Independent Mode

[Skills]

[Fireball]

"Quest Info." Jin Xing said.

~Quest Accepted!~

[Quest Rank: Secret]

[Quest Info: Investigate the Paligma Forest and look for wolves. Eliminate 8 slimes and 4 wolves.]

[Quest Quota: 8/8 slimes eliminated. 0/4 wolves eliminated.]

[Quest Reward: 260 EXP, 50 Copper Coins.]

~Quest Time Limit: 14:22/30:00~

"Finally, we managed to get the first half of the quest done after around 15 minutes. I'm kind of tired, but we need to finish it and report back to the village chief." Jin Xing said while closing his interface.

The rest agreed as they left the edges of the Paligma Forest and ventured deeper, which is where they learned from another party that the wolves were there.

When they arrived, the once dense body of trees lightened up and they were spread out evenly and nicely, visually pleasing to the eyes. Laying in front of the party was a peaceful-looking meadow with vibrant green grass.

But all one had to do was look forward and they'd immediately notice creatures fighting players in packs. Some of the players were mercilessly killed while others triumphed over their opponents.

'Let's go!' Qing Lu bravely marched forward, like a general leading his subordinates to war. He pulled out his common-grade starter sword and aimed it at a pack of 3 wolves.

"Here's what I think we should do. Although it may sound inefficient and useless for the average player, keep in mind were far from that. We should each hunt our own wolf pack and finish our quests on our own." Qing Lu explained.

Min Min and Lin Mei were opposed to the idea because of their classes, but after thinking about their respective bloodlines and talents, they decided to follow through.

The party immediately spread out and search for a pack of wolves for themselves. Not only this, but this idea went from a mere idea to a contest between the four friends.

They were always competitive, trying to out-level one another or get better equipment before the other. This was what lead to them becoming friends in the first place.

"Come here, wolfies!" Jin Xing said as he waved his wand at a pack of 5 wolves while running towards them swiftly.

"Fire Barrage!" He valiantly shouted as a fireball the size of a basketball appeared in front of his wand and split into 5 individual fireballs and shot off towards the pack of wolves.

Howl!

One of the wolves howled as the fireball hit it, lighting a patch of its fur on fire and causing it to shake and roll around on the ground frantically. Eventually, all five of the wolves died.

'I used one skill!' Jin Xing was delighted with the results of his new skill and immediately checked his skill panel to see the information for Fire Barrage.

[Skills]

[Fireball] : [Conjure a fireball made of mana that can fire at the selected enemy. Does 160% of the user's total WISDOM stat. 160% chance to cause the burn effect. Requires 18 mana to use this skill.]

[Flame Barrage] : [Conjure a ball of fire the size of a basketball that divides itself based on how many enemies it's targeted at. Does 200% of the user's total WISDOM stat when not divided. Does 100% of the user's total WISDOM stat per divided fireball. 150% chance to cause the burn effect. Requires 40 mana to use this skill.]

Though it was a handful of information, Jin Xing finished reading it and felt as if he was flying. Despite the high mana requirement, it meant nothing when compared to his mana capacity.

The real treats were the interface notifications that Jin Xing received after killing the wolves.

[You killed 4 wild wolves! +400 EXP]

He looked around, searching Qing Lu, Lin Mei, or Min Min, and saw each of them fighting their enemies. Min Min was keeping her distance while sniping each wolf that crossed her path and attacked her.

They each died after one hit.

He then saw Lin Mei appearing behind each of her enemies and slitting their throats with amazing speed and strength. It was almost as if she was teleporting behind the wolves.

Qing Lu on the other hand was fired up as he swung his sword at each of the wolves, slicing them in two with each strike, turning them into sparkles of data.

Jin Xing was delighted to see that everyone had taken care of their enemies shortly after him. He felt like the world champion and had a smug look on his face.

"I killed my pack of wolves first, you can all forget about lousy excuses and bow down to the champion!" Jin Xing said with his held up higher than a mountain.

Akin to a young master who's never seen the truth of the world yet.

The others looked at him with annoyed and irritated expressions before they made their way back to the village.

"I see you've investigated the Paligma Forest for me, here's your reward!" The village chief said with a satisfied face and held his hand out, revealing a pouch made of leather.

Jin Xing took the pouch and he received a notification.

[Quest Completed! +260 EXP & 50 Copper Coins]

A grin appeared on his face as he exited the crowd and waited for the other three to report their quest in and receive their reward. Afterward, they all looked at the shop.

Jin Xing was immediately attracted to a mage staff within the shop.

[Mage Staff]

[Grade: Common]

[Info: A basic mage's staff.]

[+15 Wisdom +20 Mana. Casting Speed -0.16s]

[Price: 25 Copper Coins]

Jin Xing was attracted to the stat buffs, but most of all he was interested in the casting speed decrease. Though he didn't notice it at first, it did indeed take time for his skill to be cast.

Though it wasn't a noticeable amount of time, Jin Xing learned from countless years of experience that casting speed decreases for any class was always a great boon.

After buying the mage staff, Jin Xing kept browsing through the shop and came across something he realized he desperately needed.

[Mage Robe]

[Grade: Commmon]

[Info: A basic mage's robe.]

[+30 Mana Increase +50 Health]

[Price: 25 Copper Coins]

Jin Xing didn't hesitate to buy the mage robe and immediately put it on. He immediately felt an unusual sense of life burst forth within his body, making him energized.

It was like he drank 5 cans of energy drinks and he was wide awake, the good part was, his body wasn't trembling nor were his eyes bloodshot like after staying up for too long.

Jin Xing remembered the days where he'd stay up for 2 days at a time, living off of energy drinks just to keep playing a game. There was no doubt that he was dancing with death all those times.

Just a minor injury could have probably lead to disastrous effects, like the butterfly effect.

He sighed before logging off of the game. He opened his eyes in real life and took the motorcycle-like helmet off and sat up.

Jin Xing looked around his room and noticed that it was unusually quiet within his house.

'I guess it's because everyone's still in the game. I wonder what time it is right now.' Jin Xing left his room and looked outside. Since he didn't know the reality to game time rate, he was a little worried.

Thankfully, it was still bright outside, thought Jin Xing noticed the sunset in the distance.

'I wonder how long we were in the game for.' He went to the kitchen and got something.

"When are they gonna log out?" He said while eating a sandwich.

"AHHHH!" Jin Xing suddenly heard a wildman-like scream coming from Qing Lu's room and he was immediately startled. He looked above the railing, trying to see what it was, and immediately saw the door swing open.

Qing Lu came rushing out of the room and down the stairs. Before Jin Xing realized it, Qing Lu was already downstairs getting something to eat out of the kitchen as well.

"Qing Lu, where are the others?" Jin Xing asked.

"They should be logging out now. They just finished buying new equipment and tried it out on the training dummies. Anyways, I have a question." Qing Lu spoke mindlessly while making a sandwich. He then turned to Jin Xing with a mildly serious expression.

"What?"Jin Xing stopped chewing his sandwich and looked at Qing Lu with a confused face.

"What game mode are you playing in? I'm playing in Independent Mode." Qing Lu said. After making his sandwich, he waved it at Jin Xing as if it were a wand.

"Uhh, Independent Mode. I don't like Assistive Mode because of the fixed values, it maeks more sense to be in Independent Mode for someone like me, though it isn't all good." Jin Xing responded.

Qing Lu had a satisfied expression on his face when he heard this.

"Just as I expected. I think it's better for all of us if were playing in Independent Mode just because of the fact that we have tons of gaming experience. VRMMORPG games taught me a few skills." Qing Lu said while using his sandwich as a sword.

He stupidly did a striking move and some of his toppings on the sandwich slipped out and onto the floor.

"...My sandwich."