booktalesy Chapter 43 Secret Realm
Chapter 43 Secret Realm
Xiuqi felt himself sinking.
It wasn't a fall, but rather a slow, steady descent, as if sinking into a warm, deep sea.
The fog that had been flowing around us was no longer gray mist, but warm water that had condensed into liquid.
His backpack fell onto the meadow in front of him, scattering its contents everywhere.
Two bottles of potions, a medical kit, a box of magic cards, and the fine dry rations prepared for him by his landlady, Adeline...
In a hazy vision, Xiu Qi seemed to see a graceful figure with long, flowing platinum hair, sitting with her legs crossed in front of him.
With one hand, she popped a wine-infused flame candy into her mouth, and with the other, she picked up the teapot filled with fairy red tea and took another sip...
"A gluttonous thief?"
This was Xiuqi's last consciousness. At this moment, his eyelids felt as heavy as a thousand pounds, slowly closing and shutting like two valves.
The world has fallen into darkness once again.
......
......
A glistening dewdrop slid slowly down a leaf and landed on the forehead of the black-haired boy.
Xiuqi opened his eyes.
"So it's a hot spring..."
He stood up from the churning water in the pool, and his first reaction upon waking was to check his belongings.
His right hand immediately went to his chest, and the smooth touch of his fingertips brought him some peace of mind.
He took out the two cards from his pocket.
One card was smooth and shimmering with a purple glow, depicting a silver-gray goblin wielding a giant mace, its gaze extremely cold.
The other card, enveloped in a blue glow, appeared even more profound in the sunlight. The image of a woman with enormous wings on the card was incredibly lifelike, and the details on the card were even clearer.
The texture of the bird demon's feathers, the look in her eyes that was a mixture of pity and allure, and even the faint smile at the corner of her mouth.
Xiuqi's intuition told him that the mental strength required to maintain the [Bird Poet] after summoning it would be far greater than that of the "Princess," and it would be difficult for the "Princess" to accompany him for as long as she did.
Because his current mental strength is simply insufficient to sustain him for an extended period of time.
On this continent, the union of a contracted creature far stronger than its host often ends in tragedy.
Those who possess contracted creatures that are completely disproportionate to their strength also bear a huge burden on themselves, as they face the risk of losing mental control and suffering backlash at any time after summoning them.
Xiuqi currently possesses 8 points of intelligence and 7 points of mental strength, placing him at the lowest level among apprentices, barely passing the apprenticeship requirement.
【Bird Poet】is a two-star blue rare card. The challenge level of the contracted creatures summoned will exceed level one, at least reaching level two, or even a highly competitive level two.
He now felt his spiritual sea was completely dried up, and the "princess," who had lost her spiritual support, had returned to the card, seemingly because of her arrival here.
He held the card in his hand, his gaze fixed on it...
......
The Poet of Birds
[Type: Summoning Card]
[Level: Two Stars]
[Quality: Rare Blue]
[Skill: Stealth +6]
[Senses: Dark vision 60 feet, passive perception 9]
[Talent: The Great Love Poem]
[Talent Description: Awakens the deepest desires within all living beings through song, immersing them in its power to escape.]
[Talent 2: Sonic Boom]
[Talent Description: Instantly dashes 0 to 10 meters in any direction once. Cooldown: 1 minute.]
[Note: I am a goblin, a goblin wielding a big club]
......
Xiuqi tried to infuse magic into the cards.
The card trembled slightly, emitting a pale blue halo.
In that instant, he could feel a strange connection with the cards, conveying a vague and complex emotion—
Sadness, loneliness, and a hint of joy.
It seems like it's just a tiny bit short of successfully summoning the creature.
He put the cards away and turned his attention to his surroundings. His immediate priority was to figure out where he was and then find a way out.
"Get your shovel!"
"Next time I go out, I'll definitely find a guide who knows the way, and one who will stay with me the whole time..."
Xiuqi began to look around.
The sky was a strange pale blue, as if time had been frozen at the juncture of dusk and dawn.
The light fell evenly and softly, but there was no sun or stars, only a dome filled with radiance.
The pool he was in was located on a very open grassy area.
Tall, lush green grass grows along the edge of the meadow, and a few scattered white flowers stand proudly among the tall grass, their petals shimmering with a faint blue halo.
Further away, one can vaguely see dilapidated yet still beautiful white stone buildings—
An elegant circular archway, slender columns, and a silvery vine climbing and twining around them.
These buildings are elegant and exquisite in style, with such exquisite carvings that they are unlike the style of human kingdoms, let alone the style of other demi-human races.
It does resemble the architectural style of the legendary high elves.
Xiuqi had never seen the architecture of the high elves in person, but he had read many books about them in the "Sky of All Laws" of the academy library.
The white building in front of me is not exactly the same as described in the book, but it is very similar.
It is now certain that this is definitely not the Grey Forest.
This is not good news for him, because it means he is not just lost, but completely lost.
The surroundings were eerily quiet.
There were no insects chirping, no birds singing, not even the sound of wind.
The only sound coming from the pool was the gurgling of water—it didn't seem like ordinary water, but more like the soft sound of surging, dense energy.
Xiuqi's gaze was quickly drawn to the bottom of the pool on the other side.
There was a brighter light source there.
He walked along the edge of the pool, his boots barely making a sound on the soft, silky grass.
As he got closer, he could see the small pool clearly. It was no more than three feet in diameter, and the water was a pale gold color, with bubbles constantly rising from the bottom.
As each bubble bursts, it releases golden sparks that scatter like fireflies before gradually disappearing into the air.
In the very center of the small pool, there lay a crystal the size of an egg, appearing and disappearing with the constantly surging spring water.
This crystal is completely transparent and has an irregular octahedral shape. Countless tiny purple light spots flow slowly inside, as if there were a miniature version of the starry sky.
Xiuqi spotted the crystal immediately.
He could sense the powerful spiritual energy permeating the air—an energy purer and more primal than magic.
It seemed that with each breath, a faint electric current pierced through his body, stimulating his magical circuits and mental power.
"Psionic crystals!" he muttered to himself.
As an essential aid for mage meditation, Xiuqi was no stranger to these precious crystals.
Unlike magic crystals, which are purely used to replenish magic power, psionic crystals usually only exist in ancient ruins or places where arcane elements gather.
They flow continuously within the caster's consciousness, strengthening their mental power, expanding their pool of magic, and relieving mental fatigue.
The crystal in front of us, with its constant flow of tiny purple light spots, was emitting a restrained yet incredibly powerful energy fluctuation, clearly indicating that it was no ordinary item.
He was wearing a high-quality psionic crystal on his chest, but the crystal in front of him was clearly of a higher grade.
It can absolutely achieve a quality that is extremely rare in the world, or even surpass it.
A rare and precious treasure?