In the Class Hall, the mentors of every class stood in a neat line.
In this remote beginner village, they naturally enjoyed no luxurious treatment, and their attire was plain, even shabby.
The Berserker mentor was bare-chested, revealing taut, sharply defined muscles. The Knight and Warrior mentors wore unadorned plate armor.
The Mage and Priest mentors were wrapped in coarse linen cloaks. The Assassin mentor melted into the shadows, sharp eyes sweeping over every corner of the surroundings.
The Archer mentor was a strikingly beautiful female NPC, clad in a simple set of leather armor.
Kiriya felt a rush of elation. Without a moment's hesitation, he strode straight up to the beautiful archer mentor and spoke.
"Hello. I want to become an archer!"
Leaning against the wooden wall of the hall, the female mentor who’d been wiping a worn longbow with a coarse cloth lifted her eyes at the sound.
Her jet-black pupils swept over Kiriya's face, which held not a shred of hesitation, and a bright, vivid smile tugged at the corner of her mouth, a world away from the rigid, stern demeanor of the other mentors.
She propped the bow against her side, her voice clear and bright, laced with the playful teasing of someone who’d seen it all. “Well, finally someone who doesn’t drag their feet. The few kids before you stood here hemming and hawing for ages, scared to death they’d pick the wrong class.”
She straightened up, lifting a hand to rest lightly on his shoulder. The playful lilt in her voice softened, giving way to a sincere, solemn gravity. “The Sovereign of Light has blessed us with eyes of insight and hands that hold steady, so that we may protect those we hold dear from a hundred paces away. Brave adventurer, from this day forward, you are one of the archers.”
"Whoosh～!"
His title updated instantly, changing to Novice Archer!
"Ding～!"
System Alert: Congratulations, you have successfully advanced to become the 5th Novice Archer in this beginner village. Speak with your mentor, and she will teach you the foundational skills of your class!
"Ding～!"
System Alert: Your base stats have been modified.
[Strength]: 7
[Stamina]: 5
[Agility]: 10
[Intelligence]: 6
Kiriya froze for a split second. He had thought his leveling speed was already blisteringly fast, yet four players had already beaten him to advancing as an archer.
By his calculations, the total number of players who had advanced to a class in this village was no less than fifty. And in the southeastern quadrant of the Azure Imperial Region alone, there were over a hundred such beginner villages.
Damn it. His rank on the level leaderboard was probably about to drop outside the top ten thousand.
He walked back to the archer mentor and opened the dialogue interface. Sure enough, the option to learn skills was right there.
When he selected it, three skill icons glowed brightly before his eyes. The first was Basic Archery, and the other two were Explosive Arrow and Freezing Arrow.
[Basic Archery]: Passive skill. Slightly increases the archer's accuracy and attack damage.
[Flame Arrow]: Fires a single fire elemental arrow at your target, dealing physical damage plus additional fire damage.
[Frost Arrow]: Fires a single ice elemental arrow at your target, dealing physical damage plus additional frost damage.
When he saw the learning cost listed next to each skill, Kiriya was genuinely shocked.
Learning Basic Archery costs 50 silver coins, while Flame Arrow and Frost Arrow cost 5 gold coins each!
Eternal Art Online had only been live for a mere 8 hours. For the average player, amassing this many gold coins was all but impossible. Luckily, he had sold a Bronze-grade armor piece earlier and earned 20 gold coins, which would come in handy right now.
Without a second thought, he learned all three skills. After spending a huge chunk of his savings, he still had 12 gold coins left in his inventory!
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He also went ahead and learned Armor-Piercing Arrow, filling his skill bar with four beginner skills at once.
[Basic Archery] (Beginner): Proficiency 0/10000, no MP cost.
[Flame Arrow] (Beginner): Proficiency 0/10000, consumes 5 MP.
[Frost Arrow] (Beginner): Proficiency 0/10000, consumes 5 MP.
[Armor-Piercing Arrow] (Beginner): Proficiency 0/10000, consumes 10 MP.
Kiriya checked his stats. His total MP was only 120, which wouldn't last him more than a handful of skill casts. If he wanted to raise his skill proficiency, he clearly needed to stock up on mana potions to carry with him.
Just then, he spotted the leaderboard icon at the bottom of his interface. He tapped it casually, and a full array of rankings popped up. Level Leaderboard, Equipment Leaderboard, Reputation Leaderboard, and more.
He opened the Level Leaderboard first, and what he saw took him by surprise. The highest level across the entire server was already 16, and even the 10th-place player was level 15! Of the top ten players on the level leaderboard, four were from the Azure Imperial Region.
He switched to the exclusive leaderboard for players in the Azure Imperial Region, and was stunned to see that the top spot was held by a female mage named MoonYuki!
Damn it. A girl had managed to level this far. She was unbelievably strong.
Kiriya muttered a quiet complaint to himself before switching to the Equipment Leaderboard. He froze again in an instant. His Bow of Glory sat firmly at the very top, leaving the second-place Bronze Greatsword in the dust.
For context, Silver-grade gear was a full tier above Bronze-grade, so the gap in equipment score was naturally massive.
On top of that, the Bow of Glory had inherently monstrous stats. A standard level 15 Bronze bow would be considered top-tier with 55 attack, but the Bow of Glory boasted a terrifying 130 base attack. If these stats ever went public, they'd make countless players' jaws hit the floor.
A faint smirk tugged at the corner of Kiriya's mouth as he thought to himself. Not bad. At least he had one piece of gear at the top of the leaderboard. His level might not match that of female mage MoonYuki, but if they went head-to-head in a PK fight, with the Bow of Glory in his hands, he was ninety percent sure he could one-shot her.
He glanced at his own level. 12, with 92% experience progress. Truth be told, the gap between him and the top spot wasn't that big. What's more, he still hadn't turned in the quest Clear the Outpost. He'd spent six hours collecting 100 medals for it, so the reward was bound to be generous.
He hurried over to the village chief. The little old man was craning his neck to peer out beyond the village. The moment he spotted Kiriya, his face broke into a wide grin, his wrinkled skin folding like a dried orange peel blooming open.
"Young man, you actually did it! Those vile liquid monsters are a plague on this village. You've done us an enormous favor. Come, this is your reward!"
"Ding～!"
System Alert: Congratulations on completing the quest Clear the Outpost. You have received 50000 experience, 5 gold coins, +250 reputation, and the quest reward Windrunner!
"Shwick shwick!" Two golden lights flashed in quick succession. The massive experience reward from the quest shot Kiriya straight up to level 14. When he checked his experience bar, he was only 7% away from hitting level 15!
He was overjoyed and immediately opened his inventory to check the quest reward.
[Windrunner] (Bronze, Leather Boots)
Defense: 25
Agility: +4
Stamina: +2
Equip Level: 10
They were a pair of leather boots, exactly the piece of gear he was in desperate need of right now.
His old Wildland Boots were now obsolete. Archers could not wear plate armor, only leather gear, so the Wildland Boots now rested quietly in his inventory.
Not only that, but his Glimmer Battleaxe had been automatically unequipped as well. An Archer's weapon slots could only hold bows, arrows, and dagger-type equipment.
For the moment, he was empty-handed, but killing just a few more monsters to fill that last 7% of his experience bar would push him to level 15. Once he equipped the Bow of Glory, he would be completely reborn.
Kiriya let out a loud laugh and strode straight into the beginner village square, shouting at the top of his lungs.
"Iron-grade armor and boots for sale! Get them while they last!"
The square erupted in an instant. Countless beginner players swarmed over, craning their necks and yelling.
"Someone's selling Iron-grade gear? Holy shit, hurry over! Even if I can't afford it, I wanna get a look!"
Within minutes, Kiriya was surrounded, but very few players could actually afford his asking price.
In the end, a warrior bought the Wildland Boots for 5 gold coins. They were only Iron-grade, after all. In another day or two, they'd be worth next to nothing. Selling them early was the smart move.
He then went ahead and sold the Glimmer Battleaxe as well, getting 10 gold coins in return. Weapons were in higher demand than armor, so they fetched a much higher price.
After this series of transactions, his inventory once again held 27 gold coins.
He immediately headed to the potion shop and bought enough low-tier health and mana potions to fill more than half his inventory, spending a total of only 7 gold coins. He then went to the weapon shop and bought several quivers of iron arrows. Each arrow added 1 attack power, more than enough to last him a long while.
He glanced around. Players were all busy leveling up, only returning to the village occasionally to restock and repair their gear.
Kiriya then hid his ID and took the Bow of Glory out of his storage.
The areas around the village were already completely overrun by players. There was no chance of finding any new opportunities there. So he chose to head west from the village, past the slime-infested area, and deep into the forest to explore. He might just find something unexpected!
He cleared a few small forest monsters along the way, and a golden light flashed. Kiriya successfully reached level 15!
He immediately equipped the Bow of Glory. As radiant light swirled around it, the long bow settled in his hand, glowing with brilliant, dazzling golden light.
The glow from the Bow of Glory instantly caught the attention of nearby players. Sticking to his principle of laying low while leveling up and going all out in PK, Kiriya immediately turned off the gear's visual effects. The dazzling golden light faded in an instant, and the Bow of Glory transformed into a plain-looking longbow, no different from a decent, ordinary piece of equipment.
After equipping the Bow of Glory and Windrunner Leather Boots, Kiriya checked his stats again. Even he was stunned by what he saw.
ID: KiriyaNoir
Class: Novice Archer
Level: 15
Health: 450
MP: 120
Attack: 130-185
Defense: 52
Reputation: 551
Luck: 0
Strength: 58 (+7)
Stamina: 17 (+5)
Agility: 37 (+10)
Intelligence: 12 (+6)
His attack power was terrifyingly high.
