Chapter 16

In the bustling square of Red Leaf Town, white light flickered, and figures began to appear one by one—these were the resurrected members of the Phantom Clan.

These people looked dejected and extremely depressed.

Nothing was more painful and frustrating than gaining something only to lose it again.

Just a moment ago, they had dreamed of dominating Red Leaf Town, with their levels soaring. The next second, they were dead, losing not only their levels but also their skill proficiency. Moreover, the experience points they had accumulated at level 1 were less than before, making them far worse off than ordinary players.

The resurrected Flame Tiger's face was ashen, his eyes filled with a murderous intent.

The system: Player Night Edge has killed you. In 3 seconds, you will resurrect in Red Leaf Town, and your level will drop by 1, with all skill proficiencies decreasing by 100 points.

"Night Edge, I won't let you off. I will make you suffer beyond imagination." Flame Tiger roared in anger, looking at the data in the system log, scaring the other players who quickly backed away, not daring to look at this madman.

After venting for a while, Flame Tiger ordered everyone to check their backpacks to see what they had lost.

Although the group had suffered significant losses from dying once, the dog-headed men not only provided experience but also dropped items, which was the only thing that brought them some comfort, making their efforts not entirely in vain.

When Flame Tiger opened his backpack, he felt a sudden sweetness in his throat and spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Immediately, right now, we are going to Dark Moon Valley. I must kill that kid." Flame Tiger roared in uncontrollable anger.

The skill book he had intended to mock Stone Peak with was gone. It was a very rare skill book for swordsmen, the most valuable item dropped by the dog-headed men. Now it was gone.

What was even more unforgivable was that the skill book had fallen into Stone Peak's hands. All his efforts had been for Stone Peak, and he could not tolerate this. Even if he had to kill Stone Peak back to level 0, it would not quench his hatred.

The other members did not understand what had happened to Flame Tiger. Going after Stone Peak now would be futile; no one would wait for them to come and take revenge. They would have long since fled, laughing at them from a distance.

At this moment, Flame Tiger's communication device beeped.

"Who is it! Coming to bother me at this time, are you looking for death?" Flame Tiger shouted as he answered.

"Flame Tiger, your temper has grown in just one day." The voice on the other end was cold and filled with anger.

Flame Tiger recognized the voice and his face turned even uglier when he realized who it was. "Brother Zhang, why is it you? I was just disciplining my subordinates. I didn't expect you to contact me, Brother Zhang. Please don't take it to heart; I wasn't talking about you."

"Enough, I know what you've done. Look at the mess you've made with Phantom in Red Leaf Town. I'm coming to you now. From now on, you won't be the leader of Red Leaf Town. The elemental mage Silent Rain will take over temporarily. If I arrive in Red Leaf Town and you haven't leveled up to level 2, you can leave. Phantom doesn't need useless people."

Hearing these words, Flame Tiger wilted. His hatred for Stone Peak was so deep that even the vast oceans could not wash it away.

Meanwhile, in Dark Moon Valley, Stone Peak and Black Kid were collecting the dropped items from the Phantom members.

Stone Peak was holding the skill book dropped by Flame Tiger.

"Flame Tiger is really generous, leaving this for me." Without hesitation, Stone Peak chose to learn the skill.

Chase Wind Sword: Action skill, requires a sword. Attacks an enemy within 30 yards from 5 yards away, increasing movement speed by 40% and attack speed by 20% for 3 seconds. Cooldown: 25 seconds. Level 1, Proficiency: 0/300.

With this skill, the mobility of swordsmen was greatly enhanced, making it very effective against rangers and mages who liked to kite.

"Brother Peak, now we have all the Starfall Ore, and there's even a lot of Bronze Ore. Phantom really helped us a lot." Black Kid laughed, picking up the dropped ore from the ground. He noticed a dark green ore and asked, "Brother Peak, what is this Starlight Stone?"

Stone Peak, who was picking up ore, suddenly turned and ran to Black Kid, ignoring the Starfall Ore at his feet.

"Damn, it's really a Starlight Stone. Black Kid, your luck is incredible, to find this thing." Stone Peak took the dark green ore and examined it carefully, excited.

All monsters in the world had a one in a million chance to drop a Starlight Stone. To others, it might be trash, but to him, it was priceless and exactly what he needed.

"Brother Peak, what is the Starlight Stone used for?" Black Kid asked curiously, surprised by Stone Peak's excitement.

"It's for eating, but not for players." Stone Peak smiled, not explaining further, and put away the Starlight Stone.

"For eating?" Black Kid was puzzled. Who would eat a stone? But since Stone Peak didn't want to explain, there must be a reason, so he didn't ask further.

After a while, they had collected all the dropped items: 14 pieces of Starfall Ore and 32 pieces of Bronze Ore, completing Stone Peak's task and even exceeding it.

They then went to the blacksmith's shop.

"Master Jack, I have collected all the Starfall Ore you requested." Stone Peak handed over all the Starfall Ore, not keeping a single piece. These were quest items, and even if sold to NPCs, they were worth only 1 copper each, making them essentially worthless.

"Young man, you've done well. However, to become an outstanding blacksmith, you need the strength to obtain precious ores. There is a powerful dog-headed man leader in the Red Star Mine. Kill it to prove your strength." Master Jack put away the Starfall Ore and said with a grand tone.

System: Hidden quest 'The Path of Forging,' requiring the killing of the dog-headed man leader in the Red Star Mine. Time limit: 1 hour.

Seeing there was a second phase of the quest, Stone Peak wanted to curse the one-time deal. This had really messed him up.

Indeed, everyone had their secrets and couldn't be trusted; they were all liars.

In the previous life, the one-time deal never mentioned a second phase. Now, a second phase with a time limit had appeared, and it involved fighting a leader monster, which was much stronger than a special elite, equivalent to a raid boss. For him, who was only level 3, this was extremely dangerous.

In the previous life, the one-time deal was a quest he took at level 16, which was much easier to complete.

"Whatever, let's go and take a look." There was no point in complaining; Stone Peak was determined not to give up. The forging talent was too important, and he had to learn it.

Stone Peak and Black Kid then cleared the dog-headed men as they delved deeper into the Red Star Mine.

Compared to the dog-headed men at the entrance, the ones inside were level 5 instead of level 4, making them much harder to kill. Often, one hadn't been killed before another respawned. If not for the Black Iron Beer, which reduced the dog-headed men's level by 2, the killing speed would not have kept up with the respawn rate.

After half an hour, Stone Peak reached the deepest part of the Red Star Mine.

This was a large open area where over ten dog-headed men were mining. In the center stood a large, armored dog-headed man, constantly directing the others to work.

Dog-headed Man Leader, Leader Level, Level 5, HP: 2100/2100.

Just the HP was enough to make one despair, let alone the heavy armor, which would provide extremely high defense, making it almost impossible for physical attacks to deal significant damage. Moreover, leader-level monsters recovered 2% of their HP every 5 seconds, which meant 42 HP every 5 seconds. Even a regular level 5 physical damage player might not deal 42 damage in 5 seconds.

As for using a smoke bomb to kill it without taking damage, it was impossible. The leader's field of vision was extremely large, even for a dog-headed man, at 55 yards. Even with a 10-yard reduction, it was still 45 yards, which was more than the 40-yard range of the farthest-reaching ranger.

Looking at the dog-headed man leader, Stone Peak weighed his options and laughed helplessly. "Do I really have to use that?"

The page turns, and the advertisement begins.

The page turns, and the advertisement ends.