Chapter 12: New Skills

Seeing Tom with a questioning look on his face, Alex said angrily, "An elite monster has appeared. I'm waiting for my skills to cool down."

Hearing that there was an elite monster, Tom jumped up and said, "I've never seen an elite monster. What kind is it?"

Tom knew about elite monsters. These monsters were usually extremely powerful, and some very special elite monsters were even more powerful than the bosses.

After getting up, Tom did not dare to get too close and looked at the blazing dogs in the courtyard from a distance. "Holy crap, four elite monsters! Any one of these could be a boss, right?"

Ignoring Tom, who was yelling excitedly, Alex looked at the palace behind the courtyard. "Tom, do you see that the giant snake statue is turning red?"

When they first arrived, the snakes on the palace were gray like stone, but now they were slowly turning red. The giant snake statue on the palace was also a monster!

Alex's heart trembled, and he had a bad premonition. The snake statue on the palace was nearly 8 meters high, and it would be difficult to deal with if it turned into a monster.

After waiting for more than a minute, Alex's skills were ready, and he stepped into the courtyard again. The moment they stepped into the courtyard, the eyes of the four blazing dogs glowed with bloodthirsty red light. Without Alex's special greeting, all the blazing dogs rushed toward him.

The speed of the blazing dogs was very fast. In less than two seconds, the front blazing dog had arrived in front of Alex, opened its big mouth, and activated its skill to bite like crazy.

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A huge hit appeared in Alex's view. The three flame dogs behind saw that their partner's attack was effective and became even more aggressive. But their actions could only go so far, as Alex had already completed the spell-casting action.

As Alex finished casting the spell, a protective shield flashing with golden light appeared around him, knocking back the flame dog. Along with the protective shield, flames filled the sky.

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Four consecutive damage numbers appeared on the blazing dogs. Alex's skills were S-level. Although the flame dogs had a slight resistance to fire spells, they only lasted for one second longer against an S-level skill.

The blood volume of the blazing dogs was 32,000 points, and it took at least 4 seconds to kill one. If the blazing dogs were smart, they would probably retreat decisively, avoid Alex's skills, and wait until the duration of Alex's skills expired before attacking. By then, Alex would be easy prey, with nowhere to escape.

Unfortunately, the blazing dogs' brains did not allow them to store such wisdom. After receiving damage from Alex's flames, the blazing dogs became even more frenzied, but to no avail. Their attacks landed on the protective shield and did not even deal 1,000 points of damage, and they were scalded to death by the flames within the barrier.

[Kill the elite monster Blazing Dog and gain 300 experience points] X2

[Kill the elite monster Blazing Dog and gain 300 experience points] X2

Four consecutive kill prompts, the four elite monsters contributed 1,200 experience points.

After putting away his skills, Alex discovered that the bodies of the blazing dogs had not disappeared. "Is it because they're elite monsters?"

Alex was not sure, but he still stepped forward to inspect the bodies.

"You picked up the Flame Boots."

"You picked up the Flame Robe."

Four elite monsters dropped two pieces of equipment, and the drop rate was pretty good.

**[Flame Robe]** (Bronze)

Equipment level: 5

Attributes: Armor +10, Vitality +200, Intelligence +5

**[Flame Boots]** (Bronze)

Equipment level: 5

Attributes: Speed +1, Intelligence +3, Mana +100

The two pieces of bronze equipment were both cloth armors, which Alex could just wear.

After putting on the equipment, Tom also walked over.

"I'll see if I can skin them."

Tom took out a skinning knife from his backpack, squatted on the ground, and started working. After working for 5 minutes, Tom had 4 furs in his hand.

"Animal monsters are all treasures. These four pieces of skin can be used to make a set of low-level leather armor. Even if it can't be worn, it can be exchanged for a lot of money."

After putting the fur into his backpack, Tom saw Alex's slightly questioning eyes. "My family is in the butchering business, so it's normal for me to know how to skin."

Alex, of course, knew that Tom's family was in the butchering business. He just wondered why a shield warrior would keep a skinning knife in his backpack. Are all shield warriors so nonchalant about their jobs?

While the two were chatting, they walked into the atrium. When they arrived, Alex's breathing suddenly became rapid. "There's a treasure chest."

A treasure chest emitting silver light appeared before them, and there were no monsters around it. The moment he saw the treasure chest, Alex wanted to open it but suppressed the urge.

"Follow me closely; there might be invisible monsters around."

After turning around and giving instructions, Alex cautiously approached the treasure chest. Arriving in front of it, Alex remained vigilant. After waiting for a minute and confirming that there were indeed no monsters, he reached out and opened the treasure chest.

[You got 5 gold coins]

[You have obtained the C-level skill Ice Arrow]

[You are under the mana loss curse]

Three consecutive beeps appeared in Alex's ears. Alex put the 5 gold coins directly into his backpack and planned to discuss with Tom how to divide them when leaving the dungeon.

Alex was overjoyed to obtain the C-level skill Ice Arrow.

"I'm really sleepy. Give me a pillow," Alex said, clapping his hands and learning the skill directly.

Alex had been worried that he only had one damage skill before, but he didn't expect to find one directly in the treasure chest.

**[Skill]: Ice Arrow (C Level) lv1**

Casting time: 2 seconds

Cost: 50 mana

Description: Shoots an ice arrow at the enemy, causing 200 points of frost damage and reducing its movement speed by 20%, lasting 8 seconds with no cooldown.

Ice Arrow is the mage's regular attack method, and it is a skill that melee monsters hate very much. As long as you are hit by the mage's first ice arrow, you will face the mage's endless assault next. There are mages who specialize in frost and can even slow down monsters infinitely to achieve the desired control effect.

Alex looked at his skill points and found that he still had 1540 points, which was enough to upgrade Ice Arrow to A level.

After a quick pause, a system prompt came:

"It is detected that the C-level skill Ice Arrow meets the upgrade conditions. Do you want to spend 100 skill points to upgrade it to a B-level skill?"

Pressing Agree, the Ice Arrow became the B-level skill Ice Spear.

**[Ice Spear Technique] (Level B) lv1**

Casting time: Instant

Cost: 300 mana

Effect: Shoots an ice spear at the enemy, causing 1500 points of frost damage and reducing its movement speed by 20% for 8 seconds. If the target has been slowed down, it will cause triple damage and has no cooldown time.

After upgrading, Alex was overjoyed to find that the Ice Spear technique had become an instant skill.

"It's a quick skill, and it also has a slow effect. This skill is really good."

Then Alex raised the Ice Spear skill to the full level.

After maxing it out, Alex hesitated. "Should I upgrade it to an A-level skill?"