GAMMT - Chapter 26
Chapter 26: The Wind Tunnel
Before opening the backpack, Fu Chuan already knew that a bronze-grade bag like this would only have four slots and a weight limit of about five kilograms.
This meant it could only hold four categories of items, and their total weight had to be under five kilograms. Anything heavier couldn't be stored. The limitations were quite significant; a single firearm could take up all the space, leaving no room for anything else. However, there were clever ways to use it. For instance, spider silk had almost no weight. She could release a large amount in advance, stuff it into the bag, and then pull it all out at once when needed. The effect would be…
Fu Chuan had already devised a plan for it. When she opened the backpack, all four slots were full.
Slot 1: Wind Arcane Skill Book, Walking Speed Boost.
Slot 2: Eight copper tickets (each with a face value of one million).
Slot 3: Level 5 Green Equipment, Cloud Wolf Armor. Stats: Agility +300, Constitution +250, Strength +180. Skill: When attacked, a passive 20% chance to trigger a defensive shield that reduces damage by 20%. Weight: 2 kg. Current damage: 40%.
Slot 4: Level 1 Equipment Enhancement Item, Pandora's Box Fragment (A defective fragment of Pandora's Box, can be used to enhance and upgrade low-level equipment. Only for Green and Bronze equipment. Success rate for Green equipment is 10%, for Bronze equipment is 50%).
Killing one person had earned her nearly a lifetime's inheritance from Xie Keli's mother. This wasn't the first time Fu Chuan had done something like this; she even felt the hunter's assets were a bit meager. But she quickly realized the small amount of copper tickets was because the backpack only contained what he carried on him. He was a free man, unlike her, who was currently unregistered and didn't even have a bank account. He had an account, and most of his wealth was likely in it. If it hadn't been converted to green currency, he would easily have tens of millions of copper coins.
Fu Chuan had been completely broke, so this sudden influx of cash was a welcome boost. But the real treasures were in the other three slots.
She had expected the green armor, as Chen Lixing had used it to block her attack. Armor was one of the most common drops from looting a body, so getting it wasn't strange. What surprised Fu Chuan was that Chen Lixing had a Pandora's Box Fragment hidden on him.
Pandora's Box was a blue-tier item, so its fragments were downgraded to green. The success rate was low; 10% was like throwing your equipment away, because failure meant the original item would explode. Players mockingly called it a green-tier money pit. The success rate on bronze equipment was higher, but using a green-tier resource to upgrade a bronze item felt like a waste. Besides, ordinary bronze equipment had poor potential, and upgrading it would just result in a trash-tier green item, which was pointless.
So… Fu Chuan looked at her Spider Silk Ring.
Should she risk it?
If it failed, the ring would be destroyed.
A 50% chance was actually quite high, but that also meant a 50% chance of failure.
But what if it succeeded?
Fu Chuan calmed herself and first retrieved the bow and arrows she had grabbed along with the body from the airship.
The bow was what Chen Lixing had been holding. When he died, his weapon was outside his inventory, dropping as a direct reward that didn't require looting. Fu Chuan had casually slung it over her back at the time, and it had come down with her in the water.
Level 5 Bronze Bow (with quiver). Stats: Agility +80, Strength +50, Constitution +20, Attack Speed +3%, Range +25 meters (attached quiver can hold 25 arrows). Weight: 2 kg. Current damage: 25%.
Weapons were indeed the hardest equipment to drop. Even someone as strong as Chen Lixing only had a level 5 bronze weapon; he couldn't get anything of a higher grade to drop.
However, the world of Arcane Throne had no so-called class skill books. All class skills had to be learned through painstaking practice and enlightenment, but only the exceptionally talented could achieve that. Most people had to rely on academy education, with no shortcuts. This was the key reason why academies were the core of this world.
The Walking Speed Boost Chen Lixing had used was a decent wind-type arcane spell that directly increased running speed. But Fu Chuan didn't plan to learn it, as it would consume a skill point.
She had plans for her future and wouldn't waste skill points carelessly. This spell was only useful for walking and had limited applications otherwise. Yet, for most people, it was a great escape tool, which drove its price up. Upgrading it later would be a huge investment. Fu Chuan believed that in the early stages, stats were king. There was no need to learn a low-level skill that was useful early on but became obsolete later, especially since her agility was already high enough. She wasn't greedy for that little walking boost.
So Fu Chuan put it away and equipped both the Cloud Wolf Armor and the bow, binding them to herself. She wouldn't use the bow for now, storing it in her backpack. The backpack itself became invisible, so it wouldn't be a physical burden.
After all this, her stats, which had already increased by an average of 100 points after leveling up three times, received another significant boost.
Level: 7.
Main Stats.
Mental Power: 1010 (Initial Mental Power 1+99)
Strength: 631 (Initial Strength 1+18)
Constitution: 753 (Initial Constitution 3+15)
Agility: 2722 (Initial Agility 2+25)
Skill Points: Arcane Missile LV3, Flame Blast LV2, Forest Thorns LV1.
"Green equipment gives such a huge stat boost, adding hundreds of points at a time. No wonder the nobles are so powerful. They have so much equipment. The direct descendants of the Xie Clan, like the sons Xie An values most, probably have a full set of green gear. Even if they were the same level as me, it wouldn't be a problem for their three main stats to all be over three thousand."
Fu Chuan knew there was a significant gap between her and them, so she didn't dare get arrogant. But she also wasn't going to risk upgrading the Spider Silk Ring. It was her biggest trump card and most versatile tool right now. She didn't want to destroy it for a fifty-fifty chance; otherwise, her survivability would drop by at least 70%.
Fu Chuan suppressed her impatience and began releasing spider silk into her backpack.
Since it didn't take up any weight, she could release a large amount, drinking potions to replenish her consumed mental power as she went.
About ten minutes later, Fu Chuan's high agility allowed her to hear a commotion inside the cave.
It was the sound of locust wings beating against the air.
There were a lot of them. Clearly, the little fatty Groundhog was quite good at pulling mobs. She had to act now, or he might not be able to handle so many of them.
After all, she didn't know if his earth-burrowing skill was off cooldown yet.
Fu Chuan immediately lit the firewood. She summoned a small Arcane Missile in her palm to accelerate the burning and used wind elements to fan the flames…
Thick black smoke billowed into the cave.
Inside the wind tunnel, Groundhog had already put on a mask to avoid inhaling the toxic fumes. He was actually very nervous and wanted to burrow into the ground immediately, even wanting to contact Fu Chuan outside to report the situation. But then he remembered that for some reason, there was no signal in this godforsaken place.
"This is killing me. I'm not going to screw this up, am I?"
Groundhog was uncertain, even considering just running away. After all, this human girl might not be able to successfully cooperate with him to finish this wave.
Humans… they were always better at talking than doing. And many were selfish, disregarding the lives of others. Even teammates… could be betrayed.
Just as Groundhog was thinking this, he saw thick black smoke rolling in from outside.
It was highly efficient, and the timing was perfect, as if she had decisively released the smoke the moment she sensed he had successfully pulled the mobs.
This was clearly the attitude of someone serious about clearing a dungeon, not like the humans he had known before.
He paused for a moment, his eyes brightening slightly. Gritting his teeth, he gave the massive swarm of locusts chasing him a middle claw, then started running, wiggling his short, chubby tail and leading them on a detour through the billowing black smoke.
Outside, Fu Chuan listened to the sounds to predict the situation. She noticed the locust swarm didn't come out as expected.
Was there a problem?
But Fu Chuan quickly realized the little fatty was leading them on a tour through the black smoke.
Ah, this little fatty…
After some thought, Fu Chuan decisively released spider silk at the cave entrance.
A moment later, Groundhog couldn't hold on any longer and had to sprint towards the entrance, thinking that she had better be able to handle this. Otherwise, with such a large swarm of locusts, they might not be able to escape.
But as he neared the entrance, he suddenly heard a voice from outside.
"Can you burrow now? If not, dig a hole under the entrance and climb out. Don't cross that line. I remember you groundhogs have that ability."
Groundhog heard this and thought, why burrow? What line? I'm about to get out, this isn't part of the plan.
But he was quick-witted and suddenly thought of the spider silk. He dove forward, his claws digging furiously into the earth. He shouted to the outside, "I'm not a groundhog, I'm a Battle Earth Rat!"
Soil flew as he quickly dug his way out, his fat rear end sticking up as he burrowed. His hind legs kicked dirt, covering his backside.
These locusts had been lured out by him and were already in a killing frenzy. The toxic smoke made them uncomfortable, weak, and pained. Being pregnant, they were extremely irritable and desperately needed organic flesh to nourish themselves. Seeing the little rat trying to escape infuriated them, and a massive swarm dove towards his rump.
Ahhh!
"Don't bite my butt!" He dug even faster, using his hind legs to kick soil and fill the hole behind him.
The locusts were flying creatures, not burrowers. They couldn't get through the soil. Already agitated, they didn't think twice and flew out of the cave entrance.
You little rat, are you blind? There's an exit right here, you…
A swarm of female locusts buzzed out angrily, only to slam headfirst into the spider silk net at the entrance.
There were many of them, and Fu Chuan was already holding one end of the thread. As they rushed out, their combined weight was like a net full of fish in the sea. When she could no longer hold the line, she decisively released the silk attached to the edges of the cave. Her fingers moved like a spider demon's, releasing all the silk from her backpack at once, completely enveloping about two thousand locusts. But behind them, another three thousand or so buzzed out.
So many!
Fu Chuan had originally estimated two to three thousand. The ones she had trapped definitely couldn't break free from the net. They were already weakened and, once caught, would be continuously smoked, left to die. But there were more behind them… she hadn't expected the number to double, but thankfully, these locusts were also very weak.
Just then, Groundhog also emerged from the ground, scurrying over to the bonfire and grabbing a firearm larger than himself. He loaded a new component onto it.
Fu Chuan raised an eyebrow at the sight.
A fire-breathing muzzle attachment for a firearm, but it had to be used with special ammunition.
Not only that, but Groundhog had already swapped to the flammable ammunition and, after loading it with a click-clack sound, decisively slapped a scroll onto the gun.
The scroll's effect was rather niche, and so was its name: Fire Breathing Scroll.
Then, with an air of dominance, Groundhog shouldered the gun and aimed it at the swarm of three thousand locusts.
"Tremble, little bugs!"
Voom!
The special ammunition erupted from the muzzle. Combined with the fire-breathing attachment and the scroll, the flamethrower effect was spectacular, shooting out like a fire dragon that roared towards the remaining three thousand locusts.
Direct incineration, high-temperature roasting.
The smell of barbecue was overwhelming. Fu Chuan saw it incinerate a third of them instantly, confirming her earlier judgment.
This little fatty was very strong. She couldn't beat him head-on, though if she wanted to escape, he wouldn't be able to catch her.
Groundhog unleashed his ultimate move, instantly killing a thousand weakened locusts. As his experience bar shot up, Fu Chuan aimed at the remaining ones.
A combination of wind, fire, and Forest Thorns.
Both were skilled at ranged attacks. After their first major volley killed more than half of them, they began to pull back and bombard from a distance.
"Hurry up and finish them! I didn't see a BOSS inside. Something feels off. I didn't go all the way in. I suspect there are a lot more in there."
Groundhog said to Fu Chuan as he fought.
Fu Chuan frowned. "So many? That's impossible. According to a normal breeding curve, their total number should only be about thirty percent higher than before. Most of the male locusts are out hunting. If you managed to lure out five thousand from just the outer area, then there must be at least fifty thousand female locusts inside."
"That many? No way, how do you know that? Are you just guessing?"
Groundhog was stunned, even suspicious of how she knew such a thing. It wasn't written in any books.
Of course, it wasn't in any books. But she had made her living by running dungeons and writing guides. She knew the biological attributes of many dungeon monsters like the back of her hand. How could she not know? But she couldn't explain it, and she was just as suspicious about the reason behind these abnormal numbers.
The information provided in the dungeons of Arcane Throne was always cryptic. If you missed a clue, you could easily die from such unexpected changes.
Fu Chuan made a mental note of this but increased her output.
The sooner they finished, the sooner they could leave.
"Forget about the BOSS, let's get out of here," she said decisively. After killing these five thousand, they would have more than enough resources.
Just as the two were about to speed up and retreat, suddenly!
They both felt a wave of dizziness. Fu Chuan recovered quickly due to her high agility and immediately reacted. She saw a large shadow appear behind the remaining thousand weakened locusts. It was about the size of a green ox, flying out of the cave entrance. Its eyes were blood-red, locked onto them, and it was faintly releasing a special ability.
A stun debuff!
The BOSS was here?
"It's an elite leader, just like before, but this one is level 8!"
The one Fu Chuan had killed before was level 5. Now it had jumped to level 8?
"It's summoning mobs, quick…" Groundhog saw the large locust raise its antennae, about to make a sound…
Fu Chuan suddenly raised her hand, a bow appearing in it. She drew the string. Twang!
An arrow shot out swiftly… Thwack!
The arrow was fast, striking the large locust right in the throat. It didn't pierce through, as the level 8 mini-BOSS actually had some kind of leather armor on its neck, but it lodged in its throat, interrupting its screeching call.
Seizing the opportunity, Groundhog quickly bombarded it with bullets, aiming for its neck.
Not because the neck was its weakest point, but because they had to keep interrupting its summons. Otherwise, if the main force from inside came out, they would die if they didn't flee.
Fu Chuan noticed that Groundhog's bullets dealt over two hundred damage to the mini-BOSS, while her own attacks barely managed over one hundred.
The difference in their strength stats was too great.
This Groundhog must have focused on strength and constitution, while she had specialized too much in agility.
But this was also good.
Fu Chuan took command. "Keep hitting its neck. Cover me."
Cover you? We're both ranged attackers, what do you need cover for?
Groundhog didn't understand, but he felt this person seemed quite knowledgeable and full of tricks. She probably had a way to take down this BOSS.
Groundhog obediently followed her orders, continuously kiting and attacking the BOSS. The massive amount of experience from the small mobs caused both of their experience bars to surge, and they were both close to leveling up.
But Groundhog noticed that as Fu Chuan moved, she was lowering her damage output. Soon, the BOSS's aggro was almost entirely on him, and the pressure mounted.
"This isn't working. I can't withstand its stun, I'll…"
Before he could finish, he saw Fu Chuan raise her hand and fire an Azure Radiance Feather at the BOSS's abdomen.
It hit, dealing no significant damage, but it instantly interrupted its stun skill.
Groundhog: "You can do that?"
Fu Chuan: "When it uses its stun skill, its abdominal cavity resonates, and a wave of air comes out. The wild grass on the ground sways. Just hit its abdomen. If I can't interrupt it in time later, you do it yourself."
As she spoke, she turned invisible.
Groundhog had an Eagle Eye skill, but he couldn't see through Fu Chuan's invisibility. He held on for about ten seconds. Just as the BOSS pushed through the pressure and got closer, Groundhog was so scared he was about to run.
"Where are you, I…"
Suddenly!
The BOSS's head felt something was wrong and shook. But then a figure flashed into view.
The invisibility had worn off, but she had already used her spider silk to swing down from the cliff face, landing directly on its head.
Because she landed on its head, it had sensed her, which was why it shook its head just now. But… Fu Chuan had already viciously struck one of its eyes.
An Azure Radiance Feather directly burst the undefended eyeball.
After destroying one eye, she immediately swung back on her silk and shouted, "The other one!"
Groundhog understood. He quickly swiveled his gun and aimed at the BOSS, which was now defenseless and in pain from its ruptured eye. It thrashed its head, splattering blood, unable to attack them as it struggled to adjust to its monocular vision.
A perfect opportunity!
Groundhog's gun and Fu Chuan, drawing her bow in mid-air, both aimed…
Shots burst forth from front and back.
Bang!
The other eye exploded.
Success. With both eyes destroyed, the BOSS wailed a few times, no longer able to attack them as it couldn't lock on. Fu Chuan landed, and she and Groundhog, now free from worry, unleashed a frantic barrage of attacks. The damage piled up, and the level 8 elite mini-BOSS was down to its last sliver of health…
Almost there!
Just as they were about to kill it, suddenly… everything went black.
Stunned, a second stun.
What was happening?
Fu Chuan was shocked. When she opened her eyes, a second BOSS had flown out and was already upon them, pinning them to the ground.
In an instant, the two of them were like ants under its claws.
On the other side of the valley, a small team was descending. They had an airship, but they had been surrounded by a swarm of over three thousand locusts. Fearing they would be shot down, they were forced to land at one end of the valley. After getting off the airship, they began fighting the monsters. As they fought, they heard an echo from the valley.
It seemed to be coming from the other side.
"Sounds like a BOSS roaring. Is someone fighting a BOSS over there?"
"Quick, let's finish up here! We need to go steal the kill!"
"Ah Qi, use your scroll already, we can finish this faster."
"Yeah, yeah, Ah Qi, use your scroll!"
The person called Ah Qi frowned slightly but used it anyway.
After being pinned by the claws of the second level 8 locust BOSS, its mandibles lowered to bite down. Seeing his life on the line, Groundhog gritted his teeth and roared.
"Battlefield!"
Fu Chuan then saw an earthy yellow glow emanate from his body. A layer of metallic shell formed over his claws, which he extended to block the BOSS's mandibles, holding them back by sheer force.
His strength must have increased immensely.
Fu Chuan knew this was a talent skill of the Battle Earth Rats, but only those with a high bloodline possessed it. It seemed this little fatty was more formidable than she had imagined.
While Groundhog held back the mandibles, Fu Chuan was in a bad spot. As a human, her physical defense was inferior to Groundhog's. If not for the green armor absorbing some of the impact from being pounced on, she would be half-dead by now.
But! The tip of a claw was stabbing towards her neck.
This is it!
Fu Chuan lacked the strength to pry open the mandibles or the claws, but her hands were free. She flicked her wrist… and a strand of spider silk shot out, snagging the nearby bonfire. She pulled, and a large number of burning logs came crashing down, slamming into the BOSS's soft underbelly.
Awooo!!
The BOSS shrieked in pain, the burns causing it to leap back… Seizing the moment, both of them broke free and quickly created distance. Groundhog was about to shout for a retreat when he saw Fu Chuan… disappear.
She ran?
She turned invisible again. She must be escaping.
Seeing that the other, nearly dead BOSS had recovered a little, the two mini-bosses began communicating. The blinded one now had directions and started to lock onto Fu Chuan and Groundhog's positions.
We're doomed!
They couldn't get away; the locusts had wings!
And Fu Chuan could hear a massive buzzing sound from the wind tunnel entrance.
They were getting closer!
The main army was on its way…
Can't escape, can't win?
Groundhog knew the situation was dire and was also preparing to flee when he suddenly heard a mournful cry.
He froze and turned to look, just in time to see the blinded BOSS's stun skill being interrupted.
The invisible Fu Chuan hadn't fled at all. She had actively approached it and, with lightning speed, fired an Azure Radiance Feather directly into its wounded eye socket…
It shot through the eye socket and into its brain.
"Killed Level 8 Bronze Green-Brown Locust Elite Leader BOSS. Experience +5000!"
The experience was distributed. Although Fu Chuan dealt the final blow, it was allocated based on damage output, so they split it roughly in half.
And that half was exactly what they both needed… With a double ding, they both leveled up.
Then, in the instant she killed the BOSS and leveled up, Fu Chuan decisively smashed the Pandora's Box Fragment onto her Spider Silk Ring.
Desperate times called for desperate measures.
In a game, attempting an enhancement at a moment like this would have a slightly higher success rate than usual, because the system would recognize your contribution and reward you with a stat bonus. It was just that leveling up became much harder later on; it was probably easier in the early stages.
Fu Chuan seized the moment for a gamble.
Will it work?!
Voom!!! Just as he was about to make a desperate escape, Groundhog saw a flash of green light.
The green light was gentle, but Fu Chuan's stats soared!
Feathered Spider Silk Ring (Green Equipment): Agility +1000, Strength +300, Constitution +300. Skill: Spider Silk Steel Transformation.
My god, it went from a borderline-useless bronze-tier gem to a top-tier green one!
Super NICE!
Now Fu Chuan's stats had skyrocketed.
Her agility shot past 3700. She sprinted forward, her body moving at incredible speed, easily dodging the fireballs spat by the BOSS. And when its stun fell upon her… MISS!
Her agility was too high; its stun was ineffective.
"How much longer on your buff?"
"25 seconds!"
Seeing Fu Chuan's massive power boost, Groundhog's hope was rekindled, and he answered decisively.
"Hit its abdomen."
Fu Chuan directed Groundhog. With her superior agility, she took the lead, kiting and drawing aggro. The tables had turned, and now it was Groundhog's turn to deal damage from a safe distance.
The BOSS was taking a beating, its health bar dropping continuously. It wailed and began a frenzied assault, spitting fireballs relentlessly, but Fu Chuan dodged every single one perfectly. After about seven or eight shots…
"I'm almost out of ammo!" Groundhog shouted.
Out of ammo?
That wasn't good, but it was understandable. He probably hadn't expected to fight so many monsters in a small dungeon. Was this really a level 5 dungeon?
Fu Chuan: "It's fine, get ready!"
The health bar was almost empty… The BOSS seemed to sense it too. A red glow began to emanate from its body. Was it going berserk?
It dug its claws into the ground, its wings beating furiously, sending a wave of wind and fire rushing towards them.
A fan-shaped area-of-effect attack.
It was a perilous moment, but Fu Chuan suddenly pulled with both hands.
"Steel Transformation!"
A massive amount of her mental power was drained in an instant.
The previously transparent and tough spider silk in the air suddenly hardened, taking on a metallic silver sheen. With a sharp tug from Fu Chuan…
Snap! Crack!
The silk, which she had silently wrapped around its limbs and joints as she moved, all went taut…
We all know that a soft thread wrapped around a neck is harmless. But you can't pull it tight, or else… decapitation!
Snap! Crack!
All of the BOSS's limbs were instantly sliced off and dismembered.
It collapsed to the ground with a thud.
At the same time, Groundhog leaped up, landed on its head, and aimed at its eyes.
"Take this!"
Boom!!
The little fatty was impressive, dealing over a thousand points of damage in one shot.
Fu Chuan was inwardly surprised, thinking that the talents of these spirit races were indeed far superior to most humans. This kind of explosive power was a racial talent, whereas the proportion of humans with bloodlines was much lower than that of the spirit races.
Though, humans did have strength in numbers.
Its brains splattered out.
BOSS killed +1!
Two of them, just like that…
But Fu Chuan and Groundhog exchanged a look, glancing towards the wind tunnel and the other side of the valley.
The army of mobs from the wind tunnel was almost here, but the team that planned to steal their kill was also approaching.
However, both of them were severely depleted and had no time to recover their mental power. What should they do?
Groundhog subconsciously looked at Fu Chuan.
You're the cunning one, give us a plan!
Too many people had entered this dungeon. For such a small instance, 250 people was a lot. No wonder they kept running into opponents.
But this time, she didn't plan to run.
Without even thinking, Fu Chuan said, "Grab the main loot, then follow me!"
They had to loot the two BOSS drops, but they probably couldn't take the rest for now. They had nothing to carry it in.
"I do!"
Groundhog once again revealed his solid foundation, instantly collecting all the drops from the thousands of locusts. It was an instant collection, which meant he clearly had a one-click loot skill.
Fu Chuan marveled at the little fatty's skills while releasing her spider silk…
"Let's go!"
Just as Groundhog finished looting, Fu Chuan grabbed him by the tail…
What the hell!
She hauled him up to the top of the cliff.
The spider demon scaled the cliff, and in a flash, they were at the top. The two of them hid and carefully peeked down… From their high vantage point, they could clearly see a group of people approaching.
Groundhog was a little excited.
Time to sort through the loot, and they could watch the dogs bite each other down below!
"Hehehe! You really are cunning!"
Fu Chuan was speechless. "I was just being quick-witted to protect myself. How is that cunning?"
As Groundhog took out all the loot, he said, "Your quick-wittedness is instinctual. If your instincts are this devious, who else could be cunning but you?"
Fu Chuan: "???"
She would hold off on scolding him for now. The people below had arrived.
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