MMORPG: Rise of the Peerless Pumpkinmancer

376  Legendary Treasure?! "Not there, not there either. How about this piece?" At the bottom of the sea, a duo tirelessly worked on what looked like an intricate puzzle. After clearing more mirages than they could even count, they had finally done it. [Collected all Water-Generating Pearl Fragments!] [New Quest! Piece them all together!] "Woo!" (This is impossible!)

[Treasure Reconstruction Is Not Meant to be Easy!] This thing wasn't just hard, is was unbelievably difficult. Every individual fragment looked the bloody same: small, blue, ancient-looking. It was akin to trying to piece back a pack of minced beef into the animal it once was. This kind of thing would undoubtedly require a specialist! "Woo?!" (Should we ask the water man?) "Pfft— You mean the elemental? This could probably work…but I actually have another idea…." Jack remarked as he approached the destroyed ships. After completing the mirages and looting everything, the poor vessels were only shells from their previous selves, the time magic losing effectiveness by the second. "Here, come help me with this…." "Woo!" (Aye, aye, Captain!) Jack quickly began setting up a magic circle, linking one ship to the other. Before long, there was a long chain of them, all meeting up at the very center of the area. He quickly deposited all the pearl fragments in the very middle, then gestured to Moon Moon. "At my command, run from ship to ship, a thin veil of mana around you.

[?!?] "Ready? Set! … Go!" "Woooo!" (Let's race!) The two troublemakers ran all across the area in opposite directions. As they ran next to the remnant time curses, the magic activated, chasing after them! Magic circle —> Magic Conductive Properties! The golden energy was akin to hungry ghosts! They would make the ones that had caused their demise pay! The latter quickly retreated back to the fragments, but now they were surrounded from all sides! They felt like they were suddenly at the eye of the storm! [Host…Is drawing power out of the enemies?!] [For an Instant, Time is Flowing Backward…] Under the wolf's shiny eyes, the fragments suddenly began floating by themselves. Then their time began reversing as they went from being fragments to the whole thing! [You've Created a Mirage!] [The Pearl Is Whole Once Again!] < Legendary Water-Generating Pearl !💧 > The final product glowed akin to a jewel, a soft power emanating from it. It seemed to fuse with the water, and a gentle current materialized as if celebrating its existence. "Woo!" (This is so beautiful! Almost as much as meat!) "Beautiful? Yes, but it's about to revert its state! Hurry up. We got work to do!" Jack screamed in response, handing the little wolf a large bottle. On the bottle, there was a short label: "Super Glue!". This was something his team of blacksmiths had come up with back in the day, and he had been the one to name it… [Are You Really Going To…?!]

Under the system's horrified gaze, Jack didn't hesitate one bit to smear the smelliest and ugliest gray glue ever all over the treasure. He was totally ruining it! That's when the power of the time-magic finally ran out, the curses disappearing after being squeezed dry. This left behind a mess of an artifact. ["Repaired" Legendary Water-Pearl!] [Obtained Crude Used-to-be-Legendary Water-Sphere!] This had to be a bloody crime against History and an insult to whichever hero had crafted such a masterpiece initially. It couldn't have been uglier nor shoddier! "Woo?" (Did that work?) "Of course it did! Look at that beauty! Ta-da-da!" Jack shamelessly showcased the thing, not minding its dreadful appearance one bit, the little wolf doing a victory dance. [….] As for the effects: 1. Control Water! 2. Summon a Water D̶r̶a̶g̶o̶n̶ Turtle! 3. Increases Power of Aquatic Lifeforms by 2̶0̶0̶4̶%̶ ̶ 42%! 4. Grant Access to the Water Realm W̶h̶e̶n̶e̶v̶e̶r̶ ̶R̶e̶q̶u̶i̶r̶e̶d̶ With Corresponding Key! He could have obtained a water dragon pet?! How awesome was that! It seemed like a few options had been changed because of the rushed repair work. Yet, he didn't seem to mind… "Here, look at this!" With a wave of his hand, Jack generated an upward current that instantly made them float! "Woo!" (It's like we're flying! No need to even wave my paws!) [You Just Missed a Golden Opportunity!] [Aren't You Bothered By the Result?!] "Missed opportunity? The fragments were 100% useless on their own, and it won't be too late to reforge the whole thing later on." Jack shrugged. In any case, it wouldn't be easy even to find anyone with the skills to work on the damn thing in the first place. Bother about possibilities? Nope! He'd simply enjoy what he had! "Are you ready to soar?" "Woo!" (Hell yeah!) Not long afterward, a wriggling mass of "Cleaners" flew in the Abyss akin to a swarm of insects. The scene was incredibly terrifying, given the creepy laughs that came along!

The two couldn't see shit from the inside of their bug suit, but that didn't stop them from having the time of their life… Then they finally erupted out of the Abyss. "Hehe, did you see that?! Want to try it too?" Jack happily turned toward Pumpkin Girl's position, radiating joy. But there was something wrong, hella wrong… Foreign voices welcomed them… "What the heck are those?!" "Who cares! Attack them already!" "Look! The treasure's in his hand! Grab it!" What?! Not only wasn't Pumpkin Girl there but there were many soldiers! They had the entire area surrounded and were already closing in!

How?! Had they been followed here without knowing?! Were they tracking one of their party members?! Had they found the treasure location somehow else?! All that mattered at that instant was to GTFO! He'd use the water pearl, get the heck out of there, and find Pumpkin Girl wherever she was being held!

But he suddenly stopped himself as he heard the soldiers. "Give up already! We already captured your girl!" "Pfft— Give up, fight… it's all the same!" "Taste my SPEAR!!!!" A soldier was already thrusting at him with a sharp coral weapon. Jack easily blocked the strike and was about to send the fool flying when he forcefully stopped himself. That other soldier seemed to be telling the truth: they had Pumpkin Girl! Was there even a point in running away without her? Nope! A foolish idea slowly settled in his mind. What if he voluntarily got captured? Chances were that they'd bring him to the same place that she was being held, right? The only issue would be escaping afterward. He'd probably have to escape a literal fortress. Was that something he could even do?! Actually perhaps… He hurriedly played with his inventory as he washed off the last bit of brown paste covering himself. He was finally wholly revealed, the creatures scurrying away. Hearing their threats, Jack came down, gesturing Moon Moon to do the same… He raised his arms high up, dropped the shiniest pearl ever, and even started begging for his life. "No need to fight. I'll follow you guys." He was now totally defenseless… A second later, a soldier tackled him to the ground, Jack landing face first in the sand. The enemies quickly handcuffed him with sea algae, even taunting him afterward. "Hehe, how the mighty has fallen!" "That's what he gets for offending Gargan and trying to steal a mermaid treasure." "Look how shiny this thing is! Yep, it doesn't belong with a human-looking bastard! Can you believe how much we'll get for it?!" They were already overcome by greed; their egos inflated to the max. After all, they had just taken down a man that had received 2 mermaid marriage proposals! They were all laughing their asses off at his misfortune….except one. A shy guard softly spoke up. "G-guys, I think this pearl's fake. He was holding one way uglier before…." Yep, the one they were holding was just a random treasure he had. Its appearance was as great as its lack of usefulness, the complete opposite of the real reconstructed pearl. The guy was obviously right, but Jack could exploit the man's insecurities! "Yes, YES! He's right! That one's a fake! I hid the real one earlier! If you let me go, I'll tell you about it!" Jack shouted, sounding as desperate as humanly possible. "Pfft— Do you take us for complete morons?!" "G-guys, I swear that this one's really—" The shy guy tried to speak, another cutting him off. "What an idiot! We searched him and his surroundings. There's nowhere he could have hidden it!" The new guy was even scoffing at the ridiculousness of the idea. The fools quickly shut the shy guy down, not understanding that the real thing was neatly tucked in Jack's inventory. They could have gotten it so quickly too… [Reminder: The Water-Pearl Will Drop Upon Death!] Evidently, those soldiers weren't used to dealing with the Braves and their tricks. They didn't suspect a thing, even when Jack started using it right before their eyes. His hands were locked, but Jack could still summon the cleaner-attracting brown paste in his hands. As they walked, he discreetly spread it on their trail as if cookie crumbs. Jack couldn't help but inwardly chuckle: One small step for man, one ever-expanding Cleaner highway! Captors and prisoners thus kept progressing at a brisk pace… Finally, they arrived at the castle… Soon he'd know what had happened to his mermaid "allies". Had they simply betrayed him, or had they been strong-armed into inaction? Either way, they had betrayed him… "Hehe, are you ready to suffer?" A soldier chuckled evilly, enjoying the look of fright on Jack's face. Little did he know, Jack could have asked him the very same question… The trap I had planned for them wasn't that big deal. Still, I was expecting it to make quite the impact simply because of the circumstances. After all, it's all about the execution... ClasslessAscension

Creator's Thought

🔥🐉 August Madness🐉🔥  Nôv(el)B\\jnn