Ch 316: Mystic Moon.
Friday had come.
The day Mystic Moon's servers opened.
All over the world, close to a 2 billion people were waiting, lying on their beds or sitting on sofas for the countdown to end. Most working adults had taken their day off to try to get a head start.
Noah, Shuiruo, Erica, Liliana, Origami and Rikka were all sitting in comfortable recliner chairs disposed in a circle, custom-made by Noah. They were in the living room of their new dorm.
Arianna and Karen weren't interested in playing Mystic Moon. They would keep an eye on them and on anything that happened in the College.
"The character creation is open." said Erica.
"See you later, everyone, and may you get the aliases you want." grinned Noah, and they nodded to each other before pressing the button on their bangle-shaped terminal.
Noah couldn't understand how a device on his left wrist could act as the equivalent of a VR helmet, but it somehow worked, and Noah's vision went black for a few seconds before a prompt appeared, asking him to enter what would be in name in Mystic Moon.
He simply entered "Noah", expecting it to already be taken, but that wasn't the case, and he muttered a word of thanks to Lilith. Surely, she had made sure it remained available for him.
A white room appeared. Fluttering in front of him was a little fairy harboring a neutral expression.
"Good day, Sir Noah. I am receptionist fairy number 96388. Your identity in "Mystic Moon" has already been created. You have been allocated to Novice Village number 49554. I wish you a happy game experience."
Before he could answer, the fairy and the white room disappeared, and suddenly, he was standing in the middle of a crowd of players talking or shouting all over the place.
"Squeezing your uncle!! Do you believe that I'll chop you to pieces?"
"Which bastard stepped on my foot?"
"Hey, beauty! Our encounter must be fate. Wanna be friends!"
"You try pushing me one more time, I'm Wild Dog Gang's third master's big brother-in-law's neighbors' uncle Zhang's son-in-law, do you not want to live anymore?"
"Stop squeezing, stop squeezing… Ahhh! Let me out! Let me get out!"
"World's number One Hall recruiting people! Money, women, equipment, you'll have it all, also we will gift our master's autographed picture!"
On and on, it was already chaos.
Noah thought that his starting village seemed to have a lot of Chinese players as he started moving to get out of the crowd.
When he reached a more peaceful corner of the village, he sniffed the air, finding it comparable to the one in the Land of Dragons, and better than the one on Earth's surface.
"Status." muttered Noah, and the game's interface opened.
Character: Noah
Level: 0
Class: Apprentice Warrior
Faction: None
Fame: 0 Money: 0 SP: 0
Basic Attributes:
Strength: 5 Constitution: 5 Agility: 5 Spirit: 5
Available: 0
Innate Attributes:
Luck: 5 Comprehension: 5
HP: 50 MP: 50
Physical Attack Strength: 15
Magic Attack Strength:
Defense: 10
Hit Rate: 5 Dodge rate: 5
Critical Hit Rate: 5% Pierce Rate: 5%
Attack Speed: 100% Movement Speed: 100%
Elemental resistances:
Water: 0% Fire: 0% Wind: 0% Lightning: 0%
Earth: 0% Light: 0% Darkness: 0%
Skills:
Scan lv 1
Full Power Strike lv 1
When Noah focused on the two skills, their description appeared.
[Scan]: Current Level: LV1, cannot be upgraded. An ability for all classes, MP Consumption: 1, examine the basic stats of creatures no higher than yourself.
[Full Power Strike]: Current Level: LV1, Highest Level: LV5. Points to Upgrade to LV2: 1. Beginner skill for apprentice warriors, using the weapon in the hand to strike at the target in front with all your strength, 110% damage, MP Consumption: 3, Cooldown Time: 1 sec.
Full Power Strike was… underwhelming, to say the least. Noah hoped leveling it would make it worth using.
He next took a look at his equipment.
[Novice Cloth Shirt]: Type: Upper Garment, Equipment Requirements: None, Grade: Pale White, Attributes: Defense+2.
[Novice Long Pants]: Type: Lower Garment, Equipment Requirements: None, Grade: Pale White, Attributes: Defense+2.
[Novice Straw Shoes]: Type: Shoe, Equipment Requirements: None, Grade: Pale White, Attributes: Defense+1
[Novice Short Sword]: Type: Single Hand Sword, Equipment Requirements: None, Grade: Pale White, Attributes: Physical Attack+5
[Metal Bracelet]: Type: Moon God Bracelet, Equipment Requirements: None, Grade: Pale White. The lowest grade Moon God Bracelet forged from iron, it can hold two medium-grade or lower energy crystals, cannot equip energy orbs, maximum slots: 2.
From the little information that the company behind Mystic Moon, called 'Universe Corporation', had released, he knew that the grades of equipment were named, in ascending order: Pale White, Iron, Copper, Silver, Gold, Fairy, Celestial, Mysterious God, and Saint Destroyer.
The monsters had a grade, too, in addition to their level. Normal, 1-star elite, 2-star elite, 3-star elite, Lord, Fairy, Celestial, Mysterious God, and Saint Destroyer. They corresponded, from Fairy to Saint Destroyer, to the quality of loots they could be expected to drop once killed.
As for the Moon God Bracelet, the developers hadn't said a word about it. Noah looked around to be sure this was part of the standard equipment given to every new player, and that seemed to be the case.
"Inventory." muttered Noah, and a window with a five per ten grid opened, representing 50 slots. One was occupied by a gift-wrapped box. Noah willed for it to be selected, and a message appeared.
"You have received 10 skill points as a starting gift to distribute among your Attributes. Please note that the Attribute Points you will gain while leveling can only be spent on Basic Attributes."
The precision made the choice easy, and Noah put 5 points each on Luck and Comprehension, bringing them to 10. Some players might put them in strength or Agility to get a significant starting advantage, one that would turn into a very small increase in combat capability in the long term, but not improving Luck and Comprehension when they could, would surely bite them in the butt later.
As he looked beyond the limits of the village, Noah sighed. The monsters, white rabbits, were being mobbed by players. As soon as one spawned, at least four or five players would attack and try to get the last hit.
Noah shook his head and headed back to the village's center. He found n old man with a long white beard, wearing better clothes than the others.
"Greetings. Are you the Village Chief?" asked Noah, fishing for a quest. "Is there anything I could do for you?"
"Hello, warrior that comes from another world, may the Moon Goddesses protect you." nodded the old man. "Newly arriving in this world, your heart must be filled with confusion, then, please allow me to first explain to you some of this mysterious world’s basic knowledge."
“*DING*… You have activated the quest ‘Village Chief’s Lesson’, the Chief will explain to you some of Mystic Moon’s world’s basic knowledge. Quest Type: Normal, Quest Difficulty: None, Quest Time Limit: None, Quest Reward: Red Potion 5, 1 skill point, random beginner energy crystal 1. Do you accept?”
"I would appreciate it." nodded Noah.
“Excellent.” nodded the Chief, satisfied, before he started to explain: “Mystic Moon’s world is a vast and rich world, the mainland shaped similarly to a crescent moon, the entire world is 20% land, 80% water. On land there are countless lifeforms along with infinite resources. At the moment the largest races on land are the human race and beast race. Humans are kind and simple, smart and hardworking, currently taking the leading position on land. The beast race is neither gentle, nor cruel. Also, in mysterious places, there are also other special races."
"There is the god race established by the Moon God lineage. They control the balance of the entire Mystic Moon World, including the peace of the world. Currently, the leaders of the god race are the three Moon Goddesses, Order, Freedom, and Fate. They possess power humans cannot even dream of. But they are not without enemies, that is the Fiend race, always restless, fighting against the god race since ages past."
"In addition, there is also the demon race that is spread across the world’s corners, their action’s good and evil; The peace-loving elves, with the most beautiful appearances; The undead race that exists within dark corners… Besides them, the world of Mystic Moon is for sure hiding other mysterious, unknown races. All of this requires you people to personally find and discover."
"Legend goes, the Moon God clan has existed since the spread of humanity, with protecting the Mystic Moon world as their mission. Every mainland in Mystic Moon, will each have a patron saint from the god race, they are known as Moon Saints. All are female, having immense power. Although, unless the mainland suffers a catastrophic disaster, or approaches a moment of life and death, the God clan’s three goddesses will not act."
"Towards the conflict between same and different races, they too do not interfere. The place we are at right now is a land outside the central mainland. It is one of the countless islands spread across the endless sea. We the people who live here are unable to leave, and when you leave here, you will also be unable to ever return. Come find me when your level reaches 10. I will send you to the Forgotten Continent. Once you reach one of the five major cities, you will be able to speak to a class trainer and choose a class different from Apprentice Warrior, or evolve your class into a full-fledged warrior."
"The patron moon saint there is named ‘Forgotten Goddess’, if you are lucky enough, maybe you’ll be able to see her one day.”
"Maybe I will be this lucky." nodded Noah with a smile.
“This is the basic background of Mystic Moon, if you want to know more, you will need to look for it yourself. Please allow me to describe to you some necessary knowledge for adventuring. Then , let’s start from the basic attributes first. Strength, constitution, agility, spirit are the four basic stats along with luck and comprehension these two innate attributes. I believe that the girl’s from the fairy race have already given you detailed explanations, those are the most basic ability names."
"Chief, could you tell me what those attributes do in practice?" asked Noah.
"Each point of Strength increases your Physical attack damage by two. Each point of Spirit increases your Magical attack damage by two and add 10 Mana Points, or MP. One point of constitution adds one point of defense and 10 Hit Points, or HP. And one point of Agility increases both your Hit rate and Evasion Rate by one."
"SO those attributes do not affect Critical Hit Chance or Pierce Chance?"
"No." said the Chief as he shook his head. "If you wish to increase those, you will have to rely on equipment, or some quest rewards or opportunities."
"It is a good thing you mentioned those, as they are the next part of my explanation. Damaging the target, or when being damaged, normally a red damage number will appear. If a critical strike is activated, it will deal double damage, the color of the damage that appears will be yellow. If a pierce attack is activated, then, the damage you do will ignore defense, the damage that appears will be blue. Against high defense targets, the effect of the pierce strike is quite impressive. If both critical and pierce is activated, then, purple damage will appear… Critical pierce strike, at a lot of times will be a miracle strike that can turn around an unfavorable situation. In addition, there is also a very rare black colored damage, that only appears when the insta-kill effect activates. Although, a cheat attribute like insta-kill besides undead creature, pretty much won’t appear."
Noah nodded while the Chief caught his breath. He already knew about the various types of damage, but it made sense that the tutorial would cover those.
“Elemental resistance is about the ability to resist the associated element. The resistance number represents the ratio that the associated element is reduced by, for example when resistance is 50%, damage can be reduced by 50%, when resistance is 100%, then you can be immune to this type of element, although such a situation is almost impossible for a human. If resistance surpasses 100%, for example reaching 125%, then, the associated element will not only not cause harm, on the other hand it will absorb the 25% damage and transfer it to health. Depending on circumstances, resistances can become negative and increase the damage received. For instance, if resistance towards the fire element is -50%, then when suffering from a fire-based attack, damage received will be 150%, if it’s -100%, then damage received will be 200%.”
The Village Chief slightly paused for a bit, taking a few breaths, continuing to say: “In regards to attributes, is there anything else that you don’t understand?”
Noah nodded, raising his right hand to show the gray band around it: “Chief, can you tell me about this?”
The village Chief smiled warmly: “Yes. The Moon God Bracelet was invented by the Moon God clan a long time ago. It can bestow upon human’s additional strength. The Moon God Bracelet itself has no attributes but can be slotted with energy crystals or energy orbs, and take the power from the crystal or orb bestowing it upon the wearer. You earlier asked me how to increase your Critical Rate Chance and Pierce Chance. The crystals or orbs you can slot on your bracelet will be the most common sources for it."
"Crystals are split into 5 grades: beginner, elementary, intermediate, advanced, and ultimate. Because the ability of this Moon God Bracelet is too low, at most it can only be slotted with intermediate power crystals, and at most only two. In the future in your adventures, you will for sure be able to see some high-grade Moon God Bracelets that can be slotted with more and higher-grade energy crystals or even energy orbs. They say, on Forgotten continent there once appeared a Moon God Bracelet that had 7 slots, although, sigh, I don’t have the fortune of seeing such a legendary item in my lifetime.”
“What is the difference between crystals and Orbs?” asked Noah.
“The nature of energy orbs are the same as energy crystals, but they are also an existence that surpasses energy crystals. They are not like energy crystals that are simply broken pieces, but are a complete body. The grades for energy orbs from low to high are Fairy Orbs, Celestial Orbs, Mysterious God Orbs and the Saint Destroyer Orbs that only exist in long ago legends. They are incredibly valuable. If a normal person is able to obtain one, then it is something that is enough to be proud of for the rest of their life. Although, even if an energy orb is obtained, it cannot be freely used, because only fairy grade or above Moon God Bracelets have the qualifications to slot them."
The Chief’s voice paused for a moment, and then continued saying: “Then, let me teach you how to use the Moon God Bracelet. Right now, I will give you a beginner energy crystal, what you need to do, is slot it into the Moon God Bracelet in your hand.”
After the Chief’s voice, a prompt sound rang beside his ear: “*DING*… You have gained a randomly attributed energy crystal from the Village Chief of Novice Village number 49554, please slot it into your Moon God Bracelet.”
Noah opened his inventory. Inside was a small red crystal. Taking it out, Noah frowned. This crystal was as big as a thumb, far too big to fit into the bracelet's holes.
[Beginner Critical Crystal]: Type: Energy Crystal, Grade: Beginner, Attribute: Fire, Effect: Critical Rate+2%
“Hehe, looks like your luck is pretty good, getting the energy crystal that can boost crit. rate. Then, slot it into the Moon God Bracelet, you only need to bring it close to the Moon God Bracelet.” Said the Chief with a laugh.
"It seems I was." nodded Noah, wondering if the points he had put on Luck had an influence on random rewards.
"Also, you need to remember, the same Moon God Bracelet cannot be slotted with two of the same crystal or orb with the same effect. For instance, your Moon God Bracelet already has a crystal that increases crit. rate, which means, no matter how many free slots your Moon God Bracelet has, you can no longer add any crystals or orbs that increase critical hit rate."
“You should now understand how to use the Moon God Bracelet, now let me explain to you the rules for skills.” The Chief proceeded to say, “The basic rules for skills you must already know, what I’m going to explain is only the rules for skill upgrading and advancing. The greatest advantage of humans is their high intelligence and great hidden potential. As long as you have enough potential, you can make the same skill exhibit an even stronger power."
"Right now, you are an apprentice warrior, so you must have a beginner skill ‘Full Power Strike'. You only need one point to bring it to level 2. Right now, I will use the power bestowed upon me by the Moon God to give you a skill point, please put it into ‘Full Power Strike’.”
Noah nodded and opened his status. He had one free SP, and put it into the single offensive skill he had.
[Full Power Strike]: Current Level: LV2, Highest Level: LV5. Points to Upgrade to LV3: 5. Beginner skill for apprentice warriors, using the weapon in the hand to strike at the target in front with all your strength, 120% damage, MP Consumption: 4, Cooldown Time: 0 sec.
The upgrade had increased the damage by 10% and gotten rid of the cooldown, but its MP cost had increased by 1. Noah kept the dissatisfaction from his face. It was still a shit skill and would likely always be with its max level limited to 5, but at least, it was a shit skill everyone was stuck with, so he wasn't at a disadvantage.
“Good, your skill has been successfully upgraded. If you have enough SP, you can upgrade it to even higher levels." continued the Chief.
"When a skill reaches its highest level, if you have enough Comprehension, there is a big chance that you can grasp an even stronger ‘advance skill’. Although, it is very hard to gain SP, regardless of leveling-up, killing normal monsters, it is not possible to gain SP. It can only be gained through some special quests, and killing strong monsters. Monsters from weak to strong can be split as, 1 star elites, 2 star elites, 3 star elites, going higher, are powerful lord monsters, above lords, are the very rare, Fairy, Celestial, Mysterious God and Saint Destroyer monsters that are almost impossible for humans to defeat."
"Killing a 1 star elite monster by yourself, you will gain SP equivalent to its level. For example, killing a Lvl 1 1 star elite monster, you will gain 1 SP, killing a Lvl 3 , you will gain 3 SP. Independently killing a 2 star elite, you will earn SP equal to its Lvl x2, killing a 3 star elite, you will gain SP that of its Lvl x3. Killing a Lord BOSS, you will gain its Lvl x10 SP. If able to kill a Fairy creature, you will gain its Lvl x100 SP, killing a Celestial monster, its Lvl x300 SP will be gained, and so on… If a group works together to defeat a monster, then the SP will be evenly distributed."
"I understand." nodded Noah. He now had an explanation for the Comprehension attribute and somewhat regretted not putting all 10 bonus points into it. At the same time, there was no telling yet how useful it would be to have 10 in Luck.
"Now, I have explained to you all you need to know. Here, take those five red potions. They will restore 100 HP each."
"Thank you very much, Village Chief. You surely have many other people to talk to, so I will take my leave. Unless I could do something for you?"
“Recently, a group of strange rabbits have appeared around the periphery of the village, they have sharp teeth, and do not hesitate before attacking people. Can you help me exterminate that group of rabbits, and bring back their teeth?"
"I accept." nodded Noah, receiving the quest.
“ 'Village Chief’s Request 1’, Quest Description: Collect 10 teeth from buck-toothed-rabbits and give them to the Village Chief, Quest Type: Normal, Quest Time Limit: None. Quest Reward: 100 EXP, 1 silver.”
The number in the title indicated that the Village Chief would have other quests to give him after this one.
“Then, I will wait here for your good news." nodded the Chief with satisfaction. "Oh right, before that, you best check out the general store and smithy, the item store’s Old Wang and the smithy’s Old Tie should have some stuff that requires your help. Oh right, there’s one thing you need to pay attention to, that house, do not get close.”
The Chief extended his hand, pointing behind him. Following the Chief’s finger, Noah saw a rundown house, its roof made of straw. It was in the most obscure spot, and it was also the dirtiest house. Noah looked back at the Chief, frowning.
“Inside lives a scary lunatic. From the day we saw him, he was in that abnormal state. Although it’s good that he usually just hides in the house not willing to leave. If at whatever moment you see him come out, you must not get close to him.” The Chief said with a serious face.
Noah nodded, filing away the information. He would need to know more about the 'Lunatic' before he left the novice village.
"Thank you, Village Chief." smiled Noah. "I will return when I am done with those rabbits.
Considering the crowd camping the rabbit area, it could take a while…
Setting this aside for now, he visited the item store. There were already several players inside, perusing the goods, and Noah did the same.
[Red Potion]: … Price: 1 copper
[Blue Potion]: Low-grade HP recovery potion, heals 100 HP after use, Cooldown Time: 5 sec. Price: 2 copper
[Orange Potion]: Low-grade HP recovery potion, heals 200 HP after use, Cooldown Time: 5 sec. Price: 3 copper
[Yellow Potion]: Low-grade HP recovery potion, heals 400 HP after use, Cooldown Time: 5 sec. Price: 1 silver.
[Beginner Strength Stone]; Type: Energy Crystal, Grade: Beginner, Attribute: Fire, Effect: Physical Attack Strength+3%. Price: 20 gold.
[Beginner Magic Stone]; Type: Energy Crystal, Grade: Beginner, Attribute: Water, Effect: Magic Attack Strength+3%. Price: 20 gold.
[Beginner Health Stone]; Type: Energy Crystal, Grade: Beginner, Attribute: Water, Effect: HP+3%. Price: 20 gold.
[Beginner Dodge Stone]: …
[Beginner Pierce Stone]: …
On a small signboard was indicated the conversion rate. 1 Gold = 10 silver = 100 copper. Considering that every player started with 50 HP unless they foolishly put their starting AP into Constitution, potions looked to be on the cheap side. By the time the average player required Yellow potions, they would surely be able to make a decent living, by the tutorial village's standard.
The Crystals, however, were total rip-offs.
When his turn to speak to the store Owner came, Noah spoke politely. He had noticed that many other players were quite rude, essentially saying 'Give me the quest' and leaving without another word, and the NPC looked visibly irritated with them.
But Noah preferred to treat NPCs as people, for immersion purpose. I may be playing this game for some serious reasons, but that didn't mean he didn't intend to get some fun out of it.
"Hello. I have been sent by the Village Chief. He suggested you might have something I could help you with."
"Yes!" nodded the shop owner, instantly in a better mood. "Hello, Hero from another world. I do have something that requires your help. Just a few days ago, I went to Shrub Forest to gather herb, but I was attacked by a group of wild boars. Running away in haste, I lost a very important ring."
The shopkeeper sighed before continuing.
"I do not expect to get the ring back, but my anger toward those boars cannot be extinguished. Can you help me exterminate 30 wild boars to appease my heart?"
"I accept." nodded Noah.
“ 'Wang Ji’s Request’, Quest Description: “Exterminate 30 wild boars, Quest Type: Normal, Quest Time Limit: None. Quest Reward: 500EXP, 2 silver, orange potions 10, blue potions 10"
"Excellent. However, those wild boars are Lvl 5 monsters, so properly increase your strength first. I will await your good news."
"I will be back soon." nodded Noah before leaving and heading to the blacksmith.
"Hello." Said Noah when the middle-aged man, wearing only a heavy leather apron over his naked torso, stopped banging on a piece of metal when he approached.
"The Village Chief told me I could help you with something."
"Ah, so you are one of the few who listened until the end, uh? The Old Man doesn't give quests to those who leave half-way." grinned the blacksmith. "I am Old Tie, the blacksmith. And I lack some materials. Could you give me a hundred wolf teeth? They are sharp and durable, and mixing them into the iron can produce a sharp and durable weapon."
" ‘Blacksmith’s Request’, Quest Description: Bring back 100 wolf teeth and give them to the smithy’s Old Tie. Quest Type: Normal, Quest Time Limit: None. Quest Reward: 1000EXP, 3 silver, 1 LV5 iron short-sword."
"I accept." nodded Noah.
"Good. The Wolves are Lvl 5 creatures, so you won't be able to hurt them at your current level. You will find them at the Wolf's Cliff north of the village. Be careful, there is a bottomless pit over there. If you fall down, you will die even if you were level 10."
"I will be careful." nodded Noah, his eyes shining at the mention of the bottomless pit. There was for sure something great at the bottom, and quite probably related to the secret behind Mystic Moon, or Lilith wouldn't have given him a quest about it. "Also, would it be possible to learn blacksmithing?"
"I cannot teach you that." smiled Old Tie as he shook his head. "The heroes interested in learning crafts must procure their own materials, and you cannot harvest any around the Village. You will have to wait until you set foot in the Forgotten Continent and talk to a blacksmith in the Forgotten city if you want to learn blacksmithing."
"I understand. Thank you, Old Tie." nodded Noah as he left.
It was time to start hunting.
And the fields around the village were just as crowded with players as before. No, it was even worse.
By chance, a white rabbit spawned less than three meters from Noah. Not losing an instant, he activated Scan while charging it.
" 'Buck-Toothed-Rabbit': Type: Beast. Level: 1, HP: 50. A type of rabbit with big, pointy teeth. when in an emergency rabbits will also bite people, if bit it will really hurt.]
Noah knew the comment about hurting wasn't a joke. The game had a pain dampening setting of 80% for everyone.
Two other players were already headed toward 'his' rabbit, intending to steal kill, but Noah had enough of a head start to slash at the rabbit three times in quick succession, using Full Power Strike each time.
-18, -18, -18.
The rabbit died, its teeth automatically appearing in his inventory, and the two players glared for an instant at Noah before they left.
"Elite! It's a 1-star elite monster!" suddenly shouted one player farther away as he ran toward a rabbit. The monster did have a yellow start above its head.
"Holy crap! It’s an elite monster! An elite monster that can add SP!!” shouted another.
All the players in the vicinity rushed toward the rabbit, who didn't last three seconds in the face of the Zerg rush.
"I got it! I got it!" shouted one of those players, dancing in joy as if he had won a huge jackpot.
"Fuck! Why are you so arrogant? Everyone! Burst him!" shouted a sore loser, and the rabbit slayer fell under the resentful blades of a half-dozen players, his body turning into a white ray of light that headed for the village.
Noah shook his head, both at the naivety of one player, and at the shortsightedness of his killers. Making enemies for such a trivial reason might bite them in the butt in the future.
Not wanting to spend half an hour on this quest, Noah walked further away from the village, entering the Horned Black Sheep area. The player density over there was significantly lower, and they teamed up in pairs to deal with the monsters, sharing the experience.
As there were no free Horned Black Sheep, Noah continued further, and entered the territory of Lvl 3 monsters, Civet Cats the size of large dogs, looking halfway between a mountain lion and a weasel.
"Angry Civet Cat: Type: Beast, Level: 3, HP: 100. Civet cats get angry too, you need to be careful of being bitten or clawed by it."
There were few players there, in groups of two or three, and about half of the monsters were free. Noah chose the nearest, and the beast attacked him as soon as he got within two meters from it.
Noah deftly stepped to the side, slashing horizontally to not only cut at the monster, but also push it away and keep some distance.
Miss.
The Civet Cat turned toward him with a snarl, and Noah struck again, using Full Power Strike.
-17.
He followed up with a return slash before jumping back.
-14.
The Civet cat jumped at him again with a growl, and Noah once again jumped to the side, slashing twice more. This time, he took care to aim at the best's neck with Full Power Strike.
Miss, -17.
"Fuck." muttered Noah, disappointed that there didn't seem to be critical areas in the monster's body like in SAO. He wanted to be sure, so he thrust his sword into the Civet Cat's left eye after the next side-step.
-14.
The beast had 38 HP left. Noah then tried to kick it.
His foot connected and pushed the beast away but didn't inflict any damage.
With a sigh, Noah decided to finish it as soon as possible, and slashed twice with Full Power Strike.
Miss, -17.
"Okay, this is going to be a pain in the butt." muttered Noah.
The next two Full Power Strikes landed and the Civet Cat died, giving him 3 EXP.
He would need to kill 33 more Civet Cats to level up just once.
Still, it was better than waiting with the crowd for the rabbits or horned sheep.
As Noah found and engaged another Civet Cat, his body moving on autopilot, he thought about his own character. His virtual body responded well to his thoughts without any lag he could perceive, but he didn't move anywhere near as fast as he could in real life. It didn't move as fast as he could in his second year inside SAO, for that matter. It seemed his specs, with his current attributes, were about equal to that of a normal martial artist.
Civet Cat after Civet Cat fell under his blade, and when he finally reached level 1, Noah immediately put all 5 attribute points into Agility, simply because he couldn't stand to miss so often.
Feeling gazes directed at him, he looked around. A dozen players had stopped grinding their own monsters and stared at him in awe. He could hear mutters about him.
"…I could barely follow his sword…"
"An expert…"
"Could he be someone from the Heaven and Earth ranking?"
"He's so hot…"
The last came from a young woman making hot eyes at him, but since she wasn't cute, Noah just made a small nod at her and turned away, walking toward the forest. He wanted to see how he would fare against the Lvl 5 wild boars.
Noah shrugged
"Mountain Wild Boars: Type: Beast, Level: 5, HP: 180, A type of wild boar that is used to living in the mountains, a violent temperament. It will automatically attack life forms that get close."
The boars were easy monsters to kill. All they knew was how to charge forward, and Noah, after a few times, got the trick to stun them for a second. He just had to stand in front of a boulder or tree trunk before evading, and the stupid monster would be unable to stop in time.
The issue was the damage numbers!
-6, Miss, -6.
Even hitting with Full Power Strike barely netted him a 8 damage done.
Once the Boar went down, Noah quickly did the math… and he left the forest to terrorize more Civet Cats, grumbling about terrible game design.
He would only return to grind wild boars after putting more points in Strength.
After close to an hour grinding Civet Cats, Noah gained another level, put his 5 points into strength, and returned to the forest.
His normal hits against the boars went from 6 to 14, a more than significant increase, and now needed 'only' fourteen normal hits or twelve or so Full Power Strikes. It still was pretty bad, and Noah sighed, resigning himself to tolerating the bad design for 28 more boars.
He hoped the wolves would have less armor.
It took him half an hour to deal with the required amount of boars, and when he was about to leave the area, he turned, hearing something large move through the vegetation.
A Wild Boar emerged, significantly bigger than the rest.
"Head Wild Boar: Type: Beast, Level: LV5, Grade: 2 Star Elite, HP: 750, a small leader of the mountain wild boars. possesses a larger body and stronger charging power. When struck by its sharp tusks there is a certain chance to add the bleeding effect."
A 2-star Elite. Killing it would bring Noah 2 SP.
Eager to do anything to increase his damage output and upgrade Full Power Strike sooner, Noah instantly decided to fight it, and put himself just in front of a large boulder.
The pony-sized Boar might be a named monster, but it was just as stupid as its lesser cousins and charged straight forward.
It was stunned for a second, and Noah slashed three times in quick succession before darting away and finding a large tree.
-14, -28, -35.
One of the hits was a critical, the other a Piercing Hit.
Noah ran toward a tree, the furious Boar gaining on him. Before the enraged beast reached him, however, Noah reached the tree and jumped, using the trunk as a springboard to go higher as he turned, and slashed at the monster's back with a Full Power Strike when the Boar hit the trunk.
-17.
He didn't have time to land another blow as he needed to position himself in front of another trunk, and he wasn't in a hurry anyway.
Stupid monsters were the easiest to deal with.
After playing cat and mouse for another two minutes, the boar finally died, and a notification appeared.
"You have successfully killed LV5 2 star elite Head Wild Boar, Fame +10, gained 10 SP."
Moreover, the Boar had dropped two items!
[Iron Bracers]: Type: Handguard, Grade: Iron. Equipment Requirements: Any class LV5 or above. Sturdy bracers forged by iron. Attributes: Defense+5, Hit Rate+2.
[Amethyst Ring]: Type: Ring, Grade: Iron. Equipment Requirement: None. A ring mounted with a beautiful amethyst, has a high ornamental value. Seems to be lost by the village item shop’s Boss Wang, and then obtained by the head wild boar, it will only drop when the head boar is killed the first time. Attributes: HP+100.
Noah sighed in satisfaction. The bracers would be extremely useful with their bonus to Hit Rate, however small, and the ring would be a great help to compensate for his very low HP, doubling it.
But Noah didn't intend to use it. His instincts as a long-time gamer told him that if he gave it back to the shopkeeper, he might get a reward good enough to compensate for not keeping it for himself.
After spending 5 SP to upgrade Full Power Strike to Lv3, Noah headed toward the village to complete his quests. The cost of upgrading it to Lvl 4 was 20 SP, and he would need 15 more.
The rabbit area still had many players farming it, but significantly less than before, and Noah only needed a few minutes to kill nine rabbits.
He then walked to the Item store, now mostly deserted as players were on the field, trying to compete with each other for Black Sheep and Civet Cats. A few were in the forest, hunting for Boars.
"I have completed your mission and found this ring. Is it yours?" asked Noah as he showed the Amethyst ring to Boss Wang. They way his face lit up was answer enough.
“This… this is the Amethyst Ring that I lost a few days ago when I was chased by those accursed boars! Young hero, where did you find it?”
“It dropped from a 2-star elite Boar.” shrugged Noah.
“No mistake, this is the Amethyst Ring that I dropped. This is a birthday gift my wife gave to me, yet I accidentally lost it, I was just in the middle of thinking how I was going to tell my wife. Young hero, can you return it to me? I will repay you generously.” asked Wang excitedly.
"Of course. We wouldn't want you to have problems with your wife." chuckled Noah.
Boss wang grinned as he accepted the ring, but then looked at Noah with a serious expression. " The Amethyst Ring has some decent stats, towards you heroes from another world who have newly entered the world of Mystic Moon. It has a lot of appeal. Yet you didn’t keep it and returned it. Kind young ones like you who would return it are very few. Here, take this. In Forgotten continent, this is a priceless treasure, but in this place that is separated from the outer-world, for me, it has far less value than my amethyst ring. I hope that it can provide you with a certain amount of help in your future adventures."
Boss Wang gave Noah a small red fruit, comparable to a red berry but the size of a golf ball, and Noah used Scan to examine it.
[Red Blood Fruit]: A fruit that grows on the Red Blood Tree in lava, incredibly valuable. After eating it HP permanently increased by 100.
“*DING*… You have completed the unique hidden quest ‘The Lost Amethyst Ring’, Fame+10, gained quest reward ‘Red Blood Fruit’.”
Noah smiled as his instinct proved right. The Fruit would give him the same bonus as the ring, without using a ring slot.
"Good things really do happen to good people." muttered Noah, and Boss Wang laughed.
"You deserve it. I will also allow you to buy some of my special inventory"
“*DING*… You have unlocked hidden event ‘The Item Shop’s Hidden Merchandise’, can buy the corresponding hidden merchandise from the item shop’s Shopkeeper Wang.”
"Hidden merchandise?" asked Noah, and Wang nodded as he removed a cloth that had covered a shelf behind him.
[Wang Ji’s Special Strength Potion]: After use physical attack strength+20, lasts 1 hour, effect does not stack. Price: 10 gold, can buy a total of 10.
[Wang Ji’s Special Magic Potion]: After use magic attack+20, lasts 1 hour, effect does not stack. Price: 10 gold, can buy a total of 10.
[Wang Ji’s Special Hit Potion]: After use hit rate+20, lasts 1 hour, effect does not stack. Price: 20 gold, can buy a total of 10.
[Wang Ji’s Special Speed Potion]: After use movement speed+20, lasts 1 hour, effect does not stack. Price: 20 gold, can buy a total of 10.
[Wang Ji’s Special Health Potion]: After use HP+200, lasts 1 hour, effect does not stack. Price: 10 gold, can buy a total of 10.
[Blessed Blue Pendant]: Type: Necklace, Grade: None. Equipment Requirements: None. Once a regular blue pendant, afterwards mixed with the power of blessing from Goddess Fate of the 3 goddesses from the Moon God clan. After equipping it, you can be revived upon death, in perfect condition. After being used, the necklace will break. Price: 2000 gold.
Boss Wang smiled, seeing Noah's expression.
"I know these items of mine are a bit too expensive, but these are my most proud creations, their effects are without complaint, relative to their effects, these prices aren’t high at all. If you can’t buy them at the moment then it’s not a big deal, my original intention for creating these potions, is to be able to help a kind and powerful hero."
"How about this? At the north of the village, there is a Wolf’s Cliff, there wander violent wolves regularly attacking people. My younger son was also bitten before. He would be dead if it weren’t for some kind of good luck... Young hero, if you can hunt 1000 wolves and bring back their teeth, I will give one of each type of these potions to you.”
"I accept." smiled Noah.
" ‘Wang Ji’s Request 2’, Quest Type: Hidden, Quest Time Limit: 3 days, Quest Description: Within 3 days, head over the Wolf’s Cliff and kill 1000 wolves, and bring back 1000 wolf teeth. Quest Reward: Wang Ji’s special strength potion, magic potion, hit potion, speed potion, health potion 1 each."
This was Noah's first hidden quest, and the difficulty was on a whole different level. There was a time limit, and having to kill a thousand Wolves was the kind of hardcore grind that would make a Korean developer proud. But it was well worth it.
“Oh right, my youngest son goes every day in the afternoon around Wolf’s Cliff to gather herbs, if you bump into him tell him to come back earlier. Recently those wolves seem to have become even more violent than before, I’m afraid he will be in danger around there.”
"I understand." nodded Noah. "I will keep my eyes open for him."
"Thank you."
Noah nodded to Boss Wang and left the shop. His plan was simple. Grind a hundred wolves, return to the village to get a better sword and 1k EXP from the blacksmith, then return to Wolf's Cliff to kill nine hundred more.
But first, he had to get 100 EXP from the Village's Chief by completing the Rabbit quest.
The 600 EXP he won from the Rabbit and Boar quests were a much-needed relief, and Noah gained another level from it. He was now Lvl 5.
Noah opened his status to check his progress.
Character: Noah
Level: 5
Class: Apprentice Warrior
Faction: None
Fame: 20 Money: 1 silver 5 copper SP: 5
Basic Attributes:
Strength: 20 Constitution: 5 Agility: 15 Spirit: 5
Available: 0
Innate Attributes:
Luck: 10 Comprehension: 10
HP: 200 MP: 100
Physical Attack Strength: 45
Magic Attack Strength: 10
Defense: 15
Hit Rate: 17 Dodge rate: 15
Critical Hit Rate: 7% Pierce Rate: 5%
Attack Speed: 100% Movement Speed: 100%
Elemental resistances:
Water: 0% Fire: 0% Wind: 0% Lightning: 0%
Earth: 0% Light: 0% Darkness: 0%
Skills:
Scan lv 1
Full Power Strike lv 3
Noah still thought the game design was a mess, but is was becoming less painful, with him not needing to land as many hits to kill mobs. So he was in a better mood when he heard a voice. Arianna's voice.
"Noah-sama, it is time for lunch break."
However the bracelet used to connect to the game worked, it didn't prevent sensory input form the real world. Or maybe it blocked it, but transmitted voices it recorded. It was hard to say.
Since Noah was in a safe spot, just barely out of the village's limit, he logged off.