Chapter 2: Stealing Height
Hearing the voice in his head, Riven froze for a moment, and then his vision abruptly shifted. His body trembled, and a first-person perspective, exactly like an RPG game, materialized before his eyes.
A blinding white light emanated from Riven's body and then vanished. Witnessing this, the short youth grew flustered, broke out in a sweat, and defensively backed away.
Suddenly, a notification appeared in front of the youth: Trial Mission: Slay the threat to your life. Reward: 30 RPG Coins and Gloves of Cunning. Failure: Death.
After his body stopped shaking, Riven's status was displayed before him, listing injured body parts, active effects, level, and profession. Unlike the detailed information about himself, the enemy's data was quite restricted.
He was a Thief Level 4, while the short man was a Swordsman Level 3. Although the Swordsman was a lower level, his combat ability overwhelmingly outmatched Riven's.
Upon grasping this, Riven's momentarily brightened expression became unreadable. All at once, he felt his body grow gradually more comfortable, becoming healthier with every passing minute.
He looked closer and saw a new effect listed on his status, right next to the poison. Checking the details, he realized:
Status: Warmth of Life - Effect: When near a campfire, mental state will gradually calm and HP will slowly recover.
The short man, who had been startled by the light from Riven, observed him and, seeing no further reaction, felt like an absolute fool. He angrily roared:
"You bastard, Riven! I thought you were a cornered dog about to pull out some desperate stunt, but it turns out you were just playing tricks!"
Clutching his sword tightly, he charged straight at Riven in a fit of rage.
"You're about to die and you still try to make a fool of me! Today, I'll chop you into eight pieces!"
Facing the situation, Riven desperately tried to find a way to escape the danger. A Thief inherently lacked the strong close-combat ability of a Swordsman, making a direct confrontation impossible.
Riven quickly skimmed the functions of the RPG Cavern. A light flickered in his eyes, like a cat spying a fish, as he discovered the Skill Tree.
Ordinary people need continuous practice and experimentation to learn and master a skill, but with the Skill Tree, everything was possible as long as the points were sufficient.
Accessing the Skill Tree, a system panel appeared before him. The skills were arranged in a tree-like structure, requiring low-level skills to be learned first to unlock higher-level ones. Riven, having just activated the RPG Cavern, had absolutely no skill points.
He wasn't worried, as he had already noted that he could degenerate old skills to gain skill points. The body's former owner had a few livelihood skills. Quickly skimming the system panel, Riven degenerated three useless skills and learned the two skills he deemed most crucial at the moment.
Finished, Riven looked at the short man and flashed a profound smile, his eyes filled with contempt, and spoke in a provocative tone:
"Go ahead, if you're so good, come at me with your sword—without lifting your head to see where you're going!"
Hearing this, the short man took a moment to understand the jab, becoming even more furious. His teeth clenched, he yelled:
"You dog, Riven! I'll chop you into eight pieces!"
"Even an NPC knows how to change their lines. Don't you get tired of barking the same sentence?" Riven countered.
As the short man closed in, leaping to narrow the distance until he was only a few steps from Riven, his vision suddenly went black.
Skill: Steal Sight - Effect: Temporarily blinds a designated target within a one-meter radius.
The short man panicked, suddenly feeling someone tug the sword from his hand. Knowing that losing his weapon would put him at a disadvantage, he gripped the sword with all his strength.
"You think gripping it tight means I can't take it?" Riven coldly snorted, activating the second skill he had just learned.
His hand suddenly exerted force, veins bulging, and muscle fibers working at full capacity. Snatched! The sword was ripped from the short man's grasp. With a swift kick, Riven sent the man face-first onto the rocks.
Skill: Mug - Effect: Instantly increases the power of one hand by five times, but the other arm becomes useless for a few seconds. The skill causes damage to the executing hand.
The short man's hand was bleeding from the friction when Riven snatched the sword, but his face hitting the rock was even more agonizing, making him forget the wound on his hand. Clasping his face, he screamed in panic:
"My face! My face! You dog, Riven, you... you, I'll kill you!"
Looking down at the man, Riven held the sword and slowly walked toward him, speaking with an overbearing voice, as if declaring the final result:
"What are you screaming for? Your face wasn't exactly handsome anyway; going from ugly to uglier is still just ugly."
"Never mind that. I just learned a third skill. It's called Stealing Height. Want to see it?"
Hearing this, the short man backed away in terror, screaming hysterically:
"You… what are you planning to do? Everyone knows you and I came down here together, if anything happens to me then…"
Before he could finish his sentence, Riven's short sword sliced across his neck. The man's head flew off his shoulders, dropped to the ground, and hot blood spurted directly onto Riven's face.