Demi-human Girls Completion Manual
Chapter 449 - 18. Run fast_2

Chapter 449: 18. Run fast_2

Balzac glanced at Helldor beside him and said with some doubts,

"Hey, are you serious? That guy is clearly not associated with those tomboys from the Sardinia Female Country, and he’s also interested in scrolls... You dare to ask for his help with such a dubious character?"

"Sss... It’s Valentina who makes the decisions, not me. I’m just expressing my opinion. I’m powerless against the magic curse of the Phoenix, and so are you."

"Tch..."

Balzac sat impatiently on the beach, folded his arms, and looked out over the silent sea.

Perched in the tree, Fisher quickly sketched out his own envisioned new rank system, listing the factors that affected an individual’s rank and arranging them according to importance.

Firstly, what definitely plays a decisive role in rank is an individual’s strength, which is mainly composed of two parts: the strength of their Constitution and the additive effect of special abilities. If we don’t consider abilities like Fallen Resistance and Water Breathing, then the factor determining his current rank would be the strength of his Constitution, which could be referenced from the ancient ranking system.

Next, consider a few external factors like Magic, relics, and so on. These enhancements should all act as boosts on top of the individual’s inherent strength. Among them, if we disregard the cost and time consumed during engraving, Magic should be the most obvious boost to a rank, and the corresponding ring number can also be well-planned to determine the extent of the enhancement.

As for relics, these items are too numerous and their effects too diverse for Fisher to calculate all at once. He vaguely felt there were different levels among the relics, but even after asking Emhardt, who said he did not know, could only tell Fisher that the quality gap of relics was mainly determined by the materials, purpose, and forging skills used.

Emhardt did not know how he had been created, and, moreover, the Holy Descendants kept the methods of forging relics a closely guarded secret; it wasn’t clear how Mu Xi had learned these skills. Anyway, Emhardt could probably clarify the grading of these Holy Objects.

The lowest grade would be relics forged from ordinary Magic Materials, similar to Moli’s hairband, with even combat-type relics not exceeding the Extraordinary Rank in strength.

Intermediate-grade relics would use rarer Magic Materials and require more profound forging skills to create, like the Sword carried by Phoenix’s Son, which belonged to this grade.

The highest grade, sentient relics, would not only require extremely precious materials but also demand that the Forge master top-notch skills and special forging methods to create.

But according to Emhardt, even the highest-grade combat relics would not exceed the Mythical Rank, and this was the second pattern Fisher noticed.

Neither the strength of Magic nor relics would exceed the limit of the Mythical Rank, which sounded less like coincidence and more like there was something very special about the species at the Mythical Rank.

Fisher currently only knew one demi-human at the Mythical Rank—Elliog. What was special about her?

Fisher thought back briefly...

Did being particularly warm and soft count?

That’s off-topic... Anyway, with this grading, Fisher could now roughly calculate the range of an enemy’s rank, such as...

"Hey, Nali Gentleman..."

A night breeze brushed past, and whether it was the nightingale or a young lady’s voice that followed, it abruptly halted the thought process of Fisher, who had been gesticulating with a branch.

He looked down and saw the white-haired girl named Valentina Turand, who had somehow wheeled her chair to the foot of the tree he was in and was now looking up at him.

Obviously, she was the one who had called out.

Fisher paid no attention to her. Instead, he started to estimate the rank of the girl named Valentina using the rank system he had just come up with.

According to the Life Rank, she was a Human, and additionally, a disabled person, rightfully placed at the Zeroth Rank. Yet she wore many Magic Rings, whose fluctuations in Magic Power suggested they varied from the Six Ring to the Eighth Ring. Hence, her rank range would be from 0 to 8, and once her Magic was used up, she’d revert back to Zeroth Rank, becoming a weakling.

The Fisher sitting in the tree didn’t respond to her; instead, he just stared down at her. The book on his shoulder, which seemed to be a relic, was even making faces at her in the night, giving her quite the creeps.

In fact, Emhardt wasn’t trying to scare her. The reason he was making faces at Valentina was to alert the Lady,

"Now, this gentleman beside you is a beast of high Reproduction Rank, indiscriminately hungry and insatiable. Run away!!"

Unfortunately, Valentina couldn’t understand Emhardt’s highly abstract expressions. She crossed her fingers, which were adorned with rings, and spoke again,

"Hey..."

"My name is Fisher Benavides, a Nali, and I am a scholar who studies demi-humans and magic... It’s not ’hey.’"

But by then, Fisher had already deduced her rank, so he responded.

Once Fisher broke the silence, the uneasiness that had begun to grow in Valentina’s heart also diminished somewhat. However, after a glance at Fisher’s appearance, she continued,

"A scholar studying demi-humans? Is that an excuse to cover up your true intention of obtaining the Phoenix Scroll?"

No one took a Nali gentleman’s statement of "interest in demi-humans" seriously. Valentina treated such a statement as a social jest akin to admitting one’s peculiar bedroom interests or an excuse—it also indicated that he was still guarded against her, which was quite normal.

Fisher neither confirmed nor denied, squeezing the eye-rolling Emhardt back into his pocket,

"Believe it or not... I know what you’re here for, and you know my purpose, so let’s talk straightforwardly. I can help you open the scroll, but I have two conditions..."

"You know how to open the scroll? I don’t believe it."

"I have an idea, though it’s not yet tested. But your men tried all afternoon without success, so letting me have a go won’t cause any harm."

"...What are your conditions?"

Fisher sat up straight and seriously held up two fingers towards Valentina,

"First, I want to know the contents inside; second, lend me that Lion-man of yours for research... It won’t be for long, and nothing excessive will be done. You can supervise."

The first point didn’t surprise Valentina; she had anticipated Fisher would ask for this before she came.

Aside from that, she had thought Fisher would ask to share some of the previous research findings on the Phoenix with him. But instead, he strangely brought up this request...

A smokescreen?

Or did he wish to pry more information from Philis?

Valentina’s fingers clenched tighter, momentarily at a loss, her mind racing without understanding his true intentions—like suddenly facing an unexpected move on a chessboard, struggling to grasp the opponent’s strategy, which was immensely pressuring.

She looked up at Fisher in the tree and felt increasingly that this request was a move in his favor, but... how could it be?

"How about it, do you agree?"

While Valentina was pondering, Fisher’s voice rang out again, urging her to make the next move like in a game of chess.

After a second of silence, she looked up with her pale silver eyes at Fisher above,

"Fine... But your conditions will only be met after the scroll is deciphered."

"Of course."

The shrunken Emhardt in the pocket heard the exchange outside; his bookish face fell, unsure how to react.

In his eyes, Fisher was like a starving Great Demon King, always considering those kinds of matters, unable to move on upon seeing a Lady... especially a demi-human girl Lady!

That said, he was now increasingly worried whether Fisher would live long enough to fulfill their deal.