8: Chapter 8 Elite Monsters

After putting away the nameplate, Lin Yan first conducted a complete reconnaissance of the ruins surrounding the iron gate.

He spent twenty minutes combing through every inch of the area within a roughly fifty-meter radius, centered on the iron gate.

The terrain in this area was more complex than the outer perimeter; three half-collapsed concrete buildings were arranged in a triangular formation, with an open space covered in rubble in the middle, and the iron gate was embedded at the deepest point of this formation.

The second-floor platform of the collapsed building on the left was the high ground, offering a wide view, but the stairs leading up were broken halfway, requiring climbing to reach.

Behind the broken wall on the right was a groove passage half-covered by debris, barely wide enough for one person to squeeze through, which could serve as an emergency escape route. The open space directly in front had too much rubble, making it slippery to run on and unfavorable for rapid movement.

Having finished the reconnaissance, he had a good idea of the situation.

As for the monsters still alive in the vicinity, he had locked onto the positions of at least four Rift Wolves during his reconnaissance: two were wandering on the edge of the triangular building formation, one was lying behind a crossbeam on the first floor of the building on the left, and another was further away, blocked by a half-wall with only half its tail visible.

If he cleared them all out, he would have enough experience to level up.

Lin Yan gripped his standard issue dagger and crept toward the first Rift Wolf on the outermost edge.

This Rift Wolf was alone on the edge of the ruins, its head lowered as it sniffed around in a pile of rubble, completely unaware of the movement behind it.

Taking cover behind a half-section of a concrete pillar, Lin Yan crept to a position ten meters to its side-rear, and the invisible mark of Heartsteel landed silently.

Three seconds later, a pale red light spot, visible only to him, lit up on the side of the Rift Wolf's neck.

Lin Yan suddenly pushed off with his feet, his body catapulting out from behind the cover. The dagger traced a sharp, short arc, precisely piercing the weak point.

"Steel!"

The crisp sound of steel exploded in his mind.

With 139 points of true damage plus his basic attack damage, a small half of the Rift Wolf's health bar evaporated instantly. It turned around in pain, but before it could bare its fangs, Lin Yan had already taken quick steps backward to distance himself, circling behind a section of broken wall.

30-second cooldown.

The Rift Wolf's two lunging bites were both easily dodged by him using the cover.

"Steel!"

As the second 'Steel' sounded, the Rift Wolf's front left leg began to tremble, and its movements were noticeably a beat slower.

Another 30 seconds, and the third 'Steel' sounded.

"Steel!"

The Rift Wolf let out a whimper, its limbs went limp, and it turned into a corpse.

[Ding! Successfully killed a Level 2 Rift Wolf, gained experience: 22 points!]

[Current experience: 156 / 200!]

Lin Yan bent down to rummage for 4 low-rank dimensional crystals; no materials dropped. He straightened up and crept toward the direction of the second Rift Wolf.

The second one was in an even more peripheral position, dozing off next to a section of broken concrete pipe.

Lin Yan dealt with it using the exact same rhythm as before; after three sounds of 'Steel', his experience bar jumped from 156 to 178.

[Ding! Successfully killed a Level 2 Rift Wolf, gained experience: 22 points!]

[Current experience: 178 / 200!]

Still 22 points short; killing one more Rift Wolf would be just right.

The third Rift Wolf was on the first floor of the collapsed building on the left, nestled behind a half-section of a crossbeam, using its front claws to dig at something on the ground.

Lin Yan silently circled to the other side of the crossbeam, applied the mark, and waited for three seconds.

"Steel!"

"Steel!"

With two sounds of 'Steel', the third kill was without suspense.

When the Rift Wolf's corpse fell to the ground, that familiar warm current finally surged from deep within his body.

[Ding! Successfully killed a Level 2 Rift Wolf, gained experience: 22 points!]

[Current experience: 200 / 200!]

[Level Up: Level 1 → Level 2! Gained 2 free attribute points!]

It was here.

The warm current from this level-up was even more massive than when he went from Level 0 to Level 1.

Lin Yan didn't hesitate at all and added both free attribute points to Constitution.

He could clearly feel every muscle trembling violently, his blood flow accelerating suddenly, and his heartbeat thumping like a drum against his eardrums.

His entire body felt as if it had been reforged by a pair of invisible hands; his bones made faint cracking sounds, more dense and prolonged than the last time, and the warm current lasted for a full ten seconds before slowly fading away.

[Attribute points +2, current Constitution 6 points!]

[Health Points increased by 200, Physical Defense +10, Magic Defense +10!]

The attribute panel refreshed automatically—

[Current Level: 2]

[Current Attributes: Constitution 6, Strength 1, Agility 1, Spirit 1, Luck 1]

[Current Health Points: 1395 / 1829]

[Physical Defense: 40]

[Magic Defense: 30]

[Talent: F-Rank Weak Constitution]

[Current Experience: 0 / 300]

[Items: intermediate health potion ×3, low-level health potion ×1, some food, low-rank dimensional crystal: 54, Rift Wolf pelt fragment ×1, damaged officer's nameplate ×1]

[Heartsteel stack count: 1029 stacks]

Lin Yan hadn't even had time to carefully look at the numbers on the panel when a rush of rapid and dense rustling sounds suddenly came from not far away.

He looked up sharply.

The rustling sounds grew denser; it wasn't just one source, but the dense sound of a large patch of rubble being stepped on simultaneously.

Lin Yan's heart tightened; he immediately lowered his body, his gaze fixed intently on the direction the sound was coming from.

The next second, his pupils suddenly contracted.

Twelve.

A full twelve Rift Wolves emerged from the shadows of the ruins, their dark yellow pupils lighting up in a dense mass under the dim light.

They spread out in a fan shape, like a net that was tightening. And the one at the very front made Lin Yan's gaze pause for a full two seconds.

That Rift Wolf was nearly a size larger than its companions; while ordinary Rift Wolves were comparable to adult German shepherds, this one was close to a small calf.

The rift-like patterns on its back were not dark gray, but deep black, as if a gash had been torn along its spine by some force.

Its fangs were at least a third longer than those of ordinary Rift Wolves, the tips gleaming with a pale yellow cold light, and its drool made faint corrosive sounds as it dripped onto the ground.

Its pupils were also different from ordinary Rift Wolves; they were dark red.

[Monster: Rift Wolf · Elite]

[Level: 3]

[Health Points: 1200]

[Physical Attack: 60]

[Physical Defense: 25]

[Magic Defense: 25]

[Type: Elite Monster, possesses the skill "Rend" — when dealing damage, adds a layer of Rend effect, causing a loss of 30 health points per second for 5 seconds, stackable up to 3 layers.]

Elite monster.

Lin Yan's brain buzzed; his instructor had specifically emphasized in class that elite monsters and ordinary monsters were two different concepts.

Ordinary monsters were just cannon fodder, with little experience, poor drops, and mediocre attributes. Elite monsters had exclusive skills, name suffixes, and doubled attribute panels; every single one of them was a tough customer that could take a life in a one-star Dungeon.

Furthermore, this leader wolf's attack power was 60 points. Lin Yan quickly did the mental math: his own physical defense was 40 points, plugging it into the formula (60-40×0.5), without considering damage reduction and other bonuses, the actual damage per bite was 40 points.

If the Rend skill was triggered, each layer would cause an additional 10 health loss per second; lasting 5 seconds meant 50 points. Three layers stacked meant 70 points per second, totaling 350 points.

One was nothing. But adding the eleven ordinary Rift Wolves nearby, each with 25 attack power, the actual damage was about 5 points. If bitten by several wolves at the same time, one round would be 30 to 50 points of damage.

Moreover, his current health was not full, with less than 1400 health points. With twelve wolves attacking in turns, his 1400 health points wouldn't last more than a few rounds.

Cannot tank it.

The twelve Rift Wolves had already begun a standard wolf pack hunting formation; the four in the front row lowered their bodies and slowly approached, three on each side began to flank left and right, and the four in the back stayed behind to coordinate, blocking all obvious escape routes.

Lin Yan did not hesitate, immediately activating the Heartsteel mark while drinking a low-level health potion to restore 200 health points.

The invisible power landed on all twelve Rift Wolves simultaneously, and the three-second countdown ticked away in his heart.

He didn't wait for the three seconds to finish before moving.

Because he suddenly realized a more fatal problem: if he waited for the three seconds to pass before making a move, the flanking Rift Wolves would have already sealed off all his retreat paths.

By then, even if he could deal critical weak point damage, he would only be trapped in the encirclement of twelve wolves and be worn down to death.

Lin Yan turned sharply and ran toward the core area of the triangular building formation. His goal was not to kill enemies, but to create distance.

Behind him came the low roars and dense footsteps of the Rift Wolves, like a torrential rain crashing onto the rubble-covered ground.

Lin Yan could feel them accelerating, especially the leader wolf. Its footsteps were the heaviest, each landing carrying a dull vibration.

Lin Yan rushed across the triangular open space, stumbling on the slippery rubble and nearly falling; he braced one hand on the ground to spring up, and threw himself directly toward the groove passage behind the broken wall on the right.

This passage was half-covered by debris, the entrance narrow; he squeezed in sideways, his shoulder scratched by a piece of broken concrete, leaving a shallow bloodstain. At the end of the passage was a collapsed floor slab, resting obliquely against the broken wall, forming a semi-enclosed corner space.

Lin Yan turned around, his back pressed against the concrete floor slab, facing the passage entrance.

This position could only accommodate one Rift Wolf squeezing in at a time. Although it wasn't a long-term solution, it could at least hold out for the first round.

The first Rift Wolf had already chased to the passage entrance; without any hesitation, it lunged in directly. Lin Yan's Heartsteel mark had been on it for a full three seconds, and the weak point light lit up.

"Steel!"

With 183 points of true damage plus the dagger damage, the Rift Wolf's health bar evaporated by more than half on the spot, and its entire body was flipped over onto the ground by the force.

Lin Yan didn't wait for it to get up; he rushed up and pinned it down, stabbing its neck a dozen times in a row. The Rift Wolf struggled and twitched twice, then went limp on the ground.

[Ding! Successfully killed a Level 2 Rift Wolf, gained experience: 20 points!]

One down, but two others had already flanked from the right.

Lin Yan didn't linger; he turned and continued running deeper into the triangular building formation.

He heard an exceptionally low roar from behind; it was the lead elite wolf, issuing some kind of order.

Immediately after, the movement speed of all the Rift Wolves seemed to increase a notch simultaneously.

Lin Yan rushed into the triangular building cluster and immediately flashed behind the outer wall of the collapsed building on the left. This wall was still over a person's height, and there was a half-meter-wide gap on the right that he could squeeze through sideways.

Just as Lin Yan squeezed through the gap, a Rift Wolf's claw reached in, grazing his back; the iron bone breastplate was scraped, producing a harsh metallic screeching sound.

Lin Yan turned and struck with his dagger, piercing the wolf's claw; the Rift Wolf retracted its claw in pain, and Lin Yan took this opportunity to slip out the other end of the gap, climbing up along a section of broken, tilted stairs.

Although the second-floor platform of the collapsed building on the left, the high ground, was broken, the remaining half of the floor slab was enough for him to stand on.

From above, he could clearly see the distribution of the Rift Wolves on the triangular open space: five were scattered on the open ground, three were trying to climb up from under the broken stairs, two were blocking the exit downstairs, and two more, including the elite wolf, were standing in the center of the open space, looking up at him coldly.

Lin Yan quickly assessed the situation; the three Rift Wolves climbing up were the most immediate threat.

The broken stairs were only half-intact; the Rift Wolves couldn't jump up directly and had to climb up by stepping on that tilted concrete slab. During their climbing process, their speed advantage couldn't be brought into play, which was his best window for attack.

Just as the first Rift Wolf's front claws hooked onto the edge of the second-floor platform, a pale red light spot had already been lit on the side of its neck for a full three seconds.

"Steel!"

With true damage plus dagger damage, the Rift Wolf was knocked rolling down before it could even pull itself over the edge of the platform, falling onto the rubble-covered ground and struggling for a long time before getting up.

The other two Rift Wolves followed closely, jumping over directly; Lin Yan struck Heartsteel first, knocking them flying out.

At this moment, the first Rift Wolf charged up again, but Heartsteel was still on cooldown. Lin Yan couldn't kill it in one hit, so he could only circle it with his dagger.

After the Rift Wolf scrambled onto the platform, it lunged without hesitation; Lin Yan dodged the frontal bite, holding his dagger in a reverse grip and slashing its belly. The damage wasn't high, but the Rift Wolf slowed down a beat after feeling the pain, and he followed up with several more slashes.

[Ding! Successfully killed a Level 2 Rift Wolf, gained experience: 20 points!]

The first one rolled off the platform with a scream, and when it hit the ground, it was already motionless.

When the other two Rift Wolves climbed back up, Lin Yan noticed new movement below the platform. Two more Rift Wolves had circled around from the side of the building and were trying to jump up from the broken wall on the other side.

Dealing with two Rift Wolves climbing from different directions at the same time, this half-platform was no longer an advantageous terrain, but a trap.

He decisively abandoned the platform, slid down to the first floor along the remains of the broken stairs, and dived back into the group of shelters in the ruins.