Chapter 438 - The Creator of the Sound of Fear

"Let go of me, let go of me, let me in, let me in, I’m fine, I’m just one step away, just one step away from clearing it, the grand prize is mine," a disturbance arose at the gate of Weizemay Manor.A man struggled to run towards Weizemay Manor but was firmly held back by his companions surrounding him.

"Your current condition is very unstable and not suitable for entering the manor for an adventure. This is the recuperation fund prepared by the lord of the manor for you. Please rest for three months before coming back. If you wish, we can send you to the Hammer of Holy Light Abbey for specialized recuperation," a Holy Warrior Apprentice said to the man with a serious look, "If you risk it again, you may suffer a mental breakdown and go completely insane."

"I’m fine, I know my own situation best. I’ve got a clear handle on everything here. Just give me one more day, no, one more chance, and I can clear it. Are you scared that I’ll clear it and take the grand prize? Hahaha... That’s right, you must be jealous, jealous of me! That’s why you want to stop me, but no one can stop me from getting my grand prize, move it, all of you move aside..." the man struggled madly, intermittently letting out loud screams.

The Holy Warrior Apprentice didn’t waste any words and directly invoked the holy power to cover him: "Holy Purification."

As a significant amount of holy power was poured in, streams of dark fog writhed out of the man’s body.

The man, from whom a large amount of dark fog had been expelled, had a wilted expression and his complexion greatly softened; he stood up shakily, took a pouch from the Holy Warrior Apprentice, and bowed to them, "Thank you, I lost my composure just now. It seems I’ve been eroded by negative energy too severely, even affecting my emotions. I’m not fit to continue adventuring here, no, my personality isn’t cut out for this job. I think after leaving this time, I won’t come back. Brothers, if it’s fated, we’ll meet again." Follow current novels on NovᴇlFɪre.ɴet

The Holy Warrior Apprentice suggested, "Your condition is quite serious, it’s best if you come with us and rest at the Just Hammer for a while. Duke Gaven has an agreement with us; all your living expenses at the Just Hammer during your rest will be his responsibility. After you’ve recuperated, if you grow tired of the manor’s exploratory tasks, you could go to the new village to see if there are more suitable job opportunities. The wages there are comparable to those in Odulin, and the living conditions are good too."

"Gaven’s kindness is thorough, and we feel it deeply. I’ll follow your suggestion then, stay at the Just Hammer for a while, then go to the new village to see if there’s any suitable work, and treat you all to a drink later on," the man said heartily with a laugh.

"I reckon in a few days, we’ll also head to the new village. Although the job here is leisurely, the manor’s atmosphere isn’t something ordinary people can endure. I now dream about the manor in the dead of night, and I’m starting to blur the line between illusion and reality."

"I’ve been feeling the same these past few days, losing the spirit to enter the manor. Instead of this, let’s go to the new village together, see what suitable work there is. When we have some free time, we can come back and try our luck. Even if we can’t get the grand prize, earning a bit of a bonus seems like a good choice too."

"Good idea, there’s too much gloom here. We should go somewhere with more people and live there for a few days."

"Damn it, we’re outside the manor now, why is there still a feeling of gloom around us, like we’re being watched?"

"I feel it too, no, no, this manor is becoming more and more sinister, I don’t want to stay here any longer."

"What are we waiting for? Let’s go, if we leave now, we can still make it there in time for a free dinner."

The pair passed through the crowd and entered the manor.

Regina had just spoken, asking with curiosity, "What’s going on with him?"

"When a person is in a state of extreme emotion, especially under negative emotions like fear and sorrow, they are more susceptible to the erosion of negative energy. Over time, this can impose a burden on their spirit and body. Not only does their physical condition deteriorate, but their emotions are also more likely to be influenced by the negative energy, becoming extreme, and providing fewer and fewer fear points.

Such people must be handled properly. Ghost Manor is one thing, but Murder Manor is another matter altogether."

Gaven explained patiently, "In fact, this situation is not normal right now. Once things stabilize in the new village and there is a sufficient population, the manor here will serve as a place for special leisure and extra income. That would be the normalized state."

"Indeed." Regina nodded, still shaken, "This negative energy enhances and amplifies people’s negative emotions. Last time I was designing and studying music here, my emotions definitely went extreme. Even the music that came out was like that. Afterwards, when I listened to it myself, I was scared by the music.

"I can’t even remember how I came up with such ideas at the time. It’s as if the music wasn’t composed by me, but by the grand will of the Shadow Plane, the negative energy using my hand to write it, specially stirring the greatest fears in people’s hearts. For that, I even unlocked a special ability."

"Unlocked a special ability by composing music?" Gaven, who was also an expert in gaining additional special abilities, had never encountered a situation where one obtained a special ability through their professional skills, "Would you care to share?"

"Sure." Since Regina had brought it up herself, she had no intention of concealing it and directly showed Gaven a detailed introduction to one of her special abilities.

Creator of Fearful Sounds (Special Ability) — You have composed unprecedented music of fear. Those who hear it have a certain chance of getting trapped in the Illusion Realm of fear, unable to break free. For every hundred fear points Weizemay Manor gains, you will receive a point of musical magic power, which can only be used to raise the Bard’s Professional Level.

As the creator of the sound of fear, if you personally play this music, the chances of the audience falling into the Illusion Realm of fear will dramatically increase.

Even if they break free from the Illusion Realm of fear, there is still a certain chance that they will be dominated by fear and obey your commands.

It is a Bard’s regular ability to inspire courage through music, including suggestive charm control.

Those like Regina who use music to create fear, can’t be said to be unique, but are definitely rare.

The power of Regina playing the sound of fear is something Gaven has seen with his own eyes. Relying on a harp and the unique control ability of Weizemay Manor, she had hundreds of people spinning around in the manor. The fastest record for a group wipeout was born under her lead, and it is hard to break in a short period of time.

In Gaven’s view, the most powerful aspect of this ability is still its binding with Weizemay Manor.

This means that when Weizemay Manor gains fear points, her Bard Professional Level would also skyrocket.

Don’t think that a conversion rate of one hundred to one is small.

Don’t forget, both the development of Weizemay Manor and the Three Rivers Region are still in the infancy stage.

The overall population is low, and the number of people coming in and out of the manor each day is limited.

Once the overall population rises and the traffic increases, the quantity obtained each day will be rather considerable.

Regina couldn’t help but reveal a proud expression and said, "Do you see the most unique part of this ability?"

"I do," Gaven knew she was referring to the musical magic.

"Thanks to you, I now have a close connection with the manor, and I will spare no effort in helping with the collection of Fear Points for the manor, free of charge," Regina told Gaven about her special ability with intention.

She aimed to weaken his guard against her regarding the manor. Even though she had spent nearly ten days there and held complete operational rights to the real-time dynamic monitoring system, she still felt that the manor hid secrets unknown to her, many of them.

A sudden inspiration flashed through Gaven’s mind, and he pondered, "To be honest, the favor I need from you may very well relate to this matter."

"What exactly is it? Can you drop the suspense? I’m dying of curiosity," Regina’s appetite had been completely whetted by Gaven.

"We’ll get to it together, just give me a moment to organize my thoughts."

In the midst of conversation, the two had arrived on the third floor of the main building of Weizemay Manor, entering a spacious room.

Regina was more than familiar with this room—it was precisely where the real-time dynamic monitoring system was located. She had spent a good ten days here, leaving behind the most wonderful memories of her life.

It was also one of the places in the Three Rivers Region that she found most memorable.

And it was the birthplace of her newly awakened special ability.

The inside of the room had changed somewhat since she left.

The singular screen of black mist was no longer alone; it had become three screens.

In the center of the room, prominently placed, lay an enormous Red Dragon corpse, lifelike, its body still radiating the dragon’s unique majesty.

Only the back of the dragon’s head was violently ripped open, greatly diminishing that majesty.

Regina didn’t need to look closely to know that the wound had undoubtedly been caused by Gaven’s Death Roar.

She could almost picture the scene, with Gaven riding Luna, leaping onto the back of the Red Dragon, shooting at close range, and forcefully bringing it down from the sky.

Her earlier question now had an answer.

The rumors were not just rumors—the calamity on the East Road, the young Red Dragon, was indeed killed by Gaven, very likely by his own strength.

Positioning the Red Dragon corpse here was certainly not for decoration, but as an offering, with a complicated, death-related magic array set up around it.

Tendrils of black mist extended from behind the screens like tentacles, plunging directly into the Red Dragon’s head, especially dense around the brain.

Chaotic snapshots of memory were flickering across the screens of black mist.

Estelle and Daphne were busy bustling about with a group of Dwarves Shadows, so much so they did not have a moment to greet Gaven and Regina upon their arrival.

Regina’s beautiful eyes revealed an undeniable shock; the fleeting images on the screens clearly did not belong to a human perspective, but that of a Giant Dragon.

If things were as expected, they probably belonged to the Red Dragon corpse before her.

What Gaven and the others were doing was reading the memories of the Red Dragon corpse.

Before Regina could speak up and inquire again, Gaven took the initiative to explain, "As you can see, we are engaging in a new experiment, linking it with the manor using a magic array, and leveraging the manor’s strength to extract large quantities of its memories. It’s just that its memories are too extensive and disordered, making the selection a herculean task.

You’re the one who uses the monitoring system the most. Your bards’ unique fourth-level spell, Alter Memories, has the ability to locate specific memories. I need your help to filter through its memories and select the fragments most useful to me."

After the initial shock subsided, excitement surged in Regina’s eyes, the thrill of encountering new prey: "Duke, your innovative ideas never cease to amaze. I’ve heard about altering the memories of the living, but never about extracting memories from the dead through this method, not to mention from a dead dragon. If this succeeds, you will have paved the way for an unprecedented endeavor. I can only say I’ll try, but as to how effective it will be, I dare not guarantee."