Pillar of Yita

Fang Hong looked out of the window, and the nighttime of Fanric was immersed in a light blue hue. The glamorous lights from the inn mingled skillfully with the darker corners of the city, and the pedestrians on the street hurried along, their attire and the bronze-colored Magic Guided Reactors and metal outwear making everything seem so different from Earth.

He vaguely saw two young girls walking together under a building, and thought he mistook them for someone else—before he could react, they had already blended into the crowd—there seemed to be some activity below the inn, torches were lit, steam rose, people gathered together, occasionally bursting into cheerful voices. Fang Hong opened the window to look down, but he could no longer find their trace.

He rubbed his eyes, wondering if he had been away from home for too long, and started hallucinating—had he actually seen that girl in Eteliria? As the shouts from outside continued to echo, Fang Hong turned back to his desk, picked up the last assembled Clockwork Fairy, and attached it to the belt under his coat.

He inadvertently touched something in his pocket, took it out, and found it to be cold to the touch, with the unique feel of metal. It was one of the Elf Three-Star Rings he had obtained from the Sorcerer-Ghoul, but due to its severe repercussions, he had forgotten about it until now.

Fang Hong looked at the ring carefully, with not much thought in his mind, and then put it back. He didn’t plan to use it until absolutely necessary.

It wasn’t the first time he had seen the nighttime in this southern port town.

People always say it’s hard to grasp time, and at this moment, Fang Hong was feeling just that. The myriad of things distracted his attention, time seemed to fly by, and without accomplishing much, the day of the competition was near.

These days, they had been conducting daily integration training, and Fang Hong did not hold back, subtly displaying his skills, leaving everyone speechless. Even Cui Ning only feigned dissatisfaction, but in front of him, he had nothing to say—As for today, Soul Fingerprint didn’t assign them much training, only advising them to adjust their mindset.

She didn’t say much to Fang Hong either—as long as this young man performed routinely, his results wouldn’t be taken into account; her focus was mainly on Cui Ning and a few others. The team’s original ceiling was MTT and Mulan, but with Fang Hong’s joining, she began to have expectations for this year’s results.

And Fang Hong was happy to take it easy.

Actually, if it weren’t for other matters converging, he should have been having a fairly good time these days, with no significant training, just staying in the inn all day. However, various outside news streamed in through the Communication Crystal, keeping him busy, while he also had to find time to craft Clockwork Fairies.

Mulan and the others inadvertently learned about this, and Cui Ning even privately made a joke, saying that as a formal Alchemist, his interest in Combat Artisans was off-track. But when Fang Hong heard this, he didn’t respond, simply showing a metal glove and letting a Clockwork Fairy fly around everyone once.

Everyone was instantly amazed.

”Just being able to control a Clockwork Fairy,” someone answered.

Fang Hong found it amusing, this person just did not want to admit defeat verbally. Actually, after days of interaction, he somewhat understood their personalities; the most introverted among them was actually Dill, while Cui Ning, although cold on the surface, was actually quite approachable, and when paired with him in training, never tried to trip him up.

Not that tripping him up would have much effect.

He certainly wouldn’t have acted like this before, as what others thought didn’t matter much to him. R told him that external judgments were never the primary factors for evaluation.

It was only after the previous misunderstanding that Fang Hong realized this point, understanding that always keeping a low profile might not be a wise choice. Occasionally showcasing a bit of strength actually made oneself seem more ordinary, since everyone has a bit of vanity, being too low-key might cause misjudgment.

Fang Hong sighed a little, realizing that reality was far more complex than ideals, and it seemed he couldn’t always treat R’s teachings in the community as the absolute truth, everything still required practical judgment.

He put away his things, went downstairs to the lobby, intending to find the others, but found that Soul Fingerprint and a few were not there.

But he did see Sophie and Xi to the side, exchanged a glance with them, and then nodded.

However, he felt slightly strange, sensing that Sophie’s gaze towards him had a peculiar hint.

Sophie, watching his turning back, gave a slight smile, a cunning look flickering in her dark eyes.

She turned around, pointing at Fang Hong to those around her: ”Did you see that guy, the craftsman from Ragnarok? His strengths are in production speed and precision, keep that in mind to play to your strengths. This year’s main rival is Ragnarok, pay attention, and watch their first two matches closely.”

”Of course, I’m not asking you to focus on him. Instead, you should primarily observe Cui Ning and Dill, these two competitors. I will properly arrange your appearances so that Ragnarok doesn’t gain any advantage.”

”But isn’t the ceiling of Ragnarok MTT, Princess?”

”Trust me, the results that won’t count in the end are definitely going to be this guy’s.”

Xi looked at her Little Princess with some helplessness, turning her head as she seemed to be selling out her ally.

This made the group inquire further about the rumor, to which Sophie wickedly smirked, grasping the mountain girl’s hand: ”In my heart, there’s only one Xi, I can’t accommodate anyone else.”