Translated by: Deception, Totokk and GGP
Edited by: Zephir, Zero, Hendricksen-sama
[Update: [Thunderbolt Finger] is fixed to [Chain Lightning] in future releases.]
âHua!â
The cold wind blew past my ears as I rapidly slid down the cable. Far off in the distance a large map began to appear in front of me. On it, one could see layers of mountains surrounding dark green lakes; it looked like something out of a painting. This geography wasnât all that bad but red dots were appearing all over the map, these were the monsters that were awaiting for our arrival!
âWeâve reached the second layerâ¦â Matcha smiled.
Wan Erâs beautiful eyebrows knit together as she looked at the distant sky, âYou guys, look at the clouds on the second layer; they are all red colored. I can sense something hidden behind them ready to fight against us.â
âWhat is it?â Dong Cheng Yue asked.
Wan Er shook her head, âI donât know either.â
I clenched my shirt, âLetâs hurry up but be careful of whatâs to come!â
âGot it!â
â¦â¦
After landing I involuntarily took 10 steps onto the floor of the second layer, the aggro of a monster that was standing not too far away from me was triggered. It was a human warrior wearing an armor that was completely purple colored. He carried a blade that crackled with electricity upon its edge. Taking wide strides toward us, he snarled, âHalt, you are trespassing on Dragon Templeâs forbidden grounds, this is punishable by death! Brat, surrender your life!â
The broadsword crackled with electricity and exploded outwards as he tried to cleave it into my shoulder. Immediately, 500+ points of damage was dealt to me while simultaneously forcing me into a state of paralysis for 3 seconds and reducing my attack and movement speed by 15%!
I unsheathed my Frost Rain Sword right after the paralysis ended, casting a [Fierce Ice Blade] and a [Combo] upon the monster, dealing nearly 4000 damage to him. Behind me, Wan Er chuckled as she passed by with her double daggers, âTake a look at my 3rd advancement skill!â
With a shout, Wan Er held both her daggers in front of her chest. With a âkeng,â she held the two daggers together, condensing them into a single crimson red blade edge. The monster before her was known as the Thunder Blade Guard, a Lv 63 Elite Monster and as her newly formed blade penetrated its body, the monster howled miserably and its body began to shudder violently. A huge number came floating out from above the body-
2741!
â¦â¦
âGulp!â Fox and I swallowed our saliva, âWhat a strong moveâ¦â
Yue Qing Qianâs mouth dropped open, âWow, sister Cang Tong, is this the Assassinsâ 3rd advancement skill? How strong, this skill has great damage potential; it can out damage the [Flame Blade] used by a heavy armor class canât it?â
Wan Er struck the Thunder Blade Guard with a [Gouge], âYea, this is the trump card for Assassins of the 3rd advancement-[Twin Blade Harmony]. Itâs our strongest skill until level 100 and it is capable of ignoring a huge amount of the targetâs defense. Not only that, after advancing to the 3rd advancement, the typical PK strategy used by Assassins is to ambush them using [Backstab] linked with [Gouge]. After 2 seconds, you use another 70 mana to cast [Twin Blade Harmony]. This can pretty much kill any heavy armor class player.â
Yue Qing Qian chuckled, âYea, it looks really powerful, and [Twin Blade Harmony] also looks unbelievably cool. I want to reach the 3rd class advancement as soon as possibleâ¦â
While attacking the Thunder Blade Guard, I turned around to say, âYouâre already Lv 59 Yue Qing Qian. Once we finish this map, youâll be able to advance. Iâve thought it all out: once the second layer is cleared, weâll all return to Ba Huang City to reorganize and repair our equipment. If it is possible, those who can advance should do so. At this moment, Dong Cheng, Qing Qian, Chengshuo and I will all be able to advance, which would mean a total of 5 players who have reached their 3rd advancement. This would also increase our chances of beating the final boss, since 3rd advancement players would add to our power.â
Yue Qing Qian nodded, âI hear you, brother.â
Fox kneaded his forehead, âIf only I had a younger sister like thisâ¦â
Yue Qing Qian giggled, âThatâs no problem, Iâll have Yue Wei Liang call you older brotherâ¦â
âReally?â
âReally, though Iâm sure sheâd see you as an old person, so youâd be an uncle.â
âAs long as she doesnât think of me as a grandfather, then Iâll be happy. Am I really that old?â
All the girls nodded in symphony, leaving Fox to cry to himself.
â¦â¦
We continued onwards, taking a good look at the Thunder Blade Guardâs stats. His attacks had the lightning attribute and when he had only 10% of his health left, he would use an AOE skill named [Raging Thunder Blade]. It would probably deal 70% of his base attack, not a bad skill at all.
Less than a 100 meters forward, a ravine appeared with countless Thunder Blade Guards roaming inside. Wan Er immediately trembled at the sight; a happy look was apparent on her face, âWow! It looks like Iâll be able to get to Lv 61 nowâ¦â
Taking a second look at the ravine, I felt uncertain. âItâs hard to sayâ¦with this many monsters, weâd have to kill them for at least 7 or 8 hours, how troublesomeâ¦â
Fox pondered a bit, then suddenly looked up upon hearing some sounds, âXiao Yao, look out!â
âEh?â
Looking up, I saw a scarlet meteorite with a flame trail flying out from behind the clouds. It was heading straight toward me. If I didnât dodge this, then Iâd surely be badly injured, if not killed. Not only that, the meteorite would hit a large area and both Dong Cheng and Yue Qing Qian were within range; there was only a second to react!
âDammit!â
Inwardly whining, I quickly activated my [Haste]. As I rushed forward, I spread both of my arms out and quickly hugged both Dong Cheng and Yue Qing Qian to my chest and dove to the side. âEveryone be quiet and take cover!â
During the crisis, the two girls were stunned. Just as the meteorite was about to hit, they found themselves flying through the air into the nearby bushes!
âBang!â
Behind me was a scorching piece of ground that was at the very least 2 meters in diameter. The meteorâs impact had completely blew away our previous footholds. The surrounding 100 meters were slanted downwards and even the grass nearby was burned into ashes.
I stood up while Dong Cheng and Yue Qing Qian looked on with fear, âWhatâ¦what was thatâ¦â
Wan Er looked up to the skies, âSo thatâs how it isâ¦â
Together, we all looked up into the sky and saw meteorites dropping in groups of 2 or 3 from the heavens, wreaking havoc onto the earth below. This had meant that not only do we have to pay close attention to the monsters and bosses on this map but we also had to keep track of the sky patterns and the meteorites.
âF**kâ¦â
Fox clenched his rifle reluctantly, âThis map is crazy isnât it? It looks like weâve triggered the meteorological mechanism, making clearing this map a whole lot more difficult for us.â
Dong Cheng Yue asked, âWhat do we do then? We canât just stay here and kill while keeping track of the sky can we?â
I thought for a few seconds, âWellâ¦we can have someone keep track of the sky, Fox can do that since his damage output isnât that strong yet. Heâll play the experience baby and keep us updated on the circumstances of the sky. Youâll have to alert everyone when the time comesâ¦â
Fox nodded as he stared at the clouds, âI thinkâ¦after this map is cleared, my cervical spondylosis will be curedâ¦â
Note: Cervical spondylosis is medical term for an age related wear and tear of the neck.
Naturally, I didnât bother to comment on that.
â¦â¦
âBossâ¦â, Matcha looked at the sky, warning me with a confident voice.
âWhatâs wrong, Matcha?â I asked.
Matcha smiled, âHavenât you seen it yet? The trajectory of these meteors head south at 45 degrees, so that means we have a way to avoid these meteorites completelyâ¦â
âOh? What method is that?â
âLook over thereâ¦â Matcha pointed some distance away, âThereâs the mountain peak, we can stay under the mountain base and kill monsters there. This way, we wonât be hit by any of the meteorites, because thatâs where the blind spots are for the meteoriteâs path. Not only that, some weird ruins are over there; all sorts of exotic terrain should be there as well. We can use the terrain to our advantage and kill the monsters that are bottlenecked at that spot. Boss already has [Seven Star Fragments Slash] and combined with Dong Chengâs [Chain Lightning] and [Pillars of Ice & Fire], weâll be killing the monsters quickly. Wan Er can take on the Thunder Blade Guards that are below 10% health so that they wonât be able to use [Thunderous Rage]. This way of doing things should make life easier, right?â
I nodded happily, âYeah, lets go with Matchaâs strategy. Does anyone else want to chip in?â
The females all nodded their heads in agreement, âNo, letâs go with this strategy⦠Another meteorite is already on the wayâ¦â
We rushed down the hill and leaned against the cliff, and as expected we could hear sounds of meteorites exploding above us but no meteors actually reached us.
âRight hereâ¦â Matcha pointed her finger at a triangular rock formation. It was not a bad place to hide behind as well as a perfect spot to lure monsters to.
I nodded and raised my sword, âWan Er and I will be on the outside core with two Tigermen. Matcha will come with us and help attract the monsters. Matcha, youâll fly on out first and attract monsters, do you feel ready for this? When the Thunder Blade Guards reach 10%, theyâll release their final killing skill, you should be fine if you stay far away.â
Matcha stuck out her chest and with a voice that showed her insightfulness in her answer, she said, âNo problem, attracting monsters is my specialty. Give me a position and my Lv 6 [Phantom Ray Slash] will be there. Itâs not that weak, so itâll be put to good useâ¦â
âYea⦠remember to bring 100 monsters to us at a time, otherwise we wonât have time to heal and fail the quest.â
âI got it, Iâll act accordingly!â
â¦â¦
The Mage, Healer, and Musketeer were left within the core of the group while Wan Er, me and our 2 pets headed on outwards. Yue Qing Qianâs Ice Rat was perched on her shoulder while grumbling away. It was a Lv 57 Ice Rat with a strong magical power and with Matchaâs Illusionary Butterflyâs magical prowess, our groupâs physical and magical might could not be questioned at all.
A few minutes later on the map, Matcha was leading a bunch of orange dots back to us. Holding the Glass Spear of the Dragonâs Soul in one hand and a shield in the other, she flew on over, âBe careful, a bunch of monsters are coming!â
I hurried on over, âMatcha, get into position!â
âGot it!â
âHuaâ, flying on over, Matcha didnât aim her trajectory well enough and crashed into Yue Qing Qian. I hastily grabbed onto her waist and forcibly pulled her into an upright position, âMatcha, the monsterâs aggro is on you, so when they all approach, be prepared to use your [Phantom Holy Shield] and Healers, remember to heal us wellâ¦â
Matcha immediately turned around, with three golden shields surrounding her.