Chapter 105: Ore Giant Chieftain

For the past three days, in order to quickly reach level 15, Chen Mo did not explore the Mining Area Second Floor. Instead, he obediently stayed near the entrance of the second floor, killing monsters to level up. His knowledge of the deeper parts of the Mining Area Second Floor was limited to what he had seen on the Forum.

For other players, attempting to explore an unknown area alone at level 15, where monsters can reach level 18, would be suicidal behavior.

But this dangerous move was not difficult for Chen Mo.

The reason was simple: the Heinous Crime Title he was currently equipped with had a special effect called “Power of Concealment,” which increased the effectiveness of the Camouflage Skill, and this effect was quite significant!

With the Power of Concealment, Chen Mo’s Novice Level Camouflage Skill allowed him to move freely through the Mining Area Second Floor!

Chen Mo did not know much about the Mining Area Second Floor, and the information on the Forum was very vague. However, based on the Forum information, Chen Mo speculated a few possible locations for the Sealing Magic Array.

In his camouflaged state, Chen Mo quietly moved toward those locations.

Not long after he started moving, Chen Mo encountered Ore-Devouring Rats. Ore-Devouring Rats were large, looking like ordinary rats but with bodies the size of small dogs. Their teeth were exceptionally white and sharp. Their attack method was biting, and if they bit a player, the damage was considerable. The bitten player would also be poisoned, reducing attack speed and accuracy. This poison could stack; being bitten multiple times would leave a player either dead or severely weakened.

Ordinary Ore-Devouring Rats were level 16 monsters. Level 17 Ore-Devouring Rats were very rare. Chen Mo encountered over a hundred level 16 Ore-Devouring Rats before seeing one level 17 Ore-Devouring Rat.

The level 17 Ore-Devouring Rat was undoubtedly an elite version. It was larger than the level 16 ones, and its fur actually shimmered with a faint metallic glow. It was clearly a monster not to be trifled with.

Chen Mo had no interest in testing their strength. In his camouflaged state, he quietly avoided the Ore-Devouring Rats and moved forward.

Arriving at the first speculated location, Chen Mo did not find the Sealing Magic Array.

Moving on to the next location, Chen Mo encountered his first Ore Giant.

The Ore Giant was two meters tall, its body composed of various colored ores stacked together. However, just from appearance, these ores seemed loosely stacked, as if one strike could scatter the two-meter-tall Ore Giant.

But this was an illusion. The Ore Giant’s Defense was not low at all. As a level 18 monster, it had a full 30,000 Health Points. High Defense and long Health made it very troublesome to fight.

Then, at the second speculated location, in a spacious Great Hall filled with Ore Giants, Chen Mo found the Sealing Magic Array.

System Notification: You have discovered an ancient Magic Array. Inside, a powerful monster is sealed. Do you wish to release it?

“Release!”

The System Notification appeared. Chen Mo glanced at the large group of Ore Giants around him and made a sudden decision.

Ore Giants had high Defense and long Health, but their movement speed was slow. The Heinous Crime Title also had an attribute that increased the Movement Speed Cap by 5 points. The Great Hall was spacious, unlike the narrow mine tunnels, so he did not have to worry about being surrounded.

“Roar!”

Gray light flowed and flashed on the Sealing Magic Array. After the light faded, a massive stone figure appeared within the array. As soon as it appeared, it let out a furious roar. The entire Mining Area Second Floor trembled faintly from this roar.

Area Elite, Ore Giant Chieftain!

After confirming the release, Chen Mo quickly retreated, carefully observing the Area Elite he had unleashed.

This Area Elite looked similar to an ordinary Ore Giant, and its name was almost the same, just with an added suffix.

However, as an Area Elite, the Ore Giant Chieftain’s size was more than twice that of a normal Ore Giant. The ores that composed its body seemed roughly refined, making its ore body very solid. Upon closer inspection, it even had a metallic sheen. Its Defense was definitely not comparable to that of an ordinary Ore Giant.

“If only I had reached level 15 a bit earlier.”

Chen Mo felt a bit regretful. If he had reached level 15 two or three hours earlier, he would have had quite a bit of Blood of Curse. He could have used it on the Area Elite to reduce its Attributes. Then, Chen Mo could have tried to test the Ore Giant Chieftain’s Attributes.

But now, the Blood of Curse he had was reclaimed by the System after midnight. Without using Blood of Curse, the Area Elite’s Attributes were terrifyingly high, almost invincible. Testing it would be a waste of time. Chen Mo chose to release it only because he wanted to see this guy with his own eyes, to prepare himself a little.

The large group of Ore Giants around him shouted and moved to surround Chen Mo, clearly intending to trap him. Chen Mo unhesitatingly used his Camouflage Skill to quickly escape.

The effect of the Power of Concealment was indeed powerful. Under the Heinous Crime Title, even the Area Elite lost sight of Chen Mo.

Although it was only a level 18 Area Elite, the fact that Chen Mo’s Novice Level Camouflage Skill could fool it was enough to show the exceptional effect of the Power of Concealment.

Realizing this, Chen Mo immediately decided to start hunting Area Elites alone that night.

However, Chen Mo knew it would not be easy. After he left, if no players came to this area within an hour, the Area Elite would be resealed, and the location of the Sealing Magic Array would change. Chen Mo would then have to search for the Sealing Magic Array again.

There were only a few places in the Mining Area Second Floor that could accommodate a Sealing Magic Array. With the Heinous Crime Title, finding the Sealing Magic Array was a minor issue. Chen Mo was more concerned about how much Blood of Curse he could obtain.

With his Power of Annihilation, he did not need to gather enough Blood of Curse to kill the Area Elite. But because there was a 3-level difference, he needed to obtain as much Blood of Curse as possible.

“My online time is too short.”

Based on the amount of Blood of Curse he obtained each day over the past three days, Chen Mo felt that farming Blood of Curse alone was too time-pressured.

But no matter what, he had to give it a try. Once he saw the results, he could make other plans later.

Monsters at night were stronger than during the day. Chen Mo did not need to stay up late killing monsters now. After camouflaging and moving to a relatively safe place, he chose to log out and rest.

After waking up during the day, he continued practicing the movements for setting Traps. After lunch, Chen Mo entered the Game again.

The location was still the Mining Area Second Floor, but this time the focus was not on leveling up. Instead, he needed to farm Blood of Curse. For pure leveling, he could just stay near the entrance of the second floor, killing monsters back and forth. But to farm Blood of Curse, Chen Mo had to start fighting Ore-Devouring Rats and even Ore Giants; otherwise, he could not obtain more Blood of Curse.

Chen Mo quietly killed Ore Monsters for three hours. After obtaining nearly forty portions of Blood of Curse from the Ore Monsters, he began to go deeper and engage with Ore-Devouring Rats.

Based on his experience from the past three days, although he could still get a few more portions of Blood of Curse from Ore Monsters, it would take too much time and was not worth it.

Against level 16 Ore-Devouring Rats, Chen Mo, equipped with the Heinous Crime Title, did not find it particularly difficult. However, by looking at the damage Big Fatty took, Chen Mo knew how powerful the Ore-Devouring Rats were.

Each attack from an Ore-Devouring Rat could reduce Big Fatty’s Health Points by nearly 500. Especially when two Ore-Devouring Rats attacked together, Big Fatty’s Health Points dropped rapidly.

Big Fatty fought back hard, but the Level Suppression from the six-level difference was starting to show clearly. Although Big Fatty’s attack damage was over 500, the actual damage dealt was significantly reduced. A normal attack could only deal a maximum of less than 300 damage to an Ore-Devouring Rat.

Chen Mo switched to the Frenzied Hand Crossbow and had become much more proficient at setting Traps, so his output had improved considerably. Killing an Ore-Devouring Rat with 13,000 Health Points took only a little over ten seconds. This speed was astonishingly fast; if other Players knew, they would be astounded.

But Big Fatty’s Health Points kept dropping. For every Ore-Devouring Rat killed, it lost nearly 2,000 Health Points. This was even with Chen Mo intentionally drawing Aggro; otherwise, the loss would have been greater.

Big Fatty had 120,000 Health Points, but at this rate of loss, it would not be long before its Health Points were almost gone.

The Flower Demon Battle Spirit lazily lay on top of Big Fatty’s head. Chen Mo knew this guy was not very reliable at the moment.

Big Fatty had died four days ago. Although the Flower Demon Battle Spirit did not die because of it, it clearly suffered significant damage.

She always lazily lay on Big Fatty’s head. At first, Chen Mo did not notice anything wrong. It was only after Resurrection, while killing monsters in the Mining Area Second Floor, when Big Fatty’s Health Points dropped to 50% and she still did not move, that Chen Mo realized something was amiss.

At the Ore-Devouring Rat spawn location, Chen Mo also killed for three hours, obtaining nearly fifty portions of Blood of Curse, before heading toward the higher-level Ore Giants.

The Flower Demon Battle Spirit seemed to have recovered a bit. She healed Big Fatty twice during that time; otherwise, Big Fatty’s Health Points really would not have held up.

Then, when fighting Ore Giants, the gap between Big Fatty and high-level monsters became completely apparent!

When an Ore Giant attacked Chen Mo, it dealt less than 300 damage. But when it hit Big Fatty, it dealt around 1,000 damage.

Moreover, Ore Giants had high Defense, long Health, and could even consume ores to regenerate Health. They were very difficult to kill. Even with Chen Mo and Big Fatty, plus a Mutant Slime, it took nearly a minute to kill one Ore Giant.

However, the chance of obtaining Blood of Curse after killing an Ore Giant was quite high. Almost every five Ore Giants killed, Chen Mo could obtain one portion of Blood of Curse.

But the problem was that Big Fatty’s Health Points simply could not keep up. Chen Mo had to let Big Fatty rest to the side after killing each Ore Giant, while he soloed the Ore Giant himself.

If he were not equipped with the Heinous Crime Title, Chen Mo at level 15 soloing a level 18 Ore Giant would be very tough, even with his quite excellent equipment.

In the Game, even monsters of the same level usually required a reasonably equipped party to handle easily. Chen Mo’s equipment was strong, but his output was not much higher than that of a party’s output. Moreover, the Ore Giant was three levels higher than him.

Without Big Fatty’s help, Chen Mo took nearly a minute and a half to kill one Ore Giant.

This time… Chen Mo sighed. It seemed that under the Level Suppression, Big Fatty could hardly play a significant role anymore.

He wondered if there was a way in the Game to increase a Hunter’s Pet Level. Otherwise, Big Fatty would really be phased out soon.

While killing Ore Giants to collect Blood of Curse, Chen Mo also searched for the Sealing Magic Array.

The Sealing Magic Array was not hard to find. Chen Mo checked two places and found the Sealing Magic Array again.

“Not much time left today. It’s time to summon the Area Elite and give it a try!”

After clearing all the Ore Giant monsters around the Sealing Magic Array, Chen Mo looked at his remaining Game time and the amount of Blood of Curse in his backpack, and decided to have a real encounter with the Mining Area Second Floor’s Area Elite!