20demayo Chapter 313 Combat Experience Upgrade, Bloodstained Avenger!
Chapter 313 Combat Experience Upgrade, Bloodstained Avenger!
Chapter 313 Combat Experience Upgrade, Bloodstained Avenger!
Maintaining high levels of mental strength is crucial during this one-day recruit competition.
Because this is a protracted war.
As proficiency in each skill increases, the power of the skill also increases, but correspondingly, the consumption of mental energy also increases.
Especially for a necromancer, the ability to summon a vast army of skeletons and use area-of-effect attacks in the later stages is incredibly powerful, but the high mental energy consumption is also a problem that cannot be ignored.
"I must find some way to restore my mental strength," Fang Zhou thought to himself.
Knowing how to allocate one's resources effectively during prolonged battles and how to replenish mental energy at crucial moments are essential skills for any professional, especially a rare one like him.
After patiently waiting for his mental energy to recover to its optimal state, Fangzhou slowly stood up.
He looked around to make sure no details were missed, then led the 40-odd skeletons who had survived the battle onward in a grand procession.
In the outer areas of the Dark Forest, most of the monsters are at the mid-apprentice level.
Those tribes that possess elite monsters at the apprentice level or higher are hidden deeper in the dense forest.
Although the monsters on the periphery are of a lower level, they are enough to meet Ark's current needs and allow him to accumulate points.
At this point, he had successfully earned dozens of points, firmly holding the top spot on the individual points leaderboard with a clear lead.
As Ark and his army of skeletons continued their march, a powerful surge of mental energy suddenly emerged from the feet of the first skeleton in the procession.
Immediately afterwards, a cold, gray-black current spread rapidly, freezing the entire body in place, and even the surrounding undead were tainted by the icy chill.
The cold air seemed to surge from the depths of the earth, causing the surrounding temperature to plummet.
This is an ice trap set by the contestants or monsters!
Fangzhou reacted immediately and quickly released the "Soul Vision" skill.
In just a few breaths, a point of light appeared at the edge of their perception range and was rapidly approaching them.
This point of light was like a firefly in the dark, faint yet exceptionally clear.
Realizing the urgency of the situation, Ark quickly ordered the skeletons to stop and stand in a dispersed position to prevent more traps from being triggered.
However, the Ark, which was observing, discovered that the point of light suddenly stopped about 20 or 30 meters away from them.
A moment later, they began to retrace their steps and move in the opposite direction.
"Looks like a lone contestant," Fang Zhou thought to himself.
He had only seen the information from the soul vision, and no living beings appeared in his field of vision.
Clearly, the other party had also sneaked over to investigate after realizing the trap had been triggered.
Upon seeing the large number of Fangzhou's group, the student wisely chose to abandon the sneak attack.
Perhaps out of fear of being surrounded by so many skeletons, or perhaps realizing the power of the Ark, he chose to retreat.
Although Fang Zhou felt a little regretful, since it might have been easier to gain points by dealing with a lone student, he didn't pursue the matter further since the other party had wisely retreated.
After all, fighting is not the only way to score points; more importantly, it is to conserve strength to deal with potentially greater threats in the future.
However, Fangzhou remained vigilant.
As the leader on the points leaderboard, and possessing the portable meditation array that everyone coveted, he knew he had become the target of everyone's attacks.
His location is now known to that unknown student, and it's very likely that large groups from other military academies are already on their way.
"This place is not safe to stay!" Fang Zhou thought to himself. Although Fang Zhou was not afraid of being surrounded by other students, considering that the recruit competition had just begun, engaging in battles with other military academy students too early would undoubtedly have a negative impact on the accumulation of points.
After all, these participants are elites carefully trained by various military academies.
They are naturally more difficult to kill than monsters.
Their strength is not to be underestimated, and confronting them head-on would inevitably consume a great deal of time and energy.
This is precisely what makes it difficult for Ark to quickly accumulate points in the early stages.
With that thought in mind, Fangzhou waved the crystal ball in his hand and cast a healing spell on the skeleton that was injured by the ice trap.
A cold light enveloped the skull, the frost gradually dissipated, and it regained its vitality.
Then, Ark led his army of skeletons forward.
To ensure no other traps were triggered, several skeletons walked side by side at the front of the group, slowly advancing and carefully probing the ground to ensure there were no other potential dangers.
Traveling through the vast, dark forest, the Ark slowly advanced along only the outermost edge of the area.
Over the next period of time, they encountered a dozen or so lone abyssal demons and a group of harpies, but failed to encounter any large groups of monsters.
Whenever these lone creatures appear, the pearl bird Gugu is always able to spot them in time.
No matter where these creatures hide, once they are spotted by the Pearl Bird, they cannot escape the Ark's Soul Vision ability.
Each time, these creatures were invariably destroyed by the Ark and its army of skeletons, their souls taken away along with them.
After effortlessly dealing with these lone creatures, Ark gained dozens more points, far ahead of the leaderboard, with no one able to catch up with him.
His score was like a steep upward curve, far surpassing the other contestants.
The other participants in the arena watched helplessly as Fangzhou's score far surpassed everyone else's through their personal terminals, but they had no idea how Fangzhou had managed to do it.
As for the students watching from the sidelines, they were constantly watching Ark's first-person perspective live stream, so they naturally knew what methods Ark used to achieve such precise and efficient hunting.
Among the first-year students at Haicheng Military Academy, the girl with an oval face excitedly said, "When the Ark expert was hunting in Cave 1, he demonstrated a very powerful reconnaissance skill."
Now it seems that his reconnaissance range has become even greater.
Those harpies were clearly far away from the Ark's leader, yet he seemed to have preordained their location, pinpointing their exact position.
Her words were filled with excitement and admiration, clearly showing her great respect for Fang Zhou's performance. As soon as she finished speaking, the surrounding students all turned to the live stream, seemingly savoring Fang Zhou's amazing performance.
Next to the girl with the oval face, another first-year seed student looked at Fangzhou's live stream and said, "You might not have noticed a certain action."
When the Ark expert first entered this forest, he used a magical artifact to release a small bird with a bright green body.
According to the spirit beast encyclopedia, this little bird should be a pearl bird, a very powerful scout-type spirit pet during the apprentice stage.
The Pearl Bird's racial talent is that it can share vision with human professionals who have formed a contract for a short period of time.
I suspect this is one of the killer moves that the Ark developers prepared for this recruit competition.
Relying on the Pearl Bird's aerial vision, it can remotely lock onto monsters that may be approaching, and then use its own reconnaissance skills to make accurate judgments.
With these two reconnaissance methods combined, almost no monster can escape the Ark's perception.
That's probably the key reason why he accumulated nearly 100 points in such a short time.
As soon as the student finished speaking, the surrounding students nodded in agreement.
Indeed, Ark's combat prowess is absolutely impeccable.
Seeing his dozens of imposing skeleton legions, and the powerful skill effects when he unleashes "Death Ripple" and "Bone Spear," no one can deny this.
However, the fact that Fangzhou, as a necromancer, possessed such powerful reconnaissance capabilities was indeed beyond most people's expectations.
Reconnaissance methods are especially important on the battlefield, as they represent the ability to anticipate enemy movements.
Therefore, the idea that Ark would be killed at least once by the combined attacks of the participating students has gradually begun to waver in the minds of these spectators.
Unless he is in unusual terrain, and as long as Ark remains vigilant at all times, it is unlikely that he will be surrounded by the enemy in this open area.
The dense forest was pitch black, and the Ark couldn't see the sun's position in the sky. It could only estimate the general direction in its mind and gradually walk deeper into the forest.
The principal of Longcheng Military Academy had previously mentioned that the center of the battlefield was a city ruin.
Since this point has been specifically emphasized, there must be some special meaning or value there.
Fangzhou checked his personal terminal and found that he had established an absolute advantage in the personal points leaderboard.
At this moment, he felt confident enough, so he simply led his army of skeletons into the depths of the dense forest.
Along the way, dense corrosive ripples continuously fell from mid-air, slapping against the bodies of the monster horde and splashing up thick plumes of smoke.
Several gnolls howled in pain under the spell, but the Ark showed no pity.
With the finishing blows of the skeleton army, these monsters finally met their end.
Each attack was clean and efficient, and Ark's command became increasingly skillful.
The skeletons cooperated seamlessly on the battlefield, like a well-trained army.
In the gloomy and silent dark forest, even time seemed to slow down due to the dense shade and haze.
Fangzhou had no idea how many times he had used the Undead Orb, nor how many times he had restored his status.
In this dense forest, not only is Ark a hunter, but every living creature is a hunter.
In reality, the roles of hunter and prey can change at any time.
It's not just a battle between human students and monsters; monsters are also engaged in a life-or-death struggle.
During this period, Ark has witnessed countless instances of lone monsters being ambushed and killed by other monsters working together.
Countless small groups of monsters were hunted down by a larger monster horde, and in the end, they all turned into blood-soaked corpses.
On this battlefield, the bloodshed and cruelty have never changed.
As Fang Zhou calmly compared directions, he suddenly saw another point of soul light emerge from the edge of his soul vision and rush towards him.
This point of light, like a firefly in the night, stood out conspicuously within the scope of the soul's vision.
Ark immediately became alert and quickly ordered the surviving skeletons to gather together to guard against a sudden and powerful enemy.
The skeletons quickly adjusted their formation, forming a solid defensive line, ready to deal with any potential threats.
Strangely, the point of light stopped moving when it got within 30 meters.
Fangzhou looked up into the distance, but the dense vegetation and winding trees blocked his and Gugu's view, making it impossible for him to see anything.
Left with no other choice, Fangzhou had to secretly give up and remain on high alert.
He gripped the crystal ball tightly, ready to unleash his skill at any moment.
After lingering for a moment, the point of light returned along the same path and soon disappeared from the range of perception.
Seeing this, Fangzhou thought that this might be the same as the lone contestant last time, who was scared off by their numbers, so he didn't pay too much attention to it.
After all, on this battlefield full of unknowns and dangers, anything can happen.
"Elder! Elder!!"
"We've found the traces of those spirits you mentioned!"
On the other side, a large number of centaurs were resting in the dense forest.
They were scattered among the trees, some munching on grass, others talking quietly, seemingly relaxing their vigilance during a brief rest.
Suddenly, a short, muscular centaur dressed in light armor came galloping from afar and shouted excitedly to an older centaur in the center of the group.
"Really? Where?!" The old centaur was overjoyed upon hearing this and asked impatiently.
A hint of excitement suddenly appeared on his aged face, as if he had found an opportunity for revenge.
"There are thirty or forty of them, just a few hundred meters away in that direction."
The centaur scout pointed to the side and said.
If Ark could see it, it would realize that he was pointing in the direction it was in.
"Thirty or forty?" Upon hearing this, the old centaur ordered without hesitation, "Surround them! Don't let a single one escape!!"
Upon hearing the elder's command, the centaurs sprang into action.
Their steps were light, like a group of cheetahs searching for prey under the cover of night.
Under the elder's guidance, all the centaurs became brave and fearless.
Their faces bore a hint of mad determination, a burning resolve for revenge.
The centaur elder's eyes were as deep as black holes, seemingly able to see through every single leaf in the forest.
Its nose twitched slightly as it spoke to the centaur warrior standing guard beside it, "Do you know why I had to come and hunt them down?"
The centaur warrior hesitated for a moment, then shook his head.