Translated by: LittleShanks
Proofread by: Flowerbridgetoo
Chapter 28 – Ring of Woven Silk
Nie Yan walked over to the silver treasure chest and began unlocking it with the Silver Key.
「System: Opening treasure chest… Estimated Completion: 20%… 50%…」
「Click!」The chest was unlocked.
He glanced at the key which now had two out of three uses remaining. Not bad… I can still use this two more times. Throwing the key into his knapsack, he felt around inside the chest before finding an item. It was small and round, and felt smooth inside his hand. It’s a ring! Nie Yan thought in surprise as he fished the item out of the chest.
The band was ash gray in colour and he found it difficult to discern what material it was crafted from. Where the setting attached to one side of the band lay an opaque white jewel adorned at the very center. Engraved on this opaque white jewel was the image of a spider. Despite its size, the engraving was vivid and lifelike. It appeared as if a jade white spider truly did exist within this jewel.
Ring of Woven Silk
Properties: Unidentified
“It’s a Ring of Woven Silk!” Nie Yan gasped in surprise.
The Ring of Woven Silk was a Bronze-tier accessory that could only be obtained from areas where spider type monsters spawned. Moreover, it was a ring that could be used all the way up to Level 60. This was due to the ring’s unique properties. It could shoot out a tough resilient thread of spider silk that adhered to most surfaces and could extend up to ten feet in length. In essence, it was the perfect treasure for scaling or jumping over obstacles such as rooftops, walls, ledges, or trees.
“What’s a Ring of Woven Silk?” Tang Yao asked in bewilderment.
Nie Yan faintly smiled and replied, “Look at the craftsmanship. It should be a Silver-tier or equivalent accessory.”
Although the properties on this ring were yet to be appraised, with this type of equipment, he could discern their grade with a single glance of the name.
“Oh… So it turns out it was a Silver-grade accessory. No wonder you were so excited!” Tang Yao replied as he came to the sudden realization.
From Nie Yan’s perspective, this Ring of Woven Silk was much more valuable than the Meteor skill book. With this Ring of Woven Silk, he would now be significantly less restricted in his thinking, therefore he would have many more routes of execution when working towards a specific goal. He thought in his heart, Now if I can get a hold of that jewel from the Treant King, then everything will be perfect.
“A friend of mine invited me to run the Treant Forest with her tomorrow and there’s still space. Do you want to join?”
“Sure, but… would they agree to have me in?” Tang Yao asked in a somewhat anxious tone. He and his friends had wanted to form a team and run a dungeon in the past; however, not a single team wanted them or agreed to let them join.
“No worries, you have me with you. Besides, your magic damage is fifty now. Such a high damage Arcane Mage… even if they wanted to find one they wouldn’t be able to. Have some confidence in yourself. You’re my brother after all!” Nie Yan smiled and patted Tang Yao on the shoulders.
“Understood! If there’s any more advice you can give, please let me know now. I’ll practice all of them when I get back. I don’t believe I can’t learn it!” After listening to Nie Yan’s words, Tang Yao felt touched and went into high spirits.
“In terms of improving your skills, I’ve already told you all that you need to know. The crucial point is whether you’ve practiced enough or not. You only need to continue practicing, somewhat improve your reaction time, put in the effort to not make any large mistakes, and you’ll have nothing to worry about. Earlier in the day, find more people to PvP with and practice your skills. When you get to Level 5, I’ll find some people and we’ll form a team together to run the Secret Cavern, where I’ll help you grab the Arcane Mage’s Exile Disciple set. I’ll have you so satisfied, you’ll explode from happiness,” Nie Yan said. With him here, it would be difficult for Tang Yao not to become an expert, even if he didn’t want to.
“Really? Then it won’t do if I don’t make an effort!” Tang Yao was now full of motivation. In the past, he felt it didn’t matter how much he practiced his skills, because in the end, he would never catch up to the people who were considered elites. However now, after listening to Nie Yan’s words, he felt a bright future lay ahead of him.
Afterwards, Nie Yan gave Yao Yao a call through voice chat.
「What do you want?」Yao Yao asked in an annoyed tone. In truth, she was no longer angry at Nie Yan. However, the moment she answered the call, she still pretended she was furious at him.
「Do you still have any extra space for the Treant Forest tomorrow?」Nie Yan smiled helplessly.
「Two more open spaces.」
「I have a friend who I want to join. Are you guys willing?」
「What level is your friend, hmm? Could it be that he only wants to join so he can leech experience…? If he’s only joining to leech experience, I’ll have to ask my Senior Sister first. Also, what profession does this friend of yours play?」Yao Yao answered in an abrasive tone.
「Arcane Mage.」
「Oh…? What’s his magic damage?」
「Over fifty. To be more accurate, it’s fifty-two.」
「His damage is that high!?」Yao Yao exclaimed in surprise. As a Holy Mage, her magic damage had already reached thirty-seven. Even among others that were the same level as her, this number was considered quite high. She never expected that Nie Yan’s friend would possess even more magic damage than her, and by such a large degree as well.「Hold on, I’ll go ask my Senior Sister. She should agree to let him join.」
For an Arcane Mage to possess such high magic damage meant that they’ve definitely cleared many dungeons in the past. These people were top experts. Even if you went looking for them, and begged them to join, they still might not necessarily agree to join you. Now, one of these experts was delivered right to their doorstep. Her Senior Sister would have absolutely no reason to refuse. In reality, it would be quite the opposite, and expected if Tang Yao were the one doing the refusing.
「Alright, go and ask. I’ll be waiting for your reply.」
After a few moment, she replied back to Nie Yan.「I’ve asked Big Sister Yu Lan. She agrees to let your friend join, so bring him with you when you come tomorrow morning.」
「Mhm… alright.」Nie Yan nodded his head and hung up the call.
“Hello? Hello?” Yao Yao still wanted to ask Nie Yan why his friend would want to join them. From their perspective, this kind of expert wasn’t easy to find, and they definitely weren’t someone who would casually join up with a team like theirs. However, Nie Yan had already hung up on her. The only noise she could hear now was the busy signal that signified that the call had ended, which ended up infuriating her to no end as she madly stamped her feet on the ground. “Hanging up on me so quickly… Now that you’ve got an expert by your side, you suddenly think you’re too good for me, is that how its it? Hmph! How infuriating!”
“So, how’d it go? Are they willing to let me join?” Tang Yao asked in an anxious tone as he fiddled with his hands.
Up until now, Tang Yao had always been someone who would join Pick-Up Groups. Occasionally, he would follow a group and run common instances with them. However, he had never formed a regular party or team. The teams who were able to run Level 3 or higher instances were ones who usually had significant influence among the playerbase. Not to mention, these teams would frequently have fixed members. In almost all cases, there was simply no chance for an ordinary player to join. This was because if a team were to accept a weak player, that player would only hold the team back. This was why teams had harsh requirements and were particularly picky when recruiting new members. However, as long as that player passed their requirements and joined their ranks, then that player would become a part of the team. From then on, whenever the team was lacking in members, that player would always be called upon.
Hence why Tang Yao awaited with heated expectation when Nie Yan had hung up the call.
As a person who had also been unable to enter an elite team in the past, Nie Yan understood his feelings well. At this moment, Tang Yao was full of eagerness and anticipation. Nie Yan recalled that when he had first entered a team in the past, he was about the same as well.
“They agreed. All you need to do is tag along with me tomorrow and you’ll be fine. Relax, just based on your raw stats alone, any team would be willing to have you. After all, playing an Arcane Mage requires a significant amount of skill.”
“That’s great!” Tan Yao excitedly exclaimed. Tomorrow was going to be his first time running a high level instance like the Treant Forest. This was an opportunity he yearned for even in his dreams. “Are there any requirements when running this instance?”
“For this instance, there are no specific requirements for Arcane Mages. Just make sure the aggro doesn’t switch to you and you’ll be fine. Also, Treants have fairly low resistances against fire magic, so who knows? Maybe by the end of tomorrow, you’ll have the most damage dealt!” Nie Yan said while smiling. Tang Yao was taking this matter so seriously. When he recalled his first time running an instance, he didn’t fare any better…
“Did you bring any Talismans with you?
“I have five.”
“Let’s have a look at Meteor, so cast the spell for me when we’re about to leave.”
“Where am I going to cast it?” The surrounding area only had one or two Rock Spiders at most. Using the skill here would be too much of a waste.
“I’ll gather them up. Hurry up and get ready!” Nie Yan replied, then ran off deeper into the cave.
“Okay!” Tang Yao fished out a Talisman from his bag. He was filled with anticipation and quite eager to find out the power of his new spell as well.
Nie Yan continued running deeper into the cave. When he encountered a Rock Spider, he would attack it once and instead of tangling with it any further, he would continue along his way. After these spiders were attacked, they would chase after him from behind. The number of spiders chasing behind him became more and more until they began slowing down due to the crowding.
Nie Yan was quite nimble while moving back and forth through the cave. He resembled a train as a mass of twenty plus Rock Spiders followed behind him crying out.
Tang Yao was tidying up his knapsack when he heard the sound of activity coming from deeper in the cave. As he walked over to take a look, he saw a deluge of twenty plus spiders surging through the passage, appearing as if they were going to swallow everything up.
“Oh my God…! How did you aggro so many of them!?” Tang Yao cried out in alarm before turning around and running for his dear life.
I wonder when he will go back to exploit those beefalos.