Boss Template

"There's no need to stall. We're leaving right now. Just do me one more favor, and your task for today will be done." Xiao Yu tossed the Seed of Elements to her. "Help me take this out, then mail it to my system warehouse."

"Huh? What's this?" Moonmark?Shadow Chaser caught it and took a look.

[Seed of Elements: Quest item. Use-triggers a quest.] A corresponding description followed.

She was startled. She clearly knew her stuff, and a surprised look immediately crossed her face. "Good stuff."

At the same time, a system notification sounded in her ear.

System notification: Quest triggered-Retrieve the Seed of Elements. Seed of Elements: Deliver it to the Cenarion Circle in Darnassus to receive a reward.

"Of course it's good stuff. That's why I'm having you take it out. You're a night elf, so you should have accepted that quest by default. That's why you can carry it without worrying about anyone snatching it from you."

A playful smile suddenly appeared on Moonmark?Shadow Chaser's face. "Aren't you afraid I'll pocket it?"

Without changing expression, Xiao Yu said, "If you think it's worth ten thousand yuan, go ahead and pocket it. I'll consider it sold to you." Xiao Yu spoke without changing expression. Honestly, he was a little worried. The item's value was hard to determine, mainly because he had never heard of anything like it before. It really was valuable: if it caught the right person's eye, it might even sell for tens of thousands of yuan. Back when he had his flame demon lord character, for example, he would definitely have been willing to spend tens of thousands on it. But players with elemental lord-level monster templates could be counted on one hand in the entire game, and only elemental creatures could use it, so finding a buyer wouldn't be easy.

He was betting that Moonmark?Shadow Chaser wouldn't pay a ten-thousand-yuan breach-of-contract penalty for something whose value she didn't know.

Sure enough, after hearing Xiao Yu, Moonmark?Shadow Chaser shrugged. "Never mind, then. It looks pretty nice, but who knows what the hell it might mutate into? Besides, someone would have to buy it."

She put the Seed of Elements away. "I'm leaving, then. If you die, don't blame me."

"Don't worry. I have a way to escape." Watching Moonmark?Shadow Chaser disappear again, Xiao Yu breathed a sigh of relief. As long as the Seed of Elements was safe, he had nothing to fear even if he died now. Of course, if he could avoid dying, that would be better. He might as well put up a struggle.

Thinking this, he turned and walked toward Nightwhisper Temple.

When Xiao Yu reached the temple square, he arrived just in time to see the archdruid knocked to the ground under the group's assault.

Most?Moonwalker (archdruid): "Though I die, the will of the spirits of nature shall endure forever-ah!"

With a scream, the giant bear collapsed on the ground and died.

[System notification: In the year 1375 of the Firmament Era, Eric the goblin, Derek the gnoll, Deathclaw the beast, Beowulf, and Teddy broke through Nightwhisper Temple and jointly killed Archdruid Most?Moonwalker and Nightwhisper Village. The night elves' influence on the continent of Azeroth has suffered a heavy blow. This event has been recorded in the Firmament Chronicle.]

[System notification: Participated in killing Archdruid Most?Moonwalker. Gained 73 reputation points.]

[System notification: Participated in completing the story event-Nightwhisper Village Crisis. Based on your performance in the story event, you have gained 235 reputation points.]

[System notification: Your relationship with the Alliance has deteriorated. Your relationship with the night elves has changed from hostile to mortal enemies.]

[System notification: Your reputation has reached the required threshold. Your template level has advanced to boss template (junior). Health bonus: 500%. Damage dealt increased by 30%. Damage received reduced by 30%.

You have unlocked the Dungeon Creation System. From now on, you can join someone else's dungeon or create your own.

You have unlocked the boss skill system. You can now advance your skills into boss skills.]

A string of system notifications sounded one after another, and it took Xiao Yu quite a while to digest the information. A hint of delight immediately appeared on his face. He had thought he was doomed to die tonight, but now he had some chance of survival.

"Haha, awesome! I've finally advanced to an elite template!" Derek shouted excitedly.

"Me too!" Teddy and Beowulf were excited as well. Both of them had successfully advanced to elite, and their strength had increased substantially.

Deathclaw, on the other hand, was rather depressed. He had only been a few dozen points away from advancing to a boss template, but his reputation had fallen just short of the requirement.

The boss template was a dividing line. Advancing to a boss template meant gaining the ability to take on a party of players single-handedly. Even the lowest-level boss template had strength beyond the reach of elite and rare elite monsters. Not only were its damage and damage reduction bonuses higher, but its health also instantly shot up to several times what it had been. On top of that, it granted permission to open dungeons and access to boss skills.

Xiao Yu couldn't use the Dungeon Creation System for the time being. Creating a dungeon wasn't that simple, but the boss skill system was crucial.

As a boss, he could advance skills he already possessed into boss skills. Once advanced, even a useless trash skill could instantly become several times more powerful. The effect was similar to a lord skill or hero skill: not only was it tremendously powerful, but it also couldn't be interrupted by interrupt skills.

Although Xiao Yu was only a junior boss and could advance just one boss skill, it was still very useful.

Xiao Yu had quite a few skills, but only two were truly worth advancing: Flame Missiles and Summon Fire Elemental.

Considering the current situation, Xiao Yu decisively chose to advance Flame Missiles into a boss skill.

System notification: Your Flame Missiles has advanced successfully. Please select the skill advancement path you want.

Advanced skill 1: Advance Flame Missiles into Flame Bomb Storm! The number of flame missiles you can conjure is greatly increased. Conjure dozens of flame missiles at once to attack surrounding enemies at random.

Advanced skill 2: Advance Flame Missiles into Flame Explosive Bomb! The power of the flame missiles you conjure is greatly increased. Each flame missile can deal 50 points of fire damage and half that damage to surrounding targets.

The first advancement increased the number of flame missiles, allowing him to fire dozens at once, and they also had a tracking effect. Against a small number of adventurers, it would definitely kill them instantly. But if there were too many adventurers, the damage could easily be spread out, and it might not kill a single one.

The second advancement improved the quality of the flame missiles. Not only did their damage increase to 50 points, but they also gained a splash effect, making them ideal against groups of players. Splash damage could stack, so if he fired a shot into a crowd of adventurers huddled together, the sight was almost too beautiful to imagine.

So which path should he advance along?