Chapter 8: Shield and Skill

“Yes, sir!”

Kang Juho listened to Kim Seokju’s reply while looking around.

The Stone Fox Forest wasn’t quite as crowded as the Rabbit Field in front of the city gates, but there were still quite a few users.

It wasn’t quite at the point where three or four people were attacking a single Stone Fox, but there was definitely competition.

“Luckily, there were two left. It would have been a disaster otherwise,” Kim Seokju said.

The users gathered in the Stone Fox Forest weren’t there for quests.

They were there to level up.

Around Villenian, there weren’t really any monsters suitable for level 10 users besides Stone Foxes, making it impossible to escape until a certain level was reached.

What if even more users were added here?

“Ugh, I know,” Kang Juho shuddered.

It was horrifying just to imagine.

It was right then.

Swish!

A newly spawned Stone Fox came into Kang Juho’s view.

Before anyone else could snatch it, Kang Juho quickly ran towards the Stone Fox.

And upon arrival, he swung his hammer.

Thwack!

– Screech!

The Stone Fox, hit by the hammer, immediately retaliated.

Having become accustomed to the counterattacks through numerous battles, Kang Juho dodged the forepaw with minimal movement and swung his hammer, striking the Stone Fox’s flank.

Thwack!

– Screech…

Thud!

The Stone Fox fell to the ground and didn’t move.

He hadn’t invested the bonus stats he received at level 20 yet, but he had invested all the bonus stats he received up to level 19 into strength and stamina.

With the increased strength and the power of the buffs, the Stone Fox, which used to take three hits, now only took two.

“Hyung, over there!”

At Kim Seokju’s shout, Kang Juho quickly looked in the direction Kim Seokju was pointing.

Two Stone Foxes were locked in a state of focus.

Kang Juho quickly raised his hammer and swung it in the air.

The expressions of the Stone Foxes, which had been focused, turned fierce, and they began to run towards Kang Juho.

Kang Juho also ran to meet them.

There was another party nearby, and no direct combat had occurred yet.

In other words, they could be stolen.

– Screech!

– Screech!

The two Stone Foxes jumped simultaneously and swung their forepaws.

Kang Ju-ho took a step to the right, dodging the left Stone Fox’s attack.

Then, he swung his hammer, striking the right Stone Fox’s flank, nullifying the right Stone Fox’s attack as well.

Kang Ju-ho swung his hammer again at the fallen right Stone Fox.

Thwack! Thud!

Thus, the right Stone Fox met its death, and Kang Ju-ho followed the Stone Fox that was backing away to attack and finished it off.

“Huh? Hyung!”

As soon as the Stone Fox fell, Kim Seok-ju shouted.

Kang Ju-ho, hearing Kim Seok-ju’s call, wondered if another Stone Fox had appeared and turned to look at Kim Seok-ju.

“I leveled up! I thought I’d have 1% left.”

However, the reason Kim Seok-ju called Kang Ju-ho wasn’t because he had discovered a Stone Fox.

“Congratulations.”

“Thank you. Now I can move on.”

Now even Kim Seok-ju had reached level 20.

It was time to leave the Stone Fox Forest.

Kang Ju-ho and Kim Seok-ju left the Stone Fox Forest and soon arrived at Villenis.

Upon arriving at Villenis, Kang Ju-ho and Kim Seok-ju headed to the general store first.

It was to sell the byproducts they had obtained through hunting.

Gold was needed to learn skills and purchase equipment.

“How long are you going to keep going?”

Kim Seok-ju asked as they walked towards the general store district.

The original plan was to log out at 1 AM.

However, the plan had been changed due to the increased number of people.

“Hmm…”

Kang Ju-ho checked the time in response to Kim Seok-ju’s question.

“Let’s hunt for about three more hours.”

“Okay! You’re still going to take a six-hour break, right?”

“Yeah, we need to push hard in the beginning.”

As they talked, they walked, and soon they were able to reach the general store district.

Perhaps because it was night, many of the general stores were closed or closing, unlike during the day.

Kang Ju-ho and Kim Seok-ju entered the largest general store that was still open.

Fortunately, there were few customers compared to its size, and Kang Ju-ho and Kim Seok-ju were able to sell their byproducts at the counter right away.

After selling the byproducts and purchasing the items needed to learn skills, Kang Ju-ho and Kim Seok-ju came outside.

“Stone Fox byproducts are more expensive than I thought.”

“I know, who knew we’d get 400 gold.”

At Kim Seok-ju’s words, Kang Ju-ho nodded in agreement.

They were able to get more gold than expected.

Thanks to that, he felt like he could buy equipment without worry.

“See you later!”

“Yes, see you later!”

Soon, a fork in the road appeared, and Kang Ju-ho and Kim Seok-ju parted ways.

Kang Ju-ho walked along the road towards the production district, opening his inventory.

He earned 400 gold by selling the byproducts, and after purchasing the items needed to learn skills, he had 370 gold left.

Since an additional 20 gold would be needed to learn the skills, the remaining gold was 350 gold!

The only equipment he was currently wearing was a weapon and a top.

He wouldn’t be able to buy everything for the empty slots, but he would be able to fill many of them.

‘I should be able to catch them easily, right?’

Now it was time to go catch Stone Goblins.

The Stone Goblins’ levels were from 25 to 40.

No matter how much the skills helped, it would be difficult with his current equipment.

But what if his equipment increased?

He would be able to catch them easily.

Soon, Kang Ju-ho was able to arrive at the blacksmith.

[You have entered Toben’s Blacksmith.]

Perhaps he was tired because it was night, Toben was dozing off as before.

Kang Ju-ho approached Toben.

“Toben-nim.”

“……!”

Toben was startled by Kang Ju-ho’s call and jumped up from his seat.

“You’re an adventurer. What brings you here?”

And he replied with an awkward smile.

“I want to learn skills.”

Kang Ju-ho went straight to the point.

There were three ways to learn skills.

NPC, skill book, quest.

First, NPC.

Some NPCs could teach all the top-tier skills, some NPCs could only teach upper-tier skills, and some NPCs could only teach lower-tier skills.

Also, just because you could learn all the top-tier skills didn’t mean they had all the top-tier skills.

Assuming there were 10 top-tier skills, some NPCs had 7, some NPCs had 5, and the skills you could learn were determined by the NPC.

Second, skill book.

Skill books could teach skills that NPCs could teach, as well as skills they couldn’t.

And in the case of skill books, most of them were tradable, but the price varied tremendously depending on the performance.

What if a ‘Legendary’ or ‘God’ grade skill book came out, which had never happened before?

Considering that ‘Heroic’ grade skill books were traded for an average of 18 million won during the PC era, he couldn’t imagine how much they would be traded for.

Finally, quest.

You could acquire rare skills that you couldn’t learn from NPCs, or you could acquire basic skills like a blacksmith’s spirit.

Everything was random.

“You’ve come to learn skills!”

Toben said.

Then, a window appeared in the air.

Fortunately, Toben could teach all blacksmith skills up to 200, and the window showed numerous skills.

However, all but two were grayed out.

Kang Ju-ho selected Hammering and Stone Handling and clicked the Acquire button in the lower right corner.

[You have acquired the skill ‘Hammering’.]

[20 gold has been consumed.]

[You have acquired the skill ‘Stone Handling’.]

[10 stones have been consumed.]

Then, Hammering and Stone Handling disappeared from the window, and messages appeared in a row.

“Congratulations.”

“Thank you. Can I take a look at the equipment for a moment?”

Kang Ju-ho replied to Toben’s congratulations and then asked.

Although they didn’t sell as many and as diverse types as weapon shops, blacksmiths also sold equipment.

“Of course.”

Toben nodded, and Kang Ju-ho headed to where the equipment was displayed.

Upon arrival, Kang Ju-ho checked the prices of the equipment.

– 50 gold

-700 gold

– 150 gold

The prices varied widely.

Some equipment could be used very lightly, and others were so expensive that you would need more than twice the gold you currently had to purchase them.

‘First, the shield.’

Kang Ju-ho walked to where the shields were displayed.

Among the total of 15 parts, including helmets and tops, the part that Kang Ju-ho thought was the most important was the ‘shield’ part.

This was because damage could be greatly reduced when blocking with a shield.

Even if he couldn’t buy other parts, Kang Ju-ho was planning to buy a decent shield.

Leather Shield [Common]

Restriction: Level 10, Strength 20, Stamina 20

Durability: 100%

Damage Reduction: 32%

Physical Attack Power: 30

Physical Defense: 50

Agility +3

Toben’s Iron Shield [Common]

Restriction: Level 20, Strength 30, Stamina 50

Durability: 100%

Damage Reduction: 40%

Physical Attack Power: 60 Physical Defense: 200

Movement Speed -20%

Kang Ju-ho, having checked all the shield’s options, pondered.

There was a shield he liked.

It was ‘Toben’s Iron Shield’, which had the highest damage reduction among the displayed shields.

However, there was one problem.

It was the price.

Toben’s Iron Shield was 350 gold.

In other words, he would have to use all the gold he had to purchase it.

He wouldn’t be able to buy other equipment.

This would cause a major disruption to his plan to buy at least four items.

‘Still, at this level…’

The damage reduction was high, but the physical defense was also 200.

‘Okay!’

After much deliberation, Kang Ju-ho picked up Toben’s Iron Shield.

It’s better to buy one good item than to buy several items with ambiguous options.

Besides, wasn’t it a shield?

Kang Ju-ho picked up the shield and approached Toben.

“I’ll buy this.”

“Oh, you recognized my masterpiece!”

Toben said with a bright smile.

“It’s 350 gold!”

He was slightly hoping that he would get a discount because he was in a good mood, but that didn’t happen.

Kang Ju-ho took out 350 gold from his inventory and handed it over.

“Thank you!”

“Goodbye.”

He learned skills and bought equipment.

Kang Ju-ho greeted Toben and came out of the blacksmith.

Kang Ju-ho: Seok-ju, I’ll be at the south gate first.

Kang Ju-ho, who came out of the blacksmith, sent a whisper to Kim Seok-ju.

The Stone Goblin Forest was located below the south gate.

– Kim Seok-ju: Yes, sir! I’ll buy my equipment and leave too!

Soon, a reply arrived from Kim Seok-ju, and Kang Ju-ho walked towards the south gate, opening his equipment window and equipping

Toben’s Iron Shield.

‘It’s better to use it with my right hand.’

What was important in future battles was the shield rather than the hammer.

It was better to hold the shield with his right hand, which he could handle more freely.

Kang Ju-ho changed the position of the weapon and shield and then closed the equipment window.

Then, he opened the skill window and checked the skills ‘Hammering’ and ‘Stone Handling’ that he had acquired a little while ago.

Hammering [Passive]

Proficiency: 1 (0%)

– Hammer attack power increased by 10%

– Hammer attack speed increased by 10%

Stone Handling [Passive]

Proficiency: 1 (0%)

Damage increased by 20% when attacking with stone attribute

Kang Ju-ho thought while looking at the skill information.

‘This should be enough.’

He bought a shield, learned skills, and if Kim Seok-ju’s ‘Attribute Enchantment’ was added here?

He would be able to hunt easily.