Chapter 433 - 405: Arrow Skill Exam, A Lifetime’s Future!
(Note: Correction from the previous Chapter, each level of Leadership Skill increases the Basic Commanding Ability by 10%.)
Watching Little Li log into the game so adeptly, Da Fei couldn’t help but exclaim, "Little Li, you’re really skilled at this!"
Little Fang snorted coldly, "What did you think? Everything Little Li does, she’s always the top student!"
Is this the rhythm of becoming a family? Da Fei laughed: "Clearly, it’s my Little Li, okay!"
Little Li responded irritably, "Bro, pay attention. Little Fang is teaching you hands-on with her own machine. After you learn, go to your own place. You are not allowed in this room afterward!"
Little Fang laughed, "That’s right, no entry allowed!"
Da Fei said with a wry smile, "Yes, yes, your brother will learn diligently, learn diligently!" Humph, once I turn Little Fang into family, I’d be able to enter, right?
With guidance from Little Fang, Da Fei quickly "learned" a series of basic operations like forming a team, following, trading, adding friends, sending messages, etc. Then, under the lead of Little Li’s character "Blood Arrow Linglong," who was also an archer, Da Fei first went to talk to an Execution Officer in the town, and then reported to the Militia Captain at a Watchtower outside of town.
The Militia Captain said with satisfaction, "You’re just in time. Our messenger is sick, and there’s been a backlog of letters and supplies for three days. You’ll help send them."
——System Prompt: You have received the quest [Taking Over for the Sick Messenger].
——Task Hint: The sick messenger has a backlog of three days’ worth of letters. There must be no further delays. You must deliver them as soon as possible.
Ah, there’s nothing much to say; the first task for newcomers is always running errands. Anyway, with Little Li leading the way, Da Fei was happy to go along with it.
However, seeing Little Li’s familiarity with the route, not even looking back as she delivered the letters, Da Fei couldn’t help but laugh, "Little Li, you know this place well, huh?"
Little Fang laughed, "What do you think? We studied this all day yesterday! We optimized the route to every NPC’s address; this task is time-sensitive!"
Little Li said sternly, "Don’t talk! It distracts me!"
The two immediately fell silent. Inside, Da Fei chuckled to himself, thinking that studying a new player’s task for a whole day was quite something. Well, I can only slowly train them up over time, raise their horizons.
When the first series of errand-running was completed, Da Fei triumphantly reached Level 2 and received the reward of two archers and some Gold Coins from the Militia Captain.
Da Fei’s eyebrows twitched! That’s not right, rewarding two Level 2 soldiers right from the start of a new player’s mission? Skipping the Level 1 Long Spear Soldiers directly? Well, since this is Strong Crossbow Town, it must be the local feature. After all, I’m a "newbie" who knows nothing right now; let it be.
Little Fang chuckled, "Leveled up, huh? Now Big Bro can upgrade to Intermediate Leadership Skill, add attribute points to Attack."
Da Fei nodded in acknowledgment, "Understood, understood."
Little Li said solemnly, "Hurry up and accept the next quest, we need to hit the road!"
Da Fei agreed with a laugh, "Okay, okay!"
Then, after another round of errands, Da Fei received a few praises from the townsfolk, and a reward of three Command Power points. So, this is how ordinary players’ Command Power is obtained, truly effortless. Da Fei couldn’t help but remember the frustrating days of leveling up on a deserted island. Back then, to get 3 points of Command Power, one could only advance three levels, and even with Command Power, it was useless without a place to recruit soldiers.
Then he went back to report to the captain, and the captain rewarded him with two more archers and some Gold Coins.
Da Fei’s eyebrows twitched again. Now he had a total of four archers, plus himself made five! That’s not right! Even though archers are criticized for accuracy issues, quantity could make up for everything. Now with the firepower of five archers at Level 2, it was enough to form a formidable force! He could beat a lot of monsters now! Isn’t this start for an ordinary player a bit too strong?
Alright, since I know nothing, I’ll just keep running errands.
After another loop of errand tasks, Da Fei reached Level 3 and was rewarded by the captain with two more Command Power points and two archers.
Holy shit! Counting myself, that makes seven archers now, enough to sweep through! Da Fei laughed, "Continue to add Attack, continue upgrading Leadership Skill?"
Little Fang nodded and said seriously, "Right, now you can take on the last quest."
At this moment, the Militia Captain, invigorated, patted Da Fei’s shoulder, "To finish three days’ worth of work within a day, you’re really a clever and astute lad. Recently, the town fortress has released a few exam spots for recruitment. I recommend you go to the fortress in town to take the Arrow Skill test. As long as your team can score over 60 points on the target shooting without any equipment bonuses, you’ll receive a special reward. This could affect your entire career, don’t miss this opportunity!"
——System Prompt: You have received the Militia Captain’s recommendation letter, you’ve obtained the promotion quest [Arrow Skill Test, A Career for Life]!
——Task Hint: Exam Rule 1, must not exceed Level 5. Rule 2, must use archers. Rule 3, no equipment use allowed. Rule 4, you and your troops have only one chance to shoot at the target. Rule 5, each target has three rings; the bullseye is worth 10 points, the middle ring 7 points, the outer ring 5 points, missing the target scores 0, a total score of 60 points is a pass.
A promotion quest! Must not exceed Level 5? Holy shit, what’s going on here? Has all this errand-running been a hidden task? No wonder I’ve always felt there was something off about these quest rewards. Where did they extract this strategy from?
Little Fang asked, "Big Bro, how much Command Power do you have now?"
Only then did Da Fei come back to his senses, "I have 10 points!"
Little Fang chuckled, "Not enough, this archery test can only be passed with a strong force, pull out the big guns!"
Da Fei was taken aback, 10 points still not enough? A regular player who levels up normally to level 3 Command Power would only have 2 points, only able to lead two soldiers, right? My specialty is Leadership Skill, born with 1 point of Command Power, and then after several rounds of running errands and various command rewards plus the 30% boost from high-level Leadership Skill, I’ve reached a realm far beyond what my peers could hope for! And that’s still not enough?
Little Li then said, "Bro, initiate the trade!"
A trade window popped up in front of Da Fei, and suddenly two Skill Books appeared inside!
Skill Books! And there are two of them!!!
Da Fei’s eyelids twitched wildly! Holy crap! How could they possibly have such high-class stuff! Where did it come from? Are they newbies who just got their machines yesterday? Or were these gifted by some other sucker?
Amidst his shock, Little Fang chuckled and said, "Bro, by using these two books you’ll get two Skill Points, then you can upgrade your Leadership Skill to Master Level, which will give you a total of 12 points of Command Power. Then Little Li will trade your soldiers to you, bro, allowing you to take a full squad of 12 soldiers to the test."
Holy moly! Using the two Skill Books is just to increase the Command Power by 2 points! Suppressing the surge of blood to his throat, Da Fei exclaimed in astonishment, "But the rules say you can take the test as long as you’re not over level 5, right? I can level up to 5 and use the system’s reward Skill Points to upgrade my skills, right? And leveling up to 5 gives me two more points of Command Power."
Little Fang shook her head, "Although the test requirement is not exceeding level 5, the lower the level, the higher the bonus points. Therefore, it’s most cost-effective to go at level 3. Anyway, the test is about shooting moving targets. Bro, don’t worry about anything, just let the troops shoot automatically. With so many soldiers, as long as there aren’t a large number of misses, passing might not be a problem."
Little Li nodded in agreement, "As long as they don’t miss, with 12 soldiers the lowest score would be 60 points."
Damn it! I can do this elementary math!
Da Fei hurriedly asked, "Then what’s the reward for this task?" You’re playing around with two Skill Books on a side account, do you even realize how many months’ worth of salary those are worth to you?
Little Fang shook her head with a wry smile, "Don’t know, both Little Li and I failed! I failed at level 5."
Da Fei was astonished, "Failed?"
Little Li said gravely, "So, bro, after failing twice, we finally summed up the experience needed for success. It’s all on you now."
So that’s how it is! Fine, just two Skill Books. Regardless of which sucker gave them, now that I’m here, others should stop having any improper thoughts!
Now, with Da Fei upgraded to Master Level Leadership Skill and leading a full squad of 12 archers, he arrived at the gates of the fortress in Strong Crossbow Town under Little Li’s guidance.
This place is a renowned archer production base of the Lionheart Empire. Normally players aren’t allowed to enter, but Da Fei, with his recommendation letter, was an exception and thus could enter.
Guided by the guards, Da Fei arrived at a shooting range.
An One-eyed General hero named Gandor tore open the recommendation letter and casually remarked, "Another candidate? Then let me witness it, let the test begin!"
With a flag signal from the guard, a target appeared in front of the firing range, moving side to side at human running speed!
The guard shouted, "Aim!!!"
Da Fei tensed up inside, damn! Both at extreme distance and such a fast speed, with such a crappy type of soldiers under me, what kind of pro shooter is needed to hit the target?
Little Fang and Little Li, watching the external display, were also nervous, "Big bro, come on!"
Good lord! Just gonna let fate decide and step on it, right? Leave it to the computer’s auto-shooting!
The guard shouted loudly, "Fire!!!"
——Swoosh swoosh swoosh! Thirteen arrows whistled through the air! And then Da Fei immediately saw six big misses!
What a letdown!!!
From afar, a guard shouted, "45 points!"
——Gah! Da Fei almost spat out a mouthful of blood! How could I face wasting those two Skill Books!
In a hurry, Little Fang said, "There’s still a chance! Big brother has the advantage of level bonus points! Let’s hear what the NPC has to say."
The One-eyed General watched the distant targets for a long while, then came up to Da Fei, patted his shoulder and admired, "Those who pass the test on their first try are geniuses, and those who achieve a fairly good score on their first try are talented. Geniuses are hard to come by, but what we need in the military is talent, lots of talent. Your score is not bad, I’ve decided to promote you exceptionally!"
A ray of golden light descended from the sky!
——System Prompt: Congratulations! You have completed the promotion task "Archery Test, the Road Ahead in Life." You have acquired a new specialty: Archer Specialization.
——Archer Specialization: For every 2 levels the hero levels up, the archer’s attack and defense increase by 1 point each.
......
Little Fang and Little Li cheered aloud with excitement, "Success!"
And Da Fei was stunned, speechless! A reward specialty? Now my alt account has dual specialties! Damn, this is truly a lifelong prospect; is this alt account also meant to defy the heavens? (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it with recommendation tickets and monthly tickets at qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)