Chapter 7: Lantern Demon

By the time we were fighting our ninth Earthwolf, only 25% of my HP was left. This was dangerously low. Luckily, the Earthwolf was killed by the next slash with its head lobbed off. I showered in light and leveled up to reach level 3, and my HP bar was refilled as well. As usual, the leveling up process felt very refres.h.i.+ng. I did the same thing, allocating all my stat points on my strength to increase my attack. Immediately, my attack rating shot up.

“There’s an equipment.”

Lin Che walked forward and flipped the Earthwolf corpse. A pair of white boots was found on the ground. He touched it and the equipment stats entered the party chat:

Earthwolf Boots (White equipment)

Type: Leather

Defense: 5

Level requirement: 3

 “A pair of leather boots!”

Lin Che’s eyes shone as he started rubbing the mud and dust off the boots, “Same old rule. Big Brother Chen is our main force. Therefore, he has the priority over the loots. Besides, he doesn’t have any boots yet. Everyone is fine with him having it, right?”

“Yeah.” Big Hai and Zhang Wei nodded.

Thus, I obtained the Earthwolf Boots. With a wave of my hand, I equipped the boots. Finally, I no longer needed to run around bare-footed. With the Earthwolf Boots equipped, my defense increased, greatly increasing my stats:

Hopeful Present (Probationary Horseman)

Level: 3

Attack: 17 – 28

Defense: 21

HP: 300

True Qi: 100/100

Luck: 0

Great achievement: 0

Power rating: 62

With 21 points of defense, the Earthwolves would not be able to deal much damage to me now. It would now be rather safe for us to level up here. Therefore, I brought my three brothers along and entered deeper into the forest. After killing a bunch of Earthwolves, two additional equipments dropped. We obtained a breastplate and a helmet, and they were respectively given to Zhang Wei and Big Hai.

I looked at the EXP bar and said, “The EXP bar is already at 75%. We can go back and turn in the mission. That is probably enough to send us to level 4. After that, we can move on to a different zone. Level 5 monsters can no longer satisfy us.”

“Ok!”

We returned the same way we came. After killing a couple of newly sp.a.w.ned Earthwolves, we arrived at the soldier’s tent. When we arrived, he appeared to be in the midst of a deep frustration as he kept muttering without stop, “If I don’t deal with the Earthwolves, the captain will probably scold me for being lazy. But those Earthwolves are too cruel and my swordsmans.h.i.+p is not good enough to deal with them. What if I become wolf food instead of wolf slayer? Won’t the old man living next door get my wife? No way. I need to stay patient.”

Our arrival interrupted his rambling. I stepped forth and said, “Lord, we already killed more than 20 Earthwolves. We are here to turn in the mission.”

The soldier was pleasantly surprised, “You…guys have really killed so many Earthwolves instead of being killed?”

Lin Che grinned, “Lord, not everyone is as weak as you.”

The soldier did not mind him. He waved his hand and said, “Excellent. You guys have completed the mission. Worthy of being the warriors of the other world. Here, this is your reward. May you be forever loyal to our Great Xia Dynasty!”

Ding!

System notification: Congratulations. You have completed the F-grade mission, Earthwolf Killing. 1,200 Exp gained, 1 gold coin gained.

Once again, we showered in radiance. This was a very comfortable feeling. We leveled up again and were now level 4. With the level up, I gained 10 stat points and 100 HP. My power rating increased slightly as well. It felt good slowly growing strong like this.

I was confident that in one more hour, our combat rating would surpa.s.s 100. That would be a symbol of strength! After completing the mission, we tried speaking to the NPC again. However, he started rolling his eyes and kept muttering to himself. He probably had no other missions to give us. I turned and said, “Let’s go. Take a detour around the Earthwolf zone and head to the wilderness at the east. The levels of the monsters there are probably high enough for us.”

“Ok. Let’s go!”

In the game world, the sky was darkening. The first night of Skyroad arrived as our surroundings turned pitch-black. Zhang Wei frowned, “It is getting dark. Should we light up a torch or something?”

“Torch my a.s.s. Our levels are too low to use a torch.” Lin Che grumbled and continued, “Open your eyes wide and watch your steps. Don’t fall into the ditches.”

I walked in front as we took a detour around the forest. As we continued our advance, the landscape before us started opening up. A misty field enveloped by the dark night appeared before us.

System notification: Di! Please be careful. You have arrived at the Terror Fields!

“Terror Fields…”

I smiled and pulled my sword out, “Be careful, everyone. Follow me and don’t wander off. Take care to not pull any aggro on you as well. The levels of the monsters here would not be low. Apart from me, any one of you might be one-shotted by the monsters here.”

“Ok.”

Lin Che nodded his head heavily. Currently, the only HP we had were what we gained naturally through leveling up. As the Horseman, I had the higher HP. Each level up would increase my HP by 100. This was not the case for Lin Che. He would only gain 40 HP with each level up. His cla.s.s was one with very low HP. Big Hai wasn’t any better off. As for Zhang Wei, the Monk he played was in itself a tank cla.s.s. On top of that, he had the demiG.o.d bonus as well. Therefore, his HP was even higher than mine.

At first, only darkness could be seen. Then, a flickering light started appearing amid the dense mist.

“What’s that? Big Hai opened his eyes wide.

“Probably a monster since it’s moving.”

When I was about 30 yards from that light, I could see what it was clearly. That was a monster half as tall as a human. Its body was crooked and was entirely filled with spikes. It was holding a lantern, which was extremely conspicuous in a dark night like this. Amid the dark night, the flickering lantern had a certain sense of charm to it. As for the monster, it was enshrouded in a red aura. The name above its head was also highlighted in a blood red font, indicating that this monster was higher leveled than us.

Lantern Demon (Common monster)

Level: 7

Attack: 10 – 24

Defense: 14

HP: 700

Skill: Lantern Swipe

Introduction: The Lantern Demon is a twisted demon spirit. People who had died unwillingly would turn into a Lantern Demon. As the Lantern Demons had been tainted by the devilish power, they are one of the worst plagues for villages everywhere.

 “This monster’s stats are quite high.”

I tightened my grip on my sword and braced for battle, “Its attack is above my defense. But since its 3 levels higher than us, it will probably reward us with a generous EXP bonus as well. Riches and honor lay amid dangers, my friends. Ready up. Big Brother Wei, prepare to tank one or two attacks for me whenever I can’t.”

Zhang Wei nodded, “Understood.”

With my dagger in my hand, I charged forth. With a wave, I slashed at the head of the Lantern Demon. Instantly, blood sprayed and a huge 124 popped out. The damage signified that I had sufficient attack to fight this monster. The Lantern Demon’s face warped and howled after being hit. Holding onto its lantern, it activated its skill. The lantern transformed into a wave of raging flames that swept right onto my shoulder. A spark appeared at the point of collision when the attack struck. At the same time, I felt a burning pain where I was. .h.i.t.

This one attack dealt 112 damage to me. What a powerful attack! This Lantern Demon was very agile as well. It waved its lantern again and dealt 82 damage to me with a normal attack. What a powerful level 7 monster! I would definitely not be its match if I fought it solo. After striking it two times, I quickly retreated, “Big Brother Wei, tank two attacks!”

Zhang Wei charged out and rammed the Lantern Demon. He brandished his fist as he tried hitting the monster’s head. Unfortunately, he struck the ground instead. Dust flew everywhere. He had completely missed his attack and had also failed to pull the monster’s aggro. His control over his character was…painful to watch.

Fortunately, Lin Che was smart enough. Gusts of wind appeared below his feet as he set up several obstructions between me and the Lantern Demon. This successfully slowed the Lantern Demon’s advance, allowing me to use a low-rank HP potion. After healing up, I charged forth again and together with Big Hai and Zhang Wei, the three of us beat the Lantern Demon to death.

On its moment of death, the Lantern Demon wailed. The wail sounded like the cry of a baby, giving off a very sinister feeling. At the same time, it dropped two potions as loot. I picked up the loots and found that these were low-grade HP potions. Within 10 seconds, 150 HP would be recovered. This was one of the essential items during the early game.

I then checked myself. After killing the Lantern Demon, I only had 54 HP left. This was a dangerously low level of HP. If another Lantern Demon was to appear now, I would definitely die.

“This won’t do. It’s too dangerous.” Lin Che frowned, “The damage of the Lantern Demon’s skill is too high. Even Big Brother Chen can’t tank it. Should we return to the Earthwolves?”

“Nope.” I shook my head, “Check your EXP bar. See how many EXP we got from killing one Lantern Demon.”

Lin Che glanced at his EXP bar and was instantly stunned, “An increase of 10%...”

“That’s right. Killing 10 Lantern Demons is equivalent to 1 level. Besides, their loots are quite good as well. They can act as the sponsor of our HP potions. Fighting them, we can replenish ourselves using battle. This is the best place for us to level up. Moreover…”

I sat down to start recovering my HP and continued, “The Lantern Demon’s skill is not necessarily unavoidable. The skill takes 0.5 second to hit. I am planning to try abusing this window to dodge the attack. If I can dodge it, this monster will be much easier to deal with. After all, its attack speed isn’t that fast anyway.”

“Sure. Continue hunting the Lantern Demons then.”

After healing up, I walked towards another Lantern Demon. I came prepared this time. With a sidestep, I approached the Lantern Demon and slashed at it. The moment the Lantern Demon howled and the lantern on its hand lit up, I abruptly backstepped three yards away from it. Surprisingly, the attack still landed on my shoulder, as if something was attracting it to my shoulder. Something did not seem right. I used a HP potion and continued fighting while I retreated.  

When the Lantern Demon activated its skill once again, I changed the direction. Instead of backstepping, I took a sidestep. Instantly, a fiery attack whizzed past behind me, ripping the air apart. This was followed by a huge MISS popping up above us.

“Success!” Lin Che was elated.

Big Hai was excited as well, “Haha, boss is awesome!”

Zhang Wei stood there in bewilderment, “How had he done that?”

Now that I could dodge the Lantern Demon’s skill, we could safely continue our grind at the Terror Fields. The loots of the Lantern Demons were not bad at all. We hadn’t even killed 10 of them and we had already gotten two white equipments off them. Both were given to Lin Che since these were cloth armors. Our cla.s.ses would not be able to equip them. After killing the tenth Lantern Demon, a rain of light fell upon us. Our HP bar was refilled while a warm current coursed through us. Level up again! What a wonderful feeling!