Chapter 88: Chapter 88 — Dragon’s Tomb Shin Guards

“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]!