Chapter 4

Indeed, with a base Intelligence of only 5, lower than Strength, and with Dexterity and Constitution maxed out, and Willpower at 19, this initial attribute set—high Dexterity means high ranged attack and defense, high Constitution means more health, and Willpower determines the effectiveness of divine spells for clerics and druids—this initial attribute set is extremely suitable for choosing a solo play class like a Ranger, or even considering a cleric or druid, which are high-Willpower support classes.

—Solo play, of course, means being your own boss, which is the fastest way to earn money. High-Willpower support classes can also earn substantial commissions in team battles, making them "white-collar jobs."

It can be said that Alpha's initial attributes allow for many suitable class choices, except for a Mage.

With only 5 points in Intelligence, not only would spell damage be extremely low and mana very limited, but the Intelligence requirement to learn spells would be a nightmare. Even the lowest-level 0th-level attack spell, "Frost Ray," requires a base Intelligence of 6. Base Intelligence refers to the inherent Intelligence of the character, not considering equipment or skill bonuses.

In short, if Qin Yu were to choose a Mage with these initial stats, he would be essentially useless.

It's difficult to make up for the disadvantage in Intelligence through leveling, as characters in "Dungeons and Dragons" only gain one free attribute point every 10 levels. Trying to reverse this disadvantage later on is virtually impossible...

Thus, Alpha became a somewhat well-known useless Mage in the Northshire region.

After Northshire's Mage Mentor Klein Luther, in a drunken stupor, loudly laughed about this, which he found even funnier than "the Goddess of Magic, Mystra, forgetting the incantation for 'Fireball,'" the gossipy NPCs and common village matrons in Northshire quickly spread the name of "Northshire's Number One Useless Mage" throughout the Elwynn Forest region and even all of Northshire.

Many new players also knew that in the Silvermoon Alliance, there was a useless Mage in Northshire who couldn't even learn 0th-level spells.

As the largest and most popular political faction in "Dungeons and Dragons," the Silvermoon Alliance is known for its promotion of magic and scholarship. Northshire, located in the northeast of the Silvermoon Alliance, is where all Silvermoon Alliance players receive their initial training.

—In simpler terms, Northshire is the starting map for Silvermoon Alliance players, and the Elwynn Forest region, where the Northshire Monastery is located, is the actual newbie village.

It's no wonder, even though "Dungeons and Dragons" has a high level of realism, it is still a traditional MMORPG where combat power is the primary factor. Moreover, the Silvermoon Alliance is a nation that promotes magic and knowledge, making Qin Yu's type of Mage a rare oddity.

In fact, with only 5 points in Intelligence, Qin Yu can only learn four spells that are almost useless in combat: "Mage Hand," "Flare," "Prestidigitation," and "Prestidigitation."

"Oh, then how should I play?"

Qin Yu seemed unaware of the severity of the problem and asked very calmly. As a longtime friend who had been insulting and humiliating each other for four years, Bald Li was at a loss for words and angrily said:

"Just buy a knife and start hacking!!!"

"Alright, someone's coming, I'll go open the door."

Saying this, Qin Yu, as usual, hung up the phone without considering Bald Li's feelings, leaving Bald Li on the other end of the phone speechless for a moment, muttering:

"Is this guy really going to use a knife?"

In fact, Qin Yu wasn't so foolish as to only use a knife. He also learned to use a hand crossbow.

This weapon, similar to a small pistol, Qin Yu used with great proficiency. A longsword... oh, sorry, a longsword and a hand crossbow combination helped Qin Yu reach level 9 and even achieve the feat of solo-killing a Corpse Fire.

It's worth noting that killing a Corpse Fire in monster form usually requires 2-3 players of level 10 or higher who have learned 1st-level spells.

—In "Dungeons and Dragons," players can learn 0th-level spells at the start, and then learn higher-level spells every 10 levels.

When Bald Li saw Qin Yu, or Alpha, occasionally using "Mage Hand" to pull back from a monster's attack, and using a longsword and hand crossbow to kill monsters in a gruesome manner, Bald Li couldn't help but get excited:

"Why don't you just keep practicing like this? You might unlock a hidden class."

Bald Li's words were based on a real example. The 8th-ranked Mage Swordsman, Longbow, had a tragic initial attribute set with maxed-out Strength and Intelligence. He finally triggered a hidden class quest at level 20 and became a Mage Swordsman, a well-known legend in the game.

To prove his point, Bald Li thought for a moment and said mysteriously:

"Have you read that online game novel, 'Melee Mage'? Gu Fei, a Mage who uses swords and knives to fight monsters, is really powerful."

Qin Yu nodded.

"I also use a crossbow."

......

......

The scene shifts back to the present in the evil cave.

The Corpse Fire, with a swift motion that didn't match its zombie-like body, picked up the cigarette butt that Qin Yu, or Alpha, had just thrown to the ground and hadn't had time to step on. It pulled at the remaining facial tissue and made a helpless expression:

"5 points of Intelligence are indeed insufficient for you to communicate normally with the Weave. However, for you, improving your melee skills is also a good... Don't look at me like that, I am a disciplined NPC and will not reveal any secrets about this world to you.

—The Supreme Law does not allow us to reveal secrets to adventurers."

Seeing the hope in Alpha's eyes, the Corpse Fire quickly changed the subject and shook his head:

"This clumsy projection... If only it could move as fast as a Medusa's."

"You could have risked your existence to bypass the Supreme Law and come to the evil cave, Lord Constantin."

Alpha teased.

The restriction of the Supreme Law is mainly to prevent powerful beings from other planes from easily entering the Material Plane. According to statistics, the Supreme Law gives a 99.99% failure rate for plane crossing.

—No devil or demon would dare to cross with such a high failure rate, as the result of failure is usually total destruction, both body and soul.

This is done to protect the weak Material Plane, as beings from other planes, such as devils and demons, are far more powerful than those in the Material Plane.

After some banter with the Corpse Fire, Alpha stood up:

"Alright, the boss is getting impatient. Let's hurry up.

—Don't use 'Ghostly Strike' on my sword if you don't want to use your cigarette money to buy a new one from Chas."

"Breaking your sword is the most satisfying thing I can think of—Roar! Roar! Roar!"

The Corpse Fire finished the cigarette butt, symbolically let out a savage roar, and charged at Alpha.

A few Infernal Imps, who had been annoyed by the two smoking and chatting, seemed relieved and eagerly lined up with a few other Devil Zombies to watch the fight.

Facing the charging Corpse Fire, Alpha shrugged and dodged the Devil Zombie's body, which was two heads taller than him.

—A 20-point Dexterity gave Alpha a significant speed advantage.

Seeing Alpha dodge, the Corpse Fire swung its withered arm backward, aiming to hit Alpha's back with its elbow.

Any adventurer who saw this move would be terrified. Was this still the clumsy, moaning zombie? Such a fluid and agile movement would be difficult even for some speed-focused Rangers.

The combat skills displayed by the Corpse Fire were truly terrifying, far beyond what a typical AI could achieve.

To put it bluntly, if the Corpse Fire fought the new players at the Northshire Monastery in this manner, none of them would be able to earn the right to challenge the Scarlet Monastery before reaching level 20 and learning 2nd-level spells.

Only by defeating the Corpse Fire are players allowed to leave Elwynn Forest and venture into more dangerous areas, such as challenging the Scarlet Monastery, which is controlled by hellish forces.

Defeating the Corpse Fire signifies that a player is strong enough to challenge the Scarlet Monastery. Otherwise, venturing there would be a sure death, as even the weakest enemies in the Scarlet Monastery are level 15 elites, and the final boss, Antalar, is a level 30 leader.

While death before level 60 is not a big deal, allowing players to die randomly is not beneficial for the game's development.

The death mechanics in "Dungeons and Dragons" are relatively complex:

Under the protection of the Supreme Law, characters who have not yet reached the first transformation (level 60) can die infinitely with only random item drops as a penalty. Death is not a big deal.

However, once a character reaches the first transformation and becomes a Hero, everything changes.

The sympathy and protection of the Supreme Law for the weak immediately disappear. Without the protection of the Supreme Law, each player has only 10 chances to be resurrected. Once these chances are used up, the character must be deleted and restarted, losing all spells, skills, attributes, and equipment.

Of course, for Alpha, who is only level 9, this is still far off. The immediate challenge is to dodge the seemingly fierce attack from the Corpse Fire:

Alpha's free right hand lightly waved, and a transparent large hand appeared beside the Corpse Fire's elbow, gently pushing it upward. At the same time, Alpha slightly ducked his head, using the height difference to dodge the attack that would have shattered the skull of a typical level 9 player!!!