Chapter 614 - Metamorphosis
Fatty Han was turning into a miser like Han Ying Xue and Wei Yan Er. He had started to love money more than ever since he was getting married. Despite that, he had wasted enough time for Zhang Yang to craft tens of thousands of [Armor Piercing Potion]! If he had realized that, he could have already skipped the quest and beg Zhang Yang to keep on crafting!
Zhang Yang laughed and said, "That bow is only a preliminary reward. Just you wait until the end of the quest! I’m sure there’s something far precious for you!"
"What precious item?! Is it even worth the time we’re spending here!?" Fatty Han roared.
Zhang Yang shook his head, "That…well…I’m not too sure. But one thing I do know is it will definitely be worth it! Come on, why are you even asking me that! You don’t believe your bro?"
Zhang Yang knew the reward but he wanted to avoid revealing too much information, even though a great deal of players knew that Zhang Yang was a "beta-player". It was only natural for him to know few things about the game before others would.
"Hey hey hey. Right back at you bro. Who would believe you if not I?"
"Fine. Fine. Let’s just get on with the search for the boss. Remember to reserve all your skills until the last 11% HP, yeah?"
Although the Mello Ram was extremely hard to kill, the system had not made any other efforts to further trouble the players in searching for it. Therefore, in about 30 minutes or so, Zhang Yang and Fatty Han had managed to find the ram. The ram had a shining, violet coat of fur. Unexpectedly, instead of grazing the grass like any other herbivore would, the ram was copulating intensely with a female sheep.
"Haha. The ram sure does know how to live its life to its fullest! I for one am greatly impressed at its courage to mate even while it’s on the run!" Fatty Han laughed.
It’s a shame that the female sheep was just an elite tier monster. Zhang Yang and Fatty Han jumped out of hiding and interrupted the intimate session of the two sheep. The poor horny ram was greatly disgruntled and charged at Zhang Yang with its horns.
"Haha! Little Yang, be careful there! Don’t let the ram actually ram you from behind! Not even I can accept bestiality acts!" Fatty Han laughed again.
Zhang Yang dodged the initial boss’ attack and focused first on killing the female sheep. After that, Zhang Yang took the lead and stood guard while Fatty Han stood behind him to attack. Even though neither of them used their special skills to kill the female sheep, they still managed to kill it in a matter of minutes.
Perhaps, due to the death of its mate, the ram was greatly infuriated. Hence, as Zhang Yang was attacking the female, the ram was charging in and out, trying to kill Zhang Yang for attacking its mate! Its attack grew even stronger after the female sheep was killed. However, try as it might, Zhang Yang and Fatty Han did not need to put much effort into killing the boss.
Before either of them knew it, the boss had already dropped below 30% HP.
"Fatty Han! Pay attention!"
"I got it!"
20%...15%...11%...10%!
Zhang Yang swiftly activated {Indiscriminate} and struck out with {Killing Cleave} with full Rage points. At the same time, he had laid down a normal attack. He had saved up all his Rage for this one big hit!
The Sword of Purging Devourer glowed for a brief moment and Zhang Yang could feel an intense heat from his right palm. The sensation of the heat was so mysterious that it sends a chill through his spine.
Without a doubt, it was {Rising Dragon Strike}!
A dragon burst out of the sword and roared valiantly as it charged and smashed against the tiny little ram!
‘-264,393!’ Killing Cleave Critical Strike.
‘-70322!’ Normal Attack Critical Strike.
‘-703,220!’ Rising Dragon Strike.
"Mekk—" The ram wailed out a deafening cry before falling to the ground.
"Good job, that." said Fatty Han while panting for breath. "Little Yang, I must say that your {Rising Dragon Strike} was triggered at the right moment! Though I wish it could proc more often now and then."
Zhang Yang nodded. He had originally hoped to trigger a Lucky Strike since he had a 100% chance to proc a Critical Strike with {Indiscriminate}. If his calculations were correct, his attack could have reach up to 800,000 in total. Out of his expectation, even though he had not triggered a Lucky Strike, he was able to proc a {Rising Dragon Strike}, dealing 1000% normal attack damage which had killed the boss instantly.
The two of them went ahead and looted the drops. Since the boss was merely a Violet-Platinum boss, its item drop value was not worth being kept and used. Zhang Yang did not need to examine the item value and stored them all in his inventory. The only valuable item found was the quest item.
[Mello Ram's Rear Shank] (Quest Item)
Description: The most succulent and tender meat of a Mellow Ram. It’s taste and texture is something out of this world! No words could describe the taste of it! You must try it yourself! Recommended cooking style: Roast at 270 degree Celsius for 45 minutes. WHERE’S THE LAMB SAUCE!?
Both of them flew away from the highlands and made their way back to the Old Hunter Karnoss place.
Karnoss was busying skinning a deer when Fatty Han barged into his house and slammed the slab of meat on the table that he was working on. "Check it out! Is this the meat that you have been craving for?" Fatty Han sneered.
"This…This is…This is it!" Karnoss widened his eyes astonished. "Young Hunter, I must confess that I have underestimated you. Hmm. You have opened my eyes. I must say, you will definitely be a strong hunter!"
‘Ding! You have completed a quest: Hunt for the Mello Ram. Obtained 20,000,000 Experience Points!’
‘Ding! You have obtained an item: Karnoss’s Ancient Bow!’
"Haha! That’s a lot of experience points!"
"Duh! We have spent more than 6 hours on this quest! The amount of experience points is barely justifiable!"
"Urgh…you’re right. D*mn! We’re at a loss here!"
"Dear! Take this meat and roast it to perfection! Tonight! We feast like kings!" Karnoss casually took the meat and passed it to his wife in the kitchen. He then turned back to Zhang Yang and Fatty Han and said, "I might add that you’re rather clever to hunt the ram. It takes more than courage and bravery to do so. A Hunter must have other traits. You need patience as well. You think you have what it takes to be a vigilant hunter?"
All the while Karnoss was talking, he had not even glanced at Zhang Yang. It’s not like Zhang Yang had a choice. The quest was a class-specific hidden quest for Hunters only. It was lucky enough for him to tag along for the ride when the main character for the quest was Fatty Han.
"Of course. Without a doubt!" Fatty Han pounded his chest proudly. It was the same type of reaction that would have occurred if the NPC was asking Fatty Han’s little tool’s ability in bed.
"In that case, I’ll have you hunt the Golden Vermillion Burning Python as your test!"
‘Ding! Karnoss has a quest for you: The Hunt for the Golden Vermillion Burning Python! Will you accept it?’
Both Zhang Yang and Fatty Han received the system notification and accepted it.
[The Hunt for the Golden Vermillion Burning Python] (Difficulty Level: B)
Description: The Old Hunter Karnoss has entrusted you the task to hunt and kill a Golden Vermillion Burning Python as a test to prove yourself. Be advised, the Golden Vermillion Burning Python is a powerful entity in the Madalors Mountains. You cannot be too reckless! You can find the powerful beast in the Sinlogar Valley.
Completion: Kill the Golden Vermillion Burning Python
Participation Limit: 5 players.
"Hey! Little Yang! The quest will reward us with a skill!" cried Fatty Han happily.
"Oh really!?" Zhang Yang humored him. It was extremely normal for a hidden quest to reward a player with a skill. The best reward was still none other than the Phoenix pet itself!
Fatty Han shared the quest reward to Zhang Yang.
[Bursting Courage (Passive)]: When you or your pet deals a Critical strike, you or your pet will gain a 10% increase in attack for 10 seconds. Effects cannot be stacked.
For noob players like Fatty Han, the best skills for him were not active skills, but passive skills that do not require Fatty Han manually activating them.
The 10% attack boost was as similar a 10% permanent attack boost. It will only activate by chance. Unlike the other skills that require manual activations, that skill will provide a 20% increase in attack power. However, it still depends on the player’s own activation timing. Some would get 20% increase, while the others may get 15%, and there even a chance of only 10%.
"Not bad! I like! Let’s go!" said Zhang Yang as he felt it was a good skill to anyone. Sadly, it was a skill that only a Hunter could obtain.
Zhang Yang sighed heavily when he thought of hidden quest. He knew about the hidden quest was all because of two Koreans that had obtained the Phoenix pets. In his previous life, those two players had revealed all about the method to obtain the Phoenix through an interview. Sadly, even if there were other class-specific hidden quest that might have the same reward, no news were leaked out. Otherwise, players would have known about it and share it will the whole world. As such, Zhang Yang had no other means but to rely on luck alone to trigger another hidden quest.
The two returned to the mountain and flew towards Sinlogar Valley. However, the monsters that were in the valley had the ability to attack airborne targets, Zhang Yang and Fatty Han had no choice but to lower their altitude to almost ground level to venture through the valley. The valley had extremely few fauna and flora due to the lack of sunlight. The lack of living being in the valley had rendered the entire place devoid of sound. The weird part was that when Zhang Yang and Fatty Han was in the sky, there were attacks that were coming from the valley, however, now that they were almost ground level, there was not a single monster. However, they were able to venture into the valley quickly and found the target.
The Golden Vermillion Burning Python was curled up around a large rock. Since it was all coiled up, they could not really judge its length. However, just by examine the thickness of its body, they knew that the Python will be huge and heavy. As the name of the beast implied, the Python was covered in golden scale with red linings that swirled around the body. There was even two bun-shaped budges on its head! However, according to the lives of ancient China mythical beings, the two budges that appears on a python is an indication of it becoming a dragon.
[Golden Vermillion Burning Python] (Mythical, Beast)
Level: 135
HP:40,500,000
Defense: 5,560
Melee Attack: 36,323 – 42323
Skills:
[Coil]: Coils around a chosen targets and deal 30,000 physical damage every second for 5 seconds.
[Tail Whip]: Sweeps the ground with its massive tail, deals 150% physical attack to all targets within its melee attack range.
[Metamorphosis]: Unleashes the power of the Python and evolves into a Golden Vermillion Burning Dragon. Gains 50% attack boost.
Note: This Python is evolving into a dragon. If you’re smart, you will not even try to disturb the grumpy beast.
"Little Yang. I don’t think we could handle a Mythical tier boss on our own," said Fatty Han after he examined the Python stats.
Zhang Yang nodded his head. If both him and Fatty Han had Transformation skills that were ready to use, then the boss would not be too much of a problem. Right then, it would be impossible for them to fight the boss. They did not even have a healer with them! Unless…if the {Berserker’s Heal} and the Titan’s Chest Plate health restoration was at 10% HP per seconds, he might stand a chance to whack the bastard!
Now, the only HP recovery skill he had was the 30 minutes long cooldown {God of War Radiance} and the 10% HP heal of {Shield Wall}. He should be able to put on a fight with a Violet-Platinum boss. However, it would impossible on so many levels with a Mythical tier boss.
Zhang Yang recruited Han Ying Xue, Sun Xin Yu, and Daffodil Daydream to participate the quest. Wei Yan Er was busy with her Darkness Inheritance quest. There was no way she would have missed her chance to cause a ruckus if she was not busy. Nevertheless, the quest had only limited to 5 players to participate in the quest. Still, with Han Ying Xue alone, Zhang Yang could defeat the boss with no problem! Now that he had gained 3 extra DPS with him, everything else would be a cakewalk.
Zhang Yang took the lead with Felice behind him and charged towards the boss.
"ZEEERAAH!" The Python roared benevolently as if it was a god-like beast. As expected of a beast from the legends! The beast that would become a Dragon!
Even though the Python was still a Python or even a Dragon, its tier would still be Mythical tier. There was not much worry about the damage it could deal. There was no fate of it surviving with Zhang Yang and his party coming at it! The poor Python wriggled in pain as Zhang Yang, Felice, and his party unleashed a barrage of attacks. The rock, which the Python was coiling on broke into tiny bits when the Python tensed up from receiving a powerful blow from Zhang Yang.
The party continued on with the attacks and smoothly drained away the boss HP till he had less than 10% HP. After the 10% HP threshold, the Python finally showed its true colors as it started to shed away its snake scales and reveal golden, large scales of a dragon.
Four dragon claw pierced out of its belly and a pair of magnificent horns burst out of the bun-shaped budges on its head.
As such, the dragon had gained the ability to hover without the need of wings. It rose to the sky and displayed a grand entrance of a mythical dragon.
"ZERAAAHH!" The dragon roared. Its eyes glowed with an intense radiant. Before Zhang Yang could look away from the blinding light, the dragon had rushed towards him and clawed Zhang Yang heavily and strongly.
Zhang Yang took the hit. Just as he planned to land a counterattack, he felt a strong burning sensation on his right arm. He knew what was happening and finished the attack, blasting out a larger dragon than the boss, attacking it by slamming into the enemy.
‘-70,440!’
-704,440!’
The dragon which Zhang Yang had blasted out was not a half-baked dragon like the boss. On the contrary, the {Rising Dragon Strike} was far larger and far benevolent than the enemy itself. With the attack, Zhang Yang’s 700,000 and more damage had dealt equivalent to 2% of the boss’ HP!
Zhang Yang thrust his hands out and cast {Glare of the Death God}!
Success!
In just a few seconds, the overall DPS dealt by the entire party had multiplied intensely!
Zhang Yang felt extremely lucky that he was able to proc a {Rising Dragon Strike} and a successful {Glare of the Death God} consecutively! He could just buy a scratch card and strike the jackpot!
‘-350,000!’
‘-350,000!’
Even after the boss had used {Metamorphosis} to become a real dragon, its HP remained the same albeit having increased attack. With less than 8,100,000 HP or 7% HP left, the boss was literally at knocking on death’s door!
"ZERAAAHH!" The dragon roared painfully. Although the skill had given it the appearance of a dragon, it was just a temporary state. If it does mature with time, it would become a full-fledged dragon. By then, its tier would be at least an Ethereal tier or even higher! Sadly, its current form was just borrowing the skill to give it the attack power of an Ethereal tier! Perhaps, if it does evolve into a real dragon in its current state, it might become a Holy tier or an Ascended tier!
However, that was nothing but speculation. Right then, the dragon, or rather the enraged Python was nothing but scrap for Zhang Yang and his party.
After a good deal of attacks, the boss fell from the sky and crashed in front of the party. The horns and claws had retracted back into its body. The golden scale of the dragon was quickly hidden away as the snake scales reformed.
Hmph. Fake.