The environment on the third floor was extremely eerie.
The walls were covered in black crystalline veins, spreading out like blood vessels.
Large numbers of [Crystallized Miners · LV35] poured out from around the corners.
The bulges on these monsters' bodies had burst open, sprouting black crystals that covered them like hedgehog spines.
These monsters had incredibly high defense. Ordinary attacks dealt only single-digit damage.
But Daniel had explosive arrows that ignored armor, and on top of that, the walls here were already covered in those strange crystal membranes, making the structure exceptionally sturdy.
A streak of red arrow-light shot forward.
Rumble—!
Entire groups of crystallized monsters were blasted into pieces!
"What a dull and tedious process," he muttered, while his harvesting speed only grew faster and faster.
He had no idea how long he had been killing when the space ahead of him suddenly opened up.
It was a naturally formed underground hall, about half the size of a football field.
At the far end of the hall stood a massive iron gate, carved with twisted symbols that glowed faintly red.
In front of the gate stood a hulking monster.
It was nearly three meters tall, its entire body covered in thick black crystals, and in its hand it gripped a massive pickaxe.
No—not quite.
That pickaxe had already fused with its arm, becoming part of its body.
Its eyes glowed with two crimson lights, fixed directly on Daniel.
[Beast-Turned Guard · LV40 (Iron-grade)]
Daniel sucked in a breath.
This thing looked a lot fiercer than the Iron-grade monsters in Windmill Town.
He instinctively took a step back—and crushed a piece of gravel underfoot.
Crack—
At the same time, the Beast-Turned Guard moved.
It gave no roar, no warning. It simply raised its pickaxe and brought it smashing down toward Daniel's head!
BOOM!!!
Shattered stone flew everywhere, and the ground was smashed into a crater the size of a washbasin.
Daniel dodged quickly and fired an arrow in return.
The arrow sank into the guard's chest, then exploded—
Boom!
A bowl-sized hole was blown open in the guard's chest, and black crystal shards scattered all over the floor.
-8230!
The black explosion damage was shockingly eye-catching.
But its HP had only dropped by around one-tenth.
Daniel's pupils contracted.
That HP...
This thing should make a decent target dummy for a while.
To be honest, Daniel felt that his biggest weakness right now was that his archery accuracy was pretty average.
If five out of ten arrows hit the enemy, that already counted as a high hit rate.
And now, with such a durable moving monster standing right in front of him, it was the perfect chance to practice.
The battle lasted a full five minutes.
Daniel had never enjoyed a fight this much.
This Beast-Turned Guard's HP was absurdly thick—at least ten times that of an ordinary Iron-grade monster.
Its attack range was also enormous. Once that giant pickaxe started swinging, everything within ten meters became a death zone.
More interestingly, it could even hurl mineral fragments like a machine gun, sending them flying with rapid-fire whoosh whoosh whoosh sounds!
Daniel dodged while shooting, and his explosive arrows never stopped for even a moment.
Thankfully, he had maxed out Agility in advance. Facing those whistling attacks, a stream of MISS notifications kept popping above his head.
One arrow, two arrows, three arrows...
The monster's HP rapidly fell.
90%... 80%... 70%...
"Just as tanky as I thought."
He kept kiting it, making full use of his Agility advantage as he circled through the wide-open hall.
Several times, he almost got smashed by the pickaxe, barely dodging in the nick of time.
Finally, in the fifth minute, the guard's HP hit bottom.
It let out one final furious roar, and all the crystals on its body suddenly exploded—
A self-destruct!
Daniel had already been prepared. He leapt backward, dodging the shockwave.
BOOM!!!
The explosion blasted broken rocks all over him, dropping his HP by 10%.
But the guard finally fell, its huge body crashing to the floor and kicking up a cloud of dust.
[Ding! You have slain Beast-Turned Guard (Iron-grade · LV40), gaining 14,357 EXP!]
[Obtained: Shadow Step Skill Book (A-rank · Universal)]
[Obtained: Murky Crystal Fragment ×5]
[Obtained: Iron-grade Standard Armor ×1]
Daniel's eyes lit up instantly, and he hurriedly looked toward the skill book.
[Shadow Step (A-rank)]
Type: Active Skill
Effect: Instantly dash 5 meters in a chosen direction
Cooldown: 10 seconds
Mana/Stamina Cost: 100
Class Restriction: None
Description: A high-level movement technique that keeps enemies from so much as touching your clothes!
Daniel's eyes brightened.
An A-rank movement skill!
Even if it was just a basic version with a range of five meters, movement skills were god-tier in the early game!
Especially for fragile classes like Archer and Mage—once enemies got into melee range, death was practically guaranteed.
Having a movement skill was like having an extra life.
Suddenly, Daniel thought of something and opened the communication channel.
At this moment, the World Channel was as lively as a marketplace.
"WTF, I finally hit Level 5! Anyone wanna party up?"
"The free market is open! Brothers, charge!"
"Selling White Rabbit Dagger, 1 silver coin each, PM me if you want one!"
"Need a carry! I'm a girl, nice voice!"
"The guy above is definitely a dude, right? Yesterday you were saying you wanted to go red-name from PKing people..."
Daniel smiled faintly as he read the scrolling messages.
The market had opened.
With the experience of several lifetimes, he knew exactly what would happen next.
The major guilds and financial groups would rush in like sharks smelling blood,疯狂扫货.
sweeping up goods in a frenzy.
Anything valuable would find a buyer, no matter the price!
He lowered his head and looked at the skill book in his hand.
A movement skill—in the early game, this was the kind of rare treasure you couldn't buy even if you had money.
If he sold it to players...
Daniel opened the market interface, clicked List Item, and placed [Shadow Step] up for sale.
Price: 100 Gold Coins.
Note: A-rank universal movement skill. Usable by all classes. One fixed price. If you can't afford it, don't yap.
He clicked confirm.
The next second, the World Channel exploded.
"Holy shit?!!! Check the market!!!"
"What are you freaking out about—... WTF?! An A-rank skill book??? A movement skill???"
"100 gold coins? Where the hell would anyone get 100 gold coins on day one? Is this guy insane?"
"Faustus—where the hell did this guy get something this good? His luck is insane!"
"A movement skill! If I had that while getting chased down by monsters, I'd be flying!"
"100 gold coins is way too expensive, isn't it? Normal players could never afford that..."
"If you can't afford it, stop yapping. He's obviously not selling it to normal players."
"That said... I still think anyone who buys it at this stage is making a profit. An A-rank movement skill probably won't even be outdated in the late game..."
Daniel watched the flood of messages in World Channel and said nothing, only smiling.
Of course he knew that 100 gold coins was expensive.
But he also knew that, to those wealthy guilds, 100 gold coins was pocket change.
What they wanted was the initiative.
They were using money to buy time.
And sure enough, in less than three minutes—
[Ding! Your listed item, Shadow Step Skill Book (A-rank), has been purchased.]
Daniel's eyes lit up.