"What? It's already so late... " thought Li Wei. Time went by so quickly that he did not notice. He just kept thinking about the fights and how he could improve.
'I already wasted a day here... I could have already gone to the open world... What should I do now?' thought Li Wei. He stood up and quietly left the hall.
Many other players also left when they heard the receptionist, while some stayed to wait for their friends inside the Tower of Heroes.
'Should I upgrade all my equipment first before challenging the Tower again? That will take so long to get the required money... I cannot even hold my ground against the Red Bandit Leader right now, the way he moves is just too fast and fluid... He outclasses me in every possible way.'
"Huh !! that's it!!" exclaimed Li Wei attracting the gaze of the players around him.
"Oops sorry, my bad," quickly apologized Li Wei.
Li Wei was thinking of what to do next, he also reviewed his fights against the Red Bandit Leader to see what he was missing, when he suddenly thought of something.
So far in his fights against the Red Bandit Leader, he only focused on the movement of the swords and hands of the Red Bandit Leader, but Li Wei just realized that what allowed the Red Bandit Leader to continuously attack wasn't his hands' movement but rather his footwork.
By correctly positioning his feet, the Red Bandit Leader could make quick spins and easily change directions just by applying more force on one leg. Li Wei had noticed how the Red Bandit Leader relied a lot on spinning on himself; he suddenly felt enlightened. He realized that footwork was also an essential part of fighting, that was how the Red Bandit Leader could attack from all sides very quickly.
Li Wei never needed to practice his footwork so far; he only focused on training his handling of swords.
'So, after 3 fights I finally learned something... But I need to confirm it first, and how do we train footwork?' murmured Li Wei.
He walked onto the main street, wondering what to do next. He now had a clue on what to improve but how does he actually train his footwork?
...
At the same time, in the hall of the Tower of Heroes
"Fuuuu. I already tried 2 times, how did he do it !?!" said an enraged voice accompanied by stomps on the ground.
It was Skywalker, he came to the Tower of Heroes not only to invite Li Wei to his guild but also to reclaim back his rank at the top of the Leaderboard of the Tower of Heroes, but even after 2 tries, he was still stuck on the 13th floor, yet the player ranked one was already on the 15th floor. Till now, he has always been ranked one but now, someone else took away his prestige, how could he let this go so easily?
"That's fine Skywalker, we are already level 10, we cannot spend more time here..." said a tanned man standing next to Skywalker.
"What!?! But that guy actually defeated so many floors. If I do not reach the fifteenth floor, my quest will fail… How can..."
"The guild is more important, it is just the achievement of a Beginner's Town. You will have plenty of opportunities to surpass him. He just left the hall and it does not look like he is planning to leave the town. If we leave now, we can be the first players from Little Root Town to reach the open world."
"But... Fine... We must not fall behind if we want to compete with these big families," sighed Skywalker.
"Yes, be reasonable, it is just the beginning. There are many other leaderboards. Let's go now, we need to meet with the others. Another group will also come tomorrow," answered the tanned man.
The two people in the hall then took out their respective teleportation crystal and, in a flash, disappeared from the hall
....
In search of answers, Li Wei naturally made a quick search on the forums, in case someone was kind enough to share such information, but as expected, he found nothing. However, he noticed something that alarmed him.
The Server's leaderboard was completely full while the different cities' leaderboard had around 8000 players each. If he remained here, the gap between them would further widen... Li Wei instinctively took out the teleportation crystal, hesitating to use it.
'Should I use it? I already know what to improve on... Should I stay to get the rewards of the last floor? But I don't know how long that would take... Furthermore, it's not as if the open world is devoid of opportunities; in fact, it should be easier for me to learn the dual sword style there,' thought Li Wei.
'In that case, let's just leave, I must not fall behind when it comes to levels, they are the most important aspect of the game... Let's treat fighting against the Red Bandit Leader as a reward, at least, I got some insights into the dual sword style.'
'That feeling of missing something though... At least so far, according to the forums, in the Dominion Empire, the highest floor others were able to climb is the fourteenth floor.'
Li Wei was internally conflicted but eventually, he took his decision.
'Fine let's fight the Red Bandit Leader one last time... I still need to confirm whether it is his footwork that makes him so deadly. No matter what the outcome is, only 1 fight, I will leave tomorrow,' thought Li Wei with determination.
Time was precious. In the back of his mind, Li Wei was still curious about the reward for defeating the fifteenth floor, but would it really be worth it to stay here until he completely defeated the Tower of Heroes? Considering how he only obtained 2 stat points for the 14th floor, Li Wei did not have very high expectations.
'Let's go see Carlos, maybe I can get some better equipment, to increase my chances,' thought Li Wei
And so, Li Wei walked towards Carlos' shop. There was still 40 minutes left before it closes.
"Did you not already leave? What's up?" said Carlos as soon as he saw Li Wei enter his shop.
"I am here to look for better equipment. I am stuck on the last floor of the Tower of Heroes. Maybe with a little better equipment, I will be able to clear it," answered Li Wei, while his eyes wandered around the shops, looking for a good equipment.
"What?? You reached the last floor? Even the Commander only reached the 13th floor! That's incredible. No natives ever got that far... "
"Yeah yeah... But keep it for yourself. I don't want more trouble than I already have with the players from the guilds."
"Hahaha, but after you'll be gone, can I publicise it? Since you essentially climbed up using my weapons!" asked Carlos with anticipation.
"Sure sure, but for now, let's look at the weapons. Did you forge a grade 1 weapon yet?"
"Yes, but it's a spear. Considering your fighting style, I don't think you have much use for it. However, I can forge another one right now, I still have some material left."
"That would be great. I have obtained a sword from the tower. Is it possible to forge one just like that? Even better if you can add a skill to it"
"Let me examine it, but I can already tell you that I cannot add skills to equipment yet. I have just barely advanced..." answered Carlos showing an embarrassed expression.
"That's fine. Try to make me a sword like this one then," said Li Wei while handing the sword he obtained from the tower to Carlos. He quickly added, "By the way, I forgot to ask the last time, but do you know how to upgrade my ring again?"
"Huh? Can it still be upgraded? In that case, I am sorry. That is beyond my expertise. Maybe try asking more advanced blacksmith, or try the other professions like alchemists, jewelers... they might have the solution," said Carlos, while taking the sword and closely examining it.
"It is hard to make one as good as this one, but I will do my best, at least, I can replicate the shape and weight," quickly added Carlos after a quick analysis.
"That is fine. Don't worry about it, I will wait here..." answered Li Wei
Even a small upgrade in equipment would be beneficial to Li Wei. As for the ring, he did not know how to further upgrade it. He thought that maybe like last time, he just needed to ask Carlos to trigger the quest, but apparently, another trigger was required.
"No problem. Look after the shop while I forge it. There won't be many customers at that time of the day," replied Carlos
....
About an hour later, when the shop had already closed.
[Long Sword(Grade 1)]
Damage: 9-11
Li Wei was holding the newly forged sword in his hand, it looked and felt just like the other one, but this one had worse stats.
"Thank you, Carlos! I will sell that sword that I don't need any more too."
"Sure, it will be 12 gold then."
...
...
At night, Li Wei was lying on his bed at the inn. It was his last night here. He has already paid the innkeeper for his stay. Li Wei was silently reflecting on his fights. Tomorrow was his last chance against the Red Bandit Leader, he needed to make the most out of it.
After a while, Li Wei, as usual, checked the forums for any reliable information. However, he noticed something new on his interface.
It was a list of friend requests, many players sent him friend requests upon seeing that he now had the records for the Tower of Heroes at Little Root Town, Li Wei recognized some of these names; they were the players who invited him to their guilds.
Li Wei just quickly browsed through but did not accept any of them. Joining a guild would bring him benefits, but he also needed to find a good one and that could only be done by seeing with his own eyes. Contracts and benefits were not everything, he also needed to check the atmosphere of the guilds and the other players.
He also received congratulations from his previous teammates, news traveled really fast and there was already a post on the town's forum.
...
The next day, at 8 am, as soon as the Training Centre opened, Li Wei was the first to reach the counter.
"Good Morning, I am here for the Tower of Heroes," said Li Wei to the receptionist, while handing a silver, the entry fee.
"Of course, please follow me."
Li Wei once again walked through the corridor and reached the empty hall, he was the first to come here this time. He ignored everything and expressionlessly walked towards the door and was teleported to the Tower of Heroes.
...
"Pfff, you really never learn... Looking for another beating?"
"Hmmm"
"Tsssk" the Red Bandit Leader just carelessly swung his swords, looking at Li Wei with disdain.
Li Wei ignored everything and focused. It was his last chance and he would make the most of it. He carefully examined the Red Bandit's positioning and posture.
[Would you like to begin the last fight?]
"Yes"
[Floor 15: level 15 Warrior, begin the fight in 5]
[4]
[3]
[2]
[1]
[Begin!]
This time, Li Wei was holding a defensive stance. He carefully looked at the footwork of the Red Bandit Leader who immediately charged at Li Wei. At first, it looked like normal footwork, but as the Red Bandit Leader got in melee range and started to swing his swords, Li Wei noticed that his feet were shaking as if experiencing a lot of force.
Li Wei resolutely blocked tried to block the attacks, trying to delay as much as possible his defeat. "Cling Clang"
[Strengthen]
Li Wei raised his swords to push the Red Bandit Leader away but was immediately countered by the Red Bandit Leader's [Parry]. The Red Bandit quickly followed up by swinging his swords left and right, spinning onto himself for more momentum and to confuse Li Wei.
[Earth Wall]
An Earth wall was erected between the two, but the Red Bandit Leader did not bother attacking it. As the wall was still rising up, he simply grabbed the edge of the wall and propelled himself. He then landed in front of Li Wei landing a vertical strike with his sword.
But as Li Wei saw the Red Bandit Leader starting to fall towards him, he immediately cast [Chaos Sphere]. The sphere exploded on the Red Bandit Leader right as his swords struck Li Wei. "-22" It was the first time Li Wei actually dealt significant damage to the Red Bandit Leader.
"F*** little bastard, enough playing!" shouted the Red Bandit Leader with rage, immediately swinging his swords towards Li Wei.
Li Wei reacted by raising his own swords, but the Red Bandit Leader did not bother meeting them. H quickly dashed to the side of Li Wei and made horizontal strikes. "Cling" the swords met each other for a fraction of seconds but the Red Bandit Leader immediately kicked Li Wei in his stomach, sending him flying.
He then quickly followed up by jumping to Li Wei's side and swinging his swords at his now defenseless chest.
And surely, moments later:
[You have been defeated. Restoring original state]
[You will be teleported back to the entrance in 5 seconds.]
"You better not come back again **** I am tired of seeing your face" loudly exclaimed the Red Bandit Leader as Li Wei was vanishing from the arena.
...
Li Wei walked in the hall which was still empty, the fight did not even last 10 minutes. He had mixed feeling about this fight, the taste of defeat was bitter but at the same time, he got to observe the Red Bandit Leader.
"At least I can confirm that footwork is an essential part of his fighting style. Not just the positioning of the feet but also the bending of the knees and how he pushes on his legs," thought Li Wei.
"Should I wait and try again?... No, I already said I will only try it once more..." said Li Wei. He was tempted to go back in. He could choose to stay at Little Root Town for a while and to train and become strong enough to take on the Red Bandit Leader. The problem was just how long would this process take?
The gap between them was so wide both in terms of technique and stats. The only way Li Wei might stand a chance was if he trained his skills so much that they could deal a significant amount of damage, but this would take forever.
He could face the Red Bandit Leader a couple more times but the longer he stayed in the Beginner's zone, the worst his performance would be in the open world. The Tower of Heroes was not the final goal of the game. He must not lose sight of the real objective.
'In that case...' Li Wei opened his inventory and took out the teleportation crystal. Before any more doubts emerged, he resolutely activated the crystal.
[Are you sure you want to activate the teleport crystal to Zero? Bear in mind that this decision is irreversible.]
"Yes"
Li Wei instantly felt the crystal vibrate in his hand, it also started to emit a huge amount of light, completely blinding him.
Moments later, he disappeared from the hall with a flash.