Mage

"Candle Keeper! I'm really interested in daggers too! Can you give me a sword?"

Landfall was quick on the uptake. He immediately turned to Rogue with a questioning look, his face full of anticipation.

However...

"New Flame, you have much to learn. But before that, you must understand one thing... don't bite off more than you can chew."

Rogue replied calmly.

If he granted every request these newbies made, how would the veteran players' efforts stand out?

Sometimes, differential treatment was necessary.

After saying that, Rogue vanished into the Spirit Candle.

"..."

Landfall froze for a moment before realizing what he meant. He choked up, unable to say anything.

"Pfft, hahahahaha!"

Li Miao couldn't hold it in anymore, laughing so hard he slapped his thigh.

Having some pull himself, plus watching his big son get shut down right in front of him—this was double the happiness!

He now felt that spending 150 candle oil to bring Landfall in had been completely worth it.

Landfall's face turned black as a pot bottom. "Why's this NPC playing favorites? Isn't he afraid you'll bite off more than you can chew?"

Li Miao laughed until his stomach hurt. It took him a while to calm down before he patted Landfall's shoulder and slowly explained.

"The Candle Keepers are currently the only NPCs in this game, and their intelligence seems incredibly advanced."

"The reason you're being treated differently is because you haven't earned his approval yet. In other words, your affinity isn't high enough. Get it now?"

Li Miao puffed out his chest slightly, looking rather proud.

Only then did Landfall understand. No wonder the NPC was treating them differently.

"Look at you showing off. It's just affinity, isn't it? Believe it or not, I'll grind it up in no time."

Landfall said this somewhat defiantly.

Li Miao couldn't help laughing again. "Even if you had Yuanfang's talent, you couldn't grind it up that quickly..."

"I think you should first learn how to kill basic mobs..."

"Let's go already! I want to see whether this game is really as hard as you say!"

Though Landfall's mouth was as sharp as ever, he actually had a pretty good idea of how difficult this game was.

After all, whenever he had free time lately, he'd been browsing the forums, where plenty of players said the game was quite challenging.

"Perfect. I can also test out how this wooden staff works."

Since he could equip it, that meant he should meet the requirements to use it...

Li Miao pondered.

He and Yuanfang had tested this before. Some high-level equipment had hidden character attribute requirements. If you didn't meet them, you couldn't equip the item, and forcing yourself to pick it up would even hinder your movement.

Since he could lift the wooden staff, its attribute requirements couldn't be very high.

At the very least, they didn't exceed the base value of 5.

Still, before leaving Reef Cave, Li Miao helped Landfall allocate his starting attributes, putting all of his points into Spirit and raising it to 11.

The two soon arrived at the shore.

Landfall was still a newbie, so Li Miao naturally wasn't about to take him out into the nearshore waters.

To learn combat techniques, they naturally needed to find their most enthusiastic old friends—the Mudflat Mermen!

Li Miao took an inconspicuous step back and pointed at the Fishman ahead. "There, Bro Wei. The weakest basic mob in this game. Go get him."

Landfall's real name was Ye Wei.

Landfall glanced at him, then narrowed his eyes at the Mudflat Merman.

It moved slowly as it wandered around, its eyes dull and vacant. It looked dumb as a rock.

If I'm careful, I should be able to kite it to death, right?

Landfall thought cautiously.

Then he took up a stance, slowly raised the wooden staff in his hand, and focused his gaze...

But a moment later...

Landfall suddenly scratched his head, turning the wooden staff over in his hands as he muttered.

"...How the hell do you use this thing again?"

"Idiot, use your Spirit! Try focusing harder!"

"I am focused! Nothing's happening!"

"Try again!"

"Fine... hey, hey, hey? It's working! It's glowing, it's glowing! Damn, why'd it disappear again?"

"I get it! You have to stare at the tip! You have to stare at the staff tip!"

After a good deal of fumbling around, Li Miao and Landfall finally figured out a few tricks.

At this time, quite a few players were farming monsters around the Mudflat Mermen. Naturally, they noticed what was happening here and were greatly surprised.

"Isn't that big-shot Bro Miao? Is he teaching a newbie?"

"What's he using? That looks like a magic staff!"

"Huh? Why does he get to use a magic staff while we don't? I want to be a Mage too!" One player looked at the weapon in his hand and immediately found it far less appealing.

"He must've spent money!"

"Spent my ass." Another player rolled his eyes. "Didn't you see the new announcement? Starting weapons got wooden staffs today, and Candle Keeper's Mysterious Shop added advanced weapons too."

Only then did the other players realize what was going on.

No longer dwelling on it, they focused on watching Li Miao and Landfall experiment.

"It's forming, it's forming!"

Landfall stared excitedly at the wisp of pale yellow light at the tip of his wooden staff.

"Fish-head freak! Eat a Magic Orb from this Mage!"

Landfall shouted excitedly, and a spell orb no larger than a quail egg flew from his staff.

But an accident soon occurred.

Whoosh... pfft.

The tiny spell orb grew smaller and more diffuse as it flew toward the Mudflat Merman. Before it had even covered half the distance, it could no longer hold together...

With a soft pop, the little spell orb vanished in midair.

The targeted Mudflat Merman didn't notice such a tiny disturbance at all. After looking around for a moment, it turned and continued wandering.

"Pfft..."

Li Miao was having trouble holding it in.

"Hahahahaha..."

The watching players froze for a moment, then burst into laughter as well, doubling over with amusement.

"Damn it, what was that? Don't tell me that's all the power it has? Isn't that just pure clownery?" Failing to cast was bad enough, but having so many people witness it made Landfall's anger boil over.

After all that messing around, he'd only managed to squeeze out a bubble the size of a fart.

Weak power would have been one thing, but it couldn't even hit the monster. Wasn't that completely useless?

"Don't panic. Try a few more times first. I'll go ask the Candle Keeper."

Li Miao wasn't in any rush. He suppressed his smile and decided to ask the Candle Keeper about it.

Landfall, looking thoroughly dejected, nodded. He could only continue experimenting on his own for now.

The watching players also began offering their own suggestions.

They weren't actually mocking Landfall. After all, he was the first player they had seen using a magic staff. It was just that the scene earlier had been too funny.

Before long, Li Miao returned.

He looked thoughtful now, clearly having gained quite a bit from the Candle Keeper.

"After you've formed the spell orb, you can't relax your Spirit. You need to sense it and influence its trajectory."

With the insight Li Miao had obtained guiding him, Landfall began to learn seriously.

As he moved, a pale yellow spell orb rapidly condensed atop the wooden staff. It was larger and more solid than before!

Stare at the staff tip, gather Spirit, launch the spell orb, influence it...

He focused intently, every step clear in his mind.

Soon, the Spirit he had poured in reached the wooden staff's limit!

This time, Landfall didn't shout or yell.

He merely gave the staff tip a gentle push, and the spell orb shot swiftly toward the Mudflat Merman.

Throughout the process, his gaze never left it for a moment. He watched the spell orb's path and adjusted it.

The players around them also held their breaths as they watched.

The spell orb had reached the back of a Mudflat Merman when it suddenly exploded!

Buzz!

Pale yellow light bloomed in an instant, blasting the Mudflat Merman several meters away and sending it face-first into the sand.

"Roar!"

The attacked Mudflat Merman quickly got up, shaking its dazed head as it roared in all directions, searching for the enemy's trail.

Everyone could now see that the Fishman's back bore a rather obvious blast wound. Its movements were no longer as natural as before; it was clearly badly injured.

"Awesome!"

"Now that's the power of a Mage!"

"Mages are the best!"

The players nearby erupted into celebratory cheers.

Landfall's eyes lit up as well. His previous anger and dejection vanished, replaced by the joy of success.

He looked at the magic staff in his hand, as though he had discovered a new kind of fun in the game.

Rogue, who had taken everything in, smiled inwardly.

Of course, he had deliberately not told Landfall how to use the wooden staff... after all, Landfall hadn't asked.

It was the perfect chance to let him figure it out for himself.

This process held extraordinary meaning.

Here, you couldn't attack enemies simply by clicking a mouse, nor could you gain experience at breakneck speed by reading a couple of Skill Books.

This was a real world.

From forming a spell orb to hitting an enemy with it, there was a great deal to learn. It was far from as simple as one might imagine.

The players' spirit of exploration, experimentation, and creation was undoubtedly their most precious quality...

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