After work, start to speedrun the other world-Chapter 74 - 2: Strengthening Equipment_2

Therefore, wanting an apprentice to maintain a relaxed and natural attitude while interacting with themselves was unlikely to happen in a short period of time.

However, she had the patience to let her apprentice lower his guard.

"Apprentice, stretch out your hand." She suddenly stopped in her tracks, and watched as Xi Mu hesitantly extended his hand.

Hecate took out a bracelet and put it on Xi Mu.

"This will protect your safety."

"...Thank you, teacher." Xi Mu hesitated slightly and softly expressed his thanks, while Hecate shook her head and looked towards the end of the corridor.

"They are already waiting for you outside the duel arena." As soon as her words fell, she disappeared into starlight before Xi Mu’s gaze.

Xi Mu looked at the bracelet on his wrist, touched it with his hand, a silver bracelet that could provide players with a false amount of health. With this false health intact, one could naturally be immune to most damage.

However, if faced with too strong an enemy, even the false life and one’s own health bar could be wiped out in an instant.

But at his current level, it was useful.

Lowering his hand, Xi Mu walked out of the corridor, only to see Jed and Yasiraqi run over, obviously looking for him.

"You really do enjoy dueling." Yasiraqi approached Xi Mu and frowned slightly, "With your current physical condition, you should fight less."

"Right." Jed nodded, his voice full of concern, "Intense fights could cause the Flame of Sulter to burn away at your life more rapidly."

Xi Mu was already aware of his current situation, infected by the Flame of Sulter, becoming kindling; whenever he underwent high-intensity battles, it would automatically ignite to boost his power and accelerate the burning of his vitality.

Xi Mu shook his head gently, showing the bracelet on his wrist: "It’s okay, the teacher has replenished my vitality."

"The teacher you mean Hecate?" Yasiraqi immediately reacted and pressed Xi Mu for details, "When did you meet her?"

"In the hotel lobby, right in front of you." Xi Mu replied promptly, causing Yasiraqi to show a look of disappointment. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

"What a mysterious lady indeed."

He had no doubt about what Xi Mu said, after all, Hecate was a mysterious and elusive figure in people’s eyes.

Xi Mu seemed to notice her disappointment and offered a word of comfort:

"The teacher will come to give me a lesson tonight."

"Really?" Yasiraqi’s face lit up with expectation. Being a princess of Sky City, she actually had the means to meet Hecate through official channels.

But she had come here on her own, without her father’s knowledge, and meeting Hecate through Xi Mu could help bridge their relationship even better.

That might allow Hecate to be more dedicated to interpreting dragonkin.

"By the way, didn’t you say you wanted to repair your armor?" She changed the topic and said with a smile to Xi Mu:

"I’ve invited a dwarf master to meet you."

"Thank you." Xi Mu thanked her, and Yasiraqi responded with a smile, leading him and Jed into a carriage to meet the dwarf master.

After some time,

in a tavern,

inside a private room,

a white-haired dwarf lay on the floor, clutching an empty bottle, motionless as if dead.

"Dead?" Jed looked around warily, and Xi Mu, hearing this, showed no reaction, but walked over to the dwarf and pushed him.

"Here at last, have been waiting a long time." The white-bearded dwarf moved a bit, staggered to his feet, and his drunken state made one doubt whether he could stand firmly.

"Just to let you know, I charge a lot."

"I understand a master’s high fees." Xi Mu nodded, pulled out a chair and sat down, watching the dwarf master wobble onto a chair.

"I would like to repair my armor."

"Six thousand Gold Coins." The dwarf master stated the high price without a second thought, and Xi Mu agreed without hesitation, then asked:

"What if I want to enhance the armor?"

"..."

The dwarf master did not immediately respond, carefully examined Xi Mu’s armor, then thought for a moment and said, "If you provide the meteorite yourself, thirty thousand."

"Sure," Xi Mu agreed very pleasantly.

This game features a weapon enhancement system that requires a material called "falling stars," which, as the name suggests, are meteors that fall from the sky.

According to the setting, when a person dies, the star that represents them falls to the mortal world, turning into a usable material.

However, the stars of ordinary people burn up during their descent, while only those of special...individuals such as mages, kings, heroes, popes, and others of certain social status or with enough strength, may actually have their stars reach the ground.

The fallen stars also come in various grades. To put it simply, they’re like enhancement stones; different grades of stones correspond to different levels of enhancement.

Although the official game setting dictates that the stars of the mighty have higher magic powers and unique properties, this is simply a way to explain the lore.

"Alright, take off your armor," barked the drunken dwarf master, waving at Xi Mu, "After three months, I’ll hand over the enhanced armor to you."

Xi Mu shook his head, "I want it in three days."

"Ha... do you think forging is a trivial matter? I said three months and it’s three months, not a day more," the dwarf master huffed, clearly dissatisfied.

For you see, forging is a very precise science.

"Two hundred thousand Gold Coins," Yasiraqi suddenly spoke up, her voice resolute and unwavering, "If you won’t do it, plenty of others will."

"..."

The dwarf master fell silent, meeting Yasiraqi’s unmistakable gaze, unable to voice his disdain for this amateur. The sum she offered was simply too much to refuse.

He scratched his head, his confidence waning.

"Actually, if I put in some overtime, it’s not impossible."

"Good," Yasiraqi nodded, smiling at Xi Mu, "Take off the armor and give it to him. He’ll bring it to you himself in three days."

"Okay," Xi Mu nodded and began removing his armor.

In fact, the higher the level of forging required, the more Gold Coins it would cost. However, if players had no shame, they could persuade the Forging Master to enhance earlier than scheduled or pay a deposit for early forging.

After receiving the enhanced gear, they could just kill the Forging Master, thereby saving some Gold Coins and taking the master’s falling stars.

The higher the level of the Forging Master, the more precious the falling stars they collect.

This dwarf master in front of Xi Mu, Xi Mu had killed him in the last loop and obtained a rare falling star.

"I’ll get you the falling stars tonight," Xi Mu explained after he had removed his armor, "I don’t have any on hand right now."

"Sure," the dwarf master didn’t mind; he was just there to get paid and wasn’t concerned with when to start crafting the weapon.

Task concluded.

Yasiraqi and Jed returned to the hotel, while Xi Mu made an excuse to wander alone in the Magic Kingdom.

No... If anyone tracked Xi Mu’s movements, they would find he had a clear route.

About thirty minutes later.

Outside the Magic Castle.

Draped in a black cloak and face concealed, Xi Mu broke into a noble’s mansion, slew the mansion’s noble, and sourced several falling stars from the storeroom.

He then proceeded to the mansion’s dungeon, kicked open the iron door, and saw a handsome young man wearing a bloodstained white shirt, hanging in midair.

Xi Mu sized up the young man before him, noticing the scars all over his body, inflicted by whips and candles.

He stepped forward and cleaved through the chains.

The boy fell to the ground, hitting it hard, but his concern was nowhere to be seen; instead, he was filled with joy.

"Are you here to rescue me?"

"Sort of," Xi Mu responded nonchalantly. The young man was Lota, a distant relative of the royal family of the Magic Castle, with an exceptionally delicate appearance.

Normally, he would join the royal faction of the Magic Kingdom and, at the request of the fourth prince, gradually locate Lota who was captured by a deviant, thereby improving the royal faction’s favorability.

However, having become Hecate’s apprentice, joining the royalty of the Magic Kingdom was out of the question, so there was no need to curry favor with the royal family.

But considering the potential for good materials to drop here, he was somewhat interested in making the trip and incidentally rescuing this unfortunate young man.

Although this unfortunate youth had already been turned into a puff pastry.