Greatly Improved

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

He climbed out of bed and had just finished washing up when a series of knocks sounded at the door.

When he opened it, he found a handsome young boy standing there. His skin was a reddish brown, typical of a tropical rainforest climate, and he had large eyes and thick, naturally curly hair. It was none other than Milio, Ming Zhu, the 163rd playable character to appear in League of Legends.

Now, still an innocent young boy, Milio looked Yuan Chen over curiously and said, "Grandma told me to study with you! Will you teach me a new Yuan Chu Axiom?"

"No." Yuan Chen shrugged, holding a toothbrush made from a tree branch whose name he didn't know. He was casual about it and made no effort to hide the truth. The Yuan Chu Axioms were special formulas concerning Elemental Magic, developed by the people of Ixialia through generations of exploration, compilation, and experimentation, long before the Shurima Empire was founded.

In this situation, there was no point in bluffing. He might as well be honest—after all, he already understood the principles of Ionia inside and out. He also knew all about Milio's abilities, as well as the traits he admired and excelled at.

At last, his foreknowledge as a transmigrator was coming in handy...

He silently grumbled to himself, then looked over at the puzzled Milio and used Scout Skill on him.

As Scout Skill completed its assessment, Milio felt a brief chill. But his understanding of Elemental Magic was nowhere near as profound as Lupe's, so he didn't think much of it.

By contrast, Milio's information appeared in Yuan Chen's sight in an instant.

Name: Milio

Status: Full

Class: Elemental Mage LV2

Equipment: Ixialian Short Shirt (Unrated), Ixialian Shorts (Unrated)

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

Trait: Warm Flame (Unawakened) (Epic): Born from a kind heart and an affinity with the spirits of all things. Through a connection of the soul, it can cause the elements to manifest different properties...

After looking at Milio's status panel, Yuan Chen nodded thoughtfully. Traits were special abilities ordinary people couldn't possess, whether innate or acquired.

For example, Yuan Chen's Water Flow Control, which came from Demon's Blessing, was a trait.

That said, there was far too much overlap among the skills. Maybe he should just hide them next time. A person's class already said plenty...

As he thought, Yuan Chen asked, "Do you know how to fight?"

"I do!" Milio nodded, then swung his little fists twice.

"Grandma doesn't let me, but I still join in when I go out! It's just that the others don't really want to fight alongside me. I can't control Axiom Constraint, so my magic might hurt my friends..."

As he spoke, Milio's face fell.

Yuan Chen wasn't surprised. In the game, all of Milio's abilities involved fire. But in Ixialia, any Elemental Mage who had learned the basics—even an apprentice—could quickly master more than five types of Elemental Magic through the Yuan Chu Axioms. Of course, most people chose to specialize in just one.

Then there was the matter of the characters' roles in the game...

That wasn't much use as a reference, either. Especially not for supports. Other than Steam Robot, an old-school champion with an exceedingly simple backstory, characters like Bard, Star Mother, and Sun Goddess were all top-tier fighters in the lore.

Sure, Darius could beat Star Mother like a father beating his son in lane on the Rift, but in the lore, Sun Goddess could casually raise an arm and summon a beam of sunlight to blast Darius away.

Milio might be nothing more than an unassuming country boy with no standing right now. But once his trait awakened, he would become Ixialia's youngest Elemental Master in an instant—

Before Milio, the youngest Elemental Master had been Qiyana.

"Then get ready. We'll need equipment if we're going hunting."

Milio nodded excitedly.

Young boys could never resist an adventure. No matter how much Milio might accomplish in the future, right now he was still just an innocent twelve-year-old longing for adventure and tales of legend.

Thanks to his willingness to rid the village of the beasts that had wandered in, Yuan Chen was surprised to find that the villagers gave him little trouble as he walked down the street. Most still kept a cautious distance, watching him from afar, but some took the initiative to greet him.

The blacksmith's shop was their destination this time.

"Haha! You finally showed up, kid! I've got your weapons ready!"

The burly blacksmith, with a thick beard, a bare chest, and heavy heat-resistant clothing on his lower body, waved Yuan Chen over with a hearty grin.

"I've got nothing but the finest weapons here! The lads from the county are always scrambling to buy them!"

Yuan Chen grinned. "Ha! Then I'd better get serious, or I won't be worthy of weapons this good!"

As he spoke, Yuan Chen entered the smithy and began choosing his weapons and armor.

The weapons before him were unmistakably Ixialian in style.

Ixialia was covered in dense vegetation. In its tropical rainforests, standard weapons from the Valoran Continent—longswords, spears, and battle-axes—were hard to wield.

That was why Ixialia's main weapons were closer in length to Roman short swords, around sixty to eighty centimeters, and most were blades designed for slashing. They were useful in battle, and also quite good at cutting through brush.

The other common weapons were bladed tools like the Chakra Wheelblades used by India's Sikhs. These circular blades conducted magic extremely well and suited Ixialia's traditional Elemental Magic.

When wrapped in magic, the wheelblades really did make their users look like the Golden Wheel Dharma King: three spinning through the air, one in each hand.

The main difference was that these wheelblades weren't complete rings. One section was shaped into a handle for gripping, making them look like smaller versions of Qiyana's weapon.

Seeing Yuan Chen fiddling with the wheelblades, the blacksmith raised his chin.

"These are Ixialia's traditional weapons, Axiom Wheelblades. First time seeing one? Don't force it if you don't know how to use it. They can hurt you if you handle them wrong. I once saw a foreigner cut his own throat while fooling around with one."

Even if they were both Axiom Wheelblades, the blacksmith's wares couldn't compare to the Axiom Arc in Qiyana's hands. For one thing, his wheelblades had a circumference of only about the size of a basketball.

"Can you make them smaller?"

"Smaller?" The blacksmith rubbed his beard and asked, "Sure. How small? Any other requirements?"

"About the size of a fist. And lighter. Remove the handles, and make as many as you can."

"Hmm... Sounds like a kind of throwing knife?"

"Exactly. If you can, I'd also like you to make a batch of throwing knives. They need to conduct magic reasonably well. As for the design, make them like this."

As he spoke, Yuan Chen opened his palm. His trait activated, and water rose from a nearby trough, where it had been used for cooling, shaping itself into a crescent blade. It was somewhat like the throwing knives Irelia would use in the future, but with a few differences in the details.

Simply put, they had extra blood grooves and notches to make them easier to coat with poison.

The blacksmith studied it for a moment, thinking over the dimensions or perhaps the craftsmanship. A moment later, he nodded.

"No problem, but it'll take time... Hmm, probably until tomorrow noon! But it'll use quite a bit of material, so you'll have to return the materials once you're done."

"Of course. If they work well, I'll buy them from you myself!"

A smile appeared on Yuan Chen's face. "I'm not sure exactly how much it'll be worth, but a beast that's giving the village this much trouble should fetch a good price, right?"

The blacksmith couldn't help laughing. "Haha! If you really do take care of that beast for the village, I'll waive—no, forget it. Giving it away for free would hurt too much. I'll give you a thirty percent discount!"

"Then it's a deal!"

"Good. I'll get started!"

The blacksmith got straight to work. He put on a pair of thick heat-resistant gloves, then took a large amount of Elemental Iron Ore from a nearby crate.

It was clear that the Yuan Chu Axioms were widely known in Ixialia. Once he began working, the blacksmith didn't even need to light a fire or work the bellows. He simply turned the magic in his body and breathed out Blazing Flames to heat the furnace.

Of course, mastering an axiom didn't mean you were immune to harm from the elements. The blacksmith's heat-resistant gloves made that clear. Without them, even if he could keep the furnace hot with his breath, he could still burn his hands if he wasn't careful.

Weapons weren't the only important thing. Armor mattered too. So while the blacksmith got to work, Yuan Chen headed straight to the armor shop to buy some. Weapons needed to be forged, but armor only required a few adjustments to fit, so he didn't bother having any custom-made.

Iron and plate armor were suited to fighting on the plains and were favored by many nations of the Valoran Continent, such as Noxus and Demacia. But this kind of heavy armor clearly didn't belong in a tropical rainforest. For one thing, its weight alone could make you sink into the ground and get stuck.

On top of that, the hot, humid climate caused it to rust. Ixialian armor was therefore mostly made from specially tanned leather: thin, breathable, lightweight, durable, water-resistant, and mildew-resistant. It offered less protection, but far greater flexibility and comfort than metal armor.

But clearly, not everyone was as easygoing as the blacksmith... Simply put, armor shops expected you to pay.

"That'll be seven gold and six silver."

The armor shop owner looked at Yuan Chen without much interest. Yuan Chen nodded toward Milio, who obediently pulled out the purse, counted out seven gold coins and six silver coins, and handed them over.

Lupe had prepared the money before Yuan Chen and the others set out.

The currency used in this world varied from country to country and region to region.

The Shurima region used Ginsukuri Coins, Zaun and Piltover used Hextech Coins, and Bilgewater used Siren Coins... Paper money backed by credit existed too, but for the most part, people used precious metals like gold, silver, copper, and iron.

Sometimes, people also traded in special Magic Crystals, known as "essence." The reason was that these crystals contained solidified magic, which could power certain large Magitech Devices.

Once Yuan Chen had finished buying his equipment, Milio picked up some armor too, also leather. To make it easier to move through the woods, he bought two Short Swords for cutting through bushes and brambles.

The next day, Yuan Chen collected his equipment from the blacksmith and spent the day getting used to it until he'd mastered it completely. He used the third day to prepare various Survival Supplies: Preservable Food, water, fire-starting tools, tinder, and so on.

At night, Yuan Chen opened his Personal Panel and checked it again.

Name: Yuan Chen

Status: Full, Demon's Curse

Class: Dancer LV6/Elemental Mage LV2/Demon Agent LV1

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

Skills:

Ethereal Echo (from Spiritwood Bracer): Effect: See details.

Woodland Stroll (from Ixialian Refined Leather Armor): In Ixialia's Dense Forest, gain the blessing of the Wood Axiom, causing plants along your path to part slightly.

Trait: Demon's Blessing: Effect: See details.

After checking his status, Yuan Chen nodded in satisfaction.

Equipment and traits ranged in quality, from lowest to highest: Unrated, Common, Fine, Excellent, Superior, Epic, Legendary, and Supreme. Above Supreme Grade was Transcendent Grade—or, perhaps, items too special to classify, such as Dark Descendant weapons.

Equipment of Excellent quality or higher granted additional active or passive magical skills. Right now, the most valuable thing Yuan Chen had was his Spiritwood Bracer, which marked him as a Dancer Master.

Of course, equipment didn't have to be Superior quality to grant a skill. Sets with a uniform style, like the Ixialian Refined Leather Armor, could also combine different magical inscriptions on separate pieces of equipment to create a Set Effect.

Either way, going from an all-Unrated set to all-Fine equipment had greatly improved Yuan Chen's combat strength!

"Milio, fall in!"

"Here!" Milio's eyes were full of excitement at the adventure about to begin.

"Move out! Let's hunt some bandits!"

"Yeah!!!"