Chapter 6

"Damn it,"

Alpha looked at his broken sword and helplessly shook his head.

The damned corpse had given Alpha a hard time before "leaving," using [Ghostly Strike] to break Alpha's sword, and then died contentedly with a sword through its throat, heading back to hell.

—This meant that Alpha would have to haggle with the barbarian woman, Chaxi, outside the Elwynn Forest again.

Chaxi, who was not good with words, was actually harder to deal with than the shrewd merchant Kide, because the simple-minded barbarian weapon merchant only stuck to her prices, refusing to lower them no matter how much Alpha talked.

This was the benefit of monopolizing the weapon market in the Elwynn Forest newbie area—take it or leave it, this was the price.

A regular thin-bladed longsword cost at least 2 silver coins, and the materials Alpha could collect from a sweep through the Evil Caverns could only sell for that much. The corpse rarely dropped equipment or large amounts of gold.

Of course, it didn't drop anything this time, only a few pitiful copper coins.

However, the way Alpha made money in the Evil Caverns wasn't by killing monsters and collecting materials. The "boss" he mentioned to the corpse was the real source of income.

Alpha's job was to help new adventurers kill the corpse and use a cheat to help them get the recognition of the Northshire Abbey constable, George Wei, acting as a babysitter:

There would always be a few clueless newbies who would hire stronger adventurers to kill the corpse for 5 silver coins each, as the corpse could resurrect once a day.

As mentioned earlier, only the corpse's head could get the constable's recognition, granting the right to go to the Scarlet Monastery to exorcise demons.

—Finding someone to lead them was the fastest way to get the rich quests and level up in the Scarlet Monastery.

Apart from Alpha and the first batch of players who explored the game, few people would still diligently grind in the Evil Caverns, where experience and equipment rewards were low. The newbies' greatest wish was to quickly go out into the world to "show their skills."

Throwing the corpse's head to the anxious newbies waiting outside the Evil Caverns, Alpha earned 20 silver coins for his labor.

This was Alpha's rule: when leading the kill of the corpse, the "bosses" could only wait outside because Alpha's method of killing the corpse was too peculiar, and he didn't want too many people to know.

Alpha smiled at a group of admiring "buddies" and cast a return scroll to teleport back to Northshire Abbey.

Returning to the city was a privilege for players under level 10 in the Elwynn Forest newbie area; once they left or reached level 10, they would no longer have this amazing ability.

"Really impressive,"

"What? You're only impressive here, a famous waste of a mage who can't even learn spells."

"Ah? Then why are you still playing a mage? Why not delete your account?"

"Who knows..."

...

...

The buddies excitedly whispered to each other, holding the corpse's head.

As mentioned earlier, in the eyes of the human and halfling newbies in Northshire Abbey, the mage Alpha, who could solo the corpse with unknown methods, was both a small legend and a huge joke:

The joke, of course, was because Alpha couldn't even learn 0-level spells, making him the first waste of a mage in Northshire.

As for the legend, a level 9 mage killing the corpse alone, and being a mage who couldn't even learn 0-level spells, was itself a small but significant legend.

However, whether a joke or a legend, it was all the same to Alpha. He earned money while killing the corpse and leveling up, gradually reaching level 9.

—Now he was level 10.

After killing the corpse, Alpha had gathered enough experience to reach level 10, gaining another level. Besides the 1 point of health per level, the system also rewarded a free attribute point.

The system rewarded a free attribute point every 10 levels, one of the few ways to increase major attributes in "Dungeons and Dragons," and it was considered a base attribute. The system was always very stingy with base attributes.

In fact, even for additional attributes not counted as base attributes, the system was not generous.

For example, only epic-quality or higher equipment could have additional attribute points, which were not counted as base attributes, showing how important the free attribute point every 10 levels was.

Without rushing to add the 1 point of base attribute, Alpha decided to return to the city first.

The scene before him changed from the dim Evil Caverns to the sunny Northshire Abbey. Alpha stretched his body, sniffed the fresh air, and checked his status:

"Player Name: Alpha,

Race: Human,

Class: Mage Level 10,

Health: 245/245 (Mages gain 1 point of Constitution per level, 10 points of health per point of Constitution);

Mana: 68/68 (Mages gain 1.5 points of Mana per level);

Strength: 14+0;

Constitution: 20+0;

Dexterity: 20+0;

Intelligence: 5+0;

Willpower: 19+0;

Charisma: 5+0;

Base Physical Attack: 9-14 (Base 5-7, Longsword 4-7);

Ranged Physical Attack: 11-18 (Base 6-10, Pale Hand Crossbow 5-8);

Physical Defense: 6-10 (Reduces 13.67% of physical damage from same-level characters);

Base Magical Attack: 1-2;

Health Regeneration: 3 points/second;

Mana Regeneration: 2 points/second;

Movement Speed: 14 yards/second;

Carry Weight: 140 pounds;

Specializations:

[Jumping Specialization: Level 10, increases jump height and distance.]

[Balance Specialization: Level 10, improves balance in various situations.]

[Climbing Specialization: Level 10, allows climbing special terrains.]

[Dodging Specialization: Level 10, improves dodging ability.]

[Language Specialization: Level 10, allows using more languages of this plane.]

[Listening Specialization: Level 10, improves sensitivity to battlefield environments.]

[Agility Specialization: Level 10, makes movements more flexible and swift.]

[Knowledge Specialization: Level 10, learns and understands knowledge in multiple fields.]

[Spell Recognition Specialization: Level 10, gains the ability to identify spells, spell traps, and appraise magical items.]

Spells:

[Mage Hand (Level 3): 0-level Conjuration, moves objects with the mind.

Causes movement equivalent to [Caster's Base Strength x (100 + Spell Level x 10)]% of strength, but cannot cause any damage;

Casting Time: None,

Range: 0-10 yards,

Mana Cost: 30,

Requirements: None.]

[Light (Level 3): 0-level Evocation, creates a light source.

Duration: 1 minute, can mildly daze dark vision enemies for a moment, light intensity increases with spell level;

Casting Time: None,

Range: 0-1 yard,

Mana Cost: 30,

Requirements: None.]

[Whisper (Level 3): 0-level Illusion, creates sounds.

Maximum volume equivalent to 4 x Spell Level adults;

Casting Time: None,

Range: 0-10 yards,

Mana Cost: 30,

Requirements: None.]

[Magic Trick (Level 3): 0-level General, creates simple and limited magical effects;

Casting Time: None,

Range: 0-30 yards,

Mana Cost: 33,

Requirements: None.]"

Looking at his pitifully low mana and magical attack as a mage, and the four 0-level spells that were generally considered useless—his source of the "waste" name—Alpha subconsciously focused on his somewhat chaotic specializations.

Besides the specializations commonly used in combat, Alpha had added many others.

It looked chaotic, but in fact, except for not enhancing casting abilities, Alpha had almost maxed out all the specializations that should reflect a mage's broad knowledge.

Alpha believed that a mage's greatest value lay in being well-versed and thoughtful, not in whether his [Fireball] could evaporate a stream.

As for health and ranged physical attack, the maxed Constitution and Dexterity gave Alpha health and ranged attack comparable to a ranger or rogue. In fact, Alpha now often used a hand crossbow in combat, treating himself as half a ranger or rogue.

Of course, such high ranged attack also owed to the only gift the corpse left for Alpha:

[Pale Hand Crossbow (Enchanted Crossbow):

Durability: 100/100;

Level Requirement: 4;

Class Requirement: None;

Alignment Requirement: None;

Attack Speed: 2.0 seconds;

Range: 0-20 yards;

Melee Physical Attack Damage: 3-5;

Ranged Physical Attack Damage: 5-8;

Piercing: 8% chance to deal an additional 20 points of damage.]

Enchanted-quality weapons and equipment in "Dungeons and Dragons" ranked second to last, only better than the lowest white-quality equipment.

Besides a certain increase in base attributes, they also had a basic magical property.

In the equipment system, "Dungeons and Dragons" followed the traditional quality system:

—Rainbow Artifacts, Five-color Lesser Artifacts, Silver Legends, Bright Purple Epics, Dark Gold Excellents, Blue Fine, Green Enchanted, and White Common were the eight quality levels that players had informally agreed upon.

The [Pale Hand Crossbow] with green text was a decent enchanted equipment:

The 5-8 ranged physical attack damage was much higher than the 3-5 of a normal white-quality crossbow, not to mention the 8% chance to trigger an additional 20 points of damage, which was a significant weapon in Alpha's numerous commercial "duels" with the corpse.

After a year of the game being live, the value of equipment had stabilized. A decent enchanted crossbow could sell for 50-60 silver coins, or 5-6 RMB on the trading platform, showing the game's business potential.

In a few weeks of playing, Alpha had saved a bit of money through leading the kill of the corpse, accumulating a few gold coins.

Although Qin Yu, in real life, wasn't too short of money, earning a few dozen RMB in a few weeks still made him feel good. However, if his character could make some breakthrough, it would be even better, such as changing his current frustrating situation or getting rid of the "waste mage" title, and see if he could...

"...get a hidden class or something..."

Alpha looked at the one free attribute point, suddenly seeming to have an idea...

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