Chapter 33: Elemental Mysteries and a New Home

“It’s not light element,” Angelina immediately refuted, shaking her head.

“While it does resemble elemental particles, it’s distinctly different from light element. The sensation…”

“It’s like air.” She pondered for a long while before finally finding a suitably precise and evocative word to describe it.

A pang of disappointment struck me, yet another crucial thought immediately surfaced.

“Could it be what the astrologers call the wind element?”

“That’s possible!” Angelina paused, then smacked her palm, the words escaping her lips. “If it’s the wind element, then everything makes sense.”

“By the way, you don’t even know about the wind element, yet you can still forge a wind element artifact.”

Witnessing her demeanor, I couldn’t help but feel speechless; could it truly be the power of microtransactions?

“Then why don’t you try making one with the light element?”

Since they were both elements, merely different in type, surely light and wind elements could be interchangeable? My mind raced with possibilities, and I was about to suggest she try it when I suddenly remembered I couldn’t let her take any more risks, prompting me to swiftly rephrase.

“Don’t try it. Let me do it instead. Just tell me the method.”

Hearing this, Angelina promptly explained the sword-making process to me, which seemed remarkably simple, involving just a few steps.

Yet…

“It’s no good!” I gazed dejectedly at the longsword-shaped aggregate of light elements emerging from my palm, then reluctantly relinquished my control over them.

“They’ve condensed into the shape of a longsword, but they simply can’t materialize into a solid form, not like you described.”

“And the process is completely different, alright!”

Hers had erupted majestically from her palm, whereas mine… my light elemental particles had merely trickled out like swarming gnats, then converged to form the shape of a sword.

“I feel cheated! Were you afraid I’d learn it, so you deliberately held back?”

Seeing my accusatory demeanor, Angelina hastily tried it with light elements herself, only to discover that the result was precisely the same as mine.

“Uh… my apologies. I misjudged you.”

Witnessing her achieve the same outcome, I understood that the method was not the issue; it seemed the problem lay solely with the materials.

‘Perhaps I should find a wind element mage to try another day?’ I mused to myself, yet immediately dismissed the thought, believing it wouldn’t work; if it were possible, artifacts would surely be flooding the market by now.

It wasn’t as if others wouldn’t have thought of it, for the method Angelina had provided was incredibly simple, so much so that it felt like molding weapons from clay.

So, why was this the case?

I simply couldn’t comprehend it.

****

As the demonic beasts had yet to appear, we remained rooted to our spot, waiting for several more tens of minutes.

“This wait is truly excessive, isn’t it?” Angelina’s patience appeared to be wearing thin.

“However, the task card states they only appear two to three times a day at most,” I remarked, reading the information. The frequency of these beast attacks might not be high, but each instance carried the potential for lost lives.

“Could it be because we are angels that the demonic beasts dare not approach?”

I recounted the circumstances of my first encounter with Tiffany and her companions, explaining how the three hellhounds had abruptly fled upon my approach, and how Sally had swiftly detected the aura of an angel.

“Such a thing exists?”

Angelina listened, her expression one of profound astonishment, then contemplatively mused on many things. “No wonder I always wondered how Ling found my hidden sleeping spot after she tried to assassinate me.”

“So, an angel with their wings revealed is likely equivalent to a giant lightbulb in the eyes of a demonic beast, making concealment exceedingly difficult.”

I offered a wry smile, retracting my wings; if that were the case, we might have waited in vain for a considerable time, wasting precious hours.

Angelina followed suit. I noticed that after her wings vanished, the Qi-Condensed Sword she had held remained, not disappearing along with them.

The waiting period became much smoother thereafter; after merely ten minutes, as a passerby walked past, a colossal roar echoed, and a monstrous lizard burst from the opposite thicket, lunging directly at the unsuspecting traveler.

“Attack!” Angelina, flashing her wings, surged forward first, kicking the demonic beast directly back into the opposing thicket, where it crashed heavily against a tree trunk.

“Don’t let it escape.” I too flew out, seizing my weapon and wildly hacking at the colossal lizard beneath the tree, which was still reeling from the impact.

“Argh, argh, argh, argh, argh, argh, argh…”

“This…” When Angelina finally caught up, she couldn’t help but gasp. All that remained was a pile of mangled flesh and a vast pool of blood.

“That was incredibly violent!”

“I was just too excited, I didn’t expect it to be gone so quickly…”

Turning my head, unable to bear the sight, I too found the scene excessively bloody, and could only offer a helpless explanation.

The kill had been so swift; before I could even fully react, the demonic beast had already been dismembered.

“This was my very first demonic beast kill.”

A sudden, unshed tear welled within me; I had anticipated a fierce battle, yet before I could even exert myself, the opponent had fallen.

“Fortunately, the head is still here.” Angelina knelt down, picking up the lizard’s head, which had rolled to the side and had a small portion of its face sliced off.

“If you’d landed a few more blows, our mission would have been for naught.”

“Say no more. I’ll reflect on it next time.” After handing the sword to Angelina, I took to the sky without a backward glance.

‘It seems I’ll need to find a way to acquire a storage ring.’

Angelina glanced at the demonic beast’s head in her hand, then ascended, following me away. Only the attacked pedestrian remained, standing on the road, utterly bewildered.

Hours of waiting for the task, mere seconds to complete it—such was the accurate portrayal of our demonic beast clearing mission.

“This demonic beast… you killed it with a wind blade, didn’t you? It’s a Tier 3 colossal lizard.” In the mission settlement room, the staff member receiving the carcass, upon seeing the wounds, assumed they were magically inflicted; it seemed not everyone could discern artifact damage like those in the Sages’ Alliance.

“We will dispatch personnel to verify the mission details with the relevant client within a few days. Should any fraudulent activity be discovered, not only will the rewards be reclaimed, but you will also be placed on the association’s blacklist, you know.”

After retrieving the task card, and realizing we were novices, the staff member took the extra step of explaining several procedural rules.

Clutching the money we had earned from two tasks, minus the handling fees, we departed the mission settlement room.

Finally, we had secured our first income in this world, a truly gratifying accomplishment.

Seeing that it was still early, barely midday, I proposed we undertake two more rounds of tasks. Moreover, once we were familiar with the process, we could split up, which ought to significantly boost our efficiency.

Angelina raised no objections, and so, several hours later, we reconvened in the Adventurers’ Guild hall, by which point the money in our hands had amassed to over a thousand Silla.

“It’s a shame the subsequent tasks don’t offer such high rewards; they’re all only a few tens of Silla.”

I counted the coins in my hand with a sigh of regret, feeling that it still wasn’t quite enough.

“There’s nothing for it. There are a few others, actually, like that cat-finding quest with a 300 Silla reward. But it’s utterly impossible to complete, and pursuing it would only be a waste of time.”

Angelina had been eyeing that particular task, but after reading its description, she hesitated for a long time before ultimately holding back.

“This money should be enough to rent a place now, shouldn’t it?”

Seeing that it was still early, I thought to myself that we could seize the opportunity to find a place, thus avoiding bothering Tiffany and her companions tonight.

The rent for Tiffany’s two rooms totaled just over 2000 Silla, so we only needed to find something around 1000 Silla. To save even more, we could aim for a lower price, potentially leaving us with some leftover.

“Then let’s go check the main street.”

Angelina pulled me along one of the city’s main thoroughfares. While many merchants lined the roads leading in and out of the city, there was scarcely any information regarding rental properties.

I wondered how Tiffany and her companions had managed to rent their place; for that matter, I hadn’t seen any real estate agencies in this city.

“Perhaps we should check the smaller streets.”

After searching fruitlessly for a long time, I decided to change my approach.

Indeed, along some of the branching paths, many shopfronts displayed various rental property advertisements.

“How about this place?”

I looked around the room we were currently in and asked Angelina. After visiting numerous locations, we had finally found a place that was affordable and seemed decent enough.

It was a second-floor room, not large, only about ten square meters, located above a bookstore. The landlord was a man in his forties, and the rent was a modest 750 Silla, which even included furniture, such as a large bed.

“Not bad. We just need to buy a comforter, and we can move in immediately.” Angelina nodded, knowing that while such conditions were certainly beneath her usual standards, their lack of funds left them with no choice but to make do.

After paying the rent, I took charge of cleaning the room, while Angelina went out to purchase necessities. Soon, the once-empty room began to exude a sense of home.

“To think, it truly was at light speed,” Angelina mused, lying on the bed.

“This morning we were penniless, and now, before nightfall, we’ve already rented a place and moved in.”

“The sky has already darkened; it must be past dusk now, so I suppose we can consider it evening,” I said, looking up at the sky, correcting her slight misstatement.

“If we keep working hard, we’ll eventually be able to afford a larger place. This is just the beginning.”

I knew Angelina likely wouldn’t be accustomed to such a small, humble dwelling, but out of consideration for our financial situation and my feelings, she was willing to endure the discomfort.

“It’s nothing…”

Hearing this, she seemed unconcerned, her expression utterly nonchalant.

“I feel it’s fine. Besides, as long as I’m living with you, I think anything will do.”

“Is that so?” I was surprised that someone who had once been a wealthy young master, having never experienced hardship, could utter such words. This adaptable attitude truly impressed me.

“Well done. For a young master like you to be willing to endure hardship with me, it seems I must revise my opinion of you once again.”

I patted her shoulder, praising her with a deeply gratified expression.

“Do you truly think that?”

Angelina, upon hearing my words, stared at me with an exceedingly strange expression. It was peculiar; just a moment ago, her reaction seemed shy, as if she were embarrassed, so why had her attitude suddenly shifted?

“Is something amiss?”

I pondered for a moment. Had I guessed incorrectly? Did she actually not wish to suffer hardship with me? Or perhaps she, too, had experienced penniless days like mine in the past?

That’s right. I’d heard that many scions of wealthy families had to undergo deliberate training from their households before they could inherit their fortunes.

“Never mind, nothing’s wrong.”

Angelina sat up and walked towards the door.

“We still need to go to Tiffany’s place and inform them that we’ve rented a room. Let’s go quickly.”

“Right, I almost forgot!”

I immediately followed her out of the room.

“Are you really moving out?”

In Tiffany’s room, she gazed at us with a touch of sadness. It was clear she was reluctant for us to leave; Amos and Brook weren’t home yet, so they were still unaware of our plans.

“Of course. We’ve already rented a place. Besides, having three of us staying here is simply too much trouble for you.”

Knowing she would ask, I replied with the answer I had prepared on the way.

“That fast? You didn’t go robbing, did you?”

She still couldn’t believe we had earned enough money for rent in a single day.

“How could we! We earned it all from completing tasks.”

I was momentarily speechless, though it was true that many tasks couldn’t be completed so swiftly by ordinary people.

“That’s right, you’re both angels…”

Tiffany seemed to recall our identities, and suddenly understood.

“In any case, we won’t be living far, just a few streets away. You’re welcome to visit whenever you have time.”

Seeing her still looking crestfallen, I couldn’t help but offer words of comfort.

“Alright then, but I’m coming over tomorrow!”

Realizing the situation was irreversible, she could only childishly concede.

“Fine!” I readily agreed, finding no issue with that.

“If you don’t get used to your rented place, you can always come back here and sleep with me.”

Even as we were about to leave, Tiffany continued to utter words of persistent attachment.

After bidding her farewell, Angelina and I both instinctively rubbed our stomachs, realizing we were hungry. Another benefit of an angel’s body was that we didn’t feel hungry or tire easily during the day, but by night, we were no different from ordinary people.

Calculating that we still had over a hundred Silla, we stopped at a nearby restaurant on our way and enjoyed a hearty meal.

“Dining out is a one-time affair. Starting tomorrow, we’ll be cooking for ourselves.”

Back home, I carefully counted the remaining money, feeling a pang of regret over how expensive eating out was. One advantage of this new place was the ability to cook, which was far better than any apartment I had rented back on Earth.

“I don’t know how anyway, so it’s all up to you.”

Angelina, still sprawled on the bed behind me, maintained her listless, unconcerned demeanor, and soon fell silent.

“Speaking of which, you should also learn how to cook, you know…”

Seeing that she offered no response, I resigned myself, yawned, washed up, and then climbed into bed to sleep.

Our proper life in this otherworld could finally begin.