Death Notice Book 8: Chapter 102: Departure

“Help you get certified?” Qin Lun looked at the old gnome curiously.

“Yeah, a blacksmith who personally forges Legendary Equipment gets granted the title of Grandmaster by Devil’s Horn!” Old Francis replied with a hopeful laugh.

After the old gnome’s explanation, Qin Lun understood immediately. Among the five managing sapient races of Devil’s Horn, the Dwarf Clan was the only one not known for individual combat prowess.

Compared to powerful races like the Demon Clan and Rakshasa Race, their strength lay in forging and machinery. In fact, the Dwarf Clan and another key contributor, the Wind Elemental Race, were the most vital reasons Devil’s Horn became the Apostle City floating in the sky.

The city’s core power plant originated from the Dwarf Clan, including most of the defensive Iron Golems, while the energy came from the Wind Elemental Race.

Because of the Apostles, the Shattered Starry Sky was perhaps the only world that could unite most opposing sapient races. At least in the Quest Worlds Qin Lun had experienced, many couldn’t imagine demons, rakshasas coexisting with elves and gnomes.

Given their characteristics, a gnome’s status within their clan depended entirely on their skill in forging and machinery. This hardworking and clever sapient race had many blacksmiths, including masters like Francis.

However, Grandmaster Blacksmiths capable of independently designing and forging Legendary Equipment were still few. The gap between an Apostle’s Dark Gold Equipment and Legendary Equipment was enormous, and so was the gap between a master and a grandmaster.

Once promoted to Grandmaster Blacksmith, Francis wouldn’t just achieve high standing within his clan; he would also gain significant recognition in Devil’s Horn. This was the highest, greatest honor for any blacksmith.

Of course, something like Burial of Light and Darkness, which evolved from Dark Gold to Legendary, didn’t qualify. It had to be newly designed and forged Legendary Equipment.

“Haha, don’t worry. I’ll testify for you at Devil’s Horn and provide pictures of the Ayala Weapon Casket.” Qin Lun nodded with a smile. This proof wouldn’t require sharing the Ayala’s detailed information. Images of its exterior wouldn’t reveal the weapon case’s functional secrets.

While speaking, Qin Lun’s gaze unconsciously swept over the apprentice blacksmiths in the forge. Since Ayala was newly designed Legendary Equipment, the forging process was complicated. Even with all the materials ready, it had taken over twenty days. Naturally, Francis couldn’t complete all the work alone.

The old gnome, being old and experienced, quickly detected Qin Lun’s subtle glance. He felt a chill and immediately said in a low voice, “I will have them sign a Soul Contract, guaranteeing they won’t leak any information about Ayala’s Artifact Spirit.”

Qin Lun’s eyes flickered. He stopped smiling and gazed at Francis in silence. Only after a long pause, seeing the old gnome’s resolute, unwavering eyes, did he nod lightly and shift his gaze away.

While contracts in the Shattered Starry Sky rarely had loopholes, Apostles possessed countless ways to circumvent vows. A master blacksmith like Francis might not be pressured, but his apprentices were another story.

If someone with ulterior motives learned that Ayala had been awakened and then erased by Qin Lun today, Qin Lun’s good relationship with the Elven Race would surely suffer. That was something Qin Lun did not want to see.

However, Francis had worked with Qin Lun twice before. The details of the previous project, Burial of Light and Darkness, had been handled perfectly; no third person knew the specifics. Besides, Qin Lun would need Francis for future equipment forging. Mutual trust was essential.

Seeing Qin Lun leave, the old gnome let out a long sigh of relief. He looked at his apprentices, still celebrating their mentor’s rise to Grandmaster, oblivious that they had just narrowly escaped death. He shook his head with a bitter smile.

Apostles were Apostles, even the seemingly gentle Qin Lun…

Old Francis shook his head, dismissing the pointless thought. With a distant look, he murmured softly, “Over thirty years… perhaps it’s time I leave Devil’s Horn. Back to the ancestral lands for peace, maybe teach some apprentices…”

…

Qin Lun was unaware that a gnome blacksmith, who had come to Devil’s Horn to serve Apostles during his youth and had just advanced to Grandmaster, decided because of a sliver of killing intent Qin Lun inadvertently revealed, to abandon everything and return home to retire.

Of course, this wasn’t really Qin Lun’s fault. The old gnome had simply seen too much brutal conflict in Devil’s Horn and felt deeply disillusioned.

Back at the Villa, Qin Lun briefed Frank and the others before heading straight to his room. He needed to check the new prompt information in his Death Notice.

Erasing Ayala’s consciousness had brought him another unexpected surprise: the progress for the Legendary hunt tied to his Rank-Up Quest was complete!

This judgment by the Shattered Starry Sky wasn’t wrong. Before its erasure, Ayala possessed independent consciousness. The Starry Sky indirectly recognized its Legendary status, considering Qin Lun’s action part of the hunting task.

In truth, Ayala was far from powerless at that moment. The awakened dryad brimmed with potent energy absorbed from all those rare materials, energy fully usable for its wood magic abilities. Not to mention the weapon case possessed its own large-scale control skill – Arid Glacier.

Only Qin Lun had threatened the fate of the Moonlit Elf tribes, making it afraid to resist. The longer Ayala survived in the Shattered Starry Sky, the more aware it became of the horrors Apostles represented. The Dryad had made a fatal error, and against Qin Lun’s absolute will, the outcome was sealed.

Independently eliminating a Legendary soul pushed Qin Lun’s Legendary hunt completion past seventy percent, marking the task as successfully accomplished.

Qin Lun retrieved the Rune Bottle containing the azure-blue cold flame from his Storage Space. Twirling it in his hand, he fell deep into thought, debating whether to advance to Second Order immediately.

After a moment’s contemplation, he put the bottle away again. Apostles could rank up either within Quest Worlds or in the Shattered Starry Sky. Advancing would mean the Star Void would assign him higher evaluations.

Based on Qin Lun’s current Apostle title and true combat strength, the Starry Sky assigned him tasks fluctuating between intensive quests in Low Magic Worlds and less demanding quests in Mid-Magic Worlds.

If he advanced to Second Order now, combined with Clown Grant’s equally outstanding strength, they risked being assigned to a Mid-Magic World for their next task.

And the next task world held a high probability of war with the Superstring Space. In Low Magic Worlds, Apostles and Reincarnators were typically made up of large groups of low-rank members mixed with a few mid-rank fighters. In Mid-Magic Worlds, the scale jumped a tier: large groups of mid-rank fighters, with a small number of low-rank and high-rank figures.

The allure of advancing immediately to Second Order and familiarizing himself with his new Demon Hunter profession was strong. However, caution prevailed, and Qin Lun suppressed the intense temptation.

The completion of the Ayala Weapon Casket meant Qin Lun had finally finished all preparations before entering the next Quest World. After a calm weekend, he once again felt the strong spatial rejection emanating from the Shattered Starry Sky.

“You made it?” Standing at the entrance of the Teleportation Hall, Grant looked expressionlessly at Qin Lun and Lace walking side by side.

Qin Lun had explained the female archer’s recruitment once. Clown didn’t mind having another potential sacrifice in the squad. As for Qin Lun’s claim that this was an important newcomer requested by Lost’s deputy leader, Clown found it utterly unbelievable.

A joke really. Hadn’t he quested with Qin Lun before? Since when did the “Dissector” become a babysitter? If he didn’t use her as a decoy, this elven girl with the oval face could consider it incredible luck.

“Plump baby fat cheeks… seems fine…” Clown glanced at Lace, uttering words that completely baffled the girl.

“Grant, I mean this seriously. Bringing this kid back alive will help us later!” Qin Lun sighed upon seeing this. He stepped slightly away from Lace and moved close to Clown, speaking earnestly.

“Oh? Fine, you’re the boss on this run. Whatever you say!” Grant glanced at Qin Lun in surprise, shrugged, and showed no further objection. This time, he could tell the young man meant it.

Once inside the sealed teleportation room, taking advantage of the moments before transmission started, Grant lowered his voice. “Qin Lun… about that… I got a few nice things on the last job. Could you… give the Iron Cross Medal back?”

“…No way!” Qin Lun refused instantly, without a moment’s thought.

“You didn’t even ask what things I have!” Grant wore a bitter smile.

“Don’t want to know. You wouldn’t bring it up if you weren’t sure you had something tempting. I’d rather not know.” Qin Lun rolled his eyes impatiently. As Serial Killers’ power increased, auxiliary gear like the Iron Cross Medal which scaled stats proportionately became exponentially more valuable.

For Grant to propose a trade now meant he must have gotten something exceptionally good. Temptation, like the time Qin Lun sold him Uvogin’s Big Bang Impact skillset.

But Qin Lun saw it clearly. The value of the Iron Cross Medal would only keep growing later. He had to keep it.

Had Big Bang Impact been important to Grant back then? It practically fixed the Clown’s lack of sustained firepower, possibly even becoming his core skill. Yet Grant still regretted the trade now, didn’t he?

Thinking of this reignited Qin Lun’s annoyance at being pressured by the Forest Goddess Eldermis back in Nals World. His Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross Medal had been superior to the current Iron Cross First Class he had coaxed from Grant.

“If only I could go back to Nars…” Qin Lun unconsciously ground his teeth at the thought, then sighed helplessly. Nars was a Low-to-Mid Rank Apostle training ground. Getting assigned there once was sheer luck; getting back wasn’t likely.

As these thoughts flowed, a silent black fissure tore open within the teleportation room. A vertical, pupil-shaped spatial door slowly widened. The three Apostles watched their Law Bodies rapidly dissolve, transforming into streams of light and vanishing into the portal…