Azure Scepter

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Azure Scepter

Author: Lying Down and Mixing

Synopsis: At the end of the Third Age, with the Azure Laws destroyed by conspirators, the shadow of destruction and chaos once again enveloped all things.

In this chaotic and bleak era, gods fell, kingdoms collapsed, and living beings suffered; in this chaotic and bright era, mortals were deified, ambitious men donned the crown of kingship amidst shouts of "Long live the king!", and a new order carried the hopes of the people.

Before this unprecedented era of chaos arrived, a veteran necromancer player traveled to the world he had once fought in and became a paladin.

"Knowledge is power, and I know the history of the future."

Trier took the longsword, which radiated a holy light, from the skull shrouded in black mist, and whispered it to the terrified cultist who was dying of fear.

PS: Amber Stream, the game system incorporates elements from Pathfinder (PF), Pillars of Eternity, and some rules from the ultimate modified version of D&D5e,3r.

I. Oath

Chapter 1 Countdown

The metallic smell, tinged with a metallic odor, brought Chen Li back to his senses.

He squinted slightly, the silvery-gray clouds outside the window somewhat dazzling. After a moment, he realized he was lying on his side on the hard wooden bed. He blinked, and then a throbbing pain gripped his eyeballs and eyelids like a tide. As he closed his eyes, he seemed to hear the hissing sound of capillaries bursting.

"He's been unconscious for half a day; this is a sign he's about to become a lackey of darkness. He must be executed immediately!"

Chen Li was puzzled. He was clearly playing "Azure Scepter" alone at home, so who was talking to him now?

He braced his elbows against the hard wooden plank, straining to sit up. The familiar game pod door was gone, as was the simple, modern decor. What he saw was a dilapidated, old room with a floor made of haphazardly pieced-together black wood. A shocking pool of crimson blood stretched crookedly from his feet to the doorway, the red blood in the black wooden planks radiating a steaming heat and carrying the stench of rust.

"I didn't quit the game?" He was a little confused, so he quietly called out the exit menu, but there was no response.

"clatter."

Suddenly, a muddy deerskin boot stepped at the end of the bloodstain. He instinctively looked up and felt a chill run down his spine—he saw an elf holding a longbow.

The elf wore a dirty cloak, her face pale and weary beneath the hood. A few strands of golden hair framing her face fell behind her ears, and the cold light streaming in from the window illuminated the fine, lovely downy hairs along the edges of her cheeks. Although she looked disheveled, there was no doubt that she was a beautiful woman.

“Trill is awake, but hasn’t turned into a zombie yet—temporarily,” the elf said, turning her head slightly, her voice unusually hoarse.

Beside the elf stood a human clad in gleaming chainmail. He shoved the elf aside, drew his longsword, and strode toward Chen Li. "He'll be transformed sooner or later anyway, might as well give him a quick death!"

"Trier? Are you talking about me?" Chen Li felt as if tentacles were stirring his brain. Fragmented memories were churning around like shards of glass in his turbid, boiling brain. Although his consciousness was in chaos, he knew that his life was in danger and he had to take action.

He grabbed a wooden stick from beside the bed and struggled to his feet. The stick felt rough and uneven to the touch, with knots the size of beans scattered on both sides, making one think of the hard, frosty face of someone frozen to death on a winter night.

"Azure Scepter" is a holographic game where players can freely choose whether to enable swordplay and spellcasting assistance. Since becoming disabled, Chen Li has devoted his entire life to this game, which can be considered his second life, and in order to pursue the greatest immersion, he never activates combat assistance.

Although he is a necromancer, he also has some experience in melee combat. His melee combat skills are far inferior to those of the well-known warriors in the game, as well as some other warrior-specialized players in his guild who do not use combat aids. However, according to the system's numerical comparisons, his combat skills are enough to rival a level 10 warrior without any specialization.

He took a deep breath, suppressing his chaotic thoughts, and carefully observed the enemy in front of him.

The opponent's chainmail was merely an inner lining, offering extremely limited defense. Although the opponent was wielding a sword, their reckless footwork, which disregarded attack range, and their hunched back, which prevented them from properly applying force, revealed that they were complete novices in combat.

He stabbed to disrupt the center of gravity, stepped back to maintain distance, swept his leg with the tail pole to knock the opponent down, and then stepped forward to stab the throat for a finishing blow—in an instant, Chen Li had planned out his offensive strategy.

My heart raced, my mouth went dry, my vision narrowed, and the rapid release of adrenaline briefly dispelled the indescribable weakness. Power surged through my limbs with the fury in my blood, and everything around me began to blur. All I could see was the enemy getting closer and closer to me.

Suddenly, Chen Li's pupils contracted sharply. He saw the markings drawn on the lining of his chainmail. It was the symbol of the Church of Radiance, which used acanthus as its emblem in the game. That's right, the layers of acanthus leaves intertwined and surrounded by tendrils and buds looked like a flamboyant flower basket, which was indeed the emblem of the Church of Radiance!

Suddenly, inspiration struck him like lightning, his mind flowing smoothly and his thoughts were instantly cleared by the high pressure of inspiration. He suddenly realized that he had traveled through time, into the world of "The Azure Scepter," and into the body of a person named Trier.

A third, gentle female voice rang out: "Stop, Hord! He was injured saving me! Besides, the alcohol therapy worked; he might be alright at all!"

"You madman! Trier hasn't even turned into a zombie yet. Do you short-lived humans all enjoy killing each other so much?" The elf angrily grabbed the human named Hod's shoulder. "There are roaming undead creatures outside. If you want to fight, go outside and fight!"

“Fodia is right, by the radiance above, servant, you should follow the teachings and turn your weapons against true evil.” A fourth, deep male voice came from outside the door. “Trill is good; your attack on this warrior is despicable!”

Just as he was about to enter attack range, Huo suddenly stopped. He leaned forward and spat viciously: "Consider yourself lucky. Once you become a zombie, I'll be the first to cut off your head!"

Chen Li wanted to give him a good whack on the head, but considering the current situation was still unclear, he did not act rashly. He retorted in a neutral tone, "I have never seen a head that can be chopped off twice."

The elf, who had been keeping a straight face, couldn't help but laugh out loud upon hearing this. The two people who spoke after him were stunned for a moment before they also started laughing. Only Huo De blushed and was at a loss for words.

Suddenly, a semi-transparent cobalt blue light screen appeared in the corner of Chen Li's eye.

[Motivation boost successful! Through this experience, your persuasion and sarcasm skills have improved: Persuasion +1, Sarcasm +1]

[You have obtained partial information about the "Leadership" specialty.]

He was stunned for a moment, then a surge of joy welled up inside him, and he immediately shouted in his mind: "Character attributes! Character attributes!"

The next moment, a virtual panel composed of 0 and 1 data streams slowly appeared, and about half a second later, the familiar character panel appeared in front of us.

Name: Trier (Chen Li)

Race: Human - Kingdom of Orko

个人属性：力量10（-2）、敏捷12（-2），体质14（-4）、智力16（-2）、感知16（-4）、魅力12（-2）

Background Profession - Gentleman lv2 (0/10) [Knowledge (General) 800, Persuasion 2, Intimidation 0, Taunt 2, Deception 0, Bargaining 0, Common Sense of the Orco Region 1, Heraldry 0, Observation 0]

Trained Militia (Kingdom of Orko) lv3 (12/50) [Military Organization Theory (Kingdom of Orko) 3, Tactical Theory (Kingdom of Orko) 3, Sword Weapon Use (General) 1, Polearm Use (General) 1, Hand-to-Hand Combat 0, Stealth 0]

Main profession: None

General experience points: 0

General skill points: 0

Attribute points: 0

Status – [Blood Plague Infection - Late Stage]: Blood Plague maggots are multiplying within your body! You feel dizzy, nauseous, and weak, and will soon lose yourself completely in hysterical, agonizing spasms, transforming into an undead! Currently, your strength, agility, constitution, intelligence, and perception are significantly weakened. Time until next worsening of Blood Plague Infection: 2 hours 32 minutes.

Background Specialty – [Otherworldly Knowledge]: You come from another world and possess incredible knowledge, surpassing even the Silver Wizard, the so-called guardian of knowledge. Knowledge skills (general, including rituals, history, world knowledge, religion, mysticism, etc.) ignore the skill's cap and are always at the skill's cap. You receive an additional +20 when performing necromancy spells, an additional 10 points based on your innate base attack, an additional 6 points based on your innate intelligence, and an additional 6 points based on your innate perception.

Personal expertise - None

Professional expertise - None

Life: Moderate injury

Physical strength: Extremely weak

At the bottom of the lines of text, there is a semi-transparent human figure made of silver threads. At this point, there is a conspicuous bloody hole on the left shoulder of the human figure, with the label next to it: bite wound (bandaged), internal bleeding.

Although he had a premonition, Chen Li still felt his heart skip a beat when he saw the blood plague infection, and then a strong sense of urgency surged into his heart.

The first major expansion of the game "Azure Scepter" was "The Scourge," and the magical plague and blood plague were the most feared things in this expansion.

The Blood Plague is not a natural plague, but a magical one, invented by Lorseville, the founding monarch of the Kingdom of Orko. Centuries ago, to better protect her country and people, Lorseville secretly transformed herself into a lich before her death, hoping to watch over them from the shadows. However, as time passed, the lich's good intentions were completely corrupted by negative energy, and it ultimately decided to reclaim its throne from the kingdom it had founded, by turning all the living into the dead.

The lich's initial power was insufficient to contend with the fully mobilized Kingdom of Orko, so it resorted to intrigue, with the Blood Plague at its core. Through its organization, the Silent Whisperers, it spread the plague extensively in the kingdom's main grain-producing region, the Southern Duchy, by contaminating the grain. Anyone infected with the Blood Plague, except for those with exceptional physical strength and willpower, was doomed to die and, upon death, would be transformed into a subjugated undead minion.

In the game's history, the lich's plot succeeded miserably, turning the entire southern region of the Kingdom of Orko into a wasteland. With the massive undead army brought by the plague and skillful political maneuvering, Lorsewi swiftly dismantled the remaining resistance of the Kingdom of Orko. Ultimately, this kingdom, which had lasted for a thousand years, was destroyed by its own founding monarch, becoming a realm of the dead.

After successfully conquering the Kingdom of Orko, the lich, for reasons unknown, began to attack neighboring countries without restraint, eventually provoking a war against all neighboring countries. As a result, the lich's rise lasted only a year before it fell like a shooting star.

Some players who are into the story speculate, based on fragments of information discovered later, that the Lich's later frenzied wars were conquest rituals undertaken in an attempt to obtain divine positions related to war or death.

The first major version of "Azure Scepter" begins with the fall of the Kingdom of Orko and continues until the expeditionary force successfully defeats the lich Losevie.

As a master of necromancy in the game and a lich who is only one step away from becoming a god, Chen Li naturally has a lot of knowledge about the blood plague invented by his peers.

According to his research, blood plague is generally a plague with an extremely high mortality rate but very poor transmissibility.

Its exemption conditions are very strict, requiring at least 17 points in Constitution and 13 points or more in any mental attribute.

The onset of the blood plague varies from half a day to a month, depending on the infected person's physical condition and willpower. During this period, it can be accelerated or delayed by special magic.

Finally, the blood plague has a very poor ability to spread. It can only be spread through three methods: contaminated food, modified versions of death cloud spells, and injections of high-concentration undiluted liquid. In other words, the blood plague does not spread through bites or scratches by infected individuals, unlike the zombie virus.

But if a bite cannot transmit the blood disease, then how does one get infected?

And barring any unforeseen circumstances, I only have two and a half hours left to live.

Although life is short, as the saying goes, haste makes waste, so it is essential to remain calm.

Chen Li took a deep breath and decided to figure out his situation before making a decision. So he suppressed his chaotic emotions and began to use reason to sort out his confused thoughts and memories.

His head was throbbing, and the metallic, bloody smell churned in his forehead like an iron rod inserted into his nostrils. He focused on his breathing, using meditation to slowly adapt to the pain that arose from his thoughts.

After a long while, the fragmented and incomplete stream of memories, like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, was finally pieced together. Through reasoning, he thoroughly understood his situation and the ins and outs of the matter.

It is now the 264th year of the Third Era, the Year of the Stars and the Crimson Moon, which is also the first year of the outbreak of the Blood Plague.

He was in the heart of the disaster, in the southern duchy of the Kingdom of Orko.

A week ago, he heard that Earl Harlan had a large quantity of cheap grain for sale. He had no intention of buying it, but Sister Noy from the same town, upon hearing the news, wanted to increase the amount of grain to relieve the poor, so she asked him to go to Earl Harlan's territory to transport the grain.

Sister Noy was Trier's sweetheart, and upon receiving her request, Trier readily agreed to the commission, then set off on a journey with her, carrying a large sum of money. However, while passing through Beaver Town, a strange plague suddenly broke out, and the townspeople who fell ill would transform into terrifying undead creatures in hysterical convulsions within a day to three days.

Sister Noy decided to stay in Beaver Town to help the townspeople, and as her loyal follower, the original owner of the body naturally remained in the town as well. During their time helping the townspeople, they met Harlan, the second son of Earl Cohen of Harlan's territory, who was traveling, along with young Harlan's squire Hod, and the elven ranger Faldia. For safety and efficiency, they decided to temporarily form a small team and jointly guard the largest inn in Beaver Town.

As a former spellcaster, Chen Li valued rationality and efficiency in his thinking. He felt that these names were overly complicated and meaningless, so in order to save information, he decided to refer to them by their professions: nun, knight, squire, and ranger.

It's worth mentioning that Knight Harlan was transformed into a high-ranking undead in the game's history and was one of the leaders of the Ghost Knights under the Lich's command.

Despite everyone's combined efforts to stop the plague's further spread, both treatment and isolation had little effect, and the entire town was steadily approaching collapse. During yesterday's treatment, a townsman suddenly transformed into a dangerous ghoul and attacked the nun from the ceiling. In a moment of impulsiveness, the original owner decided to play the hero, leaping to shield the nun from the attack, but was bitten to death in the process—and what followed was Chen Li's transmigration.

"I see," Chen Li thought. "Now the situation is very clear, it's time to summarize the plan."

"First of all, I'm going to die in 2 hours and 29 minutes. Before that, I have to raise my physical attributes to 17. To do that, I need to gain an extra 3 points in physical attributes or a related immunity, which can only be done by becoming a paladin."

"I remember there is a very special paladin's tomb next to the shrine north of Beaver Town, where one can advance to the rank of paladin through special means."

"Secondly, after escaping the crisis of death, I must leave Beaver Town immediately, obtain horses or a vehicle sufficient to support a long journey, leave the south of the Kingdom of Orco, leave the Kingdom of Orco, leave the center of the disaster first, and then proceed slowly."

"Furthermore, the long-term goal is to increase our strength as much as possible while ensuring safety. After all, as time goes by, when faced with global disasters such as the Sword of Strife, the Age of Insects, or the Gods' Disaster, civilians without military power will find it difficult to survive."

"Finally, whatever happens, happens." Trier took a deep breath. "From now on, I am Trier!"

"However, the most urgent thing now is to find the Silent Whisper cultists hiding here."

Chapter 2 Beaver Town

“The plague can spread through contaminated food, through a modified version of the Death Cloud spell, or through injections of high-concentration undiluted liquid. Considering my past experiences, I could only have been infected through food.” Trier silently observed the people in front of him. “I have not consumed those problematic, low-priced grains, so there is a high possibility that there are cultists from the Silent Whisper Society among the people present.”

"What are you looking at? Are you trying to convert?" Noticing Trier's gaze, the servant Hod clenched his fist and retorted angrily.

“It’s unlikely the squire is a cultist, because he’s too reckless and conspicuous. A cultist working undercover wouldn’t be that stupid, but we can’t rule out the possibility that he’s in disguise,” Trier thought. “The presence of the ranger, an elf rarely seen in the human world, here is very suspicious; the nun’s request to buy cheap food and her stay in a plague-stricken town is also suspicious; and the knight, Harlan, was transformed into a high-ranking undead in the original history, so he’s also quite suspicious…”

"We need to take the initiative and test the waters."

“I think I know how the plague spreads,” Trier said, calmly scanning the crowd. “The plague spreads through food.”

The attendant looked disdainful, the ranger nodded thoughtfully, and the nun behind the elf widened her eyes in surprise.

“Terrell is absolutely right. This explains why the poor have a higher incidence of the disease—the cheap grain from the Earl’s territory is problematic, and the poor have no choice but to eat it!” Knight Harlan walked past the elf and into the room. “Radiant Protection, that way you won’t have contracted the plague! We must quickly inform everyone to burn that grain.”

"He's just trying to avoid execution!" the attendant couldn't help but retort. "He's definitely infected!"

“Shut up, Hord. Your master has spoken. It is a virtue for a servant to obey his master,” Faldia said venomously.

“I’m sorry, madam, but we all serve the Lord of Radiance, and master and servant obey the truth.” Knight Harlan drew a badge on his chest with his finger, his eyes wide, and said in a missionary tone, “But in this matter, Hod has indeed strayed from the light of Radiance.”

The elf looked disgusted and took a step back: "You're such a religious fanatic!"

"Thank you for your compliment," the knight replied humbly.

Sister Noe, who had been hiding behind the crowd, stepped out and walked quickly toward Trier, a joyful smile on her face: "Thank you, Radiance! I knew a good person like you would be alright!"

“No, I have something to do. I’m infected.” Trier paused for a moment. “And I’m about to become an undead.”

These words were like a bomb dropped into the deep sea; a deathly silence swept through the room like a scythe, and people's words came to an abrupt halt, like geese being choked.

The nun's smile froze, her forward steps halted, and she even unconsciously took two steps back.

At this moment, everyone looked surprised, but only the servant Huo De took a long time to show an expression of having expected it.

“Everyone’s response was reasonable. The test failed. As expected, fools like the servants are in the minority.” Trier couldn’t help but feel a little frustrated. “If I can’t find the hidden cultists, then I have no choice but to leave here as soon as possible. After all, uncertainty is the most dangerous thing.”

[Through experience, your skills in reading people and deceiving others have improved: Reading People +1, Deceiving +1]

"You're joking, right?" Fythia forced a stiff smile. "You're trying to ease the tension, aren't you?"

Trier shook his head seriously: "I'm planning to leave here."

"You do have some courage," the attendant, Huo, said with rare praise. "However, I already knew you were..."

Fythia slapped the servant on the head, ignoring his cry of pain, and shoved the smug servant aside. She then stood angrily opposite Trier: "Don't you dare leave! I went to great lengths to save you from the clutches of the ghouls! With your injuries so severe, going out is just asking for death!"

“Calm down, Fydeia! This is a test of radiance, and everyone has their own destiny,” the knight said. “But Trill, you really shouldn’t leave. As the elves said, choosing to leave is choosing death, but if it is your personal choice, I have no right to stop you.”

"My departure is for the good of everyone; the servant is right about that."

“But it won’t do you any good,” the knight retorted very honestly.