Pillar of Yita

”Of course, it’s not just any Fearless One,” Sophie said with a laugh, ”I have a Variant called ’Elfendo Twins’. It’s a Fearless One created with the concept of a Shield Guard. How about it, are you interested?”

Upon hearing this, Fang Hong was somewhat tempted. Variant Constructs were rare, and most of them boasted exceptional performance, such as the previously encountered Baihua, who was able to easily handle the siege of the Jiefulite Red Cloak Team, largely thanks to the Variant Sword-Bearer.

From the tone of Sophie’s voice, the ’Elfendo Twins’ was a flexible Construct capable of both offense and defense since the Fearless One was a heavy assault construct typically requiring about Level 15, whereas a Level 14 Shield Bearer was known as the iron defender of constructs. A Variant meant an all-around enhancement on the standard model, and it could certainly hold its own.

Fang Hong glanced at the ’Pale Flame’ in his hand, the reflection on the blade shone on his chin, resembling a pool of cold water. He pondered for a moment, thinking that Xiangzi used rapiers, not swords like this one. The Big Catfolk’s Marlan Knights, who preferred assaulting roles with weapons like spears, two-handed swords, and war hammers, wouldn’t fancy this ’small toothpick’ either; talking about his team, indeed no one used this sword.

He turned the blade over and said, ”But a Variant is indeed precious, yet its value still does not compare to this sword, does it?”

Fang Hong looked at the sword’s attributes again and answered, ”The counterfeit ’Pale Flame’ was forged by the most outstanding craftsman of the Ancient Tower People in that era. It’s the King’s Sword of the Knight Nation, a nearly legendary sword with excellent attributes. It requires a Level 22, has an attack range of 171-202 points— not too high for this level, but not low either— but its features are exceptionally powerful, first of all the excellent attribute enhancements. Its Strength Modifier increases one grade below a B-level rating (for example, from C to B), and increases one grade below an S-level rating (for example, from B to B+).”

He paused, within the division of item quality, B stood for refined goods, A for master level refined goods, while S, SS belonged to legendary equipment, SSS could also be considered a type of legendary equipment, but is generally called near-legendary items.

Beyond this, there were no more divisions in quality; it was the realm of true legends, semi-divine artifacts, and divine artifacts.

”— then the added skills, Strength Enhancement III and Swift Burst II, form an optimal combination for agility-focused weapons, and it also has ’Soul Whip’ for long-range skills, invaluable for close-combat professions; its hand-and-a-half sword can also be held with both hands, a characteristic of this type of longsword, but because it was used by a king, this aspect is particularly enhanced with the Crusader core’s feature making it have a high Block Value of 770 points while held with both hands, truly capable of both offense and defense.”

Fang Hong gripped the sword’s blade, stretched it forward flatly, and looked up at Sophie: ”As for the most powerful feature of ’Pale Flame’, ’Pale’, need I elaborate further? Anyone desiring this sword would be well aware of this ability.”

Sophie was momentarily stunned, then burst into laughter at his earnest expression, ”You truly are an Alchemist, expert in Magic Guided Conductors; obviously, I am well aware of that. So, what else would you require?”

Fang Hong gave the woman a puzzled look, unsure what amused her, as this was an important bargaining technique he had finally mastered. And he had already figured out his needs, directly answering, ”The gap between the Variant Fearless and this sword isn’t huge, the remaining difference could be compensated with materials of equivalent value.”

Having said that, he listed the types of materials.

Sophie, without hesitation, nodded: ”Alright, no problem.”

The ease of the agreement made Fang Hong slightly regretful, wondering if he had asked for too little?

He planned to use these materials to help Xiangzi and the Big Catfolk upgrade their weapons again. Of course, he could also have Silver Weslan directly prepare the finished products, but doing it this way would save on the costs of craftsmanship, and he also planned to take the opportunity to practice.

Once the agreement was reached, Fang Hong, seemingly addicted, suddenly said, ”Miss Sophie, actually I have another business proposition, would you be interested?”

”Just call me Sophie, Mr. Xiaya,” Sophie’s eyes lit up, answering, ”Does it have anything to do with the explosion earlier?”

Fang Hong shuddered inwardly, thinking how sharp this woman’s intuition was.

He was indeed referring to the Seal Ring Type Configuration Sword-Bearer, which, although not a Variant, was considered above the general Variants in terms of value to the Grand Guild.

He nodded and said, ”Yes, I want to exchange it for a Variant Sword-Bearer.”

Although he had now secured a verbal deal and would soon obtain the ’Elfendo Twins’, operating a Fearless required a slew of pre-required skills and, even with top-notch equipment, Magic Guided Reactors, and plugins, a typical person would need to reach Level 15 to qualify.

Fang Hong contemplated his impoverished situation; without accounting for computational power, he would need at least Level 16 or even 17 before he could make use of it, and in the meantime, he had to rely on constructs like the Sword-Bearer and the Annihilator QV700 to get through this period.

Thus, a Variant Sword-Bearer would clearly be very useful.

”Can do,” Sophie preempted him, and as if afraid he might retract his offer, she explained, ”But first, you have to tell us exactly what’s the deal with your self-exploding Sword-Bearer.”