Chapter Six: The Bestowal of Power

After closing the area chat channel, Zhang Shan checked the time—almost nine o'clock. The new world had been open for nearly an hour, and his experience bar had risen to 381 out of 1000. That meant he'd gained more than a third toward level two; another hour of grinding would get him to level three.

"Wind Chime, how much more do you need to level up?"

"Almost there, just a few more monsters," she replied.

"You're an intelligence-type class. When you use the peachwood sword to attack monsters, is that counted as physical or magical damage?" Zhang Shan was curious about this. After all, the Taoist was an intelligence-based class, so magic damage made sense—but how did swinging a sword count as magic?

"It's magic damage," Wind Chime answered. "If it were physical, there'd be no way to play. My physical attack is only five; I couldn't possibly beat the monsters."

"That's a bit absurd, isn't it? Clearly you're slashing with a sword, but it counts as magic damage. It doesn't make sense."

"It's just a game," she laughed. "If it exists, it's reasonable. Take it too seriously and you'll lose."

As they chatted, Lone Rider sent a message in the team channel, excitement in his tone: "Six-bar Buddha, come over here! You'll definitely like these monsters." He attached a screenshot of a monster's stats.

Demonized Rabbit: Level 2, HP 150, Attack 46. Skill, Granted Power (Passive): After being demonized, the rabbit receives power from the Demon God, greatly increasing its attack.

The rabbit's attack was terrifyingly high. Level one chicks only had ten attack, but a level two rabbit had forty-six. No wonder—if it attacked Zhang Shan three times, he'd be down for the count even without a critical hit.

But that passive skill, Granted Power, made Zhang Shan greedy with anticipation. Demonized rabbits had much higher attack than level one chicks, clearly due to the passive. Most regular level two monsters probably had only twenty-something attack. A passive skill that doubled attack was too strong. If Zhang Shan could acquire it through his King of Passives talent... Even if the player version wasn't as overpowered as the monster's, a simple ten percent boost would still be excellent.

He was determined to grind for this passive. He wouldn't leave the novice village without it. In the new world, once you reached level ten, you could leave the novice village, but you could never return. Of course, even after leaving, similar skills could likely be found on monsters elsewhere, but low-level monsters were easier to farm.

The King of Passives had a trigger rate of one in a million—only after killing enough monsters would it become possible. Zhang Shan didn't believe he'd get lucky after just a few kills; he was prepared for a long grind.

"Six-bar Buddha, why did Lone Rider say you'd like these monsters? These level two rabbits have crazy high attack; aren't they hard to fight?" Wind Chime was puzzled by their conversation. Why would Zhang Shan want to farm demonized rabbits when their attack was so high? With low HP, they’d be a favorite for ranged classes with good gear, but right now Zhang Shan couldn't kill them before they got close; two hits from a rabbit and he'd be done.

"I have a talent that needs monsters like these," Zhang Shan replied, not explaining further. Wind Chime didn't press.

"Lone Rider, can you tank the rabbits? Can we handle them?" Zhang Shan was worried they couldn't manage.

"It's tough, but if we work together, it'll be fine. Just be careful. I've tried it solo—it's doable but my health drops fast, and after each kill I have to sit and recover. But level two monsters give more experience—a rabbit gives ten, that's double the demonized chick. Teaming up to farm rabbits will be much faster for leveling. Bring the beauty from the team and hurry over."

"Alright, I'll go back and buy some bullets first."

When he first set out, Zhang Shan had bought a thousand bullets, plus the system's gift of another thousand. Nearly two thousand bullets were almost gone, with only a few hundred left—time to restock.

"Wind Chime, I'm heading back to buy bullets—do you need anything?"

"No, I don't need supplies. Potions are too expensive, and newbie gear doesn't need repairs. Go ahead, I'll keep grinding solo. Just a few monsters left till level two. When you return I'll have leveled up, and we can go try rabbits together."

OK.

The novice village had no teleport feature; you could either die and respawn or run back. Luckily, the demonized chick map was right at the village entrance—a quick round trip only took a few minutes.

Arriving at the general store, Zhang Shan saw players set up stalls nearby, surrounded by others bargaining and haggling. The stall owner was a thief class—a level one thief couldn't even beat chicks, but could sneak around the novice village map opening chests. Even higher-level monster areas could be accessed if they were careful. Worst case, they died and returned; at level one, they had no experience to lose.

But now, nobody even had shoes, so movement speed was painfully slow. With the new world open for only an hour, most thieves probably hadn't found a single chest. This one might be the only lucky person in novice village 10081 to have found a chest and obtained an item.

Zhang Shan checked the stall's goods: Bronze Ring (Green): Magic Attack 5-7, Intelligence +1, Equip Level 1, Durability 10/10.

What a powerful ring—seven attack and an extra point of intelligence, definitely top-tier newbie gear. It would last all the way until leaving the novice village. And it was jewelry—always rare in games, especially loved by intelligence classes.

The player who'd been offering copper coins for gear in the area channel, Wind and Cloud Secretary, was there bargaining. Zhang Shan had thought this was a beauty, but it turned out to be a male player.

"One price—one thousand blue coins, offline transaction. Rest assured, our Wind and Cloud Guild is trustworthy."

"Two thousand, non-negotiable."

"It's just level one gear—you want two thousand blue coins? That's robbery. I might pay one thousand today, but tomorrow no one will give fifty. Our novice village has only a thousand people; aside from casual players, there are six or seven hundred regulars online. Even if intelligence classes are common, they won’t exceed four hundred. Of those, only a handful want this gear. Think it over, handsome, don't let it rot in your hands."

"Two thousand blue coins, take it or leave it. If I don't sell today, I'll accept a lower price tomorrow. I'm not in a hurry—someone will want it eventually. You guild pros are different; your time is valuable."

"Fine, fifteen hundred. Our guild has three members in this novice village. We'll hire someone to help you level to two. That's the deal—yes or no?"

"Deal."

Zhang Shan watched their bargaining with interest. The thief had exploited the guild’s urgency to secure the best terms—not only selling at a high price, but also getting someone to help him level up. Once he reached level two, he could grind monsters himself, ending the tough period.

Seeing the transaction, Zhang Shan’s heart burned with excitement. Even newbie gear could sell so well. Once he left the novice village and started getting good drops, there’d be no shortage of buyers. He marveled at the spending power of the pros—a green piece usable only in the novice village sold for fifteen hundred blue coins. Truly extravagant.

He calmed himself, spent all his copper coins, bought four thousand regular bullets, and used the remaining twenty or so to buy two small health potions. His pouch was left with only a few copper coins.

Checking his inventory:

Regular bullets: 4625
Small health potions: 3
Copper coins: 2

Returning to the monster area, Wind Chime had already reached level two.

"Wind Chime, how much does your level two Attack Blessing boost your attack?" The level one blessing gave a ten percent boost—if level two gave twenty percent, that would be overpowered. Zhang Shan wasn't sure of the skill's scaling, so he asked.

"Eleven percent—not much, but duration is now one minute."

"Not bad. Maxing the skill should get twenty percent—a great support skill. Let's go find Lone Rider and farm rabbits."

Using the team’s position tracker, Zhang Shan and Wind Chime found Lone Rider.

He was locked in combat with a rabbit. The damage numbers above their heads showed they were evenly matched, both dealing twenty to thirty per hit. Thankfully, Lone Rider had fifty more HP than the demonized rabbit, or he’d be outmatched.

Players clustered in groups nearby—more than on the chick map. Many had apparently reached level two. However, the demonized rabbits respawned much slower than chicks. Right now there were just enough for players to hunt, but soon, with more level twos, there’d be competition for monsters.

"Brother, you can't take many hits, can you?" Zhang Shan watched Lone Rider finish off a rabbit, nearly out of health and meditating to recover.

"You pull from range, and the beauty and I intercept up front. With three of us, I should only need to tank one hit." Lone Rider explained his plan; gone were the days of solo tanking like with chicks.

OK.

OK.

Zhang Shan calculated their damage. With Attack Blessing, his attack was 20–27; Wind Chime was similar. Lone Rider was stronger, and his Falling Leaf Slash skill could deal over forty. Altogether, they could do more than eighty damage per round. Two hits each, plus Zhang Shan pulling and dealing extra, would finish a rabbit. If his Headshot skill triggered, Wind Chime and Lone Rider would only need to hit once.

They got started.

Zhang Shan fired at a freshly spawned rabbit. It rushed at him, eyes glowing red. As it neared, Lone Rider struck with Falling Leaf Slash—43 damage. Wind Chime followed with a basic attack; perhaps a crit, as she dealt 30 damage despite having no damage skills. The rabbit was nearly dead; Zhang Shan finished it off with one more attack—a flawless victory.

"Nice, let's keep it up. Beauty, try to let Six-bar Buddha land the final blow—his luck is high, and he needs it," Lone Rider reminded Wind Chime, knowing Zhang Shan needed to kill monsters himself to trigger his King of Passives talent.

"Alright."

A demonized rabbit gave three experience points, split among the three. Total experience was ten—much faster than farming chicks.

Copper coins dropped: two, divided randomly among the group.

Checking his experience bar: 384/1000. Over six hundred left to reach level three. With each rabbit taking less than ten seconds, they'd level up in under an hour if enough rabbits spawned.

"Brother, how much more experience do you need?" Zhang Shan asked Lone Rider, who had been solo farming earlier.

"Over eight hundred. Solo grinding was slow, had to rest after each monster. Now it's much better—should hit level three in under an hour. We must be among the fastest to level up."

"Not necessarily. Fire Mages who buy mana potions will be twice as fast," Zhang Shan speculated, thinking of the pay-to-win players.

"Where would they get money for potions? Game currency is scarce, and trading is limited to the novice village. Even if they want to collect copper coins, there aren't many to be had. They can't keep using potions forever. Plus, potions have cooldowns."

"True, but they're still faster. Maybe someone already hit level four. Earlier in the novice village, I saw a thief selling a green magic ring—top-tier. Bought by Wind and Cloud Guild."

"No way! That thief was lucky, and the guild lucked out too. With an extra piece of gear, their leveling speed will quickly surpass ours."