Chapter Twenty: Precious Ore

  I picked up two white equipment and threw them into my backpack, then I went offline with Lu Xuehan.

  The dishes were already on the table, and apart from milk bread, there were even two small stir-fries, which was quite unexpected. I quickly heated up the stir-fry in the microwave and started eating with Lu Xuehan.

  "Lin Fan, I'm almost at level 11, what about you?" Lu Xuehan said with a mouthful of bread.

  "It's already halfway through level 13, and the upgrade speed is still not slow."

  "Well, I've finished my task, how about you?"

  I thought for a moment and said: "I still have two tasks to complete, one of which is unique. Why don't you practice on your own first? I'll finish my tasks and then bring you along."

  Lu Xuehan pouted and said unhappily: "Are you afraid that I'll hold you back?"

  "I hastily explained: 'No way, I just didn't want to bother you with helping me with the task and delay your leveling.'"

  "How could this be? I level up quickly when fighting monsters with you. Are you telling me to train alone as a priest?"

  "I thought so too, and nodded: 'Then come with me to complete the task, the equipment obtained from killing monsters will be yours.'"

  "How can this be okay? You're bringing me to level up, I don't want equipment!"

  "Alright then, whatever equipment you can use is yours."

  "Alright."

  A few minutes later, after settling the fight, Lu Xuehan and I immediately returned to our room and entered the game.

  The snake-headed man hadn't refreshed yet, and we continued walking eastward. In the distance, we could vaguely see the outline of Half-Edge Mountain.

  The types of monsters on the road have also increased, 14th-level carrion vultures, 16th-level ferocious werewolves, 17th-level mutated dire wolves... After clearing away the monsters blocking our way, we arrived at the foot of Half Edge Mountain after half an hour. My level had already risen to 14, while Lu Xuehan had reached level 11 twenty minutes ago. Looking around, I found that Lin Jie and Xin Yu were still struggling towards level 10, while the others were still at level 8. My only friend whom I had never met in person, Mu Rong Xiangxiang, was already at level 11. Indeed, after getting that green sword, her leveling speed was incredible.

  Lu Xuehan pointed ahead and excitedly said: "Look, it's a Lone Wolfman. I don't see its level, can we take it on?"

  "It's an 18th-level monster, you try summoning one first."

  Lu Xuehan immediately used a curse to lure over a lone werewolf, and I quickly moved in to block its position. My long sword drew a beautiful arc in the air, releasing a powerful strike that dealt 124 damage to the werewolf. However, the werewolf's counterattack also dealt 34 damage to me, startling Lu Xuehan, who hastily began casting a large healing spell. Even so, by the time I finished off the werewolf, my own health had already fallen below half.

  After trading the few small blue bottles I had just caught to Lu Xuehan, I panted and said: "We don't need to clear the monsters, let's just kill a way out from the foot of the rocky mountain, the ore should be on the slope."

  "Well, I'll lure the monster, you just kill it, the blue bottle has already cleared a path."

  I nodded and, for good measure, drank a bottle of ketchup before continuing to join in the fight.

  Two people carefully made their way along the rocks, while the lone wolf-like creatures huddled around the bonfire in twos and threes, seemingly discussing something. After two days of training, Lu Xuehan had adapted to the fast-paced controls in the game. Whenever she lured two monsters, she would skillfully use her curse technique to lure one away, then use positioning to mitigate the damage from the other monster. However, sometimes it was so thrilling that I was left with only a sliver of health, leaving me crying and laughing at the same time. Heaven knows if this continues, won't I be played to death by her?

  A few minutes later, Lu Xuehan suddenly stopped in her tracks: "Lin Fan, behind the strange creature in front of us, is that yellow glow the ore you're looking for?"

  I immediately opened the task prompt, and indeed, this copper alloy is exactly what I need!

  Lu Xuehan quickly summoned the monster, and then with her help, I took down four 18-level monsters one by one. This time we were lucky, heaven finally opened its eyes, after a long silence, we finally got another green equipment!

  Werewolf Guardian (Shield - Green Equipment)

  Defense: 42

  Vitality: +2

  Power: +1

  Equipment: Physical evasion rate +2%

  Required level: 12

  ……

  It's a shield, unfortunately, as a swordsman, I can no longer hold a shield. Shields can only be used by knights who pursue defense, but this one shield adds 42 defense, which is a bit exaggerated. It can be imagined that the knight equipped with this shield in the early stage must be a typical iron plate.

  Lu Xuehan smiled and said: "This equipment is pretty good, it should be able to sell for a lot of money, right?"

  "Well, in three more days, the price of this shield will reach its peak. That's when a large number of knights are employed. Such a top-quality shield is definitely a hot item. If it sells, let's split the commission 50/50."

  Lu Xuehan chuckled and said: "Whatever you say, just do it. Oh right, hurry up and mine some ore, don't wait until the monsters spawn or it'll be too late."

  I nodded and walked over, swapping the long sword in my bag for a small iron shovel, then used my mining skill on the ore. As expected, the progress bar started to move slowly.

  "Ding!"

  System Prompt: You have obtained Copper Ore × 5!

  The copper mine slowly disappeared, but there were only 5 pieces of ore in my package. It seems that this task can't be accomplished with just one piece of ore.

  "Keep mining, we still don't have enough quest items, might as well level up while we're at it."

  Lu Xuehan nodded and said: "Okay, right, you're going to treat everyone to dinner tonight, have you discussed it with Lin sister yet? I'm really looking forward to it!"

  Girls are always a bit greedy, I glanced at Lu Xuehan's flat stomach and smiled: "Don't expect too much, be careful not to eat your way to a barrel waist~"

  "Hmph, I won't!"

  ……

  We've been fighting 18-level monsters, and both Lu Xuehan at level 11 and I at level 14 have gained a lot of experience. Especially Lu Xuehan, who is 7 levels lower than the monster, can't even see the monster's level, so she must be gaining a ton of experience. You can tell from her happy expression that she's getting a lot of experience.

  After searching for nearly 7 hours at the foot of the mountain, after clearing away the monsters several times, I finally gathered enough ore, and Lu Xuehan rose from level 11 to level 13, and I also rose to level 15.5. The only regret is that even though we leveled up several levels and killed monsters, in the whole afternoon, except for that shield, we didn't get any equipment drops. This shows how low the drop rate of "Moon Constancy" is. It's no wonder that players who kill monsters at the same level can rarely get green equipment.

  My stomach was already growling, and it was already 5 o'clock in the evening. The remaining task wasn't something I could handle at my current level, so I made an appointment with Lu Xuehan to log off, then notified everyone else to log off and go drinking together.