Chapter 31: Watkins the Troll Shaman

After ending the call, Lu Yang leaned against a large tree to rest, waiting until sunrise to stand up from the ground.

The forest in the early morning was vibrant with life. Sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting patterns on the forest floor, where a sika deer could be clearly seen grazing on dew-covered tender leaves, while two squirrels watched the surroundings from a nearby tree.

At first glance, the Troll Forest appeared peaceful. However, Lu Yang dared not lower his guard. Trolls possessed excellent vision during the day, and given the significant level gap between him and the trolls, it would be easy to be spotted.

Just as he prepared to step into the forest, a green figure suddenly leaped down from a large tree thirty yards ahead.

With green skin, a sturdy build, red hair, and a sharp spear in hand, it was a Forest Troll.

Lu Yang couldn't help but click his tongue, thinking to himself: It was fortunate he hadn't entered the Troll Forest at night; otherwise, he would have been instantly killed by this very troll the moment he arrived.

Watching the Forest Troll turn to head into the forest, Lu Yang raised his Pyromancer’s Staff and began chanting. After 0.7 seconds, a Pyroblast formed at the tip of his staff.

Lu Yang pointed his staff at the troll, and the Pyroblast flew toward its back like a cannonball, trailing a long streak of fire.

"Boom!"

The troll staggered, letting out a bloodthirsty growl. It turned its head, glaring at Lu Yang with wolf-like eyes. It raised its spear, stood its ground, pulled its arm back straight, and threw it with all its might.

"Whoosh!"

The sound of the air being torn echoed as the spear flew toward Lu Yang in an instant.

An ordinary player would never have been able to dodge a troll's thrown spear. The speed was immense, and the trajectory was remarkably flat; once thrown, it covered the thirty-yard distance in less than a second to strike the player.

The damage from a Forest Troll’s spear was devastating, capable of depleting roughly 200 health points per hit. Even for players who reached level 15, no class other than Shield Warriors or Protection Paladins could withstand it.

In his past life, when many players first entered the Troll Forest, many Mages and Hunters assumed they could attack before the Warriors initiated the fight. They were promptly killed in one hit by the trolls' retaliatory spear throws, demonstrating just how formidable these creatures were.

However, no matter how fast the troll's spear was, it was ineffective against Lu Yang. Any high-end Mage in Player-vs-Player combat had to first learn how to dodge an archer's arrows. In his past life, Lu Yang had participated in tens of thousands of battles; in free-movement mode, he could even dodge arrows, let alone a troll's spear.

With a simple sidestep, Lu Yang avoided the spear. Chanting again, he unleashed another Pyroblast, which struck the troll squarely in the head with a loud bang.

"284" (Critical Hit)

The troll stumbled back, its throwing action interrupted. It had to reset its stance, but by the time it threw its spear again, Lu Yang had already fired a third Pyroblast. Lu Yang dodged to the right, avoiding the attack while dealing further damage.

In this manner, Lu Yang used the master-level PvP techniques from his past life to evade the spears while continuously landing Pyroblasts. In less than 30 seconds, the troll lay dead on the ground.

System Notification: You have gained 321 experience points.

Lu Yang scanned the surroundings vigilantly. Confident there were no other trolls nearby, he approached the corpse, looted a piece of common-grade gear, and proceeded into the forest.

The Troll Forest was a massive map teeming with trolls. Following his memories from his past life, Lu Yang spent over an hour killing dozens of trolls before finally locating the Troll Camp deep within the forest.

System Notification: You have discovered the Troll Camp.

It was a wooden settlement enclosed by a fence roughly 1.5 meters high. Inside, there were over thirty structures, each surrounded by about ten trolls.

Straining his eyes, Lu Yang looked toward the deepest part of the camp, which backed against a valley. He remembered that this was the lair of Watkins.

"Finally found you," Lu Yang murmured.

After killing the two trolls at the entrance, Lu Yang pushed forward. By carefully avoiding other patrols, he reached the valley entrance. He hid in the tall grass to scout; seeing no other trolls, he quickly dashed into the valley.

The entrance seemed narrow, but the interior was vast. As the High Priest of this troll tribe, Watkins held supreme authority and lived in this area alone.

After walking less than 20 meters, Lu Yang saw a massive, circular wooden room painted in red. To one side of the room, he found Watkins.

It was a troll covered in red dye, larger than a standard Forest Troll. He was standing in a circular pit filled with strange symbols, chanting prayers toward the heavens. However, contrary to the typical troll worship of witchcraft, this troll radiated a violent aura of fire elements.

According to records from his past life, the reason this troll possessed fire elemental energy was that he held a shard of the Demon God's Heart that had fallen to the continent—the very material Lu Yang needed to upgrade his own Demon God's Heart.

Recalling the immense power he gained after upgrading the Demon God's Heart in his past life, Lu Yang could no longer restrain himself. He darted to a position 30 yards away, raised his staff, and struck Watkins with a Pyroblast.

"Boom!"

"84"

Possessing a shard of the Demon God, Watkins had extremely high fire resistance.

"Roar!"

Watkins, who had been greedily enjoying the power of the fire elements, turned in fury upon being attacked.

"Damned human! You dare to intrude upon my domain? I shall purify you with fire!"

System Notification: Watkins casts Fireball at you.

Two seconds later, the Fireball formed in Watkins' hands. But in those two seconds, Lu Yang had already leaped behind a large tree.

The spell Watkins had aimed at Lu Yang lost its target, forcing him to strike the tree instead.

"Boom!"

The Fireball hit the tree, which collapsed instantly.

"This is the power of fire! Damned human, you cannot escape!" Watkins felt no embarrassment at missing; instead, he acted like a cat playing with a mouse.

Lu Yang sneered. He chanted a spell, stacking five layers of the Scorch debuff on Watkins, increasing spell damage by 75 points, and then launched another Pyroblast at him.

Watkins staggered, and the spell he was casting was interrupted.