The Azure Edge party was almost at its limit.
The Grayhide Boar King was enormous, every charge bearing down on them with crushing force.
Iron Wall held the front with his small round shield, steadily giving ground. Several obvious cracks already marked its face.
Thud!
Another collision.
Iron Wall staggered back three steps, nearly slamming into a tree.
[Azure Edge Iron Wall]
[Health: 27/160]
"Heal me! Now!"
Azure Edge Little Deer gritted her teeth. A weak white glow lit her short staff.
"I'm almost out of mana, too!"
The heal landed, barely bringing his Health back up a little.
But the Grayhide Boar King gave them no time to breathe.
It growled and heavily scraped the ground twice with its right forehoof.
Watching from the shade of a tree, Lu Tiechen's gaze sharpened.
That movement again.
Ordinary Grayhide Boars lowered their heads to gather strength before charging, but they didn't scrape the ground so noticeably.
Before every heavy charge, the Grayhide Boar King scraped twice with its right forehoof.
The first scrape adjusted its direction.
The second lowered its center of gravity before it pushed off.
In other words, at the instant it charged, its weight briefly settled onto its right foreleg and shoulder.
An attack to the inside of that leg might not stop the charge, but it would certainly force it off course.
Lu Tiechen tightened his grip on his sword.
He didn't rush out.
He was waiting for the right moment.
Not to play the hero.
To test his judgment.
"Spread out! It's going for Little Deer!"
Azure Edge Bladesman suddenly shouted.
Too late.
The Grayhide Boar King's huge body surged forward, straight toward Azure Edge Little Deer at the rear.
Iron Wall's expression changed. He tried to move across and intercept it, but the previous charge had knocked him too far away.
Fireball instinctively dodged aside.
Little Deer froze, her face going white.
That was when Lu Tiechen moved.
He darted from behind the tree, cutting diagonally into the charge's path rather than standing directly in front of it.
The Grayhide Boar King was fast.
Lu Tiechen wasn't particularly fast.
But he positioned himself precisely.
Just as the boar was about to pass him, he lowered his sword and thrust upward into the inside of its right foreleg.
Thunk!
-32!
The damage wasn't exceptional.
But the Grayhide Boar King's charge abruptly veered.
Its massive body hurtled past Azure Edge Little Deer and slammed into a nearby tree with a crash, sending leaves showering down.
Azure Edge Little Deer stared.
Azure Edge Bladesman also froze for a moment.
"You?"
Lu Tiechen didn't answer.
He pulled out his sword and immediately retreated.
The Grayhide Boar King turned from the tree, its bloodshot eyes fixed on him.
Its aggro had shifted.
"Don't just stand there."
Lu Tiechen's voice was level.
"The armor on its back is too hard. Attacking it is pointless. Hit the inside of the forelegs and the belly."
Azure Edge Bladesman reacted first. "Listen to him! Iron Wall, hold it! Fireball, save your mana for its weak points! Little Deer, don't waste heals!"
Azure Edge Fireball, who had just called Lu Tiechen a poser, looked uncomfortable. But this was no time to argue. He raised his staff and began casting again.
Iron Wall gritted his teeth, charged forward, and planted his shield in front of the boar.
Thud!
He was driven back half a step, but this time he was ready. The line held.
Lu Tiechen circled to the side.
He didn't compete for damage. He watched the boar's movements.
Its Defense was far higher than an ordinary Grayhide Boar's. The hard shell on its back was almost natural plate armor. Bladesman's earlier attacks there had produced numbers like -7 and -8.
The inside of its forelegs was different.
The hide was thinner, and each charge left the muscles briefly stiff from exertion.
That was the opening Lu Tiechen wanted.
The Grayhide Boar King lowered its head again.
Its right forehoof scraped the ground.
Once.
Twice.
"It's charging," Lu Tiechen warned.
Iron Wall immediately angled his defense to the left.
The boar thundered into him.
Iron Wall took the blow, losing a large chunk of Health. But his shield deflected the boar's body, exposing one side of its belly.
"Now!"
Lu Tiechen thrust into its underside.
-38!
Azure Edge Bladesman followed, driving his short blade into the inside of a foreleg.
-19!
Fireball's spell finally struck.
-24!
The Grayhide Boar King roared in fury, its health bar visibly dropping.
The Azure Edge players' expressions changed.
It wasn't that they hadn't been attacking before. Their attacks had simply been a mess.
The back armor was too hard, the front too dangerous, and Fireball's Mana was limited. Iron Wall's stubborn endurance had been practically the only thing keeping them alive.
As soon as Lu Tiechen joined in, everything changed.
Unlike ordinary players, he didn't focus only on health bars and cooldowns.
He watched movement, balance, and the minute changes before each exertion of force.
The next time the Grayhide Boar King swung its head, Lu Tiechen stepped back half a pace in advance.
A thick tusk swept past him, just short of his chest.
Azure Edge Fireball's eyelid twitched.
"How did he dodge that?"
No one answered.
Lu Tiechen was already moving in again. His sword slashed diagonally across the side of the neck exposed by the head swing.
-29!
The vibration left his wrist slightly numb.
He frowned.
The sword was still lacking.
It had been sharp enough against ordinary Grayhide Boars. Against a minor boss like this, however, its structural strength and ability to penetrate armor were beginning to fall short.
If the material were a little better.
If he could work at a higher temperature.
If he could add other materials and reforge the edge.
That blow should have dealt more damage.
The battle continued.
The Azure Edge party had been close to collapse, but with Lu Tiechen calling out weak points, their rhythm gradually stabilized.
Iron Wall held the front.
Bladesman and Lu Tiechen attacked weak points from the sides.
Little Deer healed only when it mattered.
Fireball stopped wasting spells. He waited for the boar to stiffen after a charge, then aimed his fireballs at its belly.
Five minutes later, only a sliver remained in the Grayhide Boar King's health bar.
It suddenly threw back its head and roared, its dark red bristles standing on end.
[Grayhide Boar King has entered an Enraged State.]
"Watch out!" Azure Edge Bladesman shouted.
The Grayhide Boar King surged forward.
This time, it didn't scrape twice. It scraped only once before charging straight at Iron Wall, the nearest target.
Iron Wall reacted half a beat too late.
Thud!
The small round shield finally gave way with a crack.
Iron Wall was thrown backward, his health bar plunging to a miserable 9 points.
Little Deer cried out and immediately healed him.
But the Grayhide Boar King had already turned. Its second charge was aimed at Azure Edge Fireball.
Fireball went pale.
"Help!"
Lu Tiechen's gaze grew grim.
The enraged boar was faster.
But repeated attacks had already left its right foreleg slightly unsteady.
He didn't try to block it head-on.
Facing the charging boar, he took a diagonal step forward.
Azure Edge Bladesman's heart jumped.
"Are you insane?"
The boar reached him.
Lu Tiechen turned sideways. His blade came down almost against its tusk and pierced the open wound in its right foreleg.
Thunk!
-41!
Weak-Point Damage.
The Grayhide Boar King's huge body lurched sideways, its charge careening completely out of control.
It missed Azure Edge Fireball and crashed heavily to the ground.
"Attack!"
Lu Tiechen's command was low and sharp.
Azure Edge Bladesman lunged first, stabbing repeatedly.
Fireball gritted his teeth and squeezed out the last of his Mana to launch one more fireball.
Even Iron Wall staggered back on low Health and smashed his broken shield against the boar's head.
Lu Tiechen moved to its flank, gripped his sword in both hands, and drove it down with all his strength.
Thunk!
The blade sank into its belly.
-46!
The Grayhide Boar King struggled one last time. Then its enormous body finally collapsed.
[You helped slay the Grayhide Boar King.]
[Higher-level enemy defeated. Assessing contribution.]
[Combat Contribution: 31%]
[You have gained 90 Experience Points.]
White light rose around Lu Tiechen.
[Congratulations! You have reached Level 3.]
[Health +20]
[Attack +1]
[Defense +1]
[You have gained 2 Unallocated Attribute Points.]
Level-up lights appeared around the Azure Edge players in turn.
They stood where they were, their expressions complicated.
Especially Azure Edge Fireball.
He had just been calling Lu Tiechen a poser behind his back. Without Lu Tiechen's intervention, he would probably have been trampled to death.
The Grayhide Boar King's corpse slowly dissolved into motes of light, leaving several items on the ground.
An iron sword.
A gray-black leather tunic.
Several Silver Coins.
Two materials.
Azure Edge Bladesman collected the drops, and the party's loot distribution panel appeared.
[Boar-Fang Iron Sword]
[Quality: Common (White)]
[Required Level: 4]
[Attack: 10–15]
[Strength +1]
[Durability: 35/35]
[Toughhide Tunic]
[Quality: Common (White)]
[Required Level: 4]
[Defense +5]
[Health +30]
[Durability: 45/45]
[Glimmer Iron Ore]
[Uncommon Material]
[Grayhide Boar King Tusk]
[Common Material]
Their eyes lit up at the Boar-Fang Iron Sword.
A Level 4 white weapon.
Attack of 10–15, plus a point of Strength.
That was excellent gear this early in the game.
But when Lu Tiechen saw it, he frowned slightly.
A Level 4 weapon.
White quality.
Dropped by a minor field boss.
Yet its maximum Attack was only 3 higher than the Level 1 Sharp Iron Sword he'd made himself.
His sword had been forged from the beginner village's free materials.
A Low-Grade Iron Blank. An ordinary wooden handle. A low-grade whetstone.
No blueprint, no skill bonuses. He hadn't even learned Basic Forging.
And its stats were already close to a Level 4 white drop from the Grayhide Boar King.
That wasn't right.
Or rather, it was very interesting.
Azure Edge Bladesman looked at him. After a moment's thought, he decided this was someone worth staying on good terms with.
"You played a big part in that kill. By our rules, you get first choice of one piece of equipment and one material."
Iron Wall nodded.
Little Deer had no objection.
Only Fireball opened his mouth as though he wanted to say something.
After all, the Boar-Fang Iron Sword was the most valuable drop. If Lu Tiechen took it, their party would have little to show for the fight except experience.
But remembering how close he had come to dying, Fireball closed his mouth, though he still looked unhappy.
Lu Tiechen looked over the loot.
Boar-Fang Iron Sword.
Toughhide Tunic.
Glimmer Iron Ore.
Grayhide Boar King Tusk.
He barely hesitated.
"I'll take the Toughhide Tunic and Glimmer Iron Ore."
The Azure Edge players stared.
Fireball blurted out, "You don't want the sword?"
Lu Tiechen shook his head.
"No."
Fireball looked as though he'd heard something bizarre.
"That's a Level 4 white weapon! You're choosing clothes?"
Even Iron Wall was surprised.
At this stage, the importance of a weapon hardly needed explaining.
Higher Attack meant faster kills and faster leveling.
Armor was useful, of course, but early on, everyone prioritized damage.
Could any armor matter more than a weapon?
Azure Edge Bladesman glanced at the sword in Lu Tiechen's hand and quickly understood.
"His weapon must already be good."
Fireball curled his lip and muttered, "No wonder his damage is so high. He probably had a good sword all along, acting like some ordinary player."
Lu Tiechen didn't explain.
He accepted the Toughhide Tunic and Glimmer Iron Ore.
He couldn't equip the tunic yet. It required Level 4.
Still, the stats were serviceable.
Defense +5. Health +30.
Once he reached Level 4, it would give him a little more room for error, instead of leaving him nearly dead from a single high-level monster's charge.
The Glimmer Iron Ore was what he truly wanted.
It might be a low-level material, but ore dropped by a monster was bound to be significantly different from the free Low-Grade Iron Blanks in the smithy.
Azure Edge Bladesman kept the Boar-Fang Iron Sword for himself.
Once the loot was divided, he looked at Lu Tiechen.
"Thanks for earlier."
Lu Tiechen nodded.
"Don't mention it."
Bladesman hesitated, then asked, "Are you sure you won't join us? Azure Edge will definitely be going for first kills in this beginner village. With you, our chances would be much better."
Lu Tiechen put the Glimmer Iron Ore in his inventory.
"I've got something to do."
Another refusal.
This time, Azure Edge Bladesman didn't press him. He only gave him a long look.
"All right. If you ever want a party, come find me."
Lu Tiechen turned and left.
Behind him, Fireball muttered, "What a loner."
Little Deer glanced at him.
"You'd be dead if it weren't for him."
Fireball choked on his reply. "I didn't say he was useless."
Lu Tiechen ignored the voices behind him.
Under a tree, he opened his inventory again and studied his new Glimmer Iron Ore, then the Sharp Iron Sword in his hand.
A question was growing clearer in his mind.
Why?
Why could gear he made from free Level 1 materials come close to the stats of Level 4 White Gear dropped by a minor field boss?
Were monster drops simply mediocre?
Or were the forging mechanics in Age of the Ancient Gods more realistic than anyone imagined?
If every step—materials, temperature, hammer blows, and quenching—affected the final stats, then equipment level might not be the only standard that mattered.
Perhaps what truly determined a weapon's strength was the person who forged it.
Lu Tiechen tightened his grip on the ore, his eyes slowly brightening.
Suddenly, he could hardly wait to return to the smithy and try.
If free materials could produce stats close to Level 4 White Gear, what could he make with ore dropped in the Grayhide Boar King's territory?