirit ID No. WTF44444444 at your service. How may I assist you?"
"Can you change that to a luckier number? I might be paired with you for a long time."
"Certainly. You have one free change. Please wait."
With a flash, the Arcane Spirit selected a new ID for itself.
Fu Chuan looked.
ID No. STFU22222222.
Fu Chuan: "Let's try that again."
Arcane Spirit: "A second change requires a fee. A third change will cost even more. Do you still wish to proceed?"
Fu Chuan rubbed the bridge of her nose and politely declined out of stinginess. However, she was also confirming whether these Arcane Spirits were designed as manifestations of the Arcane Palace's will, devoid of personal emotions, much like robots.
If they had personal emotions, she feared her secrets might be exposed—after all, this was no longer a game.
Only robots and dead men were truly trustworthy.
It turned out her worries were unnecessary.
"I want to claim my dungeon rewards."
"Understood. Please wait… After a review, it has been determined that you have participated in only one dungeon for which the rewards have not yet been claimed. The data is being retrieved. The data transfer will be complete within one minute. You will need to review the dungeon data, and the rewards will be delivered within five minutes. After confirming the rewards are correct, you may leave this space or pay an additional fee to request other services from this Arcane Spirit."
Fu Chuan checked the incubation time of the blue-tier pet in her inventory and figured she might actually need its help with something.
Ding. Just as she was thinking, the dungeon data appeared.
Fu Chuan raised an eyebrow as she looked at the projected results.
There wasn't much information; after all, despite the twists and turns, it was just a low-level dungeon.
The record was as follows.
Identity: Xie Keli/Fu Chuan (Dual disguised entity via low-level Devouring Scroll)
Age: 18.
Result: Overall MVP (Comprehensive Performance Coefficient 8.88, ranked first in damage output, strategy, and support points, challenged and defeated a BOSS 6 levels higher.)
Reward: Level 10 Green-tier Dungeon Gift Pack Specification +1 (However, due to the comprehensive performance coefficient of 8.88, the rarity of the rewards in this gift pack will be increased by 88.8%.)
As expected, it was very by-the-book.
But Fu Chuan wasn't surprised at all that her dual identity from the Devouring Scroll had been discovered. Even a level 90 Arcanist had to bow their head before the Arcane Palace, let alone a small fry like her. She was just a tiny piece of data among the countless others it processed.
What Fu Chuan cared about was the reward.
"A coefficient of 8.88 is a bit lower than I expected. I thought I could break 9, which would have pushed the rewards to a higher tier. If the coefficient was 10, it would probably have been a blue-tier gift pack specification directly, and everything inside would have been upgraded to blue-tier."
Fu Chuan reflected for a moment and felt her performance had been flawless. The dungeon settlement wouldn't give her extra points for the deaths of others; its algorithm wasn't that saintly. The main reason was that clearing a dungeon in reality was harder than in a game.
In a game, you could find people to cooperate with. In reality, there was too much infighting, which was a major drag.
Fu Chuan claimed the gift pack directly and opened it.
A massive amount of experience descended upon her.
Level +1, +1, +1.
She leveled up three times in a row!
She was now level 15.
There weren't many items in the gift pack, just three things.
A blue skill book, a gray unidentified light-blue weapon, and a gray unidentified dark-green recipe.
Fu Chuan knew that gray unidentified items from the Arcane Palace came in two types. One truly needed to be identified, which was based on luck. The other had its tier already fixed, but you could choose the category yourself.
Looking at it now, the 8.88 comprehensive coefficient had significantly boosted her gift pack. At the very least, she had a solid blue-tier skill book, a semi-blue weapon, and a recipe.
First, the skill book.
"Three-Stage Lightning Tether, a dual control-type Arcane for both attack and binding? A rare lightning-type Arcane. This is good stuff. Lightning Arcane is great—the pinnacle of attack and speed, one of the most valuable Arcane systems… It's a pity that lightning skills are scarce and difficult to level up, but their combat power is truly formidable. Its rarity is comparable to Light Glory."
Fu Chuan was a little excited after seeing the skill book and wanted to learn it on the spot, but she felt it didn't quite match Light Glory. So, she held back, as she still needed to see her pet's attributes.
She then picked up the weapon and the recipe. Their tiers were already set: semi-blue and top-tier green.
"I still need to base my choice on my pet… It should be about time."
Just as Fu Chuan was thinking about it, the mutated pet egg finally reached its hatching time.
Crack. Its shell split open.
Fu Chuan's eyes widened, watching with great excitement as it emerged from the cracked egg…
It was a pale gold all over, not ugly at all, and quite chubby. Its body had a somewhat crystalline texture, like a jade locust carved to life. It had four golden wings that emitted a faint golden light. After spinning in place, it sent feedback to Fu Chuan.
It was probably the innate bond between a larva and its master; Fu Chuan instantly felt that it was a part of her.
A part of her genes.
"My awakened gene talent and my first pet are of the same race. My luck is incredible. My ancestral graves must be smoking. Could it be that after I died, my parents prayed to our ancestors to look after me?"
Fu Chuan was both teasing herself and feeling a little sad.
She gently tapped it with her finger and tried to speak. "Can you hear me?"
"A… a little… Master…"
"Call me Big Sister."
Fu Chuan didn't like the title "Master." Since it was her baby pet, it was naturally her family.
For now, she would probably only let it appear in front of others when she was in her Fu Chuan form.
While stroking the palm-sized jade locust, feeling the translucent texture beneath its soft shell, Fu Chuan sensed its talents.
After all, this was her initial goal.
Blue-tier Mutated Scorpion-Tail Locust (Larva)
Level: 1
Mental Power: 10,000
Strength: 8,000
Constitution: 9,000
Agility: 30,000
Talents: Digestion (Accelerates the absorption efficiency of resources for itself and its master), Possession (After level 20, can merge with the master's body for five minutes, sharing life signs and abilities, achieving attribute fusion. Duration: 5 minutes.)
Skill: Heal (Absorbs living organisms to replenish and mend injuries.)
Its base stats were so high at just level one. No wonder it was a blue-tier mutated pet. Fu Chuan was astonished. She could also see that this little locust wasn't a combat pet, but a top-quality support baby.
"It's like a healer… energy storage and recovery? It doesn't have much combat power, but Light Glory happens to be a high-burst skill after storing energy. In that case, I need to learn a set of light-based combat skills to create combos, leading to a final burst. The lack of energy and recovery has been filled by my gene talent and my baby."
Perfect!
Fu Chuan's original plan was that if her baby was a combat type, she would learn a healer set from the light element, using the baby as the main damage dealer while she, with her high agility, would just dodge, similar to a summoner.
But now that her baby was a super healer, she herself had to go for high attack power.
"But light-element Arcane spells are already rare, and I need high-damage ones… that's going to be very expensive."
Fu Chuan knew she couldn't take the money-saving route anymore; she would have to burn through cash in the end. She quickly made a list in her mind, itemizing all the resources she needed.
"Arcane Spirit, help me search the Arcane Palace market for these resources. I need their prices, temporarily converted to copper coins."
"Understood. You require fifteen items. Among them, the light-element attack skill book set you want, Light Stream, is one of the most precious low-level skill book sets. It has a total of 7 tiers. The first tier costs 30 million copper coins, the second tier costs 200 million copper coins, the third tier costs 600 million copper coins… The full set will cost ten billion copper coins."
"The prices for pet leveling experience pills are as follows: a level one experience pill costs one million copper coins. Based on your calculations, to raise your current pet to level 15, you will need three hundred million copper coins… The prices for Insect Marrow Crystals are as follows…"
Fu Chuan silently stroked the jade locust baby's head. "I'd better take you out to grind in the wild. Babies raised on experience pills end up as useless greenhouse flowers and can't even practice their combat skills…"
The jade locust baby: "But… I… I'm a healer, Big Sister. You said so. I don't need to fight. I-I-I just need to level up. Big Sister, you're not going to give me pill-pills?"
Did I say that? I must have been drunk just now.
Fu Chuan wanted to slap herself.
Not enough money. Not nearly enough. What to do?
"Arcane Spirit, help me find the purchasing window. I need to sell some things."
Time to sell off the family assets. The kind that would leave her bankrupt.
Fu Chuan sighed silently and then went out.
As soon as she left, someone in the main hall happened to see her.
"Is that the illegitimate son the Xie Clan just acknowledged?"
"The one who caused a bit of a stir. He's probably here to collect his dungeon rewards."
"That bastard. He caused trouble, and that woman surnamed Zhou took the opportunity to ruin a lot of our family's business. Otherwise, with the rise in grain prices, I could have bought several green-tier skill books… Let's go, let's check it out."
The three young men whispered among themselves for a few moments and then followed her.
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