Chapter 155: Tier 4 Powerhouse – Breaking Wind

Airhead!

Once I quickly figured out what had happened, these three words became my first impression of the vendor. He was simply too hardcore; he had confirmed the transaction even before I had placed the payment amount into the trade window...

I truly could not imagine if there was anyone in this world more absent-minded than him.

Amidst my silent amusement, a mischievous thought suddenly sparked in my mind, and I confirmed the trade.

A few seconds later...

The dazed young mage seemed to still be in a daze. After confirming several times, he finally felt that something was amiss and hastily raised his eyes to look at me:

"Uh, well, did we just trade?"

"Huh?" Falcon, standing beside me, wore a look of utter bewilderment.

The moment the mage had put away the Dark Elf Greaves, Falcon knew that Scavenger Kirin had struck a deal with him. Yet, with the archer meddling earlier, he had felt a slight worry that this mage might suddenly change his mind at the last second... After all, this was a Tier 3 top-grade equipment; if genuine competition arose and someone else bought it away, it would be a huge loss.

However, he never expected that the mage would suddenly blurt out such a "profound" remark.

The several people nearby who had intended to stop the transaction stared at each other in blank dismay, failing to understand what the mage meant by that sentence. What did "did we just trade?" mean? A trade was a trade, and no trade was no trade—what was that supposed to mean?

Incomprehensible...

At this moment, a single sentence from my lips directly caused the archer and his companions to almost faint en masse:

"You traded, but I haven't yet."

"Oh... Ah?"

The absent-minded mage first wore a look of sudden realization, then let out a loud cry and smacked his own head hard: "I spaced out again, wuwu... My 4,500 gold coins! I'm definitely going to get yelled at when I get back."

This reaction immediately confirmed the surrounding players' suspicions. They all cast looks of disdain and pity at the airhead mage, while simultaneously sending envious and emotional glances my way as I "struck it lucky," muttering among themselves: *Sigh, if I had known this kid was so clueless, I should have agreed to the trade myself...*

Meanwhile, Falcon standing off to the side was grinning from ear to ear. He never expected to encounter such a pure, scatterbrained fellow in this day and age—it was simply too adorable!!

Four thousand five hundred gold coins saved just like that? Why, that was tens of thousands of credits.

This guy Scavenger Kirin had way too much luck!!

However, just when everyone thought I would laugh and walk away, I smiled and said to the airhead mage: "Idol, don't be so absent-minded next time... Not everyone will return the money to you afterwards."

When I sent a trade request and returned the 4,500 gold coins to the clumsy mage, the guy's pitiful little eyes actually welled up with tears of gratitude, and he muttered "thank you" repeatedly, giving me a sudden chill down my spine:

How was this guy like a woman?

At this point, the few people who had been lingering around earlier, shouting, mocking, and ridiculing the airhead mage for giving away a top-grade piece of equipment for zero gold coins, instantly lost their voices upon seeing the mage's expression. They dropped their jaws in utter shock, staring at me as if looking at a mythical beast, completely dumbfounded.

They dared not believe that the events unfolding in legends were actually happening right before their eyes, and the target was a kid they had dismissed as a Tier 3 rookie—an ordinary player who had just been haggling with the vendor moments ago.

After falling silent one by one, someone suddenly muttered something under their breath, and the group quickly melted into the crowd and vanished.

Falcon and I did not continue to linger in front of the airhead mage's stall. His frequent, dry-voiced expressions of gratitude and those pitiful, teary-eyed looks of emotional touching were simply too much for me to bear.

I quickly browsed through the neighboring stalls and eventually disappeared from the airhead mage's line of sight...

...

"You're awfully generous, aren't you? Four thousand five hundred gold coins—didn't you feel even a tiny bit tempted at the time?" After leaving the stall, Falcon suddenly asked me in a strange tone.

While scanning the stalls on both sides of the street to see if there was any equipment I needed, I smiled and replied:

"Tempted by what?"

"Those gold coins, 4,500 gold coins! Converted into credits, that's tens of thousands." Falcon chuckled.

"Nothing to be tempted by. They're just game currency... I didn't even think about credits at the time, I have no concept of it since I've never exchanged any."

"Uh! If you had exchanged them and knew the value of the gold coins, would you still have given them back to that kid?" Falcon asked with the persistence of someone getting to the bottom of a mystery.

I smiled: "They were his things to begin with. If I had kept them, I would have ended up losing something else instead... That kind of deal is not worth making; it's a losing proposition."

"Losing something else? What is that?" Falcon asked with a deliberate smirk.

I pointed toward my chest.

...

All the way, I never again had the good fortune of running into top-grade equipment being leaked like the 'Dark Elf Greaves'. I believe that absent-minded mage probably only put such good gear up for sale—and sold it so cheaply—because of his absent-mindedness.

Eventually, under the sharp eyes of Falcon and myself, we picked out a complete set of all-black Level 30 archer equipment:

Dark Elf Armor (Silver Equipment): Defense 31–37, Magic Defense 5, Agility +6, Strength +6, Wisdom +6; Level Requirement 30...

Dark Elf Helmet (Silver Equipment): Defense 21–27, Magic Defense 3, Agility +6, Stamina +6, Wisdom +6; ...

Dark Elf Bracers (Silver Equipment): Defense 21–27, Magic Defense 3, Agility +6, Attack Speed increased by 10%...

Dark Elf Greaves (Silver Equipment): Defense 30–36, Magic Defense 5, Agility +6, Stamina +6, Strength +6...

In addition, I managed to snap up a Level 30 'Wind Spirit Necklace' for exactly 4,000 gold coins: Agility +6, Movement Speed and Attack Speed increased by 5%.

After purchasing these pieces of equipment, the gold coins on my body were completely spent. I couldn't even afford a Tier 3 one-handed weapon, and I left the bustling street alongside Falcon...

Once we left the street, I swiftly swapped into the new gear piece by piece...

As the equipment was replaced, a full set of deep black gear quickly fused onto my body, forming a set that possessed even more presence and a greater sense of mystery than the Gale Set.

When we arrived at a small, dilapidated courtyard within the city, Falcon finally couldn't hold it in any longer. He gazed at the equipment on my body with envious eyes and asked:

"What's your speed at now?"

"112 Agility, with standard status increasing speed by 11%, putting it around the speed of 124 Agility;"

"Damn it! That's simply a beast!" Falcon clutched his head in exclamation. "Your base speed is already faster than a Dragon Wolf Knight! Add in your 'Swift Stride', which boosts movement speed by 30%... Damn, that kind of agility makes you faster than a Griffin Knight!"

"A Griffin Knight's speed isn't much to speak of anyway; after all, it's just the speed of a Tier 4 magical beast. Any truly high-agility archer surpasses them. Frankly, I still feel this speed is a bit on the low side. If I get the chance in the future, I'll see if I can get my hands on Tier 3 gold equipment. I heard the most formidable high-agility archers nowadays have a Swift Stride speed reaching 200 Agility..."

Thinking of the things I had read on the forums during my free time these past few days, I no longer felt much excitement about surpassing a Griffin Knight, because a Griffin Knight did not represent the limit of speed.

Hearing this, Falcon rolled his eyes:

'Sigh, you must be talking about 'Breakwind', the Tier 4 powerhouse from the Elf Forest. That freak... already has several pieces of gold gear, and his level is higher than yours too... Whatever, you're the real freak. You're only Level 30 and you already have 112 agility. Once your level goes up in the future and you get gold equipment, exceeding 200 will be child's play.'

Falcon was speaking the truth. I was still some distance away from Level 39, and during that journey, the free attribute points alone would grant me another 27 points, not to mention the extra 6 agility provided by the Dark Elf Greaves...

The mastery of Swift Stride was also approaching its peak level...

Once my level increased in the future, coupled with better gear and the 35% boost from top-tier Swift Stride, surpassing 200 in speed would not be a difficult task.

With this thought, I rubbed my nose and walked alongside Falcon into the house within the small, dilapidated courtyard, skillfully passing through a heavily patched curtain and heading toward the backyard.

...

In the courtyard, an old man with a hunched back was slowly sweeping the fallen yellow leaves that littered the ground. Hearing the sound of the curtain being lifted, he slowly turned around, revealing grey temples and somewhat turbid, lifeless eyes.

His dim gaze fell upon Falcon, and his eyes suddenly grew even dimmer. An aged voice slowly rang out: "...Still haven't found it yet? Sigh... You adventurers, what good is possessing skill when you are merely rotten wood that cannot be carved?"