Solstreus Capital City, the city that is the heart of the Gemmerio Holy Empire.
The scale of this city was unmatched by any city Hecate visits in this game. This city was about ten times larger than the Capital City of Rosenheim, with a lot of buildings with a mix of Rome and Mesopotamia architecture, with a fantasy-like feeling.
Walking out from the portal, Hecate could only admire the view of this city.
There are towers with floating rings, and each building has lamps that illuminates the surrounding area with light. Those lamps doesn't use bulbs, but rather unknown ball-shaped stones carved with glyphs that glows at night.
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- "So, this is Solstreus City, huh?"
- "Lucky, I got a free ride! Thanks for the gate, whoever it is!"
- "Hey, let's go to the Adventurer's Guild, I want to see the quests in this place!"
The portal that Hecate opened lasted for 10 minutes.
During that time, people from Calmen Town, both Players and Natives were able to cross into this city. It was a very common sight that many people would flock together for a free ride whenever someone opened the Teleportation Gate.
Regarding this, Hecate could only express her dissatisfaction.
She paid the costs of
1 million to open the Teleportation Gate. However, these people just tagging along without paying a single penny. Although the costs wasn't much in her eyes, but it was still her hard earned(?) money!
'Humph...! Someday, I'll use a Corridor Crystal to send you all to hell!'
Hecate remembered the time when Rena-cchi used the Corridor Crystal to open a portal near the entrance to the Sealed Mausoleum. At that moment, the expressions of the people following them were priceless. Now, she wondered what would happen if she did the same here.
If she opened a portal leading to... for example, the top of a waterfall...
But, Hecate shook her head.
Unfortunately, she didn't have a Corridor Crystal with area coordinates stored in this country. Although she had some Corridor Crystals in her storage, but the area coordinates inside them were within the territory of the Rosenheim Kingdom. And of course, the Teleportation Gate didn't support cross-country teleportation.
'Forget about them. I should do my business first.'
Ignoring all of the people behind, Hecate quickly left the City Square.
Hecate headed towards the place marked with the emblem of the Church of Light on the minimap. But this time, she walked there normally on foot without doing parkour. This was because the lights illuminating the street made it difficult to jump on the roof undetected.
She didn't want to draw attention especially from the Players.
'Let's just walk normally from here on. I don't want to be conspicuous in front of the Game Streamers.'
Of the many Players in this city, there must be at least two or three Game Streamers.
They were Players who make a living from broadcasting their game activities, including monster hunting, quests, or even just sightseeing in this game world. It was considered a legal career and they could make a decent money per month by doing so.
In the past, Hecate was also interested in becoming a Game Streamer. It seemed like an easy career where you could earn easy money, by broadcasting yourself doing random things to video sites. However, after she looked at various sources on the internet, she concluded that this career was not for her.
If she wanted to become one, she would have to sign a series of convoluted contracts with the agency. Undoubtedly, this would severely limit her playing freedom in the game. Not to mention, she had to interact with many people at once, which would be hell for a 'socially disabled' loli like her.
While reminiscing about the past, Hecate continued to walk on the busy night street.
♠♠♠
Half an hour later, in the northeast area of the city.
Hecate arrived in front of the building marked with the Church of Light's emblem. It was one of the large and luxurious building in the city, worthy of being called the biggest church in the Empire.
The moment she entered the building, she felt something like a delicate veil wrapping around her body, which she naturally ignored.
This veil was like an inspection to judge the guest based on their karma points. Those who have negative karma will receive damage the moment this veil touches their body. The greater the negative value of their karma, the greater the damage they receive.
Fortunately, Hecate had cleared her karma point as soon as possible and ensured it was in a positive value. Or else, she might suffocate to death from the prolonged contact.
'Okay, where is the main hall...?'
Hecate continued to walk straight down the corridor, towards the hall at the end. The corridors are quite empty at night, sometimes there are only one or two people walking around. If it was during the day, there would be a lot of people here and she might have to queue.
Soon after, she arrived at the main hall, where she was greeted by a Priestess.
"Welcome, deer esteemed Player... Do you need something in this place?" (Priestess)
"Oh? You can tell I'm a Player at first glance?" (Hecate)
"Well, we've encountered a lot of guests coming to this place, Players and Natives… So, we've gotten used to it."
The Priestess replied with a smile.
In this game, the church is a useful facility for asking buffs and refilling the health bar. Priest and Priestess would provide those services for Players and Natives. Players would often come here to ask for a full buff before they went hunting, while Natives would often come here to ask for treating their injuries or cure their sickness.
Naturally the service was not free and they have to 'donate' some money to the church. The amount of money they have to donate was voluntary and not fixed. But of course, it was common knowledge that the services they provide are based on how big the donation was.
If your donation was large, they will serve you with enthusiasm as if you were a king. Vice versa applied, if your donation was low, they will give you a bad service and slack off in their treatment.
Hecate nodded with the Priestess' answer, before continuing.
"Makes sense... Today, I came here to meet the Pope to reset my skills." (Hecate)
"My apologies dear esteemed Player, it is late and the Pope is resting at the moment. You may return again at noon tomorrow." (Priestess)
The Priestess unsurprisingly refused Hecate's request.
After all, the time was already night and the Pope wasn't just anyone who had to work overtime. Usually, a normal player would have to comply and come back another time. But even if she complied, this place would be busy during the day. There was still no guarantee that she would be able to meet the Pope.
Hecate didn't bother to talk nonsense.
She immediately swiped her game interface screen and chose to materialize her gold coins.
; ;| Please enter the amount of Gold Coins you want to materialize. [ 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 ] Please choose a container where you can put the coins. [ Medium-size Leather Bag ] |
| You have successfully materialized 1,000,000 from your inventory. Current gold: 564,430 |
Hecate entered 1 million as the number of coins she wanted to take. After that, she chose a medium-sized leather bag from her inventory as the container. Soon later, a leather bag full of gold coins appeared in her hand.
She placed the bag on a nearby table and opened it, then used her hands to play with the coins.
"I will donate this money, but can I ask you to take me to the Pope?" (Hecate)
"...!! Of course, dear esteemed Player. Please wait a moment, I will talk with the Pope first." (Priestess)
As the Priestess heard the sound of the clanking coins, her attitude suddenly changed 180 degrees. She immediately went somewhere after receiving the money from Hecate.
Soon later, two notification windows popped up.
; ;| You have donated 1,000,000 to the Church of Light in Solstreus City. |
| You have donated a large amount of money to the Church of Light. The spirit of Light, Licht was pleased with your deed! Your relationship with the Church of Light has increased! Karma +1000 Contribution Points +1000 Faith +10 |
| You succeeded in persuading Priestess Jenny to put you in touch with the Pope. Priestess Jenny's favorability +10 Fame +5 |
Hecate smiled as she closed the windows.
'So, her name is Jenny, huh?'
Donating money was one method of increasing Karma points. Usually, 1 Karma and 1 Contribution Point will be given for every
10,000 donated, which means 100 points for
1 million. But sometimes there was a chance of sudden jackpot when donating a large amount of money all at once.
The spirit of light, Licht will multiply the rewarded points by 10 times!
'Sweet, my total karma is now 1180 points. This will be enough for me to play as Black Phantom!'
With over 1000 karma points, Hecate could rob and kill some Players without worrying about negative karma for a while.
Contribution Points can be redeemed with a favor or equipment in any place belonged to the Church of Light. For example, the Saintess Necklace that Hecate stole from the guild Stellar Wing most likely coming from this Church.
Of course, before coming to this Church, Hecate already unequipped the necklace.
'If I remember correctly, Leon also used 100,000 points to become a Templar, rather than the normal advancement route from Knight to Lord Knight. That's about
100 million I think? But since he was so rich, maybe he just do that.'
Indeed, money makes the world go round!
As for Faith, it was just a tasteless thing for Hecate. This stat was important for Priests or any profession related to the Church of Light. But for Hecate, this stat seems to be... not having any effect whatsoever.
While Hecate was thinking about unrelated things, Priestess Jenny was back with the Pope.