"Why do you want to learn Alchemy？" Yaoyao asked, puzzled.
"If a mage doesn't learn Alchemy, they'll be dead broke at higher levels, since magic potions are too expensive. Human mages have a talent that lets them craft magic potions above their level. Not learning Alchemy would be such a waste," Nie Yan said.
"Alright, I've noted the coordinates. Thanks for the advice, Nie Yan."
Spotting a water spider ahead, Nie Yan swam toward it. About five yards away from the water spider, he suddenly stopped. This water spider seemed a bit different from the usual ones—its body was larger.
Water Spider Leader： Level 3, 120/120.
"It's a leader monster." Nie Yan turned to Yaoyao.
"Can we take it？" Yaoyao asked. Nie Yan knew more than she did, so whenever she had questions, she was starting to get used to asking him for advice.
"Probably, but it'll be a bit tough." Nie Yan looked around. The water was open with no usable terrain—this was a water spider's paradise.
"If it's too dangerous, let's just forget it," Yaoyao said. Dying here wouldn't be worth it; losing a level would take at least two or three days to get back.
"Do you have any Underwater Breathing Potions？" Nie Yan asked. Water spiders were surface-dwelling creatures that couldn't dive—this would be their fatal weakness.
"No, I didn't bring enough. I used them all up earlier." Yaoyao blushed. She hadn't expected to use so many Underwater Breathing Potions along the way. If she'd had them, she wouldn't have been in danger—just dive underwater when things got tough, and nothing would happen.
"I have another bottle here, take it. Water spiders can't breathe underwater. Attack it first, and if it corners you, dive immediately. I'll shoot it from a distance with my crossbow to lure it away. Once it's far enough, surface again and continue dealing damage. After we've worn down its health enough, we'll go in together." Nie Yan said after a moment of thought.
With this method, they could slowly grind the water spider to death.
"Didn't realize your brain was actually useful." Yaoyao couldn't help but glance at Nie Yan, as if any problem became effortless in his hands.
"I scored 260 on an IQ test as a kid. This little thing is nothing." Nie Yan laughed, swimming off in the other direction.
Seeing Nie Yan's smug look, Yaoyao couldn't help but smile. This guy really was one to shine with just a little sunshine.
About twenty yards from the Water Spider Leader, Nie Yan thought it was close enough and signaled to Yaoyao.
Yaoyao waved her staff, and a Judgment struck out, hitting the Water Spider Leader and taking 15 HP off it.
Boss-level monsters really did have much higher defense and everything.
The Water Spider Leader screeched and lunged at Yaoyao. Before it reached her, she could attack once more. She began channeling Holy Strike. A pillar of light crashed down from the sky, smashing into the Water Spider Leader and taking 16 HP off it.
After Nie Yan readied his crossbow bolts, he fired them one after another—thump, thump, thump—all hitting the Water Spider Leader. Damage numbers of -6 floated up from its head, and he nervously loaded more bolts.
After finishing her Holy Strike, Yaoyao saw the Water Spider Leader closing in and plunged into the water.
Once Yaoyao was underwater, the Water Spider Leader had no way to deal with her.
The water spider paced restlessly on the water surface near Yao Yao.
Puff puff puff, three more arrows struck the water spider leader. Its attention drawn to Nie Yan, it pounced toward him.
Nie Yan nervously loaded his crossbow, but before he could finish, the water spider leader was already upon him. He quickly swapped the crossbow for a dagger.
“Assassinate！”
Nie Yan struck the water spider leader’s abdomen with an Assassinate, dealing 12 points of damage.
The water spider leader lunged at him, knocking off over sixty points of Nie Yan’s HP.
What a high attack！
If he took another hit, he’d be dead for sure！
Nie Yan had intended to keep attacking, but faced with such danger, he didn’t dare risk it and plunged into the water with a dive.
The water spider leader’s attack missed. It raised a leg covered in spikes and stabbed downward like an arrow, plunging into the water and piercing Nie Yan’s shoulder, completely skewering it.
-32, a damage number floated up from Nie Yan’s head.
Having landed a hit, the water spider leader stabbed another leg at Nie Yan.
Nie Yan rolled in the water. The water spider leader’s spiked leg grazed past his cheek, raising a stream of bubbles.
“That was close！” Nie Yan dove deeper to escape the water spider leader’s attack range, with less than 20 HP remaining. He wouldn’t dare face the water spider leader head-on again.
“Holy Word！”
Taking advantage of the water spider leader being distracted by Nie Yan, Yao Yao unleashed a powerful magic spell, dealing 27 points of damage.
“Are you okay?” Yao Yao asked with concern, having seen two high damage numbers float up from Nie Yan.
“I’m okay. The Water Spider Chieftain’s attack is too strong—don’t let it hit you.” Nie Yan said, still shaken. He had underestimated the Chieftain’s attack power and almost died.
“Got it.” Yao Yao responded, swinging her staff.
Under Yao Yao’s continuous attacks, the Water Spider Chieftain’s aggro shifted to her again, and it lunged at her.
“Sanction！ Holy Strike！”
After finishing one round of attacks, Yao Yao dove back into the water.
The Water Spider Chieftain paced angrily on the surface, while the three arrows Nie Yan shot struck it in the rear again.
Back and forth, the Water Spider Chieftain’s health gradually drained. With Yao Yao’s final Holy Word, the Chieftain’s health bottomed out, it curled up, and floated on the water.
The whole process was easier than expected.
Seeing the Water Spider Chieftain dead, Nie Yan finally breathed a sigh of relief. Killing the Water Spider boosted his experience by about 5%, bringing it to 52%.
“What dropped？” Nie Yan asked.
“Take a look.” Yao Yao placed the two items she had just picked up onto the trade window.
Fine Silk Bracers （Bronze）： Level Requirement 0.
Stats： Defense 2-3, Magic +3.
Weight： 1.3 lbs.
Restrictions： Mage, any faction can use.
Rare Fine Silk： Quantity 5 rolls, crafting material.
“You have Identify skill？” Nie Yan asked. Normally, dropped equipment should be unidentified. He hadn’t expected Yao Yao to have learned Identify at such a low level.
“Yeah, I learned the lowest-level Identify skill.” Yao Yao nodded.
“The bracers are yours. The Rare Fine Silk goes to me—I have a use for it.” Nie Yan said. He wondered how Rare Fine Silk differed from regular Fine Silk, and whether Physician Blevins would accept Rare Fine Silk.
"Yeah, I won't hold back either." Yao Yao said, since she happened to need these gloves. These gloves added 3 Mana—for a mage, Mana was the best stat. On the market, they'd be worth at least fifty or sixty copper coins. From that perspective, Nie Yan was getting the short end of the stick, which made her feel a bit guilty. But then she remembered that Nie Yan had also taken a Dagger skill book earlier, so she felt better about it.
Yao Yao placed the Rare Fine Silk in the trade window, and both of them clicked confirm.
While trading items, they were standing very close. Nie Yan's gaze fell on Yao Yao's cheek. Her skin had always been flawless—white as jade porcelain, without a single blemish.
"What are you looking at？" Yao Yao asked, flustered inside. Being stared at by Nie Yan, a faint blush crept across her cheeks.
Seeing Yao Yao blush, Nie Yan laughed heartily and swam toward a water spider not far away.
After farming monsters all afternoon, Nie Yan had collected twenty-three Fine Silks, while Yao Yao had gathered enough water flasks.
"A few days from now, my team is going to clear the Treant Forest in Tradock Town. There are still a few spots left. Do you want to join？" Yao Yao asked, trying to act casual, but secretly hoping Nie Yan would agree.
The Treant Forest was a level-3 mini-dungeon, one of the basic dungeons. Basic dungeons were usually quite tough. The final Treant King was a pain to deal with—it was a sub-elite monster. If a warrior's defense wasn't at least sixty and their health wasn't above two hundred twenty, they wouldn't stand a chance.
"How many people do you have？"
"Including you, eighteen. Two Shield Warriors, two Berserkers, two Paladins, two Rogues, three Priests, and seven Mages."
“How much defense and HP does your main shield warrior have？” Nie Yan asked. If Yao Yao’s team was elite, going along wouldn’t hurt—Tree Demon Forest dropped plenty of good thief gear.
“Fifty-three defense, two hundred thirty HP.”
“HP is okay, but defense is too low. I suggest you don’t go,” Nie Yan said, shaking his head. The shield warrior was lacking.
“Why？” Yao Yao stared at him with wide, confused eyes.
“The Tree King has a 2% critical hit chance. Your main shield warrior’s defense and HP need to be high, and the healers must keep up. If a crit lands and your main tank gets one-shot, you’ll all die. Sure, the dungeon won’t drop equipment or lose levels, but losing 20% experience is painful enough.”
“How do you know？”
Nie Yan gave a faint smile but didn’t answer.
“Even if what you’re saying might be right, they’ve been prepping for days. I can’t just bail on them.”
“Take my advice—have your main shield warrior get defense to sixty before going,” Nie Yan said. If Yao Yao ignored his warning and went, she’d definitely lose 20% experience. But at least 20% wasn’t too much—could be farmed back in less than a day.
“Defense to sixty? That’d mean getting at least one Bronze-tier defensive piece. Too hard.” Yao Yao shook her head. A Bronze-tier defensive piece cost five or six times more than regular Bronze gear—at least three or four silver coins. Their team couldn’t afford that.
“Postpone it if you can. If your friends insist on going, there’s nothing you can do. Anyway, dying only costs 20% experience.”
“Nie Yan, is what you said true？” Yao Yao furrowed her brows, worried.
Nie Yan nodded and swam toward a nearby water spider.
Yao Yao instinctively felt that what Nie Yan said was trustworthy, but she was puzzled—how did Nie Yan know? Had he been to the Treant Forest? Even if he had been there, there was no way he could have gotten such precise data so quickly.
"I should head back now since my quest is done. I had a lot of fun leveling with you today, Nie Yan. Add me as a friend, and I'll contact you later." Yao Yao said, feeling a hint of reluctance. Nie Yan was the first male friend she'd gotten along with so pleasantly—though it was strictly limited to just being friends.
"Sure." Nie Yan replied and added Yao Yao as a friend.
"Well, I'm off now. Bye bye." Yao Yao waved her hand and swam toward the opposite shore.
Yao Yao's figure grew farther and farther away.
After Yao Yao left, Nie Yan felt a slight twinge of melancholy, but he quickly adjusted his mood and continued farming Water Spiders.
One Water Spider after another fell under Nie Yan's dagger.
He checked the time—there were still three hours until the game closed today—when Nie Yan's voice chat sounded.
"Hey, pro. It's me." Stone sent a message.
"What's up？" Nie Yan replied.
"A friend of mine wants to meet you."
"I've been pretty busy lately, don't have much time."
"My friend said he's willing to pay two silver coins for the strategy guide to the Corrupted Warlock Camp."
"Did you guys get wiped at the wooden fence in the Corrupted Warlock Camp？" Nie Yan asked. That was a tough checkpoint—without knowing the trick, getting through was quite difficult.
"How did you know that？" Stone was startled. Nie Yan's guess was spot on. It further convinced him that Nie Yan had definitely cleared the Corrupted Warlock Camp before.
"Of course I know. You want the guide for the Corrupted Warlock Camp? Fine. Send the money to my personal warehouse first."
A personal vault is like an account, where the player themselves can freely deposit and withdraw, while other players can only deposit items but cannot withdraw them.
“Well, I need to go ask first,” Stone said. He was clearly not the one in charge. After a moment, he messaged Nie Yan, “My friend said we can pay a one-silver deposit first. If your guide really works, we'll pay the other silver.”
Nie Yan thought for a moment and said, “Okay.” The other party was willing to make this transaction because Nie Yan had been correct several times. If they paid first, they were taking a huge risk—if Nie Yan turned out to be a scammer, their money might as well have been thrown away. So paying half as a deposit first.
System： Player Flying Stone has deposited one silver coin into your personal vault.
“The money's already been transferred,” Stone said. He was also a bit nervous—if Nie Yan cut off the voice chat, their one silver coin would have been wasted for nothing.
"The first barrier, the wooden fence, has seven Forsaken Warlocks. Don't let the warriors tank them. All seven will shoot at once, and no warrior under level five can withstand it. Have a thief stand at that spot under the locust tree outside the fence, and use a crossbow to shoot the leftmost Forsaken Warlock. Remember, you have to hit the exact spot to pull just three. Take them out, and the remaining four will be much easier. The second key spot is near the altar, where a Forsaken Priest is. If you're not careful fighting him, you'll end up pulling the Forsaken Warlord. The Priest moves every five minutes. When he walks to the stone pillars outside the altar, have your shield warrior aggro him, drag him about five or six yards away, then have the melee close in. Take out the Priest, and then you can kill the Warlord. If you have any more questions, just message me." Nie Yan said. Take the money and solve the problem. It was just a small dungeon anyway, it'd be cleared soon. Getting some coin for a little info wasn't bad—especially a full two silver coins.
"That's it？" Stone was stunned and asked.
"That's it."
A bit of info like that, worth two silver coins. Nie Yan was making money way too easily.
But this method was refined through countless wipes; an average team would take a few wipes to figure it out. Thinking about it that way, maybe the guide wasn't that expensive.