Chapter 30: Victor's Invitation
In the public communication room of Sun City's High School student forum, Leon, who had just finished handling the first round of the sea dragon task, was flipping through the materials in his hand.
Over the past three months, Leon had realized his own shortcomings. Many things that he clearly had ideas and abilities for, he didn't know how to implement.
This feeling made him quite uncomfortable. If it weren't for the fact that the sea dragon task was still ongoing, he would have come over to study again long ago.
Today, Leon was engrossed in his materials when he suddenly felt the light dim. He looked up and found that Victor was standing in front of him.
"Senior Victor, long time no see," Leon smiled as he recognized his acquaintance.
Victor stared at Leon and said, "What do you mean long time no see? You're the one who disappeared for a while. But seriously, what's up with you? You've become a celebrity at school these past few months. So many people are looking for you."
"Are a lot of people looking for me?" Leon asked in confusion. "I'm not sure. I've been busy dealing with the things I got from the last dungeon."
"Of course, a lot! Just this month, three different groups have been looking for you," Victor said mysteriously. "Among them were a few young ladies."
Leon shrugged indifferently, "What does that have to do with me?"
Seeing that Leon didn't want to talk about the subject, Victor naturally didn't push further and instead asked about Leon's progress over the past few months.
"I heard you sold all the resources you painstakingly collected? Are you planning to change your route?"
Leon hesitated for a moment before saying, "Do you remember that life-threatening mission from last time? I accepted a follow-up task from Cain, the Double-Headed Vulture. It's still dungeon-level, and I obtained some pretty good materials.
Originally, my entire territory plan could be scrapped. I've been dealing with these materials for the past few months."
"No wonder," Victor nodded. "If I were you, I'd also spend months handling the first step before turning back to study what's lacking. So, what's your plan now?"
"Catch up on studies," Leon said seriously. "At the very least, I need to make up for biology, mechanical structure, architecture, and basic engineering. There's a lot I didn't consider before, and my foundation in these areas is quite weak."
"That's good too. We still have time. The missions for level 0 aren't about rushing to upgrade but about laying a solid foundation for the path you choose. Starting over isn't uncommon, and the more talented someone is, the more likely they are to scrap their previous efforts and start anew. But you can't just keep studying forever. After all, we are both magic and combat compatible."
Hearing this, Leon realized that Victor had a favor to ask.
Leon and Victor were on good terms, so Leon didn't bother making excuses. He directly said, "Does your small group have a new mission? Count me in."
As Leon said this, Victor smiled. "I knew I could count on you. Come, let me introduce you to someone."
Without any fuss, Leon pointed his hand at the materials in front of him, which all disappeared. The ones he had copied for himself turned into cards that fell into his hand, while those belonging to the school library flew back to their original place.
Just as Leon stood up, another person entered the room. He looked up and saw a woman. She was about 1.8 meters tall, with an explosive figure, short hair, and a pair of striking vermilion eyes.
Her features were quite sharp, and though her mouth wasn't large, when she smiled, all her teeth were metal. She also had five or six gear-shaped earrings in her ears.
After entering the room, she walked up to Victor and spoke in a strange voice, "Little Victor, is this the friend you mentioned?"
The woman's voice was sharp, like the sound of a knife scraping against a plate, but surprisingly rhythmic. If you closed your eyes and listened, it would sound like a broken music box.
Victor immediately introduced her, "Mistress Lynn, this is my friend Leon, a student of the 42973rd class, player ID DS-54370681-157. He—"
"No need for introductions, I've heard of him," the woman interrupted, her vermilion eyes shifting to Leon. "Call me Lynneth Gearheart, a student of the 42951st class, with a metal-mechanical affinity for both combat and magic. I'm the combat leader for this mission. Originally, I didn't want to come, but Victor kept saying you were strong, so I came to see for myself."
"This mission?" Leon wasn't nervous in front of Lynneth Gearheart. After all, he had seen his share of major figures. He could even hold his own in a conversation with Lucian Yorren, so Lynn, who wasn't even level 1, didn't concern him much.
When Leon asked about the mission, Victor quickly explained, "This mission was taken on by Lady Ember. It's a family task for her. I heard it's a large map nearing apocalypse level, and we need to—"
Before Victor could finish, Lynn pulled him aside and said, "Let me explain. Lady Ember needs to establish a temporary base and maintain it for at least 90 days. Each day, we also need to complete a considerable number of basic tasks, so we need manpower."
Leon thought seriously for a moment before turning to Victor. "The Lady Ember you're talking about—is she on of the three of the rumored Magic Combat Trio Sisters at school? And she's the second among the three?"
"Yes. Originally, Mistress Wren was supposed to come too, but she took on another mission and went to a different large map. She won't be able to come out for at least two months, and Lady Ember can't wait, so she's looking for other people."
"Senior Victor, I know you have a good relationship with the Magic Combat Trio Sisters, but why did they come to me?"
"Uh..."
Before Victor could answer, Lynn said directly, "That's because we're heading to a post-apocalyptic map filled with creatures of the dark attribute. We need at least two dark-attribute players to help. You know we're looking for talented people, and we need magic combat geniuses. Other than Victor, you're the only dark-attribute magic combat genius."
"Well, that's unexpectedly reasonable," Leon sighed. Inviting someone over, even if you can't be too polite, shouldn't involve saying, 'We don't have a choice, so we had to pick you,' right?
If it were someone with a bad temper, they would've flipped out by now. Leon didn't, purely out of respect for Victor.
Of course, it might also have been due to what Lynn pulled out afterward.