Chapter 36

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation  Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Arriving at the outskirts of the Overgrown Ruins, Nie Fan found a spot to keep farming monsters. Soon enough, a white light flashed over his skill bar: Toxic Miasma was now Level 2, buffed up to Level 3 thanks to the Ring of Fate’s effect.

[Toxic Miasma: Releases a cloud of poison that lowers the target’s Attack and Defense to a certain extent, lasts 15 seconds, 1 second casting, 20 seconds cooldown, mana cost 20. Improved effect when near rotting plants, causes Poison damage to all units within range.]

1

That’s the effect he wanted!

Nie Fan smiled. His goal here was accomplished, and he should find a place to test his skill.

He dashed towards another spawn point of Level 20 Fire Goblins nearby, and as he ventured further from the Overgrown Ruins, he caught sight of hordes of Fire Goblins just ahead.

There were some corpses of Fire Goblins left on the ground too—left by players who were leveling nearby.

Looking around and upon seeing that those players had gone far, Nie Fan started to farm the Fire Goblins. With barrages of Bloodthirsty Vines, Black Oil and Mini Fireball combos, there were soon piles of Fire Goblin corpses on the ground.

Soulcraving Thorns!

Nie Fan cast his skill on one of the Fire Goblin corpses, and seven dark thorns immediately grew out of the lifeless body, each around two meters long and creeping over the ground, their branches full of spikes.

At Level 2, Soulcraving Thorns would summon seven thorns at once, each having Slow, just [-5] and [-6] damage points would also pop up over the head of any goblin walking through them.

Still, it lasts for a very short time at 3.5 seconds, even though it was already Level 2.

The thorns would quickly wither and rot, before being strewn all over the ground.

That being said, Soulcraving Thorns could be cast infinitely without cooldown at only 3 mana cost, and so Nie Fan continuously unleashed it—until a thick layer of withered Soulcraving Thorns blanketed the ground.

That being said, the low MP cost didn’t mean that Soulcraving Thorns could be used without end, and Nie Fan’s MP bar was empty soon enough.

After downing a bottle of Novice Mana Potion and restoring a little MP, Nie Fan ran some distance away and found a dozen more Fire Goblins gathered. Casting Mini Fireball, he detonated the spell over one of the Fire Goblins with a bang, promptly drawing the attention of every other Fire Goblin with all of them charging towards Nie Fan at once.

Nie Fan turned to run, firing another Mini Fireball towards other directions to draw even more Fire Goblins towards himself, until there were around sixty chasing after him. He was also leading them towards the spot with the most withered Soulcraving Thorns, and soon enough, every Fire Goblin was about to reach him.

Toxic Miasma!

The dark cloud was launched, reaching the closest goblin and bursting over it into a poisonous vapor permeating the air. But that was not the end—it thickened the more it spread, with the remains of the Soulcraving Thorns all turning into miasma as well.

Eventually, the Toxic Miasma covered an area of over a dozen yards, and every Fire Goblin within range would have damage values up to [-130] popping up over their heads.

The creatures dropped to the ground one after another in no time at all.

Since the Toxic Miasma had a stronger effect with more dead plants nearby, its attack would not lose out to most Mages’ high-damage spells when there are over seventy withered Soulcraving Thorns lying around.

***

While Nie Fan started clearing up the Fire Goblins, a party of five players had appeared at a bush around a hundred yards away.

All of them were girls.

“Look!” One of them, a Cleric exclaimed in surprise—she was Dust, a twenty-year-old gamer with a tall, slim figure, and fairly good looks. She was now Level 23 which was considered high for Cleric players, and she was also the top Cleric player in Phoenix Down Studios. Her party of five were here to farm some Fire Goblins, and naturally did not expect to stumble upon such a stunning sight.

“Is that a Druid?” The girls were stunned.

“Seems like it, but isn’t he casting Toxic Miasma? But how could it have such range… maybe buffing? But there’s no way Toxic Miasma can be so devastating—it’s a useless spell that only lowers Defense and Attack!” Dust was mumbling to herself in disbelief. After all, according to her big sis, there were only three AoE spells that could only be learned and only at Level 60, with two of those classes being Mage-class and one Cleric.

So, what was with that cloud? Watching as the Fire Goblins were being harvested like fields of wheat, she even thought that her eyes were playing tricks on her!

But it was all real and right in front of their eyes. There was no way they could not believe it!

That leveling speed was untold times faster than their entire party’s!

***

Nie Fan’s main goal here was to test Toxic Miasma at Level 3, which offensive effect satisfied him considerably since it was basically an AoE spell when matched with Soulcraving Thorns. Most players wouldn’t know about that Level 3 effect since rarely any of them would train it up to that standard, nor would they think of combining it with Soulcraving Thorns even if they were aware. In fact, it would be months later when they finally discover it.

Toxic Miasma wouldn’t have much of an effect by then too.

Picking up all the items that the Fire Goblins had dropped, Nie Fan turned to leave, disappearing from the corner of a bush. He had actually noticed Dust’s party, but he ignored them since they were simply watching from afar and did not approach him at all.

That being said, he couldn’t keep farming monsters here either—he would have to look for another place since he did not want others stumbling on his secret.

“He’s gone.” A female Warrior in Dust’s party said after seeing Nie Fan leave. “Should we tell Big Sis about what we saw?”

“I’ve already recorded it and sent it to her,” Dust said.

Since Phoenix Down Studios had already decided to set up base in Tajit Village, they naturally had to pay extra attention. They hoped that Nie Fan wouldn’t prove hostile since that sight just now was simply mind-boggling, and they would be in trouble if they were engaged in a faction war to claim Tajit Village. That being said, Dust was just unaware that many conditions must be met before Toxic Miasma could be unleashed with the effect of an AoE spell, not to mention that it would be difficult to fully apply it in a collective battle between players.

“We can only hope he’s not an enemy.” Dust muttered as she watched Nie Fan leave.