Chapter 17: High Risk, High Reward!
Before receiving the S-level resource subsidy, Li Yao had planned to exchange the skill badges inside for summoning beast skill books. But when he discovered the skills were S-level, he immediately couldn't bear to part with them. Now, being at the border, he had no chance to ask his family for money, which left a summoning space unused.
“No need to worry now,” Li Yao thought, looking down at the rolling hills covered with goblin monsters. Once the crusade was over, he could take advantage of the dungeon cooldown period to buy a skill book. If given the opportunity, he was prepared to venture into the Purgatory dungeon as well.
“I heard that clearing Purgatory difficulty for the first time grants extra rewards. I wonder if that’s true,” he mused, casting an identification spell on two distinct goblins in the distance.
[Goblin Warrior]
[Level 15 (Elite)]
[HP: 7300]
[Strength: 172]
[Spirit: 49]
[Agility: 104]
[Endurance: 146]
[Skills: Goblin Charge Lv4, Heavy Hammer Lv2, Elemental Resistance Lv1]
...
[Goblin Shaman]
[Level 16 (Elite)]
[HP: 4650]
[Strength: 51]
[Spirit: 181]
[Agility: 88]
[Endurance: 93]
[Skills: Fireball Chant Lv4, Ice Snow Ritual Lv2, Inspiration Lv4, Summon Lv1]
As expected from a nightmare-level dungeon, even the gatekeepers were elite monsters. The hierarchy of monster strength was: Normal (unranked), Elite, Enhanced Elite, Mutated, Boss, and Overlord. Elite monsters boasted much higher stats and more powerful skills than ordinary ones.
A level 15 knight-type class, even with all endurance points invested, would only have about 160 endurance. Yet, this goblin warrior had two attributes exceeding that number. Even a knight fully equipped with silver-grade gear would struggle to reach such stats.
And that was just the strength of a single monster. Goblins excelled at group combat.
Li Yao scanned the area below. Most goblins were organized in squads of six—four warriors and two shamans. With such strength, a typical adventurer team likely wouldn’t even get past the entrance monsters, let alone face the goblins further inside the pyramid’s range.
Nightmare difficulty was truly terrifying!
Of course, these stats were still far behind those of the Void Mantis. Moreover, the current Void Mantis no longer fought alone as before.
Li Yao leapt down from the hill.
---
The Goblin Nest dungeon officially began.
Almost the moment he hit the ground, a group of goblins fixated their hatred on him. Four warriors roared excitedly and charged madly toward him.
In response, the Void Mantis hidden behind Li Yao launched a Void Sting attack. Countless spikes enveloped the four goblin warriors.
“Shriek!” came their strange, agonized cries.
Four damage numbers popped above the goblins’ heads:
[-1842]
[-1631]
[-1774]
[-1822]
The Void Mantis’ power had now surpassed 800. Even though the goblin warriors had exceptionally high endurance, the damage was still substantial.
But that was not all.
Suddenly, the ground beneath the four goblins cracked open, and countless earth spikes burst forth:
[-241]
[-213]
[-198]
[-201]
The Void Predator’s damage was less impressive, but its role was tanking. This cracking ground skill was meant for control and slowing enemies down.
Just as Li Yao expected, despite the goblin warriors’ fury, their pace was as slow as a turtle before the two summoning beasts.
During this, the Void Predator quickly pulled back, while the Void Mantis used its speed advantage to dart around the four monsters.
[-6413]
A single terror-inflicting strike instantly took down one goblin warrior.
Before Li Yao could even check the kill panel, two fireballs shot toward the Void Mantis.
Li Yao’s primary investment in agility now proved its worth. The Void Mantis dodged the fireballs with a simple sidestep.
“Invisible,” Li Yao ordered, and the Void Mantis vanished.
The goblin shamans, slower than the warriors, finally arrived. Seeing the Void Mantis disappear, their hatred immediately shifted to Li Yao and the Void Predator. Their high intelligence led them to target Li Yao directly, abandoning the Void Predator.
“Just as I hoped,” Li Yao sneered.
The Void Predator hadn’t devoured any creatures yet; it was like a newborn, still unable to withstand the harshness of the world.
Them focusing on him was a good thing.
Li Yao stood firm, quickening his pace to confront them head-on.
The four goblin warriors charged at him.
But the next moment, a confused, almost human-like expression appeared on the goblins’ faces.
Seeing this, the two goblin shamans chattered and shrieked for a while. Finally, the four warriors turned their attention toward the Void Predator.
“Have you noticed?” Li Yao was somewhat surprised by the monsters’ intelligence.
---
He hadn’t expected the dungeon monsters to be so smart.
“Too bad, it’s already too late now!” Li Yao smiled coldly. The Void Mantis suddenly appeared behind the shamans.
Breaking invisibility, striking with terror, the combo flowed like water onto the shamans. The goblin shamans’ 4,000-plus HP evaporated instantly.
After finishing one, the Void Mantis immediately launched a furious attack on the other shaman.
The warriors tried to defend, but the sudden earth spikes pinned them in place.
They could only watch the goblin shamans fall lifeless.
With two ranged enemies down, the remaining four goblins were nothing but toys.
The Void Mantis moved like a phantom, flickering in and out of sight, finishing them all within 30 seconds.
[Kill Goblin Shaman, Experience +1.4%]
[Combat Training Triggered, Void Mantis Power +1]
[Kill Goblin Shaman, Experience +1.4%]
[Combat Training Triggered, Void Mantis Power +1]
[Kill Goblin Warrior, Experience +1.2%]
[Combat Training Triggered, Void Mantis Power +1]
[...]
Looking at the system panel, Li Yao’s heart leapt with joy.
High-level monsters indeed granted hefty experience points.
Moreover, two pieces of equipment lay quietly on the ground.
Two level 15 bronze-grade items, crafted within the dungeon, were significantly higher quality than normal bronze gear.
Each piece was worth about 14,000 on the market. Li Yao couldn’t use them for now, so he stored them in his storage ring.
“Experience and rewards are multiple times higher than outside!”
It took him roughly one minute to kill these six goblins, yet he gained nearly 8% experience!
The leveling speed was terrifying.
Li Yao felt he had found the right place and immediately moved toward the next goblin squad.
Time flew by.
When Li Yao emerged from the goblin tribe, the goblin monsters had been completely wiped out.
[Level: 11 (32.54%)]
In less than an hour, Li Yao had gained almost one and a half levels!
There were about 30 goblin squads in this tribe.
Because they were so close together, Li Yao was careful not to accidentally attract the hatred of other teams while kiting goblins, spending most of his time managing aggro.
Fortunately, the results were good.
Even at level 11, where experience requirements drastically increased, he still reached a terrifying 32% progress.
At that moment, as Li Yao prepared to head to the next tribe, a strange roar echoed.
A monstrously large goblin wielding a heavy sword appeared before him...
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