"Candlekeeper! I’m interested in the short sword, too! Can you give me a sword?"
Shore’s mind raced. He immediately questioned Luo Ge, looking at him with an expectant expression.
However...
"Newborn Firelight, you have much to learn. But first, you must understand one thing... don’t bite off more than you can chew."
Luo Ge replied calmly.
’If he granted every request from these newbies, how would that honor the efforts of the veteran players?’
’Sometimes, treating people differently is necessary.’
With that, Luo Ge vanished into the Spirit Candle.
"..."
Shore froze for a moment before realizing what he meant. He was rendered speechless.
"BWAHAHAHAHA!"
Li Miao couldn’t hold it in anymore and burst out laughing, slapping his thigh in amusement.
’Getting some face for myself while watching my "dear boy" get shot down right in front of me... this is double the fun!’
Now he felt that spending 150 Wax Oil to bring Shore into the game wasn’t a waste at all.
A dark look crossed Shore’s face. "Why does this NPC play favorites? Isn’t he afraid you’ll bite off more than you can chew?"
Li Miao laughed so hard his stomach hurt. After finally calming down, he patted Shore’s shoulder and slowly began to explain.
"The Candlekeeper is currently the only NPC in the game, and he’s shown to be extremely intelligent."
"The reason you’re being treated differently is because you haven’t earned his approval yet. In other words, your affinity isn’t high enough. Get it?"
Li Miao puffed out his chest slightly, speaking with considerable pride.
Shore finally understood. ’No wonder the NPC played favorites.’
"Look at you, all high and mighty. It’s just affinity, right? You just watch, I’ll grind it up in no time,"
Shore said, a bit defiantly.
Hearing this, Li Miao couldn’t help but laugh again. "Even if you had Faraway’s Talent, it’s not something you can grind out in a day or two..."
"I think you should focus on learning how to kill some mobs first..."
"Let’s go, let’s go! I have to see for myself if this game is really as hard as you say!"
Although Shore was still talking a big game, he actually had a pretty good idea of the game’s difficulty.
After all, he’d been spending his free time browsing the forums, where many players had mentioned the game was quite difficult.
’This is a good chance for me to see how this Wooden Staff works, too.’
’Since I can equip it, I must have met the requirements to use it...’
Li Miao thought to himself.
He and Faraway had experimented with this before. Some High-Level equipment had hidden character Attribute requirements. If a player didn’t meet them, they couldn’t equip the item, and even just holding it would impede their movement.
The fact that he could wield the Wooden Staff meant its required Attributes weren’t very high.
At least, not higher than the base of 5 points.
However, before leaving the Reef Cave, Li Miao had Shore add his initial Attributes, telling him to put everything into Spirit to bring it to 11.
The two of them soon arrived at the coastline.
Shore was still a newbie, so of course Li Miao wasn’t going to take him into the water.
To learn how to fight, who better to visit than their most enthusiastic old friends—the Beach Fishmen!
Li Miao discreetly took a step back and pointed at a fishman up ahead. "There, Brother Wei. The trashiest mob in the game. Go get ’em."
Shore’s real name is Ye Wei.
Shore shot him a look, then squinted at the Beach Fishman.
It shambled back and forth, its movements sluggish and its gaze vacant. It looked completely idiotic.
’If I’m careful, I should be able to kite it to death, right?’
Shore thought cautiously.
He then took a stance, slowly raising the Wooden Staff, his gaze focused...
But, a moment later...
Shore suddenly scratched his head. He turned the Wooden Staff over and over in his hands and began to mutter.
"...How does this thing work again?"
"You dummy! Use your Spirit! Try to focus!"
"I am focusing! Nothing’s happening!"
"Try again!"
"Okay... whoa, whoa, whoa! It’s reacting! It’s glowing, it’s glowing! Shit, where’d it go?"
"I get it! You have to stare at the tip of the staff! It only works if you stare at the tip!"
Li Miao and Shore fumbled around for a while before finally getting the hang of it.
At that moment, quite a few players were grinding mobs near the Beach Fishmen. They naturally noticed the situation and were quite surprised.
"Isn’t that the pro, Brother Miao? Is he showing a newbie the ropes?"
"What’s he using? It looks like a Magic Staff!"
"Huh? How come he has a Magic Staff and we don’t? I want to be a Mage, too!" one player exclaimed, looking down at the Weapon in his hands, which suddenly seemed far less appealing.
"He must have spent real money!"
"Paid my ass," a player retorted, rolling their eyes. "Did you not see the new announcement? They added the Wooden Staff to the starting Weapons today, and the Candlekeeper’s secret shop has new advanced Weapons, too."
Hearing this, the other players finally understood.
No longer hung up on that point, they turned their full attention to watching Li Miao and Shore’s experiment.
"It’s forming! It’s forming!"
Shore stared at the wisp of pale yellow light on the tip of the Wooden Staff, overcome with excitement.
"Fish-head freak! Eat my Magic Egg!"
With an excited roar from Shore, the Magic Ball on his Magic Staff—no bigger than a quail’s egg—flew out.
But soon, the unexpected happened.
WHOOSH... pfft.
The small Magic Ball flew toward the Beach Fishman, but it grew smaller and more diffuse in mid-air, until it couldn’t hold its form halfway to the target...
With a soft POP, the small Magic Ball vanished into thin air.
The targeted Beach Fishman didn’t even notice the piddly little disturbance. It glanced around for a moment before turning to resume its patrol.
"Pfft..."
Li Miao was struggling to hold back his laughter.
"Hahahahaha..."
The players watching from the side stared in stunned silence for a moment before bursting into howls of laughter, doubling over with glee.
"Shit, what the hell? Don’t tell me that’s all the Power it has? That just makes me look like a total clown!" Not only had the Attack failed, but a whole crowd of people had seen it. Shore was so mad he was seeing red.
He’d fumbled around for ages, only to squeeze out a pathetic little bubble.
’Having low Power would be one thing, but it can’t even reach the monster! It’s completely useless!’
"Don’t worry. You keep practicing, I’ll go ask the Candlekeeper."
Li Miao, however, wasn’t worried. He wiped the smile off his face and decided to go find the Candlekeeper and ask.
Looking dejected, Shore nodded and could only go back to practicing on his own.
The onlooking players also started chiming in with their own suggestions.
Of course, they weren’t making fun of Shore—he was the first player anyone had seen using a Magic Staff, after all. It was just that the whole scene had been a little too comical.
Not long after, Li Miao returned.
He returned looking thoughtful, having clearly learned something from the Candlekeeper.
"After you form the Magic Ball, you can’t just relax your Spirit. You have to feel its trajectory and guide it."
Following the pointers Li Miao had gotten, Shore began to practice in earnest. As he moved, the pale yellow Magic Ball on his Wooden Staff quickly began to coalesce, growing larger and more solid than before!
’Stare at the tip of the staff, focus my Spirit, release the Magic Ball, guide it...’
He was completely focused, committing each step to memory.
Soon, the infused Spirit reached the Wooden Staff’s limit!
This time, Shore didn’t shout.
With just a gentle push of his staff, the Magic Ball shot toward the Beach Fishman.
Throughout the process, his gaze never wavered, tracking the Magic Ball’s trajectory and making adjustments.
The crowd of players held their breath, their eyes fixed on the scene.
The Magic Ball reached a Beach Fishman’s back and then—it violently exploded!
VWOOM!
A pale yellow light instantly blossomed. The force of the blast sent the Beach Fishman flying several meters, where it landed headfirst in the sand.
"ROAR!"
The ambushed Beach Fishman scrambled to its feet, shook its dizzy head, and roared furiously in all directions, searching for its attacker.
Everyone could now see a very clear blast wound on the fishman’s back. Its movements were no longer as fluid as before; it was clearly badly injured.
"Badass!"
"Now that’s the Power of a Mage!"
"You can’t beat a Mage!"
The surrounding players erupted in celebratory cheers.
Shore’s eyes lit up as well. His earlier anger and dejection were swept away, replaced by the joy of success.
He looked at the Magic Staff in his hand, as if he had discovered a whole new way to enjoy the game.
...
Luo Ge, who had seen everything unfold, smiled to himself.
’Of course, he had intentionally not told Shore how to use the Wooden Staff... He hadn’t asked, after all.’
’It was a perfect opportunity to let him figure it out for himself.’
’This process held extraordinary significance.’
’Here, you couldn’t just click a mouse to attack an enemy, nor could you just use a couple of Skill Books and watch your experience skyrocket.’
’This was a real world.’
’From the process of forming a Magic Ball to the moment it hit an enemy, there was a great deal to learn. It was far more complex than one might imagine.’
’And the players’ spirit of self-exploration, experimentation, and creation was, without a doubt, their most precious quality...’
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