Chapter Fourteen: The Peculiar Reward

  What does this mean? Do you like it? Ji Ran looked up at Aileen with some confusion.

  "My intention is, these boots, I'll take them. Just consider it as you making me a magical tool." After saying that, Irene didn't change her shoes and directly walked to the side, leaning against the wall and sat down, continuing to play with Huaruo.

  "...". It's speechless. Everyone agreed that this boot would be sold for money, but... it was confiscated just like that?

  Turning his head to look at others, he found that Lays and Beck were also stunned. However, after a while, Lays seemed to have thought of something and could only shake his head with a bitter smile.

  "Indeed... you know, the boots you made are too beautiful. And sprites, after all, are creatures that particularly pursue beauty..."

  Lais said this, and Ji Ran suddenly understood. He had also read many fantasy works before and had some understanding of the elves' pursuit of art and beauty to the point of being pathological. Unexpectedly, the elves in this world were the same, unable to move their feet when they saw something beautiful. And he, on the other hand, chose a relatively beautiful one from the various templates provided by the alchemy technique, added a bit of his own understanding, and finally resulted in this consequence...

  "It's your fault, this magic armor, as long as it works well, why did you make it so pretty? And from the appearance, it looks like something a woman would use. If Ailin sees it, how could she not like it?" Lais said in a very low voice, but Ji Ran glanced at Ailin and found that her pointed ears twitched slightly, clearly having heard. However, Ailin didn't mind and didn't get angry because of this remark.

  Ji Ran let out a wry smile: "Uncle Leis, I don't know if you've heard this before, but in my hometown there's a saying that goes like this - it's best for women to earn their own money. And isn't that what I'm doing here, trying to sell this thing for more... who knows..."

  Aileen's position in the team is somewhat strange. She usually listens to Lays' command when hunting and killing demons, and won't be too stubborn. However, on other matters, she has a strong sense of her own opinions and it's hard for others to persuade her. Of course, she also doesn't do anything excessive normally, so no one pays attention to this point.

  It's just...the first magical tool that Ji Yan had refined was taken away by her like this, it's a bit...

  "I'll give up my share of the spoils in exchange for these boots." At this point, Aileen spoke up again. She didn't raise her head to look over here, but instead continued to tease Hualuo while staring down at the boots.

  As soon as this was said, others couldn't say anything else. In fact, the materials spent on making these flying boots by Ji Ran were more than one-sixth of the total, but not much more. As long as there are some gains in the future, Ailin can use her share to offset the cost of the materials for this pair of boots. However, the price of this magic tool has never been calculated solely based on material prices...

  "And here's this, for labor costs." Irene suddenly stood up and pulled out a small branch from somewhere, with bright green leaves on it, and handed it to Ji Ran.

  Ji Ran was shocked. The branch emitted a rich woody aroma, and although it had been cut off, it seemed to have life. With his hundred-level Refining Master's eyesight, he could naturally see that this small segment of the branch was an extremely rare high-grade material! Even if it wasn't at the Golden level, it was at least above sixty levels!

  "This... is a bit too expensive, isn't it..." Ji Ran wanted to decline, but was stopped by Aileen.

  "It's useless on me, but in the hands of an alchemist it's different, especially with your unusual alchemy... or rather, do you think the boots I like are worth anything?"

  What's wrong? Don't you want to? Are you looking down on me? Faced with this momentum, even Ji Ran can only admit defeat...

  “……Haha, that Ji Ran, you see, I also want to use my gains to exchange for a real magical artifact like this one. What do you think? As for the labor fee, I won't shortchange you, but I'm a bit poor, so you'll have to wait a while.” Beside him, Beike's eyes rolled around and he suddenly chuckled as he leaned in close.

  Ji Ran looked at him with a glance, and in her heart, she was both angry and amused. Her face naturally revealed a helpless expression.

  "This magical tool isn't something I can just conjure up whenever I want, it requires the right combination of materials. As for the remaining materials, there's no way I can piece together another tool like this..."

  Ji Ran said is also the truth. Those fake magic tools for practice are nothing to worry about, just use a few ordinary materials and you can make one. But real magical artifacts require reasonably matched materials. Otherwise, if you randomly put things together, who knows what kind of weird properties it will have.

  This game's equipment forging skill has this characteristic. It will provide you with a basic template, and as long as you don't make any mistakes, the resulting artifact will definitely be qualified, but the downside is that the attributes are similar, only differing in point values. If players add their own understanding and use different materials to match, they might be able to create artifacts with special effects. Of course, if the matching is unreasonable, it's also common to produce all sorts of weird things...

  He had spent over a hundred levels of equipment refinement skills, and what he got in return was not just proficiency, but also a wealth of experience. In the later stages, he could even help people customize the properties of their magical artifacts, and even if they couldn't fully meet their requirements, they could still satisfy seven or eight out of ten. A low-level magical artifact that couldn't control its attributes would be a joke.

  But wanting to make good attributes requires suitable materials. The remaining materials are difficult to match a piece of outstanding attribute treasure again.

  "No problem! Our hunt isn't over yet, is it? When the time comes, take a look at my stats and then just help me get something. It doesn't have to be too good, something like Eileen's boots would be fine. Oh, and don't make the appearance too flashy, after all I'm a big man, heh heh..." Although Ji Ran expressed his difficulties, Beck didn't give up and instead directly clung onto his words.

  "......Alright, if I get the right materials in the future, I'll help you refine one. But don't hold out too much hope, after all, who knows what kind of magical beast we'll hunt down in the future......" Ji Ran could only agree reluctantly.

  "...... Alright, you see, since you're helping Beck out, why don't you help me out too? My requirements are similar to Beck's, roughly the same is fine. The labor cost is also the same, I'll work hard to earn money to pay you later." Unexpectedly, just as he agreed with Beck, Ban spoke up again.

  "Gege, I...I also..." Lydia blinked her big eyes looking at Jiran.

  "Heh heh, kiddo, I have to say you're quite talented. But since everyone's getting a magical tool, I shouldn't be an exception either, right?" Even Uncle Lays came over with a thick face in the end...

  Ji Ran cried and laughed helplessly. So, all the fake treasures he had refined before were useless? Hmm, they weren't entirely useless, at least he could sell them for some money. The problem was, whether he could gather enough materials in the future, even he couldn't be sure...

  But anyway, this matter has been settled. Everyone else is full of anticipation, only Aileen has a hint of a smile at the corner of her mouth. After all, she took the initiative to get ahead and got the first piece of work in hand... What others do has nothing to do with her.

  Then comes another month of hunting life.

  This month, the group's harvest was not small. In fact, this blue pine forest is also a gathering place for magic beasts, although it's not particularly large, but in the deepest part, there are said to be gold-level magic beasts above level 7. Those places have been marked as their own territory by those intelligent magic beasts that are no different from humans, and adventurers dare not easily enter, or they will die without anyone to blame.

  Of course, there are also strong men of the Golden Rank among humans, but it is generally difficult for strong men to fight directly. After all, when two strong men of the Golden Rank fight, the impact is too great. Without a great hatred, strong men of the Golden Rank will try their best to coexist peacefully and avoid a big fight.

  So, it's also a forbidden zone for adventurers. Most adventurers can only hunt on the periphery.

  Lais and his party had planned to hunt in the outer areas of the fourth-level magical beast region. After all, they were here to make money, so there was no need to venture into overly dangerous places. Losing their lives would not be worth it - even if they were seriously injured, it would be a losing proposition.

  After staying in Ji Ran's little nest for more than half a month, the group finally changed to another temporary residence. After all, although that place was an intersection of second and third level magic beasts, it was still dominated by second-level magic beasts. To get better prey, it's best to go deeper into the forest.

  Later, during this period of time, the group obtained a considerable amount of prey. Although the third-level magical beasts were slightly stronger, the group's current strength was more than enough to deal with these beasts. With Ji Ran's various food, the group appeared every day in high spirits and full energy, and their battles naturally became even more fierce and powerful.

  The strength of a single person has also been greatly improved in this period. Of course, it is impossible to improve as much as before, for example, Beck and Ban only upgraded one level, let alone Aileen and Lais, who didn't even upgrade at all. Even Lydia only upgraded two levels.

  And Ji Ran himself, also only upgraded two levels and couldn't upgrade anymore. Although the monster can still provide experience, it's not as much as before. Even in the game, relying solely on killing monsters to level up is a very difficult thing... Most of the time, players rely on the experience given by tasks to level up.

  When he crossed over, the game skills came with him, but it seemed that the task system in the game did not come with him... So, the kind of rapid leveling up method at the beginning of the game would never appear on his body.

  But even so, others were quite satisfied. Although there was no upgrade, the attributes in all aspects had improved a lot! Strength, agility, physical strength, spiritual power... These days, Ji Ran has already made different dishes for each person to enhance their most helpful attributes, rather than just making one dish per meal. Although it didn't improve the internal Qi and magical powers of their bodies, the actual combat power of the group had increased a lot.

  In this world, the most effective way to increase one's strength is still through cultivation. Actual combat also has a considerable effect, but it basically consolidates the results of cultivation. The food provided by Ji Ran can greatly enhance the efficiency of cultivation or actual combat - this is already a great benefit.

  In fact, in the ordinary sense of this world's cultivation, advancing one level per month - of course, not a level in this world, but a level in the game - is already considered **a pretty fast speed. Ordinary professionals in this world, even if they cultivate to the first level, may need several years of time, and the time required to advance from the first level to the second level, and from the second level to the third level will naturally be even longer... As for the barrier from the third level to the fourth level, countless people are stuck here, unable to progress in their lifetime.

  Lai's group, according to the hierarchy of this world, didn't really upgrade, but the increase in their strength was palpable. Others couldn't see it, but they themselves knew the speed at which their strength grew. Compared to their previous diligent practice, it was unknown how much higher it was now. And in their hearts, they naturally placed even more importance on Ji Ran.

  In addition, during this month, Ji Ran finally made only one truly magical artifact.

  No choice, the luck is not too good, although many monsters were killed and a lot of materials were collected, but the properties of these materials are somewhat conflicting, not very good for making magic weapons. Although it can be barely put together to make something that can be used with 80% of its attributes, it's still a bit wasteful of materials.

  Finally, after killing a blade-backed lizard, he used the hard bone on its back that was as sharp as a knife to create a large two-handed sword.

  That's right, it's the kind of weapon Uncle Leis used. Speaking of which, when Ji Ran forged this pair of large swords, he directly left Leis and others with their eyes wide open, almost dropping their eyeballs to the ground.

  Magic weapon! The most powerful product in the magical tool!