Chapter 21 – A Dubious Harvesting Skill
Chen Mo spent 3 hours in the depths of the Wild Wolf Valley to rise to Level 8.
For every level he gained, he put 4 points in Strength and 1 in Agility. After getting to Level 8, and with the +1 Strength from his Goblin Shoes, plus 10 points from the Degenerate t.i.tle, he had 63 Strength points with an attack of 66-67. He could deal almost 70 damage to Level 7 Wild Wolves with an ordinary attack from his crossbow.
In less than 20 seconds, the 800HP Wild Wolf was killed by Chen Mo.
His killing speed had increased by quite a bit. After the Flaming 3-Headed Wolf had appeared in Wild Wolf Valley, the number of monsters had decreased. There was not enough for Chen Mo to kill in the surrounding area so he slowly killed his way to a more populous area.
Half an hour later, Chen Mo halted.
There was a deep, dark cave!
He was one of the first players to come to Wild Wolf Valley to grind levels yesterday. There had not been many players in the Wild Wolf Valleys across the server and there had been more monsters than now. n.o.body was able to explore deeper areas of the map before the appearance of the Flaming 3-Headed Wolf. There had then been a ma.s.sacre. In other words – this cave had not been discovered by anyone else yet!
What could be inside this cave?
A treasure chest?
Chen Mo, curiosity nagging him, made his way to the cave.
The monsters in the cave were still Wild Wolves but they were no longer just Level 7. There were some Level 8 Black Wild Wolves.
The cave was like a maze. Chen Mo spent an hour in it killing non-stop. He was close to getting to Level 9 but not close to finding any treasure chests.
Just when Chen Mo was about to give up and concentrate on levelling up, he suddenly saw an old man NPC appear out of the darkness ahead.
This NPC looked dangerous. He was imprisoned at the end of the cave behind steel bars. His hands were not bound but around his bare left foot was a huge chain. Even if the doors of his prison were to be opened, he would not be able to go anywhere.
The old man had been staring off into s.p.a.ce but once he caught sight of Chen Mo, his dead eyes flashed with life.
“Degenerate! You have also become a Degenerate?” The old man shouted.
Degenerate?
Isn’t that the t.i.tle he had equipped right now?
Who knew this t.i.tle would actually be of use! That meant… The game designers intentionally made it so that he could lose Prestige at Boude’s?
“Yes, Mr Gleason. You too?” The old man NPC was named Gleason. Chen Mo was in desperate need of equipment, so he replied with words that echoed the NPC’s.
“Heh! I’m not a Degenerate – I’m a Villain! A Villain spurned by everyone! In truth, I did not do anything. They accused me of being a Villain, then imprisoned me here!” Gleason roared in anger.
“So, Mr Gleason… Do you want me to get you out of here?” Chen Mo gave the bars a look.
However, Gleason shook his head and seemed to come back to himself. “It’s no use – this prison is too st.u.r.dy for you to break through. However, if you have some time, I hope you can harvest some wolf meat for me. I have not had meat for so long! Those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds who imprisoned me in here only bring me some dried food once in a while so I won’t die from starvation. I’ve eaten those things for tens of years. If I have any more, I’ll vomit. Of course, your help will be rewarded. If you bring 10 pieces of meat to me, I will give you an animal trap.”
So saying, Gleason brought out an iron trap.
Low-Level Animal Trap:
A very st.u.r.dy iron trap. Effective on monsters Level 20 and below. When stepped upon by a small monster, the monster will not be able to move for 10 seconds. When stepped upon by a big monster, the monster will enter a state of serious injury and be unable to use its abilities to the fullest.
Retrievable item.
Each Animal Trap can be used 3 times.
Current number of remaining uses: 3/3.
Good stuff!
Chen Mo perked up at the sight of the item.
If he got the Animal Trap, he’ll have one more way to deal with the Mutated Slime King!
“I’ll be glad to help you out, Mr Gleason! But how do I harvest meat for you after killing Wild Wolves?”
In order to harvest from corpses, one needed to leave the beginner village and learn the skill from the union representatives in one of the 3 main cities.
“That’s simple – I’ll teach you.” Gleason hurriedly replied.
System prompt: Gleason wishes to impart a harvesting skill to you. Do you accept?
Of course! Why not? I get to learn a harvesting skill earlier than other people!
System prompt: You have learnt “Dubious Harvesting Skill”!
Dubious Harvesting Skill: A harvesting skill with dubious origins. Under normal circ.u.mstances, this skill will not be recognised by the official Profession Unions.
s.h.i.t! What’s this? Are skills split into official skills and wild skills in this game?
Chen Mo’s mind was blown. If he had not seen it with his own eyes he would not have even thought that such a setting in the game existed.
“Mr Gleason, this harvesting skill…” Chen Mo wanted to clarify some things.
“Huh? You think the harvesting skill I taught you is lousy?” Gleason glared at Chen Mo, looking all ready to blow his top.
“No, no, you’re mistaken.” Chen Mo had to stay on Gleason’s good side if he wanted that Animal Trap.
“If you have nothing else to say then scram! Go get me that meat! Hurry, boy – I can wait no longer!” Gleason did not care about Chen Mo’s concerns.
Chen Mo, too, did not waste his breath. He turned and left.
He quickly ran into a Wild Wolf. After killing it, Chen Mo used Gleason’s Dubious Harvesting Skill.
He wasn’t sure if it was due to the skill not being an official one but he gained nothing from most of the corpses. It seemed the harvest rate was one piece of Wolf Meat for every 3 corpses.
Additionally, this skill had no levels and no Proficiency rating. It was completely different from the Basic Trap Technique and Quake Trap he had learnt.
Chen Mo quickly harvested 10 pieces of Wolf Meat. With the meat in hand, Chen Mo returned to look for Gleason.
“Hahaha! Meat! It’s meat! It’s only Wolf Meat but oh, this is the most heavenly taste!” Gleason s.n.a.t.c.hed the meat from Chen Mo’s hand as he shoved the Animal Trap at him, so eager to taste the meat that he ate it raw. It had been too long since he had tasted meat.
“Mr Gleason, do you still need Wolf Meat?” With the Animal Trap in hand, Chen Mo wanted to see if he could get more.
“Of course! I still have quite a few Animal Traps. Kill more wolves for me, boy. Ah, I can’t keep eating it raw… I’ll need to start a fire…” Gleason’s mind was full of meat. After responding to Chen Mo, he ignored him.
Seeing that Gleason still had some rewards to give out, Chen Mo continued to kill Wild Wolves for meat.
After half an hour, Gleason patted his stomach, a pleased look on his face.
“All right, young man, I’ve given you all the traps I have. I’ve got nothing left to give. However, if you feel thankful at all, harvest some more meat for me. I’ll be able to stock and have some to eat next time. Otherwise I’ll never know when I’ll get to eat meat again.”
Chen Mo had gotten a total of 10 traps from Gleason.
“Sure. I’ll come back again in a bit.” Chen Mo nodded.
There were Level 8 Black Wild Wolves in the cave. He decided to get to Level 10 before leaving.
Though the experience from Level 8 Wolves was lower than from Level 10 Slimes, there was no compet.i.tion for monsters here. Levelling up on wolves would take roughly the same time as on slimes.
“Good man! My eyes saw true! I’ll wait – but don’t make me wait too long!” When Gleason heard Chen Mo’s words, he nodded in approval.
An hour pa.s.sed quickly and there was neither sight nor sound of Chen Mo. Gleason frowned.
Two hours pa.s.sed. Chen Mo was still not back. Gleason was livid.
“d.a.m.n it, that b.a.s.t.a.r.d! They’re all b.a.s.t.a.r.ds! All liars!” Gleason burst out in a roaring rage.
Yet another hour pa.s.sed. Gleason’s red face returned to its normal hue. He had given up on that hunter adventurer.
Just then, Chen Mo’s figure appeared in the darkness.
“You little s.h.i.t! Why did you come back? I don’t want your meat anymore!” Gleason said frostily.
“You don’t want it?” Chen Mo was puzzled. Did this quest have a time limit?
“I brought over 300 pieces. You don’t want them?” Chen Mo frowned. If he’d known he wouldn’t have wasted his time harvesting. Gleason’s Harvesting Skill had no levels or Proficiency – all that harvesting did nothing to his harvesting level.
“Over 300 pieces?” Gleason was shocked. What? Had he wrongly accused this nice adventurer?
“Yes. Do you want it?” Chen Mo nodded confirmation.
“Yes! Of course! I want them all! Haha… Over 300 pieces! I’ll be able to eat for a long time!” Gleason bellowed with glee.
Chen Mo removed the meat from his backpack and threw them all to Gleason.
10 pieces took up one s.p.a.ce in the backpack. The pieces of meat had filled his whole backpack. After emptying it of meat, he turned to leave.
He needed a lot of EXP to get from Level 9 to Level 10. He was just a little bit away from Level 10.
“Young man, wait. You seem a good sort. I’ll give you a piece of information for free! This t.i.tbit has to do with the Flaming 3-Headed Wolf outside!” Chen Mo was halted in his tracks by Gleason’s words.