The space I entered was a dark cave, not spacious at all. After walking for more than ten meters, I was close to the end of the cave, where a big black rat saw me and immediately charged towards me.
Using "Insight" ability, I saw that it was a level 13 boss, the Black Rat King, with 1500 health points and the skill "Dark Attack". It liked darkness and disliked sunlight.
Since it's the treasure of the novice village, I guessed the task shouldn't be too difficult, or else how could newcomers dig it up? But it's not without difficulty. I reckon that those three guys from Fengyun would find it hard to defeat the Black Rat King in this not so spacious cave if they couldn't withstand its attack.
However, my situation was different. As an absolute super psycho, I succeeded in taking down the lone Alpha Wolf King, who was much stronger than this Black Rat King. So naturally, this Black Rat King was not a problem.
-130, -150. Since the Black Rat King came to die, I wouldn't be polite. I used my level 2 skill to unleash a frenzy of strikes like a storm. After consuming two bottles of red potions, I perfectly killed the Black Rat King. However, its skill, "Dark Attack," was quite interesting. It caused blindness and reduced the hit rate by 3 seconds.
"Congratulations to Stone City for killing the boss, the Black Rat King. Reputation increased by 10."
What? The Black Rat King didn't drop anything. This is the treasure of the novice village. It can't be so stingy.
Wait, what is that shining thing at the end of the cave? I quickly walked towards it, and it was a ring shimmering with red light.
A cursed artifact! What a great find. The reward for the treasure is not bad. I quickly picked it up and examined it.
Ring of Greed: A red cursed artifact with an unknown effect that cannot be applied.
The Ring of Greed is definitely a great find. Just listen to its name: greed. It's certainly not for the virtuous. I like it.
"Congratulations to Stone City for completing the treasure hunt in the novice village. You may now leave the task site."
After the system prompt, a flash of light, and I found myself standing in front of the cliff where I had just entered the mountain cave. The dark cave could no longer be found.
Should I go back to appraise this cursed object? It would definitely increase my strength. But no, I should finish the task first. It took at least twenty minutes to run from the novice village to here, and time was wasted. Besides, my abilities should be sufficient to deal with a black bear.
This is a maple forest. After a gentle breeze, soft sounds emanate from the leaves, and the falling maple leaves create a beautiful scene, making people feel refreshed.
But I didn't have the mood to enjoy it. I had searched through the maple forest, but apart from groups of level 10 enchanted tigers, there was no sign of a black bear.
"Stone City, you're here. Are you ready to kill the black bear?"
A tall figure suddenly jumped down from the tree branches above, dressed in a tiger-patterned coat and carrying a long bow, clearly a genuine hunter.
"Who are you?"
"I'm Wang Wu, the hunter from the novice village. I specialize in monitoring the black bear's movements here. I just received a notification from the village chief that you're here to help us kill the black bear and was waiting for you."
So, he was a system character. He scared me.
"Where is the black bear? I haven't seen it."
"Our novice village's divine spring is called the Heavenly Pivot Spring. It's a divine object of the heavens and the earth, not only the treasure of the novice village, but also one of the five divine springs of the Sky Dream Continent. The Heavenly Pivot Spring is in a sealed domain that can only be entered through the novice village's secret method. However, three years ago, a black bear appeared out of nowhere and entered our divine spring domain, occupying our divine spring. Sadly, the residents of our novice village were no match for this black bear and couldn't take back the Heavenly Pivot Spring, a disgrace to our village's people."
As Wang Wu spoke, he was filled with sadness and indignation, the emotions pouring out in his words.
"Stone City, you must help us regain the Heavenly Pivot Spring and wash away the shame of our beginner village for three years. Are you ready? I will teleport you into the realm of Heavenly Pivot Spring."
Oh my, it sounds like this black bear won't be easy to deal with. Failure is not an option, as it would result in a demotion to level 1. At this point, we cannot retreat. We must push forward and not falter.
"Uncle Wang, I am ready. Don't worry, I will kill this black bear."
"Good."
Uncle Wang put his hands together and solemnly said, "Respected Goddess of Dreams, bestow the blessings of the natural winds upon your people! Heavenly Pivot Secret Technique!"
Suddenly, I was surrounded by a gentle light, and my vision shook as I was transported into the realm of Heavenly Pivot Spring.
As I arrived, I saw the three members of the Fengyun Trio who I had fought against earlier. They were out of breath, panting and looking around, but they couldn't find the person they were looking for. They collapsed on the ground.
"Damn that warrior!"
"Don't let me meet him again, or I'll chop him up!"
"You little brat, just wait and see. The Fengyun Clan won't let you go."
These three people were the Fengyun Trio who had fought against me earlier. They had come to find one of the ten treasures hidden in our beginner village, but it was too late. I had already left, and they could only vent their anger.
But it was also their lucky day. If I had stayed, they would have continued to lose levels. Nevertheless, I had formed an unbreakable bond with the Fengyun Clan.
The realm of Heavenly Pivot Spring was about fifty meters in radius and was sparsely populated with a few large trees. The Heavenly Pivot Spring was located under a large tree in the center, in a circular stone pool filled with clear water.
As I searched around, I couldn't find the black bear. I needed to be cautious, as the enemy was lurking in the shadows. I didn't want to be caught off guard.
To my surprise, the black bear was sleeping next to the Heavenly Pivot Spring, basking in the sun.
"Insight": Black Bear Chalala, a level 20 Silver Boss with 5000 HP, who enjoys honey and sleeping. His skills include Bear Pounce, Earth Fury, and Stun.
Bosses are divided into normal, silver, and gold levels, with each tier having significantly improved abilities. Gold bosses, in particular, are very difficult to handle. There are also some fierce beasts and evil beasts under the command of divine beasts or demon lords, who are super bosses with exceptional strength. They do not carry many artifacts and are not easy to deal with.
Wow, this is too powerful. 5000 HP? I can only deal 100 damage to level 15 boss Mountain Wolf King. It is safe to assume that Black Bear Chalala's defense is also high, making it difficult to defeat.
Fortunately, I spent a lot of money to buy 10 bottles of Intermediate Red Potions, so I have some capital to take on this challenge. Otherwise, relying on the meager 23 bottles of Minor Red Potions I have with me, it would be difficult to defeat this Black Bear.
I used some Minor Red Potions while fighting the enchanted tiger in Maple Forest earlier.
Anyway, let's give it a try. If we succeed, great. Otherwise, we can start over from level one.
Attack!
While Black Bear Chalala is sleeping, let's take the initiative and strike first. A series of damage numbers float above his head: -100, -110, -50, -60.
Because the surprise attack was successful, the first two strikes were critical hits. However, as soon as Black Bear Chalala was attacked, he immediately woke up and pounced at me. My ordinary attacks only deal a little over 50 damage.
I quickly run around a nearby big tree to escape. It's clear that Black Bear Chalala's attack speed and movement speed are slow. Although I'm preparing to become a knight and fight bosses head-on, I'm not a fool. I'll use my advantage to attack its weakness.
Ha ha, the plan succeeded! The speed of the black bear Chalala is no match for mine. It could only howl behind me and eat my dust.
Running alone won't work, we need to find a way to kill the black bear.
Don't worry, we have a way. We ran around the big tree and quickly caught up with the huge buttocks of the black bear Chalala. Without any hesitation, we sliced it twice.
Negative one hundred, negative one hundred and twenty, two critical hits again. It seems that a surprise attack is more likely to have critical hits.
After stabbing the black bear Chalala's buttocks twice, we turned around and ran. Although it had already turned around and pounced towards me, I was already running away, and its attack missed me. It could only continue to chase after me.
We came back to the black bear Chalala's buttocks, negative one hundred, negative fifty, two more strikes. When the black bear Chalala turned around, we had already run away. It couldn't catch up with us.
Thus, beside the picturesque Heavenly Pivot Spring, the same scene repeated itself over and over again. One moment the bear was chasing me, the next moment I was chasing the bear. It is difficult to say who was chasing whom.
How ridiculous! This is too easy. As I watched the black bear Chalala's life being reduced by half, it didn't even manage to attack me.
Mistake! Negative two hundred! Suddenly, the black bear Chalala rushed towards me, and with two paws, it attacked me. Although the first paw missed me, the second one took away two hundred of my health.
I was careless and let happiness cloud my judgment. I forgot about the black bear Chalala's skills. It rushed towards me and attacked me with two paws.
I quickly drank a bottle of red potion and pulled away from the black bear Chalala. Fortunately, there is a cooldown period for its pouncing skill. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to handle its consecutive pounces.
Now I must be careful. If its pouncing skill is so powerful, its Earth Fury skill must be even more dangerous.
This is really bad. Whatever I think of, it happens.
The black bear Chalala used its Earth Fury skill and took away 120 of my health. Unfortunately, I was also stunned and couldn't move for three seconds.
It's over. I'll have to start at level one again. As I watched the black bear Chalala's huge paw fall towards me, this was the only thought in my mind.