Chapter 243: Day 531 – Level 4 Poke

Chapter 243: Day 531 – Level 4 Poke

We left very early in the morning, all bundled up for the frostlands. The first monster were level 3 yellow foxes. They were quick and fast, and sent out bursts of light before moving into attack. It was disorienting, and annoying, but not hard to deal with.

We kept pushing North. No sign of a tower or any other terrain feature. The next monster was a white fox. Both Naran and myself could easily take their attacks and powered our way through the monsters with ease.

We crested a hill and came to a stop. “Well, I think we just found the third type of terrain for a level 4 zone,” Naran said. The terrain was heavily overcast. The ground, rocks, and everything seemed to suck in any kind of light. The few plants were dark gray, sickly-looking things that I could make out.

“Well it doesn’t look as bad as the jungle or the mushrooms. Darklands, what do you think?” I asked Naran.

“A good a name as any. You want to poke it Michael? Really? And if ten level 4 monsters come out, what then?” Naran asked me.

“I know, I know. But the temptation is strong,” I replied.

“Well resist that temptation,” Naran replied.

“But we could pull a level 4 across. This could be a great grinding spot. Grinding level 4 monsters. Think of the points,” I replied. If I could find a level 4 that could be killed in two uses of Acid Shot, then I could earn around 860,000 points with a day’s worth of grinding.

Such an amount was insane. Compared to the 215,000 points I could earn in a day from a level 3 zone. It was also why I wanted to grind the tower golems after our exploration was completed. As long as a level 4 monster could be killed with less than 8 uses of Acid Shot, then it was economically better to grind level 4 monsters.

“You are letting your eyes get bigger than your stomach,” Naran replied.

“We will have to poke a level 4 zone sometime,” I replied.

“And the Ritualist? I thought we were going to go East?” Naran asked me. That was a good point. I let out a long sigh.

“A poke. And I am running back here,” I said.

“This is a bad idea,” Naran said.

“It is. But I want more of a sense of how my current combat levels match up and to see more level 4 monsters,” I replied. Naran let out a long sigh and then began stretching.

“Fine, but I am keeping watch from here. We don’t want to aggro a horde. Where is your risk sense?” Naran complained.

“Grinding a level 4 monster would be amazing, and these darklands give more than enough line of sight to see them coming,” I replied. Naran waved me away and set off towards the darklands. Time to poke it, very, very carefully, and see what came out.

I slowly went forward, quickly killing any level 3 foxes in my path. The closer I got the more oppressive, the level 4 zone was. The darkness was intense, and it was hard to make anything clearly the further I stared. It was just that dark. “Air Burst.” I prepped the skill just in case.

“Well, we would definitely be dead if there was more than one at the same time. And those eyes. Why put eyes on blades?” Naran asked.

“It was a composite body type. Each was a part of the whole. That was why it dusted and was distracted when parts of it were damaged. You managed to dent some,” I replied.

“Dent. Completely useless. Both skills and stats. I thought after the sky worms, things would be different,” Naran said with a long sigh.

“The sky worms were hindered by the city shield. That was why we had such an easy time of them. But we are definitely getting you an enchanted weapon. I like this monster,” I said and Naran just stared at me. “What?”

“You like it?” Naran asked.

“Yes. Since it throws its body parts, it isn’t unreasonable to have someone touch one with a Processing Rod while it is killed off. Also it was pullable from the darklands. Level 4 crafting crystals, I wonder what type? The blood was black that came from the blade and the ground cracked after it hit, give me a second,” I said as I thought it over.

“You want to farm these...these skittering bladed horrors. After giving them such an appealing name? Really, I worry about you Michael,” Naran said.

“Ah! I got it. It is the death type. Really dark black blood and cracking the ground with those blasts of black looking energy. Decay and damage over time. The ground cracked from rapidly aging. Interesting,” I said.

“You aren’t paying attention to me,” Naran pouted.

“I am paying attention, but this is important to think through while it is fresh in my mind. Before I forget or misremember the details. Death and decay energy isn’t that useful, but it would be powerful. Could even get level 5 enchantments out of this monster. One hit kills,” I speculated.

“Alright, that would be impressive, but we would have to kill a lot of these things,” Naran said.

“Still, it would make that monstrosity do real damage. The golems are construct type, that would only make a weapon super durable. Which is also a good option. With level 4 equipment, we could stack on four enchantments. Two level 5 death and two level 5 construct enchantments. The sword wouldn’t break for anything. It would mean a lot of crafting crystals,” I said.

Four level 5 enchantments, meant we would need a total of 288 level 4 crafting crystals, or killing 2,304 level 4 monsters. That came out to 8,294,400 points. A sizable sum and not a simple task. Still, it would be a sword to end all swords.

“Regardless, that is for the future, and that was reckless,” Naran said.

“It was, but the risk was worth the information gained. I know one thing for sure now. If I want to grind level 4 monsters, then I need to upgrade my skill. Acid Shot just doesn’t cut it. Level 4 monsters can block too easily. Or a lot more Spirit. I need to think on this. Still, lots of daylight left, East?” I asked Naran.

“East, let’s see what is in the corner at the very least,” Naran agreed. We moved South, away from the darklands. No need to tempt fate or another bladed skittering horror from emerging. One was more than enough to sate my curiosity.

We raced towards the East. “Michael, there is a void zone,” Naran said. I frowned but we kept going. There was a void to the our Northeast. That meant the level 3 zone to our East was the only way in that direction.

We paused at the edge of the zone and looked at stonelands. I let out a long sigh. I needed a second to think about what I was going to do here.The initial instance of this chapter being available happened at N0v3l.Bin.