Chapter 319: White Rat Fur
The Village Chief of Newbie Village had once told Marcus a strange story. The Golden Rabbit King had already been captured by someone, supposedly the "lover of the son of the neighbor of a relative of a servant of one of the Demon Lord’s Eight Guardians." The creature was now being kept as both a pet and a guardian for a certain magical place. That place, according to the chief, was exactly what this treasure map pointed to.
Rumor had it that the location marked on the map was incredibly bizarre, filled with all sorts of strange and wondrous things, and completely impossible to reach without the map’s guidance. Those had been the Village Chief’s exact words.
A magical place. What kind of place could it be, and how magical was it supposed to be? Back then, the Village Chief had told Marcus that once he reached level fifty, he could go there and try his luck.
Now, even though Marcus had not yet hit level fifty, with his current strength, maybe it was already time to take a look.
"Heh heh..."
Turns out there really were plenty of ways to find places overflowing with energy. He just had not been searching hard enough before.
After taking a short break, Alana, stayed behind to continue brewing Super Health Potions, while Marcus headed out to deal with the Blood Spirit Cicadas.
Before that, though, he left the villa and made a stop at the old appraiser’s shop to identify the Intermediate Treasure Map dropped by the White Dog Rat King.
Once identified, the previously blank map revealed detailed terrain and a winding route. The instructions were simple enough. Find a place called Wind Swallow Ridge, follow the marked path, and the treasure could be dug up without much trouble.
Marcus examined the map’s description.
—
White Dog Rat King’s Ancient Vase. (Intermediate Treasure Map)
Three years ago, the White Dog Rat King was summoned by the Three-Headed Dragon Rat to help construct an underground palace. During the construction, it discovered a sealed ancient vase. Unable to open it, the Rat King secretly hid it away.
—
’Not bad.’
If luck was on his side, something worthwhile would come out of it. Still, priorities were priorities. He needed to capture the cicadas at Ghost Rain Marsh first. The treasure could wait until afterward.
As Marcus was leaving, the old appraiser once again urged him to hatch the Dark Violet Sky Dragon as soon as possible. Marcus nodded along politely and stepped out of the shop.
Truth be told, he wanted to hatch it as well. The problem was the Dark Treasures. They were absurdly rare, and so far he had not found even the slightest clue. If things really came down to it, once he wrapped up his current tasks, he would head north into Demon Clan territory and try his luck there.
Ghost Rain Marsh lay south of Ironstone Citadel, the City of Mountains. After teleporting into Ironstone, Marcus suddenly remembered the high-grade material he had gathered using his Gathering skill: White Rat Fur. Since he was already here, it was the perfect time to check in with Madam Jane at the tailor shop.
The tailor shop was located in the southern district of Ironstone Citadel. It specialized in casual, pretty, and stylish clothing with no stat bonuses, making it a paradise for fashion-obsessed players, especially women. Dominion’s wedding dresses could only be purchased at tailor shops, and every set was outrageously expensive, which meant business was booming. Capes were also exclusive to tailor shops, further cementing their popularity.
"Welcome. How can I help you?"
A friendly server greeted Marcus the moment he stepped inside. He glanced around and saw quite a few girls browsing outfits or wedding dresses, many of them accompanied by boyfriends who looked vaguely resigned. This place was clearly a regular gathering spot for players, which explained the attentive service.
"I heard Madam Jane buys White Rat Fur. I came to ask about it."
"Oh, right this way. Our boss is in the back."
The server led him deeper into the shop. Madam Jane turned out to be a woman in her fifties, with sharp eyes and a professional air.
"Young man, you have White Rat Fur?"
After the server explained the situation, Madam Jane looked at Marcus with visible surprise, mixed with a hint of disbelief.
"Yeah. I’ve got some."
Marcus nodded, slightly puzzled by her reaction.
"Is it high-grade White Rat Fur?" she asked quickly. "The kind I posted about at the entrance?"
High-grade. There really had been a notice out front. Marcus had not paid much attention when he came in. Fortunately for him, the fur he had was exactly what she wanted.
"Yeah. It’s high-grade."
He took out the fur he had gathered from the White Dog Rat King.
"Ah!"
"Just as I thought. High-grade..."
Seeing the faint, soft glow emanating from the fur in Marcus’s hand, Madam Jane hurried forward, snatched it up, and began inspecting it with barely concealed excitement, flipping it over again and again as if afraid it might vanish.
Marcus blinked.
It was just a piece of White Rat Fur. Was all this really necessary?
What he did not know was that high-grade White Rat Fur could only be gathered from White Dragon Rats above level eighty-five. Madam Jane had been posting that purchase notice for more than two years and had not managed to obtain even a single piece.
The reason this particular fur qualified as high-grade was even more obscure. When the White Dog Rat King had gone to assist in building the underground palace, a White Dragon Rat had rewarded it with a White Rat Date, which caused its fur to evolve. On top of that, the fur could only be successfully gathered the very first time the White Dog Rat King was killed, and only by someone with a sufficiently high Gathering skill.
In other words, what Marcus held was a genuine hidden item.
Without absurd luck, obtaining high-grade White Rat Fur was nearly impossible.
Marcus, of course, knew none of this. All he saw was Madam Jane’s excitement, and his greedy little heart immediately started doing cartwheels. In his mind, the value of the fur skyrocketed, and he was already preparing to name a painfully high price.
"Young man, are you willing to sell this high-grade White Rat Fur?" Madam Jane asked.
"Yeah, I’ll sell it."
"Heh heh."
Marcus let out a sly chuckle to himself. ’Exactly what I wanted to hear.’
But then Madam Jane continued speaking, and his plans abruptly went off the rails.
"However," she said, "I want to sew an Earthwalk Cloak. Besides the White Rat Fur, I also need ten black horns from the Black-Horned Pangolin. Would you be willing to help me gather them? Once you bring me the horns along with the fur, I will reward you handsomely."
Before Marcus could respond, the system notification rang out.
Ding!
[Player Stonehaven, because you possess the hidden item High-Grade White Rat Fur, you have triggered the hidden quest: Gathering Materials for the Earthwalk Cloak. Do you accept?]
’Damn it.’
Just like that, haggling was off the table. Either he accepted the quest or rejected it outright, and the reward would be determined by the system itself.
’Screw it.’
The system really was a bastard.
Whatever. He was not about to stand there arguing over compensation with an old lady anyway. That would just be awkward. Besides, hidden quest rewards were never bad.
"Accept."
The decision was quick and clean.
"Excellent," Madam Jane said. "You can find Black-Horned Pangolins in the Black Earth Cellar near Black Dragon Pond, south of Ironstone Citadel."
Marcus opened Silas the Wanderer’s map and frowned. There was no mention of a Black Earth Cellar. Still, based on the location she described, it lay just east of Ghost Rain Marsh, right along his planned route. Black Dragon Pond itself was high-level monster territory, which made him wary.
He could only hope the Black-Horned Pangolins were not too high-level themselves.