Ren's here and I'm back with Chapter 8.

I will try to keep up the pace with 1 chapters / 4 days.

I am busy with works and only have time to write on night.

Hopefully I can keep the pace that is going now.

Without further ado, enjoy the chapter.

Chapter 8 - Crossing Path

After completing my class promotion, I go towards the eastern area because I need to grind my status before leveling up.

The wolf mobs are spread out evenly. There is a good amount of players hunting in this area with the majority belonging to close combat class.

Wild Wolf Lv 18

Wild Wolf Lv 20

I'm trying to find a wolf who is located far away from the pack. I don't have the confidence to fight against two wolves at the same time.

>

I put one between me and the wolf.

>

243

It took out 15% of its HP. As expected, my damage is low. When I party up with Tatsu and the others, the wolf pack was easily killed. The bizarre difference between goblins and wolves is the level. While goblin is leveled below 10, the wolf can reach up to lv 20 with its HP over 7x goblin's HP.

'Hmm. I should change my weapon.'

The wolf runs towards me. It is jumping over the >.

*slash

708

its claw slashed at my torso and took out over 50% of my HP in a single hit. Considering I'm still wearing beginner cloth armor, I was guessing the wolf attack would be around 30% at most, but its damage was higher than my expectation.

'Not good. If I take two hits, I will definitely die.'

I run as hard as I can to the town entrance. On the way, I got scratched by its claw once again. My HP dropped to 39%.

'Thank God, it was only a scratch.'

*huff huff

Near the entrance, the guard NPC immediately kills the wolf in a single strike. The guards attack power is so high. Even Tatsu need 3 hits to kill a single wolf.

I cast > on myself. It only recovers my HP by 12%. Since I don't have the passive skill of a priest, the recovery amount is lower compared to a Priest.

Heal

Recover target's HP by 20%.

If the target's level is over 20, effect will be reduced by 40%.

There are two ways to copy an active skill. The methods are getting hit by the skill or copy your target's movement and spend mana until you get it right. I copied Lily's > by using the first method.

'Is there any mage class around with mid-tier element spells?’

I check my skills. Looking at my skill screen, my expression quickly changed from happy to sad.

Skill Name:Mana ManipulationSkill Rank:IntermediateSkill Type:Passive / Skill TreeSkill Level:3100%Mana manipulation. Allowed you to control your mana output.

Skill List :

Minimum Power (Reduce Mana Cost)

Piercing Spell (Toggle Support Magic, reduce damage by 20% to add piercing effect to your spell)

Condensed Magic+ ( Toggle Support Magic, increase damage from your spell)

The > is the ultimate skill derived from my mana manipulation skill tree. I guess I got it when my proficiency reached 100%. It got a + sign after the skill name.

‘Did my affect this too?’

I guess the ultimate skill was counted as extra skill. You can’t believe how happy I am to actually capable of learning an ultimate skill while still being at intermediate level.

Skill Name:Fire MasterySkill Rank:IntermediateSkill Type:Passive / Skill TreeSkill Level:187%Fire element mastery. Allowed you to harness fire element power with your mana.

Skill List :

Fireball (Single Target Offensive Spell)

Firewall (Area Target Defensive Spell)

Firestorm (Area Target Offensive Spell)

Skill Name:Ice MasterySkill Rank:IntermediateSkill Type:Passive / Skill TreeSkill Level:188%Ice element mastery. Allowed you to harness ice element power with your mana.

Skill List :

Ice Shard (Single Target Offensive Spell)

Ice Javelin (Single Target Offensive Spell, 10% Chance to Freeze Target)

Hail Storm (Area Target Offensive Spell)

Skill Name:Wind MasterySkill Rank:BeginnerSkill Type:Passive / Skill TreeSkill Level:847%Wind element mastery. Allowed you to harness wind element power with your mana.

Skill List :

Air Resistance Down (Single Target Assist Spell)

Air Bullet (Single Target Offensive Spell)

Skill Name:Earth MasterySkill Rank:BeginnerSkill Type:Passive / Skill TreeSkill Level:833%Earth element mastery. Allowed you to harness earth element power with your mana.

Skill List :

Clay Shield (Single Target Defensive Spell)

Rock Bullet (Single Target Offensive Spell)

The next one is the elemental mastery skill tree. The 5th tier spells are crossed. I become gloomy. I can’t even learn >.

‘I knew this, but still…’

I knew that when I chose to become an elementalist, I won’t get to learn higher tier spells. I thought I was prepared for this, but the impact it caused was certainly big. It felt like having cold water splashed on your face. You are prepared for the impact caused by the water, but the coldness will still be felt no matter what.

I keep scrolling through my skill list.

Skill Name:CopycatSkill Rank:BeginnerSkill Type:UniqueSkill Level:850%Expect the unexpected.

Copy your opponent skill and use it as your own.

Heal (Single Target Recovery Spell)

Empty Slot

Skill Name:AdaptabilitySkill Rank:BeginnerSkill Type:Passive / Skill TreeSkill Level:11%This skill will help boost your growth rate.

Skill Boost (Boost all your extra skill by 1)

My copycat has two skill slots now. The > passive effect was superb. If I didn’t reach 100% proficiency on any of my skills or I didn’t learn the >, this > will be useless.

After probing around my skill screen, I decided to go back to town to change my gears. After this, I should locate another mage and copy his/her skill.

Near the inn, a lot of players can be seen selling their items. The players stay on the right side of the zigzag road. A white haired boy can be seen strolling around the road while sometimes glancing over the items being sold at the stalls.

‘There are barely any accessories being sold. How am I supposed to raise my resistance against magic?’

He keeps strolling until he reached a certain stall. The owner of the stall has a beastlike appearance of a bull. Two tiny horns can be seen on top of his head. He put up a few mantles for sale in his stall.

Leather Cape

Magic Resistance +0.1%

A cape made from animal leather. It was made by an average craftman.

Fur Coat

Ice Resistance: 5%

A coat made from animal fur. It can guard against the cold in winter. Wearing this will keep you warm in the winter.

‘Fu fu fu. Unexpectedly, I found something in the corner of the town.’

All the items for sale are unidentified. This is a rare case since you can’t really sell item without any info on it. What kind of idiot would buy an unidentified item from a stranger?

“Excuse me. How much for the Fur Coat?”

“Hrm? Which one?”

The white haired boy takes the Fur Coat out from the stack of Leather Cape.

“Oho. I see that you have identification skill.”

“Yes. How much for the Fur Coat?”

“7,000 Silver Coins.”

‘7,000! It got the same price as magic tier weapon.’

“Too expensive. Lower it a bit more.”

“No can do. The materials are a bit hard to find. I won’t sell it for less than 7,000. Take it or leave it.”

The white haired boy stands still for a while. He was preoccupied with the thought weighing the pros and cons of the Fur Coat. He was so engrossed in it that the stall owner keeps yelling at him.

“Hey!”

“Oi!”

“Earth to alien.”

“Ah. You finally respond. So, you want it or not?”

“Fine. I’ll take it.”

“Thanks for your business.”

The boy registers the Fur Coat on his equipment screen and he walks back to the town entrance.

At R/R Tech Laboratory.

The meeting room is filled with ten people wearing a white lab coat. Each of them is carrying a portable terminal.

“It has been a week since the last update was applied. How is the current progress?”

“Not good. The amount of data is too little. We can’t really proceed to the next phase with just these.”

A lot of holographic information floats in the middle of the meeting table when the scientist operates his portable terminal.

“Since we applied the Karma System, the frequency of PK occurring is getting lesser. It’s a good thing for the game. But the impact is no lesser than a gigantic hammer. The 12 candidates rarely engage in PK after the update.”

“The amount of data we can gather from PvE is not enough. We need the data from PvP too.”

“Also, we really need to test these two candidates.”

She operates her terminal. Ethan and Ren information were shown in the middle of the table replacing the previous holographic information.

“Candidate Ethan has surprisingly high reaction time. This measurement is not normal even for an expert at martial artist. We have seen his adventure on Eden including a few boss fights. His reaction time could be considered as the best in the whole world.”

“Candidate Ren has surprisingly fast adaptation rate. This measurement is not normal even for a war veteran. We have seen his adventure on Eden, but his progress is slower compared to the other candidates. In a few cases, he shows a high aptitude towards scout characteristic such as hearing sensitivity, ability to locate things from sounds only and wide vision range.”

“These two are the candidates that young master had interest in. How did he do that?”

“You people might not know this, but young master has a deep insight towards certain things.”

“Deep insight?”

“No more, enough about the young master. How should we solve the lack of data?”

“Maybe we need to administer an event? That way we can gather more data.”

“What if they don’t participate?”

“Err…”

“Shall we use our avatar? We can persuade them directly inside Eden.”

“Hmm. Do it discreetly. Make sure they don’t find out.”

“Then we’ll use Goliath, Juggernaut, SickMan, and Peridot.”

The four names mentioned by the female scientist are the avatar names owned by her team. They were mainly used to collect data from Eden and rarely interact with other players.

“Let’s meet up for planning on Adel Town. Meet me in the inn, room 201.”

Back to Ren.

I walk towards the zigzag road since there’re a lot of players opening private stall. On the way, I bumped into a gorilla.

No kidding. His face is full of wrinkles and his arms are thicker than his legs. Thick eyebrow and disordered hairstyle, this guy is the embodiment of delinquent.

Goliath Lv 38

His level is no joke. He was two levels short to the second promotion.

“Watch your steps, kid!”

It is in my nature to avoid conflict. I don’t really like conflict, especially a conflict coming from a stranger. Unless he tries to bring me harm, I won’t react viciously.

“Sorry about that.”

After apologizing, I start browsing the stall. I need to replace my weapon and cloth armor. After walking for a while, I found a stall selling embedded gloves.

It’s not that I dislike the orb, but it hinders my movement. Carrying an orb in one hand while the other hand directs my magic, it does actually look ugly in my opinion.

Looking around the stall, I found a few items worthy to be used.

Frozen Glove of Nifleheim

P.Atk : 15

M.Atk : 57

Durability : 35/35

Special Effect : +10% Damage to Ice Spells

A pair of gloves made by Dietrich. It has a high durability with muse symbols embed in its surface.

Specialized Weapon for Mage Class.

Fiery Glove of Sol

P.Atk : 15

M.Atk : 62

Durability : 35/35

Special Effect : +10% Damage to Fire Spells

A pair of gloves made by Dietrich. It has a high durability with sol symbols embed in its surface.

Specialized Weapon for Mage Class.

‘This sense of naming. The creator is undoubtedly a chuunibyou.’

“How much for the gloves?”

“Which one?”

“The frozen and the fiery.”

“The frozen cost 5,000 Silver and the fiery cost 6,000 Silver.”

“Expensive!”

“What do you expect? This is a good weapon for mage class. It even has a 10% damage boost for respective element. This is a high class item.”

“These are specialized weapon and it cost me 1 weapon slot and 1 glove slot. You can’t expect me to buy this on a normal weapon price.”

“Damn! I guess you’re not clueless. Fine, 4,000 Silver for each.”

“I'll take the frozen.”

Negotiate? Nah, when dealing with other player, it is in your best interest to go at it with honesty. Pay the price if you think it was good enough. There’s no such thing as overpriced item, there are only people with good analysis and people with poor judgment.

There are no stalls that sell cloth armor. I really need the armor, so I go towards the NPC Armor Store. It is located not far from the inn.

I bought a generic cloth armor and leg guards.

Cotton Robe

P.Def : 20

Durability : 20/20

A robe made from cotton materials.

Fabric Leg Guard

P.Def : 10

Durability : 20/20

A leg guard made from generic fabric.

The cloth armor has def power 2x my previous cloth. With this, I can stand my ground against the wolf.

I walk towards the town entrance.

‘There are a lot of people here. Is there an event or something?’

In front of the entrance, a lot of people are gathered making a circle. There are two players dueling inside the circle.

Juggernaut Lv 30

Peridot Lv 27

Juggernaut wields a longsword while Peridot wears an embedded glove.

Juggernaut dashes forward with a stab. Peridot casually steps to the right avoiding the sword. The sword suddenly changes its trajectory and slashes horizontally at Peridot. She rolls on the ground and leap behind him.

*Boom

She cast > and sweeps his leg. He drops to the ground and rolls to the side avoiding a heel drop from Peridot. He prepares his stance and does a cross slash. Peridot arches her back making the first hit miss, but still got hit by three more hits.

Peridot’s HP bar shows 34% while Juggernaut’s HP bar shows 57%. Unexpectedly Peridot’s defense is quite high. Juggernaut was a level 30 swordsman making him a formidable close combater, but this Peridot was a level 27 battle mage with hand to hand skill actually able to stand her ground after being hit by a > with >.

Once again, Juggernaut dashes forward. Peridot also dashes forward. When they are close enough, Peridot immediately puts her hand up. A light shines from her hand for a brief period. Juggernaut was stunned for a brief moment with his sword used to guard his chest.

It was >, a skill from battle mage that was used to blind her opponent. It was activated at close range making it hard to read.

In that brief moment, she hits Juggernaut with three hits combo and finishes him with a >.

‘Amazing. No wonder battle mage class was praised so highly.’

The level 27 battle mage just defeated a level 30 swordsman in a duel. That Peridot must be an experienced fighter.

“Who else want to try the Duel Ring?”

Now. That piqued my interest.

End of Chapter 8

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