“Lord Ye Bai...”
The sight of the situation immediately frightened the four villagers except Carrie, and they hurriedly raised their bows like Ye Bai, nervously asking, “What do you need us to do?”
"You don’t need to do anything," Ye Bai said nonchalantly, her bow always pulled tight with the arrow pointed at the brown bear slowly approaching the Tree of Life, exuding the effortless grace of a master.
Ever since dispatching the villager Roman to explore the surroundings, Ye Bai had discovered a large beehive and knew that there must be a brown bear elite monster nearby.
Although the stereotype of ‘bears loving honey’ was somewhat laughable, it became a method for Ye Bai to determine the bear's whereabouts.
Her decision to bring four villagers to guard at night was, of course... ahem, not merely to show off in front of others, primarily to allow these villagers whom she intended to cultivate to share the experience points from killing this elite monster, thereby leveling up.
NPCs, just like players, have individual levels, and each level-up increases basic attributes and health points. For villagers, the group that needs to level up primarily consists of combat professions and professionals.
Combat professions are self-explanatory; their strength is directly linked to their combat power. Professionals, on the other hand, require a minimum level for many advanced professions. Although professionals can also gain experience through proficiency to level up, it is much slower than killing monsters, and low-level professionals cannot create high-level items.
For instance, the Angry Horned Beast leather in Ye Bai’s backpack cannot be handled by a 【Tailor】 professional below level 5, because their strength attribute is too low to break through the high-grade leather.
Therefore, encountering such a good opportunity, Ye Bai brought the four NPCs she planned to level up to share the experience.
Although Roman was not a special talent, Ye Bai had previously sent him to explore the area around the village, which had already started the progress bar for his ‘exploration’ ability experience. In the future, he could develop towards 【Explorer】 or 【Sentinel】, and leveling up would enhance his survival skills in the wild.
As for why only four villagers were awarded this honor... it was because there were only five bows obtained after lighting up 【Hunting】 in the village. Excluding the one Ye Bai needed to use herself, only four villagers could be equipped with bows.
Unemployed villagers armed with weapons would be judged as 【Temporary Militia】 of the village, allowing them to share experience points from kills. Otherwise, they would remain as ordinary villagers, and the possibility of encountering danger would significantly increase in case of an accident.
“Thud, thud, thud...”
The angry brown bear trudged forward with heavy steps, its speed not as ferocious as its imposing momentum.
The previous trap had dealt nearly a quarter of its health, with a continuous 【Bleeding】 effect of deducting 30 health points per second and a 【Slowness】 effect reducing its movement speed by 60%.
At the same time, due to the influence of the scent from the Tree of Life at close range, the brown bear, as an elite monster, gained a special buff:
The damage caused by【Berserk】is increased by 100%; the damage received is also increased by 100%.
Traps are trigger-type damage with fixed damage values. Therefore, under this effect, only the bleeding effect of the trap has been enhanced from the original 30 health points to 60 health points per second.
At this moment, any attack landing on the brown bear would deal doubled damage, and vice versa, the brown bear's attacks would also deal doubled damage.
To deal with the brown bear in its Berserk state, the most suitable approach is to use high-damage attacks.
So, Ye Bai's bow had been drawn from the moment the brown bear entered her attack range.
This action wasn't about playing it cool or taking aim for too long. After unlocking【Deft Hands】, Ye Bai gained more uses for basic weapons. Apart from shield block skills, other attack-type weapons basically use【Charged Attacks】.
The greatest advantage of a charged attack is that the longer it's charged, the higher the final damage.
Among all charged skills at this stage, in Ye Bai's opinion, the bow's charged attack is the most useful. This is because charging requires certain conditions: firstly, the enemy must be within the weapon's attack range, and secondly, the body cannot move while charging. In comparison, the bow, as a ranged weapon, has an absolute advantage over close-combat weapons.
However, this move isn't invincible. Enemies are aware when they are being aimed at by a charged bow attack, and the sensing distance depends on the level difference between the two parties. Generally, it's a situation where hunting low-level monsters doesn't require stealth, but charging in place against high-level monsters is basically suicide. Basically, archers can best demonstrate their combat strength only when others have already attracted the enemy's attention.
Although no one was front-lining for Ye Bai to draw aggro, the special context of the settlement upgrade didn't make much of a difference.
Ye Bai's arrow had been charging since the brown bear appeared!
The brown bear strode towards the Tree of Creation, advancing from 100 meters, to 50 meters, to 30 meters... With just 20 meters to go, Ye Bai still hadn't released the arrow!
The four villagers nearby were almost clutching their toes in anxiety: "Lord!!!"
At this distance, it seemed like they could smell the brown bear's bloody and musky odor... Oh, not just seemed, they actually could!
Ye Bai kept her eyes on the brown bear's health bar. As it walked closer, its health had dropped from over 3,000 to below 2,000, now standing at 1,860.
Right when the brown bear was less than ten meters away from the group, Ye Bai finally spoke: "Carrie, act now!"
As soon as the words left her mouth, Carrie, who had been prepared, took something in her hand and put it to her lips to play.
"Woo——!"
【Furious Horn】
Attribute: Item
Level: Legendary
Effect—Dragon’s Might: Within 500 meters, causes a dispersion effect on beast-type creatures; within 50 meters, causes a ‘Stagger’ effect on enemy units—during Stagger, enemy units cannot attack or move. The duration of Stagger depends on the level difference between the user and the enemy unit. During Stagger, biological units receive 80% increased damage, while non-biological units receive 20% increased damage.
Consumption: 100 Mana or Stamina
Remaining Uses: 4/5
This was a material Ye Bai obtained from the Nightmare Dungeon Boss, the Furious Horn Beast, specifically from its single horn.
The reason for the Dragon Might effect is that once the Angerhorn Beast undergoes its metamorphosis at Level 20, it evolves into the【Angerhorn Terradragon】. In the fantasy world setting, any creature whose name includes the term 'dragon' is never to be underestimated.
The【Angerhorn】, which the Angerhorn Beast inevitably drops, is the essence of its entire being. The horn already carries draconic effects during its Level 20 metamorphosis stage. If it were the horn of a higher-level Angerhorn Terradragon, both its usage count and effects would be enhanced.
A lord possessing this prop would generally face no significant dangers in the first three upgrades of their territory, which are categorized as 'village' level. The monsters encountered during these early stages of territory upgrades are mostly nearby beasts, and the 'Dispel' effect is a natural counter to them.
At this distance, the Dragon Might, when used by Carrie, who is Level 40, due to the level difference, inflicted a【Stunned】effect on the brown bear for a full 22 seconds!
Carrie is the most suitable person in the entire village to use this prop, not only because she is the highest level but also because others would need to consume Stamina Points, while she has Psychic Energy Points.
"20, 19... 4, 3, 2, 1!"
Ye Bai counted down, still charging his shot from a distance of ten meters, timing it to hit right at the very last second of the stunned effect.
"Whoosh!"
-1540!
A loud thud echoed as the colossal body crashed to the ground. The damage number that popped up—1540—was an amount that a Level 15 character with an ordinary longbow should not have been able to deal. One shot, one kill.
This was the quadruple damage brought about by Berserk and Stunned effects, as well as the damage that could only be achieved with a long charge-up time.
As for the issue of accuracy?
Ye Bai stylishly retracted his bow... at a range of ten meters, who wouldn't have the confidence of a perfect hit?
The battle ended right here. Today, Ye Bai was the one dealing damage, while Carrie was in charge of crowd control. The other four were simply enjoying the thrill and adding to the atmosphere.
"Lord Ye Bai! Miss Carrie! You two are amazing!"
"Oh my gosh! My heart was about to jump out of my chest!"
Ye Bai smiled, opened the territory panel, and saw that while Carrie, being too high-level, didn't experience much change, the four villagers all surged to Level 5. As the main damage dealer, his own experience pool had filled up the most, enough to reach Level 17.
A star of dawn appeared on the horizon, signaling the passage of a night. The flowers on the Tree of Creation quickly withered and fell to the ground, vanishing into nothingness. This caused the controlled range of the territory to expand from the previous 600 meters to 700 meters.
The villagers, who had been hiding in their houses, gradually came out. Discovering that not only was the territory unharmed but the ground was also littered with fresh beast carcasses, the entire Byakko Village was immersed in the joy of a bountiful harvest.
Ye Bai did not touch the beast carcasses but asked the villagers to collect them all and send them to Shawn's Hunting Cabin.
In dungeons, if a monster is killed by a player, its corpse disappears and turns into various items that can be looted into the player's inventory. However, when killing a beast-type creature in a non-dungeon environment, players can choose whether to consume Stamina to use the Life Skill【Skinning】each time they approach the corpse. The quality of the meat and leather drop depends on the proficiency of the Skinning skill.
As a lord, players have an additional option: to have NPC villagers in the territory handle the corpses.
Villagers processing corpses also increase their tanning proficiency, and those working in the [Hunter's Hut] receive additional bonuses to this proficiency.
Ye Bai entrusted all the beasts to the aspiring hunter Shawn for processing—starting with the lowest-tier wolves, then wild boars, and finally bears, effectively leveling up his [Tanning] skill multiple times in one go!
Any resource that could enhance the territory's professionals would be prioritized by Ye Bai.
Her stamina, however, was limited. No matter how much mental effort she expended, she could only significantly improve the proficiency of one or two skills. But by cultivating competent villagers, she could achieve a diversified skill set.
After all, a villager's skills were a lord's skills. Ye Bai wanted them all!
...
The same morning in the game, Zeta just confirmed that her territory had survived its first night.
Under her arrangement, villagers began busily constructing the territory. By now, Ruilan Village had already built a well, a bonfire, and a residential house, with materials still being gathered for the blacksmith's forge—Zeta was well aware of the importance of production tools early on.
Looking at the completed constructions, Zeta opened the [Lord Ranking List].
'Ruilan Village', with Zeta's name, was ranked second, followed by a numerical value representing the territory's comprehensive evaluation.
When Zeta first established her territory, she had checked this evaluation. Back then, with nothing built, the comprehensive score was 0.
When villagers arrived, the score increased from 0 to 5. After the bonfire was built, it rose to 6, then to 10 after the well, and eventually reached 14 after the residential house was completed.
Obviously, the score was linked to the territory's development. Population growth increased the score, and different buildings added varying amounts.
After seeing the territory's score, Zeta immediately began constructing in her territory, trying to calculate the conditions for increasing the score. This allowed her to roughly estimate the situation of Baiye Village.
In front of the '14' of her own village, Zeta stared at the astronomical score of '2516' for Baiye Village above it.
"..."
The claimant to the throne of the Ruilan Empire sank into deep thought.
