Ring of Magnetized Gravity!

"What's wrong? Not fighting anymore?"

Seeing Morning Wind come to a halt, Data Emperor stopped moving as well. In his mind, Morning Wind must have realized he couldn’t win; if the battle dragged on, at best it would end in a draw. With the Wind of Revival, Morning Wind could recover, and Data Emperor’s damage output simply couldn’t keep up. Winning against Morning Wind was impossible.

“How did you figure out which skills I was using?” Morning Wind went straight to the point, eager to know how Data Emperor could anticipate his actions.

“Based on my familiarity with warrior skills and your usual combat style!” Data Emperor had no intention of concealing anything. He was researching data-driven combat, and this match with Morning Wind was simply an experiment. “You rarely fight in the arena; mostly you engage in PK battles in the wild. That means you aim for high damage and high speed. You seldom anticipate your opponent’s moves or reserve your own skills. Clearly, you lack arena experience, making it easy for others to read your actions.”

Lack of arena experience?

Only now did Morning Wind finally understand why he was constantly suppressed by Data Emperor—and why he’d been overwhelmed by Dazzling Starlight before. Morning Wind had always favored wild PK battles and barely fought in the arena. Wild PK battles and arena matches are fundamentally different, yet Morning Wind used the same wild PK approach everywhere, whether in the wild or the arena.

“Wild PK battles are more direct, relying on ambush, sudden burst damage, and escape. If the ambush succeeds but the burst falls short, you can retreat, even flee without getting entangled with the enemy. Arena fights are different; you must determine a winner, and there are many collisions. While burst damage is still crucial, frequent collisions mean more skill usage.” Data Emperor understood Morning Wind’s habits well; Morning Wind always fought wild PK battles and rarely entered arenas. “You pursue instant burst, which is good for team fights—your ability to execute focused kills is strong—but in solo or duo matches, it’s a huge weakness. Your attack methods are too single-minded, your thinking too straightforward. In the arena, beyond momentum, you need to grasp your opponent’s movements and psychology. You also have to ensure your own unpredictability so your opponent can’t guess your next move.”

“Your fighting style is indeed unique; many professional players might not be your match. But against high-end pros, you’re easily suppressed. Like I just did—when your attacks become awkward, you get impatient, wanting to end the fight quickly. The more you do this, the harder it is to win. If someone understands your style, you’ll be led by the nose.”

“If you fought a pro, what are your chances of winning?” Morning Wind felt he’d gained a lot from this match with Data Emperor—at least he now knew his weaknesses in arena combat. When Fallen Meteor and his crew fought him in the arena, it was always mutual bursts; so using wild tactics didn’t matter much. But against experienced pros, they’d have ways to counter him.

Morning Wind had always believed himself invincible—even fighting King of the Wind felt smooth. If not for Dazzling Starlight and Data Emperor, he’d never have realized his flaws.

“That depends on how much I know about them. If I know nothing, my chance of losing is 99%,” Data Emperor looked at Morning Wind, a bit helpless. “I’m a Holy Knight; I generally don’t fight solo. At least 2V2 or more to fully use my strengths.”

“So your strength lies in acting based on knowledge of your opponent’s style? You play data-driven arena matches?” Morning Wind, though rarely in the arena, had heard of such tactics. Data-driven combat relies on understanding the opponent and making predictions, just as Morning Wind had experienced against Data Emperor. Predicting the opponent’s next move and reacting in advance.

Simply put, Data Emperor relies on information. Against pros, he’d be doomed without prior knowledge. Even with it, the arena’s unpredictability makes accurate prediction difficult. Data Emperor could suppress Morning Wind because Morning Wind had a distinct bias—he was used to wild PK battles. But against others, Data Emperor would struggle.

“Data, if you were the healer in a dungeon, could you handle being the main healer?” Morning Wind remembered his team lacked a healer, and Data Emperor seemed promising—especially for the upcoming level 30 ladder rankings.

“Five-man dungeons are no problem at all. As for ten-man dungeons, I’d have to try first.” Currently, only five-man dungeons were available; ten-man dungeons would come with larger maps. Data Emperor hadn’t done ten-man dungeons, so he couldn’t be sure about being the main healer.

“I’ll call you up when there are events!” With a healer on board, leveling, map exploration, and dungeon runs would be much easier. Though he hadn’t recruited a beautiful female healer as Monk had hoped, competence was all that mattered.

After bidding Data Emperor farewell, Morning Wind went once more to the Alchemy Guild’s smelting room. He found the alchemy furnace extinguished, and a ring with a steel-gray sheen lay in the finished goods area.

[Ring of Magnetized Gravity]

Silver Flash, right-hand ring, bound

Equipment requirement: Level 30

+3% critical hit

+6% penetration

Attached skills: [Tenfold Gravity], [Magnetization]

Additional effect: When affected by magnetism or gravity, you can choose whether to accept the effect.

Additional effect: On a successful hit, 10% chance to cause enemy weightlessness, interrupting spellcasting; 10% chance to inflict fivefold gravity on enemy, lasting three seconds; 10% chance to trigger super magnetism, drawing nearby metal towards the enemy for three seconds; 10% chance to cause low magnetism, sending the enemy rushing toward nearby metal objects.

Description: A ring combining gravity and magnetism.

[Tenfold Gravity]: Gravity skill. Causes all objects within a 40-meter radius to endure ten times gravity, reducing movement for six seconds. While active, interrupts spellcasting for all players within 40 meters. Cooldown: 10 minutes. Cost: none.

[Magnetization]: Magnetism skill. Magnetizes two targets within 40 meters, you can choose S-pole or N-pole, lasting six seconds. Same poles repel, opposite poles attract. If heavy metal is nearby, both targets rush toward it. If light metal is present, it flies toward both targets. Cooldown: 10 minutes. Cost: none.

Boosts critical hit and comes with two skills—truly a top-tier item! Whether in the wild or the arena, these two skills greatly enhance Morning Wind’s mobility. The most valuable rings are those with good skills; other effects matter less. Morning Wind was very satisfied with the ring, though it remained to be seen whether it would undergo further synthesis. Even if the ring became more powerful later, losing those two skills would render it useless.

Tenfold Gravity differs from ordinary immobilization skills; it restricts not only movement but also attacks, especially for melee classes. Under tenfold gravity, even raising a weapon becomes difficult—the effect is excellent. Besides affecting movement, tenfold gravity also counters knockback effects, significantly reducing them. Morning Wind’s only dissatisfaction with the skill was its indiscriminate effect—anyone within range is affected, so it must be used judiciously.

Magnetization is also a control skill, imposing magnetism on two targets and temporarily disabling them. Because you can choose S-pole or N-pole, it can be used flexibly. Used well, it’s a divine skill, but it demands quick judgment.

Having successfully synthesized a superb piece of equipment, Morning Wind started thinking about how to bleach the Orichalcum Axe. This weapon could only be used in Blood Dragon mode or when no others were present—even NPCs couldn’t see it, making it inconvenient. As soon as he could convert the Orichalcum Axe into a Rune Sword, the weapon would be bleached and usable.

Morning Wind used the “Dimensional Essence” from his backpack—a device for traversing dimensions, which granted an extra life in the game and an additional dungeon run. He drew War Maniac and the others into his party and said, “Do you have time? Let’s run the ‘Wrath of the Trolls’ dungeon!”

“Damn, you found a male healer. Is his healing enough?” Monk had hoped for a beautiful priestess as the team’s healer, but instead they got a ‘holy dad,’ which seriously dampened Monk’s enthusiasm.

“No need to worry about healing!” Data Emperor was very confident. Though the dungeon was tough, Morning Wind had already cleared it, so there shouldn’t be any issues.

“Let’s go!” War Maniac was a leveling fanatic, eager to reach level 30 and compete with world-class gamers on the big maps. Now that Morning Wind wanted to clear the dungeon, War Maniac was excited. This game was exhilarating, especially the dungeon mechanics and the many techniques needed to battle bosses.

“You guys go ahead; I’ll join after I finish off this wave of Star Squad merchants!” Since returning from the Green Dragon Hills, Monk had been lurking near villages around the main city targeting merchants. Although Monk was considered an expert, he showed none of the airs of one. Star Squad and Divine Battle Guild players had stolen his beast, so he camped their merchants with sneaky tactics that were impossible to guard against!

Better to offend a pro than Monk! Morning Wind had realized just how troublesome Monk could be—Star Squad and Divine Battle Guild were in for trouble. Even Morning Wind found it hard to intercept Monk, let alone other players. Sending a large group to protect merchants meant Monk wouldn’t appear; sending fewer meant poor protection and wasted time. Star Squad’s pro players wouldn’t bother guarding merchants, so Monk was having a field day!

“Hurry up, or we’ll start pulling mobs without you!” Morning Wind ignored Monk, and after teleporting out of the main city, he headed straight for the Wrath of the Trolls dungeon.