Grumble!

Hulu's stomach growled loudly just as it accepted Chang Long's words, causing everyone to burst into laughter. Seeing that it was behaving well, Chang Long took out a full elemental crystal and gave it to Hulu. Hulu was overjoyed and quickly devoured it.

"Have you two made up?"

Siegfried, who emerged groggily from the temple, asked in surprise.

"Uh-huh, but you took a long time in there,"

Chang Long teased.

"Yeah, I have to agree with Draco. Going out to fight is way more fun than sitting and copying unknown characters,"

Siegfried replied as he sat down next to Chang Long.

"It seems that copying inscriptions in these temples takes more time than expected. A week is really short if you don't already know the locations of all 4 temples. The chances of completing this quest would be nearly zero,"

Chang Long remarked.

"Luckily, we have a large group. It helped a lot in finding all 4 temples—well, there's still 1 left—saving us much time on the quest,"

Siegfried nodded in agreement.

Beep beep beep beep

Finally, the coordinates for the southern temple arrived. Chang Long and Siegfried exchanged smiles, then stood up and set off immediately for the southern temple. They had now located all the temples they needed. Now, it was just a matter of completing the quest within the given time.

Hero, Jane, Kimhant, and Duncan staggered out of the western temple, which was built from red bricks and almost completely covered by banyan trees. Jane sat down on the temple steps and unfolded the paper on which she had copied the inscriptions of the ancient alphabet, looking frustrated.

"What's wrong, Jane?"

Hero asked, sitting down next to her.

"Look at this. It looks more like chicken scratch than human handwriting,"

Jane said, showing Hero the scroll.

"Don't feel bad, Jane. Mine isn't much better..."

Duncan said, unfolding his scroll for Jane and Hero to see.

"Hahaha, yours looks better than Jane's, Duncan. Mine is full of eraser marks, especially towards the end because I kept dozing off while writing. I wonder if Leevalas will accept it,"

Hero laughed, not too worried. Everyone then turned to Kimhant, who had not said a word since coming out.

"What about you, Kimhant? Yours must be worse than ours, right? That's why you haven't said anything?"

Jane asked, peeking at the paper in Kimhant's hand.

"Uh, not really,"

Kimhant replied, looking confused. He was trying to decipher the inscriptions. Even with the Basic Ancient Script Reading skill, it was not easy to fully understand the text.

"Show us, I'm curious to see whose handwriting is the worst between you and the three of us,"

Hero raised an eyebrow. Kimhant smiled sheepishly and pulled out his scroll, showing the copied ancient characters to the others.

"Wow!"

Duncan exclaimed, eyes wide saucer.

"That's incredible! It's almost identical!"

Hero could not believe his eyes. The characters on Kimhant's scroll were nearly indistinguishable from those on the stone pedestal.

"So, I'm the worst among us!"

Jane snorted in frustration.

"Actually, I have the handwriting skill from the writer profession, so my writing looks better than yours,"

Kimhant laughed softly.

"Oh? You're not a journalist?"

Jane asked, intrigued.

"No, there's only the Journalist and Writer Association. Most people in the association are writers. Then, there's a reporter quest. If you complete it, you get a camera,"

Kimhant explained. It was actually a secret of the association, one that members were forbidden to reveal. But he did not care anymore since he was no longer a member. Besides, the association had wronged him badly, so revealing this small secret was nothing.

"Really? I always thought journalist was a profession in this game,"

Hero was surprised by Kimhant's answer.

"Same here. So, there's a quest like that, huh?"

Duncan agreed.

"So, which temple should we go to next? North or south?"

Jane asked after they had rested enough.

"Let's go north. I don't want to run into Peach Blossom. Honestly, I don't like her at all!"

Kimhant quickly replied. The cute girl who was adored by many had unknowingly earned the young man's disdain.

"Really?"

Hero looked at the other two for their opinions. Both Jane and Duncan seemed to agree, so they set off for the northern temple immediately.

Aden and Valentine emerged from the southern temple, looking groggy as well. They each held a crumpled scroll, especially Peach Blossom, who came out twenty minutes later than the others, carrying more than one sheet of paper. Valentine approached her out of concern, as Peach Blossom looked worse than she and Aden.

"What's wrong, Peach Blossom? Why do you look so exhausted?"

Valentine asked, guiding her to sit near Aden.

"Mi, I don't think I'm suited for this type of quest. Honestly, I haven't used a pencil or pen to write in a long time because I've been using a computer since elementary school,"

Peach Blossom complained, sounding very disheartened.

"Don't worry, Peach Blossom. We're all used to computers too. Even though our handwriting is bad, it's worth it if we complete this quest,"

Valentine comforted her with understanding, as she herself didn't feel much different..

"It's not just that, Mi. If it were ABC or กขค characters, it would be one thing, but these unknown characters are so hard to copy!"

Peach Blossom continued to grumble.

"They are hieratic characters,"

Aden's answer made the two girls look at him simultaneously.

"How do you know that, Aden?"

Valentine asked, surprised.

"I'm interested in history and have been studying it on my own. I even chose archaeology as my major,"

Aden replied with a smile.

"What are hieratic characters?"

Peach Blossom asked, frowning.

"They're a script used by the ancient Egyptians, usually written on papyrus to record stories and events of ancient Egypt. It's actually a form of hieroglyphics,"

Aden explained. At that moment, Siegfried and Chang Long arrived.

"Hey Mi, how's it going?"

Chang Long asked as she joined Valentine's group.

"Master Changggg, it's so hard. I'm afraid I won't complete this quest,"

Peach Blossom immediately clung to Chang Long's arm, whining.

"It's not that hard, Chang. You seem pretty calm, though,"

Valentine replied.

"It's manageable. The northern temple Siegfried and I found had the magical crystal, so we had to fight right away,"

Chang Long said, patting Peach Blossom's head to comfort her.

"Coming out this late, will you have enough time to get to the second temple!"

Siegfried asked, now worried about his sister's group. Would they be able to complete the quest on time?

"No way. I'm not going to copy anymore inscriptions tonight. I'm going to rest. Look, the sun is almost setting!"

Peach Blossom complained like a spoiled child.

"Yeah, we should call it a day. I'm starving from straining my eyes,"

Aden laughed, rubbing his stomach lightly.

"What about you, Chang? Are you going to rest with us?"

Valentine asked her dear friend.

"Uh-huh, it's already getting dark. Traveling at night isn't a good idea. But I'll copy the inscriptions first, then I can take a long rest. That way, I can start travelling early tomorrow,"

Chang Long agreed but did not want to waste any time now that they had arrived.

"Why the rush, Master Chang? We have 1 whole week,"

Peach Blossom asked, confused.

"Have you forgotten how much time we've already spent traveling here? One day in Longshan City, five days on the ship, and today is almost over. We have only 3 days left online, Peach Blossom!"

Chang Long explained. Everyone's eyes widened, having completely forgotten about their remaining online days.

"That's bad. We've only completed one temple. The others probably have two by now!"

Valentine began to panic. The quest was not overly difficult, and the reward was a rare magical map reading skill that she did not want to miss due to insufficient time.

"We need to make the most of our time tomorrow. If we're running out of time, we should finish the quest first, then go offline in the city and come back online immediately. How about that?"

Aden suggested, looking at his friends for their opinions.

"That's the best plan. Otherwise, we won't complete the quest,"

Siegfried agreed. They then settled down for dinner. Aden's group set up tents in front of the temple, As for Changlong and Siegfried, they went inside the temple to copy the inscriptions there first, and then came out to rest, leaving their pets in the care of their friends who were waiting outside.

Three days passed quickly. Everyone raced to return to Leevalas' cabin in time. Each person acquired three levels of the Basic Ancient Script Reading skill. However, only a few managed to retrieve the magical crystal from the northern temple. Draco succeeded with the help of Firetail, and Duncan, who came out severely injured. The others fled the temple for their lives, unable to retrieve the magical crystal.

"Damn it! Why are so many monsters blocking our way today?"

Draco exclaimed in frustration.

"Don't worry, Draco. Even if we get auto-logged off, we still have 3 days left,"

Wet Trash Can consoled him.

"I know, but I can't help but feel anxious. You know how insanely tough this quest is. If we have to redo it, I won't be able to take it,"

Draco responded, shuddering at the thought of those ancient inscriptions.

"Yeah, I'm also worried about copying those inscriptions. Plus, the Magical Crystal Guardians are tougher than I thought. Sigh! It's frustrating, but I still want that magical map reading skill,"

Oliang admitted, feeling daunted by the quest.

"Look, the others are catching up. Let's join them!"

Wet Trash Can said happily, and the three of them ran to meet up with their friends.

Everyone was rushing because they had less than half an hour before the system would automatically log them off. If they were automatically logged off, the last monster blocking their path was finally defeated. But as they reached the open area where the cabin of the magic map reader Leevelas was located, their bodies began to glow with a white light, signaling that they were about to be automatically logged off.

"It's okay. Even though we can't log back in for an hour after an auto-logoff, we still have enough time before the one-week deadline. Plus, when we log back in, we'll still be right here,"

Hero reassured his friends who had completed the quest. Everyone's bodies turned into white light and vanished, except for Duncan, who still had online time left.

An hour later, Chang Long's group reappeared at the same spot where they were automatically logged off. Duncan, who had been waiting for a whole day, jumped down from a tree and smiled at his friends. Chang Long led everyone to Leevalas' cabin and called out to him.

"Oh, you're back already? That was fast,"

Leevalas said, opening the cabin's door. His small wooden cabin came into view, and he stepped out with a wooden chair, placing it under a shady tree and sitting down. Everyone in Chang Long's group watched him intently.

"So, who has what I need? A magical crystal and the papers with the copied ancient inscriptions from all four temples,"

Leevalas the Magical Map Reader asked.

"Uh... well, I got the crystal, but my pet ate it. Does that count?"

Chang Long asked.

"No, that doesn't count. You need the magical crystal to receive the skill from me. Actually, it's the power within it that's important. The crystal is just a container for the magic,"

Leevalas shook his head.

"But I absorbed the power from it. The crystal that Hulu ate turned clear,"

Chang Long explained.

"Impossible. How did you absorb that magic power? I haven't even taught you how dangerous it is to consume it improperly, even if it's just a fragment!"

Leevalas looked at Chang Long in astonishment. He gently took her hand to sense the magic within her body.

"You're incredibly lucky. It seems you absorbed the magic completely without my instruction,"

Leevalas said and patted his own chest, marveling. He released her hand and handed her a pure white scroll.

"Player Chang Long has completed the quest, Magic and Ancient Runes, receiving the Secret Skill: Magical Maps Level 1,"

the system announced. Chang Long's eyes widened in surprise at the system message, while the others were amazed to see the white scroll, indicating it was a secret skill. Duncan, not knowing the significance of the white scroll, remained indifferent.

"Those with magical crystals, sit in a row in front of me,"

Leevalas instructed. Chang Long stepped aside to watch, while Siegfried, Draco, and Duncan followed Leevalas' instructions. The others stood by, feeling envious.

"Take out your magical crystals and hold them in your mouths. Remember, just hold them; do not swallow. Then sit and meditate, focusing on the crystal in your mouth. You'll feel some pain as the magic power seeps into your body. Wait until the discomfort passes before relaxing your meditation and opening your eyes. Do not skip any steps!"

Leevalas explained firmly. If they made a mistake, the pain could be immense, but he did not feel the need to share that to avoid alarming the participants. The three men followed his instructions with pounding hearts, while Chang Long whispered to herself, shivering at the memory.

"Some discomfort, my foot. It was excruciating."

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