Arrogant Madman suddenly drew a long sword. It appeared to be made of iron and was likely a white-grade equipment with no special glow. Arrogant Bloodlust brandished a small dagger, which also seemed to be white-grade equipment.
Noticing my slight change in expression, Arrogant Madman laughed, "As you can see, there are three of us and only one of you. If you're willing to sell that weapon, I can offer a high price. If you insist on keeping it, don't blame me for making a deal without capital!"
It was clear that Arrogant Madman coveted my Glimmering War Axe. This situation wasn't going to end peacefully.
I smiled and said, "If that's the case, let's get on with it. My time is precious!"
Arrogant Madman gripped his iron sword tightly and snarled, "You don't know your place!"
At that moment, Arrogant Rain grabbed Arrogant Madman's arm and exclaimed, "Brother! You're falling into old habits again. Didn't you promise me we'd be good people in Ethereal Surge this time? Why are you picking fights again?"
Arrogant Madman chuckled, "This punk doesn't know his place. I'm just teaching him a lesson!"
Arrogant Rain stood to the side, pouting, "Then do it yourself. I won't be part of this!"
"Heh, Bloodlust and I are more than enough!"
Arrogant Madman glanced at me and said, "A noob like this isn't even worth my attention!"
I grinned, my expression turning cold as I charged forward, swinging my Glimmering War Axe through the air!
"Whoosh!"
A patch of spring mud was cleaved apart, but it didn't even graze Arrogant Madman.
Arrogant Madman couldn't hide the contempt in his eyes and laughed, "Indeed a noob! Bloodlust, let's finish him off!"
The iron sword came crashing down, and Arrogant Bloodlust had somehow moved to my right side, thrusting his dagger without warning!
"Thud! Thud!"
I felt a slight pain as two numbers floated above my head: "24" and "32"!
Arrogant Madman and Arrogant Bloodlust were shocked, exclaiming, "Such... high defense!"
Their combined attack had only taken away less than a quarter of my health, leaving them astonished. At the same time, their names had turned gray, indicating they were now hostile players. This was the moment I had been waiting for!
"Whoosh!"
My Glimmering War Axe swept through the air, accurately striking Arrogant Bloodlust's chest. With a crisp sound, the sharp axe sent Bloodlust flying. Before he even hit the ground, he had turned into a white light and returned to town!
Enraged, Arrogant Madman charged at me with his iron sword, cursing, "Bastard! You killed my brother!"
Without hesitation, I swung my Glimmering Battle Axe from the right side, smashing into Arrogant Madman's armpit. A damage number of "178" appeared above his head, but he didn't die. His iron sword landed on my shoulder, dealing a pitiful 27 points of damage!
I let out a cold laugh as we passed each other, and said quietly, "If you don't have the skills, don't try to act tough!"
"Crack!"
With a crisp sound, my Glimmering War Axe cleaved through Arrogant Madman's shoulder, sending him flying. The 234 points of damage was enough to kill him for the second time!
After instantly taking down two hostile players, my evil value hadn't increased at all. Arrogant Madman dropped a few small potions when he died, which I promptly picked up and stored in my inventory. It seemed he had come to deliver supplies to me!
Arrogant Rain stood there, frozen in fear. After a while, she finally said, "I'm... I'm sorry..."
She was probably afraid I'd send her back to town as well!
I smiled and said, "Go level up. Focus on killing monsters instead of PvP. That's the fastest way to level up!"
Arrogant Rain nodded slightly, said sorry once more, and then turned to leave.
After this small incident, I finally set off on my journey to clear the monsters near the outpost to the west of the village!
Along the way, small goblins ran around everywhere, often charging at me with their tiny axes while shouting. However, as a level 1 monster, I no longer considered them a threat. With a swing of my Glimmering War Axe, I sent the small goblins flying, earning 10 experience points and pocketing 3 copper coins!
According to the setting of "Ethereal Surge," there were two main cities in the US region. Within each main city's jurisdiction, there were five secondary cities. Surrounding each secondary city were small towns and villages, and these villages were the starting areas for new players like me.
As the after-work peak hours arrived, a large number of players logged into the game. Many hadn't even eaten dinner before jumping in, causing the starting village to quickly become overcrowded. It was impossible to level up at the village entrance, so players began to venture into the surrounding forests. Of course, higher-level monsters awaited them there, potentially bringing experience and wealth, but also death!
The area I was heading to, west of the village, had quite a few players killing level 3 goblins. Some had even formed groups to take on higher-level flame bats and wolves. However, after I crossed a hill, I encountered large and small slimes, and finally, there were no other players in sight!
Slimes were green, mud-like monsters skilled in poison attacks, which made them particularly troublesome. Their ranged poison attacks allowed these cunning slimes to use hit-and-run tactics, running players in circles and causing great frustration!
At that moment, a slime eagerly bounded towards me. It stopped a few steps away, crouched, and suddenly shot a stream of green liquid at me. A sharp pain coursed through me as my health dropped by a whopping 70 points!
I was stunned and quickly checked the slime's attributes:
[Green Slime] (Normal Monster)
Level: 10
Attack: 25-35
Defense: 10
Health: 800
Attack Type: Poison
Damn! It was a level 10 monster! No wonder the quest difficulty was 80. At my current level 7, I was definitely at a disadvantage!
Fortunately, I now had the Bat Leather Armor and Wilderness Boots, which greatly increased my defense. Otherwise, I might have lost more than half my health in one hit!
Without hesitation, I stepped forward and swung my axe, but to my surprise, the slime hopped backward, causing my attack to miss completely!
I silently cursed my luck and quickly pursued it. This time, I didn't act rashly. I waited for the slime to make its move before swinging my axe. The Glimmering War Axe traced a beautiful arc through the air, sweeping through the spot where the slime had retreated. The slime was nearly split in half, with poison oozing from the wound, and its health dropped by 254 points!
It seemed that while slimes had high attack power, their defense was quite poor. They were the high-attack, low-defense type of monster, perfect for leveling up! Of course, that was assuming you had enough health potions to keep up.
I felt a bit smug. This time, I had the foresight to bring plenty of potions!
After dodging the slime's attacks a few times, I had completely figured out its movement patterns. I could almost predict where it would escape to just by watching its body movements. My Glimmering War Axe attacks were now landing with nearly 100% accuracy. A slime only had 800 health, and by the time I landed my fourth axe strike, it let out a pitiful "squeak" before dying and dropping some copper coins!
I checked the records and saw that because I was killing monsters 3 levels above me, each slime was giving me 260 experience points!
I felt incredibly satisfied. While others were still killing goblins for 10 experience points each, I was already soloing these terrifying slimes!
In the distance, I could see a crude outpost with two panicked village militiamen standing on it. The area below the outpost was crawling with slimes. They had taken over this place, and my task was to turn each of them into experience points and copper coins!
The slime I had just killed dropped 48 copper coins, which was quite a lot for a single monster!
Time was precious, so I continued to advance cautiously. I would lure one slime at a time, quickly retreat, and then methodically kill it with my axe. I could handle the attacks from one slime, but any more than that would be too much, even if I chugged 300-point potions. After all, the slimes' attacks reached a terrifying 35 points. Only because I had a pair of black iron boots could I withstand it. Anyone else would likely be killed instantly!
Time ticked by, and each slime took about a minute to kill. The killing was quick, but luring them was a delicate process. A few times, I accidentally pulled two slimes at once, forcing me to frantically chug potions to avoid dying on the spot!
Nearly five hours passed quickly. Looking at the in-game clock, it was already 1 AM. I had lost count of how many slimes I had killed, but I could see the Slime Medals in my inventory steadily increasing. The only disappointment was that after killing so many monsters, I had only gotten one level 8 white-grade leg armor with 9 defense, which I immediately equipped. This increased my defense by another 9 points!
By this time, I had reached level 10. In theory, I could go choose a class now, but I was just one Slime Medal short of the 100 needed to complete the quest. I decided to finish the quest before returning to the starting village.
More and more high-level players were appearing in the area, joining in on the slime-slaying action. Among them, the highest-level players were 8 or 9, but I was still the only one who had reached level 10 in the entire training ground. It was clear that these players hadn't accepted the quest, as they weren't getting any medals. Of course, it was also possible that the quest was unique, who knows!
After taking down a few more slimes, I finally got the last Slime Medal I needed to complete the quest!
Just then, a golden light flashed in front of me, followed by an earth-shaking roar. In an instant, more than a dozen players at the forefront were killed!
A massive, golden slime was rampaging through the crowd. Its golden poison liquid decimated players with each splash, turning them into white lights. Those still wearing armor with only 1 point of defense stood no chance!
Above the golden slime's head floated a few large words: Golden Slime King!
I couldn't help but draw in a sharp breath. Damn! The super boss had finally appeared!