MMORPG: Divine Mech Hunter

From a distance, Li Yao surveyed the fortress hidden amidst the trees. Its defenses appeared fairly robust.

Aside from a large slope serving as the entrance, the rest of the fortress had towering walls built into the mountains.

Describing them as city walls would be a bit inaccurate, as the fortress consists of six layers from top to bottom, with the first layer starting from the base of the mountain. Due to their design aesthetic, the first layer’s height was at least forty or fifty yards above the base of the mountain.

Li Yao frowned and continued to observe the patrolling Troll guards on the walls.

Troll Defender

Rank: Level 15, 2-Star Elite

Health: 40,000

Armor: 400

Resistance: Primary Poison Resistance

Skills: Throwing Javelin, Strangle, Pierce

Li Yao activated his Dark Ranger’s passive ability. Unless detected by a pet capable of revealing stealth, he was practically invisible with his level of concealment.

Li Yao slowly approached the base of the wall. Upon inspection, he found this spot to be the easiest to breach.

Firstly, the platform of the first layer on this section of the wall was filled with many large trees. There were even tents built out of wood and animal hides where the trolls presumably resided.

Next to the trees was a stone column about twenty yards high, engraved with strange patterns. Traces of green smoke encircling it indicated a Troll Priest’s totem.

Crucially, only one Troll Defender patrolled nearby. All factors considered, this place seemed like an ideal breach point.

Li Yao estimated that the wall was about fifty yards high – an insurmountable abyss for ordinary players, but for him, it couldn’t be simpler.

As the Drywood Troll Defender approached, Li Yao jumped up, whistling as he began his ascent thanks to the effects of his boots.

The patrolling Troll turned around hearing the sound.

The next moment, her Magic Spider Silk shot out.

Smack…

The Magic Spider Silk stuck directly to the Troll Defender’s mouth. The pulling force rapidly propelled Li Yao towards the Troll Defender. Astonished, the Troll stuttered back, reaching the edge of the wall.

The Troll quickly responded, his short spear plunging into a crevice in the wall to steady himself and prevent a fall.

His mouth glued shut, all that came out was a low moan. The Troll Defender could see the shadowy figure of Li Yao but was powerless to attack while trying to regain balance.

As Li Yao reached the edge of the wall, a prepared Freezing Trap was thrown at the Troll’s feet.

As the Troll freed his mouth to call his companions, his body suddenly froze, becoming an ice statue. His expression was locked in a state of anger and indignation. Li Yao could clearly see these emotions in the Troll’s eyes.

Li Yao had no time to consider his thoughts. Using Shadow Roll, he positioned himself behind him, summoned the power of the Stampede, and kicked out.

As the Troll thawed, he plummeted from the wall. His terrified scream echoed as he crashed to the ground, his life instantly drained.

Li Yao frowned slightly because he didn’t gain any experience, though he did earn two merit points.

However, Li Yao didn’t have time to ponder this, as the Troll’s death cry had alerted other nearby Trolls.

Li Yao quickly faded into invisibility and used his Magic Spider Silk to zip up to the top of the twenty yard-high stone totem. He perched on top.

After a while, the surrounding Trolls began to gather, over a dozen in a short time.

A few Trolls communicated in their ancient language, inspecting the fallen Troll, shaking their heads while saying something. The Trolls then dispersed.

They clearly saw no weapon wounds on their fallen comrade and assumed he had accidentally fallen. No sympathy was given for such misfortune.

Li Yao released a sigh of relief as the Trolls dispersed. As he started to execute his plans, a system prompt suddenly appeared.

“System: You kneel humbly before the totem pole that carries the heritage of ancient times, sensing an ancient and vicissitudinous aura. It seems as if ancient information had traversed the long river of time, offering you a glimpse of the glory of the Troll Empire at its peak. You sigh lightly, lamenting the desolation of time. The grandeur of the Troll Empire may be lost, but its ancient traditions stir you deeply.”

“System: You’ve learned Ancient Trollish, Trollish, and Troll Priest Tongue.”

“Damn, so you can learn languages this way.”

Li Yao was speechless. He had been planning to squeeze some time to study the languages he would need in the Great Library of Dalaran. Unexpectedly, he learned three Troll-related languages.

He heard about such instances but never encountered it himself. Now, by a twist of fate, he had bumped into one. One could say it was a killing two birds with one stone.

The language system in The Ancient God World was incredibly complicated. Each race could communicate in the common language, but to conduct detailed quests, explore relics, high-end engineering, magic, dungeon exploration, knowledge of various race languages, and ancient languages was indispensable.

Additionally, some obscure languages like Ancient Trollish and Troll Priest Tongue could only be learned in this way.

In the last life, not knowing how many players had suffered losses before they started paying attention to what seemed like a useless language study.

“You’ve got to be kidding me, why the hell did you kill me?” A sentence suddenly appeared in the calm Regional Channel.

Li Yao would open the Regional Channel a while after entering an area, useful for occasionally discovering valuable information.

He thought this time was just out of habit since he did not anticipate players to venture into such a complex area. Li Yao shook his head, likely another player had been killed. He didn’t care, killing and being killed were very common things in the game, and he couldn’t be bothered to pay attention to such disputes.

As Li Yao was about to carry out his plan, the Regional Channel refreshed with a new message.

The message was very straightforward: “Crap, don’t you want to admit it? I was transformed into a troll and mind my own business. But you, you covered my mouth right away, used a sneaky freezing trap on me, then kicked me off the city wall.”

The message continued: “Do you dare to accept my private chat, do you dare to kill me and not let me know who you are?”

You can send a private message if you can see the person, but you don’t know the other player’s game ID.

Li Yao was speechless. No wonder it felt strange, no experience gained, only merit points. Turns out it was a player disguised as a Troll.

“Brother, I didn’t know you were a player.” Li Yao replied anonymously: “Besides, even if I did, we’re opposing camps. What’s the big deal if I kill you? Do you have to be so bitter about it?”

“Damn it, you are daring. You wouldn’t believe how hard it is to get an item that transforms you into a Troll. Motherfucker, it disappears after one death,” the straightforward replied: “Fine, you’re a bastard, huh? You’re here doing a mission, too. I have a bunch of guild brothers. Isn’t killing the enemy camp very normal? Just waiting to be killed.”

“Crazy, I am doing missions at Drywood Fortress too. Feel free to come kill me.” Shaking his head, Li Yao stopped paying attention to the Regional Channel. He had urgent business to attend to…

PS: Continuing to solicit monthly votes, seeking fire support.