Chapter 213: Nosy Zixuan*
Moving his gaze away from the transparent blue screen that was directing him to the property management office, Xinya turned his attention to the corner of his interface window. Because this was where he could see the names of his friends on the party list.
The others might have wondered why he never canceled the party since making it, but the answer was quite simple. Staying inside of a party is just good for a multitude of things.
Such as it's a good way to consistently know the health status of his friends, and because they are in a party with him, he would always be able to find them on his map. But besides that, he could also tell when they are connected to his call.
Although it wasn't the most useful of party skills he still thought it was handy. So as he walked down the cobbled road he kept an eye on all of their connection bars as they went from red to green with a smile on his face.
Only to be startled seconds later by the loud sounds of chattering people and other background noises coming out over from their end, blasting in his ear. After turning down the call's volume Xinya was about to speak when Melting Snow's lively voice beat him to it.
"I was just talking about you, Drifting Cloud, with my cousin!" the boy exclaimed from his place in line. It had finally started to move once he started the call, and he couldn't wait until he was able to taste those cookies.
Xinya let out a sigh of relief at the boy's words, happy that Melting Snow wasn't wandering around the town by himself. Although he could just regularly check the boy's whereabouts on the map if he needed to, he knew that sometimes he would be too busy and only God knows what the boy could get up to during those moments.
"Oh? Were you now?" Xinya asked a tad puzzled about why Melting Snow would be inserting him in his conversation with his cousin.
Melting Snow bobbed his head ecstatically at Xinya's words while moving up a space in the line. He could feel the anticipation rush through him as he started getting ever closer to the stall.
"You know that he can't see you, right kiddo?" Zixuan chuckled from his position next to the boy in the line. He couldn't help but wonder if the boy knew that he had his call open for him to hear.
Zixuan had a feeling that he didn't, he will have to make sure to tell him later though. It would be bad if someone other than himself listened in on his conversations.
He would be more worried now that someone could be listening in, but with how loud the chatter was in the alley and how low his cousin's friends were speaking, he deemed it safe enough. Plus he kind of wanted to check out these people.
"Oh right." gasped Melting Snow smacking himself on the forehead in embarrassment. Turning his attention back to the call, the boy with a sheepish grin said, "Yeah I was! I wanted to tell you something very exciting!"
"Exciting, huh? Did something good happen to you, snow boy?" Questioned Wei in a teasing lilt.
Wandering Sound who was walking towards their meeting place smiled at the happy voices of his friends. Glad that it seems that at least things were going alright for them. Deciding to chime in as well he said, "He probably found some delicious food that he wants Drifting Cloud to recreate."
"I told you not to call me that, Roaming Wind, and no Wandering Sound the exciting thing isn't about food this time," huffed Melting Snow.
These words caused Zixuan who could hear everything to chuckle even more. Causing the furry eared boy at hIs side to realize that he still had the settings of his call open to everyone and his cousin didn't tell him.
Rolling his eyes at the nosy man, he tweaked his settings so that the call could only be heard by people he had on his friend list. Zixuan who was signaled to the change just smirked, raising an eyebrow.
Melting Snow thought about just making it so that only he could hear the group chat, but he also wanted his cousin to see how nice his friends were. Especially Drifting Cloud since he wants them both to join the man's guild.
"Stop teasing him, you two." Xinya chided Wei and Wandering Sound gently. "Come on Melting Snow tell me your exciting news."
A bright smile graced Melting Snow's features as soon as he heard Drifting Cloud standing up for him. It was like he proved his nonexistent point that his friend was the best.
"You know how you sent me that picture earlier of that child-sized ancient armor? Well, I showed my cousin it and he said he would make me one of my own!" Melting Snow told them excitedly.
Unbeknownst to both of them, Zixuan who was listening in, unlike the previous time, felt a spark of interest light up within him. For some reason, he really wanted to get to know this Drifting Cloud person and see why he was acting so protective over his cousin. He really wants to know if the reasons were really pure or if it is something else entirely.
Either way, since they will be staying in Arkala he will be able to find out soon. For his sake, he hopes that the man is as genuine as his cousin describes him to be.
"That's actually really awesome," Wei blurted out before Xinya could even speak.
"It sure is!" exclaimed Xinya who was turning down a side street that would lead him to the property management office. "But wouldn't he need the design pattern to do that?"
Making his presence known once again, Wandering Sound said, "That's not how it works. A blacksmith with a high enough level can create their own patterns."
"Really? I never knew that. Would a tailor be able to do that as well?" Xinya asked while thinking of Wei.
Melting Snow who was also curious turned to look at his cousin questioningly. When the man inclined his head yes for both questions, the boy took it upon himself to answer, "My cousin said that they would be able too."
"That's awesome, I can't wait to be able to do that!" Wei exclaimed with a smile. Although she was terrible at drawing now, who knows after taking some classes she might become passable later.
The group continued to chat, Wei telling them about her skills, Wandering Sound complaining about not being able to get the boating skill right now, and Melting Snow bragging about some delicious cookies he was finally able to get. This went on for 20 minutes until Xinya finally made it to the property management office building.
"Guys I need to go, I arrived at my location," Xinya announced while looking at the glowing red dot on his map signaling that he had reached his destination. "I'll call you all back once I'm done alright?"
"Alright, you know where we will be. Well me and Wandering Sound at least," Wei said while practically skipping her way back to the meeting place.
Melting Snow who was chowing down on the Water Snocket cookies knew that her words were meant for him, but just ignored her teasing, "Drifting Cloud are you going to take us to your farm after you buy it?"
"Yeah, if it doesn't be too dark," Xinya told the boy.
"Awesome," replied Melting Snow with his mouth full. "I'll get my cousin to drop me off at the meeting place as soon as we are done eating."