Deep within the cavern, ghostly lights flickered. The air was thick with a strange scent—a mixture of raw data streams and organic tissue. This was a legacy testing ground of the Galactic Overmind, a forbidden zone where high-magic and bio-technology converged.
On a central platform, a humanoid entity woven from liquid metal and neural fibers slowly opened its glowing eyes.
[The Corrupted Artificer (Elite)] Level: 8 HP: 12,000 Skills:
Flesh Reconstruction: Every time it loses 20% HP, it randomly buffs one stat (Attack, Defense, or Health Regen).
Mimicry: Copies the appearance and basic skills of the last attacker for 15 seconds.
Liam's pupils contracted. This boss was stronger than the version in his memories—clearly, the system had dynamically adjusted the difficulty because he had triggered the hidden path early.
However, he felt no fear.
"Perfect. I'll use you to test my new combat rhythm."
The battle began!
The Corrupted Artificer roared, charging with a strike that carried a "Rend" effect. Liam sidestepped fluently, loosing an arrow in the same motion.-17! The damage was slightly lower than expected; the boss had high base armor.
A second later, the Artificer activated Mimicry. Its body warped into a perfect duplicate of Liam, longbow in hand. Its Attack Speed matched his exactly at 1.73!
"Heh, copying me?" Liam sneered. "That's going to be your downfall."
He intentionally retreated, baiting the boss to give chase. When the two "Snow Emperors" began trading shots in the narrow cave, the scene was hauntingly surreal.
But Liam was prepared. He used the terrain to corner himself and the mimic. In the next breath, he stopped attacking entirely, allowing the mimic to land a clean hit.-16! His HP dropped from 800 to 784.
Immediately, Liam fired back a counter-shot at the real Artificer.-17!
The key was simple: Hand of Divine Retribution's True Damage was based on Maximum HP, not current health. Even if he was injured, as long as his Max HP remained high, his damage would not falter. The mimic, however, did not possess his Genesis-tier Talent; its attacks were merely physical.
Ten seconds later, the mimicry faded. The Artificer triggered its first Flesh Reconstruction, choosing to buff its Armor.
"Smart," Liam whispered. "But useless."
He shifted his strategy: instead of a blitz, he maintained a steady, calculated pace. He chipped away at the boss's health 1% at a time to avoid triggering rapid reinforcements. He kited relentlessly, using the stone pillars to break the boss's line of sight and waste its efficiency.
By the time his HP stacked to 920, his True Damage was consistently hitting for over 18 per shot.
Twenty minutes in, the Artificer's health dipped below 20%. It let out a piercing shriek, initiating its final reconstruction. This time, it chose Health Regeneration.
+300 HP per second!
Any other player would have fallen into despair. But a look of triumph crossed Liam's face.
"I've been waiting for this."
He pulled a scroll from his bag—the Void Dampener Scroll Ben had secured for him. It could silence a target for 5 seconds, but had a 24-hour cooldown. This was his trump card.
The scroll activated! A burst of blue light enveloped the boss, and the regeneration effect vanished instantly.
Liam seized the window. 5 shots! 10 shots! 15 shots!
With the final arrow, the Artificer crashed to the ground, dissolving into a puddle of shimmering data fragments.
[System Notification: You have defeated "The Corrupted Artificer"! Reward: +8,000 EXP, +15 Stat Points. Item Gained: Skill Book — Sculpt Flesh (Genesis-tier · Unbound).]
Liam exhaled, his level jumping to 9. He dumped all 15 points into Attack Speed, pushing it past 2.23—officially entering the threshold of high-speed marksmen.
He picked up the glowing green book and tapped it.
[Sculpt Flesh (Genesis-tier)] Cost: 100 MP + 1 Vitality Point Effect: Uses your own life force as a medium to reshape a target's physical form. Uses: Repair disabilities, alter appearance, or temporarily buff constitution. Restriction: Only usable on direct relatives or Soul-Contracted allies.
"Willow..." Liam whispered.
He opened the kinship interface and linked the skill to Willow's biological ID. Although she hadn't entered the game yet, Eternal Nexus allowed players to reserve a Neural Anchor for real-world relatives.
[System Notification: You have created a "Wellness Avatar" for Willow Stormrider.]
When she first logged into the game, she would automatically receive a body free of trauma and inherit a portion of Liam's Vitality Resilience. This meant that even if her physical recovery was slow, her presence in the Nexus would be flawless. Eventually, the "Neural Healing" would feed back into her real-world nervous system recovery.
A massive weight was lifted from Liam's heart.
At that moment, the guild channel pinged with an urgent message from Ben:
"Liam! I found him! Kael Knives' in-game ID is 'Viper Fang'. He joined an auxiliary legion of The Celestial Oath yesterday! And... he's put a 100,000-credit bounty on your coordinates in Astralis Prime!"
Liam's eyes turned ice-cold.
"It seems he wants to break me in the game before moving on me in reality."
He looked toward the darkening sky outside the cave, a chilling smirk forming on his lips.
"If that's how he wants to play... I'll start by tearing his house down."
He pulled up the map, locking his eyes on a stronghold in the East District of Astralis Prime—the Spire of Atonement. A ceremony for new members was being held there tonight. Kael, as a newly appointed "Atonement Apostle," was scheduled to receive his exclusive weapon.
"Chubby," Liam commanded in the guild channel. "Alert all potential allies. The Mortal Vault's first strike is tonight. Target: The Spire of Atonement."
"I want the whole server to know: if you cross the Snow Emperor, not even the Oath can save you."