nyslfriends Chapter 98 Hunting Trolls, Perfecting the [Group Brutality] Technique
Chapter 98 Hunting Trolls, Perfecting the [Group Brutality] Technique
Chapter 98 Hunting Trolls, Perfecting the [Group Brutality] Technique
Beyond the stinking swamp lies a vast expanse of frozen wasteland.
Besides the extremely low temperature, most of the monsters here also have some freezing properties, making them a bit more difficult to deal with than ordinary monsters.
Then came what was once a town on the outskirts of Haicheng, which is now, of course, a ruin.
The Ark plans to cross the Frozen Wasteland before nightfall and spend the night in the town ruins.
The town ruins are less than two hours away from his final destination, the thorny thicket.
If all goes well, he can explore the Refinement Stone veins in the [Thorn Jungle] first thing tomorrow morning.
The cold wind howls, and the white grass lies dormant.
Fangzhou seemed oblivious, leading his army of skeletons against the cold wind as they set foot on the frozen wasteland.
His physical attributes are close to 6 points. While he can't be said to be immune to heat or cold, this cold wind has no effect on him.
Sparse, hardy shrubs and scattered pebbles give the entire wasteland a desolate and bleak feel.
The skeleton that was clearing the way had only gone less than ten meters when a bulge appeared under the frozen ground.
A white salamander, about half a meter in size, emerged, accompanied by a thin layer of icy mist.
The enormous tail swept across the path-clearing skeleton.
With a sound.
With a swipe of the bone claws, the attacker's tail was easily severed by the skeleton.
The Frozen Earth Salamander is one of the most common low-ranking apprentice monsters in this wasteland.
There was no need for the Ark to intervene; it was quickly torn to pieces by the skeletons.
They swept through the enemy lines.
Two or three frozen monsters at a time were no match for the unruly onslaught of the skeleton army, and they all met a tragic fate of being torn apart.
So, in the following period of time, Fangzhou kept repeating the process of searching for, killing, and then searching for monsters again, and his hunting points steadily increased.
As he ventured deeper, the variety of monsters in the frozen tundra gradually increased.
A Clawed Beast with severely mutated claws.
A frozen earth spirit wielding a small crossbow and a short dagger.
There is also a type of Icefield Gnoll cavalry that rides a demon wolf and wields a stone chain or chain mace.
They are relatively rare, but their individual strength is among the top of all the dungeon monsters encountered in the Ark.
While Ark was having his eyes opened, he also gained many more monsters and undead under his command.
Soon, after rounding a huge rock, the ark came to a stop.
Just a few dozen meters ahead, there was a rare underground river.
Looking up, he saw a group of monsters he had never seen before blocking the stone bridge leading to the other side of the river.
Although these monsters largely retained their human form, they were all covered in filth and had disheveled hair.
Moreover, they all possess enormous bodies of around three meters tall and severely oversized bellies.
Troll?
Fangzhou was somewhat surprised, not expecting that there would be such a troublesome monster in Cave 1.
Strictly speaking, trolls are not like goblins or kobolds, which are inherently weak and have very low potential.
They have a lot of room to grow; in the mythological world, there are even high-level trolls of the gold rank.
However, perhaps due to the limited energy of Cave 1, coupled with the regular cleaning by the military academy instructors, only one of the five trolls in front of Ark was of mid-level apprentice rank, while the other four were of low-level apprentice rank.
Based on their innate attributes and living environment, there are many types of trolls, such as river trolls, stone trolls, ice trolls, swamp trolls, savage trolls, war trolls, and so on.
These five trolls living in the frozen wasteland are naturally the ice trolls.
Fangzhou recalled the instructors' introduction to trolls during the monster encyclopedia class.
Trolls are born with the ability to continuously heal from injuries.
The wound heals almost as quickly as it does when injured by conventional weapons.
Only damage from fire, poison, and death energy can prevent their wounds from healing.
Besides brute force and rage, they are covered in all kinds of mud and decaying matter, giving them a strong defensive surface.
As an ice troll, it can even spit out vomit with strong corrosive and freezing effects.
Not only is it disgusting, but the harm it causes is also considerable.
If we had to point out their weaknesses, they are quite unintelligent, their senses are not very sharp, and their movement speed is not fast.
This is a common problem for tank-type monsters.
Of course, such a difficult monster can yield very generous rewards if you manage to kill it.
The troll's heart is the source of its life force and can be used to make [Constitution Potion].
A single bottle of Apprentice-level [Strength Potion] is worth 50 contribution points.
Therefore, the Haicheng Military Academy offered a very generous buyback price for the troll heart.
Fangzhou estimated that killing these five trolls would yield at least 20 contribution points for their five hearts.
He looked intently at the group of still bewildered trolls, then focused his attention on the attribute panel.
Before the battle begins, he needs to strengthen his skeleton army.
Trolls are weak against fire, poison, and death energy.
As a necromancer, Fangzhou naturally has no affinity with fire.
However, deadly poisons and lethality are his specialties.
The [Group Brutality] skill, which was previously derived from the clone's [Brutality Strike] skill, works by adding a layer of Death Energy buff to the summoned undead creatures, thereby enhancing their attack power.
Now, Ark needs to enhance this skill again!
In order to perfect the [Bone Spear], he once exchanged for the necromancer class's apprentice-level skill [Touch of Corruption], which gave the [Bone Spear] the attribute of corrosive poison damage.
Now, he is also trying to use [Touch of Corruption] as a skill material to enhance [Mass Brutality].
To ensure a high success rate, Fangzhou directly opened his personal terminal and spent 5 contribution points to exchange for another skill manual for "Touch of Corruption" in the Necromancer skill library.
Attribute panel, enhance it for me!
The thought flashed through Fangzhou's mind, and a notification immediately appeared on the attribute panel.
"Skill materials have been detected that can improve the [Group Brutality] skill. It is estimated to consume 10 points of Soul Power."
"Should it be improved?"
Fangzhou immediately confirmed it.
Immediately, as the soul power was severely depleted, inspiration surged within the Ark's spiritual world.
A vortex of death and decay is quietly taking shape.
"Skill [Group Brutality] successfully upgraded!"
[Group Brutality] (Apprentice Level, Proficient): For a certain period of time, inflicts Death Energy and Corrosive Poison damage on undead creatures under the spell, increasing their attack power. The magnitude, duration, and coverage area are determined by the Spirit attribute and skill proficiency.
Fang Zhou gripped the apprentice's staff tightly, his eyes filled with pity as he looked at the troll.
With the enhanced [Group Brutality] spell, he probably wouldn't even need to lift a finger; his skeleton army alone could easily tear these trolls to shreds.
At this moment, on the stone bridge over the underground river.
These five ugly ice trolls are sitting or lying down, enjoying the cold, howling winds of the frozen wasteland.
Ark, leading an army of 40 skeletons, emerged from behind the giant rock.
To conserve his mental energy, he didn't utilize his ranged advantage and instead fired a volley of [Bone Spears].
Instead, he left 10 skeletons to guard him and directed the other 30 skeletons to charge straight at the trolls.
Upon discovering the ark, all the trolls, without exception, had their eyes shining and drool flowing.
"Meat, delicious meat!"
"Eat meat! Eat meat!"
While shouting like this, the five trolls either picked up a broken wooden stick from the ground or charged directly at the army with their hands empty.
Fangzhou couldn't help but shake his head slightly; indeed, it was a lowly monster.
Rumble!
Although the ice trolls were foolish, they used their wisdom to gain power.
As they drew closer, even from the rear, the Ark could feel extremely slight tremors in the ground.
How could five ice trolls possess such power?
It is indeed much stronger than the likes of the kobolds.
Seeing this, Fang Zhou became even more cautious.
He commanded most of the skeletons to form a defensive formation.
Another small group of skeletons smoothly spread out to the flanks, ready to take full advantage of their numbers and surround the ice trolls.
"!"
As they roared with bestial ferocity, the ice trolls charged forward.
After all, the two sides were not far apart, and the fastest charging troll quickly struck a skeleton with its club.
Even though the skeleton had reached the mid-level Apprentice rank and was still enjoying the [Dominate Skeleton] bonus, it was directly knocked back two steps by this mere low-level Apprentice troll, and its soulfire dimmed abruptly.
Fang Zhou immediately narrowed his eyes.
Just by looking at this attack, you can tell that these ice trolls are much stronger in single combat than the lesser abyssal demons of the same tier.
Even compared to the Horned Demon boss without equipment like the Giant Axe and Heavy Armor, it's definitely not inferior.
Although trolls are known for their extremely vigorous vitality, their attack power is not weak either.
At this moment, the other ice trolls also roared and charged over.
Their three-meter-tall stature gives them tremendous charging power.
Almost instantly, five or six skeletons were knocked back and sent flying several meters.
It seems that these ice trolls must have additional strength bonuses, which gives them powerful ability to break through formations. Moreover, the ice trolls' seemingly filthy thick skin is also incredibly strong defensively.
Fang Zhou watched as a troll surrounded by several skeletons, despite being torn in several places by bone claws, saw its wounds visibly close and heal after the skeletons pulled out their claws.
This is the trolls' most terrifying talent: self-healing ability!
But that's it.
Once all the ice trolls were tightly surrounded by the skeleton army, Ark's eyes sharpened, and he gently waved his staff.
A sinister black and green light quickly enveloped the 30 skeletons in the battle ahead.
The [Group Brutality] spell will show these trolls what true brutality is!
Subsequently, under the buff of [Mass Brutality], the already sharp bone claws and fangs of these skeletons were coated with a dim glow.
Death!
Corruption!
These two damage attributes that are most effective against trolls have already been quietly added.