The absorption of magic from the crystals had begun. The three young men felt as if thousands of needles were piercing their mouths first. They were so startled that they nearly spat out the crystals. Despite the pain and nausea, they consciously managed to keep the crystals in their mouths. The onlookers could only imagine the agony expressed on their faces, thinking to themselves that it had to be more than just a little discomfort!

As the faint rainbow light from the crystals slowly spread throughout their bodies, the three young men trembled uncontrollably. The excruciating pain, like being pricked by thousands of needles, continued to spread throughout, making them unable to control their bodies. Finally, the pain subsided as the rainbow light spread through their bodies and faded away.

The three young men slowly opened their eyes, their faces pale and exhausted. They removed the now-clear magic crystals from their mouths. Leevalas smiled with satisfaction, pleased that this group of students showed remarkable endurance. Not one of them screamed or quit halfway.

"Well done. Here's your reward!"

The Magic Map Reader Leevalas praised them. He handed white scrolls to the two young men as the system announced their quest completion. Duncan's eyes widened as he finally understood that the white scroll was a secret skill.

After saying their goodbyes to Leevalas, they headed back to the city. Duncan opened his restaurant and treated all of Chang Long's group to a meal to thank them for letting him join in their quest.

"Where are you all going next?"

Duncan asked while serving dishes. He felt that this group of players was very genuine, they did not ask for anything. Others, especially players who were affiliated with some guild would often demand compensation or pressure him to join their guild.

"We need to head back to Tartarus City to continue our quest there. What about you, Duncan? Are you going to see your friend right away?"

Draco responded and then asked Duncan.

"Yes, but I'll need to log off first, then I'll travel to see him on Aseana,"

Duncan replied.

"What's your friend's name? Can you tell us?"

Peach Blossom asked.

"Sure, his name is Crown. He's a fighter but focuses more on speed and agility rather than strength. He's 5 levels higher than me, but his level might be even higher now. I haven't checked,"

Duncan explained.

"Wow! That's high level. By the way, what kind of map does he have? Maybe we can help,"

Oliang exclaimed, asking a bit intrusively but without any bad intentions.

"I don't know what it's like because it's still can't be opened,"

Duncan chuckled softly, looking a bit troubled.

"Can't be opened? That's strange!"

Siegfried stroked his chin thoughtfully. Everyone in Chang Long's group exchanged glances and then looked at Duncan.

"The map wouldn't happen to have any inscriptions on it, does it?"

Lidded Wet Trash Can asked excitedly.

"Hmm... Actually, it does. I remember Crown saying something about it being inscribed with, uh... the heir... the heir of something... I can't quite remember. Sorry,"

Duncan racked his brain to recall what his friend had told him but could not.

"It's okay. We're just curious,"

Siegfried smiled, shaking his head. He then looked at his friends with a knowing glance and whispered to Chang Long and the others, asking if they should reveal this secret to Duncan. Most of them agreed that Duncan and his friend seemed trustworthy, and even if they told him, it would not be easy to act on it.

"What's going on? Why are you all acting strange? Is there something about my friend's map?"

Duncan asked, puzzled by their behavior.

"Uh... Duncan, the map your friend has,"

Oliang began.

"Yes?"

"We suspect that it might be..."

Wet Trash Can continued.

"Might be?"

"A map to the Pirate King's treasure!"

Draco, feeling exasperated, finished the sentence for him.

"Huh!"

Duncan shouted, quickly covering his mouth. He could not believe what he had just heard.

Duncan looked around at his friends, hoping they were joking. Crown could not be that lucky, could he? In fact, the Crown had not even told him where he got the map. For all he knew, Crown might already understand its special significance and how to unlock it. Duncan started to wonder if risking his life for the blind Magical Map Reader's quest was all in vain.

"Are you serious?"

Duncan whispered after a long pause.

"If the map says, 'Only the true heir can read this,'"

Chang Long shrugged. Duncan recalled what his friend had said and then exclaimed,

"That's it. Crown did tell me that!"

"Uh-huh. Did he mention any symbols?"

Chang Long asked. Everyone listened intently, eager to hear about this extraordinary story that they could never grasp.

"No, he just said he need to find clues in Persia City on Aseana Island,"

Duncan replied. If he had known the symbols, maybe this group could provide additional hints.

"That's too bad. We won't know which Pirate King owned that map!"

Hero lamented, disappointed.

"Can you tell just by looking at the symbols which Pirate King it belonged to?"

Duncan asked, astonished.

"Not exactly, but we can tell you one thing: To unlock the map, your friend needs to make contract with the weapon of the Pirate King who owned it,"

Siegfried replied.

"So, my magical map reading secret skill was useless then,"

Duncan shook his head.

"Not exactly. It might be useful once the map is unlocked,"

Chang Long said. She remembered that Siegfried's map did not appear on the game's general system map. Perhaps the magical map reading skill would help in such cases. She could not be sure, though, since she had stumbled upon Davy-chan by accident without using a map.

Beep beep.

The sound from Duncan's wristwatch interrupted their conversation. He looked at it and saw that it was alerting him to his scheduled log-off time.

"I have to log off now. Since I'm a chef, I set an alarm, or the auto-log off would mess up my restaurant,"

Duncan explained.

"Okay, we're full anyway. Thanks for the meal, Duncan,"

Draco patted him on the shoulder, getting up to help him clean up the restaurant.

"Yes, it was delicious,"

Valentine complimented.

"No problem. I should thank you for helping me with the quest and for the information you just shared. If it were other players, they would never reveal such secrets. They might even try to extort the map from me. So, thank you very much!"

Duncan bowed his head in gratitude with a smile.

After helping Duncan clean up, he walked them to the north gate of the city before he was auto-logged off.

"Bye-bye, Duncan,"

Chang Long waved at him as he stood at the city gate.

"We'll meet again, Mister Duncan!"

Kimhant said, teary-eyed at parting with his idol.

Duncan laughed softly and waved at Chang Long's group with a smile before his body turned into white light and disappeared.

"He's such a nice person, isn't he?"

Peach Blossom said.

"Yeah, I wonder if his friend Crown is just as nice,"

Jane agreed, feeling a bit regretful that Duncan left so soon; she had not had time to flirt with him.

"Don't even try it, Jane. I know what you're planning!"

Hero said knowingly.

"Will it kill you to not figure out my plans for once, Hero!"

Jane snapped at him with a deep voice, causing everyone to laugh.

"Let's proceed with the next step of our quest. First, we need to learn the skills we've acquired, then check the map. I'm so eager to explore the Pirate King's cave!"

Draco said loudly, noting that there were no other players around.

Rustle!

In a thick bush some distance from the path, two players in black outfits and half-face masks hid, watching intensely as Chang Long's group walk away.

"Did you hear that?"

One of the hidden players, wearing a white and gold hawk mask, asked his companion.

"Loud and clear,"

his companion, wearing a leopard-print half-mask, replied.

"What should we do? Follow them or report back to the guild leader?"

The hawk-masked player asked.

"You follow them. I'll call the guild leader,"

the leopard-masked player responded.

"Got it!"

The hawk-masked player agreed and swiftly followed Chang Long's group.

"Hehehe, we were hired to kill this group, but we overheard something good,"

the leopard-masked player chuckled, then immediately called the guild leader.

By evening, Chang Long's group arrived at the gates of Tartarus City. They chose a secluded small hotel to stay in. The hotel had just enough rooms for their eleven members, making it fully booked. The hotel owner could not hold back tears of joy; his small hotel was finally bustling with players. He had spent a long time cursing the big hotels, wishing for their downfall. After Chang Long's group, two mysterious masked players also asked for rooms but were regretfully turned away by the owner since the hotel was full, despite the high price they offered.

Chang Long's group took out their secret skill scrolls to learn them. The others, who did not receive the skill scrolls, stood guard to ensure no one disturbed them, even though the hotel was occupied solely by them. Chang Long, Siegfried, and Draco had two secret skills to learn, while Oliang, Wet Trash Can, Peach Blossom, and Kimhant were learning the secret skill rewards from King Duck.

"Player Chang Long has received the Secret Skill: Reading Magical Maps Level 1,"

the system announced. The white scroll in Chang Long's hand glowed brightly and disappeared. She then took out the scroll from King Duck to learn next.

"Player Chang Long has received the Secret Skill: Mage's Aura Level 1,"

the system announced. Everyone looked at each other upon hearing the name of the secret skill. Peach Blossom seemed the most delighted since it was a skill that suited her perfectly.

"Why would I want a Mage's Aura?"

Kimhant complained, feeling frustrated.

"The Mage's Aura is an automatic skill that only activates under specific conditions and couldn't be used. The skill would activate when the player's mana is depleted and no mana crystal is consumed within thirty seconds, the Mage's Aura skill will restore the mana to full capacity at the cost of 1% of the player's HP for every 10 units of mana until the mana bar is full, or the health bar is empty,"

Peach Blossom read the skill information aloud for everyone.

"It's useful for mages, I think,"

Kimhant said.

"Not really. For professions that rely heavily on magic attacks, no one would let their mana run out for long. Besides, it costs 1% of the player's HP for every 10 units of mana until the mana bar is full or the health bar is empty. Do you think mages have that much health point?"

Draco explained like an expert.

"I think it's more suitable for melee classes. Typically, our mana is much less than our health, and some skills consume a lot of mana. For example, my Reaper set skills can drain my mana bar with just two uses!"

Chang Long agreed with Draco.

"True, but exchanging 1% of HP for 10 mana points until the mana bar is full or health bar is empty is going to be dangerous. If we get carried away using skills and forget to monitor our health, we could die without realizing it,"

Siegfried nodded, acknowledging the danger of the secret skill.

"But it's still good in emergencies, like when fighting stronger enemies and our mana runs out multiple times without being able to kill it. It could save us then,"

Valentine quickly added, noticing Peach Blossom's disheartened expression.

"No, mages usually don't go solo. They group with other profession to tank while they cast spells from a safe distance!"

Oliang disagreed with Valentine.

"That makes the 1% HP exchange less lethal, right? Since everyone needs a break to recover anyway, using skills rapidly doesn't just consume mana but also increases fatigue more than usual,"

Aden analyzed, though Peach Blossom still did not seem pleased.

"Well, let's just adapt it to our needs. We got it unexpectedly, after all,"

Jane concluded.

"Exactly. This isn't the time to debate about it!"

Hero laughed, unfolding the map they got from the King of Tartarus City in the center of the group.

"So, Chang Long, Sieg, Draco, see any changes?"

Wet Trash Can asked excitedly, but all three shook their heads.

"What do you mean by shaking your heads?"

Hero asked, puzzled.

"There's no change,"

Chang Long replied.

"No way! How can that be? You got the magical map reading skill!"

Jane exclaimed in shock.

"Maybe it needs to be activated,"

Oliang frowned.

"No, it's a passive skill,"

Siegfried answered, causing everyone to feel disheartened. They had worked so hard for this skill.

"Hey, I think I see something!"

Draco exclaimed. He had been scrutinizing the map while the others were distracted by the conversation. Everyone turned to look at him simultaneously, while Chang Long and Siegfried quickly refocused on the map, hoping to see something too.

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