Chapter 79 - Mysterious Black Flame
In the core area of Kuruk Fields, one could see groups of Grassland Lion Cubs every hundred meters or so. If a party’s positioning were slightly off, they would attract tens of Grassland Lion Cubs towards them. Moreover, at the large tree located in central region of the fields, there lived a Level 6 Elite Grassland Lion. That place could be said to be a forbidden area for Level 6 players.
However, inside this forbidden area, Gentle Snow’s party was constantly clearing the surrounding Level 6 Grassland Lion Cubs. They were clearing out an empty land for the purpose of hunting the Elite Grassland Lion. If ordinary players were to see their daring actions, they would definitely exclaim in astonishment.
A party waged battle against more than ten Grassland Lion Cubs.
Wearing a suit of azure armor, Gentle Snow valiantly battled. She was like a War Goddess, fighting one against ten thousand. A simple slash from her had sent three Grassland Lion Cubs flying. Simultaneously, she was dodging the claws of the remaining two Lion Cubs. If an expert were to see Gentle Snow battle, their eyes might have popped out of their sockets by now. Although her single slash seemed simple, she struck the vital points of all three Grassland Lion Cubs. Her dodges were even more accurate. It was like she possessed eyes at the back of her head. Without even turning her head, she was able to avoid the claw strikes that came from behind her.
On another side, the Flame Witch, Zhao Yueru, was like an artillery cannon. A single Frostflame Blast from her had taken away a third of the Grassland Lion Cub’s HP. Just when the Grassland Lion Cub switched Hatred and was about to rush at Zhao Yueru, the woman, herself, revealed a smile of disdain. As her mouth chanted the final verse of an incantation, her lily-white hands finished writing the incantation. Following which, a flame dragon appeared. The dragon spewed scorching hot flames, immediately decimating the Grassland Lion Cub rushing towards Zhao Yueru.
Zhao Yueru’s control over magic was extremely subtle, reaching its pinnacle. Her chanting and tracing were even more extraordinary. Normally, players would need 3 seconds to complete both actions, but Zhao Yueru only spent 1.6 seconds. Her Completion Rate was even at 86%, increasing the damage of Fire Dragon’s Roar by 120%. This single move instantly took away two-thirds of the Grassland Lion Cub’s HP.
A few moments later, more than ten Grassland Lion Cubs lay dead on the ground.
“Rest for a while and prepare to lure those two Elite Grassland Lions over. Shield Warrior, you’ll tank one, while I handle the other,” after tidying up the loot, Gentle Snow commanded as she looked towards the two patrolling Elite Grassland Lions in the distance.
Just as everyone was resting, Gentle Snow received a single message signed with the name of ‘Black Flame.’
Looking at this signature, Gentle Snow’s brows slightly wrinkled. Previously, she put out word that she wished to discuss matters of cooperation with the Black Flame Forger. It did not take long before she received a reply. Originally, she had felt rather joyous at the fact. However, a few moments later, she received another pile of similar messages. All of them claiming themselves to be the Black Flame Forger. However, after undergoing a simple questioning and identification, she discovered that all of these players were fakes. Every one of them wanted to swindle some money from her.
“Snow, is it another harassing message? Why not you just set it so you can only receive messages from your friends. That way, these messages won’t bother you anymore.” Zhao Yueru suggested after noticing Gentle Snow’s unnatural behavior.
Gentle Snow shook her head, saying in a serious tone, “I’m not acquainted with the Black Flame Forger. If the real Black Flame Forger were to contact us, and we weren’t able to receive his message, wouldn’t we have posted that thread for nothing? I’ll still take a look at it. In any case, it is very easy to determine the authenticity of the Black Flame Forger.”
However, Gentle Snow suddenly froze when she read the message.
That was because this message had very clearly proven the authenticity of this Black Flame. He wanted her to go to the Virtual Trade Center, and using the password he had given, enter a designated Trade Room to trade for the Glimmer Chestplate Forging Design.
“It seems that I finally have some gains after waiting for so long.” Gentle Snow revealed a faint smile. From the contents of the message, she could clearly feel that this Black Flame was the real deal. Otherwise, he would not suggest trading the Forging Design at the Virtual Trade Center. After all, Black Flame impostors would not have a Forging Design.
“What is it? Did the real Black Flame contact you?” Looking at Gentle Snow nodding to her question, Zhao Yueru became immediately excited. Wishing to meet this mysterious Forger, she asked, “When do we meet him?”
Currently, the Black Flame Forger was known by everybody. He was even in possession of a Forging Design that could increase a Guild’s influence. After carrying out one questionable action after another, only now did they find out his true motive. Zhao Yueru couldn’t help but admit the brilliance of the Black Flame Forger’s methods.
He paid such a huge price all to control the initiative in the game played by the various Guilds. Now, every Guild within the area of White River City could not help but get caught up in this spiral; otherwise, they would be eliminated by the other Guilds. His unpredictable actions even caused her to feel admiration.
He was unlike a certain someone who was clearly just a lucky bastard, yet, still pretended to be an expert. Just thinking about that person made Zhao Yueru’s blood boil in anger. Compared to the Black Flame Forger, the difference between them was thousands of miles apart.
“I just contacted him. However, he does not want to add us as friends. He only said he wants to meet at the Level 8 map, Physis Canyon, in four hours. Physis Canyon isn’t that far away from our current location. I’ll buy the Forging Design first; then we’ll quickly clear up these Elite Grassland Lions. If we hurry over, we should be able to make it.” Even Gentle Snow was clearly excited right now. There were so many first-rate Guilds in Star-Moon Kingdom, yet, she didn’t imagine that the Black Flame Forger would actually be willing to cooperate with them. She couldn’t help but admit that they were extremely lucky or maybe that Black Flame had some other plans. In any case, she wouldn’t be able to see through the thoughts of this Black Flame.
“Great! Then let’s hurry! If we make him wait too long, it would be terrible if he didn’t want to meet us anymore,” Zhao Yueru abruptly stood up, excitedly saying so.
“Look at you in such a hurry… We still have time.” Gentle Snow rolled her eyes at Zhao Yueru. She did not imagine that Zhao Yueru would be so interested in Black Flame. Normally, she would not be as enthusiastic towards other people she met.
Meanwhile, Shi Feng, the target of Gentle Snow and Zhao Yueru’s conversation, had already departed from Red Leaf Town. He was running towards the White Sand Ruins.
The White Sand Ruins was a Level 10 monster area. It was also one of the must-come leveling areas for players of Red Leaf Town and several other nearby Towns. That was because the Quests available here were very numerous. Amongst them, there was no lack of Guild Quests and Reputation Quests. There were even two Unique Quests here. The rewards for these two Unique Quests were extremely bountiful, and they would bring plenty of benefits to Shi Feng when he officially entered White River City in the future. Hence why Shi Feng was running to the White Sand Ruins.
Just as Shi Feng arrived at a sea of white sand, a message from Gentle Snow arrived. The message stated that they had to delay the meeting time by an hour suddenly, and as a compensation, aside from buying the Forging Design at price of 24,000 Credits, they would give him an additional 20,000 Credits. Their wealth was practically overbearing.
Shi Feng did not really mind the delay in time. In any case, he also needed quite some time to complete the Quests here.
Meanwhile, 20,000 Credits was two month’s worth of salary of a gold collar worker[1]. Gentle Snow used it as compensation for being late……
Moreover, this was only the start of the business between them; yet, he had already earned more than 40,000 Credits. He could not help but admit that there were many benefits for working with a person like Gentle Snow, especially when the person herself was not lacking money. Even the rich from other virtual reality games could not compete with her.
Following which, based on his memories, Shi Feng searched for a secret path in the White Sand Ruins. After walking this path for nearly half an hour, he caught sight of a bunker buried in the white sand. Two Level 10 Elite Blacksteel Dwarves guarded the bunker’s entrance.
One of the two Unique Quests, “Steel Fortress Barrutia,” could be found inside this bunker.
TL Notes:
[1]gold collar worker: Highly skilled professionals who may be in high demand, such as chartered accountants, surgeons, anesthesiologists, engineers, and lawyers.