Updated: 2014-02-11
Everyone was speechless about Lin Zheng's heaven-defying luck. After a moment of stunned silence, they began the boss kill operation.
"Alright, let's assign positions now!" Yang Qi said after some thought, "Lin Zheng and I will be the parry personnel. Lin Zheng, no problem?"
"Should be no problem!" Lin Zheng was very confident in his skills.
"That's good!" Yang Qi nodded, then turned to Tifa and Longya, "Lin Zheng and I have the highest attack here, so when we swap parries, we'll attract most of the boss's aggro. You two need to be careful when attacking to avoid pulling too much aggro with excessive output!"
"Bawang, Chun Feng, when the boss roars, you two go up and pull the boss away. Xiao Miao will take this opportunity to fully heal Shengun and me. After that, Shengun and I will resume parrying the boss! When the boss goes berserk, Xiao Miao, you'll have to work harder. You must ensure that Shengun and I maintain over 80% health! Otherwise, we'll be dead!"
"That! That! I can heal in time, but my mana isn't enough!" Xiao Miao said anxiously.
"Hehe! Don't worry, I picked up a lot of mana from the guy who just killed Pride Sword!" Lin Zheng triumphantly traded the mana to Xiao Miao, solving her mana problem! Everything was ready; they could begin!
"Now, Lin Zheng! Go!" Yang Qi shouted, gripping her Black Crow Sword with both hands and charging towards the boss. Lin Zheng followed closely, even surpassing Yang Qi, meeting the boss before her! Lin Zheng rushed forward with a Stomp, -435. The boss's defense was truly speechless; it only took that much damage. Speechless or not, Lin Zheng still swung his dagger and stabbed the boss twice, -185, -1ss. The boss swung its axe down, and Lin Zheng raised his dagger to block, *ding*! The two weapons parried, and -240 damage floated above Lin Zheng's head. At this moment, a white light fell, +240, and Lin Zheng and the boss both tilted backward, losing balance! At the same time, Yang Qi rushed forward to swap places with Lin Zheng, shouting loudly, and a signature skill of the Heavy Sword Knight, "Angry Slash," chopped down towards the boss, -570. Good heavens, her damage was much higher than Lin Zheng's! At the same time, Tifa and Longya's arrows and fireballs arrived, -174, -340! Yang Qi seized the time, gave the boss two more sword strikes, each dealing around 200 damage, and finally, blocked again, her Black Crow Sword parrying the boss's axe!
"Lin Zheng!"
"Coming! Don't shout!" The adjusted Lin Zheng stepped up again, but this time the boss roared very directly! Seeing this, Bawang and Chun Feng quickly rushed forward. Bawang used "Taunt," successfully pulling the roaring boss away from Lin Zheng and Yang Qi. Chun Feng occasionally parried the boss to prevent it from killing Bawang, knowing that the healing was now entirely on Lin Zheng and Yang Qi.
"Be careful, based on what we just saw, the boss will go berserk very soon after roaring!" Lin Zheng shouted to Bawang and Chun Feng. Sure enough! After being hit by Chun Feng a few times, the boss roared and entered berserk mode. Bawang immediately took an axe hit; over a thousand damage was no joke! One more hit and Bawang would be done for. At the critical moment, Chun Feng blocked the boss's axe, and the full-health Lin Zheng and Yang Qi quickly rushed over to take their places.
This berserk state was truly no joke. Even when blocked, Lin Zheng would lose over 800 HP per hit. With his HP, it would only take two hits. Yang Qi primarily focused on strength, so her HP wasn't very high either, and she couldn't take two hits. Fortunately, Xiao Miao was truly powerful, pulling HP back very quickly, ensuring that both of them had 90% health before each parry. This was how they avoided dying under the boss's axe. Of course, for this, she used up all the mana Lin Zheng had given her!
However, it was all worth it! As soon as the boss's berserk state passed, Lin Zheng and Yang Qi relaxed again, perfectly coordinating their parries, relentlessly suppressing the boss's attacks. The boss's health rapidly decreased under their attrition. A few minutes later, the boss finally had only a sliver of health left. Lin Zheng unceremoniously landed an Explosion Stomp on the boss's belly. *Boom!* The Explosion wave spread from the boss's belly, like a wall of fire standing before Lin Zheng, and the boss was kicked flying by Lin Zheng, an astonishing -3240 damage appearing above its head! A critical hit! The boss violently crashed into a tree and then shook to the ground, magnificently dropping a pile of items!
"Damn! What a huge haul!" Yang Qi shouted excitedly, rushing towards the boss's corpse. The others also cheered and ran over. This boss fight wasn't easy; everyone was mentally strained and exhausted! With the boss dead, everyone became excited!
"I haven't heard of anyone killing this boss yet; this is definitely a First Kill! Look at what it dropped! Awesome!" Yang Qi, without any concern for her image, pounced on the boss's treasures, shrieking like a dragon seeing its hoard.
"Alright, stop messing around. Count what we have and then let's get out of here quickly! We just poached a boss someone else found; they'll be coming for us soon!" Lin Zheng said, kicking Yang Qi.
"Someone else's? Hmph—if we killed it, then it's ours! No one can do anything about it!" Yang Qi said disdainfully, but she still got up and casually asked, "Which group of guys?"
"Pride Sword!"
"Tsk! So it was those bird-brained guys! It's still a steal!" Yang Qi shouted, apparently having some animosity with Pride Sword as well. Seeing everyone's confused faces, Yang Qi explained, "Yesterday, those guys tried to steal my leveling spot, saying they were clearing the area! They didn't even look at who I was, daring to clear my spot. After I killed one team, two more teams came! They were shamelessly relentless! They're all scumbags! I'll kill them every time I see them from now on!"
"Stop shouting. They have more people. You'll be in trouble if you get surrounded!" Lin Zheng said grumpily, "Hurry up and clear the items!"
“Alright! Alright! Hehe! There’s nothing more exciting than clearing boss treasures!” Yang Qi rubbed her hands excitedly and began to count the boss’s loot.
The boss dropped a lot of gold coins, over 140, so each person could get about 20.
It also dropped quite a few pieces of equipment, six in total!
Unfortunately, they were all Silver-grade, with no Gold-grade equipment.
There was a necklace that increased healing by 30%, which undoubtedly went to Xiao Miao.
Bawang received a shield that significantly increased his defense.
Long Ya obtained a ring that boosted intelligence.
Tifa had the best luck, getting a bow; since it wasn't a Sword Blade Bow, Lin Zheng generously gave it to Tifa.
Chun Feng also got a nice pair of shoes, and finally, there was a pair of gloves; however, since they were part of the Metal Armor series, Yang Qi happily took them.
Lin Zheng didn't expect any equipment, but he wasn't without Gains; the boss rarely dropped a skill book called “Low Kick,” an exclusive Swordfighter skill, which naturally went to Lin Zheng.
Low Kick: Level 1, Proficiency 0/1000, attacks the enemy's leg bone, dealing 150% physical damage and causing a “Shattered Bone” status.
Under this status, movement speed is reduced by 20% for 10 seconds, costs 50 mana, and has a cooldown of 10 seconds.
“This skill is really good!” Yang Qi said with a hint of jealousy, “It’s a powerful PK skill!
It’s also incredibly effective against melee bosses!
Damn it! Why can’t I learn it?!”
“Because you’re not a Swordfighter!” Lin Zheng laughed smugly, which earned him a glare from Yang Qi.
“The Swordfighter class actually requires a certain level of combat skill; otherwise, it’s hard to utilize the class’s advantages.
Only a game idiot like you would pick this class out of curiosity!
I bet you’ll regret it later!” Yang Qi said, cackling gleefully.
“Hmph—! It’s not your turn to mock me!” Lin Zheng pouted, “Alright, stop showing off your extensive game knowledge and hurry up and level up!
Or maybe you can start a guild later? We can take down Pride Sword?!”
“Forget about a guild for now; it’s more practical for me to just level up quickly!” As she spoke, Yang Qi checked the player rankings in Tianshuang City and couldn't help but curse: “Damn it! That Chong Chong is too fierce!
She’s already level 23! What!!! I actually dropped to fifth place!
There are too many strong players!
That’s it, I’m out of here! See you all!” With that, Yang Qi dashed away in a hurry.
The others watched Yang Qi’s amusing departure and couldn’t help but laugh.
After they finished laughing, Bawang said, “Alright, let’s hurry up too; it’ll be troublesome if Pride Sword’s people arrive!
Oh, and Shengun, you still have your quest to do!”
“Oh, right!” Lin Zheng slapped his forehead, “I almost forgot about that, let’s go, let’s go!
Hurry and help me finish the quest; we should be able to complete it before dinner!”
“Then let’s hurry!
Once we’re done, we should also focus on leveling up properly!”
“Mm!” The group nodded and then headed towards the quest location—the Gloomy Mine.
The Gloomy Mine is Tianshuang City’s largest mineral collection point; legend has it that you can find any mineral there except Epic-grade ones—of course, that’s just a legend!
Minerals are essential materials for crafting various equipment, so the Gloomy Mine inevitably attracted over 90% of Tianshuang City’s miner professions.
Upon entering, the “ding! ding!” sounds never stopped; the decibels definitely exceeded noise pollution standards!
However, the miners were unfazed, each one enthusiastically digging for minerals.
Seeing this, Lin Zheng remembered the 100 fine iron ores still needed for his quest, so he shouted in the cave, “Buying 100 fine iron ores!!”
With that shout, many players who heard him immediately ran over to inquire about the purchase price.
Fine iron ore was a scarce commodity in the early days, and its price was relatively high.
After several players competed for the sale, Lin Zheng ultimately paid 10 silver coins per piece for 100 fine iron ores, totaling 10 gold coins—a huge sum at the beginning of the server!
Lin Zheng reluctantly bought 100 fine iron ores, and after the transaction, he and his teammates ventured deeper into the mine to hunt ore-eating beasts.
Ore-eating beasts are monsters around level 20, resembling wild boars, and their numbers increase the deeper one goes into the mine.
Lin Zheng and his group found a spot where the numbers weren't too high and easily killed them, quickly collecting the 100 tusks Lin Zheng needed.
Back in Tianshuang City, since they each had quests to turn in, Lin Zheng parted ways with Bawang and the others, heading alone to the Professional Hall.
Upon entering the Professional Hall, Lin Zheng easily found Instructor Wang Yan, who was surrounded by perverts.
As he approached, Wang Yan surprisingly said, “You collected them so quickly! You’re amazing, little brother! Hehehe! Alright, here’s your reward!”
“Quest ‘Wang Yan’s Request’ completed, character experience increased by 50000, obtained equipment ‘Flying Swallow,’ friendship with Wang Yan increased by 100!, reputation increased by 500!”
“Clatter!” A piece of equipment dropped into Lin Zheng’s inventory.
Lin Zheng happily opened his inventory to look and found it was actually a Sword Blade Bow!
Taking out the Sword Blade Bow, he saw that it was exquisitely crafted, with its twin blades resembling a pair of golden swallow wings, no wonder it was called Flying Swallow.
Flying Swallow: Level Requirement 15, Silver-grade (Swordfighter)
Physical Attack 240-310, Magic Attack 189-230
Chun Feng: Wind Attack +50
Strength: 19
Moon Shadow: 50% chance to evade an attack; after effect occurs, it cannot be triggered again for 10 seconds.
“One day, I will fly in the sky like a swallow—Wang Yan.”
…
Wow! This bow was even used by Wang Yan!
Looking at its attributes, it’s truly exceptional.
In terms of raw damage, it’s even stronger than Yang Qi’s Black Crow Sword by a few points, making it a rare gem for a Swordfighter’s alt character!
Especially the fact that Wang Yan used it, it’s highly probable that this is the only one in the entire game, making it very valuable for collection!
However, it’s a bit of a shame that it can’t compare to the dagger he uses!
Should he sell it?
Just as he was thinking, Wang Yan spoke, “This bow is a treasure I cherish very much!
You mustn’t sell it casually!
If I don’t see it next time we meet, I won’t teach you skills!”
Big Sister, you have mind-reading abilities! You know everything I’m thinking!
Lin Zheng stared blankly at Wang Yan, who was pouting and acting cute, wondering whether to sell it or to sell it!?
Finally, to avoid not being able to learn skills in the future—even though Wang Yan might have been bluffing—Lin Zheng decided not to sell the bow!
He wasn't that short on money anyway!