Sterl didn't hesitate to activate his personal map feature.
There already were seven highlighted yellow dots, indicating the locations of pet eggs as informed by the system prompt.
He set off immediately.
However, Sterl wasn't in a particular rush. He still had the buff from a high-level experience potion active, planning to grind some monsters along the way to continue benefiting from the potion's effects.
He opened the recent system prompts and discovered further detailed instructions…
[In this instance, you can destroy other pet eggs to transfer their life energy to the remaining pet eggs in the instance.]
The meaning was simple. Sterl didn't need to worry about attacking other players personally. As long as he could ensure he was the last one standing in the instance, he would definitely get the highest quality pet egg.
Sterl grabbed his weapon and moved towards the nearest yellow dot, slaying countless monsters along the way, all of whom met their demise under his dark scythe.
Moreover, after meditating, Sterl realized that the people from the intermediate base had stopped using the divination crystal ball to monitor his actions.
So, Sterl unabashedly used flame storm to speed up clearing the monsters.
Until he had filled most of the experience bar from level 17 to 18, he suddenly noticed that the yellow dot representing a pet egg on his personal map was extremely close.
At the same time, he faintly heard a barrage of cursing voices below.
"This voice. Doesn't seem to be in the language of us Earth humans?" Sterl slightly tilted his head, then realized something.
In [Transcendence], players from different races were automatically equipped with a translation system, ensuring communication was barrier-free. Upon hearing the language of other races, the meaning would automatically emerge in the players' minds.
But with a bit of focus, one could identify it was a foreign language.
And along with these foreign voices, there were also the terrifying roars of wild beasts.
Just hearing that sound, Sterl felt a slight fear in his heart and an impulse to run away… Clearly, this was the effect of a skill.
"Even from such a distance, it can be effective for me?" Sterl was slightly shocked.
Combining the pet egg symbol on the map, he suspected that the beast issuing the roar was likely the guardian of the pet egg, presumably of high strength.
Sterl sprinted forward rapidly, activating Bloody Sprint to quickly bypass the surrounding monsters.
Soon, he arrived above a mine.
Sterl cautiously stepped into it, using the towering boulders within the mine to hide and stealthily made his way into the battlefield.
Then, Sterl saw a half-dragon creature with its lower body rotting and festering, furiously roaring.
The attributes of this creature quickly flashed before his eyes.
[Crippled Earth Dragon (Guardian of the Star Egg)]
[Category: Boss-level Monster]
[Level: 20]
[Constitution: ???]
[Strength: ???]
[Agility: ???]
[Spirit: ???]
[???]
[???]
[???]
The so-called leader level monster is——
"Boss?"
After reading the attributes, Sterl was stunned, filled with question marks?
The only information he could glean was that this was a level 20 boss with three skills.
But generally speaking, there should only be one boss in an instance!
What was the situation here?
Sterl would bet that this was definitely not any ordinary boss guarding the area. The words [Guardian of the Star Egg] indicated that the crippled earth dragon before him was likely guarding a pet egg.
Most likely, there were similar guardian bosses near the other pet eggs!
Sterl's guess was immediately confirmed.
Behind the BOSS, there was a sandy-yellow platform with an egg glowing with a faint azure light placed on a red velvet cushion.
When Sterl cast his gaze upon it, an attribute screen popped up.
[Star Egg]
[Quality: D+ grade]
[Effect: When carried by a player, after a period, it will hatch into a D+ grade pet of the Star race.]
[Note: If not acquired by a player, this item will hatch into a wild monster after 2104 days.]
"Already a D+ grade quality?"
"The life force of the 300+ deceased players, 1/7th of it is contained within this Star Egg," Sterl observed with ease.
He was under no pressure.
However, not far away, those who were battling... or rather, being unilaterally hunted by the crippled earth dragon, were in agony.
Sterl observed and found that this was a group of beings quite similar in appearance to humans.
The only difference was that they had gill-like structures on their faces and their skin was a pale blue, suggesting they could live both in water and on land.
This group of players was quite strong, all below level 20 and without having changed classes, they were much stronger than the elite squad composed of Sterl's batch of players.
Basically, each of them could unleash wind blades, fireballs, and electric shocks towards the boss. Just by the looks of it, these players had at least C-grade or B-grade talents.
Moreover, some could harden their skin or create light shields to tank, while a few with healing abilities were well-protected at the back.
This squad, totaling 12 people, each could be considered outstanding talents among Earth's humans.
Unfortunately, despite their strengths and desperate struggles,
Facing the boss, it was all in vain!
A team of twelve, even if they had changed classes to become professionals, would risk facing a boss of the same level... not to mention these players hadn't changed classes yet, had much lower attributes, and lacked powerful skills.
Rather than saying this group was battling the boss, it was more accurate to say they were merely being toyed with by the crippled earth dragon.
Every time it unleashed a lava breath, at least one player was instantly killed, burned into a semi-melted liquid state.
Whenever the dragon simply turned over or rolled, the warriors and tanks trying to hold the boss down would at best suffer broken limbs, or at worst, be flattened to death!
In the time it took Sterl to check the attributes of the pet egg and the boss, half of the elite squad had already perished!
"Since you're all busy fighting, I'll just help myself." Sterl muttered, launching his skill [Bloody Charge].
The platform where the egg rested, guarded by the boss at the rear, was normally impossible for players to reach without defeating the boss.
However, [Bloody Charge], a rare skill obtainable only through sacrifice, far exceeded the limitations of the instance!
At that moment, the players desperately battling the boss saw a blur of a blood-red figure flash by. The next second, another figure appeared atop the platform, grabbing the pet egg in hand.
"Who are you? One of the Earth's humans?"
"My friend, we beseech your aid, and we shall reward you!"
...
The players reacted quickly and sensibly, not mentioning Sterl's opportunistic acquisition of the pet egg at all, merely pleading for his help.
By the usual storyline, Sterl expected these players to beg for his help, then, upon refusal, curse him out in anger...
That's how it went in the novels Sterl had read.
In reality, he was overthinking it.
The players battling the boss below only spared a fraction of their attention for Sterl when the boss let out a roar, spewing a massive stream of lava!
Caught off guard, the players failed to scatter in time and were all engulfed by the lava!
No resistance. No counterattack.
Boom!
The breath of lava surged, and for a moment, the only sound in the entire mine was that of the deadly dragon's breath destroying everything!
The players were instantly reduced to ashes in the terrifying heat, leaving no trace behind.
Ironically, a notification rang in Sterl's ears:
[Congratulations, your pet egg has upgraded in quality, reaching grade C.]
After dealing with the other players, the crippled earth dragon's golden slit pupils suddenly fixed on the figure atop the platform.
The BOSS, seeing Sterl take the pet egg, roared in extreme anger.
Fury overflowed!
Sterl hesitated for a moment, choosing not to use Bloody Charge to escape again.
Upon entering the instance, his initial plan was to challenge the boss.
The boss's recent use of its powerful lava attack to wipe out the players from another race was absurd indeed. But after some thought, Sterl figured the boss must have expended some energy in the fight.
This was the best opportunity to challenge the boss!