Chapter 69

However, after some thought, Ji Ran decided to attend his afternoon classes first. Refining magical treasures could wait, but missing the afternoon classes would be a bit too much.

History and geography were his primary goals for coming to school. Missing classes now would be a bit excessive.

In fact, the college’s courses were almost entirely voluntary. If you didn’t pass the final exams, you would fail the course, and failing too many courses would lead to expulsion. The consequences of missing classes would have to be borne by the students themselves.

There were plenty of geniuses in this world, and if a genius chose to fall into decline, the college had no obligation to try to save them. Unless they were students favored by professors, who intended to take them on as disciples, they would not receive special treatment.

After finishing the afternoon classes, Ji Ran planned to head back when he encountered Anya again.

“It’s Douglas,” Anya said definitively after hearing Ji Ran’s account.

Of course, Ji Ran would tell Anya what happened yesterday. It was a joke to think he wouldn’t. Why shouldn’t he talk about it? Not only would he talk about it, but he would also shift the blame to Anya.

“That guy has been pestering me, and it’s really annoying. I can tell he doesn’t like me; he just wants to tie the Lawrence family to his family,” Anya said, surprisingly clear about the situation.

“Not like you? Impossible... You’re so beautiful and strong; marrying you would only be beneficial, right?” Ji Ran now joked with Anya. Of course, his playful mood was more pronounced. His first impression of Anya wasn’t particularly good.

“...I can feel it. His gaze is different from other suitors. Besides, not every man can like me, right? According to them, I’m just a tomboy.” It seemed Anya was well aware of what others thought of her...

“Alright, whether he likes you or not isn’t the point. The point is that he’s already affecting my life. This time it was two third-rank and one fourth-rank, but next time, who knows who it will be... Speaking of which, that fourth-rank swordsman was pretty weak, not at all like a silver-rank...” Ji Ran thought about the fourth-rank swordsman. He was stronger than the two third-rank swordsmen, but lacked the overwhelming power that a silver-rank should have over a bronze-rank, making him feel completely different.

“Transitioning from bronze-rank to silver-rank is a qualitative change, but it requires sufficient accumulation to gain powerful strength after breaking through to silver-rank. Some people, in pursuit of rapid strength, will forcefully break through to silver-rank. This way, their accumulation is insufficient, and they need more time to gain strength... In short, it’s a counterproductive behavior.” Anya clearly knew a lot about this.

“...Isn’t that unnecessary? If there are such drawbacks, why would anyone do it?” Ji Ran was a bit puzzled.

“To gain the title of silver-rank faster. You know, with the title of silver-rank, you’re a completely different person from a bronze-rank. Moreover, those who usually do this have average talent... While they have the potential to break through to silver-rank, the chances are slim. Early on, using this method to forcefully break through is more hopeful, but as time goes on and they get older, the chances of breaking through become even slimmer.” Anya shrugged.

This made Ji Ran understand. Forcibly breaking through to silver-rank at least gave them a chance to continue advancing. But if they didn’t break through now and tried to accumulate more, they might end up with even less hope... This indeed made many people take risks.

After all, silver-rank was a significant status. Even if they couldn’t break through further, they could still live a relatively good life.

“So, are you currently in the accumulation stage?” Ji Ran, with his appraisal skill, could naturally see Anya’s level. Anya was currently level 39... in this world, that was the peak of third-rank, seemingly on the verge of breaking through to silver-rank.

“Exactly, I’m consciously controlling my total mana. However, I won’t accumulate for too long. Otherwise, if I miss the opportunity, it will take several times more effort to break through, and the success rate will drop significantly. So, it won’t be long before your opponent is a fourth-rank silver-rank. Don’t worry, he’ll be much stronger than your opponent yesterday.” Anya laughed heartily.

Breaking through indeed required an opportunity, just like in the game world where transcending a tribulation was the same. If you felt it but didn’t transcend, it would be harder to do so next time.

And if you tried to transcend without feeling it, the failure rate would be high, and it would have a significant impact on future development. That silver-rank swordsman was likely in this situation.

“A fourth-rank silver-rank... quite a challenge. Maybe I’ll have a bit of anticipation... Wait, wasn’t our initial topic not this?” Ji Ran suddenly felt they had strayed from the topic.

“It was you who led the conversation this way. What does it have to do with me?” Anya’s temper was straightforward.

“Alright... Then I’ll formally ask you, how do you plan to deal with... the Douglas issue?” Ji Ran brought the topic back.

If Anya could solve this problem, it would be best.

“I don’t have a good solution, at most I can protest to him. He probably won’t do anything openly, but privately... how can I control him?” Anya also felt a headache when she heard Douglas’s name.

“His target is the Lawrence family, so he won’t directly attack me. That would directly anger my grandfather, which goes against his wishes. But what he does privately, I can’t stop. After all, the Lawrence family doesn’t want to go to war with them.” Anya expressed her helplessness.

“So, I have to solve this problem myself? Or should you just stay away from me? I’m sure he won’t bother me anymore.” Ji Ran joked again.

However, Anya suddenly stopped, turned around, and looked at him seriously.

“If that’s your wish, I’ll fulfill it. I don’t like causing trouble for others, just as I dislike indecisive friends.”

Ji Ran looked into Anya’s eyes and suddenly felt that this girl was truly worth befriending. She was genuinely sincere in her friendships, truly wanting to make real friends.

This was evident from her eyes. Although he didn’t know why... perhaps it was the Heart Sword technique telling him that this girl, once a true friend, could be trusted with his back.

“Joking, how could I give up the chance to get close to the idol of the swordsmanship class? As for the trouble... who in this world doesn’t have troubles? At least I know where this trouble comes from, right?” Ji Ran smiled.

Perhaps his smile had an effect, or perhaps his eyes made Anya feel sincere. In any case, Anya also smiled.

“Next time, I’ll bring my cousin to meet you... that’s the one who was with me that day. In this college, he’s one of the few who dares to walk beside me... well, now there’s one more, you.”

Ji Ran shrugged, indicating his helplessness: “So, I should feel honored... By the way, since we’re friends now, can we cancel that match?”

“No!” Anya’s gaze instantly became sharp, even a bit piercing.

“Challenging stronger opponents is my principle, and I won’t give it up!”

“Hey, even in this world, there are many people in this college who are stronger than you, right?” Ji Ran was immediately unsettled.

“But you’re the only one younger than me and stronger than me...” Anya’s smile had a hint of mischief...

Talking with Anya was very pleasant, making Ji Ran finally feel like he had found a friend.

In fact, besides Rais and others, Anya was the first person in this world he felt could be a friend.

Buoyed by this happiness, Ji Ran returned to his dormitory, had dinner, and then prepared to refine a suitable weapon in his room.

Originally, he planned to understand the alchemy of this world thoroughly, even integrate it with refining techniques, before refining a weapon. But his conversation with Sergei made him realize that this goal was too distant.

Rather than delaying indefinitely, it was better to refine a weapon first. If it didn’t work out, he could always deconstruct it and refine it again... although he would lose a significant amount of materials.

Saying what he would do, Ji Ran took out the magic longsword he won from the bet and began to deconstruct it.

Deconstruction was a highly technical task. Although some materials would inevitably be wasted no matter how it was done, a skilled person could preserve the more precious materials. Ji Ran, who had deconstructed countless magical treasures in the game, was quite experienced in this.

True fire was released, and a faint glow enveloped the entire magic longsword. Soon, various lights of different intensities were emitted from inside the magic longsword, each covering different areas.

Ji Ran’s task was to select and preserve the materials he wanted. Separating these materials would damage the surrounding materials. How to choose and accurately extract them depended on the skill of the deconstructor.

An unskilled person would not only destroy more materials to extract the needed ones but might also destroy the materials they wanted to extract... Fortunately, for Ji Ran, who had over a hundred levels in refining, this was not a problem. The only obstacle was that the magic longsword was entirely refined using the alchemy of this world, making it more difficult to deconstruct.

However, this was also a good opportunity to understand the alchemy of this world. By observing the arrangement of the materials, Ji Ran could gain more knowledge about alchemy. Each material extracted deepened his understanding of alchemy.

It took two hours for Ji Ran to finally deconstruct the magic longsword. The extracted materials were only 50%, and the rest had turned into a pile of useless residue, with no further use.