049 The Second Shapeshifter!

Baru, the fierce warrior, was quite famous throughout the gaming world, known for hunting down magic rings everywhere. He had already consumed twenty magic rings with his own ring, nearly pushing the magical ring’s power to its limit. The upper limit for magic rings was eighty-eight. In the first phase of competition, consuming twenty-two magic rings with each ring reached the maximum attributes of the magic ring. At this level, the rings were already powerful enough in terms of attributes, skills, and additional effects; even the final fusion would not be overwhelmingly strong. For example, the Blood Magic Ring of Morning Wind granted a 22% chance to be immune to all damage, with the maximum cap at 25%. Beyond that, further enhancement only added some auxiliary effects.

The Vanished Secret Chamber and the Cobra Organization were currently targeting Baru and the Amazon Squad. They seemed intent on collecting the magic rings. The task of dealing with the exhausting Morning Wind and Outres was assigned to the Acid Rain Organization. Morning Wind and Outres also had Baru as their target—his magic ring was simply too powerful and had to be taken down first. News had also reached Outres; the Dragon Knight and Gao Yunyun were hunting Baru. At this point, Baru was a player wanted by magic ring wielders worldwide.

Magic ring wielders hunted Baru, and Baru hunted them in return! Who hunted whom depended on who was stronger and who had the better strategy. Baru didn’t play the patience game like Morning Wind; he thrived on excitement. The more intense it was, the better his state became.

Matilaca Forest, a tropical rainforest in District 31, was the frequent hunting ground for the Amazon Squad. Morning Wind, Outres, and Stan had already infiltrated the forest, preparing for a game of hide-and-seek with them. This deep incursion was meant to lure Baru out.

Baru loved ambushes. During battles, he often sneaked in to deliver finishing blows and snatch magic rings. Outres planned to confront the Amazon Squad in Matilaca Forest to draw Baru out. Not only did Outres feel the risk, but even Morning Wind thought his approach was reckless. But only by placing themselves in danger could they draw out Baru and destroy his super ring that had swallowed twenty magic rings. If it had only consumed a few magic rings, Morning Wind wouldn’t have risked it; but for a ring with twenty, he was willing to take the chance.

“Crow, according to the info, the captain of the Amazon Squad has the same class as your alt—both are Shapeshifters! I thought hidden classes were unique?” Outres finally uncovered the mystery about the Amazon Squad. The impressive captain had the same profession as Morning Wind—a Shapeshifter.

“Shapeshifter? Not a unique class?” Morning Wind was puzzled. He hadn’t expected anyone else to share his alt’s class.

Stan was not surprised like Morning Wind. “Morning Wind’s Shapeshifter is a special class from the tribe side; perhaps others can acquire it too. Only certain hidden classes are unique. Your Shapeshifter alt isn’t unique.”

Only now did Morning Wind realize his alt’s hidden class wasn’t unique—Shapeshifters weren’t exclusive to him. Many others possessed it?

“This is ridiculous! Someone else has my alt’s class? Isn’t that unfair?” Morning Wind wanted to curse. He had thought the class was exclusive, but others played it even better, which he couldn’t accept. The Shapeshifter class was incredibly powerful for quests; if used well, it was almost broken.

“Crow, to be precise, your class’s proper name is Druid. Yours is a special variant that can transform into a crow, while normally they turn into falcons,” Outres explained, having more complete information. Morning Wind’s Shapeshifter alt was indeed called a Druid, but his hidden class was a special variant with some skill differences. Typically, Druids took falcon form, not crow form. Also, the cheetah form was usually on all fours, not standing upright.

“So my Shapeshifter alt is second-rate?” Morning Wind’s eyes widened. Falcons surely moved faster than crows—how could his hidden class have such a disparity?

“I think your class might be a mutated Druid. Although crows are slower, their stealth effect is definitely better than falcons. Besides, your cheetah form can stand and attack, which is an advantage. Maybe it’s even better!” Stan thought Morning Wind’s hidden class was lucky. Crow was just a supportive form; slower speed didn’t matter, and having a combat form advantage was better. Morning Wind was wrong to call himself second-rate; to Stan, he was top-notch.

Hearing Stan’s words, Morning Wind felt better, though it still felt strange that others shared his alt’s class.

When the three arrived at a ruin in Matilaca Forest, Morning Wind suddenly recalled something. He had been here before, assassinating a treasure-hunting player who was overly excited and careless after finding treasure inside the ruin. As Morning Wind threw a spatial blast bead to shatter space and teleport, a scroll drifted out, causing him to hesitate. He thought he was lucky to have a divine-level scroll drop from a spatial blast bead.

That time, Morning Wind had obtained the scroll and a pile of items, making a small fortune. The ancient divine-level scroll was stored in a special scroll tube, which survived the spatial turbulence and got stuck in a gap, later blasted out by the bead. The scroll had been handed over to the organization, so Morning Wind never got to use it. If it could drop again, it would be valuable. As for the other treasures in the ruin, Morning Wind was unsure.

“Watch the wind here for me. I’m going inside the ruin to find something.” Morning Wind almost forgot the divine scroll here. Luckily, he’d brought some spatial blast beads from District 3; otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to retrieve the scroll even if he knew about it.

Since history was already changed, he didn’t mind changing it again, and he stepped toward the side of the ancient statue in the ruin. Outres and Stan didn’t know what Morning Wind was up to but stood by to watch the situation unfold.

There was an entrance on the side of the statue, likely leading to treasure, but it was heavily trapped. Morning Wind had explored a bit before and fled, preferring to ambush from outside. This time, he had no intention of going for the treasure—dying inside would be tragic.

Boom!

Just as Morning Wind threw a spatial blast bead, an explosion startled Outres and Stan. Both rushed over to see what had happened. Outres cursed, “Crow, you’re supposed to ambush the Amazon Squad quietly, and you make such a huge scene! Are you afraid no one will know we’re here?”

A cylindrical object about half a meter long flew out of the space and landed in Morning Wind’s hand, who quickly tucked it into his bag, worried others might see and greedily try to snatch it. The scroll tube was indeed stuck there, and throwing the blast bead in that direction blasted it out.

“Crow, are you crazy?” Outres yelled.

With an ancient divine-level scroll in front of him, Morning Wind felt that even if the Amazon Squad discovered it, it wouldn’t matter. Besides, Matilaca Forest was vast, and they might not be nearby. Morning Wind smiled and said, “I just discovered something and detonated the space. There’s a passage inside this ancient statue, probably leading to a treasure.”

He casually pressed a brick on the side of the statue. Suddenly, the smooth stone body trembled, revealing a human-sized entrance. Dwarves Outres and Stan’s eyes widened in surprise. They hadn’t expected Morning Wind to uncover such a secret entrance; without a quest or map, it would be impossible to find.

“Crow, you’re amazing! You discovered such a mysterious treasure entrance. Personally, I have no special hobbies except exploring and treasure hunting!” Outres loved adventure and treasure hunting—it was his strength. Imagining a treasure vault beneath the statue excited him.

Stan knew there were many small and large treasures on the world map, often discussed in forums, but he had never been so lucky until today. Last time, he and Outres had raided the Abyss Murloc treasure vault; now, they had another chance—it was definitely a profitable day.

“Matilaca’s treasure is here!” Suddenly, a hunter jumped out of a flicker-space gate, instantly using a dispersal shot to paralyze Stan. A swamp crocodile charged at Outres, knocking him out with a coercion ram.

Having controlled two players immediately after emerging from space, the attacker turned to Morning Wind, forcing him to raise his shield to block the hunter’s arrow. As the female hunter shot, Morning Wind spun around, using his back to absorb the arrow. His left hand struck the air with a shield slam, sending an elven rogue stumbling back two steps.

Shockwave!

If the rogue had successfully ambushed from behind, Morning Wind’s past as a psychic assassin would have been wasted. He spun and unleashed a shockwave at the hunter, forcing her to retreat. Taking advantage of this, Morning Wind summoned his Dark Rhino Warrior to attack the elven rogue while charging toward the female hunter.

“The warrior is strong! Requesting backup!” The hunter leapt back as her lion-man pet intercepted Morning Wind’s charge. Killing Morning Wind quickly by just the hunter and rogue was impossible. Other Amazon Squad members poured out of the space gate.

Elven Druid, Elven Beastmaster Hunter, Elven Keen Rogue, Elven Discipline Priest, and Elven Protection Warrior—all pure elf race, a hallmark of the Amazon Squad. Their captain, the Elven Druid, possessed a teleportation ability, allowing rapid deployment and ambush. Earlier, she instantly teleported the hunter and rogue here.

Mastery of space!

This spatial gate wasn’t a skill but a psychic ability, creating a portal for teammates to traverse. The range depended on psychic control. Such a power was incredibly potent in reality—bullets could even be passed through space and reflected back at attackers. It was a pity the elven druid wasted such power in a game.

Now Morning Wind understood why the Cobra Organization’s spirits couldn’t kill the Amazon Squad—it was entirely due to their elven druid’s psychic ability. This was an immensely powerful traversal power, enabling coordinated team kills like shadows.