Abyss Domination

Inside the dark and eerie forest, Soran carried Vivian on his back, and Gloria followed him with gentle steps from behind. Aladdin was in the front, leading the group. The Halfling didn’t have many comments about the fact that there was an eight-year-old girl in the team. After all, they all saw Vivian’s incredible explosive power. A round of Arcane Missiles could kill many enemies in seconds and save lives at critical moments. Even after the use of Arcane Missiles, Vivian still had nine level 0 spells and one level 2 spell, which could be helpful.

Soran didn’t think that small little Vivian would grow up so fast. It seemed that it was very likely she was a Divine Child since her rate of learning new spells were faster than Soran’s.

The group trudged through the forest for a day and by noon the next day, they were close to the Elemental Portal. This was the portal left many years ago. It was relatively hidden, being in a canyon near the Emerald Mountains. Ever since they got close to the portal, the number of trees and weeds decreased gradually. This was because the excessive elemental energy could also affect the growth of plants; excessive energy of a single element could form a forcefield like structure that could gradually push out other elements.

The ground was dry and somewhat dusty. The surrounding rocks were large and weathered, some even looked like ancient statues.

One of the statues looked like the Spirit of the Land, a higher form of Earth Element. It was also the incarnation of the legendary earth spirit which usually slept deep underground. Only some special ritual could wake them and summon them to the surface. The group entered the canyon with grave expressions. Soran put Vivian down and let her walk behind with Gloria. At the same time, he pulled out his curved sword and looked around vigilantly. Aladdin walked lightly with his daggers in hand and kept an eye on his surroundings.

So, how powerful are spellcasters?

Let’s take a look at the two subsequent spells that Gloria used. After chanting an incantation, a light glow surrounded everyone.

“Greater Grace!”

Grace also called “Cat’s Grace” was a temporary effect that increased agility by 4, and up to a maximum of 25. The common Grace spell was a level 2 spell, a single target buff spell. What Gloria used though, was a level 6 spell which gave a group buff and lasted twice as long as ordinary Grace spell. Soran was immediately enhanced to 24 agility, and Aladdin reached the maximum agility of 25. Since Aladdin was a pure Rogue and had a Profession Level above 10, his agility would be higher than Soran’s.

“Greater Haste!”

When the second glow of magic fell, Soran’s movement speed was doubled instantly. His sprints were now faster than the Olympic champions. He was able to run 100 meters in just four to five seconds. At the same time, his attack speed was much higher than before, so the number of swings he could do in a second had increased by one. This spell was also a group buff; the number of people blessed depended on the caster’s level, and the duration of the buff depended on the spell’s level.

After Gloria had cast the two spells, she proceeded to cast protective barriers for both Vivian and herself.

The two casters were basically free now.

That’s how spellcasters were. They would only lend a hand when the situation was dire, and would usually flip the situation around with spells.

Aladdin moved excitedly, then jumped four to five meters ahead. He twisted his body around after landing and ran seven or eight steps across the wall as though performing acrobatics. Then, he slid to the ground slowly and said happily, “It’s been a long time since I worked with a Wizard. I really miss being buffed by spells! ”

Soran also moved his body freely, adapting to the speed and agility which the buff gave. If he didn’t adapt to the increase in agility, there would be deviations in battle. But they were both experienced Rogues, so they only needed a little moving around to grasp effects of the buff.

These two buffs were the most often used buffs for Rogues, as they gave them greatly improved agility, speed, and damage output.

Gloria gently nodded her head, glanced at the two Rogues and said, “kill it quickly as you can. The buffs only last for half an hour.”

Half an hour was plenty of time for them.

Soran made a gesture towards Aladdin who was next to him, and then the two men moved forward separately from east and west. Experienced Rogues could replace a Fighter since their ability to fight head-on was not bad. Aladdin made a gesture and then stormed into the valley. He raised his hand and swiftly threw out some hidden weapon.

Elementals had no fatal weaknesses, nor did they have any vital organs. Even the Undead could be struck down by a blow to the spine or its Soul Fire, but Elementals could only be killed slowly by wasting away their life force.

These creatures were also immune to backstab.

Of course, it had a weakness. It’s like fighting a Lich, if one could hit its Soul Fire in its orbit, then it would deliver lethal damage; but success was quite hard to come by.

To deal a one hit kill to the Elementals, one must accurately hit their core which was usually in some part of their body. However, the strength and weapon-grade needed to achieve this was very high, and with Soran and Aladdin’s current equipment, it was basically impossible to penetrate the Elemental’s body.

Many supernatural lifeforms would have one point of weakness. Thus only an accurate shot to the weakness would bring critical damage, and only after critical damage was dealt that one could unleash Backstab Fury!

Of course, all of this was only possible if the person had the legendary skill [Expose Weakness].

They heard rocks moving and crashing.

Amidst the dull loud noise, a huge object as tall as three meters appeared. It looked like a human that was made with earth and rocks. It had limbs, a trunk, and a head, but the head was just a rock, and the outline of the face could only be seen vaguely. The Earth Elemental weighed more than half a ton and left deep footprints on the ground when it moved. It rushed like a bulldozer while pushing aside all the rocks that were blocking his way.

Tang!

Soran threw a flying knife out and it was instantly deflected by the tough rock, leaving only a minor scratch on the surface.

Attack useless!

This was how difficult it was to deal with an Elemental. The Earth Elemental, in this case, had a natural layer of rock armor. It was capable of nullifying any attack that was below 10 physical damage.

Needless to say, they were practically hitting a rock. But this rock was definitely bigger, and angrier.

Earth Elemental [Elemental lifeform](Grade 4)

Challenge rating: Level 6 (Monster level 15), has spell-like abilities

Highest and Lowest Attributes: 22 and 10 (Total Attribute Points: 99-100)

Specialty: Elemental Armor, Slam, Earth Elemental Property, Landslide

Difficulty: A-

…

It was twice as powerful as the Snake Demon. Even though it was just at the challenge rating of A-, it was still a creature that was difficult to deal with. Soran and Aladdin swooped in from the right and left. They twisted and leaped agilely, avoiding the Earth Elementals’ waving arms. The huge rocky arms whistled with strong winds as it swung. The two jumped up at the same time, waving their weapons, slicing and puncturing the thinner weaker parts of the Earth Elemental. The monster’s body was partly made of soil. Its trunk and limbs were made of rock, but its joints were formed from soil.

Ting! Tang! Tung!

The curved sword in Soran’s hand sliced at the Earth Elemental while at the same time dodging its heavy attacks. The attack speed of the enemy was obviously slower.

Suddenly, a row of data appeared in front of Soran.

“Hit!”

“You’ve sliced the Earth Elemental three times!…causing 5, 4, 3 physical damage!..”

“Successfully provoked the target.”

Soran’s palm was slightly numb after cutting through the soil and hitting the rocks underneath. The vibrations from hitting the rocks were very strong. He was basically cutting a big boulder, which, unlike cutting into flesh and bone, was somewhat pleasurable. Aladdin’s dexterous figure landed on the sides, dodging the attacks from the Earth Elemental. Then, he seized the opportunity to jump up again and stab the enemy in its arm joint. Both their weapons were of somewhat good quality so they were still sharp and did not chip. After the battle though, that might not be the case.

“Attack the joints of the left and right legs.”, Soran said in a low voice as he passed through underneath the Earth Elemental and slashed at the enemy’s knees, where it was a softer soil structure. Supernatural creatures that had humanoid forms had to obey common rules such as not being able to move after losing its legs.

Ting! Ting! Tang!

A series of sparks flew out, the two moved like butterflies, and they slashed at the enemy. In just a minute or two, the knees of Earth Elemental were hit more than ten times and had reached a critical point. Finally, the legs and lower limbs of the Earth Elemental were broken. But, to Soran’s surprise, the monster was still able to move with his thighs without the support of his calves. However, it’s sense of balance and speed declined drastically, achieving the purpose of their attack.

Soran cut it twelve times, and the cumulative damage was about 60. Aladdin may have attacked more, but the damage dealt may have not been more than him. The Earth Elemental was a level 15 creature, this meant that it had 150 base health. As a supernatural Elemental lifeform, it also had an additional health point of about 100, that is to say, that its health may be close to 300 points, which was higher than many high-grade Fighters.

Still, the threat from the Earth Elemental was no longer high. The two jumped around it and attacked it more often; the combined attack was estimated to be more than a hundred slices. Their attacks eventually weakened the energy core of Elemental. Per Soran’s instructions, the Halfling stopped his attacks. Finally, he successfully landed the last hit and ended the Earth Elemental.

Their weapons had taken some damage, but their reward was pretty good.

“Successful hit.”

You’ve dealt 4 Slash Damage to the Earth Elemental!… Target eliminated!…

Extracting soul energy from target…

Received 2550 Slaughter Experience Points.