"Jack, you better not be joking with me." Crimson Rose took a couple deep breaths, struggling to believe the absurd news she just heard.
Coordinates transplantation, Durian Bomb Tree, and Sacred Blood were the rarest amongst the rare skills and items within the Boundless World. Calling them National Treasures would not be an exaggeration. For a single adventurer to possess any of these three would justify his high skill and position within a game. Yet, these three had all appeared on a single man right now!
"I don't have that much free time to joke around!" Jack's voice was stern and heavy. His eyes had glued onto the scene at the giant boulder in front of him. Wave after waves of monsters swarmed towards the boulder, clawing mercilessly at the Botanist standing calmly at the peak.
That crimson bottle on his hands… Others may not recognize it, but he was sure. That bottle had to be the Sacred Blood!
From the chaos by the Boss, the Sacred Blood had taken effect.
"Fucking hell! Is that really the Kobold Leader? Why is it so violent and brutal?"
The huge commotion had drawn the attention of adventurers who were hunting nearby. The moment they witnessed the massive attacks from the giant Kobold, gasps of disbelief escaped.
"Alright, I shan't beat around the bush. We will not be killing this man. Per our rules, we will compensate you two times the money. If you insist on killing him, it will be ten times the cost. Personally, I do not suggest that you kill him. Otherwise, your brother and your Crimson Blood Guild will end up mired in tons of trouble." Firmly, Jack set the ultimatum with Crimson Rose. The Botanist was just Level 10, killing a bug like him would not bring about any excitement, satisfaction, or adrenaline. Without any form of massive remuneration, it was certainly not wise to pitch themselves against a high-level pro.
"Don't kill him!" Crimson Rose was swiftly decisive as well.
"I think your brother…"
"Kill him and come back!" The lack of hesitation in her voice and the immediate decision won the admiration of Jack of All Trades. This firm leadership was the precise decision he had set his eye on this woman. Alas, his lack of an alluring body vanquished all his chances.
"Kill him." Waving his hand nonchalantly, Jack set the death sentence.
"What… What are you doing?! Sister will never let this slide!"
Unbeknownst to the Mage, the death had been ordered by Crimson Rose. Seeing the killing intent glimmering in the eyes of his assailants, he panicked and threatened. Unfortunately for him, everyone simply smiled and soon, any signs of life escaped.
"Now then, time to watch the good show. Keep your eyes peeled on that Botanist. In the millions of adventurers, not everyone gets to watch this." Having finished his end of the deal, Jack plopped carelessly into the forest grounds and looked into the distance with interest.
"Jack, what tricks did that guy use? My friend was fighting the Boss, and he said that the Boss and its minions went into a frenzy. Their attack powers burst through the roof, wiping them off the map like bugs. Then, the monsters ran away," one of the hired mercenaries said.
"That is the effects of the Sacred Blood." Jack's eyes narrowed as he smirked.
"Sacred Blood?"
"Yes, within the area around the Boss, Sacred Blood will increase the attack of the Boss and its surrounding minions by 50% for the next five minutes. However, within that period, the Boss's defense will drop by 70%, and this decrease will last for ten minutes."
"What the heck?! Isn't this Sacred Blood literally made for Boss-stealing?" All of the surrounding adventurers were dumbstruck.
An attack from a buffed Boss would definitely kill any adventurer within the attack range. Then, the user of the Sacred Blood just had to saunter in five minutes later and rip all of the benefits and take down the Boss for himself!
"Of course! But, the Sacred Blood is a rare commodity, only attainable through selected random-type World missions. These missions are hardcore. If not for the difficulty of the missions, Sacred Blood would not be so highly sought after," Jack lamented with a deep sigh. Having a bottle of Sacred Blood was a mark of an elite adventurer. When Crimson Rose was still at her intermediate levels, she too took on a mission with the Sacred Blood as a reward. However, she had to throw in the towel in the end. It was because of this that she fully understood what a bottle of Sacred Blood meant, leading to her firm and swift decision to not get on the wrong side of this Botanist.
"What?! Did he really use such a precious item on a Level 15 Boss? What a waste!" All of the surrounding adventurers were in utter disbelief.
A Level 15 Boss, even if it was stolen from others, wouldn't drop any precious items. There were countless guilds in Titan Megacity, but not a single guild sent a party over to fight for this Boss. All of the adventurers involved were self-initiated parties.
"I don't think so. The tier of the Sacred Blood is relative to the adventurer's level at the point of completing the mission. I think he used a Level 30 Sacred Blood that would be effective on Bosses below Level 30."
Jack vigorously shook his head, there was no way that bottle of Sacred Blood was a high end one. Otherwise, it would fetch sky-high prices on the market, causing countless guilds of all sizes to turn red-eyed for it.
"What the heck?! The Botanist just transplanted another Durian Bomb Tree. Freaking amazing man. He's just Level 10, and he can transplant two trees already." As Jack was explaining, another adventurer witnessed the deed and exclaimed.
The route to unlocking the second plant was an open secret across all adventurers, not just Botanists. On the forums, slurs at the torturous process of levelling as a beginner Botanist would never leave out this fact.
With exaggeration as definite on the forums, the truth remained that countless Botanists only managed to attain the second plant when they hit Level 30.
Jack snorted as he shook his head. To him, this was only natural. He would be more surprised if Ye Chen had not unlocked the second plant.
...
"Wow! Brother Dust, how did you do it? The Boss really ran over! That Boss suddenly became really crazy and swung that bone bat around killing everybody in the forest. It was so damn SATISFYING!" Xiao Ai was overwhelmed with adrenaline. Just moments ago, she watched helplessly from a distance as the Boss's HP dwindled. Right at the moment that the Boss was going to be killed, it went maniacal. It swept and struck the adventurers around, the priest became useless and elation swept over her.
Then, Ye Chen's message came. He told her to rush over to him when the Boss ran in her direction. Surprisingly, it turned out as Ye Chen predicted.
"But, will these two trees really hit the Boss from so high up?" she looked at the two trees and asked. From a distance, Xiao Ai could see the Boss was closing in.
"You bet. Later, watch their HP for me. If the Boss hits them, just focus on healing them. Don't worry about the aggression."
Ye Chen only gave the instructions without any explanation. The Boss stormed over to Ye Chen as he was the source of the Sacred Blood. This occurred as there were no longer any enemies left nearby. Under the Sacred Blood's effects, the Boss would only damage objects that had attacked him. In its eyes, a Priestess was as good as transparent. However, that did not mean that Priestesses would be safe. Should there be many attackers, the Boss might get the aggression jumbled up and sweep across the entire region, going on a rampage, and killing anything it saw. This was the main reason for the total annihilation of parties that used the Sacred Blood.
"RAWR!" The Kobold Leader brought a group of Kobolds and charged menacingly towards the giant boulder. Seeing this, Ye Chen retreated slightly backwards with Xiao Ai.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The moment the Kobold Leader reached the base of the giant boulder, the two Durian Bomb Trees released the massive durians from the branches, erupting into balls of flames on the ground!
199! 231! 222!
"Oh, my good Heavens! Freaking serious damage!"
Massive damage appeared on the heads of the Kobold Leader and the Kobolds. Within instants, all of the smaller Kobolds were obliterated, leaving just the Kobold Leader staring daggers up at Ye Chen. From a distance, the originally rowdy group with Jack of All Trades had fallen into a pin drop silence. Their eyes widened in shock, and their jaws dropped.
"The Durian Bomb Tree is impressive as I expected. However, that insane damage is still because of the Sacred Blood." Jack's eyes narrowed onto Ye Chen as he explained to the others.
"Freaking Awesome Skill! Now, the Boss is just awaiting death!"
"Huh? Do you really think it's this easy? The Boss is not an idiot!" Jack burst into a peal of laughter.
As he spoke the Kobold Leader raised the colossal Bone Maller and swung it overhead, crashing violently onto the Durian Bomb Trees. In one stroke, the trees lost half of their HP! At that instant, a glow radiated from the trees. Xiao Ai had leaped right into the action, slowly but surely regenerating the HP of the trees.
Meanwhile, in the hands of the Kobold Leader, a giant white bat appeared again. It did not immediately hit the Durian Bomb Tree but hovered back and forth impatiently under the giant boulder. Time to time, it roared ferociously. It seemed like using the bone mallet to hit the trees had a cooldown.
However, this cooldown was not long. Before the HP of the Durian Bomb Tree was full, the Kobold leader once again smashed the HP of the Durian Bomb Tree by more than half.
Under the Defense Reduction effect of the Sacred Blood, the damage of the Durian Bomb Tree was extremely massive. The HP of the Boss plunged rapidly under the constant barrage. At this rate, the Boss would fall to the ground in no time.
However, even with the cooldown of the skills, the DPS of the Boss was still higher. At least, the adventurers could tell that before the death of Boss, the two Durian Bomb Trees would crumble first.