CHAPTER 94: GALE-WIND CITY, PROPERTY INVESTMENT, AND THE RACIAL TRIAL ANOMALY

The giant silhouette on the eastern horizon gradually clarified its form as my steps dragged across the dry savanna plain. Gale-Wind City, or the City of Strong Winds. The distance from my hunting location turned out to take nearly a full hour of walking with my pitiful Agility stat. If I used Wind Walk continuously, my Mana would be completely drained before I could even enjoy the city scenery.

The moment I crossed the grassland area boundary and approached the main city gate, the strong wind that had been sweeping the savanna suddenly subsided, as if this city was protected by an invisible dome that tamed the storm.

My eyes widened behind the hood of my white military uniform. Gale-Wind City was extraordinarily large. Its scale was equivalent to StoneBrook, the beginner city where I first landed in this world. Its outer walls were made of sturdy white limestone, decorated with giant windmill propellers on every watchtower that rotated slowly, generating mechanical or magical power that the city system somehow used.

Players with average levels of 30 to 40 streamed in and out of the gate with various mounts and advanced equipment. Some of them rode giant wolves, armored ostriches like the ones I had hunted earlier, even horse-drawn carriages pulled by Wooden Golems.

I let out a long breath, suddenly feeling like a frog in a well.

For days, I had locked myself too tightly inside Silvergrass Village. Between brewing armor-melting poisons in the swamp, creating castle-breaching explosives, and assembling my first Musket rifle in the stuffy workshop, I had forgotten that Second World Online was an MMORPG with an extremely vast open world. I had even briefly read on the forums that lately many new mid-scale cities had begun to be discovered and explored by the frontline players.

While the giant guilds were busy expanding territories and fighting over castles, and elite players were busy opening new maps, I had been acting like a virtual hikkikomori who spent time staring at microscopes and steel-melting furnaces in a remote village classified as Area 2.5.

"Well, everyone has their own playstyle," I muttered to comfort myself. "At least this hikkikomori just permanently destroyed the Ironhold castle gate and assembled the first firearm on the server."

Slipping among the crowd of players queuing at the gate, my eye-catching appearance an albino Elf with silver hair in a snow-white military uniform and a long ancient rifle slung across my back, made several players turn their heads. However, thanks to my fame being partially obscured (they only knew rumors about the 'White Elf', not my actual ID), no one dared approach or disturb me. The aura of the Epic Equipment I wore was enough to serve as a warning signal: 'Do not mess with this player.'

My first destination, as usual when entering a new area: the City Center.

I walked along the clean cobblestone streets. The architecture of Gale-Wind City was unique. Its buildings were not rigid like StoneBrook, which was thick with a hard medieval atmosphere. Here, natural elements were tightly interwoven with civilization. Giant shady trees grew through the rooftops of buildings, their branches intertwining above the streets, forming a natural canopy that filtered sunlight into a greenish-golden glow.

Clear water channels flowed along the sides of the roads, turning small waterwheels connected to NPC shops. Exotic flowers in neon colors blue, purple, and pink grew lushly on every balcony and hanging garden. A sweet, calming floral scent replaced the smell of gunpowder and furnace smoke that had clung to my nose all night.

I arrived at the main city square and immediately headed toward a blue crystal monument floating above a marble pedestal. I extended my hand, letting my fingers touch the cold surface of the crystal.

[System: You have discovered the Waypoint 'Gale-Wind City'. Teleportation Network opened!]

I smiled faintly. With this, I no longer needed to walk myself to exhaustion from StoneBrook or Silvergrass if I wanted to come here. Just pay a few silver coins, and I could transfer instantly.

While leaning against the square railing, I gazed at the vast flower garden in the center of the city. This place was too beautiful. My brain immediately linked it to one name.

Flora.

That Dryad-race girl with plant affinity would definitely scream with joy if she saw this place. Rara (Lumina), who loved aesthetic things, would also surely be busy taking screenshots from every corner of the city. As for Yuuki and Yuna… well, those two would probably be busier searching for the nearest meat tavern or buffet restaurant, but they would definitely like the relaxed atmosphere of this city.

"Later I'll invite Yuuki and the '5 Beautiful Girls' party here," I muttered while opening the friend interface, seeing their status currently offline for rest. "Flora will definitely love it here. She might even refuse to log out and decide to take root in the city garden."

After satisfying myself with the scenery, my merchant and crafter instincts took over. I began exploring the city's commercial district, which turned out to be far more massive than I had expected. Unlike beginner cities, Gale-Wind City was a paradise for alchemists and botanists.

The NPC shops here displayed materials I had never seen before. I entered one of the largest herb shops guarded by an elderly Elf NPC in a green robe.

"Welcome, Wanderer. The wind has brought you to the right place," he greeted warmly.

I spent nearly an hour inside that shop, buying up various rare medicinal plants. I purchased dozens of bundles of Gale-Weed grass that was said to temporarily increase agility if extracted correctly, Azure Petals that possessed extreme cooling properties, and Sun-scorched Roots that contained high-tier latent fire elements. My brain was already designing dozens of new synthesis formulas. Maybe I could create cooling lubricant for my rifle barrel that heated up quickly, or a poison that manipulated the target's blood temperature.

Besides medicinal plants, my eyes fixed on a corner of the shop that sold magically stabilized tree seedlings in small clay pots.

"This tree…" I touched a leaf from a silver-leaved seedling that emitted a faint glow.

"Ah, Miss has a good eye," the NPC said. "That is a Silver-Vein Sapling. A tree whose roots can filter dirty minerals from the soil and purify the water around it. It grows quite quickly if planted near a pure water source."

"I'll take three," I said without hesitation, tossing several gold coins onto the cashier table.

I planned to plant these trees around my shop, "Waterwheel," in Silvergrass Village. Even though the shop's current status was still rented from the Village Chief, I had already made up my mind. With thousands of pure gold coins from monopolizing the sulfur market during the Castle Siege and the payment from Arthur, buying a plot of land along with the building in a remote village was not difficult.

Silvergrass might be located in Area 2.5, which was rather quiet and remote from the high-level player activity centers, but that was precisely its main selling point for me. I needed peace. I did not want my explosive experiments or firearm test-firings disturbed by player security committees or secretly recorded by forum paparazzi. Purchasing full ownership rights to the "Waterwheel" was a logical long-term investment step for my secret base.

After shopping was finished and my inventory was now filled with experimental material stock, I decided not to return immediately. Since I was already here, I wanted to map every corner of this city.

I walked away from the bustle of the city center, deliberately following small alleys rarely traversed by players. The farther I walked toward the northern outskirts of the city, the quieter the atmosphere became. Stone buildings were replaced by old wooden structures covered in moss and creeping roots.

Until finally, my steps stopped at the end of a dead-end road that opened into a circular courtyard.

In the center of that courtyard stood an old church building made of yellowish-white marble, almost completely embraced by giant climbing vine tendrils. This building radiated a thick yet extremely calming magical aura.

I furrowed my brows. This was strange. Almost every church I had ever seen in this game, including the large cathedral in StoneBrook, belonged to the universal Main Church faction. They usually worshipped the Light, and their emblems always related to the sun or a gold-plated holy sword.

However, the building in front of me had no sun emblem at all. Above its main entrance made of massive oak wood, was carved a relief of a giant tree whose roots intertwined to form an infinity symbol.

"A Life-attribute church?" I guessed, tilting my head. "Or maybe a nature god? I don't know; religious lore in this game isn't my field. Lumina would know more about this."

Driven by curiosity and the fact that hidden churches in RPG games usually contained hidden Quests or rare items, I stepped inside.

The creak of the wooden door hinges echoed softly inside the dim room. The air inside this church felt cool and smelled of damp earth after rain. Instead of long wooden pews lined up neatly, the interior of this church was more like a botanical greenhouse. Climbing plants filled the supporting pillars, and glowing flowers grew through the cracked marble floor.

At the far end of the room, under the sunlight streaming through the green stained-glass roof, stood a statue of a winged woman carved from giant emerald stone. She held a pitcher pouring eternal water into a small pool beneath her.

The moment my feet stepped deeper, several NPCs who had been kneeling around the pool stood up in unison. They were priestesses wearing simple moss-green and earth-brown robes.

They turned toward me. I became wary for a moment; my hand reflexively touched the handle of the Spellweaver's Dirk at my waist. My appearance wearing a military uniform, fully armed, and being an albino mutant often triggered defensive reactions from conventional religious NPCs.

However, their reaction confused me. They were neither angry nor trying to drive me away. Their eyes widened as they stared at my silver hair and snow-white skin. Some of them whispered to each other in tones of amazement, then slowly stepped aside, clearing a straight path for me toward the emerald statue. They bowed their heads with an extremely respectful gesture.

Hah? What is this? Is my Albinism Trait considered sacred by this faction? I thought, raising one eyebrow.

Because they had kindly given me the path, and I was too proud to retreat, I continued walking until I stopped right in front of the holy water pool and the Statue of the Goddess of Life.

I looked up, staring at the face of the emerald statue. The statue's eyes seemed to return my gaze with a strange gentleness.

Then, a crazy thing happened.

One second I was still standing in the church filled with the scent of flowers. The next second, my vision was whitened by a blinding flash of light. The rustling of leaves and the trickling of water vanished instantly, replaced by an absolute silence that rang in my ears.

I blinked, trying to adjust my eyes. The church, the priestesses, the pool… everything was gone.

I was now standing alone, floating in the middle of an endless void. The floor was transparent like glass glowing with a faint green light. Above my head, the ceiling was a sea of artificial stars.

Before I could curse the system or search for an emergency Log Out button, a giant holographic screen in gold and green colors exploded in front of my face, displaying a notification that made my genius brain go blank for several seconds.

[System: Hidden Condition Fulfilled.]

[System: Nature Affinity Resonance & Genetic Anomaly (Albinism) Detected.]

[System: Welcome, Elf Wanderer. You have entered the Void Space.]

[System: RACIAL TRIAL INITIATED!]

[System: Complete the trial to unlock the Racial Evolution Path.]

My mouth opened slightly as I stared at the string of sentences with a dumbfounded expression.

"Wait, wait, wait…" I massaged the bridge of my nose, trying to process the logic of this game's engine.

Racial evolution?

The Second World Online system was indeed crazy, but its fundamental rules were clear. I had read the guides and master world context hundreds of times. Racial evolution, like what Yuuki experienced until she became a Three-Tailed Spirit Fox, was an exclusive mechanic for players in the Monstrous category or pure Beastkin/Monster races! They evolved to cover the anatomical weaknesses of their animal forms.

Meanwhile, pure Humanoid players such as Humans, Dwarves, and Elves races that already possess perfect bipedal forms from birth and high intellect SHOULD NOT HAVE racial evolution features! We develop organically through actions, pure stat acquisition, Sub-skill exploration, and profession Limit Breaks, not by transforming into different creatures.

What would an Elf evolve into? A Super Elf? A Leafy Elf? This completely violated the biological laws and the system's basic code!

"Why am I getting a racial trial like Yuuki?" I shouted at the empty space, discarding the remnants of my dignity. "Is my defective physical Albinism Trait classified by the system as a 'Monster' that needs evolutionary correction? Damn you, Developers!"

The void did not answer; instead, it displayed a large red countdown timer: *****.

I took a deep breath, suppressed my anger, then exhaled slowly. My panic evaporated instantly, replaced by a dangerous crooked smile.

"Fine. I hate system limitations the most," I whispered while drawing the Titan's Ironbark Compound Bow from my back and summoning the Musket V2 into my left hand. "If this broken game of yours wants to give me an unreasonable free buff, let's try exploring just how far I can break it."

The countdown reached zero, and the glass floor beneath me began to tremble violently.