Flamedrake Talisman

"Such incredible strength!"

Before, he had only controlled a character in a game, so none of it had ever felt real.

But now, facing this two-meter-tall beastman in person and feeling the foul wind rushing toward him, Xia Tong instinctively felt a trace of fear.

This fellow was completely different from the Godrick Soldiers outside.

Soldiers were still human, not much larger than ordinary people.

But this beastman was a pure killing machine.

Fortunately, the intense battles against Godrick Soldiers over the past several days had steadily improved Xia Tong's control over his body.

Facing that overwhelmingly powerful blow, he did not meet it head-on. Instead, he lightly shifted his footing and darted to the right, barely avoiding the enormous dismembering cleaver.

Boom!

The cleaver smashed into the ground, sending shattered stones flying.

At the same time, the three Stray Wolves caught up from behind.

Riiip!

Like three bolts of black lightning, they pounced on the beastman from the front and both sides at once.

The wolf pack did not attack blindly. They focused on biting the beastman's limbs and hind legs, using their bodies and fangs to tightly restrict its movement and disrupt its attack rhythm.

"Roar—!"

The intense pain provoked the beastman's fury.

It suddenly turned around, and its enormous dismembering cleaver came crashing down on the back of a Stray Wolf with a howling gust of wind.

Thud!

A dull impact rang out.

The wolf, formed from spirit essence, did not even have time to howl before its entire body shattered into specks of starlight and vanished.

"That strong? It killed a Stray Wolf in one hit!"

Xia Tong's heart tightened.

Though one wolf had been destroyed, the other two seized the chance to leave deep wounds across the beastman's back and flank.

"Attack!"

Xia Tong gave the order, seizing the opportunity.

The two Fanged Imps followed close behind, their forked hand axes both chopping toward the beastman's waist and abdomen.

As long as they kept attacking the same spot, they would definitely trigger the Bleed effect.

Spirit Ashes could be revived after they were gone, but if Xia Tong died, there would be nowhere for him to revive.

Just like his predecessor, who had fallen forever amid the ruins of Gatefront.

As the battle continued, it grew increasingly fierce.

Unexpectedly, the beastman went berserk.

Dragging its enormous dismembering cleaver, it began spinning like a top!

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—!

The remaining two Stray Wolves had no time to evade and were violently flung away by the terrifying whirlwind, crashing into the rock wall. It was impossible to tell whether they lived or died.

Fortunately, the Fanged Imps were small and nimble. With a roll across the ground, they narrowly avoided the attack.

Even as they retreated, the two imps did not forget to counterattack.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Two dark-brown magic pots flew out and struck the beastman with pinpoint accuracy.

Boom!

Blue-violet magical flames exploded!

This beastman from Farum Azula, a time and place long reduced to ruin, possessed formidable physical defense. Yet it clearly had little resistance to magic, and the explosion tore open its flesh and sent it staggering.

Thud, thud, thud!

It stumbled backward again and again.

"Awoo!"

At that moment, the last Stray Wolf still able to move suddenly lunged forward, leaping high and clamping its jaws tightly around the beastman's chest.

However, the beastman's savagery surged.

It actually threw away its cleaver and clamped both furry hands around the wolf's throat.

With a brutal squeeze!

Crack.

The wolf's tail went limp, and its body shattered and dissipated.

Now!

The instant its hands were occupied, Xia Tong had already circled behind it.

He gripped his sword in both hands and lowered his center of gravity.

Skill—Square Off!

Then came a powerful upward heavy slash!

Thud!

The blow struck precisely behind the beastman's knee, destroying its balance.

The beastman howled and dropped directly to one knee.

Without the slightest hesitation, Xia Tong drove the Lordsworn's Straight Sword viciously into its back, all the way to the hilt!

Then he planted a hard kick on its back and wrenched the sword free.

Squelch!

Blood poured out in torrents.

"There's no health bar. When the hell is it going to die?!"

Xia Tong panted heavily and was just about to retreat and observe.

Suddenly, he felt his throat tighten!

A rough, foul-smelling hand shot out like lightning in the beastman's dying moments and viciously clamped around Xia Tong's neck!

"Cough—!"

A sense of suffocation instantly flooded his mind.

I got careless! I didn't dodge!

Damn it, why does this bastard love grabbing people's throats so much?!

The beastman's strength was astonishing. Xia Tong could feel his neck bones creaking under the unbearable pressure, while darkness began to creep across his vision.

At that critical moment.

The two Fanged Imps, which had been standing by nearby, rushed forward together in their desperation to protect their master.

Pfft! Pfft!

The two sharp, round spikes on the forked hand axes stabbed viciously into the beastman's eye socket and throat.

That became the final straw.

The murderous light in those beastly eyes finally faded.

The hand gripping Xia Tong's neck finally went limp, falling heavily.

Its enormous body collapsed with a crash.

"Cough, cough... cough cough cough..."

Xia Tong clutched his throat and coughed violently, greedily gulping down air.

He tried to communicate with the Spirit Ashes.

He discovered that the three Stray Wolves that had been shattered could no longer be summoned. Weak whimpers came through their spiritual connection. They would need to return to the ashes and recover for a long time.

The two Fanged Imps had also been injured in this battle.

One of them had had its entire left arm chopped off. Though it was a spirit, the sight was still gruesome.

"You won."

A flash of light appeared.

Melina materialized within the cave.

Seeing the bruised finger marks on Xia Tong's neck, a trace of concern flashed through her eyes.

She formed a seal with her hands and gave them a gentle shake.

Incantation—Blessing of the Erdtree.

A phantom of a small Erdtree, two meters tall, materialized within the dark and damp Mistwood Cave.

Warm golden light cascaded down over Xia Tong.

He immediately felt waves of warmth spread through every limb and bone. The agonizing pain in his neck began to ease, while several abrasions on his body slowly healed.

"Thank you, Melina."

Bathed in the light, Xia Tong let out a long breath.

Melina looked at him and said softly,

"My strength is recovering very slowly... Perhaps one day, there will come a time when I can fight alongside you."

"I'm looking forward to it, Melina."

Xia Tong smiled, then glanced at the panel.

"I gained another 1,000 runes from this battle. I can level up."

"Then let's go to the Site of Grace ahead."

Within the light of Grace, Melina extended her hands once more.

Xia Tong placed his hands atop hers, and the runes within him were guided by Melina, transforming into pure power.

This time, Xia Tong chose to increase Dexterity.

Following a safer approach, he should have continued increasing Vigor.

But the near-death experience just now made Xia Tong realize that in this real world, dodging was sometimes more important than taking a hit head-on.

If his body had been nimble enough and his reactions just a little faster,

then when the beastman made its final desperate counterattack, he might have had a chance to evade that deadly throat-grab.

The level-up was complete.

Thanks to Melina's incantation and the help of Grace, the deep finger marks around Xia Tong's neck had gradually faded.

For that instant just now, he had truly felt as though one foot had stepped through death's door.

Besides the 1,000 runes, this boss battle had brought new gains.

Xia Tong walked to the depths of the cave and picked up the talisman it had dropped.

"This should be the [Flamedrake Talisman]."

It resembled a somewhat shield-shaped metal plate. It felt extremely rough, as though it were made from aged brass.

At the center of the talisman was an embossed image of a crimson dragon, depicted breathing fire.

Simply holding it gave off waves of warmth.

Xia Tong tried wearing the talisman.

But there was no reaction at all.

The Fire Resistance value on the panel did not move in the slightest.

"As expected... I'm missing the most important thing—the Talisman Pouch."

Only with a Talisman Pouch could he activate a talisman's power.

Xia Tong remembered that though this was only a basic talisman, it could reduce fire damage by 13%.

It was not much, but against enemies that could breathe fire, that 13% damage reduction might give Xia Tong the chance to take a sip from the Flask of Crimson Tears rather than being killed in a single blow.

With Melina's help, Xia Tong refined runes once more and leveled up.

He successfully leveled up in only a few minutes.

Then Xia Tong looked at his current panel:

[Character Data]

Level: 10

Runes Held: 216

Vigor: 13

Mind: 20

Endurance: 10

Strength: 15

Dexterity: 11

Intelligence: 18

Faith: 2

Arcane: 10

This time, he had put the attribute point into Dexterity.

He had actually wanted to put it into Vigor, since that would have offered better value, but what had just happened made him realize that his current Dexterity was far too poor. After all, he had to fight in close quarters, and lacking agility was fatal.

He then looked at his current total attributes.

A normal Wretch at level 10 should have had around 90 total attribute points.

But Xia Tong had a full 110 points.

After all, he had received a higher education in his previous life and was also a transmigrator. It was perfectly reasonable for his Intelligence and Mind to be a little higher, wasn't it?

His World Deconstruction ability had improved because of this.

That night, Xia Tong did not continue pushing recklessly forward.

Instead, he rested well for the night at the newly activated Site of Grace in Mistwood Cave.

At daybreak the next morning.

Xia Tong rode Torrent to Gatefront once again.

This was his second time here.

But this time, he did not rush into action. Instead, he chose to circle the outskirts carefully and scout the area.

"Tch, there were still some differences from the game."

After searching for an entire morning, Xia Tong hid atop the ruins with a deep frown.

He discovered that there were actually two soldiers in the camp carrying horns.

In the game, there was usually only one sentry.

The Godrick Soldiers carrying horns were the most troublesome enemies.

If he could not kill them in a single blow, or if they managed to sound their horns,

then he would have to face the combined assault of most of the Godrick Soldiers at Gatefront.

And among them would certainly be that headache-inducing elite enemy—

the Godrick Knight.

Clad in heavy armor and wielding a spear and greatshield, its Deathly Chain Thrusts were practically a nightmare for newcomers.

Night fell swiftly.

With the light cast by the campfires, Xia Tong clearly made out the camp's defenses.

At the center of the camp, aside from the knight captain wielding a spear, three fully armed Godrick Heavy Infantrymen patrolled back and forth in a triangular formation.

There were even more ordinary fodder soldiers, turning the entire camp into something like a small fortress.

Xia Tong conservatively estimated that the entire Gatefront camp contained nearly forty Godrick Soldiers.

The good news was that although the total number of soldiers was far greater than in the game,

there was only one elite knight clad in full plate armor and possessing terrifying combat strength.

"Looks like I'll have to carefully plan my tactics."

Xia Tong lay prone atop a broken wall, his eyes flickering.