Chapter 5 Black Market Challenge

The luxurious jewelry box slowly opened, revealing a colorful radiance that shimmered brightly.

Fortunately, Eric was in a dim alley where no players would come wandering around, or else it would surely arouse the greedy hearts of many players to kill Eric and snatch the treasure.

As the radiance dissipated, inside the luxurious jewelry box lay a purple-gold ring with ancient elven script around its outer edge, exuding immense magical power, along with a simple silver necklace.

"Thank goodness, it's indeed the Ring of Gravity." Eric breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing the ring's appearance, carefully taking it out to examine.

Ring of Gravity: Adamantine, equipment level 0, Strength +2, Agility +1, Stamina +1, with the skill 'Gravity Liberation' that significantly reduces the wearer's gravity, granting a body as light as a feather for 30 seconds, with a cooldown of 5 minutes.

"Fantastic, it's not just a Bronze Level item." Eric, feeling delighted after reading the description, found the situation even better than he had imagined.

In Divine Realms: Legends, equipment is categorized into Junk, Common, Bronze, Dark Iron, Mithril, Adamantine, Obsidian, and Epic.

Initially, players are given junk items by the system, which are practically worthless and unsellable. At present, no player possesses Common Level equipment, although it can be bought in major cities at a high price. Bronze-level equipment is quite rare and comes with additional attributes, while Dark Iron-level equipment is even more precious and is usually only dropped by bosses.

In his previous life, the Ring of Gravity was a Bronze Level item, only adding 1 point to Strength, and the skill 'Gravity Liberation' lasted for only 15 seconds. Obtaining an Adamantine Level Equipment Ring of Gravity upon completing a level 0 task was truly unexpected.

As for the necklace, it was a special gray item that NPC merchants highly favored and were willing to purchase at a high price.

Putting on the Ring of Gravity, Eric allocated the four attribute points he had earned from leveling up to Agility.

Eric's Agility instantly reached a height of 12 points, increasing his attack speed to 5 points and movement speed to 6 points, similar to a same-level pure Agility Assassin.

"When I reach level 3, my Agility will reach 20 points, allowing me to unlock the hidden basic Agility skills." Eric, looking at the attribute panel, felt a sense of anticipation.

Eric moved his body around a bit, feeling much more agile than before. If he were to face Cross now, he wouldn't be as embarrassed as before.

Once his Agility reached 20 points and he unlocked the basic skill 'Nimble Shadowstep,' his physical abilities would truly be impressive, comparable to a master.

He then allocated 15 free proficiency points to One-Handed Sword Mastery, leaving 5 points for later use. In an instant, his One-Handed Sword Mastery reached 20 points, advancing from an apprentice to a novice swordsman and increasing the damage dealt by single-handed swords by 10%. To advance to an intermediate swordsman, he needed another 30 points of proficiency.

As a swordsman aiming to become a master, Cleave was just the beginning. Skills were essential. The more skills a swordsman learned, the more flexible their combat style became, resulting in stronger output.

Being a skilled swordsman and a reincarnator, with the unique item Ring of Gravity in hand, Eric naturally aimed to quickly level up by learning a plethora of swordsman skills. Otherwise, it would be all about basic slashing, hindering the efficiency of monster killing.

"I remember there's a black market challenge in Willowbrook Town's trading district. It seems that players who pass the challenge for the first time can obtain a swordsman skill book." Eric pondered, realizing that most skill books were rare drops from level 3 to 5 monsters, which had a low drop rate.

Currently, no players were able to farm these monsters, making it time-consuming to acquire other swordsman skill books. The only quick way to get skill books in Willowbrook Town was through the black market challenge.

Willowbrook Town's trading district.

Various shops lined the streets, including potion shops, blacksmiths, bars, and more, bustling like a small market. However, as Divine Realms: Legends had just opened recently, players were focused on leveling up and didn't have time to explore the game's fun aspects. Therefore, the trading district wasn't as lively as it could be, with only a few production-oriented players learning auxiliary professions like enchanting, blacksmithing, alchemy, cooking, engineering, and more.

"Buying herbs at a high price, contact directly."

"Buying ores, those with bad luck better sit this one out."

"Sincerely purchasing high-level equipment, prices negotiable, can use credit points for purchase."

Many studios and guilds had logistical personnel setting up small stalls along the street in the trading district, buying supplies and equipment.

Without lingering, Eric walked briskly towards the two-story building guarded by advanced goblin sentries, with the sign 'Black Market' hanging above it. It was the dark zone of Willowbrook Town, an entertainment venue built by greedy goblins.

Entering the black market, Eric found himself in the goblin auction house. Walking down the stairs into the basement, there were two open spaces, one for the arena and one for the challenge match.

Several players were already standing on the challenge platform, accepting the goblin's challenge.

"Come on, you can do it this time."

"Go for it, defeat those goblins."

Several players cheered and encouraged an Assassin player on the field, their eyes gleaming with excitement, resembling fervent gamblers.

The challenge was a test of players' skills. In a 90-foot-long and 30-foot-wide area, once players entered the arena, all their attributes would be set to 10 points, skills couldn't be used, and equipment was rendered ineffective. Players could only dodge or block the goblin gunfire, with the goal being to reach the finish line to win.

The goblins offered three levels of challenges: Bronze, Silver, and Gold, refreshing every three days. The entry fee for the Bronze challenge was five copper coins, five silver coins for Silver, and five gold coins for Gold. The higher the challenge level, the better the rewards, and sometimes even the equipment is offered at an obsidian level.

For a player who passed the challenge for the first time in Willowbrook Town, even the Bronze prize was almost equivalent to the Silver prize.

Eric remembered from his previous life that a swordsman named Stormblade was the first to pass the Bronze challenge in Willowbrook Town, earning a rare swordsman skill book.

After a while, the Assassin on the field was hit and fell 60 feet away, with 30 feet remaining to reach the finish line.

"Damn it, I was on the brink of victory. Do you have any more money? I'll definitely make it next time," the male Assassin, after being resurrected outside the arena, lamented.

A male Priest shook his head and said, "Thornheart, all five of us gave you our money; we really have no more."

Upon hearing the name Thornheart, Eric was surprised and shifted his gaze to the Assassin.

Dressed in black night gear, not very tall, and quite slim, resembling a monkey, Eric found it hard to believe that Thornheart, ranked tenth on the Eldoria Assassin leaderboard, was the same 'monkey' before him.

Thornheart, the Assassin captain of the Assassin Alliance, turned his gaze towards Eric, assessing him with a predatory look. He approached Eric and smiled, "Hello, I'm Thornheart, the captain of the Assassin Alliance. Can you lend me five copper coins? I'll return 20 copper coins to you tomorrow."

Thornheart was quite dissatisfied with his recent failure, as he was just 10 yards away from the finish line. He had identified some patterns and was confident that with another chance, he could surely succeed. Therefore, he wanted to intimidate Eric with the guild's name, hoping Eric would lend him five copper coins.

Being aware of the Assassin Alliance's reputation in the gaming world, Eric agreed to lend the coins, saying, "Lending five copper coins is fine, but you owe me 50 copper coins by tomorrow."

Thornheart was taken aback by this unexpected turn of events. As the captain of the Assassin Alliance and the renowned Thornheart, he felt a bit offended. Could it be that Eric was a new player in the game?

Seeing Thornheart's silence, Eric asked, "Do you still want to borrow?"

"Yes." Thornheart was on the verge of tears. While other players saw him as a skilled player, Eric seemed unaffected. However, the promise of a hefty reward of 50 copper coins was tempting.

"Here are five copper coins. Let's add each other as friends, and don't forget to repay me 50 copper coins tomorrow." Eric traded the 60 copper coins he earned from selling the necklace to Thornheart for five copper coins, reminding Thornheart to repay the debt.

After receiving the five copper coins, Thornheart, tears in his eyes, said, "Alright, I won't forget."

Unaware of Thornheart's thoughts, Eric walked towards the green-skinned goblin administrator.

"Sir, time is money. What can I do for you?" The goblin administrator spoke arrogantly.

"I want to participate in the Bronze challenge." Eric handed over five copper coins.

The goblin administrator jingled the coins, nodded in satisfaction, and opened the wooden door to the challenge, allowing Eric to enter.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have a new challenger ready to take on the challenge. Let's welcome this brave swordsman." The goblin announced loudly.

"Thornheart, that kid who borrowed you money is also participating in the challenge," the male Priest reminded.

Thornheart, still recuperating, chuckled and said, "He is just a completely new player, thinking the challenge is easy. Although it's only 90 feet, once you reach 45 feet, the goblin's attack pattern changes drastically, with a significantly faster attack rate. Even I find it hard to handle."

"Of course, you managed to reach 60 feet. I bet he won't make it past 15 feet." The male Priest nodded in agreement, smiling.

In the challenge arena, the three goblins at the finish line were ready, aiming their muskets at Eric on the starting line.

The countdown on the challenge field began flashing.

3...

2...

1...

The challenge began!