DOT builds hit hard

"Thank you for your generous gift, mentor!" Delighted by his newfound reward, Ye Fengxing certainly did not mind saying a few nice things to his "benefactor."

Old Aston accepted the praise without embarrassment, smiling silently.

Ye Fengxing also turned in his quest while he was there. A golden light rose from his body, and he felt as though he were floating on air.

System notification: Congratulations on reaching level 15! You have new points. Please allocate them soon!~

Going from level 12 to level 15 gave him 15 free attribute points. With the reward from his [Hell Warrior] title, that made 20 in total.

With so much top-tier equipment on him, Ye Fengxing suddenly felt that attack power was no longer much of a problem, so he put all 20 of his spare attribute points into agility. He now had 140 agility and a movement speed of 7.33.

With his agility as high as 140, he could finally see some results. All the effort he had spent raising agility as a Mage had not been wasted.

"One Leaf Windwalk," old Aston spoke again. "From what you gained on this journey, I can see that you are brave. You truly have the heart of a warrior. I hope you will inherit our finest arts and bring the tradition of Dragon Language Magic to greater heights."

As soon as he finished speaking, an amber glow rose from Ye Fengxing.

System notification: Congratulations on learning the dragon language!

"Ding~!"

System notification: Your Dragon Language Magic Basics skill has reached level 2.

Dragon Language Magic Basics (passive) (level 2): Chant spells in the dragon language, reducing the casting time of all your spells by 0.2 seconds, increasing accuracy by 2%, and increasing spell damage by 11%.

"Ding~!"

System notification: You have obtained the title [Dragon Speaker], permanently increasing intelligence and spirit by 5 points each.

The three consecutive system notifications left Ye Fengxing a little dazed. Happiness had struck so suddenly that he really could not handle it!

Aston continued, "You cannot achieve greatness by staying tucked away in one corner, One Leaf Windwalk. As your mentor, I suggest that you venture out into the world. Vast as the Dragonrest Wilds may be, they are ultimately only one corner of the Southern Islands. Remember, a true Mage must be tempered by countless battles! I will be here waiting for your return, waiting to hear the stories of you fighting shoulder to shoulder with your comrades!"

Hearing this, Ye Fengxing could not help feeling deep respect for the squint-eyed old Dragonkin! He knew perfectly well that the figure standing before him was merely a collection of data, but his words genuinely made sense-and really got his blood pumping! It seemed this old fellow had once been a hot-blooded real man himself... What a guy! How could anyone not like him!

"I will, Mentor Aston. When the time comes, I'll be happy to share my stories with you."

Finally, Ye Fengxing learned two more skills from the old Dragonkin before setting off.

Clearflow Mending: Wash the target's wounds with water imbued with magic, allowing them to heal gradually and restoring 71-82 health over 15 seconds. Spell range: 30 meters. Instant cast. Mana cost: 31. No cooldown.

Windweave Swiftness (passive): A gentle breeze swirls around you, making your movements swifter. Permanently increases agility by 10% and movement speed by 10%.

Ye Fengxing now had 154 agility. His movement speed would have been 7.57, but the additional 10% brought it to 8.32, making the effect even more noticeable.

Damn it! Level 15 already, and I still haven't found a single NPC selling mounts! Trudging around on these two flesh-and-blood legs every day is such a pain in the ass!

Class quests belonged to the main questline, and Ye Fengxing had completed his splendidly. What should he do next? Wasn't it obvious? Quests were naturally the quickest way to level up. Even after finishing the main quests, there were still side quests, weren't there?

He followed roads and trails, accepting every quest he came across. He skipped those that were too low-level, but never passed up anything level 12 or above.

Several level 14 quests were clustered together, all taking place around the Donar River in the western Dragonrest Wilds. After reading his quest log, Ye Fengxing immediately set off west without another word.

Not many players had reached level 14 yet, while monsters above level 15 were countless around the Donar River. The area was therefore still fairly quiet, though it would probably grow lively in another couple of days.

After walking for more than twenty minutes, Ye Fengxing finally reached his destination. What greeted him was, surprisingly, a dense little grove.

Birdsong filled the grove, and lush greens and bright flowers mingled in harmony everywhere. Beautiful as the scenery was, danger often lurked amid all kinds of lovely sights...

Flowers and herbs covered the ground here, and many could be used to make potions. Naturally, he did not hold back. He had learned gathering, after all, so there was nothing wrong with digging up a few extra things. Who knew? He might need them tomorrow.

The ground beneath him, however, was anything but peaceful...

As Ye Fengxing dug, a huge centipede over a meter long suddenly burst out! Its entire body was brightly colored, and it shook a dozen or so pairs of thick, long legs, rearing its upper body like some kind of reptile-just without a red forked tongue flicking in and out... Yet its ferocious appearance surpassed even that of a venomous snake!

"Who made this thing? That's just wrong!" He sighed inwardly while casting Flame Arrow. A grown man like him certainly would not be frightened by a bug, but plenty of young girls played this game too. There might even be players with cardiovascular conditions. If someone got scared out of their wits, who would take responsibility?

The Rainbow Centipede was a level 17 venomous creature with high attack power, defense, and movement speed. Its special skills were Venomous Bite, Burrow, and Foot Devour.

These bugs were a real headache. Their bites hurt and poisoned you too-utterly nasty. Once one bit you, your whole body turned green, your limbs went weak, and the wound throbbed with intense pain.

Fortunately, the game's "sensations" could be adjusted. The vast majority of players set their pain levels very low. After all, not everyone had the strength of will to endure all sorts of agonizing pain.

Rainbow Centipedes were cunning. Once you beat one within an inch of its life, it would use Burrow, forcing you to watch the experience that was almost yours slip away. It was maddening.

But that was not the end of it. After burrowing, Rainbow Centipedes would not easily leave players alone. They would look for an opportunity to burst out and bite them.

This skill was called Foot Devour. Anyone hit would be rooted in place, unable to move, and would also receive a DOT that drained health every few seconds for a full minute! Each tick did little damage, but given enough time, that could still kill someone, couldn't it? (DOT: Damage over time, an effect that continuously damages a target over a set period.)

Unfortunately for these venomous Rainbow Centipedes, they had run into him. It really was... a snake swallowing a mouse, only for an eagle to snatch the snake-everything had its nemesis.

Ye Fengxing had a staff that could summon Skeleton Guards. Not many-only two at a time. They could neither heal nor use skills, only swing the weapons in their hands, which looked like scraps of rusty iron, hacking at monsters over and over.

Although the Skeleton Guards were level 15, they had only 650 health, and their defense was a miserable zero. Expecting them to stand up front and tank monsters was pure fantasy.

With so many weaknesses, their attacks ought to offer some compensation-and that was the only thing these two little skeletons had going for them. They could only perform basic attacks, but their attack power was genuinely respectable. Each strike could take off forty or fifty health, and their attack speed was not slow either.

Ye Fengxing naturally knew how to make the most of what he had... Whenever he spotted a Rainbow Centipede, he immediately aimed at its head, mouth, or similar spots and unleashed a furious barrage!

The pain naturally made the huge bug hate his guts. It wanted to devour his flesh raw! Drink his blood fresh! Even with two little skeletons beside it hacking away nonstop, it continued chasing him without so much as turning its head!

When its health was nearly gone and its body grew weaker and weaker, the huge bug finally began to panic... It would hurriedly use Burrow. Well, generally speaking, once it went down, that meant it probably would not be coming back up...

Ye Fengxing had two rings, both with powerful special effects! The Rotten Ring could infect a target with disease, while the Malicious Ring could curse it. Neither DOT benefited from Ye Fengxing's own spell damage, but they still dealt considerable damage.

On top of that, Eske's Precious Orb had a chance to set the target ablaze, adding yet another DOT.

Not to mention that, as a Mage specializing in both wind and fire, Ye Fengxing also possessed a powerful DOT skill like Flame Devours the Body! Moreover, every tick of Flame Devours the Body now carried the extra fire damage granted by the orb, once every three seconds-not huge, but certainly not negligible. An opponent unable to heal would probably feel half-defeated before the fight even began when faced with a skill like this.

In short, whenever he attacked now, the monster would be afflicted with four DOTs! What could a nearly dead Rainbow Centipede do even if it escaped underground? Before long, it would die down there, saving him the trouble of digging a grave. Straight into the earth to rest in peace-how convenient.

Even if an occasional vanguard or elite Rainbow Centipede had more health and proved harder to kill, Ye Fengxing could chase after it and finish it with Explosive Impact. With his SP now as high as 294, he could deal over 1,000 damage in a single hit!

If a Rainbow Centipede already low on health took that hit, it would certainly be cooked underground and die on the spot!

Killing monsters was not actually Ye Fengxing's main goal. What he wanted most urgently was to level up Chaotic Wind! As a Gale Mage, his game was all about control and counter-control. Since he had only one slowing skill at the moment, how could he not pamper it, indulge it, and devote all his time to it?

-1088, Explosive Impact.

-422! Critical hit! Flame Arrow!

-283, Flame Arrow.

-419! Critical hit! Flame Arrow!

Much later...

Roasted, charred monsters lay scattered across the ground, while the culprit responsible for "slaughtering everything in sight" was sitting beside a freshly lit campfire, leisurely grilling meat skewers for fun.

He had spent the entire afternoon killing monsters and cleared out all his quests. Ye Fengxing was not made of iron. If he did not take a break soon, he really would lose his mind.