The cocoon was only the size of a fist, made of a very peculiar material that looked like silvery-white silk, yet also like solidified moonlight.
Inside the translucent shell of the cocoon, a miniature starry sky seemed to be sealed, with tiny specks of silver light swirling within.
At the end of the thin silver cord tying the opening was an irregularly shaped crystal. When Wu Yao's fingertips brushed past it, a strange vibration climbed up her finger pad, as if someone had gently shaken her hand.
【Obtained Special Gift: Moon Cocoon】
【This gift cannot be traded or discarded. Once opened, it can be placed into the Inventory】
【Open?】
Wu Yao's gaze fell upon the tiny cocoon in her palm, turning it over and examining it several times.
This was the first time the game had ever sent her a gift; it had never done anything this fancy before.
Had it finally wised up, realizing it needed to give players some sweet treats?
After she chose to open it, the thin silver cord untied itself, and the cocoon shell bloomed open layer by layer like flower petals.
The first thing to appear was a silver letter. It was as thin as a cicada's wing, warm to the touch, and writing began to appear on it line by line:
【We have watched you for a long time.
Since you opened your eyes in the fire, built your nest in the corrupted land, and transformed amidst the slaughter. This path is exceedingly perilous, with corruption sprawling across the wild ahead and pursuers snapping at your heels behind. Yet your steps are light and your mind is resolute, leaving us both anxious and comforted.
For our anxiety, you view life and death like a chess game, indifferent and without regret. Yet, the moon waxes and wanes; you must know when to stop. Fire has light and darkness; you must know how to control it. You came from a place without a moon, where truth and falsehood intertwine like the shadows of dual moons. May you not mistake the false for the true, nor the true for the false; do not take existence as reality, nor death as emptiness.
For our comfort, even amidst the slaughter, you still harbor a heart of protection. This is the quality of a true witch, which cannot be taught by spells nor transmitted by covenants. Your path diverges from ours, and we do not wish to bind you with old rules.
Since you come bearing fire, this fire does not choose its wood to burn, does not choose its night to shine, and does not choose its hand to be passed. Yet fire also asks not of its destination, asks not of its extinguishment, and asks not of the warmth left after it burns out.
You do not know the moon, but the moon has already awaited you for three hundred years, hoping that you will eventually shine of your own accord, without borrowing the moon's radiance.】
The writing finished appearing, as if waiting for Wu Yao to read it.
Wu Yao frowned and skimmed it.
She stared at the dense, classical phrasing for less than three seconds before her brain felt like it had been stuffed with cotton.
What was with all this “we” and “you” stuff? Couldn't they just speak like normal people?
As someone who routinely skipped quest text, how could she have the patience to read this?
Wu Yao simply stuffed the letter into her Inventory and happily looked down to rummage through the rest of the items in the Moon Cocoon.
Right on top was a heavy parchment booklet. The cover had no decorations, only a shallow, crescent-shaped indentation.
The pages felt dry and soft, completely blank inside, but holding them up to the light revealed extremely fine silver threads.
【Obtained: Blank Witch's Notebook】
【Witch's Notebook (Epic): Endless pages, impervious to fire and water. Can imprint spell structures to form spell records, allowing notes to be taken at will.】
An Epic item!
Wu Yao's eyes instantly lit up. The game was finally being generous for once!
Following the attached instructions, she ran through the complete spell structure of Fire Meteors in her mind.
Almost at the exact moment she recalled the spell structure, faint silver lines appeared on the blank pages, as if an invisible hand were rapidly sketching across the paper.
In less than a breath, a complete and detailed diagram of the spell structure was imprinted perfectly onto the page, even the curvature of the runes' corners was precise.
Although the notebook was useful, it didn't directly boost her combat strength, so Wu Yao put it back into her Inventory.
Beside it lay a finger-long twig of Moon-Silver Wood. Wu Yao was already quite familiar with this material.
But when she casually pulled it out, the twig rapidly elongated and transformed. The thin twigs at the tip branched out, curved, and wrapped around each other, finally forming a cage-like structure shaped like a moon cocoon.
The entire branch stretched to a length roughly equal to her height, its thickness just right for her to grip in her hand.
No wood grain was visible on the moon-silver surface. It was as smooth as metal polished countless times, and tapping it produced a crisp, resonant ring that lingered for a long time.
【Obtained: Moon-Silver Wood Staff】
【Moon-Silver Wood Staff (Growth-Type): Spell Power +20%, Mana Regeneration Speed +20%, 1% chance to trigger Elemental Resonance, allowing free casting.】
Wu Yao immediately gripped the staff in her hand. Its weight was just right—not so light that it felt like a toy, nor so heavy that it interfered with her casting.
From this day on, she was finally a witch with a staff!
With a new weapon in hand, she couldn't wait to test it out.
Her gaze swept across the massive crowd of heads in front of her, but she didn't see a single health bar.
Well, these NPCs were quite tactful.
Wu Yao took out the final gift from the Moon Cocoon: a stone about the size of a fingernail.
If it hadn't appeared inside the Moon Cocoon, she would have definitely thought it was just a pebble that had accidentally slipped in; it was simply too inconspicuous.
It was entirely grayish-white with a rough, lusterless surface, no different from any random pebble on the side of the road.
If there was absolutely anything special about it, it was probably that when she held it in her hand, she seemed to hear a faint rustling, flowing sound, though it vanished when she listened closely.
【Obtained: Sands of Spacetime】
【Sands of Spacetime (Legendary): A miraculous stone that seals anchors of time and space. It is said to be a gift bestowed by the gods, capable of leaving a traceable mark at crucial junctures of fate. Adds 1 save slot upon use.】
Legendary!
Save slot!
Wu Yao used it in a split second; hesitating even for a moment would be disrespectful to the save slot.
【Special item used. Save Slot +1】
As a save-scumming maniac, Wu Yao had always saved her game every three steps, and she would absolutely save before any branching path to explore multiple routes.
But this game had only given her a single save slot!
One!
What was she supposed to do with that?!
Every time she saved, she had to bear the risk of losing her progress, which made her so frustrated she wanted to cough up blood.
But now, she had a second save slot!
Wu Yao was so touched she wanted to cry. She almost wanted to thank the game development team.
Fortunately, she realized in time that this was definitely the developers' tactic: first make you suffer, then give you a sweet treat so you'd feel incredibly grateful.
She wasn't falling for that trick. She would just thank herself for never giving up and never backing down.
Having collected her gifts, Wu Yao was in a fantastic mood. She didn't bother with the cowering NPCs in front of her anymore, walking back to the tavern as if they were invisible.
Benita had originally been worried that Phelin would be frightened by this scene.
Who would have thought that Phelin would be too excited to wait even a moment? She threw herself at Wu Yao, wrapping her arms around her waist and refusing to let go.
Wu Yao simply scooped her up by her armpits, lifting her up, and asked with a smile, “So, am I amazing or what?”
The little one wrapped her arms around Wu Yao's neck, her two legs dangling in the air as she shouted in a high, bright voice, “Sister Wu Yao is the most amazing!”
The tavern owner carefully poked half of her head out from behind the counter.
Her face was still pale, and she quickly glanced at Wu Yao before shrinking back, her lingering shock mixed with awe and fear.
Rate on N.U.
