Chapter 59
Chapter 59 – Gato the Lion King
Since the majority of player base were too low level very few players could reach this destination which led Nie Yan to believe his actions were far from possibly prying eyes.
However unbeknownst to him, in an area not far from the cliff face he overhung, a group of ten or so players were hunting mobs. The strongest among them reached Level 6 while the lowest was Level 4. Since even their highest level member was still a level lower than these Lions, none of them dared to penetrate too deeply into Violet Dream Hills.
Although they received three hundred percent bonus experience for killing these Level 7 Lions that were higher level than them, it was offset by their numbers. In the game’s current state, even a single Basic Health Potion was an expensive luxury. Yet they were consuming these potions at a ludicrous rate. Were it not for the fact that their profits were somewhat decent after recently picking up a Leo s.h.i.+eld and a few fur pelts, they would have long stopped hunting these high health hard-to-chew monsters.
"Bladelight, let’s leave after another hour or two. We should have enough Lion Pelts by then," said the Priest to the Level 6 Heavy Knight at the front of the group.
The Knight named Bladelight raised his s.h.i.+eld and blocked an incoming Lion’s attack. Brandis.h.i.+ng his sword, he countered with Heroic Strike and kited the Lion as the Mages whittled its health away. Once its health fell to a certain point, he finished it off with Whirlwind Slash.
"Alright, we’ll leave in an hour then. Since we’ve already got a Leo s.h.i.+eld, it’d be perfect if the Leo Armour dropped as well," Resplendent Bladelight nodded and replied He unhurriedly collected the items that dropped from the monster’s corpse.
"That’s impossible. I read online that the drop rate for Leo Armour is one in five hundred," said Elementalist who walked to his side. He and Resplendent Bladelight were the only Level 6s in their team.
His was named Hei Zhuo (Black Amazing). The two of them could be counted as experts in the game. Although they were friends, neither was willing to admit they were weaker than the other. In terms of skill, Bladelight was superior but Hei Zuo’s influence in the guild was higher. Hei Zhou used both of their names to establish the guild Unhindered. Since Bladelight wasn’t interested in the management aspects of the team or guild, Hei Zhuo took on this role. Under his leaders.h.i.+p, not only did Unhindered become a successful guild, it became somewhat famous as well.
"What? The Leo s.h.i.+eld’s drop rate only one in a thousand yet we still managed to get one." Bladelight rebuked.
"That’s only cause you got lucky…" Hei Zuo’s complexion paled. Bladelight’s tone made him speechless and angry, though he still managed to mumble out a few words in reply.
"If I can equip the Leo Armour drops, I’ll have the highest defense out of any player in the game!" Bladelight said in a confident tone.
Egotistical p.r.i.c.k…
Bladelight gazed at the distant cliff face and was surprised to discover a player jumping off the top of the cliff. Jeez… I’m seeing stranger things by the day. People are even committing suicide in video games. Can’t this guy be a little less morbid? However, to his astonishment, that player’s falling speed continued to decrease, to the
"Guys, look at the cliff face over there!" Bladelight exclaimed in an amazed manner.
"Hmmm, why?" Hei Zhuo asked as he inadvertently looked to the side, whereupon his expression immediately froze. He also noticed Nie Yan. At that moment, he saw Nie Yan shoot out something from his hand and suspend himself in midair before taking a crossbow out and firing below him.
"What the heck is doing?" The surrounding members stared blankly.
"Amazing, this guy can even think of a strategy like this! Can’t you guys see? He’s killing monsters!" Bladelight straightened his back and replied. The player overhanging this cliff deeply interested him. For being able to figure out such a weird method of killing mobs, this certainly wasn’t an average player.
"That item on his hand should be the Ring of Woven Silk!" Hei Zhuo only recognized this item because he was knowledgeable of most equipment in the game.
"If we also had this Ring of Woven Silk, could we also be like him and hunt monsters like that?"
"No we couldn’t, even if we had that ring. The force of the fall would likely snap the web line, unless we have equipment with the Featherfall ability like him," Bladelight replied. The Ring of Woven Silk was already quite a rare accessory that considerable value. There was no further need to discuss equipment with the Featherfall ability which was even rarer. These two unique items can’t necessarily be bought even if you did have the money. For the sake of hunting monsters, this guy obtained both? Just who the h.e.l.l is this person?
"d.a.m.n! I’d like to be able to kill monsters like that, not having to worry about being attacked while continuously firing off bolts. I’d be to raise several levels in no time!"
"Not necessarily. The number of mobs in his range is limited. His levelling speed won’t be that high because the mobs don’t resp.a.w.n fast enough at the rate he’s killing them. After clearing all the mobs in his range, he’ll have no choice but to go back," a somewhat knowledgeable member of the team voiced their opinion.
Hei Zhuo didn’t utter a single word as listened to his teammate’s discussion. They couldn’t penetrate too deeply into the area because the nearer they approached that cliff, the higher the mob density. There didn’t dare to get anywhere near that area. Hence they would never know what sort of monster that player was hunting.
"ROAAAR" The deafening sound travelled all the way from the cliff face to where they were standing. The surrounding members paled as they all looked on in horror.
A robust Lion leapt five meters into the air and threw itself at the cliff face. The pounce was quite powerful and ferocious, even managing to shake the cliff face on impact. Yet no matter how high that Lion leapt, it was far from being able to reach Nie Yan. Its body halted at where it landed as it involuntarily slid off the cliff face. In the meantime, Nie Yan calmly and steadily fired more bolts.
"It’s the Elite-cla.s.s monster, Gato the Lion King!" Hei Zhuo shouted, his voice cracking in excitement.
Each member of the group looked at each other in dismay and shock. Gato the Lion King, even if they were to form a twenty-player team right now, they still wouldn’t be able to kill this Lion. A Level 7 Elite-cla.s.s monster was currently being slowly shot to death by a single player overhanging a cliff. They felt resentment boiling up inside of them, perhaps even more so a feeling of envy and jealousy.
"Can we rush in and steal the equipment from him after he kills it?" one of the members asked.
"Impossible. We simply don’t have any means of going there, unless Guild Leader Hei Zhuo can call a bunch of people over here. However, the losses we would suffer far outweigh our potential gains."
"Ah… Forget it then."
As Bladelight, Hei Zhuo, and the others contemplated, the earth violently trembled as if there were an approaching stampede. Each of their faces paled, and they looked into the distance. What they saw was a giant dust cloud rising into the air and several hundred Lions running in their direction. The Lion King’s roar had stirred up the Lions in the vicinity!
"We’re done for! Everyone, retreat immediately!" Hei Zhuo shouted in alarm, but it was already too late. The stampede of Lions had discovered their presence. At that moment, they were simply awaiting their impending doom.
Bladelight realize how difficult it would be to escape, so he raised his s.h.i.+eld to welcome the enemies.
Meanwhile, the perpetrator of this disaster was hanging leisurely over the cliff face. He didn’t need to expend much strength. All he needed to do was steadily fire his crossbow. The bolts that were fired all had the addition property of dealing bonus damage. Even if it was the Level 7 Lion King, it still had no more than five or six thousand health. Under his steady fire, it soon had less than half of its health remaining.
The Lion King’s aggro was fully on Nie Yan but it was incapable of attacking him. Thus, there was nothing it could do. Since it only knew physical attacks, all of its abilities were related to raising its physical damage. Even when it leapt at its highest, it only reached six or seven meters while its opponent was suspended twenty meters in the air.
Killing monsters that surpa.s.sed him in level became much simpler with these bolts that dealt bonus on-hit damage. Each and every bolt would deal real and genuine damage.