Another World’s Versatile Crafting Master c1-1074

by Zhuang Bifan

  "Accordingly, it's called Shapeshifter…" Lin Li was no better than Mason's. It had mysteriously disappeared from the Nightmare Mountains, and randomly appeared in the Shadowglen; moreover, it was filled with a peculiar aura. This peculiar and strange feeling caused Lin Li to be unable to breathe.

  While the two of them conversed, the vampire screamed.

  Lin Li looked over in horror. He saw that a red and a black shadow were locked together under the crescent moon. The four hooves of the Shapeshifter were blazing, and with a roar, it had pierced a hole in the Vampire's suit with its unbreakable horn…

  The humiliated Vampire was unyielding; it used its razor-sharp fangs and claws to leave wound after wound on the half intangible and half tangible body of the Shapeshifter. As both were level-18 creatures, they used immense strength. Even a moment of contact would scatter radiating flares.

  Both were a formidable existence proficient in Dark Magic, and both had an incomparable brute strength. Just a moment of contact, and both were inseparable. As the Shapeshifter had a half intangible and half tangible body, it had strong immunity towards physical and magical attacks. On the other hand, a vampire could drain the strength of its opponents. Although each attack it dealt did not cause much damage to the Shapeshifter, it had constantly drained the Shapeshifter's strength. It was as if after every attack, the crimson radiance dimmed a little.

  Even though this battle between two level-18 creatures was not as immense as the battle between the undead in the morning, the intensity was on par with it. An immense amount of Dark Magic flowed out, resonating with a powerful magical wave in the surroundings. The magical elements were strong after each consecutive wave; the pressure left everyone breathless. The razor-sharp claws and the unbreakable horn had splattered blood around the battlefield, dying the earth red…

  Only at this point did Lin Li realize that this strange battle might bring about some results…

  This was indeed a chance gifted from the heavens…

  Everybody had spent a lot of effort on this mission. If they were to abandon it right now, everyone would not be able to take it lying. The mysterious appearance of this Shapeshifter had given them a chance to gamble. They had to gamble once, regardless of whether they made the right choice. Even if they did make the wrong gamble, they had their Teleportation Scrolls in their hands. There would not be much loss.

  Lin Li hesitated for a moment before making up his mind quickly. He tightly clenched his teeth, and spat out two words. "Kill him!"

  Mason was totally terrified. After hearing those words, he unusually asked, "Kill whom?"

  "Idiot." Orrin's voice came from the back, and at the same time, a fireball flew past…

  "F*ck, just you wait…" Mason snapped back into reality, and glared at Orrin while he hastily recited a spell.

  The first thing that struck the vampire was not Orrin's fireball, but Larry's Flaming Storm. This level-9 mage might not be lucky, but his reaction speed was much faster than Mason's. Lin Li's voice had just fallen, and he had already cast his Flaming Storm, setting the vampire's body on fire.

  "Despicable. Both of you are equally despicable." With two fire spells blasting it simultaneously, even a powerful level-18 creature would not come out unscathed.

  There was only a furious shriek coming from the battlefield, a shriek as sharp as the cries of a nightbird. The bombardment from the two fire spells had thoroughly enraged the Vampire. It endured the Shapeshifter's Death Ripples, and slashed two gaps in the Shapeshifter's body with its razor-sharp claws before withdrawing. It metamorphosed into a blood-red bat in the air, charging furiously towards the mages that had backstabbed it.

  "A level-18 bullying a level-9, yet you dare to say I am despicable?" Mason scolded fiercely, and threw an Icy Spear. When the Icy Spear that was as strong as Flaming was thrown, even a level-18 Vampire would have to briefly dodge it.

  Yet it was this brief moment that bought the Shapeshifter enough time.

  With the resounding roar of the Shapeshifter, everyone felt a surge in Dark Force. In that instance, everywhere was pitch-black. Even the crescent moon in the sky seemed to have lost its radiance at that moment. The Shapeshifter had cast the Obscurus Spell, it was stronger than the one used by the Fantama Panthera in the Nightmare Mountains. In a blink, it had covered an area of more than a hundred metres. Even if it was a level-18 Vampire, it would have been at its weakest under this Obscurus Spell.

  The blood-red bat was flying at blinding speed, but under this endless darkness, it flew with abnormal difficulty. From afar, it looked like a red snail carrying a heavy mountain while crawling in the air. Just a short distance of tens of metres was like the difference between heaven and earth.

  At this moment, Lin Li had finished reciting his spell. The magical crystals on the Winter Staff started radiating a bright light. The violent magical elements created a deafening blast in the air…

  Chapter 144 - Tamed

  The brilliant light the Winter Staff emitted tore through the darkness in an instant; countless magical elements stirred, creating a terrifying vortex of elements in the Shadowglen. The sky was filled with snowflakes and screeching ice shards. It was as if heaven and earth had turned white at this moment. Amidst the waves of deafening blasts, the ice particles violently stirred like a tornado, and mercilessly struck the blood-red bat that was in the air…

  "Argh…" There was only an awful scream before they saw a large piece of ice plummeting down from the sky and crashing into the ground…

  Not even a Vampire could defend against the might of a level-12 spell. Even though they could not completely annihilate this level-18 undead creature, but the Iceblast contained a powerful frost, causing it to be frozen instantly.

  This was not the first time Lin Li had used a spell that was level-12 and above. Even though it was within his capabilities, he still felt somewhat exhausted. It was hard to control the mana of Iceblast, and he would suffer from the bite of mana if he were to be careless. After casting Iceblast, Lin Li felt like he was completely drained of energy. The Winter Staff fell on the ground, and he collapsed on top of it.

  Lin Li knew that the Vampire was a level-18 Undead Creature, so even Iceblast would not be able to keep it frozen for too long. It could be two or three seconds. Of course… it could even be but one second.

  But this was sufficient.

  Just when the lump of ice had fallen, a red shadow had already torn through the Obscurus Spell.

  At this moment, time seemed to have stood still. The clopping hooves were like droplets of rain, echoing in the hearts of everyone. The searing flames were blazing, and the unbreakable horn started to emit frost under the moonlight. The crimson shade in the night sky gave off a sense of emptiness….

  It was coming closer. From a hundred metres to fifty metres, and then from fifty metres to five metres…

  And then, there was a rattle that was like glass shattering with a touch of hoarseness.

  Initially, the voice was soft, but as the cracks on the ice started to grow, the sound was ringing in everybody's ears. At the end there was a "boom", and the ice totally shattered. Within the scattering ice, the drops of solidified blood were unusually vibrant. The moonlight radiated the countless pieces of fine ice bits that had been scattered.

  All of sudden, everything became quiet. Other than the blowing of cold wind, nothing else could be heard.

  Everyone just stared blankly at this sight. It felt as if it was just a dream. A battle between a level-18 Vampire and Level-18 Shapeshifter, including that level-12 Iceblast…

  After a period of time, Mason asked in an uncertain voice, "It's dead?"

  "That's right…" Orrin's voice was slightly shaky.

  Lin Li kept quiet. He only bent down, and picked up the crystal on the floor.

  "Eh?" Lin Li had only just picked up the crystal, and he realized something was wrong. The crystal was still covered in strange inscriptions, but that crimson color had suddenly disappeared. The crystal
that was in his hands was just like how it was when he first dug it out. There were no colors on it. It was just clear and transparent, just like the clear water of a lake.

  Just as Lin Li was feeling confused, Mason's face had suddenly turned white. Both his eyes stared straight behind Lin Li, and he looked like he had just seen a ghost. "Felic, Felic… Quickly look!"

  "What's up…"

  Lin Li turned his head to look while still being confused, and saw the Shapeshifter walking towards him. Just when he turned his head, the Shapeshifter had also stopped moving, and then… it slightly lowered its head!

  "Damn!"

  Even a transmigrator like Lin Li knew what it meant when a magical beast lowered its head at you…

  It was total submission!

  Lin Li rubbed his eyes; he thought he was hallucinating. It was a level-18 beast. How could it be tamed by a level-13 magic shooter?

  Magical beasts could indeed be tamed, but the requirements for taming were extremely demanding. To tame a magical beast like a Shapeshifter, it might not even be possible for Andoine. It required total superiority in strength, absolute suppression with levels, and even other tricky requirements.

  As for himself…

  Both sides had a difference of five levels, so how could he have made a level-18 Shapeshifter submit to him?

  And yet, everything in front of him was real. No matter how Lin Li rubbed his eyes, that level-18 shapeshifter was still lowering its head about ten metres away, neighing from time to time. It was still showing signs of being tamed and friendly. It did not look like a level-17 magical beast, but like a stallion in reins.

  "This can't be real…" Mason's eyes were as big as a cow's, and he stared at the Shapeshifter in bewilderment. "Felic, did you raise this Shapeshifter?"

  "How could I afford to raise it…"

  "Too wicked…" Mason's mind had always been different from the others, and he gasped in admiration a few times before suddenly asking, "How about lending me to ride it for a few days? Hahaha. If I could ride that Shapeshifter around Alanna, that would really be… Wahahaha!"

  "Idiot."

  "F*ck, Orrin! I haven't settled the score with you yet, and you provoke me again!"

  "Not happy?"

  While the two of them were arguing, Lin Li realized that the ethereal body of the Shapeshifter started to become transparent. The changes were not obvious, but it was still vivid. After each passing second, the crimson body of the Shapeshifter slowly became dull until it became totally transparent just like the crystal in Lin Li's hand.

  And then Lin Li saw that the Shapeshifter that was lowering its head suddenly became glitters of light. At the same time of releasing that brilliant light, the glitters were absorbed by a type of energy, forming a stream of light in the night sky. It seeped into the crystal just like the black fog during the day…

  Lin Li could clearly see the crystal starting becoming more crimson in color as the glitters started to seep in. When the last bit of light had disappeared, the crystal in his hand returned to the state it was in when he'd just entered the Shadowglen.

  With this sequence of events, Lin Li started to figure things out…

  The crystal in his hand was not an ordinary crystal.

  Lin Li could almost confirm that this crystal that was full of inscriptions harnessed a potent power. This power was strong enough to seal or trap a Shapeshifter. That night in the Nightmare Mountains, when the Shapeshifter bumped into him, it had to have triggered this power and got sealed inside the crystal instantly.

  In fact, Lin Li had always guessed that it was this what had happened. Hence, he used the word "eaten" to describe the situation back then.

  The battle from before had further confirmed Lin Li's conjecture. The appearance and disappearance of the Shapeshifter from the crystal had proven everything.

  And yet, this conjecture raised more questions…

  Lin Li could not understand why the fallen undead creatures turned into a thick black fog and seeped into the crystal. What was even more confusing was: why did the Shapeshifter coincidentally appear just now? Lin Li could only instinctively guess that these were all related.

  As for what was the relation, Lin Li was clueless. He could only faintly guess that the black fog was the essence of the undead creatures…

  "I will figure you out!" Lin Li held the crystal firmly and scolded it fiercely.

  The powerful crystal made Lin Li really excited.

  Instantly sealing a level-18 beast and being able to summon it when needed for battle. Such power could drive a person mad just from thinking about it.

  Furthermore, the power it had just displayed was merely the tip of the iceberg. Nobody knew what was the limit of this crystal. If it could seal a level-18 magical beast, what about level-19, 20, or even more?

  All these guesses started to permeate Lin Li mind all the time. No matter how much he researched, he could not understand how to utilize this power. As a person that liked to split hairs, it was an unbearable torture for Lin Li.

  Lin Li gripped the crystal, and pondered for about half an hour…

  Ever since the Shapeshifter appeared, the searing temperature on the crystal had seemingly disappeared. It was cool when he held it now. It was unlike the previous time when he held it, when there was a burning sensation. No matter how hard he pondered, he still came to a dead end. He put the crystal pack into his pocket in frustration, hoping that he would discover something new during the upcoming missions…

  Chapter 145 - A Familiar Person

  After putting the crystal into his pocket, Lin Li walked over to the spot where the vampire died. The horn of the Shapeshifter was very firm and strong. It left behind fragments of ice lying around on the ground. Not to mention the vampire that was frozen in ice, a boulder would also shatter into pieces under the long distance attack. Red bloodstain covered the crystalline ice, creating a sinister atmosphere under the moonlight.

  While glancing at the surroundings, Lin Li found a pair of blood-red fangs. He bent over to pick those treasures up. Comparable to the horn of a Shapeshifter, those fangs would definitely be of a great help in forging weapons.

  By nature, the fangs of Vampires could absorb the abilities of their enemies. When mixed with a little bit of magewealth during forging, anyone could easily adopt the magical properties of the fangs onto themselves. Although they were not as sharp as the horns of Shapeshifters, their abilities in the field of magical defense and fighting would be unimaginable. Furthermore, the fangs were extremely corrosive. There might not be any obvious effect at the start, but in the long run, even the magical shield of an Archmage would show some loopholes.

  Lin Li always loved things that were vicious. He had made plans to forge a pair of daggers with that pair of fangs right after he returned. Then, he would coat those daggers with the poison of Manticores…

  After putting them in his pockets, Lin Li's gaze did not leave the shattered ice on the ground. There was a dark-red glow radiating from the pile of bloodstained ice, and Lin Li understood what it was immediately—the magical crystal of a level-18 undead creature…

  Compared to the magical crystals one could obtain from beasts, the magical crystal from a Vampire was no doubt more precious. It had the size of a thumb, and a glow of dark-red that resembled that of a blood clot. While holding it in his hands, he felt a burning sensation.

  That was the only thing from the body of a Vampire that had warmth. When Lin Li tried to transmit some mana into the crystal, it shook gently as though it was not a crystal, but a heart.

  Since Vampires got their energy from fresh blood, the function of that magical crystal was to convert fresh blood into energy. Hence, that crystal was like the heart a Vampire.

  If such a Vampire crystal fall into the hands of others, it would be mounted onto a magical staff for the mana like any other magical crystal. Then, when the mana inside was finished, it would turn into trash. Yet if Lin Li were to acquire it, it would be a totally different
story.

  All five occupations that Lin Li was proficient in had their respective ways to modify the Vampire's crystal. For example, in pharmaceutics, there was a Black Bloodl.u.s.t Potion that could be enhanced by soaking it with the Vampire's crystal. If he were to use a bottle made from the Crystal of Eternity to contain the potion, it would reach the master-level ability after half a year.

  But to Lin Li, the crystal was the most suitable for forging weapons.

  Since fresh blood was the energy source for the crystals of the Vampires, and weapons were the items that result in blood, every time a life was taken, the crystal would gain its energy. The more deaths the crystal caused, the more energy it would gain, and eventually level up.

  The level of a magical crystal had always been fixed, and the Vampire might probably be the only species that could cause this type of sinister abnormality.

  To an extent, there were some devilish properties within it. How the crystal worked was as though a type of ritual during the Dark Age, where people gained energy from the sacrifice of others. There was a rumor that eons ago, the higher-ups would slaughter slaves from different races to enhance their own energy.

  Lin Li did not like devilish things, but he always loved to have great powers. After measuring the gravity of both on the scale, he decided to put the magical crystal into his pocket.

  According to Lin Li's personal values, no matter how much one's contributions were, if he were to participate in any mission, he ought to have a share of the pie. This time, however, he did not offer to split the rewards, but threw the item into his own pocket.

  Of course…

  That did not mean that he wanted to keep everything for himself selfishly. It was because Lin Li understood that normal people would not be able to handle the two items well. If a Vampire's crystal got attached to a magical staff to be used as a magical crystal, it would be a shame as one'd be wasting it.

  What Lin Li absolutely could not tolerate was this type of waste.