Level 1 Rune Stone’s were weak and the materials needed for crafting were just too cheap. Almost any Rune Crafter could craft this level of Rune Stone and it only served to raise their mastery level. Just like a [Level 1 Whetstone], it had come to a point where it’s something that can be given away. Even the recipient might not appreciate this much! That was the reason why Han Ying Xue had gotten rid of all the Level 1 Rune Stones from her inventory and storage.
Zhang Yang stared at Han Ying Xue, and laughed under his breath.
"What are you looking at? I’ll pluck your little balls off and shove them down your throat!" Han Ying Xue scolded viciously.
Zhang Yang laughed more, ignoring her. He took out his Dragon Tooth Battle Axe and inscribed the enhanced Vampire Rune Stone on it.
‘Ding! Dragon Tooth Battle Axe has gained the effect of {Vampiric +1}. Level 2 Whetstone effect has been replaced!’
It’s a shame that both the whetstone and the Rune Stone could not stack.
Zhang Yang took out another enhanced Vampire Rune Stone and applied on the weapon. However, after two seconds, a "crack" was heard and there was a long and unsightly crack on the weapon’s edge.
‘Ding! Enchantment failed. The {Vampiric +1} effect on the Dragon Tooth Battle Axe has disappeared. 10% of the weapon Durability has been lost!’
"WTF! You sly minx! What kind of Rune Stone did you gave me! I’d failed at +2!"
Han Ying Xue shrugged and scoffed. "That’s your problem! Not me. I only used two Rune Stones and achieve {Mana Drain +2}!"
"What about the little girl?" Zhang Yang laughed as he turned to face Wei Yan Er.
Wei Yan Er shrunk and bashfully whispered. "16 pieces…"
"BAH!" Zhang Yang exploded in laughter. "Looks like there’s no such thing as being ‘worst’! It can only get much ‘worse’!"
"Hey! This young lady here is beautiful and charming! Why would you say I’m worse?!" Wei Yan Er rolled her eyes. "Hurry up and keep on inscribing more Runes! Don’t beat around the bush! I have a bet with cousin-sister right here on whose luck would be the worst!"
Luckily, Zhang Yang only used two pieces of enhanced Vampire Rune Stone and managed to upgrade his weapon to {Vampiric +2}. He did not even fail a single time when he came to his shield. He had only used a total of 6 pieces of Rune Stones.
After he was done inscribing Runes, he bid everyone farewell and used the city’s Teleportation point to fly over to Tukula Fortress. There, he summoned the white bear and rode on into the wild.
So far, Zhang Yang was the only person who had reached Level 60. The new dungeon "Thunderbolt Prison" require a number of players that his guild could not provide. The only choice left was for him to get everyone to train their levels together. Furthermore, the new dungeon had a rather complicated system. The dungeon required four parties to start the raid. There were not enough members in Lone Desert Smoke to even dispatch 4 parties of 5 men!
Zhang Yang rode through the Frozen Sky Wastelands and entered the Forest of Tanila.
Forest of Tanila is a Level 60+ training ground, and it also carried the possibility of being claimed as a Territory! Zhang Yang’s current objective was to search for new Territories.
Theoretically, as long as players achieved Level 60 , new Territories would spawn in Level 60+ maps.
Forest of Tanila was a place with extremely large and ancient trees. The ground was rather open as the tree were widely spreaded from each other. That being said, the branches grew excessively, and the leaves from all the trees around had covered the entire sky. Light from the sun could only seep through the gaps among the leaves to reach the floor. The forest was extremely cooling, but well-lit. Zhang Yang walked slowly across the forest, pacing slowly without any intention to rush. As he strode on, rays of light beamed on his armor, reflecting the sunlight out across the forest. Zhang Yang lingered in the forest for a total of three days.
On the fourth day, as he was roaming around the forest, he stumbled upon an open area with a camp in the middle of it.
"Hold your steps!" Two Elven warrior rushed over. Both of them wielded long swords. Though they looked extremely graceful, there were markings and tribal paint all over their foreheads, making them look rather savage, their eyes gleaming with killing intent.
[Silver Wings Camp Soldier] (Elite, Humanoid)
Level: 65
HP: 130,000
Defense: 350
Zhang Yang unsummoned his mount and did an adventurer’s salute. "Fellow Elven warriors, I am an adventurer from the White Jade Castle!"
The two female warriors exchange a quick look with each other and one of them asked. "We have sent out countless requests for aid! And yet White Jade Castle sends us a single man?!"
Zhang Yang smiled. "Sometime, a man can do things an army could not!"
"Hmph."
The two female warriors sheathed their swords across their backs as they scoffed.
"Brag all you want. We shall see your strength. Enter the camp and speak to our leader!"
The warriors let down their guards and allowed Zhang Yang to proceed further in.
The camp area was as large as a football field with a defensive parameter made out of wood, to block off wild animals. There were at least thousands of tents in the camp, with the largest tent being right in the center. On its sides, were flag poles stuck into the ground, bearing the sigil of the elven race.
Zhang Yang’s priority was to search for a Territory. However, he had now been led on a little detour as this place seemed to have a quest for him. He might as well complete the quest. Who knows? The quest might reward him with something valuable!
Zhang Yang walked around and got into the largest tent. Inside, he saw a female Elf wearing completely white ceremonial clothing. Her chest was leaning on the surface of a table. In one hand, she held a light-silver colored magic staff. With her other hand, she was pointing and picking out random spots on what seemed to be a map. There was a worrying frown on her face.
[Priestess Kalor – Song of the Forest] (Gray-Silver, Humanoid)
Level: 68
HP: 2,000,000
Defense: 700
The moment Zhang Yang stepped into the tent, Kalor noticed him and lifted her head up to glance at him. After having a look at Zhang Yang, she went back to the map. "So, you’re the reinforcement sent by the Union?"
"I guess so." Said Zhang Yang. "Priestess Kalor, what sort of trouble are you in?"
Kalor lean back on her chair and sighed lightly. "A bunch of bandits have set up a stronghold in the Thunderstorm Castle, somewhere north of the forest. Their activities are threatening our very lives. Even though we have set up a front line here, the bandits would still sneak around here, often attacking our base. They would rob our supplies and kidnap our people to sell them as slaves!"
Zhang Yang cocked his head. "Why don’t you guys destroy their stronghold?" he asked.
"Thunderstorm Castle has a perfect, impregnable defense. Their stronghold has the geographical advantage! With mountains surrounding their base, the only entrance in is limited to one! Furthermore, they have set up three magical cannons at the entrance of the stronghold. With our current force, we will be annihilated if we were to start an attack!" said Kalor disgruntledly.
Kalor sighed. Out of the sudden silence, she stood with a sudden glint in her eyes. She looked at Zhang Yang and smirked. "Perhaps our approach to the attack was wrong. Perhaps…if we were to sneak into the stronghold and find out where they store the energy source and ammunition of the magical cannons and destroy that! Once the cannons are down, we could take the opportunity to strike and destroy the stronghold! Human! Do you accept this impossible mission?"
‘Ding! Priestess Kalor has a quest for you: Destroy the Defense of Thunderstorm Castle. Will you accept it?’
Alright, now that he had a quest, he has something to do! Zhang Yang nodded. "Priestess, I will do my best to assist our allied Elven brethren!"
‘Ding! You have obtained [A Bag of Explosives]!’
[A Bag of Explosives] (Quest Item)
Use: Tick! Tick! Run! It’ll blow after 10 seconds!
"Wonderful! I have here a magic cape that will temporary change your appearance into a female elf! There will be bandits roaming around in the forest! When that happens, I want you to let them kidnap you and allow them to take you into their stronghold! When night comes, you can remove your disguise and find the energy source to destroy it!"
Kalor took out a black cape and handed it over to Zhang Yang.
D*mn! What a bold strategy!
Zhang Yang accepted the cape and scolded the developers for thinking of such a psychotic plan!
[Cape of Disguise] (Quest Item)
Use: Turns you into a beautiful Elven female! Removing the disguise will also purge all immobile status! Note: the magic power of the cape is limited to only one hour.
Charges left: 1/1
Zhang Yang took all the items, placed them in his inventory, and left the place. Based on the location Kalor had explained, the place that he should be heading for was somewhere to the north of the forest. Zhang Yang rode his way north, and after 20 minutes, he arrived at his destination. Zhang Yang observed the stronghold from afar and understood now why the stronghold was said to be impregnable. The castle was built within a valley of mountains. Although the size of the stronghold was large, it was completely shielded by mountains all around it. There was only one entrance and even that was protected with a river surrounding the castle. To enter the stronghold, one must cross a drawbridge from within the castle itself. Furthermore, the three magical cannons hanging outside the entrance of the castle walls were not mere ornaments. Those contraptions are not some toys; they could easily fire at long range, laying waste to anything they struck.
At first, Zhang Yang thought of using {Shadow of the Void} to sneak into the castle. However, he had second thoughts when he saw the large door being tightly shut. The whole time he lay there in wait, the draw bridge was never lowered, even after he had spent some time waiting for something to happen.
The only option left was to get kidnapped by the bandits as a female elf!
It can’t be helped. Zhang Yang sighed and summoned the bear. He rode the bear and started searching the forest for the bandits. After only five to six minutes, he found a group of bandits, sitting around a campfire roasting what seemed to be their food. Zhang Yang started to move. He got off the bear, took out the cape, and after a bright glow, Zhang Yang turned from a rugged, tough, manly adventurer into a slim, curvy, and sexy elven female. Zhang Yang was now wearing only a rough linen skirt on him. The rest of his original equipment, his shield, his axe, his armor were all hidden beneath the disguise.
He lowered his head and walked slowly towards the group of bandits, entering their aggro range. He then pretended to act frantic and quickly ran away.
"Hey! There’s a girl! Chase after her!" The bandits screamed and started to chase after Zhang Yang. The kidnappers were very happy that their "victim" was such an easy catch, practically walking into their hands. After that, they brought Zhang Yang into the stronghold.
When they approached the river, one of the bandits shouted out to the occupants of the castle, and the door to the castle was opened. The draw bridge was lowered and the bandits entered the castle. After pushing Zhang Yang into a small shack, the bandits locked the doors and left him there.
"Huh?"
The disguise effect of the cape could not be dispelled manually! Much worse, when in disguise, Zhang Yang could not even use his weapon. All he could do right now was to wait until the effect wears off by itself. It did not take long for the magical spell to disperse, returning Zhang Yang to his original appearance. He took out his battle axe and start hacking at the door in front of him.
[Strong Wooden Door] (Tool)
Level: 1
HP: 100,000
Defense: 1,000
After a series of banging and cracking, the door turned into a pile of splintered wood.
Zhang Yang then exited the shack and started his search one house at a time.
Monsters have a certain level of A.I programming. Since this was just a game, the system would only trigger when a player is within the distance of the monster’s aggro, regardless of how visible your actual hiding spot was. As long as you’re away from the aggro triggering distance, you can stand, breakdance, or take a dump without being attacked.
[Thunderstorm Castle Bandit] (Normal, Humanoid)
Level: 65
HP: 6,500
Defense: 60
Zhang Yang summoned the bear and started his killing spree while searching for the cannon’s energy source.
Still, the area of the castle was so large that Zhang Yang had been killing for more than three hours, only managing to cover a quarter of the entire place. By then, it was already 6pm. Zhang Yang logged off and had his dinner before coming back to continue his search. After two hours, he arrived at a rather large building. Four guards were standing outside. They were all elite tier!
[Captain of the Red Shirt] (Elite, Humanoid)
Level: 65
HP: 130,000
Defense: 350
Just four? Gimme a break…
Zhang Yang pulled on the reins of his bear, and started charging fiercely towards the guards.