Chapter 2140: Chapter 2140

He pressed onward through the town's dilapidated streets, eventually stopping before the door of an ordinary-looking building. After he knocked, another old woman's head peeked out. She, too, demanded that Jenkins either offer his own blood or be injected with someone else's.

Jenkins again chose the injection and was once more subjected to a series of disturbing visions. This time, the images showed two young boys fighting over a beautiful girl. Though the scene cut off before the end, the bloom of red that appeared over the boys' hearts made it clear the story would not have a happy ending.

The visions were unsettling, but Jenkins's robust soul was strong enough to withstand the mental strain. The injection of the suspicious blood, however, was indeed having an effect on his body.

His physical form was close to becoming one with the World Tree itself, but "close" was not the same as "identical." In theory, he was immune to all toxins, but exceptions still existed. This questionable blood was one of them. While it couldn't kill him or leave him permanently crippled, it was not without consequence.

Jenkins could feel it. As his spirit increased ever so slightly, the injection was also altering his very flesh and blood. It was an exceedingly subtle, almost harmless transformation, one that only his acute sensitivity to the essence of life allowed him to perceive.

Simply put, the blood's influence had made his body extremely susceptible to change from external forces. For shapeshifting, this was undoubtedly a benefit. While the effect lasted, for instance, Jenkins could transform into a mouse much faster, or even attempt to become creatures previously beyond his ability.

By the same token, however, he was now more vulnerable to negative influences. As the World Tree, he should have been immune to such detrimental physical changes, but this particular Mysterious Realm contained the power of the Scarlet Ephemera—a terrifying force that specifically targeted flesh and bloodlines.

"The Difference Engine tossing the power of the Scarlet Ephemera into this realm was a perfect move," Jenkins thought with a grimace. "Facing an enemy , you can't let your guard down for an instant."

He sighed, then scanned his surroundings.

In the previous five Mysterious Realms, the power of a Beast of Calamity had always appeared as the realm concluded. Jenkins had tried to avoid it each time but had never succeeded. He held out no hope of dodging the Scarlet Ephemera here, either.

"The bell ringer said the Difference Engine couldn't alter this realm, only set a trap. So where is it?"

After receiving his second injection from the rusty metal syringe and describing what he had seen to the old woman, Jenkins was rewarded with an additional four dice. When he set out again, he had a total of 26 + 4 = 30 dice.

It was a large number, but the end of the town was still nowhere in sight. Jenkins had no idea if he had traveled half the distance or merely a twentieth of it. He had to proceed with caution.

Before leaving, he recalled the apothecary's words and grew curious. He wanted to ask if this old woman also had any extra items available for trade.

Unfortunately, she gave him no such opportunity. "Despicable outsider!" she spat, before slamming the door in his face. Jenkins decided not to press his luck and simply continued on his way.

He set off again, rolling an 11. After advancing across eleven large flagstones, his gaze fell not on the building to his right, but on the path ahead.

When choosing his direction at the last intersection, he had vaguely noticed something blocking the middle of this street. Now, he could see it clearly. It was a simple wooden barricade, constructed from thick logs that had been sharpened and lashed together on the ground.

There was no one in front of the barricade, only a sign hanging from it. The sign depicted 10 dice, and a crudely made wooden box sat on the ground beneath it.

Jenkins was startled. The scene felt absurd. His eyes drifted to the box beneath the sign.

"I wonder how many dice are in there."

The thought crossed his mind, but he wasn't foolish enough to attempt robbing the box. Besides, the barricade wasn't at his current stop; he would likely reach it on his next move.

The building he had stopped in front of this time was on the left side of the road. Though it was another small, one-story structure, it was clearly not a residence. The doorway was empty, with no door to bar entry. The architectural style was nondescript; different from the old women's houses, but otherwise unremarkable.

Carrying his pack with his sword on his back, he stepped inside. He summoned a candle to illuminate the pitch-black interior, revealing nothing but a few crooked wooden shelves lining the walls. There was no other furniture.

A thin layer of dust coated the floor, but at least it wasn't as filthy as the street outside. Jenkins looked around and spotted a trapdoor, almost perfectly blended with the dust-covered floor. After a moment of hesitation, he bent down and pulled it open.

As the trapdoor slowly swung upward, a strange odor wafted out from below—a bizarre mixture of blood and alcohol. Jenkins disliked drinking and detested the smell of blood even more. Suppressing a wave of nausea, he pulled the door fully open.

"Why does it seem like every Mysterious Realm has some disgusting smell?"

Descending through the opening, he found himself in what appeared to be a wine cellar. Blood-red liquid filled exquisite, dark-brown glass bottles, sealed with oak corks. They were nestled in wooden boxes filled with soft straw.

Each box had a cardboard sign attached, indicating the price in dice and the effect of the "blood-wine." But since the cellar was unattended, there were no further explanations, and Jenkins couldn't make sense of the simple drawings.

He looked for a blood-wine with an effect similar to a containment potion but couldn't identify one after searching for a long time. Still, having found such a unique location, he wasn't about to leave empty-handed.

Not wanting to waste any more time, he didn't overthink it. He traded a single die for the bottle closest to the cellar ladder. The effect described on the sign was completely unintelligible, so he had no intention of drinking it himself. Instead, he tucked it into a side pocket of his large backpack.

Luckily, he had used some of the items in his pack, otherwise the bottle wouldn't have fit.

Leaving the cellar, he continued on his way and rolled a 7. The blood-red flagstones extended before him, but instead of stopping on the seventh stone, he was forced to halt on the fifth. The barricade blocked his path. Thɪs chapter is updated by novel✶fire.net

Even so, he didn't regret his choice of path. The blood-red mist shrouding the street to the left looked far more sinister.

The wooden barricade didn't look particularly sturdy. The timber was damp and covered in mold, and it seemed a good fire could burn it down or a swift kick could send it toppling over. Jenkins walked up to it and gave it a few shoves, but it didn't budge. It didn't even hint at moving.

Resigned, he dutifully placed 10 dice into the wooden box. As the blood-red cubes clattered inside with a pleasant sound, the box and the barricade instantly melted like ice, dissolving into a pool of blood that spread across the ground.

The blood didn't flow randomly. It streamed forward in the direction Jenkins was headed, staining the next two flagstones and allowing him to complete his move of seven spaces.

But before moving on, he glanced to his right. The barricade had stopped him directly in front of another building.

"So, can I knock on the door now?"

He tilted his head and studied the heavily worm-eaten door, but ultimately decided against it. Safety first. The bell ringer had specified that he could only knock or enter doorless buildings when his roll landed him there.

Carrying the small cloth bag of dice, he advanced two more flagstones. With about ten buildings left on either side of the road, the next intersection was not far off. This street was certainly shorter than the one he had started on.

Two steps past where the barricade had been, he found himself beside another ordinary-looking building on his right. Based on his recent experiences, Jenkins knocked. The door opened to reveal another townsperson who looked like an old woman. He picked up the offered syringe but didn't immediately inject himself. Instead, he asked a question.

"Do you have anything in your house you can sell me?"

The old woman was clearly annoyed with him, but since he was holding her syringe, she couldn't slam the door. She shot him a glare, pulled her head back inside, and a moment later presented a wooden plaque. It was similar to the apothecary's catalog, with the number of dice on the left and an equals sign in the middle. Jenkins could decipher that much, but the simple drawings on the right were a complete mystery.

Fortunately, this catalog was far less complex than the apothecary's or the wine cellar's. It had only four lines. Jenkins recognized the potion on the last line: a Satiation Potion worth one die. One drink would stave off hunger for twenty-four hours, making it completely useless to him.

The first three lines depicted a bowl of rice for 3 dice, a hand-held oil lamp for 12 dice, and a square cloth for 20 dice.

Only after Jenkins asked repeatedly and offered to take one less die as a reward for the injection did the old woman begrudgingly explain what the items were. The bowl itself was worthless, but the blood-colored rice inside could be used to lure the monsters that lived in the town. If he encountered one, scattering the rice would create a temporary distraction.

The oil lamp would allow a traveler to pass safely through certain special areas in the town. For instance, had he entered the blood-red mist he'd avoided earlier without a lamp to light his way, the price he would have paid would have been far greater than a mere 12 dice.