Battling the Toad King

With 100 Toad Skins about to be collected, Ye Luo was getting tired of killing Young Toads. He planned to finish off two more to complete his mission before moving on to higher-level monsters. With this in mind, he swung his Novice Sword and struck the eye of a Young Toad. A purple damage number, "106," popped up.

"Huh, lucky me. A critical hit plus a vital spot attack, and it actually dealt 106 damage," Ye Luo exclaimed softly. However, he was even more surprised when he saw the two light orbs on the ground. Besides a Toad Skin, there was also a piece of equipment.

Having killed so many monsters, Ye Luo had seen purple damage numbers a few times before. He knew that only a critical hit combined with a vital spot attack would result in such damage. A vital spot attack, as the name suggested, was an attack that hit a monster's weak point, dealing orange damage and typically increasing damage by 30% to 50%.

He picked up the Toad Skin and copper coins. The attributes of the dropped equipment were also revealed:

[Toad Armguards] (Armguards * Novice Village Equipment)

Defense: 3—3

Durability: 100/100

Required Level: 1

This was the equipment he needed, so Ye Luo immediately equipped it. His defense increased to 10 points, making his defense comparable to other players of the same level.

"Heh heh, lucky me, I got another piece of equipment," Ye Luo chuckled, feeling quite pleased. "Just one more Young Toad and I can complete this mission. With my current defense, I won't lose too much health fighting level 2 or 3 monsters, and I might not even need to use potions."

"Croak—!"

Suddenly, a muffled croak sounded in Ye Luo's ears. He followed the sound and saw a toad two to three times larger than a Young Toad staring at him. Its bulging eyes were filled with anger, and it looked as if it wanted to devour him.

"What a huge toad, could it be a boss?" Ye Luo gasped, quickly checking it:

[Toad King] (Minor Boss)

Level: 3

Attack: 9—10

Defense: 15

HP: 2000

Skill: [Toad Poison Bullet]

[Toad Poison Bullet]: The Toad King condenses its internal poison gas into an energy bullet, with a 20% attack bonus, and it will poison the target, causing them to lose 5 HP per second for 20 seconds. The release interval is 30 seconds.

Seeing the Toad King's stats, Ye Luo took a sharp breath. With his current strength, facing it would be a near-death experience, especially the Toad Poison Bullet. Even without the 20% attack bonus, just the poison effect alone, which caused 5 HP loss per second for 20 seconds, was something he couldn't endure.

It wasn't just him; any player below level 3 would likely meet their demise if they encountered it. After all, they wouldn't be able to defeat the Toad King within two to three minutes, and with their typical 100-200 HP, they couldn't withstand two Toad Poison Bullet attacks.

"What should I do, should I give up?" Ye Luo muttered, but he quickly dismissed the thought. "Bosses are extremely rare in the Novice Village. If I miss this chance, I'll never encounter another one. I'll take the risk. After all, players don't lose levels upon death before level 10. If I win, I'll profit. It's said that boss-level monsters always drop equipment."

It wasn't that Ye Luo was overconfident, but after careful analysis, he believed he had a chance of winning against this Toad King.

He currently had 10 Minor Blood Recovery Pills, which meant he had ample supplies. Additionally, he had Minor Detoxification Pills. These pills could grant immunity to low-level poison attacks. Based on his deductions, they should be able to counter the poison effect of the Toad King's Toad Poison Bullet, especially since Minor Detoxification Pills could neutralize the miasma in the Poisonous Swamp, and the Toad King was only a level 3 minor boss.

Having made up his mind, Ye Luo calculated the distance and then swung his Novice Sword towards the Toad King's eyes. With a "thwack," the Toad King dodged, and the attack only landed on its head, dealing 17 damage in yellow numbers.

With an angry roar, the Toad King's sticky tongue shot out like lightning, hitting Ye Luo. He felt a sting and lost 9 HP, which was still somewhat bearable.

Ye Luo was not satisfied, not with his own attack, but because he hadn't managed to dodge the Toad King's attack.

"This Toad King's attack speed is much faster than those Young Toads. I couldn't dodge it in time. I need to be quicker next time," Ye Luo muttered to himself. Despite his thoughts, he didn't hesitate and swung his sword again.

After this swing, Ye Luo immediately retreated, successfully dodging the Toad King's attack this time. This boosted his confidence. He continued to attack and dodge while calculating the Toad King's attack frequency.

However, the Toad King's attack speed was slightly faster than the Young Toads, and its attack range was also greater. Therefore, his success rate in dodging was not very high, averaging only one successful dodge out of three attacks.

Half a minute later, the Toad King had lost 200 HP, which was one-tenth of its total HP. Ye Luo's HP, on the other hand, had dropped to 48, less than half.

Seeing this, Ye Luo decisively swallowed a Minor Blood Recovery Pill. A green number appeared above his head, and his HP was immediately replenished by 30 points. Over the next 10 seconds, his HP would continue to increase by 3 points per second. Combined with the automatic HP recovery from the Battle Soul Crystal, his HP would be fully restored within 10 seconds.

Ye Luo quickly calculated and found that he could defeat the Toad King in about 5 to 6 minutes. With the supply of Minor Blood Recovery Pills, he had a high chance of lasting through the fight.

Thinking this, Ye Luo continued his attack. Suddenly, the Toad King's belly bulged, and a dangerous aura emanated from it.

A thought flashed through Ye Luo's mind; he knew the Toad King was about to use its skill. Without hesitation, he swallowed a Minor Detoxification Pill and began to dodge rapidly.

Indeed, the Toad King unleashed its skill. A fist-sized, emerald-green energy bullet shot towards him like lightning. Ye Luo couldn't dodge it at all. He felt a sharp pain, and a yellow number, "20," appeared above his head, causing his recently recovered HP to drop again.

That wasn't all. The energy bullet shattered, and a foul-smelling venom sprayed towards him, making him feel nauseous.

However, what delighted Ye Luo was that no consecutive damage numbers appeared. Clearly, the Minor Detoxification Pill provided immunity to the poison attack.

Seeing this, Ye Luo felt greatly relieved and continued his attack. This time, he was luckier and managed to stab the Toad King's eye with his sword, dealing "24" orange damage, indicating a vital spot attack.

Ye Luo became even more invigorated and focused all his attention on attacking. It was as if he had returned to the days when he practiced his swordsmanship, completely focused, with only the target in sight and nothing else.

He continued to attack and dodge, swallowing a Minor Blood Recovery Pill whenever his HP dropped below 50. As Ye Luo became more focused, his success rate in dodging the Toad King's attacks gradually increased, and the Toad King's HP continued to decrease.

"1800," "1500"... "800," "500," "300"...

Although the Toad King had launched several Toad Poison Bullets during this time, causing Ye Luo considerable damage, he had the Minor Detoxification Pill for poison immunity and the Minor Blood Recovery Pills for replenishment. His HP remained above the safety line.

Not far away, a female player observed the scene. She watched everything calmly. After assessing the Toad King's stats, Ye Luo's level, and his damage output against the Toad King, she quickly calculated Ye Luo's attack power with her abilities.

"This Ye Luo Zhi Qiu's attack is around 15, and his defense is around 10. He's level 2, so he must have put all his attribute points into a single stat," the female player stated calmly. Then, after some calculation, her beautiful eyes lit up. "He has both Leggings and Armguards. This means his base stats are quite poor, likely only 1-2 points each. Could he be the Peerless Waste rumored throughout this Novice Village?"

Although players couldn't detect other players' stats with a scanner, they could infer which equipment they had equipped. This woman was skilled at analysis and information gathering. Fortunately, someone in her party had obtained the same equipment, so she knew their attributes.

Although she was guessing, her tone was quite confident. After reaching these conclusions, she murmured, "It seems he's taken that Heavenly Tribulation Trial Mission, just like me. However, he's sacrificed far more base attribute points than I have. Based on the principle that greater sacrifice yields greater rewards, the benefits he'll receive after completing the mission will be greater than mine."

Subsequently, the female player noticed Ye Luo's operations. Her brow furrowed slightly. "His movements are quite strange, as if he's not entirely comfortable with this combat style. Judging by his attack angles and footwork, he must be an expert in reality. This suggests he's only recently started playing the game."

"To have reached this level so soon after starting the game, this person is not simple. He will become a rare expert once he grows," the woman mused, but she made no move to approach. Her expression was indifferent. "I'll wait until he has grown further. At the very least, he needs to be able to complete that Heavenly Tribulation mission. Otherwise..."

With that thought, the woman didn't continue watching. She turned and left, preparing to go complete her own mission.

Ye Luo was fully immersed in the battle and didn't notice he had been watched by a female player for a few minutes. However, given his personality, he wouldn't have paid it any mind even if he had noticed.

The battle continued. After consuming nine Minor Blood Recovery Pills, Ye Luo finally defeated the Toad King. At this point, his health was only 45. Looking at the single remaining recovery pill, Ye Luo said, "It seems I need to learn alchemy from Elder Hua as soon as possible. Otherwise, if I encounter a boss like this again, I won't be able to defeat it. That would be incredibly frustrating."

While his health slowly recovered, Ye Luo began to examine his spoils from this battle.

The Toad King granted Ye Luo 3000 energy experience and 10 reputation. He also finally leveled up to 3. Continuing to allocate all his points to strength, his attack power reached 23, defense reached 11, and health reached 140. His strength had improved significantly.

Without time to celebrate his level-up, Ye Luo hastily checked the items dropped by the fallen Toad King.

After the Toad King died, its body dissolved into a shower of light, and several light orbs and 5 silver coins appeared where it had fallen.

Casually picking up the silver coins, Ye Luo focused his attention on the light orbs. One of the light orbs was a Toad Skin, but it was much higher quality than the Toad Skins collected for previous missions.

[Toad King's Skin] (Tier 3 Tailoring Material)

Description: The skin condensed from the essence of the Toad King after its death. It is quite tough and can be given to a tailor to craft a decent piece of equipment.

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