ctnovel Chapter 3 First Battle
Chapter 3 First Battle
[New Mission: Lesson Two: Combat Training!]
[Mission Description: Fighting side-by-side is the best way for contractors and their spirit partners to deepen their understanding, and it's an inevitable part of exploring unknown star systems. Follow the instructions to command your spirit partner in battle and familiarize yourself with the contractor's combat style!]
[Follow the map's directions, find veteran Bart for a duel and learn his combat techniques. Distance: 297214...]
Jiang Yong silently ignored the long string of numbers, holding his breath and crawling among the corpses on the ground, listening to the approaching footsteps.
Soon, two shadows blocked the light coming through the cave entrance. Following them were two masked humans, their faces obscured. One of them held some kind of instrument, fiddled with it for a moment, and then glanced at the other.
"...The miasma has been completely absorbed, let's begin."
"Understood, step back."
The man nodded, took half a step forward, untied a metal ball from his waist, held it in his hand, then swung his arm in a wide arc and did a high split, throwing the metal ball with all his might.
"Come forth, Water-Erosion Evil Mushroom—!!!"
Jiang Yong: ? ? ?
Why are you yelling so loudly?
And what's with this action? Where's your vacuum energy connection?
While I was thinking, the metal sphere opened automatically in mid-air, and a stream of light flew out and landed on the ground, quickly solidifying into a large, deep blue mushroom. Several tentacles made of a large amount of mycelium waved around it, and the cap on its head had a lot of wrinkles. When combined, it looked a bit like a grinning face.
—The Water-Eroding Mushroom, also known as the Mushroom Treasure… is an elf that can skillfully manipulate mycelium. Its body can store large amounts of water and release it through the mycelium, creating small underground watercourses or diverting natural ones. It spreads its spores in underground watercourses to reproduce, easily causing widespread damage in areas with dense water networks. (Illustrated audio)
"Oh dear, water erosion! Water erosion!"
The water-eroded mushroom waved its tentacles and let out a strange cry.
"Water-eroded Mushroom, use Entangling Roots!"
The contractor pointed to the device on the cave ceiling and loudly gave the order. The Water-Eroding Mushroom obediently extended its tentacles, spreading along the cave wall to the top, several meters high, where it wrapped around the fragmented device and pulled it off. It then slowly lowered it back to the ground, handing it to the contractor behind it. The entire process was seamless, every detail reflecting the perfect cooperation and understanding between the elf and the contractor…
There was absolutely no sign of vacuum energy being involved.
"...He didn't merge with that water-eroded evil mushroom?"
Jiang Yong's expression was strange—the difference in combat power before and after the fusion of spirits was like heaven and earth. In a mature system, a fused spirit not only enjoys the attribute amplification, cultivation technique effects, and various equipment and skill enhancements from the contractor, but more importantly, it shares life with the contractor. Even if it suffers fatal damage, it will only turn into vacuum energy and return to the contractor's body to recuperate, and will not truly die. But if it doesn't fuse, then death is truly death.
Contractors do use containers to store spirits, but they only use them temporarily when they have contracted multiple spirits and do not have enough to fuse with.
In other words, almost no contractor would choose to control a spirit without fusion. That person was either deliberately feigning weakness to lure out any potential survivors among the corpses, or they were so incompetent that they weren't even a formal contractor.
To be on the safe side, Jiang Yong decided to act directly in the first possible way!
So the instant the fragment was retrieved, his figure shot up, white energy burst forth and adhered to his body, and the body of the cocoon also emerged from it, hovering in front of him.
[Necromantic aura]!
Before the two could react, a stream of dark gray mist shot straight from afar without warning, striking the second person—who hadn't yet released his elf!
If they are indeed setting a trap, the second person is most likely the one unaware of the trap!
-121!
The man collapsed before his expression could even change. A red number exploded above his head, but the pink number representing fixed damage did not appear.
That is, the attack damage exceeded his maximum health, resulting in an instant kill!
"He's dead already?"
Slightly surprised, Jiang Yong's hands moved swiftly. Confirming the second person's death, he immediately turned and rushed towards the owner of the Water-Eroded Mushroom. The man seemed to only then realize his companion had been killed, stunned by the sudden turn of events.
"Expert level?!"
Upon seeing the white aura surrounding Jiang Yong, the man let out a terrified scream and frantically hid behind the water-eroded mushroom—Jiang Yong was positioned right between him and the cave entrance, making escape impossible.
"Water-eroded mushrooms, quickly spray them with water..."
[Severance]!
Before he finished speaking, Jiang Yong had already closed the distance. The insect sickle that the pupa had been curled up suddenly sprang out and slashed at the water-eroded mushroom.
Slice is a Bug-type physical attack that is 1.5x effective against Grass and Water types. The Water-Eroding Mushroom was hit by the slash just as it raised its tentacles. Its thick umbrella was almost split in two, but thanks to its high HP, it did not immediately lose its mobility. Instead, it immediately launched two high-pressure water jets from its tentacles toward the pupa, even with a faint sound of water being torn apart.
"How can it produce such a reaction without fusion?" Jiang Yong's gaze sharpened.
But it's not very useful, [hardening]!
The instant it made contact with the water column, the surface of the Breath Pupa was suddenly coated with a metallic sheen. The originally powerful water column exploded into a cloud of white mist upon impact, and the Breath Pupa only shuddered slightly, its health dropping a little before it regained its footing. Then, another wisp of necromantic energy instantly took away the already barely surviving Water-Eroded Mushroom.
The battle was over in less than five seconds!
"It seems this planet has a contractor system, but it's definitely not very common. Most people can only command elves in the traditional way. Judging from the performance of this Water-Eroded Mushroom, it's probably already an elite one."
"But the term 'expert level' sounds familiar..."
Just as Jiang Yong was about to take the next step, the kill notification on the panel refreshed.
You have killed a Tiandu City agent and gained 200 experience points.
You have defeated the Water-Eroding Mushroom (level 23) and gained 300 experience points.
"The Heavenly Capital?!"
Upon seeing the kill notification revealing the character's identity, Jiang Yong's pupils constricted sharply. He then suppressed his turbulent emotions, finishing off the terrified trainer with a burst of necromantic energy. Simultaneously, he carefully wrapped the fragmented device in the trainer's hand with insect silk and retrieved it. Without hesitation, he turned and rushed out of the cave.
Putting aside the newly acquired information for the moment, there is usually a lookout outside the cave entrance in this situation, so we need to take him down as soon as possible!
So when Jiang Yong finally broke through the hardened walls and emerged from the narrow exit into the light of day, he found that his prediction was indeed correct. However, the problem was that all that remained on the ground were messy footprints and two tire tracks that stretched into the distance and eventually disappeared into the depths of the dense forest.
This place is located somewhere in the middle of mountains, surrounded by lush vegetation and some bare rock walls. The exit of the cave is on a cliff face, with many bushes nearby, making it very well hidden. It's a mystery how these people found it.
"Too late. Looks like they have instant messaging..."
Jiang Yong stared at the tire tracks on the ground, his face grave—not because he had failed to stop the lookout, which was within his acceptable range, but because he already knew where he was.
The Fire Ring Galaxy, Carlo Star.
This was arguably the most dangerous scenario Jiang Yong had ever envisioned!
It's not that this planet is particularly dangerous or barren, but rather that when the Arcadis Federation explored this planet in their previous life, the civilization on it had already been destroyed!
The story itself isn't complicated. In short, the Carlo civilization got arrogant after obtaining a powerful alien force and used it to create an incredibly strong artificial elf, intending to unify the planet. As expected, the artificial elf went out of control and destroyed the civilization that created it. It's a classic story of creating a "father" (or "creator").
The "City of Heaven" mentioned in the previous kill notification is the name of the faction in the Carlo civilization that created that elf.
Players who explored ruins and dungeons in their previous lives could lament the loss of countless lives while mocking gamblers and ambitious individuals. But after discovering that he had actually entered the living, breathing Carlo civilization and personally become a part of this story of creating a father, Jiang Yongke could no longer maintain a leisurely mood.