"My bad, the equipment was just too good so it took a while to choose." Zhao Kai laughed, flashing his new armor and weapon.
He especially loved the new gun in his hand, pretending to shoot it everywhere.
"Are you not going to use the Ironbolt Rifle?" Xu Feng raised an eyebrow and asked. "That's a good weapon, you know."
Zhao Kai suddenly flashed a grin as he turned around and pointed at his back, "Can't you see I equipped it already?"
The Ironbolt Rifle hung securely on Zhao Kai's back, its sleek design complementing his stance, ready to be drawn at a moment's notice.
"..."
Speechless, Xu Feng clearly forgot that he could indeed equip it like that thanks to his disgust toward the shield.
"Not bad, right?" Zhao Kai placed his hands on his hips and laughed merrily. "Now I can cover short or long ranges at ease. The monsters will no longer be a danger to me."
"Yes, but that is if you can actually hit them and prevent them from approaching closer." Xu Feng sighed, feeling helpless at him.
"Anyway, let's head to the village teleportation platform and register ourselves first."
"Huh? But what about the upgrading of my skills?" Confused, Zhao Kai thought he had forgotten about the matter.
"It's just upgrading your skills." Xu Feng facepalmed. "We can do that while walking there or are you telling me you're a robot and can only do one task at a time?"
"Geez, I was just confused, okay."
"And I'm the fool to be your friend. I feel like I might get some pimples from how much you frustrate me."
"Oh come on, you know that's not true." Zhao Kai laughed and wrapped his arm around Xu Feng's shoulder. "We're brothers, so how can I be frustrating?"
Just like that, the two of them continued their pace toward the village teleportation platform while Xu Feng assisted Zhao Kai in upgrading his skills catered to his play style.
"When can I get better skills?" Zhao Kai after completing his upgrades.
"Level up or do a class change quest." Xu Feng responded emotionlessly.
"Class change quest? You mean like those unique branches of a class?"
"Yeah, somewhat, but not all class change quests are good. Some are just traps for greedy players. The good thing about it is that it's not irreversible or permanent, so players can always keep changing if they want."
"I see…" Zhao Kai nodded, and placed his hands behind his head. "Whatever, I can just ask you if a class is good since you seem to know a lot."
"You trust me too much." Xu Feng shook his head and chuckled. It wasn't bad to have him trust him, but blindly trusting one too much was detrimental.
However, he was stunned when he heard the response from Zhao Kai.
"There's a lot of untrustworthy people in this world, but you're not included, Feng. I doubt you would harm me since there's no reason for you to do it." Zhao Kai laughed, glancing at him with a genuine smile.
"Ugh, please don't ever do that again."
Xu Feng quickly distanced himself from him, lest others might have misunderstood their relationship.
"Oh screw off!" Zhao Kai scoffed, realizing what Xu Feng was implying and faking a nauseous act. "I'm a straight man who loves women, albeit very picky at that."
"Good, then make sure to keep your distance." Xu Feng fixed his glasses and said calmly.
"Tsk, when did you become so annoying?"
"Learn it from you."
As the two banter continued for some time, they finally arrived at the teleportation platform. Unlike the previous section of the area, this place was heavily guarded.
It was clear that the area was a restricted kind, almost as if they were trying to prevent any intruders or non-villagers from entering.
This systematic design was different from the time when they entered through the village's gate.
Hence, the guards by the entrance didn't bother to hinder them or detain them.
"Halt, this place is off-limits." One of the patrolling guards raised their hand and announced after he had spotted Xu Feng and Zhao Kai.
"Hello, my companion and I are here to register ourselves." Xu Feng stepped forward, bowed politely, and explained.
He then retrieved the medal that Fiona gave him and showed it to the guard, "We are vouched for by Blacksmith Fiona and were assigned to help her gather supplies."
The guard's stern expression softened slightly upon seeing the medal. He inspected it closely, nodding in recognition of Fiona's mark. With a respectful nod, he returned the medal to Xu Feng.
"Very well," the guard said, lowering his hand. "You may proceed. Ensure you adhere to all regulations within the platform area."
"We'll keep that in mind," Xu Feng kindly responded, before signaling for Zhao Kai to follow behind him.
A few seconds later, they began registering themselves with another guard who recorded their data and information.
"This device here will allow you to teleport to this platform as long as you are within 50 meters of the proximity." The guard explained and handed them a small device similar to a locket.
As soon as the procedure was completed, both Xu Feng and Zhao Kai received a system prompt simultaneously.
System: You have been registered to the teleport platform at Willowbrook Village! You may teleport back here through any teleportation platform!
Aside from the system prompt, Xu Feng and Zhao Kai's map was updated, now revealing the layout of Willowbrook Village. Previously, their map was blacked out, which prompted them to ask villagers for directions.
However, that problem was now resolved.
"Holy, is this really a village? Just how big is this place?" Zhao Kai swallowed a mouthful of saliva nervously when he saw the layout.
The village itself might not be big, but the surrounding terrains were huge, and there were danger signs labeled all across.
"Not even the Verdant Valley had this much danger sign alert. Just how high are the monsters there?" Zhao Kai turned to Xu Feng and asked, seemingly believing the latter had an answer to this.
