Under the glares of all players present, Li Wei walked next to the vice-commander. The latter did not bother to speak. He just walked quickly while occasionally taking sips from his bottle.

The groups dispersed but Li Wei could clearly see some of the players following him and the vice-commander.

Upon arriving at the barracks, the vice-commander did not say anything and just turned around and disappeared in one of the nearby tents. Although the threat was gone, the players did not dare to approach Li Wei and only stayed at the entrance. Li Wei just stood there, not knowing what he was supposed to do.

Shortly after, the Commander came out of the office building and raised his hand to invite Li Wei inside. "I did not expect us to meet again so quickly!"

"Hehe, I just got lucky, killing the Red Bandit Leader definitely gave me a lead over the others. But how come do you already know about his matter..." Li Wei quickly responded in a friendly manner and walked forward.

"Don't underestimate the militia. Even though we could not find the Red Bandit's hideout, we still have a decent information network. Such an obvious public incident won't go unnoticed by us. Come, I'll give you what you need."

The Commander brought Li Wei into his office. After serving a hot cup of tea, he quickly took out a crystal, similar to the one he got before, from his drawer and placed it in front of Li Wei.

"Thank you", Li Wei wasn't polite, he immediately grabbed the crystal and placed in on his forehead.

[System prompt: Congratulations player Seven, you have obtained the skills: [Howl], [Blade Draw]]

[Howl (level 0)]

Let out a sound wave in a circular radius, damage: 10, has a weak knocked back effect and chance to stun the targets.

Mana Cost: 20

Cooldown time: 30s

[Blade Draw (level 0)]

Performs the drawing motion of a blade and sends a wind blade towards the target, damage: 18

Mana Cost: 20

Cooldown time: 15s

With that, the two skills Li Wei saw the Red Bandit Leader use, were added to his own collection. The 4 skills he obtained from the commander were the only free basic skills given to all warriors. From now on, to get new skills, players will need to earn it.

After having been used, the crystal started to dim and crack. Li Wei just placed it back on the table only to see it slowly turn into dust to finally disappear.

"Thank you, Commander, I am now much more powerful than before."

"No problem, I hope that you will be able to break the records of the Tower of Heroes. While we are at it, may I ask what the drops of the Wolf Queen were?" said the Commander with a wry smile. Even he wanted to know what Li Wei obtained from the Wolf Queen.

Li Wei hesitated a little, but finally decided to show the items to the Commander. He did not have much use for them as he would most likely sell them. Turning them into his own equipment would be great but he was broke right now.

"Mmmmm" The Commander looked at the 4 items in front of him, "There is no core? Well never mind. Are you willing to sell them to the militia? We will give you a good price,” asked the commander while looking at Li Wei.

"Sure, how much?"

"3 gold for the Wolf Queen Meat, 10 for the Wolf Queen Blood and furs, 5 for the claws."

Li Wei did not know the value of these items, but the price mentioned by the commander seemed decent to him.

"I am no merchant, so I don't know their real value, but I would like to keep the claws and furs as I can ask a Blacksmith to turn them into equipment."

"Fine, I cannot be too greedy, you will need good equipment if you want to conquer the Tower of Heroes."

"Deal"

A quick trade was concluded, and Li Wei asked: "Commander, is there a discreet way for me to leave the camp? As you know, many eyes are watching me right now."

"Haha! Of course, I understand, don't worry. Follow me, there's a secret tunnel that leads to the brothel on Lyan Avenue."

"Huh a brothel?" exclaimed Li Wei.

"Well you are a man. You should know that sometimes, even disciplined soldiers have needs. It was arranged by the Vice-Commander. I could not stop him. That's the only other exit..." answered the commander with an embarrassed expression. He lightly coughed, not daring to make eye contact with Li Wei.

"Fine, I'll use it... show me the way."

...

On Lyan Avenue, a dark silhouette quickly escaped from the busy brothel. Li Wei was flushed red. Although he wasn't a saint in his previous life and did watch some R-rated movies, he was still a virgin and it was the first time he went to a brothel. The actual experience was unique.

The atmosphere and the different sounds that came from the rooms quickly woke something in Li Wei. Li Wei, naturally knew what that meant. He tried to suppress it and run away from this place; many girls in there laughed and teased him but he quickly escaped and left the brothel.

'Foufff, that was close... Maybe I should have stayed, it is my last night here after all' thought Li Wei while walking back to the inn.

....

The next morning,

"Judging from your equipment, I think it's better if you go to a tailor shop. You don't want metal armors, but rather leather ones. Since you don't have a shield, you need to be fast and agile to dodge attacks. Metal armors are heavier and less flexible. They will get in the way," explained Carlos.

The first thing Li Wei did when waking up and after taking his breakfast, was to go see Carlos. He needed to have his equipment upgraded as soon as possible before challenging the Tower of Heroes.

"That makes sense. Do you have any shops to recommend?"

"Sure, go down the road. There's a grandpa's shop. He is a bit stingy but does the job well. It is definitely worth it."

"Got it. I also have another thing to ask about the throwing needles. Is there a way to easily recollect them afterward? Sometimes I have to throw them and run away and have to leave them there in the wild. Do I always need to replace them?" asked Li Wei. He was about to leave Little Root Town and would no longer have Carlos to constant supply him with needles. He did not know how the situation was in the open world and did not want to take risks.

Carlos pondered for a moment before answering: "Ah I see what you mean, but for that, you need an enchanter. I have heard of arrows being enchanted so that they get back to their quiver after being shot. Throwing needles can also be enchanted. But there are no enchanters at Little Root Town right now. This profession is pretty rare since it's very costly to train."

"Enchanter, you say? Alright, thanks for everything Carlos. I will be leaving the town by tomorrow, so this is farewell."

"You are already leaving kid? Well, I should be the one saying thanks, I would have never been able to advance to grade 1 Blacksmith so quickly without your help. Thanks, kid! I wish you best of luck, Zero is vast, I am sure you'll like it."

After a bear hug, Li Wei left the shop and went to see that tailor.

The tailor shop was a bit small but very clean. Li Wei pushed the door open and went to the counter.

"I would like to order some custom equipment made with these two materials. What do you recommend?" directly asked, Li Wei, while taking out the two remaining drops of the Wolf Queen.

The old man's eyes lit up at the sight of the Wolf Queen's loot but he quickly got himself together. "For the claws, I recommend making gloves, they are very compatible. 10 gold. As for the fur, a chest armor would be good. 15 gold."

"What, that's so expensive!"

"If you want good stuff, then you have to fork out some money, that's business."

'All shopkeepers in this town are money grubbers...' thought Li Wei in his heart.

"Fine, I'll take the gloves, and I'll take the opportunity to sell those normal wolves' fur."

"Alright, I will make them, they should be ready within 2 hours. And here's 4 gold for the furs. Do you want to also sell the Wolf Queen's Fur? I can offer a good price for it"

"How much?"

"10 gold!"

"12!"

"Deal"

Seeing the tailor agree to it so quickly, Li Wei could not help but feel that he had made a loss. But still, it was 2 gold higher than what he would have obtained from the Commander.

Having confirmed his order, Li Wei left the shop, he still had some errands to run.

It was already 9:00. Normally players would have already left to go hunting, but this time, Li Wei felt that there were more players in town. As if they were all following him around and watching him, but he did not mind it. He was in town and they could not attack him there.

Li Wei went to the town hall, he needed to go there to access Zero.

At the reception, a young receptionist quickly greeted and congratulated him for his achievement. A few moments later, she took out a small cushion on which 2 crystals were neatly arranged and explained: "From now, you have 2 options: The blue crystal is a teleportation crystal that will bring you to Zero. Unfortunately, it is a one-way journey and it will be impossible for you to come back here. The red crystal is a reset crystal. Sometimes, people don't like the path they chose. This is the one and only opportunity they will get to restart anew. Please make your choice."

Li Wei looked at the 2 crystals and took the blue one without hesitation.

"You can use the crystal whenever you want. You can also choose not use it at all and join us at Little Root Town, we welcome everyone," added the receptionist with a smile.

This was an option available in case people did not like the game. They could just find a light job in the Beginner's town and live leisurely as living costs were quite low but only a minority would choose that option. After having lived a restricted life, everyone would want to go and explore the world.

"Thank you, I'll keep that in mind," answered Li Wei, while throwing the crystal into his inventory.

Li Wei left the town hall and went to sell the rest of his loot and refill his potions. After finishing his errands, it was time to go back to the tailor shop to see the results.

...

[Wolf Queen's Paws (gloves)](Grade 1)

Dexterity +1

Armor: 10

Effect: Damage when punching +3

"Wow they are very impressive!" said Li Wei, while examining the gloves.

They were mostly made of leather and were brown. But they had very small shiny black spikes at the upper joints of the fingers. These were precisely the Wolf Queen's claws, they gave the gloves a look of rock metal.

"It is worth the 10 gold, right? You can even tip me if you think I did a good job," said the old man with an innocent smile.

"No thank you! " quickly responded Li Wei. He immediately switched gloves and sold his old ones. He then left the shop before the old man could say anything else.

...

"Is it good, did I do everything before coming here.... looks fine?" said Li Wei to himself.

Suddenly:

[System Prompt: Congratulations to Player Sky Walker for being the second player at Little Root Town to reach level 10]

[System Prompt: Congratulations to Player Mysterious Songstress for being the third player at Little Root Town to reach level 10]

'Mmm two at once? Looks like people are catching up, let's hurry then,' thought Li Wei. He had been expected people to catch up pretty quickly, but he did not expect it to happen so quickly.

He was standing just outside the training center. It was time for him to once again challenge the Tower of Heroes and this time, he would conquer it.

Li Wei went in and greeted the receptionist. This time, it was a young blond man.

"Hello, I would like to challenge the Tower of Heroes," said Li Wei when the receptionist greeted him.

"Sure, is it your first time here? From your level, you have immediate access to the first 10 floors. May I ask which floor you would like to begin at?"

"I have been here before. I will start on the 7th floor please. I have a revenge to take on a certain mage..."

"Then please follow me!" answered the receptionist, while leaving his counter.

Once again, Li Wei walked the same corridor as last time. He quickly arrived at the hall where the receptionist left him.

There were many players there, and they all started to whisper among themselves as they saw Li Wei appear. But Li Wei completely ignored them. He just walked right towards the door.

Before doing anything, he briefly raised his eyes to see the Leaderboard. Sky Walker was still first, having defeated the 10th floor.

'Tssssk, wait for me to take first place,' thought Li Wei, while placing his hand on the door, which made him vanish from the hall.

...

Li Wei opened his eyes, he was back at the arena with a ‘7’ written on the ground in Roman numerals. Shortly after, the mist covered the surroundings and from it stepped out a middle age man holding a short staff that looked like a small mace.

However, Li Wei frowned when he what was written above his head. It was not the level 7 mage Li Wei was expecting. Instead what he saw was:

[level 7 priest]