Nie Yan counted 16 hammer wielding giants in total. They were Forgesmiths, a fairly famous type of monster. One served as the boss in the Underground Mines at the bottom layer of Golden City. They boasted powerful physical attack, high defense and fire resistance, and their attacks dealt additional darkness damage. They were well known for being difficult monsters to deal with. The one in the Underground Mines was a Level 60 Lord, while these were ordinary Level 90 mobs.
Nie Yan cautiously approached one of them and activated Transcendent Insight.
Forgesmith Guard: Level 90
Health: 10,000/10,000
Fighting these Forgesmith Guards was a death wish. Nie Yan only came here to obtain that piece of the Tyrant Abak Set.
At the end of the hall was a small door. Through the crack, only two people could fit at most. Such a small entrance was guarded by 16 Forgesmith Guards, their large bodies just about blocking the door from view. The only way to get through was by killing them all.
Their defense was too high. The amount of damage Nie Yan could do to them was limited. Thankfully, they were ordinary monsters and not Elites. Else their health would be far higher than 10,000.
Nie Yan couldn't kill them all by himself. He could only rely on external help. He rummaged through his bag for items that might help him deal with these Forgesmith Guards: the three Bloodshadow Totems he obtained from the Bloodshadow Legion Encampment, the Intermediate Magic Bombs crafted by Violet Smoke, and the Death Wave Scrolls from the Underworld. There were also various other items such as Advanced Twisting Vines Scrolls and AoE magic scrolls.
With these items, Nie Yan could easily take care of the Forgesmith Guards.
After judging the distance, Nie Yan placed down a Bloodshadow Totem roughly 60 meters away from the Forgesmith Guards. He glanced at the ceiling above him—roughly 35 meters high. He cracked a faint smile. Everything was ready.
Nie Yan slowly moved to a corner, approaching within 50 meters of the Forgesmith Guards. He raised his Cavalry Crossbow and took aim.「Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!」Five crossbow bolts whizzed forward and struck a Forgesmith Guard in the chest.
After being attacked, the Forgesmith Guard roared out in pain. It scanned around the hall and quickly locked onto Nie Yan. It turned to its companions and spoke in what sounded like gibberish, after which the rest of the Forgesmith Guards shifted their attention to Nie Yan.
After discussing who knows what, all 16 Forgesmith Guards moved forward to surround Nie Yan.
"Damn, didn't expect all of them to come at once. Good, that makes life a lot easier for me!" Nie Yan threw an Intermediate Magic Bomb at the oncoming Forgesmith Guards.
「Boom!」An explosion rang out in the hall as scorching hot flames engulfed the Forgesmith Guards.
−500
−500
−500
…
A string of damage values floated up into the air.
Only 500… The damage of the Intermediate Magic Bombs left Nie Yan feeling somewhat disappointed. In normal circumstances, Intermediate Magic Bombs would deal 1,000 damage per tick. It appeared these Forgesmith Guards had very high fire resistance.
The explosion only stopped the Forgesmith Guards for a brief moment. They immediately resumed their pursuit of Nie Yan.
Nie Yan activated a Death Wave Scroll, then turned tailed and fled as ripples of death energy swept over the Forgesmith Guards.
−1,000, −1,000, −1,000...
The effects of the Death Wave Scroll were potent. The only downside was the two second cast time, unlike the Magic Bombs which could be thrown at the ready.
Nie Yan suddenly had a bright idea. Why didn't he use the Death Wave Scrolls in tandem with the magic Bombs?
The explosion from the Magic Bombs could briefly stun the Forgesmith Guards. He could take advantage of this opening to activate a Death Wave Scroll!
Nie Yan dashed toward the Bloodshadow Totem, with the group of Forgesmith Guards in hot pursuit. Seeing his items come off cooldown, he threw a Junior Magic Bomb over his shoulder. They had the same stunning effect as their Intermediate counterpart. He naturally wanted to save where he could. After all, Intermediate Magic Bombs were quite costly. Violet Smoke had only made about 20 of them so far. Once they were used up, he would have to wait a long time for more.
「Boom!」A loud explosion rang out in the hall.
−200
−200
−200
...
As the stunning effects of the Magic Bombs wore off, ripples of death energy swept over the Forgesmith Guards.
−1,000, −1,000, −1,000...
After these two rounds of attacks, the Forgesmith Guards caught up to Nie Yan and moved to surround him.
Nie Yan glanced at the Bloodshadow Totem just ahead. One of the Forgesmith Guards had already entered its range! It was starting to tremble.
Nie Yan was also in range of the Bloodshadow Totem. The 16 Forgesmith Guards slowly circled in on him. One of them raised its hammer and smashed down on him.
"It's been fun, guys, but I've gotta swing!" Nie Yan smirked. He suddenly leaped 20 meters in the air with his Leaper Ring and shot out a web line toward the ceiling from his Silk Spinner Ring. With a jerk of his hand, he pulled himself up.
Looking down, the Forgesmith Guards were channeling black orbs of light in their palms. They were preparing to attack Nie Yan with Darkness Arrows.
At this moment, a vibration shook the air. The Bloodshadow Totem had activated!
「Boom!」Crimson rays exploded out in every direction and swept over the Forgesmith Guards.
−5,000, −5,000, −5,000...
The damage of the Bloodshadow Totem was much higher than the Death Wave Scrolls or Magic Bombs.
With their Darkness Arrows interrupted midcast, the Forgesmith Guards let out angry roars. Before they could resume their attacks, Nie Yan took out an Ice Rain Scroll. He chanted out syllable after syllable until a full set was complete. The temperature plummeted and white fog shrouded the hall. Before long, icicles started falling down like a torrential downpour, ruthlessly pummeling the Forgesmith Guards.
−500
−500
−500
…
A string of damage values floated up into the air.
After five seconds, the Forgesmith Guards let out mournful cries and collapsed on the ground.
The Ice Rain lasted for eight seconds before finally ending. The white fog slowly dissipated.
Nie Yan faintly smiled. He dropped down from the ceiling and landed gracefully on his feet.
Nie Yan checked his experience bar. Although these Forgesmith Guards gave a generous amount of experience, his experience bar only filled up by 3%. At higher levels, the amount of experience needed for one level was mind boggling. Levelling up became incredibly difficult.
Nie Yan collected the loot from the ground. He obtained five pieces of equipment, one of which was Gold-grade. To say none of them caught his interest was an understatement. He planned to throw them all in the guild treasury. However, he did find something fairly peculiar, a silver hammer. It appeared to be a special tool for Blacksmiths.
Artisan Forging Hammer: Special Item
Description: Increase the success rate of crafting weapons and armour by 5%. 20% chance to gain additional proficiency.
Restrictions: Blacksmith
"Jackpot!" Nie Yan couldn't help but cry out with excitement. This hammer would be extremely valuable to Blacksmiths, allowing them to do double the work with half the effort.
Asskickers United sorely lacked competent Blacksmiths right now. Guo Huai was in the middle of nurturing some. With this hammer, they could save quite a bit of work. Nie Yan planned to hand over this hammer to Guo Huai and have him decide who to give it to.
This was one of the advantages of being the first to explore a map. Good drops were guaranteed.
After taking care of the Forgesmith Guards, Nie Yan headed through the door at the end of the hall and disappeared into the corridor behind.
Several minutes later, six Thieves arrived in the hall. The leader was a man in his 30s in dark gray leather armour. Seeing the corpses on the ground, his eyes widened in shock.
"Sky Felled, I counted 16 Forgesmith Guards," a 26-year-old Thief said, his voice quivering in disbelief. He could hardly contain the shock in his heart.
"My god, did Nirvana Flame kill all of them by himself?" another Thief cried out.
Even if three of them teamed up to fight one of these Forgesmith Guards, they might not necessarily come out on top. Level 90 Monsters were too powerful. Furthermore, the 30 level gap meant that their attacks wouldn't leave so much as a scratch! Yet Nie Yan somehow managed to kill all 16 of these Forgesmith Guards by himself! What a freak!
Sky Felled knitted his brows. Nie Yan soloing these Forgesmith Guards really was hard to believe. His gaze settled on one of the corpses. Its clothes were covered in scorch marks. On closer inspection, they were also wet and covered in ice crystals. He sunk into deep thought. Even though he still wasn't sure how these Forgesmith Guards died, he was certain Nie Yan hadn't faced them head on.
As for how Nie Yan accomplished this feat, it was a mystery they would never unravel.
Sky Felled turned to the other five Thieves. "Hurry up. Let's not fall behind. Try not to draw any aggro."
Sky Felled headed for the door at the end of the hall. Knowing they were going to face a freak like Nie Yan, their hearts shuddered in apprehension. Seeing their leader getting further away, they quickly followed behind.