Butcher's Bone-Cleaver

Mu You took out his phone and opened Fool.

When he had first acquired the cleaver, a notification had immediately popped up in the game.

[You obtained the Butcher’s Bone-Cleaver!]

[Butcher’s Bone-Cleaver: A cleaver that slices through bone like butter, dealing greatly increased damage to flesh and blood.

Effects:

Spellbreaker: The Bone-Shattering Knife's damage penetrates Magic Shields and defensive spells.

Cripple: When it strikes a creature's flesh, reduces its movement speed and attack speed by 85% for five seconds.

Bleed: Wounds inflicted by the Bone-Shattering Knife bleed continuously and cannot be healed for a short period.

Heavy: Its immense weight makes this cleaver difficult to wield. After each swing, a lengthy recovery is required before the next strike. (This effect is disabled while wearing the Butcher Wolf skin.)]

Mu You was very pleased with the cleaver's attributes, especially its Spellbreaker effect.

He finally understood why the little girl's Magic Shield had been useless. This cleaver could cut straight through shields. Magic Shields were wizards' primary means of defense, so a cleaver that bypassed them was practically a mage's worst nightmare!

"Meow? A rare grade weapon? Where did you get that?" Cola suddenly asked, looking at the cleaver in his hand.

"Rare grade? How can you tell?" Mu You froze.

The game had never displayed item grades, only names and descriptions. He had assumed the Star Spirit World had no such thing as quality grades.

"By the color," Cola said.

"Color?" Mu You picked up the Bone-Shattering Knife and examined it carefully. Only then did he notice a faint, eerie blue glow around the blade, flickering so subtly that it was barely visible.

"Blue means rare grade?"

Now that Cola mentioned it, Mu You remembered that his Pumpkin Lantern also gave off a faint blue glow when lit. Did that mean the Pumpkin Lantern was a rare grade treasure too?

And the Mithril Bow seemed to have a silvery-white glow around it... Could that be the fabled silver grade? What came after that, then? Gold? Diamond? Star?

"What grade is this, then?" Mu You hurriedly took out the Mithril Bow and asked Cola.

"That's white, meow. Common grade."

"Common? Isn't that the worst grade?" Mu You was dumbfounded. He had thought it was some prestigious silver grade, but it turned out to be plain old common white...

"Not the worst, meow. The worst is black iron grade, which is black," Cola said.

"What other colors are there?" Mu You decided he might as well get the whole picture.

"Above black iron is white for common, then green for fine, blue for rare, purple for epic, and gold for legendary."

"Legendary grade is the highest, meow," Cola meowed. "There are only a handful in the entire Star Spirit World. Even epic grade items are scarce. Rare grade equipment is already the best treasure an ordinary person can obtain. Especially since this is a weapon. Weapons are always harder to come by than other equipment of the same grade!"

"It's that valuable?"

Mu You was astonished. This cleaver was even more valuable than he had imagined!

And, like his Pumpkin Lantern, it was an item that needed to be used with a matching skin. Only while wearing the Butcher Wolf skin could he bring out its full potential.

Mu You tapped the words "Butcher Wolf."

[Butcher Wolf: One of the Werewolf's advanced skins. The Butcher Wolf possesses a unique understanding of flesh and life. As long as its heart survives, its body cannot perish. The more severely it is injured, the stronger its regenerative ability becomes!]

Mu You was stunned after reading it. What kind of Butcher Wolf is this? This is fucking Wolverine!

No wonder the little girl hadn't been able to kill him despite bombing him as though ammunition cost nothing. She simply hadn't hit the right spot. This Werewolf's weakness was his heart!

Without attacking his heart first, even grinding the rest of him to dust would accomplish nothing!

Seriously, this Werewolf was absurdly powerful!

An almost immortal body, that elusive Chain Claw, and now this Bone-Shattering Knife that crippled anyone it struck...

Fortunately, Mu You had swiped the cleaver, effectively ripping out the Werewolf's claws. With one weakened and the other strengthened, the gap between them was steadily narrowing!

But that was nowhere near enough!

After witnessing the Werewolf and the little girl fight, Mu You's desire to grow stronger had become intensely urgent.

On his way back, Mu You had already made up his mind: he would find the Witch in the game and learn black magic!

The Witch was the strongest NPC he had encountered in the game so far, and she was his only current means of rapidly improving.

Otherwise, he could only level up and complete quests step by step. That was far too slow. The Werewolf would probably find him before he had a chance to grow strong.

As for whether learning black magic would have any harmful consequences... he would have to wait until he met the Witch to find out.

After returning to his room and briefly tidying up, Mu You lay down on the bed and launched Fool.

He logged into the game, still inside his own little wooden cabin.

He had his character put on the Invisibility Cloak and, as usual, first searched the entire village for any sign of the Werewolf or the little girl.

Although he and the little girl had never spoken, they had just survived a life-and-death battle together. That counted for at least some camaraderie. If he could find her, perhaps he could ask her about the Werewolf and the "organization."

That was the advantage of having fully explored the map: wandering around no longer cost any stamina.

Unfortunately, after making a full circuit, he hadn't found so much as a wolf hair, and the little girl was nowhere to be seen either.

It seemed neither of them was in the mood to log in and play after their battle to the death.

"Forget it. I'll head to the Dark Forest first!"

Mu You guided his character out through the village gate.

[You wish to travel to the Dark Forest, fifty kilometers away. However, the journey is long, and without transportation, it will consume a great deal of time and stamina. Perhaps you could visit the village's beast keeper and rent a mount.]

Mu You thought that made sense. Walking more than fifty kilometers on his own two feet would exhaust him to death!

He promptly went to find the beast keeper!

[You return to the village, find the beast keeper's home, and ask him about renting a mount.]

[The beast keeper tells you that he currently offers four tiers of rental mounts: griffins, Chocobos, water rhinoceroses, and little donkeys.]

[The first tier is the griffin. The griffin is the empire's most common flying mount, with the body and claws of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle. It is the fastest and safest option, and possesses considerable combat strength. It can carry up to two people. Rental price: 5 years of lifespan per day. Deposit: 700 years of lifespan.]

[The second tier is the Chocobo, a bird born to run. It can travel five hundred kilometers a day, with speed rivaling a griffin's. Though it has no combat ability, its extraordinary speed allows it to easily shake off pursuers. It can carry up to two people. Rental price: 2 years of lifespan per day. Deposit: 400 years of lifespan.]

[The third tier is the water rhinoceros, a massive amphibious rhinoceros. Its hide, comparable to iron armor, allows it to ignore attacks around it. Its enormous size and weight allow it to roll over all obstacles and creatures in its path like a war chariot. It moves relatively slowly, but has exceptional pulling power and safety. Rental price: 3 years of lifespan per day. Deposit: 500 years of lifespan.]

[The final tier is the little donkey, an ordinary domesticated animal. It has strong pulling power and can be ridden over short distances, but is poor at running and has no combat ability or means of protecting itself. It is the slowest and least safe option. Rental price: 1 year of lifespan per day. Deposit: 10 years of lifespan.]