"Lin Fan..." Just as I was about to charge forward, Murong Shanshan suddenly pulled me back.
I turned around and smiled, "No need to tell me to be careful. I'll be fine."
Murong Shanshan's pretty face flushed slightly. "Oh, please! You *must* draw all the monsters away later. I don't have any red potions left right now!"
I paused, about to go, when Murong Shanshan pulled me back again. "Wait, Lin Fan, one more thing. If any equipment drops later, it's yours. I only want reputation."
"No way, when did you get so generous?"
Murong Shanshan said with a radiant smile, "Heh, you're a professional player, after all. Without you, I wouldn't be able to kill them at all. If equipment drops, you should take it to sell for money or wear it yourself. I don't want to fight you for it."
I thought about it. There really was no need to be polite with her, so I immediately nodded, raised my sword, and charged over.
The level 32 Undead Mage had a very long line of sight. As soon as I stepped out, it launched a Dark Sacrifice, instantly draining 120 of my health. At the same time, the system prompted: You have been corroded by dark power, losing 5 health per second for 120 seconds.
Damn it, what a fierce attack!
Without magic resistance equipment, getting hit by magic was indeed incredibly painful. The damage numbers I took also startled Murong Shanshan, and she immediately said "Be careful" in the team channel, sounding anxious.
The Undead Mage's Dark Sacrifice didn't stop. The second attack quickly came. I hurriedly ran in an arc around the five Enhanced Skeleton Warriors. After drawing them all in, a long-awaited Ice Seal Slash landed on the Undead Mage, interrupting its magic. Murong Shanshan followed, and her Combo interrupted the Undead Mage's second spell cast. The five Enhanced Skeleton Warriors swung their rusty greatswords, and five numbers — "55," "57," "66," "62," "48" — appeared one after another. Very powerful!
One attack almost took away 300 of my health! Coupled with the Undead Mage's attack, my 1110 health was instantly reduced to 586. Fortunately, the Skeleton Warriors' attack speed was very slow, and the Undead Mage's magic was constantly interrupted by me and Murong Shanshan. The 10-second cooldown of Combo was enough for us to counter the opponent's magic. Occasional attack errors forced me to drink a red potion to sustain myself.
I continuously moved around the Undead Mage to attack it, trying to minimize the number of times I was hit by the Enhanced Skeleton Warriors. Murong Shanshan was also quick to react and helped me draw two Skeleton Warriors away, which further reduced my pressure.
"Shanshan, I think I miscalculated just now..." I said to the girl beside me, panting as I fought.
"What's wrong?" Murong Shanshan looked at me skeptically.
"It seems even if we defeat the Undead Mage, we won't have enough potions to take down these five Enhanced Skeleton Warriors!"
"Then what do we do?" Murong Shanshan panicked, and her slowed speed caused me to take another Dark Sacrifice from the Undead Mage!
Damn it! When I checked my inventory again, I was stunned. Seven red potions were used up without me realizing it, but the Undead Mage still had 1/5 of its health. Murong Shanshan's expression also grew increasingly tense; even she could see that we were in a difficult situation.
"Shanshan, it looks like we're going to lose a level!"
Murong Shanshan was also quite speechless. While landing a Heavy Strike, she said irritably, "Keep fighting. If we die, we die. See if we can take down the Undead Mage. If we can, the quest will be complete."
Looking at my more than 600 health, I reluctantly unleashed another Ice Seal Slash. After a Heavy Strike, the Undead Mage's health was already critically low.
A sudden change occurred!
The Undead Mage, who should have fallen, suddenly raised its hands, and its entire body was enveloped in intense purple light!
"Oh my god, this is a BOSS's self-destruct! It can deal 800 damage to surrounding players and monsters!" Murong Shanshan's voice sounded like a death knell to me!
"Boom~!"
Everything in the world fell silent!
Murong Shanshan's fair face was stained with grime, and she was looking at me in disbelief.
"Lin Fan, you didn't die! You really didn't die!!"
Yes, why didn't I die?
I quickly scrolled through the combat log from earlier, and a record clearly caught my eye: You have been resurrected by the power of the Orb of Rebirth, restoring 1110 health and 462 mana!
The feeling of surviving a disaster was too wonderful!
The Undead Mage's self-destruct instantly killed the five Enhanced Skeleton Warriors. Murong Shanshan's 862 health was reduced to just 23. For squishy classes like mages, even at level 30, they would likely not escape instant death. No wonder so many people on the forums complained about BOSS self-destructs; with current player levels and equipment, even warriors rarely could withstand such a blow.
I showed Murong Shanshan the Orb of Rebirth's attributes, and she immediately expressed great surprise, believing I had incredibly good luck.
The Undead Mage dropped a cloak and nothing else, but the five Enhanced Skeleton Warriors dropped a pair of plate boots and a ring.
Murong Shanshan was practically drooling, looking at the equipment and saying, "Lin Fan, they're all yours! Go pick them up quickly!"
I smiled, picked up the equipment, and then shared it in the party:
[Dark Cloak] (Blue Equipment)
Defense: 32
Stamina: +12
Strength: +16
Agility: +14
Additional: Resistance to dark magic increased by 25%
Required Level: 26
[Undead War Boots] (green equipment)
Defense: 28
Strength: +8
Agility: +12
Required Level: 24
[Necklace of the Departed] (green equipment)
Stamina: +12
Strength: +8
Required Level: 22
...Murong Shanshan's jaw dropped in surprise. All three pieces of equipment were for warriors. My luck was truly extraordinary.
I immediately put on the Dark Cloak and Undead War Boots. With this, the two empty slots on my body were filled. As for that necklace... after thinking it over, I traded it to Murong Shanshan. She immediately beamed and said, "This necklace, is it for me?"
"Of course, I can't let you fight for nothing!"
The attributes added by this necklace weren't incredibly powerful. To be honest, I wasn't very concerned about it. Although a necklace of this quality would certainly fetch over 1000 at current prices, I just wanted to give it to Murong Shanshan... "Scumbag~!" I defined myself... Murong Shanshan put on the necklace and said with a beaming smile, "Now all my equipment is finally complete. Lin Fan, thank you!"
"Let's go turn in the quest. I'm exhausted. I don't even know when my red name will turn white."
"Okay, let's go turn in the quest!"