A fiery red lion, emanating intense heat, lay on a large rock in the stone cave. Under its paws lay a human skeleton, already somewhat charred black. The lion's tongue licked back and forth over the bones, and several small animal skeletons were scattered nearby. Three large characters floated above the lion's head.
"Chaos Bringer"
Attack Type: Chaos, deals maximum damage to all armor types
Attack Speed: Medium
Type: Mutated Creature — BOSS
...The brief description made me swallow. Dealing maximum damage to all armor types meant that whether you wore cloth or plate armor, you would take the full force of its attacks.
I'll test it out first!
My greatsword carved a beautiful arc in the air and landed on the Chaos Bringer's head. The "204" damage from a Heavy Strike made me quite pleased, but then the Chaos Bringer's retaliatory claw strike made me almost cry out in pain. The "62" damage it dealt instantly sent my heart plummeting. With my current 640 HP, just 10 more attacks would send me back to Level 20.
After three consecutive slashes, I finally couldn't resist dragging my sword and fleeing. The Chaos Bringer only chased me a short distance out of its cave before returning. I waited nearby for my HP to fully recover. The sad thing was that the Chaos Bringer's HP also fully recovered. My three slashes had taken away 600 of its HP, which was about 1/10 of its total. It had also attacked me twice, dealing 120 damage, which was 1/5 of my HP. The Chaos Bringer didn't open its mouth when attacking; it only used its claws, so the tomato tactic was basically useless.
I looked at the four medium red potions in my inventory. For this quest, it seemed they wouldn't be spared. Besides, I wasn't short on those few gold coins right now; I might as well spend them.
So I charged forward again, fighting desperately. After two minutes of tenacious combat, using my maneuvers and dodges to minimize losses, and after using two medium red potions, I finally knocked the Chaos Bringer to the ground. Unfortunately, I didn't receive a system notification. Instead, as I was about to go check for loot, a milky-white light emanated from the Chaos Bringer's corpse.
System Notification: The Chaos Bringer is receiving the baptism of resurrection power, entering resurrection time!
"10!"
"9!"
...I was sweating profusely. What was this? I had fought for ages, almost getting hemorrhoids, and now it was going to resurrect? Damn it!
What to do? What to do?
Several complex runes were slowly rising above the Chaos Bringer's head; it had entered the prelude to resurrection!
Hmm?
A jade-green orb was placed behind the Chaos Bringer, emitting a soft glow. A thin stream of green energy slowly flowed from the green orb towards the Chaos Bringer's body.
So, it was supporting the Chaos Bringer's resurrection!
Treasure! Money!
My eyes lit up. I moved nimbly, swiftly rolling to grab the orb, and in doing so, I also snapped the thin thread connecting the orb to the Chaos Bringer.
The Chaos Bringer resurrected!
I immediately threw the orb into my inventory and met the Chaos Bringer with my longsword again. This time, I was mentally prepared. After using all my large and small red potions, I barely managed to knock the Chaos Bringer down again. I was so exhausted I felt like I was about to pass out.
This time, the Chaos Bringer was truly dead, because I saw equipment drop again!
A magic robe, a leather cape, a glowing dagger, and a silver token!
"Chaos Robe" (green equipment)
Defense: 18
Stamina: +8
Intelligence: +11
Bonus: Increases healing effectiveness by up to 15 points
Required Level: 17
"Phantom Dagger" (green equipment)
Attack: 21-36
Strength: +8
Agility: +12
Required Level: 16
"Phantom Cloak" (green equipment)
Defense: 12
Stamina: +4
Agility: +16
Required Level: 16
...I'm rich again! The robe increases healing effectiveness, perfect for Lu Xuehan. The Phantom Cloak can only go to Xin Yu. As for the dagger, since none of us are Thieves, selling it will make another fortune!
The silver token was the Swordsman's Trial Proof, and I also found the Chaos Bringer's heart on its corpse. Both quests were completed just like that.
I created an item description for the Chaos Robe's attributes and sent it to Lu Xuehan via friend message.
Soon after, Lu Xuehan opened her communicator and spoke to me, her excitement barely contained in her voice: "Lin Fan, are you going to give it to me? That's great! Let me tell you some good news, an hour ago I got a Level 16 green Knight's spear and sold it on the Exchange for the exorbitant price of 4500 RMB, which means I made a pure profit of 1500! How about I treat you to something to eat tomorrow?"
"Ah, really? Congratulations!"
"En, it's almost 9 o'clock, I need to sleep. Can you give me that robe tomorrow?"
...Finally, we're on the right track. If everyone can get equipment to sell, our small studio can continue to operate!
Returning to Via Village, I handed the Chaos Bringer's heart to the little nurse Malin, completing the quest "Malin's Trust." I gained a lot, not to mention the experience and money, but I also received an item that left me dumbfounded—the Heart's Desire Necklace!
"Heart's Desire Necklace" (No Grade)
Stamina: +10
Strength: +12
Intelligence: +8
Agility: +14
Bonus: Increases skill success rate by 50%
...The attributes were powerful, adding four stats, but the effect left me a bit speechless. What exactly did increasing skill success rate by 50% mean?
At this moment, I suddenly remembered that jade-green orb. I still hadn't checked what it was. I quickly opened my inventory and was immediately frustrated.
"Orb of Regeneration"
Effect: When activated, grants the user a 10% chance to resurrect within 30 minutes. Cooldown 48 hours. No need to equip. Automatically disappears after one week.
I was a bit helpless at the time. A 10% chance of resurrection meant I'd have to die 10 times to have a chance to resurrect once. With my luck, where I step in three piles of dog poop just walking down the street, would I even have a chance to resurrect? Besides, the item disappears after a week. I couldn't figure out what was going on... The silver token was proof of killing the Chaos Bringer. I gave it to the Village Chief, and in Exchange, he gave me a letter: Via Village Chief's Trial Proof!
The quest indicated that I only needed to take this letter to the Swordsman Trainer in Hurricane City to successfully advance.
Checking the time, it was almost 10 o'clock. It was time to sleep.
I ran to the port, got on a ship, and then logged off. That way, when I logged back on, I might already be in Hurricane City. For this brilliant idea, I had to take a hot bath to celebrate!
As I left the room, I saw Xin Yu carefully carrying a bowl of noodles out of the kitchen, with Lu Xuehan excitedly following behind, holding a pair of chopsticks.
"What are you two doing?"
Lu Xuehan smiled sweetly: "Late-night snack! Hey... Lin Fan, don't snatch it! I begged Xin Yu for a long time to make this!"
I had already taken the chopsticks: "Xue Han, I'm practically starving to death. Let me go first? If not, we can eat together!"
Lu Xuehan was stunned for a moment, a blush creeping up her beautiful face: "Then you eat first~"
"Hmph hmph~ shameless..." Xin Yu sneered, then continued: "Always bullying our Xue Han..."