Chapter 19 - Evil Whip
When the Kobold Chieftain exploded, items scattered all over the floor. Copper Coins paved the floor as well in a copper glow, s.h.i.+ning through the entire mine as if celebrating s.h.i.+ Feng’s success.
At the moment, Blackie sat paralyzed on the ground, cold sweat pervading his entire body. It was as if all of his strength was sapped out from his body; he could not care less about the drops on the ground. This battle was truly difficult. There was no time to even take a breath; every minute and every second were a soul-shocking moment that stimulated the eyes.
Every moment of the battle just toyed with Blackie’s heart. He would not be able to take it at all if he did not have a strong heart.
As for s.h.i.+ Feng, who could battle against the Kobold Chieftain head-on, what kind of heart did he possess?
“This is too great! We won, Brother Feng! You really are my idol!” Blackie loudly shouted in extreme excitement. Seeing s.h.i.+ Feng’s calm face, Blackie was filled with respect for him.
Although s.h.i.+ Feng’s former strength was quite good, surpa.s.sing many average players, he was still just an average professional player. s.h.i.+ Feng’s skill had never been out of reach for Blackie. s.h.i.+ Feng had been previously quick to get excited. He would even get into an endless conflict over a piece of common equipment as if he was an unsheathed blade. However, the current s.h.i.+ Feng was hugely different than before; it was as if he became a different person. The present s.h.i.+ Feng was extremely calm and did things without hesitation. He gave off a certain serenity that resembled that of a dormant dragon; he did not do anything outstanding normally; yet when he did, it would shock the world.
“Blackie, wasn’t your idol Gentle Snow?” s.h.i.+ Feng slightly smiled as he said so.
“Of course Gentle Snow is my idol. However, you’re awesome as well, Brother Feng! Usually, you keep quiet without revealing anything, but now that you’ve shown it, even such a powerful Kobold Chieftain was done in by you. Not even a true professional gamer could compare to you, so how could I not admire you? As they said, the shade is better under a large tree. Brother Feng, you should teach me how to play a Cursemancer! Even in my dreams, I’ve dreamt of becoming a professional gamer.” In Blackie’s eyes, s.h.i.+ Feng was just like a mountain of gold. He was glad for the choice he had previously made. If he had gone to Shadow Workshop, he would probably still be a nameless gold-farming member. He wouldn’t even have the chance to meet an expert; forget about becoming a real expert.
“Alright.” s.h.i.+ Feng smiled. Blackie’s character was just so straightforward.
When s.h.i.+ Feng was fired in his previous life, Blackie had resigned as well, without hesitation. Blackie had given up a job with an annual income of millions just to share the suffering together with him. Naturally, s.h.i.+ Feng wouldn’t betray Blackie; he would teach Blackie whatever he could. Although s.h.i.+ Feng had not played a Cursemancer before, he had still observed plenty of expert Cursemancers. s.h.i.+ Feng knew the general direction to develop a Cursemancer, and it was more than enough to give pointers to Blackie.
“Brother Feng, how do you think I should place my points early on? Do I go full Intelligence?” Blackie asked.
s.h.i.+ Feng shook his head, saying after some thought, “Although it isn’t bad to go full Intelligence during the beginning periods, Agility is a must if you wish to become a powerful Cursemancer. Aside from just increasing your Movement Speed, Agility can also increase your Casting Speed. Cursemancers have very few lifesaving skills, are slow runners, and have many skills that require chanting. A Cursemancer’s Spells are also weak in power. They mainly rely on Curses to deal damage. However, unlike Elementalists, who are literal cannons, time is required for a Cursemancer to unleash that damage fully. Hence, after adding Intelligence up to 20 points, you should place half of your Free Ability Points into Agility. This will ensure your safety as well as allow you deal more damage.”
In s.h.i.+ Feng’s previous life, there was an extremely powerful Cursemancer. That person had broken the traditional point-allocation method of a Cursemancer by adding a large amount of Agility. Not only could he deal damage both quickly and fiercely, but he was even more powerful in PK. He had destroyed a.s.sa.s.sins that were counters to mages. Even in death, those a.s.sa.s.sins had not landed a single hit on that Cursemancer, breaking the law that stated mages would die if they were closed in by a melee player. After that incident, many Cursemancers had started adding Agility, causing a.s.sa.s.sins to be endlessly depressed as they became bullied constantly by Cursemancers.
Blackie nodded his head. He felt that s.h.i.+ Feng’s words made sense, saying with a smile, “Alright then. After my Intelligence reaches 20 points, I’ll go full Agility.”
After finished discussing how to add points for a Cursemancer, s.h.i.+ Feng and Blackie started picking up the drops.
The Kobold Chieftain deserved to be a Chieftain-ranked monster. Adding on that it was the First Kill, its drops were extremely bountiful.
It had dropped a total of 8 pieces of Bronze Equipment; 1 Gray Giant Axe, 2 Plate Armor, 2 Leather Armor, 3 Cloth Armor. Aside from those, there were also 273 Coppers and 3 skill books. There was [Mock] for s.h.i.+eld Warriors, [Silent Steps] for a.s.sa.s.sins, and [Evil Whip] for Cursemancers.
“Blackie, your luck really is too good. This Evil Whip skill book is rare with an extremely low drop rate. It is also one of the few control-and-damage skills that a Cursemancer has. As long as the skill’s level is high, it will become a G.o.dly skill for grinding monsters.” s.h.i.+ Feng tossed the Evil Whip skill book to Blackie without hesitation. He also gave two of the Level 2 Cloth Armor to Blackie.
[Evil Whip]
Cast time 3 seconds.
Use 5 thorns to bind a target in a fixed area. As long as the target exits the area and breaks the thorns, every thorn will cause a base damage of 20 points, with an additional 30% Spell Damage.
Cooldown: 20 seconds.
Blackie became ecstatic when he saw the skill, learning it quickly. With this skill, his battle standards would be increased by a big leap. After he switched to the two pieces of equipment, it was as if he turned from an air gun into an artillery cannon. Blackie’s Intelligence increased to 20 points, increasing his Spell Damage to 48, and also activating the Hidden Basic Skill for Intelligence, [Rapid Cast].
[Rapid Cast]
Allows the player to skip the chants of spells that are below 1.5 seconds, requiring only action to cast it.
Also, allows the caster to better focus on attacking their target.
As for the two pieces of Plate Armor, they were the [Recruit’s Heavy Armor], and [Black Steel Armguard]. However, amongst these pieces of Bronze Equipment, s.h.i.+ Feng only fancied the Black Steel Armguard’s Attributes.
[Black Steel Armguard] (Bronze Rank, Plate Armor)
Level 3
Equipment Requirements: Strength 9
Defense +14
Strength +2, Endurance +2, Agility +1
Durability 20/20
The Recruit’s Heavy Armor was just mediocre. The Level 5 Recruit’s Heavy Armor could not compare to the Sky Armor at all. However, Plate Armors were still precious so it could be sold for a good price.
The two pieces of Level 3 Bronze Leather Armor could be sold as well.
Amongst these pieces of equipment, the most valuable one was the Gray Giant Ax. It was definitely the darling of Berserkers.
[Gray Giant Ax] (Bronze Rank)
Level 5
Equipment Requirements: Strength 15
Attack Power +21
Strength +5, Endurance +2
Durability 30/30
It was the absolute weapon for violence. If a Berserker got ahold of this weapon, their damage would become extremely violent and horrifying.
“If I could create a hype over this Gray Giant Ax, it would definitely be worth a lot of money,” s.h.i.+ Feng slightly smiled. He had a plan in his heart to make a load of money using the Gray Giant Axe.
Afterward, s.h.i.+ Feng and Blackie returned to the smithy.
“Master Jack, I’ve killed the Kobold Chieftain. This is its skull.” s.h.i.+ Feng said respectfully as he took out a Kobold’s skull.
Master Jack, who was currently hammering away on steel, glanced at the Kobold skull. After he confirmed that s.h.i.+ Feng had done it, he satisfyingly said, “Not bad, young man. It seems you do have the right to inherit my forging skills.”
System: Hidden Quest ‘Road Of Forging’ completed. Player has learned Forging. Player has become a Basic Forging Apprentice. Player has obtained the Forging Talent, ‘Forging Genius’. Rewarding 10 pieces of [Hundred Refinement Steel]
[Forging Genius]
After a successful forging, there is a fixed chance to increase 2 Proficiency Points.
Two Proficiency Points were not to be looked down on. It should be known that a Basic Forging Apprentice making a piece of Common Equipment only had a 20% success rate. After successfully making the equipment, there was a 40% chance to obtain 1 Proficiency Point. Now, however, s.h.i.+ Feng had a chance to obtain 2 Proficiency Points as long as his forging was successful, increasing his efficiency for promotion to the next rank by several folds.
Becoming an Intermediate Forging Apprentice required 1000 Proficiency Points. An average player required more than ten days, at the very least, to become one. Their supply of materials must also be continuous, as the horrifying rate of failure would waste large amounts of materials. With the Forging Talent, s.h.i.+ Feng could now save a lot of materials, saving him quite the amount of money.
On the other hand, Hundred Refinement Steel was a good Support Material for making Bronze Equipment. It could increase the success rate of making a Bronze Equipment by 10%.
With the Forging Talent and Book Of Forging, s.h.i.+ Feng couldn’t help but wish to start forging equipment immediately. However, he needed materials if he wanted to forge equipment, and in a large amount as well. If he were to collect the materials himself, it would waste too much time. He could only purchase them in bulk. However, that required a lot of money. Not only that, making Common Equipment would not earn him any money, but instead cause him to lose it. Only Bronze Equipment could be sold for a good price, but that required Forging Designs that s.h.i.+ Feng did not have.
“Deathly Forest is a must-go.” s.h.i.+ Feng thought about the Bronze Equipment Forging Design that could be obtained from within the Deathly Forest. The equipment that could be forged using the Forging Design was both cheap to make and had very good Attributes. In his previous life, there were quite a few Forgers who became rich because of that Design.
Just as s.h.i.+ Feng turned around to leave...
“Young man, you truly make me look differently at you. Even after so many years of forging weapons, it is still my first time seeing a Magic Weapon.” Master Jack called out to s.h.i.+ Feng. He had sent his gaze towards the pitch-black sword hanging around s.h.i.+ Feng’s waist. Even if the black sword was rusty and looked like a fire poker, it could not escape the eyes of a Master Forger.