Chapter 10

Summoning a fierce tiger and activating the Lightning Speed, Liu Siyi quickly arrived at the valley entrance guarded by the ogres. The speed felt similar to driving on a highway, but the thrill of running through the mountains, with the ups and downs, made it even more exhilarating.

After upgrading, Liu Siyi's physical abilities had greatly improved. The increased movement speed from the third-stage tiger and the Lightning Speed allowed him to cover a distance that would have exhausted a person in just an hour or so.

At this moment, the massive bodies of the ogres lay on the ground, each with broken limbs or decapitated heads, clearly victims of heavy weapons. The blood flowing beneath them dyed the entire battlefield red, indicating the brutality of the close combat.

After a battle, the bodies or remains would disappear by the next night, a rule that could not be changed.

Ogres were a fourth-stage unit of the orc race, with formidable strength, especially the ogre shaman lying among the corpses, holding a thick staff. This was already a fifth-stage unit, a powerful mage capable of casting various spells in addition to the orc's innate Bloodlust skill.

The ogres were strong, but the dwarves' forces were even stronger, evident from the absence of any dwarf corpses on the battlefield.

Dwarves were originally slow, especially in mountainous terrain. However, Liu Siyi, riding the tiger, was at least twice as fast as the dwarves, and soon caught up with the dwarf army.

Following the dwarf army, Liu Siyi could clearly see the fifty or so dwarf javelin throwers, thirty or so dwarf bear riders, a dozen dwarf axe warriors, and two dwarf rune priests holding rune staves.

Seeing these units, Liu Siyi knew their abilities. Of course, he did not recognize them, but after absorbing the soul of the legendary mage, this knowledge became his instinct.

Dwarf javelin throwers were a second-stage unit, a ranged attack unit with no penalty for close combat. This meant they could unleash their full power whether in close or ranged combat.

Each dwarf javelin thrower carried a javelin in one hand and a bundle of eight javelins on their back. In game terms, this meant they had 8 units of ammunition, but this was not entirely accurate since they still had one javelin in hand, though after nine throws, they would be weaponless...

Dwarf bear riders were a third-stage unit, heavily armored and wielding rune warhammers. They were among the slowest cavalry known, but with thick blood and high defense, their only notable skill was the ability to stun opponents with their bear paws.

Dwarf axe warriors were a fourth-stage unit, with robust bodies and thick armor, wielding a massive, shiny axe larger than themselves.

Combat skill: Berserk. When activated, it doubled their strength at the cost of reduced defense, making them a very powerful fourth-stage unit but also the easiest to be focused and attacked by the enemy. Once in a berserk state, their defense dropped at least one stage.

Dwarf rune priests, holding rune staves, were a fifth-stage elite unit.

Dwarf elders were a low-level fifth-stage unit, capable of using the innate dwarf rune skills. However, these skills had significant limitations. First, the dwarf castle must build a rune temple, similar to a magic tower with five levels, corresponding to fifth-stage rune skills. Second, the leading hero must learn the rune skills for the units to use first-stage rune skills. As the hero's rune skills improved, the units would learn more advanced rune skills and use more powerful rune magic. Dwarf rune elders could use first-stage rune magic even if the hero had not learned the rune skills. Lastly, the various abilities of runes consumed corresponding resources, which must be carried, otherwise, the rune magic could not be used.

However, after advancing to the elite unit: rune elder, they could not only use rune magic but also various other spells such as healing, attack, and support, while reducing the magic damage they received by 70%.

Moreover, mage-type ranged units had no ammunition limit, and as long as they had mana, they could cast spells continuously. Especially as a combat race, dwarf rune elders also had strong close combat abilities.

Besides the powerful army, what Liu Siyi was most concerned about was a special dwarf bear rider at the center of the group.

A pure black giant bear, at least two heads taller than an average black bear and much stronger. The bear was also equipped with a heavy set of armor, whether it was an upgrade or added later was unknown.

The dwarf on the bear's back was also different, wearing a full-body sealed armor and holding a rune warhammer with runes emitting a faint magical aura, clearly a treasure, though its specific function was unknown.

Hero, the moment Liu Siyi saw this guy, he knew his identity.

Liu Siyi's scouting skill could reveal the hero's attributes, a capability that required a certain range, which was the range of the Eye of Insight.

Of course, before this, Liu Siyi had already checked his own attributes.

Alchemist Mage, a high-level elite unit of the first stage.

Skills as follows:

- Basic Puppet Alchemy: Summon and create first and second-stage puppet units.

- Basic Wisdom: Can learn and use 1-3 level spells, expanding the range of mastered spellcasting to 100 meters.

- Advanced Lightning Magic: Enhances the power of lightning spells by 60% and reduces the mana cost of lightning spells by 60%.

- Advanced Scouting: Reconnoiter the enemy, view the abilities of the opposing hero.

- Scouting range increased three times (each level of scouting skill increases the range by one time).

Liu Siyi accepted being a first-stage unit, as it was more beneficial for leveling up and enhancing his strength. However, being a mutant unit was quite rare, with only two known scenarios.

One was the alchemist mage using bioengineering to cause controlled mutations in regular units. The other was regular units mutating uncontrollably during upgrades, after receiving a powerful blow, or after consuming something.

Regardless of the type of mutation, it could lead to significant changes in strength. Liu Siyi attributed his powerful abilities to the excellent mutation brought by absorbing the soul and divinity of the legendary mage. Since it was unclear, he could only let it be.

Basic Puppet Alchemy, Basic Wisdom, and Advanced Lightning Magic were likely inherited. What more could he ask for with the lightning magic already at an advanced level? Now, he could only hope that Wisdom would soon reach an advanced level so he could return home sooner.

As for elite units, the difference from regular units was significant. First, intelligence, which could not be seen from the surface. In battle, regular units could only use the skills prescribed by the rules, while elite units had fully mastered their skills and could even unleash far more powerful abilities.