Tangyao stopped attacking, and the Rock Spider Leader redirected its aggro toward Tangyao, completely ignoring Nieyan who had been attacking it all along. Seizing this opportunity, Nieyan took out a vial of poison from his backpack and applied it onto his dagger.
Within five seconds, Nieyan completed the poisoning process and landed a critical strike into the Rock Spider Leader’s body.
Defense -10%!
The Rock Spider Leader was affected by the poison.
Additionally, Nieyan’s critical strike dealt 52 damage to the Rock Spider Leader.
The Rock Spider Leader shrieked in pain and turned to attack Nieyan.
Caught off guard by the sudden shift in the Rock Spider Leader’s target, Nieyan hastily retreated.
The Rock Spider Leader lunged at Nieyan, dealing 78 damage and reducing Nieyan’s health significantly. Without hesitation, Nieyan quickly drank a low-grade instant healing potion and rolled away.
The Rock Spider pursued him.
Seeing the Rock Spider shift its target, Tangyao increased his output. Arcane missiles, arcane flames, and fireballs continuously flew from his hands.
“I’m almost out of mana,” Tangyao checked his mana bar, which had only 23% left. The mana consumption was too high, and the automatic regeneration couldn’t keep up.
“Do you have any mana potions?”
“I have a low-grade instant mana recovery potion.”
“Drink it quickly,” Nieyan said. In an instant, the Rock Spider Leader had already lunged toward him. Nieyan swung his dagger, landing a stun. The Rock Spider Leader hesitated momentarily, allowing Nieyan to retreat a safe distance.
Although stunned, the Rock Spider Leader still managed to hit Nieyan. Nieyan checked his health, which was down to 13%. He quickly applied a combat bandage to himself.
+20, +20…
At this moment, Tangyao took out a blue potion and drank it. He felt a slight pang; this basic mana potion cost ten copper coins, a precious item he saved for emergencies, but given the urgency, he had no choice.
Tangyao’s mana was restored to 89%. With his mana replenished, he continuously cast various spells, delivering high critical strikes.
The Rock Spider Leader was stunned for less than two seconds before recovering and abandoning Nieyan to attack Tangyao.
The Rock Spider’s aggro shifted once again.
“It’s almost dead. Push harder!” After restoring his health, Nieyan charged back to the Rock Spider Leader’s side.
Both Nieyan and Tangyao dealt significant damage. Although it was a level 5 leader monster, it couldn’t withstand such punishment and was left with only 11% health.
Chirping loudly, the Rock Spider Leader became agitated and turned bright red.
“Oh no, it’s going berserk! Retreat and keep moving. Watch out for its ground spikes!” Nieyan shouted anxiously.
Although Tangyao didn’t fully understand the situation, he followed Nieyan’s instructions, quickly retreating while casting spells as he ran.
Suddenly, a rock spike erupted from the ground, aiming at Tangyao.
Fortunately, Tangyao was continuously moving, so the spike only grazed him slightly, dealing 32 damage.
If the rock spike had fully hit Tangyao, Nieyan estimated it would have taken at least two-thirds of his health.
Startled, Tangyao felt relieved he had dodged the attack.
“Keep running, don’t stop. When you see any ground vibrations or cracks, move away and don’t step on them!” Nieyan shouted. If Tangyao stopped, it would mean certain death.
Indeed, numerous spikes erupted from the ground, but after following Nieyan’s instructions, Tangyao paid attention to his footing and skillfully avoided them, successfully dodging every spike.
How did Nieyan know how to dodge these ground spikes? Had he fought the Rock Spider Leader before?
Tangyao pushed his doubts aside and focused on dodging the ground spikes while occasionally casting a spell, leaving no time for questions.
The Rock Spider Leader failed to hit Tangyao, becoming increasingly agitated. It continuously rammed into the cave walls, causing them to collapse. Emerging from the rubble, it charged toward Tangyao.
“Quickly retreat,” Nieyan shouted.
“No, there’s another Rock Spider behind me. If I move further, I’ll aggro it too!” Seeing the massive Rock Spider charging toward him, Tangyao nervously replied.
Nieyan checked the Rock Spider Leader’s health, which was down to 5%. Just a little more!
“It’s okay. Run that way!” Nieyan said, glancing at his skill bar, where several skills had cooled down.
Nieyan chased after the Rock Spider Leader and executed a combo of assassination and cleave.
The Rock Spider Leader had only 2% health left!
Critical Strike!
Nieyan lunged forward, landing a critical strike into the Rock Spider Leader’s abdomen.
The Rock Spider Leader let out a piercing scream and collapsed to the ground with a thunderous crash, shaking the entire cave.
“Finally defeated it,” Nieyan exhaled in relief, picking up the items dropped by the Rock Spider Leader.
“There’s another one coming from this side,” Tangyao led another Rock Spider toward Nieyan. Earlier, while evading the Rock Spider Leader, he unavoidably aggroed another Rock Spider, but fortunately, it was only a regular monster.
Nieyan blocked the Rock Spider while Tangyao cast spells from behind.
Together, they quickly defeated it.
Another Rock Spider corpse lay on the ground.
“Man, I’m exhausted,” Tangyao sat down in a nearby corner, restoring his health and mana, catching his breath. Defeating a Rock Spider Leader two levels above them was the most glorious feat he had ever accomplished. “I never realized I could be this awesome.”
Nieyan took out the two items dropped by the Rock Spider Leader: a skill book and a silver-white key.
Skill Book: Celestial Meteor.
Skill Description: Elemental Mages and Arcane Mages summon meteors to attack opponents.
Casting Requirements: A set of incantations, three gestures, and one magical inscription.
Skill Properties: At the basic level, five fireballs are summoned. Each fireball gains an additional attack bonus of +5 and inflicts 10 points of continuous burn damage within a 5×5 yard area.
Skill Cooldown: 120 seconds.
User Restriction: Elemental Mages and Arcane Mages only. Restricted to Lawful Good alignment.
This rare skill for Arcane Mages was extremely rare. In nearby areas such as Rum Spiders, Rock Spiders, and Flame Spiders, ranging from level 1 to over 30, only leader-level monsters could drop it, and the drop rate was less than one in ten thousand. At their current level, it was practically priceless. Today, they were incredibly lucky, possibly due to defeating a monster above their level.
“What did you get?” Tangyao asked curiously.
“Good luck! I got Celestial Meteor. You’ll love it. It’s a small AoE attack with high damage in the early game and becomes a powerful AoE spell in the mid to late game,” Nieyan said in disbelief. The Celestial Meteor skill was extremely rare. In nearby areas such as Rum Spiders, Rock Spiders, and Flame Spiders, ranging from level 1 to over 30, only leader-level monsters could drop it, and the drop rate was less than one in ten thousand. At their current level, it was practically priceless. Today, they were incredibly lucky, possibly due to defeating a monster above their level.
“Really?” Tangyao stood up excitedly. “Let me see.”
“It’s pretty decent. You can use it, but it’s still inferior to Temple Magic, Giant Magic, or Dragon Language Magic,” Nieyan said, handing the Celestial Meteor book to Tangyao and looking at the other item.
Silver Key: Can be used to open chests below the Gold rank from levels 0-20. Usable 3/3 times.
“What are Temple Magic and Dragon Language Magic?” Tangyao asked in confusion.
“You’ll encounter them eventually. Celestial Meteor is yours. And the key goes to me,” Nieyan said. They each took what they needed. Keys like this were more valuable in the hands of a rogue. With this key, he could open that silver chest not far away.
“Then I won’t be polite!” Tangyao learned the Celestial Meteor skill, looking at it with delight. Today had been frustrating, chased relentlessly, but unexpectedly, Nieyan’s arrival turned things around, transforming misfortune into good fortune.
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