As the Calygreyhound was focused on the Two Centaurs, Leiu didn't face too much difficulty in fleeing. When the System finally recognized he was 'out of combat', he immediately summoned Milkan and used his speed to rush to safety.

Around 3:30PM, he reached Guthne's store. The old blacksmith, looking disheveled, grinned at him.

"You're alive! Good!"

"..."

"It'll take me a couple of hours to finish the chains. Ah, I can also enhance your sword, so give it to me!"

Although annoyed with him, Leiu still handed him White Edge. After that, he choose a quiet corner at the back of the store and fell asleep.

Sleeping in Hell Gate was possible, however, it wasn't as effective as real sleep, so to speak. Put simply, the brain was still 'active', so the Players only felt as if they were sleeping.

Three hours later, the sleeping Leiu was jolted awake by a slap on the head.

"I'm done! Look at this!"

With an even more haggard appearance and a blackened face, Guthne was grinning from one ear to the other while holding the newly-enhanced White Edge. The sword had become half-white and half-black, and there was a very small pink gem near right beneath the hilt.

Black and White Wit Sword (Rare) : +15 Strength / +15 Agility / +10 Dexterity

Skill (Wit): Upon activation, the user's Critical Chance is increased by 20% for 5 seconds.

Leiu was pleased with the stats bonus, however, the loss of the Icicle skill made him frown. With the addition of the Chains, he would be able to perform long-ranged attacks even without shooting the ice-aspected projectiles, nevertheless, he still felt that 'Wit', at least by comparison, was somewhat underwhelming.

While holding his improved sword and testing it, Leiu asked for the chains too, which he was more excited about.

Guthne, as if anticipating that, returned with 4-meter long black chains. They weren't particularly fancy or intricately-designed, but they were the right length and thickness.

Enhanced Black Iron Chains(Rare) : +10 Strength / +20 Vitality / -5 Agility / +5 Dexterity

Unique Skill : When an enemy is struck by the chains, there is a 5% chance that the nearby enemies would be stunned for 1.5 seconds. (Area of effect: 2.5 meters the targeted enemy)

'This is better than expected.'

A rare smile appeared on Leiu's face as he held the sword with one hand and the chains with the other. Theoretically, it was possible to dual-wield these two weapons, but Leiu wouldn't get all the Stats bonuses. He would get 100% of his designated 'Main weapon' and 50% of the 'secondary weapon'.

Practically, Leiu was still too much of a beginner to efficiently and proficiently wield the chains and the sword simultaneously. For him, the chains were there to hit out-of-reach targets in hopes of immobilizing them momentarily so he could close in the distance and finish them off with his blade.

Level: 30 (9%) CLASS: Dark Knight TITLE(S): Invincible | A Like In The Blink of an Eye -- STATS: -- STRENGTH : 94 HEALTH: 55 INTELLIGENCE: 52 MANA: 52 WISDOM: 56 STAMINA: 53 AGILITY: 104 -- DEXTERITY: 85 -- VITALITY: 71 --

"These chains should last you for a while."

With that, Leiu received a System Notification regarding the quest's completion. Sadly, the only reward he got a small chunk of Experience.

Unwilling to linger near Guthne for longer than necessary, Leiu left the smithy and headed to the home of the Crazy Apes. Those jumping apes were the best target-practice for his newly-acquired Chains. Although they were low-levelled compared to Leiu, they should still give him a bit of Experience, and potentially, some loot he could either use or sell.

Soon, Leiu reached the large forest and started searching for the infamous Crazy Apes, which, from what he read in the Forums, caused a lot of trouble for the slightly inexperienced new Players.

"Wooh wooh wooh!"

When he heard their unpleasant screams, Leiu raised his head and looked to the right: There, on top of a tree's branches, stood two Crazy Apes that were shrieking at each other in a playful manner. Fortunately, they had yet to notice him.

Leiu, who had loosely wrapped the chains around his left arm, carefully snuck closer and closer to them.

The two apes were approximately on a branch 3 meters above the ground, and s for their distance from Leiu, it exceeded 3 meters by a bit. While mentally readying himself and hiding behind a tree, Leiu prepared himself and then sprung into action.

Since the distance between them was not that big, the two apes immediately noticed him, however, their reactionary retaliation was a tad slow.

The black chains came flying at the closest one to Leiu. When swung, they let out a strange clanking sound, which was their only downside so far.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

'Shit!'

What Leiu didn't expect is that despite his attack being fast, it didn't hit the target. The chains weren't easy to use or swing, even with his improved Strength Stat.

Although it wasn't on purpose, that attack managed to make one of the Crazy Apes to lose its balance and fall from the tree branch, so, in response, Leiu pulled the chains and swung them a second time.

Purposely or not, when his attack connected, the black chains violently struck down on the monster, flattening to the ground and allowing Leiu to swiftly get close and follow-up with his sword. With the target defenseless and in-range, finishing it off was much easier than expected. It took Leiu three clean and deadly stabs to the head to end its life once and for all.

Surprisingly, the second Crazy Ape, which managed to maintain its balance and remain on the branch, turned around and hastily fled. It let out cries of fear and anger as it tried to distance itself from Leiu.

As he saw the prey retreating, Leiu gave chase, his eyes obsessively fixated on it. Whenever he was close enough to use the chains, he did so, but none of his swings hit their marks.

Eventually, however, the panicking Crazy Ape landed on a thin branch that snapped upon contact. This accident allowed Leiu to reach it and swing the chains again, though this time they were able to hit the target and even wrap around its legs.

The hit was not fatal and only caused some minor damage, nonetheless, Leiu was pleased with himself as he pulled the chains, and the entangled Crazy Ape along with them.

The red-furred creature struggled and tried freeing itself but to no avail. with its two strong arms but failed to do so, no matter what it did, it was totally futile. As for Leiu, instead of finishing it off with his sword, he relied on the chains again. He wrapped them around the ape's neck, quickly suffocating it to death.

This was a bit excessive, even for him, but it had to be done as this brief fight was an experiment to see how strong and durable the chains could be.

You obtained a new skill(passive) : [Chains Mastery Lv1] : When using Chains, you deal 5% more damage and have 70% change of entangling the target for 5 seconds.

'It's getting better and better'

Leiu looted the shallow drops of the Crazy Ape and, decisively and relentlessly, continued hunting them for the followinghours. It was a very fun process, made infinitely easier with the acquisition of the chains. The Crazy Apes weren't always reachable, but if ambushed, they were easily killed.

...

[Chains Mastery(Passive Lv3) : When using Chains, you deal 7% more damage and have 90% change of entangling for 5 seconds.

'90% is enough!'

After spending more than two hours practicing with the chains, Leiu managed to somehow get used to it. Of course, he couldn't wield it perfectly as his accuracy with it was noticeably lacking, nonetheless, they were useful and usable enough to be more of a boon than a hindrance.

[Counter(ActiveLv2) : You can counter any incoming physical attack and return 100% of the damage.

Cost : 1 Stamina

Cooldown : 29.8 seconds.

Hunt (passiveLv3 => 4): When hunting monsters, you gain 12% chance to deal critical damage and 18.5% bonus experience.

You can level up this skill if you kill enough monsters : 0/500

Invisible Strike (Passive Lv6=>7) : You can slash a second time with a fast speed: The attack would deal 180% the damage of the first strike.

Cost : 7 Mana

Cooldown : 13.5 Seconds

Dark Sword Mastery(Basic (Passive Lv6=>7) : When wielding a one-handed or two-handed sword ; you deal 22.5% more damage.

Carving Shot(Active Lv5=>6): You can heavily swing you weapon Horizontally dealing 165% damage, there is 14% chance of causing the enemy to be stunned for 3 seconds.

Cost : 10 Mana

Cooldown : 29.5 Seconds