Cyberserk & Vampiress

Equipping and Visiting Mud Hill

First, the young man visited the west branch of the Grossroads Bank and went into his vault of valuables. Before visiting the dangerous place, the swordsman wanted to pick up a good supply of equipment.

The baron's daily income from the Zangar mines was 170 gold pieces and could impress the average player. Dan and Tom were getting over a thousand gold coins after selling a dozen epic items at auction. Now they were faced with the task of maximizing the level of Sanctuary of the Dragon ring and they calculated that thousands of gold coins would be required.

In the bank, Dan kept the best items he bought at the auction. These were the items with the maximum number of extra points to the attributes. The average price of such an artifact did not exceed 120 gold coins.

Each player could wear 16 items and get 192 extra points to the attributes. Dan could only count on 14 items because two of his equipment cells were occupied by useful rings. 168 extra attribute points were a huge amount to enhance a character. Raven needed mana and damage to supporting his way of fighting bosses. Health and Speed were not of much interest to the clone and the young man. The clone struck from a state of disguise and the calculation of winning tactics was based on the large and constant use of one-shot attacks.

But the issue of preparation for the journey to the Tower of Destiny forced the friends to reconsider the issue of equipment. They had a lot of interesting trophies! A set of level 19 armor weighed 110 kilograms! Each player could fill all the cells of his equipment and not pay attention to the weight of the items. The equipment did not limit speed or affect fatigue. But all items in the inventory required effort to carry them. 1 Body point allowed you to freely carry 10 kilograms. To carry a large number of things, you had to put a lot of attribute points into the Body.

The friends had accumulated too many valuable resources and trophies. Eventually, they made a simple decision. At an auction, Dan bought a complete set of eight level nineteenth artifact armor. 103 Body points with the rings increased to 220 endurance points. This gave a huge health boost to the clone. But the main thing was that Dan could carry a couple of tons of accumulated wealth without a speed penalty and without a rapid increase in fatigue. The items for increasing Strength and Intelligence made up the clothing sets. All items of clothing did not have much weight. Dan had excellent sets to increase Strength and Intelligence. He could increase 5 points of Intelligence by 72 points and get a hundred percent increase with rings. 165 points in Intelligence gave 1650 mana points and that was enough to take down any boss with an army of clones!

The cunning and calculating Tom analyzed the dungeon visits. He realized that all boss fights have common details. Each boss has to be run to and land a couple of blows. The size of the caves with the main monsters was not huge. A couple of dozen meters could always be overcome in a couple of seconds of running. As a result, Tom concluded that one could summon no more than 12 phantoms in a minute! That only required 120 mana points. If you sacrifice hobbits you can get big mana to restore.

Clone asked Dan to buy just one artifact with a maximum increase in Speed. The big bosses had 19 speed points and just in case, players should slightly outmatch their opponents. The combination of Strength to Intelligence ratio they would pick up when they knew the exact characteristics of the dangerous boss.

For a place as dangerous as Mud Hill, Dan decided to take a full set of valuable equipment. He wore armor with the maximum increase of the Body, and he took a supply of clothes to increase the other attributes. Weapons didn't matter on a quest like this. They could get enough experience and weapons out of the rats on the way to the King. The auction would not be available, but the in-game store would allow them to buy the usual level 19 swords. These weren't bad swords that dealt decent damage.

[Great long sword.

Damage: 20-28 (42)

Durability: 190

Weight: 1kg

Requirement: Level 19

Cost: 3500 XP]

Two rings increased 5 Strength points to 10. Precious added 2 points, and Sanctuary of the Dragon added 3 points. 52 points of damage was a miserable number. The best sword fighting skills gave a 250-300% increase in damage. The best armor provided citizens with 120 points of protection! Sometimes duels turned into exciting fights between two masters that lasted several minutes.

Tom reasoned simply and cynically. At this stage, only two skills mattered to him. Rage of Ars at 19th level turned into a killer skill that increased damage by 480% and added 48 points of damage to the attack. The second most important skill was the Terrifying Strike. This strike was valuable because it completely ignored the enemy's defense.

[Terrifying Strike.

Required level: 11

Requirement: None

Mana cost: 2.

Inflicts additional damage of 100%. Ignoring the opponent's defense.

Cooldown: 60 seconds]

The clone lost half of its defense after being hit by a patron, so any boss could finish it off in a couple of hits. Although 22000 health points gave an excellent opportunity for the clone to take out several attacks of a dangerous enemy. The problem was that strong bosses had incredible protection! The great Naga at level 11 had 40 points of defense, the Lord of Fear at level 14 had 100 points of defense. Friends went on one mission at the highest level of difficulty in the Guild of Adventurers. The Mysterious Spider turned out to be the Big Boss of epic rank 19 and had a defense of 400 points. Tom was horrified. This was a spider that, by definition, has a reduced defense. The monster turned out to be a very unpleasant opponent who was regenerating life at an enormous rate. The big boss was regenerating not points but percentages of his health!

After facing such a formidable opponent Tom changed his mind about the power of local great bosses. All skills became useless against these monsters. Only two swordsman skills did not lose their value. In some cases, the Rabies skill, which ignored 25% of the enemy's defense, could be useful.

[Rabies. Increases damage by 100%. Ignores the opponent's defense. Decreases the defense by 25%. Cooldown: 1 minute]

Visiting the Tower of Destiny required friends to have items on hand to maximize their Strength. Now they could not count on many attacks. Nor did their health reserves matter in a boss fight. What's the point of resisting a monster if you can't hurt it? Tom was very frustrated by the encounter with a sample of the strongest big boss. He was forced to use magic! Even without My Precious ring, the phantom's magical attacks dealt hundreds of damage to the monster. The weapon was useless after two ultimatum strikes on the boss. Friends took consolation from the fact that regular level 19 monsters didn't have strong defenses. For them, defenses of 100-120 points against enemies were commonplace. Most swordsman skills broke through that defense and did about a hundred damage per hit.

Dan put the necessary items in his inventory and hurried to Count Tail's residence. The Overlord gladly greeted the young man and even offered him a healthy meal before the hard test. Dan did not refuse a 12-point increase in his powers for four hours.

[Warning. Purple Rank's Kill the Rat King quest is available.

Quest Details: Kill the King of the Rats and clear the castle of the Muddy Hill location. Bring the monster's head as proof of your victory.

Quest Conditions: The player must be at least level 19. This quest is for one player!

Reward: Unknown.

Do you accept the quest? Yes/No]

Dan Raven accepted the quest and was given a scroll by Count Tail that contained a portal to the Mud Hill location. The young man nodded to the head of the Mouse Clan and immediately activated the spell. Tom was already ready for the summoning and was waiting in his room. The clone came out of the forge and put all his valuable goods in his chest.

The swordsman found himself in a corridor that reminded him of the inner structure of a mouse pyramid. The width of the corridor was small. Magic orbs shone on the walls. The lamps were placed close to each other and illuminated the stone empty walls of the place well.

[Warning. You have visited the enclosed location of Mud Hill. You receive a temporary revival point. You can choose a new revival point when completing the Kill the Rat King quest. Have a nice game!]

Dan wasn't upset by the news he was expecting. He quickly applied the Phantom and Brave Hobbit spells. To Tom, he began to transfer pieces of useful equipment with an increase in Body and Strength. The clone could also act as a weight carrier. The problem was that each clone's death caused a stoppage in movement. When the phantom died, all the supplies in his inventory would fall to the ground! Dan didn't like the fact that he had to act as the main weight-carrier and mage while fighting the monsters of the dungeons.

The hobbits looked around. They did not express much curiosity or apprehension. Suddenly the figure of the first enemy appeared in the distance. Tom immediately stepped toward the enemy. The hobbits prepared for battle.

"What are you doing here? Who gave you a pass to this place? Mushrooms are for verified clients only! I don't know you. Quickly pay the fine and get out of Mud Hill," the rat began to shout in a shrill voice.

The rat made a strange impression. The monster wore no metal armor. The leather helmet and leather jacket certainly gave protection. The dirty pants and shirt looked disgusting and stank badly. On the guard's belt were a long narrow sword and a bag of supplies.

"The customer is always right! You're violating the international convention on the rights of the customer. Outrageous! Gold doesn't smell! What kind of mushrooms are you selling?" Tom walked quickly toward the rat and didn't stop talking all the nonsense that came into his head.

The rat froze at the sudden insolence of the man and did not have time to meet the swordsman's attack. Tom was armed with an excellent sword of his own making. The weapon's epic rank greatly increased its damage rating. In the corridors on the way to the main boss, the clone could count on the strength of most of his skills. The swordsman landed several swift blows. Each strike left behind a thin line of color from the effect of the skill. The rat squealed loudly in pain and drew its sword. But that was the end of the defender's success.

The hobbits began to whisper and discuss the result of the unfair fight. They did not have time to aim. Swordsman Tom covered his opponent with his body! Unpleasant place and smelly opponents!

A few minutes later, the warriors took out two more guards and were able to see more accurate information about the opponents. The data was within the expected range.

[Mud Rat (Animal)

Level: 19.

Life: 850-900.

Damage: 100-120.

Defense: 84

Skill: Poisoning. Casts a curse that reduces health by 7 points per second. The curse lasts 60 seconds]

"Those rats are kind of nutty," Dan remarked. "Two rats were acting inadequately. It's a good thing they have weak defenses."

"Chewing mushrooms on the post is a double crime," grinned the clone. "Rats have excellent speed and a poor set of leather armor. It's a familiar sight. The poisoning is very powerful in this place. Huge health reserves help well. Hobbits! Don't worry, we'll soon get to a place where three or even four rats will meet us. That's where your support will be needed. Don't lose vigilance!"

At that moment the figure of the rat that had been killed earlier appeared from around the corner! The animal was rushing down the corridor, squeaking indignantly.

The hobbits wasted no opportunity and demonstrated their ability to launch distant attacks. Stones flew into the rat's head, which had no defense. At 19th level, a hobbit could deal 40 damage in a single hit. When the Lucky Strike skill kicked in, the damage doubled and did excellent damage to opponents.

The rat tried to rush past Tom to pounce on the hobbits. But the clone quickly launched two sword strikes. Dan didn't hesitate and launched a modest ice arrow at the mad rat as well.

The rat fell to the floor and its body dissolved. No prey is left behind. But suddenly Dan cried out in frustration.

"The useless creature didn't give a single point of experience! That's not fair!"

"It's not just unfair, it's a trap," whispered Tom. "We need to find a place to hide. Soon the other two rats will come running to us. They're reborn somewhere! This is the place where the monsters are reborn as monsters by the city."

The clone's intuition was fully confirmed a few seconds later. A familiar rat that they had killed once jumped out toward the warriors. The monster wore no armor and was unarmed. There were no recesses or hiding places in the walls of Mud Hill. The friends realized that the road to the hall with the main boss would be disgusting and tedious.