Chapter 8

"Since I'm leaving first, you don't need to see me off, sir." Outside the tavern door, Maso said to the old man with white eyebrows who had accompanied him out. He had just received a quiver of +1 sharp arrows from the old man, and based on his past experiences, he couldn't help but address the old man with respect.

"…Do you know who I am?" The old man with white eyebrows furrowed his brows.

"No, but I see that many people in the group, including Mingmei and Ming'en, are very polite to you… So I think you must be much older than us." Maso naturally spoke with a straight face. His explanation made the old man with white eyebrows laugh heartily. "You are indeed sharp-eyed, just as those two little girls thought. I am indeed a bit old, but not so old that I can't walk. However, I'll listen to you, and I'll go back now."

With that, the old man walked back into the tavern, and Maso watched him until he pushed the door and entered, then turned to leave. A drop of rain landed on his tail at that moment, making Maso look up at the sky. For the small seaside town of Paronst, which is on the easternmost side of the Eastern Continent, summer is the season of heavy rain and lightning.

Soon, the drizzle turned into a torrential downpour. In the market, Maso bought two waterproof oilcloths, wrapping himself in the larger one and covering his military crossbow with the smaller one. He learned alchemy from a middle-aged man at an alchemy stall in the market, using two gold coins as payment. He then bought forty sets of materials for the most basic healing potion and a small bottle of blazing glue for two gold coins as a tip.

"Gold is truly the root of all evil."

In the heavy rain, Maso returned to the old lighthouse. He first polished the pair of sharp daggers he used, then started making potions. In the alchemy lab, making potions has a higher success rate, but what Maso needed was failure. Normally, making a healing potion has a 40% chance of success, a 15% chance of complete failure, a 25% chance of turning into a lesser healing potion, and a 20% chance of turning into a vial of poison that deals 3D6 damage. Maso needed this poison.

With deliberate errors, the forty sets of healing potion materials ultimately turned into eight vials of healing potion, fourteen vials of lesser healing potion, and ten vials of poison.

Putting away the healing potions, Maso began to poison the +1 sharp arrows—on such a night, death requires silence and efficiency.

...

Maso, crouched on the wall of the old lighthouse, watched the sixth dock in the rain. The clock tower in the distance had already struck the hour, and the sound of thunder mixed with the bell. A large ship was docked outside the port, and a small boat was approaching the sixth dock.

Maso, enveloped in the cold rain, used his catman's dark vision to observe the dock. He clearly saw six people of varying heights on the dock.

A dwarf, because Maso saw the dwarf's favorite pointed boots under the waterproof cloth.

Three goblins, because their small bodies and dark skin could not be mistaken.

A halfling, because he was standing next to a human.

An orc... Maso was sure this guy was the perfect choice to carry the box tonight.

A human, whose build he could see, was waving to the small boat.

Soon, a box was carried from the small boat to the dock. The two groups seemed to be confirming each other's identities, and the group that went ashore returned to the small boat, which then rowed away. The large orc on the dock picked up the box, and another dwarf picked up a smaller box.

From the orc's steps, the contents of the large box seemed very heavy, which made Maso a bit worried.

Maso was not worried about whether he could take this treasure, but whether his backpack could hold such a heavy prize... Hopefully, the large box contained gold coins, as gold coins in the game have no weight for players, and in the early stages of the game, a thousand gold coins were more important to Maso than a legendary item.

Unfolding the waterproof oilcloth, Maso, who had been standing in the rain, raised his military crossbow. He drew a pre-poisoned arrow from the waterproof oilcloth and placed it in the arrow slot, aiming at the last goblin in the group—goods always walk in front to prevent anyone from taking them privately, and this rule was Maso's greatest help tonight.

"Pain Besedus, my god, I pray for your attention..." A bolt of lightning flashed across the sky, and Maso decisively pulled the trigger. The +1 sharp arrow drew a skewed parabola through the rain, its endpoint being a goblin's green head.

In the game, attacks by undetected players on targets are always considered ambushes, with all damage values at their maximum, and all physical damage enjoying a 4x bonus. If the attack hits the head, neck, heart, or other vital points, all physical damage is doubled and causes a fatal effect—no need to explain the fatal effect. Thus, Maso dealt 88 points of damage to the goblin, and a 18-point toxin damage appeared in the combat log.

Even after the player attacks, the environment remains the player's ally—like in Maso's case, the thunder covered his killing, and no one noticed that a companion had died. In this situation, Maso was still considered to be in stealth mode, and his attack was still considered an ambush.

"You are my eyes..." Maso did not watch the goblin fall off the dock with the thunder, he reloaded his military crossbow, "Help me aim." He placed a new arrow and, after a bolt of lightning, pulled the trigger again. The arrow flew over nearly a hundred yards and pierced the head of the second goblin, which was then thrown into the sea by the arrow, and the thunder covered everything.

"You are my will..." Maso pulled the string of the military crossbow, watching the group that had already walked halfway down the dock, he raised his reloaded military crossbow, "Help me steady." Another bolt of lightning, and the nearby thunder filled Maso's ears with noise, while his arrow pierced the neck of the third goblin, which helplessly rolled down the dock, leaving a large pool of blood.

Quickly pulling the string, Maso drew a new military crossbow arrow, the tip of which was green with poison. He placed the arrow, leveled the crossbow, and took a deep breath, "You are my fingers..." Seeing the human at the end of the group turn around, Maso calmly pulled the trigger, "Help me kill the enemy!"

The human seemed to sense something and turned to look behind him, only to see an empty dock and a large pool of blood being washed away by the rain. Just as he opened his mouth, an arrow from a distance pierced his skull, taking his life and the warning he was about to shout. In the thunder and the sound of the sea crashing against the dock, the human fell to his knees and finally collapsed in the middle of the dock.

Seeing a line of text suddenly appear in the combat log, Maso pouted, "You are the all-knowing and all-powerful true god..." He raised his military crossbow again, watching the two people who had not yet reacted leave the dock. He drew a special arrow from the waterproof oilcloth—using a carving knife to create serrations on the back half of the arrow tip, the reason being that in the game, orcs usually have very high constitution and a habit of fidgeting with their wounds... so such modifications usually cause faster death, "Help me win!"

The arrow flew for nearly two seconds before finally nailing the orc's left chest. The orc was stunned for a moment, then dropped the large wooden box and let out a deafening roar, but in such a stormy night, the roar could not clearly reach Maso's ears.

"My god, I pray for your forgiveness for my killing..." Maso reloaded the arrow and watched the halfling, who was running towards the dock. The halfling had a long cylindrical object in his hand. Estimating the wind direction, rain, and the halfling's speed, Maso calmly pulled the trigger... watching the arrow carry the halfling and the signal stick in his hand into the sea, Maso sighed, "For in nature, only the strong eat the weak."

Pushing a bag of grass that had been soaked by the rain on the wall, the pulley on the rope carried the 40-pound bag down to the dock. Seeing that the bag was not attacked when it hung on the flagpole, Maso then collected the arrows, put the waterproof oilcloth back on, and slid down to the ground through a rope on the other side of the old lighthouse.

The orc foolishly tried to pull the crossbow arrow out of his chest, but he only pulled out half of the arrow tip, and the blood that spurted from the wound immediately dyed the ground red.

Maso, crouching and moving in small steps in the rain, raised his military crossbow and watched the orc on the ground, who was convulsing. He could clearly see that the big guy was now suffering 3 points of bleeding damage per second—initially, the bleeding damage was a terrifying 20 points, and Maso had already dealt 237 points of HP damage to him, with the damage increasing every second.

In other words, this orc was the strongest member of the city's Thieves' Guild, an orc with at least 300 HP, and his level was at least 25. Considering that very few orcs become spellcasters, and the large warhammer on the orc's waist seemed to confirm this, this warrior orc might also go into a rage... such a melee monster, if players challenged him and his five companions at their current levels, they would likely need to die at least ten times.

This result would still be if the players had good luck.

As Maso approached the orc, the giant suddenly jumped up and roared, charging at the catman. Facing a raging orc, the catman chose to shoot the orc's left knee, interrupting the charge and causing the orc to fall to the ground.

When the orc struggled to prop himself up with his good right leg and raised his head, the sharp dagger in Maso's left hand was already in front of him. Instinctively, the orc used his right hand to block the dagger, but the next second, the dagger in Maso's left hand stabbed into the orc's right elbow, slicing and cutting the orc's forearm. The orc roared and tried to grab with his intact right hand, but Maso easily dodged and the dagger in his left hand, now free of the forearm, stabbed directly into the orc's left eye socket as he leaned forward.

The dagger was then twisted into the brain and pulled out, and with a push from the right hand, the orc fell backward into the rain, splashing water everywhere.

Walking past the orc's body, Maso did not rush to open the box but first reloaded a crossbow arrow before opening the wooden box—just a crack, and the golden light inside blinded Maso. He carefully extended his hand into the wooden box—'Respected player, do you want to obtain 3200 Aspian gold ship coins and 4000 Goldfinch Iris gold coins in the wooden box?'

In the game, gold coins from different countries are nearly identical, so there is little need for exchange, and the main difference between gold coins from different countries is the design.

"Rich!" Maso chose to confirm without hesitation, then crouched down and found another small wooden box in the arms of another halfling, likely containing very valuable items. The small wooden box was locked, but this did not stop Maso. He picked up the 'one-handed hammer' from the orc's body and, with both hands, used all his strength to lift it—smashing it heavily onto the small wooden box.

The game uses a very realistic physics engine, so the lock on the small wooden box broke, and in Maso's eyes appeared a pair of wooden gauntlets of different colors. The arm guards and hand guards were separate, with three retractable blade slots on the top of the hand guards. The edges of the arm guards had thorn patterns, and the center of the polished arm guards had a leopard head emblem.

Maso picked them up, and the equipment attributes immediately appeared on the virtual screen in front of his eyes.

Leo Lovanta's Elemental Shield (Left Hand)

Item Type: Advanced Flying Claw Gauntlet

Item Level: Advanced Legendary Weapon / +7

Item Alignment: Sympathetic to Good / Hostile to Evil

Attack Type: Piercing / Slashing

Required Attributes: Strength 6 / Perception 30

Flying Claw Range: 60 yards, automatic retraction

Damage: 3D6 (3-18) +7 / Full Frost Damage, guaranteed critical hit on evil-aligned targets

Blade Sharpness: 9

Arm Guard Durability: 12

Critical Hit Range: 18-20

Critical Hit Damage: x3

Weapon Description (Yellow Text): This is the wrath of the elements against evil

Weapon Special Effects: Never breaks when equipped, never drops when equipped (unless alignment shifts), cannot be disarmed when parrying or blocking

Base Block Rate: +15%, successful block absorbs 1D2 damage and restores HP / this number increases by 1D2 for every 4 levels of the user

Weapon Weight: 3 pounds

Weapon Material: World Tree Wood

Leo Lovanta's Elemental Assault (Right Hand)

Item Type: Advanced Flying Claw Gauntlet / +7

Item Level: Advanced Legendary Weapon

Item Alignment: Sympathetic to Good / Hostile to Evil

Attack Type: Piercing / Slashing

Required Attributes: Strength 6 / Perception 30

Flying Claw Range: 60 yards, automatic retraction

Damage: 3D6 (3-18) +7 / Full Fire Damage, guaranteed critical hit on undead targets

Blade Sharpness: 12

Arm Guard Durability: 9

Critical Hit Range: 18-20

Critical Hit Damage: x3

Weapon Description (Yellow Text): This is the redemption of life for the dead

Weapon Special Effects: Never breaks when equipped, never drops when equipped (unless alignment shifts), cannot be disarmed when parrying or blocking

Weapon Weight: 3 pounds

Weapon Material: Phoenix Divine Wood

Set Name: Leo Lovanta's Song of Ice and Fire

Leo Lovanta's Elemental Shield: All melee attacks on targets that can grant honor, experience, reputation, and legendary points have a chance (15%) (100% on kill) to add an energy ball to the user, with a maximum of six energy balls. The user can directly use energy balls to restore 5 MP (per energy ball).

Leo Lovanta's Elemental Assault: The damage of each jump of the lightning chain no longer halves, and the number of targets that can be locked by each lightning chain level increases by four. Targets that have been damaged will receive full damage again if the total number of targets is insufficient.

(2/2) When the player casts a lightning arrow, it can be transformed into an energy chain, dealing full damage to the target while pulling the target towards the user or throwing it in a certain direction. Using this effect will consume one energy ball.

(2/2) Each energy ball can reduce the casting time of the next lightning arrow or lightning chain by 25%, and casting six energy balls will make the next lightning arrow or lightning chain instant, and this lightning chain will gain special effects (the lightning chain will gain super jump, increasing the maximum jump distance between each target from 6 yards to 12 yards).

(2/2) Each level of the lightning arrow and lightning chain increases the damage of the lightning arrow and lightning chain by 2.

This is a set of flying claw gauntlets, and also the legendary weapon set of Leo Lovanta's Song of Ice and Fire. Putting the flying claw gauntlets into his backpack, Maso's mind was now filled with only four words—shaman's ultimate gear.

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