Things became much easier after that. As long as he wasn't stunned, four ordinary bandits couldn't kill Wu Shaozhen in a single burst. After a few trips back and forth, he finally cleared out all twenty-odd remaining bandits.
The battle had taken just over ten minutes, with 146 bandits eliminated. Including the four gate guards, he had killed 150 bandits in total. That pace was absolutely unimaginable to current players. After all, these were level 20 monsters.
The 150 bandits gave Wu Shaozhen a full 57,600 experience points. He had only just leveled up, yet he was already close to leveling again. Silver Big Bad Wolf, whom he had kept at a distance the whole time, also reached level 13.
Immortal Body added another 150 health, bringing its total increase to 545. His health reached 2,976, nearly three thousand.
He opened his inventory and checked the two pieces of equipment that had just dropped.
[Log Shield] Black Iron Grade: Health +200, Physical Defense +20, Spell Defense +10, Block +2%. Additional attribute: Bone Root +21. Equip requirement: Shieldguard. [Attack Speed Ring] Black Iron Grade: Attack +60, Attack Speed +6%. Additional attribute: Agility +22. Equip requirements: Archer, Assassin.
The stats were pretty good. Black Iron equipment dropped by level 20 monsters actually had stats comparable to level 10 Bronze equipment. He equipped the Attack Speed Ring, replacing his Plain Toad Ring. His health fell by 20, while his attack increased by 52, his attack speed by 5%, and his agility by 22.
He put the remaining shield straight up for auction at the Auction House, with a thirty-minute bidding period.
Then Wu Shaozhen cautiously headed farther into the stronghold, encountering no more bandits along the way. Once inside, he found that the buildings were arranged in successive tiers. The buildings at the front were fairly crude, probably housing the low-ranking grunts on the outskirts. Those in the middle tier were clearly much better, presumably belonging to bandits with some status. The largest building at the very top had to be where the stronghold chief lived.
The lowest tier seemed deserted. Everyone there had probably gone out earlier. Wu Shaozhen made his way toward the middle tier. There were far fewer buildings there, but the monsters were likely much stronger.
After climbing up, he soon spotted bandits in groups of three to five. To Wu Shaozhen's dismay, every single monster in the middle tier was a mage. Apparently, mages held a high status in this stronghold. The ones who had gone out earlier must have come down from here, too. Clearly, no mages lived in the lower tier.
He hadn't paid attention to the mages' stats earlier, so he cast Insight to check them first.
[Black Wind Stronghold Warlock] Level: 20 Health: 36,000 Spell Attack: 480 Physical Defense: 120 Spell Defense: 180 Movement Speed: 68 Skill 1: Fireball: Launches a fireball at a designated target, dealing 120% spell damage. Cooldown: 3 seconds. Skill 2: Freezing Spell: Launches an ice spike at a designated target, dealing 130% spell damage and reducing the target's movement speed by 30% for 5 seconds. Cooldown: 10 seconds.
Sure enough, they had two skills. Wu Shaozhen watched from a distance. There were only five mages in front of him, so killing them wouldn't be hard. The problem was that if he charged in and another bunch of mages came running out, he wouldn't make it back.
"Oh, I almost forgot. These things don't have Eagle Eye." Wu Shaozhen activated Stealth and slowly crept over. The mages remained completely unaware of the danger, still chatting leisurely.
Wu Shaozhen first circled the area and found mages in several nearby spots. They weren't too far apart, but it would still take them at least three or four seconds to run over. With Extreme Speed active, that was enough time to poison three or four of them. He could poison them and run; they couldn't keep up with him. If things got really dangerous, he could activate Void.
With his plan settled, Wu Shaozhen stopped hesitating and quietly approached the mages. He activated Extreme Speed, slashing twice a second, his hands flying. Two stacks of poison per mage were enough. He had already poisoned three before the mages finally reacted, shouting and running backward in an attempt to put some distance between them.
Wu Shaozhen stayed right on their heels, poisoning the other two in under three seconds. Only one mage managed to react in time to hit him with a Fireball.
Seeing the mages from the other areas already rushing over, Wu Shaozhen immediately turned and ran. Two Freezing Spells and three Fireballs struck him from behind, stripping away nearly two thousand health. It didn't matter, though. He had already escaped their attack range before the other mages arrived, and he kept running into the distance.
The mages could only watch helplessly as their enemy disappeared. What could they do when they couldn't keep up?
A minute later, Wu Shaozhen returned. The five mages from earlier were dead, but now a full twenty-five mages stood in their place, nervously watching their surroundings.
"Now this is going to be a pain." Wu Shaozhen smiled wryly. Even Silver Big Bad Wolf couldn't withstand concentrated fire from twenty-five mages.
"Do I have to use the [Damage Immunity Scroll]?" Wu Shaozhen hesitated. The Damage Immunity Scroll was an absolute lifesaver, and he really hated to use it now. But without it, he genuinely had no idea how to fight them.
Should I go get stronger and come back? Wu Shaozhen quickly shook his head. By the time he returned, the bandits below would have respawned, making his earlier efforts pointless. Besides, even gaining two levels wouldn't improve his overall strength by much.
"Forget it. I'll give it a try first. If I can avoid using it, I will. If it really comes down to it, I'll have to use it to save my life." Wu Shaozhen stopped agonizing over it. After checking that all his skills were off cooldown, he activated Stealth and crept toward the mages. Once he was close, he immediately activated Haste and began frantically applying poison.
The sudden appearance of a figure startled the mages, throwing them into chaos. At such close range, they struggled to lock onto Wu Shaozhen as he darted through the crowd. Only the occasional two or three Fireballs managed to hit him. That situation lasted only a few seconds, however. The mages quickly recovered and scattered.
"Hey, they're pretty smart!" Once the mages spread out, they posed a lethal threat to Wu Shaozhen, so he stayed close behind them, slashing as he chased. But no matter how fast he was, he was only one person, while the mages were fleeing in different directions. After he poisoned four more, noticeably more fireballs and ice spikes began slamming into him. His health plummeted as the mages gained enough distance and started attacking.
He hurriedly drank a Red Potion that restored health over time and an Instant Recovery Potion to bring his health back up a little, then continued chasing and slashing at the mages. But after poisoning just two more, his health bottomed out again. Watching the incoming fireballs and ice spikes, Wu Shaozhen had no choice but to tear up the [Damage Immunity Scroll]. A faint golden glow quickly enveloped him, blocking every incoming fireball and ice spike outside it.
Not daring to waste any time, Wu Shaozhen immediately charged toward the mages he hadn't poisoned. He had only eight seconds and needed to leave two seconds to escape. The mages' attack range was roughly ten meters, and even two seconds would barely be enough to get out of range.
The mages were spread far apart. Even with Haste active and over three hundred movement speed, Wu Shaozhen only managed to poison seven mages in eight seconds, essentially one per second. Adding the six he had poisoned during the initial confusion and the six he had slashed while chasing them, he had poisoned nineteen in total. Six remained unpoisoned.
But there was nothing he could do. He was out of time. Wu Shaozhen hurriedly ran outward, fireballs whistling into the golden glow at his back. Before he could get out of range, however, the glow vanished. Seeing another seven or eight fireballs mixed with ice spikes flying toward him from behind, he immediately activated Void to evade them and finally escaped.
All that remained was to wait a minute, then return to collect the corpses. There were only six left, and they posed little threat.
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