Lin Shen passed through the light door and entered the maze, and after taking just a few steps, the light door behind him vanished.
Lin Shen first observed his surroundings and found himself in a dilapidated town. To his left and right stood either ruined houses or long-withered trees. As a light breeze blew, the old wooden windows creaked with a rattling sound.
Lin Shen thought to himself: If a few tumbleweeds were to roll by right now, this would really have the vibe of an apocalyptic wasteland.
Looking around as he walked, Lin Shen moved forward, hoping to find some low-level monsters to grind for experience or perhaps some treasure chests.
After walking for the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, Lin Shen heard footsteps approaching from the distance.
He quickly found a low wall to hide behind, then poked his head out to observe.
A squad of Skeleton Soldiers holding short swords came walking into view. Lin Shen counted them, and there were ten Skeleton Soldiers in total.
Although Lin Shen felt that this squad wasn't very large, he didn't know their resistances, so he decided not to act rashly and silently watched the squad depart.
After another stick of incense's worth of time, Lin Shen spotted two straggling Skeleton Soldiers and decided to use the pair to warm up and try out his skills.
Lin Shen channeled spiritual energy into his left hand, forming a Wind Blade in his palm, and hurled it straight at the Skeleton Soldiers. In an instant, one of the Skeleton Soldiers was decapitated.
Before the other Skeleton Soldier could react, it was blown to dust by Lin Shen's Fire Arrow.
However, Lin Shen hadn't anticipated that the explosion of the Fire Arrow would alert the squad of Skeleton Soldiers ahead, and they quickly came running back.
Seeing that the Skeleton Soldiers weren't all that tough after all, Lin Shen first channeled a surge of lightning power into his staff, then leaped out from behind the low wall while simultaneously unleashing a bolt of lightning that shattered all ten Skeleton Soldiers to pieces.
At that moment, the System prompt rang out: "Congratulations to the Host for eliminating 12 Skeleton Soldiers. Rewarded with 24 System coins."
Lin Shen grumbled inwardly: At this rate, that's two coins per Skeleton Soldier—talk about stingy. Still, these Skeleton Soldiers really aren't very durable.
Lin Shen walked over to inspect the area, but apart from the dropped short swords, there was no loot whatsoever.
Just then, Lin Shen heard footsteps, and this time the footsteps sounded chaotic and numerous.
Lin Shen thought: The explosion must have alerted the nearby skeleton grunts. Let's see how many there are this time.
Sure enough, before long, another squad of Skeleton Soldiers appeared. This time there were roughly twenty-odd of them, led by a Skeleton Soldier riding a skeletal horse, holding a shield in his left hand and a sword in his right, who appeared to be the leader of this squad.
Lin Shen muttered, "Things are getting interesting now; even the captain has shown up."
The leader pointed his sword tip forward, and the remaining Skeleton Soldiers charged toward Lin Shen. Seeing this, Lin Shen immediately conjured a Fireball and hurled it at the charging skeletons.
With a massive explosion, all but two of the Skeleton Soldiers were blown away. The two remaining Skeleton Soldiers closed in on Lin Shen, raising their swords to strike.
Instinctively, Lin Shen raised his staff to parry. After absorbing the blow, he struck out with the tip of his staff, shattering the skull of one Skeleton Soldier. Seeing this, the other lunged at Lin Shen with its sword. Lin Shen reacted a fraction of a second too slow, and the tip of the blade grazed his left arm.
Instinctively clutching his wound, Lin Shen leaped backward to put some distance between himself and the Skeleton Soldier.
Looking at the blood on his hand, Lin Shen grew furious. He conjured a Wind Blade and hurled it forward, cutting the Skeleton Soldier cleanly in half at the waist.
The upper half of its body tried to crawl toward Lin Shen, but he finished it off with a Fireball, reducing the creature to dust.
Lin Shen thought: That was a mistake, but... man, that hurts. He wanted to use Qi Healing Technique to treat his wounds, but remembering that the skeleton leader was still around, he decided to deal with it first.
At that moment, the leader spurred his mount and charged straight at Lin Shen, thrusting his sword forward as he closed the distance.
Lin Shen quickly sidestepped, letting the blade brush past him.
After steadying himself, Lin Shen let out a sigh: "That was close."
The leader reined in his horse, turned around, and glared at Lin Shen.
Lin Shen flashed a welcoming hand gesture at the leader, who once more spurred his mount forward and charged, only to be evaded by Lin Shen yet again.
After toying with the skeleton leader for seven or eight rounds, Lin Shen figured it was about time. He hurled a Fireball at the leader's mount. Seeing this, the leader leaped off his horse to save his life, while the skeletal mount was blown to smithereens.
Upon landing, the leader charged at Lin Shen with his sword. Lin Shen met him in close combat with his staff, and the two traded blows for over thirty rounds. Spotting an opening, Lin Shen intentionally left a flaw in his defense. The leader lunged with his sword, but Lin Shen sidestepped and struck the leader's head clean off with a single blow from his staff.
Lin Shen followed up with a Fireball, and the leader instantly vanished into thin air. After making sure there were no remaining enemies, Lin Shen channeled Qi Healing Technique to treat his wound. After a short while, the injury slowly faded away.
Lin Shen carefully inspected the battlefield and felt as though there was something inside the leader's skull. He used his staff to crack open the skull and discovered a scroll inside. The moment Lin Shen pulled the scroll out, it automatically vanished.
At that moment, a prompt rang out:
"Ding!
Congratulations to the Host for obtaining 100 System coins!
Congratulations to the Host for learning Summoning Technique!"
Lin Shen grumbled, "At least let me take a look at what's inside the scroll before taking it away."
Right then, another squad of fifty skeleton grunts emerged behind Lin Shen.
Upon seeing them, Lin Shen said, "Just in time for me to test out how well Summoning Technique works!"
He began chanting an incantation, and a purple magic array formed on the ground, out of which marched ten Skeleton Soldiers.
Unlike the enemy soldiers, however, the Skeleton Soldiers summoned through this technique were red.
With a wave of his staff, Lin Shen directed the ten red Skeleton Soldiers to charge at the enemy with swords drawn.
The two squads of Skeleton Soldiers clashed into one another, the sound of short swords ringing out continuously. Seizing the opportunity, Lin Shen channeled spiritual energy into his staff, and slowly, a massive Fireball fully formed.
Because of the sheer difference in numbers, the ten summoned Skeleton Soldiers were quickly wiped out. Lin Shen then unleashed the Fireball upon the enemy.
With a deafening explosion, all fifty Skeleton Soldiers were instantly obliterated.
At that point, the System's voice sounded:
"Ding!
Congratulations to the Host for obtaining 100 System coins!"
Having been through several battles, Lin Shen felt somewhat fatigued, so he walked over to a dilapidated tavern to rest.
It was a two-story building. The first floor featured a counter and several tables and chairs, while the second floor contained a few guest rooms, though the entire place was devoid of any trace of life.
Lin Shen randomly picked a chair and sat down, only then remembering that he had been so caught up in fighting that he hadn't properly searched the surrounding houses—he might have been able to find something useful.
Lin Shen first consumed a Mouse-Ear Fruit and rested for half an hour before beginning to search the entire inn. He checked everywhere a box could possibly be hidden: underneath tables, behind the counter, inside wardrobes, and beneath the beds in the guest rooms, searching every single nook and cranny.
As he searched, Lin Shen found a box hidden inside a wardrobe in one of the guest rooms. Upon opening it, he discovered a scroll, which once again vanished before he could even open it.
The System prompt rang out once more:
"Ding!
Congratulations to the Host for learning Earth-Binding Claw!"
This time, Lin Shen couldn't even be bothered to complain. Taking a closer look, he found that the box also contained a pouch, a cloak, and a ring.
Lin Shen took out the pouch and peeked inside, finding thirty copper coins.
Lin Shen thought: Since these are ownerless goods anyway, I'll gladly accept them.
He then took out the cloak and the ring from the box. The cloak didn't appear to have anything particularly special about it, and at first glance, the ring looked much like an ordinary jade ring, yet it gave off an ineffable, hard-to-describe sensation.
At that moment, the System prompt sounded again:
"Ding!
Congratulations to the Host for obtaining 30 copper coins!
Congratulations to the Host for obtaining a cloak!
Congratulations to the Host for obtaining the item Jade Ring!"
Lin Shen asked, "What's so special about this ring?"
The System replied, "This ring can transform into any hidden weapon you desire."
Half-skeptical, Lin Shen first slipped the ring onto his left hand and muttered an incantation; sure enough, a Thunder-Fire Bead materialized in his left hand.
He tossed it out the window, and the Thunder-Fire Bead detonated almost immediately.
Peering out the window, Lin Shen exclaimed, "Is this a Thunder-Fire Bead or a hand grenade?!"
Seeing nothing particularly special about the cloak either, Lin Shen had the System store it away.
At that moment, Lin Shen thought of Lin Yueru. Using this item to conjure Copper Coin Darts would certainly save a lot of trouble, and since Lin Yueru was skilled in the One-Finger Sun, Qi Sword Finger, and Seven-Absolute Sword Qi, her finger strength was undoubtedly extraordinary—giving it to her might be just right.
Lin Shen asked, "System, can these looted equipment and items be given away to others?"
"Yes!"
"That makes things easy."
With that, Lin Shen took off the ring and had the System store it away.
Stepping out of the inn, Lin Shen thought to himself: Mazes usually have some kind of final boss at the end, but there's no need to rush. For one, time is on my side, and for another, those rooms haven't been searched yet. And so, Lin Shen continued moving forward while searching along the way...
(End of Chapter 2)