Chapter 36 – Cat Dad’s Bleeding Tactic
After a minute after the chaotic grinding, Xiaomao clicked his tongue and frowned, looking at the rain of equipment items that fell from his body.
Every time he killed something, random equipment and items were automatically collected into his inventory. However, once it was full, his body always ejected the excess items.
Even with the premium backpack expansion, it wasn’t enough to store everything.
As equipment items fell from the ceiling, they hit the heads of the gnoll mobs, who had been busy eating tunas and meat that Xiaomao had given them.
They looked up in anger. And then, they found Xiaomao.
The monsters barked while they chewed meat and fish in their mouth. But they couldn’t attack Xiaomao as the other gnolls in front of the prison passageway still tried to get inside.
Because of the equipment items on the ground, the gnolls kicked and stepped on them like how they stepped on the Mama Warden. Some of them kicked the random items toward the bottom of the stairs, where ve One had been stationing.
…
ve One only nced at the helmet, leather armor, and the other parts of Hyen Set equipment, but he returned his attention to the other gnolls in the hallway. He simply stood there and fired water bullets, leeching off the EXP from the kills.
Because of the AOE damage and the efficiency of the hunt, ve One’s level increased to 40 in no time. However, he could no longer gain any EXP from regr mobs here anymore as he was over 10 levels higher than the gnoll warriors.
As soon as ve One’s level reached 40, the fairy reminded him of their deal.
Ding
<You have reached level 40.>
<Magdalene wants to absorb some of your mana. In exchange, she will strengthen you.>
<Will you allow Magdalene to use your mana? Note: You will lose 400 Max MP if you agree!>
ve One checked his status. He had 830 Max MP, so losing half of it wouldn’t hurt much.
He readily agreed right away.
Ding
<Your max MP has decreased by 400!>
<Magdalene has grown stronger.>
<All your spiritual roots have been permanently increased by 20.>
<All your status attributes have been permanently increased by 20.>
<You have learned a new spell, Bog Trap!>
<Your Water Spiritual Root has reached 200!><sub>.</sub>
<You have learned a new spell, Water Gathering!>
<Magdalene has created a new essory for you.>
<You have received Magdalene’s Engagement Ring X 1.>
<Magdalene wants you to increase your level to 50, and she will give you something special.>
…
Magdalene’s Engagement Ring (Character-Bound) (Upgradable)
This flower ring is handmade by Magdalene, a powerful World Tree Fairy. She gifted this artifact to ve One as a token of her love. As long as ve One wears this, his magic can be more powerful than mages at the same level!
Item Type: essory
Restriction: ve One Only
Durability: Infinite
Effects: M.ATK + 200, M.DEF + 100, INT + 100, WIS + 100
Skill: Summon Magdalene (Automatic)
This item cannot be unequipped, sold, traded, or dropped from the character.
…
ve One widened his eyes. His hands trembled in excitement and astonishment.
He didn’t bother about the detail. He brought out the ring and put it on.
As soon as ve One put on the engagement ring, a hand-sized glowing fairy came out of the flower of the ring. She hovered in front of ve One and kissed his lips.
Ding
<Your familiar contract has been changed! You have officially engaged with Magdalene.>
<Magdalene has forcefully made you her fiancé!>
<You can no longer have a girlfriend, or Magdalene will kill you and your girlfriend.>
<You cannot talk to any woman, or Magdalene will kill you and the woman.>
Surprised, ve One looked at the small pretty fairy in front of him.
Magdalene looked at him with puppy eyes, worrying if she might have offended him.<sub></sub>
On the contrary, ve One faintly smiled at Magdalene. He gently touched her face with his finger.
As if Magdalene could read his mind, she blushed and kissed his lips again.
<Magdalene promises you that she will be a good wife.>
Ding
<Cernun has given you and Magdalene a blessing.>
<Your Max HP has been increased by 1,000!>
<Your Max MP has been increased by 1,000!>
<Upon death, you will be resurrected to Cernun Ind!>
<Cernun promises you that once you and Magdalene officially married, he will give you something special.>
ve One patted her head with his pinky finger. Then, he gazed at Xiaomao and the group of gnolls with determination. His pupils brightened and the fire of passion was ignited.
He pointed his finger toward the Mama Warden on the ground.
Water Bullet!
A drop of water shot out of ve One’s finger, but its speed was faster than a 50-caliber modern rifle’s bullet.
It pierced through a calf of a gnoll, destroying the leg! A big number, 932, appeared over his head.
The bullet didn’t stop there. It hit Mama Warden’s round butt, piercing through her leather pants.
The werewolf yipped because of the surprise pain.
548!
The damage was huge for low-tier magic!
…
Name: ve One
Race: Human (Evolvable)
Rtionship: Engaged (Magdalene, the World Tree Fairy)
Job: Fisherman (Evolvable), Novice Water Mage (Evolvable), Novice Wood Mage (Evolvable)
Unique Skill: Fishing Spot Finder (15%)<sub></sub>
Racial Skill: [???]
Normal Skills: Water Bullet (8%), Cleansing Water (0%), Bog Trap (0%), Water Gathering (0%)
Current Order: Retreat to the Safe Zone
LEVEL: 40 / 50
EXP: 0 / 316,301
Status Attributes
STR: 38
DEX: 38
AGI: 38
VIT: 38
INT: 306 (+100)
WIS: 238 (+100)
Allocable Status Points: 25
Spiritual Roots
Fire: 37
Water: 203
Wind: 37
Metal: 37
Wood: 167
Lightning: 37
Darkness: 37
Light: 37
Allocable Status Points: 25
Combat Status
ATK: 68 (+50)
DEF: 168 (+150)
M.ATK: 389 (+200)
M.DEF: 219 (+100)
HP: 1,580 / 1,580 (+1200)
MP: 2,630 / 2,630 (+250)
…
Xiaomao nced at ve One and inspected thetter’s current status.
Upon noticing that the fairy had done something to ve One again, Xiaomao almost burst intoughter.
‘I told you so, my ve. I’ll make you the strongest fisherman in the world! See how OP you are now? I haven’t even used my ve Training Skill on you, yet your raw stats are already stronger than mine!’
Getting fired up, Xiaomao gave ve One a new order.
“ve One! Use “Water Gathering” and treat the boss as the water source! Treat her blood as water, munya!”
Water Gathering was a basic water maniption skill of Water Mages. They used this spell to gather all vapor and moisture from the environment to create a water bubble in the air. Then, the water mass could be used in abo with other high-ranked skills, such as Water Machinegun, Corrosive Rain, or Create Water Elemental Golem.
However, the Water Gathering spell on its own was also one of the deadliest spells in-game if yers were creative enough.
Normally, the Water Gathering spell did not affect the blood of monsters or yers as it only gathered moisture and water in the environment into a water mass. However, if someone in the area was bleeding and the wound hadn’t been closed yet, this spell power would drain the blood from the wounds and collect them to the water bubble as well!
In short, any monster or yer with a Bleeding abnormal status was vulnerable to this spell!
Hearing his master’smand, ve One put his club away. He pointed his palm at the group of gnolls and cast the spell.
The cave trembled. As the water vapor in the air condensed into a water bubble in front of ve One.
At first, the spell gathered invisible vapor and dried the humid cave. But as ve One collected more water, the condensed water ball began sucking the humidity from the hallway area. Blood on the ground and from the gnolls floated toward the water bubble.
Soon, the transparent water ball turned light pink, then reddened.
Ding
<You have inflicted Bleeding Level 5 status on Mama Warden Level 40.>
The trick worked. Mama Warden’s bleeding worsened. Now, she lost 16 HP every second. The blood-loss clock’s needle ticked several times at once and pointed at 3.
“Now, carry that water mass to the upper floor and throw them in front of the dungeon, munya! Put all your equipment in your inventory at our temporary stash ande back, munya!”
The Water Gathering spell couldn’tst forever as ve One couldn’t hold it for too long. But by throwing the water to another ce, it would unload a burden on the spell caster. Then, ve One coulde back and drain more fluid from this floor.
If this ce’s humidity level was low, the Water Gathering spell would be more effective against bleeding monsters!
ve One acknowledged the order. He went back to the first level along with the condensed water mass.
Now, Xiaomao was alone with the monsters. He fired another explosive bolt in leisure, not caring if random items would be ejected from him. While he was at it, he threw random equipment items toward the stairs, freeing some of his inventory slots.
But as Xiaomao repeated his action for a long time, Mama Warden understood the trick. She crawled out of the prison hallway and entered one of the small prison cells.
Xiaomao was amazed by the intelligence of the monster. Still, everything was under his calction.
“Toote, munya. You’ve locked yourself in!”
Xiaomao stopped shooting bolts but kept throwing food for the doggies. The gnolls also fought to get more fish to eat, forgetting about the fight and their injuries.
Mama Warden managed to get back on her feet. Then, she pushed the other gnolls, trying to get back into the fight.
She finally realized her mistake. The hallway was packed with the hungry robotic gnolls, and they blocked the way out.
She ended up crawling into a trap herself!
Mama Warden howled and tried tomand her subordinates to stop, but it didn’t work. They were busy pushing, shoving, and snatching food from the ceiling in chaos.
As Mama Warden was helpless, ve One returned. He descended the stairs and used the deadliest spell.
Water Gathering!
More water droplets, vapor, and blood of Warden Mama floated toward ve One again.
Ding
<You have inflicted Bleeding Level 7 status on Mama Warden Level 40.>
<You have inflicted Bleeding Level 9 status on Mama Warden Level 40.>
From 16 per second, the damage jumped to 64 and then 256 per second! Blood gushed out from the werewolf’s various wounds like leaking water from a tank.
The crimson clock icon ticked forward as if someone had elerated them.
A minuteter after drawing more blood from the boss, the clock’s needlepleted the round, reaching the number “12”.
And the Mama Warden fell. Her HP bar, which still had over 50% of her health, instantly dropped to zero because of the blood loss.
Ding
<You have in the Boss Monster, Mama Warden Level 40!>