Chapter 48 Old Acquaintance

  At this moment, Marlin's face was icy cold. Since birth, she had never been treated like this before. As a rare magical genius in the family, whether it was her parents, relatives, or even the teachers at the Magic Academy, they had always been polite to her. She was also very proud and confident, unlike those waste materials who grew up in luxury and forgot their origins, looking down on everything. She had always remembered her family's teachings and never slackened off.

  As for Rode's request, Marlin thought that the first one was a bit too much, but she could still accept it. However, the second one he proposed was something Marlin absolutely couldn't accept!

  Marlin has always been very confident in her own strength, she started receiving the most orthodox magic education from the age of six and has already passed ten years. Now, she has made a breakthrough that does not disappoint everyone, entering the middle ring domain beyond the outer ring limit. Although after stepping into the middle ring domain, Marlin no longer made great progress, but she is not worried, just like her mentor said, what she lacks now is not knowledge, but actual combat experience. And in terms of understanding magic, she has already been able to keep up with her mentor without too much difference.

  But now, Rode's words are a naked denial of her efforts over the past decade!

  This is something Marlene cannot accept no matter what.

  "Mr. Luo De, I can understand the first condition, but I cannot accept the second one!"

  Marlin proudly raised her head, staring straight at Rode with unwavering eyes. Feeling her gaze, Rode slightly raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

  On the other hand, old man Ke was praying in his heart: collapse, collapse, collapse... if it collapses, then nothing will happen...

  "Why?"

  "Because you don't know my true strength!"

  Marlin's words were indeed reasonable and confident. It was their first meeting, so he couldn't possibly know her strength, and she had already heard from Old Hank that this young man should be a swordsman, not a mage. If he were a mage, then considering they were still traveling together, letting him give some pointers wouldn't be a big deal. But for a swordsman who wielded knives and guns to come and direct mages in battle? Did he really understand the situation?

  Marlin bit her teeth, she really wanted to jump up and scold Rod's nose, but the good family education finally made the girl calm down. After all, the other party did not show a flustered appearance, and if they lost their composure, it would not bring a good influence on the reputation of the Xiania family. As a member of the family, her every move was no longer just considering her personal influence.

  As Marlene retorted, Rod stood up, and this action made Old Hank's heart feel a little happy, thinking that this stubborn little guy had finally endured it and was going to drive people away. Thank goodness, kid, you'd better scold harder, if you can make this young lady so angry that she leaves Deep Stone City and goes home, that would be even better... Thinking of this, Old Hank also stood up in coordination, planning to act as a peacemaker before the two quarreled——but Rod's next sentence immediately made Old Hank almost vomit blood.

  "Then let's give it a try."

  "No problem!"

  Marlene was also decisive, as soon as she heard this, she immediately stood up and nodded in agreement. No one noticed that the old man Ke's face beside her had turned black and purple, purple and black, with a colorful array of colors that didn't know what color to turn into next.

  Just then, a voice came from beside the stairs.

  "Mr. Luo, breakfast is ready, what's this......"

  Lijie walked down the stairs, curiously gazing at the two people in the hall. She looked at Old Hank with some surprise, then subconsciously shifted her gaze to Marlene. The moment she saw him, Lijie suddenly stopped in her tracks and stood there stupidly.

  "Are you... Marlene?"

  "Lily!"

  Marlin looked up and saw Lige standing by the stairs, her originally stern and cold face immediately thawed, and a bright smile like sunshine appeared.

  "Lijie! Is that you, Lijie? I never thought I'd run into you here! Where have you been all these years? I've been looking for you everywhere, but couldn't find you. What are you doing in Shen Shi City? Are you okay?"

  The girl who was still steady just now finally showed her lively and cheerful side that suited her age, Marlin ran to Lisha's side with small steps, excitedly grasping her hands and shaking them constantly. In the face of Marlin's enthusiasm, Lisha's expression was somewhat embarrassed, she even stole a few glances at Rode, as if worried about something.

  Do they know each other?

  Taking in the scene before him, Rode finally felt some surprise. To be honest, although he himself gave off a mysterious feeling, Lijie's unknown factor X was indeed not small either. The half-angel bloodline and those experiences that only nobles would understand, now she actually knew Marlin Sanya?

  Judging from this young lady's attitude towards people, Lijie shouldn't be a servant or maid, otherwise Marlin wouldn't have been so enthusiastic about her.

  What is her identity after all?

  "I'm fine, Marlene."

  Noticing Rode's somewhat playful gaze, Lijie felt a wave of panic in her heart, she quickly let go of his hand and deliberately changed the subject.

  "How did you end up here? You weren't in Golden City......"

  "I've already entered the Middle Ring realm, and my mentor wanted me to gain more experience, so I was sent out to travel and accumulate more battle experience. Yesterday, I heard that this place is short-handed, so I came to see if I have any opportunities... And you? Lijie? Why are you here?"

  "I... after that, I've been here." Lijie's voice was very small, as if she feared being heard by Rode, but she quickly raised her head, looking at Marlin with concern.

  "Are you really determined to join the mercenary corps? Marlin, this isn't a game, our mission this time is extremely dangerous..."

  "I've made up my mind, I must join."

  At this time, Marlene had long thrown away the unpleasantness she and Rod had just experienced to the ninth cloud. In her opinion, how could she let go of a good friend from the past who had just been reunited? However, at this moment, Rod poured a basin of cold water on this over-excited lady.

  "Don't be in such a hurry to decide, Miss Marlene, I think you haven't passed my test yet."

  Upon hearing Roderick's words, Marlene's expression turned slightly solemn once again, and she regained her previous serious and haughty demeanor, turning around to gaze at Roderick.

  "Of course, I won't back down, because I also want to see how strong you really are."

  "No problem."

  Rhett had never been one to drag his feet, and Marlyn was apparently a woman of action as well. Once they'd come to an agreement, neither of them wasted any more words, and soon they were out in the garden - while Lizzie still hadn't figured out what exactly had happened.

  "I won't show mercy."

  She quietly said, taking off the outer cloak. At this time, she had returned to being Malin of the Xanthea family, rather than the cheerful and lively girl in front of Liche.

  A luxurious purple robe set off the girl's delicate figure, with floral patterns on the collar and cuffs adorned with family glory. The girl held a short staff inlaid with rubies in her hand, looking so solemn and serious. At this moment, Marlin stood quietly not far from Rod on the ground, lowering her eyes and staring at the ground.

  Elemental Master, Seventh Circle of the Middle Ring... according to player levels, it's around level 15 and above...

  Rode only took one glance to see through Marlin's equipment and grasp her true nature. The ruby was a fire attribute, while Marlin's robe had several protective arrays on it, indicating that the owner of the robe had completely abandoned active defense. From this point alone, combined with his first impression of this young lady, Rode had already roughly guessed her fighting style.

  As the former head of the first public guild, Luo De had fought with many people and was very familiar with this aspect. Not to mention that compared to the casual matching of players, NPCs have a relatively fixed equipment match, so for Luo De, the girl in front of him was almost completely seen through.

  But unlike Roderick's confidence, Marlene felt a bit tongue-tied and at a loss for words.

  Because Rod, who was standing in front of her, didn't make any moves, he didn't draw his sword or take a stance, he just stood there quietly, looking relaxed as if he wasn't fighting at all, but rather waiting for someone.

  This put Marlene in a bit of a dilemma, she wasn't someone who hadn't fought before, but such a childish fight... However, the young lady was still the young lady, although she couldn't grasp what Rod was up to, she quickly turned her mind around and stopped thinking about it. No matter what kind of conspiracy the opponent wanted to concoct, as long as I fought according to my own ideas, then victory would definitely be mine!

  Having thought of this, Marlene made up her mind.

  "Flame!"

  Accompanied by a high-pitched chant, the girl suddenly took half a step forward and raised her staff. A bright red, scorching flame shot out from it, flying straight towards Rode. For a moment, the surrounding air began to heat up, and even the ground flashed with sparks. The weeds were quickly reduced to ashes after being ignited, at a speed that seemed to completely ignore the burning process.

  The raging flames engulfed Rode's figure in an instant, causing the two onlookers to gasp in shock. Unlike them, however, Marlin felt a pang of despair in her heart, for she could clearly sense that she had not hit her target! She missed!

  But genius is still genius after all.

  At the moment she sensed something was amiss, Marlene immediately grasped her staff tightly and then struck it forcefully to the ground.

  "Storm!"

  A fierce whirlwind spun rapidly from the girl's feet, spreading outwards. The sharp air condensed into wind blades, emitting a faint sound. Moreover, in this violent whirlwind, tiny ice dust also appeared from time to time, adding several icy breaths.

  A daughter is always a daughter.

  Looking at Marlin's performance, Rod couldn't help but shake his head and sigh. In the game, mages were one of the strongest professions, and now in reality, they were still so formidable. Although strictly speaking, Marlin was only five levels higher than Rod, but looking at her current destructive power - two Rods wouldn't be able to match it.

  There was a saying circulating among players that when a mage PKs, he doesn't even need to look at where the enemy is. As long as he uses all his skills, even if he dies, he can at least drag an opponent down with him.

  It can be seen from this that the profession of Fa Shi is so powerful and terrifying.

  But for Rode, although Marlene performed well, she was not invincible. The most obvious thing is that she actually didn't know what she was doing at this time. In fact, while Marlene was attacking, Rode had already activated Shadow Flash and arrived at her back dead angle, lurking there quietly. Marlene's first reaction was quick, she quickly gave up the attack, released Storm Guard to avoid being ambushed by the opponent, but - if she couldn't find the source of the threat soon, just passively defending would only have a counterproductive effect.

  Rod's right hand flipped over and then he suddenly swung forward.