In the past three days, in order to quickly reach Level 15, Chen Mo did not explore the second floor of the mine. Instead, he stayed close to the entrance of the second floor and killed monsters to level up. His knowledge of the second floor was limited to what he had seen on the forums.
If it were any other player, trying to explore an unknown area with monsters up to Level 18 at Level 15 would be suicidal.
However, such a dangerous move was not difficult for Chen Mo.
It was simple. The Heinous Crime title that he had equipped had a special effect called "Concealment Power." It could increase the effect of Camouflage, and the effect was not weak!
With Concealment Power and Chen Mo's beginner Camouflage skill, he could pass through the second floor of the mine unimpeded!
Chen Mo did not know much about the second floor of the mine. The information on the forums was also very vague. However, based on the information on the forums, Chen Mo guessed the possible locations of a few sealing circles.
Under Camouflage, Chen Mo quietly moved towards those locations.
After moving for a short while, Chen Mo saw Ore Eating Rats.
Ore Eating Rats were very large. They looked like normal rats, but their bodies were like small dogs. Their teeth were abnormally white and sharp.
Their attack method was to bite people. Once bitten, the damage would be considerable. Players bitten would also be poisoned, reducing their attack speed and accuracy. This poison could be stacked. After being bitten a few times, even if the player did not die, they would be half-crippled.
Normal Ore Eating Rats were Level 16 monsters. Level 17 Ore Eating Rats were very rare. Chen Mo encountered over a hundred Level 16 Ore Eating Rats, but he only saw one Level 17 Ore Eating Rat.
A Level 17 Ore Eating Rat was undoubtedly an Elite Ore Eating Rat. It was one size larger than a Level 16 Ore Eating Rat. The fur on its body shone with a faint metallic glow. It was obvious that it was not a monster to be trifled with.
Chen Mo had no interest in knowing their strength. Under Camouflage, he quietly avoided the Ore Eating Rats and advanced.
After arriving at the nearest location, Chen Mo did not find any sealing circles.
Advancing towards the next location, Chen Mo encountered the first Ore Giant.
The Ore Giant was two meters tall, and its body was made up of various colored ores. However, from the outside, the ores were very loose. It seemed like a single hit could break the two-meter tall Ore Giant.
However, this was just an illusion. The Ore Giant's Defense was not low at all. It was a Level 18 monster with 30,000 HP. It had high Defense and long HP, so it was very tiring to fight it.
Then, Chen Mo found the sealing formation in the second location, which was an empty hall where a group of Ore Giants resided.
System Notice: You have discovered an ancient magic array. A powerful monster is sealed inside. Do you wish to release it?
"Release!"
The system notification popped up. Chen Mo glanced at the large group of Ore Giants around him and suddenly came to a decision.
The Ore Giant had high defense and long HP, but its movement speed was not fast. The Heinous Sin title also increased movement speed by 5 points. The hall was spacious, unlike the narrow tunnels, so he did not have to worry about being surrounded.
"Roar!"
Grey light flashed on the sealing array. After the light flashed, a giant stone figure appeared. After the figure appeared, it let out an angry roar. The entire second floor of the mine faintly trembled from this angry roar.
Region Elite, Ore Giant Leader!
After Chen Mo confirmed the release, he quickly retreated. His eyes carefully observed the Region Elite that he had released.
This Region Elite looked similar to the Ore Giant. Its name was also similar, but it had an additional suffix.
However, as a Region Elite, the Ore Giant Leader's body was more than twice the size of a normal Ore Giant. The ore that formed its body seemed to have been crudely refined. Its body was very solid. Upon closer inspection, it even had a metallic glow. Its Defense was not something a normal Ore Giant could compare to.
"If only I had reached Level 15 earlier."
Chen Mo felt a little regretful. If he had reached Level 15 two or three hours earlier, he would have a lot of Cursed Blood. He could have used it on the Region Elite to reduce its attributes. Then, Chen Mo could have tested the Ore Giant Leader's attributes.
But now, the Cursed Blood in his body had been retrieved by the system after midnight. If he didn't use the Cursed Blood, the Region Elite's attributes would be frightening. It was almost invincible. It would be a waste of time to test it. Chen Mo chose to release it because he wanted to see it with his own eyes and prepare himself.
The large group of Ore Giants around him roared and surrounded Chen Mo. It seemed like they wanted to wrap Chen Mo up like a dumpling. Chen Mo did not hesitate to use Camouflage to quickly escape.
The effect of Camouflage was indeed powerful. Under the Heinous Crime title, even the Region Elite lost sight of Chen Mo's figure.
Although it was only a Level 18 Region Elite, Chen Mo's beginner Camouflage skill was able to hide from it. It was enough to show that the effect of Camouflage was extraordinary.
Realizing this, Chen Mo immediately decided that he would begin his solo hunting of regional elites at night.
However, Chen Mo knew that this was not going to be easy.
After he left, if no players came here within an hour, the Region Elite would be sealed again. The location of the sealing circle would also change. Chen Mo would have to find a new sealing circle.
There were only a few places on the second floor of the mine that could accommodate sealing circles. With the Heinous Crime title, finding a sealing circle was a small matter. What Chen Mo cared more about was how much Cursed Blood he could obtain.
With the Power of Destruction, he did not need to obtain enough Cursed Blood to kill Region Elites. However, because of the three-level difference, he had to obtain as much Cursed Blood as possible.
"I don't have enough time online."
According to the amount of Cursed Blood he obtained every day for the past three days, Chen Mo felt that he did not have enough time to obtain Cursed Blood alone.
However, no matter what, he had to give it a try. It would not be too late for him to make other plans after the results were out.
The monsters at night were stronger than during the day. Chen Mo did not need to stay up all night to kill monsters. He disguised himself and walked to a relatively safe place. Then, he chose to log off and sleep.
After waking up in the morning, he continued to practice setting up traps. After lunch, Chen Mo entered the game again.
The location was still the second floor of the mine. However, this time, his focus was not to level up but to obtain Cursed Blood.
To level up, he only needed to stay near the entrance of the second floor and kill monsters. However, in order to obtain Cursed Blood, Chen Mo had to start fighting Ore Rats and Ore Giants. Otherwise, he would not be able to obtain more Cursed Blood.
Chen Mo first silently killed Ore Monsters for three hours. After obtaining nearly 40 Cursed Blood from the Ore Monsters, he began to go deeper and come into contact with the Ore Rats.
Based on his experience from the past three days, although he could obtain a few more Cursed Blood from the Ore Monsters, it would take a lot of time. It was not worth it.
Chen Mo did not find the Level 16 Ore Rats difficult to deal with due to his Heinous title. However, looking at the damage Big Fat received, Chen Mo knew just how powerful the Ore Rats were.
Every time the Ore Rats attacked, they would deal around 500 damage to Big Fat. This was especially true when two Ore Rats attacked together. Big Fat's health dropped rapidly.
Big Fat tried his best to counterattack. However, the Level 6 Suppression had already begun to show its effects. Although Big Fat's attack was around 500, the damage it dealt was greatly reduced. Normal attacks could only deal around 300 damage to the Ore Rats.
Chen Mo switched to the Berserk Crossbow. In addition, he was much more familiar with setting traps. His damage output had increased by quite a bit. Killing a 13,000 Ore Rat only took around 10 seconds. His speed was already astonishingly fast. If other players were to find out about this, they would definitely be taken aback.
However, Big Fat's health continued to drop. Every time he killed a Ore Rat, he would lose nearly 2,000 health. This was the result of Chen Mo intentionally pulling aggro. Otherwise, he would lose even more health.
Big Fat had 120,000 health. However, at this rate, it would not be long before his health was almost depleted.
The Flower Devil Battle Spirit lazily lay on top of Big Fat's head. Chen Mo knew that this fellow was not very reliable at the moment.
Big Fat had died once four days ago. Although the Flower Devil Battle Spirit did not die, she had clearly suffered quite a bit of damage.
She had always been lazily lying on top of Big Fat's head. At first, Chen Mo did not notice anything wrong with her. However, after reviving and killing monsters on the second floor of the mine, when Big Fat's health dropped to 50, Chen Mo finally noticed that something was wrong.
At the location where the Ore Rats respawned, Chen Mo also killed for three hours. After obtaining nearly 50 portions of Cursed Blood, he moved towards the higher level Ore Giants.
The Flower Devil Battle Spirit seemed to have recovered a bit. Along the way, she had healed Big Fat twice. Otherwise, Big Fat's health would not have been able to last.
After fighting the Ore Giants, the difference between Big Fat and higher level monsters was immediately apparent!
When the Ore Giant's attack landed on Chen Mo, it only dealt around -300 damage. However, when it landed on the fatty, it dealt around -1,000 damage.
On the other hand, the Ore Giants had high defense and long health. They could also eat ores to recover health. They were too difficult to kill.
Chen Mo, Big Fat, and the Mutated Slime needed nearly a minute to kill one Ore Giant.
However, after killing the Ore Giants, the chances of obtaining Cursed Blood were also very high. For every five Ore Giants killed, Chen Mo could obtain a portion of Cursed Blood.
However, the problem was that Big Fat's health could not keep up. Chen Mo had no choice but to let Big Fat rest on the side every time he killed a Ore Giant. He would fight the Ore Giants alone.
If he did not have the Heinous Crime title, Chen Mo would have a hard time fighting a Level 18 Ore Giant at Level 15, even if he had a full set of equipment.
In the game, even if it was a monster of the same level, it required a party with decent equipment to deal with it easily.
Chen Mo's equipment was strong, but his damage output was not much better than a party's. Moreover, the Ore Giants were three levels higher than him.
Without Big Fat's help, Chen Mo spent nearly a minute and a half to kill one Ore Giant.
This time … Chen Mo sighed. It seemed that under the suppression of the level difference, Big Fat would not be of much help.
He did not know if there was a way to level up a Hunter's pet. If this continued, Big Fat would be eliminated.
As he killed the Ore Giants and collected Cursed Blood, Chen Mo searched for the Sealing Circle.
The Sealing Circle was not difficult to find. Chen Mo went to two places and found the Sealing Circle again.
"I don't have much time today. It's time to ask the Region Elites to give it a try!"
After killing all the Ore Giants around the Sealing Circle, Chen Mo looked at the remaining game time and the amount of Cursed Blood in his backpack. He decided to have a real encounter with the Region Elites on the second floor of the mine!
— —
First update, please subscribe!