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Chapter 148 Churn Under The Surface
Chapter 148 Churn Under The Surface
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?Prison Star Calendar?
?Year 187, June 21?
?10:47 AM?
?Countdown to Confession Death: 28 days?
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Upon concluding his rounds, Tyler embarked on his personal pursuits. His preparations for the "Advanced Trial" encountered some stumbling blocks, hence necessitating a comprehensive review.
In order to amplify his chances of passing the "Advanced Trial", Tyler had two quantifiable objectives:
1 Reach a maximum Magic Energy of 3000 points, current value: 1790 points;
2 Attain an Dexterity attribute of 150 points, current value: 114 points;
Beyond these two goals, Tyler harboured a more subjective aspiration:
– "Master an ability to evade attacks, current progress: utterly clueless."
Although referred to as an "ability", it essentially alludes to a skill.
Acquiring a new skill is a reliable means to achieve this subjective goal. However, Tyler's two professions that could currently be levelled up, "Hunter" and "Pharmacist", evolved at a snail's pace, rendering them unreliable.
An alternative method involved praying that the new attributes obtained after a skill reached a certain level would prove useful.
Yet, after Tyler inspected "Heart of Focus" and "Calculation Boost", he realized that even if new attributes did materialize, they would most likely bear no connection to evasion.
Since neither of the above methods were feasible, the last resort was to purchase equipment with inherent skills akin to "Secret Saber: Blaze Steed"...
However, judging from the intense competition for the Blaze Steed, such a windfall would likely be hard to come by.
With a hopeful heart, Tyler began browsing the equipment shops in Sunny Town. As he had anticipated, not one piece of equipment was endowed with inherent skills. Moreover, the footwear-type equipment sold in the armour shop were all defence-oriented, which would only hinder speed.
(Considering my Life Energy value, I'm not suited for switching to a defence-oriented battle style...)
Tyler sighed. Just then, a master craftsman from the armour shop approached him for a chat.
"You're Banning, aren't you, lad?"
"Do you know me?"
"Heh, those two materials of yours are quite intriguing, all the craftsmen in Sunny Town are discussing it."
(All the craftsmen in Sunny Town?)
Tyler initially thought that Oleg had merely mentioned introducing him to a craftsman, but he didn't expect him to truly gather the collective wisdom of everyone to devise a plan.
Tyler was quite moved for a moment.
"Are those two materials truly that rare?", Tyler asked.
"No kidding, materials from a third-tier monster, and high-quality ones at that. In a small place like ours, we might see them once every three years."
"I see, in that case, I will have to trouble you to put in extra effort."
"Hmph! Of course, you can look forward to it!"
The master craftsman flexed his brawny biceps, which only added to Tyler's worry...
If the final product turned out to be equipment suited for muscle-bound men, wouldn't it be a case of a solution going squarely against its purpose?
·
Regardless, the information gleaned from the armour shop did provide Tyler with some hope. However, he could not place all his bets on the "Poison Blade Rat King's Venomous Claw" and the "Shadow Rock Demon Swarerock's Magic Core".
He had to strive for the best in what he could do.
Thus, to expedite the process of enhancing his skill proficiency, Tyler added a "nap" to his daily routine.
Given Tyler's current Wisdom attribute, coupled with the bonus from the Meditation Ring (60 Magic Energy/hour), each hour of sleep could restore 418 (358+60) points of Magic Energy.
Hence, by setting aside 2 hours for a nap each day, Tyler could speed up his skill enhancement process by approximately 25%, a significant improvement.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that if it weren't for other tasks, Tyler would be tempted to abandon everything else and devote himself entirely to the "sleep and enhance skills" regimen.
Unfortunately, the current situation at the Quest Guild made it impossible for Tyler to focus on his cultivation in peace.
(I must keep an eye on the Mayor... After all, Sunny Town is his territory.)
.
Tyler's concern was not unfounded.
Tyler had been in Sunny Town for less than a month.
Meanwhile, Mayor Gideon had spent the greater part of his life in Sunny Town.
When he discovered that his son, Keven, had not returned home even by the following morning, he immediately dispatched people to search for him, speculating that the good-for-nothing lad had probably passed out in some maiden's house. He needed to be dragged back for a proper reprimand.
However, the report brought back to Gideon left him dumbfounded.
"Keven is nowhere to be found in all of Sunny Town?"
"He vanished after chasing a black-clad archer out of town yesterday?"
Gideon repeated his subordinate's words, then abruptly erupted in fury, punching a hole through the table.
"Why aren't you searching the outskirts?!"
"Summon everyone!"
"Full mobilization!"
"If you can't find Keven, don't bother coming back!!"
Gideon's long-dormant rage scared all his underlings.
After issuing his orders, everyone scurried off as if fleeing for their lives.
"The Quest Guild... black-clad archer... Oleg... Emilia..."
Gideon muttered these names over and over, trying to find a connection between them.
His intuition told him that the world wasn't so coincidental; this black-clad archer must have been from The Quest Guild.
—(I had thought that once Oleg, the old geezer, fell, The Quest Guild would be easy to deal with...)
—(Unexpectedly, there was someone even tougher than Oleg...)
Gideon donned his sword, deciding to personally visit the GudeTown.
If Keven was unharmed, he would ensure the black-clad archer met a swift end.
But if Keven was hurt, even if it were a mere scratch, Gideon would ensure the archer met a fate worse than death!
·
In the evening, at dinner time, Tyler headed to the Cat Girl's Restaurant, hoping to run into Granny Kasi.
Unexpectedly, on his way, he first encountered Emilia, who was on her way home.
As they were walking towards each other, Tyler didn't have time to avoid her, so he greeted Emilia with a smile.
"I thought you'd be busy till late," Tyler initiated the conversation, seizing the initiative.
"Everyone at the guild has been looking out for me, so I'm not as busy... Lord Banning, are you heading to the Cat Girl's Restaurant for dinner?"
Confronted by Emilia's question, Tyler's mind-reading skills went into overdrive.
???d?s??vel.c?m At this moment, Emilia was contemplating if Tyler would confirm her assumption, she would claim her pantry was barren and join him for dinner;
And if Tyler negated, she would pursue the topic, asking where he intended to dine.
In any case, since she had encountered him, she couldn't let Tyler slip away.
Her mother's words always echoed in Emilia's head at crucial moments.
"Emilia, when you grow up and find someone you love, pursue them bravely. "
"We fox people are a passionate and fearless tribe~""
As for Tyler, knowing what Emilia had in mind, he knew exactly how to respond.
"Dinner huh... I haven't decided yet. What about you, Emilia? How will you be having dinner?"
Contrary to Emilia's expectations, Banning had counter-asked about her plans!
What was she to do now?