BXBX NOVEL Chapter 103 - 103:103 Trial Clearances
Even though successfully guiding Ennis Hawkins towards awakening should be an amazingly happy event, at this very moment, the mysterious man was experiencing a blend of pain and pleasure.
The pleasure undoubtedly came from Ennis’s side. After planning it for so long, he finally helped Ennis break the shackles of the past 20 years.
More than that, making Ennis recall the sealed quest that was already completed, helped him achieve the fourth-turn in one go. Thus, the mysterious man also fulfilled his long-standing wish.
But the pain mostly came from Dean McKenzie’s situation.
Time rewinded back a few minutes ago, particularly, the several seconds when the “Demon Box” shattered.
Those seconds were a near-death experience for the mysterious man.
If his reaction had been a little slower, he probably wouldn’t have achieved the effect he has now.
Because what happened in the “Demon Box” again exceeded his expectations.
The mysterious man originally thought that a third-turn BOSS would be enough to knock down Dean McKenzie.
He had already written the script, and Dean had a “Substitute Doll”. Once Dean ‘died’, he would stealthily sneak him out, thus creating the illusion of Dean’s death to impact Ennis Hawkins’s mind.
But what he didn’t expect was that Dean didn’t play out the script he had written.
He killed that boss head-on.
This led to those few seconds being extraordinarily thrilling for him.
If it wasn’t for his quick and decisive reaction and his decision to risk a precious item at that critical moment, his entire plan would’ve nearly collapsed.
Although the opportunity has now been successfully seized, the mysterious man felt as if his body had been hollowed out.
No, it was his wallet that had been hollowed out.
If Anthony wasn’t successful in his awakening, he would’ve been devoid of any joy left.
On the other hand, unlike the mysterious man, Dean McKenzie was filled with joy at this moment.
A few minutes ago, in the Land of Bone.
Under Dean McKenzie’s gaze, the shape of the third wave BOSS slowly took form.
Very quickly, a Skeleton Knight, riding a skeleton horse, engulfed in Netherworld Flames, materialized before Dean’s eyes.
Because it was the final boss, Dean didn’t even need to use the Appraisal Skill. As soon as his gaze fell on it, its attributes appeared before him.
Name: Netherworld Skeleton Knight
Template: Excellent
Trait: Knight’s Heart (D) (Increase sprint speed by 50%, attack power increased by 50% after sprinting)
Level: 61
Stats:
Strength: 4.10 (240), Agility: no, Physique: 200 (240), Spirit: 1
Attack: 1025 (500)
Defense: 500 (1200)
Spirit Power: 12000
Skills: Charge (level 7), Riding (level 8), Heavy Strike (level 6)
First-turn: Netherworld Charge (level 5), Agile Riding (level 5)
Second-turn: Netherworld Break (level 3), Power of the Nether (level 4)
Third-turn: Lesser Netherworld Devastating Lancer (level 1)
Equipment: Netherworld Long Spear (level 61) (Silver) (Adds 240 points to strength, 500 points to attack)
Netherworld Suit (level 61) (Silver) (Adds 240 points to physique, 1200 points to defense)
Mount: Netherworld Skeleton Horse (level 61) (Excellent) (800 agility, increases the power of knight skills by 200%)
Those stats…
Dean was stunned when he saw them.
What do you call extravagance? The very thing Dean was looking at was extravagance!
These stats, Dean felt, were even more ridiculous than the pig-headed earth knight.
Though he hadn’t seen the detailed stats of the pighead, Dean felt that the pighead’s attributes wouldn’t be more insane than this creature’s.
Moreover, if they were to fight, this creature’s combat power would definitely surpass that of the pighead, let alone Dean himself.
Dean felt a chill run down his spine just from looking at its stats.
“Damn it! I was just taking advantage of the instance a little. Did they really need to use such an overpowered monster against me?
That’s really so not fair and square.
But it’s a good thing I don’t care for the fair and square either!”
Dean smiled, activated the long-prepared Bone Prison skill, and imprisoned the Skeleton Knight inside it as soon as it materialized.
This was the only advantage that the third wave held for Dean, as it allowed him to prepare his skills in advance.
Dean was lucky to have just upgraded his [Bone Prison] skill.
And now, it came into practical use straight away.
The Skeleton Knight had just appeared, but it was tightly trapped by the huge Bone Prison.
If they had to fight hand to hand, given the speed of preparation and the coverage area of the Bone Prison and the terrifying speed of the knight, Dean was afraid that the moment he lifted his hand, he would be pierced by the knight’s long spear.
But Dean was lucky.
The knight hadn’t even started charging yet, but Dean’s Bone Prison was already thrown out.
As a result, the Skeleton Knight was dumbfounded.
He couldn’t fight, he absolutely couldn’t fight.
All the knight’s skills were riding skills, and all his riding skills required a charging start.
But Dean didn’t give him the chance to charge. He first used Bone Prison, effectively trapping him immediately.
Under these circumstances, the knight was just left with standard attacks and the basic skill Heavy Strike at level 6.
Heavy Strike (level 6) (Increase attack by 3.1 times the strength)
The Skeleton Knight, with his equipped strength reaching as high as 650 points, can deliver a burst Heavy Strike, resulting in damage as high as 3500 points.
This damage, when inflicted on the Bone Prison, is first reduced by twenty-five percent, then reduced further by three times the fixed defense value of Dean McKenzie’s Spirit.
The remaining damage only amounts to around nineteen hundred.
On his own, the Skeleton Knight then has to endure over seven hundred points of Reflect Damage.
It’s like the old saying, “If you harm the enemy by a thousand, you damage yourself by eight hundred.” His situation fits the saying perfectly.
However, his Heavy Strike is certainly not to be overlooked; even though under Dean McKenzie’s trait of Control over Bones, the Bone Prison’s energy could reach about fourteen thousand.
His single strike still managed to do away with nearly one-seventh of its energy.
That gave Dean McKenzie quite a scare.
“No good, I can’t let him continue to strike like this. Six more strikes like this, and won’t my Bone Prison be ruined?” Dean determined, quickly throwing his all into a counterattack.
He immediately launched a Bone Fang attack while Anthony circled behind the Skeleton Knight, landing a Backstab attack.
Under regular circumstances, Dean McKenzie’s Bone Fang attacks wouldn’t even touch the Skeleton Knight.
However, the Skeleton Knight was ill-fated, rigidly trapped within the Bone Prison.
As long as the Bone Prison wasn’t broken, the Skeleton Knight could not move nor turn its body, only standing there passively taking each impact.
From the front, Dean McKenzie’s Bone Fangs directly entered through its eye sockets, while from the back, Anthony reached the Skeleton Knight’s neck after a leap.
The Skeleton Knight had no choice but to receive all damages, front and back, in full.
And most of the hits were on critical spots.
Still, the Skeleton Knight only begrudgingly exploded after enduring one Backstab from Anthony and three Bone Fangs from Dean McKenzie.
[You have successfully killed the Netherworld Skeleton Knight (Level 61) (Excellent). Your level has increased to 32!]
[Your Agility and Spirit attributes have each increased by 6 free attribute points!]
Perhaps it was because this was the first time Dean McKenzie had killed a third-turn boss on his own; he completely claimed the whole lot of Experience Points.
He leveled up twice in one go.
At long last, his Spirit attribute managed to exceed 200 points without any equipment.
Moreover, after reaching level 31, McKenzie could add 30 points to his Spirit attribute every time he leveled up.
As long as he targeted suitable monsters, it would be quite easy for McKenzie to boost his Spirit attribute to 260 points.
With the death of the Netherworld Skeleton Knight,
A few light spheres burst out.
Simultaneously, system prompts began refreshing in front of McKenzie’s vision.
[You have successfully passed the trial initiated by the opening of the Demon Box!]
[Your trial grade is SS Level!]
[As this trial was initiated by a treasure chest, you receive no mission rewards, only the right to unlock the treasure chest…]
The third system prompt made Dean McKenzie’s heart leap.
His face grew dark instantly, and just as he was on the verge of cursing, the third system prompt suddenly stuck.
Following swiftly, the fourth system prompt refreshed.
[You’ve obtained the following rewards:
[You’ve been granted the permission to open the Demon Box!]
As the fourth system prompt refreshed,
The Secret Realm of Dean McKenzie’s Land of Bone began to shake. Instantly, the fissure in the sky healed and disappeared.
In front of McKenzie, three items of reward appeared.
One sweep of his gaze revealed the attributes of all three items.
Secret Realm Crystal: Special Item, bursting with the Power of the Secret Realm, can be used to upgrade and modify the Secret Realm
Talent Stone: Special Item, can be used to unlock Talents, but with an extremely low success rate of only one percent
Secret Realm Modification Scroll (White): Can be used to remodel and upgrade the environment of the Secret Realm, allowing for additional features such as mountains, rivers, forests, magma, etc. to be added.
Requires consumption of: 1 Secret Realm Crystal
Looking at the incredibly simple attributes of these three items, Dean couldn’t help but gasp for breath.
He had to admit, he was pleasantly surprised by these three items.
“These are all things I can use, and they’re also the things I’m in desperate need of right now!
I do not need to mention the Talent Stone because I need one to level up my Talent.
However, this Secret Realm Crystal and Secret Realm Modification Scroll are also incredibly important to me. With these two, I can hopefully create a river in the Land of Bone, can’t I?
If I could create a river, then in the future, whether in the Land of Bone or where the Gate of Bone can be opened, I could basically achieve Mana freedom!”
Envisioning the bright future, Dean beamed, unable to contain his joy.
However, delightful as it was.
McKenzie didn’t rush to make use of these items.
He hadn’t forgotten why he decided to raid this place in the first place.
Having cleared this place now, he should first check out Anthony’s situation to see whether his mission was complete.
In passing, he should open the Demon Box which returned to his hands after the trial was completed.
“These items aren’t going to vanish on their own, so it doesn’t matter when I use them!”
Having said that, Dean opened the Gate of Bone, stepping out with one foot.
However, the moment his foot crossed the threshold, his expression changed drastically, his eyes widening in alarm: “Hold on!”