Astral Online: Cursed by the Demon Lord to Become the Strongest Beautiful Girl, I Rapidly Grow and Dominate with Cheat Skills Despite Being the Weakest Profession - Chapter 121

Chapter 121: The Fangs of the Forest Wolf

Using the teleportation gate in the central plaza, Sora and her group traveled from the Hephaestus Kingdom to the capital ?Yggdrasil?, where their journey first began.

Even though I had pulled the hood of my black coat down low to cover my face, those around me still noticed my presence.

The initial ripple of recognition was small, but it spread rapidly, turning into something much larger.

People in the central plaza were stunned, frozen in place, realizing that the silver-haired, blue-eyed swordswoman they had seen on social media and television was right before them.

And beside me were none other than the vice-captain of the top clan ?Hunters of the Twilight? and the ?Black Princess? of ?Hell and Heaven?.

To top it off, there were two NPC dragonkin accompanying us.

For the adventurers there, who hadn’t yet made it to Hephaestus Kingdom, the sight of the rare and beautiful dragon princess was more awe-inspiring than seeing a rare monster. Many dropped to their knees in reverence on the spot.

Amidst the chaos of people freezing in shock, bowing down, and murmuring, the silver-haired adventurer, Sora, let out a sigh of relief.

Phew, we managed to teleport without any trouble.

At first, I had worried that Alice and Satanas, as NPCs, wouldn’t be able to use the teleportation gate when we left the café. But thankfully, that concern turned out to be unfounded.

Apparently, NPCs can use teleportation gates just like adventurers, as long as they are part of the party.

As I thought this, the support system ?Lucifel? spoke confidently in my mind.

?Of course, I already knew that.?

Hey, aren’t you supposed to be the support system? And what’s with the casual tone lately?

Usually, ?Lucifel? answers without being asked, but this time, when I raised a minor objection, she responded:

?I was fully focused on using the ?Perception II? skill, scanning the area within 20 meters as per your instructions, which is why I couldn’t respond. I assure you, Master, this isn’t out of any dissatisfaction with you, none at all.?

It seems that the support system had been sulking a bit today, having been tasked with constant surveillance using the ?Perception? skill, leaving it with little mental bandwidth to spare.

Sora couldn’t help but let out a sigh internally at the strange behavior of the AI.

“Well then, let’s head to Kirie’s shop.”

Since there was no sign that the surrounding adventurers would swarm us, I decided to take the group straight to Kirie’s shop.

…………………………

Her shop is located up a gentle, long slope, and then you take a right at the third crossroad.

By the way, the capital ?Yggdrasil? is built like a series of stacked circular platforms. The general players are allowed access up to the fourth area.

From the fifth area and above, it becomes the domain of the royal family, sealed off by walls and guarded by level 200 gatekeepers and soldiers, restricting free movement.

It’s said that some high-level players once tried to sneak past the unguarded walls, but the moment they crossed the boundary, they were instantly cut down by an invisible force and respawned elsewhere.

Though the capital remains a mystery, it seems that villagers can at least tell you the names of the king and her daughter.

The ruler of the capital ?Yggdrasil? is named Ordin.

His daughter’s name is Yorz.

That’s all the information Sora knew about this kingdom, which she had previously heard from Shio.

As Sora walked, she thought to herself, ‘For a place that’s supposed to be the starting country, I really don’t know much about it.’

Alice, who seemed to be visiting for the first time, looked around curiously at the town’s scenery, accompanied by Satanas.

After walking for a while, the wooden shop they were headed to came into view in the distance.

“Oh, there’s Kirie,” Sora said.

It seemed she had received the message about their visit and purpose ahead of time, as the red-haired female blacksmith was waiting for them outside rather than inside the shop.

When we greeted Kirie, she looked at each of us in turn and smiled, clearly amused.

“Haha, things have gotten interesting again, right? Sora, you really do things differently from everyone else.”

If Shin and Rou were here, they would also say, ‘Here he goes again, pulling in another unique quest.’

During occasional information exchanges in the chat app, they had taken to calling her ?The Walking Unique Magnet?, referencing a card game or some bug-catching nickname that Sora couldn’t quite make sense of.

“Well, I used to do similar things in games I played before, so it’s nothing I really worry about anymore.”

“Hmm, having a knack for attracting unique quests, huh? From the perspective of regular players, that’s something they’d be incredibly envious of. How do you feel about it?”

“Ah, for me, I’ve done so many unique quests that I’ve pretty much forgotten what a normal quest even is at this point.”

Sora chuckled, recalling the times when she thought she was doing a regular quest only for it to turn into a unique one without her noticing.

Lost in those memories, Sora gazed into the distance for a moment. Then, Kuro, who had been sticking close to her side, gently tugged at the sleeve of her coat.

Tilting her head, she asked why they had come to visit Kirie.

“Sora, what are you asking Kirie for?”

“Oh, this.”

Sora opened a transparent, square window and navigated through it, selecting an item from her inventory.

“Kirie, I need you to work on this.”

“Oh, so this is the item you were talking about?”

“Big brother, is that…?”

“The Forest Wolf’s Fang?”

Kuro, who owned a similar item, correctly guessed the name of the object Sora handed to Kirie.

In her hand, she held a beautiful 20-centimeter-long fang, glowing faintly in a jade-like hue.

The item’s name was ?Forest Wolf’s Fang?.

It was obtained from a rare monster called the Forest Wolf, which they had defeated in the ?Spirit Forest of Spirits?, and it would be one of the trump cards for their food stall.

After listening to Sora’s explanation, Shio and the other two asked how this fang would serve as a trump card. Sora answered without holding back.

“This became part of the “cooking tools” category after a recent update, and you can now turn it into a knife. Using the knife made from this fang, combined with the ?Insight II? skill and the ?Cooking? skill, an active skill is granted that allows you to ‘raise the flavor level of ingredients by one step.’”

“Raise the flavor level of the ingredients…”

“So basically, using that to cook will make the food taste better?” Kuro summarized the essential part in simple words.

Sora nodded in agreement.

“Exactly. If we use this with the ?Cooking? skill to prepare ?Lesser Dragon? meat, it will give us a clear edge over the other food stalls. But that’s not the end of my plan. While Kirie is turning Kuro’s and my wolf’s fangs into knives, we’ll go and get the ?Cooking? skill, which is essential for this.”

“Roger that.”

With her usual laid-back response, Kuro took her ?Forest Wolf’s Fang? out of her inventory and handed it to Kirie.

As she held the two fangs in her hands, something seemed to ignite the blacksmith’s spirit, and she flared up with enthusiasm.

“A cooking knife, huh? It’s my first time making one, but this sounds exciting. I’ll waive the fee, but in exchange, could you let me try the food you’ll be serving at the stall?”

“Of course! I was planning to make a test batch anyway.”

“Alright, then I’ll get started right away!”

“Thank you very much.”

With an eager smile, Kirie quickly went into her shop.

Leaving Shio, Alice, and Satanas to wait at Kirie’s shop, Sora and her partner Kuro dashed off together.

Their destination: a small restaurant in the second area.

Their goal: to acquire the ?Cooking? skill.