Chapter Ten: Low Kick

Chapter 10: Low Kick

Regarding Lin Zheng’s heaven-defying luck, the group was left speechless. After a moment of stunned silence, they began their operation to take down the boss.

"Alright, let's assign positions!" Yang Qi considered for a moment before saying, "Little Lin and I will handle the tanking. Little Lin, no problem, right?"

"Should be fine!" Lin Zheng was still quite confident in his own skills.

"That's good!" Yang Qi nodded and turned to Tifa and Long Ya, "Little Lin and I have the highest attack power here, so when we swap tanking duties, we’ll be drawing most of the boss’s aggro. You two need to be careful with your attacks to avoid pulling too much aggro from the boss!"

"Bawang, Chunfeng, when the boss roars, you move in and pull it away. Take that opportunity to top off my and Shengun's HP, Mia. After that, we’ll engage the boss again! When the boss enters its berserk state, Mia, you’ll have to work hard. You must keep our HP above eighty percent, or we’re dead for sure!"

"Um! Um! I can keep up with the healing, but I don't have enough mana!" Mia said anxiously.

"Hehe! Don't worry, I looted plenty of mana potions from the guys from Proud Sword I just killed!" Lin Zheng smugly traded the mana potions to Mia. With that, her mana issue was resolved! Everything was ready; it was time to begin!

"Alright, Little Lin! Go!" Yang Qi shouted. She gripped her Black Raven Sword and charged at the boss. Lin Zheng followed close behind, even overtaking Yang Qi to engage the boss first! Lin Zheng lunged forward with a Stomp, dealing 435 damage. The boss's defense was truly frustrating; it was such a low number. Frustrated as he was, Lin Zheng swung his daggers twice, dealing 185 and 168 damage respectively! Seeing the boss swing its axe down, Lin Zheng raised his dagger to parry. *Clang!* The two weapons collided, and a damage figure of 240 floated above Lin Zheng’s head. At that moment, a white light descended, healing him for 240. Both Lin Zheng and the boss tilted backward, losing their balance! Simultaneously, Yang Qi rushed forward to take Lin Zheng’s spot. With a loud shout, she unleashed a signature Heavy Knight skill, "Rage Slash," down onto the boss—570 damage! The guy was definitely taking more damage from her than from him! At the same time, Tifa and Long Ya’s arrows and fireballs struck, dealing 174 and 340 damage! Yang Qi seized the moment and landed two more strikes, each dealing around 200 damage, before finishing with a parry, locking her Black Raven Sword against the boss's axe.

"Little Lin!"

"Coming! Stop yelling!" Having regained his balance, Lin Zheng stepped back in. Unexpectedly, the boss roared immediately! Seeing this, Bawang and Chunfeng rushed forward. Bawang used "Taunt" to successfully pull the roaring boss away from them. Chunfeng occasionally parried the boss to prevent it from killing Bawang, knowing that all the healing was currently focused on Lin Zheng and Yang Qi.

"Be careful, based on what we saw, the boss will go berserk soon after it finishes roaring!" Lin Zheng shouted to Bawang and his companion. Sure enough! After taking a few hits from Chunfeng, the boss roared and entered its berserk state. Bawang took an axe blow immediately; over a thousand damage was no joke! One more hit and Bawang would be finished. At the critical moment, Chunfeng blocked the boss’s axe, and the fully-healed Lin Zheng and Yang Qi rushed over to take their places.

The berserk state was no laughing matter. Even with a block, Lin Zheng still lost over 800 HP per hit; he could only withstand two such blows. Yang Qi had invested primarily in Strength, so her HP wasn't very high either; she couldn't take two hits either. Fortunately, Mia was truly reliable, pulling their health up quickly and ensuring they both had ninety percent HP before each parry. That was the only reason they didn't die under the boss’s axe. Of course, she used up every single mana potion Lin Zheng had given her!

However, it was all worth it! Once the boss's berserk state ended, the pair felt at ease again. With perfect synergy, they swapped tanking duties, suppressing the boss’s attacks completely. Under their relentless assault, the boss's HP dropped rapidly. A few minutes later, the boss was down to its last sliver of health. Lin Zheng unceremoniously delivered an Explosive Stomp to the boss's stomach. "Bang!" The explosive ripple expanded from the boss's gut like a wall of fire standing before Lin Zheng, and the boss was sent flying by his kick, with an astonishing damage number of 3,240 popping up! A critical hit! The boss slammed violently into a tree before crashing to the ground, dropping a magnificent pile of loot!

"Damn! What a harvest!" Yang Qi yelled excitedly, rushing toward the boss's corpse. The others cheered and ran over as well. This boss fight hadn't been easy; everyone had been on edge and was exhausted! But with the boss dead, everyone grew ecstatic.

"I haven't heard of anyone else killing this boss, this is definitely a first kill! Look at this loot! Awesome!" Yang Qi threw herself onto the boss's treasure without any regard for her image, screeching like a dragon staring at its gold hoard.

"Alright, stop acting like a fool. Count what's there and let's get out of here! We snatched a boss someone else found; they'll probably be coming for us soon!" Lin Zheng kicked Yang Qi.

"Someone else's? Pfft—it was killed by us, so it’s ours! I don't care who comes!" Yang Qi said dismissively, though she did stand up. She asked casually, "Which gang was it?"

"Proud Sword!"

"Damn! So it was those bird-brains! Even better that we snatched it!" Yang Qi shouted. It seemed she had some history with Proud Sword. Seeing the confusion on the others' faces, she explained, "Yesterday, these guys tried to take over my leveling spot and clear the area! They didn't even look at who they were dealing with. After I killed one of their teams, two more showed up! They were just shameless, endless jerks! I'll kill them every time I see them from now on!"

"Stop blustering. They have numbers. If you get surrounded, you'll be in for it," Lin Zheng said impatiently. "Hurry up and clear the loot!"

"Alright, alright! Hehe! There’s nothing more worth looking forward to than clearing boss loot!" Yang Qi rubbed her hands excitedly and began sorting the items. The boss had dropped plenty of gold—over 140 coins, enough for everyone to get about 20. It also dropped a good amount of gear—six pieces! Sadly, they were all Silver-tier; no Gold-tier gear. There was a necklace that increased healing effects by 30%, which was undoubtedly for Mia. Bawang received a shield that provided a decent defense boost, and Long Ya got a ring that added Intelligence. Tifa was the luckiest, receiving a bow. Since it wasn't a blade-bow, Lin Zheng generously gave it to her. Chunfeng got a decent pair of boots, and finally, there was a pair of gloves. Since they were part of a metal armor set, Yang Qi happily claimed them. Lin Zheng didn't get any gear, but it wasn't a total loss; the boss had dropped a rare skill book called "Low Kick." It was an exclusive skill for Sword Fighters, so naturally, it went to Lin Zheng.

Low Kick: Level 1, Proficiency 0/1000. Strikes the enemy's leg bone, dealing 150% physical damage and inflicting the "Broken Bone" status. Under this status, movement speed is reduced by 20% for 10 seconds. Costs 50 mana, cooldown 10 seconds.

"This skill is really good," Yang Qi said with a hint of jealousy. "A powerful PVP skill! It’s also extremely effective against melee-type bosses! Damn! Why can't I learn it?"

"Who told you not to be a Sword Fighter!" Lin Zheng laughed smugly, earning a glare from Yang Qi.

"The Sword Fighter class actually requires a certain level of combat technique; otherwise, it’s hard to utilize the class's advantages. Only a game-idiot like you would choose this class out of curiosity! I think you'll have a lot to cry about later on!" Yang Qi said with a gloating, evil laugh.

"Pfft—I don't need you to mock me!" Lin Zheng curled his lip. "Alright, stop showing off your vast gaming knowledge and go level up! How about you start a guild or something in a while? Let's take down Proud Sword!"

"Forget about a guild for now; I'd better hurry up and level up!" Yang Qi checked the Skyfrost City player rankings, then couldn't help but curse, "Damn! This Chongchong is too fierce! Already level 23! What!!! I actually dropped to fifth place! There are too many monsters out there! Not saying anything more, I'm off! See you all later!" With that, she dashed off in a blaze of hurry.

Watching Yang Qi’s funny departure, everyone couldn't help but laugh. Once the laughter died down, Bawang said, "Alright, we should get going too, it'll be trouble if the Proud Sword people arrive! By the way, Shengun, you still have your quest to do!"

"Oh, right!" Lin Zheng slapped his forehead. "Almost forgot about that. Let's go! Help me finish this quest; we should be able to get it done before dinner!"

"Let's go then! After that, we need to get back to serious leveling!"

"Yeah!" They nodded and headed toward the quest location—the Gloom Mine.

The Gloom Mine was the largest mineral collection site in Skyfrost City. Legend had it that you could find any mineral there, except for Epic-tier ones—though, of course, that was just a legend!

Minerals were essential materials for crafting gear, so the Gloom Mine naturally attracted over 90% of the miners in Skyfrost City. As soon as they entered, the "Clang! Clang!" sounds were constant. The volume definitely exceeded noise pollution standards! However, the miners were unfazed, each digging away enthusiastically. Seeing this, Lin Zheng remembered he needed 100 Refined Iron Ores for his quest, so he shouted in the cave, "Buying 100 Refined Iron Ores!!" Upon hearing this, several players rushed over to ask about the price.

Refined Iron Ore was a scarce commodity in the early stages, so the price was relatively high. After some competitive bidding between players, Lin Zheng eventually bought 100 of them for 10 silver coins each—10 gold coins! That was a massive fortune at the game's launch! Lin Zheng bought the 100 ores with a pained expression, and after the trade, he and his teammates went deeper into the mine to hunt Ore-Eating Beasts.

Ore-Eating Beasts were around level 20 and looked like wild boars. The deeper they went into the mine, the more numerous they became. The group found a spot where the density wasn't too high and started killing them. It was quite easy, and they quickly collected the 100 fangs Lin Zheng needed. Returning to Skyfrost City, they separated to turn in their respective quests, and Lin Zheng headed to the Professional Hall alone.

Entering the hall, Lin Zheng easily found Instructor Wang Yan, who was surrounded by a bunch of lecherous players. As he walked up, Wang Yan exclaimed in surprise, "You collected them so fast! You’re amazing, little brother! Hehehe! Alright, here is your reward!"

"Quest 'Wang Yan's Request' completed. Character experience increased by 50,000. Obtained equipment 'Flying Swallow'. Friendship with Wang Yan increased by 100. Reputation increased by 500!"

*Thud!* A piece of gear dropped into Lin Zheng’s inventory. He happily opened it and saw that it was a blade-bow! Taking it out, he saw that the bow was exquisitely crafted, with dual blades shaped like golden swallow wings, which was why it was called Flying Swallow.

Flying Swallow: Level requirement 15, Silver-tier (Sword Fighter)
Physical Attack 240-310, Magic Attack 189-230
Spring Breeze: Wind attack +50
Strength: 19
Moon Shadow: 50% chance to dodge an attack; once triggered, it will not trigger again for 10 seconds.
"Someday, I want to soar in the sky just like a swallow." — Wang Yan

...

Wow! So this bow was actually used by Wang Yan herself. Looking at its stats, it was truly impressive. In terms of raw damage, it was even slightly stronger than Yang Qi's Black Raven Sword. It was a rare, high-end item for a low-level Sword Fighter! Especially since it was used by Wang Yan, there might only be one in the entire game, making it quite a collector's item! It was a pity, though, that it wasn't as good as the daggers he was using. Should he sell it? Just as he was thinking, Wang Yan spoke up, "This bow is a treasure I cherish deeply! Don't you dare sell it casually! Next time we meet, if I don't see it on you, I won't teach you any more skills!"

Big sister, do you have mind-reading powers? You knew exactly what I was planning! Lin Zheng stared blankly at Wang Yan, who was puffing out her cheeks in a cute way. He debated whether to sell it or not. In the end, to avoid being unable to learn skills in the future—even if Wang Yan might just be bluffing—Lin Zheng decided not to sell the bow. It wasn't like he was desperate for the money!