Slaying the Black Bear King

"Ha! High defense and tons of health-my favorite kind of boss!" Wu Shaozhen said happily. Still, this guy's damage was nothing to sneeze at. A basic attack could take over six hundred health off him, Ground Slam over nine hundred, and Earthsplitter over a thousand. High-level bosses really packed a punch.

He checked his own stats. His health had reached 2,307, while his physical defense was still 111. Surviving the hits wouldn't be a problem. He had plenty of potions, and if things really went south, he still had Void. He had this in the bag!

He activated Extreme Speed, charged straight in, and landed two sword strikes, applying two stacks of poison. That would drain 520 health per second, totaling 31,200 in a minute.

He didn't dare apply all three stacks. With Extreme Speed active, his attack speed reached 80%, so landing two strikes meant taking only one basic attack from the Black Bear King. Three strikes would mean taking two basic attacks, and if the boss followed those with a skill, he would be done for. So after landing two strikes and taking one basic attack, Wu Shaozhen turned and ran.

He hadn't gotten far when the ground suddenly split open. The cracks raced after him and launched him into the air.

-1089

After landing, Wu Shaozhen scrambled to his feet and hurried away. Luckily, the Black Bear King hadn't caught up yet, or he would have had to use Void. One basic attack and one skill had stripped away over seventeen hundred health, instantly leaving him with only four hundred or so. Sure enough, no bronze boss could be underestimated.

As the Black Bear King chased him, Wu Shaozhen decided to give Stealth a try. He quickly vanished from sight, and the Black Bear King scratched his head before turning and running toward Silver Big Bad Wolf.

"It actually works!" He had never bothered testing it before, since he was too lazy to use skills against ordinary monsters. To his surprise, he could use Stealth even while his poison was still dealing damage. Now this was interesting. His fighting style had already been shameless, and now it was even worse.

He recalled Silver Big Bad Wolf into the pet space to keep him from getting slapped to death, only for the Black Bear King to charge straight toward the soldier.

"Damn it, why is this idiot still here? Doesn't he know to run?" Exasperated, Wu Shaozhen could only summon Silver Big Bad Wolf again to take the damage, then pull out a large Red Potion and drink it. Watching Silver Big Bad Wolf leap and dart around with the Black Bear King hot on his heels, Wu Shaozhen quickly canceled his invisibility to draw aggro, then led the boss around in circles. With this dead weight here, he couldn't use Stealth anymore. The soldier might have a hidden quest, so he couldn't let him die.

The Black Bear King was powerful, but unfortunately, he had run into Wu Shaozhen's shameless tactics. He couldn't catch him or kill him in one hit, and the poison was downright nasty. In the end, he could only collapse in frustration.

"Ding! Congratulations on slaying the bronze boss [Black Bear King]. You gained 200 reputation and 24,000 EXP. Your pet Silver Big Bad Wolf gained 6,000 EXP."

"Ding! Congratulations! Your pet [Silver Big Bad Wolf] has leveled up. Current level: 12."

"Ding! Immortal Body has taken effect. Maximum health increased by 1. Immortal Body has now increased your maximum health by a total of 318."

Watching the Black Bear King's enormous body hit the ground, Wu Shaozhen rubbed his nose. He seemed a little too strong. Three hundred thousand health, and he had finished the boss off in just over ten minutes. All he could say was that this talent was truly powerful.

Wu Shaozhen checked his EXP: 29,710/50,000. Damn, bosses really give a ton of EXP. Although boss EXP didn't receive the bonus for fighting above his level, a single Black Bear King was worth a full 30,000 EXP. Even after Silver Big Bad Wolf took 20%, he still received 24,000, filling nearly half his EXP bar in one go.

Shaking his head helplessly, Wu Shaozhen hurried to pick up everything the boss had dropped.

The Black Bear King's drop rate was much lower than the Silver Wolf King's. It looked like the first kill definitely came with a drop-rate bonus. He checked his bag: altogether, he had obtained 2 gold coins and 76 silver, two pieces of bronze equipment, three pieces of black iron equipment, four pieces of white equipment, and one special scroll.

"So stingy!" Wu Shaozhen grumbled. Still, it didn't matter as long as there was equipment. He checked the pieces.

[Black Bear King Armor] Bronze grade: health +600, physical defense +30, spell defense +30. Bonus attributes: constitution +18, bone root +20. Equipment requirements: Warrior, Shieldguard.

[Black Bear King Boots] Bronze grade: movement speed +50, physical defense +30, spell defense +30. Bonus attributes: agility +18, bone root +15. Equipment requirements: all classes.

[Bear King Bracelet] Black iron grade: physical attack +50, attack speed +6%. Bonus attribute: agility +12. Equipment requirements: physical classes.

[Bear King Necklace] Black iron grade: physical attack +60, ranged damage +5%. Bonus attribute: strength +15. Equipment requirements: Archer.

[Bear King Legguards] Black iron grade: health +300, physical defense +20, spell defense +10. Bonus attribute: constitution +12. Equipment requirements: all classes.

Sure enough, there were only class requirements. Before level 10, players probably hadn't changed classes yet, so equipment of black iron grade and above had level requirements. After level 10, those became class requirements instead. That was nice-it saved him from finding equipment he couldn't wear.

Of the five pieces, he could use the boots, bracelet, and legguards. The necklace and armor would have to be sold. Once he returned, he would check how many players were around and list them at the Auction House if there were enough.

He happened to be missing a bracelet, so he put it on directly. Then he replaced his current boots and Wolf King Legguards with the new boots and legguards. Although both pairs of legguards were black iron equipment, the Bear King Legguards had noticeably better stats. Naturally, drops from higher-level monsters had better stats than those from lower-level ones.

He checked the other scroll: [Petrified Skin Scroll]: after use, increases defense by 100% and reduces physical damage from nearby targets by 50%. Lasts 5 minutes.

What the hell? Instead of dropping the skill, it dropped a scroll? This would be amazing as a skill, but as a scroll, it's kind of a waste.

After sorting out the loot, Wu Shaozhen walked up to the dying soldier and said, "Hi, is there anything I can help you with?"

The soldier suddenly grew excited at the sight of Wu Shaozhen. "Brave warrior, thank you for saving me, but I'm not going to survive. I'm a member of the Jinling City Guard Army, and I have something important to report to the city lord. Could you deliver this letter to him for me?" With that, he took out a letter and held it out to Wu Shaozhen.

"Ding! Guard Squad Deputy Captain Jirui has offered you a quest. Quest objective: bring the letter back to Jinling City and deliver it to the city lord. Quest reward: unknown. Accept?"

Seriously, an unknown reward? Don't tell me I'll be making the trip for nothing! Wu Shaozhen thought. But seeing the soldier looking at him pleadingly even as he lay on the verge of death, he couldn't bring himself to refuse. He could only nod and say, "All right, I promise." He took the letter from the soldier's hand, then watched as relief spread across his face before he promptly died!

"Just like that?" Wu Shaozhen shook his head speechlessly, then took out a Town Portal Scroll to return to the city.

"Ding! Quest in progress. Unable to use a Town Portal Scroll."

"Damn it!" Wu Shaozhen's eyes widened in anger. So I bought those Town Portal Scrolls for nothing, and I still have to walk back.

In the end, he could only run toward the city in resignation. Fortunately, he was fast, or he would have wasted quite a bit more time.