Chapter 30: A Top-Tier Skill Book

Skill books are rare treasures, even more precious than equipment. While unused equipment can be sold, a skill book is consumed the moment it is used.

Xiao Liang hurried over to the Orc Warrior’s side, picked up each item dropped by the boss, and returned to Lu Yang. "Boss," he said, sounding a bit dejected, "it only dropped two skill books: Shield Wall and Goblin Protection. Everything else was just a pile of instant-recovery potions."

"What?" Lu Yang quickly looked at the books. When he confirmed they were indeed Shield Wall and Goblin Protection, he exclaimed with excitement, "Brother, you have incredible luck!"

"What's so good about it? It didn't drop any equipment," Xiao Liang replied, sounding a bit dim-witted.

Lu Yang laughed. "You silly fellow, a single Shield Wall book is worth more than ten level 10 Gold-grade items combined."

"Ah? Is it that precious?" Xiao Liang asked, surprised.

"Of course it is," Lu Yang replied, truly thrilled.

Shield Wall: Reduces all incoming damage by 40% for 8 seconds, with a cooldown of 4 minutes.

This skill is a divine ability for defensive warriors. Even when players reach level 200, they continue to rely on this skill learned at level 0 during group boss raids. Because it reduces damage by 40%, it allows a tank to stand firm even when a boss enters its berserk phase.

A defensive warrior is only considered qualified once they possess Shield Wall. In the later stages of the game, when players understood the importance of this skill, casual groups would refuse to recruit any defensive warrior who lacked it. Consequently, the price of this level 0 skill book was eventually inflated to 50 gold coins per copy.

However, the drop rate for Shield Wall was extremely low. In "Second World," the sources for skill books were limited; many dungeons did not drop them at all, and they could only be found in specific locations or by defeating top-tier wild bosses. This led to many defensive warriors reaching level 50 and learning high-tier skills without ever having obtained the Shield Wall book.

"Learn it quickly. With this skill, I’ll dare to take you into all sorts of high-difficulty dungeons, and you’ll have your pick of Gold-grade gear," Lu Yang promised.

"Oh, okay." Xiao Liang promptly learned the skill. A golden light shimmered, and he mastered Shield Wall.

"Boss, what is the other book, Goblin Protection, used for?" Xiao Liang asked curiously.

"That’s a Priest skill. It increases Earth-element defense for the entire party. It's also a divine skill for the early stages. You can’t use it, so I’ll hold onto it for now," Lu Yang said, placing the book into his inventory.

"Understood."

Lu Yang looked around the cavern. There were still one or two hundred orcs gathered on the right side of the main hall.

"Brother, I need to go handle a quest. You stay here and keep grinding. Use the method I taught you—lure them with your bow and kill them with poison," Lu Yang instructed.

The bow was a common Bronze-grade item looted from the hunter who worked under Black Blood.

"Boss, let me come help you," Xiao Liang said, feeling confident now that he was approaching level 6.

Lu Yang shook his head. "If you want to help me, level up as fast as you can. You’ll level up faster on your own without me splitting the experience. Once you hit level 10, then you can truly help me."

"Oh, alright!" With a clear goal, Xiao Liang was full of motivation.

After watching Xiao Liang successfully lure two mobs without issue, Lu Yang felt at ease and fought his way out of the cave.

Back on the Orc Hills, night had already fallen. Lu Yang navigated through the darkness toward the west side of the map.

In the west of the Orc Hills lay a forest inhabited by trolls. Lu Yang’s mission was to kill the leader of the Forest Trolls, the Shaman Priest—Watkins.

Trolls, however, were not easy targets. As the most difficult monsters in a level 15 map, they possessed the strength of orcs, the agility of werewolves, and the fastest health regeneration of any level 15 mob.

Even killing ordinary trolls was a tall order for Lu Yang, but fortunately, he had his own methods.

Reaching the edge of the Troll Forest, Lu Yang slowed his pace. The forest under the cover of night made it even harder to spot the trolls.

Like orcs, trolls had green skin and prominent tusks. However, their physiques were more robust, featuring well-defined eight-pack abs, and they were quite tall. They had red hair and beards, and they wielded spears.

Lu Yang dared to come to the Troll Forest alone at level 7 because these trolls attacked exclusively by throwing spears. They were purely ranged units. In this forest, as long as Lu Yang dodged correctly, he could kill them without taking a single point of damage.

However, that was only feasible during the day. At night, Lu Yang could neither find the trolls nor see the trajectory of their thrown spears, so he waited in place until dawn.

While bored, Lu Yang initiated a voice chat with Lan Yu. She was currently staring blankly at the first boss in their dungeon. She pressed accept and asked, "What is it?"

"How is your dungeon run going?" Lu Yang asked.

"We’ve wiped three times," Lan Yu said, sounding frustrated.

Lu Yang couldn't help but chuckle.

Lan Yu grew even more annoyed. "You’re laughing?"

Lu Yang quickly apologized. "Ah, sorry, sorry. I couldn't help it. Are you guys dying when the boss is at 30% health?"

"How did you know?" Lan Yu asked, surprised.

Lu Yang thought to himself, *Of course I know.* This boss was the nightmare of all novice players. In his past life, countless elite players from large guilds didn't know the strategy, thinking they could clear the fight by adjusting their tactics at 30% health. They ended up wiping all night long.

"Stop trying to figure it out. There is no other way to clear this stage; you have to rely on the warrior's raw gear to tank it. If your defense isn't at least 71, you have absolutely no chance," Lu Yang explained.

The damage calculation in "Second World" was incredibly complex, involving base damage reduction, attack, defense, and final damage results. For novices like Lan Yu, 71 points of defense was the only metric that mattered.

"Alright, I'll go try to convince Sister Yuwei and tell them what you said. Hopefully, they'll listen," Lan Yu said.

The girl sighed at the end of the call, and Lu Yang could easily picture her expression.

"Go ahead," Lu Yang said.