Skyroad

Spoiler:

Chapter 12: First pot of gold

Brandishing its sharp claws, the Blackback Canine charged at us ferociously. I slowly turned and placed my shield before me and pressed my sword onto the shield"s edge. I then lowered my center of gravity. The moment I did that, a certain aura started swirling around my body. When the Blackback Canine struck my shield with its claws, a blue ripple appeared. With two clangs, a rather surprising damage number popped out.

3! 47!

Success!

"Huh?" Lin Che was astounded, "Big Brother Chen, how had you activated that totally unreliable defensive stance? I tried many times yet each time I tried, I was beaten into a pulp."

"I think there is some sort of proficiency at works here." I was unsure as well, "Try more and it will start working. Try lowering your center of gravity as best as you can when defending. Try to shrink your body into a single point. Doing that, the damage reduction will have a higher rate of triggering."

 "Yeah." w.a.n.g Jinhai added, "This defensive stance will be quite important. In the future, regardless of bossing or PKing, it can help greatly reduce the damage taken."

While testing the defensive stance, I remarked, "But there is a flaw to the defensive stance as well. The moment someone struck you five times in quick succession, the defense will crumble, stunning you for one second. The attack you receive after will also deal triple the damage. I dare guarantee you the moment this happens, you will definitely die if it"s a good player you"re facing."

Lin Che nodded, "Yeah. The defensive stance is a double edged sword. It will depend on how we make use of it."

It was at this moment that a Blackback Canine collapsed with a howl. It dropped a green colored bow. When I picked it up, I found that it was actually a bronze equipment.

Thicket Greenbow (Bronze equipment)

Attack: 13 - 20

Agility: +4

Level requirement: 11

 "Not bad at all…" Lin Che smiled, "We got another weapon. Our luck is quite good eh?"

I tossed the bow to him and said, "We will be able to fully remove our red names at around 12:00 pm. We can return to the village after that. You will be in charge of selling this bow and make us some money. We will use the money to get some food. We can"t eat vegetables every single day. Look at how you guys are looking. Everyone looks so frail. Others will need only a single look to see that we of the Chosen are all dest.i.tute people."

Big Hai spread his hands and laughed, "Why does it matter? We are indeed poor."

Lin Che laughed as well, "Okay, I will manage our funds for now. Don"t worry."

"Ok."

I took a look at the proficiency indicated in my skill page and said, "With sufficient potions, try to use as much skills as you can while leveling. The proficiency will increase and as a result, the skills will be more powerful as well. Spam your skills without worry. Skills are also part of a person"s strength."

"Duly noted."

Before leaving, we had all bought some HP, MP, and Qi recovery potions. Therefore, we can recover from battles quickly. The amount we bought were sufficient to sustain our leveling for now. We could indeed spam our skills without worry.

At around 10:00 am, the Blackback Canine zone was already cleared by us. We continued forward and reached a misty valley. Pieces of stones littered the valley while tiny sparks of fire were swaying around in the distant. Rustling sounds of footsteps could be heard as well. When we walked nearer, we found that it was actually a level 15 monster, a Fireback Badger.

This was a half meter tall monster with an appearance resembling a puppy. Despite its harmless appearance, it was a vicious life form. The instant we attracted its aggro, all the furs on its body stood up and it charged at us snarling.

We were a bunch of level 12 players looking for higher leveled monsters to kill. These level 15 Fireback Badgers would be a suitable target for us. Moreover, these were bronze monsters so they might drop bronze equipments. Their copper coin drops were pretty good as well. After killing one of them, over 20 copper coins dropped.

Based on the current currency exchange rate, a single Fireback Badger would be equivalent to one buck. At 11:30 am, we showered in light. I, Lin Che, and Big Hai all reached level 13. Zhang Wei had also reached level 11. He was catching up to us quickly. The last Fireback Badger we killed before going offline was very generous. With a howl, it died and dropped a bronze equipment.

Spiked Bracers (Bronze equipment)

Type: Heavy

Defense: 20

Const.i.tution: +5

Level requirement: 12

I was overwhelmed with joy. I coughed and said, "Big Brother Wei, we are both heavy armor users. But let me have the priority over this. You will have plenty of opportunity to get equipments in the future. Are you fine with this?"

Zhang Wei was generous as well, "I can"t deal much DPS and have higher HP than you. You can have this + const.i.tution bracers."

"Ok. Thank you!"

When I equipped it, a pair of spiked bracers appeared on my wrists. A heavy feeling enveloped me as my defense shot up. Even my HP was increased. The Knight was known as the most durable cla.s.s where each point of const.i.tution would grant 1.2 points of HP. With the +5 const.i.tution this pair of bracers gave me, I gained an increase of 60 HP.

Hopeful Present (Trainee Knight)

Level: 13

Attack: 95 - 141

Defense: 95

HP: 1360

True Qi: 100/100

Luck: 1

Great achievement: 2

Power rating: 288

My defense had reached a shocking number of 95 points. And thanks to the two bronze equipments I had on me, my power rating increased greatly as well. My power rating of 288 was already far above the number two guy in the power rankings.

"I almost feel bad to receive such a big gift before logging off."

I looked at the bracers I was wearing cheerfully. I then glanced over everyone"s name and found that none of us were red names anymore. I suggested, "Let"s return to the newbie village to resupply. Everyone put away 50 silver coins to buy some potions. Give the rest of the money to Lin Che to exchange into real cash."

Lin Che nodded cheerfully, "No problem."

We started going back. With our strength, we were able to travel unimpeded. Not a single monster on our way could pose a threat to us. Those stupid enough to challenge us were instantly killed. With my attack rating reaching 141, I could basically kill a low leveled monster with a single slash. At 12:00 pm, the newbie village was bursting with activity. Players were walking around everywhere.

Although every one of us was wearing pants, we once again became the focal point of the players here. Everyone was astonished by the fact that we were fully equipped. Even the worst equipped of us had a full set of white equipment.  Such well equipped players were still very rare at this stage of the game. With two bronze equipments equipped, I was the only person here bathing in a bronze glow. After entering the village, we headed to the blacksmith to repair our equipments. Then, we headed to the auction hall with Lin Che to put the Thicket Greenbow up for sale.

"Big Brother Chen, how much should we sell it for?" Lin Che asked.

I scanned the equipments being sold at the auction hall. All of them were white equipments sold at different prices. The most expensive of them was a level 12 white sword with an attack range of 8 -14. This sword was being sold for 10 silver coins. Based on the current exchange rate, 1 silver coin could be exchanged for 3 bucks. This sword was equivalent to 30 bucks. It wasn"t too expensive, but our Thicket Greenbow was clearly not something this sword could compare to.

After all, our bow had attack reaching 20 and a +5 agility bonus. Therefore, I said, "Don"t be too expensive. 2 gold coins will do."

"Ok."

Soon, the Thicket Greenbow appeared in the auction hall. It was arranged at the top of the list, the only bronze equipment being sold here. Next, Lin Che took a look at his inventory and said, "We have 7 gold coins and 45 silver coins in total. Do I sell them all together?"

"Nope. Not much people can buy this much money at once. Split them up and sell them in batches of 50 silver coins. Be patient about it. If the others are selling at a rate of 1:3, we will be selling at a rate of 1:2.5. Our only focus is to ensure that our in-game coins will be bought. In any case, as the average player level increased, the exchange rate will keep dropping. We don"t have to be bothered about making somewhat lesser than the market price at this point."

"Ok."

Shortly after, Lin Che put the coins for sale after splitting them up into batches.

"Log off. Time to rest."

"Ok."

After gaming for 12 hours straight, everyone was tired. After taking off the helmet, Zhang Wei and Big Hai looked clearly exhausted. Lin Che and I were better off than them. We immediately cooked some instant noodles and shared them among us.

"What time should we go online?" Lin Che asked.

"Take a six hours sleep." I finished the soup and continued, "Set the alarm at 6:30 pm. We will wake up punctually and go out to get some food. We can get online at 7:00 pm and regroup at the newbie village. Don"t oversleep."

"Ok."

We all went into our respective rooms. After taking a shower, I fell asleep the moment I plopped down on my bed. In my sleep, numerous scenes appeared in my dream. I saw my childhood, I saw myself in a police uniform, and Xia Yiran"s voice started sounding by my ears. Her voice was still as melodious as ever, as warm as ever. In my daze, I appeared on the arena of the Golden League with the emblem of the Silverfox captain on me. Scene after scene from my past appeared in my dream. Like a brand, they were etched deep on my brand, inerasable.

"Big Sister Yiran…"

Suddenly, I was jolted awake from my sleep. When I opened my eyes, I was already seated upright on my bed gasping for breath. A feeling of helplessness from having seen my past once again a.s.saulted me. Without realizing it, my fists were already tightly clenched. In a daze, I looked out the window. Under the moonlight, the waves of the lake rippled against the sh.o.r.e. Instantly, my eyes went red as I muttered instinctively, "Southwind Guild…"

Ring! Ring! Ring!

My alarm rang on time but I was already wide awake. I clean myself up and left the room after dressing up. Zhang Wei and Big Hai were also leaving their rooms. Lin Che was already waiting at the lounge. He was taking off his helmet, his face covered in excitement. With a smile, he said, "Big Brother Chen, all our in-game coins had been sold. A total of RMB 1,862 had been transferred to my account. All of them have been sent to you using Alipay."

I took a look at my phone. Indeed, there was a notification that I had received a fund transfer. I laughed, "How about the Thicket Greenbow?"

 "It was sold within 10 minutes. The 2 gold coins we earned had been sold for cash as well. But you"re right. The exchange rate dropped while we were sleeping. The current exchange rate is 1:1. Each silver coin can only be sold for one buck."

"Well, selling coins alone is only a basic money making method for the studio so that"s not surprising." I smiled, "Let"s go. Time to have a feast!"

"Ok."

Ten minutes later, we arrived at a nearby fast food shop. Each of us bought a 30 bucks set meal that consisted of fish and meat. Zhang Wei was so excited he nearly cried. His hand was trembling without stop while holding the chopsticks, "Are we getting rich? We are starting to eat meat already…"

Everyone laughed. We felt somewhat sad when we thought back to what we had gone through yet at the same time, we felt completely at ease. Big Bai dug into his food happily and lamented, "I had always been a lone professional gamer. It was only now that I realize how boring my previous life had been. Boss, a lot of people looked down on professional gamers. Do you think…we should be proud of who we are?"

I glanced at him with a profound light in my eyes, "Remember. We are now a group of youngsters working hard for the sake of money. n.o.body is qualified to look down on us."

Big Hai rubbed his nose, "A group of youngsters working hard for money? Why do I feel like you are talking about the young women of a certain profession?"

"Shut up. Continue eating."