Chapter 4: Gear Drop!

The Dark Veil was a support skill, and its usefulness wasn't immediately apparent, so Xia Er set it aside for the time being.

The remaining two — Undead Summoning and Ember Fire — were both active skills. The latter in particular dealt high damage and felt comfortable to use...

After a moment's thought, Xia Er ultimately decided to spend his skill point on the third skill.

[Skill point used.]

[Skill: Ember Fire Lv.1 → Lv.2]

[Details: MP cost increased by 100. Maximum lock-on targets increased from 3 to 5. Damage slightly increased.]

Not bad at all.

Xia Er really needed to boost his area-of-effect damage right now.

Players weren't stupid — they usually came in groups to clear dungeons, with the front row acting as tanks to draw aggro while the back row dealt damage. Increasing the skill's range would help counter that kind of formation.

He closed the panel.

Xia Er turned to his four lieutenants and instructed them: "Even though this batch of adventurers has been wiped out, more will keep coming. Stay alert and notify me the moment you spot any."

"Understood, Lord Xia Er."

Avril was the first to respond. She bowed slightly and held out a ring and a set of plate armor. "These are the items dropped by the adventurers who just died."

"Oh, we got some gear drops."

Xia Er muttered to himself as his eyes swept over the two items.

[Shuojin Plate Armor — Blue]

[Craft: Fine]

[Description: Plate armor forged from Shuojin. Extremely high defense, though somewhat heavy. Suited for Warriors.]

"A Warrior-compatible piece of gear..."

After reading the details, Xia Er glanced at Tienu, who was standing there with his muscles completely bare, and silently tossed the armor over. "Tienu, this fits you. Put it on."

Tienu didn't hesitate — he immediately donned the plate armor, his joy plain for all to see.

Watching the man's excited reaction, Xia Er was momentarily at a loss for words.

The game designers really had no heart.

He was at least a minor boss, yet they couldn't even be bothered to give him a decent piece of equipment.

After grumbling internally for a moment, he shifted his gaze to the ring.

[Arcane Power Ring — Orange]

[Craft: Low]

[Description: A ring discovered in some unknown treasure chest, brimming with surging magical power.]

[Special Bonus: Your MP will increase by 1,000 points.]

[Note: This is the blessing of Lady Luck upon you new adventurers.]

"Hiss..."

"There's actually something good here?"

Xia Er was a little surprised.

In Oracle, the quality of equipment was typically judged by two criteria: "grade" and "craft."

Color represented the item's grade, ranging from lowest to highest: White, Blue, Purple, Gold, and Orange. Grade determined the item's floor, while craft level determined its ceiling.

Although this ring's craft level was extremely low, the Orange grade still provided a very impressive bonus.

Embarrassingly enough...

As a Domain Lord, Xia Er didn't have a single Orange-grade item on him — not even a Gold one.

Being a starter boss really was a pitiful existence.

After pocketing the ring, Xia Er returned to the castle and began thinking through his next steps.

Staying holed up in this domain forever clearly wasn't an option.

His domain was just one of many dungeons. While he could block some players' progress for now, players could simply go elsewhere to grind.

Given enough time, killing him would be as easy as child's play.

So, beyond simply growing stronger, there was another critically important matter facing Xia Er.

He needed to find a way to break the Soul Contract.

On that front, the best-case scenario would be to go directly to the Witch and have her dissolve it — but convincing her to do so was the real challenge. After all, according to the backstory, he was nothing more than an ordinary Domain Lord.

"This is going to be tough..."

Xia Er let out a quiet sigh as he sat in his chair.

* * *

Meanwhile.

At the respawn point in the novice adventurer village, a large wave of players reviving at once immediately drew the attention of the crowd.

"What happened?"

"Got wiped out grinding mobs."

"Where? That sounds terrifying."

"The Undead Territory."

"Don't go there, whatever you do. If you must, only grind the outer area. The moment you push inside, all four mini-bosses plus the main boss come charging at you together. It's absolutely broken."

The dead players were venting nonstop. They'd gone in following a guide, hoping to get ahead of the pack, and ended up dying for it.

But...

The ones who were truly suffering couldn't even bring themselves to speak.

Take Li Shen, for instance — he was crouched in a corner, completely dazed.

He'd planned to use his above-average skills to lead a party and earn some extra cash on the side. Instead, he'd dropped three levels straight.

But that wasn't even the worst of it.

Just moments ago, Qiu Yue had sent him a message.

The Orange-grade ring had dropped upon her death.

This was no small matter.

Even with its low craft level, an Orange-grade item during the current early-access period was practically a godly artifact. Even if it became obsolete later, it could be salvaged for materials — and she had paid a fortune to buy it from a lucky player.

As the party leader, Li Shen clearly bore most of the responsibility. After all, the plan to seek out the lieutenants had been his idea.

"Phew..."

After taking a deep breath, Li Shen sent her a message:

Li Shen: [Sis Qiu Yue, who does it show as your killer after you died?]

Qiu Yue: [Undead Archmage.]

Li Shen: [Got it, Sis Qiu Yue. I'll get the ring back as soon as possible.]

Qiu Yue: [Waiting for your news.]

Reading her reply, Li Shen's eyes gradually hardened with resolve.

In Oracle, when a particularly high-grade piece of equipment dropped, there was a "holding" mechanic — meaning the dropped item would be held by the monster that killed the player. As long as that monster was slain, the item was guaranteed to drop.

Thanks to this mechanic, all he had to do was take down the Undead Archmage boss before any other players could, and the problem would be solved.

After thinking it over, Li Shen opened the forum, quietly typed into a voice channel, and found four people waiting inside.

These four were players he'd met during the closed beta — all of them very familiar with Oracle. Once the official server launched, they'd naturally banded together to form an early-access clearing squad.

"You done with your thing, Li Shen? We're almost at level thirty."

"Brothers, I messed up big."

"What happened?"

Faced with their questions, Li Shen didn't hide anything and told them everything that had just happened.

"Undead Archmage..."

"Oh, right — that starter boss where you farm Pure Souls."

"Easy, buddy. Wait for us to come back, and we'll go clear that guy out."