Magic Cores and the Adventurers' Association

"98 points? That high?" The others fell silent when they heard about Ali's hidden Charm.

Could some kind of bug have appeared in the game?

Without thinking too much about it, the Young Mistress immediately agreed to Jiu Yue's reward.

"Miss Jiu Yue, we accept your quest. We'll lead you to where the great elf Skadi is."

No matter what, this had to be a hidden quest triggered by Ali's excessively high Charm stat.

"This..." Ali still wanted to refuse, but when she saw the serious expressions of the Young Mistress, Qi Lin, and Dun Qu Qi Yi, she knew they had already made up their minds. A warm current flowed through her heart.

In real life, no one had ever treated her this well.

Most people had only approached her because of her exceptionally beautiful appearance.

"Since you Travelers have accepted the quest, please get into the carriage and show the way." As Jiu Yue spoke, she patted the carriage and lifted the curtain, signaling for everyone to get in.

What surprised everyone was that they had originally thought Jiu Yue's carriage compartment would be packed full of cargo.

Only after getting into the carriage did the Young Mistress and the others discover that there was someone else inside besides the goods.

The carriage looked ordinary from the outside, but the space inside was far larger than it appeared.

When that person saw the four Travelers enter the compartment, she performed an action as though she had done it hundreds of times before.

"To the Stars and Abyss, I am Katheryne of the Adventurers' Association. Travelers, I have been observing you for quite some time."

She was a woman dressed in something resembling a maid's uniform. Her snow-white skirt was decorated with green accents, making her look elegant and composed.

"The Adventurers' Association? What is that?" Ali asked curiously.

Ali had originally wanted to ask what Stars and Abyss meant, but her system had already displayed a prompt for the Adventurers' Association.

As a novice, Ali could only obediently follow the process. Once she understood the game's mechanics, she planned to do whatever she wanted.

"We, the Adventurers' Association, are one of the most widespread organizations in Elven Civilization. We are responsible for posting quests and providing intelligence support. Complete quests, and you can receive rewards," Katheryne explained.

"Isn't that just a mercenary association?" the Young Mistress whispered to the others.

Everyone nodded in unison. With that explanation, they all had a general understanding of the Adventurers' Association.

Yet the question marks above the First-Order Magic Core in Ali's hand and Jiu Yue, who was driving outside, had not disappeared.

It seemed that they had never asked the right questions.

Seeing this, Ali lifted the carriage curtain and asked Jiu Yue, who was driving outside.

"Hello, Jiu Yue. Do you know what this is used for?" As she spoke, Ali waved the First-Order Magic Core in her hand and held it out before Jiu Yue.

Jiu Yue glanced at the crystal in the Traveler's hand and immediately understood.

"This is a Magic Core. Unfortunately, its grade is too low. It's only First-Order."

"What is a First-Order Magic Core used for?" Ali asked curiously.

"Magic Cores..." Jiu Yue fell into thought. "If I remember correctly, scholars from Sumeru were the first to begin researching them, and I heard they achieved some results."

"The main purpose of Magic Cores is to help people sense the elements of heaven and earth more quickly after advancing to an official profession. Since Magic Cores are crystallizations formed when monsters devour heaven and earth, they contain extremely active elemental power."

"Therefore, they are mostly used for weapon enchantment and breakthroughs between realms. However, realms attained through such breakthroughs have an extremely unstable foundation."

"So we generally do not use them for breakthroughs. Instead, we trade the Magic Cores we obtain to Sumeru scholars for enchantments and supplies."

After hearing Jiu Yue's explanation, everyone in the carriage nodded. They now had a general understanding of Magic Cores.

"It seems the main uses of Magic Cores are weapon enchantment and realm breakthroughs," Ali concluded.

Ali paid no attention at all to Jiu Yue's warning that using Magic Cores for breakthroughs would lead to an unstable foundation.

This was only a game. If her foundation became unstable, she could just cultivate again.

Seeing that Ali and the others had not taken Jiu Yue's warning to heart, Dun Qu Qi Yi grew somewhat anxious.

Then an idea struck, and Dun Qu Qi Yi asked Jiu Yue, "Miss Jiu Yue, since we can exchange them with Sumeru scholars, would merchants like you buy Magic Cores as well?"

Hearing Dun Qu Qi Yi's question, Jiu Yue's eyes lit up. She said happily, "I can tell at a glance that you have good judgment, little girl. As a merchant who travels between Liyue and Mondstadt, I accept Magic Cores in exchange for goods, in addition to Mora and Genesis Crystals."

"What kinds of things do you have here?" Qi Lin asked from the side.

Seeing that the Travelers summoned by the Mother Goddess had questions, Jiu Yue grinned happily and pulled out a booklet from her sleeve.

Everyone curiously took it and opened it. A light screen appeared before them, filled with introductions to all kinds of items.

There were armor, weapons, and herbs, all relatively low-level—mostly common equipment and gray equipment.

There were also advancement books for every profession, as well as secondary profession books for after level ten.

Looking at the exchange prices, the armor and weapons each required ten to thirty First-Order Magic Cores, while an official profession advancement book required only ten First-Order Magic Cores.

After calculating the total number of Magic Cores needed for weapons, armor, and advancement books, Ali found that even the simplest full set of equipment would require at least seventy or eighty First-Order Magic Cores.

"Where are we supposed to find so many monsters?" Ali felt rather helpless. The Elf Forest was so vast that finding even one monster was difficult, let alone enough to collect that many cores.

"Isn't that the Adventurers' Association's business?" Katheryne, who had been listening to their conversation with Jiu Yue, reminded them.

"Monsters are born after being polluted by Fierce Beasts. Like Fierce Beasts, they harbor an extreme hatred for the world and can cause tremendous destruction."

"Therefore, our Adventurers' Association gathers information on monsters in nearby regions and across the continent, then issues quests inviting adventurers to eliminate them."

Seeing that the Travelers seemed inclined to join the association, Katheryne immediately explained, "Since you will need information about monsters in the future, there is no time to waste. Let me introduce the Adventurers' Association..."

"Wait!" Ali hurriedly stopped her. "Are there any conditions for joining the Adventurers' Association and becoming an adventurer?"

Katheryne smiled slightly at Ali.

"Don't worry. The Adventurers' Association charges no membership fee, nor will it force adventurers to fulfill any obligations. In other words, joining the association brings only benefits and no drawbacks."

"Do you want to join?"

Dun Qu Qi Yi, Ali, the Young Mistress, and Qi Lin did not hesitate for long before nodding. "Okay, we'll join. ×4"

The moment they agreed...

System Notification: They joined the [Adventurers' Association] and unlocked [Achievements and Titles].

After the four Travelers agreed to join the Adventurers' Association, Katheryne took four plain badges from an exquisite wooden box and handed them to the four of them.

"These are Adventurer's Proofs, and they are also proof that you have joined the Adventurers' Association." (The Adventurer's Proof in the game was a certificate, but here in Cicada Song, it was a badge.)

Ali took an [Adventurer's Proof] and used the Appraisal Technique on it.

[Name: First-Order Adventurer's Proof]

[Category: Title (Equippable)]

[Effect: The Adventurers' Association is one of the major organizations in the Elf world, with branches in all Seven Nations. Wearing an Adventurer's Proof grants you a certain amount of initial favorability with NPCs in the Seven Nations.]

"This is good stuff." Upon seeing the item description, everyone pinned the badges to their chests.

Seeing that everyone had put on their Adventurer's Proofs, Katheryne nodded in satisfaction. "Welcome to the Adventurers' Association."

"If you have any questions or need any information, you can come to the association and ask around."

"Katheryne, what exactly did the Stars and Abyss you mentioned earlier refer to?" Ali asked as she looked at the system quest guidance before her: [Stars?] [Abyss?]

She was very curious as well.