by A P Gore
The girl gave him a disgusted look, and a thread of white flew from her fingers and entered Jon's forehead.
System: You have been imprinted with the knowledge of formation of Spirit Congregation. Accept? Yes/No.
Of course, he clicked Yes.
Formation of Spirit Congregation
Tier: 0
This formation attracts Spirit particles from nature and increases the intensity of the Spirit available in the formation area, allowing cultivators or plants within it to absorb more Spirit.
Initiation Cost: 300 Spirit. Maintenance Cost: 200 spirit/day.
And then there were round and animal symbols. This time, the animal looked like an elephant, but it only had three legs.
“Thank you, Ki— Sorry. Mr. Spirit. So, can I go now?”
The girl nodded. “I'll transport you back to the mountain you came from. The entrance of the labyrinth will change, so you might not get to the same labyrinth again, but if you reach any other labyrinth, we will meet.”
“Wait, can you send me to the west side of the mountain? My village is near the base.” That way, he wouldn't have to face the lions or bears, and he would reach his hut quickly. Right now, his body was on fire to get back into that unique garden and see what kinds of plants a god raised inside the pocket dimension.
Chapter 17
A miniscule sun rose from the west in the pocket realm, spreading its wings over the lush gardens spread across the ten farms. Refreshing, gentle wind flew across the whole realm, and the tranquil sound of a nearby waterfall filled his heart with peace.
This was Jon’s dream when he’d walked into the game, and finally he had achieved it.
At least in part.
The pocket realm wasn’t big, and the sun, moon, and mountain were all imitations made by the dragon god Shenron’s magic. Only the soil, herbs, and refreshing waterfall was real. The realm started from farm #1 and ended at the mountain’s base.
Jon stood at the edge of the mountain base, staring at a strange apple tree in the middle of the first field. Laden with fist-sized apples, the tree looked mesmerizing. Too bad his perception didn't work on it, so he didn't dare to eat the fruit, but he collected few in his bag Other than the tree, the first field also had herbs planted, and they all shone with vigor. All the other fields were locked for him. They too had strange plants and herbs, but right now he could only view them from afar in helplessness.
Sighing, he accessed the interface of the pocket realm.
Field 1 (20% increase in crop growth rate) - Accessible.
Field 2-4 (25% increase in crop growth rate, 5% chance to advance the quality of the plants by 1) - Requires character level 15.
Field 5-7 (35% increase in crop growth rate, 10% chance to advance the quality of the plants by 1) - Requires character level 40.
Field 8 (50% increase in crop growth rate, 20% chance to advance the quality of the plants by 1) - Requires character level 60 and Item evolution.
Field 9-10 (50% increase in crop growth rate, 30% chance to advance the quality of the plants by 1) - Requires character level 80 and Item evolution.
Warning, if soil is transported out of the garden, the field will loose its purpose.
This was like looking at ice cream from the outside of the glass or smelling coffee and being unable to drink it. It was so much torture for his soul.
Anyway, even a 20% increase in crop growth would help him, but right now field 1 had five hundred knee-high herbs that were unrecognizable. Every time he cast perception on those plants, the system threw curses at him. His skill level was too low. Without knowing the value of the plants, he didn't want to harvest them. A god had planted them, and their value would definitely surpass his expectations.
However, he had to start somewhere, so he plucked one plant out of the ground and tucked it in his bag.
Before leaving the pocket realm, he drank some water from the small spring. It tasted awesome. Maybe it too belonged to some unknown realm.
Excited, he cast perception on it.
Spring of Polarization
Produces polarized water that can change the elemental profile of the substance mixed with.
Polarizations available:
Liquid
Evolve the garden to unlock remaining polarization options.
What? What kind of water was this?
Shrugging, he stepped out of the pocket realm into his hut. The spirit girl had teleported him outside of the mountain, so it was an easy task to get back to the village. On the way, he had contacted Grimish and asked him to buy a few more blank flags and some of the costliest crop seeds in the market. Crop rotation was key, and if he had to plant something else, then why not the costliest plant available? He had to get money rolling in somehow, and selling crop was his only option right now. Once he had enough money, he planned to recruit more builders and other workers to settle his resource gathering issue.
Then he wanted to try the new formation of Spirit Congregation. Its description had a line about plants, and he wanted to study the effect on plant growth with an abundance of Spirit.
So much to do, so little time.
Glancing at the clock in his vision, he tapped on the table. He still had thirty minutes until the BP production reached 500.
While waiting, he assigned his stat and skill points. It was pending from the last level up. Without a thought, he dumped all five free stat points into Wisdom. With the Divine Punishment, he suffered from a low Spirit pool. If not for the Water of Darkness, he would have been even worse off.
He also had fifteen skill points, but he wasn't sure where to assign them, so he put three in Call Lightning—his most frightening spell—and one in Water Wall, leaving him with twelve skill points left.
Name: Jon (Level 9)
Class: Arch Druid
Second Class: Formationist
Stats:
Strength 23
Dexterity 10
Constitution 25
Intelligence 6
Wisdom 50
Chance 2
Charisma 4
Health 347/695 (348 reserved)
Stamina 207/415 (11.25/S) (208 reserved)
Mana 30/60 (5.36/S) (30 reserved)
Spirit 250/500 (30.00/S) (250 reserved)
Stat points available: 0
Skill points available: 11
Experience: 43500/54000
Skills:
Passives:
Death Aura
The Circle of Land
Mark of the Formation Master
Formation Painter
Speak with Plants
Mana Manipulation (Level 1)
Land Tasting (Level 2)
Spirit Cycling (Level 8)
Pain Attunement (Level 9)
Formation Painter (Level 2)
Copying (Level 1)
Throwing (Level 5)
Active:
Mold Earth (Level 4)
Healing Space (Level 3)
Acid Vine (Level 5)
Land Heal (Level 2)
Elemental Shield (Level 1)
Purify (Level 1)
Earth Spike (Level 5)
Conjure Light (Level 1)
Call Lightning (Level 3)
Earth Mend (Level 1)
Water Wall (Level 2)
Dispel Poison (Level 1)
Plant Regeneration (Level 1)
Underground Vine (Level 2) (Disabled)
Vine of Darkness (Disabled)
Vine of Light
Utility Skills:
Perception (Level 5)
Formations:
Formation of Lock
Formation of Hurricane
Formation of Spirit Congregation
Formation of Amplification
Formation of Illusion (Disabled)
When the time ticked to 12:00 a.m., the BP reached the 500 mark. Finally! Now he could work on getting rid of his Divine Punishment.
With a grin covering his handsome face, Jon walked to
the outpost office area. Maggie had told him the shrine was the best place to build the temple. Accessing the Town Management menu, he clicked on demolishing the shrine.
System: Warning, do you want to destroy the shrine of Kasari? If you do, all your villagers’ respawn points will be set to the temple in Chinari. Yes/No?
Jon selected Yes. Why would he care about this Kasari?
With a thump, the shrine collapsed and the white ring on the stone shrine shot toward the sky.
The face of a goat appeared in the sky above the town and roared like someone set its fur on fire. The goat stared at Jon, sending hundreds of ants of fear across his legs. Was that Kasari? Did he just anger a god?
Damn! Not another Divine Punishment, please.
But doing nothing, the face disappeared along with the white ring, and everything went back to normal.
Pulling a patch of cloth out, Jon wiped the perspiration built across his forehead. That was close. Why the heck had no one told him about this? He would have chosen a different place.
“Maggie, we need to talk,” he whispered, his cheeks flushed red.
When Jon glanced back at the place of the shrine, he found a clean space devoid of anything else.
Again, accessing the Town Management menu, he selected to build a Temple of Atrizi in that place.
Out of thin air, a base of five-foot-long stones appeared, marking the area for the temple. Jon had seen this before. When a new building was initiated, a base structure would appear and then the builders would complete it. But this time, he didn't need any builders as he had an Insta Build option available after the village level up.
The old man from the outpost office popped his head out the window and stared at Jon with disdainful eyes. When Jon had received the village, the old man started giving him mocking smiles. He must have thought Jon couldn't manage the whole town. However, last week Jon had submitted three weeks’ quota of weed crop for the whole town, and after that the smug smile from the old bastard vanished. From that day onward, the old man only gave him a disdainful look.
Ignoring him, Jon accessed his Town Management menu and clicked on the Insta Build option for the temple. Though it wasn't available in front of the temple, it was available globally.
A golden light shot from the residence and encapsulated the base of the temple. For three minutes, something unknown happened inside that light. Unfortunately, the light prevented anyone from peeking inside. When the light vanished, a tall stone temple stood erect.
“Majestic.” Jon had to tilt his head back to look up at the tallest building in his whole village. Rare buildings did have something special. The level 1 town's residence was barely even half as tall.
What would the palace look like? It was a unique building. An urge emerged in Jon's mind to build a palace in his territory.
System: Congratulations for building the Temple of Atrizi in your town. Morale increased by 100. Daily BP production: 5.
Do you want to bind the respawn points of your villagers to the Temple of Atrizi? Yes/No.
Of course, he selected Yes and then stepped inside the temple.
A barren view welcomed him. Other than three walls made of gray stone and a stone alter placed against the wall opposite the door, there was nothing but fresh air and ample light shooting from the high raised windows along the parallel walls.
Now he had to assign this temple to Morpheus, but how? Maggie wasn't here, and he bet Grimish wouldn't know this. The only other person he could think of who might know was Miraha, the goddess like druid prestress he met twice already. First when he saved her at the alter of transformation ritual and then when his darkness vine went rampage.
At least he had a crystal to connect her, otherwise his divine quest would have failed.
Bringing the crystal in front of his face, he directed some Spirit inside it. The crystal shone with a green light and then pulses of energy shot out of it five times.
The sweet voice of Miraha came from the crystal. “Jon, my savior. How may I assist you?”
Chapter 18
Jon stared at the blue sky filled with scattered clouds. On his home planet, R46, the sky always remained a shade of brown in the day, and turned pitch black at night. But here in BlackFlame Online, the day-night cycle moved between a myriad of colors. Yellow, blue, black and starry nights. Actually, the sky looked beautiful in blue color.
He’d been waiting in the open area for Miraha for the last ten minutes. She had said she would visit him personally.
When she didn’t come, he took out his formation flags and played around them.
Suddenly, with a gush of wind, Miraha dropped from the sky. In a beautiful red dress, she looked like nothing less than a fairy. And the fragrance that wafted from her. Sweet like honey and enticing like strawberry. God, he could just keep smelling her for hours. Some NPC’s were surely made by good designers.
“Are you a Formationist?” she asked as her gaze fell on the flags in his hand. Blinking, she stared at Jon like she saw a divine god. “How can you be a Formationist? God, what a pleasant surprise.”
Jon chuckled. “What’s so special about being a Formationist?” He didn’t understand. Why did she treat it as a trump card? Granted, it was a unique class and had great power at high levels, but it wasn’t godly at the start. Actually, Jon liked the Druid class more than the Formationist class. With the Druid class, he could focus on his core passion: farming.
Miraha sighed, a sigh that seemed to emerge from hopelessness in her heart. “I guess you are right. You must not know the glory of a Formation Master.” She waved her hand and a stone chair appeared near Jon. With next wave, a stone chair appeared before her.
Jon sat, feeling the rough surface through his thin trousers.
Miraha continued, “I’ll tell you why I envy a Formationist. It would be better if you learn about your class ancestors.”
Actually, Jon wanted to hear about the altar, but he didn’t want to be rude, so he went with the flow and made an expression that would look like he was interested in Miraha’s story.
“In our world, light and darkness are special elements. They are so special that a god of light and a god of darkness restrict their growth in their respective continents. The continent of Darkness and the continent of Light. Any mortal who wishes to walk on the path of light magic or darkness magic has to go to those continents to prosper. You and I are special cases. We aren’t light mages or darkness mages, but can still use the magic because of our special spells. I got away from the punishment of the god of light because of my druid goddess. She has a connection with the god of light, so he chose to ignore me. However, you don’t have any connection there, so you received the Death Aura.”
Jon sighed. This death aura was a pain in the ass. It had made him lose out on so many things already. That was the main reason he’d set up this temple to fulfill his quest and meet the god Morpheus, to try and get rid of it.
“But these are not the only two lands that control the darkness or light. In ancient history, there’s a mention of two more lands, Fortune Realm and Abomination Continent. Abomination Continent also practiced darkness element and was ruled by Deities of Darkness.”
“A deity of darkness? Like a god?”
Miraha nodded. “I know little about those things, but yes, they once controlled the Abomination Continent and used darkness element. According to the ancient text, these deities were far more treacherous than any other god. Before the War of Faiths, the war between Abomination Continent’s deities and the other gods happened. It was all because of the first three Dark Abominations.”
Jon tried to absorb all she told. The world lore was quite rich. The game developers must have hired so many fantasy writers to develop the rich lore.
Miraha continued, “The dark abominations were the children of these deities and were born with immense power. They started at level 60 character and rapidly grew to level 200+ level in a mere five hundred years. Once they reached level 200, they kill
ed their parent deities and then charged the gods’ realm. A bloody battle of gods and dark abominations rampaged through the mortal realm, and billions of living things died. Finally, the abominations died, but they triggered their detention on Abomination Continent and spread their blood to millions of living things living in the continent. Each drop corrupted one living thing, be it a human, a druid, a dog or anything. Soon, they transformed into miniature dark abominations and rose to level 40 quickly. But they had a limitation of level 60. Beyond that, they would explode and die.
“Millions of dark abominations gathered together and invaded other continents, but the gods didn’t interfere this time and let the massacre continue for almost a decade.” Miraha’s face twisted in pain. “Armies of mortals, druids, elves, trolls and so many other races joined together and fought these dark abominations and pushed them back, but they could never kill them all. Then the Formation Masters came forward and established a sealing formation at the cost of their lives. After that war, the Formationist class vanished in the river of time. However, you’ve gained access to the class.”
This Formationist guild, they had a rich history. He liked it, as he was a Formationist now. Maybe he could use it for his advantage in the future.
“Thanks for telling me some history about my ancestors. But right now I need your help to set up my temple.”
Miraha’s face hardened as she glanced at the position of sun. “Argh, sorry. I’ve got to go somewhere. But don’t worry. Just repeat the words as I say, and the alter should belong to the god you call upon.” Miraha smiled confidently.
Chapter 19
Stepping forward, Jon placed his hand on the smoothly carved stone alter and said the exact words that Miraha had told him.
“Hey almighty God of Darkness and Light, Morpheus. I, Jon, Lord of Epic village, devote this temple to you. Please accept my devotion and bestow your blessings upon my village.” Now that he knew about the darkness and light gods’ continents, he wondered which Morpheus belonged to.
