Chapter 418 - 417: Are You Deaf?

Chapter 418: Chapter 417: Are You Deaf?

"Every survivor can have countless professions—chef, craftsman, Doctor, or any other miscellaneous job—but they can only learn one of the four major professions."

"You’re a Rune Master, and I’m an Engraving Master."

"For you, keeping me alive is a much better option than killing me."

Seraphina Sinclair had already tightened her grip on her knife, but Artemis’s words made her pause.

"You’re an Engraving Master?"

Artemis’s eyes lit up.

She knew she had grasped something. It definitely wasn’t a life-saving straw, because a straw was too fragile.

What she had grasped was a rope—a rope that could pull her from death back to life!

"Give me a demonstration."

Seraphina Sinclair’s voice was indifferent. Artemis was taken aback and subconsciously asked, "What?"

"A demonstration," Seraphina Sinclair repeated. "Aren’t you an Engraving Master? Engrave something for me right here."

Artemis’s expression froze.

"R-Right here?" Her voice trembled slightly. "Here? In the arena?"

"Yes."

"But..." Artemis frowned. "Engraving requires materials, tools, and a suitable blueprint! It’s not something you can just do in an arena by talking about it!"

"Do you think we Engraving Masters are like you stinking rune painters? Just find any old place, spread out our things, and make a rune? Or like those Pharmacists, who can just make something as long as they have a crucible and materials? What a joke!"

"Engraving requires the perfect time and place! You need to prepare many, many sets of materials, and you might fail numerous times before succeeding just once. But the changes brought by engraving are absolutely fundamental—it can even directly raise a blueprint’s grade!"

Seraphina Sinclair listened to Artemis’s nonstop explanation, her brow slightly furrowed.

It seemed Artemis didn’t just know a lot about Engraving Masters; she was also very knowledgeable about Pharmacists and Rune Masters.

Seraphina Sinclair had initially been skeptical of Artemis’s words—after all, the woman had spouted quite a few lies—but now... her familiarity with the four major professions didn’t sound like something she’d just made up on the spot.

Besides, the faint disdain for Rune Masters in her tone was too natural.

So natural that it couldn’t have been an act.

"You know a lot about Pharmacists, too?" Seraphina Sinclair suddenly asked.

Artemis froze, not expecting that question.

"I... I know a little," she answered cautiously. "It’s recorded on the Stone Tablet. Information about all four major professions is on the Engraving Master’s Stone Tablet."

"All of them?"

"Yes." Artemis nodded. Seeing that Seraphina Sinclair didn’t intend to interrupt, she decided to say more. "The four major professions come from the same source; they counter and depend on each other. Rune Masters are for offense, Sealing Masters are for defense, and Pharmacists and Engraving Masters are for support.

And although both Pharmacists and Engraving Masters specialize in support, they each have their own strengths. A Pharmacist, as the name implies, makes Potions, and Potions have all sorts of uses. You’re Blacktiger Ford—there’s no way you haven’t seen them before."

"Engraving Masters can play with so much more. We are proficient with runes, we can improve blueprints, we can strengthen weapons. Compared to those Pharmacists with their bottles and jars..."

Artemis couldn’t suppress the pride in her voice. "We Engraving Masters are the true creators. A Potion is gone once you drink it, but once a rune is engraved on a blueprint, it’s permanent."

Seraphina Sinclair didn’t respond, just watched her quietly.

Artemis felt a chill from her gaze. She cleared her throat and added, "Of course, I’m not saying Pharmacists are useless. It’s just that, according to the Stone Tablet’s records, Engraving Masters are the closest to the source among the four major professions. You see, we even have clearer information on the other professions—"

Halfway through her sentence, Artemis suddenly stopped.

Not because she was finished, but because she realized she had said too much.

She looked into Seraphina Sinclair’s eyes, trying to read something in them.

Suspicion? Belief? Or something else?

But there was nothing.

Seraphina Sinclair’s expression was as placid as ever, like a pool of stagnant water.

A chill ran down Artemis’s spine.

She had just revealed most of the secrets of her profession. If Seraphina Sinclair wasn’t moved in the slightest and still wanted to kill her, there would be nothing she could do.

Artemis waited for a while, her heart pounding with fear, before she finally saw Seraphina Sinclair move.

A blueprint suddenly appeared in her hand.

Artemis stared blankly for a moment before realizing she had seen this ability of Serafelle Sinclair’s back in the instance dungeon.

She had just thought back then that Serafelle Sinclair’s ability could only store weapons; she hadn’t expected... it could hold blueprints, too.

"What materials are needed to improve this blueprint?"

What Seraphina Sinclair had taken out was the very blueprint she desperately needed right now: the one for the Black Fog Crystal Energy Storage Lamp.

The sun in the Wind-carved Fissure could let the Sunflower produce sunshine, but once she started moving, Seraphina Sinclair would need a Mist Beacon to return to the Wind-carved Fissure and expose the Sunflower to the sun again.

Therefore, while this sun could solve the problem temporarily, it wasn’t a long-term solution.

’If Artemis really is an Engraving Master, and can really improve blueprints...’

Seraphina Sinclair narrowed her eyes.

’Then that Puppet Paperman in my possession would be put to good use on Artemis.’

Artemis looked at the blueprint in Serafelle Sinclair’s hand, then at Serafelle Sinclair’s face. She took a deep breath, suppressing her temper, but her tone was still impatient:

"It’s not about the blueprint! Serafelle Sinclair, the point is I don’t have any tools! No tools! Are you deaf?"

Seraphina Sinclair’s expression remained blank.

Artemis’s heart filled with anxiety. She admitted she was being reckless, but how could Serafelle Sinclair be like this?

’Does she really need a demonstration *right now* to believe I’m an Engraving Master?’

’Is my credibility really that low?’

Seraphina Sinclair took in her expression and thought to herself, ’This woman really has no self-awareness at all.’

In Seraphina Sinclair’s mind, Artemis’s credibility wasn’t even good enough to borrow a power bank, let alone decide whether Seraphina should use a B-level item.

’No tools, you say?’

She had them.

Seraphina Sinclair took the Polishing Knife that had been gathering dust in her Silver Moon Earrings and placed it on the blueprint in front of her.

She didn’t say what it was, merely raising an eyebrow at Artemis and asking, "What else is missing?"

Her posture suggested that no matter what Artemis said was missing, she could conjure it up.

But Artemis no longer had the mind to scrutinize Seraphina Sinclair’s expression. Her gaze had been fixed on the Polishing Knife the moment it appeared.

With just one look, her pupils contracted sharply.

"Th-This is—"

She took two steps forward, then stopped abruptly, as if something had yanked her back.

"A C-level?" Her voice trembled. "Where did you get a Polishing Knife?"

Seraphina Sinclair didn’t answer, just watched her.

Artemis took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down, but she couldn’t tear her eyes away from the knife.