Chapter 65: Sweeping the Cave (Part 2)

I was taken aback and hastily shook off the soft, squishy thing hanging on me.

Damn, I was both shocked and furious, my nose almost twisted with anger—it was a red cave spider, accompanied by four ordinary ones, still baring its fangs and waving its legs, its bristling appearance and eight terrifying eyes rolling around. What a fine and unique welcome, reminding me of the first time I met you all!!!

I laughed in anger and charged forward with the Venomous Flower Vine and the Ghost Wolf. With my current damage as a transformed bear, I could take down an ordinary cave spider in two moves, my attack already higher than Doug's. The elite cave spider didn't last long under the combined assault of the Venomous Flower Vine and the Ghost Wolf. It was utterly useless, only good for scaring people from the cave ceiling. Even the recently mutated Lazy Crow, seeing these ineffective lumps, felt the urge to try its luck.

Their weak strength naturally didn't yield good drops. The elite cave spider only dropped a few potions and gold coins. This was the first time I encountered such a stingy elite monster. Damn.

The second level of the cave was clearly smaller. After wandering for a while, I found myself back at the entrance of the first level. However, the monsters inside were of the same types, but their density had increased significantly. Unfortunately, I was already level 12, and the experience they gave was minimal. Watching my equipment durability drop, I hesitated for a moment and decided that if I couldn't find the legendary golden chest by tomorrow, I would head back.

Fortunately, the second level wasn't very large. The day after I woke up, I deliberately explored the parts of the cave I hadn't seen before. After about half a day, I had killed at least hundreds or even thousands of monsters and finally reached the deepest part of the second level.

This deepest part was a huge cave, with several torches lit inside. There were several types of monsters, and they coexisted peacefully. It seemed the charm of the chest was indeed unique, capable of making monsters that usually fought to the death join forces to protect it.

Moreover, there were three elites: a Hungry Dead, a Skeleton, and a Dark Hunter. I didn't hesitate and charged forward, throwing a prepared Lava Rock at the slow-moving Hungry Dead, then casting a Firestorm at the approaching Skeleton and Dark Hunter. With just two spells, most of the small monsters were cleared, leaving only a few lucky Hungry Dead and the ranged Black Wanderers unscathed.

Next, the Venomous Flower Vine and the Ghost Wolf bit into the Skeleton, while I transformed into a bear and faced the Dark Hunter. A slap went out, uh... it was a bit hard. Could this Dark Hunter have a hardened skin elite attribute? I should have let the Venomous Flower Vine deal with it; its poison is the bane of such elite attributes.

By the time the Venomous Flower Vine and the Ghost Wolf had shredded the Skeleton, I was still trading blows with the Dark Hunter, but clearly, my tough hide and high health were more suited to the elite title. Despite its hardened skin, the Dark Hunter couldn't withstand my pot-like palm. The Venomous Flower Vine and the Ghost Wolf joined in, and soon the elite Dark Hunter fell with a reluctant scream. When I turned to the last elite, I was amused to see it trembling and "pouncing" towards us. Considering its speed, it should have been awarded the "Best Elder" prize.

This guy had already taken a direct hit from my Lava Rock, losing almost half its health. It couldn't withstand our assault for long and soon followed the other two bosses. The remaining Hungry Dead and Dark Hunters were cleared by the Venomous Flower Vine.

The three elites dropped a lot, even illuminating the entire cave, but unfortunately, most of the light came from gold coins. The equipment, I glanced at it briefly, didn't have a golden hue. It makes sense; even with the Bug Amulet, small bosses rarely drop gold equipment, so what are the chances for these poor little elites?

After clearing the obstructive gold coins, the cave became much darker, leaving only a few blue items, white items, and potions.

The first item was a blue double-bladed axe, which seemed to have dropped from the elite Hungry Dead.

Warrior's Fire Double-Bladed Axe

One-handed damage: 6-17

Durability: 24-24

Required Strength: 43

Required Level: 13

Axe Level: Normal attack speed

+37% increased damage

+60 accuracy

+3-10 fire damage

A high-damage, top-tier three-attribute axe, but it requires level 13, which isn't a big deal. The strength requirement of 43 points is more frustrating, as I only have 22 points.

Under the axe, there was a medallion-like item. I looked down and saw it was a necklace, a rare find. Just looking at how Lar and the others have been playing for years without getting a necklace shows how low the drop rate is.

Amulet of the Cold Condensation Shield

+14% poison resistance

5% chance to cast a level 3 Frost Nova when attacked

A top-tier item, another top-tier item. Regardless of the poison resistance's role in killing Andariel, the second attribute is already very powerful. A 5% chance to trigger when attacked is like it was made for me. Imagine wearing this necklace, transforming into a bear, and standing in a crowd of monsters, with a 5% chance to trigger. Of course, the premise is that the monsters' attacks aren't too high...

The Hungry Dead was quite generous, dropping two blue items, including the rarest necklace.

The Dark Hunter, damn, after all the time I spent fighting it one-on-one, it only dropped two white items: a hand axe with 3-6 damage and a pair of heavy boots with 6 defense.

However, the heavy boots were better than the white leather boots I was wearing, so I put them on.

The Skeleton only dropped one blue item, a light belt.

Belt of Deep Blue Energy

Defense: 3

Durability: 14-14

+19% cold resistance

+3 vitality

The durability of my old belt was long gone, so I quickly put this one on. Surprisingly, the cold in the cave lessened, showing that cold resistance has this effect. I'll need to increase my cold resistance before going to Harrogath, or even a character will freeze.

In addition, there was a quiver of crossbow bolts (221).

Well, the harvest was pretty good, especially the necklace. Even small bosses rarely drop such items, and I didn't expect to get one here with such good attributes.

However, the main event was yet to come. I looked at the corner of the deepest part of the cave, which was slightly glowing, and hurried over. As expected, there was a waist-high golden chest inside!

The chest was locked, but no problem. I heard that these locked chests are all made by the blacksmith, with the same design. Since an assassin figured out how to make a key, all locked chests can be opened with one key. It's funny that the monsters, knowing that locking is useless, still go to great lengths to get a locked chest from the blacksmith.

With an incredibly excited heart, I inserted the key from Akara into the lock and gently turned it. "Click," a tight seam appeared on the chest, and the light shining through the gap was as bright as the sun in the dim cave.

The most exciting moment arrived. I gently lifted the lid, and the dazzling light spread out, illuminating a ten-meter radius.

My eyes were stung by the golden light, and it took a while to adjust. I quickly stuck my head inside.

Uh, a gold coin. I used my large bear paws to "pinch" a gold coin from the chest and put it in my inventory.

Another gold coin. Uh... it's normal for a chest to have lots of gold and lots of equipment, ha ha...

Still a gold coin...

Another one...

After I put the last gold coin into my inventory and looked inside, I was on the verge of tears. The last item at the bottom of the chest was finally not a gold coin.

Then, I used my pot-like palm to drag out the last item. From its shape, it seemed to be a slightly red bottle! No, don't be fooled by its appearance; this might be the legendary potion that increases maximum health. I examined it carefully for a long time and finally had to admit that its official name is a Minor Healing Potion.

It must have been looted not long ago. I glared at the empty golden chest, wishing I could find some equipment inside. Suddenly, a thought flashed through my mind—this isn't a game, and this chest looks quite valuable!

Anger rose in my heart, and I became more daring. The more I thought about it, the more it made sense, and I started to leer at the chest—although gold is just a number to me, no one ever has enough money. Even a small amount is still something.

Just as I was considering how to stuff the golden chest into my inventory, the Ghost Wolf suddenly roared, and a faint sound of footsteps reached my ears. Soon, several figures appeared at the entrance of the opposite cave.

"Who..."

I growled softly, my voice taking on a wild, beast-like tone in my bear form.

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