Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“Sea of Fire, burn!”
Lin Jie trailed behind the 5 Mages as they burned those Level 25 Wooden Vine Demons, and patches of 300+ damage popped up. Half a minute later, the 8 demons lay dead on the ground.
“The efficiency is pretty good.” Lin Jie nodded to himself.
Wooden Vine Demons were the most common monsters in the Rajakil Forest. Normal demons only had two vines, and the more vines they possessed, the higher their grade. Their attack was coupled with a binding effect, and they were a disgusting opponent to face off in close combat quarters. However, it was a breeze if fire was being used.
In the team, a Fire Mage called ‘Sprite Xia’ immediately jumped out with a reagent bottle as he was planning to collect some tree sap to bring back for potion practicing.
Small Melon stopped her. “Sprite, what are you doing? We are on a clearance mission, not the usual leveling up. We can’t afford for you to waste time, hurry, let’s go.”
“But… Leader, isn’t this what we usually do when we are on a mission?” asked Sprite meekly.
“You…” Small Melon glared and switched to the private message system as he growled, “Idiot! Other employers give 1 gold coin, while this spendthrift is giving us 5! If he becomes unhappy and asks for a refund, what are we going to do? Furthermore, leaving him a good impression of us will make it easier to do business with him in the future, right?”
After Small Melon’s scolding, the Fire Mage Sprite Xia finally came to her senses. She smiled sheepishly at Lin Jie and obediently kept the reagent bottle, put on a poker face, and planned to continue monster-slaying.
Lin Jie smiled but did not say anything. The overall quality of this team was still very high, as there was proper planning in monster-slaying; they killed the Wooden Demons, and then the Toxic Bugs and Bees on the demons. Other than preventing the demons from using their vines to fling the bugs at them, they also ensured the highest gain for the team.
Lin Jie pondered and asked, “Small Melon, how many similar teams like you guys are there in this forest?”
Small Melon was clearing the monsters. Upon hearing Lin Jie, he replied respectfully, “About 50. Our team can be considered in the top 10 among them. Most of the other teams are more of kinfolk brigades, and they usually work together to earn some money, their jobs are also mixed. We are more professional, and all 5 of us are Fire Mages, this results in a much faster clearing rate.”
Lin Jie focused on the main point and continued asking, “Oh, so that’s how it is. Eh, you guys are among the top ten? That means there are people stronger than you guys?”
“Yes, we are not ashamed of this as our abilities are not as good as theirs. Ranked first is a team called Black Eyes. Every attack of theirs contains ghostfire, very evil, and has particularly high damage. However, I heard that they are not any good souls, and there were several cases where they killed their employers. In second place is Unbeatable, this team…” Small Melon had a weird look on his face, and his tone changed. “This team is very odd! Really odd! Their service is to send the employers to their destinations. However, they differ from us such that they are all Shield Specialists, all of them! Their method of completing the mission is to protect you in the middle and absorb all the monsters’ damage for you…”
Lin Jie let out a peal of laughter upon hearing that. A clearance team formed by a group of Shield Specialists, this was interesting.
“Boss, if you seek clearance services, we are definitely the fastest! Next time you are here, I will give you a discount.” Small Melon seemed to expose his rival’s weak point accidentally and did not forget to advertise again at a cheaper rate. This guy really had the potential to make sales.
Lin Jie did not keep chit-chatting and continued onto the Ancient Wilderness Temple.
However, as he observed the Fire Mages farm, Lin Jie started to feel envious.
The Toxic Bees in the forest spawned as a pack, and let’s not mention the countless Poisonous Silkworms climbing on the tree barks. One fireball would decimate them all, together with a significant boost in experience points. If those small poisonous bugs didn’t suffer from 30% fewer experience points as compared to larger monsters, this place would have been filled with players.
This was the advantage of Mages.
Even Lin Jie would have to give some effort to go against those tiny mosquitoes.
After a total of three hours, Lin Jie and the gang finally climbed over two mountain peaks and reached the destination point.
Before them was a land of vines and weeds.
“Boss, the coordinates you gave us are here, our mission is completed. Your mission target is for you to settle,” said Small Melon.
“If you guys help me to locate the mission target, the next time I am here, I will hire you again,” said Lin Jie.
He had a curse, and if he were to face a bunch of Toxic Bees later, it would be a messy situation.
Small Melon ground his teeth, for a long term business relationship, he had to agree to that condition.
Lin Jie and the 5 Fire Mages began their search amongst the vines. Lin Jie’s brows furrowed as this sort of mission usually did not offer very accurate coordinates. Hence, it was not an easy task to locate the Ancient Wilderness Temple!
“Ah! Leader, leader, leader!” Sprite Xia ripped open the vines in an area and begun shouting!
“Why the heck are you screaming— What the f*ck!?” Small Melon was frightened.
There stood a Tree Demon the size of a small mountain! The demon was entirely black with a gigantic crown and stood on the top of a rocky mountain. Its vines and roots enshrouded the rock mountain tightly within.
There was also a giant flower! Gentle and appealing peals of laughter, like a group of little girls playing, sounded from the flower’s pistil.
Finally, a bee the size of a buffalo flew in the air, not for honey, but to break the Tree Demon’s shackles and enter the rock mountain.
[Ancient Black Wood Queen Dryad]: Level 40 Gold Boss, Health Points: 300,000
[Killer Queen Bee]: Level 35 Gold Boss, Health Points: 150,000!
“Oh my god, two Bosses! Oh my god, oh my god!” Small Melon was shocked beyond words, and he couldn’t hold in his exclamations.
Lin Jie’s pupils constricted. There weren’t only two Bosses, but three! Other than the powerful aura from the Queen Dryad and Queen Bee, the scary one was the flower that appeared very innocent!
This flower was known as Demon House Flower, and within it resided either a large or small amount of Flower Demons.
For common bosses, there would only be one fairy, three would be Elite, 10 would be Boss.
By the resounding peals of laughter, there were at least a few dozens or even hundreds of Flower Demons! This proved that this Demon House Flower was minimally a Dark Gold Leader-Level Boss—a similar presence to Blood Wizard Larek in Blood Swamp! And, it was even stronger than the Blood Wizard! A large part of the Blood Wizard’s powers came from its 11 Guardians, which could be avoided if one were lucky. However, one could only face the Flower Demons head-on!
Lin Jie observed the rock mountain and thought, ‘This must be the Ancient Wilderness Temple! These three Bosses were all attracted here by the temple aura, which resulted in this triple Boss situation.’
In order to enter the temple, Lin Jie would have to kill the Bosses! This mission was indeed not as easy as it seemed.
The three Bosses, including a Dark Gold leader-level monster, were troublesome even for Lin Jie. Even if he had Savage Blade here, their chance of success would only be 50%! The only method would be to fight them with numbers! Just like those big guilds that would bring along countless cannon fodders to their death, while the one on the mission would sneak into the temple once the chance presented itself.
Small Melon exclaimed, “No wonder the monsters in the other maps were constantly respawning but not the Bosses. They are all here fighting each other! HAHAHAHA… We are going to be rich!”
“Don’t lose yourself, being able to see the Bosses does not equate to being able to kill them,” reminded Lin Jie.
“This…” Small Melon immediately calmed down and frowned.
Lin Jie asked, “Have you guys not been to this map before?”
“Of course, I have been here! I have been to the whole forest with maps below Level 35.”
“Then, you guys did not discover this area?”
“Er… maybe it was hidden too well.”
Lin Jie understood the matter.
This map had appeared specifically for his mission! Typically, the map would have been covered by the endless vines, and no one would have been able to find it.
‘In that case, these three monsters are my mission monsters.’ Lin Jie had a clear understanding of the game rules, and he pondered on his solutions. ‘Since these are the mission monsters, the system will not set out an enjoyable task. Hence, there will definitely be a solution for this! Er… let them fight it out? Right! The Queen Bee wants to enter the temple but is being blocked by the Queen Dryad, while the Demon House Flower is not interfering with them. There must be some sort of relationship between them in order for them to be entwined. Although I will not be so arrogant to say that I am just here to watch them fight till their deaths and gain from that, at least, making use of the Demon House Flower and Queen Bee to move the Queen Dryad’s vines will be an easy matter!’
Half a moment later.
“I got it!” Lin Jie said suddenly, “Friends, I have a solution.”
“Solution? To kill the Bosses?” Small Melon’s eyes brightened at that.
“No, a method to enter the mission map. This rocky mountain is my mission location, but I will have to lead the Queen Dryad away first. Please, help me!” said Lin Jie.
“Boss, this wasn’t in our mission content. We will have to charge you extra for other requests.”
“Hmph, do you really think of me as an idiot? Is 5 gold coins still insufficient? It would have been more than enough to hire the Black Eyes. Furthermore, these Bosses are blocking my way. As part of the clearance mission, of course, it’s part of your duty to clear them as well.” Lin Jie let out a cold breath as he waved. “You should learn how to be content, I do not care for details, but this does not mean that I am stupid, do you understand?”
“Understood, understood.” Small Melon was sweating from Lin Jie’s change in attitude and quickly erased his thought of scamming Lin Jie any further. Based on his intelligence, pissing him off would definitely result in the spreading of their team’s conning methods. This would destroy their reputations and disrupt their business.
Lin Jie added, “If you guys can follow my instructions, even though I can’t ensure that you will be able to kill all three monsters, killing the Queen Bee won’t be an issue. You can split the loot within yourselves, consider it my payment for your hard work.”
“Okay, we are doing it!” Small Melon agreed very quickly this time around.
Lin Jie was about to speak when a wisp of jade-green wildfire appeared, the fire glimmered, but there wasn’t any heat. Instead, it was freezing cold, like snowflakes.
20 Mages, who were clad in black robes and wore capes, revealing only their eyes, appeared suddenly using Flash. They stared coldly at Lin Jie’s group.
The leading Mage said, “Fellow friends, the Queen Dryad and Queen Bee are the monsters that our Black Eyes member discovered first. He returned to the campsite to inform us, and it took us some time to travel here. These two Bosses were originally ours, my condolences.”
