Chapter 654 [Warm Winter]

[Unarrived Spring]

Type: Accessory | Grade: Fine (Green)

Effects:

1. +25% Freeze Resistance;

2. [Silent Snowfall]: The wearer's stealth checks are unaffected by footprints on snow or ice;

3. [Warm Winter]: The wearer may target one creature within touch range suffering from a poisoned, cursed, or diseased status to cleanse the corresponding negative effect, provided its source power level is no higher than the 3rd Circle. (1 use / 7 days)

Description:

An ice crystal flower blooming from the depths of ice and biting wind. The lingering obsession of the deceased has triggered a wondrous change within it, rendering it immune to external temperatures.

Note: "To be eternal in oblivion, or to melt in warmth—she chose the latter."

Sitting by the campfire in the center of the camp, Xia Nan looked thoughtful, his dark eyes reflecting the crystalline sparkle pinched between his thumb and index finger.

Just as the equipment's "Description" stated, the once ordinary [Unarrived Spring] bracelet had undergone a special transformation following Allirella's death—one Xia Nan didn't fully understand.

Even with his high Perception attribute, he hadn't noticed the anomaly at the time.

It wasn't until he bid farewell to the hunter Old Sonny and Sarah in the cemetery before leaving that he finally noticed the change in the bracelet.

Well—to be precise, the entire bracelet hadn't changed; only a single, tiny ice crystal flower woven into the fabric fibers as a charm had transformed.

Its size remained the same as when it was first embedded in the bracelet—still only as large as a fingernail. However, the surface of its six petals, which looked as though they were condensed from ice crystals, was now coated in a faint, nearly imperceptible glow that pulsed softly, protecting the little flower within.

This set it apart from ordinary ice crystal flowers, turning it into a high-value enchanted accessory.

Based on the information in the "Description" tab, the [Unarrived Spring]—which had now acquired equipment attributes—no longer needed to fear the ambient temperature. Even if the temperature rose above freezing, it would not melt.

This brought a measure of relief to Xia Nan, as he couldn't stay in the Rime Hills forever.

Of course, the other ice crystal flowers on the original bracelet possessed no such special effects.

Sarah had originally given it to him as a gift. Not wanting to let the girl's earnest feelings go to waste, Xia Nan had thought it over and taken the initiative to explain the situation to her. After removing the [Unarrived Spring] ice crystal flower, he had returned the rest of the bracelet to her.

Right now, the bracelet should be lying quietly as a tribute before Allirella's gravestone.

As an enchanted accessory that took effect simply by wearing it, [Unarrived Spring] might only be a green Fine grade item with purely supportive effects, but Xia Nan was highly satisfied with it.

The first two attributes—"Freeze Resistance" and the "stealth bonus in snow and ice environments"—were essentially bonuses, yet they could be quite effective under specific circumstances.

The true key lay in the third ability: the effect to cleanse poison, curses, and disease, usable once every seven days.

Even with the restriction that the target's power level could not exceed the 3rd Circle, it would still provide immense assistance to Xia Nan's future adventuring career.

Whether he used it on himself or to help someone worthy, it was an excellent asset.

He had thought it was just a regular adventure quest. To unexpectedly reap such a precious enchanted accessory was a pleasant surprise.

His only hesitation was figuring out how to wear this ice crystal flower.

Initially, he considered spending some money in Ice Tree Village or Bloodcast Keep to have someone weave a bracelet for him, embedding the ice crystal flower exactly as it had been. Alternatively, he could forge a ring and mount the flower onto it.

Upon further thought, he felt there was no need for such hassle.

Instead, he tied the [Unarrived Spring] ice crystal flower directly onto his [Tears of Spring Breath] necklace, turning it into another pendant.

Hidden beneath his shirt, it wouldn't affect its use, nor would it easily draw the attention of anyone with ulterior motives.

Not to mention, the flower felt cool and rather comfortable resting against his chest.

As a result, this single necklace now held a total of three pendants, including the [Tears of Spring Breath] itself and the [Fate Glimmer] die.

If he hung more on it in the future, it would end up looking like those trophy necklaces worn by tribal barbarians.

Unlike the limited slots of an equipment screen in his past life's games, in the real world, you could fill all ten fingers with rings or layer several pieces of armor over each other, and it was entirely feasible.

Of course, whether it would hinder daily movement was one thing.

On the other hand, back when he partied up with the mage Verol, he had asked her about this and received an explanation.

She explained that when high-level magic equipment activated, it often stirred up a massive fluctuation of highly concentrated magic particles in the surroundings.

If multiple pieces of equipment were active on the body simultaneously, the magic particle fluctuations they triggered could easily collide and interfere with one another, thereby weakening their respective effects.

In severe cases, it could even lead to a terrifying magical detonation, causing fatal harm to the wearer.

Therefore, even the wealthiest spellcasters wouldn't deck themselves out in rings and bracelets like nouveau riche upstarts; they typically maintained a certain distance between their equipment.

They would even classify and adjust their magic equipment based on item attributes, doing their best to prevent two conflicting pieces from being worn at the same time.

There was quite a bit of meticulous theory behind it.

However, despite all that, it was ultimately a "happy problem."

For the vast majority of bottom-tier adventurers in this world, they might never need to use such knowledge in their entire lives.

After all, adventurers who owned more than a single piece of magic equipment were incredibly rare.

Even with Xia Nan's current setup, he hadn't yet reached the point where he needed to worry about the effects of overlapping equipment.

"We should be able to make it back to Bloodcast Keep by around noon tomorrow, right?" asked Tal, the short and sturdy ranger sitting near the fire, his shiny bald head reflecting the flames.

"Just about. Even if we head out a little late, we'll definitely get there before the sun sets," replied Uriah, the bard of the Sulfur Dragon Breath team.

Tal was an old hand who had mingled in the adventurer industry for years. He thoroughly understood the principle of speaking human words to humans and ghost words to ghosts, allowing him to quickly get acquainted with the vast majority of his peers.

If it wasn't for his firm decision to latch onto Xia Nan—standing by his side without hesitation during the past few critical choices instead of wavering in the middle like he used to—he would have long since grown familiar with the two adventurers across the campfire.

Even so, having gone through several battles together and shared the experience of fighting side by side, they had eventually built up a certain rapport over the final few days of the mission. They had even agreed to grab drinks at a tavern in Bloodcast Keep once they returned.

In contrast, Treebrook—Uriah's original teammate—acted rather aloof.

Although the Rogue didn't talk much to begin with, Xia Nan could distinctly feel a stiff atmosphere between the two of them.

Shaking his head, Xia Nan stopped paying attention to them. He took the perfectly cooked piece of roasted meat, which was sizzling with grease, off the campfire in front of him and carefully brushed a layer of honey over it.

He waved it a couple of times in front of Fanny's nose. Seeing her nose twitch as if she was already full and lacked an appetite, he pulled it back and happily enjoyed it himself.

They were just temporary teammates on an adventure anyway. He was no saint, so there was no need to overthink things; doing what he was supposed to do was more than enough.

The night passed in silence.

As they drew closer to the outskirts of the Rime Hills, the mist in the woods thinned considerably.

To rush back to Bloodcast Keep as quickly as possible and avoid unforeseen complications, the group packed their bags and departed from the camp at the crack of dawn the next day.

Being Class Grade adventurers, their travel speed was swift.

Judging by the remaining distance and their departure time, they would actually make it back to Bloodcast Keep before noon.

However, strangely enough—in stark contrast to Xia Nan's historically smooth and safe return trips—the four of them encountered two monsters in succession over just a half-day's journey.

One was a giant wild boar with a Challenge Rating Lv2; it had a massive build and looked like a mountain of meat from afar.

The other was a Displacer Beast resembling a black panther, boasting a Challenge Rating Lv3 and the incredibly troublesome "evasion" and "displacement illusion" abilities.

Furthermore, both were in some sort of berserk state when encountered and were intensely aggressive.

Even though Xia Nan and the others displayed sufficient threat, the beasts showed no intention of retreating, entangling them as if fighting to the death.

Fortunately, despite suffering a casualty in the battle with the banshee, the remaining members had kept their combat strength largely intact.

Therefore, these two monsters didn't inflict much damage on the team.

It only caused some delays. Having set out at dawn, it wasn't until the sun was about to set that the group of four, returning with their monster spoils, finally caught sight of Bloodcast Fortress bathed in the evening light, standing atop the cliffs ahead.

A bustling hum filled the air. After being away for a few days, the Outer Camp area felt significantly livelier than when they had first arrived.

Adventurers of all shapes, colors, and postures could be seen everywhere.

With his sharp Perception, Xia Nan noticed the oddity on the streets without needing to focus his attention to carefully identify it.

He could see that compared to when he first arrived a few days ago, the number of veteran adventurers on the streets was visibly higher.

But at the same time, there was also a surge in newcomers dressed in crude leather armor—holding a buckler in one hand and a short sword in the other—who wore timid expressions.

It was glaringly obvious that it was their first time in an adventurer hub like this. The vast majority of these rookies kept their heads down even while walking, terrified that a careless glance would offend the vicious-looking veterans.

They didn't even dare to haggle.

As he passed by, Xia Nan witnessed a fresh-faced rookie adventurer trying to buy a set of healing bandages at a roadside stall.

Faced with the merchant's asking price—which was over double the average market rate—the rookie looked hesitant, feeling the price was a bit ridiculous. But before he could even open his mouth, the merchant, sensing his cowardice, beat him to the punch, pressuring and hurrying him in an almost threatening tone.

Flustered, the rookie nodded and apologized repeatedly. Not daring to ask further, he hurriedly dug out his money and bought the goods.

In major adventurer hubs like Rivervale Town or Barracuda Bay, where massive numbers of competing shops would practically pay out of pocket to advertise, things like this might happen occasionally. But all incidents combined in a single day probably wouldn't match what Xia Nan had seen on this short walk alone.

As for the reason, it was naturally because Bloodcast Keep's adventurer ecosystem had yet to fully develop.

Coupled with the massive influx of rookie adventurers in a short period.

"What's going on? Where did all these rookies come from?" muttered Tal, who was following behind the group and had also noticed the town's anomalies.

With the ever-increasing number of adventurers and the multiplied influx of rookies, the already somewhat chaotic Outer Camp of Bloodcast Keep was now a motley mix of fish and dragons, with all sorts of dirty deeds happening everywhere.

Of course, it only looked a bit more chaotic; for Xia Nan and his group, they were hardly affected.

A veteran party with an average Class Grade as high as Level 3 that had just returned from a mission was clearly not an entity those old thugs—who could only bully rookies—dared to provoke in this area. The thugs couldn't dodge them fast enough, terrified of being snatched up for a beating just to vent the frustrations accumulated during the mission.

Accompanied by Winter Wolf Fanny, the group of four arrived at the Military Merit Office.

They had anticipated it on the way here, and sure enough, it was packed to the brim.

The already less-than-spacious building was teeming with people. The queue of adventurers was packed chest-to-back, stretching from one end of the room almost to the other.

And this was even after the officials had temporarily added many more reception staff.

Even the young officer—who had briefly met Xia Nan over the [Endtime Reverse Scale] and promised to keep an eye on the item and notify him immediately if someone tried to snatch the exchange—had been dispatched from the logistics warehouse. He was currently sweating profusely as he struggled to maintain order on the floor.

"I'll wait in line. You guys go take a stroll outside. It's so crowded in here I can barely breathe," Uriah volunteered to handle the queueing, seemingly trying to compensate for his selfish behavior during the mission.

Seeing this, Xia Nan was happy to take it easy.

He gave Tal a look, signaling them to temporarily disband and gather back together once Uriah was close to the front of the line.

Then, taking Winter Wolf Fanny with him, he walked over to the young officer.

His recognizability was simply too high; the officer spotted Xia Nan with just a single glance.

Knowing that he had solid connections in the Inner Keep, the young officer squeezed out a smile on his sweat-drenched face before Xia Nan even approached. "Mr. Xia Nan, you've returned? Did the mission go smoothly? Don't worry, the equipment you wanted to redeem is still resting safely in the warehouse. I've been keeping an eye on it for you."

Hearing him say this, Xia Nan expressed his thanks politely and decently, not acting the least bit arrogant or unrestrained just because of the young officer's lowly posture.

Afterward, he asked the man about Bloodcast Keep's recent situation. "What's going on? Where did all these adventurers come from?"