Chapter 165 Chapter 164-Fire Grand Archmage Saphir, Accepting the Quest (1st update, Cheer me with Power Stones!)
In the spacious Mercenary Hall, many began to breathe heavily.
Evidently, the freshly updated, high-level danger quest with its bountiful rewards stirred the hearts of all those present.
In truth, most of them had a vague notion of the legendary item, given that there were only three pieces of legendary equipment currently known to players.
All three were related to John, with two of them already auctioned and sitting on the top two positions of the weapon equipment ranking list.
The third piece of legendary equipment was the staff, the Woodmist Warchant, dropped by the Shadowcrawler Matriarch and gifted to Emma by John.
At John's insistence, Emma had declined the system's prompt to be listed in the rankings, so beyond those who were present at that time, no one knew that a third piece of legendary equipment had appeared.
Most players were still using common and fine-grade equipment and items, with no concrete concept of legendary equipment and items.
However, Cloud Sea Ore was a different matter.
This was a unique specialty of the area around the Cloud Sea, a mineral with a very peculiar property.
Cloud Sea Ore had no other attributes, just one.
It could enhance the success rate of embedding gems into weapons.
It's worth noting that in Godslayer, players could get energy gems by defeating monsters, but embedding these gems into their weapons had a certain probability of failure.
The higher the level of the energy gem, the greater the chance of failure.
Reportedly, the success rate for embedding the highest-level, divine-level red energy gem was less than one in ten thousand.
Even for the white and green energy gems (common level and uncommon level) that most players could acquire now, the success rates were only 30% and 20% respectively.
Don't underestimate these percentages.
In reality, these are quite low.
If a gem embedding fails, the equipment it was supposed to go into would be ruined.
No player wanted to see the equipment they worked hard to get turn into a pile of scrap metal in the gem embedding process.
For this reason, all items that could increase the success rate of gem embedding were sold at sky-high prices.
There was a lucky player who had previously obtained a piece of Deep Sea Mica, which could increase the gem embedding success rate by 5%.
It was bought by a guild leader of a major guild for a whopping 10 million.
This goes to show how valuable these items were.
And Cloud Sea Ore, it could boost the success rate of gem embedding by a massive 20%, a full 15% more than Deep Sea Mica.
Just how precious such an item was, everyone knew in their hearts.
Up to this point, not a single player had managed to get even a pinch of Cloud Sea Ore.
This mineral was incredibly rare, and was found only in limited quantities near the Cloud Sea, all of which was controlled by the Lord Mansion of the Cloud Sea.
It can be said that it's the most valuable item that the Cloud Sea annually submits to the Northern Myst Empire.
Not only did the players need energy gems to enhance their weapon and equipment attributes, the local NPCs, those who were strong, needed them just the same.
So, the Cloud Sea Ore was always in high demand, a rare treasure even amongst the local NPCs.
Once a piece of Cloud Sea Ore hit the market, it often fetched an astronomical price.
How could such a rare item ever fall into the hands of the players?
Yet, this time, the Cloud Sea Lord's mansion was offering five pieces of Cloud Sea Ore.
It clearly showed how much they prioritized this quest.
While the players were certainly tempted, the thought of the difficulty of the quest made them abandon the idea.
No way around it, a level 200 Lord-level boss was simply beyond their capability.
Even if all the players in the Mercenary Hall were pulled together, they'd likely be wiped out by the python in a single blow.
John's eyes sparkled, and he quietly stopped in his tracks.
He could see that the four extremely dangerous quests pinned at the top of the crystal panel were not meant for players.
The mercenary feature had just been opened, and most players were still struggling to go from one-star to two-star.
How could they possibly reach the rank of a three-star Golden Mercenary?
These quests were clearly released for the local veteran mercenaries to pick up.
After all, the Mercenary Hall wasn't just open to players, the local NPC big shots could also take on quests...
Not only John noticed this, nearly everyone else had the same realization.
An irate player couldn't help but blurt out, "What kind of bullshit quest is this? It's clearly not meant for us to complete. Has the manager of the Mercenary Hall got water in his brain? Why would he release such an impossible quest?"
His companion tugged at him, hoping he'd lower his voice.
But the guy clearly had a hot temper in reality too.
He completely disregarded his friend's reminder and continued to loudly curse the managers behind the Mercenary Hall.
Suddenly, a towering figure appeared before him.
A middle-aged man with a thick beard, standing over two meters tall with fiery grey-brown eyes.
He grabbed the irate player by the collar, snarling, "Heard you got a problem with the way I run the Mercenary Hall?"
The domineering aura of the middle-aged man immediately silenced the irate player.
Especially when the man laughed menacingly, the player felt as if his eardrums would burst from the sheer volume.
"Weakling, can't even answer me and yet you dare complain about the quests I post!
Let me tell you something, the Mercenary Hall isn't just for you chicks, it serves all mercenaries across the Godslayer continent.
If you can't handle the high-difficulty quests, that's just because you're weak.
There are other powerful entities who can!"
The burly middle-aged man lifted the player off the ground and casually tossed him out of the hall.
It was as simple as discarding a toy for him.
Everyone else looked at the middle-aged man in fear, quietly speculating about his identity.
Many players had cast a Detection spell the moment the middle-aged man appeared.
The information they received was certainly a shock to them all:
[Saphir, sub-guild leader of the Silverglow Mercenary Guild: ???]
[Level: ???]
[Class: ???]
[Attributes: ???]
Aside from figuring out that the middle-aged man's name is Saphir, who turns out to be the highest-ranking manager of the Silverglow Mercenary Hall and a sub-guild leader of the mercenary guild, the rest of his information remains a mystery.
John, standing in the corner, takes a curious look at Saphir.
After a brief contemplation, he activates his Eye of Artemis:
[Saphir, sub-guild leader of the Silverglow Mercenary Guild: The top manager of the Silverglow Mercenary Hall, transferred from the Mercenary Guild headquarters in the capital city of the Northern Myst Empire. Has formidable power, a notoriously explosive temperament, and believes in solving everything through force...]
[Level: 300]
[Class: Fire Grand Archmage]
[Attributes: ...]
The data provided by the Eye of Artemis is certainly comprehensive.
John pulls a wry smile; it's no wonder this guy tossed a complaining player out of the Mercenary Hall without a second thought.
A volatile temperament combined with a fire mage class is a recipe for an explosive character - quite like a ticking time bomb.
John shakes his head in resignation.
Isn't it said that mages are supposed to be elegant and composed?
This fire mage in front of him seems like a berserker on a rampage.
The bulky muscles stretching his mage robe and his rough handling of situations...
Unaware of John's inner thoughts, Saphir stands with his hands on his hips, ranting at all the players in the Mercenary Hall: "You bunch of newbies, do you have any idea how hard we worked to open these Mercenary Halls in every city just for you? And look at the chaos you've created, just like a messy market..."
"You bunch of weaklings, fresh off the boat, just stick to the daily quests like finding lost cats and dogs..."
The room falls silent as the players are berated, their heads downcast.
It's clear to everyone that the hulking man in the mage robe before them is formidable.
And his temperament appears far from pleasant...
Just as Saphir is getting carried away with his tirade, John calmly steps in front of him, meeting his gaze.
Saphir gives John a dismissive glance, "What, got a problem with what I said?"
Saphir is ready, prepared to toss this young man out just like the previous player, as long as he dares to disagree...
But to his surprise, John just shakes his head slowly, raising his hand to point at the crystal panel above.
"I'm here to accept the fourth quest that just popped up there, the one about clearing the Bone Cave..."
Saphir's contemptuous expression freezes instantly, and the hands he had just raised stop mid-air.
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