Chapter 160: Meeting an Old Friend in a Foreign Land

For example, Demi's species, the significance of her special appearance, and most importantly, her tier and grade—Lu Kuan provided answers within the permissible limits.

"Thank you so much~"

Jar finished recording, his face beaming with excitement. "This is the first S+ pet in the entire world! Tsk tsk..."

"I didn't say for sure that it's an S-tier pet," Lu Kuan reminded with a smile.

"Right, right~"

Jar flashed a knowing smile and said, "I'm going to report this to the boss. You go ahead, expert, but remember to watch out for the Blue Spear people. Those guys hold grudges and are terribly petty."

Lu Kuan smiled to express his gratitude, watching as Jar's figure slowly blurred and then vanished completely.

Lifting his head, Lu Kuan glanced at a few guys across the way who had been staring in this direction all along, and a grin spread across his face: What a coincidence, my pettiness is also notoriously famous~

Since I'm going to stay in Ironshoe City for a while, there's plenty of time to play with you slowly~

Ignoring those people from Blue Spear, Lu Kuan led Demi and stepped into Ironshoe City.

The entire city was built along the mountain, with peaks spanning several miles completely occupied by dwarven architecture. Furthermore, as a fortress city, Ironshoe City lacked towering walls, replaced instead by low railings and fences.

Just a few meters outside the city lay sheer cliffs hundreds of meters deep, dropping straight down. Unless the enemy could fly, anyone wanting to storm Ironshoe City had no choice but to attack the front gate.

Moreover, within a radius of hundreds of miles, the only path to cross over toward Torrent Port or the Nightfall Crater was through Ironshoe City.

Lu Kuan headed straight for the Lord's Manor, located at the very center and highest elevation of Ironshoe City, and first found the quartermaster to turn in a pile of orc trinkets.

"System prompt: You have delivered Orc Ears to the quartermaster, quantity 198."

"Your reputation with the Ironshoe Dwarf Clan has increased by 198 points, currently at Neutral. You have obtained 48 experience points (Pet: 48)."

"You have delivered Orc Teeth to the quartermaster, quantity 411."

"...Reputation increased by 205 points, currently at Friendly. Obtained 100 experience points (Pet: 48)."

"...Delivered the Head of an Orc Captain, quantity 1. Reputation increased by 50 points, obtained 100 experience points..."

Following a series of system prompts, the miscellaneous items in Lu Kuan's inventory were completely cleared out, and his reputation reached Friendly.

After Demi rose to level 13, Lu Kuan had adjusted the experience-sharing ratio to fifty-fifty. A level-13 Demi already possessed enough self-preservation capability, and next came the time for intensive leveling.

Grinding reputation with the Ironshoe dwarves was also a must, because once reputation reached Honored, a teleportation node could be unlocked, allowing direct travel from Ironshoe City to a dwarf camp near the Nightfall Crater, saving a tremendous amount of time.

While grinding reputation, Lu Kuan had another important task—there was an advanced treasure hidden near Ironshoe City that had a chance of dropping an advanced Ranger skill, making it well worth a visit.

When factoring in various other minor matters, Lu Kuan realized upon careful thought that his schedule in Ironshoe City seemed quite packed.

Next, Lu Kuan first went to the bank to store useful items collected during his journey, such as cooking and alchemy materials, and then cleaned out the junk in his inventory before heading to the Ironshoe City Adventurer's Guild.

The Adventurer's Guild here was quite interesting; it was located underground in Ironshoe City, with one side directly bordering a cliff.

The massive space had been chiseled directly out of the solid rock. Standing by the guild's windows, one could clearly see a roaring, massive waterfall plunging down from hundreds of meters away. The fine mist drifting from the waterfall constantly brushed past, quickly dampening one's face and hair with a refreshing, cool touch.

Lu Kuan first posted his bounty quest, offering to acquire 3 Ancient Dwarf Silver Coins. This item was unique to Ironshoe City, minted over seven hundred years ago during the reign of Kandal I.

When opening that treasure trove in the future, these ancient silver coins would be an absolute necessity.

Afterward, Lu Kuan strolled around the Adventurer's Guild for a bit, pausing by the window to admire the close-up view of the waterfall. Such a wonderful natural viewing platform attracted many players who came here on reputation alone, and the sight stirred up plenty of memories for Lu Kuan.

Back in the day, in order to complete a merchant escort quest, Lu Kuan and his friends had traveled hundreds of miles to Ironshoe City, simply to earn a quest reward of over 200 gold coins. Thinking back, although their ambitions weren't high, their enthusiasm had been burning bright.

Those friends in the game—when would he ever get to meet them again?

"Beep beep~"

Just as Lu Kuan's thoughts were drifting afar, the system chime suddenly sounded, reminding him that a message had arrived.

"System prompt: The bounty quest you posted, 'Acquiring 3 ancient coins at a high price of 10 gold coins each,' has been accepted by someone. Quest issuance is temporarily closed."

Lu Kuan was stunned, thinking to himself what was going on. He had clearly set his bounty quest to allow multiple acceptances; anyone who took the quest could simply mail the items directly to him.

Why did the system prompt indicate that the number of acceptors was now restricted?

Lu Kuan readied himself to go back and check, but as he turned his head and caught sight of a petite figure not far away, Lu Kuan raised an eyebrow, instantly understanding what was happening.

"If I say we are bound by fate, would you consider me a bad luck charm?" A Halfling dressed in the most ordinary clothes stood behind Lu Kuan, smiling brightly.

"Haha~ I wouldn't dare~"

Lu Kuan laughed out loud. "I just didn't expect to see you here."

Standing before Lu Kuan was none other than Mongo the traveling merchant. Ever since the two had parted ways at Lava Fortress, Lu Kuan had thought another meeting was a long way off. Crossing paths with her now happened much earlier than he had imagined.

Mongo's gaze was actually focused mostly on Demi, her big blue eyes filled with curiosity, wearing an expression that looked like she wanted to come over and pet the creature but didn't quite dare. Seeing this, Lu Kuan smiled and stepped forward. "Did you take my quest?"

Mongo nodded slightly, then cast a cautious glance around her with a very guarded expression, lowering her voice. "Let's talk somewhere else."

"Alright."

Without hesitation, Lu Kuan led Mongo away from the Adventurer's Guild. Taking a few twists and turns through the streets, they quickly arrived at a relatively secluded inn.

Lu Kuan first ordered a roasted lamb leg for Demi, then secured a private room and led Mongo inside.

After confirming repeatedly that no one was following them, Mongo poured herself a large cup of water and gulped it down. As she tilted her head back, the fair and tender curve of her neck was exposed, making it easy to remember that this somewhat sloppily dressed Halfling was actually a girl.

"Thud~"

Setting down her cup and seeing Lu Kuan looking at her with a smiling expression, Mongo's face flushed slightly as she gave a soft cough. "I had no idea you were so familiar with Ironshoe City."

Lu Kuan smiled and said, "Walking the pugilistic world takes more than just martial prowess, didn't you say so yourself~"

Mongo let out a soft huff, shifting her gaze to Demi, who was dutifully guarding the doorway, and asked curiously, "Could this little dog be some kind of ancient mythical beast?"

Lu Kuan turned his head to look at Demi as well. To call her an ancient mythical beast wouldn't be entirely wrong, except that not even Lu Kuan himself was 100% clear on what kind of story was truly hidden within Demi.