"Are there so many wolves?" May Lee, clad in supple leather armor, held a small shield in her left hand and a long sword in her right. The shield was only about thirty centimeters in diameter, slightly larger than the palm of a hand.
At this moment, May Lee felt a bit panicked. The wolves were just too huge, and their speed was terrifyingly fast.
"Is this just the first level of the Starry Tower?" May Lee looked at the distant pack of wolves beginning to encircle and close in, and she quickly sprinted, "I have to run, find opportunities while moving! I can't let these wolves form a siege."
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
The wolves were adept at coordination, and their speed was swift, as if they were hunting, patiently compressing May Lee's range of movement, never attacking alone.
"These wolves are too cunning," May Lee thought bitterly, "I can't find a chance to take them down one by one."
As her range of movement shrank, finally, three wolves lunged forward.
Whoosh.
May Lee leaped forward, her left hand holding the small shield to block the wolf's claws, while her right hand swiftly thrust the sword into the wolf's neck.
After all, the virtual world has been open for seven days, and May Lee has been receiving private lessons from Jamie Smith every day. Jamie Smith once taught her, "Right now, you only need to learn one move - the thrust! This is the sword's most suitable move. Advance thrust, retreat thrust, backhand thrust, turning thrust... In short, no matter how your body moves, even if you fall, you must be able to thrust with this sword!"
"Your left hand should hold a small shield, after all, you haven't practiced with a shield, a larger one would affect your swordsmanship. A small shield... also allows your left hand to block and defend." Jamie Smith taught her hands-on.
Puff, puff!
May Lee dodged left and right, her small shield barely blocking the attacks, her sword thrusts were swift, consecutively killing three wild wolves. But more wolves pounced forward.
"It's over," May Lee thought, as she saw the large group of wolves pouncing, and she instantly clicked to exit.
After exiting, she returned to outside the Starry Tower, looking at the towering structure, May Lee muttered, "The first level of the Starry Tower requires dealing with a hundred wild wolves? What would the third level be like? I wonder how Jamie is doing in his journey."
*******
On the second level of the Starry Tower, it was a primeval forest after a heavy snowfall.
"Bracing cold," Jamie Smith felt the chill seeping through his armor, invading his body, and he carefully observed all directions.
He immediately spotted a massive cave ahead, and outside the cave, giant brown bears were frolicking. The sight of these bears made Jamie Smith's expression become serious. These giant brown bears were over four meters long, with high, bulging shoulders, and their massive, intimidating stature was covered in thick, coarse brown fur, which was long and dense, forming a natural armor!
"Giant brown bears over four meters long, estimated weight at least three thousand kilograms, with its physique, a single slap could have tens of thousands of kilograms of impact force, once it starts charging, the momentum would be even more terrifying. Humans should not engage in a direct confrontation with it," Jamie Smith observed, making a judgment, "Its thick fur and subcutaneous fat! It would not be easy to pierce with a spear, I have to aim for the vital spots."
"Roar." One of the giant brown bears suddenly moved, and despite its obese and robust physique, it charged at an alarming speed.
As this giant brown bear suddenly rushed towards Jamie Smith, the other four bears also stood up, but they did not rush to attack, apparently believing that their companion was enough to deal with the outsider.
Jamie Smith stood in the snow, calmly watching the charging giant brown bear. The bear was fast when running, and when it got close, it leaped up, its huge paws swiping down.
"Whoosh."
Jamie Smith moved his feet, nimbly dodging to the side, causing the giant brown bear to miss. While dodging, Jamie Smith also thrust his spear.
"Hiss!" The spear, like a venomous snake emerging from its hole, instantly pierced the bear's neck, which was the bear's 'vital spot', but Jamie Smith only felt an immense resistance when he thrust, and the spearhead only penetrated a bit before it stopped!
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"Buzz."
As Jamie Smith pulled out his spear and dodged the bear's counterattack, he thrust again.
This spear was even faster, the spear tearing through the air with a peculiar sound, the tip instantly penetrating most of the way into the giant bear's neck. As he pulled out the spear, blood gushed out, and the bear began to collapse powerlessly.
"A regular jab is not powerful enough, even a neck thrust doesn't penetrate deep. I had to use the Shadow Thrust to kill a giant bear," Jamie Smith silently evaluated, looking up at the distant cave, where the other four giant bears, who had not considered the outsider a threat, now felt a huge threat and were filled with anger after seeing the outsider injure and then kill their companion with just two thrusts!
"Roar~~" "Roar~~"
The four giant bears charged forward, their roars filled with anger and sorrow.
"Although a bit tricky, I can still handle four," Jamie Smith clearly judged the situation, "These giant bears have the advantage in physique and strength, but they are inferior to me in speed and agility, and they can't block my Shadow Thrust."
But just then –
"Roar~~~~" Suddenly, a much deeper and more powerful roar came from the cave, changing Jamie Smith's expression. The cave trembled, and an incredibly huge brown bear charged out. This was a super-giant brown bear, over six meters long, making the previous bears seem like mere cubs in comparison.
"Maybe the smaller bears really are its children?" Jamie Smith muttered to himself, his eyes flashing with cold determination, not fleeing but instead actively facing the four angry giant bears.
His steps were ghostly, and as he approached the four giant bears, he made a quick change in direction, followed by a spear thrust.
In the seven days, Jamie Smith's spear and shield techniques had improved, but his greatest improvement was in his footwork! In front of Jamie Smith, these four giant bears seemed too clumsy.
"Puff!"
One thrust deeply penetrated the neck of a large bear, and as another large bear angrily pounced, its paw swinging, Jamie Smith immediately retracted his spear and dodged. While dodging, he turned and executed a backhand thrust! With full force, he again penetrated the neck of a large bear.
In just a few steps, he killed two large bears.
"Those top experts would maintain distance and be careful in defense, not giving me a chance to use the Shadow Thrust. But these bears... they don't defend at all, they just charge," Jamie Smith thought after killing two bears, then glanced at the super-giant brown bear that was charging furiously in the distance.
"The bear king is coming, it's faster than me, it's going to be tough to deal with."
Jamie Smith thought to himself.
Puff!
While walking, another Shadow Thrust left a large hole in the neck of a large bear. Now only one large bear was left, and that bear was scared, turning to run towards the bear king!
"So I have to get rid of the other bears quickly," Jamie Smith didn't care about the charging bear king at all, instead, he actively chased after the last large bear, his speed still having the advantage over these bears.
"Boom!"
In a direct pursuit, a fierce and violent Mountain Breaker! Thrust from the bear's mouth, penetrating through the skull.
"Roar——" The bear king roared with immense anger as it pounced to kill.
Jamie Smith calmly pulled out his spear and dodged, avoiding the pounce.
"In terms of physique, strength, and speed, I'm not as good as this bear king. Only my agility and skills give me an advantage," Jamie Smith had understood a truth since his youth, in one-on-one fights on the arena, once you lose your calm, you've already lost most of the battle.
One-on-one combat is about avoiding your weaknesses and playing to your strengths.
"Rip——"
The bear king, six meters long, was too huge, its bear paws could cover a large area when swiping, and Jamie Smith used the trees in the forest to dodge. These trees... were a help for someone of his smaller size.
"Boom." The bear's paw hit a large tree, and the tree trunk snapped under the impact, causing Jamie Smith's eyes to twitch.
He knew the bear king's strength must be terrifying. But it was too terrifying.
"If I get hit by one of its paws, I'm done for," Jamie Smith thought as he carefully dodged, looking for an opportunity to attack.
The bear king pursued.
Jamie Smith used the terrain to his advantage, constantly dodging.
For a while, trees were falling left and right, and the snow was thrown up by the vibrations.
In the flying snow, a spear suddenly thrust out! The spear was as fast as lightning, appearing close-up and unexpectedly, and the bear king, in its furious charge, collided with the spear.
"Puff." The spear penetrated one of the bear king's eyes, but only partway before it got stuck.
Whoosh.
Jamie Smith immediately pulled out his spear and retreated.
"Roar~~~" The bear king, now blinded in one eye, became even more furious and crazed.
"I can't believe it's still not dead," Jamie Smith was also somewhat incredulous.
...
The crazed bear king pursued Jamie Smith, who continued to dodge using the terrain, occasionally counterattacking with a thrust, and the bear king was also very careful to protect its only remaining eye, but its neck was punctured with hole after hole by Jamie Smith.
After a grueling eighteen minutes of fierce combat, the bear king finally collapsed, powerless.
Jamie Smith was also exhausted.
Eighteen minutes!
A highly tense, full-force battle for eighteen minutes!
"I stabbed so many holes in the bear king's neck, and it died from blood loss," Jamie Smith said helplessly, "It's just too tough."
"Stabbing its chest or back just doesn't penetrate," Jamie Smith was also quite helpless, looking around, seeing a large number of trees felled and the snowy ground in chaos, "Fortunately, my footwork has improved a lot in the seven days since the virtual world opened. If I had encountered this bear king on the first day, I would have been slapped to death, unable to fight for so long."
Long hours of training in body strength, being surrounded by hundreds of fierce bandits, made Jamie Smith's footwork much more slippery.
"Second level passed, preparing to enter the third level of the Starry Tower," a voice rang in his ear.
Jamie Smith's exhaustion faded, his body returned to peak condition, and his spear and armor were spotless.
The scene in front of him also began to change, bringing him to the third level of the Starry Tower.