In the end, Xia Miao, who came with her own spring, proved too much for the ogre. The Imperial Guards interrupted its Lifesteal with a “Blunt Strike,” and everyone surrounded it and beat it to death.
As the ogre’s massive body crashed to the ground, a pleasant Notification Sound rang in everyone’s ears.
Ding!
Congratulations, player “Shrimp Sprout,” on reaching Level 20!
Congratulations, player “Wen Wu Shuangquan,” on reaching Level 20!
Congratulations, player “Imperial Guards,” on reaching Level 18!
Congratulations, player “Hua Luo Hongchen,” on reaching Level 17!
Congratulations, player “Embroidered Uniform Guard,” on reaching Level 17!
Congratulations, player “Handsome Hua Manlou,” on reaching Level 17!
Congratulations, player “Spirit-Calling Snail,” on reaching Level 16!
Ding!
Congratulations! You obtained 【brand-new ogre fang】!
Congratulations! You obtained 【brand-new Bone Necklace】!
Congratulations! You obtained “ogre blood” x3.
Congratulations! You obtained “ogre’s tough hide” x3.
A string of message notifications appeared in the party information window.
Two pieces of Blue-Grade Equipment!
Everyone was delighted. The Dungeon Boss had been difficult to defeat, so the rewards were generous.
Before anyone could speak, another crisp sound rang in their ears.
Ding!
Congratulations! Your team placed third among those to clear the Dungeon and has received a “Selectable Personal Skill Book” as an additional reward.
Congratulations! You obtained one “Selectable Personal Skill Book.”
A Selectable Personal Skill Book! This was a valuable item!
The Tulip Studio Members held their breath.
The personal skills inside it differed from those learned from a Class Mentor. They were usually somewhat more powerful because such skills were rare and difficult to obtain.
Moreover, this was “selectable,” not “random.” In other words, they could choose a personal skill that matched them extremely well from among the many available skills.
This Outdoor Instance offered ten rewards in total. Only the first three teams to clear the Dungeon seemed to receive this additional reward.
Without Xia Miao tanking the Boss alone, they might not have obtained even the ten regular rewards, much less the additional reward for placing in the top three. They had a high chance of wiping out.
“We still came in third after all that. What kind of monsters must the first- and second-place teams be?” Handsome Hua Manlou smacked his lips, unable to accept it.
“We played it safe, so we advanced slowly. On top of that, we wasted quite a bit of time on the first wave of Minor Monsters and Elite Monsters… Clearing the Dungeon is good enough.”
Hua Luo Hongchen sighed. Though she said that, she still felt a trace of unwillingness.
If she had known how formidable Xia Miao was, she would have let Xia Miao tank the front line alone and charge forward the entire way. Their team would certainly have been the first to clear the Dungeon.
Afterward, the group inspected their spoils.
【brand-new ogre fang】: Level 20, Strength +10, Speed +5, rend.
Rend: When attacking, there is a 10% chance to deal an additional 100 points of damage.
Description: The ogre’s sharp fang has considerable killing power and needs no sharpening.
【brand-new Bone Necklace】: Level 20, Critical Hit Rate +3%, Critical Damage +10%, Battle Intent.
Battle Intent: When you kill a target, your Critical Hit Rate increases by 7% for 10 seconds.
Description: A necklace made from bones containing resentment. It exerts a faint influence on the mind.
Blue-Grade Equipment has higher Attributes and an additional effect. Of these two pieces, one is a dagger for Assassins, while the other is a universal piece of Accessories.
However, the effects of both pieces of Equipment suited hybrid-damage Knights and Assassins particularly well.
Tulip Studio had no hybrid-damage Knight. Giving both pieces of Equipment to the Assassin Embroidered Uniform Guard would undoubtedly make the best use of them.
“These two pieces of Equipment suit the Assassin class better. If no one objects, let’s give them to Embroidered Uniform Guard for now. If anyone does object, we can discuss it again,” Hua Luo Hongchen said.
Naturally, no one objected. Equipment that did not suit them would be of little use even if they claimed it by force.
However, Nangong Wen remained dissatisfied. After all, Xia Miao had tanked the Boss alone for the most part, and she and Xia Miao were the first members to reach Level 20. Surely they should at least have been offered the items as a courtesy?
“As for the Selectable Personal Skill Book, let’s give it to Little Shrimp Sprout. What do you all think?” Hua Luo Hongchen changed the subject and suggested it.
“No one can contest that. Shrimp Sprout is seriously amazing!” Handsome Hua Manlou echoed her at once.
The Boss and her Dog Bro had begun singing the same tune. Although everyone else was eager for the Personal Skill Book, no one would contradict them at this point. Besides, they had spent almost the entire Boss battle doing nothing.
Nangong Wen was delighted. She and Xia Miao were best girlfriends as close as sisters, so Xia Miao growing stronger meant she grew stronger too. She wished more than anything for Xia Miao to become invincible under heaven.
Nangong Wen was also somewhat surprised.
Hua Luo Hongchen had obtained such a valuable reward in the Dungeon, yet she neither auctioned it nor used it herself. Instead, she gave it to Xia Miao?
They were employees who received salaries!
To put it bluntly, even if Hua Luo Hongchen had kept every Dungeon reward for herself and given Xia Miao and Nangong Wen nothing, they would have had no grounds to complain.
That woman’s damned charm!
Nangong Wen bit her lip and looked at Hua Luo Hongchen, a strange glimmer in her eyes.
Hua Luo Hongchen tossed the Skill Book to Xia Miao.
“Um, you want me to learn it?” Xia Miao pointed at her nose and blinked as she confirmed it once more.
“Mm, learn it. This Skill Book can have its greatest effect only with you,” Hua Luo Hongchen said with a faint smile.
She did not even know the details of Xia Miao’s Attributes or Skills, yet she had given her the Skill Book anyway.
“All right,” Xia Miao replied softly, clapped her hands together, and used the Skill Book.
Although she considered her technique rather poor, Xia Miao was not the kind of person to dampen someone else’s enthusiasm. Since the beautiful big sister was being so generous, she would accept it reluctantly!
Ding!
Please select the skill you wish to learn.
A skill panel then appeared before Xia Miao’s eyes.
A row of all kinds of passive skills dazzled Xia Miao.
She did not understand the details, but she knew the general direction: choose one with beatdown resistance!
From the various Skills, Xia Miao picked three with the right general direction and began agonizing over her choice.
Sunflame Holy Shield: While in Combat State, generate a Shield equal to 5% of Maximum Health every 5 seconds and deal damage equal to 5% of Maximum Health to enemies within a 10-by-10 area.
Fury Absorption: While in Combat State, force enemies within a 10-by-10 area to attack you and reduce their Defense by 20 points.
Defense enhancement: Increases the stamina attribute by 50. Attacks deal additional damage equal to 10% of Maximum stamina.
All three personal skills were good choices for a knight.
After hesitating for a long while, Xia Miao still chose the first one.
Fury Absorption seemed more suited to supporting the team. It had Taunt and Defense reduction, but Xia Miao probably would not use it much when farming Minor Monsters.
Defense Enhancement was also powerful, but she would need to keep using regular attacks to activate its additional-damage effect.
Sunflame Holy Shield was more comfortable. It provided a Shield for beatdown resistance as well as area damage. Its only drawback was the long activation interval: it triggered once every 5 seconds.
Most importantly, of the three Skills, Sunflame Holy Shield had the longest description.
Choosing the longest one could never be wrong!
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