Chapter 11: Chapter 11: PREPARATION IN THE SHADOWS AND HUNTING IN THE MOONLIT FIELD
Even though my determination burned sharply as I stared at StoneBrook’s wide-open city gate, I wasn’t foolish enough to step out immediately and throw my life away. I knew the basic mechanics of Second World Online very well. When night fell, the environmental cycle would trigger the [Night Terror] status on most wild monsters. Their aggression level would increase drastically, their visual detection range would expand, and some monsters would even gain hidden attribute stat boosts of up to 15%.
Hunting in the darkness of night was a very dangerous decision for most casual players. However, deep in my heart, there was immense curiosity and a slight feeling of irritation. I still couldn’t forget how that damn Grizzly King bear had suddenly appeared from behind the bushes in the Eastern Forest and slapped my Elf body to death in a single precise strike. As a veteran player from various previous virtual games, dying in such a humiliating way had truly wounded my pride. I had to go back there and take revenge.
But before thinking about how to defeat the bear king, I lowered my head and looked at my own physical body. I sighed softly. I was still wearing the beginner outfit, a plain brown piece of coarsely woven cloth that only provided minimal physical defense. If I forced myself to go out wearing something this thin, even a single bite from a night wolf would immediately send me back to the resurrection altar.
"This outfit needs to be replaced immediately," I muttered while tapping my virtual inventory screen.
Inside the dimensional storage space, I saw a fairly abundant pile of materials. There were more than a dozen good-quality wild boar pelts I had collected from hunting with Arthur earlier that afternoon before I received the death penalty. These pelts had the right thickness to be made into functional Light Armor.
The problem was, I didn’t know who or where the skilled crafter was in StoneBrook who could process these materials. Most players who had taken production classes were still at low levels, and if I handed these valuable materials to the wrong person, the resulting armor quality would definitely be ruined.
Without wasting time, I immediately opened the private communication feature and sent a short message (Private Message) to the only friend I could trust on this server.
[Syl]: Bro, do you know a good place to make armor around here?
It only took a few seconds for Arthur to respond. It seemed the young man was also busy checking community logs or was in the market area.
[Arthur_GoldenLion]: Leather armor or full plate, Syl?
[Syl]: Leather. I need light armor that doesn’t hinder an Archer’s movement.
[Arthur_GoldenLion]: Perfect timing! Where are you right now? I’ll introduce you to my friend who took the special Blacksmith/Tailor class.
[Syl]: I’m in front of the cathedral, near the ancient banyan tree in the square.
[Arthur_GoldenLion]: 👍, I’ll be right there. Don’t go anywhere, okay? Watch out for perverted guys trying to kidnap you!
I snorted in amusement reading Arthur’s last sentence, then closed the chat panel. I leaned my back against the banyan tree trunk, enjoying the artificial night breeze that felt so real against my facial skin while waiting for my friend to arrive.
Exactly ten minutes later, a very eye-catching golden-armored knight figure appeared from among the crowd of players in the square. His heavy footsteps produced the characteristic clanging of metal on the stone floor.
"Syl! Let’s go!" Arthur shouted while waving his large hand toward me.
I straightened my body, gave a small nod, and began following him from behind. Arthur led me through the winding corridors of StoneBrook until we finally arrived at one of the busiest districts: the Merchant Area.
The scene in this district truly reflected the early condition of a new server. Because the game’s economic system had not fully kicked in and players didn’t yet have enough gold coins to buy or rent permanent NPC shops, the entire area was filled with rows of emergency stalls or booths. They set up small cloth tents and spread mats on the roadside to display goods or offer their professional services.
Arthur led me through a crowded path until we stopped in front of a strategically located stall. The stall was filled with various pieces of fabric, animal hides, and a small iron forge still emitting thin smoke. Behind the wooden counter sat a rather eye-catching character.
She was using a female Beastkin avatar, specifically from the Fox tribe. A pair of brownish-orange fox ears occasionally twitched above her head, and a fluffy tail swayed gently behind her waist. The ID name floating above her head was ’Kitsuna’.
"Yo, Kitsuna! I brought a big customer for you just like I promised earlier!" Arthur greeted with a booming voice, slapping the wooden table hard enough to make the fox girl jump in surprise.
"Oh my god, Arthur! Can’t you come without nearly giving me a heart attack?" Kitsuna grumbled in a slightly high-pitched voice, her ears twitching in annoyance. However, her gaze immediately shifted to me standing beside Arthur. The moment she saw me, her eyes lit up brightly. "Wow... is this the beautiful Elf girl who’s been trending on the forum? She’s gorgeous!"
I cleared my throat softly, trying to neutralize the atmosphere so it wouldn’t drift toward discussing my new body.
"Nice to meet you, Kitsuna. I’m Syl. Arthur said you can make good light armor."
"Ah, yes! Of course!" Kitsuna immediately straightened her posture, switching to serious business mode. "The Golden Lion party where Arthur belongs always supplies me with raw materials. So, what type of armor do you need, Syl?"
I began discussing the design of the new armor I wanted in detail.
"I need a complete set of protective clothing consisting of a top, bottom, gloves, and light boots. Please prioritize increasing Intelligence (INT) and Dexterity (DEX) stats. As for the visual design and aesthetics, I’ll leave it entirely to your taste."
Kitsuna nodded while noting down my requests on a virtual parchment.
"Prioritize INT and DEX... a very unusual choice for a beginner Archer, but I understand what you mean. For the design, don’t worry! As a fellow female player, I guarantee this outfit will look very elegant and perfectly fit your beautiful body!"
My face flushed slightly at the words "beautiful body" she didn’t know I was actually a guy in real life but I quickly ignored it and opened my inventory to take out the required materials. I handed over more than a dozen pure wild boar pelts and some copper and silver coins as the agreed-upon crafting fee.
Kitsuna examined the quality of the wild boar pelts I gave her with sparkling eyes.
"The leather quality is very good! Perfect for mid-tier protective layers. The crafting will take a few hours because the forging and sewing system requires synchronization time. The finished product will be ready tomorrow morning, Syl. You can pick it up at this stall after sunrise."
"Alright, thank you very much, Kitsuna," I said, feeling satisfied.
After finishing the armor matter, I turned to speak with Arthur, but I found that my noisy friend had somehow already disappeared from where he was standing. A private message entered my inbox, confirming that he had suddenly been called by his party leader to help with an emergency hunting mission in another area.
I shook my head at Arthur’s lightning-fast behavior. Since I now had to wait until morning to get my new armor, and I didn’t have enough protection to enter the extremely dangerous Eastern Forest at night, I had to think of a way to make the best use of this free time.
"The Eastern Forest is too risky with this beginner outfit... in that case, I’ll just go to the outer grasslands," I decided in my heart.
I walked away from the merchant stall area and headed toward StoneBrook’s Eastern Gate. The moment I passed the NPC guard post wearing thick iron armor, the vast grassland scenery unfolded before me. Under the light of the two twin moons silver and purple the green grassland looked like a sparkling ocean that was incredibly beautiful yet full of mystery.
This grassland area was a Level 1 to Level 3 zone, a place usually avoided by hardcore players at this hour because the EXP gained for raising character levels was very little. However, my main goal tonight wasn’t to chase basic character levels, but to fully focus on raising the proficiency levels of my two passive skills: [Slow Walking] and [Bow Mastery].
In Second World Online’s mechanics, executing precise arrow shots on fast-moving small targets like Meadow Rabbits or Green Slimes would provide much purer and faster Skill EXP accumulation compared to mindlessly slashing large monsters.
I pulled the wooden bow from my back, nocked a regular arrow onto the string, and lowered my body into a half-crouch. I activated my [Slow Walking] skill.
Instantly, a subtle aura of calmness enveloped my entire Elf body. Every step I took on the wet grass no longer created rustling sounds or ground vibrations that could startle nearby wild monsters. I moved forward into the middle of the grassland very slowly and silently, like a white shadow flowing under the moonlight.
Sreeek...
A pair of long ears belonging to a Level 2 Meadow Rabbit suddenly perked up fifteen meters ahead. The round white-furred rodent was busy nibbling on night grass shoots, completely unaware of my presence as I continued approaching thanks to the silence from my high-level [Slow Walking] (Lv17).
I raised the wooden bow to my chest, drew the string to its maximum limit near my cheek. My eyes locked precisely onto the weak point at the back of the rabbit’s neck. I held my breath for a moment, letting the visual coordinates in my brain perfectly merge with the night breeze.
Whoosh!
The wooden arrow shot through the night silence with very stable speed.
Jleb!
[System: Precision Piercing Shot! (Critical Hit)]
[System: You have successfully defeated ’Meadow Rabbit’ (Lv2). Gained 5 Character EXP.]
The poor rabbit instantly exploded into blue light particles without making a single squeak. I smiled faintly at the system notification that appeared in the corner of my vision. The character EXP was indeed pitiful only 5 points but the proficiency percentage increase for Bow Mastery and Slow Walking rose very satisfyingly.
Without wasting time relaxing, I took a new arrow from the quiver at my waist, stepped forward with steady slow movements, and began searching for the next targets emerging from the darkness of the moonlit field. Under the silent watch of StoneBrook’s two twin moons, the albino Elf continued dancing in the night’s silence, firing one precise arrow after another to forge the true foundation of her strength before dawn broke.
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