Chapter 8 of 100

Chapter 8

14 min read3,400 words

In the midst of the desolate island and the sunken ship, Blood Sea Rampage took a deep breath and firmly held the letter containing secrets given to him by his mother.

After a day of fierce battle, the blood sea's raging waves made a final sprint towards the 5th level goal. When it turned dark, the number of skeletons in the sunken ship increased. Good, they're here!

A flash of golden light, and Blood Sea Rampage finally reached level 5, receiving the precious reward of a +1 base damage increase! The system was very stingy with base damage increases, giving players only 1 point every 5 levels. However, even so, with the various equipment bonuses, the player's damage output in the later stages was still terrifying, living up to the title of hero.

Now, Blood Sea Rampage's base damage reached 4-7, and his attacks finally offset the monsters' high defense of 6 points. With the 40% damage increase from the Expert Offensive Skill, he could easily one-shot the 5-point life Skeleton Warriors! Previously, due to insufficient damage, he had to finish off the monsters, but now, the difference between one hit and two hits was the difference between doubling the leveling efficiency!

But Blood Sea Rampage wouldn't continue the tedious task of killing skeletons. It was time to explore the secrets inside the ship. Various signs indicated that there must be a necromancer or something similar in the cabin, continuously summoning skeletons. He would take it down first!

Facing the continuous stream of skeletons pouring out of the cabin, Blood Sea Rampage took advantage of his Shield Guard's 2-point higher attack speed, one-shotting the skeletons without taking any damage! It was exhilarating! He didn't even need to rest and recover health! This improvement was more than just a twofold increase! Level 5 was truly a turning point!

Following the narrow and dimly lit cabin corridor, Blood Sea Rampage cut his way through, finally reaching his target, a dimly lit room where Skeleton Warriors continuously emerged!

Indeed, there was a humanoid monster enveloped in white mist, continuously chanting incantations, with skeletons pouring out of the summoning array beneath it! It was a BOSS!!!

This is the one I'm looking for, let's kill it!

Blood Sea Rampage charged forward with his large shield and sword, but at that moment, the BOSS emitted a black light, and a black light descended upon Blood Sea Rampage!

— System Notice: You have been hit by the Ghost Mage's dark spell "Weakening Curse," reducing your maximum damage by 2, lasting one day!

Blood Sea Rampage was startled! His maximum damage was reduced! His damage became 4-5! No problem, even 4-4 can still one-shot the monsters! Blood Sea Rampage swung his sword and one-shot a blocking skeleton, continuing his charge!

The BOSS emitted another black light!

— System Notice: You have been hit by the Ghost Mage's dark spell "Pain Torment," reducing your attack by 6, lasting one day!

Blood Sea Rampage was shocked again! His attack was reduced by 6! This meant he couldn't break through the Skeleton Warrior's defense anymore! The 6-point attack-defense difference could only deal 85% damage, which was 3.4-4.2! Even with the 40% increase from the Expert Offensive Skill, it might not reach 5!

While still in shock, Blood Sea Rampage one-shot another blocking skeleton!

Blood Sea Rampage was determined to charge forward! As long as he didn't deal the minimum damage, he could still one-shot the skeletons!

The BOSS emitted another black light!

— System Notice: You have been hit by the Ghost Mage's dark spell "Delay," reducing your attack speed by 30%, lasting one day!

Blood Sea Rampage cursed: "Damn it! Are you done yet!"

At this point, Blood Sea Rampage's 12-point attack speed was reduced to 8 points, and he was no longer faster than the skeletons! With a clang, a skeleton swung its sword and dealt 1 point of damage to him!

Blood Sea Rampage killed the blocking skeleton and charged into the room, the BOSS was right there!

— System Notice: You have been hit by the Ghost Mage's dark spell "Armor Weakening," reducing your defense by 4 points, lasting one day!

I have high defense, I'm not afraid of your reduction! The BOSS's numerous spells left Blood Sea Rampage speechless!

At this moment, Blood Sea Rampage finally saw that the BOSS was actually a ghost holding a black, glowing magic book! And this ghost's attributes were those of a regular ghost! A level 3 undead unit in its normal form!

— Ghost: Attack 4, Defense 4, Life 16, Damage 2-4, Attack Speed: Normal 8, Movement Speed 15, Special Skill: Ethereal Body, Flying Unit, Undead.

Blood Sea Rampage suddenly understood! How could a small BOSS in a newbie village have so many dark spells? The magic book was the key! Killing this BOSS would likely drop the magic book! A magic book itself contained a large amount of magic power! It could even be alive! A magic book could allow someone with no magic foundation to cast the spells recorded in it! Such a treasure would appear in a newbie training village?

Of course, for a god-level hero like me, even the appearance of a divine artifact wouldn't be strange!

Excited, Blood Sea Rampage swung his sword at the ghost— "Missed"!

— Newbie Notice: Ghosts have the Ethereal Body special skill, giving them a 50% chance to dodge physical and magical attacks! If the first two attacks miss, the third attack will definitely hit.

— Ah! Blood Sea Rampage was enraged!

Damn it! Even if I'm hit by all the dark spells, I still have 30 HP, and I can kill this 16 HP weakling! Blood Sea Rampage swung his sword again, dealing "−3" damage!

This time, you can't dodge it, right? 13 HP left! Blood Sea Rampage's fighting spirit soared!

At this moment, two more skeletons emerged from the teleportation array and surrounded Blood Sea Rampage, attacking him. Blood Sea Rampage, while being attacked by the skeletons, focused on the ghost, dealing "−4" damage, missed, missed, "−3" damage, ...

The ghost's HP was constantly decreasing, and Blood Sea Rampage's HP was almost gone. When another Skeleton Warrior emerged from the summoning array, and Blood Sea Rampage's crucial attack missed again, with only 4 HP left, he knew it was hopeless and angrily turned to run!

At least with my higher movement speed, the skeletons can't catch up. The ghost can, but if it dares to leave the skeletons to chase me, I can still take two hits with my 4 HP and have a chance to kill it!

But the final hope was shattered, the ghost mage did not chase out of the door.

Just a little more! Just a little more! Blood Sea Rampage was so angry that he hiccuped while running away!

If, if I teamed up with that trash, we would have definitely taken it down, right? This thought stayed in Blood Sea Rampage's mind for only half a second before he shook his head and dispelled it. Everything on the ship, experience, equipment, and treasures, are all mine, no outsider can touch a single bit! It's fine if I can't beat it now, I just need to level up one more time. I'll continue killing skeletons on the deck.

But being hit by all these dark spells that last for a day is really frustrating! Other than that, it's not a big deal, I'll just be back to level 1, but the Delay spell is really annoying! I'll take hits first, and resting to recover HP will waste a lot of time, it's depressing!

But, being depressed is good! The more depressed I am, the more I realize the value of this dark magic book! I must get it!

...

On the desolate island's beach.

After swimming ashore, Da Fei found the nearest sea anemone pool and landed a hit with his first shot, getting a red start!

— System Notice: You have obtained an incomplete information card of the Magic Poisonous Sea Anemone!

— Newbie Notice: Incomplete information cards are difficult to obtain sufficient rewards from NPCs, please continue fighting to collect more detailed information.

It's indeed a sea anemone! This is its name! It's so powerful! Da Fei was excited and quickly checked the information card.

— Magic Poisonous Sea Anemone:

— Biological Type: Small Plant;

— Attack: ?

— Defense: 0

— Damage: ?

— Life: 11

— Attack Speed: Very Slow

— Movement Speed: 0

— Special Skill: ?

— Drop: ?

— Experience: 10

Hahaha, it's indeed a slow but steady start! Continue! Da Fei killed dozens more, but there was no change at all.

What's going on? Is it because I can't hit them, so I can't get their damage information? Probably, after all, you can't know the pain of a punch until you've been hit.

Should I try taking a hit?

No, no, that's crazy! Although from the HP and experience, this sea anemone is a level 2 unit, plant monsters are notoriously unpredictable and can't be measured by normal standards, especially with "poisonous" in its name! Can I, a fragile gunner, handle it?

Besides, I've accumulated 2000 experience points and am about to reach level 4, I can't mess up now. Anyway, I don't need the information urgently, leveling up is the priority. Besides, with a low main skill level in Reconnaissance, the sub-skills' effects are also limited. I'll wait until I level up and reach Intermediate Reconnaissance.

So, Da Fei continued fighting, and finally, a golden light flashed, he leveled up!

— System Notice: Congratulations! You have reached level 4, your HP +2, you have gained 1 strategic attribute point, you have gained 1 skill point, your leadership +1.

There's nothing to say, level up Reconnaissance!

— System Notice: You have used 1 skill point to learn Intermediate Reconnaissance!

— Intermediate Reconnaissance: Your vision +40%, you can view the number, morale, and supply information of enemies. There is a chance to discover hidden enemies within your vision range and to receive early warnings of attacks from discovered hidden enemies, increasing the player's chance to dodge attacks.

At this moment,

— System Notice: Reconnaissance has detected a powerful hidden enemy nearby, please remain vigilant!

The legendary hidden BOSS! Da Fei was stunned! The effect of Intermediate Reconnaissance is really immediate!

At this moment, a large red box on Da Fei's mini-map was flashing, indicating that the threat was in that area! The world seen by players with Reconnaissance is indeed different from ordinary players.

Now the question is, what to do? What can I, a weak gunner, do against a hidden BOSS? But this thought stayed in Da Fei's mind for only half a second before he shook his head and dispelled it!

Of course, I'll search it out! How can I know if there's a chance without looking? Just like how I often buy lottery tickets, even though I've never won, as long as I buy them, I have a one in several million chance to change my fate, but if I don't buy them, I'll never have a chance to change my fate!

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