In his previous life, Tristan had never done the Crimson Tomb dungeon because it wasn't discovered until a month after the server launch. Plus, there was a level cap. By the time he reached level 30, even if he paid a huge amount of gold to return to the newbie village, he still couldn't enter the dungeon. However, he did research the dungeon's flow and strategies, mainly to understand the BOSS skills so that he could be better prepared when facing similar enemies in the future.
As for the regular monsters, they were no challenge. On Nightmare Difficulty, even the minions died instantly to his flying knives.
Tristan was ready for a quick and efficient battle, clearing his way through the dungeon.
Against the fierce flying knives, the Blood Vampire Minions couldn't figure out where the enemy hiding in the shadows was. They only reacted with furious, futile swipes before quietly collapsing and turning into experience points.
"Not even a level-up kill, the experience is low," Tristan couldn't help but comment.
He was so used to leveling up by killing higher-level monsters that it felt a bit strange to only be killing monsters of the same level, especially with the experience so low.
If there were players nearby who had been struggling to complete the dungeon, they'd probably want to stab Tristan. After all, they were struggling with the minions at normal difficulty, while Tristan was complaining about the low experience despite taking down Nightmare difficulty minions in a single strike.
...
A few minutes later, all the Blood Vampire Minions in the first wave were slain, and Tristan had collected a bag full of regular equipment.
There were two level-10 common pieces. Their attributes weren't great, but they could be sold or broken down for materials.
After all, minions, even on Nightmare difficulty, didn't drop high-level gear unless they had a rarity upgrade. Tristan wasn't expecting much.
"Whatever, didn't expect anything good from these minions. I'll just save my hopes for the BOSS."
Tristan felt re-energized. Though the Crimson Tomb dungeon's overall level cap wasn't high, on Nightmare Difficulty, even the standard BOSSes were Silver Grade, and the hidden BOSS, the Vampire Baron, was a terrifying Gold Grade!
And once the special mode activated, the transformed Wolf King would break through its limits, also reaching Silver Grade.
In other words, the final BOSS fight would require facing both a Gold Grade and a Silver Grade BOSS!
For most players, this was an immense challenge. Even elite guild teams were struggling.
But Tristan was completely unconcerned.
As long as the BOSS didn't have an anti-Stealth ability, he could solo it.
...
With a clean path and a bag full of regular equipment, Tristan arrived at the first BOSS.
Hanging from the ceiling of the tomb was a giant bat.
Vampire Bat (Silver Grade)
Level: 10
Health: 350,000/350,000
Attack: 1500 (+300)
Defense: 800
Skills: Sonic Shriek, High-Speed Strike, Bat Swarm Summon, Life Drain
Description: Pet of the Vampire Baron, loves to feast on human brain matter.
This monster's attributes were somewhat weaker compared to Jerobi's. But that made sense, as Jerobi had a much more significant background than this bat.
Despite years of being sealed away, Jerobi still maintained Silver Grade standards, which was a testament to its former strength. How strong Jerobi had been at its peak was hard to measure.
Looking at the seemingly sleeping Vampire Bat, Tristan took a deep breath. He threw a flying knife, immediately entered Stealth, and began running.
Boom!
The area where he had been standing a second ago was struck by a dark shadow, cracking the stone floor beneath.
In the dust cloud, the Vampire Bat shook its head and let out an irritated screech. Its speed was fast enough that it almost crushed Tristan, but he managed to escape just in time.
The bat's strike missed, but Tristan knew he wasn't entirely safe. He was still in Stealth, not in complete invisibility. The enemy's attacks, even if they missed, still posed a danger.
The Vampire Bat's characteristic was its incredible speed. Had Tristan not moved quickly, he would have been crushed underfoot.
But dodging the strike didn't mean he was out of danger.
After missing the strike, the bat changed its tactics. Its belly swelled, and it opened its mouth to release a sharp, shrieking sound.
An invisible shockwave expanded in a fan-shaped arc, turning the nearby rocks into dust. It was easy to imagine that taking the brunt of this attack, even with full armor, would be hard on a main tank, let alone someone as fragile as Tristan.
The bat looked at the rubble in front of it, not finding any corpse. Realizing the enemy wasn't there, it immediately flapped its wings and returned to the ceiling, its red eyes scanning the area.
Tristan, still hidden in the shadows, looked grim. As expected of a Nightmare Difficulty BOSS—its series of counterattacks were flawless. Ordinary assassins probably wouldn't survive the first round of strikes.
"Too bad you met me," Tristan murmured with a smile. As soon as Shadow Stealth cooled down, he struck again, then dashed away.
Boom!
The Vampire Bat dived down again, followed by another sonic shriek.
More rocks turned to dust, but Tristan was unharmed, waiting for his abilities to cool down in another corner.
Even Silver Grade BOSSes couldn't locate him, as long as they lacked sound-based abilities.
Of course, this was also thanks to having upgraded Shadow Stealth to Bronze Grade. If it were still at its original level, the bat's keen senses might have allowed it to somewhat detect his position and prepare.
But now, Tristan had nothing to worry about. Sorry, but you're as good as dead.
After landing another few flying knives, the Vampire Bat's health dropped below half.
In a fit of rage, it screeched, summoning a swarm of bats that filled the tomb and circled around the room.
This was the second phase of the Vampire Bat: summoning a large group of bats to attack the player.
The worst part was that these bats had a life-draining effect. If the player couldn't clear them quickly, they might find themselves in an awkward situation where they took more damage from the small bats than the BOSS itself.
But for Tristan, this phase was no different from before.
The bats weren't as fast as the Vampire Bat, and they couldn't even touch him, let alone heal the BOSS.
Three of the BOSS's skills had no effect on Tristan, and even the Life Drain was useless.
Without the ability to lock onto Tristan, the BOSS couldn't use its skills.
So, the bat's demise was inevitable.
Boom.
The Vampire Bat's health bar emptied, and it fell from the ceiling.
Ding! "You have killed the 10th level Silver Grade BOSS, the Vampire Bat, and earned 20,000 experience points. The experience cap has been reached, and excess experience has been added to the experience pool."
"Hunting Moment activated, you gain 1 evolution point! Current points: 2"
The small bats summoned by the Vampire Bat immediately scattered in all directions.
Tristan stepped forward and picked up the dropped equipment.
Bloodthirst Blade: Silver Grade, Attack +300, Agility +15, Equipment requirement: Level 10
He equipped it right away, and his attack power shot up, crossing the 300 mark. This boost further increased Tristan's damage output.
Now, he felt even more confident about defeating the Vampire Baron.