The Marvelous Use of Parrying

System: Player Shadow Wolf has attacked you and has entered a yellow-name state. This status will last for one hour. Any player who kills a player in a yellow-name state will not receive a penalty for their crimes.

Caught in a pincer attack between the Snow Fox and Shadow Wolf, Shi Feng's health was down to a mere 31 points. The situation was dire.

"Despicable!"

Standing in the distance, Heizi cursed Shadow Wolf for launching a sneak attack at such a moment. However, he could do nothing to change the outcome. The distance between them was too great, and hitting Shadow Wolf was too difficult. He could only aim his attacks at the Snow Fox, hoping to kill it first so Shadow Wolf wouldn't reap the rewards.

While magic-based classes had high output and could hit monsters reasonably well, hitting players was extremely difficult unless they were standing perfectly still.

The moment a Shadow Arrow was fired, a predictive trajectory line would appear. At long range, any player of decent skill could dodge it, and an expert could evade it with ease.

Seeing the Snow Fox and Shadow Wolf charging toward him, a cold sneer tugged at the corner of Shi Feng's mouth. Having spent years in Shadow Studio, he knew Shadow Wolf's strength and habits like the back of his hand. He took two steps back, positioning himself to form an optimal triangle between the Snow Fox and Shadow Wolf. He gripped his Novice Sword, held it against his chest, and stood motionless, waiting for their attack.

"Have you given up?"

Seeing Shi Feng prepare to block with his sword, Shadow Wolf felt a flicker of contempt. While choosing to defend could indeed reduce damage, the Snow Fox was an elite monster. Even with a block, it would still deal 50 points of damage. With only 31 health, Shi Feng couldn't possibly survive a single hit.

The Snow Fox took the lead, lunging forward with its jaws wide open.

Bite!

"Right on time." Instead of retreating, Shi Feng lunged forward.

He blocked the Snow Fox's mouth with his Novice Sword, activating the life-saving skill Parry to negate the frontal attack. Then, using all his strength, he shoved the Snow Fox away. Lacking any footing, the Snow Fox was easily pushed by Shi Feng directly into the path of Shadow Wolf.

Everything happened too fast.

Shadow Wolf, who was charging straight at Shi Feng, had no time to react before the Snow Fox clamped its jaws onto his shoulder.

A damage value of -164 appeared over Shadow Wolf's head, and his health instantly dropped to zero.

"How is this possible?" Shadow Wolf was stunned. He stared fixedly at Shi Feng's mocking smile, his heart filled with unwillingness. He had never imagined a player could do something like this. Had he known, he would never have rushed in to throw his life away.

No matter how unwilling he felt, with his health at zero, Shadow Wolf could only collapse. He dissolved into specks of starlight, dropping a piece of equipment in the process.

Heizi, watching from afar, was dumbfounded, even forgetting to attack the Snow Fox.

"Heizi, don't just stand there! Keep attacking the Snow Fox!" Shi Feng shouted as he charged toward the beast again.

Coming to his senses, Heizi began chanting spells, launching a barrage of attacks at the Snow Fox.

Without Shadow Wolf's interference, the weakened Snow Fox was nothing more than a target. Less than 10 seconds later, it let out a mournful cry and collapsed to the ground.

System: Killed the rare elite Cunning Snow Fox. Gained 130 experience points.

For a level 2 Shi Feng, this experience was negligible. What he cared about was the loot. Rare elites were the favorites of players in God's Domain due to their incredible drop rates, and since this was the first kill, the loot was guaranteed to be even better.

"No way, it even dropped a weapon." Shi Feng picked up a staff and a pair of gloves.

Blackwood Staff, Bronze grade. Requires 5 Strength, Level 1. Attack +8, Intelligence +3, Spirit +1, Mana +30, Durability 20/20.

This piece of equipment was a massive boost for a magic-based class. Not only was the attack power high, but the +3 Intelligence would increase a mage's damage by two tiers.

Fox Skin Gloves, Leather armor, Common grade. Requires 3 Strength, Level 1. Defense +4, Durability 20/20.

Shadow Wolf had also contributed a level 0 common leather shoe, which provided +3 Defense.

"I thought it was just gray trash, but it seems Shadow Wolf had decent luck to drop a common item." Shi Feng looked at Shadow Wolf in a new light. Getting a common item to drop early on was pure luck, but now it was his gain. A Swordsman could wear both plate and leather armor; with these two pieces, his defense had improved significantly.

"Heizi, this is for you." Shi Feng handed the Blackwood Staff to Heizi.

Heizi hesitated and didn't take it. The Snow Fox had been killed thanks to Shi Feng, and he hadn't contributed much, yet he was being given the best piece of equipment—a Bronze-grade item that few players possessed at this stage. It was incredibly precious.

"What's wrong? Aren't we brothers? Why are you being so polite with me? Besides, you're a Cursemancer. Once you hit level 1, you can maximize the staff's potential, which will make leveling up much faster." Understanding Heizi's thoughts, Shi Feng said earnestly.

Heizi thought about it and realized he was right, so he stopped refusing. "Thanks. I'll make sure to put it to good use."

"That's more like it." Shi Feng smiled. "Let's go. We're heading to Dark Moon Valley."

Red Leaf Town.

"Shadow Wolf, what were you doing? Not only did you die, but you dropped valuable gear! Do you have any idea how rare that equipment is?" Flame Tiger barked harshly.

Shadow Wolf's face was as dark as water. Those shoes had taken him seven hours of grinding to obtain, and now they were gone. His heart was bleeding. He wanted to explain, but he didn't know how. Could he tell them how he'd been toyed with by Shi Feng? He couldn't bring himself to say it. He wanted to reclaim his gear, but he knew he was no match for Shi Feng.

"Tiger, I found a rare elite in the wild. Just as I was about to finish it off, that brat discovered us. He had someone with him, and I couldn't handle three against one." Shadow Wolf feigned anger, twisting the truth while continuing to tempt him. "That kid must have killed the rare elite and gotten good gear. They were heading toward Dark Moon Valley. If we chase them now, we can still catch up. We might even be able to loot the gear back."

"A rare elite!" Flame Tiger's eyes lit up. He stopped questioning Shadow Wolf, his interest piqued by the potential loot. Excited, he said, "Let's go! We're pursuing them immediately. Anyone who dares to steal my gear will regret ever playing God's Domain."

Before long, Flame Tiger gathered all the Shadow Studio members in Red Leaf Town. With a total of 11 members, they rushed toward Dark Moon Valley, determined to kill Shi Feng and retrieve the equipment.

By this time, Shi Feng and Heizi had already arrived at Dark Moon Valley.

In front of a blacksmith's workshop by a small stream, Shi Feng and Heizi stood silently, watching a middle-aged, shirtless man holding a hammer and rhythmically striking a glowing red ore, creating a steady clink-clink sound.

Time ticked away.

"Brother Feng, do we have to keep waiting? It's already been half an hour," Heizi whispered.

"We must wait. Without patience, he won't give us the quest," Shi Feng stated firmly.

In his previous life, Yichui Maimai had passed by here by chance and discovered the blacksmith. However, no matter how he tried to talk to him, the blacksmith ignored him. Frustrated, Yichui Maimai had stubbornly waited by the blacksmith's side, staring at him intently. To his surprise, after some time, the blacksmith had initiated a conversation and offered a hidden quest, allowing Yichui Maimai to learn the Forging talent and become a legendary master blacksmith.

Thinking about obtaining the Forging talent, combined with the Book of Forging, reaching the rank of Senior Forging Apprentice would be a breeze. Once that happened, gold coins would be flowing into his pockets.

After waiting for another ten minutes.

"Are you two interested in the Path of Forging?" the middle-aged blacksmith suddenly asked.

"Yes, sir. I've loved forging since I was a child," Shi Feng replied immediately.

The middle-aged blacksmith nodded, satisfied. "Since you enjoy forging, I can teach you. However, could you help me go to the Red Star Mine in the west and retrieve 100 pieces of Starfall Ore?"

"Of course, I would be happy to be of service," Shi Feng said respectfully.

System: Hidden quest 'Path of Forging' accepted. Requirement: Retrieve 100 pieces of Starfall Ore for the Master Blacksmith Jack at the Red Star Mine.

The Red Star Mine was a nest for level 4 Kobolds. They loved ore above all else and spent every day mining within the tunnels, which gave the Kobolds immense natural strength and agility. Living in the dim caves for so long had left them with poor vision; they could only detect enemies within 35 yards, which happened to be the maximum attack range for magic-based classes.

At the entrance of the mine, the area was swarming with patrolling Kobolds. Attacking one would inevitably draw out the entire pack.

Kobold, Level 4, HP 420.

"Come on, let's eat and drink our fill before we start working." Shi Feng took out some Black Iron Beer and Apple Pie, then handed Heizi 100 bags of Magic Water.

Heizi didn't understand why, but he knew that if Shi Feng requested it, there had to be a good reason, so he sat down and began to eat.

Ten seconds after eating the Apple Pie, all attributes suddenly increased by 1 point for 30 minutes.

After drinking the Black Iron Beer, Heizi's vision blurred slightly, but he noticed that the level 4 Kobolds in the distance had suddenly become level 2; their levels had been reduced by 2.

"Alright, let's begin. The drunken effect from one bottle of Black Iron Beer only lasts for 30 minutes." Shi Feng stood up, took out a Smoke Bomb, and crept forward. He tossed the Smoke Bomb in front of the mine entrance, where over a dozen level 4 Kobolds were gathered.

Smoke Bomb: Reduces vision within a 10x10 yard radius, lasting for one hour.

The Smoke Bomb could reduce a monster's vision by 10 yards. While it wasn't very useful against other monsters, it was excellent for dealing with Kobolds. It instantly reduced their vision to 25 yards; as long as a magic-user dealt damage from a distance of over 30 yards, the Kobolds wouldn't be able to see them at all and would simply stand there waiting to die.

"Attack," Shi Feng said, pointing at the Kobolds in the smoke.

Heizi was half-skeptical, but he trusted Shi Feng. He chanted an incantation, and a Shadow Arrow shot out, striking the lead Kobold directly.