The Almighty Ring

When all had been sold and Jiang Fei was all alone again, he could not be any happier. It was not about the money he earned, or the free space in his bank. Nothing so petty. He was happy, because he had hand-picked the best equipment and placed them in the blue slot of the ring’s inventory. He was ready to take them out into the real world!

Sturdy Green Copper Helmet (Chainmail Headgear, Fine)

Physical Defense +25

Vitality: +2

Equipped: Grants the passive skill–Rocky Armor, lowers all Physical Attack by 5%

Green Copper Chestplate of Reflection (Chainmail Upper Body, Fine)

Physical Defense +30

Vitality: +3

Equipped: Grants passive skill—Reflection, lowers all Magical Attack by 10% and reflect them back to the attacker!

Green Copper Gauntlet of Striking (Chainmail Arm, Fine)

Physical Defense +25

Vitality: +2

Equipped: Grants skill—Iron Fist, strike a target with a powerful fist attack, deals 300 fixed damage. 50 seconds cooldown.

Berserking Green Copper Metal Leg Armor (Chainmail Leg, Fine)

Physical Defense +30

Vitality: +3

Equipped: Grants skill—Charge, Charges towards a target with great speed and deals 50 fixed damage. Stuns the target for 2 seconds. Effective Distance: 3 meters – 20 meters. 600 seconds cooldown.

Green Copper Armlet of Shredding (Chainmail Wristguard, Fine)

Physical Defense +25

Vitality: +1

Equipped: Grants skill—Laceration, enables all normal attacks to bleed a target. Deals 10 Bleeding damage per second, lasts for 5 seconds. Maximum of 5 stacks.

Green Copper Shoulderguard of Vigor (Chainmail Shoulder Armor, Fine)

Physical Defense +20

Vitality: +2

Equipped: Grants passive skill—Vigor, increase maximum Health Points by 15%

Vampirc Green Copper Boots (Chainmail Boots, Fine)

Movement Speed +2

Jump +1

Vitality: +2

Equipped: Grants passive skill, Beginner Lifesteal, deals 10 additional damage on every attack and heals an equal amount.

Out of hundreds, Jiang Fei had picked seven equipment that would serve him the best. Since Jiang Fei was a Blacksmith, Attack, Strength, Intelligence, or any other attribute would have an extremely low growth rate. Besides that, he could never equip any other weapon, besides the Blacksmith’s Hammer. Sadly, the hammer would not increase any attack power. In the end, Jiang Fei decided to walk the path of a tank; selecting a full set of equipment with Vitality as a bonus attribute.

After donning the gear, Jiang Fei checked his attribute window.

Player: Verdure Glider

Level: 10

Class: Beginner’s Blacksmith Level 2

Experience Points: 730/25,000

Health Point: 1,512/1,512

Mana Point: 300/300

Physical Attack Power: 60

Physical Defense: 160 + 50

Magic Defense: 60

His Health Points were now so high that he had basically exceeded all other combat class players of the same level. A Level 10 Warrior would have, at most, around 1,000 Health Points, while a Magician only had 600 to 700. He had literally crafted these Health Points into fruition!

As a tradeoff, he pecked just about as much punch as a chicken. The weakest Level 10 Warrior class player would have over a hundred Attack Power! Jiang Fei only had a mere 60. To put things into comparison, the enemy would fight with a sword, while Jiang Fei would fight using a chopstick. At best, he could use a metal chopstick…

Aside from the basic skill — Blazing Hammer of the Blacksmith class, Jiang Fei had gained two additional active skills; Charge and Iron Fist. At the bare minimum, Jiang Fei was almost equal to a Warrior. However, his passive skills would shine over the long term. Laceration would deal DoT damage (Damager Over Time), and there was also the passive Lifestealing skill which healed him by 10 Health Points with each attack. Both helped him outlast others when it came to long periods of grinding monsters. Lifestealing basically removed his need for potions.

“It’s time to smash some monsters. I’m getting tired of the anvil!” Jiang Fei energetically said. He clenched a fist. What had he been doing for the past two days? No, it was not about making money! It was all to allow him to fight alongside the combat classes! Onto the field, onto the battleground, to bleed, to kill, and to level up!

By the time Jiang Fei left Dawnlight City for the first time, many others were already fighting in the fields. During that time of the day, players were active everywhere. Like mushrooms after the rain, Jiang Fei could not find a single bare spot.

On regular days, all the girls in Rosette Knighthood would be chattering away in the public guild channel. It was natural for Jiang Fei to be familiar with their training grounds. Unlike any other beginner who would carefully test the water with their toes, he immediately strode into the forest alone!

“Ding! You have discovered the Night Forest! Obtained 50 Experience Points!”

As he stepped out of the sunlight and into the shadows of the forest, the chimes of the notification sent a flutter through Jiang Fei’s heart, as it had been a long time since he had actually obtained some combat experience points!

The mini-map refreshed itself and displayed the Night Forest. Jiang Fei had officially left the region of the Dawnlight City. The Night Forest was a Level 2 Protected Area. Compared to the main city which was only a Level 1 Protected Area, players were allowed to conduct PvP. As long as they kept away from NPC guards, they could evade the law, and their Protection Levels would also be out of danger. However, if you happened to be unlucky, the NPC guards would appear out of the blue, and you would suffer a penalty similar to a Level 1 Protected Area.

“OH! DAMN!” cried Jiang Fei upon spotting the first monster he had ever seen after what seemed like an eternity.

Wild Tiger (Beast, Normal)

Level: 11

Health Point: 800

Attack Power: 70

Skills: Pounce. Leaps and attacks a target when in combat alert.

Note: Regular wild beast, low threat level.

Due to the ring’s mysterious power, Jiang Fei was able to see all of the monster’s properties.

“SETTLE DOWN NOW, YOU CAT!”

Like a bolt of lightning, Jiang Fei smashed the tiger with his hammer without any reservations.

-40!

-1!

Jiang Fei struck like a chicken, but the Wild Tiger struck him like a gnat! In reality, a Level 11 monster would never be that weak! Jiang Fei’s Defense was just too much for the tiger to inflict any significant damage! That, and the 5% damage reduction passive skill!

-10

-10

+10

As Jiang Fei was not much of a powerhouse, it all went down to his passive skills. Two seconds after Jiang Fei had landed an attack, the DoT effect had ticked twice. At the same time, Jiang Fei had restored 10 Health Points!

“Ding! You have defeated Wild Tiger. Obtained 170 Experience Points!”

After piling a shread-ton of Shred on the Wild Tiger, the monster fell in 10 seconds. His total DPS power actually rivaled the output of glass cannons like Magicians! He could kill at the speed of a Hunter or a Magician, yet be as tough as a tank. At this rate, he would leave battles of this level unscathed!

“How powerful!” Jiang Fei gasped at his own power.

In the beginning, Jiang Fei had roughly gauged that he would be able to hold his own against a monster that overleveled him ever so slightly. He had not expected his passive skills and attribute boosts to actually steamroll them! He had not even activated any of his active skills, yet he had taken down a monster faster than a Magician! If that was the case, let’s head deeper into the forest!