6: Chapter 6 I can bring out temporary skills

The stone steps on the inside of the city wall were narrow and steep, each one slick with blood. He walked down, leaning against the wall, his fingers digging into the crevices, feeling the coldness of the stone. The inside of the city wall didn't get any sunlight.

At the end of the stone steps was an alley. The houses on both sides were built of stone, with doors and windows tightly shut. One door was half-open, the inside pitch black, revealing nothing. As Zhen Lu ran past the door, he heard a faint noise from within, as if someone had knocked something over.

He did not stop. He did not want to know what was behind that door.

The fighting inside the city was even more brutal than on the city walls. The streets were narrow, packed with people, and every strike drew blood.

Zhen Lu pushed forward with the crowd, fighting from one street corner to another, weaving through one alley after another. He did not know how many times he had thrust his spear; his hands were covered in blood, indistinguishable between his enemy's and his own.

By the time they reached the city center, the defending army finally collapsed.

Hundreds of thousands of people were attacking the city; as soon as one wave was killed, another came, endless. More than half the people on the city walls were dead, and the streets were piled with corpses. The survivors dropped their weapons, knelt on the ground, and covered their heads with their hands.

The battle was over.

Zhen Lu leaned against a broken wall, gasping for air.

Everywhere was filled with corpses. Enemy and ally alike. Not many people had survived.

Hundreds of thousands had attacked the city, and more than half had died. The survivors were all wounded, covered in blood, looking like they had crawled out of hell.

Brother Wei had walked up beside him at some point; his right arm was gone, wrapped with a rag that was still seeping blood.

"How many people died?" Zhen Lu asked.

Brother Wei looked around, "Not sure, hundreds of thousands at least. Plus those who died on the plains, at least six or seven hundred thousand."

Zhen Lu fell silent.

Six or seven hundred thousand people. Although he knew these were not real people, and although he knew these "people" would respawn on the Main Planet, standing in the middle of the pile of corpses, looking at those bodies with open eyes, curled up, stacked on top of each other, his heart still felt heavy.

He leaned against that broken wall; the wall was cool. Moss had grown in the crevices of the stones, fluffy and green, a color completely at odds with the blood covering the ground. He stared at that patch of moss for a long time.

The moss was still alive. There was a little soil and a little water in the stone crevices, and it grew.

Zhen Lu did not know why he had noticed this.

Brother Wei patted his shoulder, "Don't think about it, time is almost up."

Zhen Lu glanced at the countdown on the interface. 00:07:33. Seven minutes left.

Brother Wei said, "Let's add each other as friends. Tell me your communication number, and I'll add you when we get out. You can ask me if you don't understand anything."

Zhen Lu showed a look of gratitude, "Thank you, Brother Wei."

Seven minutes.

Zhen Lu stood beside the broken wall, watching the city that had been conquered. The setting sun shone on the stone tower in the city center, its spire golden.

The corpses on the streets were strewn about, some already beginning to attract flies. He heard someone shouting in the distance; he could not make out the content, probably something about counting the loot.

When people in this world died, their corpses would rot. They would attract flies, stink, and turn into bones. Just like in the real world.

But his corpse would not. When he died, he would turn into white light and disappear, then respawn on the Main Planet.

He and the people of this world were not the same kind of beings at the root.

This thought made him feel a little cold, but also a little relieved.

A flash of white light. Zhen Lu returned to the Main Planet.

The plaza was bustling with people; beneath his feet was glowing white stone, and overhead was a deep purple starry sky. The air was fresh, with no smell of blood, no sounds of battle, quiet as if nothing had ever happened.

He stood in the plaza for a long time. Suddenly, he did not know where to go. He had just crawled out of a pile of corpses, and the smell of blood from that world still clung to him. Although the military uniform and bloodstains had disappeared upon exiting, his nose seemed to still remember the scent.

People were coming and going in the plaza; some were discussing which world to enter in front of the teleportation gates, others had just come out of a world, smiling as if they had picked up something good. No one looked at him. No one knew he had just killed who knows how many people in another world.

He looked up at the deep purple starry sky. The stars were still rotating. The close ones moved fast, the distant ones slow, each rotating on its own.

He watched for a good while, then took a deep breath. The air was still sweet.

He suddenly remembered the burned-down village, the well at the entrance of the village, and that small patch of sky reflected in the well water. The sky of this world was fake, but the sky of that world was real.

Under the fake sky, there were no corpses. Under the real sky, there were.

He did not know what this meant, just felt this thought stuck in his chest, unable to spit it out or swallow it down.

Xiao Guang floated out from behind his shoulder. "Welcome back. The summoning mission is complete, and the reward has been issued: 500 Credits have been deposited into your account. Current balance: 3623 Credits."

Zhen Lu nodded, habitually opening his personal interface to check his assets. Then he froze.

[Player: Zhen Lu] [Strength: 5] [Agility: 5] [Constitution: 5] [Spirit: 5] [Rank: F] [Assets: 3623 Credits] [Skills: Basic Spear Technique Lv.1, Basic Combat Lv.1, Basic Formation Lv.1]

Below the skill bar, those three skills were clearly written. Zhen Lu stared at the interface for a full ten seconds.

"Xiao Guang." His voice was a bit tight. "I am here." "The skills obtained by entering a world... can they be brought out?"

"No," Xiao Guang's tone was calm, "unless you have actively learned and mastered the skill. Temporary skills attached under the Temporary Summoning mode will automatically disappear after the mission ends. This is the basic rule of the Realm of Holy Light."

Zhen Lu glanced at the three skills on the interface. They had not disappeared.

"Then tell me," Zhen Lu said slowly, "why do I still have these three skills in my skill bar?"

Xiao Guang was silent for a second. "Searching... According to the system records, there are no temporary skills in your skill bar. The skills you currently possess are zero."

Zhen Lu glanced at the interface again. Basic Spear Technique 86/100, Basic Combat 86/100, Basic Formation 45/100. Clear and distinct.

He took a deep breath and did not ask further. His fingers unconsciously touched the ring on his left ring finger. The silver-gray metal was warm, just like usual.

Then he thought of something. He opened the interface and glanced at the three skills again. The system said no. Xiao Guang said no. But he had them. They were also in his body; he could feel it—the angle of holding the spear, the rhythm of the thrusts, the commands for changing formations—as if carved into his bones.

He slowly clenched his left hand. The ring was on his ring finger, neither tight nor loose, as if it had always grown there.

A flash of white light again. Zhen Lu opened his eyes and saw the ceiling of the Beehive Apartment. Twelve square meters, the humming of the heat exhaust, the desk lamp still on. He lay on the narrow bed, the ring on his left ring finger emitting a faint silver-gray luster.

He sat up. The first feeling was that his body was wrong. His body felt too comfortable. It was as if he had slept for ten hours, and his whole body was full of strength. He clenched his fist and felt his fingers were stronger than before. He stood up and jumped in place; his knees reacted much faster than usual.

He walked to the wall and looked at himself in the narrow mirror. The face was still that same face, twenty-four years old, ordinary appearance, an ordinary logistics sorter. But he could feel that something had been added inside his body.

He closed his eyes. Several images appeared in his mind: the angle of the spear thrust, the rhythm of his footwork, the commands for changing formations. These things were like they were carved into his bones, clear and distinct, impossible to forget even if he wanted to.

Zhen Lu opened his eyes and looked at himself in the mirror. Three skills. He had brought them out. Xiao Guang and the system said no. But he had them; not only were they brought out of the Temporary Summoning world, but they were also brought into the real world.

He walked slowly to the window. The window faced the heat exhaust of the building next door, looking out at a dusty wall and plumes of heat billowing out. Nothing had changed. But he had changed.

He looked down at his left hand. The ring sat quietly on his ring finger, its silver-gray luster shimmering slightly under the desk lamp. The line of text on the inside that he could not read was now pressing against his skin. Soul Anchor. He did not know if he read it right. But that word kept spinning in his mind, like a bead rolling on a plate.

He put his hand down, turned around, and lay back on the bed. He slowly grinned and smiled. "Praise the Holy Light." He said softly.