Chapter 106: The Secret Behind the Cave

I traded the Blood Moon Guard, which added a 3% critical hit rate, and the level 30 Archer skill book, Corrosive Arrow, directly to Xin Yu. She still wasn't satisfied, and with a playful smile, she said, "Lin Fan, I just arrived in Silvermoon City and found that many basic skills can be learned from the trainer, but a single skill costs 20 gold coins!"

I replied speechlessly, "Just give me a straight number!"

"100!" Xin Yu glanced at me secretly, as if trying to gauge my reaction.

I immediately traded 100 gold coins to her. Xin Yu laughed happily and asked, "How do you want me to repay you for these 100 gold coins? How about..."

I quickly stopped her from continuing. Seeing that no one was around, I lowered my voice and said, "Xin Yu, if you want to give a kiss, just come to my room tonight. I won't lock the door, but be careful not to wake Xue Han. Otherwise, we’ll both be finished!"

Xin Yu opened her small mouth wide and stared at me as if she were seeing me for the first time. After a long moment, she revealed a charming smile: "Lin Fan, I didn't expect you to know how to joke. You’ve become a bad boy~"

"I never claimed to be a good guy."

Xin Yu laughed, "Alright, alright. I'm going to learn my skills now. After that, I still have to get Xue Han to take us to grind monsters and level up fast~"

"What? Xue Han is taking you and Sister Lin to grind monsters for levels?" I was very surprised. Since when does a Mage and an Archer level up with a Priest?

Xin Yu smiled slightly and said, "That's right. Don't you remember? Xue Han got a book called 'Flame Rain' in the last competition. It's an area-of-effect skill, and it's persistent. You only need to cast it once to make a 10x10 yard area burn with flames for 60 seconds. The higher the magic attack power, the longer and more powerful it burns. The cooldown is only 5 seconds; it's very practical."

I asked gloomily, "Can Xue Han actually take down monsters of the same level with that?"

"Of course! Xue Han has put even more points into Intelligence than Sister Lin. Although the magic attack bonus from Intelligence is slightly lower, the speed at which she kills monsters is much faster than Sister Lin's. The day before yesterday, at dawn, we spent four hours burning Grass Wolves on the Grass Wolf Plains south of Silvermoon City. Everyone leveled up more than once; it was very fast!"

Two levels in four hours? That sounded a bit exaggerated!

I hurriedly opened the city ranking board to check the top spots. Sure enough, Lu Xuehan and Xin Yu were both over level 35. Xu Lin was level 34, and Murong Shanshan, whom I hadn't seen for a long time, had reached level 36. It seemed that girl had pulled an all-nighter; otherwise, given a Swordsman's monster-killing speed, it would have been impossible to level up that quickly.

It seemed Lu Xuehan had become the guarantee for everyone's leveling speed. With the game open for less than a month, very few Mages possessed AoE skills, and those that did had many restrictions. For instance, Xu Lin's fire-based AoE skill could only hit monsters within a 3x3 yard area. This meager attack range was practically useless in real combat. Usually, only small monsters occupied a single yard of space. Higher-level monsters, like the rhino I fought yesterday, occupied at least 5x5 yards. Xu Lin's AoE skill lost all its significance against such large creatures.

Xin Yu had gone to learn her skills, while I still had two unfinished tasks. I had only collected about 80 of the 100 Undead Ribs required, and I still had no idea where the mysterious ore was. Crossing the Silver Pine Forest and heading into the area beyond meant entering territory with no system-provided map, which meant that the region had to be explored by players themselves.

Checking the time, it was 8:30 AM. I needed to finish the rib collection task before noon. Murong Shanshan and Lu Xuehan were catching up quickly. At Lu Xuehan's grinding speed, I estimated she would hit level 39 in just three days, and Murong Shanshan's pace wouldn't be slow either. If my level ended up lower than theirs, this grown man would have no face left.

...

The Silver Pine Forest remained quiet. Occasionally, a few level 42 Flame Dire Wolves would prowl through the woods. The wolf skin quest was already turned in, so there was no point in hunting them anymore, so I bypassed them. Along the way, I didn't see a single rare monster—the Black Spiders. It seemed the nearly 100 rare monsters that spawned initially wouldn't respawn for another month. It didn't matter, though; in a month, level 30-something green equipment would definitely be heavily devalued. Only those looking for small change would bother coming back to farm them.

I turned into the familiar cave and checked—the rhino monster hadn't respawned. According to rumors, a Gold-tier boss like that only appeared once every half-month, while bosses under level 50 respawned once a week. Of course, the level 13 Gray Wolf Leader was an exception, respawning every 6 hours.

I searched the rhino king's "bedroom" from left to right, but there was nothing—only a pile of tattered pine straw by the wall, which seemed to be used for warmth.

Damn it! What the hell is this?

I kicked the pine straw in frustration. Huh? Why was there a faint glint of light? I reached out and pushed the straw aside, revealing a half-human-sized hole leading further back!

If the treasure was hidden so well, there must be something good inside!

My eyes lit up, and I quickly crawled into the hole. No, I should cover up the scene first. I used the pine straw to cover it until I was sure it couldn't be seen from the other side, then left, satisfied.

Past the cave, the path ahead was shrouded in mist, and visibility was greatly reduced. Even more surprisingly, it was getting colder. The grass and plants on the ground gradually withered and died as I went further. After a while, I even started seeing patches of snow. Although the game significantly dampened the sensation of temperature, I couldn't help but shiver.

Damn it, didn't that bastard blacksmith say the Red Silver Ore was in the depths of the mountain range behind the Silver Pine Forest?

I had been walking for nearly half an hour, and forget the mountain range—there wasn't even a small mound. There were only withered trees everywhere and patches of snow on the ground. The most exaggerated thing was that there wasn't a single monster; it felt like walking into a no-man's land. I figured anyone with less patience would have left this barren wasteland and headed back to the city long ago...

After walking for another ten minutes, a few small stones finally appeared under my feet. A short distance further, the terrain finally began to rise, and the snow on the ground became increasingly thick. After climbing a few dozen meters, I could no longer see any black soil, and snow even began to fall from the sky. It felt like being in a massive snowy mountain range.

After walking for another 20 minutes, I finally felt that something was wrong.