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Chapter 114 - Passive Mastery

The first few tries turned out to be a complete failure, almost causing Liu Ye to lose his faith in this method of learning Abilities. It was only after his fifth try that he regained his hope.

[Ding! You have attempted to perform Remote Earthbending. Due to insufficient mastery, the ability has failed. Remote Earthbending mastery has increased.]

"So it's possible…" Liu Ye muttered as he saw the notification and didn't hesitate to open his Elemental Tree. "Wait a second."

He stopped Queen Luna from throwing another rock and swiftly found the Remote Earthbending all the way at the back. Not only was it an ability he could only unlock after mastering all basic abilities, but he also needed to be at least level 60 to do so. What surprised him the most was actually a small addition to the locked ability.

[Passive Mastery: 1%]

Liu Ye was slightly disappointed at the small progress but the sheer discovery was game-breaking. He was able to master abilities that were out of his reach just by practicing them over and over again. Although the process seemed slow, this information would completely shake the community.

"What is it? Can you feel anything?" Queen Luna questioned after his long pause.

"Yeah, I could actually feel the rock, but I think it will take me a long time to actually make it to move," Liu Ye replied while closing his profile. "It would be best if we can proceed and just practice along the way. You can fight alongside me and monitor me as I learn new skills."

Queen Luna squinted her eyes, causing Liu Ye to continue before she could speak. "I'm not asking you to do anything else of what we agreed on. We will proceed with the mission and you will evaluate my performance as we fight together. Everything else will come once we are done with our mission."

They were on a mission together so it was natural to ask her to fight alongside him. Thankfully, Queen Luna no longer argued with his logic.

"Fine, but don't think I will let you go easily," Queen Luna said confidently as she walked up and grabbed his jacket. "If I want something, I will get it no matter what."

Liu Ye was walking on a thin line but he wasn't particularly worried. He could always find an excuse as to why he doesn't want to join her.

"Shall we go?" Liu Ye asked with no comment and shrugged her hand away. "Come. You didn't pay me to sit around."

Queen Luna didn't speak anymore and followed closely behind as they ran through the main path. Liu Ye already prepared himself for another ambush but surprisingly, it didn't happen. After ten minutes of calm running, they saw no enemies which made him anxious.

"Do you know of any monsters we will meet along the way?" Liu Ye questioned as he covered his fingers with Ice Claws. "It's too quiet."

They were still in the Red Desert which had nothing but rocks, red hills, and weird dry trees stretched till the horizon. They were getting closer to the mountain range which slowly disappointed him. He wanted to meet as many monsters on the way as possible and use Queen Luna's help for an easy experience.

"We are still far from the Lava Field so we won't be meeting any Fire Spirits yet," Queen Luna replied as she also looked around cautiously. "Only the bandits should be around this area, so I'm guessing they either stopped by their camp for food or they are busy with something. They usually monitor this passage on rotation so I'm betting on the latter."

Liu Ye squinted his eyes hearing about a new monster. "What are Fire Spirits?"

"There are just small creatures that live in Lava. Don't worry, they are nothing to be afraid of," Queen Luna assured before looking ahead in alert. "I can feel some movement ahead. I knew the bandits were busy with something."

Liu Ye was about to question Queen Luna again but he stopped himself as she ran off the road. He followed her as they slowly climbed the hill and soon spotted a large caravan being looted by a group of bandits. Knowing the teleporting stations were present in almost every city, it seemed weird to see such a long caravan filled with goods.

It seemed like he wasn't the only one surprised at that sight.

"If I'm not wrong, they are merchants who carry illegal goods or they are simply trying to avoid the transportation fees," Queen Luna pointed out while shaking her head. "Many merchants will still use trading routes like this despite the clear risks of being robbed."

Queen Luna didn't look happy at that sight but she still decided on the spot. "Let's help them. They are still my people."

She didn't even ask for his opinion as she tried to storm into the battle without hesitation.

"Wait," Liu Ye called out as he pulled her back. "Are you trying to kill all those merchants? Just look at the ongoing situation before you decide on anything."

"What?" Queen Luna gave the caravan another look and then gazed back at Liu Ye as if demanding an explanation. He couldn't help but wonder how did she want to win the war with her strategy.

"The caravan is surrounded by at least twenty bandits while all the merchants and their guards have surrendered. It seems like the thieves don't want to kill them and just want to take part of the goods," Liu Ye pointed out as he pulled her behind a boulder so they could have another peek. "Look, they are taking only one cart and loading it up right now. If we were to appear and fight them, the merchants would suffer collateral damage."

He looked around the valley and added, "I suggest we wait for them to finish and then prepare an ambush on their way back to their base. This way we can recover the goods and kill the thieves without any other victims." 

Queen Luna paused at his logic and stared into his eyes. "You see, this is why I want you as my general. I need a man like you in my life." 

Before Liu Ye could reply, he felt a buzz on his wrist.

[Ding! Your affinity with Queen Luna has increased by 50.]

He has already lost his count on how many points their affinity had but it wasn't necessarily good to increase it further. The more she liked him, the harder would it be to reject her which could cause some problems later.

"Do you think we will struggle against twenty thieves at the same time?" Liu Ye asked, hoping to change the topic. "One of them seems to be their leader so he should be harder to deal with."

It wasn't hard to spot that one of the thieves didn't help with anything and simply stood on the side while ordering them. Liu Ye wasn't close enough to see his level but he wouldn't be surprised if they had to face an elite NPC.

"I will handle him, so just focus on killing the rest," Queen Luna suggested before suddenly slipping between him and the boulder. "Is there something particular you want to do until they are done?" 

She winked at him while holding onto his arms and teased, "How about we continue what we started in the royal castle?"