Chapter Five: Rich! Stinking Rich!

The attribute enhancement for the juvenile hawk-beaked turtle was much the same as that for the juvenile bucktoothed rabbit. The only difference was that its defense was higher, and when it took damage it could retract into its shell, forming an absolute barrier that could not be harmed. If not for the giant bucktooth’s astonishing allure, Ember would have had to spend quite a bit of effort to deal with it.

In the end, Ember successfully obtained the Hawk-Beaked Turtle Plate, immediately left Turtle-and-Rabbit Beach, and hurried without pause to the equipment enhancement room to turn in his first seal quest.

"Oh! You’re even faster than I expected! Truly a defender of the sun—young and capable, young and capable..."

[Hint: You have completed the evaluation quest "Turtle Jelly." You have obtained a large amount of contribution points, the equipment enhancer’s qualification seal, and a piece of candy.]

Watching the contribution bar surge upward by a large margin, Ember estimated that as long as he completed one more evaluation quest, he would rise to level nine.

"Take this candy. Remember to keep it safe. If the captain’s little one can’t eat it, it will stop being cute." The old equipment enhancer cheerfully stamped Ember’s qualification seal. "That female barbarian has already told me about your situation, but it’s not yet time for the fourth enhancement. Go see the alchemist first and finish his evaluation quest, then come back to me."

"All right."

Ember took his leave of the equipment enhancer and entered the workshop of the last mentor, where he found the alchemist in a white coat preparing a solution. Compared with the inventor and the enhancer, this one appeared rather ordinary: young and quiet. Seeing Ember arrive, he immediately paused his work and issued his evaluation quest.

"You’ve come at the perfect time, Defender of the Sun. I’m short on a Blue Glowcap Mushroom. I need you to fetch one for me from the Dark Rainforest. Your access to the materials vault has already been granted, so hurry there and hurry back."

[Hint: You have accepted the evaluation quest — "Mushroom Hunt in the Rainforest"!]

...

Quest Name: "Mushroom Hunt in the Rainforest"

Requirement: Obtain one Blue Glowcap Mushroom

Reward: Contribution points, qualification seal, candy

Description: The alchemist urgently needs a Blue Glowcap Mushroom to complete his potion, and hopes that you can gather one for him from the Dark Rainforest in the materials vault.

[Hint: The growth conditions for the Blue Glowcap Mushroom are rather special. Please search carefully.]

[Hint: You should understand now why candy cannot be eaten carelessly.]

...

"All right, I’ll be right back."

Ember accepted the quest and was about to proceed in the usual way, but just as he pushed open the first-floor door, he suddenly paused, then, after some thought, went to find the equipment enhancer.

"May I ask, do you sell Blue Glowcap Mushrooms here?"

"Yes, but they’re rather expensive."

"That’s fine. It’s still only sixty percent of the price."

"..."

For twelve hundred credit points, Ember bought the Blue Glowcap Mushroom needed for the quest directly from the enhancer. He felt it was very worthwhile, because by the time he returned from the alchemist’s door, less than twenty minutes of game time had passed, and at that moment most Foundation players were still running back and forth on Turtle-and-Rabbit Beach. After all, not everyone’s attack power could kill in a single blow.

Setting aside the twelve hundred credit points, which had saved him at least ten minutes, the extra piece of candy alone made him feel he had gained hidden profit. Not to mention the contribution points from the quest reward, which had carried him straight to level nine and granted him two extra attribute points, making it easier to deal with unexpected situations.

"All told, I’ve spent four thousand four hundred credit points, and I still have more than five thousand left!"

Ember bared his teeth, suddenly feeling that having too much money to spend was itself a vexing problem. Afterward, following the enhancer’s instructions, he returned to the equipment enhancement room, ready to carry out the fourth enhancement of his telescopic staff. But then, to his amusement and exasperation, the little old man sent him off again to the third floor of the training base.

"I knew it. You bought the Blue Glowcap Mushroom because you wanted to turn in the quest early."

The enhancer picked up his glasses from the floor and said to Ember, somewhat helplessly, "The reason I told you to finish the quest before coming back is that if that little fellow asks you for another piece of candy, then you’ll have a chance to obtain the material needed for the fourth enhancement from it... Shut up, I don’t have any stock here! How about this: go to the third floor first and learn how to fight from those violent maniacs. Feed the little fellow a candy while you’re at it, and when it asks you for candy a third time, trade it for a tentacle, then come back here and I’ll complete the final equipment enhancement."

"So that’s how it is!"

Hearing the enhancer’s explanation, Ember finally understood a little of how to obtain the captain’s seal. He immediately rushed to the staircase and ran smack into the "little one," who was eager for candy.

Unlike the first meeting, this time its appearance was far more brutal. It no longer exerted a psychic threat, but directly broke through the shadows and revealed its true form—a gigantic sea monster covered in tentacles.

"Candy..."

The enormous sea monster, whose appearance differed greatly from its name, had surprisingly low intelligence. A few eyes as large as millstones stared fixedly at Ember while it kept repeating the same words.

"Here."

Ember took out a piece of candy, and in the next instant the sea monster coiled it up with a tentacle. Satisfied, it withdrew back into the staircase shadows, as though candy were the most important thing in the world.

[Hint: The Kraken that ate the candy is in a good mood and will not ask you for candy for a certain period of time.]

"The Kraken? Is that the little fellow’s species?"

Ember murmured, then could not help recalling what he had just seen. It seemed as though he had spotted a string of keys on one of the tentacles that was whipping about. Unfortunately, the little fellow had fled too quickly, leaving him unable to confirm the truth.

"Next time I meet it, I’ll have to look carefully. Maybe I can trigger something interesting."

Putting the matter of the little one aside, Ember strode down the stairs with confidence and entered the floor where the battle masters lived—a remarkably lively dueling arena.

Just as Ember entered, he saw a fierce duel underway on the stage. A burly man wielding a battle saber slashed like the wind, constantly exchanging blows with a man opposite him who held a staff. For a moment the stage rang with clashing metal, and it seemed the two were locked in a difficult contest. Yet victory turned in an instant. The man with the staff suddenly changed the rhythm of battle, forcefully deflecting the incoming blade before driving the staff into the burly man’s chest and sending him clean off the stage.

The outcome was decided, and many of the watching battle masters whistled and mocked the saber-wielding brute for adding another defeat to his record.

At once, the already heated arena grew even noisier.

"Hey! Kid, where are you from?"

The saber-wielding brute slowly got to his feet, not at all angered. Seeing a stranger’s arrival, he asked Ember where he came from.

"I heard there’s word that the Foundation, because of the Killing Isle, is sending a batch of newcomers to the base to train. This kid must be one of them—and from the looks of it, the most famous one too."

"So that’s the Sun Badge? It is pretty, though he doesn’t quite deserve it. This batch of newcomers doesn’t even have a reality warper among them, and yet they still managed to complete an exploration mission in a life-forbidden zone. I can only say he was lucky."

"Haha! Keep your voice down. At the very least, he’s a Defender of the Sun and the best of this batch. Even if you’re a reality warper, you weren’t exactly at the top of the list back then, were you?"

A group of battle masters began whispering about Ember’s identity. Though their voices were loud enough that they clearly did not care whether Ember heard them or not.

At that moment, the staff-wielding man leaning against the arena pillar lifted his chin at Ember and said, "If you want to learn anything, pay the fee and come onto the stage. Defeat whichever battle mentor you challenge, and you’ll receive the corresponding skill book. We received notice from the Foundation that our strength must be strictly limited to a certain degree. Whether you’re an ordinary newcomer or the Defender of the Sun, we treat everyone equally."

"I want to learn staffsmanship."

"Good! Come up. Pay eight hundred credit points first. Defeat me, and you’ll get the Staff Mastery skill book."

At that, Ember immediately walked onto the stage under a hundred amused gazes, paid the tuition, and stood before the staff master. Watching the other man close and then open his eyes, the aura around him instantly weakening, Ember used his Eye of Insight to inspect the other’s attributes.

...

Name: Staff Master

Combat Mentor / Weakened / Boss-Class Human

Health: 80/80

Attack Level: Average (15)

Defense Level: Weak (10)

Attack Speed: Fast

Alert Range: Far

Skills: Staff Mastery, Staff Technique: Headbreaker, Staff Technique: Relentless Strike

Description: The staff mentor of the Novice Training Base, possessing extremely high attainments in staff combat.

...

"Hmm... he still seems a little weak..."

Ember murmured as he compared the Staff Master with the elite humans of the life-forbidden zone—the Wasteland Gunman—and found that the other’s combat strength after being weakened was actually somewhat underwhelming. Aside from his skills, he was barely stronger than the juvenile hawk-beaked turtle.

So ordinary difficulty really is ordinary...

Ember felt this deeply and finally relaxed.

"The arena rules allow any weapon, but healing items are forbidden." The Staff Master studied Ember, who stood empty-handed. "But rest assured, the arena has its own restrictions. Your life will not be in any danger. If you’re ready, then make your move. You are the challenger, so please begin."

While the Staff Master was explaining the rules of combat, the spectators below the stage began discussing the outcome.

Although there were many proud battle masters who looked down on Ember because he was not a reality warper, everyone was convinced that Ember would win. The reason was simple: they could all see that Ember was wearing an Active Soft Bio-Suit. With just a little enhancement, it could prevent the Staff Master’s normal attacks from breaking through his defense. Relying on skill bursts alone would accomplish nothing.

Besides, whatever else Ember was, he stood in the first tier among players. The difficulty assessment for this solo challenge had long since excluded him.

So the battle masters were more interested in how long Ember would take to win.

"I think it’ll take at least half a minute. This kid clearly dumped a lot of resources into anomalous armor. Who knows how many credit points he spent to make that Active Soft Bio-Suit? It’s only been enhanced once so far, and I doubt he has much left to spend on weapons."

"Not necessarily. Every batch’s leader has something exceptional about them. Even if this Sun Defender seems more focused on defense, his satchel has fused with Active Soft Voracity. With two anomalous items working together to produce a slowing effect, none of us could withstand it. As long as his weapon isn’t too terrible, the battle should take no more than fifteen seconds."

"Hah! Saying it like that only proves his weapon must be worse. Two anomalous items—do you have any idea what that means? At my stage, I wouldn’t even dare imagine it! And I’m a reality warper! What about him? Just an ordinary human. To obtain two anomalous items, he must have spent an unimaginable amount of resources. Where would he still get any credit points to enhance his weapon? Half a minute at the very least. It can’t be less. Unless he has already pulled off several perfect evaluations in a row at high difficulty—but is that even possible?"