The Dark Gladiator kept attacking the Skeleton Gladiator, lifting it up and slamming it heavily against the wall of the dungeon.
Boom, boom, boom! The Skeleton Gladiator was ruthlessly battered. It swung its massive tail and struck the Dark Gladiator with a loud crash. The Dark Gladiator staggered backward a few steps, but immediately charged forward again.
In the heat of battle, the Skeleton Gladiator and the Dark Gladiator resembled two ancient beasts, fighting fiercely for their lives.
Nie Yan lifted his Bloodthirsty Crossbow and skillfully loaded it with arrows that caused additional damage. With a series of whizzing sounds, the arrows flew toward the Skeleton Gladiator, each dealing a decent amount of damage—several dozen points at least, occasionally landing armor-piercing hits that reached over a hundred points.
The Skeleton Gladiator and the Dark Gladiator were locked in combat, but Nie Yan’s crossbow bolts always found the right spots, striking the Skeleton Gladiator accurately.
During the fight, Nie Yan continuously used potions to restore his health and attempted the Ritual of the Undead on the Skeleton Gladiator, but unfortunately, it failed three times in a row.
Glancing at his health bar, Nie Yan saw that only 12% remained, insufficient for another Ritual of the Undead. His bandages and potions were already used up and in cooldown.
Under the fierce assault of the Dark Gladiator, the Skeleton Gladiator’s health was nearly depleted.
Nie Yan had originally planned to turn this Skeleton Gladiator into his summoned creature, but it seemed impossible now. The Dark Gladiator’s health was also low. If the Skeleton Gladiator killed the Dark Gladiator, it would be a huge loss.
After nearly twenty seconds of battle, the Skeleton Gladiator was struck in the chest by the Dark Gladiator, its health reaching zero. Its spirit rose from its chest into the air, gradually dissipating. The skeletal frame collapsed, crashing to the ground and shattering into pieces.
A soft “ding” sound echoed as a beam of white light shone from Nie Yan’s body—he had gained another level, reaching level six.
The experience from defeating a level-10 elite monster far above his level was substantial.
Nie Yan approached the fallen Skeleton Gladiator and picked up the dropped item—a Gladiator Pauldron, a level-10 warrior gear. Surprisingly, it was a rare golden-quality item with 57–62 defense, +13 strength, and +17 resilience. It was undoubtedly a great piece, worth a considerable amount of money.
Even if a warrior’s golden-quality gear had poor stats, its defense alone made it valuable. This one, with additional strength and resilience, was even better—only slightly less valuable than the Lion King’s Shield.
Nie Yan wouldn’t part with this gear for less than twenty silver coins, unless it was a close friend, in which case it would depend on their relationship.
After defeating the Skeleton Gladiator, Nie Yan’s level had increased to 13% of level six. Looking at the level rankings, the highest was just over level eight, and that was a mage. Even though rogues could level quickly, they couldn’t match mages. Skilled mages could easily kill monsters above their level—using kiting tactics, positional advantages, or AoE skills. Some could even kill bosses without taking damage. Melee classes couldn’t level that easily. Of course, Nie Yan was an exception.
Nie Yan looked at the nearby Dark Gladiator. Its tall body was covered with wounds, but they were healing visibly. Its hands had grown sharp serrated edges, looking terrifying. Green flames burned in its eye sockets, emitting a cold glow—an intimidating sight.
The Dark Gladiator lowered its proud head and knelt before Nie Yan.
It was now Nie Yan’s summoned creature!
Nie Yan could now control it freely.
He looked up at the exit above. It was time to head back.
Nie Yan stepped onto the Dark Gladiator’s hands, which pushed him upward, allowing him to leap easily to the upper chamber of the dungeon. The Dark Gladiator followed, landing with a thunderous crash.
With such a powerful tank, Nie Yan no longer feared ordinary skeletons.
For the next three hours, protected by the Dark Gladiator, Nie Yan was determined to obtain the fragments of the Shadow of Sogot.
Nie Yan headed toward the city center of Sogot, with the towering Dark Gladiator following behind like a giant.
As Nie Yan emerged, hordes of skeletons rushed toward him. The Dark Gladiator charged forward, sweeping its tail like autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves. Skeletons fell in droves, and Nie Yan’s experience steadily increased.
Nie Yan let the Dark Gladiator clear out the masses of skeletons while he waited for the right moment to perform the Ritual of the Undead on the remaining one or two Skeleton Mages. Soon, he successfully summoned four Skeleton Mages—two ice-type, one fire-type, and one lightning-type. They stood by Nie Yan’s side.
Continuing through the labyrinthine passages, Nie Yan followed memories from his previous leveling sessions to locate the inner city entrance.
“Leveling here is pretty fast,” Nie Yan thought, checking his experience bar. In just a few minutes, it had increased by 8%. As he cleared out the nearby skeletons, the spawn rate couldn’t keep up anymore.
Suddenly, a sound came from behind. Nie Yan furrowed his brow—it sounded like voices.
“Leveling here is fast, but there are too many skeletons. I almost couldn’t escape. If we want to keep farming here, we need to bring three more priests. Two priests aren’t enough.”
“Too many priests are cumbersome. We should bring more Holy Word Mages instead. With 200% damage boost, farming speed will be faster.”
“That’s true. Let’s go back and recruit some Holy Word Mages.”
“There’s a Skeleton Mage leader at the end of this passage. We need to go around it first.”
Several players’ voices came from behind, clearly audible. Nie Yan was startled and turned around. Eight players were facing him from a distance, having just emerged from a nearby corner.
Suddenly, the players’ conversation stopped abruptly.
“Why did you stop talking all of a sudden? Did you all go dumb?” an Arcane Mage asked, puzzled. Following his teammates’ gazes, his voice also trailed off.
Nie Yan, dressed in rogue gear, stood at the end of the passage. His equipment, especially the two daggers in his hands, clearly marked him as someone special. A rogue appearing here was shocking enough, but even more astonishing was the massive, dark-red skeleton standing beside him—tall, with a huge tail and spiked hands, clearly different from the ordinary skeletons here.
Besides the Dark Gladiator, there were also four Skeleton Mages, standing scattered, staring at the players.
Because of the Dark Gladiator’s presence, Nie Yan’s identity became even more mysterious.
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