9 09 - Goodbyes, More Progress and... Rivals?
It was now the 8th month Fang Lin has spent in this world and also marked 1 full month of them living in this is settlement. After sleeping in the wilderness for so long, the bed in their Inn made them feel as if they're sleeping on clouds. Yes, bed, as in a single bed. It seems that after sharing the same tent for so long, they got used to sleeping with the other's presence nearby and couldn't sleep otherwise. It's just sleeping however and nothing actually happens. It's definitely not because Xiao Bai is also there... not at all.
In that one month, Fang Lin and Ning Er joined the ranks of 'Adventurers' and constantly completing as many jobs they could find. Su Ling'er who found out, also became one and temporarily joined in on many of their jobs alongside Su Yan. Su Ling'er of course only joined as an excuse to have fun with her new friends while Su Yan is only there to protect the young miss as is her duty proper.
What really surprised Fang Lin though, is the fact that when accept one of these 'Adventurer's Job', the system would generate a similar 'Quest' with AP, EP, and IP as rewards. For some reason, there were never any UP as rewards though. With that kind of incentives, Fang Lin's motivation hit the peak and took on as many as they could possible. Due to having Su Yan joining them as well, their job completion rate increased even further thus satisfying the requirement for a promotion in just one week thus beating the previous record for fastest promotion speed to 'Blue Plate' adventurer.
All good things had to come to an end eventually as now, Fang Lin and his party at the docking area to bid farewell to Su Ling'er and Su Yan. Fang Lin learned that both girls were actually students of the 'Heavenly Star Academy', though everyone just call it 'Star Academy' for short. It is actually located at the center of 'Blue Haven' continent, where all the brilliant geniuses from various clans send their later generations. The only reason they were here, at the Frontier Settlement, in the first place is for Su Ling'er to get combat experience as a 'Mage'.
Before they knew it, the 'flying ship' they were waiting for had landed. Fang Lin who was excited to see what these so called 'flying ship' looked like, quickly deflated like a punctured balloon. With his mouth twitching, he couldn't help but uttered out his disappointment. "What flying ship? isn't that just a blimp on steroid?" His question however went unanswered as the girls, Su Ling'er especially, were having an emotional moment.
"Uuuh.. you guys have to come visit us sometimes ok? Promise me you'll come when you have time!" said a teary eyed Su Ling'er as she was giving Ning Er a bear hug. At this, Ning Er could only give an awkward chuckle as she pet her head. "Un. We'll definitely come visit you once we're done with our business here." said Ning Er. Su Yan who was standing at the side just giggled at their little antics.
After a bit, Su Yan nodded her head and said "If you do come to the academy, you two should give the academy a chance and enroll. Being able to reach the 'Battle Maniac' realm at the age of 13 definitely proves you have the talent needed for enrolling. With the resources provided by Star Academy, your cultivation would be even greater. Do think about it."
Su Ling'er who was listening quietly earlier suddenly chimed in "Yeah yeah! With your talents, you would definitely be able to join the 'Genius Class'! We can even be classmates!" At that, Fang Lin gave a hum and thought about the pros and cons of enrolling in the academy. "Alright, we will think about enrolling there once we're done with our business here." Seeing as Fang Lin didn't reject right away, Su Ling'er and Su Yan nodded in assent.
As they were about to continue their conversation, the sound of a bell rung through the whole area, signifying that the 'ship' is about to take off. After bidding their final farewell, Su Ling'er and Su Yan walked towards the 'flying ship' but after they passed through the door, Fang Lin's voice rang through the air. "We'll see you later... Hentai Shoujo #1 and #2!" At this, both girls staggered and nearly fell face first to the floor.
Due to his shout, everyone nearby also heard what he called them and promptly whispered to the person next to them. If it's just that it would've been alright, but what made it worse is that they kept looking at them both with strange gazes. WIth as much resentment as one could gather, they glared at Fang Lin as if trying to bore a hole through his skull. Upon seeing this, Fang Lin just chuckled then winked at them. Before they could say anything, the doors closed shut as the ship started lifting off the ground.
Ning Er just giggled at what happened just now and said to Fang Lin "They're definitely going to get back at you for this later... Ling'er especially." Hearing this, Fang Lin just grinned and simply said "Challenge accepted! But before that, let's go get some breakfast then pick up as many job as we could. We need to turn up the gear for our exp grinding. Our goal is to at least reach Su Yan's current level and surpass her if we could in the next 4 months or so. If we are not at least at that level, there would only be troubles waiting for us if we go to the central continent later."
.
.
.
And just like that, 3 months have passed and they are well into the 3rd week. Just one more and they will reach their deadline of 4 months of grinding period. After Su Ling'er and Su Yan left, there weren't too many eventful happenings other than them reaching their goal of getting to at least Lv70. One of them happened one month into their farewell with the Su Clan girls. Fang Lin bumped into, literally, a boy around 14 years old or so at the guildhall when they was planning to pick up more 'jobs' at the guild.
The boy, who introduced himself as 'young master Ji Ning', asked if he could accompany them since he was doing the same. Fang Lin agreed as he didn't really mind not to mention this Ji Ning is a pretty pleasant and straight forward person. After picking the 'job' they wanted, they promised to meet up again to hang out as it was rare for people their age to be here plus he actually liked their company. As they were saying their farewell however, Fang Lin realized that he hadn't introduced himself yet. At that, both party just gave a hearty laugh.
Right away, Fang Lin was going to correct this mistake. As soon as he said his name however, Ji Ning's countenance completely changed. "Fang Lin...? 'Fang' Lin you say? Hehe.. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA" At the sudden change in character, Fang Lin was completely flabbergasted. And why did he put so much emphasis on the word 'Fang'...? Does he have a grudge against the surname 'Fang' or something?
Before Fang Lin could voice his doubt, Ji Ning grinned and said "It's true when they say that 'fated enemies' would always cross each other's path somehow. From now on this young master Ji Ning declare you, Fang Lin, as my rival! Let's compete on who complete their job first!" Without even waiting for Fang Lin's reply, he just directly left the Adventurer's Guildhall. Fang Lin who is now completely dumbfounded could only utter out a weak "wot...? what just happened?"
After that day onward, Ji Ning would always one sidedly challenge Fang Lin in everything they do. Even without the assist of a cheating existence of a 'system', Ji Ning's strength continuously grew at the same speed as Fang Lin. They even managed to get their 'Red Plate' and later on, 'Gold Plate' promotions at the same time. "As expected of my rival..." somehow became the favorite phrase of Ji Ning. Fang Lin on the other hand thought of Ji Ning as a monster like genius. It seems like he can't afford to slack off if he didn't want to get left behind.
To this day, Fang Lin never figured out why Ji Ning felt the need to be so competitive when it comes to him. Other than the whole Ji Ning shenanigans, Ning Er finally managed to turn her 'Asauchi' into a 'Zanpakuto' which managed to raise her soul level by yet another level. She still however, hadn't been able to learn of it's 'name' yet so she can't do much else other than swinging it around as a very sharp sword.
What Fang Lin and Ning Er didn't know is that in this world, one could not train their 'Soul Level' until one either reach 'Battle Emperor' realm as a Qi cultivator (8*), or 'Enlightened' realm as a Mana cultivator (7*). Even then, it would only be an elementary level refining at best. In other words, Ning Er whose 'Soul Level' had reached the maximum a mortal could reach at 9*, is able to kill anyone under the 'Spirit' Tier. Even those at the 9th realm experts would die as her 'Zanpakuto' is able to directly cut their soul. As long as she could land a hit of course.
Looking at his current points, Fang Lin sigh with emotion as his months of hard work made him very rich in system points. For now, the biggest dilemma is... what should he get first; the body refining manual, or a bloodline...? Fang Lin couldn't decide as both had their own pros and cons. For now he could only consult with Ning Er and Xiao Bai to see what they think. It's finally time to splurge. :)
.
.
.
**********************************************************************************************************
stats update;
***************************Status***************************
Name: Fang Lin
Title: "Pig Slayer"
Lv: 71 (0%)
Tier: "Mortal"
---
Physical Level: 7 Stars Mortal
Soul Level: 7 Stars Mortal
---
Traits: "Serene Mind", "Pain Tolerance"
Skills: "D-Sword Mastery", "D-Cooking Mastery"
Bloodlines: "None", "None"
Equipments: "Black Dao (Rare)"
Items: "Basic Camping Set", "C-Spatial Ring (small)"
Summons: "Xiao Ning Er", "Xiao Bai"
AP: 1,280,500
EP: 809,200
IP: 3,201,000
UP: 50,000
***************************Status***************************
Name: Xiao Ning Er
Title: "Shinigami in Training"
Lv: 71 (0%)
Tier: "Mortal"
---
Physical Level: 7 Stars Mortal
Soul Level: 9 Stars Mortal
---
Traits: "Loyal", "Pain Tolerance", "Determined"
Skills: "D-Sword Mastery", "Inner World"
Bloodlines: "C-Shinigami", "None"
Equipments: "Zanpakuto-sealed- (Rare)"
Items: "C-Spatial Ring (small)"
***************************Status***************************
Name: Xiao Bai
Title: "Sacred Beast Descendant"
Lv: 71 (0%)
Tier: "Mortal"
---
Physical Level: 9 Stars Mortal
Soul Level: 9 Stars Mortal
---
Traits: "Lightning Rod"
Skills: "Bone Hardening", "Lightning Manipulation"
Bloodlines: "Thundercloud Warcat", "Celestial White Tiger(Sealed-70%)"
Equipments: "None"
************************************************************
