Chapter 5: The Demon Sword Appears
The rocky forest north of the beginner village.
This was a gathering area for level 5 monsters, filled with jagged rocks and towering withered trees. Flocks of black crows circled in the sky, their sharp, iron-hook-like beaks glinting coldly in the sunlight.
"Caw—!"
An Iron-Beak Crow spotted an intruder and dove down, its speed as fast as black lightning.
Ye Yi stood on a boulder, still wearing that beginner's cloth robe.
Facing the diving crow, he did not dodge.
It got closer.
Just as the crow's sharp beak was ten centimeters from his eyes, Ye Yi moved.
The iron sword in his hand did not parry; instead, it slashed upward at an extremely tricky angle.
"Pfft!"
The sword tip accurately pierced into the softest gap between the feathers on the crow's belly.
"-15!" (Weakness Critical Hit)
The crow let out a miserable shriek, losing its balance. Ye Yi took the opportunity to flick his wrist, sweeping the blade horizontally and severing one of the crow's wings.
Landing, finishing blow, instant kill.
His movements were fluid and natural, without any wasted motion.
[Current Progress: 99 / 100]
Ye Yi wiped the sweat from his forehead. He had maintained high-intensity mental concentration for two hours.
A Mage's physique was too poor, and his stamina bar had long since bottomed out. He was barely maintaining his stamina by relying on the cheap "Coarse Apple" in his backpack.
This was already the 99th one.
During this time, he had leveled up to level 5. The attribute boosts and full state recovery from each level-up were key to him being able to persist. Of course, that overpowered "Double Experience" talent made his leveling speed shockingly fast.
"The last one."
Ye Yi looked toward the sky.
There was an elite monster—the "Iron-Beak Crow King"—that was a size larger than the ordinary crows.
The quest only required killing ordinary crows, but this Crow King had been circling above his head, seemingly looking for an opportunity.
"Since you've come, you might as well stay."
Ye Yi picked up a stone from the ground and threw it forcefully into the air.
"-1!"
Forced damage. The Crow King was enraged, emitting a harsh screech as it dove down with a gust of wind. Its speed was more than twice that of an ordinary crow!
Ye Yi's pupils contracted, and he activated the extreme focus state similar to the "Bullet Time" from his previous life.
At the exact moment the Crow King's sharp claws tore through the cloth robe on his shoulder, Ye Yi didn't retreat but instead advanced, thrusting the iron sword in his hand fiercely into the Crow King's open mouth!
Pierced!
"-58!" (Fatal Strike)
The Crow King's massive body carried Ye Yi sliding backward several meters before finally slamming heavily into a rock, twitching twice before going still.
[Quest Completed: 100 / 100]
[Killed Elite Monster Iron-Beak Crow King, gained 150 (+ 150) Experience.]
A golden light shone.
Ye Yi leveled up to level 6.
He panted heavily, pulling out the iron sword. Because of the high-intensity collisions, the blade of this beginner sword gifted by the system had curled into a serrated shape, its durability had become 0 / 50, and it was completely ruined.
"Just right."
Ye Yi tossed away the scrap metal and dragged his exhausted body back to the training grounds.
Wang Saoting was still standing under that old locust tree, as if he had never moved. But when he saw Ye Yi walk back covered in blood and empty-handed, a look of appreciation finally appeared in his murky eyes.
"The sword broke?"
"It broke."
"As long as the person is intact, it's fine."
Wang Saoting reached into his robes and pulled out a pitch-black, long object wrapped in tattered cloth strips, which exuded a chilling aura that made one's heart palpitate.
"I picked this thing up from an ancient ruin when I was young. It is too evil; it eats people, and it eats iron. I cannot suppress it, nor do I want to."
The old man handed the item to Ye Yi.
"Since you have chosen a path that defies the heavens, I will give you this sword that defies the heavens as a greeting gift."
Ye Yi took it with both hands.
The moment he touched it, a bone-chilling current surged up his arm directly to his brain, followed by a sense of hunger that seemed to come from the abyss.
[System: You have completed the hidden quest "The Choice Between Sword and Magic".]
[Reward Obtained: heaven-swallowing demon sword (Sealed State).]
[Wang Saoting Favorability + 500 (Friendly).]
Ye Yi tremblingly unwrapped the cloth strips.
A simple, long sword that was pitch-black all over and covered in dark red patterns on the blade was revealed. The blade was not sharp, even a bit dull, but one could feel a needle-like stinging pain on their skin just by being near it.
[heaven-swallowing demon sword (Sealed State)]
Quality: Growth (Current: Black Iron Grade)
Attack: + 10
Characteristics:
Devour: Can devour other equipment to improve its own quality and attributes.
Magic Weapon: 50% of Intelligence attribute will be additionally converted into Physical Attack.
Sealed: Current seal level 9 / 10.
Description: The personal sword of an ancient demon god; it can swallow all things, and all things can be its food.
"Magic Weapon..."
Ye Yi stared fixedly at that characteristic. This was the core of a Magic Swordsman!
Currently, his Intelligence was as high as 40 points (level-up points + initial). This meant this sword could provide him with an additional 20 points of attack power!
Added to the sword's own 10 points, his physical attack power instantly reached a terrifying 30+ points. One must know, at this stage, a full-strength level 5 Warrior's attack power was only just over 20 points.
"Hey! That beggar!"
Just as Ye Yi was immersed in joy, an extremely arrogant voice broke the tranquility.
He turned his head and saw a team of players walking over from the entrance of the training grounds.
The leader was a burly warrior with a face full of flesh, whose ID was "Village Bully Zhang San". He had actually already reached level 4, with two level 3 followers behind him.
"This place has been chartered by our 'Bully Gang'." Zhang San brandished a bronze great axe in his hand, which was clearly a small top-grade item that had just dropped. "Unrelated people, get lost quickly. Don't delay my leveling."
His gaze swept over Ye Yi, finally landing on the heaven-swallowing demon sword in Ye Yi's hand.
Although the demon sword was in a sealed state and didn't look like much, that black luster was clearly not ordinary.
"Oh? This broken sword looks a bit interesting." Zhang San licked his lips greedily. "Kid, hand over the sword in your hand, and I can spare your life today."
Ye Yi looked at him with an expressionless face.
"Get lost."
Only two words.
Zhang San froze for a moment, then flew into a rage: "You don't know what's good for you! A mage wearing a cloth robe dares to put on airs with me? Brothers, kill him!"
The two followers swarmed up, and Zhang San directly activated the warrior skill "Charge", slamming over like a wild boar.
Several passing casual players stopped, shaking their heads one after another.
"That mage is done for; the Bully Gang are cancer in other games."
"What a pity for that sword."
Facing the charging warrior, Ye Yi didn't chant any spells, nor did he retreat.
He just slowly raised the magic sword in his hand.
That hunger pulsed within the sword's body. It wanted to drink blood.
"Die."
At the moment Zhang San's great axe was about to cleave his forehead, Ye Yi's figure suddenly blurred.
This wasn't a skill, but an extreme side-step under high agility.
"Swish!"
A black afterimage streaked through the air.
Although the heaven-swallowing demon sword was dull, with the massive strength bonus, it sliced directly through Zhang San's leather armor.
"-178!" (Critical Hit)
A red number floated up.
The level 4 warrior with only 120 HP didn't even have time to scream before his HP bar was instantly cleared.
Zhang San's body turned into white light and dissipated, and that bronze great axe he was so proud of fell to the ground with a "clatter".
The whole scene was deathly silent.
The two followers who had originally rushed up braked hard, their eyes widening as if they had seen a ghost.
"One... one strike?"
"The f*ck, this is a mage?"
Ye Yi didn't even look at the equipment on the ground, just lowered his head to look at the demon sword in his hand.
The dark red patterns on the sword seemed to light up for an instant, as if savoring the taste of fresh blood.
He raised his head and coldly swept his gaze over the remaining two.
"Who else wants this sword?"
The two followers screamed in fright and scrambled away.
Ye Yi sheathed his sword, bowed slightly to Wang Saoting who was still sweeping the floor, and then strode away from the training grounds.
He knew that the sword strike just now would soon spread throughout the entire beginner village.
But this was exactly what he wanted.
Since he wanted to be that one and only variable, then starting from now, let everyone learn to look up.