From A Stronghold NPC To The Final BOSS - Chapter 2
Chapter 2: Martial-Entry Level Two
Name: Qin Shujian
Identity: Ordinary Mountain Bandit
Affiliation: Liangshan Stronghold
Stage: Martial-Entry Level Two
Cultivated Technique: Bodyforge Manual Level Two (Five Levels in Total) (Mortal Tier Low Grade)
Life Value: 0
Equipment: Large, Chipped blade, Tattered Shirt, Tattered Trousers, Tattered Straw Sandals
His one Life Value had been reduced to zero.
The Bodyforge Manual that he cultivated transformed from Level One to Level Two. His stage also changed from Martial-Entry Level One to Martial-Entry Level Two.
“My strength has roughly doubled,” Qin Shujian thought.
Qin Shujian picked up the large, chipped blade from the ground and gauged its weight. He realized that it was much lighter than before.
There were even faint signs of muscles on his once-scrawny arms.
He then made a motion while standing at his original position. He had gained a clearer understanding of his body.
“All aspects of my body seem to have been improved considerably. However, they are not as obvious as the improvement to my strength,” he mused.
He pinched his muscles. His skin had a certain toughness. These changes seemed to be an effect of increasing the Bodyforge Manual’s level by one.
The Bodyforge Manual was a technique that was unique to the Liangshan Stronghold. At least, all of the NPCs that Qin Shujian had come across had all cultivated this technique.
The effects of the Bodyforge Manual was just what it sounded like. It taught how to strengthen one’s body and allowed the user to refine their body and nurture their strength.
When the technique was trained to the peak of Level Five, the user would have energy scattered throughout his body. The user would be able to release an eruption of power with every stroke and form they took.
As for the description of “Mortal Tier Low Grade” that was tagged onto the Bodyforge Manual, Qin Shujian guessed that it was the technique’s grade.
Logically speaking, that should be the lowest grade.
There should be grades like “Mortal Tier Mid Grade” and “Mortal Tier High Grade” above his technique’s current grade.
He had seen enough of these systems to make an educated guess, even if he did not know about the specific system this game used.
Qin Shujian knew a little about these different worlds, *cough* gaming tropes.
As for the Life Value, “I got the tab for Life Values when I killed the NPC, Zhang Ergou. I should have obtained the points when I killed the NPC. I wonder if I would also get these points when I kill a Player.”
Qin Shujian slipped into deep thought.
“The Bodyforge Manual increased by one level after I used one Life Value, as did the level of my stage. That means my overall abilities have increased by one level. If that’s the case, it is rather easy to level up in this game.”
“After all… In the Liangshan Stronghold, those NPCs that had no intelligence would not expect their brethren to harm them.”
“I wonder if Zhang Ergou has revived?”
His thoughts got carried away in that instant.
Qin Shujian abruptly shook his head. There was no point in him thinking about these matters for the time being.
The most important thing he had to do was find a way to increase his Bodyforge Manual to Level Five.
That way, he would increase his strength to a higher level before the Players arrived. He would be able to rid himself of the status as a fodder NPC if he did that.
He set a general goal for his foreseeable future.
Qin Shujian held the large, chipped blade in his hand and walked out from behind the giant rock.
Coincidentally, a patrolling Mountain Bandit was approaching the area from far away.
Qin Shujian forthrightly walked toward the other party.
Just like Zhang Ergou, the patrolling Mountain Bandit had no caution for Qin Shujian.
The patrolling Mountain Bandit only took a simple glance at Qin Shujian when he got near, then directly walked past him.
When the patrolling Mountain Bandit had his back facing him, Qin Shujian covered the bandit’s mouth and nose with one hand, then clasped the bandit’s throat with the other. He dragged the Mountain Bandit to the back of the giant rock.
His cultivation level had increased to Martial-Entry Level Two, and his strength doubled.
The patrolling Mountain Bandit, who was only Martial-Entry Level One, could not retaliate. Qin Shujian dragged him along with ease.
He repeated the pattern.
He raised his hand and cleaved down with his blade.
Like before, fresh blood splattered everywhere. Another patrolling Mountain Bandit fell to the ground, motionless and with a look of confusion on his face.
Qin Shujian had experienced this previously. Even though his face still turned a little pale when he saw the bloody scene, he did not stagger and fall onto the ground.
It was just that —
The scene was still too realistic.
It was so realistic that the thick metallic stench of blood was constantly intertwined with Qin Shujian’s breath.
He recited silently in his heart, “This is not real. This is just a game. The person I killed was an NPC.” He did that to console himself.
He expertly checked his attribute panel:
Name: Qin Shujian
Identity: Ordinary Mountain Bandit
Affiliation: Liangshan Stronghold
Stage: Martial-Entry Level Two
Cultivated Technique: Bodyforge Manual Level Two (Five Levels in Total) (Mortal Tier Low Grade)
Life Value: 1
Equipment: Large, Chipped Blade, Tattered Shirt, Tattered Trousers, Tattered Straw Sandals
Just as Qin Shujian had thought, his Life Value increased by one after he killed an NPC.
But, Qin Shujian knitted his brows deeply when he saw the tab for his cultivated techniques.
The plus sign that he expected would appear didn’t.
That meant that he could not enhance his Bodyforge Manual again.
“I was able to increase my Bodyforge Manual’s level by one with one Life Value earlier. However, I cannot enhance it again even though I have one Life Value now. Is it because I do not have enough Life Value or that the technique cannot be enhanced in succession?”
Qin Shujian deliberated the situation.
It would be alright if it were the first situation. If that was the case, all he had to do was to kill a few more NPCs. After all, he didn’t expect to increase Bodyforge Manual’s level by one just by killing one NPC.
If it were that easy, he would be able to max out the level of Bodyforge Manual simply by killing a few Mountain Bandits.
The situation would be more troublesome if it were the latter.
What he lacked most now was time.
It would be bad if there were a so-called cooldown time every time he increased the technique’s level by one.
Qin Shujian came to a decision when he saw the Mountain Bandit on the ground disappear. He was going to continue testing out his conjecture.
Any hypotheses and any conjectures had to be ascertained with practice.
Fortunately for him, there was nothing in Liangshan Stronghold but Mountain Bandits.
There were at least 50 Mountain Bandits gathered on this small mountain peak.
Soon, Qin Shujian left his original position.
The two Mountain Bandits that disappeared seemed not to have alerted the attention of the Liangshan Stronghold.
Or it could also be that no one knew that those two Mountain Bandits had vanished.
Sometime later, Qin Shujian came across a lone Mountain Bandit. The bandit was shakily patrolling the mountain alone.
His previous two successful attempts had given him a huge boost in confidence.
There were no accidents.
Expertly, Qin Shujian forcefully dragged the lone Mountain Bandit to an obscure place before deftly ending his life.
Qin Shujian rechecked his attributes after he dealt with the Mountain Bandit.
Just like he predicted, his Life Value increased from one to two.
However, the tab that listed his cultivated techniques still only showed “Bodyforge Manual Level Two.” There had been no changes.
The plus sign that he expected would appear did not show up.
Qin Shujian took a deep breath and collected himself. He could only attribute to him still not having enough Life Value.
After all —
He did not want to admit that there was really a cooldown time for the Bodyforge Manual’s advancement.
He immediately chose his next target after he suppressed the unrest in his heart.
One, two…
Qin Shujian checked his attributes every time he killed a Mountain Bandit. He continued to search for his next victim when he noticed that there were no changes.
When he killed his fourth Mountain Bandit, Qin Shujian’s expression finally changed when he checked his attributes once again.
