Aincrad 1st floor, The Town of Beginnings
Outside the tower, there is a large expanse of grassland that seemed like it stretched on forever. Ignoring the Town of Beginnings that stood at the center of this floor, you won’t find anything other than grass if you explored outside the town. Well, there are flowers here but one would have to cut away the grass that shrouded them from view.
The mob monsters here are boars that are greenish-purple in color. They roamed the grassland like grazing goats rather than pigs. If one had to nitpick about the settings of the mob monsters then this would be it.
Of course, these wild boars are way better looking than the pigs that are in the real world. For one, they had shiny fur that looked like they groomed themselves every day or something. The boars, if domesticated, would make a fine addition to the aesthetics of one’s house.
When Wu Yan came out of the Town, he saw this goa-, no, organic pig farmland. He wanted to riff on this scene but there’s nobody around to listen to him grumbling so he decided to persuade himself to take it easy since this is just a game.
Maybe the mob monsters here picked up the disdain in Wu Yan’s sight, the closest mob to Wu Yan got aggro-ed and it started stomping its legs like an enraged bull. Wu Yan couldn’t endure this weird scene anymore.
If you wanna mimic goat then that’s fine, but, now, you just look silly with your goat and bull-like behavior.
Wu Yan gave it credit for emitting oink like a proper pig. Armed with two sharp tusks, it charged at Wu Yan in a very predictable pattern and trajectory, it was also very slow, in Wu Yan’s perception anyway…
He continued using a judging look on the pig. It didn’t matter much to him since the boar is still too far and too slow to make Wu Yan take it seriously. An opponent on this level is not even a foe for a tier 1 novice magician in his mind. And, because he’s so cocky…
He got in trouble in the next instant.
He slipped up, the body in this game is just an inferior digital copy of his physical body. It wasn’t as robust as his True Ancestor body. In terms of speed, defense, and strength, he was closer to a human than his real body. He had a lot of battle experience but the problem lies in the fact that his body simply couldn’t keep up.
When Wu Yan wanted to pull a cool evasive maneuver, his body felt very sluggish and it didn’t move as he ordered it to. This delay was enough time for the boar to land its attack.
The boar kissed his stomach with its tusks. His eyes bulged and he gasped in pain as the attack sent him flying into the distance.
I just got rammed by a boar…
His mind filled up with this negative thought. He drew a parallel line with the ground, and soon, he landed like a heavy sack of potatoes. He pushed hard against the ground and he flipped once in the air. Drawing two shallow trails with his feet, he steadied himself after about 2 seconds of sliding back.
He lifted his face and he was livid with a dark blush on his face. He bore a deep grudge against this boar, ignoring his HP gauge which stood at 67% after the tusk charge.
He is probably the first True Ancestor to get sent flying into the distance by a mere mob boar.
“I will be damned to 100 days of celibacy if I don’t gut you for meat and make shoes out of your hide!”
He emitted a guttural voice. That is a very nasty curse he placed upon himself, that just shows how much he hated being struck by a mere mob monster. The boar stopped in place for a second but it got into a stance for another charge attack.
Steadying his breathing, Wu Yan returned to a calm state as he quickly grasped what his body could do with renewed vigor. At least, in this way, he can prevent another shameful display on his part.
Clang
A normal iron sword blocked the boar’s charge and another whipping leg came as retaliation. This kick forced the boar into a steady retreat.
Another flash of light came, as a sword strike landed on the boar’s neck. The boar’s HP bar depleted until it was 90%.
He frowned when he saw this. Then, he sighed in dejection.
“This power, it’s like when I was only level 10, yeah, this isn’t okay…”
After entering this game as a tier 8 with Lvl 70+ power, he got de-powered until he’s only bottom-feeder like tier 1 – tier 2 in power. It’s not a pleasant sensation for someone who stood near the top.
Without Eternal Arms Mastery, his de-powered self wouldn’t even be comparable to a Level 10 cultivator.
Eternal Arms Mastery can be very OP if the body can exhibit such a level of power. Similarly, Eternal Arms Mastery can’t shine if the body itself is weak and feeble.
“I should try out my skills. I don’t know how I can grind quickly without using skills…”
At level 1, Wu Yan only has two skills at his disposal, “Lunge” and “Hurl“.
“Let’s see, after making the preparation motion, the skill should trigger…”
Wu Yan closed his eyes and the skill came into his mind. He brought his main sword arm up to shoulder-level and he stood sideways.
A bright red sheen started covering his sword and when he opened his eyes, he shot out at 6 times his normal speed.
He passed through the boar with this attack and he stopped behind the boar.
The damage was registered as red lines on the boar. The boar suffered tremendous damage and its HP bar fell and turned from green to yellow and yellow to red. Finally, its HP gauge was depleted.
When the boar died, it turns into a myriad of digital pieces in a glorious explosion. Wu Yan got EXP points, Cors, and materials from the mob monster.
He checked his drops and he materialized the drop in his hand. He laughed out loud when he saw the item.
“I was only saying it for fun, to think I would actually get a boar’s foot…”
He stored the item away. At this stage, this normal boar’s foot is quite rare as it can be sold for about 30 Cors.
After gathering data from his perimeters and the battle with the boar, Wu Yan more or less understood where he stood in relation to others.
Although he hadn’t played before. He reckons he is at least several times stronger than Beta Players who already played this game before it released, including Kirito.
“Well, yeah, if I can’t even perform better than average players in this normal world, I would be throwing dirt on the names of all world-crossers…”
Wu Yan said this with confidence. He conveniently forgot how a mere mob boar sent him flying with a charge attack.
After assessing his stats, he fell into contemplation. He looked at the boars who are woefully unaware of their impending doom as they minded their own businesses.
He checked the time inside this game and it’s a little under three hours before the game will change from an industry-changing game into a death game.
It would be a damn shame if he didn’t use this time to grind properly.
Three hours later, in the central circular plaza of the Town of Beginning. The GM that announced himself as Kayaba Akihiko slowly faded from view in the airspace above the central plaza. Wu Yan only smiled while everyone is still flabbergasted and gripped by horror. He continued walking out of the town.
