BXBX NOVEL Chapter 112: Chapter112-Dead Moon Harbinger
[Description]: Upon activating this skill, you can manipulate objects or creatures with your mind at will. The larger the object or the stronger the creature, the shorter the duration of control. Consumes 3500 MP, no cooldown.
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[Steel Sword lv30 (MAX)]
[Description]: When activated, you can summon a metallic giant sword, dealing 163000 damage to your target. Cooldown time: 5 minutes, consumes 5000 MP.
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After reviewing the skill information, John fell into contemplation.
"Steel Sword" is a straightforward damage-dealing skill, nothing much to say about it.
What's intriguing is the "Mind Control" ability.
After casting the skill, the user can manipulate objects and creatures with their thoughts.
If one were to merely look at the skill description, it seems like a standard control skill, nothing out of the ordinary.
Yet, John harbored different ideas.
For instance, if the user's mind power could reach a terrifyingly high level, could this skill turn others into puppets, or achieve feats like moving mountains and seas, or even altering the course of stars?
Theoretically, it's not impossible, but the required mind power would be immensely formidable.
Indeed, John's speculation was a bit far-fetched, but such considerations were still far beyond his current capabilities.
Shaking his head to clear the clutter in his mind, John moved forward to collect the equipment dropped by the monsters.
The group of monsters dropped a total of fifteen pieces of equipment.
Among them were eight iron-tier items, five bronze-tier items, and notably, two were of silver-tier.
The high drop rate was surprising enough to make John feel like luck was on his side, a true burst of good fortune.
Unfortunately, among these spoils, only three iron-tier items and one bronze-tier necklace were usable by John.
The rest, including the two silver-tier items, were either too high-level or belonged to other classes, making them unsuitable for his use.
He had no choice but to sell these items for money.
Despite this, John was quite satisfied with his haul.
He had significantly updated his gear, and his spirit attribute had reached an impressive 1800 points.
Although most of the equipment was of lower level and quality, it was still an improvement over the lv15 gear he started with, which was better than nothing.
John still retained a few lower-level pieces of equipment, not because of their stats but because of their powerful skills, which he couldn't bear to part with.
Items like the Phantom Cloak and Necrostaff had rare and highly valuable skills, bordering on being top-tier.
Until he found suitable replacements or upgrades, John preferred to sacrifice some attribute points rather than swap these pieces out.
After collecting all materials and equipment into his storage ring, John didn't linger.
His figure quickly vanished into the Slaughter Forest as he used his perceptive abilities to swiftly search for the dungeon's boss, ready to complete the secret realm.
Now at lv25, John had reached the highest level restriction of this secret realm.
Although he could still gain some experience, he wouldn't be able to advance to lv26 within this dungeon.
Such were the rules of secret realms, similar to how awakeners below the level limit could freely enter, but those above the limit were barred—there was no workaround.
Thus, remaining in this place no longer held any purpose for John.
His current mission was to locate the boss of this secret realm, complete it as swiftly as possible, achieve a high rating, and claim the completion rewards.
John navigated through the Slaughter Forest, his movements as agile and unpredictable as a monkey leaping through towering trees.
His eyes shimmered with a faint white glow and blood mist, while his formidable mind power spread out like a vast net, encompassing everything within a kilometer radius.
He dubbed this ability "Life Perception," a unique skill or mystical technique he conceived.
It allowed him to use it at will, without any cooldown, clearly transcending the realms of skill fusion techniques and conventional skills.
As John moved through the Slaughter Forest, the vague silhouettes of monsters appeared within his perception.
They were mostly low-level creatures; he had already decimated most of the elite monsters in this area.
Not wanting to waste time, John decisively ventured deeper into the Slaughter Forest, where the monsters were not only more numerous but also significantly stronger than those on the periphery.
The sounds of blood flowing and hearts beating echoed in his ears, and the presence of both strong and weak beings quickly filtered through his mind.
Some ill-fated monsters along the way attempted to attack John, seeking to kill this intruder.
But with John's current strength, these creatures posed no threat to him whatsoever.
However, after spending an hour thoroughly scouring the Slaughter Forest, John still had not encountered the boss.
It was as if the secret realm had no boss at all.
John furrowed his brow, convinced that a secret realm couldn't be without a Boss.
There must be some place he had overlooked.
After effortlessly dispatching a ghoul that lunged at him, he stepped forward to collect the dropped equipment.
Suddenly, as he gazed at the ghoul's bloodied corpse, a spark of realization hit him.
His own combination of Mental Perception and Blood Sensing, dubbed "Life Perception," was indeed powerful but only capable of detecting living beings.
It couldn't sense the dead or undead-based creatures.
Could it be that the Boss of this secret realm wasn't among the living? This thought had barely formed in his mind when a strong sense of danger washed over him.
Simultaneously, a slash brimming with the aura of death cut through the air, aimed directly at John.
With focused eyes, a pale cyan shield materialized around John as he swiftly dodged to the side.
"Whoosh!"
The gray slash grazed past John, severing a large tree behind him effortlessly.
It continued to slice through four or five more trees before gradually dissipating.
John's gaze turned icy as he looked towards his assailant.
It was a humanoid creature cloaked in a gray mantle.
It wasn't particularly tall, roughly the size of an average human, but it possessed three eyes.
These eyes, taking up most of its face, were pitch black, with dark mist faintly billowing from them.
The three-eyed creature held a silver-white crescent-shaped staff, its entire being shrouded in an aura of death.
[Name: Dead Moon Harbinger (secret realm BOSS)]
[Level: lv25]
[HP: 360000]
[Spirit: 5435]
[Strength: 4289]
[Defense: 2160]
[Speed: 753]
[Skills: Underworld Realm Summoning, Dead Moon Corruption, Lunar Restoration, Death Mist, Moonshadow…]
...
John's eyes flickered with insight.
No wonder he had spent so long searching without finding this creature; it turned out to be a necro-based monster.
Such beings typically hail from the underworld realm.
They lack life and consciousness, mostly devoid of sentience, constituting a horde that knows only slaughter.
However, the creature before him seemed different, capable of concealing itself and launching surprise attacks.
With all the commotion John had caused in the Slaughter Forest, this monster had likely been aware of him for some time, choosing to remain hidden until just now.
Clearly, it possessed some level of intelligence.
Noticing John's gaze upon it, the Dead Moon Harbinger let out a chilling, mocking laugh.
It sinisterly said, "I didn't expect you to dodge that. Impressive. I can offer you a chance to follow me now."
John wasn't surprised that the Dead Moon Harbinger could speak.
In secret realms, some high-level monsters are no different from humans.
It's only after a secret realm becomes a dungeon that they transform into mindless creatures, similar to a Ghost Wizard.
John scoffed, replying, "You think you're worthy? A mere wretch that can't even leave its own secret realm."
Hearing John's unreserved taunts, the face of the Dead Moon Harbinger darkened instantly.
John's words were like salt on its wounds, particularly for a being trapped within a secret realm.
The Dead Moon Harbinger's three eyes fixed on John with a bone-chilling intensity.
Lifting its staff, it sneered, "Since you seem to disdain living, I shall kill you first. Then, your soul will remain here forever, becoming one of us."
As the Dead Moon Harbinger's words echoed, the black mist in its eyes violently surged, exuding a dense aura of death.
A vast gray magic circle materialized before it.
Subsequently, a figure clad in armor, robust in stature and wielding a long-handled greatsword, emerged from the circle.
Standing five to six meters tall, it was entirely encased in black armor, save for a pair of crimson eyes.
Thick waves of deathly energy oozed from its form, turning the soil to a dark brown hue at a visible rate.
The mere touch of the gray mist caused the surrounding flora to rapidly wither and die.
In just a few breaths, an area of several tens of meters around this black-armored creature had become a realm of death.
[Name: Necrowarrior (Elite)]
[Level: lv25]
[HP: 270000]
[Strength: 3214]
[Stamina: 2891]
[Defense: 1730]
[Speed: 661]
[Skills: Death Combo, Malevolent Strike, Death Dance, Evil Rampage, Ethereal…]