"Get her, boys!"
Bai Xiaowen sprang up and pointed at Lyra Redleaf, who had yet to recover her ability to move.
A gust of cold wind blew past, and Bai Xiaowen hurriedly tightened his cloak around himself.
The three summoned creatures charged at Lyra Redleaf.
Lyra Redleaf was severely wounded. With all her attributes halved and then reduced by another 2, her raw strength had weakened considerably. Still, her swordsmanship remained exquisite. Her two daggers moved as if alive, parrying left and right as she backed into a corner to minimize the area she could be attacked from. The three summoned creatures were unable to bring her down anytime soon.
"Man, you're stupid. Not a shred of teamwork!"
Bai Xiaowen watched the Skeleton Warriors' clumsy movements with contempt. Even a melee novice like him, with only Level 1 Advanced Weaponry Specialty, could barely stand to watch.
The Skeleton Warriors seemed capable of nothing but simple slashes and chops. Their moves were far too crude; Lyra Redleaf either dodged them or blocked them with ease, and they could not hurt her at all. The two Skeleton Warriors clogged up the corner while the Elite Ghost circled outside, unable to join the fight!
"This is probably a summoner's weakness. A summoner who only knows how to spam troops and charge head-on has no future. You need refined tactical coordination!"
Bai Xiaowen muttered to himself, "Skeleton No. 1 shouldn't be the main attacker. At the very least, it shouldn't block the high-damage Ghost in the back. It would be perfect if it could sell an opening and trip the enemy up... Too bad Skeletons are dumb after all."
Yet just as that thought crossed Bai Xiaowen's mind, Skeleton No. 1 on the left changed. It swung at Lyra Redleaf with too much force, staggered, and toppled to the side.
Lyra Redleaf sighed in relief. Just as she gathered herself to deal with Skeleton No. 2, her legs suddenly tightened. Skeleton No. 1, which had fallen to the ground, stretched out its two withered bony arms and clamped tightly around both her legs!
Lyra Redleaf's eyes went wide!
I've roamed the world for so many years, and this is the first time I've seen a Skeleton that knows how to play tricks!
Before the stunned Lyra Redleaf could recover, the Elite Ghost, which had long been itching for action behind her, came whistling in. It swept out with a Ghost Claw—rip!
Lyra Redleaf grunted. That strike from the Elite Ghost not only deducted 10 points of her Life Value, but also threw her off balance.
"Huh? You can pull off something like that?"
Bai Xiaowen quickly realized it. As a Spirit Medium, didn't he have the signature skill Mind Link? Besides increasing his summoned creatures' attributes by 20%, it also allowed him to issue them more detailed commands!
"Good job, No. 1! Hold on and don't let go! No. 2, go left. Ghost, go right. I'll take her head-on..."
Bai Xiaowen issued commands to all three summoned creatures at once. Fortunately, his Super Brain processed thoughts at an incredible speed; an ordinary summoner would definitely have been overwhelmed. It seemed that being a summoner required multitasking.
With Bai Xiaowen joining the pincer attack, Lyra Redleaf's remaining Life Value was quickly worn down to nothing.
"Lowly human! How dare you humiliate a great High Elf? Even as a Ghost, I won't forgive you!" Lyra Redleaf cursed before breathing her last.
The Black Soul Stone suddenly erupted with black light, transforming into a black noose that tightly bound Lyra Redleaf's corpse. A somewhat illusory shadow was dragged out and sucked into the Black Soul Stone with a hiss.
The Banshee Delifa appeared amid wicked laughter. "No, you won't even get the chance to become a Ghost. Be a good girl and become Master's servant!"
System notification:
Black Soul Stone growth progress: Level 1, 3/10.
Delifa said with satisfaction, "Master, this was a Level 3 Elite Tier creature. It directly added 3 growth points to the Black Soul Stone. Kill another two or three, and the Black Soul Stone can level up."
Bai Xiaowen sighed. "When you kill someone, you should at least leave them their soul. The Black Soul Stone doesn't even spare souls, eating everything clean... Isn't that a little excessive—hm? A treasure chest dropped?"
Delifa rolled her eyes. "Master, this Sword Dancer's soul consciousness is highly compatible with the Elite Ghost. I suggest having the Elite Ghost completely Devour her consciousness. Its combat power will increase greatly."
"Then let it eat her." Bai Xiaowen swiftly took off his mask of kindness.
System notification:
Your summoned creature: Elite Ghost has Devoured the consciousness of Elite Sword Dancer Lyra Redleaf. The two have fused. Summoned creature: Elite Ghost has mutated into Shadow Assassin.
The once-blurry Ghost gradually became more defined. One could vaguely make out the silhouette of a graceful female figure holding two daggers. Its appearance alone was far more pleasing than the Elite Ghost's claws.
After checking the Shadow Assassin's attribute panel, Bai Xiaowen's eyes lit up even more.
[Shadow Assassin (Elite Tier Level 1)] [Race: Undead Species/Soulkin] [Attributes: Strength 5, Agility 14, Constitution 8, Spirit 3] [Specialties: Advanced Combat Specialty Level 4, Advanced Weaponry (One-Handed Sword Branch) Level 5] [Skill 1: Formless Body: Racial passive ability. Soulkin undead creatures take 50% less physical damage and 50% more magic damage.] [Skill 2: Stealth: The Shadow Assassin enters an invisible state for 30 seconds. Cooldown: 30 seconds. Attacking or taking damage breaks invisibility.] [Skill 3: Assassination: The Shadow Assassin's first attack while invisible is guaranteed to critically hit, dealing double damage.]
The Shadow Assassin was currently a Level 1 agility-type Elite Tier creature. With Bai Xiaowen's class bonus, its total attributes reached 30 points, and its Agility was as high as 14, already close to the level of a Level 2 Elite Tier creature.
Compared with the previous Elite Ghost, what delighted Bai Xiaowen even more were the Shadow Assassin's Battle Specialties.
Advanced Combat Specialty, Level 4!
Advanced Weaponry, One-Handed Sword Branch, Level 5!
Battle Specialties referred to combat techniques in a particular field. At the Advanced level, there were ten ranks in total. Advancing further became extremely difficult, but every rank brought a considerable increase in combat power.
How had Lyra Redleaf, even with her crippling body, managed to hold off Bai Xiaowen's three summoned creatures for so long? Wasn't it because of her high-level Battle Specialties?
The Shadow Assassin was undoubtedly Bai Xiaowen's strongest summoned creature at present. It also had the racial passive ability Formless Body, so it would not fear going head-to-head with a Level 2 Elite Tier creature. Its only weakness was its fear of magic damage.
However, magic damage was rare after all. Ordinary combat still mainly involved physical damage, so this racial passive ability was beneficial in most situations.
Bai Xiaowen ordered the three summoned creatures to search the rest of the tomb and retrieve the equipment he had deliberately thrown away earlier. He lifted the large iron urn, put back on the linen clothes he had taken off to lure the enemy, and then opened the treasure chest dropped by Lyra Redleaf.
A Level 3 Elite Tier treasure chest was every bit as high-end and impressive as the one from Elliott, the Empire's envoy. It contained ten silver cards.
Bai Xiaowen received a B+ Tier Battle Rating for killing Lyra Redleaf, meaning he had two chances to draw loot. Under normal circumstances, he should have received an A-Tier rating, but Lyra Redleaf herself had been under the negative effect of having all her attributes halved. Receiving a B-Tier rating was already quite good.
System notification:
You obtained a card: Equipment Enhancement Card (Two-Star). You obtained a special item: Lord Glandis's Writ.
The Equipment Enhancement Card was roughly the size of a bank card, with two star icons printed on it. From its name alone, it was obvious that this card was related to enhancing equipment.
Thinking of the Poisoned Milk Game from another time and space, Bai Xiaowen's mouth twitched.
"Hello, brave warrior. I'm Keri from the Heaven Realm~ Oh dear, it seems there's a problem with the enhancer. Your equipment has been Shattered~"
"Ha... That bitch Keri left too deep a shadow on me! Forget this thing for now. Let's study little widow Glandis's writ."
Before you continue