Chapter 58: Drow Spider: Final Moments

In the endless maze, Fang Shi fell silent for a moment.

"As long as you don't wander around, you can pass once the twenty-four hours are up."

He told Jiang Xian the maze's rules, then left.

As for the fruit that caused Zhang Di's coma, Fang Shi had seen it too.

One could only say, truly worthy of the Lady of Luck's Chosen, what good luck.

The fruit was named Pure Origin Fruit; it could raise Strength and Constitution by two points each.

Pity it was useless to Fang Shi; such fruits only worked on players whose base stats were below twelve points.

Jiang Xian stood dazed in place; even though Fang Shi had told her the solution, her mind remained utterly lost.

After being a boy for over ten years, facing the situation of being a girl for the first time, she truly didn't know what to do.

Long hair draped over her shoulders; no matter what, she couldn't get used to it.

She even had the thought of wanting to cut it off.

"Ouch!"

Zhang Di, who had been unconscious for a long time, woke up and saw a strange, cute girl standing before him.

He rubbed his eyes in disbelief.

"What are you looking at? I'm Jiang Xian." Jiang Xian's voice rang out like silver bells.

This scared Zhang Di; he had merely slept, yet how had he ended up like this upon waking?

"Jiang Xian, how long was I unconscious? Did you go get surgery? Uh, the surgery was quite successful."

Zhang Di scratched his head; successful? It was more than that; he could even smell a faint fragrance.

Just like a girl.

"No!" Jiang Xian shouted, veins bulging on her forehead.

After a while, Zhang Di finally learned the full story from Jiang Xian's mouth.

"Jiang Xian, it doesn't matter. It's the apocalypse now; staying alive is most important."

"Besides, your power is so strong now; it's a huge gain."

Zhang Di habitually slapped his hand on Jiang Xian's shoulder.

"Don't touch me," Jiang Xian cried out.

Zhang Di was surprised; seeing the strange look on Jiang Xian's face, he awkwardly withdrew his hand.

Jiang Xian didn't know why; a movement she was used to, yet she felt uncomfortable.

A former brother, turned into this; she didn't know how to interact anymore.

The two chatted for a while, then fell silent.

They waited quietly here for the end after twenty-four hours.

Inside the passage.

Fang Shi continued forward after leaving Jiang Xian and the other.

He used Primal Force and gained Primal Resistance I.

"【Primal Resistance I】: Your Primal Resistance equals Life Level +1."

This physical change wasn't intense; instead, it felt like water flowing over the body.

Besides nourishment, there was no sensation at all.

This fit the Primal Force's trait of nourishing all things perfectly.

Fang Shi soon reached the next crossroads.

This time it was a drow spider, a deformed monster, half-centaur, half-spider, half-drow.

It was said to be created by the Spider Queen to punish traitors.

Using special toxins and elixirs to mutate the drow elf's body to gain giant spider traits.

This was especially obvious on this male drow spider.

His lower body was like a tarantula; his four furry pairs of walking legs stood as tall as one meter eighty.

His upper body was lean, the same build as a normal drow.

His face was like a spider's, not a drow's, with giant fangs on his lower jaw.

Except for the drow's characteristic obsidian skin, he had no trace of an elf's appearance.

He held a massive composite longbow in his hands, heavy hammers hung on his body, and his compound eyes on his face constantly watched enemies in the distance.

Moreover, the drow spider possessed spellcasting abilities.

It could cast up to third-circle spells like Lightning Bolt.

Pity that as a level-seven creature, the drow spider's base stats were not high.

Even with tier bonuses, they were far from impressive.

It had only base Strength equivalent to twenty-four points and Agility of nineteen points.

In Fang Shi's eyes, this was easy to deal with, far easier than a Gato monster.

Normally, monsters with spellcasting abilities were strong foes.

But there was a prerequisite: sufficient time to cast spells.

The problem was, in the endless maze, drow spiders were always alone.

Without companions, there was no safe environment for casting spells.

The threat level dropped instantly.

Plus, Fang Shi had newly gained Primal Resistance I, so he wouldn't care about it at all.

Upon seeing Fang Shi, the drow spider-elf planned to unleash a triple combo of Darkness, Daze, and Ray of Enfeeblement.

Darkness is a spell that alters the environment, a effect that cannot be negated by Force Resistance.

Moreover, the drow spider-elf possesses darkvision, making it unaffected in darkness; indeed, it thrived in such conditions.

Little did it know Fang Shi's Perception had reached 23; even in darkness, he could sense the drow spider-elf's location.

With the boost of Double Strike, he closed the distance to the drow spider-elf in an instant.

The drow spider-elf, experienced as it was, immediately ceased casting and swung its heavy mace directly at Fang Shi.

Striking from high to low, with the advantage of striking after the opponent, the drow spider-elf was certain it could not miss.

Yet, it truly could not hit.

With Epic-level Lightning Reflexes, the drow spider-elf's assault seemed merely slow within Fang Shi's perception.

Even without darkvision, bolstered by his Perception and extremely fast reaction speed,

he could easily analyze the direction of the drow spider-elf's attack.

He even had the leisure to devise several schemes to counter it.

"Crack!"

Fang Shi severed the drow spider-elf's jointed arm directly.

The heavy mace in its hand crashed to the ground with a "Boom."

The drow spider-elf cried out in pain, waving its walking legs in an attempt to attack Fang Shi.

While effortlessly dodging, Fang Shi simultaneously severed the drow spider-elf's first few walking legs.

The rest of the battle held no suspense.

A low-level caster caught in melee, unable to win in close combat, was like a lamb to the slaughter, meeting death in an instant.

"Target eliminated."

"Extracting target soul energy: You gain 672 Experience Points and 67.2 Survival Points."

"Detected that the player has reached Level 5."

"You have obtained partial information on the advanced class Hidden Blade."

"You have obtained partial information on the advanced class Splendid Sword."

"As the first player to slay a Level 7 creature,"

"you have received a Bronze Chest."

Fang Shi felt a stir in his heart; a Bronze Chest was not bad.

Last time he first reached Level 5, he was given only some skill points, which had left him utterly depressed.

It was not even as beneficial to him as the previous Iron Chest.

"Do you wish to open the Bronze Chest?"

"Yes."

"You have obtained the item: Agility Gloves +1."

"Agility Gloves +1"

"Toughness: 4"

"Durability: 10"

"Quality: Tier 1"

"Effect: When wearing these gloves, your Agility attribute increases by 1."

"Weight: 100 grams"

"Evaluation: These gloves will make your strikes swift as the wind."

Not bad, not bad; it is a wondrous item that boosts attributes.

Attribute points are the foundation of everything; naturally, the higher the better.

However, there was still a slight regret; his Agility attribute was already too high.

He could not fully utilize it; if only he had equipment that increased Intelligence.

As for the two free attribute points Fang Shi possessed, he could not bear to spend them on Intelligence.

Intelligence is currently only 14, leaving ample room for improvement.

It is said that a mage's meditation method can increase Intelligence.

Fang Shi intended to acquire one to try when the opportunity arose.

Afterwards, he encountered various miscellaneous monsters.

Such as lower-level monsters like Ettercaps, Woolly Rhinos, Satyrs, and Crawling Hands.

Or higher-level monsters like Cyclopses, Glazhags, and Changmo Guests.

Fang Shi killed those he could defeat and fled from those he could not, then slept soundly.

Thus, twenty-four hours were about to pass.

Fang Shi now faced the final monster—the Energy-Siphoning Carrion Eater.

This monster appeared as a swollen, egg-shaped body supported by three thick, short legs, larger than a cow.

A vine-like eyestalk rose about 70 centimeters above its swollen body, bearing four eyes clustered together, rolling about.

Its massive mouth gaped open across the entire front half of its body, containing several rows of serrated teeth.

Four thick tentacles extended from the sides of its body, their ends covered in sharp teeth, resembling four secondary mouths.

Its pale, twisted skin covered its strange body, seemingly infused with terrifying power.

Another disgusting aberration.

It is said that this deformed monster was created by the spellcasters of the Dhakaan Empire in the Eberron world.

As a war creature, it possesses a built-in Energy-Siphon Aura, specifically designed to counter classes with healing abilities such as priests.

Whenever anyone within twenty meters of an Energy-Siphon Scavenger uses a healing-related spell or ability,

the Energy-Siphon Scavenger receives the corresponding healing effect, while the original target of the spell gains no healing.

However, Fang Shi has no healing-related spell abilities, rendering this formidable innate talent useless.

But do not think the Energy-Siphon Scavenger is easy to deal with; it possesses a base Strength of 27.

Combined with bonuses from its tier and size, it wields nearly four tons of brute force.

Its four thick tentacles are a quadrupled version of the Gator Beast.

Furthermore, its body structure allows its offensive movements to resemble a bouncing, springing launch.

Like a spider, it is far more agile than the Gator Beast.

It can even lunge at an enemy to deliver a fatal grapple.

Additionally, the tips of its four tentacles can bite and tear enemies, making it an utterly terrifying creature.

To be honest, Fang Shi's first reaction upon seeing this monster

was to retreat, but he realized the remaining time was insufficient to reach the next crossroads.

Moreover, the next monster might not meet Fang Shi's requirements.

Fang Shi's current highest record is a level 7 monster.

Counting the over-leveling, the clearance evaluation is naturally extremely high.

Yet Fang Shi remains unsatisfied, hoping to encounter a level 8 monster he can defeat.

Unfortunately, without Tymora's interference,

Fang Shi's luck is merely average; he either encounters monsters of too low a level or too high a level.

The only two level 8 monsters he has encountered were a colossal Storm Elemental and a Shattered Leaf Storm.

Due to their life forms, these two types of monsters are difficult for purely physical classes to handle.

One is a raging wind, the other a swarm; how can a physical class fight them?

Only the Energy-Siphon Scavenger is somewhat manageable; as a flesh-and-blood life form, at least it can be bled to death.

Fang Shi had considered clearing the stage by fleeing.

But that is nearly impossible; the Energy-Siphon Scavenger's movement speed is 30 meters per second.

Even running at full speed, Fang Shi cannot outrun the Energy-Siphon Scavenger, and this monster's four tentacles allow it to attack while moving without hindrance.

Simply fleeing would be courting death.

But for the sake of the clearance evaluation, Fang Shi must kill the Energy-Siphon Scavenger no matter what.

Bang!

The moment Fang Shi stepped into the crossroads, the Energy-Siphon Scavenger lunged, its four tentacles flailing and attacking without pause.

Each strike at the tips produced a sonic boom.

Especially the four tentacles, with their immense attack range, nearly sealed off all of Fang Shi's escape routes.

Fang Shi neither dodged nor evaded, charging straight at the Energy-Siphon Scavenger, then sliding low with his steel sword pointed upward.

Using the momentum of the Energy-Siphon Scavenger's lunge, he sliced a massive gash across its abdomen.

"Slash attack initiated."

"You dealt 3 points of damage to the target."

"You dealt 4 points of damage to the target."

This single strike dealt a total of 23 points of damage; the Energy-Siphon Scavenger, having lost a quarter of its health, instantly went berserk.

The eye stalks extending from its back rotated, four eyes staring fixedly at Fang Shi on the ground.

Four frenzied tentacles surged from behind.

No, the Energy-Siphon Scavenger has no distinction of front, back, left, or right.

Its central eye stalk rotates freely and flexibly.

With its three legs fixed in a triangle, the direction of its eyes defines its current front.

No matter where an enemy is located, the Energy-Siphon Scavenger can attack rapidly.

Bang!

Fang Shi slammed his left hand onto the ground, using the recoil to instantly spring upward.

He slashed his steel sword straight up.

Cling! Cling! Cling! Cling!

Using the force of the tentacles, Fang Shi retreated backward.

He is far from the person he once was; with Epic-level Lightning Reflexes, he handles attacks at supersonic speeds with ease.

Moreover, the Energy-Siphon Scavenger's skin possesses innate spell resistance concealment; this magical power grants its defense a +4 deflection bonus.

Simply put, when attacked, it easily slides to the side, reducing damage.

Fang Shi exploited this very trait, using it to deflect the force transmitted through the four tentacles.

Furthermore, the tentacles themselves lack the hardness of the Gator Beast's tail joints.

Therefore, even with attacks from three additional tentacles, the recoil force Fang Shi endured was not as terrifying.

It is like striking a cotton quilt versus steel with the same force; the damage received is entirely different.

Then he charged forward again, engaging the Energy-Siphon Scavenger's tentacles in combat.

Four supersonic tentacles, their booming cracks causing Fang Shi's eardrums to throb with pain.

But force acts mutually.

Fang Shi only needed to firmly grip his sword-wielding right hand.

Under the reaction force, the Energy-Sucking Carrion Beast's tentacles suffered with each strike.

Skin split and flesh tore, blood splattered everywhere; the accumulated wounds were deep enough to see the bone.

Yet as a war weapon specially crafted by the mages, the Energy-Sucking Carrion Beast

did not care about its own casualties; instead, as it was injured, its attacks grew more frantic.

After inflicting sufficient damage, Fang Shi ceased further offense.

Instead, he circled around it, waiting for the Energy-Sucking Carrion Beast to bleed out and die naturally.

"Target dead."

"Extracting target's soul energy. You gain 936 experience points and 93.6 Survival Points."

"Detected that the player has reached Level 5."

"You have obtained partial information on the advanced class: Blade of Inspiration."

"You have obtained partial information on the advanced class: Wandering Swordsman."

"As the first player to kill an Level 8 creature,"

"you have received a Bronze Treasure Chest."

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