Even knowing it was just a game, when the warhorses charged right into their faces, most players couldn't control their instincts and scattered left and right.
The Dothraki bandits brandished their arakhs, howling as they plowed into the crowd.
"Cut them down!"
At the critical moment, Guild Leader Storm_Dominator (Lin Yan) led from the front, swinging his two-handed mace and smashing a Dothraki rider off his horse from the side.
The fallen Dothraki was like fish food thrown into a tank. Smelling blood, several players swarmed him, swinging battle axes and longswords. In an instant, the bandit was reduced to a bloody pulp.
"Damned iron men!" The bandit leader cursed in Dothraki. Displaying amazing horsemanship, he wheeled his mount around, intent on avenging his fallen comrade.
"Pocky! Sic 'em!"
At that moment, a Beastmaster player commanded his spotted hound to lunge at the bandit's exposed back.
The hound obeyed. Ignoring the chaos and screams of battle, it whined and leaped onto the horse's rump, clawing several bloody gashes into its hide.
Startled by the pain, the warhorse bucked violently. Despite the Dothraki's superb riding skills, he was thrown from the saddle.
"Good boy, Pocky!" The Beastmaster, ID Seth_Black, rushed forward swinging a flail. The Dothraki savage tried to scramble to his feet, but Seth smashed the flail into his skull, nearly knocking his brains out.
Seeing the bandit lying motionless on the ground, Seth turned to Pocky, who was panting with his tongue out, circling him as if asking for credit. Seth grinned.
"We clutched that one! Good job, Pocky!"
"Ko is dead! Go!"
A young bandit noticed the situation. He parried a spear thrust with his arakh, shouted a warning, and spurred his horse to flee.
These Dothraki bandits came fast and left fast. Leaving behind six or seven corpses, they vanished from the players' sight in a cloud of dust.
"How many lives did we lose?" Storm_Dominator lifted his visor, wheezing like a broken bellows, and looked at the players around him.
"I lost one life!"
"A pity. It was too dark. If they could see my face get sliced in half and regenerate, I bet I could have scared those bandits to death!"
"Huge loss. Both my free respawns got chopped away!"
[ SERVER ANNOUNCEMENT ]
> Guild: Heroes Guild has completed a Hidden Quest: First Bandit Kill.
> Rewards: All members receive 1 Iron Chest and 20 Kingdom Coins. Guild Leader Storm_Dominator receives 1 Bronze Chest, 5 Iron Chests, and 50 Kingdom Coins.
Eating an apple after dinner, Viserys watched the players' battle through the System interface.
Hearing the server-wide announcement, His Grace pursed his lips, thinking the players got off easy.
Since activating the System, Viserys rarely completed quests personally, outsourcing everything to the players. Recently, the Fireboy had started distributing rewards directly to the players upon completion, bypassing Viserys.
Of course, as the Host controlling the players, Viserys naturally took a 50% cut of all rewards earned by the players without lifting a finger.
Tossing the apple core out the window, Viserys quietly watched the celebrating players on the screen.
"Good fighting, brothers! besides the 500 RMB per head bounty I promised, I'll reward everyone with an extra 500!"
Taking off his helmet and tucking it under his arm, Storm_Dominator, usually as cold as an iceberg, cracked a smile.
Hearing this, the players rushed over excitedly, lifting Storm_Dominator into the air with many hands.
Nothing brings a group of strangers closer than fighting side-by-side on a battlefield (and getting paid for it).
"Jackpot! Three horses didn't run away!" Step_Sis approached Storm_Dominator, his face flushed with excitement, leading a warhorse by the reins.
"We looted six arakhs, three bows, and most importantly, these three horses. Now I can finally live up to the name of 'Scout.'"
Storm_Dominator was also happy seeing this. Rarely joking with people he wasn't close to, he teased:
"That depends on whether our Scout Leader knows how to ride. Don't come back with bloody thighs."
"Hahahaha!" The surrounding players laughed, imagining the embarrassing scene.
"Holy sht! I pulled gold from an Iron Chest!"
A shout startled everyone.
They turned to look and saw a Beastmaster player holding a cub that looked like a mix between a wolf and a dog.
"The Fireboy says it's a Direwolf. Apparently, it grows much larger and stronger than a normal wolf when fully grown. But can we even keep it alive in this climate?" The player, ID Seth_Black, muttered while holding the Direwolf cub.
"Dude, are you hacking? I just pulled a leather vest from that stupid chest, and it's second-hand! Smells like horse sweat! This is unfair!"
"Could be worse. I got a short sword. At least it's a decent sidearm."
"Good luck." Storm_Dominator walked up to Seth, curiously eyeing the Husky-lookalike cub, and patted him on the shoulder, admiring his luck.
Just now, he had opened all five of his Iron Chests. The results were boots, gloves, and scrap metal.
"Guild Leader, why don't you open that Bronze Chest and let the brothers see?" Little_Li_Guang, carrying his bow, toyed with a dagger he got from a chest and looked at the boss.
"Yeah, Boss! Open it up!"
The players started chanting.
Seeing this, Storm entered the Player Shop in front of everyone, retrieved the Bronze Chest from the Fireboy, and opened it.
"This is...?" Storm looked at the item in his hand with surprise. It was a transparent, fiery-red bead about the size of a billiard ball.
"Wow! Congratulations, player! You pulled a Golden Legendary!" Behind the counter, the Fireboy pulled out a trumpet from nowhere and blew a celebratory toot.
"Golden Legendary?" Startled, Storm looked at the Fireboy in confusion.
"The person who swallows this bead has an 80% chance of increasing their Magic Affinity. When magic truly returns to the world, everyone will know its power!"
Hearing the Fireboy's mystical description, Storm weighed the bead in his hand, thinking: But my class isn't Alchemist (Pyromancer). I can't use this.
Exiting the Player Shop, Storm showed the bead—which claimed to boost a Warlock's magic affinity—to the group.
"This isn't very useful to us. It's kinda worthless. Anyone who picked the Warlock/Alchemist class went to Minister's Grenadier Corps. We don't have any magic users in our guild."
Step_Sis scratched the back of his head, unsure of the bead's value to them.
"Looks like we'll have to wait until we get back and trade it with those firebugs for some resources."
Storm put the bead away. He thought he would get some flashy armor or a warhorse, not this niche item.
"Damn, I'm exhausted!"
No_Cilantro stared at the camp from a distance, panting heavily. He was carrying a flag-spear taller than himself, leaning against the camp gate.
This was the item he had pulled from his chest: a spear with a blank white banner.