Chapter 4: Dark Creatures
Lixiang had his own thoughts. How could someone who hadn't even learned to walk manage to run directly, let alone run faster?
Right now, his sole focus was to thoroughly understand this game first, and only then learn skills based on his actual needs. It was the same principle as building a pyramid—the stolid and solid the foundation, the higher one could build.
Once the Path of Light was fully mastered, the benefits it brought to Lixiang were: equipping the special book Path of Light increased intelligence by 30 points, reduced casting time by three percent, and granted an additional 30 knowledge points daily!
Checking his status, the experience rewarded from completing a single quest had directly elevated him to Level Four. Looking at the twenty surplus attribute points and four skill points, Lixiang didn't hesitate for a moment and poured all of them into stamina.
No matter the circumstance, staying alive first and foremost was the absolute fundamental rule. Moreover, the heroes recorded in those books were always the ones who survived until the end; their common trait was high health, good defense, and lasting until the bitter end.
Before checking the forums, Lixiang had no idea that some suggestions on beginner stat allocation had already been published there. For instance, since priests were positioned at the very rear of a team, a full-intelligence priest was the most sought-after, followed closely by the agile thief-priest.
As for a stamina-based priest, they would run out of mana after casting just a few healing spells while failing to restore much health for others, making it virtually impossible to find a party.
However, Lixiang's stat distribution was the result of his own careful consideration and comparison. After allocating the points, he looked at his Level Four health pool of 800 and felt quite satisfied. Of the remaining four skill points, three were invested into Healing Art, while the last one was reserved so he could go down and learn an offensive skill.
Packing up his things, Lixiang had just stepped out the door when a crisp voice rang out, sounding somewhat dissatisfied. "Hey, big liar! I've finally waited for you to come out."
"It's you. Hello." Recognizing her as the girl who had questioned him the other day, Lixiang still had an impression of her. Besides, with her big eyes and round face, she looked quite adorable.
"Didn't you say that Draenei bishop was easy to talk to? So how come he gave me a completely impossible quest?" the girl asked, puffing out her cheeks in anger.
The other day, when she failed to kick open the door and was caught red-handed by Draenei, the girl immediately claimed she had come to ask the bishop if there was anything she could help with, strongly asserting that she was a pious Light Apprentice.
Draenei looked the girl up and down and actually gave her a quest: "Eliminate one hundred Dark Creatures. Reward: 50 silver coins. Failure penalty: None."
Lixiang asked, "What kind of quest is it? Although Teacher Draenei can be strict at times, he treats us apprentices quite well."
"See for yourself." The girl directly shared the quest interface.
Looking at this girl who went by the name Yueseyiran, Lixiang asked, somewhat speechlessly, "What level are you now?"
The corners of Yueseyiran's mouth lifted slightly as she said with a hint of pride, "Level 8, an absolute Grand Priest." The moment she finished speaking, she suddenly remembered her quest, glared at Lixiang, and said with great frustration, "Don't you know that even the lowest-level skeleton soldier in the Undead Graveyard is Level Thirty-Five? Nobody would go after these one hundred Dark Creatures even if they formed a full party."
In fact, Yueseyiran was already quite certain in her heart that this was simply that old fogey Draenei retaliating against her for kicking his door by purposely assigning her a quest she couldn't possibly complete. Even if she somehow managed to finish it, fifty silver coins wouldn't even cover the cost of her potions.
"What are you laughing at?" Yueseyiran noticed Lixiang actually letting out an infuriating chuckle, an expression that made it seem as though she were completely ignorant.
Patiently, Lixiang explained, "Dark Creatures don't just refer to monsters like skeletons and zombies. Rather, it's a term for creatures of the dark faction. The Level Three and Level Four Slimes right outside the city belong to Dark Creatures. Fifty silver coins for one hundred Slimes is already a generous enough reward."
"Slimes are Dark Creatures?" Yueseyiran's eyes were filled with disbelief. Those little green things that hopped around, did nothing but spit, and produced disgusting corrosive slime couldn't possibly be classified as Dark Creatures no matter how she looked at it. "You aren't tricking me, are you?"
By this time, Yueseyiran had already sent a friend request to Lixiang, thinking to herself, *If you trick me again this time, you're dead meat. Am I really that easy to fool?*
Lixiang, however, wasn't thinking along those lines at all. Instead, he said very earnestly, "Of course Slimes are Dark Creatures. Don't you even look at the faction and race classifications?" Without paying attention to Yueseyiran's face turning red with embarrassment, Lixiang continued:
"The very word 'slime' means a muddy, sticky substance. Moreover, these creatures inhabit gloomy areas, surviving by preying on mice and other small creatures. Their primary means of attack is spitting acid to corrode their targets. Because they live in damp and filthy environments for long periods, the acid they spit often contains unidentified components. Besides damaging metal goods, it can also cause biological illnesses. They are typical cannon-fodder training monsters; how could you possibly not be able to beat them?"
Yueseyiran stared in astonishment at this stubborn, deadpan boy who was so earnestly explaining to her that Slimes were Dark Creatures, feeling a genuine sense of helplessness. *It's enough just to tell me, you didn't have to go as far as explaining their origin with such deadpan seriousness,* she thought. *Still, he seems to know an awful lot.*
By now, Lixiang had already started walking. Did monsters like that even require a party? Even though he was only Level Four, he was confident he could complete it on his own.
Teacher Draenei wasn't in, so Lixiang went to the Light Mentor in the first-floor hall to inquire. Below Level Four, there were surprisingly only two skills available to learn: one was Healing Art, and the other was Holy Light Strike.
This Holy Light Strike, which was barely stronger than a basic attack, had the same effectiveness as the elementary fireball spell learned by mages; the only difference was the color.
Holy Light Strike: Basic skill, deals 100% base attack damage with a certain amount of bonus attack power!
After allocating a point into it, Lixiang could already feel a surge of hot-blooded excitement rushing through his body. It was the exact same feeling he used to get back in school when following a large crowd of people to a fight—anticipatory, excited, and mixed with just a tiny bit of dread.
"Heartless Parting, since the quest has been shared, let's go together." Yueseyiran had walked down at some point and was now standing right beside Lixiang.
"Alright, two people can move a bit faster." Lixiang smiled. After adding Lixiang to her party and seeing his level, Yueseyiran immediately felt an overwhelming surge of superiority rise in her heart. *No matter how much you talk, your level still isn't higher than mine.*
Along the way, the streets were packed with players heading out of the city and entering it. By this time, people had also begun setting up stalls on both sides of the street to sell items they had gathered, while others gathered at the city gates waiting to form parties or look for teammates.
"Hey, what are you smiling at again?" Although Yueseyiran hadn't spoken to Lixiang along the road, walking side by side with him, she had subconsciously been observing the boy. Seeing the corners of Lixiang's mouth twitch upward, she assumed he had discovered some petty thought of hers and immediately demanded an answer.
Pointing at the crowd of people standing or sitting cross-legged on the ground near the gate, Lixiang laughed and said, "I was just looking at them and thinking of the labor market outside my house. I really didn't expect to see the exact same thing in a game. If some high-level priest were to shout out right now asking who wants to join a party, all these people would probably swarm right over in a flash."
Yueseyiran took a look and realized it was indeed just like that. These people looked as if they were waiting for odd jobs, and whenever someone wearing decent equipment approached, one or two people would immediately stand up to inquire. Just as Heartless Parting had said, she couldn't help bursting into a snort of laughter.
That smile was as radiant as a blooming flower, causing Lixiang to momentarily lose his focus, as if someone had given his heart a gentle tug. However, Lixiang recovered almost instantly.
Yueseyiran quickened her pace by a few steps, her face flushed red as she wondered what on earth she was thinking. The two of them, one right after the other, quickly passed through the gates of Sun City.
As soon as they stepped outside the city, their vision was filled with green. The lush, verdant grass covering the ground was as neat and clean as an artificially planted lawn, looking especially vibrant and full of life under the sunlight. Stepping onto it felt soft and remarkably comfortable.
Every few dozen or hundreds of meters stood a massive banyan tree thick enough for four or five people to embrace. Their dense foliage formed natural giant parasols, and from time to time, flocks of unidentified small white birds could be seen flying up and down in busy agitation.
With Yueseyiran leading the way in front, they soon spotted those little green, hopping creatures known as Slimes appearing within the shady recesses of the banyan trees.