Chapter 70

In order to quickly reach level 20, the milestone where he would gain new attribute points, 19-year-old Alpha decided to spend some time leveling up.

Alpha chose a new leveling spot, the Barracks, which, like the Pale Canyon with the Blood Birds, was occupied by the hellish forces. It was a favorite leveling map for players around level 20.

In fact, the background story of the Barracks was almost identical to that of the Pale Canyon:

A certain soul-soldier, who was resurrected infinitely by Andariel, was left to his own devices by Hell, with Asmodeus shrugging and saying, "I can't do anything about it," while the righteous gods fumed and raged...

...blah, blah, blah, in short, it was all that kind of nonsense.

Of course, it was beneficial for players, as not only did the place offer generous experience points, but the item drops were also quite good:

— The final boss of the Barracks, the 22-level elite Blacksmith, who was the soul-soldier, often dropped some decent 20-level fine-quality equipment, even exceptional-quality items.

Alpha currently had no decent equipment to speak of.

The best he had was the [Blazing Fist] gloves dropped by the Blackwater Fishman, the [Slippery Ring] from the Corpse Fire, and the [Servant Ring] given by Lancelot, all of which were fine-quality items.

As for the [Traveler's Robe] rewarded for completing the newbie village, this green robe with a hood, which looked quite nice, was only a +3 magic recovery enchantment, which was completely useless for Alpha, who had no magic points.

Oh, and there was also the [Pale Hand Crossbow], which he couldn't use at all. Now, Alpha only needed to throw [Basic Light Energy Arrows]. He regretted not selling it when the silver coin to RMB exchange rate was high...

Speaking of which, the [Basic Light Energy Arrows] were actually Alpha's best "equipment," barely qualifying as an exceptional item.

To prepare for the upcoming Forgotten Tower tour, Alpha needed to get some practical fine-quality, or even exceptional-quality, equipment. The auction house prices were too high, with an exceptional robe costing over a hundred gold.

Not only did Alpha not have much money, but even if he did, he wouldn't buy them. Alpha wasn't the type to "only buy the expensive, not the right" kind of wastrel.

Therefore, grinding at the Barracks for equipment was a more suitable choice.

— At this thought, Alpha suddenly wondered if his plan to report his discovery to Deckard Cain and subsequently clear the Northern Hell Outpost was a bit too presumptuous?

After all, many low-level players relied on these maps with weak monsters and good experience points.

However, the thought of this quest potentially being a grand achievement, one that could make a significant impact on the game's history, made Alpha stop worrying about it.

The Barracks were not far from the Defias Outpost, and Alpha soon arrived at the entrance.

It was said that this place used to be a training ground for the Defias Outpost's scouts, a long, long time ago, even dating back to the War of the Gods and Demons ten thousand years ago.

The situation was roughly as follows:

At the time, a hellish army ambushed and occupied the Barracks for a long time.

It was said that the hellish army succeeded in the ambush because the blacksmith responsible for forging weapons at the Barracks sold his soul to Andariel, the hellish commander of the Northern County, gaining hellish power and becoming an insider.

The Barracks were breached from the inside and fell, turning into a haven for evil spirits, which it remains to this day.

Of course, the blacksmith who could sell his soul to Andariel was no ordinary person. There were many stories about this unnamed blacksmith, one of which was that he possessed the magical forging hammer [Heraedicus Malleus].

The forging artifact [Heraedicus Malleus] granted its owner the most wondrous forging techniques, though players could not use it.

"...If you can bring me [Heraedicus Malleus], I think I can give you some honor points. As one of the most experienced blacksmiths in the Silver Moon Alliance, I have that authority."

Before leaving, Old John specially instructed Alpha, so completing this unexpected honor point quest was another goal of his trip.

In fact, players who frequently visited the Defias Outpost for life skills knew that Old John had been wanting [Heraedicus Malleus] for a long time. He had issued many quests, and many had taken them.

However, despite the blacksmith being killed and resurrected countless times by players for various reasons, no one had ever dropped this legendary hammer.

Alpha had specifically checked online, and many people said [Heraedicus Malleus] didn't even exist.

This didn't disappoint Alpha. For him, finding [Heraedicus Malleus] would be great, and he could get some honor points. If not, it was fine; his main goal was to level up to 20, and he could still get honor points at the Forgotten Tower.

— After all, Old John wouldn't give him 5000 honor points just for one quest, right?

With the quest accepted and preparations made, Alpha headed straight for the Barracks. As soon as he entered, he felt a chill, the temperature inside being several degrees lower than outside. Alpha knew this was the death breath of the wraiths, just like in the Pale Canyon.

There were no players at the entrance, only a few 18-level wraiths floating around, searching for the scent of intruders.

These monsters weren't very powerful, unlike high-level wraiths that were immune to physical damage. They had weak attacks and no special abilities other than a disgusting attack that drained magic points, which wasn't much of a threat.

Actually, this was only true for Alpha.

In fact, the wraiths were the most troublesome monsters in the Barracks due to their annoying ability to drain magic points without killing. For all classes, being drained of magic points and unable to use spells or skills was a nightmare.

Of course, Alpha, who had no magic points, was an exception. He wondered what these wraiths would try to drain from him—internal energy? Or saliva?

There was no point in overthinking it. Alpha drew a [Basic Light Energy Arrow] and, with a flick of his wrist, launched an [Arrow from the Sleeve].

The originally transparent light energy arrow, wrapped in golden internal energy, became even more brilliant. Under the 8th-level [Arrow from the Sleeve], the light energy arrow, charged with 102 full internal energy points, pierced the body of the nearest wraith and passed through it.

— It actually triggered the 30% [Light Penetration] effect!!!

The wraiths lined up within 15 yards were all hit by [Light Penetration], causing a spectacular burst of damage.

-166 + 50 (light energy)!!!

-152 (light energy)!!!

-152 (light energy)!!!

-152 (light energy)!!!

"Huh? That's not right..."

Seeing the damage, which was completely different from what he had expected, Alpha was taken aback.

However, there was no time to think. The [Light Penetration] had attracted all four wraiths. Alpha had to deal with them first. Fortunately, the month-long combat training with Corpse Fire had made him accustomed to fighting multiple enemies.

Ducking under the cold, ghostly claw of the nearest wraith, Alpha turned and pointed.

The 8th-level [Pressure Point Strike], charged with 216 full internal energy points, struck the head of the second wraith.

-844!!!

The shocking damage caused the unfortunate 18-level normal monster to dissipate into the air.

An 18-level wraith had about 600 HP. After being hit by [Light Penetration], it had about 400 HP left, which couldn't withstand the 844 ultra-high damage. In fact, 400 HP was the normal damage for Alpha's full internal energy [Pressure Point Strike].

— In other words, the head was a primary vital point that doubled the damage!!!

With this discovery, the fight became much easier. At first, Alpha thought wraiths had no vital points, given their ethereal bodies.

-428!!!

-441!!!

Two more [Pressure Point Strikes] hit the secondary vital point on the wraiths' foreheads, dealing 400+ damage and instantly killing the other two wraiths. Alpha intentionally reduced the internal energy for [Pressure Point Strike] by 100 points.

After all, these wraiths only had 400+ HP left, and a [Pressure Point Strike] with 100+ internal energy points hitting the head was enough to kill them.

There was one wraith left, and Alpha's internal energy was down to less than 300.

Internal energy: 287/737!!!

-443!!!

A single strike to the face of the last wraith ended the battle:

Alpha vs. 4 wraiths — Perfect KO!!!

It seemed that solo-killing four 18-level normal monsters wasn't a big deal for Alpha... No need to get so excited that he started using English...

After the battle, the first thing Alpha did was sit down and meditate...

All four martial arts had reached fairly high levels, consuming more and more internal energy.

With Alpha's current 737 internal energy points, he could only use three full internal energy [Pressure Point Strikes] or seven [Arrows from the Sleeve]. If he used other martial arts, his internal energy wouldn't be enough.

To replenish internal energy during battles, the only way was to meditate, as there were no internal energy potions in [Qihuang's Art].

Alpha had played games like "Xianjian" and "Xuan-Yuan Sword" before, where there were internal energy potions. Unfortunately, the [Alchemy] in [Qihuang's Art] could only make blood-replenishing potions.

Perhaps it was because ancient Chinese alchemy wasn't as advanced as Western alchemy?

So, he needed to consider the effects of internal cultivation on internal energy recovery and total capacity. He had to quickly level up [Guyen Gong]. Fortunately, the recovery effect of [Guyen Gong] was decent, and meditation didn't take long.

As for the strange damage from the first [Basic Light Energy Arrow], Alpha still had no clue...

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