Boom!
Rumble!
Roar!
Sounds of destruction and fury came from the tunnel and echoed in the Den of Wild Dogs. Fortunately, I had left them all behind as I emerged from the cracks in the roots of the Baobab tree while grinning like a maniac.
"Well… What good things did you two find?" Stivi asked, looking at the wide smiles on our faces.
I exchanged a mischievous grin with Zamir and replied, "Riches beyond your imagination!"
Stivi bestowed upon us one of her infamous deadpan glares. I did not budge even a bit but Zamir crumbled under it. He started to list the items he had collected obediently.
"I found these 3 pieces of equipment."
While speaking, Zamir shared the stats of the said loot in our party chat.
–--
Worn Chest Plate
Grade: White-Wood
Equip requirements: Lv 5
Defense +5
Magic Defense +1%
—
Old Chanter's Gloves
Grade: White-Wood
Equip Requirement: Lv5, 15 INT
Magic Attack: +2%
*[Degraded Item]
—
Rusty Long Sword
Grade: White-Wood
Equip Requirements: Lv5, 18 STR
Attack: 11 - 14
*[Degraded Item]
—
As soon as Zamir shared the stats in the party chat, the eyes of the other party members lit up. These were all White-Wood grade pieces of equipment!
Even though they were degraded and had slightly lower stats than the other similar grade equipment, it did not diminish their value at all.
This was evident by the way BigSoftie was looking at the Worn Chest Plate. Even Stivi was itching to replace her old sword with the Rusty Long Sword.
However, the two most excited about this loot were HardBro and Mamamia. They jumped to their feet and rushed to where we were standing.
"The Chanter's Gloves are mine!"
Mamamia and HardBro declared at the same time. Then they glared at each other, neither willing to give up on the first piece of White-Wood equipment that suited the magical class.
The stare down between the two ended in HardBro's victory. The little loli failed to intimidate the lanky youth with her glare. She even looked a little cute when she tried to act intimidating, making the three of us onlookers smile.
Just as Hardbro was about to celebrate his victory and claim the Gloves, Mamamia turned to Stivi with a pout -
"Sister Stivi, give me the Chanter's Gloves, puh-leaseee?"
Seeing her act cute, the smile on Hardbro's face froze. He knew that pout was super effective against Stivi. He immediately intervened and said,
"If you give me the Sacred Gloves, I won't take anything else from this loot."
"Me neither." Mamamia quickly matched the condition, starting another staring match down between the two.
This first White-Wood grade piece of equipment for magical class was just too tempting for them. Since the Guild Contribution System was not in place yet, they had to fight for the equipment using their words and connections, putting Stivi in a dilemma.
At this moment Zamir and I shared a look. I took out the three skill books I looted from the chest and held them up in my hands.
"So you two don't want these skill books? Maybe I should just sell them?"
Hearing my words, both of them immediately turned their heads to look at the books. The book with golden green cover attracted the attention of Mamamia while Hardbro's eyes were fixated on the book with orange red cover.
Seeing the desperate look in their eyes, I handed the two skill books to them after asking for Stivi's approval.
The former was the skill book for Blessed Touch. It healed the target for 5% of their max health and made him immune to all negative effects for 2 seconds.
Hardbro received the skill book for Burning Bind. This was another control skill which bound the target for 3 to 5 seconds. It also had a chance to deal 10% Fire magic damage over the time for 20 seconds.
Just as I expected, the two of them were very happy with the Skill Books. They completely forgot about Old Chanter's Gloves and immediately started to learn the Skills in the Skillbooks.
After watching them for a while, Stivi looked at the remaining skill book in my hand. I noticed her curious gaze and offered her the metallic gray colored book with a cheeky grin.
"This skill really suits you."
I whispered as she took the book from my hand.
"Head Bash?"
Stivi read the name of the skill aloud with slight puzzlement. Then she checked the description.
-
Head Bash (Tier 0)
Cooldown: 20 seconds
~ Smash the target with your head and deal 110% of damage. Receive 10% of damage as recoil.
~ Attracts the target's aggression.
-
Stivi was instantly repulsed by the brutish skill. It did not suit her 'elegant' fighting style at all! She was even more annoyed when she saw the mischievous grin on my face. She slammed the book hard on my chest and hissed angrily.
"Are you saying I am a brute?"
I nodded my head with the same cheeky smile. I knew Stivi would be angered by my response but teasing her was just too much fun.
"Are you craving a beating, Sar.. Samar?"
The slip of her tongue made a cold sweat drop roll down my temple. It meant she was nearing her boiling point and I gulped down hard. Fortunately, I was saved by the arrival of BigSoftie.
"BigSoftie! My man! Here, I have the perfect skill for you and this Armor too."
The big guy was perplexed by my enthusiasm but he still received the goods. His eyes widened with joy after seeing the skill description and he looked at me with gratitude.
I threw a glance at Stivi that said - This is how you say thank you for the skill. She understood the meaning and waved her fist in response.
Message received.
I quickly stopped provoking her further and took out the last but not the least piece of loot from the treasure box. It was a beautiful string of milky white pearls.
This accessory immediately drew the attention of the two girls and they took a step closer. Even Zamir and Hardbro realized the unusualness of the accessory and looked at it with desire.
Seeing their eager looks, I shared its stats in the party chat.
-
Mana Pearl Necklace
Grade: White-Wood
Equip requirements: INT 15, Female Player.
Mana: +50
-
Then I watched their faces fall with glee. Except for Mamamia no one was qualified to use this accessory, not even Stivi as she did not meet the requirements of having 15 points in Intelligence Stat.
Naturally, the Pearl Necklace was given to the little girl who wore it with joy. She also relinquished her claim on the Old Chanter's Gloves and let Hardbro have it.
Stivi claimed the Rusty Light Sword and BigSoftie received the armor and the skill.
With this, all of the equipment and Skill Book we looted from the box had been distributed. Since Zamir and I did not receive any equipment or skills, we both received 1 Silvers each out of the 3 Silver coins we had looted from the box.
Stivi also promised to buy us equipment using the White Fangs we had collected so far. This promise alone was enough to renew our vigor and we once again began to hunt the Wild Dogs.
—-
While Samar and Stivi's Party were exploring the Wild Dog's Den, the players in Village number 89 also grew more and more powerful. They started to explore the higher level maps after equipping a few pieces of Ash-Gray Grade equipment.
The ordinary players flooded into the Lv3 and Lv4 maps where the Elite teams would usually grind. This discomforted the Elite Teams.
Not only was their share of resources lowered, but their pride as elites also did not allow them to level up in the same map as the ordinary players.
One such affected Elite team belonged to the Fortune Guild.
The six elite members of Fortune Guild were sitting under a tree to catch their breath after a long grinding session. They watched a ragtag group of ordinary players struggle to finish off a single Lv4 Lazy Gray Sloth.
"Should we chase them off, Team Leader?"
A swordsman asked the burly figure standing beside him.
When the fight started, there had been 6 players in that party but now only 3 were left. However, after a few more strenuous seconds, the party of ordinary players successfully grasped the attack patterns of the Sloth and managed to kill it.
Seeing this, the burly figure sighed and turned to the swordsman beside him.
"No need. Let them have this grinding spot."
The leader then picked up the huge battle ax leaning against the tree and slung it over his shoulder.
"It is time we set off for the Golden Slopes map and pay back our grudges."
The Party of six became excited at the command. They took one last look at the training grounds they had been using for the past few days and then followed their captain to the Golden Slopes.