Chapter 105 – Phantasm Leg Bones
Although w.a.n.g Er was a rogue, which did not possess extremely powerful attacks, he was still able to easily s.h.i.+eld Fatty as they jumped into the fray especially with the a.s.sistance of other NPCs. Furthermore, it wasn’t like all monsters could actually see through Fatty’s stealth.
When they met up with the other NPCs, three patrols stepped forth and blocked off the area behind Fatty, allow Fatty and w.a.n.g Er to meet face to face with the others.
“Captain,” w.a.n.g Er walked in front of the patrol captain with tearful eyes.
“w.a.n.g Er, you… Ahh,” the patrol captain didn’t say much. He merely reached out for the Holy Spirit Stone. As he chanted an inaudible spell, a soft white light rose from the stone and scattered in the surroundings. The NPCs immediately felt energy surge through their bodies and even Fatty felt warmer with the 30% decreased stats disappearing. Furthermore, the monsters all back off by a little.
“It has that sort of function as well?” Fatty asked in shock. He was merely treating it as a heater that protected him from negative effects. He didn’t expect the Holy Spirit Stone to be able to s.h.i.+eld an entire area.
“Little brother, I don’t know how to trigger the Holy Spirit Stone’s power either. Sorry about that,” w.a.n.g Er said apologetically.
“Haha, our commander taught me the chant so that it can be used for the whole squad. I didn’t teach w.a.n.g Er because I expected him to be alone,” the patrol captain forced a smell. “I am Hamlet, the captain of this patrol squad. Little brother, you said something about being able to get us out of here?”
“Haha, it’s easy.”
Disdain appeared in some of the NPC soldiers’ eyes when they heard Fatty’s words. It was as if they were thinking “You’re just a puny a.s.sa.s.sin that couldn’t even get in here without w.a.n.g Er. You actually dare to brag that it’s easy to get us out? You’re just mocking us!”
“Then please tell us how you are going to do so?” Hamlet forced out. He had already lost the ability to walk due to all his injuries.
Fatty knew that the NPCs did not believe him, but he did nothing to retort. Instead, he took out a pigeon-egg-like jewel. From the surface, it seemed like a fiery ruby with red smoke spiraling within. Yet, as heat seemed to rise from the jewel, it formed what looked like clouds on it as it brought a bit more warmth to the dark environment.
This was a Thunderfire Powerbomb, something the Flame Ruler gave Fatty to deal with the advance boss monster, the Ancient Camphor Tree Spirit. Fatty had gotten seven of them in total. He already used one to kill the Horned Thundertiger and gave his little sister three, leaving three with him. It might be something very rare, but Fatty felt like using it to find out where to get Holy Spirit Stones was a good deal.
“What is this..? It seems very powerful,” the patrol captain could feel the jewel’s power with a single glance even though he didn’t know what it was.
“Captain, we have to find a safe place to detonate this Thunderfire Powerbomb,” Fatty said seriously. This was an explosive that might cause them to get dragged into the explosion if they remained too close.
“Oh, that’s easy,” Hamlet nodded. He remained sitting cross-legged on the floor and clasped his the Holy Spirit Stone between his hands, then uttered a chant. Soon, the Holy Spirit Stone let out an even more brilliant light in the form of a barrier that spread outwards.
The squad originally had their backs to the wall, while being surrounded by monsters from all other sides. Yet, the barrier caused the monsters to scramble away frantically, instantly making a large distance between them. Yet, the monsters were now more dispersed, meaning that a single Thunderfire Powerbomb would be unable to kill all of them.
“How many of those do you have left?” Hamlet asked Fatty after fully activating the Holy Spirit Stone’s powers.
“I only have this single one,” Fatty thought about it briefly, then decided to lie. He needed it to fight the Ancient Camphor Tree Spirit, and could not use it freely elsewhere. The truth was that he was already able to complete Gaia’s mission after meeting w.a.n.g Er, but he was willing to go as far as using a Thunderfire Powerbomb was because he needed Holy Spirit Stones; and also because the NPCs’ bonds were truly admirable.
“Captain, since the Holy Spirit Stone is so powerful, can’t we use it to retreat?” Fatty immediately felt a reluctance to part with his Thunderfire Powerbomb when he saw the Holy Spirit Stone’s light push the monsters away.
“It won’t last a long time,” Hamlet shook his head. “All the Holy Spirit Stones given out are near useless ones that were nearly out of holy energy. It will completely run out of energy before we get out of here.”
“I see,” Fatty looked back towards the tunnel and came up with an idea. Judging from the smoothness of the walls, this tunnel’s clearly man-made. It’s around three meters tall…
“Captain, you guys retreat first. I’ll cover our rear,” said Fatty.
“I can’t allow that. I shall do it!” w.a.n.g Er shouted.
“Brother w.a.n.g Er, don’t worry, it’ll be easy for me,” Fatty pointed at the Thunderfire Powerbomb, then at the ceiling.
w.a.n.g Er immediately understood what Fatty planned to do.
Two NPCs carried Hamlet between them and led the others slowly walk out. With the light of the Holy Spirit Stone blocking the way, the monsters were unable to attack and could only follow closely.
The light began to dim down as they walked. When Fatty felt that it was going to be out of energy very soon, he told the others to run quickly, then tossed out the Thunderfire Powerbomb.
An earth shattering commotion exploded. The Thunderfire Power Bomb’s explosion was limited in the trap, so Fatty did not see it with his own eyes, but this time, he got a good understanding of just how strong the item was.
The tunnel trembled; rocks flew everywhere, pebbles seemed to rain down from the ceiling. All of a sudden, Fatty began to worry about whether the Thunderfire Powerbomb would collapse the tunnel. It’ll be terrible to get buried alive.
The explosion lasted for a long time. When it finally stopped, he took a look behind him. There was nothing except ruins. The ceiling of the tunnel had collapsed and blocked off the monsters’ path.
…
“We were willing to die if that meant someone could bring the news back, but I see that the lords of the Dynasty are already aware. Little brother, thank you for saving us.”
When they arrived back on the ground level, Fatty found the place so much better than underground even if it still seemed rather sinister. Meanwhile, Hamlet forced himself to stand up and saluted by putting his right fist to his chest.
“It’s no big deal. Captain, no need to mind it so much,” Fatty smiled and glanced subtly towards w.a.n.g Er.
“Captain, the little brother needs some Holy Spirit Stones. Didn’t you say that you know where to get them before? How about telling him. It would be a nice way for us to return the favor,” w.a.n.g Er whispered to Hamlet.
“Sure,” Hamlet nodded. “So, little brother needs Holy Spirit Stones. The commander gave us the one we have, so it would be recorded. It would be bad to gift it to you, but I do know where you might be able to find Holy Spirit Stones. If you aren’t afraid of the dangers, then you can try your luck there.”
…
The patrol squad’s strength was able to let them safely return to their base after returning to the surface. Since Fatty was in no hurry to turn in the mission, he said his farewells to them and walked deeper into the Ancient Battlefield with Wheat.
Hamlet told him that there was a place with many tombstones deeper within the area. He often saw light over there, which might indicate Holy Spirit Stones from underneath the ground. Hamlet and his squad pa.s.sed by there while on a mission. Originally, they felt fatigued and were being chased by monsters. Just as they felt like they were unable to hold on anymore, the light shone on them, causing their wounds to heal and their strength to recover. Furthermore, the monsters also backed away very quickly.
Hamlet and his team had taken the chance to escape, but when he thought about it afterwards, the light must have been from Holy Spirit Stones since that was the only item with that sort of power.
Yet, even though that was news on Holy Spirit Stones, the dangers linked to it was even greater. After all, Fatty was already far deeper into the Ancient Battlefield than what he planned. If I advance any further, then it’s even more likely that I’ll end up dying.
As he pondered and strolled along, Wheat continued to scout ahead. Earthwalk was truly an amazing ability, but its only issue was its huge decrease in movement speed, making it not much faster than normal walking speed.
Wheat shot a Howling Bullet onto a pile of bones. It was just a random pile since testing every pile would take literally forever.
Fatty ignored the scattered bones and stepped on it. There was no need to think about disrespect towards the dead there. They were in the way, so one would have to advance underground like Wheat if they were to respect the dead.
Every single step Fatty made would shatter a pile of bones. After such a long time in the Ancient battlefield, he was already numb. He merely pondered about how to get the Holy Spirit Stone. Suddenly, a leg bone stood up and kicked Fatty on the back of his s.h.i.+n!
It was a hard kick that caused Fatty to fall forwards. Just as he was about to plant his face into the ground, another leg bone stood up in front of him and kicked towards his head.
If Fatty were to observe them in detail, he would notice that the first was a right leg, while the second was a left leg, forming a pair of skeletal legs.
Fatty knew that he would definitely die if he was kicked by the second after the first one’s kick took down over two thirds of his health.
In the heat of the moment, he had no time drink potions. Fatty let out a cry then crossed his arms and smashed down at the leg that was going to kick him.
As the two sides collided against each other, both Fatty and the left leg bone shuddered. Although Fatty was able to avoid the fate of death, his health still rocketed down. Meanwhile, the leg bone wobbled, then disappeared back into the piles of bones.
Fatty quickly turned around and managed to cast Appraisal on the right leg bone before it returned to the piles of bones.
Phantasm Right Leg
Level: 35
Attack: 100 – 120
Defense: 120
HP: 15000
Notes: The right leg bone of the primordial Phantasm Ghost King that snuck out to play while the ghost king was resting due to being bored in the dungeon.