Pillar of Yita

Facing six unfriendly gazes, Fang Hong felt truly ashamed. What could he do; he was the one who wrote the wrong number for the pier, wasn’t he? Ultimately, it was Soul Fingerprint who stepped forward and said to everyone: ”Forget it, anyone can make a mistake.”

However, her tone carried a hint of disappointment, and she subtly shook her head—everyone can have lapses, but craftsmen are the most meticulous and careful, because alchemy is always more precise than humans; a slight error can lead to a colossal mistake. When someone interacts with outsiders for the first time, wouldn’t they confirm again and again, fearing losing the person? For such a situation to arise, it’s either extremely rude or consistently careless. Either way, it indicates that this person is untrustworthy.

She put away those unrealistic expectations. Among the five team members, Dill had significant shortcomings in single-character arrays due to lack of experience, as he didn’t come from a Youth Training Camp, leading to inevitable biases. She initially planned that if the newcomer was indeed a solid trainee from the Youth Training Camp, they could partner with Dill, taking turns on the field to compensate for the team’s shortcomings.

But now, though this person seemed like a trainee by age, it was hard to say which training camp they came from. Emerging clubs are rising like mushrooms after rain, with various training camps on Earth becoming more numerous, but from Soul Fingerprint—or rather from Ragnarok’s picky perspective—if it wasn’t from those reputable old-school youth training camps, others seemed somewhat insignificant.

She sighed inwardly, though it didn’t show outwardly, as she reached out to take the suitcase from Fang Hong’s hand. Fang Hong watched as his suitcase was taken away, initially wanting to decline, because this Madam’s strength wasn’t necessarily higher than his, who passed the Hall of Thousand Doors.

But Soul Fingerprint spoke decisively, giving him a look: ”Don’t waste time, I’m at a higher level than you,” she answered briskly: ”The hotel is a bit far from here, but there’s no need to worry, your room was booked three days ago.”

She had already labeled this person as mediocre, assigning him the role of a substitute as usual. Yet Soul Fingerprint couldn’t help but find it curious; it wasn’t her first time experiencing such a thing, so why did she still hold onto hope?

Perhaps because this team was indeed somewhat weak...

Ragnarok wasn’t originally good at cultivating life profession teams, and the head ’Grand Artificer’ (referring to the leader Alchemist) ranked last among the ten Grand Guilds, not even surpassing Silver Forest Crown. This year, affected by the overall situation in the domestic division being lacking with weak successors, it was even less comparable to previous competitions.

In the past, teams like these might not be the most talented, but at least they should’ve been Youth Training Camp graduates with solid foundational knowledge. In this round, there were two who weren’t from Youth Training Camps, among whom Cui Yu was a special case, but Dill was really biased—if not for her talent in material science and the lack of better options—Soul Fingerprint would never have considered this young girl for the team.

She walked forward carrying the suitcase.

And Fang Hong hesitantly withdrew his hand, probably sensing the atmosphere and realizing he wasn’t particularly welcomed. But what options did he have? The note was written to him by Jasmine and Mint, the two Little Fairies, and he still hadn’t figured out whether he accidentally copied it wrong or if the note was incorrect from the start.

Meanwhile, a ’pfft’ sounded beside him; Mulan, a tall girl, laughed and teased him: ”Why did you bring such a large suitcase; is it filled with your alchemy tools? You don’t actually need to bring so many; the tools we prepared must be better than yours, or is it that you can only use your own tools?”

She spoke assuredly: ”I heard there are indeed Alchemists like that who completely refuse to use others’ tools; it sounds quite expert-like, are you like that?”

Fang Hong embarrassedly shook his head: ”It’s just books inside.”

”Books, unfinished ones?”

Mulan seemed a bit surprised, as they did read books too. But as Invokers, reading was for gaining experience and insights, so generally, once finished, there was no need to reread, because it offered little additional experience, making practice more profitable.

But Fang Hong still shook his head: ”No, just keeping them to review.”

”Review?” Mulan looked at Fang Hong oddly, almost mistaking him for a Native. The girl hesitated for a moment, then laughed: ”Haha, you’re quite the comedian.”

Fortunately, the girl was a steadfast member of the looks association. The note said Fang Hong had an ordinary appearance, but in actuality, it was tolerable, belonging to the kind that grows on you—and with a touch of boyish charm, Mulan found it quite cute, which was why she spoke up proactively.

Regarding Fang Hong’s response, she automatically interpreted it as humorous and playful.

But Fang Hong was genuinely not joking; those books were given to him by the Tower Guard, which he had already read in the Hall of Thousand Doors, being one of the knowledge he gained behind numerous green doors.

Later, Anluose told him to keep them, emphasizing that the knowledge in alchemy lies in consolidation, because even geniuses must focus on solid foundations—though Fang Hong wasn’t aware, he actually had a significant advantage in accepting reasonable suggestions, often going with the flow—even if it might contradict the norms recognized by Invokers.