It was sunset; the sun had already long disappeared from their sight.
The skies had turned completely dark. The faint moonlight was practically useless in the depths of the woods.
However, this wasn't much of a threat to Elves. Even the warriors who were searching for the mineral vein outside wouldn't get lost easily.
Every time they went out, they would take three days' worth of food, especially for such a huge mission as this.
Besides, night vision was something most of the races possessed in the world.
Apart from… humans.
However, it was natural selection, with the existence of both the strengths and weaknesses.
Of course, after a human slowly got stronger with their occupation, their night vision ability would improve as well.
Right now, William could use the faint starlight to clearly see a twenty-meter range around him. He was currently sitting on top of a branch and was glaring at a monkey that knew how to salute and was staring back at him. He didn't want to talk about it. The moment he saw a monkey, he was reminded of…
There were many buildings and tents in the Orc tribe under him.
However, Elves would never choose to stay in such a dirty place. They would rather sleep on a tree than choose to stay in those tents that smelled like piss.
There was nowhere that smelled nice here…
As the leader, William naturally didn't have to look for the mineral vein himself. This was something he could let his men handle.
This was the real happiness of a Lord, with the leader only needing to open his mouth and his men would do everything later.
Only Lautner and Norton remained beside him.
As his personal guard, Norton's ability was quite good. He was a witch blader as well, his figure tall and buff while his aura was strong and fierce. He was a muscular man and that was a rare sight amongst the Elves.
Especially since he didn't like the normal long blades and preferred the hooked curved blades instead. He could hook his enemies and then crazily cut them crazily to his content.
His preference was really weird.
William couldn't imagine…
The unique trait amongst the Elves was very simple. They did whatever they said or wanted. They would never fall back during a fight and feel especially proud of themselves when they saw any other races.
Even if their enemy was very strong and capable, even to the point of being more handsome than them… Ha, what a joke. That was impossible!
Anyways, the Elves would always proudly hold their heads up high, using their nostrils to look at their enemies and using their eyes to tell them that although they might not be able to beat their enemy, they would last longer than the latter, their sons, their grandsons, their great-grandsons and even until they had no more descendants!
There was no other way about it…
Their arrogance was all thanks to their appearance, longevity, and strength.
Their words and actions were very similar to human nobles. However, they did not have as many rules or manners as those nobles, making them appear more natural.
Of course.
Some would say that they were like nobles.
But some would rather say that when the humans were being ruled by Elves, those supposed 'nobles' were imitating the way Elves spoke and acted.
William didn't know how long it took, as he eventually fell asleep against a broader tree branch.
Suddenly, there was a cry.
Lautner woke him up.
Two Elven rangers walked over, their left hands patting their chests as they said proudly, "My lord, our team has found the iron mine. The remaining three of our team are waiting there while we come back to report to you now!"
"That's good, that's very good. All five of you will be rewarded ten silver coins each!"
"Thank you, my lord!" The team leader bowed slightly. Money was a really good thing. Of course, they remained arrogant and had a deadpan expression, having only bowed because it was a must.
To a normal peasant, five copper coins would allow them to have a nice day. They could buy four pieces of black bread. Though it was hard, they would dip it in water and eat.
If they wanted to splurge a little more, the remaining copper coin could be used to buy an extremely horrible cup of whiskey, and they would be able to sleep soundly until daybreak.
What if they wanted to save more?
Three copper coins could buy three pieces of black bread.
They could even save two copper coins…
However, these were William Blackleaf's guards.
This group of pure-blooded Elves would never endure such a hard life. An Elf was usually very thrifty. Even if they were eating the worst food, they would still eat it very elegantly.
These guards came from the Elven kingdom. They were used to the good life and even brought some assets with them when they came to Border Town.
That was why William couldn't be too petty. The better he was to them, the more loyal they would be.
"After all, they could be the ones who help me take the blow during important times!"
The original William probably wasn't liked because he was too stingy…
Of course, it would be due to the fact that he was too poor!
However, he had received quite a few gold coins now. Although he didn't know which unlucky person the Orcs got them from, the gold coins were definitely a large fortune for him.
He remembered from the beginning that wealth represented numbers. He would only get invisible but significant results by sharing his wealth.
It seemed as though loyalty was invisible, but it was definitely useful when it was needed.
A Lord that was too stingy wouldn't be able to accomplish much.
"You guys should rest too. Oh, were there Orcs guarding the mine?" William suddenly asked.
"No, but we found footsteps belonging to a giant wild bear at the entrance of the iron mine. That was why we didn't dare to do anything and merely got the other three to guard it in case of any accidents!"
"A giant wild bear?" William raised an eyebrow. This would be a real hunt. It was no wonder these Orcs didn't get anyone to guard the mine. It seemed as though the giant wild bear had made the new cavern its home.
These sorts of Intermediate giant bears were definitely not weak.
Not only was their hide thick, but they were also extremely strong. Basically, whoever they hit would die. Their existence was something even more rash than the Orcs.
These giant wild bears knew earth magic too, their various skills making others easily annoyed.
At the start of the game, until the middle part of it, players would basically deal with such giant wild bears that were difficult to handle…
Especially since they had a chance of growing into Advanced magical beasts. If the giant wild bear had just leveled up, or was about to, if Lautner wasn't there, even if they were able to kill it, the 300 Elven guards would suffer drastic injuries.
That was why the Orcs chose to give up on the iron mine. It was definitely a smart choice, or they would have suffered already.
Lautner grabbed the long blade hanging from his waist and said in hesitance, "Did you find out which level that giant wild bear is?"
"We don't know, but looking from its footprints, it is definitely as big as my armor!"
William Blackleaf fell into deep thought for a few seconds, before he said, "Can Uncle Lautner defeat it alone?"
"…" The corners of Lautner's lips twitched. "It might be a giant wild bear that is about to become an Advanced magical beast. Let's forget dealing with it alone. I'm so handsome and strong, if I bully it alone, my subordinates will gossip."
William glanced at him and nodded…
Being at the Epic level didn't mean that they were invincible. Lautner was still considered young amongst the Elves. Everyone else who followed William had just entered their teens. They were all very young and had yet to grow up properly. They had extremely high potential.
Besides, just because Lautner had an Epic bloodline, it didn't mean that he had an Epic capability. He had still yet to develop his Epic bloodline potential fully.
Just like William Blackleaf, who had a Legendary bloodline…
In the eyes of other players of the same level, he was the Legendary Boss. Because to them, he would be labeled with the Legendary sign. Even by looking at the attributes and various additions, he was really a level 9 NPC Legendary Boss.
Not to mention, he had the special label of a Legendary Boss.
Killing him could drop an Epic level growth inner armor…
F*ck.
However, in the world of Gods, Normal, Elite, Chief, Grandmaster, Epic, and Legendary bloodlines represented their potential, talents and additional attributes and not their status.
The players and NPC saw it differently.
After all, players concentrated more on the bloodlines and weren't really that interested in their position levels, because they wouldn't be able to defeat others with a position that was too high and could only suck up…
However, for NPCs, the additional attributes with every level were as follows…
The Beginner level had +0.1%, with level 10 to 39 belonging to the Beginner level.
The Intermediate level had +0.2%, with level 40 to 69 belonging to the Intermediate level.
The Advanced level had +0.3%, with level 70 to 99 belonging to it.
Grandmasters had +0.5%.
Epic had +0.7%.
Legendary had +1%.
On the NPC's overall level, every level would build on the basic attributes with a certain percentage.
An example was William Blackleaf. Now that he was level 9, he had an additional 9% boost compared to his basic attributes. It would build on until level 100. After that, when they leveled up, their bloodline wouldn't add on to their attribute anymore. However, when Legendaries were level 100, their attributes would be doubled.
The conclusion: a Legendary bloodline was extremely scary and crazy.
However, for a giant wild bear, even if they were not mature yet, their level would be higher than Lautner's. If its level was too high, it would definitely be much stronger than Lautner.
In conclusion, no matter if it had the basic attributes or basic Health Points, magical beasts were a lot stronger than other intelligent beings.
"Then, let's prepare ourselves properly. Let's wait until tomorrow and make a sedative, but one that's not lethal.
"Of course, we have to use all sorts of traps too! Once we have everything prepared, let's take it down!" William had no choice but to conclude like this. After all, he hadn't seen that bear yet and couldn't see exactly its level.