By the time Chen Mo arrived at the school, it was almost time to set off. The classmates began assembling one after another.
At the designated time, the students from four classes filled four big buses, plus one additional bus carrying powerful individuals specifically tasked with protecting the students' safety. Together, they set off for the outskirts of the city.
Next to Chen Mo, Fang Datong was flaunting his dark iron gear.
"Mr. Mo, check out my complete armor set!"
An armor set is a type of equipment. Wearing multiple items from the same set can provide special effects. Generally, items with set effects are at least five times the price of regular items in the same category. The better the set, the more exponentially valuable it becomes.
The fact that Fang Datong was able to piece together a complete set showed that his family had invested heavily in his equipment.
Because Fang Datong hadn't hidden his equipment's attributes, Chen Mo cast an exploration skill on him and quickly discovered the set's effects.
[Tough Armor Set · Dark Iron]:
[Set Effect] (3/5): Physical damage reduced by 10 points.
[Set Effect] (5/5): Physical damage reduced by 30 points, and all damage received reduced by an additional 5%.
This was a set that offered both a 3-piece effect and a 5-piece effect. Typically, sets activate the bonus for the maximum number of pieces equipped. Currently, Fang Datong was wearing all five pieces of the set, and thus, only the 5-piece effect was active.
Not taking other defensive effects into account and relying solely on the set's bonuses, he could reduce incoming physical damage by 30 points and all damage by 5% whenever he was attacked. This was quite impressive for a beginner.
"Wow, you started the game with an armor set!"
"Absolutely! After learning that I chose the warrior class, my mom feared I might get hurt in battle. After a lot of persuasion, she convinced my dad to empty out his savings to buy this set for me."
"So, it looks like you don't have much in terms of weapons."
"Of course, I put all my money into defense. Plus, I've teamed up with Shen Bingbing. With her as a four-star Mage, I don't really need to worry about dealing damage."
"Seems reasonable," Chen Mo nodded.
Soon, the buses arrived at the Mutated Land, five kilometers outside the town.
The Mutated Land is a region that emerged following the world's mutation. It evolves different natural environments over time, expanding and shrinking irregularly. Additionally, this land spawns various monsters at intervals. Sometimes, powerful Elite Beasts or BOSS-class monsters appear as well. Furthermore, minor dungeons, similar to intelligent monster groups, might also spawn.
With a bit of luck, people might encounter the Realm of Treasures or The Master of Mutation.
Inside the Realm of Treasures, individuals can find precious treasures. It's considered relatively safer because, unlike in the Treasure Secret Realms found within regular dungeons, no BOSS will appear inside this specific type.
The Master of Mutation, on the other hand, is a unique type of BOSS. Only one can exist within a Mutated Land at a time, and nobody knows when it will spawn or disappear. Moreover, this formidable monster has the ability to open a peculiar Level Rule Domain. People above a certain level will be expelled from the Domain and will be unable to enter or perceive the changes within it.
Given the grandiosity of The Master of Mutation's appearance, the rewards for defeating it naturally outweigh those of regular BOSS monsters. Consequently, its difficulty level also exponentially exceeds that of a regular BOSS.
Usually, during the beginner assessment phase, teachers would strongly advise students to immediately flee the Level Rule Domain if they encountered The Master of Mutation. As long as they leave the Domain, with the teachers guarding from outside, they won't face any danger. If they recklessly pursued rewards and dangerously challenged it, any resulting death would be their own fault. The teachers wouldn't take any responsibility apart from retrieving their bodies. Their family members would then have to pay a hefty sum to have them resurrected.
"Everyone, we have arrived at the Mutated Land. Please disembark," the class advisors in each bus emphasized before allowing the students to exit. "This time, the Mutated Land has transformed into a forest. The forest is dense with trees and undergrowth, which can easily obstruct your vision. Everyone, please be extra cautious when moving around. Don't be too reckless. Otherwise, your teachers may not be able to look after you, and you may end up in danger!"
After alighting, each team was randomly assigned a powerful individual to escort them, based on the team formations submitted the previous day.
Chen Mo's team was quite lucky, as they had been assigned their own class advisor, Su Tianxin.
Today, Su Tianxin was wearing a tight, plain robe that accentuated her curvaceous figure more than the previous white robe. This robe had a slit from the thigh down. During her movements, Su Tianxin would occasionally reveal her long, fair, and slender legs; it was a pure yet seductive sight. She held a white Magic Wand in her hand and approached Chen Mo's team with a smile, saying, "You little ones are really lucky to have me."
"Great! With the teacher accompanying us, I can now pull monsters without any worries. I no longer have to worry about getting beaten up by them. Even if I die, I wouldn't be concerned since the teacher can revive me," Fang Datong said, completely relieved to have a Great Priest escorting them.
Su Tianxin immediately flicked Fang Datong's forehead and said, "Do you think resurrection skills are as common as cabbage? My resurrection skill can only be used once a month, you brat!"
The Grand Dao has stringent limits on numerous abilities, including resurrection. Generally, the cooldown for resurrection-based skills is quite long, and they do not benefit from cooldown reduction or cooldown reset effects. Only those who reach top-tier and obtain abilities such as black skills, Dark Gold Equipment, Legendary Tools, etc., will see these restrictions reduced.
Just as they were about to enter the forest, they heard some noise from within.
"Attention everyone, there's a red-named individual in the forest! Suspend all student entries! Full team, search and capture!"
Red-named individuals are those who have committed too many murders in a safe zone. As a result, a bright red indicator appears over their heads by the rules of the Grand Dao, making them extremely conspicuous. Depending on their slaughter value, considerable time is needed for the red name to gradually fade.
For those who want to operate normally within human society, they must report to the Academy Alliance Law Enforcement Office and explain their situation. If one has a justifiable reason, they can receive an Exemption Order. With this order, despite bearing the red name, they can continue to operate in the safe zone without being hunted and harassed. However, if such individuals have a guilty conscience and dare not report, should they run away and be encountered by someone stronger, they might be killed on the spot!
Killing red-named individuals has many benefits, and some even kill each other. This is because killing another red-named individual not only allows them to gain a large amount of experience points and all their dropped items, but it also significantly reduces their own sin value, drastically shortening their red-name duration.
Because red-named individuals are like rats crossing the street, hunted by everyone, they face attacks from all sides. In addition, when a red-named individual dies, they cannot be resurrected by others unless they have their own resurrection ability. Therefore, red-named individuals are extremely ruthless in the wild. If they encounter weaker people, they usually kill them to silence them, preventing their own exposure.
With the sudden appearance of a red-named individual here, for the sake of the students' safety, the priority was naturally to eliminate the threat first.
One had to admit that this red-named individual was truly unfortunate. They chose to hide in a place where new students were being tested, a place teeming with experts today. With all these powerful individuals around, even if the red-named individual had wings, they wouldn't be able to escape!
It seemed as if they realized they had no hope of escaping today. So, strangely enough, the red-named individual didn't run deeper into the forest. Instead, they used Flash Appearance, accelerated, and charged out. In an instant, before anyone could react, they seized a student hostage. "Don't move! Anyone I kill can't be resurrected!"
"Mr. Mo!"
"Chen Mo!"