Chương 40: Five Fire Turtle Kings

Violet: Could I ask you to help clear a dungeon in Fallen Star City? Don't worry, the pay will be generous! Big Gunn: Something's come up. If you're not in a rush, give me three hours. Violet: Then it's settled—see you in three hours! … Grinding stats was always a dull affair. Minute by minute it dragged, the Fire Turtles falling one after another before him. Numb by now, Ryan swung his arms mechanically, attacks never stopping, downing a Fire Turtle roughly every three seconds.

Time flew; over three thousand Fire Turtles met their end before him, and his Spirit and Constitution rose sharply.

[Name: Big Gunn] Level: 10 | Class: Mystic Spirit Disciple HP: 8, 000/8, 000 | Stamina: 4, 000/4, 000 Attack: 450 (+300) | Defense: 600 (+150) — Base Attributes — Strength: 450 | Constitution: 600 | Agility: 350 | Intelligence: 300 | Spirit: 600 — Fixed Attributes — Charm: 40 | Luck: 65 — Talents — Ambidexterity, Penetration, Block, Combo — Skills (Combat) — Second Nature, Thorn Pierce, Shadow Raid, Summon Venom Wolves, Turtle Shell, Fireball, Bone-Shatter, Mighty Force — Skills (Life) — Mystic Spirit Forging Art, Mystic Spirit Disassembly Art With his new gear, his stats had climbed nicely; attack and defense now both hit 750.

For an ordinary Level 10 player in Common gear, attack and defense hovered around 200—next to Ryan, heaven and earth. His Spirit had nearly doubled too; if he refined Bronze Fire Seeds now, under the 10x acceleration the speed would surely be markedly faster.

"Before I go, one more look at the Fire Turtle Kings." He glanced at the dazzling spread of gear and items on the ground and winced. His bag held only a hundred slots, and the gear here topped three hundred pieces—nowhere near enough room.

"Looks like I'd better find a chance to finish that hidden quest; then the bag-space problem sorts itself out." He smiled wryly, forced to mail the overflow to his Dragon Blood City warehouse at one gold per shipment. At the current rate, one gold was 150 Azure Coin—so this little exercise had already cost him over thirty thousand. Money really does run like water… Wincing a touch, he left the crevice and ran toward the source of the scorching heat deep in the valley.

Snoooore— The Fire Turtle Kings slept in their lair—five of them, the lowest Level 20, the highest Level 25, all Normal-tag Silver Bosses. High-leveled as they were, their stats rivaled the Hell Gold Bosses of Ashan Castle. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it. [Silver Boss: Fire Turtle King (Normal): Sovereign of the Fire Turtles; the Fire Turtle Shell on its back is a rare gear-forging material. HP: 250, 000, Stamina: 150, 000, Attack (fire): 1, 000, Defense: 800, Skills: Fireball, Turtle Shell, Blazing Stomp, Level: 25] Five Bosses. Soloing one wouldn't faze Ryan, but if all five came at once he'd be hard-pressed—so he planned to lure them to the boulder crevice and pick them off one by one, as he had the smaller turtles. He drew his crossbow and loosed a bolt at one sleeping King. Hiss—! The bolt struck a King's head where it poked from its shell. -20!

Unable to pierce its defense, it dealt only 20 penetration damage. ROAR! Shot in the head, the slumbering King woke with a furious bellow, eyes narrowing, a bloodthirsty light flashing as its gaze fell on Ryan fifty meters off. Over ten meters long and a full three meters tall, the King moved like a walking hill, the ground trembling with each step. Its stirring roused its companions; the others woke and rose, charging toward Ryan. BOOM BOOM BOOM!

The Fire Turtle Kings' fireballs were ten times the size of a common turtle's—raging flames that seemed to ignite the very air, hurtling at the fleeing Ryan like falling meteors. Ordinary fireballs he could've dodged with nimble footwork, but the Kings' covered an enormous area, and five firing together swallowed the region in flame. -100! -100! -100! … He dodged the blast cores, but the burn still chipped at his HP. Luckily his cap was a full 8, 000; even 100-damage burns couldn't truly hurt him.

The pain was real enough, though—in those few seconds his exposed skin reddened. But he was fast, and soon broke clear of the fire-sea to the boulders. With this, I can chokepoint and kill the Bosses. The corner of his mouth lifted; he breathed easier. But just then, the five Kings roared as one, lifted their heads, and unleashed their fireballs—five great spheres merging into one and hurtling out with a heart-stopping aura of destruction, striking the boulder before Ryan dead-on. BOOM BOOM BOOM!

A violent roar, scorching heat washing over him, rubble flying. Ryan let the debris pelt him, a flicker of shock in his eyes. The boulder he'd meant to use for positioning had been blasted to gravel by the Kings' combined fireball. Flames spread, dust filled the air, and Ryan stood alone before the sea of fire, a wry smile at his lips. He hadn't expected the Kings to be clever enough to destroy the boulder, leaving him no way to play it cheap.

"If I can't chokepoint, I'll find another way!" His eyes narrowed, and a method he'd often used in his last life to kill Bosses of this size flashed through his mind—the ride-kill. The ride-kill was simple enough: mount the Boss's back and hammer away until it died. It had worked beautifully in the game Reign in his last life. The key—and the hardest part—was getting onto the Boss in the first place. And here his targets were five Bosses, making it absurdly harder.

Yet he wasn't worried; a faint smile played at his lips, as if he already had it all in hand. Come on! His gaze sank; the instant the five Kings reared back to attack again, he surged forward at full speed and charged.