Chapter 6 – Making Preparations

Nie Yan wanted to proceed forward with the second step of his training plan. However, he required twenty coppers in order to do so!

Earning money while simultaneously training at a high speed, this is the only way to be efficient. Nie Yan thought for a moment, then began running deeper into Tellak town.

Coordinates: (309.289.221) Tellak Town, NPC: Hunter Klaus

Quest: Collect 50 Giant Silverdust Rat Skulls

Coordinates: (290.231.256) NPC: Farmer Ende

Quest: Kill 50 Giant Silverdust Rats.

Coordinates: (350.220.389) Tellak Town Outskirts, Hidden NPC: Alchemist Oer

Quest: Collect 21 Giant Silverdust Rat tails

Nie Yan found two common NPCs and three hidden NPCs that handed out quests related to killing Giant Silverdust Rats. The coordinates for the hidden NPCs were provided in a strategy guide from his previous life. Countless players had come to experience great difficulty in finding these hidden NPCs because they were unaware of these coordinates.

After he had received five quests, Nie Yan ran out of Tellak town and began heading towards the area where Giant Silverdust Rats spawned. Giant Silverdust Rats were a species of immensely large rodents that possessed a silver ashen gray coat. Their builds slightly exceeded that of a water buffalo’s, and they appeared similar to small moving hills when they roamed about. However, their movements were quite sluggish, and their attack wasn’t all that high.

Giant Silverdust Rats: Level 1

Health: 100/100

The game’s servers had already been up and running for a little over a week, and the vast majority of players have already reached Level 2 or 3. Hence, many of them had already moved on to hunt in higher-leveled regions. As such, only a sparse few players were still training in this Level 1 area.

Nie Yan moved quickly after discovering a Giant Silverdust Rat. He attacked, leaving several stab marks on its back.

−21

−20

−21

Three damage values appeared, floating above the Giant Silverdust Rat’s head.

The Giant Silverdust Rat retaliated by turning its head to attack Nie Yan. Before it could, though, Nie Yan activated Vital Strike and stabbed the Giant Silverdust Rat in the eye.

「System: Vital Strike successful! Attack +5%, resulting in additional damage dealt!」

−38

Another damage value floated over the Giant Silverdust Rat’s head. The giant dust rat let out a miserable squeak and immediately fell to the ground.

Not bad, Vital Strike is pretty decent. Nie Yan collected the Giant Rat Skull that had been dropped as loot.

Vital Strike’s cooldown was thirty seconds, giving Nie Yan just enough time to seek out another Giant Silverdust Rat.

After finding an area where Giant Silverdust Rats spawned rather quickly, Nie Yan began to idly grind monsters. Numerous Giant Silverdust Rats were constantly defeated and fell to the ground.

Nie Yan’s experience bar gradually rose. 1%, 2%, 10%… after about two hours, Nie Yan had slain a little over two hundred Giant Silverdust Rats. He continued until his experience bar finally reached 15%.

Giant Rat Tails, Giant Rat Skulls, etc… All these items were gathered in a large heap. Furthermore, he had also obtained three coppers total as loot drops.

The drop rate for money was extremely low. Only under certain circumstances would the drop rate be higher. This was in order to make Conviction’s in-game currency much more valuable.

As Nie Yan’s Vital Strike slew yet another giant rat, something appeared flickering under its corpse. Nie Yan’s heart skipped a beat. Quickly, he bent over to pick up the item.

Tough Leather Leg Protector (White Equipment)

Requirement: Level 0

Properties: Defense 3–5

Weight: 3lb

User Restriction: Warrior, can be equipped by any faction.

Equipment drops in Conviction were quite rare. Only in a few relatively higher instances would the drop rate be increased. However, the level of difficulty for such instances would also be much higher. Nie Yan remembered very clearly in the past there were many players Level 10 or higher who had no choice but to equip Level 5 equipment. Simply because they couldn’t find Level 10 equipment, they had to form parties and hunt monsters with lower level gear.

Since this Tough Leather Leg Protector is meant for Warriors, it’ll sell for at least seven coppers if I throw it into the auction house.

He stored the Tough Leather Leg Protector into his inventory; a beginner bag had only twenty slots. Nie Yan filled his bag with so many items, there now were only eleven slots remaining.

Inside the beginner bag was a dimensional space. Items stored inside this space wouldn’t raise a player’s weight value.

A player’s weight value was only affected by the player’s equipment.

With the three coppers that had previously dropped, and by selling off the Tough Leather Leg Protector… my funds should be brought up to ten coppers. Turning in these quests should also give me a few rewards… I ought to have a little over twenty coppers by then.

Nie Yan glanced over at his bag space. The five quests he had accepted were all completed. So he started heading back to Tellak Town, as he no longer needed to hunt the Giant Silverdust Rats.

Nie Yan was doing his utmost to catch up. First, he would bridge the level gap between him and the other players. Then he would use his past life’s experience to progressively expand his superiority in the game.

After returning to Tellak town, Nie Yan handed over all five quests, completing his missions. He obtained six hundred experience, which raised his experience bar to 55%. Furthermore, he had also received thirty-four coppers—an amount which exceeded his expectations. The money and experience awarded by those three hidden NPCs were several times higher than what ordinary NPCs would’ve rewarded. Besides the money and experience, he also received three Basic Health Potions.

Nie Yan put the Tough Leather Leg Protector in the auction house and walked towards the weapon shop.

Upon arriving outside of the place, he saw a small narrow shop front. However, after entering, the interior space was actually quite large—roughly five by ten meters.

Weapons for every class could be seen lined up on both the left and right sides of the wall. Common equipment for all classes could also be seen hanging from the rear wall of the shop: bows, crossbows, small daggers, etc…

The store filled to the brim with equipment was a dazzling display for the eyes.

The weapon shop’s owner was a fierce looking blacksmith, appearing to be in his forties.

“The weapons I forge are the best within the whole region of the Western Prairies! Respected adventurers, may I ask what you require?” Seeing business arrive, the blacksmith came up to greet him in a lively straightforward tone.

“Bow, or crossbow.”

“Let’s see… what kind of bow or crossbow are you looking for? The equipment I have here can meet all the requirements of adventures who are Level 5 or lower.”

“Level 0, one that I can use. Attack +3 or more, and Firing Rate of 12 or more.” Nie Yan thought for a moment, and added, “The price should be within thirty coppers.”

Nie Yan originally thought collecting twenty coppers would be sufficient to purchase an ordinary bow or crossbow. He didn’t expect that he would exceed his target goal, and earn thirty-seven coppers. After the Tough Leather Leg Protector sold, his funds would surpass forty coppers. He had a complete abundance of money to splurge on a better bow or crossbow.

“I have three pieces of equipment that meet your criteria. The first is a short bow. Attack +3, Firing Rate is 13, Attack Deviation of 11%, and a Range of 20 meters. The price is seven copper coins.” The Blacksmith took out a short bow, and presented it to Nie Yan.

“Do you have anything better? Perhaps something with a higher accuracy?”

He had a task he wanted to complete. And though the short bow would suffice, having something better would save him time.

“Well, I also have this long bow. It has Attack +5, Firing Rate of 12, Deviation of 9%, and Range of 30 meters. The price is fifteen coppers.” The Blacksmith took out a long bow and presented it. Afterward, he took out an exquisite one-handed crossbow. He loaded it with five bolts, then propped it up with his arm and aimed it around the shop. “If that doesn’t please you, then this is my finest piece of work, the one I’m most proud of. A compact crossbow with a triple-shot effect, Attack +5, Firing Rate of 8. Furthermore, as a result of its supplementary firing ability, the Firing Rate of a single shot is tested at 15. It has a deviation of 5%, and a range 30 meters. The price is twenty-eight coppers.”

“I’ll take it. Give me nine low-grade crossbow bolt quivers as well,” Nie Yan said. Each quiver contained a thousand low-grade crossbow bolts; it was definitely enough.

Nie Yan spent thirty-seven coppers to complete the transaction, leaving him without a single copper remaining. He stored the crossbow and nine quivers he had recently purchased into his bag space.

“Feel free to come again respected adventurer. I wish you a safe journey.”

In his past life, when Nie Yan had first entered the game, he believed the NPCs only possessed simple artificial intelligence. He was amazed at what he discovered. Afterward, he was able to keep his calm much more easily.

As Nie Yan left the weapon shop, a system notification appeared.

「System: Your Tough Leather Leg Protector has been sold for eight coppers.」

Ah, it finally sold… not bad. I now have eight coppers as my total funds. At least I won’t be considered too poor right now.

Nie Yan left the boundaries of Tellak town and hurried over towards the Level 8 Bison spawn area. The Bison monsters were even more dangerous than the Wildcats. They had extremely powerful attacks, and their movement speeds were also much faster than the Wildcats. In fact, they were more than three times faster than Nie Yan with his current stats. When facing against these Bisons, there was essentially only death and no chance of survival.

Currently, there was not a single player whatsoever who dared to face off against a Level 8 monster. Even if they were currently the highest level player in the game, they still wouldn’t dare.