016 The White Bone Demon Ring!

The Dwarven Paladin still needed some time to arrive, so Morning Wind decided to wait for him at this oasis.

The trees of this oasis encircled a verdant lake, the area roughly the size of a small town. In this dark desert, such an oasis was nothing short of a miracle. If not for some protective barrier around it, it would have long since been swallowed by the black sands. The fact that it survived suggested something peculiar was at play.

Compared to the dark desert, the oasis was much brighter, though Morning Wind couldn’t fathom the source of the light. Earlier, because of the sandstorm, he had only glimpsed the oasis faintly, and the light didn’t seem nearly as intense—perhaps simply because the storm had blurred his vision.

No one? Within the oasis stood many low houses, but not a soul in sight. Morning Wind felt as though he had stepped into an empty city; the surroundings were beautiful, but utterly devoid of inhabitants.

Danger!

Suddenly, Morning Wind sensed a powerful threat—a sensation he trusted from his years as an assassin, knowing it could jeopardize his safety. He had no idea where the danger was coming from, so he instantly activated his advanced stealth. Even while already hidden, he triggered the ability for two seconds of invulnerability.

A skeletal claw emerged from beneath the ground and seized his ankle. But because Morning Wind was invulnerable, the attack caused neither harm nor any negative effects. This invulnerability had another advantage: his body seemed to float, and even when grasped, he could slip free.

Flight!

Morning Wind leapt onto the roof of a crimson low house, escaping the skeletal sand scorpion that had burst from the earth. This creature was nearly three meters long, its entire body made of bone, eyes glowing blood-red, pincers sharp as blades, and its tail ending in a deadly stinger.

Time Sands? A player?

Morning Wind realized that this skeletal sand scorpion was actually a transformed player, whose game ID was Time Sands. He noticed a white ring on the creature’s tail joint—the Bone Ring.

“Duan Morning Wind, you’re quite formidable!” The skeletal sand scorpion rasped, “You’re the first player to evade my ambush!”

Time Sands, after transforming via the Bone Ring, could ambush from underground with a guaranteed lethal strike—a move usable only once per day. Since acquiring the Bone Ring, he had ambushed countless players in the wild, never failing to kill with one blow.

He had come to the dark desert intending to deal with the Dwarven Paladin and seize his ring. But the Paladin was cunning, always staying atop his super-mech, never affording an opportunity. When Time Sands found Morning Wind, he too was on the super-mech, unreachable. So he kept searching for a chance to snatch Morning Wind’s ring.

Among all the rings, the Bone Ring was undoubtedly a powerhouse in the early game, providing transformation and lethal ambush abilities. Its greatest feature was this single skill; further enhancement required fusing other rings.

“Yesterday’s Thai Ring Bearer must have been killed by you, right?” Morning Wind scrutinized the skeletal sand scorpion. The Data Emperor had told him that the Thai Ring Bearer was killed in the big map yesterday, so quickly that no one understood what happened; Morning Wind was advised to be cautious.

“Heh!” The skeletal sand scorpion merely laughed, not answering. “That earlier strike was a greeting. In the dark desert, you’d better watch your back.”

Seeing Time Sands about to burrow away, Morning Wind called out, “Leaving so soon? I have an epic quest related to the dark desert—are you interested?”

If he could recruit Time Sands for the quest, completing it would be much easier. No one was more suited to surviving, exploring, and pioneering in the dark desert. As Outres said, having one more friend is better than one more enemy. Morning Wind certainly didn’t want this terrifying, hidden adversary stalking him; if he could rope him in, all the better.

“Epic quest? Share it with me.” Time Sands was intrigued—epic quests were rare, and a desert quest was exactly his favorite kind.

“Wait a second.” Morning Wind quickly explained the situation to Outres, asking him to remove one person from their quest, freeing a spot for Time Sands—one more friend, one less enemy. Outres readily agreed, surprised that Morning Wind had evaded Time Sands’ ambush, knowing how dangerous he was.

“I’ll join you!” Time Sands was very interested in the quest and accepted immediately. Within this quest, four Ring Bearers had to work together, all the while watching their backs. Never trust anyone on the big map, especially other Ring Bearers—this, Time Sands knew well.

Morning Wind then used the Tower’s messaging system to swindle two excellent scrolls from Time Sands, who had found them in desert treasure chests. For the orange weapon Morning Wind mentioned, Time Sands reluctantly handed over the scrolls.

[Shield Enhancement Scroll]: Equipment scroll. Strengthens a shield, boosting its stats. If the shield is damaged, it will quickly be repaired.

[Dark Barrier]: Barrier scroll. Grants a pet the power of the dark barrier, enhancing its stats and bestowing a special skill depending on the pet.

With the Shield Enhancement Scroll, Morning Wind immediately strengthened his Lightless Shield, eager to see how it would be repaired.

[Lightless Shield]

Damaged, shield, bound

Requirements: Warrior

Defense: 998

+22% block chance

+477 block value

+32 constitution

Effects: Successful block has a 15% chance to block an additional 350 damage

Effects: When your HP drops below 35%, you become immune to critical hits. If Lightless Shield blocks successfully, it gains a shield absorbing 10% of max HP in damage, lasting 8 seconds. This shield can trigger once every 12 seconds.

Repair: Stage 67 requires two golden shields.

Description: Shield of the Divine War!

Repair jumped by over fifty stages; Morning Wind felt he had profited greatly. What looked like a trash scroll to Time Sands saved him tens of thousands of gold when used on the Lightless Shield. Last time, Morning Wind repaired the shield with a Dark Magic Core, but the stat boost was minor; this time, defense neared 1000, block chance increased, and he gained an extra effect—powerful indeed.

His once useless shield had now become a super shield. If he kept repairing it, Morning Wind believed it could become a legendary item. Seeing the shield, he felt confident he could reach the top floor of the Tower.

As for the Dark Barrier, Morning Wind planned to use it later. He admired Outres’ cleverness in selling information; last time, Outres had earned an epic refining stone from him, but now, Morning Wind had not only recouped it but profited even more. By recruiting Time Sands, he had one less enemy, and that enemy was now within his grasp—if an opportunity arose, he could strike.

Morning Wind had learned all the tricks Outres used on the Ghana island last time. Perhaps Time Sands thought he could burrow underground and evade Morning Wind, or maybe he was simply overconfident. But Morning Wind could assure him: once part of Outres’ team, if you underestimated its effects, you’d die quickly.

After waiting for over thirty minutes in the deserted oasis, Morning Wind finally saw the Dwarven Paladin’s super-mech approaching, with Stan in tow. No need to ask—surely the Dwarven Paladin had sold Morning Wind’s information to Stan and made a quick profit. Morning Wind had already sold the info to a second person, so Outres doing the same was only natural. As for a finder’s fee, that could wait for another time.

“The Bone Ring’s owner—impressive!” Outres praised Time Sands briefly, but didn’t invite him to his Ring team. He knew Time Sands already had his own Ring team.

Players capable of owning rings were all clever; Outres had a team, so did others. Time Sands’ team was founded by an American player, and they already had four members. The common trait of this team: all their rings granted tremendous early-game advantages, making it easy to hunt players from other regions.

Morning Wind had heard from the Data Emperor that the American Ring Bearer possessed the mighty Dragon Ring, which could transform the wearer into a dragon, and because of it, the American player with the ID Peter had gained the hidden class Dragon Rider. This powerful Dragon Rider could defeat three professionals even without transforming—truly monstrous.

As the four advanced toward the heart of the dark desert, Outres privately messaged Morning Wind: “Crow, be careful of Time Sands—he has a lethal ambush ability.”

“He just tried and failed to ambush me! I suspect his ultimate skill has a long cooldown, so for now, we’re safe.” Hearing Outres’ warning, Morning Wind realized he had escaped death by a hair’s breadth—had he not activated advanced stealth, he would surely have died.

“In that case, he’s less of a threat! When we do the quest, look for a chance to take him out! He’s more dangerous to us than Peter.” Outres, like Morning Wind, sought an opportunity to eliminate Time Sands. Ring Bearers with ambush and lethal strike abilities were terrifying. If Peter, the Dragon Ring Bearer, came, they could fight back, but being attacked by Time Sands was terrifying.

Stan joined the private channel, analyzing, “From what I know about Time Sands, Peter, Dark Mage, and Baru, they might ambush us outside the Tower. So when we leave, we must be careful.”

If they could eliminate three Ring Bearers at once and loot their treasures, that would be ideal. Morning Wind and Outres plotted how to snatch Time Sands’ ring, while Time Sands plotted to snatch theirs. Such was the battle of Ring Bearers—any time, any place, they could collide. Between them, there was no friendship, only interests.