Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 162 Do you want to improve your favorability?
After a fierce battle, the princess put the holy sword on the ground, carefully brushed off the dust on the broken bricks, gathered her skirt, sat down gently, and felt the brightness and warmth released by the wolf-shaped bonfire up close. The golden-red sparks, like fluorite fragments, floated and jumped in her eyes, flickering from time to time, with some dazzling heat. But the princess was reluctant to look away, as if she was afraid that when she was not paying attention, the flames would disappear without a trace, and this place would return to the eternal darkness and silence.

She stretched out her hand, letting her palm feel the temperature of the flames. The dancing flames greedily licked the winding and disappearing palm lines like tree rings. It was not very hot, on the contrary, it made people feel very warm. Even the pale skin on her wrists and forearms seemed to have a little more blood color under the reflection of the fire.

The heat surged. Was it the liquid flowing in the veins, chasing the memory of the past life, rushing towards the direction of the sun? As the princess thought about it, her eyes became absent-minded. Her breathing was slow and even, and as her chest rose and fell, she exhaled two streams of slightly warm mist.

At this time, Alice's voice sounded out at an inopportune moment: "Don't be in a daze, Olvera, use the fire source to activate the new hero weapon!"

"Ah...ok."

Olvera came back to her senses and took out the [Certificate of Heroes] from the prop column.

A pop-up window appeared in front of me.

[After lighting the fire, the darkness on the floor will be driven away. You can rest, wake up, chat, etc. here. Actions performed at the fire will not consume game time. ]

[Rest: The journey is long and difficult. If you feel tired, you may want to take a short break here to prepare for the more difficult challenges ahead. Choosing this action will restore your HP, MP, and the burning time of the ember fire source to full value.]

[Awaken: Transform the experience and strength gained from the adventure into a new belief, and call upon the phantom at the other end of the long river of time to fight for you. Choosing this action will consume a hero's certificate and randomly awaken a new hero weapon.]

Three bright beams of light were cast from the vortex and landed in front of Olvera. Floating in the beams of light were the shadows of the remaining three heroic weapons, namely the Holy Book, the Holy Chain, and the Holy Staff.

When Olvera awakened her first hero weapon, she could choose it by herself, but now she is not treated so well. [Proof of Hero] can only be awakened randomly, and the final result depends entirely on luck. Olvera herself doesn't care. She thinks that no matter which weapon is awakened, it's good. After all, the holy sword - Oath of Broken Steel is strong enough, and the other weapons should not be weak either.

Because her HP had been almost depleted in the previous battle and the burning time of the lantern was almost reaching its limit, Olvera chose [Rest] first.

A warm current separated from the fire source and turned into two streams, one flowing into Ovira's body, and the other into the flame of the lantern. Then, the girl's health bar began to recover at a speed that was not fast but not slow. At the same time, the burning time of the lantern was also reset, and the flame was a little brighter than before.

[Chatting: In this dark world, you are not alone. During the rest time, you can communicate with your partners and perhaps understand each other's emotions more deeply. Choosing this action will increase your favorability with your teammates.]

Alice, however, could not relax and kept muttering something. Her voice was so soft that Ovella had to hold her breath to hear what she was saying: "Magic, magic, magic..."

The princess subconsciously reached out her hand and took the holy book. She found that it had a silent cover like obsidian, with patterns of flowing water, flames, beams of light, gusts of wind and thunder. Surrounded by these patterns was a young man whose face could not be seen clearly. He raised his hand, as if he was directing the changes and corrections of the elements of heaven and earth, turning all the anger from nature into endless power under his control.

At this time, two of the three beams of light gradually blurred and disappeared from her sight, and the remaining beam of light shattered with a loud bang, and fragments of light flew everywhere. The floating image of the weapon gradually condensed and turned into an ancient and solemn holy book, which fell from the sky and slowly landed in front of Olvera.

After a short break, the main event was about to begin. Under Alice's constant urging, Olvera chose the [Awakening] action. The next moment, the [Proof of Heroes] in her hand flew uncontrollably toward the wolf-shaped fire source and was burned to ashes in the blazing flames. However, the scattered ashes did not drift away, but gradually flew up under the control of a mysterious force, gathering in the sky like a fire crystal butterfly, slowly rotating to form a nebula-like vortex.

[Use the Hero's Proof to awaken the weapon used by the legendary hero Linger: Holy Scripture - Elemental Ruler. ]

[The hero's memory and experience increase your MP by 250 points and your mana recovery speed by 100%.]

[Magic skills unlocked, element combination mechanism unlocked.] After a series of system prompts, a low, calm and plain voice said: "A well-considered choice."

Aoweila was slightly startled. She recognized the voice. Wasn't it...

"Linger!?"

Alice was surprised and delighted. "It's really you. That's great! I was praying in my heart just now to get you out. After all, Olvera doesn't have the means to attack from a distance yet. If she encounters an enemy like the BOSS just now, it will be very difficult. She must have a way to deal with it. Your magic attack is just right! Hehe, what do you think? It's all thanks to me that you can join the team so early. You must thank me well, okay?"

nonsense.

Avra silently retorted in her heart: It was clearly the result of a random draw, and you didn’t just pray in your heart, you clearly said it out loud, okay?

Lingge, who was awakened, fell silent. Based on his understanding of this golden-haired maid, he believed that even if not all of her words were false, at least 90% of them needed to be treated with caution. So he pretended not to hear her request for credit and ignored it.

His current state is the same as Alice's. He is in Ovira's team. Although he has no physical body, he can observe the situation outside. So he looked around and saw a bright but dilapidated arena and a blazing wolf-shaped fire in the center of the arena. He couldn't help but ask, "So, what's going on now? Can you explain it to me?"

"Of course!" Alice agreed immediately: "I'll explain it to you!"

"No need."

Obviously, Lingge did not trust her ability to organize language: "Let Miss Olvera explain."

"Ah? Ah, okay." Olvera, who had been just listening to the conversation between the two in a daze, nodded quickly. Alice, who was ruthlessly rejected, held a grudge, thinking that this was a contempt for her abilities and a great insult to her personality, which she absolutely could not tolerate!

However, considering that Lingge was her employer and this was a critical moment when everyone had to cooperate sincerely and work together to pass the game, a harmonious team atmosphere was very important, so she held back and did not do anything extreme for the time being.

Internal strife is often the beginning of a team split, and it is also the first scene that lays the groundwork for a tragic plot. Alice prefers family-friendly plots, even dark and cruel ones. So she not only generously tolerates Lingge's rudeness, but also tries every means to improve the favorability among team members.

Under her instructions, Olvera chose the last action provided by the Fire Source, which was [Chatting].

Then, by the blazing bonfire, the flickering flames gradually outlined two vague human figures. At first, they seemed unreal, but soon solidified under the light of the fire, appearing in Ovilla's eyes like the protagonists walking out of a storybook.

The golden-haired maid Alice with scorching eyes, and the calm-looking pastor Lingge.

The phantom of an ancient hero descends here.

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)