Chapter 85 - 84: Airship

Chapter 85: Chapter 84: Airship

"I arrived at the beginning of last month. I suppose I’ve been in Bremen City longer than you have?" Gaode said with a smile.

He walked into the room and sat down by the unlit fireplace.

Pierre brought over two cups of hot tea and sat opposite Gaode.

"That’s definitely faster than me. I didn’t get everything sorted out until almost mid-Sunlight Moon, and only arrived in Bremen City on the 14th."

"Why the sudden rush to leave Hogan City?" Pierre asked curiously. Gaode’s movements had greatly exceeded his expectations.

Gaode picked up his porcelain cup, took a sip of tea, and told the truth. "I thought your warning made a lot of sense. After I went back, I also noticed that the Magic Concentration in the suburbs of Hogan City had greatly increased. It matched the two signs of an Earth Vein forming."

"Most importantly, I later discovered..." Gaode detailed his findings at the sewer entrance to Pierre.

"Maso Mice..." After hearing the inside story, Pierre couldn’t help but sigh. "To think they were the culprits behind the scenes."

"You’ve heard of Maso Mice?" Gaode asked curiously.

He had only learned this name through the Wind Spirit Moon Shadow.

"I’ve heard a bit about them before. They are Earth Vein Creatures that only appear in the Yadian region, and they have a symbiotic relationship with a bizarre plant called the Bloodthorn Vine," Pierre said with a nod.

"The eyes of a Maso Mouse possess the Extraordinary Ability of Hypnosis. However, the creatures themselves don’t pose much of a lethal threat. As long as you dodge the hypnotic red light emitted from their eyes, you can easily kill them.

"Their eyes are common Magic Potion Materials, with a pair of eyeballs valued at around three Gold Coins.

"Because their combat power is extremely weak and their eyeballs are very light and easy to carry, they quickly add up. So, even if Maso Mice aren’t as valuable as those formidable Earth Vein Creatures, they are still one of the hunters’ favorites."

This was easy to understand. It was just like the corpse of an Earthworm; although it seemed far more valuable than a Maso Mouse, without a caravan to travel with, how could Gaode possibly transport it back to the city?

But Maso Mice were different. Let alone just digging out a pair of eyeballs, even bringing back the entire Maso Mouse wouldn’t add much weight.

"A pair of eyeballs is worth three Gold Coins...?!" Meanwhile, this single sentence echoed endlessly in Gaode’s mind, leaving him with only one feeling: agony.

Back in Hogan City, his Flaming Arrow had blasted at least seven Maso Mice to death.

That meant at least seven pairs of eyeballs, which equated to a minimum of twenty-one Sean Gold Coins!

Twenty-one Gold Coins, just thrown away for nothing?

"It’s fine. With that blast from my Flaming Arrow, those eyeballs are probably roasted. They definitely can’t be used anyway," Gaode comforted himself, finally feeling a bit better.

"However, these Maso Mice aren’t very common. They only live in places where Bloodthorn Vines grow," Pierre continued to speak with fervor.

"They are typical pack-living Earth Vein Creatures that share a mutually beneficial symbiosis with Bloodthorn Vines.

"Bloodthorn Vines love to consume the blood of living creatures. Since they cannot move on their own, they rely on Maso Mice to hypnotize prey and bring the living creatures close enough for them to feed on their Blood Food.

"In return, after consuming the blood, the Bloodthorn Vine secretes a blood mist to help the Maso Mice grow and enhance their Extraordinary Abilities.

"Furthermore, the combat power of a Bloodthorn Vine is considered among the strongest of all 0th Ring Earth Vein Creatures.

"If the Maso Mice feed it enough Blood Food before it reaches maturity, the Bloodthorn Vine might even grow into a 1st Ring Earth Vein Creature.

"Mages looking to hunt Maso Mice for their eyeballs not only have a hard time finding them, but they also have to face the threat of the Bloodthorn Vine. Ultimately, though, the Bloodthorn Vine is immobile, which is a significant limitation.

"Therefore, compared to the risks involved in hunting other Earth Vein Creatures, hunting Maso Mice is still highly cost-effective.

"It’s just a pity that Earth Vein Creatures like Maso Mice have previously only appeared in the Yadian region. This leaves Mages like us living in the Bremen region with nothing but envy.

"To think they would now appear in the sewers of Hogan City." Pierre clicked his tongue in wonder. "If I were twenty years younger, I might just fight my way back to Hogan City."

Hearing this, Gaode nodded in strong agreement. A swarm of Maso Mice meant at least a hundred of them. At three Gold Coins for a pair of eyeballs, that would be hundreds of Gold Coins in profit...

However, although a single Maso Mouse wasn’t strong, upon careful consideration, harvesting their eyeballs in large quantities really wouldn’t be a simple task.

After all, they were pack-living Earth Vein Creatures. If there were enough ants, they could bite an elephant to death.

Moreover, one couldn’t use Magic with too much destructive power to attack the Maso Mice.

If a Magic like Flaming Arrow was thrown at them, the Maso Mice would die, but their eyeballs would likely be destroyed nine times out of ten, rendering the hunt meaningless.

"You brat, tell me the truth. What is your current Mage Level?" Pierre looked Gaode up and down and asked seriously.

A Mage’s Same Tier is very difficult for outsiders to discern. This holds true even for High-Ring Mages looking at Low-Ring Mages.

Gaode hesitated for a moment before answering, "A Second-Class Mage Apprentice. I just broke through last month."

"A Second-Class Mage Apprentice..." Pierre muttered. "You’re not over sixteen yet, are you?"

"No." Gaode shook his head. In fact, he was only thirteen this year.

"You have good talent. Advancing to become a 1st Ring Mage in the future isn’t impossible," Pierre sighed with emotion.

"Although I don’t know where you picked up your skills, based on your limited knowledge, I assume you don’t have a mentor. It’s even less likely that you come from a Mage family," Pierre said straightforwardly.

Having interacted with Gaode so many times, he already had a deep understanding of Gaode’s "shallow knowledge."

"It’s not easy for a Wild Mage to become a 1st Ring Mage. Wait here..." The little old man sighed, then stood up and walked into the living room off the hall. A moment later, he walked out holding a notebook.

He handed the notebook directly to Gaode. "Take this back and read it when you have time."

Gaode asked in surprise, "What is this?"

"Since I made a living hunting Earth Vein Creatures in my youth, this is the data I recorded on them.

"It includes the specific names, physical appearances, traits, and Extraordinary Abilities of various Earth Vein Creatures, as well as their approximate value and specifically which of their body parts are valuable."

Pierre spread his hands. "Detailed information on Earth Vein Creatures is usually only held by High-Ring Mages, Mage organizations, and official channels, and it’s generally not for sale. I figured all of this out and recorded it bit by bit on my own.

"Even though hunting Earth Vein Creatures was my main profession for over a decade in my youth, the actual number of species I recorded isn’t that many—only about twenty.

"After all, my strength was limited. I could only target Earth Vein Creatures that I was familiar with and that were easy to strike.

"However, these are all common 0th Ring Earth Vein Creatures in the Bremen region, so they should still be of some use to you."

Gaode accepted the notebook as if it were a precious treasure. "This is extremely useful."

Not to mention the massive advantage it would bring in battle to know the traits, abilities, and weaknesses of an Earth Vein Creature upon actually encountering one.

The analysis of their monetary value alone was enough to make this notebook worth its weight in gold.

Otherwise, situations where Gaode stood before a Treasure Mountain like the Maso Mouse eyeballs without knowing their worth would definitely happen again.

Without a sufficient understanding of Earth Vein Creatures, even if he had enough Mana, it wouldn’t be easy for him to carry out hunting activities.

The risks would be high, and the returns would be low.

The two sat by the fireplace and talked for a long time, accompanied by the occasional sounds of pedestrians passing by outside the window.

It was mainly Pierre recounting his past experiences and lessons learned from hunting Earth Vein Creatures in the wild during his youth.

Perhaps this was what they meant when they said that once people got older, they loved to reminisce about their "glory days" with the younger generation.

Gaode listened, completely absorbed. In his heart, he held both an anticipation for hunting Earth Vein Creatures and a deep sense of gratitude toward Pierre.

He and Pierre were neither family nor old friends; they had merely done a few business deals together. Yet, the help Pierre had given him was immense.

"When I was young, I always wanted to go out and see the world. For example, I wanted to visit Saint Sean City. Unfortunately, I never found the right channels to do so, which is quite a regret." Seeing that they had been talking for a long time, Pierre prepared to wrap up their pleasant chat.

"Now that I’m older, my mindset has aged too. Instead, I feel that living a stable life in one place is quite nice."

"Is there no direct way to travel from Bremen City to Saint Sean City?" Mentioning Saint Sean City brought up a question Gaode had as well, so he followed the topic and asked.

He had been in Bremen City for a month now. During this time, he hadn’t slacked off in searching for a way to get to Saint Sean City, but he hadn’t uncovered a single piece of news.

"Generally, if you want to go to Saint Sean City, you can only travel by water.

"However, there is no Water Series directly connecting Bremen to Saint Sean, so you’re forced to make continuous transfers.

"To get from Bremen to Saint Sean City, you’d need to transfer at least five or six times."

"That’s so troublesome..." Gaode’s brow was already furrowed.

"But if we’re talking about a direct method, it’s not like there isn’t one. It’s just that ordinary people can’t access it," Pierre added, suddenly changing his tone.

"What is it?" Gaode’s curiosity was instantly piqued.

"An Airship," Pierre said plainly.