Chapter 16 The Young Fox Visiting the Moonlight Temple

Failure...

“Try again.” Vinniego was unconcerned, swinging his sword to dispatch a Moon Cultist who had stumbled near him. He gave a quiet command.

Honey nodded, waited for the mental ripples to subside, and tried again.

Success. Behind the Moonlight Priest, a Moon Cult Cleric—one rank above a regular cultist—suddenly became expressionless, frozen in place.

Abruptly, he reached out toward the Moonlight Priest and cast Death Cloud. For the Moonlight Priest, this level of dark magic was mere tickling, but it startled him enough to interrupt the Dragon Breath spell he was about to unleash.

The Moonlight Priest immediately turned, cast his own Death Cloud, hitting the cleric and leaving his face ashen. Yet the Moon Cult Cleric, with his high resistance to dark magic, survived, barely clinging to life but still standing.

The strength of the Enslave Spell was that no matter how much the controlled target was attacked, the control would not be broken.

Lightning Claw Strike!

A flash of lightning swept across, causing sparks to dance over the Moonlight Priest’s body. He stiffened, struggling to turn, only to see Vinniego rushing toward him.

Honey silently turned her face to the four-person squad and released a Fear Spell. This time, her success rate was high, and all four were suddenly thrown into terror, fleeing in panic.

Vinniego had said the squad was powerful, but their excessively aggressive nature left gaps in other areas.

The dwarven priestess had strong resistance to mind spells, but lacked the means to dispel fear; she specialized only in bodily divine magic, focused on healing and harm. Soul and mind spells, not essential for combat, she had never learned.

Now, she found herself in an awkward situation.

“Die together, you scum who offended the moon!” The Moonlight Priest roared, releasing Dragon Breath at Vinniego, who was dangerously close. The indiscriminate Dragon Breath would surely destroy them both.

But the Moonlight Priest failed to cast his spell.

Though Vinniego was currently Kress, he retained the ability to use items.

He activated a scroll: Electrite Spark.

Electrite Spark was not powerful, but it could release three to seven electric balls in a fan pattern covering the area ahead, and these balls could ricochet off walls and corners—perfect for this terrain.

Such basic attack spell scrolls were easy to obtain while traveling. Vinniego’s belt held three Electrite Spark scrolls.

He had prepared in advance. The Moon Temple was one of the “treasure vaults” he had set his sights on, and with the aid of the Sun Temple, it was clearly the best place for early treasure hunting.

Electrite Spark wasn’t formidable, but it delayed the Moonlight Priest just enough for Vinniego to rush in.

A horizontal slash, followed by a Swallow Kick, landing with a vertical chop, then immediately a Lightning Claw Strike, launching the opponent while lightning crashed down from above.

These seamless attacks had been rehearsed countless times in Vinniego’s mind.

The Moonlight Priest emitted a dying beast’s moan and collapsed heavily. Vinniego, practiced and efficient, drew the pouch from his waist, hanging it at his own.

Only then did the four-person squad regain their senses, glaring furiously at Vinniego.

Vinniego shrugged, casually unfastening the Moonlight Priest’s moonlight cloak and draping it behind him. The cloak held considerable magical protection, granting Vinniego extra defense, and it could enhance the power of dark magic.

Wait, dark magic? What if it worked with the rules of another world’s dark magic?

Never mind, he’d test it later. First, he needed to deal with the squad.

“There’s no need to try. Your combat strength surpasses mine, but you won’t be able to keep me here. Besides, if we fight to mutual destruction, it will only benefit those outside.” Vinniego sneered.

“What do you want?”

“The Moon Temple surely has more than one valuable cloak. I’ve claimed what I wanted; you can search the priest’s chambers for other treasures. I’ll withdraw and go to the Sun Temple for my reward,” Vinniego said coolly.

The squad exchanged glances. Vinniego didn’t wait for their reply, swiftly bypassing them and heading toward the temple entrance.

They hesitated, but the lure of potential loot in the Moonlight Priest’s chamber outweighed their urge to fight.

Vinniego walked on, disengaging his role construct. Honey followed, giggling as she sidled up to him.

“Come with me,” Vinniego murmured. He walked unhurriedly; whenever enemies noticed them, Honey would promptly use Mass Fear to drive them away, guarding Vinniego as he exited the Moon Temple.

“Let’s go to the Sun Temple for the reward, then come back,” Vinniego said.

The Sunlight Priest was surprised. He hadn’t expected the least favored youth to retrieve the Moonlight Priest’s cloak. Yet he was generous, producing several items for Vinniego to choose from.

Vinniego selected a ring that enhanced mind magic and gave it to Honey. Honey accepted it with delight, hugging Vinniego and kissing his cheek.

How wonderful, to be teased by a lovely little girl... Vinniego smiled gently.

That night, Vinniego—taking the form of Scavenger Meow—returned to the Moon Temple. It had been thoroughly looted by “hungry” mercenaries, but every setting held secret doors and hidden passages.

Inside the Moon Temple, he found a secret room with two inconspicuous treasure chests. Thanks to Meow’s scavenger trait, he could quietly pick up loot from neglected corners, behind doors, and forgotten cabinets.

A few magic scrolls, some potions, and a handful of usable weapons and armor. Vinniego relished the feeling of discovering treasure, though most of the spoils weren’t particularly valuable.

Still, he loved this process, willingly sacrificing leveling time for it, as he always had.

Because of this, Vinniego was often the first to uncover hidden elements in the game.

Role selected, analysis complete... beginning reconstruction. Level 5 Ghost, construction complete!

The Royal Knights’ ghost was marked by a hooded cloak, with only shining eyes visible beneath the chaos. To disguise himself as a ghost was easy; Vinniego happened to have the right cloak.

The Moonlight Priest’s cloak.

He concealed his head, face, and body beneath it and activated his role construct, transforming into a floating specter. His eyes gleamed, terrifying in the dimness.

Ghosts among the Royal Knights possessed teleportation and floating abilities, and strong resistance to physical attacks—but were easily shattered by holy and radiant powers. Even so, the cost of constructing a level 5 ghost rivaled that of a level 9 Kress.

Ghosts could strike with staffs and use lower-tier dark magic; of course, with their limited intellect, support spells were favored. For instance, “Nightmare” to attack and induce sleep, life and mana drain, sacrificing their own mana to replenish allies’, and even time manipulation with Sands of Time—though the price for using Sands of Time was beyond Vinniego’s current endurance.

Dark magic... The moonlight cloak could indeed amplify it.

Vinniego realized the ghost was powerful, but terrifyingly, even movement consumed mercury—since teleportation and floating required it, the cost was exorbitant.

In contrast, attacking did not consume much, but simply hovering in place drained enough mercury to pain Vinniego.

The profession was powerful, but expensive. Vinniego sighed, disengaging the role construct and resetting.

The moonlight cloak was indeed useful.

Honey had been watching Vinniego’s “magic tricks” all along. Though a priestess in service to the gods, she clearly had no interest in banishing evil spirits; rather, she was curious about Vinniego’s instantaneous movement, nearly reaching out to touch his barely-there body beneath the cloak.

“So fun,” was Honey’s verdict on Vinniego’s new form.

Vinniego smiled wryly. Though it was just an experiment, he’d used up a considerable amount of mercury. Given its high value, tonight’s tests had cost him a fortune—five gold coins.

“No more—I’ll have to spend the next few days refining cinnabar,” Vinniego sighed.

Mercury, oh mercury, where could he get a windfall of it?

Wait... I remember, the necromancer's laboratory...

“Little Fox, Honey is bored,” the young priestess complained, spinning in circles.

“What would you like to do?” Vinniego asked in return.

“I don’t know. Shall we play at the Sun Temple?” Honey blinked. “I really want to know what that powerful hostility is.”

“I’m curious too, but...” Vinniego smiled, “I doubt we could handle it. Let’s leave it for now.”

“Then, let’s go explore the island?” Honey suggested.

“There are lots of cannibals there,” Vinniego replied. “If we see a half-eaten corpse, will you be afraid?”

He spoke with a mischievous grin, waiting to see Honey’s reaction.