WuxiaWorldEU

Vol 12 Chapter 6

ACT 6 Ageiron

-Ageiron.

A large city spread in front of you after escaping the lava cave. This is the ancient city in the Netherworld where the Baran used to flourish, Ageiron. The nature and peace loving Baran clan built the beautiful city around the world tree Yuzuria. But now it was ruled by the Nakujuk and the old beauty of Ageiron couldn’t be found anymore. The whole city is covered rusted steel and grey rocks. The world tree Yuzuria stands in the heart of the city while letting out a dismal atmosphere.

<explorer>‘We finally arrived.’</explorer>

<explorer>Ark looked at the distant city. The lava cave was like a tunnel piercing straight through the northern mountains. After going through the exit with much difficulty, they had managed to immediately move to the opposite side of the northern mountains. Luckily the Nakujuk hadn’t occupied every part of the north. After moving through the northern mountains, they had managed to find Ageiron which was their destination. As Ark’s group starting moving north, he noticed something strange. Beseutyu had said the northern forests were a lush, beautiful place. But the north was actually more barren than the south. Almost everywhere was a desert covered with coarse sand with occasional dry woods appearing.</explorer>

<explorer>‘Is this the influence of the world tree?’</explorer>

<explorer>Ark recalled what Bona had deciphered from the scroll. The scroll stated that the Netherworld was initially an abundant place, regardless of north or south. When the world tree became deprived of its power, the south which was the furthest away from it started to become barren. This was the reason why the Nakujuk swarmed to the north and occupied Ageiron. However, the world tree had been deprived of its power for 100 years. In addition, the Nakujuk indiscriminately killed the forests in order to build their garrisons and the north became devastated. On the other hand, the Baran’s enthusiasm for nature changed the south into a better environment.</explorer>

<explorer>‘Is the situation reversing the reason why the Nakujuk want to conquer to south again?’</explorer>

<explorer>This was a scene which clearly showed the importance of protecting the environment. Even though he now knew all the Nakujuk’s reasons, he still resented them. Anyway, Ageiron was a larger city than he thought. It was like a medieval castle with several layers of walls spread out in a circular form, with various buildings in the region between the walls. And the heart of the city was the towering world tree Yuzuria which stretched out to touch the sky. Of course it had changed to a dead twisted tree with shrivelled branches.</explorer>

<explorer>‘We have to cross the city in order to revive Yuzuria?’</explorer>

<explorer>The group naturally sighed as they saw the vast number of Nakujuk teeming in Ageiron. Currently they only had 8 people who were Ark, Shambala, Lariette, Bul-kkun, Ddeok-dae, Jjak-tung, Tazza and Yapsab. But Ark’s purpose was to restore Yuzuria so there was no reason to fight every Nakujuk in Ageiron. He had to stay undetected by the enemy until he reached Yuzuria. It wouldn’t be easy if they were users like Jewel but the opponents were NPCs. It was like an old gaming style popular with users ‘Jikbo (a method of controlling the game but not fighting against monsters and only going up against bosses)’ where using the appropriate skills would increase the odds in their favour.</explorer>

<explorer>‘That’s why I picked a variety of professions.’</explorer>

<explorer>“Everybody please eat this for the moment.”</explorer>

<explorer>While taking a break, Ark created many types of cuisine and arranged them like a buffet. They were deluxe dishes generously made with a lot of ingredients.</explorer>

<explorer>“Oh, it is good to travel with you during moments like these.”</explorer>

<explorer>The group were tired from the lava cave and quickly scraped clean the buffet. In the meantime, Ark collected the group’s equipment and repaired it. It was truly a service which bled him! But in this situation he had to do everything possible to raise the strength of the party. Lariette’s buffs also raised the stats of the group considerably.</explorer>

<explorer>“List of secondary effects.”</explorer>

<explorer>-Information window of secondary effects applied.</explorer>

<explorer>* Food effects</explorer>

<explorer>【 Energy Drink 】【 Tuntun Roast 】【 Sweet and Sour Past 】【 Herb Salad 】【 Shrimp Tempura】</explorer>

<explorer><total>* Buff effects</total></explorer>

<explorer><total>【 Storm Breathing (Attack Speed + 10%) duration: 30 minutes】</total></explorer>

<explorer><total>【 Warrior’s Concentration (Critical Hit Chance + 20%) duration: 30 minutes】</total></explorer>

<explorer><total>【 Hero’s Spirit (Attack power + 10%) duration: 1 hour】</total></explorer>

<explorer><total>* Special skills effect</total></explorer>

<explorer><total>【Blade Maintenance (Sword Attack +3%) duration: 1 hour】</total></explorer>

<explorer><total>【 Intermediate Laundry (Defense + 7%) duration: 4 hours】</total></explorer>

<explorer><total>【 If the Innocence Knight becomes the leader than the party’s defense and attack will rise by 7% 】</total></explorer>

<explorer><total>* Effects of Tonic currently taking</total></explorer>

<explorer><total>【 Sipjeondaebotang (TL: type of Korean herbal soup) (Strength +1, Stamina +1) duration: 18th day 】</total></explorer>

<explorer><total>Reading the combined effects really was amazing. Currently Ark’s Survival Cooking dishes could be compared to the effects of the finest cuisine. But with every good thing, there was always a downside. If there weren’t any repeat dishes, it was possible to each 10 different types of food. It was also subjected to one limitation. Satiety. If satiety reached 100% then they couldn’t eat any more dishes. Even if the duration of a dish ran up, if his satiety was full than he wouldn’t be able to each another type. Therefore he couldn’t cook excessively and his ingredients piled up.</total></explorer>

<explorer><total>This was the main disadvantage of Survival Cooking. The effect of the dishes on stats was better. But the increased effects also increased the amount of satiety. Quite a few dishes had their satiety over 30%. Thanks to that, only 3~5 of the finest quality dishes could be eaten at the same time.</total></explorer>

<explorer><total>‘While the satiety and effects are highly effective, some of the ingredients are quite difficult to obtain.’</total></explorer>

<explorer><total>Ark looked at the few precious ingredients he had left and clicked his tongue.</total></explorer>

<explorer><total>‘These dishes are worth at least 2 gold……’</total></explorer>

<explorer><total>In this situation Ark had no time to worry about the expense of the meal. Anyway, thanks to his cooking the stats of the special attack corps rose by a large amount. But was that all? Using ‘Blade Maintenance’ and intermediate Laundry also increased his attack and defense. Just like a thief, Ark learned special skills which put his buffs on a level similar to Lariette’s. Shambala checked the secondary effects window and murmured in an astounded voice.</total></explorer>

<explorer><total>“What on earth? It’s the first time I’ve seen such a jumbled up character like you.”</total></explorer>

<explorer><total>“I also wonder about my identity.”</total></explorer>

<explorer><total>Ark replied with a grin. Once he finished the corps’ maintenance, they descended the hill and approached Ageiron. They had left the skyrays while approaching. If they approached Ageiron on the skyrays then it would instantly be a beehive. From here onwards it was infiltration time. They paid attention and hid when necessary.</total></explorer>

<explorer><total>“The question is how to reach the world tree undetected……”</total></explorer>

<explorer><total>Shambala looked at Ageiron with a frustrated expression. Ageiron was the headquarters of the Nakujuk. Just like bacteria proliferating, there were a huge number of Nakujuk. Although they were residents of the city, 70% of them consisted of warriors. The sky was already turning dark and the edges of the full moon could be seen in the sky. While Ark, Shambala and Yapsab who changed his profession to ‘Guardian=Scout’ could use ‘Stealth,’ it wasn’t something that could be used indefinitely. The duration time was 20 minutes so there was no guarantee that he would be able to remain undetected.</total></explorer>

<explorer><total>“Huhuhu, it’s time to show our skills.”</total></explorer>

<explorer><total>The rehabilitation members smiled and approached the front.</total></explorer>

<explorer><total>“Yapsab, sneak into Ageiron and determine the most common items.”</total></explorer>

<explorer><total>Yapsab used Stealth to roam Ageiron and then returned to Tazza. Then he roughly drew on the ground and explained.</total></explorer>

<explorer><total>“It’s the keg. They look like barrels to store wine. They were scattered everywhere.”</total></explorer>

<explorer><total>Tazza nodded and took out several pieces of wood and tools from his bag. Then he sawed at the wood and hammered away until he created 8 keg barrels.</total></explorer>

<explorer><total>“Now everybody please enter the keg.</total></explorer>

<explorer><total>Ark put on the wine keg and a message instantly appeared.</total></explorer>

<explorer><total>-The Nakujuk’s wine keg has been reproduced using ‘Clone.’</total></explorer>

<explorer><total>When using household goods to imitate hostile forces, a ‘camouflage’ effect is applied. Once ‘camouflage’ is applied, you will not be suspicious to hostile forces.</total></explorer>

<explorer><total>If the opponent shows an interest in you then the ‘risk’ will increase. ‘Risk’ will increase if you show certain suspicious behaviours in certain situations.</total></explorer>

<explorer><total><current>Tazza had the ‘Counterfeit’ skill that he used in the past. After changing to ‘Guardian=Engineer,’ he managed to learn the ‘Clone’ skill.</current></total></explorer>

<explorer><total><current>After Jjak-tung said this an information window appeared again.</current></total></explorer>

<explorer><total><current>-The effect of Feng Shui is applied to the party.</current></total></explorer>

<explorer><total><current>Feng Shui is the unique skill of the Guardian=Strategist.’ Using Feng Shui will increase resistance to all environmental and terrain effects. Attacking an enemy from a high place will increase your damage while attacking from a lower place will halve it. In addition, if you hide your body in the darkness then the chances of being noticed by an enemy will decrease.</current></total></explorer>

<explorer><total><current><decrease>‘The combination of professions is as good as expected.’</decrease></current></total></explorer>

<explorer><total><current><decrease>Ark once again admired the variety of skills in New World. But Ark also didn’t fall behind when it came to odd skills.</decrease></current></total></explorer>

<explorer><total><current><decrease>“Now it’s my turn. Dedric, satellite surveillance mode!”</decrease></current></total></explorer>

<explorer><total><current><decrease>Dedric floated 100 metres into the air at Ark’s command and looked around.</decrease></current></total></explorer>

<explorer><total><current><decrease>“In front…..there is a watchtower on the left and right….. One lookout in each tower…..this can’t be ignored….. And there are Nakujuk patrols wandering around the buildings and alleys…..each one 50 metres apart……moving in a clockwise position…..”</decrease></current></total></explorer>

<explorer><total><current><decrease>The information that Dedric relayed was displayed as red dots on Ark’s map. This was a new skill Dedric learned during the Nakujuk’s war.</decrease></current></total></explorer>

<explorer><total><current><decrease>-Your pet Dedric has learned a new skill.</decrease></current></total></explorer>

<explorer><total><current><decrease>Satellite Surveillance Mode (Beginner, Species Characteristics): You can observe the terrain for 50 metres and the enemy’s movements within a 100 metre area. When the skill proficiency rises, it is possible to scout even further. The information relayed by your summon will also be displayed on the map. However, once activated the skill will consume 5 mana every 10 seconds.</decrease></current></total></explorer>