Insufficient balance
Facing only one giant earthworm, Ling Chen had no pressure at all, but this didn't mean he would be careless. On the contrary, his eyes were cold and concentrated, and his entire body was in a state of high tension. He took a step forward, his right hand drawing out a swift arc that sliced through the giant earthworm's body, then quickly retreated before it could counterattack, not giving the giant earthworm any chance to hit him.
Facing the giant earthworm, he didn't use the method of quickly moving around it to achieve the highest attack frequency. For the giant earthworm, there was no difference whether it was in front or back, left or right, and it could attack from various angles without needing to turn around. Therefore, after Ling Chen found an opening to attack, the best position to dodge was behind. Although the giant earthworm's body was enormous, its movement speed was not much different from Ling Chen's. Its explosive flying shot attack also required about a second of stillness to accumulate power, and he could easily dodge it at close range. This way of restraint didn't require too much thought or effort from him.
He retreated in the attack, then quickly moved forward in the gap after the giant centipede's attack, jumping away immediately after one attack. When he had nowhere to retreat or might disturb other giant centipedes, he would give up his attack in the coming gap, pass through the side of the giant centipede, and then attack and retreat from another direction. The stupid centipede followed him, eating dust, being brought by Ling Chen from one end of the space to the other, and then back again, repeating this process over and over.
Players of the same level can easily defeat ordinary monsters of the same level and attribute, mainly because monsters do not have human intelligence. The giant earthworm has poor defense capabilities but high evasion ability, and Ling Chen's three attacks averaged only one hit, but the giant earthworm's life was still falling at a very fast speed. Ling Chen's single attack could disable more than a quarter of its life, and after five minutes, the first giant earthworm fell to the ground with an ear-piercing scream.
"Ding... You successfully killed 3-star elite 'Cursed Giant Earth Dragon', reputation +15, skill potential points +15."
Without much effort and no thrilling adventure, the first giant earth dragon fell down, contributing 15 skill potential points and 15 reputation points. Next to its body, a faint blue light flickered slightly. Ling Chen caught his breath and picked it up.
【Earth Rock Piercer】: Category: Short Sword, Grade: Iron. Equipment Requirements: Level 5 and above Assassin-type jobs. A sharp short blade made of iron with a weak earth attribute power. Attributes: Attack +12, Attack Speed +30, Additional 5 points of earth attribute damage when attacking.
The shortsword is the fastest attacking weapon, and each shortsword has a different degree of attack speed added. But this short knife obviously had no effect on Ling Chen. He put it away, picked up a piece of broken stone from the ground, and smashed it towards another giant earthworm.
The second giant earthworm was instantly attracted over. Ling Chen turned around and retreated, leading it to the position he was most satisfied with, then began the same restrictive combat method as before.
Under his back-and-forth attacks, on average every five minutes, a giant earth dragon would be cleared of its life, turning into experience points and prestige for him. Occasionally, he would also receive a level 5 piece of equipment.
"Ding... You successfully killed 3-star elite 'Cursed Giant Earth Dragon', reputation +15, skill potential points +15."
"Ding... You successfully killed 3-star elite 'Cursed Giant Earth Dragon', reputation +15, skill potential points +15."
…………
Ling Chen repeated the action of attracting giant centipedes, and then killed them one by one with exactly the same method. Time slowly passed in this dim space, and the "hissing" sound also became smaller and smaller. Finally, after an hour, the tenth giant centipede also fell down like a rotten mud in its last hiss. Two silver coins and a faint red glow dropped from its body.
"Ding... You successfully killed 3-star elite 'Cursed Giant Earth Dragon', reputation +15, skill potential points +15."
"Ding... Congratulations, your level has been upgraded. You are now level 5. Life +10, Magic +10, and you have obtained 5 free attribute points."
Killing elite monsters not only gains skill points and reputation, but also gives a considerable amount of experience. Killing the last giant worm, Ling Chen's 4th-level experience bar was instantly filled, leveling up to level 5.
"Ding... You have successfully annihilated all the 'Cursed Giant Earthworms', the gate to the fourth area of the Forgotten Cave has been opened."
The rumbling sound of the stone gate opening echoed again, and on the wall in front, another hidden stone gate slowly opened.
Walking up to the last giant centipede's corpse, Ling Chen picked up the silver coin and the object emitting a red glow... As he had expected, it was an energy crystal.
【Primary Power Crystal】: Category: Energy Crystal, Grade: Primary, Attribute: Fire, Effect: Physical Attack +3%.
This is the first energy crystal that Ling Chen has obtained from a monster so far, and it's still the lowest level. The explosion rate of the energy crystal is extremely low. I wonder how rare the treasure that can upgrade the crystal by one level will be. Ling Chen raised his wrist and pointed the power crystal at the empty hole in the Moon God Chain. A faint red light flashed, accompanied by the sound of "Inlay Successful", and the primary power crystal was perfectly embedded into the Moon God Chain. His attack power also increased by 3%.
Ten giant earthworms burst out with a primary crystal and five pieces of equipment, an iron-grade earth spear, an iron-grade iron shield, and three pieces of equipment that he could use immediately.
【Leather Armor】: Category: Top, Grade: Bronze, Equipment Requirement: Level 5 or above for any profession, A crude armor made of beast skin, shining with a faint earth element glow. Attributes: Defense +12, Constitution +3, Earth Attribute Resistance +3%.
【Leather Pants】: Category: Lower Body, Grade: Bronze, Equipment Requirement: Level 5 or above for any profession. Coarse leather pants made from beast skin, shining with a faint earth element glow. Attributes: Defense +10, HP +20, Earth Attribute Resistance +3%.
Agile Ring: Category: Ring, Grade: Iron, Equipment Requirement: None. A ring that contains a hint of agility. Attributes: Agility +2, Hit Rate +2.
Only 10 three-star elites came out with five pieces of equipment, but fortunately, they exploded with an energy crystal and a rare accessory - the Agility Ring. For Ling Chen, reaching level 5 was not just a one-level upgrade, at level 5, those finally usable equipment would definitely make his overall attributes undergo a metamorphosis.
He equipped the beast skin armor, beast skin pants and agility ring on his body, then threw away the novice sword and equipped the wolf-tooth sword specially made by the village blacksmith for him. He also equipped steel wrist guards and wolf skin shoes. All novice equipment was replaced, except for headgear and decorative items. Each part of his body now had at least steel-level equipment, greatly increasing his overall attributes.
Rank: 5th; Occupation: Apprentice Warrior; Affiliation: None
Reputation: 485; Money: 3 gold coins; Skill Potential Points: 220
Basic Attributes: Strength: 38, Constitution: 10, Agility: 9, Spirit: 5
Innate attributes: Luck: 5; Wisdom: 5
Health: 270; Mana: 100
Physical Attack: 92
Magic Attack: 10
Physical Defense: 25
Hits: 13; Misses: 9
Critical Hit Rate: 7%; Crushing Blow Rate: 6%
Attack speed: 100; Movement speed: 100
Elemental Resistance: Water: 0%; Fire: 0%; Wind: 0%; Thunder: 0%; Earth: 6%; Light: 0%; Dark: 0%.
Equipped with brand new gear, Ling Chen's overall attributes skyrocketed. Looking at his current stats, Ling Chen was certain that if he were to go kill the giant centipede again in its current state, his efficiency would increase by at least double. Not only did his attributes explode, but his skill points had also accumulated to a total of 220 points.
Opening the skill panel, Ling Chen allocated his skill points to the two skills he possessed. Instantly, amidst a white glow, Full Power Strike and Small Arc Slash were upgraded once again.
【Full Force Strike】: Current Level: LV5, Max Level: LV5, Already at max level. Apprentice Warrior's primary apprentice skill, with the weapon in hand, fully attack the target in front, dealing damage equal to 150% of normal attack, 2% chance to cause the target to be stunned for 2-3 seconds, consuming 5 magic points, no skill cooldown time.
【Small Arc Slash】: Current Level: LV4, Max Level: LV5. Required Skill Points to reach LV5: 150. Apprentice Warrior's primary apprentice skill, slashing horizontally with the equipped weapon in front, drawing a small sword arc that deals damage equal to 120% of normal attack to up to four targets within a 4-meter range in front, consuming 7 magic points, no skill cooldown time.
Full force strike directly reached the top level, with maximum power and a certain probability of adding dizziness. The power of small arc slash has been improved in terms of attack range, number, and power. After completing two skills, there are still 40 skill points left. If he gets another 110 skill points, his two novice skills will be upgraded to the top level at level 5, reaching a state that ordinary players may not even reach at level 10.
The current state is no longer comparable to a few minutes ago. Ling Chen took a glance at the time and walked towards the open stone gate. The third area was guarded by ten three-star elites... so in front, it's extremely likely that there's a Lord BOSS waiting!! If he were level 4, before entering, he would spend a considerable amount of time pondering the possible situations he might encounter as well as various countermeasures, but now, even if two level 5 Lord BOSSes were waiting for him, he wouldn't be afraid.
"Ding... You have entered the fourth area of the Forgotten Cave. The fourth area is guarded by 'Hell Spider', please prepare for battle."
Rumble...
As before, the stone gate behind him automatically closed at the moment he entered, once again cutting off his retreat. In front of him, a black shadow over one meter tall stood still, as if waiting for him. At the same time that Ling Chen saw it, two points of dark green cold light also locked onto his body.
That's a huge black spider!
