087 Preparations Before the Grand Map!

Two Storm Swords—these were even stronger than the previous two Brotherhood Swords. The difference lay in their growth: the Storm Sword was formidable at level 30, while the Brotherhood Sword could be enhanced every five levels. Mornwind noted that the Storm Sword required level 10 before it could be upgraded again. Overall, the effects were not vastly different.

Now, Mornwind possessed a legendary Brotherhood Sword, a hidden trump card. In the larger map, he would encounter many powerful players with magic rings; the stronger one's abilities, the greater the chance of prevailing in the selection for the magic rings.

[Equipment Enhancement Barrier Scroll]: Barrier Scroll. Enhances a piece of equipment to the maximum limit for its level, granting it greater effects. Can simultaneously fortify three pieces of equipment.

The scroll from the treasure chest—Mornwind planned to use it immediately. Preparing before entering the larger map was crucial; the stronger the power, the higher the survival rate. There were numerous ways to level up in the larger map, but each carried significant risks. In ordinary leveling, one might encounter monsters at level 35, sometimes even 40 or 50, despite being in the level 30 zone. These monsters looked identical, making it impossible to distinguish by appearance. Sometimes, tanks could be instantly killed, leading to a total party wipe.

Legendary Brotherhood Sword, Storm Sword, and the Ring of Severe Wounds. The Blood Magic Ring couldn’t be enhanced; it could only be strengthened by consuming other magic rings. The Blood Dragon Ring also couldn’t be enhanced—the volatility of dark gold items was too great for extreme upgrades. Mornwind had considered upgrading the Auric Axe, but its damage was already at its limit; further enhancement would be marginal, and he planned to use it for synthesis later, so upgrading now was pointless. The Magnetized Gravity Ring could also be enhanced, but as a level 30 item needed for later synthesis, the risk of failure was high, and maximizing it now would be premature.

[Brotherhood Sword]
Legendary, Bound, One-Handed Sword
Requirement: Level 30
Damage: 342–456
+90 Strength
+90 Constitution
Effects: Extra 50% damage against Horde enemies; when Horde enemies are within 1000 meters, the sword emits a pale blue glow.
Effects: 25% chance to convert deathblow damage to health; 10% chance to convert received damage to health, max triggers once every 10 seconds.
Effects: 10% chance to freeze enemy in place for 2 seconds; 25% chance to reduce enemy’s movement speed by 40% for 4 seconds; 10% chance to recover 3% of max health when attacking; 25% chance for enemy to take 20% extra nature damage.
Upgrade: Seek Brotherhood Alliance for enhancement.
Description: Become the nightmare of the Horde!

The Brotherhood Sword’s damage had increased, with the first effect’s range expanding from 500 to 1000 meters, the second effect’s chance rising from 7% to 10%, and the trigger interval shortened from 15 to 10 seconds. The third effect remained unchanged. As a plot weapon, its enhancement wasn’t dramatic—perhaps future upgrades would amplify its attributes, but only time would tell.

[Storm Sword]
Epic, One-Handed Sword
Requirement: Level 30
Damage: 295–389
+30 Strength
+15 Agility
Effects: Can conjure an offhand sword with 95% of main sword’s attributes.
Effects: Lightning attacks increased by 25%; critical damage increased by 35%.

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Effects: On critical hits, deals 35% splash damage within 30 meters and slows enemies by 35% for 12 seconds.
Upgrade: Collect tier-4 lightning magic cores and 40 Lightning Essence Stones.
Description: A divine artifact from the storm, its power lost when shattered.

The Storm Sword’s damage had improved; its first effect increased from 90% to 95%, raising its overall damage. The second effect saw a 5% boost for both lightning and critical damage. The third effect expanded the splash range from 20 to 30 meters, splash damage increased to 35%, and the slow effect was also raised to 35%. Overall, the enhancement was moderate—these were, after all, level 30 equipment; at level 60 or when upgraded to legendary, their effects would be much stronger.

[Ring of Severe Wounds]
Epic, Left-Hand Ring
Requirement: Melee class
+3% Critical Chance
+8% Critical Damage
Effects: When dealing damage, reduces enemy’s max health by 10% for 60 seconds, stackable up to 35%.
Effects: On critical hits, next attack’s critical chance increases by 5%, stackable up to 3 times.
Description: Wound your foes mercilessly!

The Ring of Severe Wounds saw the greatest enhancement—critical chance increased by 1%, critical damage by 2%. The first effect was improved from 5% to 10% health reduction, duration extended from 30 to 60 seconds, with max stacking raised from 20% to 35%. The second effect boosted the next attack’s critical chance from 3% to 5%. Its effects had been significantly amplified; if it could be promoted to legendary, this left-hand ring would become truly terrifying.

Of the three enhanced items, only the Brotherhood Sword was bound; the others were not, so in the larger map, encountering players from around the world meant there was a high risk of losing them. Thus, despite his good mood, Mornwind dared not become complacent. In the bigger map, monsters were dangerous, but players were even more so—a lesson Mornwind had learned well.

[Skill Combination Enhancement Scroll]: Enhancement scroll. Choose a skill and combine it with other skills or equipment for a stronger effect.

After enhancing his equipment, Mornwind could also select a skill for combination enhancement. He considered stealth, Iron Body, and Furious Slash. Stealth offered strong support and survivability. Iron Body, a passive skill, was ideal for a berserker-tank role, allowing him to bombard bosses with two weapons. Furious Slash was offensive, but pairing it with equipment might be difficult.

The larger map was dangerous, and the arena demanded high survivability. Tanking was merely Mornwind’s auxiliary talent; he mustn’t lose sight of the bigger picture. As for Furious Slash, it was already at its limit, and further enhancement would yield little. Ultimately, Mornwind chose Stealth for enhancement.

Which skills and equipment should Stealth be combined with? Mornwind decided on Stealth paired with Furious Slash and the Blood Magic Ring, as the ring provided strong stealth and auxiliary effects, and Furious Slash was his primary burst skill.

[Stealth]: Stealth skill. Passive: If you go six seconds without taking or dealing damage, you enter stealth; all detection skills can reveal your stealth effect. Active: Immediately enter stealth and remove all ongoing damage effects. Cooldown: 2 minutes; Cost: None (passive effect can be disabled).

Stealth had gained an additional passive effect, granting on-demand stealth. Mornwind could now enter stealth at will. The passive could be disabled, since entering stealth in certain situations could cause chaos—for instance, if Mornwind was tanking and suddenly went stealth, aggro would instantly shift, creating trouble. Typically, such specialized passive effects could be toggled.

[Blood Magic Ring]
Scattered Divine Item, Right-Hand Ring, Drops on Death
Requirement: None
+5% Lifesteal
+20% Health

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Attached Skills: [Space-Time Traverse], [Strong Stealth]
Effects: 10% chance to be immune to all attacks.
Effects: On critical hits, 25% chance to deal 3.2x critical damage.
Effects: Attacking from stealth always results in a critical hit and grants 20 rage.
Devour: Devour other magic rings to enhance all ring attributes.
Description: Each dimension connected to the Oglas Continent possesses a magic ring.

Furious Slash’s description hadn’t changed, but the Blood Magic Ring’s third attached effect had been modified to synergize with Stealth’s passive: attacks from stealth always crit and grant rage, perfectly aligning with Mornwind’s stealth effect and Furious Slash’s trigger. With the Ring of Severe Wounds boosting critical chance, Mornwind would have endless opportunities for Furious Slash.

Until he completed the four Great Magic Rings, Mornwind would not die. Preparing every aspect was essential before entering the larger map, and he believed all magic ring holders would do the same. For now, Mornwind had already learned of several foreign players with magic rings—he planned to target them once in the larger map. The sooner he acted, the more options he would have; when only four rings remained, his own would be even stronger.

Equipment and skills were no longer a concern; before entering the larger map, Mornwind needed to prepare troop items. The larger map required strategic battles, occupying and defending strongholds with troops.

[Vampire Bat Recruitment Token]: Troop item. Recruit up to four small vampire bats per day, each for five gold. Troop level: 2; Use level: 30.

This was a reward from Mornwind’s world-first kill in the Troll’s Wrath instance; he spent twenty gold recruiting four small vampire bats. Their attributes were low, but their speed was high.

[Small Vampire Bat]: Tier-1 troop. Military strength: 1; Attack: 7; Defense: 8; Speed: 55; Health: 200. Passive: 10% lifesteal. Advancement paths: Large Vampire Bat, Red Vampire Bat.

At level 30, players could claim Alliance badges from the Alliance barracks. Badges were accessories that could remove one control effect, with a two-minute cooldown, similar to the human racial ability. Alliance badges also granted troop effects—at level 30, players could lead twenty military strength, with the cap increasing every five levels. To carry higher-tier troops, the badge itself must be upgraded; ordinary badges could lead up to tier-3 troops.

[Ironclad Shield]: Troop item, Level 2. Troop biological physical defense +18, Morale +1. Grants hero troops an extra +6 defense.

When Mornwind killed the hidden boss in the Troll’s Wrath instance, he obtained a troop item. With this item, all his troops gained extra defense. The troop item slot allowed only six items; players could carry only six troop items.

Now, Mornwind hurried to train with Lin Shanshan and the others; he also needed to train his troops, as the four small vampire bats were too weak and would be easily killed in the larger map. Troop creatures served as auxiliaries; their numbers were large but they weren’t as strong as players. Killing them was easy, but training them was difficult. Mornwind planned to buy them in the future, as self-training consumed too much time. If not for the fact that few people had reached level 30 and could carry troops, he wouldn’t bother training them himself.

After four hours of rapid monster hunting, Mornwind’s four small bats had advanced to two tier-2 Large Vampire Bats and two tier-2 Red Vampire Bats. Troop advancement required massive experience; it wasn’t simply a matter of killing high-level monsters. Troop creatures gained experience based on the player’s level and the monster’s level, making upgrades a lengthy process.

[Large Vampire Bat]: Tier-2 troop. Military strength: 4; Attack: 14; Defense: 10; Speed: 85; Health: 300. Passive: 12% lifesteal. Advancement path: Dark Vampire Bat.

[Red Vampire Bat]: Tier-2 troop. Military strength: 4; Attack: 12; Defense: 11; Speed: 75; Health: 350. Passive: 18% lifesteal. Advancement path: Bloodsucking Vampire Bat.

The Large Vampire Bat had enhanced attack, while the Red Vampire Bat had improved survivability. Each had its own traits. By morning, Mornwind had advanced four troops; in the larger map, he would need to conserve them, for once a troop died it was gone unless revived at a stronghold.

“The larger map, here I come!” Cheng Xue and the others envied Mornwind for reaching level 30 and gaining access to the larger map; they were all striving to level up. They never expected Mornwind had already reached level 30 at noon, but delayed entering the larger map until the next day to prepare thoroughly!

The Oglas Continent’s larger map was ten times more dangerous than the national maps; every enemy posed a threat. Most importantly, in the larger map, killing players did not flag one as a murderer—players were far more dangerous than monsters or the Horde!