Chapter 9: The Untamed Misty Forest
“Find the way, kill the monsters.”
With a single thought, the four squads of skeletons swiftly scattered in four directions to explore.
Clack-clack-clack...
The faint sounds of bones colliding echoed conspicuously through the silent Mist Forest.
After leveling up, the skeletons’ four core attributes surged significantly once again.
Their agility soared to an impressive 215 points, allowing them to move with incredible speed.
Watching their bones rattle up and down as they ran, Su Mubai worried they might shake themselves apart.
Fortunately, nothing of the sort happened. In this data-driven world, as long as there was a drop of blood left, they remained at full combat effectiveness!
In the blink of an eye, all four squads of skeletons vanished from sight, and the surrounding mist began to churn.
Su Mubai narrowed his eyes slightly, sensing the presence of his skeletons in his mind.
Soon, a message arrived in his thoughts.
Within a radius of one hundred meters, he could freely control the summoned undead creatures.
Beyond that range, the connection would sever.
He didn’t know how to increase this range yet.
But he guessed that ordinary necromancers at this stage certainly didn’t have such a far control radius.
Whether it was the exclusive hidden profession of Death Sovereign or the broader information about the Multiverse game, he barely knew anything so far.
The Multiverse was far larger than Blue Star.
The beginner’s village was nothing but a starting point.
The future Plague Legion would begin its growth here in the hellish Mist Forest.
“Found it!”
A skeleton’s feedback echoed in his mind. Su Mubai’s eyes brightened as he commanded all skeletons to rush northward.
As he approached, the system alerted him with a prompt.
[Defeated Level 8 Elite Monster "Mist Treant," gained an additional 50% level difference bonus, experience +60 points.]
“Is the experience from elite monsters five times that of normal monsters?”
Watching his experience bar jump from 0% to 2%, Su Mubai nodded in satisfaction.
He only needed to defeat 50 monsters to level up; it shouldn’t take too long.
Though the experience required to level up kept increasing.
When Su Mubai arrived at the battleground, he only saw the two severed bodies of treants; the skeletons had already resumed their exploration.
Thanks to the passive skill Life Sharing, he didn’t have to deliberately keep skeletons to protect himself.
Bending down, he picked up three copper coins dropped nearby and leisurely admired the scenery as he delved deeper into the Mist Forest.
With the direction set correctly, the number of monsters encountered naturally increased.
[Defeated Level 8 Elite Monster "Mist Treant," gained 50% level difference bonus, experience +60 points.]
[Defeated Level 8 Elite Monster "Mist Tree Python," gained 50% level difference bonus, experience +60 points.]
...
Almost every ten seconds, Su Mubai’s experience would jump once.
This was partly because the Mist Forest was vast, and the monsters were not densely clustered.
He finally caught up with the main force and saw the elite monster’s stats.
[Mist Treant]
[Level 8]
[Elite]
[HP: 3600/3600]
[Attack Power: 74]
[Physical Defense: 60]
[Magic Defense: 40]
[Skill: Entangle]
(Be wary of every tree beside you; they can attack at any moment.)
[Mist Tree Python]
[Level 8]
[Elite]
[HP: 3000/3000]
[Attack Power: 108]
[Physical Defense: 52]
[Magic Defense: 30]
[Skill: Strangle]
(It’s said the Mist Tree Python loves playing binding games—let’s see if you can handle it.)
The Mist Forest was a level five dungeon. On hell difficulty, monsters’ levels were boosted by three, and all were elite grade.
These elite monsters had more HP than Su Mubai’s summoned skeletons.
However, their core attributes were far inferior.
Though the skeletons’ coordination was not perfect, they easily overwhelmed the enemies through encirclement.
Focusing on a Mist Tree Python, Su Mubai swung his bone staff, silently chanting a magical incantation.
Two seconds later, a wisp of ghostly blue flame shot forth, instantly merging into the python’s body.
[Burn]
-98, -101...
Every second, damage numbers around one hundred flickered above the python’s head.
After reaching level three, Su Mubai’s spell power had soared to 156 points.
Of this, 46 points came from spirit, massively amplified threefold by the Death Sovereign profession.
Another 18 points derived from the Death Codex and his bone staff.
In the Multiverse game, equipment tiered every five levels, so the Death Codex’s attributes wouldn’t change until level five.
In five seconds, the Burn skill dealt just over 500 magic damage to the Mist Tree Python.
Compared to ordinary players, this was quite substantial.
But compared to the output of twenty skeletons, it paled in comparison.
Still, Su Mubai didn’t mind and kept using Burn to increase his damage.
Though he lacked potions to restore mana, his current spirit stat allowed him to regenerate 46 mana every five seconds during combat.
This figure was also three times that of an average necromancer.
[Defeated Level 8 Elite Monster "Mist Tree Python," gained 50% level difference bonus, experience +60 points.]
Another system prompt sounded, and Su Mubai smiled faintly.
Something dropped!
The drop rate in hell-level dungeons was indeed much higher than outside. After defeating just over ten monsters, he had already acquired a piece of equipment.
And it was a Black Iron grade item!
[Mist Python Belt]
Belt, Leather Armor
Level 5
Black Iron Grade
Durability 30/30
Armor +9
Constitution +2
(Imagine wearing a giant python around your waist.)
“Too bad it’s leather armor.”
Reading the equipment description, Su Mubai twitched the corner of his mouth.
He had no idea what twisted sense of humor the Multiverse game designers had; every piece of equipment came with such a soul-touching description.
In this game, equipment was categorized as cloth armor, leather armor, chainmail, and plate armor.
Generally, low-level equipment only had level requirements, but each profession could only wear the armor type matching their class.
The Death Sovereign, evolving from the Necromancer, was a cloth armor class.
“Although I can’t use it, at least I can sell it.”
Su Mubai thought for a moment and immediately used the Cataclysm enchantment on the Mist Python Belt.
[You have obtained the Bronze-grade equipment "Mist Python Belt."]
The name remained unchanged, but all attributes improved.
Comparatively, bronze-grade equipment at the same level was about 50% stronger than black iron.
Still, only one attribute was increased.
He casually tossed it into his bag and continued helping the skeletons clear monsters.
What he wanted most wasn’t equipment but skill books.
The Mist Forest, as the first dungeon in the beginner’s village, was a place for players to farm equipment and skill books.
The hell difficulty naturally raised the drop rates significantly. When the golden light flashed, Su Mubai had already collected three pieces of equipment and two skill books.
[Congratulations player "White Night" on reaching level 4: all stats +1, skill points +1, free attribute points +15.]
[You obtained Black Iron equipment "Wooden Magic Staff."]
[You obtained Black Iron equipment "Snake Fang Dagger."]
[You obtained Black Iron equipment "Mist Python Leather Armor."]
[You obtained E-rank skill book "Entangle."]
[You obtained E-rank skill book "Strangle."]
Among these five items, only the Wooden Magic Staff would be usable after Su Mubai reached level five.
After upgrading all equipment and skill books by one tier using Cataclysm, Su Mubai put everything into his inventory.
Once this dungeon run ended, other players would likely start farming the dungeon too, so he could sell these items to them.
However, Su Mubai worried that other players might lack money; he had deep experience with the Multiverse game’s drop rates.
Even with his strength, his current total wealth was less than three silver coins...
“Players forming teams to clear dungeons should be able to pool money, right?”
Su Ming shook his head and continued directing the skeletons deeper into the Mist Forest.
After leveling up, the skeletons’ core attributes rose to 292 points, further accelerating their monster farming speed.
If it weren’t for the sparse monster density in the Mist Forest, Su Mubai’s leveling speed would have been even faster.
When Su Mubai finally found the first boss, he had reached level five.
During this time, his gains were considerable.
Including the Double-layered Cloth Shoes and Wooden Magic Staff, he now had five pieces of usable equipment.
Besides that, he had a skill book for the necromancer.
Yet, it was this very low-level skill that multiplied his already extraordinary power several times over!