Flame Embrace

"Caw caw! There they are, damn scarecrows! Bad bad, kill kill humans!"

These scarecrows were all level three or four monsters. They looked weak enough, swaying unsteadily as they were.

The open farmland also made this place feel relatively safe. It wasn't like the forest, where visibility was poor and who knew where monsters might be hiding.

Xiao Jie looked around and immediately got the lay of the land. "Get ready to start. Same old rule—use the bows to lure them out and kill them one at a time! By the way, what's this Flame Embrace?"

"I don't know either," I Want to Become Immortal explained. "My brother mentioned it in the Strategy Guide he gave me."

As he spoke, he read the relevant passage from the Strategy Guide to Xiao Jie.

[Demonic Scarecrow: Its attack power is very weak, and even a level one player can kill it easily. However, before dying, it will use a move called "Flame Embrace," grabbing a player and spontaneously combusting together with them. The damage is incredibly high, and it's easy to get instantly killed. So try not to provoke them. Once, I got grabbed at full health and was burned down to a sliver.]

Xiao Jie frowned slightly after hearing that. Burned from full health to a sliver? That was a bit vicious.

His brother probably hadn't been a high level when he fought scarecrows. But even if he had only had 100 health, being burned down to a sliver in one go meant Flame Embrace dealt at least 70 to 90 damage.

Xiao Jie had 100 health himself, so he could barely endure it. But what if his brother had put points into Constitution back then? That would mean Flame Embrace was fully capable of one-shotting people.

Still, it was only used before death. As long as they paid attention, it should be fine.

"Here's the plan. Once a scarecrow's health is nearly depleted, we run far away and finish it off with arrows. These scarecrows look pretty slow, so we should be able to kite them."

I Want to Become Immortal's eyes lit up. Right, they had bows. "Got it."

The two of them aimed at a scarecrow and fired a volley.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The scarecrow was made entirely of bundled wood and straw. It really did look like an archery target, and both arrows struck it at once.

-

3!

-

2!

What the hell? Xiao Jie was startled. That damage was wrong, wasn't it?

Watching the scarecrow stagger toward them, Xiao Jie did not fire again. It seemed this thing had resistance to piercing damage.

Made sense. It was just a pile of bundled straw. Even if you pierced straight through it, it would be meaningless.

They still had to use blades to chop it apart.

Xiao Jie swung his blade and slashed at it.

Fortunately, slashing damage worked at full effect.

His blade struck the scarecrow, dealing -22 damage!

It was exactly as the Strategy Guide had said. The scarecrow had neither attack power nor speed. Its straw arms had no intimidation whatsoever as they flailed around. Hitting the shield felt like getting scratched.

They did not even need to use kiting tactics. The scarecrow only had 120 health in total, and after a few slashes, it was nearly dead.

The moment its health bottomed out, the scarecrow suddenly burst into flames all over its body, instantly turning into a blazing figure before lunging fiercely at Xiao Jie.

Xiao Jie had been prepared. Without hesitation, he used Kite Flip!

With a backward flip, he easily avoided the lunge. Boom! The scarecrow was reduced to ashes in the flames, dropping more than a dozen Copper Coins.

System: Gained 8 experience points.

That was pretty easy, Xiao Jie thought.

"Let's keep going."

Although that final Flame Embrace was terrifying, it was not difficult to dodge as long as they prepared beforehand.

The two of them lured the scarecrows out of the Wheat Field one by one. Blade and sword struck together, and each scarecrow fell after only two hits.

Some scarecrows did not even have time to erupt into flames before being cut down.

Another scarecrow was lured out.

The two attacked together, one blade and one sword. They had expected to need another round, but the scarecrow suddenly burst into flames.

This time, its target was I Want to Become Immortal. He hurriedly rolled backward, but the scarecrow suddenly leaped forward and landed right on top of him.

The rolling mechanic in Old Earth looked very similar at first glance to the rolling in the Soulslike games Xiao Jie had played before, but there was one major difference: there were no invincibility frames.

A roll with invincibility frames was a true god-tier skill. As long as you rolled well, you could evade any attack. But without invincibility frames, it was really just a barely useful movement skill.

His roll had only gotten halfway through when the scarecrow caught him squarely.

Boom! The burning flames swallowed I Want to Become Immortal whole.

Oh no! Xiao Jie was shocked, nearly freezing in place.

Was he going to watch another teammate die before his eyes?

"Fuck, fuck!" I Want to Become Immortal screamed in terror as more than 90 health vanished in an instant.

Fortunately, following his brother's advice, he had put all his level-up points into health. He had a Health Bar of a full 150, so this attack only took away two-thirds of it instead of killing him outright.

Even so, it scared the hell out of him. His whole body went numb.

The moment he got up from the fire, he pulled out Blood Potions and started chugging them.

He drank three Blood Potions in one breath before finally stopping.

"Brother Feng, fuck... that scared me to death," I Want to Become Immortal said, his voice trembling as though he were about to cry.

Xiao Jie felt a chill run through his heart as well. Fortunately, he had not been the one grabbed. This thing really could one-shot people.

"How are you? You okay?"

"No, I need a moment."

Xiao Jie was at a bit of a loss too. He had thought the damage would not be that high, but now it seemed entirely possible for it to kill him instantly.

Monster skill damage definitely had some variation. If they got unlucky and it dealt more than a hundred damage in one hit, wouldn't that mean death?

If only they had a dog. They could let the dog land the final blow.

"Why don't we stop fighting these things? They're too scary. Let's go fight Mountain Bandits instead," I Want to Become Immortal said with lingering fear.

"No. Let me think."

Xiao Jie looked at the remaining scarecrows. They had finally found a map where they could grind monsters freely. They could not just give it up like this.

Besides, the other monsters were not easy to fight either. Lure one extra Mountain Bandit and they could wipe. Soulless Walking Corpses had Elite Monsters patrolling around them, while the forest's visibility was too poor and made it easy for monsters to jump them at close range.

After thinking for a while, he finally found a solution.

"Based on what we just saw, the scarecrow's ignition point should be below 50% health. The lower its health gets, the higher the chance it spontaneously combusts. Below 10%, it will definitely ignite. So as long as we can instantly kill it when it reaches 50% health, it probably won't catch fire."

Fifty percent health meant 60 hit points.

Xiao Jie's One Cut Two Pieces could deal more than 50 damage. As long as I Want to Become Immortal synchronized with him and added another sword strike, they could kill it instantly.

"Once the scarecrow reaches half health, I'll use a combat skill to finish it off. You need to attack in sync with me and make sure we kill it instantly. We can't give it a chance to spontaneously combust. Can you do that?"

One Cut Two Pieces had a charge time, so it could not be used as casually as a normal attack. I Want to Become Immortal had to coordinate with Xiao Jie, not the other way around, and that placed certain demands on his timing.

"I can probably do it."

"Probably isn't enough. It has to succeed 100%. If you fail to attack in sync, a scarecrow left at a sliver of health will definitely combust, and then we'll be in danger. Let's practice first."

One Cut Two Segments!

Slash!

One Cut Two Segments!

Slash!

One Cut Two Segments!

Slash!

The two practiced against thin air for quite a while. Their attack synchronization gradually improved until, by the end, they were almost perfectly in sync.

"Alright, that should do it. But just in case, I'll lure the monsters from the front. Kite Flip has a longer rolling distance, and since it puts me higher off the ground, it'll be harder for the scarecrow to pounce on me."

But I Want to Become Immortal shook his head. "No. How can I let you be the only one risking your life? Besides, my Health Bar is thicker. Even if I get pounced on, I'm less likely to be killed. Since I chose to play this game, I've already prepared myself to risk my life. Brother Feng, I know you're a good person, but this kind of thing can't be avoided."

Xiao Jie sighed. Wasn't he afraid too? "Alright. Then we'll go together. Good brothers, life and death are in fate's hands."

"Prosperity lies in heaven!" I Want to Become Immortal replied.

With blade and sword in hand, the two charged toward the next scarecrow.

This Synchronized Side-by-Side Slash really was effective. As long as they attacked simultaneously, they could instantly kill a scarecrow at half health.

Xiao Jie felt like a dancer balancing on a tightrope, or a Hunter holding a sniper rifle and dueling enemies across a battlefield. It looked effortless, yet every moment was perilously close.

One Cut Two Pieces! -54!

Slash! -17!

It was another coordinated attack. The instant the scarecrow vanished into ash, a flash of white light enveloped Xiao Jie. He had finally reached level 3.