Multiverse: Dimension Hopping Mage

Chapter 30: Crystals for Cash?

Surprises often catch us off guard.

Alex could swear he never expected to discover a brand-new method of in-game purchases—oh no, crystal purchases—at this place and in this manner.

In hindsight, it made sense. Since arriving in this world, Alex had essentially given up on in-game purchases.

The reason was simple: while he had designed the game framework with in-game purchase options, it required a payment processing platform for direct transactions.

After all, mobile games thrive on convenience, and no mobile game makes its purchase process needlessly complex. Most aim for instant transactions with minimal hassle.

But in this world, Alex had transmigrated, not just been transported. He didn't even have his phone with him, so how could he make purchases?

Hence, he hadn't paid attention to the in-game purchase feature. Yet, unexpectedly, by casually collecting a handful of soul crystals, he had triggered his in-game purchase system.

Had he known this earlier, he wouldn't have risked infiltrating the Holy Temple!

Alex felt a bit of regret. If he had known that soul crystals could be used for purchases, he wouldn't have feared the Holy Temple's pursuit.

He could have hidden in the wilderness, hunted down hundreds of magical beasts, collected crystals, and made purchases like crazy, gathering soul stones.

Then he could have taken on the Holy Temple directly and become a demon lord... well, maybe not that far.

This thought quickly passed through Alex's mind and was dismissed. The Holy Temple was a powerful force, and facing them head-on was not a good idea.

Besides, Alex had no real grudge against the Holy Temple. Although the Temple had killed his current body's parents, those two had committed enough heinous acts to deserve it.

According to Conrad's memories, his parents' crimes of human sacrifices were monstrous. Alex felt they deserved worse than a swift execution—they should have been burned at the stake.

So, Alex felt no anger towards the Holy Temple for killing his body's parents. He wouldn't throw himself into a losing battle for a couple of deranged cultists.

All things considered, maintaining good relations with the Holy Temple was the safer route.

"Thank you."

Having these thoughts, Alex's expression remained unchanged. He smiled and thanked Malt while putting away the soul crystals. Observing Alex, Malt nodded inwardly. As a grand knight, Malt was a good judge of character.

Seeing Alex's high level of skill and his calm, composed demeanor at such a young age impressed him.

Malt had been prepared for Alex to be difficult, as many talented individuals often had personality flaws.

Malt had seen many such cases. He had even asked Knight Conan about Alex before approaching him.

But Alex turned out to be powerful and remarkably poised, showing no arrogance. This combination was rare.

One could attribute great strength to natural talent, even a peasant might gain dragon-like power through a fortunate encounter.

But a person's conduct and speech required deep-seated refinement and experience, indicators of their true class and upbringing.

This made Malt appreciate Alex even more and also puzzled him. As a grand knight, Malt was well-acquainted with the nobility of the Holy Church's nation but had never heard of such a remarkable young person.

If there were someone like Alex among the nobility, he would be the talk of every banquet.

"Mr. Alex, are you a citizen of the Holy Church's nation? I don't recall ever meeting you before..."

"I'm from the Silver Principality."

Alex anticipated questions about his origins. Since discovering his "Rule Resonance," he had been thinking of ways to address his background. Luckily, he found something useful in Conrad's memories—Conrad's father had lived in the Silver Principality for some time.

He was a notorious womanizer, engaging with many women there. Being a bold cultist, he even hosted grandiose parties.

This caused quite a scandal among the nobility, with many outraged. Conrad's father eventually fled, but many women he seduced faced severe consequences, some imprisoned or exiled by their families, others simply disappeared.

Upon his return, Conrad's father boasted about his exploits to his son, emphasizing how he had conquered many noblewomen and reveled in the chaos he caused as a cultist.

This insight into the cultists' twisted values unexpectedly provided Alex with a cover.

After transmigrating to this world and inheriting this troublesome body and identity, Alex pondered how to differentiate himself from Conrad.

And now, he finally thought of a good solution.

Alex chose the Silver Principality initially as a vague concept, but as time went on, his idea became clearer.

In this world, Alex had two issues to address.

First, why did he look so much like Conrad? It seemed like a cruel joke of fate that Conrad's appearance resembled Alex's by seventy or eighty percent, making Alex somewhat familiar with the face he saw in the mirror.

Maybe it was because they looked alike that he transmigrated into this troublesome body?

The second issue was the blood relationship. From Conrad's memories, Alex knew that this world's magical civilization was highly advanced, capable of determining relationships through bloodline.

If someone suspected Alex's appearance, he would inevitably face scrutiny to explain his origins and his connection to the Conrad family.

So, Alex devised a version of his background story, using Conrad's father's past.

In this version, Alex came from the Silver Principality. He was the child of a noblewoman exiled due to Conrad's father.

Unaware of his heritage, Alex grew up with his mother. She recently passed away, prompting Alex to come to the Holy Church's nation with their remaining assets...

This story addressed both major concerns. Being half-brothers explained the resemblance and the blood relation.

Of course, this identity might provoke some dissatisfaction, but Alex didn't care. His primary concern was to dissociate himself from being labeled a cultist.

As long as he wasn't on the Holy Temple's wanted list, being Conrad's half-brother was acceptable.

The rest was unimportant.

Naturally, Alex didn't share these details with Malt. According to his "background," Alex himself was unaware of his heritage, so he only briefly exchanged a few words.

Learning that Alex was from the Silver Principality, Malt nodded knowingly without further inquiry and began discussing their next steps.

This left Alex somewhat frustrated. The original plan was to find the temple knights with Grand Knight Stone and Miss M, and then lead them out.

Now, he had found the knights, but Stone and Miss M were missing. Without Miss M's Star Path, they had no way out of the sealed Shadow Gorge.

They faced two options: find Stone and Miss M to use the Star Path for escape or walk out the way they came in.

But Malt proposed a third option.

"Continue forward?"

Alex frowned at Malt's suggestion.

"Isn't that very dangerous?"

"Indeed, Mr. Alex, it is dangerous, but we cannot leave just yet."

Malt's expression was solemn as he explained.

"Although we were ambushed by the lich in Shadow Canyon, we did learn something. We're not sure if this lich is the one we seek, but we discovered that it is plotting something. The lich seems to be conducting an evil and sacrilegious dark ritual in the gorge!"

"What?"

Alex was taken aback.

"A dark ritual?"

"Yes. The lich set this ambush to use the blood and souls of our temple knights for its ritual. We've lost many comrades already. It may have gathered enough blood and souls. We must stop its evil plan before it completes the ritual!"

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