NOVEL WEB Chapter 13
Chapter 13 Source of the Nightmare
Hang Yu’s reserve of essence points was now directly approaching 5000. Being a Lord was truly easy and comfortable… Since the vassal’s level could not exceed the Lord’s, it was time to enhance his own strength.
【Essence reserve -400!】
【Ding, you have reached Level 4, HP +50, Strength +5, Agility +5, Spirit +5, Will +5!】
【Essence reserve -700!】
【Ding, you have reached Level 5, HP +50, Strength +5, Agility +5, Spirit +5, Will +5!】
Although there was still enough remaining essence to level up two more times without a problem, Hang Yu did not do so. Having only level and attributes without skills would not suffice, so he opened the Lord’s skill list.
The skills currently available for learning were as follows:
【Iron Armor Skill】, requires 800 essence.
【Gale Step】, requires 800 essence.
【Flame Arrow Spell】, requires 800 essence.
【Healing Spell】, requires 800 essence.
These were precisely the starting skills of the four major professions.
As the territory's Lord, Hang Yu could learn all professions’ skills simultaneously, and he could afford the cost.
Without hesitation, he learned them all in one go.
【Essence reserve -3200!】
【You have comprehended "Iron Armor Skill", "Gale Step", "Flame Arrow Spell", "Healing Spell"!】
Within just a few minutes, he felt a sense of rebirth, the feeling of becoming stronger indeed brought immense joy.
He immediately opened his personal information panel to quickly scan through his current basic status.
————
Name: Hang Yu.
Level: 5.
Race: Human.
Territory Rank: Tier-One.
Basic Attributes: HP 250, MP 250, Strength 25, Agility 25, Spirit 25, Will 25.
Lord Talents: Lord’s Aura (Not Activated), Pioneer’s Heart (Not Activated), Master of Calamity (Hidden Talent).
Other Skills: Level 1 Iron Armor Skill, Level 1 Gale Step, Level 1 Flame Arrow Spell, Level 1 Healing Spell.
Remaining Talent Points: 0.
Essence Value: 0/1200.
Essence Reserve: 600.
————
"Thanks to these players!"
"I’ve managed to grow at such a speed!"
Hang Yu did not have time to test the changes in his body or the new skills.
Xiao Ba had already informed him that the players who had been killed had one after another completed their resurrection.
These players had worked hard to hand over more than a hundred sets of materials, barely saving up a little over 100 Contribution Points, and after one round of reclamation, almost nothing was left. It was practically like doing free labor for the territory.
"Damn!"
"Who would’ve thought it would all fall short at the last moment!"
"I mean, what were you guys chickening out for?"
"The boss was already low on HP, you just needed to hit it casually and it would’ve been done!"
"Well, who told this game to be so realistic? When it mattered most, it was still scary!"
"Everyone, let’s stop talking for now."
"The boss shouldn’t have gotten far!"
"It’s severely injured right now; there’s no way it can recover quickly!"
"That’s right, luckily we prepared in advance and saved up a batch of Contribution Points. That decision was truly wise!"
"……"
The nine resurrected players immediately returned to the battlefield. However, the wild monsters in this game would not stay in one place forever.
It took them more than half an hour, following traces, to finally find the Snake-Tailed Flame Chicken.
They saw that the Flame Chicken’s HP had already recovered by more than a third, and most of its wounds had healed. It would not be long before it regained its combat power, and there was no time to set up another trap.
After some discussion, the players decided to strike directly!
Black-Eyed Rui Ge and a player named Lone Boat were assigned to lead the assault.
Hang Yu noticed that after two consecutive failures...
The players had already completely grasped the BOSS’s mechanics.
First of all, the Snake-Tailed Flame Chicken’s main attack method was spitting fire.
Normally, its attack range was about two to three meters, but after going berserk, it increased to around five meters.
For any profession below Level 3 other than warriors, getting hit directly would result in instant death.
However, the Snake-Tailed Flame Chicken’s flames were obviously not limitless. Before each burst of fire, there was a brief casting time. Each flame attack lasted for five seconds, and after it ended, there was an interval of about three seconds.
These openings all created opportunities to attack.
Although it could fly, it could only fly at low altitude, and it could not stay airborne for long.
Moreover, due to its injuries, its agility had decreased.
Black-Eyed Rui Ge was a well-known veteran in the gaming circle, famous for his hardcore technical skills.
As for the player named Lone Boat, judging by appearance, he seemed to be a silent, plain-looking young man.
The players speculated that he must be the alternate account of some super expert, because his technique and operation skills were completely on par with Rui Ge.
The two agile Level 3 Rangers successfully predicted the monster’s attacks again and again.
Hang Yu remarked, "Not bad!"
Under the seamless cooperation between the two, the monster’s HP bar grew smaller and smaller, and eventually it once again entered a near-death state.
Ye Li Meng shouted loudly, "Careful! Fall back quickly! It’s about to go berserk again!"
The Snake-Tailed Flame Chicken raised its neck and let out a long cry, bursting forth a wave of flames from its body that scorched the surrounding area within several meters into charred ground.
Black-Eyed Rui Ge and Lone Boat had already mentally prepared themselves and immediately retreated to avoid the shockwave.
"Flame Arrow!"
Chimera Wraith and another Warlock released the spells they had been preparing for a long time.
The Snake-Tailed Flame Chicken had very high fire resistance, so the two flaming arrows did not cause much damage, but they successfully made it stumble, unable to immediately counterattack the players.
"Now’s the time!"
Ye Li Meng and Street Slayer fearlessly activated Iron Armor Skill and charged forward, rushing into the flames without caring about the burns, raising their long-handled broadswords and heavily slashing at the Snake-Tailed Flame Chicken.
A tragic cry rang out.
This stubborn battle chicken finally fell!
"We won!"
"We won!"
"Hahaha! Finally, we won!"
"I’m one step closer to defeating Lü Fengxian!"
All nine players revealed expressions of wild joy, dancing and shouting in celebration. After two tragic defeats, this victory felt exceptionally sweet and worthy of celebration.
The little fire chicken had done its best.
The despicable players had no honor!
Just as Hang Yu was silently paying tribute to the heroic chicken, a sudden notification sounded in his mind.
【Ding, you have obtained a “Lesser Abyssal Nightmare Source Fragment”, would you like to assimilate it immediately? Yes/No!】
Hang Yu was slightly surprised: "Huh, this unremarkable Snake-Tailed Flame Chicken was actually a carrier of an Abyssal Nightmare Corruption Source? The players really made a major contribution this time!"
According to what he had learned at the Academy,
the Abyss would nurture countless large and small corruption sources in the worlds it infected, turning those worlds into chaotic states stitched together from matter and spirit, reality and nightmare.
The true reason why creatures of the Abyssal Plane underwent demonization and mutation was because they were drawn into the Abyssal Dream.
As long as the source of the nightmare was not destroyed, they could never truly die, and would eventually, through endless cycles, be eroded and assimilated by the Will of the Abyss.
For example, the Snake-Tailed Mountain Chickens near Hang Yu’s territory were actually no longer naturally grown creatures.
They were Abyssal beings materialized from nightmare sources, and Abyssal beings could not be killed permanently.
As long as the corruption source remained, they would continuously revive and cycle.
This was precisely the reason monsters respawned in the game.
Every map had at least one core corruption source.
This core corruption source usually appeared on the strongest individual, and could roughly be understood as the map’s strongest gatekeeping BOSS.
Only by defeating this strongest BOSS and obtaining its core nightmare origin could a Lord of the Stars break through the map’s blockade and advance to the next map.
Besides the core source, each map also had various lesser sources.
This Snake-Tailed Flame Chicken was one of them. The Level 1 to Level 3 wild monsters nearby all existed around this lesser nightmare source.
Now that the players had slain the carrier, this lesser nightmare source had fallen into the territory’s control.
"Assimilate!"
Hang Yu made his choice.
【Ding, assimilation successful. Your Talent Points +1!】