novelStudents These Days.
| ← Ch.466 | Ch.468 → |
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
At the top of Galbis' Lair, Netherclaw used his extensive Perception to observe every movement of Qin Ruo's six-man party. His moderate fear of the Winter Demon Qin Ruo, the three winged players, and Gravity Field had just been extrapolated into distress against the entire Fallen Angels.
At first, when the chaotic battle started, most of his attention was focused on the Terramancer Black Rock, who had single-handedly kept all incoming attacks at bay.
He was more attracted to the Terramancer after he experienced Gravity Field, which made him focus less on the other players.
However, after they all had entered Galbis's former lair, Netherclaw sight was gradually drawn away from Black Rock and more onto Qin Ruo's Lycan Barrage and Apocalypse's Cyclone, as the latter two fought impeccably to seal off the Cyclops monsters' attacks from both sides.
The three highly manipulated wolf heads attacked at high speed and frequency. Equipped with powerful Magic Attack, a single wolf head alone was sufficient to stop the monsters from marching further through the left flank.
Apocalypse, being a Tier 5 Aeromancer, showed nothing as flashy but he neatly cast a Cyclone horizontally across the tunnel near the right flank. Although it provided no damage to the unfriendly monsters since Cyclone is only a basic Aeromancer's spell, the spell was fitting for the occasion since it functioned perfectly as a barrier to completely block off the Cyclops monsters.
Any Cyclops that attempted to breach the wind barrier was immediately dazed by the high spinning pressure. Most of them fell off to the lower levels after losing their sense of direction from forcing through the harmless Cyclone.
Black Rock only needed to deal with the remaining creatures that were lucky enough not to misstep and fall to their miserable deaths. He even started to slack off after a while. Instead of killing the creatures directly with offensive spells, he simply reutilized the Earthrampart he extended out from the mountain wall to directly push those dizzy Cyclops creatures down the cliff—A simpler and more MP-efficient way.
Other than the winged players, the presence of another Bandit also concerned Netherclaw.
Permanent Lock.
He naturally recognized the Lizard Bandit who he had once thought of recruiting. He was surprised to see that the new talent had grown this close to Qin Ruo. Not only that, the insignia carrying the Chinese character "Forbidden" was clearly noticeable on the Bandit's chest.
Two famous Bandits of the Angel Faction had joined Fallen Angels now.
At this moment, Netherclaw felt that he and Snowmelt had just narrowly escaped a tragedy.
He was lucky not to have made any sly moves.
Four winged-players backed by two Tier 5 Bandits that were the natural hunters of Elementalists was not a formation he wished to disrupt publicly. Netherspirit's Claw, despite having the potential to grow into a ten-thousand-players-clan in one day, was not necessarily able to topple Fallen Angels at its current best.
'This is such a fruitful trip... ' Netherclaw muttered to himself. His expression had just gone frostier.
***
Inside the Galbis' former grotto, someone was digging the mountain wall rhythmically. Several piles of rocks and mud were seen around him, along with some of the cheap mining ores set aside by Subjugator.
As an Advanced Miner that had reached max Mastery Points, Subjugator could easily tell the quality of the unearthed ore from its appearance alone. Seven good-grade metal ores were already lying inside his backpack at the moment.
They were really lucky. This Galbis' Lair was indeed a rich mine full of valuable stones.
Within minutes, Subjugator had not only gathered some Grade 4 Ancient Darksteel, Mithril, and Darkshine Stone, but he had also obtained a Grade 3 Firebreath Saltpeter.
According to Subjugator, a single Grade 3 Firebreath Saltpeter can be forged into Legendary equipment after fusing with Ancient Darksteel. Better still, the product, if successful, would certainly be a Fire Elemental Legendary!
In the next ten minutes, Subjugator plowed through the entire Galbis's grotto with all his heart. Most places that had rare ores detected had been dug deep into a giant concave pit. The outcome was pretty rewarding. His backpack now had two extra Firebreath Saltpeter and nine extra Grade 4 ores. The total value could not be precisely estimated but for sure those ores worth more than two Legendary quality items.
They waited until Subjugator walked out reluctantly with his pickaxe and returned to the peak of Galbis' Lair, past the horde.
"Eh, when did you two get down?" When they finally arrived at the top, Qin Ruo was "shocked" to see Netherclaw and Snowmelt were still hanging around. He gave them a look of disbelief.
Netherclaw and Snowmelt could only curse silently. 'This bastard is so good at acting. '
Despite tasting the irony in Qin Ruo's words, Netherclaw chose to ignore it and smiled."Fallen Angels is undoubtedly the No. 1 clan of Angel Faction now. As the Clan Leader of Netherspirit's Claw, I naturally would like to study how strong Fallen Angels core players are." He was not going to admit that they had actually wanted to leave long ago but were unable to since Gravity Field was still in effect.
"Oh, I see." Qin acted as if he had just understood their reason for hanging around. He slightly restrained his exaggerated expression and asked "sincerely" for Netherclaw's opinion, "So, what do you two misters think about our core power? I bet there is nothing much to see, right?"
The few people behind him seethed. If not because they were busy defending, they might start to curse Qin Ruo. 'What kind of person shows off like that by asking others how strong they are?'
Qin Ruo was indeed good at playing dumb, but Netherclaw was no less an actor himself. He faked a laugh and gave him a big thumbs up. This disgusted Qin Ruo to the point that he himself was grossed out by the whole drama.
He asked Black Rock to cancel Gravity Field, waved Netherclaw goodbye, and activated his wings to leave the scene with his comrades.
Netherclaw could not help but sigh. He made a final scan on the ransacked grotto, then only dashed upward into the sky together with Snowmelt.
"Search for clues from all possible sources as soon as we get back to HQ. We have fallen too far back."
Snowmelt nodded without saying another word.
***
When they were back at Moonrise City, the gang did not immediately move to the appraisal shop. Instead, they went to a relatively well-known smithy in town.
According to Subjugator, there was a Grandmaster-tier Blacksmith in the shop.
Since a few days ago, a lot of players with Advanced Metal had visited the same place to forge Gold or Dark Gold equipment or weapons. This was because the success rate of forging at this smithy was above average. But perhaps the main reason was that the shop had a lovely Blacksmith around that a lot of players were fond of.
Hearing this from Subjugator, Qin Ruo naturally thought of an acquaintance...
Moonwaltz Rimbo.
'Could it be her?'
Qin Ruo immediately recalled the Villain Set Equipment still abandoned in his Ring of Honor. After he formed the clan, he had passed it to Little Rice that excelled in trading. (So that in the future when the Clan has expanded, the high-grade equipment can be sold to clan's members at a price lower than market value. )
'Has she found a suitable catalyst for those pieces?'
With this question in his mind, Qin Ruo agreed to Subjugator's suggestion. They walked into Moonwaltz's Smithy nearby the town's warp portal.
'It's really her... '
Qin Ruo smiled silently to himself. 'This pair of grandson-daughter are really alike. '
The granddad opened a convenience store in a small town, while the seemingly underaged granddaughter was running a Smithy in the city.
***
That being said, the newly opened Moonwaltz's Smithy appeared to be really popular. They immediately felt the running heat and boiling noise inside the shop as soon as they walked in. More than ten furnaces lined the two side of the big hall and lighted the entire shop crimson in color. The strong and crisp iron-shaping sound rose and fell, forcing the players to chat in loud voices. How could it not be loud and rowdy inside?
Well, of course, this was also due to the great number of players hanging around inside the smithy in the first place.
Near the sixteen furnaces alone were tens of blacksmiths and apprentices working hard with their heads down. Several other players surrounded them out of curiosity.
Among them, the most crowded furnace was situated at the innermost corner. Most of the noise was coming from that side, where twenty people gathered in a circle.
Subjugator also directly set his sights in that corner. He saw the crowd and immediately facepalmed. He grumbled, "Why are so many people fond of her nowadays?"
"..." The seven people beside him (including Judge and Snowleaf who had reunited with them) shot him inquiring looks at the same time.
Lead by Subjugator, eight of them walked toward the busy furnace in unison.
As they passed by, few players glanced at them, drawn to their dazzling equipment. They soon found themselves staring at the insignia on their chest carved with a stifling character—Forbidden.
"They are from Fallen Angels."
"Damn! They don't have many members, do they? Is the Winter Demon also here?!"
"Tsk tsk. Moonwaltz Rimbo is going to make a big fortune. Even Fallen Angels is here. But I wonder are they also those flies that came after Moonwaltz's beauty?"
Few players exchanged words almost inaudibly behind Qin Ruo and company.
***
Beside the innermost furnace in the Moonwaltz's Smithy stood a slim little girl wearing a body of Violet equipment. She held a giant golden hammer that was obviously too huge for her size and slammed it down hard on an unknown piece of red hot metal. The sweat all over her added a different sense of charm to her already beautiful and innocent face.
Clank! Clank! Clank! Clank!
The sound after each hammering was solid and tense.
Moonwaltz Rimbo was working with full concentration. Her movement was standardized and the rhythm was consistent. Qin Ruo found it hard to link the solemn female before him to the little brat he had met at the appraisal center.
'She is a completely different person in front of the furnace. '
Qin Ruo was a little annoyed by some of the bystanders. A few teenagers at about the little blacksmith age were either standing opposite or next to her. They were obviously not observing the little girl mesmerizing forging actions but rather her figure. Their leering eyes obviously contained improper thoughts. Qin Ruo could easily tell them apart from those apprentices who were learning earnestly.
"Hear me out Moonwaltz, please say yes. We are classmates, right? After joining Netherspirit's Claw, I will ask them to bring as many businesses as possible to you, alright?"
"That's right. Why so stubborn? Don't you feel exhausting working on all these scrap metals? It's useless anyway."
"Moonwaltz, I think you should just agree. Richie Hong is anyone's dream guy. Can't you see he is such a handsome gentleman? A typical nice and loyal guy. People will envy your fortune in the school after this. Plus, nobody will dare to bully you in H&G in the future if you are with us. So why not?"
The few of them flirted with the little girl without holding back. Moonwaltz, deaf to their interruptions, continued to swing her hammer. She kept the clanking going as if this was part of her normal routine.
It was Qin Ruo, as an outsider, who was more annoyed by their vulgar behavior.
'Students these days... '
| ← Ch. 466 | Ch. 468 → |