Hearing the system's level-up notification, Lucien couldn't help but sigh.
The Summoner profession was too low-ranked; leveling up only added a small amount of attributes.
He let out a deep breath.
But... attributes could always be compensated for with equipment.
As long as he cleared the Hell-level dungeon with a high rating,
the rewards would definitely let him catch up—or even surpass—those with higher-ranked professions.
Moreover, equipment could be enhanced.
Once he left the dungeon, with the power of the "One-Coin Glitch",
he could enhance equipment without any worry and greatly boost his stats.
This thought comforted Lucien as he commanded his Goblins to keep moving forward.
Soon, Lucien arrived at the castle gates.
The journey had not been easy.
He had encountered a total of 28 Blood Thralls along the way.
After wiping them out, Lucien had leveled up to Lv3.
By now, all the regular Goblins he had first summoned were dead,
leaving only the Large Goblins at his side.
With over 50 Large Goblins at his command, Lucien pushed open the massive castle doors.
In the castle's courtyard, several Blood Thralls were wandering aimlessly.
"Attack!"
The Large Goblins charged forward with their spiked clubs raised high.
Bam! Bam bam!
-235… -221… -264…
With his skill "Summon Goblin" now four levels higher,
the attributes of the Large Goblins had become quite impressive.
In less than 10 seconds, Lucien heard the system notification for the Blood Thralls' deaths.
Lucien pressed onward, heading to the main entrance of the castle.
He pushed open the door and stepped inside.
The entryway led to a grand hall devoid of furniture,
save for two pitch-black coffins placed in the center.
Nearby, several Blood Thralls roamed the area.
As Lucien entered, the lids of the two coffins suddenly shattered,
and two black shadows leaped out.
When they landed, Lucien finally got a clear look at them:
A man and a woman, dressed slightly better than the Blood Thralls,
their bodies mostly intact.
But their faces were deathly pale,
and sharp fangs protruded from their upper lips,
making them look far from human.
Lucien used Inspect on them.
[Creature]: Blood Lieutenant
[Grade]: Elite
[Level]: 10
[HP]: 3500/3500
[MP]: 700/700
[Strength]: 76
[Constitution]: 62
[Agility]: 99
[Spirit]: 47
[Skills]: Bite, Poison Claws, Bloodthirsty Fangs
"You dare trespass in the castle and disturb our master's rest? Courting death!"
The male Blood Lieutenant roared angrily,
and the two figures rushed toward Lucien with terrifying speed.
Startled, Lucien quickly retreated,
positioning the Large Goblins between himself and the attackers.
Elite monsters were no joke.
The Blood Lieutenants easily tore through the Large Goblins,
killing them with just a few strikes.
However, the sheer number of Goblins created a dense wall,
completely cutting the Lieutenants off from Lucien.
Even as they fell, the Large Goblins retaliated fiercely,
each final swing of their clubs dealing 70-80 damage!
Lucien didn't dare relax.
Standing at the back, he continuously cast "Summon Goblin".
The Blood Lieutenants rampaged through the Goblin horde,
trying desperately to break through.
But no matter how many they killed,
Lucien simply summoned more.
After a while, the number of Goblins had increased rather than decreased.
Frustration boiled over in the Lieutenants.
Unlike the Blood Thralls, they had the skill "Bloodthirsty Fangs",
allowing them to heal by absorbing blood.
Without something stronger than Large Goblins,
defeating them would be difficult.
Lucien remained patient.
Though dragging out the fight might lower his completion rating,
a flawless clear would still earn him at least an S-grade.
He focused on leveling up his skill, letting the battle grind on.
Soon, he heard the notification he had been waiting for:
[Ding! Your skill "Summon Goblin" has leveled up to Lv20.]
[Ding! Talent "Skill Evolution" triggered. Skill effects enhanced.]
Lucien's eyes brightened. Finally!
He opened the skill panel to check the updated details.
[Summon Goblin (Lv20)]: Consumes 50 MP to summon a Special Goblin (50% chance of Large Goblin, 50% chance of Ice/Flame/Corrosion Goblin), lasting 20 minutes.
"Elemental Goblins?"
Lucien immediately activated the skill.
He got lucky—his first summon was an Ice Goblin.
Checking its stats, Lucien noticed that while its strength was slightly lower than a Large Goblin's,
its spirit attribute was significantly higher,
and it came with an additional skill: "Ice Spike".
[Ice Spike]: Launches an ice spike at a target, dealing 150% of Spirit as magic damage and slowing the target by 30%.
"Not bad, not bad!"
Lucien nodded in satisfaction and commanded the Ice Goblin to join the fight.
He made sure it stayed at the back, casting Ice Spikes.
It missed twice before landing a hit on its third try,
dealing 214 damage and applying a slow effect!
Lucien quickly realized that the Blood Lieutenants had high physical resistance but relatively low magic resistance.
Excited, he continued summoning.
After a few more Ice Goblins, he finally summoned a Flame Goblin.
The Flame Goblin's unique skill, "Fire Stone",
dealt 150% of Spirit as magic damage and inflicted a burn effect on its target.
Lucien sent it into the fray.
The Flame Goblin hurled a flaming stone at the slowed female Blood Lieutenant,
instantly depleting her remaining health.
-524!
[Ding! You killed an Lv10 Elite Monster - Blood Lieutenant. Gained 1000 EXP.]
Lucien's eyes widened.
That damage was ridiculous!
Could it be…?
An idea formed in his mind, but he needed to test it to confirm.
He ordered the Ice Goblins to stop attacking temporarily.
After waiting a moment,
he commanded the Flame Goblin to attack first.
-251.
Normal damage.
Then, he had the Ice Goblin join in.
The next Ice Spike dealt normal damage, but there was no slow effect.
However, when the Ice Spike was immediately followed by another Fire Stone…
-601!
The massive damage confirmed his theory.
His summons could combine their elemental abilities to trigger Elemental Reactions,
causing one-plus-one to exceed two in damage!
Lucien deftly controlled his Goblins,
one hand summoning while the other orchestrated their attacks.
Before long, under the devastating power of Elemental Reactions,
the male Blood Lieutenant let out an unwilling roar and collapsed to the ground.
[Ding! You killed an Lv10 Elite Monster - Blood Lieutenant. Gained 1000 EXP.]
Lucien stopped summoning and stepped forward to collect the loot.
The Blood Thralls had only dropped useless materials and a few copper coins.
But Elite Monsters were bound to have better rewards.
He bent down and touched the glowing orbs.
[Item]: Poison Claws (Skill Book)
[Requirement]: Assassin profession, Agility > 50
[Description]: A second-tier Assassin skill. Temporarily enhances nails with poison, inflicting minor poison damage on successful attacks.
[Equipment]: Iron Claw
[Grade]: Common
[Attributes]: Strength +45, Agility +66
[Requirement]: Agility > 50
Both items were useless to Lucien, but their value was undeniable.
Skill books were incredibly rare, and a second-tier skill could sell for over 300 gold coins.
The Iron Claw, despite being Common grade, had two attribute bonuses and was worth over 100 gold coins.
Smiling, Lucien stored the items in his inventory.
Looking up at the second floor of the castle, he muttered,
"If Elite Monsters drop this kind of loot, the boss must have something even better."
Licking his lips, Lucien chuckled to himself.
Still, he didn't rush upstairs.
If Elite Monsters were this tough, the boss would undoubtedly be even stronger.
He resumed summoning, determined to gather 100 Elemental Goblins before moving forward.