Chapter 647: Wandering The Cannon Fodder
Translator: Halcyon Translations Editor: Halcyon Translations
Wandering served as Cannon Fodder which saved Lu Li a lot of trouble; he just had to keep dealing damage.
These Fire Ants were covered in a thick layer of armor – they excelled in defense, but also had a high attack damage. Their attacks were accompanied by effects such as pain, fire poison and Armor Penetration. If Lu Li was by himself, he would have to sit down and recover after he fought two monsters.
However, the story was different with Wandering by his side.
Wandering was a Paladin who specialized in Defense. He was a master of all aspects, able to tank, heal and also deal damage.
The damage that the monsters dealt to him wasn't much; he could heal himself back up and only needed to drink blue potions occasionally to sustain himself. However, the pain effect took a mental toll on him.
"That stone is mine," Wandering said with hate in his voice.
"You want a stone with an Intelligence attribute? What for?" Lu Li didn't quite understand.
The loot from the Fire Ants was quite good – besides their shells, they also dropped Synthetic Stones. These stones could be embedded into equips, as long as there were slots available.
Even if there were no slots in an equip, a Blacksmith could still learn the recipe to place slots in. Players could also spend money on materials to do this, but this wasn't a cheap process and there was a certain chance that the original attributes of the equipment would be affected. Not many players were willing to take such a risk.
"I'm going to use it to chase after girls," Wandering said as he rolled his eyes. This was a Synthetic Stone with bonus Intelligence attributes and he was a Defense Paladin with no use for it. He was just unhappy and wanted to take whatever he could.
"Sure, sure, take it and go after girls, but put in some work now."
A stone that only added attributes was pointless to expert players.
"Damn you – I'm the love of countless ladies out there, but you're enslaving me like a dog," Wandering whined as he turned off his battle senses and pounced onto the next Fire Ant.
"Not even – dogs don't bark as much as you do," Lu Li shot back.
"My ***" Wandering swore as he took out his frustrations on the Fire Ants in front of him.
"I heard you used to live with Breezy back in the school days. Who was on top?" Lu Li asked in a joking tone. He didn't mind joking around when he was with old friends.
"He was on top. ****, you baited me," Wandering replied subconsciously, he realized what had come out of his mouth.
"I won't judge you guys – homosexual love is real love. Heterosexual love only exists for the purpose of reproduction."
With the help of the internet, Lu Li had learned some banter – he always had a good memory.
"We shared top and bottom bunks. Top and bottom bunks. Do you hear me?" Wandering felt like he was going to die. Not only was he being attacked by the monsters, but also by Lu Li.
"I already said I won't judge you. Just focus on the monsters," Lu Li said, pretending to be serious.
Wandering nearly puked up blood; he was contemplating to just the monsters kill him.
The Fire Ants were spread across a wide area, so it took them about an hour to clear them all out.
The most valuable items dropped were the dozens of Fortified Stones and a few decent Synthetic Stones.
The Fortified Stones were split in half between the two of them. One of the Synthetic Stones was suitable for Wandering; it gave his weapon a boost to the effects of Taunt.
There was another Synthetic Stone which increased the chance of skill interruption for weapons. Lu Li kept this for himself.
There were two Synthetic Stones that weren't useful for either of them, so Lu Li decided to put them in storage.
The other Synthetic Stones had average attributes, but the regular players of the guild wouldn't mind these. Some of them hadn't even seen a Synthetic Stone.
The best loot was picked up by the team of Azure Sea Breeze, Lonesome Flower and March Rain. They had wiped out countless level 40 monsters and had already cleared multiple mini maps.
Apparently, each of them received around 20-30 Fortified Stones, in addition to all sorts of materials and Synthetic Stones.
They also looted an Eviscerate skill book. This was a strong ultimate skill for Thieves with a low drop rate. It would be a miracle for an average monster to drop this skill book.
Eviscerate: Instant cast, Ultimate skill. Finishing move that disembowels the target, causing damage per combo point. Skill level 1/5.
Based on the statistics given by the skill description, one combo point dealt 49.19% weapon damage to the target. Two combo points dealt 98.38% damage and three combo points dealt 147.57%, while four combo points dealt 196.76%. This was equivalent to the Critical Strike damage of other classes. Once the skill hit five combo points, it would deal 245.96% weapon damage.
The skill was only level one as well. If it was increased to level five, three-times damage wouldn't even be a question.
Eviscerate was known for its consistent high damage and didn't have a cooldown time either – you could release it as soon as you had enough combo points.
For Thieves who focused on their Strength attribute, this was their Ultimate skill.
Although Lu Li had taken the Agility path, he didn't mind this skill either. His attack was higher than an average Thief, so Eviscerate was just as effective for him.
Lu Li planned to give the three of them some gold coins to make up for the book.
It was Lu Li who had brought them to fame and taught them many things. He also distributed equipment to them generously, so it was nothing for them to give him a skill book.
This was a moment where profit and money shouldn't be involved.
Was this a return for his investment? Lu Li didn't think so, but he was slightly touched.
HIs motives weren't entirely based on his generosity – Dawn wasn't a game that could be played by a single player alone. Players had to work together for dungeons and most Bosses couldn't be killed by solo players. That was why he had found reliable players and formed the Xin Xin Mercenary Group. Although these players received profit, he was the one who benefited even more from the situations.
The equipment that he had received from those First Clears were only worth so much and had a finite value.
From those First Clears, he had gained his reputation and the championship from Shadow Cup, which eventually led to the formation of Ruling Sword.
How much was Ruling Sword worth?
Perhaps at this point it was only worth ten million, but if they continued to develop at this rate, it wouldn't take long before the guild was worth billions. Lu Li had become the real winner of the game before he even noticed.
If he played this game as a solo player, all of this never would have happened.