Chapter 16 All Liars
In the bustling square of Willowbrook Town, flashes of white light flickered as figures appeared one by one—the resurrected members of ShadowForge Studios.
These people looked dejected and extremely gloomy.
Nothing compared to the pain and torment of gaining something only to lose it in an instant.
Just a moment ago, they were dreaming of dominating Willowbrook Town and rapidly leveling up. The next second, they were back from the dead, having lost levels and skill proficiency. Moreover, the experience points accumulated at Level 1 were now much lower than before, even below that of ordinary players.
Blazeclaw, now resurrected, had a grim expression, his gaze enough to devour someone.
System: [Player Kai Blackthorn killed you. In 3 seconds, you will resurrect in Willowbrook Town, with a decrease of 1 level and a decrease of 100 points in all skill proficiencies.]
"Kai Blackthorn, I won't let you off. I will make you suffer!" Blazeclaw roared, scaring off other players who dared not look directly at this madman.
After venting for a while, Blazeclaw ordered everyone to check their backpacks to see what they had lost.
Although everyone had suffered greatly from dying, hunting Kobolds had yielded both experience and item drops. This was their only consolation; at least their efforts hadn't been entirely in vain.
When Blazeclaw opened his backpack, he suddenly felt a sweet sensation in his throat and spurted out a mouthful of blood.
"Immediately, right now, we are going to Darkmoon Valley. I must kill that kid," Blazeclaw roared furiously, his anger soaring.
The skill book he had intended to mock Eric with had disappeared. It was an extremely rare swordsman skill book, the most valuable item dropped while hunting Kobolds. Now, it was gone.
But what was unforgivable was that this skill book had fallen into Eric's hands. In the end, all of Blazeclaw's efforts had benefited Eric, something he could not tolerate. Even if he reduced Eric to Level 0, it wouldn't be enough to vent his anger.
The other members had no clue what was going on with Blazeclaw. Going to find Eric now was futile. No one would be foolish enough to wait for them for revenge. They must have already slipped away and were laughing at them.
At this moment, Blazeclaw's communication device rang.
"Who is it? Are you looking for trouble at this time? Are you asking for death?" Blazeclaw cursed loudly after answering the call.
"Blazeclaw, it's been a day, and your temper has grown worse." The voice on the other end was cold and full of anger.
Blazeclaw found the voice very familiar. When he matched it to the person's identity, his face turned even uglier. "Lucas Hill?? I was just educating my subordinates. Lucas, please don't mind. I wasn't talking about you."
"Enough. I know all about your affairs. Look at what you've done, letting ShadowForge Studios develop into what it is in Willowbrook Town. I will come to you now. From now on, you don't need to be the captain of Willowbrook Town. Elementalist Silent Rain from the team will temporarily take over. If I arrive in Willowbrook Town and you haven't reached Level 2, you will get lost. ShadowForge Studios doesn't need trash."
After hearing these words, Blazeclaw felt utterly defeated. His hatred for Eric was insurmountable.
Meanwhile, in Darkmoon Valley, Eric and Tonny were picking up the dropped items of the ShadowForge Studios members.
Eric was holding the skill book dropped by Blazeclaw.
"Blazeclaw is really generous. He even left this for me," Eric said, choosing to learn the skill without hesitation.
Wind-chasing Sword, an action skill, requires a sword. It charges at enemies within 90 feet from 15 feet away, increasing movement speed by 40% towards the target, increasing attack speed by 20%, lasting for 3 seconds, with a cooldown of 25 seconds, Level 1, proficiency 0/300.
With this skill, the swordsman's mobility greatly improved, serving as a significant counter to Rangers and Mages who like to kite.
"Eric, now we have all the Starfall Ore, and there's plenty of bronze ore, too. ShadowForge Studios really helped us a lot," Tonny laughed heartily, picking up the dropped ores from the ground. Seeing a piece of emerald ore, he asked, "Eric, what is this Starlight Stone?"
Eric, who was picking up ores, suddenly turned and ran towards Tonny upon hearing "Starlight Stone," not even bothering to pick up the Starfall Ore under his feet.
"It's indeed a Starlight Stone. Tonny, you're so lucky to find this. It's priceless to me," Eric said, examining the emerald ore carefully, excited.
While all monsters worldwide had a chance to drop Starlight Stones, the chance was one in a million. To others, it might be trash, but to Eric, it was a priceless treasure, something he needed the most.
"Eric, what is the use of this Starlight Stone?" Tonny asked curiously. Eric, usually calm and composed, was so excited, indicating the preciousness of the Starlight Stone.
"The Starlight Stone is for consumption, but not for players," Eric smiled slightly, no longer explaining, and put away the Starlight Stone.
"For consumption?" Tonny was puzzled. Who would eat a stone? However, since Eric was unwilling to explain further, there must have been a reason, so he stopped asking.
After a while, all the dropped items were collected, totaling 14 Starfall Ores and 32 bronze ores, not only completing Eric's mission but exceeding it slightly.
Then, the two headed to the blacksmith's shop.
"Jack, I've collected all the Starfall Ores you wanted," Eric said, handing over all the Starfall Ores without keeping a single one. These were quest items, and even selling them to NPCs would only fetch one copper per set, which was hardly worth anything.
"You've done well. But to become an excellent blacksmith, you need enough strength to obtain precious ores. In the Red Star Mine, there is a powerful Kobold Leader. Go kill it to prove your strength," Jack Scott said boldly after receiving the Starfall Ores.
System: [Hidden quest 'The Path of Forging,' requiring you to kill the Kobold Leader in the Red Star Mine within 1 hour.]
Seeing there was a second stage to the mission, Eric almost wanted to curse Hammer Trader. This was putting him in a tough spot.
Indeed, everyone had their reservations, and you couldn't trust anyone. They were all scammers.
In his previous life, Hammer Trader had never mentioned a second-stage mission. Now, a sudden second-stage timed quest had emerged, involving a boss-like Kobold Leader, not just an ordinary elite monster but stronger than a special elite. For Eric, who was only Level 3, this was too deadly.
In his previous life, Hammer Trader had accepted the mission at Level 16, making it much simpler to complete.
"Never mind, I'll go check it out first." Despite being deceived, Eric had no intention of giving up. The forging talent was too crucial, and he had to learn it.
Afterward, Eric and Tonny cleared out Kobolds along the way, gradually advancing deeper into the Red Star Mine.
Compared to the Kobolds at the mine entrance, the ones inside were not Level 4 but Level 5, making it time-consuming and laborious to kill them. Often, before they could finish off one, another would respawn. If it weren't for enough Black Iron Beer, which reduced the Kobolds' levels by 2, Tonny and Eric's killing speed wouldn't keep up with the respawn rate.
Half an hour later, Eric reached the deepest part of the Red Star Mine.
It was a vast open space, with a dozen Kobolds mining around. In the center stood a huge Kobold clad in armor, continuously directing the others.
Kobold Leader, a boss-level monster, Level 5, with 2100/2100 HP.
Just the Kobold Leader's HP was despair-inducing, not to mention its heavy armor, which meant high defense. Dealing significant damage with physical attacks was almost impossible. Additionally, during combat, a boss-level monster like the Kobold Leader regenerated 2% of its HP every 5 seconds, meaning it recovered 42 HP every 5 seconds. Although it seemed small, an average Level 5 physical damage player might not even deal 42 damage in that time.
Killing it with a smoke bomb without taking damage was impossible. The boss monster had an extensive field of vision, even for a Kobold, with a range of 165 feet, reduced by 30 feet, leaving a distance of 135 feet. Even the Ranger with the longest range was only 120 feet, which was insufficient.
Looking at the Kobold Leader before him, Eric pondered for a while and chuckled helplessly, "Do I really have to use that?"
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