Old Grog didn't slow down just because Liam had swapped weapons. He lunged upward, leaping high enough to meet Liam mid-air.
What followed was a lightning-fast Combo Strike that tore into Liam.
-915.
-899.
-932.
...
A string of damage numbers erupted over Liam’s head.
Just as Liam was about to hit the ground, Old Grog seized him by the collar and slammed him violently into the dirt.
Boom!
The ground shattered under the impact, spiderweb cracks spreading through the soil.
-1,858.
Another massive damage indicator flashed.
Under the weight of that single combo, Liam’s health plummeted, a full third of his HP vanishing in an instant.
Gritting his teeth, he immediately executed a Tactical Scramble, rolling frantically to the side.
In all his time in Novice Village, he had never been pushed into such a pathetic state.
Zip!
He swapped weapons mid-roll and loosed an arrow the moment his feet touched the ground.
Old Grog’s combat prowess was no joke; his skill timing was disturbingly precise.
If I don't give this my all, I might actually end up dead, Liam thought.
With that grim realization, another shaft whistled through the air.
Zip!
Zip! Zip! Zip!
Arrows flew in a relentless stream, each one fired from a punishingly difficult angle. Every shot was a jagged streak of death aimed squarely at Grog’s eyes.
Old Grog saw the intent. At some point, another Wine Gourd had appeared in his hand, and he used it like a buckler to deflect the incoming barrage.
"Is that all you can do? Hide behind a bottle?"
Liam’s eyes narrowed. His fingers hooked the bowstring, and two arrows of pure energy manifested.
Twang! Twang!
Double Volley!
This was a high-level combat technique. While it was easy for a Double Volley to lose its mark, that wasn't a problem for Liam.
Relying on his masterful marksmanship, his attacks grew increasingly sharp. The advantage of a Double Volley wasn't just about accuracy; it was about making it impossible for an opponent to simply swat the projectiles away.
He just needed one opening to transition into an Aerial Combo.
"Now!"
Old Grog’s stance finally faltered under the relentless pressure of the arrows.
Liam seized the fleeting opening and unleashed Spiral-Draw Archery. The massive impact sent Grog into a state of Suspension.
Immediately, he followed up to keep Grog in the air. The old man tried to force his way down, but the constant knockback made it seemingly impossible.
However...
Liam had underestimated Grog’s sheer tenacity.
Grog caught a micro-second gap in the assault and managed to tilt his head back, downing a massive mouthful of Strong Ale.
A thick Drunken Haze immediately began to bleed out of his pores.
System: You have been affected by Drunken Haze. Reaction speed reduced by 20%. Attack Velocity reduced by 20%.
Liam frowned, but his hands didn't stop. The rhythm of his attacks continued; this penalty wasn't enough to break his Suspension chain yet.
"My turn," Grog growled.
He hurled the Wine Gourd in his hand.
Having already been sent flying by an explosion once, Liam wasn't about to make the same mistake twice.
Zip!
An arrow slammed into the Wine Gourd, knocking it off its trajectory.
Boom!
A deafening explosion rocked the area. The shockwave made Liam stumble, but he escaped without taking significant damage.
Old Grog used the distraction to drop back to the ground. He slapped the base of the Wine Gourd, and a massive serpent slithered out from within the vessel.
The snake was a vibrant, sickly green, and it lunged straight for Liam.
Azure-Patterned Serpent (Black Iron)
Level: 10
HP: 125,980 / 125,980
Attack: 412
Skills: Constrict, Venom Bolt, Dragon Tail Sweep, Toxic Mist, Crimson Eye Beam.
Liam’s expression shifted. He hadn't expected Old Grog to be hiding such a behemoth inside that gourd.
Despite his surprise, his hands moved with mechanical precision, pivoting to fire at the Azure-Patterned Serpent.
-1,321.
Liam’s damage output was scaling up, but the serpent wasn't just a target dummy. It immediately retaliated with a Crimson Eye beam.
Liam dove into a roll to dodge, but the beam tracked him, chasing his heels like a heat-seeking laser. Because his movement speed wasn't high enough, the beam eventually clipped him.
-1,528.
Liam winced and immediately prepared to return fire.
But before his arrow could leave the string, the Azure-Patterned Serpent unhinged its jaw and let out a deafening roar. A thick, roiling Toxic Mist erupted from its maw.
The mist covered such a massive area that there was no way to outrun it through positioning alone.
-426.
-426.
-426.
...
Standing in the Toxic Mist, Liam’s health began to tick down at a sickening rate.
Without a Priest nearby and lacking any detoxification skills, he had no choice but to tank the damage.
Zip!
Liam launched a frantic counterattack, pouring arrows into the beast. When hunting a snake, you aim for the vitals—The Serpent's Crux!
Every single shaft was aimed precisely at that vulnerable point.
Suddenly, a prickle of danger ran down his spine. He abandoned his shot and executed a Tactical Scramble, diving away.
Just as he moved, Old Grog materialized in the exact spot he had been standing.
Finding that Liam had actually evaded the sneak attack, Grog didn't look surprised. Instead, he swung the Wine Gourd down like a sledgehammer, aiming to crush Liam’s skull.
Liam had no room to fight back; he could only scramble away in a desperate attempt to avoid the dual assault.
CRASH!
The Wine Gourd smashed into the earth, cratering the ground.
Liam had barely avoided Grog’s strike when the Azure-Patterned Serpent’s Dragon Tail Sweep arrived.
Thud!
-1,352.
The massive tail sent Liam tumbling backward, shaving off another thousand health points.
The moment he hit the ground, he was already loosing another arrow.
He went back to Double Volley, but the difficulty was now on another level. He had to suppress both the high-speed Azure-Patterned Serpent and Old Grog simultaneously.
Both were Boss-level entities, and their damage was staggering.
Watching his health bar steadily bleed out, Liam’s gaze turned cold and sharp. He fully activated The Immaculate Eye.
The world slowed. Every detail, every twitch of a muscle, and every swirl of the mist became crystal clear.
Zip!
The arrows pierced the air.
The precision of Liam’s Twin Shot was supernatural. Every shaft carried an unstoppable momentum.
While the individual impact wasn't as heavy as Spiral-Draw Archery, his frequency had nearly doubled. Spiral-Draw was for raw power and penetration; Twin Shot—and firing even more arrows at once—was for multi-target suppression.
The trade-off was lower damage per hit, but when Twin Shot was paired with Rapid-Fire Archery, the result was transformative.
Rapid-Fire Archery was the most basic of techniques—firing repeatedly at the same target. But combined with Twin Shot, it allowed a single man to hold two Bosses at bay.
If anyone else had been there to witness it, they would have been speechless.
Liam was now operating in a flow state. He had been caught off guard by Grog’s skills earlier, but now, the old man couldn't find an opening. Every time Grog began a skill animation, an arrow would slam into him with pinpoint accuracy, interrupting the cast.
Now, it was a gamble. He was betting that Old Grog didn't possess an Unstoppable or Berserk skill.
As long as the Boss didn't have a way to break CC, Liam would use this absolute suppression to grind both Grog and the Azure-Patterned Serpent into the dust.
Old Grog seemed to realize Liam’s plan. He suddenly retreated, pulling back until he was positioned behind the Azure-Patterned Serpent, using the massive creature as a living shield to break Liam’s rhythm.
If Grog could just find an opening to unleash his skills, he was confident he could kill Liam in the next volley.
But Liam wasn’t about to give him that chance.
He executed a Spiral-Draw Archery shot in tandem with Rapid-Fire Archery. Spiral-Draw didn't just boast high damage and piercing power—it had one crucial advantage.
It could curve.
Whiz!
Hiding behind the Azure-Patterned Serpent didn't save Old Grog; Liam’s arrow arched through the air and found its mark. Disbelief etched itself across the man’s face. Liam’s combat methods had already surpassed anything he could have imagined.
The Azure-Patterned Serpent slithered forward, its massive body swaying as it lunged toward Liam. He knew exactly what it wanted: to use Constrict. If he let that serpent coil around him and trigger the crowd control, the fight would be over.
Liam wasn't going to let that happen.
He stuck with Rapid-Fire Archery, but this time, his targets were the eyes—of both the serpent and Grog. Such weak-point targeting demanded extreme precision from an Archer, especially when layering Twin Shot on top of Rapid-Fire. Without The Immaculate Eye, it would have been a daunting task for Liam.
Now, it was trivial.
Twin Shot flew straight for the serpent’s eyes, followed immediately by a Spiral-Draw Archery shot that moved with impossible, reality-defying trajectories. Grog’s plan to hide behind his beast and strike from the shadows collapsed instantly, utterly suppressed by Liam’s relentless flow of attacks.
"Is he even human?" Grog’s expression darkened. He slapped a hand against his waist, and a Talisman appeared in his palm.
Liam’s eyes widened. He hadn't expected an NPC to possess such an item this early in the game. Almost instinctively, Liam fired an arrow toward the Talisman in Grog's hand to intercept it, but it was too late. Grog had already activated the item. A wave of golden light rippled outward, coating both the man and the Azure-Patterned Serpent in a shimmering aura.
Liam’s arrow slammed into Grog.
-1,420.
When the damage number popped up, Grog went pale. "How... how is this possible? Your attacks... they deal true damage!!"
The Talisman was supposed to grant a massive defense boost, but the damage Liam dealt was still absurd. There was only one explanation: his attacks ignored defenses.
Liam had initially worried the Talisman might be an offensive or binding type, but since it was purely defensive, its impact on him was negligible. Under Liam's absolute suppression, the health bars of both Old Grog and the serpent plummeted toward ten percent.
Grog’s eyes turned bloodshot, his face contorted in a mask of rage. He looked like a cornered animal ready for a suicidal final stand.
But then, Liam stopped.
"I don't really want to kill you," Liam said with a smile. "How about we make a deal?"
Grog narrowed his eyes. "What kind of deal?"
"I let you live, and you give me fifty AP."
Grog stared at him with deep suspicion. "Just for fifty AP? You're willing to abandon the Elder Mayor’s quest for that?"
Liam nodded, grinning. "To be honest, I don't think the Elder Mayor is fit for his position anyway. The role of Village Chief in this Novice Village should belong to Miller the Smith. But I'm an Adventurer; I have to look out for my own interests. Fifty AP, and you’re free to go."
Grog remained silent for a moment before nodding. "Fine. Deal."
System Notification: Old Grog has issued a quest.
Quest Objective: Allow him to leave.
Penalty: None.
Reward: 50 AP.
Liam’s lips curled into a smirk as he accepted the quest. He wasn't sparing Old Grog permanently; he was just sparing him now. He could always finish the Mayor’s quest later when the timing was better.
Besides, Liam had other motives. He wanted the Elder Mayor and Miller the Smith to tear each other apart until they were both crippled. Grog was Miller’s right-hand man; if he died now, the already-weak Miller would be at a total disadvantage. The "mutually assured destruction" Liam was hoping for wouldn't happen.
By taking the 50 AP, he maintained the balance of power, allowing the two rivals to continue their struggle.
After seeing Grog off, Liam checked his newly acquired 50 AP and opened his attribute panel.
Character Profile
Nickname: Frost Monarch
Level: 10 (0/133,100)
Class: Archer
HP: 71,450 / 71,450
MP: 100 / 100
Attack: 309 | Ability Power: 58
Armor: 368 | Magic Resist: 295
Attack Velocity: 3.63 | Movement Speed: 5.7
Physical Pen: 0% | Magic Pen: 0%
Special Stats: Crit Rate 15%, Damage Reflection 10%
Free Attributes: 50
Luck (LCK): Hidden
Innate Talent: Hand of Heavenly Punishment (Transcendent Grade)
Skills: Rapid Fire (2-Star), Basic Reach (3-Star), Chain Lightning (2-Star), Verdant Rebirth (2-Star), Resurgence (3-Star), Invincible Aegis (1-Star).
Equipment: Thunder-Strike Bow (Silver Grade), Treant Set (Black Iron), The Immaculate Eye (Special).
For a Level 10 player, Liam’s stats were nothing short of monstrous.
His skill set was particularly terrifying. Aside from the basic Rapid Fire, every skill he possessed was top-tier for this stage of the game. Because he had been selective with his choices, every ability provided a massive, tangible benefit to his playstyle.
He still had fifty unallocated AP. He could dump them into Attack Velocity or Movement Speed. Traveling in the Novice Village didn't take much time, but once he reached the Capital City, transit would become a massive time-sink—especially before players got access to mounts. Furthermore, higher movement speed meant better kiting potential in high-level combat.
After a moment of thought, Liam decided not to spend them yet. He would hold onto the AP and allocate it based on the specific demands of his next fight.
For now, he would let the plot lines develop on their own. He needed to grind as much HP as possible before Miller the Smith finished crafting the Gold Grade longbow to ensure he was in peak condition. Additionally, he needed more Skill Tomes to fuel his Verdant Rebirth skill.
As players reached Level 10, they began to leave for the city. Novice Village #10086 was starting to feel deserted. New players would eventually fill the gaps, but #10086 was in an awkward spot; the system usually funneled newcomers into the lower-numbered villages first.
As a result, even here at the Level 10 dungeon, The Twisted Thicket, Liam only saw two or three scattered teams.
"Hey, want to party up?" a player called out to him. "We’ve got a Guardian with the Elite Treant Set. We're guaranteed to clear the dungeon!"