Chapter 17: Flint Staff
I silently picked up the dropped bronze equipment and placed it in my inventory. I then watched on as Flaming Rat’s group bombarded the last remaining Dynastic Hegemon people to death. The several dozen gravestones here were what were left of the Dynastic Hegemon. Their bodies had been sent back to the newbie village for resurrection.
“Hopeful Present, the number one guy on the power ranking, is indeed strong.”
Flaming Rat said as he walked over with a smile. Accompanying him were a Talisman Master and a Ranger. Among them, the level 16 Ranger called Skillful caught my attention. It was clear that his status within Flaming Rat’s group was definitely not low. During the battle earlier, his character movement and control was rather eye catching. Killing three players in a row looked very easy when he was doing it.
“Big Brother Chen, be careful.” Lin Che reminded in the party chat.
I replied in the party chat, “Little Che and Big Hai, the moment we start fighting, focus fire on their Talisman Master. The moment their Talisman Master is dead, they won’t have any other control classes left. I will try tanking their attacks to test them out. Big Brother Wei, protect Little Che and Big Hai well. Prevent any ambushes on them by Assassins.”
“Ok.”
I walked forward with my sword in hand and replied with a smile, “Now, the sealed treasure chest is ours. How should we split it?”
The corner of Flaming Rat’s lips curved up into a grin, “That’s easy. The stronger side will get it.”
He had indeed turned on us. This was no surprise. Flaming Rat immediately attacked. He slammed his feet on the ground, activating his Frost Domain. My foot was instantly covered by frost. At the same time, the level 16 Talisman Master threw a red talisman at me after a short chant. His eyes were filled with pride, “Hopeful Present, aren’t you being too naïve?”
Right before I was hit by the Bodyseal Technique, I slammed my feet on the ground. Currents of air swirled around me as three golden shields appeared and started orbiting me. This was a level 2 Shield of Honor, capable of 17% damage reduction. I then raised my head and saw that Skillful had also silently approached. True Qi curled around the saber he was holding before a projection of a ferocious wolf head appeared above it. With confidence filling his face, he shouted, “Die!”
I lowered my center of gravity and raised my shield. Half a second before the Bodyseal Technique hit, my defensive stance activated. Instantly, a heavy feeling enveloped me. With a clang, the attack landed, stunning me for a duration of 1 second and dealing me 216 points of damage.
At the same time, Skillful arrived with a combo attack of Wolfteeth Strike + normal attack. Two clangs sounded as the attacks arrived and created sparks on my shield before leaving a deep mark on it.
237! 4!
The Wolfteeth Strike had a terrifying burst damage. Based on the intensity of the True Qi when this skill activated, this was probably a level 2 Wolfteeth Strike. A level 1 Wolfteeth Strike could deal a damage of 170% the user’s attack, also known as the strongest level 1 skill in the game. It was in fact as famous as the Blitz skill of the Swordsman class. Fortunately, I had been able to activate my defensive stance in time. Otherwise, I would have lost over 500 HP from this combo attack.
While stepping on the ice his Frost Domain had created, tongues of flame started curling around Flaming Rat’s staff. Then, he blasted me with a flaming ball of fire.
577!
Again, it was lucky that I had activated my Shield of Honor in time. Otherwise, this Fireball would have been the end of me. Even so, my HP bar was already below 50%. Two players who were respectively a Mage and an Archer started attacking me at the same time as well. The firepower of Fight If Salty was indeed impressive.
Since I had yet to recover from my stun, Lin Che activated his Seven Stars Step and rushed forward to join the fight. With a wave of his hand, his Bodyseal Technique landed on the head of their sole Talisman Master. With a pop, the Talisman Master was stunned. Almost immediately after, Lin Che’s talisman attack arrived. The enemy Talisman Master was instantly killed by him.
As for Wang Jinhai, his combo attack of normal attack + Fire Bullet was unleashed onto their sole Archer, also instantly killing him. Now, only the two Mages and one Ranger were left. By the time the stun on me ended, only 30% of my HP was left. I then took a potion to quickly recover my HP.
My sword buzzed as it shone with a bright white radiance. This was the sign that I was about to use my Breaker. Skillful directly retreated the moment he saw this. Taking opportunity of his retreat, I approached Flaming Rat instead.
“You’re courting death!”
Flaming Rat’s eyes went bloodshot. He locked on to me and started casting a new Fireball. It was clear what he was trying to do. With his equipments, he would be able to survive two attacks from me. On the other hand, this Fireball and the Mage beside him would be able to kill quickly kill me off.
Unfortunately, things did not unfold according to his plan. My Breaker was not sent his way. Rather, I continued moving forward and stepped past him. Because of this, I was now out of his direct line of sight, cancelling the casting of his nearly completed Fireball.
In Skyroad, targeting-based skills would reset after their target was lost. This was the mechanic I was abusing.
“Shit!”
Flaming Rat turned pale with fright. He had never expected that I could still stay calm and make use of the direction he was facing to move away and cancel his Fireball even while being in such a chaotic battle. I took a wide step forward and instantly left the two Mages line of sight. Then, my boots skid on the ground as I abruptly turned and unleashed a combo of normal attack + Breaker on that Mage.
He was instantly killed. Then, without even looking at him, I continued moving forward to Flaming Rat and unleashed a combo of normal attack + Heavy Slash on him. A terrifying raging flame curled around my sword as I approached.
“Boss, careful!” Skillful cried out in alarm. Hatred filled Flaming Rat’s eyes as he raised his staff. Then, he lowered his center of gravity. Surprisingly, he was activating his defensive stance as well. My foot slid on the ground as I abruptly shifted my body once again and moved one meter to the side. My two combo attack trailed past Flaming Rat to land on Skillful instead. This had happened so suddenly that Skillful couldn’t use any defensive skills in time despite the fact that he was a skilled player. The two attacks struck, sending his HP bar to the bottom.
“Lit him up.”
I said before turning around to charge at Flaming Rat again. However, he had already activated his Agile Wind Curse to increase his movement speed by 10%. Carrying his staff, he started fleeing with hatred filling his eyes. “Just you wait!”
Skillful died under Lin Che’s talisman attack and transformed into a clump of white radiance that was sent back to the newbie village. Suddenly, a whizzing sound appeared behind Lin Che. A bad premonition rose within him as a blazing trail appeared out of nowhere. This was the Backstab skill of an Assassin, currently aimed straight at Lin Che.
Sure enough, Fight If Salty already had an Assassin capable of concealment among their ranks. This Assassin had been hiding all along. The moment he attacked, he aimed straight at our Talisman Master at a moment when we had least expected an ambush. Immediately, Lin Che’s HP was reduced below 30%. His face paled.
Without looking back, he activated Seven Stars Step and rushed forward. He controlled his character in a very skilled manner. Seven Stars Step was able to give him a 10% bonus in movement step while a level 16 Assassin only had Hide, Backstab, and Accurate skills. They had no movement increasing skills. This meant that that if Lin Che had turned around, he would die. By advancing forward, he would instead survive. Flaming Rat turned around with a Fireball on his hand, intending to finish Lin Che off.
“You dare?”
I pressed onward with my sword and tanked the Fireball. If I allowed Lin Che to die, when Flaming Rat and the Assassin teamed up, we might be the ones to die instead.
Right this moment, Zhang Wei who was nearby howled and slammed his Ferocious Tiger Palm on the back of the Assassin’s head. For some reason, Zhang Wei’s attack was right on the mark this time.
Then, sounds of gunshot crackled in the air. A dense gunpowder smell lingered the air as the Assassin abruptly stopped moving. Blood splattered out of his head from the bullet he took to his head. He then turned into a clump of white light and was sent back into the newbie village.
When this happened, Lin Che was still advancing forward with his Seven Stars Step. Once again, he activated his Bodyseal Technique. A crimson radiance whizzed past the air and landed accurately on Flaming Rat to stun him. Finally, I stepped forward and landed a final slash on this leader of Fight If Salty.
Whoosh!
He had actually dropped an equipment. It was a magic staff with a fiery aura curled around it. I picked it up and was pleasantly surprised. This Brother Rat was quite the generous person eh?
***
Flint Staff (Bronze equipment)
Magic attack: 24 – 35
Magic power: +8
Level requirement: 17
***
This Splint Staff was absolutely one of the top staffs at this stage of the game. After all, level 17 Mages and Clerics were very few and the stats of this staff and its 35 points of magic attack were quite powerful.
“Brother Rat’s gift is rather generous, eh?” Lin Che checked the stats and said with a smile while recovering his HP.
I tossed the staff to him and said, “Yeah. Take it. Sell it for 20 gold coins when we return to the village. This staff is worth that much.”
“Ok.”
I looked at the distant sealed treasure chest and the human silhouettes that were starting to appear far away. I immediately walked towards the chest, “Come on, hit the chest while healing. We need to open the chest and leave as soon as possible. My name is red again…”
Wang Jinhai grinned, “Boss, your performance earlier must have scared Flaming Rat and Skillful shitless.”
“That doesn’t matter. Quick, start hitting the chest.”
“Ok.”
We surrounded the chest and started spamming attacks on it. The durability of the chest dropped and in less than a minute, the complicated seals on the chest faded. When I opened the chest, it shone so brightly I was nearly blinded. I studied the content of the chest and surprisingly, the huge pile of equipments I had expected to see wasn’t there. Only a tiny stone could be seen.
“Huh? What’s this?” Lin Che was astounded, “Have we been fighting so hard for nothing?”
“That might not be the case.”
I picked the stone up. Its stats popped out.
***
Field Donkey (Steel mount)
Type: Sealing stone
Level requirement: 20
***
Lin Che’s face blossomed into a smile, “Holy shit…I thought only level 40 players, or even 80 for some, can unlock a mount? Why…is a sealing stone given when we are not even level 20 yet?”
Wang Jinhai laughed, “Based on what I know, a player can only unlock a mount after reaching level 40. This shows just how valuable this mount is. Before anyone else has a mount, we already have the advantage of a cavalry. Boss, it’s like this stone is designed just for you.”
“This sealed treasure chest is really quite good.”
Elated, I immediately placed the stone into my inventory. The only thing left to do was to reach level 20. Then, I would be able to bind this sealing stone to me and get a mount. At that time, I might be the first Knight in the national server to get a mount. I would be the greatest Knight.
“Let’s leave. The Savage Gorge is too dangerous. People are coming without stop.”
“Ok. Let’s go.”
We hastily swept through the battlefield and picked up three more bronze equipments. The drop rate of dead players was only 10%. It was quite a low rate. Therefore, getting four bronze equipments out of our battle with them was in fact a good harvest. When we arrived at the hill, we turned around and looked back. At least 100 players had entered the Savage Gorge by now. However, they did not seem to realize that the treasure chest had already been opened. Before they had even seen the chest, they were already fighting each other. Fireballs and talismans started flying everywhere.
Chapter 17: Flint Staff
I silently picked up the dropped bronze equipment and placed it in my inventory. I then watched on as Flaming Rat’s group bombarded the last remaining Dynastic Hegemon people to death. The several dozen gravestones here were what were left of the Dynastic Hegemon. Their bodies had been sent back to the newbie village for resurrection.
“Hopeful Present, the number one guy on the power ranking, is indeed strong.”
Flaming Rat said as he walked over with a smile. Accompanying him were a Talisman Master and a Ranger. Among them, the level 16 Ranger called Skillful caught my attention. It was clear that his status within Flaming Rat’s group was definitely not low. During the battle earlier, his character movement and control was rather eye catching. Killing three players in a row looked very easy when he was doing it.
“Big Brother Chen, be careful.” Lin Che reminded in the party chat.
I replied in the party chat, “Little Che and Big Hai, the moment we start fighting, focus fire on their Talisman Master. The moment their Talisman Master is dead, they won’t have any other control classes left. I will try tanking their attacks to test them out. Big Brother Wei, protect Little Che and Big Hai well. Prevent any ambushes on them by Assassins.”
“Ok.”
I walked forward with my sword in hand and replied with a smile, “Now, the sealed treasure chest is ours. How should we split it?”
The corner of Flaming Rat’s lips curved up into a grin, “That’s easy. The stronger side will get it.”
He had indeed turned on us. This was no surprise. Flaming Rat immediately attacked. He slammed his feet on the ground, activating his Frost Domain. My foot was instantly covered by frost. At the same time, the level 16 Talisman Master threw a red talisman at me after a short chant. His eyes were filled with pride, “Hopeful Present, aren’t you being too naïve?”
Right before I was hit by the Bodyseal Technique, I slammed my feet on the ground. Currents of air swirled around me as three golden shields appeared and started orbiting me. This was a level 2 Shield of Honor, capable of 17% damage reduction. I then raised my head and saw that Skillful had also silently approached. True Qi curled around the saber he was holding before a projection of a ferocious wolf head appeared above it. With confidence filling his face, he shouted, “Die!”
I lowered my center of gravity and raised my shield. Half a second before the Bodyseal Technique hit, my defensive stance activated. Instantly, a heavy feeling enveloped me. With a clang, the attack landed, stunning me for a duration of 1 second and dealing me 216 points of damage.
At the same time, Skillful arrived with a combo attack of Wolfteeth Strike + normal attack. Two clangs sounded as the attacks arrived and created sparks on my shield before leaving a deep mark on it.
237! 4!
The Wolfteeth Strike had a terrifying burst damage. Based on the intensity of the True Qi when this skill activated, this was probably a level 2 Wolfteeth Strike. A level 1 Wolfteeth Strike could deal a damage of 170% the user’s attack, also known as the strongest level 1 skill in the game. It was in fact as famous as the Blitz skill of the Swordsman class. Fortunately, I had been able to activate my defensive stance in time. Otherwise, I would have lost over 500 HP from this combo attack.
While stepping on the ice his Frost Domain had created, tongues of flame started curling around Flaming Rat’s staff. Then, he blasted me with a flaming ball of fire.
577!
Again, it was lucky that I had activated my Shield of Honor in time. Otherwise, this Fireball would have been the end of me. Even so, my HP bar was already below 50%. Two players who were respectively a Mage and an Archer started attacking me at the same time as well. The firepower of Fight If Salty was indeed impressive.
Since I had yet to recover from my stun, Lin Che activated his Seven Stars Step and rushed forward to join the fight. With a wave of his hand, his Bodyseal Technique landed on the head of their sole Talisman Master. With a pop, the Talisman Master was stunned. Almost immediately after, Lin Che’s talisman attack arrived. The enemy Talisman Master was instantly killed by him.
As for Wang Jinhai, his combo attack of normal attack + Fire Bullet was unleashed onto their sole Archer, also instantly killing him. Now, only the two Mages and one Ranger were left. By the time the stun on me ended, only 30% of my HP was left. I then took a potion to quickly recover my HP.
My sword buzzed as it shone with a bright white radiance. This was the sign that I was about to use my Breaker. Skillful directly retreated the moment he saw this. Taking opportunity of his retreat, I approached Flaming Rat instead.
“You’re courting death!”
Flaming Rat’s eyes went bloodshot. He locked on to me and started casting a new Fireball. It was clear what he was trying to do. With his equipments, he would be able to survive two attacks from me. On the other hand, this Fireball and the Mage beside him would be able to kill quickly kill me off.
Unfortunately, things did not unfold according to his plan. My Breaker was not sent his way. Rather, I continued moving forward and stepped past him. Because of this, I was now out of his direct line of sight, cancelling the casting of his nearly completed Fireball.
In Skyroad, targeting-based skills would reset after their target was lost. This was the mechanic I was abusing.
“Shit!”
Flaming Rat turned pale with fright. He had never expected that I could still stay calm and make use of the direction he was facing to move away and cancel his Fireball even while being in such a chaotic battle. I took a wide step forward and instantly left the two Mages line of sight. Then, my boots skid on the ground as I abruptly turned and unleashed a combo of normal attack + Breaker on that Mage.
He was instantly killed. Then, without even looking at him, I continued moving forward to Flaming Rat and unleashed a combo of normal attack + Heavy Slash on him. A terrifying raging flame curled around my sword as I approached.
“Boss, careful!” Skillful cried out in alarm. Hatred filled Flaming Rat’s eyes as he raised his staff. Then, he lowered his center of gravity. Surprisingly, he was activating his defensive stance as well. My foot slid on the ground as I abruptly shifted my body once again and moved one meter to the side. My two combo attack trailed past Flaming Rat to land on Skillful instead. This had happened so suddenly that Skillful couldn’t use any defensive skills in time despite the fact that he was a skilled player. The two attacks struck, sending his HP bar to the bottom.
“Lit him up.”
I said before turning around to charge at Flaming Rat again. However, he had already activated his Agile Wind Curse to increase his movement speed by 10%. Carrying his staff, he started fleeing with hatred filling his eyes. “Just you wait!”
Skillful died under Lin Che’s talisman attack and transformed into a clump of white radiance that was sent back to the newbie village. Suddenly, a whizzing sound appeared behind Lin Che. A bad premonition rose within him as a blazing trail appeared out of nowhere. This was the Backstab skill of an Assassin, currently aimed straight at Lin Che.
Sure enough, Fight If Salty already had an Assassin capable of concealment among their ranks. This Assassin had been hiding all along. The moment he attacked, he aimed straight at our Talisman Master at a moment when we had least expected an ambush. Immediately, Lin Che’s HP was reduced below 30%. His face paled.
Without looking back, he activated Seven Stars Step and rushed forward. He controlled his character in a very skilled manner. Seven Stars Step was able to give him a 10% bonus in movement step while a level 16 Assassin only had Hide, Backstab, and Accurate skills. They had no movement increasing skills. This meant that that if Lin Che had turned around, he would die. By advancing forward, he would instead survive. Flaming Rat turned around with a Fireball on his hand, intending to finish Lin Che off.
“You dare?”
I pressed onward with my sword and tanked the Fireball. If I allowed Lin Che to die, when Flaming Rat and the Assassin teamed up, we might be the ones to die instead.
Right this moment, Zhang Wei who was nearby howled and slammed his Ferocious Tiger Palm on the back of the Assassin’s head. For some reason, Zhang Wei’s attack was right on the mark this time.
Then, sounds of gunshot crackled in the air. A dense gunpowder smell lingered the air as the Assassin abruptly stopped moving. Blood splattered out of his head from the bullet he took to his head. He then turned into a clump of white light and was sent back into the newbie village.
When this happened, Lin Che was still advancing forward with his Seven Stars Step. Once again, he activated his Bodyseal Technique. A crimson radiance whizzed past the air and landed accurately on Flaming Rat to stun him. Finally, I stepped forward and landed a final slash on this leader of Fight If Salty.
Whoosh!
He had actually dropped an equipment. It was a magic staff with a fiery aura curled around it. I picked it up and was pleasantly surprised. This Brother Rat was quite the generous person eh?
***
Flint Staff (Bronze equipment)
Magic attack: 24 – 35
Magic power: +8
Level requirement: 17
***
This Splint Staff was absolutely one of the top staffs at this stage of the game. After all, level 17 Mages and Clerics were very few and the stats of this staff and its 35 points of magic attack were quite powerful.
“Brother Rat’s gift is rather generous, eh?” Lin Che checked the stats and said with a smile while recovering his HP.
I tossed the staff to him and said, “Yeah. Take it. Sell it for 20 gold coins when we return to the village. This staff is worth that much.”
“Ok.”
I looked at the distant sealed treasure chest and the human silhouettes that were starting to appear far away. I immediately walked towards the chest, “Come on, hit the chest while healing. We need to open the chest and leave as soon as possible. My name is red again…”
Wang Jinhai grinned, “Boss, your performance earlier must have scared Flaming Rat and Skillful shitless.”
“That doesn’t matter. Quick, start hitting the chest.”
“Ok.”
We surrounded the chest and started spamming attacks on it. The durability of the chest dropped and in less than a minute, the complicated seals on the chest faded. When I opened the chest, it shone so brightly I was nearly blinded. I studied the content of the chest and surprisingly, the huge pile of equipments I had expected to see wasn’t there. Only a tiny stone could be seen.
“Huh? What’s this?” Lin Che was astounded, “Have we been fighting so hard for nothing?”
“That might not be the case.”
I picked the stone up. Its stats popped out.
***
Field Donkey (Steel mount)
Type: Sealing stone
Level requirement: 20
***
Lin Che’s face blossomed into a smile, “Holy shit…I thought only level 40 players, or even 80 for some, can unlock a mount? Why…is a sealing stone given when we are not even level 20 yet?”
Wang Jinhai laughed, “Based on what I know, a player can only unlock a mount after reaching level 40. This shows just how valuable this mount is. Before anyone else has a mount, we already have the advantage of a cavalry. Boss, it’s like this stone is designed just for you.”
“This sealed treasure chest is really quite good.”
Elated, I immediately placed the stone into my inventory. The only thing left to do was to reach level 20. Then, I would be able to bind this sealing stone to me and get a mount. At that time, I might be the first Knight in the national server to get a mount. I would be the greatest Knight.
“Let’s leave. The Savage Gorge is too dangerous. People are coming without stop.”
“Ok. Let’s go.”
We hastily swept through the battlefield and picked up three more bronze equipments. The drop rate of dead players was only 10%. It was quite a low rate. Therefore, getting four bronze equipments out of our battle with them was in fact a good harvest. When we arrived at the hill, we turned around and looked back. At least 100 players had entered the Savage Gorge by now. However, they did not seem to realize that the treasure chest had already been opened. Before they had even seen the chest, they were already fighting each other. Fireballs and talismans started flying everywhere.
