Formal Class Advancement

Deep within the jungle, a pack of vicious-looking Dire Wolves with glowing red eyes moved slowly through the forest. Their ink-black fur radiated waves of ominous energy.

These were monster Dire Wolves, extremely savage by nature. There were no fewer than twenty of them, and the leader was already level twelve.

This counted as a fairly large monster pack near Traveler Camp.

Everywhere the monster Dire Wolves passed through the jungle, they left behind mist like black fog. That mist could affect the minds of Lifeforms. According to the NPCs, if no one eliminated the monsters, it would take ten days to half a month for the world to clear it away on its own.

Just as these monster Dire Wolves were recklessly scanning their surroundings—

When they assumed there was no danger nearby and lowered their guard, the level-twelve monster Dire Wolf at the head of the pack suddenly felt its fur stand on end, as though some great terror was about to descend.

Acting on instinct, the monster Dire Wolf pushed off with its hind legs and lightly leaped four or five meters away.

The moment it landed, the leading monster Dire Wolf heard a tremendous bang.

"Bang!"

Turning back, it saw that one of its level-six underlings behind it had been instantly killed by something the size of a peanut.

What was that? So fast. If monsters had reason, it surely would have thought that. Unfortunately, they did not.

A companion had died for no apparent reason. Though cold-blooded monsters had no emotions, they could clearly recognize the threat posed by such a powerful attack.

They warily stared in the direction the loud sound had come from and slowly moved toward it.

Just as they were about to approach the bushes where the sound had originated, the bushes behind the monsters shook. A figure charged out from the grass, her golden hair and perfect, tall figure constantly telling these mindless monsters that she was the master of this forest—an Elf.

As the figure rushed into the monster pack, she flicked the Iron-Tipped Spear in her hand. Blossoms of spear light bloomed among the wolves. Just as she was sweeping through the monsters as easily as slaughtering chickens, several monsters only slightly lower in level than the leader slowly surrounded her.

Though monsters lacked intelligence, their instincts were incredibly powerful. During the brief opening when the blonde Elf put force into finishing a spear strike, instinct told them that this was the opportunity they had been waiting for.

Several monster Dire Wolves lunged forward with all their strength, their gleaming white fangs bared as they pounced at the female Elf holding the spear.

"Watch out!" Qi Lin shouted a warning from the bushes.

Warned by Qi Lin, Young Mistress also noticed several level-ten monsters approaching her. Her footwork shifted, and her game character seemed to ride the clouds as she leaped dozens of meters away.

[Light Body Technique] was a skill warriors could learn at level ten. It was said to be a lightness technique used by the Millelith of Liyue during close-range surprise attacks, capable of unleashing extremely fast speed for a short time.

"That was close!" Young Mistress turned back, deeply relieved to have avoided the encirclement of those level-ten monsters. Though she had become a formal warrior, even formal warriors did not dare confront several level-ten monsters head-on.

Young Mistress gripped the weapon rewarded for completing her formal class advancement: the level-ten gray-quality [Iron-Tipped Spear]. She watched the monsters vigilantly.

With a sweep of her spear, a crimson talisman floated from afar toward the spear in Young Mistress's hand. Dun Qu Qi Yi's voice rang out from the jungle. "This is the level-five Qi Practitioner skill [Blazing Fire Talisman]. It can serve as a support skill. For the next five minutes, your spear will gain fire-element damage."

Hearing this, Young Mistress smiled slightly, revealing a row of snow-white teeth. "That's perfect. Just what I wanted."

She swung the Iron-Tipped Spear, crimson fire-element energy clinging to its tip. The spear traced a flourish through the air as she charged into the monster pack.

In the jungle, Qi Lin looked at Young Mistress with confusion, feeling that Young Mistress had suddenly become a Peerless war general.

Qi Lin shook her head and muttered to herself, "I must be overthinking it."

Perhaps Qi Lin had not been wrong. Just now, Young Mistress had activated the formal warrior awakening skill, [Peerless].

[Skill Name: Peerless]

[Required Level: Level Ten Formal Warrior]

[Description: A warrior's awakening skill, and the most crucial foundational skill of the warrior class. It can greatly increase attack power, speed, and defense.]

[Effect: The duration of Peerless depends on the player character's level. Its enhancement effects depend on the player's equipment. While Peerless is active, equipment durability is rapidly consumed.]

With [Peerless] activated, Young Mistress wielded the red-glowing Iron-Tipped Spear and moved through the monster Dire Wolf pack as if no one were there.

Level-five and level-six monsters were left crippled after only two strikes under the enhancements of [Peerless] and [Blazing Fire Talisman]. With just a little more force, the level-five and level-six monsters could not even last a single exchange beneath Young Mistress's spear.

An extremely thick smell of burning spread through the air.

In just a few minutes, more than half of the Dire Wolf pack of over twenty monsters had been killed or wounded.

The remaining wolves were all level-nine monsters or above.

They surrounded Young Mistress in the center. The remaining monster Dire Wolves still did not dare attack the Elf before them, watching her with extreme wariness. Though monsters lacked intelligence, they still possessed the instincts of living creatures. Their instincts told them that the creature before them could not be fought for the moment.

Just as the monsters were considering how to attack, the same loud bang from earlier rang out.

A bullet flew straight toward the center of a level-ten monster's forehead.

The instant the bullet left the barrel, the level-ten monster sensed danger and narrowly turned its head away from the vital spot.

Unfortunately, even though it had dodged so dangerously, the fired bullet accurately struck the monster's body. Its absurd initial velocity sent the pitiful monster Dire Wolf flying two meters away.

The level-twelve monster Dire Wolf at the head of the pack paid no attention to the condition of its underling that had been sent flying. To monsters, eliminating the Lifeforms before them was what mattered most.

Its gaze remained fixed on Young Mistress.

It assumed a posture ready to attack at any time.

Because in the leading monster Dire Wolf's eyes, Young Mistress's threat was rapidly declining.

Indeed, the durations of Young Mistress's [Peerless] skill and Dun Qu Qi Yi's support skill [Blazing Fire Talisman] were both nearly over.

The instant the skill effects vanished, the leading monster Dire Wolf slowly walked toward Young Mistress, seemingly intending to instill fear in its prey.

When it reached a short distance from Young Mistress, at an ideal range for pouncing, the monster Dire Wolf about to attack felt that fur-raising sensation again.

That thing again. If monsters had consciousness, it would have said that.

The leading monster Dire Wolf casually tilted its head and easily dodged the metal bullet streaking past its face.

No, that terrifying feeling had not disappeared.

The level-twelve monster Dire Wolf clearly heard an extremely crisp sound of metal piercing flesh.

What was going on? Though monsters lacked intelligence, Young Mistress, who had seen everything clearly from beginning to end, could not help picturing the miserable appearance of that monster Dire Wolf.

"Damn, this is just poisonous." Young Mistress shook her head and tossed away the fantasy in her mind.

Young Mistress had seen it clearly just now. The bullet fired by Qi Lin had very interestingly curved around.

This was the formal dual-pistol class's awakening skill, [Gun-Kata].

[Skill Name: Gun-Kata]

[Required Level: Level Ten Formal Dual-Pistol Class]

[Description: The awakening skill of the formal dual-pistol class, and the most crucial foundational skill of the dual-pistol class. Mastery of Gun-Kata can make attacks more unpredictable.]

[Effect: No special effects. The instant a bullet leaves the barrel, rapidly shake the muzzle to make the bullet curve.]

Seeing the monster before her collapse to the ground from a single shot, Qi Lin stepped out of the bushes. The two smoking pistols in her hands spun through a flourish before she flamboyantly slid them back into the holsters at her waist.

Those two pistols were the level-ten gray equipment [USP45] pistols rewarded to Qi Lin when she became a formal dual-pistol user.

Looking around, the other monsters had already been wiped out by Young Mistress and Dun Qu Qi Yi. Only this one remained.

"Once we eliminate this monster, we'll have enough materials to help Ali exchange for the items needed to advance to a formal class."

It turned out that among everyone present, only Ali had yet to advance to a formal class. The others had all become formal class users.

Everyone looked at the monster lying on the ground, barely clinging to life.

Monster: "Save me, save me, dog-head JPG."