Chapter 174

: Blacksteel’s Contract
Translator: 
Hellscythe_ 
 Editor: 
Hellscythe_
Shortly after Shi Feng entered White River City, all the players within White River City region entered a crazed state. The various large Guilds behaved in the same way. They all began forming teams to grind and level up, intending to enter White River City as soon as possible.
However, the higher level the monster areas they grinded in were, the more problems they encountered. Not mentioning the fact that more players explored the high-level areas, nor the matter of the Guilds competing and battling with each other, just the simple matter of weapon and equipment durability was already a huge headache to these various large Guilds.

Have they still not sent the Whetstones, yet? The entire team’s weapon durability is almost at its limit,
Stabbing Heart said in the team chat.

They just informed me that the forgers have just finished a new batch and are sending it our way,
a Ranger replied.

How many are they sending?
Stabbing Heart asked.

Five stacks, a total of 100 Whetstones,
the Ranger said in a soft and troubled tone.

Why are there only 100? Didn’t we buy over 500 Hard Stones?
Stabbing Heart’s expression sunk, turning extremely ugly to behold. There were over 60 players in their elite team, and they all were currently grinding in a Level 10 monster area. Each Whetstone could recover 3 to 7 durability points on a weapon, and 100 Whetstones would only last them around an hour or so.

They’ve already used all 500. We are trying to purchase them in bulk, but we simply can’t find any. Many players are just paying forgers to turn their Hard Stones into Whetstones. We’ve already sent out many of our newcomers to grind for Hard Stones in Dark Moon Valley. However, ever since God’s Domain’s upgrade, the drop-rate of Hard Stones has decreased.


Moreover, the ten plus forgers we’ve nurtured are only Basic Forging Apprentices right now; they have a very low success rate for making Whetstones. The success rate would be higher if they were Intermediate Forging Apprentices; we wouldn’t have to waste so many Hard Stones. However, the increase in proficiency in forging is just too slow. Right now, they don’t have enough proficiency points to become an Intermediate Forging Apprentices at the moment.

The Ranger’s face turned awkward as he explained. Nurturing forgers and potionmakers had been very important to their Guild for some time. However, where would they find enough money and resources to invest in them? Until now, these lifestyle players had not supplied any advantages to the Guild.

Hah…
Stabbing Heart let out a deep sigh. He grew worried as he listened to his subordinate’s report.
Only now did he truly realize the importance of forgers. Although their Guild had started nurturing forgers from an early period, collecting plenty of resources and investing a great amount of money into their development, they never thought that it would be so hard to raise a forger. If the Guild had an Intermediate Forging Apprentice right now, they wouldn’t have been so desperate for Whetstones.

I understand. Tell the elite team members to use them sparingly, then. Try to reduce the contact their weapons have with monsters; that way, they can slow down the damage to their weapons. Also, tell the outer members to put more effort into gathering Hard Stones,
Stabbing Heart said helplessly.
The lack of Whetstones had left a second-rate apex Guild like the Assassin’s Alliance in such a poor state. Of course, this wasn’t due to them not having money, but simply because they could not buy any Hard Stones, not to mention Whetstones. Even if a stack of Whetstones sold for 10 Silver Coins at the moment, Stabbing Heart would not hesitate to purchase it. Unfortunately, there were none to be found on the market.
The Assassin’s Alliance wasn’t the only Guild faced with such a predicament. All the Guilds throughout the Star-Moon Kingdom currently held an intense desire for Whetstones. Only, they were not as tense as the Guilds situated within the White River City region. Speaking of which, the Guilds in the White River City region were currently in a desperate situation. The durability of their weapons fell too quickly, so they could not battle for long periods. However, without weapons, how could they battle at all? Even though they had such a large-sized Guild, there were only a scarce few forgers that could create Whetstones.
An average Guild based in a town would normally have an elite team of around 30 players grinding in high-level monster areas. As for the third-rate Guilds in the White River City region, they had elite teams of around 500 to 600 players, while second-rate Guilds had over 1,000, and first-rate Guilds had over 3,000 to 4,000 players. Of course, there were still the independent players. Right now, the demand for Whetstones throughout the White River City region was intimidating.
However, due to all of these Guilds desperately grinding towards Level 10, the price of Hard Stones soared once again. Each stack of Hard Stones sold of 1 Silver 20 Coppers right now. Yet, even with such a high price, the many Guilds in the White River City region still failed to purchase any…
—
White River City, City Hall.
Unknowingly, more than half an hour had passed since Shi Feng began his wait.
During this half hour or so, Shi Feng managed to tidy up all the information regarding White River City. To the Guilds in the White River City region that did not know anything, this information was gold.
Meanwhile, Shi Feng had organized this information into two versions. One was the simplified version; the other was the luxury version. After players read the simplified version, they would only have a rough understanding of White River City. For example, they would know that White River City held a large-scale market once every three days. However, the simplified version would not touch on the topic of resource distribution. On the other hand, the luxury version would give a rough introduction to it. It would tell the owner which locations were suited to certain classes for leveling, and which locations would have the most of a particular resource and more such information. This was the information large Guilds needed the most.
Originally, Shi Feng intended to sell this information to these Guilds personally, converting it into Gold Coins. However, it was simply too troublesome to carry out these tasks. Moreover, Shi Feng did not lack Gold Coins right now, but Credits. After some careful consideration, Shi Feng finally decided to sell the information through the official forums. He would conduct the trade in Credits. The simplified version would target the independent players, while the luxury version would target the Guilds.
Shi Feng sold the simplified version for 300 Credits. If players possessed the simplified version, it would be the equivalent of purchasing a guidebook of the city. At the very least, players would not be at a complete loss after entering the city, not knowing a single thing.
As for the luxury version, Shi Feng sold it for 20,000 Credits. Although these Guilds would, sooner or later, discover the information themselves, they would need to waste a lot of time to do so. According to Shi Feng’s estimates, at the very least, they would need to spend two to three days’ time investigating. Moreover, the information they obtained by themselves would not be as accurate as Shi Feng’s. Two to three days’ time was incomparably precious to a Guild, so they would not pay any heed to wasting 20,000 Credits.

Lord Demon Hunter, Magistrate Weissman waits for you in the parlor. Please, follow me,
the beautiful employee suddenly returned to Shi Feng’s side, softly saying.

Alright, lead the way.

Shi Feng stood and nodded. He followed the female employee up to the parlor on the building’s second floor.
When he stepped into the spacious and elegant-looking parlor, the person waiting for him wore a silvery-grey-colored robe. The well-dressed man was in his fifties, and he held a staff with a deep-blue-colored gemstone embedded in it. The man currently sat by the windowside, gazing at the scenery outside the window in silence.
This man was the Magistrate of White River City, Weissman. He was also a Tier 4 Wizard, and he was a Level 200 NPC. Without question, he was one of the strongest individuals currently in White River City. Even though Weissman stood there in silence, Shi Feng could clearly feel the elemental mana in the room frantically gathering around Weissman, forming a weak magical domain that pressured others.
However, this was merely an unconscious action of Weissman’s. It went to show just how frightening a Tier 4 powerhouse was. If Weissman employed his magical domain, he could instantly turn Shi Feng into a pile of ash.
Although Weissman only appeared to be a man in his fifties, his true age was well over 100-years-old. He was, without a doubt, an old monster.

Young man, I hear you have a recommendation letter from Blackbeard?
Weissman asked, smiling at Shi Feng.
Although the Demon Hunter title held sway over normal NPCs, to a powerhouse like Weissman, it was nothing worthy of mention. Weissman’s identity as a Tier 4 class far exceeded the status of a Demon Hunter.

That’s right. Mayor Blackbeard wanted me to pass this to you,
Shi Feng took out the recommendation letter, handing it over to Weissman.
After Weissman received the letter, he did not immediately open it. He simply let out a deep sigh as he looked at Shi Feng, saying,
That which should have come has finally arrived. I’ve waited for this letter for thirty years. Only, I never imagined a young man like you would bring it to me. I guess it is now time for me to fulfill the contract made so long ago.