Chapter 104: Elemental Life
In the dark forest.
Soren was carrying Vivian as Gloria followed lightly behind, with Aladdin leading the way ahead. The halfling did not have much objection to the addition of an eight-year-old little girl in the adventurer team, after all, they had all witnessed Vivian’s terrifying explosive power. A round of Arcane Missiles can instantly k*ll quite a few enemies, and at critical moments, it can save lives. Even if she used all her Arcane Missiles, Vivian still had 9 cantrips and one second-circle spell, which could provide considerable assistance.
Soren did not expect that the little Vivian could grow so quickly; it seemed that the possibility of her being a divine child was almost certain!
This was because her speed in learning and memorizing spells was faster than Soren’s.
The group had trudged through the forest for a day, and by noon the next day, they were already near the location of the elemental portal. This was a portal left behind many years ago, in a relatively hidden spot within a canyon close to the Emerald Mountains. From the moment they neared the portal, the number of trees and underbrush gradually decreased, as the overly vigorous elemental energy also affected the growth of plants, because an excess of one type of elemental energy would create a field-like effect that gradually repelled other elements.
The land here seemed somewhat parched, with weathered rocks scattered around, along with some sculptures left from long ago.
They were statues of the Earth Spirit, a high form of earth elemental and the spiritual embodiment of the earth in legends, usually sleeping deep underground, only awakened and summoned to the surface through some special methods. As the group entered the canyon, their expressions grew solemn; Soren set Vivian down to walk with Gloria behind. He then drew his curved blade and vigilantly observed the surroundings. Aladdin moved lightly with his short sword, constantly watching for any movements nearby.
How powerful is the spellcaster, really?
One could understand just by looking at the two spells Gloria cast afterwards; as she recited the incantations, a spell light fell on everyone.
— “Greater Cat’s Grace!”
Cat’s Grace, also known as “Feline Elegance,” temporarily increases agility by 4 points, with a maximum enhancement to 25 agility. The ordinary Cat’s Grace is a second-circle spell, belonging to single-target enhancement spells, whereas what Gloria cast was a sixth-circle spell. It can enhance a group and lasts twice as long as the ordinary Cat’s Grace. Under this spell, Soren was directly enhanced to 24 agility, while Aladdin reached the maximum agility of 25. After all, he was a purebred Wanderer with a profession level above 10, so his agility would not fall short.
— “Haste!”
When the second spell light fell, Soren’s movement speed doubled directly; the normal sprint speed was completely on par with Olympic champions, reaching a speed of nearly 4-5 seconds over 100 meters. At the same time, his attack speed increased significantly, allowing him to strike at least one additional time within a second. This spell was also a group spell, with the number of enhancements depending on the caster’s level and the spell’s strength determining the duration.
After casting the two spells, Gloria stopped, casually adding an energy protection barrier for herself and Vivian.
From there on, there was basically nothing for them to do.
The spellcaster was indeed so relaxed; they would only continue to cast spells to turn the tide when faced with an insurmountable situation.
Aladdin was quite excited as he stretched his limbs. He then lightly leaped four to five meters away, landing and twirling effortlessly as he seemed to perform acrobatics while running horizontally on the cliff wall for seven to eight steps, before delicately landing and jubilantly saying, “It’s really been a long time since I collaborated with a wizard. I really miss the days of being enhanced by spells!”
Soren was also moving his body, adapting to the speed and agility brought by the spells; it required time to acclimate to the suddenly increased agility, or else it could lead to mistakes in battle. However, they were both seasoned Wanderers, and after some minor adjustments, they quickly grasped the extent of the spell enhancements. These two spells were the most frequently cast spells by wizards for Wanderers, significantly improving their agility and combat explosiveness.
Gloria nodded slightly, looking at them as she said, “Quick battles and quick resolutions. These two spells only last for half an hour.”
Half an hour was enough.
Soren gestured to Aladdin beside him, and the two advanced from the east and west sides, seasoned thieves capable of substituting for warriors in combat. At their current strength, they also had no trouble in direct combat. Aladdin made a sign, then suddenly charged into the canyon. As he raised his hand, he flung a series of throwing knives. Elemental life forms have no fatal weaknesses; they do not possess any vital organs. Undead can strike the spine and the soul fire for a deadly blow, but elemental life can only deplete their life energy bit by bit.
This group of creatures is immune to backstabs.
Of course, they are not absolutely immune; just like when fighting against a lich, if you can hit the soul fire in its eye sockets, it can also lead to a backstab’s critical damage. However, achieving that is shockingly difficult. To deal with these elemental life forms, you must hit their elemental core accurately, which is usually located at a specific spot within their bodies, requiring high power and weapon capability. With Soren and Aladdin’s current equipment, it is basically impossible to penetrate the elemental bodies.
Many supernatural forms of life only have a certain point where you can deal a decisive blow! Only with a critical hit can you pair it with a backstab explosion!
This requires having the legendary specialty [Weakness Insight].
Boom.
In the sound of the dull roar, a towering creature about three meters high was drawn out; it looked like a humanoid formed by piled soil and rocks, with limbs, a torso, and a head, although the head was merely a lump of stone, with a vague outline of facial features visible. The earth element’s weight exceeded half a ton, and with each step, it left deep footprints in the ground, charging forward with the momentum of a bulldozer, plowing through everything in its path.
Clang!
Soren flung a throwing kn*fe, which was deflected off the solid rock of its chest, leaving only a shallow mark.
No damage!
Fighting elemental life forms is such a disgusting thing; the earth elemental possesses a layer of natural elemental armor, immune to any physical damage with an attack strength below 10 points.
No doubt about it; dealing with them is like smashing stones, but this stone is just larger and fiercer.
“Earth Elemental [Elemental Life] (Fourth Rank).”
“Challenge Level 9, Personal Level 15, possesses spell-like abilities.”
“Highest attribute 22 points, lowest attribute 10 points, total attribute value 90-100 points.”
“Special Abilities: Elemental Armor, Powerful Strike, Elemental Life Traits, Earth Toss.”
“Challenge Difficulty: A-.”
……
It’s no joke that it’s twice as strong as the Abyss Serpent Demon; just the A- level challenge difficulty proves how challenging it is to deal with such elemental creatures. Soren and Aladdin pounced in from the left and right, evading the earth elemental’s sweeping arms with a nimble twist. Its massive rocky arms caused a gust of wind as they whizzed by. Both jumped simultaneously, swinging their weapons toward the weak points on the earth elemental’s body, which was partly composed of dirt, while its torso and limbs were made of rock, with joint parts being the dirt structure.
Clang clang clang!
Soren’s curved blade glittered coldly as he dodged before the earth elemental could swing its arm again; the enemy’s reaction speed was quite sluggish.
A series of battle data appeared:
“Hit Target.”
“You dealt three slashing attacks to the Earth Elemental! … Inflicted 5 points, 4 points, 3 points of physical damage! …”
“You successfully enraged the target.”
Soren’s palm felt a bit numb; after cutting through the layer of dirt, he struck the rock beneath, receiving a decent recoil. d*mn, this was basically fighting against a stone, with none of the satisfying feeling of cutting into flesh and bone. Aladdin’s agile figure also landed from the side, circling around the earth elemental as he seized a fleeting opportunity, suddenly leaping again to stab the joint of the enemy’s arm. The quality of both their weapons was still solid and hadn’t dulled, but after this battle, who knows.
“Attack the joints of the left and right legs,” Soren whispered, darting through the gaps in the earth elemental’s legs, swinging his curved blade fiercely at the knee area, which was relatively softer due to being dirt-based. Supernatural life forms, as long as they maintain a general humanoid shape, will comply with basic laws; without legs, they cannot move.
Clang clang clang!
A series of sparks flew; the two of them moved like butterflies among flowers, and within one or two minutes, the earth elemental’s knees had been struck over ten times, eventually reaching a certain critical point, causing the lower leg of the earth elemental to break off. However, Soren was slightly surprised to see that without its lower legs and feet, it could still move using its thighs, but its sense of balance and speed sharply declined, achieving their goal in a way.
Soren had struck it a total of twelve times, accumulating around 60 points of damage, while Aladdin’s number of attacks might be higher, but his damage may not even surpass Soren’s. The earth elemental had a biological level of 15 and conservatively estimated its base life at 150 points. As a supernatural form of elemental life, it had an extra hundred points or so of life value boost, meaning its life value could be close to 300 points, which is more than many high-level warriors.
The ground elemental’s mobility was greatly reduced, posing less threat, but as the two continued to strike it with a flurry of blows, they probably delivered about a hundred strikes combined before finally dispersing the elemental energy within its body. At Soren’s signal, the halfling stopped, with Soren successfully landing the finishing blow on the earth elemental before him.
Both weapons had dulled somewhat, but the gains were significant:
“Hit successfully.”
“You inflicted 4 points of slashing damage on the earth elemental! … Target dead! …”
“Extract soul energy.”
“You earned 2550 killing experience.”
……………(To be continued ~^~)
