Chapter 028 – Domain: Moderation
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"Description: When this staff is fully charged, it can instantly cause up to three targets to enter a severe coughing state.
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Note: Under the coughing state, the target's "Focus" will be reduced by at least 10 points;
If the coughing unit is located among a crowd, it may quickly cause a small-scale infection;
The duration of the coughing depends on the target's "Level" and "Immunity";
You cannot make legendary units, undead creatures, or construct creatures enter the coughing state;
This staff can ignore protective spells below legendary level;
There is a certain probability that the coughing state will be dispelled by advanced priests..."
...
A small artifact!
At first glance at the description,
Matthew knew that this advanced identification scroll was worth it.
"This thing is simply the bane of spellcasters!"
He lovingly caressed the smooth side of the staff.
"Focus" is the most important casting attribute. If the focus is insufficient, it is highly likely that the spell will fail, and the consequences of spell failure are often extremely disastrous.
Imagine this.
A high-level mage carefully prepares for protection and is passionately chanting the incantation of a high-level spell that can turn the tide of battle. Suddenly, his throat itches, his eyes roll back, and his leg jerks—
The incantation gets stuck and turns into a cough!
And then.
Under the crazy depletion of focus, he has to endure the terrible backlash of the spell!
It's not just mages and warlocks who are affected.
It can also interrupt the druid's "Advanced Transformation," the shaman's "War Song," and almost all the tricks of the bard!
Furthermore.
Combatants who need high precision movements to maintain their threat will also be frustrated.
Except for resistant monsters like high-level warriors, monks, and sword saints who can cough and attack at the same time.
Everyone else will be affected to varying degrees.
As for priests.
"In this age when the gods have gone far away, it's not so easy to come across a priest."
"No wonder the Antu Empire is so crazy. Psionic energy does have its merits!"
Matthew tightly held the psionic staff.
After a moment of excitement, he furrowed his brows lightly.
Because in the next line of the description, there is also this sentence:
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"Charging method of the staff: Unknown (insufficient knowledge of psionic energy)"
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Even the advanced identification scroll couldn't fully explore its details, indicating the rarity of knowledge about psionic energy.
But Matthew was not in a hurry.
This scroll has already determined the direction of his information search. Next, he just needs to find ways to gather knowledge about "charging methods of psionic items" and the like.
"It seems like I have to make a trip to the 'Crucible House' when I have the time, and also inquire about the recent situation of the Tower Spirit, Ronan the Archmage, from that extremely love-deprived spirit."
Thinking like this,
Matthew carefully put away the psionic staff.
And then, following his usual routine, he began to review the encounters of tonight.
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"In the situation of suddenly encountering a large number of enemies, it's no problem to abandon ordinary skeleton soldiers;
But I can do better in terms of distance control. My clothes are splattered with blood, and it will be troublesome for Peggy to wash them later, which is not decent."
...
"The defensive effect of the spells on the Defensive Hymns is indeed remarkable. Second-tier infected creatures can't even make a dent, and it's estimated that they can withstand several attacks from third-tier Frenzy Guards;
There are still some blank pages in this book, which seems to be able to fill in other defensive spells. But these spells are often disposable. I wonder how much the fee will be for a mage specializing in defensive spells to transcribe disposable spells?"
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"The existence of the Antu Empire proves that I have indeed come to a real world with a game-like worldview.
Psionic items are very powerful, but I shouldn't have too many desires. I should focus on doing my own profession well first, and then study other things when I have spare energy.
Hmm, let's set a small goal to expand the oak forest to around 1800 trees before summer arrives!"
...
The feather pen dipped in ink flew quickly across the cheap grass paper.
Writing a review manuscript is a small habit that Matthew developed after crossing over. At first, he only recorded the difficulties of planting trees and some points to note on these grass papers. Later, he also used them to vent his longing for his hometown and record some contemplative content.
Anyway, he used Chinese characters, and his handwriting was so messy that only he could barely recognize it.
He regarded it as a unique way to decompress.
During this time.
Matthew's brain often jumped back and forth between extreme emptiness and high-speed operation.
Brush, brush, brush!
The pleasant sound of writing filled the air.
Matthew quickly wrote down the last paragraph.
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"As for the words I said before leaving, they should have touched Samantha. Great, she will be the first experimental subject for me to explore my unique path of legend. Perhaps Eli also has potential.
But I still have to be careful not to hurt them.
Although these two druids are conservative, they are kind and honest."
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"Undead" and "Nature."
This is the question that Matthew has been pondering since he crossed over.
He is well aware that these two seemingly different paths are the sources of his future power.
Based on the concept of this continent, these two are almost completely opposite—people are even unwilling to think about why they are opposed, as if it is a natural law.
Matthew once asked Archmage Ronan this question.
After thinking for a long time, Ronan finally gave him an answer.
Ronan told him that all the concepts prevailing on the continent today are inseparable from the interpretation of the "Enlightenment Era" gods on the world and all things.
In that era when the gods rose and interfered in the mortal realm with their own power, the gods, in order to consolidate their absolute authority in their own domains, formed a set of interpretations of the world and concepts through multiple silent agreements and compromises.
This is the worldview inherited by many races on the continent.
This concept has lasted for too long.
...Hundreds of years passed after the departure of the gods, and no one was willing to break the silence.
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"For mages, spells are low-level tools, domains are mid-level tools, and concepts are high-level tools; but for the gods of the Heavenly Palace, concepts are their lives.
For example, during the Enlightenment Era, if one day all living beings no longer believed that the object rising at night was the 'moon', then the next day, all the gods related to the 'moon' would be at risk of falling.
Of course, after the 'Heavenly Palace Ascension', the situation changed drastically. The gods were powerless to interfere in the mortal world, and concepts were still a source of power for them but no longer fatal. More importantly, they are now too weak.
That's why we can sit here and discuss concepts without considering the gods' moods.
In fact, they are a group of stubborn and pitiful creatures who are about to be swept into the garbage dump, destined to no longer shine in this world.
The era of spellcasters is coming.
I appreciate your views on 'nature' and 'undead'. If one day, you embark on the path of legends, perhaps you really have the opportunity to create a unique path that no one has ever walked before."
...
These were Ronan's words.
Matthew was deeply moved after listening.
He was both excited that the previously uncertain path was becoming clearer and grateful to have met Ronan, such a good mentor, at the beginning of his journey.
In Matthew's view,
the trend of both 'undead' and 'nature' in himself was inevitable.
If he continued to adhere to the established concepts, the two would inevitably conflict within him.
He even suspected that the initial garbled code of the system was a manifestation of this conflict.
To solve this problem, he had to propose new concepts!
And in this new conceptual system, he had to make both 'undead' and 'nature' inclusive of each other.
This could be achieved in theory.
After all, the 'negative energy plane', which symbolized the origin of the undead, was naturally formed.
It should belong to nature in a broad sense.
And as time passed, nature itself would also have a day of extinction.
The universe would be destroyed, returning to death, and death was a sub-domain of the undead.
The two could completely coexist and transform with each other.
Of course,
it was still too early for Matthew to talk about concepts with his current strength.
He had to at least gain a certain authority over both 'undead' and 'nature' before he could announce the new concepts to the world.
But a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
Persuading the most conservative druid to accept, even if not rejecting, his concepts was Matthew's attempt while pursuing his tree-planting endeavor.
...
After finishing the review,
Matthew did not put away the stack of parchment.
He just took a short rest.
And then continued to write extensively.
Next was the content about future plans.
Matthew liked to make regular plans and list the things he needed to do one by one.
First was tree planting.
Before summer arrived, this was Matthew's main task, and no project could interfere with his shining in the tree-planting endeavor.
For this,
he decided to reduce the time spent on sweeping the Frenzy Hive at night.
After all, the deeper he went, the more dangerous it became. He had to ensure that there were no stragglers on the upper levels before considering going to the next level.
He believed that Ella and the goddess would understand.
Next was the study of spells and the delayed career advancement for almost half a month.
These two were not so urgent, aside from the spells that could be learned at any time.
Matthew's level was currently stuck at LV8.
To continue leveling up, he either had to complete a ritual called the 'Night of the Undead' to obtain the qualification for promotion to 'Advanced Necromancer';
or seek various advanced careers, whether powerful or niche: True Necromancer, Pale Lord, Lord of the Undead, Lament of Mourning, Guardian of the Ancient Tomb... and the unique advanced career of Baiyan City, 'Chain Wraith'.
In short, without advancing, his level could not continue to increase, and his experience could only be temporarily stored.
But advancing often required a lot of energy and time.
After some thought,
Matthew decided to plan the advancement matters for the first week after summer arrived.
This meant that he still had enough time to consider which path of advancement he should take.
Finally, it was about acquiring some necessary items and equipment—
Scrolls needed to be bought;
The weapon requested by Sodie needed to be commissioned by a specialist;
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If there was still money left, Matthew wanted to exchange for a larger 'Mysterious Spell Satchel';
And a long time ago, he had set his eyes on a ring that increased his energy limit in the 'Crucible House'.
But after thinking about it,
he sighed.
And ultimately crossed out the last two items from his to-do list.
...
By the time all the paperwork was completed, it was already late at night.
Matthew sorted the parchment into categories and placed different weights on top of them.
He stretched lazily.
A white light flashed.
Snap!
A coconut fell into Matthew's arms.
"Wait, where did you get this thing from?"
Matthew was surprised.
Unfortunately, the oak fairy came and went quickly.
He only saw a flash of white light before the other party disappeared, leaving Matthew alone to enjoy this 'gift from nature'.
"How do I open this thing..."
Matthew touched the thick coconut shell with both hands, feeling both amused and helpless.
But soon,
his attention shifted from the coconut to the ability of the 'gift from nature'.
After pondering for a moment,
Matthew placed the coconut on his thigh, took out a piece of paper, and began to write:
"How should I use this miraculous and somewhat mysterious ability?"
He paused and thought for a moment.
If he were a greedy person, he would strive to maximize his benefits.
He would collect corpses through various legal or illegal means and bury them in his oak forest.
Then he could just sit back and reap the rewards.
But was that really the right thing to do?Matthew shook his head decisively.
The boundless gifts were tempting, but if he acted that way, what would differentiate him from those who committed all kinds of evil for power?
Besides, this ability was only seemingly harmless for now.
Matthew didn't believe he could enjoy the gifts without paying any price.
His intuition told him that abusing this ability could cause significant problems.
Therefore, out of caution,
Matthew decided to actively control the frequency of the "gifts".
He wouldn't refuse the bodies that were delivered to him, but he wouldn't actively search for subjects to bury.
……
"Moreover, in terms of my mindset, I should control my thoughts. I can't just think about burying someone whenever I see they have powerful abilities... This kind of insatiable thinking is dangerous and could gradually strip away my humanity."
"The gifts of nature should remain as gifts, not something I actively seek."
After writing these two sentences,
Matthew let out a sigh.
At that moment, it felt as if something vague in his heart had been shattered.
His heart felt open and refreshed.
The next second,
He suddenly noticed that everything around him was twisting in a strange way.
In a daze,
Matthew saw countless faces as if submerged in mercury, some happy, some sad, some greedy, some indifferent, as if a pair of eyes with different emotions were staring at him.
His skin itched under these gazes.
Just when Matthew was about to collapse,
All the images suddenly disappeared.
A strong and powerful energy poured into his body!
……
"Having firmly rejected an incredible temptation deep in your heart, you have successfully stepped into the sub-domain of desire, 'Temperance'!
As a reward for stepping into the domain, you can choose one of the following three abilities——
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1. Calm Mind (Your will is strong enough to exempt most charms below the legendary level)
2. Reserve Energy (After your mana or physical strength is completely exhausted, a small amount of vitality will be generated, usable times: 10)
3. Heart Without Regret (You can choose whether to seal the emotion 'regret'. Once sealed, you will never be disturbed by this emotion again)"
……
After the unexpected joy,
Matthew began to think.
These three options each had their own merits.
'Heart Without Regret' could permanently remove a relatively negative emotion, and it could be unsealed at any time, flexible and useful.
'Reserve Energy' had a usage limit, but it could create opportunities for a comeback.
But,
Who could resist 'Calm Mind'?
Out of politeness, Matthew glanced at the other two options, then chose 1 without hesitation!
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"You have completed the enlightenment of the Temperance domain, the current domain status is: Beginner.
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You have gained a permanent status 'Clear Mind'
Clear Mind: Every day, as long as you have restrained a certain desire, you will have at least 1 hour of clear mind, during which your learning efficiency is three times the usual!"
……
"This is useful, speaking of desires, I'm restraining them every day!"
Matthew couldn't help but murmur.
The next second,
A faint voice came from outside the basement door:
"I knew it! Matthew, I knew you were restraining the urge to violate me every day. All you Necromancers are the same, aren't you?"
Matthew turned his head to look.
Peggy was swinging her long legs back and forth against the door frame.
As she swung, she was also winking at Matthew.
At this scene,
Matthew could only mutter in his heart, "Indeed, it's tempting."
"Is there something you need?"
He asked.
"There are three important things I need to tell you."
Peggy became serious.
……