Chapter 69: Master Brewer
Faced with Brother Shiu’s questioning, Zane was momentarily at a loss for words.
Seeing that Zane was silent, Brother Shiu relentlessly pursued, “I’m thinking of you! If you keep going down this wrong path, on the day it all comes to light, you’ll be spending the rest of your life in a detention center!”
“Actually… she is another me.”
“Damn it, stop spouting nonsense!” Brother Shiu scolded. “If you still consider me a brother, don’t try to play it off with vague talk!”
Seriously, telling the truth seemed to have backfired.
Honestly, if it weren’t for the fact that it actually happened, he would think it was a fairy tale if someone told him.
“…” Zane took a deep breath, “Brother Shiu, some things I can’t explain directly. I can only say that I didn’t do those things that go against my conscience!”
Looking into Zane’s clear eyes, Brother Shiu fell silent for a moment before saying, “Alright, I believe you.”
“If you have any difficulties, talk to me. Don’t keep it to yourself.”
“Mm.”
…
Noticing the atmosphere had cooled down, Brother Shiu casually changed the subject. “I heard that Mingxiao and the Brotherhood had a clash in Grey Ridge Plain this afternoon.”
“The Brotherhood?”
“Yeah, as I know it, the Brotherhood is an old-school guild managed by Yibo, and at least ranks among the top 200 in Dream of the Mists!”
“So, what was the outcome?”
“Hehe, what’s surprising is that Mingxiao actually won against more opponents, using her command skills and equipment advantage to wipe out the Brotherhood!” When it came to large-scale battles, Brother Shiu got excited. “Do you know? Those scale armors you sold! More than ten heavily armored warriors in refined steel scale armors! Just standing in the front, no one could even touch them!”
Given the current difficulty of obtaining equipment, most of the Black Iron grade gear circulating on the market was leftover by others, making it extraordinarily challenging to create a batch of elite heavy armored warriors.
Although there was a shortcut to forge equipment, the difficulty of acquiring scale armor was immense.
The Wasteland was discovered by other players around noon, but the ferocity of the rapid beasts exceeded all expectations.
An extremely high physical defense! When they activated the scaling hardening, it nearly rendered all physical professions ineffective.
Mages didn’t benefit much either; with a double skill combo, they could recover fully in one bite, and had no chance to play at all. Only by bringing a mage group could they manage to survive there.
“This battle has completely made Mingxiao famous! I believe it won’t be long before their numbers double!”
“…” However, Zane had little interest in this; he wasn’t familiar with either guild. If he had to say, he hoped Mingxiao would win so that future transactions would be much easier.
“I just thought of something,” Zane said.
“What?”
“Gold coins! Gold coins! Didn’t you say the ratio dropped dramatically? You must have lost a fortune not coming out all night!” Zane’s expression looked grim; he didn’t know how much he lost that night!
“Don’t worry. Not coming out is actually a gain.”
“Huh? How so?”
“The goblin map’s drop rate has returned to normal since the evening; it might even be lower than the gold drop from monsters of the same level. The officials must have adjusted the data; how could they let them keep farming for gold?”
“So what’s the ratio now?”
“Let me check… 148! And it’s trending upwards!”
“Damn it, then I lost even more by not collecting gold coins to sell last night!” Zane lamented.
“Come on, if you could predict this kind of business opportunity, would you still be crashing at my place?”
“Hahaha, good heroes don’t boast about their past glories.”
“…”
…
After ordering about thirty to forty skewers and pairing it with some fizzy drinks, it couldn’t be better.
There were quite a few visitors at this hour, mostly due to the Dream of the Mists maintenance; many were still discussing who this Starry figure was.
Zane merely smiled and focused on eating.
After a hearty meal, he returned to his small room, took a shower, and lay down on the bed.
The ceiling reflected the street lights, and Zane stared blankly, troubled.
Starry… where have you gone?
His consciousness gradually became hazy.
Not seeing the familiar dreamscape, he found himself trapped in endless darkness.
No matter how he walked, there seemed to be no end.
Starry… Starry…!
…
Morning sunlight streamed through the window and illuminated the small room. Zane opened his eyes, feeling well-rested for the first time in a while, though his head was still a bit foggy.
He didn’t know if he was sleepwalking or what.
“Brother Shiu! Time to get up!” Zane kicked his room door without a care.
“Damn it, you shouted all night yesterday, keeping me from sleeping well, and now you come to bother me!”
“Huh? What did I yell?”
“MD, didn’t you keep calling ‘Starry~ Starry~’? I almost couldn’t help but go wake you up.”
“… Then you keep sleeping. I’ll go buy breakfast.” Zane said, feeling guilty.
“Forget it, forget it. I can’t sleep now anyway; leveling up is more important. I lost a level yesterday, so I need to catch up today!”
…
After breakfast, they logged in.
“Whoosh”
Both characters logged in simultaneously, still at the same location from yesterday.
The friend list was almost entirely lit up; these guys… really are enthusiastic.
Taking a closer look, Chuxue had already reached level 18! The other three were also at level 17; these guys were catching up fast!
Sensing the appearance of their master, the Ice Frost Tiger burst out from the pet space and landed on Starry’s shoulder.
“Star Cat, good~” Zane stroked the little creature’s soft fur; he had to admit it felt even better than a house cat.
“Meow~” It let out a comfortable sound.
So cute.
Wait, aren’t you a tiger?
Speaking of which, after reaching level 20, new skills should be learnable.
But both characters still hadn’t changed jobs. Zane was fine; as a Wishcaster, he should be able to learn new skills from Alna, and there was a chance to learn that powerful wish—Blessing!
However, Starry was getting close too; he had Holy Essence Water in hand, and next…
Brewing!
Considering that the formula for the holy liquor couldn’t be wasted, both characters would take on a secondary profession.
Starry would become a Brewer, and Zane would become a Pharmacist.
After explaining the secondary professions to the group, he told them to level up elsewhere for now.
As for the Tower of Forgetting pass, that could wait; job changes were more important.
He found Xiin to inquire about the details.
First up was the Brewer.
According to Xiin’s description, it was an eccentric old man.
He lived in Oceanview Village to the south of Yunshui City, and due to this old man’s presence, many players and even NPCs were his disciples; many came seeking him, making Oceanview Village a true alcoholic village.
Unlike other secondary profession job transfer tasks, this guy would take you on as a disciple unconditionally as long as you prepared some good wine or ingredients. Otherwise, no matter how sincere your attitude, you wouldn’t have a chance.
There were even dedicated strategy posts on the forum detailing the job transfer tricks for each secondary profession.
As for this old man, if you went to an inn or tavern and bought a bottle of wine starting at 1 gold coin, he would casually hand you a brewing guide, and that would be your entry.
With the Gray Wolf’s sprint, Starry arrived at Oceanview Village in just five minutes.
On the way, many players shouted, “Gray Wolf mount! Look, it’s the great Starry!”
As soon as he opened the door, he spotted an old man lying in a chair with his eyes closed.
Master Brewer: Zen
Rarity: None
Level: 10
Description: Reached an extraordinary level in brewing; after failing in friendship, he returned to his hometown to spend his days in despair.
This is the one!
As soon as he pushed the door open, before he could even take out the Moutai he had just bought from his bag, the old man suddenly stood up as if a switch had been activated.
“Little girl, I smell Holy Essence Water on you!” His expression was filled with ecstasy.
