The vertical distance from the bottom of the Burning Crevice to the top was not more than 200m. But of course, the so-called vertical distance did not take into account of all the protruding rocks and uneven surfaces of the cliff wall. In Fate, a character could learn an Innate Ability, Climbing.
An Innate Ability was something that could be learned by all characters every 10 levels. When a character was lvl 10, the player could learn Jump, while a lvl 20 could learn Crawl and Backwards Jump could be learned by a lvl 30 character. Climbing was only made available to a lvl 40 character while Swimming was unlocked when a character reached lvl 50.
Of course, not learning an Innate Skill did not mean that a player could not carry the actions out. These skills were capable of being achieved by the human body. Even if players did not learn these Innate Skills, they could still pull them off. However, the proficiency of such maneuvers and the success rate was affected by the physical attributes of an individual. A person with an agile body and excellent coordination would naturally have a better success rate. If a person who was non-athletic tried to perform such actions, the success rate would be low. Not all players were born knowing how to leap onto roofs and vault over bars. That was something that was done by the wuxia experts. Hence, the game offered Innate Abilities to assist players who were not athletic. As long as they met the level requirement, they would be able to learn the Innate Abilities, and as long as they’ve learned the Innate Abilities, they would be able to perform better.
Ye Ci was not really an expert athlete, and only had slightly better motor coordination, which did not distinguish her much from an average person. Before learning Climbing, it was not an easy task for her to climb up to the top of the Burning Crevice from the bottom.
With tremendous effort, Ye Ci had finally reached a protruding chunk of rock. She leaned close to the wall and sat down, munching down on pieces of roasted meat and gulping down spring water. Scaling such a steep cliff without learning the Climbing ability meant that a player’s speed would be greatly reduced and the player would spend more stamina than usual in his or her attempt to climb. It was also very likely that one would fall to their death. Ye Ci had thought that her Stamina would be able to last until she reached the top, but just when she was about to get there, her stamina was nearly exhausted. If she did not replenish her stamina right then, she would’ve fallen to her death.
Leaning close to the cliff wall, Ye Ci wolfed down the roasted meat, slowly recovering her stamina.
All of a sudden, her pointed ears twitched reflexively as she heard a soft voice coming from the top of the crevice.
“Are you sure the Black Plum Guild will be here today?”
“If you don’t believe it, why bother asking?”
“No, it’s not like I don’t believe you, it’s just that…” After a short pause, the person continued with a hoarse voice, “This is not a map that people would come here to complete quests. There’s only a Wild BOSS here. Why would they come here?”
The other individual did not reply.
The one with the hoarse voice continued, “Besides, the major guilds tend to keep their whereabouts a secret. You’re not one of the higher ups, how did you find out about such a secret? You’re not trying to dupe me are you…?”
“You doubt my good intentions?” The person snorted, “I have my ways, you do not have to know about it.”
“Hehe, I know you’re like a brother to Fluttering Red Feathers. But, I’m a vile person, and you are not noble at all as well.” The man with the hoarse voice chuckled, disdain clearly shown in his voice.
The other person remained quiet, and continued after a brief moment, “I’ve received the down payment. When it’s done, I’ll get in touch.”
“Sure.” The person with the hoarse voice chuckled again. There was something special about his voice. It gave off a wretched feeling.
The two must’ve thought that the place was far too remote and that it was a high level leveling spot. They did not expect to have anybody eavesdropping on them, and had talked without using private message. There were times when Ye Ci totally agreed with the old saying “A careful helmsman can steer the ship for thousands of years.” Had those two spoke using private message, she wouldn’t be able to hear them. And if she had not heard them, she wouldn’t have made the decision to find out what was happening.
At that moment, Ye Ci’s head was raised as she leaned close to the cliff wall, looking up at the black rock and was listening intently. She began climbing up to the top of the crevice after she heard footsteps leaving the scene.
Ye Ci hung from the edge to survey the surrounding, and after making sure that there was nobody around, she climbed out of the crevice and entered Stealth. She then headed to the direction of where the footsteps were moving to.
Ye Ci was not a curious person. She did not usually like to gossip and meddle with somebody else’s business. She had followed the two because the name of Black Plum Guild was mentioned. Black Plum Guild was a guild from the Southern Continent. They took part in the Dragon Dance competition as well, but were unable to enter the finals. That was why Ye Ci was unable to meet them. In her last life however, Ye Ci had quite a few dealings with them.
Ye Ci was a skillful player, and they decided to put her skill to good use. They’d always ask for Ye Ci’s help when they explored new dungeons. However, Ye Ci had made too many enemies in her past life, and Black Plum Guild was unwilling to invite her to be part of the guild.
In the eyes of Black Plum Guild, Ye Ci was a high damage tool in a dungeon, while in Ye Ci’s eyes, Black Plum Guild was the source of her income and new equipment. Both sides had their own needs, and neither of them treated each other sincerely, but they did work well with each other.
It had been half a year since Ye Ci had reincarnated. The only impression she had left of Black Plum Guild was that they used to be her source of income and that they were quite laid-back. There was nothing much else that she could remember of the guild. The conversation that she had eavesdropped on was obviously somebody selling out Black Plum Guild to their enemies, and it perked Ye Ci’s interest.
Of course, she was not there to help. She was merely there to see if she could gain anything out of it. Since she was at this place, she could only purchase a Flying Shard from a major city to return to the Eastern Continent. Since she was leaving, she refused to leave empty-handed.
Ye Ci’s current position was in the map connecting the Southern Continent to the Eastern Continent: Warsong Tribe. Just like the Damp Tropical Rain Forest, the average level of the monsters here was lvl 35 to lvl 40. Most of them were humanoid, and they had a higher chance of dropping equipment. It was a very good spot for parties to level up.
Ye Ci, however, doubted that Black Plum Guild was here to level up. According to her memories from her last life, they were here for a lvl 35 humanoid Elite Field Boss, Warsong Priestess Dorian. Achieving First Blood on the BOSS would drop a quest item called “Golden Premium Scroll.” When used, the scroll would unlock a 100-player dungeon that offered rich rewards. One of them was an item that was the envy of all the guilds, The Guild Banner.
This Guild Banner was different from the normal Guild Banner. When The Guild Banner was hung on the flagpole in a guild encampment, the level of the guild encampment would be raised by 1.
Who wouldn’t want that benefit? If it wasn’t too much of a hassle to transport players of Upwards Ho! from Red Lake City to this place, Ye Ci would want to join in on the fun as well. Black Plum Guild must be interested in Dorian because of the Golden Premium Scroll. Ye Ci did not know how they found out about the scroll. But to her knowledge, Black Plum Guild was the one who scored a First Blood on Warsong Priestess Dorian, and they were the first guild to have The Guild Banner.
When she thought about it, the timing was about right.
The butterfly effect of her reincarnation had not affected the progress of Fate greatly.
Ye Ci approached Warsong Priestess Dorian carefully.
The monsters in the Warsong Tribe had a very high movement speed. Although their attack damage was not high, they would often debuff players and then overwhelm them with sheer numbers. Since they were all humanoids, there was a visible difference between monsters of different tiers. The lower leveled monsters were usually unarmed, and could only cast skills like Slow, Stun or Terrify. The medium tier ones were armed with light weapons. They would usually cast debuffs such as Burn, Freeze or Poisoning on players. Those monsters that were from the higher tier were equipped with Armor and heavier weapons. They could Petrify, Stun and Metalize players. [1] Their leader, Warsong Priestess Dorian was way stronger. She had skills from all 3 tiers of monsters, and could cast AOE debuffs. If Dorian cast an AOE damage over time debuff, the Priests in the party would definitely have a fun time.
Monsters roamed the map in small groups. They were grouped together by their tiers, but there were also groups that were made up from monsters from all 3 tiers. Ye Ci did not dare to take them head on and thus decided to avoid them.
As she was Stealthed, Ye Ci’s movement speed was reduced by 50%. When she approached Warsong Priestess Dorian’s spawn point, there was already a group of players hiding in a ditch nearby. Their location was well hidden. Had Ye Ci not been intentionally seeking them out, she wouldn’t have found them. They were camouflaged with tree branches and leaves as they lay hidden. If one did not pay attention, he or she could easily past them off as a shrub.
Editor’s Note:
[1] Metalize: Literal translation is turn a player into like a metal statue type thing, so we’re calling it Metalize, because there isn’t really a good translation for a term to do that, that we know of, and petrify is already taken. If anyone has a better idea, we’re up for suggestions.
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