Chapter 146: Fusion

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The system’s prompts were negligible. Zhao Nan only glanced briefly and moved on. That vicious death ray strike was simply too brutal, cutting the攻略 time in half.

The first boss kill usually yielded more loot. Zhao Nan carefully examined the dazzling array of items and suddenly his expression brightened. He picked up a spherical object about the size of a basketball.

Judging by his joyful demeanor, it seemed to be a rare treasure. The others instinctively gathered closer. Zhao Nan smiled and said, "This is the Anti-Air Sphere. It can’t be equipped personally but can be installed inside the Soul Crystal. When monsters besiege the city, an anti-air domain will appear around the Soul Crystal, preventing flying monsters from taking flight within it."

If the siege were only ground monsters, it would be manageable, though overwhelming in number. But the flying monsters were the most troublesome. The Anti-Air Sphere’s appearance meant the Soul Crystal’s safety during the next siege would be greatly enhanced!

The players remaining in Windhear City numbered just over ten thousand. Even with city level upgrades, Zhao Nan still worried about the next monster siege. Now, with the Anti-Air Sphere, a great weight was lifted from his shoulders. The focus shifted to all city players improving their strength.

At that moment, the Catwoman picked up a necklace and said directly, “Master Zhao Nan, may I give this necklace to the little mistress?”

Zhao Nan glanced at the necklace. It increased defense and vitality, was purple quality—not top-tier, but perfectly suited for the little girl’s needs.

Just as he was about to agree, the Catwoman added, “I’m willing to map out all the traps and routes of this labyrinth in exchange.”

Zhao Nan paused, then nodded. It was good that she volunteered to help. He had long coveted the ability to probe labyrinths.

After the dungeon boss was defeated, a door appeared that led directly out of the dungeon.

But Zhao Nan did not leave immediately. Instead, under the Catwoman’s guidance, he began to sweep the entire dungeon. Having the boss strategy was not enough; mapping the limited labyrinth was essential to fully completing a standard dungeon攻略.

With the first completion of the 20-level standard dungeon, the system announced that the map of Windhear City was now open. More high-level monster areas, new scenes, and more quests appeared—all at once.

Yet, at the moment the map unlocked, there was little cheer in Windhear City. Map openings meant that the number and level of monsters in the next siege would increase significantly. To survive the upcoming siege, players had to kill monsters and complete quests for power-ups.

Thus began a new wave of leveling frenzy in Windhear City!

……

The Catwoman worked efficiently, spending a day to map out all safe routes of the labyrinth, marking even the traps. As long as one was not a fool, players could safely level within the labyrinth using the map. Boss攻略 would remain voluntary.

Though more maps opened, Zhao Nan was not in a rush to seek valuable quests. Instead, he stayed near the boss room, ready to attack as soon as the boss appeared, not uttering a word unnecessarily.

There were likely no monsters on the map that could provide more experience than the level 20 dungeon boss. Each time the boss spawned, Zhao Nan rotated his team. Except for a fixed few, anyone dealing more than one point of damage to the boss would be brought along once.

This way, he combined monster farming with mentoring. As these players grew stronger and leveled up, they could lead others, creating a cycle. When everyone’s level and power rose, the dungeon would no longer be a terrifying place.

Zhao Nan was currently level 28. Outside the dungeon, killing monsters—except near the newly opened map edges with monsters level 28 to 30—yielded little experience. He preferred to play with the boss in the dungeon, gaining more experience and occasionally looting useful items.

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Three days after the first boss kill, Xiong You and Ya Nan took time to visit the Transcendent Palace, aiming to obtain a pet. In fact, Zhao Nan had revealed the palace’s location right after the boss kill. These days, aside from the dungeon, the most frequented place was this special area for gaining pets.

Generally, players could only deploy one pet in battle.

This was common knowledge to Zhao Nan.

But the appearance of Finina challenged his understanding. Then came the Catwoman. Like Finina, she didn’t rely solely on the player’s bracelet and could deploy a humanoid pet. Zhao Nan finally understood more about humanoid pets.

In other words, humanoid pets didn’t occupy a pet deployment slot or could be deployed additionally because of their humanoid nature.

But regardless, Zhao Nan already had Orisis, filling his pet slot. So, the Transcendent Palace might hold powerful pets, but they were out of reach unless Orisis died.

Thinking about how humanoid pets could carry other pets into battle, Zhao Nan had a sudden inspiration. If he obtained more humanoid pets, then had them carry more humanoid pets, and so forth, could he summon a terrifyingly large team simultaneously? But on reflection, he dismissed this as a daydream. Aside from the rarity of humanoid pets, the equipment and resources needed would be overwhelming.

Abandoning such unrealistic notions, Zhao Nan devoted himself fully to leveling.

……

One month later.

Half a year after the great catastrophe, the full攻略 of the level 20 standard dungeon in Windhear City had entered a regular phase.

Meanwhile, Zhao Nan finally left the level 20 dungeon. As character levels rose, boss kill experience decreased. Now at level 30 max, he had to venture out alone to Windhear City’s Mage Hall for a class advancement.

“Ding! Congratulations to player Zhao Nan on class advancement to Black Iron Ancient Arcanist! All attributes +30, base attack +50, base HP +500, base mana +500. Acquired Ancient Arcane Heritage and unlocked the ‘Fusion’ skill.”

“Ding! Congratulations to player Zhao Nan on completing three class advancement achievements…”

“Ding!…”

“Ding!…”

Each class advancement brought a significant power boost. It felt like gulping down an ice-cold soda on a scorching day—utterly refreshing. This leap from Bronze to Black Iron rank pleased Zhao Nan greatly.

Moreover, he gained a new Ancient Arcanist skill—Fusion.

Fusion: A unique skill of the Ancient Arcanist. It can merge two skills to create a brand-new skill. Note: The skills must be of the same category; their level difference cannot exceed five; the fused skill must be mastered; fusion has a chance to fail, and failure resets the fusion skill proficiency, requiring retraining before retrying fusion.

That day, Zhao Nan stared at his brand-new ‘Fusion’ skill for a long time.

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He instinctively wanted to try the ‘Fusion’ skill.

Combustion Fireball + Scorching Ray…

“Ding! Congratulations to player Zhao Nan for successfully fusing two skills and acquiring a new skill: Explosive Ray.”

Explosive Ray: Fires a scorching beam that, upon focusing on a target, releases ten small scorching rays for attacks.

The main beam causes burning; the secondary rays have half the main beam’s burning effect.

“Unexpected success on the first try…” Zhao Nan thoughtfully examined Explosive Ray but found it less practical than Combustion Fireball. It had a longer cooldown and consumed more mana.

After acquiring Explosive Ray, the original Combustion Fireball and Scorching Ray disappeared. However, Explosive Ray could be forgotten through an item and the original skills relearned.

“No, no… Fusion works best when combining skills of the same category that complement each other’s weaknesses for better synergy,” Zhao Nan quickly realized the key.

Currently, all his skills were purchased at the Mage Hall and were common mage skills. It was his skill reduction and rewriting abilities that boosted their power to terrifying levels.

But these were common skills, easily recognized and countered by attentive players.

Like Thorn Vines—two dark mages using it together could replicate his effect.

“The real work starts now…”

……

Within the level 20 dungeon, it had been a long time since the terrifying skill displays of the city lord. But it didn’t matter, because the deputy city lord was just as fearsome. Accompanied by the alluring Catwoman—masked but with a tantalizing sway of her figure—she sparked many fantasies.

As for the missing city lord, he had not gone on an important quest but bought many mana potions and ventured alone to the newly opened map edges, firing upon level 30 monsters.

Sometimes laughing triumphantly, sometimes shaking his head in frustration, he downed several mana potions and unleashed a flurry of skills. (To be continued…)