Volume 5: Protracted War Chapter 9 False Alarm
The old man just announced that I had completed the extremely difficult promotion task, and then the system issued an announcement. Everything was executed according to the program. When I heard the "ding dong" sound, I was so happy. Not only did I gain fame and fortune, but I also did not disappoint Long Xing Tian Xia and the "Resistance Alliance". I finally won the "first place" and won glory for the dark camp. But the next thing I heard was the name of the highest honor. My heart fell from heaven to hell in an instant. Generally speaking, there are only two things that are worth being announced by the system, either being the first to be promoted, or getting a magic weapon. Under the current situation, the chance of killing a top monster to seize a magic weapon can be said to be extremely slim, so the most likely thing is to be the first to be promoted to the sixth-level profession.
The next words really confirmed my guess, "Congratulations to the player for being the first to be promoted to the sixth-level professional Knight of Light!" The last glimmer of hope in my heart was finally shattered. It was indeed so. Why did it happen? I had already taken ninety-nine steps out of a hundred. Why did I fail at the last moment? I was unwilling to accept it. Even if you had completed the promotion a few days earlier, why did you give me such a huge hope, but cruelly punctured it at the last moment?
"Ding Dong", this damn system notification sound rang in my ears again. I really want to kill someone. Is it over yet? Broadcasting once is enough. Do they have to continue to publicize it and publicize it several times? I remember that when I first changed my job, they only broadcast it once. Or are they going to announce the content of the reward for the first promotion? This is simply to deliberately irritate me. In the past few times when the system released promotion announcements, I was either not online, or in the "Dead Soul Space", or the voice communication channel was temporarily closed due to emergency matters. I didn't hear it with my own ears and didn't know the specific procedures. If I had known this, I might as well have returned to the "Dead Soul Space" at that time, so as not to suffer such trivial anger now.
"Congratulations to player Ah Dai for being the first player to advance to the sixth-level professional Necromancer!" The system's subsequent words suddenly made me feel like I was flying from hell to heaven. I couldn't believe my ears. Is this true? I am also the first player to advance to the sixth-level professional, and I am tied for first place with the highest honor? This is too coincidental!
The system prompts confirmed my honor again. Because I was the first player in Tianxia to advance to the sixth-level profession, I could get a 3% seniority bonus. Don't underestimate this seniority. With the current level increase, it is becoming more and more difficult to obtain seniority. It takes at least four or five days to earn 3%. In addition, I will get a little extra reward when I hold the promotion ceremony to improve the basic attribute value. This is the most practical. There are indeed many benefits to winning the "first place". It feels not much different from the system reward I received when I first changed my profession.
I raised my hand and wiped the cold sweat from my forehead. Sigh, how could I be so "lucky" to encounter a special case of "twins" being born, which caused me a false alarm. Although I was tied for first place with the highest honor of the enemy, and did not defeat this biggest competitor, I was also the real first place anyway. The system made an announcement. It was the first time that a dark professional player won this honor . This also represents the progress of our dark camp. We have the strength to compete with the Church of Light. It can be regarded as having achieved most of the predetermined goals, which is much better than not winning anything as I thought at the beginning. I believe that Ah Dai, Xue Wuxia and Long Xing Tianxia must have been anxiously waiting for my news. When they heard the previous announcement, they must have been very frustrated and lost!
“Little brother , thank you for your hard work. You did a good job. You brought honor to our series of necromancers and didn't let the bright professions take the lead. You have a future. Work hard and strive to get rid of that guy called Supreme Honor next time so that you can enjoy the honor of being the first to advance.” The dead old man seemed a little surprised just now, and then his face was full of anger. He was still muttering to himself as if he was cursing someone, until the system announced that I was tied for the first to advance. Then it returned to normal, turned into a smiling face again, and congratulated me.
"Thank you for the compliment, Lord Death. The reason why I can achieve such results is also the result of your wise judgment and good teaching. I will definitely continue to work hard. But why did I and the Supreme Honor advance at the same time? This is too unbelievable." Although I didn't suffer any loss, I was really unwilling to suffer such a false alarm at the last minute. Besides, why should I be the first to announce the Supreme Honor? Formally, I am like the second one, and I am still slightly suppressed by him.
"Well, the reason is quite complicated and involves many factors. To put it simply, the time in the game is not set too precisely, and seconds are used as the basic unit of time. In the same second when I confirmed to the system that you had completed the promotion task, the Church of Light also sent a confirmation message to the system. In this case, the system has no way to determine the order of priority, and it is not a unique transaction, so there is no need to start a special program to subdivide it. Therefore, there is a special situation where both of you become the first players to advance at the same time. Fortunately, I did not delay in the middle. After receiving your report, I sent a confirmation message to the system as soon as possible. If it was one second later, you wouldn't even be tied for first place, and those birdmen would probably be so happy." The dead old man had a "sly grin" on his face, but he seemed to be a little scared no matter how he looked at it.
Not too early or too late, Supreme Honor and I completed the promotion task at the same second. It was really too exaggerated. If it hadn't happened to me, I would never have believed such a coincidence. Was it his luck, my luck, or...an arrangement?
Next, the dead old man personally presided over the promotion ceremony and awarded me the title of Holy Mage of the Undead. Of course, the most important thing was to improve my basic attribute values. I was the first to break through the blockade of the light NPC at the entrance of Death Canyon, and was able to meet the dead old man. I also completed the extremely difficult promotion task and became the first player in "Tianxia" to be promoted to the sixth-level profession. Each item can get additional attribute value rewards. I believe that the improved attributes will definitely give me a surprise.
Of the five basic attribute values, the one I care about most is naturally mental strength. It has increased by three levels at once, reaching the middle blue, and is almost at the heavy blue. You know, the closer to the top level, the higher the base number, and the more difficult it will be to improve. Now it has increased by three levels. Although I have been mentally prepared, it is still a little beyond my imagination to face this result. Doesn't this mean that I can subdue the Horror Giant Bear Knight relatively easily? No, I guess even the Horror Tiger or even the Mad Lion Knight may be subdued, and my strength will be improved to a higher level.
Strength also increased by one level, reaching light orange, which is a significant improvement for a necromancer with only half a star of innate attributes. Health and stamina turned light yellow, also increased by two levels. Agility, due to its high innate attributes and low base, also increased by three levels, showing a dark yellow. In summary, several attributes, especially the most important mental strength and agility, have been greatly improved. My overall strength can be said to have made a qualitative leap.
The new skill I learned is "Ghost Fire", which is a powerful skill of level 7. I mastered it when I was level 6 because of the promotion reward. It belongs to group magic, but it can also focus on one point to attack a single target. It has strong attack power and can be said to be a very practical skill. It can launch hundreds of ping-pong-sized ghost fire balls at a time. The purple-black ghost fire balls are not big, but they are quite powerful. They will burst when they touch the target and will burn on it for a few seconds, causing additional damage effects. Not only can they be dispersed to cover a range of more than ten meters and attack multiple targets in it, but they can also be concentrated to attack a single target. Gathering and dispersing is up to my heart. Finally, I have mastered a powerful attack skill, and I don't have to rely on summoned undead creatures to fight. I am barely like a magician.
But I still feel a little disappointed with the old guy. He is too stingy. It's so rare to meet the God of Death, but he didn't even give me a "greeting gift" or take out some small items from his body as a reward. Alas, if the item that the God of Death takes a fancy to and carries on his body is not a divine weapon, it should at least be close to the level of a divine weapon. I would make a fortune if he could give me just one of them.
I talked to the dead old man for a long time, but he rejected most of my "unreasonable" requests under the pretext of system rules, and I didn't get much valuable information. But there was one thing about Taotao that aroused my interest. According to the dead old man, there is a "Hell Volcano" in the "Dead Space", which is one of the four forbidden areas along with the "Valley of the Wind". The "Hell Lava Pool" on the top of the mountain is very helpful for the growth of some undead creatures with the same attributes. Taking a "lava bath" in it every once in a while and receiving the fumigation and training of the "Hell Lava" can not only improve the physique of the undead creatures and enhance their own abilities, but also accelerate the growth or evolution process, so that they can enter maturity or evolve to the ultimate form earlier.
The old man mentioned these seemingly casually. When I first heard them, I still couldn't figure out what he meant by saying these. I am not a person who likes adventures by nature. Sometimes I only take a gamble when I am forced by the situation. Moreover, I have experienced several lessons in a row recently and almost suffered a big loss. I am still afraid of places that are too dangerous and dare not make any decisions easily. However, I understood the old man's implicit meaning in a moment. I am obviously not suitable to jump into the "magma bath", but Taotao, the hell skeleton horse that can evolve, has the same attributes and is an excellent candidate. As a growing pet, Taotao's development prospects are naturally unlimited, but as far as the current situation is concerned, it is indeed a bit outdated and lagged behind in development. Compared with the enemies I face, its strength seems a little weak. In addition to being a tool for transportation in long-distance raids, it can't play a big role in actual combat. Especially after I got the Red Star, the difference in strength between the Terror Spider Knight and the Hell Skeleton Horse, which has only evolved twice, is too great, which makes Taotao more "incompetent". And now I have got a "pet scroll" that can subdue another powerful pet, and there are more options. Because of the limitation of mental power consumption, I must also keep some mental power to cast skills and supply "damage conversion". Even if there is a "magic storage ring" to support, it is impossible to summon them all at once. They can only compete for positions based on their strength according to the specific situation. If you consider it comprehensively, Taotao will hardly get too many opportunities to play. You must know that the growth or evolution of pets also requires certain "playing time" and "contributions". If you don't find a way to improve Taotao's strength quickly, the longer the time is, the harder it will be to develop, which is extremely disadvantageous to both it and me.
Of course, the "Hell Volcano", one of the four forbidden areas, is not so easy to enter. The "Yinfeng Valley" is only ranked last among the four forbidden areas, and the "Hell Volcano" ranks third, which is far more dangerous than the "Yinfeng Valley". I asked around for a long time before I roughly understood some basic situations. The mountain there is as its name suggests, a flaming hell. Not only do some undead creatures with hellfire attributes live there, although the number is not too large, but the strength is quite strong. The weakest kind of guy is equivalent to a terrifying giant bear knight, and the living environment is also extremely harsh. From time to time, a burst of magma fire rain will be sprinkled in the air, and the ground may suddenly crack and erupt a magma column, which may be hurt at any time. Especially for undead creatures with incompatible attributes, as long as they enter the territory of the "Hell Volcano", the consumption of physical strength will be three to five times that of usual. Even if they stand still, their physical strength will automatically decrease. Once the physical strength is exhausted, they will not be able to dodge various dangers from the outside world in time, and it will definitely be a dead end.
In addition, because this is the "Hellfire" in the "Dead Soul Space", ordinary fire magic immune equipment in the human world will not have much effect on this kind of damage. Only equipment made of raw materials such as feathers of fire sacred beasts such as phoenixes can prevent physical strength from being lost too quickly. However, for players of the current level, it is still too difficult to challenge the top sacred beasts. At least thousands of players must use the "human wave tactics". Even if the sacred beast is successfully killed, if it does not drop a magic weapon, it will generally cost a lot of money. It is said that some wealthy and powerful mercenary groups have organized many actions to kill sacred beasts in order to obtain a magic weapon, but so far no one has been able to get what they want.
