Chapter 88

“Woosh… …”

As the chilling wind whistled inside the Dragon’s Tomb, I wrap the [Ice Fire Cloak] tighter around my body . Carrying the Jade City Sword and with Baby Bobo by my side, I slowly advance . Before me, as far as the eye could see, were countless dragon bones . The dragon’s skeleton glows with a faint luster . This must be the dragon soul Karl mentioned . Before their deaths, the dragons must have swallowed everything, including gold and gems . Presumably, the bones have inherited some of that wealth .

Growing underneath every dragon bone, tall unknown weeds with black leaves emit a faint aroma .

“Sha sha……”

Suddenly, the weeds rustle, and a small green dot shows up on the mini-map . Ah, a monster has appeared .

“Baby Bobo!”

Hearing my order, Baby Bobo rushes out, and fires a level 4 [Combo] at the underbrush .

“Shua shua shua… … ”

Before the [Combo] could finish, an ugly hunchbacked demon around half a meter high jumps out . It has six legs, four of which it uses to run . The other two legs it uses as arms . It clutches a dragon’s bone between its sole two arms and begins to flee .

I quickly rush after it, firing [Fierce Ice Blade]!

“698!”

After the strike, the monster’s attributes appear—

【Tomb Imp】(Elite-rank Monster)

Level: 45

Attack: 450-700

Defense: 400

HP: 3000

Abilities:【Steal bones】【Cut】【Penetrating Strike】

Description: Tomb Imps, small demons that live most of their lives underground . The species is on the fringe of extinction and because of their desire for shiny treasures rich in souls; they will often excavate graves, attracting a lot of hatred .

……

I blink . Elite ranked?! Great, in addition to normal monsters, elite monsters also appear here . Compared to normal monsters, elite monsters are on a whole new field and of course, their rewards are also on a whole new field .

“Pi pi…”

A layer of frost forms under the Tomb Imp’s feet . With a hit from [Fierce Ice Blade], its movement speed steeply drops .

Already unable to escape, it immediately turns to attack me with a [Cut] from its sharp claws .

“272!”

Fortunately, my 845 defense isn’t just for show . This level 45 monster’s attack has a ceiling of 700 points, plus the +20% elite monster bonus . Its attack isn’t even 900 points . It’s not enough to break my defense .

“Ding!”

With a humming sound, the golden hexagram floats on the edge of my sword and I use my [Combo], hitting the target twice . A lvl 4 [Combo] hits 2-3 times . So it just got the unlucky end of the stick, hitting twice . I really need to rise it to lvl 5 . A lvl 5 [Combo] hits 3-4 times . Although the chance of 4 hits is relatively low, it will be devastating once it happens .

I look at my skill proficiency——

[Combo LV-4]:764/2000

……

It’s still early . Every time I use my [Combo], the proficiency raises by 1-2 points . I still need to use my [Combo] 1000+ more times to raise to level 5 . Fortunately, inside my bag are a sufficient amount of potions to rush my skills without fear of a lack of mana . While rushing lvl 5 [Combo] is easy, leveling [Wind Blade] and [Fierce Ice Blade] is a pain . Lvl 4 [Wind Blade]s consume 80 MP and Lvl 4 [Fierce Ice Blade]s consume 120 MP . It’s extremely brutal . Perhaps, that is the reason why most players’ melee skills stay at lvl 3 . The potions are just too expensive!

“Jie jie……”

Under force of my [Combo], the Tomb Imp screams and falls to the ground . 7 silver coins burst out . How generous . Elite ranked monsters definitely are special . In addition, with +1 imp exterminated and a imp skull as bonus, this is going well!

Picking up the coins, I continue forward, and more Tomb Imps appear . Sometimes as many as 3 appear together, but fortunately, my defense is so high, it’s impossible for them to kill me . I can come back here to milk this place without too much pressure of getting killed . A different class swordsman, even a top fighter like Jian Feng Han, would need to bring several healers into the map . Drinking HP potions alone certainly wouldn’t be enough . Drinking a potion has a cooldown of 60 seconds . That is to say, for 60 seconds, the most I can add is 600HP . But since my [Heal] has a cooldown of 6 seconds, my recovery power surpasses potions by as much as 900% .

……

The experience from these elite monsters is exceptional . For every 5 Tomb Imps killed, my experience bar jumps around 1% . At this pace, ah, after I complete this time-consuming quest, I should have leveled to 42 . These Tomb Imps’ respawn rate is pretty good, and the silver coins dropped is about 150% greater than what normal monsters drop . Soon, a few green tiered equipment drop too . Practically all of them are leather armors but it’s still good .

Before I know it, 5 hours pass by and it’s nighttime: 11:00 PM . I’ve jumped to lvl 41, while [Combo], [Wind Blade], and [Fierce Ice Blade] are all at lvl 5 . Inside my bag are considerably fewer potions, but it is worth it . Especially for lvl 5 [Combo] . When I tested it 50 times, the chances of hitting 4 times was around 50% . While the official number given is 30%, out of 50 tries, I got 4 hits 27 times . There could only be one explanation —— charm!

Yes, the effects of charm to increase the success rate of skills is starting to show, especially for improving my [Combo]’s probability . My 31 charm is like a treasure .

……

“Gu gu…… . ”

My stomach growls . A little hungry, I go offline . But after eating a bowl of noodles, I return back online . Today’s mission is to level up to 42 .

“Kacha！”

[Wind Blade] cleaves off an imp’s head while it gives off a horrible death shriek . And at the same time, three things burst out: silver coins, gems, and a ring . Looking at the ring’s bright shine, my heart bursts; something amazing just dropped .

Hastily reaching down to pick it up, sure enough, it was an excellent ring . For elite monsters to drop such equipment . Great!

【Green Stem Ring】（Silver-Tiered Equipment)

Strength: +27

Magic Power: +22

Extra: Increases attack by 20 points

Level Requirement: 40

……

Looking at +27 Strength and +22 Magic Power, these additional attributes makes me smile . While ordinary swordsmen have no use for extra MP, for me it’s extremely important . At lvl 41, I’m capped at 480 mana and my usage is far greater than the amount an Indigo Sea Pill recover . Now adding this +22 Magic Power, along with a swordsman’s 0 . 8 magic power growth, I have a 176 mana bonus . This is like a gift from god!

Immediately equipping the ring, I feel the mana surge . The extra mana means I can use [Fierce Ice Blade] one extra time .

【Xiao Yao Zi Zai】（Tomb Guardian of Dragon City）

Level：41

Attack：726-983

Defense：846

HP：1473

MP：656

Charm：31

……

I look down at the dropped gem with delight . Ohhh, my luck’s too good——

【Soul Gem】：Strengthens weapons or defensive equipment to improve the quality of the equipment!

To my surprise, it’s a soul gem! Not saying anything more, I open up the strengthening window and see the 80% success rate in strengthening the Jade City Sword .

“Ding!”

Strengthening successful!

【Jade City Sword +2】(Gold Tier Weapon)

Attack：210-300（+42-60）

It’s peerlessly sharp! Another addition of 21-30 hidden attack points… . .

……

“Di!”

A message from Lin Wan Er: “Yue Er and I are going offline . You should go to sleep too!”

This is the first time Lin Wan Er has taken the initiative of telling me goodnight . I excitedly reply: “Ah, sweet dreams!”

She sends a smiley face emoticon . The name goes dim and she goes offline .

After a few seconds, I hear another “Di” sound . It’s a message from General Li Mu: “Xiao Yao, are you still busy?”

“Ah, I’m in the middle of leveling, shooting for lvl 42 by tonight!” I look at his rank and find General Li Mu at lvl 43 . His leveling speed is insane!

Ba Huang City’s golden emblem on my head was already gone, meaning that my rank at lvl 41 dropped below the top 10 . Now I’m ranked No . 300+ . It’s really depressing .

Li Mu replies: “Ah, you’re nearly lvl 42 . Just to let you know, we’ve been busy as well . We’ve already found eleven lvl 37 healers willing to join us . We haven’t been about to find any at lvl 40; healers with second promotion are too scarce . But if we fight 50+ gold tier bosses, we should have no problems . I’m trying to start the operation tomorrow afternoon . Xiao Yao, you need to be online then!”

“I understand . No problem! But my only request is that I have the killing blow on the boss . I want to get more experience, or I won’t be able to re-enter the top ten . ”

“Okay, we’ll let you get it……”

“Okay…… . ”

……

Continuing the leveling, I sweep through the Dragon’s Tomb once more . Already 2:00AM at night, practically all of the elite Tomb Imps have been killed off by me but I’ve also killed the 1000 Imps required and found 100 Imp skulls . There’s still 11% until lvl 42 . Ah, finishing my quest should be enough for me to level up . Cherishing every elite monster found, I search through the tomb once again and kill off the dozen or so that slipped through the net the first time . Carrying my Jade City Sword, I walk back, ready to complete my quest .

Inside my bag, there are a heap of Black Iron and Green tier equipment, but no Bronze tiers . The best drop was the Green Stem Ring but a second Silver tiered item never turned up .

The small stone house is quiet . I use the hilt of my sword to knock on the stone door, yelling: “Teacher, I’ve finished your quest!”

Rolling out in his wheelchair, Karl looks at the 100 imp skulls and a smile finally shows on his hardened face: “Haha, kid, you really don’t disappoint . Those imps weren’t even slightly difficult for you . Come here, this is your reward!”

“Ding!”

System Notification: Congratulations . You’ve completed the A-level mission [Hunting Tomb Imps], Experience +32,000 points, +10 Gold coins, and your reputation in Dragon City has improved . You’ve acquired the quest item: [Dragon’s Tomb Shin Guards]!

……

I hastily open my bag . I actually obtained equipment from the quest! ——

【Dragon’s Tomb Shin Guards】（Silver-Tiered Equipment）

Category：Armor

Defense：110

Strength：+28

Endurance：+25

Extra：Increases attack damage by 0 . 7%

Level Requirement：40

……

Great . This is just what I need . Replacing the Bronze leggings, my defense and HP both increase considerably; it’s just in time for the raid on the boss tomorrow .

【Xiao Yao Zi Zai】（Tomb Guardian of Dragon City）

Level：42

Attack：744-1006

Defense：872

HP：1683

MP：656

Charm：31

……

I have nearly 1,700 HP and my base attack broke a thousand, with [Turmoil Sword], my actual damage reaches 1100+! It’s more than enough to break the defenses of level 50+ bosses .

After tidying up my bag, I return to Ba Huang City to replenish my potions and repair my equipment . Afterwards, I log out and go to sleep in order to save my stamina . Tomorrow, when I go online, I’ll go and raid the boss . Before I fall asleep, I think: Just wait till I get that Guild Creation Tablet, [Vanguard]!