Chapter 46 - 46 43 Flame Embrace

46: Chapter 43 Flame Embrace 46: Chapter 43 Flame Embrace “Caw caw! It’s them, those damned straw men, naughty, kill kill humans!” These straw men were all third or fourth levels. They looked totteringly weak. Additionally, the open terrain of the farm gave a sense of safety, unlike the forest with its poor visibility where one had no idea where monsters might be hiding. Xiao Jie surveyed the surroundings and immediately had a plan. “Ready to start, same old rules, draw them out with bow and arrow and kill them one by one! By the way, what’s with Flame Embrace?” “I’m not sure,” replied I Want to Be Immortal, “my brother mentioned it in the strategy guide he gave me.” He then read out the content about the flame embrace from the strategy guide to Xiao Jie. “[Demonized Scarecrow: Low attack power, Level 1 players can easily kill them, but before dying, they will use a move called ‘Flame Embrace.’ They embrace the player and self-ignite, causing huge damage and are very easy to kill instantly, so try not to provoke them. I once got hugged by one at full health, and it left me with just a skin of health.]” Xiao Jie frowned slightly upon hearing this. Full health reduced to a sliver? That sounds quite formidable. His brother’s level wouldn’t have been high when he fought the straw men, but even with only 100 Life Value, being reduced to a sliver meant that Flame Embrace had to deal damage of about 70-90. He himself had only 100 Blood Volume, barely enough to withstand it, but what if his brother had added Constitution? That would mean Flame Embrace was enough to kill instantly. However, since it’s used only before death, it should be manageable with some caution. “Like this, once the straw man’s blood volume gets low, we’ll run far away and finish them off with bow and arrow. These straw men seem to move slowly, so we should be able to kite them.” I Want to Be Immortal was enlightened by the idea. “Right, we have bow and arrow. Understood.” The two of them aimed at a straw man and fired together. Whoosh whoosh! This straw man, made of wood and straw, really looked like a target dummy, with both arrows hitting. -3! -2! What the heck, Xiao Jie was surprised. This damage isn’t right, is it? Seeing the straw man staggle towards them, Xiao Jie did not continue shooting arrows. It seemed that this thing had resistance to piercing damage. It made sense, a bundle of straw, even if it was pierced through, it wouldn’t really matter. Only a chop with a blade would do the job. Xiao Jie swung his blade and chopped. Thankfully, the chopping damage was full. A chop on the straw man dealt a direct -22! It’s exactly like the strategy guide described: the straw man had no attack, no speed, and its arms made of straw posed no threat at all, just tickling when hitting the shield. Even pulling tactics were unnecessary. The straw man had only 120 Blood Volume, and a few chops were enough to nearly kill it. Just as its blood volume hit bottom, the straw man suddenly burst into flames, turning into a fiery figure, then it fiercely pounced towards Xiao Jie. Xiao Jie had been prepared and performed a Hawk Roll without hesitation! A backflip in the air made the pounce miss completely. Boom, the straw man completely turned into ashes in the flames, also bursting out several copper coins. System: Gained 8 Experience Points. That was pretty easy, thought Xiao Jie. “Let’s continue.” Although the last move, Flame Embrace, was scary, as long as they were prepared in advance, it wasn’t hard to dodge. The two of them lured the straw men out of the wheat field one by one, sword and chop combined, taking down each in just a couple of strikes. Some straw men didn’t even have time to burst into flames before they were chopped down. Another straw man was lured out. The two struck with a sword and a chop, expecting another round, but the straw man caught fire immediately. This time it targeted I Want to Be Immortal, who hurriedly rolled backward. However, the straw man made a flying pounce landing right on I Want to Be Immortal. The rolling function in Old Soil, at first glance, looked similar to the Rolling in the soul system games Xiao Jie used to play, but there was one crucial difference: there were no Invincible frames. A Roll with Invincible frames was truly a Divine Skill, which could dodge any attack if performed well. But without the Invincible frames, it was just a makeshift Displacement Skill. This roll was only halfway done when it was solidly intercepted by the straw man. Boom! The burning flames engulfed I Want to Be Immortal. Not good! Xiao Jie was startled and almost froze in place. Was he going to watch his teammates die in front of him again? “Holy shit, holy shit!” I Want to Be Immortal screamed, instantly losing over 90 blood volume points. Luckily, he had followed his brother’s advice and upgraded all into additional blood volume, reaching a total of 150 points, so this attack only took two-thirds of his blood, and he wasn’t killed instantly. But it still scared him terribly. His whole body went numb. As soon as he stood up from the fire, he immediately pulled out a blood bottle and started gulping it down. He drained three blood bottles in one go before stopping. “Feng, damn, that scared me to death,” I Want to Be Immortal said, almost sobbing. Xiao Jie too felt a chill in his heart, grateful it wasn’t himself that was embraced by the flames. That thing could really kill in an instant. “How are you doing? Are you okay?” “I can’t, I need a moment.” Xiao Jie also felt a bit numb, initially thinking the damage shouldn’t have been so high, but now realizing it could indeed have killed him instantly. The damage from the monster’s skill must vary; if luck was bad, it could burn down over a hundred points in damage, which would have been fatal. If only they had a dog to deliver the finishing move. “How about we don’t fight these things anymore, they’re too scary. Let’s go fight the mountain bandits instead,” I Want to Be Immortal suggested, still shaken. “No, let me think.” Xiao Jie looked at the remaining scarecrows, having finally found a map where they could freely hunt monsters, and he didn’t want to give up just yet. Moreover, other monsters weren’t easier to handle; attracting one extra mountain bandit could spell disaster, the soulless zombies had elite monsters patrolling, and the forest was too thick, making it easy to get surprised by a monster. After some thought, he found a solution. “Here’s the plan, based on our experience in combat, scarecrows’ ignition point seems to be below 50% of their life. The lower their health, the higher the chance of them self-igniting, with a definite self-ignition at below 10%. So, if we can instantly kill them when their health is at 50%, they shouldn’t catch fire.” 50% of the health is 60 life points. Xiao Jie’s One Cut, Two Pieces can deal over 50 damage, and I Want to Be Immortal just needs to add another sword strike to achieve the kill. “So when the scarecrow’s health is half gone, I’ll use my combat skills to strike, and you need to attack in sync with me to ensure an instant kill, giving the scarecrows no chance to ignite. Can you do that?” One Cut, Two Pieces required charging, and couldn’t be used as freely as a normal chop, so I Want to Be Immortal had to synchronize with Xiao Jie rather than the other way around, which demanded precision in I Want to Be Immortal’s movements. “I can almost do it.” “Almost isn’t good enough; it must be 100% successful. If you can’t synchronize your attack, the barely alive scarecrow will definitely self-ignite, and then we’re in danger. Let’s practice it a bit.” One Cut, Two Pieces! Chop! One Cut, Two Pieces! Chop! One Cut, Two Pieces! Chop! They practiced against the air for a while, gradually synchronizing their attacks until they were nearly seamless. “Alright, we should be fine now. But just to be safe, I’ll draw the monsters out front. Hawk Roll covers more distance with its rolling and it’s performed in a high stance, so it’s less likely to get pounced on.” I Want to Be Immortal shook his head, “No, how can you face danger alone? Besides, I have a higher blood volume, and the likelihood of being pounced and killed is lower. Since I’ve decided to play this game, I’m ready to face any risks. Feng, I know you’re a good person, but this is something we can’t avoid.” Xiao Jie sighed, knowing he was afraid too, “Alright, then let’s both go in. Brothers share life and death.” “Fortune favors the bold!” I Want to Be Immortal responded. With swords in hand, they charged towards the next scarecrow. This synchronized shoulder-to-shoulder strike technique proved effective; as long as they attacked at the same time, they could kill a half-health scarecrow. Xiao Jie felt like he was dancing on a tightrope, or a hunter facing an enemy with a sniper rifle on the battlefield. It seemed effortless, yet each time was a narrow miss. One Cut, Two Pieces! -54! Chop! -17! Another coordinated attack, and the moment the scarecrow vanished into smoke, Xiao Jie’s character flashed white, finally leveling up to Level 3.