Free Web NovelChapter 16: [16]: The Carapace of Obsidian, Prepping for the Blight
Levi walked back through the massive stone gates of the City of Thresholds.
His new Boots of the Deep Tide made the journey from the swamp ridiculously short.
He was covering ground so fast that a few low-level players he passed on the road actually stopped and accused him of speed-hacking in the proximity chat. Levi just ignored them and kept running.
The city was starting to look a little more populated now. The most dedicated grinders and early-game guild members were finally hitting Level 10 and migrating away from the starting villages.
Because of the influx of players, the central plaza of the city had transformed into a makeshift player market. The cobblestone streets were lined with players sitting on the ground, projecting holographic trade menus above their heads. They were shouting, haggling, and trying to sell cheap crafted items to anyone who walked by.
"Level 8 Iron Swords! Better than NPC trash! Only 5 Silver!" a guy in a dirty apron yelled.
"Buying all copper ore! Bulk prices!" another player shouted.
Levi walked right past the noisy amateur stalls.
He didn’t need low-level junk. He needed someone who had actually spent the last forty-eight hours doing nothing but grinding their Blacksmithing profession.
He navigated the maze of player stalls until he found what he was looking for in a quiet corner near the forge district. Sitting behind a small, neat stall was a female player named Vespera. She wasn’t yelling or trying to attract attention. She was just quietly hammering a piece of digital iron on a portable anvil.
Vespera was a smart player. While everyone else was rushing to level up their combat classes, she had clearly realized that being the first to corner the market on Level 10 heavy armor was a guaranteed way to print money.
Levi approached her stall and tapped her holographic display menu. She had exactly three items listed for sale. They were all identical.
[Bronze Iron-Mesh Guards] [Rarity: Bronze] [Effect: +15 Defense]
They were heavy, bulky chestplates designed for early-game tanks. But what caught Levi’s attention wasn’t the stats. it was the price.
Vespera was charging 50 Gold Coins per chestplate.
To a normal player, 50 Gold on day two of the server was an absolutely astronomical scam. Most people were still trading in silver and copper. To buy one of these, a player would basically have to swipe their real-world credit card at the cash shop exchange.
Vespera looked up from her anvil.
She had a sharp, calculating look in her eyes. She clearly expected Levi to complain about the price or try to haggle her down like everyone else had all day.
Levi didn’t say a word. He just opened his inventory, selected the trade prompt, and dropped exactly 150 Gold Coins into the window.
He hit accept.
Vespera actually blinked in surprise, her hammering stopping mid-swing. She stared at the massive pile of gold in the trade window, then looked back up at Levi.
"All three?" she asked, her voice completely flat but clearly shocked. "You do realize you can only wear one at a time, right?"
"I get cold easily," Levi said dryly. "Just click accept."
Vespera didn’t ask any more questions. She slammed the accept button, taking the 150 Gold and instantly transferring the three bulky Bronze chestplates into Levi’s inventory.
Levi turned around and walked away from the stall, leaving the quiet blacksmith staring at her updated wallet in total disbelief.
He didn’t stay in the crowded market.
He immediately headed for the back alleys of the city, finding a dark, secluded spot behind a closed NPC tavern. He made sure nobody was following him before opening his UI.
"My defense is currently sitting at a miserable 16," Levi muttered to himself. "Let’s fix that."
He pulled up the Boundless Fusion interface.
The glowing golden slots appeared in the shadows of the alley. He dragged the three heavy Bronze Iron-Mesh Guards into the slots and tapped the ’Fuse’ button.
The digital sound of heavy metal slamming against an anvil echoed loudly in the alley. A blinding, silver light completely consumed the three bulky chestplates. The bronze metal melted down, condensing and hardening into something much denser. The mesh pattern smoothed out, turning into solid, pitch-black plates that looked like polished volcanic glass.
The light faded, leaving a terrifyingly sleek piece of heavy armor floating in the interface.
[Obsidian Carapace]
[Rarity: Silver]
[Effect: +30 Defense, +100 Max HP]
"Now that is a serious piece of hardware," Levi grinned, grabbing the armor.
He immediately equipped it over his peasant tunic. The heavy, dark plates snapped onto his avatar’s chest and shoulders. He felt the protective weight settle over him instantly. It was a stark contrast to his incredibly fast boots, making him look like a strange hybrid of an assassin and a heavy knight.
He pulled up his stat sheet to run the math. His base Defense, derived purely from his Vitality, was 16. Adding the massive +30 Defense from the Obsidian Carapace pushed his total Defense straight up to 46.
That meant if a mob hit him for 50 damage, he was only actually taking 4 points of health damage. He was a walking fortress.
But the armor didn’t just give defense. It gave a flat +100 Max HP bonus. Levi watched his health pool jump from 320 to a massive 420 Max HP. Combined with his Siphon Aura that healed 15 HP per second, it was going to be mathematically impossible for anything in the early game to kill him unless they possessed a one-shot execution mechanic.
"Damage is good. Speed is broken. Defense is sorted," Levi said, dismissing his menu.
"Time to go take the trial."
He opened his world map. The blind NPC, Silas, had told him that once he reached Level 15, he needed to locate the Shrine of the Hollow to face the Avatar of the Hollow King.
Levi traced the map with his finger. The Shrine wasn’t in a nice, safe location. To get to the coordinates, he had to travel through a massive zone called the ’Blighted Marches.’
The Blighted Marches was a highly toxic, Level 18 to 20 zone. It was a complete suicide run for a Level 12 player. Not only were the mobs six to eight levels higher than him. incurring a massive 30% Level Suppression penalty but the environment itself was deadly. The zone was filled with poisonous gas that constantly drained player health.
Normally, a player would need to farm a specific set of poison-resistance gear from a dungeon just to walk into the Marches without dying.
Levi didn’t care about resistance gear. He had his Siphon Aura. If the environment drained 1 or 2 HP a second, his aura would just out-heal it passively by providing 15 HP a second. He could literally just out-sustain the poison zone with raw numbers.
Before leaving the city, he stopped at the local alchemist NPC. Because he expected to have his Siphon Aura toggled on for long stretches of time while walking through the toxic zone, he needed to make sure he didn’t run out of fuel.
He spent 50 Gold from his remaining stash to buy out the vendor’s entire supply of top-tier mana potions. He slotted them neatly into his quick-use belt, ensuring he could chug them on the run without having to open his inventory.
Fully kitted out, Levi walked toward the massive eastern gates of the city. He adjusted the heavy silver scythe on his back, the Obsidian Carapace gleaming darkly in the virtual sunlight.
He was three levels away from unlocking a SSS-Rank hidden class, and he was ready to turn the Blighted Marches into a massive, toxic harvesting field.
He stepped out of the city and began the long walk east.
