บท 15: A Tree in the Opening
บรรณาธิการ: Henyee Translations
When Li Mu came into the forest, he felt more deeply that The Kingdom of Elves was real.
The ancient trees were straight, their branches clasped each other, and their bark was covered in dark green moss. The vines of big trees were entwined as if many layers of large nets were covering them, and the lush grass was as tall as a person…
The air was extremely fresh and pure with a peculiar smell of vegetation and soil.
Occasionally, flying birds passed by with very crisp and clear chirping sounds, and there were also unknown animals roaring with all their mystery and vicissitudes.
This place was a completely primeval forest.
Because of the elf-style scene music that resounded through the players' minds, Li Mu could not help but fantasize that he was far away from the chaotic world.
Li Mu took off a branch, tore off a leaf, and looked at the clear outline of the veins in the leaf and pale green juice seeping from the wound. He had to exclaim at the delicacy of the game company's production.
He could not help but exclaim, "If I hadn't logged in personally and if the awesome background music wasn't here, I would have really thought that I had transmigrated."
He had already turned off the live-stream function and changed it to video recording.
In fact, under the condition of "thought acceleration," he could not conduct the live-stream well.
After pondering for a while, Li Mu opened the game system to see the information for novices.
"The safe area for novices is the 10-kilometer radius around the World Tree. In this area, you can move freely and collect items to fulfill the tasks."
"10 kilometers away, there may be powerful creatures. It'd be better if you don't go beyond this limit and die before you reach the ranking of 11 in Low Iron…"
"Within the ranking of 10, the fastest way to upgrade is through daily tasks. When your Experience Value reaches the standard of Iron, you can go to the Temple of Nature to change your profession…"
Li Mu closed the information bar for novices and started checking the map in the upper right corner of his vision.
It was a round map centering on the World Tree. Currently, it only showed a 10-kilometer radius, which was also the largest area Eve could effectively control. Further afield, it was dark, awaiting players to explore.
In the forest, there was no lack of trees.
Nevertheless, Li Mu was worried while looking for a suitable target.
Li Mu felt his scalp becoming numb as he stared at those ancient trees with invisible tops and DBH of at least one meter.
"The trees here are too huge, aren't they? If I knew this earlier, I would have organized a group of people."
Every tree was towering into the clouds as far as his eyes could see
It took him a long time to find one tree that he could handle.
It was a tree over 10 meters high with golden bark.
"This is… fir?"
Li Mu raised his eyebrows.
As a college dog who had taken forestry as an elective course, Li Mu had some knowledge about trees. Although the tree before him was slightly different and the color of the bark was very strange, it was remarkably similar to the fir in his memory.
"Fir makes for very good building material!"
He rejoiced and began to act.
When he was a child, he lived in the countryside. His parents were both forest farm workers. In his teenage years, he had worked a lot with his elders, so it was easy for him to cut trees.
Picking up the stone axe he had just made with stones, wood and vines, Li Mu started cutting the tree.
Clank! Clank!
The impact of the collision felt so real.
As Li Mu continued to cut, he felt as if he had regained his youthfulness. However, what was different from before was the fact that this body was stronger, nimbler, and more flexible.
He liked this feeling very much.
Finally, with a loud clank, the fir shook a few times and finally fell down.
At the moment when the tree fell down, Li Mu felt as if a certain kind of power had poured into his body, making him feel warm all over.
Actually, this was the fir's vitality. When he cut down the tree, the improved "War Sacrifice" hidden in his body began to operate, absorbing part of the fir's vitality.
The degree of vitality absorption could be controlled in the game system, with at most 100% of the target's vitality. It was preset that the loot could not be completely destroyed without the player's control. Only about 20% could be absorbed, like Li Mu absorbed this time.
He kept half of the energy he had absorbed, and the other half was fed back to Eve.
Of course, Eve felt contempt for such little vitality now. This function was actually His long-term investment.
As this energy poured into his body, Li Mu felt too wonderful to describe it in words. If he had to say one word, it would be "comfortable!"
Meanwhile, he found his experience value increasing slightly by 10 points.
"I can actually upgrade by cutting down trees!"
Li Mu was delighted.
At this moment, he felt that it was worthy to work for this half an hour.
Wiping the sweat from his head, he shook his head.
"It's still too slow for one person. It would be better to have several people cooperate in this kind of task."
Li Mu used the skill "Twining Vines" to twine the fir well and then he dragged it back towards the World Tree…
…
The place to hand in his task was a clearing under the World Tree, which was originally covered with bushes and low meadows.
This was the place where Eve planned to have the players build a base, and it would also be the starting point of a new elf civilization.
As Li Mu entered the camp, the originally mysterious background music in the game system also changed into a cheerful style, making him delighted.
When he came here, he found that there were already many players. They seemed to have received a cleaning task because they were cleaning weeds and shrubs.
Some players seemed to have already started the second round of tasks and were trying to organize a team.
"Is there anyone whose task is to collect wood? We have four and lack one! We need a magician who can take control to help fix big trees."
"Is there anybody who has studied architecture? We have received a construction task and lack a commander!"
"Is there a logging team that needs a member of the Strength System? I have Rage and Whirlwind Slash! I promise to cut down a tree with one slash!"
…
After searching around for a while, Li Mu soon saw the non-player character, the maiden who was surrounded by players.
Alice was busy at this moment, but she seemed to be in a good mood. Her emerald eyes were shining brightly, and she was pure and lovely.
Li Mu swore that this was definitely the most vivid, lifelike, and intellectual non-player character he had ever seen!
However, Alice's face would turn slightly cold again whenever she saw the players' cheeky expressions.
After finding out Alice's identity, all the players unlocked the non-player characters' impression system. But for most people, the maiden's impression was negative.
This was especially true for male players. It was said that the most exaggerated impression degree reached minus 100.
That was it. Previously, the biggest shock she received was from this group of shameless animals, who started flirting with her and indulging their every whim as soon as they met her. The impression they left on her could not have been worse.
In contrast, female players were much more decent and gentle… And Alice's attitude was much better.
Nevertheless, Li Mu could perceive a slight estrangement between Alice and the players.
Li Mu was deep in contemplation as he looked at the maiden's constantly changing expression and noticed the players' expressions and movements when communicating with Alice…
He thought for a while and suddenly came up with an idea.
Taking in a deep breath, Li Mu dragged the fir he had cut and walked towards Alice.
After dealing with a female player's task, Alice saw Li Mu returning.
Seeing that it was a male chosen one, her expression hardened slightly again.
"Have you completed your task?"
There was a sense of alienation in her sweet voice.
Li Mu nodded. He felt neither inferior nor proud. He looked at the maiden sincerely and spoke respectfully as if he was communicating with a college senior in reality.
"Miss Alice, this is the material I'm to hand in. Please check it."
Seeing that the male elf before her was decent, Alice could not help but look at him again.
Today, this was the first male chosen one who could talk to her normally. The others were either shamelessly mischievous or recklessly peeping.
Although Alice did not speak of it, she could clearly feel that those guys always seemed to have an inexplicable sense of superiority when communicating with her. They looked at her as if she was a tool or an object rather than a companion.
She disliked it intensely, for it reminded her of those human beings who hunted elves.
But the eyes of this thin male elf before her were filled with sincerity.
At that time, the maiden's discomfort decreased significantly and her impression of Li Mu became much better.
Her face soothed slightly and she nodded to Li Mu.
"Okay, let me take a look at your gains."
"Here you are."
Li Mu pulled out the fir.
"Sun fir!"
Alice's eyes brightened.
"This is good wood! With strong light affinity, it is not only the temple's building material, but it is also the substance used to make magic staves! I did not expect you to find it."
The maiden looked at Li Mu in surprise.
She did not think there was anything wrong with cutting down trees.
In fact, unlike the elves in many literary works and games on the blue planet, most elves on the continent of Sagas accepted moderate logging.
For them, the only thing that needed to be maintained was the ecological balance.
To be children of nature did not mean to be slaves of nature. Although they respected lives, they would not specially protect trees unless the tree developed consciousness and had a soul.
Upon hearing Alice's words, Li Mu froze slightly and then curled his lips.
It seemed to be a treasure… It seemed that he was lucky.
Alice prayed to the sun fir for a while with her eyes closed, and then said to Li Mu, "You have finished your task. This is your reward."
With a soft sound from the system, Li Mu was surprised to find that he received 300 points of experience at one time!
"This task is very profitable! I can upgrade!"
Li Mu was overjoyed.
Li Mu immediately clicked the upgrade button on the game interface.
To Alice's surprise, a bright divine light enveloped Li Mu, and a mysterious power from the void poured into his body.
This was the divine force Eve had diluted countless times.
Unlike other games, the pleasure of upgrading in this game was so real and impactful.
Li Mu felt warm all over as if he was basking in the sun, while the strength in his body increased rapidly. In an instant, he felt his five senses being strengthened…
The real sense of acquisition was matchless.
His ranking changed to number two after 100 points of experience were deducted.
Checking his own character card, Li Mu was slightly pleased.
"All attributes have increased by one point! Magic power has increased by two points!"
He tried to practice "Twining Vine." He found that his speed of doing magic had increased by nearly a quarter and the magic effect was also more powerful. Originally, he could summon only one vine, but now there were two!
If Li Mu was going to assess his combat effectiveness, he felt that now he could easily kill his previous self before upgrading!
"The effect is so obvious after upgrading only one ranking… Who knows what the ranking of 11 will be like?"
At this moment, Li Mu looked forward to the future even more.
"Congratulations on your upgrade."
At this time, Alice congratulated him.
Li Mu looked at her, only to find that her impression of him had already returned to a positive value.
He was touched. He already had some guesses about the NPC system of this game.
After thanking the maiden, Li Mu received a task again.
He intended to accelerate the pace of upgrading.
Nevertheless, in order to complete the task more efficiently, he was ready to team up with other players.
-- ได้รับของขวัญแล้ว