Following the hunter's path deeper into the forest, half an hour later the path disappeared, but Jiang Yan continued forward. Before long, he arrived at a low-lying mud wallow.
The wallow was a mess, covered in the chaotic footprints of boars and the marks left by their rolling around.
Above the wallow, a white exclamation mark hovered. Jiang Yan stared at it.
A line of text appeared: This is the paradise of boars. Every evening, they gather here to play, only returning home when night falls.
Seeing this information, Jiang Yan thought it was a pity. If he had mastered area attack magic, he might have been able to wipe out the entire group of boars!
For now, he'd have to take them out one by one.
Using the wallow as the center, Jiang Yan began searching in a spiral pattern outward.
A few minutes later, he spotted three boars foraging ahead, one large and two small.
Boar: lv3
HP: 500
Skill: Savage Charge (Charges at the target after gathering strength, with a chance to stun)
Boar: lv3 (Cub)
HP: 200
Skill: Savage Charge (Charges at the target after gathering strength, with a chance to stun)
A mother with cubs... Jiang Yan quickly surveyed the area to confirm there were no other boars around, then decisively began chanting Lightning Bolt.
One second later, a purple bolt of lightning descended from the sky, striking the large boar on the head with a thunderous crash.
-462
A scarlet critical damage number floated above the boar's head, instantly slicing its long HP bar more than halfway down, nearly to the bottom!
Simultaneously, -1-1-1 lightning burn damage numbers continuously floated from the boar's head!
"Roar!!" The boar, sensing the threat of death, furiously charged at Jiang Yan.
The two small boars also noticed the intruder, launching Savage Charges at Jiang Yan.
Jiang Yan zigzagged to dodge while waiting for his skill cooldown. After 1.5 seconds, the cooldown ended, and he immediately chanted Lightning Bolt.
Boom!!
The lightning struck, instantly killing the large boar.
[Ding~ Congratulations to the player for killing a boar above your level, experience +30]
With the big one down, Jiang Yan breathed a sigh of relief, continuing to circle around while waiting for the Lightning Bolt cooldown to end. He chanted again, and with a boom, he killed one of the small boars.
[Ding~ Congratulations to the player for killing a boar (Cub) above your level, experience +20]
Seeing this, the last small boar squealed and ran off into the distance, its shrieks echoing through the forest!
"Not good! Boars are social creatures, this little piglet is calling for others!! I need to move quickly!" Jiang Yan hurriedly moved forward to loot the bodies. The large boar dropped six copper coins, and the small boar...
Huh?
Jiang Yan found that beneath the small boar's body, besides three copper coins, there was an armguard emitting a white glow.
He approached with delight.
[Boar Armguards] (Common): Physical Defense +2, Wearable by: Warrior, Assassin!
It was a piece of common equipment, offering slightly more defense than novice clothes. The only downside was that mages couldn't wear it.
"I'll set up a stall and sell it when I'm back in the village." Jiang Yan tossed the armguards into his backpack and quickly moved on.
He hadn't gone far when a large group of boars came grunting and snorting towards him.
Hearing the commotion behind him, Jiang Yan quickly picked up his pace.
Once he had run a safe distance, he finally relaxed.
"The boars are gathered together now; they probably won't disperse anytime soon." Jiang Yan thought for a moment and decided to venture deeper into the dense forest.
Passing by the wallow, he continued deeper into the mountain forest.
The further he went, the more complex the terrain became. The ground was uneven, with various wild grasses growing rampant, reaching up to his waist. If he wasn't careful, he could easily trip over the pits and hollows on the ground.
Jiang Yan stumbled several times along the way, marveling at the god-level production of "Pinnacle"—a real forest couldn't be more authentic than this!
"Roar~~"
At that moment, a lazy tiger's roar came from ahead to the side.
Jiang Yan quickly crouched down, hiding his body in the grass, then used his novice wooden stick to gently part the grass in front of him, cautiously moving forward.
A few minutes later, Jiang Yan approached the direction of the tiger's roar. He raised his head slightly and saw a large rock exposed to the sunlight in the forest ahead, where a yellow-striped tiger over two meters long lay lazily basking in the sun.
Tiger: lv6
HP: 1000
Skills: Tiger Roar (Intimidates the target, reducing their movement speed), Rend Bite (Accelerates to strike, causing massive damage and continuous bleeding)
A thousand HP?
And two skills?
Jiang Yan was speechless. His current critical damage from a Lightning Bolt was 462, requiring three bolts to kill the tiger!
From chanting to cooldown, one Lightning Bolt took a total of 2.5 seconds, making it 7.5 seconds for three. Could he kill it smoothly under the influence of Tiger Roar's speed reduction?
Wait!
Not 7.5 seconds, he could save 1 second by attacking first!
Should he go for it?
Jiang Yan's eyes hardened. The bolder the person, the greater the reward. He decided to go all out!
Jiang Yan immediately began chanting Lightning Bolt.
One second later, a bolt of lightning crashed down, striking the tiger's head heavily.
-115
A faint red damage number floated above the tiger's head.
Following that were continuous -1-1-1 lightning burn damage numbers.
Huh?
Why wasn't it 462?
Jiang Yan was startled, then quickly realized it hadn't been a critical hit!
Damn, with an 80% critical chance, and it didn't crit?
What a joke?!
Before Jiang Yan could think further, the tiger on the rock was already roaring in his direction!
Tiger Roar!!
The majestic roar rippled through the air, causing Jiang Yan to stagger, a -50 damage number floating above his head!
This skill also dealt damage?!
Cursing inwardly, Jiang Yan rolled to the side to dodge.
In the next instant, a fierce wind swept past where he had just crouched!
Such speed, even with a 30% reduction from Lightning Bolt!
Jiang Yan quickly got up after rolling, knowing that he couldn't outrun the tiger in a straight line. He immediately began sprinting in an S-pattern around the towering trees, simultaneously pulling a health potion from his backpack and gulping it down, his lost HP recovering at 20 per second!
"Roar..." The tiger growled, trotting up with a playful glint in its vertical pupils, as if it were toying with Jiang Yan like a cat with a mouse.
"Hey, Tiger, are you getting cocky just because I didn't crit?" Jiang Yan waited for the cooldown to end, quickly chanting Lightning Bolt.
Boom!!
A bolt of lightning struck, hitting the tiger's head heavily.
-462!
A scarlet critical damage number floated out.
The tiger's long HP bar was instantly cut by more than half!
Adding the previous 115 damage and the continuous lightning burn damage, the tiger's HP was now down to just 420!
Sensing the threat of death, the playful glint in the tiger's eyes vanished, replaced by panic and fury!
"Roar!!"
As the tiger roared through the forest, its fur bristled in the windless air, the king character on its forehead exuding power. It activated Rend Bite, accelerating towards Jiang Yan!
Jiang Yan only saw a yellow blur before the tiger was already rearing up, swinging its claws at him!
One more Lightning Bolt, and he could finish it!
Jiang Yan was desperate, his eyes wide as the tiger's claws nearly struck his head. He rolled frantically to the side, narrowly avoiding the tiger's Rend Bite, then continued rolling to distance himself from the tiger!
At this moment, the Lightning Bolt cooldown ended, and Jiang Yan hurriedly chanted!
Give me a critical hit!!
Boom!!
The lightning struck, dealing a scarlet damage number of -462 on the tiger's head!
The tiger's HP bar emptied in an instant, and with a wail, it collapsed, dropping a chaotic pile of items!