Reign of the Hunters

Chapter 92 Happy New Year

Just as Ye Ci had remembered, Fleeting Time’s moves were like a lackluster blade. It might not look good, but it was definitely deadly. Ye Ci felt that she had done her best, but Fleeting Time was still calm and composed.

The time was up, and the system determined that the duel ended in a draw.

Both of them exited combat status. Although the difference between their remaining HP was not high, Ye Ci knew that her skills were slightly inferior to that of Fleeting Time. She had basically used all of the additional abilities that came with her equipment, but Fleeting Time was able to suppress her with the Hunter’s original ability, not allowing her to gain the upper hand. If the duel lasted for 8 minutes, or even 6 minutes, it would not have ended with a draw.

She would definitely be the one who had lost.

“Thanks for the lesson.” Fleeting Time had already slung his bow. He walked up to Ye Ci and extended his hand.

Ye Ci pursed her lips, which then formed into a slight arc. She then put her hand into his and said softly, “I will surpass you.”

“That seems to be quite unlikely.” Fleeting Time raised his eyebrows. He squeezed Ye Ci’s fingers softly and let go of her hand politely. He turned around and left.

Ye Ci took in a deep breath and left as well. Both of them walked towards their own party. They acted as if it was just an ordinary duel, and in reality, it was indeed merely an ordinary duel.

“Fleeting Time, was she good?” Absalom chuckled as he observed Fleeting TIme’s calm face, “I heard that she’s the best Hunter in the Eastern Continent.”

“She’s good.” Fleeting Time gave a very objective evaluation. “She’s still slightly inexperienced, but…” He then paused.

“But what?”

Fleeting Time recalled every moment of his duel with Ye Ci, and shook his head, “Nothing.” He replied as he looked back. The Huntress was walking slowly towards her own party.

If he was not wrong, she had the potential to be a first-rate Hunter. It seemed that he had quite a lot of competition.

“Uhh, guild leader, that was definitely an educational video for hunters. It’s just amazing!”

The members of Upwards Ho! were still chattering joyously. Although Ye Ci had a draw with Fleeting Time, it did not affect their mood. They were happy that they had won the first place of the Dragon Dance competition.

Ye Ci only shrugged. She did not wish to spoil the cheerful mood, “It was just a duel, nothing educational there.”

Bai Mo noticed something wrong with Ye Ci’s expression. He walked to her side and asked in a low voice, “What is it? You feel bad over having a draw?”

Ye Ci pursed her lips. She had no way of telling Bai Mo that Fleeting Time was one of the milestones in her life that she had worked so hard, but failed, to surpass. She was slightly saddened by the fact. Noticing her mood, Bai Mo did not say much and instead patted her. “It was just a duel, don’t let it get to you. They’re from the Western Continent, you’ll have more chances in the future.”

Exactly. They were enemies, and she had a lot of opportunities.

With that thought, Ye Ci’s spirit was lifted. That’s right, it was still in the early stages of the game. She would have more chances to face off against him.

The next time she met this person, she would not lose.

It was unknown that if it was intentional or unintentional, but the awards ceremony of the competition was delayed until the duel ended. Just when Ye Ci was being gloomy, Wang Jiangnan’s voice rang up again, “What an exciting duel. It sure added more fun to our event. We would now like to invite the top 3 leaders of the lightweight tier to the stage.”

Although the duel was intense, and Fleeting Time who had always kept a low profile had left a deep impression in the hearts and minds of all the players, it was not a PvP competition after all. It was a New Year’s event. The duel was fun to watch, but the one thing that everybody present cared about most were the prizes.

The event was basically at its end by then, but there was still a tiny episode left.

Every leader who accepted the award would have the chance to say a few words. Most of them said the same old stuff, thanking various people for their success. When it was Bai Mo’s turn, he cleared his throat, smiled at the gorgeous emcee, and asked in a low voice, “Is it okay for me to say anything?”

The gorgeous emcee nodded, “Of course, this is the time for you to deliver you speech. You can say anything.” The emcee even exchanged looks with Wang Jiangnan after noticing Bai Mo’s flustered expression, and said, “If you have somebody you would like to confess to, now would be the best…”

Before she could even stop speaking, Bai Mo snatched the microphone away, cleared his throat and said, “Upwards Ho! guild from the Eastern Continent is recruiting players of different classes. There are no other requirements. Those with a good character who are interested can contact Remote Depths, Icy Cold Little Hands and Timely Rain. Our goal is…”

The gorgeous emcee was stunned; Wang Jiangnan was stunned; even the guests of honor handing away the awards were stunned.

Bai Mo’s expression was clearly stating that he was waiting the members of Upwards Ho! to shout out their guild’s motto, but their numbers were just too few. This situation could be perfectly described by the saying “the words of the few carried no weight.” Their voices could not even be heard. The players of the other guilds however, gave their cooperation and shouted out alongside the members of Upwards Ho!, “Zero dental cavities.”

At this point, the emcee, Wang Jiangnan and the guest of honor were not the only ones who were stunned. All the other leaders who were on the stage, along with Bai Mo himself, were stunned.

The “zero dental cavities” was shouted out very neatly. Bai Mo scratched his head, feeling awkward. It was not something that he had expected. When the voices died down, he chuckled, “We’re recruiting. Any players of any class. Those who are interested can contact us.” He then handed the microphone back to the gorgeous emcee, and walked down from the stage with the other guild leaders with a calm and collect demeanor, as if nothing had happened.

Ye Ci, who was part of the audience, almost buried her head into the ground.

Wasn’t Bai Mo supposed to have an IQ of 140? How could he have done something so daft…?

Despite that, the effects of the advertisement worked very well. Right after they left Champion City, Remote Depths, Icy Cold Little Hands and Timely Rain immediately became busy with applications.

Going back to Red Lake City with a lvl 5 guild encampment module, all that needed to be done was to track down the NPC in charge of guild administration in the city hall and replace it with the old one. A lvl 5 guild encampment was very different from a lvl 1 guild encampment.

A lvl 5 guild encampment was way larger and had a lot of special functions. There was a Life Area specifically designed for Life Players that provided a 20% buff to their proficiency level growth as they leveled up their life skills in the area. At the same time, there was also a 10% bonus success for item crafting. It was not surprising that a lot of the major guilds were desperate to acquire the lvl 5 guild encampment. With the Life Players in the guild working in the Life Area, the overall strength of the guild would be increased by a significant margin.

Other than the benefit of the Life Area, there were also other BUFFs as well. The guild canteen would provide different types of food that could increase either the HP or mana of players by 2000 for a duration of 3 hours. The guild warehouse had also received extra protection. In Fate, if a guild encampment was breached by another guild during a Guild Battle, its warehouse could easily be looted. But the chances of a guild warehouse of a lvl 5 encampment being looted was only 5%. It was as if the guild warehouse was outfitted with an anti-theft door when compared to the guild encampment of other levels.

Other than that, players could receive different daily BUFFs from guild encampments with different levels. The BUFF of a lvl 5 guild encampment gave players 20% bonus experience points and a 5% defence bonus. The existence of such buff was enough to entice players to apply to Upwards Ho!.

Other than the lvl 5 guild encampment, all players who had participated in the competition were awarded with a title called “Soaring Dragon of Prosperity.” The title had no other function except to allow players to resurrect. Players could resurrect using the title’s special ability once every day, especially during combat, with a cooldown of 24 hours.

This title was next to useless for Life Players, but for those combat type players who needed to constantly explore new dungeons, the title was very useful. During a time when most Clerics still hadn’t learned Resurrection, the capability for a player to Resurrect himself or herself was very overpowered, especially when they were exploring a dungeon. This ability was a very scary tool in combat.

With this title, the members of Upwards Ho! were itching to explore the Frosty Wasteland Inner Sanctum. After all, quite a large number of the guilds had already defeated the first BOSS. After a short discussion with Bai Mo, Ye Ci decided to venture into the dungeon once they’d settled some guild internal affairs.

The guild members were, of course, excited to learn the news.

With the Dragon Dance competition officially over, the system immediately reminded players to go offline at a safe spot as there would be a system maintenance that would last for 12 hours. The Upwards Ho! guild members, who were full of excitement, went offline in the guild encampment after wishing each other a happy new year.

The atmosphere in real life was just as warm and joyous as the atmosphere in the game. Ye Ci, Bai Mo, Ye Nantian and Zuo Xiaolan began living out their national culture to the fullest after setting up a mahjong table. The game ended with the argument between Zuo Xiaolan and Ye Nantian deciding upon the jobs that they would take in Fate.

The night sky of the city was lit up by fireworks.

Ye Ci stood on the balcony and gazed up into the night. She took a deep breath, breathing in the heavy smell of gunpowder. Ye Ci then heard Bai Mo’s laughter, “Heh, sis, happy new year!”

Ye Ci turned around and smiled at Bai Mo as well, “Heh, cousy, happy new year!”

Hiya! Jimmi is back posting!!!

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