Chapter 36: Toward the next city
Ray just jumped back into the gaming pod. He closed the lid and tapped on the power button.
The familiar red light scanned him from head to toe.
[User registration confird. Logging in...]
A weightless sensation pulled at him as he found himself floating in the darkness.
Then two massive "ZA" letters appeared in front of him, glowing with a golden hue.
[Welco to Zenaris Online.]
A bright light engulfed him.
As the light faded, he woke up inside an empty dark alley. An entire day had already passed within the ga.
Not even a mont later, a notification popped up in front of him.
Ding!
[Congratulations, player Adder. You have successfully passed the induction ceremony. The path out of the village has been opened for you.]
Adder waved off the notification and mumbled, "Player status."
===
Player Na: Adder
Species: Human/???
Class: Dungeon Master
Subclass: Desolate Jailer.
Title: Master of Serpent Cave
Level: 10*
Health: 190/190*
Mana: 145/145*
__________________________________________________________
AGL: 5
VIT: 5
INT: 5
STA: 5
STR: 5
DEF: 5
__________________________________________________
Status: Healthy.
Unassigned stat points: 63*
Equipnt: -> Beginner Sword (Low Trash)
===
This ti, he finally managed to get the guide’s perfect blank stats. In his past life, achieving level 10 without any stat investnt was a testant for those who wanted to go pro.
Although small, it was another of his achievents. But it had to change now, especially now that he had to move out of the village and enter the real ga.
The real ga, where monsters started to have skills.
Adder just stared at his stat panel. It was a big decision now. ’Should I stick to the plan?’ But then he thought about his subclass.
The biggest problem was that he had no idea how this class would work in the future.
His biggest doubt was whether to invest in vitality or not. Originally, he had not planned to do it, but the Crimson Vile forced him to think about that.
Adder shook his head. ’Nah, let’s stick to the plan.’ He wasted no further ti and started adding points to agility, intelligence, stamina, and strength.
"Stats:"
===
Level: 10*
Health: 190/190
Mana: 245/245*
__________________________________________________________
AGL: 20*
VIT: 5
INT: 25*
STA: 10*
STR: 15*
DEF: 5
__________________________________________________
Status: Healthy.
Unassigned stat points: 13*
===
It was in the planned ratio of 1.5: 2: 0.5: 1 in AGL: INT: STA: STR. This was a skill-focused stat distribution that he had created based on his past life studies.
He stared at the last 13 points and decided to hold them, just in case vitality also ca into play with other cursed summons.
After one final check, he started walking to the village gate. The village was much quieter than the morning chaos.
Thankfully, he found multiple groups gathered around, shouting different city nas.
"Limiy City here!"
"Guys, join us for Sorasis City!"
"Lasaan City here!"
It looked more like a fish market. What was more interesting was that everyone who was shouting was already in leather armor.
There were a few in noob shirts and pants like him. The complete opposite of the day before.
Ignoring them, he knew for sure that most of these people had either grinded for a few days or were part of the guide groups.
He moved to the left side and found a mid-sized group of around 20 people shouting.
"Join us for Dulkami City!"
Adder instantly waved to the leader. "Hey, brother, when will you guys leave?"
The guy pointed a finger. "In an hour. Do you want to join as a defender or traveler?"
Adder just handed him 10 copper coins. "Here. I hope your group can handle the defense."
The group leader shuffled the coin pouch and nodded. "Welco to the group, traveler. Stay close when we move. Defenders up front, travelers in the middle."
Adder nodded to him and moved to the edge of the group. He leaned against the outer wall, calmly waiting for others to join.
Players kept joining the group.
There were a few confident ones already geared in leather armor like the group. Then others like him were still in beginner clothes.
Many among them kept glancing around with interest, talking about the different things they heard about what lay outside the village.
The chatter slowly grew.
"First ti leaving?"
"I heard monsters outside have skills."
"Do you know about the NPC scam?"
"Hey, how did you perform in the chain quest?"
Adder closed his eyes for a mont, ignoring the noise.
In one hour, the group grew almost four tis. Interestingly, most chose to be defenders.
Many of them smirked at him and a few other travelers.
Adder just shook his head as he saw the shadow of his past self among them.
In his past life, he was soone who found pride in saving even a single coin.
Only later in his past life did he learn the perks of spending money.
Also, he didn’t want to be troubled for an amount that couldn’t even buy him a single defense set in his dungeon.
The leader finally clapped loudly. "Alright! Everyone gathered up. Defenders to the sides. Travelers to the center."
Adder walked to the main group in the center as the leader and his n arranged the defenders into a diamond-shaped formation.
Not long after, the group began to move north, following a small road parallel to the city wall.
...
Just a few hundred ters past the village, the dirt road curved left to the other side of the forest.
The dirt path also narrowed, going through patches of tall grass and scattered trees.
The moonlight barely lit the way, leaving most of the surroundings in shadow.
The leader shouted to the center, "Defenders, stay alert for an ambush."
At his reminder, everyone guarding the sides took out their weapons.
Unbothered, Adder calmly chewed on hard bread, walking at a steady pace.
The chatter died down as the group moved in silence.
The energy had changed. After all, death here would an starting from the village again, along with a one-day cooldown tir.
A guy at the front suddenly shouted, "Hold!"
The group slowed, only for a loud howl to follow.
Before the group could react, two massive silver wolves pounced on a guy on the left side.
The guy only managed to let out a scream as the wolves dragged him into the bushes.
A few players around him rushed after the wolves when the leader shouted, "No, stay in formation! Magicians, use light ball spells!"
At that mont, many from the main group mumbled sothing as multiple yellow light balls ford above their heads.
The leader shouted, "No need to panic. Those were mirror wolves; they are afraid of bright light."
Sure enough, as the leader shouted that, Adder saw multiple streaks of silver running away from them.
Adder stared at the leader with interest.
Many even praised the leader.
At which the leader just shouted, "Keep moving!"
The first death had very little effect as they moved through the forest at the sa speed.
The group continued.
Interestingly, the dirt road widened slightly as they moved deeper into the forest.
All sorts of weird sounds filled the surroundings. The magicians had already stopped the light ball skill to not attract insects.
A player beside Adder finally spoke. "You look relaxed."
Adder turned to him and saw him pointing at the bread in his hand.
Adder just stuffed another piece of bread and mumbled, "I eat under stress."
The guy nodded, adjusting the crude shield on his arm. "Oh, okay."
Adder just nodded as both of them went back to silence.
...
After so ti, the group reached a narrow stretch between two rocky ridges.
The leader raised his hand. "Stay tight here."
The formation compressed into an arrowhead. Adder felt a pull on his shirt as one of the core mbers waved, pulling him and another traveler to the back.
Adder followed while scanning the surroundings, sensing danger.
Just then, a sharp cry echoed from the front.
"Contact!"
Three shadowy figures dropped from the rocks above.
It took him a mont as he saw three bear-like creatures with massive spikes on their bodies, each staring at the group with bright yellow eyes.
Grrr! Grrr!
With one loud growl, they jumped straight into the front line.
In a single charge, multiple players scread in pain.
The main group finally took action.
Two guys with massive shields jumped before the bears, stopping their charge just in ti.
At that very mont, multiple players with axes swung at the beasts.
One of the bears managed to slip through the gap and rushed toward the middle, right toward the travelers.
But just as it was about to jump, a massive spear pierced through its head, killing it on the spot.
The leader calmly walked to the dead beast and shouted, "Don’t break formation!"
The remaining two bears were also quickly overwheld by other attacks.
Within seconds, the fight was over.
But the mood had changed again, as more than five had already died, and they were not even halfway through the route.
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