Chapter 21: Azure Longsword
“It arrived so quickly?” Nuo was astonished.
She had only submitted the application at noon, and in the afternoon she was notified that she had successfully joined the Life School and was pulled into the internal group chat. Along with the notification came a same-city package from the Landscape Architecture Association, which contained the special brandy blended with 10 kinds of fruits, three Flowers of the Eden Tree, and the topaz ring symbolizing the membership certificate.
So what are we waiting for? Let’s start brewing the potion!
Taking out the newly bought crucible, Asker poured the brandy into it, and immediately the rich aroma filled the entire study.
Asker scooped out the Corfu olive oil and poured a spoonful into the brandy. The liquid in the crucible immediately showed a clear stratification. He took out a Fruit of Eden again, skillfully cut it in half with a plastic fruit knife, took out two seeds and crushed them, and threw them into the crucible.
The fragments of the Fruit of Eden seeds passed through the oil and fell into the brandy, quickly dissolving. At the same time, the oil layer changed, its height was constantly decreasing, while the height of the brandy was constantly increasing, as if a mysterious force was constantly transforming the oil into brandy.
“Who wants to eat the rest of the Fruit of Eden flesh?” Asker asked the onlookers, holding the Fruit of Eden that had been cut in half and had its seeds removed.
“Can’t we save it for next time?” Nuo raised her hand and asked.
“It’s already cut open, and the spirituality will dissipate before tonight.” Asker said, “It’s better to eat it.”
Everyone looked at each other. The Fruit of Eden was a spiritual material! Could it be eaten? Wouldn’t there be some kind of mutation after eating it?
Seeing that everyone didn’t dare to eat it, Asker took a bite. The flesh was not sweet, but surprisingly delicious, juicy, with a small amount of extraordinary power. He finished the whole Fruit of Eden in a few bites.
Eating the Fruit of Eden alone was no problem, in addition to satisfying one’s cravings, it could also replenish extraordinary power. But before digestion, one could not eat other spiritual materials, otherwise, once the two were mixed in the stomach, it would become a flesh crucible refining potions, and it was destined to fail, and the consequences would not be much better.
Finally, Asker carefully took out the Flower of the Eden Tree and gently placed it on the surface of the liquid. The flower was like a small boat with a hole in it, slowly sinking to the bottom of the liquid surface, and at the same time, the petals gradually changed from the original pink to a brilliant pale gold.
Finally, the flower sank in the liquid, and the whole pot of liquid also turned pale gold. Asker poured the potion into a bottle and handed it to Nuo: “Excited?”
“Excited!” Nuo said excitedly. She was finally going to become the extraordinary being she had dreamed of, how could she not be excited?
“Then calm down first.” Asker took the potion back. “Being too excited will increase the risk of losing control.”
“Then what should I do?” Nuo asked with a mournful face.
“You meditate first.”
So Nuo sat down on the floor and meditated for about five or six minutes before opening her eyes and saying calmly, “I’m ready.”
She took the potion handed over by Asker and drank it all in one gulp, even chewing and swallowing the flower inside. Immediately, pale gold lines appeared on her face and neck, carrying a strange and mysterious aura. Her hair suddenly grew longer at a speed visible to the naked eye, so long that it almost dragged on the ground and coiled several times. The sound of her heartbeat in her chest began to amplify to the point where it was clearly audible, as if a heavy drum was being rhythmically beaten, making Eleanor next to her nervous, afraid that she would lose control and die in the next second.
Finally, Nuo, who had returned to normal, stood up, and the bones all over her body suddenly crackled.
“It worked.” She said.
“How do you feel?” Eleanor asked with concern.
“I feel…” Nuo said in a chanting tone, “Great.”
She took out a pen and paper from the pocket on her chest and began to write quickly, then showed it to everyone:
A Life I extraordinary can ignore obstacles and sense nearby living things; can freely control the growth of plants, the reproduction of microorganisms, and the cell differentiation of animal tissues; can help companions heal wounds through physical contact.
The last one truly reflected her value as a “healer.”
“That’s great.” Asker said, “So now we are all level 1. What we need to do next is to digest the extraordinary power corresponding to the extraordinary characteristics in our bodies as soon as possible, and prepare for the second potion formula.”
“Eleanor, Crusader path, the next potion is Perfect Physique X, I have the formula.”
“Nuo, Singer of Life path, the next potion is Spirit I, I also have the formula.”
“Peggy, Lord of Impurity path, the next potion is Life Steal I, the formula and materials are all ready, waiting for digestion.”
“Medea, Infernal Succubus path, the next potion is Desire I, I have the formula, and I am still missing materials.”
He handed the formulas for Perfect Physique X and Spirit I to Eleanor and Nuo respectively. The latter was recording the potion progress of each member of the team, and suddenly asked:
“Asker, what is your bloodline path? Do you have the next potion formula?”
“I chose ‘Weapon Master’.” Asker replied, “The next potion is Sharp Weapon I, which can give me the ability to use any sharp weapon, such as knives, swords, spears, daggers, etc. I remember the formula, and I am currently only missing materials.”
“Okay.” Nuo nodded. “So the top priority of the team is to digest the potions as soon as possible.”
“That’s right.” Asker said, “But since we are all level 1, we basically have combat capabilities. We can register with the Mercenary Guild first, and then take on some combat missions to practice.”
…
The civilian NPC teams in the game are basically divided into two types. One is the mercenary group, and the other is the adventure group.
The difference between the two is that the daily business of the mercenary group is to take on commissions from the guild and make money by completing tasks; while the daily business of the adventure group is to explore ruins (dungeons), fight extraordinary creatures, and collect some ancient objects to sell for money.
If we include illegal organizations that are not officially recognized, then there are also thief groups, assassin groups, bandit groups, pirate groups, and so on, and the organizational forms are endless. But in essence, the ultimate goal of all teams is to make money.
A team that cannot make money, even an idol group, cannot survive.
In the mysterious world where extraordinary power exists, teams have another ultimate goal: to become stronger. These two are not actually in conflict, of course, having money can make you stronger, and RMB warriors are the best example. Although the cost of becoming stronger may be becoming poorer in the short term, it is still enough to make a fortune in the long run. Asker killed a level 2 from the Spirit School and earned about 700 pounds. How long would it take to earn the same amount of money just by relying on his two shops?
If it is a player team, then the motivation is even purer – for fun. So basically everyone will register a mercenary group, and in fact, they will do everything, whether it is dungeons or missions.
Coming to the Mercenary Guild in Constantinople, after going through a tedious application process, Asker finally got the mercenary group application form. The first option made everyone worry.
Mercenary group name.
“How about the Justice Knights?” Eleanor suggested.
“No!” The others refused immediately, such an old-fashioned name would make people laugh to death.
“It should be a fierce name, with a murderous aura.” Peggy said, “Avengers?”
“Rejected. It will cause copyright disputes.” Asker said.
Peggy: ???
“How about a wild and unruly name?” Medea suggested, “Flaming Rose?”
“No.” Asker said, “Too girly.”
“What do you mean too girly?” Medea said discontentedly, “There are 4 women out of 5 people in our team, what’s wrong with having a beautiful name?”
“I’m the leader.” Asker said. This was more convincing than whether the name was beautiful or not.
“Are you all incapable of coming up with a name?” Asker expressed his despair.
“Or.” Nuo finally spoke, “We can use an ordinary name. For example, Azure Longsword?”
“Let’s go with that.” Asker made the decision.
“Wait, is there any special meaning to Azure Longsword?” Medea protested. “Azure? Longsword? It doesn’t make any sense at all!”
“Ahem.” Nuo said awkwardly, “The name Azure Longsword comes from a legend I read before.”
“So it still has an origin, doesn’t it?” Asker replied, “You can take a look at the names of common mercenary groups, basically they are all called sword, shield, spear, etc. Because the name is the first impression a mercenary group gives people, for example, a weapon name will let people know that this mercenary group is mainly focused on combat.”
“Eleanor’s ‘Justice Knights,’ no mercenary group would call themselves a knight order now. Knights are only loyal to their lords, which will make people think that we only serve nobles, and the prefix ‘justice’ implies that we are very picky, so it’s rejected; Peggy’s ‘Avengers,’ sounds like the name of an assassin group, because people who need revenge will only look for assassins, this name will definitely not pass the guild’s review, rejected; Medea’s ‘Flaming Rose,’ flame is a symbol of mages, do you know what rose is a symbol of? Drama, balls, and prostitutes! There will be a lot of messy customers coming to the door, so it’s also rejected.”
“Then let’s just call it ‘Azure Longsword’.” Hearing his reasonable explanation, the three girls couldn’t refute and could only give up.
So the Azure Longsword Mercenary Group was officially established. Asker looked at the member list of his team and suddenly had a thought.
The occupational ratio of our mercenary group is very reasonable. MT, control, output, healer are all available, he himself is not only the commander, but also can act as any role except healer when necessary, but…
Aren’t there a bit too many female members? How come I seem to be the only male? The gender ratio is a bit out of balance!
Of course, as Asker, who grew up in a modern civilized society, naturally would not have any discrimination against women.
Especially in the game, the gender of NPCs is just an attribute, and there is no evidence that female NPCs are weaker than male NPCs. Otherwise, the game “Iron and Fire” would not be able to pass the review in the politically correct Europe and the United States.
Hmmm, this must be just a coincidence. I didn’t deliberately choose female members to join my team, it’s just that all the suitable people I met happened to be female NPCs, hahaha.
Asker convinced himself in his heart, and when he looked up at the girls, they were indeed very promising combat talents.
For example, this heroic beauty with long golden hair, Eleanor, with a steady personality and solid combat skills, was very suitable to be an MT(Main Tank).
And for example, Nuo, the youthful and beautiful girl with short flaxen hair, who was a graduate of a medical major, was there anyone more suitable to be a healer than her? No.
Then there was Peggy, the little beauty with short black hair and small braids hanging down on both sides. She was on the bloodline path of a vampire, and her combat power was second to none at low levels. Wouldn’t it be a waste not to be an agility output?
And then there was Medea, the charming woman with wine-red hair, a Mind Psychic on the Succubus path. Could there be a second Mind Psychic in Constantinople? Maybe there is, but I don’t know them at all!
So it’s not that I deliberately chose female NPCs, it’s because they are the best candidates for my team’s role positioning, everything is the choice of fate!
Asker looked at these four beauties of different races, ages, occupations, and even hair colors, and suddenly felt a little guilty.
How come they are all beautiful NPCs? Is this a coincidence too?
Being looked at by Asker with inexplicable eyes, everyone showed puzzled expressions.
The girls: ???
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