Chapter 8 – The Price of Underestimation (1/2)
Chapter 8 – The Price of Underestimation
After finishing the appraisal of the dagger, Nie Yan had begun to walk outside. Lowering his head, he took a glance at his skill bar. There were only two skills there: Stealth, and Vital Strike.
A perfect Thief should have numerous skills piled up at their disposal. A Thief could make do without equipment; however, they absolutely could not do without skills.
Of the several areas where Thief skill books could be farmed in the beginning stages of the game, Nie Yan knew all of them like the back of his hand. However, he would be unlikely to take the great effort and pain of farming them out. If a skill book could be farmed out, then it could also easily be bought in the marketplace.
Hmm… were there any other places where I could find rare beginner skill books?
Nie Yan smacked his forehead. How did I manage to forget that?
With regards to professions such as a Thieves, if they wanted to possess sustainable fighting strength they would often select either Alchemy Crafting or the Bandage skill. Alchemy Crafting allowed a player to manufacture every kind of health potion, drug, etc… In the middle of a battle, a health potion—that could instantly restore lost health—was tantamount to a second life for a player. Afterwards when a battle was over, drinking a recovery potion allowed a player to quickly restore their health and throw themselves back into combat again. Thus, accelerating their training speed as well. As for the Bandaging skill, in comparison to a health potion, it was a bit lacking—the common Bandage skill could not be used during a skirmish.
Nie Yan knew of a location where a rare skill, Combat Medic, could be learned. Unlike Bandage, it could be used while in combat.
At higher levels, if a person wished to purchase middle- or higher-tiered health or recovery potions from the marketplace, their expenditure would be quite large. After all, their prices were quite costly—for most players, health and recovery potions were items they could only acquire by digging through the gaps between their teeth. Unless one were rich, the average player wouldn’t be seen commonly using health, or recovery, potions.
However, Nie Yan was different—his head was filled with many ways to earn money quickly and easily. He didn’t need to worry about money. Later on, health and recovery potions were all things he could easily buy from the marketplace. Thus, it wasn’t necessary for him to waste his time learning Alchemy Crafting. However, if he learned this Combat Medic skill, it would greatly enhance his survivability. Thinking to this, Nie Yan suddenly had an idea.
I’ll put that off for later. I should learn the Combat Medic skill first.
Nie Yan spent two coppers and bought two Basic Underwater Breathing Pills from the NPC general store. Right after, he rushed towards Lake Rando which wasn’t too far of a distance from Tellak town.
After passing through several Level 2–3 areas, he had met many players that had formed parties to hunt monsters. They often occupied a single region in their own area. Warriors, Paladins, etc… all these close combat professions worked to draw monsters. Right afterwards, the Mage would unleash an unceasing barrage of spells towards these monsters. Some parties would even bring their own priest. Most priests didn’t currently have the Heal skill—their ability to deal damage wasn’t as good as Mages either. For the most part, they were dirty experience leeches. Despite this, every team still looked for a priest as if they were a hot commodity. This was because if a team wanted to have any growth or development in the future, they absolutely needed to have a good relationship with their priest. Lacking a priest was the same as lacking an endless supply of health potions.
As for Thieves, in the early stages of the game, many Thieves would be easily dumped by their team. However, Thieves were quite famous for their solo training speed. As long as they purchased all of the necessary skills they required, a Thief’s training speed would not be inferior to a Mage’s in any aspect. So, it wouldn’t be much of a loss if they couldn’t join a team.
Level training in the various monster spawn areas was awfully monotonous and boring. However, these players could still chat with each other. Thus, the time would pass quite quickly when they chatted on idly.
Nie Yan carefully passed through these areas where players were training because a lot of struggles would occur between players for certain training spots. If a player killed other players, they would receive a penalty with their names marked red. They would be barred from entering city walls as well. Having their names marked red meant other players could kill them without fear of recourse. Their loss of levels upon death would be even harsher, and every single piece of equipment would drop as well. Though, if that player killed monsters for a certain period of time, the red marking on their name would eventually disappear. Despite this, many players would still frequently take this risk for the sake of stealing another player’s equipment. Not hesitating in the slightest, they would kill others for their equipment, regardless of having their name marked red. In order to do this safely, they would often target strangers in the wilderness far away from any city, Thus, one must be very cautious when travelling alone.
Lake Rando… this area was inhabited by Fishmen monsters. According to rumours, these Fishmen were the descendants of the ancient Wicked Naga. After countless generations, they finally developed into their current form. They possessed the body of a fish, and four limbs just like a human. The weapons they employed for attacks were their sharp teeth and the tridents they held in their hands.
Fishmen were Level 3 monsters that heavily populated the area with their massive numbers. Furthermore, there was even a Fishmen village within the vicinity. It was necessary for Nie Yan to pass through the borders of the village to enter Lake Rando. Afterwards, he would need to swim through the lake to arrive at his destination.
Situated by the lakeside of Lake Rando was the Fishmen village with its several hundred wooden huts scattered sporadically by the sandy edges of the lakeshore. This Fishmen village contained at least three hundred or so Fishmen, several tens of Fishmen Leaders, and two Elite Fishmen. If one wanted to clear this area, they’d need at least a thousand players or more.
Just as Nie Yan was preparing to use Stealth to bypass the Fishmen village, a system announcement rang out.
Local Announcement: The Guild, Victorious Return, is planning to clear this location in three minutes. All players within the vicinity of the Fishmen Village, please depart immediately.
Victorious Return? Nie Yan raised his eyebrow. In his previous life, he and the guild Victorious Return had a few run-ins and festivities together… Victorious Return’s people ran rampant and acted arrogantly. They’d clear the path and kill everyone in it whenever they wanted to. A long time ago,one of Nie Yan’s brothers killed three members from Victorious Return because he was discontent from the guild forcing him out of a training area. A bit of a grudge was pillared down with those from the Victorious Return, and all of the guilds went chasing after him. They threatened to have his brother slaughtered back to Level 0. Nie Yan’s and the others’ strength was still pretty weak back then, thus he could only hide deeply in the ravines of the mountain. He continued to level up and trained like a madman for over a month. Only when he felt his level had reached high enough did he dare to come out. Even then, he was still barely able to defend himself. In the end, he never dared to have a direct open confrontation with a big guild like Victorious Return.
The feeling of powerlessness back then… don’t even bring it up.
In this life, that sort of history absolutely won’t repeat itself. This debt would definitely be one that I’ll have repaid in full. However, it won’t be today, for now…
Nie Yan had just entered the game for less than a day. He still needed to gradually accumulate his wealth bit by bit.
Immediately, he turned and ran towards the lakeside.
As he looked ahead of him, he saw the clear waters merging with the reflection of the azure sky. The lake gleamed and sparkled as the sun’s rays illuminated the top of the crystalline clear waters.
Victorious Return’s players had mobilized intensely and were surveying the area. There were many areas in the vicinity where one could discover the movements of Victorious Return’s people. They definitely did not come with few numbers. It appeared that they were preparing to begin their operation on the Fishmen village.
The Fishmen village wasn’t an instance, but rather a spawning ground for monsters to congregate. These types of places would also frequently drop decent items.
Nie Yan passed through a small grove of trees, arriving at about two hundred meters away from the lakeside.
Suddenly, a ball of fire streaked through the sky, launching towards Nie Yan’s location.
As the ball of fire flashed, Nie Yan’s line of sight shifted past the grove of trees. His eyes fell upon the body of an Elementalist wearing a red robe. The opposing player was a Level 3 Elementalist from Victorious Return!
Mages were divided into three types of classes: Elementalists, Arcane Mages, and Holy Mages. Elementalists had the ability to control ice, fire, and lightning—their power was the elements. Arcane Mages were able to control arcane might and finally, there were the Holy Mages. They were the least selected profession. Their skills were the most difficult to train in, however their power was definitely the strongest. They could cast and unleash the power of divine spells.
The killing power of fire spells was the highest among the spells at an Elementalist’s disposal.
By the time Nie Yan had noticed the fireball, it was already too late.
「Boom!」The fireball exploded on Nie Yan’s body. It tore through Nie Yan’s health, as his health bar plummeted by twenty-two points.
「System: The opposing player Violet Flame has attacked you. You are free to retaliate in legitimate self-defense. Time: 3 minutes.」
When coming across a Mage, you either run up to them and engage them in close quarters combat or hurriedly ran away.
After confirming there were no other players from Victorious Return nearby, Nie Yan dashed towards the Elementalist named Violet Flame.
A Mage’s strategy was to maintain as great of a distance from the enemy as possible and bombard them with magic spells.
The Elementalist Violet Flame leapt back using the spell Flame Burst and cast Fireball once again. Afterwards, he turned around and fled in an attempt to gain some distance from Nie Yan.