Volume 4 Chapter 48: Thorn Technique

“My upcoming class change to Apostle leans towards long-range attacks and summoning. I need a creature below the fourth rank that is relatively loyal, can accept simple commands, and has thick skin and sturdy flesh!” Qin Lun said, looking into Beruses’ eyes.

Beruses grinned silently. He understood why Qin Lun did not go to the Moonlit Elves.

The Moonlit Elves belonged to the lawful good alignment. The entire race cherished freedom and peace, holding a respectful attitude towards life. They rarely helped Apostles capture summoned creatures, let alone provide summoned creatures themselves.

In the Elves’ philosophy, turning a free life into a summoned creature was a blasphemy, a violation of natural law. Although Elf Mages, Druids, and archers sometimes had forest creatures like hounds, Unicorns, or flower sprites accompanying them, they regarded them as battle partners, not summoned creatures.

For Apostles, mere battle partners could not be taken into the Other World; they had to be turned into summoned creatures. Furthermore, the Elven Race pursued an elegant and splendid combat style. Even the battle creatures they nurtured were mostly beautiful in appearance. For example: Unicorns, flower sprite Elves, Griffins, and so on.

These creatures did not meet Qin Lun’s requirements. According to his plan, the summoned creature he wanted was clearly the type with a simple and brutal combat style, a melee creature that could act as a meat shield for its master when necessary.

“You have come to the right person. In Devil’s Horn, apart from our Demon Clan, the other four management races—Rakshasa Race, Wind Element, Gnome, and Moonlit Elf—would probably find it very difficult to meet your demands,” Beruses said with full confidence.

Qin Lun smiled slightly. The Cunning Demon was not blindly arrogant. In fact, before seeking Beruses’ help, he had already sent Didi out to inquire about creatures that could serve as melee meat shields for other races. Besides the Demon Clan, the other four management races indeed found it hard to satisfy him.

Of course, this did not mean the other four management races lacked meat shield warriors. For instance, the Dwarf Clan had various golem constructs that could serve as melee meat shields. However, golem constructs were puppets. To turn them into summoned creatures, they needed to be fitted with alchemical Souls, a cost that was too high.

The Wind Elemental Race had Ice Crystal Giants, the Rakshasa Race had Hydras and Swamp Ogres, and the Moonlit Elves had Dryads and Mountain Giants. These were all powerful creatures with strong melee abilities and vitality. However, these creatures were all High Rank beings. Not to mention Qin Lun’s inability to control them, these races would never agree to his request.

Only the Demon Clan, due to their promiscuous nature, had many hybrid creatures within their clan. These hybrids were not purebred Demons and were born with low intelligence. But the thin Demon Bloodline in them gave them robust vitality and combat abilities, making them the best material for mid to low-rank summoned creatures.

“I can relay your request to the clan. However, there is one point you must understand…” Beruses spread his hands and looked at Qin Lun without finishing his sentence.

“I understand, equivalent exchange. So, how much Shattered Crystal do I need to pay?” Qin Lun said flatly.

“No rush. After I prepare the summoned creature you need, we can talk then!” Beruses said with a smile.

Watching Beruses leave, Qin Lun sighed softly. If possible, he really did not want to deal with the Demon Clan. The Demon Clan was cunning and sinister. Although they would not outright cheat or extort Apostles, negotiations full of scheming and intrigue were never pleasant.

…

“Whoosh! Whoosh!” Accompanied by faint sounds of cutting through the air, silvery light flashed repeatedly in the air.

“Stop!” With a stern shout, Qin Lun stopped his training with a bitter expression.

“The power of a thrusting sword lies in its thrust, not in using it like a fire poker!” A sky-blue, oval face appeared before Qin Lun. Snake-like vertical pupils stared at him mercilessly, making Qin Lun feel like a frog targeted by a venomous snake.

This was Qin Lun’s swordplay instructor, the Rakshasi Woman who had once taught him Basic Swordplay. Although this beautiful young woman of the Rakshasa Race had a curvaceous figure, with a waist as slender as a willow, and a body better than many Succubi, in Qin Lun’s eyes, she was more demonic than a Succubus. He still had unresolved bruises on his body, all whipped out by this Rakshasi Woman with a wooden sword.

“How many times have I told you? Don’t slash, use thrusts, thrusts, understand? Even if you are an Apostle, I will say the same thing. You simply have no talent for swordplay. I won’t be coming tomorrow; this is simply a waste of life!” The Rakshasi Woman stormed off, twisting her shapely hips.

Qin Lun frowned and sighed, staring at the FN-500, which had turned into the Narnia thrusting sword. In the days following his meeting with Beruses, he had stayed at the Training Ground practicing his newly acquired skills and swordplay.

He had used up that low-level skill scroll, and his Basic Swordplay had finally advanced to Intermediate Swordplay. However, after using the Narnia thrusting sword for a while at the Training Ground, his enthusiasm for sword training began to plummet sharply. Even Joey seemed dissatisfied with the FN-500’s thrusting sword form.

Although he had invited this strict swordplay instructor again, and although this slender thrusting sword had the excellent skill “Sharpness,” Qin Lun’s training showed no improvement at all.

With his Law Body’s Intermediate Swordplay, he did have a good feel for holding the sword, even capable of slicing the wings off a fly with the blade. But he often wielded the thrusting sword like a fire poker, slashing with it. This habit was surprisingly like an addiction that he could not break. As soon as his attention wavered slightly, he would unconsciously use it.

After several days of experimentation, Qin Lun finally understood that the Intermediate Swordplay from Shattered Starry Sky could not replace genuine swordplay techniques. The Intermediate Swordplay from Shattered Starry Sky was akin to a bodily tactile sense; it only allowed his Law Body to feel familiar with the weapon—the so-called “feel.”

With firearms, having that feel and the calculations from his Combat Model, he could fully utilize the weapon’s power, making Intermediate Firearms Expertise seem flawless. However, a thrusting sword was different. Swordplay was far more complex than gunplay. Clearly, it could not be mastered by feel alone; he needed corresponding swordplay skills.

Perhaps Qin Lun was naturally gifted with marksmanship but had no talent for swordplay. He always felt the Narnia thrusting sword was too light and thin, feeling insubstantial in his hand, truly not as substantial as a fire poker.

After tidying up and leaving the Training Ground, Qin Lun thought for a moment and headed towards the Auction House. He had given most of his Apostle currency to Didi, but that did not mean he completely ignored the Auction House.

Originally, thirty thousand Shattered Crystals and one thousand Exchange Vouchers could not buy anything particularly good anyway, especially since he needed to replenish his recovery items. It was better to let Didi handle it. Whether there was a pleasant surprise or not, the little Goblin would not use up all the Apostle currency. The remaining portion, plus the over six thousand Shattered Crystals he still had on him, would be just right for replenishing recovery items.

However, he still had two Skill Scrolls, “Earth Spike Technique” and “Curved Shot Technique,” which he wanted to exchange for other skill scrolls, so he was not without capital.

The FN-500’s firing rate was too slow. Although its power was good, its cooldown time reached thirty seconds. This actually did not suit the urgent combat rhythm of “Combat Gunmanship.” He still needed to find two other fast-firing guns.

Sitting in the Auction House booth, Qin Lun did not immediately search the Projector for fast guns suitable for him. Firearm-type weapons were the most numerous items listed for auction in the Auction House, bar none.

He first searched the skill scroll category in the auction classifications. Perhaps due to sluggish trading these past few days, there were still over ten skill scrolls in the consignment listings that had not been sold.

However, after Qin Lun read the descriptions of those skill scrolls, he rolled his eyes and felt speechless. Although he was not as familiar with Auction House price fluctuations as Didi, the asking prices for these dozen or so skill scrolls were absurd. They remained unsold simply because no one would buy them.

One low-level scroll, “Thrust,” was actually priced at one hundred thousand Shattered Crystals or a specified type of Dark Gold Equipment. This kind of price, not to mention selling, was enough to make anyone who saw it feel inexplicably angry.

No matter how scarce skill scrolls were, the price of a low-level scroll was rarely higher than that of Dark Gold Equipment. Although fused skills were the foundation of an Apostle’s strength, the equipment skills that came with Dark Gold Equipment were also quite good, usually having two or more. And if not needed, they could still be sold.

This low-level “Thrust” skill was actually a common good, valued between thirty to forty thousand Shattered Crystals, which was ten to twenty thousand less than the most ordinary Dark Gold item. Asking one hundred thousand Shattered Crystals was simply an insult to others’ intelligence; it was no surprise it remained unsold.

Among these dozen or so skill scrolls, Qin Lun actually took a liking to one low-level scroll called “Thorn Technique,” a wood-type spell.

Thorn Technique could use a plant’s vitality to make its roots and trunk sprout numerous wooden thorns. It not only had offensive capabilities but, under specific conditions, could also become a defensive skill. Of course, based on the description, its environmental requirements were too strict, and its applicability was not high.

However, Qin Lun’s mind instantly flashed back to the Vine Seeds he had used before. He had used Vine Seeds in the Undersea Temple of the Phantom Demon World. This Elven plant given to him by Mafa could turn into a vine person for a limited time. Although it could not move, it could automatically attack enemies. Paired with “Thorn Technique,” it seemed like a pretty good combination.

This Thorn Technique was priced at forty-five thousand Shattered Crystals, which was much more reasonable than the “Thrust” scroll. But in Qin Lun’s view, this price was still a fifty percent premium. Considering the applicability of Thorn Technique, thirty thousand Shattered Crystals would be a fair price.

Perhaps Thorn Technique paired with certain plant seeds could be a very good offensive and defensive combination. But one must know that plant seeds that Apostles could bring into the Other World were not found everywhere. Take the Vine Seeds Qin Lun used, for example; one seed was worth several hundred Shattered Crystals. Using Thorn Technique once would definitely waste several seeds, equating to an additional cost.

Moreover, for Thorn Technique to exhibit considerable power, the Apostle needed to have an affinity with wood elements. Otherwise, how powerful this low-level skill would be remained an unknown; it might only be capable of pricking a hand like a rose thorn.

Qin Lun glanced once more at the auction information for Thorn Technique. When he saw the consignment duration and the multiple failed auctions, he finally smiled and clicked on the contact number of the Apostle who had listed it.