Chapter 5 – Vital Strike (1/2)

Chapter 5 – Vital Strike

Towns contained only the most rudimentary of buildings: general stores, low-level equipment shops, personal storages, etc… Even NPCs were sparse in number, and these NPCs were quest givers. For the most part, these simple quests consisted of gathering and collecting various items, hunting and killing an animal to collect its fur, collecting herbs, ores, and so on. After completing these quests, one would be rewarded with either money or experience.

After arriving at the general store, Nie Yan went forward and bought three Basic Health Potions. One potion would restore upwards of thirty health, and each potion was priced at a single copper. General stores only offered Basic Health Potions. Middle- or higher-tiered potions could only be purchased from an Alchemist.

Following the purchase of his three potions, only a single copper remained in Nie Yan’s pockets.

Nie Yan walked outside and went out of the town’s boundaries. After leaving the town, he hurriedly rushed over to the treasure chest’s spawn point. If he met a monster, he would make a detour around it and maintain his distance.

The place he was heading towards was a Level 5 monster area. At present, with his current level, the danger was very high. However, with his experience currently at Level 0: 0.00%, even if he died, he wouldn’t lose any experience.

Nie Yan passed through two Level 1 monster zones, a Level 3 monster zone, and a Level 4 monster zone. After four minutes, Nie Yan had finally arrived at the monster zone where Level 5 Wildcats spawned.

After surveying the surrounding area, he saw dense pastures and lush grass that could reach up to one’s waist. Gazing at a distant area in the dense pastures, he saw a tall willow rising above the vegetation. It appeared to be especially lofty and majestic as it occupied its own space within the pasture.

The silver treasure chest wasn’t far from this location. Nie Yan’s heart began to tense up with nervousness as he grew closer.

At his current level, the Level 5 Wildcats in this area weren’t monsters that Nie Yan was capable of dealing with.

Occasionally one or two Wildcats would pass through the area, and Nie Yan would hurriedly conceal himself.

Thieves possessed a passive profession skill which raised their ability to conceal themselves. Once they went into hiding, it wouldn’t be easy for other lifeforms to detect them.

At the same time, he was still able to use his Stealth skill.

Nie Yan began calculating the level difference formula for Stealth in his head. After using Stealth, the safe distance between him and a Wildcat should be about two meters. In other words, if he went within two meters of a Wildcat while he was in stealth, he would be discovered. Between two and three meters was the buffer zone where he could possibly be discovered. Beyond three meters he was at an absolutely safe distance.

Having spent over a decade playing the Thief profession in his previous life, Nie Yan’s usage of these Thief skills had long been tempered to perfection. In addition, using his vision to estimate distance also wasn’t too hard of a feat.

Suddenly, the underbrush in the distance began to tremble and stir with movement. Nie Yan’s complexion rapidly changed as he quickly went into hiding by activating Stealth.

A Wildcat that was as large as a German Shepherd pounced out of the thickets. Its sharp eyes surveyed the surroundings, but it didn’t discover anything strange. As it passed through the open space that lay ahead, it entered into another patch of grass and disappeared.

Only when he was assured the Wildcat had gone far away did Nie Yan dare to continue moving forward.

There was a stretch of open space in a ten-meter radius around the willow. A silver white chest quietly lay at the base of the willow tree. The nearby area had six to seven Wildcats roaming around freely.

To clear out these Level 5 Wildcats would require a team of at least twenty Level 3 players.

It would not be easy getting ahold of this chest.

Nie Yan observed the movements of these Wildcats within the thickets of grass, as he attempted to find a safe route to the willow tree.

Their movements appeared to have a fixed pattern.

After observing for a while, Nie Yan removed all the equipment from his body and stored them in his inventory. He then re-equipped his defenseless beginner equipment. If his beginner equipment were to be sold to an NPC store, they wouldn’t be worth even a single copper. Simply put, they were trash. Even if one were to throw them on the ground, no one would bother picking them up.

Dying in Conviction would result in the loss of a level. Additionally, a random piece of equipment would also be dropped upon death. If the new equipment he had just recently bought dropped unexpectedly, then that would truly be wasteful. However, if the beginner equipment dropped, he wouldn’t care. He was only equipping it to temporarily to cover his body anyway.

While using his Stealth skill, Nie Yan slowly crept towards the willow tree. He walked for approximately ten seconds, before suddenly stopping and holding his breath. A Wildcat was making its way around Nie Yan’s left flank—within approximately two meters.

After waiting for six seconds, Nie Yan pressed onwards once again—carefully exercising control over his distance between each Wildcat.

Gradually, the distance between him and the chest shortened.

Nie Yan’s heart rate sped up once again. He understood that as a Level 0, if he succeeded in grabbing this skill book, then it would be immensely helpful in the future.

Two wildcats began moving towards Nie Yan’s location.

Nie Yan quickly halted, but the wildcats continued their advance. Fortunately, the distance between them was still about two meters apart. Nie Yan was frightened badly as he felt a cold sweat run down his back.

Stealth had a total duration of two minutes, and time was ticking away. Knowing that Stealth’s effects would end within thirty-two seconds, Nie Yan’s state of mind began to fluctuate.

There’s not enough time…! Nie Yan slightly accelerated his pace.

Not far from where Nie Yan was located, a Wildcat moved slightly. It became aware of Nie Yan’s location almost immediately. After locking its eyes onto Nie Yan, the Wildcat exposed its sharp teeth and let out a hoarse growl.

Not good, I was discovered!

The Wildcat moved, pouncing towards Nie Yan.

The Wildcat’s sudden attack was quick, and Nie Yan’s movement speed meant that he was basically incapable of keeping up. However, Nie Yan still managed to sidestep out of the way of the Wildcat’s attack by relying on his reaction speed—something he had developed during his past life.

The basic movements for a character were sidestepping, rolling, jumping, etc… Players were able to utilize these movements to dodge attacks—as long as it was within the capabilities of the system.

The sharp claws of the Wildcat swiped through empty air, missing Nie Yan’s throat by just an inch.

Just as Nie Yan had dodged, two more Wildcats appeared and pounced at him from the sides. One of them clawed at him from the back, while the other bit into his arm.

****, I’m finished!

Under these circumstances, using health potions would be useless.