Chapter 26: The Old Drunkard!
Shadow Slayer had sensed something, but he didn't particularly care.
As long as Lin Tianhao helped him complete this quest, he could leave the novice village.
Whatever Lin Tianhao planned to do afterward was none of his business.
"I'll carry you to Level 10, then we'll go find the Old Drunkard."
Lin Tianhao sent over a party invitation.
He had already been planning to grind wild monsters to boost his HP — and once he reached Level 10 without leaving the novice village, he wouldn't be able to gain any more experience anyway.
So he figured he might as well do Shadow Slayer a favor.
With Lin Tianhao carrying him, Shadow Slayer's leveling speed was blazing fast.
In less than thirty minutes, he had already reached Level 10.
"Let's go. Time to find the Old Drunkard."
Lin Tianhao headed toward the direction of the mine. Finding ore meant the mine was the most likely location.
However, after circling the area, they found no sign of the Old Drunkard anywhere.
"Where did this guy go?"
Shadow Slayer frowned.
Lin Tianhao frowned as well. He had the distinct feeling that a pair of eyes was watching him.
The sensation of being observed was deeply unsettling.
"Come on out. You've been following us long enough."
Lin Tianhao scanned his surroundings. He trusted his instincts completely — someone was definitely nearby.
Shadow Slayer was taken aback. There was someone around them, yet he hadn't detected a thing.
"Ha ha ha! Truly, every generation produces its own talents. So young, and already this impressive."
A booming laugh rang out, and then a scruffy old man clutching a wine gourd came sauntering over.
Old Drunkard: Level 12.
HP: ???
Attack: ???
Skills: ???
For an ordinary player who encountered him, they might have simply picked up some quest from the Old Drunkard.
Lin Tianhao studied the Old Drunkard, and the Old Drunkard studied Lin Tianhao right back with his bleary, half-lidded eyes.
"Snow Emperor, you've certainly made quite a name for yourself in our novice village lately. But you're already Level 10 — why haven't you headed to the Main City yet?"
Lin Tianhao smiled. "Ah, it's not that I don't want to leave. It's mainly that the Old Village Chief has been too generous."
"Oh? The Old Village Chief sent you here to kill me."
Lin Tianhao raised an eyebrow. "Looks like you already know. In that case, allow me to experience your skills firsthand, senior."
The moment the words left his mouth, Lin Tianhao loosed an arrow.
Whoosh!
The arrow split the air.
The Old Drunkard narrowed his eyes, executed a clean backflip, and neatly dodged the shot.
"Hey now, no need to be so hasty. Whatever it is, we can talk it out."
The Old Drunkard smiled amiably at Lin Tianhao.
"Whatever the Old Village Chief is offering you, I can match it."
As he spoke, the Old Drunkard placed his wine gourd in front of Lin Tianhao.
"Have a drink, then leave the novice village. Whatever grudges exist here — none of it has anything to do with you two."
Ding. "The Old Drunkard has issued you a quest."
"Quest Requirement: Drink one cup of wine and immediately leave the novice village."
"Quest Penalty: None."
"Quest Reward: Free Attribute Points +50."
Lin Tianhao and Shadow Slayer exchanged a glance, and both saw the shock mirrored in each other's eyes.
The reason was simple.
The reward the Old Drunkard was offering was absurdly generous.
From a certain perspective, it even exceeded their wildest expectations.
Other players had to complete the Old Village Chief's exit-village quest just to leave the novice village.
These two only needed to take a single sip of wine.
And on top of that, they'd receive such an extraordinary reward.
Fifty free attribute points — equivalent to gaining ten whole levels.
"As for your quest penalty, don't worry about that either. After drinking my wine, you'll be teleported out of the novice village on the spot."
"The Old Village Chief won't be able to apply any quest penalty to you."
Lin Tianhao knew the Old Drunkard was telling the truth.
The quest was simple, and the reward was generous.
Yet he still hesitated.
The reason was straightforward.
His two Quest Scrolls — if completed, they would grant the blessing of the gods. Even the worst possible outcome from those would likely surpass what was being offered here.
Shadow Slayer hesitated only briefly before accepting the quest.
He had never intended to stay involved any further.
Now that such a clean way out had presented itself, he had no reason to refuse.
Shadow Slayer drank the wine and left the novice village.
The Old Drunkard smiled at Lin Tianhao. "And you?"
Lin Tianhao didn't answer. Instead, he nocked an arrow and drew his bow.
Whoosh!
The arrow split the air.
A cold gleam flashed in the Old Drunkard's eyes. "What on earth did the Old Village Chief give you, that you'd go this far for him?"
As the words fell, the Old Drunkard spat a mouthful of Spirits from his lips.
The Spirits transformed mid-air into a flying sword, which streaked toward Lin Tianhao in the blink of an eye.
Lin Tianhao swatted the flying sword aside with his longbow, simultaneously rolling to the side.
The entire sequence flowed like water — not a single opening to exploit.
He immediately nocked another arrow and drew again.
The battle had begun!
Lin Tianhao knew very little about the Old Drunkard — his stats, his skills — none of it was known to him.
Earlier, upon completing a quest, Lin Tianhao had received twenty free attribute points, and he had once again put all of them into Move Speed.
His Move Speed had increased by another 2 points.
His Attack Speed was already sufficient for this stage of the game.
In fact, his damage output was so high that even his current Attack Speed of over 3 couldn't fully be utilized.
Move Speed had become the primary stat Lin Tianhao needed to develop going forward.
As long as his Move Speed was high enough, his kiting ability would see a massive improvement.
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Lin Tianhao kept up a relentless barrage of attacks. Rather than chasing pure damage, his priority was to prevent the Old Drunkard from landing any hits of his own.
However.
The Old Drunkard's combat experience was far richer than Lin Tianhao had anticipated.
He splashed wine from his gourd across the ground, then tossed a fire-starter into it.
Flames engulfed Lin Tianhao.
There was no way to dodge.
-921.
-921.
-921.
The burn damage ticked on relentlessly. Lin Tianhao felt his scalp go numb —
because the flames scorched him for a full eight seconds!
Over seven thousand HP vanished into thin air just like that.
Lin Tianhao created distance and launched a Twisted String Shot.
He needed to send the Old Drunkard airborne — only then could he rapidly shred the Old Drunkard's HP through aerial combo damage.
The Old Drunkard caught Lin Tianhao's intent. He used his wine gourd to deflect the incoming arrow, then — to Lin Tianhao's surprise — hurled the gourd directly at him.
Lin Tianhao's heart lurched. He dodged immediately.
He had already put as much distance between them as he could.
But his Move Speed still wasn't enough. The gourd detonated five meters in front of him.
Boom!
A thunderous explosion rang out.
The shockwave from the gourd's blast sent Lin Tianhao flying.
-8520.
A massive damage number appeared above Lin Tianhao's head, and his HP bar plummeted in an instant.
Before Lin Tianhao could even fall back to the ground, the Old Drunkard appeared beneath him like a blur.
Thud!
The Old Drunkard drove an upward punch straight into Lin Tianhao's gut, launching him high into the air.
-1029.
Airborne and unable to attack, Lin Tianhao refused to take it lying down.
He instantly swapped to his main weapon set, and the complete Iron-Grade Treant Set materialized on his body.