Chapter 164 The Crisis Emerges
Show off Aether Wing Studios' strength?
Cola felt a wave of bewilderment upon hearing Eric's words.
The three of them had been under constant watch, so they stuck around Willowbrook Town, grinding to level up. They were only at level 7, just a bit better than the average player, and nowhere near the big guilds. At this rate, they'd soon be lagging behind regular players.
"Maybe we can head to the Wilderness to level up?" Cola considered this possibility, growing slightly excited. "Wonderful, I've been feeling stifled staying in the town for so long. It would be great to go out and have an exhilarating fight."
Meanwhile, Eric had some instructions for his buddies.
"Wait for me at the inn in the trade district. I gotta take care of something," Eric said with a sly grin, not giving away much.
"Eric, what's with the grin? Spill it," Tonny asked, curious about Eric's mood.
"Good news," Eric replied. "I'll have Cola and the others meet us here."
"Let's get them to level 10 fast, then head to Silvervale City for some advanced quests," Eric added.
"Don't sweat it, Eric. I'm decked out with level 15 Dark Iron and Bronze gear, plus Mephisto's Guardian Shield. Leveling up Cola and the others will be a piece of cake," Tonny said confidently. With his Epic Level staff and being at level 13, if he couldn't get them to level 10 quickly, he might as well quit.
"Cola and the others are gonna flip when they see our levels, especially your Epic Level staff and Mephisto's Guardian Shield, Tonny. They'll be speechless. I can't wait to see their faces," Ezio joked.
"Yeah, they won't believe it. In just a few hours, we've gone from being hunted by Martial Alliance to hitting level 13, topping the charts in Eldoria, and snagging Epic Level weapons. It's a whole new world. If I were them, I wouldn't believe it either," Tonny said, grinning at the thought of their reactions.
"You guys..." Eric chuckled and pulled out a town return scroll, teleporting back to Willowbrook Town.
Willowbrook Town had changed a lot. The trade street was buzzing with players buying gear and items, and vendors shouting their deals. New players with deep pockets were scouring the stalls for what they needed.
Meanwhile, in an inn in the trade district...
"How many sturdy stones have you got? Why haven't you made a single Whetstone of Precision yet?" ZephyrStrider's face darkened as he stood up, glaring at the subordinate who came to report.
"ZephyrStrider, after you gave the order, we scrambled to buy sturdy stones everywhere. But for some reason, there are very few on the market, and they're pricey. We managed to gather just over four stacks. But our guild's blacksmiths are still in training, and their success rate for making Whetstone of Precision is really low, so..." the subordinate said nervously.
ZephyrStrider slammed his fist on the wooden table in frustration. "You useless bunch! I told you hours ago, and you haven't made a single Whetstone of Precision. How's the elite team supposed to level up? What's the point of having you?"
"ZephyrStrider, maybe other guilds have figured out the secret to rapid weapon wear, and that's why we can't get many sturdy stones?" a berserker, QuintessenceRat, suggested.
"Yeah, that's probably it. We're not the only ones grinding in high-level monster zones. But sturdy stones aren't exactly rare. They drop in level 2 areas, and usually, no one even bothers with them. By now, Willowbrook Town should be swimming in sturdy stones. The auction house should be loaded. We weren't slow to act, so even if other guilds are buying them, they couldn't have bought them all at once!" ZephyrStrider nodded, still scratching his head in confusion.
After they started hunting Eric's Squad, they noticed their weapon durability was tanking way faster than usual. At first, they shrugged it off and kept searching for Eric's Squad while leveling up. But they never found Eric, and their gear was almost toast, so they had to call it quits and head back for repairs.
Running back and forth wasted a ton of time, but their gear was top-notch. If they didn't fix it, it would break, and the guild couldn't afford that kind of loss. No gear meant no monster kills, which meant no leveling up, so they had no choice but to return for repairs.
After fixing their gear, ZephyrStrider heard a lot of grumbling from the team. The repair costs were sky-high, almost draining their wallets. The guys in plate armor even had to borrow money to get their gear fixed.
This blew ZephyrStrider's mind.
These were the elite of the elite, usually rolling in cash, but they couldn't afford to repair their gear.
ZephyrStrider then figured out the problem: the lower the durability, the pricier the repairs. Plus, high-level areas in the Wilderness chewed through gear durability like crazy. Running back and forth wasted at least two or three hours, and they had to return for repairs every three or four hours.
The result? Repairing gear was eating up too much time.
If they could cut down on the time spent running back and forth, they'd level up way faster.
After mulling it over, he remembered an important item: The Whetstone of Precision.
It only restored weapon durability, but that was enough. Weapons wore out faster than armor, and using the Whetstone of Precision was way cheaper than blacksmith repairs.
So he ordered a full-scale buy of Whetstone of Precision. But he found out blacksmiths rarely made them because they were costly and didn't sell well.
He had to settle for second best and gather materials to make Whetstone of Precision, namely sturdy stones.
These weren't pricey, mainly used for making Whetstone of Precision and some engineering parts. A stack of 20 cost just over 30 copper, meaning 20 Whetstone of Precision could be made from one stack.
What shocked ZephyrStrider even more was that not only were Whetstone of Precision hard to find, but sturdy stones were also scarce.
It wasn't just Martial Alliance facing this issue. Other major guilds were also struggling.
Meanwhile, Eric strolled down the trade street, seeing various guilds offering high prices for sturdy stones, buying a stack for 80 copper coins, twice the usual price. He couldn't help but grin.
He had waited so long, and finally, it was paying off.
But this was just the beginning.
His ultimate goal was to drive up prices and make a killing.
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