Reign of the Hunters

Chapter 273 Sacred Snowy Mountain (Part 1)

The purpose of one’s presence in a hostile continent had always been a taboo.

Ye Ci would naturally be wary of Rogue Rabbit One. She gave him a cold stare and turned around, but the Warrior grabbed hold of her arm, “You misunderstood me. I’m not really trying to find out why you’re here. It’s just that...”

“I know.” Ye Ci snorted, but she could see the sincerity in his expression, “Let go of me.”

Rogue Rabbit One immediately loosened his grip, “Urmm.. Actually... You’ve bought so many maps from me, I thought the least I could do is to let you know about the situation in our continent.”

Ye Ci turned around and narrowed her eyes at Rogue Rabbit One, “What are you trying to tell me? Why would you do that?”

“Eh, just think of it as a post-purchase service. I’m a good merchant after all.” chuckled Rogue Rabbit One.

“I’m a player from an opposing continent. Are you sure I won’t start any trouble with the intelligence that you’re offering?” Ye Ci studied Rogue Rabbit One with eyes narrowed.

Post-purchase service? Is he out of his mind?

“I don’t think you alone are capable of starting anything big.” Rogue Rabbit One laughed, “I’m merely reminding you that you can’t just walk around like it’s your home continent. The Northern Continent is in a mess right now.”

“Oh?”

“It’s something that has happened very recently. A player triggered some sort of quest in the Sacred Snowy Mountain and a lvl160 Yeti BOSS appeared out of nowhere.be careful out there.” warned Rogue Rabbit One.

“The Mor Jiami Plains is not really a peaceful place at the moment. The three major guilds in our continent are looking to conquer an abandoned fort, and they are marshalling their forces in their map. A player like you might not be able to make it through the map safely. If you really have to go, you should at least wait for the battle for the fort to be over. There will be less players in the map then, and it’ll be safer for you.”

Ye Ci was surprised by his words. Wow, these Northern Continent guilds work fast. They’re starting the process of taking over abandoned forts, and three of them are converging on the same fort. Thought Ye Ci. So that’s why the hoe is so important to Sangharama Shrine. They must have a Potion Maker that is trying to reach Master-tier. The hoe will help in getting higher quality herbs for high tier potions.

A melee between multiple guilds is not a test of the strength of their players, but a showdown of the efficiency of their logistics and resources. The three major guilds were equal in terms of the strength and their players, equipment, and even their logistics.

But a Master-tier potion maker could break the stalemate.

I guess this is what they call “hanging by a thread”.

Upwards Ho! was still not as powerful of a major guild, but they were slowly catching up. With Bai Mo and Timely Rain managing the guild, its growth was not a problem that Ye Ci had to worry about. Her only concern was to secure more valuable resources for the guild.

“So I should be safer in the Sacred Snowy Mountain then?”

“If you’re looking from the number of enemies you’ll run into, yes.” Rogue Rabbit One began to analyse the situation from Ye Ci’s perspective, “The Yeti is alone, and hiding from a single BOSS is still easier than trying to evade tens of thousands of players.”

Ye Ci nodded at his words, “Do you know when the three guilds will begin their attack on the fort?”

“I have no idea. Solo players like myself have no idea of knowing classified information of the major guilds.” Rogue Rabbit One shook his head, “You’re not going to start something in the midst of those tens of thousands of players are you?”

Ye Ci responded with a laugh, “Thank you for the information. I’ll be on my way.”

“Thanks for your patronage. You’re always welcome to visit my store anytime.” Rouge Rabbit One was in an extremely good mood.

With her increased carrying capacity, Ye Ci was able to purchase a good inventory of supplies enough for her trip to the Sacred Snowy Mountain and the Mor Jiami Plains.

She was not planning to spend a lot of time in the surrounding maps. She did not have the time to spare. The new patch was going to be implemented soon, and with it the arrival of Golden Era.

Even when Rogue Rabbit One was a player from a hostile continent, Ye Ci was confident in her judgement of the player’s character. The man had no reason to lie to her, and the information that he shared was not exactly a secret and could be obtained by spending a few hundred golds on a random passerby.

Ye Ci made the decision to avoid the Mor Jiami plains as the forces of the three major Northern Continent guilds gathered at the Mor Jiami plains. No matter how good of a player she was, there was no way she could fight off the tens or even hundreds of thousands of players gathered there. Her main objective was the Sacred Snowy Mountain. La’dar’s courier quest to the Mor Jiami Plains was not part of Moore’s Epic Quest, and a slight delay was inconsequencial.

After weighing her options, Ye Ci headed towards the Sacred Snowy Mountain.

Rogue Rabbit One was a merchant who kept his promises. With the maps leading to her destination already mapped out, Ye Ci was able to traverse through the maps adjacent to the Dor Ami Plains with relative ease. But when the density of hostile player population eventually increased, Ye Ci was forced to continue her way on food and in stealth to the Sacred Snowy Mountains.

It took her three days to finally arrive at the map.

The Sacred Snowy Mountain was situated at the northwest corner of the Northern Continent. It was not the continent’s tallest peak, but was well-known throughout the continent due to the presence of Drow and Blood Elves on the mountain.

There were even rumors of an ancient Elven temple at the peak of the mountain guarded by high level Yetis.

Of course, at the stage of the game where the Sacred Snowy Mountain was not fully explored by the players, it was all considered a rumor. Even Ye Ci’s maps were merely a brief sketch of the terrain based on the description of adventurers by a Map Maker in one of the major cities, which. Ye Ci would still have to explore the map herself to put more details on her map.

The Sacred Snowy Mountain was a cold place covered by snow. Players might find themselves afflicted by frostbite if they were not careful. That was why Ye Ci purchased a fur coat made specially to resist the cold.

The Hunter class was known for its agility, but Ye Ci’s movements were encumbered by the thick clothing keeping her warm. There were still a significant number of Northern Continent players at the foot of the mountain. The area was a spawn point of lvl50 monsters like Snow Tigers and Snow Cats as well as a number of humanoid monsters. The high spawn rate and high rewards were the main attraction for players visiting the map.

Due to the cold weather and the large amount of consumables required to combat the cold, most of the drops found on monsters were potions and food. Players leveling the area might not be able to earn a lot of coins, but they would still not make a loss.

Ye Ci made her way through the leveling zone and ascended the mountain. There were significantly less players at higher altitudes, but those who were present were full of vigor. They were not there to hunt for monsters, and were instead looking for steeds.

The stables in the major cities of each continent were not the only source of horses. Players could purchase lassos from a merchant and capture their own steed. Of course, it was not an easy task. Some of the players lost their temper after multiple failed attempts and ended up killing the steeds, while others were not able to succeed due to level penalties. This was why a map with a high spawn rate for steeds was frequented by players.

With the Northern Continent as an example, the most favorable spot for players to capture their steed was at the foot of the southern corner of the Sacred Snowy Mountain. The area was populated by Snow Horse that could increase a player’s movement speed by 120%. It did not have a huge advantage over the horses sold in the stables in terms of stats, but because of the Snow Horse’s white fur and the different colors of their eyes, they were favored by female players. This meant that Snow Horses could fetch a high price in the market, and was why players flocked the area in droves. If their luck pulled through and they were able to obtain a horse that had more than 120% movement speed, they would be able to earn a fortune.

Many major guilds saw this as something that was beneath them, but the player population remained enthusiastic. They gathered in groups formed mainly by Hunters and Rangers supported by a Cleric or a Shaman and a tank character like a Warrior or Knight. A group with great teamwork would be able to acquire up to six horses in a single day.

“That one! The one with red eyes! I have a feeling that it’s a good one!” Ye Ci could hear the excited voices of players near her. It was a group of five players made up of a Hunter, a Ranger, a Rogue, a Cleric and a Warrior. The Ranger who was at the front of the group was swinging his lasso as he advanced towards a Snow Horse.

“Hurry, Cleric! Cast Slow on that horse! Warrior, move up and cut off its escape route, I’m ready!” shouted the Ranger. His movement was fast. Faster than an average Ranger. Ye ci could tell that he was equipped with speed boosting equipment.

The Cleric’s movement speed was slow, but he was a player with good game sense. Instead of following right behind the Ranger, he made a turn to match the horse’s change in trajectory while the Warrior charged at the horse from another direction in an attempt to drive it into the encirclement of his party members.

The Hunter and the Rogue on the other hand were on high alert as they scanned the area for other players that might jump them as they captured the horse.

After observing the players for a moment, Ye Ci continued on her way to the top of the mountain. She made her way around the players as it was shown on the map that the main road ahead was populated by lvl80 Snow Bears. It was a leveling spot for larger groups of players, which was something that Ye Ci wanted to avoid.

There was a cliff at the southern side of the mountain inaccessible to players, but with her Cat Claw, Ye Ci was able to ascend the cliff.

Conflict with Northern Continent players was the last thing Ye Ci wanted. It was something that a player who was in the deepest part of hostile territory would avoid at all cost.

But as the Rogue of the party slowly fanned out to the surrounding area, he was inadvertently slowly shifting towards Ye Ci’s direction. She immediately backed off to avoid the Rogue. Despite her good equipment and higher stats, the Rogue class was still a class with very high Perception value. She could easily be detected if she wandered too close to the Rogue.

As the saying goes “everything that can go wrong will go wrong”. As Ye Ci tried her best to maneuver away from the Rogue, the Hunter was rapidly approaching her from another direction. Are they equipped with some sort of radar? Why are they always moving to where I am?

The two players were moving closer and closer to Ye Ci, and she was backed into the cliff. The only thing she could do was to hide behind a large icicle and hope for the best. The Hunter did not notice Ye Ci’s presence, but the Rogue with his high Perception noticed a presence when he was eight yards away from her hiding spot. He turned around and cast Detection, revealing Ye Ci in his vision.

The Rogue was shocked to see the red glow of a hostile player, “Oh shit! An ambush!” he shouted to the rest of his party.