Nie Yan didn't know the Leshen's detailed stats. But with the Dark Gold chest only half-way unlocked, he naturally wasn't willing to just leave. He opened up the official website and searched for information on the Leshen.
The Leshen was a type of immobile tree demon with tendrils capable of extending to upwards of 30 meters. It had magic immunity and high physical defense which greatly reduced or negated the damage of ordinary projectiles, making melee combat the only effective way of fighting it most of the time. Even then, the life-leeching and binding effects of the tendrils were a headache to deal with. This was why players generally preferred to take a detour around it if possible, unless someone brought along a powerful crossbow.
Nie Yan wasn't sure if his Dullahan Cavalry Crossbow was capable of killing the Leshen, but it was worth a shot. He leaped several meters into the air and grabbed onto a nearby tree branch before flipping himself over and perching on top. He took out his crossbow and lined his sight on the target before squeezing the trigger.
「Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!」Five bolts flew out in a straight line and struck the Leshen's trunk in quick succession.
−28
−28
−28
−192!
−28
The Leshen opened its eyes to find its assaillant. But since Nie Yan was out of range, it could only let out an angry groan.
Nie Yan's eyes lit up after seeing his damage. He started reloading his crossbow. But by the time he finished, he was dismayed to discover that the Leshen had regenerated back to full health.
Dammit! What's with this health regeneration!?
Nie Yan raised his crossbow with a bitter smile. He absent-mindedly shot at the Leshen a few more times and confirmed that its health recovered faster than he could deal damage.
There was no way to kill the Leshen!
Nie Yan was about to put away the crossbow when a thought crossed his mind. Did the Leshen have a weak point?
Some monsters would take additional damage when hit in their weak point.
The official website didn't have any information on the Leshen's weak point. But this was fairly common. How could they provide everything to the players?
Hope reignited in Nie Yan's eyes. He continued firing his crossbow as one bolt flew out after the other.
Nie Yan was confident with the crossbow, having honed his skills with it for more than 10 years in the previous timeline. He could consistently hit a target from over 30 meters away even when blindfolded!
He kept firing out bolts at a rapid pace, shifting his aim constantly to test out various points on the Leshen's body. But sadly, there was no change. He was still dealing a consistent 28 damage per hit.
Nie Yan refused to give up. From the branches to the roots, he probed every part of the Leshen's body.
Nie Yan fired his crossbow at the Leshen's eyes. But it closed them at the last second, causing the five bolts to bounce off its eyelids like they had struck metal.
After this last failure, Nie Yan was beginning to lose hope when a light bulb lit up in his head.
Eye of Truth!
Nie Yan's pupils turned crimson and blossomed out with an omniscient light. He looked at the Leshen and discovered that many of its leaves, twigs, and branches were merely an illusion, with only a portion of the branches, the main trunk, and the roots being real. But what caught his eye the most was the bright red heart beating just two inches below its eyes.
This was the Leshen's weak point!
Without Eye of Truth, it would've been impossible for Nie Yan to locate the Leshen's heart, which was only the size of a baby's fist! He was pleasantly surprised with this discovery.
Over the course of many years, the Leshen had transformed into a creature that was a cross between a plant and an animal.
Nie Yan raised his crossbow and fired at the Leshen's heart.
「Put! Put! Put!」Five bolts cleanly hit their mark.
−323
−323
−323
−323
−323
Seeing the difference in damage, Nie Yan was elated. He could now kill the Leshen!
Even though the Leshen's health regeneration was high, it couldn't keep up with Nie Yan's damage.
The Leshen angrily roared and lashed out with its tendrils. However, the enemy was outside of its attack range.
Nie Yan continued firing his crossbow without rest, gradually chipping away at the Leshen's health. After roughly an hour, it could endure no longer and fell to the ground with a loud crash, scattering leaves everywhere
Ding-dong! Ding-dong! Nie Yan levelled up twice as he reached Level 58!
Not bad, two levels for an hour or so of work. Nie Yanwiped the sweat from his brow before jumping off the tree and walking towards the Leshen's remains.
He had no clue what the Leshen dropped. But he was certain a Level 80 Elite would give something good!
Nie Yan rummaged through the twigs and branches and picked up three items: two pieces of Level 80 Gold-grade equipment and a piece of parchment with the incomplete schematics of a siege crossbow.
It was a Dark Gold siege crossbow blueprint fragment!
Flamespitter Crossbow Blueprint Fragment: 1/5
Nie Yan took a closer look at the crossbow blueprint. It was larger and much more complicated than regular crossbows. It took two people just to lift it, and required three people to operate.
Checking out the properties, the Flamespitter Crossbow had a range of 300 meters, over 3000 attack power, and shot out five bolts in a wide spread.
It would take five Intermediate Engineers working around the clock for two days straight to manufacture the Flamespitter Crossbow. The crafting materials required were also hard to come by.
As the number of captured strongholds rose, so too would the demand for Engineers. More and more players who found themselves unsuited to combat would start switching to this profession. It would definitely become extremely influential in the future of Conviction!
Such a huge crossbow wasn't suited for grinding mobs. But its effectiveness would significantly increase if placed inside a crossbow tower.
Nie Yan had no idea where he would find the remaining fragments. Maybe there were other Leshens nearby!
Naturally, he didn't forget he still had a chest to open. He wondered what sort of items lay inside. Taking out Zennarde's sword, he chopped away the roots and uncovered the chest. This time, there were no monsters to disturb him.
Nie Yan bent down and started unlocking the chest. Its level was much higher than his, but his Lockpicking skill was high enough to manage it. Nevertheless, it would take a very long time.
Six minutes later, the chest popped open with a click.
Nie Yan fished around inside and took out a staff crafted out of sturdy red wood. There was a white skull about the size of a human fist affixed to the tip of the staff. Its eye sockets flickered with two red flames.
Examining the staff's properties, it turned out to be a Legendary item fragment!
Nagado's Staff of Curses (Legendary Fragment): Broken
Requirements: 1,200 Intelligence, 130 Focus
Description: Nadago was a legendary Necromancer. Seeking to wield the ultimate power of death, he challenged Empress Finas and attempted to enslave her spirit to increase the power of his curses. Unfortunately, he failed in his pursuit. Collect Nagado's Staff of Curses, Nadago's Death Skull, and Nadago's Jewel of Darkness to restore this Legendary staff.
Properties: Magic Attack 1,028–1,203, Willpower +30. Dark Magic Effect +30%
Vengeful Spirit Possession: Summon a vengeful spirit to possess your body, increasing the effects of all Curse Magic by 200%, and Magic Resistance by 30%. Cast Time: 3 Seconds. Cooldown: 2 days.
Restrictions: Dark Incantist; can only be equipped by a member of the Evil Faction.
It was a staff for Dark Incantists. Nie Yan couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed. Nevertheless, this was the Underworld, so it was only natural for Evil Faction equipment to drop.
The requirements on this staff were a bit high; 1,200 Intelligence wasn't something ordinary players could attain. Even top ranked Dark Incantists would have to wait until they were Level 70–80 to have the stats to equip it.
Considering how good this staff was, Nie Yan would have no problem exchanging it with Fallen Angel for some decent Thief equipment.
If such a piece of equipment were to appear in the Evil Faction marketplace, it would definitely cause an uproar. Of course, Nie Yan had no plans of selling it. He would only accept another item of equal value in return!
After putting the staff away in his bag, Nie Yan continued fishing around in the chest. Since Bennett's Soul had led him all the way here and made him kill the Leshen, there definitely had to be a quest related item or two inside!
Nie Yan took out a marble from the chest. Truthfully speaking, it wasn't a whole marble but just a fragment of one.
Detoxifying Marble Fragment (Special Item): 1/3
Properties: Poison Resistance +10, Poison Immunity (Junior)
Detoxify (Intermediate): Remove any poison Intermediate-rank or lower inflicted on a target.
Restrictions: None
It was a Detoxifying Marble. The effects were pretty good since Intermediate Dexotify was still useful at this stage of the game. But it would become obsolete in another ten levels or so. By then, players would start using Advanced poisons.
Nie Yan wondered what would happen if all the fragments of the Detoxifying Marble were gathered together. At this moment, Bennett's Soul floated up and guided Nie Yan deeper into the forest. The quest had only just begun. Who knew what awaited him next.