Chapter Forty: A Sudden Departure

In the desolate Fire Marsh, a colossal Crimson Sand Slime nearly ten meters tall roared towards the sky! A ring of flame surged outward from its center, sweeping across the entire third underground level!

Artoria leapt high, narrowly evading the five-meter wall of fire. Meanwhile, Elé spun her long spear into a shield, positioning herself protectively before Zhao Tianhe.

“It’s fine, Elé. I have fire-resistant gear. Can’t you let me try it just once?” Zhao Tianhe looked ruefully at the crimson chainmail on his arm, grinning.

Flamehide Gauntlets, Grade D Equipment
Base Defense: +2
Fire Resistance: +2

As a rare piece of resistance gear, Zhao Tianhe had traded two Grade D items for it on the exchange just yesterday. After all, aside from innate class abilities, there were precious few ways to increase resistances—resistance equipment was exceedingly rare.

“Stop kidding around. This isn’t something a mere mortal can withstand,” Elé chided sternly, eyeing the spinning spear-turned-shield she controlled with her mind. “If you want to experiment, try it at home with an oven. Not here!”

“Alright, alright…” Zhao Tianhe shook his head, murmured an incantation under his breath, and conjured a phantom shortsword in his hand.

Whisper of the Gale, Grade D Equipment, One-handed Sword
Attack: 0~15
Wind Affinity: +1

This shortsword was a drop from one of his battles—a thoroughly useless piece that no one on the exchange wanted. After all, dual-discipline spell-swords were exceedingly rare among lower-class adventurers, and wind specialists were rarer still. At higher levels, there were more dual-discipline professionals, but they started with Grade B equipment and wouldn’t spare a glance at such rubbish.

So, Zhao Tianhe reluctantly fused the sword into his body, using it as his staff. After all, a proper staff for a mage was prohibitively expensive, often costing the equivalent of three pieces of armor at the same grade.

But there were exceptions—like Zhao Tianhe’s last piece of equipment, a suit of armor as valuable as a main-hand weapon.

Gravel Aegis, Grade D Equipment
Base Defense: +5

This was a minor treasure—no extravagant properties, just outstanding defense. Among equipment of its grade, nothing offered higher base defense, making it ideal for soloists and main tanks. For the sake of survival, Zhao Tianhe chose to keep and fuse it, rather than trade it away.

In the distance, Artoria came crashing down, brandishing her holy sword. The Barrier of the Wind King erupted, cleaving the slime boss in two!

Yet, this behemoth—likely a Grade D+ dungeon boss—did not die but instead split into two! Judging by the crimson sand scattered across the ground and the two significantly shrunken split slimes, the division was not without cost—more a means of damage control.

“Take this—Blast Style!” Zhao Tianhe shouted, perceiving the turbulence created by the hot air and the impact from the Barrier of the Wind King. He cast a basic first-level spell: Whirlwind Blade.

A miracle occurred. Normally, Whirlwind Blade could barely kill a regular slime, but within this wild torrent, the spell swelled into a massive, two-meter-wide horizontal tornado, piercing straight through one of the split slimes!

Zhao Tianhe’s eyes widened with dazed surprise. He had focused all his senses on hearing and touch, feeling the movement of air around him, and cast the spell at the perfect moment, in the perfect spot. Harnessing the wind’s momentum, he had elevated a first-level spell to the scale of a fourth-level one!

A voracious reader, Zhao Tianhe decided to name this move “Blast Style.”

“Oh! It worked! That’s amazing!” Elé was stunned, remembering how Zhao Tianhe had conceived this technique a week ago, but had failed hundreds of times until now—and succeeded at last at such a critical moment!

“Thanks, but honestly, I thought ‘Wind Scar’ would succeed first. Turns out Blast Style came together sooner. It seems, in practice, a whirlwind structure is more stable than a mere blade, which allows the wind to gather more force…” Zhao Tianhe mused, stroking his chin.

He hadn’t been slacking these past two weeks. Under the stern supervision of Artoria, he couldn’t slack even if he tried. His days were spent cooking, and every dungeon delve was an opportunity to ponder how to replicate Tristan’s sonic attacks. Wind Scar and Blast Style were the products of Zhao Tianhe’s long contemplation. Though still unstable in live combat, the results just now proved their viability.

While Zhao Tianhe muttered to himself, Artoria and Elé had already finished slicing the monstrous slime to pieces.

“Wow! Five hundred experience points! Definitely a Grade D+ boss!” Zhao Tianhe was startled by the system notification.

These two dungeon bosses respawned quickly—Zhao Tianhe had slain them twice in the past two weeks. But both times, they dropped only the materials needed by Artoria and Elé, never equipment, and the experience was only about three hundred, since he only received half the usual amount.

A few more days of this, and Elé’s class system and Artoria’s talent system would both unlock. Zhao Tianhe looked at the experience points on his panel with satisfaction.

Just then, a round of applause sounded.

Adjusting his senses, Zhao Tianhe turned—and was surprised to see a familiar face.

Summoner Jeros.

“Impressive, impressive. Even I couldn’t decipher that last spell. And these two ladies—are they the foreign heroic spirits mentioned in your report? No wonder the higher-ups are eager to cultivate your talent,” said Jeros, the handsome summoner, striding toward Zhao Tianhe. Clad in a neat black suit with gloves, he strolled through the air as if it were solid ground.

“They want to cultivate me?” Zhao Tianhe asked, puzzled. “And you are…?”

“I’m here to form a contract with you. My partner, you see, recently…” Jeros sighed deeply, his spirit clearly weighed down by sorrowful memories.

“I’m sorry…” Zhao Tianhe lowered his head apologetically.

“In any case, as a senior summoner without a partner, I have no right to wallow in despair. I must take responsibility and keep fighting!” Jeros cut him off, rallying his spirits. “So, let’s grow stronger together, Zhao Tianhe!”

With that, Jeros produced a contract.

Though magical in nature, the contract was a simple form, free of binding enchantments. There was no need for such measures—foreign heroic spirits were all screened for lawful and good alignments, leaving no risk of betrayal. In fact, forcibly binding them with magic would only make them uncomfortable.

“Very well,” Zhao Tianhe replied, nodding as he saw Jeros’s sudden burst of enthusiasm. He gathered mana at his thumb and pressed it to the contract.

“Excellent. Now, come with me to pack up. Starting tomorrow, you’ll join me in overseeing a Grade C dungeon.” Jeros stowed the contract in his breast pocket—the flatness of his chest suggested the suit’s inner pocket was a spatial item.

“What about these two dungeons?” Zhao Tianhe asked.

“Don’t worry. Two first-advancement teams just arrived from the south,” Jeros replied, then cast a spell that sent all three of them aloft. “Let’s hurry now—we need to catch the airship to Piltover this afternoon.”