With Xu Feng exuding confidence despite her warning, Fiona's anticipation officially climaxed to the max.
Only when a person was completely sure of their items would they dare to proceed forward without hesitation. It was the same concept of a certified blacksmith and a greenhorn blacksmith.
Greenhorn blacksmiths are always so indecisive, resulting in their craft being no different than scraps.
However, certified blacksmiths are experienced and know what to do, often resulting in their craft being of the finest quality yet.
"I am really looking forward to the items you are presenting me, Lin Feng," Fiona said amusingly, heading toward the upper floor.
Xu Feng followed closely behind and when Zhao Kai wanted to follow as well, Fiona promptly stopped him.
"Not you, timid boy. You are not yet qualified to enter the upper floor, and I'm only making an exception for Lin Feng this time." Fiona explained frankly.
Zhao Kai twitched his mouth, seemingly in disbelief that he would be barred from heading upstairs. He turned slightly and gazed at Xu Feng, almost as if he wanted the latter to speak up for him.
However, Xu Feng could only shake his head in response.
Just like Fiona stated earlier, the upper floor had restrictions and she was only making an exception because of his words.
If he dared to overreach his boundary and limit, then everything would crumble instantaneously.
After all, Xu Feng knew about the restrictions in certain areas when in NPC territory. One must gain enough clearance or trust to simplify things to access them.
Right now, he was merely using a loophole and the overly joyful mood of Fiona to orchestrate a situation in which the required clearance would be bypassed.
"Just wait around and think of how to progress in your next mission." Xu Feng calmly said, telling him to be patient.
"Ugh, looks like there's no hope for me." Zhao Kai sighed and gently walked back down.
Although a bit disappointed, it wasn't enough to dampen his mood.
'Since Feng knew I had another mission to report back to Gorrick as soon as I delivered the letter personally to Fiona's father. I guess he really didn't intend to assist me any longer.' Zhao Kai thought to himself.
Gorrick was the NPC who assigned him this mission, and according to Fiona, he was addressed as uncle to her. Hence, Zhao Kai needed to mark this note down and pay attention to the details.
Originally, he wouldn't bother reading much into the dialogue, emotion, and actions of the NPC. He believed it to be a simple mission and done, then moved on to the next NPC's mission type of game.
However, that all changed when Xu Feng repeatedly emphasized the NPC's characteristics, albeit discreetly and subtly to him.
Instead of force-feeding all the information at once, Xu Feng was shrewd and clever enough to do it bit by bit, allowing him to slowly digest the information and understand it more thoroughly.
As Zhao Kai began brainstorming, taking a more cautious approach toward the Divine World structure and NPC, Xu Feng was guided to a large spacious room.
"This room is normally stored with the highest quality materials, but it's empty at the moment because my father is out to gather them," Fiona explained casually.
Despite the casualness, Xu Feng was able to pick up on the highlights.
Her father, Thorin, was unavailable at the moment because of materials gathering, and it wasn't any simple materials.
If Xu Feng had to take a guess, especially with the current stages and Fiona's combat prowess, he deduced it should be monsters around the level 50-70s.
'Looks like Kai's adventure is going to be a tedious one.' Xu Feng smiled, took a step forward, and unwrapped the items that he wanted to show Fiona.
Any more flattery words or delays were just going to irritate the frank and straightforward Fiona.
A loud thud echoed throughout the room as a pile of corpses lay neatly in the spacious room that was quickly filled up in an instant.
"T-These are… Pyrite Drake corpses?" Astonished, Fiona gazed at Xu Feng and muttered in a disbelief tone.
"I thought you merely gathered their pyrite drake scale in the nest when they were away. I didn't expect you to be slaying them as well— at least not with your pitiful level." She added, clearly amazed by his feat.
"Oh, there's still one last corpse that I believe you would be even more interested in." Xu Feng chuckled softly and retrieved the final corpse.
Soon, a large Pyrite Drake corpse appeared and its frightening aura still retained its presence.
"A Pyrite Drake leader," Fiona exclaimed, clearly recognizing a monster leader with her discerning eyes.
She took a deep breath before asking for Xu Feng's weapon. "Can I see your staff for a few moments?"
Xu Feng gladly handed his staff over with no hesitation.
His staff was rubbish anyway, and it wasn't as if he didn't know what she was planning to do with the staff.
By taking his weapon, she was investigating the condition of the staff, as well as the wounds of the corpse's injuries. If everything matched, then she could no longer deny that they were indeed killed by him.
Of course, if everything didn't match, then Fiona would come to the conclusion that Xu Feng brought the corpses from a market.
Depending on the conclusion she came up with, her impression of Xu Feng would either increase or decrease tremendously.
"While you're investigating, I hope to negotiate a deal with you, Fiona." Xu Feng walked to a nearby chair and sat, his demeanor smooth and confident.
"I can continuously provide you with sources of materials, and in return, I hope you can give me some discount when crafting or forging for me. As well as being able to customize per my order, with an extra charging fee of course." He added, revealing his true motive.
Meanwhile, Fiona stopped investigating and threw the staff back to Xu Feng.
Her mouth involuntarily formed a grin as she commented, "Ahh, what a misjudgment I have for you? You're one sly person."