“Um, excuse me, mister...”
The spirit of a middle-aged man dressed like a farmer squeezed forward, looking slightly embarrassed.
Behind him followed a boy of about thirteen and a farm woman.
“I don't have a reply letter. My family is all here in Blackwater City.”
“And I've never sent a letter through the post office either...”
Lin Gui paused and looked up at him.
“Then why are you here?”
The farmer rubbed his hands together, his soul light flickering.
“Well, it's been sixteen years, and we've been stuck here the whole time.”
“Floating around every single day, exploring every nook and cranny.”
“It's getting... a bit boring.”
He paused, his voice filled with anticipation.
“So, could we trouble you to...”
“...take our family to see other city-states?”
The boy immediately floated forward in excitement.
“Like the elven city-states! I've never seen a treehouse before!”
“Can you take us to see them?”
Lin Gui's face instantly darkened.
So... they're just here to go sightseeing?
Hearing this, the glass beads gathered around the wooden box tracks...
...all lit up with soul light!
Countless expectant gazes locked onto him.
Lin Gui's face darkened even further.
“No.”
He said grumpily, his tone resolute.
“I'm very busy. Aside from the Wall of Sighs, I have many other letters to deliver.”
“The borderlands, the Blackwater Corridor... the replies are piling up like mountains.”
“Making an exception to open this service is already enough of a hassle.”
“So I'm sorry, but if you're not looking for relatives...”
He waved his hand.
“Please move aside.”
The farmer's family immediately deflated, their soul lights dimming.
The boy's eyes darted around, and he floated forward again.
“Big Brother Lin Gui! I have relatives in Shadowmoon City!”
“They were really good to me, and our whole family misses them!”
“Can you take us there to visit?”
Lin Gui's lip twitched.
Like hell I believe you.
“Employees, maintain order.”
He called out to the side.
Several spirits of Blackwater City warriors floated over helplessly.
They pushed the farmer's family's glass beads along the track...
...rolling them clinking out of the post office doors.
Lin Gui massaged his temples and reached out to press the calling bell.
A pale but slender hand suddenly pressed down on the counter.
Blocking his view.
Lin Gui looked up.
Hannah was standing in front of the counter, leaning in slightly.
Her crimson eyes gazed at him, a deliberately soft smile on her face.
“Can we talk?”
She kept her voice very soft.
Lin Gui looked up, expressionless.
Then, he pointed his right hand toward the door.
“Please line up.”
Hannah followed his finger and turned to look out the window.
Through the glass, she saw.
On the snow outside, the wooden box tracks wound outward.
On both sides of the tracks, glass beads were lined up in perfect order.
A continuous line of faint blue lights stretched deep into the ruins.
A quick glance revealed at least a thousand of them.
The corner of Hannah's mouth twitched almost imperceptibly.
How long would she have to wait? Until the cows came home?
She fell silent for two seconds before turning back.
The smile on her face had grown a bit stiff.
“...Can I cut in line?”
Lin Gui lowered his head and continued to attend to the next bead.
“You'll have to ask them.”
He tilted his head toward the door.
Hannah followed his gaze.
In the next instant, a sudden chill ran down her spine.
On the tracks outside, the thousand quietly lined-up glass beads...
...as if receiving a silent signal...
...all spun in unison, turning their fronts toward the post office window.
Faint blue light flowed quietly within the glass walls.
There was no sound, no movement.
But Hannah could clearly feel it.
Inside every single bead, there seemed to be a pair of eyes.
Staring silently, unblinkingly...
...at her.
The overwhelming pressure of being locked onto by countless gazes...
...made her throat tighten slightly.
Hannah fell silent for a few seconds, her lips pulling into a stiff curve.
“...Never mind.”
She released her grip on the counter and took half a step back.
She silently turned around and walked over to the empty bench in the corner of the post office lobby.
She sat down and waited quietly.
She was in a hurry.
Roger and the others were still in the Voiceless Rift, their lives hanging in the balance, and every second counted.
But she and Lin Gui... were hardly close.
In fact, there was even a bit of bad blood between them.
She had once attacked that white-haired elf.
And her man, Roger, had set a trap for him by giving him fake coordinates to Avalon.
The kind of trap that could genuinely get someone killed.
At the time, Roger simply hadn't expected the guy would actually dare to enter the Wailing Corridor, so he had just thrown out any random coordinates.
Hannah was still curious even now...
...how on earth this guy had managed to find Avalon with the wrong coordinates.
She leaned against the cold back of the bench and closed her eyes.
Her fingertips tapped unconsciously against her knee as she waited anxiously.
Lin Gui had returned to Blackwater City at nightfall.
By the time he finished attending to all of his “guests”...
...the morning light had already illuminated the silent ruins.
The system notifications had long since fallen silent.
The reply signing rate had steadily settled at one hundred percent.
And he had finally received the reward he was truly looking forward to.
The magic draw.
This time was different from before.
He would be randomly drawing from the Mid Rank magic pool.
Mid Rank magic was of great significance to any mage.
It meant real lethality, real battlefield capabilities.
It meant being able to call oneself a true mage, rather than an apprentice novice who was barely better than a commoner.
It also meant being taken seriously in the Adventurer's Guild.
And commanding the respect of other rookie adventure groups.
The number of replies this time was massive, totaling over four thousand letters.
Lin Gui was confident that he could raise at least one Mid Rank spell...
...all the way to maximum proficiency.
The drawing process took place in his consciousness.
It was still the familiar spinning light.
It was still the familiar system notification chime.
Then, a bunch of Novice Magic appeared first.
Lin Gui wasn't surprised.
The magic pool upgrade simply added Mid Rank spells to the existing Novice Magic pool.
He glanced briefly over the Novice spells without lingering.
Aside from Spatial Mark and the increased proficiency of Soul Attachment, which caught his attention, there was nothing else of note.
Lin Gui locked his gaze on the Mid Rank spells that followed.
The first Mid Rank spell.
【Mid Rank Water Magic: Water Prison】
【Effect: Condenses water to imprison the target. Strength increases with mana input.】
The second:
【Mid Rank Earth Magic: Sinkhole】
【Effect: Causes a localized area of the ground to collapse. Limited range.】
The third:
【Mid Rank Wind Magic: Wind Pressure Bomb】
【Effect: Fires compressed air. Decent impact force.】
Lin Gui frowned slightly.
Garbage.
Utter garbage.
Even with chantless casting, even if he spammed them, their damage wouldn't compare to Shadow Pierce.
He looked at the final three Mid Rank rewards.
The light settled, and the information surfaced.
At first glance, Lin Gui's evaluation remained the same as the previous three spells.
Garbage, useless.
But...
If they were viewed together...
...it became very intriguing.
Lin Gui believed their combined power would at least reach the Transcendent Rank.
It might even touch the threshold of Legendary magic.
Especially since two of these Mid Rank spells were already at maximum proficiency.
However...
If used together, they would deal massive damage to the enemy—but also to himself.
With bad luck, he might end up killing himself before he could finish off the enemy.
Rate on N.U.
