harleyscars Page 265
Page 265
Standing still without flinching or dodging, Qin Lan let several arrows rain down on her body.
"what--!"
Suddenly, Zhuang Daihua screamed from the edge of the mine. Qin Lan looked in the direction of the sound and saw that the goblins were also trying to escape during the gap.
However, having grown up roughing and tumbling in the wild, Tie Long was incapable of making a foolish mistake. His hypnotic breath, which had been in a state of deep sleep, immediately spread out in a fan shape.
How could the goblins possibly withstand it? The miners lay sprawled on the ground, leaving only a few archers and swordsmen struggling to hold on.
Some pierced their bodies with arrows, while others slashed their wounds with knives. They forced themselves to awaken under hypnotic breathing, but this awakening lasted only a moment.
Qin Lan glanced at Zhuang Daihua and saw that she was fighting a slime. A smile that she couldn't help but chuckle appeared on the young dragon's face.
But to the goblins, that smile was the young dragon baring its fangs!
"Alright, here we go! Round two—if your Black Dragon Master doesn't show up, then I'm going to go on a killing spree."
Ayatron's metal sensor is ineffective against gold, silver, copper, adamantite, mithril, and platinum, but it can detect other metals.
Not to mention that the probability of the Black Dragon going down into the mine to check on the working conditions of his subordinates is close to zero, even if the Black Dragon did come, so what?
She had already subdued the goblins and completed her mission. Even if she couldn't defeat them, she could always run away with Zhuang Daihua.
This is a "battle zone" room randomly teleported by the maze master, which is countless miles away from the original maze.
That laughable black dragon, even if it wanted revenge, would never have the chance.
……
"Ah, this slime...!"
Although Tie Long didn't take the slime seriously, Zhuang Daihua was in a dilemma.
That thing just slammed down from the ceiling and almost hit the girl on the head. If her head had been covered by the slime, she would have suffocated.
Fortunately, she reacted quickly enough, using her riot shield to deflect the slime and swing it aside.
This wriggling, transparent mass was impervious to penetrating damage, and even a crossbow couldn't harm it. So Zhuang Daihua decided to use an entrenching tool to dig out its core or other vital organs.
But imagination and reality are far apart; the entrenching tool has a limited attack range. Slimes can also spray slime as an attack.
The terrain here is close to a swamp, near the lair of a juvenile black dragon. The slime's sludge is also corrosive, eroding the stone walls beside the mine and sending up terrifying plumes of white smoke.
"Qin He... Mr. Qin... I need to issue a mission. We're struggling to defeat the slimes!"
Left with no other option, Qin He could only inform Zhuang Daihua of the slime's weakness by issuing a quest:
[Apprentice Slime Slayer]: Kill a slime by roasting it with flames (0/1).
Mission Reward: Dagger Leggings Pouch *1 (made of high-quality Ironclad Crocodile hide).
Zhuang Daihua could only lament the rip-off he got from the quest reward given by Heraheim.
Leg wrap knife pouch? What a piece of fashionable trash! Are you expecting me to wear that thing and pull a dagger out from my thigh?
Will Qin He like it?
The girl shook her head violently, struggling to snap out of her reverie. She pulled a small gas canister from her storage ring and threw it at the slime.
At the same time, she also used an enchanted crossbow to fire five steel balls to blow up the gas canister. She had bought these steel balls to use as a slingshot, but the enchanted crossbow could also fire them.
Then, by utilizing the anchor point properties of the demiplane ring, one can slip into it and avoid the damage from the gas explosion.
With a deafening roar, the mine trembled slightly. The slime perished on the spot and went to report to Heraheim.
……
Above the earth's surface, within the swamp.
"Huh? What happened?"
The black dragon, awakened by the tremors, was unaware of what had happened in its mine.
Chapter 348 The legs are very beautiful
Even the slightest vibration from an explosion caused by a small gas cylinder at the bottom of a mine can be detected by the cautious and cunning black dragon.
Zhuang Daihua's enchanted crossbow is perfectly suited to load and fire steel balls. The burning and strength enchantments on the crossbow also apply to the steel balls.
The powerful impact and burning enchantment from the enchantment, even when applied to a steel ball, can immediately damage and ignite a gas canister.
Ordinary slimes are naturally unable to withstand such a close-range explosion and turn into burning, charred matter.
"Why did you make such a commotion?"
Qin Lan leaped out of the mine and came to Zhuang Daihua to check carefully... She had just used an enchanted crossbow to blow something up, causing the explosion.
If this mine is not far from the swamp where the black dragon lives, perhaps the young black dragon has already noticed the intruder.
"That slime almost covered my head just now...!"
Zhuang Daihua escaped from the demiplane anchor point of the storage ring, looking at the remaining traces of the explosion.
"Never mind, that young black dragon should have sensed the movement underground. Let's hurry to the next room."
Bone bows, bone arrows, iron knives, iron pickaxes, and poison darts—all the worthwhile items the goblin miners carried were gathered up by Qin Lan with her wings.
In the past, when young dragons came to the maze, those without storage items could only take away valuable items.
But now that Zhuang Daihua is here, she can pack up all her things and take them with her.
Then there are coal mines, iron mines, and exposed crystalline deposits that produce various rare ores.
The young dragon moved without hesitation, its powerful claws directly chiseling out and swallowing the ore.
If they can mine sparrow stone, or even higher-quality minerals, the young dragon can use its breath to fuse minerals and metals into its body in a certain proportion.
Although Swallowstone is a mineral that is difficult to smelt using conventional steelmaking methods, requiring burning coal and a sufficiently powerful steel furnace to melt, this is not a problem for Qin Lan, who possesses the inherited skills.
As a fire-type subspecies of the True Dragon, her powerful spellcasting abilities allow her to act as a furnace for smelting minerals, melting the Swallowstone.
In addition, true dragons possess the ability to digest most items. They can successfully melt sparrowstone and even higher-grade ores simply by consuming high-calorie fuels such as burning coal and dragon vein coal.
If not, consuming magic crystals and magic cores is also an option. With the young dragon's fairly skillful craftsmanship, it could easily forge itself a set of claw sheaths.
Alternatively, forging a tail blade at the tip of the tail would also be a good option.
Zhuang Daihua was still quite flustered as a black dragon was about to arrive. Putting everything else aside, black dragons were among the most ferocious of all dragon species.
As evil dragons, they not only drown their enemies in swamps to let them rot, but also corrode them with their terrible acid breath.
In this world, no man-eating dragons have existed since the War of the Forsaken Gods. But even if the black dragon doesn't eat humanoid creatures, it will still use its strong acid breath to completely "disfigure" them.
The black dragon's acid breath, the orange dragon's tar breath, and the yellow dragon's salt breath can all cause disfigurement and are extremely vicious spit weapons.
The black dragons living in the ruined cities are alright, but those that inhabit the swamps all have a pungent smell of rotting mud on them.
All these factors combined made Zhuang Daihua's fear and disgust for the Black Dragon outweigh her desire to fight. Even if the Black Dragon had treasure and Qin Lan could defeat it, she was unwilling to stay here any longer.
"Qin Lan, let's hurry up and leave after we finish mining the ore. Let's go to the next room."
The goblins were all rendered incapable of fighting, and the slimes were burned dry. After receiving the rewards for the two quests, the Fire Dragon's Wing Bone Dagger and the Ironclad Crocodile Leggings and Knife Pouch immediately appeared in my storage ring.
“It’s pretty nice…”
The knife pouch has a metallic sheen, and the alligator skin pattern is quite beautiful. Tied between Zhuang Daihua's not particularly voluptuous, but rather slender and fair legs, it adds a touch of hazy allure.
Looking at the dragon bone dagger made from the fire dragon's wing bone, although it's just ordinary dragon bone without any rare metals coating the blade, its practicality surpasses that of any knife on Earth.
Although it is not enchanted, it has been given several blessing attributes.
【Bloodlustful Berserker Bone】: The Dragon Bone Dagger will absorb the blood it comes into contact with to nourish or repair itself.
【Fire Dragon's Burning Marrow】: The Dragon Bone Dagger can convert absorbed energy into combustible dust.
It is highly sharp and durable, and also has a built-in ignition function.
Afterwards, you can ask Qin Lan for some dragon blood, combine it with rare alloys and forge it with dragon breath, and use top-grade dragon steel to coat the dagger with a sharp edge.
After stuffing the dagger, sheath and all, into her scabbard, Zhuang Daihua attempted to mine the crystals below, hoping to leave this perilous mine as soon as possible.
Wielding her pickaxe, she attempted to mine the crystal ore like a goblin. In theory, a pickaxe should be sufficient for mining this exposed crystal ore—
Wearing heavy gloves, Zhuang Daihua swung her pickaxe several times but failed to make a mark on the crystal ore, and instead became breathless from exhaustion.
Throwing out the gas canister just now was like unleashing a primal force for her. Her physique is so weak that if she didn't have a way to increase her strength, she probably wouldn't be able to do any job.
"You'd better save your energy. These goblins are all stronger than you. I really don't understand why His Highness Qin He would bother with a rookie adventurer like you."
Qin Lan looked at it with disdain, and the young dragon dug with its claws, quickly breaking the exposed crystal ore into pieces, revealing the messy minerals inside.
Earth crystals, iron ore, sparrow stone, and high-quality light crystals are all excellent forging materials, except for the common iron ore.
Seeing the harvest, Qin Lan was quite happy. Zhuang Daihua packed all the ore, and a wooden door leading to Xiaguan appeared out of thin air in front of the two of them.
But at the same time, a notification appeared before them:
"Hidden Quest in Current Room: Defeat the Juvenile Black Dragon 'Wings of Demonic Corruption', Carlona. Adventurers may choose to accept this quest for additional rewards."
Needless to say, this should be a quest prompt from the Labyrinth Master. After hunting the Black Dragon, in addition to dragon blood, scales, bones, tendons, and a fully formed dragon core, you can also obtain extra rewards.
"Mr. Qin... what should we do? Should I stay here and wait for that black dragon to come?"
Killing the black dragon would yield extra rewards, and Qin Lan was already gearing up for it. But Zhuang Daihua remained uncertain.
"Don't be afraid, we can win."
The young Black Dragon is probably only at the peak of the third tier at most. Although its size may be eight to ten meters, it is no match for Qin Lan in terms of pure strength.
The task of fighting on the front lines was left to the young dragon; Zhuang Daihua only needed to provide cover with her enchanted crossbow.
"When the black dragon is about to breathe, you pull the trigger into its mouth."
Even ordinary steel balls, when enhanced by an enchanted crossbow, can be used to dent the scales of the young black dragon.
"Then... I'll wait until I can hit the target before using the piercing arrow?"
Although the piercing enchanted arrows could be retrieved, she was still worried about the loss of crossbow bolts during combat.
"It's alright, forty enchanted crossbow bolts are enough for most situations. Use steel balls normally, and by the time all the bolts are worn out, you'll be a very skilled mage."
Qin He couldn't resist teasing her, but the Molten Embers was indeed a top-tier staff. Its potential for growth was no less than Mira's Ice Soul Star.
If she can gradually develop her magical skills within the labyrinth... that would be quite good. With that staff, she could even use spells that don't consume her own magic power to fight.
"Alright, Mr. Qin...we're about to fight the Black Dragon...look~"
Knowing Zhuang Daihua's meaning, Qin He simultaneously added the quest to kill the black dragon to the quest panel.
[Slay the Black Dragon]: Defeat the young black dragon "Demon Wings" Carlona.
Quest Reward: Power Amulet.
Qin He's eyes lit up when he saw the Power Charm appear in the quest panel. The Power Charm only needed to be paired with the Bazelgeuse's Claws to create the even more powerful Power Claws.
It has always been in short supply; the power amulet grants the user superhuman power simply by possessing it. It is exactly what Zhuang Daihua needs right now, and it can also be useful in Qin He's hands.
Those enchanted crossbows and dragonbone daggers were, frankly, just trendy junk. Qin He hadn't yet rolled the dice to claim the random high-level staff.
Aside from high-level staves with random attributes, the Power Amulet is arguably the best reward Zhuang Daihua has ever received from a quest.
Over the years, the price of the Power Amulet has been driven up to around 36,000 gold coins.
As a favorite of certain noble knights who were themselves powerless, it was priceless and unavailable.
If it were further crafted into the Claw of Power, its effect would be even more formidable.
"A very good reward, Miss Zhuang. Keep up the good work and complete the mission!"
On Qin He's side, if he achieves a great success with the dice roll, he will immediately receive twenty Power Amulets, which he can then craft using the remaining Blazing Dragon Claws from Zhong Liuxiu's workshop.
At that time, there will be twenty Claws of Power. Distributing them to the girls around me will undoubtedly improve their physical fitness in all aspects.
While it's possible for Zhong Liuxiu to use her magical abilities to replicate the near-equivalent exchange of hand-crafting skills and mass-produce Claws of Power, Qin He's resources aren't particularly abundant at this stage.
As for the high-grade staff, Qin He wasn't in a hurry to roll the dice and double his chances of obtaining it.
……
"Don't worry, this is a mine. Qin Lan is an Iron Dragon with a special skill in digging tunnels; she can easily trap the Black Dragon just by digging!"
Regardless of the tactics used, this combination of man and dragon has a high chance of killing the black dragon.
In a head-on confrontation, Qin Lan is absolutely capable of restraining or even slightly defeating the Black Dragon. Zhuang Daihua can use crossbow bolts and steel balls to interfere from the sidelines. To put it bluntly, Qin Lan can just withstand any magical attacks the Black Dragon might launch.
Anyway, young dragons have such good regenerative abilities that their scales can basically grow back after a good night's sleep. In situations like the Blue Dragon tribe where the five colors of young dragons coexist, the black dragon's acid breath is actually the least threatening of its spitting weapons.
Although the white dragon itself is not strong, its freezing breath can make the red dragon feel uncomfortable all over.