Chapter 73 – Shield of the Broken Army

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Chapter 73 – Shield of the Broken Army

This chapter was sponsored by Zachary Tanmizi, Fnu Mahendran Siddharth, Rick Nelson, Felix Alexy and William Wang. Thanks!

TL: 1 out of 1 Chap Zhan Long today and probs a chap of BTTH tmrw! Tired, sorry about the promise before, I’ll make it up tomorrow.

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I hold the necklace in my hand; its end was shaped like a battle axe. The necklace has a blood-red glow and killing intent saturates the air. At the same time scorching energy seeps into my palm. Mm, this necklace isn’t a bad item or else it wouldn’t have such a dense feeling!

 

I wave my hand and the stats of the necklace appear in front of me. Indeed they don’t disappoint——

 

【Necklace of the Broken Army】（Gold-Tier Equipment）

 

Strength: +27

 

Endurance: +25

 

Additional: Increases defense by 70 points

 

Level Requirement: 38

 

……

 

Holding this Necklace of the Broken Army I stare at it blankly for 10 seconds. Finally, I remember to breathe. 27 strength and 25 endurance, these are all stats that a swordsman needs! Those 70 points of defense are also very valuable. It can raise my defense to a whole new level! More importantly, 70 points of defense would take at least 60 points in toughness (defense) to reach that. So the real value in this necklace is much more than the 27 strength and 25 endurance!

 

With a pop the necklace appears on my neck and replaces the original Necklace of Bravery. The equipment that the General Family “gifted” me has reached its end…

 

【Xiao Yao Zi Zai】 (Scavenger of Dragon City)

 

Level: 38

 

Attack: 639-852

 

Defense: 675

 

HP: 1356

 

MP: 470

 

Charm: 29

 

……

 

The original necklace increased maximum HP by 50 points, but the new Necklace of the Broken Army increases 25 endurance, which means that my maximum HP increased by 200 points, so obviously it’s way superior. In addition to those 70 points of defense, my tenacity has increased significantly! With my 675 points of defense I can match the average monks and knights.

 

Why? First of all my defense equipment is fairly good. My Elite Steel Wrist Guards and Silver Locked Battle Boots are both Silver-rank equipment and Dawn’s Chest Plate is a Gold-rank equipment. With this Necklace of the Broken Army, all my defensive equipment are quite high class. With my strong attack and healing skills, my entire combat ability is at least in the top 10 in Ba Huang City. Of course if you add battle tactics, control, etc., I might not reach the top 100. I am very clear about that. I’m fairly new to these VR games and if I meet anyone on the leaderboard, killing any of them will take quite a bit of work.

 

I continue going through my loot. Besides the necklace, the dark prince also dropped a shield for me. I struggle to raise the huge black shield. With a shake of my arms the stats appear in front of my eyes. Damn, nice!

 

【Shield of the Broken Army】 (Gold-rank Equipment)

 

Defense: 170

 

Strength: +25

 

Endurance: +20

 

Additional: Increases defense by 0.9%

 

Level Requirement: 38

 

……

 

The moment I laid my eyes on the stats of this shield, I froze. 170 points of defense! Damn, who in this world can take more hits than knights or monks? Out of the 9 main classes, only monks and knights can equip this shield and the defenses on a shield are way more than chest plates of the same level! By this alone, the meat tank positions of the two classes are untouchable.

 

I put away the shield and I say no more. Time to get rich. None of my close friends need this shield, so I should sell it. A Gold-rank shield will undoubtedly fetch a high price!

 

I continue and gather up the gold coins on the ground before finally looking at that faint purple gem. I pick it up and go silent——

 

【Soul Gem】:  Strengthens weapons or defensive equipment to improve the quality of the equipment!

 

……

 

Soul Gem?!

 

I pick up this purple rock and think for a while. Then I open the strengthening window and decide to put my sword in it along with the warm Soul Gem. Indeed the percentage of strengthening appeared ——90%!

 

Whatever, I’ll strengthen it first and then figure it out later. I don’t have any good defensive equipment to strengthen anyways!

 

After pressing “Yes” and with a ding…

 

System Notification: Congratulations! Your item [Jade City Sword] has been strengthened! Also, since you are the first player to successfully strengthen an equipment, charm +2!

 

……

 

Good, I have 31 points of charm now, but that’s not the important part. What does my sword look like after it has been strengthened?!

 

I quickly open up my bag and hold the sword. I re-equip it and scan over it. The stats really did change——

 

【Jade City Sword +1】（Gold-rank Equipment）

 

Attack: 210-300（+21-30）

 

……

 

Hehe, looking at the stats with +1, it raises 10% of the attack damage?!

 

Looking at the stats it really did add 21-30 attack damage. Hehe, looking at the effects of strengthening, soul gems seem pretty good. But I’m the first player to strengthen an equipment, so perhaps it was a waste to use it on my sword…

 

Whatever, I’ll return first and hand in the mission!

 

I say my goodbyes to the two NPCs and sadly I don’t have any method of communication or else I would leave my Skype or something with them. The two are almost in tears while watching me leave and seem to not want to separate. I almost feel like they want to say something like, “I’m afraid that we won’t be able to meet again. So I have no other request, but only beg that I can sleep with you for one night, so I can understand and ease your pain and suffering…”

 

Seeing as those two almost want to cry I quickly take my sword and leave. In the desolate basin I have the prince’s head in one hand. This is proof of my work!

 

I rush straight to the Dragon City and find Beast Tamer Dalin carving away at a huge log with a small knife to create a fence to block out deer. This really moves my heart because on one side he needs to hunt and collect food for the winter and on the other side he needs to collect manure. Even the defense work for Dragon City is done by him!

 

I walk up to him and say, “Instructor, you work way too hard. Let other people do these small tasks…”

 

“Other people?”

 

He sneers at me, pats my shoulders, and says, “Boy, you don’t understand. Although there are plenty of talented people in Dragon City, there aren’t many useful ones. There are 100 soldiers, 200 servants, and adding up the supply teams, there are less than 1000 people stationed in Dragon City! If I don’t do these tasks then I’m afraid no one else would.”

 

I nod and take out the bounty post, “Instructor, I already finished the mission and defeated the Dark Dwarves. Also I brought you this…”

 

With a bang the head of the prince rolls to Dalin’s feet. Dalin seems like he got electrocuted and looks at me with a shocked expression, “This…This is the Dark Dwarves’ highness…Ming Jie! Gods! What have you done boy? You killed Ming Jie?!”

 

“Mm, is there a problem?”

 

“No, nothing. Perhaps this is better. Maybe killing Ming Jie is a good thing. It’ll allow the Dark Dwarves to continue hiding in some faraway place and not invade our borders. Or maybe it’s a bad thing…Whatever, it doesn’t matter. Boy, you completed a near impossible mission. Come, this fame and rewards belong to you…”

 

Ding!

 

System Notification: Congratulations! You finished an A-rank mission【Hunting Dark Dwarves】, and receive 50000 experience points, 100 gold coins, and 3 charm. Your fame in Dragon City has also increased. Also you receive reward item 【Ice Fire Cloak】!

With a ding, I level up to 39!

 

……

 

My luck is pretty good and I got an equipment reward! I immediately open my bag and see the cloak lying in the corner of the bag. It has an icy color on one side and a fiery color on the other.

 

【Ice Fire Cloak】 (Gold-rank Equipment)

 

Defense: 150

 

Strength: +28

 

Endurance: +24

 

Additional: Increases defense by 50 points

 

Level Requirement: 39

 

……

 

Looking at the stats I almost faint. This is godly! This is absolutely godly! As a cloak it brings 150 points of defense to the table! Not only that, it still increases defense by another 50 points and even adds an extra 52 points of strength and endurance!

 

Without hesitation, I take out the cloak and immediately wear it. Instantly I feel both warm and cold but it feels really nice as they seep into my body. My defense increased explosively once again——

 

【Xiao Yao Zi Zai】 (Scavenger of Dragon City)

 

Level: 39

 

Attack: 689-916

 

Defense: 845

 

HP: 1558

 

MP: 480

 

Charm: 34

 

……

 

My attack, defense, and HP are all insanely strong. I am absolutely sure that my stats have at least surpassed Yan Zhao and maybe it even reached Feng Han’s level. Of course I’m just talking about stats. Let’s not talk about the other things…

 

Looking at these stats happily. I look at the Necklace of Bravery and the Shield of the Broken Army in my bag. I think it’s time to return to Ba Huang City. I’ll sell these two equipment and convert them into gold coins. Then I’ll convert the gold coins into cash. In the early stages of the game, if I can earn money then I’ll earn them!

 

I take out a city return scroll and use it.

 

Whoosh!

 

I appear in the northern entrance of Ba Huang City because my city return scroll is bought from the stores in the northern plaza.

 

I immediately set up shop at the first available space I find. I put Shield of the Broken Army and Necklace of Bravery up and yell at the top of my lungs, “Selling high-class equipment!! Level 38 Gold-ranked shield, 170 points of defense and adds strength on top of that. Don’t miss out on this sale! There’s also a necklace that adds 20 strength. Anyone who wants it, come and give me a price!”

 

Good items don’t have a bad market! Quickly, my stall fills with players. The Necklace of Bravery was sold for 11 gold coins. That item is already past its prime and there aren’t a lot of players who are willing to buy that. But the stats on the Shield of the Broken Army are incredible and under the short amount of time since I set up shop, no one gave me a fair price that I wanted.

 

After a good 10 minutes, finally an extremely well equipped player steps into my view. I know him! Guild master of [Vanguard]——Jian Feng Han!

 

“Xiao Yao Zi Zai?!”

 

Feng Han saw my ID and my golden leader-board crest on my shoulder. He frowns, “I never would have thought that you would be the one selling the #1 shield in Ba Huang City!”

 

I smile, “Are you interested in the shield?”

 

He nods, “Yep! How much?”

 

“Give me a price!”

 

“That’s…”

 

Behind Feng Han I see a chain-mail wearing player. ID: Fushen Moren, level 38 monk. He’s holding a Bronze-tier shield and says, “Boss, that’s too wasteful. I don’t need that high-leveled shield…”

Feng Han shakes his head and laughs, “Say no more, I’ll buy it!”

After saying that Feng Han looks towards me, “Brother Zi Zai, how about this. I’ll give 500 gold coins for this shield.”

“500 gold?” I frown, “That’s too little isn’t it?”

“Equipment like that isn’t worth a lot of money…” Feng Han tries to start a psychological war.

I smile and spread my arms, “We know each other well, so don’t try any tricks. When everyone rises to level 40 and enter high leveled areas on the map this is pretty much essential. Especially if you want to go and kill level 50 Gold-rank and above bosses to get the Guild Creation Tablet. This shield is one of the best to have. Also if [Vanguard] doesn’t want it, then I’m sure [Flying Dragons] or [Prague] would be very interested in it. I’m sure that you don’t want [Prague] to be first to get the tablet right?”

Fang Han widens his eyes, clenches his fists, and says, “1000 gold coins!”

“Deal!”

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