Chapter 27: Phantom Assassin Recruitment Scroll

Chapter 27: Phantom Assassin Recruitment Scroll

It wasn't just Cao Xing; Liu Muxue, standing beside him, also heard the system notification and asked in confusion, "Ah Xing, it seems like I've also gained experience."

"But I didn't help with the fighting, did I?"

Cao Xing pondered for a moment and quickly understood the reason.

Although Liu Muxue did not enter the fray to fight,

she had applied the [Aurora Blessing] status to both Andrew and Assam, which could provide additional damage.

In other words, the system automatically counted Liu Muxue as having participated in the battle.

And since Cao Xing had applied [Ice Armor Technique] and [Ice Healing Art], he was also considered a combat participant.

This even included Ilena, who was guarding the territory, as she had also buffed the Druids.

A look of joy appeared on Cao Xing's face; this feature was amazing!

"Muxue, this is a good thing!"

"This way, as long as we recruit enough powerful followers, we can just apply the statuses to them and leave them to it."

"When that time comes, we can send all these followers out, and we'll be able to level up even while just sitting in the territory."

Moreover, the most critical point was that this greatly increased their chances of securing the leaderboard rewards!

Upon hearing this, a trace of delight also appeared on Liu Muxue's face.

Then, she simply stayed by Cao Xing's side.

The two of them watched the one-sided slaughter unfolding in the camp.

Assam had charged straight into the center of the camp, facing the encirclement of seven or eight Hunters all by himself.

There were also two archer Hunters on the side.

However, when their arrows struck Assam's armor, two extremely minuscule damage numbers instantly appeared.

[-1]

[-1]

The Hunters' attack power was actually decent; at least they could deal a point of damage to Assam.

But this damage was simply too low.

It could be said that they had broken through his defense, yet they hadn't.

The next second, green "+10, +10" numbers appeared above Assam's head.

The Hunters were completely dumbfounded.

"How the hell are we supposed to play against this?"

"The health we take off isn't even as much as what he heals back; isn't this too cheap?"

"I want to report this! Someone is cheating!"

Assam, however, didn't care about their thoughts.

With 95 loyalty points, he would prioritize Cao Xing's orders above all else.

And that was to kill every single one of these Hunters.

"Pfft, pfft, pfft!"

He swung his Frost Wolf Sword Technique with such force that it whistled through the air.

Every strike of his sword claimed the life of a Hunter.

The Frost Wolf also carried him as he constantly leaped and changed positions throughout the camp.

The Tier 2 Assam was simply invincible!

[Your territory member, Assam, killed a Level 4 Hunter, gaining 40 EXP.]

[You gained: 20 EXP.]

…

Meanwhile, Andrew, who was on the side, was even more terrifying.

He transformed directly into his house-demolishing form, forcefully overturning tent after tent.

The Hunters hiding inside were easily dragged out by Andrew and then swatted to death with a single claw.

In his normal state, Andrew exuded a sage-like tranquility and wisdom.

But when he started fighting, he was just like a berserk beast!

"Roar!!"

After a terrifying roar, Andrew pinned down a Level 6 Hunter Scout and crushed its head with a single blow.

Cao Xing and Liu Muxue kept seeing the 'gained experience points' notifications.

Before long, a white light appeared on Liu Muxue.

She leveled up.

Leveling from Level 1 to Level 2 was quite simple; it only required 100 EXP.

However, leveling from Level 2 to Level 3 required 1000 EXP.

For every level after that, the requirement increased by 1000 EXP.

Just then, a black shadow suddenly rushed out from the innermost tent of the camp.

He seemed to know how terrifying Andrew and Assam were; the moment he rushed out of the camp, he sprinted towards the snowy plains outside, having absolutely no intention of fighting.

Cao Xing caught a glimpse and saw the opponent's attributes.

[Hunter Captain lv10]

[Race: Human]

[Attack Power: 172 ~ 184]

[Health Points: 1540]

[Skill: Cruel Slash (Deals 2 hits of 80% Attack Power damage to the enemy and applies a Level 1 Bleed effect)]

[Slippery Feet (Increases movement speed by 30% while fleeing)]

…

"Damn, this is the captain!"

Cao Xing immediately shouted, "Don't let him get away!"

This guy, although only a Level 10 normal mob and not yet advanced,

had that 'Slippery Feet' skill, which was truly ridiculous—a top-tier escape ability.

Just then, Andrew suddenly let out a roar.

"Roar!!"

He transformed from his original humanoid form into a giant bear covered in white fur, sprinting out like a cannonball.

Boom!

The speed he burst out with instantly even surpassed that of the Icefield Giant Bear.

It was precisely Andrew's skill, [Giant Bear Form].

Thump! Thump-thump!

The ground trembled continuously.

In [Giant Bear Form], all of Andrew's attributes surged by 30%, and with the addition of Ilena's [Serpent-kin Berserk], his movement speed increased by another 20%.

Andrew very easily caught up to the fleeing Hunter Captain.

Then, in the captain's terrified gaze,

Andrew let out a roar.

"Roar!!!"

A massive bear paw came crashing down.

Splat!!

This Hunter leader was flattened into a pile of meat paste.

On the cold snowy ground, a vivid flower made of flesh and blood appeared.

This bloody scene made Liu Muxue, standing nearby, turn pale.

But she still gritted her teeth, forcing herself to accept it all.

Because she knew that if she were to participate in battles from now on, scenes like this would be very common.

Cao Xing heard a system notification in his ear.

[Your territory member: Andrew killed the Hunter Captain lv10, gaining 300 EXP.]

[You gained: 150 EXP.]

Just then, a white light rose from Cao Xing's body.

[Your level has increased; current level: 4.]

[Gained from this level up: Strength +2, Agility +2, Spirit +4, Constitution +2]

Cao Xing felt joy in his heart, "Leveled up again!"

A surge of energy welled up within him.

His mind became clearer, and his body became more energetic.

"Woohoo, this feeling of leveling up is really nice!"

Soon, Assam also finished his battle.

The Hunters throughout the entire camp had been wiped out by them.

The ground was littered with corpses and severed limbs.

A system notification appeared.

[You destroyed a Hunter camp; Territory Reputation +50.]

[Attention! Because you completed a high-difficulty expedition, based on your strength assessment, you have received an additional reward: Phantom Assassin Recruitment Scroll (Blue) *1]

"Huh, another blue recruitment scroll?"

Cao Xing's eyes lit up, and he checked the attributes of this scroll.

[Phantom Assassin Recruitment Scroll (Blue): Can be used to summon a Phantom Assassin with the strength of a Level 20 elite.]

"Holy crap! A Level 20 elite creature, even more fierce than Andrew!"

Cao Xing's eyes were filled with strong shock, followed by wild joy!

Obviously, this recruitment scroll would be able to boost his strength by another huge margin.

However, he didn't summon it immediately; instead, he took Liu Muxue and walked towards the camp.

"Let's go clean up the battlefield first."

Then, the two of them arrived inside the camp.

Before them was a scene of chaos; even the campfire had already gone out.

Cao Xing arrived in front of a Hunter's corpse and was just about to reach out.

A system notification appeared.

[Humanoid creature, cannot be decomposed.]

Cao Xing's mouth twitched.

"What does this system take me for? I wasn't planning on decomposing anything!"

"This is slander, slander!"

Although he said that, Cao Xing still reached out and rummaged through the Hunters.

[Obtained Hunter Mask (White) *1, Obtained Tier 1 Soldier Training Book (White) *1, Obtained Coins *15]

"A mask?"

Cao Xing looked confused and then checked its attributes.

…