Chapter 20：Mana Cape

When sunlight gradually dispersed the morning mist and shone on the beautiful land, players started another busy day and embarked on their own journey.

The bleak streets of the small town were quiet. Occasionally, one or two players wearing low-level equipment walked across them, hurrying to grind and level up.

Xiao Ling walked out of his room, somewhat puzzled, 'Why did I suddenly fall asleep last night?' He glanced at the ring on his finger and saw that it had turned back to its simple appearance of an iron ring. Although, it looked brighter than when he had found it, with all its rust removed by the old warlock.

"Mister, you have a package." The servant of the inn, who wore the same grayish-white old uniform every day, told him.

He could not remember if he had any friends in the game other than Luan Ying, Yu Xue, and Fei Yu. So, the package should be from them. He took it and found 100 gold coins and a level-13 Epic warlock cape inside, the attributes of which were much better than the one he was wearing now.

Mana Cape

Material: Cloth

3 - 7 Armor

+10 Intellect

+3 Agility

Increases mana regenerate speed by 1%.

Requires Level 13 Classes: Warlock

If this cape were put in the market, it could be sold for at least 200 gold coins, because its attribute of increasing mana regeneration speed was the dream of all spellcasters. During battles, spellcasters often faced the problem of low mana; therefore, equipment that could increase the maximum value and regeneration speed of mana was very expensive, especially the latter.

Xiao Ling briefly browsed through the transaction records of the Auction House and found that similar capes were sold at 250 gold coins or more. He could not accept such an expensive item without paying for it. He remembered Yu Xue tell him that they were staying in an inn in the small town of Eli, so he sent him 260 gold coins.

He also sent Yu Xue a message: "I've received the item. I will take the Mana Cape, and I've sent you 260 gold coins."

"Got it. What are you going to do next, brother Xiao?" Yu Xue's reply came almost instantly, and he did not mention anything about the money.

"I'm going to grind in the south of Brakada."

Yu Xue's reply came a short while later: "We are going eastward to Bairds."

"Oh! I shall meet you again someday then."

"Sure! Keep in touch."

"I will."

Both Yu Xue and Luan Ying were worthy friends, but Xiao Ling was used to being alone. It gave him lesser ties and more freedom.

After paying for the cape, he was left with 350 gold coins. He went to the warlock trainer in Brakada and upgraded his skills, which cost him 320 gold coins. 'Damnit! Why is it so expensive to just upgrade a few skills?' he cursed in his mind. It was impossible for him to buy any other equipment now, but he had fortunately purchased all the consumables, and the other odds and ends would not cost him too much money. 'Money is never more than enough...' he sighed with mixed emotions.

He did not regret spending the 320 gold coins though, because they had upgraded all his skills by two levels. The basic damage of his Shadow Bolt had increased from 30 to 60, Searing Pain from 20 to 40, Force Blast and Arcane Bolt from 10 to 20; moreover, Drain Life could now drain 20 health points per second instead of 10.

After all his skills were upgraded, his combined spell damage had increased significantly as well.

The so-called combined spell damage was the combination of the basic damage of his skills, his character's basic damage, and the damage added by the equipment. After his skills were upgraded, the damage of his Shadow Bolt was increased to about 160, and the rest were all over 100, while his critical hits could inflict just over 400 damage.

Xiao Ling tried all his skills, calculated their damage, and compiled all the data. As he knew more skills than others, he could produce about 500 damage in three seconds, and that was without any critical hits. Such damage was hardly imagined among players of the same level as him. By adding all attribute points to intellect, his spell damage was much greater than spellcasters of the same level. And because he knew more skills, his dps could even be comparable to an average level-15 spellcaster.

His equipment was poor in quality though. In other words, he still had a lot of room for improvement. Once he could get better equipment, his spell damage would increase again.

After upgrading his skills, Xiao Ling walked out of the Magic Tower toward the outside of Brakada. The city was packed with players, most of whom were already over level 30, while some skillful players who stuck to the same teams had reached level 40 or above. However, there were still some low-level players, as they joined the game later, and they were all busy grinding for level.

He headed for the south gate, walking between tall Magic Towers and Alchemy Towers, passing various defensive buildings that attracted his attention.

Eddins had been breached countless times, but the unyielding warlocks had used their blood to build this imperishable castle. After so many years, it was still standing mightily amidst all the storms that lashed at it, overlooking the continent from the south.

Clearly, it was wrong for Erathia to expel warlocks in those years. Although some warlocks had used spiritual spells to do evil everywhere, most warlocks were innocent. The decision of expelling warlocks had plunged the whole kingdom of Erathia into a civil war that lasted thousands of years, and opened the door for the hell race, the undead, and the orcs to rise in power, eventually plunging the entire continent into chaos.

However, there were also rumors that claimed otherwise, words passed across the continent with their authenticity unproven. Xiao Ling was not a man who loved gossip, so he paid them no mind.

He looked at it more incisively. It was impossible for a kingdom to completely expel a class even though many people in the class had done intolerable deeds. There must be some secrets unknown to the public.

But, Xiao Ling did not have time to investigate the secrets.

Along the streets, many people were chatting loudly about their experiences, and some were showing off their equipment. Players who did not wear Rare or Epic equipment were too embarrassed to talk, while those who did spoke loudly and kept glancing around from the corners of their eyes, only to raise their voices when they saw girls looking at them.