Chapter 19 of 100

Chapter 19

11 min read2,699 words

After emerging from the dungeon, what unfolded before Mufeng was a new elven capital city. Its grandeur was no less impressive than the former Azshara. However, he could only sigh, for before he could rid himself of his demonic form, he was not very welcome here.

It was about time, and Mufeng planned to explore the elven capital city before logging off, to see if there were any opportunities to take advantage of. After all, he was the first player to arrive here and had several hundred gold to spend. Other elven players were still battling in the newbie village.

As Theresa had said, due to the curse's influence, the elves were not very friendly towards Mufeng, the demon hunter. Although they did not come to cause trouble, they tried to keep their distance. Mufeng was content with this, enjoying the feeling of everyone making way for him. The main square had a detailed map of the city, and the patrolling guards, bound by duty, had to answer Mufeng's questions in detail.

The newly reborn elven capital was still called Azshara. The elves had rebuilt the city on the ruins of the old one, maintaining its distinct elven style. After a brief exploration, Mufeng found that the houses along the streets were all open and had various functions. It seemed that the much-discussed player purchase feature had not yet been implemented, or perhaps it was not available yet.

The female elves on the streets indeed had different tattoos on their faces, as Theresa had mentioned. However, few players would choose to do so, which made it easier to distinguish between NPCs and players.

Seeing an engineering shop, Mufeng immediately went in, recalling that he had chosen engineering as his secondary profession before the game launched. In "Skyrim," secondary professions were not just optional or purely for making money. Even if you just wanted to farm monsters for gear, a suitable secondary profession could make you much stronger. Each secondary profession offered different benefits, and how to pair them with your main profession was up to the player.

Some secondary professions granted attribute bonuses once you reached a certain level. For example, tank classes would always choose mining. They might not dig for ore all over the map to make money, but a max-level mining skill provided a significant stamina boost, increasing their health. Enchanting and inscription professions could enhance your gear and even craft some decent items to sell.

The secondary profession Mufeng wanted to choose was engineering, as it allowed him to create interesting gadgets, including bombs and grenades. Grenades could stun opponents, giving him an additional control skill. However, they were not easy to throw accurately.

"Welcome, sir... uh, you can look around yourself..." The shop owner's friendly demeanor immediately turned cold when Mufeng entered. There was nothing he could do about his low reputation. The shop was filled with engineering products, giving a clear idea of what they could do. If you had enough skill points and were too lazy to gather materials and craft items yourself, you could buy ready-made ones.

"I want to learn engineering!" Mufeng said to the owner.

"Sure, one gold coin!" The owner extended his hand, ready to do business.

"Alright." Mufeng immediately paid the gold, and a yellow gear icon appeared in his skill bar, representing engineering. It allowed him to open the engineering interface to craft mechanical items.

"If you only learn engineering, you won't be able to do anything. You can buy all the upgrade blueprints from me, but some special high-level blueprints need to be dropped in the wild. These few blueprints are essential for early upgrades." The owner took out a few blueprints.

"Alright." Mufeng paid without hesitation. After all, Theresa had just given him 500 gold, and he had earned some gold from bosses and quests. He learned how to craft items like copper pipes, steel frames, and silver cores.

Mufeng also browsed the grenade blueprints he needed. The lowest-level grenade was the Bronze Grenade.

Bronze Grenade: Requires 150 engineering skill points. Deals 300 fire damage to enemies within a certain range, with a 50% chance to stun.

The damage was not high, but the stun ability was what Mufeng desperately needed. He lacked control. Although the 50% chance involved some luck, he had the Soul Sacrifice skill, which increased the trigger chance of equipment and skills by 100%, making the grenade a guaranteed stun. This completely compensated for the instability of the stun!

"Are there any other blueprints? More powerful ones?" Mufeng asked casually.

"Hmm... I do have a special blueprint!" The owner thought for a moment.

"Really? Quick, show it to me!" Mufeng perked up, very interested in the blueprint the owner mentioned.

"Sure, but you might be disappointed." The owner didn't seem to think Mufeng would like the blueprint.

After a while, the owner rummaged through his drawers and handed the blueprint to Mufeng.

Auxiliary Robot 01 Blueprint: Legendary! Requires 100 engineering skill points. Can craft Auxiliary Robot 01, which assists the player in battle. Skills: Machine Gun Sweep, Auto-Loot!

"Legendary auxiliary robot blueprint?" Mufeng's eyes lit up.

"Don't get too excited yet. Check the materials required." The owner said.

Mufeng calmed down and continued reading. 10 copper pipes, 15 steel frames, 5 iron catalysts, 2 silver energy cores, and a piece of parchment. These were all low-level materials from the blueprints the owner had just given him.

"You see, what can you make with these low-level materials? I actually found this blueprint by chance in the ruins of Azshara's palace. It was likely a casual creation by a legendary mage back then! However, since it's a legendary blueprint, it costs 500 gold, no negotiation!" The owner said.

"500?" Mufeng frowned. Judging by the materials, it didn't seem like a great deal. Rationality told him not to buy the blueprint, as 500 gold was very useful, especially since in-game currency couldn't be transferred via cash at the moment. But...

"What do you think? Have you decided?" The owner asked impatiently, as if Mufeng was disturbing his business. There was no helping it; his low reputation was a real issue.

"I'll take it!" Spurred on by the owner's attitude, Mufeng decided to buy the blueprint.

"Oh?" The owner was surprised by Mufeng's decision. "Alright, but the blueprint will disappear once used. Of course, no returns even if it doesn't disappear!" He handed over the blueprint in exchange for the gold.

"I really want to craft it and see what it looks like..." Mufeng said, holding the blueprint with anticipation.

"You can craft it once your engineering skill points are high enough." The owner said.

"Uh... Why do I feel less excited now? Is this Auxiliary Robot 01 really a waste?" He also spent 5 gold on an engineering tool kit. Although 5 gold was expensive, it saved space, as wrenches and screwdrivers would otherwise take up individual slots. Mufeng put the blueprint in his backpack and left the engineering shop. He also visited a few other secondary profession shops but didn't have such good luck again.

"System notification: Your game time is about to end. Please prepare to log off and rest." The system notification sounded, as Mufeng had already spent 12 hours in the game. He found a secluded spot to log off. As for the guild Theresa mentioned, he would have to visit it next time.

"System notification: Congratulations, player Star Guardian has completed the Heroic Class Transfer mission and is now a Paladin Hero!"

"System notification: Congratulations, player..." After Mufeng logged off, several announcements sounded in succession, as other players also became heroes in their respective classes.

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