Chapter 157 – Brutal Saddle & Waterwalk (1/2)
West the Flame Ruler fled with Fatty back to the mainland in a pitiful fashion. When they approached the shore, Aliya gave up the chase and returned to the deep sea.
“Lil’ Bro, I’m so sorry.” Wearing a look of shame, West set Fatty down on the ground. A monster has his pride as well; not to mention West could be considered an NPC, now that he had broken free from the seal. As the prey of such a deadly chase, West felt like he had lost all his credibility to the ocean.
“Big Bro, don’t feel bad. I know you gave it your all,” Fatty consoled him since he could do nothing more. “After you gain a rank, we can go find Aliya again and get back at her!” The rogue’s words made West feel even guiltier.
Giving Fatty a chunk of magical red glass, the Flame Ruler explained, “This is a sound-transmitting glass. After my rank increases, I’ll use this to find you. Go take care of your other stuff first while I rank up, Lil’ Bro. Then, we’ll return to the deep sea again. At that time, more than just the basic Waterwalk Art, I can even get you an advanced Movement Art.”
“Alright, then this little bro wishes Big Bro success.” Fatty cupped his fist in salute. As he watched West disappear into the sky, the rogue was a little upset. Even though he had thought up a perfect plan, the disappointing result had been that he only gained the Firewalk Art, yet had absolutely no clue about the Waterwalk and Metalwalk books.
Fwiissh! A streak of fire blazed to a halt before Fatty; West had returned. He tossed an item at the man and said, “I snatched this since it might be useful to you.” With that, he vanished again. Fatty caught the item. In just a glance, his downtrodden mood instantly brightened. The item’s description was:
Brutal Saddle
Golden Tool
Special item: When used on an animal, forcefully converts animal to player’s mount. Simultaneously, player gains the knight ability and can attack enemies while mounted.
“The Brutal Saddle is truly brutal!” Fatty exclaimed with a gasp. Summoning Wheat, he equipped the saddle on the rodent. Wheat was currently level 33, so its body had grown large enough to be used as a mount. When equipped with the saddle, Wheat’s info consequently displayed the “mountable” tag. Fatty didn’t hold back and immediately flung himself on the rat.
Despite the rodent’s plain appearance, its capability was superb, and it made a great mount as well! Fatty gave a slew of orders from Wheat’s back, such as: forward, retreat, left, right, stop, etc. Due to Wheat’s intelligence, the animal quickly grew familiar with Fatty’s commands, and riding became even smoother.
“The player gains the knight ability and can attack enemies while mounted.” Fatty mused over the info, then shouted, “Earthwalk!” Whoosh! An earthy yellow wind whirled up and encased both Wheat and Fatty. Unable to shrink in its mount state, Wheat simply descended directly underground with Fatty.
The space around the pair was pitch black. However, when Fatty looked up, he surprisingly could see everything on the ground overhead. He glimpsed visions of grass, trees, and mountains as he gazed upward. “Not bad at all!” Fatty was extremely pleased. The Brutal Saddle was even more precious than the Violet and Gold gear from earlier.
“Huh?!” exclaimed Fatty. Just when he was about to order Wheat to return above ground, the rogue was suddenly startled. He gawked, wide-eyed and dazed. Then, slowly, Fatty tilted his head and leaned backward until he lay flat on Wheat’s back. After quite a time, Fatty sat up with complete satisfaction. “Hurrhurrhurr, so Earthwalk can be used like that, hm? Damn, Wheat! Why didn’t you bring me down here sooner?” the man grumbled.
Two female players had just passed over Fatty’s head.
Beep! The communicator trilled. Fatty ordered Wheat above ground and answered the message, “What? …Alright, I’m coming right over.” The message was from Qian Xiaoqian about an upcoming auction held in Azure Dragon City. There was a skill book up for bidding, and rumor had it that this book allowed for a hidden class enhancement.
“Guild Master Sliver, can that skill book really grant a hidden class enhancement?” asked Qian Xiaoqian. In a set of box seats in the Azure Dragon City Auction Hall, she sat among a bunch of players, including ASliverofSmoke, the guild master of Sword Manor.
“Of course. I heard this hidden class is one unique to Chinese culture and extremely powerful at that. You see! Many people from the four main cities have come just for this skill book,” ASliverofSmoke explained, pointing at the players entering the hall.
“Unique to Chinese culture? I wonder what it is?” RainbowWatcher, the guild master of Rainrevelers, was there too. Upon hearing ASliverofSmoke mention the phrase, the other guild master’s eyes had gleamed mischievously.
Once Fatty returned to Azure Dragon City, he quickly made for the Auction Hall. At that moment, over a thousand players had gathered inside the building and even more were still queuing to enter. A normal seat cost 100 gold coins while a front seat cost 1,000. A normal box cost 5,000 gold coins, and a VIP box cost 10,000. Viewing the price list, Fatty hesitated a little. He then paid 5,000 gold coins for a normal box. A guildless player like him shouldn’t stand out too much in a situation like this, or else it could be trouble; others might set their sights on him if he bought something.