“A ha! Little young skeleton, you’re finally back!”
Sentinel Skeleton Guard Falk waved his bony hands, and shouted out happily, “After you killed so many Skeleton Soldiers yesterday, that hidden Undead Leader has finally appeared. Right now, he has gathered a bunch of Skeleton Soldiers in the Graveyard and started to invade us. In order to safeguard our Frozen Mound’s honour, go, kill 200 green Skeleton and bring me 20 Green Skeleton Fingers. I promise to give you a bountiful reward!”
I accepted it as fast as my fingers could press the accept b.u.t.ton. I rejoiced at the fact that Frozen Mounds has only me as a player. Otherwise, how could such a good quest fall into my hands?
“Ding~!”
System Announcement: You have received a quest [Green Skeleton]! (Quest Level F+)
Quest Description: In the Large Cemetery near the Frozen Mound, kill 200 Green Skeletons and collect 20 Green Skeleton Fingers. However, you’ll have to beware that the strong Undead Leader has appeared in the Large Cemetery. You are not qualified to be his opponent at all. Should you meet him, you must run away as fast as possible.
Complacently, I thought, humph, kill 200 Green Skeletons, seemed like I would have to hunt for the whole day. Very good, Du Shi San would probably have left the newbie village by then. When that time comes , I would be able to see how this rookie brother of mine has fared so far.
Approaching the Undead Swordsman Master Su Lun, I tried to see if there was a new skill to be learnt. Disappointedly, I found out there was none. Su Lun only looked at me and guffawed, “Little Skeleton, are you feeling a little hungry? Don’t worry, there’s a lot of rotting flesh in the Graveyard for you to satisfy your hunger. You can also eat fresh meat if you want to, there are a lot of puny humans outside Floating Ice City, hahaha!”
Hungry?
I immediately thought of the rotting pond outside Frozen Mound, that was definitely the Undeads’ dining hall!
d.a.m.n! My stomach couldn’t help but twitch. It was so disgusting – I swore to never eat corpses!
However, seeing my status, I realised that I had hunger attribute. I saw that my hunger attribute was at 71 points, so I can probably last for a while more. If my hunger went below 20 points, my character’s status would be decreased by a whole lot. At that time, I would have to eat something no matter what!
Whatever, it’s not like I’ll starve to death. I should go level up first!
I exited Frozen Mound and directly went to the Large Cemetery. The monsters here had already changed, it was not the level 12 Shattered Skeletons, but it was a type of Undead Skeleton that emitted a green light – Green Skeleton – Lv15.
Not bad, a level 15 monster would probably be too hard for a level 11 like me to fight, but I had three black-tier items, the Glimmering Breastplate, Black Wrist Guard and Green Forest Blade. I should be able to stand my ground!
Walking around the perimeters, I found that the monsters in the southern part were a little bit scarce, suitable for a solo like me to train.
I approached the Green Skeleton soundlessly and ambushed them in an instant.
“[Death Blade]!”
With a shout, I executed my skills and a green light enveloped my sword. I pierced the Green Skeleton right on its shoulders!
“157！”
Not bad, my attack power is very sharp!
I quickly swung another two normal attacks. Although the damage number was not as high as [Death Blade], but it was still fine.
“Hou!”
The Green Skeletons growled menacingly as it suddenly struck back. It was still a high-leveled monster.
“Pu!”
The Green Skeleton’s sword pierced through my chest. Pity, I am an awesome skeleton, you weren’t able to pierce through my heart!
“94!”
As a large damage number appeared, I turned serious. At level 11, my full health was only 230 points. I will die if I take on three head on attacks from the Green Skeleton. Alright, this kind of skeleton would usually have a large attack power but their movement and attack speed would be far less inferior than a normal person’s. This was one of my attack strategies – Defeat the slow with speed!
“Cha cha cha!”
With splendid footwork, I drew a “z” on the ground and positioned myself around the Green Skeleton. It let out a roar as it turned around, but his movement speed was extremely slow. By the time it tried to attack me, I had already moved to its other side. With this strategy, I managed to reduce the Green Skeleton’s health to less than 25%.
From the beginning till the end, the Green Skeleton only managed to attack me twice, while I managed to defeat it within 7 strikes of my sword!
With a loud groan, the first Green Skeleton had died in my hands. My experience increased by a huge margin, and to top it all, it seemed like the Green Skeleton was going to a wedding party with a gift, it had unexpectedly dropped a Small Magic Stone of 98 quality points and a Green Skeleton Finger!
Tidying my profits, I picked up my loots and threw it into my inventory. Then, I continued to look for another lone Green Skeleton.
As I hunted the monsters, I opened the Floating Ice City’s Player Ranking Board. To my surprise, I, despite being a level 11 player, had fallen to the 127th rank. What crazy people! There must be a lot of crazy people who trained non-stop while I was sleeping. This kind of levelling rush was simply too much.
Wind Fantasy, who had been ranked first when I logged out, was now 5th. He had reached level 14, so he should had logged out and be resting. On the other hand, the first place was now replaced by the player who had been ranked second previously, Ghost Valley. This Undead Knight was simply too powerful, he had even risen to level 16. What a levelling maniac!
I involuntarily laughed. Yeah, I should relax a little. Levels were only temporary, actually, I should be able to level up quickly killing these Green Skeletons. I think I could level to level 14 or 15 once I finished this quest. In the early stage, levels are important, but equipments are also equally important. Without a good equipment, even an expert player would only be an empty sh.e.l.l.
Furthermore, I had noticed a familiar ID in the Floating Ice City Player Ranking Board – Blazing Sun. That’s right, it was Xu Yang, one of the Four Elders of the Ancient Sword Dream Guild, the strongest member of the guild.
A year ago, He Yi had established the Ancient Sword Dream Guild and invited expert players from all over the Chinese Server. Xu Yang and I were invited almost at the same time. With the addition of two others, the four of us had became Ancient Sword Dream’s “Sun Moon Star Dust” four elders. Xu Yang’s ID was Blazing Sun, representing the Sun in the t.i.tle, while mine was Fallen Dust, representing the Dust.
As time went by, Ancient Sword Dream Guild had slowly declined as we were annihilated by top-notched guilds such as [Chaos Illumination]. After we disbanded our guild, there were only five people left, the Guild Master He Yi and the four of us, “Sun, Moon, Star, Dust”. Thinking about it again, it was such a lamentable story.
Who would know that Xu Yang had unexpectedly appeared in the Floating Ice City and was ranked 21st on the Player Ranking Boards? If nothing goes wrong, he would be able to reclaim the Ancient Sword Dream’s former glory!
I couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride in my heart. Dreaming about He Yi’s beautiful looks, I involuntarily laughed out loud, “Boss, my reaction delay is only 0.7 seconds right now! Just wait and see, I promise to make Ancient Sword Dream a guild unparalleled Under the Sky!”
I resolved to make a name for myself in the Floating Ice City, then I would return to the Ancient Sword Dream Guild and recreate the history together with He Yi!
Another Green Skeleton met its death at my hands. Absorbing its Undead Flame, I refreshed myself. Suddenly, I realized that I had not tried using a skill – [Corpse Pillage]!
That’s right, this [Corpse Pillage] was a skill that could only be used on corpses. Maybe I could unintentionally receive more loot.
Bending down, I stretched out my five fingers as a green light started emitting out of my bony, white skeleton palm. Then a “ding!” suddenly rung out. I had managed to excavate an item!
[A Piece of Damaged Cotton]
Quality: Inferior
Usability: None
……
d.a.m.n! It was a complete rubbish! I immediately threw the Damaged Cotton liked I was pitching a baseball, and continued to look for another target.
Afterwards, I tried using [Corpse Pillage] every time I killed a monster. Of course, although these Green Skeletons gave bountiful experience, they gave very little profit. 95% of them would only give me Damaged Cotton, 5% of them gave me nothing.
After hunting for an hour, almost 100 Green Skeletons had died in my hands. My level had also risen to level 13 at 47% experience. Such a leveling speed was indeed so awesome!
“Ka Cha!”
Another Green Skeleton died again. After absorbing its Undead Flame, I continued using [Corpse Pillage]!
“Ding!”
My eyes lighted up as I actually extracted an item!
[Large Magic Stone]
Quality: 41
……
Oh my G.o.d, it was a Magic Stone?!
Immediately, I laughed so hard that my mouth almost tore apart. Magic Stones were equivalent to gold, and gold was the origin of life! This was definitely a good skill. Wait until the right time when the game had developed enough, selling these Magic Stones would definitely provide me with a good living expenses!
Large Magic Stones could be sold for 1-20 silvers, and at the present stage, silvers were still a rare commodity. I had read in the forums that a lot of newbies came out from their newbie villages to enter their designated big cities, but they only had 1 to 2 silvers on them. In the end, they couldn’t even learn their profession skills and had to scavenge outside the city hunting for Magic Stones.
Magic Stones drop rate was not high. I had only gotten two stones after killing more than 100 Green Skeletons. If [Corpse Pillage] could extract Magic Stones, then I would have a G.o.dly skill that would allow me to become a millionaire.
After a moment of rejoicing, it was time to continue my leveling!
In a distance not far from where I was, a lone Green Skeleton was staggering as it roamed around. I approached it slowly. Just as I was about to attack it, unexpectedly, a chill ran through my back!
Something’s wrong!
“Pu Chi!”
I felt a searing pain on my back. I quickly checked my health. It had actually dropped by 207 points, I was almost killed in one shot!
Reacting quickly, I immediately rolled my body on the ground and ran away as fast as I could. At the same time, I turned my head to look at my a.s.saulter. To my horror, a two-metre tall Undead Leader had suddenly appeared at the position I was in a few moments ago. I couldn’t see its level at all, as the difference in level between the monster and I were too high. However, its attack power was too powerful. Even with two black-tiered equipments on my body, I had almost been killed in one attack. If it was another person, they would have been dead.
“Hiss…”
The Undead Leader let out a loud roar, seemingly discontented with me, an “intruder” in his presence. Looks like he had marked this place as his territory.
No wonder the quest had warned me to run away from the Undead Leader if I ever met him. It seemed like this toy was not something that I could defeat with my current abilities. I guessed that it was at least a level 20 b.a.s.t.a.r.d. Throwing such a strong b.a.s.t.a.r.d into novice villages, wouldn’t it become the great dictator of all here?
Continuing on, I carefully continued to kill the Green Skeletons. To me, the most important thing right now was to level up and get Magic Stones.
In a blink of an eye, another hour has pa.s.sed. My level has rose to level 14 at 58% experience. It looks like I would be level 15 when I finished the quest. Indeed, my leveling speed was extremely efficient!
Counting the amount of Skeleton Fingers in my inventory, I realised I only had 19. I lacked one more.
……
Looking around, I found a reckless Green Skeleton who decided to roam around alone on its own, not far from me.
I snickered happily and charged towards it with my sword. However, in that moment, I felt another person’s presence and I quickly dove into the bushes nearby.
In the forest, another Undead had appeared. It was an Undead wearing a Golden Armor with a Light Blue Spear in his hand. The skeleton’s face looked sinister and malevolent as a line of words floated above the top of it’s head.
Ghost Valley – Lv.18 Undead Knight