Regardless, let us complete the task first. Of course, we must definitely eliminate this zombie mage, for the Black Stone Tower is a sealed place with no other players arriving. Thus, no one has yet slain the waves of monsters on each floor. Just thinking about how all of these bosses belong to me brings such happiness.
With the "shield defense" status activated and "provocation" used to draw several monsters in the hall towards me, I immediately swung my skeletal blade and began the massacre.
Due to my high agility, my vision extends further than that of the zombies and black mages. From where I stand, I can see the monsters in the hall, but since I haven't entered their line of sight, they cannot see me.
Monsters that initiate attacks can only target players that they can see. Passive monsters will not attack players that they can see and only retaliate after being attacked by players.
After clearing out the zombies and black mages in front, the skeletal warriors gradually emerged. Good, come at me then.
Using the "provocation" skill on one of the skeletal warriors, I didn't expect that four out of the eight skeletal warriors in the hall would rush at me.
When the four skeletal warriors were one meter away from me, their bodies all paused at the same time, and their long swords slightly recoiled.
This isn't good, I thought to myself, it seems that the skeletal warriors are about to use their skills.
Minus 80, minus 90, miss, minus 80, so it was true. The four skeletal warriors simultaneously used the skill "Charge Impact," and the sound of "pupupu" rang out. It instantly caused a series of damage, and I lost 250 health points.
What's even more frustrating is that the knockdown effect of the skeletal warriors' charge impact worked, causing me to be unable to retaliate as I was knocked down to the ground.
Minus 50, miss, minus 60, miss. The skeletal warriors saw me lying on the ground and, without any sense of chivalry, brought their long swords down upon me, dealing another series of damage and causing me to lose 110 health points.
It's dizzying. Watching my health decrease by 360 in an instant, I didn't even have a chance to retaliate. It's truly frustrating. If it weren't for my high defense and health, as well as a few misses due to my high agility, my health would have hit rock bottom in this round alone. For an ordinary player, encountering such a monstrous attack would make it difficult to complete this task even at level twenty or thirty.
Indeed, the skeletal warriors are formidable, with a warrior's grace, orderly formation, synchronized movements, and superb tactics. They almost knocked me out, but I quickly stood up, drank a bottle of red potion, and watched as my health began to recover, starting to retaliate.
Minus 350, minus 360, the damage is still manageable. Enduring the attacks of four skeletal warriors, I drank a potion and counterattacked. Finally, after a few minutes, I was able to take down the four skeletal warriors.
Although it was somewhat difficult, with my strength, I was able to withstand it. I used the "collection technique" to collect the ashes of the skeletal warriors.
"Ding dong, congratulations to the player Stone City for collecting bone ashes. Proficiency in the collection technique has increased."
Bone ashes: bones imbued with magical energy that can be used to refine poisonous potions.
It's the same kind of junk material as the first level skeletal soldiers.
Using the "provocation" skill, I continued to lure one of the skeletal warriors in the hall over.
Wait, I attracted only one skeletal warrior, but the remaining four skeletal warriors banded together and attacked me.
It seems that the skeletal warriors come in groups of four and stand together in solidarity. I couldn't help but feel fortunate that they don't come in groups of eight. Otherwise, if I were hit by eight skeletal warriors using "Charge Impact," I would have been sent back to the city for free.
With this experience, I watched as the skeletal warrior prepared to use "Charge Impact" when it was one meter away from me. I immediately dodged to the side, causing the skeletal warrior's skill to fail, and then launched a storm-like attack on the skeletal warrior.
With the price of a red potion, I was able to kill these four skeletal warriors. Now, only the lonely boss zombie mage remains in the hall. It's time for me to deal with this arrogant boss zombie mage.
Maximizing all of my statuses, I immediately charged at the zombie mage, wielding my skeletal blade and striking towards its head.
Minus 80, minus 100, confused status. It's no wonder the mage's specialty is long-range attacks. During the time I was charging towards it, the zombie mage had already spotted me and started attacking proactively. A round of black fireball attacks caused my health to start to drain.
"Ding dong, player Stone City, you have been poisoned."
What a calamity! Just as I was about to charge towards the Zombie Mage, the system alerted me that I had been poisoned. My entire body turned green, and my life began to rapidly decrease.
Fortunately, I was well-prepared and quickly used an Antidote. The poison was cured, and I immediately used a Healing Potion. It was fortunate that I had the Antidote, or else it would have been difficult to deal with this Zombie Mage.
I finally made it to the front of the Zombie Mage, and my Skeletal Blade began to attack.
-260, -430, -250. Looking at the damage I inflicted on the Zombie Mage, this boss was truly a monster that combined both a mage and a zombie. Not only did it have the high attack of a mage, but it also had the defense of a zombie, which greatly reduced my damage.
It was so monotonous. Although I now have three attack skills - "Hack", "Heavy Strike", and "Double Strike" - which hit the Zombie Mage in succession, causing a series of damages, each strike lacked any artistic flair.
That's how a knight fights, exchanging blood for blood and life for life. The one with more blood wins. Sometimes I envy the flexible attacks of archers and the versatile attack styles of assassins.
As I watched the Zombie Mage's life slowly decrease, when its life was down to one-tenth, it quickly evaded my attack, attacking me as it fled, becoming agile.
For knights, this kind of attack from the Zombie Mage was difficult to deal with. After all, speed is not a knight's specialty, making it difficult to catch up to the Zombie Mage. If the knight does not get close to the monster, they cannot attack and can only passively endure attacks.
But I had high agility, and my speed was no weaker than those of assassins. Therefore, I quickly caught up to the Zombie Mage and slashed it a few times. The Zombie Mage looked at me incredulously, as a knight who was a nonconformist, and unwillingly met its demise, dropping two items.
"Ding dong, congratulations to Stone City for leveling up. Now at level 21, life and magic have increased by 10, and there are 5 attribute points to allocate."
"Ding dong, congratulations to player Stone City for killing the Zombie Mage. Reputation increased by 30."
Experiencing high-level monster hunting is great. Killing this Zombie Mage boss allowed me to instantly level up to 21, saving me a lot of time.
All that was left was to use the "Collection Technique" on the Zombie Mage's corpse.
"Ding dong, congratulations to player Stone City for collecting a low-level refining stone. Collection proficiency has increased."
Refining Stone: a magical gemstone created by the goddess Tianmeng, which can combine two different pets into a new type of pet. It is very precious and rare, but the success rate of combining is very low, so use it with caution.
Wow, what a valuable treasure!
Thanks to finding this Refining Stone, my advanced skill "Collection Technique" immediately gained 10,000 experience points. I knew this Refining Stone was a valuable item.
This Refining Stone was probably used by the Zombie Mage, which was created by the demonic doctor Tano under the orders of the devil. Fortunately, my "Collection Technique" is advanced; otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to collect such a valuable gemstone.
I quickly put the Refining Stone into my backpack and hid it safely. Then, I looked at the two items that the Zombie Mage dropped.
Hehe, what a fortune! It's no surprise that a boss drops valuable items, except for the first time you kill them, and it also has a lot to do with my high luck.
Although the Zombie Mage only dropped two items, they were both valuable: a golden staff used by mages and a skill book.
Skeletal Staff: a golden equipment that requires a level 20 mage class to use. Its effect is unknown and cannot be applied.
Skill Book: Rampage Fury, an intermediate skill that arouses a player's bloodthirst, increasing attack power and attack speed. It requires a priest class.
Dizzy, I can't use either of these items. I was happy for nothing.
This Skeletal Staff should be a matching equipment with my Skeletal Set. It is exclusively used by mage class occupations, just like my Skeletal Blade is used by warrior class occupations.
Alright, I put both equipment items in my backpack, allocated the five attribute points I earned from leveling up to strength and constitution in a 3:2 ratio, and prepared to enter the third floor of the Blackstone Tower.