Chapter 85: The Mysterious Expert

The common system used on the Grand Forest Continent divides the strength of exotic beasts and monsters into roughly six tiers.

Common Tier: Levels 1 to 30
Enhanced Tier: Levels 31 to 50
Elite Tier: Levels 51 to 65
Rare Tier: Levels 65 to 80
Boss Tier: Levels 80 to 90
King Tier: Above Level 90, not yet available

Under normal circumstances, once combat begins, the level of each beast is marked in front of its health bar. For example, the prairie dire wolves Lin Xin killed earlier were mostly Level 20 in their adult form, while the alpha wolf was an Enhanced monster at Level 31.

Never underestimate these Levels 20 and 30. They may seem low at a glance, but for players at this stage, they are already formidable. Setting NPCs aside and speaking only of players, a person’s combat power determines their rank, and compared with beast ranks, that relationship is roughly two to one.

In other words, if you are a Level 20 squad leader, the monsters you can kill are around Level 10; if you are Level 30, the beasts you can handle are around Level 15.

Of course, this is only a broad summary, and the actual situation varies from person to person. Take Lin Xin, for instance: he was not even Level 20, yet he forcibly killed a large number of Level 20 dire wolves, as well as a Level 31 Enhanced alpha wolf.

That was the manifestation of his overwhelming combat power, though in truth it was just a built-in flaw in the system, the so-called King of the Game.

Moreover, as the game progressed into the mid and late stages and the players’ overall strength rose, this comparison would shift again. A Level 100 marshal could hardly be expected to fail to kill an Level 80 boss monster.

What has been said above is the general situation; exceptions always exist.

The Loch Mist Beast is one such exception.

Because its entire body is shrouded in water ripples, no one can see its true form, and its level cannot be determined.

After a month of repeated attempts by multiple adventuring parties, the Adventurers’ Guild concluded that the Loch Mist Beast was roughly a mid-tier Enhanced monster in the Level 40 to 45 range. By that measure, now that it had mutated, its strength had at least surged by another stage, making it a high-tier Enhanced monster approaching Level 50.

It was even possible that it had broken through into the Elite tier.

At Level 40, it was already extremely powerful; at Level 50, the gap became even greater.

The situation was critical. The adventurers observing from the shore of Loch Mist all turned and withdrew, lest the beast suddenly charge at them. Flying Eagle was equally helpless. He still had a mission in hand, and he absolutely could not afford heavy losses here. Compared with killing the Loch Mist Beast, the second mission was what truly mattered.

"We pull back!"

"Pull back?" The team members were startled, but there was no other choice.

"Front line to rear. Wen Hui, get ready. We act at the same time and throw the smoke bombs and fire bombs." Flying Eagle gave rapid orders, his one-meter sword flashing again and again as he attacked during the brief opening while the beast was mutating. The results, however, were far from satisfactory.

Flying Eagle’s eleven-member adventuring party withdrew in orderly fashion, worthy of a top B-rank force.

"Ready, throw!"

Flying Eagle and Wen Hui seized the chance and hurled a full line of six linked bombs before turning and sprinting away.

The beast had already finished mutating. It looked largely unchanged, save that the body beneath the water curtain had become even more crimson than before. By now it had reached the edge of the beach. Its vision was blocked by thick smoke, and fierce flames blazed around its feet. The beast grew agitated.

It roared and screeched from time to time, charging about like a tank. If there had been a wall in front of it, it would likely have been smashed to powder long ago.

Dawn was brightening, and the sun had already revealed half its body. Looking toward the far end of Loch Mist, the sea and sky met like a painting, while that half-hot sun struggled to tear the alliance of sea and sky apart, striving to make its own light the ruler of the world.

In an instant, torrents of light poured down, mingling with the sea of fire and continuously evaporating the ripples surrounding the beast.

A pale white mist surged upward in great columns, especially conspicuous amid the gray smoke.

Awoo—!

The beast let out a cry that spread in all directions, reaching everyone’s ears.

The fury in that cry made the adventurers tremble with dread.

"This is bad, run, run! The beast is really enraged!"

"Damn it all, I knew we shouldn’t have come to watch the show. If the beast wipes out Flying Eagle’s party and then turns us into food, we’re done for."

"This beast is too fierce. It may well be on the verge of becoming an Elite monster."

Everyone fled in panic, not daring to look back for a moment.

Among them, the most anguished and anxious were the eleven members of Flying Eagle’s party. Two B-rank adventurers, nine C-rank adventurers, plus the only D-rank adventurer they had once specially cultivated, now dead—the party’s strength was by no means weak, yet its efforts had yielded almost nothing. Could it be that this one beast truly required an A-rank party, or several B-rank parties working together, to bring it down?

There was no time to think further. Survival came first. The smoke bombs and fire bombs would only last twelve seconds, and twelve seconds was nowhere near enough for them to reach the parked cars in the woods three hundred meters away.

"To hell with it, we fight through! Everyone, keep it up. The beast definitely won’t stray far from the lake!" Vice Captain Wen Hui shouted, then threw another smoke bomb behind them.

Even if his own vision was impaired, he could not allow the beast any chance to seize the advantage.

Suddenly, a scream rang out, like a basin of cold water poured over the hearts of everyone in Flying Eagle’s party.

The voice belonged to Gerard, the C-rank adventurer. It seemed he had already perished.

"Damn it! That cursed beast. At worst I’ll die with it—" Wen Hui cursed furiously, then stopped short.

A blurred black figure shot past his side like the wind.

"Who was that?" Wen Hui cried in alarm and hurriedly turned to look, but there was nothing to be seen in the dense smoke.

He quickly pressed his earpiece and shouted, "Captain Flying Eagle, someone just went past us."

"What?" Flying Eagle exclaimed. At a time like this, going over there would be no different from courting death.

"Did you see who it was?"

"No. He was extremely fast, far beyond either of us. Could he be some hidden A-rank adventurer?" Wen Hui said as he ran, utterly baffled.

Awoo— the beast’s roar sounded again.

Yet the ten members of Flying Eagle’s party were stunned. That was the sound of pain.

What had happened?

Pushing themselves onward, the ten of them reached the edge of the woods. They were only dozens of meters from the cars, but no one had time to get in. All of them turned back at once. The smoke bomb’s duration had long since passed, yet the sky remained choked with thick smoke, pierced by an especially massive column of white steam.

Clearly, someone else had thrown smoke bombs. Who was it?

The Loch Mist Beast kept screaming in agony, its cries full of resentment. Who was its opponent?

Agh— another scream, still weak and abruptly cut short.

The ten members of Flying Eagle’s party shuddered and looked at one another.

"Captain Flying Eagle, could he have killed the beast?" Fei Li murmured in disbelief.

"Stop standing there. Go over and see."

Flying Eagle took the lead and ran forward, the other nine close behind. Soon, after passing through the smoke curtain, a terrifying scene entered their eyes.