CHAPTER 89: CHAPTER 89: ENTERING THE ICE CITY SETTLEMENT TREASURY

[Low-level Soul Contract Scroll]

[Quality]: Purple

[Requirements]: None

[Effect]: Use blood as ink to write the contract. After the signers press their handprints, they must follow the terms. If they break the contract, they will suffer a soul curse. A player under the soul curse will be plagued by bad luck, lose 1 point of Luck and 30 attribute points, and can never use a Soul Contract Scroll again.

[Note]: People who break their word won’t end well.

Ethan was a bit surprised when he saw what Ford threw over. He didn’t expect an item like this to exist in Dawnfall Online.

Lose 1 point of Luck, 30 attribute points, and you’ll never be able to use the [Soul Contract Scroll] again.

That’s a steep price.

But losing 1 Luck and 30 attribute points was still within Ethan’s limits. After all, he had [Ten-Thousandfold Intelligence Reward]. Given enough time, he could make up those lost points.

After seeing this [Low-level Soul Contract Scroll], Ethan quickly realized that if he worked with stronger NPCs later, he would probably have to sign contracts like this too.

He calmly read the scroll and let out a quiet breath. Ford had clearly written: "You must not, in any way, reveal anything that happened today to anyone!"

On the surface, Ethan still frowned and said slowly, "Are you setting a trap for me?"

"’Everything that happened today’ covers too much. I didn’t only enter the underground cave, meet you, and meet Siphoner..."

The punishment for breaking a [Low-level Soul Contract Scroll] was serious. Ethan didn’t want to slip up and mention something else from today and end up breaking the contract.

At Ethan’s request, Ford had to change the scroll’s content again.

At Ethan’s request, Ford had to change the terms on the [Low-level Soul Contract Scroll] again.

Only after Ford changed the key line to "You must not, in any way, reveal what happened today in the underground cave of Frost Valley to anyone," did Ethan press his handprint.

After Ethan pressed his handprint, the [Low-level Soul Contract Scroll] slowly floated into the air and caught fire.

Seeing this, Ford finally let out a long breath. Then, with a dark look, he tossed [Ruin Spear] and [Universal Painkiller] to Ethan.

...

In the Ice City settlement, in front of the tall building at the very center.

Ethan followed behind Deputy City Lord Ford and slowly looked up at the high-rise ahead.

It was about 60 to 70 meters tall and looked a bit worn. Sheets of hard ice spread down from the roof, making it seem like the building was being slowly swallowed by ice.

In front of it, seven or eight fully armed NPCs were patrolling with all kinds of weapons.

A few players who had completed their class change only got close to the building and were driven away by the NPCs.

The NPCs shouted at them: "This is a core area of the Ice City settlement. No unauthorized entry!"

The players [Charles King] and [Charles Emperor] stood nearby, looked at the armed NPCs, and sighed.

They were very curious about this building. One thing that makes Dawnfall Online different from other games is that quests are very rare.

And most quests are unique.

So after walking around the Ice City settlement, [Charles King] and [Charles Emperor] came here, hoping to find some quests.

But they were ready to be turned away, since even in safe zones, NPCs sometimes stop players from entering certain places.

Just as [Charles King] and [Charles Emperor] were about to leave in disappointment, they suddenly saw two figures and stopped.

[Charles King] looked at Ethan’s back and blurted, "Huh? Isn’t that the player we met at the station? He’s here to look for quests too?"

[Charles Emperor] took a closer look, nodded, and said, "Looks like it. Figures—we all have the same idea, trying to get quests from NPCs."

"Sigh, NPCs in Dawnfall Online are so cold. I heard some players keep trying to please them to raise their favor. Want to try that?"

[Charles King] shook his head. "That’s a waste of time. Forget it. I’ll go tell that player not to waste his effort here."

With that, [Charles King] started walking toward Ethan.

But halfway there, Ethan had already reached the NPC guards, led by the Ice City settlement’s Deputy City Lord, Ford.

All the NPC guards straightened up, bowed to Ford, and shouted:

"Deputy City Lord!"

Ford gave a blank nod and led Ethan straight into the building.

The nearby players saw this. Their eyes went wide in shock, and they started talking:

"What did those guards shout? Deputy City Lord? That middle-aged man is the Deputy City Lord of the Ice City settlement?"

"Damn! If I’d known, I would’ve rushed over and latched onto him, begging for a quest!"

"Dream on. If you ran up like that, the guards would think you were attacking the Deputy City Lord and turn you into mincemeat!"

"Wait, did you look closely? That young guy next to the Deputy City Lord of Ice City... he looks familiar. I think he’s a player?"

"A player? No way. If the Deputy City Lord is personally leading him in, he can’t be a player."

"True. At this stage, even these NPC guards ignore players, let alone the Deputy City Lord."

...

Hearing the chatter, [Charles King] and [Charles Emperor] widened their eyes and exchanged a look.

They were sure the person who just followed the Ice City settlement’s Deputy City Lord into the building was the same player they met earlier at the Ice City station.

They had wanted to learn his ID back then, but something came up and they missed the chance.

[Charles King] muttered, "He’s a big shot, for sure."

"We’ve all completed our class change, and we couldn’t even get close to the building. But he got led straight inside by the Deputy City Lord of Ice City."

"He must’ve found a way to quickly win the Deputy City Lord’s favor!"

"How can the gap between people be this big?"

[Charles Emperor] agreed, then suddenly said:

"This is your fault. You dragged me to the station bathroom to throw up. Otherwise, we would’ve gotten that guy’s ID, maybe even added him as a friend!"

[Charles King] shot back, "Only because you farted and it reminded me of [Ice Worm]. Ugh."

"I can’t... I feel like puking again."

...

Ethan, now inside the building, had no idea what the other players were saying. He was busy looking around.

It was much livelier than the spire in Safe Zone 9527. NPCs were walking everywhere, constantly greeting and saluting Ford.

Ethan also noticed many NPCs giving him an extra look. They probably realized he was a player and were surprised.

That was a good sign. If he met them again later, they might find him familiar.

With that in mind, Ethan followed Ford into an elevator. Ford pressed B7.

Ethan glanced at the buttons and saw there were 13 basement floors in total.

Soon, the doors opened to a silver corridor—cold and mysterious.

Ford said calmly, "Let’s go. The Ice City settlement’s treasury is up ahead."

"Let me make this clear first. The treasury is split into the Intel Archive and the Item Vault."

After saying that, Ford fell silent and led Ethan forward.

Ethan followed behind him. After just a few steps, a white beam shot out from the silver wall and scanned his body.

A cold mechanical voice said, "Verifying identity... Player, ID: [Windchaser], from Safe Zone 9527. Access level: lowest. Contribution points: 1000."

"Welcome, [Windchaser], to the Ice City settlement treasury. Please follow the guiding light."

A faint white glow lit up under Ethan’s feet.

Seeing this, Ford said, "I’ve done what I promised. Remember our contract. You know the consequences if you break it."

Without hesitating, Ford turned and headed back to the elevator.

Ethan followed the white glow on the floor and soon reached a wall. The wall slid aside, revealing an entrance. He walked in.

It was a black room with no other decorations, just a glowing screen set in the center.

Ethan walked up and saw the screen showing his ID, access level, and contribution points, along with a few options:

[Intel Archive]

[Item Vault]

[Search]

...

Ethan thought for a moment, tapped [Search], and typed in a keyword.