(ED: In LOTR Gandalf has the Ring of Fire, Narya. Nenya is borne by Galadriel. The author wrote Nenya though so Nenya it is.)
(TN: The author may have made a research error, but Narya is the Ring of Fire held by Gandalf instead, and it is unclear whether it provided him with enhanced power against fire. However, on account that he didn’t i will keep it as it is, so just take it with a pinch of salt)
“Privileges of Silver Prestige: Every time the party’s standing is promoted, 2 points of party skill points will be received (normally, 1 point). You can utilize the party skill points to upgrade the party’s skill. Every 3 party skill points can be used to additionally open a new study field of party skill.”
Contestant no.1018, you and your party have received a battle side mission: ‘Footing’ .
Mission summary: The transport shuttle Valkyrie is your only means of contact with civilization. Therefore, no matter what, you have to protect its core engine from being destroyed within 3 days.
Mission detail: When the transport shuttle Valkyrie landed, it startled numerous wild native species. Therefore, within a short time, the enemies you will face includes wild beasts and aboriginal inhabitants. Of course…….including your own kind.
Warning: Once the core engine of the Valkyrie is destroyed, the Golden side mission will not appear! Subsequently, everyone’s rewards would decrease by half!
Note: You can accomplish the following milestones in this world.
Salary Raise: Kill any 3 male Na’vi.
(TN: Na’vi are the blue people in avatar)
Fearless: Kill any formidable legendary creature upon encountering it, damage dealt must exceed 10%” (Not limited to – Overlord Great Leonopteryx, Rare elite Hammerhead Titanothere, Rare elite Thanator, Na’vi chief)
Meat owner: Kill 30 unique creatures in this world.
Plunderer: Gather 1000 units of of Pandora’s Unobtanium. (Crystal’s purity must not be lower than 16.8%)
Penetrate: Obtain the long horn of two Direhorses.
Race deserter: Achieve a ‘Respected’ reputation with the Na’vi race.
Due to insufficient information capacity, you are unable to obtain more milestone information.
In view of the latest information, Sheyan’s primary reaction was to instantly cover his nose to prevent himself from inhaling the deadly air. Then he immediately noticed that he was shockingly affected by a negative state of attributes declining by 5 points; lasting for a total of 100 seconds. With every increased breath, the duration compiled by 10-15 seconds. Bursting forth with energy, he charged back into the Valkyrie in search for an oxygen filter mask; and quickly discovered that they were neatly hung over a wall near the exit.
Sheyan was puzzled. “Why didn’t anyone think of bringing more of these, and selling them off to gain profits.” Yet after careful inspection, he realized a small fine print – Not to be discarded, intentional damages will result in 10,000 utility points compensation….. This sort of conduct was almost identical to Jinkuang’s method with his black venom powder, causing one’s hair to stand on anger.
Instead, Reef and Mogensha came out a little later, and coincidentally met Sheyan who was presently trying out his oxygen mask. Thus, they easily avoided the hassle of breathing in the poisonous atmosphere. However, Sheyan immediately realized if he summoned Jinkuang in the future, that wretched slut may get poisoned to death. Hence, he instantly called him over.
Who knew that after Jinkuang understood what was going on, his rat beard erected up along with his squinted little eyes scanning around….then after several rustling sounds, he pulled out a sackcloth bag. Needless to say, he stole 7-8 of the hanging oxygen masks on the wall as he released a sly sneer. “Time is money, master. I have work to do.” Then in a twinkling of an eye, he disappeared round the corner.
Reef who hadn’t see this ‘David Beckham’ before, kneaded his eyes. Indeed, this matter was really hard to believe. Besides, such a shameless act wasn’t commonly seen by him. Yet Sheyan and Mogensha were both exceedingly familiar with it, and proceeded to survey around speechlessly. Fortunately, there were no other eyewitnesses. Coughing, Sheyan said.
“Let’s hurry up and join the fight. If we can’t hold this shuttle, then this would’ve been a wasted trip.”
The trio hastily wore their masks as they hurried off to the clamours of the intense war. The filtered air of the mask produced a strange smell, like a pesticide sprayed onto the grasslands.
After the trio headed left for 15-16 metres, and over the gentle slope of grassland, there arrived at a region; where at least close to a hundred contestants had formed a defensive line, and were fighting fiercely. On their lateral side, were even some contestants chopping lumbre, transporting and building temporary fortifications. Some were shifting random junk from the shuttle to construct a makeshift second line of defence.
They could tell there was completely no coordination between these contestants. Yet in view of the realm’s advocation of forming battle parties, everyone had still commenced resistive warfare against the common enemy.
The enemies they were facing were a horde of wild beasts. These beasts were similar to the wolves on planet earth, their bodies were clad in black, glossy skin. When moving, their bulging muscles beneath their skin squirmed like flowing water, displaying their powerful explosive strength.
The wolf had snake like jaws and obsidian teeth that were able to stretch open to a grotesque 150 degrees; dealing lethal chomps against any who suffered its vicious bites. Under the low gravity, its 6 legs are able to swiftly break or speed up. Its greenish triangular eyes glittered with a insatiable lust for death.
Although this breed of creature modeled the zerglings of the Starship Trooper world in terms of fighting style and appearance, where both relied on overwhelming numbers; within few moments, Sheyan immediately noticed the difference, their combat capabilities were akin to the gap between heaven and earth!
Bluntly speaking, zerglings utilized their claws and brute force, while these wild beast used their brains as well. Not only did they possess that devilish insanity of zerglings, they were able to display a clear sense of coordination, battle tactics, defence, and attack. Simply put, their instincts allowed them to shelter comrades and retreat! Therefore till now, the haphazard defence line of contestants had only slain a small amount of these beasts.
Naturally, Sheyan’s first action was to get a probe with his helmet’s ‘Pulse detector’, and gathered crucial information. His current perceptive sense was close to 30 points,and the probing ability of his black grade equipment was a great counterfeit replica of natural ‘insight’ abilities. With the influence of his outstanding perceptive sense, he naturally received excellent results. Very quickly, the target’s information was delivered.
Male Viperwolf (Average), in the Na’vi tongue: Nantang, scientific name: Caniferratus Costatus
Height: 74 cm
Length: 172 cm
Weight: 72 kg
Strength 18 points
Agility: 15 points
Physique: 10 points
Perceptive sense: 9 points
Charm: 11 points
Intelligence: 10 points
Spirit: 15 points
Basic close combat lvl4, basic footwork lvl 7
Creature ability: ‘Thunder-rock Embrace’ – Additional bonus of 1000 HP.
Viperwolf special ability (Passive): ‘Silkskin’ – Reduce elemental damages by 15%. Its slippery skin provides a 10% chance of enemy missing.
Viperwolf special ability (Passive): ‘Dark Circulation’ – This creature has a developed cerebrum structure. Thus, they operate collectively and hunt mostly at night. They transmit messages with unique howl like hisses, accompanied with expressions during communications.
That viperwolf that was probed by Sheyan suddenly swung its gaze towards Sheyan in vigilance. Then, a flickering vengeance appeared in its eyes as it bared its deadly fangs and charged towards him. It was as if Sheyan was the killer of its dad and mom.
The leaping force of his viperwolf was astonishing; as it stomped onto the ground, rolling up the mud and grass beneath instantly, and kicked them an entire metre away. Drawing an unimaginable force with each stomp, it seeked out its claws in mid air, before baring down its vicious fangs!
Yet Mogensha was no vegetable. DA! DA! DA! 3 consecutive shots volleyed into its mouth, with blood spraying everywhere. Its head was forced upwards upon the impact, but this strike wasn’t considered fatal. Yet instead, an opening was created as Sheyan dodged easily to the side, swinging his elbow as he sent the beast crashing towards Reef.
Within a single hand supporting his rifle, Mogensha released consecutive rounds towards the viperwolf, causing it to howl in grief. With his other hand, he drank down a blended-mix that Sheyan had prepared long ago. His ‘Beastly instincts’ required MP, therefore during drawn out battles; the blended-mix of agility +4 and intelligence +4 was definitely an optimal compound.
As the saying goes, when an expert makes a move, everyone notices. This was a medium intensity realm war, contestants that were enlisted into this were more or less old veterans and sly foxes. Naturally, some were able to tell that the recently arrived trio had exceptionally adept coordination between themselves.
Though the trio of party Ace were all putting up a good show, at least 9 out of 10 people were attracted by that strange and horrible looking shield wielded by Reef. It was still that same line – a dime or a dozen could unleash devastating damage output, yet those that were experts in tanking damage……the ones that would do the dirty work of braving the frontlines… could only be described as precious rarities! To dare to display a shield out in this medium intensity warfare….this inevitably meant he belonged to those few scrubs; he was definitely not an imitation, if not the first to die would be him.
“Is it my good fortune, to actually encounter a solo flying MT?”
In that instance, this notion swirled in the minds of at least 20 others.
The viperwolf was indeed terribly unlucky to be pincered by the trio of Sheyan. Moreover it was only an average beast; currently, it was suffering a dozen gunshots, receiving burnt slashes everywhere by Reef, and getting pounded by Sheyan!
One must understand that at present, with the boost from his concoction, Sheyan’s peak strength had reached a breathtaking 44 points!
Although it seemed like Sheyan and Reef were thoroughly suppressed in the previous world, that was due to the the abnormal circumstances and difficulty of that world! Even the realm understood the demands were too harsh, and allocated an ultimate ticket for them to return to the realm at any time.
Right now, they were thrown into a fairly normal world; though it had a ‘B+’ difficulty, it was already 2 levels down from the previous world difficulty of ‘A’. Though his knucklers were white grade, with Sheyan’s outrageous 44 strength, he easily dealt crushing damages. Unable to last for even 10 seconds, the viperwolf’s skull was totally wrecked with dents and bullet holes; blood splashed chaotically in resonance to the wolf’s melancholic howls.
After slaying the viperwolf, Reef and Mogensha naturally joined in the battle. Instead, Sheyan squatted down and started analyzing the viperwolf’s corpse; all because the claws it demonstrated had left him a distinct impression. After careful inspections, he realized that though this creature was hailed as a ‘wolf’, it actually had a grip like that of primates. Each paw had a soft padding, three toes and an opposable thumb, allowing it to climb trees and stalk its preys quietly, without leaving a trace!
After organizing these details, he recalled the pack nature of viperwolves; Sheyan could formulate their intrinsic hunting pattern – a three-dimensional hunting field. It could rely on trees as well as its silent trailing to encroach towards its prey, and finally sneak attack them within metres. This sort of vicious scenario caused even Sheyan whose HP had reached 800 to shudder in fear; deciding that it was best to avoid conflicting with these creatures in the dark.
Naturally, in view of other contestants around, Sheyan continuously allowed Reef and Mogensha to bask in the limelight. While he himself only produced a white grade shotgun, where he had no qualms about hiding his true prowess.
The crowd’s observation were exceedingly critical; though Sheyan seemed aggressive, his shotgun was indeed lacking. It boomed loudly and noisily, yet it couldn’t even slay a heavily wounded viperwolf. He occasionally stood forward, delivering two punches while taking several blows for Reef; all these happened concurrently with receiving the spiteful glares of others.
Facing such an awkward situation, Sheyan remained calm and collected. After learning that the battling front lines had eased a little, he then threw a blended-mix of ‘bear and eagle’ at the few contestants in front. A dull mist dispersed out, allowing them to enjoy the fruits of his latest research.
Though the buff effects were weakened by using the AOE aspect of his ability, strength +3 and agility +3 wasn’t considered poor. It was equivalent to the enhancement of a black grade equipment; a total boost of 6 base attributes! In view of the sparse nature of good equipments in the realm, the attribute bonus of his blended-mix could even surpass some average equipments of many contestants.
Being engulfed by a sudden mysterious mist; apart from an impulsive, incomprehensive fool who cursed out “What dog shit is this?!”, the other contestants realized something. They instantly noticed that their own base attributes were favorably transforming. Successive exclamations of delight – “oh, yes!” “Alright!” could be heard. Some even gestured a thumbs up to Sheyan.
The crowd glittered with admiration. After tossing out the two blended-mix, everyone was enlightened that Sheyan was indeed a hybrid support; one that could tank a little for the MT while providing massive crowd support. Normally, such a breed would belong to a core member of a party, delivering crucial support to everyone.
If such a person possessed a formidable damage output, he could very well vye for the leadership position in a party. But if not, his position would still be unshakable within the party, and welcomed by all. Numerous eyes were set ablaze; a MT plus another hybrid support, this was no doubt the twin thighs supporting their party’s body. Though they could experience this combination for only a short while, they were still relatively glad to have them for this battle.
While grumbling internally, a tremendous boom abruptly rattled over. Someone had managed to fling a grenade into the mouth of a howling viperwolf, undoubtedly the outcome was a splattering of brains and blood. Still, Sheyan hadn’t touched that viperwolf one bit, even Reef and Mogensha were fully focused at another side. However, he suddenly received a +5 contribution from the RDA company. Moreover, Reef and Mogensha who were basking in glory also received an external +2 contribution rate.
“So that’s the case.” Sheyan was enlightened. “If a contestant had received a strengthening bonus from me, then his contributions in battle……a dividend would be shared with me.”
Of course this dividend was linearly related. For example, if killing a viperwolf earned Reef 20 contribution points while hosting support benefits from Sheyan, then he would only receive 18 points, while Sheyan could receive 5 points. It definitely wasn’t calculated as Reef taking 15 points, while the remaining 5 goes to Sheyan. In other words, the total contribution rates would be increased.
Noteworthily, the contribution was tied to an individual creature. For example, when 10 support enhanced contestants worked together to kill a single viperwolf, Sheyan would only receive a single reward, and not 10x of that reward.
Since that was the case, Sheyan immediately retained his own plans. Ultimately, he still had a wealthy spendthrift backing in Reef, hence, he wouldn’t lack materials in the present world. Therefore, squandering a little now was fine, as long as he rationed his supplies throughout the course of this world. Rather as of now, he could earn much more contribution points.
Presently, he had already realized this wasn’t the only battlefield after digging information from the surrounding contestants! This humongous valkyrie had 4 different exits on the east, south, west and north. Large packs of viperwolves had appeared before all exits, attempting to invade the interior of the shuttle. Thus, an inevitable clash broke out at all exit fronts. No other words needed, there were now 4 other battles occurring at each side!
Presently, there was only one thing on Sheyan’s mind, and that was to be a good samaritan. He would service the contestants in this realm war with generous attribute boosts. By doing so, even if he remained motionless, wealth would come rolling in.
Right now, he was positioned within the west battlefield. Thus, he proceeded to detour to the north. Yet when he reached here, his heart skipped a beat; because all the viperwolves had been utterly annihilated! Moreover, there were lesser contestants here. Looking at the contestants here leisurely sitting around, they appeared rather accustomed and familiar with each other; chattering and laughing amongst themselves. Their bodies emanated a dull ocher glow, which obviously indicated they belonged to a large scale party. Those malicious and well-coordinated viperwolves had all been slaughtered cleanly, without a single one escaping!
Even the carcasses left behind were currently being carefully stored by some contestants, trying to maximize their benefits.
A lofty and tall contestant was currently squatting at the foremost of the battlefield, with a cigarette lodged between his fingers. The contestant wore an oxygen mask over the face, so what was this cigarette for?
Sheyan couldn’t expect this contestant to be a smoking addict; as he observed every few seconds, the contestant would pull down his mask and take a savoury puff. It seemed like the poisonous air was merely a secondary concern to him.
After puffing, he gently breathed out the fumes before turning to gaze at Sheyan. Without placing back his oxygen mask, he stood up and walked over.
Previously when he took down his mask, Sheyan had already noticed he was a fierce looking baldy. A deep red scar ran from his left forehead vertically downwards to the left of his lip. Though the scar was patched, it carried the cruel uneven mending of flesh; indicating the ruthless nature of the cut behind it.
Naturally, suffering such a ruthless chop, his left eye wasn’t spared. A chunk of plasma hung within his eyes, as black, white and red flowed out. However, his left eye was still dazzling like a gem. Naturally, it had been repaired by the realm. The scarred baldy stared at Sheyan and examined him. Instead when he spoke, his tone was kind and cut straight to the point.
“…….This is my second encounter with the Illume-union!!”
“Dammit, that means the Bowen that I killed back in the Pirates of the Caribbean world, is one of them.”
“One of their member announced he wanted to use my skull as a souvenir.”
“This party is definitely like the Banks Syndicate I tangled with previously, they are a considerably unified organization. The party’s scale means that it definitely has a certain hierarchical structure within the party……..”
These list of thoughts flashed through Sheyan’s mind swiftly. One must understand, this world setting was a free world, though killing will invoke slayer value, it will similarly produce good benefits. If this group of people saw through his identity as contestant no.1018, they would surge with joy and vanquish him to eternal death.
To the present Sheyan, he was terribly far from the stage of battling one against ten. Hence, it was best he quickly evaded them. Sheyan’s current perceptive sense was as high as 28 points, trying to pressure him with perceptive sense would be a difficult matter.
Moreover, his helmet possessed a ‘Pulse interference’ ability to guard against other’s probing, and moreover, it had precedence! Therefore unless he encountered a reserve-duty limit-venator, the chances of him being exposed as contestant no.1018 was slim. Even if he did encounter one; considering this world had just begun, there shouldn’t be a lunatic who would show their cards so quickly. One must understand, one could only go into boundary state for only 4 times before invoking the boundary test.
Though many thoughts ran through his mind; to others, this only seemed like a blank, normal reaction of a random stranger. Neither servile nor overbearing, Sheyan faced the scarred baldy and smiled.
“Hello, I am Seaman. I’m guessing, your party needs an additional support, for example one that would freely provide an incredible individual buff?”
The scarred blady instantly broke out into laughter, turning around to glance at a rather pale looking, scrawny male; wearing a black wizard robe and a staff.
“Ah ha, lovely Morda, and cute little Fr��a; someone is here to snatch your business.”
As a complete and formidable party, the Illume-union would definitely have nurtured their own supporters. Dead soul user, Morda, was one of them. Beneath the robe, his right hand had an eternally decaying wound, the ability he learned was called ‘Putrefy curse’. When casted against enemies, it would lower all defences by 10% while issuing a piercing agony.
However, whenever he casted the curse on himself, his mental powers would flare up; absorbing the dead souls from underground to disperse to his surroundings. His allies would then receive a darkness strength additional damage of 6 – 10% during their next attack. Because darkness is an elemental damage, only certain variables can resist the darkness element. Therefore, the actual resultant damage it would deal in the end was more or less 12 – 13%.
As for Fr��a, he was a sniper, he had a wonderful ability similar to Sheyan, actually they were like different melodies playing to the same tune. Strictly speaking, Fr��a was very much inferior to the dead Qiaoer, but he had managed to encounter a good fortune. Thus, he was able to obtain a Rank 4 skill tree ability, and had raised it to the third tier already.
The skill tree ability was called ‘Precision’. In combat state, whenever he targeted the same target, with every increased duration of 2 seconds; accuracy +3%, explosive strike rate +2%. Stacking of explosive strike rate would not exceed 20%.
As for his allies, every time Fr��a scored at hit onto the enemy, it would issue an area of effect ripple. Allies within that ripple will have their accuracy +1%, explosive strike rate +1%. At its current level, that effect couldn’t be stacked.
These two contestants were considered a class of combat supporters. When they matured, they would be a force to be reckoned with. Right now, the Illume-union was still rather pleased with them.
Yet why did the scarred baldy suddenly talked about business snatching? That was because of the realm’s regulations. Sheyan wasn’t their party member. If the Illume-union accepted his supporting effects, then the realm would automatically award contribution points to him during the battle. As for Morda and Fr��a, they would naturally not receive any.
Bluntly speaking; though beneficial buffs could coexist, the rewards would only be allocated to one person.
This was a protection scheme installed by the realm. To a solo contestant, a party would inevitably be stronger. Therefore, the goal here was to protect the weaker party’s interest, and also encourage parties to proactively attract supporting talents.
Morda and Fria were both individuals who thought highly of themselves. Upon hearing the scarred baldy’s words, one completely ignored him, not even offering a glance; It was as though Sheyan was completely non-existent. Another issued a sunken expression as he scrutinized his staff, as though the staff was a naked beauty. Their disdain for Sheyan were vividly portrayed.
Instead, a burly chap with a messy hair and long oddly arms snorted, and waved his hands.
“Archeaphill, you’re really long-winded. Just hurry up and get him to scram. In my previous world, I met a moron who blew his own trumpet, painting a deluge of heavenly flowers for his own supporting ability. In the end, he actually threw away his own face with that HP regeneration +3% broken toy! Our party is already cultivating several powerful main support members, there isn’t a place for you.”
Sheyan’s eyelids twitched, his heart was stirred; that was because this guy’s tone sounded rather familiar. It sounded as though it was the individual who had sworn to take his skull as souvenir. The burly chap was leisurely sitting on the grass, and beside him was a giant blade fused with lingering blackness. Its surface was dull but it appeared like it was boiling, as it occasionally emitted waves of black aura.
“Sable, I should have just let them viperwolves tear your damned mouth apart just now!” The scarred baldy, Archeaphill mocked. He then casted his gaze toward Sheyan and shrugged his shoulders.
“My apologies buddy, looks like you have to find another place to work.”
Sheyan could tell this Archeaphill should be the MT of the illume-union. From the start till now, he had been smoking without wearing his oxygen mask, it had already been a full 2 minutes. Yet he was still glowing with health and vigor, moreover the people around him weren’t even startled.
This undoubtedly meant that this guy had a strong resistance towards abnormal effects, and in fact was at a relatively terrifying level. If not the case, then he probably had an excellent equipment like his own ‘Monstrous Fighting Spirit’. Either that, or he possessed an immensely powerful innate ability! If an expert magician based combatant assaulted him, that constant would definitely be in for a massive headache!
Hearing the friendly notice to leave by Archeaphill, Sheyan had been dying to hear those words for far too long. Being one who harbored ulterior motives, he instantly turned to leave. But at this instance, his pupils shrank. A wave of domineering threat suddenly pressed down from the skies. His perceptive sense that vastly exceeded most people, had already forewarned him prematurely by milliseconds!
Sheyan raised his head; he could see that amidst the funnel like white clouds, 7-8 ruptures in the sky had been speedily broken through. The sudden outburst scattered the clouds like cotton wadding away. Not even 5-6 seconds later, winged creatures sped through for the ground; carrying the billowing winds as they emitted indescribable mournful screeches.
These uninvited guests had the appearance of pterosaurs of the ancient earth, yet it boasted of a decorative lizard like epidermis skin. Its broad flat wings had a divided translucent webbing, which covered its bones as it glided easily. It seemed like a stout and strong bat, yet exuberated the carefree nature of a wandering stingray. The most attractive spot was their mouth; drilling outwards for at least 7-8 cm, their lower jaws were filled with incisive pointed teeth.
These flying creatures displayed large as well as small versions. At present, while they approached in, one could observe their matured wingspan stretching as long as 12 metres! Even the smallest version of the creature had a wingspan that reaches 7-8 metres. They were called mountain banshees oin this planet Pandora, where its name originated from its own screech. Resembling that of a banshee; also known as a dead female in Irish mythology, with her crying and miserable plaintive wails.
In the movie, Mountain Banshees appeared frequently on camera. The Na’vi clansmen had relied on them to establish a formidably unrivalled aerial fleet. Moreover, there was even a rite of passage for one to become an Ikran Makto (Banshee rider, according to the Na’vi language). Riding one was akin to riding an Audi A6 in the present world. Of course, the Great Leonopteryx that the main lead, Jake Sully, finally succeeded in riding, could be compared to a Rolls Royce.Silver Ghost; which was the only one worldwide.
At the hundred metre mark, those 7-8 Mountain Banshees segregated and dove down in spirals; splitting into 4 groups to assault the 4 different regions of defending contestants. Currently, the long range combatants naturally started firing at them. Concurrently, a sentry started yelling loudly.
“Sightings of countless fast moving creatures from a distancet; I reckon they are a viperwolf pack, quantity of 50 – 100 heads!”
In this chaotic split second, Sheyan instantly recalled his experiences in the previous Starship Trooper world; where the skies were covered with mutalisks and the earth with zerglings. Fortunately, there wasn’t a combined and coordinated full frontal assault by the arachnids previously. If not, even if Sheyan’s life was multiplied by 10, or his innate ability was stronger by 10 times, he would’ve still been reduced to ashes!
Yet now! The viperwolf pack and the Mountain Banshees were ingeniously collaborating into a three-dimensional battle skirmish! The crafty and innumerable viperwolf pack, coupled with the vicious and threatening mountain banshees, had formed into a perfectly ruthless battle collaboration. Fortunately, Sheyan wasn’t the only one in this battle, he was stuck within the Illume-union party. Thus, a major portion of assaults from these formidable and cunning creatures would be tanked by the Illume-union.
Fortunately, the long range firepower of the Illume-union was naturally retaliating in advance, they were already unleashing their strength against the pack of viperwolves; and successfully aggravated the furious creatures and capturing their attention. As for Sheyan, he had successfully resigned himself to be just a spectator.
Visibly clear, a Mountain Banshee jolted down against the heavy firepower, and though its skin was lacerating from the bullets and magic blasts, it still maintained its unbearably sharp screech through its incisive long beak! It was like a pebble instigating a thousand layered tide or screech as it dispersed forth! Through the piercing screech, circles of incorporeal ripples could be seen! Contestants caught in the ripples had seemingly met with a 12 grade stormy gale, as their eyes burnt bitterly with blurred vision; overflowing with tears as they attempted to cover their faces and retreat.
Rank B ability: “Throat Shudder” ! – Evoking a wildly ferocious gust, causing the surrounding enemies to fall into a persisted retreating stance. Duration of 5 seconds, accuracy drop by 70% due to irritated eyes!
Mountain Banshees travelled in a flock, their screeches were their primary form of communication. Because a Mountain Banshee don’t possess a windpipe, its breathing directly enter through its chest. Therefore, their lungs acted as a jet engine to propel air into its skull cavity to emit voice, thereby using its huge mouth to direct the sound towards a specific direction.
After a long time, such breathing and sound interactions caused the Mountain Banshee to develop such a formidable offensive technique. This class of terrifying creature had two pairs of eyes. One pair were normal eyes, while another pair were tiny eyes which functioned independently, and were extremely sensitive to movement. During the night, its eyes contained infrared sensors to see, while a transparent lid protected its exterior. Therefore, naturally they would be immune to their own wind attacks.
As this Mountain Banshee broke through the surrounding formation, another 2 slightly smaller Mountain Banshees swooped down; tightly seizing this rare opportunity. Their razor-sharp talons carved out a deadly line without effort, as they easily tore through the human’s flesh; with the aftermath force carrying fresh blood, as it formed into intertwined red lines in midair.
Miserably wails followed suit from long range combatants, who relied on their party to survive and naturally had a weakness of lower health. Specializing in their own various roles made it hard for them to obtain any survival enhancing equipment or ability scrolls.
Instantly, a few contestants had been thrown to the ground, with wounds that shocked the eyes and astonishes the heart. It was obvious that they had been dealt crushing damage by the Mountain Banshees, their blood repeatedly gushed out as though it didn’t care for money.
Closely after, another Mountain Banshee seized a contestant, while slapping its membrane wings about as it skyrocketed into the sky; and ultimately flung the contestant down from about 70 – 80 metres off the ground. A mournful long scream pierced downwards. “Thump!” An oppressive crash resounded from beneath the left wing of the Valkyrie, as the contestant rolled along the ground; his fate visibly unknown.
However, when the third Mountain Banshee surged down; right ahead of Sheyan, Archeaphill had already charged towards its front. Because of his prior location, this MT had arrived late. Therefore, the Rank B ability ‘Throat Shudder’ had only messed up his chest hair, and did nothing to hinder him.
At this moment, Sheyan could obviously leave this battlefield, but truthfully speaking, he was reluctant to. Reef’s defensive tactics had been scrutinized by Sheyan many times, yet this MT Archeaphill’s capabilities were indeed intriguing. As the saying goes, the other mountain’s stone can polish the jade. For Sheyan who was still maturing, if he could obtain a valuable lesson from him, then it would be worth more than gold.
Against the diving surge of the third Mountain Banshee, Archeaphill breathed in deeply and fiercely lunged forward; as though he wanted to perish with it! However, at a gap of 5-6 metres, Archeaphill reached out both hands as he pulled out a gigantic shield from the back of his head; welcoming the collision of the Mountain Banshee.
Sheyan could see it distinctly, the surface of Archeaphill’s gigantic shield was glittering with silver brilliance. As it swerved, glitter scattered about, forming a misconception of falling stars. According to a report gathered by Jinkuang and Sheyan, this was obviously a special effect resulting from an equipment that had at least a +7 upgrade to it.
The gigantic shield was at least as tall as a person when erected fully, it had a curved top while it’s bottom was conical. This design allowed it to easily anchor into the ground. When being supported, it appeared exactly like an impregnable solid door, where its exterior was reinforced with dense penetrating rivets. Every pitch-black rivet had the shape of a pyramid, extended several centimetres from the shield. It was easy to imagine the scene of someone crashing into it; an outcome of densely dotted mutilated blood holes. Thus, it could be described as a blood drawing machine.
The silver metal frame edges of the shield were at least 10 cm thick; it was obvious that though it was exceptionally sturdy, it came at the price of additional weight. Hence, Archeaphill required the usage of both hands to be proficient in it.
“Dang!” A thunderous boom followed by a weird shrilling squawk emerged. Although Archeaphill was instantly knocked 5-6 metres away by the tremendous force, the Mountain Banshee’s murderous dive had came to a spontaneous end. It lost its balance as it rolled several times on the ground, repeatedly fluttering its wings and squawking miserly. Bluish blood squirted out in large batches from its chest.
Seizing this golden opportunity, that long arms burly chap, Sable, roared loudly like a broken gong. He leapt highly as his hands clasped onto his giant black longsword, chopping down mercilessly!
The blade issued a mournful shrill in midair, as though an ability was triggered. Its sheer showing of force appeared as if he had already gained the upper hand.
“Yet another Venter.” Sheyan had already evaluated the guy.
Blood splashed as a chunk of flesh was torn off Sable’s left arm by the struggling Mountain Banshee. Instead, Sable roared furiously as his black giant longsword chopped down, his blade tearing halfway through the beast’s wing as it drew out a 10 metre fountain of blood. Blood gently drifted through the air, painting a spectacular sight.
Besides, for the Mountain Banshee to glide effortlessly in the air, the membrane covering its wings was thin and its carbon bones were mostly hollow. Hence, it was inevitably lacking in terms of sturdiness. The killing threat of the Mountain Banshee was currently in steep decline after landing on the ground; although it constantly issued forewarning mournful screeches, in a short span of minutes, it was overwhelmed by contestants. The concentrated firing of contestants reducing it to a meat paste.
Immediately, the other two Mountain Banshees consecutively dived down in raging anguish. Yet this time, Archeaphill was already fully prepared. The Illume-union also had a tacit understanding of each other, not leaving the slightest thread of hope for the winged beasts. They counter attacked and chopped down a Mountain Banshee.
However, the few aerial beasts had already successfully caused substantial chaos within the crowd of the Illume-union. More importantly, the organized defensive formation of the Illume-union had been utterly thrown into disarray. Therefore, this opened the path for the surprise assaults of the viperwolves.
They were already intellectual creatures. Seizing the chance when the formation of the Illume-union was in massive disarray, 8 viperwolves managed to craftily dodged past the frontline defence of 5-6 close combat contestant. They maliciously and viciously pounced towards the backlines of weaker long range combat contestants. It was really a scene of mercury flowing over the earth, not sparing a single hole*. In a flash, the area fell into a massive upheaval.
(TN: Chinese idiom, exploiting fully the given opportunity)
Spectating till now, Sheyan already had a rough understanding on the strength of the Illum-union. However, he had noticed – out of their core members, it seemed like only Archeaphill and Sable was around, while Sheyan had personally witnessed at least 6 core members previously. Which goes to say, 4 core members were in hiding, obviously prepared to command a reserve team.
At present, he no longer desired to continue loitering around. Thus, he turned around with an intention to observe the other regions, and actively seeking other battlefields to reap some benefits.
Yet at this very moment, the last remaining Mountain Banshee fanatically swooped down in assault. Its body was humongous, and hence it could be determined to have the most vitality. Even though its body was punctured with numerous blood holes, and even had a half a metre long bloodied wound torn across its chest, it remained incomparably savage. Probably losing the will to live after witnessing its companions getting slaughtered, it initiated a suicidal charge!
Diving down at breakneck pace, it just had to swerve towards Sheyan’s location! However, it appeared as if its primary target wasn’t Sheyan but another contestant that was being tightly hindered by a viperwolf. Its plan was naturally to first eliminate that fella before dealing with Sheyan; killing two birds with one stone!
As for the targeted contestant, his left hand gripped a pistol, and a dagger in his right. Naturally such an offensive combination was undoubtedly the most superior in the preceding periods of a contestant; not inferior in both close or far combat. But at this phase of development, such a balanced fighting style was merely mediocre; unless one was in possession of an incredible piece of equipment, if not one would find it hard to become a core member of the party.
At present, he was currently tangled up with a viperwolf ahead, having not the slightest clue of the unexpected murderous arrival; its gigantic frame hid the sky and covered the earth behind him. Sheyan could only smile bleakly, and shrugged his shoulders helplessly. In this circumstance, he had no choice but to step up in rescue; because once this peerlessly savage Mountain Banshee tore through the contestant with its sharp talons, it would be him that would suffer the devastating assault next! In this situation, he might as well save him on his own accord, and even earn himself a favor along the way.
Thus without hesitation, Sheyan lunged towards that contestant, braving the immense danger as he pushed him horizontally for 5-6 metres. After falling to the ground, he spun while half kneeling as he used his hands to cover his face. Wearing a pair of white grade knucklers with a resistive blocking attribute, his heart prepared to test out the domineering strength of this world with resolute enthusiasm.
A ferocious wind slapped against his face, carrying the piercing stench of the Mountain Banshee’s blood! Amidst the ear-piercing chaffing of metal, the savage raptor clawed out two long streaks of sparks across Sheyan’s wrists; the unstoppable might cleaving open two lines of mangled flesh on Sheyan’s arm.
As the immense force of the talons pressed against him, Sheyan was about to summon his strength in resistance; instead, his mind sparked and he immediately abandoned that thought. Allowing the immense force to drag and flip him over, he was thrown backwards for an entire 12-13 metres. Appearing like an absolutely tyrannical attack, yet in actual fact, it only dealt close to 80 points of true damage to Sheyan!
As his body was flipped through the air, many notions swirled within Sheyan’s mind. He could obviously stabilize himself and roll to cushion his fall, but he purposefully allowed himself to crash headfirst; landing himself into a terribly pathetic state. Finally, he struggled to get up, issuing a feigned horrified expression as he gasped for breath. In his current circumstance, hiding his personal strength naturally remained top priority.
However because of this, Sheyan who had been dragged into battle, was now being eyed by a viperwolf. Its intelligence mentioned previously; and after eyeing the wretched Sheyan crashing to the ground, it excitedly rummaged forward with insatiable thirst. Of course, it had no clue Sheyan was merely feigning!
In the end, the unlucky viperwolf naturally nibbled rice instead of stealing chickens. Its clawing and chomps were easily blocked by Sheyan; but of course to others, Sheyan made it appear as if he was bitterly resisting it, seemingly about to crumble at any second. Fortunately, the contestants around were not vegetarians*; after seeing that someone was tanking, they instantly unleashed their fervent assaults, quickly dispatching that damned viperwolf.
(TN: Author is probably implying weaklings lol)
By now, since he had already been dragged into this battle, Sheyan’s desire to avoid unnecessary attention was rendered impossible. Hence, he might as well just accomplished what he originally came here to do, briefly tossing out two blended-mix flasks. Naturally, they belonged to the composition of ‘Strength + Agility’ and ‘Intelligence + Agility’.
After the flasks shattered; while most of the contestants were locked in gruesome battle, someone very quickly transmitted through his party channel. His message started with an unrestrained gasp of surprise.
“Oh, my god! Hurry up and enter this fog, that guy’s buff effects are actually +3 points to both strength and agility! Its duration lasts for 120 minutes!”
“Eh hey? Why is my agility +3 and my intelligence +3?”
“A bonus of 6 base attribute points? Are you kidding me? Isn’t April’s fools over already? Oh, dog shit! It’s actually real, what a f**king surprise.”
“What are you guys talking about, what powerful bonus?”
“Can’t you see for yourself.”
“Oh shit, this guy isn’t part of our party. If we acquire his bonus buff effects, then we would be blocking off Morda’s and Fr��a’s buff effects.”
“Sorry, Morda. I’m just short of 3 points of strength to inflict crushing on these damned scums, I hope you understand.”
“Morda, Fria……3 points of intelligence is crucial to me.”
“Morda, Fria; with 3 points of strength, these devil spawn banshees cannot deal crushing damages to me anymore.”
“What luck! With 3 points of agility, these pesky viperwolves are now unable to keep up with my speed!”
“Holy, I’m starting to feel a connection with that Seaman guy.”
“He doesn’t like gays, your connection is worth farts.”
“……….”
“…………”
The contestants were no fools. An upgrade of 6 entire base attributes, it was definitely worth more than 1% accuracy and 1% explosive strike rate boost, that could at most increase their offensive capabilities by 13%! Because such an enhancement was totally comparable to a substantial upgrade of wearing a black grade equipment, or even a silver storyline grade equipment!
In an environment where life or death was at stake; in spite of acquainted sentiments, survival remained the only truth! Furthermore to these contestants, choosing Sheyan’s bonus buff didn’t come at an additional cost. Their only collateral was in the form of Morda and Fria’s gains.
Due to this situation, rapid flows of battle contribution points came pouring into Sheyan; which were clearly the collaterals of the two miserable dudes. However, even after adopting a terribly ugly expression, they obviously couldn’t beg others to forgo Sheyan’s buff right?
One had to admit that the prowess of the Illume-union was rather insane; after their earlier panic and once they grew accustomed, they simply took care of these crafty beasts with swiftness and ease. Yet at this moment, another massive pack of viperwolves had came charging out of the distant forest! Amongst them, several viperwolf had a distinctively larger body, which were naturally classified as smaller ringleaders or elites.
These swiftly encroaching viperwolves utterly spared no breathing space for the illume-union, delivering endless bouts of assault! Facing such persistence, the frontline of close combatants would undoubtedly produce casualties. At present, Sheyan had finally witnessed the formidable party skill of the Ullume-union ‘Drive’! Such a skill obviously came at a tremendous cost.
Once anyone was tackled into a near death state, and instant flash transport would occur. The destination of that flash transport had already been predetermined at one of their party member, where the member most likely possessed a regenerative and healing ability. Of course, the flash transport distance wasn’t infinite, and limited to only 50 metres radius. Similarly, it didn’t supply an invulnerable state against assaults; if someone suffered an instant death, then this ability was pointless.
It seemed like the close combat contestants were producing more and more casualties, as the gaps between the frontlines became wider. All of a sudden, a core member marched out of a channel from the Valkyrie. This person was called Yuan Zhan, who was obviously an asian. Sheyan hadn’t witnessed him in action previously. At present, he simply observed Yuan Zhan’s fingers flashing with green, and congregated into two green glows before impaling into the ground.
Not even 10 seconds later, all surrounding viperwolf carcasses withered and rotted in succession, paving the way for two stumps of 6 metres tall shrubs to sprout from the ground. Those shrubs had no leaves, its twisted roots and intertwined joints contained pointedly acute tips. Whenever a viperwolf closed in, its branches would ferociously stabbed forward and slice, while carrying a double negative property of repel and poisoning. Its performance was that of an extremely refined defensive mechanism.
Even with the aid of the two ‘Poison-needle-giant-thorn’ shrubs, Main-Tank Archeaphill was beginning to feel exhausted.
Besides, he had to swing around with his wielded towering shield, which was called ‘Bulwark of Azzinoth’. To coincide his offense into his defense was no easy feat with the shield. In actual fact, Archeaphill’s base attributes had barely reached the requirements to forcefully utilize this doubled-handed shield; especially pertaining to the strength attribute.
(TN: This shield is actually from the World of Warcraft, you can google it to see how it looks)
Presently, Archeaphill couldn’t deny that this Seaman brat did have a pretty useful support ability. If not for that additional enhancement of 3 strength, he believed his proficiency in mobilizing his shield would be lacking now.
“SCRAM!” Archeaphill roared furiously, sweeping horizontally with the giant shield, smashing it against the body of an incoming viperwolf! The pointed pyramids stabbed a agonizingly deep memory in the creature’s mind; to the extent that if it dreamt at night, it would definitely relish in a nightmare of having its naked body ravaged by a thousand cactuses. Releasing a mournful howl, the viperwolf was flung off with blood splattering about.
Suddenly, an elite viperwolf who had been prying in a corner, instantly jumped on this chance and pressed forward ferociously. Archeaphill roared as he drilled his shield into the ground, before pressing his shoulder against the top; his frame instantly formed into a firm triangle with the shield as its front. Though his strength wasn’t adequate, but by using the shield in this manner, it would be hard for any collision to break through his defense.
“Thump!” A thunderous knock resounded.
The elite viperwolf had rushed head on into the impaling pyramids; before emitting a pitiful wail as 6 blood-gushing holes instantly surfaced on its body. The long range firepower then arrived and beat it into consecutive retreats. Archeaphill had consecutively repelled two viperwolves, but the repercussions of using this double handed shield excessively was manifesting fully. Though his defense was impregnable, it inevitably opened an immense gap during rotations or dodging. Hence, he required the collaboration of his party to compensate for that flaw.
Yet the supremacy of this model of shields was thoroughly clear as well; with its immeasurable depths of defence, it frequently absorbed loads of incoming damage. Citing a simple example, if Reef had wielded this shield to go against the Blood-gold Sunken Colony back in the Starship Trooper world, then he would’ve probably been able to handle it without breaking through the boundary. However, if he encountered an arachnid sea with it……then rotating 360 degrees around would be a nightmare.
Although he had driven away that elite viperwolf, Archeaphill remained depressed internally. This was because he had just witnessed one of this auxiliary tanking assistant being pounced to the ground, and having his throat ripped with one chomp; falling into a critically wounded state. The party skill had activated with a flash, and he vanished.
As for that viperwolf who had just sampled the wondrous taste of blood and flesh, it roared in rage; gazing direct towards the nearest Archeaphill, baring fangs and brandishing claws as it charged ahead.
At present, Archeaphill was already exhausted beyond limit, the consequential extent of using this giant shield. He panted deeply, but at that instant where his nape was about to be assaulted, that area of his skin shockingly turned ash-grey, as though it had transformed into granite. Evidently, that region of defense was substantially raised! This was definitely one of Archeaphill’s trump card! ‘Stone-Skin art’ ! Right now, if not for his party warning him that he cannot retreat or collapse now, Archeaphill wouldn’t have executed such a technique.
To the contrary of his expectation, that impending wild strike of pain never arrived! A fist that was shimmering with metallic glint abruptly stretched over, as it heavily pounded the head of the viperwolf; smashing it far away into the sky. Archeaphill turned to glance; just nice observing that Seaman brat lunging forward, before promptly guarding himself and the region to his side. This event of sending charcoal in a snowy weather was indeed welcoming to anyone. Archeaphill nodded in approval as he chuckled heartily.
“Many thanks, endure for 2 minutes until Huckle heals up and replace you.”
In the end, Sheyan stayed on for an entire 10 minutes! This wasn’t because Huckle didn’t return to replace him, but instead, it was that Archeaphill didn’t wish for him to leave.
In Archeaphill’s perspective, ever since he discovered the potions Sheyan had tossed out could grant 6 base attributes, he knew that he and Sable had underestimated this fella. After giving a rather good evaluation of Seaman afterward, now that he experienced defending alongside this Seaman brat, he had discovered that he underestimated him once again.
In actual fact, Archeaphill had already collaborated with Huckle for 4 entire worlds, having established a mutual cooperation between them. Yet once Seaman had replaced Huckle for that moment, Archeaphill could instantly sense a difference. His cooperation with Huckle beforehand could be described as a volatile gas of carbohydrate. Normally when Huckle held position beside him, he would only compensate for the gaps that surfaced when Archeaphill moved his giant shield. However, deep down in his bones, Huckle remained an offensive individual. Once any crack surfaced in the enemy, he couldn’t resist the urge to assault the enemy.
To the party, that appeared as a proactive action; yet to Archeaphill, that action wasn’t favourable at all. Due to the manifold instances of myriad changes in the battlefield, nobody could prevent sudden mishaps from happening. If something unexpected occurred and Huckle wasn’t holding fort beside him, then the severity of the matter would be grave.
Even though Archeaphill had advised Huckle several times, Huckle still remained obstinate without major changes. Moreover, there weren’t many who were willing to be an assistant defensive tank – Slaving bitterly while doing the dirty work, yet glories of it were still overshadowed by the brilliance of the MT. Simply put, it was like eating meat without drinking soup. Hence, Archeaphill could only helplessly come to terms with reality.
Instead, Sheyan was different, all his focus was placed on assisting Archeaphill! He definitely wouldn’t bother with other matters. Even if the situation changed vastly, his reaction was equally smooth! With such a conduct, Sheyan displayed an appearance of relative low profile, so low key that it seemed like he was slacking. For example; forgoing a near death creature nearby, letting off a beast that he could easily handle, or just appearing as if he was daydreaming at times.
Only the beneficiary, Archeaphill, understood. Ever since Sheyan made his entry, it was as though his blind spot hadn’t been exploited by the enemy a single time. Once a gap surfaced from rotating his giant shield, at first notice, Sheyan would be the one to eliminate the crisis. Furthermore, when Archeaphill needed a breather, without muttering a single word, this Seaman would proactively replace him and guard him.
As for the times when Sheyan appeared to be daydreaming, he was actually calculating the current statistics of the enemies, before advising the current state of the party to Archeaphill. He was judging the state of others recovering, when they would rejoin the battle, or if others were breathless due to their depleted MP, how long would it take for the long rage combatants need to refuel and reload magazines and so on. Hence, Sheyan allowed Archeaphill, who was wholly focused on defense with a disadvantageous viewpoint, to have a clear grasp and understanding of the entire situation.
In other words, after battling alongside Sheyan, Archeaphill had realised what the marvellous aid a qualified and professional assistant tank could supplement.
Actually in reality, Huckle was doing a pretty remarkable job as the assistant defensive tank. However, comparing him to Sheyan was an utterly colossal error.
There is a saying; only a woman can understand women. The same logic applied; only a MT would be able to understand another MT. Why did Sheyan have such qualifications, and could comprehend what Archeaphill required? Apart from his own intrinsic wisdom, it was due to the fact that his own position wasn’t an assistant tank, but an exact MT!
Moreover, during previous battles, Reef understood that both of them had to fight shoulder to shoulder in the future, complementing each other’s gaps. Hence, he had shared his personal wisdom with Sheyan. With all these factors combined, where the water flows a canal would form; Sheyan was naturally able to fulfil Archeaphill’s requirements.
Bluntly putting, if Archeaphill wanted to find an assistant tank like Sheyan, it was equivalent to seeking another MT. Yet since he governed this positioning authority, why would any MT be willing to take on the position of an assistant tank?
Hence, this topic was doomed to be a dilemma, unless the party had already determined to traverse down the path of twin MTs right from the get go. However, it wasn’t easy to find suitable candidates. Because, the current situation was that MTs belonged to a rare commodity. Many would’ve already held a notion of securing the chicken head, instead of the bull’s tail – Before when a MT matures fully, to establish a party with twin MTs would simply be a one-of-a-kind situation; a path of thousand hurdles. As for the many prerequisite conditions, one just had to recall the coincidental encounter between Sheyan and his recruitment of Reef.
As the battle gradually reached its climax, the other Illume-union members started to discover certain abnormalities. This was because, the Archeaphill of today was actually able to hold the frontlines for an excessively longer period! Those who had entered this realm war were mostly veteran contestants; moreover, they had coordinated with him for so long, obviously they understood the underlying mechanics of this phenomenon.
Logically speaking from the start of the battle till now, with the appearance of elite viperwolves, the war had already reached a menacingly intensified state. Right from the beginning, Archeaphill had been tanking the frontlines, and his substitution for a 30 seconds rest was already long overdued. According to their usual practice, this vacant space would normally be filled by a combination of Yuan Zhan, and another core member, Demondream. A summoner, plus another high damage output contestant to mend this gap.
However, Archeaphill hadn’t signalled for any substitute; hence, Yuan Zhan and Demondream, who were already prepared for action, could continue acting as the party’s insurance and observe the situation peacefully. Both their perceptions were incredibly sharp, and could very swiftly identify the crux of this smooth and unhindered battle. It was shockingly due to that outsider, Seaman!
With his gene-mixes, he allowed an overall surge in the party’s fighting capabilities, and even produced such a tacit coordination with Archeaphill. So much so that even when other close combatants nearby Sheyan encountered a crisis, they would similarly receive his emergency aid and attention.
