themonasnovels Chapter 17 Mission Accomplished, Manticore Leader
Chapter 17 Mission Accomplished, Manticore Leader
The three manticores have a darker color on their bodies and are relatively small in size, so they should be ordinary adult individuals.
Rowling held his breath, his brain racing.
One against three, a head-on confrontation is very risky.
The crystallized scorpion lion has strong defense; its [Acid Splash] requires multiple hits to the same spot to effectively break through its defense.
And they are not slow in their movement, especially in short-distance attacks.
He observed the terrain.
The narrow pass is not conducive to the manticores standing in place at the same time.
He had a preliminary plan in mind.
Luo Lin slowly retreated, circled around, and came to the back of a huge rock above the pass.
He took out a small glass bottle from his pocket pouch, inside which was a potion he had concocted himself, with a strong, pungent odor.
After uncorking the bottle and calculating the angle and force, I used [Mage's Hand] to precisely toss it between the three manticores that were feeding.
The glass bottle shattered, and a pungent odor instantly filled the air.
The three manticores immediately stopped eating, roared angrily, and looked around warily.
Two of them were fidgeting and spinning around, while the other rushed toward the source of the scent, which was the narrow pass.
It's now!
Luo Lin's eyes narrowed, and the [Acid Splash] he had prepared was instantly activated.
puff!
The dark green acid drew an arc, not aimed at the manticore's hard back, but rather anticipated its forward trajectory and precisely struck its relatively vulnerable forelimb joints.
laugh--
The acid contacted the crystalline shell, producing a violent corrosive sound, accompanied by the manticore's painful roar.
Its forward momentum suddenly stalled, its injured forelimb clearly affecting its movement.
Without pausing, Luo Lin fired the second and third shots of acid splash, all aimed at the same injured joint.
Snap!
With a crisp crack, the crystals at the joint of the manticore's forelimb were finally corroded and penetrated, acid seeped into its interior, and it howled as it collapsed to the ground, struggling to get up.
Hearing their companion's screams, the other two manticores became even more ferocious and charged towards the pass together.
Luo Lin took a deep breath, knowing that the most crucial moment had arrived.
He must take advantage of the pass's terrain to quickly eliminate the first one, and then face the onslaught of the other two.
He emerged directly from behind the boulder and stood above the pass.
Looking down at the struggling manticore, he fired several consecutive Acid Splashes, precisely targeting the relatively weak points in the manticore's defenses, such as the junction of its head and neck.
The manticore's roar quickly subsided, the crystalline light on its body dimmed, and it finally stopped moving.
At this moment, the other two scorpion lions had already rushed to the bottom of the pass and were angrily climbing upwards.
The pass was narrow, so they could not stand at the same time; they could only stand one in front of the other.
Rowling calmly observed the one charging at the front, without rushing to attack.
He silently calculated the distance and the consumption of mana.
Just as the first manticore's forepaws were about to step onto the edge of the pass, Rolin cast [Hand of Spells].
This time, instead of pushing, it gathered its strength and slammed it down hard on the spot where the manticore had just raised its head and exposed a little bit of its abdomen.
Bang!
An invisible force struck the manticore's relatively soft abdomen, which, while not causing significant damage, successfully interrupted its climbing momentum.
This caused the manticore to slide down a short distance, bumping into its companions who were following behind, causing a commotion.
Taking this opportunity, Rolin did not hesitate to smash down another specially made, potent paralyzing potion that he had prepared beforehand.
The potion exploded between the two manticores, and a pale purple mist quickly spread.
The effects of this paralyzing potion are not long-lasting; it may only stun a monster like the Crystallized Scorpion for a few seconds, but that is enough.
Lorin unleashed his full magical power, firing [Acid Splash] like a machine gun at the two squirms that were slowed by confusion and paralysis, focusing on their eyes, mouths, noses, and joints.
For a moment, the hissing sound of corrosion and the painful roar of the manticore echoed through the valley.
When the paralysis wore off, the two manticores struggled to continue their attack, but their bodies were covered in acid corrosion marks, their movements became noticeably slower, and one of their eyes had even been corroded and blinded.
The ensuing battle turned into a war of attrition.
Using the terrain to his advantage, Rolin constantly moved to avoid the sporadic energy beams fired from the manticore's tail.
They also continuously weakened them using [Acid Splash] and [Mage's Hand].
Finally, after their mana was mostly depleted and their [Weak Force Field Armor] had become unstable after being hit by several claw attacks, the remaining two crystallized scorpion lions fell to the ground and died one after another.
After the battle, Roland leaned against a rock, slightly out of breath.
Sweat soaked his hair; his magical power was greatly depleted, and he was also somewhat mentally exhausted.
But he didn't dare to be careless. He quickly checked the surrounding environment and only began to process the spoils after confirming that there were no other dangers.
He carefully used a bone dagger to cut off the crystal nuclei from the ends of the tails of the three crystallized manticores.
The crystal core felt slightly heavy in my hand, containing unstable but quite pure energy.
This is the tail needle crystal core required for the mission.
He carefully stored the three crystal cores away.
The task required ten, and this is less than a third complete.
Moreover, these three were just ordinary manticores; he had not yet encountered the kind of manticore leader mentioned in the information, which was close to a formal wizarding force.
Rowling did not rush to delve deeper.
He found a relatively secluded corner, took a stamina recovery potion, and began to meditate to recover his depleted mana and mental energy.
In the wild, maintaining physical condition is crucial.
This battle gave him a certain understanding of the Crystallized Scorpion Lion's combat capabilities and also tested the effectiveness of his spells combined with tactics.
The corrosive properties of [Acid Splash] are very effective against such highly defended targets, but the consumption is also considerable.
The skillful use of [Mage's Hand] had an unexpected effect in battle.
The [Weak Force Field Armor] successfully withstood several fatal claw attacks, proving its value.
Having recovered most of his strength, Luo Lin stood up and looked deeper into the mountains.
He knew that even more dangerous challenges lay ahead.
Collecting ten crystal cores means he still needs to deal with at least two or three similar manticore packs, or he might encounter that powerful manticore leader.
He took a deep breath, his eyes regained their firmness and calmness, and began to walk again into the depths of the treacherous mountains.
Before leaving, Rolin cleaned up the traces of the battle and collected some valuable claws from the crystallized manticore and several pieces of high-purity crystals.
These can be sold as materials or used by oneself.
Over the next two days, Rolin encountered two more small groups of crystallized manticores.
One group has four birds, and the other has five.
Having learned from his first experience, he was much more at ease in dealing with the situation.
He made full use of the terrain, either luring and dividing the enemy or setting up simple traps. With the precise strikes of [Acid Splash] and the assistance of potions, he successfully dealt with them at a relatively low cost.
At this point, he had collected twelve tail needle crystal cores, exceeding the basic requirements of the mission.
But he had no intention of returning immediately.
On the one hand, he wanted to take this opportunity to hone his combat skills more deeply.
On the other hand, the information mentioned that the scorpion leader made him wary, and at the same time, he had a faint idea of challenging him.
If he can single-handedly defeat that monster that is close to a formal wizard, it will undoubtedly be the best proof of his strength, and he may even gain additional rewards.
He became more cautious and his actions became increasingly stealthy.
Mental perception is always maintained within a certain range, paying attention to any unusual energy fluctuations or traces.
On the fifth day of his journey into the mountains, Rolin stopped outside a wide canyon filled with the strong smell of sulfur.
At the entrance to the canyon, there are scattered a large number of skeletons of various creatures, including some huge monsters with hard bones.
The rock face was covered with deep claw marks, and the residual energy fluctuations in the air were far stronger and more chaotic than those in the manticore territory they had encountered before.
"This place... could very well be the lair of the manticore leader!"
Rowling made his judgment in his mind.
He did not rush in, but instead circled the outer edge of the canyon, looking for a high vantage point to observe.