Greatly Improved

Chapter 8: Greatly Improved

Aside from the first day spent fighting Audan and resting, Yuan Chen had three more days to complete the second trial: expelling or killing the unknown creatures that had suddenly appeared near the village.

Climbing out of bed, Yuan Chen had just finished his basic ablutions when a series of knocks came from the door.

He opened the door to see a handsome young boy. His skin was reddish-brown, characteristic of a tropical rainforest climate, with large eyes and thick, naturally curly hair. It was none other than Milio, the 163rd playable character in League of Legends.

And now, Milio, still just a simple boy, was curiously observing Yuan Chen and said, "Grandma asked me to learn with you! Will you teach me the new Yuan Chu Axiom?"

"No." Holding a nameless branch he was using as a toothbrush, Yuan Chen shrugged nonchalantly, with no intention of hiding anything. The Yuan Chu Axiom was a special formula for Elemental Magic that Ixial had explored, compiled, and experimented with long before the Shurima Empire was founded.

In this situation, there was no point in pretending. It was better to be straightforward. After all, he already understood the philosophy of Ionia. Yuan Chen also knew exactly what Milio's abilities were and what he yearned for and excelled at.

The foresight of a transmigrator finally had a practical use...

He muttered inwardly, then turned his gaze to Milio, who looked confused, and cast Scout Skill on him.

Scout Skill completed its assessment. Milio felt a slight chill for a moment, but his understanding of Elemental Magic was far less profound than Lupe's, so he didn't think much of it.

Conversely, Milio's information instantly appeared before Yuan Chen's eyes.

Name: Milio

Status: Full

Profession: Elementalist LV2

Equipment: Ixialian Short Shirt (No Grade), Ixialian Shorts (No Grade)

Skills: Fire Axiom, Earth Axiom, Wind Axiom...

Trait: Warm Flame (Unawakened) (Epic): Originating from the resonance between a benevolent heart and the spirits of all things, it can cause elements to exhibit different properties through a soul connection.

Seeing Milio's status panel, Yuan Chen nodded thoughtfully. The so-called trait was a special ability that ordinary people couldn't possess, either innate or acquired later.

For example, Yuan Chen's own Water Flow Control, from "Demon's Blessing," was a type of trait.

But speaking of skills, the degree of similarity was too high. He should just block it next time, as the profession itself could explain a lot...

Thinking this, Yuan Chen asked, "Do you know how to fight?"

"Yes!" Milio nodded, then forcefully swung his small fists twice and said, "Even though Grandma doesn't allow it, I actually participate in fights when I go out! But they don't really want to fight with me because I can't control the Axiom Constraint, and I might accidentally hurt my friends with my magic..."

As he said this, a hint of sadness appeared on Milio's face.

Yuan Chen was not surprised by this. In the game, all of Milio's skills were related to fire, but in reality, in Ixial, any Elementalist who had just started, even an apprentice, could quickly master over five types of Elemental Magic through the Yuan Chu Axiom. Of course, they would usually specialize in only one.

In existence, it's the role positioning in the game...

This doesn't offer much reference. Especially for Supports, aside from ancient heroes with extremely simple background settings like Steam Robot, Bard, Star Mother, and Sun Goddess are all top-tier powerhouses in their lore.

Don't be fooled by how Darius acts like a father to his son when laning against Star Mother in The Rift; in their lore, Sun Goddess could obliterate Darius with a casual raise of her arm, summoning a beam of Sunlight.

Although Milio's current identity is just a simple country boy with no status, if his innate traits were to awaken, he would instantly become Ixialia's youngest Elemental Master—

The youngest Elemental Master before Milio was Qiyana.

"Then let's get ready. If we're hunting beasts, we can't go without equipment."

Hearing this, Milio nodded excitedly—

The boy always had no resistance to adventure. No matter how great Milio's future achievements might be, at least for now, he was still just a twelve-year-old innocent boy yearning for adventure and legendary tales.

Thanks to his willingness to clear out the rampaging beasts for the village, Yuan Chen unexpectedly didn't face much difficulty walking on the street. Although most villagers still maintained a respectful distance, observing him from afar, some villagers did greet Yuan Chen proactively.

For example, the destination this time, the village Blacksmith Shop.

"Haha! You're finally here, kid! My weapons are all ready!"

The blacksmith uncle, with a large beard, bare chest, and thick heat-resistant pants, waved at Yuan Chen with a rough smile, saying:

"I have the finest weapons here! The young men from the prefecture are all eager to buy them!!"

Hearing this, Yuan Chen also smiled and said, "Ha! Then I'll have to be serious, or I won't be worthy of such fine weapons!"

As he spoke, Yuan Chen walked into the Blacksmith Shop and began to select his weapons and armor.

What caught his eye were weapons with a distinct Ixialia style.

Ixialia is filled with dense vegetation. In this tropical rainforest, the standard longswords, spears, and battle axes of the Valoran Continent are difficult to wield effectively.

Therefore, Ixialia's main combat weapons are closer in length to the Roman gladius, at 60-80 centimeters, with bladed weapons good at chopping being the most common. Besides being used for combat, they are also excellent for clearing thorny bushes.

Besides these, the most common are bladed tools similar to the Indian Sikh Chakra Wheelblade. These circular blades possess excellent magical conductivity and fit perfectly with Ixialia's traditional Elemental Magic.

Wrapped in magic, these wheelblades, when wielded, truly resembled the Golden Wheel Dharma King, with three flying in the sky and one in each hand.

The only difference, if any, is that these wheelblades are not entirely circular; one part is ground into a handle for gripping, resembling a smaller version of Qiyana's weapons.

Seeing Yuan Chen fiddling with a wheelblade, the blacksmith beside him raised his chin:

"This is a traditional Ixialia weapon, the Axiom Wheelblade. First time seeing one? Don't force it if you don't know how to use it; you could hurt yourself. I saw a foreigner accidentally cut his own neck while playing with one last time."

While both are Axiom Wheelblades, the ones the blacksmith forged are certainly not as good as the Axiom Arc in Qiyana's hands. At least, in terms of size, these Axiom Wheelblades from the blacksmith are only about the circumference of a basketball.

"Can you make them smaller?"

"Smaller?" Hearing this, the blacksmith stroked the beard on his chin and asked, "No problem, how small do you want it? Any other requirements?"

"Fist-sized, and lighter. Remove the handle. Make as many as possible if you can."

"Hmm... sounds like some kind of flying dagger?"

"Yes, if possible, I'd also like to have an extra batch of flying daggers made. They need to have a certain requirement for magic conductivity. The style should be like this."

As he spoke, Yuan Chen opened his palm. With the activation of his trait, the water in a nearby trough used for cooling floated into the air and formed a crescent-shaped blade. It was somewhat similar to the flying daggers Irelia would use in the future, but with slight differences in detail.

Simply put, it involved adding blood grooves and gaps for easier poison application.

After examining it for a moment, a thoughtful expression appeared on the blacksmith's face, as if he were calculating dimensions or craftsmanship. A moment later, the craftsman nodded.

"No problem, but it will take time... Hmm, probably by noon tomorrow! However, it requires quite a bit of material. You'll have to return it to me after you're done."

"Of course, if it's suitable, I'll buy it myself!"

Hearing the blacksmith's words, a smile appeared on Yuan Chen's face. "Although I'm not entirely sure, the fierce beast that's causing the village so much trouble should be worth quite a bit of money, right?"

Hearing this, the blacksmith couldn't help but laugh. "Haha! If you really help the village deal with that guy, I'll give you a discount... Forget it, giving it away for free still stings a bit. I'll give you a 30% discount!"

"Then it's settled!"

"Alright, I'll start right away!"

Without delay, the blacksmith put on thick heat-resistant gloves and took out a large amount of Elemental Iron Ore from a nearby box.

It could be seen that the Yuan Chu Axiom was quite common in Ixialia. After deciding to start working, the blacksmith didn't even need to specifically ignite the furnace or provide forced air. He simply channeled his internal magic and then spewed out Blazing Flames to heat the furnace.

Of course, mastering an axiom didn't mean one was immune to damage from the elements. This could be seen from the heat-resistant gloves the blacksmith was wearing—without them, even though he could use his own Breath to keep the furnace blazing hot, he could still scald his hands through carelessness.

Besides weapons, armor was also important. So, after the blacksmith started working, Yuan Chen immediately went to the armor shop to make a purchase. Unlike weapons that needed to be crafted, armor only required minor adjustments to size to be worn directly, so Yuan Chen didn't specifically order custom pieces.

Iron Armor and Plate Armor were suitable for open-field combat and were favored by many countries on the Valoran Continent, such as Noxus and Demacia. However, such Heavy Armor was clearly not suitable for tropical rainforests. For one thing, the sheer weight could cause one to get stuck if they stepped into soft ground.

Furthermore, the hot and humid climate could easily lead to rust and dampness. Therefore, armor in Ixialia was mostly made of specially tanned leather—thin, breathable, lightweight, Tenacity, waterproof, and mildew-resistant. Although its defensive capabilities were slightly inferior, its flexibility and comfort far surpassed Metal Armor.

But it was clear that not everyone was as easy to talk to as the blacksmith... Simply put, armor shops required money.

"That will be Seven Gold Six Silver."

The armor shop owner looked at Yuan Chen indifferently. Yuan Chen then nodded towards Milio. Seeing this, Milio obediently took out his coin pouch, counted out seven gold coins and six silver coins, and handed them over.

This was prepared by Lupe before Yuan Chen and the others set out.

The currency in this world varied depending on the country and region.

The Shurima region circulated Ginsukuri Coins, Zaun and Piltover circulated Hextech Coins, and Bilgewater circulated Siren Coins... Although there were also credit-based paper currencies, in general, they were all based on precious metals like gold, silver, copper, and iron.

Sometimes transactions were also made using special Magic Crystals, also known as "Essence." The reason for this was that this Essence, as solidified magic, could serve as the energy source for some large-scale Magitech Devices.

Yuan Chen had finished acquiring his gear. Milio also coincidentally got a set of armor – also leather armor of sorts. Additionally, to make it easier to travel through the woodlands, he bought two more daggers for chopping through shrubs and thorns.

The next day, after retrieving his equipment from the Blacksmith Shop, Yuan Chen spent a full day adapting until he had completely mastered it. The third day was used to prepare various Survival Supplies, such as Preservable Food, Water Sources, Tinder, Kindling, and so on.

As night fell, Yuan Chen opened his Personal Panel to reconfirm everything.

Name: Yuan Chen

Status: Full, Demon's Curse

Profession: Dancer LV6 / Elementalist LV2 / Demon Agent LV1

Equipment: Spiritwood Bracer (Exquisite) / Ixialian War Saber (Fine) / Axiom Wheel ×24 (Fine) / War Dance Blades ×24 (Fine) / Ixialian Refined Leather Armor (Fine)

Skills:

Ethereal Echo (from Spiritwood Bracer): Effect, negligible.

Woodland Stride (from Ixialian Refined Leather Armor): When in Ixialia's Dense Forest, gain the protection of the Wood Axiom, causing the path ahead to be slightly parted by vegetation.

Traits: Demon's Blessing: Effect, negligible.

After glancing at his status, Yuan Chen nodded with satisfaction.

The quality of equipment and traits, from highest to lowest, was: No Grade, Common, Fine, Excellent, Exquisite, Epic, Legendary, Supreme. Above Supreme was Transcendent Grade, or unclassifiable Special Weapons, such as Dark Descendant weapons.

Among these, equipment above Excellent quality would additionally provide special active or passive magic skills. Just like now, the most valuable item Yuan Chen possessed was the "Spiritwood Bracer," representing his status as a Dancer Master.

Of course, it wasn't strictly necessary for equipment to reach Exquisite quality to possess equipment skills. Sets with a unified style, like the Ixialian Refined Leather Armor, could also combine different magic arrays carved onto various equipment pieces to form a Set Effect.

But regardless, from his initial No Grade equipment to his current full set of Fine gear, Yuan Chen's combat power could be described as greatly improved!

"Milio, attention!"

"Reporting!" Milio's eyes were filled with the excitement of embarking on an adventure.

"Let's go! Bandit Extermination!"

"Ooh!!!"