"Damn, that's expensive!"
Yang Tao held a map of the three locations: Blood Moor, Cold Plains, and Stony Field, which was a free gift for spending over two thousand gold coins.
A staff with +2 Raise Skeleton actually sold for 1800 gold coins. This single transaction not only completely drained all the gold he had earned but also cost him a massive amount of EMC.
The crucial point was that the staff's resale value was only one-sixth of its selling price.
300 gold coins.
'When it comes to business, Akara is the one! Could the Blind Eye she worships also have the divine power of a shady merchant?'
After grumbling about Akara for a while, Yang Tao walked to the gate leading to the Blood Moor.
"Sir, are you preparing to go out for training?"
Hearing the voice, Yang Tao finally snapped out of the shadow of being scammed and looked at the Rogue Archer who spoke.
It was Kyoko, whom he had met last night.
"Yes, after a night's rest, it's time to go out and improve myself."
A look of envy appeared in Kyoko's eyes. If there was one major difference between a professional and a mercenary, it was that mercenaries only had equipment slots and no backpack.
If they wanted to go out, they had to follow a professional; otherwise, even daily life would be a problem. After all, carrying necessities like food, clothing, shelter, and transportation, let alone fighting monsters, even just traveling would be difficult.
Kyoko looked behind Yang Tao and noticed that no other professionals had followed him. With a hint of confusion on her face, she asked, "Sir, where are your teammates? Aren't they with you?"
She obviously mistook the professionals from yesterday as his teammates.
"I'm just by myself. I plan to explore the Blood Moor first, level up a bit, and then look for teammates."
"Oh, then, Sir, please be careful and don't stray too far from the path. The further you go, the more monsters there will be."
Yang Tao smiled at her words.
Wasn't this clearly telling him to stay away from the main road?
"Okay, I understand. Thank you."
With that, Yang Tao strode quickly towards the depths of the Blood Moor. After he left, several Rogue archers guarding the Rogue Encampment city gate began chatting animatedly:
"It's been a long time since I've seen a Necromancer! That aura of death is really too oppressive. Kyoko, you're amazing, I didn't even dare to speak just now."
"Yeah, yeah, my mind is full of thoughts of dissection right now, it's really too scary."
Kyoko glared at the two of them and said, "You two shut up! Don't gossip behind a professional's back. Regardless, he is a professional, a hero on the front lines."
One Rogue Archer shrank her neck and said, "I just speak too quickly! I respect professionals very much. If a professional needs me to warm his bed at night, I'll wash myself clean in the morning…"
Her words provoked teasing from the others: "You little hussy, you don't have to wait until night. When your shift ends in a bit, you can wash up and wait for me."
Rogue archers eat, sleep, and train together. In this precarious life, this group of Rogues is even more uninhibited than female soldiers in a military camp!
Especially among themselves, dirty jokes flew freely.
…
Deep in the Blood Moor.
"How is it? I'm not asking you to make the stats too overpowered, just make its size bigger."
Yang Tao looked expectantly at his general: Tinkers Construct Blacksmith.
Tinkers Construct Blacksmith held a staff only the size of an ordinary person's forearm. Its style was very much like a wand from the Harry Potter world, except that the Necromancer's staff had metal wrapped around both ends, inlaid with red gems the size of glass beads.
Hearing Yang Tao's words, Tinkers Construct Blacksmith's square face showed a thoughtful expression. After a moment, he said, "I reckon it's not a big problem, and I can also learn the power contained within this wand…"
"Brave sir, please wait a moment."
With that, Tinkers Construct Blacksmith took out an anvil from his backpack and placed it on the grass, then took out some materials and placed them on the anvil.
Finally, he placed the staff on it, took out that 80-pound iron hammer, and under Yang Tao's nervous gaze, Tinkers Construct Blacksmith struck it hard.
Ding… Ding… Ding…
After three hammer strikes, the staff's appearance underwent a drastic change. The staff, which was originally only finger-thick, now had a diameter of two and a half fingers.
The metal on both ends extended much further, and there were even anti-slip patterns on the grip.
Tinkers Construct Blacksmith picked up the staff from the anvil and handed it back to Yang Tao.
Yang Tao took it and immediately scanned its attributes, instantly dumbfounded.
Staff
Attack: 4-8
Durability: 25/25
Level Requirement: 1
+50% Damage to Undead
+3 Raise Skeleton
+5 Fire Damage
Holy cow!!
Yang Tao looked at the staff in his hand, then at the calm Tinkers Construct Blacksmith. These attributes…
One must know that this broken staff, which cost him 1800 gold coins before, only had 2-4 attack and +2 Raise Skeleton. Now, not only was the damage doubled, but even the Raise Skeleton level increased by one, and it also came with an additional 5 points of fire damage.
"I really didn't misjudge you!!"
Yang Tao reached out and patted Tinkers Construct Blacksmith's shoulder. Tinkers Construct Blacksmith calmly said, "The upper limit of this weapon is here. If you want to further improve its attributes, you need a better base item. Forcibly upgrading it will only cause this weapon to break."
Yang Tao nodded lightly. Generally, this lowest-grade staff only adds 1-3 skills, and the highest skill level is usually 3.
Of course, this is only theoretical. He had never seen a staff with all three skills at +3. The best staff he had seen was, at most, one with +3 Raise Skeleton and +2 Skeleton Mastery.
"I understand. Don't worry, when I get higher-level weapons and equipment, I'll let you study them thoroughly."
Tinkers Construct Blacksmith nodded lightly. The more different equipment he came into contact with, the stronger his abilities would become.
"Then, Sir Brave, I'll go back first. Call me if you need anything."
Watching Tinkers Construct Blacksmith open the wooden door and return to the Overworld, Yang Tao took out the advanced enchanting table and placed it on the ground.
"Advanced Looting 3 plus… Hmm, since it's a melee weapon, I'll add Durability 3 as well. Saving a little energy is still saving energy."
As a special sound echoed from the advanced enchanting table, a brand new staff was completed.
Yang Tao held the staff, feeling quite spirited.
"Time to find a monster and try it out."
He took out the map and glanced in the direction of the Den of Evil.
"Heading towards the Den of Evil… Hmm, I'll take a slight detour. The monsters on the straight path must have been cleared out."
Throwing the map back into his backpack, Yang Tao sprinted wildly. Without stamina limitations, he seemed like he was cheating in the eyes of other professionals.
Roar…
A familiar sound and a familiar figure. Yang Tao immediately rushed towards the wandering Zombie with his staff.
Very skillfully, he kicked it to the ground, then swung the staff in his hand and smashed it hard onto the Zombie's decaying head.
One hit, two hits… As some gold coins flew out, the Zombie's health was easily depleted by Yang Tao.
8 points of damage plus +50% damage to undead creatures equals 12 points, with an additional 5 points of fire damage.
Killing this 30-health Zombie in two hits was within expectations.
He raised the staff in his hand and aimed it at the corpse on the ground.
"Raise Skeleton!"
Yang Tao watched in astonishment as a Skeleton Warrior holding a wooden sword crawled out of the Zombie's body.
"No, buddy, where's your bow??"
What crawled out was not the traditional Skeleton Warrior from Diablo, but a square, small white skeleton.