Chapter 66: New Bloodline, Frogman Candle Spirit
[Live Update Announcement]
[Announcement: Esteemed Candle Spirit Warriors, the game will undergo a ten-minute live update today at 9:00 AM to release new content. Please do not be alarmed if you experience lag, disconnection, or other issues during this time.]
[Update Details:]
[1. Game access will continue to be distributed...]
[2. A Bloodline option has been added to the character creation interface...]
[...]
After casually posting the announcement, Luo Ge began his preparations.
He had only one reason for issuing this announcement, of course: to have the Spirit Candle analyze a new bloodline from the Bloodline Fruit and apply it to the players.
That’s right—it was the unknown Bloodline Fruit from the Mysterious Wooden Box.
After probing it with the Spirit Candle’s power, Luo Ge discovered that it seemed capable of providing the players with significant help...
Thus, the only guaranteed part of the update was the [New Bloodline Option].
Once he had everything more or less ready, Luo Ge began to summon new players...
...
[Congratulations, you have obtained game access for Spirit Candle. You may now use this access to enter the game and create a character.]
Crafty Frog, who was browsing the forums for fun, was stunned when he saw the message. A moment later, he was ecstatic.
"Holy crap! I got in! I got in!"
"AHAHAHAHAHA!"
He was so excited he jumped to his feet.
Then, he eagerly entered the game interface.
[...]
[O, Firelight from afar...]
[Accept the Candle Spirit Body and become a pioneer exploring the darkness... ]
[Please enter your name]
[Please adjust your appearance]
[Please select your Bloodline]
[Currently available Bloodlines: Human, Frogman]
[Note: Your Bloodline will have an effect on your character’s appearance and Attributes.]
"Huh?"
’Choose a Bloodline? The guides didn’t say anything about this.’
’It’s something new!’
Crafty Frog hadn’t noticed the announcement, but after a moment of confusion, he realized this was a new feature.
Recalling the [Wooden Staff] Weapon that had appeared before, he immediately began to enthusiastically check the relevant information.
[Human: A race known for its Wisdom, with balanced Attributes and varied Talents.]
[Frogman: An amphibious race excelling in Constitution and Agility. They possess a fixed racial Talent, though variants occasionally appear.]
’Frogman?’
’A race born from the union of frogs and humans?’
Crafty Frog’s eyes lit up, and he checked what his character would look like with the Frogman Bloodline.
After one look, the smile on his face faded a bit.
"Er..."
Slightly bulging frog eyes, clammy skin, powerful thighs, wide feet, webbed toes... it all looked rather bizarre.
Of course, it wasn’t exactly ugly, just a bit goofy-looking.
"...My ID might be Crafty Frog, but I didn’t come here to play as a frog. Why aren’t there any bloodlines like Dragon People or Elves...?"
Crafty Frog couldn’t help but scratch his face and complain helplessly.
However, after struggling with the decision for a moment, he still chose the Frogman Bloodline.
’Whatever, it’s just a game. And while this Frogman Bloodline looks a little goofy, at least it isn’t hideously ugly. It’s acceptable.’
After making a few minor adjustments to the body type, he finally clicked [Confirm].
...
Having just saved up enough Wax Oil, Shore arrived at the Reef Cave, ready to wrap things up and go buy a Spirit Fire Raft.
His good son, Li Miao, had gone to class, but Shore himself didn’t have any classes this morning.
However, just as he was about to touch the Candlefire, a pile of Wax Oil spread out from the Spirit Candle and, right before his eyes, coalesced into several humanoid... frog-heads?
Shore froze for a second.
’Holy crap, monsters are spawning in front of the Spirit Candle now?’
Startled, he quickly took a step back.
But when he saw the IDs floating above the "monsters’" heads, he quickly realized they were probably players.
Just as he was feeling puzzled, the Candlekeeper suddenly appeared.
"Welcome, O Firelights from afar..."
"You may call me the Candlekeeper..."
"You have chosen to shape your bodies with a new bloodline. This will grant you entirely different Talents, but it will also inevitably come with certain weaknesses..."
"..."
Luo Ge went through the motions while checking their Talents.
And while the players politely stood still, most were absent-minded, looking around at the environment with excitement and agitation.
"Oh man, I’m finally in! This texture quality, it’s so realistic!"
"I’m gonna become the Candle Spirit King!"
"..."
[Crafty Frog]
[Tier: Residual Ash]
[Level: 1]
[Ability Value:]
[Power: 3]
[Constitution: 7]
[Agility: 7]
[Spirit: 5]
[Faith: 3]
[Free Attribute Points: 5]
[Talent: Frogman Bloodline]
[Ability: Dodge, Recovery Wax Block (Inactive)]
[Skill: None...]
[Frogman Bloodline: Constitution and Agility are your strong suits. Your Jump ability is enhanced. Additionally, your special body structure allows you to move more flexibly underwater and remain active for long periods.]
’Underwater movement?’
Crafty Frog’s eyes suddenly lit up.
He hadn’t forgotten the game’s background lore for Spirit Candle: they were surrounded by a vast ocean, and the seawater had hindered many players’ exploration.
After the Candlekeeper’s tutorial was finished, the newly-minted players all chose their preferred starting Weapons.
After a moment of thought, Crafty Frog chose a Long Spear.
"Hey, bro!" Shore, who had been watching for a while, hurried over and asked curiously, "Where did you get those frog heads? Is that a new starting set that just came out?"
"It’s a new Bloodline from the update." Bu Long, who happened to be by the Spirit Candle recovering from his injuries, chuckled. "Didn’t you see the announcement?"
Shore paused, then scrolled through his notifications and gave an embarrassed smile. "Oh, you’re right. I didn’t notice."
He had just finally managed to get the Ghost Claw Magic to drop, so in his excitement, he hadn’t seen the notification.
However, he quickly turned his attention to Crafty Frog and asked expectantly, "Bro, is there anything powerful about this new Bloodline?"
Crafty Frog thought about it for a moment, then shook his head with a serious expression. "...It’s not particularly powerful. It doesn’t even get bonus Attributes from the Talent. You can only say this bloodline has specializations."
He wasn’t sure about all the aspects of the bloodline yet, so he gave a conservative answer.
Compared to other veteran players, the Frogman Candle Spirit’s Talent wasn’t balanced, and they didn’t receive any Attribute bonuses from it.
"Good thing there’s no webbing on the hands, or how would we hold Weapons?"
"Yeah, I was planning to go farm the Finger Tiger from the Pillaging Ship’s Captain. If we had webbed hands, we definitely couldn’t use it, haha."
"But I gotta say, the jumping power on this thing is pretty insane. Heh!"
The other two new players had also chosen to be Frogman Candle Spirits and were enthusiastically starting to test them out.
BAM!
"Ouch..." With a dull thud, a player who had overshot his jump slammed his head squarely into the ceiling of the Reef Cave and howled in pain, clutching his head.
"Holy crap, they can jump that high? Are they Tigger?"
Shore looked up, a little incredulous.
"Bro, do you know where the Storyteller is?" Crafty Frog asked.
"The Storyteller? No idea." Shore shook his head. "I’ve been over by the Near-Sea Ghosts."
"He already went to Exile Island," Bu Long said.
"That kid..." Crafty Frog muttered to himself upon hearing this.