In addition to Spring Not Late and Gold-Class Assassin, Rita had gathered several materials over the years. After practicing a few times, her success rate for the former was 60%, while for the latter, it had risen above 90%. This had already met the standards Lucia had set for her.
She had also thoroughly studied the notes Hecipah had given her. Combined with her knowledge of the various fruits and plants from the Oak Owl, she even created several intermediate potions. The effects weren't groundbreaking—they were all already available on the market—but they at least proved she had genuine creative ability, rather than just being able to mimic others' formulas.
The biggest harvest, however, came from the Moon Sand.
From 7207 to 7217, over the course of ten years, Rita used the advanced Moonlight Cut once a month. During the first year, her right eye almost became like a galaxy itself. No one, not even she and Nivalis, could figure out how much Moon Sand had accumulated inside. Nivalis jokingly wondered aloud, "Does it mean you have to kill me for it to open?"
Rita had playfully replied that this might be the case, and warned Nivalis to be prepared. For five minutes, Nivalis refused to speak to her.
By the end of the first year, still having no clue how to make use of the Moonlight Cut, Rita decisively gave up on the experiment. She realized that the Divine Gift, attributes, and equipment of her current body couldn't be taken with her. The Moon Sand couldn't just stay in her eye either. While it was fine to experiment with a small amount, too much could lead to a waste of resources. What if she used it all up and then couldn't find more? It would be too late to regret it.
Thus, she focused on the Moon Sand she had already accumulated.
By the second year, she fed her right eye's Moon Sand to Wrathful Moon, and the progress toward upgrading instantly soared to 120g/10000g.
Ah, the joy of making progress without having to split it with Eclipse Vanguard. It felt far more satisfying than when she'd gotten it through cooperation.
On average, she could only obtain 10 points of Moon Sand per month, which was a bit scarce, but after giving the Moon Sand to Wrathful Moon, not only did the upgrade progress increase, but it also gained the Essence!
That time, Rita's Essence surged by 60 points, and Nivalis gained 24 points.
Now, after ten years, under the always-glowing cheerful moonlight in her lantern, a thick layer of Moon Sand had accumulated: 1200g/10000g.
As for her Essence, even though she consumed 1 point every month, she had already accumulated 1362 points.
Plenty of firepower! Once she was out of here, she could unleash over a thousand bursts.
One evening, Rita and Nivalis casually picked a Mu Tree, flying up to its top to gather some Moon Sand.
After skillfully making a hand gesture, the virtual night sky of High Tower instantly faded, revealing the true night sky of the Eternal Night Fortress beyond.
Before her eyes even had a chance to feel any discomfort, Nivalis' expert-level Essence skill landed on her.
The night sky returned to its previous state. The Moonlight Cut didn't turn the area into a moonless void. Perhaps Moon Sand had replaced the lost moonlight.
Nivalis asked, "Is your right eye still unchanged?"
Rita gently rubbed her right eye. "Yeah, it might not be used this way." She recalled the strange races she had encountered when chasing down auction house intruders—maybe this skill was just a means of extracting moonlight?
Nivalis sighed in disappointment, "I thought your eye would mutate, and you'd be able to use illusions."
Rita had also hoped so. It sounded really cool, and a lot safer…
She took out the lantern and fed the Moon Sand to Wrathful Moon. Although it was called Moon Sand and had a tangible form, it acted like moonlight, passing through the lampshade and "falling" onto Wrathful Moon.
The upgrade progress increased to: 1210g/10000g.
The next day, following Shadow.Q's message, Rita and Nivalis arrived at the agreed-upon location. By the time they landed, Shadow.Q and Sanchez were already there.
Nearly ten years had passed since they last saw each other. Sanchez seemed unchanged, or rather, neither Sanchez nor Rita had changed much.
The difference wasn't in their appearance but in their demeanor.
Over the past decade, their routine hadn't deviated much—taking on assassination missions and collecting specific items. Their life was essentially just a series of endless battles.
Rita spent half her time on alchemy, but it wasn't too different. It was all about immersing herself in one thing.
Nivalis hadn't changed much either, still looking like a somewhat foolish young dragon.
Their lives had been simple and monotonous, just like students constantly drilling practice problems. Their solitary wolf-like existence involved constant killing. They didn't socialize or interact with others, so naturally, they hadn't changed much. Most people's so-called "growth" often came from dealing with others, but Rita and Nivalis had stayed away from that.
Shadow.Q, however, had changed a lot. There were now two deep lines between her eyebrows…
Such an intense aura! How could someone do so much work, fighting dungeons and completing missions, and still carry such a strong sense of authority?
Rita and Sanchez both stared at Shadow.Q's forehead lines for a moment.
With a smile, Shadow.Q turned to Sanchez and said, "One of them's from you. Thanks."
After Shadow.Q killed three members of Eclipse Vanguard and left, the trust between the factions had started to crumble. Besides, anyone willing to take on a High Tower mission likely had ambitions, trying to use it to rise up. Shadow.Q had worked hard to maintain stability among them.
Sanchez looked up at the sky, pretending not to hear. Her mom always said that if someone really wanted to stop someone else from doing something, they wouldn't just talk. At the time, Shadow.Q hadn't even used a skill to remove someone; who was she trying to fool?
The three of them pulled out the specific items they had gathered.
Both Rita and Sanchez had collected dozens of items, from levels 15 to 60, ranging across all tiers. After all, in these missions, they would always encounter various exotic races, so collecting items was just part of the job. However, they were missing three key items: the first tail of the Moon Fox, Candlebeast's fire, and the Undead Heart of a Deathspring.
These three items were handed over to Shadow.Q to procure from the exotic races. Over the years, as she gathered intelligence, Shadow.Q had also collected these three rare items, eventually buying three 20-level sets from the greedy Oak Owls.
Shadow.Q didn't want to deal with assassinations, but the teams tasked with shutting down dungeon barriers were well-equipped, and their first response to an ambush wasn't to fight back, but to flee to preserve their gear.
Thus, she had to rely on buying them out—an entire team at a time.
However, she still hadn't figured out how to get her hands on the Candlebeast's Fire. Even though she was an Oak Owl herself, it didn't help—after all, she was a traitor.
For the past ten years, the Oak Owls and the exotic races had been at war, with Oak Owls closing more and more dungeon barriers. They claimed that these barriers were now occupied by the Oak Owls and had moved to the High Tower.
However, from the battlefield's situation, even now, it seemed like the conflict was still in a stalemate, with both sides equally matched. It wasn't clear what would lead to the Oak Owls successfully joining Lania Kaia.
Perhaps the key to determining the war's outcome still lay with Pine Bloom, Maple Syrup, and Peach Crown in the top-tier battlefield.