Chapter 21: Suspicious Gathering Skill

Chen Mo spent three hours deep in the Wild Wolf Valley, raising his level to 8.

For each level, Chen Mo allocated 4 points to Strength and 1 point to Agility. After reaching level 8, including the extra 1 point of Strength from his Goblin Shoes and the 10 points of Strength from the Fallen One title, his total Strength reached 63 points. His total attack power was 66–67. Even using a normal attack with his Hand Crossbow against a level 7 Wild Wolf, he could deal nearly 70 points of damage.

A Wild Wolf with 800 Health Points would be killed by Chen Mo in less than twenty seconds.

His killing speed had increased quite a bit. After the Flame Three-Headed Wolf took over Wild Wolf Valley, the number of Wild Wolf mobs in the valley had decreased. There weren’t enough wolves around for Chen Mo to kill, so he slowly moved towards areas where monsters still were, killing them along the way.

Half an hour later, Chen Mo suddenly stopped.

Deep in the Wild Wolf Valley, there was also a dark Cave!

Yesterday, he had been among the first batch of Players to come to Wild Wolf Valley to level up. At that time, the number of Players in the Wild Wolf Valley of each Starter Village wasn’t high, and there were many more monsters than there were now. No one had been able to go deep into the Wild Wolf Valley. Then the Flame Three-Headed Wolf appeared, and all the Players in Wild Wolf Valley died completely. As for this Cave, it seemed no Player had discovered it yet!

What could be inside this Cave?

A Treasure Chest?

Curious, Chen Mo fought his way inside.

The monsters inside the Cave were still Wild Wolves, but they were no longer level 7; there were also some level 8 black Wild Wolves inside.

The Cave was like a maze. Chen Mo fought continuously inside for over an hour, getting very close to level 9 in Experience, but he still hadn’t found any Treasure Chest.

Just as Chen Mo was about to give up and focus on leveling up, he suddenly spotted an old NPC man ahead in the dim light.

This old NPC man clearly wasn’t ordinary. He was imprisoned in a jail made of iron bars at the end of the Cave. Although his hands weren’t locked, there was a large chain on his left ankle. Even if the jail’s iron door was opened, this old man likely couldn’t escape.

The old man originally had an indifferent expression, but the moment he saw Chen Mo, his dead-fish-like eyes suddenly lit up.

“Fallen One! You were once a Fallen One too?” the old man shouted.

Fallen One?

Wasn’t that the title he was currently wearing?

He hadn’t expected this title to actually have an effect. So, did that mean being able to grind negative reputation with Bude was also intentionally designed by the game designers?

“Yes, Mr. Grisen. Could it be that you are one too?” The old man was called Grisen. Chen Mo was currently in urgent need of equipment, so he answered along with the old man’s line.

“Hmph! I am not some Fallen One, but a villain! A villain scorned by everyone! But in reality, I did nothing. They falsely accused me of being a villain and then imprisoned me here!” Grisen roared angrily.

“Mr. Grisen, would you like me to help you escape from here?” Chen Mo glanced at the iron-barred jail where Grisen was held.

But Grisen shook his head, his expression returning to normal. “It’s useless. This prison is too sturdy; you can’t break it open. However, if you have time, I hope you can gather some wolf meat for me. I haven’t eaten meat for a long time. Those guys imprison me here and only bring some dry rations periodically to keep me from dying. I’ve been eating that stuff for over ten years; I’m almost sick of it. Of course, I won’t let you help for nothing. If you can gather ten pieces of meat for me, I can give you an Animal Trap.”

After saying this, Grisen took out an iron clamp.

Low-Level Animal Trap: A very sturdy iron clamp, effective against monsters below level 20. Small monsters stepping on it will be restrained on the trap and unable to move for ten seconds. Large monsters stepping on it will temporarily suffer a severe injury state in their lower body, preventing them from using their original abilities. Can be retrieved. Each Animal Trap can be used three times. Current remaining uses: 3/3.

A good item!

As soon as Chen Mo saw it, he couldn’t help but feel his spirits lift.

If he had Animal Traps, he would have another method to deal with the Mutant Slime King!

“I’d be happy to, but Mr. Grisen, after I kill those Wild Wolves, how can I gather the meat pieces to give you?”

To gather monster corpses, one must leave the Starter Village and go to the Three Major Cities to learn the corresponding secondary profession skills.

“Simple, I’ll teach you,” Grisen said eagerly.

System Notification: Grisen wants to teach you a Gathering Skill. Do you accept?

Of course accept! It would be strange not to accept; this meant he could learn a Gathering Skill earlier than others!

System Notification: You have learned “Suspicious Gathering Technique”!

Suspicious Gathering Technique: A Gathering Skill of unknown origin. Normally, this skill will not be recognized by the Gathering Profession Association.

Holy crap! What’s going on? Could it be that in this Game, skills are divided into orthodox and wild types?

Chen Mo was truly witnessing something. If he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, he would have found it hard to imagine the Game had such a setting.

“Mr. Grisen, this Gathering Technique…” Chen Mo wanted to ask for clarification.

“What, do you think the Gathering Technique I taught you isn’t good?” Grisen glared, looking like he was about to get angry.

“No, you misunderstood.” Chen Mo hadn’t gotten the Animal Trap yet, so he didn’t want to fall out with Grisen.

“If it’s nothing, then hurry up and go gather some wolf meat for me. I can’t wait any longer!” Grisen didn’t bother with Chen Mo further and instead urged him.

Chen Mo didn’t waste words either and turned to leave.

He soon encountered Wild Wolf monsters. After killing them, Chen Mo used the Suspicious Gathering Technique taught by Grisen.

Perhaps because the Gathering Technique wasn’t orthodox, when Chen Mo gathered from Wild Wolf corpses, there was a high chance he got nothing. It took almost three attempts to gather one piece of wolf meat.

Moreover, this skill didn’t have a level, no proficiency, completely different from the Basic Trap Technique and Shockwave Trap he had learned.

Chen Mo quickly gathered ten pieces of wolf meat. Holding the ten pieces of wolf meat, Chen Mo went back to find Grisen.

“Hahaha, meat! It’s meat! Even though it’s wolf meat, it’s still a delicacy in this world!” Taking the ten pieces of wolf meat from Chen Mo, Grisen tossed an Animal Trap to Chen Mo. At the same time, he couldn’t wait to throw the wolf meat into his mouth, eating the wolf meat raw. He truly hadn’t tasted meat in who knows how long.

“Mr. Grisen, do you still need wolf meat?” Looking at the Animal Trap, Chen Mo really wanted to get a few more.

“Of course I do! I still have a few Animal Traps. Go kill more wolves and bring me more meat. Hmm, eating it raw all the time won’t do. I need to start a fire.” Grisen’s attention was completely on the wolf meat. After replying to Chen Mo, he paid him no further mind.

Seeing that Grisen still had some, Chen Mo, of course, went to continue killing wolves and gathering wolf meat.

After a little over half an hour, Grisen’s belly was bulging, and he wore a completely satisfied expression.

“Alright, little guy, I’ve given you all the Animal Traps I have. I have nothing else to give you. But if you kid still know how to be grateful, gather a bit more wolf meat for me. I’ll stock up and eat it slowly later. Otherwise, who knows when I’ll get to eat meat again.”

From Grisen, Chen Mo obtained a total of ten Low-Level Animal Traps.

“Alright, I’ll come find you later.” Chen Mo nodded.

There were level 8 black Wild Wolves inside the Cave. He planned to level up to 10 here before going out.

Even though level 8 Wild Wolves gave less Experience than level 10 Slimes, there was no competition here, so his leveling speed wouldn’t be slower than killing Slimes.

“Good lad, I didn’t misjudge you. I’ll wait for you, but don’t make me wait too long.” Hearing this, Grisen nodded approvingly.

But time quickly passed an hour. Chen Mo didn’t appear, and Grisen’s face showed some displeasure.

Two hours passed, and Chen Mo still hadn’t come. Grisen now revealed an angry expression.

“Damn it, bastard! They’re all bastards! All liars!” Grisen couldn’t help but roar.

Almost another hour passed quickly. Grisen’s expression gradually returned to calm. He no longer held any expectation for that Hunter Adventurer.

But at this moment, Chen Mo’s figure emerged from the dimness.

“Kid, why did you come back? I don’t want your meat anymore!” Grisen said coldly.

“You don’t want it anymore?” Chen Mo found it a bit strange. Did this Quest have a time limit?

“Over three hundred pieces of meat, you don’t want any of it?” Chen Mo frowned. If he had known, he wouldn’t have wasted time gathering. The Gathering Skill Grisen taught had no level or proficiency; using it repeatedly wouldn’t increase the skill level.

“Over three hundred pieces?” Grisen was shocked. Such a large quantity? So, had he wrongly blamed this Adventurer?

“Yes. Do you want it or not?” Chen Mo nodded.

“Want! Of course I want it! I want it all! Haha, over three hundred pieces, who knows how long that will last me!” Grisen laughed heartily.

Chen Mo nodded, took all the over three hundred pieces of wolf meat from his backpack, and threw them to Grisen.

Ten pieces of wolf meat occupied one backpack slot, but over three hundred pieces of wolf meat had already filled Chen Mo’s backpack to capacity. After emptying his backpack, Chen Mo turned to leave.

The Experience needed from level 9 to 10 was a lot. He was still a bit short from leveling up.

“Wait, little guy. I see you’re a good person, so I’ll tell you some news for free! This news is related to that Flame Three-Headed Wolf outside!” Grisen called out to stop Chen Mo.