Master the Abyss, starting from an apprentice priest.

Chapter 290 Thomas: Huh?
A legendary specialty, a limited epic specialty, and a rare specialty. The settlement rewards for the two tasks this time are quite rewarding!

The rare expertise "Doom Breaker" provides a standard improvement to the expertise of this level. The highlights are mainly on the limited epic expertise "Forbidden Observer" and the legendary expertise "Hunting God's Heir·Lost Seed" - the former provides a very domineering immunity to moderate status abnormalities; while the latter, while greatly improving the basic attributes, provides more authority slots, both of which are expertise that greatly improve Luo Xiu's strength!
Luo Xiu looked at the contents on the panel happily. After browsing through it from beginning to end, he confirmed the settlement result.

In addition to the two mission rewards, Luo Xiu also opened his mailbox and received all the kill rewards.

On the previous battlefield, Luo Xiu also killed several extraordinary people with the "Quadruple Destiny", and the reward for killing one of them was a [Ku Tu] warrior, which revealed a rare expertise.

[Steel-forged Body (Rare): Your body is as tough as steel that has been tempered a thousand times. 】

[Your "Constitution" attribute increases by 6 points, your health increases by an additional 10%, and your "Physical Damage" received is reduced by 10%. ]

【…】

A specialty that has been slightly improved. Luo Xiu confirmed the settlement and then closed the panel, carefully feeling the changes in his body after becoming stronger again.

He felt as if the blood in his body was boiling, and every muscle was stretching as much as possible, greedily absorbing the air from the outside world; and his already surging spirituality became even more abundant, and the fatigue brought by the previous battle was quickly swept away.

It is a wonderful feeling, as if you are in the finest hot spring, which makes people linger.

While feeling the changes in his body, his attention was also closely focused on any movement on the battlefield, searching for any fish that had escaped the net like a minesweeper.

There were indeed a few groups of Dark Army soldiers who took advantage of the terrain to hide, but they were soon discovered and captured by the Border Knights who were cleaning up the battlefield.

Apart from them, Luo Xiu did not realize that there were also hostile spiritual reactions from extraordinary beings with "triple destiny" or above on the battlefield.

……

About an hour passed.

The preliminary statistics of the war have been completed, so Lord Nelson, who was commanding the army, temporarily resigned from his post and went to the city wall to report the statistical results to the "high priest" of the church... no, now it should be the "bishop" Luo Xiu.

"Greetings, Lord Luo Xiu." Nelson bowed to Luo Xiu and said:

"Following the instructions of Lord Baines, I am here to share the joyful results of the battle with you."

"We annihilated a total of 38,000 dark troops, captured more than 24,000, seized more than 20,000 weapons and supplies, and 130,000 gold coins."

"Among them, the warlocks of the Fangbei Academy also recovered a lot of extraordinary materials, including the puppets that were destroyed by the 'Hidden Elder' Baberon in the battle. The two masters of general knowledge are going to try to crack and restore them."

"Thank you again for your help, Lord Luo Xiu. Without the power displayed by you and Lord Hubbard, we would not have achieved such a great victory as we have now."

"Lord Baines specifically instructed that half of the seized weapons and supplies, as well as half of the seized gold coins, be given to the church. This is Bian Ting's intention and also Lord Baines' way of thanking you."

Half of the supplies and gold coins? Baines is quite generous this time... Luo Xiu thought.

According to convention, the border court, the church and the square monument courtyard each took a quarter of the spoils, and the remaining quarter was used to enhance the combat effectiveness of the army and deal with various aftermath matters.

But this time... perhaps it was related to his promotion to the "Fifth Level of Destiny" and the fact that he and Hubert defeated two "Saints" of the enemy, so Baines gave him special face.

"Okay, I understand." Luo Xiu nodded calmly.

Seeing Luo Xiu accept this "gift", Lord Nelson showed a look of joy on his face and said:

"Thank you again, Lord Luo Xiu. This time, Red Maple City should be able to have peace for a while."

"I hope so." Luo Xiu responded calmly, and then said, "I noticed that the 'refugees' who have just joined Red Maple City seem to be unusually brave in the battle - you can consider rewarding them. This is just my suggestion."

"Yes, indeed." Lord Nelson showed an expression of deep approval on his face and said, "I will discuss this matter with Lord Baines."

……

Afterwards, Lord Nelson said goodbye to Luo Xiu and returned to Baines.

The sentry post that Luo Xiu temporarily took over was soon replaced by a dozen Border Knights and Fangbeiyuan Warlocks, so Luo Xiu returned to the church first.

After returning, he quickly summoned the "deacons" of the church and asked them to lead the clergy to notify the players of the "Church Patrol" and inform them that they would present celebratory rewards.

……

evening.

Thomas and several other "Church Patrol" players were cleaning up the battlefield to earn more commissions when a clergyman approached them.

The clergy told them about the call by "High Priest" Rossu Carlos, and a look of excitement flashed across Thomas' face.

"You said that the high priest asked us to go back... to give out rewards?" Thomas asked.

After the clergyman on the other side nodded in affirmation, Thomas put down the work of cleaning the battlefield and said to the "church patrol" next to him: "Let's go back first - our own rewards are definitely more attractive than those hired by the army, and the work here is almost done."

The players around him nodded in agreement, so Thomas finished his work and went to the church's special commission office to receive a commission of two silver coins issued by the mansion. He then followed the clergyman back to the church.

At about ten o'clock in the evening, Thomas returned to the church, where most of the church guards had gathered.

When choosing jobs, about nine hundred players chose to become "Church Patrolmen", and this time the church only recruited them, and the scale was much smaller than the first time "refugees" entered the city.

Most of the players have not logged off at this time. They came here as soon as they received the notification from the clergy, and they are looking forward to what kind of rewards the church will give out.

Under the expectant gaze of more than 800 players who were still online, the leader of the church, Ross Carlos, finally appeared.

This time, he did not ride on the "Golden Pegasus" as he did when he was first seen. Instead, he suddenly emerged from in front of the Suyou altar in the center and looked around with a smile on his face.

——He has been waiting here for a long time!
However, due to the effect of his specialty "Mist Hider", players who have not yet reached the extraordinary level cannot detect his presence at all!

Looking at the surprised, amazed, and envious expressions on the faces of the players below, Luo Xiu nodded with satisfaction and then said:
“This is our second time gathering here—guests from afar are also my new comrades.”

"I am very sad that you encountered such a tragic disaster on your first day here."

"But I am also excited - you have shown enough courage and faith to survive such a disaster and to be able to gather again like this!"

"The 'Deathborn God' has been purified. It was you who protected the people of the city from the undead he summoned. When the dark army 'Executioner' led the invasion, it was you who charged to the front line and withstood the greatest pressure!"

"You may have some hidden secrets, but I now believe that you have unlimited potential."

"You are the greatest gift Zhuri Xuyou has given me... my new comrades."

"On behalf of the church and Red Maple City, I welcome you once again and welcome you to join us."

After a pause, Luo Xiu continued:

"Now, according to the previous agreement, I will give you rewards and assign you new residences."

——Reward and residence! Thomas keenly grasped these two key words, and the excitement on his face became more and more obvious.

Although as "players" they can indeed spend the night by "going offline", for Thomas, a veteran RPG player, he always feels that something is missing.

But now, the high priest of the church finally confirmed it in person, which made Thomas feel very happy.

He heard Ross Carlos continue:

"The church will give each of you one gold coin. In addition, for every 'Deformed Undead' you purify, you will receive an additional three silver coins as a reward!"

"On the battlefield, every time you kill a dark army soldier, you will also receive a silver coin as a reward!"

"There is no cap on these extra rewards. You can go to the mission station tomorrow morning to claim them."

"Now - it's late at night, my comrades. I think you are exhausted both physically and mentally. You need a place to rest and replenish your energy."

"Afterwards, the clergy of the church will lead you to where you will live. It is a new area of ​​the church built in the suburbs, and each of you will have an entire room."

After saying that, Luo Xiu walked down the Xuyu altar, and his figure immediately disappeared from the players' attention.

The chief officer of the mission, Mayev, walked up to the altar. He waved his hand, and dozens of clergy appeared around the patrolmen. "They are clergy from the mission," Mayev said. "Follow them. They will lead you to your residence."

……

The evening party ended quickly, and Thomas followed the clergyman out of the church with a reluctant heart and headed to the suburbs of Red Maple City.

According to the clergy who led the way, it took about half an hour to walk to the residence, and Thomas calculated the reward he deserved on the way.

In the previous "Death Birth Disaster" and the defense war outside the city, Thomas purified a total of six deformed undead and killed twenty-seven dark army soldiers, which means that he can get a total of 1 gold coin and 45 silver coins!
After more than half a day of in-depth experience, Thomas has learned from other NPCs that the official currency issued by his "Nolan Empire" is a decimal system between copper coins, silver coins and gold coins.

Above the "gold coins" there seems to be something called "platinum coins", which can be equivalent to 100 gold coins, but Thomas has not touched them yet.

But Thomas didn't care about it. To him, playing games was a long and arduous process. As long as he played long enough, he would get everything. Thomas was not in a hurry.

Putting his thoughts back to the current gains - Thomas was pleasantly surprised to find that he would be able to get a total of 5 gold coins and 5 silver coins as rewards! This is almost ten times his current deposit!
His current total savings added up to 6 gold coins and 2 silver coins... Thomas suddenly felt that he had become rich overnight.

After suddenly becoming rich, he began to think about how to spend the money.

Maybe I can get myself a better set of equipment? Thomas thought...Frost Moon happened to be an apprentice in the dwarf forge manor, maybe I could consult her.

So, on the way to his residence, while sightseeing the scenery along the streets, Thomas opened the chat channel in his mind and glanced at the content that the players were discussing enthusiastically.

Except for the players who become "Church Patrolmen", most other players with jobs already have corresponding accommodations.

The second largest group of "wall guards" were stationed directly in the barracks, the "construction workers" lived in the workers' dormitory with vacancies, and the smallest group of "forge apprentices" were directly rented in the houses next door by the forging manor...

But in general, they all don't have relatively independent and private residences, which makes Thomas full of expectations for the residence he will get soon.

After roughly browsing what the players were discussing, Thomas opened the friend list and found the avatar frame of "Frost Moon 123".

The channel panel of "God's Destiny" has a friend function - when Thomas met Shuangyue by chance before, he added her, and her avatar is still bright, which means she is still online.

Thomas opened the friend chat channel and quickly typed a few lines of text -

"Hey, are you still online? Shimotsuki?"

"I have something to ask you."

"..."

"What's the matter?" Shuangyue replied quickly.

"I want to customize a weapon - I have a budget of five gold coins. Aren't you an apprentice blacksmith? Do you have any recommendations?"

"?"

"Where did you get five gold coins? Have you committed a crime? Have you become a red name?"

...Fuck, what the hell is crime?

Thomas was stunned for a moment, and suddenly understood that Shimotsuki must have thought that he had done the "evil deeds" of a red-named player.

That includes but is not limited to - murder, robbery, etc. In a sense, as long as you ignore its risks, this is indeed the fastest way to make money.

"No, it's just a bounty given to us by the church."

Thomas quickly answered her:
“刚才教会主祭罗修召集了我们，说所有教会巡卫都奖励1枚金币，净化1只‘畸变死灵’还额外给3枚银币、击杀1名漆黑军士兵再给1枚银币……”

"That's it. This is about what I can get for my achievements. A total of 5 gold coins and 5 silver coins."

"..."

"..."

There was silence on Shuangyue's side.

Silence is the Red Maple City tonight.

After a long while, a line of sour words popped up in the chat box that Thomas was staring at.

“…Is it too late to change jobs now?”

"Let me ask for you?" Thomas replied.

"Forget it." Shuangyue replied quickly, "You want to forge weapons? Five gold coins... It seems that you can only forge weapons of 'green rare' quality, and they are of inferior quality."

"But, well, even if it's just 'green rare', it's still in the category of extraordinary weapons. It's definitely much more powerful than ordinary weapons."

"Do you want to customize it? If you need it, I can ask the blacksmith who brought me there. It should be cheaper."

"..."

Five gold coins, but I can only customize "green rare" weapons in the forging manor? Well... it seems okay, after all, it is already the third level of extraordinary weapon quality... Thomas thought.

Previously, Thomas had learned that the quality of equipment from bottom to top was "gray and inferior", "white and ordinary", "green and rare", "blue and precious", etc. It seemed worthwhile to exchange five gold coins for a third-level extraordinary weapon.

"Okay." Thomas replied to Shuangyue, "Then I'll come to see you tomorrow."

"Okay." Shuang Yue also responded quickly, and then sent a message, "I'm going to bed. It's quite late."

"Ah."

"Good night."

"..."

After that, Shuangyue's avatar turned gray.

After Frost Moon went offline, Thomas also closed the panel. While thinking about going to the Forging Manor tomorrow, the clergy he was leading suddenly stopped.

"Here we are."

The clergyman said, "It's just ahead. The church has built a new residence for the holy men. Since you are already 'Church Patrolmen', this is where you will live from now on."

Following the guidance of the clergyman, Thomas looked forward.

Then, he widened his eyes in disbelief.

A row of three or four-story Nordic-style villas appeared in his sight.

They were lined up quietly on both sides of the street, the window glass flickered and reflected the moonlight, and the autumn chrysanthemums and bluebells planted on the spacious terraces were swaying and swaying gently in the wind.

The pale blue moonlight shines through the gaps between the treetops and sprinkles on the eaves of these small villas like silk. Blue spots of light flow and jump on their white walls, bringing a touch of refreshing movement to the quiet night.

"...?"

Thomas was silent, his pupils beginning to tremble.

"Other players either live in military camps, construction site dormitories, or civilian houses..."

"I live in a villa?"

"……what?"

"..."

Looking at the villa in front of him, Thomas fell into deep thought.

(End of this chapter)