Rhode had no intention of abandoning the fat merchant. Nor was he concerned about the loot.
During this previous battle, Rhode earned a wealth of experience points but his loot was minimal. To a player, the crashed ship was certainly full of treasures. With so many dead corpses, the wealth on their bodies was not negligible. However, in the end, Rhode dismissed the thought. After all, these men can be considered his saviors. It would be too shameful to loot their already-cold bodies.
Even though the experience was nice, Rhode was more excited about something else. In his hands was a small black stone. In Dragon Soul Continent, this stone was the spirit nucleus from the wind-snake lord. It has a variety of uses for all sorts of job classes. These stones can be inlaid into weapons for an attribute buff, melted into magic weapons, or be used to craft a magic wand for Mages. This, coupled with the low drop probability, always made it an expensive item in the game. However, for Summoner Swordsman, they held an irreplaceable significance.
Solely because it can be used to awaken spirits.
Rhodes stood quietly in the deep woods with his right hand raised. In his palm, the spirit nucleus was excluded a strange aura. He took a quick glance around. Taking note of the serenity and gentleness around him. The moonlight seeping through the leaves and onto the earth. Then nodded contently as the symbols on his right hand flashed out. As the light touched the stone, a line of system prompts appeared in Rhode’s vision.
[Identified Spirit Nucleus, Status: Contaminated
Purification?]
“Purify.”
Then, Rhode’s hand turned an even more radiant white. Flowing like water as it enveloped the black stone within his palm. A few moments later, as the divine light started to dissipate, the black shell was now gone. It revealed a blue-tinted egg-shaped gemstone. It twitched around in his palm as if wishing to break out.
[Spirit Nucleus has been purified. Awaken?]
“Awaken.”
With Rhode’s words, the bluish egg-shaped gemstone trembled more and more violently. Soon, the entire stone broke with a “pop”. Then came a turbulent wind that sucked towards the area in his hand. After a moment, a card gently landed in his palm.
A cool and comfortable feel came onto Rhode’s body. But other than that, he could finally know what his summon was. He picked up the card and started to inspect it. On the main image was a turquoise bird that flew through the sky. On the upper-right corner was a blue semicircle. (Represents the attributes of the card) and a “v” in the upper-left. As for the two lower corners, both were a 2. Rhode turned over the card and saw the gleam of magical text that was inscribed on the back.
[Soaring Spirit Bird (Elemental Attribute: Wind): Can be integrable with flying spirits. Has a 10% chance of paralysis effect. Magical shields are nullified. Skills: Spiritual Mirage, (Ranged Attack)]
[Sky Deck Completion: 1/10
Acquired Soaring Spirit Bird]
Not bad.
Rhode could not help but give a confident laugh. A flying summon was an essential summon for a Summoner Swordsman. With a wind-attribute summon, it was very beneficial to fighting. An additional bonus was the fact that it had a ranged attack, Rhode was confident in his ability to fight safely from now on. Even against those rare mutated monsters, he would have no fear in a solo fight.
But now, his most unsettling feature was brought up. Even now, his attributes like strength, dexterity, physique, will, and others are all still hidden. However, Rhode could tell that this body was much stronger than one that he should have. Although he knew that his body was higher than humans, he still didn’t have a good grasp as to the specifics. He really did not like the unknown. If he died because he overestimated his body than that would be a tragedy.
But that’s not to say he was absolutely clueless. After all, he was quite familiar with the wind-snake lord’s numbers. From the previous battle, his Strength would be about normal for a Summoner Swordsman. His Physique was quite strong. Ever since coming to this world, his body has overcome everything that’s been thrown at it. His natural Speed was about normal for humans. But as for Will, Rhode had no way of testing that out. It’s not like he could presently find a mage and have them cast a few psychic spells on himself.
Just then, a slight noise came from the bushes. Rhode’s attention was immediately piqued as he lowered his right hand. The light formed on his hand instantly became dull until it could not be noticed anymore. The card vanished as it was already contracted with Rhode.
He had no intention to expose his abilities in front of others. In the lore of the game, it introduced the Summoner Swordsman as an exclusive class. Meaning other than players, no NPCs were able to hold the class. The lore stated that the class existed since ancient times and that the player was the remnants of the lost heritage. They were to embark on a journey to reproduce the glory of the ancient summoner swordsmans. This dubious introduction was enough to make him wary. If he was found out then it may bring unintended problems. On the positive, few would know of such a class judging from the looks of shock from the mercenaries. Furthermore, to have an air of mystery was not bad.
Just as Rhode turned around, he saw Leiya walk out of the brush.
“Leiya? What did you come find me for?”
“Ah … no, it’s nothing, Mr. Rhode.”
Leiya shook her head, but her face still showed her distress.
“That… I just want to ask. How’s your injury and if there is anything I can do…”
Finally, the voice became even quieter. Her hands tightly clutched the hem of her robes. Giving off a fragile feeling.
In fact, Rhode also noticed Leiya’s abnormality. Metz could also tell because he was a businessman. To run across the land, if Metz couldn’t read people than he would have long since been scammed. As for Rhode, he was once the president of Dragon Soul Continent’s largest guild. Players are always different than in reality. In the virtual world, his power to attract people needed to be very strong. After all, most players were to experience the fun of the game, not work hard for some guild. To get them online and to organize these record-breaking raids, it was not something most could do. These things required an exceedingly good sense of balance and skill. The ability to observe the emotions and inner thoughts of their companions was an invaluable skill to any guild president.
Now, Leiya was very clearly showing her lack of support. Without anything to rely on it made her feel incredibly uneasy. He could tell that the loss of her companions was a severe blow to her. Not only because they were gone but also because she feared for the future.
In the battle, Rhode took a good impression of this girl’s abilities. She was able to cast the healing magic swiftly and could disperse any toxins very quickly. Finally, she cast the Guardian Shield at the most opportune moment. This kind of accuracy was considered quite good for a support class. At that time, she was full of confidence and with a clear goal. Although she was facing danger, there was no sign of hesitation or timidness.
But all that was left was this shivering girl, with no trace of the confidence before.
There is only one reason.