Bab 12: Luring Monsters
Editor: Atlas Studios
"Are you an idiot? Cat Demons live in groups. If you lure one of them, the entire lair of Cat Demons would also be alerted. Our party will be wiped out!"
When Lin Jie said this, Mighty Wings was pissed, and he shouted, "What are you trying to say? Don't forget, we are all doing this for you!"
Lin Jie paid no heed to Mighty Wings's scheme to create hate among the party towards himself and continued, "I have an idea to safely lure the monsters."
Mighty Wings gave a cold sneer. "Coming from you? A level 2 'expert'?"
Midnight calmly gave a look towards Mighty Wings and said, "I trust him."
This line was so much more convincing than Mighty Wings! Who was Midnight? A member of the Triumphant Midnight! While Mighty Wings had received an invitation from the Ironwall Empire, he was after all not a member of a well-known guild.
A line from Midnight was enough to curb all ungrounded opinions from the rest.
That was the deterrence of the Triumphant Midnight! In the eyes of normal players, he was a being of respect and admiration. Lin Jie looked at Midnight, who was calmly looking at him and seemed like he was really intrigued.
Had he been recognized? Lin Jie's heart thumped.
Netherblue looked at Lin Jie and asked, "What is your idea?"
"Just now I checked some information regarding the Difficult-level Cat Demons. Their zone of sight is 20 yards, and zone of smell is 30 yards. In normal circumstances, their running speed is 3.5, which was 20% slower than players', but it will increase by 100% when they are in battle mode. Expert-level monsters' stats are at most 20% more than that. In other words, the zone of sight is at most 24 yards and zone of smell 36 yards…"
"You talk so much, what are you thinking of doing?" Mighty Wings said impatiently.
Qiu Yuan glared at him, "Can't you wait for him to finish?"
Mighty Wings gulped and hatefully folded his arms and leaned on the tree. He did not forget his suave outlook throughout.
Lin Jie retrieved a piece of Rotten Flesh, a Fire Torch and the Smelly Wooden Bow from his bag. The sudden wave of stench made everyone almost puke. Even someone who had not bathed in half a year would not have smelled so bad!
"This is my plan. Before entering battle mode, the Cat Demon's movement speed is pretty slow. Someone can hold the wooden bow and lure an entire lair of monsters away. Since the Cat Demon's attraction to food is greater than to the wooden bow, we can make use of the Rotten Flesh to lure 1 or 2 monsters to us," Lin Jie said.
Netherblue nodded but voiced her doubts, "The Cat Demons' zone of smell is wider than its sight. If you hold food and appear in their line of sight, they would immediately enter battle mode wouldn't they?"
"No, if they can't even see you, how would they get into battle mode? When that happens, we will need to use Qiu Yuan's Dark Speech skill. Dark Speech can reduce the zone of sight by 20%. After reducing their zone of sight, their sight would be about that of the Difficult-level, at most 20 yards. This is far lesser than their zone of smell! This way we will be able to lure suitable monsters and ensure that they do not get into fight-mode." Lin Jie drew a few schematic diagrams on the ground and explained, "This method can ensure that the healing Cat Demon cannot heal this group of Cat Demons. It should be workable."
After listening to Lin Jie's, suggestion, Midnight was shocked. What a meticulous thought! The Triumphant Midnight had attempted to take on the expert-level Cat Demon Lair, but 15 empowered Cat Demons were simply too scary. A group of Cat Demons was even stronger than a Boss, and hence even the Triumphant Midnight was unable to clear even the small monsters, and they were forced to retreat.
That plan was good to go!
"I think that this is utter bullsh*t!" Mighty Wings said, "As long as one small part goes wrong, we will be wiped out! Can you bear this responsibility?"
Lin Jie sternly said, "What good is a team that can't even bear the risk of getting wiped out?"
Netherblue's eyes brightened, and she solemnly said, "I think that we can give Fu Sheng's idea a try! Qiu Yuan, you hide under the tree in the North-west direction. That location can restrict one-third of one's area of vision and will be helpful for your spell casts. Lao Mo and Water, you two hold on to the Rotten Flesh and wait for Qiu Yuan's signal. When the Dark Speech has been successfully cast, you lure the monsters at once! Fu Sheng, give me the wooden bow. I'll do the distraction."
At this moment, Netherblue finally displayed her experience! She was a woman and hence at times could not make up her mind. But once someone pointed her in the right direction, she would become very decisive! A strong independent woman who needed some guidance exuded a different kind of charm!
Mighty Wings was about to speak when Netherblue suddenly turned her head and said, "Mighty Wings, let me give you a mission."
"Go on."
"Shut up and don't speak!"
Qiu Yuan heard Netherblue's words and burst out laughing.
Lin Jie, however, declined Netherblue's good intentions. Although she was much higher-leveled than him, when it came to experience, they weren't all that different. Luring monsters was a skill-based activity, it wasn't something that could be accomplished just by knowing how it would work in general.
If Netherblue were to take on the role of luring the monsters, then who would be the one giving commands? It would have been Mighty Wings! Lin Jie felt that this dude wasn't intelligent enough to lead a team.
"I'll use the wooden bow, and when I'm luring the monsters, I hope that everyone will give me some face and listen to my commands." Lin Jie's humble attitude did not draw any doubt from anyone. That role was the most challenging and since someone who just entered the party was willing to take on that role, what was there left to say?
Netherblue nodded her head in approval.
Lin Jie's face got serious. He held the wooden bow in his hands, and the stench started to spread from his palms. People were about to faint from the stench. He slowly approached a Cat Demon. While the stench was torture to them, it was a fragrant aroma to the Cat Demons! A Cat Demon sleeping on the ground twitched its nose and took a deep breath of the smell, almost breathing in the entire air available.
"Meow-"
The Cat Demon bolted up and called out loudly and assembled the other Cat Demons from the same lair. They then headed towards the smell. Lin Jie carefully retreated and controlled his movement speed. A slight mistake would cause them to enter battle mode, and the entire party would get wiped out!
15 Cat Demons followed the wooden bow, and Lin Jie started to break out in cold sweat!
As the Cat Demons were lured out of their lair, Qiu Yuan was already holding on to the Rotten Flesh and waiting for action. As she was about to cast the Dark Speech spell, Lin Jie signaled her to not do anything rash!
"What is he doing…"
"Hush, don't talk! The Cat Demons have sensitive ears!" Mighty Wings was about to ask something when he got interrupted by Midnight.
As there were too many Cat Demons, luring them was an uphill task. As long as one Cat Demon left their group, it would bring along one batch of Cat Demons. If the distance was too near, the Cat Demons would notice him! The danger of luring monsters was too huge. Netherblue's eyes shook slightly. Only then did she understand that her choice to volunteer was akin to sending the entire team back to the revival point! She was even more impressed with the low-profile, steady Warrior.
Lin Jie brought the Cat Demons in circles for 15 minutes and finally brought them to the desired location. That was a huge tree, which was about 50% wider than the other trees!
"OK, lure them!" Lin Jie signaled to Qiu Yuan the moment he lured the Cat Demons behind the tree.
"Dark Speech!" Qiu Yuan raised her magic wand, and a wave of fog appeared in front of a Cat Demon's eyes. Immediately after, Lao Mo, who had already brought some Rotten Flesh, got close to the Cat Demon at the back of the pack. The smell of the Rotten Flesh, which was much stronger than that of the wooden bow, precisely lured that Cat Demon away from the pack. Due to the reduced visibility, it did not even notice Lao Mo, and it just raised its nose up high, as if it was hung on a rope, and headed towards the team.
Midnight's eyes brightened as he immediately activated his defense posture and rushed up front. Shield strikes, heroic and normal attacks rained down on the Cat Demon's face, increasing his aggro. His actions were as smooth as running water, demonstrating some high-quality moves. The rest of the team started their attacks!
Water just stood by the side observing quietly. His mission was initially to 'handle the second Cat Demon and persevere until he killed the Cat Demon that Midnight pulled over.' But due to Lin Jie's use of the huge tree as a blockage, they only managed to lure one Cat Demon!
The cat claws were raised up high, but so was Midnight's shield, which accurately blocked the Cat Demon's attack. BloDarn it!
-45!
The huge damage made Midnight raise his brows and shout, "Heal!"
Healing light emanated and restored his health points. The rest of the team's attacks followed shortly, killing the Cat Demon.
One battle ended and Midnight was left with half his health points! That was even when the healer had already cast all healing spells. If they had lured two monsters, imagine what would have been of them? Having thought of that, Midnight's eyes shone brightly, 'That warrior… surely he must have considered this!?'
If there had been two, Water, who had no one healing him, would have been immediately killed, and the team would then have also been wiped out.
In the process of fighting, Lin Jie carried out his role perfectly, once again carefully luring the group of Cat Demons to the tree. He then signaled using his right hand to start the bait.
Qiu Yuan looked at Lin Jie and nodded her head. She then cast her Dark Speech spell on the Cat Demon's head and used the Rotten Flesh to lure away yet another one. Everyone rushed towards it and killed it!
That method was effective!
That news made everyone excited, as it was after all an Expert-level dungeon! If they could continue luring the monsters that way, it was really possible they could obtain the first clear!
Netherblue's looked at Lin Jie very differently. She felt guilty. When that newcomer entered the party, he had not been given due respect and yet he responded to the initial hostility with compassion. That had led the egoistic Netherblue to feel very uncomfortable.
One by one, the Cat Demons got killed. The rich experience points and equipment drop rate made the team brighten up. The drop rate in the Expert-level dungeon was more than twice that in the Normal-level dungeon. 10 Cat Demons dropped 4 pieces of Bronze Equipment. That would have been the entire reward for completing the Normal-level dungeon!
Just as it seemed that the first wave of monsters would be cleared, an accident happened!
Lao Mo carelessly moved in the wrong way while luring the monsters, causing the 3 Cat Demons heading towards Lin Jie to let out a loud growl and charge towards the team!
"Oh no!" Midnight was shocked and rushed over with his shield, "Water, Netherblue, cover!"
Two had already posed the threat of a wipeout, talk about three?! A wipeout was definite! Midnight cursed in his head. He had thought he could witness the rise of a small team. Little did he expect that the team could not make it, after all, the team capability was too bad!
Netherblue raised a longsword to face a Cat Demon. She was a weapon fighter, her defense was just second to that of a shield fighter! Even then, the Cat Demon still managed to get rid of a third of her health points!
"Sis, watch out!" Qiu Yuan shouted in shock. The Cat Demon which was originally attacking Water had turned to attack Netherblue as it did not have enough hatred points!
Death was imminent, a wipeout was unavoidable! Netherblue had already prepared to let the team leave quickly, she would try to delay as much time as possible.
At this moment, a dark figure appeared in front of her. A rusty metal sword formed a defined trajectory in mid-air. With a swoosh, the Cat Demon was knocked asleep in mid-air and immediately knocked back into the tree!
Bab 13: Silver Ring (Silver)
Editor: Atlas Studios
Once again the Cat Demon got stuck on the tree, as its sharp claws shredded the tree bark into pieces!
That scene reappeared once again, yet another accurate strike! The first time Lin Jie performed this feat, people could still think that it was just that he had sharp instincts. After all, having a monster get stuck on the tree required some luck.
But the second time… That was not something that could be explained just by luck!
"Water, stand under that tree and shoot the Cat Demon with the Fire Gun, stop it from scratching away the bark. Focus all your fire on the one that Midnight is on and leave the other one for me!" Lin Jie shouted. He rushed forward towards Netherblue and swung his Broken Blade right onto the advancing claws of the Cat Demon.
"Rebel's Fight!"
Parry successful! -32!
The appearance of the damage number did not seem to attract anyone's attention at all. Since they were all focusing their fire on the Cat Demon stuck at the tree fork, how could they even have any extra energy to notice the immense awe of Lin Jie's damage and skills?
Except for Mighty Wings! His eyes had never left this level 2 newbie warrior - his steady, careful and systematic strategy could actually be effective in this Expert-level dungeon. He didn't even say a word, and yet he could obtain the approval of others.
This was unacceptable! In such a party, there could only be one Alpha male! Mighty Wings's eyes became filled with hatred, as waves of thoughts of plots stirred up inside his chest and made his face look especially fearsome.
Lin Jie got whacked right on his chest by a Cat Demon and instantly lost 55 health points! With the sudden loss of half his health, Lin Jie was shocked. His defense capabilities were too weak. He inched closer to a huge tree, and as the Cat Demon pounced towards him, he tilted his body suddenly. With a loud thud, the Cat Demon collided head first onto the tree, and it stood up, dizzy and with a significantly reduced critical hit chance.
Using dodging and positioning, Lin Jie survived 5 minutes, and the first Cat Demon was finally killed. Everyone immediately shifted their aim. Midnight took over Lin Jie's monster, the cold pride in his eyes vanished. He nodded his head, took away his hatred and produced a flurry of vicious attacks, once again killing the monster.
The last Cat Demon was hung high up on the tree and had even less of a threat. It eventually got killed by Qiu Yuan's and the Priest's spell casts.
Lin Jie's heart beat faster. He sat down heavily and took out some bread to restore his health. On the other hand, Mighty Wings, who had all along been positioned at a safe and stable location to execute his skills, went ahead light-heartedly to collect their dropped rewards. The 3 Cat Demons dropped a total of 1 Skill Book and 1 piece of equipment, it was considered a huge drop!
[Skill Book: Havoc]
Casting Resource: Action, Rage
Skill Description: You spend 10 Rage points and cause an additional 30% damage to your target. Skill Cooldown Time: 30 seconds
Job Restriction: Warrior
[Sharp Claws Greaves] (Bronze)
Requires: Level 3
Defense: 7-10
Strength: +3
Both were the equipment used by Warriors. Mighty Wings was elated and said, "I lack a pair of Bronze Greaves. Practically speaking, let me have this. On the other hand, the Skill Book should be given to our Brother Fu Sheng, but he is not even level 3. Even though… hehe. But what is most important is that the Skill can achieve its intended effect, and so I guess I would accept it. Is everyone with me on this?"
Qiu Yuan rolled her eyes and said, "Everything has been said by you. If we disagree, then wouldn't we be disrespectful?"
Mighty Wings held on to the equipment and Skill Book and smiled without saying a word. Netherblue had more of a weak and quiet personality and would not say much. As long as Midnight did not interfere…
"Give both the Skill Book and equipment to Fu Sheng," Netherblue said solemnly, "If it had not been for him, we would not have gotten these things. The 4 pieces of Bronze Equipment that we got previously should be traded according to their market price and then given to Fu Sheng and Midnight."
Lin Jie smiled faintly and said, "It's fine, let Brother Mighty Wings have them if he wants."
Mighty Wings smiled in an embarrassed manner and held on tightly to the equipment and Skill Book. [Havoc] was the level 2 skill of a Warrior and was definitely a decent active ability. He was very adamant about not giving it up to someone else just like that.
Midnight coldly looked at Mighty Wings and sneered, "Practically speaking? These words came out from your mouth really righteously! Since what is the most important about the equipment and skill is to immediately discover their effects, let me have them all then. As a head MT, asking for an active ability is not something overboard, is it?"
Water was highly impressed with Midnight's skills and nodded continuously, "Not overboard, not overboard."
"You…" Mighty Wings was about to rage when he realized that the looks towards him by other people changed a great deal. Anyone but him was involved in surviving the onslaught of the battle, how could he even have any rights to make a fuss out of it?
"Since our brother wants it, take it." Mighty Wings flatteringly smiled.
Midnight emotionlessly took the Skill Book and equipment from his hands and handed them into Lin Jie's hands.
Lin Jie shrugged his shoulders and put on the greaves and learned the ability. Havoc was indeed a decent ability. As a percentage addition to the damage of active abilities, it was highly sought after.
After arranging his attire, he patted his own ass and laughed, "Let's all get up and get ready to move on!"
His expression was as if nothing had ever happened. He was indeed a talent at being a phony gentleman!
Netherblue bit her lips and said sternly, "I have decided that for the next battle, Fu Sheng shall be the commander. What do you guys think?"
Mighty Wings, Lao Mo, Banana and the others opened their eyes in shock. The team commander role had always been in the hands of Mighty Wings all along. Suddenly handing it over to an outsider had a very high chance of creating an internal conflict!
On the other hand, Qiu Yuan was elated about it. Lin Jie was the one she invited. Her little egoistic pride got satisfied.
Midnight nodded. "Should have been the case from the start."
"Since all have agreed, we'll leave it to Brother Fu Sheng." Anticipating Mighty Wings to start talking again, Qiu Yuan suddenly interrupted and said it in a stern manner. Her stern look made Lin Jie smile.
"Alright, then I shall accept the commander role." Lin Jie looked up and thrust his chest out and said, "My battle plan is simple: all monsters shall be dealt with using this type of method, kill them one by one! This process could take an entire day from you. If you can't endure it, you can back out."
"Ha, Expert-level dungeon. How can there be such a thing as backing out?"
"If our Netherblue Party can clear the Expert-level dungeon, I wouldn't mind spending an entire day. Even if I had to spend 3 days and 3 nights, I would do it!"
The atmosphere was great! Lin Jie nodded his head, thankful.
Mighty Wings folded his arms and looked at the tree and asked, "Brother Fu Sheng, why don't you force all the Cat Demons up the tree? Wouldn't it be more efficient? Or is it that, you can't do it?"
Lin Jie looked at him faintly and then looked at the Cat Demon stuck in the tree fork. He then faintly smiled and did not reply, as he turned around and continued his preparations for the next wave of battle.
Everyone followed his line of sight and looked over, realizing that the Cat Demon stuck in the tree fork had almost scratched the tree into pieces and was about to break! If all the Cat Demons were forced up onto the tree, the tree would probably get scratched to shreds, and the entire party would probably get wiped out.
Even Banana looked at Mighty Wings with an 'are you an idiot?' look, as he followed Lin Jie's steps and walked on ahead.
"Darn it!" Mighty Wings's eyes got cold, as he clenched his fists so tight that it was apparent he was filled with anger that he could not release!
There were 2 MT in the party. Midnight's skills spoke for themselves. The issue was with Water. His battle skills were too bad that he frequently caused the hate of others to emanate. The only useful thing he could do was to act as a meat bait to lure away the monsters.
Regarding that, Lin Jie had also given him a great deal of advice. Including positioning, vision control and the practical striking areas of a shield strike. He went on in a detailed and an organized manner to prevent him from being the cause of errors while fighting the Boss. Even as Lin Jie intentionally tried to hide his superior skills from his 7-year experience, the teachings reeked of experience and seemed to reveal some sort of prediction of the future. Apart from Water, even Netherblue and Midnight kept nodding and improved their battle skills.
The battle against the enhanced Cat Demons was about to reach the crucial stage. Battle frequency increased, and everyone's attention was much more focused. Their eyes were like those of an eagle making a death-stare at the prey in front of it.
"1 means strike the head, 2 means strike the tail, then spam all skills on the face!" Water kept repeating the line and ended up, surprisingly, landing a series of beautiful chain strikes. After the Cat Demons ate all the damage, their hatred doubled, they definitely did not produce hatred OT. He happily looked at others and tried to fish for some encouragement and praise. But the teammates who were focused entirely on battling did not notice him at all. Mighty Wings looked at him briefly but coldly looked away.
"Water, nice strikes, you've improved a lot!" Lin Jie praised and generously gave a thumb up.
Water's fleshy face almost melted with gratitude as he said, "Thank you Expert…"
At this moment, the image of Lin Jie in Water's mind was infinitely enlarged!
Time passed by seconds by seconds. After clearing all the small monsters, a good 12 hours had passed! Everyone entangled in battle were too engaged to even realize that!
When they were about to face the Boss, a ray of golden light rose. Lin Jie finally leveled up to level 3!
Not only that but a crisp sounding item fell and attracted the sight of everyone. On the floor, a bright silver ring shone brightly.
[Silver Ring] (Silver)
Requires: Level 3
Endurance: +3
Additional Effect: Increase maximum health by 60 points
"Oh my gosh!" Qiu Yuan could help but exclaim, "Silver- Silver Ring!"
Jewelry-type equipment had all along been the most unlikely to drop, and it was even a Silver Ring!
Not only that, that ring was even one used by MT. With an augment of 3 in endurance and an additional 60 health points, it was definitely a divine equipment for MT! What was the idea behind having an additional 60 health points in the early game? That meant that you had 30% more health points than other MT!
Midnight's hands also started trembling as he excitedly said to Netherblue, "I am willing to return 20 bottles of Slow Restoring Mana Potion and even offer 10 silver coins to buy this ring! Not only that, the Triumphant Midnight shall owe you a favor."
Silver MT Ring had too much of an impact on a party! MT was the key to the party, as long as the MT did not die, the rest would be able to survive, and that meant that they had a chance of clearing the stage. This ring could instantly transform an MT into a thick bull.
Netherblue took a deep breath and looked at Lin Jie with a slightly mystified look. If it had not been for him, how would the party have advanced until this stage? Looking at the current Netherblue party, everyone was handsomely rewarded in this dungeon. They had at least half a body's worth of Bronze Equipment. And all that was due to this person!
Lin Jie alone had already attained items worth a total of 5 Silver Coins! Although he strongly rejected it, under Netherblue's and Qiu Yuan's persuasion, he finally accepted it. The ring's sudden appearance… it just proved that they had so much to owe him for.
Netherblue looked at the ring and looked at her teammates and said solemnly, "Sorry, I'm not selling."
Hadiah
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