Reign of the Hunters

Chapter 191 Poaching

As Ye Ci fled to safety in time, she had arrived at Dark Clay City by the time the thunderous roar came crashing down. As she looked out from the city gate, the skies of the Swamp of Sorrows was covered with rolling cloud, with bright red lightning striking striking into the ground. It was entirely different from the slow change earlier on. The winds and the roar of thunder had picked up. In the blink of an eye, the clouds had even occupied the sky above Ye Ci.

A gigantic red Dragon descended from the clouds, flapping its wings and lashing its tail. It lowered its head and spewed red hot Dragon Breath, enveloping the ground in flames. Thick smoke rose into the already darkened sky. From the gate of Dark Clay City, it was an awe inspiring sight.

Despite such a spectacular view, Ye Ci knew that the players who had not hidden themselves would all be dead under such a raging flame.

Just as expected, players began to grieve incessantly in the Map Channel. Some of them cursed at the system, while others cursed at their commander. There were even others who began cursing at Ye Ci. It was very lively.

Of course, trash talking was something that had never bothered Ye Ci. She was, however, slightly worried about Purity Essence. Despite discovering his potential as a top tier commander after her short interaction with the person, he was still too inexperienced. If he was deeply impacted by this incident and was unable to recover from it, the time that Ye Ci specially spent to uncover such a talent would be a total waste.

She sent a private message to Purity Essence, “How’re you doing? Are you alive?”

At that moment, Purity Essence was already a corpse lying on the ground, looking up at the gigantic red Dragon that had soared past the heads of the players. It was a sight for sore eyes. One moment ago he was looking up at the Dragon’s underbelly, and noticed the white scales of the Dragon glowing a sick shade of silver, and the next moment he was killed by the Dragon Breath.

“I’m dead.” sighed Purity Essence. He then let out a laugh, “Where are you?”

“I’m at the main gate of Dark Clay City.” Ye Ci patted Ol’ Four who was dispirited and listless. He was a ferocious fellow that nobody would want to mess with. But in the presence of the Dragonia, even Ol’ Four showed signs of fear. He even showed no interest to the meat fed to him by Ye Ci.

“Are you safe over there?”

“There’s a special shield protecting every city. Don’t worry, it can’t be breached by the Dragonia. I’m way safer than you are.”

Just when the Ye Ci and Purity Essence were having an idle chat, the trash talking in the Map Channel worsened. Ye Ci was never an articulate person. Before she could even think of a way to console Purity Essence, the man spoke up, “Don’t mind the banter in the Map Channel. It’s not your fault. You know how people tend to trash talk in games.”

Ye Ci was momentarily stunned, “Most of them are cursing at you in the Map Channel. Why are you worrying about me instead?”

“I’m a man after all. I don’t mind things like this. You’re a girl. You’re not as thick-skinned as I am.” said Purity Essence matter of factly.

Ye Ci was lost for words. A girl?

How long has it been since anyone treated her like a girl? In her last life, she was treated as a mere expert, and experts don't get differentiated by their gender.

I have grown accustomed to not being treated as a girl. What is a girl? The first person that popped into Ye Ci’s mind was surprisingly Dong Yin. That’s right. A girl should be like Dong Yin. A girl should be gentle, tender, delicate and beautiful. In comparison, Ye Ci was not a girl at all.

That was why a smile appeared on Ye Ci’s face, “Thank you for seeing me as a girl. But, as a commander, there should be no gender in your eyes. There should only be character classes.”

Purity Essence was stunned silent by Ye Ci’s words. He was, after all, a gentleman. No matter how strong Gongzi You was, she was still a little girl to him. Females are always the weaker ones in game and in real life. That was why he treated Gongzi You like a girl.

However, he did not expect her to be such a resolute person. It was very easy to overlook her feminine voice when one was talking to her.

Sensing the awkwardness of the situation, Purity Essence steered the conversation to a different topic, “How did you notice that something bad was going to happen?”

“My pet suddenly became very timid. As you know, the T-rex is the king of the land. It’s very rare for him to show signs of fear. That was why I made the conclusion that the cloud above our heads was not a result of the weather.” Ye Ci spoon fed him a believable answer., “In the face of the unknown, I did not want to take my chances. That was why I opted to hide and observe what happened next.”

“You’re very observant.” Purity Essence believed Ye Ci’s words, “This is why you’re a god-tier player. I wouldn’t have thought about things like this.”

Ye Ci raised her eyebrows, “A god-tier player?” she then let out a laugh, “I seriously don’t care what people think of me. I am a Huntress, and a Huntress is a DPS character. What is the job of a DPS class in battle? To deal damage! And how can I dish out the highest amount of damage? There is only one way.”

“What is it?” Ye Ci’s words opened out an entire new view for Purity Essence. He was captivated by her explanation.

“Stay alive. You can only dish out damage when you’re alive.”

“To stay alive?”

“Am I wrong? Even if you’re the player with the highest level, the best equipment and the best mechanical skill, can you still deal damage when you’re dead?” said Ye Ci with a smile as she looked right at the red Dragon that was moving closer and closer to her.

Purity Essence was lost for words after listening to Ye Ci. Her understanding of the DPS class was fundamentally different from his own. A word appeared in his mind, “Expert.”

The red Dragon had approached closer to Ye Ci’s postion. It lowered her head and stared at Ye Ci who was standing at the city gate. The Elf made no attempt to hide itself, and had even looked up with a smile on its face. The Dragon was enraged by the confidence brimming within the Elf’s eyes. The Dragonia was a majestic race, how could a mere Elf lay its eyes upon the majesty of such a creature?

The Dragon opened its mouth and spewed Dragon Breath at Ye Ci. It was not the reddish Dragon Breath earlier on, but was purple in color, which was even more powerful. The only thing the red Dragon had in mind was to burn that damned Elf into ash.

Ye Ci, however, looked at the Dragon calmly.

Before the Dragon Breath could even harm Ye Ci, a blue simmer appeared, deflecting the flames.

The Dragon was enraged, but knowing that it could not breach the city’s protective shield alone, the Dragon could only glare at Ye Ci before it soared into the sky and disappeared.

Ye Ci recognised the red Dragon.

It was Altera, the former queen of the Dragonia. Her story would be revealed in the second major patch in Fate. She was a pitiful but detestable NPC. The Altera introduced in the patch however, was larger than she was at this moment. Ye Ci had only been able to recognise her due to the strand of silvery feather between her brows. It was very rare for the Dragonia to have feathers, let alone to have them between her brows.

Judging from Altera’s posture as she flew, Ye Ci deduced that the Dragon was involved in a fierce battle moments ago and was fleeing for her life. That was the only reason Ye Ci and Dark Clay City was left alone. The Altera she knew would never give up before she destroyed the protective shield and leveled the entire Dark Clay City to the ground under normal circumstances. The wound below her left rib was very deep, and was hampering her ability to fight.

Based on Ye Ci’s knowledge about the history of Fate, Altera had just been dethroned and exiled by her subjects. Judging from her flight path, the Dragon was heading to the Middle Continent, which was still inaccessible to players. Despite her interest in the wounded Altera, Ye Ci could only give up due to the level restriction.

She could only hope for another chance encounter with the former Queen later on as she progressed in Fate.

With the departure of Altera, Ol’ Four reverted back to his usual self. He no longer showed signs of fear, and was putting up a ferocious front.

“I see that you’re a good commander. Say, do you want to join Upwards Ho!?” with Altera gone, Ye Ci shifted her attention back to Purity Essence, and stated her goal. This was the only reason she even bothered to deal with low level players.

Gongzi You is a god-tier player. Gongzi You is a cold-blooded person. Gongzi You is a selfish person. Gongzi You will never do something that was benevolent to others while causing harm to herself.

Purity Essence immediately remembered the comments about Gongzi You on the forums after listening to the Huntress’s words. A strange feeling gnawed as his heart. Was he astonished? Hmm… Maybe a little… Was he excited? There’s a little of excitement within him as well. There was however, a lingering feeling that he was unable to explain.

In the end, Purity Essence decided to ask out loud, “Why?”

“Why what?” Ye Ci was at a loss for words. When she poached for talents, she would only usually receive two answers: “Yes” or “No”. As for “why?”... It was something that she had never thought of. Ye Ci pursed her lips, “What do you think?”

Hiya minna-san! Another chapter of this awesomtacular novel translated by an equally awesomesauce translator is here! Do you miss Jimmi? xDD (If you really love this novel and wish to give Jimmi some extra motivation, donations and your support on Patreon are always welcome! It really helps me out a lot IRL. Thank you!)

We're 9 chapters away from hitting our 200-chapters mark peoples! Hooray!! Yippee!!! Come on, gimme some hype in the comments eh? Haha..

Hmm... Any of you seen any good anime lately? Overlord, Killing Bites and Violet Evergarden ended... Which means I have nothing else to watch anymore. I've caught up to the latest episode of Grancrest Senki and Fate/Extra sucks balls... In desperate need of anime suggestions people! Help me out on this one okay? xD

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