Chapter 8: Gathering Materials

  Zhang Yang ran all the way back to Newbie Village, panting and out of breath, and found Warrior Career Trainer Farlian. He couldn't help but miss the teleportation scroll that could only be bought in the main city after reaching level 10.

  "Rookie, I have to admit, you've surprised me a bit!" Farlan said, taking the iron ore from Zhang Yang, still with an arrogant expression on his face. "But you're still just a rookie! Here, take your shield and get out of my sight!"

  Farian tossed over a shield that shimmered with a black sheen.

  "Ding! You have completed the career task: Warrior's Trial, and obtained 5,000 experience points!"

  Iron Shield (Black Iron Equipment, Shield)

  Armor: +10

  Vitality: +5

  Required level: 5

  "Wait a minute!" Farrian's face suddenly changed, and he wore an astonished expression, saying, "You actually have refined iron?"

  "Yes, respected Master!" Zhang Yang took out 10 pieces of refined iron from his backpack and handed them to Farian, knowing that the hidden task had been successfully triggered.

  "What a beautiful luster, it reminds me of the diamonds in Mount Dover!" Farían's face was filled with infatuation, gazing at the fine iron in his hand with a lover's expression.

  After a while, Farrian said: "Before becoming a great warrior, I was once an ironworker! Rookie, these fine irons make me feel itchy in my hands. If you agree, I'd like to use these fine irons to forge an invincible battle sword!"

  "As you wish, respected Master!" Zhang Yang immediately nodded in response.

  "Great!" Farrian's face lit up with joy, but he continued, "However, having just adamantite is not enough. You must collect three more materials!"

  "Ding! Farrian has assigned you a task: Gather materials for forging Warblade (1), accept?"

  "Accepted!" Zhang Yang took on the task and immediately checked the task log.

  Materials for Forging War Blades (1) (Task Difficulty: C-Class)

  Task Description: Farlian needs the teeth of a Stone Tusk Boar to forge a battle blade. It is said that such a monster can be found in the watermelon field south of the village.

  Completion: Collecting Wild Boar Tusks 0/10

  Boar of Stonetusk, should be a level 10 monster? Zhang Yang didn't leave immediately, but instead had another conversation with Farlian and learned the fifth-level warrior skills: Block and Shield Strike.

  【Block】 (Level 1): Raise your shield to block an enemy's frontal attack for 1 second. After a successful block, deal damage equal to 100% of your strength value to the target and generate a large amount of hatred. You gain some rage. Cooldown: 10 seconds. Requires: Shield.

  【Shield Slam】: Slams the target with a shield, dealing damage equal to 200% of Strength and generating a large amount of threat. Can only be used after a successful block. Consumes: 10 Rage. Requires: Shield.

  "Shield Block, the divine skill of shield warriors! After reaching level 10, the cooldown is reduced to 1 second. Whether it's dodging or following up with a shield slam after blocking, both are extremely terrifying!"

  Zhang Yang immediately equipped the thick iron shield and went to find Village Elder Lao Huan, handing over the Black Panther King's head.

  "Ah! Is this... is this the head of the Black Panther King? This beast that should have gone to hell long ago has killed how many of our villagers!" Old Juan looked at Zhang Yang with a mix of shock and delight, his face flushed with excitement. "God above, you are a brave and kind young man, all the villagers will be grateful to you!"

  "Ding! You have completed the task: Eliminating harm for the people, and obtained 10,000 experience points!"

  "Ding! Your reputation among humans has increased by 200 points!"

  200 reputation points! Zhang Yang puckered up, Reputation is a game setting that pits players against each other. Each race has its own corresponding reputation, ranging from low to high in seven levels: Hostile, Indifferent, Neutral, Friendly, Respectful, Revered, and Worshiped. If a player's reputation with a particular race is below neutral, they will be attacked when entering that race's territory. With a reputation of friendly or higher, players can buy corresponding items there, and the higher the reputation, the better the items available for purchase!

  Zhang Yang arrived at the south of the village, where he saw three patches of watermelon fields. Everywhere were wild boars constantly eating the watermelons in the fields. On the side was a farmhouse, and an old man with white whiskers was anxiously pacing back and forth.

  "Old man, is there something I can help you with?" Seeing the yellow exclamation mark above the NPC's head, Zhang Yang immediately ran up to him and initiated a conversation.

  "Look at that, those damned wild boars have ruined my entire watermelon field! Kill them all for me and I'll pay you a reward!" the old man bellowed angrily.

  Kill Them

  Task Description: Kill those damned stonehide boars!

  Completion: Kill 0/10 Stoneshell Boars

  Boar (Common)

  Level: 10

  Health: 500

  In the watermelon field, there are also four or five teams of players. Because the level of the stone-toothed wild boar is relatively high, for most players who are only around level 5, it is impossible to single-handedly kill them, so they can only form a team to fight together. Even so, due to the huge gap in levels, it's still quite difficult for a five-man team to kill one wild boar!

  Although the kill is very slow, these people do not have the intention of leaving, because at least there are still strange fights, which is much better than those places where a monster is brushed out and ten or more weapons are chopped at the same time!

  Jian Zhangyang was alone, and many people burst out laughing at once.

  "Xiao Bai, someone wants to come here to brush, got kicked in the head by a donkey!"

  "Haha, how many times does this donkey need to be kicked before it becomes stupid like this?"

  "Just wait and see him being ravaged by wild boars!"

  Of course, there are also players with good intentions.

  "Friend, there are all level 10 monsters here, one person can't handle it!"

  "Our team's mage has something to attend to and left a spot open, want to join us for a run?"

  These people all ignored the shield on Zhang Yang's back, which was a reward that could only be obtained after completing the 5th level professional task! At this stage, the number of players who have reached level 5 is already very large, but those who have completed the professional task can be counted on one hand!

  Zhang Yang smiled slightly and declined the team invitation, stood up with his new sword, walked towards the nearest wild boar, and when he was within charging distance, he immediately activated his skill.

  Charge dizziness!

  “－30！”

  Zhang Yang swung his weapon and chopped at the wild boar, immediately bringing a burst of blood.

  "Huff! Huff! Huff!" The wild boar woke up and immediately let out an angry oink, using its two sharp tusks to jab at Zhang Yang.

  Zhang Yang activated his "Grid" skill.

  "Minus 27!" The backlash from the grid caused a counter-injury!

  "Shield Bash - 64!"

  "Minus 31!" Another normal attack!

  "Minus 29!" Anger rises to 30 points, powerful strike!

  Dodge!

  "Grid Block" skill entered cooldown, Zhang Yang nimbly dodged to the side, easily avoiding the wild boar's attack — even a 15-level Black Panther King couldn't touch Zhang Yang's hair, let alone this ordinary 10-level monster!

  In just 4 or 5 seconds, Zhang Yang unleashed 181 points of damage, taking away more than a third of the wild boar's blood, shocking all the players around him to stare with wide eyes as if they had seen a ghost! This damage is too terrifying! Is this guy really a shield warrior?

  The Shield Warrior actually has a good burst of power, the key lies in the skill "Grid"! And the timing of using "Grid" is the best criterion to distinguish an excellent Shield Warrior from an ordinary one at the beginning!

  "After using the "格档" skill, the character will gain an additional buff effect, allowing them to block one attack within the next second! However, due to its short duration of only one second, if activated too early, the effect will disappear before the attack arrives. And if activated too late..."

  The shield is invalid, so the subsequent violent "Shield Strike" cannot be used!

  Of course, with a 10-level "gear" that is full of points, there is no worry about this aspect, just press it all the way.

  Zhang Yang walked leisurely, waiting for the "Grid" skill to cool down. Then, another set of combos, and the Stone-toothed Wild Boar let out a mournful cry, a flash of white light, and it fell to the ground, giving Zhang Yang 500 experience points. He reached out and touched it, not bad luck, and got one of the Stone-toothed Wild Boar's teeth!

  "Wow, this guy is awesome!"

  "Yes, killed so quickly, and, didn't even shed a drop of blood!"

  "I just realized that I can use dodging to avoid monster attacks!"

  "Huh? Isn't a character's ability to avoid damage based on their dodge, block, and parry attributes?"

  "Old brother, this is a simulated reality game, not a traditional online game, learn more about it!"

  “……”

  The players around him were all talking, fortunately Zhang Yang had chosen to hide his name, otherwise he would have been famous by now! Even so, some curious players still opened the game's built-in camera function, recorded Zhang Yang's monster-killing scenes, and ran to the forum to post a "Miraculous Player, Zero-Damage Kills" thread, immediately causing quite a stir.

  At this stage, everyone is a novice, seeing Zhang Yang's skills surpassing the current level of the game by five years, how can they not be amazed! For a time, I don't know how many players took Zhang Yang as their idol!

  Zhang Yang was killing the wild boars one by one, his speed of killing monsters was almost the same as that of a five-man team, but he was able to kill them without taking any damage, so he didn't need to rest at all, and his efficiency was even higher! In just seven or eight minutes, he had already killed 10 wild boars, however, since he had only collected 7 Wild Boar Teeth, he could only continue killing.

  Five minutes later, Zhang Yang finally collected 10 wild boar fangs. He first handed over the task of "killing them" and then hurried back to find Farlian. Behind him, those players had already dropped their jaws in shock and didn't fight monsters anymore, just watching Zhang Yang fight monsters.

  "Great, now you can go find the second material!" Farlien gave Zhang Yang 5,000 experience points and continued to order him around.

  "Ding! Farrian has assigned you a task: Forging Warblade Materials (II), accept?"

  After Zhang Yang chose to accept it, there was also an additional item in the task log.

  "Materials for Forging War Blades (2)" (Task Difficulty: C-Class)

  Task Description: In the Charcoal Valley, a group of Flame Elementals are wandering around. They are the concentrated essence of flames after death and possess great power! It is said that if you leave the village and head west, the Charcoal Valley will be at the end of the road!

  Completion: Collecting Flame Essence 0/3

  Rushing about!

  Zhang Yang let out a sigh, following the task instructions all the way out of Xinshou Village and heading west. After half an hour, he arrived at a mountain valley filled with rolling thick smoke. The ground was charred black, and several fire-red elemental creatures were roaming around.

  Inferno Element (Normal)

  Level: 10

  Health: 500

  Because this place is too far from Novice Village and there are no tasks pointing here, except for Zhang Yang, there are temporarily no other players here.

  Start killing!