Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation
Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
At the moment, Az’Shara the Venomous was simply wandering and did not notice Nie Fan at its rear. Nonetheless, it squawked shrilly and turned, promptly giving chase when it found Nie Fan in the thorn thicket.
Nie Fan quickly retreated deep into the thorns.
That was when Az’Shara the Venomous opened its mandibles, throwing a Spiderweb from high above and catching Nie Fan.
Although most players would still be able to chant spells and attack with their weapons, they would be left stuck where they were when hit by Spiderweb. On the other hand, while Nie Fan dashed towards his rear, the spiderweb melted into nothingness the instant it touched his skin.
Nie Fan easily escaped the spiderweb and glanced behind. Az’Shara had trouble moving after it entered the thorn thicket, its fat abdomen and large size slowing it. The overgrown thorns on the ground also scratched narrowed lines of wounds over its body, with innumerable [-1] damage values popping up over its head and hurting it considerably.
The most basic attack for Az’Shara was to catch its target with Spiderweb, approach them and stab them with its fangs. Even Level 10 tank players with Copper-grade items would not be able to withstand more than a few blows, but that measure was simply useless against Nie Fan.
Nie Fan did not have to worry about being caught in Spiderweb and was 20% faster than Az’Shara, which allowed him to agilely evade its pursuit.
Black Oil!
A pile of dark grease splashed down from the skies, covering Az’shara entirely in that thick fluid.
Mini Fireball!
A small ball of flame shot out and ignited the Black Oil on Az’shara with a boom, setting it ablaze as damage value up to a dozen continuously appeared over its head.
Nonetheless, being an elite monster and four levels higher than Nie Fan, the Black Oil, and Mini Fireball combo had limited effect against Az’shara.
Be that as it may, Nie Fan had managed to taunt Az’shara despite the low damage. Having gone berserk, it attempted to close in on Nie Fan, but its abdomen would be hurt severely every step it took.
It seemed that Level 10 elite monsters were no more than paper tigers.
Nie Fan’s nervousness in his first encounter against an elite monster slowly faded then. Naturally, it was thanks to the terrain and his skills that he gained an advantage and left Az’Shara so ragged—Nie Fan would probably be unable to withstand even a single blow in a direct confrontation against Level 10 elite monsters.
Be that as it may, Az’Shara was utterly infuriated with that weak human who kept provoking its might. Squawking again and gaping its maw, spiderlings began to crawl out of its mouth one after another.
All of them were Level 9, and there were six of them!
While a huge chunk of Az’Shara’s abdomen had been peeled off, it still had a hard time moving around in the thick thicket.
On the other hand, although the spiderlings were moving slowly around the thorn thicket, they were clearly much nimbler and more started to encircle Nie Fan.
One spiderweb after another began to fall from above, bearing down on Nie Fan.
It would have been impossible for most players to escape with such a wide net, but Nie Fan completely ignored it. One of the spiderlings screamed as he cast another Black Oil and Mini Fireball combo on it, the fires devouring it and reducing it to ash. With one killed, Nie Fan ran some distance away before killing another spiderling with another combo.
He was almost out of mana, but Nie Fan also noticed that he almost reached Level 7 with a glance at his EXP bar.
Stepping back slightly and waiting for his MP to recover slightly, he killed a third spiderling with another combo. A crisp system notification rang then—he had reached Level 7, and his MP bar was fully refilled!
Soon, Nie Fan had cleared away all six spiderlings.
Looking afar, he saw that Az’Shara had kept dragging its massive abdomen without rest through the thorns, and was now barely alive with less than 100 HP out of its initial 620. Nie Fan did not even have to attack—the thorny undergrowth was going to kill it.
Hence, Nie Fan launched several waves of assault at Az’Shara until its HP was finally emptied. With a shrill cry, its abdomen exploding and splashing green toxin over the ground.
Ding-dong-ding-dong-ding-dong!
A chain of three notifications rang—the EXP from killing Az’Shara the venomous had instantly leveled up Nie Fan three times.
Such abundant experience points, jumping three levels at once! Nie Fan thought excitedly as he walked up to Az’Shara’s corpse, searching it and obtaining two items along with 13 bronze coins.
[Leather Armor of Tenacity (Warrior): Copper-grade, Level 10 required, Defense 32-35, Tenacity +3, Durability 33/33]
It was a Warrior’s leather armor—a defensive item with acceptable attributes which would fetch a good price in the market.
Apart from that, he had also acquired a +1 Power Gem Fragment. The grades for gems were Fragment, Piece, Shattered, Flawed, Complete, and Flawless—each of which were very rare, including fragments. Aside from the high value of around sixty bronze coins, three Power Gem Fragments also had a 60% chance of fusing into one Gem Piece, although the rate of fusion was lower the better the gem grade while Flawless Gems basically only existed in legends.
Nie Fan was rather excited with his fine reaping, not to mention that his level had shot up to 10. Most of the other players should be lingering at Level 3 or 4 at the moment, and those who reached up to Level 6 probably were professionals.
Moreover, it seemed that the data that his father had left him was precise and flawless. Nie Fan’s confidence was slowly building with his string of successes, and he must become a champion so that he did not let his father down!
After packing up, he quickly headed to his next destination—he would find another elite monster there, but it would be a much difficult opponent compared to Az’shara. Still, he checked his backpack and ensured that the stake, flashbang and gravity javelin were in it, items which would soon prove useful.
He hence dashed along the Blood Shade Plains, his movement now much quicker than before after reaching Level 10.
As he advanced rapidly, his voice channel alert sounded again.
It was Xue Yu! He was in the game too!
Nie Fan was very pleased. A look at his chat tool would show that he had few friends, but they were friends he could trust, not to mention that Xue Yu was one of Nie Fan’s childhood friend—most of Nie Fan’s friends of the same age rarely got in touch after his family had incurred a large debt, but Xue Yu never once belittled him. Instead, he forged a strong bond with Nie Fan, and Xue Yu had been the one who pooled the money for his train fare to Yinghai.
Aside from Xue Yu, Lin Suyue was online too—Xue Yu had been wooing her for ages, although Nie Fan didn’t know if he had succeeded.
“You bought a VR headset? How rare! Either way, I’m relieved you are having it easy in Yinghai.” Xue Yu chuckled.
“Just found a job at a game studio,” Nie Fan replied. “I actually got the headgear from them. I’ll pay you back the two thousand bucks I owe when I get back.”
Nie Fan had never been willing to borrow money from friends, not to mention that some of the money Xue Yu gave him was borrowed from others too. They were students and did not have much cash after all, which was why Nie Fan always kept that in mind.
“We’re bros! Why so uptight with money? That could wait until you make it in Yinghai,” Xue Yu said nonchalantly before asking interestedly, “Which game studio, by the way?”
“Tempest Wings.” It took a few seconds for Nie Fan to remember where he was working.
“Wow! Tempest Wings? Well done, you… they’re one of the top studios. Don’t forget about me when you make it, kiddo.”
“I’m just a fringe member; I count as cheap labor at best.” Nie Fan said self-deprecatingly.
To think that Tempest Wings were so famous that Xue Yu would actually know about them.
“A fringe member… now wonder. I want that too but there’s no way I’m getting the job—still, you have to treasure this chance, and it would be awesome if you get into their inner circle.” Xue Yu appeared rather thrilled.
“Are they really that good?” Nie Fan asked uncertainly.
“Of course! Tempest Wings is amongst the top three in Yinghai and would definitely make the top twenty of China! Do you know the context? According to the national VR gaming statistics last year, there are twenty-six thousand game studios of all sizes in China!”
It was certainly outstanding to rank inside the top twenty, out of twenty-six thousand… even so, Nie Fan’s objective not merely becoming an internal member of Tempest Wings!
Nonetheless, Nie Fan switched the subject. “Where are you now?”
“Sonard Village, Leon Town.” Xue Yu replied.
“The one beside Kelfield town?”
“Yes, why?” Xue Yu asked.
“Lin Suyue over there too?”
“Yeah.” Xue Yu nodded, a little embarrassed.
“Come over and find me at Tajit Village!” Nie Fan exclaimed excitedly.
Things were simpler now since the spawn points of Xue Yu and Lin Suyue were quite near. He decided he would help them level up as well, since Blade of Tyranny was a balanced game and one person’s ability was ultimately limited. One would need many friends to make it in this game world, and acquaintances made in-game would always be less trustworthy than Xue Yu and Lin Suyue.
“Why? It would at least take three hours to travel from Sonard to Tajit!” Xue Yu exclaimed in confusion. He would be able to level up considerably with those three hours, and it was a waste to spend it on traveling.
“Listen to me. Leveling up here is definitely much quicker than in Sonard!”
“Really?”
“Have I ever lied to you?”
“So many times. I remember being led by the nose when we were kids, you even fooled me to hang my underwear on the tree in front of Suyue’s house!” Xue Yu retorted ruthlessly.
“That’s… when we were kids. You don’t have to dig up every old grudge!” Nie Fan’s face went red.
“Fine, I’ll bring Suyue over.” Xue Yu was smiling at the mental image of Nie Fan’s embarrassed face. He understood that Nie Fan had no reason to lie to him about such matters, and he would have believed him unconditionally anyway even if he was.
“Alright then, hurry over!” Nie Fan replied.
After all, wouldn’t it be a piece of cake for him to quickly level up both Xue Yu and Lin Suyue with his understanding of the game now?