“Is that so? This skill is quite powerful, isn’t it…”
Listening to Yan’s words, a surprised smile bloomed on Tian Jiu’s face, a faint blush dusting her cheeks.
“This is wonderful! Now, in the future, I’ll finally be able to help Yan, instead of always being the one receiving his care.”
“Ah, but we have a deal, Tian Jiu. Once you’ve grown stronger, you can’t just turn your back on me, alright?”
Hearing Tian Jiu speak in such a manner, Yan couldn’t help but joke playfully, a smile gracing his lips.
“Every time we fight a boss, Tian Jiu, you’ll have to make sure I survive.”
“Mhm!” Tian Jiu, however, joyfully raised her small, clenched fists towards the sky, responding with a radiant smile.
Watching the adorable, bouncing Tian Jiu, Yan forcibly suppressed the urge to pull the boss near her and ruffle her hair. Instead, he continued kiting the boss, constantly dodging its attacks.
This Level 20 boss, despite its rapid casting speed, had easily avoidable skills. Any unavoidable skills that did strike Yan were instantly negated by the energy bar replenished through Tian Jiu’s “over-healing,” preventing any damage from being dealt.
Consequently, tanking the boss proved incredibly effortless for Yan.
The trio maintained a steady rhythm, and time seemed to fly by quickly. As the boss’s health plummeted to roughly one-fifth, entering its berserk mode, Yan feigned turning his head to look at Qing Bai.
“My skills are off cooldown.”
Qing Bai instantly grasped his meaning, ceasing her offensive output and unleashing three consecutive crowd-control spells at the boss.
Seizing the moment while the boss was interrupted by Qing Bai’s skills, Yan once again displayed his masterful spearmanship. Replicating the opening moments of the fight, his flamboyant spear techniques, combined with the Dominator’s special effects, unleashed that formidable “skill” once more.
“No!!!”
Witnessing Bick’s health bar drop to zero, Bick let out a heart-wrenching roar before dissolving into shimmering light particles, vanishing before their eyes.
In this game, when a boss dies, its dropped equipment doesn’t fall to the ground. Instead, it directly enters the inventory of players within the party. Bosses that drop many materials might yield something for everyone, but some special bosses only drop a few pieces of equipment, which are then randomly distributed to a lucky member’s inventory.
Therefore, the first thing the trio did the moment the boss was defeated was to check their own inventories.
****
‘Damn it.’
Staring at her unchanged inventory, a profound sense of dread welled up in Qing Bai’s heart. She vigilantly glanced at the two people beside her.
Undoubtedly, the companion-grade weapon Bick was supposed to drop was not in her inventory, meaning it was inevitably in one of the other two’s.
Qing Bai harbored no illusions that either of them would simply hand over such a precious companion-grade weapon to her.
“Ah, it’s with me.”
Much to Qing Bai’s surprise, Yan was simply forthright. With a faint smile, he retrieved “Bick’s Grimoire” from his inventory.
“Whoa, such incredible stats.”
As Yan spoke, he shared the weapon’s attribute interface with the party.
[Bick’s Grimoire: Cast Speed +1000, Cast Speed +20%, Mana +400]
[Innate Ability: All magic skills generate -80% aggro]
[Acquisition Condition: Dropped by Roaming Boss “Rebellious Bick”]
‘!’
‘1000 Cast Speed!! Cast Speed +20%!!’
Gazing at these dream-like attributes, coveted by every nimble mage, Qing Bai’s eyes widened in astonishment.
What did these attributes signify? They meant that even before other nimble mages could reach 500 Dexterity points to specialize in cast speed, a mage wielding this equipment would already possess specialized cast speed attributes! And the +20% Cast Speed further ensured that as players progressed into the late game, no matter how high their specialized cast speed became, they would receive that much more of a bonus, making their casting speed even faster!
While the innate ability lacked offensive power, its -80% aggro generation from magic skills meant that the owner would only need to gather an additional 20% aggro reduction from other equipment to achieve completely aggro-free magic damage!
It was well known that in this game, almost all damage-dealing players would wear some aggro-reducing equipment, more or less, to prevent ‘Over-Aggro (OT)’ (TL Note: A gaming term where a player generates too much threat, causing a monster to attack them instead of the designated tank.) when fighting bosses. Many such equipment pieces existed, even non-companion-grade ones!
‘100% aggro reduction?! Qing Bai had never even heard of such a thing during her time on the old server!’
As a nimble mage with exceptionally fast casting speed, the more skills she unleashed, the higher her aggro would naturally become. If she could achieve 100% aggro reduction, it would mean she could output damage without any inhibitions!
“Yan.” Qing Bai swallowed nervously. “How much do you want for this equipment? Cash transaction is perfectly fine; I truly need it!”
“Please!”
It was unexpected that the proud young lady would humble herself for a piece of equipment. Clearly, she had somewhat misunderstood his act of sharing the equipment’s stats, likely thinking he was deliberately showing her the attributes to extort a hefty sum.
A thought crossed Yan’s mind, making him smile wryly, yet he understood Qing Bai’s feelings completely. Putting himself in her shoes, he knew he would likely do the same if he saw such an excellent piece of equipment.
However, he chose not to tease her further.
After all, Yan had never intended to keep it for himself.
“What are you talking about?”
“Huh?”
Hearing Yan’s suppressed laughter, Qing Bai looked up in confusion, only to see his genuine smile, devoid of any hint of mockery.
“This equipment, wasn’t it always yours to begin with?”
Before his words had even faded, Qing Bai’s mailbox chimed with a gift notification. Nervously, she clicked on the panel with her gaze to open the gift, and “Bick’s Grimoire” lay quietly in her inventory.
****
“Yan.”
“Hm?”
Qing Bai’s clear, sparkling eyes gazed at him, and a serene smile, one he had never anticipated, bloomed on her lovely face.
“Thank you.”
Her soft voice was like a falling leaf, gently rippling in Yan’s heart.
Yan was momentarily stunned by her smile, which was completely at odds with her usual haughty and domineering young lady persona. He then returned her a friendly smile.
“You’re welcome.”
Just as he was still savoring the infinite grace that emanated from the corners of her tranquil smile, her expression abruptly shifted, becoming purely mischievous.
“Hmph hmph, utterly captivated by this young lady’s charm, weren’t you?”
In an instant, Qing Bai reverted to her usual domineering young lady self.
“Hey, don’t talk nonsense, I never…”
Dark lines appeared on Yan’s forehead; he was already regretting giving her the “Grimoire.”
“But you should just give up. I wouldn’t ever be interested in someone like you, you know~”
Qing Bai said with a playful laugh.
Despite knowing she was jesting, Yan couldn’t help but feel a surge of irritation, slowly raising his left hand.
“Hmph hmph, this young lady is tired. I need to head back to town to tally up our gains. Yan, you should just give up on me…”
Before she could finish her sentence, Yan’s left hand was already aimed at her forehead, delivering a sharp ‘hand chop’ straight down.
“Ow, that hurts.”
Qing Bai raised both hands to cover her forehead, which was now bright red from Yan’s hand chop, crying out in pain.
“Do you even realize how precious this young lady’s head is?! If you break it, could you even afford the consequences!?”
Seeing that she intended to continue her “arrogant and overbearing” behavior, Yan silently raised his left hand again, forming another hand chop.
“No, no! Yan, I was wrong…”
It seemed this young lady was genuinely afraid of pain. Even with Yan deliberately controlling the force to be very light, the hand chop still instilled a sense of awe in her.
“Alright, then let’s head back to Windstar City.”
Yan said this, smiling as he looked at Tian Jiu beside him.
“Didn’t you want to go explore the snack street? Come on, let’s go now.”
“Mhm…”
Tian Jiu forced a faint smile, following behind Yan. Yan, however, did not notice her unusual behavior.
As she trailed behind Yan and Qing Bai, watching the two bicker and tease each other intermittently, a peculiar emotion flickered in her clear eyes.
‘What exactly is wrong with me?’
Tian Jiu lowered her head, remaining silent for the rest of the journey back.
Alice, walking nearby, noticed her unusual state. She then tilted her head, seemingly deep in thought, quietly following behind the trio.