Chapter 351 – Pygmy Ring
Nie Yan couldn’t summon Lil’ Gold in such a confined space, fearing his immense weight would cause the wooden building to collapse.
Nie Yan glanced at his skill bar. Killing one of the Elites in a short time was no problem, but he was afraid the second would alert the other Arachne over. Then, he would be completely surrounded.
It was mandatory to kill both Elite Arachne before they could rally their comrades!
Nie Yan’s eyes lit up when his gaze fell on Divine Recruitment. He had a plan!
Nie Yan returned to the second floor. He opened Divine Recruitment and chose to employ the Rank 5 Paladin Khalisi, who had over 3,600 health and 150% of his other stats. With an employment fee of 300 gold/hr, he had to make every second count!
A silver-armoured Paladin wielding a greatsword emerged before Nie Yan. She was taller than him by a head with a lean and muscular build.
“Greetings, sir Devil Slayer! How may I be of service?” Khalisi asked in a respectful tone. Her mission, like the other Paladins from the Divine Recruitment skill, was to serve the Devil Slayer with absolute loyalty.
Nie Yan’s party size increased by one. His newest member, Khalisi, would do anything he tasked her with. Her combat strength was unquestionable, in part thanks to the powerful skills at her disposal. There were over 20 blessings and 10 basic attack skills, including Holy Strike, Divine Punishment, and Purification.
Nie Yan had Khalisi cast five blessings on him, increasing all his stats by roughly 20%.
Nie Yan entered stealth and climbed back up to the third floor. He carefully hid in a corner.
The two Arachne Guards patrolling the third floor didn’t detect Nie Yan’s presence.
Nie Yan ordered Khalisi to climb up to the third floor. Her steps were purposefully loud to alert the two Arachne Guards. They immediately charged toward this intruder.
Khalisi greeted them with a swing of her greatsword, Holy Strike! Her blade lit up with a brilliant radiance.
At this moment, Nie Yan took action.
Gale Ambush!
Shadow Slaughter!
Apocalyptic Extinction!
Nie Yan dashed toward Arachne Ilvitch like a gust of wind and struck it in the back of the head with Smothering Strike.
The flames around Zennarde’s Sword flared as Nie Yan followed up with Backstab, Eviscerate, and Lacerate.
−928
−939
−923…
Arachne Ilvitch was also inflicted with bleed, poison, and burn damage along with numerous other debuffs from Apocalyptic Extinction. Its health rapidly plummeted. The nearby Arachne Israel also took 30% splash damage from Shadow Slaughter.
Nie Yan’s nerves were stretched taut. He absolutely couldn’t allow these two Arachne to call for help!
Just as Arachne Ilvitch was about to break free from the stun, Nie Yan activated Extreme Intimidate, causing it to freeze in place.
Khalisi had also taken Arachne Israel to half-health by launching all the basic attack skills in her arsenal.
Nie Yan repeatedly slashed and stabbed with Zennarde’s Sword. He activated Blast, blowing Arachne Ilvitch several steps back, and then circled around and slashed its neck with Cut Throat.
−1656
−2478!
Arachne Ilvitch collapsed to the floor.
A cry escaped Arachne Israel’s throat when it saw its companion die.
At this moment, Khalisi briefly immobilized Arachne Israel with a Charge, creating the opportunity for Nie Yan to dash in and stun it with Concussive Blow.
Nie Yan’s Shadow Slaughter and Khali’s attacks had already shaved away most of Arachne Israel’s health.
Nie Yan unleashed a final flurry of attacks on Arachne Israel’s back, while Khalisi slashed away at the front. Her attacks weren’t to be underestimated. She was fully capable of dealing over 1,000 damage with each blow of her sword.
When the stun from Concussive Blow wore off, Arachne Israel stumbled a bit before falling to the floor.
Nie Yan collected the equipment that dropped on the ground. Sadly, they were restricted to the Evil Faction, so he could only sell them when he returned to Valitin Village.
Looking out the window sill, Nie Yan breathed out a sigh of relief. The sound of fighting hadn’t alerted the other Arachne.
Nie Yan walked toward the Dark Gold treasure chest, hoping it would give him something useful. He bent down and started opening it.
About a minute later, the chest popped open with a click.
Nie Yan reached inside and felt two items. He pulled out the first which appeared to be a ring.
Pygmy Ring (Dark Gold): Special Item
Properties: Cloaking +20
Pygmy Transformation: Shrinks the player to one-third of their original size, greatly increasing their hiding ability and preventing them from being detected for 1 hour. Cooldown: 1 day
Restrictions: None
Nie Yan’s eyebrows jumped in pleasant surprise. It was a special item which allowed him to shrink down to a third of his normal size. He imagined it would come in handy in some very specific situations, allowing him to hide in places people would never think of. Not to mention it enhanced his hiding ability and prevented him from being detected by a player’s Awareness.
Nie Yan could already figure out some of the obvious uses for this Pygmy Ring. Its more unconventional uses would be revealed with time and research. He tossed it into his bag.
Nie Yan jumped up in fright when he examined the second item he pulled out of the chest. It was a skeletal hand!
Cursed Arachne Hand (Fate Item)
Description: Summons a 16-sided die. 1–8 will inflict the player with a curse. 9–16 will reward the player with a blessing.
Note: This item will disappear if it isn’t used within 20 seconds.
It was a Fate Item!
Fate Items were more commonplace in the Underworld. This was because Necromancers had a skill that could affect the rolls of Fate Dice. Many Necromancers liked to take a gamble with Fate Items since the rewards were usually well worth the risk.
Nie Yan felt a headache after seeing another Fate Item. He recalled his painful experience with the Cursed Skull.1
It was easy to invite disaster when testing your luck!
A middle roll was bearable since both the curses and rewards wouldn’t be too severe. However, a low roll like a 1 or a 2 would instantly consign a player to their doom.
Nie Yan would be more inclined to try his luck if he had a skill like the Necromancers that could influence the roll of a die. Coin tosses were much less fun. Even some Necromancers would be forced to delete their characters and start over after a particularly unlucky encounter with a Fate Item.
The Cursed Arachne Hand pulsed with a strange energy as if it was beckoning something.
Just as Nie Yan was about to give up on the Cursed Arachne Hand, the ball of light beside him began dancing excitedly around the skeletal hand.
Nie Yan suddenly recalled a rumour he heard in the previous timeline. Apparently, souls could affect the tides of destiny. This was why Necromancers, the class with the closest ties to the occult, could influence the outcome of Fate Dice. Looking at the ball of light, he began to wonder if Bennett’s Soul could help improve his odds.
Just as the Cursed Arachne Hand was about to disappear, Nie Yan gritted his teeth and activated it. Time suddenly froze to a standstill as a giant bone-white die with 16 sides emerged floating in the air before him. The ancient characters carved into its facets glowed with a bewitching red light.
Bennett’s Soul was still floating around Nie Yan. It was unaffected by the frozen time.
Nie Yan’s mind trembled. It appeared the rumour he heard about souls being able to affect Fate Items was true!
The white Fate Die began spinning at a dizzying speed. The rapidly changing numbers turned into a blur.
Nie Yan took a deep breath as he stared at the Fate Die. He would be lying if he said he wasn’t nervous.
Nie Yan suddenly had an idea. He let out a shout and activated Eye of Truth.
His eyes flashed with a profound light. The numbers were still a blur. However, he could vaguely make some of them out. It appeared the die was spinning a bit slower.
Fate Dice really couldn’t be controlled. Players could only use a variety of methods to increase the odds of a favourable roll.
Relying on his intuition, Nie Yan reached out his hand to touch the die.
“Stop!” Nie Yan shouted, whereupon the spinning die immediately came to a halt.
Nie Yan focused on the number displayed in front of him.
15, it was a shocking roll!
Nie Yan’s heart was beating rapidly. He was incredibly excited.
The die melted into the air.
You have been rewarded by destiny, Health +20%.
What a frightening increase!
Nie Yan checked his health. It had risen to over 3,000! He could be considered quite sturdy among Thieves. It was a pity he was a leather-armoured class. If he were a heavy-armoured class like a Fighter, he would be unparalleled at his current level.
Time started moving again as everything returned to normal. Nie Yan couldn’t calm down for a long time. He had gained 500 health without having to level up at all! Just how wonderful was this?
1. Nie Yan finds the Cursed Skull at the end of Chapter 77. He rolls the Fate Dice it summons in Chapter 78.