Charging forward, I unleashed three basic attacks upon the wolf. The first blow was a thrust, the second a crush, and the third a slash. The three sword techniques were smoothly connected, each attacking different weak point of the Hell Windwolf. I managed to prevent it from unleashing any counterattack!

I was overjoyed inside. It felt easy to move and maneuver now. My delay had clearly shortened to about half a second. This was the intuition of a game expert. When the weapon in your hand was matched with great skill, unimaginable feats were within grasp. In reality, I was a complete newbie, but in terms of swordsmanship in the game, I was definitely at the top. Speaking of which, I was just a person who only talked on paper...

"Arr, Arr!"

The wolf howled as it fell to the flow, turning into abundant experience and a corpse.

I walked forward and looked carefully. A Level 38 Hell Windwolf. Such a high level. No wonder it gave me such pain with its attacks. Right now, I wore the Cyanfire Cloak, the Soul Turmoil Armor and the Beast-faced Turmoil Helmet. My equipment was extremely fine. Even so, the Hell Windwolf had taken nearly 300 HP from me with a bite. If this was any ordinary player, they would probably have been bitten to death.

I reached out with my fingers and shouted at the wolf. "Death Plunder!"

Whoosh!

After a bolt of light, an exquisite white wolf skin appeared in my hand. This was the fur of the Hell Windwolf, unusually snowy white, and definitely top material for making high-class pelt items such as GUCCI and LV. Of course, it wasn't possible to do such business in the game, but tailors could still turn this into good leather armor.

Hell Windwolf Pelt (Quality: 81): Rank 3 Leather, can be used to make leather armor.

As expected, this pelt was a Rank 3 material. Another windfall!

Tsk tsk, the Death Plunder skill looked useless, but was definitely my trump skill for making money in early stages. Especially when I was fighting wild beast monsters. This skill was a sure-fire way to get their skins and sinews!

I put away the wolf hide and continued forward.

Above my shoulder, the Dark Wasp had suddenly jumped to Level 11 15% experience after hogging a large amount of the Hell Windwolf’s experience. If I spend the night killing the wolves here, the Dark Wasp will reach at least Level 20, and be a worthy addition in my fights. At that time, my combat strength will soar!

I raised my hand and shouted, "Rise, undead!"

Crash!

The Hell Windwolf's plundered corpse suddenly trembled. Soon, the bones broke out, and a skeleton windwolf half the height of a man appeared.

Hell Windwolf (Demonic Servant)

Level: 30

Attack: 150~225

Defense: 150

HP: 1000

……

I was slightly surprised. As expected, Summon Undead was extremely strong after reaching Rank 3. The demonic servant that I summoned was Level 30, and its attack power was very good, only slightly lower than mine. On the other hand, its Defense and HP were both higher. This was definitely a good offensive meatshield!

"Haha, let’s go, Fantasy, Windwolf!"

I took the Dark Wasp and the skeleton wolf as I advanced. This time, I was confident. With my team of pets, even if I encounter two Hell Windwolves, I can manage!

I couldn’t finish this thought before two Hell Windwolves pounced at me. I immediately sent the skeleton wolf at one to tank it with Dark Wasp as support while I took another on my own!

"Pardon!"

"Slayer Slash!"

Whoosh whoosh whoosh...

After cleanly defeating the first wolf within five strikes, I turned around and smiled. The skeleton wolf was still grappling with its living brethren while the Dark Wasp danced in the air. It suddenly dived, the stinger on its tail stabbing into the windwolf's neck and dragging upwards!

Puchi!

117!

Tsk tsk, its attack power is considerable!

My confidence soared as I realized my palpable growth!

I went up and defeated the second Hell Windwolf with two blows. After using Death Plunder, another two skins appeared in my inventory. I looked at my demonic servant. Its HP was about done. Therefore, I released it and summoned again. Another impressive skeleton wolf rose from the dead. However, it was extremely taxing on my MP. Each Summon Undead came with 50 MP cost. It required more magic than mages used! Fortunately, I had taken along several bundles of Green Pepper Meatball, so I could replenish my mana as needed. In any case, I didn’t need to be frugal with my own crafts. As a result, my grind became very smooth.

The Immortal Trail Forest was almost overrun by Hell Windwolves. They were everywhere, and I was casually killing them. The Hell Windwolves were rich in experience, and even their drop rate was nice. I was getting a magic stone every ten wolves. With my level advantage, I could make a killing just selling these stones!

The Bloody Mercenaries already had three loyal members. We were like-minded and united. But what did we lack?

Money! If we couldn’t get enough money, the three founders of Bloody Mercenaries would starve to death.

……

I leveled up alone and bored. As the pillar of light descended, Dark Wasp’s level also increased. In the blink of an eye, more than four hours had passed. I was completely covered in sweat. I had already gotten the required number of teeth and killed the required number of enemies but I still continued in order to get more skins. Today, I was determined to not return to Frost Mound until I reached Level 35!

Just as I was in my killing trance, a message came—

Ding~!

System Notice: Player “Murong Mingyue” has sent you a friend request. Do you accept?

……

I stilled. Did Murong Mingyue recognize me? Or did something happen?

I looked at the time. It was nine in the morning. Sister Mingyue should have just gotten online. Why had she sought me out?

After a moment of thought, I accepted. If I refused, Murong Mingyue would definitely suspect something with her intelligence!

Beep!

She sent a message: "Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand, may I ask you something?"

"Yes.”

"Are you Falling Dust?"

"No.”

"Oh...”

"Anything else?"

"Yes!"

Murong Mingyue continued, "I heard that you and Gui Guzi have created a mercenary workshop. A friend and I have accepted a quest to kill a Level 32 boss. If it’s not a bother... could you help us? We can discuss the fee. What do you think about 10 gold?"

I immediately responded, "A Level 32 boss? No problem. Just wait by the eastern gate bridge of Floating Ice City. I will immediately come with others!"

"Alright!"

……

I patted my chest and quieted my fiercely-beating heart. Murong Mingyue and Xu Yang must have gotten a quest. This time, I definitely could not show any flaws. Otherwise, if He Yi found me, with my ghastly state both in reality and in the game, how could I meet her?

I had already decided that I would not return to Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls in this life. I would use the name of Bloody Mercenaries to protect them. Like a shadow, I would hide in the darkness to protect He Yi and our dream before slowly dissipating. That way, I wouldn't hurt them again, and hopefully I would have paved their way by then.

Crack!

My sword deflected paws of the enemy wolf, cleanly cutting its head off afterward.

Swoosh!

I successfully reached third place. The first name was Lin Yixin and the second was Dominating Heaven Blade who I had killed. This guy definitely had someone helping him level up. His leveling speed was as fast as the wind!

I sprinted back to Frost Mound and found Trainer Suren to hand in the quest items. Suren immediately laughed and said, "Good job, little skeleton, your strength is one people have taken notice of. Come, this is your reward!"

Ding~!

System Notice: Congratulations, you have completed the quest [Hell Windwolf]. You have gained 7200 EXP, 120 Reputation, and quest reward: “Windwolf Greaves”!

……

Windwolf Greaves?

I was overjoyed. Suren was so good. I had been killing Hell Windwolves for four hours, and had gathered more than 400 skins, but not a single piece of equipment dropped. I hadn't expected to be lucky and obtain a piece of equipment when I was handing in my quest!

I opened the bag. A pair of dark blue greaves lay quietly in the corner—

Windwolf Greaves (Steel-grade)

Defense: 32

Agility: +7

Level Requirement: 35

……

It is actually Steel-grade, surprising. It added an impressive 32 Defense and 7 Agility. While it didn’t increase my Strength or Stamina that I needed the most, Agility was not bad. Sufficient Agility would strengthen a player in individual battles too!

I put on the Windwolf Greaves, and took off the Bearskin Greaves I had put on earlier. My Defense soared by 25, all the way to 165. This level of defense was extraordinary at the present stage.

I looked at my equipment. Very good, very sharp. I could show myself in public—

ID: Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand

Class: Undead Swordsman (Bronze Swordsman)

Level: 35

HP: 780

Attack: 149~273

Defense: 165

Magic Resist: 0

Reputation: 514

Luck: 0

Weeping Fire Blade (Bronze-grade)

Attack: 25~40

Strength: +8

Level Requirement: 25

Beast-faced Turmoil Helmet (Steel-grade)

Defense: 28

Strength: +7

Level Requirement: 30

Soul Turmoil Armor (Dark Steel–grade)

Defense: 48

Stamina: +11

Passive: Increases the user's physical attack power by 2%

Level Requirement: 32

Cyanfire Cloak (Bronze-grade)

Defense: 22

Stamina: +7

Passive: Increases the user’s evasion rate by 0.5%

Level Requirement: 25

Black Bracers (Iron-grade Metal Armor)

Defense : 8

Strength: +2

Level Requirement: 10

Porcupine Boots (Iron-grade)

Defense: 12

Stamina: +3

Level Requirement: 10

Windwolf Greaves (Steel-grade)

Defense: 32

Agility: +7

Level Requirement: 35

Bloody Ring of Protection (Dark Steel–grade)

Strength: +18

Passive: Increases attack by 3% for dark players

Level Requirement: 30

……

After sighing over this for two seconds, I sent messages to Gui Guzi and Du Thirteen. "Go to the eastern gate bridge of Floating Ice City, we have a new commission!"

I repaired my equipment, saving two gold, and left the Frost Mound with my sword. I walked toward Floating Ice City. In any case, Gui Guzi and Du Thirteen would need half an hour to arrive.

Frost Forest had become a popular leveling place. I moved along the borders of the forest. The red name on top of my head was too eye-catching. As a powerful undead swordsman, I was not recognized by the Night Creatures, and not accepted by the Silver Moon Alliance. Therefore, in the wilds, I was red to everyone.