Chương 8: Heart-Link Ring

"We're a group -- a few of us have been running together since our first dungeon clear."

"I'm Wang Zhen, E-Rank Shield Warrior."

"I'm Liu Mei, Healer." The squad had three tanks, three healers, and only three DPS. On paper, that was a terrible composition. But out in the wilds, their kill speed might be slow, their survivability was solid.

"Boss, you haven't joined a squad yet. Want in?"

"What squad?"

"Same guild, different squads. We can form as many as we want. If you're willing to join, you get squad leader."

"Sure, add me." Squad or no squad, it didn't matter much to him. They'd invited him, so why not? Wang Zhen and the others were only around Lv17-18. With Xiao Chen's strength, him being leader made perfect sense.

"Storm Squad. Not a bad name. Though looking at you guys, you don't exactly scream 'storm.'""Previous leaders picked it. Name stuck." Another sad story. Those previous leaders obviously weren't around anymore.

"You have joined Storm Squad. Bonus EXP per kill: +5% for all members." Huh. So that was a thing. Five percent extra EXP. That wasn't nothing. Meaning, whenever Xiao Chen killed a mob, the others got a five percent cut. The key word was bonus -- if it had been slicing off his own EXP, he'd have quit the squad on the spot. And it went both ways. Their kills fed him a little too. A mosquito's still meat. Every point of EXP counted.

"Leader, with your absurd DPS, you'll hit Lv30 in no time, right?" At that output pace, leveling would be fast. Of course, the higher the level, the more EXP each one demanded. It would still take time.

"About a month, probably."

"That's still crazy fast."

"Maybe by then we'll be Lv25-26 too."

"Assuming we're all still alive, yeah." This wasn't their first day on the battlefield. These kids had already made their peace with death, talking about it with eerie calm.

"Don't worry. Everyone's going to be just fine." They all knew it was a lie. But it still felt good to hear.

"Exactly. The leader's this strong. Nothing's going to happen to us." Xiao Chen only looked impressive next to complete newbies like these.

"Crap, a Lv25 elite! I can't hold this!" A Lv25 Demonspider. Over 30, 000 HP -- basically a mini-boss. The squad members tensed up like they were facing the end of the world. A few months ago, Xiao Chen would've run from something like this too. Now? He could handle it.

"You don't need to tank it. Just send it my way." Xiao Chen the Archer already had HP rivaling Wang Zhen the tank. Not that his confidence came from his defense -- it came from his damage being high enough to end the fight before it ended him." Ding -- Liu Mei has cast 【Battle Resolve】 on you. Attack +176" Xiao Chen was pleased. His teammates had quick reactions. Though an extra hundred-something attack didn't change much." 【Slow】!"

Someone in the squad cast a debuff, and the elite Demonspider's movement speed tanked instantly.

"Nice. No panic, clean coordination." A Lv25 elite could one-shot any of them. Staying calm under that kind of pressure wasn't easy. Xiao Chen landed the first hit, his damage was highest, so aggro stayed glued to him.

"Weird. These Abyss Demonspiders aren't low-level anymore. Why are they still running purely on instinct?" They were real living creatures, weren't they? Shouldn't they be trying to kill as many targets as possible? If they had any real intelligence, they'd go for the squishies first. Smart monsters were supposed to bully the weak and fear the strong, right?

"Leader, what if they're still bottom-tier mobs, just leveled up?"

"Lv25 is bottom-tier?"

"Well, there are Lv100+ monsters out there, maybe even higher."

"The dumber they are, the better. Smarter monsters mean more casualties." As they talked, Xiao Chen weaved between positions, pumping out dozens of arrows." Ding -- Kill +1, Silver Coin +40, Spider Silk +1" Last time he'd fought these Abyss Demonspiders, he'd been sniping from a high platform at range. Now, up close, he could see they actually sprayed all kinds of toxins. Without a healer dispelling the poison now and then, even a tank wouldn't last long. A low-tier squad running into an elite mob? Total wipe.

With Xiao Chen on the team, their kill speed shot way up. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. The tanks ran around pulling mobs while Xiao Chen just focused on dealing damage. At the same farming spot, Xiao Chen spent days grinding Abyss Demonspiders. His DPS was finally starting to look respectable. After several days, his Contribution Points ranking inside the guild had cracked the top ten thousand. Daily Contribution: 203. Guild Ranking: 8, 316.

Four days later, his squadmates hit Lv20 one after another, and Xiao Chen flashed gold -- Lv26. Xiao Chen's 【One in Ten Thousand】 had triggered a few more times, adding dozens of stat points total. No explosive power spikes. Just day after day of grinding.

"Keep this up for a few years, and maybe I'll be standing alongside guys like Su Ming." Thinking of Su Ming reminded Xiao Chen that he still owed the man over a thousand gold for a skill book. Maybe it was Su Ming's gesture that inspired him. Or maybe he just wanted the squad's overall strength higher. Either way, Xiao Chen made a decision that wasn't exactly financially sound.

"You guys all hit Lv20. Time to swap to Lv20 Black Iron gear."

"Leader, one Black Iron piece costs fifty or sixty silver. We can't afford that yet."

"Ten of you, I'll lend each of you 500 silver. Once you're geared up, we'll see if we can take down some higher-value targets." The five gold he was lending out? Odds of getting it back were slim. But thinking of what Su Ming had done, Xiao Chen suddenly wanted to do something for his teammates too. Back then, after Chuan Mufeng killed that boss, he'd handed out a gold coin to every single member of the raid. Xiao Chen himself had benefited from the kindness of others. If he could, he'd keep that tradition alive.

"Leader, you're loaded?"

"Leader, you're my real brother."

"I can finally have a full Black Iron set?"

"Leader, don't worry, I'll pay you back."

"Leader, I'll perform so hard -- I'll pull every mob in the area for you to kill." Xiao Chen was speechless. Good kids, but they talked way too much.

"Wang Zhen, here's one gold. Upgrade your weapon to Black Iron too."

"Whoa, leader, are we actually going after high-level mobs?"

"Gotta be prepared. You never know. Higher HP and defense means the whole squad is safer." He could only afford to gear up one of the three tanks. After leveling up and swapping gear, Wang Zhen finally looked like an actual tank.

【Wang Zhen | Lv20 | HP: 8, 600 | Defense: 465】 Breaking 10, 000 HP would've been ideal. But even at his current numbers, the whole squad felt a massive boost in safety. Xiao Chen was pretty satisfied. Maybe they really could start running dungeons together. After all, he had his summon siphoning EXP. It was entirely possible his teammates would outlevel him." Ding -- Kill +1, Silver Coin +4" That sound never got old. Xiao Chen grinded mobs like a machine every day, and he still loved it.

"All ranged attackers with 4, 000+ attack, move to coordinates 112, 156 immediately. We're kiting a Lv45 Undead Warlord. Kill it together." Raid Leader Chen Zhan's voice cut through the comms. Xiao Chen didn't hesitate -- he dropped his current mob and sprinted toward the target location. Plenty of others did the same, abandoning their fights mid-combat. A Lv45 boss. That kind of firepower could devastate the battlefield if it wasn't taken down fast. Plus, everyone wanted a slice of those Contribution Points.

From a hundred meters out, Xiao Chen spotted a three-meter-tall skeleton. Same look as Little Strong, just several sizes bigger. Little Strong's soul flame in his skull was a tiny flicker. This giant skeleton's blaze roared like a furnace. A boss like this had to drop an Undead Core Crystal, right?

【Undead Skeleton | Lv45 | HP: 367, 516 | Defense: 2, 025】 Over 360K HP, 2, 000+ defense. Xiao Chen's attacks only ticked for about 2, 000 damage. The HP pool wasn't the problem -- it was the skill. Below half health, its defense doubled. At that point, Xiao Chen's hits would drop to a few hundred. Factor in its regeneration, and things got annoying.

"ROAR!" Despite having no mouth, the Undead Warlord let out a thunderous howl. At the front line, a Sword and Shield Knight raised a massive shield against the boss.

"Why does that guy look so familiar?" A memory flickered in Xiao Chen's mind -- Sun Jian, back when he was barely Lv5, charging straight at a boss.

"Holy crap, Sun Jian can actually tank a Lv45 boss now?" Xiao Chen knew the gap between them had grown, but he hadn't realized it was this wide.

"Max range DPS! Watch out for its skills!"

"Final phase spawns twenty Lv30 skeleton clones. Clear them fast, or the boss devours them for massive healing."

"Dispel Sun Jian, he's got a defense debuff." Chen Zhan knew this boss inside and out. The fight went smoothly. High HP, sure, but numbers won in the end.

"-2, 891""-2, 713" Hundreds of ranged attackers poured on damage for over ten minutes, and the boss crumbled." Ding -- EXP Gained: +4, 000 (800)" Xiao Chen's damage contribution was only 0. 4%, and he still got that much EXP. The biggest contributor was Sun Jian, who'd risked running into the monster horde to pull this big boy out. A great tank made the entire raid better. Sun Jian flashed gold too -- he'd leveled up, hitting Lv44.

"These guys who started at the same time as me are now the backbone of Tiannan City." Dozens of Awakened crowded around Sun Jian to congratulate him. Xiao Chen silently left the raid and went back to grinding.

"Little Strong, when are you going to grow into something like that?" A Lv45 monster. That was badass. Little Strong clearly had no idea what Xiao Chen was talking about. He just tilted his skull up at him." Ding -- You have received 200 Silver from raid distribution." Unexpected income. It was standard practice -- when a raid boss dropped high-tier loot, whoever looted it would share the wealth.

"When do I get to be the one handing out money?" To get the killing blow, you needed serious DPS. Not happening anytime soon. Sun Jian really was an outstanding tank. After that first successful pull, he started dragging in high-level bosses regularly. Several other high-level tanks did the same, and the entire guild benefited massively. Xiao Chen piggybacked on a ton of EXP and even scored some dividend payouts. After grinding small mobs for over ten days straight, Xiao Chen hit Lv27.

The other squad members were around Lv23. He'd saved up enough for a ring, so he immediately grabbed another piece of gear.

【Heart-Link Ring | Bronze Grade | No Level Requirement STR +20 | AGI +20 | CON +20 | Crit Rate +3% | Attack Range +5】 For Xiao Chen, this was god-tier gear. Best-in-slot stats, plus crit and attack range. Courage gear went for 10 gold a piece. This ring cost him 40 gold -- four times the price, nearly as much as a weapon.

"One more ring to go, then I'll be full Bronze." Bronze gear held its value. You could resell it later with almost no depreciation.

"Leader, did your attack range just get longer?"

"Good eye. Bought a ring with +5 range."

"Leader's OP."

"Haha, yeah, I feel pretty OP myself." Feeling this OP while still farming Lv20 mobs? Something felt missing. Thanks to his extended attack range, Xiao Chen started having Little Strong kite small mobs around while he sniped from afar. A few times, he helped other squads clear Lv25 elite mobs, saving lives and earning a mountain of gratitude." Ding -- 【One in Ten Thousand】 triggered. Random stat +10." Another small power bump. Xiao Chen decided to push deeper into the zone.

"Wang Zhen, I'm going to scout ahead."

"You guys want to come?"

"Actually, don't. This is life-and-death stuff."

"Don't worry, Leader. We can handle these spiders now. Go ahead."

"What do you mean 'go ahead'? That phrasing sounds ominous." Xiao Chen left Little Strong behind and weaved through the mobs with agile footwork. A hundred meters in, he spotted an elephant-sized Abyss Demonspider at another hundred meters, herding smaller spiders forward in a charge.

"Lv30 elite. You're the one." High-level elites were too tough. Low-level ones weren't worth his time. Lv30? Just right.

【Elite Demonspider | Lv30 ATK: 1, 600 | HP: 250, 000 | Defense: 615】 Still a tough bastard. Each of Xiao Chen's hits only chunked about 4, 000 HP. Factor in its regeneration, and it'd take ten-plus minutes of kiting to burn down. Mobility always cost you some DPS uptime.

"Keep thirty meters of distance the whole time. I can kill this thing." The Lv30 elite sprayed venom and could summon a swarm of clones instantly. But Xiao Chen had 【Multi-Shot】, so the surrounding small mobs weren't a threat. And with his current HP and defense, getting tagged by minor mobs barely scratched him. All those hours practicing in dungeons were paying off big time. Attacking, repositioning, abusing line of sight, finding optimal angles -- he'd gotten really good at this. No other big threats nearby.

Xiao Chen committed.

"-4, 013""-4, 126""Honestly, not that hard. Just like a dungeon, really." Rapid movement, relentless damage. Hell, he even pulled a Lv25 elite as a bonus. Under ten minutes later, two kill announcements rang out:" Ding -- You have slain Lv25 Elite Demonspider. Silver Coin +40, Spider Silk +1""You have slain Lv30 Elite Demonspider. Silver Coin +100, EXP +2, 000""You have obtained 【Bronze Dagger】!" Hearing the announcement, Xiao Chen broke into a massive grin. Not just a drop -- a Lv30 Assassin weapon.

"Haha, my last ring is covered, with extra!" Xiao Chen's Lv20 Bronze Bow had cost 60 gold. A Lv30 item would sell for significantly more. He was over the moon. He sold the dagger for gold, then immediately bought a second Heart-Link Ring.

"Full set complete. Satisfied." With that, Xiao Chen's attack range hit 40 meters. Very respectable. Even better -- he still had 80 gold in the bank.

"Gear's done. From here on, I save every coin. Big expenses ahead -- might need a skill book, might need gear upgrades, and if things work out, I should raise Little Strong's tier too." A full Bronze set was already luxury-tier. More than enough for out here. And with 【One in Ten Thousand】 popping off every so often? The grind felt pretty damn good.

"Leader, your range got even longer again?"

"Swapped in another nice ring."