Eerie howls echoed through the silent forest, sending chills down one's spine.
Beneath the trees, a pack of blade wolves with reddish fur glared menacingly at their surroundings.
I dared not rush in carelessly. Being alone, one misstep could mean death. If my Golden Bow were to break, my fully-specced archer would become useless, and I might as well delete the character!
"Thwack!"
A blue flash pierced the air as my Ice Arrow struck a blade wolf's neck. I followed up with a powerful Fire Arrow, sending the beast staggering back. As it lunged forward again, a second Ice Arrow found its mark. Before reaching me, the fierce blade wolf collapsed with a pitiful whimper. It dropped not only a handful of silver coins but also a palm-sized pelt. Upon inspection, it was exactly what I needed for the quest—a [Sleek Wolf Pelt].
I slew several more blade wolves, but no more pelts dropped until the seventh kill. The quest item drop rate seemed quite low, but the abundant experience and silver coins were already making me giddy with excitement.
An hour later, amidst a golden glow, I reached level 19 and had collected 14 blade wolf pelts. It seemed that completing the quest for 100 pelts would take at least seven or eight hours.
Another two hours flew by. As a blade wolf charged at me, a red light flashed, and sparks flew. The wolf yelped and crumpled to the ground!
"Clank!"
A piece of equipment fell, and then—"Ding!"
System Notification: Congratulations! You have reached level 20!
System Notification: Congratulations! You have learned the talent—[Minor Healing]!
I was momentarily startled, suddenly remembering that every player could learn a talent upon reaching level 20. There were many types of talents, but their effects were generally modest.
My talent, Minor Healing, was a non-upgradeable spell that restored 100 HP at the cost of 10 MP!
I grinned to myself, "Now I can pretend to be a cleric and charm some warrior girls!"
Then I remembered the blade wolf had dropped equipment!
It was a piece of leather armor, gleaming with a dark red light. I picked it up and examined it:
[Crimson Flame Chestplate] (Bronze-tier—Leather Armor)
Defense: 36
Agility: +8
Required Level: 25
Set Bonus: ???
(Unidentified)
I rubbed my eyes, making sure I wasn't seeing things. Then it dawned on me—this Crimson Flame armor must be part of a set! A set dropped by blade wolves, no wonder the system called this place a paradise! Not only were there experience-rich monsters, but set equipment could also drop. Truly a leveling hotspot!
I tossed the Crimson Flame Chestplate into my inventory, planning to identify it back in town. I wondered what effects a complete set would have.
My talent healing spell seemed quite useful. With a two-second cast time and 100 HP restored, I wouldn't need health potions anymore. Trading 10 MP for 100 HP was an excellent deal! Meanwhile, my Ice Arrow and Fire Arrow skills were rapidly gaining proficiency from constant use. By the time I finished this quest, both skills should reach intermediate level!
As expected, after reaching level 20, the experience required for each level increased exponentially. Even with my frenzied monster-slaying pace, the experience bar crawled upwards slowly. By 2 AM, I had collected all the required blade wolf pelts and even obtained the helmet and boots of the Crimson Flame set. I just needed the leggings to complete the set.
However, I had only reached level 22. Still, this was enough to stand out from the crowd. My level had catapulted me to 12th place in the American rankings. With a bit more effort, I could make a name for myself on the leaderboard!
Upon reaching level 22, I could finally see the monsters' levels. The blade wolves I had been hunting were level 27 creatures with an attack power of 150! No wonder they could deal so much damage to me!
At 3 AM, I had cleared out most of the monsters in Wolf's Bane Ridge. Surprisingly, even after six hours, the monsters I had killed hadn't respawned, which was quite peculiar!
Venturing deeper, I encountered only a couple of blade wolves. After quickly dispatching them with Fire Arrows, I heard a "clank"—the last piece of the Crimson Flame set, the leggings, had finally dropped!
Ecstatic, I stashed the Crimson Flame Leggings in my inventory and took a deep breath. I had reached the deepest part of Wolf's Bane Ridge!
At the base of a pale cliff, scattered with patches of grass, five wolves crouched. Four were ordinary, but the one in the center exuded an imposing aura. Its blood-red fur bristled slightly, standing two meters tall with gleaming fangs!
I was startled—this giant wolf was none other than the Blade Wolf King!
The four wolves flanking the king were its royal guards, their levels matching the king's—too high for me to see!
After a moment of internal struggle, I knew I had to fight despite the danger. Abandoning such a boss when it was right in front of me simply wasn't my style!
The next question was whether to target the king first or the guards. If I could see their attributes, it would be easier to plan, but without that information, strategy went out the window.
After pondering for a while, I thought, "To hell with it, I'll take a shot and see what happens!"
"Whoosh!"
A flash of light, and sparks erupted on a royal guard's neck!
"2456!"
A critical hit!
However, I couldn't rejoice. Despite losing over two thousand hit points, the royal guard's health bar seemed barely affected! Its total HP must be over fifty thousand!
I couldn't help but draw in a sharp breath. By now, the royal guard had pounced on me, its claws raised high, slashing down on my shoulder!
I felt a slight pain and looked again, pleasantly surprised to find that the royal guard's attack had only taken 35 HP—it had barely penetrated my defense!
Could it be that the royal guard's attack was less than 100?
It made sense—close-range guards were meant to be tanks, meat shields to protect their leader. High HP was normal for them!
Just then, a red blur flashed, and I felt a sudden, intense pain in my chest. My body flew backwards!
"Ding!"
Battle Notification: You've been hit by the Blade Wolf King's attack, losing 443 HP!
Terrified, I looked at my remaining 2 HP, my soul nearly leaving my body!
I originally had only 480 HP, and after being attacked by both the royal guard and the Blade Wolf King, I was left with just 2 HP!
"Thud!"
The Blade Wolf King's devastating attack sent me flying straight into a corner of the cliff. With solid rock behind me and four royal guards closing in, I was truly between a rock and a hard place!
I quickly gulped down a 300 HP potion and used my talent healing spell, bringing my health back to half.
By now, the four royal guards had pounced, their blood-red claws raining down on me!
"Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!"
In quick succession, my HP dropped below 200 again. I could only rely on chugging potions to maintain my life. Fortunately, these royal guards didn't attack very frequently, and I managed to barely survive by constantly healing.
Then, I made a surprising discovery!
The Blade Wolf King, although snarling fiercely, didn't advance. The four royal guards had completely surrounded me, blocking the king's path. It could only stand there, gnashing its teeth in fury!
"Hell yeah! This is my chance!"
Overjoyed, I immediately nocked an iron arrow and let loose a Fire Arrow right at the Blade Wolf King's head!
With a "boom," flames bloomed on the wolf king's skull!
"894!"
The damage wasn't incredibly high, but it was enough. This was a boss over level 27, after all. Many players would be slack-jawed at such damage output! Most mainstream players were between levels 15 and 20, with attack power usually below 100 without good equipment. Being able to deal over 100 damage was already a point of pride!
The Blade Wolf King roared in anger, but its strength was useless. Clearly, the system hadn't given the royal guards much intelligence—they just kept biting at me, inadvertently blocking their king's path!
I continuously drank potions to withstand the royal guards' attacks, using my talent healing spell when things got too dicey. It was incredibly fortuitous—without that talent, I would surely have met my end in the wolves' jaws!
The Blade Wolf King's attacks were fierce, but its HP wasn't particularly high. Within ten minutes under my barrage of Fire Arrows, it had already lost half its health!
Another ten minutes flew by. As the burning tip of my iron arrow pierced the Blade Wolf King's eye, it let out a final anguished howl before collapsing. I could see several pieces of equipment drop!
"Ding!"
System Notification: Congratulations! You have slain the boss Blade Wolf King! You gain 120,000 experience and 450 reputation!
"Sweet, loot!"
Seeing the glowing equipment on the ground, I excitedly moved to pick it up, only to realize I was still surrounded by the four royal guards, unable to break free!
Damn these nuisances!
I glared at the royal guards I had found so convenient just moments ago. Fire Arrows flew from my bow like machine gun bullets. Although the royal guards had massive HP pools, they couldn't withstand such an onslaught. In no time, they all fell.
Without hesitation, I sprinted at top speed, reaching 70 km/h, and dashed to the Blade Wolf King's corpse. I scooped up the three pieces of equipment and stuffed them into my inventory in one swift motion!