abcnovels
Chapter 226: A Path of Slaughter, Scores Soaring!
Chapter 226: A Path of Slaughter, Scores Soaring!
[Warning: Each member of the Hall of Valor can only challenge the Trial of the Brave once. Choose wisely.]
"No." Sterl's eyes lit up. He hadn't expected the Trial of the Brave to be so considerate, tailoring the difficulty based on one's current level.
Sterl felt that this was his chance to shine!
His true combat power was far beyond what a second class could encompass. He would have a significant advantage when it came to racking up points.
However, he didn't immediately choose to enter the Trial of the Brave.
First, Sterl opened the contribution store in the Hall of Valor and spent his remaining 2100 ordinary contributions to buy 7 bottles of [Glory Potion].
The potion's mana regeneration effect was 30% stronger than the Essence of the Moon from the Dark Moon Alliance, and Sterl didn't need to evolve or allocate points to use it. He could use it right away.
It's worth mentioning that he had previously spent 1900 contributions on array knowledge and materials, so now his ordinary contributions were completely used up.
After preparing his supplies, Sterl reopened the Trial of the Brave panel.
"Start the challenge!"
Once Sterl confirmed, he felt a sudden blur in his vision.
[Welcome to the Trial of the Brave!]
[Another Challenger, and his strength is at the second class level??]
[Oh my god, has the Hall of Valor really fallen so low?]
As Sterl regained his senses, he found himself in a new world.
At the same time, the prompt in his ears carried an unexpected emotional tone, which surprised Sterl.
As he pondered, the scene before him gradually became clear. He was in a massive circular arena.
The area where Sterl stood was covered in short green grass, and the surroundings were entirely visible.
The arena was surrounded by towering light-blue stone blocks that reached into the clouds, making it impossible for any player inside to escape over the walls.
Near the green grass lay countless bones of various creatures, along with scattered, broken weapons and equipment.
Some of the corpses and gear were fresh, with blood still flowing.
Others had been there for an unknown amount of time.
Sterl took a slight step forward, and the vibration caused the ancient corpses to turn to dust.
Swish! Swish!
Sterl didn't have to wait long.
Accompanied by a strange sound, a gigantic creature flew overhead, screaming, resembling a massively enlarged mosquito.
[Coughing Blood]
[Type: BOSS]
[Level: 88]
...
Using Star Insight, Sterl confirmed that this was indeed a second class-level boss.
The Trial of the Brave's prestige was instantly elevated.
After all, how could a player of the same level normally solo a boss?
And this creature named "Coughing Blood" was just the first enemy at the beginning of the trial!
Sterl knew very well that even if he defeated it, the trial points he would gain wouldn't be too high.
"Ahhhhh!!!"
The giant mosquito let out a Wail of Anguish, a sound wave imbued with a fear-inducing effect.
For a standard second class party, this control effect could lead to a complete wipeout by the boss.
But Sterl merely looked on with disdain.
He gazed at the struggling boss with a look of pity.
"Bad luck for you to run into me!"
For once, Sterl refrained from using his divine descent and other attribute-enhancing skills in battle. He simply used a Star Point Finger.
The trial's first boss didn't even realize what had happened.
A brilliant golden dot appeared on the giant mosquito's torso, and it plummeted from the sky, shattering upon impact.
Sterl didn't even get a moment of respite. Barely five seconds later—
Rumble!
The ground shook.
Earth and stones were thrown aside as a subterranean entity seemed ready to burst forth!
With no line of sight, Sterl couldn't use Star Insight to scout the enemy. Instead, he slammed his palm onto the ground, unleashing Ignition Flame!
Boom!
The ground trembled, lava seeping out before calming down.
Seeing the newly acquired "Stardust," Sterl knew the second boss was dead!
Opening his panel, he saw two new notifications.
[Trial Score: Kill +1000, Instant Kill +500, Quick Clear +300]
[Trial Score: Kill +1200, Instant Kill +540, Quick Clear +360]
...
Then—
Ding!
A crisp sound accompanied by a faint glow.
Two heavily armored guards appeared, one wielding a massive guandao and the other a menacing silver longbow.
Level 90 BOSS [Royal Guards].
These two bosses could clearly support each other, with one for ranged attacks and one for melee, presenting a significant challenge.
However, once Sterl casually activated divine descent,
A snap of his fingers.
A Celestial Stars spell.
The bosses turned to ash!
Even—
The fourth wave...
The fifth wave...
The bosses for these waves barely appeared before being incinerated by the lingering damage of Celestial Stars.
At this point, aside from the score notifications, new content flashed before Sterl's eyes.
[Would you like to activate the next difficulty level?]
[Note: Unlocking higher difficulty will grant additional score bonuses.]
[Note: In higher difficulty challenges, death will result in no penalties and you will be teleported back to the Hall of Valor to settle your Trial of the Brave score.]
Without hesitation, Sterl chose to proceed. The next difficulty was merely third class level, which he could clear effortlessly.
Moreover, the higher difficulty challenges waived death penalties, meaning Sterl could push his limits without fear of loss.
"This makes breaking the Trial of the Brave's score limit highly feasible!"
Sterl thought, delighted.
Thus, the sixth wave boss appeared!
A high-flying wyvern that Sterl easily pierced with a flying sword infused with Flowing Water Law.
Seventh wave...
Eighth wave...
...
The tenth wave boss was a level 150 hummingbird-winged humanoid, extremely fast and equipped with multiple powerful skills. After being immobilized by Sterl's Moon Law, it was instantly killed with a Star Point Finger.
Then, another prompt appeared: Do you wish to continue challenging legendary-level enemies?
Sterl eagerly chose "Yes."
The legendary-level boss waves were notably more numerous.
By the twentieth wave, Sterl's previously relaxed expression finally tightened.
He felt a bit of pressure.
[Deathbringer: Flame]
[Type: BOSS]
[Level: 211]
[Deathbringer: Shadow]
[Type: BOSS]
[Level: 209]
[Deathbringer: Frost]
[Type: BOSS]
[Level: 213]
Sterl found himself surrounded in a triangular formation by three bosses.
These were three bosses, each clad in black hooded robes, humanoid in size and appearance.
Except for their names, they looked nearly identical.
They seemed to have a passive ability that drained life force from any nearby units. This effect stacked among the three bosses.
As Sterl observed, he felt his life force significantly draining.
It's important to note that life force is related to physical attributes like constitution, strength, and agility, but only to the base values, benefiting from some of the attribute effects.
So, Sterl's life force, like his agility and stamina, was only at a third class level due to his high technical attributes.
Under passive life drain, he could perish within seconds.
The three bosses appeared intelligent, not rushing to attack. Instead, they maintained their triangular formation to limit Sterl's movement space and support each other.
Simultaneously, eerie marks began to glow on each Deathbringer, suggesting they were charging a powerful skill.
Flames, frost, and shadow energies coiled towards Sterl like a swarm of serpents.
You have to understand, these were three legendary-level bosses!
Ordinary players would have no chance of defeating them quickly; they would be forced to watch as the ominous marks fully formed! In such a dire situation, they could only await their doom!
"Tsk..." Sterl's mouth twitched.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
In an instant.
All three bosses were beheaded simultaneously.
Sterl had no choice but to swallow an [Essence of the Moon] to restore his mana.
Sensing the dire situation earlier, he had immediately activated Moon Law to pause everything, then used Flowing Water Law to decapitate the three bosses.
Luckily, Sterl possessed several passive abilities that reduced his consumption, and he had the skill [Consume]. Killing each Deathbringer allowed him to regain a significant amount of energy.
Thus, he managed to instant-kill the three bosses at the cost of just one potion.
It's worth mentioning that the Trial of the Brave bosses were virtual entities, so Sterl couldn't use [Consume] to gain new abilities.
The reason he could still use [Consume] to restore mana and health was because of a special setting in the Hall of Valor, designed to ensure that players who thrived on combat could adequately utilize their abilities to pass the trial.
It seemed that the 20th wave was a major hurdle.
Following that, Sterl easily defeated several consecutive waves of enemies.
Sterl's panel was flooded with score notifications.
[Trial Score: Kill +4000, Instant Kill +700, Quick Clear +800, Bonus Multiplier for Higher Difficulty 300%]
[Trial Score...]
...
After completely annihilating the monsters of the 29th wave, Sterl was surprised to find that no new bosses appeared immediately.
He promptly put back the [Essence of the Moon] he had been about to consume into his small world.
Despite the high intensity of the Trial of the Brave, the recovery effect from [Consume] during combat against strong enemies was better than Sterl had anticipated.
He hadn't used any [Glory Potion] yet, and the [Essence of the Moon] in his mouth was his last one.
Sterl sat cross-legged, allowing his stored energy, life force, and stamina to fully recover, restoring him to peak condition.
At that moment, accompanied by a thunderous roar.
A brilliant golden light pierced through the entire arena!
As the light gradually dimmed,
The 30th wave boss made its grand entrance!