Chapter 10: Skill Book
Editor: Atlas Studios
The team of players on the left side quickly left. They had already farmed enough Quest items, and their levels had risen to Level 2. It did not seem like it would be meaningful to continue staying here. Moreover, Fatty was here. They did not want to continue trying to fight for the monsters with him.
When they left, Fatty occupied their territory unceremoniously, farming the Poisonous Scorpions alone to obtain Quest items.
The desert outside the city was filled with spawn points for the Poisonous Scorpion, but each spawn point was occupied by teams. Only Fatty's place was occupied by only one person, making him stand out from the masses.
Quite a few players had witnessed Fatty kill-stealing. Therefore, the brighter ones continued to stay in their territory and did not join him to take their share of the loot. On the other hand, the players that came in after seeing that Fatty was alone attempted to kill-steal but were, without exception, all chased away by him.
That was right, Fatty seemed to have been born to make people feel disgusted. The moment someone came along to kill-steal, he would do his best to accurately execute the last-hitting skill. Almost no one was his match in this stage of the game, which meant that defeat awaited anyone who attempted to kill-steal his prey.
Some people wanted to Party up when they saw Fatty occupying a piece of land by himself. However, Fatty had already experienced the benefits of being solo. One Poisonous Scorpion would only give 20 EXP, so why should he share with others this meager amount of EXP? Thus, he rejected all offers of teaming up without hesitation.
After 10 Poisonous Scorpions, Fatty's Level had risen to Level 2 and his EXP bar was 40% full. The EXP calculation formula of the Chaotic Era could be divided into numerous stages. The method changed every 10 levels. From Levels 1 to 9, it followed the formula (N+1)*100, which meant that 200 EXP was needed to level up from Level 1 to Level 2. Killing 10 Poisonous Scorpions was sufficient to level up by one level, but he had been kill-stealing for some time, so he had wasted quite a lot of time.
Therefore, he immediately headed back to hand in the Quest after obtaining the Quest items he needed.
The EXP he had obtained by completing his first Battle Quest was not bad, thus allowing Fatty to level up to Level 3. He had also obtained a Normal Rank cotton gauntlet, Physical Armor +2, Magic Armor +4, and Attack Speed +15.
After opening the stats window, Fatty thought for a while before adding two of the four free stat points he had obtained to his Constitution and the other two to his Luck.
Thus, Fatty's character Constitution reached 6 points and his HP reached 60.
The official explanation regarding the Luck Stat was very general and vague. However, much later in the game, the collation of numerous players' descriptions showed a little how the Luck Stat worked.
The biggest purpose of the Luck Stat was to increase the chances of the Status Effects being triggered. For example, the Quas Awl Skill of Quas Mages had a 20% chance of triggering a Penetrating Effect against the second target during combat. If one's Luck Stat remained untouched, that chance would forever remain 20%. However, upon adding about 10 points to one's Luck, it could become 25%!
Of course, as the official numbers were considered high-security information, the players had no clue whether this number was accurate. This was a conclusion derived from continuous experiments. No one knew if it would bring about other effects.
Based on this alone, the Luck Stat was very important. However, not many players would be willing to add stat points to this area, for the number of free stat points obtained when leveling up was too small. Besides, not many Skills of most Classes carried such Status Effects.
Only Fatty was an exception, as he was aware that the Venomancer Class was the one most suitable to add points to the Luck Stat. This was because the vast majority of the Skills carried such Status Effects and was thus able to make better use of the Luck Stat's effects.
In addition, there was another theory about the Luck Stat. According to this theory, it could also affect the chances of obtaining items.
Many people had believed this theory at first and had excitedly increased their Luck Stat. However, they had later discovered that this did not seem to be the case, which had caused immense discontent amongst the players.
The person who had introduced this theory had explained later that they had added too few stat points to the Luck Stat. The benefits would start to show only when more than 50 points were added.
This time, however, no one had been willing to believe his words. Even if they had, they would not have been willing to add points to the Luck Stat in the name of experimenting. 50 Luck Points were the equivalent of adding 25 levels of points and causing great harm to one's Leveling. No one would perform such an experiment because they would be unable to Party up.
Fatty took this theory with a pinch of salt. Perhaps he could try to increase his Luck Stat to 50 since he had changed Class to Venomancer. It might truly bring about special effects…
Upon handing in the Scorpion Tail Quest, Fatty accepted the follow-up Quest: The Pumpkin-Stealing Thief!
"The Devil City Isengard was originally a territory of the Apostles that acted as a symbol for the descendants of the Devil Clan. However, after experiencing too many wars, the current Isengard has almost turned into true ruins. The main point is that the Devil City Isengard had never once given up, nor should you and I. As a member of the Apostles, you should contribute to the Devil City Isengard."
"There is a huge granary outside the North City that is one of the places producing daily necessities for Isengard. Two days ago, we received a report from the guards there, who said that they discovered the traces of a group of Goblin thieves and that many pumpkins had disappeared from the stockpile. I need you to head over, take a look, and help the guards chase those dirty thieves away."
When one opened the map window, although most uncharted places were shrouded in mist, a golden question mark indicated a spot outside the North City. That spot was the location of the Quest, which was a fair distance away.
This was common for newbie players, who needed to travel a substantial distance. The Quests issued by the system would slowly guide players to leave the Novice Village for the city.
Fatty passed by the player market as he was running toward his destination.
More than one hour had passed since the game had started and the first batch of players who had entered were already as high as Level 5. These players had opened a market here, selling their loot to the other newbie players to earn money.
"Level 3 Chain Mail Crafting Blueprints sold at a low price. One for 10 Bronze Coins!"
"Level 2 Normal Rank Heavy Boots. +25 Movement Speed, much better than the ones given by the system. Come quickly!"
"Level 1 materials and some Level 2 ones for sale! PM me if you want some!"
"A 4-slot backpack for 10 Bronze Coins!"
"…"
The market was extremely busy. However, by taking a brief glance as he passed, Fatty discovered that primary equipment was mainly sold there. Most of the merchandise was Normal Rank, and prices ranged from 1 to 10 Bronze Coins. This price could be considered extremely cheap later in the game, but it was considered expensive by the players in the current stage.
As Fatty decided to leave, a holler drew his attention.
"Venomancer's Skill Book, Corrosion for sale! Face-to-face negotiations only!"
Someone had obtained a Skill Book so fast? Fatty was stunned.
The number of Skills one could learn from the NPC teachers was very limited, most of them being primary Skills. One would need to farm for better Skills, although they could usually be obtained from Elite monsters or Bosses. Fatty had not expected that anyone would obtain a Skill Book so early in the game.
He walked over to take a look. Once he got there, he discovered that the player's booth was already surrounded by people. It seemed that everyone wanted to take a look as well.
[Corrosion] Class Requirements: Venomancer, Level Requirements: Level 3.
A cloud of corrosive poison will be released. Upon hitting the target, other than causing damage, it will make the target's Physical Armor drop by 3 points. Duration is 30 seconds, stackable 3 times, uses up 10 mana. Cooldown is 10 seconds.
This Skill was quite useful for a Venomancer. Judging by its Duration and CD time, theoretically, it could be stacked 3 times, deducting 9 points from the armor. If there was a Physical Class player in the team, this Skill would be great while killing monsters.
However, this might be the very first Skill Book that had appeared in the market. The price of 30 Bronze Coins was a little expensive.
Fatty wanted it, but he only had 3 Bronze Coins, which was the reward of the Scorpion Tail Quest.
He tried checking this player's information. His name was obscured, but the Level information could still be seen. Level 3: Shield Warrior.
After contemplating it for a while, Fatty privately messaged the player.
"I will give you three Bronze Coins. Tell me, where did you obtain that Skill Book?"
The player was stunned. Perhaps he had not thought that this Venomancer would not want to negotiate the price but to ask him where he had gotten the Skill Book. Instinctively, he replied, "Not telling you!"
Fatty blinked and said into his earpiece, "Friend, to be honest, your price is too high. I dare say that by the time someone manages to accumulate 30 Bronze Coins, many primary Skill Books will have appeared. Then, you might not be able to sell it even for 3 Bronze Coins. Why don't you tell me now? You'll be earning money and keeping the Skill Book simultaneously!"
The player was aware of that. He had set the price so high because Skill Books were very rare at the current stage. In a few hours, more Skill Books might appear. It seemed a worthy trade to inform Fatty about the location in exchange for 3 Bronze Coins.
Therefore, he agreed in the end. After Fatty handed him the coins, he said, "It was by the granary in the North City. Near the place where you have to kill the Goblins, around Coordinate 20946. It's a relatively remote area. Our team encountered a Level 1 3-Star Goblin carrying a Short Ax. The Skill Book was obtained from him."
-- Gift
received