Chapter Twenty-Three: Infinite Summoning
The next two pieces of equipment, both absolutely top-tier for mages at the moment, were placed in Xu Lin’s trade window:
[Agility Bracers] (Green Equipment)
Defense: 14
Health: +50
Agility: +6
Intelligence: +5
Required Level: 12
[Warlock’s Staff] (Green Equipment)
Magic Attack: 8–15
Intelligence: +7
Stamina: +3
Required Level: 8
After the transaction, Xu Lin immediately dressed and waved the staff in her hand, saying, “This robe is really beautiful, Lin Fan. Thank you, I’ll include these two pieces in your commission as well!”
Xu Lin’s curvaceous figure looked even more striking in the mage’s robe; her tall, graceful silhouette, coupled with a beautiful face, gave her an aura capable of turning the world upside down.
Hearing that I’d get a commission, I exclaimed excitedly, “Thank you, your grace!”
Xu Lin giggled, “Enough with that! By the way, I heard you took on a very difficult quest. Xin Yu and I will help you, and Xue Han is in the city too. Let’s call her over—between the four of us, we should be fine!”
I nodded, glancing back at the city. Now, scattered groups of players could already be seen in Hurricane City. In another two days, it would surely be packed to the brim.
Xin Yu returned after repairing her gear, and Xue Han arrived, summoned by Xu Lin, jogging over to join us.
Once all four had gathered, we checked our supplies and return scrolls before heading out toward Halfhill Mountain.
Unlike last time, having the powerful attack strength of Xu Lin and Xin Yu greatly reduced my burden. Monsters at level 18 were crushed in just ten seconds—if it were only Xue Han and me, it would have taken at least thirty seconds!
Our group was utterly dominant, sweeping through all the monsters at the foot of Halfhill Mountain. In team mode, each member gained far more experience than just a quarter of that from a single monster; before long, Xu Lin even leveled up to eleven!
The Orc Witch Doctor, Nikola, stood alone in the desolate valley. Opposite him, a little flower glowed softly.
“What are you waiting for? Xin Yu, use Shock Shot to draw the monster! Lin Fan, use Heavy Strike! Xue Han, keep an eye on healing anyone attacked!” Xu Lin barked orders swiftly, her leadership unmistakable.
Xin Yu immediately fired a Shock Arrow, landing perfectly on Nikola—“88” appeared in bright red, a solid hit!
I stepped forward and unleashed Heavy Strike without hesitation, followed by a level 1 combo. These rapid attacks made Nikola pause as he charged at Xin Yu. Meanwhile, Xu Lin’s Ice Arrow hit, reducing Nikola’s health by 45 points. Though not much, the freezing effect slowed Nikola dramatically, making him move like an ice sculpture.
“Looks easy enough~!” Xin Yu laughed.
But her laughter was abruptly cut off!
Nikola, already down by a third of his health, raised his hands high and shouted, hoarse and loud, “Destroy all evil before me! My brave shamans, come forth! Fulfill your mission!”
“Whoosh~!”
Eight Orc Shaman Priests appeared out of thin air around Nikola!
Almost instantly, magic flashed everywhere. One priest raised his hand and cast Purify, making my movements sluggish and dispelling Xue Han’s Mind Fire buff. Worse, a ray of holy light restored Nikola’s health back to full in a moment!
Damn, I knew it wouldn’t be that simple!
Seven balls of lightning struck me, instantly dropping my health from 446 to 234—one more hit and I’d likely lose a level!
Just then, a flash of white light restored my health to 356—Xue Han's timely healing saved me!
“Xin Yu, let's each pull a monster! Shock Shot the main target!” Xu Lin kept commanding.
Xin Yu quickly used a Double Shot to attract two shamans, while Xu Lin drew another two with fireballs. With the pressure off, I focused on attacking a shaman with Xue Han’s healing support. Miraculously, we managed to survive.
Thankfully, shamans only had about 500 health. I finished one off with four strikes, while Xin Yu and Xu Lin were overwhelmed by four shamans. At this moment, Xue Han’s role shone—her relentless healing kept us from the brink of death again and again.
When I managed to take down the fourth shaman solo, the situation finally turned in our favor. After helping Xin Yu and Xu Lin finish off the remaining four, we were back to facing Nikola four-on-one. But he was shameless—after a few hits, he raised his hands to summon help again!
“Shock Shot!!”
Nikola was stunned, and his summoning skill was forcibly interrupted. My heart was pounding; my meager mana was nearly depleted from Heavy Strikes and combos, and Xue Han, who had been healing nonstop, was surely exhausted. Her flushed cheeks showed how thrilling the battle had been for her!
Five seconds passed, and Nikola raised his hands to summon again!
“No good, my Shock Shot cooldown is ten seconds!” Xin Yu said urgently, her pride rising and falling beneath her chestplate.
“Don’t worry! My combo should be able to interrupt his summoning too!” I replied, executing the combo as I spoke.
“Whew~!”
Just as I expected, Nikola’s summoning skill was successfully interrupted!
Xu Lin exclaimed excitedly, “Excellent! If you two take turns interrupting his spells, we should be able to finish him off safely!”
Nikola’s attacks weren’t especially strong—he was even weaker than the priests he summoned—but his health was thick. After five minutes of our relentless assault, Nikola finally fell, unwilling to concede.
“Whoosh~!”
Three beams of light rose in the valley. Xue Han, Xin Yu, and I all leveled up simultaneously, and Xu Lin gained nearly a full level’s worth of experience. This orc elder was practically an experience tome!
“Looks like there’s some equipment~” Xue Han called out.
Xu Lin hurried over, excited. Beneath Nikola’s corpse lay a piece of women’s clothing, quietly resting, and beside it, a book. Xu Lin immediately enabled sharing:
[Agility Guard] (Leather Armor — Green Equipment)
Defense: 18
Agility: +8
Stamina: +7
Bonus: Increases shooting damage by 1%
Required Level: 12
[Flame Burst] (Spell Skill Book)
Description: Allows mages to learn a group attack skill.