Chapter 199:

“This is simply making a mockery of one’s own career! If that warrior was my disciple, I would have beaten him to death! This is extremely irresponsible to oneself.” Tris, who came to hand over matters to Murphy, was as drunk as usual. She had already prepared the new family structure for the Blood Vulture Clan, but after hearing about the choice made by the little rich guy, Feel You Poor, she immediately became furious. She waved her wine bottle in Murphy’s office and complained: “The biggest advantage of a Summoner over a Spirit Mage is the flexibility of tactics and overall functionality, but now that little fool wants to give up everything for a Manticore that doesn’t even belong to him. Alright, I admit that the combat power of an adult Manticore is far superior to ordinary Astral Realm creatures, but so what? No matter how formidable it is, it cannot be a match for 12 Astral Wolves commanded by a Summoner. Moreover, Manticores are too troublesome to keep. They need to be constantly fed various toxins to enhance their venomous traits, and their solitary nature also means they won’t get along well with the Summoner’s other summoned creatures. This is simply cutting off one’s own path!” “But Manticores are cool.” Murphy sat at his desk, looking at a map of the County of Kadman and calculating something. Without raising his head, he said, “A Summoner capable of summoning 12 Astral Wolves would be praised as powerful, but the attention he would receive would definitely not match that of a second-rate Summoner strutting through the market riding a Manticore, Tris. You still don’t understand the true desires of my little players. Perhaps it’s because neither you nor I have their ‘immortal’ souls. Just as we cannot fathom the people in a painting, we cannot fathom them either. But I think, for them, attention is even more important than strength. Moreover, ordinary wolves can be seen in zoos, but even the most impressive zoos would not have such an unscientific thing as a Manticore. The things we have here that they don’t have over there are the real treasures that attract them.” “Woo-woo.” George, the Astral Direwolf lying at Murphy’s feet, let out a dissatisfied whimper. Apparently, he was disdainful of the Manticore’s ability to only fly around, whereas in the Astral Realm’s ecosystem, even legendary Manticores wouldn’t dare provoke the wolf pack he belonged to. Murphy glanced at the wolf at his feet. He thought to himself, “You have no right to be so arrogant, buddy. Even if that Manticore Stinky Treasure is a loser, it can easily bite your head off with one bite. The strength of your wolf pack doesn’t make you strong. What are you so proud of?” “Say whatever you want, but I still think it’s irresponsible.” Tris yawned and tossed a stack of documents to Murphy, saying, “The new family structure is ready. Sign it, and then I’ll have Bonnie publish it. Use the form created by Miriam to record the new family members and include them in the household registration management under the County of Kadman. This is probably the first time in a thousand years that vampires on this continent have been required to register with the authorities. I guess the other clans will look down on us. But maybe your approach is also a way forward. If it can indeed reduce the conflict between vampires and humans, then we should try to step out of the shadows of history. You should be grateful for Salrokdar’s misbehavior, Murphy. Otherwise, in a well-established family system, your ‘unconventional’ idea would make you instantly abandoned by everyone. Ah, enough about that. Femis will be home tonight, so you and I should go welcome her together. Apparently, she’s also bringing back the first batch of Blood Pact Knights assigned to us by Lord Payne, as well as some support supplies.” Tris finished the wine in Murphy’s office and turned to leave, but Murphy held her shoulder. “Wait, I still want to ask you about the situation in Seicob City. Miriam and I are preparing to relocate the villages in the county to the vicinity of Crimson Citadel. Since we really need population now, she also plans to recruit some villagers from the County of Seicob. But I’m not very familiar with the events in the northern part of Transia.” Murphy said, “I heard that two years ago, after the fall of Seicob City, there was still a wing of cavalry persisting in the fight. They engaged the enemy in the ancient forest northeast of Seicob City, bordering the Ice Bay region. Tell me, Tris, can we bring those loyal Portia Federation troops under our command?” “The Seicob winged cavalry would not easily submit to a new master. They are not loyal to the Federation either, they are only loyal to the lord of that forest,” Tris shook her head and said, “Those formidable winged cavalrymen are descendants of mountain people and barbarians, with ice and stone flowing in their veins. Do you understand what I mean? If you want to recruit them, the prerequisite is that you must be able to find them! But in that ancestral forest, there are natural forces protecting them, making it very difficult for even Witch Hunters to track them down. However, I think you can send your little players to scout around the ruins of Seicob City first. There are indeed some villages around there that can be incorporated into your territory. Given the extent of the devastation in northern Transia, as long as you can provide enough food for those poor people and allocate new dwellings, they would be very willing to obey the commands of a vampire lord. Of course, that area is nominally the territory of the County of Seicob. Developer’s Recommendation: Testers with administrative talents, please go to the Crimson Citadel administrative office, visit Crimson Regent Miriam, and begin an administrative career. Testers with manufacturing talents, please go to the forward camp outside Crimson Citadel, visit Professor Malcolm, the administrative deputy, for a manufacturing assessment, and begin a manufacturing career. Testers with combat talents, please go to the military camp outside Crimson Citadel, visit Baron of Leim Maxim, and begin combat career training. Developer’s Note! The above are merely recommendations, not mandatory choices. Testers can also allocate their own game time as they see fit.】 “Let’s go, go, go! Get certified first!” Meow King saw the quest triggered by Master Broken Blade and immediately called out to the two “master forgers” he had invited, leading them towards the camp outside the city. These two guys were “professionals” to begin with, not particularly interested in hunting and leveling up. They accepted the invitation because they heard they could freely forge various items with maximum realism. Hearing Meow King’s call, Hundred Forging Great Horse returned the German greatsword he was admiring to Black Stockings Under the Keyboard and then followed the six-person group, leaving the Adventurer’s Guild camp. On the way, he said in a low voice to the equally stern-faced Master Broken Blade, “The real stuff in this game may only use the most common forging methods, but the materials are quite exquisite. It seems the developers have created an entire set of rigorous forging techniques for this fantasy world background, including those mysterious spirit weapons. We should try forging one to see.” Master Broken Blade nodded, flexing his fingers and saying with an itch, “I can’t figure out how that thing is forged and how it stores energy, but I just observed the tools used by those Witch Hunters, and they’re similar to what we use. Their blacksmith said that forging spirit weapons requires adding some spirit perception materials to the process. I feel this is a huge gamble. If there’s a dedicated manual, it’s fine, but if not, us two brothers will have to figure it out slowly through trial and error. However, I just saw that the old blacksmith’s skills are mediocre. He doesn’t even know the case-hardening technique, let alone more advanced skills. Us two can show these guys a thing or two once we gather the tools. But that blacksmith’s main job is being a Witch Hunter, and blacksmithing is just a hobby. He clearly stated that the secret forging techniques of this world are mostly mastered by dwarves. The three major dwarf clans each have their own blacksmithing traditions. Hey, we must take the opportunity to witness this magical forging art.” “You two seem to be chatting quite well,” Meow King smirked, unable to contain his curiosity, and handed them the unfinished weapon design sketch from his spirit bag, saying, “To be honest, I previously took on a major Hidden Quest related to this, which is why I called you two over. Take a look and see if this thing can be completed.” “Woah, a magic flying sword!” Master Broken Blade took it and immediately became excited. Meow King’s weapon design sketch was incomplete, but the overall shape had been made. He examined it carefully and said, “In terms of just the shape, there’s no problem at all. But this is a magical weapon, right? We’re not that mystical, so we’ll have to learn slowly from the locals.” “No worries, even just a rough shape is fine,” Meow King waved his hand, saying, “This cursed quest requires me to obtain a sample to show Lord Murphy and Lady Tris for their evaluation and unlock the next step. The blacksmiths at the camp can’t make it, which really frustrates me. Anyway, it’s up to you two gentlemen now. Our little group will provide one-third of the cost for you to learn forging and conduct experiments. We also have a land deed that we’ll give you two as a reward once the quest is completed, so you can open a blacksmith shop in the city later.” “Hey, that’s awesome! Meow King is a true brother!” Hundred Forging Great Horse gave a thumbs up, and the group of brothers laughed and left with the crowd. On the other side, the clueless “Life Is Pretty Good” was being dragged unwillingly by his good friend Feel You Poor towards the administrative office. “Let go! You jerk, I already said I don’t want to do any administrative career! You know I don’t want to be an official in this game, right? I want to go hunt monsters! I want to level up! Don’t stop me!” Life Is Pretty Good shouted and yelled, drawing stares from a group of administrative players nearby. Because Feel You Poor had “money power”, his good friend entered the game with a full set of recruit armor and matching weapons. However, in reality, his otherwise self-disciplined good friend now wanted to challenge the limits and let loose. But Feel You Poor, who knew the “core” of this cursed game, stopped him at all costs. “There’s no experience from hunting monsters in this game, what’s the rush?” He, already at the Black Iron Rank, dragged his good friend like a chicken towards the administrative office entrance, saying as they walked, “Besides, administrative careers only require you to work a few hours a day. Once you arrange the tasks, NPCs will execute them. You can still hunt monsters with the remaining time. Don’t be so dramatic, it would be a real waste if you don’t pursue an administrative career with your talents. Just go change careers quickly. I heard from Dump Truck Iaido that administrative players have priority in selecting loot under certain circumstances. They even get an official salary every week and can assign themselves guards within their jurisdiction. How cool is that! Oh, don’t be difficult. Just go switch careers first, and I’ll take you level grinding, okay? Be good!” “Good your aunt!” Life Is Pretty Good shouted, “If I had known you were dragging me in here to fawn over NPCs, I wouldn’t have come! How did you become so deceitful in just playing a game?” “Yo, looks like you two are trafficking people here,” a teasing voice suddenly rang out as they were bickering. Feel You Poor and Life Is Pretty Good, the two little rich guys, turned to see Half Off With Full Coverage, the security chief of the forward camp, walking into the administrative courtyard with a stack of documents. He was dressed in a cool veteran’s armor, but that wasn’t the point. The point was that Half Off was accompanied by four fully armed female camp guards. On top of that, he had equipped his guards with cool, standard veteran armor and even designed a family crest for their battle robes. What a spectacle! Damn! It left the nearby group of little players dumbfounded. “What? Unwilling to be an official?” Half Off walked over confidently, escorted by his guards, and said meaningfully to Life Is Pretty Good, “In this game, you’re not going to be a civil servant, kid. You will be the ruler. Do you know how much power medieval rulers had? Go read some history, and you’ll know.”