Chapter 22: Aren't You Two Partners?

Leaving Shaji to continue on lookout, Aolang squatted halfway down, drew his small knife, and began to skin.

Though the Shield Worm is a "pest," it is not without merit.

The thick fluid within their bodies is called "Monster Fluid," a superior adhesive often used by craftsmen; the same applies to their hard yet light shells.

The Blade Hats and masks of the Citadel Guerrillas are crafted primarily from the shells of Shield Worms.

Ah, no wonder Boss Qiaoda was so enthusiastic.

Aolang muttered as he put away a shell he had just peeled off, continuing to swing his small knife to cut; suddenly, he felt the tip of the blade hit something hard.

Prying that thing out, he discovered it was a blue, ore-like substance the size of a pigeon egg.

"Armor Jade?" Aolang was somewhat surprised, "What good luck!"

He recognized this item but had never had the chance to obtain it, let alone use it.

This mineral is difficult to form naturally; only high-level Alchemists have the ability to produce it stably, and the Guild often uses it as a reward to encourage Hunters who successfully complete tricky quests.

After special processing by craftsmen, this mineral can be melted into a liquid and integrated into armor, filling tiny pores within the armor and greatly enhancing its strength.

This must be put away carefully; the Citadel Guerrilla Team Set he currently uses does not belong to him, so there is no need to use precious Armor Jade, and his own Hunter Set is of too low a tier to be worth it either.

Better to put it away for now and wait until there is a chance to craft higher-level armor.

The appearance of Armor Jade raised Aolang's enthusiasm for skinning another notch; even on his usually expressionless face, a slight smile appeared.

A similar item was skinned from the second Shield Worm, but its quality was far inferior to the first piece, and its volume was smaller, so it could only be called "Armor Stone."

However, this was enough to make Aolang feel happy.

Finding one might have been pure luck, but finding two in a row held a different meaning; it seemed that slaying Shield Worms was also one of the channels for obtaining Armor Jade.

No wonder those troublesome quests that often require slaying fifteen or even twenty Shield Worms always have Hunters taking them.

Sorry, Boss Qiaoda, you really are taking care of me!

Having finished skinning, Aolang, accompanied by Shaji, continued to wander nearby, searching for exposed ore veins to mine while continuing to hunt for Shield Worms.

Both tasks proceeded relatively smoothly, though they were somewhat time-consuming; after two days, the ore collection was nearly complete, and he had even dug up a Swallow Stone of decent grade.

The progress on slaying Shield Worms was slower.

Perhaps Boss Qiaoda, worried he would be flustered by an attack from multiple Shield Worms, had specially found him an area with fewer Shield Worms, or perhaps Hunters had already swept this area before.

Not until the afternoon of the second day did he finally find that fifth Shield Worm.

However, the position of this Shield Worm was slightly strange; it was stuck firmly to the head and neck of a Back-Shell Dragon like a plaster.

It looked as if a helmet had been placed on the Back-Shell Dragon's head.

"This..." Aolang felt a bit numb.

As a large species among Herbivorous Dragons, Back-Shell Dragons have strong territorial awareness and will actively attack Hunters entering their line of sight, but they move slowly, have a single attack method, and basically pose no threat to Hunters.

The only thing slightly headache-inducing is their heavy armor.

The usual method of handling them is to bypass the hard shells on the Back-Shell Dragon's head and back and attack the weak neck, but now, a Shield Worm is stuck right on its vital spot.

Although it might affect its head-turning flexibility to some extent, this makes it feel like an iron plate with no way to get a grip.

Aolang and Shaji looked at each other.

"I'll go lure the other Back-Shell Dragons away, meow," Gold Bait Shaji said, patting Aolang's hand back with its small paw, "Leave that guy to you, meow!"

Having said that, it ran out, hopping and jumping to attract the attention of the other few Back-Shell Dragons.

With no better option, Aolang could only rush out from his hiding spot and block the Back-Shell Dragon that had "merged" with the Shield Worm.

The irritable Back-Shell Dragon lowered its head and charged at the Hunter in front of it.

The momentum was sufficient, but the speed was truly slow; Aolang sidestepped a few steps, easily dodging the attack, while simultaneously drawing his sword to slash, striking the Back-Shell Dragon's forehead.

The blade forged from Iron Ore could only leave a white mark on the Back-Shell Dragon's head; the kinetic energy attached to the blade was, for a Back-Shell Dragon that frequently collided during mate and status disputes, nothing more than a slight annoyance.

After two such exchanges, Aolang found a way to break the deadlock.

The Shield Worm covered the Back-Shell Dragon's nape and side neck; the throat area remained exposed, so as long as he seized the opportunity, taking down this Back-Shell Dragon would not be difficult.

Once the Back-Shell Dragon fell, the Shield Worm stuck to it would be unable to cause any trouble.

However, Aolang suddenly decided not to do that.

He had been looking for a chance to properly practice Fatal Combo and Charged Attack.

Running to the Training Ground to hit targets was boring; no matter how exquisite the target, it could not replicate the unpredictability of actual combat; according to his original plan, he would take a slaying quest to find a Yellow Velocidrome to practice on.

But that would carry risks, not to mention that an ordinary Yellow Velocidrome probably couldn't withstand a few hits of Fatal Combo, let alone an enhanced version incorporating Charged Attack techniques.

Finding a target that was thick-skinned, of suitable size, aggressive enough not to turn and run, but at the same time not too dangerous, was not easy.

Wasn't the one right in front of him the perfect meat target?

Aolang flipped his wrist, spun a sword flourish, and said, "Hold on, let me practice a bit longer."

"You kid, did you forget to bring an Iron Pickaxe and use this sword to smash ore?!"

The Workshop Landlady, looking at the Hunter Dagger with severely rolled and chipped edges, its originally straight blade now twisted, couldn't help but curse, "You ***, you are not allowed to use a One-Handed Sword again! You should just use a Great Hammer!"

"Can it still be repaired?" Aolang asked with a dry laugh.

"Repair what nonsense! It can't be repaired! The blade is like this, the main structure is destroyed; it can only be completely melted down and recast!" the Landlady said grumpily.

"Alright, please help me add these ores during the recasting for a comprehensive enhancement," Aolang said, dumping the high-quality ores like Swallow Stone and Brilliant Dragon Stone he had collected from previous quests, along with that rarer Blue Flash Stone, all onto the Workshop counter.

"And me, meow, I want to craft Alloy Cat Armor, and a Hunting Cat Dagger, meow!" Shaji also poked half its head out from the counter, pushing a bundle of ores up.

The Workshop Landlady blew a breath, inspected the ores, and said, "The ore quality is actually good, and the quantity is enough, but is it necessary to separate them all?

While recasting your Hunter Dagger, there will be quite a bit of good-quality ore scraps left over; adding just two more pieces of ore to supplement it will be enough for the little kitty to craft a new set of Equipment."

"Of course, that's fine; anyway, I don't have a Hunting Partner, so keeping those ore scraps would just be a waste," Aolang indicated he didn't mind, while Shaji looked quite embarrassed.

Realizing she had misunderstood, the Landlady looked at Shaji in surprise, "No Hunting Partner? I thought you two were already partners, completing quests together and coming to the Workshop together."

Reminded by the Landlady and realizing something, Aolang squatted in front of Shaji, "Although we are currently just colleagues, do you want to sign a contract and become partners?"

Looking at Aolang's outstretched hand, Shaji was somewhat tempted, but remembering Aolang had said he didn't plan to stay in the Citadel Guerrillas, it decisively shook its small head.

"Sorry, but I still want to stay with the Citadel Guerrillas, meow."