Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation
Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The clearing at the western side of Tajit Village was quite deserted, with rarely any players moving around it.
Nie Fan made a beeline towards a hunchbacked, white-haired elderly man dressed in gray-white rags, and had a wooden cane on his right hand.
He was Ian, the Soulbinder of Tajit Village.
“Greetings, revered elder. I wish to Bind an item.” Nie Fan approached him and explained his intention.
“Bring out your item, then,” Ian said after coughing a few times.
Nie Fan presented him Solanda’s Ring of Fate.
When Ian saw the ring, he eyed Nie Fan in surprise and exclaimed in wonder, “Its light is as dazzling as the Eternal Stone.”
Nie Fan had no idea what Ian was talking about, but it probably meant that Solanda’s Ring of Fate was quite something.
“This item would not drop or be traded after Soulbound. Do you wish to proceed?”
“Yes!”
“This Souldbound costs thirty-one hundred and twenty bronze coins. Confirm?”
“Yes!”
A blinding white light flashed then, and Nie Fan felt as if his very soul shuddered under its power. When he checked the stats for the Ring of Fate once more, he found a line of green fonts noted behind it, indicating that the ring could now no longer be traded or dropped. The Soulbound was complete!
Ding-dong. Another crisp system notification jingle.
[System: Would you receive the quest: Fate’s Guidance—The Search for the Lifetree’s Seed?]
Yes!
Nie Fan did not hesitate to confirm taking the quest, and a glance at his quest bar showed the addition of an orange quest.
Quests were divided into five colors: white for normal quests, red for elite quests, green for legend quests, orange for epic quests and gold for main story quests. Most players would receive white quests, and it was actually rare to have red quests and epic even less.
Nonetheless, Nie Fan could finally be at ease that he would not drop the Ring of Fate while wearing it. That Dark Enchanted Bronze-grade ornament had buffing stats which were quite stunning, being the equivalent of equipping three Level-20 Copper items—no item would match it at the present phase.
Having the item also made farming monsters much safer.
Nie Fan then checked his messages. He had yet to complete the day’s studio-assigned quest, which was paying 100 bronze coins in one go. It wasn’t too expensive for him, and he simply coughed up.
With that quest completed, Nie Fan went offline.
***
In Moxxi, Infernal Left Hand received the message from his underling that Nie Fan had completed his daily quest again.
After learning from Lin Quan that Nie Fan was a minor character with no strong background despite his links with Lin Xinyan’s family, he knew that he had an assortment of measures to make him disappear and was not in a hurry either. In fact, when he put himself in the shoes of Lin Xinyan’s father, he decided he would never let Nie Fan marry his daughter despite nostalgic sentiments and his doting over him. In the end, their family backgrounds were too different, and marriage at this day and age were quite insistent on matching social standings.
That thought seemed to assure him too. As long as Infernal Left Hand could prove his worth before Lin Xinyan reached marriageable age, he was convinced that Lin Xinyan’s father would consider carefully and decided that he was a better fit for Lin Xinyan than that penniless brat.
For one, he has a strong family background, and secondly, he had proven his ability—with his help, Tempest Wings was rising like clockwork and expanding its influence. Though he had borrowed his family’s influence here and there, he had kept the studio neat and prim inside out. If it had been anyone else, Tempest Wings would have been left in a mess amidst its rapid development.
Even if Tempest Wings appeared to be under Lin Quan’s leadership and had nothing to do with Lin Weihong, the reality was that the studio was merely a branch under one of Lin Weihong’s numerous arrangements.
With his connection to Lin Quan, as long as he showed results and have Lin Quan brag about him to Lin Weihong, he was confident that Lin Weihong would easily make his choice.
That being said, he was really upset when Lin Xinyan applied leave for Nie Fan, but realized after some thinking that he shouldn’t be cornering Nie Fan in such a hurry or the cat would leap out of the bag, and his pettiness would be exposed. That would in turn affect the good image he maintained with Lin Weihong and Lin Quan, and the loss would far outweigh any gains.
Impatience is costly, and he could just carry out his plans slowly.
***
On the next day, Nie Fan went to class with Lin Xinyan as usual. It was a little boring but Nie Fan enjoyed such a life: the school’s atmosphere was serene, everyone was friendly and Xu Hong, the only eyesore was taught a lesson. In the end, he realized that the reason schools were compared to ivory towers was because the people here were not scheming, unlike the black-hearted realm of politics, business and workplaces outside. Even if there were still some strife here, it was child’s play compared to those places.
Be that as it may, Nie Fan was stunned when he received a few love letters for some bizarre reason—the girls in this school were definitely too passionate and welcoming. Still, Nie Fan would not have minded finding a beauty for a pure-hearted school romance if he was still a student, but he was supposed to be Lin Xinyan’s bodyguard… and she had even laid down the law, saying that she would tell Uncle Lin about it if he fooled around in school.
After due consideration, Nie Fan decided that he could only yield to her abuse of authority.
After passing the day in relative peace, he logged into the game at around six in the evening. Once again, Xue Yu and Lin Suyue had come online earlier than he did, and they all gathered at Tajit.
“Nie Fan. What’s the stats on that Ring of Fate? Let’s have a look.” Xue Yu asked curiously.
Lin Suyue was staring at Nie Fan as well and blinking. What sort of a ring could that be? Surely it would not be too plain, or Nie Fan would not have gone through such lengths to obtain it.
“Alright, but keep it a secret.” Nie Fan told them as he sent them the details.
Xue Yu gasped when he saw those stats. Dark Enchanted Bronze-grade! Most items on the market now were White-grade, with rarely any Copper items and certainly no Cyan Bronze! Rumor has it that only Miniboss monsters would drop one or two Cyan Bronze items, but Dark Enchanted Bronze was another matter entirely.
Such powerful stats! Lin Suyue was stunned as well. She had assumed that obtaining a Cyan Bronze was already good enough, and certainly did not expect a Dark Enchanted Bronze. Moreover, it was an upgradeable item, and their one deducted player level was really worth it when that was taken into account.
“It wouldn’t last long, though. We could soon get our hands on some Priest and Holy Knight Dark Enchanted Bronze items too.”
“Really?” Xue Yu asked in shock. Could they really procure items of that grade so easily?
“Don’t believe me?” Nie Fan smiled mysteriously.
“I do.” Xue Yu replied firmly.
With the Ring of Fate, Nie Fan’s current combat prowess would probably match players up to Level 26.
Even so, this was merely the beginning—in Nie Fan’s perspective.
As he used what remaining coins he had to replenish his consumables, he received the message from Warsong that he had paid the rest of his agreed fee after killing the Level 15 Goblin Mutant.
With another six hundred bronze coins in hand, Nie Fan could buy quite a lot.
“Dark Night, do you still have more coordinates? I could use one more.” Warsong’s message to him was warm—the Level 15 Goblin Mutant and the five Elites which was following it had dropped one Level 15 Cyan Bronze item, three Copper Items, and one Strength Gem Shard, which value totaled up beyond seven thousand coins. It was certainly worth the two hours spent taking down that Miniboss since the party had gained EXP at the same time, which was no different from leveling.
“I have another level seventeen Miniboss. Two thousand bronze coins, do you want it?”
“Of course,” Warsong exclaimed excitedly, the income just now having left him in a firm thrill. “Deal! I’ll pay you right away.”
Nie Fan grinned. Warsong now trusted him after the first deal, or he wouldn’t have asked for payment up front.
“By the way, where did you get those coordinates, Dark Night?” Warsong could not refrain from asking after getting the second coordinates, although he regretted almost immediately since he was doing something unnecessary.
“I have my own channels, of course. You don’t have to worry.”
“Hehe. Sorry about that, I know I’ve asked too much.” Warsong apologized. “I’ll be bringing my party to farm the Miniboss, then, contact me if there’s something.”
“Alright.” Nie Fan hung up the voice channel—that income had incidentally solved his current emergency. “Xue Yu, head to the market and buy a Skill Tome for Toxic Miasma.”
“Toxic Miasma?” Xue Yu was taken aback. “That Plant-type skill nobody wants? Are you sure about that?”
Why would Nie Fan have him buy the Skill Tome of such a rubbish technique?