Detome was only four hours away, based on the map given to him by Markus. As soon as he learned this, Edward decided to stay on until they arrived at Detome. He would suffer some less sleep— but his ascended body would probably be fine even without sleep anyway. The rest of the four-hour journey through the cursed woods was peaceful when Edward compared them to his first few hours inside. He and Ikarus only encountered one group of goblins— a small trio composed of level-four warriors.
As soon as he saw them, a wicked smile appeared on Edward's face as he felt his blood pumping with excitement. He hadn't yet fought any enemies with his upgraded stats. He was hoping to test his new stats against a Goblin Mage, the strongest enemy he and Ikarus had fought so far, but was happy enough attacking mob enemies.
The three goblins revealed themselves as soon as they saw Edward and Ikarus, throwing away any plan for an ambush one of them might've created. Edward quickly looked at the goblins and searched for the strongest one. All three of them were wearing crude leather armor, which surprised Edward. He quickly used the [Appraisal] skill on the nearest one and gawked at the result.
︽
Goblin Warrior
Lvl: 4
—
DEF: (Crude Leather Armor - 2) 19
︾
'I won't even be able to damage them, their defense is far too high!' Edward quickly realized. He gripped his sword, frustrated, and unsheathed it in rage. His blade swung through the air with fury as Edward's brows furrowed, 'The previous groups of goblins were easy because they didn't have armor. I didn't have to worry about breaking through their defense because they didn't have any!'
After fighting a dozen battles, Edward was beginning to get a better understanding of the way armor could influence a battle. In battles, Edward had to consider three things. First, how much damage he could do with each attack. This was usually a value equal to his weapon stat added to his power stat. At the moment, that value was twelve. This meant that— unless he dealt an attack against a weak area— he could only deal twelve damage with each strike.
When he fought against opponents with a defense score higher than his attack value, however, Edward wouldn't be able to deal any damage at all! There were two ways to deal damage with this obstacle in the way. One, he could deal more damage than the armor could defend against. This would cause the armor value to be ignored— thus allowing his entire attack value to damage his opponent. The other way to bypass this defense score was to attack areas not armored. This meant the face, hands, armpits, and sometimes the feet.
The fact that his opponents were wearing armor didn't make the battle impossible— just much harder.
As Edward was conflicted with his thoughts, Ikarus stepped forward and opened his mouth. A ray of blue flames shot out from his throat like a hose— covering all three goblins in a moment. This action startled Edward, who stared at the sudden destruction with a conflicted expression.
︽
Ikarus has dealt 18! damage to your enemies
Ikarus has dealt 18! damage to your enemies
Ikarus has dealt 18! damage to your enemies
︾
︽
Ikarus has dealt 18! damage to your enemies
Ikarus has dealt 18! damage to your enemies
Ikarus has dealt 18! damage to your enemies
︾
︽
Ikarus has dealt 18! damage to your enemies
Ikarus has dealt 18! damage to your enemies
Ikarus has dealt 18! damage to your enemies
︾
'Oh, right,' Edward thought to himself as he watched the flames cover the goblins like a giant wall. The goblins screamed in agony and pain as they all rolled on the floor— attempting to put the flames out with the dirt below. However, dragon fire wasn't so merciful. Once Ikarus decided to cover his opponent in flames there wasn't much that armor could do to protect them. After all, dragon fire went through armor.
︽
+15% XP
︾
Edward took a confident step forward, Ikarus sleeping on his shoulders, as he finally took his first step outside of the forest. It had been almost two days since he first stepped into the forest— during that time he had leveled up and killed dozens of monsters— but now he was finally out. As he left the forest, his eyes immediately scanned the horizon as he searched for his destination.
Although there were a few miles of grasslands between them, as well as a small river, Edward immediately found his target. In the distance, protected by a small circle of wooden walls, was the trade city of Detome.
From what he understood from the map sent to him by Markus, Detome was a city that was only just large enough to count as a mid-sized city. It was a trade city in nature but also led a lucrative mining business in the caverns underneath the city. Detome's population was somewhere around thirty thousand— most of them merchants and adventurers who considered Detome to be a temporary lodging. Within a week most of those people would be gone— replaced by others with similar purposes.
Unfortunately, though, it didn't seem to be a starter city. Thus, Edward wasn't bound to find very many players within its walls. In the end, that didn't matter, though. He, like many other people visiting the city, wouldn't stay for long.
"Now remember, Ikarus, you mustn't scare the townspeople," Edward warned as he pointed to his dragon. Ikarus looked at Edward, confused. They had already crossed the few miles separating the forest and the city. Now, the city's gates stood staunchly before them, "Like you did with Markus. He ended up avoiding me the rest of the workday because of you! Whatever sort of menacing aura you've been emitting, tone it down."
Ikarus nodded, his eyes sparkling in understanding. Suddenly, Ikarus began acting a lot less cute. His tail stopped twitching as he slept and instead acted like a rock. His breathing slowed down and his eyes narrowed until they almost appeared to be closed. In a moment, Ikarus was acting the part of a weakened dragon. Edward had no idea if that method would work to turn away anybody looking for a fight, but he would only be sure when the moment of truth arrived.
He took a deep breath, then began to approach the front gates.