"Bro!"
The shield warrior turned around with a flattering grin spread across his face.
"Uh... what do you want?"
Ethan took a step back, eyeing the man warily.
"Big bro, what's your name?"
"Dustwalker."
"Brother Dustwalker, hehehe…"
"Stop, stop, just get to the point. Don't make it so creepy."
Ethan quickly interrupted him, unable to bear the warrior's sleazy smile.
*Cough, cough,* the shield warrior cleared his throat and continued, "Brother Dustwalker, my boss said if your strategy is legit, we're willing to buy it at your price…"
"No bargaining. The price is already a steal. If you don't have the money, I'll find someone else."
"No, no, Brother Dustwalker, don't misunderstand."
The shield warrior quickly explained, "The price is fair, but since the game just launched, none of us have much money. So... my boss wanted to know if we could trade other items instead?"
"Hmm..."
Hearing this, Ethan's eyes lit up. This was exactly what he was waiting for. However, he didn't immediately agree. Instead, he pretended to think for a moment before reluctantly nodding.
"Alright, since you're so sincere, we can trade items."
"Thank you, Brother Dustwalker! You're so generous. What do you need? Just name it!"
"I'll take the *Insight* and *Blink* skill books, a crossbow, and a dagger. You can make up the rest in gold."
"Got it."
The shield warrior breathed a sigh of relief. Although general skill books were valuable, they were worth parting with in exchange for a speedrun strategy. As for the crossbow and dagger, those were minor items.
He gathered the items and was about to hand them to Ethan when he hesitated and pulled them back.
"Uh, Brother Dustwalker, about that contract we talked about…"
"Don't worry, I won't scam you. What's your ID?"
"Backstrap Kid," the shield warrior answered.
"Alright."
Ethan nodded, adding him as a friend, then opened the **[Sacred Contract]** interface and began drafting the contract.
---
**[Sacred Contract:]**
**[Party A: Dustwalker]**
**[Party B: Backstrap Kid]**
**[Arbitrator: Mystra, Goddess of Magic ]**
**[Terms: Party A (Dustwalker) guarantees…]**
---
After a short time, Ethan finished drafting the contract and sent it to Backstrap.
**[Ding! You have a new message waiting to be read!]**
Backstrap Kid received the contract and skimmed through it. Though everything seemed fine, he was still uneasy, so he forwarded it to his boss.
"Hey, boss, can you check if this contract looks legit?"
At that moment, in a valley outside Frostleaf Town, Naomi was leading a group of guild members in monster grinding.
Hearing Backstrap's call, she paused the fight and opened the contract, reading it carefully.
After a moment, she closed it and replied to Backstrap, "The contract looks fine. You can sign it."
"Got it!"
Backstrap had been growing impatient. With his boss's approval, he immediately signed his name.
"Dustwalker, the contract's signed. Here are the skill books and gear you wanted, worth 14 gold coins in total, plus 6 gold to cover the rest."
Backstrap handed the items to Ethan and transferred 6 gold coins. Then, rubbing his hands nervously, he asked, "Brother Dustwalker, the strategy…"
"The strategy's pretty simple. There's an underground river in the dungeon. You just need to swim directly to the boss."
"Underground river?"
Backstrap froze. The Treasure Cave dungeon did indeed have an underground river that connected the entrance to the final boss. But the river's surface was frozen solid, making it impossible to swim across.
Some players had tried to break the ice, but any noise would alert the monsters, leading to an immediate attack. It was unworkable.
Seeing his confusion, Ethan smiled and added, "You can't break the ice with brute force, or you'll trigger the mobs. But you can melt it with a mage's fire magic."
"Melt the ice with fire magic? Will that work?"
"Why wouldn't it?" Ethan countered. "A mage's fire magic or a warlock's hellfire spell can melt the ice."
In fact, even if Ethan didn't tell him, this method would soon be discovered by someone else. The world is never short of clever people or lucky players.
Ethan was just an ordinary person. His only advantage was the foresight that came with his rebirth.
"Alright, that's the strategy. You should be able to figure out the rest on your own."
After saying this, Ethan turned to leave, but then something occurred to him. He stopped and added, "By the way, this method only works on *Easy* mode. It won't work on *Hard* mode or above."
With that, Ethan strode out of the square.
Backstrap watched Ethan's retreating figure, lost in thought. He had a feeling there was more to Ethan's words, but he couldn't quite figure it out.
"Ah, whatever. My job's done. Time to report back."
Backstrap shrugged, packed up his stall, and ran toward the town gates.
---
Meanwhile...
Not far from the square, Ethan took out the two skill books. Without any hesitation, he learned them immediately.
---
**[Insight: Information-gathering skill, effectiveness depends on relative levels.]**
**[Casting requirements: None.]**
**[Cooldown: None.]**
---
**[Blink: Escape skill, allows instant teleportation within 10 yards.]**
**[Casting requirements: None.]**
**[Cooldown: 1 minute.]**
---
Both *Insight* and *Blink* were top-tier general skills. However, *Blink* was the rarer of the two. Especially in the later stages of the game, *Blink* became an essential skill for top-tier players.
Feeling pleased, Ethan hummed a tune as he headed out of Frostleaf Town.
"Ugh, it's freezing."
As soon as he stepped out of the town, a gust of cold wind hit him, making him shiver.
This was typical of The Northlands—once you stepped into the wilderness, the temperature would drop sharply.
*Crunch, crunch.*
Ethan's boots crunched through the snow as he made his way toward the snow-covered Dragonspire Mountain.
Before long, a group of hopping snow hares appeared in the distance. Ethan casually cast *Insight*.
---
**[Snow Hare: Level 1]**
**[Attributes: Strength 4, Constitution 3, Agility 13, Spirit 2, Intelligence 2]**
**[Skills: Leap]**
---
At level 0, the only monsters Ethan could hunt were snow hares.
He drew his crossbow, loaded it with an arrow, and pulled the string, aiming quickly. His movements were smooth and practiced, almost like a seasoned archer.
In *Godfall*, weapons weren't strictly limited by class. A mage could use an axe, and a warrior could wield a staff. The only downside was that without the right feats, the weapon's damage would be low.
Just like now.
Ethan aimed at one of the snow hares and released the string.
*Whoosh!* The arrow flew and struck the hare.
---
**[Adventure Log: You attacked a Snow Hare, dealing 60% damage and causing a Bleeding effect!]**
---
If an archer had shot that arrow, the hare would have been dead or severely injured. But Ethan's shot only inflicted a bleeding effect, and the damage was a mere 60%.
---
**[Adventure Log: *One More Time* activated, doubling damage and causing an instant kill. Snow Hare slain.]**
---
"Huh?"
Ethan froze, staring at the new notification in shock. He hadn't expected *One More Time* to have this effect, doubling his damage.
Curious, Ethan aimed at another snow hare and fired.
This time, he saw it clearly. As the arrow flew through the air, a ghostly, second arrow followed it, almost invisible to the naked eye.
"Is this a double shot?"
In *Godfall*, there were many skills and talents that allowed for double damage, like a warrior's *Double Strike*, a rogue's *Dual Cut*, an archer's *Double Shot* or *Triple Shot*, and a mage's *Double Cast*.
What he hadn't expected was that *One More Time* would have a similar effect. It was an unexpected and pleasant surprise.