Chapter 6: Mad Dragon (2/2)
After nearly two hours of hunting, I successfully killed eighty-seven Green Praying Mantises and reached Level 7. After dropping 20 points into Strength, my attack power had also increased to 22~37, making killing a Level 7 Green Praying Mantis incredibly easy. Unfortunately, the deeper I went into the forest, the higher-level they became. In fact, a Level 10 Green Praying Mantis very nearly one-shot me. Left with no choice, I retreated to the outer edges of the forest and hunted monsters that were Level 8 or below. Better safe than sorry.
Heavenblessed's death penalty was very harsh. Once a player reached Level 10, every death would result in the loss of a level. A dead player would turn into a soul after they died, and if they wished to revive on their corpse they could spend a level to do so. They could also revive inside a city, but the cost of that was three levels. It was a twenty-minute journey between here and my starting village, and I had no intention of wasting my time like that.
I checked the time and noted that it was over 4 am, but the server was still jam-packed with players. Obviously, a ton of players were still hustling despite the hour.
”Mn, I should try to reach Level 10 and grab my cla.s.s skills before logging out today!”
I encouraged myself mentally while wandering inside Suns.h.i.+ne Forest. I could head back and complete my quest once I had enough kills.
While I was grinding, I suddenly heard someone speaking from afar. It must be a player!
I quickly picked up the Small Magic Stone on the ground before diving into a thick bush to conceal myself. The only thing that was visible was my eyes—wait that's not right, I'm a skeleton right now, so the only thing that was visible were my eye sockets.
There was a bunch of rustling sounds, and soon four people trekked out of the forest. There were three men and one woman, and they all looked to be about twenty-five years old. The woman was a Level 7 bard, and the three men were a Level 8 magic knight, a Level 7 warrior and a Level 6 tactician respectively. It was a perfectly standard powerleveling team composition, although, of course, tacticians and bards weren't useful before they picked up their skills.
”Old Three, are you sure that Green Praying Mantis King is here?” the warrior asked with clear dissatisfaction. ”We've been killing praying mantises for half an hour already. These Level 6 praying mantises barely give any experience!”
The magic knight said calmly, ”Boss, I'm sure we've got the right coordinates. Half an hour ago, an a.s.sa.s.sin friend of mine was one-shot by the boss right here. He didn't want to revive and get killed again, so he chose to revive inside the city. He lost three levels and over two hours of effort as a result.”
The warrior nodded and replied, ”Hmph, I hope you're right. You're treating us to a dinner tomorrow if this turns out to be a waste of time, get it?”
”Hah, no problem!”
……
The group continued to move swiftly. Less than half a minute later, the magic knight suddenly raised a hand and said loudly, ”Watch out, it's here! I knew it, hahaha!”
I saw the boss through the leaves too. A huge Green Praying Mantis shrouded in golden glow was standing not far ahead of me. It was swinging its twinblades looking all cool and impressive.
I slapped my thighs in regret. If only I had taken a couple more steps! I could've discovered this boss first before anyone! That being said, I quickly dismissed the foolish notion. Even if I did see the boss earlier, fighting it would probably result in death. After all, I couldn't even see the boss's level.
The Level 7 warrior couldn't stop himself from laughing. ”It looks like we've struck gold today, brothers! This Green Praying Mantis King is a Level 12 F+ Rank boss and definitely the strongest boss of the starting village! It'll definitely drop powerful equipment once we kill it!”
Again, the magic knight said calmly, ”Please keep your wits with you, boss. This is a Level 12 beast, and the highest-level player among us is only Level 8. We haven't even learned skills yet. Our chances of killing it are less than 20%!”
The warrior let out a cold snort. ”We should give it a try even if it turns out to be impossible. It's not my style to encounter a powerful boss and not do anything about it.”
”In that case, let's prepare ourselves for battle!”
……
After the group had clarified their roles, the magic knight launched the first attack while the rest supported him.
”Here I go!” the magic knight shouted as he charged toward the Green Praying Mantis King. He swung his rusted spear and stabbed it in the mandible.
27!
Cold sweat poured down my head. This defense is just ridiculous! That magic knight was Level 8, but his fully-powered attack could only tickle the boss!
”Not good, we're no match for it!”
The magic knight retreated in shock, but the Green Praying Mantis King caught him by surprise and landed a slash on his head!
201!
That was close, the magic knight had almost been one-shot by the boss. If his cla.s.s didn't naturally have high HP, he would've died already.
Currently, the highest-level player of the starting villages was at Level 9, meaning that this Level 8 magic knight was a top-tier professional compared to the rest. But even he was nothing but a noob before this boss.
The magic knight retreated without hesitation after the first attack. The praying mantis moved slowly, so escaping wasn't impossible.
However, the group barely ran a couple of meters before a group of players suddenly entered their field of vision. They looked menacing, and their levels ranged between 4 and 7. They were obviously elite, and their IDs all had the prefix ”Mad Dragon”. The leader of the group was called ”Roaming Dragon”. He was a Level 9 magic knight and the highest-level player of the starting villages.
Roaming Dragon moved to the front and shouted at the group of four. ”The Mad Dragon guild is taking over this place, all unrelated people should get out of our way! Don't wait till it's too late!”
1. Damage Per Second, used interchangeably with damage when opponent has high HP and burst damage can't kill it outright