NOVEL WEB 0017 – Nest
Athena Ravencroft had a bad feeling because her friend, the little lost soul who were supposed to come deliver news today didn't show up. Whenever such incidents occurred, it usually didn't bode well.
| Nest approaching! |
The pitch-black night instantly became bright. Athena looked out through the crack in the door.
Two kilometers away, there was something huge resembling a Black Hole! Emitting dazzling light, but its light was black.
It hovered in mid-air, but it was slowly approaching here at an extremely slow speed.
As the system said, this was the snowstorm beast's nest. Every now and then, one or two snowstorm beasts would emerge from it, their targets and directions clear—every player's residence.
Athena opened the door, holding the bow and arrow she had just obtained. The bow and arrow were very simple, with no intricate patterns on them, just the natural color of ancient wood. It looked light, but it was actually heavier than Athena's axe.
Growth-type weapon?
Although she didn't quite understand, she knew that this thing must be precious, and such treasures couldn't be left to gather dust.
Athena couldn't shoot arrows, but that didn't stop her from practicing repeatedly, gradually learning. Tonight was a good practice opportunity.
With the intermediate defense turret in place, her pressure would be much less. She could use the lone snowstorm beasts for practice. If they got close, she would apologize and chop them with her axe.
The refresh rate tonight was surprisingly high. Not long after, the first snowstorm beast arrived, followed by a string of them.
The defense turret began to fire cannonballs, its attack significantly enhanced. Basically, one cannonball could eliminate two snowstorm beasts. The ones that managed to escape or appeared in excess were for Athena to practice on. The snowstorm beast floated forward with its mouth wide open. It was the sole survivor of its wave, the village's hope.
Its eyes gleamed with fierceness, but the human ahead showed no fear. They raised their bows and arrows, attempting to shoot.
The arrow! It landed on the ground...
It hesitated for a second before continuing forward.
Athena pursed her lips, pondering.
Wait, wasn't it just a matter of putting the arrow on, aiming, and shooting?
Watching the snowstorm beast still advancing, she picked up another arrow. This time, she deliberately lightened her touch a bit before shooting. This time the arrow successfully flew out but landed a meter away from the snowstorm beast. The snowstorm beast opened its mouth wide, seeming to smirk.
Just then, the human in front put down the bow and arrow, and walked towards it holding a reflective axe. But it wasn't afraid at all, charging forward again. Athena gently lifted the axe, and with a heavy swing, struck down.
| Dropped white package x1 ! |
Silently picking up the package and placing it aside, Athena once again picked up her bow and arrow. Wave after wave of snowstorm beasts followed closely behind. Athena had no time to rest, she couldn't even open the system panel.
The snow in front of the door was already scorched black, even revealing its original appearance beneath the thick layer of snow. Then this original appearance also began to turn black and gradually sink down.
The courtyard was littered with arrows, which Athena picked up and reused.
"Whoosh!"
An arrow sliced through the air, making a bursting sound. The iron arrowhead fiercely pierced through the snowstorm beast's thick fur and into its body. The advancing snowstorm beast didn't even have time to react before being shot dead by an arrow.
"Whoosh!"
Another arrow, this time it shot further away. Before the turret could attack the remaining stragglers, the arrow preemptively killed the snowstorm beast.
Athena's gaze was icy, her back straight, her thumb slightly curved, lightly placed beside the bow notch. Guided by the purple text, she mastered the correct posture for holding the bow. And with her robust physical qualities, she had stronger control over her body.
In just one night, she had already grasped the essentials. Although incomparable to those masters of archery, it could be considered as getting started. And she maintained her posture for shooting arrows from night until dawn.
| Daylight has arrived. Please begin exploring the world! |
Now, no more snowstorm beasts could come before her. Just as she was preparing to double down, the enormous nest stopped moving, one kilometer away. And the fluctuating lights that had been surrounding it all returned to calmness, everything around it seeming to freeze.
| When the nest doesn't issue orders, snowstorm beasts won't appear. Within twenty-four hours, snowstorm beasts won't appear again. |
Following closely was the system's alert tone.
| Warning: The first wave of snowstorm beasts will respawn in 24 hours! There will be a total of four waves of monsters in this instance! Players, please prepare yourselves! |
As the system said, these were the first wave of monsters. The monsters before them were just "glitches" in appearance. Those couldn't be considered a formal attack, and tomorrow morning, on the seventh day, these players would encounter the last tutorial of the seven-day newbie tutorial.
For many people, this might be unfortunate because each wave of monsters would double in number. Ordinary players would find it difficult to deal with so many monsters.
| First wave of monsters | Two snowstorm beasts. |
| Countdown | 24.00.00 |
| Snowstorm Beast (For detailed information about the monster, please click to view.) | |
Although the system didn't tell the players how many monsters there would be in each round, the purple text made it clear. Yes, there were only two in the first round, even if they doubled later, they couldn't match the number Athena killed tonight.
| Experience +139 |
Yes, that was a terrifying number. Athena found that due to her various operations, the monster refresh probability had reached a terrifying number, far exceeding the values that should be normal for their tutorial.
So now, this tutorial was actually a kind of relaxation for her. It's worth mentioning that tonight made her once again doubt the probabilities given by the system. She only dropped 'three' packages in total... But what she cared more about was whether this significantly increased probability would also apply in the tutorial.
She wasn't afraid of the snowstorm beasts doubling, but what she feared was something else. Such a huge nest couldn't possibly be without elite monsters and bosses.
Normally, would a regular newbie tutorial have such a large scale?
Thinking of this, a strong sense of unease arose in her heart. When she opened the system panel and quickly switched to the chat panel.
Sure enough, the chat panel was peaceful, with the only ripples caused by the system's notification just now that the first wave of monsters would arrive in 24 hours.
| -- I feel like the system is quite merciful, giving us 24 hours to prepare. -- Is the one above tortured and gone mad? You've been caught in this ghost place, and you're calling it merciful! -- Yeah, I hope there aren't too many monsters in the first round. It's a struggle even to deal with one! -- The drop rate for these packages is so high, it's a solid 30%. I've only encountered a few monsters sporadically these days and got two packages. -- Do you think these monsters will respawn? Will they appear out of thin air like these snowstorm beasts? -- I don't know, it's been snowing heavily lately, and I'm bored to death. I even went out to build a small snowman. If there's a camera function, I'd post it for you guys to see. -- Haha, I feel like with my current strength, I can definitely clear this. You guys are all noobs! |
Sure enough, none of them were discussing the appearance of the enormous black nest outside. Or perhaps this was unique to Athena, where 1+1 could not only be greater than 2 but also possibly greater than 100.
Gazing at the huge black nest one kilometer away, the fear of being swallowed up seemed to loom over her.
When the enemy comes, the defense is strong; when the water comes, the soil will absorb it.
She returned to bed with an expressionless face, and soon fell asleep. She hadn't slept at all last night. Nothing was more important than sleep!
