Nie Yan activated the Search skill of the Holy Stone. Before long, a small marker appeared on his map. A piece of the Tyrant Abak Set was nearby, no doubt!
Glancing in his bag, he had already collected Abak's Gloves of Sealing, Abak's Bloody Dagger, and Abak's Cape of Ruin. He was three-eighths of the way to completing the Tyrant Abak Set.
Nie Yan could already imagine himself donning on the Tyrant Abak Set once he reached Level 180. At that time, his stats would ascend to godly realms. With the power to sweep through every obstacle in his path, he could look down loftily from high atop the clouds.
"Still 81 levels to go. Hmm… I wonder which piece of the Tyrant Abak Set is hidden here."
The Darkwing Dragon descended into the base of a ravine, kicking up vortexes of grit with every beat of its wings. Nie Yan hopped off and surveyed his surroundings.
All around were towering mountains, with no roads or paths to speak of.
"It should be somewhere south of here," Nie Yan muttered. All he saw in that direction was endless rocks and oddly shaped boulders, veiled by a dense curtain of fog.
Nie Yan recalled the Darkwing Dragon into his pet space.
He headed toward the marker, bounding over boulders and other obstacles as if he were on flat ground, unimpeded by the rugged terrain.
Wind howled through the peaks as Nie Yan advanced toward his destination. After reaching halfway up a mountain, he arrived at a stone forest. It was quite enigmatic. Several stones bore traces of human handiwork, sculpted into alluring beauties in various coquettish poses. The everpresent fog drifted aimlessly, while a cold chill occasionally blew past. Rather than a sense of beauty, an eerie feeling pervaded the atmosphere here.
Nie Yan shuttled back and forth through the stone forest. After searching everywhere, he still came up empty-handed. "That's strange. The marker clearly points here, why can't I find anything?"
"Forget it. I'm already here. I might as well keep looking. It's probably hidden off in some corner."
Nie Yan resumed his search. As he made his way out of a crevice sandwiched between two cliff walls, he spotted a cave entrance up ahead. It was surrounded by demonic statues of women bearing sharp teeth and malevolent expressions.
"I guess this is the place." Nie Yan headed inside. The cave was damp and dimly lit.
Nie Yan could faintly make out the path ahead thanks to his high Night Vision. He proceeded forward. A clear dripping sound entered his ears. It appeared to be coming from deeper inside.
At about 300 meters in length, this cave was devoid of any monsters. Its narrow and winding tunnels led to some far away location.
Nie Yan leaned his hand against the wall as he walked forward. His palm suddenly came in contact with something rough and coarse. The darkish gray rocks here were made out of some kind of metal. He had encountered an ore deposit.
Slashing the wall with Zennarde's Sword, a nugget sized piece was carved off and fell into Nie Yan's palm.
After closely examining the colour, luster, and composition, Nie Yan confirmed it was Habo Platinum.
Habo Platinum was a top quality crafting material. It could be forged into Level 100 Dark Gold-grade equipment. The higher the purity, the better the stats of the equipment produced. Due to the rarity of this metal, a nugget of Habo Platinum (5) could sell for up to 600 gold—a sky high price for just a single ore.
Nie Yan sent word to Guo Huai. He would have Tang Yao and the other flying mount riders escort the guild's Advanced Miners here and start excavating right away.
Since there were no monsters here, the Miners wouldn't have to worry about getting attacked.
After arranging everything, Nie Yan continued exploring. The further in he went, the more spacious the cave became. Finally, he reached a giant stone door with the lights flickering inside. It was an enormous underground tomb.
While Nie Yan was shocked by this discovery, a notification popped up.
You have discovered Pharaoh Farnas' Tomb.
Nie Yan recalled such a figure in Conviction's history. Farnas was a powerful warlock who led a tribe that worshipped an evil god. Due to their propensity for violence and slaughter, the tribe was labeled as heretics by the Holy Church. A punitive campaign was launched against them, and Farnas was captured and summarily executed. The twist in the story came later, when his corpse mysteriously disappeared. This became an unsolvable mystery.
Nie Yan spent a lot of time studying Conviction's history in his past life. After familiarizing himself with these texts, the knowledge would often come in handy. At the very least, he wouldn't be stumped every time he encountered something with a bit of history.
After stepping into the tomb, all around were the shadows of monsters roaming the area. Nie Yan entered stealth. He inched closer and inspected one of the monsters with Transcendent Insight.
Dark Maiden: Level 110
Health: 120,000/120,000
Dark Maidens were ordinary monsters. They were covered in black cloaks. One could vaguely tell they were female judging from the way the cloth flowed along their figures.
So many Dark Maidens!
Nie Yan gazed into the distance. Every section of the hall was occupied by at least several hundred Dark Maidens. Sneaking through here would be nigh impossible. He could only slowly clear a path forward.
After thinking for a bit, Nie Yan retreated into a corner. He summoned Lil' Gold and prepared to bulldoze his way forward. The Golden Dragon's powerful attacks would sweep through these Dark Maidens. As long as no Elites or Lords popped up, there was nothing to worry about.
"Right, these Dark Maidens are dark attribute. I can summon a Paladin!" Nie Yan opened up Divine Recruitment. He looked down the list of hireable Paladins before stopping on the final one—Paladin Lafus.
Lafus was a powerful Paladin Captain who possessed the Advanced Holy Magic, Holy Radiant Shine. His fee was 20,000 gold/hr.
This was an astronomical sum for ordinary players. Few dared to spend so much gold.
Even Nie Yan was hesitant to spend this kind of money. 20,000 gold was enough to outfit five Asskickers United players with full sets of Level 70 Dark Gold-grade equipment.
Yet this sum could only hire Paladin Lafus for an hour.
Ever since learning Divine Recruitment, Nie Yan had never summoned the highest ranking Paladin. He wondered how strong Paladin Lafus was.
Even though Nie Yan wasn't too willing to part with 20,000 gold, it was still within acceptable limits.
"Let's see how powerful you are." Nie Yan decided to summon Paladin Lafus.
Are you sure you wish to summon Paladin Lafus?
Yes!
With a flash of light, a tall Paladin in shining silver-white armour appeared in front of Nie Yan. He looked like a man in his 40s with sideburns and a solemn expression. A powerful holy aura emanated from him, enveloping his body in a brilliant radiance.
Nie Yan could immediately tell Lafus was much stronger than the Paladins he previously summoned.
"Sir Nirvana Flame, I am willing to serve," Lafus said respectfully.
Nie Yan checked Lafus' stats. Divine Recruitment's description read that Lafus would have 300% of his own stats.
Nie Yan's stats were already frighteningly high. If it were multiplied by three, one could only imagine the effects.
Nie Yan broke out in a cold sweat after seeing Lafus' stats, 200,000 health, 20,000 attack power, and 10,000 defense. He also had all the bread-and-butter skills of a Paladin, along with the Advanced Holy Magic—Holy Radiant Shine.
What shocked Nie Yan the most wasn't Lafus' base stats but his skills!
Lafus' skill ranks were based on the player who summoned him. Nie Yan's skills were all Rank 8+ with a few at Rank 10 or 11.
Lafus was even stronger: Rank 11 Indomitable Will, Rank 15 Radiant Heal, Rank 15 Dispel, Rank 15 Holy Smite, Rank 11 Holy Strike...
What a spectacular skill line-up!
At this stage of the game, such a Paladin would be unrivalled.
Though the defensive capabilities of Paladins were weaker than Warriors', the most frightening aspect about them was their potent healing ability. Their sustainability was definitely the highest among melee units. Minor Radiant Heal normally only restored 20%–30% health. However, due to Lafus' skill ranks being abnormally high, he could easily restore his health back to full with a Minor Radiant Heal. Add this to the fact that he had close to 200,000 health, as long as he had enough mana, he would never run out of health. This was the best tank you could ask for!
Seeing Lafus' stats, Nie Yan's confidence soared. With such a powerful ally on his side, he had nothing to fear!
Nie Yan gave out his commands.
Radiant Barrier!
Indomitable Will!
Holy Blessing!
…
After shielding and buffing himself, Lafus charged toward the Dark Maidens.
The holy light pouring out from Lafus immediately attracted the aggro of the Dark Maidens. As creatures of darkness, they had an innate loathing of anything holy.
As long as Lafus took point as the vanguard, the Dark Maidens wouldn't atack Nie Yan.
The Dark Maidens conjured balls of black flames in their palms. Countless fireballs bombarded Lafus.
「Bang! Bang! Bang!」Damage values ranging between 2,000–3,000 floated up above Lafus' head. However, this was barely 1% of his health pool. It was nothing!
Lafus cast a Minor Radiant Heal on himself, restoring his health back to full. He then charged up to a Dark Maiden.
Divine Strike!
Radiant Purify!
−43.799
−35,000
−35,000
...
With a poof, the Dark Maiden collapsed to the ground.
Lafus started slaughtering Dark Maidens with every step he took.
Seeing Lafus' valiant display of might, Nie Yan couldn't help but sigh in admiration.