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〖Prison Star Calendar〗
〖Year 187, June 7〗
〖9:15 AM〗
〖Countdown to Confession Death: 13 days〗
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On the eastern flank of Sandrift Mountain Range, Tyler spurred his steed forward, and at this pace, he would require approximately four to five days to reach Sunny Town.
Along the journey, his rapport with his cherished mount, Moro-chan, grew increasingly harmonious. The horse and the rider actually being one.
Throughout these travels, not a moment spent horseback was squandered, as Tyler devoted his time to honing his skills.
Based on previous experiences, he knew that leveling up “Heart of Focus” would enhance his dexterity, while upgrading the “Deceiver” skill would augment his Intelligence.
Given that Intelligence was tied to magic energy and its restoration rate, prioritizing the advancement of the “Deceiver” skill level would undoubtedly be the optimal choice for maximizing skill improvement efficiency.
Upon embarking on his journey, Tyler’s “Deceiver – Lv2” consumed 5 magic energy points per second, with each second of use increasing proficiency by 1 point. 𝒐𝗏𝑙ℯxt.𝐜𝑜𝔪
At that time, Tyler’s maximum magic energy was 210 points. Deducting 50 points for emergency reserve, he could use “Deceiver” for 32 seconds, thereby increasing proficiency by 32 points.
Then, each night during sleep, Tyler would have the sleepless stupid loli awaken him every 4 hours. He would spend about 40 seconds using his regained Magic Energy before returning to slumber.
In this manner, Tyler could increase his skill proficiency by approximately 60 points per day.
From June 1st, when he set out from Ira Village, until June 7th, Tyler had accumulated four to five hundred proficiency points, successfully leveling up “Deceiver” from Lv2 to Lv5. In addition to enhancing the skill’s inherent effects, the upgrade granted Tyler an increase of 30 Intelligence points and 5 Dexterity points.
(Note: During “Deceiver – Lv5” activation, enhance persuasive effects on the target. When persuading, apply a positive modifier of +5. Consume 6 Magic Energy points per second while active.)
The anticipated increase in Intelligence was complemented by an unexpected gain in agility. Tyler speculated that there might be additional rewards for every five levels of skill advancement.
After leveling up, Tyler’s maximum magic energy increased by 300 points, reaching a total of 510 points. Now, while retaining 100 points of life-saving magic energy, he could accrue up to 140 points of skill proficiency per day.
The efficiency of gaining proficiency was as he had predicted, visibly initiating a virtuous cycle. Without the ability to appraise his progress, Tyler would have been unable to exploit this bug-like operation.
After all, without being able to see experience points and proficiency, who in this world would waste their precious magic energy on the “Deceiver” skill while seemingly casting it into thin air?
.
On the same day in Ira Village, Avril packed her belongings and prepared to set out. She felt a mixture of excitement and nervousness, while Elle was purely thrilled.
— (At last, we’re setting out, Avril!)
— (We can’t let Banning stay in Sunnytown alone!)
— (Otherwise, he might cheat on you, and you wouldn’t even know!)
“Oh, Elle, it’s not like that with Banning and me…”
Elle’s constant teasing about “catching him in the act” and “cheating” made Avril feel embarrassed. However, she couldn’t deny her feelings for Banning.
Though her confession that night wasn’t rejected, it wasn’t accepted either; thus, Avril didn’t consider herself Banning’s girlfriend.
This time, she wanted to leave the village to grow and mature.
As she’d said before, Avril hoped to become a person befitting Banning before receiving his response.
Under the warm sun, she bid farewell to the villagers and set off alone toward Sunnytown.
.
The following day, Avril walked across the open fields, her solitary figure casting a lone shadow.
— (Avril, let me take over for a while? You’ve been walking for so long.)
“It’s fine, Elle. We share the same body, so it doesn’t matter who walks, haha.”
— (Sigh, if it weren’t for the landslide, we wouldn’t have to take this long detour.)
Many days had passed since the incident in the canyon, but the dangers remained fresh in Avril’s mind. If she hadn’t encountered Banning, she might have perished at the hands of the stone monsters.
During those few days, the 15 members of the Gudetown Cavalry were wiped out, and Rhode perished in the landslide. These losses made Avril feel the frailty of human life and, subconsciously, cherish her relationship with Banning even more.
As they walked, Elle suddenly warned Avril to be on alert.
— (Avril, there seems to be something up ahead. Let me take over!)
Just as Elle switched places with Avril, something rustled in the bushes about twenty meters away.
“I’ve finally caught up… My destined… goddess… This is… our… fateful encounter…”
As the voice spoke, a round, fluffy object slowly rolled out of the bushes.
Elle readied her giant scissors for battle, but the white, round, and somewhat adorable creature left her puzzled.
“Ah…let me see… where is the goddess…”
The fluffy ball slowly unfurled, revealing not a ball but a… a…
“… Rabbitkin?”
Elle stared in astonishment at the long ears that stood upright. Before her was a Rabbitkin granny dressed in yellow-green traditional garb. The elderly Rabbitkin was only about a meter tall and quite petite. Though advanced in years, her spirit seemed quite lively.
“Ah, goddess! Are you my goddess?!” The mysterious Rabbitkin granny gazed at Elle, overjoyed.
“Wait, what goddess? Who are you and what do you want?” Elle didn’t let her guard down despite the seemingly weak appearance, keeping her giant scissors at the ready.
Seeing Elle’s stance, the Rabbitkin granny retreated a couple of steps, then reluctantly bowed with her aged body.
“My apologies… I forgot to introduce myself… I am the fortune-telling divination rabbit, Nevina… I came here specifically to meet you!”
(Divination Rabbit Nevina…?) Elle had no idea about this title or name, but Avril had some recollection of it.
— (Elle, don’t attack her yet. This rabbitkin granny doesn’t seem like a bad person.)
— (Let me talk to her first. If there’s any danger, you can take control again.)
Elle agreed with Avril’s suggestion, and her instincts told her that the delicate rabbitkin granny was harmless.
“Um, hello. Do we know each other? Why do you call me ‘goddess’?” Avril asked the rabbitkin granny.
“Ah, what’s going on? Goddess, it’s as if you suddenly changed!” The rabbitkin granny’s keen senses immediately detected the change in Avril but didn’t discover the secret of her dual personality.
“Uh, you haven’t answered my question yet.”
“Ah, pardon me… Actually, I don’t know you, but my divination revealed that the goddess who can save me would appear here at ‘2:16 PM on June 8th, 187 years ago.'”
The rabbitkin granny opened the magical stone pocket watch hanging around her neck, and the hands did indeed point to 2:16 PM.
However, Avril didn’t trust her just yet.
To verify if the rabbitkin granny was truly a divination rabbit, Avril devised a plan: she’d ask the granny to predict who Banning really likes…!