“Yes! Finally!”
I opened my skill with a smile on my face.
Back Slash Level 1 Active: Inflict great amount of damage from behind. It also staggers the enemy.
Effect:
2x damage
1 second stun
MP Cost: 200
Cool down: 10 seconds
Wind Blessing Level 1 Active: Increase Speed and Evasion. Cannot be stacked.
Effect: +5 AGI
Duration: 5 minutes
MP Cost: 50
Cool Down: 1 minute
Durable Body Level 1 Passive: Decrease damage taken by enemies.
Effect: 10 damage
I got three new skills after I faced dozens of monsters.
【Durable Body】 was acquired after I took a lot of hits until I used a hundred of potions. However, decreasing 10 damage taken didn’t help me much.
So, I tried to focus on evasion. After multiple attempts, I could feel a cool breeze around my body when the wind blew through the meadow. My body immediately felt light. I saw 【Wind Blessing】 was stacked on my status.
When a Meadow Fox charged to me, the wind felt like guiding me where to move. I followed its guidance. Then I saw the fox passing in slow motion beside me. I could evade its attack easily.
After that, I immediately attacked the monster which showed its back to me. I did it multiple times until my Fatigue totally depleted. Then, a window appeared showing that I learned 【Back Slash】.
‘Skill can be learned through repetition of actions.’
I learned that after I acquired 【Eavesdropping】, and that was the reason I did all of that.
I finally got two active skills. I was really happy. I took a rest under the tree while eating 【Beginner’s Food Set】 to satisfy my hunger. I was enjoying the landscape. Relaxing to regenerate my fatigue. I felt the wind, breathing the fresh air.
‘Ah... When was the last time I feel this?’
All I did was staying inside my room. Looking at the monitor all day long. I had the chance to get out, but I didn’t have the mood. I could remember when I was small, lying alone on a tree. Feeling the wind and breathing the fresh air. Just like this moment.
Then an image of a girl appeared. She was crying, looking at me with a smile. And then she was trying to...
‘Ah...no good. This troublesome mind of mine. I guess it’s time to leave.’
I stood as I saw my fatigue bar was full. Then I looked at the map. There was a marking with ‘Quest: Artifact of Melleth’ on top of certain place.
‘That must be where the Norwall Cave is.’
It wasn’t a long walk, just a few hundred meters through the forest and I would see the cave. Without any thoughts, I moved my feet into the forest.
・・・
There was nothing but trees.
‘It’s not like I’m complaining...’
This was the first time I was walking in the forest. Feeling breeze under the shade and hearing the birds chirping. I felt refreshed.
About half an hour walking, I heard thud sounds. I hid myself behind trees and bushes. I slowly came closer and peeped at the source of the sound. I saw an ugly green humanoid monster holding a wooden club on its right hand.
It was a Goblin.
It swung its club repeatedly into a dead Wild Boar. Then it turned into a lump of meat. The Goblin was eating the meat, its saliva drenched to the ground. I stealthy crawled trying to be behind it. When I was right behind the goblin, I unsheathed my sword carefully. Then I used 【Back Slash】.
You landed a critical hit!
You have inflicted 1135 damage on Goblin.
While the Goblin was staggered, I immediately stabbed my sword multiple times on its back until it pierced through its chest. I pulled my sword and kicked its body to the ground.
‘Hmm... It’s nearly like 【Back Stab】. Almost 70% of its HP is gone with one attack.’
However, 【Back Slash】 damage wasn’t as high as 【Back Stab】. But the double damage was still amazing. In most MMORPGs, 【Back Stab】 had a high rate of critical hit and damage. It also had a possibility of lethal hit. Especially if your job (class) was 【Thief】 or 【Assassin】.
It depended on the game, its effect differed. In some games, it had half-kill effect which cut opponent’s HP into half regardless of their high defense. It even did one-hit kill if they had low defense. One had instant kill effect when opponent’s HP was low or in critical condition. Certain games set 【Back Stab】 as a tank class counter.
‘I like this skill already.’
I smiled and nodded. Then I grabbed Goblin’s drop and continued walking.
・・・
I killed some goblins and wild boars on my way to raise my skills. Wild Boar was really annoying once I had been found. They had 【Rush】 skill to run away from me. It also used 【Rush】 to charge me when I caught off guard. Fortunately, 【Wind Blessing】 made my AGI high enough to barely dodge it. However, I took damage on most of its attack.
‘I don’t know how those weak goblins can kill them.’
Goblin might had a skill which could hunt them down. As for me, I sneaked and used 【Back Slash】 on them. Wild Boar, however, had a sharp hearing sense. And that’s why I often had been found.
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After a while, my bag was filled half with japtems. But, I couldn’t throw them yet. If I found useful item later, then I would throw some to give some space. Despite they were not useful, they actually had a price. Also, some of them might be a material or ingredient to make something.
A mouth appeared on the ground. It was ominous like it could devoured me at any moment. I immediately checked the map.
‘Yup. That’s the place!’
I took a rest in front of the cave to fill my hunger and fatigue. The moment they were full, I began to enter the cave.
As I stepped into the cave, a window popped out.
First Visitor You have discovered Norwall Cave!
You are the first player who enters this place. For a week, you are granted 5x EXP and Drop in this dungeon.
‘What is this? Private server?’
I was surprised. Most official MMORPG games I played normally just gave double EXP and Drop during certain event. It felt like a private server. The devs could be generous after all.
‘This is a chance to raise my skills! Or perhaps learn another one!’
With optimistic thoughts, I walked into the darkness. Although it was dark, I could see where I was going. Eventually, a wide space appeared in front of me. Illuminated by lights that leaked from holes on ceiling.
I could see plants with different colors filled the room. Vines also covering the wall. I instantly called it a herb room. I slowly walked and looked around, searching for the ring.
Then I noticed two pillars were stuck on the wall. There was a bird bath between them. It was one meter tall with pure water on it.
In the center part, there was a small statue of winged figure holding a bow with an arrow. There was a carving on its right wing.
It was some kind of symbol. It looked like Aries symbol in a circle, but the horns were ‘A’ shaped instead of curved. The ring wasn’t there, though. I touched my jaw and thinking...
‘Yeah, it’s not going to be that easy, isn’t it? I probably have to fight a boss.’
I looked around and found a passage near the bird bath. Torches was placed on each sides of the entrance. I grabbed one of them and walked in.
Cold wind could be felt passing from behind. I got goose bumps. It’s one of those feelings when you were walking alone in the night and felt like someone was following you.
I shook my head and tried to clear my mind. However, I could hear footsteps. Something appeared in front of me. Two flickering red lights were flying in the dark. I froze.
‘No no no no. This is a game, it must be a monster.’
I unsheathed my sword with my shaking right hand. I pointed the torch at the flying red lights, trying to illuminate its body from the dark. I readied myself, holding tight my sword.
A walking bone appeared from the dark. It was wearing tattered clothes and holding a rusty sword on its right hand. It was a Skeleton Warrior. I sighed in relieve.
‘So, it means that this cave is undead type hunting spot.’
Undead monster had low EXP points, though. They were mostly hunted by healer or paladin. Their drop also wasn’t really that good. There were some strong undead, of course.
However, skeleton was placed last. I sighed. 5x EXP and Drop buff wouldn’t do much at all. But, I still had an optimistic thought.
‘I’ll just grind non-stop until the buff is gone then.’
Even though my fatigue became empty later, I still had the buff. Besides, rare items might dropped. It had an advantage after all. I was grinning as I charged to the Skeleton Warrior.
・・・
I took a rest when my hunger bar was low. I also slept in the herb room when I was sleepy. I kept grinding and exploring the dungeon. There were 4 kind of undead here. Beside Skeleton Warriors, there were Skeleton Knights, Rotting Zombies, and Ghouls.
Skeletons weren’t really hard. Ghoul’s magic attack didn’t make me worry so much since I had high magic defense. However, Rotting Zombie’s poison almost made me die.
The first time I got poisoned, I ran to the herb room. I ate random plants until the poison was cured. It was a risky move, because the plants had different effects. Some paralyzed me. Some made the poison worse. Some healed my HP or MP by a little portion.
‘I should’ve bought some antidotes.’
That was what I thought. But after all the sufferings, I managed to identify which plant was an antidote. And when I almost identified them all, a window popped out.
Skill Acquired You have learned Observe!
Observe Level 1 Active: An ability to identify unknown items.
MP Cost: 50
Cool down: 1 minute
‘I wonder how many plants I ate?’
This was the first time I became herbivore. Despite some plants tasted bitter and bizarre, I was satisfied that I learned the skill.
I used 【Observe】 to identify the rest of unidentified plants and picked some antidotes. But then, I remembered that I got 【Unidentified Sword】 from Skeleton Knight’s drop. I took the sword out from my bag.
"【Observe】!"
Item cannot be identified.
‘Ah... I see. It’s limited.’
Perhaps, 【Observe】 could only be able to identify materials or forage items. It couldn’t identify equipment yet. Maybe I just needed to level it up.
I put the sword inside my bag and continued my grinding.
・・・
2 days had passed since I entered the dungeon. I finally found a large space within the cave. I could see an altar at the end of the room. It was definitely a Boss Room.
I checked everything before I stepped in, made sure that I was ready.
Zeroth Race Aphu Job (Class) None Hobby None Stats HP 1050/1050 MP 928/928 STR 35 VIT 16 DEX 15 AGI 24 INT 25 WIS 36
Buff First Visitor (5x EXP & Drop) 4 Days 23 hours 58 minutes
Wind Blessing Lv. 5 (+5 AGI) 4 minutes
Skill Active Back Slash Lv. 6, Wind Blessing Lv. 5, Observe Lv. 1 Passive Wisdom Lv. 5, Curiosity Lv. 2, Day Dreamer Lv. 6
Low Appetite Lv. 2, Beautiful Mind Lv. 2, Sword Mastery Lv. 8
Eavesdropping Lv. 2, Beginner’s Will [Armor Set], Durable Body Lv. 5
Equipment Main Hand Novice Sword (Common) Off Hand None Head None Body Novice Clothes (Common) Bottom Novice Pants (Common) Arms Novice Gloves (Common) Feet Novice Boots (Common) Mantle None Accessories None Set Effect:
Novice Set (+5 All Stats) - Passive: Beginner’s Will (+5 STR)
‘My stats and skills raised a lot. Well, I’ve been fighting countless undead. I don’t know if this is enough. Considering monsters in this cave are weak. The Boss shouldn’t be that strong, right?’
I stepped inside the big room.
Suddenly, a corpse was awaken from a stone coffin in front of the altar. It was wearing a tattered black robe and holding a black covered book on its hand.
Dark mist were spreading from the coffin and painted the ground black. He stood still as green flames were gazing me, flickering inside its hollow eye sockets. Then, dozens of skeletons were raised from the ground where the dark mist were spread.
A window popped out.
Monster Boss Appeared! Lich Necromancer Uruzak
A well-known strong enemy appeared.
‘Should I run away?’