Feng Yin turned into an afterimage, instantly breaking out of the encirclement.
The importance of the Stealing Step was fully displayed at this moment!
This was exactly why he had chosen this initial reward.
The "Continuous Fire Engraving" of the Enhanced Arm Crossbow and the powerful "Blood Flame Secret Technique" were both mechanisms designed to enhance damage output.
Only this "Stealing Step" served as a rare early-stage displacement and life-saving ability, and it fell under the Skills category—it only had a Cooling time, with no other consumption.
Survival was the prerequisite for output; this was practically Feng Yin's creed when playing games.
Therefore, when he first played this game, he was only accustomed to starting with the Stealing Step.
***
After dashing out of the encirclement, Feng Yin immediately turned around.
He quickly reviewed the effect of the Stealing Step he had just used.
First, its Speed was much faster than when he used it in his human body in reality!
Second, the Strength of the Armor far exceeded that of a human body. Using the Stealing Step with the Armor placed no burden on him now.
In the next instant, having turned around, he used the Stealing Step again to dash right in front of the three giant wolves that had collided with each other.
Gripping the Canfeng Sword with both hands, he unleashed a fierce upper stance Slashing attack!
Because he hadn't practiced swordsmanship for long, among the many basic Techniques and stances of the Jiao Sword, he was only relatively familiar with one move—an upper stance followed by a stepping forward slash.
The Canfeng Sword cleaved through the air, carrying a dull howl, and cut the giant wolf facing sideways to him in half at the waist with a single strike.
Blood splattered and surged wildly as the severed giant wolf died on the spot.
Feng Yin's mind stirred slightly. Although he was currently a suit of Armor, he vaguely noticed a difference in the feedback from his slash.
The three wolves he killed earlier did not have this clean-cut, bifurcating effect.
Perhaps, in this realistic Game World, some game-oriented mechanisms still existed.
For example... Blood Volume.
This giant wolf was the one Feng Yin had just shot in the head with a Crossbow Arrow. If this were in the game, its Blood Volume would have already been reduced, which was why it could be cut in half by his finishing blow?
He decided not to overthink it.
Feng Yin withdrew his sword and swept it horizontally, sending the replacement giant wolf flying with a single smash.
In the next moment, his left arm paused; it had been bitten by another giant wolf.
The huge wolf's maw clamped down on his metallic Arm Armor like iron pincers, applying force with an intensity that seemed aimed at piercing metal with its fangs.
Naturally, the Armor wasn't damaged, but the giant wolf's attack was effective.
[Durability: 10/11 → 9/11]
Durability dropped by one point!
Feng Yin's mind trembled slightly, but he didn't feel remorse for being attacked due to carelessness.
Although he felt somewhat tense emotionally, being a suit of Armor meant his emotions wouldn't distort his reactive movements.
The pitch-black Armor, acting like a ruthless machine, delivered a fierce kick to the giant wolf's abdomen!
THUMP!
The giant wolf let go in pain, its howl interrupted before it could even escape its throat.
With an inverted thrust, Feng Yin drove the tip of his sword deep into the giant wolf's eye socket.
[Banished the Frenzied Filthy Wolf. Gained 3 units of Spirituality.]
At this time, the giant wolf he had swept away earlier had already returned, lunging fiercely at him through the air without fear of death.
Stealing Step!
Feng Yin used the Stealing Step, its Cooling now finished. He turned into an afterimage and retreated at high Speed like a phantom, instantly dodging the giant wolf's attack.
Remembering the lesson from just now, he didn't use the Stealing Step to dash forward. Instead, he simply raised his sword and sprinted toward the giant wolf whose attack had missed.
By this time, the giant wolf had already turned around, baring its fangs and growling lowly at him.
Feng Yin, however, stepped forward and slashed out with absolute coldness.
SWISH!
The sword blade, over a meter long, provided the Armor with an excellent attack range, cleaving past the giant wolf's outstretched claws and striking it to the ground in a single blow.
[Banished the Frenzied Filthy Wolf. Gained 3 units of Spirituality.]
A few wisps of black mist drifted up from the giant wolf's corpse, declaring the end of the battle.
Feng Yin walked over to where the giant wolf shot by the Crossbow Arrow had died. From the traces of its ashes, he picked up a sharp Crossbow Arrow glinting with cold light, opened his left Arm Armor, and placed it inside.
Indeed, this off-hand Arm Crossbow was of a low-end tier at the beginning. Although it was very convenient to fire and had good power, it could only shoot one arrow at a time and required retrieving the arrow after battle to reload before it could be used again.
Or rather, it could automatically enter Recovery after completing an entire level.
Although it was an indie game, some of its settings were quite hardcore!
Having wrapped up the aftermath, Feng Yin stood silently in place, reflecting on his decision-making mistakes during the battle.
"I was careless. A single Cooling only gives two Stealing Step charges. Since I used one to escape, I shouldn't have used the remaining one to dash forward..."
He glanced at the Durability that had dropped by one point from the giant wolf's bite, making up his mind to be more cautious.
After all, this was no longer a game. If he played too recklessly and lost, he wouldn't necessarily get a chance to restart.
As he thought, he saw the White Crow quickly fly up and land on the ashes of another giant wolf. "Yoho! You have good luck. This guy dropped something good~"
Seeing its posture, Feng Yin's heart stirred. He immediately walked over quickly and, sure enough, found a sparkling red Crystal Stone amidst the wolf-shaped pile of ashes.
He picked it straight up in his hand.
A string of information floated above the Crystal Stone.
[Micro-Durability Crystal: Use to provide Recovery for three points of Durability. Maximum Reserve: three.]
Good heavens! Blood Medicine!
He had almost forgotten about this stuff.
In this game, besides guaranteed drops of Spirituality upon killing monsters, there was also a minuscule chance of dropping items. Most of them were supplies, but Feng Yin had also obtained some good things when he played before.
Feeling relieved, he put away the small red crystal.
The method of storing it was also very simple—he just lifted his left Arm Armor, opened it, and tossed the crystal inside.
A semi-transparent icon of the Blood Medicine crystal also appeared in the corner of his vision.
Moreover, he instinctively knew that, just like with the Simple Arm Crossbow, he only needed a thought to directly use this crystal to replenish his Durability.
It was a game, after all—there wasn't that much red tape!
Having obtained the drop, Feng Yin was in an excellent mood and gained a lot more motivation.
He raised his sword again and, following the crow's instructions, explored deeper into the valley.
Along the way, he killed another group of three giant wolves, but this time he gained nothing.
In low-difficulty levels, the actual drop rate was very low.
Feng Yin was not discouraged. He slaughtered his way directly to the end of the level and saw his target for this trip in the deep valley.
Beside the familiar extinguished bonfire with the Life Wedge stabbed into it, a terrifyingly huge figure appeared in his line of sight.
It was a surreal giant wolf with dark grey fur all over, nearly two meters tall at the shoulder, looking like a small mountain!
Filthy Blood Demon Wolf!
Hiding behind a tree, Feng Yin looked at the fiercely aura-filled Demon Wolf. Repeating his old trick, he slowly raised his left arm and deployed the Arm Crossbow.
Since he couldn't leave without finishing the fight anyway, he might as well just start the battle directly.
TWANG!
As the mechanism fired, the sharp Crossbow Arrow instantly tore through the air and plunged into the Demon Wolf's mane!
But it didn't seem to deal any effective damage.
The Demon Wolf abruptly turned its head to look at Feng Yin and let out a furious roar.
Its mane tightened and bulged, making its size look even more majestic. The tips of its front claws suddenly popped out, becoming like claw blades, and then it charged fiercely toward Feng Yin.
Feng Yin also gripped his sword steadily with both hands, recalling the situation of this boss in his mind.
If he possessed a physical body at this moment, a smile would definitely have appeared on his face.
After all, a single Elite monster was, in a sense, easier to fight than a group of mobs.
***