As an NPC, having a lot of skills is quite reasonable, right?

[Detection indicates that the fate of the character "Hansen Kent" has been altered.]

[Obtained Life Stone: Broken Sword's Afterglow]

[Life Stone: The Afterglow of a Broken Sword]

[Level: Pale]

[Life Stone Motto: Though the sword's edge is broken, the will to protect endures in the fragments]

Finally, Moen saw the prompt and was immediately moved to tears.

This is another life stone after so long. You have to say these silly players are his lucky stars, developing new features and indirectly giving him a life stone.

Moen had rescued countless adventurers outside the city and helped countless refugees from the slums, but he gained nothing in return.

However, a serious problem now lies before Moen: he has basically cleared out all the ordinary monsters around Nohanville, and the only way to unlock more statues is to go further afield.

Those places were dangerous and there were no detailed maps available, so Moen was never really keen on taking the risk.

As for unlocking some rare monsters, it depends on whether you encounter them by chance, and also on meeting the conditions for unlocking the statue.

With a helpless shrug, Moen had no choice but to continue exhaustively exploring the combinations of the few skills he already possessed.

After spending a few minutes trying, Moen found that the success rate of fusion combinations with [Siege Stomp] was over 50%, but the highest was less than 70%.

Moen guessed that this life stone might be a fusion direction that leans towards support, since he himself only has some damage skills, and not many buff skills or area-of-effect skills.

Now it's time to make a choice again: gamble, or hold back?

Of course, those who know Moen know that patience is impossible to maintain. Moen directly put the combination with the highest success rate, [Siege Stomp] and [Azure Foxfire] together, then closed his eyes and pressed the fusion button.

The sounds of hammering and light, tinkling bells filled my ears.

Moen realized he had been careless and hadn't adjusted the volume, but unfortunately, the game didn't have a volume adjustment option.

【Successful integration】

[Gained Skill: Winter's War Song]

[Skill: Winter's War Song]

[Rank: Mortal - Command]

[Consumable: 60 MP]

[Cooldown: 30 seconds]

[Description: As long as the fighting spirit remains, the afterglow will not be extinguished.]

[Skill Effect]

War Stomp: Moen stomps the ground, unleashing a blue shockwave of mixed energy. Centered on himself, he deals (80 + Strength x 1.5) physical damage + (60 + Arcane x 1.0) ice magic damage to all enemies within a 6-meter radius. All enemies hit have their movement speed reduced by 40% for 3 seconds.

[Frostfire Oath: All friendly units within range (including yourself) gain the "Frostfire Weapon" status for 10 seconds. Attack speed increased by 15%, and attacks deal an additional 15-25 points of ice magic damage.]

[Afterglow: When a friendly unit (including itself) under the "Frostfire Pact" status triggers a "Critical Strike" or "Lucky Strike" (dealing the maximum floating damage), the duration of "Frostfire Pact" is extended by 1 second.]

This is a very powerful team buff skill. I feel that it is in no way inferior to the Holy Ritual skill [Radiant Descent], which can only be learned in the Radiant Sanctuary.

Unfortunately, the skill's associated modifiers don't match those of Martyr, so Moen is still missing two corresponding skills to unlock the class.

Moreover, Moen's skill bar is currently very tight. He has four skills with modifiers plus one movement skill, leaving several other skills to sit idle.

He urgently needs to accumulate mortal fragments and life stones to unlock skill slots.

"Sigh." Moen sighed. He wanted too much, but had too few resources.

He turned off the control panel with a sigh and turned his gaze to the Ember Camp at his feet.

In just two days, this place has changed dramatically.

Under the command of the player "Only by deleting the database can we escape," the originally dilapidated camp is evolving into a war fortress.

In reality, he's probably a survivalist, because his almost pathological obsession with defense is evident in the way he builds his camp.

He completely dismantled the original wooden fence, replacing it with two layers of interlocking barricades, which were then insanely wrapped with rusty wire dug out of the ruins.

He designed and dug a trench around the camp, with the bottom filled with sharpened ironwood.

"Hey you! Stop slacking off! Move this rock to area C3! We're going to build a firing port here!" Shanku waved the blueprints, directing a group of players to move the rock.

Although the tasks were tedious, the players were working with great enthusiasm.

In the open space of the camp, Hansen, dressed in old leather armor, held a sword in one hand and gave serious instructions to Big Pineapple and the others.

"A sword is not a piece of metal to be swung around aimlessly!"

Although Hansen only had one hand, he drew his sword extremely fast, stopping the blade steadily an inch from the tip of Big Pineapple's nose.

"Pay attention to your breathing! Focus the power in your wrists, not your shoulders!"

[System Notification: Under Instructor Hansen's guidance, you have mastered the passive skill "Basic Swordsmanship Mastery"]

[Skill: Mastery of Basic Swordsmanship (Passive)]

[Effect: When using sword-type weapons, damage is increased by 5%, and parry success rate is increased by 3%.]

Although it's just a basic mortal skill, and even many seasoned NPC adventurers possess it, it's a real attribute boost for players!

"Holy crap! This passive is amazing!" Big Pineapple exclaimed excitedly as he looked at the increased damage values ​​on the panel and immediately posted about it.

[Game Forum - General Discussion Area]

Title: "Ember Faction Perks! Get Free Passive Skills! This is the Real Hidden Force!" Posted by: Big Pineapple

Content: As shown in the picture! This is the real deal! Just complete a few simple prerequisite tasks to raise the instructor's favorability, and you'll get the passive skill directly! No money needed! No gifts needed! Brothers, the Ember faction is taking off!

1st Floor [Onlooker]: Holy crap? Passive skill? I'm still hitting slimes with a stick, and you guys already have passive skills?

2nd floor [I love taking a bath]: This instructor looks a bit weathered, a one-armed uncle, I love him.

However, amidst the cheers, a discordant voice emerged.

Floor 15 [Radiant Saint]:

Haha, a bunch of country bumpkins who've never seen the world.

It's just a trash, mediocre skill. You dare to brag about adding only 5% damage?

Let me tell you, I have passed the internal test of the [Radiant Holy Court]. Although I am not yet level 10, the bishop has made an exception and allowed me to use the divine skill [Holy Light Strike] ahead of time. That is the real skill, with holy attributes and a multiplier of 150%!

Your so-called Embers is just a shoddy organization. Don't mislead newcomers. For the real deal, you have to look to the Seven Great Churches.

The moment this reply was posted, the atmosphere in the thread became instantly tense.

Players all know how difficult it is to gain the church's approval in the early stages, and since Blood and Wine has no way to recharge, this [Radiant Son] is obviously a top-tier player and certainly has the right to be arrogant.

But who is Big Pineapple? He's a notorious master of sarcastic and eccentric remarks.

16th Floor [A Big Pineapple]:

Hey hey hey, isn't this Holy Son? I heard that in your Glorious Holy Court, you have to donate 50 gold coins to learn a skill? And you have to do three days of continuous training quests? Our skills are free~ and you can learn them as soon as you reach level 5.

You say you've acquired a divinely bestowed skill, but have you actually learned it? Is the icon lit up? Show it off! Seriously? Surely no one's showing off their superiority while still just making empty promises?

17th Floor [Ember Brother A]: The above is correct. Brother Saint, stop just talking and don't practice! Post a screenshot of your skills!

18th floor [Only by deleting the database can he run away]: I think he's in a hurry. He must have wasted money, only to find that we got something for free that he found much better.

19th Floor [Radiant Son]: You know nothing! Can the potential of a divinely bestowed skill be compared to that of an ordinary mortal? When I reach level 10, I'll kill every single one of you Embers I see in the wild!

20th Floor [Big Pineapple]: He's panicking! Everyone, look! Typical impotent rage! Brothers, next time you see Saint Brother in the wild, remember to make him show off that divine skill he hasn't learned yet, hahaha!

The post instantly filled with a joyful atmosphere, with the screen filled with comments like "He's getting anxious."

That big shot got so angry that he stopped replying altogether, probably going to grind levels in the game.

Meanwhile, Moen, who was spying from the watchtower, watched the verbal battle with a meaningful smile.

Through this war of words, players will realize one thing: although the church has a high potential, the threshold for entry is also ridiculously high.

[Ember] is all about low barriers to entry and high returns. For players who are exploring the early stages, it's obvious who the real beneficiary is.

Leaving the forum, Moen looked down at the players training under Hansen's guidance.

He had recently heard rumors that refugees in Nohanville were disappearing one after another, and some players had posted on the forum that they had been ambushed in Nohanville and were back at the respawn point when they were seen again.

Moen sensed that there was more to this than met the eye, but when he went to find Night Owl, he was met with an outrageous demand for two pieces of information in exchange.

Whether it was because Moen had seen through their surveillance last time or because Night Owl was retaliating in secret, Moen wasn't having any of it and turned to leave.

When soldiers come, we'll block them; when water comes, we'll dam it. If we don't know who's behind this, we'll just wait for them to slip up. Moen doesn't believe that this little newbie village is full of bosses.