Chapter Thirty-Four: The Withered Fire Swamp (4) — The Heart of Convergence

Staring at the towering cloud of dust and sand before him, easily dozens of meters high, Zhao Tianhe was momentarily stunned; he had never imagined such a dramatic spectacle. Because the explosion had taken place on loose sand, the kinetic force unleashed by the Hammer of the Wind King sent tons of dust billowing into the air, making the scene appear as exaggerated as a missile strike.

“It’s splitting! Hit it now!” But this level of sand and dust couldn’t possibly obstruct Zhao Tianhe’s senses. He quickly shouted instructions to the mages, including Lain. “Lain, one hundred and fifty-three meters ahead, thirty-five degrees left! Liu Ke’er, one hundred and eighty-two meters ahead, fifteen degrees right!…” Zhao Tianhe rattled off the coordinates of each area for the mages to attack as fast as he could, and the mages did not hesitate to unleash their spells.

Within the swirling sandstorm, the slime, which relied primarily on sight and touch, was rendered nearly blind—a surprising advantage for the team. Zhao Tianhe, by shifting his perception, could use hearing, touch, and even a sixth sense to locate the positions of the split slimes within the dust, directing the mages to bombard them.

When the dust finally settled, the boss, which had once been a hulking figure, had less than two meters of mass left; over seventy percent of its body had been destroyed by the mages, drastically reducing its strength. Liu Tie was now able to confront it head-on.

‘It’s a bit like Zac… Wait, no! Zac is a righteous hero!’ Zhao Tianhe was suddenly reminded of his favorite champion.

From there, things became straightforward. Liu Tie held the boss at bay; the mages first dealt with the two elite monsters on Wilson’s side, then, together with the archers, rapidly eliminated the fire elemental slimes on the third floor that had regenerative abilities. Afterward, the mages meditated to restore their mana and focused their power to take down what remained of the nearly dead boss slime.

“Boss, it dropped equipment, and it looks like it’s a boss item…” Liu Tie’s face lit up with excitement as he held up a belt and handed it to Zhao Tianhe.

This was Liu Tie’s complete acknowledgment of Zhao Tianhe’s leadership—he even changed the way he addressed him. Previously, he had only called one person “Boss,” and that was the bald-headed mage, Lain, from their former party.

“I should keep it?” Zhao Tianhe was momentarily taken aback.

“Yeah, you take it, Boss. If you can use it, go ahead.” The bald-headed mage Lain smiled. “By the way, that Hammer of the Wind King of yours is incredible! And what was with that illusion of the beautiful woman?”

“Well, she’s a legendary figure from my world, a Heroic Spirit—unique to our world,” Zhao Tianhe replied with a grin. “My innate talent is to summon Heroic Spirits for support.”

“Oh, I see. So your support comes in two modes: direct summoning and unleashing a Noble Phantasm?” Having seen Artoria’s soldier mode before, Lainis nodded in understanding. “That’s impressive!”

“Let’s head back to town and rest. I’m exhausted,” said Barut, the male archer, slumping to the ground and gasping for breath. He and the other ranged fighters had just spent the entire time kiting the two elite fire elementals.

While stamina could be restored, maintaining high-intensity exertion would eventually overwhelm the body, leading to fatigue and halting recovery. In the end, it might even temporarily reduce maximum health and stamina. The only way to improve this was by increasing one’s Constitution attribute.

Mana was the same—even with rapid meditation-based recovery, excessive use would induce negative states like hallucinations or headaches, drastically lowering spell success rates.

After battling a boss and four elites, everyone was beyond exhausted; they had to return to town to recuperate. Moreover, if the equipment they’d obtained was truly a boss drop, it could greatly enhance the team’s strength and speed up progress in the other two dungeons.

“Wow, impressive, Brother Zhao!” Liu Cai’er exclaimed, looking at Zhao Tianhe. “It’s a dungeon boss drop!”

Everyone at the counter gasped in astonishment and crowded around to examine the item’s stats.

Heart of Aggregation, E-rank boss accessory

All attributes +1

Special effect: Active skill, Aggregation—can convert the accessory’s ‘All Attributes +1’ into ‘Single Attribute +5’ for twenty-four hours; skill cooldown: twenty-four hours.

It was a very subtle boss item, and to think that slime boss was only E-rank!

“Boss, you should use it,” the bald-headed mage Lain suggested. “Compared to us, this would boost you the most. Equipment that gives +5 to a single attribute is rare.”

“It’s a big improvement for me, but what about you guys, especially Liu Tie and the others who are always on the front lines…” Zhao Tianhe hesitated.

“Five extra points in Strength wouldn’t let me solo an E-rank boss,” Liu Tie said with a reassuring smile. “But if it boosts your Perception, maybe you’ll be able to spot the boss’s weak points.”

The rest of the team voiced their agreement, and Zhao Tianhe had no choice but to put on the accessory.

Zhao Tianhe was deeply moved; this piece of equipment was truly invaluable. An accessory that could increase any attribute by five points—even using it into the second class advancement wouldn’t be unusual. If he put it on the trading platform, someone might well exchange a C- or even B-rank primary weapon for it.

Yet none of his teammates voiced any objections. Of course, this was largely due to Zhao Tianhe’s outstanding performance during the boss fight. Although the sandstorm that blinded the slime boss was a lucky accident, both the Hammer of the Wind King and his subsequent precise spell bombardments were critical to their victory.

If they hadn’t managed to take out the four elites and the boss in one go, they would have had to retreat to the second floor to recover and start over, which would have cost them much more time. There would have been no time to clear the other two dungeons. If that happened, the energy build-up in the dungeons the next day would dramatically increase their difficulty, leading to a vicious cycle that could force them to request backup.

And for them, as heroes, that was the last thing they wanted to do…

If a dungeon mutated for no reason, there was nothing to be done. But having to call for help because they couldn’t clear a dungeon was simply a sign of weakness and incompetence.

No one bothered going home; instead, they booked rooms at a nearby inn to rest and eat. Zhao Tianhe even took the trouble to give the restaurant owner a detailed order for their meal.

“Hm? A bow?” In the daily space, Artoria raised an eyebrow as she tasted a stir-fried vegetable.

“Yes, didn’t I mention it this morning? My first class advancement gave me powerful perception abilities,” Zhao Tianhe replied, carefully serving Artoria another helping of vegetables. “Today’s dungeon adventure proved just how valuable perception is, so I thought I’d try a weapon that could make the most of it—a bow.”

“Well…” Artoria swallowed her food, her expression turning a bit grave.