98: Chapter 98 Tough Steel Knuckle Dusters (Excellent)

At that moment, Hu Gualing complained in his heart: So serious, he really is a programmer! Meanwhile, he said, "It's rare that you've learned Archery. When we team up in the future, you'll be the main damage dealer. As long as you don't slack off, it's fine. Don't mention money again."

Although Xiao Niao hadn't said anything, since he had come to forge arrows, and judging by the wooden arrows he produced, the durability of those practice arrows was already very low, clearly having been used for some time.

So even without asking, Hu Gualing could roughly guess that Xiao Niao must have learned Archery somewhere, and his proficiency was already quite high.

Guessing this, Hu Gualing couldn't help but feel happy.

He was happy for Xiao Niao, and also because this matter was a good thing for him as well.

Since it was an online game, teaming up was inevitable.

Even though Fantasy Jianghu currently seemed to be a pure Wuxia-style game, since teaming up was possible, there was no need to act like a lone hero.

Although he didn't know what the mobs and bosses outside the village were like yet, the most classic party composition was undoubtedly the iron triangle of Warrior, Mage, and Daoist.

One person would be responsible for melee, staying close to and dealing with the monsters.

One would be responsible for ranged damage.

Ideally, there would also be a Daoist-type support role responsible for healing and buffs. Of course, given the current game progress, he shouldn't think too much about that for now.

Looking at it now, Hu Gualing himself had the passive defense skill [Bronze Skin] comprehended from Level 5 [Farmers Three Punches], as well as an evasion movement technique. He was perfectly suited for the role of close-quarters combat.

Since Xiao Niao had learned Archery, he was a rare ranged damage dealer. Standing behind and drawing his bow to shoot arrows, his output would be high and stable.

In this way, going out of the village to hunt monsters would definitely be much easier.

It was precisely because of these considerations that Hu Gualing was happy to forge steel arrowheads for Xiao Niao to increase his strength.

"By the way, now that you have arrows, do you want to forge a better bow? Otherwise, I'm afraid you won't be able to beat Miao Cuihua and won't be able to leave the village." Hu Gualing looked at the refined Xiao Niao and asked, feeling uneasy about his thin, unexercised build.

"A bow? Forget it... the one I'm using is quite good." Xiao Niao weakly declined.

In truth, that old wooden bow in his inventory could not be described as "quite good" by any standard, but Xiao Niao felt embarrassed to trouble Gualing any further.

And more importantly, it seemed Gualing wanted him to go out and hunt monsters together, which was why he was willing to forge steel arrows and give them away for free?

But the problem was, he didn't plan on leaving the village...

Hu Gualing nodded and didn't press further: "That's fine then. When the time comes, we'll go challenge Miao Cuihua together. If you don't beat her, I'll find you some equipment to boost your strength." After saying that, seeing that the molten iron in the brass knuckles mold had cooled down enough, he didn't have the heart to think about anything else and picked up a small hammer to start chiseling.

Xiao Niao's heart was conflicted again.

Judging by Gualing's attitude... his desire for them to leave the village and fight together was very strong.

But he himself wasn't very willing to go out right now.

As for the reason, it was actually because this game was too realistic. He was afraid of being injured in battle, or even dying directly; the pain it would bring was too unbearable...

Hu Gualing probably wouldn't be able to understand this reason.

Forget it, seeing Gualing in such high spirits, it was better not to say anything. At worst, he would just go see Miao Cuihua, pretend to fight, and naturally fail the challenge.

Xiao Niao glanced at the focused Hu Gualing and thought silently to himself.

Meanwhile, Hu Gualing had already cracked open the yellow clay shell of the brass knuckles mold.

The dry yellow clay shell fell away in pieces, revealing the steel blank of the brass knuckles inside.

At first glance, the structure of these brass knuckles was incredibly simple. Due to the precision limits of the yellow clay mold, there were many burrs on the brass knuckles, making them look as crude and simple as a child's toy.

Even after Hu Gualing spent a lot of effort polishing them smooth, they didn't look much better.

Because the structure of these brass knuckles was just too simple!

A so-called knuckle duster was actually just five finger loops connected together.

Four loops of roughly the same size were arranged side-by-side on the same horizontal line for the four fingers.

The largest loop was located below the four finger loops, intended for the thumb.

Hu Gualing tried putting his five fingers into the five loops, and his hand curled into a fist, gripping the brass knuckles tightly.

The feel and weight were both pretty good.

But even so, he didn't feel the security of holding a weapon, because these brass knuckles were just too small. The area they could protect was only a tiny part of the knuckles...

Using this as a weapon for combat seemed little different from being empty-handed.

Hu Gualing thought somewhat helplessly as he looked at the equipment attributes.

[tough steel knuckle duster (Superior)]: Attack 7-8, Durability 25/25.

Equipment Description: Knuckle dusters cast from pure steel, which can effectively enhance the lethality of fists. After becoming proficient, other weapons can also be integrated into fist technique routines. Creator: Hu Gualing.

Trait 1: [Stun] - Its tough texture gives it impressive power. When hitting a target, there is a small chance to deal 5 points of extra damage and Stun the target for 1 second.

Whoa!

After seeing the equipment attributes, Hu Gualing couldn't take his eyes off it.

It was another blue piece of equipment! The Materials for the brass knuckles were the same as those used for the longsword—steel produced through careful Carburizing—so it was normal for the equipment quality to be the same.

In terms of appearance, these brass knuckles were far inferior to that thin and long silver-white steel sword, and their attack power was also significantly lower than the longsword's.

As for the [Stun] trait, it could Stun the target for 1 second, and there was no cooldown period listed. This meant that with good luck, it was possible to Stun an enemy consecutively with several punches.

However, the attribute description stated it was a small chance... it would likely be difficult to trigger it even once, so he shouldn't dream of stunning with every punch.

Moreover, this passive trait triggered randomly. When it would trigger and how many times it would trigger were not under his control; it all depended on luck. So in the end, it was a bit lacking and didn't seem as useful as the two traits of the [scorching sharp longsword].

But Hu Gualing wasn't disappointed.

One must know that before his further studies, forging even a gray-quality piece of equipment took a lot of effort. Now, right at the start, two blue items had come out in a row—this was something he wouldn't have dared to imagine before!

And these brass knuckles were a main weapon; the boost to his strength would definitely be greater than armor pieces like belts or bracers!

Hu Gualing tried throwing a few punches. He wasn't sure if it was psychological, but he felt his fists were much more powerful. Suddenly getting excited, he struck a pose and swung wildly.

After standing still, feeling that he had looked quite formidable just now, he nodded with satisfaction, took off the glove, and put it into his inventory.

Only then did Hu Gualing notice Wang Dachui's incredibly envious gaze.