YM778.TV Chapter 195:
“@Heaven’s Chosen Grayman, what do you mean there’s also an underground cavity beneath the outer city district? Buddy, don’t use such professional terms, just explain it simply.”
Heaven’sChosenGrayman: 【It’s like this, remember I got an original design map of Kadman City from Lord Murphy before? My advisor came over today, so I showed it to him, and with one glance, my advisor noticed there was a problem with the design map.
He said there’s an unmarked cavity under the sewers in the outer city district, it’s a place similar to an underground cavern, the area is a bit smaller compared to the Blood Vulture Halls beneath the inner city district, but there must be a natural water source passing through there.
You guys have wandered in the sewers for so long, yet you didn’t discover that hidden underground cavity?】
MeowKing: 【You kid! Other people hide from their teachers when playing games, but you’re sharing gaming experiences with your teacher, huh? But regarding that potentially existing underground chamber, you can’t blame Brother Stick.
The sewers, as far as we know, already have two levels, and we’ve only just begun exploring the second level’s “ancient area”, where there are more ghouls and wraiths.
Grayman, mark for us where your advisor discovered that underground cavity, so we can search carefully.】
Heaven’sChosenGrayman: 【Around this location! I’ve marked it with a red pen, nearly 50 meters vertically from the ground! Be careful when you go down. My advisor said the caverns formed by these underground water erosions are often interconnected like a honeycomb, so if there are ghouls there as well, it will definitely be very dangerous.Image.jpg】
OnboardJoyStick: 【Thanks, buddy, we’ll gather some people to go check it out in the next few days, if we can find good stuff, we’ll give you a 10% share!】
FeelYouPoor: 【What’s this? Going treasure hunting again? Brother Stick, can you hurry it up a bit, sign the contract before we start, can you? I’m sending you money, why are you pushing it off?】
OnboardJoyStick: 【Don’t rush, the brothers are already buying plane tickets, gathering also needs some time. By the way, Rich Guy, don’t you have a private plane or something? This old Stick has never ridden on a private plane in this life.】
FeelYouPoor: 【You really dare to dream! Private plane, yeah, there is one, but that’s Old Zhang’s, not mine. My relationship with my dad is a bit awkward right now, wait a few years, then taking you to fly around the world won’t be a problem.】
SwordSaintAshina: 【What’s so great about private planes, with such little space, flying around in the sky is like being stuffed in a box, simply annoying as hell. I hope every trip out is more lively.】
DayOneNoFap: 【Little rich girl’s pretentious speech! Like, in this forum, everyone’s life experiences are so rich, I’ve also learned a lot of knowledge I probably won’t use in this lifetime.】
SwordSaintAshina: 【Hehe, next time when releasing slots, let’s see if we can pull in a big rich girl for you guys. Private planes are really nothing, Lady Aqua’s family has a big yacht.】
FatalOrchidHuahua: 【I told you not to mention real life stuff but you just can’t remember, right? Stop chatting, come over and gear up, we’re about to head out to find trouble with the gnolls.】
SwordSaintAshina: 【Coming, coming.】
FeelYouPoor: 【Sigh, I also have to start the Black Iron trial, so annoying. You brothers chat first, I’ll go send off a wave and be back.】
Everyone: 【Respectfully sending off Rich brother and Rich sister.】
Amidst the laughter of a group of gaming buddies, Rich Guy, Feel You Poor exited the in-game forum. He stretched his shoulders and took a glance at his character interface.
Phew, finally reached level 10.
There’s only a day and a half left until the 7-day deadline Lord Murphy told him about. Fortunately, he went the Summoner route, considered a branch of Spirit Mage. With summons tanking at the front, he only needs to toss a few Spirit Blasts. But even so, Rich Guy has been working hard leveling up these past few days.
But he wasn’t in the sewers.
Because his little manticore Stinky Treasure doesn’t like that ghost place, so Rich Guy’s leveling location is the wilderness. Right now, he’s in a small ravine about a 40-minute journey from Crimson Citadel.
Feel You Poor stood up. After confirming he was fully prepared, he took out his Astral Realm Summoner magic staff.
This beautiful staff was custom-ordered from Lady Tris at a high price, even engraved with his own name. His entire set of equipment may not be top-tier among current players, but they’re all standard veteran grade, not outdated.
Some were obtained from doing quests, and some were bought from brother Meow’s small team.
RMB warriors playing games are all the same. They don’t mind spending money to gain a certain gaming experience. However, the trouble Rich Guy is encountering now is that in 《Reality Realm》, even if he has money, it’s really hard for him to spend it.
“Awoo.”
A low howl echoed from the gully beside Little Rich Guy, it was his little manticore returning from the hunt.
A fellow with a physique similar to a normal male lion strode over, stepping on the mountain rocks with a lazy yet nimble gait. Its majestic face adorned with a thick mane like clouds around the neck. The once soft wings have become tough enough, folded like bat wings beside the faintly glowing fur and mane.
And that black, scorpion-like tail covered in chitinous scales was raised high.
The hook-like stinger at the tip of its tail carried a slight redness, reflecting metallic light spots under the sun, looking very intimidating.
The little manticore that Feel You Poor named “Stinky Treasure” grows very quickly in the material world with abundant food. It’s now only one step away from entering maturity. At this moment, it’s holding a miserable gnoll scout in its mouth, which is the “lunch” it prepared for itself.
Such a fierce beast appears fearsome at first glance, but Little Rich Guy is not afraid, after all, he raised this fellow single-handedly.
Unfortunately, the current little Stinky Treasure is no longer as attached to him as when it was young.
Rich Guy even discovered that this fellow occasionally stares at him with a gaze as if in “contemplation”. He knows this is the approaching “moment of leaving the nest” that Lord Murphy and Grandma Marianne spoke of.
The wildness in the heart of this giant creature manticore is awakening, and its closeness to him is disappearing.
In its eyes, he is transforming from a “protector” to a “familiar stranger”. If he can’t complete a spirit marking contract with it before the little manticore’s wildness fully awakens, then it means it will abandon him without hesitation and return to the Astral Realm.
This is something Rich Guy cannot accept.
This manticore is the most powerful little animal he has personally raised from youth to adulthood. He is not willing to just let go like this. No matter what, he has to give it a shot!
So, Rich Guy plucked up his courage. He is going to start his Black Iron trial.
“Stinky Treasure, help daddy protect the ritual later.”
Rich Guy pulled out several scrolls, tearing them open to buff himself while also taking out several expensive alchemical enhancement potions. He twisted off the caps and poured them into his mouth until his mind and body could no longer bear more pressure before stopping.
He let out a full belch and turned his head to the manticore who was carefully savoring the gnoll’s heart it dug out:
“Daddy’s going to solo the gnoll elite leader later. You help me block those little minions on the side, okay? Nod if you understand.”
The feeding manticore glanced at Feel You Poor with considerable impatience. That impatient emotion was so real it made Rich Guy a little sad.
A few days ago, this “smelly kid” was still very obedient. But now it has become like this!
It’s quite like when a son grows up, he ignores the old father he once admired.
Truly a misfortune for the family!
“Awoo.”
But what made Feel You Poor feel gratified was that after a few seconds of thought by the manticore, it nodded, swallowed the gnoll’s heart in one gulp, licked its lips and stood up. The broad black bat wings on its back spread open with a whoosh. Running a few steps against the wind, it leaped into the sky.
With the manticore assisting on the periphery, Feel You Poor put his mind at ease. He took out a telescope and looked at the gnoll bandit den in the ravine below.
This is a place he carefully selected over the past few days.
The number of gnoll bandits is not large, and after repeated harassment by the manticore, many members have been scared away. Only a few remain in the not-so-large den.
Most importantly, there is also an old gnoll brute leader inside, a lame Black Iron elite!
Rich Guy has already scouted it out clearly. That is the target he chose for himself.
“Phew, let’s begin!”
Feel You Poor grabbed his Summoner staff and ran down towards the den. As he approached the den, Rich Guy took out his notebook, flipped through it, confirmed the battle plan, and then began the summoning spell.
In a flash of starlight, an Astral Realm rat was summoned.
This fellow has a rather large head, very similar to a squirrel. After appearing, it raised its front paws and chattered at Feel You Poor. Then receiving delicious jerky from the Summoner, it jumped up excitedly.
Rich Guy chuckled, took out an alchemical bomb, tied it to the back of the Astral Realm rat, and then pointed at the gnoll den ahead.
But that’s not all.
He also summoned a sneaky Astral Realm thief monkey, gave it a few bananas, and then gestured to let the thief monkey understand his intention.
Finally, Rich Guy summoned a colorful Astral Realm snake, fed it a fish, and gestured to it as well.
Astral Realm creatures do not truly die in the material world. This determines that the tactics available to Summoners specializing in Astral Realm creature summoning are very diverse. At Rich Guy’s order, the thief monkey was the first to enter optical invisibility and sneaked into the den.
A few seconds later, following the gnoll leader’s angry roar, that chattering thief monkey dragged the latter’s handy weapon, a blood-stained flail, and rushed out of the cave. The Astral Realm rat tied with bombs closely followed and performed a kamikaze attack.
A violent explosion sounded in the den, blasting the gnoll leader who howled in pain. In the chaos, the Astral Realm snake viciously bit its ankle.
Small Astral Realm creatures do not possess frontal combat power.
But under the coordination of an excellent Summoner, the functionality they can exert is not inferior to the powerful manticore beside Rich Guy.
The gnoll leader was poisoned, lost its handy weapon, and was blasted bloody all over. It sensed the crisis and let out a hyena-like sharp screech, calling the surrounding patrolling brutes to come back and “help”.
But the well-prepared manticore Stinky Treasure descended from the sky with a roar, splashing up dust everywhere. With its tail stinger, it neatly killed a brute.
The primal intimidation it carried as a giant creature scared the other few brutes from approaching. Gnolls are not particularly united creatures. As long as you don’t catch their young, they often appear as bullies.
At this time, Rich Guy had already summoned three carrion crows in a leisurely manner to peck at the gnoll leader. But the leisurely battle time ends here. With his Spirit Apprentice ability, he can only summon this many small creatures.
Crack
The double-barreled Witch Hunter’s demon hunting rifle, bought at a high price from the Adventurer’s Guild, was loaded.
Feel You Poor, lacking in spirit power, wiped the blood flowing from his nostrils due to straining his spirit energy. Then, he stood up with the gun in hand and charged towards the frenzied gnoll elite leader with large strides. He also conveniently attached the blood-slotted bayonet on top of the rifle.
The Black Iron trial is not that easy. The health bar of elite monsters is also ridiculously thick.
But it doesn’t matter.
He has already gained the upper hand.
Oh my, they say this thing is difficult, but it seems to be not as hard as I imagined.
——
“How did you get yourself into this state? With a nearly mature manticore escorting you, I can’t imagine what in the Transia region’s wilderness could threaten you. But look at you, it’s like you were beaten up by a hundred gnolls.”
A few hours later, at nightfall in the Blood Vulture Halls, Murphy, who had just finished today’s fencing lessons with the “Grandmaster Swordsmanship Trainer” Necessary Evil, saw his “apprentice” in front of his office.
Little Rich Guy looked miserable.
His Summoner robe was torn to shreds, the Summoner staff in his hand was also broken in two. The worst was his chest wrapped in bandages. Judging from the wound, his heart was nearly gouged out.
“Ugh, don’t even mention it.”
Feel You Poor covered his still bleeding mouth and said through gritted teeth:
“Underestimated that damn gnoll’s madness when driven to desperation. Damn, even three bullets to the heart didn’t kill it.”
“You didn’t even know that elite gnolls have one large and one small heart? Even Apprentice Witch Hunters know to aim for the head.”
Murphy said while rolling his eyes:
“Your Summoner basic knowledge is really ridiculously poor.”
“But I won!”
Little Rich Guy pouted.
He took out a box from his spirit bag. Inside was a pair of giant gnoll claws, the proof of him completing the Black Iron trial for elites.
“Not bad! This is more like my warrior.”
Murphy nodded with satisfaction and said:
“Since you’ve completed the elite hunt, you must be rewarded. I have the blueprint for an Astral Realm beast tamer’s whip here.”
“No, Lord Murphy, I’m willing to give up the elite reward in exchange for your assistance.”
Feel You Poor immediately refused:
“Tomorrow is the day of little Stinky Treasure’s awakening of its wild nature. There are only a few hours left. But I really don’t want to lose it. Please help me complete the summoning contract with Stinky Treasure.”
“Hmm.”
Murphy frowned.
He glanced at the manticore, which was now lying in the darkness not far away, napping like a golden big cat, already exuding enough wildness.
The latter still refused to approach Murphy, obviously because the threat Murphy posed to it was too great.
“Follow me inside. I will help you since you’re also considered my apprentice in the way of the Summoner. But I must fulfill a mentor’s duty and emphasize the hidden dangers of this matter to you again.”
The vampire lord pushed open the door and casually tossed a spirit heal on Little Rich Guy. This kind of healing is not a particularly excellent healing technique, just a basic skill Spirit Mages can learn. Naturally, don’t expect the healing effect to be too good. At most, it just alleviates some pain.
Feel You Poor limped and followed Murphy into the office.
After he sat down, Murphy poured him a glass of ice-added liquor, then leaned against the desk and said to Little Rich Guy:
“You know that an Astral Realm specialized Summoner has fewer summoning slots compared to other specialized Summoners, right?”
“Mm, I know.”
Rich Guy has worked hard on his profession.
He immediately answered the mentor like a student facing a question:
“Elemental Summoners have 7 summoning slots at the Black Iron rank. Nature-specialized Wilderness Summoners can have up to 9 summoning slots. But Astral Realm specialized Summoners only have 5 fixed summoning slots. This is because Astral Realm creatures are often frenetic and difficult to control, requiring the Summoner to spend more effort to appease them.”
“But what you don’t know is that even if you convert to a formal Astral Realm Summoner, at the Black Iron rank, the largest you can summon is only medium-sized Astral Realm creatures.”
Murphy shook his head and said:
“Astral Realm manticores belong to giant Astral Realm creatures! Theoretically speaking, that is summoning power suitable for the White Silver rank or even the Golden rank. But in reality, I haven’t heard of any Astral Realm Summoner that would make a manticore their fixed summoned creature.
I’m not saying you can’t summon it at the Black Iron rank. Rather, the result of completing a summoning contract with it is that your mental stress will be maxed out.
This means you won’t be able to summon other Astral Realm creatures to assist in battle at the Black Iron rank, and will even be affected after entering the White Silver rank because the manticore’s growth rate is faster than yours! So this kind of impact is bound to be long-term.
You need to be prepared, my apprentice Feel You Poor. Once you complete the manticore contract, your Summoner ability will be considered crippled. Before entering the White Silver rank, you can only be reduced to a third-rate spirit trickster.”
“But I still have two profession slots!”
Rich Guy was anxious. He stood up and said:
“I can still learn swordsmanship or archery for self-protection! I don’t care about my career. Lord Murphy, I cannot give up my little Stinky Treasure. I raised it with my own hands!”
“Uh, do I need to remind you that you’ve been raising it for no more than 10 days?”
Murphy remarked dryly.
But seeing Rich Guy’s resolute face, he wrote a list of triple materials and handed it to Feel You Poor, saying:
“Go prepare the materials. Come back in two hours. But remember, this path is your own choice!”