Side Story 2 - Aqua Rose (1)
Wind Chime Town, Red Thorn Bar:
Wind Chime Town was the most populated town in the Storm Empire"s western region. Despite the bar charging 10 Copper Coins even for its cheapest ale, which was a significant expenditure for current players, the bar would still be overcrowded every day.
Currently, many of the bar"s patrons had their eyes directed toward one corner of the bar. To be precise, they were looking at an alluring woman dressed in a lavender robe.
With how many eyes focused on this woman, it wouldn"t be an exaggeration to say that the bar had to thank this woman for more than half of its customers.
Many of the players who had just entered the bar, both male and female, would also inadvertently have their eyes drawn toward this woman.
At this time, a brawny Level 6 man fully clad in dark-gray Bronze Equipment walked into the bar. When he saw the beautiful woman sitting in the corner and drinking by herself, he couldn"t help but be thunderstruck. "Who is that beauty?! Not only has she reached Level 7, but she even has a set of Mysterious-Iron Equipment!"
God"s Domain had just launched recently, and the brawny man was one of the top-ranking experts of Wind Chime Town. Even then, he had only recently reached Level 6, while most Wind Chime Town"s experts were stuck at Level 5 still.
As for weapons and equipment, the average player would only have Common Equipment that didn"t provide any Attributes. If one could have several pieces of Bronze Equipment at this stage of the game, they would become a target for attention when they walked out on the street.
If one owned a piece of Mysterious-Iron Equipment, they would instantly become the center of attention of any street or establishment they visited.
As for having a complete set of Mysterious-Iron Equipment, that was something simply unimaginable!
"Brother Chen, I don"t see a Guild Emblem on her. She might be an independent player. Why don"t we invite her into our Ghost Blade adventurer team?" a Level 6 Ranger youth following behind the brawny man suggested.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtAt the youth"s words, the other dozen or so men in the adventurer team nodded in agreement, their eager reactions earning them the contempt of the several female players in the adventurer team.
However, despite their contempt for their team members, when these female players saw the beautiful woman seated at the corner, they similarly felt their hearts moved.
Meanwhile, the brawny man standing in the group"s lead also nodded in agreement with the youth"s words. "You"re right. If we can get her to join our team, we should have an easier time clearing the Hard Mode of that Level 5 Team Dungeon."
When the brawny man finished speaking, the Ghost Blade members immediately grew excited.
Their Ghost Blade adventurer team was one of the top-ranking adventurer teams operating in Wind Chime Town. They were so powerful that they even dared go against large Guilds. For this reason, many expert players sought to join them. However, as their adventurer team had strict requirements, only a small number of experts would ever get to join them.
Meanwhile, their commander, Brother Chen, was one of Wind Chime Town"s top ten Shield Warriors. Anyone who joined their adventurer team would have a bright future. Now that they were taking the initiative to invite the lavender-clad woman, the latter should have no reason to refuse them.
However, before Brother Chen could approach the beauty in question, another beautiful woman entered his eyes. This woman had snow-white hair and a mesmerizing appearance. She wore a dark-blue robe and carried a Secret-Silver staff made of white jade. Meanwhile, this person approached the lavender-clad woman and sat down beside her.
After seeing this, Brother Chen halted his footsteps immediately, not daring to move even a step further.
Noticing his frozen commander, the Level 6 Ranger youth asked, "Brother Chen, what"s wrong?"
"It"s nothing." Brother Chen said as he shook his head. "Let"s forget about inviting that beauty."
"Why so, Brother Chen?" the Ranger youth grew agitated."Is our team"s fame insufficient to recruit her?"
It would be tough for them to find such a beautiful expert again.
If they put forth the name of their adventurer team now, the woman might very well agree to their invite. If that happened, he would have more opportunities to come into contact with this woman in the future. Yet, now, he was being told to give up on recruiting her?
"Do you see that white-haired beauty?" Brother Chen said as he pointed at the woman who just sat down. In a frustrated tone, he continued, "Now that she has already made her move, we won"t have any chance."
"Why is that so?" The Ranger youth grew confused.
He acknowledged that the white-haired woman indeed rivaled the lavender-clad woman in terms of appearance and figure. She also possessed amazing strength, her level having reached Level 6 already. She even wielded a Secret-Silver Staff. However, the white-haired woman was an independent player as well. How could their Ghost Blade adventurer team possibly lose out to an independent player?
"She"s that Unyielding Ice!" Brother Chen said. "Do you think we have any chances now?"
"Unyielding Ice? She"s Wind Chime Town"s number one expert?" The Ranger youth was stunned.
Logically, with God"s Domain having launched only recently, there shouldn"t be anyone capable of being recognized as a town"s number one expert. At most, powerful experts would be recognized as being part of the top 10 or 20 strongest players in a town.
However, Unyielding Ice was different. She had made everyone in Wind Chime Town recognize her strength. With just the power of one person, she had killed over a hundred experts a large Guild had sent to hunt her.
At this stage of the game, the differences in levels and equipment between players were tiny. Adding on the limitation of Stamina, it was practically impossible for one player to kill over a hundred players of the same level. Yet, someone in Wind Chime Town had carried out this feat.
Due to this reason, Unyielding Ice"s name became the biggest taboo in Wind Chime Town overnight. She was also recognized as the town"s most terrifying existence.
Brother Chen"s eyes were filled with fear as he looked at Unyielding Ice, chatting and smiling in the distance. Patting the Ranger youth on the shoulder, he advised, "By the looks of it, those two should be friends. We"ll only be making a fool of ourselves if we try to invite that beauty. It"s best if you abandon those childish thoughts of yours. Those two women are living in a completely different world than us. If we offend that Unyielding Ice and make her unhappy, none of us should think of leaving Wind Chime Town"s gate ever again."
"I understand, Brother Chen." The Ranger youth acceded to Brother Chen"s advice. However, he still couldn"t help himself from looking at the great beauty seated beside Unyielding Ice, a hint of curiosity appearing in his eyes. "Who is that person, though? She"s having such a friendly chat with a cold killer like Unyielding Ice."
…
Meanwhile, after Ghost Blade"s members abandoned their plan and found a seat far away from Unyielding Ice, Unyielding Ice sent the group a glance. She then returned her gaze to the extraordinary beauty beside her and said frustratingly, "Aqua, you sure know how to pick meeting locations. If I hadn"t arrived ahead of time, that adventurer team would"ve been met with tragedy."
Aqua Rose was the Honorary Elder of Twilight Echo, a first-rate Guild. Setting aside her extraordinary personal strength, she could easily make sure that a measly adventurer team like Ghost Blade disappear with her influence in the Storm Empire.
"I"m not that terrible." Aqua Rose rolled her eyes at Unyielding Ice. She then smiled and said, "Also, I would"ve never imagined that the girl famed for being gentle in our school would become Wind Chime City"s famous cold killer. Now, even that well-known Dark Zone is afraid of you. If our classmates find out about this, they"ll probably be given a scare."
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"It"s not my fault. They forced my hand. Anyway, let"s not talk about me," Unyielding Ice said, a look of frustration appearing on her face as she took a sip of water from the glass the waiter had prepared for her.
If possible, she wouldn"t have wanted to kill all those people and become famous, either. However, the second-rate Guild Dark Zone had targeted a treasure she acquired. If she hadn"t gone all-out to protect that treasure, it would be impossible for her to achieve success in God"s Domain in the future.
"You could easily join a Super Guild with your strength, yet you chose to operate solo. It"s only natural you"d get targeted by the various powers," Aqua Rose said. "How about joining Twilight Echo? With my status in the Guild, I promise you won"t get dragged into any Guild affair. You can continue operating alone as you are now."
"Thanks, but no thanks. I"m used to operating solo," Unyielding Ice said, shaking her head. She then put on a serious look and continued, "What about you? How are you doing in Twilight Echo? From what I heard, Brilliant Wargod is sticking to you like a fly. I also heard that he has your family"s full support, and even your maternal grandfather seems interested in him."
"I see you"re still as well-informed as ever." Aqua Rose"s smile disappeared. Then, she slowly said, "Brilliant Wargod"s family isn"t much of a problem since my family"s Sun and Moon Group isn"t any weaker than his family"s company. However, my maternal grandfather and the other elders of the family share deep ties with the elders of Brilliant Wargod"s family. This is also the case for my father"s generation. They"re deliberately pushing this matter so that our two families can have a better future development."
Looking at Aqua Rose"s frustrated look, Unyielding Ice smiled and suggested, "Why don"t you go independent and come with me? So long as we make some achievements, I doubt your parents will have any problems."
"No, no, I won"t give up." Aqua Rose shook her head. With confidence, she said, "I"ll show an amazing performance in Twilight Echo! Once I have greater authority in the Guild, neither my parents nor maternal grandfather can say anything about my decisions anymore! Brilliant Wargod"s side won"t be able to do anything about it, either!"
"Very well, then. In that case, let"s see which one of us will achieve our goals first," Unyielding Ice said, smiling.
"I"ll definitely be first. I"ve already established a powerful team. Give me some time, and I"m confident my team can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the Guild"s main force!" Aqua Rose said confidently.
"Alright, let"s get back to the topic. Why did you call me here?" Unyielding Ice asked, not willing to continue arguing over this topic. After all, this wasn"t the first time they had this discussion.
"The reunion meeting is approaching. You"ve been so busy recently that nobody was able to get in touch with you. So, our old class monitor asked me to notify and persuade you. Here"s the invitation. Don"t forget to attend," Aqua Rose said before forwarding an email to Unyielding Ice. Although they were currently in God"s Domain"s virtual world, it was possible to upload files into the game from the real world. The only problem was that the transfer of files had to be done face-to-face.
"Alright, I got it." Unyielding Ice nodded after she received the digital invitation letter. She then grabbed a black crystal out of her bag and said, "I"ll give this thing to you. I don"t have any use for it, but it should be of some help to you."
Looking at the black crystal, Aqua Rose asked strangely, "What"s this?"
"A teleportation token; something I got from killing a monster. You can use it to teleport to an NPC city called Blackwing City. I believe you can buy a lot of things from that place," Unyielding Ice explained.
"An NPC city?" Many thoughts appeared in Aqua Rose"s mind as she looked at the crystalline token. "This is interesting. Thanks!"
"No need for thanks between us. If you come into trouble, contact me anytime. I might not be able to help with big problems, but I can still help out with small problems," Unyielding Ice said with a smile. She then stood up and left the Red Thorn Bar, leaving Aqua Rose alone with the crystalline token.
The Guild"s Elders meeting is in three days. Since I don"t have anything better to do, let"s take a look at this Blackwing City!
Thinking up to this point, Aqua Rose settled the bill with one Silver Coin and left the bar as well.