Chapter 7: Ambush
As expected, with a quick enough reaction, one can run out of range before an attack is launched.
“Swish”
A golden light flashed by, and Starry leveled up.
Both Strength and Agility can increase attack power, with a 1:1 increase before job change, and corresponding growth coefficients afterward.
Intelligence only becomes effective after switching to a magic profession.
In the early stages, investing points into Agility yields significant output benefits, as each point not only corresponds to 0.2 Defense but also provides a boost to movement and attack speed.
Thus, all of Starry’s attribute points were allocated to Agility.
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The number of swords needed to kill a Slime was shortened from 6 to 5, and after killing another Slime, Zane also returned to level 2.
Since most of the output came from Starry, Zane only received a small portion of the experience. Even so, compared to other players, their speed was still top-notch.
Many of the other players present looked over.
How can they not attract attention with 9 swords to kill a Slime? (Zane 4 swords, Starry 5 swords)
The sword that Starry wielded obviously looked like high-quality equipment, and surely they had quite a few miscellaneous armors on them; otherwise, they couldn’t have such high damage.
Even a team of players approached them, perhaps intentionally or unintentionally.
As Starry and Zane leveled up again, Zane allocated both characters’ attribute points to Agility.
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Starry only needed 4 swords to kill the Slime, and could even finish the kill before the corrosive slime activated, while Zane’s damage contribution was just to mix in for experience; they couldn’t give preferential treatment.
They even collected 10 portions of Slime goo.
Zane noticed a team of players with the “Yuhua” prefix approaching.
“Could you keep your distance? The goo might accidentally cause some harm later,” Zane frowned and said.
“That’s right, our Rain Flower Guild only has a few brothers randomly present in this Beginner Village. I see your monster-killing actions are quite nimble; you must be veterans. If you’re not in a guild, would you be interested in joining our Rain Flower Guild?” said the player at the front, “Yuhua Xuanlong.”
“Sorry, we currently have no intention of joining any guilds,” Zane directly declined.
“No problem, I just wanted to invite you to join since I saw such skilled players. Since you both aren’t interested in the guild, how about teaming up for leveling? We can help you lure monsters, and you and this beautiful lady behind you can collect the spoils. We’ve studied it; Slimes have very low attack power. As long as they don’t hit half health and trigger skills, one person can handle two or three Slimes easily. This way, we can greatly improve leveling efficiency, what do you think?”
Not refusing a good-natured offer, especially since it was mutually beneficial, Zane nodded and replied, “Okay.”
Then he added all five of them to a party.
System Notification: Yuhua Xuanlong has joined your party.
System Notification: Yuhua Dianhuo has joined your party.
System Notification: Yuhua Shuang has joined your party.
System Notification: Yuhua Polang has joined your party.
System Notification: Yuhua Zhang San has joined your party.
All of them were level 4, proving that organized players level up quickly. If Zane didn’t have an external aid, he truly couldn’t compete with them.
Starry, Zane, Yuhua Xuanlong, and Yuhua Dianhuo were responsible for damage output, while the other three lured monsters, ensuring uninterrupted output.
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A round of concentrated fire just knocked off 75 health from the Slime. The Slime contracted, preparing to attack. Another round, and it was dead!
“That’s so powerful… Starry, how did you achieve such damage?” Yuhua Dianhuo exclaimed.
“Nothing much, just lucky to hit the weaknesses,” Starry replied casually.
“…” Who believes that? What kind of god hits critical weaknesses every single time? Moreover, the weak point attack text is in blue. They can’t fool me, Yuhua Dianhuo silently complained, staring intently at the Qiu Yue Sword.
Thus, they farmed for 15 minutes. Due to Slimes being level 4 monsters, the experience from going from level 4 to 5 dropped significantly. However, Zane quickly reached level 4, while Starry was the first to reach level 5.
Before they realized it, almost the entire Slime area was about to be cleared out.
Higher-level monsters have longer respawn times. Clearly, the respawn speed couldn’t keep up with Starry’s violent output, creating a brief gap without monsters.
“This is the last group of monsters. Once we finish, we’ll have to wait for respawns,” Yuhua Polang said as he led two Slimes.
Including the monsters lured by Yuhua Shuang and Yuhua Zhang San, they had a total of 9 Slimes left.
“After we finish these, we should return to turn in our quests,” Zane said.
“Alright, then we’ll train ourselves afterward,” Yuhua Xuanlong said cheerfully.
The Rain Flower members had also reached level 5; it seems they all allocated their points to Agility, resulting in a sudden spike in output, dealing at least around 20 damage per attack, although still far inferior to Starry.
Suddenly, Yuhua Zhang San turned around and struck a Slime.
“I need to mix in more experience too,” Yuhua Zhang San said with a smile.
Yuhua Polang and Yuhua Shuang also started to mimic, bringing the three Slimes down to 87 health. One more hit and it would trigger the skill.
They certainly understood this mechanism, so they switched to another target and continued attacking.
Experience points are linked to output, so it was reasonable for them to seek extra experience after luring monsters for so long.
Zane thought so but felt something was off.
As the three Slimes beside him were eliminated by Starry, she could now deal over 60 damage with one sword; the level advantage also provided extra damage effects.
At that moment, Zane noticed that all the incoming Slimes had over 80 health.
He suddenly considered a possibility. From Starry’s perspective, she noticed their preparatory sword-swinging movements.
At this moment, even a fool would realize they were attempting to ambush themselves, likely eyeing Starry’s sword.
Zane and Starry simultaneously pulled out a portion of quest slime and threw it behind them before sprinting away.
Almost simultaneously, Yuhua Xuanlong shouted, “Go!”
“Swish”
The five of them drew their swords together, dealing damage between 15-25.
The Slime sensed danger, life was under threat, Corrosive Goo!
Time suddenly slowed down; the five-man team received the team disbanding notification in a daze.
Seeing that Starry and Zane were already two meters away, their expressions filled with shock.
Forget it, just run!
Yuhua Xuanlong turned to flee but stepped in the goo, falling face first into the ground.
Coincidentally, Yuhua Dianhuo also fell embarrassingly to the ground.
Yuhua Shuang, Yuhua Xuanlong’s sister, was still in high school and reacted slower than the others, staring blankly for a moment before running away.
“Whoosh”
The sound effects of the skill went off one after another.
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The first hit was enough to take almost half their health.
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The second hit left them all in a severely weakened state.
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Before the third hit could land, the corrosive effect took precedence, and Yuhua Shuang vanished in a flash of white light.
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In the third hit, neither Yuhua Xuanlong nor Yuhua Dianhuo escaped unharmed.
Only Yuhua Zhang San and Yuhua Polang managed to escape the attack range.
