Chapter 191 – Heavy Crossbow!

“Aren’t you afraid I’ll try to swindle your materials?” Nie Yan asked with a raised eyebrow. He was slightly surprised. The other party was willing to hand over their precious materials to a total stranger?

“What do I have to be afraid of? That dagger in your hand should be worth more than my weapon, so why would you care about the few materials I have?” Reborn had quite the discerning eye. Nie Yan’s Splitting Edge was worth at least 30 gold. He could tell the dagger wasn’t ordinary with a simple glance. What’s more, he felt that a person of such high status would surely care about their reputation. If his materials really did end up being swindled, he could just upload the video online to the official forums, and Nie Yan would lose all standing in the game.

Nie Yan pondered for a moment. At the current stage of the game, anyone that could take out this much money to forge a weapon wouldn’t be lacking in personal resources or strength. Besides, it didn’t require much effort on his part to lend Reborn a helping hand, and he’d also be sowing some good karma for the guild.

“Alright, give me the materials,” Nie Yan said. He wondered just what kind of weapon Reborn wanted to forge for it to cost so much.

“Sure.” Reborn sent Nie Yan a trade request, then placed all the materials in the trade window.

Nie Yan’s screen began filling up with all sorts of materials, around a dozen items altogether. He scanned through them, estimating their total value to be at least 10 gold.

Now that he had seen the materials, he knew exactly what Reborn wanted to forge.

“It’s for the Flamecross Sword?” Nie Yan interrupted. It was regarded as one of the very best among procurable Level 30 weapons. He gazed at Reborn meaningfully. In order to obtain so many expensive materials, you either had to possess a certain amount of influence or be filthy rich.

“You know what I want to forge?” Reborn was taken aback. He hasn’t even seen the blueprint, how does he know? Did someone else forge it before me…? A trace of doubt lingered in his mind as he placed the blueprint inside the trade window. “It’s for a greatsword.”

“It’s not a bad weapon, but the Strength requirement is quite high.”

“I know. 280 Strength. I have to socket some of my gear with Strength Gems, then I should be fine when I hit Level 30.”

Nie Yan pressed confirm on the trade window. He walked back to Blacksmith Kade, handing over the materials and blueprint for the Flamecross Sword.

Blacksmith Kade looked over the blueprint, then began forging the weapon.

“Are you the boss of Asskickers United?” Reborn asked.

With how the situation had developed so far, Nie Yan knew that even if he wanted to stay low-key, it just wasn’t possible anymore. He nodded his head. “Yes, I am.”

“Is your guild’s elite team still looking for members?”

“No, the elite team is currently full. Guild members can only try their hand at joining one of the auxiliary teams. If their performance is good, maybe they’ll get a chance to join the elite team. Our auxiliary teams aren’t bad either though. They’ve already moved on to the Shadow Marsh dungeon,” Nie Yan answered. “Why do you ask? Are you considering joining?”

Reborn was shocked. Let alone auxiliary teams, even the elite teams from most large guilds were only starting to run Shadow Marsh. He didn’t expect the progression of Asskickers United to be so frighteningly fast! Wow, they’re already so far ahead! He had only asked the question on a whim, but now he was actually tempted to join.

“I’m going back to discuss this with some of my friends. If they’re willing, maybe we really will join your guild,” Reborn announced. He had started the game together with his friends. This wasn’t a decision he could make by himself.

“Sure.” Nie Yan nodded. While they were still chatting, Blacksmith Kade finished forging the Flamecross Sword. It was a gorgeous, two-meter greatsword that reflected a flame-red lustre.

“It costs a total of 4 gold and 20 silver,” Nie Yan informed. He opened up a trade window and placed the Flamecross Sword inside.

The two players confirmed the trade.

“Thanks, you’ve saved me so much money. How about I give you half?” Reborn expressed his gratitude.

Nie Yan waved his hand. “No need.”

Reborn looked at Nie Yan thoughtfully. He decided not to force the issue. It might be that 1 gold was nothing in the eyes of the other party. He wondered if he should persuade his friends to join Asskickers United. It seemed like a very formidable guild.

Reborn’s group could never come to a decision on which guild to join. Some of them had their eyes on Victorious Return. Others liked the idea of joining Holy Empire. Still others wanted to wait and see. As for the newly established Asskickers United? Although they had scouted out the guild, they never had any real intention of joining. No matter how meteoric the rise of a newcomer, they could never shake the solid foundations of the well-known, established powerhouses.

After handing the Flamecross Sword to Reborn, Nie Yan gave Blacksmith Kade the blueprint and materials necessary to craft the Dullahan Cavalry Crossbow.

“Sir Demon Hunter, I have to warn you that I’m not fully confident in crafting this crossbow. There’s a 5% chance of failure. Are you sure you wish for me to craft it?” Blacksmith Kade informed, a trace of hesitation discernible in his voice.

“Yes.” Nie Yan nodded. The odds of success were greatly in his favour. If the crafting really did fail, he could only blame his poor luck.

“Sir Demon Hunter, the labour fee is 30 gold. This is the most sophisticated crossbow blueprint I’ve ever seen. I ask that you wait a while. Crafting it may take up to an hour,” said Blacksmith Kade after receiving the blueprint and materials.

Just as Reborn was about to bid farewell to Nie Yan, he overheard the conversation between him and Blacksmith Kade. His mind reeled in shock. Demon Hunter? What kind of title is that? At the current stage of the game, players with titles were few and far between. No wonder Blacksmith Kade acted so respectfully to him. On a different note, just what kind of crossbow had a labour fee of 30 gold? Not to mention Nie Yan received a 40% discount with the Demon Hunter title. It meant the original cost was 50 gold! So how valuable was this crossbow? It was probably worth upwards of several hundred gold! Even 100 gold could get you quite a few sets of Dark Gold equipment!

Reborn drew in a big breath of air. He originally believed himself to be quite extraordinary for commissioning a greatsword with a labour fee of 7 gold. Thinking of it all, he revealed a self-mocking smile. An ordinary player would be doing quite well for themselves if they had 10 silver in their pockets. Who could’ve known that as soon as he compared himself with Nie Yan, 7 gold would suddenly become nothing more than chump change!

Nie Yan couldn’t just sit around the smithy for an hour. That would be a huge waste of time. He informed Blacksmith Kade that he’d be back later to pick up the crossbow. He turned to Reborn and said with a faint smile, “Well, I’ll be taking my leave.”

“Oh, right.” Reborn snapped out of his daze. He nodded. “It’s about time I go back as well. My friends are waiting on me to run a dungeon.”

Both of them walked out of the smithy. Nie Yan headed straight for the Starry Night Potion Shop.

Gazing at Nie Yan’s gradually receding figure, Reborn had a thoughtful expression on his face.

…

The Starry Night Potion Shop had grown. Every day, it received the business of a tremendous number of players. Even though the front of the shop had been expanded several times over, there still wasn’t enough space. Nie Yan eventually selected two plots of land from other locations, where he opened two more Tier 2 shops which would become branch locations. The players arriving to purchase potions were diverted to the two other shops. Nie Yan opened a Tier 2 Tinkerer Shop on the plot adjacent to the Starry Night Potion Shop. It would sell all sorts of Tinker goods.. Although the market was still in its infancy, it had great potential for growth in the future.

After finishing his business at the Starry Night Potion Shop, Nie Yan withdrew another 100 gold. He teleported to Tasoyi Village and purchased ten batches of Magic Bombs in preparation for his trip to the Everlasting City with Tang Yao.

Although it seemed excessive to spend 100 gold on Magic Bombs, by the time they went through all of them, they would make back 50-60 gold from all the loot they would pick up from leveling there. They wouldn’t use up too many other supplies either, so he could make everything back and then some if they picked up one or two top-quality items.

Nevertheless, in the whole of Calore, only Nie Yan dared to be so frivolous.

The daily income of the Starry Night Potion Shop was ever increasing with no signs indicating anything but a more prosperous future. It would become an ATM machine with an inexhaustible supply of money for Nie Yan.

After Nie Yan finished preparing some of the essentials, the hour was almost up. He walked back to Blacksmith Kade’s smithy.

“Sir Demon Hunter, I’ve fulfilled your request. Here’s your newly-created heavy crossbow.” Blacksmith Kade placed a large crossbow on the table.

The Dullahan Cavalry Crossbow was about 1.5 meters long. Its main body was crafted out of Magic Redwood Logs. In the eyes of any player, it was a very sophisticated piece of equipment. The surface of its limb engraved with all sorts of magic runes made the crossbow look all the more impressive. A thin metal thread, stretched very tautly, acted as the string. It was created from the Enchanted Blackvein Gold, which was known for its resilience. Embedded at the core was the Fire Essence Extract. A ball of scarlet-red flame endlessly burned within. If a bolt passed through, it would be enchanted with the blazing element of fire.

The Dullahan Cavalry Crossbow also required a higher grade of bolts. Ordinary ones would disintegrate when they passed through the small flame. At the very least, Nie Yan would have to purchase a tube of bolts priced at 1 gold or higher from an NPC shop.

If this heavy crossbow was any bigger, it would start to resemble the ballistae used to defend the towns and cities. Its immense size was frightening.

Nie Yan exerted all his strength to lift up this crossbow, but he could barely get it off the table. It actually weighed 56 lb! With his current Strength, there was no way he could use it.

He examined the properties.

Dullahan Cavalry Crossbow (Sub Legendary)

Requirements: 800 Strength

Properties: Attack 307–327, 30% Piercing Damage, 30% chance to deal 3x Critical Damage, +100 Fire Damage, Penta Bolt Shot

Range: 52 Meters

Firing Rate: 25

Weight: 56 lb

Restrictions: Thief, Paladin, Warrior

The attack power was good, and the range reached impressively far. If he camped out in one place with this crossbow, he’d be like a mobile archer tower. Better yet, its killing power was extremely astonishing.

Too bad it had a steep requirement of 800 Strength.

A pure Strength-build Berserker, after putting all their points into Strength, learning a bunch of Strength boosting passive skills, and equipping themselves with a full set of Strength boosting equipment on top of socketing them with Strength Gems, would still have to wait until they were Level 50 to reach 800 Strength.

As for a Thief aiming to reach 800 Strength at Level 50? It was next to impossible unless the player lucked out by getting a full set of godly equipment.

Nie Yan put away the Dullahan Cavalry Crossbow in his bag. Let’s leave it in here for now. I’ll figure out some way of equipping it later on. He retrieved the blueprint for the crossbow from Blacksmith Kade.

After walking out of the Kade Smithy, Nie Yan felt refreshed. He had finally obtained his own Sub Legendary weapon. In the previous timeline, he had never owned even a single piece of Sub Legendary equipment. Back then, he could only gaze enviously at those people showing off the properties of their godly equipment on the official forums.

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