《New Earth- A world of Chaos》 1 Crisis 11 April 2050, Somewhere in the Indian Ocean -Alert! Alert! Please evacuate the facilities immediately -"What the hell is happening? wasn''t everything under control?" -"I don''t know Dr, the experiment was going well but the reagents suddenly began to behave abnormally" -"Quick! Run! The isolating equipment won''t last for long" -"Too late, we won''t be able to get away, this type of explosion will cause a chain reaction to the neighboring laboratories too" Australia, Perth A couple was enjoying the calm weather, walking silently on the beach while holding hands. Everything was normal, a lot of tourists were also enjoying themselves, children were screaming while making splashes in the sea. When suddenly, the ground started vibrating. It was quickly followed by a deafening sound wave. When looking at the horizon, they were able to see a massive cloud of smoke looking like a mushroom but they did not have time to enjoy this view as below that mushroom was a giant water wave rushing towards the coast. 12 April 2050, UN Headquarters -"I told you it was a bad idea to experiment on nuclear fusion, we should have never passed that resolution" -"Yes we should have put emphasis on the other green energies instead of nuclear" Chairperson: "Cough cough! Delegates! Please maintain the decorum" Immediately, the meeting room became quiet. Chairperson: "I declare this session open, we are here to discuss the incident that happened yesterday in Laboratory 39. According to the report, an abnormal reaction occurred leading to leakage of the reactors. All the scientists dispatched there lost their lives and that''s without counting the casualties caused by the tsunami." Chairperson: "We need to give an answer to the people. There is also a report from the rescue team that says that the radiation level is extremely high in the Indian Ocean and that they are still spreading. We are certain to have a large number of refugees from the countries near the area. This is an emergency so please express your thoughts. Since it is an exceptional situation, we will be more lenient about the decorum so please speak freely" Delegate of France: " Ladies and gentlemen, I think that it is clear that we need to proceed with the Protocol 49! The Special Refuges are the only way we can protect ourselves from the radiations. I believe that every country did make their own preparations in case of such disaster" Delegate of the USA: " I disagree with that, we don''t know how far the radiations will spread, we should wait for more information before taking such an important decision " Delegate of France: " There is no harm in being cautious,...." ..... After several hours of boring debates, it was finally agreed that Protocol 49 will be followed, every nation will guide their own citizens in the refuges of their country within 1 month. The blue helmets will provide assistance to help in the migration and distribution of resources. Finally, an old man coughed loudly showing his desired to express himself Delegate of China: "Ladies and gentleman, I have a proposition to make... You might not be aware, but my family''s company, VALOR is about to release a new VR game System called the Valor Dive, we don''t know how long we will have to stay in the refuges. So, my proposition is to mass produce the Valor Dive system, it comes with a special game capsule that fully immerses the player in the game making it extremely realistic" Delegate of China: "With some funding, I believe we will be able to improve our servers to accommodate for the whole world''s population and redesign the capsule to put the bodies in hibernation using cryogenic technologies. We don''t know what will be left of the surface when we will finally be able to come out, so we can use this game to not only spend time efficiently but also select our future leaders. We all know that the situation will be different once we come back to the surface, we will need fresh blood to restore humanity''s glory. The game is realistic and only the most dedicated and skilled people will be able to succeed in it." Delegate of China: "I believe we can add useful contents such as Kingdom Building and crafting in the game, it was one of the planned expansions for the incoming years but with enough help, we will be able to complete the coding in time. Please have a look at this document, it contains details of the game we were planning on releasing." Some secretaries quickly moved across the room and delivered few pages thick documents to each delegate and the chairperson. The room was quickly filled with noises of pages being flipped. After a few minutes, delegate of the USA: " I don''t know... We need more time to study this document. How will you ensure fairness in this process? Can this really be done? How will it operate if we are all in hibernation? " Delegate of China: "Why not let every country send a team of programmers to check out coding? As for the operation, I believe that we can use the recently developed AI to ensure fairness and the correct flow of the game. To be honest, the early game content is already developed and perfected so we only need to work on later content more specifically that after level 40. We can also develop a crafting system so that we don''t end up with only people obsessed with strength. " -"Mmmmm" Delegate of Germany: "We don''t know what will happen afterward but we definitely need to remain united to survive this crisis. A competition is appropriate but we need further details before accepting this proposition" Delegate of South Korea: "This game occurs in a technology-less environment which is good as we might end up with one when we wake up. But I don''t see the need for the magic part" Delegate of China: "Our game is not only used to select leaders, remember that we will have 3 billion people playing during this period of time. The fantasy part can be used as entertainment for them." The chairperson nodded and added: " this looks feasible but we need to discuss this in more details in our session tomorrow. And with this, the session is adjourned, thank you for your presence" 13 April 2050 After a lot more debates, the proposition of the delegate of China was passed and immediately, a large amount of funding and team of software engineers and programmers were sent to VALOR. This massive project was given the name "Hope" as it symbolized the hope of the entire planet. Another report also came in with estimation that the entire planet will be covered in radiations above the tolerance level within one month. A global message was diffused, alerting the world of the events and telling people to stay calm and prepare their belongings for the migration. The message ended with "Unfortunately, due to space limitations, pets will have to be abandoned and only limited amount of belongings will be accepted, we advise you to carry only one luggage of the size that is accepted in low-cost flights" 20 April 2050 After one week of hard work, the game codes for Kingdom Building were finally ready, a large number of modifications was also made to the system and the Beta phase started. The game capsule was also fully operational and could put the body in hibernation, a system was also added to supply the necessary nutrients to the player''s body when needed. Martial law was set up in most countries to prevent crime and illegal migrations. While several attempts to calm down the population were made, the tension just kept rising 27 April 2050 Another week went by quickly and the Beta phase came to an end. Many bug fixes and improvements were made and the crafting system was implemented. Of course, shady businesses such as leaking the content of the game also occurred. Several governments won''t easily let go of their rule and will try to obtain a head start and come out as the winner of the game. But to prevent such things from happening, the programmers were divided into several departments and had no idea of what the others were doing. Even the owners, VALOR only had access to limited amount of information. Migration to refuges also officially begun. The game capsule was already being mass produced and could start operating. People in these capsules were only hibernating and did not have access to the game, but for them, it will seem as if the game started as soon as they entered the capsule. Registrations were also made as several types of capsule were made with different grades. This is to distinguish between the population namely Low-class, Middle-class, High-class, VIP. The first 3 types were distributed according to the people''s income while VIP capsules were made especially for some world leaders but to ensure fairness, only 3 of these capsules were given per country and could only be used by the young generation. The different capsules were exactly the same in term of functionality but each class came up with a small bonus and obviously, the better the capsule, the better the bonus is. 2 May 2050 The migration process was 80% completed. Things went pretty smoothly, some attempt at resisting the forceful migration were made, this mainly includes old people but the governments simply ignored them and allowed them to stay at their home. The last game fixes were being made and the servers were finally ready to be launched. The AI fully took control of the server. It took total control of the server and could no longer be interfered with. It was programmed to implement in-game content as the players grow and increase their levels. It was also given full authority on the control of the refuges and will automatically wake up the players when the radiations fall under acceptable norms. The AI was also given the name of Gaia, a Greek name representing the personification of Earth 5 May 2050 The migration process was fully completed and all refuges were sealed to prevent entry of radiations. Most people were already in the capsule only a select few were sitting in a special room in their respective refuge. -"Ladies and gentlemen, here we are! After 3 weeks of work, Project Hope was completed. According to my family, VALOR would have taken at least 1 year to fully complete the additional content of the game. This shows how humanity can produce miracles when we unite" -"This is the end, I wish you all best of luck, let''s meet again in the game or even later when we wake up." -"Farewell" -"Good luck!" The old man quickly turned off the screen and stood up. Behind him, another old man in military uniform was standing near the door. He quickly opened it and the pair walked out to another private room. In it, was several High-class capsules as well as one VIP capsule. Upon passing the latter, the delegate of China calmly caressed it and said "Now it''s all up to you grandson, may you bring glory to our family" He then walked to the opened high-class capsule next to the VIP one and laid down in it. He then let out a wry smile and looked at the man in uniform. " This is goodbye brother, I don''t know if we will meet again but I am glad to have met you". Not waiting for an answer, he closed his eyes and activated the capsule isolating him from the rest of the world. The man in uniform remained expressionless and did not say anything. Instead, he walked out and went to the adjacent control room. Looking at the screen, he let out a sigh and took off his military cap. With trembling hands, he slowly approached the control panel and pressed the only red button. -"Launching server" -"Launch success, all systems operational" -"Begin Game " New Earth " While all this was happening, in one of the deepest rooms of a refuge, a youth was lying there in deep slumber. He was 18 years old and was in final year of high school when the disaster occurred. Being an orphan, he should have been allocated a low-class capsule but while studying, he was also a dedicated gamer that spent hours and hours grinding in the most popular MMORPGs of the time and with that he was able to get quite a bit of income. However it was not enough to be promoted to obtain a middle-class capsule but coupled with his outstanding academic performance and his situation, the AI predicted that he will have a bright success and he was therefore given a chance to be promoted. For him, the moment he activated the capsule all he experienced was: -"Connection success, commencing full dive" -"User identified as Li Wei" -"Welcome to New Earth" 2 Seven -"Welcome to New Earth" Li Wei opened his eyes and found himself standing in the middle of a small room. He calmly examined this new environment, in front of him was a giant screen with these words. The room was empty, except for the screen, a door on his left and a bed behind him. The screen quickly continued to play accompanied by an epic background music : - "Greetings human, welcome to New Earth. Zero, a once flourishing planet is now at the mercy of monsters. Humans once ruled most of the planet but greed is the root of all evil, they could not be satisfied with what they had and the great empires fought each other. After countless wars, when humans were at their weakest, came the other races; the elves, the dwarves, the mermaids... all tried to expand their territories and 10 years later came the invasion of monsters from other worlds " - "Realising their mistakes, humans unified themselves and with this accumulation of power, they were able to resist the assault of monsters. But it was too late and more than 75% of the population perished in all these wars, now only 10 empires are still standing." - "Zero is now ruled by monsters, each race can only defend their own territories. It is a land full of mysteries and magic, the possibilities are endless, it is up to you to make you of your own ingenuity, skills, and talents to survive in this world. Be it exploring, fighting, crafting... everything is possible. You chose your own destiny, Zero is waiting for you" This was undoubtedly the usual introduction texts one would see when opening a game for the first time. It was very vague but could still bring excitement to the heart of the players. A bright light suddenly appeared in front of the door and a young lady appeared. With one look, one could say she wasn''t human. To begin with, she was floating above the ground and coming from behind her back was 2 white angelic wings. Apart from this, she was the epitome of beauty, the gentle type of beauty from which you could not help but steal a glance. She was wearing a long white dress and her blonde hair came up to her waist. She calmly looked towards Li Wei and said: -"Greetings Li Wei" Li Wei was mesmerized by the sudden appearance of a beauty but he quickly got himself together and answered: -"Hello sister, may I know who you are?" -"I am Gaia, the person in charge of New Earth. I came to help you understand your situation before you are sent to Zero" -"Oh? Isn''t it like the usual MMORPG?" -"Indeed, the storyline and goal are similar to the ones you played before, but there are also new additions and unique features. So please bear with me while I explain but since you seem to be familiar with MMORPGs, I will skip the usual part. What is special about New Earth is its realism, you are absolutely free to do any actions you want, for example when fighting, you are not restricted to the given move sets but can also derive your own moves and combos, you can also use your environment to your advantage. NPCs are also given personalities and can think, they are not brainless figures that constantly repeat the same thing. To further stimulate reality, you will also feel pain and fatigue if you fight for too long, there is also...New Earth will also constantly be evolving so you should continuously improve yourself and become stronger" -"I understand, it is similar to one of those MMORPGs found in web novels" -"More or less, yes. Before you ask me any more questions, please create your own character. Have a look at the screen" At that moment, the screen flickered and displayed a 3D hologram of Li Wei. It was identical to the real one. The human figure was 177cm tall with black hair and dark brown eyes. There was a timer at the top left of the screen indicating 1:50:59 and next to the character were written: Name:??? Race: Human Level: 1 (0/500) Class: None Title: None HP: 60/60 MP/ Energy: 50/50 Strength: 6 Dexterity: 7 Vitality: 6 Intelligence: 5 Wisdom: 6 Stat Points available: 2 Skills: None [Information] Increasing strength increases the physical damage inflicted per strike and Increasing dexterity increases the attack speed, reaction speed, and movement speed Increasing Vitality increases the amount of HP, HP is calculated by Vitality*10 Increasing Intelligence increases the amount of MP, MP is calculated by Intelligence*10 Increasing Wisdom increases the magical damage inflicted per spell You were granted 2 bonus stat points since you are using a Middle-Class capsule. Please allocate them to your desired stat --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Li Wei did not know but his attributes were pretty good, in average people would obtain a total of 27 starting points based on their physique. But Li Wei obtained 30, this was due to his diligent work at keeping a fit body by doing some training every day. Although he wasn''t muscular, he was in decent shape. As for the bonus stat points, the Middle class gave 2, the High class gave 4 while VIP gave 6 bonus points. It wasn''t much but it was just one of the advantages the difference in capsule provided. -"This is your character, please choose a name and allocate your stat points. You can also make some changes to your appearance but we won''t tolerate a distorted appearance, we can only allow up to 10% change in appearance. " -"Ok got it, however, can I have more information about the game before do my customization, I know about the different classes but I would like to have more specific information before allocating my points" -"Of course that''s understandable, first use your index and do a downward motion, it will open up an interface. From that, you can access your storage and find an item titled "Basic Information". It contains all information about the lore, the different classes, and some advice, there is also a small guide attached to it, it was made by a group of Beta testers." Li Wei quickly did what she told him to do and pressed the icon of "Basic Information". It turned into holographic pages that floated in front of him. -"You can take your time and read through the information, every player is given a buffer period of 2 hours before starting the game. As you can see at the top of the screen there is a timer showing how long is left before the start. You can do whatever you want as long as everything is ready when it reaches zero. Additionally, you can also access the forum through your interface, it is useful if you want to ask other players. With that I will be going, just say my name if you need more information, I will also come 5 minutes before the end of the countdown for the last minute review." After that she slowly became transparent, she made a smile and then completely disappeared. Li Wei did not lose time, he quickly sat on the bed and started reading through the information. Even though he had 2 hours available that wasn''t enough if he wanted to correctly plan his path. Li Wei did not like to face the unknown, he liked to always plan ahead, such was his nature but he had to admit that this situation was quite exciting. Being an experienced player, Li Wei did not need long to get the information he needed and it was quite disappointing. Upon reaching level 5, players could choose between 6 main classes namely Warrior, Paladin, Mage, Ranger, Rogue and Priest. They were common classes in RPGs. Li Wei had a lot of experience playing and knew which stat to prioritize in each class. He did not really mind which class to play but since he was a solo player, he was more inclined towards Rogue that usually walk alone or a balanced class like Warrior. "Never mind, let''s decide after reading the forum, I might find something interesting" Unfortunately, he found nothing interesting, the forum was full of posts like "Excited for New Earth", "Let''s go save Zero", "Why can''t we change race... I wanted to be an elf",... Disappointed, Li Wei resumed reading the rest of the information, especially the beginner guide compiled by the Beta Testers, it contained some information about the beginner''s village. But since the play time was short, they themselves did not get a lot of insight in the game, out of the 5000 Beta Testers, none of them were able to leave the beginner''s village, the highest level player was named Shadow Tiger and only reached level 8 after the one-week playtest. 30 minutes before the end of the countdown, Li Wei finally stood up and approached the screen. He decided that upon reaching level 5, he would go with Warrior, facing the unknown, it was better to have a balanced character. He then decisively added the 2 points to Strength before he started doubting his choice again. He then made some minor modification to his character, just enough so that people won''t directly recognize him; longer nose, bigger eyes, lighter skin tone, slight changes to his body profile. Li Wei wasn''t especially good-looking, you could say he was slightly above average, and so was his new look, he did not really mind his appearance so only slightly changed it. He liked to be alone sometimes, he wasn''t a loner and actually socialize quite well, but he did enjoy the time he spent alone playing his games. "And now all that''s left is the hardest, finding a good name..." "There is still 20 minutes left, let''s read the lore, maybe I will find some inspirations" The lore wasn''t very interesting, it only vaguely described each war that happened, how some heroes rose up from the masses but ended up falling in battle, in the Dominion Empire, only 1 Guardian Hero is still alive and is now the Grand Commander of the royal army. It had to be known that each person''s provided "Basic Information" was different. Since each player would spawn in different villages in different empires, each player was given the lore of his empire and in the case of Li Wei, it was the Dominion Empire. -"Hello again Li Wei" -"Ahh it''s you, I did not expect time to pass so quickly" Gaia chuckled and quickly said, "I see that you have not yet chosen your character''s name, is there an issue?" -"Not really, it is just the lack of inspiration and the names I tried were all already taken, so..." She smiled "I understand. But if you do not find anything before the end of the countdown, I will have to allocate you a name of my choice" "That will be my pleasure, after all the name given by such a beauty can only be the best fitted," said Li Wei while stealing a glance at Gaia''s face to see her reaction. However the latter remained expressionless. -"Anyway, let me give you some information. You won''t directly be sent to Zero, this is because you are too weak, consider it a tutorial period. All players will be sent to different Beginner''s towns and these towns reside in a different dimension to Zero, once you reach level 10, you will finally be able to enter the open environment of Zero. This isolation method was used to prevent Beta Testers from getting too much of a lead over other players. Players will be allocated according to their residence''s location. Since you were living in Beijing before the disaster, your starting town will be "Little Root Town"." -"Is there a difference between the Beginner''s town?" -"No, they are all identical, this is just to avoid the traffic of players at the beginning. There will be only 5000 players per town, not more not less. There will be lots of opportunities for you to gain experience and equipment during this tutorial, however, you will be forced to leave the beginner''s town when reaching level 10 and let me tell you that Zero''s environment will be much harsher. So you should take advantage and familiarise yourself with your character." -"Got it, is there anything else I need to know?" "That''s it, Zero is meant to be discovered by the players, it will ruin the fun if I give you too much information. And... your time is almost up" said Gaia while pointing towards the screen. The timer was still slowly decreasing with only 15 seconds left Li Wei was startled, he looked at his hand and found that they were slowly becoming transparent, actually his whole body was starting to disappear... but then a thought passed through his mind "Oh crap! I still don''t have a name" -"This is farewell... Best of luck Li Wei... ah no... from now on your name shall be... Seven" -"Seven? What kind of name is that? " -" Well I am just an AI... and you are the seventh person to whom I am bestowing a name" Gaia smiled while saying that, she then chuckled and waved her hand in sign of goodbye. And at that moment, the timer finally reached 0:0: 0. This was the last thing Li Wei saw before completely disappearing. 3 Ring of Chaos International Space Station After several decades of development, the International Space Station now houses a hundred researchers from various fields. They were well aware of the events on Earth but unfortunately could not be brought back in time to Earth. The different organizations preferred to direct their efforts towards the completion of the Hope Project. After all, saving 100 scientists could not be done at the cost of the rest of the planet. A middle age man in his fifties wearing a t-shirt with the NASA logo entered a very messy experiment room. -"Professor Wang, was the launch successful?" -"Yes! New Earth has successfully launched a few hours ago, except for us and those guarding the refuges, all humans are in the capsules playing the game." -"This is good, we useless scientists were abandoned here with nothing to do... what''s the point of continuing our research? At least we can watch the players. " -"Yeah but that will only be replays... The game is being played at a slower pace than the real world, 5 times slower I think. With these levels of radiation, they''ll have to play at least 200 years in the real time. I cannot see everyone having this type of dedication... at least 40 years sounds better" - "Then what about the Black Hand? Did they not find out that the nuclear disaster was all man-made? Fusion would not have caused such radiations!" - "Yes, they confirmed that toxic elements were added to the reagents. Although they were able to confirm the involvement of the Black Hand, the UN chose to prioritize the Hope Project. They were able to hide under our radars for years, it''s not in this one month that they would have succeeded in finding their hideout!" -"...." -"I still don''t get something though! Why on Earth did we allow Gaia to give a small boost to those she thinks are best suited to lead the people? Did you see who she chose? Out of the 12, none of them have VIP capsules! There''s even a life-sentenced criminal, a handicapped soldier, and an orphan..." -"This does not really matter, it is within her range of authority to give such things to players... Besides, if they do not work hard, it will still be wasted and not affect the outcome. And no, I did not look at the profiles of the chosen" -"Well! Have a look," said the middle age man while opening a folder on the nearest screen. " Does Gaia want humans to become barbarians when they wake up with such leaders... If she gave these boost to those VIP capsule holders..." Professor Wang lazily moved his eyes towards the screen but suddenly his eyes flickered showing his surprise. He quickly regained his composure and said, " I don''t know about the others but for this orphan, the reason might simply be his parents" -"His parents?" -"You are not Chinese so you won''t understand, but despite the appearance, there are a group of people that are more feared than the government and the army... and that''s the hidden people... I think that you Americans call them martial artists..." Little Root Town. Li Wei opened his eyes and found himself in a large white room. There was absolutely nothing around him. ''Wasn''t I supposed to be teleported to a town? How come there''s nothing? Was the guide wrong?'' thought Li Wei. He started to walk around scratching his head. At that moment, a little jingle rang across the room and was quickly followed by: "Hello dear players, this is a recorded message from VALOR. You are all aware of the situation in the real world but we hope that you will all be able to remain calm. I would like to first apologize to all parents out there, children below the age of 14 are not able to play the game due to the explicit content, but we guarantee their safety as they are safely sleeping in their capsule. This is also the case for elderly people above the age of 70. We are also aware that many of you have lost contact between your family members, so exceptionally, you will be able to search for the real name of someone to add as friend, this option will only be available for 24 hours so please take advantage of that." " You are all currently in a training room in your Beginner''s Town. This is to give you the opportunity to get used to your character as well as to the combat system of New Earth. There is not much to say apart from please check your inventory, you should have a recording crystal, this contains a recorded tutorial to the battle style of each class so please use it properly. VALOR is aware that not everyone is happy about the situation but do not worry as a lot of content is not available right now but will be slowly released. We have decided on this procedure to ensure that everyone will have at least some notion of self-defense which will be crucial when we will get out of the refuges." "Content is also being constantly created, though all programmers are currently themselves in the game, Gaia, the AI that you all met, will be constantly monitoring the gameplay and derive new content from the massive database we gave it access to. We will leave you with that, refer to the forum if you need more help. We hope that you enjoy the game." Li Wei attentively listen to this message but did not find anything interesting. He was hoping to obtain some useful information about the game but was disappointed. He quickly opened his interface to look at his inventory and there was indeed a recording crystal in there. However, Li Wei also noticed another icon and he quickly pressed it. [Ring of Chaos] (Grade 0) (Upgradable) Effect 1: Experience gained +2% Effect 2: Soul Bound-Cannot be dropped/exchanged/sold/unequipped [An exclusive gift given to those bestowed with a name by Gaia] Li Wei was startled, "What did I do to deserve this? Is it really because of the name? " ''It is better than nothing but there are no stats associated with this equipment... at least it is upgradable'' After a few seconds of doubts, Li Wei decisively equipped the ring. Compared to the other games, you could not simply tell the system to equip an item, it had to be done manually so Li Wei took out the ring from the inventory and put it on his ring finger. 2% experience was still very useful and he could upgrade it in the future. The ring was totally black and looked incredibly plain but Li Wei did not mind it. He then took out the recording crystal, it was a plain looking crystal, similar to the cheap imitations that were commonly used as decorations. [Recording Crystal] Description: a special item that can only be used inside the training room, the item will disappear upon leaving the room. [System: Use the Recording Crystal?] Upon thinking of using it, his hand naturally crushed the crystal and a young man appeared in front of him. -"Hello dear player, I am instructor Chen and I will teach you the basic of the fighting system. Whatever class you decide to choose in the future, it will be beneficial for you to have an understanding of the rest of the classes as well. So, let''s begin with Warriors..." The ''lecture'' lasted for about 20 minutes. It wasn''t too long nor too short covering the basics of each class. Li Wei focused and tried to find out more information from the instructor. Basically, Warriors focus on their physical strength, able to receive some damage while dishing out even more. Rogues relied on doing quick attacks to maximize their damage, they could do quick combo but would then end up defenseless. Paladins were the ''tanks'' being able to soak up a lot of damage with their strong vitality protecting his teammates. Rangers, despite their name, could do both long-range attacks and use short daggers similar to the rogues. But to balance the class, they did not have combos available. However, when using their bows, the system would help them aim at their desired target but naturally, it had a certain margin of error associated with it. Mages had to recite incantation whenever they use their skills, it wasn''t as simple as just the name of the skill. They also had the option to silently recite so that no one would know which spell they were going to use. Priests, on the other hand, could just say the name of the skills to use them. They were a class specialized in supporting, however, they also had good offensive stats but no skills to go with them. Li Wei played RPGs before and knew about the general characteristics of the classes. After listening to the instructor, he chose to summon a training puppet to test his fighting skills. Training puppets were one of the options provided by the training room, they could infinitely be summoned and were immobile. He positioned himself in front of the puppet and took a fighting stance. He was just diligently following the instructor''s word; slightly lowering his body, putting his left forward and shifting his body by about 40 degrees. He tried punching the puppet and a "-4" popped up in red. Li Wei simply ignored that and continued punching, alternating between fists. He quickly got the hang of it and started to add more complicated movements; adding kicks, striking with elbows or shoulders. Strangely, Li Wei did not feel tired, he felt like his movements were becoming more and more fluid he felt at ease especially when striking the puppet in quick succession. It was strange for him since he never practiced any form of fighting sports before. He tried to join dojos in town before but was always rejected for random reasons. His high school PE teacher also refused to teach such sports without any reason. He felt as if people did not want him to learn self-defense but did not really mind it. But now that he was actually fighting, he felt as if something in him was waking up. It was a strange feeling as if something that was long buried was finally seeing light again. Li Wei felt comfortable, he continued his training, not feeling any tiredness. After a while, he stopped beating the puppet and sat down to reflect on his actions. He determined a lot from this training, by varying the force he applied, the damage also varied, it was not a standard amount. Sometimes, the damage dealt would also be higher, probably due to critical strikes and it looked like this effect would more likely trigger when hitting weak spots of the puppet like the head, neck,..., crotch. Following what Instructor Chen said, Li Wei then asked to summon an obstacle track. "A good warrior should not only fight but also be able to dodge and have good reaction speed." The track was rather simple, mainly obstacles that forced him to make turns while moving at high speed, he sometimes had to jump or lower his head to pass through some places. Li Wei easily went through these but at some point, the obstacles started moving, increasing the difficulty and Li Wei was unable to dodge everything and got hit off the track. Despite feeling dejected, Li Wei did not give up and continued trying, this would be essential if he wanted to strive outside. And after a certain amount of time. An announcement was heard: -"Dear Player, your time in the training room is almost over, it is 3:55 and the training facility closes at 4:00. Please vacate the room within these 5 minutes. Thank you" Startled, Li Wei unsummoned the training equipment and sat down to catch his breath and calm down. ''They are so stingy not even allowing us to train how long we want'' ''Never mind, according to the guide, going outside the Town after 6:00 is dangerous since monsters get stronger at night. I might as well visit the town and find an inn'' After making his plan, Li Wei checked his stats one last time before asking the system to allow him to leave the room: Name: Seven Race: Human Level: 1 (51/500) Class: None Title: None HP: 47/60 MP/ Energy: 50/50 Strength: 8 Dexterity: 7 Vitality: 6 Intelligence: 5 Wisdom: 6 Stat Points available: 0 Skills: None Fatigue: 30% [Information] The new stat, fatigue, was added as a measure of tiredness, be careful as a high percentage of fatigue will lead to a temporary decrease in other stats. Fatigue can be removed by sleeping or eating and other relaxing activities. His event log also had a new entry: [Training session complete, 51 exp awarded. Please continue to work hard] With this in mind, Li Wei started to vanish and left the training room. 4 Preparations Light flickered and Li Wei found himself in a hall surrounded by players. There were about 1000 players there, most of them wore dissatisfied expressions on their face. Grunts and complaints could be heard all across the hall. -"Already over? We can''t even train how long we want !" At that moment an elderly man appeared on a stage in front of everyone. He coughed quietly to gather people''s attention. -" Good afternoon everyone. Unfortunately, the training center is closing for the day. Please come back tomorrow if you want to resume your training but remember that the center is opened from 8:00 to 16:00. Thank you" Immediately complaints rose from the crowd. "That''s the first time I hear that you cannot complete the tutorial at your own pace" "We have nothing to do anyway... we can''t really go outside the town at this hour.." The elderly man''s face hardened. He clapped his hand and a group of armed guards appeared from behind the stage. "Sirs, you are the ones who took all your time. 4000 of your colleagues already left the training center so please don''t force us to use force... ah! And for your information, this entry was free but as from tomorrow, one entry would cost 1 silver" Players wanted to continue to argue but in front of armed guards, they could only keep it inside them. The crowd left the training center with Li Wei following. Li Wei did not really mind leaving now, he had already completed his tutorial and he needed to gain experience and the best way to do it was to fight monsters. But he also needed to learn about this town and other common aspects of the game such as items, equipment, and skills. The crowd slowly started to disperse, each player going in random directions. As for Li Wei, he walked on what seemed to be the main street, looking at each shop trying to find information. He passed in front of a massive shop having an insignia representing an axe and a sword in the shape of a cross. Out of it came two players discussing among themselves. -"This is so expensive... the cheapest dagger costs 5 gold... We were given only 1 gold and we also need to consider our accommodation and meals" Li Wei overheard their conversation but did not say anything. He actually planned to go into that shop but upon hearing them he gave up this idea. He thought that things were expensive here because he was on the main street. If the logic here follows that of the real world, prices would vary according to the location of the shop so it was better to look for more recluse shops for now. When Li Wei checked his inventory, he found that he actually had 2 gold. When he thought about it, he guessed that each player was given different starting amount of money and he was right. The difference came from the capsule he owned. The low class only got 1 gold, the Middle class got 2, the High class got 4 and VIP got 8. As for the value of that money, the lowest currency was Coppers, 100 coppers were equal to 1 silver and 100 silvers were equal to 1 gold. Li Wei wandered around the town, keeping notes of everything he saw. He instinctively compared the prices and found out which one was the cheapest. Having determined the cheapest place, Li Wei went there and purchased some consumables namely 5 Health potions, 5 bandages, 5 antidotes and 1 Mana Potion. Health potions were basic necessities, even though they were of grade 0, they restored 20 HP. Bandages were used to wrap wounds and stop bleeding. Antidotes were used to cure poison, facing the unknown of the forest, Li Wei preferred to be on the safe side. Mana potions were also of grade 0 and restored 20 MP. Li Wei bought only 1 because right now he had no skills and did not use any MP. For these, Li Wei spent 10 silvers, a considerable sum but cheap compared to the price of equipment. Many players were actually doing the same thing as Li Wei, purchasing necessities for the adventures of tomorrow. It was already late and a bit pointless to go out. Having completed his purchases, Li Wei resumed wandering and he eventually arrived in front of a huge board on which several announces were posted. He quickly found what he was looking for. [Looking for wild mushrooms. If you have any, please sell them to the Solas Department store. Wild mushrooms can be found in the forests north and east of Little Root town. We are purchasing 10 for 50 coppers. Unlimited amount accepted.] [System announcement: you have received the quest "Collect wild Mushrooms"] [Information] Collect 10 wild mushrooms and bring them to Solas Department store. Rewards: 100 exp and 50 coppers Completion: 0/10 This was what Li Wei was looking for, it was written in the guide that the easiest and safest way to gain exp and some money was to collect these mushrooms. They were relatively easy to find and even when hunting, a few additional coppers for collecting them would not hurt. Having accomplished his goal. Li Wei continued to wander around and ended up in the eastern district of the town. While walking he found another shop that had the same insignia. Compared to the first shop he saw, this one was definitely not as prosperous; it was notably smaller and the lack of decorations apart from weapons was apparent. Li Wei quietly entered the shop and was immediately greeted by a grunt. A large muscular tanned man wearing an apron stood up from behind the counter. Displeasure was obvious on his face but he did not express it. -"Good afternoon customer, welcome to my blacksmith shop What are you looking for?" -"I would like to have a quick look around..." -"Sure do what you want but it is already 16:50, the shop closes in 10 minutes" -"Got it" The man went back to sit and picked up some newspapers and started reading. Meanwhile, Li Wei went to look at the wall on the side, several weapons were displayed there and a price tag was below each one of them. He instinctively looked at the daggers being displayed to compare the price with the other shop. As he expected, the prices were lower, the cheapest dagger cost 1 gold but that was still expensive for Li Wei, he did not want to spend half his fortune on one single item. He continued looking around but the prices just kept rising. The armor pieces were even more expensive, it looked like the more materials being used, the more expensive the equipment was. It was important to note that everything in the shop was metallic, lighter armors could be purchased at tailor shops. While Li Wei was debating whether to buy the dagger or not, a thought crossed his mind. -"Excuse me, but will it be possible to get a discount on this dagger... you are aware of our situation so could you show some kindness to a poor adventurer," said Li Wei while pointing at the 1 gold dagger and trying to look as innocent as possible. -"Huh? Out of the 100 people that came to my shop today, you are the most shameless one I''ve seen. In what way are you poor? This old man has worked with metal for years, I can easily smell it and say that you can definitely afford this dagger" The tanned man then stood up behind his counter and crossed his arms showing that he won''t change his mind. -"But Brother Blacksmith, it is important to maintain good relationships with customers, if you give me a discount, I promise to buy all my weapons here, what do you say?" -"Who is your brother! Call me Mr. Carlos. As for your offer, what guarantees me that you won''t run away after that transaction." -"Come on Blacksmith Carlos, have you not been in business for years? Can''t you tell that I am an honest adventurer ?" -"Tsssk so shameless." and after a few seconds, Carlos added " Are you sure that you will purchase all weapons here? After all, I am only a Grade 0 blacksmith. The main street''s shop has a Grade 1 Blacksmith that can produce better equipment" Hearing that, Li Wei started to inwardly smile, "Yes yes, I am sure. Besides I believe that you will improve and become a Grade 1 Blacksmith in the near future" -"Hmmp" Hearing that Li Wei accepted, Carlos quickly took out a document. -"Then sign this contract, keep in mind that laws are severe and that once signed, the contract must be respected" Contracts were another element of New Earth, legal laws applied to them so if the player did not keep their promises, penalties would ensure and in the worst case, they would get disconnected from the game. Li Wei took the contract and attentively read it. It said that Carlos would provide a discount on every item available in the store while Li Wei would exclusively buy all his weapons in this shop. In addition, Li Wei also needed to sell all the blacksmith related resources that he collected here at the market price. However, Li Wei noticed something else, in smaller characters at the bottom, "The adventurer will within the duration of his stay at Little Root Town sell at least 10 middle-grade iron ore to this shop" Li Wei could only wryly smiled. He did not know where to find the ore and the level of difficulty of this task. After thinking for a while, Li Wei decisively signed the contract, the documents flashed and burnt down to ashes that disappeared in space. [System prompt: You have accepted the quest "Help Blacksmith Carlos"] [Information] Collect 10 middle-grade iron Condition: Unable to leave Little Root Town without 100% completion Rewards: ??? Completion: 0/10 -"Happy to cooperate with you," said Carlos while extending his hand and smiling. Li Wei shook his hand but could not help but feel that he made a loss. -"I can give you 10% discount go ahead and grab it" -"Only 10 %? Come on, with the close you added, you should at least give me 50%" Both argued and finally settled on 25%. And so, Li Wei spent 75 silvers for the dagger. [Small Dagger](Grade 0) Damage: 1-3 Requirement: None Li Wei promptly picked the dagger and placed it on his belt in a tiny sheath that came with the dagger. Not knowing if he made profit or loss, Li Wei started to walk towards the exit. But he suddenly stopped and came back to the counter. -"By the way do you know how to upgrade this ring?" said Li Wei while taking off the Ring of Chaos The Blacksmith took the ring and carefully observed it. -"I have never seen such a ring, rings are usually made by jewelers. However, I can tell you by experience that if you want to upgrade this ring, you will need to improve its material..." .... After leaving the shop, Li Wei walked into the surroundings to find an inn. After being rejected 2 times because the inns were full, he was finally welcomed in one of them, "The Sleeping Bear". The innkeeper was a middle age woman, she warmly welcomed Li Wei in. -"Which type of room would you like? Shared, standard or En-suite ?" -"Standard please" -"That would be 1 silver per nights, meals are not included, 50 coppers per meal" -"Sure, I''ll book a room for 5 nights and a hot meal for tonight. Here''s the money. I would also like to take a bath" said Li Wei while handing 6 silvers. -"Ok, the meal will be served in 1 hour. You can take a bath in the backyard, we have the showers are located there." The woman gave back the change and a crystal and explained that it was the key to his room and how to use it. .... 1 Hour later "Ahhh! I did not know you could take showers in Video Games... that felt really good. Now time for a good meal" Li Wei went to take his dinner, the dining hall was booming with players but Li Wei took his meal back to his room on a platter. He wanted to think about the events of today in private. His greatest harvest today wasn''t the dagger but rather what he obtained when he asked about the ring. When the blacksmith was explaining, a prompt came up. [System prompt: You have triggered the quest "Upgrade the Ring of Chaos(I) " Collect 10 middle-grade iron ingot (0/10) Collect 1 beast core (0/1) Reward: Ring of Chaos (Grade 1) According to the blacksmith, iron ingot could be made by blacksmiths by processing iron ores, generally, 5 ores were required for 1 ingot of the same grade. So now Li Wei needed to collect at least 60 of such iron ores for the blacksmith if he wanted to complete all his quests. As for the beast core, it would apparently be used as a medium for the upgrade. It could not be found in ordinary wild animals, only certain monsters would possess cores. Li Wei rearranged his thoughts. He started eating his dinner, tonight the menu was a thick soup along with some rice and vegetables. And having nothing to do while eating, as he would usually be on his interface, he decided to have a look at the forum to see if there was anything new. 5 Eastern forest 1 The next morning, Li Wei woke up at 7:00, he used to be an early riser, doing early jogs regularly. He woke up and went downstairs for his breakfast. His fatigue went down to 5% which would be cleared out after eating his breakfast. The game was designed so that people sleeping at least 6 hours and eating 3 meals per day could clear out their fatigue level every day. The innkeeper was already up, sweeping the floor. When she saw Li Wei, she immediately greeted him and served him a breakfast set for 20 coppers. It consisted of bread and goat cheese with some coffee. He also ordered a take-out lunch as he would not be returning to the town before the evening. After eating Li Wei immediately left the town. He wanted to take explore the forest and collect mushrooms while most players were still sleeping or just waking up. The forest wasn''t far from the town, only 5 minutes walking were required before Li Wei reached the edge of the forest. At the very entrance, Li Wei found some red mushrooms hidden in the shades of the trees. He was the first to come here and could enjoy the benefits. He quickly collected them and entered the forest. According to the guide, this forest did not contain dangerous monsters, only animals, there were more commonly level 1 rabbits, level 2 foxes, and level 3 monkeys. However since they were animals, once a player entered their range, they would attempt to escape. As soon as he entered, Li Wei started to focus, looking for the wild mushrooms but also for any sign of animals. And surely, not even 10 minutes later, he heard some movements coming from a bush to his left. Li Wei quickly grabbed his dagger. Out of the push came two brown rabbits, above their heads, were: "Rabbit level 1" At that moment, the rabbits stopped playing with each other and looked at Li Wei, fear appeared in their eyes and they immediately ran back into the bush. Li Wei would obviously not let this opportunity go, he quickly chased after them. The rabbits were not stupid, after a few seconds they separated and ran in two opposite directions. Li Wei had no choice but to chase after the closest one. They ran through the forest for a few minutes. Fortunately, it looked similar to the obstacle track in the training room. Li Wei kept running, avoiding low branches and going around bushes. But the distance between him and the rabbit wasn''t shrinking and eventually, Li Wei noticed something ahead. There was a small burrow at the bottom of a large tree, in front of the hole was another rabbit. As the two approached, the second rabbit squeaked and quickly jumped into the hole. There was still a 6 meters difference between Li Wei and the rabbit, he knew he would not be able to catch it. As a desperate attempt, Li Wei took the dagger, stopped running and aimed. He had seen people throw knives before, more specifically in magician''s shows, he did not know if this was the correct technique but he might as well try as he had nothing to lose. The dagger left Li Wei''s hand and flew straight between the running rabbit and the burrow. He aimed at a point 10 meters away. Seeing that the trajectory would coincide with that of the rabbit, Li Wei could not help but get excited. However, the rabbit abruptly changed direction, it made a quick jump to the right, avoid the dagger and went straight into the burrow. "F*** !" Even though it was his first attempt to catch a rabbit, Li Wei still felt bitter about his failure. It looked that it was not so easy to catch preys. He walked forward and took back his dagger. He approached the burrow and inspected it. He thought of ways to force the rabbits out but making a fire would take a lot of time and he would rather collect more resources from the forest. He dejectedly resumed his exploration of the forest, collecting mushrooms whenever he found some. There were other resources he could collect such as wild herbs and medicinal plants but he ignored them due to the lack of inventory space. Right now Li Wei could only store 10 different types of item, with 50 units per item as a maximum. He already had 6 slots occupied with his potions, lunch and the 24 mushrooms he collected. Players would obtain an additional storage slot every time they level up, additionally, they could upgrade their storage with some equipment but that required some investments. Li Wei would rather save the space in case he is able to successfully catch some preys or for the mushrooms as they were they provided a better revenue. After a few minutes, Li Wei started seeing individual players, all looking at the roots of the trees hoping to find mushrooms. Seeing that, Li Wei decided to go deeper into the forest, the competition for the mushrooms would get more fierce here. Even if the respawn rate was rather fast, he did not know how many players were coming here. A few hours later, Li Wei sat down under the shade of a tree and took out his lunch. It was already 12:25. Li Wei''s harvest was quite good, he collected a total of 90 mushrooms. The mushrooms were of different colors but they were all labeled "Wild Mushroom". During his morning hunt, Li Wei also encountered several rabbits, but they were always able to escape his grasp. However, Li Wei got each time closer and closer to catching the rabbit. He was starting to get used to their quick movements and running through the forest became easier. Li Wei also encountered some foxes, most of them ran away. But one of them fought back. He bit Li Wei on his legs and arm before being stabbed with the dagger. After being injured, it quickly ran away. Fortunately, the bites were shallow and did not cause bleeding, Li Wei lost 17 HP from this exchange but that was a good performance for a first fight. After hours of running around the forest, Li Wei was not tired and decided to make a lunch break. He was leaning against a tree, eating the sandwich he bought. He recalled his experience of the day, imagined what he could have done better. After a while, a thought flashed through his mind. Li Wei quickly finished his sandwich except for a piece of ham. He looked for some leaves and placed the ham with 5 mushrooms on them at the root of the tree. After that, Li Wei climbed the tree with the help of the dagger and sat on one of the branches. He sat down and patiently waited. Li Wei chose the branch just above the trap and moved some branches to better camouflage him. Li Wei did not know what rabbits ate so he added some mushrooms to the bait just in case. Time flew by but Li Wei patiently waited. Eventually, as nothing was happening, he opened his menu and checked the forum. But 5 minutes later, a small shadow appeared in a nearby bush. It observed the surroundings and after confirming that nothing was wrong, it approached steps by steps not letting its guard down. It was a level 2 fox. Upon seeing the fox, Li Wei became excited but he held his breath, afraid that the fox would detect him. Eventually, the fox reached the piece of ham and smelled it. ''Come on... Eat it...'' thought Li Wei. Sensing nothing wrong the fox grabbed the ham and at that very moment, Li Wei jumped down from the branch. The fox instantly sensed something wrong and looked up but it was too late. A dagger dived right between his eyes. He violently shook his head trying to free himself but a second later, a heavy body crashed onto its back and crushed it on the ground. Li Wei ignored the pain and pull back the dagger to quickly stab the fox again and this time it hit the right eye. The fox made a final struggle and it finally stopped moving. The fox actually had 30 HP, the first dagger strike dealt 12 damage, it is a high value due to the momentum provided by the fall and Li Wei also hit a weak point of the fox. When Li Wei fell on the fox, both received 10 damage and the final stab also did 10 damage which ended the life of the fox. All these details appeared in the event log of Li Wei. [System prompt: You have slain a fox, gained 51 exp] Li Wei was very satisfied with this 1st kill, he drank a health potion to fill his HP back up, by doing so the pain instantly disappeared. He then got up and looked at the corpse. Despite the high level of realism, no blood came out of the injuries, the game developers did not want put such sensitive scene in the game. Blood only came out of injuries in small amount when the "Bleed" effect was applied. Li Wei then pressed his hand on the corpse and the latter vanished, in his inventory, two items were added: [Fox Fur x1] and [Fox meat x1]. After that, Li Wei just resumed his exploration of the forest. The afternoon mainly consisted of collecting mushrooms and running after rabbits and foxes. In the end, he was able to collect a total of 145 mushrooms, the rate of gathering the mushrooms decreased as more and more players entered the deep forest. After a lot of attempts, Li Wei was finally able to kill 2 rabbits. When the rabbits ran, he was able to predict to a certain extent their movements and threw his dagger at the perfect spot. Although the dagger did not directly kill the rabbit, once the rabbits were injured, Li Wei could quickly catch them and kill them. He obtained 25 exp for each one From the rabbits, Li Wei obtained 2 items from each rabbit [Rabbit Fur] and [Rabbit meat]. However since he only had 10 item slots in his inventory, 4 were used for his consumables, 3 for the mushrooms and 2 for the fox''s drop. He could only store the rabbit meat and had to carry the rabbit fur on his shoulder as he was free to carry whatever he wanted, the inventory acted as a separate space. When carrying the furs, Li Wei''s hunting efficiency drastically decreased so he eventually decided to head back. The menu was showing 15:23 so he would still have time to sell the drops and mushrooms when he gets back. Li Wei also checked his fatigue level, after a whole day of hunting, he now had 45% fatigue accumulated. On his way back, Li Wei met several other players, many were collecting resources. Most of the players moved in parties of 2 or 3. That made it easier to hunt but the exp obtained would be divided as per contribution. The fur Li Wei was carrying attracted the gaze of many, looks full of envy gathered on him but Li Wei just ignored them and increased his pace. Some tried to ask him how he hunted rabbits alone but Li Wei did not say anything. Back to the town, Li Wei directly went to Solas Department store and submitted all his mushrooms. [System prompt: You have completed the quest "Collect Wild Mushrooms" x14.5] [Reward: 1450 exp and 7 silvers and 25 coppers] [System prompt: Congratulations! You have leveled up to level 3, obtained 2 free stat points] Li Wei was very satisfied upon hearing the last prompt, gaining 2 levels in one day was very good but he kept it for later, he would have ample time to look at his character and allocate stat points tonight. Li Wei also sold the meats he obtained for a total of 5 silvers, 3 silvers for the fox meat and 1 silver per rabbit meat. As for the furs, Li Wei went to a nearby tailor shop to sell them. According to the forum, selling related items to the shop would get you a slightly better price. It was better to sell ores to blacksmiths, furs to tailors, herbs to alchemists,... He obtained another 5 silvers from the furs and while he was at the tailor shop he purchased a storage bag and placed it on his belt like a purse. It was the most basic one and gave 2 additional item slots but it cost 1 gold. Li Wei tried to obtain a discount, but the lady in charge firmly rejected him, Li Wei could only bite the dust and pay. After all the transactions, Li Wei now had 26 silvers and 35 coppers. When looking at the inventory, his mouth tasted sour. Money was after all always the main issue. It was easy to obtain enough for daily necessities but if one wanted to get equipment, he would have to slowly accumulate his wealth. This was so to add some realism but also to balance the different classes. If in the early stages where no skills were available to players yet, players could purchase whole sets of equipment, then mages and priest would be completely left in the dust and they would be of no use as they deal negligible amount of physical damage. Developers expected players to readily start purchasing equipment as from level 5. Players were not required to hunt early, many quests such as the gathering of resources were available to grind some exp and money. Many quests in the fields or the town were also available, Li Wei chose to hunt only because it is the fastest way to get money. Li Wei yawned.. It was time to go back to the inn to get some well-deserved rest. 6 Eastern forest 2 The next morning, Li Wei was sitting in the dining hall of "The Sleeping Bear", quietly taking his breakfast. He was thinking about the decision he made yesterday. Name: Seven Race: Human Level : 3 (102/1500) Class: None Title: None HP: 60/60 MP/ Energy: 50/50 Strength: 8 Dexterity: 9 Vitality: 6 Intelligence: 5 Wisdom: 6 Stat Points available : 0 Skills: None Fatigue: 2% After reviewing yesterday''s fight, Li Wei determined that it was best to spend the stat points into dexterity. Right now he needed more speed to catch the wild animals and be able to hit them, it did not matter how much strength he had if he was not able to land a hit. Li Wei planned to walk the path of a Warrior and warriors also needed a degree of agility so it wasn''t a big loss. And so, Li Wei''s dexterity jumped from 7 to 9. He ordered another sandwich and asked the innkeeper for some additional meat and vegetables. The innkeeper was puzzled and asked why and when Li Wei explained how he would use them as bait, she readily agreed to give him some, at the condition that he sold the meat he obtained to her. [System prompt: You have triggered a quest "Collect meat"] Collect as much meat from rabbits and foxes as possible and bring them back to the innkeeper Reward : 3 silvers and 50 exp per fox meat/ 1 silver and 25 exp per rabbit meat The price was the same as that sold at the department store but there was some additional exp so Li Wei gladly accepted the quest. Knowing the importance of inventory, Li Wei left the mana potion in his room since he had no skills, even if he now had 12 item slots, it was never enough. Li Wei left the inn and went straight to the eastern forest. Today, he planned to further explore the forest, he did not meet any monkeys yesterday and was now level 3 so he was confident in himself. Even though Li Wei came early, this time, a couple of players could be seen leaving the town. It seemed that many realized that resources were limited and that it was first come first served. Competition was going to be fierce today, so Li Wei went straight into the forest. He went rather deep inside so that other players would not take advantage of his traps. He set up the bait like last time, but this time chose a shorter tree to take less damage for falling. He used the carrots given by the innkeeper and hid into the tree. After a few minutes 2 rabbits approached the carrots... and so the hunt started. For the thirteenth time, Li Wei pulled out his dagger and stabbed it back into the body of a rabbit. He spent 3 hours hunting rabbits and he had quite a good harvest. He noticed that it was better to change location after killing a rabbit as he did not want to wasted time waiting for the respawn time. Li Wei first jumped on the rabbits to killed them, but later he only threw his dagger from his hiding place. It was more efficient that way as he did not lose any health, his throwing accuracy also got better and better. Eventually, Li Wei tried to chase after a rabbit and despite the difficulties, he was able to catch the rabbit and stab it. It looked like it was a good idea to invest in dexterity as it influences the movement speed of characters. After having confirmed that he could easily kill rabbits, Li Wei changed the bait to meat for the foxes. However, foxes were faster than Li Wei and some of them managed to escape, in the end, he only caught 5 foxes. It was then time for lunch, and so Li Wei looked for a good spot to rest and eat. During his pause, he was able to see of some players moving within the forest, it seemed that players became braver and ventured deeper into the forest today. After eating, Li Wei continued to explore, he eventually saw a river, there was a lot of fishes inside but Li Wei did not know how to catch them. Fortunately, the river was also the drinking spot of the animals and Li Wei caught some more rabbits here. A few minutes later, Li Wei caught sight of a brown silhouette drinking. It was a level 3 monkey. The latter quickly saw Li Wei approach but did not react. But when Li Wei drew his dagger, he felt unease and danger so it turned around and ran away. The monkey wasn''t as fast as the rabbit, since it was two-legged and only sometimes used its hands however when Li Wei was closing the gap, it immediately started shouting. Quickly rustling of leaves could be heard and monkeys appeared from the trees. It seemed that monkeys lived in groups and helped each other, as soon as they saw Li Wei, they immediately threw all sort of objects at him; rocks, fruits, branches,... Li Wei first tried to dodge them but there were so many that he ended up being hit several times and had no choice but to back off. Each hit cost him 2-3 HP which was negligible but he still ended up losing 14 HP. Having used all his baits, Li Wei walked along the river, there were a lot of herbs and mushrooms that could be collected and they immediately ended in Li Wei''s inventory. He also killed some more rabbits that came to drink at the river. Time passed and when the menu showed 15:00. Li Wei decided to attempt to kill a monkey again. While walking he saw many monkeys, but he decided against attacking them in case they shouted for help again. Li Wei quickly found a monkey drinking alone by the river. This time Li Wei did not care about anything, instead of quietly approaching the target like the first time, he immediately rushed towards the monkey not caring about the noises. The monkey shouted in alarm and ran away but Li Wei quickly reached the monkey and stabbed it. It turned around and punched Li Wei but the latter ignored the pain and punched him back with his free hand and stabbed with the dagger in the other. Quickly rustling of leaves could be heard and monkeys appeared between branches but Li Wei''s target was already dead. Not losing time, Li Wei pressed the corpse and thought "Collect". He then quickly ran away towards the town. One second later, rocks and fruits showered the spot he was standing on. The monkeys chased Li Wei for a few minutes but gave up seeing that the human was much faster than them. On the way back, Li Wei was overjoyed by his success, he checked his inventory and found 2 new entries: [Monkey fur x1] and [Monkey bones x2], the bones were apparently used by alchemists. Li Wei went back to the town and emptied his inventory, he also used the occasion to fill up his reserve of health potions. Today he gained 67 silvers and 40 coppers giving him a total of 93 silvers and 75 coppers. After selling the meat to the innkeeper, Li Wei also got enough exp to level up. He was now level 4 and directly allocated his stat point to dexterity following his original plan. Since it wasn''t too late, Li Wei decided to visit Carlos, he wanted to buy another dagger. His hunting technique was good but once he threw the dagger, he would need to kill the target with bare hands which was quite annoying. -"Oh it''s you.. did you collect the ores?" Carlos directly greeted him with an expressionless face -"Not yet, I have just reached level 4, I am here to buy a new dagger, the same one as the previous one please" -"Why do you need two daggers? Are you planning to go walk the path of a rogue ?" -"No, but when hunting, I found it very convenient to use the dagger as a throwing weapon, but I would then need to finish off the prey with my hands" -"Ohhh I see." Carlos smiled and added "In that case don''t buy the dagger, come back tomorrow morning, I will forge something for you" -"Huh? What are you going to make ?" -"Don''t ask just come tomorrow morning before going into the forest but you will have to pay, it''s 1 gold" "Huh. Money grubber," muttered Li Wei. -"What? What did you say ?" -"Nothing nothing, see you tomorrow, I''ll come by at around 7:15" -"Yes don''t worry, blacksmiths are early risers, dawn is the best time to forge." .... That night, in a basement somewhere in Little Root Town. Several men wearing red clothes were having a feast. -"Boss, you were right, many adventurers appeared, they are basically walking bag of money," said someone while grabbing a chicken leg. -"Yes, it was a great idea to post that request to make them go towards the eastern forest," said another man with his mouth still full. -"Yes boss, I killed one today, he wasn''t strong, even our lackeys can deal with someone of that level... and as you said after killing, the corpse disappeared but I got a dagger and some wild herbs" -"Hahaha me too but I got a sword" The boss was calmly listening to the conversation of the captains. He was sipping his wine while having a young woman wearing revealing clothes seated on his lap. -"That''s good," said the boss. "As from tomorrow, set up ambushes around the road towards the eastern forest during the afternoon when they return with their harvest. You can attack lonely adventurers but try to remain discrete. If they are in groups, don''t bother them for now. And avoid killing, as long as they give you something its fine, you know the procedure. It is best to respect the bottom line of the authorities." -"As you wish boss !" -"Yes, boss !" .... Li Wei''s night was calm, even though he was not used to sleeping that early, the quiet atmosphere of the town was very soothing and easily induced sleep, it was completely different to the bright and animated Beijing he was used to. Li Wei already started to develop the habit of regularly checking the forum, it was like reading newspapers every day. He found that someone in Little Root town already reached level 5, he wasn''t a beta tester but was able to find a hidden chest and from that triggered a quest that leads to a lot of exp. There were many posts on the forum, many were just players complaining about how hard it was to kill wild animals, others were party requests. But there was also some useful information in the middle of these random posts. Li Wei found out that few people ended up dying, apparently, when dying, all equipment had a 100% chance of dropping while items in the inventory had a 5% chance to drop, they would also lose 1 level. When dying players would end up in an ethereal state for 1 hour not able to leave a 3 meters radius of the location they died and would after that be respawned at the graveyard in the southern part of the town. As for how the players died, Li Wei did not really bother reading, he thought that they were just too excited and fought some strong animals. ... The next morning, Li Wei ate his breakfast as usual and went straight to the blacksmith shop. He was very excited to see what Carlos forged. When he arrived, Carlos greeted him and directly put what he was waiting for on the counter. Li Wei was puzzled. "Aren''t they just needles ?" There were 10 needles-like objects on the counter, they were completely white and of a length of about 10 cm. They had a very sharp end and a blunt one that was thicker. -"Yes, but they are throwing needles similar to darts, they are made with iron and are very resistant. Since they are much thinner than your dagger, they have a better penetrative force so if you are accurate enough, you can directly kill your target if you hit vital parts. If you are really good, you can hold one between each finger and send all of them at once. Give it a try, there''s a target in the backroom" Li Wei grabbed one of the needles and went into position. It felt similar to the dagger but was much lighter. He directly threw it. -"Tac" The needle flew straight into the center of the target. -"Not bad, they are very good, I''ll take them, here 75 silvers" -"I said 1 gold, right? " -"Yes but don''t forget the discount so it''s now 75 silvers," said Li Wei while smiling Carlos grumbled but could not argue back. And with that, Li Wei left the town again with 10 new needles on his belt. 7 Red Bandits "Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh" 3 white lights flew across the forest and directly hit the face of a monkey. It tried to scream, however, before it could utter a sound, another light appeared and pierce its throat. The monkey fell down on its butt and before he could do anything else, a shadow appeared in front of it and a dagger stabbed right through its heart, ending its sufferings. The shadow was, of course, Li Wei, he spent the early morning practicing his throwing of the needles on moving targets such as rabbits. Eventually, he arrived back at the river and found a lonely monkey drinking some water. It was an opportunity to test his skills and it was clearly a success. Li Wei collected the loot in his inventory and left the area, he did not know if other monkeys were near and did not want to face a whole group for now. "Buying the needles was an excellent idea, even though the range is limited to 15 meters, it is very good for hunting. I just need to be more precise, 3 correctly placed shots should be enough to kill a monkey." Being level 4, Li Wei hesitated before coming to the eastern forest. It was better for him to go and grind in the Northern forest that housed monsters from level 3 to level 5. But he settled on going to the monkey''s place first and then move north. The 2 forests were actually connected, the Northern Forest contained level 3 parrots, level 4 wolves and level 5 bears. Quite a few people were actually already hunting there, more specifically rangers were hunting there; parrots were actually very weak, they were level 3 only because of their ability to fly but would easily go down with 2 or 3 good arrows" Li Wei was walking North, along his way, he met several animals that were almost shot as soon as they entered his field of vision. Li Wei already adapted to the environment and was like a hunter, searching for signs of animals. He eventually heard some noises and immediately went hiding, Li Wei patiently waited and then proceeded towards the source of the noise. In front of him was a cleared area, 5 monkeys were there, 2 were playing, throwing some objects to each other while the other 3 were lazing around. 5 monkeys were too much to handle for Li Wei, as he was about to retreat he noticed what the monkeys were playing with. They were actually playing with what looked like storage bags, tossing them around. Greed flashed through Li Wei''s eyes, he knew it was a chance, he was not confident in killing all 5 monkeys but there was a tiny chance of stealing the bags. Li Wei moved closer to the monkeys while still hiding in the bushes. Li Wei took out his dagger and readied a needle in his left hand. He then immediately rushed out towards the group of 3. The monkeys immediately reacted, they screamed loudly and the 3 got in formation, surrounding Li Wei. At the same time, the other 2 monkeys were alerted and retreated into the trees, leaving the bags behind. Li Wei did not hesitate, he immediately dashed towards the monkey on his right and tried to stab it with the dagger. However, the monkey was agile and dodge the attack and retreated a few steps. While Li Wei was stabbing, his left hand rose up and threw the needle towards the monkey on his left. The poor monkey was hit right on the nose, it immediately stopped approaching Li Wei and screamed. Meanwhile, the remaining monkey opened its arms and jumped onto Li Wei, attempting to bite him. However, with 10 dexterity, Li Wei was able to react in time and quickly ducked and moved to the right. Li Wei continued to run towards the monkey on his right, behind it were the bags, there was only the monkey left as an obstacle. The moment Li Wei started rushing forward, he felt very relaxed, it was as if he stopped thinking, only moving naturally by instinct. He did not know if he would succeed but he just ignored all the doubts in his heart and rushed forward. When Li Wei arrived just before the monkey, he moved his body to the left, to pass the monkey. But the latter reacted and also jumped to Li Wei''s left to bite his arm. However, Li Wei quickly moved, he put his right leg forward, and used all his force on it, he then made an anticlockwise rotation on himself and dashed to the right. It was a flashy move similar to that of dribbling in football. With the monkey out of the way, Li Wei reached the bag and put them in his inventory. Having succeeded, Li Wei was momentarily distracted and at that moment : "Pak" A "-7" popped up above his head, he just got hit by a coconut like fruit. The 2 monkeys that retreated did not actually leave, they just climbed the trees and grabbed some fruits as projectiles. Li Wei quickly recovered and ran to the side as fast as possible. The monkeys screamed and chased him but they were simply not as fast as Li Wei. After a few minutes of wild running, Li Wei stopped to catch his breath and looked behind. It seemed that the monkeys had given up. Li Wei smiled and opened his inventory, it was time for his rewards. There were 3 bags, they were labeled "Item bag" and their description was : [Open for a random reward] Li Wei opened the first bag, the bag disappeared in a flash and a new entry was made to the event log [System prompt: You have opened an Item bag, you obtained 1 gold] Even though Li Wei was hoping for an equipment, he was still satisfied as he was lacking money. He then proceeded with the second bag. [System prompt: You have opened an Item bag, you obtained nothing] When seeing that, Li Wei flushed red. -"What the F***, is that even a reward, what were the developers thinking when they put this option..." However, he could do nothing to change the outcome and proceeded with the last bag, crossing his fingers for a good reward. [System prompt: You have opened an Item bag, you obtained Basic Cloth Armour] [Basic Cloth Armour] Armor: +2 [Armour: reduce the physical damage taken by a certain amount] Li Wei smiled, when players were spawned, they were wearing clothes but these had 0 armor. Taking out the Basic Cloth Armour, Li Wei looked around in case there were people coming and changed himself. ..... In the evening, on the horizon, the sunset could be seen. A young man wearing a white piece of cloth was walking on the path back to Little Root town. It was Li Wei, he was coming back later than usual since he went to the northern forest. He spent the afternoon collecting resources and throwing needles at parrots. It was difficult to hit them at first due to their fast moving speed, but then Li Wei got used to it and took down a large number of birds. He did not realize that it was getting late until he saw the sky''s color changing. He then rushed back to Little Root Town to avoid the night pattern monsters. Li Wei was walking alone on the path, most players already made it back to the town at that time. At this moment, Li Wei felt something behind him. It was the first time getting this type of feeling but Li Wei could tell that it meant danger. 3 men came out from the bushes along the road, they were all wearing deep red clothes, with a mask covering their mouths. 2 of them were holding daggers while the last one was holding a sword. The 3 men surrounded Li Wei and lifted their weapons. The 3 men grinned, above their heads were "Red Bandit thug, level 4", the one holding a sword had "Red Bandit Warrior, level 5" written in red, representing an aggressive behavior -"Hey kid, didn''t your parents tell you to not walk alone" -"You are very late, the harvest must have been good... leave all your stuff here and you can live !" Hearing that, Li Wei frowned, -"Do you dare do that? We are so close to the town, militias are patrolling the surroundings." -"This is why you should hurry and give us your harvest, you can keep your cloth armor but leave your dagger," said the warrior while approaching Li Wei from behind and attempting to grab him with his free hand. But at that moment, Li Wei naturally shifted, avoiding the grab. Li Wei was surprised, he only sensed the man at the last moment but was still able to dodge him. The man frowned, "Come on kid, don''t make things difficult for us, don''t you value your life ?" Li Wei thought quickly, he thought of deceiving them by leaving only a part of his harvest but quickly forgot this idea as he would have to leave his dagger. So Li Wei made a very different choice. The Warrior was very close to Li Wei, he was very confident in himself, Li Wei was the 9th victim they were attacking. Even though some adventurers had tried to resist and they suffered some injuries, they were still able to easily suppress the adventurers with the number advantage. Sensing Li Wei''s hesitation, the warrior relaxed, it was almost certain that that young man would concede part of his harvest but at the moment, that man suddenly lunged forward. Li Wei dashed towards the warrior, drawing his dagger and stabbing right towards the man''s heart. However, despite being surprised, the warrior had some degree of experience, he sluggishly moved to the right but was still hit in the shoulder by the dagger. The warrior frowned, he had avoided the fatal injury but was still hurt, however, at that moment he felt a sense of crisis. Li Wei arrived at the side of the warrior, with his left hand, he grabbed 5 needles in his palm and mercilessly stabbed them on the warrior''s neck. This time, the warrior could not react in time, he tried to scream but suddenly, the dagger that was embedded into his shoulder appeared next to him and slash at his throat. 3 red numbers appeared "-8","-16","-20" in rapid succession. The warrior had a total of 60 HP, however, he suffered some injuries before while ambushing other players. He did not refill his health as he thought Li Wei would be his last target of the day. That was his mistake, with only 36 HP left, he could only regret his decision. The two thugs were surprised but quickly reacted, they rushed towards Li Wei. They did not really care that the warrior was dead, they were bandits, to begin with and were not related in any way and only worked together for profit. Li Wei could only turn around and defend. The two worked together to suppress Li Wei, attacking one after the other, not letting Li Wei catch his breath. Li Wei could only dodge and block the daggers, stuck on the defensive, "-3", "-4","-3" kept popping up. Li Wei could only slowly retreat however at that moment, he felt something behind his foot and lost balance and fell backward. It was the corpse of the warrior. -"F***" While falling, Li Wei could not help but let go of his weapons, it was a reflex, just like when falling, people would reach out their hands to minimize the damage. The two men grinned, certain of their victory. Li Wei quickly tried to get up, but was directly stabbed on his left shoulder by a dagger, "-8". Li Wei felt despair, he debated and tried to grab his dagger that fell on his right, but the other thug reacted and put his foot on the dagger''s handle. Li Wei was about to give up, but his left hand suddenly felt something. The thug pinning Li Wei down with the dagger did not notice anything, but seconds later, a blade suddenly appeared from below, slashing at his feet. The thug could not react in time, he received the cut, and lost his balance, moments later a sword stabbed right through his heart. That was the warrior''s weapon, it was what Li Wei grabbed with his left hand while still on the ground. The last thug did not expect such development, he saw Li Wei injured and tired and decisively attacked. But Li Wei ignored the pain, and pulled the dagger on his left shoulder with his right hand and threw it towards the thug. The latter was already moving forward and could not change his direction, moments later the warrior''s sword cut through his cloth armor, ending his life. Li Wei was startled and relieved, he unexpectedly won even if he only had 11 HP left. He sat down for a few seconds, calming his breath and then touched the different corpses, "collect". But nothing happened, Li Wei thought a little and then took the 2 daggers and the sword and went towards the bushes where the bandits came from. And surely in there, he found 2 big bags, filled with animal furs and animal meat, there was also a neat stack of silvers. Li Wei directly took the money, as for the bags, as he had no more free item slots, he could only carry them on this back like a laborer with 3 daggers and a sword on his belt. Fortunately, the town wasn''t far, but on reaching the gates, he was stopped by the militia. -"Stop Sir... May I ask where you found all these furs and meat. Several cases of ambushes were reported to us" -"Yes, that also happened to me, I was ambushed on the way here, but was able to reverse the situation, so here I am with my loot" The militia looked at Li Wei with disbelief, "In that case please follow me to the barrack to report the event" "Sure" and with that Li Wei walked behind the militia towards the barracks, such situation immediately attracted the gaze of the players, more specifically, the 2 bags attracted their attention. Li Wei followed the militia, he checked his event logs and could not help but smile [System prompt: You have slain a "Red Bandit Warrior", obtained 500 exp] [System prompt: You have slain a "Red Bandit thug", obtained 250 exp] [System prompt: You have slain a "Red Bandit thug", obtained 250 exp] [System prompt: Congratulation player Seven, you have gained a level....] 8 Becoming a Warrior [System prompt: Congratulations player Seven, you have gained a level, you have obtained 1 free stat point] [System prompt: Congratulations on reaching level 5, all stats +1] In New Earth, every 5 levels represented a milestone, upon reaching a new milestone, players were rewarded with better stats. Li Wei followed the militia and eventually reached the barracks. The militia told Li Wei to wait for a few minutes, he disappeared and reappeared a few minutes later. He brought Li Wei to an office and knocked at the door before leaving. -"Enter" .... An hour later -"I understand the situation, but from now you need to be careful. The Red Bandits won''t let you off so easily, even if you only killed some minor characters. It is best if you cooperate with us." -"Isn''t that equivalent of using me as a bait? I am way too weak right now " -"Fine, I know how adventurers work, what do you want? Just say it !" Li Wei looked at the Commander and smiled, he sent a meaningful glance and said :"I would feel much safer if I had a full set of equipment..." -"... ... ...Fine.. you can have a set of militia''s gear. We do have some in the reserve. Here take the crystal" Li Wei''s interrogation was very short, it could not even be called one since the commander already knew that it was true judging from his report of the corpses found outside the town. The only reason he called Li Wei was to set up a plan. He knew that the Red Bandits would look for revenge, so he planned to use Li Wei as bait to capture some of them alive to find their hideout. [System prompt: You have obtained the quest "Bait the Red Bandits"] [Information] Go out of town adventuring and use the communication crystal as soon as you detect the presence of Red Bandits. Rewards: ??? Li Wei gladly accepted the quest, even without the rewards, he was already able to get a set of militia''s equipment and the militia would also protect him from the Red Bandits. -"By the way, since I am already at the barracks, may I request a class change? I would like to become a warrior" -"Oh, you want to be a warrior? You would normally have to come back tomorrow but since you agreed to help us, I will do an exception." The commander stood up and took something from a chest. "Here use it, place it on your forehead," said the commander while giving Li Wei a red crystal. Li Wei quickly obeyed, the crystal flashed and disappeared, seconds later the system prompt came up: [System prompt: You have obtained the class "Warrior", Strength +1, Dexterity +1, Vitality +1] Players would obtain bonus stat points in their most important attributes upon choosing a class, that was to put more differences between the different classes: Paladins would get 2 Vitality and 1 Strength Priests would get 2 Wisdom and 1 Intelligence Mages would get 2 Intelligence and 1 Wisdom Rangers would get 2 Dexterity and 1 Intelligence Rogues would get 2 Dexterity and 1 Strength [System prompt: Congratulations player Seven for receiving your first class, you are awarded 5 golds] The 5 golds were basically gifts to the players. It was like giving them the opportunity to purchase a good weapon and start to play the game for real. Not everyone could already hunt during the early stages like Li Wei. [System prompt: You have received the skills "Strengthen" and "Cleave"] [Strengthen(level 0)] Increases the user''s strength by 2 for 30 seconds Mana cost: 20 Cooldown time: 5 minutes [Cleave(level 0)] Violently strikes a target with a weapon, Damage +10 Mana cost: 10 Cooldown time: 10 seconds These were the 2 skills obtained by warriors upon choosing the class. All classes had 2 skills given, one offensive and the other as a utility. As for the level of the skills, it could be increased by repeatedly using the skills. Li Wei character''s stats were now : Name: Seven Race: Human Level: 5 (19/2500) Class: Warrior Title: None HP: 80/80 MP: 60/60 Strength : 11(-2) Dexterity : 12(-2) Vitality :8(-1) Intelligence: 6 Wisdom: 7 Stat Points available : 0 Skills : [Cleave], [Strengthen] Fatigue: 78% The obtained free point upon leveling was added to Strength, from the fight with the bandits, Li Wei judged that he had enough dexterity now since he was able to dodge and parry the attacks of the 2 thugs simultaneously. The fatigue level was very high, Li Wei barely had time to rest between fights in the Northern Forest, he then had to rush back to the town only to be ambushed and have to fight again. The "-1" and "-2" next to the stats were the consequence of the fatigue, once players reach 50% fatigue, it started to affect their stats and it generally took more than 1 day to clear that much fatigue. Having accepted the quest, Li Wei left the barracks and returned to the inn. It was already 8:14, shops already closed down so Li Wei would have to sell his loot the next day. It was the first time Li Wei was walking in the town at night. It looked like the nightlife there wasn''t too bad. Taverns and restaurants of the main street were booming with people, there was also a night market in an adjacent street where many players gathered. Li Wei even saw a group of players recruiting other players to their party to go hunt at night. Li Wei ignored all that and went straight to the inn, he was still carrying the 2 bags and needed to leave them in his room. ... "Wow, you are coming late today, I thought something happened to you", the innkeeper saw Li Wei entering and directly greeted him. "Yes... Something happened but no biggies... Here, I have a bag full of meat." The innkeeper took the bag of meat and tactfully remained silent, such quantity was abnormal but she did not ask where he got it from. "I am so hungry, can I get some food, please. Also, do you know of any way to quickly reduce fatigue ?" -"The fire is already off but I''ll reheat something for you in a minute. As for fatigue, besides sleeping and eating, there are several items that can help with that. To begin with, you can upgrade your room or order higher quality meals, they are more effective against fatigue but that will, of course, cost you more" She smiled and added "But it should not be a problem for you, you are rich now, I can tell just by looking at the size of the bag of meat. I''ll do the count and pay you tomorrow", before disappearing into the kitchen Li Wei thought for a while, it was true that he had some money now, and already had a set of equipment, if he wanted to be strong, he should not be stingy towards himself. When the lady came back with a hot meal, Li Wei readily asked to change to a High-class room where he could recover 10% more fatigue per nights when sleeping. .... The next day, -"You woke up late today... Here''s the money for the meat of yesterday" [System prompt, You have completed the quest "Collect Meat(Repeatable)", You have obtained 79 silvers and 825 exp] -"Yes... the new room was very good but my fatigue level is still at 14%" -"There''s nothing I can do about that, here''s your breakfast" Li Wei quietly took his plate and started eating, even though the fatigue recovery was better than usual, there were still some left. Li Wei did not dare leave the town as he would be at risk of an attack of the Red Bandit, he wanted to be at his peak condition when fighting them so today he decided to stay in the town and do some errands, it was better than nothing. Li Wei first went to a tailor shop to sell his furs. He also took the occasion to modify his belt to accommodate the throwing needles. Li Wei then went to another shop to purchase a second storage bag. Players would never have enough inventory, even with an additional item slot per level, it was not enough considering the large variety of resources one could collect. The bag was of higher quality than the first, it cost 3 golds, but provided 6 storage spaces. It was important to note that players were limited with the number of storage bags they could hold, they could have a lot but only 2 would be in effect, so now Li Wei had 23 item slots. After that, Li Wei went around town, he went to the quest board to find if there were any interesting quests. On it, he found a wanted post labeled "Soron, leader of Red Bandits", since he was a potential enemy, Li Wei carefully studied the post, the man was apparently a level 10 warrior and could be considered a boss. Li Wei continued to wander around town, he discovered that there was actually a library on the main street. Many books could be found there about various topics, but the most interesting ones were about the monsters, if players took time to read them, they could actually already get the information about the different monsters available near the town and the best tactics to defeat them... Li Wei also learned that there was a one-man dungeon available, the Tower of Heroes. It was actually at the training center, one could choose to access the dungeon for 1 silver, it was actually a series of one vs one fights against NPCs, there was a total of 15 floors and the actual record right now was the 7th floor. Since Li Wei''s fatigue wasn''t completely cleared, he planned on going there this afternoon to gain some experience, it was a good opportunity to learn about the other classes. Li Wei then went to Carlos'' Blacksmith shop, he now had some money and might as well upgrade his weapons. He had to basic daggers and one sword, the sword was as follows [Basic Sword](Grade 0) Damage: 3-5 -"Welcome customer... ohh it''s you, how do you find the needles ?" -"Hello, they are very good, but I already lost 2 of them, could I get some replacements? I am also looking for new equipment, the budget is 5 golds" -"I see, losing them is normal, I already prepared some in advance. For the weapons. I see that you already have a sword and daggers since you are now a warrior, I recommend getting a shield, there are many styles of warriors but a sword and a shield are common among warriors." said Carlos while taking out a shield from behind the counter, "3 gold" [Round shield] Damage: -10 (when blocked) -"I''ll take it, add in a pickaxe, I''ll go to the western mines tomorrow to start gathering the ores." -"Finally, I thought I would have to wait a year before getting the ores. The mines are dangerous though, so be careful" After having obtained the pickaxe and the shield, Li Wei left the shop and bought something at the market for lunch. He then went to the training center. -"Hello customer, what are you looking for ?" a beautiful receptionist greeted Li Wei. -"Hello, I would like to challenge the Tower of Heroes, here is 1 silver." -"Got it, according to your level, you may skip the first 4 floors, do you wish to do so?" -"No, I will start from the 1st floor, thank you." -"Then please follow me" Li Wei decided to fight from the 1st floor because it was an opportunity to get used to the shield, he would also get used to fighting other humans, so far he mostly fought monsters. Li Wei followed the receptionist into a long corridor and approached a small hall with a large wooden door. On the top of the door was the leaderboard : (1) Skywalker(Rogue) : 7th floor (2) Moonlight Shadow(Warrior): 7th floor (3) Forgotten Child(Warrior) : 6th floor (4) I AM HUNGRY(Paladin): 6th floor (5) Wild Cat(Ranger): 6th floor (6) Weird Name(Mage) : 5th floor .... It looked like many players have already challenged the Tower of Heroes, conquering the 7th floor was very impressive, considering that the player with the highest level in Little Root Town, Skywalker was only level 6. The level of the enemy one had to fight was equal to the floor''s number, so the rogue had to fight someone one level above him. In the hall, there was also a bunch of players walking towards the exit -"Grmmm, I only hit the 5th floor, that mage was so annoying..." -"Don''t tell me, I lost on the 4th floor" The receptionist led Li Wei to the front of the door. -"This is the entry to the Tower of Heroes, please proceed forward, I cannot bring you any further" "Thank you," said Li Wei, and he directly approached the door. He touched the door and a dim light surrounded Li Wei, seconds later he vanished from the hall. 9 Tower of Heroes [Welcome to the Tower of Heroes. This is a special place created by the Great Archmage, Azmodius. It was created to evaluate the strength of humans.] [System prompt: Player Seven has reached a special place, Special rules apply to this space] [Rule 1: Death is impossible here; once your HP reaches 1, a protective layer would appear preventing you from dying. However, that would mean the end of your climb of the tower.] [Rule 2: Consumables cannot be used during fights. HP, MP and Cooldown times will be refreshed after defeating each floor.] [Rule 3: Rewards will be awarded after defeating each floor. However, players can collect the reward for defeating a specific floor only once.] Following the message, Li Wei appeared near the edge of an empty circular platform. A massive 1 was written on the ground in Roman Numerals. Li Wei calmly observed his surroundings and walked towards the center. A message popped up. [Would you like to begin the first fight?] - "Yes" In front of Li Wei, a young man appeared, wearing the starters clothing that gave no stats. The man remained expressionless and looked at Li Wei. [Floor 1: level 1 fighter, begin the fight in 5] [4] [3] [2] [1] [Begin!] As soon as the signal was sent, the 2 fighters got into fighting stances. Li Wei shifted his body, taking a defensive stance and placing his shield in front of him and held his sword in his right hand. It was the main purpose of him starting from the 1st floor, he wanted to get used to his shield and test the new skills. The level 1 fighter also got into stance but an offensive one; having no weapons, he took a stance similar to that of boxing and approached Li Wei making small hops. "Pak.. Pak" "-0", "-1" The man punched in the direction of Li Wei but was easily blocked by the shield. Even though Li Wei expected the first level to be easy, that was a little too much; Li Wei could easily predict where the punches would land and block them. So instead of wasting time, Li Wei chose to attack. "Strengthen" Upon activating the skill, Li Wei instantly felt his body becoming lighter. He pushed the punch of the fighter with the shield and slashed at him with the sword and hit his chest. "-19" Li Wei only stroke once and both sides retreated a few steps. - "Isn''t that a bit too easy?¡­ His HP bar almost dropped by half" Following that, Li Wei rushed towards the fighter, jumped and used his second skill. [Cleave] His sword did a long diagonal strike and went through the body of the fighter. -"31" The HP bar of the fighter suddenly dropped and a white light appeared covering the fighter. [Congratulations for defeating the first floor. You are awarded 100 exp] [Restoring original state, moving to the second floor.] A mist rose up out of nowhere and covered the arena for a few seconds before disappearing. The fighter disappeared and was replaced by a woman, the number on the floor also changed to two. [Would you like to begin the second fight?] -"Begin !" [Floor 2: level 2 fighter, begin the fight in 5] ¡­ [1] [Begin!] The exact same thing as the 1st fight occurred. The woman still did not have weapons, but she did have a basic cloth armor and boots. It only took Li Wei a few strikes to defeat her. [Congratulations for defeating the second floor. You are awarded 200 exp] [Restoring original state, moving to the third floor.] ¡­. ¡­ Similar developments happened on the third and fourth floors. Despite having weapons, the fighters were simply no match to Li Wei. Even the level 4 fighter was easily defeated. That was the difference between having a fighting class and not having one. Additionally, Li Wei reached the 1st milestone at level 5. The real struggles only started now, when Li Wei reached the 5th floor. [Would you like to begin the fifth fight?] "Begin" [Floor 5: level 5 Paladin, begin the fight in 5] [4] [3] [2] [1] [Begin!] The Paladin in front of Li Wei was a well-built man wearing a full set of heavy equipment, they were all made of metal and even though they provided more armor than that of Li Wei, they also reduced the dexterity of the user. The paladin also had a large shield, at least twice as large as than that of Li Wei and a sword. Li Wei charged at the paladin. He first probed the paladin using only 50% of his force but the strike was easily blocked. The Paladin remained unfazed and stayed in his defensive stance not even attacking. Li Wei tried to attack from different positions, moving all around the paladin but each hit was successfully blocked. -"-1", "-2","-1","-0" Very small red numbers appeared where Li Wei was hitting the paladin but they were negligible, especially considering that paladins invested points in vitality and so, had a lot of HP. The Paladin also attacked and dealt the same amount of damage to Li Wei, they were both equally strong The exchange continued but suddenly, the paladin made his move. Right after blocking Li Wei''s sword, he counterattacked with his own. Even though the strike was much slower compared to that of Li Wei, due to Li Wei''s original motion, he could only lift his shield to block the sword. "-2" But the paladin did not stop here. The shield he was holding suddenly glowed slightly and violently collided with Li Wei''s body and forced him to retreat a few steps. It was the Paladin''s offensive skill, [Bash] [Bash] Violently hit the target with a shield or a blunt weapon, Damage +8, small chance of stunning the target for 0.5 seconds Mana cost: 15 Cooldown time: 10 seconds -"F***" "-12" Li Wei frowned, he was actually pushed back by a defensive class. If things continued like that, he would eventually lose. Li Wei started to focus, he took a needle from his belt and threw it to the Paladin. ''mmm throwing needles is a bit troublesome with the shield'' thought Li Wei. He then dashed towards the paladin. The latter immediately blocked the needle but Li Wei already arrived in front of the paladin, using his sword he stroke on the right of the Paladin. The Paladin reacted and swiftly rotated his whole body to block the sword with his shield, the needle still embedded into the shield. He successfully blocked it and was about to replicate but at that moment, Li Wei raised his foot and pushed the shield away from the side. The Paladin did not expect such a move and lost his balance. Li Wei quickly took advantage of the situation and hacked continuously at the Paladin. "Cleave" "Reinforce" Seeing that the Paladin would be unable to block the next strike, he immediately used his skill to maximize the damage. However, the Paladin also reacted and used his own defensive skill. [Reinforce (level 0)] Reduces damage taken by the user by 2 per strike for 30 seconds Mana cost: 20 Cooldown time: 5 minutes "-11", "-17","-10" Damages popped up above the Paladin''s head. Li Wei was able to land 3 hits before the Paladin blocked with his own sword and regained his balance. With these hits, both sides were at about 2 thirds of their HP. The battle turned back into a deadlock, both sides waiting for their cooldowns. A few seconds later, Li Wei repeated his previous strategy. He took out a needle and again aimed straight at the Paladin. The Paladin blocked it and Li Wei rushed forward just like last time. However, the paladin did not commit the same mistake twice. Instead of just blocking the sword strike, he used [Bash] and pushed the sword away. However, Li Wei did not expect this attack to work twice, seeing [Bash] being used, he immediately let go of the sword and drew a dagger. Since the Paladin was in the middle of animation of [Bash], he could not do anything when the dagger stabbed him on the left. With that, Li Wei was able to take out another third of the Paladin''s HP. But when the Paladin lifted his shield back again to stop the dagger, this time, Li Wei did not back off. Instead, he pushed forward, his body nearly leaning on the shield. Li Wei smiled, he put his right foot forward and placed it behind the Paladin. He then pulled back, making the Paladin lose balance and trip. While the Paladin was taking several steps back in an attempt to keep standing, Li Wei drew the other dagger. With one dagger in each hand, Li Wei lunged towards the Paladin and stabbed him to death. [Congratulations for defeating the fifth floor. You are awarded 500 exp] [Restoring original state, moving to the sixth floor.] The mist reappeared once again. This time, on the arena with a ''Six'' in Roman numerals, appeared a female rogue, holding a pair of curved daggers. ... [Floor 6: level 6 Rogue, begin the fight in 5] [4] ... [Begin!] As soon as the fight began, the rogue directly dashed towards Li Wei, she was much faster than the Paladin and attacked continuously with the 2 curved daggers. Fortunately for Li Wei, he invested a lot in Dexterity and could keep up with the movement of the rogue; blocking a dagger with the shield and parrying the other with his sword. After a few exchanges, Li Wei decided to go on the offensive. "Strengthen" With enough strength, he started to push back the rogue but the latter did not let him do what he wanted. She immediately used the rogue''s ability, [Rush] [Rush (level 0)] Increases the user''s dexterity by 2 for 30 seconds Mana cost: 20 Cooldown time: 5 minutes She immediately got faster and dodge the sword while stabbing Li Wei on the side. Li Wei wasn''t prepared for such a change of pace and was unable to block. But it did not end there: "Shadow strike" [Shadow strike (level 0)] Stabs the target with a blade, Damage +15, Mana cost: 15 Cooldown time: 15 seconds Li Wei saw that attack and did not try to dodge it. Instead, he fully took the Shadow Strike focused on his own sword and aimed at the body of the rogue. "Cleave" "-26" appeared on the rogue''s body. Both parties were pushed back but Li Wei took this opportunity to draw his needles and throw them at the rogue. The female rogue was very agile and easily dodged the needles and dashed forward once more. Blades and the shield collided once more. The rogue had half of her HP bar full while Li Wei only had one-third left; while he was able to parry most attacks, he was constantly on the defensive and the small "-1", "-2" started to accumulate. While constantly exchanging strikes, Li Wei thought of something. He blocked the next dagger with the shield but did not stop there. Instead, he leaned forward and did a movement similar to the Paladin''s [Bash], pushing the dagger towards the rogue. Li Wei did not have the skill but imitated the movement to a certain degree. The Rogue did not expect that and was forced to take a few steps back. "Cleave" The imitated Bash was quickly followed by the [Cleave] and left the rogue with only a few HP left. The rogue quickly retreated, keeping some distances. She then took out throwing knives from her belt and directly threw them at Li Wei. Li Wei relaxed a bit, the rogue only had a slimmer of HP left and he could finish her with his own needles. He walked towards the rogue slowly, using his shield to block the knives. However, he suddenly felt an intense pain in his left foot. "-8" A knife actually hit him there. The rogue used the fact that Li Wei had to raise his shield to protect his face and that it would then momentarily block his vision, she used that split second to throw a knife at Li Wei''s foot. The rogue threw the rest of her knives and when they were all used, she had no choice but to rush towards Li Wei. "Shadow Strike" After the series of knives, Li Wei was left with 20 HP. Judging from the previous damage he took, if he was hit, he would definitely die. Li Wei took a step back and grabbed his needles. However, he was not able to; the shield got in the way, his needles were actually strapped on his belt but due to the spacing between them, the remaining needles were actually found behind his back. But when he tried to grab them, the shield hit his waist and did not allow him to reach the last needle. The shield was strapped around his left arm and so was fixed and could not be moved. He never realized this before since he never used so many needles at once. The rogue took advantage of the weird position Li Wei was in. She closed the gap between them but before she could hit Li Wei, the latter grinned before throwing his sword at her, disturbing her movement. He then grabbed a dagger and pounced on her, dealing the final blow. [Congratulations for defeating the sixth floor. You are awarded 600 exp] [Restoring original state, moving to the seventh floor.] "That was way too close... The shield got in the way... I might need to change my equipment..." The mist appeared once again and this time, a rather old man appeared holding a staff, he was clearly a mage. [Would you like to begin the seventh fight?] "Yes" [Floor 7: level 7 Mage, begin the fight in 5] [4] [3] [2] [1] [Begin!] 10 Western Mines 1 [Begin!] As soon as the countdown ended, Li Wei rushed towards the mage. From his previous experience of gaming, mages were weak in close combat so his best option was to close the gap quickly. The mage remained expressionless, he did not even try to retreat. The mage only held his staff in front of him, ready to attack. "Cleave" Li Wei jumped and used his ability, aiming at the head of the mage. But the latter quickly used his own skill "Mana Shield" [Mana Shield (level 0)] Creates a spherical shield around the user for 5 seconds, can absorb 30 damage Mana cost: 15 Cooldown time: 30 seconds Li Wei''s sword hit the shield but could not proceed further. A "-26" appeared in blue indicating that all the damage had been absorbed. The old man smiled, he lifted his staff and aimed at Li Wei "Mana Bolt" [Mana Bolt (level 0)] Condenses mana into a projectile and shoots it at a target, deals 10 Magic damage Mana cost: 12 Cooldown time: 6 seconds A White light appeared at the end of the staff and shot towards Li Wei. Being still in the air with one hand holding his sword, Li Wei could do nothing to stop him. The mana bolt struck his chest and forced him to take a few steps back. "-19" A relative high damage was dealt to Li Wei, this was because his equipment provided only armor which reduces physical damage but he did not have any magic resist and could only rely on his HP to survive. After that, the old man retreated quickly, he needed to wait for his cooldowns and was vulnerable in the meantime but Li Wei did not allow him to do so. He dashed towards the mage slashing his sword at him. The mage parried the sword with his staff but still took damage and a few seconds later, "Mana Bolt". Being so close, Li Wei was not able to dodge the attack. Mana bolt was an instant cast spell that barely had a casting time. Even though Li Wei was able to see the staff shine for a fraction of a second before firing the bolt, his body was not able to react in time. The fight continued, the mage kept retreating after using his spells, slowly depleting Li Wei''s HP bar. Eventually, Li Wei took out his needles and threw it at the mage. "Mana Shield" "Strengthen" The shield absorbed all the damage of the needles but meanwhile, Li Wei used his skill and dashed towards the mage. With Mana shield already used, the mage would have no chance to protect himself. However, thing did not go as Li Wei planned. As Li Wei lifted his sword to strike the mage, the latter raised his own hand. On his ring finger, a white ring suddenly turned crimson red. Immediately after, a fireball shot out of the ring, hitting Li Wei on the chest. This was followed by another Mana Bolt, emptying Li Wei''s HP bar. The ring was actually a special equipment that could store one skill, and the skill the mage had stored was Fireball. Li Wei was caught off guard, he thought the mage would only have 2 skills and that was the case, he just did not know that it was possible to store a skill in an equipment. A bright light covered Li Wei''s body, keeping his HP at 1 [You have been defeated. Restoring to original condition] ... And that concluded Li Wei''s climb of the tower. Even though he felt dejected for losing in such a way, he also got to learn a lot about fighting and the other classes. Besides that, Li Wei collected enough exp from this and reached level 6. The free stat point was directly added to Strength. Li Wei stood up and left the arena. He appeared back in the hall where he entered the tower of heroes. Many players saw him appear, he just ignored them and went straight to the exit. At that moment, someone shouted, "Look, the leaderboard is being refreshed" On the 5th position, "Seven" appeared and replaced the previous name "Wild cat". As to why Li Wei was ranked 3rd among those that defeated the 6th floor, that was due to the amount of damage dealt to the opponent. "Was it that guy that just left?" "Maybe we should try to recruit him... Remember his name" ... After the dungeon run, it was already 3:21, Li Wei went to wander around the town. He was thinking about his fights, he realized that there were many things he could improve on, he was calmly analyzing his mistakes. Then, Li Wei thought about the ring of that mage, ''It will be useful to get one like that, it can be a trump card... I also need to think of something for the shield and the needles...'' .... The next morning, Li Wei left the inn and went to the west, where the mines were located. It was time to collect some ores and complete his 2 pending quests. His Fatigue level was back to 0 after a good night of rest. Despite thinking during the rest of the evening, Li Wei could not come up with anything for the problem of his needles, it was either abandoning the shield or the needles but both were useful. As for the ring, Li Wei went to a magic shop only to find that the cheapest ring that could store skills cost 10 golds. He was once again lacking money, having only about 6 golds. Li Wei walked to the mines, appearing very careless but in reality, he was constantly looking around him. He needed to bait the Red Bandits and alert the militia with a communication crystal and the best way to do it was to look defenseless. However, Li Wei reached the mines without encountering any attacks. There were already some people there, mostly NPCs. The mines actually contained monsters from level 5 to 8. There was also another mine that was sealed because it contained corrupted beasts above level 8. NPCs were silently collecting ores near the entrance of the mine. Even though they were protected by some guards, they stayed in the relatively safe area of the outer mine. But for the middle grade iron ores, Li Wei had to proceed deeper into the mines. There were several tunnels players could choose to explore and Li Wei randomly chose one. There were actually torches placed on the walls of the tunnels but Li Wei also received some from the miners as the cave was not fully explored and there were some places without light. He quickly encountered his first monster, it was a level 6 Mine Rat. Li Wei quickly rushed towards it and cut it with his sword. The Mine Rat was actually rather big, about the size of a suitcase. The rat was much weaker than the opponents in the Tower of Heroes, even though it tried to bite Li Wei, the latter now had some combat experience and easily dodged it before finishing it off with a [Cleave] Li Wei proceeded deeper and deeper into the mines, he stopped only to kill the Mine Rats he encountered and to collect the ores he found. After 1 hour, he already collected quite a decent amount of low-grade iron ores in addition to Mine Rat teeth and Mine Rat Tails. Eventually, Li Wei found an ore that was brighter than the others, he excited took out the pickaxe and started to strike the ore. "Tink! Tink!" [System prompt: you have obtained a middle-grade iron ore] Li Wei was very happy, he was a the right place and could easily collect the ores. After a few hours, he decided to go out of the mines to eat his lunch. He already collected 12 middle-grade iron ores and could relax a bit. He went out and sat with the other miners to eat. When they heard that Li Wei had obtained Middle-grade ores, they tried to buy them from him but he refused. For them, going deep into the mines was very dangerous and they were not willing to hire strong guards to protect them from the dangers lurking into the mines. This was why middle-grade iron ores were rather rare at Little Root Town, but that would soon change when the players will start to explore the mine. After talking for a bit with the miners, Li Wei went back into the tunnel but not without receiving a quest from the miner leader [System prompt: you have received the quest "Rat Extermination"] [Information] Slay as many rats as possible to make the mines safer Rewards: 50 exp per rats Li Wei went back to the spot he found the middle-grade ores and surely, they had already respawned. Li Wei happily collected all of them. While exploring the cave, Li Wei met many rats, they were actually getting larger and larger, he was now encountering level 7 Mine Rats. But their end did not change, they all perished under Li Wei''s sword and needles. In such a closed environment, it was difficult to dodge throwing weapons. After a few hours, Li Wei had to lit up the torch to continue exploring, it was actually quite annoying for Li Wei as he could no longer use his left arm for fighting. ... Eventually, Li Wei arrived in a large chamber. He suddenly heard a lot of things moving, he rapidly raised the torch to see further but only saw fleeing shadows. Suddenly, "Shhhrrkkk", a loud cry was heard and a giant rat of the size of a human appeared in front of Li Wei. It looked at Li Wei with fury in its eyes, above its head was :"Mine Rat Queen, level 9" and that was not all, in the shadows, Li Wei could see countless eyes watching him. When he saw the reflection of the torch in their eyes, he could not help but swallow his saliva. -"Crap.." Li Wei did not hesitate, he knew his limits, fighting rats was easy but against so many, it would not be long before he perishes. He directly threw the torch towards the rats and turned around to rush towards the exits. "Shrrrkk" Under the command of their queen, several rats jumped and chased after Li Wei. In this environment, the rats were faster than Li Wei, and the latter was forced to use his sword to hack at the rats that were biting his legs. Li Wei drank down a Health Potion while still running for his life. The stream of rats seemed endless, Li Wei was starting to feel despair, ''Will this be my first death'' thought Li Wei. He then thought of something. "Strengthen" Li Wei activated Strengthen and pushed on his legs with much force. Even though it was not like the [Rush] of the rogue, he was able to accelerate a little. After having drunk his 5th Health Potion, the rats finally gave up the chase. Li Wei only had 39HP left but succeeded in reaching the outer part of the mine. Minutes later, a very desolate looking Li Wei appeared near the entrance of the mine. However, at that moment, Li Wei suddenly felt a sense of danger. He quickly took a step back and jumped on the side and surely, an arrow flew just where he was standing moments ago. From the entrance of the mine, 5 individuals appeared, all wearing red clothes and taking out their weapons. ''Of course, of all the times that could happen... it had to be now'' A thin man, appearing to be the leader, took a step forward "So you are the one who killed our comrades, you have some skills to be able to dodge Mason''s arrow but you chose to offend the wrong person." The man grinned a took out his staff, aiming at Li Wei. "Any last words?" Li Wei frowned and looked at the Red Bandits, 4 of them were level 7 with one ranger and 3 rogues while the thin man was actually a level 9 mage. While listening to the Red Bandit, Li Wei discretely moved his left hand towards his bag and took the communication crystal from his inventory. The crystal automatically activated. [System prompt: Quest "Bait the Red Bandits" updated, new success condition: Survive for 15 minutes until the arrival of the militia] ''Damn... why couldn''t they be stationed nearer'' Having activated the crystal, Li Wei had no other choice, he relaxed himself a bit and smiled. "Since you want to kill me, then come and catch me". Saying that, he immediately took out 4 needles and threw them towards the Red Bandits. Not caring whether he hit his targets or not, he immediately turned around and ran back into the depths of the mine. "Mana Shield", "Mana Bolt", the mage immediately activated his skills but Li Wei was quick enough to reach a turn in the tunnel. "F***, chase after him !" 11 Western Mines 2 "F***, chase after him !" "Yes, Sir!" "You guys go, I''ll stay here and guard the exit... I am not very useful in such closed environment" said the ranger "Ok," The mage quickly approved and moved his hands to tell the others to start moving. The rest of the Red Bandits chased after Li Wei but suddenly, the lights went out. "Damn... that kid is taking out the torches... Quick! light up some" .... After Li Wei made the turn, he quickly drank down another Health Potion, bringing his HP back to 59/80. There was no cooldown time on the amount of potion one could drink, however, he could be interrupted by taking damage and with the Red Bandits chasing him, he did not want to risk it and only drank one. Then he thought that he only needed to delay them for 15 minutes but it was not as simple as it seemed, outside were the Red Bandits, while inside, were the Mine Rats, he did not know if they were still there or had already left. So he tried to buy as much time as possible, taking out the torches was one of his ideas. Li Wei quickly used his sword to cut out the torches and take out the fire. He then ran deeper into the mines, repeating that process. While running, Li Wei strangely did not feel any fear, he was instead excited. Even in total darkness, he wasn''t scared, he could not see anything but somehow, he was able to guess the direction of the tunnel. It was like he instinctively knew where the tunnel would make a turn. After a few minutes, Li Wei started to slow down, he could distinctively hear the footsteps of the red Bandits behind but he did not mind it. And finally, he listened closely and finally heard what he wanted to hear, "eek eek". It was a Mine Rat, they did not all leave. Li Wei''s plan was something he had commonly seen when playing; using the aggro of monsters to distract his opponents. Li Wei charged at the Mine rat, but did not use his sword, he did not want to damage it. The rat quickly reacted and turned around to bite Li Wei. Li Wei blocked it with his shield and used the imitated version of [Bash]. He repeatedly hit the rat with his shield, dealing negligible amounts of damage, his goal was only to stun the rat enough to be able to pass through. While Li Wei could not see anything, he could feel the presence of the rat and its movement, after a few strikes, Li Wei grabbed the rat''s tail and threw it towards the entrance. Li Wei took a quick glance behind him and saw the light coming from the torches of the Red Bandits, he smiled and then pushed deeper into the mine. When Li Wei took out the lights, he did not only want to delay the bandits, he also wanted the bandits to attract the aggro of the monsters. It was a normal reaction for animals to be attracted towards light sources. Li Wei ran into the tunnel, he could faintly hear swearing and sounds of swords hitting the ground. He ignored all that and ran... he repeated the same thing on all the rats he found. A few minutes later, Li Wei checked the countdown in his quest log, 3 minutes and 30 seconds left. Suddenly, Li Wei felt danger, he quickly crouched and raised his shield and surely. "Takk! Takk", 2 throwing knives sank into his shield. A shadow appeared and was quickly followed by another Red Bandit holding a torch. The 2 were both rogues. The quest was not that easy after all, even if Li Wei invested heavily in Dexterity, he was not as fast and agile as a rogue and rogues were used to fight and travel in darkness. Li Wei faced the rogues but slowly retreated backward, he only needed to hold a few minutes and the militia would arrive. Seeing that, the rogues dashed towards Li Wei, one on each side, one having 2 curved daggers and the other a dagger and the torch. Li Wei blocked with his shield and parried with his sword but it was inevitable to take some damage and his HP bar started to deplete. But then, he started to feel a familiar feeling, it was the same as when he fought the Red Bandits on the path from the Eastern Forest. The fight continued, Li Wei kept taking damage but gradually, he started to be able to predict the moves of his opponents. The damage he took gradually lessen and he was even able to dodge the daggers. His feet became more stable and could see openings in the 2 rogue''s attack. Eventually, Li Wei saw a good opening, he parried a rogue on one side and thrust his sword towards the other rogue. "Cling Clang !" It was easily parried and violently pushed back the sword but then, Li Wei used the force from the parry to quickly make a spin and strike the other rogue. As the rogue saw the sword strike coming, he tried to block it but the strong force made him feel a terrible pain on his wrist. He did not expect such strength and eventually let go of his dagger. Being disarmed and with one hand holding the torch, he had no choice but to take a few steps back. However, Li Wei did not allow him to do so, he ignored the other rogue and pounced towards the disarmed one. "Cleave" "-20" But Li Wei could not continue his attack as the other rogue quickly reacted and attacked Li Wei, forcing him back on the defensive. That bought time for the disarmed rogue to take out another dagger, he then rushed back towards the battle but did not attack with the dagger. When he saw Li Wei raising his shield, he coldly smiled and did not use his dagger, instead he stroke the shield with the torch. It dealt no damage but the shield was partially made of wood, if Li Wei did not quickly retreat, it would start burning. "Crap" Li Wei had no choice but to jump back... He did not expect such a dirty move. While retreating, his hand grabbed a throwing needle and aimed it at the rogue holding the torch But then, a bright light appeared from behind the rogues, Li Wei jumped back quickly but still took damage. It was a Mana Bolt, the mage and the remaining rogue had arrived. "You are very fast kid but this is the end." The 2 rogues quickly went pass Li Wei to prevent him from escaping deeper into the mines. Li Wei panicked and quickly looked at the remaining time. He then started to relax, 2 seconds were left. The mage approached Li Wei and raised his staff. A light started to appear on his staff but another light appeared behind the mage and exploded on his back. It was another Mana Bolt but this one was clearly bigger and brighter than the one the mage used. From behind, a group of militia appeared, most of them were in heavy armor, but there was also a mage and a priest. The priest quickly used [Heal] on Li Wei, "+25" appeared in white above his head. In the meantime, the rest of the militia moved forward and engaged the Red Bandits, the militia with a badge on his chest approached Li Wei. "Good job, we can take it from here on... Just relax, there is no way they can escape" "There is also a ranger, he was guarding the entrance" replied Li Wei "Yes, we already captured him, just go and stay with the priest, he will protect you" While the Red Bandits fought ferociously, they were simply outnumbered and could only end up captured. The Red Bandits were tied and tightly guarded, the whole group then left the mines. The priest kept casting [Heal] on Li Wei whenever it came off cooldown until his HP was fully restored. Li Wei finally relaxed, he had completed the quest, he only needed to go to the barracks and talk to the commander now. The group walked out of the mines, at the entrance, they saw a bunch of scared miners. The miners had noticed the Red Bandits but chose to not interfere with their business and just gathered near the entrance. Another group of militia was also present there, with the Red Bandit Ranger tied up. The 2 groups of militia then merged and went back to the town. Li Wei followed them but not without talking to the miners to complete the quest "Mine Rat Extermination" from which he got a lot of exp, almost enough to level up. ... Little Root Town, Barracks Li Wei was sitting in the Commander''s office. The Red Bandits were imprisoned and were being interrogated right now. "To be honest, I did not expect you to be able to survive that. I apologize for that, I hoped to take advantage of the fact that you can simply revive. I know that you adventurers, having received the blessing of Gaia, will just revive after their death. That was pretty impressive." Li Wei simply smiled and did not say anything. By the looks of it, he would soon get his rewards. "You already took a full set of militia''s equipment but I cannot be stingy. Tomorrow, go talk to Elder Jari, he lives in the southern part of the city, I already talked to him and he will definitely give you something that you will like." [System prompt: You have completed the quest "Bait the Red Bandits", 2000 exp awarded, additional rewards upon visiting Elder Jari] [System prompt: Congratulations player Seven, you have gained a level, you are awarded a stat point] Li Wei was puzzled, what could Elder Jari give him? But he just smiled and then answered "Thank you, Commander. However, I have a request, from the looks of things, you are going to attack the Red Bandits'' Hideout, I would like to participate in this operation" "What? Impossible, you are way too weak, even though you could deal with the Red Bandits, the higher-ups of these bandits are as strong as our captains. You won''t be able to contribute to this battle" "Commander, did you not say that I was going to die when baiting the Bandits, but yet I am still alive and well. Even though I cannot say that I will be able to contribute greatly, I can guarantee that I will not be a burden to the team." The Commander hesitated for a while and then said, "Are you sure about this? We already have the location of their hideout, the operation is for tonight, aren''t you tired from today''s event?" -"This is perfectly fine, doesn''t the militia have resources for this sort of situation?" The commander looked at Li Wei, he then sighed and tossed out a bottle. "Drink that, we are meeting in one hour for a briefing before starting the operation" "Got it" What Li Wei received was a fatigue recovery potion [Fatigue Recovery Potion](Grade 1) Reduce fatigue level by 30% It was actually a grade 1 potion, it was not expensive, just rare. In Little Root town, Craftsmen able to produce Grade 1 items were rare and their items were quickly sold and always in demand. After this whole day of fighting, Li Wei''s fatigue was at 63%. He readily drank the potion and went briefly to the inn for a meal. He did not need to be at his peak condition since he would only spectate. He wanted to see how other people fought and also see if he could take advantage of the situation to gain some resources. ... 19:10, Barracks Li Wei was seated in the briefing room, surrounded by militias. They were going to launch their attack in 20 minutes. According to the commander, it was the optimal time as people would usually be eating and the Bandits would probably be all grouped in their hideout, so they could capture all of them at once. The Bandit groups had about 100 individuals and most of them were class holders varying from level 5 to level 8. They also had some level 9 and 2 level 10 fighters. The militia was sending 10 teams of 20 individuals, twice the amount of Bandits. Li Wei was graciously allocated to a team consisting mainly of warriors, their task was to provide backup and clean up the weak bandits. Usually, the outcome of the operation would be decided by the fight between the strongest individuals, namely the commander and the Red Bandit leader. The hideout of the Red Bandits turned out to be the underground of the Solas Department Store. After some torture, the imprisoned Red Bandits quickly gave out the location of their hideout, they naturally valued their lives above that of their companions. According to them, the Solas Department Store associated with Red Bandits and they worked together to inflict damage to other businesses so that the Solas Department Store could rise up. They also develop a scheme by posting the quest about Wild Mushrooms, inciting adventurers to go far into the Eastern Forest, so that the Red Bandits could easily ambush them. The assault plan was very simple; surround, charge and kill all Red Bandits. As for the Solas Department Store''s staff, they were to be captured and interrogated later. After clarifying the last details such as the order that the teams would proceed and where they would assault from, the militia all stood up with their teams and separated into smaller groups to surround the Department Store. As for Li Wei, he quietly followed his new teammates. 12 Attacking the Red Bandits Underground of Solas Department Store. "Where are Dylan and his men? It has been hours since they''ve been gone, they should already be back." "Tsssk that idiot, he is probably enjoying himself at the brothel. Tell him to report to me as soon as he comes back. Anything else ?" "Ok Boss, the servants of the Solas Family are here to collect their share of the deal. What should we do ?" "Give them what we agreed on. Tell them to put new requests for wolf furs, we can increase our hunting grounds. hehehe" The important figures of the Red Bandits were all sitting around a table. On the side of the room, were dancers doing their performances. Though they were all young and attractive, the bandits focused their attention on their leader, after all, making money was more important. As long as they had money, they could hire beauties from anywhere. "If we already discussed everything, let''s eat brothers. Tomorrow, we''ll have a lot of work to do" said the Red Bandit Leader while clapping his hands. Seconds later, servants came in carrying plates of food around the table. But Suddenly "Boom" A young man dressed in red violently opened the door and rushed into the room. "Alert! Alert !! We are under attack! The militia is here !" "What? How did they discover our hideout ?" .... Outside, on the main street, a large number of militia was gathered, completely surrounding the Solas Department Store. Many players were actually on the streets and were wondering if there was an event quest going to be triggered but nothing happened, instead, the militia formed a Perimeter of Security and strictly prohibited anyone from approaching the Store. The commander went straight to the entrance and loudly knocked at the door. "Sir, we are here for a surprise inspection, will you please open the door!" A few seconds later, a servant opened the door and answered in a quiet and apologetic voice, "Good evening commander, it is a bit late for an inspection, my master went back to his house. As much as I want to let you pass, I cannot let you in without his permission..." But before he could finish his sentence, a shadow appeared behind him and hit him on his neck making the servant lose consciousness. It was a militia rogue. Contrary to popular belief, the militia was not composed solely of warriors and paladins, all the classes could actually be found but in different proportion. The commander nodded at the rogue then raised his hand. It was the signal to begin the assault. Quickly, the militia went through the entrance in an orderly manner and seconds later, clashing of swords were heard. Li Wei followed his team and quickly went inside, the scene in front of his eyes was really messy. Corpses were lying everywhere and many fights were happening everywhere in the main hall. Even if the Red Bandits were caught off guard, they were used to fighting and quickly reacted. They quickly held their ground, it was after all their territory. Many Red Bandits first immediately surrendered, but the militia was not taking any prisoners. In such situation, they could not afford to spare some men to look after these prisoners and could only finish them off. When seeing that, the rest of the Red Bandits firmly held their weapons and fought back for their lives. The commander was nowhere to be seen, from the look of things, he must have proceeded further into the shop. Li Wei was observing the scene while sticking to his team but quickly, they received the command to engage the fight. Red Bandits were appearing out of nowhere and were sneak attacking the militia. Having received the order, Li Wei Became excited. It was a good opportunity to get a lot of exp when he saw the messy fight, he immediately wanted to deal finishing blows to the Red Bandits but held that feeling inside and stayed with his team. But now, he directly drew out his needles and threw them at the injured Red Bandits. He did not attack the newly arrived one but instead, dealing the finishing blow to the one engaged in fights. He received stares from the militia who were fighting the Red Bandits but they did not say anything. Li Wei was puzzled, did they mind it if he kills steal some Red Bandits? After all, the militia did not depend on exp to level up, from Li Wei''s perspective, it would be a waste to lose all these juicy exp. His 10 needles took down 10 Red Bandits and brought him a bunch of exp; all the Red Bandits here were at least level 7 and were all class holders. Having nothing else to throw, Li Wei drew out his sword and engaged a Red Bandit warrior. The latter grinned, seeing Li Wei, who was young compared to the other militia, he judged that his opponent was just some random rookie that he could quickly finish off. But against all expectations, the young man easily dodged his sword and bashed his shield forward. Li Wei focused, in such as messy fight, he could not afford any mistakes; he could easily get surrounded and focused by the other Red Bandits in the surroundings. He dodged the incoming sword by jumping to the right and used his imitation of [Bash] to strike the Red Bandit''s head. Li Wei successfully landed his attack and quickly followed up with a [Cleave]. A militia next to him also charged at the Red Bandit, completely overwhelming him. But before his HP bar could hit 0, a series of blue lights appeared, "+20","+21"... Several Red Bandits appeared from behind a shelf as reinforcement. "Crap! Mages and rangers, focus the priests !" Li Wei tried to charge at the priests but the Red Bandits were not stupid, their warriors and paladins formed a wall, preventing anyone from reaching the priests. Li Wei and the militia, violently charged forward, hacking their weapons at the Red Bandits. In front of the Li Wei, was a level 7 Paladin, the latter was forced to stay behind his shield, Li Wei continuously slashed his sword down but could not break his defense. The space was very limited, he could not attack from the side as there were other militias and Red Bandits present. Mages and Rangers continuously fired at the back lines but with the cooldowns, the priests could just heal up or drink potions safely at the back. With priests on both sides, the situation was in a deadlock, but that did not last for long. "We are here to help! Charge !" Another team of militia arrived to help Li Wei''s team, they had already defeated their own opponents as they were the first to charge in. And so, the balance was quickly broken, with more mages and warriors, the militia was gradually able to take down the Red Bandits. Li Wei was being very passive, he did not want to put himself into too much danger, only holding his ground. But when he saw the other team arriving, he started taking some risks, he just could not let go of all these exp. Mana Bolts flew across the hall, as soon as a nearby Red Bandit was hit by those, Li Wei would dash and deal the finishing blow. Eventually, [System prompt: Congratulations player Seven, you have gained a level, you have obtained a stat point] Li Wei smiled, he was now level 7, he directly added his stat point to Strength and continued to fight. As the Red Bandits saw the situation turn sour, they started to retreat, going back to the secret path they came from. When Li Wei and the militia tried to chase them, dark circular objects were thrown towards them and moments later, a thick white smoke leaked out of these objects. The militias were blinded but continued to advance in the general location but then, "Boom! Crash !" Li Wei was following his team but suddenly, a loud sound came from his side; a shelf had fallen onto the militia; the Red Bandits were using the shelves of Department store to slow them down. They were quite heavy and severely injured the unfortunate militia upon falling. In this situation, the militia captains had no choice but to call back their troops, advancing like that was too dangerous; many took advantage of this small break to drink some potions and so did Li Wei. The militias were quick-witted and well trained, they got back into formation and started moving, Li Wei''s team would go through the main hall into back shop. As for the other team, they would leave some members here to guard this secret path and wait for the smoke to dissipate while the other members would go help other teams at the other entrances. ... In the back shop, more fights were happening left and right, the fights were even more ferocious; the commander was there, fighting a large muscular man with a mark on the face. It was the Red Bandit leader. Both sides were warriors but compared to most warriors, the Red Bandit leader was holding 2 long swords. He was very fast and was continuously slashing at the Commander with the two swords, even though not much damage was done, he was so fast that the Commander had no choice but to defend with his shield. While Li Wei''s team directly engage combat, Li Wei himself did not. Instead, he went into a corner of the room to observe the fight of the 2 strongest. It was an opportunity to learn different fighting styles and his eyes glimmered when he saw the Red Bandit Leader. Li Wei stood in a safe corner and observed the surroundings. Fights were happening everywhere, many captains were engaged into battle, Mana Bolts and arrows were flying all over the place and priest were constantly chanting. But the only thing interesting in Li Wei''s eyes was the fight between the Commander and the Red Bandit Leader. Just from one look, one could tell it was a battle of Dexterity against Strength. The Red Bandit Leader was constantly attacking, always moving around the commander, slowing chipping his HP away. But the commander was holding his ground, only able to attack once for every 5 attacks of the Red Bandit Leader. But these attacks, when they landed, dealt a large amount of damage and forced the Red Bandit Leader back. Despite the mess in the hall, nobody dared to approach these two, there was like an invisible barrier, that deterred anyone from approaching, only priests were casting heals from a distance on their respective side. Li Wei calmly observed the Red Bandit Leader''s movement and engraved them into his mind. It was a style that inspired him. Being so aggressive that he did not need a shield, constantly moving and dodging the strikes. It was like something between Warrior and Rogue. The Red Bandit Leader was in constant motion, striking on the left, then spinning to strike on the right, thrusting, stabbing... It was like a dance, a violent dance, his movements were not especially graceful, but his moves had a sort of harmony. But that did not last for long, minutes later, the balance was finally broken. "Crash, thomp thomp thomp !" A door was flung wild open and a team of militia charged in from another entrance, they had finally made it to the back shop. They were all covered with bruises, at this point, everyone had suffered some injuries but they were all suppressing them and charged at the enemy. Seeing that the situation was getting worse, the Red Bandits reacted, they became even more violent, not caring about their lives anymore. Li Wei was about to attack the Red Bandits to finish them off but at this moment, he noticed a faint shadow quickly approaching the Commander. The Commander was focusing on the Red Bandit Leader, he needed to keep track of all his movements if he wanted to be able to parry all the strikes. But suddenly, he felt something behind his back, a very dreadful feeling. He quickly pushed the Red Bandit Leader away and turned around to see what was causing that feeling and then he saw it. A faint shadow appeared before his eyes, and was shortly followed by a dagger aiming at his throat, it was the level 10 skill, [Cut throat]. But being experienced, the Commander instinctively lifted his shield and mitigated the damage of the ability. But it was too late, the balance was broken and the Red Bandit Leader took advantage of the situation and stabbed the commander from behind. The faint shadow was the other level 10 Red Bandit, he was a rogue and considered as the vice-leader. Even though he was annoyed when his [Cut throat] was blocked, he quickly teamed up with the Red Bandit Leader to suppress the Commander. The Commander was pushed back, he kept taking damage, the heals were no longer enough to sustain his HP bar. "Finish him off, said the level 10 rogue" As the commander''s health was nearly depleted, the Red Bandit Leader lifted his sword and used [Cleave]. The Commander saw this and could not help but sigh, he was a very upright man, ready to die for a cause but who would not fear death? But there was just nothing he could do. The other level 10 militia were all engaged in fights and could not assist the Commander. Moments ago, they were being suppressed with the number of Red Bandits but now that the other militia teams were arriving, the situation was finally getting better. But they did not expect that the Red Bandits would sneak attack the commander in such a way, even if they rushed to help him, they would be too late. However, at that moment, a shadow dashed from the corner of the room, unnoticed by all. 13 Defeating the Red Bandits Li Wei was calmly analyzing the fight between the 2 level 10 warriors, more specifically, he was watching the Red Bandit Leader, the wild dual sword style inspired him. The 2 warriors were in a deadlock, but that balance was suddenly broken when the Red Bandit Rogue jumped behind the Commander. Li Wei actually noticed that man moving, but he was just too far from their location, there were at least 15 meters between them. He instinctively tried to grab a needle but he had already used all of them. When Li Wei saw the Commander being stabbed from behind, he knew that if nothing happened, that man would definitely die. Li Wei thought for a second, he then grabbed his sword and dashed out of the corner. But instead of charging towards the Commander, he stayed a fair distance away and used his sword to cut the straps holding his shield. Li Wei then grabbed the shield, made a quick spin and threw it like a disc towards the Red Bandit Leader. However, the Red Bandit Rogue was very alert and immediately noticed Li Wei. He stepped forward and put himself between Li Wei and the Red Bandit Leader. The rogue then leisurely raised one hand and with a mocking smile, grabbed the flying shield with just that one hand. The difference in strength of a level 7 and a level 10 was clearly displayed. Many militias present had actually noticed Li Wei''s actions and hoped for him to succeed, but the rogue''s action shattered that glimmer of hope they had. Even Li Wei felt a bit dejected, he thought that his actions would be enough to buy time for the commander, but he failed. The Red Bandit Leader''s sword then became the center of attention. It was like the light in the darkness, everyone present was watching him as he was striking his sword down. The Commander himself could only watch as this sword was slowly falling down towards his chest. However, just before the sword hit the commander; "[Power Shot]" "Woosh", an arrow flew from a dark corner of the room. Everyone was so focused on the sword that they did not notice it until the very last moment, even the Red Bandit Leader could do nothing but watch the bright arrow hit his chest and push him back. A normal arrow would not have such power behind it, it was the level 10 skill of rangers, [Power Shot] [Power Shot] Charges for 1 seconds, then releases and empowered arrow that knocks back the target, Damage +10 The arrow interrupted the Red Bandit Leader''s strike and pushed him back a few steps, a massive red "-34" appeared on his chest. Out of the dark corner, a slim hooded man was slowly walking out of the shadows, holding a long metallic bow. It was another level 10 militia and this one was a ranger. He was wearing a messy militia''s uniform but on it was a badge, representing his rank of vice-commander. Despite being carefree and undisciplined, this man was able to slowly climb the ranks and become the vice-commander as he displayed his skills in fights. "Sorry am late, the date took longer than expected..." said the hooded man while showing an embarrassed expression. "Oh, by the way, thanks for throwing your shield kid! It bought just enough time for me to charge my [Power Shot]" Seeing this scene, all the militia and the Red Bandits were dazed, they did not know whether to laugh or cry, but the appearance of this man definitely turned the tides of the battle. However, ht vice-commander took advantage that everyone was dazed and before anyone could react, he drew his bow once again and took, not one but 3 arrows from his quiver. [Scatter Shot] The 3 arrows flew into 3 different directions and stroke the Red Bandits. This action quickly jolted everyone awake. The fights resumed while both the Commander and the Red Bandit Leader were being evacuated by their respective captains as they were severely injured. The vice-commander remained in the corner and shot arrows after arrows towards the Red Bandits. It had a strong oppressive effect, forcing the paladins and warriors to lift their shields to block the falling arrows. As for Li Wei, as soon as he saw the Scatter Shot, he dashed and pounced on the nearest enemy. He then lifted his sword and stabbed it into the neck of the Red Bandit before the latter could even react. He knew that the conclusion of the fight was already settled, now, he needed to gain as much as possible from this operation. Red Bandits were falling one by one, they were quickly cornered and were retreating into a corner of the hall. Since the Red Bandit Leader was injured, the Rogue directly gained command and directed his troops to form a defensive circle around the Red Bandit Leader. "F*** that, captains use ''that'', it''s our only chance to escape" As soon as they heard the command of their temporary leader, the remaining Red Bandits Captains quickly drew something from their pockets. It looked strangely similar to Health Potions, except that these bottles were green. And instead of drinking them, they directly threw the bottles as far as possible from them. The militia had no idea what that was, the bottles looked like shiny objects. But, as soon as the bottles hit the militia, they exploded dealing a large amount of damage to the surroundings. The bottles were mini-grenades made by alchemy, they exploded as soon as the liquid inside was exposed to air. Li Wei was very lucky this time, he was standing behind a militia paladin, and the latter happened to take the full blow of the explosion, leaving Li Wei unharmed. Li Wei frowned, the Red Bandits were actually using such cruel methods, even though a huge amount of damage could be dealt, they could not distinguish between friends and enemy and so, many Red Bandits were actually killed in friendly fire. With only 20 Red Bandits remaining, it was their last desperate struggle. The floor of the hall was quickly filled with corpses but the militia continued charging forward. Li Wei dashed forward, he crouched next to a Red Bandit Warrior''s corpse and picked up the sword there. He now only had 2 swords and some daggers, he wanted to try the dual sword style that the Red Bandit Leader was using. And so, when all the mini-grenades of the Red Bandits were exhausted, Li Wei charged in once more with a group of militia. But only the strongest of the Red Bandits were remaining. Upon noticing an isolated Red Bandit, Li Wei pounced towards him, he lifted the 2 swords in a cross shape and slashed them down. The Red Bandit was actually a mage, he immediately activated his [Mana Shield] but it was immediately destroyed by the 2 strikes. Li Wei then followed up with a [Cleave], taking out half the HP bar of the mage, and tried to do a spin and stab with the second sword. Even though his attack landed, he felt his movements were awkward and that was reflected in the damage he dealt, compared to the normal strike, when he used his left hand, the damage was halved. Seeing that, Li Wei quickly continued his attack, violent kicking with his left foot before striking down the sword in his right hand. The mage tried to resist and cast [Mana Bolt], they were so close, just like when Li Wei fought in the Tower of Heroes, but this time, Li Wei was more experienced. While his right sword was striking down, his left sword moved just enough to push away the staff of the mage, this simple action, interrupted the casting. Seeing that, the mage closed his eyes, he knew everything was over. After Li Wei finished the mage, only 8 Red Bandits were left, but the Red Bandit Leader had time to heal up with several potions and the help of their last remaining priest. "Surrender, there''s no way you''ll be able to escape... Even the Solas Family is being arrested at this very moment" The Commander also healed up and was already surrounding the Red Bandits with the other captains. "What''s the point? It''s not like you''ll let us live, we might as well fight till the very end. Fight with me brothers! Let''s bring them down with us !!" [Strengthen] As soon as he finished his sentence, the Red Bandit Leader rushed towards the Commander and activated his skill. The clash between the two powerhouses resumed once more but this time, there would be no interruption as the militia charged the remaining Red Bandits. Against so many militias, the Red Bandits did not hold for long. Even the Vice-Leader, was defeated but not without taking down with him quite a few militias. After that, everyone surrounded the area where the Commander and the Red Bandit Leader were fighting. The latter knew everything was over but he might as well do a desperate struggle and take down the commander with him. The militias only surrounded the 2 powerhouses in a rather large circle, they did not step forward to help their Commander. They knew his character, it was his fight and he would end it alone or be defeated. The Red Bandit Leader was once again on the offensive, constantly attacking the Commander who could only defend. Li Wei started once again to observe the fight, after having tried the dual sword style, he knew its difficulty and had some respect for the Red Bandit Leader. While Li Wei did not contribute much to this fight, he had a great harvest. He was after all just level 7, while most of the Red Bandits were level 8 and above. Even if he could hold his ground, he wasn''t strong enough to defeat one alone and so, during the fights, Li Wei was greedily collecting loots from the corpses. He did not touch the militia''s corpse out of respect but he did plunder the Red Bandits and obtained quite a lot of daggers and swords. After all, one never had enough money and he could sell them to Carlos. In addition, he received a decent amount of exp, from killing the weaker Red Bandits and assisting in killing the strong one. Li Wei now had almost enough exp to level up once again, fighting against opponents that were meant for level 8-10 players, did indeed provide more exp than usual. The last fight was intense, both parties used their [Strengthen] and their HP bar was being depleted at the same rate. With his swords constantly being blocked, the Red Bandit Leader became irritated, [Howl] After striking the shield, he used the level 10 skill of Warriors, [Howl] Let out a sound wave in a circular radius, damage: 10, has a weak knocked back effect and chance to stun the targets. The small knockback effect was what the Red Bandit Leader was looking for, as he immediately followed up with the other level 10 skill, [Blade Draw] [Blade Draw] Performs the drawing motion of a blade and sends a wind slash towards the target: damage: 18 That skill was the only low-level ranged skill that Warriors have. What was impressive was that the Red Bandit leader performed that skill with both swords at the same time, sending a cross-shape slash. He perfectly timed his skills so that the knockback effect, would slightly push away the Commander''s shield, allowing the wind slash to hit him directly. But the Commander was also experienced, he used that knockback effect to jump back, gaining a few moments, but that was enough for him to lift his shield and block the wind slashes. The Red Bandit Leader was panting, he was exhausted and had depleted all his remaining MP in this combo. But he did not give up, he charged the Commander, thrusting the 2 swords, one at the waist and the other at the neck of the Commander. Being attacked at 2 different spots, the Commander could not simply block with his shield. Instead, he used his own [Howl] and push back the Red Bandit Leader. The Commander then quickly followed up, slashing his own sword, not at the Red Bandit Leader, but at his swords, pushing them away, completely disarming him. The Red Bandit Leader struggled and tried to stand up, but he was quickly pinned down by the Commander. "Finish me! I don''t need your pity" howled the Red Bandit Leader The Commander stayed silent for a moment, he was gasping for air, despite the appearance, this fight was very taxing for him. He looked at the Red Bandit Leader and let out a faint smile, "Ohh! But you won''t leave this place alive, but it''s not me who will finish you. Seven! Step forward" Li Wei was stunned, why would the Commander call him at this time? But he nevertheless stepped up. The militia was wondering who was that Seven, while those who knew Li Wei were looking at him, trying to understand the situation. 14 Rewards Li Wei stepped forward, "What is it, Commander ?" "It is partly thanks to you that I am still alive, this my gift to you to show my thanks. You can deal the finishing blow to that bandit. I know that you adventurers are different from us, you become stronger by killing enemies, he should be enough to help you progress quite a bit right?" said the Commander with a tired expression. The Commander then took a step back to allow Li Wei to approach but kept pointing his sword at the Red Bandit Leader. The militia did not really understand what was happening but they followed their commander''s order and opened a path for Li Wei, while some drew their weapons to help in case the Red Bandit would struggle. "Sir, may I do whatever I want with him ?" said Li Wei while approaching the Red Bandit Leader. The Commander was puzzled but quickly nodded, "Of course, but what would you do to him? It''s not like you''ll let him go right? " Li Wei did not answer the Commander, instead, he turned towards the Red Bandit Leader and looked into his eyes, "I am very interested in your fighting style... are you interested in teaching me ?" The Red Bandit Leader did not answer, instead, he spat out towards Li Wei who quickly dodged it. Li Wei pretended nothing happened and calmly continued, "Are you sure of your decision ? as you''ve heard from the Commander, I can do whatever I want, including letting you live." The Red Bandit Leader hesitated for a while, but a few seconds later smirked, "Don''t try to deceive me, I have been in this industry for countless years, I know all tricks of sweet talkers, just finish me, I will never teach a member of the militia." "Very well !" Seeing the determination in the Red Bandit Leader''s eyes, Li Wei sighed, he then lifted his sword and executed the Red Bandit Leader. [System prompt: You have slain a boss, awarded 2000 exp ] [System prompt: Congratulations player Seven, you have gained a level, you are obtained a stat point] Despite leveling up, Li Wei was a bit irritated, what he really wanted was to learn the dual sword style, even though he could practice by himself, it would be much faster to learn it from someone. The commander approached Li Wei, "So you want to learn his dual sword style? I am sorry but no one in the militia learned this style, it is too aggressive and does not really suit the purpose of the militia." "It is fine, I am very grateful for your gift, I have advanced a little but there is still a long way to go" The commander smiled, "There are many other fighting styles you can learn from, my suggestions would be for you to go to the Tower of Heroes" "Huh? Isn''t the Tower of Heroes just for practice training ?" "Yes, you can practice the dual sword style there, but I am talking about the rewards. You probably haven''t reached that far yet, but the Tower of Heroes contains 15 floors, the first 10 floors are merely for practice but the next 5 floors are where the real challenges are and the rewards there cannot be compared to the previous ones." "Is one of the rewards the dual sword style ?" "I don''t know, I have only climbed to the 13th floor myself, but you will definitely receive something that will help you on this path if you reach there." "I see, thank you for your advice, I will definitely check it out" "Thank you again for saving my life" The commander smiled then turned towards the militia, "Everyone, we have won, as from today the Red Bandits are no more !" The crowd cheered, the gruesome battle was finally over but a lot of post-battle work had to be done. The militia was well trained, they immediately divided the tasks, some when to loot the hideout while some gathered the corpses. As for Li Wei, his job here was done, he had a huge harvest, his inventory contained a dozen daggers and swords and he now had a hint on what to do next. Li Wei did not stay there, he bade farewell to the Commander and went outside the Department Store. Outside, players were still observing from afar wondering what was happening. Li Wei quietly avoided the crowd and went to the inn. It had been a very long day for him, he needed to rest. After taking a good meal in the dining hall, Li Wei immediately went to bed, not even checking the forums. .... The next morning, Li Wei woke up early as usual but did not go out hunting as he had to meet Elder Jari during the day. After a light breakfast, Li Wei went to see Carlos, the Blacksmith should already be up, he needed to empty his inventory and could also give the 10 middle-grade iron ore that he owed Carlos. "Wow you have already collected the ores, quick give them to me" As soon as he heard that Li Wei had the ores, Carlos'' eyes beamed with excitement, he quickly took the iron ores from Li Wei, gently caressing them. Li Wei did not know but these were very important to Carlos if he wanted to advance to Grade 1 Blacksmith, he needed to work with better materials and the middle-grade iron ore was one of them. "Why are you so excited about those? I have another 17 in my inventory." "What? How much are you selling them for? Name your price" "I am not selling, I need them to upgrade my ring, remember ?" "Ah right, but you need a Blacksmith to convert them to ingots right? With tremendous generosity, I will do that laborious work for you for free !" said Carlos with a righteous look in his eyes Li Wei looked at Carlos with suspicions, but he had no good reasons to refuse. He would get the ingots for free while Carlos would be able to increase his proficiency. "All right I''ll need 10 ingots in total, but I only have these ores with me for now, I will bring the rest later." "Yes yes, no problem" "Oh right, I also have these weapons that I collected, can I sell them here ?" said Li Wei, while removing a sword from his inventory "Yes, no problem, take out everything, I''ll give you a quote" ... After a few minutes, Li Wei left the Blacksmith shop, he had obtained 67 golds from his transaction. He also used this opportunity to get new needles and change his sword. Li Wei now had 10 brand new needles, 2 daggers, and 2 swords. These daggers and swords were much better than the original ones he had, daggers had damage: 4-5, while the swords had damage: 6-9. As for the shield, Li Wei decided to abandon it, he wanted to try the dual sword style. Following that, it was time for shopping, Li Wei refilled his stock of potions and then went to the magic shop, he now had enough capital to purchase a ring which stored spells. He browsed through the different rings, all gave different stats and had different spells attached to them but he eventually settled on one. [Enchanted Ring](Grade 1) Dexterity+1 Additional skill: Earth wall(Manipulates the earth and lifts it to form a defensive wall) Mana cost: 20 Cooldown: 30 minutes Among all the rings, Li Wei decided to buy this one, it cost 20 golds but from Li Wei''s point of view, it was worth it. If one thought carefully, the earth wall could not only be used for defense but also for utility, to block the enemy or disrupt their casting, this was why Li Wei chose this ring. The huge cooldown was due to the fact that it was not one of Li Wei''s skill, he needed to use the ring as a medium which had a huge cooldown associated with it. With the new ring equipped, Li Wei walked towards the southern district, it was time to meet Elder Jari. It was the first time Li Wei went to this district, it was where the graveyard was situated and could be considered the poorest district of the town. It was surprising for the elder of the town to reside there. Li Wei went to the addressed he was given, it was a very common house, nothing showing that an important figure was residing here. Li Wei knocked at the door and waited, a few seconds later, footsteps were heard from the other side of the door and an old man opened the door. After a brief introduction, Li Wei was invited into the living room for some tea. Li Wei was calmly observing the surroundings. As soon as he saw Elder Jari, he was surprised, Elder Jari was actually a level 10 NPC; Li Wei could not see his class but knew that this man could not be underestimated. As Li Wei was sitting in the living room, Elder Jari went to get some water for the tea, Li Wei took notice of the strong medicinal smell that was in the house. Elder Jari was most likely an alchemist. A few moments later, Elder Jari returned and sat in front of Li Wei. He immediately started serving the tea, doing all sorts of weird movements, looking solemn. Li Wei did not really understand what was happening but stayed silent, both parties were silent until Li Wei received a cup of tea. Elder Jari calmly took a sip from his own cup and stared at Li Wei before saying; "So you are the one that helped to capture these criminals... I heard that you saved my good for nothing son from the Red Bandits" "Huh? Your son ?" "Yes! That unfilial brat, the commander of the militia is actually my son but he only knows me when he needs potions and alchemical products !" "..." "But this has nothing to do with you, I still need to thank you for actions. This is your reward please give it a try" said the elder while discretely showing his own cup of tea. Li Wei was surprised, was that his reward? A cup of tea? but he did not say anything, he grabbed the cup and took a sip [System prompt: you have consumed the Tea of Wisdom, produced from an ancient Tea Ceremony, your wisdom has increased by 1] ''Huh'' Li Wei blankly stared at his cup of tea when he heard the system prompt, his stats had actually increased. Elder Jari looked at Li Wei in amusement, "It seems that you have discovered the effect of the tea, not too bad right, even though you are walking the path of a warrior, your wisdom cannot lack behind." Li Wei did not say anything, instead, he took another sip but this time, nothing happened, he looked at Elder Jari who was enjoying himself "It works only once, don''t be too greedy" "I...", Li Wei was embarrassed, the elder had perfectly guessed what he was thinking. But Elder Jari did not give time for Li Wei to think, "Never mind that, this was your reward for baiting the Red Bandits, here is another thing from me for saving my son" said Elder Jari while taking out a red bottle from his pocket. "Drink it when you are back, it will be very useful for your progress" Li Wei stared at the red bottle, he clumsily reached out his hands and picked the bottle [Body Strengthening Potion](Grade 1) Permanently increase Strength by 1, (Can only be used once) As soon as he saw the description, Li Wei immediately became excited, it was definitely worth it. This potion was equivalent to getting bonus stats which were very precious. But he quickly got himself together "Thank you very much, Elder, I will make good use of this," said Li Wei while slightly bowing his head. "There is no need for that... My role is to help and guide people on the path of strength..." ... They continued talking for a few hours until Li Wei tactfully decided to leave as lunchtime was approaching. Not only had he obtained some bonus stat points, he also got the opportunity to get a lot of information from Elder Jari. For instance, Li Wei asked where he could find a Beast core which was required for upgrading his ring; so far he had not even seen one despite the large number of monsters killed. He learned that Beast Cores were very rare, not only were they only found in the strongest monsters, here in the surroundings of Little Root Town, these monsters only appeared at night. Li Wei also asked about the Tower of Heroes but did not get much information about that, it was built a long time ago, well before Elder Jari was born and he himself had only climbed up to the 13th floor. He only knew that the last 2 rewards were not actually items, and could only guess that they were skills. Li Wei entered a nearby restaurant and ordered a simple meal, he sat down and enjoyed the calm atmosphere, waiting for his meal to be prepared. Eventually, his dish was served and Li Wei started eating while doing so, he opened his character window to have a look. Name: Seven Race: Human Level: 8 (1935/4000) Class: Warrior Title: None HP: 80/80 MP: 60/60 Strength: 13 Dexterity : 12(+1) Vitality: 8 Intelligence: 6 Wisdom: 8 Stat Points available: 1 Skills : [Cleave], [Strengthen] Fatigue: 12% Information: Brackets "()" indicates the bonus stats from equipment .... 15 Collecting ores [Server Announcement: Congratulations to the player, Knight of Light for being the first player to reach level 10] [Server Announcement: Updating system, Server Leaderboard now available] "Huh? Someone already reached level 10 ?" Li Wei was surprised, he was slowly enjoying his meal when the server announcement was suddenly made. Li Wei was leveling pretty fast already, he was able to hunt a lot and kill the Red Bandit Leader, but someone already reached level 10. It made his own achievement look meaningless. What Li Wei did not know, was that he was actually one of the fastest to level up as a solo player. Unfortunately, New Earth was not a game to be played solo, in other Beginner''s Town, many families and associations gathered their forces and worked together and so they were able to level up faster. It was also important to note that it was a server announcement, that is only comprising those who will spawn on the Dominion Empire. There was a total of 10 servers, and all of them had skilled players. Li Wei could not help to feel some pressure, the reason he was rushing to level up and get stronger, is because he did not want to just be one of those average players lost in the masses to be used as cannon fodder. As for the Leaderboard, right now it only contained Knight of Light''s name at the top. As there was only 1 level 10 player, only one leaderboard was available, but later, many more would be unlocked. .... After his lunch, Li Wei left Little Root Town, he still needed to collect middle-grade iron ores for his ring. He went to the Western Mines and met the miners once again. However, even if only 1 day has passed, Li Wei saw a lot of players in the tunnels. These players were already patrolling the tunnels, waiting for the ores and Mine Rats to respawn, Li Wei did not want to fight for resources as it would just be a waste of time. Instead, he left this mine and went to the Sealed Mine. There was actually another mine not too far from the Western Mines called the Sealed Mine. In the past, it was extensively used, but an incident happened there, corrupting the beasts inside and for the safety of Little Root Town, it was sealed. Li Wei went towards the Sealed Mine, in front of it was a group of militia guarding the entrance. When they saw Li Wei, they quickly greeted him, they all knew him and respected him for his actions during the battle of the Red Bandits. Li Wei chatted a little with them to get some information about the Sealed Mine but did not stay for long, it was already 12:45 and Li Wei did not want to fight monsters during the night cycle. He learned from the militia that level 7 bats used to be found in the Mine, but after the corruption spread to the mine, they were now level 9 monsters. As Li Wei expressed his desire to go in, the militia opened the seal using a magical formation. The huge stone in front of the entrance started moving to make a very loud noise, revealing a dark tunnel. Li Wei then took out a torch from his inventory and lit it up before stepping into the mine. .... At first, the tunnel was not different from the western mines, except that the walls and floor were covered with ores. Having been left untouched for a period of time, all the ores had respawned and were just waiting to be picked up. And Li Wei did not hold back, quickly, "Tink Tink Tink !" resonated through the tunnel as Li Wei mined all the ores he could find, he mostly collected low-grade ones, but could occasionally find middle-grade ones. Li Wei cleared the area and advanced into the tunnel, the torch was not lighting very far. Suddenly, Li Wei heard the flapping of wings, which was quickly followed by a piercing scream, "Shriikkk". Li Wei quickly put back his pickaxe in his inventory and drew his sword, as he had to hold the torch, he could only fight with one sword. Quickly, a shadow appeared in front of Li Wei and before he could react, a pair of claws scratched his face, "-10" popped over his head. He quickly turned around to find his opponent, but the bat was just too fast, Li Wei barely laid his eyes on it that the bat twisted in mid-air and scratched Li Wei left leg, "-8" "Crap !" Li Wei jumped and turned his back at a wall to avoid being taken by surprise and slashed his sword at the bat. But the latter was just to fast, it swiftly avoided the blade and scratched Li Wei''s face again. "-10" Li Wei was starting to regret not having his shield, in mere seconds he already lost almost half of his HP. The environment was just so unfavorable to Li Wei, the darkness was allowing the bat to remain hidden until the very last second. Even though Li Wei could sometimes feel the movement of the bat, the latter was very agile and could avoid Li Wei''s sword. Li Wei continued to slash at the bat and even started using the torch but that was in vain. "-8", "-7","-10" appeared all over Li Wei''s body, leaving him with just one-third of his HP. The damage varied depending on where the bat scratched him. Eventually, the bat avoided the torch, but the flame at the end was able to touch its wing, it did not deal a lot of damage, but it was enough to disturb the flight of the bat and make it make a weird spin in mid-air. Li Wei immediately took the opportunity and stabbed his sword and successfully landed a hit. Being hurt, the bat flapped its wings trying to escape but Li Wei did not allow him to, he directly stabbed once again but this time with the torch, pushing the flame onto the bat. "Shrriiiikk" The bat screamed as its HP depleted to 0. Li Wei let out a sigh of relief, he drank a Health potion and approached the corpse. But at that moment, flapping of wings came from the depth of the mine. It looked like the final scream of the bat alerted the other bats. Hearing that, Li Wei quickly turned around and fled, one bat alone already caused him so much trouble, what could he do against a whole group? He ran as fast as possible towards the entrance but the flapping sound was becoming louder and louder. He needed at least 5 more minutes to be able to reach the exit, and he knew he could not outrun the bats. Instead, Li Wei turned around and cast a spell, "Earth Wall". It was the spell associated with the ring, he manipulated the earth so as to completely block the tunnel. Fortunately, he was at a narrow part of the tunnel, so it was possible. The wall looked rather thin but Li Wei did not take time to examine it, he quickly restarted to run towards the exit. "Shrrrikk" "Shrrrikk", muffled screams came from the Earth Wall followed by scratches but Li Wei ignored them and continued to run. Li Wei eventually reached the exit. He could no longer hear the bats and finally relaxed, he walked out of the mine and sat with the militia. The militia quickly asked him what happened but did not laugh at him, they knew how strong the bats were. Li Wei sat down and thought for a while, he needed 18 more middle-grade ores for his ring, but what should he do next? Go back and fight for the ores in the western mines? Or stay here and wait for the ores to respawn? While the first option looked safer, he knew that the players there were probably fighting among themselves for the resources. But then Li Wei came up with a plan, he drank another Health potion, refilling his HP bar and walked towards the Western Mines. By the time Li Wei arrived there, it was already 16:23, while many players were still hunting, some already started to return to Little Root Town, with inventories full of their harvests. .... An hour later, a group of players just finished mining from the depth of the Western Mines, today was their first day at this location, they had just leveled up to level 6 and wanted to try this area. They spent a whole day in this dark environment, mining and killing rats, and now their inventories were full. They walked out of the mines, ready to go back to Little Root Town to relax after a long day of grinding. When they passed near the entrance, where the guards of the mines were located, they noticed a group of players arguing around what looks to be a stall. It could not even be called a stall, it was just a table, with nothing on it, except for a small sign on it. "Buying middle-grade iron ores for 2 golds and 10 silvers. Limited amount desired, first come first served." The group saw the sign and was immediately interested, middle-grade iron ores could usually be sold to Blacksmiths for 2 gold but here, there was an opportunity to get 10 additional silvers for each one, it was a golden opportunity, so the group decided to check the situation. When they approached they saw 2 players arguing, a player, Scarlet Moon and what looked like the seller, Seven. Scarlet Moon: "What do you mean you won''t take all 12 of them? " Seven: "Yes, as the sign says, I will take a limited amount of them, I only need 8 more, you can just sell them to the Blacksmiths as you would have normally done." Scarlet Moon: "I am not selling then, it is all the 12 or none. You know how rare these things are... They are not easy to find and many players have already left..." Li Wei was annoyed, he came up with this idea to buy the middle-grade iron ores from the players would have already mined them. He had about 52 golds remaining and by buying at a slightly higher price than the market price, he could gather the ores easily without conflict. Li Wei successfully bought some ores from players and now he only needed 8 more to reach his required amount. But then, a player came and wanted to sell 12 ores to Li Wei. The latter did not agree but what he said was right, most players had already left the mines by now, if he did not accept, he would have to come back tomorrow to mine the remaining ores by himself. Li Wei was debating whether to agree or not when a group of players stepped in. "Excuse me, are you buying middle-grade ores? I have some here" Li Wei looked at the newcomers, it was a standard team of 6, one from each class. It was the Paladin, Sleepy Dragon that talked to him. "Of course, but right now I only need 8 more ores, I will only buy 8 not one more." Sleepy Dragon turned to look at his team, they did collect 10 middle-grade iron ores, but they were not as greedy as Scarlet Moon, getting 80 additional Silvers were already great. "All right, here are 8 Ores, let''s do the trade," said Sleepy Dragon as he opened the Trade Window. New Earth had a trading system for exchanging items between players; both players put in what they wanted to trade and confirmed the trade. After a final confirmation from both sides, the exchange would take place. Li Wei readily agreed, he did not need to argue with the other player anymore. "Hey hold on! I am doing a trade here, can''t you wait for us to finish ?" Said Scarlet Moon, looking annoyed. He was about to sell all his 12 ores but this team had to come and ruin his plan. Li Wei looked at him with disdain, "What do you mean? We are not doing any trade, please don''t bother us and leave !" Li Wei then opened his own trade Window and put in 16 gold and 80 silvers. Sleepy Dragon also disregarded Scarlet Moon and proceeded with the exchange. "Hey don''t ignore me !" But Scarlet Moon could only observe as the two completed the trade. He was infuriated, he now gained nothing and had to sell his own ores at the Town. "Happy to do business with you," said Li Wei, before taking out the sign on the table and moving the table back to the guards'' camp. "Haha, me too" answered Sleepy Dragon while leaving the scene with his team. Scarlet Moon could only stomp the ground in anger as he watched the two ignore him. He then went back to his own team and explained to them what happened. They could only blame Scarlet Moon for being too greedy but then, the thought of that money bag walking back alone to Little Root Town crossed their minds. "You said he purchased at least 15 middle-grade ores? That means he had at least 31 golds maybe even more. If we are able to kill him, even if money cannot drop, we can obtain his equipment, considering the amount of money he has, they are definitely good stuff." said one of Scarlet Moon''s teammates while rubbing his hands. "I agree, he is just a rich brat that is showing off, we might as well relieve him of some of his items." "Agreed! But let''s check things out first, he might have a team behind him" "Haha! yes !" ... Li Wei was unaware of all of that, he put back the table where he took it from and left the camp for the town. I was already 17:12, but there was still some time before the night cycle so he did not rush back. Little Root Town wasn''t too far and there was a track connecting the mines to the town. Li Wei was calmly walking as he arrived at a bridge; there was a river between the town and the mines so a bridge was built there. This scene reminded Li Wei of the ambush of the Red Bandits, it was strangely familiar... Everything was quiet, too quiet... 16 Night Hunting Li Wei was walking towards the town, seemingly careless but he was never really careless, after one week in such an environment and the previous ambush of the Red Bandits, he has developed a habit of constantly being on alert. "That scene is so familiar, it reminds me of the Red Bandits !" said Li Wei while walking. He let out a smile and for a fraction of a second, intently looked at a particular bush. And it was precisely where Scarlet Moon and his teammates were hiding. They were clearly not as skilled at hiding as the Red Bandits. Even though they could not directly be seen, the area close to that bush was messy, a lot of leaves were scattered on the floor. From that, Li Wei could determine that something was wrong and so said that sentence aloud. ... In the bushes, Scarlet Moon and his friends were muttering among themselves when they saw Li Wei appear at the end of the path. "Is this the easy target you were talking about? He does look very carefree, not even having a weapon." "Yes, but look, he is level 8, while the 5 of us are only level 7. He definitely has some skills." "Wait a minute, Seven... I have seen that name somewhere before ! Where was it ???" "It does not matter where you saw it... We are 5 and he''s clearly alone... Even if he''s stronger, we outnumber him." "Yes wait for him to pass, we''ll jump behind him. Scarlet Moon will engage and we''ll follow closely behind." At that moment, they heard Li Wei''s footsteps getting closer and heard him talk about the Red Bandits. They were puzzled but did not say anything, they did their best to hold their breath. Scarlet Moon was about to jump out when he suddenly felt a strong force on his collar. "Wait, idiot, I know where I saw his name now... On the forum, yesterday night, there was someone who said that they saw a player together with the militia attacking the Solas Department Store. And that player''s name was Seven." "Ohhhh, does that mean he triggered a hidden quest? He must definitely have some good stuff on him." "Tssskk, it''s not only that, he is more skilled than he looks. A few days ago, he was able to charge onto the Leaderboard of the Tower of Heroes... It has refreshed now so you won''t see his name but according to the players present, he was only level 5 but was able to defeat the 6th floor..." They all fell silent, beating one floor above his level meant he was definitely skilled. Would their number advantage be enough? "I say let''s call it a day... We might just end up suffering for nothing..." "You''re right.. I could not even beat the 5th floor when I was level 5" "Really? That guy definitely has good stuff on him" "Sure then, you charge and distract him !" "..." The others just silently nodded, they knew that fighting against Li Wei would result in casualties and they were not willing to lose their levels for that. ... And so, Li Wei walked pass them without nothing happening... He was puzzled, "Was I wrong ? wasn''t there people hiding there ?" Li Wei stayed on alert, but nothing happened. He safely reached the town and directly went to the inn. Most shops were already closed, he would have to wait for tomorrow to sell his harvest. Having already collected the required number of middle-grade iron ores, Li Wei was already planning how to get the Beast Core. He needed to go night hunting, but his fatigue level was currently at 29%, it was lower than usual since he did not do much hunting today. Li Wei could not afford to wait a whole day without doing anything productive to have good Fatigue levels. It was a good opportunity to try night hunting. Even if he could not get the Beast Core tonight, at least, he would familiarise himself with the environment at night. Li Wei then remembered that there were parties on the main street that recruited players to go night hunting. Considering that he already had some fatigue, he decided to team up with a group. Apparently, hunting at night was much more dangerous than during the day, it was recommended to go in groups. And so, Li Wei went for an early meal and emptied his inventory into his room before going to the main street. ... On the main street, Li Wei quickly found what he was looking for. This time, there were actually quite a few teams across the street recruiting players. Li Wei silently observed the different teams, he did not know which one to choose, he tried to remember the faces of the team he saw last time, but could not remember them. Having no choice, Li Wei started eliminating teams in his mind, his criteria were, of course, levels. That was the easiest way to judge someone''s skill, especially in the early game. Most players hunting at night were level 8. Hunting at night was more dangerous, but also more rewarding, the monsters awarded more exp than during the day. Eventually, Li Wei settled on a team, they were about to leave and readily accepted Li Wei. In New Earth, parties of ten could be made between players, exp obtained from slaying monsters would then be shared equally among the party members. Li Wei''s party consisted of 6 members, excluding Li Wei. There were 2 rogues, 1 paladin, 1 mage, 1 priest and 1 ranger. With Li Wei, they now had one player from each class. The team happily set off towards the Northern Forest, even though it contained level 3-6 monsters during the day, at night, all monsters gained 2 levels. 5 of the party members seemed to be friends and often hunted together, the atmosphere was very friendly and they tried readily started conversations with Li Wei and the mage. "So have you guys ever hunted at night before ?" said Salty Boy, the paladin while looking at Li Wei and the mage. "Nope never! Is it really much harder than during the day ?" answered Li Wei. The mage, Forest Tiger shook his head, "Never, leveling up as a mage is much harder and I needed to get used to the skills." "Haha, it is hard at first, but you''ll get used to it pretty quickly... We all went through that." The priest and one of the rogue also joined up the conversation, they even talked about what they did before entering New Earth. Apparently, they were colleagues at an office in Beijing, when they met each other in the game, they decided to party together. As for the other rogue and the ranger, the 2 girls of the team, they were more reserved and chatted among themselves. Li Wei and Forest Tiger quickly got comfortable and chatted more openly. Eventually, they reached the Northern Forest. Li Wei looked at it and did not recognize it. It was different from during the day; the lively and calm forest now looked mysterious and creepy, from the effect of the moonlight, the branches looked like giant arms protruding out of the trees. "Ok guys! focus now, we need to be careful. Stay behind the paladin." The team started to carefully advance into the forest. The paladin, Salty Boy was leading the party, one rogue on each side, the ranger and the mage at the back while Li Wei and the priest were at the center. Monster encounters were more common at night, and they were quickly greeted by a bunch of wolves. The wolves'' name was different than from the day; there was an "Enraged" added before their name which was written in red, they were also level 7 instead of level 5. The wolves quickly howled and jumped at the party, there were at 7 wolves attacking from all sides. The Paladin quickly put himself in front of 3 wolves and activated his skill [Taunt], it was a common skill that enraged the target and attracted its aggro. The Ranger followed up and started shooting arrows at these wolves. The 2 rogues also took one wolf each and dragged them away from the Paladin. Li Wei dashed towards the closest wolf and started hacking his sword at it. The wolf was clearly agiler than his counterpart during the day, but it was nothing compared to the bat Li Wei faced earlier in the Sealed Mine. With his two swords, Li Wei kept poking the wolf with one and when the latter jumped at Li Wei, he would use the other sword to strike the wolf in mid-air, pushing it away. Meanwhile, the priest was standing in the middle of everyone, healing those who needed help but focused his attention more on the Paladin. As for the mage, he engaged the last wolf and kept it at bay with the Mana Shield and Mana Bolt, but he would not last for long. Li Wei continued to attack the wolf, its HP eventually reached one third. As if it was crazy, it crouched on the ground and then pounced right towards Li Wei. The latter tried to push the wolf away again but failed. "-17" appeared on Li Wei''s chest making him take a few steps back but the wolf itself ended up dying in the assault. It looked like a desperate strike, an attack that could deal a lot of damage but at the cost of injuring itself. Having finished the wolf, Li Wei quickly turned around to look at the situation, everyone was quite skilled, the paladin and the ranger could hold their ground, they were stalling until everyone else finished their fights. The two rogues had depleted more than half of the HP of their respective wolf and even the mage was slowing depleting its HP with constant Mana Bolts. Seeing that, Li Wei chose to help the mage, he had one of the weakest defense among all of them, Li Wei dashed towards the wolf who did not notice it. It was focused on the mage until it suddenly saw a blade coming from the side. [Cleave] "-24" The Wolf was pushed back a few meters, it then looked angrily at Li Wei, taking an aggressive position. The mage nodded at Li Wei and positioned himself behind Li Wei. The Wolf pounced and jumped towards Li Wei, but the mage shot a Mana Bolt disrupting the jump. Li Wei did not let go of this opportunity and stabbed the wolf to death. The wolf howled one last time before closing its eyes forever. Meanwhile, the male rogue had already dealt with his wolf and was helping the other rogue. But the 3 wolves in front of the Paladin were still alive. The paladin himself did not deal much damage and as for the ranger, it was not that she was bad, but the wolves had high agility and would often dodge her arrows. She was frustrated with the results but there was nothing she could do but persevere. Fortunately, Li Wei and the mage joined the fight shortly after. Outnumbered, the wolves could only fight to death; the last standing one tried to escape but was finished off by a Mana Bolt before it could succeed. "Good Job everyone! It wasn''t that hard right? 7 at once are rare, we usually get 4 or 5 at a time but this time we have a great mage and a great warrior with us" said Salty Boy while grinning. After that, they all sat down to rest a little, then came the distribution of the loot, even though the exp was equally shared, the loots weren''t but they had originally accepted to equally share them. There were seven wolves and seven of them which was perfect for distribution. The priest drank a Mana Potion and the whole group went back to hunting. He was the only one who did not take damage, but his Mana Bar was completely empty after casting heal so many times. Li Wei quickly noticed that there were much more monsters than during the day, usually, players would encounter groups of 3-4 monsters but now they encountered 5-6 at once. But Li Wei did not complain, they were basically free exp. In addition to monsters, many resources were also available, wild herbs and medicinal plants could be easily found around the forest. That was not due to the night cycle, but rather due to the fact that much fewer players were present there during the night. After a few hours, the harvest was bountiful, they killed a total of 31 wolves and 11 bears. Fortunately, no parrots were found, they would not attack during the night as it would be too hard to track them down in this dark environment. Li Wei had obtained a bunch of exp and now had (3182/4000). It was already 23:49, usually players would hunt until about 3:00, so it was a good time for a pause. The party settled down and ate some snacks since it was the first time Li Wei and the mage went out night hunting, they brought nothing, but the team graciously shared some with them. They were not hungry, but eating was a way to decrease fatigue and fatigue accumulated faster when hunting at night, for instance, Li Wei''s fatigue level was already at 51%. After eating it was time to hunt again, but they did not go any deeper into the forest, instead, they walked back towards the town. Puzzled, Li Wei asked, "Why don''t we continue forward? Is there a problem ?" The Priest quickly responded "Ummm, ahead is the territory of the Wolf Queen, it''s a level 9 boss. We tried to fight it yesterday, but we were utterly crushed. We even had to abandon Salty Boy to escape, that''s why he was only level 7 when you met him earlier" Li Wei looked at the team who was showing embarrassed expressions, "Oh that''s why !" But then Li Wei thought of something, wasn''t that what he was looking for? A Boss that spawns during the night? One that could drop a Beast Core! It was an opportunity to get the Beast Core, but it was also dangerous, if the team was defeated easily by it, it would be really hard to get the Core, and there was also the problem of loot distribution, he did not know what the boss would drop and there might be conflicts; he would then be alone against a team of 5, maybe even 6. 17 Explosive Potion Li Wei debated whether to voice out his opinion or not and finally decided to speak. Even if they could not defeat the Wolf Queen, he was planning on coming back the next night. "But you were only a group of 5 at that time right? Now there are seven of us, we can give it a shot" said Li Wei while looking at the others. The temptation of beating a boss was not small and the party recognized the mage and Li Wei''s skills. The party members discussed among themselves for a little while and then: "Let''s give it a try, but if we see that one of us is about to die, we retreat immediately, I don''t want to waste tonight''s experience" said Salty Boy "Agreed" "Yes !" And so they resumed hunting by entering the Wolf Queen''s territory. Li Wei got used to fighting in such conditions. He could easily deal with one wolf and often fought two or three at once. There were also bears but Li Wei could only fight one at a time; bears were slower than wolves but had higher Vitality and Strength, their massive claws were to be avoided at all cost. Eventually; "Aoouuhhhh" a long deep howl was heard from behind the team. They all turned back to see a wolf, 3 times larger than the other ones, almost of the size of a human. Above its head was "Wolf Queen level 9". It had a majestic appearance, her white fur was shining under the moonlight gave it an air of royalty. Li Wei and his teammates immediately got into formation, the Paladin raising his shield in front of the Wolf Queen. But before they could engage, the Wolf Queen made the first move, it revealed its fangs and let out a long deep howl; 3 wolves immediately appeared behind her ferociously looking at the party. The fight began, the Paladin taunted the Wolf Queen while the rest of the team focused the normal wolves. It was a common strategy to get rid of the minions first before defeating the boss. Li Wei engaged the closest wolf while the rogues took one each. Li Wei could immediately see the difference; the wolves'' fur was darker and there was a dim light surrounding these wolves, they were faster than the other ones. Li Wei stabbed his right sword towards the wolf but it easily dodged the strike and countered with its claws. Li Wei tried to parry with his other sword but it was pushed back. The Strength of that wolf was definitely higher than usual. Li Wei thought a little and determined that he could defeat the wolf but that it would take time as he needed to slowly wear it out, but time was what he was lacking, he did not know how long the Paladin would be able to hold. [Strengthen] Deciding to end it quickly, Li Wei used his skill and this time, pushed back the wolf''s claws. Sword strikes after sword strikes, Li Wei slowly depleted its health. It looked like the defense of these wolves were lower than usual, each of Li Wei''s sword strikes was dealing about 15 damage while it would normally only deal 12 on the other wolves. No one on the team was slacking off, both rogues used their own skill, [Rush] and were nimbly dodging the wolves claws while striking them with their daggers. The Ranger was constantly firing arrows, synchronizing with the rogues to prevent the wolf from dodging. The priest and the mage were standing behind the Paladin; the first one was constantly healing the Paladin while using its other skill [Empower], it could increase the target''s strength by 2 for a limited amount of time. As for the mage, he was constantly firing Mana Bolts at the minion wolves. It did not take long before all 3 wolves'' HP bar was depleted, the whole party then focused its attention on the Wolf Queen. The latter looked enraged, seeing the slaughter of its kin. It howled and pushed back the Paladin; it was a skill similar to Warrior''s [Howl] that could produce a knockback effect. The Wolf Queen then jumped into the air and pounced right at the priest, its claws shining with a deadly glow. "Crap" The priest had the weakest defense of all of them. If he died, then defeating the boss would be impossible. [Earth Wall], seeing the situation, Li Wei did not hesitate and immediately protected the Priest, he elevated an Earth Wall between him and the Wolf Queen, buying just enough time for the priest to retreat. The Wall barely held the one strike but the Paladin recovered and immediately drew back the aggro by using [Taunt]. The claws pushed the Paladin back a few meters, taking away a quarter of his health. The rogues immediately took advantage of the situation and used [Stab] on both sides of the Wolf Queen. "-17","-19". The Ranger also followed up with [Precise Shot], the level 5 skill that greatly increased the precision of the next arrow, and this time, she aimed at the Wolf Queen''s eyes. However, the wolf queen was not stupid, it had good instinct and even if the shot was precise, it was cut in mid-air by her claws. It then turned around and bit at the male rogue, taking one-third of its HP. Li Wei immediately jumped in to take the spot of the rogue, stabbing its sword towards the Wolf Queen, but the latter easily dodged it. The Wolf Queen then jumped and tried to bite Li Wei, but it was intercepted by a Mana Bolt on the face. ... Both sides took some distance from each other, the priest quickly healed the rogue back to full health while the Wolf Queen broke from their encirclement. 2 minutes have passed since the beginning of the fight, but she still had 80% of her health despite receiving the attacks from all of them. "Aouhhh" Following that, the Wolf Queen howled once again, summoning 3 other wolves to her side, it was back to square one. "How is it? It''s feasible right ?" asked Li Wei "Yeah if it continues like that, we can slowly wear her down, but we don''t know if she has other skills so be careful everyone !" answered Salty Boy. The fight resumed and the team adopted the same strategy as last time, each rogue lured one wolf each and Li Wei engaged the last one. This time, they all finished their targets faster than last time. They quickly drank a potion and charged towards the Wolf Queen. The Wolf Queen varied its attack patterns, sometimes biting, sometimes using its claws or even its tail. Both sides slowly lost their HP. When the Wolf Queen reached 50% HP, she once again howled and summoned wolves, but this time she did not summon 3 but 7 of them. Li Wei and his team became anxious, they would not be able to resist the attack of so many wolves. But all the 7 wolves did not charge at them, only 3 attacked them, the others revealed their fangs to the side bushes and charged in that direction. ... "F**! We were discovered! Fight them !" Suddenly, a group of players charged out of the woods on the right. There were 10 players, all level 7, they were watching the fight of Li Wei''s team and trying to be the mantis stalking the cicada but their plan failed. The Wolves had good sense of smell, and could easily locate them, as for why more wolves were summoned this time; the number of summons depended on the number of players around the Wolf Queen, it would be too easy if players ganged up to fight a boss and so it became stronger the more players there was. "Let''s back off !" said the ranger, sending a meaningful glance at her team. They all understood a boss was valuable, they did not want to risk losing all the loots to the other party; they would rather not get anything. Li Wei did not mind that, he had already obtained what he wanted, he now knew how the Wolf Queen fought, he wasn''t sure if he could solo it, but he could give it a try. After all, he did not use his full strength, nor his throwing needles. The other party of players fought off the wolves, they were visibly taken by surprise by the strength and speed of these wolves, but they nevertheless held their ground. But as Li Wei''s team retreated, the Wolf Queen and the other wolves focused their attention towards that party. Li Wei''s team did not fully retreat, they only walked back a few meters, just enough to let go of the aggro of the wolves. It was their turn to observe the fight. But the other party was not stupid either, they also started to retreat letting the Wolf Queen regain its HP. That was one of the risks of hunting bosses, other parties could pop up and interrupt you, they could also steal the boss which was even worse. And so, both parties looked at each other from afar, none willing to be the first to attack the Wolf Queen again. As for the Wolf Queen, it ferociously looked at both parties of players, but still slowly retreated, it had good instinct and knew she would be no match for 17 players, and so chose to slowly retreat into the forest. Li Wei and his team sent angry glares to the other party but remained silent. It was normal for players to steal bosses in MMORPGs, it was the law of the jungle, literally. "Cowards! Why did you retreat !" the other party''s leader shouted. "Pfff! Shut up dumb***! Trying to kill steal this daddy !!" "... You **" ... A war of words started but did not last for long, after all the Wolf Queen was already gone and they would gain nothing from fighting each other. And at the end of the night, they collected a huge amount of loot. Li Wei''s exp bar was almost full (3691/4000) and the mage even leveled up. Night hunting was definitely more rewarding. Li Wei was now confident he could fight alone against those small packs of wolves as for the Wolf Queen, he could not confirm anything. The team safely returned back to Little Root Town. On the Main Street, they added each other as friends and said goodbye and left in different directions. Adding each other as friends after partying was very common, everyone would like to be friends with competent individuals, that showed that they recognized Li Wei''s skills. ... Li Wei got back to the inn, it was very late and could not shower. He could only go to his room and sleep. Fortunately, there were no such things as hygiene levels or bad smell associated with cleanliness. It was 4:12, Li Wei lied on his bed looking at the forums, the Server Leaderboard was now full of players. It only displayed the top 10000 players and more than 4000 spots were taken. Many other leaderboards were also opened; one for each class and one for each of the 12 cities players could spawn at upon going to Zero. Li Wei did not know yet which city he would spawn at and so could not judge the situation. Looking at the Leaderboard made him feel stressed, so many people were ahead of him, fortunately, the highest level was still level 10, so the gap wasn''t that large yet. Li Wei lied down and slept, he needed to step up his game but first decreasing the fatigue level was necessary. ... The next morning, Li Wei woke up at 11:30... It was the first time he woke up that late, but after a night of hunting, it was necessary; his fatigue level was down to 12%. He got off his bed and went for a brunch. Then it was time to empty his inventory. Li Wei sold all his loot of yesterday in the various shops and then went to Carlos'' Shop. ... "Wow you''ve already collected so many ! Give them to me brother, I will turn them into ingots !" said Carlos with a rare large smile. Li Wei noticed that but still gave him the ores, he then left and went to a tailor''s shop. He now had 25 golds, it was time to upgrade his equipment, his weapons were fine but he could upgrade his armor. The tailor shop was similar to street shops on Earth, players could just browse through the different set of clothes and see their stats before purchasing them. Alternatively, players could order a custom-made equipment for additional fees. The militia''s equipment was good, but those here were better. Finally, Li Wei settled onto new pants, boots, and a shirt, increasing his total armor to 40 for 10 golds. Players had a total of 7 equipment, in addition to the previously mentioned ones, they could equip gloves, leg guards, armguards and a helmet. With his new equipment, Li Wei went back to see Carlos who had already finished transforming the ores. ... "Hey, kid! Thank you! Here''s your ingots! Thanks to them, I am on the verge of advancing to Grade 1 Blacksmith, all I need now is to use my 2 ingots to forge a Grade 1 equipment! " "Wow, congratulations !! I knew you would succeed," answered Li Wei, sincerely. "That means I will get better equipment from now on right ?" "Yes, I need to reward you for that. Speak what type of equipment do you need? I''ll forge my first Grade 1 equipment for you!" Hearing that, Li Wei thought for a while his swords were already pretty good, even if they were grade 0 weapons, they came from the militia and could be considered as the best of Grade 0. A new weapon was not an emergency. Finally; "I don''t know, I don''t feel like I need a new weapon but if you can give me something to beat the Wolf Queen..." "The Wolf Queen? Ah yeah, you need a Beast Core... That''s a bit tough, her fur is very resistant to weapons... But I think I know what you need. Go to the Boiling Pot magic shop, and explain what you need, they should have something for you... It''s probably expensive, but tell them that I owe you a favor." Li Wei looked at Carlos, puzzled. But he readily thanked him and went to the magic shop. ... "I know what you need, give me a second." The magic shop owner was an old woman, she looked like an old granny and had a very soft voice. Upon hearing the request of Li Wei, she nodded and went inside to find something, she quickly came back with some circular bottles in hand. [Explosive Potion] Deals 30 Damage in a 5 meters radius of the explosion. 50% bonus damage is dealt to monsters. 18 Wolf Queen Northern Forest, 18:00 Precisely at the time, the night cycle was about to being, Li Wei walked into the Wolf Queen''s territory. This time, he was alone but well equipped, the old lady of the magic shop also agreed to sell the explosive potions at a much lower price than usual. Li Wei emptied his pocket but was able to buy 10 of them. That meant that if he was not stupid, he could guarantee 450 damage onto the Wolf Queen. The Wolf Queen actually had 500 HP, but she also had minions that would willingly sacrifice themselves for their queen, it was not like aiming at a fixed target. Li Wei walked into the woods, wolves started to appear left and right but this time, Li Wei did not hold back, he violently stabbed the nearby wolves until their death. yesterday, even though he was focusing, Li Wei did not use his full force when striking the wolves. He instead tried to attack at the weak points of the wolves, like the connecting joints of the limbs or the neck, but today, he was going all out. Compared to the Wolf Queen''s minion, these wolves were much slower. As he did not need to share exp this time, his exp bar quickly filled up. [System prompt: Congratulations player Seven, you gained a level, you gained one stat point] Li Wei smiled, he was now more confident in his victory; he now had 2 free stat points still not allocated. Now, Li Wei directly allocated the 2 stat points to Dexterity, if he wanted to learn the Dual Sword style, dexterity was a must, it was what Li Wei could deduce just from watching the Red Bandit fight, his movements were much faster than the normal people. Now with 15 Dexterity, hunting became even easier and eventually, a bright shadow dashed behind Li Wei. Li Wei noticed that presence and immediately turned around, raising his swords aggressively. It was the Wolf Queen, she was still the same as yesterday, but this time, she made the first move and attacked. The Wolf Queen crouched for a second then ran in zigzags towards Li Wei, the latter''s eyes kept swinging left and right but when the wolf was 2 meters away from Li Wei, it stopped zigzagging and jumped straight on Li Wei. Its speed was fast, comparable to the bats in the mine, but the environment here was much more comfortable for Li Wei. Li Wei did not parry, instead, he lowered his swords and rolled to the side. His heart was beating fast, Li Wei put back his left sword into its sheath and took an explosive potion from his inventory. As soon as the Wolf Queen landed, it immediately turned around and howled at Li Wei, a little shock wave hit Li Wei but it did not deal any damage, but it Li Wei''s event log appeared: [You have been hit by the Wolf Queen''s Terrifying Howl, dexterity, and strength -1 for 1 minute] "Huh! So annoying! Eat that" As soon as the wave went pass Li Wei, he quickly got into his usual throwing stance and threw his bottle of explosive potion. The shiny yellow bottle made a beautiful arc in the air before exploding onto the Wolf Queen''s fur. The Wolf Queen did not feel any danger coming from the bottle, so she did not react, treating it as a shiny object, but to its surprise, as soon as the bottle broke, it exploded on its fur, blasting it away."-42" "Aouhhhh" the wolf Queen howled in anger, it had been a long time since it felt that kind of pain. But Li Wei did not end here, he immediately dashed towards the Wolf Queen with both swords drawn. He was thrusting his left sword towards the Wolf Queen''s front leg while horizontally swinging his right sword slightly above the Wolf Queen''s head. This way, it would not be able to dodge by jumping. Despite seeing the threat, the wolf queen still decided to jump, but her claws started to shine brightly before striking towards the sword. [Cleave]! Seeing that, Li Wei immediately activated his own skill. "Cling " In the end, Li Wei''s sword was pushed away, but at the same time, "-27" appeared on the Wolf Queen''s paw. It was not a bad trade for Li Wei, who immediately took an explosive potion and threw it directly at the Wolf Queen. Li Wei did not wait to see the result, he immediately turned and dashed towards where his sword flew. "Boom" another explosion occurred just on the Wolf Queen''s fur. "Aoouuhhh" It retreated a few steps before howling, summoning 1 wolf for help. The wolf immediately obeyed its queen and ran towards Li Wei with murderous eyes. Li Wei did not need to see to know what was happening, it was something he could predict from the Wolf Queen''s attack pattern. he quickly reached his sword but did not take it yet. Instead, he grabbed 2 throwing needles and threw them at the wolf. He did not throw them directly at the wolf, instead, he aimed a bit lower and on each side of the wolf, forcing it to jump upwards. And surely, that''s how the wolf reacted. [Strengthen] Li Wei directly used his skill and dashed to the side of the wolf in mid-air, the latter could not dodge in such position and surely, [Cleave] hacked the wolf on its stomach. It was not enough to finish it, so Li Wei followed up with a vertical swing with his other sword. Li Wei was about to stab again with his right sword when he felt a sense of danger right behind him. He did not even turn around, Li Wei just threw his right sword towards the wolf and then drew an explosive potion from his inventory, and tossed it behind him before rolling forwards. Moments later, the wolf in front of him was stabbed by the thrown sword and another pitiful howl came from behind him. The Wolf Queen was once again hit by the Explosive Potion. Li Wei did not let it rest, he immediately drew his throwing needles and threw them towards the Wolf Queen while walking back towards his sword. Despite taking the needles, the Wolf Queen rushed towards Li Wei with shining claws. The two exchanged blows; claws vs swords but Li Wei was clearly no its match. He could only use guerilla tactics, fighting for a few seconds, before running away to drink a Health Potion. Li Wei used his explosive potions wisely, he made sure that the Wolf Queen would be unable to dodge when he threw it. They were precious and Li Wei could not afford to waste them. ... After 20 minutes of constant fighting, Li Wei was panting heavily; he was still full health but exhausted half of his Health Potion while the Wolf Queen had about 100 HP left. It summoned its minions 3 times since the beginning, it was now the 4th time. [Strengthen], [Cleave] Li Wei did his usual combo onto the minions, he could not afford to lose time on them, after pushing it away, he took his last throwing needle, aimed at the wolf''s eyes and threw it. [System Prompt: Congratulation player Seven, requirements reached !, you have repeatedly used a particular throwing technique to kill monsters, you have created a new skill named "Weapon Throwing", would you like to change the name?] Li Wei was delightedly surprised, ''So this is the thing they talked about... creating our own techniques...'' "Do not change the name! Open Information !" [Weapon Throwing(level 0)] Passive effect: when throwing a weapon towards a target, precision +5%, Damage +1 It was a pleasant surprise, the more skills one had the better and it was a passive skill, but Li Wei did not think too much about it, right now he needed to focus on the Wolf Queen and he did not have any throwing needles left. The battle continued but Li Wei was already getting used to the attack patterns of the Wolf Queen, even though he could not dodge the attacks, he could somewhat mitigate the damage taken. [Cleave] The attack was blocked by the Wolf Queen''s claw but Li Wei spun and swung his second sword. The Wolf Queen took the strike, but quickly howled, pushing Li Wei back. It followed up by pouncing onto Li Wei. The latter quickly took out an explosive potion from his inventory and rolled away. While rolling, Li Wei threw the potion right where he was standing, causing another explosion just below the Wolf Queen''s feet. With that, the Wolf Queen was left with less than 40HP, her name turned completely red. She loudly howled and summoned 2 wolves, but she herself did not attack, instead, it slowly retreated, it was in danger and would not risk its life. Seeing the situation, Li Wei could not help but curse..."All this *** work and you want to flee!!" Li Wei still had 3 explosive potions, but he did not care about saving them anymore; if the Wolf Queen escaped all would be for nothing. [Strengthen] Li Wei quickly used his skilled and stomped the ground before dashing towards the retreating Wolf Queen. The 2 wolves tried to intercept Li Wei, but the latter agilely avoided their attacks. Li Wei chased after the Wolf Queen, it was injured and could not run very fast, but it was still comparable to a rabbit. Fortunately, Li Wei was faster than that, he ran after the Wolf Queen, but more wolves appeared. They were not minions but normal wolves that were in the surroundings, as they saw their queen in danger, they decisively attacked Li Wei in an attempt to stop him. "Grrrr" they revealed their fangs at Li Wei, but the latter ignored them, he swung his sword at them, even though he could not one shot them, the strike was enough to push them away to allow Li Wei to continue chasing after the queen. The Wolf Queen continued to run and more and more wolves appeared to attack Li Wei. Soon, 13 wolves were chasing behind Li Wei, who was himself chasing after the Wolf Queen. "This situation cannot continue... I need to do something." Li Wei could only throw the explosive potion, but in such situation, the precision would be very low, the Wolf Queen wasn''t stupid, it was not running in a straight line, constantly taking turns behind trees. ''Let''s try this'' Li Wei suddenly stopped running, he took out the explosive potion and threw it. Compared to last time, this throw contained much more force, the bottle followed a straight line, however, it was not going towards the Wolf Queen, the throw was totally off. The bottle hit the roots of a tree in front of the Queen and exploded. Frightened, the Wolf Queen slowed down and hesitated, it looked at Li Wei for a moment and was about to continue when suddenly... "Crraakkk" Loud cracking noises were heard and shortly after, the tree that was hit by the explosive potion, slowly tilted and fell in front of the Wolf Queen, blocking its escape path. As soon as he finished throwing the potion, Li Wei immediately started to chase. When he heard the cracking sound, he knew he had succeeded. He immediately drew his swords and stabbed towards the Wolf Queen. The latter was still surprised by the fall of the tree, it was barely 50cm from it, it did not react before feeling the intense pain on its shoulder. " Aouhhh", its HP decreased even more, only 13 HP was left. The Wolf queen was even more desperate, she turned and tried to run on the side of the tree.. but [Earth Wall]! Li Wei immediately used his ring''s skill and blocked her escape path. Li Wei smiled, he raised his sword and slashed it down with a vertical strike. The Wolf Queen looked at the sword with despair in its eyes, but it fought till the very end. Its fangs started to glow and as the sword was slowly falling onto it, it launched itself and bit onto Li Wei''s right leg. "Ahhh" pain flooded into Li Wei''s body, his leg guard was completely pierced by the fangs but at the same time, the Wolf Queen''s life ended. Its sacrificial strike was very powerful, not only did it totally break the leg guard, it inflicted 38 damage to Li Wei, leaving him with only 27 HP. Even the Wolf Queen''s head was still attached to Li Wei''s leg. He could only endure the pain and quickly drink a health potion. But there was no time to rest, the 13 wolves that were chasing behind them had arrived. They immediately saw the state of their queen and howled in anger; the howl not only contained anger, but also pain and sadness. Their queen had died but had dealt a heavy blow to the enemy, and now it was time for them to avenge her. "Aouuuu" The wolves were mad, they immediately dashed towards Li Wei who was still being bitten by the Wolf Queen''s fang. "Sh*t... You really made my life hard till the end!" Li Wei immediately took out the last 2 explosive potions he had, the wolves were still closely packed and injured, one good shot would finish most of them. Li Wei took one potion in each hand, he then aimed and threw the first one slightly to the right of the pack, closely after, he threw the second to the left; that was to maximize the area of damage. The wolves were all blinded by anger and continued to rush forwards... "Boom!!!" The 2 potions exploded almost simultaneously, killing more than half of the wolves. The remaining ones were all barely standing, with less than 15 HP left, but they did not stop. They used their last forces to inflict as much damage as possible. Li Wei was moved, it was rare to see such spirits, most humans would have already run away if they saw their queen dead, but these wolves fought till the very end. But, there could be only one winner and Li Wei could not let go of the Core. Despite not being able to move his feet right now, Li Wei grabbed his swords and swung them whenever the wolves jumped at him. "Slasshhhh" Finally, the last wolf lost its life, a tired Li Wei was still standing in the middle of the silent woods. [System prompt: You have slain the Boss "Wolf Queen", you are awarded 4000 exp. Do you want to share your name ?] Li Wei calmed down and let out a sigh "No". He sat down to regain his breath and shortly after came the announcement, [Announcement: The Wolf Queen has been defeated, Congratulations to player XXX for this feat] 19 Upgrading the ring [Announcement: The Wolf Queen has been defeated, Congratulations to player XXX for this feat] At the same time, the announcement was made to all players in Little Root Town. "Wow! The first boss! Who did that ?" "Amazing! I wonder who it is" On the main street, many players heard the announcement and were wondering who killed the boss, especially since only one player was mentioned, that meant that he or she soloed the boss. The forums instantly flooded with questions. Many kept asking for the person to reveal himself, but of course Li Wei would never do that. It was important to note that the forums had different sections; one for the beginner''s town, one for the cities players would spawn to and one for the whole server. As for the global forum, it was still locked for now, so players could not know what was happening in other empires. ... In a tavern on the main street. "Pakk" A tall man stomped the table he was at. Someone had actually soloed a boss... he was supposed to be the strongest in this town... that man was actually Sky Walker, the ranked 1 on the Leaderboard of the Tower of Heroes, he went there every day to keep his rank. "Find out who it was ! Recruit him if possible ! If he refuses, then kill him ! We must not let other teams recruit him" "Yes, boss !" The group of players around Sky Walker immediately nodded, these players planned on forming a guild, this option was only available when one reached the cities, but they could already recruit players. "Stay at the entrance of the town... and look at all the solo players that will be coming back tonight" ... Li Wei did not know all that was happening. He just lied on the ground, panting to catch his breath. His heart was still beating fast, that fight woke him up... That fight gave him a feeling of satisfaction, it was like he was venting his frustration onto the Wolf Queen by stabbing it. After a short while, "Collect" it was finally time to collect the loot. Li Wei collected everything from the normal wolves first, there was nothing special, only [Wolf Fur],[Wolf Meat] and [Wolf Claws]. But then came the important Loot. Upon placing his hands on the Wolf Queen, 5 items were added to his inventory; [Wolf Queen''s Fur], [Wolf Queen''s Claw], [Wolf Queen''s blood], [Wolf Queen''s Beast Core] and [Wolf Queen''s Meat] [System prompt: you have collected the necessary material for the quest "Upgrade the Ring of Chaos(I), do you want to proceed with the upgrade ?] Li Wei was still in the forest, it could be considered a dangerous area but the temptation was too strong. "Proceed with the upgrade" Immediately, the ring on his finger started to shine brightly. Slowly, it slid along Li Wei''s finger and floated in the air in front of Li Wei. Seconds later, the Beast Core flew up and touched the Ring, they slowly fused together while emitting a red glow. The Ring now looked completely liquid and transparent but quickly after, the iron ingots started to melt and fused into the ring. The scene was like a bright fire in the middle of forest; it only lasted for 30 seconds, but it felt like an eternity. Having absorbed the ingots, the ring now looked similar to its previous appearance. The glow slightly started to dim and Li Wei instinctively raised his hand to catch the ring. With the ring in his hand, Li Wei looked at it, the ring had the same appearance but seemed to be slightly shinier than before. [Ring of Chaos](Grade 1)(Upgradable) Vitality +1 Intelligence +1 Skill : [Chaos Sphere] Effect 1: Experience gained +2% Effect 2: Soul bound-Cannot be dropped/exchanged/sold/unequipped [An exclusive gift given to those bestowed with a name by Gaia] "mmmm" Li Wei was disappointed upon seeing the new ring, even though it provided some additional stats, they were not allocated in Dexterity or Strength as he wanted. But still, bonus stats were always welcomed. Li Wei then proceeded to check the skill [Chaos Sphere(level 0)] Gathers Chaos energy into a sphere that can be thrown towards a target, detonates upon contact Mana Cost: 30 Damage: 25 Can only be used once per day. "Wow 25 magic damage, that''s much higher than Mana Bolt but the Mana cost is also..." Li Wei had mixed feelings about the ring, the bonus stats were not what he wanted but he still got a good skill that would typically be used by mages. The reality was harsh but the ring was still his best equipment so far. "At least I can use it as a life-saving skill... Let''s check it out first before judging." With that in mind, Li Wei stood up and activate the skill. A dark mist appeared into his hands; the mist seemed to come from the surrounding, slowly converging towards Li Wei''s hand into a small sphere. The sphere slowly floated above Li Wei''s palm, the mist inside kept rotating quickly. Li Wei lifted the sphere and threw it far away, towards a huge tree. "Booommm" An explosion almost comparable to the explosive potion occurred, it did not completely damage the tree but still, a deep scar and black marks were left on the stem. "Wow! Even though the radius of the damage is very small, it is still very good for single targets" Li Wei could not help but smile, he wanted to walk the path of a warrior, but the style he wanted to use was similar to that of a rogue and now, he was getting the skills of mages, "Am I suppose to become a Jack of all trades ?" Li Wei then checked his character window, he obtained 4000 exp from the Wolf Queen, much more than from the Red Bandit Leader since for the latter, it was the Commander that dealt all the damage, his own contribution was very low. Name: Seven Race: Human Level: 9 (4499/4500) Class: Warrior Title: None HP: 34/90 MP: 13/70 Strength: 13 Dexterity : 14(+1) Vitality :8(+1) Intelligence : 6(+1) Wisdom: 8 Stat Points available : 0 Skills : [Cleave], [Strengthen], [Weapon Throwing] Fatigue: 46% "Pfff 1 more exp before leveling up. Let''s get that tonight, I''ll leave Little Root Town tomorrow... I need to bridge the gap between those who have already left the Beginner''s Town. Li Wei drank a Health Potion and 2 Mana Potions, before leaving the area. He had what he wanted, it was time to go back to sleep. ... [System Prompt: Congratulations Player Seven, you have gained a level, you have reached level 10, all stats +1, you have gained a stat point. [System Prompt: Experience bar locked, please visit the town hall to leave Little Root Town and your Experience bar will be unlocked.] [System Prompt: Congratulations Player Seven for being the first player at Little Root Town to reach level 10, do you want to share your name ?] While walking back towards the towards, Li Wei naturally met some wolves, it was time for them to respawn and when they saw Li Wei, they directly jumped to bite him. But with his experience, Li Wei easily dealt with them and finally leveled up. "I am 2 days behind the first guy... Need to work harder" thought Li Wei. He then looked at the system prompt. His experience bar was locked, that was probably to prevent him from leveling up again while he was in the Beginner''s Town. Developers wanted to keep this as a training ground for beginners if players wanted to continue to progress, they needed to leave and explore Zero. Also, to level up again, Li Wei would need 10000 exp. It was a massive gap compared to the previous 4500 needed, more than double. After the tutorial it was normal to increase the difficulty. As for sharing his name, Li Wei immediately declined, he did not want to attract the gaze of everyone, but the announcement would still be made with an "XXX" to replace his name. And how Li Wei became first at Little Root Town to reach level 10? By killing the Wolf Queen, he basically skipped level 9. Li Wei quickly allocated his stat point to Dexterity without hesitation. He then collected all the loots and walked towards the town... ... At the gate of the town, Li Wei leisured walked in, it was 20:04 but many people were still on the streets. As soon as Li Wei crossed the portal, he was immediately stopped by a group of players. "Excuse me! As you know, the Wolf Queen has just been defeated by a solo player, may I know if it was you ?" a bearded man walked towards Li Wei and asked him in a friendly manner. He had already stopped many players before Li Wei, but when he saw that Li Wei was the player who just reached level 10, he was almost certain that it was him. "Huh ? No, it wasn''t me... I was just killing some bears right now." answered Li Wei with an expressionless face. His suspicions were correct, all the teams were greedy, they were curious about the loots of the boss. As Li Wei answered, many surrounding teams also looked towards him for any sign of lying. They all had the same purpose, when they saw that Li Wei was being questioned, they also focused their attention and intently listened. The reason all teams were interested in the loots were that they were planning on forming guilds when they reach the cities. They were already in contact with their friends in other Beginner''s Towns over the forum. Guilds were very competitive, they all wanted to get the best equipment and if players did not notice yet, monsters did not drop any equipment. Those could only be produced by craftsmen or found in ruins and dungeons. So collecting materials was the most important task to all those who wanted to found guilds. They had tried several times to defeat the different bosses available in the Beginner''s Town such as the Wolf Queen but all these average teams had failed till now. They always sent all their players but that was the worst possible strategy, since bosses were made harder to fight as there was more players. ... "Really? Then, in that case, do you mind showing us your inventory ?" the bearded man''s expression hardened but he still kept a friendly face. "Why would I do that ? That''s an intrusion to my privacy. It is not my problem if you do not want to believe me." Li Wei directly denied his request, there is no doubt that it would not end well if they knew that Li Wei had the loots. The bearded man frowned, the other players behind him also started to slowly surround Li Wei. "Please don''t make things difficult for us! We won''t take any of your things, it is important for us to find the person who killed the boss. We just want to invite him to our team" ''Tsssk invite you say? More like rob'' thought Li Wei in his heart. "This has nothing to do with me. Besides, we are in town, if you want to fight, then bring it on." Li Wei showed a determined expression. It was a fact that fights in towns were forbidden. The militia would immediately arrest trouble makers and have them pay a fine. "That''s true, but what will happen when you leave the town? It is very dangerous outside... you know what I mean" the bearded man did not want to let go but Li Wei was unfazed. "Are you blind? Don''t you see that I am level 10 already, there''s no need for me to go out of town," replied Li Wei with a mocking expression. The bearded man blushed a little, it was true, he forgot that detail but he quickly responded. "That''s not what I mean... I am talking about when we will go to cities, we are all part of the future guild, Exodia, as a solo player I don''t think that you want to offend us over such petty things." Before Li Wei could retort, a loud voice was heard from the side. "Hey what are you all doing like that !!! Are you trying to riot ! Disperse now !" the speaker was actually a thin man, he looked drunk and had a tired expression. But his uniform and his badge were clearly seen, it was the Vice-Commander of the militia. "No no Sir, we are just discussing... we are doing nothing wrong." quickly responded the bearded man. "Do you think I am drunk ?!? I am telling you to disperse! So disperse now !" Hearing that, the bearded man and several other teams tried to argue with the vice-commander but were unconditionally told to "Disperse". With no other choice, they all glared at Li Wei and retreated a few steps. "Seven come with me to the Barracks !" "Ah! Yes, Vice-Commander" Li Wei was surprised, help came from an unexpected person, but he did not refuse. Despite the careless appearance of the Vice-Commander, Li Wei knew that this man was very skilled. Li Wei quickly walked next to the Vice-Commander "Why do I need to go to the barracks? Isn''t it already late" The vice-commander took out a bottle from his pocket and took a sip from it before answering. "Didn''t you just level up? You need your skills right? I am sure the Commander won''t say no to one more task, haha" 20 New skills and equipmen Under the glares of all players present, Li Wei walked next to the vice-commander. The latter did not bother to speak, he just walked quickly while occasionally taking sips. The groups dispersed but Li Wei could clearly see some of the players follow him and the vice-commander. Upon arriving at the barracks, the vice-commander did not say anything and just turned around and disappeared in one of the nearby tents. The players did not dare to enter and only stayed at the entrance. Li Wei just stood there, not knowing what he was supposed to do. Shortly after, the Commander came out of the office building and raised his hand to invite Li Wei inside. "I did not expect us to meet again so quickly !" "Hehe, I just got lucky, killing the Red Bandit Leader definitely gave me a lead over the others. But how come do you already know about his matter..." Li Wei quickly responded in a friendly manner and walked forward. "Don''t underestimate the militia, even though we could not find the Red Bandit''s hideout, we still have a decent information network, such an obvious public incident won''t go unnoticed by us. Come, I''ll give you what you need." The Commander brought Li Wei into his office, after serving a hot cup of tea, he quickly took out a crystal, similar to the one he got before, from his drawer and placed it in front of Li Wei. "Thank you", Li Wei wasn''t polite, he immediately grabbed the crystal and placed in on his forehead. [System prompt: Congratulations player Seven, you have obtained the skills : [Howl], [Blade Draw]] [Howl(level 0)] Let out a sound wave in a circular radius, damage: 10, has a weak knocked back effect and chance to stun the targets. Mana Cost: 20 Cooldown time: 30s [Blade Draw(level 0)] Performs the drawing motion of a blade and sends a wind slash towards the target, damage: 18 Mana Cost: 20 Cooldown time: 15s With that, the 2 skills Li Wei saw the Red Bandit Leader use, were added to his own collection. The 4 skills he obtained from the commander were the only free basic skills given to all warriors, from now on, to get new skills, players will need to earn it. After having been used, the crystal started to dim and crack. Li Wei just put it back on the table only to see it slowly turn into dust to finally disappear. "Thank you, Commander, I am now much more powerful than before." "No problem, I hope that you will be able to break the records of the Tower of Heroes. While we are at it, may I ask what were the drops of the Wolf Queen ?" said the Commander with a wry smile. Even he wanted to know what Li Wei obtained from the Wolf Queen. Li Wei hesitated a little, but finally decided to show the items to the Commander, he did not have much use for them as he would most likely sell them. Turning them into his own equipment would be great but he was broke right now. "Mmmmm" The Commander looked at the 4 items in front of him, "There is no core? Well never mind, are you willing to sell them to the militia, we will give you a good price", asked the commander while looking at Li Wei. "Sure, how much ?" "3 golds for the Wolf Queen Meat, 10 for the Wolf Queen Blood and furs, 5 for the claws." Li Wei did not know the value of these items, but the price mentioned by the commander seemed decent to him. "I am no merchant so I don''t know their real value, but I would like to keep the claws and furs as I can ask a Blacksmith to turn them into equipment." "Fine, I cannot be too greedy, you will need good equipment if you want to conquer the Tower of Heroes." "Deal" A quick trade was concluded and Li Wei asked: "Commander, is there a discrete way for me to leave the camp? As you know, many eyes are watching me right now " "Haha! Of course, I understand, don''t worry. Follow me, there''s a secret tunnel that leads to the brothel on Lyan Avenue." "Huh a brothel ?" exclaimed Li Wei. "Well you are a man, you should know that sometimes, even disciplined soldiers have needs. It was arranged by the Vice-Commander, I could not stop him. That''s the only other exit..." answered the commander with an embarrassed expression. "Fine, I''ll use it... show me the way." ... On Lyan Avenue, a dark silhouette quickly escaped from the busy brothel. Li Wei was flushed red, although he wasn''t a saint in his previous life and did watch some R-rated movies, he was still a virgin and it was the first time he went to a brothel. The atmosphere and the different sounds that came from the rooms quickly woke something in Li Wei. Li Wei, of course, knew what that meant, he tried to suppress it and run away from this place, many girls in there laughed and teased him but he quickly escaped and left the brothel. ''Foufff, that was close... Maybe I should have stayed, it is my last night here after all'' thought Li Wei while walking back to the inn. .... The next morning, "Judging from your equipment, I think it''s better if you go to a tailor shop. You don''t want metal armor, but rather leather ones. Since you don''t have a shield, you need to be fast and agile to dodge attacks, metal armors are heavier and will get in the way" exclaimed Carlos The first thing Li Wei did when waking up and after taking his breakfast, was to go see Carlos, he needed to have his equipment upgraded as soon as possible before challenging the Tower of Heroes. "That makes sense, do you have any shops to recommend ?" "Sure, go down the road, there''s a grandpa''s shop. He is a bit stingy but does the job well. It is definitely worth it." "Got it. I also have another thing to ask, the throwing needles, is there a way to easily recollect them afterward? Sometimes I have to throw them and run away and have to leave them there in the wild, do I always need to replace them ?" Carlos pondered for a moment before answering: "Ah I see what you mean, but for that, you need an enchanter, I have heard of arrows being enchanted so that they get back to their quiver after being shot, throwing needles can also be enchanted. But there are no enchanters at Little Root Town right now, this profession is pretty rare since it''s very costly to train." "Enchanter, you say? Alright, thanks for everything Carlos, I will be leaving the town by tomorrow, so this is farewell." "You are already leaving kid? Well, I should be the one saying thanks, I would have never been able to advance to grade 1 Blacksmith so quickly without your help. Thanks, kid! I wish you best of luck, Zero is vast, I am sure you''ll like it." After a bear hug, Li Wei left the shop and went to see that tailor. The tailor shop was a bit small but very clean. Li Wei pushed the door open and went to the counter. "I would like to order some custom equipment, made with these 2 materials, what do you recommend ?" directly asked,Li Wei, while taking out the 2 remaining drops of the Wolf Queen. The old man''s eyes lit up a the sight of the Wolf Queen''s drop but he quickly got himself together. "For the claws, I recommend making gloves, they are very compatible, 10 gold, as for the fur, a chest armor would be good, 15 gold." "What, that''s so expensive!" "If you want good stuff, then you have to fork out some money, that''s business." ''All shopkeepers in this town are money grubbers...'' thought Li Wei in his heart. "Fine, I''ll take the gloves, and I''ll take the opportunity to sell those normal wolves'' fur." "Alright, I will make them, they should be ready within 2 hours. And here''s 4 gold for the furs. Do you want to also sell the Wolf Queen''s Fur? I can offer a good price for it" "How much ?" "10 golds!" "12!" "Deal" Seeing the tailor agree to it so quickly, Li Wei could not help but feel that he had made a loss. But still, it was 2 golds higher than what he would have obtained from the Commander. Having confirmed his order, Li Wei left the shop, he still had some errands to run. It was already 9:00, normally players would have already left to go hunting, but this time, Li Wei felt that there were more players in town. As if they were all watching him, but the did not mind it, he was in town and they could not attack him there. Li Wei went to the town hall, he needed to go there to access Zero. At the reception, a young receptionist quickly greeted and congratulated him for his achievement. Moments later, she took out a tray on which 2 crystals were placed and explained: "From now, you have 2 options: The blue crystal is a teleportation crystal that will bring you to Zero, unfortunately, it is a one-way journey and it will be impossible for you to come back here. The red crystal is a reset crystal, sometimes, people don''t like the path they chose, this is the one and only opportunity they will get to restart anew. Please make your choice." Li Wei looked at the 2 crystals and took the blue one without hesitation. "You can use the crystal whenever you want. You can also not use it at all and join us at Little Root Town, we welcome everyone." added the receptionist with a smile. This was an option available in case people did not like the game, they could just find a light job in the Beginner''s town and live leisurely as living costs were quite low. But of course, only a minority would choose that option. After having lived a restricted life, everyone would want to go and explore the world. "Thank you, I''ll keep that in mind." Answered Li Wei, while throwing the crystal into his inventory. Li Wei left the town hall and went to sell the rest of his loot and refill his potions. After finishing his errands, it was time to go back to the tailor shop to see the results. ... [Wolf Queen''s Paws (gloves)](Grade 1) Dexterity +1 Armor: 10 Effect: Damage when punching +3 "Wow they are very impressive !" said Li Wei, while examining the gloves. They were mostly made of leather and were brown. But they had very small shiny black spikes at the upper joints of the fingers. These were precisely the Wolf Queen''s claws, they gave the gloves a look of rock metal. ***Don''t know how to describe but think of normal gloves with small diamond shape spikes where your finger joints(metacarpophalangeal joint) are. *** "It is worth the 10 gold right? You can even tip me if you think I did a good job" said the old man with an innocent smile "No thank you ! " quickly responded Li Wei, he immediately switched gloves and sold his old ones. He then left the shop before the old man could say anything else. ... "Is it good, did I do everything before coming here.... looks fine?" said Li Wei to himself. Suddenly : [System Prompt: Congratulations to Player Sky Walker for being the second player at Little Root Town to reach level 10] [System Prompt: Congratulations to Player Mysterious Songstress for being the third player at Little Root Town to reach level 10] ''Mmm two at once? Looks like people are catching up, let''s hurry then'' thought Li Wei. He was standing just outside the training center. It was time for him to once again challenge the Tower of Heroes and this time beat it. Li Wei went in and called the receptionist, this time, it was a young blond man. "Hello, I would like to challenge the Tower of Heroes," said Li Wei when the receptionist greeted him. "Sure, is it your first time here? From your level, you have immediate access to the first 10 floors, may I ask which floor you would like to begin at ?" "I have been here before, I will start on the 7th floor please, I have a revenge to take on a certain mage..." "Then please follow me !" answered the receptionist, while leaving his counter. Once again, Li Wei walked the same corridor as last time. He quickly arrived at the hall where the receptionist left him. There were many players there, and they all started to whisper among themselves as they saw Li Wei appear. But Li Wei completely ignored them. He just walked right towards the door. Before doing anything, he lifted his eyes to see the Leaderboard. Sky Walker was still first, having defeated the 10th floor. ''Tssssk, wait for me to take first place.'' thought Li Wei, while placing his hand on the door, which made him vanish from the hall. ... Li Wei opened his eyes, he was back at the arena with a 7 written on the ground in Roman numerals. Shortly after, the mist covered the surroundings and from it stepped out a middle age man holding a short staff that looked like a small mace. However, Li Wei frowned when he what was written above his head. It was not the level 7 mage Li Wei was expecting. Instead what he saw was : [level 7 priest] 21 Climbing the tower ''Priest ?'' thought Li Wei, ''Isn''t it supposed to be the mage? Anyway, it will be even easier.'' What Li Wei did not know was that his opponents were randomly selected. Unfortunately, like many other games, RNG was also present in this one, so as to make each attempt at climbing the Tower of Heroes different. Li Wei took a stance and observed the priest while waiting for the fight to begin. The priest was different from the other ones Li Wei saw. The equipment he was wearing were totally different; he had a small mace as a weapon and instead of robes, was wearing a metal armor. After all, weapons did not have any class requirements so any classes could use any equipment to adapt their own style, but some are of course better than other. ''Well, let''s take this opportunity to train using 2 swords'' thought Li Wei. [Would you like to begin the seventh fight?] The awaited announcement finally came and Li Wei immediately said: "Begin !" [Floor 7: level 7 Priest, begin the fight in 5] [4] [3] [2] [1] [Begin!] As soon as the signal was given, the priest directly dashed towards Li Wei. Yes, it was the priest that initiated the attack, he used [Empower] onto himself which gave him 2 strength. It was equivalent to the [Strengthen] of Warriors but had higher Mana Cost and lower Duration. However, from Li Wei''s point of view, the priest was moving rather slowly and he could clearly see each one of his movements. The difference in level and stats was obvious, Li Wei stepped to the side and dodged the mace. He then immediately stabbed the priest on the side. "-17" Li Wei followed up with the other sword completely suppressing the priest. Swinging his swords left and right, up and down, Li Wei forced the priest into a defensive stance, but the mace was not a good weapon for defense. Left with one-third of his HP, the priest violently swung the mace towards Li Wei, forcing him to take a step back. He then quickly jumped back himself and cast [Heal], "+25" However, Li Wei did not let him go, he immediately used his newly acquired skills, [Blade Draw]. The wind slash directly hit the priest, making him lose balance. That was quickly followed up by a well-timed [Chaos Sphere] which left the priest with a sliver of HP. While [Heal] was still on cooldown, Li Wei dashed forward, swinging his swords towards the priest. The latter made a desperate attempt to strike Li Wei, but the latter just took the blow and stabbed the priest at the same time. [Congratulations for defeating the seventh floor. You are awarded 0 exp since your exp bar is locked] [Restoring original state, moving to the eighth floor.] ... ... [Cleave], Li Wei''s sword pierced through the body of the ranger which was quickly covered by a white layer. [Congratulations for defeating the ninth floor. You are awarded 0 exp since your exp bar is locked] [Restoring original state, moving to the tenth floor.] Li Wei easily cleared the eighth and ninth floor, with his battle experience and level advantage, it was quite easy. On the eighth floor, was a rogue, he tried to overwhelm Li Wei with fast attacks, but unfortunately for him, Li Wei also heavily invested into Dexterity, allowing him to move as quickly as the rogue. And so, the eighth floor was quickly cleared. On the ninth floor, was a female ranger, despite her weak appearance, she was very fast and kept running away from Li Wei while shooting her arrows, this was a common technique in video games known as Kiting. While Li Wei was running after her, he tried fancy moves like cutting the arrows in mid-air with his swords, but he failed, even though he could roughly guess where the arrows would hit, it was difficult to intercept the arrows in such position. Li Wei also discovered that using [Howl] could slightly alter the direction of the arrow, making it miss. ... The mist quickly appeared and covered the arena, seconds later the tenth floor was in view. A warrior walked out of the mist, he was tall and muscular, wearing a full set of heavy armor and an axe on his shoulder. Li Wei calmly watched the warrior step onto the arena as he himself took a stance. ''The real challenge only starts now.'' thought Li Wei [Would you like to begin the tenth fight?] "Yes! Begin " [Floor 10: level 10 Warrior, begin the fight in 5] [4] [3] [2] [1] [Begin!] Both sides remain motionless, Li Wei held his stance, waiting for the warrior to attack him. But the warrior was standing there motionless, he was not even in a fighting stance, his face was covered by his helmet and could not be seen, but his body posture was showing his arrogance. The arena remained still for a few seconds, but then, Li Wei could not wait any longer, he directly dashed towards the warrior, raising his blades. [Strengthen], Both sides used their skills. As Li Wei was approaching the warrior, the latter grabbed his axe with two hands and made a full rotation. Seeing that, Li Wei could only force himself to change direction, charging into the rotating axe was clearly a bad idea. But as Li Wei stepped on his right, the warrior stopped his spin and swung his axe towards Li Wei. From the corner of his eye, Li Wei noticed the shiny light charging towards him, he instinctively ducked, resulting in the axe barely passing above his head. ''sigh that was close...'' Li Wei quickly recovered and stabbed towards the open side of the warrior. "-14" But before he could land a second hit, the warrior used [Howl], disturbing Li Wei''s movement and quickly followed up with a swing of his axe. Li Wei once again stepped on the side and stabbed the warrior, "-13". Li Wei then spun onto himself and stroke the warrior with the other sword, "-15". However, the warrior did not let Li Wei continue, he did not use his axe, but instead used his elbow to hit Li Wei''s face. Being suddenly hit, Li Wei lost focus for a second and was quickly recovered as he was kicked in the stomach, "-5","-9". 2 red numbers popped up but the warrior did not stop here, he raised his axe and swung it vertically downwards towards Li Wei. Li Wei quickly reacted and used his own [Howl] to delay the warrior and rolled to the side dodging the strike. He quickly stood up and took advantage of the fact that the axe was stuck into the ground to attack the warrior. The latter quickly used all his force to pull out the axe, just as he succeeded in pulling the axe out, he was hit on the shoulder by Li Wei''s [Cleave]. With that, the warrior was left with only half of his HP while Li Wei''s HP bar was mostly full. The warrior quickly took a few steps back, distancing himself from Li Wei. He then grabbed the axe with two hands and made a diagonal motion in mid-air, [Blade Draw]. It was his axe version of [Blade Draw]. Despite the close distance, Li Wei swiftly dodged the air slash and charged at the warrior. The latter once again swung his axe in a spin to force Li Wei away. But this time, Li Wei made a more aggressive decision. He still changed direction, but this time, his pushed onto his legs and jumped above the axe. Not allowing the warrior to recover from his surprise, Li Wei raised his 2 swords and swung them down in an X shape towards the warrior''s helmet, "-17","-22". However, the warrior pushed the axe on the ground to remain standing, that left Li Wei into a weird position as he landed on the ground just in front of the warrior. Before he could react, he was punched in the stomach and as he stepped back from the hit, he received a strike from the axe on the side, "-30" The 2 sides distanced themselves a little to catch their breath. Li Wei still had about half HP while the warrior had less than a quarter left. Li Wei smiled, his victory was certain if he used his [Chaos Sphere] but instead, he charged at the warrior. This time, the warrior did not wait for Li Wei, he also charged forward raising his axe. [Howl], [Howl], both sides used the same skill to disturb the other. The 2 charges were interrupted as there were 2 meters left between them. [Blade Draw] the warrior immediately used his other skill while Li Wei stepped forward and used [Cleave] to cut the air slash. He then arrived in front of the warrior and swung one sword at his feet and one at his face. The warrior had no other options left, he raised his axe to block one blade, but could only take the blow of the second one. To follow up, Li Wei made a quick spin and swung his sword again at the warrior. And with that, the layer covered the warrior protecting him. [Congratulations for defeating the tenth floor. You are awarded 0 exp since your exp bar is locked] [Restoring original state, moving to the eleventh floor.] ''Fiouff, using two swords has become easier, the movements feel less awkward but there''s still a lot of improvement left to reach the Red Bandit Leader''s level.'' thought Li Wei as he was catching his breath. ... The mist appeared once again and this time, a mage appeared. This time, it was a middle age woman, wearing a mage robe and hat, holding a long wooden staff. ''Finally, a mage... time for revenge.'' [Would you like to begin the eleventh fight?] "Begin! " [Floor 11: level 11 Mage, begin the fight in 5] [4] [3] [2] [1] [Begin!] [Mana Bolt], the mage immediately attacked Li Wei while taking a few steps back. The latter also charged forward when he heard the ''Begin''. He saw the mage cast her spell but he did not expect the [Mana Bolt] to be so fast and big. Compared to the ones he has seen before, this [Mana Bolt] was clearly of a higher level. Li Wei moved diagonally, but his should was still hit by the [Mana Bolt], "-19". Li Wei ignored that mistake and closed the gap. But the mage used her level 10 skills. A White rope appeared in front of the mage and flew towards Li Wei''s leg, it was the level 10 skill, [Mana Bind]. Li Wei saw the white rope flying towards him and immediately jumped to avoid it but the mage used her other skill and aimed at where Li Wei would land. [Mana Burst], it was a skill similar to [Mana Bolt], except that this one dealt damage in an area rather than to a single target. "-20", Li Wei already lost about half of his health while he was not even close to the mage. Fortunately, the mage had already used all her offensive spells in quick succession and had to wait for the cooldowns. [Strengthen] Li Wei took advantage of that and closed the gaps before violently swinging his 2 swords at the mage. The latter used [Mana Shield] but it did not last long under the constant assault of Li Wei. The shield broke and the mage''s HP started to decrease but she immediately reacted and raised her staff. It glowed and shortly after, an electric spark flew from it, electrocuting Li Wei."-5" [You have been hit by the [Spark], stunned for 0.5 seconds] ''What? A skill associated with her staff ?'' thought Li Wei. These 0.5 seconds seemed negligible. But they were more than enough to break Li Wei''s momentum, allowing the mage to retreat a few steps. [Mana Bolt], her most basic spell with the lowest cooldown had refreshed and she immediately aimed it at Li Wei. However, Li Wei also used his skill, [Blade Draw], the 2 skills collided in mid-air, nullifying each other. Once again charging forward, Li Wei this time used only one sword, he sheathed back the other one, to grab some throwing needles. The mage was not very agile, she could only watch as each needle took away a small portion of her HP, but the annoying part was that they were canceling her casting of spells. Li Wei once again closed the gap, [Cleave], his sword cut through the air towards the mage. But the latter decided to throw herself on the floor, avoiding the [Cleave]. Li Wei could not immediately stop his sword and the mage took advantage of that and raised her staff, using [Mana Bind] to hold Li Wei in place. The rope tied Li Wei''s leg. He tried to free himself but in vain, seconds later, he saw the mage raise her hand and staff, casting her other level 10 spell, [Mana Burst] ''Crap, if I get hit, I might lose...'' [Earth Wall], Li Wei immediately erected his Earth Wall, protecting his body from the attack. At the same time, he used his sword and successfully cut the rope. Both sides had less than half of their HP and with the mage had just used all her spells again, Li Wei once again used that time window to charge at the mage. "-19","-18", two sword strikes landed on the mage, putting her into critical conditions, but before a third strike landed, a [Mana Shield] was erected protecting her few remaining HP. [Chaos Sphere], this time, Li Wei did not hesitate to use this skill, the mage''s spells would soon refresh and if he was hit, his climb of the tower might end here. The black misty ball flew towards the mage, she could do nothing to stop it and could only close her eyes as the sphere exploded on her [Mana Shield] [Congratulations for defeating the eleventh floor. Please choose one item as a reward from the followings:] 22 The 12th and the 13th floor [Congratulations for defeating the eleventh floor. Please choose one item as a reward from the followings:] [Item 1: Aurora Gardenia] [Item 2: Beast Core(Rat King)] [Item 3: Rainbow Feather] At the same time as the voice named the items, holograms appeared in front of Li Wei. He blankly stared at the flower, the core and the feather. ''All this hard work just for one material... They should all be of equal value but which one to choose...'' Li Wei did not know which one to choose, he did not know anything about materials or their value. After pondering for a moment, Li Wei ended up taking the Rainbow Feather. There was no particular reason for that choice, Li Wei just randomly chose that one. Immediately after, the other 2 holograms disappeared, while a feather icon appeared in his inventory and the usual mist covered the arena once again. Seconds later, the mist slowly disappeared, revealing a well built Paladin. The latter was wearing a shiny armor, holding a shield in one hand and a hammer in the other. He was walking like a soldier, making a little stomp with each step. The two naturally got into fighting stances and the usual announcement was heard. [Would you like to begin the twelfth fight?] "Begin !" [Floor 12: level 12 Paladin, begin the fight in 5] [4] [3] [2] [1] [Begin!] Li Wei immediately charged at the Paladin, he was a bit annoyed at the last round''s reward and so, wanted to vent his frustration on the Paladin. He immediately activated [Strengthen] and raised his swords to perform [Blade Draw]. The Paladin raised his shield and stepped forward. The shield blocked the [Blade Draw], causing the Paladin to only take 5 Damage from the hit. After taking the blow, the Paladin did not lower his shield, instead, he used his level 10 skill, [Charge] which allowed him to dash in a direction. The Paladin charged at Li Wei, with the large shield still in front of his body. Seeing that, Li Wei quickly stepped out of the way, however, the Paladin stopped his charge right past Li Wei and turned to strike Li Wei with his hammer. The latter immediately raised his swords in a cross shape to block, but even though the Paladin stopped his charge, the momentum was still there which forced Li Wei to take a few steps back, "-12". As Li Wei was pushed back, the Paladin did not let him rest and immediately used another skill, [Taunt]. Li Wei immediately felt weird, he did not know what was happening but he became more frustrated and absolutely wanted to stab his swords at the Paladin. He instinctively attacked the Paladin, but as he stepped forward to attack, he was greeted by a hammer strike from the side. "-16" ''Crap, this game can even affect your emotions... I cannot let this last for long, I keep getting bad trades.'' After taking the blow, Li Wei''s mind cleared a little, he immediately focused and quickly swung his swords towards the Paladin. The latter was strong and could hold his ground, "-2","-1", small numbers kept popping on the Paladin, but they were not very significant since Paladins have high HP. However, while Li Wei was still attacking the Paladin, he covertly activated his ring''s skill,[Earth Wall] The earth started to shake under the Paladin''s feet, he tried to quickly step away from that position, but Li Wei used [Cleave] and forced the Paladin to block. The ground finally lifted a bit, causing the Paladin to trip. [Reinforce], while falling on his back, the paladin immediately used his defensive skill, knowing that he fell for his opponent''s tactic. And surely, Li Wei unleashed a range of attacks. The Paladin struggled but in this disadvantageous position, there was not much he could do. He eventually blocked Li Wei''s swords and pushed him back, but he had already lost half of his Health in exchange. As soon as he got back on his feet, the Paladin immediately went on the offensive, [Charge], he once again used this skill, Li Wei was close and there was no way to avoid it. But Li Wei did not avoid it, instead, he used his other ring''s skill, [Chaos Sphere]. The shield and the Sphere came into contact and the latter exploded. "-19" appeared on the Paladin''s head. His charge was interrupted and he was momentarily blinded by the explosion. But that small window was all Li Wei needed, he quickly took advantage of that and moved diagonally to the Paladin''s right. [Howl] was swiftly used, slightly pushing the shield away, and swords quickly pierced through the opening. "-15","-14" Li Wei did not stand still, he quickly drew back the swords and move around the Paladin to look for another opening. But the latter was prepared, [Taunt] was once again used, and Li Wei naturally attacked the Paladin... He raised his swords and hacked at the shield. The Paladin blocked the swords but shortly after, [Bash], the shield slightly glowed and slammed onto Li Wei''s body, "-20" After these exchanges, Li Wei was left with half HP while the Paladin only had a quarter left. But it was once again Li Wei''s turn to be on the offensive. Swords continuously stroke the shield, not finding any opening. [Cleave], [Blade Draw] Li Wei launched these 2 skills one after the other, the [Cleave] was strong enough to push the shield a few centimeters away allowing the close ranged [Blade Draw] to hit the Paladin. ''I win'' thought Li Wei, he was about to use [Howl] to continue his combo but he quickly noticed something, ''Crap... My mana...'', after the consecutive use of skill, Li Wei''s mana was almost entirely depleted, [Howl] cost 20 mana, but he only had 16 left and he could not use any potions here. But fortunately, the Paladin''s mana was also empty. Not able to use his skill, Li Wei could only swing his swords continuously. The Paladin only had a sliver of HP left but he could do nothing but defend. Slowly but surely, in an unexciting way, the announcement was heard: [Congratulations for defeating the twelfth floor. Please choose one item as a reward from the followings:] [Item 1: Long Sword(Grade 1)] [Item 2: Leather Boots(Grade 1)] [Item 3: Light Hood(Grade 1)] ''Fioufff, that was closer than it should have been... I need to use my mana more efficiently from now...'' said Li Wei in his heart, he then focused his attention on the holograms. The 3 pieces of equipment were displayed in front of Li Wei, but he could not see any of the stats, only that they were all grade 1. Any of the 3 equipment would be useful to Li Wei as right now, he was mostly using grade 0 equipment. Li Wei chose the Long Sword after some thoughts, with his current style, offensive power was more important than defense. The 2 other equipment disappeared and the sword floated towards Li Wi. [Long Sword(Grade 1)] Damage: 9-12 Effect: Ignores 5% armor ''Not bad, they ignore armor effect is very useful'' thought Li Wei as soon as he saw the stats, he quickly put one of his actual swords into his inventory and grabbed this one. It was longer and heavier than the previous one, so Li Wei swung it around to get used to it while the mist rose out of nowhere. ... The 13th ring appeared and this time, Li Wei''s opponent was a ranger. In a leather suit, with a longbow in one hand, the ranger was calmly standing at the edge of the ring. He had a slim body, he actually looked rather weak to Li Wei, but looks can be deceiving. Li Wei stopped swinging his swords and took a stance from which he could easily break into a sprint. The most important aspect against rangers, was distance, as long as he was able to close the gaps, it was his win. The arena remained silent for a few seconds, then came the announcement : [Would you like to begin the thirteenth fight?] "Yes !" [Floor 13: level 13 Ranger, begin the fight in 5] [4] [3] [2] [1] [Begin!] The signal was given and Li Wei sprinted towards the Ranger. The latter raised his bow, and quickly, arrows started to rain on Li Wei, about one every two seconds. The arena wasn''t big, but Li Wei still took 2 shots and dodged another 2 before being able to reach the Ranger. He raised his newly acquired sword, [Cleave]. The sword was rapidly approaching the Ranger, but the latter was fast, he jumped to the side, avoiding the strike. He then quickly placed his bow onto his shoulder and drew a pair of daggers from behind. Li Wei turned and swung his other sword towards the ranger. The latter raised his daggers in a cross shape and parried the attack. He then pushed back the sword and took a step back, at the same time, he threw the 2 daggers at Li Wei at the same time. "Woosh Woosh", caught unaware, the 2 daggers embedded themselves into the shoulders of Li Wei, "-10","-9". But that was not all, just after throwing the daggers, the Ranger grabbed back his bow and aimed at Li Wei. [Earth Wall], at such a close range, dodging was impossible, so Li Wei directly used his defensive skill. "Takkk", the arrow hit the wall and cracks appeared everywhere on it. The ranger just used [Power Shot] that was almost strong enough to destroy the Earth Wall with one hit. With a few seconds to catch his breath, Li Wei pulled out the 2 daggers from his shoulder and tossed them on the ground. He then left the safety of the Earth wall and once again charged at the Ranger. The Ranger once again aimed at Li Wei, this time, using [Precise Shot], the arrow was released and flew directly towards Li Wei, it did not hit any vital part, instead, it pierced Li Wei''s hand, forcing him to let go of his right sword. Li Wei frowned but he did not stop, the Ranger was finally into melee range, even with one sword, he could deal enough damage. [Strengthen] "-19","-20", 2 numbers popped above the Ranger''s head. After taking the blow, the latter drew out 2 other blades from the back of his belt, but this time, Li Wei did not let him attack, [Blade Draw] the air slash interrupted the Ranger''s movement. "-14" With only one sword, Li Wei continued to press onto the Ranger, swinging his sword, then immediately spinning and using that momentum to make a diagonal sword strike. The ranger was left with only half of his HP but was still being harassed by Li Wei. However, the Ranger''s boots started to glow for a fraction of a second, and from Li Wei''s point of view, the Ranger just suddenly disappeared and reappeared a few steps back. ''Another equipment with a skill... do all those above a certain floor have such equipment'' thought Li Wei. Just as he was thinking, he felt a sense of danger. [Scatter shots], moments later, 3 arrows flew towards Li Wei, each one aiming at a different part of his body. Li Wei quickly reacted and instinctively moved his hands and shifted his body. With these movements, he swiftly avoided 2 arrows but was still hit by the third, "-14" Li Wei lifted his head to look for the Ranger. The latter was running away, creating distance between them once again. Seeing that, Li Wei grinned, with his free hand, he drew his throwing needles. ''You are not the only one who can throw weapons'' Li Wei ran after the Ranger, focusing all his attention on the Ranger''s movements. While charging forward, Li Wei threw 2 needles just in front of the Ranger, he did not aim at dealing damage, rather, Li Wei wanted to prevent the Ranger from running. And surely, the latter reacted and turned around, drawing his bow, [Power Shot] was once again initiated, but that skill required a casting time and Li Wei would not let him have it. [Howl] was immediately used, interrupting the Ranger and shortly after, 2 needles flew across the arena and hit the Ranger, "-8","-9". After that many exchanges, both sides had pretty low HP, the ranger had a little less than half while Li Wei only had 22 HP remaining. Li Wei once again managed to close the gaps, [Cleave], the ranger took the blow but at the same time drew yet another dagger with his free hand, he only needed to hit Li Wei a few times and it would be over. And while Li Wei was swinging his sword, the ranger opted for a suicidal strategy, he took the blow but at the same time, stabbed Li Wei at his waist. "-14" appeared above Li Wei head. He could not help but frown, with only 8 HP left, he was in a dangerous situation. The ranger capitalized on that and jumped onto Li Wei, raising his dagger. In such critical situation, Li Wei''s instinct kicked in, he tilted his body and bent his knees, in a similar stance to a matrix move. At the same time, he stabbed his sword into the ground, making it act like a support. Pulling onto the sword, Li Wei propelled himself a few meters back, avoiding the dagger. The few centimeters he got by doing that matrix move was just enough to avoid the dagger. He landed on his back but quickly jumped back on his feet, grabbing throwing needles in both hands. The ranger once again charged at Li Wei, but this time, it was Li Wei''s time to kite. "-7","-8". The needles slowly dealt damage to the ranger and finally. ''Finally.. less than 25 HP'' Seeing the amount of HP the ranger had left, Li Wei stopped retreating, he let the Ranger get closer to him, close enough so that he won''t miss. The Ranger pounced onto Li Wei, holding the dagger with both hands, but unfortunately for him, Li Wei still had 1 skill left, [Chaos Sphere]. The sphere appeared in Li Wei hand. The ranger saw it, and let out a surprised expression, but there was nothing he could do to stop his jump. "Boomm" The Sphere exploded, it was so close that even Li Wei took some damage, "-5", but the Ranger took the full blow and was immediately protected by a layer. [Congratulations for defeating the thirteenth floor... 23 14th Floor [Congratulations for defeating the thirteenth floor, please choose one of the following as a reward:] [First Option: Improved constitution, effect: Slightly increases HP and reduces damage taken on hit] [Second Option: Heightened awareness, effect: Makes your senses(Vision, Smell,...) acuter] [Third Option: Improved body coordination, effect: Improves synchronization and control on your body] [Note: These are a type of passive skill with less visible effects, they will not appear in skill window.] Li Wei was standing still, slowly calming his breathing. He blankly stared at the options, the rewards were good as expected but he did not know which one to choose. The 1st one was good, but what Li Wei wanted was more offensive power. The second one could be useful but Li Wei already had pretty good awareness since he could sometimes sense his enemies. The 3rd one was what Li Wei needed the most to improve his dual sword style, but he could also gain this over time by training and then it would then be a waste of the reward. The better the choices, the harder the decision. Li Wei thought for a while, the voice did not prompt him to make a choice, and eventually, Li Wei settled on the Improved body coordination. Short term power spikes were not necessarily bad and the coordination did not limit itself to the hands. When Li Wei made his choice, light in the arena suddenly disappeared, this sudden change alerted Li Wei. He could not see anything, but still focused to try to hear something. A few seconds later, he suddenly felt sleepy, that feeling invaded his whole body, making him move sluggishly. "Yawn", the feeling only got stronger with time and eventually, Li Wei could no longer keep his eyes opened, he lied down and lost consciousness."I must not sleep..." were the last words Li Wei said. ... An unknown amount of time later, Li Wei felt the cold feeling of the floor on his back. He suddenly woke up and stood up grabbing his swords that fell right next to him. Li Wei looked around only to find that he was standing on the 14th floor. A female rogue was standing on the other side of the arena calmly watching Li Wei while playing with her long red hair. She wore a mask, covering the lower part of her face but the rest of her equipment was exposing a lot of skin. Her armor was similar to a crop top shirt and her ''pants'' barely covered her thighs. However, just from one glance, Li Wei could tell that her equipment was not simple. Li Wei naturally let his eyes float a bit longer at the level of her chest, he was still a young man and in front of him was a young woman wearing such clothes. The rogue was not extremely beautiful, but she could be considered above average. Li Wei quickly got himself together. "I don''t feel anything different... what happened ?" He checked his event logs and found the last entry [Your body has undergone a body modification, modification success, improved body coordination by 10%] "Body modification ???" exclaimed Li Wei [Would you like to begin the fourteenth fight?] As Li Wei was checking his logs, the announcement came out, but Li Wei immediately declined. "No, give me a few minutes to familiarise myself" The voice did not answer and the rogue just continued to play with her hair while watching Li Wei. The latter ignored his surroundings, he took his swords and started swinging them, imagining a target in front of him. While doing so, Li Wei immediately felt the difference, there was not much difference in the movements, just with the feeling he got while executing them. Everything felt smoother, it was as if is body already knew what he wanted to do next to a certain extent. After a few sets of movements, Li Wei sat down to calm down and get back to his peak condition. Few breaths later, Li Wei finally stood up and shouted: "I would like to begin the next fight." Hearing that, the rogue also stopped playing with her hair, focused and drew 2 curved daggers from her belt. [Floor 14: level 14 Rogue, begin the fight in 5] [4] [3] [2] [1] [Begin!] [Stealth], as soon as the fight started, the rogue activated her level 10 skill, the bread and butter of rogue classes. Li Wei saw the rogue''s figure quickly distort in front of him and 1 second later, completely vanish. ''So this is Stealth... It''s really different when you see it right in front of you... I cannot feel anything'' thought Li Wei, while raising his swords and taking a defensive stance. He calmly waited, focusing on his surroundings but nothing happened. The rogue was still stealthed, the skill lasted for one minute. 30 seconds had passed and still, nothing happened. The longer it went on, the more stressed Li Wei felt. He constantly looked around him, spun around himself, to make sure the rogue won''t jump from behind. 20 seconds left on the duration of [Stealth] and the rogue had yet to appear. Li Wei became more nervous, he started to walk in random directions trying to find the location of the rogue. He was regretting not choosing to improve his senses. 10 seconds... Suddenly, Li Wei felt something move behind him, he tried to move but it was too late. A dagger pierced his leg and moments later, his other leg was also pierced. "-19","-21" [Howl], as soon as he felt the pain, Li Wei activated his skill to push back the rogue, he now knew where she was and quickly stabbed towards her. But she was fast and stepped to the side and used her own skill, [Shadow Strike] to attack. This time, Li Wei parried the dagger with his second sword but he still took some damage. [Strengthen] [Rush] Both sides used their respective buffs and clashed once again. Li Wei swung his swords at the rogue, but she swiftly dodged and spun around Li Wei ending up just behind him. [Cut throat] She raised her dagger and placed it just below Li Wei''s jaw, she was about to strike but Li Wei quickly hit her with his elbow. The [Cut Throat] was interrupted but the dagger still cut through his throat, "-22". Li Wei already lost more than half of his HP but just as he took the damage, he activated [Cleave] and rotated onto himself, striking the rogue, "-23" As the rogue took a step back, Li Wei followed up with a [Blade Draw] which was parried by the rogue''s dagger. Since all the rogue''s skills were still on cooldown, Li Wei charged at her, but the rogue simply spun the daggers in her hands and threw them while they were still spinning. They looked like 2 shurikens; Li Wei raised his swords made a cut in front of him, pushing away the 2 daggers. Fortunately for him, the daggers were much slower and easier to hit compared to an arrow. As Li Wei once again focused his attention on the rogue, he once again found that she was disappearing in front of him but this time, the animation was different, it was as if mist came out of nowhere and surrounded her until she disappeared. Li Wei frowned, he knew that this was definitely another equipment''s skill. It was clear that the rogue was buying time for her skills to refresh, rogues depended on their skills to deal lots of damage in short period of times while warriors could deal consistent damage over time. Li Wei focused, carefully looking at his surroundings to find any clue of the position of the rogue, but he did not find anything. So to avoid being taken by surprise like last time, Li Wei moved and went at the edge of the arena, he then turned and faced the empty arena; in such position, he did not have to guard his back since the rogue could not leave the arena. Time flew by, it had already been 20 seconds since the rogue disappeared, most of her skills had refreshed except for [Rush]. Li Wei was still surveying the arena when he suddenly felt the air move, it was very faint and barely noticeable but Li Wei trusted his instinct and swung his blade in that direction. And surely, "Cling" his sword hit one of the rogue''s dagger. The rogue''s body came to light, despite her mask, Li Wei could see her surprised expression. He quickly took advantage of that and used his skills [Howl] The little knockback effect made the rogue lose her balance and Li Wei followed up with a [Cleave], "-31" The rogue took the strike and made a backflip before landing smoothly 2 meters away from Li Wei. Both parties now had less than half of their HP but Li Wei did not stop here, he was close to her and quickly used his ring''s skill [Chaos Sphere]. Li Wei smiled, the sphere flew out of his hands and was certain to explode on the rogue but at that moment, a white light came out of her pendant and transformed into a layer, protecting her. It was clearly different from the layer that represented Li Wei''s victory, it was, in fact, similar to the [Mana Shield] that mages used. Immediately after, the rogue threw her daggers at Li Wei and immediately used her own [Stealth], "-9","-11" The situation once again turned back to the previous one. Li Wei immediately went at the edge of the arena, calmly catching his breath. He took the opportunity to check his HP and MP, he still had slightly over 28 HP and 33 MP left. His HP and MP were actually slowly regenerating but this rate was very slow, about 1 HP/MP every 2 minutes. The waiting game the rogue was playing was also allowing Li Wei to recover slightly. Once again, Li Wei intently watched his surroundings when he suddenly thought of something. Could he use Earth Wall to determine the position of the rogue? He quickly remembered what happened when he used Earth Wall under the Paladin''s feet, the ground right below his feet actually rose up with a small delay compared to the ground having nothing above it. ... Having formed his plan, Li Wei carefully observed his surroundings while activating [Earth Wall], this time instead of a tall vertical wall, Li Wei wanted to lift a very short flat horizontal wall, it could not even be called a wall. [Earth Wall] allowed the users to freely lift the earth in any way they wanted, the limit only came in terms of volume of Earth; so players could choose to create very large but weak walls or at the same time, strong but smaller walls. Due to the volume limit, Li Wei could not target the entire arena, so he only chose to lift the ground within a 5 meters radius and surely, he found the location of the rogue. The ground slightly trembled and raised by about 3 cm. But due to the way Li Wei raised the ground, its density was rather low and clear footprints appeared 4 meters on Li Wei''s right. Seeing that, Li Wei immediately used his [Blade Draw] towards the rogue, at the same time, he charged in that direction. The rogue was surprised, she never expected such thing to happen, it was the first time she witnessed such technique. She quickly reacted and parried the [Blade Draw] but moments later, Li Wei appeared right before her, stabbing her stomach with one of his swords, "-19" at the same time, his other sword was initiating [Cleave]. The rogue saw that, but her weird position could not allow her to parry, instead, she went on the offensive, using [Shadow Strike]. The 2 sides both took each other''s skill and both were left with less than 10 HP. The rogue frowned but she quickly spun on herself, using that rotation, she thrust her dagger at Li Wei from the side. But the latter would not let her succeed, as he saw the rogue spin, Li Wei placed his foot just where the rogue would put hers when spinning. And that simple action caused the rogue to lose her balance and miss her attack. She fell on the ground and quickly after, Li Wei''s sword dived into her stomach. [Congratulations for defeating the fourteenth floor...] ... At the same time, somewhere in Zero. A young woman was sitting on an ethereal throne, watching several screens in front of her, each screen showed different persons doing different things. Among these screens, 12 of them were separately placed and right now, her attention was focused on the 7th screen and the person on it was actually Li Wei. That young woman was actually Gaia, she was constantly monitoring the players and the development of the game, but she always kept particular attention on these 12 individuals. ''He defeated the 14th floor... He is slowly getting the hang of it... But what should I do... the Tower of Heroes is not supposed to be clearable...'' said Gaia to herself. ''I am sorry... I can only make you lose... but I''ll give you a fight you''ll like in return...'' "Bypass protocol 9382, protocol... Sort data about NPC 238194 ..... Summon warrior type..." 24 Crushing defeats [Congratulations for defeating the fourteenth floor. You are awarded 2 free stat point as a reward.] "Huh stat points? So stingy! Is it not possible to get one of those equipment with skills ? " said Li Wei to himself. He was a bit disappointed but was still satisfied, stat points could only be obtained by leveling up and when he would be at a higher level, those would be very hard to obtain. "Allocate to dexterity" Now, Li Wei''s stats were : Name: Seven Race: Human Level: 10 (142/10000) Class: Warrior Title: None HP: 5/100 MP: 9/80 Strength: 14 Dexterity: 18(+2) Vitality :9(+1) Intelligence : 7(+1) Wisdom: 9 Stat Points available : 0 Skills : [Cleave], [Strengthen], [Weapon Throwing],[Howl],[Blade Draw] Fatigue: 31% .... [Restoring original state, moving to the last floor.] The usual mist once again appeared and covered the arena. Moments later, it retreated, revealing the last arena. Despite being the last one, it looked exactly like all the previous ones except for the number in Roman numerals. When Li Wei saw the human figure emerging from the mist, he could not help but let out a gasp of surprise. "It''s you! Aren''t you supposed to be dead !?!" The man that came out of the mist wore a confused expression, but as soon as he saw Li Wei, he directly drew his 2 swords and charged at Li Wei. "You piece of Sh*t! You did not expect us to meet again ! huh! ***" Li Wei was taken by surprise, however, before the swords could hit Li Wei, a green barrier appeared and separated the 2 men. [Please wait for the signal before starting to fight !] "F*** !! Hurry and give the signal so I can beat that ***" Li Wei was still not believing what he was seeing, ''is that a bug ?'' thought Li Wei. The man in front of him, swearing and swinging his blades at the green barrier was, in fact, the Red Bandit Leader. "Hurry up *** let me beat the *** out of this ***" shouted the Red Bandit Leader. At the same time, the question came [Would you like to begin the last fight?] Li Wei calmed down his breathing and drew his swords, it was a good opportunity for him to learn the style he wanted to use, so he needed to focus. The Red Bandit Leader was now level 15, which was much higher than last time, he also had better equipment. "Start" [Floor 15: level 15 Warrior, begin the fight in 5] [4] [3] [2] [1] [Begin!] [Blade Draw], the Red Bandit immediately initiated the fight with his skill, just like last time, he launched 2 air blades in a cross shape. But this time, they were thicker and longer. Li Wei quickly reacted and stepped on the side while raising his swords. However, Li Wei did not expect the Red Bandit Leader to suddenly appear in front of him, he actually covered the distance between them so quickly. [Impale] What Li Wei noticed first, wasn''t the Red Bandit Leader, but the sharp sword that has been thrust at his chest. Li Wei tried to push it away, but in vain, "-32" ''Crap... so strong !'' But the Red Bandit Leader did not stop here, as soon as his first sword hit, he rotated onto himself and swung his sword at Li Wei''s legs. Li Wei reacted by placing his swords on his leg to parry but at the last second, the Red Bandit''s sword actually changed direction and headed up, towards his arm, "-21" Before Li Wei could recover, he was violently kicked in the stomach and forced to take steps back. [Howl], Li Wei activated his skill, afraid that the Red Bandit Leader would continue his combo but the latter also used the same skill and his was stronger which pushed Li Wei further back. [Earth Wall], in a desperate attempt to gain a few breaths of time, Li Wei raised a wall between him and the Red Bandit Leader, however, that newly erected wall was shattered by the Red Bandit Leader''s [Cleave] "Where are you trying to hide, piece of ****" shouted the Red Bandit Leader while landing just in front of Li Wei. His swords swung again towards Li Wei. "Cling! Clang !" this time, the blades did not change directions and were blocked by Li Wei. But shortly after, the Red Bandit Leader shifted his body and spun again striking Li Wei''s arm. Li Wei barely had any HP left, he looked at the Red Bandit Leader. The latter was coldly smiling, moments later, 2 swords stabbed Li Wei, one at his chest, the other on his thigh. Immediately a white layer covered Li Wei''s body, preventing his HP from falling to zero. ''I lost, just like that... I could not even do anything'' "What? What is that light.... ****" The Red Bandit Leader tried to pull out the swords and stab Li Wei again but another layer covered him, bringing him back into the mist. "Ahhh" shouted the Red Bandit Leader with rage as he was brought back into the mist. [You have been defeated. Restoring original state] [You will be teleported back to the entrance in 5 seconds.] But Li Wei did not even listen to the voice. He was reviewing the fight, for the first time, he felt weak, he could not even land one strike or defend himself. When Li Wei took a look around him, he was standing in the hall just in front of the door that was the entrance of the Tower of Heroes. Many players were looking at him since he was just in front of the door but he ignored them and immediately turned around, trying to push the door to enter the Tower of Heroes once again. [Sorry, you have just left the Tower of Heroes, you can access the Tower of Heroes again in 1 hour] "What there''s a cooldown to the Tower of Heroes ?" thought Li Wei, he never bothered to check this detail and was surprised upon seeing it. "Wow look! The Leaderboard is being refreshed!!" At the same time, several players exclaimed, excitedly looking at the leaderboard, seconds later, they all looked towards Li Wei, eyes wide opened. Quickly, many whispers were heard, but Li Wei ignored them and went to a corner of the hall. He sat down, hugging his knees and leaning his head on them. "F***, I can''t believe I was defeated so easily... How could he continue attacking so smoothly" Li Wei was silently replaying the fight in his mind, examining the movements of the Red Bandit Leader. Just watching and actually experiencing it was totally different. ... "Excuse me! We would like to speak to you ?" Li Wei suddenly heard a soft voice. He raised his head just to find a level 9 female priest looking at him, her name was Bright Sun. "What is it ?" answered Li Wei, though he already had an idea of what she wanted to say. "Hello! My name is Bright Sun, I am here to invite you to join our guild, Avalanche. My elder brother is the founder of the guild, he has already created it in the open world, I will join him as soon as I leave Little Root Town." As expected, as soon as the players saw that Li Wei''s name was at the top of the leaderboard, many high ranked members of guilds came to recruit him. "May I ask what are the conditions ?" asked Li Wei. "Of course! You are obviously very talented, so we would directly put you in our lead..." "Don''t listen to her! A talent like you will be wasted in her guild, come to The Horde, we will give you several benefits, you can even start as a team leader !" A tall muscular man erupted into the hall, interrupting Bright Sun and directly inviting Li Wei. "What are you doing? You should not interrupt our conversation ! " said Bright Sun. "Miss, I am just inviting him, in the end, he is the one who will make the final choice." answered the man Both turned to look at Li Wei but at the same time, another man entered the hall attracting the gaze of everyone. The man was actually level 10, he just entered the hall and looked at the leaderboard before frowning. That man was the former ranked 1 on the leaderboard, Skywalker. "So you are Seven !" said Skywalker while approaching Li Wei, "You do have a lot of talent, our guild, Exodia would also like to invite you, what do you think ?" Skywalker walked towards Li Wei making a grin, pretending to not know what happened on the street yesterday night. With all the players in the room looking at him, Li Wei remained seated and answered: "I would like to know what each guild offers first, I will then choose." "Of course !" answered the three Li Wei actually did not mind joining a guild, as long as they were skilled and would not slow down his growth. Quickly, each one of them gave him a contract, similar to the one he signed with Carlos. The contracts contained all the information about the respective guilds, what they could offer, the responsibilities he would have to hold and the rules of the guilds. "Thank you, I will like some time to read through them before answering," said Li Wei "No problems, there is no rush, you can contact us at any time," said Bright Sun with a smile. "Mmmmm, " said Skywalker while nodding, he then turned and went pushed the door to enter the Tower of Heroes. Li Wei finally had some room to breathe but that did not last for long as other players quickly followed as soon as the 3 left to invite Li Wei to their guild. The latter simply took their contracts, saying that he needed some time to consider. Still having to wait 40 minutes before being able to enter the Tower of Heroes, Li Wei had nothing to do and simply sat down to read the contracts. They mostly contained the basic rules, such as obeying the higher-ups'' decisions, not sharing internal information, etc When it came to benefits, Avalanche, Exodia and The Horde were the most generous. The first 2 offered 10 golds, while the last one offered a grade 0 equipment of his choice. At this early stage, these could be considered very generous. ... Li Wei looked at the time on his interface, he could now go back into the Tower of Heroes, so he hurried up and touched the door, eager to get his revenge. Once again, Li Wei appeared on the fifteenth floor and in front of him was the same Red Bandit Leader. "Huh, you are back ?!? Looking for another beating ?" taunted the Red Bandit Leader. Li Wei just ignored what he was saying, he needed to focus if he wanted to defeat the Red Bandit Leader. Moments later, came the usual announcement [Would you like to begin the last fight?] "Yes, begin" [Floor 15: level 15 Warrior, begin the fight in 5] [4] [3] [2] [1] [Begin!] [Strengthen] at the exact same time, both sides used their skill and charged at each other. This time, Li Wei wanted to be on the offensive. Li Wei raised his swords, [Cleave], his right sword made a horizontal swing towards the Red Bandit Leader. However, the latter ducked and easily avoided the strike, he quickly counterattacked by swinging his swords at Li Wei''s leg. [Howl], Li Wei immediately used his skill, disturbing the Red Bandit Leader''s movements just enough to be able to dodge the strikes. However, just as he was making a step back, [Impale], a sword thrust right towards his exposed chest, "-31" ''Again that move...'' thought Li Wei. [Howl], this time, the Red Bandit Leader followed up with his own [Howl] and swung his swords at Li Wei. The latter kept retreating, not knowing how but he was once again forced on the defensive. "Cling Clang!" Swords hit each other slowly depleting the HP of the 2 fighters, but Li Wei was clearly on the losing side. The Red Bandit Leader looked very calm and confident, he was not even using his full strength, just toying with Li Wei. Li Wei was focusing as hard as he could, trying to take the Red Bandit Leader by surprise but in vain. He took a step back and used [Cleave]. However, [Parry], the Red Bandit Leader used another skill, his sword intercepted Li Wei''s [Cleave] and easily pushed back the sword. The sword was pushed to the side completely exposing Li Wei and the Red Bandit Leader immediately capitalized on that, swinging his sword continuously, emptying Li Wei''s HP bar. [You have been defeated. Restoring original state] [You will be teleported back to the entrance in 5 seconds.] "Tsssk **** off kid," said the Red Bandit Leader while showing an expression of disdain. This time, he did not continue to attack Li Wei when he was defeated, but just stood on the arena in an arrogant posture. Li Wei was lying on the ground, catching his breath. Despite his effort, he was so easily defeated and the Red Bandit Leader did not even use his full strength. Li Wei felt dejected, "how did the Red Bandit defeat him so easily ?" ... An hour later, "You again? You never learn huh ?" ... "Cling Cling Cling" [Impale] [You have been defeated. Restoring original state] [You will be teleported back to the entrance in 5 seconds.] "Fuck.... again... it''s already the 3rd time I try." For the 3rd time, Li Wei was completely overwhelmed by the Red Bandit Leader and he did not even use his full strength. There was after all about 10 stat points difference between them and the Red Bandit Leader was more proficient in his fighting style. Li Wei was teleported outside the Tower of Heroes once again and went back to his corner. "...." He was a bit depressed; he fought 3 times while he was being toyed around. However, a few minutes later, he was still thinking about the fights when the receptionist came to the hall. "Dear adventurers, the training center will close for the day in 20 minutes, please leave the training center in the next 15 minutes." 25 Leaving Little Root Town "What? It''s already so late... " thought Li Wei. Time went by so quickly that he did not notice. He just kept thinking about the fights and how he could improve. ''I already wasted a day here... I could have already gone to the open world... What should I do now ?'' thought Li Wei. He stood up and quietly left the hall. Many other players also left when they heard the receptionist, while some stayed to wait for their friends inside the Tower of Heroes. ''Should I upgrade all my equipment first before challenging the Tower again? That will take so long to get the required money... I cannot even hold my ground against the Red Bandit Leader right now, the way he moves is just so fast and fluid...'' "Huh !! that''s it!!" exclaimed Li Wei attracting the gaze of the players around him. "Oops sorry, my bad " quickly apologized Li Wei. Li Wei was thinking of what to do next, he also reviewed his fights against the Red Bandit Leader to see what he was missing, when he suddenly thought of something. So far in his fights against the Red Bandit Leader, he only focused on the movement of the swords and hands of the Red Bandit Leader, but Li Wei just realized that what allowed the Red Bandit Leader to continuously attack wasn''t his hands'' movement but rather his footwork. By correctly positioning his feet, the Red Bandit Leader could make quick spins and easily change directions just by applying more force on one leg. Li Wei suddenly felt enlightened, he realized that footwork was also an essential part of fighting, that was how the Red Bandit Leader could attack from all sides very quickly. Li Wei never needed to practice his footwork so far, he only focused on training his handling of swords. ''So after 3 fights I finally learned something... But I need to confirm it first, and how do we train footwork ?'' murmured Li Wei. He walked onto the main street, wondering what to do next. He now had a clue on what to improve but how does he actually trains his footwork? ... At the same time, in the hall of the Tower of Heroes "Fuuuu I already tried 2 times, how did he do it !?!" said an enraged voice accompanied by stomps on the ground It was Skywalker, he came to the Tower of Heroes not only to invite Li Wei to his guild but also to reclaim back his rank at the top of the Leaderboard of the Tower of Heroes, but even after 2 tries, he was still stuck on the 13th floor, yet the player ranked one was already on the 15th floor. Till now, he has always been ranked one but now, someone else took away his prestige, how could he let this go so easily. "That''s fine Skywalker, we are already level 10, we cannot spend more time here..." said a tanned man standing next to Skywalker. "What !?! But that guy actually defeated so many floors. How can..." "The guild is more important, it is just the achievement of a Beginner''s Town, you will have plenty of opportunities to surpass him. He just left the hall, if we leave now, we can be the first from Little Root Town to reach the open world." "But... Fine... We must not fall behind if we want to compete with these big families." sighed Skywalker. "Yes be reasonable, it is just the beginning, there are many other leaderboards. Let''s go now, we need to meet with the others, another group will also come tomorrow." answered the tanned man. The 2 people in the hall then took out their respective teleportation crystal and in a flash, disappeared from the hall .... In search of answers, Li Wei naturally made a quick search on the forums, in case someone was kind enough to share such information, but as expected, he found nothing. However, he noticed something that alarmed him. The Server''s leaderboard was completely full while the different cities'' leaderboard had around 8000 players each. If he remained here, the gap between them would further widen... Li Wei instinctively took out the teleportation crystal, hesitating to use it. ''Should I use it? I already know what to improve on... Should I stay to get the rewards of the last floor? But I don''t know how long that would take...'' thought Li Wei. ''In that case, let''s just leave, I must not fall behind when it comes to levels, they are the most important aspect of the game... Let''s treat fighting against the Red Bandit Leader as a reward, at least, I got some insights into the dual sword style.'' ''That feeling of missing something though... At least so far, according to the forums, in the Dominion Empire, the highest floor others were able to climb is the fourteenth floor.'' Li Wei was internally conflicted but eventually, he took his decision. ''Fine let''s fight the Red Bandit Leader one last time... I still need to confirm whether it is his footwork that makes him so deadly. No matter what the outcome is, only 1 fight, I will leave tomorrow.'' thought Li Wei with determination ''Let''s go see Carlos, maybe I can get some better equipment, to increase my chances.'' thought Li Wei And so, Li Wei walked towards Carlos'' shop. There was still 40 minutes left before it closes. "Did you not already leave? What''s up ?" said Carlos as soon as he saw Li Wei enter his shop. "I am here to look for better equipment, I am on the last floor of the Tower of Heroes, maybe with a little better equipment, I will be able to clear it," answered Li Wei, while his eyes wandered around the shops, looking for good equipment. "What ?? You reached the last floor ? Even the Commander only reached the 13th floor ! That''s incredible. No natives ever got that far.... " "Yea yeah... But keep it for yourself, I don''t want more trouble than I already have with the players from the guilds." "Hahaha, but after you''ll be gone, can I publicise it? Since you essentially climbed up using my weapons !" asked Carlos with anticipation. "Sure sure, but for now let''s look at weapons, did you forge a grade 1 weapon yet ?" "Yes but it''s a spear, considering your fighting style, I don''t think you have much use for it. However, I can forge another one right now, I still have some material left." "That would be great, I have obtained a sword from the tower, is it possible to forge one just like that? Even better if you can add a skill to it" "Let me examine it, but I can already tell you that I cannot add skills to equipment yet, I have just barely advanced..." answered Carlos showing an embarrassed expression. "That''s fine, try to make me a sword like this one then," said Li Wei while lending the sword he obtained from the tower to Carlos. He quickly added, "By the way, I forgot to ask the last time, but do you know how to upgrade my ring again ?" "Huh? Can it still be upgraded? In that case, I am sorry, that is beyond my expertise, maybe try asking more advanced blacksmith, or try the other professions like alchemist, jewelers,.. they might have the solution." said Carlos, while taking the sword and closely examining it. "It is hard to make one as good as this one, but I will do my best, at least, I can replicate the shape and weight." quickly added Carlos after a quick analysis. "That is fine. Don''t worry about it, I will wait here..." answered Li Wei Even a small upgrade in equipment would be beneficial to Li Wei. As for the ring, he did not know how to further upgrade it, he thought that maybe like last time, he just needed to ask Carlos to trigger the quest, but apparently, another trigger was required. "No problem, look after the shop while I forge it. There won''t be many customers at that time of the day," replied Carlos .... About an hour later, [Long Sword(Grade 1)] Damage: 9-11 Li Wei was holding the newly forged sword in his hand, it looked and felt just like the other one, but this one had worse stats. "Thank you, Carlos ! I will sell that sword that I don''t need anymore too." "Sure, it will be 12 golds then." ... ... At night, Li Wei was lying on his bed at the inn. It was his last night here, he has already paid the innkeeper for his stay. Li Wei was silently reflecting on his fights, tomorrow was his last chance against the Red Bandit Leader, he needed to make the most out of it. After a while, Li Wei, as usual, checked the forums for any reliable information, however, he noticed something new on his interface. It was a list of friend requests, many players sent him friend requests upon seeing that he now had the records for the Tower of Heroes at Little Root Town, Li Wei recognized some of these names, they were the players who invited him to their guilds. Li Wei just quickly browsed through but did not accept any of them. Joining a guild would bring him benefits, but he also needed to find a good one and that could only be done by seeing with his own eyes. Contracts and benefits were not everything, he also needed to check the atmosphere of the guilds and the other players. He also received congratulations from his previous teammates, news traveled really fast and there was already a post on the town''s forum. ... The next day, at 8 am, as soon as the Training Centre opened, Li Wei was the first to reach the counter. "Good Morning, I am here for the Tower of Heroes," said Li Wei to the receptionist, while lending a silver, the entry fee. "Of course, please follow me." Li Wei once again walked through the corridor and reached the empty hall, he was the first to come here this time. He ignored everything and expressionlessly walked towards the door and was teleported to the Tower of Heroes. ... "Pfff, You really never learn... Looking for another beating ?" "hmmm" "Tsssk" the Red Bandit Leader just carelessly swung his swords, looking at Li Wei with disdain. Li Wei ignored everything and focused. It was his last chance and he would make the most of it. He carefully examined the Red Bandit''s positioning and posture. [Would you like to begin the last fight?] "Yes" [Floor 15: level 15 Warrior, begin the fight in 5] [4] [3] [2] [1] [Begin!] This time, Li Wei was holding a defensive stance, he carefully looked at the footwork of the Red Bandit Leader who immediately charged at Li Wei. At first, it looked like normal footwork, but as the Red Bandit Leader got in melee range and started to swing his swords, Li Wei noticed that his feet were shaking as if experiencing a lot of force. Li Wei resolutely blocked tried to block the attacks, trying to delay as much as possible his defeat. "Cling Clang" [Strengthen] Li Wei raised his swords to push the Red Bandit Leader away but was immediately countered by the Red Bandit Leader''s [Parry]. The Red Bandit quickly followed up by swinging his swords left and right, spinning onto himself for more momentum and to confuse Li Wei. [Earth Wall] An Earth wall was erected between the two but the Red Bandit Leader did not bother attacking it, as it was still gaining height, he simply grabbed the edge of the wall and propulsed himself. He then landed in front of Li Wei landing a vertical strike with his sword. But as Li Wei saw the Red Bandit Leader starting to fall towards him, he immediately cast [Chaos Sphere]. The sphere exploded on the Red Bandit Leader right as his swords stroke Li Wei. "-22" It was the first time Li Wei actually dealt significant damage to the Red Bandit Leader. "F*** little bastard, enough playing !" shouted the Red Bandit Leader with rage, immediately swinging his swords towards Li Wei. Li Wei reacted by raising his own swords, but the Red Bandit Leader did not bother meeting them, he quickly dashed to the side of Li Wei and made horizontal strikes. "Cling" the swords met each other for a fraction of seconds but the Red Bandit Leader immediately kicked Li Wei in his stomach, sending him flying. And surely, moments later: [You have been defeated. Restoring original state] [You will be teleported back to the entrance in 5 seconds.] "You better not come back again **** I am tired of seeing your face" loudly exclaimed the Red Bandit Leader as Li Wei was vanishing from the arena. ... Li Wei walked in the hall which was still empty, the fight did not even last 10 minutes. He had mixed feeling about this fight, the taste of defeat was bitter but at the same time, he got to observe the Red Bandit Leader. "At least I can confirm that footwork is an essential part of his fighting style. Not just the positioning of the feet but also the bending of the knees and how he pushes on his legs." thought Li Wei. "Should I wait and try again?... No, I already said I will only try it once more..." said Li Wei. ''In that case..'' Li Wei opened his inventory and took out the teleportation crystal. Before any more doubts emerged, he resolutely activated the crystal, [Are you sure you want to activate the teleport crystal to Zero? Bear in mind that this decision is irreversible.] "Yes" Li Wei instantly felt the crystal vibrate in his hand, it also started to emit a huge amount of light, completely blinding him. Moments later, he disappeared from the hall with a flash. 26 Algate City Chapter 26: Algate City [System prompt: Congratulations player Seven, you now have access to Zero, your spawn location will be Algate City, you are now considered a citizen of the Dominion Empire.] [This is a message from VALOR, we would like to thank you for playing the game so far, we hope that you enjoyed it and will continue to, many new options are now available to you, you will find an information booklet in your inventory which compiled all the new additions. We wish you all the best] This was the first thing Li Wei saw after the flash. Confused, he looked around him to find that his environment has completely changed. He was now standing on the side of a road, around him, were mostly fields that have just been seeded. There were also some farm houses scattered around as well as what looked like a monastery far in the distance. The first thing Li Wei noticed was not the field, but rather the heat. Compared to Little Root Town, the temperature here was much higher, it felt like a hot day of summer. This was actually one of the differences from the Beginner''s Town, Zero had different weather and season settings, it replicated the real world''s conditions. These would not greatly influence gameplay, but would add some dynamic elements to the game. About one kilometer away, Li Wei could clearly see the outline of the walls of a large city. He quickly concluded that it was Agate City, the city he was assigned to, and naturally, he proceeded towards it. While walking, Li Wei almost forgot that this world was supposed to be invaded by monsters. There were no monsters or any sort of threat in sight. Instead, around him, the endless fields looked like they would reach the horizon, it was a peaceful scene. The environment was very calm and enjoyable, it gave similar vibes to the countryside Li Wei had visited in the past. The environment was completely different from what was described by the system when he first entered the game but there was a reason why players were spawned in this environment. There were 12 main cities in the Dominion Empire, each one with different characteristics. The Dominion Empire would shelter players from a part of Asia and one of the cities allocated to China was Algate city. Naturally, even if the city could accommodate millions of players, there would not be enough place for the whole population, this was why many quests directed players towards other smaller towns and villages in their respective county. Although players were allocated to a city, they could choose to leave the city for a better one whenever they wanted. There were teleportation portals that linked the 12 main cities and the capital but there was, naturally, a fee was associated with that journey and not everyone could afford this service during the early stage of the game. Algate City was as large as a mega city and its county, the Algate County, specialized in agriculture, its production supplied the entire Dominion Empire, it could be said to be the granary of the Dominion Empire. Players spawned at these big cities since they were the safest places of the empire. Many quests and dungeons were available for players to level up and once they reached level 20, an expansion that allowed the players to explore the rest of the continent would be implemented. The monsters and demons mentioned in the lore were naturally powerful enemy, with their actual strength, players had no way to defend themselves against them. And so, they were given a safe environment to increase their strength before the battle. While Li Wei was walking, he could see a group of farmers tending to their fields. There were also guard towers and sentinels scattered around the city but the guards were not particularly welcoming. Li Wei walked towards Algate City, enjoying the light breeze and the scent of the fields and after 20 minutes, he eventually reached the city gates. Li Wei took his time to enjoy the walk, he lived in the center of Beijing and rarely had the occasion to enjoy nature as such. If he could, he would like to just lie down on the grass and take a nap. However, this was not possible, he was already lagging behind several players, if he did not want to end up as a normal cannon fodder, he needed to start moving and increase his strength. In front of the city gate, Li Wei stopped to look at the massive entrance. The city gates looked imposing, they were at least 10 meters wide and had guard posts on both sides of the gates. The wooden gates looked like they were reinforced by metallic bars and covered with weird symbols which Li Wei guessed to be magic runes. The first impression Li Wei got when looking at the city was that it was a typical medieval city. With giant stone walls having several defensive structures on top of its towers. Li Wei could see that several guards were stationed at the top of the walls looking at the horizon like statues. The gates were large and could allow a lot of people to go through at once. However, this was only for the people leaving the city. For those who wanted to enter, there were 2 waiting lines. Fortunately, when Li Wei arrived, there was only one merchant caravan being checked by a group of guards. Li Wei walked towards the other empty line where two guards were standing. He was actually surprised upon seeing the guards, they were both level 20 which was twice as much as his level. If the guards who were guarding the entries were that strong, how much stronger were the NPCs there? Li Wei took a quick glance at the merchant in the other line only to witness the scene of the merchant stealthily placing a bag of coins in the arms of a guard. ''Even there... Corruption can really be found everywhere'' thought Li Wei. But at least, he confirmed that even the merchant who was supposed to be weak was actually level 12. Li Wei turned his head and walked towards the entrance but he was immediately stopped by the 2 guards who lowered their spears just in front of Li Wei. "Halt, present your identity crystal and pay the entry fee please!" said one guard "Huh? What are these?" asked Li Wei with a confused expression. "Are you new here adventurer? In that case, please follow me to the guard post, we will make a quick registration there!" said the guard before raising his spear as he started to walk towards the guard post. Li Wei did not know what to do and so, he just followed the guard. Inside the guard post, Li Wei was asked to put his hand onto what looked to be a floating crystal ball. He immediately complied and seconds later, the crystal ball emitted a bright red light and a smaller transparent crystal flew out of the crystal ball. "Take the crystal, it serves as your identity crystal, since it is your first time here, you can enter for free but in the future, you will have to pay 50 silvers to enter the city. Also, would you like a quick introduction of the city?" Li Wei absently took the identity crystal, ''50 silvers? Isn''t that too much? The living cost of a city really cannot be compared to a small town like Little Root Town'' thought Li Wei. Right now, he only had a little over 8 golds, if just the entry fee was 50 silvers, how much were the living costs? The identity crystal was the game equivalent of identity cards in real life, it did not have much use except when doing administrative processes such as creating guilds or entering towns but were a must to have. As for the fees, the game needed more ways to recycle the money players would obtain, the open world contained much more resources and offered more opportunities, but at the same time, the prices there were also higher, coppers were basically non-existent there and most transactions were in gold. Actually, the living cost themselves were not that high as long as the player did not slack off all day, just one-day hunting would give them a few golds which was enough to live comfortably. The game developers were aware that no everyone would enjoy the game and so, they made it possible for people to easily live comfortably. Seconds later, Li Wei realized that the guard was still waiting for his answer and quickly nodded. The guard did not mind Li Wei''s delay. He quickly started his introduction: "The city is divided into 5 main districts: the North District is the residential district, the East District is the Crafting district where many craftsmen gather, the South District is the common district of the poor, the West District is called the War District, it is where many associations are located and lastly, the central district is the commercial district where almost everything can be found." "The city is ruled by the Wind Marquis from the Raflore Family. We have several smaller affiliated town and a dungeon just outside the city. In case you don''t know, dungeons, together with the pocket worlds, are the main training grounds for adventurers like you. Since you have just arrived, I suggest that you find a cheap lodging in the residential district and register to an association. There, many quests are available..." Li Wei calmly listened as the guard continued to explain, most of the remaining explanations were details but Li Wei still waited for him to end. The guard was obviously only saying the most basic information that every player would hear. ''Should I also bribe him to get some useful information? Never mind... I already only have just enough to survive a few days....'' thought Li Wei. "Alright thank you! " finally answered Li Wei before leaving the guard post and entering the city. Just from one look, Li Wei could tell that this city was much more resourceful than Little Root Town. The streets were more spaced, allowing carts and caravan to easily move across the city. The main street, on which Li Wei was walking, was also paved and many small stalls could be seen along the street. Li Wei actually entered the city through the Western gate and since he was already there, he decided to have a look at the associations. From the forums and informative posts of the developers, Li Wei already had an idea of their purpose. There were essentially 6 associations, one for each class and from them, players could obtain quests to complete. As they complete the quests, they would be rewarded by contributions points which could then be traded for resources such as skills, equipment or money. And so, registering at an association was essential as they were the most common way to obtain skills. As from now, skills would no longer be obtained upon leveling up, but should instead be purchased at the associations. Players could learn an infinite amount of skills as long as they had the contribution points to purchase them and the qualifications to learn them. Associations were essential, however, players also had the option to register at the army. Players would, in fact, obtain more resources there but at the same time, they would have to give up their freedom to explore the world. As Li Wei walked towards the Warrior Association, he saw many players from different guilds standing on the sides of the streets, acting like advertisers holding banners on which their enrolment conditions were written. They all noticed Li Wei and intently looked at him trying to look as friendly as possible. But none of them voluntarily tried to talk to Li Wei. The latter even saw familiar names like Exodia and The Horde along the banners. Li Wei continued to walk but still took note of the offers of the different guilds. Many of them had similar offers to those Li Wei had already received when he was at Little Root Town. But there were 3 guilds there that had more generous offers, namely, the Gem Family, the Stone Defenders and the Fleeting Clouds Sect. In China, the 3 VIP capsules were distributed such that the political families had one, the military had another and the hidden families had the remaining one. And these 3 guilds actually belonged to them in the same order. They were all offering 10 gold as well as a grade 0 weapon. It was an extremely generous offer that even Li Wei was attracted to, but he did not show it. Li Wei walked passed them but did not approach them. They were all staring at him as if they just saw an oasis in the middle of the desert. It was still early in the morning and few players actually walked through the streets. So, they easily spotted Li Wei who still did not belong to any guild and naturally wanted to enroll him. The different guilds actually had an agreement to not directly invite the player unless he or she was the one to initiate the conversation. This was because the previous day, when they first came to enrol players, a dispute broke out and the different guilds fought each other on the streets. This naturally alerted the city guards who arrested all of them. To regain their freedom, the guild leaders had to pay a large amount of gold and to prevent this from happening again, they came up with this agreement. Eventually, Li Wei reached the Warrior Association. It was situated on a large open plaza together with the other associations. On the sides of the gates, were blue flags with golden borders on which a helmet and a sword were embroidered. ''Very fancy looking'' thought Li Wei. He pushed open the doors and directly went in. 27 Warrior Association As Li Wei entered the Warrior Association, he stepped into a large hall; on one side, was a large notice board, which displayed quests or allowed players to post their own. On the other side, was a reception counter. Li Wei looked around and directly walked towards the counter where a young woman in uniform was yawning, looking bored. "Hello, I have just arrived in town and would like to register at the Warrior Association," said Li Wei while smiling at the receptionist. "Welcome, sir! Of course, can you please present your identity crystal." "Here it is," said Li Wei while taking out his identity crystal. The receptionist swiftly took it and scanned it onto her interface. She then smiled and returned the crystal, it was as simple as that. "Here you go, congratulation on joining the Warrior Association, this is only a branch of the Warrior Association but we offer many services, let me give you a quick introduction," "For instance, the first floor is dedicated to warriors below level 20, this is where you can take in quests and submit them when you complete them. You will obtain contribution points for completing your quests. This floor is also a meeting point for many warriors where you will have the opportunity to meet many other warriors and befriend them." "The second floor is dedicated for level 20 to level 40 warriors, more advanced quests are available there together with other facilities. Warriors not meeting the qualifications are not allowed on this floor. The third floor is as you''ve guessed, for warriors above level 40." "Besides these, our secondary building is accessible by all and provides several services. There, you can find our training area, while there is also a training center just outside, we can offer personalized teaching as we have many retired warriors that dedicate themselves to raising the next generation of warriors. We do believe that training under the supervision of an experienced instructor is more beneficial and will help you grow faster." "There is also our trading area, there, you can exchange contribution points for items or skills, at the same time, you can sell your loots there or set up our own booth...." ... "You are already officially register. You may select any quests from the board behind you, please choose an appropriate one for your level, " said the receptionist. It was a generic introduction typically directed towards people who never played games but Li Wei still silently listened. He then turned around and looked at the board. Many of the quests available were about escorting people outside the town, at the same time, many were about collecting resources in the surroundings. Li Wei browsed through the available quests and settled onto one: [System prompt: You have accepted the quest: "Giant Worms Extermination"] Information Kill 10 Giant Worms that are ravaging the fields. (Repeatable) Reward: 10 contribution points, 500 exp Completion: 0/10 This was the quest Li Wei chose; the farmers needed to plant their seeds but these worms were preventing them from doing so. He just needed to kill some and bring back their hides as proof. ... Li Wei then did not leave but instead went to the Trading area, he wanted to have a look at the different items available, more specifically, he wanted to look at the skills he would acquire in the future. The building was mostly empty, most players were now hunting and would only come back to trade at the end of the day. Li Wei was greeted by the person in charge and a screen lit up in front of him. Many items were displayed in front of Li Wei but he quickly dismissed them to look at the skills. There were hundreds of them. Li Wei was excited upon seeing that list but quickly, his excitement died down when he saw the prices. The cheapest skills cost 2000 contribution points and these were just the basic ones, the more advanced ones were priced in millions. A bit dejected, Li Wei turned off the screen and left the Warrior Association; it was time for him to go to the fields for his quest. As it was still rather early, Li Wei decided to not go to the residential district to find his lodging yet, he wanted to maximize his time farming and so, he went to a stall and bought some sandwiches for his lunch before leaving the city. Exiting the city was easy, the guards did not stop Li Wei since he did not look suspicious. And so, he left via the Southern gate towards the field infested by the Giant Worms. ... Li Wei once again enjoyed the nice weather, he walked without haste towards the fields. The quiet fields and the calm breeze were very relaxing. Upon arriving, he was surprised to find that not many players were there and those that were, were mostly solo players. He thought that since more than 8000 players reached Algate City before him, they would all be crazily farming in these areas but that was not the case. Actually, most players that have already reached the cities were from large families or some sort of organisation and most of them were all currently farming at the dungeon, which was more dangerous but at the same time, more rewarding. Another portion of the players took escort missions to try to be the first to settle in the smaller towns and build their influence there. Li Wei entered the field, seeing no free worms around him, the ones he saw were all engaged in battle with the players. The giant worms were huge, they had a similar appearance to the worms commonly found in gardens but their skin was grey giving them a disgusting look. Their tiny eyes were bright red and they also had sharp mandibles near their mouths. Li Wei slowly walked while observing the other players; most of them were melee classes swinging their weapons at the giant worms. The giant worms were swinging their body left and right, trying to bite the players. They looked like giant plants since their lower body was still buried in the ground, but just the part above the ground was as tall as a regular human. Suddenly, Li Wei felt that something was wrong, he felt the ground tremble slightly as if something was moving under him. He quickly reacted and rolled to the side, and moments later, a Giant Worm emerged from the spot Li Wei was just standing, like a geyser. Above its head was "Giant Worm Level 10" ''Wow that was close, I should have expected something like that'' thought Li Wei. The giant worm turned towards Li Wei and roared while moving its mandible. The latter quickly reacted, drawing his 2 swords, he charged at the giant worm. [Cleave] Li Wei dodged the giant worm''s bite and used his skill on the side of the creature. "-19". ''Huh, only 19 damages? looks like it has a thick skin, a level 10 creature is really stronger'' thought Li Wei. He quickly followed up by swinging his other sword. The giant worm also turned his head towards Li Wei and attacked again, but the latter dodge by moving to the side. Li Wei was basically turning around the giant worm, avoiding the bites while swinging his swords whenever he could. Li Wei felt at ease against the giant worm, he found it easy to dodge the bites but it was different for the other players. Not every warrior invested heavily in dexterity and most rogues used daggers which had shorter range making it more dangerous to attack. He continued to slowly deplete its HP bar without taking a single hit. Eventually, when 3/4 of its HP was depleted, the giant worm roared and went back underground. "What? He can just escape like that... F***, all this work for nothing," exclaimed Li Wei. But at this precise moment when Li Wei lowered his guard, the giant worm emerged from under his feet, sending him in the air. Surprised, Li Wei could not react in time, he tried to swing his swords in mid-air, but the giant worm twisted its body, avoiding the blade. It then viciously bit Li Wei''s leg and threw him on the ground. "-25" [System prompt: You have been afflicted by the Giant Worm''s poison, Strength -1 for 1 minute] ''Crap'' Li Wei quickly stood back up and got himself together, the giant worm was looking at him, swinging his body as if taunting Li Wei. The latter once again grabbed his sword and charged at it. Dodging the bite, Li Wei jumped and made a vertical strike with his sword. Using his other sword, he pushed back the mandibles that were moving in his direction and used his skill. [Cleave], the sword rapidly landed on the giant worm, ending its life. "Tough Bastard. Collect" He placed his hand on the now lifeless body of the Giant worm to collect the loot. He then quickly looked at what he obtained: two new items, [Giant Worm''s hide] and [Giant Worm''s mandibles] were added to his inventory. But he did not get any rest, second later, Li Wei felt the ground once again trembled under his feet. This was different from the previous hunting places, as long as Li Wei remained in the field, Giant Worms would regularly attack him, they saw him as a threat invading their territory. This time, not one Giant Worm appeared, but two. Li Wei jumped to one side, avoiding the first one, but he was inevitably bitten by the second one. [Strengthen] Focusing, Li Wei activated his skills, [Blade Draw] the air blade flew towards the first Giant Worm dealing 15 damage. He completely ignored the other Giant Worm and focused on the damaged one. Using his swords, Li Wei tried to imitate the Red Bandit Leader, continuously going around the Giant Worm while slowly cutting down its HP bar. "-14","-15" The Giant Worm had 200 HP which took Li Wei a considerable amount of time to deplete. Especially considering that the second worm did not stay idle, it went underground and reappeared behind Li Wei launching its body to bite Li Wei. However, the latter jumped as soon as he felt danger behind him and landed right on top of the Giant Worm''s head. Using it as a support, Li Wei jumped even higher and swung his blades in an X towards the dying Giant Worm. Left with only one enemy, Li Wei used the same strategy, moving around and slowly depleting its health. .... A few hours later, "Fioufff that was tiring", Li Wei walked out of the field and went under the shade of a giant tree. Li Wei was exhausted but his harvest was quite good. It was at least better than the others; he successfully killed 21 Giant Worms while the others killed an average of 15. Many players were also already lying under the tree, it was considered a safe zone in this area, the giant worms would not leave the field. As they all took out their lunch, the atmosphere relaxed and many started talking to each other. Even Li Wei was approached by his neighbor, Solitary Eagle "Hey Seven, that''s a strange name you have there? Was it a lack of inspiration?" said Solitary Eagle. Li Wei just smiled and answered, "Right back at you, aren''t you too friendly for someone solitary?" "Ahhh, it is just my usual ID when I play games, I used to be rather antisocial, spending all my time playing games, but it is the first time I play something like New Earth. What about you?" "I''ve played some games but a full dive like New Earth is different!" answered Li Wei "I don''t know if we are lucky or not to all be able to play this game! If the circumstances were different maybe people would find the game enjoyable," said Solitary Eagle. "Yeah, but at the same time, I believe that not many people would be able to afford this, indirectly, this is a sort of holiday for all of us." .... And so, their conversation continued, the two got quite friendly after a few minutes and when they finished their respective lunch, they decided to team up to kill the Giant Worms. As a team, they naturally started killing the giant worms at a faster rate, but their number also increased, they often faced two at a time, sometimes even three. Fortunately, Solitary Eagle who was also a warrior and was very skilled. He was not as fast as Li Wei, but he had more HP and his hits dealt more damage. Solitary Eagle used a shield and a mace, he would often attract the attention of the Giant Worm, while Li Wei would go around and stab it from behind. He attacked much more slowly, but the mace would crash the giant worm''s head onto the ground dealing at least 30 damage. ... "Good work! It''s already 5, let''s head back." said Solitary Eagle. "Huh? Isn''t it only 5? The night cycle begins in 1 hour and it only takes 20 minutes to walk back to the city, why do you want to leave now?" asked Li Wei. "Oh yeah, it is your first time here, I forgot. From 5 to 6, a mutated Giant Worm will appear as a boss monster in this field, and the guilds will naturally gather and fight for this boss. It is the weakest one available right now, only level 12. We solo players cannot really contest it, and we don''t want to be caught in the fighting of the guilds," answered Solitary Eagle. "Ohhh a boss? That sounds really interesting!" said Li Wei while nodding to Solitary Eagle showing that he agreed on returning. "I am myself considering joining a guild, what about you?" asked Solitary Eagle. "Yeah, but I don''t know which one is good, what do you think of the 3 main ones?" "They are all good but it depends on what you want, I heard that the Gem Family has the most resources at its disposition, but if you want to have access to them, you will need to make great contributions. The Fleeting clouds sect has the least resources of the three, but I heard that many martial artists are members of that guild and if you join them, you will have the opportunity to learn one of their technique. As for the Stone Defenders, they are basically the army, very disciplined but offers decent rewards. They focus on equality but I''ve heard that their training is very rough, especially since most of them come from the military!" "Martial artists and the army you say?" said Li Wei, upon hearing the explanation of Solitary Eagle. "These are just what I''ve heard, so don''t take my words for granted." The two left the fields and went back under the giant tree for some rest before heading back to the city. In the distance, Li Wei could already see large groups of players gathering just outside the boundaries of the fields. At the same time, a loud roar followed by several echoes were heard from the field. The ground started shaking and a large hole was formed in the middle of the field. Seeing that, the players from the different guilds all grabbed their weapons, looking at each other. "It looks like we will get to witness something fun," commented Solitary Eagle. 28 Mutated Giant Worm 1 Cracks appeared all over the field as several Giant Worms emerged from the ground. But at the center of the field, a Giant Worm three times larger than the rest suddenly pierced through the ground, creating a cloud of dust. From one look, one could tell this worm was different. Compared to the other worms, this one was dark blue and had a shell that was completely covering its body. All the players became excited upon seeing the dark blue worm but they still stood just outside the field, waiting for the command of their leader. As for Li Wei, he was watching the scene from under the tree with a few other solo players. When he saw the players, he was surprised to see that some of them were level 9 which meant that these players died somehow. Seconds later, a mage named Diamond, the guild leader of the Gem Family walked out of the crowd of players, "Hey Shining! Are you not going to rush in today?" "F*** you, trying to use us as cannon fodder again!" shouted back a Paladin from the Stone Defenders, his name was Shining Blade, he was the actual leader of that guild. At the same time, the players of Stone Defenders started to protest, yesterday was the first time they attempted the boss and they were the first to engage into battle but as they were tanking the boss, the other guilds launched their own attack. The battle was very chaotic as each side was fighting the others and in the end, the guild that dealt the killing blow was the Gem Family. "Haha! Since you are so scared, I shall make the first move! Men! Clear the normal Giant Worms first!" shouted Diamond, while pointing his staff towards the field. At the same time, the members of the Gem Family all charged forward, many smaller guilds also joined the fray, it was clear that they were in an alliance with the Gem Family. A total of 80 players entered the field under the command of Diamond. 80 players were obviously not all their members, they only dispatched a small portion of their players, even if the boss was important, it was better to distribute players over several areas to maximise their efficiency in gaining levels. And these guilds, naturally knew some inside information, like the fact that bosses became stronger as more players were nearby. The Stone Defenders also made their moves but from the opposite side of the field. It would be a waste to give all these exp to their competitors. As for the Fleeting Clouds Sect and their allies, they retreated a few dozens of meters away, calmly observing the situation; they had no other choice since they only had 20 players present, the rest of their players was still on the way. "Do not attack the boss yet, focus on clearing the mobs first, we need space to act!" shouted a rogue called Sapphire. Li Wei observed from his position, he could clearly see the movements of the players. They were quite coordinated, ganging up as 2 or 3 against one Giant Worm and quickly finishing them. In a few minutes, only the boss was left but they had to act quickly since Giant Worms had a short respawn time. "Charge!" shouted Diamond while casting a [Mana Burst] towards the Stone Defenders. The chaotic battle between the players had begun, melee classes clashed forming a wall while mages and rangers shot as many projectiles as possible. Although they did their best to avoid the boss, the latter was still attracted by the fight and attacked the players. Shining Blade was charging with his guildmates towards the Gem Family, [Charge] and [Bash] were used and they forcefully broke through the ''wall'' set up by the Gem Family. They started attacking the back line, but the Gem Family quickly reacted and showered arrows and spells at them. At the same time, the Mutated Giant Worm started to spit its saliva everywhere around him; the saliva not only dealt 15 damage but also reduced the armor of players by 20%. It then followed up by twisting its body and started attacking the closest targets which were the Gem Family. The players quickly reacted and some Paladins stepped forward to control the aggro while the rest dealt with the other players. The Gem Family had after all, the largest number of players at the moment on the field, they were basically fighting on 2 different fronts. As players used their skills, the boss was inevitably hurt and its HP decreased quickly. Upon hitting 75%, it let out a loud roar, summoning Giant Worms everywhere on the field. ... "Hey, do you think we have a chance of snatching the boss?" said Li Wei to Solitary Eagle while observing the battle. "Are you crazy? Even if you do kill it, how will you escape from all these players? And even if you succeed, they will make your life miserable! I seriously advise you not to try something crazy!" said Solitary Eagle. "Fine, but I would like to fight against that boss!" "You have to join a guild for that, solo players would immediately become the target of the players there. If you have no backing, they won''t hesitate to attack you. I have seen countless na?ve players like you yesterday but in the end, they all perished," said Solitary Eagle. "Then it''s simple, why don''t we just join a guild like the Fleeting Clouds Sect? They are still waiting on the side! It was the one I was considering to join anyway!" "It''s true that they are the loosest one but I don''t think that right now is the best time..." "Won''t they be glad to have more players for the boss fight? Maybe, but it costs nothing to try! It will be better than just staying here to watch them fight," answered Li Wei, while stepping forward towards the players. "You go first, there are still things I need to consider..." said Solitary Eagle. "Alright!" As Li Wei walked towards the Fleeting Clouds Sect, the players there immediately noticed his arrival and intercepted him. "What do you want!? We are busy right now!" drily said a paladin. "Well, I would like to participate in this boss battle but I don''t have a guild right now so, I would like to ask to join the Fleeting Clouds Sect, will it be possible? I would have asked to join when I get back but then I would miss this boss fight," said Li Wei with an earnest expression. "Go away! We don''t have time for that right now! If you want to join, go talk to the people in charge of recruitment at the Western District," answered a tall warrior that looked like one of the leaders of the guild. "I have seen the terms that you offer when I was at the city and I am fine with them¡­" said Li Wei. "That is not my business! There are rules that need to be followed! You need to go through the players in charge of recruitment," answered the warrior but at that moment, a soft voice was heard from the crowd of players: "Zhang Yang! Why are you pushing him away? We are already having problems with recruitment and now that someone wants to join, you reject him like that?" The players quickly made way for that person, allowing a mage to walk next to the warrior. "Beibei, that''s not it, it''s just that we need to focus on the boss fight! We are already late and he might be a spy sent by the other guilds. Besides, you know how recruitment works! It''s more complex than it looks," said Zhang Yang "Mmmm that''s true, you need to sign the contract first anyway and I am sure that you won''t be signing it blindly since there are many additional clauses but we don''t have time right now, I hope you understand. If you want, you can wait until the end of this fight," apologized the mage with a small bow. Li Wei quickly calmed himself, what the mage just said made sense, but he still wanted to participate in that fight. Before he could say anything, another voice was heard from the crowd, "Is everyone ready? Let''s go in!" "Please go talk to the people recruiting, you will understand how complicated the recruiting process can be," said the mage making an apologetic smile before quickly returning to her position. The warrior just made a "Hmmp" and ignored Li Wei. Hearing the command, the players of the Fleeting Clouds Sect joined the battle for the boss. They had to wait 15 minutes but now, their members had doubled. Back on the field, the Gem Family still had about 50 players left while the Stone Defenders amounted to 35 players. But with the arrival of the 40 players of the Fleeting Clouds Sect, the situation completely changed. The Mutated Giant Worm still had about 40% of its health but it was visibly in a worse shape than at the beginning. "Go! We need to capture the aggro!" "Don''t retreat! Focus those of the Fleeting Clouds Sect!" "Move to the right, don''t stand that close to the boss'' tail! " Shouts and orders flew all over the field and that was not the only things. Several spells showered the different guilds; it was not just the mages casting their [Mana Bolt] and their [Mana Burst], several other players were also activating their equipment''s skills. It was too early for players to be able to afford skills at their respective associations but for being able to reach the open world that quickly, they definitely had some good equipment. The battle was very chaotic, spells flew everywhere and players would often confuse the orders. The Mutated Giant Worm was not idle either, it was rampaging all over the field and already took the life of more than 15 players by itself. From Li Wei''s point of view, it was actually a beautiful scene; not because players were dying left and right but because of the skills. They were all of different colors and as they were all activated together, it looked like a giant Firework. The battle continued, the boss was attacking all sides without taking favorites, compared to the other giant worms, the mutated giant worm could take its whole body out of the ground and move above the surface. It would swing its tail left and right at the players while spitting its saliva or trying to bite the players. Occasionally, it would bury its tail into the ground and then make a quick swipe around the hole with the rest of its body, pushing all players in that zone away. It had a total of 1500 HP, but its hide was especially hard and would only take 4-6 damage from sword strikes. However, it was more vulnerable towards magic attacks. Its HP dropped quickly at first as all mages used their skills, but then stabilized as they had to wait for cooldowns. "Roarrr" as its HP hits the 25% mark, it went on a rampage, rolling onto itself, killing some players in the process. After its roll, it dug a hole and went back underground, the remaining players all grabbed their weapons, looking around themselves. A few seconds later, the ground shook and the Mutated Giant Worm emerged from under a Paladin, biting him to death. At the same time, several Giant Worms appeared to protect it. Once again, players dispersed to clear the annoying Giant Worms, the process was even faster since the Fleeting Clouds Sect was also fighting. "Go take back the aggro! " shouted a warrior from the Fleeting Clouds Sect, at the same time, his spear seemed to glow and wind gathered around the spear. He then jumped, avoided the spit of the Mutated Giant Work and stabbed onto its head, "-21". That move immediately attracted Li Wei''s attention who was still standing just outside the field. 21 damage could be considered excellent especially when normal attacks only dealt 5 damage. But what really attracted Li Wei, was that this move was clearly not a skill given by the game. All that time, Li Wei was actually observing the Stone Defenders and the Fleeting Clouds Sect, as he wanted to improve his footwork, the best way to do so was naturally to observe the soldiers and the martial artists who did train in them. The Mutated Giant Worm roared as it was hurt, it swung its tail all over the place but the warrior safely landed on the side and stabbed it again. At the same time, the warrior who drily talked to Li Wei charged at the Giant Worm but he did not grab his sword. Instead, he grabbed his right hand with his left and shifted his body to stab the Giant Worm with his elbow while flexing his knees. He wasn''t the only one who made his move, all the Fleeting Clouds Sect''s members seemed to wake up and launched their skills at the Mutated Giant Worm; doing that, they successfully took the aggro. The boss loss another chunk of HP and was left with only 14%. The Stone defenders also reacted, but they did not attack the boss, instead, they attacked the Gem Family. Shining Blade jumped in front of Diamond, raising his shield and using [Bash]. Diamond just smiled and jumped to the side before casting [Mana Bind] at the Paladin. The latter could no longer move his feet he still swung his sword at the nearest warrior. A ranger from the Gem Family quickly reacted and charged his [Power shot] aiming at Shining Blade but he was immediately interrupted by a [Mana Bolt]. "Stop! Look at the boss'' HP" shouted a voice and, at the same time, another loud roar was heard coming from the Mutated Giant Worm, this roar was different from the others, it had a much higher pitch; it signified that the boss had entered its final phase with only 10% of HP. It did not summon any Giant Worms this time, instead, its shell seemed to crack and within seconds, the boss completely destroyed its own dark blue shell, revealing its dark grey skin. Without his protective shell, the boss once again went on a rampage, but this time, it was twice as fast. A paladin from the Fleeting Cloud Sect who just used [Taunt] to grab the aggro was immediately snared by the Mutated Giant Worm, the move was similar to that of a snake. The boss then contracted its body and squashed the paladin to death. ... The roar of the boss immediately attracted the attention of the two other guilds, they immediately stopped fighting each other and turned towards the boss. "This time we must not lose the boss! Brothers and sisters! Charge!" .... "Finally! Only 10% HP! Sapphire it''s your time to shine!" murmured Diamond while retreating away from Shining Blade with a cold smile. 29 Mutated Giant Worm 2 Li Wei was silently watching the boss battle, it was a very messy scene. So many players died, the Gem Family only had 28 players left, the Stone Defenders were left with 21 players while the Fleeting Clouds Sect still had 30 players since they came in last. The Fleeting Clouds Sect was slowly getting control of the aggro, but everything changed as soon as the boss went berserk. It was not just the Mutated Giant Worm that started a rampage, all players also tensed up when they saw the boss with only 200 HP. But as soon as that happened, a group of rogues from the Gem Family started moving. They basically stayed out of the fights most of the time, their job was only to rapidly burst the boss when its health was low. The Gem Family was not stupid to engage the boss first while all the guilds were present, they clearly had a plan and as long as the boss would reach 10% HP, they were almost guaranteed to deal the killing blow. The group of 5 rogues lead by Sapphire immediately charged at the Mutated Giant Worm. They all activated [Stealth] but the other guilds also responded. Though they did not know the Gem Family''s plan, it was clearly a bad sign for them. [Mana Bolts] flew towards the rogues but they were all very agile and were able to get into stealth. Seconds later, they reappeared a few meters away from the Mutated Giant Worm and they all took out potions from their inventories. Immediately, warnings were heard from the other two guilds; "Crap! They have Explosive Potions! " "Stop them!" The two other guilds quickly reacted, rangers shot their arrows at them, but it was too late. That was the plan of the Gem Family, with just 200 HP, they would burst down the boss with the Explosive Potions. This was a very expensive strategy, it could even be counted as a loss but they still did it, the only reason being reputation. Boss kills would be announced every time in the city''s announcement, it was the best way to prove their strength and recruit people, losing a bit of gold to recruit people was definitely worth it in their mind. Each rogue was given 2 Explosive potions and each one of them could deal up to 45 damage. When considering the armor of the Mutated Giant Worm, the possibility of missing and other details, they could steal deal at least 300 damage in one go. As the Explosive Potions were flying in the air towards the Mutated Giant Worm, a loud shout was heard: "Now! Priests!" The shout came from the Fleeting Clouds Sect, immediately, the 3 remaining priests of that guild used their [Heal] and their level 10 skill,[Light Shield]. But they did not protect their guildmates, instead, they used the skills on the boss. "+24", "+26","+27" appeared in blue on the boss'' body and its HP bar filled up slightly. "F***! You are playing dirty!" shouted Sapphire when he saw the scene. At the same time, 3 bright yellow shields appeared in front of the Mutated Giant Worm, blocking the Explosive Potions. Each shield could absorb 30 damage before disappearing, it was similar to the [Mana Shield] of mages, but [Light Shield] could be cast anywhere, not just around the body of the priest. "Boom!","Boom","Boom!!" A series of explosions were heard, all the Explosive Potions detonated, one after each other. The Mutated Giant Worm also howled as it was hurt but in the end, it still survived, left with 40 HP. The priest''s actions were enough to save the boss. "Oh no! Everyone! Charge!" "Quick go all out!" "All mages and rangers! Shoot!" All the 3 guilds immediately reacted, it was a critical time, any one of the 3 could get the killing blow. Shining Blade rushed towards the boss using [Charge], next to him were 2 warriors also activating their [Blade Draw]. Sapphire and his rogues all used [Rush] and dashed at the boss drawing their curved daggers. Diamond who was in a safe spot disregarded his safety and went closer to the boss to cast his equipment''s skill, [Mana Explosion], a stronger version of [Mana Burst]. At the same time, the Fleeting Clouds Sect also reacted, they all used skills that Li Wei had never seen before. "Shrrrkkk", as all the attacks landed, the Giant Mutated Worm let out a final cry, before convulsing and falling right on one of the rogues of the Gem Family. [Announcement: The Mutated Giant Worm has been defeated, Congratulations to players ''Sun Rose'', ''Scared Cat'', ''Rising Dragon'', '' Black Moon '' and ''Tiny Fin'' from the ''Fleeting Clouds Sect'' for this feat] "F***!!! " "God dam***" "Woohoo!" As the announcement was heard, shouts of joy and curses emerged from the players. The Fleeting Clouds Sect ended up being the one to get the killing blow. As for Li Wei, his blood was boiling when he was watching the boss fight, he was a bit sad for not having been able to participate but when he thought about it, he realized that he might not have played an important role in this battle after all. His eyes swept the crowd, looking for ''Sun Rose'', he did not see that name on any of the players who made great contributions in this fight. ''Sun Rose'' was announced first since it was the player who dealt the killing blow, as for the other names, they were the player''s party. And then, he finally saw the owner of that name, he immediately recognized her, it was actually the mage that spoke for Li Wei when the warrior rejected him. She was showing an expression of delight and was surrounded by the cheering crowd of the Fleeting Clouds Sect. When Li Wei looked at her, she was being hugged by another girl who was also loudly cheering. But even if the boss was dead, the battle was not over yet, it was now time to fight for the loot. Compared to normal monsters where players just needed to say "Collect", bosses in the open world were different. To encourage fights between guilds, developers made it harder to collect loot from bosses. 5 seconds after their death, the boss'' body would disappear, revealing the loot in the open, for 1 minute, they could only be picked by the party who killed the boss but after that 1 minute, any player could freely collect them. While the Fleeting Clouds Sect''s players were still celebrating their victory, the other guilds were all frowning, trying to get a better positioning for the incoming fight, it was after all, what they were really here for. And surely, the body of the boss started to disappear, and the battle once again began. Sun Rose and her friends stopped cheering and all immediately focused. Most player''s skills were on cooldown right now and so, they could only physically fight. Stone Defenders'' Shining Blade tried to block the path of the Fleeting Clouds Sect, but ''Rising Dragon'', who was actually the ''Zhang Yang'', who rejected Li Wei when he asked to join the sect, still charged forward. After killing the Mutated Giant Worm, even if he did not deal the killing blow, he still got some exp and was able to level up to level 11. Shining Blade raised his sword and slashed at him, but Rising Dragon quickly changed direction and agilely avoided the sword. He then immediately activated [Howl], his only skill not on cooldown and pushed back Shining Blade by a few steps. But these few steps were just what he needed to be able to pass through. He easily jumped and landed right where the loot were. His hands moved quickly and all the items on the floor disappeared. At the same time, Sapphire appeared right next to him and made a fast diagonal strike with his dagger. But Rising Dragon nimbly rolled to the side, avoiding the blade. He then turned around and immediately fled. Arrows flew and stroke him but at the same time, the Fleeting Clouds Sect''s priest cast [Heal] on him. Other rogues appeared next to Rising Dragon, yet, he still managed to break through the encirclement and quickly, other Fleeting Clouds Sect warrior stepped forward to cover his retreat. "Hey! That is not fair! We all worked for that, the Fleeting Clouds Sect came in late to this fight too, I can let go that you got the last hit, but you should at least share some of the loot with us! " shamelessly shouted Diamond as he stepped closer to the retreating Rising Dragon. "Keep on dreaming, did you share with us yesterday!?" answered Rising Dragon. "Well did you not try to steal the loot from us yesterday?!" As he heard them arguing, Shining Blade, who was entangled in a fight with a paladin, used [Bash] to push him away and walked towards Rising Dragon. "Although I normally disagree with that playboy, he is right that you should share some of the loot, the Stone Defenders worked hard two days in a row but got nothing, or you should at least swear to not come for the boss fight tomorrow!" shouted Shining Blade. "You guys are too much! Ganging up on us when we are just taking what we deserve!" shouted Black Moon, one of the leaders of the Fleeting Clouds Sect. "Tsssk! You should just look around, we still have 16 players, Stone Defenders have 14 while you only have 18. If we decide to team up, none of you will get out of this place. It is better for you to concede part of the loot," said Diamond with a taunting expression. "You shut up! Who wants to work with you!" said Shining Blade, he then turned towards Black Moon, "I can protect you from them if you pay us some fees." "We don''t need protection, just come at us if you dare!" The competition among these 3 guilds was really fierce, after all, they all knew the real stakes of New Earth. For the political families, it was an opportunity to break free of those hidden families who pulled the strings from behind in the real world due to their strength. As for the army, although it did technically work under the political families, it was also their chance to prove their worth and gain some independence. Although they worked for the nation, being ordered around by politicians was never pleasant. ... At the same time, Rising Dragon reached the back line of the Fleeting Clouds Sect where Sun Rose was, he immediately took out the loot and shared it among the members, it was safer that way, in case he died, he would not lose all the loot. Immediately after, the remaining members of the Fleeting Clouds Sect escaped from the field, all running in different directions. The same thing happened yesterday when the Gem Family got the loot, they had to run as fast as possible to protect their loot, as long as they reached the city, they would be safe. Rising Dragon dashed towards the west with a priest and a rogue but was immediately intercepted by 7 Stone Defenders. "Where do you think you are going?" a paladin of Stone Defenders drew a large hammer and stomped the ground just in front of Rising Dragon. "Sh*t!" Rising dragon quickly jumped to the side to dodge the paladin but a [Mana Bolt] directly blasted on his shoulder. "-21", "+24" As he took damage, the priest also healed him while the rogue activated his [Stealth]. [Taunt] Rising Dragon who was trying to run away immediately grabbed his sword and violently attacked the Paladin in front of him. The latter easily blocked the sword strike, he did not attack, his plan was only to stall. As Rising Dragon raised his sword again to attack, a warrior appeared on his right and stabbed him with a spear. ... At the same time, Black Moon ran towards the east accompanied by 8 guildmates but several members of the Gem Family got in his way. When they saw that the Fleeting Clouds Sect divided themselves into 4 groups, each one running in different directions, the Stone Defenders and the Gem Family immediately divided into 2 groups each and chased after each group. They planned to use their numerical advantage to put pressure on the Fleeting Clouds Sect. ... Li Wei was observing the scene, what Solitary Eagle told him came to his mind, the guilds were really fierce and would not let him go with the loot. He was relieved that he made the right decision to not join the fight. It might be an idealistic thought, but Li Wei found that it was such a waste that all these players would lose 1 level and would not get anything in return. He was having second thoughts on joining a guild when he saw a change in the situation. Black Moon, despite being surrounded by more than 10 players, succeeded in breaking through their ambush. Although some of the players sacrificed themselves for him, he had no more obstacle in front of him and just needed to reach the safety of the city. But at the same time, on the other side of the field, Rising Dragon fell under the sneak attack of a rogue. Li Wei''s eyes turned towards the remaining groups of the Fleeting Clouds Sect. He looked at Sun Rose, and could not help but be amazed. Although she looked frail and weak, she was very fast, faster than the rogue chasing after her. Despite being a mage, she was able to move quickly and avoid the blade of Sapphire. She turned around and cast [Mana Bolt] towards Sapphire, not waiting to see the outcome, she turned around and started running again. She made a quick zigzag, avoiding an arrow and activated her [Mana Shield] as a [Mana Bolt] flew towards her. Having blocked the damage, the immediately started to run again. Sapphire and 2 other rogues were still running behind her, slowly closing the gaps between them but Sun Rose did not look anxious. She looked around and made a muffled laughed as her eyes made contact with Li Wei''s. Li Wei''s eyes landed on her face, she had flawless, white skin glowing a healthy pink, and rich, delicate lips. She was charming, with a seductive and glamorous look, like a rose with thorns. The mage''s robe front chest area was slightly bulging. She was clearly a young beauty, Suddenly, a thought crossed Li Wei''s mind: ''Wait, isn''t she running towards me right now? Crap! Trying to use me as a decoy!'' 30 Sun Rose Sun Rose ran towards Li Wei. As she reached 5 meters away from him, she suddenly laughed and switched direction, sending a teasing look at Li Wei. The latter who had already drawn his weapons paused for a moment, but before he could react, he suddenly felt danger from the side and immediately raised his swords to parry. "Cling!" A dagger violently hit the swords but was immediately knocked away by Li Wei. "So you are with them! Die idiot, you should have stayed out of this!" shouted the rogue who attacked Li Wei just before spinning and kicking him in the stomach. "F*** that''s a misunderstanding! Don''t you see that I am not part of their guild?" said Li Wei. "Don''t even try to fool me!", [Shadow Strike], the rogue completely ignored Li Wei''s words and immediately used his skill to attack. ''Tsssk so much trouble'' Seeing that, Li Wei immediately reacted, he stepped to the side, easily dodging the dagger and immediately retaliated with [Cleave]. The rogue clearly did not expect his attack to miss and before he could react, he was knocked back by a heavy sword strike, "-31". But immediately, another rogue emerged from stealth and stabbed Li Wei''s back. "-27" The rogue immediately swung his second dagger but Li Wei jumped back avoiding the strike. Raising his swords, Li Wei swung both of them at the rogue one from each side like a pair of scissors. The rogue was confused on what to do and did not react before the two swords pushed him away. "-26", "-30" Not waiting for the rogue to react, Li Wei immediately turned around and ran after Sun Rose. It was not that he was afraid of the rogue, but the latter had his teammates closely following behind him, if he got entangled in a fight, he would immediately be surrounded. "F***! Kill that guy! He is with the Fleeting Clouds Sect!" Li Wei ran as fast as he could, on his side, he saw Sapphire turn and jump to sneak attack him. But he quickly reacted and ducked just enough to allow the blade to pass above his head. [Howl] Just as Sapphire was about to land on the ground, Li Wei activated his [Howl] to disturb his balance, causing him to fall but at that moment, an arrow flew out of nowhere and stroke Li Wei''s shoulder. "-18" "Ahhh" Li Wei was surprised and let out a shout but he quickly looked around to see a ranger charging his [Power Shot] towards him. But seeing that, Li Wei quickly drew one of his throwing needles and threw it towards the ranger. The latter was still charging and was carefully aiming at Li Wei, he was not careless since Sapphire was very close and could be hurt if he missed his shot. But suddenly, he saw a ray of light flight straight towards him. Before he could react, the ray of light hit his fingers holding the arrow, causing him to inadvertently release the charged arrow. The arrow flew an almost horizontal trajectory and barely missed Li Wei. Instead, it hit a stealthed rogue that was trying to sneak onto Li Wei and pushed him back. "AHHH F*** idiot! What was that !?" angrily shouted the rogue that was just knocked back. He was now lying on the ground with barely any HP left. "I am sorry! I am sorry!" ... Li Wei did not wait to see the result, he quickly charged towards Sun Rose. "You***! Chase after them!" A few seconds later, he finally caught up with Sun Rose, who was still running at full speed. "Wow! So impressive, you are able to catch up to me?" said Sun Rose with a surprised expression, she did not expect someone to be able to run faster than her. "What do you mean? What was that!? You owe me an explanation!" angrily responded Li Wei. Sun Rose stayed silent for a few seconds, she then giggled and made a teasing smile answered " Didn''t you want to join the Fleeting Clouds Sect? Just treat it as a test for entering the Fleeting Clouds Sect. I will directly accept you in my family." Seeing her smile, Li Wei could not help but feel his anger subsidize. He had to admit that Sun Rose was really pretty. She was previously partly hiding her features under her mage''s hat but now, Li Wei could clearly see her face. That smile made his heart skip a beat but still, what she said struck a nerve: "Calm down Li Wei¡­ If you want to join her guild to get one of their technique, you must not blow up¡­" said Li Wei to himself. "Don''t try to change the subject, that was really mean to use me as a decoy. I almost died back there you know !?" Sun rose let out a sigh and answered: "I am really sorry, but the loot is really precious to the sect right now, I had to use all means necessary to escape out alive, the sect will definitely reward you appropriately later." She was still running at full speed but still showed a sincere expression and slightly nodded. Although he was not very satisfied, Li Wei still decided to keep it inside, since he wanted to join the sect, it was better to not argue too much with one of the leading figures of the sect. Out of the three sects, the Fleeting Clouds Sect was the one that caught his attention, more specifically, he was curious about the different skills they displayed. And so, instead of arguing with her, he asked: "What do you mean by your family? I just want to join the sect, not... " "What? You want to join the Fleeting Clouds Sect but you don''t even know about our system? I told you earlier that it was more complex than it seemed. Fine just hold on, we will talk when we reach the city." After having said that, she quickly turned around and cast [Mana Bind]. Li Wei took a glance behind him, but saw nothing, he was puzzled by Sun Rose''s action but suddenly, the [Mana Bind] seemed to wrap around an invisible object. Seconds later, Sapphire was revealed, his legs tied by the [Mana Bind]. "F***" Curses flowed out of his mouth, but the two completely ignored him and rushed to the city. Li Wei was surprised to see that Sun Rose was able to run as fast as him, she was a mage and he invested heavily in dexterity, yet, she was moving as quickly as Li Wei. "Hey? How is it that you can run as fast as me? " asked Li Wei. "uh? I was gonna ask the same question. Are you also a martial artist? I practice the Soaring Snow Swan technique, this technique specializes in movement, what do you practice? " "Oh, there are such techniques? Are they the one that any player joining the Fleeting Clouds Sect can learn?" asked Li Wei with envy. He was precisely looking for techniques related to footwork, if the Fleeting Clouds Sect did provide them, then he would no longer hesitate to join them. Sun Rose looked at Li Wei in doubt, did that guy really know nothing about martial arts? "Sadly no, that technique is my family''s secret technique, I cannot share it with outsiders, besides, it was designed for girls... *giggle* but there are many others from which you can choose from." As the two talked for a bit, they eventually reached the city gate, the guards immediately drew their spears, blocking the entry, asking for the entry fee. Li Wei and Sun Rose quickly took out 50 silvers each and entered the city. As soon as they got into the city, a group of players came out from an adjacent street. "Miss Rose! Are you alright?" The paladin leading the group hurriedly approached Sun Rose, asking about her situation. "I am fine, this new recruit helped me get out the fight. Did the others get back?" asked Sun Rose. "You are the first to come back, Rising Dragon is still in spirit form while the other two are still escaping from the guilds," answered the paladin. "Good, you should immediately go and assist them, I will report to the headquarters now," dismissed Sun Rose. "Yes, miss!" The Paladin quickly lead his group, exiting the town. "Come with me, I''ll bring you to the guild!" "Alright " Li Wei silently followed behind Sun Rose, it was a rather awkward situation for him but quickly broke the silence. "So, now that we are in the city, can you tell me about those families you were talking about?" said Li Wei. "Ahh yes!" answered Sun Rose as she turned and closed her menu interface. She had just opened her interface to avoid the awkward situation as she did not know how to engage the conversation but she quickly closed it as Li Wei made the first step. "The Fleeting Clouds Sect is more complex than it looks, even though we all form part of the same guild, we all come from different families. I am sure that you heard of our background, most of us are martial artists. More than 20 families have gathered together to form the sect and so, there are inevitably some internal groups that formed over time." "But don''t worry, even if my Liu family is not the strongest, we definitely won''t allow anyone to step on us! I can guarantee that you will have a good time in the guild!" proudly said Sun Rose. "Well, that''s hard to believe after having witnessed the number of players that just died for that boss fight." Sun Rose immediately blushed a little upon hearing that, "Well some deaths are unavoidable, you could see that even I was put in danger, we are all working hard to gather resources and become stronger! You are not forced to participate in these fights but if you want resources then it''s a necessity." "Mmmm then what about the benefits? What are the advantages of joining the Fleeting Clouds Sect?" "Oh, as you know, you will get the chance to pick one of the techniques to learn for free when you enter, all the families put up some for players to choose from and the players normally end up join the family that provided the technique they are interested in." "Yes, but apart from that? " continued Li Wei. "Ehhh, well that''s it. The rest, you will have to earn it yourself. According to the loot you submit or missions you complete with the sect, you will be rewarded with contribution points. You can exchange them for resources and other things just like for the associations. We chose to run the same system as the associations to avoid confusion." answered Sun Rose with an obviously embarrassed expression. Li Wei looked at Sun Rose, wondering why she was embarrassed and then he realized something. "Does that mean that I will have to submit my loot from the Giant Worms to you? What makes it more worth it to submit my loot there rather than at the Warrior Association?" asked Li Wei with a suspicious look. "Cough Cough", "I am not in charge of recruitment so there are many details I don''t know, rather than misleading you, it will be better to wait for you to see the contract and ask the people in charge." "Mmmm" Li Wei clearly felt that something was wrong, wasn''t the Fleeting Clouds Sect supposed to be one of the 3 strongest guilds? Why would Sun Rose not want to brag about the benefits? A few seconds later, Li Wei was still wondering, when Sun Rose displayed a saddened expression and continued, "You know, it is very hard for us to recruit people right now, apart from our secret techniques, we have nothing better to offer. We were all rather recluse people before coming into the game so we are not the best at socializing and recruiting." "The Gem Family recruited many merchants, managers, and accountants before entering the game and so, they were able to create a decent network for resources in a few days, players would naturally go where resources are. As for the Stone Defenders, when they announced that they were the army, players naturally joined them for safety and because they believed in their strength. " "But we? What do we have apart from our techniques, recruiting is hard and we still cannot openly share our resources like the others do! We were not well known in the real world either, I am sure you''ve never heard of the Liu family either. Although we are in better shape than the medium size guild, we are still lagging behind the other twp. One depended on the trust of the people, while the other on their connections in the business world," said Sun Rose with a saddened expression. She stopped walking all of the sudden in front of an inn and turned to look at Li Wei, and with a hardened expression and a firm tone, she continued: "However, I believe that the Fleeting Clouds Sect have a bright future. Quality primes over quantity, even today, you saw how despite having the least players, we ended up getting the boss." "Our techniques are not to be underestimated, things might not look very attractive right now, but I do hope that you will still choose to join us after seeing what we offer. You don''t look like a short-sighted person and the fact that you''ve already made it to the open world proves your strength" said Sun Rose as she pushed open the door of an inn. "This is our headquarters, well it can barely be called a headquarter, but it is still better than nothing. Come in, I will bring you to register." Li Wei calmly listened to everything Sun Rose said, it was true that joining the Fleeting Clouds Sect did not look very attractive anymore, but he still understood what she meant. Even if the other guilds had the advantage of having a network and players right now. When the Fleeting Clouds Sect will succeed in building their own, with their techniques, they would definitely become a major force. After all, Li Wei witnessed their techniques and was quite impressed by them, it was clear that a player using these techniques would definitely be stronger than a normal one. He sighed and looked at the open door, Sun Rose was standing on the other side, holding the door open with a smile full of hope. Li Wei hesitated for a moment, but when he saw Sun Rose still looking at him like that, he resolutely entered the inn, since he was already there, he might as well have a look at the guild. 31 Bright Sun As he entered the inn, Li Wei immediately heard a cheerful voice call out: "Sister Beibei, you are finally back! I heard that you were being chased by the Gem Family, is everything alright?" A beautiful blond priest stood up from one of the nearby tables and immediately approached Sun Rose while she was holding the door open. She was brightly smiling as she greeted her close friend. "Sister Cai Die! Yes, everything is fine. It''s all thanks to him, if he wasn''t there, I would have probably died to these bastards," answered Sun Rose as she turned to the girl and brightly smiled back. Immediately, the attention of the entire inn turned towards the 2 girls. The surroundings seemed to lose color as the 2 beauties were cheerfully grabbing all the attention.They were both well known within the Fleeting Clouds Sect as being part of the top ten beauties of the sect, both of them were proposed countless times, especially Sun Rose as in addition to her beauty, she also had the status of the young mistress of the Liu Family. Unaware of the situation, Li Wei walked in and looked around, he suddenly froze as he saw the owner of that voice. "It''s you! " "It''s you! " Li Wei and the person named Cai Die exclaimed at the same time. "Hmmp! You! You did not expect that we would meet again so soon, huh? You did not even accept my friend request and left without saying anything! " pouted the girl. Li Wei was surprised when he saw her, the last time he met her, he only considered her as a passerby but who would have known that he would meet her again. Cai Die actually turned out to be Bright Sun, the player who invited Li Wei yesterday to her guild, Avalanche. He could not help but feel shameful as he had avoided her to avoid directly rejecting joining her guild. "Huh? You two know each other? " asked Sun Rose with a surprised expression. "Ehh This... We met once before..." started Li Wei, but he was immediately cut by Bright Sun. "Sister Beibei, he is just guy I told you about earlier, the one who cleared the 14th floor of the Tower of Heroes. " "What? You actually cleared the 14th floor?!? " exclaimed Sun Rose with a shocked expression. She herself only cleared up to the 12th floor, but that was because she was a mage, early games were naturally dominated by non-skill reliant classes. However, as far as she was aware, the furthest the members of the Fleeting Clouds Sect''s strongest members were able to reach was only the 14th floor without clearing it. While Sun Rose was still looking at Li Wei with surprise, the latter did not know what to say, he made an apologetic face and bow at Bright Sun. "Ehh I am sorry I was really busy about things, I could not..." "What is happening there?!?" Li Wei was once again interrupted as a burly young man stood up from a side table and looked at the trio. "Nothing nothing! We are just old-time friends that have not seen each other for years," quickly explained Sun Rose as she grabbed Li Wei''s and Bright Sun''s wrist, dragging them into the inn. Li Wei was suddenly surprised as he felt Sun Rose''s soft hand grab him, he felt even more embarrassed as he was being dragged along by her. He looked apologetically at the man who just stood up, nodded and quickly followed behind Sun Rose. The burly man did not say anything but as the trio disappeared in one of the rooms of the inn, one of his companions grabbed his shoulder and asked: "What is it, brother? Who is that plebeian that miss Liu brought back? Did you hear something important? " "Mmmm I am not sure, but if I heard correctly, that guy might have cleared the 14th floor of the Tower of Heroes... Things might get interesting, go inform master Li." "The 14th floor? Very interesting, let''s inform young master Wang too!" answered the man as he proceeded towards the exit. ... Li Wei was brought into what looked like an empty meeting room. He was pushed by Sun Rose into a sofa and before he could say anything, Sun Rose was already moving back towards the door. "Give me a minute, I will bring the contract. And sister Cai Die, don''t take advantage of my absence! " said Sun Rose as she quickly closed the door behind her. ''Ahhh! So much trouble... Why did I choose to come here....'' said Li Wei inwardly, he just wanted to join the guild, why did he have to meet Bright Sun there? Li Wei awkwardly looked at Bright Sun, not knowing how to initiate the conversation. But the latter just giggled. She took off her priest hat and sat on a sofa in front of Li Wei. He did not notice it before since she was wearing battle clothes but in her current attire, he had to admit that Bright Sun was also a beauty. Only slightly losing to Sun Rose when it came to her figure, but her flawless face and blond hair gave her a totally different charm from Sun Rose. Li Wei quickly got himself together and was about to speak when Bright Sun quietly coughed twice to attract his attention. She crossed her long white legs and looked straight into Li Wei''s eyes before speaking: "Do not worry, I can understand that Avalanche did not look very appealing to you at that time. But you should know that Avalanche can be considered to be a branch of the Fleeting Clouds Sect. Actually, maybe Sun Rose won''t give you a contract for the sect but rather for her family''s guild." Li Wei could only make an apologetic smile, inside, he was relieved to see that Bright Sun was dropping the matter. He quickly asked: "A branch of the Fleeting Clouds Sect? I thought that politicians were very complex people but it turns out that the martial artists are even worse, then are you also a martial artist? " Bright sun chuckled at the Li Wei''s comment but chose to ignore that: "Yes I am also a martial artist, well I am one but not a talented one, compared to the geniuses like Beibei, I would not even dare to call myself one. This is why now, instead of joining the Fleeting Clouds Sect, I joined my family''s guild, Avalanche. It might sound weird, but I do prefer the environment there, at least, I am far away from the possibility of conflicts." "This, then does that mean that Avalanche also has their own techniques? Why did you not advertise them?" asked Li Wei. "I was not supposed to recruit any players at the beginner''s town, it''s just that when I saw that you defeated the 14th floor, I could not let random guilds recruit you right? And well at that time I did not think it was necessary, after all, out of all the guilds that were at Little Root Town, I can say that Avalanche could be considered to be the best. To be honest, I thought that you would just immediately agree to join us, but it turns out that I was wrong," replied Bright Sun with an embarrassed expression. "But Now, I would like to reiterate my offer and of course I will chip in one of our techniques..." While she was still speaking, Bright sun was suddenly cut short as Sun Rose barged into the room, "Cai Die, that is not fair! He wanted to join the Fleeting Clouds Sect! You should not steal him away! " exclaimed Sun Rose as she was panting. It was clear that she had rushed back there with her items. "Are you not going to invite him to the Liu Family''s Heavenly Garden? " teasingly said Bright Sun as she shifted her position in the sofa to look at Sun Rose. "This... How did you know? Still, I was the one who brought him here!" pouted Sun Rose. "It was so obvious from the way you rushed out of the room," answered Bright Sun as she chuckled, she quickly added: "But I was the first one to invite him, I already did yesterday..." ''Ahhh Did they already forget that I am here...'' thought Li Wei, although he liked to stay low key, was his presence so weak what the 2 girls already forgot about him? He was rather shy when it came to the opposite sex, having lived at an orphanage and spent most of his time on games or studying at an all-boys school. Now that there were two beauties arguing in front of him, he could not help but be overwhelmed and hesitate to react. Li Wei who was witnessing the 2 girls arguing found the scene rather funny it was like looking at 2 adolescents argue over pointless things. But still, although he was inwardly smiling as the 2 girls were fighting for him, he was depressed to see that they were basically ignoring his opinion. "Hey! Can I say something? I think that I should be the one to decide which guild to join right?" interjected Li Wei as the 2 were still arguing. As they heard him speaking, the 2 girls stopped their discussion and turned their attention to him. "Naturally, we were just discussing¡­" "Yes! You are right, you are the one who would be joining the guild after all! I apologize for our behavior. Please don''t get a bad opinion of us! Sister Beibei and I often argue with each other, but we are in fact very close to each other." quickly said Bright Sun while making a short bow followed by an apologetic smile. Sun Rose also redressed herself and nodded to Bright Sun. "So Seven, which guild do you want to join? Avalanche or Heavenly Garden?" asked both girls at the same time as they looked to Li Wei who was still seated on the sofa. The latter took a second to react. He did not know what sort of feat it was to defeat the 14th floor of the Tower of heroes and so did not understand why the two girls were behaving like that. But still, he chose to remain silent most of the time, only expressing himself as he saw the 2 girls endlessly arguing. After all, right now, he was a guest of the Fleeting Clouds Sect and needed to behave himself but in the inside, he was cursing himself for getting entangled with these 2 girls. "I only came here for the Fleeting Clouds Sect! I am only interested in the techniques that they offer, nothing else!" said Li Wei as he agitated his hands showing his powerlessness. "This is fine, joining one of our guilds or the Fleeting Clouds Sect is the same, we are all allies. These are the technique that the Liu family offers and here is the contract, you can check the terms and if you are satisfied we can sign it." quickly said, Sun Rose. "Mmmm and here are the techniques that the Cai family has, as for the contract, we will also offer the same conditions as Heavenly Garden," added Bright Sun in a much calmer expression, although she was as old as Sun Rose, she was more matured as she was born in a branch family and suffered hardships since birth. Li Wei was overwhelmed by the 2 girls, the two were crossing their arms intently looking at him waiting to hear his decision. He sighed as he took a look at the documents in front of him. The 2 guilds were offering 15 golds and a grade 0 equipment, but that was not the interesting part, he took the attached document and started browsing through the techniques they proposed. "How will I actually acquire the skills?" asked Li Wei. "After you choose the technique you want, we will give you a training manual. You will just have to train accordingly to obtain the technique," answered Sun Rose. "Training manual? Then how did you obtain them?" "That is our sect''s secret! We can''t tell you about it yet!" said Bright Sun. Li Wei nodded and continued to browse through the techniques. But there were so many that he felt that it would take an eternity to read all of them, instead, he leaned back and asked the 2 girls: "There are too many techniques, can you recommend me some of them?" "Sure, what are you interested in? Offensive skills? Defensive ones? Or body training ones?" asked Bright Sun. "mmm Right now, I would like one related to footwork, not necessarily movement speed, but good positioning." "Right, you wanted something like my Soaring Snow Swan, although there is only the female version, we do have techniques adapted for males but they are weaker, for example, there is the Flowing Tree technique." As he heard the name of the technique, Li Wei immediately turned the pages until he found it: [Training technique: Flowing Tree] Can be used once per day at the cost of 20% fatigue, effect: Performs a series of training movements, after 10 series, reinforces the legs allowing the user to more easily bend and twist legs and develop the skill [Flowing Steps] [Flowing Steps]: user stomps the ground for a rapid dash "Is there a demo of the Flowing Steps? It would be easier for me to choose if I could see the skills that these techniques can develop," asked Li Wei as he read through the information. "Unfortunately no, nobody made any records of themselves using this technique and it is not a very popular one," answered Sun Rose. "Of course it''s not, it is one of the weakest movement techniques, only the Liu family''s female techniques can decently improve your footwork." proudly added Bright Sun. "Look at this, this is my Cai family''s technique," said the young priest as she pointed out a page in the document she showed Li Wei. [Training technique: Gliding Steps] Can be used once per day at the cost of 20% fatigue, effect: Performs a series of training movements, after 10 series, reinforces the legs, increases movement speed by 2% and develop the skill [Gliding Steps] [Gliding Steps]: user can glide on the ground for one second. 32 Joining a guild "What? Cai Die, your family is willing to give out the Gliding steps !?" exclaimed Sun Rose as she saw the technique that her friend was pointing out to Li Wei. "Yes, this is to show our sincerity, we apologize for the meager conditions we offered earlier and hope that you will really consider to join us. Gliding steps is one of the main techniques of my family, it does not sound very impressive right now, but if you train it to a certain degree, it is possible for it to evolve into a better one, or so my patriarch says," explained Bright Sun with a look of determination in her eyes. "Even I learned the Gliding Steps, I can already prove you its utility if you want." quickly added Bright Sun. Li Wei looked at the techniques, it was clear that the Gliding Steps was a better technique than the Flowing steps, to be able to glide on normal ground? He imagined what kind of moves he would be able to pull out with that. Before giving an answer, he turned to look at Sun Rose, to see if she would try to pull out something better, but the latter was just making a weird expression, biting her lower lips. "Alright, can I please see the technique, if it suits me, I have no objection on joining Avalanche." "Great! I can do it right here, Gliding Steps does not need a lot of space." gladly said Bright Sun. She placed down her staff and stood up in a corner of a room. "Watch !" Bright Sun slightly lifted her priest robe, just enough to show a small pair of shoes, seconds later, she slightly shifted her body and without lifting her feet, she slightly glided to the side. After what looks like a distance of a normal step, she once again shifted her body and this time slid in the other direction. She repeated that move once again, making a Z like movement, showing the usefulness of the technique. Li Wei was attentively watching as Bright Sun was performing the technique, he simply thought that this defied the law of physics, it was as if, the friction disappeared between the ground and her shoes. But after all, it was a game, so these things were quite normal, he just personally thought that it did not reflect the real world. "So? What do you think about it? Interested ?" asked Bright Sun as she released her dress and walked back to the sofa. She could clearly see the small glimmer in Li Wei''s eyes as she demonstrated her technique. "Yes! Of course, it is the one I want to learn." quickly said, Li Wei, as he nodded to Bright Sun. "mmmm! This is great for you, Cai Die " added Sun Rose who was looking at the scene, she was honestly happy for her friend, the 2 were close childhood friends and even though they were separated due to their respective family''s conditions, they remained close and promised each other to no let family matters get between them. After all, the Cai and the Liu family were well known to be longtime allies, they both gained or lost prominence together. "Thank you Sister Beibei !" nodded Bright Sun. "In that case, let''s have a look at the small details right ?" ... After 30 minutes, Li Wei and Bright Sun left the inn and went to the training center. At Algate City, the training center was open 24/7, as long as players paid for the rooms they used, they could stay as long as they wanted. During the last 30 minutes, Li Wei discussed and clarified all the terms of the contract. He chose a free contract, that is, that he could leave the guild at any time, but if he left within 1 year, he would have to pay 200 golds for his freedom. There were contracts that bounded players for 1 year to 5 years, the longer the duration, the more resources they were allocated, but Li Wei was only interested in the techniques themselves. Since they were following the sect system, it was equivalent to having Li Wei join the outer sect only. Although Bright Sun wanted Li Wei to sign a fixed contract, she was still satisfied that he at least joined Avalanche. After all, Sun Rose was still in the room when they were discussing, and if she was too harsh, she might end up pushing Li Wei towards Heavenly Garden instead. With his current contract, he only had access to the basics such as a room at an inn, his only absolute duty was to participate in the weekly expeditions organized by the guild. Since Avalanche was a branch of the Fleeting Clouds Sect, they shared the same trade counter, he could exchange his loot there for contribution points and to show his sincerity, he exchanged half his loot there, obtaining 200 contribution points. After that, he decided to immediately try the technique he obtained and Bright Sun readily agreed to lead him to the training center. It coincided with her own schedule since, after a day of hunting, she would usually train her own techniques in the evening. Although training these techniques produced fatigue, the inn''s rooms of the city had better recovery rate than the ones at the beginner''s town, even the training center had a 5% fatigue/hour recovery rate. He could of course train just in his room, but he decided to check out the training center, the Fleeting Clouds Sect permanently rented a large room to allow all the members to train there if they wanted, it was a good opportunity for him to witness the other techniques of these families. Alternatively, private rooms were also provided by the guild in case someone would like to train their own secret technique. Bright Sun gladly accompanied him, she did after all recruit someone who cleared the 14th floor of the Tower of Heroes. She kept explaining to Li Wei the different services and facilities provided by the guild. For example, he could repair his weapon at one of the guild''s blacksmith with a 20% discount. Li Wei was not aware that weapons now had a durability characteristic attached to them since he did not read the information booklet yet, but since he played games before, he easily understood that mechanics. He was also recommended by Bright Sun to pick a profession. Regardless of what classes players picked, they could also choose a crafting profession as a secondary role. Various kind of professions was available, ranging from blacksmith and alchemist to musician and cook. Each of these professions had their own advantages, but these advantages would only be revealed when they reach a certain level of mastery, and of course, the time needed to be invested to reach that point. Since he thought that these were secondary, Li Wei decided that he would choose his profession later. ... As the two arrived at the training center, with their identification crystal, they were allowed into a massive room that looked like a training field. Many players were training in there, some were punching mannequins, some were dodging obstacles while some were just meditating in silence. "If you like working in this environment, you can come here, most people would mind their own business but if you prefer a more quiet environment, you can use the private rooms, the basic ones are free, but if you want to have access to more advanced one, then you will have to pay with your own gold or contribution point," explained Bright Sun as she lead Li Wei to an empty spot. Li Wei silently nodded as he watched the nearby players practice. He could see weird movements, some were very erratic moving as fast as possible, while some were very slow and smooth. "Good you should try one set on your own, I will be nearby if you need help," said Bright Sun as she moved a dozen metres away and started her own training session. Li Wei looked at her for a moment, she was wearing a tight training suit that fitted her body. She started by making stretches and these movements, of course, highlighted her long smooth legs and her plump bottom. He had to admit that she had a great figure, the priest robe completely hid most of her features. Just now, all the males in the room were partially disturbed as she passed near them. He quickly recollected himself and took out the manual he was given. It contained the Gliding Steps technique. Many drawings and small descriptions were written on the different pages, they represented the different postures he needed to take. Of course, in the game, everything was simplified to an extent, but the movements still needed to be synchronized. Having memorized the patterns, Li Wei put back the manual in his inventory, it was a special item that would be destroyed if he died and of course, he would not get a new one if that happened. He understood why everyone could train in the same room without fear of having their techniques stolen. There were many hidden movements and details in the manual that just could not be witnessed when watching others practice. Besides, they were bound by the contract, forbidding them from sharing the manual with others. Taking a deep breath, Li Wei started making the movements indicated. Slightly bending his knees, moving his arms to maintain his equilibrium, he started shifting his body as mentioned in the manual.It was not just physical movements, he also needed to breathe at the correct moment, depending on the movement he was doing, different types of breaths were required; long ones, short ones, deep or shallow ones. Li Wei intently focused, it was his first time trying such training and he wanted to perform well. He slowly got used to the rhythm and even felt that his own heartbeat was synchronized with his movements. After 30 minutes, Li Wei was covered with sweat, he felt his muscles complaining but still resolutely maintained his posture. It was something he did not expect the game to reproduce, ''Does the game also reproduce muscle pain ?'' thought Li Wei. And finally, Li Wei completed his set of training and a system prompt popped up in his event log : [System prompt: You have completed a training cycle of [Gliding Steps], completion rate: 89%] At the same time, he saw that the skill [Gliding Steps] have a new (15/100) next to it. He was surprised seeing that number, did he not need 10 training cycles to obtain the skill? How come he was already 15% through? As she saw Li Wei finishing his series, Bright Sun approached him, she also just performed the Gliding Steps but since she started first, she finished before Li Wei. "So, what do you think about it? Is it not that easy? What is your completion rate ?" asked Bright Sun as she took out a towel to wipe off the sweat off her front head. Li Wei calmly caught up his breath and answered; "Yes, being a martial artist is not easy. I only have 89% completion rate, unfortunately, I could not reach 100%" Bright Sun suddenly looked at him with a shocked expression, "What did you say? 89 % completion rate? My god! Do you know what that represents ?" Li Wei did not understand what was so amazing about 89 %, did not that mean that he did not perform the technique correctly but then he quickly realized something as he matched that with the fact that his skill did develop faster than intended. "Is it really your first time practicing martial arts? The average completion rate is only 60 %, even I can only reach 75%, but it was just your first try and you can already reach 89% ?" exclaimed Bright Sun. She was shocked to learn that Li Wei was so talented but she could not help but feel somewhat depressed. She herself, practice martial arts since her birth, but yet a random stranger she just met could perform the technique better than herself. Li Wei quickly noticed her attitude and tried to cheer her up, "You know, maybe this technique is just more adapted for men, maybe that is why you have a lower completion rate." "It is fine, I know very well that I am not very talented for martial arts, no need to cheer me up, I am glad to have recruited someone as talented as you," replied Bright Sun. She was clear about her own talents and limitations, it was normal for people to surpass her. "No, I mean what I just said," said Li Wei while looking at Bright Sun, "although I am not too sure about myself, I feel that the movements are more adapted for men. But of course it is just my first time trying this, so I might be wrong." Bright Sun smiled hearing that but quickly responded, "This is fine, Gliding Steps was long perfected by our old patriarch, I doubt that there is anything wrong with it but still thank you for cheering me up! " "Let''s put that behind us, your fatigue level should be quite high already, have a good rest, there is a guild expedition tomorrow, you will need to wake up early." continued Bright Sun as she turned towards the exit. 33 First night at Algate City "Sure but you go first, I still have something to try." "Alright" Li Wei watched as Bright Sun''s silhouette disappeared. He quickly got back to his position and recalled his memories. Despite appearances, Li Wei did closely observe one of the nearby players who was practising. He randomly chose that one since he was relatively close and was practising kicks. He did not know what technique that was, but he just wanted to see if imitating the movements would produce any effect. He tried to replicate as much as possible of what he remembered, but as he expected, nothing happened. Disappointed, he drew his swords and started practising his own moves. He had 72% fatigue right now, but since the rooms had better fatigue regeneration, he did not mind accumulating some more. After another 30 minutes, he decided to leave the training centre, he still had some errand to run. To begin with, he needed to submit the loot at the Warrior Association. Since he already gave part of the Giant Worm Hide to the Fleeting Clouds Sect, he could only complete the quest 3 times instead of 5. He obtained 1500 exp and 30 contribution points just from completing the quest. An additional 200 contribution points in exchange for the loot. It was the same ratio as that of the Fleeting Clouds Sect. There was no need for him to remember how much points he had since everything was recorded in the identification crystal. Since he knew he won''t be able to trade anything for now, Li Wei left the Warrior Association for the Blacksmith Association, he still needed to collect the grade 0 equipment that he should have obtained when signing up. Professions also had their own associations. There, special rooms were available in which the success rate of crafting would increase. Many materials could also be sold or bought there. Of course, shops still existed everywhere in the city. The grade 0 equipment offered to players for joining the sect were all made by players. The different guilds were already trying to raise some craftsmen so he needed to wait for them to actually make them. When Li Wei went in, he immediately talked to the receptionist, who pointed him to one of the meeting rooms. All the large guilds were permanently renting rooms at the associations, they did not have the funds to set up their own private facilities yet. After all, only 1 week had passed since the start of the game, and they all had to start from scratch, being able to rent rooms could already be considered successful. Li Wei was immediately greeted by a player called Metal Dragon, as he saw Li Wei present his identification crystal, he quickly nodded and presented Li Wei with a pile of grade 0 equipment, he could choose anyone he liked. However, as Li Wei examined the equipment, he could not help but be disappointed, none of them were top grade 0 equipment, most of them were average, not even better than his own equipment. He knew that all players had to learn smithing from the very bottom, but still, he hoped to be able to find some hidden gem. After all, his contract only mentioned a grade 0 equipment, there was no mention of the quality so Li Wei could only pick one at random, he had no use for it but he could still sell it later. Having done that, Li Wei left the association for his inn. He did not need to repair his weapons yet, it has only been one day since he entered the open world, it would take some time for the durability to decrease, although the game wanted to recycle money from the players, developers were not that cruel. Li Wei wandered around the city for a little while, it was clearly different from Little Root Town, although it was already the evening, the city was still very lively, there was night lighting everywhere on the streets, night markets were being set up while taverns and bars were booming. Li Wei quietly walked to the inn Avalanche was occupying, it was one known as Starry Skies. It was found at the end of the main street, the environment there was quieter since it was closer to the residential area. He quickly pushed the inn''s door and got in, there were a few players seated in the main room discussing with a pint of beer in hand. Li Wei was actually surprised to find 2 rather old men playing chess silently in a corner of the room; what really surprised him was that they were both level 11. One of the men turned his attention to the newcomer for a second but quickly lost interest and once again focused on the chess board. As for Li Wei, he simply went to the counter and presented his identification crystal. Everything was registered in there, including the guild he belonged to. The receptionist of the inn quickly gave a key to Li Wei and proposed him to pass by the dining hall since they were actually serving dinners and he could grab something to eat. Li Wei naturally nodded, a good meal after a long day was always welcomed especially since everything was being paid by the sect. He was surprised that not many players were dining but he recalled that Sun Rose mentioned that the Fleeting Clouds Sect had some trouble recruiting right now. After eating, Li Wei went back to his room, he was delighted to have his own room, though he did not mind sharing, he liked having some privacy. As usual, he lied down on his bed and finally opened the information booklet he was given. It mainly contained information about the secondary professions and the minor additions like the durability mechanic. Additionally, it mentioned that in case people did not enjoy the game and would like to stop, many jobs were also available, they could work as accountants, artisans or do office work for the NPCs just like in real life. The booklet was not very long but Li Wei still carefully read through it, he did not want to miss any information that could affect his future. And after making sure that he did not miss anything, he let go of the information booklet which vanish by itself. ... At the same time, in another room of Starry Skies, a middle-aged man was seated in a messy office, reading through a pile of documents. "Knock knock" "Enter !" A young blond lady entered the office in her nightwear, her long smooth hair was attached in a ponytail, going all the way to her plump bottom. "Dad ! Is everything alright ?" asked the young lady. "Ah Cai Die, it''s you ! Yes, I am just going through some minor documents, don''t worry about it, what did you do today? " The man lifted his tired eyes from the pile of papers, he made a gentle smile to her daughter and leaned against the sofa to talk to her. His name was Cai Wenjian, the patriarch of the branch family. "Don''t push yourself too hard, today went, as usual, just some hunting, it''s easy as I am a priest, there is no need for me to put myself in danger..." Bright Sun talked while sitting in a chair in front of her father, she knew he was very busy sorting out the affairs of the family, but she still came since her father would be leaving the city the next day. "I also recruited the person I mentioned, as you said, he agreed when I showed our family technique." "Mmmm, yes, I saw the guild logs, it is fine even if he is just in the outer sect. If he really did defeat the 14th floor of the Tower of Heroes, it would be good if we can keep a good relationship with him." answered Cai Wenjian while making a small nod. "Yes, but dad, you should know, today was the first time he tried the Gliding Steps, but he was still able to achieve 89% completion rate," said Bright Sun. Cai Wenjian frowned a little as he heard that, he clearly knew what such a high completion rate meant since he himself practised techniques. "Then either he is extremely talented, or he is a spy sent by the other families. You should be careful, Cai Die !" "Don''t worry dad, I will be careful... But you know, he said that the Gliding Steps was not a unisex technique but rather a male one." hesitantly said Bright Sun. Her father displayed a surprised expression for a second, but he quickly let out a laugh, "Don''t mind him, the old patriarch already perfected the technique and many females in the clan did use it without any issues, he is just trying to attract your attention, he probably could not resist my beautiful daughter." "Dad! Not everyone is a playboy like that idiot from the Wang Family," exclaimed Bright Sun as she slightly blushed, her father always like to tease her about boys whenever they talked, she never got used to it. "Anyway, just keep a good relationship with him and be careful, I will be leaving tomorrow at dawn with the elders of the clan, I already arranged everything, just help your brother in case he messes up." said the man with a more serious tone. Immediately, the atmosphere turned more solemn, although she knew that her father had to leave, Cai Die felt reluctant. Her father had always been very busy as the patriarch of the branch of the Cai Family, he rarely spent time with his daughter. But there was nothing he could do, he too felt that he let down his family, but he had to shoulder the responsibilities of the family. "Do you really have to leave ? Mom isn''t even here yet ?!" quietly asked Cai Die, slightly lowering her head. "Cai Die, I would also like to stay here longer, but the family needs to make preparation, we clearly won''t have a strong footing here, but we can start to deploy ourselves in the smaller nearby towns. The new patriarch ordered it, there is nothing I can do... And the other families are also sending their elders to other towns, we must not fall behind." said Cai Wenjian with an apologetic smile. He felt really bad for leaving her daughter like that, when they entered the game, he thought that he would have more free time to spend with his family, it was an opportunity to redeem himself, but reality was cruel, they did not even spawn in the same Beginner''s Town and now the family needed his help to develop. "I understand father... Don''t worry, everything will be fine in your absence." "I am sorry Cai Die, I am not very present for you... but mom will be here soon." "Yes, father..." Silence once again fell on the room, the two did not know what to say. ''Sigh! Sometimes, I wish I was not the patriarch...'' said Cai Die''s father in his heart, although he was quite successful as a patriarch, he was obviously a failure as a father. .... At the same time, in another inn of the city, "Good job darling, with the boss'' loot you brought back, we can already guarantee to get a peak grade 0 blacksmith in the near future." said a short-haired lady as she gently brought an apple slice to her mouth. "Thanks, mom, but I would not have succeeded without the help of Seven." A small family of three were quietly enjoying a late night snack in a small office. Sun Rose was quietly enjoying a cup of coffee while talking to her parents. "Yes, even though you were not able to recruit him, at least he joined our allies, it could have been worse. You should focus on your own development, you are the future of the Liu Family, never forget it. !" Sun Rose silently nodded, her father had always been very strict to her, she was their unique child and the heir of the Liu Family. But sometimes, she wished that she did not hold such an important position. Although she was cheerful and friendly in public, she did suffer quite a lot. Constantly having to behave as a perfect person for the face of the family, her only joy when she was young was when Cai Die came to her house, but in the end, due to the difference in status, the two gradually distanced themselves. But now that they were in the game, she once again could meet Cai Die, although she was a bit formal at first, the two quickly dropped the barriers between them. "Yes, I''ve already transferred 250 contribution points to him." "Do as you see fit, you make good decisions." nodded Sun Rose''s father, "We will be leaving tomorrow morning, you should train hard in our absence." "Yes father, tomorrow we will be going to the dungeon with the entire sect..." ... At the same time, somewhere else in Algate City, "Yes young master, miss Liu and miss Cai brought a new recruit to the sect, apparently, he was able to clear the 14th floor of the Tower of Heroes." If Li Wei looked at the player who was speaking, he would instantly recognize him as the one who stood up in the inn when Sun Rose brought him away to the private room. "Are you sure about that ? The 14th floor... Even brother Wang could not clear it, a random person would not be able to do that." said a young man who was silently watching the stars on a balcony, his right hand holding a cup of wine. "This is what I''ve heard, my hearing is quite good since I practice the Sense Opening Technique, I am almost sure of that," said the man, keeping his head down in sign of respect. "mmmm", The young man took a light sip from his glass, completely ignoring the player behind him. The latter did not know what to do, but since he was already there, he had to wait to be dismissed. "There is the sect''s expedition tomorrow, send someone appropriate to test him. But don''t bring too much attention on us... It might just be a misunderstanding... We don''t want normal players to get a bad opinion of the Fleeting Clouds Sect." "Yes young master" 34 Algate Dungeon The next morning, Li Wei woke up early as usual and went down for breakfast. He needed to meet the other players of the sect at 7:00, he still had some time to enjoy his breakfast. He was not polite and ordered a big portion since he was not paying. Today, he chose a typical British breakfast. A few players also appeared while he was eating, they chatted for a while and when it was time, they went together to the headquarters which was the meeting point for today''s expedition. Upon arriving, Li Wei noticed a plethora of badges, each guilds had their own badges, the one of the Fleeting Clouds Sect was 12 clouds arranged in a circle with an animal of the Chinese zodiac on each one of them. As for Li Wei, he was wearing Avalanche''s badge which represented a snowflake being strangled by a dragon. He quickly went to the reception and was told where to go, he was allocated to Bright Sun''s party which was the lead team of Avalanche. When Li Wei arrived at the spot, only 5 players were already there, Bright Sun did not arrive yet. A young blond rogue stepped forward to greet him. "Hello, I am Cai Wenji, Bright Sun''s elder brother, nice too meet you." greeted the rogue while presenting his hand. "Hello, I am Seven, looking forward to working with you." answered Li Wei as he shook the rogue''s hands. He then looked at Cai Wenji''s name, that guy actually did not use any ID, instead, he used his real name. In fact, many members of the Fleeting Clouds Sect tried to use their real name, they wanted to represent their own family, even Bright Sun tried to, but Cai Die was already taken. "Good, let me present the team, this is Cai Lang, The One Hero, ..." Cai Wenji presented the 4 other players present one by one and in the meanwhile, 3 others arrived. There were 2 paladins, 2 warriors, 1 ranger, 1 priest and 1 mage. The team was not very balanced since they lacked magic damage and healing but since they were mostly martial artists, it was normal for them to focus more on physical strength. Li Wei stayed with the 2 other warriors, The One Hero and Silent Day. They were both very friendly and did not actually have the surname Cai, it was their respective mother that was part of the Cai Family and so they did not inherit the family name. As they were chatting, the crowd suddenly turned silent as a group of players appeared, "Everyone, good morning and thank you coming here today ! I''ll keep it short since there is a lot to do. This is our first expedition, let''s work together and conquer the dungeon. " shouted a charismatic man with the ID Wang Chong. "We have many recruits that joined us today, I will like to thank all of you for trusting the Fleeting Clouds Sect. I hope that you will integrate very quickly in our sect. Today''s primary objective is not to climb as far as possible but to ensure that we work well together ! Everyone, please coordinate with your parties; we will spend the first half of the day levelling up with our respective parties, as for the second part, let''s try to push the limit and reach the tenth floor !" "Clap Clap Clap" Many players surrounding Wang Chong started to clap loudly and quickly, everyone followed out of respect. After he finished, the players behind him quickly dispersed and joined their respective parties, Sun Rose and Bright Sun were walking together from that group. They clearly stood out from the rest, many males'' eyes were immediately attracted towards the two beauties. They quickly said goodbye to each other and went to their respective parties. Bright Sun gracefully walked Li Wei, there was a kind of aura surrounding her causing the players to instinctively move out of her way. "Hello ! Did you have a good night ?" greeted Bright Sun with a smile. "Hey ! It was alright, the rooms are much better than the ones of the Beginner''s Town." answered Li Wei. Immediately, the eyes of the surrounding players turned towards Li Wei. In their mind, they were all wondering who he was for Cai Die to be so friendly. How could the beauty that refused countless proposals be suddenly so close to a random stranger ? "Cough Cough ! Let''s get moving" quickly said Cai Wenji as he lead the party towards the dungeon. It was an impressive sight as more than 1000 players closely grouped together were exiting the town. It was one of the goals behind such expeditions, the Fleeting Clouds Sect wanted to show its strength to the new players that were entering the city, making it easier to recruit. As they were walking, Li Wei felt had a weird feeling, as if someone was stalking him, but he could not find its source. The players were all chatting with their neighbours, some were grumbling about having to wake up so early, while some were sharing their experiences of their previous hunt in the dungeon. The dungeon was located to the north of Algate City. It wasn''t far, the group reached the dungeon in less than 30 minutes. It had to be known that the Dungeon was a place full of resources and so, the city was built relatively close to it. They could actually see the Dungeon from the walls of the city, it was like a giant anthill sticking out of the landscape. At the entrance of the dungeon, was a large camp of NPC guards. They were there to protect the resources inside from rival cities and to defend in case of monster waves. These were common in the past, monsters would regularly try to invade the nearby cities, in fact, many towns were destroyed because of them. But with time, the waves became less frequent but still, guards were posted there to be able react quickly. "Hey Seven, have you been to the dungeon before ?" asked The One Hero excitedly. "No, I just arrived to the city yesterday and I went to the field instead." answered Li Wei. "I just arrived yesterday too but I had to work as recruiting agent, they always use women for recruitment, that''s so sexist." added Silent Day with a sigh. "Haha ! So I am the only one who has experience, just stay behind me Silent Day, I will protect you." exclaimed The One Hero. Silent day just ignored him as she waved her hand. "Ok everyone, we will go to the 7th floor, there are level 10-11 mine bats there, they are quite agile, but once you get the hang of their rhythm, they become easy preys." exclaimed Cai Wenji as he lead the party. ''Bats ? Mmmm, let''s see if I improved since then'' thought Li Wei as he recalled how he almost died to a corrupted bat without being able to retaliate at the Sealed Mines. At that point, each group went to their respective areas, while most decided to hunt mine bats, some wanted to try their luck on the level 11-12 scorpions of the 8th floor. As Li Wei entered the dungeon, he was surprised to see that it was similar to a cave. The entrance was basically like that of a cave and there were several tunnels inside. He silently followed his team while observing the surroundings. There were several slimes scattered around the rooms and tunnels, but they avoided Li Wei''s party. Li Wei did not find this surprising, it was due to the level differences, they were all level 10 while the slimes were all below level 6, they knew they did not stand a chance against that group so they directly avoided it. After roughly 10 minutes, they eventually reached what looked like stairs and climbed it to reach the 2nd floor. Just like on the previous floor, most monsters decided to avoid the party but some courageous level 8 mine rats still tried their luck but they were easily slain by the party''s mage and ranger before it could even reach them. They slowly climbed up the floors and eventually reached the 7th floor where the bats were located. The 6th floor also housed mine bats but the population density there was lower and so, they decided to go to the 7th floor instead. Li Wei''s party was accompanied by several others and as they reached the 7th floor, they slowly dispersed and walked in different caverns and tunnels. It was better to spread out to maximise the exp gain, it was futile to compete among themselves since they were part of the same guild. "All right, Titan ! Forge God ! We are counting on you." said Cai Wenji as they entered an empty cavern. "Yes" answered the two paladins as they stepped forward and activated their taunt. Li Wei was surprised, he did not see any enemies yet, but the two were already using their skills, still he trusted his team and drew his swords, getting ready for action. And seconds later, a loud sharp scream was heard and 4 mine bats came out from the behind some stalactites above their head. The mine bats rushed towards the 2 paladins, 3 of them were level 10 while the last one was level 11. Li Wei was temporarily shocked when he saw that there were bats that were so close without him noticing them. But he quickly put aside that detail and focused on the battle. Compared to the last time, Li Wei could now follow the track of the mine bats, he saw them dive right on the 2 paladins who rapidly raised their shields to protect themselves. As the 2 paladins blocked the initial assault, Cai Wenji used [Rush] and charged at the mine bats. He grabbed his 2 curve daggers, jumped behind the closest bat and slashed vertically using [Shadow Strike]. At the same time, a [Mana Bolt] flew from behind Li Wei and stroke the level 11 bat that was about to scratch the shield of Titan. The One Hero and Silent Day also immediately engaged one of the bats each. It was clear that they were quite used to each other, even if it was her first time here, Silent day perfectly coordinated with Titan and stabbed the mine bat with her spear. They were all fast and efficient, Li Wei who was waiting for an opportunity simply did not even need to make a move. The 4 bats were slain very easily without Li Wei''s help, they did not have high HP to begin with, they only had a high movement speed but if you were able to hit them, then the bats were as good as dead. "Haha, come on Seven, don''t just leech off us !" jokingly said The One Hero. Bright Sun and the mage at the back just silently giggled. Li Wei could not help but be embarrassed, he felt like he was just a dead weight soaking the exp from the party. He waited for an opening that never came, it was different from solo hunting, the bats would not attack him. "Fine, let''s go look for more bats !" said Li Wei with determination. Cai Wenji silently nodded to the 2 paladins who immediately walked forward in search of the mine bats. He did not say anything about Li Wei leeching off, it was normal for a new member to adapt to the party and they were Avalanche''s lead team who already had good synergy. A few seconds later, a group of 5 bats was baited by the 2 paladins. This time, Li Wei took the initiative to attack, with his 2 swords, he slashed at the closest bat which immediately screamed due to the pain. The rest of the party also got to work and quickly attacked. The mine bat hurt by Li Wei immediately spun around the blades and glowed slightly before dashing towards Li Wei. It scratched Li Wei''s face dealing "-19" but the latter ignored the pain and took a step back before making a vertical strike with his right sword "-24". Right as the sword landed, he slightly bent his knees and shifted his body, making a diagonal strike with his left sword. "Shrrrkk" the bat took the strike and flew back for a second, but immediately, it dove towards Li Wei, revealing its long fangs. In his current position, Li Wei did not have enough time to dodge the attack. But as the mine bat was diving, Forge God appeared before him, raising his shield to take the blow. He looked back at Li Wei with an expressionless face, "don''t attack recklessly like that, remember that they have aggro, you are not alone right now, you should let the paladins tank the damage, it''s more efficient this way." He did not wait for Li Wei to answer and quickly used [Bash] pushing back the mine bat, who was stuck in mid air by a [Mana Bolt]. Li Wei did not know what to say; what the paladin said was correct, he was not used to fighting in teams, he mostly hunted alone and did not have to control the aggro. He once again felt that he was dragging down the team but he did not let that weigh on him, he quickly moved to one of the 3 remaining bats slashing his swords at it. He slashed the mine bat, leaving it with just one third of its HP but at the same time, Silent Day appeared behind him. "Don''t let what Forge God say let you down, he''s always like that, bad at communicating but he is very nice inside." said Silent Day with a smile. She immediately grabbed her long spear with 2 hands, as a light wind started to surround the tip of the spear, she immediately stabbed towards the weakened bat. [Flurry Stabs] It was the technique she trained in, Flurry stabs. The wind surrounding the tip of the spear seemed to form another spear on its own identical to the original one. It stabbed the bat at the same time as the real spear, "-31","-32". The bat was left with a sliver of HP but Silent Day quickly twisted the spear and hit the bat with the wooden part, ending its life. Li Wei was still watching the spear as the wind slightly faded away from the tip, "So these are the techniques'' skill !" said Li Wei to himself. He did not get the opportunity to witness the offensive skills obtained from techniques that close, he could only see them from afar as the Fleeting Clouds Sect was hunting the Mutated Giant Worm, seeing one that close definitely gave a different feeling. He could not help but envy these skills. 35 Hunting in the dungeon "Woosh !" An arrow flew above Li Wei''s head and ended the life of the last mine bat. "Good job everyone !" declared Cai Wenji as he sheathed back his daggers. Li Wei sighed, he was not very satisfied with his performance, he was getting better at coordinating with the others but was often taking the aggro which messed up the paladins'' rhythms. But at least, he was getting better at dealing with those bats, they did not pose much of a threat anymore. He calmed down his breathing as he put his palm on the mine bat''s corpse, "Collect" 2 new [Mine Bat Wing] were added to his inventory, making a total of 10 wing bats. The party had been farming for more than three hours, but they were not feeling tired. It was obviously more efficient this way, even if they had to share the exp, Li Wei now had [5217/10000] exp. "The bats are not really challenging to our party, what about we test ourselves against the scorpions ?" said Bright Sun. She did not contribute much to the party either, the paladins were quite skilled and did not take too much damage. "Yes! The bats are simply not a challenge." commented The One Hero as he collected the loot from another corpse. "Alright, but we must be careful, the scorpions are slower than the bats, but they have more vitality and strength," said Cai Wenji as he looked at his teammates to seek their opinion. They all quickly nodded and Cai Wenji lead the party upstairs. On the way, they met 5 other parties hunting in the dungeon, 2 of which were from the Gem Family. Although there was some hostility between the two guilds, they generally kept these grudges for when bosses appeared. The 8th floor was no different from the previous ones, as they arrived, they immediately met 3 parties of the Fleeting Clouds Sect in battle with a group of scorpions. These scorpions were about twice the size of the mine rats, they were covered with a greyish brown shell while their long curved tails were threateningly shining.(Think of something like mini skarner from league of legends with different colors) The scorpions were level 12 and were able to defend themselves despite it being a 5 vs 20. Cai Wenji ignored the 2 parties and went straight to one of the tunnels. The other parties did not ask for help, so there was no need for him to intervene or he might be seen as a killstealer instead. "Forge God, Titan! Grab only one, we don''t know their strength yet." calmly ordered Cai Wenji while going into stealth. The 2 paladins immediately approached a nearby scorpion and lured it towards the group. However, due to lack of space, all of them would not be able to attack at the same time, and so, only The One Hero stepped forward to attack it. Li Wei and Silent Day moved to one side each, they did not want to get in the way of the projectiles of the ranger and the mage. Forge God, who was holding the aggro, was slowly walking backward while moving his shield accordingly to parry the poisoned tail of the scorpion. Once he got to a certain point, Cai Wenji suddenly jumped above the scorpion. With his 2 curved daggers, he made a quick spin and made 2 cuts along the scorpion''s tail, "-18","-15". Only 2 small numbers popped up above the scorpion''s head. As soon as it felt pain, it immediately disregarded Forge God and turned to stab its tail toward Cai Wenji, but Titan was already in position, ready to block the tail. "Ting !" a loud sound was heard as the tail hit the shield. Forge God, who was now facing the back of the scorpion, immediately used [Bash] and push the scorpion to the side, just enough for it to enter the range of The One Hero. The latter activated both [Strengthen] and [Cleave] at the same time, slashing the scorpion away, "-28". Everyone was depressed as they saw the low numbers appearing above the scorpion, but as it was still flying away, the mage immediately sent her [Mana Bolt] while the ranger charged his [Power Shot]. The 2 skill simultaneously hit the scorpion, pushing it further back and dealing a total of 50 damage. "It really is tougher than the bats! Be careful !" shouted Cai Wenji as he repositioned himself to a better spot. The scorpion was enraged. It quickly got back up and charged at the party. But the 2 paladins immediately got in its way. The scorpion could only helplessly strike the paladins. But seeing that it went nowhere, its 2 pincers started to glow with a blue light. And as it hit Titan, the latter was instantly pushed back a few meters. With this opening, the scorpion immediately crawled, trying to bypass Forge God, but The One Hero immediately got in the way, using his smaller shield to tank the scorpion''s pincers which returned to normal. While watching that scene, Li Wei suddenly felt as if someone was looking at him. He turned only to see Silent Day quietly nod at him before grabbing her spear and moving forward. Li Wei immediately understood what she meant, after just a few hours of hunting together, they already understood each other to a certain extent. He drew his own swords and followed behind her. As if having eyes behind him, The One Hero immediately pushed back the pincers and used his sword to repel the poisoned tail before quickly rolling to the side. This move gave just enough space for Silent Day to immediately follow up, her spear quickly stabbed the scorpion''s head, dealing 18 damage. She quickly pulled it back and stabbed it in again, she repeated that movement 2 more times before jumping to the side. 4 times were her limit, it could not be called a skill, but it was definitely a powerful move; she rapidly stabbed and pulled the spear back in short successions, if she used this move many times, it might turn into a self-learned skill. During her stabs, the scorpion tried to retaliate, but Titan, who was back up, used his hammer to pin down the tail. Just as Silent Day jumped aside, Li Wei was already ready to attack, with his 2 swords, he directly stroke the scorpion on its head, then quickly applying pressure on his right leg, he jumped to the side and spun to strike the scorpion again but this time on its legs. As it was hit, the scorpion flinched for a second, but before he could strike back, a [Mana Bolt] exploded on its face. It only had 25 HP left, but then Cai Wenji suddenly appeared on top of the scorpion, in mid-air, he mercilessly brought down his 2 daggers into the eyes of the scorpion, ending its life. The scorpion struggled for a second, but its legs then lost all strength and his body fell on the ground. "Good job everyone ! Nice follow up !" commented Cai Wenji as he collected the loots from the scorpion. There was clearly a difference between the 7th and 8th floor, the whole party needed to be involved to defeat just one scorpion. "Finally a challenge! Let''s not lose time! Forge bro go grab another one !" excitedly exclaimed The One Hero. Forge God sent a quick look at Cai Wenji who silently nodded. He could already determine that the party could defeat one scorpion. Cai Wenji was not of the talkative type, but he was very smart when it came to decision making. Bright Sun and the other priest quickly brought the paladins back to full health from the backline, and the paladins once again went to lure a scorpion. ... 30 minutes later, Li Wei''s group killed their 4th scorpion. They slowly got used to the scorpion''s pattern and could predict its movement to a certain extent. But Li Wei, who wanted to redeem himself for his earlier mistakes, made a suggestion: "Why don''t we try 2 scorpions at the same time? Only one makes it hard for all of us to attack at the same time, and we have 2 paladins." "You are very ambitious! I like that! I also agree, I did not even use my full strength yet !" commented The One Hero as he gave a thumbs up to Li Wei. It was a more risky operation, but what Li Wei said was true, the party did not maximize its DPS against only one scorpion. And they gained exp at a lower rate than on the 7th floor when dealing with only one at a time. Bright Sun who was at the back stepped forward and said:" I think that Seven is right! I think that we do have the strength to engage 2 at a time, you did not even need our healing in the middle of the fight so far." "Alright! In that case, let''s split into 2 groups of five, one on each scorpion, the group that finishes first will help the other." declared Cai Wenji. And quickly 2 groups were formed, Li Wei was with Bright Sun, Silent Day, Titan and the ranger. The 2 paladins each brought a scorpion away from the group of monsters and each group engaged their respective scorpion. Li Wei knew that this time, he could not slack off, with his 2 swords, he immediately positioned himself behind the scorpion. He waited for Titan to get a good hold of the aggro and then immediately used [Cleave] at the back legs of the scorpion. It was the weakness that the team discovered while fighting the scorpion, although it was not fatal, damaging the legs would reduce the movement of the scorpion to a certain extent. Li Wei hacked at the legs repeatedly. Meanwhile, Silent Day was poking the pincers of the scorpion with her spear, grabbing its attention. Titan was doing his best to protect her but he could not help but take some damage, it was much harder to hold the aggro alone. The ranger fired some arrows, but he did not deal much damage, rangers had limited effectiveness in this closed up environment, their arrows could not fly very high, he was also afraid of hitting his own teammates due to his lack of experience. This fight put much more pressure on the paladin who constantly had to grab the attention of the scorpion. The latter''s health slowly decreased until it hit 50%. At that point, its sting at the tip of the tail suddenly shone, but it did not stab the paladin, instead, it turned around and charged at Li Wei. The latter was surprised, he raised one sword to push the sting away but in vain. He was pierced in the stomach, "-31" [You have been hit by the scorpion''s poison sting, applied poison for 1 minute, effect: -5 HP every 10 seconds] This was a serious effect, Li Wei only had a total of 100 HP and just the physical damage already took away a third of it. But Bright Sun immediately reacted and cast [Cure] on Li Wei, removing the poison effect. Her heal was still on cooldown and it was more important to reserve it for the Paladin who was constantly losing health. Li Wei was taken by surprise but he quickly recollected himself and pierced his 2 swords into the skull of the scorpion. Silent Day used her [Flurry Stabs] hitting the legs of the scorpion while Titan jumped onto the scorpion and used his weight to give momentum to [Bash], crushing the scorpion to the ground. The scorpion was still left with some HP, Li Wei was about to used [Blade Draw] but a blue light appeared in the corner of his eyes. [Mana Burst] The scorpion was immediately killed by the mage''s skill. "You guys are too slow! We have already finished !" bragged The One Hero, looking triumphant as his right foot was stepping on the scorpion''s corpse. "Why are you so proud! You obviously have magic damage to help you!" argued the ranger, he was not very pleased, he could not contribute much in this environment and felt that he was dragging the team down. "Alright, that''s enough! We still have time for 2 more scorpions, then it''s time for lunch !" announced Cai Wenji, not giving the two any chance to argue. ... It was finally lunch time, everyone was exhausted after hunting in the dungeon, and now, all the members of the Fleeting Clouds Sect were gathering outside the dungeon, near the guards'' camp. The lunch was once again given by the Fleeting Clouds Sect, lunch boxes were distributed to everyone. Li Wei sat with his team under the shade of a tree to enjoy the free food. Bright Sun was the only one not there, as soon as they came out of the dungeon, she was immediately spotted by Sun Rose who then brought her away. Everyone was happily chatting, it was a well-deserved break, Li Wei noticed that several players already leveled up to level 11, he estimated that he himself would level up tomorrow if he continued to farm at this speed. Li Wei was chatting with Silent Day when suddenly, "Cough Cough! Your attention please !" A tall young man, with the ID Wang Hao, stood out in the middle of the players, he was wearing the Fleeting Clouds Sect''s badge. Li Wei remembered seeing him stand close to Wang Chong who did the speech this morning. "Everyone, I would like to welcome all our new recruits here today. I am sure that many of you, if not all, chose to join our Fleeting Clouds Sect because of the techniques we displayed. But so far, you have only seen the surface, I, Wang Hao is here to open your eyes. In the sect, we prioritize strength above everything else. There is one thing we like in the sect; duels and competitions! It is the best way for us to compare our strength and improve ourselves." "This is why, I will propose that we do a short exchange of pointers here, to get everyone accustomed to our habits. One of you against me! What do you think ?" "mmmm" Murmurs came out of the crowd, but many players silently nodded, they had nothing against a duel. It would instead prove to be very entertaining, especially if they could witness the techniques of other families. "In that case, I will randomly pick someone for a duel !" righteously declared Wang Hao as he lifted his finger, pausing for a second as if searching for a target. Suddenly, Li Wei once again felt a chill down his spine, as if someone was stalking him. He raised his head to look around, but before he could identify the source; Wang Hao suddenly turned and pointed his finger straight at Li Wei, "You, let''s exchange some pointers !" 36 The duel Li Wei froze for a second, did that guy really just select him? He looked at the finger pointing towards him, immediately, the crowd quickly turned to look towards him. When Li Wei looked at Wang Hao, he saw a very innocent smile on his face but felt that something was wrong. He did not know what to do, but since the finger was pointing towards him, he prepared to stand up when suddenly; "Of course! You dare challenge me! Let this great one teach you a lesson !" A voice suddenly resounded from behind Li Wei. It was The One Hero, he was seated just behind Li Wei. He suddenly stood up and walked towards Wang Hao with large steps. Wang Hao''s face suddenly froze, "this... I was pointing towards this man there" awkwardly said Wang Hao, with a weird expression as he once again pointed towards Li Wei. "What? What is the difference between him and me? Are you scared of me ?!?" taunted The One Hero as he stopped in front of Wang Hao with a dominating expression. Wang Hao quickly recovered and bit his lips, "No no, it''s just that it is better if it is a new recruit right ?" "What are you talking about? I am already here! Let''s exchange some pointers, don''t tell me the Wang Family just wants to bully a new recruit ?!" exclaimed The One Hero while drawing his sword and grabbing his shield. Wang Hao hesitantly looked behind him. Li Wei naturally observed Wang Hao and followed his line of sight. He saw that Wang Hao was looking at a young man seated close to Sun Rose and Bright Sun. The young man was clearly not happy, displaying annoyance. He glared at Wang Hao and made an almost imperceptible nod. Following that, the young man turned his eyes and met Li Wei''s eyes. Li Wei suddenly felt awkward, why was that man looking at him like that? He did not do anything wrong right? This lasted for a few seconds, and then the young man looked back at Wang Hao. The players did actually take a few steps back to give space for the duel, the 2 fighters were already standing at the end of the ''ring'' in fighting stances. Everyone''s attention was on the 2 fighters. "Hey Seven, wanna make a bet? Who do you think will win ?" asked Silent Day, sitting next to Li Wei. "Huh? I don''t know, I don''t even know their techniques but just by looking, I think that Wang Hao looks stronger." declared Li Wei, after carefully observing the two. "Silent Day, don''t steal gold from him." quietly said Cai Wenji. Silent Day silently chuckled but did not answer. "Seven, appearances can be deceiving. Even if The One Hero looks careless and arrogant, he does have the ability to behave like that. He is in our lead team for a reason, if he was not born in the branch family which provided him with limited support, he would be on par with the so-called geniuses." quietly said Forge God. Li Wei was surprised but he did not say anything and turned his attention to the ring. The 2 were already fighting. The One Hero was constantly slashing his sword at Wang Hao but the latter was a strong warrior who also used a shield and a sword. Wang Hao was on the defensive, blocking each sword strike, waiting for an opportunity to strike, he was well known in the Wang Family for his defensive fighting style. "Cling Clang !" the 2 swords met each other for the first time as Wang Hao decided to parry with his sword and immediately after, he slammed his shield at The One Hero. [Howl] The latter immediately used his skill and pushed back the shield and followed up with [Cleave], "-21". The timing was perfect such that Wang Hao had no time to react and could only take the damage, but his heavy armor significantly reduced the damage. Wang Hao immediately got back into a fighting stance and charged at The One Hero. Wang Hao was already flushing red, he was the one that proposed the challenge, yet, he was the one losing. Immediately, the wind seemed to gather around Wang Hao, his entire body and his weapon were surrounded by a transparent light. The One Hero immediately felt danger but he did not back down, instead, he used [Strengthen] and charged at Wang Hao head on. But Wang Hao had other plans, he never wanted a direct clash. As the 2 were about to hit each other, Wang Hao suddenly stomped the ground and changed direction to the left. The One Hero did not expect such move, he could not change his momentum and could only continue forward. When he was finally able to stop his charge, he turned to look at his opponent, but was only greeted by a [Blade Draw] on the chest, "-29". He endured the pain and raised his shield just in time to block a sword strike. "You are quite good, worthy of being my opponent" commented The One Hero as he pushed back the sword. "You should focus more on the fight ! " angrily shouted Wang Hao as he violently kicked The One Hero. But the latter quietly laughed and used the kick''s momentum to take a few steps back. Wang Hao getting frustrated, the longer the fight went on, the less respect he would get. The surrounding players would see him as a joke for challenging someone and only barely winning. He once again used his personal skill to make wind surround his body and charge at The One Hero, he needed to end this fight quickly. "You want to end the fight already? That is not fun !" commented The One Hero as he got back into a fighting stance. "We should make it last longer, this way people will really see our strength" righteously said The One Hero. Although he looked careless, he was in fact very focused on the battle. "Shut your mouth!" angrily shouted Wang Hao as he jumped in the air and violently slashed his sword at The One Hero. But the latter snorted and activated his own skill. And it was something Li Wei was familiar with, [Gliding Steps]. The One Hero did not even lift his feet, they seemed to float above the ground as if a small air cushion appeared between them and the ground. He easily avoided the sword strike and pushed on the ground to strike Wang Hao''s neck. "-28" The sword hit Wang Hao, who was in a dazed state but he did not have time to process what just happened that he was immediately kicked from behind and another sword strike sent him flying. Wang Hao ungracefully rolled on the ground and tried to stand up, he only had 29 HP left, 2 more sword strikes and he would die. But The One Hero did not give him the opportunity to react, he stomped the ground and charged at Wang Hao. "Haha! This is what you get for challenging me !" "You .." Wang Hao saw the sword slicing the air towards him, he was getting really anxious now but he did not let that get to him. [Howl], the skill immediately disrupted The One Hero''s strike. And quickly after, Wang Hao followed up by slamming his shield towards The One Hero. The latter saw his move but was not worried. Wang Hao''s shield was met with The One Hero''s own shield. The 2 pushed against each other in a contest of strength, but they both had similar strength stats and ended up in a deadlock. Seeing that it was going nowhere, Wang Hao jumped back and once again used his personal skill. Surrounded with the wind, he charged at The One Hero, he was running out of mana and decided to bet everything on this last exchange. Wang Hao was dangerously approaching but The One Hero just made a smug smile. He raised his shield in such a way that his sword would not be seen my Wang Hao. But the rest of the players could clearly see his sword starting to glow. Wang Hao had no idea what The One Hero was preparing, he thought that he was just waiting for his strike. When Wang Hao got into range, he violent slashed his sword at The One Hero using [Cleave]. However, his sword did not even reach the shield, he only saw a bright ray of light appear from behind the shield as it was moved to the left. The bright ray of light pierced through Wang Hao''s sword, sending it flying but it did not stop there, the ray of light continued straight and pierced through Wang Hao''s armor and came out on the other side of his body. "-45" The ray of light was, of course, The One Hero''s sword. It was shining emitting a bright yellow light, even as it was still embedded in Wang Hao''s body. All the players were dazed, they never expected The One Hero to have such a finishing move. Everyone thought that he would lose but he unexpectedly still had a trump card. Wang Hao was even more surprised, he was confident that his technique would deal the finishing blow, yet his sword was sent flying before he could hit The One Hero. "I lost? What happened ?" thought Wang Hao. Time seemed to freeze for a second but then the silence was broken: "What? Why are you not dead yet ?" shouted The One Hero as he pulled back his sword with annoyance. "Ok! That''s enough! We have a winner, even though you went way too far !" shouted Wang Chong as he stood up from the audience. He did not seem happy, even his tone was seemed to be controlled to be as expressionless as possible. Li Wei turned his attention towards Wang Chong and he saw a few meters away from him, several priests still had their staff up, it was obvious that they all used [Heal] very recently. "Tssss" The One Hero grumbled and walked back to his seat, not even looking at the defeated Wang Hao. "That was too much, we are still a guild, killing each other would only be detrimental to us. I understand that you got carried away in the middle of the fight, but I hope that this situation will not repeat itself" continued Wang Chong. "You were trying to kill me ?" suddenly shouted Wang Hao, he seemed to suddenly realize the situation he was in. "How dare you !? It was a friendly competition, I was obviously going easy on you! How could you be so vicious ?" angrily exclaimed Wang Hao as he pointed his finger at The One Hero. He was just trying to regain his self-esteem but he was immediately interrupted. "Wang Hao, that''s enough! Come back," said Wang Chong, not even sparing a glance at his cousin. "I..." Wang Hao wanted to continue but he did not dare to disobey Wang Chong, he sent a last glare at The One Hero before returning to his seat. "Everyone! Let''s go back to farming, we shall hold this type of competition at the Colosseum, at least, we won''t face unnecessary deaths. We shall go back to the dungeon in 10 minutes" said Wang Chong, dismissing the matter. He did not wait for the players'' reaction and left with his party. The audience who was still dazed did not know how to react, they simply looked at the 2 fighters. They clearly knew that the one having the most authority was Wang Chong, yet his side was defeated. It was an embarrassing situation and the crowd did not dare to applaud The One Hero''s victory. Amidst the crowd, Sun Rose suddenly grabbed Bright Sun''s hand, "Sister Cai Die! Was that Explosive Sun !? How can a member of your branch family have that technique ?" quietly murmured Sun Rose. "Yes, it is that technique, my father spent countless efforts and resources to obtain that technique from the main family. It is the only way we can help him develop if he only uses our branch family''s technique, it would be a waste of talent" calmly answered Bright Sun. "Your family really have a lot of secrets, huh? " "Yours have even more !" jokingly answered Bright Sun. ... The One Hero got back, he did not say anything and just silently sat back behind Li Wei. Everyone''s eyes were still pointed at him but he kept that poker face until people lost interest in him. And as soon as the players restarted chatting among themselves, he could no longer keep that face. "Huh! Did you guys see how I beat the crap out of this guy? He was so weak... trying to challenge me" "Ok ok, you can stop bragging, he is not even the strongest of the Wang Family." calmly said Cai Wenji. Although he seemed calm, he was inwardly excited, for a member of the branch family to defeat someone from a main family, it was definitely a huge feat. "Seven, Silent Day, what do you think of the fight? Not bad huh ?" continued The One Hero as he turned his attention towards the 2 other warriors of the party. "Nothing worth mentioning, you could have played it safe and dodge his attacks, it would have been more impressive if you ended up full health." analyzed Silent Day. "But that is no fun, I can only look cool if I do fancy moves! I should have comboed him to death" Silent Day just rolled her eyes, not answering despite the pestering of The One Hero. As for Li Wei, he did not dare say anything or The One Hero might pester him instead. But he was very impressed, The One Hero was definitely more skilled than he looked, especially that last move, it was something Li Wei could only envy. 37 How to upgrade the ring "Alright good job everyone! Let''s wrap up," announced Cai Wenji as he stabbed his dagger into the last scorpion. Li Wei spent the rest of the day hunting scorpions with the party. They were slowly getting the hang of it and were able to collect large amounts of exp and loot. Even Li Wei, already had more than 8000 exp, that speed was slightly above his own when he was alone. If it was not for his high fatigue level, he would gladly continue hunting; he already had (-1) next to his dexterity, vitality and strength. After all, he had to spend more energy to defeat stronger monsters. "Shall we go to the Colosseum? Wang Chong said that they would continue the duels there ?" excitedly asked The One Hero. After winning his last duel, he was really pumped up and gave his all when fighting the scorpions. "We can go and have a look !" nodded Cai Wenji, this sort of competition was not uncommon for him, whenever the young generation of the hidden families would gather for an event, they would usually end up comparing themselves in duels. "Yeah, it will not be bad to test our strength," commented Titan on the side. Li Wei silently waited for everyone''s answer, it looked like they were all looking forward to the duels. He was also interested in it but his fatigue level was quite high already and he wanted to visit a grade 2 Blacksmith to learn how to upgrade his ring. "You guys can go! Beibei is waiting for me, I promised her to go to the market with her. I am just a priest anyway, the Colosseum isn''t a place for me" announced Bright Sun as Li Wei was still deep in thoughts. "What about you Seven? Are you coming with us ?" "I would like to, but I also have something to do, maybe I can come a bit later ?" answered Li Wei. "Oh come on! It would be fun you know, everyone is not as strong as me, you can easily stomp those guys." commented The One Hero as he patted Li Wei''s shoulder. The latter simply rolled his eyes, even after just one day, he was already used to The One Hero''s way of talking. "Ok, I will update everyone''s contribution points when I get back to the inn, those who want to go to the Colosseum, follow me," said Cai Wenji, as he lead the group towards the exit. Almost everyone followed him, except for Li Wei, Bright Sun and the mage. "Where are you going Seven ?" curiously asked Bright Sun, as far as she knew, Li Wei should not have anything important like a quest to do. Li Wei suddenly hesitated, he thought of his ring and how it was a unique item and his only upgradeable one, should he keep it a secret? It was after all, one of his trump cards. "Just going to the shops, I would like to see if there''s any good equipment, I have some gold to spend. It would be good if I could buy from the sect but the sect''s blacksmiths still need some training to reach grade 1," answered Li Wei. "Alright, let''s walk together then, I am also going to the main street, Beibei is waiting for me there." Li Wei silently nodded and followed Bright Sun. The mage left as soon as they reach the entrance, a group of players was waiting there and warmly welcomed her as soon as she arrived. "So? What do you think of our team? Not too bad eh ?" asked Bright Sun as she lead the way towards the city. "It is much better than I thought, I never expected you to be part of such a guild when you first invited me at Little Root Town." Bright Sun chuckled upon hearing that answer, "Would you have preferred if I behave like Skywalker and attract everyone''s attention ?" Li Wei recalled how the 3 guilds invited him at the same time. Skywalker, a member of Exodia, was the most arrogant one of the 3. In addition, he did not have a good opinion of the guild, to begin with when they tried to find who killed the Wolf Queen. "I just hope that you will enjoy your stay at the guild and contribute to its growth" continued Bright Sun, "Ah and Beibei told me that she transferred some contribution points to you since you helped in securing the loot yesterday, so don''t be surprised when you see your points." "Convey my thanks then, " answered Li Wei. He was not feeling very comfortable with Bright Sun, although she was very friendly, it was like talking to his boss while he was just a simple employee. But fortunately, Bright Sun seemed to immediately understand the situation. "You don''t have to be so formal, it''s only been a day, but we are part of the same team now, treat me like a casual party member. So, tell me, where are you from ?" said Bright Sun as she giggled. Li Wei was speechless at first, but as he saw Bright Sun curiously looking at him, he could only start speaking about him, how he was an orphan that lived in Beijing that liked to play online games. And just like that, time went by as the 2 reached the city, they quickly paid the entrance fee and went towards the Trade District. As they entered the district, Li Wei immediately noticed Sun Rose leaning against a wall. She was clearly not in a good mood, two young men were accompanying her. Li Wei immediately recognized one of them, he was the one who nodded to Wang Hao while he was challenging The One Hero. As soon as Sun Rose noticed Bright Sun approaching, her expression suddenly brightened and she immediately left the 2 men behind her to greet her friend. As for Li Wei, as soon as he saw that, he said goodbye to Bright Sun and left the place, he could clearly feel that the 2 young men were not very happy about the situation and he did not want to be part of it. Bright Sun wanted to stop him but seeing his facial expression, she simply nodded and let him go. "Sister Cai Die, you are late, why were you walking so slowly, these two are pestering me again !" murmured Sun Rose as she got near Bright Sun. "I was just talking to Seven, he wanted to go buy some stuff, I could only adjust my walking pace, but I am here now, let''s go" declared Bright Sun while smiling. The 2 young men followed closely behind Sun Rose, "Hello, Cai Die, you are finally here, we were keeping company to Liu Beibei." "Thank you Li Mu, if there''s nothing else, Beibei and I will take our leave." calmly answered Bright Sun as she grabbed Sun Rose''s hand and proceeded to leave. But she was immediately stopped by the other man. "Was the man that was walking with your family''s new recruit? Seven? Is it true that he cleared the 14th floor of the Tower of Heroes ?" asked the man. His name was Li Feng, he crossed his arms and coldly looked at Bright Sun, waiting for an answer. "His IGN(in-game-name) is Seven, as for the Tower of Heroes, that is none of your business," answered Bright Sun, not bothering about him. Li Feng''s expression immediately darkened; "You... I am already lowering myself to talk to someone from a branch family if you were not Liu Beibei''s friend, I..." "You what? Say it" taunted Bright Sun as she turned to look at Li Feng. Sun Rose next to her also looked at him, she was clearly displeased at the way he was talking to her friend. There was already some tension between their families, the only reason Li Feng was there, was to get closer to Liu Beibei. He was interested in her, not only for her beauty but also because she was the heir of the Liu family. As for Li Feng, seeing Sun Rose''s expression, he did not dare continue and could only internally grumble as he looked at the disappearing silhouettes of the 2 girls. ... As soon as Li Wei left, he went to an adjacent street and wandered around, until he found a with the Blacksmith Insignia. The district was definitely more prosperous than Little Root Town, shops were everywhere and it did not take long for Li Wei to find what he was searching for. The shop was well furnished and it did not only displayed the blacksmith''s insignia but also several others. He immediately pushed open the door and went in. The shop was clearly of a much higher standard than that of Carlos, it was even better looking than the ones on the main street of Little Root Town. "Greetings customer, may I help you ?" asked a young receptionist as soon as she noticed Li Wei. "Hello, I would like to talk to a Blacksmith, is it possible ?" asked Li Wei. As soon as he saw the receptionist, he immediately put aside the idea that she was a blacksmith due to her physique. "Is it for a custom order? In that case, please give me a minute, I will call a master." said the receptionist as she indicated a sofa where Li Wei could sit. The latter nodded and silently waited. There were many customers around, most of them were examining the weapons that were displayed or bargaining with the sales girls. Li Wei noticed that there was a much larger variety there and it was not limited to metallic equipment; leather armors and rings were also displayed. 1 minute later, the receptionist came back and guided Li Wei to a private room. A muscular man was standing in there, he was still flushed red from the heat of the workshop and was wiping his hands with a towel. Li Wei quickly entered the room and greeted the blacksmith while the receptionist quietly closed the door behind her as she left. "Hello, may I ask what you want to order ? " quickly asked the blacksmith with an expressionless face. "Actually, I am not here to order any equipment, but more for asking for advices. I have an upgradeable ring and would like to know the conditions to upgrade it," said Li Wei. The blacksmith immediately twitched upon hearing that Li Wei was not buying anything, but he quickly calmed himself as he heard the rest. "Alright, show me your ring, it will cost you 1 gold." declared the blacksmith as he waited for Li Wei. ''1 gold? Just for examining ?'' inwardly exclaimed Li Wei, but he could only take out the ring and 1 gold from his inventory. The gold coin immediately disappeared in the Blacksmith''s hands as he observed the ring. "mmmm" "mmmm" After a few seconds of grumbling, the blacksmith finally placed back the ring on the table, "give me a minute, I''ll go grab someone." Not knowing what to do, Li Wei could only nod and wait. The blacksmith quickly came back accompanied by a thin looking man. The latter did not even greet Li Wei and simply grab the ring and started examining the ring. "This is Master Chen, a grade 3 enchanter." presented the blacksmith. Li Wei once again nodded and waited for Master Chen''s verdict. He did not understand why an enchanter came there, but he did not mind as long as he obtained the quest to upgrade his ring. Finally, Master Chen placed the ring back on the table and turned his attention towards Li Wei. "You have a very interesting ring, young man... Did you get it from the ruins ?" "No, it was given to me as a gift from someone." calmly answered Li Wei. "mmmm, alright, in that case, the ring does not need to be physically upgraded right now, what it needs is an enchantment, this is why I was called here. We do have the necessary materials for that, it will cost you 100 golds." declared Master Chen as he looked at Li Wei, waiting for his answer. "What? 100 golds ?" exclaimed Li Wei, this time, he could not keep it inside, that was just too expensive, how many equipment could he buy with that much gold. "Yes, the materials are quite expensive, unless you want a lower quality enchantment..." started Master Chen. "No no, can you give me the list of materials instead? I would like to see if I can gather them myself... 100 golds is way too expensive for me right now." exclaimed Li Wei with an embarrassed expression. "I thought so, then the formula will cost you 5 golds, but I will warn you that you are not strong enough to collect them right now, but there are some that you can already gather." Li Wei took a deep breath upon hearing the price, that was really expensive just for a formula, but it was still better than 100 golds. "Alright, 5 golds it is," said Li Wei, his heart was hurting, but there was nothing he could do. "I knew you would choose that, but I will even tell you where you can find the materials... " ... An hour later, Li Wei walked out of the shop and walked towards the Colosseum. His heart was bleeding, he already spent so much of his hard earned gold, in addition to the formula, he also asked Master Chen to enchant his throwing needles. The latter refused at first since they were of very low quality, but in the end, money changed his mind. Li Wei now had 10 throwing needles that would magically come back to his belt after throwing them, unless they were caught or under the effect of another spell. Although he was displeased at having used so much money, he thought that it was not too bad since he now had a new quest added to his quest log : [Upgrade the Ring of Chaos(II) " Collect 40 Goblin Blood(0/40) Collect 1 Moon Stone (0/1) Collect 5 Shining Alyssums (0/5) Collect 2 beast cores(from level 15 or above) (0/2) Reward: Ring of Chaos (Grade 2) All these materials were meant to be collected after he reached level 15, but fortunately, he already knew where to find them. Master Chen was generous enough to give him that information. The most expensive of the 4 materials was the Moon Stone, it was normally very rare and could only be found by chance but fortunately, there was another way to obtain it; through the Colosseum. And Li Wei was coincidentally going there. Prizes were awarded according to the win streak players would achieve and one of the prizes was the Moon Stone. However, it was easier said than done, he needed a 25 win streak in order to obtain that prize. 38 Colosseum At the Colosseum, Cai Wenji and his party were calmly watching the fights, they were waiting in a large waiting room in which was several screens displaying different fights. They could alternatively go into the spectating area of a specific arena to watch the fight more closely, but in that case, they would only be able to watch one fight at a time and right now, none of the interesting figures of the Fleeting Clouds Sect was fighting, so it was not worth it. "This is so boring! No one wants to fight me" exclaimed The One Hero on the side. The normal players did not dare to challenge him after seeing him fight against Wang Hao earlier while those who were stronger than him just did not bother challenging him. He was actually challenged by another member of the Wang Family, but the fight still ended in his victory. After that, no one else fought him while all his friends were challenged at least twice. "That''s what you get for showing off so much, we are only there to fight the new recruits, you should conserve your strength for hunting the monsters." replied the ranger. At that moment, Cai Wenji heard a jingle and promptly opened his interface to find a message from Li Wei: "I am at the Colosseum, room number?" He quickly typed: "You are late, room 4729, password: Fleeting Clouds" ... Li Wei was standing at the reception of the Colosseum. He had several options; Casual battle, Ranked battle or Custom battle. The Casual battle was simply matching players together, there were no stakes, winning or losing would not make a difference, it was only a mode for fun. The Ranked battle was a more competitive battle, players were matched according to their rank. But there was also stakes, players had to bet a certain amount of gold depending on their ranks to fight ranked battles; since Li Wei never fought ranked battles and was still unranked, he did not need to bet anything. After 5 fights, he would be attributed a rank and he would then need to bet every time. This was also the mode in which Li Wei would need to achieve consecutive victories if he wanted to claim the Moon Stone. As for custom battles, they were essentially arranged ones, players created rooms in which they invited their friends for duels. Each mode also had options such as the map, the number of players and restrictions. Li Wei had already sent a message to Cai Wenji for the room number and he did not have to wait for long before he heard a jingle which indicated that he received a message. With the room number and password, Li Wei proceeded to enter the Fleeting Clouds Sect''s room. The room was large and players could be seen everywhere in groups, they were all watching screens displaying fights between players. Upon seeing someone enter the room, many nearby players sent a strange look towards Li Wei but they quickly turned their attention back towards the screens. A few seconds later, Silent Day appeared and waved at Li Wei. "Come, everyone is over there !" Li Wei nodded and followed Silent Day as she lead the way to the party. "Hey Seven! Want to duel me !?" excitedly asked The One Hero as soon as Li Wei arrived. The others quietly greeted him with some nods and smiles. "This... I''d rather not" answered Li Wei. "What? Even you are chickening out ?" "No no, it is just that my fatigue is already very high, I already have reduced stats, I would rather fight you in best conditions instead. And I still have to train my technique later on," replied Li Wei. "Fine fine! In that case, come hunt with us tomorrow, it is easier to keep an acceptable level of fatigues in groups once you get used to it." declared The One Hero, even he had a relatively high amount of fatigue, but he did not have reduced stats yet. That was mainly due to his different fighting style, he used a sword and a shield and did not rely much on speed like Li Wei. "About that, I would like to leave the city for Abe''s Forest tomorrow," said Li Wei while looking at Cai Wenji. "What? Why are you leaving the city so quickly?" exclaimed The One Hero. "Just do what you want, come back next week for the sect''s weekly activity though," calmly said Cai Wenji. Although he would prefer that the party trained together every day, the sect did have the policy of allowing its member to act freely except for the weekly activities. "Thanks! There is something I need for a quest there, I should be back in time," said Li Wei. The One Hero continued to pester Li Wei but the latter simply ignored him and turned his attention towards the screens. This was the main reason he decided to come here; to observe how other players fight. But he was disappointed to see that none of the players in battle were actually using techniques, they seemed to only be using the skills given by the game. 30 minutes later, Li Wei started to regret his decision of coming here. Although he could witness players fighting, he did not get to see any of the special skills. "Maybe I should have come earlier, the ones with skills probably fought at the beginning," thought Li Wei. He deduced this fact since none of his party members went to fight after his arrival but they stated that they fought in the beginning. While Li Wei was focusing on the screen, a voice came from the side; "Hey you! You did not go into the fighting arena yet. Wanna duel?" The owner of the voice was a tall paladin with a messy hairstyle, his IGN was Flying Tiger. He was standing a few meters from Li Wei with a group of players next to him. Immediately, Li Wei and his party turned to look at the group, "I would like to, but I can''t right now, I already have reduced stats due to fatigue," calmly answered Li Wei. "What? You are already here. Everyone else already fought at least once, it would be impolite to be the only one not participating!" declared Flying Tiger. At the same time, his friends behind him also made taunting comments. The surrounding players immediately turned their attention towards Li Wei, "Who was that coward that did not even dare to fight a friendly fight? How could the sect has such a person" thought the players. "No no, it is just that I have reduced stats due to fatigue right now. It would be improper since my performance would only be mediocre at best," said Li Wei to defend himself. "This... We all have high fatigue levels, that did not stop us from still accepting challenges." exclaimed one of the players. "Yes, you should stop looking for excuses! If you don''t even dare to fight, just leave the guild" said another player. "But if the paladin does not have reduced stats, then the fight will really be unfair," said another. Flying Tiger frowned upon hearing Li Wei''s excuse but there was nothing he could do. He was only ordered to challenge the player named Seven by his cousin, he never expected that player to refuse and have a decent excuse at that. There was nothing he could say since he still had a decent fatigue level. He was about to say something when a voice came from the side, "So you are saying that if you did not have reduced stats you would definitely accept any challenge?" The voice belonged to someone Li Wei immediately recognized, Rising Dragon. He was the one that rejected Li Wei when he asked to join the sect at the fields. The latter immediately frowned but quickly answered, "Of course, there is no reason to refuse in these conditions." "Good, grab this then, your opponent is me," said Rising Dragon as he tossed a bottle at Li Wei. Surprised, Li Wei opened his hands just in time to catch the small bottle. With a quick inspection, he found that the bottle contained a Fatigue Recovery Potion. It was similar to the one he received from the Commander at Little Root Town, but this one was of lower quality. [Fatigue Recovery Potion](Grade 0) Reduce fatigue level by 20% As they saw the bottle fly towards Li Wei, many players started to complain. Not many players recognized the potion, but those belonging to families immediately knew what they contained. They were newly developed potions by the alchemists of the sect. "This is so unfair! We all have high fatigue levels! Why is he the only one to receive this potion?" shouted a player. Upon hearing that, the nearby players could quickly determine the effect of the potion and also voiced out their complaints. However, Rising Dragon ignored them, he simply looked at Li Wei, waiting to see if he would find another excuse. At this moment, Li Wei had mixed feelings. He felt like he had fallen into a trap with no escape. "This is not right... I cannot accept this..." started Li Wei. But he was immediately cut short by Rising Dragon,"Everyone, many of you are not satisfied with the situation. You all have high fatigue, some even have reduced stats but you still accepted the challenges, however, none of you voiced out your concerns. You all kept silent about your fatigue levels while that guy did not! The sect is not looking for cowards, but neither is it looking for brainless followers. We want dynamic members who would not blindly listen to orders but voice out their opinion and contribute to the sect." exclaimed Rising Dragon with a righteous expression. "And therefore, since he was the first! I decided to reward him. I believe that everyone would agree that people taking initiatives should be rewarded." continued Rising Dragon. The surrounding players found nothing to say. What Rising Dragon said did seem right, it was their own fault for being timid. The players could only inwardly curse and grumble. There was nothing they could do besides looking at Li Wei with jealousy and envy. The latter felt like the trap he was in suddenly closed itself, with all the players looking at him, he had no choice but to drink the potion and accept the challenge. He thought for a second but could not find anything to say. He could only remove the cork from the bottle and gulp down the transparent liquid. [System prompt: you have consumed a fatigue recovery potion, fatigue -20%] "Good, go to arena 64, I will wait for you there." exclaimed Rising Dragon as he turned around and walked towards a door. Li Wei found nothing to say, the attention of everyone was still directed at him. He could only follow Rising Dragon. As he arrived a the door, Rising Dragon quickly said," Don''t worry, I won''t bully a newcomer. I won''t use my weapons against you", as he tossed his spear at a nearby player before touching the door and disappearing from the waiting room. Hearing that statement, many of the surrounding players frowned, the ones belonging to different all knew Rising Dragon since he was one of the leading figures of the Zhang Family. Although he sounded like he was going easy, it was actually the opposite. The Zhang Family actually specialized in hand to hand combat, what they excelled at was using their own body rather than weapons to fight. Cai Wenji immediately tried to warn Li Wei as he heard that, but he was too late. Li Wei already touched the door and vanished from the waiting room. "Sigh, I hope that he won''t be too careless. Let''s go to the spectating area" declared Cai Wenji. ... As he opened his eyes, Li Wei found himself in an arena similar to that of the Tower of Heroes, it was actually the map chosen by the sect, they opted for the simplest map since it was their first group event at the Colosseum. The difference was, there was no mist, instead, he could see seats where spectators could sit. In front of him, Rising Dragon was standing straight with a careless expression. "Since we are already there, do you want to make a bet? Not much, what about 250 contribution points?" proposed Rising Dragon with an innocent smile. Li Wei immediately frowned, he felt that he had been forced to fight against Rising Dragon, he did not want to fight to begin with, yet now that guy was taking advantage of the situation and asking for bets. 250 contribution points could represent a whole day''s worth. It was quite a decent amount but at the same time, Li Wei was confident in himself. He had seen Rising Dragon fight against the Mutated Giant Worm and felt that he could beat him. He also had the advantage of weapons. After a few seconds of hesitation, "Why not? It would make things more interesting." declared Li Wei.At the same time, a prompt was heard, asking the 2 players to validate their bets which they both immediately agreed. Seconds later, another prompt came in asking if both players were ready. Again, they both immediately accepted. With a loud sound, a countdown of 20 seconds started. Li Wei drew his 2 swords and took an aggressive stance, he planned to immediately charge at Rising Dragon. The latter simply readjusted his position, he also started to focus and took a fighting stance similar to that of boxing. He did not have weapons but his gloves were similar to that of Li Wei, they had small protrusions that were round and flat. [5] [4] [3] [2] [1] 39 Battle against Rising Dragon The spectator''s seats were actually decently filled, many players followed Li Wei and Rising Dragon as they entered the arena. They did not come here for Li Wei but for his opponent, they would finally get to see another important figure use his technique, there was no way they would miss that opportunity. Even some higher-ups of some families were watching from the spectator''s seat with solemn expressions. ... As the countdown reached zero, Rising Dragon immediately took action, with a grin, his body started to emit a reddish aura. A very faint reddish light covered his entire body as he charged at Li Wei. "He is really going all out. To even use Fire Coat like that; he must be planning to show off and finish this quickly" commented Cai Wenji with a sigh. "Ahhh why did he not choose me... I wanted to face that Fire Coat! If it is really as effective when used on the human body rather than a weapon," exclaimed The One Hero as he observed the fight. ... When the countdown reached zero, Li Wei immediately charged towards Rising Dragon. From his point of view, he saw a change in Rising Dragon''s expression followed by a faint red layer appearing on his body. He immediately went cautious, he did not know the effect of that layer but it meant nothing good. [Strengthen] To be safe, Li Wei used his skill and raised his left sword, preparing to pierce his opponent. The latter was smirking, he raised his right fist as if he was going to punch the tip of the sword piercing towards him. Right as the fist and the sword were about to meet, Rising Dragon suddenly made a short and quick lateral jump, just enough to avoid hitting the sword. He quickly followed up with his left fist aiming right at Li Wei''s head. The latter noticed the quick movement and reacted accordingly, slightly tilting his body, he aimed his 2nd sword at the trajectory of the fist. Rising Dragon was immediately forced to stop; he did not dare to meet weapons with bare hands yet. It was possible to do so in real life with his skills, but it was different in the game; there, weapons gave bonus stats, by relying on his fists, he was giving up a few points of damage each time. However, using his fist made him feel more comfortable and would also allow him to use his own technique. Noticing Rising Dragon''s move, Li Wei quickly followed up by continuously slashing his swords. However, he still could not hit his opponent even after more than 15 sword strikes. Rising Dragon was fast and agile, he was never idle, constantly moving. They traded a few blows where both sides lost some HP. "So you are the dexterity type, huh?" said Rising Dragon with a grin. Li Wei did not bother to answer, it might just be a distraction to make him break his continuous strikes. "Fine! let me show you how dexterity warriors should be!" Suddenly, Rising Dragon made his move; instead of jumping to dodge the sword like the previous time, he ducked just enough to let the sword harmless fly above him. Li Wei was stunned, it was a bold move that he did not expect, especially since that move did not affect Rising Dragon''s movement at all, he immediately violently punch towards Li Wei. The latter quickly stepped to the side to avoid the strike; Rising Dragon was too close for him to use his swords correctly. But Rising Dragon did not let him, he quickly followed up and activated his skill. A small flame suddenly lit up on his left fist, ''[Blazing Uppercut]'' shouted Rising Dragon as he punched towards Li Wei, it was at least twice as fast as normal. Shouting the name of the skill was not necessary, but it did add aesthetic effects to the scene. Li Wei panicked for a second, there was no way he would be able to dodge that strike. But he still quickly reacted, [Howl], the small wave was instantly produced and knocked back Rising Dragon by a step. It did not seem like much, but that was enough to cancel the skill just as it was about to hit his jaw. Enraged at his failure, Rising Dragon charged at Li Wei as soon as he recovered, [Strengthen], he used his own skill, making him even more dangerous. [Blade Draw], Li Wei went back on the offensive, a wind blade flew at Rising Dragon but to his surprise, he openly punched the wind blade dispersing it. He still took 9 damage from it, but in exchange, he took Li Wei by surprise. The latter quickly jumped and used [Cleave] to follow up, he would have preferred if Rising Dragon to jump to the side to avoid the wind blade, but that did not stop him. With a vicious smile, Rising Dragon stepped aside to dodge the [Cleave], but he did not retreat, instead, he used his left hand to grab his right one and violently slammed his right elbow at Li Wei''s stomach, "-24". The latter was taken by surprise, but he took the opportunity that his opponent was close to swing his second sword, "-23". Both parties took damage, but Li Wei suffered more, despite the fact that he used a sword. Rising Dragon invested more in the Strength stat than Li Wei and the Fire Coat provided an increase in Strength for its duration. "It''s over!" shouted Rising Dragon as he ignored the sword strike and charged at the retreating Li Wei. When he was struck by the elbow strike, Li Wei was forced to take a few steps back. He did not expect that his opponent would disregard his sword strike and charge at him. Li Wei slashed his swords in front of him but Rising Dragon did not allow him to; [Howl] He used his skill offensively, disrupting Li Wei''s move and took the opportunity to punch Li Wei twice on the chest. "-18","-19". "And now... The finishing move!" his raised his 2 hands to grab Li Wei''s neck as his gloves lit up. His gloves were his only equipment accompanied with a skill, his family heavily invested in him by spending a hundred gold in this grade 2 equipment for him. [Strangle] The 2 hands were about to viciously grab his neck, if he allowed it to happen, then he knew he would lose. In a desperate situation, he quickly thought about the possible options he had, [Howl] was on cooldown and [Earth Wall] would not be raised in time. But at that moment, Li Wei was not alarmed, he was in fact very calm. His hands naturally moved his swords, but not at Rising Dragon since there would not be enough time to strike him. Instead, he stroke the ground and pushed against it. With the swords, he managed to push himself just enough to avoid the [Strangle]. Rising Dragon was surprised, using swords as support to move? That was something he had never seen but he did not have time to think as Li Wei was already attacking. Rising Dragon quickly retreated, but his right leg was still hit by the sword,"-23". He was about to counterattack when he suddenly noticed something; his mana was almost depleted. Rising Dragon immediately frowned, it was something he did not expect, the fight was going for too long. Fire Coat was a technique that gave him 3 Strength and 2 Dexterity but it had a severe cost; 5 mana every 10 seconds. He did not invest any point in Intelligence, so his mana pool was quite small, he now only had enough to hold for 15 seconds more. But the depressing fact was that he could no longer use his [Blazing Uppercut]. He did not want to rely on items but he had no choice. Rising Dragon quickly punched Li Wei to force him to stop attacking and jumped back a few meters. Quickly, he took out a Mana Potion from his inventory and gulped it down. Li Wei was surprised upon seeing that, he did not know that consumables could be used, or else, he would not have remained with this amount of HP. But he quickly realized that this was not the Tower of Heroes, rules there were different. He quickly smiled, instead of taking this small break to refill his own HP, he quickly took out a throwing needle from his side and aimed at Rising Dragon. The latter immediately noticed but there was nothing he could do; since he was in the process of consuming the potion, any movement or taking damage would interrupt the process. The needle flew straight at Rising Dragon, with a furious expression he chose to dodge to the side, but he was immediately met with Li Wei''s swords. "You..." 10 seconds left on Fire Coat, Rising Dragon quickly dodged the swords and kicked Li Wei on his chest to push him away. The latter easily dodged the kick and attacked from the side. 5 seconds left, Rising Dragon was getting more and more frustrated, Li Wei was not letting him get away, he even traded a few HP just to stick to him. Eventually, the red layer around Rising Dragon disappeared. Without Fire Coat, he immediately became more vulnerable, not just because of the decrease in stats but also the blow at his confidence. He continued to dodge the Li Wei''s sword but he was clearly not as careful and agile as before. Rising Dragon was constantly looking for an opportunity to break away and drink the Mana Potion but in vain. Li Wei immediately noticed when the red layer disappeared and he immediately understood the situation. That was why his opponent was desperately trying to drink the Mana Potion. With renewed confidence, he became more aggressive. Quickly swinging his sword, he hit Rising Dragon 2 more times, "-20","-21". The latter was only left with 24 HP which put him in lethal range. Despite all his attempts, Rising Dragon simply could not break away. Eventually, before getting completely defeated, he made a large jump back and shouted while raising his hands: "I surrender!" Immediately, a loud announcement was heard, "Victory!" as a large banner appeared at the top showing Li Wei. "You win this time! Things would be different if I had a weapon!" declared Rising Dragon as he immediately turned to leave. He has already lost enough face and did not want to stay there anymore. Although he knew that he lost because he was careless and abuse Fire Coat at the beginning, he also was not 100% sure to be able to defeat him. He was expecting Rising Dragon to be a sore loser and challenge again but nothing like that happened. "Thank you for going easy on me!" finally said Li Wei at the departing figure of Rising Dragon. The latter trembled for a second in rage but quickly left. Li Wei sighed, this fight was harder than he expected. He did win in the end but he understood that it was mostly thanks to his swords that he was able to keep Rising Dragon long enough for his Mana to run out. After 10 seconds, he was naturally teleported out of the arena since the fight was over. Outside, he was immediately welcomed by his party. "You really won! How did you know the weakness of Fire Coat was its heavy mana cost?" joyfully declared The One Hero as he tapped Li Wei''s shoulder. He was quickly surrounded by the others who all loudly congratulated him. Cai Wenji only silently nodded at Li Wei, he was inwardly very satisfied with his performance but as the leader, he could not behave like the others. The surrounding players all looked at Li Wei with renewed respect, although they knew that Li Wei had the weapon advantage, it was still impressive that he survived Rising Dragon''s technique. .... In a corner of the waiting room, a furious Rising Dragon stopped next to a group of players, next to him, was a random player that kept sweet-talking:"That idiot only won because of the advantage of weapon boss! Let him play around, as soon as our blacksmith develop the knuckles! Things would be different!" Rising Dragon just ignored his lackey and turned his attention to the players. "He is decent but he only won because I was careless! I estimate that he can beat the 13th floor but I doubt he could defeat the 14th one, his throwing needles was something I did not expect but I could have beaten him if I had a proper weapon" "That''s good! We now know the strength of that guy. We should keep an eye on the Cai Family. They made a good recruit, he might be at our level," declared a player that Li Wei would immediately recognize as Li Feng. "I second that! We should also focus on recruiting the new players, there might be many players like him, it is a good opportunity to strengthen ourselves." commented another player. "Don''t worry, we will compensate you for your loss today. Don''t think too much of it, once our Blacksmiths are able to produce decent weapons, I am sure you will be able to easily defeat him." ... After the fight, the players quickly started to disperse as the event was over. Li Wei also did not stay long, he still needed to purchase a lot of things for his travel. Having obtained the permission from Cai Wenji to leave the city, he needed to prepare for his trip. Alone, he went through the Trade District, upgrading his storage bags and buying provisions and consumables. He also purchased a map and a tent since he would need to spend some nights in the wild. Travelling was not easy in the game but the one advantage player had was their inventory, they did not need to physically carry their needs. Having bought everything he thought he needed, Li Wei went to the training center to practice his Gliding Steps before returning to the inn for a meal and planning his trip to Abe''s Forest. 40 Traveling The next morning, Li Wei woke up to the alarm he set up. The sun was just barely appearing at the Horizon. He quickly prepared himself and went down for a quick breakfast, it was very early but there were already a few players seated in the dining hall. He had already planned his journey and what he needed to do now was to go to the stables to rent a horse. He needed to travel a rather long distance and could only come back in time if he used a horse. There was no public transport there, players needed to move like in medieval times. Although teleportation portals existed, these only linked cities together and had a significant price. Li Wei quickly made his way through the city. Many players were actually up and were leaving the city, it was different from the beginner''s town, players here worked a lot harder. It did not take long to reach the stables where he was greeted by an NPC, he was a bearded man whose name was Marcus. A large variety of horses could be seen everywhere being tended by some young men. Li Wei knew nothing about horses, he was very impressed at the sight of these animals which were quite rare in the cities of the real world. Through negotiations, he booked a horse for a week for 2 gold. The company owning the stables operated through the whole empire, one could take a horse and leave it in any town or city''s stables after use, they did not necessarily have to come back to their starting point. However, in case the horse perished or was severely injured, a fine would be levied. Li Wei was quickly invited to test his horse on a training field beside the stables. Marcus was happily boasting the merit of the horse he brought to Li Wei and taught him how to properly guide the horse. With that information in mind, Li Wei quickly jumped on it with the help of Marcus. The horse struggled for a moment but was quickly patted and calmed down by Marcus. Li Wei felt an awkward feeling on top of the horse. The constant motion made him feel really uncomfortable. The game did simplify the task since horses were the main means of transport by giving every player the "Riding" skill. Even though it did not appear in the character window, its effects were already active or else, Li Wei would have already been thrown away with the rough way he jumped onto the horse. After walking the horse around for a little bit, the feeling of discomfort gradually disappeared. He gradually increased the pace and even guided the horse through an obstacle course. The feeling of speed was marvelous but he instantly felt sick as the horse started to jump over haystacks. With a laugh, the bearded man quickly came to his rescue and recomforted him" It''s totally normal, it takes some time to get used to horse riding, it''s already impressive that you did not fall from the jump" ... A few minutes later, Li Wei was leaving the city on top of the horse. The guard at the north gate did not stop him but players who saw him did send him a curious look. Riding a horse implied that the players were going to cover long distances but normally, players doing that would be on an escort mission to nearby towns. Having gotten used to the horse, Li Wei was silently enjoying the view, it was a great feeling to be at this height. He quickly arrived in front of the dungeon, since he was going north, it was inevitable for him to go near the dungeon. But as he was quietly passing by, he was stopped by a group of guards stationed near the entrance. "Hello, adventurer! There is an emergency mission being released, would you like to participate?" asked one of the guard. "An emergency? What happened?" curiously asked Li Wei. "Actually it is not really an emergency but during the night, the dungeon went through a modification, it is a normal thing for the dungeon to mutate once in a while but this time, the first 10 floors all changed at the same time, we are now looking for adventurers to explore and map these floors, will you help us?" At the same time, a voice was heard, [System prompt: You have received the quest,"Map the dungeon", do you want to accept?] [Information] Walk through the first ten floors of the dungeon, a map will be automatically recorded as you explore the floors, Reward: 2000 exp per floor Completion: 0% Note: This quest is being given to all players near the dungeon simultaneously, the rewards for each floor can only be claimed once, please make haste! "This..." Li Wei was instantly surprised, a quest at that moment, but he quickly noticed other players being stopped by other guards, it was clear that the competition was going to be fierce. 2000 exp per floor was huge, though it would take about 1 hour to fully explore a floor if they ignored fighting against monsters, this represented a massive amount of exp. He hesitated for a while but eventually decided to reject the quest. It would take him a whole hour for just 1 floor and he did not know how many players were already working on this quest. He preferred to continue on his journey; the guards did not seem disappointed, they simply wished him safe travels. As he was leaving, he saw a large group of Stone Defenders approaching, it was clear that they would be taking advantage of the quest. Quickly moving away, Li Wei took the opportunity to send a quick message to Cai Wenji, informing him of the event. Not waiting for an answer, he lightly kicked the horse, making it accelerate and quickly left the area. There was a long distance to travel, all he could see around him were farms and fields. Occasionally, he would see some farmers tending to their fields or animals, some would wave at him while others would just completely ignore him. A few hours later, Li Wei was still quietly riding the horse, he started to feel bored, the landscape was very repetitive, although the farms became rarer, endless fields were still in view. That was one of the issues with traveling, there was nothing productive he could do meanwhile. "Maybe I should have borrowed a book at the library or something," thought Li Wei. Still, he felt that he made the right choice, going to Abe''s forest was a good way to break from the monotony of hunting monsters daily. It was also a good way to explore the world and not restrict himself to the city. As he was deep in thoughts, he suddenly got a message from the guild chat, "All available players of the guild are to meet quickly at the inn, contribution points will be given for presence!" "Just what is happening?" thought Li Wei. He only left the city for half a day, what could have already happened? With a quick exchange of message with Cai Wenji, he learned that an event was taking place at the dungeon. While exploring the floors, the players came across secret rooms and were now fighting for the treasures inside. The Fleeting Clouds Sect itself was gathering its troop to fight for the treasures and so a message was sent to each guild affiliated to the sect. However, Li Wei decided to ignore that, he was already too far from the dungeon to come back in time. It would be better for him to continue on his journey when he explained it to Cai Wenji, the latter also approved of his decision and then left to focus on the event. "Ahh, maybe I should have accepted the quest, I might have been the one to find the treasures first." sighed Li Wei. But the opportunity was already gone. ... A few hours later, the sun was about to set as Li Wei finally arrived near a nameless forest. He had finally left the farmers'' fields and was now in complete wilderness. He quickly jumped off the horse, the animal also had its own fatigue level, although it had much better endurance than humans, it still looked very happy to see that they were stopping for the night. Li Wei quickly took out the provisions for the horse. Marcus at the stables offered those together with the horse as he would need to feed it for the duration, it was all included in the price he paid. "Good girl," said Li Wei as he patted the horse, he silently attached the horse to one of the nearby trees, the rope was long enough to allow the horse to move a bit, but it could not run away. There was no danger in leaving the horse outside, despite its appearance, it was a level 15 beast. Although it was not at the level of war horses, a kick from it could easily push Li Wei away. Besides, this forest could be considered to be very safe, sheltering only creatures below level 10. The night cycle would slightly strengthen the beasts but as long as he did not set his camp in the middle of the forest, there would be no issue. Having taken care of the horse, Li Wei proceeded in setting up the camp. It was an extremely easy task, collecting some wood for a fire camp did not take long while the tent could be set automatically. It would have been too complex to have to build the tent, it just came out as a triangular shelter as Li Wei took it out his inventory. With everything ready, it was time for a quick session of [Gliding Steps] before dinner. It was already the 3rd time Li Wei was practicing these moves. He already got quite used to it, his body did not tremble as much when he had to stand on tiptoe. 30 minutes later, the system prompt finally came: [System prompt: You have completed a training cycle of [Gliding Steps], completion rate: 80%] "This? How come it is only 80%?" asked Li Wei to himself. He was sure that he did get more proficient than last time, but why did the completion rate actually decrease? He thought for a while and finally found the reason. It was due to his environment, using the training center did come with unseen benefits. What would be the point of paying for a training area if there were no benefits? Training there boosted the completion rate by about 10% which made it totally worth the price. Additionally, fatigue increased at a slower rate at the training center. He took a quick look at his character window to find that his [gliding steps] was now displaying 43%. it would not be long before he would be able to use that technique. With nothing else to do, he decided to hunt for a bit in the forest, even with the night cycle, he was confident since the beast there were supposedly very weak. Although horse riding during the entire day did bring him some exp, it was far from a day of hunting. Seeing his exp bar so close to being full, he could not help but want to fill it immediately. Even with the camp already set up, Li Wei set out and hunted on the outskirt of the forest, he did not go too far from the tent. But he did not hunt for long, there was still a lot of traveling to do the next day and he could not afford too much fatigue for now. ... An hour later, Li Wei was finally lying under his tent. Rolling for a bit, he still failed to fall asleep. It was a completely different environment, the lack of comfort from a bed and the constant sounds of the wild prevented him from resting properly. Sleeping outside was a new experience for Li Wei, he could not help but tense when he heard the sudden rustling of leaves caused by the beasts. Unable to sleep, he started to recall the past few days and remembered that he promised Bright Sun to find a way to improve the Gliding Steps for her. Now that he had time, he pondered over the problem for a while. He was definitely sure that this technique was more meant for men than women. It was just an intuition at first but when he thought about it, men and women were different. Li Wei did have some knowledge of biology since influenced by his peers, medicine was the career path he chose to take when he would attend university. Leaving aside the difference in muscle mass, Li Wei knew that women had larger pelvis than men which results in different hip joints and allowed for a wider range of movement. With this clue in mind, Li Wei started to think about his own movements when he did the technique, what needed to be changed for it to be more appropriate for women? He had no idea; his knowledge in the human anatomy was very shallow, but following his own intuition, he came up with some possible modifications in the movements, they were nothing major, but they would put in more stress on the hip joints. There was no way for him to test his hypothesis, he could only wait to go back and ask Bright Sun about it. Unbeknown to him, his mind slowly drifted away and as the image of the scene of Sun Rose and Bright Sun at the trading district appeared in his mind, he finally fell asleep. 41 Abes Forest 1 While Li Wei was peacefully sleeping, things were completely different at Algate City. At the Raflore Mansion, servants and messengers were constantly relaying messages. "Send 5 more squads and put the city in an emergency state!" said the Marquis in an exhausted state. It was finally time for him to meet his wife after a long day of sorting out documents but as he was about to leave, a group of panicked secretaries suddenly barged into his office informing him of the events. According to a report by the guards at the dungeon, a monster wave was about to crash onto the city. Although the exact origin of that wave was unknown, they suspected that the adventurers caused it due to their strange behavior earlier during the day. "Sir Marquis! This is unacceptable, it has not even been a week since they arrived and the adventurers already caused a monster wave! We cannot allow them to do as they want!" declared a secretary. There was no clear proof that the adventurers were the cause, but the adventurers were an easy scapegoat to blame. "Then what do you propose?" sighed the Marquis. He was already annoyed at being delayed and now the secretary was delaying him even more. But he understood that the secretary was right, if the adventurers were to bring more trouble to the city, it would definitely be detrimental to him. "Very simple Sir Marquis. Just make the adventurers defend the city! They caused this situation! They should at least help in resolving the trouble they caused. They are just gonna revive upon death anyway, it will serve them a lesson" ... Gem Family headquarters, An emergency meeting was being held to discuss today''s event. Not only were all the important figures having the names of gemstones present, but a group of players known to have formed part of the programming team of the game was present. Diamond:"What was that earlier!? I thought the first event was supposed to be Halloween in a few months time?" "This... I don''t know, we did not program anything like that, maybe it was done by another team or it might even be something that Gaia decided to implement so that we do not rely on our knowledge of the game," answered one of the programmers. "So useless! Why did we even send you there if you cannot provide reliable information of the game!" commented Crystal "Alright thank you, sirs," said Amethyst while dismissing the programmers by waving her hand. They all already knew that the programmers were not to be blamed but everyone was already on their nerves after dying today during the event. Ruby:"How should we respond to that? It is clear that the Stone Defenders came out on top! Even though they all died, they did collect a massive amount of exp in those tunnels, even with their death, they should still be level 12 while we are back down to level 10!" Diamond:"Then what exactly happened? How did we miss that opportunity?" Sapphire:"Apparently, it was all due to the special quest available this morning; we ignored it but the Stone Defenders took it seriously and got the map of all the 10 floors. We don''t have much information but according to our spies, the maps contained a message; from the way the floors were arranged, if you look at the whole map, they contained indications on positions of secret rooms. While some secret rooms contained items, there was a particular one which looked like a dormitory for monsters. The Stone Defenders took advantage of that and slaughtered their way through while the monsters were caught unaware and obtained a lot of exp from that." Opal:"Did they exploit a bug? If so we just need to report to Gaia!" Diamond:"We already made a report but apparently everything was in order! Those bastards were the only one to profit from that. We all died in vain and.." At that moment, an announcement was heard, [Announcement: A monster wave is on the way to Algate City, the wind marquis decreed that all players are to contribute to the defense! Players ignoring this call to arms will be sent to jail] ... The Gem Family was not the only one having such meeting, the Fleeting Clouds Sect were also discussing today''s event when they heard the announcement. Seconds later, a quest was given to all players present in Algate City, [System prompt: you have received the quest, "Defend against the Monster Wave"] Information A Monster Wave is coming from the dungeon, join the guards to protect the city. Reward: None Note: Failure to contribute to the defense will result in the player being sent to jail. "This! What the hell is that! Not only did we die at the dungeon! Now we also have to defend the city! Isn''t that equivalent to asking us to die? How can we fight against level 20 monsters" exclaimed Wang Hao. The player present were all the figureheads of their respective family. As soon as they obtained the notification, they were all furious about it. "What do we do? Do we have to attend this?" asked a player by the IGN, Mist Soldier. "There is no choice; if we go to jail, we don''t even get to farm monsters for a whole week. Dying once is nothing compared to that... But those Stone Defenders must definitely pay for what they did!" declared Wang Chong. ... Li Wei was unaware of the events occurring at the city. He did not receive the new quest since he already left earlier and did not receive any message since he muted the guild chat. A day later, the sun was high in the sky when Li Wei finally arrived at his destination. Abe''s Forest was in view, next to it was a giant lake known as the Gassian Lake. After these two and a half days of traveling, Li Wei finally collected enough exp from riding the horse and some night hunting to level up. Now that he was level 11, he was more confident than ever in succeeding. The free stat point was naturally immediately attributed to Dexterity, pushing it to 21. The reason Li Wei came here was for Shining Alyssums. These flowers could be found at the bank of Lake to the side of the forest. This location contained monsters ranging from level 12 to 18 but Li Wei still dared to come here since his goal was not the monsters but the flowers, they were relatively rare, but since he was the first to come to this area, he was confident to be able to gather five. Since he was already there, Li Wei took the opportunity to go by the lake, he was surprised to see a dozen cottages on the bank. Several people were fishing in the lake; some were standing on the banks while others were on boats in the middle of the Lake. As Li Wei approached the group of people on the bank, the fishermen immediately stared at him and quickly told him to dismount and to bring the horse away. According to them, the constant "Clip Clop Clip Clop" made by the horse''s steps were scaring away the fishes. With no other choices, Li Wei silently dismounted, after all, these seemingly weak fishermen were all at least level 20. After exchanging a few whispers, a kind fisherman took pity on him and gave him the permission to attach his horse to one of the trees in a cottage''s garden. It was what Li Wei was looking for, Abe''s Forest was different from the nameless forest, he could not simply attach the horse to one of the trees there and so was very grateful upon hearing the suggestion of the fisherman. With his horse in a safe place, Li Wei decided to start looking for his Shining Alyssums. According to his schedule, he had about 2 days times to search the area. The fishermen angrily stared at him as he walked past them as his steps were ''loud'' even if he tried to walk as silently as possible. To avoid further annoying them, Li Wei quickened his steps and reached the forest. Being close to the lake, this part of the forest was not very dense, rays of light easily went through the foliage. Apart from looking more luxuriant, there was no big difference between Abe''s forest and the previous ones he went through. Although it looked very peaceful and safe, hidden dangers were everywhere. It did not take long for Li Wei to find a level 16 boa lazily lying on a branch. It turned its head to look at Li Wei but did not bother to move to attack him. Seeing that, Li Wei became extremely vigilant, looking everywhere around him, he changed direction to avoid the boa. He clearly knew that he stood no chance against a beast 5 levels above him. The only monster he told himself he would try to fight if he met one was the level 12 Forest Spider which was the weakest monster there. With swords in hands, Li Wei walked as silently as possible. Always avoiding the beasts in the surroundings. After more than 30 minutes of search, he still failed to find any Shining Alyssums but he persevered or else this trip would be a complete waste. After 30 more minutes of hide and seek with the beasts, Li Wei finally saw what he came for, under the shade of a tree, a lonely flower was standing there under the protection of a level 16 boa. The latter was seemingly asleep, hanging to the lowest branch of the tree. Having finally found his target, Li Wei quickly jumped behind a nearby tree, afraid of alerting the boa. "What should I do? Is it really asleep? Or should I divert its attention somewhere else?" Li Wei had no knowledge of the boa''s aggro range but he was certain that the flower was within it. Hesitating for a second, he finally decided to perform some tests. Taking out a rather large piece of meat that he prepared in advance, he readjusted his position and moved a few steps forward. As quietly as possible, he tossed the piece of meat at about 10 meters from the boa and immediately hid behind a tree. No response. The boa continued to quietly sleep despite the "Thumm" caused by the meat when it landed. On tiptoe, Li Wei collected that piece of meat back and returned to his position. After a quick look to make sure the boa was still sleeping, he tossed the meat again but this time, at about 8 meters from the boa. No response. Again, nothing happened, Li Wei was relieved but at the same time, he felt the stress building up. He collected the meat again and repeated the steps, this time, 6 meters from the boa. Still no response. The boa did not seem to have noticed anything. Anxious, Li Wei waited a little bit longer than usual before he once again stepped forward to grab the piece of meat. But as he grabbed the meat, "Hisss hisss" Li Wei suddenly tensed, he raised his head only to find that the boa was still quietly sleeping. "Was it my imagination?" thought Li Wei. He was about to return back to his position when he suddenly felt danger, all his sense were screaming, telling him to jump to the side. Without hesitation, Li Wei rolled to the side and as he was turning onto himself, he saw a level 15 boa crawling behind him. "Gasp" Unfortunately for him, his sudden movement alerted the sleeping boa which opened its eyes and immediately turned its attention to Li Wei. The piece of meat actually landed just outside the aggro range of the boa, but as Li Wei rolled to the side, he inadvertently entered the aggro range for a moment. "Hisss hiss", the 2 snakes slowly crawled towards Li Wei, they were relatively slow but Li Wei did not dare delay and quickly took some steps back. He was still reluctant since the Shining Alyssums were merely 6 meters away from him but the boa in between them was a great deterrent. Grinding his teeth, Li Wei was about to turn and flee when he noticed a small detail about the 2 boas, they were staring at him but more precisely at his hand holding the large piece of meat. Noticing that, a thought crossed his mind,"Would they be more interested in the piece of meat than me if I toss it away?" Li Wei immediately moved the piece of meat to his other hand only to notice that the eyes of the boas followed the piece of meat. Gaining some confidence, Li Wei quickly tossed it to the side but he did not immediately rush to the flower but instead continue to slowly retreat for a moment. As they saw the piece of meat flying, the two boas hissed loudly before crawling as fast as they could towards the juicy meat. The snake that was previously sleeping stopped for a second to look at Li Wei with hesitation but as it saw the other boa completely ignoring the human and rushing to the piece of meat, it quickly also decided to turn its attention to the meat. Between chasing a human that he was not even guaranteed to catch and an immobile piece of meat that was lying a few meters away from it, it naturally chose the latter. Li Wei tensed as his eyes met that of the boa. But he quickly let out a sigh of relief as he saw the boa ignore him for the piece of meat. Not daring to stay there any longer, he quickly went around the boas to collect the Shining Alyssum. "Hiss hiss!" As soon as Li Wei picked the yellowish flower and put it in his inventory, the hissing sound of the snakes once again reached his ears. Taking a quick look, he found the 2 snakes breaking into a fight, it seemed that the level 15 boa engulfed the whole piece of meat leaving nothing for the level 16 one. The latter immediately got enraged and started hissing wildly. Li Wei did not dare stay, having already obtained what he wanted, he preferred to stay away from these creatures. A few minutes later, as the 2 snakes finally separated themselves, the level 16 boa slowly returned to its previous location. It was badly injured but it still came out on top and forced the other boa to regurgitate the piece of meat. As it arrived at its spot, it immediately noticed that the Shining Alyssum was missing. The flower was not important to it, it only stayed there because it found the flower pretty. "Hisss!" Enraged, the boa quickly coiled around the stem of the tree to gain some height and look around. But he did not find anything, the human was nowhere to be seen. Fury appeared in its eyes, but there was nothing it could do since Li Wei was already hundreds of meters away. 42 Abes Forest 2 "Am I far enough now?" thought Li Wei. He ran for a full 5 minutes, in case the boa would chase after him. Only then did he finally relax, dying there would be catastrophic, he would be sent to the graveyard at Algate City but his horse would remain there, not only making his trip a waste but he would also have to pay a fine. He let out a sigh of relief when he did not see anything chasing after him. Catching up his breath for a moment, Li Wei resumed exploring the area for more Shining Alyssums. He finally had one but needed 4 more to upgrade his ring. The forest was vast; Shining Alyssums were not the only plants he could collect. Many wild herbs and fruits could also be seen. Li Wei hesitated whether to collect those or not, he had limited inventory space after all but in the end, he decided to collect all of them since he could just toss them away if he needed space. He did not know the price of these items nor their uses, but the more the better. It did not take long for the area around Li Wei to be emptied of all the collectible resources, especially the wild berry bushes he found. But he did not dare stay for too long in a specific area. Beasts were still roaming around and could kill him easily. An hour later, Li Wei finally came across his 3rd and 4th Shining Alyssums. He had already found another one after the boa''s, in an open area. Since he did not find any beasts nearby, Li Wei stealthily grabbed the lonely flower and added it to his inventory. Now, Li Wei was hiding inside a bush under the shade of a tree. In front of him, at about 20 meters, two Shining Alyssums was basking into the sunlight. The only problem was, a flock of Scarlet Macaws was playing around the open area. The Scarlet Macaws were level 13 birds. They stood among the weakest beasts of this forest but were very sly and always remained in groups. The Scarlet Macaws were similar to the parrots near Little Root Town. They had weak bodies and would easily fall after a few strikes but they had relatively high levels due to their ability to fly and sneak attacking. They were basically good targets for rangers but the bane of other classes. In front of Li Wei, 3 Scarlet Macaws were flying in circles, chasing each other. Another group just left the area going deeper into the forest. 3 Scarlet Macaws definitely represented a challenge for Li Wei but it was not impossible. Li Wei was not thinking of defeating the 3 Scarlet Macaws, that would take a lot of effort and involved too many risks, he just wanted to sneakily take away the Shining Alyssum. Slowly brushing past the leaves, Li Wei took a few steps forward, keeping a reasonable distance from the 3 birds and the flowers. When he finally estimated that he was in the right spot, Li Wei put back one sword in his inventory before grabbing 2 throwing needles in 1 hand. Taking one last look at the surroundings to make sure nothing will go wrong, he broke into a sprint towards the Shining Alyssums. The 3 Scarlet Macaws immediately noticed the intruder, they immediately stopped playing and shrieked loudly. Scarlet Macaws were very protective of their territory and now, someone was invading it. They immediately gained some height to get a better view of that invader. As the Scarlet Macaws saw that it was only a human, and a weak one at that, they became furious, how could a puny human invade their territory? The 3 Scarlet Macaws simultaneously dived towards Li Wei. But they instantly saw a ray of light leave the hand of the human and fly towards them. By instinct, they immediately broke their formation and scattered to avoid the ray of light. Taking a look, they quickly saw that it was a shiny piece of metal, but they did not have time to observe it properly as another ray of light was leaving the human''s hand. The 3 Scarlet Macaws immediately became more cautious, they evaded the attack and prepared to attack the human when they suddenly noticed something. The intruder just grabbed the Shining Alyssums of their territory. "Shriekk" Enraged, they immediately charged at the human thief but were only greeted by 2 more throwing needles. They made a quick spin to avoid the needles but this time, they did not retreat but instead gave chase to the thief. Li Wei was very satisfied, "already 4... I only need to find one more" said Li Wei to himself, but he did not have much time to enjoy himself as the 3 Scarlet Macaws were flying towards him. He immediately threw 2 more throwing needles before escaping as fast as he could. Some of the needles he threw earlier already came back to his belt. The enchantment was very useful, there was just a small delay to the activation of the enchantment, they would only return 5 seconds after landing somewhere. "Shriekk Shriekk", behind him, Li Wei could hear the flapping of the wings of the Scarlet Macaws and their high pitched screams. They were clearly calling for reinforcement, he did not dare delay. Using his sword, Li Wei quickly moved aside some branches in front of him as he continued to run as fast as possible. Fortunately, the forest was not very dense, so Li Wei could clearly see in front of him and avoid the obstacles but that also meant that the Scarlet Macaws could easily see him. He tried to throw more needles at the Scarlet Macaws, but doing that was very hard when he was running, especially since he did not want to slow down to properly aim behind him. The Scarlet Macaws were slowly closing the gaps between them, and surely, Li Wei suddenly rolled to the side, barely avoiding the peck of one of the Scarlet Macaws. "These birds are really persistent huh!" thought Li Wei. But there was nothing he could do, quickly getting up, he tried to escape once more. But another Scarlet Macaw flew in front of him to block the way. "Shriek" It immediately flew to peck Li Wei. "Since you want to get into attack range yourself, then come," exclaimed Li Wei in his heart. He immediately grabbed his other sword from his inventory and took a defensive stance. As the Scarlet Macaw''s beak was about to land on his chest, Li Wei quickly raised his swords in an X shape to protect him. But the other 2 Scarlet Macaws were not idle, they both quickly attacked from different angles, one aiming at his shoulder and another at his leg. Jumping to the side, Li Wei slashed his swords at the 2 Scarlet Macaws trying to sneak attack him. They easily dodged the swords by simply changing their trajectory, one retreated while the other continued forward and landed a few pecks on Li Wei,"-17","-15". But as the Scarlet Macaw was about to retreat, Li Wei mercilessly stroke his sword at the bird''s wing,"-21", taking away about a third of its HP. The Scarlet Macaw was surprised and disoriented but Li Wei did not have time to follow up as the other 2 Scarlet Macaw immediately came to rescue their friend. Thinking that the Scarlet Macaws would drop the matter, Li Wei once again tried to escape but the birds were vengeful, not only did the human steal from them but he also injured one of them. They quickly chased after him but this time, were more cautious. "F***, these birds really won''t let me leave" Li Wei was already running as fast as possible, but the birds were slowly closing the gap, he felt like a deja-vu. It was the same situation he experienced when chased by the mine bats in the sealed mine, but this time, the environment was much more open, but he did not know how far the Scarlet Macaws would chase him. "Shrieek", Seeing that they were not dropping the matter, Li Wei got an idea, he quickly took a turn behind a tree to change direction and the 3 birds quickly followed him. A few seconds later, he once again took a turn behind another tree, but this time, he immediately stopped behind the thick stem of the tree, out of view of the birds. "2" "1" "Now" He internally estimated how long it would take for the birds to go past the tree. He was not certain, but still, he trusted his instinct, when he thought it was time, he immediately raised his 2 swords and brought them down,[Cleave]. The 3 scarlet Macaws had no idea of the trap, they flew in formation and were about to go past the tree when suddenly, they noticed the 2 swords striking towards them. The 2 Scarlet Macaws at the edge of the formation quickly dispersed to avoid the blades, but the middle one had no time to do so."-31","-22" 2 numbers popped up above the bird''s head as the sword went through its body. Coincidentally, it was the Scarlet Macaw that was previously injured by Li Wei, it was flying at the center of the formation since it was the safest place, but it was what cost it its life. It did not even have time to let out a shriek that it fell down, lifeless. The 2 Scarlet Macaws immediately screamed at the death of their friend and viciously dived towards Li Wei. The latter did not have time to raise his sword to defend himself and pecks landed on his shoulder,"-14","-16". [Earth Wall] As he took damage, Li Wei immediately used his ring''s skill, not as a shield but to prevent the Scarlet Macaws from escaping. It was their nature to attack in a hit and run style, and as he predicted, the birds flew back a few meters right after pecking Li Wei. Unfortunately, a wall of earth was there to block their path. The wall Li Wei chose was very thin, which reduced the time taken for its formation. In Li Wei''s plan, the wall did not need to be thick since he thought the birds would not even hit it, they would instead try to avoid it. And he was right, in front of the brown wall, the 2 birds stopped for a moment unsure of what to do, but they quickly picked a direction to escape. One chose to go around through the right while the other tried to escape from above. But the Scarlet Macaws were unlucky, the second it took them to avoid the wall was all Li Wei needed to raise his sword back. Seeing one of the Scarlet Macaw trying to go around the earth wall, Li Wei quickly took this opportunity to stab the bird to death. The first sword strike stabbed the Scarlet Macaw at its wing while the second stroke near its tail, "-21","-24". The damage dealt was not enough to bring the Scarlet Macaw down, it still had a third of its HP. But just as the bird successfully arrived at the edge of the earth wall and was about to go around it, it immediately felt a sense of danger. It did not have time to turn to look at the human as a wind blade flew across its body, taking away the rest of its HP. "Shriekk", as it saw its companion fall, the third Scarlet Macaw immediately screamed, but it did not dare launch another attack at the human. Even as it saw that the human did not have much HP left, two of his friends already died to the human''s tricks, he might have other trump cards under his sleeves. Instead of attacking, it flew upwards to keep its distance from the dangerous human. The two looked at each other for a moment, until the Scarlet Macaw decided to quickly go and bring the other Scarlet Macaws to fight the human. Li Wei was relieved when he saw the bird leave, but he knew he could not stay there for long. His HP was low but he kept a strong posture to try to intimidate the bird. With the threat temporarily gone, he quickly took out two Health potions and drank them in quick succession. He did not know where the Scarlet Macaw went, but he knew that it was dangerous to stay there. He quickly went to the Scarlet Macaw''s corpse. "Collect" 2 new items instantly appeared in his inventory, "Scarlet Macaw Feather" and "Scarlet Macaw Meat". Having obtained what he wanted, Li Wei quickly left the scene. A few minutes later, a group of 7 Scarlet Macaws arrived at the scene, they were being led by the one that just escaped from Li Wei. Arriving at the scene, "Shriekk", the one that looked like the leader let out a loud scream. Upon receiving the order, the birds quickly dispersed to look for the human intruder. ... Li Wei was still running away from the place he fought with the Scarlet Macaw, he could tell after being chased for so long by the birds that they would not let him go easily, especially after he killed some of them. He did not know how far he needed to go to leave their territory but chose to run towards the Gassian Lake since he did not see any birds in that vicinity. Fortunately, Li Wei did not encounter any beast upon escaping. In fact, the surroundings were very quiet. He finally came into view of the Lake when he suddenly noticed a silhouette on the side. It was a little girl, she looked like she was not older than eight but what was strange was that her skin had a trace of blue, even her hair was dark blue. She seemed to be floating in mid-air, innocently looking towards Li Wei with her large blue eyes and a warm smile. But a shiver ran down Li Wei''s spine as he noticed that just behind the little girl, a gnome was leaning against a tree. Although it looked like it lost consciousness; it was obviously injured and in pain. 43 Lake Fairy Li Wei immediately recognized the young girl in front of him. Although she looked human, the taint of blue of her skin betrayed her origin, she was a Lake Fairy of the Gassian Lake. Before making his trip, Li Wei carefully did some research at the library about the places he would have to visit. This was how he knew what beasts were present at Abe''s Forest and since he was close to the Gassian Lake, he naturally had a look at the information available. Lake Fairies were creatures that often appeared near the Gassian Lake, not much information was available about them but they were known to be a friendly race. They rarely appeared in front of humans but were often seen at night floating above the lake. The Lake Fairies rarely interacted with humans but in the past, 2 cases happened where people were rescued by these fairies from drowning and since then, they have been considered as friends of humans. This was why a small community decided to settle down at the lake, one of the elders there was actually one of the 2 people that were rescued in the past. Although they looked like young children, it was actually their adult form and they could live for hundreds of years still looking young. The Lake Fairies were considered as the lowest tier of water elementals, their bodies were actually made of the water of the lake and were intangible. According to the legends, a deep secret was buried at the center of the Gassian Lake and these Lake Fairies were the guardians. Many adventurers dived into the lake to find treasures but they all came back empty handed. As for the gnome, many small tribes of such races existed over the continent. While gnomes were only minor races, they fought alongside humans when the demons invaded Zero in the past, and so, they obtained the rights to settle down over the continent. But due to racial discrimination, they preferred to live away from humans, not everyone acknowledged them and they were in fact, hunted in the past. Li Wei knew that the Lake Fairies were normally friendly, but he could not help but hesitate upon seeing the unconscious gnome in front of him. There was an obvious injury on the gnome''s arm, but due to the distance, he could not identify it correctly. "Was she the one that did that?" thought Li Wei. The Lake Fairy was absentmindedly looking at him, she slightly tilted her body and moved towards Li Wei. Instinctively, Li Wei immediately took a step back, his swords already appearing in his hands. "Do not worry human, I don''t want to harm you", a voice suddenly rang inside Li Wei''s head. The latter quickly nodded but did not let his guard down, he was well aware that he did not stand a chance against the Lake Fairy, after all, she was level 25 while he was only level 11. But he still believed that he might be able to run away. "I know what you are thinking; I did not harm this gnome, he was already in this state when I found him... In fact, I am the one preserving his life right now," declared the Lake Fairy in Li Wei''s head. Li Wei started to feel uncomfortable; her large blue eyes were fixedly staring at him, adding in the weird choice of words, it felt like the lake fairy was threatening him. "He does not have long to live... He was clearly poisoned by the Forest Spiders... Although I can keep him alive for now, my spell can only last for another hour. I will need your help to save him... Will you help me?" declared the Lake Fairy. "Could it be a quest?" thought Li Wei. It was normal to find quest everywhere in the game, so far, he ignored most of them since he thought hunting was a faster way to level up. Since he was being asked, he might as well look at the details before deciding first. "How may I help you then?" asked Li Wei. "I can treat him, however, I will need the poison sacs of the Forest Spiders to obtain a sample of their poison first. I will need about 10 to produce an effective treatment. He was poisoned by the Forest Spider Queen, but even the poison sac of the normal Forest Spider would be enough" said the Lake Fairy. At the same time, a system prompt occurred, [System prompt: You have obtained the quest, "Save the gnome", do you agree?] Information The lake Fairy needs you to collect poison sacs to make an antidote. Collect 10 poison sacs from the Forest Spiders and bring them to the Lake Fairy. Rewards: 1500 exp, (Unknown) Completion: (0/10) Duration: 1 hour "A quest about killing monsters! And they are Forest Spiders!" thought Li Wei. They were the weakest monsters in this forest, however, Li Wei did not find any so far. "Of course, I will help you. But do you know where the Forest Spiders can be found?" asked Li Wei. "There''s a spider lair deep in the forest to the west, a large part of the forest there is covered with spider''s web but I doubt you will be able to kill any of the spiders there. I suggest that you move to the North, a small colony of spiders seems to have moved there, they did not settle down yet and most of them only have average strength." replied the Lake Fairy. "Alright, I will bring back the poison sacs as fast as possible." declared Li Wei as he immediately started walking towards the north with haste. It was a part of the forest he never explored before, several collectibles could be found everywhere, however, Li Wei did not dare lose time to collect those. He only had 1 hour for this quest and needed to kill 5 Forest Spiders since 2 poison sacs would be dropped for each. 10 minutes later, Li Wei was still carefully walking North. "Damn it! Did she give me the wrong direction?" thought Li Wei, he still did not meet any Forest Spiders, in fact, he did not meet any beast at all. Another 5 minutes later, Li Wei finally found a lonely spider web connecting 2 branches together, but there was no spider in sight. But he knew that he has now entered a dangerous territory, a few meters ahead, another spider web was covering a lonely bush. More careful than ever, Li Wei grabbed his 2 swords. Suddenly, he suddenly saw something move in the corner of his eyes, but when he focused on that area, everything was normal. Li Wei was certain that something just moved, all he could hear was the constant rustling of the leaves, except for that precise moment where he caught something moving, he heard something else. The 2 swords raised, Li Wei carefully approached the suspect area and finally, he found his target. A large brown spider could be seen hanging from a branch. A tiny white web was connecting the spider to the branch. All its eyes were intently looking towards Li Wei. Without warning, the Forest Spider suddenly moved and spat its venom towards Li Wei. The latter noticed the greenish liquid fly towards him and quickly jumped to the side to avoid it. Fortunately, he was on alert and responded in time. Seeing its attack miss, the Forest Spider started to lower itself to the ground. As it landed, another shot of venom was sent towards Li Wei which he easily dodged. Seeing its target voluntarily delivering itself to him, Li Wei quickly charged towards the Forest Spider. Forest Spiders were the weakest beast within Abe''s Forest, however, they had relatively high defenses and 100 HP. They mostly relied on their venom that dealt damage over time to take down their opponent. Li Wei quickly brought down his swords towards the Forest Spider. The latter only slightly raised its legs, as if trying to defend itself, "-13","-14". "hmmm" The damage was very low, although he took out a decent portion of the Forest Spider''s HP with his 2 sword strikes, he was a bit disappointed, especially when comparing it to the damage he dealt to the Scarlet Macaws earlier. As soon as Li Wei retracted his swords to attack again, the Forest Spider took a few steps back and immediately spat another shot of venom. Despite the short distance between them, Li Wei successfully evaded the liquid. He once again charged at the Forest Spider which was constantly taking steps back. Another sword strike landed on the spider, Li Wei was about to swing his second sword when he suddenly felt something hit his back. And moments later, pain suddenly spread across his body. [System prompt: You have been bitten by a Forest Spider, you have been poisoned by the Forest Spider, -10 HP every 10 seconds for 30 seconds] Li Wei immediately panicked, "-10" appeared above his head due to the spider''s attack. He immediately struggled and violently shook his body to push the forest spider away, but the latter was still firmly attached to his back. "Ahhg! Get off me! Disgusting!" Li Wei was not sure where the spider was, he blindly stabbed his sword but he did not feel anything. The other Forest Spider was also not just watching the fight, it quickly spat some venom towards Li Wei. But the latter quickly jumped back, even if he was hit by the venom, there would be no effect since he was already under the effect of the poison. Frustrated, Li Wei started wildly jumping and stabbing his sword, but the Forest Spider was still firmly holding only Li Wei. "-10" 10 seconds already went by since he was bitten by the Forest Spider. Out of ideas, he went for the crudest method possible, "Since you want to play with me, let''s see who is the more persistent!" [Strengthen] Li Wei quickly activated his skill and rammed at a nearby tree. Just before hitting the thick stem, he quickly turned around, allowing his back to take the hit. "Boom" The tree slightly shook at the collision, causing a few leaves to fall off. But more importantly, "-6", 6 damage was dealt to Li Wei due to self-harm. However, he had no way of knowing whether the Forest Spider took damage. He turned around but did not find any spider beside the first one that was slowly approaching him. Quickly, Li Wei charged at another nearby tree and once again turned just before hitting it. But this time, he tried to adjust his position to hit another part of his back. "Shrii" Hearing the scream, Li Wei immediately charged back at the previous tree and hit the same spot as before. "Shrii" Another scream came out as Li Wei suddenly felt him get lighter. "-10" The whole process took another 10 seconds, but now, the 2 spiders were in front of Li Wei. One had half of its HP while the other had about 80%. They both quickly spat their venom towards Li Wei but the latter easily dodged the green liquid and counterattacked, [Blade Draw] The wind blade immediately cut through the 2 spiders, each of them took 20 damage. But Li Wei did not stop there, it was time for revenge. Strengthen was still active, he quickly swung his 2 swords at the spider with the lower amount of HP, the latter raised its legs to protect itself but in vain. It quickly fell to Li Wei''s sword. He was about to turn to the remaining spider when he suddenly felt a familiar feeling. "Not again!" Without hesitating, he quickly rolled to the side. Where he was standing a second earlier, another Forest Spider heavily landed on the ground. Li Wei smirked, it tried to use the same strategy as the previous one, but fortunately, he was able to react in time and did not suffer like last time. When it fell, the spider actually took some damage from the fall and was stunned to find that its target dodged its assault. It only reacted when it saw the shining blade swing towards it but it was too late, it could only take the hit. 44 Completing the ques 10 minutes went by before Li Wei finally got time to rest. Around him, 8 Forest Spiders were lying dead. "These dirty spiders! How can they ambush me like that?" declared Li Wei. He was annoyed, the Forest Spiders forced him to fight non-stop for a full 10 minutes, whenever he would take down one, another Forest Spider would appear and try to jump on him but fortunately, after just one fight, he already understood the Forest Spiders'' pattern and rhythm. Every four seconds, the Forest Spiders would try to spit their venom at him, whenever they were about to do so, they would tilt their body backward to be able to shoot the venom at a further distance. With this observation, Li Wei could easily anticipate the venom and dodge them in time. Apart from that, the Forest Spiders were physically weak, it took about 10 sword strikes to take one down. Fortunately, since Li Wei was just at the edge of their territory, not many Forest Spiders appeared at the same time. They appeared one after the other but all ended up dying. With all the Forest Spiders dead, Li Wei quickly grabbed all the drops around him and walked back a few meters to be safe. Seeing no beasts, he quickly drank a health potion to fill his HP bar. Looking at the time, he found that there was still about 30 minutes to complete his quest. Considering that going back would take him 15 minutes, he was hesitating upon his next move. Should he go back now or continue to hunt the Forest Spiders since he was already there? The Forest Spiders were a great source of exp, 120 per spider and it only takes less than 1 minute to defeat one. But more importantly, their fighting style was especially well suited for him since with his high dexterity and reaction times, he could easily dodge their venom which was their main source of damage. In the end, since there was enough time, he decided to hunt for 10 more minutes. ... 7 minutes had passed but Li Wei was already retreating. After killing a couple more Forest Spiders, he noticed that the Forest Spiders were no longer alone, they always stayed in groups of two or three. Despite that, Li Wei still dared to tackle groups of 2 but as he was fighting two Forest Spiders, another group of 2 appeared, putting him in an uncomfortable situation. Without hesitation, he decided to retreat and return to the Lake Fairy. He could always come back and hunt here afterward, but getting entangled now might cause him to fail the quest. 5 minutes before the end of the quest, Li Wei stopped in front of the Lake Fairy and the unconscious gnome, "I have the Forest Spiders'' poison sacs, here!" said Li Wei, while taking out 10 of the poison sacs he collected. As soon as he said that, he received a notification, [System prompt: You have completed the quest "Save the gnome"] [Reward: 1500 exp] His expression instantly changed, "Wasn''t there to be an unknown reward? Where is it?" thought Li Wei. "mmmm" the Lake Fairy nodded unaware of the change in Li Wei''s expression. She immediately took out a cauldron and a series of raw materials. "Is it alchemy?" thought Li Wei, but he did not ask aloud. He simply placed the poison sacs into the pile of ingredients and took a step back to observe. He has already forgotten about the reward and was more interested in witnessing the Lake Fairy''s skills. The Lake Fairy did not say anything either, she simply ignored Li Wei as she lit up a fire with magic under the cauldron. The cauldron was placed on a crude stand, it was quite small and looked like a pot commonly seen in a kitchen but there was clearly some runes and strange writings on it. With her small hands, the Lake Fairy quickly grabbed the materials one by one and added them to the cauldron. To Li Wei, it looked like a very simple process, but the Lake Fairy was intently focusing on her craft. It was just a grade 1 antidote, as a grade 2 alchemist, she could easily produce those, but she was always serious when it came to alchemy. No matter how easy the formula is, when it came to alchemy, a very simple mistake could ruin the entire product. Li Wei observed attentively the actions of the Lake Fairy. Since he did not choose a profession yet, it was a good opportunity to experience alchemy and see if he wanted to walk this path. The mixture seemed to be boiling, and before long, the Lake Fairy added the rest of the materials next to her, including the poison sacs that Li Wei brought back. Her other hand was constantly moving as if controlling the intensity of the fire. In less than 5 minutes, all the ingredients completely dissolved into the water the Lake Fairy added; the cauldron was now full of a weird greenish mixture. Some green fumes quickly escaped from the mixture as the Lake Fairy made some transparent bottle appear. She quickly poured the mixture into the bottles. In total, she made 3 bottles of that weird mixture. "You can keep the other two," said the Lake Fairy in Li Wei''s head as she grabbed a bottle and turned towards the gnome. She slightly shook the bottle as she poured a few drops onto the injuries. Immediately, a reaction occurred, the liquid seemed to evaporate when it came into contact with the coagulated blood. More green fumes appeared before the liquid completely washed out the coagulated blood, making an opening for it to enter the gnome''s body. The expression of the gnome slightly changed, the moment the liquid touched his blood, the gnome felt as if his arm was being burnt but quickly, that feeling disappeared, giving way to a cold smooth feeling. His face quickly relaxed but he did not wake up yet. "He is safe now," declared the Lake Fairy. But at that moment, "Shriekk Shriekk!" loud screams were heard coming from behind. Li Wei who was looking at how the Lake Fairy was treating the gnome, immediately tensed up. He already recognized those screams, it was the Scarlet Macaws he came across earlier. He turned to look behind him, only to see 7 Scarlet Macaws flying towards him. As soon as they saw Li Wei, they flapped their wings even faster. "F***! Even after 1 hour, they are still chasing after me! How did they even find me?" swore Li Wei. He was very depressed, he could survive 3 Scarlet Macaws, but 7 at the same time, that was asking for too much. [Earth Wall] He quickly activated his ring''s skill which already came off cooldown. An earth wall quickly appeared between Li Wei and the Scarlet Macaws but the birds quickly reacted. "Shriekk" as one of the Scarlet Macaws screamed, they quickly broke their formation and went around the earth wall before diving towards Li Wei. There was no escape, he was already surrounded by the Scarlet Macaws. This was the main difference between hunting in the wild and hunting in the dungeon. Most beasts in the wild were very protective towards their kind and their territory, it was the same for the spiders and the boas, but they did not have the same flying ability as the Scarlet Macaws and could not chase after Li Wei. Players were encouraged to first hunt and gain some levels into the dungeons or the nearby areas of a town. There was a reason they spawned in cities instead of some border towns, the players were given time to get accustomed to hunting. The Abe''s Forest could be considered as a remote area, the closest settlement beside the cottages at the Gassian Lake was a small village but going there would require a whole day on a horse. "F***", Li Wei desperately tried to find a solution, but his mind was blank. Even the Chaos Sphere would not be able to save him from this situation. "Will this be my first death?" Li Wei already closed his eyes, there was no way he could survive the simultaneous attack from 7 different directions. Even his usual instinct was not reacting, it was simply in panic. But as the Scarlet Macaws were about to hit Li Wei, a thin water bubble suddenly appeared and around him. The beaks of the birds hit the water bubble, but Li Wei received no damage, in fact, he only felt as if something gently tapped him where the beaks landed. He opened his eyes, only to find the Scarlet Macaws quickly regrouping. On the side, the Lake Fairy had her hand raised towards Li Wei, a faint blue aura came out of her body. "Shriekk Shriekkkk Shriii" with a frustrated tone, the Scarlet Macaws looked towards the Lake Fairy and screamed. The latter seemed unperturbed, there was no change in her facial expression, she blankly stared at the Scarlet Macaws, but Li Wei knew that she was actually talking to them. Just like she could talk to him in his mind, Li Wei guessed that the Lake Fairy could do the same to the Scarlet Macaws. "Shriekkk Shriii" the Scarlet Macaws seemed unhappy with what she told, they angrily stared at Li Wei. With a finally piercing scream, they finally left the scene. As the birds left, the voice of the Lake Fairy rang into his head: "You should leave the forest as soon as possible... I told them to let you go for now, but if they find you again in the forest, you can only blame yourself" "Thank you... But I still need to find a Shining Alyssum before leaving, this is why I came here after all," said Li Wei. He was truly grateful towards the Lake Fairy, but the Shining Alyssums were very important to him, or else, that trip would be for nothing. "Humans are really stubborn." Her voice rang once again as she turned around and left. Li Wei did not even notice that she picked up all the items that she used to make the antidote. Li Wei did not stop her, he only bent down to take the 2 bottles of antidote but as he picked them up, a strong wind suddenly blew onto his face. As he raised his head, he saw a Shining Alyssum floating just in front of him. "With this, you can leave now!" It was the voice of the Lake Fairy, she actually found a Shining Alyssum that quickly. "Thank you! " loudly said Li Wei. He could not see the Lake Fairy anymore, but he hoped that she heard him. "Cough cough! How can you be so loud! Youngsters nowadays!" Upon hearing that, Li Wei immediately turned his attention to the gnome who was previously unconscious. The weak looking gnome was now vigorously standing up, looking at his posture, one would never guess that he was on the brink of death moments earlier. "Is it you that cured me of the poison, human?" asked the gnome with a curious expression. "No, it was not me, a Lake Fairy was standing there a few minutes earlier, she was the one that made the antidote" replied Li Wei as he showed the bottle of antidote he just picked up. "A Lake Fairy. These girls still like to play mysterious, even with gnomes... I don''t know what you did, but if she let you have these bottles, you probably helped her in some way. Take that, I was taught to always pay my debts." As he was talking, his hands quickly moved to his pocket, from which, he took out a small wooden box. He swiftly opened it and took out a small metallic object. Seeing Li Wei''s expression, he quickly continued : "You must accept this, even if you are a human, I am still grateful that you saved me but be careful, this thing is very powerful, it is the product of years of engineering," said the gnome as he approached Li Wei and pushed the metallic object into his hands. "This... I did not do much, you should give it to the Lake Fairy..." Li Wei was about to refuse and give back the item but the gnome was already turning to leave. "Be careful, this thing can set anything on fire, although the range of explosion is quite small, the fire won''t go out before the target is completely burnt! There''s a special substance inside that spreads easily and is very flammable! Don''t burn yourself!" said the gnome as he disappeared into the forest. "This..." Li Wei was speechless, was he repulsive to the point that both the Lake Fairy and the gnome would leave as soon as possible? Since he now had his 5 Shining Alyssums, there was no reason for him to stay here. The Scarlet Macaws might be gone for now, but they could come back at any time, especially now that the Lake Fairy was gone. As he was about to leave, he glanced at the item he obtained from the gnome, just the name made his eyes shine. [Pyro Bomb(Grade 2)] Explodes and sets an area on fire. Targets hit by the explosion will suffer from serious burns. [System prompt: your level is too low to correctly identify the item, level up to obtain precise figures.] 45 Fishing "SHHH! Don''t walk so loudly kid! You''ll scare the fishes!" As Li Wei returned to the cottages, it was already 18:20; walking back from the Abe''s Forest took a lot longer than he expected. The night cycle had already begun, if not, he would still be in the forest collecting as many resources as possible. As he arrived, he was surprised to find the fishermen still calmly waiting for fishes to take their baits without worries. The sun was already setting in the distance, but they were all still motionless. He silently approached them but was still criticized for being too loud. Li Wei did not understand, he was already very careful to walk as quietly as possible but they were still complaining. "Just sit down and take a fishing rod! I''ll bring you to your horse when we finish here, now is the best time for the catch!" said the kind man who allowed Li Wei to leave his horse in his garden. Since he needed to wait, Li Wei decided to go at a respectable distance from these fishermen and practice a cycle of the Gliding Steps. He was not particularly interested in fishing and so preferred to use his time more effectively. He was already familiar with the movements but still, he only ended up with a completion rate of 74% which was even lower than before. "How is that possible? Am I doing the wrong thing?" thought Li Wei. "What was different this time?" He spent a few minutes pondering about the Gliding Steps, he was certain that he replicated the movements in a better way than before, that meant that it was all due to the environment. ''But what was different between here and the nameless forest yesterday?'' Li Wei quickly realized that it was the ground; here, the area was very grassy. Although he could not confirm it, he believed that the grass might have interfered with the movements. It was only his theory but he believed that the grasses might disturb the airflow around his feet. At that moment, [System prompt: you have obtained some enlightenment about the Gliding Steps, skill development +10] "This? What happened? What is skill development?" But judging from the name, Li Wei had an overall idea of what it meant, with a quick look, he found that his Gliding Steps now had (65/100) which was higher than it needed to be; after his cycle, his Gliding Steps was only showing (55/100), but after his enlightenment, it increased by 10. "So I can improve my techniques by obtaining more information about them or by discovering small details like that? Maybe I should have a small discussion about it with Bright Sun when I get back" said Li Wei to himself. As he thought about her, he took the opportunity to ponder over how to improve the Gliding Steps'' training for women. With nothing left to do, Li Wei was starting to get bored and decided to go back to the fishermen as quietly as possible. But despite all his efforts, he could not escape from their angry stares. The kind man named Andy immediately invited him to sit next to him and explained to him how to fish. Li Wei silently listened to the instructions of the fisherman, they were relatively simple since he skipped over the details to avoid disturbing the others more than needed. With a quick movement, Li Wei threw the bait as far as possible and then silently waited. On the side, he could see the fisherman swiftly pull out their fishing rods, pulling large fishes with them and immediately using a net to catch them. Even Andy quickly pulled a level 2 Salmon, not even 10 minutes after instructing Li Wei. 15 minutes later, everyone pulled out another fish again, except for Li Wei. He was intently looking at his fishing rod, but nothing was happening. "After the gnome and the Lake Fairy, now even the fishes find me repulsive!" said Li Wei to himself. "You should pull out your fishing rod, I think your bait is already gone!" said Andy with an amused expression. "What? No... It''s impossible..." said Li Wei as he raised his fishing rod, but he immediately stopped as he noticed that effectively, the bait was gone. "This... How? I did not feel anything" declared Li Wei. "Hahaha! It''s just a matter of feeling when the fish will pull the hook, each location of the lake contains different types of fishes, here, you''ll find the sly ones that try to stealthily eat the baits. If you are looking for a contest of strength, then I would suggest you take a boat to the center of the lake... Here, try again... this time, focus on your fishing rod and try to feel when the fish will eat the bait," explained Andy while handing another bait to Li Wei. Their constant whisperings attracted the glares of the nearby fishermen but they did not say anything. Once again, Li Wei threw the bait and silently waited. This time, he looked closely at the position of the bait to see if any disturbances would occur there and his hands were firmly grabbing the fishing rod to feel the vibrations. Time went by, but he did not feel anything. Andy did not say anything either, so Li Wei concluded that the fish did not eat his bait yet. But it did not last long before Andy once again spoke. "Here, try this" Hearing Andy''s voice, Li Wei looked at him only to find that he was lending another bait to him. Full of doubts, Li Wei quickly pulled his fishing rod only to find that the bait was once again gone! "F***! How is that possible?" said Li Wei to himself. Nevertheless, he still threw the bait and sat down to wait, focusing more than ever on the fishing rod. "There is no way I miss it again! Those guys can even hold 2 fishing rods at a time!" said Li Wei to himself ... 1 hour later, Andy finally stood up and packed his fishing rods with a leisurely expression, "let''s go, come with me, let''s meet the others at the bonfire." "What? Already? But I did not catch anything yet!" exclaimed Li Wei. Over the last hour, Andy kept giving him baits at regular intervals but he himself still did not feel anything when his bait would disappear. Even the fishes seemed to make fun of him as they ate his bait more and more often. But despite all his efforts, he still did not feel anything when they would eat the bait. "What? Do you think it is that easy to catch a fish? You only spent 1 hour on it while we all spent years mastering our techniques. At least, you attracted more fishes by giving away free baits! You can try again tomorrow, for now, it''s time to relax," said Andy while leading the way towards the cottages. Li Wei naturally followed, he was very frustrated at his consecutive failures, especially when he saw that all the other fishermen were regularly catching fishes and looking at him with amused faces. Each time they would pull out a fish, Li Wei would get more and more depressed. Although the fishermen looked unfriendly when they were fishing, their attitude completely changed afterward, they warmly greeted Li Wei and invited him to their daily bonfire to share a meal and some drinks. He was even invited to spend the night at Andy''s cottage. Li Wei naturally agreed, he would not say no to the comfort of a cottage compared to sleeping under the tent. The fishermen quickly gathered some woods and set up their bonfire. Despite their appearances, they were very strong and could easily carry the logs. They were all at least level 20, and one of them was even a mage that lit up the bonfire with a swing of his hand. They all settled down as they started to take out the catch of the day and several bottles of wine. Li Wei was quickly invited to sit by the bonfire with them. "There! Have a drink!" said a fisherman called Collin while passing a dark opaque bottle to Li Wei. The latter clumsily grabbed the bottle and stared at it. He was not a huge fan of alcohol, the few times he actually tried some due to peer pressure, he ended up getting in trouble. But now, in this situation, he chose to be polite, quickly took a sip and passed the bottle to the next person. Immediately, the taste of wine invaded his mouth and a few moments later, a warm and comfortable feeling spread through his body. It did not take long before the bottle returned into his hands and he immediately took another sip. At the same time, the fishermen started roasting their catch of the day and Li Wei was offered some since their catch was abundant. With good alcohol and food, everybody relaxed and they loudly chatted. Li Wei quickly mixed into the group as more and more alcohol passed through his hands. ... "Ahhh! My head!" Li Wei woke up as he was assaulted by a terrible headache. "F***! What happened last night?" said Li Wei as he looked around him. He was confused to find himself in an unknown environment; he was lying on a large bed in a very cozy room. It took him some time to recall that he was invited last night to sleep at Andy''s place. As he got off the bed, he quickly checked that everything was alright; he did not lose any level and all his equipment and items were there; nothing was missing. Li Wei sat down for a moment as his head was spinning. He noticed a glass of water on his bedside table. Without hesitation, he quickly drank it and immediately started to feel better. As he went out, Li Wei found Andy in his garden. The sun was already up and Andy was taking care of his horse, feeding it some apples. "You are finally up! Don''t worry, I took care of your horse, she did not lack anything but you, you are really bad at drinking!" Li Wei did not know what to say, he was extremely embarrassed to have acted as a freeloader and even neglected his horse. "Thank you Andy! I don''t know what to say... I..." "Don''t mention it! You should eat something and then we can go to the lake for the competition. I was going to wake you up but fortunately, I do not need to do so anymore. Hurry up or we will be late," said Andy while patting the horse. "A competition? What competition?" replied Li Wei. "The fishing competition of course! Do you not remember? Today, we are holding our monthly competition; the one to catch the most salmons will win. Everyone will be participating" "Oh, my... I don''t remember that. Did I say that I would participate?" asked Li Wei, he truly did not recall anything that happened last night after he drunk from that dark opaque bottle. "Participate? You even declared that you were the best fisherman there and that you would crush everyone today! It was a really funny scene, especially since you did so by butchering a salmon. Naturally, old Lloyds and Kevin got heated and you ended up betting 30 golds each. Many others pitched in and the money prize is now 600 gold. Don''t tell me you are planning on bailing out now?" "What did you say? 30 gold!!?? And in a fishing competition? I am doomed..." 46 Competition "So you finally came! We were about to start and we thought you decided to bail out! Did Andy force you to come here?" said one of the fishermen named Bryan. He was a burly man who easily stood out of the crowd due to this bear-like appearance; not far from him, stood his 2 sons who shared similar physical characteristics. "No no! I am here and ready to compete," said Li Wei as he greeted the fishermen. Andy was walking behind him, gently tapping his shoulder to show his encouragement. In truth, Li Wei really wanted to leave this place. 30 gold was not a small sum and he still did not know how to fish properly but Andy was there and would make him feel bad about leaving. Andy was, in fact, one of the prospective winners of this competition, how could he let go of 30 free golds like that? "Since everyone is here, let''s begin and explain the rules! This time, we have 600 gold as prize money, I will suggest that we divide the prize; 1st place gets 300, 2nd place gets 200 and 3rd place gets 100. What does everyone think?" asked an elderly man. "Yeah, it''s a good idea," "Sounds good to me," "What are you talking about? That''s equivalent to sharing my prize..." shouted Bryan. "Oh! You think you are going to win?" "Enough enough!" said the elderly man with his weak voice. But despite his almost imperceptible voice among all others, all the fishermen immediately stopped talking. "Let''s just vote, it would be simpler, those in favor raise your hands." And obviously, the voting ended up in favor of sharing the prize, it would give the less skilled fishermen a greater chance to win a prize. "As for how we will choose the winner, we shall do that by weighing your catches. This way, it does not matter if you aim for many small salmons or the fewer but larger salmons, in the end, it is the total weight that will matter. If we have no questions, we shall start in 10 minutes and will end at sunset with a 1 hour break for lunch." ... With nothing to say, Li Wei was given a fishing rod and a set of baits. Each fisherman had their own techniques, he could see a couple of them carrying harpoons and going to another part of the lake to avoid affecting others. At the same time, another group jumped on boats and started to sail towards the center of the lake; Bryan and his sons formed part of this group. As for Li Wei, he went back to yesterday''s spot with the same group of people, but this time, they were more spaced out. "Sigh... Let''s try our best" said Li Wei. He had already given 30 gold like all the others to the elderly man who will keep the prize until the end of the competition. As the competition began, Li Wei immediately tossed his bait and poured all his concentration into the fishing rod. This time, Andy would not be helping him since he was a competitor. 15 minutes later, no one in Li Wei''s group caught something yet but none of the fishermen found this abnormal, their catch could greatly vary each day. Just to be safe, Li Wei pulled back his bait; he was delighted to find that it was still there and quickly tossed it back. Nobody talked and it was not long before Andy and another guy caught something. 5 minutes later, another fisherman caught something but Li Wei did not feel anything yet from his fishing rod. Full of doubts, he pulled his fishing rod, only to find that his bait was gone. Everyone around looked at him with wry smiles. An hour later, Li Wei already had to change his bait 4 times, he was now on the 5th one. The fishermen around him all caught some fishes; Andy was the most successful one with 9 in his bucket. He was starting to feel frustrated when suddenly, Li Wei felt a very faint, almost imperceptible vibration for a fraction of a second, he had been intently focusing on his rod all the time, sometimes he looked at the bait, sometimes on the wooden grip or even the line. He was not sure of himself, it might just have been the vibration of water since Andy just caught another fish but still, he quickly pulled out only to find that a small salmon was effectively hooked to the bait. Quickly, Li Wei pulled the salmon and place it in his previously empty bucket. At the same time, the nearby fishermen all showed appreciative looks. [System prompt: You have successfully caught a level 1 Salmon, congratulations, you are awarded 50 exp] [System prompt: You have made your first catch, you have obtained the profession: Fisherman, congratulations] "Fisherman? Really? That''s my profession?" sighed Li Wei as he opened his character window to see that his profession was updated to Fisherman Grade 0. All types of professions existed and could be obtained. Actually, players were not limited to only one profession but only one will be displayed. The profession of Fisherman could also be obtained at Algate City at a fish farm, but it was not a popular option since it was not combat related. Fisherman was a profession that was easily obtained but Li Wei actually obtained it the hard way; fishing in the wild was definitely much harder than in the fish farms. "Anyway, I''ll look at it after the competition," said Li Wei to himself. He was delighted to have finally caught something, but he had a long way to go to catch up with Andy and the others. He quickly threw another bait and sat down to wait. Ten minutes went by without anyone catching any fishes. Suddenly, Li Wei once again felt the same vibrations as last time. He promptly pulled out and successfully caught another level 1 salmon. With 2 successful catches in a row, his confidence rose up. Li Wei once again threw his bait. As he looked at Andy, the latter gave him a thumbs up to encourage him before pulling out another salmon. Li Wei quickly noticed the difference, his 2 salmons were smaller than those caught by Andy; Li Wei''s were only level 1 while Andy''s were at least level 3. The difference in level clearly affected their size and weight. 15 minutes went by but Li Wei still did not feel anything. But he did not get discouraged, the fishes might not necessarily bite at regular intervals; he needed to be patient. He quickly realized that fishing was not as simple as it seemed; not only did it train his patience but also his sensitivity. Another 15 minutes went by but still nothing. Full of doubts, Li Wei decided to check his bait since everyone else had caught something during the last half hour and to his surprise, the bait was gone. "How is that possible? Could it be that the higher the level of the salmon, the harder it is to feel when they take the bait?" Not letting himself get discouraged, Li Wei quickly replaced the bait and focused. "Is there any other way? What if I use Earth Wall to trap some Salmon? Nevermind, the cooldown is too long anyway." 2 hours went by and it was now time for the pause. Everyone gathered as they shared some sandwiches and since everyone was there, the elderly man decided to start weighing everyone''s catch so that it will be faster in the evening." "Bryan! You go first" "Haha, of course! Let me show you," declared Bryan as he carried a net full of salmons of varying size. A balance was set up near the lake for the competition. With a quick swing, Bryan flung the net onto the balance. The pointer immediately moved and oscillated for a moment before landing on 180 Kg. "Yahhh" shouted Bryan, obviously proud of himself. It was a huge catch for just half a day of work. With a quick look, Li Wei immediately noticed that the salmons he caught were all above level 5. The rest of the fishermen and Li Wei quickly followed and weighed one by one their catch. In the end, Bryan was first, Andy second with 168Kg followed by another fisherman known as Mike with 159Kg. As for Li Wei, he was at the very bottom of the ranking with only 59Kg. It was an honorable score since the one in front of him only had 70Kg, especially considering he only learned fishing yesterday. Most of Li Wei''s catch was level 1 and 2. After a few failures, he finally succeeded in catching level 2 salmons but failed for the higher level ones. He was after all just a grade 0 fisherman, the system greatly simplified the fishing process but there was no guarantee of successfully catching the fish. "Well, I suppose that the trial period is over, it''s time to go all out!" A voice rang out from the crowd as the mage of the group stood out and walked towards the lake. The one hour break was already over and everyone could already go back fishing but the mage was the first one to do so. Unexpectedly, he did not even bring his fishing rod with him, leaving it near the balance. Instead, he took out his wand and started casting. [Water Lance] Immediately, a spear shot out of the mage''s wand and pierced through the lake. A second later, the spear retracted into the mage''s hand while carrying a salmon that was pierced at its abdomen. Li Wei''s jaws immediately dropped. "Is this allowed?" asked Li Wei but visibly, he was the only one surprised. "Of course, none of the rules say that it''s not, in fact, you are about to witness the real competition, we always let this get to our head," said Andy. With the mage having paved the way, several fishermen approached the lake. They were not mages and could not use magic, but 2 of them were rangers that took out their bows. They swiftly tied their arrow with a thin rope before shooting them into the lake. As the ropes stopped moving, they quickly pulled back the arrows to the shore, together with the salmons impaled by the arrows. At the same time, Bryan and his sons took off their top and grabbed some harpoons before diving into the lake. Some rogues pulled out small crossbows and started aiming at the salmons inside. But not everyone could do so, Andy and a small group of fishermen chose to move to a more quiet spot to continue with their usual way. "Well, the 30 gold can already be considered gone, there is no way I can compete with these machines!" said Li Wei. He clearly did not have any techniques that could rival the mage and with his fishing rate, there was no way he could climb back to the top 3. He was dejected, but he still chose to follow Andy and at least have an honorable defeat. 4 hours went by, Li Wei caught 22 more salmons which was definitely a feat for him, he quickly got better at fishing and was more comfortable at it. To have obtained the profession also helped him to some extent, the system would naturally help him with. But he could not help but get depressed when he looked at the others. The mage was now lying on the grass, visibly tired but next to him, was a pile of salmons. The rangers and rogues also had piles of salmons but they were clearly smaller than that of the mage. The most impressive, was Bryan and his sons. 3 mountains of salmons were erected on the grass; more importantly, these salmons were clearly larger than the others as they came from the depths of the lake. There was still about 1 hour left before the sunset but when he looked at his own catch, he already knew that it was over. With a quick estimate, he could guess that he now had about 140Kg but that was not even above the weights recorded at lunch. At this point, Li Wei''s morale was at its lowest. Losing 30 gold because of alcohol, it was a life lesson. He no longer focused on his fishing since he knew it was pointless. But at that moment, "Hey? Why are you so depressed?" Hearing the voice, Li Wei quickly looked around him, only to find all the fishermen focusing on their task, he was surprised as the voice clearly belonged to a woman but he did not find any near him. Few women were present, but they were all standing near the balance waiting for their husband to come back. "Do you not hear me? You just need to think to talk to me" said the voice again. "I do hear you, who are you?" loudly thought Li Wei. The voice giggled for a second, "You met my sister yesterday, she told me she met a very interesting person. So, I came to have a look, but you don''t seem to be in the mood." "Sigh... A Lake Fairy?... There''s is nothing I can do, how am I supposed to feel at losing a huge sum of money?" answered Li Wei. "Money? Humans really only care about that. You should focus on fishing and be enjoying your life." "Don''t talk to me about fishing. You have been observing me for a while right? Then you should know the situation. Look at these guys? How am I supposed to beat them?" said Li Wei. The Lake Fairy once again giggled, "If you just want to win, I guess we can make a deal, giving you some fishes should be pretty easy for me. What do you think?" "A deal? But what can I give you in exchange for that?" 47 The deal "Deal!" shouted Li Wei in his head. "Alright, throw your bait, I''ll hook the salmon, it''s heavy so I''ll help you. The item is in the first Salmon''s mouth." answered the Lake Fairy. Hearing that, Li Wei quickly pulled out his empty hook before placing a bait at its end and throwing it back to the Lake. Not even 5 seconds went by before he felt a heavy pull coming from his fishing rod. Immediately, Li Wei pulled his fishing rod, he was surprised to see how light it was since at the end of the rod, was a massive Salmon. [System prompt: You have successfully caught a level 8 Salmon, congratulations, you are awarded 400 exp] "Wow, 400 exp?" thought Li Wei. At the same time, all the nearby fishermen turned to look at him. Level 8 Salmons were clearly fishes that could only be found in the depths of the lake, there was no way they would come close to the surface, so how did he succeed in catching one? But they did not say anything, everyone had their own tricks. Placing the Salmon on a large net, Li Wei quickly pressed onto its mouth and place his hand inside its mouth. "Collect" The fishermen were giving curious looks at this weird behavior. But Li Wei pretended to be checking the quality of the salmon. Seeing that a new item appeared in his inventory, he quickly turned to throw another bait. In his inventory, a small blue pendant, [Tear of Fairies] was added to the lot. It formed part of the deal with the fairy, the fairy would give him a piece of equipment and help him win the competition and in exchange, he would have to return the favor in the future. Li Wei was doubtful upon hearing this condition, helping them in the future sounded very vague but when the fairy pinched in the pendant, he quickly accepted as the Lake Fairy assured him that they would only contact him when he would be mature enough to handle the situation. With only 45 minutes left before the end of the competition, Li Wei quickly pulled out salmons after salmons. Despite their huge size, Li Wei had no problem lifting them and placing them on his net. All the nearby fishermen were not even focusing on their own fishing rods; they all looked at Li Wei with surprised expressions and dropped jaws as he slowly built his mountain of Salmons. [System prompt: You have successfully caught a level 8 Salmon, congratulations, you are awarded 400 exp] [System prompt: You have successfully caught a level 9 Salmon, congratulations, you are awarded 450 exp] ... "Time is up! Everybody bring your salmons for weighing!" shouted the elderly man, whose voice was amplified by the mage. At this point, Li Wei had pulled out more than 60 salmons and all of them were at least level 8. Just by looking at the pile of salmons, it was clear that he was the winner, just 30 salmons would have largely been enough for him to win but when the fairy asked him, he asked her to continue until the end of the competition. How could he let go of this great source of exp? From fishing, he already collected more than 20000 exp just from the last hour; enough for him to level up. It was obviously a loophole; normally players would never be able to catch that much fish in a short period of time. But Li Wei put aside his principles for a moment and decided to take advantage of that, the temptation was simply too big; a full level for doing nothing. Not only that, but his profession also leveled up, he was now a fisherman grade 1. Grade 1 professions naturally rewarded players and the bonus obtained for Li Wei was [Improved Sense of touch: Improves the sensitivity by 10] As the fishermen heard the elderly man''s voice, they woke up from their dreams and had a quick look around them to compare the piles. They were speechless to find that the rookie who just started to fish yesterday actually completely crushed them. It was unbelievable. "You... Were you pretending to not know anything yesterday?" asked Andy but he was quickly cut by Bryan. "How is that possible? He must have cheated somehow... It is impossible to collect this many Salmon in an hour, especially if they are that big. Even 1 day won''t be enough." "As incredible as it seems, I did not see him use any items or skills." "Yes, we should review..." "Enough enough!" interjected the elderly man, "regardless of what technique he used, there were no rules against such actions. Even you use your warrior''s aura to dive into the lake; this should be a lesson for all of you to focus on fishing techniques instead of fighting ones. This is something we should implement for the next competition! For now, let''s weigh your catches! I am tired after standing there all day." "I do not agree, it.." "Stop arguing Bryan, being second place is good enough for you," said Andy. "You..." But there was nothing he could do, everyone quickly brought their own catches to the balance except Li Wei. As he tried to lift the net, it did not even move. Now that the fairy was no longer helping him, there was no way for him to carry his catch. In the end, the dejected Bryan and his sons had to lend a hand to carry the giant net to the balance. But before they lifted the net, they were stopped by the elderly man; there was no way for the balance to support that weight and instead, the mage had to estimate the weight with his levitation spell. And like that, the ranking was decided: 1st Li Wei with 1287Kg 2nd Bryan with 592Kg 3rd John(the mage) with 513Kg "Congratulations to all the winners, let''s distribute the prizes!" ... 2 hours later, Li Wei was sitting at the bonfire, surrounded by the fishermen. He was relieved at the results of the competition, not only did he win 270 gold but he also obtained a large amount of exp and a piece of equipment but he did not dare take to take it out yet to examine it. "So, tell me how you did it? What is the secret technique?" asked Bryan. The man was clearly drunk as he roughly patted Li Wei. "That''s a secret. I cannot tell you that," answered Li Wei. "Come on, we are fellow fishermen now. Here, you should take a sip" said John while lending a bottle of wine to Li Wei. Seeing the bottle of wine, Li Wei immediately froze. After yesterday''s event which could have ended badly, there was no way he would drink that again. He politely refused but the fishermen were very persistent. And it''s like that that Li Wei''s night went on, with drunk Fishermen loudly shouting and drinking. At the same time, in the middle of the lake, 2 transparent silhouettes were floating above the surface of the lake. They were barely noticeable under the moonlight. "Why did you help this human? He only helped me cure a gnome, there was no need to intervene, the other humans could have detected you." "It was only giving him some salmons, it''s not big deal considering the fish population. As for the other humans, in this environment, there is no way they would find me, regardless of how strong their detection skills are." "Then why did you give him the Tear of Fairies? He clearly did not deserve it!" "Maria, you are smart but at the same time stupid. It''s like you noticed, his ring is special, it is, without doubt, the Ring of Chaos, that sneaky aura is so iconic. This man is destined to have a great future! " "But still! The Tear was meant to be given to the heir of Abyss, not the heir of Chaos. Did you even inform the queen?" "The heir of Abyss already appeared at the Arstan Empire, it would take years before she arrives here. It would be a better use to give it to that man, now he owes us a favor and we can make him help the heir of Abyss. Anyway, throughout history, the heir of Abyss and Chaos always had good relationships. I will take full responsibility for my actions." "Tsssk but that is not what the queen said! I will get in trouble because of you! Sigh... Well, at least you did not bring him to the altar." "The altar? For now... " ... The next morning, Li Wei woke up feeling much better. Having resisted to the temptation of alcohol, he was not feeling any discomfort like yesterday. Andy was already up and quickly offered him some breakfast. Since he did not want to act as a freeloader, Li Wei offered to leave 20 salmons here. These could easily sell for 5 gold considering their size despite being classified as low-level creatures. Although Andy refused at first, after a quick talk with Li Wei, he ended up accepting the salmons. After the breakfast, it was time to leave, most of the community was still asleep as Li Wei bade farewell to Andy and sincerely thanked him for taking care of both him and his horse. "That was an eventful journey... I only came here for Shining Alyssums but still, the harvest was not bad." He now only had 2 storage slots available and most of his items could sell for quite a bit of money or contribution points. Since he was now alone on the road, Li Wei took out the pendant given by the Lake Fairy. [Tear of Fairies(Grade 2)] Intelligence +2 Wisdom +1 Effect 1: Mana Regeneration +10/minutes Effect 2: Will resonate and emit light upon receiving a specific signal from the owner of its counterpart. It was a grade 2 equipment! It was Li Wei''s first time seeing that but he was disappointed when he saw that it was tailored for mages. But still, Li Wei did not have any pendants right now, so he promptly equipped it, one never had enough Mana. As for the second effect, it was what he discussed with the Lake Fairy. He was too weak now and was of no use to them. But in the future, when he will be strong enough to assist them, then the Lake Fairy would send him a signal. Strangely, there was no contract, only a verbal agreement but considering the help he received, Li Wei promised to himself to help the Lake Fairy when the time would come. Having sorted his equipment, Li Wei took a quick glance at his character window: Name: Seven Race: Human Level: 12 (2438/30000) Class: Warrior Profession: Fisherman Title: None HP: 100/100 MP: 80/80 Strength: 14 Dexterity: 19(+2) Vitality: 9(+1) Intelligence: 7(+3) Wisdom: 9(+1) Stat Points available: 1 Skills: [Cleave], [Strengthen], [Weapon Throwing],[Howl],[Blade Draw] Fatigue: 3% ... 1 day later, at around 14:00 "Stupid rain! How unlucky am I?!" shouted Li Wei. He was about a day away from Algate City when the rain suddenly started crashing. It was a very sudden change in the weather and Li Wei was not prepared for that, he did not even bring a coat with him and if he did not protect himself, he might be inflicted with a "Sick" status. Already, the visibility around him was decreasing. Li Wei quickly looked around him and decided to go to one of the nearby farms, hoping to receive shelter until the end of the rain. Fortunately for him, a family of three warmly welcomed him inside. He was even invited to spend the night there since according to the old farmer, the rain would only stop in the evening. "Trust these old bones, it only hurts like that when the rain last until the evening!" Li Wei had no choice, he quickly took out some gold coins; it was something he was not lacking right now and he did not want to look like a freeloader again. "At least, I am only a day away from the city... And the guild''s meeting is only in 3 days... There''s a lot of time," thought Li Wei. Inside the house, Li Wei silently practiced his Gliding Steps. The rain was not an excuse for him to slack off. After a quick session, his gliding steps now displayed (89/100), one more day and he would finally obtain the skill. 48 Ghost Farmer As the old farmer predicted, the rain really continued to fall until late in the evening. At that point, it was pointless for Li Wei to resume his travel. While he was relatively close to the city and there were few monsters nearby; it was already dark which meant that it was the prime time for bandits to roam near the city. Stuck in the farmer''s house the whole afternoon, Li Wei tried to make the best use of his time. In addition to working on his Gliding Steps and trying to understand the technique from a theoretical point of view, Li Wei spent a good amount of time with the old farmer. The farmer spent the entire afternoon smoking his pipe under his veranda. He was delighted to see Li Wei join him and narrated the stories and legends of the land. The latter naturally carefully listened to the old man''s stories; this sort of conversations was the best way for players to obtain quests. Unfortunately, he did not receive any notifications. However, the conversation was not completely useless; there was one particular story that kept Li Wei''s attention: the Ghost Farmer. According to the old man, long ago, when he was still just a child, an old couple decided to settle down in the area to become farmers. At the time, they attracted everyone''s attention since they clearly had significant backgrounds and so, no one really interacted with them and the couple did not respond either. Time went by with the couple leading an isolated life and eventually, the old lady passed away. When that happened, the nearby farmers all went there to show their support and help the old man surpass that difficult period but to their surprise, the old man was very protective of his territory, he became extremely hostile, wildly cursed and denied anyone access to his farm. The farmers tried several times to help him but the old man was very stubborn as if hiding something inside his farm. Seeing his reaction, the nearby farmers decided to ignore the old man, they genuinely wanted to help but were only met with such behavior. Things went quiet for a while until suddenly, on one night, a massive explosion was heard at the old man''s farm. All the buildings and the nearby fields were set on fire and the worst part was that the fire could not be extinguished by water. The farmers were all alarmed and fought against the fire for the whole night. But it was in vain, the fire continued to spread until the next morning when the city''s guards arrived and took care of it. Such a big fire caused a lot of damage to the local harvest which could have had severe consequences on the economy of the county. Investigations were carried out and it was found that the explosion was man-made; it was an attack from the Heretics; a group of worshipers of an evil god. The guards spent days investigating the scene and it was concluded that the Heretics attacked the old man to take back some form of treasure. But the story did not end there. Things calmed down after the incident but just one week after the guards left, the nearby farmers all saw the ghost of the old man, aimlessly roaming on his previous land. Everyone was terrified and called the guards but the ghost never appeared in the presence of the guards. As soon as they left, the ghost would reappear but would stay in his territory and till now, the ghost still wanders endlessly on his land every night. The ghost would only appear at night if no strong individual that might be a threat to him was nearby but it would never leave its land. So the guards decided to dismiss this case since as long as no one went to the haunted farm, everything would be fine. It was said that the Ghost Farmer was protecting some dark secrets; many adventurers would come to try their luck but if they were too strong, then the ghost would not appear but if they were weak, the ghost would simply slay them with his scythe. It was even said that the Heretics came back several times with their young apprentices to try to get back the treasure but they never succeeded. Hearing that, Li Wei could not help but be interested in this Ghost Farmer, it was an opportunity to make a good use of his stay at the farm tonight since the haunted farm was not very far. ... Time went by and it was already midnight, the old farmer and his son were already asleep and only the old granny was still awake. She quietly opened the door for Li Wei and wished him the best of luck; it was normal for her to stay awake very late during the night, in recent years insomnia would strike her every night. "Be careful young man, it is good to be courageous and curious... But don''t let that get to your head, countless youngsters like you perished under the scythe," said the granny. "Do not worry about that granny, I will be very careful and come back in one piece!" answered Li Wei as he silently left the farm. It was no longer raining, but the land was wet, making it harder for Li Wei to walk around. The granny was kind enough to point out the direction of the haunted farm, it was at about 30 minutes walk. The night was silent, all Li Wei could see was the endless fields of wheat dancing with the wind. Fortunately, the sky was clear of clouds after the heavy rainfall of the afternoon, allowing the moon to illuminate the entire field. 25 minutes later, Li Wei finally saw a change in the landscape. The soil there was unused, it could have been the insufficient lighting but to Li Wei, it seemed that the soil was completely black. There was a clear demarcation warning people about the haunted territory. In the distance, Li Wei could see the ruins of some buildings, "these must be the house, the barn, the stables..." He silently sat between the growing wheat, just in front of him was the territory of the Ghost Farmer. He was just there to observe and if the opportunity presented itself, he would try to gain some benefits. But still, no one ever came that close to observe, he did not know if the Ghost Farmer would chase him since he was just at the boundary of the territory. But more importantly, he did not even know if he was considered too strong causing the Ghost Farmer to not appear. Not even 5 minutes after his arrival, Li Wei finally saw what he came for. Emerging from the ruins of the house, a gloomy silhouette rose up; it was surrounded by a ghastly white aura which was constantly swirling around the body. The body itself did not look in good shape; it was like a decomposing corpse. The white aura particularly made the corpse look more gloomy. Seeing the Ghost Farmer, Li Wei immediately backed off a few meters, he did not want to attract its attention too much and the Ghost Farmer was extremely visible due to the white glow. The latter turned its head to look at Li Wei but it did not move from the ruins. "Scary! Especially those empty eye sockets!" said Li Wei too himself. Walking about 10 meters back, Li Wei frowned as he noticed that the Ghost Farmer was level 15. But more importantly, as he saw the level, he also received a notification. [System prompt: you have encountered the boss monster Ghost Farmer, be careful! It is a Ghost-type monster] "It is a level 15 boss! And a ghost type at that... Such bad luck." Ghost-type monsters were a class of monsters just like beasts were a type of monsters. While Beast-type were usually present in the wild, Ghost-type were rarer, they were more commonly seen in deserted ancient battlefield or graves. The special thing about Ghost-type monsters was that they all had the inherent trait: 50% reduced physical damage! That was the bane of all physical classes like warriors especially if they did not use enchanted weapons. However, to compensate for that, they had another inherent trait: 25% Bonus damage from Light, Fire and Thunder type magic. It was clear that they were a type of monster especially suited to be hunted by mages. It was something Li Wei was very clear about, it was a common thing in the other games he played and he also confirmed that when he had a look at the book at the library which recorded the different creatures that could be found. The Ghost Farmer was not recorded in it but a lot of information was available about the different types of monsters. Li Wei crouched down between the wheat and calmly observed the Ghost Farmer. The latter did not seem to notice Li Wei and only stood out and started to walk out of the ruins. Suddenly Li Wei heard loud steps coming from the other side of the haunted farm. The Ghost farmer also noticed the footsteps and immediately turned to look at the newcomer. "Finally! He took longer to come out this time! Let''s hurry up and finish him!" "It looks like the shackles of weakness can really hide our aura and make us appear weaker! Even that ghost did not notice!" From his point of view, Li Wei saw 2 cloaked figures openly approach the Ghost Farmer. Unfortunately, he could not see their faces or weapon, the black cloaks were completely hiding their identity but hearing their conversation, he already understood that these 2 were more powerful than they looked, probably even stronger than the Ghost Farmer. Worried about getting noticed, Li Wei tried to lower his body as much as possible. But he still stayed in a position where he could see the Ghost Farmer take out his long scythe. "Kill kill kill" The Ghost Farmer started whispering as he noticed the appearance of the two individuals. "Kill!" Suddenly, the Ghost Farmer charged at the two cloaked figures. The decomposing corpse was not even touching the ground as it was moving, it was only floating slightly above the black soil. "Tsssk! Pathetic! [Molten Shield]!" As the leading cloaked figure spoke, bright red flames rose from below his feet and condensed into a sphere around the two. "Kill!!!" At the same time, the Ghost Farmer violently slashed his scythe at the two figures but surprisingly, the blade of the scythe could not even penetrate the flames surrounding the two figures. "Tsssk! If it was not for the Bishop''s orders, I would not even bother using my mana on you! [Flame Whip]" Immediately, bright red flames appeared in the leading cloaked figure''s hands. A second later, the red flames condensed into 2 long whips, one in each hand. Without hesitation, the cloaked figure mercilessly stroke the Ghost Farmer. "Kill!" But the latter did not seem to feel pain as it continued to try to break through the molten shield. However, it was clear that the white aura surrounding its body became dimmer. Li Wei was observing the fight as a chill went down his spine, who were these 2 guys who could fight the Ghost Farmer so casually. "I must stay hidden, or they might think that I am here to steal the loot and attack me," thought Li Wei. Being constantly whipped, the Ghost Farmer was in bad shape, the decomposing flesh now looked completely charred, even the protruding bones looked completely black. Its aura now looked so pale that it looked like a normal undead. "You are taking so long! It is just a level 15 monster, hurry up! I want to go back!" "Help me if you think it is easy, his body was clearly upgraded from the radiations of the Dungeon Core, have you ever seen such physical strength in a Ghost-Type? He has at least the Strength of a level 20!" "Fine! But I will be the one to submit the Dungeon Core to the Bishop! [Lightning Spear], [Lightning Spheres]" "Boom!" A massive explosion of light occurred as the bright spheres collided with the body of the Ghost Farmer. Even Li Wei was temporarily blinded despite being relatively far away from the fight. When he was finally able to see the scene, his mind went blank. The Ghost Farmer seemed to have exploded into several lifeless parts, each limb was now lying on the ground in different directions while the skull was being held by one the cloaked figure. "Damn sinner! How dare you steal from God? I even had to come all the way to this small city just to retrieve the Dungeon Core. At least you''ve got what you deserve!" "Alright, hurry up! We must go, the explosion did not go unnoticed, the guards might be on alert, we should leave this place as soon as possible!" "Hmmp! Pathetic!" shouted one of the cloaked figures as he kicked the skull away. "We have completed the mission, let''s go," said the other cloaked figure and at the same time, his silhouette suddenly started to vanish. It was not a [stealth]; the animation was different but it was something Li Wei saw before; it was the same animation produced by the thief''s equipment in the Tower of Heroes. Seconds later, the other cloaked figure also started to vanish and soon, the scene became silent as if nothing happened, only the remains of the Ghost Farmer showed that a fight took place. "Fiouff! I did not expect to witness such a fight when I came here!" said Li Wei. He was still laying low, not daring to go out in case the cloaked figures were still nearby. The fight really gave him a fright, especially since a level 15 boss was blown away that easily. Suddenly, "I knew there was someone there! Little spy, let me teach you some manners!" "Oh no!" thought Li Wei, he already recognized that voice; it was one of the cloaked figures. Immediately, Li Wei rolled on the ground to try to get up. Behind him, one of the cloaked figures suddenly appeared, pointing a staff towards Li Wei "Enough! There is no need to kill him, he was given the opportunity to witness our strength, God is merciful, we should let him go!" shouted the other cloaked figure as he appeared to the side. "What? How can we let this go! Spying is a crime! I shall cleanse this peasant of..." "Enough! Don''t you remember that the Bishop formally ordered to not look for trouble with the adventurers, we will need to recruit them in the future! So hold your hands! Let''s go, we''ve already lost enough time," declared the cloaked figure as he once again vanished from sight "Hmmp! I am in a good mood, so I''ll let you off peasant!" Li Wei wiped his sweat as he saw the other cloaked figure vanish. His heart almost stopped when he heard the cloaked figure said that he would be cleansed if even a level 15 boss was blasted away that easily, then what about him? But fortunately, the other cloaked figure seemed to be more reasonable and let him off the hook. Tonight''s experience was definitely a bit too extreme for him. Li Wei stood still for a moment, not daring to move, his heart was still beating fast. As the minutes went by, he slowly calmed himself, "at least, I''ve got to witness the strength of high-level NPCs" thought Li Wei. He was about to return to the farm when he suddenly thought of something, "Wait a minute, maybe I should check upon the ruins now that the danger is gone!" 49 The loo In the middle of the night, under the moonlight, Li Wei was wandering through the ruins of the buildings. The first thing he did was to inspect the different body parts of the Ghost Farmer that were spread all over the place. Unfortunately, there was nothing valuable, the deadly scythe was nowhere to be seen, it was probably taken by the 2 cloaked figures and aside from that, the Ghost Farmer did not have any other piece of equipment. Having found nothing, Li Wei turned to the ruins. When he talked to the old farmer, the latter said that maybe the Ghost Farmer was protecting some kind of treasure. Although it was highly possible that the treasure was the "Dungeon Core" that the two cloaked figures mentioned, there was no harm in trying his luck. The ruins were a complete mess, remains of pieces of furniture and rubbles of the buildings were scattered. The place was covered with dust which resulted in a sticky and dirty environment due to the earlier rain. As he stepped into the ruins and started moving the rubbles, rats immediately started to run all over the place; their habitat, that remained untouched for years was being turned upside down. Li Wei slowly looked under each ruin and carefully moved some blocks but he did not find anything except for dirty rats angrily staring at him before running away. 10 minutes later, still nothing. Li Wei already explored the entire ruins of the house, the barn, and the stables. But he found nothing that could be called a treasure. "mmm, if I was an old man, running away from some strong entity, where would I hide stuff?" said Li Wei to himself. He tried to put himself in the shoes of the Ghost Farmer when he was still alive. "Somewhere safe... Where normal adventurers would not randomly stumble across it and where these people obsessed with their God or the guards will not investigate. Where can that be?" said Li Wei to himself as he stood on one of the rubbles and looked around him. But he still could not find where the treasure was, he was even starting to doubt the old farmer''s words; it could just be a local rumor the farmers came up with. Li Wei came out of the ruins, having found nothing. He decided to explore the rest of the territory of the Ghost Farmer. The farm was not very large, aside from the ruins, there were a few creepy completely dried fruit trees on one side, an empty well on another and just barren land next to it. As for the 4th side of the ruin, a lonely gravestone was standing in the middle of a barren field. It was the tomb of the Ghost Farmer''s wife who passed away before the incident. As Li Wei observed the surroundings, he calmly thought about everything he knew when a thought crossed his mind, "Could it be the tomb? The guards and the adventurers would normally respect the deceased right? As for these cloaked individuals, I don''t know which God they worship, but respecting tombs should be a given right?" thought Li Wei. Having found a possible clue, he turned his attention towards the gravestone and walked towards it. The moon was bright, allowing Li Wei to easily read "To my dear wife, Evelynn", however, the rest of the words could not be read. Time did not spare this gravestone, and the paragraph near the bottom was completely damaged and illegible. Li Wei was convinced that the treasure should be related to the gravestone but the writings gave no clues, the only thing he could do now was to dig the ground but that was something he was reluctant to do. He had morals and one of the things that were ingrained in him was to respect those that passed away. But in front of him, might just be one of the greatest treasures of the game! If even the powerful cloaked figures came all the way to collect it. Even if the most valuable thing, that is the Dungeon Core, might be gone, the Ghost Farmer should have other valuable belongings. "What a dilemma! I cannot possibly dig out her corpse right?!" "He must have some good stuff to be able to steal that "Dungeon Core" from such powerful individuals and live a long life despite being hunted." "Maybe that''s why the Ghost Farmer refused help from the farmers! So that he could bury his treasure together with his wife!" Li Wei continued to hesitate, but as time went by, he became more and more certain that the treasure was actually there! "What to do? What to do???" After 5 more minutes, Li Wei finally got a grip on himself, as he placed one knee on the ground, he placed his left hand on the gravestone. "I am sorry Madam Evelynn, for having had bad intentions towards your resting place! But I shall not disrespect you any longer. I, Li Wei, shall not shame myself by robbing tombs. I sincerely apologize for disturbing your rest. Farewell, may you rest in peace!" solemnly declared Li Wei as he stood up. He meant what he just said. Despite all the temptations of obtaining treasures, he chose to abandon all of that for his moral ethics or else he would never be able to peacefully sleep again. "Sigh". He could do nothing now but return to the farm. He simply could not bring himself to rob a tomb. It was a very detestable act, he himself would not want his own tomb to be robbed one day. However, at that moment, a rune suddenly appeared on the gravestone. Li Wei had already turned his back to the gravestone, so he did not notice this change yet. Two more runes appeared on the gravestones, linking themselves to the first one and together, they started to shine. A fourth rune appeared, visibly more complex than the previous three. It slowly moved and combine with the rest of the runes, forming an intricate design. The dim light that was being emitted suddenly became brighter and more vivid. Li Wei did not notice at first when the 3 runes were shining and was still slowly walking away from the gravestone with a low spirit. But he could not miss the bright light coming out of the intricate design, especially since it was like a rainbow, projecting a plethora of colors. "This... What is happening?" said Li Wei. He was surprised to see such phenomenon in front of him; as far as he was aware, he did not damage anything. The multicolored light that was coming out started to condense and vaguely took the shape of a person. Li Wei could not distinguish the features of the person, the light was too bright but he heard the person speak very quietly, almost like a whisper: "Young man, I have seen your actions tonight! Few individuals would have the moral strength to resist temptation like you did! I would like to thank you for that!" Li Wei was started to find the appearance of this ghost-like person. From the voice, he could determine that it was a woman, he easily concluded that the person speaking was the Ghost Farmer''s wife, Evelynn but wasn''t she supposed to be dead? "I know what you are thinking! And don''t worry, I will not harm you, instead its the opposite. I am tired after all these years! The curse is finally lifted! Now that my husband is finally free to rest, I will also join him and disappear forever. After taking these items from the Heretics, we had to run away and live a miserable life in secrecy and now we can finally rest! I was about to leave when I noticed your behavior!" said Evelynn. "Although I would have preferred to leave these items to rot forever, I know that young adventurers like you will find these beneficial for your growth. You were right in thinking that there is a treasure, however, it is not under my tomb but because of your respectful behavior, I shall allow you to obtain these items. Follow me!" continued Evelynn as her bright figure levitated and floated towards a specific area of the barren land. Li Wei did not know what to say, this situation was so unexpected. But he silently followed the floating ghost. He never thought that he would be rewarded for holding true to his morals. Evelynn floated for about one minute towards a particular spot before finally stopping. She was like a giant light bulb due to all the light being emitted by her body. "This is the place, my husband was old so he probably did not dig too deep. You should be able to easily grab the items below," said Evelynn as she raised her right hand. Immediately, the black soil started to move, leaving a cross on the ground, "Looks like the last 50 years really drained me out... You will have to dig it out yourself, I need to go to rest now! Farewell adventurer! Always remain true to yourself but be careful, these items are powerful but they will come with a price!" declared Evelynn. Without waiting for his answer, she immediately turned back and returned to her gravestone. "Thank you! I will make good use of them," said Li Wei at the disappearing silhouette of Evelynn. "But what does she mean by price? Nevermind, I will consider this later," said Li Wei to himself. It felt really weird to converse with that ghost, she constantly emitted a ghastly aura appearing very unapproachable. But the desire for the treasure was too compelling and it was totally worth it since he now had the exact location of the treasure. When he looked around him, he found that this was just in a random spot in the barren field; there was no way he would purposefully come to dig there. Since Evelynn already left, Li Wei immediately started to dig the indicated area. He was extremely excited and could not wait to dig out the treasure. Using both hands, he quickly dug a small hole but still found no sign of treasures. 5 minutes later, there was still no treasure in sight. However, Li Wei did not give up, the ghost would not have brought him here for no reason. Fortunately, the soil was not dry after the rain and could easily be displaced. Eventually, Li Wei finally found something. While digging out, his hands hit something hard and it was not a piece of rock. Having found something, Li Wei''s spirit rose, he quickly removed the soil from the hole as quickly as possible. 10 minutes later, Li Wei pulled out a medium-size chest from the hole. "Fiouff, this thing is heavy! It better be worth all this work!" He could not wait any longer and hurriedly tried to open the chest. Fortunately, the chest spent more than 50 years buried, the protective runes around it already faded away, leaving the content at the mercy of anyone. As the chest was open, the first thing Li Wei saw was a pile of dirt. The pile of dirt was originally precious materials, unfortunately, with the passage of time and improper storage means, they could not survive that long. However, under that pile of dirt, Li Wei found several useful items. The biggest one was a staff; it was clearly old and ravaged by time, however, its stats were extremely good. [Forgotten Crosier](Grade 2) Wisdom +3 Vitality +2 Effect: Allows the user to convert [Heal] to [Black Heal] Condition: User needs to have 14 Wisdom Note: This is a severely damaged weapon, after serious maintenance, it will regain its former appearance, grade, and stats. Note: [Black Heal]: Deals damage equal to [Heal]''s value instead of restoring health. "Wow! This is so good! A grade 2 equipment and it is not even its real form!" exclaimed Li Wei. He was delighted to have found this treasure, it was just a pity that the weapon was meant for priests and had such high conditions. But if he sold that, he was certain that it was worth a lot of gold. Li Wei quickly placed the staff in his inventory and continued to browse through the chest. Next, he took out a decently large piece of shiny grey ore. According to the system, it was a piece of [Grey Obsidian] but Li Wei had no idea what its uses could be. Placing it in his inventory, Li Wei took out two bottles of potions from the chest. [Mind Strengthening Potion(Grade 2)](spoilt) Intelligence: -2 Note: This potion is spoilt due to improper storage, its original effect has change [Spirit Strengthening Potion(Grade 2)](spoilt) Wisdom: -2 Note: This potion is spoilt due to improper storage, its original effect has change "Such bad luck! These are useless now..." said Li Wei, placing the 2 potions to his side. His inventory was now completely full but he did not want to throw away the 2 potions, even if they were spoilt. He continued to browse through the chest and took out the final item. It was a skill manual! Li Wei excitedly opened it. [Training technique: Clarity of the mind] Can be used once per day at the cost of 20% fatigue, effect : Performs meditation and breathing cycles, after 10 cycles, increases wisdom by 1. 50 Return A few hours later, Li Wei was once again on the road towards Algate City. Unbeknown to him, he spent several hours outside at the haunted farm and therefore barely had 3 hours of sleep. His fatigue level was not fully recovered but fortunately, traveling would not produce as much fatigue as hunting. Since he took so long, the granny fell asleep before Li Wei''s return and so, he had to sleep outside under the veranda. It was not the most comfortable but he could sleep in the rocking chair of the old farmer. He was woken up by the sun and after a quick breakfast, he departed for Algate city. If he does not encounter any obstacle, he should be back by this evening. The journey was long and boring, especially since he was back to the farming areas and all he could see now were fields and farms. Due to his lack of storage space, Li Wei had to constantly carry the two bottles of the spoilt potions constantly. He did not want to throw them away since they might have some uses considering that they were grade 2 potions. As for the skill manual, he already used it and learned the steps of the technique. The manuals, scrolls and recording crystals would vanish after their use. This way, players would not be able to directly share the techniques or else, only one player would need to purchase the item to pass it down to everyone. Naturally, this was only the case because the items were copies derived from an original source. The original sources could not be used to transfer techniques or skills, they could only produce the transferable copies. The original sources were unique and would be treasured by the creators of the technique. Although the training technique that Li Wei found only gave him Wisdom, he would not say no to some free additional stats. When he thought about the Fatigue Recovery Potions produced by the sect, he thought that the more techniques he had the better since he could just recover the 20% fatigue by drinking a potion. Besides, Wisdom was mainly invested in by magic classes since it increased the magic damage dealt by spells but Wisdom also increased the character''s resistance to magic. Even though Li Wei did not encounter any monsters that used spells, it was a good investment for the future. Time went by and Li Wei found himself some traveling companions. He came across a Merchant''s Caravan going towards Algate City. This caravan happened to be under the escort of two level 10 players. The two were very friendly and waved at Li Wei when they saw that he was a player. The merchant was kind enough to allow Li Wei to travel with them. In reality, he was quite delighted to obtain a third escort for free. This made the long journey less boring. ... The night cycle was about to begin when a caravan escorted by 3 adventurers stopped by the gate of Algate City. Li Wei was naturally one of those adventurers. He was surprised to see so many changes in the city. "Why does it looks like a battle has just taken place," said Li Wei to himself. The walls of the city were clearly damaged; several marks of claws could be seen and part of the battlements on top of the walls was missing. Furthermore, the once majestic-looking gate seemed to have lost its luster, traces of burns and claws could be seen and most of the inscribed runes were missing. Another thing Li Wei noticed was the long queue to get into the city, it was extremely long compared to when he left the city. Since almost an entire week has passed since his departure, a lot of players reached level 10 and came to the city. While many decided to leave the city to go to smaller towns, many chose to stay. This resulted in long waiting time to enter the city, especially during the evening when everyone was coming back from their hunt. Li Wei naturally queued up with the merchant, since he was with the caravan, he went through another line and did not have to wait that long. The Caravan attracted the gazes of many impatient players but there was nothing they could do. After passing through the gate, he bade farewell to his traveling companions. It was still relatively early, so, he decided to go to the Warrior''s association to exchange his harvest for some contribution points. He did not need gold right now and therefore, he decided to exchange part of the harvest at the Warrior''s association and part of it at the sect. Naturally, he would keep the Forgotten Crosier, the potions and the Grey Obsidian for himself. He was well aware that these items were more precious than normal. Aside from the Shining Alyssums, Li Wei did not really need anything so he decided to exchange the other resources he collected at Abe''s Forest. He quickly went to the stables and left the horse there. This time, he was greeted by a group of riders who just came back from an expedition. They quickly took the reins of the horse and guided it towards the stables. As for Li Wei, he simply left the stables for the War District. Li Wei also took the opportunity to take out the horse''s food from his inventory and free a space. His horse was fed twice by Andy at the Gassian Lake and so, he had 2 excess portions left. And so, he could place one of the potions in his inventory. As for the other one, he could only hook it to his belt. As Li Wei walked towards the Warrior Association, he already noticed that the city became livelier, he could see players everywhere and most of them were walking in the same direction as him. He entered the city from the North Gate and now needed to go towards the Western Part of the city. It was now looking more and more like a megacity like Beijing. Before long, Li Wei reached the Warrior Association without any issues except for the queue at the reception. He quickly made his way to the trading area and talked to one of the receptionists there. After learning the prices, he quickly took out the items. As he was taking out the wild herbs and salmons, he noticed that many nearby players were greedily looking at him. With the massive increase in players at Algate City, they naturally had to share the resources with more people and as a result, one player taking out such a large amount of items was rare. Even if a whole team was to give their harvest to one player to exchange, it would not amount to this many items. While Li Wei was limited to 34 inventory spaces(10 initial, 12 due to level, 12 due to 2 storage bags), he had collected the maximum and had 50 units of almost all items. Even if he took out only half of everything he wanted to trade, it still resulted in a small stack on the counter. Even the receptionist was surprised and at the same time annoyed since he would have to count and record all these items. For his own convenience, Li Wei also chose to take out all 50 units of a common herb he found at Abe''s Forest; this was to free a storage space for the potion. "One moment please, I will count everything," said the receptionist as he grabbed a notebook and started to count the herbs. "No problem, take your time." Li Wei silently stood in front of the counter looking at the receptionist. He knew he would be here for a while, the receptionist did not have a system to instantly tell him how many units of each item were present and had to count by hand. And since it was a large transaction, he was even more cautious since he would have to pay if he made mistakes. "Hello brother! I see that the harvest is quite good!" said the player standing next to Li Wei who was also waiting for a receptionist to count his own harvest. "It''s not too bad. It''s the loot of a whole week there, that''s why there''s so much," answered Li Wei. "Ah ok, but it still impressive to have collected all these, I haven''t seen these herbs in the dungeon, may I ask where you found them?" asked the player. He obviously relaxed when he heard that it was Li Wei''s week harvest. And from that statement, he also concluded that Li Wei should have gone adventuring somewhere or else why would he keep all these items with the risk of dropping them upon dying? "Sure, I just went to the North of the city, there''s a forest after the fields," replied Li Wei. He did not mind sharing this information since he did not plan on going back to Abe''s forest. For now, his plan was to test himself at the Colosseum and he could not reserve part of the wilderness for him. "Sir, I''ve finished counting! All these items are worth 2369 Contribution Points! Please scan your Identity Crystal to confirm the transaction," declared the receptionist. Everyone was shocked to hear such a huge amount of contribution points! This amount would take weeks to gather for normal players. Li Wei ignored the shocked audience and simply swiped his card. He took a quick glance and nodded as he saw that he now had 2569 Contribution Point to his name. This amount meant that he had enough to purchase a skill. He was rejoicing at the idea of obtaining a new skill when he suddenly heard a sarcastic voice behind him: "Huh! Hypocrite! You are an indirect member of the Fleeting Clouds Sect, yet you are exchanging all your loot there! What is Avalanche doing? Did they not tell you to trade with the sect to help the sect grow?" Upon hearing that voice, Li Wei quickly turned around to look at the speaker. It was someone he had never seen before, it was a young man. He was slightly taller than Li Wei and seemed to be a ranger. His IGN was Wang Lin. "A member of the Wang Family? Like Wang Chong and Wang Hao?" thought Li Wei. Li Wei looked at the speaker for a few seconds before disregarding him and turning towards the exit. He was already tired after the long journey and the lack of sleep of last night; he did not have the patience to talk to that guy. Besides, Li Wei did not feel bad since he still had half of his items with him and planned to exchange them at the sect. "How dare you ignore me! I am a Core member of the Fleeting Clouds Sect! You are just an outer member! Let me report this to your superiors!" shouted Wang Lin. He was obviously annoyed by Li Wei''s behavior. He naturally became jealous when he saw that Li Wei was receiving so many contribution points since he himself barely obtain 200 from today''s harvest. Being a Core member and having an important role in the Wang Family, Wang Lin did not need to pay to have access to his family''s training techniques. Like many other core members, he was exchanging his loots at the associations to obtain new skills quickly. However, when he saw a player obtain so many contribution points, especially since it was someone from his own sect, he naturally felt some resentments. According to him, outer members of the sect should exchange all their resources at the sect to help it grow; they should aim at obtaining the lower-tier training techniques that the sect was providing. And so, he could not help but vent his frustration. As for Li Wei, he did not look at Wang Lin again after disregarding him. There was simply no point in arguing with this type of person and he simply left, leaving the mad Wang Lin furiously stomping the floor at the reception. The nearby players all looked at him but did not say anything, they would not interfere in one of the three big guild''s internal affairs. Having finished his errand there, Li Wei left the Warrior Association and moved towards the Trading District. Since his inn was in the northern part of the town where the Fleeting Clouds Sect''s headquarters was also located, he decided to go and sell the rest of his items on his way back. For now, he wanted to visit the Trading District, more specifically the Players Market. 51 Players Marke At this time of the day, the Players Market was very lively. Many players came here to set up stalls like hawkers on the streets, it gave the feeling of night markets. The Players Market was actually located in a rather recluse area of the Trading Area. This was the only way the players could set up their own stalls or else, if they were in more popular areas, the guards would force them to move out of the way. The guards were more tolerant when it came to these recluse areas and so, players jumped on that opportunity to sell their loot. Not everyone was going after contribution points at the Associations. Some were there only to exchange items while others came to sell for gold. Stalls could be seen everywhere and not all of them were selling their loot; there were some Grade 0 cooks trying to sell their creations and some stalls were dedicated to entertainment purposes. While normal players could only use these stalls, the 3 big guilds having more capital were able to purchase and rent some shops. The shops were not special in any way, they sold the exact same items that the stalls sold, they might, in fact, make losses since they needed to pay taxes for the location. But it was a clear demonstration of their strength causing many players to join them in return. Since Li Wei''s departure, all the guilds recruited a massive amount of players, the richest one, the Gem Family, even rented a building in the War District to serve as their official Headquarters. Li Wei was naturally surprised when he walked into the market, it felt exactly like a market in real life. Many players were walking around looking at the stalls while the vendors were excitedly trying to attract customers. Li Wei did not plan to buy anything yet since his inventory was still full, he was only here to have a look and relax. From what he saw, most of the players sold collectible resources of the dungeon and the nearby areas; these were mainly bought my aspiring craftsmen who did not have time to go out to collect them. It was better to buy from the players than from the NPC''s shop; here, prices could be cut and business networks could be built. "Sir! Look at these iron ores! They are perfect for Grade 1 equipment!" "Great discount on Red Funel Grass and Branches of Toulika! Hurry up! First come first served!" Promotional shouts came from several stalls but Li Wei simply ignored them. He did not plan to obtain a crafting profession yet so he did not need these materials. This environment was very enjoyable for him since it reminded him of his hometown. Li Wei was silently walking, looking at the different stalls when he saw a stall that attracted a particularly large crowd. In fact, they seemed to have deliberately allowed some space for the customers to stand and watch. Intrigued, he approached the crowd to have a look. It was not even selling anything, instead, it was an entertainment stall. He just arrived at the section dedicated to entertainment, many games were available to play. At the stall in front of Li Wei was a game where the player needed to throw a ball into a particular container. It was a common game seen in night markets and so people tried to replicate it. It was a very nice break from killing monsters and so, many people turned to such entertainment forms. Li Wei continued his stroll, he was familiar with these games but did not try to play. He clearly knew that these were extremely hard to win and would rather keep his money. At the end of the alley, he saw another large crowd of players, "Ladies and gentlemen! Thank you all for coming here! It is now time for the long-awaited Lottery Draw of the Day! I hope that you all have your tickets ready!" "A lottery?" said Li Wei to himself as he approached the crowd At the stand, all Li Wei could see was a huge black box. The crowd seemed to be excited, all the players there were anxiously holding a ticket in their hands, each having a specific number. Lotteries were yet another form of entertainment that the players brought to Zero. Li Wei curiously stood among the crowd to watch the draw, he was curious about what the prize could be. The host kept inciting the crowd to buy tickets and hyping the atmosphere, building up more and more suspense. Eventually, the host asked a random player from the crowd to come and pick a ticket from the box. It was seemingly a random person but no one knew if it was rigged. The person that the host chose turned out to be a cute girl wearing a ranger''s outfit. She timidly walked on the stage, encouraged by the party she was with. The crowd immediately applauded her and calmly waited for the draw. The host, however, chose to delay the drawing by a few more seconds just like a professional building up the suspense. Finally, upon receiving the permission, the cute girl placed her hand into the black box and mixed the tickets. After a few seconds, she anxiously took out a piece of paper and read out the number. "It is number 381!" said the girl with a timid voice. The host quickly picked up,"Number 381! Our grand winner tonight is number 381! If you have the corresponding ticket 381 please step forward!" Many players in the crowd wore dejected expression but they still wildly applauded as they waited for the winner to reveal himself and a few seconds later a silhouette made his way towards the stage. As Li Wei was curiously looking, he immediately recognized who it was, it was Bright Sun. "The winner is actually her?" said Li Wei to himself. "Ladies and Gentlemen! A quick round of applause for this lucky lady please!" declared the host as he stepped forward to congratulate Bright Sun. The audience immediately responded. They were all surprised to see that such a beautiful lady came to the market to play the lottery. Bright Sun was overjoyed but she still kept a very calm attitude and warmly smiled and thanked the host. Quickly, an assistant brought a small jewel box and passed it to Bright Sun. Li Wei could not see what the box contained, but he knew that it should have been decent from Bright Sun''s reaction. The prize was actually a Grade 1 Bracelet, it was quite low quality for a grade 1 but still, it was worth at least 20 gold and playing the lottery only cost 10 silver per tickets. The crowd once again warmly applauded before slowly dispersing, since the event here was over, they started to move towards the other entertaining stalls. Li Wei was about to turn and leave when he suddenly heard a voice calling him: "Hey Seven! You are finally back!" Li Wei turned only to see Cai Wenji walking towards him, "Ah Hello Cai Wenji, I just came back and was just having a look at the market." "That''s great! You blocked all your messages and I could not contact you! I thought you would not make it back for the guild''s weekly event tomorrow." Li Wei smiled,"I told you I will be back but it looks like you did not have a good time here right? What exactly happened?" The first thing Li Wei noticed when he saw Cai Wenji was his level, he was actually level 11 which was the same as when he left. That was not possible unless he died. Li Wei himself was already level 12 and considering that he was traveling most of the time and gaining only a small amount of exp, Cai Wenji who was diligently farming should have long reached level 12. "Yeah, when you left..." started Cai Wenji but he was immediately interrupted by his sister. "Hello Seven! How was your trip?" said Bright Sun as she joyfully hopped towards Li Wei and Cai Wenji. Behind her was Sun Rose who was silently following her friend. "Hi!" politely greeted Sun Rose. "Hello!" answered Li Wei but he immediately noticed another detail when he looked at the two girls'' levels, Sun Rose''s IGN actually changed to Liu Beibei. "Wait, why is your IGN different? Did you change it?" asked Li Wei. "Oh that! I changed it recently, there''s an item called Renaming Table that you can use to change your IGN, it''s sold at the Trading District" answered Liu Beibei with an embarrassed expression. Bright Sun on the side giggled and teased her, "yes and I''ve never seen such a lame attempt at running away from home!" "Hey! How was I supposed to know that we could search the players according to their real name during the first day?" answered Liu Beibei. In reality, the reason she did not use her real name was that she wanted to freely explore this world. Her family clearly declared that everyone would use their real name in the game but she chose not to so that she won''t be identified and would be free. She just wanted some freedom after the rough life she lived till now. Unfortunately, since the game allowed players to search for others with their real names on the first day, she was quickly found and was scolded for that. In the end, their family spent 20 gold for the Renaming Table. "Cough cough! Anyway, shall we go to the Prosperity Hall? I am really hungry now!" said Liu Beibei to redivert the topic. "Yes, I am hungry too, we should go quickly before all the spots are taken," replied Bright Sun. "Seven? Do you want to come with us?" asked Cai Wenji. The latter was entangled with the 2 girls since they came back from the dungeon. While it was enjoyable at first, it quickly became boring to follow them on their shopping spree and to listen to girl''s talk. And now that he found someone to talk to, he would naturally try to get him to stay. "Eh that would be inappropriate, I..." said Li Wei but he was immediately cut by Cai Wenji. "That would be fine, you haven''t been to the Prosperity Hall yet I suppose, the more the merrier, I am treating anyway! You guys don''t mind right?" asked Cai Wenji to the 2 girls. The two simply smiled and indicated that they were alright with inviting Li Wei and so, the latter found himself joining the group of three. He clearly knew what the Prosperity Hall was; it was a very famous restaurant in the Trading District. Apparently, eating food there would give players some bonus stats for a small period of time but more importantly, the food there was really delicious. However, the one downside was the price, it was significantly more expensive than the other restaurants. Since he was given the opportunity to try the dishes for free, Li Wei naturally would not say no. As they walked towards the restaurant, Li Wei narrated his trip to Abe''s forest. The 3 were very curious since they did not get the opportunity to explore the outside world yet. They all focused hard on training and leveling in the dungeon. Naturally, Li Wei omitted his experience with the Ghost Farmer and the Lake Fairy. He obtained some good items from them and had no plans of sharing them with the guild at least for now. "Wow! I wish we could go an explore outside too..." commented Liu Beibei. "Yeah... We should ask the sect to arrange events like that! It would be much more fun than just going to the dungeon," said Bright Sun. The small group was happily chatting when they finally arrived at the Prosperity Hall. The place was just massive. It distinguished itself from the surrounding buildings with its unique architecture, the first floor looked very welcoming and simple, it was precisely the lack of decorations that made this place attractive. But the other floors were clearly different, just the outside was lavishly decorated, the higher the floor, the more intimidating they looked as if saying that only the rich could step in. The restaurant was actually divided into four floors, each serving a different type of food. The first floor served normal dishes with normal quality ingredients, it was a very affordable place for the commoners and low-level players. The higher the floor, the higher the quality of the food and service provided there. As for the last floor, players were not allowed to go there yet; it was a floor that only accommodated nobles. As Li Wei and his group stopped at the entrance, a cute waitress immediately stepped forward to welcome them, "Hello and welcome to the Prosperity Hall! Tonight, the theme is Western food, would you like a table for four?" asked the waitress. The Prosperity Hall was famous not only for the quality of the food provided but also for the large variety. Every day, they would serve different style of dishes, ensuring that no leftovers were used. "Western food? Alright, can we please have a table on the second floor please?" asked Cai Wenji. "Of course, please follow me!" politely said the waitress as she lead the way upstairs. At the same time, many players turned to look at the newcomers. Going to the second floor was not uncommon but it was still a sign of status since it was more expensive than the first floor. 52 Prosperity Hall Li Wei quietly followed the waitress with his party. He was guided through a large staircase on the side. As soon as they entered the second floor, it was like in a completely different place. Li Wei''s nostrils were instantly assaulted by a variety of enticing aromas coming from the plates of the customers. The second floor clearly had fewer tables than the first one, there was more space between them, giving more privacy to the customers. The room was lightly decorated, just enough to show that it was a special place but without overwhelming the customers. There was also a terrace where some tables were placed, from there, the customers could watch the plaza in front of the restaurant. The group was quickly brought to a table and everyone was given a menu. Li Wei froze when he saw the prices, the cheapest meal cost at least 5 gold and that was just an appetizer. When he compared it to the food he was used to, this was clearly extremely expensive; a normal meal would cost around 1 gold at Algate City. While Li Wei was flustered about the price, the 2 girls and Cai Wenji did not seem to mind it. Recently, they came here to eat a lot due to the good properties of the food. Cai Wenji was very sensitive and noticed Li Wei''s behavior, he quickly said: "I am treating, so you guys can pick whatever you want," "Really? In that case, we should go for a three-course meal!" said Liu Beibei as she browsed through the menu. A few minutes later, the waitress came back to take their orders, in the end, they all went for three-course meals. And as they waited for their dishes, the conversation once again drifted towards Li Wei''s trip. "Oh, by the way, I met a crazy guy at the Warrior Association, he was furious because I traded there and not at the Sect, he said he would report it..." said Li Wei. "Really? Well, it is true that you are free to exchange your loot where you want but it would have been nice if you exchanged some at the sect so that we can grow. Anyway, who is that guy? I will deal with that later," answered Cai Wenji. "I did not see him before at the sect but he is from the Fleeting Clouds Sect, not from a branch guild. His name is Wang Lin," Instantly, the atmosphere turned weird and both Liu Beibei and Cai Wenji turned to briefly look at Bright Sun. The latter was making a weird expression. "Don''t worry about that guy, you did not see him at the Colosseum because he went to fight the other guilds for the Mutated Giant Worm that day. It will be alright, that guy is just biased against Avalanche due to issues in real life. He will always be picky about us so just ignore him," said Cai Wenji. Li Wei naturally noticed their behavior but he did not ask about it. "So, can you tell me what happened here while I was gone? It is not normal for you to still be level 11" asked Li Wei. "Oh yeah, you blocked all messages so you are not aware of it. You remember the quest you received but refused on the day of your departure? We went there to take the quest but the Stone Defenders arrived earlier and were the first to complete all the maps. The tenth floor took a bit longer since only rogues could stealthily explore it." "So when they completed the maps, they made sure to get some copies before submitting the quest. But when you looked at the map, you could see a hidden message. The way the walls and tunnels were distributed made it looked like very badly written Chinese characters." "The Stone Defenders were the one to complete the maps so they naturally were the only one able to read the message. It contained 3 locations in the dungeon, the message pointed at a specific floor, a specific corridor and specific spot." "We don''t know if it was intentionally made by the game designers but the locations were actually secret rooms. 2 of them contained treasures that the Stone Defenders collected but in the end, most of the players sent to these rooms died so they were only able to bring back a few items." "As for the third room, they found a lot of defenseless monsters in there and they took advantage of that to get a lot of exp. Since we were already in the dungeon, we noticed their strange behavior and also fought for some of the loot. The Gem Family also came in and then it became a mess." "The Stone Defenders killed quite a lot of monsters in there and since they were of level 15, they obtained a lot of exp and leveled up a lot. Most of them were level 13 at that time. Then, we tried to take a slice of the cake but it was too late. The monsters inside reacted and not only that, stronger monsters that ranged from level 20 to level 30 appeared. We were all slaughtered without exception, all players in the dungeon were killed." "And it did not end there, a few hours later, when we revived, we all received a compulsory quest to defend the city against the monster wave from the dungeon. Since I am a rogue, I had to fight at the frontline but against level 30 monsters, I could not even scratch them before dying again. Fortunately, my sister is a priest, so she stood in the backline and did not die a second time." "Yes, luckily it''s just a game! But still, dying is not a very pleasant experience! You are so lucky to have left before that event," said Bright Sun. At that moment, the waitress arrived with the appetizers, Li Wei''s was a special secret soup. Since everyone was hungry, they all immediately started eating. The creamy flavor assaulted Li Wei as soon as he placed the spoon in his mouth, it was clearly much better than what he used to have. But more importantly, a system prompt came up as soon as he took a sip, [System prompt: you have consumed a Special Secret Soup, Fatigue recovery increased for the next 10 minutes] "Wow! This is really good!" commented Li Wei. "Indeed! That''s why many people come here to eat and it is a good way to recover fatigue for us to train our techniques afterward," said Liu Beibei. "Huh? It is a really expensive way to recover your fatigue no? Isn''t it more affordable to use the Fatigue Recovery Potions the sect is making?" asked Li Wei. "You did not read the guild''s chat so you don''t know. You are not the only one who thought that but unfortunately, the Fatigue Recovery Potion is toxic when consumed in large amounts," said Cai Wenji. "Yes, you should not take more than 3 per week, those who abused it were bedridden for 2 days. That''s why it is better to recover fatigue by enjoying a good meal!" added Bright Sun. They all enjoyed their dish and as Li Wei finished his soup, his fatigue level already went down by 10%, it was a really large amount considering that it was just the appetizer. Shortly after, the main dishes arrived, since Li Wei did not know much about western cuisine, he randomly chose one and ended up with some lamb chops. The plate in front of him was beautifully decorated. Not able to resist, he quickly took a bite. The meat was really tender and the flavor was further highlighted by the sauce. It was one of the best dishes he has ever tasted. As he took the last bite, he could only internally complain about the small portion but as he checked his character window, he found that his fatigue level went down by another 20%. "30% less fatigue! It is really impressive right? One day when I''ll become a Grade 3 cook, I''ll also be able to create such dishes," said Bright Sun. The profession she chose was actually "cook".She was just a Grade 0 cook for now but it was normal considering that she did not focus on crafting and went to hunt daily. Even for those who spent the whole day crafting, reaching Grade 1 in a week was rare; not everyone could exploit a loophole like Li Wei. "So you chose cook as your profession?" asked Li Wei. "Yes! She already had great cooking skills in the real world!" commented Liu Beibei. Bright Sun simply smiled and nodded, "It is a pity that we are restricted by the game''s rule, it does not matter how much knowledge you have, you still have to follow the grades to use higher tier ingredients more effectively," said Bright Sun. "Then what did you guys choose?" asked Li Wei while looking at Cai Wenji and Liu Beibei. "I am a musician! Like Cai Die, I already learned some musical skills in real life, so I am simply replicating them in the game," said Liu Beibei. "I am a Blacksmith, " simply answered Cai Wenji. "I suggest that you start choosing a serious profession Seven, fisherman is... not very useful... I don''t know what benefits you get from leveling the profession but I doubt it has anything to do with stats," said Bright Sun. While Li Wei said that he participated in the fishing competition, he omitted the Lake Fairy and the fact that he was already a Grade 1 fisherman. "I''ll think about it..." At the same time, the waitress once again came to their table this time, carrying their desserts. Since the weather setting was that of the beginning of summer, it was very warm and Li Wei opted for a simple ice-cream. This further lowered his fatigue level by another 10%, in total, 40% of his fatigue was removed with just a meal but that meal would cost 20 gold. Li Wei did not know if this was worth it, but it was definitely effective in reducing fatigue. [System prompt: you have consumed a three-course meal, special effect activated, Strength and Dexterity +2 for 2 hours] Another prompt came up, informing Li Wei of the other bonuses of eating the meal. But right now, it was not useful to him since he would just go back to do some training before resting. "What are we doing tomorrow for the sect''s event?" asked Li Wei. Now that everyone finished eating, they were calmly relaxing in their seat waiting for the waitress to come back to pay the bill. "Tomorrow we are doing Time Attacks at the Hall of Fame," said Cai Wenji. "Time attacks?" "Yeah, it is basically clearing a mini-dungeon as fast as possible. The times are recorded and there''s a ranking for the lowest time. If you want to know the lore behind this, they say that powerful space and time magicians created these mini-dungeons to train the future generations," answered Cai Wenji. "This should be interesting! I did a lot of those when I used to play pc games, it should be fun," said Li Wei. "Right now Stone Defenders hold the records for all 3 Time Attacks available for our level, but the best strategy hasn''t been figured out yet, so it can change at any time, we should aim at getting first place in the city!" said Cai Wenji. ... A few minutes later, Li Wei left the trio and walked towards the Fleeting Clouds Sect''s Headquarters. It was time for him to empty his inventory. He planned to go back to his inn to rest but since his fatigue level had greatly recovered, he decided to go to the training center afterward, it was time to finally obtain the Gliding Steps skill. At the same time, Cai Wenji and the 2 girls left the restaurant, "You did a good job inviting him brother!" said Bright Sun. "Sigh... But 20 gold is gone just like that, I am not a miser but right now we need as much gold as possible to quickly grow," answered Cai Wenji. "Did you not complain about him not joining the party when not compulsory? You need to build a good relationship with him, not just like boss and worker but more like friends. I know you are not too good a socializing but you need to put in some efforts if you want a united team! Besides, it''s just 20 gold..." answered Bright Sun. "mmm you should have just taken the leadership role... I am not fit for these things..." "Nah, I am good like that, I don''t want to have that much pressure and I am a girl so the elders would have never agreed on that! Just treat him as a friend like everyone else is doing, it is normal for him to take some time to integrate to the group, I am sure he''ll spend more time with us in the future" 53 The Graveyard of Longsoul 1 [System prompt: You have completed a training cycle of [Gliding Steps], completion rate: 90%] [System prompt: Congratulations player Seven, mastery of Gliding Steps has reach 100/100, you have obtained the skills: Gliding Steps] "Finally!" exclaimed Li Wei. He just finished his daily training session of the Gliding Steps and had finally obtained his skill. [Gliding Steps (level 0)] Creates a thin layer of air under the user''s feet, allowing the user to glide onto the ground for 1 second Mana Cost: 5 Cooldown: 0 Mastery: 4/1000 Note: Mastery increases when practicing a cycle of the training technique. Fill in the Mastery bar to level up the skill. Li Wei was currently in one of the private training room of the sect at the Training Center. After emptying his inventory at the Fleeting Clouds Sect''s Headquarters for 1930 contribution points, he immediately came here. After a whole week, he was finally rewarded with the skill he asked for when joining the guild. Unable to wait, he immediately activated the skill and leaned to the left. Li Wei suddenly felt very light and unstable, it was something he experienced before. He tried to recall where he experienced that feeling and found the answer. It felt exactly like the last time he went ice skating! He felt insecure for a moment, but as he found that he could control his balance, he calmed himself. But that feeling suddenly disappeared as abruptly as it appeared, one second was already over causing his feet to come back into contact with the ground. As that happened, Li Wei almost lost his balance but managed to remain standing. "Looks like just acquiring the skill is not enough, I still need to practice it to not ridicule myself," said Li Wei. Although he still needed some work to be able to use the skill properly, Li Wei was very satisfied. He was doubting whether he made the right choice in choosing this skill but now, he wasn''t anymore. In addition to strengthening his legs, the training technique also gave him a very flexible skill. Although he liked and was inspired by the Red Bandit Leader''s dual sword style, Li Wei did not want to exactly copy it; he just wanted to use this as a base and customize it to his own style. He thought of the Gliding Steps as a way to make his moves less predictable, he could swing his sword and if his opponent reacted by blocking, he could simply glide to the side to change the trajectory of his swords. Just that one skill already increased the range of moves he could do. Since his Fatigue level was still within the acceptable range, Li Wei sat down to attempt the meditation technique he received. Although it would only give him more Wisdom, it was better than nothing. He quickly sat down and cleared his mind. It was the first time he was trying this technique and it was completely different from the Gliding Steps. After 30 minutes, the system prompt came: [System prompt: You have completed a training cycle of [Clarity of the mind], completion rate: 62%] "Wow, only 62% I did not know it was that bad!" said Li Wei. He was obviously not satisfied with his performance. Even if it was his first time trying something like that, it was still a blow at his moral. "Nevermind that! Let''s head back quickly... There''s the guild''s event tomorrow, I have to sleep early to get rid of all the Fatigue" ... The next morning, Li Wei woke up earlier than usual. He was back at 10% Fatigue which was a reasonable level. The reason he woke up early was that it was time to refill his potions; after his journey, most of his potions were exhausted and since he was going to the guild''s event later, he needed to be prepared. Fortunately, NPCs'' shops at Algate city were open 24/7. He decided to leave behind the antidotes crafted by the Lake Fairy and all the non-combat related items in his room. He was provided with a chest in which he could safely store his items. As for his money, he still did not decide how to use it properly and chose to postpone that for later. It did not take long for him to run his errands and he quickly arrived at the Fleeting Clouds Sect''s Headquarters. He came in quite early but many players were already present. Even Cai Wenji and Bright Sun were in the hall waiting for others to arrive. "We won''t be in the same team this time, my sister and I will be going with some members from the main branch of the Cai Family," said Cai Wenji as he greeted Li Wei. "Really? Why is that the case? " asked Li Wei. "We are going to try to snatch back the record from the Stone Defenders this time, so they want to put the strongest together. Apparently, the family recently recruited a pro-player and we would be in the same party as him!" explained Bright Sun. "You should have probably heard about him, he was last year''s MVP of the Overload tournament, King of Champions. He came to China after having been invited to join the Chinese team, but he did not get to play this season due to the global disaster," continued Cai Wenji. "King of Champions? " thought Li Wei. He naturally knew who that person was. He was a god-tier player in the most popular MMORPG, Overload. Since Li Wei played many games before, he naturally watched streams and pro tournament, there was no way he would not know who was that legendary figure. "Look, it''s that guy over there! " said Bright Sun as she pointed towards a tall Caucasian man. "He was previously a member of the Gem Family, but for some reasons, he decided to leave and was recruited by our family. " Li Wei turned his attention to the tall man. He clearly stood out of the crowd but Li Wei could not help but feel that something was wrong with this man. Just from one look, Li Wei felt that he did not like him. The smug smile on his face kept irritating Li Wei. As he was watching King of Champions talk to 3 other members of the Fleeting Clouds Sect, Li Wei suddenly felt a strong tap on his shoulder. He looked behind only to find The One Hero grinning at him. Behind him, Forge God and Silent Day were smiling and waving at him. "You guys stay here, we have to go and meet King of Champions, Forge God has the team compositions we prepared," said Cai Wenji as he left with his sister. "King of Champions? What a name! That guy better not shame himself when I will beat him up!" said The One Hero. "So? What are the teams'' composition?" asked Li Wei, completely ignoring The One Hero. "None of us are together, there''ll be one rogue, one mage, one priest and one paladin in yours, I believe you''ve never met them," said Forge God. Silent Day quickly added, "we will all try to beat the Graveyard of Longsoul first and we need a balanced team to succeed, this Time Attack is limited to groups of 5 players under level 15, therefore, we cannot be together because 3 warriors in one team isn''t optimal and don''t worry, you''ll be given information about the strategy to follow before entering." Li Wei nodded, her explanation made sense and he did not know much about the Graveyard of Longsoul. 30 minutes later, Li Wei''s new team arrived. His new team leader, Cai Jing was someone from the main branch of the Cai Family. He quickly gave everyone a sheet of paper which explained in details the strategy they would adopt. All Li Wei''s team members actually came from the main branch of the Cai Family and it was clear that they were more arrogant than Cai Wenji and Bright Sun due to their superior status. They did not really like the fact that Li Wei joined their party this time; in their eyes, he only got to join them to fill in the gaps and would drag them down. They were still polite but did not try to bond with him. Li Wei also did not mind and simply studied the strategy. Following that, the whole group moved to the Hall of Fame where the Time Attacks took place. It was situated in the War District and was isolated from the rest of the buildings. Its architecture made it look like a Roman building with large pillars at the entrance. Many players were already there attempting to beat the Time Attacks. As they went in, Li Wei was surprised to find such a large and open hall. Despite the number of players, there was still a lot of space. He followed the group and went to a slightly smaller hall, inside were 3 large paintings each showing different landscapes. On the one to the right, was an island in the middle of the sea; on the one on the left, was the entrance to a cavern covered with spider webs and on the middle one was a graveyard full of tombs and gravestones. Above each one of the 3 paintings were 3 screens displaying the records; one for the whole world, one for the Dominion Empire and one for Algate City. Li Wei was naturally curious to find the time they would need to beat but was surprised to see how mediocre Algate City''s performance was. It might be due to the incident at the dungeon causing the players to lose at least a level, but the lowest time of Algate City was 31 minutes, while the lowest time of the Dominion Empire was 27 minutes. 4 minutes was a lot of time when it came to this sort of activity. It was important to note that players needed to be level 15 or below for their time to be recorded on the screen. Even if just one player was above level 15, then the whole party''s time would be voided. While players could freely communicate with others within their empire, they could not do so to the other empires and therefore, most of the names of the players on the world record screen were only displayed as "???". They could only see which empire the record holders came from. But what really surprised Li Wei was that next to the world record, there was only 1 "???". That meant that a player soloed the entire Time Attack and was still able to beat the time of a full party of five players. Although his time was not far away from the others at 26:19, it was still a feat since he was able to do that alone. But what was even more impressive, was that the world records of the 3 different Time Attacks all belonged to that one person! While Li Wei was surprised, all the other players did not seem flustered about this. They came here several times but that one person had always been at top of the screen. They were all irritated when they discovered that just one person could be their team of five. But there was nothing they could do, there was no way to communicate with other empires for now, all they knew was that that one person came from the Millenium Empire. "Enough losing time, let''s go! We need to get that record!" said Cai Jing as he lead the way to the middle painting. As he arrived in front of the painting, he did not stop but continued forward. As he was about to hit the painting, the latter seemed to distort for a second and Cai Jing was absorbed inside. The rest of Li Wei''s team quickly followed one by one and disappeared in the painting. Li Wei also silently went in under the eyes of the surrounding players. ... "Go! You two block those skeletons on the left! I''ll deal with this undead corpse. Seven! You go deal with these 2 skeletons on the right!" declared Cai Jing as soon as Li Wei entered. He did not even spare a glance at his team and walked forward to get into the range of the undead corpse. Li Wei did not say anything and drew his blades. Even though Cai Jing was rough, he understood that it was time to be serious; the timer would start as soon as all the five players would enter the painting. So, there was no time to recover; in this case, even 1 second could cost them a record. The atmosphere was gloomy. The 5 players were currently standing at the entrance of the graveyard. In front of them, several creepy gravestones were scattered everywhere and between them, were undead wandering endlessly. There was also a pale transparent mist that covered the graveyard, slightly reducing the visibility but also making the area look more spooky. But there was no time to look at the landscape, the Paladin and the Rogue immediately went to intercept the 2 skeletons on the left while the priest stood by Cai Jing. Li Wei diligently followed the instructions and swung his swords at the 2 skeletons on the right. They were level 10 skeletons and were relatively weak but that was because they were still at the gate! The monsters would keep getting stronger as they progressed inside. While Li Wei''s team consisted of level 12 and level 13 players, the final boss of this Time Attack, "Longsoul" was a level 15 Lich but no one seemed to mind fighting a boss 2 levels above their own. 54 The graveyard of Longsoul 2 "Cling Clang!" [Cleave]! Li Wei jumped and mercilessly swung his sword at the skeleton warrior in front of him, taking away its remaining HP. "Good job! But there''s no time to rest! We''ll soon be able to summon the boss! Don''t relax," shouted Cai Jing as he cast [Mana Burst] at a group of Skeletons. 20 minutes already went by since Li Wei''s group entered the graveyard. At first, he was always asked to fight alone or to intercept a group of skeletons. But as the time went by, Cai Jing and his party naturally took notice that Li Wei could easily deal with the monsters and acknowledged his skills. Although they still considered themselves superior, they put aside their arrogance and fought together with Li Wei to achieve a better time. The boss of the graveyard; Lich Longsoul was supposed to immediately appear in front of the players once 75% of the monsters in the graveyard would be killed. It sounded easy but there was a lot of monsters scattered in the graveyard, namely skeletons, zombies, and ghouls. Skeletons had low HP but high Strength, Zombies had high HP but low Strength while Ghouls were ghost-type monsters and took reduced damage from physical attacks. However, the monsters in the graveyard were weaker than their counterpart in the wild. Furthermore, these Time Attacks were meant to be easily beaten once the players would reach level 15, they were only a challenge for lower-level players; their purpose was not to test the strength of the players but the speed at which they could clear it. And so, there was a large amount of relatively weak monsters. Naturally, they were still a challenge since Li Wei was currently only level 12! But the most important difference between the monsters in the Time Attack compared to the other monsters was that they did not leave any drops upon death. It did not matter if a player placed his hands on the corpse and said: "collect". Nothing would happen in that case except for causing the player to lose a few seconds. The monsters in the Time Attack only provided experience but still, since they were dividing it among 5 players, it was below average. "Take 5 seconds to drink potions! Then let''s charge at that group of Zombies over there!" announced Cai Jing as he himself took out a Mana Potion. Li Wei and the rest of the party quickly obeyed, having fought non-stop since the beginning, they naturally had to spend some Mana and lost some HP. Now that the boss was not too far, they could not be taken by surprise! Following that, the paladin quickly activated [Reinforce] and charged at the group of Zombies. Li Wei quickly followed and swung his swords at the Zombies. Zombies were in a way weaker than the skeletons; they did not have weapons and only tried to bite or scratch him. His sword pierced through the blackened chest of a zombie as he raised his other sword, ready to decapitate it. The Zombie did not seem to realize that a sword went through its chest and continued to step forward to bite the human in front of him. Li Wei was disgusted, the foul smell of the Zombie assaulted his nostrils, causing him to want to vomit. He was about to cut its head and retreat back when suddenly, the entire graveyard shook for a second. "AHHH! Damned Intruders! How dare you assault my kingdom! I will make you pay!" shouted a terrifying large figure as it floated into the sky. It was the boss Lich Longsoul, it had finally appeared. The timer was displaying 24 minutes but they were finally able to clear 75% of the monsters. However, Li Wei did not have time to rejoice as the zombie in front of him swung its arm and violently clawed his chest,"-18" Li Wei was surprised for a moment but instead of retreating, he swung his sword, ending the life of the Zombie. "There''s no time to waste! The Lich is floating in the sky so let me and Cai Jing deal the damage, the rest of you should block the monsters!" declared the rangers as he picked an arrow from his quiver and pulled his longbow as much as possible. "Swoosh!" an arrow covered with black aura flew straight towards the Lich Longsoul but the latter did not seem to react. "Tchack!" the arrow embedded itself in the skull of the Lich but he simply laughed and raised his right hand to pull out the arrow. He lost 20 HP from that arrow but that only took out a small part of its HP. "Puny humans! Since you''ve decided to come here! You can stay forever and serve me!" loudly declared the lich as he raised his 2 hands in the air. A few seconds later, the graveyard once again shook but this time, dozens of hands shot out of the ground. Li Wei stared in shock at the dozens of skeletons trying to pull themselves from the ground. Even though this was written in the strategy guide he received, it was still a scary scene! But he immediately reacted and took an aggressive stance. Although a lot of monsters had been summoned, the boss Lich Longsoul itself was still floating in mid-air, vulnerable to all attacks. This was the strategy to beat the lich, as long as Li Wei and the paladin could protect Cai Jing and the ranger as they shot their attacks, then they would successfully clear the Time Attack. The plan was simple; never stay in the same spot and keep moving. Instead of defending the area of the ranged attackers, they would simply charge at the monsters and open a path for the party to move through. [Strengthen], [Reinforce] Both Li Wei and the Paladin activated their skill and charged at the skeletons. They were still trying to pull themselves out but two of them did not have time to as they were mercilessly killed by Li Wei''s sword. As for the Paladin, he charged at the remaining Zombies, pushing them away with [Bash]. Meanwhile, while slowly walking towards Li Wei who was opening a path, Cai Jing quickly threw out [Mana Bolt] and [Mana Burst] at the Lich but the latter did not even move and simply took the damage. Similarly, the ranger used all his skills,[Power Shot], [Scatter Shot] and [Precise Shot] but the lich simply laughed as it waved its hand to send a black sphere at the group. The Paladin immediately jumped in front of the group and raised his shield to take the shot. And almost instantly, his HP bar completely replenished by the Priest. "Let''s get moving or we''ll get surrounded! Another wave of attack should lower its HP to two-thirds!" said Cai Jing as he drank a Mana Potion. Li Wei silently nodded and used [Blade Draw] towards the Lich before turning back to the skeletons. Suddenly, a white halo surrounded his body, it was the priest''s [Empower] which had similar effects to his own [Strengthen]. Now having +4 Strength, he easily swung his sword and slaughtered the skeletons. While there were many of them, they were not very strong and would go down after a few sword strikes. In this chaotic environment, swords could appear out of nowhere and suddenly strike him. However, Li Wei now had the Gliding Steps and whenever he felt a sense of danger, he would not hesitate to use his newly acquired skill and glide in a random direction. And more than once, that move actually allowed him to gracefully dodge a sneak attack of the skeletons. His party members immediately recognized the skill since they were from the Cai Family but did not say anything. It was not an uncommon skill for them, even the ranger and the paladin learned it but they were still surprised to see how fluidly Li Wei could dodge the swords with it. 30 seconds went by as Li Wei continuously hacked his swords everywhere when finally, Cai Jing once again raised his hands and launched his skills. At the same time, the ranger pulled his bow and activated his own skills. "Boom" A massive explosion occurred on the Lich''s body as all the projectile exploded on its body. "Ahhh Puny humans! How dare you! Rise, my children! Kill those you once swore to protect!" chanted the lich as it once again raised its hands. This time, the graveyard did not shake but rattling noises entered the ears of the party. A few seconds later, all the tombs scattered in the graveyards opened, revealing the decomposing bodies of Zombies. "Get moving! We can do this! This is the easiest cycle! They are slow and don''t deal as much damage as the skeletons! Don''t lose focus," shouted Cai Jing as he waved his hand. The lich would change cycle at two-thirds and one-third of its HP. Although they made it look easy, the lich still had 400HP which was relatively low for a boss. However, what caused the cycle to change after just to wave of attacks was the fact that Cai Jing was a mage that heavily invested in Wisdom. Normally, mages would invest in Intelligence to have a larger mana pool but Cai Jing chose to increase his firepower instead and make up for his lack of Mana with items! It was precisely that higher than normal firepower that allowed him to quickly wear off the boss'' HP. Although it was Li Wei that was clearing the skeletons to allow the party to change position, it was not him that was shouldering the most pressure, instead, it was the Paladin. That guy literally had to guard 3 fronts. Although the Priest was helping him by constantly using [Heal] and [Light Barrier] to delay the skeletons, he was already exhausted. As arrogant as Cai Jing was, he naturally noticed the state of the Paladin and activated his own skill to buy some time. [Mystic Barrier] It was a skill he obtained from one of the training technique of his family. It created a large transparent wall and blocked the enemies from 2 directions. "Drink your potions quickly! The barrier won''t hold for long" said Cai Jing. The Paladin nodded with a grateful expression and gulped down a health and a mana potion. After that, he immediately went back to his position with a boosted moral! He knew that victory was not far, he could not give up now! Meanwhile, the Zombies had arrived in front of Li Wei. The latter hated these disgusting fellows, their signature putrid smell was once again assaulting his nose. [Roar] He immediately used his skill to push them back as he swung his swords at their decomposing bodies. Unfortunately, [Strengthen] and [Empower] just wore off, he could no longer easily open the way. But fortunately, the ranger quickly shot a few arrows at the Zombies, helping Li Wei to speed up the process. As for the boss Lich Longsoul, it was simply floating in mid-air with that terrifying expression. But it did not attack or else, the Time Attack would be unclearable. In fact, the lich would only attack once it entered its 3rd and final phase. With the help of the ranger, Li Wei took down 4 Zombies, allowing the party to move and avoid being surrounded. All that time, they were moving in a circle around the Lich Longsoul. That was the only way for the ranged attackers to be able to hit the lich. 30 seconds went by and once again, Cai Jing and the Ranger showered the Lich with their skills. The latter was left with slightly less than half of his HP bar but that still did not trigger the last phase. Li Wei gritted his teeth as he used Gliding Steps to narrowly dodge the clawing hands of a zombie. At this rate, they would definitely be able to clear the Time Attack but while he was moving, he took the opportunity to take a glance at the timer. It had already been 29 minutes! It was already way above the world record! Another 30 seconds went by, the party''s cooldowns were refreshed and they could shower the boss Lich Longsoul with their skills. But they did not, instead, Cai Jing helped to clear the wave of Zombies. It was an essential part of their strategy! And this greatly reduced the pressure on Li Wei and the Paladin. Zombies kept approaching the group, but there were obviously a fewer number of them now. They took the opportunity to drink down some potion before their cooldowns once again refreshed. Lich Longsoul was carelessly standing in mid-air, looking at the adventurers that came to invade its territory. Although it was severely injured, it silently watched his zombies mercilessly assault the invaders. Suddenly, it once again saw a plethora of projectiles fly towards it. It instantly recognized them but it was too late to move. "Boom!" a deafening explosion blasted the lich Longsoul''s cape away, revealing its disgusting appearance. "You puny humans! I have shown you enough pity! Tortured souls of Hell, come out and satiate your thirst!" chanted the lich as his body slowly lowered to the ground. Immediately, creepy sounds emerged from the depths of the graveyard as the gloomy mist that surrounded the graveyard condensed around, taking the form of creepy ghouls. As for the lich, it was no longer standing still, it had decided to now kill those invaders. Black sparks surrounded its arms as it raised them towards the invaders. 55 The graveyard of Longsoul 3 Lich Longsoul was calmly walking towards Li Wei''s party. Its two hands were raised and black sparks kept dancing around his arms. After its first attack, Lich Longsoul simply stood in the middle of the graveyard and watched as its minions attacked the invaders. However, now that it was severely injured, it could no longer afford to stay passive! Above its head, dozens of ghouls were moaning while charging at Li Wei''s group. They had a semi-ethereal body causing them to take reduced damage from physical attacks and so Li Wei could no longer charge at them. However, it was all part of the strategy. Now that the boss Lich Longsoul was no longer floating in mid-air out of range of melee attacks, that meant that it was time for Li Wei and the Paladin to go on the offensive. A major change happened in the party''s formation. Cai Jing disregarded the boss and turned towards the ghouls, he was the only one able to deal full damage to these monsters. At the same time, Li Wei charged at the boss together with the Paladin. But Lich Longsoul would not allow the invaders to do as they wished. It was well aware of its frail body, despite being a boss, it only had a total of 400HP and he was now left only with 122HP. The lich suddenly opened its hands, allowing sparks to shoot towards the charging Li Wei. [Unmovable Mountain] The Paladin reacted almost instantly, jumping in front of Li Wei, he activated his skill he obtained from his family. It had a similar effect to making his body extremely resistant to any form of damage and act like a living shield, however, during the duration of the effects, he had to remain still. "-10" and "-6" appeared above its head as the two sparks struck his body. As for Li Wei, he quickly used Gliding Steps to dodge the Paladin''s body and charge towards the Lich. His two swords were already raised and ready to strike, but there was still 4 meters between him and the lich as he saw the latter grin and raise its palm towards him. Another black spark danced around the lich''s fingers but before it was able to launch the spark, a bright arrow pierced through the lich''s arm instantly disrupting the spell casting. While Li Wei was charging towards the lich, the rest of the party was not staying idle. Cai Jing was firing his spells as soon as his cooldowns came off, while the priest was using his skills to assist Cai Jing. As for the ranger, he was shooting his arrows at the remaining zombies when he noticed the lich''s situation. He originally only wanted to deal some more damage to the lich but as he saw the paladin tank the two sparks, he easily deduced that Li Wei would not make it in time before the lich would cast another spell and so, he predicted the position of its arm and aimed there. Li Wei let out a sigh of relief as he saw the lich''s arm being knocked off. However, he did not relax, if he did not hurry, the lich could simply cast another spell. [Blade Draw] He quickly used his skill as he continued to move forward, just in case the lich would cast another spell but the latter did not, it only took the blow, decreasing its HP by 20. Before the lich was able to do anything, Li Wei was already in melee range of the lich. But as he swung his swords, the lich also reacted, the black sparks surrounded its body, acting like a shield. Li Wei furiously swung his swords while circling around the lich, but the latter''s shield was effective, only small numbers appeared above its head, "-9","-6","-7". The lich seemed to be ignorant of the sword strikes as it did not even react as he took damage. It simply stood there still but Li Wei already knew what was his next move and prepared to quickly retreat upon seeing the hints. And surely, a few seconds later, all the sparks on the lich''s body suddenly went crazy, they wildly moved around its body and finally, they exploded in all direction. It was like the lich was the center of an explosion, but the lich itself did not suffer from any damage. Li Wei was fully prepared since this was written in the strategy guide he obtained before the Time Attack. As soon as he saw that the sparks were moving abnormally, he quickly used the Gliding Steps and moved as far as possible from the lich. The ranger shot some arrows, but they simply bounced off the sparks. The black sparks were about to hit Li Wei when suddenly, the Paladin appeared in front of him and raised his shield. He arrived just in time, the effects of [Unmovable Mountain] were finally over. His body trembled as the sparks violently hit his shield and since he did not have any damage reducing effect this time, two large numbers appeared above his head, "-30","-35". This was a huge amount of damage but this attack was also the Lich''s ultimate attack. After having used it, it would become passive for a while or until it''s HP reaches a critical level. Li Wei naturally instantly charged at the Lich. Now that there was no more danger, he had to quickly bring the Lich''s HP down. Without hesitation, he wildly swung his swords but unfortunately, the ghouls would not continue to attack Cai Jing as their master was suffering. There were about 8 ghouls floating in mid-air, 6 of them were harassing Cai Jing and the priest but the remaining two were rushing towards Li Wei. After all his attacks, Li Wei finally brought down Lich Longsoul down to 30 HP, 10 more and he would trigger the lich''s last struggle. But before he could strike, he suddenly felt a cold behind him. But before he could react, "-21","-19" suddenly appeared above his head as 2 transparent arms pierced through his shoulders. He quickly turned to see 2 grinning ghouls floating right behind him. It was his first time experiencing this feeling, the cold and gloomy but did not feel threatening and therefore he did not expect it to be an enemy. It was his first time encountering ghost-type monsters aside from the Ghost Farmer that he did not even get to fight and so, that feeling did not alarm him. However, the paladin quickly reacted and activated [Taunt] attracting their attention and dragging them away from Li Wei. At the same time, the ranger shot out 2 arrows directly at the Lich. "-7","-8". The lich was closer to death than ever with only 15 HP left, however, this also triggered the lich''s final struggle. Li Wei was still standing close to the Lich Longsoul when he suddenly felt a huge amount of pressure coming from the lich''s body. The lich was now surrounded by a blackish red aura! It was its final attack at the same time, as long as they were able to survive this attack, it would result in the team''s victory. That was because the last attack was, in fact, a self-destructing attack! The lich was already severely injured and weakened, however, it forcefully focused all its remaining energy, causing its body to be covered with a red aura! The reddish light condensed and gathered around the lich''s heart. The light became brighter and brighter until it detonated, dealing damage to both allies and foes. Li Wei immediately backed off as he noticed the lich''s reaction. All he needed to do now was to get as far as possible from the lich''s body. Fortunately, the game was fair, the lich''s self-destruction would deal more damage to targets close to his body. The furthest the players were, the less damage they would receive. As long as the players did not dumbly stand still, they would usually take less than 30 damage from this explosion. But the problem was the ghouls! They did not seem to care about the danger and kept harassing Li Wei and the Paladin as they rushed back. Fortunately, Cai Jing quickly came to their rescue by firing his [Mana bolt]. 5 seconds after the lich''s body changed colour, it finally exploded sending waves of energy in all direction. The priest immediately raised his staff, activating [Light Barrier] to reduce the damage and in the end, the party endured the self-destruction without taking too much damage. Li Wei was still standing with 43 HP and even the Paladin who tanked for so long still had 69 HP. As for the ghouls, as soon as the lich''s body exploded, they all vanished from the graveyard. At the same time, the system prompt came in: [System prompt: Congratulation for completing the Time Attack: The graveyard of Longsoul. Your final time is 33:18] Everyone was panting, after so much effort, they had finally completed the Time Attack. However, no one was happy. They were satisfied with their performance but it was still very far from the world record or even just the city''s record. It was their first time working together and both Li Wei and the paladin actually never attempted this Time Attack and so, it was not too depressing. "This is good for a first try! However, we are here to grab the record! We should attempt it again after we''ve recovered our HP and Mana" declared Cai Jing. Despite being far from the record, their team still appeared on the leaderboard of the city at the 67th position. It was an honorable position, especially considering that none of them used their item''s skills that had high cooldowns. It was one of the orders of Cai Jing, he already predicted that they would have to run through the Time Attack several times and so, wanted to preserve these skills for the later run when everyone would be familiar with the environment. ... 2 hours later, Li Wei once again came out of the painting with his party. It was already the 4th time they attempted the Time Attack and slowly but surely, they shaved seconds after seconds off their final time. Their record was now 32:19. It was listed all the way at the 29th place on the city''s ranking. At the same time, a lot of changes occurred on the list, many players noticed that the Fleeting Clouds Sect was repeatedly attempting the Graveyard of Longsoul. Now, the 2nd place actually belonged to a group of the Wang Family. The 4th place belonged to a group of the Li Family, the 5th one belonged to the Zhan Family. In just a few hours, the leaderboard completely changed and naturally, the other guilds were informed of that and rushed to claim back their original rankings. Not far from the top, at the 13th place was the Cai Family''s main group which included Cai Wenji, King of Champions and Bright Sun. As Li Wei was about to enter the painting once again, Cai Jing raised his hand and said: "This is the last time we''ll attempt this Time Attack! This time, don''t hold back! You should even use your item''s skills!" Time Attacks were limited to 5 attempts per day and it was the last entry for Li Wei''s group. During the briefing session, he had previously informed Cai Jing about his ring''s skill: Earth Wall and was told to use it to hold off the zombies. He naturally did not mention the Ring of Chaos since it was his trump card. "Ok let''s do this! No holding back this time!" declared Cai Jing as he stepped into the painting. ... 25 minutes later, Li Wei''s party successfully triggered lich Longsoul''s second phase. Zombies were flowing out of their tombs and rushing towards the group. They were able to reach that far so quickly all thanks to Cai Jing and the Ranger for using their ring''s skills. They were able to trigger the second phase with just one wave of attacks. Now, Li Wei quickly raised an Earth Wall to force the zombie to go around it to reach them. At the same time, the paladin''s activated his own ring''s skill that contained a defensive skill. 3 minutes went by and finally, the 3rd phase triggered. Immediately, the priest used his own ring''s skill to refresh [Empower] and quickly used it on Li Wei. The latter dashed at the lich and endlessly swung his sword. This time, the party definitely took some risk; compared to the first time where they cleared most enemies to make it easier to fight the boss, this time, some skeletons and zombies were still lurking around as Li Wei was rushing towards the lich. The Paladin was facing a lot of pressure but it was necessary if they wanted to get a decent time. About one minute later, the lich covered its body with defensive sparks! About another minute later, the lich used its final skill. [System prompt: Congratulation for completing the Time Attack: The graveyard of Longsoul. Your final time is 31:51] 56 Back to the Colosseum "31:51? We are finally below 32!" exclaimed the paladin. This was an excellent time considering the resources they invested in. "Let''s quickly go out and check our new rank!" said the priest. The rest of the team quickly nodded, everyone was excited to see their new rank. Everyone quickly went out of the painting and turned around to look at the new ranking but to their surprise, their rank actually decreased! They went from 29th to 35th. With a quick look, they immediately noticed that everyone''s time went down. The other guilds were naturally alerted when they saw the Fleeting Clouds Sect start to madly attack the ranking of the Graveyard of Longsoul and so, they also decided to participate. As a result, the city''s record was now held by the Fleeting Clouds Sect at 29:17. This was almost 2 minutes below the previous record and it was held by the Fleeting Clouds Sect. The second place now belonged to the Gem Family at a time of 29:20 while the Stone Defenders held the 3rd place at 29:21. When Li Wei looked at the records, he could not help but sigh. He and his team gave their all but yet, they were more than 2 minutes away from the records. Although they were from the same guild, there was a sense of competition between the families. But what really upset him was that both parties'' players were at level 12-13. There were no big differences between their parties yet, Wang Chong''s party was 2 minutes ahead. Li Wei did not think he was inferior in any way to the others but yet, he was behind by 2 minutes. What he did not know, was that the lead parties of each family were special items like the explosive potion to clear the Time Attack more quickly. However, the guilds were clearly not rich enough to afford enough items for all the parties and so, they prioritize their lead parties. Additionally, the lead parties also enjoyed a nice meal at the Prosperity Hall before the event but that was something Li Wei was not aware of. Although items like explosive potions could deal lots of damage in an area. They were only effective in theory, gathering the skeletons and zombies to a certain area would take time while randomly using explosive potions was out of question due to the extravagant cost. While it was true that they would benefit from holding the record, no guild would be willing to do so if they had to spend fortunes to do so, especially since there were 2 other Time Attacks that had completely different settings. Besides, they were well aware that the record was only temporary, it would not be long before they all reach level 15 and attempt the record again. Also, apart from exp, the Time Attacks did not give anything, at least for now. The higher-ups naturally knew the nature of the game and were well aware of the rewards they would obtain. But now was not the time, only upon reaching level 15 could they attempt to set their record in stone. "Sigh... The competition is really fierce! But at least, the sect now holds the record!" Said Cai Jing with a hint of disappointment in his eyes. "What should we do now? We can''t enter the Graveyard of Longsoul again," asked the ranger. "You can all go home! Today''s gathering was only for the graveyard of Longsoul. Although we can enter the other 2 Time Attacks, they are harder than they look; Alyssa''s Lair houses a variety of spiders and most of them are venomous, we will require a lot of antidotes to successfully clear it. As for the Island of Desolation, your mana slowly depletes naturally in there, so it''s impossible to clear it without Mana Potions. With its current state, the sect cannot afford everyone''s consumables so we can call today off!" declared Cai Jing. Hearing that, Li Wei nodded to his team before leaving. While he did not mind the guild''s activity and hunting with Cai Jing and the rest, there was something he wanted to try: the Colosseum. Upon seeing Li Wei''s action, Cai Jing immediately twitched but did not say anything. Inside, he was hoping that Li Wei would stay to hunt with them. Since he was planning to go to the dungeon, the more player they had, the safer they would be but it was Li Wei''s right to go now that the activity was over. The last time he went there, it was for custom battles with the guild but now, he was aiming at the Ranked Battles. It was a necessity if he wanted to obtain the Moon Stone. Although he now had enough money to purchase every material for his ring. There was no way he was going to spend all of it on just 1 equipment. But, he did not go there immediately. He now had some gold and it was time to upgrade his equipment. Grade 0 equipment were meant to be used for levels 1-10, now that he was level 12, it was time to go to Grade 1 which were meant for levels 11-20. Li Wei quietly wandered into the city, looking at the different shops. He now had money, but it was not a reason to blindly spend it all. He carefully looked at the different equipment but unfortunately, he was not able to find what he wanted. None of the equipment seemed to have skills associated with them. So far, the only Grade 1 equipment he saw having skills associated to them were rings. He spent a whole hour looking at the different shops but did not find what he wanted. The shopkeepers naturally noticed him and flagged him as a possible thief since he was touching every item to obtain their information. Li Wei was disappointed but still, he bought new arm guards and pants costing him about 60 gold. It was a high price for two Grade 1 equipment but they were also top-tier giving Li Wei one strength and 1 vitality. Following that, he went to a blacksmith and bought new swords. Although his swords were already Grade 1, they were of low quality. After all, Carlos just ranked up when he made this sword and as for the other, it was obtained from the Tower of Heroes and despite being the 11th floor reward, it only lasted for 1 week before becoming underpowered. After a few minutes of discussing the price, Li Wei finally went out with 2 brand new swords. More importantly, although they were still called long swords, they were twin swords which were identical and both were top-tier Grade 1 weapons. [Long Sword](Grade 1) Damage: 16-19 Effect: +10% damage against monsters Li Wei was very satisfied with his new equipment, especially the bonus effect of his new weapons. They were extremely good considering that he spent most of his time farming monsters. Now fully prepared, Li Wei went for a quick meal before taking the direction of the Colosseum. The receptionist warmly greeted him as he noticed Li Wei and politely pointed out and explained the procedures. Li Wei needed to swipe his identity crystal since he was going for a ranked battle. It was a way to keep track of everyone''s rank and a way to avoid cheating. He did as he was told and was then lead towards a lobby. It was a waiting room to give him some time to prepare for the fight. All players were given up to 20 minutes in the lobby, they could naturally declare that they are ready and if both parties agreed, the fight would then start immediately. The lobby was very simple consisting only of a bench and a floating screen. On the screen, was what looked like a roulette. It was constantly spinning and after 10 seconds, it finally stopped onto an illegible symbol. A few seconds later, a name appeared, "Wine Robber". It was the name of his opponent. At the same time, a profile page appeared, displaying some information about Wine Robber. He was a level 12 rogue and just like Li Wei, it was his first time fighting a Ranked Battle. Li Wei silently read the profile but it did not take long before he pressed the button declaring that he was ready for the fight. There was not much information about Wine Robber since it was his first time here. Normally, some footage of previous fights at the Colosseum would be provided in the profile. 5 minutes went by and Li Wei was bored. It did not seem like Wine Robber would accept to fight early and so, sat on the bench and leaned against the wall. "20 minutes is way too long! 10 minutes should be enough!" said Li Wei. He was depressed, would he have to wait 20 minutes before each Ranked Battle? That was so much time lost where he could have been hunting. However, he was quickly rewarded for his patience as Wine Robber finally declared that he was ready with 10 minutes left on the countdown. A voice was quickly heard in the lobby, informing Li Wei of his opponent''s decision and he was immediately teleported to the Colosseum. As he opened his eyes, Li Wei found himself standing in a puddle of water. Around him, were several pillars and statues. "Mmmm, so this is the Water temple? It, without a doubt, looks like something from ancient Greece" said Li Wei to himself. He naturally prepared himself before coming to the Ranked Battle and knew the circumstances. In Ranked Battles, the map of the fight was randomly chosen by the system. There were dozens of maps available depending on the size of the parties and this time, Li Wei had rolled the Water Temple. All the maps were unique in their own way but all followed the same principles: easy to play, hard to master. While the Water Temple was way more complex than it looked. Players could just treat it as a normal arena, however, it also had additional components that only true masters would use like an underground pool! Li Wei did not see Wine Robber as he spawned and around him was a thin layer of light preventing him from moving out of a small radius. A voice was quickly heard, informing the fighters that they were about to begin. And following that, a countdown began. [2] [1] [0] [Begin] The light instantly vanished and Li Wei found himself free to move again. While he could not see Wine Robber, he already knew where his spawning point was since it was always the same and so, he rushed in that direction. "Splash Splash" The Water Temple really deserved its name, there was no way for Li Wei to be more discreet with all the water around him. But that was also the case for Wine Robber. He was after all a rogue and heavily depended on sneak attacks and Stealth. But now, his greatest strength was nullified by the map. Wine Robber could only blame his own luck as he drew his daggers and went to hide behind a statue. His plan was simple, if he did not move at all, then his opponent would not be able to find him and he would be able to strike at the right time. "Splash Splash!" Li Wei kept rushing towards the other spawning point. Fortunately, the map was small and he only took 1 minute to find the spawning point but Wine Robber was nowhere to be seen. Li Wei was surprised but he quickly calmed himself and stopped moving. He quietly listened to his surroundings hoping to hear some splashes but he heard nothing. "Mmm, he is probably hiding in stealth somewhere," said Li Wei to himself as he started to explore the map. Aside from the flowing water, he could not hear anything but he was not anxious. One minute went by but he still could not find Wine Robber but he did not leave the area. Li Wei was certain that Wine Robber was nearby or else, he would have heard splashes when he arrived and so, he became extremely careful. On top of a particular statue, Wine Robber was silently observing Li Wei. The statue he was hiding on had a jar placed on his shoulder from which water was flowing out. This was why he chose that particular statue; Wine Robber was taking advantage of the sound of the water to hide his own movements. He became excited as he saw Li Wei slowly approach his statue but he remained calm and did not stare for too long at Li Wei. But he could not contain that excitement for too long. After a few seconds, Li Wei finally got into range of Wine Robber''s attack. The latter was planning to take advantage of his height and jump onto the poor Li Wei. With his 2 daggers drawn, he immediately jumped towards Li Wei, activating his [Cut throat]. He chose the very moment Li Wei was looking in the opposite direction and so, his back was facing Wine Robber. The latter grinned, victory was his! Even though [Cut throat] would not be able to instantly kill Li Wei, he was sure that his prey would be too surprised to react and so, he would have time to continue his combo. Li Wei was attentively looking around him. He made sure to not always look in a single direction and occasionally look behind him. He was quite annoyed, it had already been 5 minutes since the duel started but he was not able to see a glimpse of Wine Robber yet. Duels were limited to a maximum of 30 minutes and if both parties were still standing by the end of this time, then the duel would be considered a draw. Although a draw was better than a defeat, it was not a victory and so, it would break the win streak. Although it was just his first match, Li Wei was wondering if there would be shameless individuals who would use that tactic in the future. While Li Wei was watching his environment, he suddenly noticed something and immediately rolled to the side. "Damn it" shouted Wine Robber as he saw his prey suddenly evade his attack. However, he did not have time to do anything as Li Wei immediately charged when he landed. Daggers and sword violently stroke each other as sparks flew out of the blades. "How did you know?" asked Wine Robber as he tried to strike his opponent''s leg. "Oh? I simply saw it?" answered Li Wei as he activated Gliding Steps to easily avoid the strike and counterattack. It was clear that Wine Robber was not a great fighter, his movements were full of openings and Li Wei easily capitalized on that. "I was clearly behind you! It''s impossible unless you have eyes behind your head!" declared Wine Robber. "Yes, I did not see you, what I saw was your shadow!" answered Li Wei. He was not lying, what he noticed was a black figure suddenly move on the ground and move towards his own shadow. That was how he was able to evade the attack. "My shadow?" asked Wine Robber with a confused expression. But Li Wei did not give him time to digest this information and violently swung his swords. Wine Robber immediately tried to escape using [Stealth] but unfortunately, there was water everywhere and although his body became transparent and his shadow disappeared, there were clearly two holes in the puddle of water. Li Wei would naturally not miss this detail and unleashed all his moves in that direction. Wine Robber''s Stealth was quickly broken, he tried to defend himself but it was in vain. Not only was Li Wei a warrior that was better than rogues for melee combat, he also had the weapon and skill advantage. It did not last long before Wine Robber''s HP reached 1 57 Pay to win? As Wine Robber''s HP fell to 1, a bright layer immediately appeared and covered his body, protecting him from further damage. It was just like the death preventive measure of the Tower of Heroes; a protective barrier was there to stop the defeated player from dying. The Ranked Battle was after all just a competition, there was no reason for players to lose levels there but this functionality could be disabled in the Custom Battles if players really wanted to fight to death. As the barrier appeared, a banner suddenly materialized above Li Wei''s head and a loud "Victory" was heard. Wine Robber was standing there completely shocked. He was defeated so easily; his opponent did not even give him a chance to retaliate, even though he knew that warriors had an advantage over rogues in this situation, he should have at least been able to bring him down to half health. Yet, his opponent was carelessly standing under the victory banner with more than 75% Health. "That was a good fight!" said his opponent as he quickly vanished from the Water Temple. Only then did Wine Robber get himself together but he did not have time to answer as his opponent already left. All he could do now was to send a friend request. ... Upon exiting the Water Temple, Li Wei reappeared in his lobby. "Well, that wasn''t too bad! If all fights are like this, a twenty win streak will be easy" said Li Wei to himself. A few seconds later, Li Wei pressed the screen in front of him and asked for another challenge. The roulette once again spun and shortly after, it revealed a player''s name: Tall and Handsome. "Huh! What kind of name is that?" He quickly looked at the profile on the side, Tall and Handsome was a level 12 mage who had already won a match earlier. As such, a ten-minute long video was available for Li Wei to learn about his opponent. Li Wei sat down on the bench as he took out a health potion to fill his HP bar. At the same time, he pressed the "Play" button of the video. As the screen started to play, Li Wei suddenly froze as he saw his future opponent. The man displayed on the screen was completely different from his name. Instead of being tall and handsome, the man was actually quite short and obese; the thick mage robe made him look like a round ball. Tall and Handsome looked fairly young, his skin was white and smooth, a clear sign that he lived a comfortable life until now. Li Wei quietly watched the video; he saw Tall and Handsome openly walk to the center of the map and seconds later, he shouted something. Unfortunately, the video footage Li Wei had access to right now did not have any audio. That was the one downside of the videos in the lobby; all these videos were actually available if one searched the player''s profile outside the lobby but once inside, limited footage was available; it was already a huge advantage to be able to watch these videos in the lobby, some limitations had to be implemented. Tall and Handsome continued to shout at the empty arena in front of him. Li Wei was curious, what could that guy be shouting? Was he not afraid that his opponent would use this to find his location? However, what happened next surprised Li Wei. Tall and Handsome''s opponent, a female ranger came out from her hiding spot and charged at Tall and Handsome. But no matter how he looked at the scene, there was absolutely no reason for the ranger to do this. Following that, since the ranger was now in sight and running in an open area, Tall and Handsome immediately unleashed all his spells at the ranger. More importantly, the ranger did not even seem to try to dodge, she simply ran in a straight line with her two daggers drawn but her facial expression was not that of someone angry. Just like that, the ranger was eliminated after the whole series of spells of Tall and Handsome. "Mmmm, what did that guy say for the ranger to act in such a way?" said Li Wei to himself. In the end, the footage was not very helpful and so, he immediately declared that he was ready for the fight. At the same time, his opponent responded and both were teleported to the arena. "That guy accepted so quickly?" thought Li Wei as he opened his eyes. This time, he found himself in a dark and gloomy environment, he immediately recognized this map, it was the Lost Ruins. ... [Begin] As soon as the countdown ended, Li Wei immediately rushed out towards the center of the Lost Ruins. Based on what he saw, he thought that there was a high chance for Tall and Handsome to adopt the same strategy and so, decided to go near the center. He was extremely curious, no matter how much he thought about it, he could not find anything that could make the ranger act this way. Li Wei walked through the Lost Ruins and finally settled behind a shattered wall. It was a perfect hiding spot in the shadows from where he could watch the open area of the center of the map. The Lost Ruins was a map that was especially beneficial for rogues. There was a lot of hiding spots and people could easily ambush other players. Furthermore, the map always had a night setting, reducing the visibility of the players. Li Wei silently waited and finally, he saw the large silhouette of Tall and Handsome appear. The latter looked tired, he was clearly not someone used to heavy exercises but just now, he had to bring his heavy body all the way here. He panted for a few seconds before shouting:" I know you can hear me! I am here to propose a deal! Will you hear me?" "A deal? Is that a trap? " thought Li Wei as he observed the fatty for any sign of danger. The latter was still catching his breath and did not seem to be anxious. "You have probably watched my last fight''s video so you know what happened! My deal is very simple, I shall pay you 5 gold but in exchange, you shall let me kill you, what do you think?" shouted Tall and Handsome at the open area. "Pay me to surrender? Is that why the ranger did that?" thought Li Wei. Although 5 gold was a decent amount of money, right now, he was not lacking in gold. What he really needed was the 20 win streak. Besides, there was no way Li Wei was going to accept this obvious bribe, he was not a saint, but being someone who lived an honest life, one thing he hated was corruption. "Mr. Seven, you should listen to me before you make your decision. I am Zhou Weiqing! The direct heir of Zhou Corporation! I am sure that you''ve heard about this company, my father is its sole owner!" shouted Tall and Handsome. "Zhou Corporation?" thought Li Wei. He naturally knew about that company, it was one of the leading companies in the food industry and had a good reputation. "The reason I am here is for me to inherit Zhou Corporation, a few days ago, my father declared that if I was to win all my unranked matches, then will immediately be declared as the heir of the company! Even though the company no longer exists in reality, we are starting to develop at Algate City and will soon be the 4th guild to rent a store!" continued Tall and Handsome. "As such, I must succeed! I know that you are already a member of a powerful guild and so, it will be worthless for me to offer you a spot in mine. However, if you do agree to surrender, I shall pay you 20 gold in total. It is only your second match, it will be easy for you, a member of the Fleeting Clouds Sect, to win all your matches! And fear not, I am not a scammer, we can immediately trade now if you agree," shouted Tall and Handsome before sitting down at the center of the plaza. Tall and Handsome was very confident in himself. He believed that there was no way for Li Wei to refuse 20 gold. Especially since he first proposed 5 gold and dramatically increased it to 20. Such a change would often create a psychological reaction, making the person more likely to say yes. That was one of the few tricks he learned from working under his father. As for Li Wei, he quickly took out his two swords and silently approached Tall and Handsome. After listening to Tall and Handsome, he already took his decision. What was 20 gold? He would not do that even if he was offered 200 gold. However, the one thing he appreciated was that Tall and Handsome told him that the Trade System still worked inside the fighting arena. This was a small detail but it might come in handy in the future. Tall and Handsome continued to sit down and patiently wait. He was not anxious, he clearly knew that it was not an easy decision to make. It was normal for his opponent to hesitate, at this point, he guessed that he was probably trying the Trade System to see if it really worked. But suddenly, the ring on Tall and Handsome''s ring finger suddenly shone brightly as a transparent barrier covered his body. Seconds later, 2 long swords mercilessly stroke the transparent barrier. "This? Why are you doing that? Are you really going to say no to 20 gold?" asked Tall and Handsome, visibly confused. He was not prepared for battle but fortunately, he purchased a ring containing the spell [Water Barrier] that would automatically activate if he was to take more than 30 damage at once. Li Wei ignored Tall and Handsome and quickly followed up by swinging a sword towards his right leg and the other towards his neck. The water barrier shattered from this attack and finally, Tall and Handsome reacted, "You... If 20 gold is not enough, then what about 30 gold? You can easily get a Grade 1 equipment for that!" shouted Tall and Handsome as he activated [Mana Shield] to protect himself. However, Li Wei seemed to not hear him and spun onto himself before jumping and striking towards Tall and Handsome''s head. [Mana Shield] broke under the attack, forcing Tall and Handsome to take several steps back. "You... Since it''s like that, I can only fight back!" shouted Tall and Handsome as he started to cast his [Mana Burst] towards Li Wei. But the latter did not allow him to complete his casting, [Howl]. "F***" said Tall and Handsome as he took another step back. [Mana Whip] A blue whip started to condense in front of Li Wei but the latter disregarded it and used his Gliding Steps to move to Tall and Handsome''s side. Without hesitation, he quickly swung his sword, "-24","-23". "F*** you, you are a spy sent by my brother to prevent me from inheriting the company!" shouted Tall and Handsome. He just lost his cool under the pressure. He never expected Li Wei to sneak attack him this way. Considering the deal he was offering, he could have at least fought him fair and square but now, he was in a predicament. As a mage, he already knew he was in a very bad position, the number one rule as a mage has always been to keep their distance from melee attackers. But now, Li Wei was swinging his sword merely a few centimeters away from him. No matter what he tried, Li Wei simply did not let him retreat and constantly attack. A few seconds later, the protective light of the Colosseum appeared, enveloping Tall and Handsome''s body. "You... You... You will regret this!" shouted the latter. But Li Wei answered,"that was a good match" as he vanished from the Lost Ruins. ... 2 hours later, Li Wei once again appeared in the lobby. "Ahh I am so tired but now, I am finally ranked!" said Li Wei as he sat on the bench. He has just finished his 5th Ranked Match, that meant that he was now attributed a rank. As he opened his profile, he quickly noticed a change, the once empty part of his profile now displayed a brownish badge, below it was Bronze 5. "Bronze 5? It looks like everyone starts from the very bottom!" said Li Wei to himself. Despite winning all his 5 unranked matches, he obtained the lowest rank possible, that could only mean that everyone started from there. When he looked at the ranking, more than 10000 people were currently at Bronze 5 and that was just for Algate City. Li Wei sighed, he was displeased at himself; while it was rewarding for him to go to Abe''s Forest, it was clear that he lost his lead when it came to exp and the ranking. He was now in urgent need of some grinding at the dungeon and he could also take the opportunity to obtain some Goblin blood. "Let''s go to the training center now, there''s still a few hours before dinner, I might as well train some techniques. This way I can sleep early and go hunting early in the morning!" ... Li Wei thanked the receptionist and left the Colosseum for the Training Center. Both buildings were located in the War District, it would not take more than 10 minutes for Li Wei to reach his destination. At this time of the day, the War District was relatively desolate. But that would completely change in a few hours when all the players will come back from their hunt. Li Wei was quietly enjoying the calm atmosphere when suddenly he heard heavy footsteps coming from the side. As he raised his head, he saw Cai Wenji and Bright Sun quickly coming out of an alley and seconds later, 3 other players that Li Wei recognized as members of the Cai Family also appeared. But what really attracted Li Wei''s attention was their facial expression, it was clear that Cai Wenji and Bright Sun were not very happy, the latter even seemed to be on the verge of crying. As for the other three, all Li Wei saw on their face was indifference. 58 Training Li Wei was curious, what could have happened for them to act this way? But Bright Sun and Cai Wenji already disappeared in one of the adjacent streets, leaving the 3 members of the Cai Family standing there. Coincidentally, the 3 were standing on the street where Li Wei needed to go. He quietly walked that way towards the Training Center but did not inquire about what happened. He was not familiar with them and as far as he was concerned, it might just be some family conflicts. But as he walked past the group of three, he faintly heard them speak, "Let''s not worry about it, she is a diligent person and loyal family, she will eventually agree to it." "Sigh... She should consider herself lucky to have been chosen." "Really? Would you not have made a mess if he chose you instead?" "..." ... It did not take long for Li Wei to arrive at the Training Center. He quickly entered and asked the receptionist to access a private room: "Hello, I would like to use one of the private training rooms of the Fleeting Clouds Sect please!" "I am sorry but all the private rooms are being used right now! You can only choose to go to the shared one or rent one for some gold" answered the receptionist. "Every room is already taken? Strange, wouldn''t people usually be hunting at this time of the day? ... I might as well take the opportunity to watch others train again," said Li Wei to himself. "In that case, I will choose the shared room!" "No problem!" ... Li Wei quickly entered the room and sat in a quiet area. Many players were already present using their own training techniques that Li Wei did not recognize. He observed for a moment trying to see if he could learn these techniques just from watching. He tried it at first when he last came to the shared room but he failed, now that he was more experienced with training techniques, he thought that he might be able to understand one thing or two but in the end, he obtained nothing. "Nevermind, let''s practice the Gliding Steps for now," said Li Wei to himself. 30 minutes later, he finished his cycle and his Gliding Step''s mastery advanced by 16 points. Following that, he summoned a mannequin and started practicing his moves. After more than a week, he already became quite proficient at the dual sword style. However, he was nowhere close to the Red Bandit Leader when he was at level 15. While there were a certain flow and harmony in his movements, he was well aware that it was not enough. He mercilessly attacked the poor mannequin from different sides as he usually did. He could clearly see that the damage he was dealing was quite high. However, he was not satisfied, he felt like something was missing. He kept practicing and tried different moves but still did not find what he wanted. Eventually, he settled down and watch some players practice their swordplay and finally, Li Wei''s eyes brightened. He finally realized that what he was missing. While he could continuously strike the target 4-6 times in a series of strikes, it would always leave a bland aftertaste. The damage was quite high, especially with the two new swords but that was it, to create a feeling of satisfaction, what he really needed now was a way to end his combo, in other words: a finishing move that could be incorporated in his combos. "This should be the next technique I acquire! I have quite a lot of contribution points now, I wonder how much such a move will cost," said Li Wei to himself. "Oh yeah... I forgot to check if Rising Dragon transferred his Contribution points! There should be something around 3000. I did not check the prices but a good skill at the Warrior Association costs about 3000, it should not be too different," thought Li Wei as he stood up to leave the shared room. He still had to train the [Clarity of the mind] but chose to have a look at the techniques he could acquire first. With the fatigue generated, he was still able to train only one technique and since [Clarity of the mind] only gave wisdom, he would rather train the other one if he found a suitable one. Li Wei quickly went out, he was about to leave the Training Center when he saw a familiar figure walk out of the corridor leading to the private rooms; it was Bright Sun. "It does not matter, you should go back brother, I am just a bit disturbed but you should not worry about me, go train a little more," said Bright Sun. Behind her, Cai Wenji appeared, "don''t worry about that, it''s just one day. It''s more important to make sure you don''t do something crazy." Bright Sun sighed as she walked towards the exit but then, she saw Li Wei looking at her from the entrance. She still did not look in a good mood but forced a smile upon seeing him,"hi Seven." "Hello! Congratulation for your Time Attack, last time I''ve seen your party was tenth on the leaderboard," greeted Li Wei. "Oh that, I am just a priest and did not do much. Anyway, I should get going, I''ll see you later," said Bright Sun as she walked towards the exit. Cai Wenji quickly followed her and looked at Li Wei," Sorry about that, something happened and she is not in a good mood right now, we''ll talk later." "Ah Cai Wenji wait! I wanted to ask you about the techniques I can choose from, I have some contribution points now and it would be good if I can get a second one," said Li Wei. "You can just go to the Headquarters for that, you will get access to all techniques available for exchange," said Cai Wenji in a hurry. "mmm" Li Wei nodded, he already knew that he could look at them at the headquarters. However, he was hoping to get some more advanced techniques from Cai Wenji. He was well aware that the best techniques were not available for exchange to the outer members, for example, the Gliding Steps was something reserved for Core members of the sect but he obtained it through Bright Sun when he joined the sect. "I know what you are looking for but things are different now, we could give you the Gliding Steps when inviting you to join the sect, but we cannot give you everything as you remain as an outer member. Although we do have the authority to take some actions, we are still bound by the rules of the sect" said Bright Sun who stopped when she heard Li Wei. "But don''t look down on the techniques available for exchange! You might find some buried treasure there! While most techniques there are relatively weak, many of them are simply incomplete versions of strong skills," continued Bright Sun. "Alright, I understand," answered Li Wei. He was disappointed but it was something he was already told when he chose to join as an outer member. Bright Sun and Cai Wenji were about to leave when Li Wei opened his mouth: "By the way Bright Sun, you remember what I said about the Gliding Steps?" The two quickly stopped and looked at Li Wei. Bright Sun was confused at first but she quickly recalled what happened, "Yes? Did you find something?" "I am not sure but I thought a bit about it, I believe that by changing the movements a bit, it would be more adapted for women," calmly said Li Wei. "Really? What are you changing precisely?" asked Bright Sun with curiosity. She hardly believed that Li Wei was able to come up with some upgrades so quickly but she politely inquired about it. "If you have time, I can show you directly!" said Li Wei. Bright Sun hesitated for a moment, she knew that right now, she did not have the right mindset for training due to some recent event. But seeing Li Wei''s confidence when he spoke, she could not help but become even more curious. Eventually, she chose to listen to him, it would not take long for her to judge the changes. "Fine, let''s go back to the training room," finally said Bright Sun. Hearing that, Cai Wenji let out a smile. He was happy to see his sister think of different things, what she really needed right now, was some form of distraction. ... Inside a private training room, Li Wei sat down and took out a piece of paper, "I am not a hundred percent sure but I believe that if we change the 3rd movement, the 8th movement, the...." "Here, positioning the leg at this angle and here lower the body a little bit more..." Li Wei continuously spoke as he drew on a piece of paper, making some vague illustrations of the moves he was describing. Next to the piece of paper, was a copy of the original manual he used to learn the Gliding Steps. There was not a lot of differences in the drawing, his were obviously not as refined but he compensated for it by adding some labels and descriptions at specific places. "What are all of these? How did you come up with these changes?" asked Bright Sun who was curiously looking at the drawings. "I wanted to study medicine after high school so I took some time to learn a bit about the human body. There are some differences between men and women when it comes to the legs and hip joints so I just thought that this would make the technique better. As for how I know which changes to make? I am not too sure either, it was as if I instinctively knew what changes to make," answered Li Wei. "Looking at the human body from the modern medicine point of view? It is true that most of these techniques were derived long ago and at that time, there was limited technology... The changes you''ve made might be correct but we won''t know until we try. Fortunately, I did not train in the Gliding Steps yet," said Bright Sun. She grabbed the piece of papers from Li Wei and studied them with great interest. On the side, Cai Wenji brought Li Wei a few meters away to allow his sister to calmly study and said; "So, it might be rude to ask but what are your origins? It is strange for someone without any contact with martial arts to derive so many changes in such a short period of time especially considering the detailed explanation you gave." Gliding Steps was not a technique Cai Wenji used so he had no idea of the effect of the changes. But being someone who used several manuals, he knew that making changes to a refined technique was not easy. Therefore, seeing Li Wei easily propose so many changes, especially when his sister seemed to approve them, he could not help but wonder if Li Wei was a spy. "Me? I am just an orphan, I don''t even remember my parents or my family. All I know is that I was involved in a car accident causing me to lose all my memories before that. The earliest I recall was when I was 11 and I was at the hospital and after that, I was sent to the orphanage. I was never contacted by any family member after that so I can''t really tell you anything," replied Li Wei. He did not mind sharing some information about himself. He really got involved in a car accident a few years earlier and that was the furthest he could recall. As for the rest, there was nothing he needed to hide. "In that case, can you tell me your real name?" asked Cai Wenji. He was visibly not satisfied with Li Wei''s answer. "My name is Li Wei." "Mmmm, never heard of it," replied Cai Wenji. He was still suspicious but when observing Li Wei, he did not seem to be lying or hiding anything. "So? What happened earlier for your sister to act this way?" asked Li Wei. "Ah this... Just some personal matter... It would be impolite for me to tell you about it" replied Cai Wenji. At the same time, Bright Sun stood up and placed down the papers, she quickly got into position and started moving according to Li Wei''s instructions. But not even one minute later, she already reverted back to the original movements. It was something ingrained in her, having practiced this technique for years, she was already used to a specific set of movements and had some muscle memory. Since there were no big differences, it was normal for her to step back into her old habits. "No no, you are doing the usual move! " said Li Wei as he noticed the change. "Ahh Sorry about that," replied Bright Sun as she corrected her position. The new moves were clearly harder than the previous ones. The new ones put more pressure on her legs and joints causing her legs to tremble a little as she moved. Another minute went by, "No, you are again going back to the usual move, lower your hips more but don''t bend too much and spread your legs more, it will be harder to maintain your balance so you should use to arms for that," said Li Wei. Bright Sun flushed upon hearing the instructions but she still listened and adjusted her body. "Umm, maybe you should phrase your instructions better!" commented Cai Wenji. He was standing to the side watching his sister train. He was very curious about what the results would be but he did not have high expectations, as long as it was a distracting his sister, he would be satisfied. "Ah Sorry about that..." ... 40 minutes went by as Bright Sun finally sat down. She was exhausted, the training cycle took longer than normal, partly because she had to often readjust her movements but also because Li Wei''s instructions made the cycle longer. "So? How was it?" asked Cai Wenji. 59 Myriad Sword Dance Bright Sun did not reply immediately. She stood there for a few seconds waiting for the system prompt to obtain the exact number. Eventually, she turned towards Li Wei and Cai Wenji and said: "66% Completion Rate" "Really? And what is your usual Completion Rate?" asked Cai Wenji. "75% on average..." Upon hearing that, Li Wei immediately felt dejected, instead of improving the technique, he had actually regressed it. But he did not understand, where was he wrong? However, Bright Sun and Cai Wenji were the exact opposite, a bright smile could be seen on Bright Sun''s face, she was visibly excited. Silence filled the training room for a moment, but Li Wei quickly said, "Ah well, I am sorry, I thought it would improve the completion rate but it..." "What? No no, this is great! The changes you''ve made are all very effective! Don''t get the wrong idea!" said Bright Sun. Cai Wenji remained silent, he was in deep thoughts but upon hearing his sister, he stepped up to explain: "Seven, 66% Completion Rate for a first time is excellent, you know? And that was including all the mistakes she made during the cycles. Even small deviations from the techniques would slowly decrease the completion rate. If I am not wrong, with the amount of time you had to correct her, it should have caused a decreased of about 10%" "But that''s not what''s important! As I previously said, today my sister is not in the correct mind state, there is something weighing on her mind and that also affect the completion rate of her techniques earlier. This is why sometimes, we take about 30 minutes to calm ourselves down and meditate before we start our training cycles. If we take all that into consideration, then that means that her completion rate would have been around 84%" continued Cai Wenji. "In other words, that''s an increase of about 10%" Li Wei was stunned when he heard the explanation, but he quickly recovered. To him, 84% was still mediocre but he knew that a 10% increase was definitely something useful. Gaining a few additional mastery points for each cycle would definitely be beneficial in the long term. But now came the important part, there were several reasons while Li Wei wanted to try to improve the technique, first of all, he wanted to challenge himself and test if his own hypothesis was correct when he first read the technique. Second, Bright Sun was his friend and he was a member of the Fleeting Clouds Sect but more importantly, he knew that if he was successful, there would be some rewards at the end. "Eh Seven, may I ask something? I know that you are planning to submit this improved version to the sect for contribution points, right?" asked Bright Sun with a timid voice. Li Wei quietly nodded. This was indeed what he wanted. Although he did not really know the value of this improvement, he knew that it was definitely worth quite a lot. "In that case, would you agree to exchange it with us instead? We shall naturally give you a satisfactory price," declared Cai Wenji. "What do you mean? Why would I do that?" asked Li Wei. Bright Sun flushed for a second and explained: "It''s like that, we will give you the same value you would have obtained and so, for you, there won''t be much difference. But then, I can submit the improvements to the sect instead." "If I am not wrong, you noticed us outside the Colosseum earlier, right? And you remember when we said that the Cai Family recruited the pro-player, King of Champions? We did not know how they manage to snatch him away from the Gem Family but during the Time Attack, we were finally told how." "This bastard agreed to join the family under only one condition! And that was to arrange a marriage with me. I don''t even know why he chose me, I never saw him before but he still did that. As for the main family, I am just a pawn to them right now and they do not mind chipping me in to recruit a powerful figure," continued Bright Sun with a saddened expression. "I worked so hard on Earth to get rid of my previous arranged marriage with the "Wang Lin" you''ve met at the Warrior Association! But now that we are in the game, these bastards completely forgot about all the contributions we made earlier and decided to use me again!" "There is only one way for me to escape this marriage. And that is to make a significant contribution to the sect! Enough to outweigh King of Champions'' value! At first, I did not know what to do but now, there might be a chance! Improving the technique has some weight and if I manage to improve to a Grade 1 Cook quickly, it should be enough to escape from this arrangement!" Li Wei silently listened as he started to feel a headache. The life of people in these large families was really too complicated for him, he felt blessed to have lived a normal life where he could make his own decisions. "In that case, may I ask what you will exchange it for?" asked Li Wei. Cai Wenji who was listening to the side stepped in, "Such an improvement should be worth about 8500 Contribution points if you exchanged it at the main branch but together, we only have 6000 Contribution points! However, we will add another technique in exchange, what do you think? This is the real price, many people put in their own twist in their training technique, so it is not very rare to find an increase in completion rate here and there but 10% is unheard of. It would have been more if the technique was also improved for men but since it''s only for women, fewer people would benefit from that." "6000 and a technique? Mmm I supposed that I can get another good technique with all these contribution points," murmured Li Wei. The brother and sister seemed to hear Li Wei and quickly added," Actually, you should have a lot of contribution points right now, if you have at least 2000, you might be able to obtain some techniques reserved for Core members. Right now, some of these techniques are available for exchange but they are extremely expensive. The average player would now only have 2000 Contribution points if he saved up everything. The best would have about 3000 but these technique''s price starts at 8000. They decided to display some of these techniques as a form of encouragement and put them within the reach of the players. But the different families will soon remove the techniques by making their own players purchase it." "I don''t know how much Contribution Points you will have if we exchange but keep that in mind," said Bright Sun. She was full of hope that Li Wei would agree to trade with them. Contribution points to her were not worth much in front of her own marriage. "That does not make sense, right? In that case, why didn''t your family rush to purchase all the other family''s techniques?" asked Li Wei. Bright Sun nodded, "True, we could have done that. But the higher-ups signed a contract to not allow any direct or indirect family member to purchase another family''s technique and so, only outer members can purchase them. Also, although we treasure our techniques we are well aware that it is impossible to keep the techniques only within our families, that would be equivalent to banning marriage! As for the case where the other guilds send their spies to purchase these techniques, then it''s even simpler since we can track who transferred their Contribution Points to who. And well, I don''t know the exact clauses of the contract but so far, all the techniques are still available for exchange and no one tried to obtain another family''s technique." "I don''t know, I would like to check out the different techniques available to trade first!" said Li Wei. "Of course! Let''s go to the headquarters right now!" said Bright Sun. "Wait! Won''t I get in trouble too?" asked Li Wei. "You won''t! It might actually be the exact opposite; the other family might even try to recruit you! That is something I can guarantee! " said Cai Wenji. ... At the trading area of the headquarters, Li Wei was browsing through the different techniques accompanied by the two siblings. "There are 25 Core Techniques from which you can choose, one from each family. They vary in cost and power depending on which family they come from. Can you tell us which kind of technique you are looking for? We might be able to help," said Bright Sun. "mmm something to do with swords if possible," absentmindedly answered Li Wei. "Swords? 3 core techniques are based on swords, the Meng family''s Immortal Sword Spirit, the Li family''s Myriad Sword Dance and the Nangong family''s Heart of the blade," said Cai Wenji. Li Wei quickly searched the 3 techniques and looked at their information. Just from one look, it was clear that they were better than the other techniques he saw previously. But the price was also much more expensive, the Meng family''s Immortal Sword Spirit was already out of the way since it cost 12000 Contribution points. Right now, Li Wei had about 3000 Contribution Points and if he added the 6000 Contribution Points that the siblings were willing to transfer to him, then he would have 9000 Contribution Points. Of the two remaining techniques, the Li family''s Myriad Sword Dance cost 9000 Contribution Points while the Nangong family''s Heart of the blade also cost 9000 Contribution Points. He carefully read the description of the techniques and had to admit that they were very enticing, but it did not take long for him to settle on the Myriad Sword Dance. The Heart of the blade was also powerful but was not in line with what Li Wei wanted. When trained, the latter allowed the user to add several special effects in their sword strikes like the freezing effect. As for the Myriad Sword Dance, it was just like its name suggested, it allowed the user to wield his swords as if he was dancing but more importantly, it also provided special moves which were what Li Wei wanted. Unfortunately, he would not obtain the finishing move he wanted before mastering the second level of this technique. Li Wei hesitated for a moment, after all, 9000 Contribution Points was not a small amount but when he thought about getting 2 techniques at once, he felt that it was the right choice. "Alright! I''ll go for this one then," said Li Wei as he pointed at the Myriad Sword Dance, "Let''s proceed with our trade first, shall we?" Cai Wenji looked at Li Wei with surprise, he personally thought that Li Wei would only be able to afford the Heart of Blade, especially when he heard that Li Wei traded a large amount of resources at the Warrior Association but still, he did not inquire about it and proceeded with the trade. "Thank you Seven! All I need to do now is to cook diligently!" declared Bright Sun with determination. "I did not know that being a cook was really that useful?" said Li Wei. "Of course! You have eaten at the Prosperity Hall, so you should know the effect provided by the food! These were cooked by a Grade 3 Cook but it shows how much potential the profession has. The family does not have any Grade 1 Cook right now, so if I become the first, it will have a significant weight!" declared Bright Sun. Li Wei nodded, "maybe it is time to look for a good profession... I can''t stay with fisherman forever..." said Li Wei to himself. "Here! This is the technique we''ll offer, and you should already have received our Contribution Points!" said Cai Wenji. Li Wei nodded and grabbed the manual Cai Wenji was giving him. Following that, he quickly grabbed the Myriad Sword Dance. He smiled as the manual landed in his hands. "I will treat you to a meal later Seven! I will cook it myself!" happily said Bright Sun. "We should leave sister! There is a lot to do if we want to get rid of this..." ... A few minutes later, Li Wei was back into the private training, in front of his were two training manuals. He quickly opened the less flashy looking one which contained the technique given by Cai Wenji: [Training technique: Ghost Blade] Can be used once per day at the cost of 20% fatigue, effect : Trains to control the mana flow in the blade, after 10 training cycles, develop the skill [Ghost Blade] [Ghost Blade]: allows the user''s blade to pass through other blades. "Not bad," said Li Wei he was very satisfied to see that Cai Wenji gave him a technique related to swords. He quickly opened the other manual and looked at it. "The Core techniques are really different from the others... Even Gliding Steps is no match for it," said Li Wei to himself. [Training technique: Myriad Sword Dance] Can be used anytime at the cost of the fatigue level, the mastery points obtained will depend on the duration and completion rate of the cycles. Performs a series of training movements with a sword, gains some insight of sword dance, after 100 mastery points, obtain the skill: Sword Storm Dance [Sword Storm Dance]: user swiftly attacks his opponent several times with his sword, damage dealt depends on the amount of strike landing on the target. ... At the same time, somewhere between Algate City and the dungeon, a group of players were returning to the city with their inventory full of loot. They were chatting happily when suddenly, the leading player, Li Feng suddenly stopped. He has just received a private message from a member of the Li Family stationed at the Headquarters. "F*** Who did it?" shouted Li Feng. A player next to him tried to calm him down and asked: "Brother Feng, what is happening?" "What is happening? Someone purchased the Myriad Sword Dance we put for display at the shop! Since he was able to the exchange then that means that it was not done by a spy of another guild! Another family must have used a loophole in the contract to get their hand on it!" angrily replied Li Feng. "What? This is impossible, the elders examined the contract themselves... Could it be that a player really collected 9000 Contribution Point in less than a week? We should investigate before drawing conclusions. We should ask Elder Du! Let''s hurry back!" 60 Talks "Elder Du! Elder Du! There''s an emergency, the..." "Enough enough! I am already aware of that! Do you really think I would not notice such a thing!" angrily shouted Elder Du. He was the only elder of the Li family that stayed at Algate City while the rest went to other smaller towns. Compared to the other members of the family, Elder Du did not need to go to fight monsters every day, instead, he simply stayed at the training center to practice his techniques or at the inn to manage the family''s affairs. His lifestyle had been very relaxed, he could work at his own pace. He was taking a nap in his office when he suddenly received a message. He first completely ignored the beeping sound, thinking that it was just one of those ordinary intelligence reports coming in. He simply cut off the sound and went back to sleep but it did not even last for a minute as a plethora of beeps woke him up again. It was extremely frustrating for him but he eventually opened his interface to look at the messages while grumbling. It was only then that he learned about what happened and naturally, he became extremely furious. Someone had actually succeeded in obtaining the technique they put up for display; it was supposed to be impossible, yet someone did it. More importantly, it looked like only his family''s technique was taken down which lead him to think that the Li family was being targeted. It was the precise moment Li Feng and Li Mu chose to storm into his office while loudly shouting: "What happened Elder Du? Didn''t all the families sign a contract to prevent us from buying others'' technique? You checked and signed the contract but yet, the Cai family clearly succeeded in obtaining ours!" exclaimed Li Feng. Elder Du was already in an extremely bad mood and now, he had to deal with the two youngsters in front of him. Since he was the only elder left in the city, he was naturally the one who represented the Li family for signing the contract. But now, it looked like Li Feng was blaming him for not noticing a possible loophole. He really wanted to beat the youngster in front of him but Elder Du held his contempt inside and politely answered. After all, Li Feng was the son of the current patriarch of the Li family; if he harmed or humiliated Li Feng in any way, then Elder Du would have no way to escape the punishment of the patriarch. "I looked carefully at the contract and even sent a copy to your father before signing it. He even agreed to it, there are no possible loopholes! It can only mean that the person who acquired our technique genuinely obtained the necessary contribution points to buy it, there is nothing we can do about it! If we were to punish that player, then what would the other recruits say?" said Elder Du. "Then how do you explain the fact that he obtained the necessary contribution points from the Cai Family just before exchanging them for our technique? Wasn''t it written in the contract?" "Naturally, but what was written in the contract is clear: we shall not give our contribution points to outer members of our family with the intent of having them obtain other families'' techniques. That can only mean that the final goal of the Cai family was not to allow that player to obtain our technique. They had another purpose in mind, however, the player himself wanted to obtain the technique. The contract does not protect us from that since the Cai Family did not technically want to obtain our technique in the first place! As long as they had even the slightest intention of allowing one of their outer members obtain our technique, then the contract would have come into effect and prevented the trade of contribution points. So it was just a normal trade between them but what they traded just happened to have a high value." "What kind of bullshit is that? How can we be the only family whose technique was taken! Who will be responsible for that? How could you sign the contract when you knew about this possible loophole" shouted Li Mu on the side. He was Li Feng''s cousin and the two were very often seen together. While he was angry that the family''s technique was leaked out, he was more concern about who to blame. It was clear that this incident would have some repercussions on the family and someone needed to shoulder the responsibilities and the clear candidate in his mind for that was naturally Elder Du. "Wait a second, I just thought of something! Since all I want right now is to take revenge on the Cai Family, does that mean I can give my contribution points to someone to have them purchase the technique they put on display? It should work, right?" angrily asked Li Feng. "Technically yes but that will not happen. If you did not check the trade point yet, all the other families already removed their techniques on display. They all naturally noticed that ours disappeared and quickly removed theirs before someone succeeds in obtaining them. So, we are the only one that made a loss..." "This is unacceptable! How could this happen..." Elder Du was feeling more and more frustrated, the two youngsters in front of him clearly did not come here to discuss the incident but more to blame him. He was helpless in this matter since even the patriarch agreed to the contract. But suddenly, a thought crossed his mind and he quickly said: "You should calm down young master, please listen to me for a moment! While it''s true that someone obtained our technique, it is also an opportunity to recruit him. You should have already looked at his profile and he is indeed someone that can be recruited. We only put the first 2 parts of the technique for display, we can naturally attract him with the remaining parts of the technique. Once he completes the first two parts, there is no way he would not be interested in the remaining ones. As long as we play our cards right, then this can be considered as an investment..." ... In another part of the city, Bright Sun just went back to her room and was about to take a shower when she heard a jingle indicating that she received a message. She was currently in a great mood; she just submitted the improved training pattern that she received earlier from Li Wei to elder Mo, the elder left behind to look after the younger generation of the Cai Family. The latter was naturally very pleased to receive the technique. He did not really care about what the youngsters were doing but improving a technique was definitely something important in his eyes. While it did not look like the most significant contribution, it was the cumulation of such improvements that would lead to a rise in status of the Cai Family. Since Bright Sun was the one that submitted the technique, elder Mo naturally decided to side with her and protect her from the arranged marriage of the family. In his mind, someone that could improve a technique could not be used as an exchange pawn. He already knew the circumstances of how the family wanted to arrange a marriage in the incoming month to boost the morale of the members and show their wealth. They especially wanted to show that they considered all their members as family and there was no better way than marrying outstanding recruits to some of their family members. It just so happened that King of Champions noticed Bright Sun, while he did not know much about her, he was entranced by her beauty and mature charm at first sight. Elder Mo could not completely stop the marriage but still, in accordance with Bright Sun''s wishes, he would definitely bring this up to the main branch''s meeting. He was after all, an elder from the main branch and his opinions had some influence on the family''s decision. But if she really succeeded in becoming the first grade 1 Cook of the sect, then there was no doubt the balance would tilt in her favor. Cai Wenjian: "Cai Die, are you free right now? I''ve heard about what happened in the city." Bright Sun smiled upon seeing the message, it came from her father who was currently staying in a different town. She was already naked but quickly got out of the bathroom and lay down on her bed. It was one of the rare occasion she would get to talk to her father, while they still exchanged a few words daily, it could not even be called a conversation. Since they were using the system, they could only exchange message like texting but it was still better than nothing. Bright Sun: "News travels really quickly, what did you hear?" Cai Wenjian: "Elder Mo told me that you found a way to get rid of your arranged marriage again! That is great news!" Bright Sun: "Yes dad, I still cannot believe that they completely disregarded all we did when we were still on earth! Still, don''t worry, I know that they took advantage that you are busy to arrange this, you don''t need to interfere with this, I will deal with it by myself." Cai Wenjian sighed, he felt bad that he was not able to have a say in the family''s decision. In fact, he did not even learn that his daughter was going to be engaged to someone before this morning. And when he tried to discuss with the main branch''s patriarch, he was naturally rejected. It was a tough situation for him, he had always been taught to put the overall family above everything else but as a father he could not forget about his daughter but still, before he got to do something, he learned that his daughter was already taking actions. Cai Wenjian: "That is good, do as you see fit but what about the Li family''s technique? I''ve heard something about that, can you explain to me what happened?" Bright Sun: "About that, you know about the improved Gliding Steps right? It was actually derived by Seven and I traded with him. In the end, he obtained enough contribution points and succeeded in buying the technique. I think the reason the trade was successful was because I did not care much if he obtained another family''s technique, all I myself wanted was the rights to the improved version which I why the contract allowed the trade." Cai Wenjian: "This is possible, I myself don''t know the details of the contract, only the main branch knows about it in detail. But what did you say? He really improved the technique?" Bright Sun: "Indeed, he succeeded. Although it is common to see minor improvements, his is of at least 10%. He was not lying when he said that the actual technique was more suited for men." Cai Wenjian: "If what you said is true, then maybe we should look at all our techniques. We always kept modern things away from our traditional techniques since it was decreed by the last patriarch. But maybe it is time for us to review all our techniques properly, I will talk to the main branch''s patriarch about it" Bright Sun: "You should not worry about us here dad, focus on your mission, we''ll handle things there!" Cai Wenjian: "That''s good, I am sorry for not being there but your mom should be coming tomorrow, she finally decided to leave the Beginner''s village after failing her quest..." ... At the training center, Li Wei was unaware of what was happening. He was deeply in trance, practicing the Myriad Sword Dance for more than one hour. As soon as he read the description of the manual, he immediately understood how powerful it was. Compared to other techniques that could only be used once per day, this one could be trained as much as one wanted. However, the downside was that it was more complex and therefore, one would usually obtain fewer mastery points from it. He immediately used the manual and learned the different stances and moves of the training technique. It did not take very long and he immediately eagerly started to train. Unfortunately, the Myriad Sword Dance only was practiced with only one sword, the other hand was usually free and used to help balance the body and help with the flow of movements. It was different from what he was used to but in his mind, he did not find that too much of a problem. "I can simply find a way to adapt the movements for 2 handed swordmanship later on after I get familiar with the movements." And so, he started to follow the movements. He was clumsy for the first few minutes and often deviated from the movements but he quickly got used to the rhythm. In fact, he found the movements rather familiar, it was as if his body naturally knew what to do next. He did not realize how long he trained, his mind slowly drifted as his body swiftly danced with his sword. The blade would slowly dance around, sometimes leaving behind a faint trail of light. It was only when he received the system prompt that his mind jolted awake and he immediately stopped: [System prompt: Warning, you have acquired a critical amount of fatigue, we advise you to take a rest,] Li Wei did not know how long has passed, he immediately looked at his interface and was shocked, his fatigue level had reached 99% and all his stats had -3 next to them. 1% more and his body would have collapsed; high fatigue levels lead to penalties in stats which acted as a warning but if one ignored them, then they would simply lose consciousness upon reaching 100% and it is only after 24hours that they would wake up. He was naturally aware of that and was relieved to see that a system was put in place to warn the players before they reach that point. Losing a whole day''s worth of hunting would be disastrous to Li Wei. However, he let out a smile when seconds later, another system prompt came in: [System prompt: You have completed trained into the Myriad Sword Dance for 1 hour and 48 minutes, average completion rate: 93%] More than 90%, he obtained such a completion rate on just his first try. While he did not know much about the difficulty of the technique, Li Wei already understood the importance of completion rate. As he looked at his details, he found that his Myriad Sword Dance already cumulated 26 mastery points. "Such a pity... The fatigue system can really be a pain sometimes... Better go back and take some rest for tomorrow. I need to start working on those Goblin''s Blood" 61 Alchemist Association 5 days went by in a flash. Li Wei swung his sword as he took away the last HP of the muscular goblin in front of him. "Finally! I now have 40 goblin blood" exclaimed Li Wei as he picked up the items dropped by the goblin. Goblin blood actually could not be collected by normal means, the player needed to have an "Empty Vial" in order to collect it but Li Wei was already prepared for that. Li Wei spent most of his day hunting goblins in the dungeon to collect Goblin Blood while his evening was dedicated to training techniques. Goblins were much stronger than him at level 14-15. While he could usually fight a goblin in a one vs one, they often walked into groups which made it hard for Li Wei. In the end, he teamed up with some players he found at the dungeon. This was the reason it took so long to collect the 40 goblin blood; he could not monopolize all the items for himself and instead had to share with nine other players. Many players already started to attack the 10th floor of the dungeon. He often met parties of the Fleeting Clouds Sect and joined them temporarily; on two occasions, he even joined Cai Wenji''s party. The latter was delighted to have Li Wei join the party; this way, they could improve their coordination. Unfortunately, even with Li Wei joining, the party was not complete since Bright Sun chose to stop hunting and focus all her attention towards cooking. A few days after exchanging contribution points with Li Wei, the priest ended up upgrading her profession to Grade 1 Cook. And so, Bright Sun became the first Grade 1 Cook of the Cai Family. Even in the entire Fleeting Clouds Sect, there was only another Grade 1 Cook which showed how rare this achievement was at this stage of the game. During that week, even when he shared his exp with his party, Li Wei leveled up twice and was now at level 14. His Myriad Sword Dance also reached level one, giving him access to Sword Storm Dance. It was an extremely practical skill especially since it did not differ much from Li Wei''s usual fighting style. While training, he would alternate between the right-handed and the left-handed version of the technique. It was essential since he wanted to use two blades and the technique was meant for only one at a time. He slowly gained some insights into the technique, but it was not enough yet to improve the technique. The Myriad Sword Dance felt very familiar to Li Wei, he quickly mastered it, pushing the completion rate to 95%. He would often lose himself while practicing and would end up with 99% Fatigue most of the time. If he had the choice, Li Wei would naturally choose to train more but unfortunately, he was limited by the fatigue system. After hunting during the day, he would already end up with an average of 50% fatigue. That barely left him with enough to train his techniques if he wanted to be back to zero fatigue the next day. The room he was currently staying at the inn would normally reduce his fatigue by 75% after one night of sleep. In the end, since he wanted to practice all his techniques well, he had to rely on the Prosperity Hall to lower his fatigue. He was not as rich enough to go to the higher floor, for his personal consumption, the ground floor was more than enough, lowering his fatigue by 20%. The food was really good, and he would often go there for breakfast, taking advantage of the buff in stats to hunt goblins more efficiently. After just a week, most of his gold was already gone and he was left with only 53 gold now. Naturally, all those gold were not spent solely on food, part of the gold went towards improving Li Wei''s equipment. Now, all his equipment were Peak Grade 1 with the exception of the [Tear of Fairies] and his enchanted ring which was merely a low-quality Grade 1. He did not change it yet since he liked the spell, [Earth Wall] that was bound to it. After leveling up, Li Wei naturally invested his stat points in Dexterity. He started to find his stats quite unbalanced, but he chose to stick to his original plan. His Character stats were now: Name: Seven Race: Human Level: 14 (5297/50000) Class: Warrior Profession: Grade 1 Fisherman Title: None HP: 120/120 MP: 100/100 Strength: 14(+3) Dexterity: 21(+2) Vitality: 9(+3) Intelligence: 7(+3) Wisdom: 9(+1) Stat Points available: 0 Skills: [Cleave], [Strengthen], [Weapon Throwing],[Howl],[Blade Draw],[Gliding Steps], [Myriad Sword Dance], [Impale] Fatigue: 48% Impale was another skill that he recently acquired, Li Wei exchanged some contribution points at the Warrior Association against the skill. It cost 4000 Contribution Points, but it was a powerful skill. [Impale(level 0)] Thrust the user''s weapon towards a target, damage +20 Mana cost: 20 Cooldown time: 30 seconds Overall, Li Wei was quite satisfied with the way he spent the week. When he looked at the leaderboard ranking of the city, he stood in the top 1000. So far, only 10 players reached level 15 at Algate City but these players all came from the 3 big guilds and obtained a lot of resources from them. Having finally collected all the goblin blood he needed, it was time to return back to the city. It was still three hours before the start of the night cycle but Li Wei chose to go back now since there was a place he wanted to visit: the Alchemist Association. ... "Hello sir, may I help you?" asked a receptionist to Li Wei. The latter just arrived at the Alchemist Association and was immediately greeted. He was surprised to see that the receptionist was actually a player and not an NPC. The player was simply a poor player trying to obtain some Contribution Points from the Alchemist Association by acting as a receptionist. Similar tasks were available everywhere, but Li Wei never bothered to check the quests available and so, he was not aware of it. In fact, many players already integrated into the society; everyone did not like to go to out to hunt monsters and found other ways to earn a living peacefully. Many guilds even sent some players to take important positions to help them develop. "Hello, I would like to speak to the Alchemist Moody Writer" answered Li Wei. "Moody Writer? One second please, I will see if he is free" answered the receptionist. Moody Writer was one of the few Grade 1 Alchemists of the city. Compared to most of his fellow colleagues, he did not belong to any guilds right now and relied on his own efforts to level up his profession. Before, when he tried to join the big guilds, he was drily rejected, even mid-tier guilds rejected him. But in the end, he succeeded in becoming a Grade 1 Alchemist by himself and now, all the guilds were furiously chasing after him. However, Moody Writer did not forget the previous treatment he was given and in turn, he rejected the offers of the guilds. He was now working by himself at the Alchemist Association. He had quite a good reputation among the players since he was one of the few Grade 1 Alchemist from who they could buy items. Most Grade 1 Alchemists belonged to guilds and would not trade with normal players. "Excuse me sir but Moody Writer declined meeting you, he is in the process of refining a batch of important pills and cannot be disturbed!" politely answered the receptionist. "Really? In that case, can you tell him that I might have something that can help him level up his profession?" asked Li Wei. "Leveling up a profession? Really sir? Does such an item exist?" asked the receptionist with a glimmer in his eyes. He himself was an alchemist, he was naturally interested. "I said maybe, I am not sure, but can you relay my words to Moody Writer?" asked Li Wei. "Mmm, you should first present to me the item, I cannot disturb an alchemist for such a reason without evidence! If I do so, I might cause him to fail his pill production!" righteously answered the receptionist while making a hand motion, hinting at Li Wei to take out his item. The latter frowned, he clearly knew that the player in front of him wanted to acquire the item for himself or in the worst scenario, he might spread this information to his guild. Above the shoulder of the receptionist, was a small transparent badge but unfortunately, Li Wei did not recognize it, so he did not know which guild the receptionist belonged to. "In that case, I will wait here for Moody Writer to finish his batch, please tell him that," said Li Wei as he turned back and walked towards a couch. "Please wait brother, is there a way that we discuss among ourselves? You see, I am very interested in the item you are holding, name a price!" declared the receptionist. He panicked for a second as he saw Li Wei''s behavior and went straight to the point. "Oh? You are interested? Very well, my price is simple, one of each stat increasing Grade 1 and Grade 2 potions plus 10% on the future sales of the product! What do you think?" asked Li Wei. "What? Brother this is really expensive! I don''t even know what item you have but I seriously doubt that even Moody Writer will accept such a price!" answered the receptionist. Stat increasing potions were as their name suggested, potions that could improve a player''s stat. It was quite an expensive potion that the players at the top of the leaderboard all used. Li Wei himself used one at Algate City, the Body Strengthening Potion he obtained from Elder Jari. The cost of the materials of the potion only cost about 10 gold but yet, these potions were all priced at about 100 gold. It was a complete rip-off but still, many players chose to buy them. It was due to their availability, less than ten alchemist players could craft them right now and so, they took advantage of that to increase the prices to that level. Even the different associations and the Fleeting Clouds Sect were offering them for exchange but that was against 1500 Contribution Points. These potions could only be used once but players could use their stronger versions afterwards. For example, Li Wei consumed the Grade 1 Body Strengthening Potion and obtained 1 point in Strength, if he was to drink that potion again, there would be no effect. However, he could drink the Grade 2 Body Strengthening Potion to further increase his strength. "This is the price I set, if you cannot accept it then please relay my message to Moody Writer!" politely answered Li Wei. He did not really want to trade with the receptionist and so, immediately placed a high price to push him away. Li Wei did not just want a simple trade, what he wanted right now was to build a relationship with an independent alchemist. He did not want to rely solely on the Fleeting Clouds Sect and so, decided to start building a few relationships here and there. The receptionist''s face hardened, he was clearly not satisfied with Li Wei''s answer. He was very interested in the item since he only had a mediocre talent for alchemy and if he could level up his profession, that would mean a lot to him. However, he did not know if it was a scam, especially since the player in front of him did not want to show any items before signing a contract. "Brother, don''t make things difficult for me! You know that I can simply not say anything to Moody Writer and he would not know anything that happened here. You could stay here and wait but that would be in vain since he lives at the Alchemist Association and rarely goes out." said the receptionist. According to what Li Wei said, he should be in possession of a sort of recipe, considering the price, it should even be a unique recipe. If he was the one to obtain it, then his status would immediately rise. "Really? Do you think you are the only receptionist here?" asked Li Wei while pointing at the other receptionists that were dealing with other players. Some of them were players while others were still NPCs. "Besides, don''t forget that I can report your behavior..." Hearing that, the receptionist became furious, he started grinding his teeth, thinking of some ways to go around this but in the end, he could only go back to his counter and start messaging Moody Writer. He was just an employee right now and what Li Wei said was true, he could act freely to some extent but if he was reported, then the higher-ups would look into the matter and he might get some trouble. In the worst case, he might even get expelled from the association which will result in him wasting 2 weeks of his time at the association. As Li Wei expected, he did not have to wait for long before Moody Writer replied. It was said that the players who focused on their professions were usually obsessed with them and would do anything to level them up. "Moody Writer is still concocting his pills but he says you can go in for now, here''s a guest badge, please go to room 291" drily answered receptionist. 62 The deal with Moody Writer Li Wei quietly proceeded towards the room 291. He did not need to be guided since it was self-explanatory; he simply needed to follow the arrows and signs on the wall. The Alchemist Association was similar to the Warrior Association; it provided rooms for alchemists to train. With the help of spatial magic, the rooms took less space when viewed from outside but once one entered a particular room, they would find that it was much larger. It did not take long for Li Wei to reach Moody Writer''s practice room. He quickly used the guest badge and entered the room. As soon as he entered, he was assaulted by a strong medicinal smell, similar to what he smelled at Elder Jari''s house but a much stronger version. The room was not too large, on the walls were shelves on which several recipients containing materials were neatly arranged. Strange runes could also be seen on the floor or the walls; they were there to increase the rate of success of alchemy production. The room was quite dim giving Li Wei the vibe that he just entered a witch''s territory. At the center of the room, he saw a man in around the mid-twenties. The latter was naturally Moody Writer, he did not bother to even look at Li Wei who just entered the room and continued to focus on the cauldron in front of him. Li Wei did not mind his behavior and silently waited near the entrance. He knew that failing a concoction could be pricey and did not want to be the reason for Moody Writer to fail his attempt; it was already kind of him to allow Li Wei to enter the room and watch him while he was concocting. If a player saw Moody Writer, they would never match his appearance with that of a dignified Grade 1 alchemist; he was quite short, had a small physique and a common look. He wore casual clothes rather than combat equipment and the circles under his eyes made him look like a common worker on Earth. His hands moved rapidly; stirring the mixture in the cauldron, controlling the fire and adding new materials. After a dozen minutes, the mixture in the cauldron had completely evaporated, leaving behind 10 perfectly spherical pills. Moody Writer''s hand quickly passed over the pills, swiftly placing them into an empty bottle. After that, he placed the bottle in his inventory and stood up. "Sorry to make you wait, I am Moody Writer, nice to meet you," said Moody Writer as his tired eyes quickly examined Li Wei. Although he allowed him to come to discuss, he still held some doubts about his claims. An item that could help him increase his alchemy level was definitely rare if not unique. Seeing nothing wrong with Li Wei, he quickly said: "Have a seat please!" while pointing to two chairs on the side. After sitting down, Li Wei quickly said: "It is an honor to meet one of the first Grade 1 Alchemist." "From what I was told, you have something I might be interested in?" asked Moody Writer. Seeing his reaction, Li Wei decided to go straight to the point, "I won''t beat around the bush, this is what I have to trade," declared Li Wei while taking out one of the potions from his inventory. The potion was naturally the spoilt one he obtained from the Ghost Farmer''s territory. After getting back to the city, he tried to find ways to use the potions effectively and, in the end, he settled on trying to trade with an alchemist. The stats reduction was useless to him right now, but alchemists could experiment on the potion and extract the recipe. Grade 2 potions were already available for sale by the NPC alchemists but just like the players, they were also trying to take advantage of the limited access to them and priced the potions at 500 gold. The relevant part was simply that Li Wei''s potion was spoilt but spoilt in a strange way. Normally, pills and any other alchemy products had a shelf-life beyond which their effect would start to weaken, and their grade would decrease. That meant that if a Grade 3 Body Strengthening Potion became spoilt and became a Grade 2 Potion, it would then only give 2 Strength instead of 3. However, even if Li Wei''s potion was described as spoilt, its effects completely changed causing a permanent decrease in stats instead of an increase. It was the first time he saw that. Even if he was not an alchemist, Li Wei had access to some information through the forum and the library and never stumbled upon this type of potion. Although he was not sure, he could guess that the potion went through some sort of mutation; maybe it was due to the presence of the precious materials in the chest or the very long period it stayed underground but the fact remained that it was unique. It was a potion that crossed the line between two disciplines: alchemy and poison mastery. Moody Writer was smart, he immediately realized the value of the potion. First of all, the fact that it was spoilt meant that the potion was originally a higher grade one, that meant if he successfully extracted the recipe, he could possibly obtain the recipes of the Grade 3 or even Grade 4 version of the potion. Secondly, it was the first time he was seeing a mutation in a potion; while he was browsing through the books at the Alchemist Association, he naturally found some information about mutations, but those were very rare. Mutations would usually cause defects to appear but in some rare cases, the potions were actually improved; if one was able to control the mutations, then that would be a revolution. Many alchemists were already spending a lot of effort researching this field. While he was relatively new to alchemy, Moody Writer already set his heart on this discipline. It was not far from what he did in real life and so, he chose to master this profession instead of hunting monsters like others. He already made a name for himself among the players but among the NPCs, he was still unknown. The only way for him to be recognized was to rapidly level up his profession or to make a brilliant discovery and the potion Li Wei brought could precisely help him achieve both. "May I ask where you found this?" asked Moody Writer. His attitude already improved as he saw that Li Wei was not scamming him since he really brought an item. His small hands were lifting the bottle near a candle so that he could examine it. "I got it when I went on an adventure. As for the exact location, I would like to keep it a secret," declared Li Wei. There was no precise reason for Li Wei not to reveal the location, he just did not want Moody Writer to pry too much into the matter. "Alright, in that case, may I ask what you want in exchange for this?" asked Moody Writer. The latter was tactful and immediately directed the conversation back to where he believed Li Wei wanted it to go. "Same offer as I gave the receptionist, Grade 1 and future Grade 2 stats increasing potions you''ll make, one of each and 10% off the profit you''ll make while making the Grade 2 Mind Strengthening Potion," said Li Wei. He said the exact same price he said to the receptionist. The reason was simply that he himself had no precise idea of the value of the potion, he could make a rough estimate but that was very subjective. "I''ll agree if you remove the % profit!" quickly answered Moody Writer while crossing his arms. This answer took Li Wei off guard. In his mind, the price was exorbitant, considering that a Grade 2 Potion was selling for 500 gold and a Grade 1 Potion''s selling price was 100 gold. But the answer also brought some doubts, should he present the other potion in his inventory? However, Moody Writer had different thoughts. Although he was paying a high price, he felt that it was worth it. The sky-high price of 500 gold per potion was only temporary, as players would become Grade 2 alchemists, the price will naturally decrease. But more importantly, what was important to him was to be able to quickly level up his profession. He was well aware of how competitive the alchemy profession was, the quicker he leveled up, the better he would be. He could become the first player in the city to reach this level and enjoy some benefits from the Association earlier. It was a unique opportunity and while he wanted to lower the price, he also did not want to push Li Wei away. In the end, Li Wei chose to take out his other potion. He simply had no other use for it, he could bring it to the Fleeting Clouds Sect, but he felt that it was not the right things to do. In truth, he was starting to have mixed feelings about the sect. As for the NPC alchemists, Li Wei never considered them. Although they had more experience, in term of growth potential, the players greatly outclassed any NPC. Moody Writer''s eyes immediately lit up when he saw the other bottle. Finding a mutated potion was considered extremely rare but yet, in front of him were 2 bottles of such potions. "Then how much are you willing to give if I pinch in this one too?" asked Li Wei. "You can naturally have the 10% in this case, but I know that this is not enough, name your price!" declared Moody Writer. After all, from his point of view, he was only paying Li Wei about 1000 gold for the potions. That was considering that the materials of a Grade 1 potion would cost about 10 gold and with his skills as a new Grade 1 Alchemist, he had a 35% success rate for this type of potion. As for the Grade 2 potions, their raw materials would cost about 50 gold each as for the success rate, he would not know until he tried. It was clear to him that it was not an expensive price and so, he tactfully asked what Li Wei wanted. But from Li Wei''s point of view, it was different. He was considering his offer using the market price which meant 100 gold per Grade 1 Potion and 500 gold per Grade 2. In his mind, he was asking for 3000 gold on top of the % profit. "I would like 2 Beast Cores from monsters above level 15," answered Li Wei while looking at the alchemist in front of him. "Deal!" quickly said Moody Writer. To him, monster cores were not expensive, they would rarely cost more than 40 gold, but they were rarely available to the public. Most of the time, they could only be obtained through hunting or at these profession-type associations. A contract was quickly signed since the two parties already discussed the terms. The only thing they needed to sort out was the payment method. It was extremely unpractical to have Li Wei always come to the Alchemist Association to receive his profit. In the end, the latter agreed to set up a bank account at the Martial Bank. The Martial Bank was an institution present in the ten human empires of Zero. It had a tremendous influence and as its name suggested, it was a bank. One could easily create an account everywhere; the reason Li Wei did not do so earlier was simply because one needed to pay a flat fee to keep their bank account open. It was a modest fee that could easily be balanced by the interest rate generated by the deposit in the account, but it was still something Li Wei found unnecessary to pay. But now that he was making business deals, it would greatly facilitate the process to have a bank account. Li Wei initiated the trade and gave the 2 potions away. However, he would only obtain the potions in a few days, Moody Writer still needed to concoct the Grade 1 potions, it was an easy task for him, but he still needed to respect his fatigue level. As for the Beast Cores, he would need to first make a trip at the trading area of the association. "I will concoct those potions as soon as possible! Let''s add each other as friends so I can send you a message when they are ready," said Moody Writer. He was very satisfied with the deal he just made and when he thought about how Li Wei refused to reveal the location where he found those potions, he thought that this young man might have some other treasures. "Sure!" With a quick move of his hand, Li Wei opened his interface and sent Moody Writer a friend request. At the same time, his eyes glanced towards the friend requests he received. He previously blocked the notification concerning friend requests at Algate City many players tried to add him after he defeated the Wolf Queen. He was submerged by a series of "Ping" and so, he chose to simply disable that option and forgot about it. He would usually only check that part of his interface when he wanted to add someone as a friend. However, now that he was looking at it, Li Wei immediately noticed an abnormally high number of friend requests. With a closer look, he found that many came from fellow guild members, but he also noticed that many belonged to the Li family. "Strange... They really sent many friend requests, but they did not try any direct contact? It seems that Cai Wenji is keeping them away." said Li Wei to himself. At the same time, Moody Writer gladly accepted the friend request. He was about to see Li Wei out when suddenly, three knocks came from the door. 63 Fortune cookies "Knock Knock Knock" As the knocks came from the door, Li Wei and Moody Writer looked at each other curiously. The former was wondering about what he should do while the latter found it strange that someone knocked at her door. If someone wanted to meet him, they would usually contact him first through the Alchemist Association; coming directly was definitely unusual. He let out a quiet, "this is strange..." as he stood up. He quickly deduced that it was an alchemist but that was strange since normally, alchemists would not do such a thing unless there was an emergency. The tiniest distraction could cause an alchemist to fail their concoction and so, it was considered impolite to disturb alchemists when they were training in their private rooms. Hearing that, Li Wei quickly said: "I mentioned it before but the receptionist I talked to at the entrance also wanted to trade the items though I did not show him anything..." The two were smart, Moody Writer thought for a moment and quickly answered: "Don''t worry about that, I''ll deal with it. There''s an emergency exit behind that curtain. You can use that to leave discretely!" Li Wei quickly stood up and pull the curtain and effectively, there was a small door behind it. He looked at Moody Writer with a grateful smile, "Thanks!" It was not that he was scared of confronting the receptionist, but it was better to avoid any trouble. After all, that guy belonged to a guild and might have brought his leaders with him. After going through the door, he quickly placed the curtain back into its original position, covering the emergency exit and closed the door. At the same time, he heard the sound of a door opening and a muffled conversation. In the room, it was effectively the receptionist that came knocking at the door; behind him, a couple that belonged to his guild was expressionlessly waiting. After being rejected by Li Wei, he knew that there was no way for him to obtain the precious item and so, the receptionist resorted to asking his guild leaders to step forward. Both were Grade 0 Alchemists from a mid-tier guild and were naturally very interested in an item that could possibly level up their profession. As for the receptionist, while he knew he lost an opportunity, reporting this incident would at least get him some benefits from his guild for sharing this information. Moody Writer immediately frowned upon seeing the trio, he instantly recognized the first one as a receptionist from the guild which matched with what Li Wei just said. As for the couple, he also recognized them; they belonged to the guild, Giants who previously rejected him when he applied for it. "Good afternoon Moody Writer, it looks like you are doing very well!" greeted the female alchemist. At the same time, the trio scanned through the room behind Moody Writer and frowned. "Not as good as you guild masters, may I ask what is the reason for your visit?" expressionlessly asked Moody Writer. "According to one of our guild members, there is someone that came to visit you asking for a particular trade... I am simply curious about that person," said the guild master. He came with his wife as soon as he received the message from the receptionist, not even 30 minutes went by since he received the message but yet, the person was nowhere to be seen. "Ah yes, it is such a pity..." Upon hearing that, the guild masters immediately frowned but Moody Writer continued: "It turned out to be a complete scam! That guy never had anything good, he only came here to ask me to privately refine some potions for him! He thought that he could skip the queue of customers and immediately ask me, but I naturally kicked him out of the room as soon as I heard that!" "Really? Then may I ask where is that person? We did not see him leave the association yet," asked the guild master with a suspicious look. "How would I know? Maybe he used the opportunity that he was already in the association to ask others to refine products for him..." answered Moody Writer, making an innocent face. The receptionist stood silently on the side not daring to speak. He was certain that the player he met earlier should still be there, but the room was empty. The couple was also full of doubts, but they could not simply intrude someone''s room. They could only let go of the matter. The wife was naturally not very satisfied with the outcome; she discretely sent some signs to her husband, but the latter completely ignored her. "Sorry for disturbing you then, we will take our leave. Also, I would just mention that our offer is still pending!" said the guild master as he dragged his wife through the corridors. The receptionist also quietly followed. After walking a few meters away, the female alchemist looked at her husband and said," are we really letting go of this matter? This looks extremely fishy! That arrogant brat was lying!" "I know but there is nothing we can do, we lack evidence and we cannot offend Moody Writer openly! He is highly looked after by the other guilds, it would be best not to push him towards joining one of the big guilds. It is just an item anyway, although it''s a bonus, it''s not an absolute necessity, we can easily live without that. We are not far from leveling up anyway! I''ll buy you something good when we get back!" "Sigh, you are right. Let''s focus on leveling our profession first! We will definitely succeed before the end of the week!" said the female alchemist. Her expression instantly brightened as she heard that her husband would buy her a gift. ... Hearing the end of the conversation, Li Wei quietly walked towards the exit. He was relieved to see that Moody Writer came up with an appropriate excuse. Although that guild already knew about him, he doubted they would try to make a move against him, especially since he belonged to the Fleeting Clouds Sect which was a more influential sect than theirs. Having sorted that out, Li Wei went to the training center for his daily training cycles. This time, he started with training the [Ghost Blade] technique since it was the only one he did not develop the skill yet. In the short term, it was the best choice since obtaining the skill would give him a power spike. The Ghost Blade training cycle was not very hard; it only required the user to quickly swing his blade in front of him at several angles. The only issue usually arises after a few minutes when the user''s wrist would start to ache. While ignoring the pain, Li Wei continued to swing his sword according to the technique, his pace gradually got slower, but he eventually ended up with an 80% completion rate. Following that, he trained his Gliding Steps before moving to the Myriad Sword Dance. He already had a high fatigue level and only trained into the latter since it could be stopped at any time. It was also his favorite technique to train, he would feel relaxed whenever he would swing his sword according to the technique. He was slowly trying to adapt the technique to the dual sword style he used but did not meet any success so far. However, Li Wei did not give up and continued to train, he knew that modifying a technique was not easy. Fortunately, the skill he obtained, Sword Storm Dance could be used with the two blades at the same time. His fatigue level quickly went up and Li Wei finally took a break as he reached a critical level. All he wanted to do now was to go back to the inn and take a good shower. ... Li Wei immediately walked back to the inn, the sky was only starting to get dark. He returned to the city earlier than usual today since he already collected enough Goblin Blood. Li Wei was absent-mindedly walking through the entrance of the Starry Skies inn, the one he stayed at. He was about to walk upstairs when he suddenly heard a familiar voice from the side. "Hey Seven!" When he turned his head to look, he saw Bright Sun standing up from a table, walking towards him. At the table was another blonde woman who giggled at the sight before walking away. "Hello!" politely answered Li Wei. The blonde priest looked as beautiful as usual. She was wearing casual clothes which were more comfortable. Wearing a priest robe could be uncomfortable and get in the way of her cooking. What surprised Li Wei was that Bright Sun was actually level 14 just like him. While training into professions still provided some exp, it was normally at a much slower rate than hunting monsters. "Come with me! I have something to give you!" happily said Bright Sun as she pointed towards the private rooms. "Sure" He quickly followed her to the private room. He already knew that she succeeded in becoming a Grade 1 Cook, that could only mean that she was also successful in getting rid of her arranged marriage. "Although I promised you a meal, I think that you will prefer this!" declared Bright Sun as the two entered a small private room. She quickly took out 3 small brown bags and placed them on the table. "I baked them myself! I hope you''ll like them!" In truth, Li Wei already forgot about the matter that Bright Sun would give him a meal, but he quickly opened the bag only to find that they contained a bunch of Fortune Cookies. [Fortune Cookie] Effect: exp+200 As he grabbed one of the fortune cookies, Li Wei immediately saw the details. "200 exp!" exclaimed Li Wei in his mind. Seeing his surprised expression, Bright Sun quickly said, "I knew you would like that, not only does it have a nice effect, I can also guarantee the taste!" "But that is probably very expensive, isn''t it? I have never seen any food that gives experience..." "Hehe, this is my personal recipe! Quickly have a try! The only thing is that I did not put any message inside the cookies!" quickly said Bright Sun. The main reason she was able to get rid of her marriage was precisely due to this recipe. It was something she came up with after several attempts at mixing the different spices together and in the end, she came up with fortune cookies that gave exp. It was a priceless effect! All the higher-ups of the sect went crazy when they learned about that. While some tried to befriend her, some also threatened her to try to obtain her recipe. It was a unique recipe that only she could pass on. Bright Sun naturally chose to keep her recipe a secret and, in the end, the Cai Family and the sect peacefully bought her Fortune Cookies. Many Grade 0 cooks of the sect tried to imitate her cookies but all failed. As for the other Grade 1 cook, she turned out to be one of Bright Sun''s friend from a lower-tier family. The two talked to each other and decided to not interfere with each other''s business. Both aimed at improving their own living conditions in the sect. Bright Sun''s status rose overnight, her fortune cookies were simply too powerful. The exp might sound insignificant, but quickly leveling was essential to the players if they wanted to make a name for themselves in the game. That was especially true since Algate City was behind the rest of the world in this aspect. The Fortune Cookies were a hot commodity that everyone wanted. In truth, the price of the materials was not very high and so, Bright Sun made quite a bit of profit. She naturally also took advantage of the system and kept a few batches of Fortune Cookies for herself and her family. It was not an uncommon practice for the players who focused on their profession and everyone turned a blind eye to that since they did not want to get to the bad side of the craftsmen. Li Wei quickly grabbed a Fortune Cookie and broke it into two parts at the center. With a swift movement, he threw one half inside his mouth. He immediately started munching and the room was filled with the munching sound. The cookies were extremely crunchy and flavorful. It was a treat to Li Wei''s mouth, the gentle and mild flavor of the Fortune Cookie slowly invaded his taste buds. The taste was not different from the usual cookies he ate before but this one had a little twist to it making it stand above the others. While he could not point out exactly what it was, Li Wei still found the Fortune Cookie extremely delicious. Bright Sun was closely observing Li Wei as he was tasting the cookies. She was instantly relieved as she saw that Li Wei was enjoying the cookie. She was very confident in her cooking skills, but she was also always nervous whenever someone would eat her cooking. "It''s really good!" commented Li Wei as he threw the other half of the cookie in his mouth. Bright Sun smiled, "then eat the ones in these bags too!" "That is way too much! How much is there inside?" While Li Wei naturally wanted to get a lot of free exp, it would be impolite to eat so many fortune cookies by himself. "This is my gift to you! To thank you for what you did! There are only 100 fortune cookies in there, maybe that''s not enough..." said Bright Sun. "Ah no no, that is already too much!" "Just eat! There''s something I would like to ask!" 64 The future update "Then let me help you, the fleeting clouds sect has some reliable information about the upcoming update!" said Bright Sun. In the end, the great question she had to ask Li Wei turned out to be trivial. She simply asked how he was faring at the sect to which the latter responded that everything was fine. With the conversation initiated, the two talked for a few minutes and the conversation drifted towards what they would do in the future. "Isn''t that confidential information?" asked Li Wei. He did not know how the conversation ended up there and was naturally curious about the future, but this information was technically supposed to be unknown to the players. Many speculations made by the players were already flooding the forums, but no one could confirm any of them. It was clear that for Bright Sun to have some insider''s information, some shady business had taken place. He did not want to bring trouble to her or to himself. "Don''t worry about that, you are a member of the sect after all, so you have the right to know. Besides, you won''t snitch on me, right?" Seeing Li Wei nod, Bright Sun continued: "First of all, the update will happen when the first player in the world will reach level 20. This is predicted to happen in about 2 weeks which will also coincide with the settling of the record of the Time Attacks. It ..." "Wait wait! What is this Time attack thing?" interrupted Li Wei. "Oh, it''s true that you don''t know. The records of the different Time Attacks are only available for a short period of time to be broken. In the case of the level 15 Time Attacks, the record would be literally set in stone in two weeks. This is so that players who will lose their levels in the future do not come back to set new records with the higher-level skills. Also, once the records are set, rewards are given according to the ranking obtained. Players can still attempt to break the record later, but they won''t receive any rewards then," explained Bright Sun. Li Wei was intrigued, it was a crucial information that he was not aware of. He also never found such information on the forum. He always found it weird that no rewards were attached to the Time Attacks and he finally understood why, though he did not understand why this information was not revealed to the public. "This is so complicated! Then what are the rewards?" "You are just interested in those... The top three of each leaderboard will be rewarded, that is the top three of each city, the top three of each server and the top three of the world. However, these rewards are not cumulative and so, the top team of the world only get the top prize; it would be too absurd if they could get 3 levels so easily!" calmly said Bright Sun. "As for the rewards, the top three of each city will gain 1 level, the top three of each server will get 1 level and a piece of equipment and lastly, the top three of the world will gain 1 level, one piece of equipment and 1 special skill! Although they are not cumulative, that is only for a specific time Attack. If a player is ranked 1st in all three Time Attacks, he would get 3 levels, 3 pieces of equipment and 3 special skills!" Hearing that, Li Wei let out a "wow" as a light shone in his eyes. He never took those Time Attack seriously and only thought that the Fleeting Clouds Sect was using them to train its members. But now, he could not help but change his thoughts about them. "Maybe I should try to solo them like the guy who holds the world record," said Li Wei to himself. "The rewards are impressive but at the same time, the competition is fierce! Don''t look down upon the current records, all of them will be broken in the next two weeks," said Bright Sun as she saw Li Wei''s expression. "Huh? What do you mean?" "Although we looked like we went all out for these records, we never expected to set a firm record. In fact, we won''t be the one to set the record but instead, a special group of players that are specially trained, one from each family. The Fleeting Clouds Sect, just like all other guilds, have a group of elites that are training secretly. In our guild, one person from each family is slowly training and mastering their respective technique. They don''t often go hunting monsters like us but spend most of their time at the Training Center, this way, they do not level up too quickly and will still be at level 15 when it''s time for the record. Their advantage would be the large variety of skills they would obtain from the different training technique! Just like for our guild, the Stone Defenders also have such a group of players which is composed of soldiers of the Special Forces. As for the Gem Family, I don''t know what they are hiding." "The sect is much more complicated than it looks, there are people like us that levels up quickly so that the guild can obtain more resources and compete with others. But at the same time, some members of the guild need to level up more slowly to take advantage of the system! But anyway, we are diverting the conversation away from the update!" said Bright Sun. She did not mind sharing more information about that with Li Wei, but time was short and could not spend hours explaining all the hidden details of the sect. Li Wei was naturally puzzled when he heard that, leaving him pensive. He always thought that he was fought among the best players of the sect but yet, he was learning that the true elites did not even appear yet. More importantly, the fact that rewards were available for the records also rang a bell in his mind, but he decided to stay quiet and listen to what Bright Sun had to say, he would later digest the information and come up with a plan. He quickly nodded and moved his hand in front of his mouth as if he was zipping it. The blonde priest smiled as she continued her explanation. "As I was saying, the next update will have a huge impact on everyone, but I will summarise the interesting parts! The update will open up new regions and allow us to have contact with other races! The capital will become accessible and the price to teleport to other cities will also decrease allowing everyone to explore the empire. As for the races, we will be able to meet the elves, dwarves, orcs, and mermaids, if we go to their respective territories." "But what you are really interested in is probably the changes to the fighting system! At level 20, warriors will have the option to branch out into several paths, just to name a few; Berserker, Great Warrior, Pugilist... Each one has their own advantage, but I don''t know too much about that since I did not bother to look for that information" said Bright Sun displaying an embarrassed expression for a second. She quickly got herself together and continued, "Furthermore, all physical classes; warriors, rangers, rogues, and paladin will get something called weapon mastery. The players who specialize in a specific weapon can improve their masteries and obtain some rewards. The magic counterpart is called elemental affinity. Spells that can be learned above level 20 all belong to a specific element and specializing in one will also bring some advantages." "In fact, you should have noticed how all the skills we have access to right now are pretty normal. All the physical moves are nothing special and can be performed normally. It is just that using the skill makes the move cost some mana and deals some bonus damage. As for magic, our magic is classified as classless right now, if you look at the names, you will notice that they all contain "Mana"..." Bright Sun continued explaining for a few minutes. She looked like a teacher giving private tuitions. As for Li Wei, he stayed silent all the time, he did not want to interrupt or miss any possible useful information. The update was enormous, many things were going to change and the most notable was the increase in death penalty! Instead of losing just one level, players would now lose 2 levels and the chance of dropping items from their inventories also doubled. "Why are you saying all of this to me?" asked Li Wei when he saw that Bright Sun had finished her explanation. Although he was grateful for all of that, he was still curious about her motives. In the end, there was no such thing as a free meal. The latter smiled, "This is just repaying my debt and thanking you for what you did. Although the offer we made in exchange for the improved version of the gliding steps is worth its price. It does not take outside things into consideration. For example, you would have obtained fame and respect by the members of the Cai Family and possibly discounts on some items. These are things that cannot really be quantized and so, I am telling you all that to make up for it" "You did not need to... The techniques I''ve got are already more than enough," said Li Wei. The blonde priest smiled and leaned back in her sofa before asking: "This is my own choice. But let me ask you one question! Why do you want to get stronger? You are different from us who fight for the family, you are free and can do anything so why are you trying to play at a competitive level?" Li Wei was stunned by the question, he thought for a moment but was not able to get an exact answer. He realized that he really did not have any goal in playing the game, he was just playing for the sake of playing! Maybe it was just a temporary interest since he could finally play a game as much as he wanted? After a few seconds, he was still doubtful but decisively answered: "I guess it''s for freedom! I want to be able to explore this world and simply have a good time. This world will probably be my home for the next decades! I want to be strong enough to go anywhere and protect myself against both the monsters and the players. Also¡­ Although it''s just a game that is just there to make us pass time productively, if I start to slack off now, then how would I be when it will be time to return to the surface?" "It is good that you have such goals! Just keep in mind that compared to what you think, this game might have more serious implications than it looks..." ... After exchanging a few more words, Li Wei promptly left the room and went to shower. He was given a lot of information and needed some time to digest them. He was very grateful to Bright Sun for this, especially for the Fortune Cookies which in total, gave him 20000 exp. This was worth a couple of days of work and filled his exp bar by half. Inside the room, Bright Sun quickly took out a bottle of water from her inventory. She had been talking non-stop for a few minutes and naturally became thirsty as a result. She was still drinking when she heard the door quietly open. This was a private room and could not be opened by anyone without her permission from the outside. Then, that meant that it could only be one person. "Ah Cai Die! You took so long! How can you leave me behind like that?" shouted a cheerful voice from the entrance. At the same time, a silhouette dashed towards Bright Sun and playfully hugged her from behind. "Mom!" shouted Bright Sun in the middle of two coughs. The sudden hug from her mother took her by surprise while she was drinking. She did not spill anything but had to quickly swallow cold water resulting in her coughing. If Li Wei was here, he would immediately recognize the woman as the blonde one that was sitting at Bright Sun''s table when he arrived at the inn. It turned out to be Bright Sun''s mother who recently left the Beginner''s Town. Her IGN was Petite Lavande and although she just arrived, thanks to Bright Sun''s Fortune Cookies, she was already level 12. Petite Lavande spent a lot of time at the Beginner''s Town. In fact, a few days ago, besides the couple that chose to stay there to live a normal carefree life, she was the only player who did not leave for the open world yet. It was not that she was slow to level up but rather, she stumbled onto a unique quest. She desperately tried to complete it but in the end, she failed and had to leave the Beginner''s Town empty-handed. It was a huge blow to her morale, but her consolation prize was to be able to join her children again. "What took so long? Don''t tell me you were doing bad stuff behind my back!" teased Bright Sun''s mother. The mother and daughter relationship was a very friendly one, they sounded more like friends and often teased each other. Since her father was always busy, Bright Sun''s mother naturally stepped up and took care of her two children. "I was just thanking him for helping me get rid of the arranged marriage and I took the opportunity to tell him about the future update!" explained Bright Sun as she tried to free herself from her mother''s embrace. "You told him about the update? Oh... Could it be that you are interested in him?" playfully asked Petite Lavande. "Mom! He is just a friend, nothing more," "Sure sure! This is also what I said when I met your father! He looked like a country bumpkin when he came to France, not knowing anything and dressed in his martial clothes. But that was the precise reason why I was attracted! He was completely different from those men that were courting me at the time!" "He is the same, different from all those young masters trying to get your hand! And he also made an impression on you since he helped you! But anyway, how can you hope to seduce someone if you dress up so poorly, look! You got some great assets from me, but you hide them completely!" teased Petite Lavande. "Mom!!!" 65 Power Up The next day, Li Wei went back to see Moody Writer in the afternoon. Although he had collected the Goblin Blood he needed, he went to the dungeon to hunt goblins as usual to get some experience. At the end of the day, he was not too far from leveling up again when he received a message from Moody Writer, telling him to come to take his Grade 1 potions. Li Wei was delighted to hear that and chose to return earlier than usual today. Before going to the Alchemist Association, he went to the Martial Bank at the Trade District to set up and account. All he needed to do was to present his identity crystal and fill in some papers. He needed to make a deposit and chose to put in the minimum amount, that is 10 gold. Now, he was left with only 40 gold but that was not alarming since he would soon have an influx of gold from Moody Writer. Professions were a very lucrative business. As long as they had a good reputation, players would naturally buy their products even at high prices. The profit made from alchemy, blacksmithing and such professions exceeded 200% of their original cost and that was when taking into consideration the probability of failure. The NPC that took the gold from Li Wei displayed a gloomy expression for a moment but politely accepted the deposit and issued a bank card to Li Wei. In his mind, he was thinking that the customer in front of him was just some poor peasant trying to boast by having a bank account. The bank card was similar to the ones in the original world and could be used for transactions. On top of Li Wei''s Bronze card, a "10" was displayed showing the amount of money he had in his bank account. It sounded useless to have this card since players could keep their gold through the system''s inventory as it did not take any inventory slot but had a separate one allocated to it. But that was only for now! Updates would come in the future that would change everything. With his bank account settled, Li Wei went to the Alchemist Association and was promptly given access to Moody Writer''s room. Today, he was renting a different room. It had the same effect as the one of yesterday. Moody Writer liked to take weekly leases of a room and so, would have to often change room. As soon as he entered, he was greeted by Moody Writer who was lying on the carpet wearing a tired expression. As he saw Li Wei enter, he quickly tried to stand up and adjust his posture. "It''s good that you came! I just finished this Mind Strengthening Potion!" said Moody Writer. He spent most of the day refining the potions he needed to give Li Wei. He was lucky enough to successfully concoct the first two on his first try but the remaining three ones took at least 2 tries each to complete. Refining this type of potion could take from 30 minutes to one hour but even refining just one was taxing to the body and mind. The potion needed to be kept at a high temperature for the ingredients to dissolve properly; it was like staying in front of a strong kitchen fire for hours. He quickly took out 5 bottles from his inventory and placed them in front of him before initiating a trade with Li Wei. The bottles each contained a different potion of different colour, namely: a Body Strengthening Potion, a Body Cleansing Potion, a Body Refining Potion, a Mind Strengthening Potion and finally a Spirit Strengthening Potion. All of them were grade 1 and gave 1 Strength, 1 Vitality, 1 Dexterity, 1 Intelligence and 1 Wisdom respectively. Li Wei naturally accepted the trade without hesitation and looked at the 5 potions closely. He quickly placed the Body Strengthening Potion in his inventory; he did not need it since he already consumed one at Elder Jari''s place. Its effect would only work once, drinking more of it would only be a waste but he could sell it to someone else for 100 gold later on. Following that, he grabbed the Body Cleansing Potion and took off the cap. Technically, the potion would remove part of the impurities and unwanted residues from his body allowing him to improve his vitality. He quickly downed the bottle and a system prompt came up: [System prompt: you have consumed a Body Cleansing Potion, your vitality has increased by 1] Li Wei smiled, these 4 potions would boost his power to some extent. He really envied the rich who could easily afford these potions and obtain free stats points. Seeing Li Wei''s action, Moody Writer, who was watching Li Wei carelessly drink, said: "This is just a piece of advice, but you should be careful in the future and not carelessly drink potions like that!" "What do you mean by that?" asked Li Wei while curiously looking at the alchemist. "Although most alchemists are honest, some of them might tamper the potions. For example, even if the name looks the same, the effects might actually be slightly different like having some additional negative effects due to the poor manufacture of the product. But the more sinister alchemists might go as far as alter the description of the product or create placebos. This is mainly done by poison masters but there are some alchemists that do so and in the end, players would consume these fake potions. You should be careful! Some might be harmless and only look for your money, but some might have other intentions so be careful whenever you consume a potion!" explained Moody Writer. Hearing that, Li Wei froze for a moment, only one month went by since the start of the game and people were already finding ways to do shady businesses. He needed to be more careful from now on, "then how can I trust people?" "The best solution is to naturally become an alchemist yourself, but you can go and ask other alchemists and appraisers to examine the products! There is naturally a small risk and fee, but these things are inevitable! You can also write a contract every time so that the alchemist won''t actively try to scam you" Li Wei held a suspicious look and nodded. After a few seconds, he chose to trust Moody Writer and drank the Body Refining Potion. This potion technically tempered and improved his sensory system as well as his nervous system resulting in better body coordination and reaction time. [System prompt: you have consumed a Body Refining Potion, your dexterity has increased by 1] He drank the potions one by one in front of Moody Writer and his Intelligence and Wisdom also increased by one. ... After leaving the Alchemist Association, Li Wei decided to go to the Colosseum and increase his win streak a little more. He left Moody Writer''s room after leaving behind his bank account number and sort code so that he could directly deposit the money into his bank account. The two had more trust in each other after Li Wei drank the potions, he was glad to see Li Wei drink his potions even after he warned him about possible scammers. Over the past few days, Li Wei came back to the Colosseum twice and pushed his winning streak count to ten. For each of his wins, he climbed up one rank and was now at Silver 5. With a 10 win streak, he was rewarded with 20 gold but that money was quickly used at the Prosperity Hall to lower Li Wei''s fatigue level. Although a 10 win streak sounded impressive, it was, in fact, not that rare considering the number of players playing the game. At the bronze rank, players only needed to bet 1 gold to fight but now that he was at the silver rank, Li Wei needed to bet 10 gold to fight a ranked battle. Even for Li Wei who had a certain amount of gold, it was a considerable amount, but it was necessary to bet if he wanted to obtain the Moon Stone. In fact, the Moon Stone would only cost about 60 gold, but the problem was its availability. While big shops owned some and acquired them on the wholesale price, but they would naturally not sell the raw materials; they would rather sell the product and make some profit. He quickly entered the ranked battle section and appeared in the familiar lobby room. Regardless of what rank the player was at, they would always have to enter the same lobby before fighting a ranked battle. Li Wei took out ten gold from his inventory and used them to search for an opponent. So far, he was always matched with players who were at his level and had the same win-streak as him. He met different kind of players who hold different classes but what was surprising was that he met only solo players or players from middle to lower tier guilds; he did not encounter any player from the 3 big guilds. He had to admit that his opponents were getting stronger and stronger, but he did not need to go all out yet and so, was eager to fight against a strong opponent. The roulette in front of him spun for a moment and eventually, a name was revealed, and a profile was projected in front of Li Wei. The latter smiled, finally someone from the 3 big guilds and it turned out to be someone from the Fleeting Clouds Sect. ... In another lobby room of the Colosseum, a young girl and an elder were arguing. Lobbies were generally private spaces to allow the players to prepare themselves for the fight to come. However, it also allowed the players to invite up to 5 other players inside. This was technically meant for team matches where there would be 5 players fighting and one coach in the lobby but was not restricted to that case. "Elder Du, do I really have to keep going? I already won 10 matches in a row! It should already be more than enough!" argued the girl. "Young miss, it''s true that the patriarch said that you only needed 10 wins, but it is obvious that you are not tired and can continue! Don''t you want to test yourself and push your limits?" asked Elder Du. That old man was the elder of the Li family that stayed at Algate City. The young lady in front of him was the selected member of the family that would in two weeks time team up with other chosen from the different families and attempt to set a record for the Time Attacks. Her name was Li Yuxin, she was a talented member of the young generation, her talent did not lose in any way to Li Feng but since the latter was the son of the patriarch of the Li family, he was chosen to represent the face of the family and could not train in secret. Since the time for setting the records was approaching, the patriarch set up a goal for Li Yuxin to achieve before that; she needed to set a 10 win streak at the Colosseum but that was something Li Yuxin achieved without any difficulty. In fact, she won all her 10 matches today itself and when Elder Du noticed that she was planning on fighting the ten matches in a row, he came to look after her and support her. "This is so annoying Elder Du! While my body is fine, I feel like I am just losing time here, I already wasted more than 4 hours that could have been used to improve my Myriad Sword Dance!" said Li Yuxin. "But precisely! You first need to take out those cannon fodders before fighting the strong one! Didn''t you just achieve a ten-win streak? That is a milestone and I can guarantee that your next opponent will be tough to chew!" answered Elder Du. In truth, he was very curious about the abilities of Li Yuxin. When they entered the game, everyone''s abilities and level were brought back to zero. Although he had his knowledge to help him, when it came to talent, the young girl largely outclassed him. "Fine elder, just one last match then!" As she said that, Li Yuxin activated the roulette and calmly waited for a name to appear. "You made the right choice! I will advise you to be more serious this time!" A few seconds later: "Oh what a surprise! It is someone from our guild!" exclaimed Li Yuxin as she started to browse her opponent''s profile. Behind her, Elder Du frowned upon seeing the profile on the screen. "It turns out to be that guy!" thought Elder Du. The profile that came up was naturally Li Wei''s. Elder Du quickly recognized the name "Seven", it was one he had to investigate earlier because he succeeded in acquiring the Li Family''s core technique. When he asked for an explanation at the Cai Family, they only responded that their outer member rightfully collected enough Contribution Points to purchase the technique on display; it was all within the restriction of the contract. In the end, the Li Family opted for a soft approach, they would not make things difficult for the Cai Family since they did not want their reputation to be affected but would discreetly poach the player who acquired their technique. This was why they sent a lot of friend requests to that player, but the latter never responded to any of them. And now, that particular player was right in front of Elder Du. The latter was very curious about Li Wei, he wanted to see if he really had the ability to collect 9000 Contribution Points by himself so quickly. However, he did not say anything and only stood behind Li Yuxin silently. He did not want to disturb or influence her in any way. He trusted her abilities and quietly watched as the girl was looking at the videos available. 66 Li Yuxin "This is going to be really tough!" thought Li Wei as he watched the videos of his opponent. The girl in the video was simply too strong, she perfectly moved with her sword; it was like that sword was an extension of her body. All her opponents were quickly defeated, not even lasting for more than ten minutes and furthermore, the girl in the video seemed to be doing all of this effortlessly. Li Wei was first pleased when he saw that his opponent was a member of the Fleeting Clouds Sect, but he took it all back when he saw that it was a player from the Li family. Although anyone could have used the name "Li Yuxin", considering that she belonged to the sect, there was 99% chance that she was from the Li Family. "I wonder what she will think when I''ll use the Myriad Sword Dance? Well, she probably already know that" ... On a desolate volcanic land, 2 meteors suddenly appeared in the dark sky and fell at 2 different locations. One of them was Li Wei. As he opened his eyes, he immediately recognized the map he was in: The Scorching Ground Around him, the earth was completely black and cracks could be found everywhere. Sometimes, bright yellow glows would come out of these cracks showing that lava was not too far below his feet. It was his first time on this map, there were so many available that even after 10 battles, he did not even fight on this one. The map was rather simple, there were slight elevations and hills so that the 2 fighters would not be able to see each other directly but apart from that, there was no vegetation making it hard to hide. As the countdown reached zero and the light barrier around him disappeared, Li Wei immediately charged towards the center of the map. It was the highest point of the map on top of a hill and so, represented a strategic point. He was intently focusing and looking at the small details of his environment; this time, his opponent was quite strong, if he wanted to maintain his win streak, he needed to be serious. ... On the other side of the map, Li Yuxin was very calm, she has never been in a hurry in these ranked battles. To her, the win streak was not really important, gaining experience and honing her techniques were more important. And that was why she was disappointed in the ranked battles; her opponents did not hold for long. It was her second time on the Scorching Ground and she knew that there was no need to hurry. She knew how dynamic this map was, it did not matter if the player was trying to flee, they would eventually meet and end up fighting. However, that did not mean that she liked this map. The environment was quite desolate and dirty. In fact, it looked like a volcanic eruption just took place; there was a strong smell of sulfur and ashes could be found everywhere. Li Yuxin walked at a normal pace towards the hill at the center, her long blue sword at her waist was ready to be drawn at all time. 3 minutes later, she noticed a silhouette appear on top of the hill. "It looks like this guy is fast! Let''s see what kind of player the sect recruits!" ... As soon as he arrived at the top of the hill, Li Wei quickly noticed Li Yuxin walking up the hill. She easily stood out of this ashen environment. The two fighters looked at each other for a second before both starting to move towards each other. There was a fair distance of 200m, charging now would just be a waste of energy but both readied their sword. The distance separating the two was quickly reduced to about 50m before both charged towards the other. Taking advantage of his higher position, Li Wei ran as fast as he could, wanting to use the additional momentum he would get. [Strengthen] "Cling Cling" The 3 swords violently stroke each other in a deadlock, Li Yuxin trembled for a second upon receiving the shock but she held it in and was able to hold her ground. It was not that she was not aware that Li Wei''s strike would be more powerful than hers. Not only was he using his 2 swords, he also had the momentum''s advantage. It would make sense for her to dodge but instead, she chose to use her [Strengthen] and hit the 2 swords at a particular spot, minimizing the damage she would take. Having successfully stopped Li Wei''s charge, Li Yuxin followed by quickly attacking left and right. "Cling Clang" The swords met several times but none were able to directly hit their opponent. Li Wei started to focus, the girl in front of him was probably like him, a warrior that invested heavily in dexterity. Even with his 2 swords, he was unable to hit the girl no matter how hard he tried. She was using a single long sword and that was enough to parry most attacks; the one she would fail to block, she would simply dodge them by sidestepping. The sword Li Yuxin was using was different from Li Wei''s, not only in appearance but also in term of stats. Although the stats were simple, there was a lot of information not revealed on the information screen. For example, the weight and shape of the sword would definitely affect its wielder and attack speed. All these information comprised of the hidden stats of the weapons that players would need to carefully study on their own. Li Yuxin sword was longer but also much thinner than Li Wei''s, as a result, it was sharper and had better piercing effects but also had lower durability. "You are not too bad! It looks like the sect is recruiting strong players!" commented Li Yuxin as she tilted her body trying to attack Li Wei''s right leg. "Thank you! You aren''t bad either!" "Cling!" "I am very curious! I never saw you before... Which family are you from?" asked Li Yuxin. "Definitely not the Li family!" "If you want to stay mysterious, then let''s see how you fare against that!" excitedly said the girl as she activated her skill: [Sword Storm Dance] Hearing her, Li Wei internally smiled. He was finally going to be able to witness the real skill. Although he practiced it, he simply followed the instructions and his instinct, he was never able to see the actual original skill in action. "Cling cling!!" The swords met each other again and there was visibly no change in Li Yuxin''s attack. However, Li Wei quickly noticed that the girl''s attacks were getting stronger and stronger! This was the real effect of the skill, it was not about suddenly dealing damage but instead slowly increasing it! It was basically adding to the ongoing combo and this would continue to cumulate as long as the combo was not broken. And so, as long as the dance went on, the damage could even reach infinity. But that was physically impossible, the skill was about consistency and control. Making a 2-3 strike combo was easy but beyond that, things were much harder. The user needed to control the strength and direction that he was swinging the sword or else, it would be hard to bring back the sword in time to continue the combo. It was true that using 2 swords made it easier to increase the combo, but it also made it easier to mess up! [Howl] Wanting to disrupt the combo, Li Wei decisively used his skill but Li Yuxin was already prepared for that. Many players tried the same thing and she always reacted by using her own [Howl] to negate the other. Li Wei frowned as he saw that his attempt at breaking away was blocked. Although he could always parry his opponent''s attack, he was now taking 1 to 2 damage every time he did so. Since he could not break her combo, then there was only one thing he could do: start his own combo! [Sword Storm Dance] He immediately activated his own skill and met head to head with Li Yuxin. The latter was surprised to see someone else use her family''s skill and asked: "Who are you? How can you know this skill?" However, Li Wei did not answer, he focused intently on trying to get back an advantage. Over the last minute, his HP already dropped by a quarter simply due to the stacking 1 or 2 damage from parrying. The two were in a deadlock; both were constantly striking, increasing their combo but that was useless as the other would also become stronger. It was like an infinite loop. Li Wei tried to think of ways to break this deadlock but did not find any appropriate one. Using skills like [Cleave] or [Impale] would cause him to use a lot of force completely breaking his combo. No matter which skill he used, there was a high risk of missing! Which will then mean that his opponent would still have her attacks empowered but he would not. Li Yuxin was thinking about the same thing. It was the first time she had such a long combo; she naturally did so against unmoving mannequin but against a real person? Never! Her wrists were starting to ache after all these sword strikes and she definitely did not want to lose this battle and so, there was only one thing she could do! "I have to applaud you for this! You are very strong but unfortunately! You have only trained the Myriad Sword Dance up to the first level!" quietly said Li Yuxin. She said it softly but in his state of high concentration, Li Wei naturally picked this up! He blinked his eyes as he saw the girl activate the second skill of the Myriad Sword Dance. [Sword Coda](Note: Coda is a term used that signifies ending) The wind around Li Yuxin suddenly became alive and moved along her sword which was violently swinging towards Li Wei. As its name suggests, this skill would bring an end to the combo. While it seemed that Li Yuxin was simply using her skill to increase the damage dealt, that was not the real intent! The movements of her sword and body were synchronized in such a way that wind would gather around her. The Myriad Sword Dance was all about using the wind around the user to deal damage; by dancing, the user would control the wind and even compress it around him. The damage dealt by Sword Coda could theoretically reach infinity if enough wind was gathered but Li Yuxin did not reach that level yet. There was a limit to what she could do, the maximum damage she ever dealt to a mannequin with this skill was 120 Damage! However, as soon as Li Wei heard Li Yuxin murmur, he immediately reacted and used his Gliding Steps to fall back. Thanks to his fast reaction, he was able to dodge the sword but the sword only accounted for 30 Damage, the real threat was the wind going along with it. It was compressed into the shape of a dragon charging towards Li Wei. The latter was nervous, his instinct was clearly screaming "Danger!!!" But there was no way for him to dodge! Although his armor would reduce the damage to about 60, he was not willing to take that much damage! That would leave him in a very critical condition. With the transparent dragon of wind charging towards him, Li Wei let go of his left sword and raised his palm at the dragon. At the same time, he activated his ring''s skill: [Chaos Sphere] It was the first time he was using that skill in front of another player! Being hit by the [Sword Coda] would mean his immediate defeat, he could only take out his trump card to counter it. He also had [Earth Wall] in reserve but unfortunately, that skill had a cast time and right now, time was incredibly precious. [Chaos Sphere] was an instantaneous spell, the only problem was that it would not be strong enough to completely stop the [Sword Coda]. Even when reinforced with Li Wei''s wisdom, the skill would deal at most 50 Damage but that was already drastically reducing the damage he would take. The dark sphere quickly appeared on Li Wei''s palm and shot towards the dragon of wind. [Boom] An explosion occurred right in the middle of the 2 fighters and both were knocked back a few meters. Li Yuxin was surprised as she saw the black sphere suddenly appear out of nowhere; it was clearly an equipment skill but it was so different from all she had seen till now and before she could react, she was blasted away by the explosion. Li Wei was also hit by the explosion''s wave in addition to the remains of the wind dragon. He rolled a few meters backward but quickly got himself together as he stared at his opponent. The explosion not only separated the 2 fighters but also lifted all the ashes within a 20-meter radius! Now, these ashes were slowly falling back on the ground making it look like it was raining ashes. The situation was back to the beginning, except that Li Wei was left with only half of his HP while Li Yuxin still had two-thirds left but when it came to MP, Li Yuxin''s were almost depleted. Both parties were vulnerable right now but at that moment, the ground started violently shaking! "Mmmm, it looks like ten minutes already went by since the start of the fight!" said Li Wei to himself as he bent down to grab the left sword that he previously released. 67 Immortal Sword Spiri The ground trembled and more cracks appeared everywhere. Li Wei and Li Yuxin were near the top of the hill, in the distance, they could see the lava erupting from the ground like geysers. This was something the 2 players already expected. Every 10 minutes, the Scorching ground would slowly become smaller and smaller. Sometimes, cracks would appear, allowing the deep magma to overflow and cover part of the map. Sometimes, an entire piece of the map might suddenly crumble and slowly fall, leaving behind a pool of lava. Naturally, players could not afford to come into contact with the lava; a simple touch and it was game over. Just like that, more than a half of the map disappeared under lava. This sight was unique to the game, such an occurrence on Earth would be extremely rare. It gave off a powerful feeling, showing how mighty mother nature was, it was a reminder of how weak the human race really was. However, Li Wei did not have time to enjoy this sight, in front of him, he could see Li Yuxin taking out a potion to drink. He immediately once again let go of his left sword and grabbed the throwing needles on his waist. "Woosh Woosh!" 2 throwing needles flew across the rain of ashes but Li Yuxin already noticed this attack, she quickly stopped drinking and repositioned herself before striking the 2 needles with her thin sword. Even if she successfully blocked the 2 needles, Li Yuxin did not have time to rest. She immediately raised her sword to parry Li Wei''s powerful strike. "Cling!" "I did not think that the sect would have someone that powerful! It seems that your family hid you very well or are you from a branch family?" asked Li Yuxin while taking a step back to dodge Li Wei''s second sword. "Maybe? " "Don''t try to be mysterious, I already noticed your Gliding Steps! That means you come from the Cai Family but Cai Lan never mentioned someone like you!" continued Li Yuxin. "That woman... Is she trying to distract me?" thought Li Wei before answering: "Should you not focus on the fight?" Without waiting for her answer, Li Wei violently stroke her sword before following with a [Cleave]. His right sword immediately made a large arc before cutting the air towards her neck. The latter quickly reacted by swiftly lowering her head. She had an extremely flexible body, allowing her to adjust her position to easily avoid the strike but from that position, it was hard for her to counter-attack. "Does that mean that I am close to the truth? " teased Li Yuxin with a smile that was not a smile. Because at that very moment, a small darkish sphere appeared in her hand before being smashed on the ground. However, compared to what Li Wei expected, no explosions were heard but instead, a huge amount of smoke blasted over the area. Ranked Battles allowed the use of most items as long as they did not deal any damage. If items like Explosive Potions were allowed, then it would become more a contest of money than skill. Although rich players still had a huge advantage over normal players, banning the use of all items would take out a huge element of the game. As it turned out, the item Li Yuxin used was a Smoke Bomb. It dealt absolutely no damage but would cover an area of 20m in dense smoke blinding both the target and the user. "Damn... Playing dirty" said Li Wei as he quickly took a step back. He quickly took out a health potion and started drinking it. In his mind, Li Yuxin''s plan was only to buy enough time for her to replenish her Mana and so, since it was close to impossible to find her, he decided to also consume some potions. However, contrary to his expectations, Li Yuxin did not retreat but rather, took advantage of the blindness to attack! Li Wei was slowly drinking his potion, all his senses were on alert, looking for any hint of his opponent''s presence. His left sword was embedded into the ground while his right sword was already drawn and ready to strike at any time. Suddenly, Li Wei felt a very slight air current. It was almost imperceptible and could have just been the casual wind that was blowing over the map since the start of the battle. However, Li Wei chose to trust his instinct, he immediately let go of the health potion and raised his sword. "Bang" 2 swords violently stroke each other, resulting in both player''s wrist aching. It only lasted for a second, but Li Wei succeeded in seeing Li Yuxin''s features in the middle of the smoke. Her pretty face momentarily came into sight but what really attracted his attention was her eyes; in them, he could see a deep unyielding flame, the girl did not seem disappointed in having missed her sneak attack, it was, in fact, the very opposite. The very second later, as Li Yuxin took one step back, Li Wei felt the wind around him get stronger. It quickly blew faster and faster around him with him as the center. He immediately recognized the skill, but it was too late to dodge. That was a mage''s skill but anyone could use them since they were commonly embedded in some equipment. And it turned out that Li Yuxin''s ring contained that very spell: [Twister] It created a mini tornado at a specific location; although it was not strong enough to lift a player''s body, it acted both as a damaging and as a crowd control ability. The surrounding smoke also followed along the air stream, allowing Li Wei and Li Yuxin to see each other. However, this was not a good news to Li Wei. When he opened his eyes in the middle of the mini tornado, he easily caught sight of the beautiful girl. It was slightly blurry, but he could clearly see a deadly light flying towards him. As soon as she cast [Twister], Li Yuxin quickly got into position. Her left hand that was free moved up her hair bun and swiftly drew a long hairpin from it. No one would have ever thought that such a weapon was hidden inside her hair, the hairpin looked similar to Li Wei''s throwing needles, but hers was more stylish, with a small gem at its end. It was one of Li Yuxin''s trump cards, an item that could both be used as an accessory and a weapon. As a result of suddenly removing the pin, her hair bun slowly unraveled and floated behind her, looking like a black curtain. She did not hesitate as she immediately threw her hairpin at Li Wei. From what Li Wei saw, it was clear that Li Yuxin had thrown something at him but due to the wind, he could not notice anything before suddenly feeling pain in his left shoulder, "-20" "You are not the only one with throwing weapons," said Li Yuxin as she prepared to charge towards Li Wei. At the same time, the twister was already dispersing it but Li Wei decided to use the wind to his advantage, [Gliding Steps]. Under the effect of the wind blowing behind his back, Li Wei obtained a slight boost of speed and charged towards Li Yuxin. [Blade Draw] 2 Wind Blades flew towards Li Yuxin who had no choice but to dodge them. Her Mana was quite low, she wanted to also retaliate with her own [Blade Draw] but she had to conserve them for a worse case scenario. She saw that Li Wei had less than 40% HP while she herself had 60% but the fight was not over yet. "Cling" Li Wei knew very well that his only advantage right now was the mana he had. [Sword Coda] was powerful but as a finisher, it also drained a lot of mana especially since a lot of wind was built up in this one. "It is such a pity I did not learn Ghost Blade yet!" said Li Wei to himself. 5 minutes went by and the two fighters were starting to be tired. The fight was intense but they were not giving up. Using all his strength, Li Wei spun and violently stroke Li Yuxin''s sword to the side. "Finally an opening!" shouted Li Wei in his mind. Although the strike was not enough to disarm the girl, it was enough to leave a huge opening. Without hesitation, he quickly used his new skill,[Impale]. His right hand retracted slightly before swiftly thrusting the sword towards Li Yuxin''s exposed stomach. The latter panicked for a moment, her sword was not in a good position to protect her. It was virtually impossible for her to bring it back in time to deflect the strike and due to the hit she received, she could not dodge either unless she let go of her sword. There was only one thing she could do, use her final trump card. At that moment, a faint light appeared in her left hand. Seeing that, Li Wei''s eyes almost fell out. The light coalesced in her smooth hand before turning into a short dim sword made of light. "This..." Just like that, Li Yuxin used the short sword made of light and swiftly deflected the [Impale]. Li Wei was surprised to see such a skill and was not able to prevent his skill from being redirected. That sword was one of the Core skill of another family, the [Immortal Sword Spirit] of the Meng family. It was a real surprise to Li Wei to see someone own two core techniques from different families! "Hmmmp, to even force me to use that..." murmured Li Yuxin. Although she learned the [Immortal Sword Spirit], it was not something she was willing to use too often. It came at a heavy price after her mother begged her family to allow her to use that technique. Her mother originated from the Meng Family and was even the daughter of the patriarch and as such, she managed to allow her daughter to learn that core technique. Li Yuxin only learned about what her mother did after practicing the technique but as a result, she chose to focus on the Myriad Sword Dance. However, right after having deflected the attack, the sword of light vanished into thin air. It was not that Li Yuxin dispelled it but rather, her mana finally reached 0. The [Immortal Sword Spirit] could be maintained forever as long as one had enough Mana, but that was precisely what she was currently lacking the most. But Li Wei was not much better, after using his own skills, his mana pool also started to run out. He still had enough for one more skill, but that should be kept in case of emergency. With [Impale] countered, Li Wei spun and stroke his sword at Li Yuxin''s leg. The latter let out an "Ah" as the sword went through her leg. With that, the HP difference between the two shortened. She frowned, the situation was not looking good. Li Wei was not very happy either, even without using any skill, Li Yuxin was able to pretty much hold her ground, she was agile and could dodge his attacks. He could see that she was getting tired but he was too. He needed to end it fast before the map started shrinking again! "Cling Clang" The two swords met. "Really strong! Although I spent most of my time practicing techniques, I am not necessarily stronger than you" said Li Yuxin. "Thank you, but you are also the strongest one I''ve fought yet forcing me to use my trump card," answered Li Wei. "That black sphere? It was indeed something I''ve never seen but everyone has their secret..." The two exchanged a few words in the middle of their fight. Li Wei had less than 30 HP but so did Li Yuxin. "If you don''t mind, let''s end it quickly" Li Yuxin let out a smile, "what a polite opponent, come, I am ready!" After looking at her eyes, Li Wei did not see any sign of her giving up, instead, he saw that she would give out her all! He knew that the fight would end in his next move. He could still use one skill while the girl could not. Even if she recovered 1 or 2 MP due to the time that went by, it was not enough to use any skill! As he raised his sword, Li Wei saw Li Yuxin''s own sword already in position to block it but it was at that moment that he activated [Howl]. Not only would it deal some damage, it would also disrupt her position, allowing his sword to strike her. With his 2 swords, he was guaranteed to deal at least 30 damage which would end in his victory. And even if she somehow managed to reposition her sword, with the way he was attacking, Li Yuxin would at least be hit by one sword. However, against all expectation, Li Yuxin used a skill. All her mana was used up but yet, a yellow light surrounded her sword, a clear sign of a skill being initiated. At the same time, she coughed and even if nothing came out, it was a similar motion to one spitting blood. She spent most of her time practicing her techniques but aside from the Immortal Sword Spirit and the Myriad Sword Dance, there was a third active skill that Li Yuxin practiced. It was completely different from the other skills she saw before, it was not a core skill, not even a rare skill. Instead, it was a low-quality skill! On Earth, no one was willing to train this move, not because it was weak but rather because of the consequences. Using this move would inevitably inflict internal injuries to the user''s own body. However, now that they were in the game, Li Yuxin actually remembered that technique and tried to use it. To her surprise, the skill had a unique effect; its use cost 0 mana! Because instead of costing mana, it would cost her health points! It was equivalent to suicide! Trading HP for HP directly. However, in this situation, there was no better skill to help her out of this situation. [Soaring Eagle Slash] Her thin sword flashed across the air and cut through Li Wei''s body. If he was not in the game, he would have already split in half, starting from his crotch. But in this situation, the game system intervened and immediately prevented Li Wei''s health from reaching zero. The latter was naturally surprised when he saw the skill being used, so surprised that he almost let go of his swords but he did not. At the very moment, Li Yuxin''s sword touched his body, one of his own swords also cut through Li Yuxin. Against all odds, the end result of this battle was a draw! As Li Yuxin body fell on the ground due to the heavy strike from Li Wei, a large banner appeared above the head of the two fighters, on it, a single word was written in deep red colors: "Draw!" 68 The extreme records Elder Du was quietly watching the intense fight between Li Wei and Li Yuxin. He was completely impressed by what he saw. The young man had actually successfully trained to the first level of the Myriad Sword Dance in just one week! That was a very impressive achievement; even for those who trained the technique before getting into the game, training the first level in one week could be considered as a feat, let alone a player that never trained that technique before. But more importantly, the young man was clearly having the upper hand in this match. Considering that Li Yuxin spent most of her time training her techniques and obtaining mastery points, her techniques were more advanced and she had better knowledge but yet, she was being suppressed. When Elder Du saw that Li Yuxin had depleted her mana, he already considered Li Wei as the winner. Although a member of his family was being defeated, he was not disappointed or even angry. And that was because he considered Li Wei as a future recruit! He knew that for someone to have trained up to the first level that quickly, that person definitely had some affinity and would later look for the higher levels of the Myriad Sword Dance. That simply meant that the fruit would ripen faster than expected but it was not a bad news. He already concluded that Li Yuxin would be defeated especially when he saw Li Wei activate his [Howl]. However, he froze upon seeing what happened next. Li Yuxin was slightly pushed back by the skill, she did not even try to resist the skill and allowed her body to be pushed. She simply used that momentum to spin in mid-air and swing her sword! More importantly, the fact that she used the [Soaring Eagle Slash] completely took Elder Du by surprise. He was already aware that Li Yuxin trained the Immortal Sword Spirit, he sometimes looked after her when she was training but he never intervened. But the [Soaring Eagle Slash]? That was a technique that many members of the young generation had already forgotten. No one bothered to look at its detail when they came back, even Elder Du did not. With that, he was forced to reassess his judgment, not only on the techniques the family owned but also on the intelligence of Li Yuxin. "This girl is really talented! Maybe even more than Li Feng..." ... On the scorching ground, Li Wei let go of his swords as he took a deep breath. "A draw... All that to end up with a draw..." murmured Li Wei. He was dejected, victory was within his reach. If only he managed to block or dodge Li Yuxin''s last strike, he would have come on top. Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do, his win streak was broken. "Sigh" Everything was going so well, all his fights before that had all being easy! But fate was cruel, all his hard work was now blown to dust. Right now, he was just feeling like jumping on his bed and sleeping for the rest of the day. He looked at the desolate landscape as the ashes were slowly settling down on the cracked land. In the end, Li Wei could only blame himself for having been careless; he silently walked towards Li Yuxin who was trying to stand up. She had already lost her balance due to the [Howl] and had been blown away from Li Wei''s last strike. But thanks to the system''s barrier, she was completely fine except for being disoriented. When she looked around her to try to stand up, she saw Li Wei making a faint smile. He was presenting his hand to help her stand up. Li Yuxin had a strong independent personality, whenever she wanted to do something, she would try her best to accomplish it without relying on others. She was also proud but yet, upon seeing that hand, she instinctively took it and stood up. In her mind, she remembered the time when she was a kid and would play around, sometimes, she would fall. She remembered a blurry face who used to accompany her everywhere and play with her. That person would often do that exact same movement to help her stand up when she fell. "Thanks..." "mmm" He swiftly nodded to her and turned around. The battle was over and the last thing Li Wei wanted was to have a discussion with someone from the Li family. He wondered what they wanted to tell him especially after seeing the huge pile of friend requests but in the end, he concluded that it was better to stay away from potential trouble. Li Wei was about to leave when Li Yuxin raised her hand to stop him. "Wait, I would like to ask... How did you learn the Myriad Sword Dance?" "The question has come!" thought Li Wei. Suspiciously looking at her, heasked, "you really don''t know? I thought your whole family was already aware of this especially since I''ve received a lot of friend requests from people surnamed Li." "I really don''t know! I spend most of my time at the training center training in seclusion... so I am a bit behind on the news..." answered Li Yuxin. Li Wei could see that she was not lying, "It''s no big deal, the Myriad Sword Dance was available for trading at the sect. I turned out to have enough contribution points to buy it so here I am..." "Are you not gonna ask anything else?" "What do I need to ask? I don''t care if you have our family''s technique, did you not see that even I own the Meng family''s technique? Everyone has their own little secrets but...mmm I never thought the guild would have someone like you but even if you don''t tell me to which family you belong, I will find out! See you tomorrow then!" said Li Yuxin as she took a step back and prepared to leave. "Tomorrow? What do you mean by that?" "There''s the weekly guild event tomorrow and this time, I''ll participate! So, unless you are planning to hide, I''ll find to which family you belong! Next time, our battle won''t end in a draw!" As she said that, she moved her fingers and opened her interface. The player''s interface was something private and unless the owner wanted it, no one would be able to see the interface. However, Li Wei could clearly see her action. He did not get to see her character stats, all he saw was her finger swiftly moving through the options and sent him a friend request. The girl did not even say anything and simply vanished from the scorching ground. "Sigh... Yet another friend request from the Li Family..." ... The next day, as Li Yuxin said, was the event day of the guild. After a few weeks, it was clear that the guild had grown. More players could be seen and many seem to be normal players. They gave out a different vibe from the martial artists, looking more casual and relaxed. Li Wei silently made his way through the crowd towards his designated location. After yesterday''s fight, he went back to the inn and holed himself up. His plan of obtaining the Moon Stone has failed and he now needed another way to obtain it. This item could not simply be bought at stores, he now had 3 choices, either go through the same path and aim for a 20 win streak, go and look out for a Moon Stone in the wild or lastly, ask a profession type player to purchase the Moon Stone. In the end, he settled on the last one and decided to ask Moody Writer for help later. After a few minutes, Li Wei finally arrived at the meeting point of his team. This time, he would end up with his usual team. For some reason, the usual parties were not separated this time and Li Wei stood with the familiar faces. "Hey! Long time no see!" said The one Hero as he tried to place his arm across Li Wei''s neck. The latter swiftly ducked and dodged. "Hello! " "This is not fun! Does my armpit smell or something? No one allows me to do that!" complained The One Hero. Hearing that, many of the surrounding people let out faint smiles. Seeing that his party was all here, Cai Wenji stepped forward: "Since everyone is here, we''ll split into 2 teams. Let''s discuss this out!" "This time, we have the choice to which Time Attack we want to attempt, in fact, we can do all three of them!" commented Bright Sun. "Sure! I want to go to the island of desolation! Fighting these barbarians without any skills is a real challenge!" "Tsssk, you are just scared of the ghouls of the Graveyard of Longsoul!" teased the ranger. The 2 ended up teaming together for the last guild gathering and their performance was quite pathetic. "Shhh, we already said we would not mention this again!!" "Ok ok, let''s be serious for a moment!" interjected Cai Wenji, "we should divide the party first and balance it out!" After a few minutes of deliberation, Li Wei ended up with Titan, Silent Day, Bright Sun and the mage. The other party ended up without a mage but they did not mind it since they were planning on going to the island of desolation which had a special environment that would slowly drain the mana of the players. In this scenario, mage was the worst possible class for the Time Attack. As for Li Wei''s team, they voted on going to Alyssa''s Lair. It was not harder than the Graveyard of longsoul. As long as they were careful and avoided being bitten by the spiders, everything would be fine. Since everyone was gathered, all the players slowly walked to the Hall of Fame. In Li Wei''s eyes, most players were level 13-14, a few were even level 15. It was clear that this event would probably be the last one related to the Time Attacks. Beyond level 15, there would be no point in attempting them since they would no longer be able to change the record. Although they could still do it to help bond the players, it would be better to do this in the dungeon or other locations. "What is up with you today? You don''t seem in a good mood!" asked Bright Sun. She was automatically selected as the leader of the team and was leading the group. She had some experience in doing so and quickly noticed Li Wei''s expression. "It''s alright, just did not get enough sleep. " "Really? Then why are you looking around as if you are looking for someone?" suspiciously asked Bright Sun. This was the one thing that attracted her attention, Li Wei usually looked dull and unconcerned about his surroundings but today, for some reasons, he seemed to be in a bad mood and wary of his environment. "It''s just that there are more people this time, looking around to see if I recognize anyone!" "If you say so! As long as you are not distracted for the Time Attack!" answered Bright Sun as she followed Li Wei''s sight but seeing nothing suspicious she let out a faint sigh of relief. The group quickly arrived at the Hall of Fame but the scene in front of them, caused everyone''s jaws to drop. Many people come to the Hall of Fame daily to attempt the Time Attacks, just yesterday, all the records looked completely fine, most of them had been improved and the solo guy was still at the top of the leaderboard. Yet, in just one night, a massive change occurred, the solo player was still at the top but the thing was that he left all the other records in the dust! For the Island of Desolation, he completed the Time attack in 1 minute 54 seconds while the second record made by a team of 5 consisted of a time of 18 minutes and 4 seconds! For the Graveyard of Longsoul, the solo player had a time of 5 minutes and 3 seconds while the second record was at 19 minutes! And lastly, Alyssa''s lair was beaten in 3 minutes! Exactly 15 minutes ahead of the second team. "What kind of record is that! Is there a bug?" exclaimed a player. Immediately, many of the surrounding players responded: "There should be a bug! It''s impossible to cover the Island of Desolation in less than 2 minutes! We should report this incident!" "He literally crushed all these records! He must have cheated!" Everybody was shocked by these records! When the players left yesterday night, all the records were still normal. Yet, everything was changed this morning! In just one night, that player completely set his records in stone! While many players were discussing the records, the special players of the Fleeting Clouds Sect were also discussing among themselves. "That guy placed the bar really high! He should be someone who knows the insider''s information and decided to monopolize the rewards!" said one of the slow leveling players. When they saw the records last week, none of the players were anxious. They quickly determined that to have a better score than anyone else, the player relied on items to achieve his record. That was something possible but in that case, as five, they would easily be able to take back the record. Yet, it turned out that the player had another trick up his sleeve and brought the record down. "Even if we use 500 Explosive bombs in the Graveyard of Longsoul, there is no way to complete the Time Attack that quickly!" commented a player. "Is there even a purpose to challenge this record, we took our time to learn our techniques but I really don''t see how we can beat that time!" "We cannot give up like that! If just one guy was able to get that time, if we act as five, we should be able to do that too!" "You are right! But if it is not a bug, then that means that the Time Attacks might contain some hidden elements! We should investigate that before attempting our own run. The guild prepared a lot of items for us but if we go now, it will only be wasted!" "At least, these records can tell us one thing! If that player did not wait for two weeks when the Time Attacks would be settled. Then that means that he probably planned on leveling up soon. There is a huge probability that he is already level 16! That means, that he would not interfere with the records anymore!" 69 Alyssas Lair 1 Thousands of kilometers away, a young man was sitting in a dimly lit room. In front of him was a dark cauldron in which a liquid was just starting to boil. He was wearing casual clothes and looked very carefree. "Hehe! I wonder what kind of face they are all making! It is a pity I can''t wait any longer..." said the man. "Well, I doubt they''ll find the tricks to the Time Attacks anyway and me obtaining all the prizes should not affect the future that much... I wasted 5 seconds on purpose so that he would still be able to get first place in the world ranking, I just hope he won''t give up upon seeing the huge gap in time." A few seconds later, when the mixture was finally starting to emit a lot of vapor, the man''s expression changed to a serious one. "Anyway, this does not concern me anymore, let''s just focus on these Grade 2 potions for now... I need to get stronger quickly to meet with the others... When we''ll all meet, I''ll have to show them that I deserve to be the number one." As he said that, the young man swiftly took out a bunch of raw materials and spread them around him. He grabbed an herb and grabbed again at another herb. After that, he threw them into a jade container and started mashing them; appearing highly irresponsible. ... Back at the Hall of Fame of Algate City. Upon seeing the new records, Li Wei could not help but feel even more depressed. When Bright Sun previously told him about the rewards accompanied by this records, he was naturally interested and wanted to aim for at least one prize. He knew that obtaining a prize would not be that easy but now, that task seemed almost impossible especially when he saw that one person alone completely crushed all the records. There was no way for him to know that person. However, he could guess that the player made use of some exploits of some sort and that was precisely the threat. Considering that many people already had inside information about the game, wouldn''t that mean that all the records would become like that? If even Bright Sun had some information, then what about the higher-ups of the sect or even the other guilds? As a single player without any information, there was no way for him to beat these times! "let''s not waste any more time! We should start with Alyssa''s Lair and if we have more time after we used up our entries for this Time Attack, we can try the Graveyard of Longsoul" said Bright Sun. Her voice quickly woke up her teammates who were still looking in a daze at the rankings. The party of five slowly made their way towards the painting of the cavern. The surrounding players were slowly getting themselves together as their respective captains called them out. The entire sect quickly started to move towards the paintings they wanted to attempt. Due to the high number of players present for the event, the parties needed to queue up to enter in an orderly manner. It was soon going to be Li Wei''s turn to enter when he suddenly heard a voice coming from the side. It felt familiar but also extremely irritable. "What a coincidence to meet here Cai Die! How have you been since last time?" The party immediately turned around only to see a tall player coming towards them. Li Wei immediately recognized that annoying face, it was the pro player: King of Champions. "King of Champions... It is the weekly event, of course, we''ll all be here and you should stop calling me by my real name!" politely answered Bright Sun. Although she was polite, her body language easily betrayed her real thoughts; all she wanted was to get rid of that guy and enter the painting as soon as possible but she could not simply skip the queue in front of her and still needed to behave herself since she was in public. However, King of Champions did not seem to notice that: "What King of Champions? You should call me Adrian! I have some great news, I recently became an inner member of the sect, that means we''ll get to see each other more often!" Completely ignoring what he just said, Bright Sun answered: "We should act professionally during these events so please go back with your team! I also need to lead mine!" "Haha, about that, how about I join your party this time? I am sure we''ll achieve an excellent time by working together!" continued King of Champions. When he said that, his eyes turned towards Li Wei and the others, his intention was clear; he wanted one of them to step down and allow him to take their place. However, no one did so. Bright Sun was visibly getting more frustrated, even after successfully getting rid of the marriage, that guy did not simply leave the guild. Instead, he claimed that he would stay there and slowly conquer her heart. Since then, he had been constantly trying to initiate conversations or meet her but she tactfully declined, saying that she needed to practice her cooking. Now that he finally got the chance to be so close to Bright Sun, King of Champions naturally did not want to let go of this opportunity. Thinking that his intent was not clear, he looked at Li Wei; "Young man, would you mind trading your spot with me? I have a great team and we coincidentally need a warrior! It will be a great opportunity to learn from them! What do you think?" "Oh, if so, why don''t you team up with your friends? You are also a warrior!" answered Li Wei. He naturally knew the hidden intent of King of Champions but he had no intention of teaming up with strangers again only to be bossed around. "Cough cough, that''s true but I and Cai Die have an extremely good synergy together. If we are together, we might even grab the record and so, I thought of giving you this opportunity!" "No thanks! I am just a casual player, learning from professionals does not interest me!" answered Li Wei. He made his position clear; he would not give up his spot in the party and all the other members quickly followed through. They were all members of Bright Sun''s family to begin with and they knew the circumstances. "If you don''t mind, we need to go now, it''s our turn!" said Bright Sun and without even waiting for an answer, she walked through the painting. As soon as she disappeared, King of Champions frowned for a second, before returning to his usual expression. Many of the surroundings players were already looking at him, he could not act as he wanted. He only sent a glare at Li Wei and the other three before disappearing into the crowd. ... "Fiouff! That guy really sticks to you Cai Die!" said Silent Day as soon as she appeared in front of the cave. "That''s nothing... If I did not block him, I would receive loads of messages every day! So annoying..." "The main branch should have already kicked him out! Even if he was a pro player... He did not do anything worth his title yet!" said the mage. "Well, let''s focus on the Time Attack for now... We can talk this over lunch, for now, let''s beat that spider!" In front of the party was the entrance to a cavern covered with spider''s webs. The entrance was not very large, it looked like that of the Sealed Mine of Little Root Town. The main difference was that a thin web was actually sealing the entrance. A few droplets of water could be seen on the spider web, looking like morning dew. The setting of the time attack was such that the sun was rising at the horizon. Unfortunately, the players would not be able to appreciate that scene since they would have to enter the lair. Like the Graveyard of Longsoul, Alyssa''s Lair also housed a boss that needed to be defeated in order to complete the Time Attack. The boss was a level 15 Spider Queen who was protecting its eggs deep inside the cavern. Although it looked like that of the Graveyard of Longsoul, there was a slight difference when it came to the win condition; to win, defeating Alyssa was not enough, what they needed to do was to kill all the spiders inside this cavern! For the Graveyard of Longsoul, what happened to the mob monsters was irrelevant to the win condition. As long as Lich Longsoul was dead, it would be the players'' victory. But this Time Attack was different, defeating Alyssa did not necessarily end the Time Attack. They needed to kill every single mob which could prove to be a hassle but as a result, the monsters there were fewer in numbers. Also, to help the players, the game developers added a special functionality for this type of Time Attack; the players could consult their interface to look at the % completion of the Time Attack. This was especially useful since, after a few attempts, they would learn the % that each monster represented and could track down if they missed one. "Good! Let''s quickly go in, we wasted a few seconds already!" declared Silent Day as she stabbed her spear into the cobweb covering the entrance. The web was easily sliced into two, revealing the inside corridor. It was dark and looked like the corridors one would see at the dungeon. The difference was again the signature spider''s webs that were everywhere. They were literally everywhere; on the walls, on the floor and even on the roof, they all looked like a single giant web! A few animal bones also laid here and there adding to the already grim atmosphere. "Just be careful of the falling spiders and shout if you need my healing or my cure!" said Bright Sun. Although she was the leader of the party, she was also a priest and as a result, she had to stay near the back where it was safer. Her role was critical to the success of this Time Attack as it was easy to be poisoned. Li Wei was silently walking next to Silent Day in the formation. While following Titan, he was looking at his surroundings, looking for a possible exploit he could use. Besides his duty towards the guild, this was the one and only incentive he had to attempt this Time Attack. While it was highly improbable, he would find any, it was worth keeping an eye open. The floor of the lair was not flat, it was slightly inclined such that it was easy for the party to want to accelerate. However, they maintained their formation. They carefully looked at the walls and roof covered with spider webs in case a few spiders were hiding there. Not even 10 seconds went by before spiders started appearing. They immediately reminded Li Wei of the horrible experience he had when the Forest Spider jumped on his back. While they actually had different physical features, to him, all the spiders looked exactly the same except for their color. It was not to the point that he was scared of the spiders but if he could avoid direct physical contact with these insects, he would definitely take it. Titan quickly engaged battle with his shield. Compared to the Forest Spiders, these ones actually actively tried to attack and bite off Titan, they moved their multiple legs as if they were short blades trying to scratch his shield but Titan was quite skilled at keeping them at bay. After fighting with this party countless time, Titan already became very proficient at baiting monsters and positioned himself to allow his teammates to attack while diverting the attention of the monsters. Li Wei and Silent Day quickly grabbed their weapons and charged forward. ... 20 minutes later, the party was now standing in front of the last room of the cavern, the one where Alyssa was! 20 minutes for a first try was quite impressive but that was mainly due to Li Wei and his party all being at level 14. At that level, they could easily kill their way through the normal spiders, only Alyssa could prove to be a problem. But Bright Sun was here; it was thanks to her that they did not waste any antidotes or even Health Potions. Everyone was prepared for this Time Attacks and brought several antidotes but thanks to [Cure], they could save a few gold. The final room was still decorated just like all the previous ones; it was covered with spider webs. At the back of the room, a few Giant eggs could be seen lying in nests made of spider webs while a few cocoons of the size of a human were hanging from the roof. Everyone was on alert as they slowly walked to the center of the room. It was pointless to wait at the entrance; Alyssa would only appear when all the players still alive would have completely entered the room. That was something they already knew. In fact, as long as they did not enter the room, nothing would happen, it was an opportunity given to the players to refill their HP bar or Mana. A few seconds later, an expected sound came from above. Li Wei quickly raised his head only to see an ugly silhouette looking at the party. 70 Alyssas Lair 2 Above Li Wei''s head, Alyssa was staring at the party of five with a mocking expression. The Spider Queen had a human body with the exception of the legs; instead of having 2 legs, she had 8 spiders legs, they were hideous and hairy. Her skin was greyish and she was bald, giving her an unattractive look. Her eyes were completely white, devoid of irises and her fingers were so sharp that they looked like claws. At this moment, Alyssa was upside down, her hairy legs were holding on the spider web on the roof of the cavern. "How dare you!" said Alyssa in a rattle. As she spoke, 10 other spiders appeared and started to go down the roof by using strings of spider webs. Li Wei, Titan and Silent Day quickly moved in order to protect the mage and Bright Sun. The spiders were slowly approaching. As for Alyssa, she used her long legs to move along the wall, towards the eggs. Before the spider could reach the ground, Bright Sun and the mage both activated their rings'' skill. They both had the same one that contained the same skill: [Fireball] Small spheres of fire appeared in the two girls'' hands. The spheres were not very large but Li Wei could already feel the heat coming from them. They quickly raised their hands and tossed the Fireball towards the incoming Spiders. However, they did not aim at the spiders but rather, at the strings linking the spiders to the roof. This way, they would burn the strings, causing the spiders to fall and take damage! The advantage was simply that instead of hurting only 2 spiders, they would be able to hit at least 6 of them. Although the spiders would take less damage from falling, considering the height, the total amount of damage dealt to all the spiders would be greater this way. The Fireballs were not stopped after burning the strings, they continued to fly until they hit the roof that was covered with spider webs. The spider web caught fire for a moment, but it quickly died down, leaving behind only some burn marks. The spider web was actually resistant to magic! Although players did not have access to Fire Magic yet as skills and could only use it through equipment, it would be disastrous if a simple fireball would burn the whole lair down. As a result, the web had magic resistance properties! They would burn for a moment but the magic would be quickly drained out; naturally, if a powerful level 40 fire mage came here to burn down the place, it would be a very simple task to him. Having lost the connection between them and the roof, six spiders fell on the floor as "-12" appeared above their head. They were disoriented by the fall but they did not have time to react as they were attacked by Li Wei and Silent Day. After fighting spiders for 20 minutes, the party already became quite skilled at dealing with these insects. They quickly noticed that the spiders had different fighting style and the one that just fell, were the one that relied heavily on their poison to deal damage. Taking them out first was the best course of action. They had similar stats to the Forest Spiders and therefore, did not last long under Li Wei and Silent Day''s combined attacks. As for Titan, he turned to face Alyssa. Compared to Lich Longsoul, Alyssa would not stay idle and someone needed to divert her attention. Li Wei was fighting 2 spiders simultaneously, the two had small bodies and were green in color. They continuously spit out some poisonous liquid which Li Wei easily dodged using the Gliding Steps. However, he could not waste too much time on these spiders, there were more that were coming down the roof! The 2 spiders were slowly retreating, moving towards the other spiders that just landed on the ground. Seeing so many enemies near each other, Li Wei activated his [Myriad Sword Dance] Although more enemies meant more targets and more combos, it also meant that he would need to dodge or parry more attacks if he wanted to maintain his combo! Fortunately, he had the Gliding Steps which was a skill he could use in the middle of his combo without disrupting it! It was extremely useful to dodge or even reorientate his attacks to hit the enemies. On the other side, Silent Day was easily dealing with 3 spiders at a time. It was both due to her skills but also thanks to the two buff from Bright Sun: [Strengthen] and [Haste] which gave her both strength and speed. Silent Day hated insects, especially spiders. Although the game made them bigger and less disgusting, she still found them extremely repulsive and violently stabbed them whenever she could. She jumped to the side to avoid a spider''s spit and quickly activated [Flurry Stabs], taking out the remaining HP of one spider. When she looked at how the rest of the team was doing, she was surprised to see that Li Wei was dealing with more than 5 spiders at a time. "Hmmp, he got stronger so quickly! I must not fall behind!" said Silent Day to herself. At the same time, she charged at the nearest spider. Bright Sun was standing next to the mage, she was keeping a close look at everyone''s status! It was her job both as a leader and as a priest to ensure proper coordination and keeping everyone healthy. Fortunately, it looked like everyone was familiar with each other and the fight was going smoothly. Three out of the ten mob spiders were already dead. A fourth one quickly followed as the mage used her [Mana Burst] at the group of spiders. Bright Sun quickly used [Heal] on Titan who just blocked Alyssa''s leg with his shield. The paladin was managing the aggro of the boss by himself! There was only a difference of one level between the two, he was able to more or less hold his ground! Alyssa kept trying to bypass him to attack Bright Sun and the mage, but thanks to [Taunt], he managed to hold her attention. Two minutes went by and all the mob spiders were lying dead, only Alyssa was still alive but she still had more than 90% of her HP. Unfortunately, as Li Wei took down the last spider, he did not have any target left near him and could only end his combo. His HP bar was still quite full while he had half of his MP left. Without hesitation, he quickly charged at Alyssa from the right. "Let''s go!" Hearing that, Silent Day also reacted and used her spear to Attack Alyssa on the left. They timed their attacks perfectly to strike at the same time. The Spider Queen was quickly overwhelmed, she violently swung her claw-like hands at Titan''s shield, while raising 2 of her 8 legs to use them as spears. The end of her legs was sharp, they scratched Titan''s shield, taking away the paint. She fought back as much as she could but whenever she was about to spit some poison, the mage would intervene and cast a spell. As her HP fell down to 75%, Alyssa let out a powerful high pitched scream! It was painful for the ears but it also had a powerful knockback effect like Howl. Li Wei was forced to take a few steps back as he heard the scream! Although he was already prepared for that, he could not help but want to protect his ears. Fortunately, the scream did not last for long as the mage quickly cast [Mana Bolt] towards Alyssa, disrupting her skill. This was quickly followed up by [Mana Bind] to prevent her from climbing back to the roof! The spell would not last for long, but it was enough for Titan to intervene and get back the aggro. The fight continued as Alyssa was mercilessly attacked from all side. She had more HP than Lich Longsoul, but under the constant attacks, her HP bar quickly reached 50% This time, she did not let out a scream but rather, her white eyes turned blood red. A slight glow appeared on her hands as she viciously attacked Titan who was right in front of her. Immediately, the paladin felt the pressure on him double. Alyssa''s Strength Stat just obtained a serious boost and therefore, even if he correctly blocked the attacks, Titan''s health was still decreasing at a steady rate. Fortunately, Bright Sun was ready and healed him up at the right moment. Alyssa looked like she had lost her sanity, she did not even care anymore about being attacked by Li Wei and Silent Day. She viciously attacked Titan, to the point where his HP already reached 60. It sounded like a lot but that also meant that he had lost more than 140 HP! More importantly, Bright Sun''s [Heal] was not off cooldown yet. The party already understood each other to some extent, Titan activated [Bash]. Alyssa took a step back from being hit by the shield, but before she could scratch the shield again, Li Wei stepped up and used his 2 swords to parry her claw-like hands. [Cling] His hands trembled for a moment under the shock but Alyssa quickly pulled her hands back and once again tried to scratch him. He succeeded in gaining the aggro, but there was no way he would be able to last for long. Just parrying already took out 5 of his HP. However, he only needed to buy enough time for Titan to drink a health potion. Although he still had some HP, it was better to be safe and so, they opted for this strategy. Alyssa was fierce but with the help of Silent Day, they managed to pin her down. 10 seconds later, Titan was back with 80% HP and once again took the aggro. Another 30 seconds went by as Alyssa''s Health finally reached 25%. It was the last phase! She moved her long legs to get some space between her and her attackers and once again let out a scream. However, this time, her scream was not high-pitched, it was only loud! And as she did that, another sound resonated through the Lair, "Crack crrkk" In the nest of spider webs, the eggs started cracking! The greenish-white eggshells were now covered with cracks! And a second later, a total of 3 spiders came out of the eggs. They were still covered with some viscous fluid but readily started moving their legs to move towards the party. One might argue that they could have directly attacked the eggs when they entered the room to prevent this issue from popping up now. However, it would have made no difference! Simply because those spiders were explosive spiders and would deal damage as the eggs would explode. As for magic, the reason the nest was made of spider web was precisely to protect the eggs from magic! The best class to deal with these eggs would be the ranger but unfortunately, none were present in this party. They only had 10 HP but were extremely fast! As soon as they came out of the eggs, they rushed towards the group! Taking some damage would be inevitable! The best thing to do in this situation was to bring the spiders away from the party. Li Wei and Silent Day quickly moved and attracted the 3 spiders in different directions. Silent Day attracted one of them while Li Wei took two. The spiders exploded, releasing the viscous fluid everywhere. Fortunately, it was not poisonous but the liquid was still disgusting which caused Silent Day to let out a disgusted expression. She already hated spiders but for the sake of the team, agreed to take one explosion. In the end, she only lost 15 HP. As for Li Wei, he lost 30 HP but he was still fairly healthy. With the explosive spiders dead, only Alyssa was remaining and she did not have any more tricks up her sleeves. Under the combined attack of the party, Alyssa ended up letting out a scream before closing her eyes forever! [System prompt: Congratulation for completing the Time Attack: Alyssa''s Lair. Your final time is 26:49] The whole party let out a sigh of relief as they received the system prompt! 26:49 was an excellent time considering that it was their first try! "This was a great run! Good job!" said Bright Sun. "Ah, really disgusting! They should not have put this disgusting fluid!" complained Silent Day as she tried to remove the viscous fluid on her boots. The mage giggled at the sight, "Don''t worry, it will disappear as soon as we leave the Time Attack!" "Really? Then what are we waiting for here? Let''s go quickly!" Titan and Li Wei quietly looked at the 3 girls, "It does not really matter since we are coming back for a second run!" said Bright Sun. "AH! Cai Die! I should have gone with the other group! Even if they have The One Hero is there, at least, there are no spiders at the Island of Desolation!" Quickly, the party exited the Time Attack and re-entered it! Having already cleared it once, they became more confident and ran through the Lair. Li Wei was constantly looking for any tricks or loopholes but unfortunately, he could not find any! When he asked about burning the spider webs, the mage quickly explained to him the mechanism behind that. In the end, he remained pensive during the entire Time Attack, trying to find how the solo player actually managed to clear the lair so quickly! 71 Looking for the answer Time went by quickly as Li Wei and his party killed their way through the Time Attacks! After using all their 5 entries to Alyssa''s Lair, they moved on to the Graveyard of Longsoul. The familiar undead monsters once again faced Li Wei and his party but the outcome was not different. They succeeded in achieving a time of 20 minutes, but it was not worth mentioning when compared to the world record. Due to their party''s composition, they decided to stop after attempting the Graveyard of Longsoul 5 times. The island of desolation was not a friendly environment to the mage and Bright Sun. They would end up spending a lot of Mana Potion if they wanted to be useful which would be unfair to the two. Even after the ten Time Attacks, Li Wei still failed to find out any possible loopholes to exploit! He was slightly depressed but in the end, if the tricks were so easy to find, everyone would have extremely low time records. The party of five quickly walked out of the painting. "Can we go and eat now?" asked Silent Day. "Yeah! I am really hungry! Let''s go to the Prosperity Hall! I heard that today the theme is Chinese food!" exclaimed the mage. Bright Sun, who was leading the way, turned and declared, "Sure! But let me check where Cai Wenji is!" She quickly opened her interface and started typing her message. Meanwhile, Li Wei was still deep in thoughts. He was getting a bit obsessed about these Time Attacks but no matter how he thought about the runs, he did not find anything out of the ordinary that he could use. Suddenly, a voice full of charm came from the side, "Oh here you are! You really did not accept my friend request!" The party quickly turned to look at the speaker. They all immediately recognized her. A graceful and beautiful lady dressed in light warrior gear was slowly making her way towards the party. Her black hair was tied in a hair bun while a long blue sword was hanging at her waist. She had a very faint cold aura, making her seem less approachable despite her beauty. Bright Sun quickly stepped up, "Miss Li, may I help you?" As for Li Wei, he could only awkwardly scratch his hair. The lady was naturally Li Yuxin. The Li Yuxin of yesterday and that of today looked very different; the latter looked lively and valiant as she was fighting in the rain of ashes but now, she looked like one of those cold unattainable beauties. Her appearance was exactly the same but now that they were not fighting, Li Wei could see her womanly charm and aura. He never thought that he would actually see her today! After all, there were so many players! It should have been very easy to hide in the crowd! He did not care much about her friend request; it was safer to keep some distance from the Li family. "Are you Cai Die? We have never spoken to each other before, I am Li Yuxin" "It''s an honor Miss Li! Did one of us trouble you?" asked Bright Sun. It was normal for the two ladies to have never spoken to each other. Although they saw and heard of each other, they had different status! Bright Sun only came from a branch family while Li Yuxin was the daughter of the great elder of the Li Family! As a result, there was a massive difference in status between them, and that was without taking into consideration that the two families were not very friendly to each other. "I am here to challenge this guy!" declared Li Yuxin while pointing at Li Wei. Immediately, everyone''s attention focused on Li Wei; it was not just his party but also the nearby players were interested in the person Li Yuxin wanted to challenge! "D*mn... What did I do to deserve that..." said Li Wei to himself. He just wanted to remain low-key but yet, that girl succeeded in directing everyone''s eyes towards him. She had already broken his win streak! Fighting her again was the last thing he wanted to think about. "Ah! Miss Li, it would not be appropriate! I am still level 14 while you are already level 15! It would not be very fair!" answered Li Wei with an embarrassed expression. It turned out that Li Yuxin already leveled up and was now level 15. Li Wei himself was close to leveling up but he was not going to reveal that information. "That''s indeed true! But I will stay at level 15 for quite some time! Once you reach level 15, we shall duel again! So accept my friend request!" said Li Yuxin with a triumphant smile. "ughh" Li Wei could only reluctantly agree. Under the eyes of everyone, what excuse could he use to refuse her friend request? All the surrounding players were dreaming to take Li Wei''s place! Many players had the same thought in mind: "That guy does not know his luck!" His finger quickly moved, and another player was added to his friend list. "That''s great! We shall chat again later, I still have to attempt the Graveyard of Longsoul!" said Li Yuxin as she quickly moved away. Having accomplished her goal, she did not need to stay any longer. All she wanted was to add Li Wei as a friend. She was clearly not satisfied with the result of yesterday''s battle and absolutely wanted a rematch but yet, Li Wei did not accept her friend request even if she sent him the request in front of his eyes. To Li Yuxin''s surprise, when she left the scorching ground, elder Du did not seem to be disappointed in her for losing. Instead, he even encouraged her to have more interactions with Li Wei. He said that he would make a great sparring partner. Although Li Yuxin had already left, the players'' eyes still remained on Li Wei. "How did you meet Li Yuxin? She is the chosen slow leveler of the Li family! She rarely ever comes out!" asked Bright Sun who followed the exchanged from the side. Her eyes were suspiciously looking at Li Wei. "It was at the Colosseum for the ranked battle," answered the latter. He did not give any details since it was a fight he did not really want to recall. Hearing that, Bright Sun and the other party members could not help but widely open their eyes! Although they never interacted with Li Yuxin, they had heard a lot of things about her. Since her young age, she immersed herself in martial arts and had been nicknamed as the Martial Princess. She was very keen on fighting other martial artists of the same generation and would often challenge them again and again. But she would do that only if she did not win or only nearly won! From that, they quickly deduced the outcome of the ranked battle and could only look at Li Wei with respect. To avoid staying under the surrounding players'' look, the party quickly moved outside the Hall of Fame to wait for Cai Wenji and his party. As they walked, Li Wei curiously asked Bright Sun, "Did you not say that Li Yuxin was a slow leveler? How come she is already level 15 then?" The latter smiled, "Don''t take the term slow leveler literally! They level up at the same pace as us but will remain at this level for a while. She might stay for more than a week at level 15 as she tries to break the record of the Time Attack. And by the time they are satisfied or give up the record, we would have long reached level 16 or 17!" "So that''s why..." The party was happily chatting when suddenly, Li Wei received a message; it was Moody Writer. "I''ve got your Beast Cores, you can collect them whenever you are ready!" Seeing the message, Li Wei could not help but recall his fight. If only he had won, he would still be on the path to obtaining the Moon Stone. But now, he would have to ask Moody Writer to obtain it somehow. The Moon Stone was the only material he was missing! He made a quick mental note to ask him about that! "Why are they taking so long?" complained Silent Day. She was starting to feel hungry! Having spent the morning killing the insects she hated, she could not wait to sit down at the restaurant and enjoy a good meal. "Be patient, he just entered the Lair when we contacted them, you don''t expect them to suddenly break the record like that!" said Titan. Hearing that, something flashed into Li Wei''s mind, "Bright Sun! There is something I want to ask!" "Huh? What is it?" answered the priest. "Will it be possible to know the strategy that the slow levelers will be using to break the records?" asked Li Wei. He had been thinking about possible tricks to use but yet, he found nothing! However, he was certain that the sect should have already figured out a few things! "You want the strategy?" said Bright Sun with a surprised expression. For a moment, she did not know what to say. "Are you going to attempt it? It is impossible for you to do it since the strategies rely heavily on items!" It was something he was already well aware. There were no restrictions on items that could be brought into the Time Attacks. He highly suspected that the players would probably be tossing Explosive Potions all over the place but inside, he was hoping that they had some sort of strategy. "I know, but I am still very curious. Do they believe they would be able to bring the record down to what that solo guy did?" Bright Sun awkwardly answered, "Ehmm, according to our estimate, the lowest we''ll be able to bring the record down would be about 5 minutes for each one of them! But that would be using more than 100 Explosive Potions per run." 100 explosive potions? These represented at least 2000 gold! And that was just for one run. There was no doubt that many guilds would attempt the same method and the records might differ by seconds. In the end, just for the sake of improving their reputation or the small reward, the Time Attacks turned into money pits. "Can you tell me the details? I can''t be that the players will just toss Explosive potions everywhere, right?" asked Li Wei. "Eh, we did not figure anything out for the graveyard of Longsoul so they will effectively only use explosive potions there. The island of desolation is different; since it is only a matter of escaping, they will use speed buffing items and decoys. As for Alyssa''s lair, the plan is to use smoke bombs to push all the spiders towards the final room before using Explosive potions there! That is all I know, I am not one of the slow levelers, so I only have this information!" This answer naturally left Li Wei disappointed; there was no useful information like loopholes, but he could not blame Bright Sun for that. The real strategies were probably kept secret to avoid leaking them to the other guilds! The little priest took notice of Li Wei''s expression. "Breaking the record isn''t that easy! We should leave this to the special players. Although the rewards are alluring, it will be a waste of time and gold for us." "You are probably right!" answered Li Wei but in his mind, he did not give up yet. ... After a gracious meal where everyone paid for himself, Li Wei left the party and went to the Alchemist Association. He would soon level up and did not know how long it would take for Moody Writer to obtain a Moon Stone. It was better to ask him to look for it early so that he might be able to upgrade his ring before attempting the Time Attack one last time. He already became familiar with the Alchemist Association. After speaking with the receptionist, he walked through the different corridors to Moody Writer''s room. The alchemist was busy refining some potions and Li Wei did his best to not disturb him. It was only after 15 minutes that the latter finished his concoction and adjusted himself to talk to Li Wei. He did not say anything but let out a smile as he took out the two Beast Cores from his inventory. One of them was red while the other one was grey, but both came from level 15 monsters. It was all that mattered to Li Wei; the formula mentioned that he could also use beast cores from better monsters, but he did not know the impact of using better materials. Also, only said to Moody Writer that the core needed to come from a level 15 monster or higher; he naturally went for the easiest option. "Thank you!" "You''re welcome! May I ask why you need these two beast cores? You don''t look like someone who practices a profession... Is it to gift them to someone?" asked moody Writer. "Haha, no! It''s for my own use, but I''ll keep that a secret for now!" Moody Writer was tactful and did not ask any more questions; "Sure, we all have our own secrets!" An awkward silence settled into the room for a moment, but Li Wei quickly asked: "Did you successfully extract the formula of the potions?" "Not yet, it is much harder than it looks! The potion is volatile, and I only have so much, I need to slowly do the tests one by one! And I am also very busy recently! Everyone is looking for Explosive Potions. It''s a great way to make some profits" answered Moody Writer. "That''s good, I am not in a hurry to get the money. But I will need your help with something else..." said Li Wei. Moody Writer raised an eyebrow, "What is it? If it is something I can do, I will naturally help you." "I need a Moon Stone..." 72 Loopholes "A Moon Stone? Why do you need that? Only blacksmiths or enchanters use that thing?" asked Moody Writer. He suspiciously looked at Li Wei. That guy was collecting a lot of materials, but he did not look like someone who was trying to level up his profession. In the end, there were many elements of the game he was not aware of, he might have stumbled onto something special. Moody Writer was someone who valued information. Hee knew that it was one of the most important things in life. As long as one had the appropriate information, they could take the best course of action. "It is for the same thing as the Beast Cores! I don''t have any crafting professions right now, but I need that Moon Stone!" said Li Wei "mmm, as I said, alchemists do not use that item. It will be hard for me to obtain it, but I can ask a blacksmith friend! He owes me a favor, I will ask him when I meet him." "Thank you! What do you want in exchange?" asked Li Wei. "Just tell me what you plan to do with these materials. I am very curious, it looks like you are planning something big!" said Moody Writer. Hearing that, Li Wei froze for a moment. The ring of chaos was his biggest secret; so far, no one knew about it except for some NPCs. He hesitated for a moment before answering: "I am just preparing for the Time Attacks. These materials will help me craft an equipment. With it, I might have a chance at the records." "The Time Attacks? Why are you interested in those?" asked Moody Writer. He could see that Li Wei was not saying everything. "You don''t know? There are rewards associated with the Time Attacks'' records. They will be distributed in 2 weeks, so we need to set the record before that," answered Li Wei. He quickly followed up by explaining whatever he learned from Bright Sun earlier. He explained in detail the rewards and how they were awarded. "So this is why all these guilds have been so friendly and asked me to refine Explosive Potions. Hmmp, I guess I can slightly increase the prices!" said Moody Writer with a pensive expression. Although he felt that Li Wei did not say everything, the information about the Time Attacks was already valuable. "Yes, although I am not part of the special teams, I am also trying to find a way to get the records. If I can''t get it while I am at level 15, then I''ll just give up," said Li Wei. "Mmm, I have seen the records, they were all achieved by a single person! It looks like there really is a lot of loopholes..." said Moody Writer. Li Wei nodded, "I also thought that, but I could not find any loopholes when I attempted the Time Attacks. Do you have any ideas?" "Haha, trying to get some answers from me? I don''t plan to walk that path, so I don''t know much about Time Attacks but if you want a piece of advice, when it comes to looking for loopholes, read between the lines!" answered Moody Writer. Li Wei was puzzled at the answer, "What do you mean?" The alchemist revealed an enigmatic smile, "I will give you this information for free! This game is full of loopholes, in fact, if you want to grow quickly, it is impossible to do so without using them! Even I used quite a few. Let me give you an example. I don''t know about the quests of the Warrior Association since I am a priest but at the Priest Association, there are a lot of quests about collecting herbs." "Many players would simply accept them and go to look for them! But the smart players would not simply do that, they would instead ask the receptionist about the origin of the quest! Very often, these herbs would be used to cure some diseases! While in many cases, the herbs are necessary, in others, all they actually need is a priest to cast a [Cure]! This is especially the case for uneducated people." "That saves a lot of trouble and you even get the full rewards of the quest just for casting a [Cure]. Naturally, these became less common now that people discovered this trick! But that''s just an example. The way you interpret the information you are given is key! So don''t limit yourself to just what you are told to!" said Moody Writer. He did not mind revealing this information to Li Wei. He himself abused that trick before starting to focus on alchemy. Quite a few priests were already aware of this; after one person discovers something, it would be quite hard to keep it a secret. "Wow, I never thought about it this way!" said Li Wei with an enlightened expression! "These are just things you will learn naturally. You are still young but after you leave for some time in society, you naturally learn a few tricks! As for the Time Attacks, I cannot help you since I did not attempt them myself but try to look at the maps from a different perspective or even think about all the information you have!" "mmm think about everything differently?" said Li Wei to himself. Seeing him in deep thoughts, Moody Writer continued, "Let me give you another example! From what you just said, about the way the rewards work for the Time Attacks, if I am not wrong, there should be a big loophole in there that can allow a player to obtain several rewards!" Surprised, Li Wei said: "That''s impossible, the rewards are not cumulative, even if you hold the world record, you won''t obtain the reward for being first in your server or city!" "Precisely! This is where the loophole is. You can''t get these rewards, but what if you obtained the reward for the first, second and third place of the world record? If you think carefully about the information given, it does not violate it! As for how to do that? All the team needs to do is to switch one player and they would immediately count as another team and would all be eligible for the rewards again!" "What? Would that not be even worse than obtaining the rewards for the other categories?" "Yes, but the game rewards you for finding these kinds of loopholes. Besides, it''s not as if it is easy to get these low time records!" answered Moody Writer. After a brief moment, Li Wei could not help but look at the alchemist with a weird expression: "Were you a con artist or something in real life?" Amused by Li Wei''s question, Moody Writer answered, "Haha, don''t say something like that, I lived my life honestly. I was a simple botanist! But when you come from a poor family, you are forced to grow up and develop this type of mentality! You learn all the little tricks in life, although they are not always useful, we never know." "mmm, thank you for the information. In that case, you can take some gold from the % profit you will deliver at the bank later!" said Li Wei. Moody Writer nodded. Alchemy was a bottomless pit, one needed to constantly exercise and attempt more difficult recipes and naturally, these had a low probability of success. If he could get some more gold, there was no reason to say no and even if Li Wei did not state a precise amount, Moody Writer was a tactful individual. "Just buy your potions here in the future! I need to focus on Explosive potions for now but later, I''ll resume making health and mana potions too!" "Sure!" ... In the end, Li Wei had a fruitful discussion with the alchemist. He learned a lot about the system of the game; maybe it was time to look more into the quest side of the game instead of just going to the dungeon to level up. Despite thinking about that, Li Wei nevertheless went to the dungeon for the rest of the day. He was very close to leveling up and so, he went there just to fill his exp bar. When the sun was setting on the horizon, Li Wei was calmly making his way back to the Starry Skies Inn. He had just leveled up and was now level 15! That meant that he has reached a new milestone improving all his stats by one. Additionally, he also took a step forward on the city''s ranking, placing him among the top 800. After a long day of hunting, it was time for a good meal and shower. It was one of the few peaceful activities of the day that could completely relax Li Wei. Unfortunately, he did not have much gold now and could not afford to eat at the Prosperity Hall. And so, he ate the free meal at the inn. It was not bad but when compared to the food of the Prosperity Hall, it was naturally of lower quality. As he was in the middle of enjoying his meal, Li Wei suddenly heard a jingle. When he looked at his messages, he could not help but frown. The message came from Li Yuxin. "Since you are now level 15! You can''t run away! Let''s arrange a duel quickly!" "Sigh" Li Wei let out a sigh as he continued to eat his bowl of rice. That girl really did not let go that easily. He did not know if it was a coincidence or if she stalked him, but it was strange since he leveled up less than 2 hours ago. Fortunately, the chat system in the game did not have such things as "Seen" which would alert Li Yuxin that he had already read the message and so, he pretended to not have received anything and went to his room. He quietly lied on the bed thinking about the Time Attacks. It was not too late but his fatigue level was quite high already. It was not at the point of reaching 99% but it was better to be safe. After all, he could not quickly recover his fatigue without eating at the Prosperity Hall. Li Wei silently recalled today''s event and carefully observed the Time Attacks. After a few minutes, he decided to focus more on Alyssa''s Lair. It was the one he got to observe more. Although he went more often to the Graveyard of Longsoul, he did not pay too much attention at first since he did not know about the rewards and as for today''s entries, even if he observed carefully, the graveyard was filled with a dense mist, hiding many features. However, despite turning the problem countless time in his head, he still did not find anything he could possibly exploit. The smoke bombs were something Li Wei did not think about, but these would not change much except for gathering all the spiders in one place. But then, this would take time since the smoke needed to travel through the cavern. "mmm, it looks like these Time Attacks depend heavily on items," said Li Wei to himself as he started to browse his inventory. Still, there was nothing he could find that would make a huge difference. As a result, he turned to look at the chest in his room. It was the storage chest where players could keep their belongings. It was extremely useful since players had limited storage capacity; they could simply use the chest to keep items that did not require urgent uses. In his chest, Li Wei found many items; the Shining Alyssums, the vials of goblin blood and many more. The most noticeable one was the [Forgotten Crosier]. His eyes skimmed through the items when they finally stopped on a small dusty box. Li Wei immediately recognized it, it was the box given by the gnome he saved with the Lake Fairy. He carefully grabbed the box and opened it, revealing a reddish item which had a similar look to modern grenades. "What a pity, the spider webs are resistant to magic or else, I could have burned everything with that," said Li Wei. At that moment, the information window of the Pyro Bomb opened. It was a normal reaction since Li Wei had been staring at it for a long time: [Pyro Bomb(Grade 2)] Explodes and sets an area on fire. Targets hit by the explosion will suffer from serious burns. Damage: 10/seconds. Once the target has been set on fire, the fire cannot be extinguished by normal means. Note: This item is the product of gnomish engineering also known as the Hell Fire Bomb. Since the last time Li Wei had seen the information screen, more information was available. It seemed that after leveling up, he gained access to a better description. It was such a powerful weapon. "If only the spider webs were not resistant to magic..." "mmm magic?" At that moment, he was recalling the gnome''s words but at the same time, he heard a jingle. It was another message! And it again came from Li Yuxin: "Hey! Don''t pretend you did not read my message! Hurry up! Set a day and a time!" ... Li Yuxin was lying on her bed; a few droplets of water were dripping from her long hair. She just came out of her bath and was quite annoyed at the fact that her message was not answered. She was about to send another one when to her surprise, that guy actually answered her. It was just that the answer had nothing to do with dueling. 73 Preparations "hmmph! Are you trying to look for a way out?" answered Li Yuxin after reading Li Wei''s message. "In that case what about a bet? If I was right, you''ll leave me alone for a while but if I''m wrong, then we''ll duel in 2 days." Li Yuxin smiled, "sure! Remember those words!" "Alright! See you in two days then, I still need to prepare for this." "Wait! I won''t be a miser! What do you need to buy? I''ll contribute..." asked Li Yuxin. Seeing her message, Li Wei became pensive. Upon seeing the Pyro bomb''s description, an idea sparked in his mind. It was so simple that few people would actually realize it. His plan might work but when he saw that the world record was so low, he did not want to take any risk and ended up inviting Li Yuxin to join him. She just so happened to be sending him a message when he came up with the idea. After all, Li Yuxin was someone Li Wei acknowledged as being strong, he had no guaranty to be able to defeat her. However, he did not want to share his plan yet! Li Yuxin might share this with the guild or her teammates. That was something Li Wei did not want. He was aiming for the world record and could not allow her to easily reveal the plan. And so, they agreed to sign a contract, but they needed to physically meet to do so! If he asked her to buy specific things, Li Yuxin might deduce his strategy. As a result, Li Wei paused for a moment before answering: "The ring you used during our duel, it would be good if you can bring 4 more! It is just borrowing, I won''t take them for myself!" On the other side of the line, Li Yuxin quickly agreed. This equipment was not cheap, but it was not expensive either for her. She had a good supply of whatever she needed and so, could obtain these rings easily. "Alright, see you in two days" As she saw Li Wei''s reply, Li Yuxin let out a "hmmp". She did not believe that guy could have actually found a way to get the world record. In her mind, he was only trying to buy enough time to level up! That way, he would have the advantage. However, Li Yuxin did not really mind; one stat point meant a lot but at the same time, it was not an unbridgeable gap. She was excited at the idea of fighting him again. The other martial artists all preferred to secretly learn their techniques. As such, they rarely accepted duels. Now that someone presented himself, Li Yuxin was naturally delighted. ... "Sigh... At least, she will leave me alone for now!" said Li Wei after he sent the message. He went back to his bed and sat down. He was already tired, but since he got this idea, he was excited! There were some preparations that were required; a lot of items needed to be bought but right now, he did not have more than 20 gold! He could convert part of his contribution points into gold, but that was something he was not willing to. This transaction was only "one way", he would not be able to get the contribution points back with money. He could go to the dungeon to hunt tomorrow for money, but there was another way to get money or even get the items for free! He could simply ask his guild... More precisely, Cai Wenji and Bright Sun. ... The next day went by as usual, Li Wei still went to the dungeon and hunted with his party. This time, Bright Sun actually came along, and they killed their way through the goblins. Many teams had already climbed to the eleventh floor but there was a major increase in difficulty after the tenth floor. In the end, most players preferred to train on the tenth floor or lower. The dungeon floor was vast and even with the huge number of players, it did not feel overcrowded. The tenth floor was also the spawn location of the goblin king. It was the most highly sought boss! Every day, similar battles to what Li Wei experienced when he first arrived at the city were occurring at the dungeon. However, Li Wei chose to avoid these fights; over time, he realized how dangerous they were. People would often fight to death and many would lose levels. Although they will be compensated and generously paid if they participated in these fight, the one thing one could not buy was time. In the end, no matter how many resources obtained, if he just keeps on losing levels, it would not be worth it. "So? What is it you wanted to talk about?" asked Cai Wenji. The party just finished their daily hunt at the dungeon and were now on their way to the city. Looking around him to make sure there was no one else listening, he said: "I think that I might have found a way to clear Alyssa''s Lair very quickly." "Oh? What is it?" asked Cai Wenji. He was not very surprised; many players came up with ideas on how to deal with the Time Attacks. However, many of them failed and it would often be a waste of time and resources. "mmm, I am not trading it. It is just that I would like to invite you two if you are willing to bring some resources," answered Li Wei. "mmm" The two siblings looked at each other. They did not say a word, but it seemed that they somehow communicated with each other. "Although we trust you, we cannot blindly invest resources like that! I am willing to give you the money I made from cooking, but you first need to explain your plan to see if it''s feasible!" said Bright Sun. Li Wei nodded, "That''s understandable. However, I would like to sign a contract first! Just to make sure that no one else will learn about my idea and that you won''t use it for your own purpose!" "It''s reasonable! You should want to keep the record for yourself. But let''s first go to the inn, there are too many ears nearby here!" said Cai Wenji. ... Inside one of the private rooms of the inn, Li Wei and the siblings were sitting around a table. They were carefully studying the contract in front of them. Both parties put forward their conditions, Li Wei would provide the idea while if they thought it was feasible, the two siblings would agree and provide the necessary resources for that. Naturally, they will also participate in the Time Attacks themselves. Additionally, they should by no means share this information or any possible hints of the plan to others! If the idea was to be flawed, then they could simply ignore this contract. With the contract signed, Li Wei relaxed before quickly explaining his idea. "The reason I approached you two was first because of our relationship but also because Bright Sun is a cook! She can easily purchase..." Two minutes later, Li Wei was already explaining the fine details, "I also invited Li Yuxin to come with us! I believe that she would be a great addition to the party!" Hearing that name, Bright Sun raised an eyebrow but decided to keep quiet and listen to the whole explanation. Right now, they were discussing business! As Li Wei explained, the two siblings slowly hardened their face! "Sigh!" "What is it?" Asked Li Wei. Cai Wenji explained: "That''s true! It is impressive that you noticed that the spider webs could be burned by normal fire! Most people would tunnel vision on that and only see magic as a source of fire! However, that does not mean you are the only one who came up with this idea!" Bright Sun quickly continued, "After yesterday''s Time Attacks, I went to do some research! Setting the cave on fire from the entrance was indeed something that people thought of. However, the cave was designed to prevent that! With the way the tunnels are, the fire will lack oxygen somewhere along it. I don''t know much about the subject but this way, the fire will only burn up to a certain point. Beyond that, the lair will be unharmed! And the result would be that the players would not even be able to enter the lair due to the lack of oxygen in the tunnel while some spiders would be safe deeper inside the lair. To complete the Time Attack, the players will have to wait for the air to circulate before being able to enter." "However, if that can help you, it was found that fire was effectively a loophole; once you reach Alyssa''s room, you can set up the large cocoons, hanging from the roof, on fire. They contain dry corpses that will easily burn and emit a lot of smoke! This way, the spiders will be disoriented and even slowly take damage. But if you aim for the record? That is a waste of time! It would be faster to just blast everything with Explosive Potions." After Bright Sun''s explanation, the two siblings awkwardly looked at Li Wei. They did not expect much but they knew that it was an awkward situation for Li Wei to have his idea rebutted so easily. As for Li Wei, he was indeed embarrassed, "how could I be so stupid! Of course people would realise that! I was too impulsive!" thought Li Wei. He did not know what to say. His plan was indeed just to set up the entrance on fire and wait for the fire to spread! He would use some items to maintain the fire but that was it. He thought at how foolish he had been. He even said that Bright Sun had an important role since she could easily purchase some items. But as he was thinking, something suddenly clicked in his mind! "Then all we need is basically a way to spread he fire deeper into the lair, right? Why don''t we just use¡­" As they heard Li Wei''s proposal, the 2 siblings could not help but be enlightened. It was such a simple addition but yet, it would make all the difference. More importantly, this plan would not cost more than 40 gold. Considering that the guild''s previous plan cost in thousands, this plan was clearly better in all the aspects. "This sounds feasible; in fact, it seems very likely to succeed!" declared Bright Sun, excitement could clearly be seen on her face. "I wonder how could we have missed such an obvious thing? I guess we were too obsessed with magic!" "Anyway, if you can buy these items, it should be perfectly fine! If the solo guy did not bring the record so low, I would probably have tried that by myself. But now, we might be able to shave a few seconds if we are as a group!" said Li Wei. "Who do you think should be the 5th person? It would be a waste to leave an empty spot! Can we invite someone from our party?" "I don''t mind! As long as he or she signs the contract and does not reveal anything. If the guild finds out about that, I can say goodbye to the world record." The two siblings nodded, "Sure, don''t worry. We won''t do something like that." "Then let''s meet again tomorrow, I need to go to buy the materials quickly! The Association won''t allow trading if it''s too late!" declared Bright Sun as she quickly left the room. Cai Wenji and Li Wei remained silent for a moment but the former quickly broke it. "It is really fascinating how we all tunnel vision so easily!" commented the blonde rogue. "Haha, I almost thought what I said was futile! I hope it will work," answered Li Wei. "I am sure it will! It is really simple and looks like one of the things they could have hidden!" ... The next day, at 10:00. Li Wei arrived at the Hall of Fame. He asked Li Yuxin to come a little bit earlier than the others so that he could explain his plan and they could sign their contract. The Hall of Fame was not very busy at this time of the day. Most people would be fighting at the dungeon, but a few players could be seen with their parties. In a corner of the room, Li Wei immediately noticed Li Yuxin leaning against the wall. "mmm I thought you were rushing to level up! It seems that you are quite honest," said Li Yuxin. Li Wei rolled his eyes, "Anyway, here''s the contract, sign it if you agree." She quickly grabbed the piece of paper and carefully read it. She did not know Li Wei too well and was wary that he might have put in some conditions or tricks. But after a few minutes, she quickly signed the contract and the piece of paper disappeared. "Good! Now explain your plan, I have the rings you asked!" said Li Yuxin as she took out 4 grey rings from her inventory. "mmm thanks, I''ll return them after the Time Attacks. My idea is quite simple! I simply want to burn down the lair!" 74 Fire "Did you even look out for some information before coming up with this idea? The spider webs are resistant to magic!" answered Li Yuxin. Seeing his expression, Li Yuxin even thought for a moment that he might have come up with a good plan. But the answer crushed all these thoughts. But Li Wei ignored her disappointed looks, "precisely! It''s resistant to magic! Not to fire... You know? The normal fire... Not the one you do with magic... As simple as that." "Normal fire?" A spark appeared in Li Yuxin''s eyes, "People have already tried that before! From what I know, I doubt the fire will reach the last room in time. Although the spider webs are connected, there might be some problems when it comes to air, the tunnels are not that wide, and we don''t know about the ventilation of the cave!" "That''s true! But you will see, my initial idea was indeed just to set up a fire, but now, I thought of a way to spread it really quickly!" A few minutes later, Cai Wenji and Bright Sun arrived accompanied by Forge God, Titan, and The One Hero. "They''ve all signed the contract and will go in turn if the plan succeeds," said Cai Wenji as soon as they arrived. Li Wei nodded, "Good! Then let''s distribute the items." Hearing that, Bright Sun quickly initiated a trade with Li Wei. On the screen, he could see a hundred opaque bottles. He quickly accepted and waited for Bright Sun to trade with Li Yuxin. When the latter saw the items, she suspiciously looked at Bright Sun. "What are those? Is it not just burning the lair?" "It''s just cooking oil!" "Cooking oil!?" exclaimed Li Yuxin but her mind was already thinking about the different scenarios ... After a few minutes of explanation, the party finally entered Alyssa''s Lair. This time, Titan would act as the 5th member. In fact, with this strategy, just one player was needed. Having more players would not influence the outcome too much but this way, more people could benefit from the reward. As soon as they appeared in front of the cave, the 5 players immediately rushed towards it. They had already discussed how to act. Although there was no pressure, everyone was excited and wanted to see if it would really succeed. Li Yuxin was the fastest, her long sword was already drawn and quickly cut through the spider web at the entrance, revealing the dirty cave. "Quick!" Li Wei, who was just behind Li Yuxin, took out a bottle out of his inventory and immediately poured the liquid inside on the nearby spider web. A strong smell of alcohol immediately permeated the air. Li Yuxin frowned and took a few steps back. It was not only to get away from the strong smell but also for her safety. Even Li Wei quickly took a few steps back. A few seconds later, Cai Wenji tossed the lighted torch in his hands. This was a common item that could be bought in most stores; they were typically used when players would go to the mines or would want to travel at night. Everyone watched as the lighted torch drew a beautiful arc. Time seemed to slow down as the torch slowly descended towards the spider web. But as soon as it made contact, everyone''s face was suddenly assaulted by a heat wave as the spider web suddenly burst into flames. It did not matter that they were slightly moist due to the morning dew. After being covered with cheap alcohol from Li Wei''s bottle, all the nearby spider webs became extremely flammable! With that, the first part of the plan was completed. However, as Bright Sun explained, the lair was not very large, the tunnels had some narrow parts and so, as the fire would travel along the tunnel, it would slowly burn down the oxygen of the cave. As it would emit a lot of smoke, there were some specific locations where the smoke would accumulate and push back the oxygen. But this is where the second part of Li Wei''s plan came into play. Despite the strong heat, nobody backed down and everyone started taking out bottles after bottles. These one were different! They did not contain alcohol but instead, cooking oil. Alcohol was only used to quickly light up the fire to a certain extent! But it was not appropriate to allow the fire to keep burning and so, they settled on another cheap and accessible liquid: cooking oil. Li Wei and his party were standing about 5 meters from the raging fire! They did not dare approach too much but that would not affect the result. They all quickly started pouring out the liquids out of their bottles. They divided themselves into 2 teams, each one pouring a different liquid. The girls were pouring cooking oil. The bottles were large and could contain up to 10L of oil. But since they were in the game, the girls easily lifted the bottles and emptied them quickly. They could easily be pouring two or three bottles at a time, simply by tilting one or two bottles near their feet and using their hands for the other. As for the men, they were simply pouring water out of large bottles! "Bllggh Bllgggghh" Huge amounts of water flowed out, carrying the cooking oil towards the raging fire! As soon as they came into contact, the raging fire seemed to suddenly become even more excited, like someone who was just starting to feel the effect of an aphrodisiac. The oil, carried by the water, caught fire and immediately started to flow farther into the lair. Very quickly, all Li Wei and the others could see was fire! Due to Alyssa''s Lair design, the floor was slightly inclined such that the entrance would be at a higher level than the end of the dungeon! All they needed to do, was to pour liquids from the entrance and eventually, that liquid would reach Alyssa''s room! Even as part of the fire was being carried deep into the lair, the fire near the entrance was slowly spreading through the spider webs, climbing up to the walls and roof. The plan was simple! Use alcohol to initiate the fire, use cooking oil to fuel it and use water to carry it down the lair! Everybody knew that cooking oil would float over the water! That way, the fire would keep burning even if water was added; it was common knowledge. And so, they decided to use water as a way to carry that burning fire deep into the lair! Making fire was great, but what was the point if it could not reach Alyssa? "It''s really working!" said Li Yuxin while looking at the huge flames in front of her. Her hands were still moving, continuously pouring out more oil. They did not know how much was needed in order for the liquid to reach the end of the cave but since it was cheap, they continued to pour more and more! "Did you think it would fail?" asked Bright Sun. "That guy did not even explain his plan to me correctly! I only learned about it 5 minutes earlier!" said Li Yuxin. A few seconds later, she showed a conflicted expression as she thought "Does that mean we won''t duel?" The 3 men were quickly emptying bottle after bottle. But very quickly, they all started coughing. Even the flames were starting to waver. "Cough cough!" "Cough! [Twister] Seeing the situation, Li Wei immediately used his ring''s skill. It was the one Li Yuxin brought! When they were trading at the Hall of Fame, she also took out the rings and gave one to each member. They all already understood the situation; the flames were wavering because of the lack of oxygen! It was something that crossed Li Wei''s mind. But this was not really a problem since considering the amount of liquid they poured, he estimated that the fire had already reached Alyssa''s lair and should at this moment be slowly roasting the Spider Queen. However, he decided to bring a way to ensure the circulation of air. Wind magically started blowing and the flames regained their strength. The Twister was aimed at a random spot in front of him. It did not matter where it was used, its sole purpose was to create an air current and possibly refill the oxygen inside the cave or at least for a part of the tunnel. He did not know if this would be useful, the fire might already have died down somewhere but at least, it helped them stay near the fire! On another note, it did not really matter if all the flames died down since that would mean that all the oxygen would be used up! As a result, all the spiders would also perish; like many living organisms, spiders needed oxygen to survive! At this point, the fire was already raging everywhere in the lair. If it died down, that would simply mean that all the oxygen of the lair was used up! As such, either the spiders died by the fire or by lack of oxygen! And that was without even taking into consideration the smoke generated by the flame that would disorient and slowly kill the poor insects. The idea of Li Wei did not revolve simply on the fact that the spider webs would burn with normal fire! It was the act of quickly transporting the fire inside the lair that was the determinant factor. With the newly oxygenized air, the fire regained its former vigor and burned down everything in front of the party. "Alyssa should already be suffering! Look at your event logs, it says that we killed some spiders!" said Bright Sun. It was effectively like she said, everyone in the party received event logs during the last minute. They received some exp along with it. Everyone was delighted, the plan was really working! Additionally, they could check the % completion of the Time Attack! Right now, only 2 minutes have passed since the start of the Time Attack but the % completion was already at a staggering 85% "It is true! We might beat the world record of three minutes!" exclaimed Cai Wenji. At this point, they did not know if it still mattered if they poured in more liquid, but they continued their tasks just to be safe. The fire might have already died down in the middle of the lair between Alyssa''s room and the entrance, but they nevertheless continued. The % completion slowly climbed up and was now at 93% Suddenly, "Thump thump!" Muffled noises came from the depth of the lair. Everyone held their breath. Between the flames, they saw the large silhouette of the Spider Queen appeared! She was nothing like her usual terrifying appearance. Her entire body was covered with ashes and burn marks, her 2 grey arms were carrying two of her eggs. Her eyes were full of fury as she painfully tried to charge towards the exit! Her HP bar was almost depleted! She barely had 10% of her HP but as a boss, it was still a significant amount. But as she walked through the flames, her HP bar started to dwindle very quickly! "You! How dare you, my daughters! They were all burnt!!!" screamed Alyssa. She quickened her steps as one of her eggs fell into the flames creating another explosion. The completion rate rose to 94%. "There''s only her left and her egg. Stop pouring oil, attack now!" shouted Cai Wenji. He quickly analyzed the situation and drew a short crossbow. The best scenario would have been if one of them was a mage or a ranger, but they did not have this luxury. But as a rogue, Cai Wenji also used a mini crossbow. He quickly shot a few bolts at Alyssa, further reducing her HP. But the Spider Queen persisted. She looked like a demon walking out of Hell Fire. Li Yuxin also saw the situation and quickly reacted, her long sword immediately flashed as she activated her skill: [Blade Draw] The wind blade flew towards the Spider Queen who had no choice but to let go of her last egg. For a moment, sadness could be seen on her burnt face, but that emotion was quickly replaced by fury! She only had 2% HP left. She knew very well that her life would end here. But there was no way she would make it easy for her lair''s invaders. Her HP plummeted to 1% as she closed the gap between her and the party. However, Titan was there to intercept her. His large shield blocked her claw-like hands. And before she could do anything else, her body was pierced on both sides by Li Wei and Li Yuxin. "Ahhh! Dirty humans! You shall regret this!!!" Her scream filled the lair as Alyssa closed her eyes with a painful expression. At the same time, the long-desired system prompt came in: [System prompt: Congratulation for completing the Time Attack: Alyssa''s Lair. Your final time is 2:34] "We really did it?" murmured Bright Sun as she stood there in daze. "You¡­ Were you a pyromaniac or an arsonist in real life!? How could you come up with such a perverse idea!?" exclaimed Li Yuxin. As for Cai Wenji and Titan, they both slapped Li Wei on the back. "Good job!" The latter silently smiled as he watched the fire slowly die down. The world record was now his! But that did not mean he would stop there! 75 Reactions Somewhere in Zero, "Ah ha! It looks like I was right!" A delicate silhouette murmured while sitting in an ethereal throne. Gaia had been closely following the process of the Time Attack. The act of using water and oil to burn the whole lair down was something completely unexpected. However, Gaia was not surprised, instead, she said to herself: "That guy really did use the same method... It seems that the machine really worked but I thought he would be more proactive than that..." "Sigh... Unfortunately, I cannot let you abuse this! Although I would have liked to, maintaining the balance of the game is primordial." As she said that, a screen appeared in front of her. A 3D model of Alyssa''s Lair was projected on it. Without even touching the screen, the screen zoomed towards a particular area of the lair and quickly, the model was modified. The consistency of the soil was changed and holes were added to act as evacuations drain that would carry the flowing liquids outside the lair instead of Alyssa''s room. "This should be good. Let''s also make an announcement!" ... Back to the players, As soon as Li Wei and his party received the system prompt for finishing the Time Attack, the rankings in all the Halls of Fame of all the 10 empires were updated. It was after all a world record, beating the previous one by about 30 seconds. The previous world record already looked unbeatable but now, the players did not even know what to think. There was no notification system where the players would be informed if a record was broken. However, the guilds all over the world had at least one player waiting at the Hall of Fame for this type of event. They needed to be informed as soon as something important would happen and the world records fell into that category. It was a very boring job, especially after the solo guy placed the bar extremely high. But to their surprise, a party actually broke one of the records! They immediately needed to report this to the higher-ups! At the headquarter of the Gem Family, Many middle-aged men were comfortably drinking some cocktails while listening to music. These men were all famous among the political circle of China; they had a lot of influence in many sectors of China''s economy but they were not actively participating in the management of the guild. They decided to leave most of the things to the younger generation who all held names of gemstones. Although they could act personally with their experience, they preferred to take this opportunity to allow the youngsters to get some experience. After all, they were well aware of the stakes of the game; they knew that when it would be time to go to the surface, they themselves would not have the authority to lead the people. Only someone from the young generation could become a leader. There were no complicated reasons behind that, it was just that since they were all sleeping under cryogeny, their bodies would naturally suffer and age to some extent. And so, since they were older, they were more vulnerable. It had already been decided that the future leader would all belong to the young generation due to that very reason and so, they decided to allow them to temper themselves. However, although they were not participating actively, the middle-aged men were keeping an eye on the progress of the guild. They were satisfied with the current standing of the guild, although they knew they could have done better, they could not ask for too much from inexperienced youngsters. "How is the situation of the other guilds?" asked a bearded man. He let out a long puff of smoke, a cigar could be seen between his fingers. "It''s good, we are not conflicting with each other too much! The Fleeting Clouds Sect is focusing on relocating to the other towns of the county, they''ve sent a lot of people there and I suppose they will soon start moving their main forces." "As for the Stone Defenders, it seems that they have got closer with the guards, some spies even says that several higher-ups have had meetings with the general. There is nothing we can do about that... After the failure of the dungeon incident, the general cut all his ties with us." Another man was calmly eating some fruits, "that''s fine! It wasn''t our fault. As long as we focus on this city, we can turn it into our base. What are the ambassadors doing?" "The situation is complicated, it is hard to set roots in other cities. The guilds there are pretty resistant and won''t allow it easily. We should focus on Algate city for now, the other cities should be left for later. There''s still a lot of time!" At that moment, an announcement resounded through Zero: [System announcement: due to the discovery of an unexpected exploit, Alyssa''s Lair have been modified. This patch does not affect the normal running of the Time Attack. We apologize for the inconvenience.] As the men heard the announcement, they could not help but look at their messages to see the news. They quickly found that the world record of Alyssa''s Lair has been broken and it was actually done by a party of the Fleeting Clouds Sect. "Let''s arrange a meeting, we need to talk to the youngster." "What? Why is that?" asked one of the officials. "Just for safety! I know how impulsive they can be... They might waste time and try to compete for this Time Attack! I already told them to not bother about these! Focusing on business development is more important!" "This way, when it will be time to build our town, we''ll have a good traffic of resources. But knowing how my son is, he might just do something stupid. I clearly told him to not waste too many resources on the game''s stuff. We just need to look like we are trying, while we develop in the background. But with a record, I''m afraid they might just be reckless and waste time there!" "mmm you''re right, better be safe! Let''s go and meet them... It''s been a while since we had a review too!" ... At the hall of fame, Forge God and The One Hero had been silently looking at the rankings. It was not that The One Hero did not try to initiate conversations with his lively personality but just that Forge God was very unresponsive. "Do you think they will succeed?" "mmm" "It''s been 2 minutes already! That plan sounds so crazy!" "mmm" "mmm" "mmm" "You are no fun! I should have gone first! Waiting there is killing me!" The One Hero was continuing to pester Forge God who remained expressionless but suddenly, he saw the latter flinched for a moment. He quickly looked up the ranking and froze for a moment. "They really succeeded!" exclaimed The One Hero. "They did it!" "mmm" "You should at least celebrate! If you do say anything! I''ll go in next!" excitedly said The One Hero. His behavior naturally attracted the gazes of the nearby players but he did not care. "Come on! What are they doing? It''s been 10 seconds already! Can''t they leave to discuss!" "Ahh I can''t wait! 30 seconds already!!!" Finally, one minute after the record had been set, Li Wei and the other four stepped out of the painting. "Why did you take all this time! Quick! It''s my turn!" exclaimed The One Hero as soon as he saw them. However, Cai Wenji quickly hit him on the head, "Stop acting like that! Everyone is looking at us because of you!" Effectively, everyone in the room was eyeing them. Not necessarily because of The One Hero but more because they all recognized the names written on the rankings! "Forge God! You could have held him a little bit better!" "mmm I don''t have any influence on him!" Cai Wenji sighed, "Fine quick you go in! Switch with Titan, you still have the items right?" "Yes yes! Of course!" excitedly exclaimed The One Hero. He was quickly added to the party and was about to rush into the painting when suddenly, an announcement was made: [System announcement: due to the discovery of an unexpected exploit, Alyssa''s Lair have been modified. This patch does not affect the normal running of the Time Attack. We apologize for the inconvenience.] Hearing that, Li Wei and the others froze for a moment. It was something unexpected but at the same time, it was not necessarily a bad news. The reason Forge God and The One Hero were waiting there was naturally to abuse another exploit that was mentioned earlier by Moody Writer. They could only get one reward even if they were first in all the three categories but by changing just one member, it would count as a completely different team and they would then be able to monopolize the first 3 places of the world ranking! This way, they would triple their prizes. However, if they were not wrong, Gaia discovered their tricks in beating Alyssa''s lair so quickly and modified it to prevent such things from happening. It meant they would not be able to take the other places on the ranking! But on the other hand, that also meant that no one would be able to attempt the same tricks. Although everyone signed the contract to not disclose the tricks, it was not untraceable. The players could look at what items were bought by the party or other things to try to deduce the strategy. There was always a risk but now, since their method was likely to be invalid, their place at the top was cemented unless another exploit was discovered. "What should we do? Shall we try again to confirm if it was really removed?" asked Li Wei. He was not disappointed by the results. He already secured himself a level, a piece of equipment and a skill. Getting more would have been a nice bonus but he could not be too greedy. "We should have a look! It might just be a coincidence but I doubt it!" said Bright Sun. As the party was discussing what they needed to do, the nearby players of the Fleeting Clouds Sect approached them. "Brother Cai! How are you?" "Congratulations brother Cai!" Cai Wenji frowned for a moment, he was clearly not used to this sort of treatment. The Cai Family was quite strong but Cai Wenji belonged to the branch family. He did not get the same treatment as the members of the main branch. But now, when he saw how everyone was behaving, he could not help but feel disgusted. He could be considered the leader of the branch of the Cai Family and so, the players all went to befriend him. As for Li Wei, he simply internally laughed, this kind of treatment was not something he wanted. It was nice to have an umbrella to hide under. "Brother, you should stay here to deal with them! We will go back to the lair to test if things changed there! Let Forge God take your place," said Bright Sun with an amused expression. "Ah sis, you can''t do that to me! You are better than me for this type of things!" answered Cai Wenji with a pitiful expression. But he was still mercilessly kicked out of the party and Forge God took his place. The 5 members quickly went back into the painting, leaving Cai Wenji and Titan behind to deal with the players. ... Later that day, Li Wei and the rest of the party all went to the Prosperity Hall to celebrate. Even Li Yuxin was invited since she contributed to the success of the Time Attack. As it turned out, the trick of using water and oil to quickly set the lair on fire was effectively negated. They did not know what exactly was changed but it was obvious that it was not working anymore since even three minutes after having started pouring the different liquids, they did not see any trace of Alyssa or even hear the system prompt; their completion % stayed at around 50%. "Let''s toast to our success!" declared Cai Wenji. "Cheers!" "Cheers!" Li Wei readily raised his glass of wine but compared to the others, he was very careful to only drink small sips. He clearly remembered the incident at the Gassian Lake and it was the last thing he wanted to experience again! After the toast, everyone started attacking the dishes, especially The One Hero who was strangely silent as he was devouring his plate. "So, what are the plans now? How did the others react?" asked Bright Sun. "It looks like the other guilds doubled the number of players that went to the Hall of Fame today! But I doubt they''ll succeed in setting a new record," said Cai Wenji while taking a sip. "You know... That contract is bringing me quite a bit of trouble! Everyone is harassing me to know the way we ran the Time Attack!" said Li Yuxin. Li Wei smiled, "I suppose we can sell the strategy now? It won''t work anyway and they might discover it later with their investigation!" "Huh you are always looking for more ways to get things out of the guild!" commented Bright Sun. "There''s nothing I can do, I am just a small fish trying to swim his way up the river!" "Of course of course! What are your plans now? Are we going to attempt the other Time Attacks too?" asked Bright Sun. "mmm, I was thinking of taking a break for a while! I wanted to try one of those quests at the Warrior Association, maybe an escort quest so that I get to see the outside world!" answered Li Wei. Visibly disappointed, Bright Sun answered, "Ahh, yeah there are a lot of those, maybe you should also ask at the headquarters. We are looking for people to carry some items to the other towns, we can do bank transfers for money but for items, we have to carry them ourselves. So maybe you can make 2 quests at a time!" "Really? That''s a good idea! I will have a look later!" The night went on, under the effect of alcohol, everyone was relaxed and chatted happily. It had been a long time since Li Wei spent a night like this, he usually went to sleep early to restore his fatigue but considering that he had achieved a world record, he could afford to relax for one night. The food was great, his friends were there, there was nothing else Li Wei wanted. Despite the small amount of alcohol Li Wei consumed, his face was completely red but at least, he could still think properly. Maybe it was the effect of alcohol but for a moment, Li Wei could not help but ponder on how vast Zero was and how there were many things left for him to discover. He was excited at the idea of leaving Algate City again.He was pensive for a moment until Li Yuxin randomly exclaimed: "Hey Seven! We did not even arrange our duel!" Li Wei simply smiled, "I won our bet, so we''ll report that for a later date!" The girl was clearly not in her normal state, her usual cold demeanor was gone. "Fine, I''ll give you that! But we''ll arrange a battle in the future!" "Sure!" "..." 76 Veil of Chaos The next day after sobering up, Li Wei noticed a message in his inbox. As he opened it, a faint smile appeared on his face. It looked like the ring of chaos will be upgraded very soon. The message was from Moody Writer. The latter has just obtained the Moon Stone. His efficiency even frightened Li Wei. Just three days went by since he asked for the Moon Stone but yet, that guy already got his hands on it. Considering the rarity of this item, it was definitely unusual. Building a network really had some benefits. Although he was impatient, Li Wei could not simply go to look for the Moon Stone at 7 in the morning. And so, he first went to the Warrior Association to look for a quest. It had been a while since he wanted to take some quests, especially after what Moody Writer told him. It was still very early but many players could already be seen at the association. Many were browsing through the quests available. While all the quests were posted on the general board at the reception, players could also use their interface to look for quests. Li Wei spent some time looking at what was available. He did not have any requirement but he did not want to stay away from Algate City for too long and so, he looked for escort missions that would take in average one week. He also prioritized escorts to other towns since there was a high chance a family of the Fleeting Clouds Sect would have settled there. He would then be able to take advantage of that and take a quest at the guild at the same time. Li Wei saw a large variety of quests even when he filtered his search to escort missions. Some were just merchants going to towns for business, others were relatively important individuals traveling and needing protection. A map of the county was available for Li Wei to examine when making his choice. With it, he found that Algate City was located to the south-east of the Capital of the Dominion Empire. Further East, there would be the orc territory; at the edge of the Algate County were the Great Plains of Maldor, the home of the orcs and giants. Li Wei was very interested in looking at the other races; it was after all one of the selling points of the game. However, he knew this would not be available before the first expansion. After a few minutes, Li Wei finally settled onto an interesting quest. The quest consisted of escorting a caravan of herb merchants traveling east to Verdan Town. The latter was not very far and would require about 5 days of travel on a horse. It was at a reasonable distance and Verdan Town looked like a decent town where a family of the Fleeting Clouds Sect might have settled. There could be up to 9 others players accompanying him; for now, 6 of the available seats were booked. If the quest was successful, Li Wei would obtain 15000 exp and 1500 Contribution Points. It was not a bad reward; it was quite low but that was without considering what they would obtain by hunting and killing monsters along the way. The caravan consisted of 5 vehicles, 10 players would not necessarily be enough and so, 5 NPC adventurers were also coming along. Meals and horses were provided by the merchants but he will naturally have to pay for his return expenses. The departure time was at 12:00 today. In Li Wei''s opinion, it was an attractive quest. He immediately accepted it and was told to meet near the east gate of the city at 11:45. He obtained a small badge to present to the merchants in order to prove his identity. "Thank you!" said Li Wei at the receptionist that just processed his request. He quickly left and went to the Alchemist Association that was not very far. It was already 9:13 which could be considered a reasonable time to look for someone. There were so many quests and it was normal for it to take that long, after all, Li Wei was not just picking a random quest with good rewards, looking at the destination and duration was also important. ... At the Alchemist Association, Li Wei did not get to meet Moody Writer. The latter was busy with something important and therefore only left a package at the reception for Li Wei to collect. It naturally contained Li Wei''s long desired Moon Stone. He did not mind just taking the item. In fact, Li Wei was rather relieved since he was quite busy this morning; he still needed to go to the Fleeting Clouds Sect''s headquarters and look for some quests they might have. This way, he would make the most out of his small adventure. He simply took the package and placed it in his inventory. Moon Stones were rare and there was no need to advertise it to the public. With the Moon Stone safe, Li Wei quickly went to look for his second quest. The Fleeting Clouds Sect used the same system as the other associations. This was to avoid creating confusion with different procedures but it was not very useful; many players complained that they often mixed the two together and that a new system was needed. This was something many guilds were working on; it was not easy to come up with a new efficient system. The quests of the guild were naturally different from those of the associations. Players like Li Wei could also create quests and post them. Many players needing help in some quests or specific items were doing so. The different families would also post special quests and these were what Li Wei was looking for. Since the Fleeting Clouds Sect was expanding outside Algate City, they naturally needed items, materials, and equipment. These were naturally available at the other towns but they were more scarce and expensive. It was also more beneficial to the guild to use the equipment they craft themselves or the materials they collect. When Li Wei looked at the interface, he quickly found what he was looking for. Effectively, a quest was available and it consisted of delivering ores to Verdan Town. The quest was posted a few days ago by the Yu family. It was an ongoing quest, that is they had so many ores to carry that one player alone would not be enough. Several players could take the quest and even retake it later. The reward varied according to the amount of ores he would carry but before that, he needed to sign a contract. It was a safety measure in case the players were planning on stealing the ores! First of all, they could not use the ores for their own purposes and needed to deliver it to the Yu family. However, there was a flaw; the player could simply ask others to kill him and as such, he would drop some ores. They were not very expensive as a unit, but if the player was carrying a lot, he would naturally drop a considerable amount. And so, the second part of the contract said that in case of loss of the ores, the player would have to pay for each missing ore at the market price. Aside from that, the player would obtain 10 contribution points per ore. Considering Li Wei''s inventory, he could earn a maximum of 15000 contribution points in one go. But that was naturally impossible; he could not simply fill his inventory with ores, he needed other essential items too. And so, Li Wei decided to only fill 10 inventory spaces which could each contain 50 units of the item. He quickly signed the contract and with that done, Li Wei quickly went back to his room; he could no longer wait to upgrade his ring! ... As soon as he arrived in his room, Li Wei took out the package from his inventory. The ordinary looking box was quickly opened and revealed the precious item inside. The Moon Stone looked ordinary; it was a greyish perfect sphere, looking more like a pearl than a moon. The only thing strange about the Moon Stone was that it was releasing a faint cold aura, Li Wei''s hands immediately felt a chill when they grabbed the stone. Strangely, it was neither pleasant nor unpleasant. Without hesitation, the storage chest of the room was emptied and the necessary items to the upgrade of the ring of chaos were all gathered. "Now how do I upgrade the ring?" asked Li Wei. The last time, he only needed to take out the items and they immediately started fusing together. But now, even with a bunch of items there, nothing was happening. He looked at the details of the quest but there were no instructions. 5 minutes later, there was still no reaction. "mmm do I need to take out the Goblin Blood out of the vials? Maybe if I mix all of them together?" Li Wei quickly grabbed a large bowl and filled it with Goblin Blood. The thick red liquid quickly filled the bowl and Li Wei tossed the remaining items inside. The Beast Cores were floating at the surface of this red mixture while the Moon Stone already disappeared inside. With that done, the last item was quickly added: the ring of chaos. Li Wei removed the black ring and tossed it in the bowl. A few minutes went by but to Li Wei''s disappointment, nothing happened. "Sigh... I need to look for how to upgrade it now?" With a quick look at his interface, Li Wei found that it was already 10:30. He still had an hour before the meeting at the east gate. There was probably enough time to quickly go to the blacksmith shop and ask for the way to upgrade the ring! Li Wei was about to leave when suddenly, a lonely bubble momentarily appeared at the surface of the red mixture before exploding. "Huh?" This did not go unnoticed by Li Wei. The latter quickly stopped moving and focused his attention back on the mixture. A few seconds later, another bubble appeared and quickly exploded. He did not know what was happening but that was definitely good news; a reaction was happening! But the question was how long that would take, he could not miss the departure time of his quest. Quickly, the reaction seemed to become more lively; more and more bubbles appeared in the bowl; it was clear that the level of the liquid was slowly decreasing. "Blubb blub" Time went by but Li Wei quickly lost interest. He lay on his bed to check the forums; many new posts were recently made complaining about attacks. Apparently, some NPC organization were starting to act and killed many players here and there. It was starting to become alarming especially since many that were attacked did not go to hunt too far from towns or cities. Despite the numerous reports and complaints, the guards did nothing to help the players. In the end, the players could only rely on themselves and many resorted to joining guilds or partying when going to hunt. Li Wei quietly read the different posts to look for interesting news. It was a common thing he did especially when he was bored. 30 minutes after the start of the reaction, Li Wei stood up to look at the now empty bowl. He let out a smile before grabbing the black ring left at the bottom of the bowl. The black ring now looked more attractive than before; it was as if some polish was applied on it. Apart from that, there did not seem to be much change. As Li Wei stared at the ring, the information window eventually popped up: [Ring of Chaos](Grade 2)(Upgradable) Vitality +1 Intelligence +2 Skill : [Chaos Sphere], [Veil of Chaos] Effect 1: Experience gained +3% Effect 2: Soul bound-Cannot be dropped/exchanged/sold/unequipped [An exclusive gift given to those bestowed with a name by Gaia] "mmm" [Veil of Chaos] Covers the user with chaos energy and allows the user to cover his identity to some extent. Passive Effect: Can fake user''s level by making it appear larger or smaller by 2 As Li Wei looked at the new skill, he became disappointed. What was the use of faking his level? As far as he was aware, this skill was completely useless to him but a skill was still a skill and it did not seem to cost any mana to use. He quickly chose to increase his level by 2 and as he looked at his interface, his level immediately changed to 17. "mmm, I don''t see any use now but maybe in the future..." The [Veil of Chaos] was not very attractive to Li Wei but the rest of the changes were not bad especially the fact that [Chaos Sphere] leveled up to a level 1 skill. It now dealt 50 damage instead of 25! That was a huge increase in power! Especially since mage''s skill at this level dealt an average of 40 damage. The actual [Chaos Sphere] could be considered as a top-tier skill for the actual state of the game. It was also the first level 1 spell Li Wei obtained! Despite using all his other skills repetitively, none of them leveled up and there was no information about how to level skills either. He was starting to think that it was a myth until he finally got to see a level 1 skill. "It''s a pity the stats did not increase much, but the skill is still useful... The only problem now is that I need to find out how to upgrade it again... It''s a never ending cycle..." 77 Departure Somewhere in the southern district of Algate City. "Boom boom boom!" "Crash!" A loud sound resonated in a deserted alley as 2 guards smashed their hammers into a wooden door. The door looked normal like an ordinary emergency exit door usually located at the back of buildings. Yet, this door only gave up and flung open after more than 20 consecutive attacks from those 2 level 25 guards. As the door finally opened, guards immediately swarmed inside; paladins lead the way and were quickly followed by mages and warriors. The group consisted of more than 20 guards and more importantly, they were accompanied by a group of 10 players. The players'' leader was none other than Shining Blade, the guild master of Stone Defenders. As the guards entered, they were not polite; instead, they violently destroyed whatever came into sight. Tables were turned over and destroyed, a counter, on which several empty bottles were placed, was completely smashed under the hammers of the guards. Mages quickly shot [Mana Bolts] at the empty cupboards, turning the place into a complete mess. "Continue moving!" The group continued to walk forward, smashing everything along the way. Room after room, they mercilessly destroyed everything; yet, not a single person stood out to stop them. The place was desert. Eventually, they reached the last room but as they smashed the door open, a foul smell assaulted the guard. "Ahh" Complaints were heard but the guards still proceeded forward. However, they became more careful this time. As Shining Blade and his party members entered the room, horror filled their eyes as they could not help but quickly want to look away and leave this place. "What the F*ck is that?!" "This is supposed to be censored!" Compared to the composed guards, the players were simply not used to such scenes. In front of them, corpses being hung or lying on operations tables could be seen. They were clearly in a state of decomposition, some worms could even be found on a few bodies. The horrifying part was that several body parts were missing, it was clear that these people were tortured or could even have been subjected to human experiments. Even Shining Blade, who was doing his best to stay calm as the leader could not hold much longer. He quickly raised his hand and backed out of the room followed by the other players. As for the guards, they started rummaging the place, looking for hints. The captain of the guards quickly came out of the room to speak to Shining Blade. "Sir, I am sorry. I have misled you here, I shall take full responsibility," said Shining Blade as soon as he saw the officer. The latter let out a smile, "don''t worry Shining Blade, it is clear that this is indeed the lair of one of the evil cults. We were too late and they have probably already run away. But at least, we discovered one of their bases; we might find some useful information here." "You are right, let me lend you a hand. I and my men shall examine the previous rooms carefully!" answered Shining Blade. "Yes, this place is big, we''ll finish more quickly if you help us," ... An hour later, Shining Blade and the guards once again gathered. "Reporting Sir, we suspect that the evil cultists have recently fled from this place. They probably somehow heard about our operation and left in a hurry. There are many signs that prove that; most notably the fact that many items and even materials were left behind. We estimate that they left this place about 2 hours ago." "They should have moved to another hideout! Otherwise, it is impossible for them to empty such a large storage room so quickly. This place was definitely an alchemical lab, we found many traces of herbs and plants typically used in by both alchemists and poison masters." "That is good, what about the bodies? Were they identified?" "We are still in the process of identification, 2 have been recognized as being beggars that suddenly disappeared a month ago in the southern district, as for the others, we need more time." "Good good, continue the examination, we''ll leave soon. I need to report to the bishop." After dealing with the guard, the captain turned to Shining Blade, "Although we did not capture any evil cult envoy, the information was indeed accurate. We will reward you accordingly" "Thank you captain, if I found any information about these evil cults, I will definitely contact you again!" answered Shining Blade while smiling. He was not being benevolent nor did he reveal the location of an evil cult because he was looking to restore justice in this world. The only reason why Shining Blade was doing that was to build a relationship with the church. The latter was naturally at war with all evil cults of the continent but despite facing so many enemies, it prevailed as one of the most influential forces. If Shining Blade could develop some relationship with the church, it would greatly benefit the Stone Defenders in the long run. And so, after he found the location of some evil cult followers, he quickly shared this information with the church. Unfortunately, when they arrived here to deal with them, the place was found deserted; only corpses and a few items remained. Although they failed to capture anyone, Shining Blade and his party members would at least receive some rewards. ... 30 minutes earlier, at the east gate of Algate City. Li Wei arrived 5 minutes before the appointed time. After equipping the ring of Chaos, Li Wei also rearranged his inventory, removing most of the useless items. He basically only kept some potions and enough food for a few meals. This time, he also decided to take with him the Pyro Bomb. He did not know if he would need it but it was better to keep it ready to be used than to let it rot in the storage chest. As he arrived, Li Wei quickly noticed the caravan he would escort. It was easy to find them just by looking at the symbols on the caravans. Each merchant caravan had their own trademark or a distinguishable badge or emblem. A few players were already sitting on their horses near the caravan. They all looked impatient to leave. "Seems like I''m last?" thought Li Wei. As he approached the merchants, the players naturally looked at him and gauged him. He would be their partners in this quest; it was normal to try to evaluate the level of their teammates. "Hello, I am Seven. I registered for the escort mission," said Li Wei as he presented the badge. A tall bearded merchant quickly stood up and took the badge. After a few seconds of careful examination, the merchant let out a smile and presented Li Wei to the merchants. "Since you are here, let''s quickly start moving! We are a little late on the schedule!" said another merchant. "Late? It''s not even 11:45 yet?" thought Li Wei. He quickly jumped onto the horse he was given and the whole caravan started moving. He did not know why but this caravan gave him a weird feeling. The merchants were all level 20 and some of them were quite muscular. They did not look like they needed protection; even the frail-looking merchants were holding mage staffs, they all clearly knew how to fight. As for the NPC adventurers, none of them looked particularly welcoming. Their levels varied but it seemed like the weakest of this group were the players. The merchants quickly whipped the horses who started pulling the carts. And so, the whole group slowly moved towards the gate. The guards there naturally stopped the group but after a brief discussion with the merchant leader, they were all allowed to go through. Only a few eyes would be able to see the quick transaction that occurred between the captain and the merchant leader. Li Wei was staying at the back of the caravans together with 5 other players. At the front of the group, the 5 NPC adventurers were opening the way and were closely followed by the merchant carts. A few players were riding their horses on the flank of the caravan while the remaining players were protecting it from the back. The players were silent at first, everyone was gauging each other. All the 10 available places were occupied. Many of them came from guilds Li Wei had never heard of before but one player was a member of the Stone Defenders. The latter was a mage with the IGN Galaxy. Compared to the other members of that guild, Galaxy did not have a strong oppressive aura that was commonly found in the soldiers. Instead, he was quite short and looked funny with his large round glasses. In the game, glasses were considered as an accessory. They could provide players with some stats or special effects. It was the first time Li Wei was actually seeing someone wear glasses, it was quite abnormal in the real world, especially after the advent of a new laser technology which could heal people''s eyes. Apart from Galaxy, there was a young couple that was standing out of the group, 2 tanned men with bows on their shoulders, a rogue who was hiding his features under a dark hood, a young woman who was clearly a mage, a paladin who had a huge scar on his face and a warrior with throwing axes hanging at his waist. The young couple was guarding the right side of the caravan while the rogue and the warrior with the axes were guarding the left side. This left Li Wei in the company of Galaxy, the 2 tanned men, and the young mage. The tanned men clearly knew each other and did not have any intention of socializing with the others. The atmosphere was quite tensed, but quickly, Galaxy looked at Li Wei, trying to assess his strength. "So you are from the Fleeting Clouds Sect, I am looking forward to seeing you fight!" said Galaxy while moving his glasses with his index. The 2 tanned men quickly turned to look at Li Wei. While many people heard about the Fleeting Clouds Sect and the Stone Defenders, they only knew the main branch of these guilds. Not everyone would take the time to memorize all the branch guilds and so, when they saw that Li Wei came from a guild called Avalanche, they did not think he was someone important. "What do you mean by that?" asked Li Wei. "Everyone knows that the Fleeting Clouds Sect has some special skills they can use. Every time I see someone from your guild fight, they always use skills I never saw before. I am naturally very curious about which one you learned." answered Galaxy. Despite the words he spoke, there was no malice in his words, only genuine curiosity. "But I can say the same to you. Doesn''t the Stone Defenders also have some special training programmes that can increase your stats?" "Haha, a few additional stats points is boring when compared to a new skill. But again, I am just a recruit so I only got access to the bad quality ones, so don''t expect too much from me for the fights." The two chatted for a moment but it was quickly followed by a long awkward silence. Slowly, Li Wei got used to the rhythm of the horse. The "Clip Clop" resonated in his ears as he looked at the landscape. It was once again the boring endless fields of crops but looking at the wheat dancing to the wind was quite appeasing. ... A few hours later, the caravan finally came to a halt in front of a small inn. Everyone quickly got off the horses. After hours in that position, Li Wei''s muscles were completely sore. He really wanted a massage right now. However, there was no time to rest if he wanted to enjoy a meal. The merchants and the escort quickly entered the inn and sat down to eat. Strangely, the merchants were quite generous and offered everyone a warm meal. Meals were supposed to be provided by them, but Li Wei never expected to receive this kind of meal. Although the merchants looked ferocious and strong, it seemed like they were quite kind-hearted. The meal was simple but it was filling. However, after eating, Li Wei, the players, and the NPC adventurers had to go outside to feed the horses. They were all responsible for their own horses and also needed to feed those of the merchants. The horses were all safely resting in the barn of the inn. The barn also turned out to be the escort''s sleeping place for the night. Although the merchants offered a meal, they were not generous to the point of graciously paying everyone a room for the night. And so, the escort ended up in the barn which was much better than sleeping in the open air. Strangely, the hay was not uncomfortable. Li Wei even found his bed of hay quite comfortable; that night, he had no trouble finding sleep. 78 Long journey 2 days went by quickly. During this time, the caravan made significant progress on their long journey; after the countless fields of what still waiting to be harvested, Li Wei and his group were now slowly making their way through a vast green forest: the Mirage Forest. It was a strange place; it was rumored that an evil cult was actually hiding there, using illusions to hide from the empire''s army. The Mirage Forest was considered as a relatively dangerous place; if possible, people would usually avoid it. However, when the players asked the merchants about their decisions, they answered that they were in a hurry and needed to quickly reach Verdan Town. By going in a straight line through the Mirage Forest, they would effectively be able to save a whole day''s worth of time. The journey from Algate City to Verdan Town could in fact only be completed in 5 days if they went through the Mirage Forest. It was something the players were not aware of, they were not told the itinerary they would take, only the destination. As a result, they could only internally grumble for not asking for more details, they had already signed the contract and could not back off now. Even if they backed off, that would mean wasting 5 whole days considering that they would need to return to Algate City. The mood was not at its best, especially since the weather was very capricious. After yesterday''s lunch, clouds suddenly started to gather all over the county and naturally, it did not take long before it started raining. Li Wei was not prepared for this situation, considering that he never really had to travel in the rain, he never thought about it. But fortunately, he was traveling with merchants; after taking out 2 gold, he was given a simple coat with a hood. He was certain the merchants were taking advantage of the situation to highly overprice the coat but what could he do? Traveling in the rain would definitely affect his status, and so, Li Wei could only pay. Many players were already prepared for this situation, it was not the first time they were taking escort missions. Fortunately, Li Wei was not the only one caught unprepared, the young couple and the mage also join the club and all had to take out some gold for a coat. Over the past 2 days, the awkwardness between the players slowly disappeared. They spent a lot of time together setting the camp at night and fighting monsters. They slowly got used to each other and were even chatting when they were riding their horses. Li Wei was no exception and quickly integrated with the group. The mage was called Maestra, she was, in fact, a relatively famous streamer in real life. Despite joining the game, she did not give up her passion and was recording every second of their journey. Li Wei was puzzled at first when he heard Maestra randomly speak aloud but when he asked, he understood why. She was using a [Recording Crystal] which acted like a camera. With it, Maestra could continuously film her environment. The Recording Crystal came as an accessory in the form of a pendant; and so, she would often grab her pendant and raise it to get a better angle or sometimes, she would unequip it, especially at night. The [Recording Crystal] was not cheap, it was considered as a grade 1 equipment even if it gave no stats or benefits. It cost 20 gold despite its recording duration lasting only for 3 hours. After these 3 hours, Maestra would simply take out another Recording Crystal. At the end of the day, she would quickly filter the day''s event and post it on the forum in the entertainment category. The forum became an indispensable part of the players'' life; it was like the internet where almost everything could be found. People would browse the forum daily and as a result, several categories were created, including the entertainment category. Maestra posted videos daily on the forum and actually gathers a significant amount of viewers for each one. She was definitely not the most popular but she was faring for herself and a few players even donated a few gold here and there. ... "We shall stop here for the night!" declared the merchant leader as he jumped off his horse. Quickly, everyone dismounted and started to set up the camp. It was a normal procedure, they were now too far from the city or any town to be able to enjoy the luxury of an inn. The players could only set tents and eat their cold rations. As for the merchants, they slept in their carts which were more comfortable than outside tents. "Let''s go grab some wood for the fire!" said Li Wei to Galaxy who was standing next to him. The latter nodded with a "mmm". The two belonged to rival guilds and maintained some distance between them. But for the success of the quest, they worked together on several occasions when they fought beasts. The Mirage Forest housed level 13-18 Red Foxes. Strangely, these foxes seemed to be avoiding them when they went through the forest. There would be times when Li Wei would see some Red Foxes staring at them in the distance. However, they never attacked the caravan, not even once as if they were afraid of something. Despite its reputation, Li Wei found the Mirage Forest completely normal. It did not differ much from the other forests he visited; there was even a thin path which allowed the carts to pass through the trees. Galaxy quickly walked to the side bushes and started picking some twigs here and there. Sometimes, they would find some dead branches or if they were unlucky, then they would simply cut a few branches off a tree. Lighting up a fire was essential, it would provide a source of heat and also keep the wild animals away. More importantly, it was used to cook a few meals. The merchants would take out some ingredients every day and cook their meal. Unfortunately, they did not share it with the players, after the generosity of the first day, the players had to fend for themselves. "What do you think of this forest?" suddenly asked Galaxy. "Huh?" "I have a bad feeling about this place, you know about the rumors that an evil cult has a group of followers here?" "Naturally, but we just have to be careful and it will be alright," answered Li Wei. "It is just that after serving in the military, I just have a bad feeling whenever something is about to happen." Hearing that, Li Wei frowned, "Do you think we are already trapped in an illusion?" "I don''t think so..." "Then did you tell the others?" asked Li Wei with suspicion in his eyes. "Not yet, I only told you that because you were from the Fleeting Clouds Sect. As for the others, you can warn them but again, there is no guarantee that something will happen. It is just my gut feeling." answered Galaxy while picking another branch. "There is no need to alarm them without any proof." Let''s go back then. We have enough wood for the night, the others should also have gathered some." Galaxy nodded before following behind Li Wei. The latter was already walking back towards the camp and did not hear Galaxy murmur: "Tsssk... I thought he was smarter than that, there is definitely something wrong... I''ll have to rely on myself." He quietly walked behind as he focused on Li Wei and in his eyes, a few numbers appeared above the head of Li Wei. A few seconds later, the glasses he was wearing trembled for a moment and the numbers disappeared. "High Dexterity and decent Strength... Interesting" ... Back at the camp, a fire was already started by the NPC adventurers. Many tents were also set up on the side and the horses were fed. "Come everyone! Let''s share a good meal! I feel sorry for not warning you that we will be going through the Mirage Forest. We have some extra meal portions here, you can have them for free! It will change from the usual cold rations!" declared the merchant leader as he signaled everyone to approach. Li Wei and the players were discussing among themselves while taking out their rations. When they heard the merchant leader, they were all naturally attracted! How could a nice hot meal compare to rations? Especially after traveling in the rain for hours, everyone just wanted something warm. One of the merchants took out a huge cooking pot and started pouring water. The rest quickly brought vegetables and pieces of meat, as well as some spices. "Ahh, I wish I knew how to cook!" said Maestra on the side. The little mage quickly took out her Recording Crystal and started filming the merchants who were preparing the ingredients. Seeing the enormous amount of food, Li Wei, and the players quickly went to help the merchants. Although they were not cooks, there was no need to have the profession to be able to cut or peel the vegetables. A few minutes later, the water in the pot was boiling; a merchant quickly threw some spices in the form of powders and quickly, an appetizing smell rose from the pot. The pieces of meat were quickly added, followed by the vegetables. "It is a pity we don''t have any alcohol..." complained one of the NPC adventurers. But he was quickly hit on the head, "You still need to do your watch tonight! Don''t think you''ll escape this time! Tonight, you''ll have the second shift!" "What? No not the second shift!!!" Everyone laughed when they looked at the adventurer''s reaction. The second shift of the watch was indeed the worst one. Simply because his sleep would be interrupted in the middle of the night; the first shift would simply mean that he would sleep later than usual while the last shift meant he would wake up earlier. But the second shift was simply cutting his sleep into 2 parts. "Now now, the soup is ready! There is also so bread here, pass it around!" said a merchant while taking out loaves of bread. Quickly, everyone received a piece and eagerly waited for the soup. The appetizing suddenly burst out of the pot as the lid was removed and a merchant swiftly served everyone. "Thank you!" "Thanks!" Although the portions were not massive, there was definitely enough for a meal. It was just that in these conditions, the soup looked extremely enticing and everyone wanted a larger portion. The players all quickly thanked the merchants as they started eating. The merchant leader smiled, "you don''t need to thank me, agreeing to escort us is already enough!" With that, everyone ate peacefully. Li Wei quickly attacked his plate. The soup was rather thick and contained a lot of common vegetables. A large chicken thigh could also be found bathing in the middle of the carrots and potatoes on his plate. Li Wei felt a feeling of warmth go down his body as he drank the soup. It was a very comfortable feeling. The loaf of bread perfectly complemented the soup, adding some texture and at the same time some flavor. Everyone seemed to enjoy this hot meal. The merchants even took out a bottle and passed it among themselves. Unfortunately, the players and the adventurers did not get any sips since they would need to stay on guard during the night. On the other hand, the merchants were free to sleep the entire night and so, they could afford to get drunk. After the meal, Li Wei went back to his tent and sat down for a while. This journey was proving to be not as bad as he thought. Despite the bad weather, Li Wei enjoyed being able to look at different landscapes and be closer to nature. The biggest downside was not being able to practice his techniques. It was not that it was forbidden, but he did not like the fact that Galaxy would observe him whenever he would start training. As a result, Li Wei simply chose to not train for the rest of the journey. It would only last 5 days at most. After checking the forum for any interesting news, Li Wei closed his eyes and slowly fell asleep. ... "Boom!" "Ahhhh!" "Bang!" Li Wei suddenly jolted awake. No matter how deep his sleep was, there was no way he would not hearing these. It sounded like people were fighting! He quickly got up and drew his swords but at that moment, a "-5" appeared above his head. "What?" When he looked at his HP bar, he could not help but panic! He already had less than 60 HP which represented less than half of his Max HP. He quickly looked for the source of these strange events and found the answer in his event logs. [You have been afflicted by an unknown poison; dexterity, and strength -3] [You have been afflicted by an unknown poison; HP -5] [You have been afflicted by an unknown poison; HP -5] 79 Escape "What on earth is happening? When did I get poisoned?" Confused, Li Wei started to recall what happened. As far as he was aware, there was only one thing that might have poisoned him! He easily put the pieces together; there was no doubt the food they ate with the merchants was poisoned! That meant that everyone was probably also poisoned! Li Wei quickly opened his inventory and took out an antidote. The small pill was quickly tossed inside his mouth but he did not receive the system prompt he was expecting: [System prompt: the antidote you consumed is not effective against the poison] "F*ck!" Li Wei cursed loudly and quickly drank a health potion to refill his HP. Outside, the fighting noises were becoming clearer! He could easily guess that those who were asleep all woke up and probably joined the fight. "-5" Another tick of the poison lowered Li Wei''s HP. "hmmm in that case..." Li Wei quickly took out another antidote. This time, it was a potion; the one concocted by the Lake Fairy. He quickly removed the cap and downed the antidote. A few seconds later, the long-awaited system prompt appeared: [System prompt: the antidote you consumed has neutralized the poison] Li Wei let out a sigh of relief but there was no time to celebrate. "Cling Cling" Loud sounds of two metal hitting each other came from just outside his tent. Li Wei knew he could not stay there any longer, he quickly grabbed his 2 swords and stormed out of the tent. As he came out, Li Wei quickly saw the two fighters: one of them was a masked warrior while the other was the scared face paladin who belonged to the escort. The latter was clearly on the losing side, desperately using his shield to block his opponent''s sword strikes. The paladin had less than 50 health left and was completely suppressed by his opponent. He rushed out of his tent as soon as he heard the noises but he was immediately attacked by the masked warrior. Due to the poison, his strength and dexterity were drastically reduced. He could protect himself with his shield but it was clear he wouldn''t last for long. The masked warrior activated [Cleave] and was about to smash the paladin''s shield. The latter saw the skill and closed his eyes, preparing for the impact. But to his surprise, the impact never came, instead, a loud painful scream was heard. When he lowered his shield to have a look, he saw that another player had just stabbed the masked warrior with 2 swords. When Li Wei saw the paladin in a dangerous situation, he immediately reacted and charged at the masked warrior. He used the Gliding Steps to make as less noise as possible and when the masked warrior activated [Cleave], Li Wei mercilessly pierced his swords in the warrior''s back, activating [Impale] to maximize the damage. The masked warrior was level 20 but he did not have a lot of vitality. He had a total of 150 HP but with Li Wei''s sword piercing his defenseless back, he lost more than 50 HP at once. "Ah! A dirty rat is sneaking on me!" said the warrior as he turned to look at Li Wei. There was a difference of 5 levels between the two, there was no way Li Wei could defeat him. But fortunately, Li Wei was not alone. The paladin who was now facing the masked warrior''s mask was also present and he immediately acted. [Taunt] "F*ck! You did not learn your lesson!" shouted the masked warrior. With fury in his eyes, he disregarded Li Wei and swung his sword back at the paladin. This bought Li Wei time to pull back his sword and attack again. But it was clear that the paladin would not survive for long. He barely had 30 HP after a couple of attacks. The paladin could not see the masked warrior''s face, but the slight movement of the mask told him that he was cruelly smiling. The paladin saw the masked warrior raise his huge sword high above his head and violently smashed it down. "Bang!" A violent shock went through the shield as the paladin''s health plummeted to 10. Li Wei managed to lower the distracted masked warrior''s health to 70, but that was clearly not enough. The warrior was already raising his sword again, preparing to deal the final blow to the paladin. But at that moment, "Woosh Woosh" 2 faint sounds were heard and were quickly followed by the painful scream of the masked warrior who immediately dropped his sword. 2 arrows flew in the darkness of the night and directly pierced the masked warrior''s eyes. Behind the exhausted paladin, the silhouettes of the two tanned men of the escort slowly walked forward, their bow ready to be fired again. "Ahhh my eyes!" The masked warrior loudly complained but he was now completely defenseless. His eyes were hurting are were completely disabled. Even as he violently pulled out the two arrows, his bloodied eyes could not see a thing. Taking advantage of the situation, Li Wei quickly attacked, taking down the now blind warrior. He tried to grab his sword back, but without being able to see, it looked like he was just randomly moving his arms around him. In the end, he quickly fell under Li Wei''s sword. "Thanks!" declared the paladin as he took out a health potion and quickly drank it. As he did that, a "-5" appeared above his head. "You have also been poisoned?" asked Li Wei. "Yes, and the antidotes are useless... I can only delay the inevitable with health potions," answered the paladin. As Li Wei looked around him, he saw that other fights were taking place. Several NPC adventurers were fighting head-on with other masked attackers. More importantly, it seemed like everyone was effectively poisoned. The merchants were nowhere to be seen. "How can they still sleep with all this noise?" thought Li Wei. At the same time, Galaxy, accompanied by the rest of the players joined Li Wei''s group. "We need to get moving!" declared Galaxy as soon as he arrived. "What? I don''t understand... Why are we running away? We need to protect the merchants!" said Maestra with her innocent voice. But no one answered her. Instead, the two tanned men nodded and took the lead. They ran in the direction opposite to the merchant caravan with their bows ready to fire. "We have been poisoned by the merchants! It is obvious that they are in cahoot with the evil cult! They might even be members of the evil cult!" declared Galaxy. "We need to run away quickly! For now, they are focusing on the NPC adventurers who are stronger and might be a threat. We need to take this small time window to get away quickly! It''s our only chance of escaping alive." continued Galaxy. Panic appeared on Maestra eyes, it was the first time she was confronted with this situation and did not know what to do. She quietly followed the group, doing her best not to cause trouble to anyone. As for Li Wei, he determined the same thing as Galaxy. The fact that he was poisoned could only mean that the food was poisonous but the merchants also ate together! But there was one thing that only the merchants consumed: the alcohol! ... At the camp, only 2 NPC adventurers were still alive. 3 have already perished while the remaining ones were already on the brink of death. With the poison slowly ticking away their health and the reduced stats, they would not last for too long either. Ten masked individuals were surrounding the NPCs. They were all expressionlessly looking at their prey. On the side, the merchants'' carts suddenly moved and the dozen of merchant stepped out of the carts. However, they did not look surprised by the outcome. Instead, the merchant leader calmly approached the masked attackers. "How is it going?" asked the merchant leader. "The poison was effective, these two won''t last for long!" The merchant leader nodded, "then what about the strangers? Were they not supposed to rush there to protect us?" "I don''t know, did they figure something out and all decide to run away? said the masked man. "But that does not matter, it is the Mirage Forest, we can easily find them and they are still poisoned. Even if they will not die from it, they would at least be paralyzed" "That''s good, we''ll send some men to capture them, the envoy is impatient to examine these strangers to find why they can actually revive upon death!" "Bang!" As the loud sound resonated through the camp, the merchant leader turned to see the last NPC adventurer dying to a [Fireball] "Since we are done here, we''ll send half of the men to capture those strangers while the other half help to move the herbs you brought! These damn guards, they almost took over the entire reserve of herbs!" said the masked man. ... "What do we do for the poison?" asked the warrior with the axes. When he looked around him, Li Wei noticed "-5" appearing above the head of the players with the exception of one player: Galaxy. When the players saw their HP drop, they also noticed the fact that Li Wei and Galaxy did not take damage from the poison. "I used holy water to remove the poison! I only had one bottle, sorry" said Galaxy. "Then what is the point of running away? We will all die anyway?" said a priest. "Don''t worry dear, it will be fine!" said the priest''s husband. The nine players were running away as fast as possible. Li Wei was running next to the paladin who looked completely exhausted. "What about you Seven? How did you get rid of the poison?" asked Galaxy. "I used an antidote. It is of a higher grade, so it was able to neutralize the poison," answered Li Wei. Naturally, he did not mention the fact that he still had one antidote left. He did not want to cause any argument in the team, especially if they wanted to escape safely, they needed to work together. "mmm I think it will be better if we go on our own!" For the first time, the hooded rogue spoke and to Li Wei''s surprise, the voice belonged to a female. "What do you mean? It is only together that we''ll be able to survive!" said the priest. "Now is not the time to argue, we should work together in this sort of situation!" declared Galaxy who somehow ended up as the leader of the party. He was a mage and yet, he was standing at the very front of the formation. The rogue roughly answered, "do whatever you want. I do not plan on dying there! Good luck!" And as she said that, the rogue suddenly jumped on a tree, and activated her skill [Double jump] which allowed her to jump again while using the stem of the tree as a support. Just like that, she disappeared in the foliage. Li Wei frowned, he also felt like he had a higher chance of survival if he ran as fast as possible. He invested a lot in dexterity and could naturally run faster, right now, he was only keeping up with everyone else but his peak speed would be at least twice faster. However, the rogue''s act already damaged the team''s harmony. The 2 tanned men looked at each other before saying: "Since it''s like that, we shall also take our leave! We wish you best of luck!" After that, the two ran into the bushes in a different direction. The two were rangers which was a class that had a high affinity with nature. They naturally had some skill that could help them hide in the wild, it was normally used when hunting preys and setting up ambushes, but it was also useful for this type of situation. Galaxy was clearly not happy at the new development but said with a severe voice, "if you want to leave and try your own things, feel free to do it. But do it now! I do not have any guaranty to be able to save you but I also don''t want to waste my energy in trying to save someone that might betray me at the last moment!" Those still remaining in the group became pensive. But in the end, they all chose to move on their own. It started with the paladin and the warrior who each bade farewell before running in different directions. Then, the couple also chose to leave the group, leaving only Galaxy, Maestra and Li Wei. The latter was in a dilemma but in the end, he also believed going on his own was the best solution. This was just a game, what was the worst that could happen? It was just dying and losing a level, he might as well try his best! And so, "Sorry, but I will also do the same! Let us meet again outside the Mirage Forest!" said Li Wei as he suddenly used all his strength and dashed out of view. Only Maestra and Galaxy were left. The former had a very nervous and frightened expression. She knew she was the weakest of the group and only went on the quest to get some content for the forum! She never expected this thing to happen and was naturally very scared. She looked at Galaxy, knowing very well that he will also abandon her. However, to her surprise, Galaxy smiled. "So it''s only the two of us left, how convenient!" "What do you mean?" asked Maestra. "It turns out I have a teleportation scroll with me and when I use it, I can bring another player with me!" answered Galaxy. "Really? That is great! Let us quickly get out fo this place!" said Maestra. Her tone immediately brightened as she saw a ray of hope. "Naturally naturally! But just so you know, the scroll will teleport us at a random location 50km away! There is no way to know where we''ll end" Galaxy quickly took out an old scroll. It looked like one of those old egyptian parchments. He quickly held it in front of him and tore the scroll in two. ''Sigh... Sorry brother, I did not expect to use this unique scroll so quickly'' thought Galaxy as a bright light suddenly surrounded him and Maestra. A few seconds later, the two vanished from the Mirage Forest. 80 Tracked At the place where Li Wei and the other players decided to part ways, a group of masked men were expressionlessly standing there, examining the surroundings. "It looks like they all went in different directions form here." "Then it will be even easier! They only have a ten minute lead, let''s all take one!" declared one of the masked man. As they heard their leader speak, the masked men all started acting. 2 of them activated the skill [Tracking]. It belonged to the hunter class which could be obtained at level 20 if one was a ranger. As its name suggests, it was typically used to trace people and pinpoint their location. The 2 masked men quickly disappeared in the forest, going in the direction that the 2 tanned men and the paladin picked. Two other masked men activated another skill, [Blood Hunt]. This one was an assassin skill which was obtained after improving the rogue class. It was used just like [Tracking] but it had different requirements. [Tracking] could only be used in the wild and needed to be at a location where the target had been 15 minutes ago. As for [Blood Hunt], the target needed to be below 20% HP or bleeding; in these circumstances, the first condition was not hard to achieve since all the players were poisoned and their HP kept dwindling no matter how many Health Potions they would drink. At some point, they naturally ran out of potions. The last two masked men were mages. The skill they used was [Presence Search]. They both emitted an invisible wave that traveled through the Mirage Forest and bounced back to them when they reached a player. It was similar to echo sounding but was specific to humans. Strangely, despite being mages, the two masked men quickly dashed through the forest. They were not any slower than the other masked men. It turned out that one of the two picked the same direction as Li Wei. Now only the leader of the masked men was left behind but he did not move. Instead he simply turned back and started walking back towards the merchants. He had complete trust in his subordinates, these six should be able to bring back everyone or in the worst case scenario, would kill them. ... "Thump! Thump!" Li Wei was running with all his might forward. The forest was relatively dense, making it hard for Li Wei to move quickly. It was extremely dangerous to run at his peak speed; it was in the middle of the night and the tall trees were blocking most of the moonlight. Branches, holes or sudden elevations could be found everywhere. Li Wei almost fell down more than once but he simply could not afford to slow down. He knew people would chase them and he needed to get away quickly. "F*ck, why did I pick this quest! Not only am I not getting any Contribution Point, I''ll even die and have to pay the guild for those stupid ores..." It has already been 15 minutes since Li Wei chose to leave Maestra and Galaxy. To his surprise, he did not meet any Red Foxes as he was escaping. It was supposed to be the night cycle where the red foxes would be the most active but instead, he did not stumbled on even one red foxes. Something was clearly wrong but he did not know what. "At least I am not poisoned and can used all my strength" Li Wei continued to run forward, he was already lost and did not know where he was heading to. Anywhere he looked, he only saw trees and bushes. It was strangely scary, especially knowing that he was being chased, he felt that he was in a horror movie trying to escape. Suddenly, the rustling of the leaves resonated in Li Wei''s ears. "F*ck, they already caught up!" He did not even need to turn to confirm it as a few seconds later, a bright light flew towards him. He could see the light emitted on all the trees in front of him and so, Li Wei immediately jumped to the side. A large [Mana Bolt] flew above his head and exploded on a tree, leaving behind a huge hole in the stem. Li Wei rolled to the side before quickly getting up. While he was getting on his feet, he briefly took a glance at the masked man chasing him. He was still quite far but Li Wei could see the man holding a long staff with a crystal at one end. Around the man, a faint white light was shining, making him stand out of the dark background. Li Wei frowned and quickly broke into a sprint. Not only did he saw his pursuer''s appearance, he also saw his level. Just with this information, Li Wei knew it would be pointless to fight! There was no way he would be able to defeat a level 25 mage. [Mana Burst] Before Li Wei could run too far, the masked man quickly used another skill and aimed right in front of Li Wei. He purposely did not aim directly at Li Wei; his goal was to capture Li Wei, not to kill him. The explosion''s shock wave hit Li Wei right in his face. It was more powerful than any [Mana Burst] he had witnessed before. Despite not being hit, just the shock wave took out 10 HP. But more importantly, a small tree was hit by the skill and lost its strength. The tree inevitably shook for a moment before falling right in front of Li Wei, blocking his way forward. The latter frowned but quickly started running to the right. "That guy! He is clearly trying to capture me!" This small delay allowed the masked man to close the gap to less than 50m. He was abnormally fast for a mage and quickly got in range for other skills. However, he did not dare use them. The masked man did not know how much HP Li Wei had. Considering that he was poisoned, he should not have much and so, the mage did not dare use a too powerful spell that might kill his target. To accomplish his mission, he chose to only use weak basic mage skills. The masked man was well aware of the properties of the poison and so, he was not worried when he saw Li Wei''s action. The poison not only reduced the target''s stats and caused damage over time. The terrifying part was the fact that once the target would reach 10% of his health, he would stop losing health but would instead be inflicted with a total paralysis of the body. As a result, the mage did not care about hurting Li Wei, the poison would simply slowly bring his HP down. All he needed to do was to prevent his target from regenerating through potions and eventually, he would succeed. Li Wei desperately tried to get away from the mage. He was unaware of the mage''s thoughts and tried to take weird path to disorientate the mage. He would randomly turn behind a tree and change direction, sometime, he would jump into a bush and run in a different direction. This lasted for a whole minute but Li Wei was still not able to distance himself from the mage. Instead, the gap was further reduced to 20m and the mage did not even seemed to be tired. It looked like he was just taking a stroll in the park. "Why is he not attacking me? Playing cat and mouse?" said Li Wei to himself as he started to feel despair. "F*ck! There is no way out! It looks like I''ll have to use the pyro bomb here... I hope what the gnome said is true!" grumbled Li Wei. After another whole minute of direct chase, the mage started to have doubts. It was clear that his target was a warrior who focused on dexterity and so, his HP should not be that high. After 2 whole minutes, the poison should have already paralyzed his body or he should at least show signs of weakening, but none of that was happening. "Could it be that he had a powerful antidote on him? Or some powerful religious items?" said the masked man to himself. "If so, then I can be a bit rough" After taking his decision, the mage immediately activated a skill, [Mana Spear]. A bright light immediately appeared next to the crystal on his staff and took the form of a spear. The mage did a throwing motion and instantly, the spear flew across the forest towards Li Wei. The latter was taken by surprised, he did not expect the mage to suddenly stop being passive and attack. The spear flew so quickly that Li Wei did not have time to dodge; it was even faster than a real spear and compared to the latter, it could fly in a straight line and did not near to make arcs to cover long distances. Pain flooded Li Wei''s leg as a red number appeared next to it, "-59". Even his high wisdom was not useful in reducing the magic damage. [Mana Spear] was not a very powerful skill, many players already purchased it at the Mage Association, but when used by the masked man, the skill was without doubt more powerful than normal. The sudden pain caused Li Wei to lose his balance and roll on the ground. He quickly tried to stand up but unfortunately, the mage had already caught up. [Mana Bind] Thin ropes of light suddenly appeared and wrapped around Li Wei''s leg, making him fall back on his butt. The masked man was standing 10m away from Li Wei. "How did you get rid of the poison?" The latter coldly looked at the mage but did not answer. "Trying to hide something from me? Pretend to be strong as long as you want. It will be interesting to see how long you''ll last once we get back to the camp." mockingly said the mage before laughing. "F*ck you! Why are you doing this!" shouted Li Wei. "Hmmp! I am merely fulfilling the wishes of God! Once I bring you back, the Messenger will deal with you!" The masked man slowly approached Li Wei. The latter tried to get up but fail, even if his hands were free, the [Mana Bind] not only locked his two feet together, it also wrapped around a nearby branch; it basically tied Li Wei to the branch. The mage did not seem to be anxious that his prey might escape, instead, he seemed to be enjoying Li Wei''s struggle but as he reached the 5m mark from Li Wei. The latter coldly smiled. He immediately moved back his arm and did a throwing motion. The mage was puzzled, there was clearly nothing in Li Wei''s hand, "did he become crazy already?" thought the mage. But suddenly, a sphere appeared in Li Wei''s hand a flew out towards the mage. The latter did not have time to dodge but he quickly activated [Mana Shield]. His shield was brighter and thicker than the other [Mana Shield] Li Wei had seen. The Pyro bomb flew in an arc and eventually landed on the [Mana shield]. The second it crashed on the shield, its surface ruptured and a pink liquid came out. It did not even last a fraction of a second that the pink liquid immediately ignited as it came into contact with air. Flames bursted out of the liquid and instantly covered the entire area. The mage who was at the center of his [Mana Shield] could not help but gasp, he had never seen a pyro bomb before but this type of fire? He had seen it countless time, it was a perfect replica of the Hell Fire of the Shadow Realm. Li Wei who was still tied by the [Mana bind] closed his eyes. A powerful heat wave struck his whole body as the Pyro Bomb exploded. It was even stronger than the one he faced when setting Alyssa''s Lair on Fire. After a few seconds, he opened his eyes only to see the [Mana Shield] still holding. The mage panicked, he knew how dangerous the fire was but he was completely surrounded. The [Mana shield] had the form of a sphere, completely isolating his body from the environment. But at the same time, it was acting as a prison which was slowly being licked by the flames.. "-10", "-10" continuously appeared on the [Mana shield] and quickly, the shield dispersed itself. As soon as the protective barrier disappeared, the flames all converged on the mage''s body. The latter screamed in pain as his clothes took fire. [Water Ball] The mage quick activated a skill but even as water splashed on his body, the flames did not dispersed. "-10", "-10" The mage''s HP quickly dropped down. He was a mage and did not have a lot of vitality. From the looks of it, he would not last for long. Li Wei stared at the scene both stunned by the Pyro Bomb''s effectiveness and scared by its power. "Maybe I really am a pyromaniac inside..." "Ahhh!!! AHHH!!!" The mage screamed loudly, both fury and pain could be heard from his tone. He kept moving around, desperately trying to extinguish the flames from his body but no matter what he tried, the flames did not weaken. "-10", "-10". The mage''s HP dwindled down to 70. A few seconds later, it was now at 50 but the fire showed no sign of stopping. The fire already burned the surrounding grass and even the man''s mask was burned to ashes, revealing a middle-aged man''s face. Li Wei let out a sigh of relief; he was witnessing a terrifying scene and he was the one that caused it! But at least, that would mean he was safe from now on! However, the mage suddenly stopped moving as his HP hit 30. He became as still as a statue and opened his eyes to look at Li Wei. An evil grin could be seen on his face as he suddenly broke into a laugh! From Li Wei''s point of view, the sudden change in behaviour startled him and even scared him to death. Right now, the mage was looking like the devil himself; laughing loudly with an evil grin as his entire body was being consumed by the flames. But as the mage laughed, a dark mark suddenly appeared on his right eyes, going down his cheek and then moving towards his ear. The mark looked weird like a very curly line. But that mark suddenly lit up, the deep black color suddenly shone and moments later, all the flames that were previously burning the surroundings were absorbed by the mark and disappeared as if nothing happened. The mage was standing in front of Li Wei, continuing to laughed. Finally, he stopped and looked at Li Wei, the mark on his face still glowing. "Kid, did you really think I was done for? Hahaha! Maybe it would have worked on the others, but blame your luck! Fire cannot hurt me! Did you enjoy the tiny little hope I allowed you to have? Hahaha" Li Wei stared at the mage in horror! He simply could not understand what happen. The fire that was previously burning everything was suddenly absorbed by that strange mark. And more importantly, the mage''s health suddenly healed back to 100! 81 Captured Li Wei stared at the mage in horror. His brain was still processing what happened, it was too unbelievable. The Pyro bomb''s destructive power was completely negated by the mark on the mage''s face. The mark was glowing vividly as if eager to devourer more flames. Everything within a 5-meter radius of the mage was completely burned out. Li Wei was lying on the floor just outside that circle. He tried to get up and run away but his legs were still bound by the [Mana Bind]. The mage was coldly laughing as he took a step towards Li Wei. His mage robe was completely burnt and looked like a beggar''s clothes but under these rags, Li Wei could see other marks similar to the one that was glowing on the mage''s head. "Tell me! How do you feel now?" said the mage as he approached Li Wei. His lunatic face looking like a serial killer about to strike. "If I was not ordered to bring you back alive! I would take my time to torture you for trying such an underhanded move! You are lucky the Messenger ordered to bring you back in the best shape possible!" declared the mage. A strange light appeared in his eyes as he continued to walk forward. Li Wei panicked, the [Mana Bind] was showing no sign of weakening, he could not get away. His hand quickly moved and grabbed the throwing needles on his waist. However, before he could throw them, the mage suddenly appeared right in front of Li Wei and smashed his staff on Li Wei''s face. "Bang!" "-13" Li Wei closed his eyes just in time as he fell on the ground again. He inadvertently let go of the throwing needle; the situation was back to square one. It was a clear demonstration of the mage''s power. His magic skills were powerful, but he could also deal 13 damage just with his physical strength. He closed the gap of 4m in an instant but that was not due to his speed, it was all thanks to one of his skills, [Blink], that allowed him to teleport within a 5m radius. "Hehe, you really thought you took me by surprise with that firebomb?" sarcastically said the mage. His large hand suddenly moved and grabbed Li Wei''s neck. [Mana Rope] Another skill which uses mana as ropes. Compared to [Mana Bind], [Mana Rope] was not limited to just binding, it could be used for various purposes like lowering or pulling something. But in this case, the mage used his skill like [Mana Bind] and attached Li Wei''s hands. "Ah! What are you doing?" shouted Li Wei in panic but as he opened his mouth, the mage suddenly took out a potion and poured it into Li Wei''s mouth. "Gllrr" Li Wei tried to spit out the potion but the mage forced him to drink some. A large portion of the potion was spilled on the ground but Li Wei still ended up swallowing part of it. [System prompt: You have consumed a sleep potion. Taking effect in 5] [4] "F*ck!" shouted Li Wei, trying to free himself. But despite his will, he could not do anything, he could not even move with both his legs and hands bound. [2] [1] The mage was coldly looking at Li Wei with a sadistic expression. He smiled as he saw Li Wei''s state; he could see some dizziness appearing in his eyes. [0] At that moment, the mage let go of Li Wei''s neck, but the latter did not feel it. He simply suddenly felt comfortable and lost consciousness. The mage stared at the motionless body on the ground before kicking it. "F*cking stranger! You made it way harder than it needed to be!" ... An unknown amount of time later, Li Wei slowly regained consciousness. The first thing that stroke him was that he could not move his limbs, his hands and legs were still bound but this time, the feeling was different; his binds were cold and hard, different from the spells used by the mage. He found himself lying on a table. He tried to move but failed; all he heard was metal chains clanking. The sound was quite loud and echoed through the room. At the same time, Li Wei heard grunts and other chains clanking. "Is someone here?" asked Li Wei. "Cling Cling!" more sounds of chains were heard but at the same time: "Yes!", "Where are we?", "Hubby? Are you there?" Several voices resounded across the room. Li Wei immediately guessed their identities; they were most probably all the other players of the escort! He did not recognize the first two, but the last voice should belong to the priest who was calling her husband. "I am here!", "Heho!" Several people started talking and it sounded like a complete hubbub. Li Wei was confused, "Where are we? What happened? I only remember being forced to drink a sleep potion." Suddenly, in the middle of the noisy conversations, a system prompt occurred: [System prompt: you have been captured by members of an evil cult and are about to be interrogated and tortured. For censorship purposes and due to the game''s nature, we are allowing you to skip this phase. You have the choice to live through the normal development of the game or immediately respawn at Algate City''s graveyard. Please bear in mind that choosing the second option will result in usual death penalties.] [System prompt: to do so, simply wish to respawn at Algate City and it will occur. You are free to choose the first option but Valor will not be held responsible for any psychological traumas that might occur. You may use this option at any time while at the Evil Cult''s hideout, please use it wisely] The system prompt basically informed the players that they could painlessly suicide and respawn at the city safely. They had all been captured by the evil cult followers and would be experimented on. Evil cults were an essential component of the game and this sort of attacks was necessary for the development of the plot and biasing the opinion of the players against them. After all, the evil cult represented the "Bad guys" of the game and the aim of the game was to defeat them. Making vicious actions like that was the best way to create an enmity with the players. However, the game developers were aware that they could not put too many violent scenes, especially in the early stages of the game and so, they gave the players the option to skip them. After all, no one would be willing to face torture. After the system prompt, all Li Wei heard was silence. It seemed like everyone was also getting the same system prompt and was listening attentively. "Did you all get the system prompt?" asked a voice. "I did!", "Yes! We can leave this place!" Instantly, the hubbub restarted. A few seconds later, a loud voice was heard, "enough! Lets quickly use that option and leave!" "Hubby! I will wait for you at the graveyard!" the priest''s voice was quickly heard which was followed by a faint light emitted from a side of the room. "Ah Fei Er!" a man''s voice was heard and quickly, Li Wei saw another light being emitted. But then, a few seconds went by without anyone using the option to suicide! Even Li Wei did not activate that option. "What is happening? Why are you guys waiting?" asked a man''s voice. "Pfff, you think we are stupid, I''ll rather wait to see how things go. I''ll only use that if the situation becomes really bad," answered a woman''s voice. Hearing the voice, Li Wei easily pinpointed who it was; it was without a doubt the female rogue. Li Wei was also thinking the same thing! He could use the suicide option at any time; there was no need to rush. What if something happened and the tides turned in their favor? Nobody spoke for a moment. Visibly, they all came up with the same conclusion and wanted to wait to see. A few moments later, loud sounds of a rusty lock being opened were heard. A door creaked loudly as it was opened and a bright light shone onto Li Wei. "mmm, it looks like you are all awake!" said a female voice. Everybody tensed but in their position, they could not see the speaker. Li Wei could not get up, he could move his head but in this position, he could not even see the door. "mmm two of your friends passed away?" asked the female voice with a tinge of surprise. "Anyway, since you are all alive and well, I guess we can start doing a few experiments!" said another male''s voice. Li Wei immediately recognized that one; he had no way to confirm it but he guessed it was the mage that captured him. "Lady messenger! Please allow me to start!" sounded the man''s voice again. Li Wei anxiously waited but did not hear any response. Instead, he heard loud footsteps and a loud screeching sound as if something metallic was being pulled on the floor. Li Wei did not know what was happening. He desperately tried to look over but could not see a thing. But a few moments later, he heard a loud shout followed by the light indicating someone used the suicide option. "Oh? How peculiar?" said the man''s voice with a tinge of surprise. "Go to the next!" ordered the female voice and at the same time, Li Wei heard an unknown incantation being chanted. A few seconds later, the same thing happened, someone shouted and a bright light flashed across the room. "mmm, let me do it. Gogius, you go back!" ordered the female voice. Li Wei did not understand what was happening. All he knew was that the players must have felt or seen something quite terrifying or painful for them to suddenly use the suicide option like that. He once again heard the screeching sound but this time, it was moving away from him. "What is happening!?" shouted a voice. "Let us go! I am using the suicide thing!" Li Wei recognized these voices as those of the two tanned men. Immediately after, he saw 2 bright lights flash across the room in brief succession. In his mind, Li Wei was already counting, the couple left early and now four players used the suicide option. That meant that only four people were still left including him; he was not aware that Galaxy and Maestra both successfully got away. "Oh? A girl?" said the female voice with surprise. "Pfff, old rag! You think you are scaring me!?" roughly declared the female rogue. "A courageous one? Just the type I like! I can let you go if you agree to spend a night with me!" seductively said the female voice. "In your dreams old rag! I''d rather die than do that!" The female voice laughed, "in that case, let me test something!" But as she said that, Li Wei saw a bright light flash across the room which meant that the rogue also used the suicide option. "mmm What a pity... She had quite good proportions and would have made a nice toy!?" said the female voice. A few steps were heard and the female voice once again spoke: "Looks like you are the last one?" "The last one?" thought Li Wei. "Wasn''t there supposed to be 2 more? Did they use the suicide option at the same time such that I did not notice it?" Li Wei turned his head only to find a middle-aged woman looking at him. A weird smile could be seen on her face which was full of strange tattoos similar to the marks he had seen on the mage. "Old hag? I don''t see her old at all?" thought Li Wei. At that moment, the mage''s voice came from behind, "Lady Messenger! Let me try this one! He was the one I brought back, I would like to play with him a little bit!" "Tsssk, he is the last one left, I''ll do it myself!" answered the messenger before turning back her attention on Li Wei. The latter saw a strange light in the woman''s eyes. She calmly approached Li Wei and finally, he saw a weird instrument in the woman''s hand that looked like a saw. The woman stopped next to Li Wei and started to examine him closely in silence. Li Wei tensed, "D*mn, what is she gonna do?" He quickly prepared himself to use the suicide option just in case. The woman was carefully looking at Li Wei with a strange smile when suddenly, her expression changed to a surprised one followed by an expression of concern and seriousness. 82 Darkness Li Wei stared at the woman as he saw her swift change in expression. Her eyes wandered all over Li Wei''s body and stopped at Li Wei''s right hand. "You! Who are you?" quietly asked the woman with a weird face. "Huh? Why should I tell you?" answered Li Wei. In his mind, he was preparing to activate the suicide option at a moment''s notice. "Wait, I don''t know how you can instantly die but don''t do that!" declared the woman as she showed the torture instrument in her hand and placed it down before raising her 2 hands to show that she was not going to harm him. ''What is she doing? Diverting my attention?'' thought Li Wei. "I will not harm you! Please be at ease!" said the woman and at the same time, the marks on her face suddenly disappeared, leaving behind a spotless face. But even without the marks, the woman could not be called attractive. "Why should I believe you?" suspiciously asked Li Wei. Instead of reassuring him, the fact that the marks disappeared made Li Wei tenser than before. The woman looked at him for a moment before answering: "Simply because if I am not wrong, the ring on your right hand is the Ring of Chaos!" Li Wei froze. His ring was his biggest secret! It was his trump card and the only time he ever used the [Chaos Sphere] when he arrived on Zero was against Li Yuxin but even then, he did not reveal any information about it. So how did that woman know about it? "Looking at your expression, I guess I am right!" said the woman as she looked at Li Wei. Without waiting for an answer, the woman moved and four loud "Bang!" were heard. Li Wei suddenly felt his hands and legs able to move again. They were previously stretched by chains, making him look like someone who was learning to float on water for the first time. Now, his hands were free to move; the chains randomly disappeared as if they were never there. "Lady Messenger! What are you doing? This man is..." "Silence!" ordered the woman as she saw the mage trying to step forward. "Get out of here! I need to talk to him in private!" Li Wei, who was now free to move, tried to get up and found that he was previously lying on a wooden table. Several tables were aligned in a row. On each one of them, four chains could be seen which previously held the limbs of the other players. A few torches could be seen on the walls of the room. In front of him, Li Wei saw the woman crossing her arms and looking towards the door where the mage was standing. The latter angrily looked at Li Wei for a moment; he wanted to argue with the woman but quickly dismissed the idea. He grumbled as he obeyed the order and closed the door while he left the room. "I am sorry for making you see that and for capturing you," said the woman showing a sincere expression. "Who are you? Why did you suddenly decide to release me?" asked Li Wei. The woman moved and tried to sit next to Li Wei. But the latter quickly jumped off the table and backed off. "Sigh... You can call me messenger! Because that''s what I am; a messenger of God!" said the woman while looking at Li Wei. "You are one of those heretics? What do you want from me!?" declared Li Wei. The messenger frowned, "don''t mix heretics and evil cults together! Despite the appearance, they are completely different entities! Heretics are simply a product of the church that turned wrong; they are people who believed that Zero was created by God and that people are ruining it which is why they are trying to fighting to kill people and allow nature to rule the continent!" "Evil cults are different in the sense that we serve different gods! More specifically the gods worshiped by demons and devils! Our goal is not to wipe out humans off the continent, all we want is to earn a place on Zero!" Li Wei looked at the messenger, "Is there even a difference?" "Do you really need me to explain? Heretics kill for the sake of killing. We, the evil cults fight for the sake of opening a territory for the demons to live! You don''t know that, but the demons did not attack Zero without a reason in the past. They attacked because their own home was being threatened! And they needed a backup plan. Their opponent was too strong and so, they turned towards Zero which was ruled by silly humans. If they did not need to fight on two fronts, Zero would have already been conquered!" said the messenger. "I don''t care about the motives of the demons! Just tell me why did you free me?" asked Li Wei. "Did I not already say it? Because you own the Ring of Chaos! Which makes you the Heir of the Chaos Faction!" Confused, Li Wei asked, "The Chaos faction? What is that again?" The messenger sighed and stood up, "Come with me! This is not a proper place to have a conversation." She walked towards the door and opened it. She looked outside and seeing that the mage was already gone, she turned towards Li Wei and waited to see his reaction. "What is happening? Is that another one of their tricks?" said Li Wei to himself. He hesitated for a moment and finally, he decided to follow the messenger for a moment. If he felt any sign of danger, he would immediately activate the suicide option. ... Li Wei was brought into a well-decorated room. There were a lot of mats on the floor and weird symbols and items could be seen on the walls. It looked like a Shaman''s lair. The messenger showed some pillows and indicated Li Wei to sit there. The latter suspiciously looked at the pillows but seeing nothing wrong with them after moving them, he sat down and waited. A few moments later, the woman came back, carrying 2 cups and a bottle. She quickly opened the sealed bottle before pouring a red liquid in the two cups and giving one to Li Wei. Li Wei hesitated, "is it poisoned again?" He nevertheless took the cup but decided to not drink it. The messenger did not seem to mind and quickly downed her own cup to show that the liquid was not dangerous but that did not change Li Wei''s opinion. Just like how the merchant poisoned them, the messenger might have consumed something else before coming into the room. "So? Tell me! What is that faction you were talking about?" asked Li Wei. The messenger placed her cup on the floor and looked at Li Wei, "There are several hidden factions on the continent of Zero. They were prominent in the past and held enough power to rule over an entire empire. But when war broke out, the different factions were the one that took the heaviest blow. In the end, they slowly weakened and now, their names are barely known to the world." "In fact, despite losing several warriors during the war, the hidden factions remained the strongest force of the continent but with time when no more wars occurred, these factions lost their purpose and were slowly forgotten. People stopped joining them and now, they are never heard of but they did not become extinct yet!" "I belong to the faction of darkness! Just like you belong to the one of chaos! We all have different goals but in the past, we all once fought on the same side!" explained the woman. "And so? That does not tell me why you let me go?" asked Li Wei. The messenger smiled, "that is simple! Just like you are the heir of chaos, the darkness faction also has an heir! I just want to make a deal with you!" "I don''t understand what you mean by heir? I never met anyone that talked to me about being the heir of the Chaos Faction or anything like that!" said Li Wei. "Then let me explain, as I said, the factions did not completely disappear even though centuries have passed. And naturally, all the factions want to get back their seat of power! But that is not easily achieved! Our leaders tried for decades to revive the faction and gain back our authority but in vain!" "However, a few years ago, we received an oracle that I believe every single faction also received. Strangers from another world will soon arrive on Zero and they would bring great changes to the continent! And these changes include the possibility for us, the hidden faction to once again get back our power!" "I don''t know much about that oracle but I know that Gaia picked a few individuals among these otherworlders and declared them as the heir of the factions. They are the one she believes would be the ablest to lead these specific factions. Naturally, this is just her own opinion and the factions do not have to abide by that but among the faction of darkness, we all firmly believe that Gaia made the right choice." "And so, you turn out to be the heir of the Chaos Faction and I, as a member of the Faction of Darkness would like to make a deal with you!" "This simply does not make sense, I never asked to lead a faction!" said Li Wei. The messenger smiled, "some things are just bound to happen. This is what we call destiny!" "Tsssk, I do not believe in the thing called destiny! I am free to do whatever I want!" "Think as you wish! But let''s talk about the deal!" said the messenger. Li Wei crossed his arms, "why would I make a deal with you? Not only are you capturing people to experiment on them, you also fight for the demons!" The messenger sighed, "we are just trying to find the reason why the otherworlders can revive upon death, this is something that can save millions of lives! It might be cruel but we are not the only one who does that! Maybe even the Chaos faction is capturing the otherworlders to experiment on them!" "That is just another reason for me to not want to associate with them!" firmly declared Li Wei. "That is up to you, I am here to make a deal! I will let you go without harming you and even compensate you for failing your quest. All I want is for you to help the heir of darkness once when he will need it, that is all!" Li Wei frowned; he was being offered rewards, but at the same time he was being tied to someone! "Why should I agree? As I said, I don''t want anything to do with the factions you mentioned!" said Li Wei. The messenger answered, "your faction can help you grow, just like I am trying to help the heir of darkness by making this deal! Please consider my offer!" and as she spoke, she took out a set of items and placed them in front of her. Li Wei was stunned; in front of him, five bottles of potions and a pair of long swords were neatly arranged. As he stared at the items, information windows appeared, making him gasp. The five potions were Grade 2 stats increasing potions while the long swords were also Grade 2 weapons. [Dark Runic Sword(Grade 2)] Damage: 22-25 Effect: [Spreading Darkness]: When hitting the target''s skin, deal bonus damage, bonus damage: 2 Li Wei stared at the items. He knew how valuable they were and was extremely tempted to take them. But at the same time, he maintained some sanity and held himself. These were not free gifts! There were conditions attached to them. "Then, tell me about your heir and I''ll think about it," said Li Wei. The messenger lowered her head, "Unfortunately, I don''t know anything about the heir of darkness. All I know is that he exists. Not even the leaders of the cult know about him. We should be able to locate him as soon as he refines the artifact he was given but we did not receive any news yet!" "Artifact? What artifact?" asked Li Wei. "Just like you have the Ring of Chaos, the heir of darkness was given the Seals of Darkness. Each faction offered a precious artifact to their heir to help them and at the same time make them recognizable! If I am not wrong, the faction of chaos should already be aware of how many times you refined your ring and they probably also know your location!" Li Wei froze, "then does that not mean they can find me at any time?" "That is precisely why I said that things are bound to happen! Sooner or later, they will try to get in contact with you! Each faction behaves differently and I don''t know much about yours!" "At least, they are not demons that fight to kill humanity, right?" asked Li Wei. "The different factions were already forgotten by most humans and that is all due to time! More than four centuries went by since the factions were at their peak. Humans have short lifespans and with each new generation, more knowledge is lost. But you are right, your faction is like you! Although they also fought against humans, they always released their prisoners and fought to minimize the casualties!" "Who are they?" asked Li Wei. He was curious to learn about those that might possibly be stalking him through his ring. "Isn''t that obvious? The remains of the Faction of Chaos is mainly composed of elves." "Elves?" 83 Staying at the camp "Yes the elves! Although I don''t know which elven clan!" "That is already a good information! Thank you!" said Li Wei. As he heard that, Li Wei thought of something, "Then can you tell me if the elementals also form part of one of those hidden factions?" He immediately remembered the Tear of Fairies that was hanging around his neck. It looked like the promise to help the Lake Fairy might involve more than just a simple quest. "How did you know? Indeed, I''ve heard that there was a faction that resided at the elemental land. But like for the elves, I don''t know which type of elemental!" answered the messenger. She was patiently answering Li Wei''s questions, hoping that she would agree to help the heir of darkness. She was first tempted to threaten Li Wei into accepting but she quickly gave up that idea. If she threatened an heir of another faction, it would inevitably create enmity between them. What she did not tell Li Wei was that all the hidden factions were rivals and were all trying to reign over the others. But naturally, they preferred to focus on their own development than to fight among themselves and so, unless something happened, the factions would generally just ignore each other. They knew very well that it was infighting that brought them into this situation. Li Wei stared at the items in front of him. "What will I need to do for that person?" "The future is unknown to us, but one thing is certain is that danger lurks everywhere. No one is safe, not even you! I just hope that when you will meet the heir of darkness, you will save him if he is in danger. This is bound to happen, especially due to the nature of my faction!" said the messenger. She was naturally saying that since the faction of darkness was mostly composed of demons; the heir of darkness who was a human was likely to face prejudice from both sides. Li Wei hesitated for a moment and finally, he agreed. Strangely, the Messenger did not ask him to sign any contract; She only asked him to promise it verbally! "Good! You can take all of it!" said the Messenger as she pointed at the items. "I have also arranged a tent for you to spend the rest of the night! You will be free to come and go in the camp for as long as you want" "Thank you!" answered Li Wei. He was still not confident in his choice, but he knew how valuable all these items were. If he could rapidly increase his strength, he would be able to do anything in the future; saving someone once would then not be a big deal. The Messenger clapped her hands and a young girl quickly appeared, "Sir, will you please follow me to your tent?" nervously asked the young girl. Li Wei nodded and quietly walked behind her. He was led through a huge camp of tents. He was surprised to see that this evil cult had such a well-developed camp set up there. Even if there were no buildings, the tents looked grandiose and were well decorated; it almost felt like a village. The one thing that stood out was the emblem on all the tents. It was the emblem of darkness and was actually the same as the merchant caravan''s but reflected in a mirror. Li Wei was quickly led to a small tent which did not have any emblem on it. As he entered, he was surprised at how cosy it was. There were lots of pillows on the floor, acting as a bed and a few furniture. In the center of the tent was a sort of fire but it was not fueled by branches but by firestones. A bathtub could be seen right next to that fire and a few buckets of water still steaming were found next to it. The tent strangely looked like one of those Li Wei saw in movies; the ones belonging to rich people in the desert. "I took the freedom to prepare a bath for you, sir! Should I dispose of it?" asked the young girl with a fearful expression. Her movements were like a robot as if she was extremely nervous. She was not much older than Li Wei and could be considered a beauty. "That is fine! Thank you!" answered Li Wei. It was just now that he realized that it had been quite a while that he took a bath. Bathing was not a necessity but it was a great way to relax and recover some fatigue. After spending the entire night running away, Li Wei''s fatigue level was already at 71% even after it slightly recovered when he was unconscious. As she heard Li Wei, the little girl quickly moved next to Li Wei and helped him remove his top. Her hands trembled as she touched Li Wei''s waist to grab his T-shirt. Li Wei jumped and quickly move away, "What are you doing?" "I am sorry!" screamed the girl. She quickly took a step back and a few tears appeared in her eyes. "I was just trying to help you!" Seeing that, Li Wei did not really know how to react. "It is fine! Don''t worry! I''ll do it myself. You can go, I am used to doing these things by myself!" "Sir, the Messenger told me to take care of all your needs," said the young girl with a timid voice. "Then what I need right now is privacy. I will talk to the messenger if she tells you anything, " said Li Wei. Li Wei approached the bathtub but when he looked behind him, he saw that the young girl only retreated a few steps but did not actually leave. He sighed, "Fine, in that case, go grab me a meal! I am hungry!" Immediately, the young girl nodded and quickly left the tent. Li Wei was finally relieved, now that the girl was gone, he removed his clothes and jumped in the warm water. "Ahhh" The bath was strangely relaxing; Li Wei did not know what was different, but this was clearly better. He completely relaxed in the bath and his mind wandered. It was only when the temperature of the water fell down that Li Wei decided to get out and got dressed. At the same time, the young girl rushed in with a tray of food. "I am sorry Sir, the cooks had only just started their work so it took longer than usual!" Li Wei could see her nervousness; she was scared of him blaming her for the time she took but in fact, Li Wei was relieved that the girl did not come in earlier when he was still naked in the bathtub. "Don''t worry. Put the food on the table and you can go!" said Li Wei. The young girl quickly complied, she pulled a table and set down the plate. She quickly brought some pillows for Li Wei to sit in. After that, she simply retreated to a corner of the tent in silence. Li Wei sighed, he looked at the girl who was nervously standing there. He could guess that it was her first time acting as a servant and he did not want to make things difficult for her. In fact, he pitied her a little bit. Although he did not explicitly ask the messenger about it; it was clear that she was using these humans to help the demons capture a territory. They probably somehow brainwashed them into this zealous group which was ready to do anything for their god. Li Wei wanted nothing to do with this kind of people but when he saw the girl, he thought that clearly, they still maintained their own thoughts and personalities to some extent. Li Wei sat down and started eating. He was surprised to see that the food there was actually excellent. It was to the point that the food restored part of his fatigue! Although it was not comparable to that of the Prosperity Hall, it was really impressive for an evil cult to have such cooks. At that moment, Li Wei heard a faint "glurgle glurgle". He immediately turned to look at the young girl who was flushing red, trying to hide her embarrassment. "Come and sit down, there''s enough food for two people on this tray!" said Li Wei. He naturally recognized the typical sound of a stomach growling. The young girl shyly lowered her head and refused to move, "it is improper for me to do so. I will wait till sir has finished and will then eat when I get back" "Did you not say you will do whatever I asked you to? Then come and eat! The soup will get cold!" said Li Wei. He was not lying when he said that there was a lot of food. There really was so much that his fatigue could go down to 0%. He did not mind sharing with the girl who was clearly looking at the food with envy. She hesitated for a moment but finally, she gave in and quietly sat down in front of Li Wei and grabbed a loaf of bread. Li Wei felt pity for the girl when he saw her sit on the cold floor while he was sitting on soft pillows. She also only grabbed the smallest piece of bread and did her best to avoid eye contact! Li Wei''s fatigue had already dropped down to 40%. He quickly got up and placed two dishes in front of the girl. "I have to practice! When I finish, I want to see these two plates clean!" and without waiting for an answer, he walked away and sat down to practice the [Clarity of the mind]. The young girl immediately wanted to refuse but when she saw Li Wei start to meditate, she did not dare disturb him. She felt some warmth in her heart as she quickly wolfed down the two dishes. It was not that she was starved here but she had to spend last night cleaning this tent as soon as she received the order from the messenger and did not eat anything in the last few hours. But more importantly, the food Li Wei was given was naturally on a completely different level than what she was used to eat. 30 minutes later, Li Wei finally ended his training cycle. He was disappointed since he achieved only 65% but his mastery points were steadily increasing. He turned his head and saw the girl quietly waiting, she was still seated next to the table of food, the two plates were completely clean. She did not look as nervous as before and this time, she even held the eye contact with Li Wei for a second. "It is good that you ate! But it is probably time for you to go to sleep right? There are a few more techniques I need to practice before that," said Li Wei. Judging by the interface, Li Wei already guessed that he only spent a few hours unconscious and when he walked through the camp, he could see that it would soon be dawn. But by looking at the girl, he easily noticed the dark circles below her eyes, indicating that she probably spent a sleepless night and so, he prompted her to go to sleep. To his surprise, the young girl blushed when she heard him. She quickly got up and started moving the things. But seeing the food still on the tray, Li Wei said, "Wait a minute! It would be a waste to give this up!" and at the same time, he quickly moved the remaining four dishes in his inventory. The young girl stared at him in surprise but did not say anything. She quickly continued her job and moved the table and the bathtub away. "You should go to sleep afterward, I will start practicing now!" declared Li Wei and immediately, he started training the [Gliding Steps] 30 minutes later, Li Wei finally stopped. Just like that, after training the two skills, his fatigue skyrocketed once again. He was already tired, not just because of the fatigue but also because he did not sleep at all last night. He looked around him to see if the young girl was really gone. He did not find her in any corner of the room and let out a sigh of relief but suddenly froze as he looked at his bed of pillows. The small black dress that the young girl was wearing could be seen lying on the floor while on the pillows, Li Wei saw the young girl, flushed red, looking at him. Considering that her clothes were on the ground, Li Wei''s mind started to race. Fortunately, the young girl was covering her body with the quilt and was waiting for Li Wei to finish his training. "What are you doing? Did I not tell you to go and sleep in your tent?" asked Li Wei. It was not just the girl that was embarrassed, even Li Wei was. "It is my duty to serve you. The messenger said to stay there to satisfy all your needs!" shyly answered the young girl. "What!?" Li Wei''s mind was blank. "I never planned on doing that! Please put on your clothes and go back!" Hearing that, the young girl was both relieved and worried. On one side, she would be able to keep her virginity but on another, she and her family would probably be punished later for leaving her post! Furthermore, she was disappointed in herself for not attracting Li Wei''s attention, she felt that she was probably not pretty enough to serve him. A few tears started to appear in the corner of her eyes as she started to move out of the bed. It was a detail that Li Wei did not miss. He did not fully understand the situation but one thing he knew was that the young girl would be in trouble if she left his tent now. He became conflicted but quickly said, "Fine! Put on your clothes and sleep in the bed! I know you are tired, I will just train for a while longer!" Immediately, the young girl stopped and looked at him. She saw him quickly take out his swords and start to train. Only then did she let out a sigh of relief; she quickly did as Li Wei ordered and wore her black dress before returning on the bed. She was still scared of what might happen but as she waited, and nothing happened, she eventually fell asleep. Li Wei was unaware of that and started to move as indicated by the [Myriad Sword Dance]''s manual. Quickly he immersed himself in sword dancing and only woke up of his trance as he received the system prompt warning him that he reached a critical amount of fatigue. He stopped and looked at the girl. He was relieved to see the young girl asleep, she looked even prettier when she was not constantly displaying that nervous expression. However, it was only then that he realized that he lost his place to sleep. 84 Leaving the Mirage Fores While the sun was rising at the horizon, the messenger was quietly brewing some potions in an ancient red cauldron. As the last ingredient was added, she chanted an incantation, causing the boiling mixture to suddenly turn black. She waited for a moment as the mixture became still before pouring it in different bottles. Seeing that the messenger was now free, the mage, Gogius stepped forward. "Messenger, I don''t understand why we are giving shelter to that man! We should be dissecting him to learn the secret of revival!" "This is none of your concern! I am acting as per the orders of the supreme one!" expressionlessly answered the Messenger. Without looking at him, she continued her task and quickly emptied the cauldron. "Gogius! I know what you are thinking! As a high demon, I don''t need to sleep. So you better not try anything funny on that human! I represent Lord Erebus! Don''t disappoint me!" The mage grinded his teeth in silence. He could only swallow back his words and quickly back away. He was naturally hoping to play with Li Wei but since the messenger was protecting him, there was no way he would be able to make Li Wei payback for the Pyro Bomb. Although it looked like he completely countered the bomb by absorbing the flames, this act came with a great cost only known to him. Gogius was a demonized human, the marks he used represented his demon part. He could activate them to increase his strength and gain some additional powers like the one to absorb flames but by doing so, he would slowly lose his humanity and that was something he was not willing to lose. ... When Li Wei woke up, he found himself in the middle of the tent, lying on a few pillows. When he went to sleep, he did not want to push away the young girl and so, he simply picked a few pillows at the edge of the bed of pillows and built his own bed. It was barely large enough to allow him to sleep but he was grateful for them; he spent the last few days sleeping on the floor, even though he put some foliage under him, the pillows were thousands of times better. Li Wei saw that a table had been set up, on it was a hot meal waiting for him. When he looked up, he saw the young girl standing shyly in a corner of the tent. "Good morning!" "I apologize for last night!" hurriedly exclaimed the young girl. "Never mind that, sit down and eat!" said Li Wei as he himself started eating. He was surprised to see that his meal was more like a lunch than a breakfast but when he looked at his interface, he realized that it was already 13:00. When he came to the tent, it was already 5:00 and the sky was still dark. He ended up sleeping about 6 hours and was now completely refreshed. The young girl quietly nodded and sat down in front of him. She did not seem as nervous as yesterday but she was not at ease either. Li Wei quickly finished his meal before deciding to spend the day training. It was already way too late to leave this place. Although he wanted to stay far away from the evil cult, he was not stupid to the point of going to camp in a forest full of powerful beasts that could easily kill him. He was confident last time as he saw that the NPC adventurers were level 25 which was much stronger than the red foxes of the Mirage Forest. Even considering the buff of the night cycle, the red foxes were no threats to these NPCs. Now, the situation was different, he could not carelessly travel. And so, he decided to train today and leave the next day at dawn. The young girl quickly took the table away to give Li Wei space. However, she did not leave, she simply sat in a corner of the tent in case Li Wei would need anything. Li Wei was already used to her behavior, he started by sitting down and taking out the stats increasing potions. The 5 bottles were placed in front of him, each one was of a different color. ''Is it a trap?'' thought Li Wei. ''No... She should not have done anything bad to these potions since she wants me to help that guy. I am not bound by any contract, so it should be fine but it is better to be safe than sorry. I''ll just keep them until I reach a town and then have them identified'' Having taken a decision, Li Wei quickly placed all the bottles back in his inventory and took out the [Dark Runic Swords]. The two blades were identical. They were long, dark and had a flat part on both sides on which weird symbols were drawn. Li Wei tested the swords, tried a few swings to get used to the new weight of the weapons. Compared to his previous swords, these ones were lighter and sharper, they did not seem to be affected at all by air resistance. Finally, he started to train his techniques. The [Clarity of the Mind] and [Gliding Steps] were still on cooldown and so, Li Wei started with [Ghost Blade]. It was the technique he neglected the most but it was time to acquire the skill. His mastery points were already at 82; 18 more and he would get the skill. Li Wei focused and started swinging the sword as indicated by the manual. He needed to make sudden accurate changes in the direction of the blade and this would put a lot of strain on his wrist. After 30 minutes, he finally let go of his sword as he heard the system prompt: [System prompt: Congratulations player Seven, mastery of Ghost Blade has reach 100/100, you have obtained the skill: Ghost Blade] Li Wei smiled as he looked at the new skill on his interface. ''This will definitely be useful to take people by surprise'' thought Li Wei. With this renewed motivation, Li Wei started his usual training of the [Myriad Sword Dance] but this time his session would clearly be much longer than normal. In the corner of the room, the young girl let out a sigh of surprise as she saw Li Wei start to move around with his blade. She was really tired the last time and did not observe closely but now, she was mesmerized by Li Wei''s fluid movements. His sword was like the extension of his arm, moving in complete harmony with the rest of his body. It was literally a dance. It was a beautiful scene especially since Li Wei was using the dark runic swords which were completely black and easily stood out. Additionally, the wind was blowing in the tent, swirling around the sword like snakes. Li Wei completely immersed himself in his training, he ignored his surroundings and focused on the movements. His body already knew what to do; it was as if the movements were ingrained in him. If he just followed the flow, he could easily achieve an almost perfect % completion rate. But that was not his goal! What he wanted was to use the dual sword style! And so, while he trusted his instincts and let his body move as it wanted, part of him forced himself to combine the two versions of the technique. Usually, he would only use one sword and use the other hand for balance and to help control the air around him. The hand was like the cushion which could easily gather the wind while the sword was the sharp blade that would release all the accumulated wind. But now, Li Wei grabbed his second sword and started to dance. He was not using his second hand softly anymore. Instead, he used his sword aggressively to force the wind to gather; as the wind would try to escape in the other direction, the other blade would be here to force it back! Li Wei was basically using force to gather the wind instead of the hard and soft method of the initial technique where the blade represented the hard part and the hand represented the soft part. Li Wei succeeded in maintaining the wind for a moment but eventually, the wind started to leak out and soon, he lost most of it. At that moment, Li Wei stopped as he recalled the feeling he just experienced. [System prompt: you have obtained some enlightenment about the Myriad Sword Dance, Mastery Point + 20] [System prompt: You have completed a training cycle of [Myriad Sword Dance], completion rate: 92%] Two system prompt quickly came to which Li Wei calmly smiled. He did not know how he did it but now, he was certain that it was possible to use two swords for the [Myriad Sword Dance]. He quickly checked his fatigue and found that it was already back to 60% while only 2 hours went by since he started training. "Sigh... Training techniques really generate too much fatigue!" thought Li Wei. But instead of complaining, Li Wei went back to training. Slowly he adjusted himself and was once again able to replicate the previous state he was in. The wind was once again dancing around his blades, every time it would try to escape, a sword was there to block the way. But this time, Li Wei did not limit himself to just his swords, he also used his own body! His arms, legs and even chest, he used all of them to absorb part of the force of the wind and slowly got it under control. He smiled as he felt that he would be able to maintain this state forever but at that moment: [System prompt: Warning, you have acquired a critical amount of fatigue, we advise you to take a rest,] With the warning, Li Wei could only stop his movements and immediately, the wind dispersed as if it had never been there. "Sigh! I had such a good start!" [System prompt: You have completed trained into the Myriad Sword Dance for 56 minutes, average completion rate: 92%] Since his fatigue level was already incredibly high, Li Wei could only stop but it was still only 17:00 It was very early but Li Wei was not really feeling like leaving his tent especially with those evil cult followers outside. He turned his attention towards the young girl who was still diligently sitting in her corner. Li Wei felt some pity for her, it was indirectly because of him that she had to spend the whole day sitting there with nothing to do. "Can I get some food? I am hungry!" said Li Wei. "Naturally! Give me a few minutes!" quickly answered the girl as she jumped on her feet and rushed to the kitchen. Left alone, Li Wei wasted some time on the forum. He was curious at what happened to his previous travel companions and decided to check Maestra''s forum page. To his surprise, he found a video of Maestra narrating her adventure. In the end, thanks to Galaxy, she managed to escape safe and sound. As a result, the young streamer decided to join the Stone Defenders. Her story was very touching resulting in many people commenting and sympathizing with her. "Looks like some people managed to escape!" thought Li Wei. ... The next day, Li Wei got up when it was still dark. His interface only indicated 4:30. But as he got up, he heard something move; it was the young girl. She again spent the night in Li Wei''s tent but this time, she made a small bed of pillows for herself, giving Li Wei the majority of the pillows. "You are awake? I will immediately prepare your things!" said the young girl with a sleepy voice. She immediately tried to get up as she removed the quilt on her. "There''s no need! I would like to leave immediately!" answered Li Wei. "Sir, I..." "No! It would be fine! I will take my leave! If I see you leave your bed, you will be in trouble" said Li Wei as he hurriedly left the tent. He was grateful that the game took away most of the annoying part of life, he could immediately start doing his things as he woke up; there was no need to go to the toilet and such. Li Wei quietly walked in a straight line. He already knew which direction he needed to take to reach Verdan Town. As he walked through the silent camp, Li Wei could see a few sentinels here and there; they all curiously looked at Li Wei but did not stop him. The latter was relieved and quickly walked outside the camp but as he was about to leave, he heard a voice behind him. "You are leaving already? You should be careful on your way!" Li Wei turned only to see the messenger standing behind him. "Thank you for your hospitality!" "Since this is farewell, let me tell you two more things! You can safely sleep in the Mirage Forest; all the red foxes there were tamed by our druids and I already ordered them to not attack you! And the second thing is my advice to not go further east." "Why is that?" asked Li Wei. "This is something I can''t tell you! Just don''t go there unless you want to die. Well, you''ll just revive but I suppose that it still comes with a cost!" Li Wei nodded, "Thank you!" "No need to thank me, just remember your words and help the heir of darkness when it will be time!" declared the messenger as she suddenly vanished. She was there a second ago and suddenly disappeared from Li Wei''s sight. The latter dumbly stared at the spot where the messenger was before recovering and finally starting his journey to Verdan Town. ... The journey was long but Li Wei finally reached the edge of the Mirage Forest. It took him the entire day to reach that point and he decided to camp there. As the messenger told him, the red foxes effectively did not attack him and so, Li Wei decided to camp there before stepping out of the forest. In fact, bordering the Mirage Forest, was another forest called the Verdan Woods. It was easily distinguishable when one would cross the border between the two forests; as soon as one would leave the Mirage Forest, he would feel like a heavy weight had been taken off his shoulder and the surroundings would naturally change. Li Wei spent a quiet night at the border of the Mirage Forest before getting on his way again. He was just one day away from Verdan Town, as long as he did not slack off, he should be able to spend the night at an inn. Li Wei quickly packed his things before stepping out of the Mirage Forest. But as he finally entered the Verdan Woods, he heard 2 whistling sounds and immediately threw himself on the ground. "Tak Tak" As he raised his head, Li Wei saw two arrows embedded on the tree next to him. They were still vibrating from the impact. 85 Verdan Town "Capture him alive!" "Go go go!" Shouts were heard followed by heavy footsteps. Li Wei was lying on the floor with a worried expression, ''bandits?'' thought Li Wei. He rapidly tried to get up but before he could stand up, a heavy net landed on him, preventing him from moving anywhere. "Damn bandits! I did not go through all of this just to die there!" exclaimed Li Wei. He was completely disoriented by the net. All he could see were some blurry figures rushing towards him. Li Wei managed to get up but his vision was impeded by the net. [Earth Wall] He immediately activated his ring''s skill to form a protective wall on one side while for the other side, Li Wei raised his other hand and prepared to use [Chaos Sphere]. He did not know who were his attackers or what they wanted. But he knew it would be disastrous to die there. This situation was nothing when compared to when the evil cult was chasing after him; he was not feeling threatened like he was by the mage, Gogius and the fact that they used items already indicated that they were not as strong and confident as the mage. But before Li Wei could activate his skill, a dark shadow dropped down from the tree''s branch above Li Wei''s head. [Head Crack] This skill was a rogue''s skill which used the hilt of the dagger to strike the target''s head. By doing so, not only did it cause a lot of damage, but it also stunned the target. All Li Wei felt was a heavy strike on his head as he was being thrown on the ground. He could not even move and could only watch as his HP plummeted to 21. [System prompt: You have been afflicted by Head Crack''s effect, stunned for 1 second] Before Li Wei was able to move again, he felt a heavy weight press on his back as his arms and legs were being pressed against the dirty ground. "Target Captured!" "I recommend you don''t resist!" Li Wei''s head was pressed against the ground by some large hands. He tried desperately to get up but failed. He could only hurriedly move his equipment to his inventory to reduce the losses associated with death. "Don''t try to resist!" "You better cooperate!" The ambushers who were holding his limbs kept warning him but then, another voice was heard. "Good! Hold him tight and use the identifier!" exclaimed a rough voice. From the tone of the voice, it was clearly the leader of that group. Li Wei did not know what was happening; he could only hear footsteps approaching him and seconds later, he felt something cold being pressed against his right palm. "Sir! He is one of the adventurers that were in charge of an escort mission!" said a voice to Li Wei''s right. "Give me the document!" replied the rough voice. Li Wei could hear people moving around him but he did not understand what was happening. Why was he still alive? These people could easily kill him; that could only mean that they were not bandits. A few seconds later, the same rough voice once again spoke, "So... Let me ask you some questions, are you called Seven?" "What do you want?" asked Li Wei but the rough voice cut him short, "Just answer the questions and cooperate!" Li Wei grumbled; he hated the situation he was in but it might just be the only chance he had to actually survive. "Yes, that''s my name" "Were you on an escort mission to Verdan Town?" asked the rough voice. "Yes!" "Then explain what happened in the Mirage Forest! How did you do to survive?" Li Wei froze as he heard the question. He clearly could not say that he made a pact with the evil cult and they allowed him to go. Evil cults were known as humanity''s enemy since they fought for the demons. Although Li Wei did not know the identity of the rough voice, he knew that trouble would come if he spoke about staying at the evil camp. "I don''t know! I simply ran away and hid in the trees!" answered Li Wei. "You better say the truth! There is no way the evil cult would have failed to find you there! Are you a spy sent by the evil cult!" angrily asked the rough voice. "I don''t know what you are talking about! I am simply saying what I did! I ran away with the other players and we all went in our own direction! I got caught but then I used an item to escape!" explained Li Wei. "An item? What item? Where is it?" "It was a one-time use item! [Emergency Escape Gem]!" "What is that? I have never heard of this item!" said the rough voice. This time, his tone was mixed with both anger and curiosity. ''Damn... Why are you asking so many questions?'' thought Li Wei. He really just wanted to get out of this situation. He did not even know if [Emergency Escape Gem] existed. He simply said that name because it was an item which could be used to teleport away in the previous super popular game: Overload. "I don''t know! I got it from a gnome; he said it was a product of engineering!" "A gnome? mmm did their engineering really develop that far?" said the rough voice. Suddenly, another voice was heard. This one sounded more aged and wise, "That''s enough Mans, let him go. He clearly does not have any links with the evil cult. There is indeed a faint trace of the cult on his body but that is explained by the fact that he was imprisoned temporarily. I scanned his body several times and did not find anything to do with the evil cult!" "mmm! Men, let him go!" declared the rough voice and as he heard that, Li Wei also felt the pressure on his body disappear. The net was quickly removed and Li Wei could finally move and raise his head again. He saw a group of guards, each wearing different gears indicating their classes. In front of him, Li Wei saw a tall and muscular man with a curly moustache. "Tssk, you can leave!" said the man; he was without a doubt the speaker with the rough voice, Mans. Behind Mans, an older man was riding a white warhorse. He looked like a valiant knight who slowly suffered from the passing of time. "Mans! Please behave yourself, let me speak to him." The old man then turned to Li Wei who was standing up and observing his surroundings. All the guards took a few steps back but two warriors could be seen standing near Mans, ready to protect him. "Young man, I am sorry for attacking you like that. We thought that you were a member of the evil cult. As you know, they became quite reckless recently and so, we decided to patrol these surroundings. But it seems that you really have nothing to do with them. We apologize for this misunderstanding. Please have this potion!" The old man then tossed a red bottle at Li Wei. The latter quickly caught it; it was a Grade 1 Health Potion that could recover 70 HP. ''Tsssk! As if that could make up for what I went through'' "Can I go now?" asked Li Wei. The did not want to stay one more second near these guys who could easily kill him. "Naturally, I again apologize on behalf of my nephew!" said the old man. Hearing that, Li Wei did not ask for anything else and left as quickly as possible. He was cursing internally; it was not even his fault if the evil cult was going rampant and he was suffering from the consequences. Behind him, Mans turned towards the old man. "Why are we letting him go like that? We should have at least brought him back for interrogation!" said Mans. "Ahh Mans... You will be next Earl but you are still so naive. This guy really has nothing to do with the evil cult but it is also weird that he could escape alive. We need to keep an eye on him but doing things without any proof would definitely hurt your reputation. You have to keep in mind that your brother is just waiting for a miss step to take the inheritance of your father. I chose to back you up but don''t make silly mistakes like that!" Mans looked at his uncle, "Then what are we supposed to answer to the church? Getting close to the church should be our priority! If they back me up, I am guaranteed to get the title!" "It is not so simple. We cannot arrest random people like that in this critical time; it will without a doubt hurt your reputation! We will just send an assassin to keep an eye on him for now. If he really turns out to form part of the evil cult, we can then report it to the church." The old man had a pensive look; "Clovis, you go after him but don''t reveal yourself no matter what. If nothing happens within 2 weeks, just come back!" The cloaked man who previously used [Head Crack] quietly nodded. He did not say a word and disappeared quickly in the forest. "Just be careful with what you do. It is good to look for support from the church but bear in mind that if your reputation is hurt in any way, the church will also abandon you! The most important thing right now is public opinion!" said the old man. "But that said... We should also investigate that item he mentioned. Send some people to speak with the gnomes so we can get some information!" ... Li Wei walked away as quickly as possible. He quickly drank the health potion to refill his HP bar in case of emergency. "These guys... I did not even do anything... They could have just asked questions, there was no need to pin me down like that..." said Li Wei to himself. This incident put him in a bad mood; everything was going so well after he left the evil cult''s camp but he was ambushed as soon as he left the Mirage Forest. But all this lead to the same conclusion; he was too weak. If he was strong enough, the evil cult would have never captured him and those people would have never dared to attack him like that. He could already be considered as a top player in many aspects but when it came to the locals of Zero, none of the players could compare to them. The NPCs who originates from Zero had years of head start and could easily kill anyone. It was clear that if Li Wei really desired to be able to do anything he wanted and enjoy the game to its fullest, he first needed to attain a certain level of strength. ''At least I am still alive... Let''s quickly go to Verdan Town and deliver the ores... That will be one thing less to worry about...'' Li Wei quickly traveled through the Verdan Wood. This forest was quite lively, it housed a lot of beasts ranging from level 10 to level 15 which meant that it was a perfect hunting ground for Li Wei. But he could not waste too much time hunting monsters or he would have to spend the night in the forest. Li Wei ignored most of the monsters and would only fight those level 15 Forest Wolves that would be too proud to let him walk through their territory. By the end of the day, as the sun was setting, Li Wei finally stepped out of the Verdan Woods. In front of him, he saw a small hill on which Verdan Town was built. The town had a similar design to Algate City but was naturally of a smaller size. The large banners on the walls were also different as it was ruled by a different noble. Quite a few people were making their way to the town. Li Wei could see several players coming out of the woods; in fact, he met a lot of players hunting in the woods but did not interact with them. Li Wei quickly climbed the hill and stopped at the gate of the town. After presenting his Identity Crystal and paying 40 silvers as the entry fee of the town, he was finally allowed inside. "Fiouff, I finally made it... This was so much harder than it needed to be!" exclaimed Li Wei. He suddenly felt tired as he had finally reached a safe place. "Let''s go and look for the Yu Family first. It should not take very long to get rid of those ores!" thought Li Wei as he started to walk towards the main road. 86 Identifier An old man was walking along the streets, carelessly looking at the busy people. The sun was setting in the distance and it was time for his daily walk. He was not affected by the hectic behavior of the passersby who were in a hurry to sell their daily loot. Occasionally, the old man would snap his fingers and magically, a wisp of flame would magically appear between his fingers and fly upwards. The wisps would fly and dance in the street until they would settle in one of the lamp posts of the street. Li Wei was calmly making his way towards the Yu Family''s inn as he witnessed the old man''s actions. "So beautiful! I did not know magic could be used like that!" "Quite a sight right?" asked a voice. Li Wei immediately turned to look at the speaker. It was a short chubby man who was wearing casual clothes. His IGN was Piece of Cloth. "You are?" asked Li Wei. He was still on his guard since he had been ambushed at the Verdan Wood earlier. "Can''t you see my name? I am just here to look at this old man, nothing more!" said Piece of Cloth. "mmm, I''ll get going then! I have things to do!" Without waiting for Li Wei''s answer, Piece of Cloth stepped forward and approached the old man. "What a coincidence to meet again sir!" exclaimed Piece of Cloth. The old man did not even acknowledge his presence as he continued on his way to the next lamp post. "Did you finally change your mind, sir? I know it is a hard decision and 5 days are not enough! I am willing to wait more you know? This sort of things can be considered fate..." Piece of Cloth continued to walk next to the old man, without caring about the weird looks he was receiving from the other players. Even Li Wei was finding his attitude very strange. "Who is that old man?" said Li Wei to himself. The only one unperturbed by Piece of Cloth''s behavior was the old man. He only let out an expression of surprise for a moment before resuming with his walk. Very quickly, they walked too far for Li Wei to hear what Piece of Cloth was saying but no matter what, the old man did not even speak a word. "What a weirdo! That old man must be someone really important but that does not really concern me for now!" said Li Wei. He hurriedly made his way to the "Joyous House", the inn where the Yu Family decided to set up their headquarters. It was the peak hour where everyone was returning from their hunt and so, many players could be seen entering the inn. In fact, only few players there used their real name there since, most of those who did, joined the Fleeting Clouds Sect instead of the Yu Family''s guild, Golden Mansion. Compared to Algate City, this place looked more peaceful. Even though many players were still rushing to get their items evaluated, the atmosphere was more relaxed and friendly. Most players there knew each other and since many came from the same place and interacted with each other before, there was no tension. Li Wei easily stood out since he was not displaying the badge of Golden Mansion but nobody was rude to him. They all clearly knew that he belonged to another branch guild of the Fleeting Clouds Sect. Very quickly, it was finally Li Wei''s turn. He was standing in the main hall of the inn. In front of Li Wei, 4 desks were arranged to act as counters, an elder of the Yu Family was sitting behind the desk, evaluating the items brought by the players. "Next!" hearing the voice, Li Wei quickly walked to the free desk. An elderly woman was sitting there, waiting patiently for Li Wei to take out the items. "I am here to deliver the ores!" said Li Wei as he took out a piece of ore from his inventory to show the woman. As she saw the ore, the elder''s eyes shone, "finally! How much did you bring?" "Not much! 500 pieces in total!" honestly answered Li Wei. The elder''s eyes immediately displayed her disappointment, "Still better than nothing I guess. Initiate the trade, as per the arrangement, you''ll get 2000 Contribution Point! Give me your identity crystal!" said the elder. Li Wei immediately complied and initiated a trade. A trade window appeared as he quickly chose to trade all the ores he had with the elder. The latter scanned the identity crystal before accepting the trade and returning back the identity crystal. "All done! Is there anything else?" asked the elder. "Just a small question! Is there an identifier here or should I ask the NPCs?" asked Li Wei. The reason he wanted to contact an identifier of the guild was simply that there was a discount associated with all the professions if they asked the players of the guild. He did not know how much identifying would cost at the guild but if he could save a few gold, Li Wei would not refuse. "An identifier? Unfortunately, we do not have any identifier yet! This is a rare profession! Did you find some rare items? If so, we are willing to buy it!" said the elder with curiosity. "It''s nothing like that! I will simply look for an NPC then!" said Li Wei. "Do as you wish! Next!" declared the elder. She did not wait for Li Wei to leave as she already asked the next player to step forward. Li Wei did not mind this behavior, the queue of players was quite long and if they continued at this pace, they would probably spend a few hours before the last player is able to trade his items. He quickly left the inn and wandered around the town. Li Wei was looking for a specific emblem which represented identifiers. This profession was quite rare since it was not very useful; it would only allow people to examine and find the attributes of objects. This required some knowledge of all the other professions. It was quite difficult to have knowledge of several other professions but that was not the sole reason why identifiers were rare. The main reason was simply that the profession was not as lucrative as the others. Daily objects did not really require identifying; only rare treasures would require identifications but how often were treasures found? In Li Wei''s case, it might be useful to check if the potion does not have any side effects since he did not fully trust the Messenger. The emblem of identifiers was a magnifying glass with a small question mark printed on the glass. During all his time playing the game, Li Wei actually saw this emblem only twice in the main street of Algate City. Associations also normally had identifiers but their services were usually costly; moreover, the identifiers would often try to make the players sell their items to the association and so, it was safer to go to the shops. After a few minutes, Li Wei still did not find any signs of a magnifying glass. He saw all kind of other emblems except the one he was looking for. "mmm... Is there no identifier here? Looks like I''ll end up going at the warrior association," said Li Wei to himself. The streets were still booming with players and NPCs; just like Algate City, Verdan Town was also quite lively during the evening and the shops would only close past 8 o''clock. Li Wei still had one hour to hopefully find the shop or he would have to go to the association. An hour quickly went by and Li Wei could not help but feel defeated. He spent the whole hour walking around the town but failed to find an identifier. He did not limit himself to the main street and went to adjacent alleys and even less popular streets. But no matter where he looked, he did not find the emblem. "Sigh... Let''s just go to the Warrior Association then... It''s going to be a bit costly but at least this way it is going to be safe." At that moment, Li Wei suddenly heard a voice coming from the side. "Ah! Since you''ve finished your daily round! We should quickly head back!" Li Wei found this voice strangely familiar and when he looked over, he immediately recognized the speaker. It was the same person that spoke to him earlier, Piece of Cloth. Next to him, the old man was as expressionless as ever. "It is time for me to go home but not for you! I already said I will not take any disciple! Please stop trying, people are giving me weird looks!" said the old man before completely ignoring the chubby man and walking away. However, Piece of Cloth did not seem to mind the cold shoulder. He simply shouted: "I will come again tomorrow! I hope you will change your mind!" He looked at the frail figure of the old man silently walk down the alley before sighing. Li Wei was watching this scene, not understanding the motives of Piece of Cloth. "Why do you harm yourself like that? What is so interesting about this old man?" asked Li Wei. Piece of Cloth jumped in fright as he heard the voice behind him, "Ahh! It''s you." He quickly recovered before explaining, "this old man is the key to completing my quest! But he is so stubborn! Well, the quest would be too easy if he directly accepted!" Intrigued, Li Wei asked, "A quest? What quest is that?" "I cannot tell you! This is a special quest and if someone else completes it before me then I would have wasted a lot of time for nothing!" answered Piece of Cloth. He was not particularly on guard against Li Wei but it was better to be safe. "Sure! Good luck with your quest then. There are surely other NPCs you can speak to!" said Li Wei. "It''s not that simple! Identifiers are rare in this town and none of those of the associations would agree because of their contract!" exclaimed Piece of Cloth. Li Wei already lost interest in holding a conversation with the chubby man but when he heard the word "identifier", his mind jolted awake. "An identifier? You mean that the old man is an identifier?" exclaimed Li Wei. Piece of Cloth looked at him with a weird expression, "Why are you reacting like that?" Without waiting for an answer, Li Wei turned and rushed into the direction the old man took. The old man already disappeared in one of the side alleys and Li Wei could only hope to be lucky enough to stumble upon him again. The old man did not walk very quickly before; there was a high chance he was still in the surroundings. Li Wei rushed down the street and took a few turns. Effectively, just after taking a turn, Li Wei finally caught sight of the old man who was opening a wooden house''s door. But before Li Wei could approach and call him, the old man already disappeared inside. The wooden house easily stood out of the surroundings; most houses were built with bricks and rocks and were generally grey in color. The wooden house had a mystical air around it, partly due to the material it was made of but also because there was strangely no dust just in front of it. There was like a clear demarcation around that house which repeled dust, dirt, and fallen leaves. The house was not particularly welcoming but that did not stop Li Wei from quickly approaching and knocking at the door. As Li Wei knocked on the wooden door, he quickly noticed that a faint mark was drawn on the wooden wall; it was not very visible due to the bad lighting but the design looked like a magnifying glass. This boosted Li Wei''s confidence. He waited for a moment in the darkness of the alley. Li Wei was now in the residential district of Verdan Town and although the lively sound of the shops of the nearby streets could be heard, this street was still and quiet. Before long, the door was opened, revealing the old man who still had his expressionless face. "Yes?" "Hello sir, I am looking for an identifier," politely said Li Wei. "Oh? It''s already 8:05. Isn''t it a bit too late to come here, young man?" asked the old man. Li Wei suddenly realized that the time was really not very appropriate to ask for an identification. Even the shops of the main street would usually close down at 8:00 but now, he was knocking at the door of what looked like the old man''s house. He did not know what to say for a moment but the old man quickly said: "How did you know that I was an identifier? People already forgot about me after all this time." "Piece of Cloth told me about this. I saw the scene where you refused to take him as a disciple and then I talked with him for a bit," honestly answered Li Wei. "That guy... He is quite annoying but also has some potential. Come in!" said the old man. He quickly moved aside, allowing Li Wei to see the inside of the mystical house. The inside was not actually grandiose. There were a simple wooden table and a couple of chairs. The room was sparsely decorated with a few strange items hanging on the wall. The room was clearly just an office; stairs were found in the corner of the room, leading to the habitable part of the house. "Take out the items, I''ll do this quickly!" said the old man. Li Wei nodded and quickly took out the 5 stats increasing potions. "I got them through special circumstances and would just like to confirm that these potions do not have anything fishy." "Special circumstance?" murmured the old man. His eyes flashed for a moment before nodding, "2 gold per potion!" "No problem," said Li Wei. This was indeed a fair price. To examine grade 2 potions, the Warrior Association would probably deduct contribution points equivalent to 3 gold. 1 gold difference did not seem significant but it was to be noted that contribution points were considered more valuable than gold since they could only be obtained by performing tasks and exchanging items at the association while gold could be obtained through various other means. He quickly took out 10 gold and placed them on the table. Following that, the old man briefly opened and smelled each bottle. For the first time, the man''s face actually twitched for a moment before returning to normal. "They are all perfectly normal! They will each improve one of your attributes by one!" said the old man. Li Wei let out a sigh of relief. The Messenger was truly not trying to hurt him. He quickly picked the potions and placed them in his inventory; he could not wait to drink them. "Is there anything else?" asked the old man. "No. That was it. Thank you very much for your help!" answered Li Wei. He was feeling guilty for troubling the old man at such a late hour. "In that case, please!" said the old man as he stood up and walked to the door. He quickly opened it and indicated to Li Wei that it was time to leave. The latter complied without hesitation and went outside. The street was still as deserted as before, after all, he did not even spend 5 minutes in the old man''s house. Behind him, the old man looked at Li Wei''s lonely silhouette before slowly closed the door. "Bear in mind young man. Darkness exists everywhere... Sometimes, it hides in the least expected places!" A shiver ran down Li Wei''s spine as he heard the old man''s voice. He quickly turned to look behind but all he saw was the wooden door closing. Suddenly, the alley he was in did not seem as safe as before. 87 Quests "Chip Chip Chip!" Quiet chirps were heard as the rays of light of the morning sun banished the darkness from the room. Li Wei slowly opened his eyes and he grunted. It had been an agitated night. He immediately went to look for an inn to spend the night after leaving the house of the old man; the moment the door was closed behind him, Li Wei could not help but threatened. Fortunately, it only took a dozen minutes to find an appropriate one where Li Wei could safely sleep. The last words said by the old man resonated through his mind as he was walking along the street of Verdan Town. "That guy is definitely a member of that faction... D*mn!" Although the words of the old man were quite ambiguous, Li Wei could not help but associate it with the fact that the potions came from the evil cult. He was suspecting that the old man might actually be a secret member of the evil cult! It did not feel like the old man was planning on harming him but it was definitely worrying to find that these factions actually had members everywhere. It was not an impossible scenario and so, Li Wei did not dare drink the potions immediately. He wanted to go to the Warrior Association to look for another identifier. In the end, he would still have to ask someone from the Association to confirm the safety of those potions. He felt that the old man cheated him some gold but what could he do? Unfortunately, it was already too late at that time; Li Wei could only report the identification to the next day. He focused on finding a shelter and preparing himself for his stay there. He did not have any specific plan but hoped to see more of the city and its surrounding. Li Wei quickly got out of his bed and walked down for a quick breakfast. There was not much difference between this inn and the one at Algate City; the only thing was that here, he needed to pay for everything while at Algate City, the guild provided everything. "Time to go to the association! While I am there, I might as well have a look at the quests!" thought Li Wei. It was still early in the morning but people were already busying themselves; the streets were full of carts rushing to deliver the items before the opening of the shops and a few players could even be seen preparing to go hunting outside the town. Li Wei quickly walked to the Warrior Association. The town was not as large as Algate City and even though Li Wei was not familiar with this place, the inhabitants of the town gladly directed him towards his destination. ... "Good morning, I would like to ask if there are any identifiers available?" asked Li Wei as he arrived at the Warrior Association. The receptionist did not look very happy to see him; he just wanted a quiet time after spending the entire night sitting at his desk. The Warrior Association was open 24/7 but that also meant that receptionists needed to work on shifts and sometimes, it was inevitable to end up spending boring nights there. He grumbled for a second before answering, "Yes, may I ask what grade of items you are looking to identify?" "Just Grade 2!" answered Li Wei. The receptionist nodded, "I will call a master! Please wait for a moment, he should be here soon!" Li Wei quietly waited at the waiting area before being called by an old man, "are you the one who requested an identifier?" "Yes! That''s me" "Then please follow me!" said the old man while leading the way to his private office. ... A few minutes later, Li Wei came out of the office, completely relieved. The identifier confirmed that these potions had nothing abnormal. Although the identification process cost a few contribution points, it took a weight off Li Wei''s shoulder; he could finally drink them and increase his strength safely. And the first thing he did was precisely to remove the caps of the bottles before downing them. A series of system prompts appeared and in the end, all of Li Wei''s stats increased by one. Although they were Grade 2 Potions, they only gave one bonus stats each but that did not stop people from paying massive amounts of money for them. With the potions out of the way, Li Wei went to the quest section of the Warrior Association to look for interesting things to do. On the board, many quests were available and the most popular ones consisted of helping in the orchards. Verdan Town was found in the Algate County and was also one of the main contributors to the empire''s food market. But compared to Algate City, Verdan Town focused on fruits; the orchards next to the town literally looked like forests. They were situated in the direction opposite to the Verdan Woods. Different types of fruits could be harvested all year long and right now; it was time for berries and apples to be picked. Unfortunately, there were so many fruits that the owners could not pick all of them and needed help. The important part was also that the fruits were the targets of not only thieves but also several wild animals. Insects would constantly fly across the orchards and during the nights, bats would often come and steal fruits every night. Quests were put up to quicken the harvest of those fruits and the pay was more than decent. Li Wei made a mental note to accept this quest and to visit the orchards later today. He quickly browsed through the rests of the quests until his eyes landed on the quest at the very top of the list. [Quest: The Grave Robber (Unique)] [Information] The town''s graveyard has been the victim of raiding over the past few weeks. A reward of 50 gold will be given to anyone who succeeds in capturing the grave robber(s) in addition to the quest completion rewards. Task: Capture or kill the Grave Robber(s) for 100% of the rewards. Provide information about the identity of the Grave Robber for 30% of the rewards. Time limit: 3 nights Reward: 20000 exp, 2000 contribution points Note 1: Due to special circumstances, only one player may attempt the quest at a time. The graveyard guardian is wary that the grave robber might use the identity of an investigator to roam freely through the graveyard and act freely. Note 2: This quest has been attempted 11 times and has yet to be completed. For each failure, more and more tombs are raided. Due to the townsmen''s unsatisfaction, a 5 gold fine will be paid for each night if the quest fails. This is to prevent incompetent people from repeating the quest and blocking the sole available spot. "What a strange quest! Only one person can take it at a time? And it was failed so many times?" thought Li Wei. The conditions of the quests were definitely strange but at the same time, the rewards were enticing. If he succeeded, the work of 3 nights might be equivalent to that of a whole week. But the problem was it was not normal for people to have failed the quest 11 times. "If the players thought they were close to catching the grave robber, they would definitely try again. Yet 11 failures like that..." thought Li Wei. He was itching to accept the quest. The rewards were exceptionally good but it took place at night. This would without a doubt mean that he would have to sleep during the day. It was a gamble; losing 3 days worth of hunt against the possibility of getting a whole week''s worth. His eyes once again looked at the other quest he was interested in: [Quest: Request for help at the Orchards (Repeatable)] [Information] It is the harvest season of the orchards, help the owners to collect and protect the fruits. Task 1: Collect 100 fruits Task 2: Kill 10 Giant Mosquitos Task 3: Kill 1 Fruit thief Reward: 1000 exp, 100 contribution points Completion: 0% Note: Complete just one of the 3 tasks for the rewards. This quest is repeatable, completing 2 tasks would double the rewards and completing all 3 tasks will triple the rewards. Li Wei was comparing the 2 quests. He could naturally take both of them but this way, he would not be able to focus and make the most of the quests. One of them was a high risk high reward quest while the other was safe and provided decent rewards. One could even earn a lot if many tasks were completed at the orchards. Li Wei weighed the pros and cons of each one and finally took a decision. He would first try the quest of the orchards and if nobody took the graveyard''s quest, he would then attempt it. "It is better this way!" thought Li Wei. He quickly went to the receptionist in charge of the quest and asked to accept the one of the orchard. "Sure! Please present your identification Crystal!" said the receptionist. Li Wei complied and waited to receive a confirmation. He would technically receive a sort of item to prove to the orchard owners that he came from the Warrior Association to help them. At the end of the day, the owners would then give something to Li Wei to present at the association to receive his rewards accordingly. "Wait a minute! I see there that you participated in the escort mission from Algate City!" said the receptionist! "Yes?" said Li Wei with a confused expression. The surprised tone of the receptionist clearly indicated that something was not normal. But fortunately, it was nothing bad. "After an investigation, it was found that this quest was made by members of the evil cult. This mission was bound to fail and the Warrior Association apologizes for failing to identify them. In order to make up for it, all those who participated in the missions are awarded 1000 contribution point as compensation!" "1000 contribution points?" Li Wei''s expression brightened. "Yes! We were at fault and posted that quest. Please wait a moment as I transfer the contribution points! I will also accept the new quest. It will just take a moment!" Very quickly, the receptionist gave back the Identification Crystal to Li Wei along with a piece of paper, to show to the orchard owners, while bowing to apologize one last time. "It looks like they take this kind of things seriously," thought Li Wei. He was feeling even worse since he got entangled with the evil cult; it was better to keep these things hidden. "How much Contribution Points do I have now? It had been a while since I checked" Li Wei quickly looked at his balance and let out a gasp. "4413 Contribution Points!" "Wow, I really saved quite a lot!" thought Li Wei. He did not need to spend a lot of his contribution points recently and simply let them accumulate. He was provided all the food he needed by the Fleeting Clouds Sect and spent most of the gold he had on the items he needed. As such, the contribution points at both the Warrior Association and the Fleeting Clouds Sect were piling up. He was now almost broke but thanks to Moody Writer, that situation should change soon. For now, Li Wei was thinking about what to do with all these points. He was naturally thinking of buying skills! There was no need to buy items or equipment right now and skills were special since they could only be bought at the association against Contribution points. They were one of the things that gold could not buy. The only skills he bought at Algate City was [Impale] but there were still a lot of skills that could be bought. It was just a pity that despite having the necessary contribution points, he could not purchase those skill meant for level 20+ warriors. Those were blocked behind a wall that he needed to surmount by leveling up. But he still had a large pool of skills to choose from. Li Wei quickly went to the trading area of the association and browsed through the skills. All the skills below level 20 were as Bright Sun said, they were simply normal movements which were empowered by the use of mana. Li Wei could perform all of them but having them as skills could be very useful. After a few minutes, Li Wei finally made his choice and only one new skill was added to his skill lists. One skill would usually cost about 2000-2500 Contribution Point but this one actually cost 3200 Contribution Points but looking at its effects, Li Wei felt that it was worth its price. [Counterstrike (level 0)] The user can block any physical attack using his weapon and reduce the damage taken to 0. Next attack deals a bonus damage equal to 50% of the damage of the blocked attack. Mana Cost: 25 Cooldown: 1 minute ''A skill that is both offensive and defensive'' thought Li Wei. The mana cost was definitely something. He was just a warrior and yet, it looked like investing in a larger mana pool was inevitable. Li Wei still had quite a lot of contribution points and he could save them to purchase better skills later. But there was something he had always wanted to try at the Warrior Association. He remembered that when he received an introduction about the Warrior Association, the receptionist mentioned providing tutoring about fighting. Li Wei never learned how to fight before and even though he was faring well for himself, he knew that there was a lot of room for improvement, especially when it came to the dual sword style he was practicing. He was intrigued by what he could learn there; it might just be what he needed if he wanted to improve his swordmanship. 88 Orchards Training area of the Warrior Association "I am sorry sir! It is too early and none of the instructors are available. Please come back at 12:00!" Li Wei sighed. After leaving the trading area, he came to the training area only to learn that no instructors were available at the moment. The instructors were NPCs that only taught others as a part-time job. They would usually spend their day doing quests. Even the few old retired warriors would take it easy and only start instructing at 12:00. "Alright! Thank you for the information," answered Li Wei before leaving the Warrior Association. There was nothing more he needed to do there and decided to immediately go to the orchards. Many players were already at the orchard. If this quest was not available, they would definitely have chosen to go to the dungeon instead but with the quest, they would be able to earn more but with less risk. The orchards were not very far from the town but unfortunately, the ones where the quest took place were the furthest away. It took Li Wei two whole hours to get there. The orchards looked like a real forest with the only difference that all the trees looked like each other and were orderly arranged. Li Wei was not very familiar with trees but he would notice whenever he would enter a different section of the orchards since the fruit trees would change. Along the way, Li Wei saw many farmers taking care of the trees; inspecting them to check the state of the fruits and sometimes even killing some giant mosquitos and other insects. At the section dedicated to berries, Li Wei presented the piece of paper to the farmers. "Alright sir, you can take a basket if you need it there! The berries are found here but if you go down this way, you will eventually reach the section of the apples. Please don''t come back too late, we will be returning to the town at 18:00. If you come back too late, you will have to wait for tomorrow to get your rewards!" said one of the farmers. He indicated a pile of baskets that the NPCs were using to collect fruits and then pointed to the apple orchards. "Thank you!" answered Li Wei and he quickly walked through the rows of bushes. The quest simply implied collecting fruits and Li Wei had the choice between berries and apples. He chose berries because they were more accessible; for apples, he would need to climb the trees to pick them. As for the berries, he would simply need to crouch and pick them since they came from bushes. However, Li Wei was not the only one with this reasoning; most players were also roaming through the field of bushes, searching for berries. The fruits had a relatively short respawn timer of about 2 minutes but it was a competition among players. As soon as one berry would appear, the closest players would all rush to it but there can only be one winner. Occasionally, giant mosquitos would appear in the orchard but considering the number of players present; none of the insects would last for long. After speaking to the NPC in charge of the orchard, Li Wei directly started to roam around the field. He did not need any basket since he had his inventory. As he entered, he received the glare of the nearby players; they were naturally unhappy at the idea of getting another competitor. There were a lot of players there and so, Li Wei decided to keep walking to find a less popular spot. It was still early in the morning and the other players were also doing the same thing. After a few minutes, the players would effectively end up evenly distributed across the field if they maintained this peaceful attitude. Li Wei quickly found a good spot with fewer players and started to pick berries here and there. It was basically a game of who had the best eyes and the fastest reaction. Li Wei easily picked up the pace but it did not last long before other players started to enter the orchard. A few minutes went by where Li Wei swiftly picked all the respawning fruits near him. He already collected 13 fruits; the quest looked very promising. A few Giant mosquitoes also appeared but none were closed to Li Wei. As for the Fruit thieves, none of them were spotted yet. More and more players were coming; it was inevitable that fights would break out. A few skirmishes happened here and there but it was nothing compared to when one of the main guilds of Verdan Town stormed the place. "Get the hell out of there! We, Exodia, will take this spot for the day!" A loud voice resounded through the field of berries as a large crowd of players appeared at the entrance. "Who do you think you are? This is a public place!" "Do you think we are scared of you?" Many players'' voices were also heard near the entrance. Li Wei was standing quite far from the entrance. Except for the first shout, he did not hear the players complain but he could see that a fight was about to break out. From his point of view, he saw a large group of players suddenly appear with their weapon drawn. They looked imposing and threatening. The nearby players also drew their weapons but were all calmly retreating deeper into the orchard. Li Wei was intrigued by the newcomers but he simply thought that it was yet another fight for who would be able to monopolize the orchards. The rewards were generous and everyone wanted a part of the cake but so far, an equilibrium was set such that players did not fight too much among themselves. If they fought, then other players would simply take advantage of that. But now, the situation was different. Li Wei suddenly saw the large crowd charge at the nearby players. There were so many of them that the solo players were easily overwhelmed and killed in a matter of seconds. "This is a warning! We advise all of you to leave this place! We would prefer to resolve this peacefully but if you want to fight! We are ready!" Hearing the new announcement, Li Wei frowned. He turned towards the crowd of players and started to approach the scene. The other players were also doing the same. Players were killed right in front of their eyes, they could not continue to ignore the situation and continue picking up fruits. More than 400 players were currently picking fruits at the orchard while the newcomers, the members of Exodia only amounted to 300 players. However, the 400 players mainly consisted of small parties and solo players there to take advantage of the quest. A few small guilds also dispatched some players there but none were willing to openly confront Exodia. At Verdan Town, Exodia could be considered as one of the big guilds. Resisting them would mean a death sentence to the smaller guilds. Although they had the advantage, the players simply did not want to be the first to speak because they would be the one to take the blunt. The few players that initially tried to resist had already been used as an example. "What are you waiting for!? Quickly get out of the field! We don''t have time to lose! You are lucky we are not heartless! You guys can still go to the apple orchards!" exclaimed one of the players of Exodia. The normal players grumbled. What sort of tyranny was that? "Brothers and sisters! How can we allow that? If we allow them to monopolize all the resources, we will always be stepped on! It starts now and we will always remain under their feet!" "We cannot allow that! We have more people than them! If we fight together, we will without a doubt win!" Facing this behavior, there was no way the players would remain silent. Many were scared of taking the brunt but with so many players, there was bound to be some with leadership qualities who would not accept this situation. 2 players from small guilds immediately voiced out their opinion. They both came from the same guild Damocles and had about 50 players there. Compared to Exodia, they chose a more peaceful approach when coming to the field and used their numerical advantage to get the majority of the fruits. It was in a way a monopoly but not as extreme as what Exodia was doing. The 2 players were both rogues, they quickly drew their daggers and turned towards Exodia. The other players of Damocles also reacted. Many were reluctant to fight Exodia but since their leader was speaking, they had to give him face. And effectively, as soon as one person spoke and stepped forward, the other players quickly followed through. They immediately supported Damocles who was effectively fighting for their rights. "You think that because you are a guild you can order us around?" "We will not step down like that! Fight us if you dare!" The players were shouting and even Li Wei who was a crowd follower also prepared to fight. He was standing at the very back since his picking spot was quite far from the entrance. Li Wei immediately remembered encountering a member of Exodia in the past and recalled how they often went for ruthless methods like this. He wanted to resist them but as a solo player, how could he fight against 300 players? But now that someone elected himself to lead all the players of the field, he was ready to attack. However, to his surprise, the members of Exodia did not seem alarmed by the new development. They simply smiled as the guild leader stepped forward. "Are you sure about that? We are peacefully allowing you to leave this place!" said the guild leader. He was a tall man with a scar on his face; his IGN was Dark King. "Huh? Peacefully? We won''t stay silent like that!" exclaimed the guild leader of Damocles as he charged forward. The other players of Damocles also followed through! Dark King coldly smiled, "in that case, don''t blame me!" He did not even draw his blade and simply stared at the charging wave of players. There were no signs of anxiety or nervousness on his face. At that moment, dark shadows suddenly appeared and without warning, violently stroke the players of Damocles who were leading the charge. 12 cloaked figures positioned themselves between Damocles and Exodia and with a single wave of attack, completely stopped the charge. Among those who took the brunt of the attack, more than half were lying on the ground with barely any HP left while the other half had been instantly killed. Li Wei instantly froze. "What was that?" "Haha! We will give you all one more minute to leave this place! Or else!" Dark King raised his hand and placed his thumb against his neck before making a slicing motion. All the other members of Exodia were coldly smiling while the cloaked figures remained still without moving. Their features were completely hidden but their levels could be seen floating above their head. They were all level 25. The players of Damocles angrily stared at the cloaked figures, why were they there? This fight had nothing to do with NPCs. The other players immediately hid their weapons, they did not want to become the target of these NPCs. They calmly waited for Damocles'' reaction; that guild had already been elected as the temporary leader in this operation. Fighting level 25 NPCs were not impossible considering that they were 400 players but with Exodia backing them, it would definitely be a very tough fight. Damocles'' leader slowly got back up, his HP was dwindling at about 25 and he quickly drank a Health Potion. "What did you do? Why are NPCs helping you!?" "That is none of your business, please leave quickly! Only 40 seconds left, I don''t want to resolve to violence again!" sarcastically said Dark King. He had an evil smile on his face as he knew they had won. It was certain that they secured the orchard of berries for themselves. Li Wei was furious. It would clearly be detrimental to him if Damocles chose to retreat but what could he do? He could not simply oppose level 25 NPCs and a whole guild by himself. "D*mn, where is the Yu Family? Aren''t they supposed to quickly become the big boss of this town?" internally said Li Wei. Damocles'' leader stared at Dark King. He was reluctant to leave but in the end, he had no choice. Exodia was already labeled as a guild leaning towards the negative side of society. He already brought some trouble over himself by stepping up but he could at least salvage part of his actions by leaving now. Without saying anything, Damocles'' players slowly walked away while coldly staring at Exodia. They made a terrible loss today, losing not only a good spot for the quest but also losing 5 players. The other players including Li Wei all silently left. They could not stand against Exodia by themselves. Under the hidden stare of the cloaked figures, the fields were very quickly deserted with only Exodia''s players left. The owners of the fields did not really care about the development. They could clearly some sort of conflict arising in the distance but they did not intervene. As long as the fruits were collected and the orchards were not damaged, they had no reason to fight. They knew that by posting the quest, some fights would happen but they were being funded by the empire to quickly harvest all the fruits. They did not know the reason but since they were getting additional gold, they were happy to cooperate and put up the quest. ... After the players left, one of the cloaked figures turned toward Dark King. Next to him, another player, that Li Wei would recognize as Skywalker, was quietly standing there. "We have dealt with the nuisance. Do your job now!" said the cloaked figure with a ghostly voice. "Of course! We will immediately start!" said Dark King as he signaled to his guild members to quickly start collecting the fruits. Skywalker lightly coughed and asked, "may I ask when the first payment will come through? We are taking a lot of risk by working with you!" The cloaked figure quietly stared at Skywalker for a moment, "You haven''t even delivered anything and you are already thinking about the payment? Do your job first, the potions are already ready!" Dark King lightly tapped Skywalker''s shoulder, "I am sorry! I apologize on behalf of my brother, he is not very smart! Of course, we will fulfill our part of the deal first!" The cloaked figure did not say anything. A pale white mist flowed out of his hood as he slowly started to vanish. As Dark King and Skywalker raised their head, they realized that all the 12 cloaked figures were already gone. Skywalker let out a sigh of relief, "wow, that was scary!" "I told you to let me deal with them! Evil Cults are not too different from those gangs in real life. The only difference is they worship gods while the gangs only think about getting money and territory!" "As long as we accomplish our mission, Exodia will definitely be able to contend with the large guilds like the Gem Family! We should do our task quickly and leave this town!" 89 Instructor Delta As Li Wei left the field of berries, he made his way to the apple orchards which were not as crowded as the fields. Unfortunately, he was not the only one to do so, all the other players also went to the apple orchards, including the members of Damocles. Everyone was gloomy and even Li Wei felt that being there was just a waste of time now. Picking fruits there would require at least twice the effort and there were more people there since a group of players was already there before. "Let''s give it a try but I think it is better to go back to try the other quest!" said Li Wei to himself. Being forced out of the fields was not the end of the world. In fact, if he went back early and rested, his fatigue level would recover enough for him to take the graveyard''s quest. Li Wei quickly got away from the group and used the same strategy as before but in less than an hour, he already noticed that the rate at which he was collecting fruits was much lower than before. In the time of one hour, he collected 49 fruits and killed one 1 giant mosquito. It could still be considered a decent rate since by the end of the day, he would be able to complete the quest 4 times. Considering the exp he was also getting from picking fruits, it was only slightly worse than any normal day hunting at the dungeon. But clearly, more players were coming as time was going by and fewer fruits were available for each player. While picking fruits was harder at the apple orchards, the spawn rate of giant mosquito was faster and a few thieves were even caught and killed by some players. "It''s 10:46 and I have 21% Fatigue... I should go back and rest. There will be enough time for me to look for an instructor too! Going for the graveyard''s quest should be more fruitful!" said Li Wei to himself. Having made his decision, Li Wei spoke to the farmers and received 78% of the rewards of one quest which amounted to 780 exp and 78 Contribution Points. It was not bad but it could have been better. It was not lunch time yet but Li Wei still went for a quick meal. The Warrior Association was providing tutoring as from 12:00 and if he wanted to maximize the time he had, it was better to have an early lunch. ... 12:18, Warrior Association. Li Wei once again entered the training area of the Warrior Association. His meal took longer than expected but now, his fatigue level was down to 6%. While coming there, he also passed by the quest area and accepted the one of the graveyard. Fortunately, the quest was still available; all the players were discouraged by the 11 failures. Out of those failures, 5 were made by the NPCs while 6 were from players who tried their best. It was normal for them to be attracted by the high reward and in fact, the reward increased by 50% since the first player attempted the quest. By now, the players of the town already regarded it as an impossible quest. When he was given the paper to present to the graveyard keeper, Li Wei was also given the testimonials left by the previous players who attempted the quest. The players there were strangely cooperative; they wanted to know the person behind those grave robbing crimes. To help each other, all the players that took the quest, left behind some thoughts and what they have tried to help the next player. They only hoped that the player to solve this mystery would post the solution on a specially created forum. The quest was unique and it would not harm the player to share the truth behind that quest. Out of the 6 players that took the quest, 3 of them actually came from the big guilds of the town. 2 of them were from the Golden Mansion which was the Yu family''s guild. Li Wei carefully read the testimonials but none of them were very useful; they all mentioned the same thing. He was more careful when reading that of the player of the Yu Family: "I tried several things when attempting the quest but in the end, I failed. The graveyard keeper did a good job at patrolling the graveyard, I often saw him when doing my own patrols. The graveyard keeper himself is innocent. I first suspected him but I spent the entire night with him and a grave was still robbed." "The graveyard is closed during the night and I dispatched some players to keep an eye from outside, no one should have been able to enter the graveyard stealthily. The only possibility I see is that the graveyard keeper is in cahoot with someone that he hides but with all the attempts that have been made, not a shadow of that person has been seen." "I was penalized when I declared that the graveyard keeper was responsible for all the cases. The NPCs have a way to check if they are lying and apparently, it was not the graveyard keeper who did it." Li Wei carefully read the testimonial, "Very strange... Well, I''ll have a look later." After asking for an instructor, Li Wei was brought into a training room where the instructor he was assigned to was waiting. The latter was tall and had a muscular body similar to that of a bear. However, the problem was that the instructor was not a man but a woman, she had a square jaw and large physique. A few hairs could also be seen on her thick arms. She was standing there like a statue, facing the emptiness of the training room. Li Wei calmly approached the instructor but as he got closer and was about to present himself, the instructor suddenly drew her sword and attacked! Li Wei saw the thick arm of the instructor quickly drawing her large sword that was attached at her back. The sword was large and looked heavy; it was clearly a two-handed sword. The instructor was fast, but heavy swords were harder to wield, it would inevitably take longer to draw such a sword compared to a light one. As soon as he saw the instructor move, Li Wei froze for a moment before quickly sidestepping with Gliding Steps. "What was that?" exclaimed Li Wei. Right where he was standing one second ago, the heavy sword of the instructor was embedded in the white floor. Li Wei did not feel any threats coming from the instructor but he was nevertheless ready to retreat at any time. The instructor let out a smile, "Looks like you have decent reaction time and that skill is definitely useful! I am Instructor Delta and I will teach you for the next hour! The first lesson was to always be on alert! You can never know when an enemy might attack so always be on your guard to a certain extent!" Li Wei was still tensed but slowly calmed down as he heard the instructor, "There was no need to attack like that!" "I was just testing your reaction! Come, your time is limited, attack me with all you''ve got!" said the instructor. She took a few steps back and easily raised the heavy sword with just one hand, placing it horizontally in front of her. "Alright!" Li Wei immediately drew his Dark Runic Swords and charged at the instructor. He was not worried that the instructor would not be able to block his attack; she was after all a level 30 NPC! "Cling Cling!" Li Wei''s swords were easily blocked but he continued to attack. He lowered his waist and aimed at the instructor''s legs with one sword while using the other one to stab at her chest! However, the instructor simply swung her huge sword and pushed away both swords at the same time. "You are full of openings!" exclaimed Instructor Delta and at the same time, she raised her leg and kicked Li Wei''s chest. The latter was forced to take a few steps back but he lost 0 HP from this exchange thanks to the effect of the training room. "Attack again! Be more decisive! Your style is similar to that of a berserker, you need to go all out!" "Cling Cling!" ... "Follow the flow, look! You could have aimed at my leg right now!" "There you could have jumped to dodge my sword and attacked my shoulder!" "Cling Cling Cling!" "That was good! But put more pressure on your legs!" "You can use the spin you just did to add more force into the strike!" "Cling!" Li Wei continued to attack the instructor with all his might. He was not holding back at all and yet, the instructor was easily deflecting the attacks. It was not even thanks to her higher stats, she was using pure techniques to fight Li Wei. It was not a one-sided training though; sometimes, Instructor Delta would also go on the offensive, forcing Li Wei to adapt and protect himself. Her advice was very useful, she would always comment on Li Wei''s decision and how he could improve himself. Li Wei knew he could use skills like the Gliding Steps to land some hits but that would defeat the purpose of the training. He was there to improve his swordmanship and better understand his style. "You are doing good! You already had a decent fighting style, you just need to consolidate your foundation first!" declared the instructor. One hour went by quickly as they were constantly fighting. Every few exchanges, the instructor would also stop the fight and demonstrate how Li Wei should have attacked. Although she was using only one sword, Li Wei could still observe her body movement and positioning. He learned a lot just from this one hour; much more than what he could have understood by self-learning. "Thank you! Do you have any piece of advice before I go?" said Li Wei as he sheathed back his swords. He knew that he could not stay for much longer since other players might also have booked an instructor. "You just need to practice! But I would just say that you should choose your style! Using two swords is too broad! Although I said that you fight like a berserker, your thought process is too conservative. There are a lot of branches you can explore but I don''t want to influence you on that! It is something you need to find yourself!" said the instructor. "Then to which class is my fighting style the closest?" asked Li Wei. "mmm Something along dual-wielding ranger? Or maybe Trickster?" ... After the session, Li Wei stepped out of the Warrior Association and went back to the inn to rest. He needed to be at the graveyard at 18:00 to be allowed in by the keeper. Right now, it was 13:45 which gave Li Wei enough time to lower his fatigue. The one hour of constant exercising generated 30% fatigue. This could be considered a very significant amount, especially since he got all of that in just one hour. He sat down and examined the testimonials he had. All of them were posted on the thread of the forum dedicated to the quest. Although only 6 players had participated, the forum had more than 2000 followers! Li Wei leaned against the wall and recalled his training session with Instructor Delta. On the spur of the moment, he did not have much time to analyze the movements and mostly reacted by instinct and to what the instructor was saying. But now that he had time, he could slowly digest what he learned and he found a lot of information and possible ways to improve! ... 17:50, at the entrance of the graveyard of Verdan Town Li Wei was slowly making his way to the entrance. He could already see the graveyard; there was a tall dark fence surrounding the place. In it, tombs, gravestones, and trees could be seen everywhere. The graveyard was vast, so vast that Li Wei could not even see its end since his vision was blocked. The graveyard did not seem gloomy but that might simply be due to the clear sky which guaranteed that it would be well lighted tonight. To his right, Li Wei could see the respawn point of the players. Although it was said that they would respawn at the graveyard upon death, it was not literally inside the graveyard but just outside. This was because graveyards were actually closed at night and players could still die during that time and could not simply be forced to spend a night in this kind of environment. As he was walking, Li Wei saw 2 players respawn together. "D*mn! I did not know it was that hard!" "Yeah! But at least, we beat down the Giant Golem!" The 2 players were discussing among themselves but Li Wei did not listen to their conversation. At the portal of the graveyard, Li Wei saw a middle-aged man whose face was covered with acne. He was without a doubt the graveyard keeper; he wore a black coat, completely covering his body and had a large shovel in his hand. Li Wei calmly stopped in front of the man and presented the paper, "Hello, I am Seven and has picked the quest of the graveyard!" "It''s good that you are here, I was about to close the portal! You can call me Oleg, I hope we will be able to catch the robbers tonight!" exclaimed the graveyard keeper. Despite his appearance, he spoke with a friendly tone and warmly invited Li Wei inside. His attitude simply did not reflect on his appearance; aside from the acne, his hair was dirty and messy, there was also a mark on his face, making him look like he formed part of a gang. "Nice to meet you Keeper Oleg, let''s work together then!" said Li Wei as he walked inside. Immediately, Oleg pulled onto the metallic portal and closed the only exit of the graveyard. A loud creaking sound resonated through the silent graveyard as the doors were closed and locked. 90 The graveyard "Cough Cough! That''s it for today! I need to rest now!" An old man with a tired expression slowly pushed the desk away from his bed. The desk had small wheels attached to its legs and easily rolled a few centimeters when it was pushed. "Alright! It has been hard for you! Please take a rest, I will ask the servants to bring a hot meal!" "Thank you Sherman! I know I can rely on you!" said the old man. He slowly pushed his long white hair and took a more comfortable position. "Cough cough!" Sherman bowed before quickly leaving the room. He quickly signaled the servants outside to go to the kitchen and bring back a hot meal. The 2 servants promptly nodded before disappearing into the corridor. Sherman wanted to close the door immediately but he was interrupted by the 2 young men standing near the door. "Sherman! How is our father? Is his health improving?" asked a tall man with brown hair. "Young master! The Earl is resting! He has just finished his daily work, would you like to come in?" respectfully said Sherman. Although his tone and attitude were respectful, his eyes were full of disdain towards the 2 young men in front of him. "There is no need! Since my father is resting, we should not disturb him. After all, his health is fragile!" answered the other man with nonchalance. ''What a pity! The Earl has 2 sons but none of them even cares about his health! All they think of is their father''s title'' said Sherman in his heart. He naturally could not voice out his thoughts, although he was the personal butler of the earl, he was in the end just a servant of the household. Instead, he simply bowed, "In that case, please excuse me! I will return to the Earl''s side." Sherman slowly closed the door and returned to the old man''s side. "Was it Mans and Adam?" asked the old man. Sherman looked at the earl with regret and pity, "Yes! It was the two young masters." ... Outside the room, the 2 young men looked at each other before silently walking back to their own quarters. They walked down the corridor together but at that moment, the 2 servants were coming back; one of them was pushing a trolley containing food while the other was holding a tray on which a letter was placed. "Wait a minute! What is this letter?" asked Mans. "Young master! This is a message from the capital, it just arrived a few minutes ago, the manager asked us to bring it to the earl." The 2 young men''s eyes shone, "The capital? Give me this letter!" Without waiting, Adam stepped forward and grabbed the letter. His movement was quite fast and he inadvertently pushed the young servant. Although it was not intentional, the servant had a frail body and could not maintain her balance. "Young masters, we need to deliver the letter to the Earl," respectfully said the other servant. "Silence! One of us is going to be the next Earl anyway! Go bring the food to my father! Don''t waste time, his health is already declining and you want to make him starve!" angrily shouted Mans. The 2 servants were scared by his actions. They both clearly knew how violent the 2 young masters were; although they appeared flawless in public, in private, both of them revealed their true character. But due to their status and to the influence of their father, only those working for the household knew about their real nature and these people were all being generously rewarded to maintain the secret. "And don''t say anything about the letter! We will deal with it!" declared Adam as he stared at the 2 young servants like a wolf looking at his preys. The 2 servants hurriedly pushed the trolley and rushed to the Earl''s room. They both hated being in presence of the Earl''s sons, if they were not seriously in debt and needed the money to help their family, they would have long left this place. They knew it was their duty to get back the letter but they could simply tell Sherman about this incident. The threats of the Earl''s sons did not have much weight but if they stayed there, they might lose their chastity. Things like that happened in the past and the servants were well aware of that. With the 2 servants gone, Mans and Adam opened the letter and read the content. Their eyes shone as they finally arrived at the signature at the bottom. "The 6th prince and the 7th princess are coming!?" ... Graveyard of Verdan Town Li Wei was walking next to the graveyard keeper, Oleg. "I will just make a quick round and then I will show you my house. I spend most of the night there but I go out to make patrols occasionally. I don''t have any specific pattern since I am trying to catch the grave robbers off guard! But despite all my attempts, I never saw them!" said Oleg. Li Wei nodded, he found that Oleg''s character really did not match his appearance but sometimes, appearance might be deceiving. The 2 men walked around the graveyard, the landscape was quite monotonous and gloomy. Gravestones of different sizes could be seen everywhere, it was quite intimidating to see the different names and writings. Some were clearly better maintained than others and a few even had some flowers. Quickly, they turned into another alley where larger tombs could be found. There, 5 to 6 corpses could be buried together; these were mostly used by families to bury all their members together. These tombs were also the targets of the grave robbers. In most cases, it was the tombs that were ransacked. The graveyard keeper Oleg pointed at some tombs and explained that they had recently been looted. He had to come there the next day to repair the damage and clean up the place. At that moment, Li Wei recalled that there was a possibility that Oleg was the one behind all these graverobbing. He silently followed Oleg as he went through the graveyard. Fortunately, the graveyard was not very large, it only took 10 minutes to cover the perimeter of the graveyard. They then went to the center of the graveyard which was clearly of much better quality. This was the place where rich families were buried. Strangely, none of the tombs there had been the target of looting. "These tombs were not robbed because they are protected by some runes and arrays! The graverobbers are clearly aware of this or else, they would not have been able to resist at looting these tombs!" explained Oleg. Li Wei carefully observed the place, this area was better decorated with a few statues here and there with bushes and flowers everywhere. There seemed to be some boundaries within the area; these were made by the bushes, they were separating the different rich families from each other. "Now, let''s go to my home." Quickly, Li Wei and Oleg arrived in front of Oleg''s house. By itself, it looked quite cozy, made of bricks and well lighted. But when adding in the graveyard, the house looked more like a horror house. "This is my place! Come in!" said Oleg as he pushed opened the door and invited Li Wei in. The latter hesitated before nodding. Inside, the house looked absolutely normal; Li Wei was standing in the kitchen, on the side he could see a living room and a small corridor, probably leading to the bedroom and bathroom. Oleg entered and poured some coffee in two cups, "Make yourself comfortable! I usually stay here for a while and then heads out about 8 times per night?" "Thank you!" answered Li Wei as he picked the cup of coffee but he did not drink it. He remembered the last time he accepted food or drinks from strangers, it always ended up badly. Besides, Li Wei was still suspicious of Oleg, even if he was interrogated about being the culprit, maybe he was simply in cahoot with others! Oleg naturally noticed Li Wei''s behavior, "Sigh... It looks like it is hard to gain the trust of strangers... You know? One of those adventurers blamed me for being responsible for the graverobbing but thanks to the authorities, I was quickly found innocent! It is just sad that people judge me on my appearance, they had to pay severe fines for slandering after the incident!" said Oleg, appearing full of regrets and guilt. ''Is he reading my thoughts or something?'' thought Li Wei. He looked at Oleg with surprise and did not know how to react. He had just been invited into Oleg''s house and yet, he was already being wary of his host. "I am not blaming you, take it just as a soft warning that people has accused me in the past and all paid fines. Also just one week after being accused of committing the crimes, I was also accused of hiring people to rob in my stead. These people were still in the wrong and had to fork out even more gold!" "I am just saying that you can accuse me of anything but I am innocent! And you might end up paying for your mistakes!" Oleg appeared carefree as he drank his coffee. He looked at Li Wei to see his reactions and smiled with a pitiful look. Li Wei was caught off guard by that statement, ''is he really completely innocent? If he really was, then why is he saying that now...'' "Anyway, I think I should go and patrol the graveyard, it is the best way to catch the graverobbers!" said Li Wei. He was clearly uncomfortable and just wanted to leave. "Sure! I will also go out for a round soon! Feel free to come back here to rest if needed!" answered Oleg. Li Wei left as quickly as he could; Oleg was friendly and seemed genuinely worried about the state of the graveyard but Li Wei could not help but feel some unease in this house. He left without asking for anything and was once again facing the graves. The sun has just set in the distance and so, the graveyard was still well lighted. During the night, he would have to use a lantern to move around the graveyard. ... The night quickly came and the atmosphere of the graveyard drastically changed. It did not become scarier or gloomier but more mysterious. The moonlight was illuminating most of the graveyard such that Li Wei did not even need to use a lantern. Since leaving Oleg''s house, Li Wei walked around the graveyard, looking for some clues. But he did not find anything, the graverobbers left absolutely no trace aside from the massive hole in the tombs and the pile of dirt. "Is this what security guards do every night? So boring!" thought Li Wei. At that moment, "Thum thum thum", muffled footsteps were heard coming from one of the alleys. Li Wei instinctively drew one of his swords and approached the area from where the sound was coming. The regular footsteps were becoming louder and louder; it was as if that person was carrying something quite heavy. Li Wei stopped! The noises were coming from the alley right in front of him! As soon as he took a step and turned to the right, he would be able to see the culprit! He held his breath and jumped into the alley with his sword drawn! However, he froze as soon as he saw the person walking towards him. "Gravekeeper Oleg?" exclaimed Li Wei. "Ah, it''s you? You almost scared me by jumping like that! Did I not tell you that I would be making some patrols occasionally?" said Oleg with nonchalance. Although he said he was scared, he looked calm and composed. "I am sorry! I did not know, when I heard those loud footsteps, I thought it was the graverobbers!" said Li Wei. He looked at Oleg who was carrying the same shovel as before but there was nothing new that could produce that sound! "Haha, it''s those boots! I always wear them at night! They are heavier and rougher but this way, I am guaranteed that my feet will not be harmed if I walk on sharp objects. You never know what you can find in the graveyard, and at night, it is difficult to see very far! You are lucky that tonight, the sky is very clear," calmly said Oleg. Li Wei nodded, he did not know much about the graveyard and could not judge what Oleg said. He simply smiled, "Sorry to have scared you then! I will finish my own round!" "No problem! Feel free to come to my house if you are tired!" said Oleg with a smile. Without saying anything else, he went pass Li Wei and turned into another alley. "Thum Thum Thum" With Oleg gone, Li Wei put back his sword at his waist. It seemed he was too nervous, Oleg was just doing his job. ''Why do I have this weird feeling?'' thought Li Wei. Something was definitely wrong but Li Wei did not know what it was. He did not know what was different but he felt that Oleg was not the same, he just did not give the same vibes as he previously did. ''Also... Why do I feel that his last smile was forced?'' thought Li Wei. He did not have any proof but after all this time, Li Wei trusted his instinct to some degree and so, he decided to trail Oleg! 91 Parade Li Wei followed Oleg for a moment but to his disappointment, the graveyard keeper simply made a short round before returning to his house. His patrol this time took longer since he went through more alleys, making sure that no one was hiding there. Li Wei followed him, keeping a respectful distance from Oleg but he did not notice anything abnormal. Now, Oleg was back into his house and Li Wei was standing a few meters from it. "Strange... He really looks innocent! Well, Maybe that''s just me or maybe he knew that I was following him!" thought Li Wei. Since Oleg was already back in his house, Li Wei once again went back to patrolling the graveyard. The place was not exactly silent; the rustling of the leaves could be heard and occasionally, random noises would be heard. Sometimes, bats would fly above Li Wei''s head or a sudden cry might be heard coming from the streets. An hour later, Li Wei once again stumbled on Oleg and again, he felt something weird around him. He seemed more friendly, just like he originally was! Full of doubts, Li Wei again chose to follow him around as he went on his round. Oleg spent quite a bit of time walking through the alleys of the tombs; this was after all the major target of the graverobbers, it made sense to be more thorough in searching this area. Unfortunately, there was no luck and Oleg did not see anyone. He again slowly returned to his house and Li Wei followed him. This repeated itself 2 more times during the night. Li Wei would often see Oleg patrolling the graveyard and he had to admit that the graveyard keeper was dedicated to his job; he did not slack off in his house. This time, when Li Wei looked at Oleg going into his house, he was starting to doubt himself. ''Is Oleg really innocent?'' He went back into the graveyard and wandered for a few minutes but as he turned into the alley of the tomb, Li Wei froze. His mind went completely blank as he stared at the tombs in front of him. The surroundings looked no different from what Li Wei saw the last time he came here but there was one tomb that was different. The tomb was rather small compared to the neighboring ones; it belonged to one of the middle-class families that decided to make a tomb for the elders. The reason Li Wei froze was simply that a huge gaping hole could be seen. The last time he came there was merely 30 minutes ago when he saw Oleg walking by this alley. At that time, everything was normal but now, it was obvious! The graverobber already did his despicable act. Li Wei frowned as he recovered from the shock. It was strange that he did not hear anything; usually, the tombs were made of a special material which was quite resistant. They could naturally be destroyed by force but in that case, Li Wei would have noticed that a strong skill was used. Alternatively, the grave robber could have slowly damaged the tomb until it gave in. This method would be more discreet and it was possible that Li Wei did not notice as cracks would form in this dark environment. But this method also required the graverobber to stay in the graveyard for a prolonged amount of time. With the amount of patrol Li Wei did, it was definitely abnormal to not have noticed anything. The only possible reason would be that the grave robber was very familiar with the place but again, Oleg was already interrogated and was found innocent. "D*mn... It seems that this quest is way harder than it looks!" said Li Wei. Since the graverobber already struck, that meant that the rest of the night would be peaceful; only one tomb or grave was robbed per night. As frustrating as it was, Li Wei could only admit defeat for the night but he still had 2 chances! He was not too worried as there were still opportunities to succeed. He looked at his interface only to find that it was still 2:43; there was still at least 3 hours to go before the sunrise and he could not leave the graveyard before that. With the grave robber having already acted, Li Wei calmly made his way to Oleg''s house. "knock knock!" The door quickly opened, revealing the smiling face of Oleg, "Come in! I just made some more coffee! Do you want a cup?" Li Wei looked at Oleg to see if he could find any clues, "One of the tombs have been raided!" "What? D*mn! Show me the way!" declared Oleg. He briefly looked inside to grab his shovel and prompted Li Wei to show the way. "mmm, he seems legitimately surprised!" thought Li Wei. ... The night went on and with the grave robbers already gone, Li Wei had a lot of time to practice his techniques. Although the environment was not ideal to practice techniques, he did not want to lose more than 3 hours doing nothing either. In the end, he practiced near Oleg''s house who still went on regular patrols. At 6:00, Oleg finally walked out of his house, "It''s time, I''ll open the portal! "Finally!" Li Wei wore a tired expression after that sleepless night. His first night at the graveyard was not fruitless since he was able to train his techniques but it also meant he only had 2 more chances at catching the grave robbers. He spent a lot of time thinking about it and in the end, the only explanation he could find was that Oleg was responsible for this! "Anyway! Let''s go to sleep now! I am so tired!" As soon as the portal was opened, Li Wei rushed outside, only waving to Oleg who was probably also going to sleep for the day. He quickly made his way to the inn he was staying at and without eating anything, he jumped on his bed. 8 hours later, Li Wei was quietly snoring in his bed. His windows were shut to prevent the light from entering but unfortunately, the room was not sound proof. Normally, this would not have been a problem, the inn he was residing at, was located in a rather quiet area of the town but today, for some reasons, loud music was being played all over the town. It did not matter if it was the slums or the main streets, the entire town could hear the music and cheers of the people. It was obvious that some sort of celebrations were ongoing but this only irritated Li Wei. He just wanted to sleep after this long night and yet, someone was playing music loud enough to wake up the dead. He could only grumble as he was forced to get off his bed. With a quick look at his interface, Li Wei noticed that his fatigue level was already back to 0 but despite that, he just wanted to spend a few more minutes in his bed. After a quick shower, Li Wei went down to grab some food. "May I ask what is happening? Is there a special event today?" asked Li Wei to the waitress. "You don''t know? The 6th prince and the 7th princess are in town; they just arrived a few minutes ago and are making their way to the Earl''s manor. The Earl''s two sons organized a huge parade to welcome them in town which is why you can hear it from here." "A prince and a princess? Do you know why they came here?" asked Li Wei. The waitress looked at him as if he was a country bumkin, "They are on their way to fight the demons! Since they are making their way east, they decided to stop at Verdan Town for a day before resuming their travel. It is a great honor for them to come to our town!" Li Wei quickly ate his meal and went out to look at the parade. He was very curious about the events; Demons were attacking in the East and the royal family was reacting to it. But what really intrigued him was that the Messenger also warned him to not go there. "It looks like things are going to get messy there, I should make my way to the west after the quest!" Li Wei made his way to the main street where he caught sight of a crowd of people. A crowd was not the right word to describe the scene; it was more like almost the entire population of Verdan Town gathered there specifically to welcome the royals. The main street was filled with NPCs and players standing on both sides of the road. When Li Wei arrived, it was already too late and the prince and the princess had already made their way to the Earl''s manor. However, the army, that was following behind them, was still walking down the street. On the streets covered with rose petals and other flowers, rows, and rows of orderly arranged guards were walking in a military manner. "Never mind! I am too late..." thought Li Wei. When he arrived, he could hear the players discussing among themselves. While a few were speaking about the reasons why the Royals made their way there, the majority of the male players were actually talking about the 7th princess. "The best part of her is without a doubt her legs! Did you see how slender and attractive they looked, her short skirt and even her horse highlighted her legs!" "What are you talking about, don''t bring your weird fetish up! She is clearly a woman with a strong temperament! You saw how sparsely dressed she was, she even used a whip as a belt!" When Li Wei heard that, he did not know how to react and so, he chose to simply make his way back; he would have to spend two more sleepless nights, it was better to spare his energy. "What a bunch of weirdos..." ... At 18:00, Li Wei was once again back at the graveyard. "Hey Seven, ready for another long night? Let''s try to catch those bastards tonight!" said Oleg. Although he sounded spirited, it did not look like he really meant it. "Sure! I''ll do my best!" said Li Wei. After last night''s events, Li Wei really wanted to spend this night trailing behind Oleg but based on the testimonials of the other players, they already tried this strategy and it failed. And so, Li Wei did not know what to do. He could only make a better job at patrolling, he would spend the entire night walking through the graveyard. It was a silly plan but sometimes the brainless methods were also the most effective one. Oleg quickly made his way to his house and told Li Wei to come and rest at his house at any time. Li Wei quickly started his plan and walked through the graveyard. He tried to follow an irregular pattern so that the grave robbers would not be able to predict when he would approach them. Time went by and still no trace of the grave robbers. Li Wei was currently hiding in a thick bush near the tombs. He was calmly resting after walking at a fast pace for hours and decided to hide in a place where he might be able to take the grave robbers by surprise. Li Wei was silently sitting in the bush, he was busy thinking about the quest; it was clearly not as simple as he hoped it would be. In fact, he had no clue of who the grave robber might be and this might cost him a lot. The graveyard was quite dim tonight; unfortunately, the weather was more capricious and the clouds were obscuring the moon. But despite that, Li Wei could still see his surroundings quite well, his eyes already partially adapted to the darkness. Li Wei was still thinking about the quest when suddenly, muffled footsteps were heard. Li Wei''s eyes immediately shone, this was without a doubt suspicious, in fact, there was a 90% chance that it was the grave robbers! Li Wei did not dare to move, he slowly waited and quickly, a dark shadow came into view. He could not see very well due to his position but Li Wei still saw something move between the foliage of the bush. "This is it! It must be the graverobber! Who else would try to walk that discreetly?" exclaimed Li Wei. He calmly waited as the dark shadow slowly made his way towards Li Wei. Although Li Wei saw the shadow approaching him, he did not panic; it was highly possible that the grave robber was aiming at the tombs next to him. Both on his right and left were a tomb that has not yet been raided. "Yes... Come a bit closer!" thought Li Wei. He slowly moved his hands and moved his 2 runic swords in his inventory. In a few seconds, the shadow was now standing merely 5 meters away from Li Wei. This was a dangerous moment, if he came any closer, there was a high chance that that person would notice him hiding. He could not wait any longer; Li Wei pounced out of the bush and took out his 2 swords from his inventory. The 2 swords immediately appeared in his hands, this way, he did not waste any time drawing his blades and this trick was soundless. Li Wei mercilessly swung his swords as he activated [Cleave]. Against grave robbers, he would not show any pity. The dark shadow was naturally surprised to suddenly see someone jump out of the bush and attack him. He immediately took a step back but with Li Wei''s speed, there was no way he would be able to completely dodge the attack. "Seven! It''s me! What are you doing?" exclaimed the dark shadow. Due to the angle, he was positioned at, Li Wei could not see the person''s face but as he heard the voice, he immediately knew who it was! He desperately tried to change the trajectory but with the amount of force he put in, he was barely able to alter the direction. However, no matter how he tried, one of the Dark Runic Sword cut through the dark shadow''s face, leaving behind a long bloody line. "Ah Oleg! You scared me! I am sorry about that!" exclaimed Li Wei. The Dark Shadow was naturally Oleg, the sword scratched his face but fortunately, it did not look like a mortal wound! He fell on the ground and screamed as he placed his hands on his face as if trying to prevent the blood from spilling out. "Quick, drink this!" said Li Wei as he took out a Health Potion from his inventory. Oleg naturally recognized the item and quickly complied. Quickly, the bleeding stopped but a long mark was left on Oleg''s left cheek. "Thank you!" said Oleg, his tone was weird like a mixture of forcefully concealed anger and frustration. But that was not abnormal considering that he had just been attacked by Li Wei. "You scared me Oleg, why did you come here so stealthily. Don''t you usually wear those heavy boots?" asked Li Wei. Oleg looked at Li Wei for a moment before answering, "I am still wearing the boots but they don''t make much sound when walking on grass. The reason I was coming there was that I noticed someone hiding in that bush and I thought it was the grave robber but it turned out it was you!" Hearing the explanation, Li Wei nodded. He felt embarrassed to have randomly attacked the innocent Oleg like that. "Let''s forget about this, I already drank the Health Potion, everything should be fine now!" said Oleg. "Yes, again, I am sorry!" "Don''t worry, I''ll head back to my house! I need a good bottle of wine!" said Oleg and without waiting, he made his way to his house, without even inviting Li Wei. The latter did not really mind, it was an expected behavior. After yesterday, he realized that sometimes Oleg would be nice and friendly but sometimes, he would also be colder and less approachable. "D*mn, I was so stupid! I hope he does not hold a grudge because of the scar left!" With this out of the way, Li Wei resumed walking in the graveyard. While he felt bad for hurting Oleg like that, he quickly put that behind him. Oleg was, in the end, only an NPC, it was not like he hurt a real person. About 45 minutes later, Li Wei once again met Oleg. "He already drank his bottle?" thought Li Wei. However, as Li Wei looked at Oleg, he immediately noticed something abnormal! The scar on his left cheek was missing! At that moment, the pieces of the puzzle in Li Wei''s head all clicked together. 92 Culpri "A second Oleg?" This was the very first thing that came to Li Wei''s mind. I did not really make sense but the fact that the scar left by the sword was no longer there, coupled with how Oleg''s personality always altered between the friendly one and the cold one. In front of him, Li Wei could clearly see the "kind" Oleg. The aura around him seemed friendlier and more approachable. While Li Wei was still deep in thoughts, Oleg noticed him, "Hey Seven! How is it going?" ''Huh?'' Surprised by the sudden call, Li Wei did not know how to react. He stayed silent for a moment before saying, "Hey Oleg, everything is fine. I did not see any robbers, only you!" "Haha, are you saying that I do a good job at looking after this place? If I was, then no grave robber would ever dare to step in it," answered Oleg with a carefree smile. "Haha, I hope you are not too mad at me after I mistook you for the grave robbers," said Li Wei. His tone was casual but inside, he was looking for any sign of surprise. Oleg casually smiled, "it is fine, don''t worry! It is not the first time this happens, I was just angry on the spur of the moment but now, everything is fine." "Cough Cough! I should get going. We must not let down our vigilance!" declared Oleg and without waiting for Li Wei''s answer, he hurriedly walked towards his house. ''hmmm very suspicious'' thought Li Wei. Oleg''s behavior clearly demonstrated his nervousness as soon as the injury was mentioned; it was the exact opposite of what he said! There was no way to confirm it but Li Wei decided to bet on that. He quickly also made his way to Oleg''s house and entered without knocking. "Hey!" Inside, a surprised Oleg who was busy drinking a potion suddenly shouted. He was startled by the sudden opening of the door and could not help but cough out part of the potion he was drinking. "Ah Seven, you scared me! I know I said you could come in at any time but you should have knocked at the door first..." said Oleg with a small laugh. He let out a weird smile as the potion in his hand discreetly disappeared. But it was too late, Li Wei clearly saw it. He was not an expert in potions but he could not miss a Health Potion when he saw one. Furthermore, when Li Wei looked at Oleg, he could see the effects of the potion taking place. On his left cheek, a freshly made cut was slowly closing as the blood stopped flowing out; it was visible with naked eyes, there was no way for Li Wei to miss it. In a few seconds, it only left behind a long scar similar to the previous one! "Sorry to surprise you Oleg, it was just that the door was open so I did not think much about it," said Li Wei. He looked carefree like he did not notice anything and made his way toward the jug of coffee on the table. "Never mind... never mind... Please make yourself comfortable" said Oleg as he also picked a cup of coffee as he turned his head to hide the scar. ''Did he notice something?'' Li Wei simply smiled and poured some coffee for himself. Oleg quietly stretched his collar as he moved his other hand to create a light breeze on his face, "Ouhh, it''s so hot here! I should have waited before drinking the coffee!" Li Wei grabbed his own cup of coffee as he stared at Oleg before frowning and saying: "this coffee is cold!" As soon as the words left his mouth, Li Wei immediately made the 2 dark runic swords appear in his hands as he charged towards Oleg. He did not care about the cup of coffee and simply let it fall down as it shattered on the cold floor. "Ting!" A single loud sound resounded in the room as Oleg raised his shovel just in time to parry the 2 swords. "What are you doing? Seven? Are you crazy?" exclaimed Oleg. Although he succeeded in blocking the attack, his weak right arm was visibly shaking under the pressure Li Wei was applying. Oleg was a level 15 NPC but he could only take a step back to maintain his balance. "I am not sure how you did it... But you are the one responsible for the raiding of the graveyard! The scar on your cheek gave it away..." Oleg grunted as he parried another sword strike, "This is just a coincidence! Can''t I just cut myself when I am at home?" "Who are you trying to trick?" shouted Li Wei as he continued to attack. He slowly pushed Oleg toward the living room. Before taking the job of gravekeeper, Oleg used to be an adventurer; a ranger to be precise. When he was younger, he used to go out of the town and hunt every day at the dungeon or at the neighboring hunting grounds. Unfortunately, not all adventurers were successful, especially when one aimed too high. In the end, he was left behind by his team. He could only go out hunting solo or find a job at the town and the chose the latter. While the life of a gravekeeper wasn''t that exciting, it paid the bills which was good enough for Oleg. Li Wei was very careful as he attacked Oleg. The environment was not ideal for him to move around and he was keeping track of his surroundings in case the "clone" would appear. Oleg was staying on the defensive, only parrying the attacks and trying to reason with Li Wei until suddenly, a faint creaking sound was heard. He did not need a second warning; as soon as he heard the sound, Li Wei abruptly stopped attacking and jumped to the side, pushing the furniture next to him. "Tink Bang Crash!" A series of sounds resounded in the house as all the decorations on the furniture fell and exploded on the floor. Li Wei did not have time to be careful about his surroundings, he turned his head just in time to see a bright bluish projectile flying towards the exact position he was standing at a few seconds ago. "Boom" Li Wei watched as a [Mana Bolt] exploded. Contrary to his expectations, the explosion was very small which meant that the caster was either very weak or that the attack was toned down to avoid damaging the surroundings. In the kitchen, one of the tables near the hob suddenly moved as a secret door opened from the wall. Li Wei was stunned as he saw that scene; never would he have thought that a door was hiding there, it simply blended perfectly with the decorations. Fortunately, the caster was in a hurry when he opened the door, resulting in the creaking sound, or else, Li Wei would have been completely taken off guard. "How dare you attack my brother!?" Li Wei frowned as a word appeared in his mind, "Twins?" The second Oleg was standing just in front of the newly opened door. He looked exactly like the other Oleg except that his temperament was slightly different, he was slightly frowning making him look more aggressive and reckless. They had the same physical features and were even wearing the same clothes, the only difference was that the second Oleg was holding a short mage wand. However, Li Wei did not have time to process this information; the first Oleg who was now facing Li Wei''s back, suddenly launched an attack. "Bang!" "-21" As Li Wei''s attention was directed toward the second Oleg, the first one took the opportunity and violently bashed the shovel on Li Wei''s head. Li Wei could not react in time and could only take the damage but he quickly fought back. He swung his blades toward the Ranger Oleg to force him back into a defensive stance before rushing toward the Mage Oleg. In this battle, it was clear that if he wanted to win, he needed to take down the mage first! [Blade Draw] Li Wei broke away from the Ranger Oleg and immediately sent a wind blade toward the mage. He did not have much time to think; if he could kill these 2 Olegs, then his quest would be completed, he would simply need to show the bodies as proof. However, as the mage saw the wind blade flying toward him, he did not feel threatened and displayed a smug face. [Mana Barrier] A large transparent barrier appeared in front of the mage, completely blocking the wind blade. Mana Barrier was a more advanced version of Mana Shield, not only was it not restricted to protecting the user, but it could also absorb more damage. The mage easily negated Li Wei''s skill and quickly counter-attacked with [Mana Burst]. He coordinated perfectly with his brother, forcing Li Wei to move towards the incoming shovel. Li Wei frowned but quickly jumped to the side to avoid the [Mana Burst] while activating [Roar] to push back the Ranger Oleg. "F*ck... So you were really behind all of this! Oleg... I trusted you but you really raided all these tombs... You should just surrender... Even if I die here, you know I will just revive and inform everyone!" exclaimed Li Wei while raising his swords in a defensive position. The mage showed an amused expression, "You should stop looking at me, I am not Oleg. And to answer your question, it does not matter if you revive since it will only happen tomorrow!" ''Tomorrow?'' thought Li Wei with a confused expression. "What do you mean? What is happening tomorrow?" He turned toward the Ranger Oleg just in time to parry the shovel before pushing him back. Fighting 2 enemies at the same time was not easy especially since they were positioned in opposite directions. Li Wei had to constantly keep an eye on the mage to avoid being taken by surprise. "You are too curious! If only you ignored the scar, you could have lived a bit longer. Also, don''t get the wrong idea, how do you think I managed to pass the trial of truth if I really raided those tombs? Everything I said was the truth, I did not even touch anything from those tombs, everything was done by my brother! Finding loopholes is so easy," said Ranger Oleg with a laugh. After having confirmed Li Wei''s standing, he was no longer staying on the defensive side. He was not as agile as he used to be but he was still able to constantly attack with the shovel. "Tink Tink!" The mage was not casting any spells, Ranger Oleg was too close to Li Wei at the moment and would inevitably be caught in the explosion if he did. As a result, the mage was calmly waiting with his wand ready while his cooldowns were refreshing. As for Li Wei, he was confused, "What is happening tomorrow? Could there be an event?" That question was torturing him but he nevertheless held his ground. He did not find Oleg threatening since his own dexterity was high and Oleg was not using a real weapon. ''I was too impulsive... I should have waited and pretended to not have noticed anything. As soon as I would have alerted the association, my quest would have been considered complete but now... It looks like I need to deal with those two or I will lose a level for nothing...'' thought Li Wei. [Gliding Steps] After clashing with Ranger Oleg, Li Wei quickly used his skill and once again charged towards the mage. He was sticking with his plan but the mage reacted by casting [Mana Bind] and [Mana Bolt] Li Wei jumped and dodged the [Mana Bind] but the mage cleverly positioned the [Mana Bolt] such that Li Wei could only bite the bullet. The environment was not suitable for Li Wei; there were a lot of furniture and decorations lying around which easily got in the way of his swords. Although he took some damage, Li Wei finally got into melee range of the mage. He smiled as [Cleave] was activated but at the same moment, the mage''s boots shone. The pair of boots was different from the heavy looking one he was wearing at the graveyard; that pair looked slimmer and more refined, a few pieces of jewelry could also be seen which highlighted its dark color. The Dark Runic Sword was about to hit the mage but suddenly, he vanished out of nowhere. The sudden disappearance of the mage and the fact that his blade did not meet anything concrete stunned Li Wei. He did not know how to react for a moment when he heard a quiet laugh coming from behind him. "It looks like the items of those rich nobles aren''t so bad after all, brother, let''s quickly deal with that guy, we still have the last delivery to do!" commented the mage while laughing. Li Wei turned his head only to find the mage calmly standing next to his brother, Ranger Oleg. He did not look harmed at all and even looked bored by the fight, at his feet, the boots were slowly losing their luster. "An equipment with a skill? And from their words, it sounds like they have others..." said Li Wei to himself while repositioning himself. "Alright! Let''s finish this quickly. We need to get out of here as soon as possible," answered Ranger Oleg while throwing the shovel behind him. He wildly kicked the cupboard next to him, breaking all the glasses on it. But as the cupboard was blown away, it revealed the pair of daggers it was hiding under it. Ranger Oleg quietly bent down and picked the daggers. While he used to be an archer, the ranger class did not only use bows, they also used other weapons like daggers, knives and throwing weapons. The pair of daggers looked rather old but compared to the shovel, they were far more threatening. "Well Seven, I hope you won''t resent me too much for that. We all have our own struggles to survive." 93 Battle [Gliding Steps] Li Wei immediately used his movement skill to charge at the two brothers. Although Ranger Oleg was now using two powerful daggers, Li Wei still chose to stick with his strategy. He chose to use [Gliding Steps] instead of simply charging since the skill would give him an instantaneous acceleration. The mage was calm even as he saw Li Wei charging towards him. In an instant, Ranger Oleg appeared before him with his daggers ready. As a ranger, Oleg was naturally at a disadvantage against a warrior but with the cover of the mage, he would be able to hold his ground. The greatest disadvantage of a ranger using daggers was the lack of skills, below level 20, all the ranger skills were dedicated to ranged attacks; if one wanted to use daggers, it would be better to go for the rogue class. However, if one persisted, then once he would reach level 20, exclusive branches of the ranger class would open to him. "Tink Tink!" The daggers met the two Dark Runic Sword. Li Wei tried to get through Ranger Oleg by jumping to the right but the latter quickly reacted and blocked him. [Gliding Steps] Using his movement skill, he abruptly changed direction to the left; the movement was fluid and fast such that Ranger Oleg did not have time to react but at that moment, the mage reacted and fired a [Mana Bolt]. "F*ck..." Li Wei raised his swords just in time to parry the [Mana Bolt] but he still took the damage. The short delay caused by the [Mana Bolt] was all Ranger Oleg needed to recover and once again get in Li Wei''s way. He chose to stick with his strategy of taking down the mage first but was unable to break away from Ranger Oleg. "He is too sticky... At this rate, I will not be able to get to the mage... In that case, I can only deal with the ranger first... A ranger does not have much health compared to a mage anyway," said Li Wei to himself. He noticed that whenever he was fighting Ranger Oleg, the mage would not use any skill but as soon as Li Wei tried to break away and aim for the mage, then he would be showered with skills. The twins were perfectly coordinated with each other such that as soon as Ranger Oleg was about to take a step back, the mage would intervene and delay Li Wei. "Since you are in the way, don''t blame me!" As soon as the words left Li Wei''s mouth, he activated his ring''s skill. He made a quick jump backward and pointed his ring towards Ranger Oleg. [Chaos Sphere] Li Wei could not wait any longer, he was already stuck in a deadlock as his HP was slowly decreasing. He made a quick jump to leave the explosion radius of the [Chaos Sphere] while casting the skill. Until now, he had been very conservative with the use of his skill since it could only be used once per day but at the moment, it was the only way he could think of that might turn the tide. When Li Wei jumped backward, Ranger Oleg instinctively followed him and started moving forward; with the momentum he had, it was close to impossible to change direction. Even if he wanted to dodge the attack, that would expose his twin brother behind since the three fighters were aligned in a straight line. "Boom!" The black sphere exploded on Ranger Oleg''s body but Li Wei did not stop there. He quickly used [Gliding Steps] and launched himself towards the now defenseless Ranger Oleg. Ranger Oleg''s eyes were closed as he ground his teeth, doing his best to not shout in pain. He mustered all his strength to manage to remain standing while crossing his daggers in front of him to cover the large mark left by the explosion on his chest. A very noticeable black burn mark could be seen on his chest as all the top part of his clothes turned into rags. After years of adventuring, Ranger Oleg naturally got hurt but the pain at that time was nowhere near what he was enduring now. However, he knew he was in the middle of a battle; he could not be distracted now. He opened his eyes just in time to see Li Wei charging at him with the Dark Runic Swords aiming for his heart. Behind him, the mage immediately reacted, the red pendant at his neck shone brightly before exploding. Compared to [Chaos Sphere]''s explosion, this one looked more like a spark and did not cause any damage; instead, vivid red flames suddenly appeared where the spark occurred and started spinning in a circle. "Take that! [Flame Burst]" [Earth Wall] As soon as he saw the pendant explode, Li Wei had a bad feeling. He immediately activated his other ring''s skill. The earth wall was erected just in time between the two brothers as the sphere of fire was about to be released. Li Wei doubted the Earth Wall would last for long; he needed to deal with the ranger within the next few seconds if he wanted to stand a chance. Ranger Oleg was already considerably weakened but if the mage intervened, all his hard work would be for naught. As such, he did not hesitate to use all his skills, to the point that his MP became a single digit number. [Strengthen], [Cleave], [Ghost Blade] The powerful combo of three skills was activated, depleting the rest of Li Wei''s MP. He did not hesitate to use all his MP; if he did not kill the ranger here, he would not stand a chance against the duo. His Strength went up by 2 as he jumped while swinging his blades. As Li Wei predicted, Ranger Oleg quickly raised his pair of daggers in a defensive position to block the attack but to his surprise, the pair of Dark Runic Swords trembled for a moment as they went through the daggers without touching them. It was the effect of [Ghost Blade]. Ranger Oleg did not know how to react; it was his first time seeing something like that. He was still dumbly staring at his daggers, wondering if something was wrong with them, as the Dark Runic Swords cut through his chest at the same spot where the [Chaos Sphere] exploded. "Ahhh" He howled in pain and fell on the floor but Li Wei did not stop, he spun on himself before swinging his sword again. The ring at Ranger Oleg''s hand shone as a [Mana Shield] surrounded his body to protect him but the shield did not last for long, just two strikes were enough to destroy it. "-17", "-19" "Ahh, monster! You practice black magic!?" exclaimed Ranger Oleg who was desperately trying to get up. Now that his last magic protection was gone, he was completely exposed. Li Wei ignored Ranger Oleg''s comment. In the corner of his eyes, he could already see the Earth wall shaking; it was about to crumble. Against the attack of a level 15 mage, it would be a miracle if it could hold off more than two spells. "Boom!" As Li Wei thought, the Earth wall suddenly collapsed, revealing the figure of the mage but at the same time, Li Wei brought down his sword, slicing Ranger Oleg''s throat and reducing his HP to 0. The Ranger Oleg wore a desperate expression but to Li Wei''s surprise, the mage looked very calm; he did not seem flustered by the death of his brother. "So you killed my foolish younger brother. Looks like we underestimated you but well, the outcome is not going to change. Instead, I should thank you for getting rid of my brother for me. There is no way we can both advanced by sharing the resources we''ve got but now, I should easily advance to Necromancer." Mage Oleg grinned as he pointed his wand at Li Wei. ''D*mn!'' exclaimed Li Wei as he jumped to the side, avoiding a [Mana Bolt]. With Ranger Oleg gone, it should have been easy to deal with the mage and yet, it turned out to be more complicated than Li Wei thought. He expended a lot of mana in dealing with Ranger Oleg and now that all his skills were on cooldown, he was unable to make his way to Mage Oleg. The latter would constantly use his skills and to top it off, all the equipment he was wearing were also enchanted with skill! "Boom!" "-35" A large red number appeared above Li Wei''s shoulder as lightning exploded the table he was hiding behind. ''It would have been much easier if he did not have all these items. We are both level 15 but he has so many skills and with such a cramped up space, it will be hard to get to him without taking a hit... Using items is such a cheat... They don''t even drain the user''s mana,'' complained Li Wei in his heart. He peeked at the mage who was still standing at the end of the room. He still had 68 HP while Li Wei himself only had 46 HP. The situation was not looking very good. Li Wei briefly opened his interface to check the cooldown on his skills. Suddenly, in the corner of his eyes, he noticed that one of his skills was available. Li Wei grinned. He only had 9 MP left which was far from enough to use any skills but luck was on his side. ''I guess my luck is not so bad after all. I did not know so much time had already passed. With that, it should be easy,'' thought Li Wei. He jumped out of his hiding place, ready to attack. "Oh? You are no longer hiding? What''s the reason for your confidence? Die idiot!" shouted Mage Oleg. "Oh! Shadows of Darkness! Seize and destroy..." Mage Oleg recited the incantations of his spells but he suddenly froze when he saw Li Wei use a skill. A dark sphere appeared in the palm of his hand and without a sound, flew toward Mage Oleg. [Chaos Sphere] "What? How can you use this skill again? You don''t have any mana. Could it be that you have two pieces of equipment with the same spell?" exclaimed Mage Oleg. He panicked, messing up the last part of his incantations. The Chaos Sphere flew across the room. Mage Oleg panicked and tried to chant a defensive spell but it was too late. The sphere exploded on his chest. "-48" "F*ck!" Mage Oleg cursed as he rolled on the ground in pain. He was still alive with 20 HP but before he could get up, two throwing needles sliced his neck, taking out the rest of his HP. "Argg," with a gurgling sound, Mage Oleg looked at the ceiling with unwillingness. Nevertheless, without any HP, he lost consciousness and passed away. Li Wei heaved a sigh of relief. He successfully got rid of two powerful level 15 NPCs. He was delighted as he stood up and looked at the desolate house. The furniture and decorations were all damage and scattered all over the place. His gaze briefly landed on the Ring of Chaos at his hand. He smiled. "Looks like the cooldown works differently for you," said Li Wei. He had effectively used [Chaos Sphere] twice in a short period of time. How was that possible? It was simply because while they were engrossed in the fight, time continued to flow and when he checked his interface, Li Wei noticed that the date has changed and the clock was now displaying 0:01. Compared to the other skills who were described with a cooldown, [Chaos Sphere] was only described with ''Can only be used once per day''. As a new day started in the middle of their fight, Li Wei was naturally able to use the powerful skill. [System prompt: Congratulations! You leveled up to level 16. You were awarded 1 free stat point] As soon as the fight ended, the system prompt sounded to Li Wei''s ears. The two hostile NPCs brought him 15000 exp each. Li Wei smiled and this was not even the best part. Now, all that was left to do was to loot. Li Wei rubbed his hands in anticipation. With the way the system worked, all the equipment worn by NPCs would be included in the drops; this included all the equipment of Mage Oleg which were all enchanted with skills! 94 Emergency ques [Natta Blades (Grade 2)] Damage: 17-23 Effect 1: [Bleed]- Applies the bleed effect when hitting the target''s skin. Deal 1 damage every 5 seconds for 1 minute. Effect 2: [Pairing] - Natta Blades exist as a pair, without their twin blade, reduced the weapons stats and effects by 50% Li Wei crouched next to Ranger Oleg''s body and picked the two daggers. They were unexpectedly Grade 2 equipment! The Natta Blades were an excellent pair of weapons but they paled in comparison to Li Wei''s Dark Runic Swords. He swiftly placed them in his inventory and continued to search Ranger Oleg''s body. To his disappointment, there were no more valuables aside from the ring at his finger and the keys to open the graveyard. Having been playing the role of the gravekeeper, Ranger Oleg did not wear any rare equipment. "Just too bad... But I hope your brother won''t disappoint me." Li Wei picked the ring and the keys and made his way to Mage Oleg. [Skull wand (Grade 2)] Intelligence +1 Wisdom +1 Skill: [Summon Skeleton] [Summon Skeleton (level 1)] Summons a skeleton to fight for the user for 3 minutes. All the stats of the skeleton are equal to the caster''s wisdom. Mana cost: 60 Cooldown: 2 hours. "What a powerful wand! I was so lucky he did not use this skill!" exclaimed Li Wei. In the hand of a priest who invested a lot in Wisdom, even at this stage, they could summon a skeleton with all stats set at 25. The skeleton would be much stronger than any players or even NPCs at that level. [Magic Silk Robe (Grade 2)] Armor +3 Magic resist +7 Skill: [Mana absorption] [Mana absorption (level 1)] A passive skill that increases the user''s mana regeneration rate. Mana Regeneration +1/second "No wonder he was able to cast so many skills. He could regenerate so much mana... It is even better than my [Tear of Fairies]." Li Wei sent the two pieces of equipment in his inventory and continued to loot. [Boots of Gelor] Armor: +6 Skill: [Blink] [Blink (level 1)] Instantly teleports the user a short distance away. Teleportation distance: 3m Mana cost: 40 Cooldown: 10 minutes [Aquamarine Trousers] Magic resist +10 Skill: [Refresh] [Refresh (level 1)] Instantly refreshes the cooldown of a skill whose cooldown time is less than two minutes, including itself. Mana cost: 30 Cooldown: 2 minutes. Li Wei''s eyes widened. What a deadly combo. The Aquamarine Trousers combined with the Magic Silk Robe formed the ideal set of equipment of a mage. "D*mn, I could have been in so much more trouble. Fortunately, he did not blatantly attack me when I was close to his brother." "Such a pity I am not a mage... These items are so good," exclaimed Li Wei. He looked at the pieces of equipment in his inventory with envy. They were all tailored for mages, however, Li Wei still decided to change his pants for the [Aquamarine Trousers] and his boots for the [Boots of Gelor]. Both items outclassed his previous equipment. He continued to search for more loot but unfortunately, Mage Oleg only had two more rings. He did not have any leg guards, gloves, armguards or hat. Li Wei briefly looked at the rings but quickly lost interest. He could not take off his [Ring of Chaos] and the ring with [Earth Wall] was still very useful to Li Wei. Unfortunately, the Mage''s pendant also exploded after activating its skill earlier. These were all the equipment Mage Oleg had but aside from that, Li Wei also found an old yellow book in the mage''s robe. It was already clearly damaged by time. However, when Li Wei grabbed it, he obtained the following system prompt: [System prompt: You have found a tome containing the knowledge of the skill: [Roots of Magic]. Do you want to learn this skill? Once used, the tome will be destroyed.] [Roots of Magic (level 0)] Mana cost: 0 Cooldown: 5 minutes Effects: Decrease the mana cost of all skills by 30% and decrease the cooldown of all other skills by 20% Note: Roots of Magic will be automatically canceled if the user tries to move his legs or is affected by a strong crowd control effect "D*mn... Another item useful for mages..." complained Li Wei. He thought he struck gold but in truth, all these items were not suitable for him. However, they would still be valuable and would bring him a large sum of money when sold. "This should be it." Li Wei stood up. The quest had been completed. He did not need to spend the night here since he now had the keys to the gate of the graveyard. However, as he was about to walk out of the house, Li Wei''s gaze briefly landed on the small opening next to the hobs from which Mage Oleg came out. "Now that I think about it. Since they have been robbing graves, they should have a few good things in there." He hesitantly went through the small opening which led to a small cache. As soon as he entered, Li Wei was momentarily blinded by the glistening sight. The cache was filled with gold coins and jewels. After plundering the graveyard for weeks, the twin brother accumulated quite a bit of gold and items. They did not hesitate to sell the items to the black market and had accumulated a small fortune by doing so. They were planning to run away very soon to enjoy their gold in a different town but unfortunately, the sole beneficiary of their shady business would be Li Wei. [System prompt: You have found a hidden cache. Do you want to automatically add the following items to your inventory: 592 gold, 20 Grade 0 Jewels and 20 Condensed Crystals. Note that non-craftable jewels have already been converted to gold.] [System prompt: You have found the Quest item: Chalice of Harmony. Do you want to accept the quest: The long lost Chalice.] [Quest: The long lost Chalice] Return the chalice to the church at the capital of an empire. Reward: 10000 exp and a follow-up quest. "This... This is too great! I knew the rewards for completing the quest would be huge but I did not expect so much!" exclaimed Li Wei. Without hesitation, he agreed to both system prompts. The cache was emptied in an instant as Li Wei''s inventory became full. He looked at his inventory with interest. He now had 619 gold, much more than any player could hope to obtain through normal means. The Grade 0 jewels were materials that could be embedded into weapons. They were not very useful to Li Wei as only Jewellers could use them and this profession could only be unlocked at the capital. As for the Condensed Crystal, they immediately attracted Li Wei''s attention. [Condensed Crystal] Consume to obtain 1000 exp Li Wei was delighted. The harvest this time was huge! He was about to use the Condensed Crystal when a thought suddenly crossed his mind. ''Since all these items were essentially robbed from the graves, will I get into trouble if I do not return them all? They should all belong to rich NPCs and their families might come after me... The Condensed Crystals coincidentally give me the exact amount of exp I would have obtained if I submitted the quest.'' He was in a dilemma. The harvest looked too good to be true and after thinking for a while, Li Wei came up with a potential scenario. In the end, he chose to not touch the Condensed Crystals yet. He would first go to the Warrior Association and see whether they would ask for the items. ''If it was a subjugation quest, it would have been fine to just take everything but this quest is a bit different. It is better to be safe. Using them now won''t have much effect anyway. I need more than 40 thousand exp to level up again.'' Li Wei was about to leave the house when suddenly, two system prompts sounded: [System prompt: An emergency quest has been issued: Save the warehouses!] [Quest: Save the warehouses(Unique)] [Information] The warehouses of Verdan Town have all mysteriously caught fire. Help the guards put out the fire and save the food stored in the warehouses Task 1: Go to the well near the warehouses and help the guard put out the fire by carrying buckets of water from the well to the warehouses. Task 2: Save the items still in the warehouses. Reward: 100 exp per item saved or 100 exp per bucket of water carried Note: This is an emergency quest. Players do not have to participate. Not participating in any emergency quest will worsen their relationship with the citizens of the town. [System prompt: An emergency quest has been issued: Find the arsonists!] [Quest: Find the arsonists(Unique)] [Information] The warehouses of Verdan Town have all mysteriously caught fire. The guards have identified that the incident was man-made due to the fire''s abnormal resistance to magic. Help the guards find clues about the arsonists. Task: Find clues about the arsonists and report to the barracks Reward 1: 20000 exp for each clue given if the arsonists are caught. Reward 2: Alternatively, players would receive a mysterious reward for arresting the arsonists by themselves. Note: This is an emergency quest. Players do not have to participate. Not participating in any emergency quest will worsen their relationship with the citizens of the town. "What? What on earth is happening outside?" exclaimed Li Wei. Having received the system prompts, Li Wei was certain that all the players have also received it and considering the negative effects of refusing, everyone would definitely participate. "This is bad." Li Wei briefly looked at his character window. His fatigue was already at 54. It was quite high and after passing 60, his stats would be affected. He was reluctant to take part in the quests but he knew all the other players also had high fatigue levels. Some might even be in worse shape than him. He quickly left Oleg''s house and went to the entrance of the graveyard. In the distance, he could already see part of the town brightly emitting an orange light. He took out the keys and opened the gates but at that moment, two more system prompts sounded: [System prompt: An emergency quest has been issued: Defend Verdan Town!] [Quest: Defend Verdan Town(Unique)] [Information] The scouts caught sight of a wave of flying demons. They should arrive at Verdan Town in the next ten minutes. Help the town defend against the demons Task: Go to the barracks and enroll yourself for the night. Assist the guards in killing the flying demons Reward: 10000 exp Note: This is an emergency quest. Players do not have to participate. Not participating in any emergency quest will worsen their relationship with the citizens of the town. [System prompt: An emergency quest has been issued: Escort the Royals!] [Quest: Escort the Royals(Unique)] [Information] The aim of the flying demons is the Earl''s castle. The Earl has ordered for his two sons, the 6th prince and the 7th princess to be evacuated. Task: Go to the barracks and volunteer to escort one of the four characters during their escape to the next town. Reward: 10000 exp Note: This is an emergency quest. Players do not have to participate. Not participating in any emergency quest will worsen their relationship with the citizens of the town. "What is this? Two more emergency quests? This cannot be a coincidence. Is it an event? Did somebody trigger it?" ... In the middle of the night, Skywalker rushed across the streets, wearing his trusty cloak. "Are you sure we made the right decision? There is a quest that has been released to hunt us!" Dark King bit his lips. "We knew something like that would happen but as soon as we leave the town, everything will be fine. Nobody will know that we were behind this." Followed by a group of players, the two players went into a dark alley where a cloaked figure was waiting for them. "Sir, we have done our part of the plan. As you requested, we swapped some of the fruits for the explosives and put them in the warehouses. At the same time, my men have set the other warehouses on fire. They should be on their way here," solemnly said Dark King. "Hmmm." The cloaked figure took out his cloak and nodded. If Li Wei was here, he would immediately recognize the cloaked figure as the old identifier! "You did well. This should have caused enough chaos to split the guards." The old identifier nonchalantly pressed onto one of the bricks behind him. It activated a secret mechanism; with a muffled cranking noise, the wall behind the old man slid open. "Follow me. Everything you asked for has been prepared. We also prepared an escape path as you requested. However, it is also being used by our men to infiltrate the town." The old identifier guided the players to a secret warehouse where countless boxes full of potions were waiting for them. Dark King grinned as he saw the glistening potions. At the same time, he received a system prompt: [System prompt: You have completed the quest "Cause chaos", 100000 exp awarded.] In an instant, Dark King leveled up to level 18. He received an absurd amount of exp just for completing one quest, allowing him to completely skip level 17. Furthermore, he was not the only one, all the members of Exodia, currently in Verdan Town, received the exact same notification. The rewards were bountiful. He also got all these boxes of potions that would further increase the stats of his guildmates. However, this quest had a huge risk. If they were caught, not only were they guaranteed to die, they would also suffer in the future as they would be labeled as criminals. This quest was a high-risk high reward quest! "Dark King. Will our guildmates be fine? They are still running away from the guards. They might get caught," murmured Skywalker. "Since when did you start to worry about your guildmates? A few losses are inevitable but the majority should be able to make it here. Send them a message and tell them about the brick that opens the wall." Dark King swiftly commanded the players who transferred all the potions to their inventory. He was delighted. With the massive boost of power they have just received, Exodia should not have any trouble settling in a nearby town. At worst, if they were caught, they would be able to make a name for themselves at the Dark Cities. The old identifier nodded as he noticed all the potions were gone. He pointed at one of the dark tunnels. "This is the exit. It leads directly outside the town." However, at that moment, a dark figure emerged from the tunnel, followed by several other men. The old identifier''s eyes lit up. "Gogius! It has been a while. You are still as ugly as the last time I saw you." "Old man. Time was not very kind to you either. Who are these guys?" asked Gogius as he took off his hood. "They are the little helpers I found to cause some chaos. Some of the guards of the castle should have left to deal with the fire and with the incoming wave of demons, the castle would be even more defenseless," said the identifier. "Good. Let''s move quickly then. Our goal this time is the Eye of Mydas. It is one of the jewels found in the treasury of the Earl. According to the Messenger, it is a very powerful item that would be useful for the Heir of Darkness to release his third seal. He has already dispatched the flying demon corps to help us with this task." "Got it. Looks like the faction is sparing no efforts in getting the best materials for the heir. Any regular jewels would have been alright but they are going for the best of the best," commented the old identifier. "Do not question the orders of the Messenger." Gogius took the lead as several cloaked figures emerged out of the tunnel. Dark King and the other players froze as they observed the long line of powerful NPCs making their way out of the secret tunnel. ''Looks like it was the right decision to not oppose these lunatics'' At that moment, a voice sounded next to Dark King. "By the way, Dark King. I have a proposition to make. Since you have already helped us cause chaos, why don''t you help us in our next task?" 95 Escor Li Wei stared at his interface, wondering which quest to take. As long as he took part in one of the four options, then his relationship at Verdan Town would not be affected. Out of the four emergency quests, the easiest one was definitely "Save the warehouses". All he needed to do was to carry at least one bucket of water and his participation would be registered. The hardest was "Find the arsonists". Unless they brought back any clues, even if they were searching for them, their contribution would not be registered. As for the last two emergency quests, "Defend Verdan Town" was also a relatively safe quest. It was particularly popular among rangers, mages, and priests who could safely use their skills from afar while the NPC guards would take the hit. Due to Li Wei''s high fatigue level, he was reluctant to take a hard quest and decided to simply participate in "Save the warehouses". He took the direction of the warehouses in the eastern part of the town, not caring about properly closing the gates of the graveyard behind him. The streets were already very lively. Many players hurriedly left their inn despite their high fatigue level and went to the quest location. Clearly, many still wore sleepy expressions. Twenty minutes elapsed before Li Wei finally caught sight of the burning warehouses. The wooden buildings were completely covered in flames. It left Li Wei to wonder what would be the use of one bucket of water. However, as he approached the well, he saw a long line of players waiting for their large buckets to be filled. ''Looks like this quest is quite popular. I should have expected it...'' He quickly located the NPC he needed to report to if he wanted to take this quest. The clear red exclamation mark was very visible. However, to his surprise, when Li Wei spoke to the NPC, the response he obtained was: "Thank you for helping us. Unfortunately, we have more than enough people to help us with the water. We are not even pulling out water fast enough for everyone. If you wish, you can help us in saving the precious supplies." Li Wei disappointedly declined the offer. After witnessing the warehouses engulfed in flames, he was not crazy enough to risk his life trying to save a few supplies. Even from this distance, he could feel the heat and wanted nothing to do with them. ''How unlucky... I was too late... I suppose I should go to the barracks then. "Find the arsonists" is definitely out of the picture," said Li Wei to himself. Around him, the other players received similar replies from the NPC and soon the crowd moved toward the barracks. ''Now... Out of the two quests, which one should I choose? D*mn... My fatigue just went up to 56.'' Neither of the two quests particularly attracted Li Wei''s attention. He knew he did not really want to get involve and was only participating to avoid hurting his relationship with the citizens. ''According to the description of the quests, the main target of the flying demons should be the castle of the Earl. It should be safer to take "Escort the royals". This way, I should be far from the actual battle,'' thought Li Wei. Along the way, he pondered upon which quest to choose. He absolutely did not want to die as he was carrying a lot of loot. Unfortunately, the bank and the Warrior Association were both busy in dealing with the incidents. He did not have the chance to safely deposit all the loot he obtained. At the barracks, the guards were quickly rearranging themselves, absorbing the crowd of players into their ranks and getting ready for the battle. Several NPCs had a red exclamation mark above their head. "I would like to join the escort team of the Royals," said Li Wei. "The escort team? Sure. Go to this tent," said the NPC guard while pointing at the largest tent of the camp. "Boom!" A loud explosion was heard coming from the town wall. The battle had long begun but it was only now that they were getting serious. ''I need to get as far from the battlefield as possible.'' Inside the tent, Li Wei saw several players loudly discussing among themselves. They were nervous about the incoming quest. There were only about sixty players in the tent. "Escort the Royals" was the least popular option. "Escort the Royals" required the players to leave Verdan Town to go to a nearby town. For all the players who decided to settle at Verdan Town, it would be a waste of time to have to do the return trip. Only players like Li Wei who were not attached to the town would actually take this quest. Li Wei spoke to another NPC with the red exclamation mark. "I would like to join the escort team of the Royals." "Wait here. We will wait for ten more minutes before departing. Join this team, you will be escorting the seventh princess," answered the guard. [System prompt: Quest "Escort the Royals" changed into "Escort the Seventh Princess". New success condition: The princess must reach Boroughton alive.] Li Wei nodded and joined his teammates. A few minutes went by as a few more players entered the tent. In the end, eighty-one players chose this quest. A tall well-built man entered the tent followed by the four Royals and their guards. As Li Wei''s gaze landed on the princess, he could not help but recall the few comments made by the players about her. Only one word could describe her; she was a stunner. Even as she has just woken up and did not apply any makeup, her face was flawless. "Adventurers, we will be leaving the town very soon. Unfortunately, most of the army brought by the prince and the princess is currently engaged in a fight with the flying demons. We will separate into four groups and each one will head in a different direction. Please follow your group. Your task will be to get rid of all the small threats. We are aware of your limits; if strong foes appear, we will deal with them but we would like to conserve as much energy as possible." Time was of the essence. After a brief explanation of their task, all the guards immediately left the tent. Li Wei swiftly followed behind the princess without a word. There were twenty players in his team but none of them were members of the Golden Mansion or large guilds like Exodia. "According to the map, Boroughton is three hours away if we ride our horses," commented a player. Li Wei frowned. "Looks like the night is going to be long. How I hope I had a few Fatigue Recovery Potions at hand." "Boom! Boom!" When they reached the stables, two loud explosions occurred, one near the battlefield with the flying demons, the other, right in the middle of the Earl''s castle. The guards frowned. "Let''s go! Quick!" Li Wei jumped on a horse provided by the guards and quickly followed behind his group. They left the town using the side gate and entered the Verdan Woods. In the distance, Li Wei could see the flying creatures viciously attacking the town walls. To his horror, the flying demons were all above level 20. While the soldiers brought by the prince and princess were all level 30 and could deal with the demons, none of the players stood a chance. "Luckily, I did not pick this one... Or else, as a warrior, I would have been forced to fight at the front," murmured Li Wei. "Shriek!!!" A sharp cry sounded as a few flying demons separate from their crowd and chase the four escaping groups. ''D*mn... Looks like I spoke too quickly.'' The twenty players were nervous. None of them could face the flying demons. Aside from the players, there were thirty NPC soldiers protecting the princess and her maids. The leading captain shouted something and ten soldiers detached from the group and turned to face the incoming flying demons. ''This is not going to be a simple quest,'' thought Li Wei. And as soon as this thought crossed his mind, he noticed several golden eyes hungrily staring at the group. "It is your turn, adventurers. Deal with those beasts!" shouted the captain. Li Wei drew his Dark Runic Swords. He pulled on the lead line of his horse, commanding it to charge at the wild beasts. Meanwhile, the princess and the soldiers continued to move deeper into the woods. It would be extremely impractical to always stop to deal with all the threats they encountered. As a result, whenever enemies would appear, a small part of the formation would separate from the group to deal with them. Li Wei formed part of the first group to deal with the beasts. He did not know how to fight while riding a horse. He jumped off his ride while charging at the nearest enemy. It was a level 16 Enraged Red Fox. ''A red fox? Weren''t they supposed to stay in the Mirage Forest?'' thought Li Wei. In the corner of his eyes, he saw another player charging at a nearby level 17 Enraged Silver Wolf. The battle has officially begun. ... [System prompt: You have slain an Enraged Red Fox. You have gained 1190 exp] ''Reminds me of night hunting. Just taking down one enemy gives so much experience,'' thought Li Wei as he pulled his sword from the dead body of the fox. "Collect!" He looked at his comrades, finishing the rest of the beasts. All the players were quite strong. They acknowledged each other as they quickly jumped back on their horses. Li Wei drank a Health Potion. He furrowed his brows as he looked at his fatigue level. It was already at 64%. His intelligence and wisdom were both decreased by one. "Let''s quickly go meet the main group!" shouted one of the players. The small team departed, rushing in the direction the main team left. A few minutes later, Li Wei''s group came across another battlefield. The other team of players was engaged in a battle with another pack of beasts. Li Wei''s group did not stop. They needed to quickly get back to the princess. Furthermore, it would be impolite and seen as kill stealing if they were to attack the beasts. They continued forward and came across a clearing full of corpses of beasts. ''Looks like we were too slow. The NPCs had to actually take action and they were much faster than us. It is to be expected since they are at least ten levels above us.'' Soon, Li Wei''s group caught up with the princess'' group and as they encountered another pack of beasts, they once again charged at them. The pattern repeated itself. ... A whole hour has passed since they left Verdan Town. Unfortunately, they did not travel very far. Three players have already fallen. Not because they were weak but rather because they neglected their horses. While they were busy fighting the beasts, a few sneaky wolves attacked the horses behind their back. Without a ride, those players were left behind to not slow down the group. Li Wei''s group rode as quickly as they could to catch up with the princess'' group. But as they reached a clearing, they suddenly heard the sound of a battle. Several soldiers of the group were engaged in fights, not with beasts, but with demons! A few flying demons managed to catch up and a few other demons also appeared from the forest to ambush them. "D*mn, dirty demons! Taste my sword!" shouted a young soldier as he sliced the horn of a demon. The soldiers sensed the group''s arrival. "You continue ahead. Meet up with the princess and protect her." Li Wei was at the back of the group. He waited for the player at the front to depart but to his surprise, the player did not move toward the path the princess'' group took. Instead, the player charged at a nearby demon. He was not suicidal in charging at a level 24 Flying Demon. The Flying Demon just happened to be at a critical health level. After fighting with a soldier for a while, the Flying Demon''s HP was low. So low, that a single sword strike from the player took the life of the demon. The player received the stares of both the players and the NPCs but he did not care. Killing that Flying Demon brought him so much exp that he leveled up. ''Lucky guy,'' swore Li Wei in his heart. He was not the only one unhappy at the situation. All the other players started to eye the demons who all turned out to be at a relatively low health level. Because of a single player''s actions, the whole group decided to stay in the clearing, monitoring the demon''s HP. They all wanted to land the killing blow to obtain all the exp. While killing a beast would give them about 1250 exp, the Flying demons would give 5000 exp! It was four times the amount of exp and they did not even need to fight; they just needed to land the final attack. Even Li Wei was no exception. He sneakily moved his hand to his waist, grabbing a few throwing needles. 96 Unfortunate timing A player named Thunderous rushed toward another Flying Demon whose HP was dangerously low. He did not immediately attack. He waited for the NPC soldier to strike first and then swiftly followed up, landing the killing blow. Thunderous instantly leveled up. "What are you doing? Didn''t the captain tell you to go and meet the princess'' team?" shouted the NPC soldier whose target was just killed. Thunderous smiled and replied: "We are helping you to kill these demons faster. Our strength alone is not enough to deal with such demons, we will be useless if we are the only one protecting the princess anyway; we might as well help you get here quicker." Similar scenes were taking place all over the clearing. The players were patient and did not want to miss the great source of exp! The main reason they took this mission was to avoid the penalty of not participating. However, the reward of the quest was only 10000 exp. Just by killing two Flying Demons, they would earn as much DP as completing the quest. There was no penalty for failing the quest or at the very least, the quest description did not mention any. Li Wei commanded his horse to advance. He repositioned himself to get a better aim. He was not the only one, the two mages of the team also readied their spells. He threw a throwing needle at one of the Flying Demons but the mages were faster. Before his needle could hit its target, several blue projectiles exploded on the Flying Demon, taking out the rest of its HP. Li Wei frowned. He briefly looked at the mages but he did not hold any grudges; it was part of the game, they were all trying to kill steal. ''Looks like I won''t be getting much now. My fatigue is already at 73% and my Dexterity fell down by two. My throwing needles deal at most 15 damage with the [Weapon Throwing] skill but the mages'' spells easily deal 30...'' The mages leveled up and many other players started getting involved in the fight. Li Wei pulled his horse to the side. There were only eight players fighting to land the killing blow but the area felt cramped up. ''Instead of fighting here, would it not be best to head to the princess'' group? Maybe they encountered another group of demons like that and with fewer players, it would be easier to farm,'' thought Li Wei. ''Furthermore, I doubt the game would allow this. We are essentially forgetting about the quest and taking advantage of it to get some exp.'' He briefly looked at the other players focusing on the demons'' HP bar. He then kicked his horse and without a word, departed in the direction of the princess'' group. "Hey, that guy is leaving. Should we follow him?" asked one of the mages. "Him? Let him go. He already knows he cannot compete for the last hit of the demons. He should not be very confident in his reflexes. Why do we need to give up such a great exp farm?" However, as soon as the mage spoke, a loud shriek sounded from the sky. Several Flying demons flew down but this time, they did not aim for the soldier; instead, they attacked the players. ... Li Wei was unaware of the trouble the players got themselves into. He continued forward and soon, joined the princess'' group. As he expected, they were already engaged in another battle but this time, the demons did not have any wings. Above their head was "Level 25 One-Horned Demon". They pale in comparison to the soldiers but there were so many that the soldiers were overwhelmed. ''I was right! The princess'' group is going to constantly encounter enemies. The problem is just how long this quest is going to last... Boroughton is not very far but with my fatigue level, I won''t make it there,'' thought Li Wei. ''The system should not be so heartless. The quest should be completable but since it started late in the middle of the night, everyone''s fatigue is high.'' Li Wei looked at the princess who was protected by three maids. ''Tsssk, does she even need our help?'' sarcastically murmured Li Wei. The princess was a level 25 NPC and the three maids were all above level 30. He did not waste too much time and drew his swords. ''The hardest part of the quest should not be very far... All the twenty soldiers are already fighting and a few are injured... Well, I will think about it later. For now, let''s try to get some exp.'' A One-Horned Demon roared. It viciously clawed the soldier in front of it, ripping apart its shield. However, another soldier pierced its shell with a long spear. Li Wei positioned himself next to the soldiers, carefully observing the demon''s HP bar displaying 68. He waited and as soon as the demon''s HP fell to 25, Li Wei hurried attacked. His Dark Runic Swords sliced the air toward the One-Horned Demon but to his surprise, Li Wei failed to cut through the demon''s tough shell. "-7", "-9" Two pitiful numbers appeared above the demon. It roared and turned its attention to Li Wei who attracted its aggro with the two attacks. Fortunately, before it could attack, the soldier swiftly beheaded the demon with his spear. "Be careful, these demons have a tough armor. Just stay near the princess to protect her," advised the soldier holding the shield. The soldiers did not bother with Li Wei and quickly moved to the next demon. ''Looks like I overestimated myself. Kill stealing monsters is not easy but it will be good practice for the future. The -2 on my strength is not helping either.'' Li Wei was not let down by his failure. He continued to persevere. He failed a few times but eventually, he succeeded: [System prompt: You have slain a One-Horned Demon. You have gained 5190 exp] Li Wei''s eyes lit up, he finally got his first kill and the amount of exp was more than he could hope for. He quickly crouched next to the demon corpse. "Collect" He wore a satisfied expression as he looked at the eight [Demon Horn] and the nine [Demon Shell] in his inventory. Li Wei was not only focused on getting the last kills. He was also traveling across the battlefield, collecting the loot of the dead demons. [System prompt: You have slain a One-Horned Demon. You have gained 4860 exp] [System prompt: You have slain a One-Horned Demon. You have gained 5300 exp] After a few minutes, the loud footsteps of horses sounded in the distance. Several players rushed into the clearing, bringing with them a small pack of hungry beasts. "Looks like I will have to share the exp with them now..." About twenty enraged beasts charged at the soldiers entangled with the demons. The soldiers were taken by surprise, causing their HP to drop. Li Wei quickly reacted and joined the soldiers. He was too weak to deal with the demons but he could hold his ground against a beast. "Sorry, there are too few of us to deal with this pack," shouted one of the players with an embarrassed expression. The battle continued but with the help of the enraged beasts, the demons gradually gained the upper hand. Two of the three maids beside the princess drew their weapons and rushed toward the beasts but despite their strength, they were still unable to turn the tides. In the distance, Li Wei could already see the bright red eyes of the beasts looking at them. ''This is getting really complicated. I must not die here!'' At that moment, Li Wei''s fatigue went up again and reached 80%, further decreasing his strength and dexterity stat. ''D*mn... At this rate, I will just lose consciousness. Well, it is better to fail the quest than to lose my items.'' He pushed away the corpse of the Enraged Red Fox and search around him for an escape path. They were completely surrounded; the demons and beasts were attacking from all the sides. A One-Horned Demon roared and charged at Thunderous, one of the few players still alive. The latter was taken by surprise; he had been staying away from the demons and was focusing on the weaker beasts but he did not expect a demon to ignore the soldiers to attack him. He was impaled by the horn as the demon continued to rush forward. "Boom!" The One-Horned Demon collided with a large tree, mercilessly smashing Thunderous'' body against the stem. Fully absorbing the damage of a level 25 monster, Thunderous'' HP bar was instantly depleted. He looked in grief at the large demon; all the exp he accumulated while kill stealing would be lost. Li Wei bit his lips; another player died. The situation did not look good at all but when he saw Thunderous'' death, he found a possible escape path. He jumped back, disregarding the Enraged Silver Wolf he was dealing with and ran away from the princess. [Gliding Steps] Using his technique, he skillfully dodged the attack of the beasts and reached the edge of the clearing. Without hesitation, he swapped his Dark Runic Swords for the Natta Blades and swung the daggers at the largest tree he could find. Using the daggers, he hastily climbed the large trunk, completely ignoring the howls of the beasts converging to the roots of the tree. Li Wei''s moves did not go unnoticed. The remaining maid beside the princess looked at Li Wei and said, "Princess, we should also escape. There are more beasts and demons heading this way and looking at how cowardly the adventurers are, I doubt they will be of much use." The princess had been observing the whole battlefield since the beginning. She naturally also saw Li Wei''s actions. "I know but maybe his move is the correct one. We should also look for a place to hide. It is not normal for so many demons to come after us. Their target should have been the Earl''s treasury... So why are they all coming after us? Unless... It has to do with this..." As she spoke, the princess took out a small pouch from the pocket of her shorts. A faint glow could be seen coming out of the small opening of the pouch. "Could it be that we were tricked by the Earl? Instead of sending us to safety, he is planning to use us to bait the demons away?" Li Wei jumped onto the thick branch of the tree, sending the Natta Blades back to his inventory. He slowly caught his breath and drank a few recovery potions. At the same time, from his vantage point, Li Wei observed the battle. Only four players were still alive, constantly attacking the beasts. The two maids and twelve soldiers were still holding off the demons but it was clear that they would not last for very long. ''It is useless. The casualties will just increase as long as they stay here. The demons and beasts will keep spawning but the soldiers are limited. They should find a way to break the encirclement.'' At that moment, Li Wei saw a few reinforcements rushing toward the beasts and demons. The group that previously separated from the princess'' group finally caught up with the main group. Seven soldiers and five players joined the fray. However, despite the arrival of the reinforcement, the escort team still failed to take the upper hand. Everyone was tired and their mana pool was almost completely empty. A few players decided to run away from the fight just like Li Wei did, putting even more pressure on the few persistent defenders. "Derrick! Stop fighting with us. Take the princess with you and break from the encirclement. We will hold them back!" shouted the captain. The courageous man was covered with blood and sweat. He furiously lowered his large sword, cutting a One-Horned Demon in half. Li Wei watched from his safe spot out of range of the demons as a group of soldiers hurriedly got into a formation and rushed toward the demons. Somehow, they succeeded in pushing them away and disappeared behind the trees. Li Wei sighed. "This quest is way too difficult. Weren''t all the quests supposed to have the same level of difficulty?" Only three other players were still actively participating in this quest and were in the princess'' group. The rest either died or deserted the group like Li Wei. The latter did not regret his decision. Chances were, this was the only way he might not die and lose all his loot. Boroughton was still two hours away and at the rate his fatigue level was going up, he would at most last for one more hour. The ten remaining soldiers, together with the captain, valiantly fought the demons but soon, despite their level advantage, they fell one by one to the One-Horned Demons. Li Wei stood still on the branch. He did not dare to move to avoid attracting the demons'' attention. The captain eventually fell and the clearing became silent. The One-Horned demons grunted and soon, they disappeared in the direction the princess'' group took. The beasts all rushed in the same direction. None of the monsters seemed to have detected Li Wei''s presence but he did not dare to move, in fear that a few demons were still nearby. ''Am I safe? It is unfortunate to have abandoned the quest but at least, I can keep all my items. I just hope that if there is a punishment, it won''t be too harsh,'' thought Li Wei as he scanned his strangely silent surroundings. At that moment, as if answering his question, a series of announcements rang through his ears: [World Announcement: Congratulations to the player, ???, for being the first player to reach level 20] [World Announcement: The conditions have been fulfilled for the first world expansion. The system will be updated immediately. Please consult the document in your inventory for more information about the changes.] [Server Announcement: The first expansion has been triggered. The rewards for the three trials: Alyssa''s Lair, The Graveyard of Longsoul and the Island of Desolation, will be provided now. Congratulations to all the players on the leaderboards.] [System prompt: You are ranked first on the World Leaderboard of Alyssa''s Lair. You have been rewarded with 1 level, a piece of equipment: [Coarse Hide Helmet] and a skill: [Socialite Aura]] [System Prompt: Congratulations Player Seven. You leveled up. You have gained a free stat point.] [System Prompt: You only have two inventory slots available, would you like to retrieve [Coarse Hide Helmet] now?] [System Prompt: [Socialite Aura] has been automatically learned] [Socialite Aura (level 0)] A passive skill that increases all NPCs'' favorability toward you, regardless of their background. Favorability +5% "What? Somebody already reached level 20?" exclaimed Li Wei. He was overwhelmed by all the system prompts. He felt lost and defeated. Despite all his efforts, there were players who were still so far ahead; he himself was only level 16 before receiving the rewards of the leaderboard but someone had already reached level 20. As he was complaining, the sky suddenly brightened. Several shooting stars appeared at the horizon and soon covered the whole sky. Li Wei paused as he observed the beautiful scene. Time seemed to pause but he quickly recollected his thoughts. He wanted to check all the notifications again but before he could, the necklace at his neck, the Tear of Fairies suddenly shone brightly, emitting a deep blue light. ''What is happening again? Why are there so many events happening just on the night I really need to recover my fatigue?'' "Seven? Are you here?" asked a melodious childish voice. ''The lake fairy is calling me?'' Li Wei was about to answer but before he could, the flapping of wings sounded above his head, followed by a loud shriek. Li Wei trembled, he did not need to look up to know he had been found. Flying Demons were rushing toward him. "D*mn... Of all the time, it had to be now," cursed Li Wei as he jumped off the tree and ran into the forest. The Tear of Fairies was emitting so much light, turning Li Wei into a walking lamp. He pulled the necklace and decisively sent it into his inventory, before barely avoiding the claw of the Flying Demon. 97 Meeting Piece of Cloth again "He... How dare he cut off the connection like that?" A Lake Fairy furrowed her brows and tossed away a necklace. Fortunately, as they were underwater, the necklace did not go very far and was quickly grabbed by another Lake Fairy. "Mmm, looks like he is moving very fast. He seems to be busy," commented the second Lake Fairy after examining the necklace. "So what? Hmmp. He could have at least said something. If we did not need him so badly, I would not even have tried to contact him. It is so bad, we cannot even ask him to protect the Abyss'' heir now." The second Lake Fairy bitterly smiled. "I know. But how could we predict that this dungeon would be so strong. We failed to destroy it once and if he fails, then we will have to ask for help from the other elementals. Without any help, we will inevitably be absorbed by the dungeon." "The human you trusted better come here soon. I knew you should have made a clear contract..." ... "D*mn... Why does it feel like the world is falling apart? Verdan Town was attacked from all sides. Now the update and then even the Lake Fairies tried to contact me? I don''t have time for all of this... I just want to recover my fatigue in peace!" Li Wei ran through the forest. Fortunately, the Flying Demons were unable to follow him due to their size. The trees provided a natural cover against the flying creature. However, the forest was still full of ferocious beasts and in his escape, Li Wei attracted the attention of many. He did not dare to fight the monsters. What if One-Horned Demons were also roaming the area. Furthermore, his fatigue level was already crippling his strength. His fatigue level was currently at 75%; it decreased by 5% after Li Wei leveled up. Although he regained 1 Strength and Dexterity, it barely made any difference. [Gliding Steps] Li Wei swiftly avoided a Silver Wolf and made a sharp turn to get rid of his pursuers but the beasts were persistent. ''As soon as the quest is over, I am sure there will be much fewer monsters. This quest is so hard... I wonder where the princess is right now.'' Li Wei continued his escape but the forest was huge and full of beasts. It was the reason why Night Hunting was so dangerous. Compared to the beginner''s area, the open world was far more dangerous, the respawn rate of the beasts was very high. Before long, Li Wei''s fatigue once again shot up to 80%. There were simply no ends to this. He could not find a suitable place to hide. With a quick glance at his interface, Li Wei saw his experience bar: (52849/70000). There was still a large chunk of exp to fill but then, he recalled the Condensed Crystals in his inventory. He was supposed to keep them and submit the crystals at the Warrior Association, but now, Li Wei did not hesitate to use them all. If he did nothing, he would be caught by the beasts! [System Prompt: Congratulations Player Seven. You leveled up. You have gained a free stat point.] "Allocate all three stat points to Dexterity!" Li Wei did not waste any time and quickly, his Dexterity shot to 25. The negative effects of the Fatigue level were completely negated by the effect of his equipment. After leveling up, his fatigue level once again went down by 5% Li Wei rushed forward. ''This time, let''s not try to run. I''ll simply find a tree to climb like last time. Without the Tear of Fairies, the monsters should not be able to locate me.'' [Gliding steps] He quickly activated his skill and slowly increased the distance between him and the beasts. When he was comfortable with the distance, Li Wei stomped the ground as he hurriedly climbed the large trunk of an Oak. "Grrr Grrr" The beasts rushed to the old Oak but Li Wei was fast. With the help of the Natta Blades, Li Wei quickly climbed up, out of the range of the beasts. However, even as he was safe, Li Wei did not stop. He continued to climb until he would be hidden by the foliage. He heaved a sigh of relief as he teasing looked down at the beasts clawing the Oak. ''Stupid beasts. Now, I just need to wait for the rest of the night.'' However, as Li Wei tried to climb to the next branch, his hand landed on something warm and soft. It was completely different from the usual rough cold texture of the oak branches. He was stunned and hurriedly looked up but as he did so, a hand pressed against his mouth as a dagger appeared at his throat. Li Wei was stunned. The warm and soft feeling he got actually came from the seventh princess'' thigh! The princess had been unexpectedly hiding at the top of this tree! Li Wei''s mind was racing. He could feel the indignant stare of the princess but whose dagger was at his throat? The princess'' eyes met Li Wei''s but they did not speak. They did not want to make any more noise to attract the beast. Only by pretending to have already left would the beasts at the root of the oak finally leave. ''D*mn... What are you doing here? I clearly ran in a different direction from the one you took,'' thought Li Wei. The princess waved her hand without making a sound. The dagger and the hand pressed against his mouth disappeared. When he looked behind him, Li Wei saw one of the maids of the princess. Her index finger was tightly pressed against her lips, signaling him to remain silent. At the same time, her eyes were glaring at him with fury. After a few minutes of awkward silence, the growls of the beasts disappeared. The princess and her maid both silently scanned the area and finally, the princess spoke, "Aren''t you that adventurer who was the first to run away?" Li Wei''s eyes widened, "Oh. You saw that. The battle was already lost. What happened to the rest of the escort?" At the same time, Li Wei was internally rejoicing. ''I thought she would throw a tantrum but looks like she already forgot the incident. Could it be an effect of the [Socialite Aura]? In any case, I must keep the conversation going so that she does not bring this topic up again...'' He briefly remembered the information that appeared on his interface but he did not really have time to look into it. "Dead. They are all dead. If I did not use a few treasures, we would not have gotten away..." said the princess as she wore a pained expression. "Don''t mention it, princess. If only the adventurers were not cowards, we might have stood a chance. Because of them, Lily and Daisy died! We should quickly kick this one away too before he brings us any more trouble," commented the maid. Her name was Rose. Her face was full of grief as she recalled the last moment of her friends. Li Wei did not respond to the maid''s comment. ''The escort team has been annihilated? Looks like quite a few players decided to run away when they saw how hard the quest was. Emergency Quests are not as easy as regular quests.'' ''The question is, what will happen to us now? I hope no more monsters will be coming after us. This way, we can just wait for the sun to rise and rush to Boroughton.'' "We were all tired and needed to rest. I have been working for seven hours straight before the demons attacked. Of course, I am not in the best shape for this quest." Rose retorted. "Because you think we were prepared for this? We also had a tiring day with all the negotiations that took place. We were woken up in a hurry and were forced by the Earl to leave the castle. He said it was for our safety but who would have thought that he would use us as bait? Once we return to the palace, we will make sure to report this to the emperor!" "Use you as bait? What do you mean?" curiously asked Li Wei. "There is no harm telling you now that we are in this situation. The prince and I came to the Earl''s castle because they discovered a ruin nearby. Because it was quite far from the Earl''s main territory, he requested some help from the emperor. We came here to gain some experience but we ended up like this. When we escaped, the Earl gave us some items from his treasury, claiming that they were the payment for the troops that were dispatched." "We brought 500 soldiers with us but most of them stayed to defend Verdan Town. That Earl is a crafty man. We thought that after so many years, he would not attempt such a risky move but we were wrong. He did not hesitate to put the Royals in danger for his territory!" As the princess finished her explanation, Li Wei suddenly heard a series of footsteps coming from below. He was hidden by the foliage and could not clearly see the ground but he knew someone was coming. The princess and her maid also detected the sounds. Their face became solemn as they scanned the surroundings. "Where is it? The detector says it should be around here. But there is nothing but trees!" A voice came from below. It carried a trace of carefreeness and frustration. Li Wei''s expression changed. He had heard this voice before but could not recall where. The footsteps became louder. Li Wei saw a pair of legs but right next to it was a pair of Enraged Forest Fox. The surprising part was that the foxes did not attack the person! ''A tamer?'' This was Li Wei''s first thought but after a few moments, the face of the person finally came into view. ''This... Isn''t that the little fatty I saw at Verdan Town? What is he doing here?'' The person was unexpectedly Piece of Cloth, the short fatty who had been chasing after the old identifier. He seemed confused as if he was looking for something. Li Wei briefly turned toward the princess. He murmured. "I know that person. Stay here, let me talk to him." Without waiting for an answer, Li Wei silently jumped to a lower branch. Rose looked at the princess. "Is he trying to sell us out?" Li Wei did not hear her and continued to go down. At that moment, the Enraged Forest Fox both raised their head and growled at him. He had entered their aggro range. "Wait. Don''t attack, Piece of Cloth. I don''t have any bad intentions." Piece of Cloth was startled by the foxes'' sudden aggressive behavior. He jumped back in fright but as he heard the voice, he raised his head. "You... Who are you? Why do you look so familiar? Oh! You are that player, I remember you." Li Wei did not jump off the lowest branch of the tree yet. "Take those Enraged Forest Fox away. I can''t jump down or they will attack me." "I can''t. I am not their owner. They were ordered to protect me," answered the fatty with a silly expression. "It cannot be helped. What are you doing here? Don''t you know it is a dangerous area?" continued Piece of Cloth. "I should be the one asking this question. How come the beasts are not attacking you and did you not encounter any demons?" asked Li Wei. He was on guard against a fellow player but the fatty was an acquaintance who helped him find an identifier. "Oh. That''s because I joined an organization. All the beasts and demons here are controlled by it. They won''t attack me. But since you are here, did you find a big jewel called the Eye of Mydas? I am looking for it. I need it for my quest." As he heard Piece of Cloth, Li Wei frowned. It was not hard to connect the dots. There was a high chance that the Eye of Mydas was something held by the princess. Since the demons did not attack Piece of Cloth, it was clear that he formed part of the force whose goal was to capture the princess. ''Looks like this is a two-way quest. Fortunately, I met Piece of Cloth who can be considered as an acquaintance.'' As he recalled everything that happened to him during this trip, Li Wei asked, "Could it be that you joined an Evil Cult? I remember having seen the Forest Foxes..." "How did you know? Yes, that''s the case but we can talk about it later. Have you seen the Eye of Mydas? My quest will expire very soon..." said Piece of Cloth. Li Wei, who already had an idea of what was happening, was confused. ''How is it going to expire soon? Isn''t the princess stuck in the tree?'' He paused for a moment before answering. "You just want the Eye of Mydas, right? If I give it to you, will my friends and I be safe to leave?" 98 Another familiar person "Of course. I will immediately report to the cult and they will recall the beasts and the demons," answered Piece of Cloth. ''Looks like I might be able to complete the quest after all. Could it be that the real way to complete the quest was not to fight all the demons... It was only to get rid of that Eye of Mydas?'' Li Wei hesitated for a moment. His quest only required him to bring the princess to safety. There was no mention of that Eye of Mydas. Although he did not care about the quest much, now that the circumstances had changed and given him another go, he wanted to try to complete it. ''Maybe bringing back the Eye of Mydas would affect the final rating or something like that.'' He looked up and said, "Princess, you should have heard our conversation, right? The items the Earl gave you should not be that important to the royal family. As long as you give it to them, they will not do anything against you anymore." Piece of Cloth was confused. He did not make the connection between Li Wei''s actions yet but his eyes brightened as he saw a small pouch fall in Li Wei''s hands. The system immediately displayed [Eye of Mydas] above it. "Quick, give it to me!" said Piece of Cloth. As soon as he received the jewel, the little fatty leveled up to level 16. "Yes! Finally! Now, I have passed the test. They cannot say no now," exclaimed Piece of Cloth. Li Wei did not interrupt the fatty''s celebration. It was only after he calmed down that he finally asked: "Can you tell me what exactly is happening? Were you not chasing the old man to become an identifier? How did you end up here?" "Oh, right. It was the old man that sent me here. He told me that if I passed the entrance test, he would immediately take me as his disciple! By obtaining the [Eye of Mydas], I just completed the quest! This is great, I just obtained the Identifier profession!" Li Wei was puzzled. He could not understand the fatty''s reaction. "What is so great about being an Identifier? Isn''t it a useless profession?" "Ignorant! It is true that Identifier is one of the weaker professions as they don''t actually craft anything. Since you helped me complete the quest, I''ll tell you a secret. The Identifier profession is the key to obtaining the title: Internationally Acknowledged Trader. With this, it will be a piece of cake to set up a Chamber of Commerce. Without that title, people can only become simple traders, but I can control all the trades!" "You don''t know how much I went through just to become an Identifier. None of the identifiers of the associations can take apprentices due to their contracts. I had to find an old man like this to become one early or else, I would have had to master all the other professions... He made me change my name to that silly name. He made me carry all the trash..." The chatty fatty continued to narrate his tasks. Li Wei bitterly smiled and interrupted him. "I am happy for you but what are we waiting for now?" "Oh? For the members of my cult to arrive. They must check the Eye of Mydas first. Don''t worry, they won''t try to harm you. The person looking after me is very nice. She is a stunner, my goddess. She even gave me those two foxes to look after me. Although she is just an NPC, I will do what I can to court her! Who says people cannot marry NPCs? You should see her thoughtful expression. She is so pretty. Oh no, I am the only one who can see her like this..." Li Wei no longer listened to the fatty. He was way too talkative. Piece of Cloth was a rather innocent and gullible person. He trusted people easily and this could be seen from how he shared his secret with Li Wei. However, he also had a kind aura that attracted people to him and made them unconsciously trust him. Li Wei silently waited as Piece of Cloth continued to describe the woman looking after him. His ears were numbed but he did not want to disrespect the fatty as whether his quest would succeed still depended on him. After a few minutes, Li Wei finally saw a few figures stepping out of the shadows. He was once again stunned as he recognized the lady leading the group. Their eyes met as they both froze. "Miss Trisha! You are finally here. This is my friend, Seven. Here is the [Eye of Mydas]," excitedly said Piece of Cloth as he handed her the small pouch. The NPC with the name Trisha was unexpectedly the young girl who attended to Li Wei when he was staying at the Evil Cult''s camp. Li Wei did not think much of her at that time. She was pretty and young which was why the Messenger ordered her to look after Li Wei but it seemed that she was not as weak as she looked. From Piece of Cloth''s description and seeing how she was leading the team, Trisha should be relatively powerful. The Enraged Forest Fox lightly growled as they rushed to Trisha''s side. She briefly checked the Eye of Mydas and walked toward Li Wei. She lightly blushed as she recalled the night she spent with him. Although they did nothing, it was still an embarrassing moment for her. "Sir. It is good to see you again." Li Wei smiled. "You are a druid? Looks like the Messenger thought highly of me." "She did. I will have to thank, Sir. I will inform the Messenger when we return to the camp. Unfortunately, you were involved in our operation. The Messenger did inform you to not head East. I would like to apologize for it." Trisha apologetically smiled. "It is fine. In the end, I still survived. Will I be free to leave?" asked Li Wei. "Of course. Is the princess with you? We were going to capture her and ask for a ransom but since she is with you, we will let her go. The rest of your trip should be safe." "Thank you," answered Li Wei. He briefly looked up but as there was no response, he shifted his attention back to Trisha. "Would you like to spend the night at our camp? We would be delighted to have you there again." "I would not mind but I don''t think the princess will. Right now, I need to stay by her side for a quest," answered Li Wei. "The princess? Fine. In that case, we will take our leave. There is a group of knights on their way here. They should be the cavalry dispatched from Boroughton to escort the princess. If you have time, do not hesitate to come back to our camp." Trisha lightly bowed as she quickly signaled her teammates to leave. Piece of Cloth shot an inquisitive glance at Li Wei. The latter shrugged his shoulders innocently. How was he supposed to tell Piece of Cloth that the woman he regarded as a goddess was seen completely naked by him and that she was offered to him? It was only after the Evil Cultists left the area that the princess and her maid jumped to Li Wei''s branch. "You are allied with the evil cult?" "I just happen to have met her before. They helped me once. That''s it." "Hmm. You should have asked them if my brother is still alive," continued the princess. She did not care much about the Evil Cults; the nobles tended to stay away from the battle of religions. ''I don''t care about your brother. I just want to complete my quest,'' thought Li Wei. Naturally, he could not say it out loud. "You''ve heard them. We can do down and wait for the knights to arrive," said Li Wei as he jumped down and landed on the damp grass. "No need. We will stay here until the knights arrive. We do not trust evil cults," answered Rose. Li Wei did not answer. He leaned against the tree and sat down. He could tell Rose and the princess'' attitude has changed. Despite his [Socialite Aura] that increased the NPC''s favorability toward him, his actions displeased the two women. But Li Wei could not care less. Now that he finally had some peace, Li Wei took out the document about the update and skimmed through it. There were quite a lot of changes but the most important ones were the increase in the size of the territory the players could explore. They could finally go to the capital and the price of the portals to the other cities was significantly lowered! ''Seems like we will start interacting with people from other countries.'' Aside from the territory expansion, a few adjustments were made to the combat system and now, instead of displaying the monster''s health, they would only display a percentage. The calculation of the damage dealt was also slightly tweaked. More importance was put on the player''s equipment instead of their own stats. Another change that attracted Li Wei''s attention was that items could no longer be brought to the new Time Attacks. It was clear that the players had abused items too much for the first three. Li Wei himself did so. The update was massive but it would not affect Li Wei much. It mainly added a lot of areas, waiting to be explored. These areas were meant for players above level 20 but at the moment, there was only one player that met the requirements. ''I am still lagging behind...'' ''Now that I think about it, I should think of a way to look for a title. According to Piece of Cloth, titles should be an essential part of the game. He also seems to have insider information... I should have asked.'' After waiting for a few more minutes, a few knights finally reached Li Wei''s location. The princess and her maid excitedly jumped down and spoke to the captain. The latter was a told man with a long beard, going all the way to his crotch. He did not put Li Wei in his eyes but nevertheless gave him a horse to ride on. The princess and her maid rode their own horses in the middle of the formation while Li Wei followed behind quietly. He could not be bothered to argue with them. He was more worried about his fatigue level. As Trisha promised, the journey to Boroughton was peaceful; they did not encounter a single beast or demon but Li Wei''s fatigue kept increasing! When the town finally came into view, Li Wei''s fatigue had already reached 92%. Escorted by the knights, they did not have any trouble entering the town in the middle of the night. None of the knights spoke to Li Wei. They simply continued on their way while the latter stopped in the middle of the street as he obtained the system prompt: [System prompt: You have completed the quest "Escort the Seventh Princess". You have obtained 5000 exp. Due to the small number of players participating in this quest, the difficulty was reduced by sending a troop of knights from Boroughton. The reward has been halved. Due to the player''s actions, no additional reward will be obtained. The Seventh Princess will remember you.] Li Wei froze as he read the system prompt. He wanted to swear. The rewards for the emergency quest were already left to be desired but it was actually halved by the system? ''Stingy system. Reduced difficulty, my a**. That quest was so hard...'' But the most infuriating part was that he was supposed to receive additional rewards but because of his actions, he would not? Was it because he ran away from danger the first time or was it because he did not treat the princess like a real one? ''Tsssk. The princess and her maid are really two-faced... She looked sweet and pitiful when she explained how she was used as bait but after the threat was gone, she immediately became cold and ignored me.'' ''Anyway, I better find a place to sleep. With that much fatigue, I will collapse if I do not sleep very soon. This will teach me to take emergency quests like that. Next time, I will hurry up and take the easiest one.'' Finding an inn was not very hard but the problem was that most inns were closed. It was still 04:16 and most NPCs were fast asleep. Only the most expensive inns offering night service were still open. Li Wei did not care about it. He had a lot of money on him and right now, he himself just wanted to sleep. 99 Trading The next day, Li Wei woke up at 13:30. It was extremely late and the entire Boroughton was already awake. He went to sleep extremely late at an expensive place but he had to admit that the price of the rooms was worth it. His fatigue had completely recovered. He took out the Tear of Fairies from his inventory and stared at it for a moment. The necklace almost caused him to die. The timing could not have been worst. He wanted to contact the Lake Fairies but he did not know how to use the necklace. ''I suppose I will have to make a trip to the Gassian Lake to honor my promise. Although I am not bound by any contract, I must honor my words.'' Using the map, Li Wei determined the journey would last for two days on a horse. Algate City, Boroughton and the Gassian Lake formed an almost equilateral triangle. He was not in a hurry to return to Algate City; having asked for an extended period of absence, he could leisurely visit a few other towns before returning. He then turned his attention to the rest of the interface. The forum was booming. Many players were excited about the expansion and another branch of the forum was open, allowing players to connect with players from other countries in the same empire. Most comments were positive but there were still some complaints about the harsher death penalties. Aside from the forum, Li Wei also checked his messages. A lot of them came from the guild. They were essentially informing him of the changes taking place. Li Wei was considered as an outer member of the sect. He did not receive any resources from the Fleeting Clouds Sect and needed to work for all his contribution points. In return, he did not have any restrictions either. He could go to the capital if he wanted to but the Fleeting Clouds Sect advised him not to. Contrary to his expectations, the Fleeting Clouds Sect was not planning on going to the capital to make a name for themselves. Instead, they wanted to focus their efforts on Algate City and its county. They have already sent a lot of their forces to the nearby towns and each of the guilds of the different families was a dominant force in these towns. Only a small portion of the members of the sect was going to the capital and if Li Wei absolutely wanted to go there, he would receive minimal support. Furthermore, he would still need to return to Algate City for the weekly event. "I guess it was the right choice to only loosely connect myself to the Fleeting Clouds Sect. I don''t know their plans but isn''t it obvious that to continue developing they need to move to the new areas like the capital? Well, we''ll see what to do later. For now, let''s head out," said Li Wei to himself. It was pointless to leave Boroughton when half of the day was already over but that did not mean Li Wei should stay in his room. He walked down the inn and was surprised to see the horse he rode on still here. ''Looks like they don''t really care about this horse. I shall take it as mine.'' He left the inn and headed to the Warrior Association. The first thing he needed to do was to check the status of the quest he accepted. He still had one night left on his quest but when he submitted his Identity Crystal, the receptionist answered: "I am sorry, there are two important things I need to inform you of. First, your quest: The Grave Robber has been completed by someone else. Due to some special circumstances, after the battle of that took place at Verdan Town, the authorities inspected the graveyard to see if everything was in place. An adventurer found the corpses of the gravekeeper Oleg and his Twin brother. We concluded that both of them were in cahoot for the grave robber incident." "Although you were the one assigned to this quest, someone else brought back all the pieces of evidence and was given the reward of this quest. This is all I can tell you. The quest has been completed. We will therefore not penalize you for it. Please move on from this." Li Wei was stunned. It was possible for someone else to complete others'' quests? ''It should have been impossible as only I had access to the graveyard but because of the demon''s attack, the authorities had to check the entire town. It allowed others to go there and find the corpses. This game really has some dynamic elements to it...'' "May I ask who was the one to complete the quest?" asked Li Wei. The receptionist frowned. "No. To protect that person, I cannot disclose her name. It has happened in the past where lazy adventurers would threaten hard working ones who completed their quests. I shall advise you against this. The different associations will not sit still if this sort of things repeat itself." ''Why did she become angry so suddenly?'' said Li Wei to himself when he noticed the receptionist''s rough behavior. Completely ignoring his confused look, the receptionist continued. "Now onto the other thing you need to be informed of. You were on the escort in charge of protecting the seventh princess, right?" "Yes?" "Alright. The princess submitted feedback on the escort she received. She was very dissatisfied with it and according to her, the adventurers caused the death of many loyal soldiers. A penalty has been placed on all the participants of the escort mission. You will not be allowed to take any quests for the following week and for the next month, all the rewards you obtain will be reduced by 10%." "What? Is this even allowed?" exclaimed Li Wei. "Of course. Do you think we can allow adventurers to sully our reputation? We reward those who perform well but at the same time, punish the useless ones. You should consider yourself lucky. The escort missions this time were a failure. Only the group protecting the sixth prince successfully completed their mission. The adventurers in charge of the Earl''s two sons were all penalized and will have to give up 50% of their harvest for the next month." "If you are not satisfied, feel free to file a complaint or boycott our association," added the receptionist with a condescending look. Li Wei did not know what to answer. What did he do to deserve this? ''Looks like the penalty for failing a quest is quite high. Even if I did complete it in the end, I did run away at some point and the princess was left alone... If that''s the penalty for that... What would have happened if the princess died?'' Unable to retort, Li Wei left the Warrior Association. He could feel the disdain in the receptionist''s eyes. However, at the same time, Li Wei was internally rejoicing. Since the case of the grave robber had been closed by someone else, did that mean that he could keep everything he took from Oleg for himself? ''Let''s pretend I never stumbled onto anything.'' There was a decent amount of jewels and gold in his inventory. He initially believed he would need to submit it all back to the association to complete the quest but now that he could pretend he never found this treasure, Li Wei would naturally not complain. Having had his quest snatched by someone else has been a blessing in disguise! The wealth he had easily amounted to what he would earn in an entire month. "It is pointless to submit all the loot from the trip to the Warrior Association but I can still exchange at the Fleeting Clouds Sect for contribution points. This is the advantage of not putting all my eggs in one basket." One of the families of the Fleeting Clouds Sect chose to settle at Boroughton. It was the Meng Family; their guild was called Harmony. As one of the largest families, the Meng family had many branches and offsprings. They did not need to share Boroughton and was already established as the dominant player force there. ... At Harmony''s headquarters, Li Wei stood in front of the collection counter and took out the monsters'' drop. "I would like to exchange these items for contribution points." The elder''s eyes widened. "You... Did you hunt these monsters alone?" There were not that many items; after all, Li Wei only had a few hours to collect them but the elder was surprised by their quality. He disregarded the [Silver Wolf Hides] and the [Silver Wolf Paws] and focused his attention on the demons'' drop. Although Silver Wolves were powerful monsters, they were not that rare but the demons definitely were! Before the update, monsters above level 20 rarely appeared. The update took place yesterday and already, a player was bringing the drops of a level 25 monster. "Yes. There was an event that took place at Verdan Town. I got them from the event," honestly answered Li Wei. "Mmm. The Yu family did mention something like that. Wait a minute. I am unable to assess the value of these materials." The elder hurriedly called a few other elders to look at the materials. Materials were only used by craftsmen. Their value depended on the use of the materials but if no one knew how to use them, they were worthless. At the moment, the Fleeting Clouds Sect was developing its crafting department but none of the players had reached Grade 2 yet. Therefore no one could use them yet. However, the sect was already accumulating materials for future uses. They needed to cross check with the recipes they acquired if there was any use for these materials and even if there were none, they would still be useful for research and development. "Thank you very much for your time. We have evaluated the items. If you are willing, you can trade them for 3700 Contribution Points," said another elder. He seemed to be the chief as he led the entire discussion. His name was Meng Hongwei. ''3700 contribution points? That''s a lot!'' thought Li Wei. He knew these materials were rare but he did not know their value. However, the one thing he knew was that he needed to sell his items early; as time went by, their value would slowly decrease. "Alright. Let''s do the trade then. I also want to sell a few pieces of equipment here or trade them for others of equal value," continued Li Wei as he took out the Natta Blades. "This... A Grade 2 weapon?" The elders were stunned. Only the chief elder remained calm. He had long noticed that Li Wei was already wearing quite a few pieces of Grade 2 equipment. Most players were current using Grade 1 equipment but for an outer member of the sect to own so many Grade 2 equipment, it was something they looked up to. Outer members of the sect did not get many resources but that young men unexpectedly managed to obtain so many good things. Either his luck was good or he was really talented. "Of course, let me have a look at their stats. The sect really needs Grade 2 equipment. You will definitely get a good price," said Meng Hongwei. After a brief examination, the elder in charge of Harmony''s crafting team, Meng Suping said: "It is an excellent weapon. We are willing to trade 1800 Contribution Point if you trade it with Harmony." "With Harmony?" "Yes. We will use our own contribution points to pay for this weapon or any other Grade 2 equipment you are willing to sell." Li Wei smiled. The elders'' reaction clearly showed that the Natta Blades had a lot of value. "It is good to have a lot of Contribution Points but what is the use if I am unable to use them? May I look at what I can buy first?" Meng Suping nodded. "Of course. Please browse the list but unfortunately, we are unable to sell any Grade 2 equipment. We still haven''t properly equipped our core team yet." Meng Hongwei looked at Li Wei before adding. "I see that you are a member of Avalanche, the Cai Family''s guild. Why don''t you join us instead? Your contract with them should be very loose. They are only an average family while our Meng Family is one of the largest ones. If you are willing to join us, you can immediately join the core team and get the Grade 2 equipment you need." "Thank you for your offer but I will have to refuse. I am very satisfied with Avalanche and I already fight alongside their core team." Li Wei nonchalantly answered as he continued to browse the item list. There were a lot of consumables and Grade 1 equipment made by the craftsmen but overall, it was disappointing. "I was thinking. Will your Meng Family be willing to trade some of their techniques with me?" asked Li Wei. "Our techniques? It will depend on which one. I see that you indeed have a lot of Contribution Points." "I am looking for sword techniques and was thinking about one in particular. What about the Immortal Sword Spirit technique?" said Li Wei but instantly, he felt the atmosphere freeze. "Impudent! You were eyeing our family''s core technique all along! The Cai Family is really greedy!" exclaimed an elder. Meng Hongwei shot a glance at the elder who immediately went silent. "Seven... If I am not wrong, you are the one who acquired the Li Family''s Myriad Sword Dance. Am I wrong?" "Yes. The Cai Family has nothing to do with this. It is for my own personal use," answered Li Wei. "Interesting. You really did manage to gather a lot of Contribution Points but at the moment, you only have 8900 Contribution Points. Adding in the 1800 points from exchanging the Natta Blades, you will only have 10700 Contribution Points. Our Meng Family technique was originally priced at 12000 Contribution Points. And that is without taking into consideration the rise in prices. Even if we were willing to trade, you simply do not have enough." A few elders at the back looked at Li Wei with disdain. ''How dares he aim for our family''s technique. Even if he does have some talent, it is far from enough!'' 100 Investmen Li Wei smiled. He knew the elder was once again going to invite him to Harmony but before he could, Li Wei added. "True. But, as I said, I have a few pieces of equipment to trade. I believe that their value should not lose too much to the Natta Blades." "More Grade 2 items?" Li Wei did not allow the elders to recover from their surprise and swiftly took out two rings from his inventory. They were the rings that belonged to the twin brothers. They were both Grade 2 equipment but the spell associated with them was not very useful to Li Wei. He only kept Ranger Oleg''s ring which contained the defensive spell [Runic Shield]. [Runic Shield] was a similar spell to [Mana Shield] but compared to the latter, the shield value if provided was equal to the amount of Mana spent. The more mana was used to cast the spell, the more damage the shield would be able to absorb. Li Wei was still debating whether to keep his ring with [Earth Wall] or to change it. [Earth Wall] was weaker but it could also be used offensively while [Runic Shield] was a purely defensive skill. Meng Suping was the first to react. The elder examined the two rings and said: "Together, they are worth 2500 Contribution Points." Li Wei smiled with confidence. With the two rings, he would have more than 12000 contribution points and if Meng Hongwei still wanted to raise the price, he had other items he was ready to part with. Meng Hongwei twitched. "I see that your harvest was quite good. But why are you against entering the inner sect or even the core? You won''t have to submit much of your harvest to the sect anymore and would be able to use all of them at the associations." "I am playing the game for fun and want to explore the area. If I were to join the sect, it will turn into a job and there will be a lot of commitments. I joined Avalanche because they approached first with a generous offer. It fitted my needs at that time and I can part with them at any time. Although I will admit I made a few friends there and do not plan on leaving unless I really have to." "I see. I believe you still have a few interesting things in your inventory. I know it is impossible to keep the technique within the family. Right now, we need a lot of equipment to expand our territory. I will then set the price at 20000 Contribution Points. If you can pay that amount, the technique is yours but the same conditions will apply. No sharing." "20000 Contribution Points?" said Li Wei. That price was really high. He remembered his fight with Li Yuxin. That girl mastered both the Myriad Sword Dance and the Immortal Sword Spirit. She was able to materialize a sword using her mana. Alternatively, she could have coated her swords with mana, increasing their attack power. The skill was powerful but was it worth that many contribution points? Although it was a clear rip-off, Li Wei knew this might be the one and only opportunity he would have to get his hand on the Meng Family''s technique. He took out the skill scroll. "Roots of magic? This is one of the core spells of mages. It is sold at the Mage Association for 7500 Contribution Points but is very useful especially if the mage is well protected by a team," exclaimed an elder. Meng Hongwei furrowed his brows. "You really have good stuff but we don''t value the Association''s Contribution Points as much as our sect''s. We will be willing to pay 6000 Contribution Points for the scroll." Li Wei knew the elder was just taking advantage of him but for the sake of the sword technique, he bit the bullet and took out the Skull Wand. "I believe this should be enough." The elders'' eyes widened. ''Just how rich was that guy? Did he just steal from a treasury?'' Meng Suping greedily stared at the wand. "I want this wand. I will exchange it for 2100 Contribution Points." "Alright. I believe I should have enough Contribution Points to exchange for the Immortal Sword Spirit now," quickly said Li Wei as he turned toward Meng Hongwei. The latter twitched. He felt his heart ache but he still waved his hand. An elder left the collection area for a moment and returned with an old manual in hand. "I won''t go back on my words. You exchanged a few useful items. Here is the technique. Although I would prefer to keep it within the family, I know you won''t join us. The door is always open; if you get in trouble, Harmony will take you in." "Thank you," answered Li Wei. He knew the Meng family just milked out a lot of his loot from him. Grade 2 equipment would sell for around 100 gold; the weakest would at least be worth 75 gold. He paid a heavy price for the sword technique but now, Li Wei owned two of the top tier sword techniques of the sect. The elders of the Meng Family watched Li Wei''s departing figure as they asked Meng Hongwei. "Will it really be alright? We just gave up our core technique to an outsider!" "It will be fine. Right now, collecting top tier pieces of equipment is our priority. We already control Boroughton but we all know this is not where our ambition lies. We need to take back Dominion City and sooner or later, expand our influence. The upcoming event will be key if we want to succeed." "An upcoming event? I thought the first large scale event would be Halloween." "That''s what was programmed but remember that the game is constantly changing. Fortunately, we obtained this information from the noble NPCs. Also, the Fleeting Clouds Sect paid a heavy price and recruited a special player." "A special player? What does it have to do with events?" "That player is only level 10 but he somehow managed to get his hand on a title. He is a Seer. That title allows him to peek into the future and foresee all the upcoming events in his region." ... Li Wei left Harmony''s headquarters and took the direction of the Martial Bank. He had a lot of gold on him and he wanted to deposit them. He was quite satisfied with his harvest. Although he paid the premium price, he managed to get his hand on the technique. It might not necessarily suit his fighting style, but he could still study it to improve himself. He had already obtained what he wanted from the Fleeting Clouds Sect and had nothing holding him to them but at the same time, there was no reason to leave the guild yet. He enjoyed the umbrella of protection the guild provided. At the Martial Bank, Li Wei found that there was 120 gold in this account. They were deposited earlier by Moody Writer. They represented 10% made by the alchemist in selling the Grade 2 potions. ''Looks like that guy has already succeeded in advancing. The potions must be selling really well.'' Aside from the money, Li Wei also found a message that came with the bank transfer: "I am moving to the Capital to continue to improve as an alchemist. I won''t forget our deal and continue to transfer the money. Come and find me there, I have your two potions ready." A simple and short message from the stern man. Li Wei smiled; he was very satisfied with his deal with the alchemist. He now had a total of 739 gold! If he deposited everything at the Martial Bank, with the interest, he would obtain 3 gold and 70 silvers every week. Li Wei only had one goal in this game; he wanted to be free to roam everywhere and explore the vast world. For that, he needed two things: the strength to defeat the monsters and the hostile players, and enough money to support himself. He knew 739 gold was a lot at this stage; active players usually only had about 50 gold in their pocket. But later, 1000 gold would barely be enough to purchase one piece of equipment. ''I should try to invest this gold into something. Leaving it to rot at the Martial Bank will produce some gold but it won''t be enough for my future needs!'' "Excuse me. Is there a way to invest my gold?" asked Li Wei to the receptionist. He had no prior knowledge of investments but had heard a lot about people earning big when doing so. "Of course! Let me call an expert. He will be more qualified to advise you," said the receptionist. Soon, Li Wei found himself sitting in a private room, in front of a long-bearded man. "Hello, I heard you are interested in investing. How much do you have on hand?" "Yes. I have 739 gold but I would prefer to keep about 100 gold for myself," answered Li Wei. "Excellent. There are several ways to invest but bear in mind that there is always a risk. The safest is definitely real estate. There are several plots of land available for sale. You can build your own shop there or even just rent it to someone else," enthusiastically explained the man. He took out a thick book and started showing several locations within Li Wei''s budget. "Thank you but I am not interested in purchasing land at Boroughton. I mainly hunt at Algate City. It would not be appropriate for me to won land here," said Li Wei before the man could take out another folder full of properties on sale. The latter awkwardly smiled and put the folders back. "I am sorry. I was too hasty. It is fine if you do not want to invest in properties but you will have to go to the city if you want to buy land there. If you want to invest your money here, you can invest in merchant groups or workshops. They are all connected, therefore, you can purchase shares of the businesses in the capital. With the sudden influx of people, the businesses need a lot of money to purchase all the required material." "Mmm. A company at the capital would be ideal," said Li Wei. It was exactly what he had in mind. "Excellent, what kind of companies are you looking for? Large? Small?" Li Wei listened to the man''s explanation and after a while, he settled on two companies. Both were crafting workshop but one of them was large while the other was small. He invested 300 gold in each but only obtain 0.03% of the large company while the small workshop gave him 3% of its shares. There were more risks with the small company but if they were successful, he would also receive more gold. It was Li Wei''s first time investing; he mostly listened to the advisor''s instructions. He should receive a small portion of the company''s profits every week. Having achieved his goals, Li Wei left the Martial Bank and purchased a few items at the shop. He did not forget to buy a few Fatigue Recovery Potions. After last night''s event, he wanted to always keep one at hand. Afterward, he went to the training center to practice his techniques. He was eager to test the [Immortal Sword Spirit] but to his disappointment, his completion rate was only 74%. Just like the Myriad Sword Dance, Li Wei could train in the Immortal Sword Spirit for as long as he wanted but for now, Li Wei was focusing on the former. He wanted to quickly reach the second stage and obtain the skill: [Sword Coda]. He did not train for too long. Tomorrow, he will have to once again go on a journey to the Gassian Lake. "I am hitting the road again. It is quite weird how despite all the time I spend on the road, I do not seem to lose to others in terms of level." Li Wei was already level 18. Earlier today, he noticed that none of the elders were at a higher level than him. "I suppose it is thanks to the Ring of Chaos. The 4% additional experience is coming in handy. I should find a way to upgrade it soon..." 101 Two quests After a long journey across the countryside, Li Wei finally saw the outline of a lake in the distance. It was the Gassian Lake, the home of the Lake fairies. Li Wei came here a few weeks ago. The landscape did not change at all; there were still a few cottages on the lakeshore. When Li Wei got closer, he noticed new cottages in constructions. There were few carts full of wood planks and other materials. A few workers were busy setting up the new houses. As he got closer, Li Wei saw a few fishermen in the distance. They were not fishing at their usual spot due to the constructions taking place; the loud noises would scare away the fish. Li Wei recalled how he was scolded several times when he first came here because of the noise. He left his horse next to the cottages like last time, just outside Andy''s garden. He clearly remembered the kind fisherman who taught him the basics of fishing but did not want to intrude his property. Li Wei then walked up to the fishermen in the rocky area of the lake. As he expected, with their acute sense of hearing, the fishermen soon noticed his arrival. They were about to warn him to quiet down but stopped themselves when they saw him. Faint smiles appeared on the fishermen''s faces. They all recognized him; he was the winner of the last monthly competition. He caught more fish than many of them combined. Li Wei waved silently and continued on his way. He had already spotted Andy''s silhouette on the tallest rock. The latter waved back and told him to sit down and use the fishing rod. Li Wei smiled back and grabbed the fishing rod. He was a Grade 1 fisherman. His movements were fluid as he threw the line in front of him. His goal in coming to the Gassian Lake was to fulfill his promise to the Lake Fairies but he had no idea how to actually contact them. As a result, he could only show his presence and hope that they would contact him like last time. The fishermen did not speak; they did not want to disturb the fishes. Lunchtime would soon arrive. It was then that they would properly welcome Li Wei. The latter saw a few familiar faces but he also noticed new ones. He did not remember all the fishermen but he knew that the last time he came, they were all NPCs. Now, Li Wei could clearly see four players sitting among the fishermen. After thirty minutes, a bell rang from the cottages. It was the wives calling their husbands back. "Time to go! Come have lunch with us, Seven. It has been a while," said Andy as he pulled his fishing rod. Li Wei smiled back and sent the three salmons he caught into his inventory. He was a bit rusty but his profession was helping him. "Andy. How are you? I see that the community is growing." The fisherman nodded. "Come, let me present you our new friends." Li Wei followed the fisherman and greeted the other NPCs. The players smiled and shook his hands. The four players were all fishermen. They decided that they were tired of playing the game and killing monsters every day. Having accumulated a good amount of gold, they decided to settle in this community; it was precisely their cottages that were being built. "Hello, Seven. I am Lord Storm and this is my wife, White Feather. We just arrived here a few days ago and immediately fell in love with this place," said one of the players. "All the NPCs seem to be familiar with you. It looks like they all take you very seriously. What did you do to these NPCs?" asked another player whose IGN was Milkyway. Li Wei sat around the campfire for a meal and spoke to the players. "I came here a few weeks ago and participated in their fishing competition. I won so now, they kind of respect me." "Really? How is that possible? We can''t even compete with them when they are just fishing casually... Do you have any secrets? We want to improve our fishing skills. In real life, I always dreamed of purchasing a cottage like this and move out of town," asked Lord Storm. "Haha, no. It was pure luck! But let me ask you. Why did you not go the capital if you want to improve your profession? I heard this is the best place to do so," said Li Wei. "It''s true. If you want to train a profession instead of hunting, it is in your interest to move to the capital. Not only is there a constant stream of material but the environment is also very safe. The system will do everything in its power to keep the capitals away from the flames of war. But it is precisely for this reason that we don''t want to go there." "The capital will be too competitive. Players from several countries will gather there. We are tired from a hectic life where you have to constantly fight for resources. We want to live at our own pace and therefore, chose to move here. It is quieter; very few players come here but according to Andy, there are a few occasional ones that stop here on their way to Abe''s forest over there." Li Wei nodded at the couple''s explanation. He knew the capital would be a very competitive place but it was also a place full of opportunities. "I see that you are still quite invested in the game. If you are looking for a quest, go speak to Andy. He gave us a quest a few days ago but we were not interested in playing the game anymore," said White Feather. ''A quest?'' Li Wei''s eyes lit up. "Thanks for the info. I''ll have a talk with Andy after lunch." ... "Hey, Andy. I spoke to Lord Storm and White Feather. The community needs some help to deal with some issues?" "They told you about it? That''s right, there''s some trouble at the horizon but nothing too urgent. It is better to deal with it before it gets too big. There is an unknown bandit group that suddenly appeared out of nowhere. If you go upstream the river flowing into the Gassian Lake, you will find their camp. It is a massive one, apparently, there are more than five hundred people in there." "For now, they are not attacking anyone. It seems that they are focusing on taking out the monsters in the territory they claimed but there are a few unfortunate merchants who died under their blades. There is a reasonable distance between the bandit camp and us but we never know. It will be safe to get rid of possible complications. We''ve requested help from the nearby towns but this kind of requests take time. They should take a few weeks to process our application but we don''t know what can happen in two weeks." ''A bandit group?'' thought Li Wei. At that moment, he received a system prompt: [System prompt: You have obtained the quest, "Bandit Extermination". Do you want to accept it?] [Information] There is a bandit group building up their strength nearby. Get rid of it before it becomes strong enough to threaten the surrounding communities. Task: Kill at least 400 bandits. Completion: (0/400) Rewards: 40000 exp Note: This quest can be shared with as many players as you want. The difficulty will increase based on the number of players accepting the quest. ''No wonder that couple did not accept the quest. To complete it, I''ll require a lot of assistance but where can I find players to help me? The rewards are not that good either but it will also depend on the strength of the bandits.'' Li Wei analyzed the situation and answered: "Andy. A bandit group is too much for me alone but let me ask my guild to see if they agree to come here." "Sure." Li Wei left the fishermen and went to Abe''s forest. He was looking for ways to contact the Lake Fairies. They did not attempt to contact him when he was fishing and therefore, he had the idea of returning to the area where he first met a Lake Fairy. At that time, she was healing a gnome and even gave him a quest to look for poison sacs. At that time, he was only level 11 and had to hide from most monsters in the forest. But now, he was level 18 and could walk leisurely in the forest. The strongest monster there was level 18 but Li Wei was strong enough to deal with them. ''If I see those Scarlet Macaws again... I''ll teach them a lesson! After roaming for a few minutes, Li Wei''s inventory was already full of junk items. If there was one thing Abe''s forest did not lack, it was resources. All his inventory slots were taken but there were only one or two items of each type. He even had one Shining Alyssum, the same flower he used to upgrade his Ring of Chaos. Suddenly, Li Wei heard a familiar voice in his head. "Bad human! You finally decided to come to our lake." Li Wei jumped in fright and quickly looked around him. He found three Lake Fairies floating above the grass staring at him with their large blue eyes. "Do you know it is impolite to cut off the communication like that?" "We even thought you had taken away our precious necklace and left without a word." "I was almost scolded by my sisters for letting you leave without a formal contract." The three Lake Fairies continued to argue. Li Wei heard the three voices ring inside his head. He felt dizzy. "Stop. Don''t all talk at the same time in my head. I was in danger at that time. You almost got me killed by making the necklace glow." "Hmmp. Bad Human. You deserved it." After complaining a little while longer, the Lake Fairies finally moved to the important topic. "Now that you are here. I take it that you are ready to help us?" Li Wei nodded. "Yes. As long as it is within my power, I will do what I can to help you. But I won''t just go and kill myself." "We don''t care, you''ve already taken our necklace. Now, you need to do your job. It was not what we had in plan but it is good that you are here," said another lake fairy. "There is a dungeon that appeared shortly after your departure. It is located somewhere along the river. You just have to follow it upstream. We want you to get rid of the dungeon for us. If it stays there, we will eventually be absorbed by it. You just have to destroy its dungeon core or bring it out of the dungeon and we''ll consider your part of the deal complete." [System prompt: You have obtained the quest, "Conquer a dungeon". Do you want to accept it?] [Information] There is a dungeon located upstream. Destroy its core before it starts harming the environment Task: Destroy the dungeon core or bring it out of the dungeon. Rewards: 40000 exp, Tear of Fairies (already received) Note: This quest can be shared with as many players as you want. The difficulty will increase based on the number of players accepting the quest. When Li Wei read the description of the quest, he felt that it was all too familiar. "I am confused about something. Isn''t there a bandit group upstream? What about the dungeon? Don''t they fight each other?" The Lake Fairies blinked their eyes as the one at the front spoke." You know about the bandit group? That''s good then. The bandit group is the dungeon!" "What? How is that possible?" asked Li Wei. He was confused. His understanding of dungeons was that it was a place filled with monsters. How did it suddenly become a bandit group? "A dungeon can have many forms but generally, it all revolves around a dungeon core being protected by its master and the monsters it summons. In the case of the bandit group, the dungeon master was quite smart. He simply ignored building infrastructures like floors and rooms and focused on summoning monsters. And the monsters it summoned were none other than the bandits. Dungeon cores can also summon humans. Although it looks like a bandit camp, its foundation has not changed; it is still a dungeon and relies heavily on the dungeon core. Sooner or later, it will look into absorbing the nearby species and we don''t want that to happen." Li Wei twitched. "Then... What about the strength of that dungeon?" "A few monsters tried to get rid of it a few days ago, just before I tried to contact you. They failed. According to them, the average level of the bandits is quite low at around twenty and many of them died during the attack. But it also has higher leveled bandits to act as captains." Li Wei could feel the headache coming. This quest was not going to be easy but at the same time, the rewards were not small. He had two quests that had similar success conditions. He would earn quite a lot if he succeeded and he also did not want to go back on his words with the Lake Fairies. They did help him a lot. "Should I ask for help at the guild? They normally would not move just to help an outer member complete a quest but what if I bait them with the dungeon. If I say it is an undiscovered dungeon, it might work!" said Li Wei to himself. ''I am not lying or tricking them. It is the truth. I will just send a picture of the quest description to Cai Wenji and see how he reacts.'' The Lake Fairies observed Li Wei''s thoughtful expression for a while until he finally broke the silence. "I will contact my friends. I believe I alone am not enough. Will that be alright?" "Sure but we won''t talk to them. If you want to contact us again, just place the Tear of Fairies in the Gassian Lake and we will come to you." 102 Water Crystals In the middle of the night, Li Wei crouched on the lakeshores and dipped the Tear of Fairies in the water. Ripples appeared and soon, he heard the familiar voice of the Lake Fairy. "Bad human. What do you want this time?" Li Wei twitched. After interacting with the Lake Fairies, he noticed that they all had different personalities. He did not know their names but he recognized the Lake Fairy as she was the only one who called him ''Bad Human''. She always adopted a defensive stance whenever she spoke to him. "I talked to my friends earlier. They will be making their way to the Gassian Lake soon but they are quite far from here. It will take them about two days to arrive," said Li Wei. "Hmmp. I hope your friends are stronger than you or else, it will be pointless. Did you come here just to tell me that?" Li Wei could see the outline of a tiny head poking out of the water. Under the cover of the night, the Lake Fairies blended almost perfectly with the lake; if it was not for their dark blue eyes, he would have never noticed her. "I would like to ask whether it will be possible for one of you to guide me to the bandit group. I want to observe the situation from afar first before my friends arrive." "You seem to have other intentions... What else?" suspiciously asked the Lake Fairy. Li Wei embarrassedly continued, "Will it be possible for you to give me some fish like last time?" "I knew you had sinister intentions! Why do you want our fishes? Although they are inferior lifeforms, I won''t give them away for no reason." Li Wei touched his nose. He knew he was stretching the boundaries. He recalled how much exp he got the last time the Lake Fairies help him. A single salmon coming from the depth of the lake gave him 400 exp. Furthermore, the large salmons were easily sold at shops for a high price. He knew the Lake Fairies did not put in much effort in bringing the salmons to him and therefore, he wanted to give it a try and see if he could obtain some benefits while he was here. "It is a way for me to become stronger. The more salmons I fish, the stronger I''ll become. After a while, I will level up. It will be best if I am at a decent level when fighting the bandits, don''t you think so?" explained Li Wei. He averted his gaze as he felt like someone coaxing a child. The Lake Fairy did not immediately answer. She fell into deep thoughts as her sisters spoke directly into her mind. "Give him a few fishes. It won''t harm the lake and if it really helps him, then there will be a higher chance of him defeating the dungeon." After a brief moment of silence, Li Wei finally heard the Lake Fairy''s answer. "Throw your line. I''ll bring a few salmons." Li Wei did not hesitate and quickly obeyed. His lips curled up as he tossed the line. He had already prepared for this moment by borrowing some fishing equipment from Andy. However, the situation changed as he pulled up the first Salmon. It was a level 9 Salmon but to Li Wei''s surprise, he did not receive any system prompts like last time. Nevertheless, he released the Salmon in the bucket of water next to him and threw the line again. This time, he carefully checked the amount of exp he had. When he pulled the next Salmon; no change occurred. His experience bar remained still. ''Looks like they''ve patched it. Of course, they would not let such a blatant exploit like that. My plan to cheese a few levels has failed,'' thought Li Wei. Under the surface of the lake, the Lake Fairy impatiently looked at Li Wei while holding a Salmon in her hands. ''What is he doing? Can''t he take it out already?'' She slowly went up to the surface and asked, "What are you doing? I don''t have all night." Li Wei dejectedly turned his attention to the Lake Fairy. "There is no need to continue. I am not getting any experience from this. The system won''t allow me to cheat again." He released the two Salmons back into the Lake under the Lake Fairy''s confused eyes. "Are you just playing with me? Bad Human, I am leaving. Talk to my sisters if you have anything else to say." Li Wei was left alone on the lakeshore, staring at the water. He did not immediately return and enjoyed the peaceful night for a while. He tried to bypass the system but failed miserably. Fortunately, there were no consequences to his failure. He came here to help the Lake Fairies but he naturally would not let go of opportunities along the way. Recalling his conversation with the Messenger, he asked: "I was wondering. Are you part of those hidden factions? I heard that the water elementals fought for the Abyss." He was not sure if the Lake Fairies were still here but he still waited for an answer. He held some interest toward the hidden factions. They represented an important part of the lore and were also linked to his Ring of Chaos. To him, they were a shortcut to improving his strength. At the same time, he also knew that mentioning different things to different NPCs had a chance to trigger special quests or events. "How do you know about this?" A timid and shaky voice rang in Li Wei''s head; it was a different Lake Fairy. "I encountered another faction earlier and they told me about it. They recognized my ring. I suppose you also did, am I right?" Ripples appeared at the surface of the lake as a small head emerged from the water. "Correct. It is also the reason why we trusted you. Historically speaking, the Abyss has always been allied with Chaos. Even if you reneged your agreement, your faction would pay us back somehow." Li Wei smiled faintly. Since the Lake Fairy was not denying it, he could directly move to the topic he was interested in. "Then, since you have some knowledge about the factions, do you know how to upgrade my ring?" "We don''t. You should go back and ask other humans how to do so. Alternatively, go North West and you will meet the members of your faction." "The elves? Can you tell me a little more about them?" asked Li Wei. "You are trying to get information out of my mouth. Why should I tell you?" pouted the Lake Fairy. By now, she had already stepped out of the water and was floating right in front of Li Wei. Her child-like appearance was extremely deceptive. Li Wei did not know how to answer. ''Can''t she just give me the answers I am looking for?'' "We did prepare a gift for you to help our heir but the situation has changed. Just dealing with a dungeon is not worthy of it." Li Wei''s eyes shone as he heard the word ''gift''. "But won''t you go extinct if the dungeon tries to take over the Gassian Lake?" "No. We will simply ask for help from the higher elementals. Although it will be downgrading, we will survive this crisis." The Lake Fairy knew she successfully enticed Li Wei. The latter hurriedly spoke: "Then, what should I do to get this gift you mentioned? Do you just want a promise to help that person when the time will come?" The Lake Fairy displayed a conflicted expression. "I don''t know. You don''t seem very reliable now. You cannot even deal with the dungeon after we gave you the Tear of Fairies. We can talk about it again afterward if you succeed." "But would it not be better for me to get stronger before attacking the dungeon?" said Li Wei. "Maybe but we cannot just give you everything. How about this? Bring us forty Middle-Grade Water Crystals and we will talk about it again." ''D*mn... If you wanted some items, you should have just said it,'' internally complained Li Wei. "What are those Water Crystals and where can I find them?" "Faraway in the West, there''s the Endless Archipelagos. If you dive deep down into the sea, you will find these minerals. They are typically found near coral reefs." Li Wei froze. He almost wanted to swear. The Endless Archipelagos was a different empire from the Dominion Empire. Although the territory the players could access increased significantly, there still existed boundaries between the different empires which also separated the players on the different servers. "Then, let me message a friend first." Li Wei quickly opened his interface and messaged Cai Wenji. While players could not travel to other empires yet, the empires still exported their resources; there was a chance that the Water Crystals were available for sale at the cities. "Hey, leader. I need your help. Are you still at Algate City?" Cai Wenji''s reply came quickly, "What is it? We are making final preparations before leaving tomorrow. We had to rally a few players who were on quests outside." "I need you to purchase a few items for me. See if they are available. I need Middle-Grade Water Crystals." "Water Crystals? Let me check." Cai Wenji went silent for a moment. In the meanwhile, the Lake Fairy''s eyes did not leave Li Wei. She was internally smiling. The Water Crystals were not rare items but they would have to put a lot of effort to acquire a few from the higher tier elementals. If she could acquire them from Li Wei for free, the Lake Fairies would become considerably stronger. After a few minutes, Cai Wenji answered back: "What do you need Water Crystals for? The Low-Grade one is sold at 150 gold and the Middle-Grade one costs 340 gold. These are their retail prices. We might be able to lower it a bit but why do you need materials that come from another empire. On top of that, it comes from the newly open areas meant for level 30 players...." Li Wei turned to look at the Lake Fairy who was innocently floating above the lake. "I might be able to get some but I don''t have enough money to buy them..." "Money? Humans only think of gold. We have a lot of gold at the bottom of the lake. As long as you bring them here, we will give you as much gold as you would like." "Really? Then there should not be any problem then." He opened back the messages and answered back: "It''s for another quest. Can you bring forty Middle-Grade Water Crystals with you when you come here? I''ll pay you back." "40? That''s a lot! More than 10000 gold. Avalanche does not have that much money to spend. At most, I can get you ten Water Crystals. If I take out more than that, I''ll be scolded by the elders." Li Wei frowned. 10000 gold was indeed a substantial amount of money. The guilds at this stage could not afford to spend that much on. For a single individual to be able to take out about 3000 gold was already pushing the boundaries. "I cannot get you forty. Ten is my limit but I might be able to bring a few more afterward," said Li Wei. "Ten? That''s better than nothing. Bring the Water Crystals first and then we''ll talk about it." "Alright. I''ll prove I''m a man of my words." He quickly messaged Cai Wenji: "Please buy as many as possible. I will give you the money when you arrive. Can''t you ask your elders about it? I am bound to your guild anyway; it''s not as if I can run away with the items." "I can''t. There are several projects taking place. Taking out 3000 gold will already impact the guild to some extent. Furthermore, there is also the issue of safety. What if the quest fails and we all die? All the gold will go to waste," answered Cai Wenji. "I get it. Thanks for the efforts though," said li Wei. Cai Wenji closed his interface as he turned his attention back to the pile of documents in front of him. As his father and the majority of the elders of his family left to spread their influence to the nearby towns, he was the one who ended up with all the paperwork. Normal players could not directly contact him but as Li Wei was officially a member of the core team, he had this privilege. "3000 gold... Just what does he need that much for? And he claims he can pay me back fully immediately? Since father and sister trust him and want me to build a relationship with him, I will agree this time. I hope he is not trying to trick me..." 103 Scouting Li Wei walked out of the fishermen''s village while it was still dark. The sun had yet to appear at the horizon. Everybody was still asleep, but it was the ideal time to scout the bandit camp. He met with the Lake Fairies who agreed to guide him. The Fleeting Cloud Sect was going to arrive in the evening. He needed to gather as much information as possible. He already went to scout the bandit camp twice but stayed at a reasonable distance and did not engage in combat. Today, Li Wei wanted to try something different. He wanted to test their strength. There were about five hundred bandits in the camp and the Lake Fairy told him that they averaged level 20. However, this was no longer the case. All the bandits who survived the Lake Fairies'' earlier assault, managed to level up significantly. He did not see a single bandit below level 20. Li Wei himself was only level 18 and so far, only a handful of players managed to reach level 20. It was impossible for Li Wei to complete the quest alone and even with the help of his guild; the outcome was uncertain. "You are finally here... Let''s go." A voice sounded in Li Wei''s mind. He nodded and followed the small bubbles forming at the surface of the Gassian Lake. Li Wei silently followed his guide. He had already recognized her voice; she was a rather cold Lake Fairy who never spoke more than necessary. It was pointless to try to speak to her. As the first ray of light pierced through the horizon, Li Wei arrived at his previous hiding spot, at a safe distance from the bandit camp. He observed the bandits'' behavior for the past two days. They usually roamed through the nearby woods, slaying all the beasts they encountered. They would often dispatch a few teams to set up ambushes on the nearby roads. As it was quite early, the bandits had yet to start their daily activities; it was an ideal time to start setting up his own ambush. Li Wei learned from the Lake Fairies that the bandits were all entities summoned by a dungeon core. Although they were classified as monsters, the bandits still had basic needs like eating and drinking and they also needed to relieve themselves. Li Wei was already familiar with the bandits'' routine. He knew there would soon be a lot of bandits leaving the camp to relieve themselves. The bandits built a few facilities for this purpose, but it was not enough to accommodate all five hundred bandits when they would wake up at about the same time. The unlucky ones who would wake up late, would have to wait for a few hours in a long queue. As a result, many left the camp early and went to an isolated region of the woods. The Bandit Leader did nothing to stop them; this method really did help shorten the queues. As long as they did not contaminate the river, the bandits were free to do as they wanted. Li Wei sneakily made his way to the woods. Unfortunately, the Lake Fairy was unable to follow him; she could not move away from a body of water for too long. Li Wei arrived at the general area used by the bandits and climbed one of the nearby trees. Strangely, there was no unpleasant smell despite the area effectively being the bandits'' toilet. ''D*mn. I would never have thought that I would be one day peeking on men relieving themselves. I''ll be instantly labeled as a pervert if someone hears about it.'' He readjusted his position on top of the tree branch and made sure to hide himself using the foliage. ''Not exactly how I envisioned it but if even I could not have predicted it, how could the bandits see it coming? I wonder how much experience a level 20 NPC would give? Just one should be enough.'' Li Wei crouched on the branch and waited. His blades were already drawn. He was ready to pounce at any given moment. Soon, he heard footsteps coming in. Several silhouettes appeared and rushed inside the nearby bushes. From his vantage point, Li Wei barely saw the bandits, but he noticed the name tag floating above them. He firmly held onto his swords, not daring to move. The group that just entered consisted of powerful bandits who were at least level 25. Li Wei already knew he did not stand a chance against them. He was only level 18. He took the risk in coming here only to try his luck. He would only act is he encountered a distracted level 20 bandit. Unfortunately, luck was not on his side today. Several minutes went by, during which Li Wei remained tense. He heard people moving around but never got to see them. Furthermore, from what he was hearing, Li Wei determined that the bandits were not so careless as to leave their weapons behind. He occasionally heard the blades slicing through the foliage and the stem of the trees being marked. ''I got myself in this awkward situation. Now, I''ll have to wait at least an hour before being able to leave. Hopefully, there are level 20 bandits or else, this scouting mission will be for naught.'' Li Wei nervously looked around him, focusing on the tags of the NPCs appearing. Level 22. Level 25. Level 24. The longer Li Wei waited, the tenser he felt. ''Were the Lake Fairies wrong? The bandits average level 20, what a joke. All the bandits are at least level 22.'' As time went by, the frequency at which the bandits were walking into the woods gradually decreased. Li Wei was not the best at hiding but fortunately, none of the bandits noticed his presence. Eventually, after not hearing any bandits around him for about five minutes, Li Wei silently poked his head out of the foliage. The woods were empty; the bandits were nowhere to be seen. The woods were quiet and soon, Li Wei even noticed a Wild Racoon, one of the beasts that spawned in the woods. Wherever they walked, the bandits would not hesitate to capture or exterminate the beasts. The presence of the racoon indicated that no bandits have been in the surroundings for the past few minutes. Gaining confidence, Li Wei examined his surroundings and after finding no enemies, he stepped out and jumped off the tree. This short reconnaissance mission has been for the most part fruitless; he still was not able to evaluate the strength of a bandit but determined that the weakest was at least level 22. Tiptoeing while constantly scanning his surroundings, Li Wei slowly made his way back toward the river, using the same path he took earlier. He stopped at the edge of the woods, and after finding no bandits nearby, he rushed toward the river. "It took you more than an hour¡­ I hope I did not have to wait here for nothing!" The Lake Fairy spoke in his head as soon as he got close to the water. "I did not fight them. None of the bandits are under level 20. In fact, all those I saw were at least level 22. This task of destroying the bandit camp might be a little too much for me at this stage." "What?" The Lake Fairy fell silent. "Let''s return for now. Staying here is dangerous." Li Wei followed the river stream and soon, the Gassian Lake came into view. He remained silent during the entire trip. He only spoke once he arrived at the familiar place. "I will still give it a try, but I cannot guarantee anything. My guild leader will arrive here this evening or tomorrow. I''ll let you know his decision." "Hmmp! You are going back on your words! We already paid you. Humans are so unreliable." "I am going to do my best, but I don''t know if they will be convinced. My guild is strong but only a branch of the guild is coming." "Whatever. Find a way to get them to fight." ¡­ Li Wei returned to the cottages. The fishermen have already gotten to their spot but he himself was not planning on joining them. Fishing was a minor profession that would not bring him a lot of benefits. The only bonus he obtained was an increase in sensitivity, but this small buff did not mean much in the grand scheme of things. Instead of fishing, Li Wei decided to spend the day training his techniques. He acquired the [Immortal Sword Spirit] but has yet to successfully develop the skill. He needed to train for a long period of time to unlock it. He was jealous of the seeded players of the Fleeting Clouds Sect. People like Li Yuxin spent all day long training their techniques which allowed them to unlock the advanced skills of the techniques. When they needed to level up, the entire guild would support them. On the other hand, Li Wei needed to do everything by himself. At the moment, Li Wei''s progress looked as follows: [Gliding Steps (level 1)]: Mastery Points (193/1000) [Clarity of the Mind (level 1)]: Mastery Points (3/1000) [Myriad Sword Dance (level 1)]: Mastery Points (270/1000) [Ghost Blade (level 1)]: Mastery Points (17/1000) [Immortal Sword Spirit (level 0)]: Mastery Points (53/100) He had a total of five techniques but only the [Immortal Sword Spirit] has yet to reach level 1, giving access to the skill of the same name. Since it was the technique, he was the closest to levelling up, Li Wei naturally focused on this one. The [Immortal Sword Spirit] was a support technique. After reading through the manual given the Meng Family, Li Wei learned that the technique had five different levels. The first level allowed him to convert his Mana into a sword that he could use to fight. Maintaining the sword would cost him a lot of Mana but the damage dealt by the sword was boosted by both his Strength and Intelligence. At the second level, Li Wei would no longer need to physically hold the sword. He would be able to control him telepathically in a small radius around him, as if he had an invisible third arm. For the third level, his control over the sword would deepen and he would be able to use it for many more things other than fighting. The example written was the ability to use the sword as a means of transport. He would be able to step on the sword and use the skill to travel as if it was a flying skateboard. The fourth level simply allowed him to materialise and control more than one sword. The number of swords he would be able to control would depend on his own talent. And as for the fifth level, Li Wei would get the ability to change the shape of his swords at will, even in the middle of fights. As the skill level up, the more overpowered it became. Just to be able to wield a third sword meant a significant increase in the amount of damage he would deal. Li Wei naturally understood the value of the skills. No wonder the mastery points requirement increased so much. Nevertheless, after realising the value of the Meng Family''s technique, Li Wei started to ponder about the [Myriad Sword Dance]. It paled in comparison to the [Immortal Sword Spirit] technique. Li Wei did not believe it at first. According to what he was told, the Li family and the Meng Family were both highly respected families with equal standing. Their core techniques could not differ that much. Furthermore, Li Yuxin was someone who practised both skills, but she focused on the [Myriad Sword Dance]. It would not make sense for her to focus on a weaker skill. This could only mean one thing, the manual he obtained at the Fleeting Clouds Sect trading hall was incomplete! The Li Family has not been honest when putting their technique up for sale. It caused Li Wei''s respect for the Li Family to plummet. Now, how was he supposed to level up his skill after it reached level 2? It was not impossible for him to come up with his own version of the technique, but it was an arduous task and it would require many tries before finding the correct training method. It was for this reason that Li Wei decided to temporarily put the training of the [Myriad Sword Dance] on hold. For now, he would focus on the [Immortal Sword Spirit] only. He sat down, cross-legged and started meditating. Imagining himself holding a sword, breathing in and out at a regular pace. Contracting his muscles according to the training technique. He had the whole day ahead of him and hopefully, he would be able to unlock the [Immortal Sword Spirit]. 104 Avalanche’s arrival [System prompt: You have trained into the Myriad Sword Dance for 138 minutes. Average completion rate: 65%] ''Only 65%... Now I understand the frustration the martial artists can feel. After more than two hours, I only managed to get 28 mastery points¡­ I need 19 more to obtain the skill but that probably means two more hours¡­'' ''The Myriad Sword Dance is much more suited to me but training that technique will lead to a dead end.'' Li Wei sighed in frustration. He stood up and looked around him. He has been meditating under a tree near the cottages, away from the noise. Now, in just two hours, his fatigue was at 90%. He noticed a few messages in his inbox. Whenever he would start practising his techniques, Li Wei would generally turn off the notifications because they could interrupt his training and drastically lower the completion rate. The message came from Cai Wenji. The young rogue has been keeping Li Wei updated on the progress of the journey. They will be arriving in a few hours. This time, the Cai Family mobilised a total of two thousand players. Most members of Avalanche were on their way and even several members of the Fleeting Clouds Sect were coming. According to Cai Wenji, because of the importance of the dungeon, the main branch of the Cai Family would take the lead in this mission. While both Cai Wenji and Li Wei himself were rewarded with 2000 Contribution Points for reporting the quest, at the end of the day, anything valuable obtained from the dungeon will be taken by the Cai Family. In short, they were being cast aside after receiving some meagre rewards. Under normal circumstances, Li Wei would feel outraged by the outcome. However, he knew how difficult the conquest of the dungeon would be. More importantly, the dungeon was nothing like the classic dungeons they knew about; it was a bandit camp. ''So they are arriving in a few hours and are planning to attack the dungeon tonight? Don''t they need to rest? They must have accumulated a lot of fatigue while traveling.'' Li Wei furrowed his brows as he continued to read the message. Apparently, the large mobilisation of players did not go unnoticed by the other guilds and by the other families of the Fleeting Clouds Sect. Everyone wanted a slice of the cake, but the Cai Family was not willing to give away the benefits it could claim. They were rushing this attack because other guilds were also making their way here. ''Sigh¡­ I thought this was going to be a relaxed quest. But if everyone is involved, taking down the bandit camp might not be too hard. Looking at the time, there''s still about three hours before Cai Wenji arrives. I should head back for now and sleep to recover my fatigue. Hopefully, it will be low enough.'' ¡­ Three hours later, Li Wei wakes up after receiving several messages from Cai Wenji. They have arrived at the Gassian Lake and have set up a small camp near the cottages. Li Wei forced himself to leave his bed. His fatigue was at 46%. It was still high but eating something would lower it to acceptable levels. Furthermore, just attacking the camp should not generate too much fatigue. He left Andy''s cottage, closing the door behind him. The kind fisherman once again agreed to let Li Wei stay at his place. As soon as he stepped out of the garden, Li Wei noticed the countless tents being set up by the players. He recognised the badge of Avalanche floating next to their name tag. Several players also tried to approach the fishermen to learn about the area but they were all quickly turned away for disturbing the fishes. Any forceful player who refused to leave and caused any form of disturbance was beaten to a pulp by the fishermen. Despite their appearance, the fishermen were all above level 20 and could easily deal with the players. The players themselves, only averaged level 16. They were even weaker than Li Wei even though he spent so much time traveling around. Li Wei messaged Cai Wenji and asked for his location. They agreed to meet at the entrance of the camp and a few minutes later, Li Wei saw many familiar faces. "Hey, Seven! It has been a while. Have you been hiding yourself here?" The One Hero was the first one to approach Li Wei with his usual energetic self. "Hello." Several other members of Cai Wenji''s core team also greeted him. Forge God and Titan, the two paladins of the team were the most familiar with him after The One Hero. They became friendlier with time, especially after having been invited to the Time Attack of Alyssa''s Lair. While only Titan, Cai Wenji and Bright Sun were able to obtain the special rewards, everyone thought highly of him. "How has everyone been?" Li Wei was brought to a more private tent where they would be able to talk without being heard. These tents could be purchased at the store for 10 gold. They were large enough to accommodate five people but if people did not mind squeezing a little bit, ten people could easily enter. The whole team was here, except for Bright Sun who had to stay at Algate City. She became a Grade 1 Chef to escape her arranged marriage but now, she needed to shoulder the responsibilities of her profession and produce as many dishes as possible. "So, you say we are going to attack the dungeon in a few hours?" "Yes. We don''t know how much progress the other guilds have made. They might risk it and travel overnight. If they arrive on time, there will be a fierce competition for the dungeon. Dungeons are valuable resources that any guild would want to monopolise. They are the foundations of future towns." "Still. Isn''t this too risky?" "It''s just a dungeon. How hard can raiding it be? We have an entire guild here and my father is sending more people from Abelfort to help us." "Well¡­ The thing is, have you seen the dungeon?" Li Wei asks with an awkward expression. "Not really. Cai Shangjun is in charge of the operation. He is an elder of the main branch. As soon as he arrived here, he spoke to the fishermen and got the quest about raiding the bandit camp. However, he has seen no trace of your dungeon quest. He has asked me to contact you about it so that you can share the quest." Cai Wenji explained. "Sure. I can share it with you." As he spoke, Li Wei quickly shared the quest with everyone in the tent. They will spread it around for him. "The thing is that during the past two days, I explored the surroundings and walked upstream. I saw the bandit camp and the location of the bandit camp matches that of the dungeon." "You mean we would have to go through the bandit camp to defeat the dungeon?" "I don''t know. I am just saying what I saw. Also, the bandits are all at least level 22. I did not get to test their strength though." "You already did more than enough. No need to work yourself to the bone. The main branch will take care of everything. If they want the prestige of conquering a dungeon, they also need to work for it." "Anyway, let''s stop talking about this quest. Let''s talk about what you did on your excursion. I am genuinely surprised that you are already level 18. You travelled for so many days but still managed to have as much exp as I." Cai Wenji shifted the topic of the conversation. He was curious about what Li Wei went through. News travelled fast and the entire server was aware of the demons'' attack on Verdan Town. In fact, it was not only Verdan Town that was affected but several towns in the East. To some extent, even Algate City was affected by the few surviving demons. "I guess I just got lucky. With the bonus level up from the Time Attack reward and the emergency quest I got enough experience to barely level up." Li Wei answered. He did not mention the graverobber quest and how he obtained many rare items. He did not want Cai Wenji to know that he sold precious resources to an opposing family. "I see. But did you end up receiving a penalty? I heard that almost all the players who took the emergency quests were penalised to some extent. All the players affected complained; the situation was so bad that even the Yu Family has started looking for other towns to relocate." "What? Almost everyone got a penalty? I successfully escorted the princess to Boroughton but I did get a penalty because of negative feedback from the princess. I can''t take any quests from the Warrior Association and for the rest of the month, part of my rewards will be deducted." Cai Wenji nodded. The rest of the party members looked at Li Wei with pity. "Yes. Everyone got the same penalty with varying degree. I heard that aside from those who lost their life fighting against the demons, all the other players are receiving reduced rewards, even those who helped to save the items in the warehouses. The NPCs need someone to blame and the scapegoats are the players. The players are complaining but Gaia is not doing anything. Her role is to maintain fairness in New Earth but since she is letting the NPCs take advantage of the players, it can only mean that the person behind the demons'' attack is a player." "Do you mean that somebody is able to control the demons?" Li Wei was stunned. "We don''t know yet, but it is possible. Anyway, all of this should not affect you very much. Just look at you, you are wearing so many Grade 2 equipment! How were you even able to afford all of this? Just one piece must cost 100 gold." Cai Wenji exclaimed. He originally did not fully trust his dad and his sister''s judgement of Li Wei but now, he had no choice. As an outer member who barely got any resources from the sect, Li Wei was wearing better equipment than he was. Only the core team of the main branch could rival him. "I got one from the rewards of the Time Attack and was lucky enough to steal a few things during my emergency quest." Li Wei answered. He has already put on the [Coarse Hide Helmet] he obtained from the world record. While it did not have any skills associated with it, the helmet increased Li Wei''s Endurance by seven points. A whole seven points; it meant seventy more HP which increased his max health by a third. "You must be the luckiest man alive then. You are always using luck as an excuse. I have to thank you. I got this chestplate from the rewards and also a night vision skill." "A skill that grant night vision? You are the one who''s lucky. I only got a crappy passive skill that improves NPCs favourability toward me. But it does not work at all, see how I got the penalties despite escorting the princess." They continued to talk for a bit. Cai Wenji was trying to unravel the mysteries of Li Wei''s adventure. He knew that Li Wei was not telling him everything, but he had no obligations to do so.