The Difference Between a Master and a Novice

This mountaintop was merely the smallest peak among the Dragon Mountain range.

Dragon Mountain was essentially a colossal graveyard, with dozens of peaks harboring countless fantastical undead. The skeletal soldiers were merely the insignificant creatures on its periphery.

In "Light," players could only choose the human race, unlike other games that offered races such as elves, dwarves, demons, and undead. The undead were naturally stronger against humans, with a 30% damage and defense bonus. Coupled with Dragon Mountain's eerie nighttime atmosphere, it was far from an ideal leveling ground for human players.

No one could endure solitude in an online game for a week or two, fighting skeletons alone in the desolate, eerie Dragon Mountain. But Ye Feng could! Having been solitary in real life, he didn't mind the isolation in the game.

"—Agony!" Ye Feng continued casting his spell calmly. The mutated soldier roared in fury when struck by the holy magic, swinging its sword and sending several red auras of battle energy towards him.

"—Splash!" Ye Feng deliberately didn't dodge, wanting to see if his Spring Rain Shield, now two levels higher, had significantly improved since he first arrived at Dragon Mountain two weeks ago.

The battle energy struck the light green water shield, causing splashes. Some energy still hit Ye Feng's chest.

-240! -230! -241!

His health dropped to less than one-fifth instantly!

"—Greater Healing!" Ye Feng quickly raised his staff, casting Greater Healing on himself. Terrifying! The Spring Rain Shield, now two levels higher, was like a child's trick against the mutated soldier!

"Trash skill! I'll delete you when I get back!" Ye Feng cursed inwardly. He never believed there were trash professions in a good game, only trash players. But now he had to admit—there were no trash players, only trash skills.

Ye Feng vividly remembered when he first reached Dragon Mountain at level 40. The level 2 Spring Rain Shield was hit by the mutated soldier's battle energy three times, reducing his HP by -242, -253, and -215. Now, after leveling up twice, the total damage had increased by 11 points!

At level 40, his HP cap was 710 points. At level 49, it was 840 points.

To the mutated soldier, this made no difference—it was just two rounds of attacks!

"—Greater Healing!" Taking advantage of the interval, Ye Feng used Greater Healing again. One Greater Healing restored about 400 HP gradually, not instantly, or else a player with enough priests' support could dominate, which wouldn't fit the game's design.

After two Greater Healings, Ye Feng dared not linger. He immediately switched to erratic steps, his eyes fixed on the mutated soldier's feet.

Awareness, technique.

These were Ye Feng's keys to reaching level 49 without dying once.

Level, equipment.

A true master needed at least one of these in any game. But not necessarily.

A true master, even with low level and poor equipment, could compensate through other means and play with ease.

A novice, even with top-level and the best gear, might still struggle with simple tasks.

High levels and top-tier equipment for masters were just reflections of their comprehensive strength, while novices had low levels and poor gear because they lacked the skills to earn better.

This was the difference between masters and novices. A master could seize any opportunity to dominate, while a novice could barely manage even a fleeting moment of success.

Awareness, technique. These were indispensable for a master.

Ye Feng embodied these qualities perfectly. From the mutated soldier's steps, he could predict its movements, and he could anticipate its magic casting from the ground pressure. Dodging was just a split-second action!

No additional evasion attributes were needed; a 1% natural evasion rate was effective as long as the enemy's attack direction was correctly predicted! This was one condition for the perfect fusion of technique and awareness.

With a deft leap, Ye Feng dodged the second battle energy attack from the roaring mutated soldier. The dark red energy shattered the ground, sending dirt flying. But the dirt was brushed off by the Spring Rain Shield, leaving Ye Feng's robe clean.

"—Agony!" Ye Feng seized the gap in the mutated soldier's attack to continue his assault. Every move was precise, and every detail of the soldier's actions was within Ye Feng's calculations.

Sixty times, each dealing 25 HP, totaling 1500 HP. Ye Feng continued to retreat towards the mountaintop, dodging battle energy attacks while calmly calculating the damage. Yes, sixty times. The mutated soldier's insane defense reduced the Agony spell's usual 5 HP per second to just 1 HP. So far, the soldier's HP had decreased by at least 1800 points. For a monster in "Light," this was substantial. Even a level 40 mini-boss had only about 1500 HP!

"Barring absurd monster regeneration, the mutated soldier's total HP should be around 2000 points." Ye Feng glanced at his MP, now down by two-thirds, and then at his inventory. He had three super mana potions left, each glowing with the same crystalline blue hue. Such low-resistance super potions were fewer than ten in Ye Feng's collection, reserved for critical moments.

Some monsters in "Light" had insane regeneration. If a player's damage output was insufficient, they might not be able to outpace the monster's regeneration! Unless extremely unlucky, defeating this skeletal soldier was just a matter of repetitive spell casting.