Chapter 3: [Chanter Griffin]

“D*mned Devils, if I had a sword, you would all be dead!” The Sword Saint shouted while wielding a tattered wooden pole. To a Sword Artist, his weapon was akin to his life!

The Wind Rider Sword Saint was one of the Warrior Heroes. Every job had three heroes. The difference lied in the location in which they were guarding in the Mainland. The Wind Rider Sword Saint was one of them. After a particular natural disaster, the heroes together created a seal, and each of them contributed their powers to sustain the seal. The Wind Rider Sword Saint was an honest and upright person, and hence he contributed all of his powers.

After he lost all his powers, he went into hiding. However, the natural disasters seal showed signs of weakening, and thus he had no choice but to come out of hiding and try his best to ward off the monsters causing the natural disasters and look for a promising warrior to undergo his training. In time to come, becoming a disciple of the Sword Saint was a necessary requirement to have a job change to become a Legend.

“Whoosh~”

An Inferior Bronze Sword flew across, forming the trajectory of an arc, into the hands of the Wind Rider Sword Saint.

A sword was still a sword regardless of how inferior it was!

“Go to hell!” The Sword Saint shouted, as a sudden burst of the sword’s aura immediately killed all of the Fear Devils.

Lin Jie ecstatically picked up the coins on the ground. Ten monsters dropped merely 4 bronze coins. This showed how low the drop rate for the in-game coins really was.

Lin Jie respectfully said, “Hello, respected warrior.”

The Sword Saint kept hiding his real identity. If he had pretended to be smart and revealed his identity, his favorability points would have been reduced by 10. In the previous life, Lin Jie had naively done that and had learned his lesson for this time so this time. Unless the Sword Saint revealed the identity on his own, Lin Jie knew that he should never do so.

“Thank you, young man.” The Sword Saint was a stubborn person. As his hair drifted along with the wind, he continued, “You saved me. I should rightfully reward you. What do you wish for?”

‘There it is!’ Lin Jie held his breath in sharp focus.

NPCs had their own personalities. The Sword Saint’s personality was one of directness, or rather, bluntness. Take the current situation as an example, if one shyly said, “It is only right to help you.” Then they would not have gotten anything in return.

On the other hand, if one wished for too much, they would not only not get what they wanted, their favorability points would also get deducted.

“I want to learn the way of the sword,” Lin Jie said in a serious tone.

“Sure.” The Sword Saint nodded his head and continued, “The way of the sword lies in being agile…”

‘Ding~’

—’The Anonymous Sword Artist explained to you the skills of using the sword, your attacks while equipped with a sword will now deal +3 damage. You have learned [Blade Aura Executioner]’

—’The Anonymous Swordman’s favorability towards you has increased by 10 points.’

“Young man, I hope you practice diligently and may we meet again.” The Sword Saint smiled and made an elegant exit.

Lin Jie was thrilled.

In his previous life, the first player who accepted the Sword Saint’s quest was also the one who had received the Heritage Cape, Ophadi Wantless. He was said to have obtained a treasure map and from there unearthed a Skill Book. But so what? It was utter trash compared to the personal coaching provided by the Sword Saint himself!

— Blade Aura Executioner: Level 1, Familiarity 0/3000. Active ability, once activated, your attacks drain 3 mana and gain the Blade Aura, increasing damage by 10%.

That ability’s crux did not lie in its damage. It was a symbol of acceptance by the Sword Saint himself. Although he kept a low profile, in the eyes of an NPC, he was a hero. As long as he cast that skill, he could show off in front of powerful NPCs.

Only after waiting for the Sword Saint to leave did Lin Jie return to the Town of Meyer. The Captain respectfully bowed and said, “Thank you, human. You have helped us rescue three of our brave soldiers.”

‘Ding~’

—’You have gained 200 experience points. You have gained 30 bronze coins. You have gained 200 points of popularity from the Town of Meyer.’

—’Your favorability in the eyes of the Town of Meyer’s Captain has increased by 50.’

Gaining the favor of the Captain was the biggest reward of this quest!

The favor of the NPCs influenced the attitude of other players, according to the words of the Captain of the Guards. His responsibility was to kill all the monsters in the vicinity of the Town of Meyer. After players obtained his favor, he would ensure their safety.

“War is imminent. The Guild of Light is already worn out from its defense efforts. You all will become the mainstay in the defense against the enemies from hell!” The Captain said in a serious tone. “However, you are still too weak right now. Young man, remember, you can explore the vicinity of the Town of Meyer but please do not ever venture too deep into the Umbral Plains.”

Lin Jie nodded and left for the Town of Meyer under the pleas of the Captain of the Guards.

Lin Jie had obtained 30 bronze coins, so he headed to the equipment store.

“Hello, young adventurer.” The equipment store owner, who was a middle-aged man in his forties with a huge mustache, politely acknowledged Lin Jie. That kind of artificial intelligence had widespread applications within The New Age.

This equipment store sold magic equipment as well as engineering equipment.

Lin Jie spent 20 bronze coins and bought 5 [Simple Freeze Traps], 5 [Touch-Triggered Shackles] and [Life Powder], and even spent 8 bronze coins on a [Fire Gun] with an offense point of 1 – 2.

[Simple Freeze Trap]: You set a freeze trap, causing anyone triggering it to have 35% reduced movement speed lasting for 3 seconds. This trap is completely effective against monsters of level 3 and below.

[Touch-triggered Shackles]: Every set of touch-triggered shackles consists of 100 venomous snake eggs, which die after 30 seconds. When there are more than 20 eggs alive, the target is stunned for 1.5 seconds. This shackle is completely effective against organisms of level 5 and below.

The effective range of the fire gun was 30 yards. In The New Age, the two melee jobs, Warriors, and Bandits could use ranged weapons including the fire gun and the bow. Among them, the Bandit could also use flying daggers.

After donning his equipment, he spent a further 2 bronze coins on a bundle of 20 loaves of bread. Lin Jie spent the entirety of his quest reward of 30 bronze coins!

His destination was the place that the Captain of the Guards had said that he should never go – the Umbral Plains! The Umbral Plains lied in the west part of the Town of Meyer. The lowest leveled organism there was level 3 and the monsters there were highly aggressive. It was a place that new players should never go.

“Hey kid, do not go too deep into the Umbral Plains!” The Captain of the Guards warned Lin Jie before he left. The difference brought about by the increase in favorability points was evident.

Lin Jie headed northwest. The surrounding ground gradually turned from black to green.

—’You have entered the Umbral Plains.’

Lin Jie carefully treaded on the plains. This place spawned new level 3 Flame Demons, level 4 Fear Devils, level 4 Bare-bone Skeletons. After forging a path through those monsters, Lin Jie reached his destination— the “Dark Servant” spawning grounds.

[Dark Servant]: Level 5 biological creature, Health Points: 250.

Dark Servants were fallen humans who willingly gave up their beliefs in order to survive. They could use [Stealth] and were one of the few monsters which used magic as their primary offense. Their damage experienced points were especially high. One Dark Servant could barely be killed by a small level 5 team.

However, that wasn’t Lin Jie’s target! His target was the lead chanter chanting the Bible of Darkness in numerous Dark Servant centers.

[Chanter Griffin]: Level 5 Bronze-tiered Boss, Health Points: 1100

Chanter Griffin was one of the few Bosses with a name. Bosses with a name proved that they had a past. They had much better skills and drop rates than other Bosses of the same level.

Lin Jie retrieved the Simple Freeze Trap and started assembling it. This kind of equipment was classified as something meant for new players to experience and was only effective against low-leveled monsters, and almost completely ineffective against high-leveled monsters.

Assembling the trap required one minute.

After Lin Jie assembled the Simple Freeze Trap, he retreated 30 yards and retrieved a cloth bag, containing many small snake eggs, which served as the shackles. The principles of how it worked were similar to that of making use of the heat generated by stepping on it to incubate it. The venomous snake would bite and inject venom into its target, incapacitating it.

The Touch-Triggered Shackles’ effective time was very short. Although the venomous snake eggs could survive for 30 seconds, if the buried assembly lasted for more than 10 minutes, the inner parts of the venomous snake eggs would die in large batches. They would then completely lose their effectiveness.

The Life Powder was a ‘fertilizer’ in The New Age. Normally it was meant for farming, but it could also increase the lifespan of the venomous snake eggs and reduce the chances of death of the venomous snake. That, in turn, increased the rate of success of the incapacitating assembly.

After spending 10 minutes, Lin Jie completed setting up all of his traps. In the Dark Servant spawning grounds far away, Chanter Griffin stood there and became the target of Lin Jie’s fire gun.

‘Bang!’

A bullet engulfed in flames penetrated the Boss’ skull and caused 1 point of damage!

The Boss got furious and charged towards Lin Jie! Lin Jie started fleeing, but the Boss had a very fast basic movement speed, which was faster than Lin Jie’s by more than 30%!

‘Bang!’

The Boss stepped right on the freezing traps, causing multiple ice shards to fly out and securely root its legs, which greatly reduced its movement speed! When the Boss freed itself, Lin Jie had already fled for about 20 yards.

When it once again caught up with Lin Jie due to its speed advantage, the ground sank in again! Chanter Griffin was immune towards crowd control abilities, and the same trap was ineffective when used twice in succession!

However, this time it was not the freezing traps but a group of small venomous snakes. They sank their fangs deeply into Griffin’s body, causing it to be stunned instantly and unable to move. Lin Jie made use of this time to continue retreating!

After the two traps were set off, Lin Jie had already fled more than 30 yards. If he had continued retreating, the Boss would have given up its hostile intents.

Luring a prey was a skill to master.

Indeed, the Boss’ movement started to become slower, and it even looked back at its own territory. Those were signs of giving up its hostile intents! Lin Jie raised his fire gun and shot a bullet once again. This time it was a critical hit!

After being repeatedly taunted by a human, the Boss became furious and its hostility stabilized!

Immediately after, the cycle of getting trapped and then freeing itself repeated until Lin Jie and the Boss gradually got near the Town of Meyer. Lin Jie noticed that the Captain of the Guards had already caught sight of him, and hence he retrieved his rusting bronze sword. He swung the sword across, exuding its Blade Aura, which burst in the Boss’ chest!

-2!

Finally, the Boss caught up and shot a dark arrow, which viciously knocked Lin Jie back! He was badly damaged by 45 Health Points!

“D*mn it,” Lin Jie cursed as he noticed the blood spurting out. He retreated a few steps and ended up within 20 yards of the Captain of the Guards!

The Captain of the Guards frowned and shouted, “Get ready!”

The guards’ responsibility was to protect the town, and they would retaliate only if monsters threatened the safety of the town’s residents. At the same time, Lin Jie was nearby fighting monsters and was in a precarious position.

The Captain looked at the three soldiers, whom Lin Jie had rescued, and let out a look of seriousness. He conjured a beam of holy light between his hands and cast a holy spell on Lin Jie!

+50!

[Holy Strength]: You gain 3% reduced damage from Dark-type attacks and your attacks become augmented with 2 points of Light-type damage.

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Lin Jie was delighted, as his plan worked!

In his previous life, the person who had invented that method was Ophadi Wantless. He had gotten an idea after gaining the favor of the Captain—he had baited the Fear Devils outside the Town of Meyer to fight in front of the NPC and realized to his surprise that even though the Captain had not intervened directly, his healing spells were able to boost his own blessing status and could infinitely stack!

When Ophadi Wantless realized this secret, he was already level 6, and hence mere level 3 Fear Devils naturally could not satisfy him. However, at that time, his capabilities had not reached their peak yet. Even though they could delay the Boss attacking the Town of Meyer, it eventually failed after countless experiments.

Now, Lin Jie accomplished what he was not able to!

Light-type attacks were 100% more effective against dark-type monsters. Lin Jie endured the Boss’ attacks and slashed it once, damaging it for a huge amount of 6 Health points!

This was three times more effective than the previous attack!

The Boss’ attacks were not sufficient to one-shot Lin Jie. Every attack would trigger the Captain to cast his healing spell on Lin Jie, allowing Lin Jie’s Health Points to remain stable and the stacked light-type damage to keep increasing!

-18!

-20!

…

A flurry of attacks rained upon the Boss, and its Health Points kept decreasing.

“Darkness prevails!” Griffin’s robe exploded into pieces, and its lean body suddenly exploded in size—Enrage mode!

After the Boss went into Enrage mode, its attacking speed increased by 50% and the rate of dipping of Lin Jie’s Health Points increased sharply.

The Captain’s healing spell was showing signs of weakening, so he gathered all his might to bathe Lin Jie in a protective holy light shield.

[Holy Light Shield]: For the first second of receiving the shield, the player gains immunity to any forms of damage and for the next 10 seconds, gain the ability to absorb 60% of the Health Points deducted from the largest-damage attack.

This was one of the trademark abilities of the Paladin. With the augment of the shield, the bronze sword in Lin Jie’s hands slashed across the Boss’ throat and it spectacularly fell to the ground!

‘Ding~’

—’You have killed the Bronze-tiered Boss, Chanter Griffin. You have gained 2780 experience (Over-level victory 350%)”

—’You have leveled up to level 2 and gained 5 free stat points and 2 fixed stat points.’

A Warrior’s fixed stat points could only be used to increase his Strength, Endurance and Health Points. Lin Jie thought about it. In his previous life, his strategy was an ‘all-in’ strategy as a Berserker would pay little heed to survivability. To a Berserker, offense was the best defense. This resulted in him being very frail and having a lousy leveling ability.

This time, he used his free stat points to increase his Strength by 4 and Endurance by 1; and used all of his fixed stat points to increase his Health Points.

Health Points could be increased via equipment and endurance points, but their effects were definitely not as pronounced as directly increasing Health Points. 1 point in endurance could increase 8 Health Points (Warrior Augmentation) whereas 1 fixed stat point pumped on Health Points could grant 20 Health Points!

Given this, this strategy enhanced his own attacking capabilities and augmented his defenses. After all, the amount of Health Points was a direct representation of a player’s defense capabilities.

Lin Jie squatted and pocketed the bronze coins that dropped from the Boss. A level 5 Boss, under the scenario of over-level victory, had dropped merely 12 bronze coins! The drop rate was really pathetic!

Without accounting for other rewards, killing that Boss surprisingly cost 16 bronze coins, which was enough to squeeze dry the entire life savings of a new player!

‘Ding~’

—’You have obtained a Chanter Longsword (Bronze)’

—’You have obtained a black wrist guard.’

[Chanter Longsword] (Bronze)

Requires: Level 2

Attack: 3-9

Strength: +1

Additional effect: Your attacks deal an additional 1 Dark-type damage

Lin Jie was elated. “Such luck!”

It was unexpected that the Boss dropped its directly equipped weapon. A weapon was the most important item in the early game. Wielding the longsword, a gust of eerily strong strength was transferred into his arms. Due to the augment of 1 point in damage, this longsword’s actual attack was 4 – 10, which was simply strong!

The black wrist guard was, on the other hand, a Blank wrist guard whose use was restricted to only the Holy Paladin. It increased defenses by 1-4 and most importantly, it could be used by a level 1. It seemed to be a pretty decent defensive equipment.

Lin Jie calmly forced the black wrist guard on himself! Strictly speaking, the equipment in The New Age had no equipment restrictions. The Butcher Mage, Arcane Paladin, and others could put it on, but it would just accordingly deduct their relevant stat points.

For example, after equipping himself with the Paladin’s wrist guard, his movement speed was reduced by 20%! This was just a piece of equipment! If he had equipped himself with two or three, he would have been useless.

Currently, Lin Jie’s battle stats were as follows:

Health Points 148

Attack 7 – 16

Defense 5 – 8

They were almost double that of those when he was still level 1! This was the immensely strong effect brought about by the combination of a level and equipment advantage. It would have been such a pity to not make use of such an advantage.

Lin Jie recalled that while players trained, their recovery methods involved either eating or consuming potions. It was a widely accepted standard to carry two sets of value-for-money bread and water, whereas potions, which were considered to be instant recovery items, were a luxury good.

In the early game, many players started learning the way of the Potioneer. However, the 60% chance of failure in concocting a potion deterred many players from actually going into potioneering. Only a few large guilds would nurture specialized Potioneers. Besides, he was broke.

Lin Jie knew of a place where he could learn Perfect Potion Mastery!

After returning to the town, the Captain of the Guards sternly said, “Young man, you should learn to heed your elders’ advice. If you are going to be stubborn again, I will not save you.”

Lin Jie respectfully replied, “Alright, thank you for your help.”

The Captain of the Guards’ willingness to help was temporarily gone. He would have to wait for six hours before he would be willing to help in killing the monsters.

Lin Jie bought a set of bread and a set of water and went on to spend 4 bronze coins to buy a bottle of Elevation Potion. He then headed to the eastern part of the town.

Players could partake in ‘consumption’ while not engaged in battle. Bread could restore health points whereas water could restore mana.

The Elevation Potion was a support potion. It could temporarily reduce the weight of the player, lasting for three seconds. However, it had a high price of 4 bronze coins, and no one bought it.

As the monsters in the Town of Meyer were generally higher-leveled, players gradually congregated at this location. At the doorstep of the town, there were now groups of players killing the Fear Devils. When Lin Jie held the brightly shining Bronze sword and headed out, he invited a swarm of envy. A level 2 player with Bronze equipment was enough to attract the attention of many people!

At the eastern areas of the town lied a dense forest. The trees there were completely shed of leaves and looked much like the claws of a ghost, eerily scary.

—’You have entered the Stumbling Forest.’

A short while after entering the forest, one could hear a “kaccha” sound, which came from the Undead Skeletons in the Stumbling Forest. They were level 2 creatures with higher stats and experience than other creatures of the same level, had a slow movement speed and no ranged skills. Shortly after, this would become the heaven for Mages aspiring to train.

‘Tssss-‘

The dried twigs got broken from stepping as a dark gray skeleton reached out its hands and started to attack Lin Jie.

[Rotting Skeleton]: Level 2 Undead, Health Points: 120

Lin Jie was shocked. He swung forth a Blade Aura, causing a 12-point-damage! The skeleton had strong defenses. Had it not been for the Bronze longsword and aura, Lin Jie would not have been able to penetrate its defenses!

-11!

-12!

…

He immediately retreated after swinging forth the Blade Aura. The skeleton’s movement speed was slow, and hence they were always at least 10 yards apart. Lin Jie had zero interest in tasting the skeleton’s potent attacks.

After consecutively swinging forth ten waves of Blade Aura, the skeleton’s health points decreased to a measly amount, but so did Lin Jie’s mana. He could only wield up his longsword and go up close. He got hit in the chest by the dried up skeleton.

-19!

This was the strong inherent capability of the Rotting Skeleton! Lin Jie ate a blow and finished it off with a slash.

—’You have killed the Rotting Skeleton. You have gained 110 experience points.’

High risk, high reward. The Rotting Skeleton had experience points worth 30% more than other same-leveled creatures and many times more than level 1 monsters. Lin Jie’s experience bar had visibly filled up a little more.

However, the price to pay for killing a skeleton was too huge. Lin Jie retrieved bread and water to consume and restored his health points and mana quickly.

Had it been in the past, in order to learn Perfect Potion Mastery, Lin Jie would have dove in head first given that the skeletons moved very slowly and had absolutely no chance of surrounding him. However this time, the situation was different!

The Stumbling Forest was the place in the Town of Meyer where battles among players were the most rampant. All this violence was for the one and only treasure chest!

In The New Age, treasure chests were classified into Bronze, Silver, Sold, Dark Gold and Legendary. Apart from the treasure chests hidden within the dungeon, most chests were not locked.

However, here in The New Age, it spawned a one and only pre-level-10 Gradeless Treasure Chest! The Gradeless Treasure Chest could only be opened ten times. Every time it was opened, the level of the contents inside would be reduced. The first to open the Gradeless Treasure Chest was named ‘The Heavenly Shield’, the Chairman of the Ironwall Empire! He was the first player in the early game to pioneer the idea of increasing his Health Points stats.

In his previous life, via the Gradeless Treasure Chest, The Heavenly Shield had obtained a Gold-grade Shield. He had become arrogant and scorned others while amassing a huge advantage!

“Coordinates 17283, 47271.” Lin Jie looked at the map. To advance to the Gradeless Treasure Chest’s coordinates, he had to eliminate at least 10 skeletons. Besides, there were also many monsters guarding the chest. Hopefully, there were enough replenishment items.

At this moment, there was a public announcement.

Regional Announcement: The Ironwall Empire has cleared the site. Uninvolved players, please leave as soon as possible!