Chapter 35: Mass Grind
To be on the safe side, Ethan allocated his remaining 10 attribute points into Endurance, raising his Physical Defense to 256 and Magical Defense to 226.
With everything prepared, he cautiously approached the stronghold again. Just as he reached the enemy's attack range, he crushed the Petrified Skin Scroll in his hand. Instantly, his Defense doubled, bringing his Physical Defense to 512 and Magical Defense to 452, while also reducing nearby enemies' Physical Damage by 50%. Without hesitation, he activated Rapid Speed and charged straight into the bandit horde.
The bandits quickly noticed the intruder. Arrows rained down on Ethan, but each hit only displayed a -1, unable to break through his defense. Before he could feel relieved, however, a barrage of Fireballs streaked toward him.
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"Damn it! I forgot about spell damage scaling!" Ethan cursed.
Unlike archers, mages rely entirely on skills for damage. Each Fireball dealt 120% Magic Attack damage—essentially their version of a basic attack. In just one wave, Ethan lost over 1,000 HP.
There was no turning back. Ethan gritted his teeth and downed a Large Health Potion, restoring 100 HP per second for 10 seconds. Unfortunately, this was his only reliable healing item—better potions were available in the city, but he had neglected to buy them out of overconfidence.
Knowing he needed to act fast, Ethan chugged a bottle of Instant Recovery Potion to restore his HP to full, then pressed forward. Thankfully, Fireball had a 3-second cooldown—if it had the same attack speed as archers, he'd already be dead.
The bandit warriors and shield bearers charged at him, attempting to intercept his advance. Ethan pushed his speed to the limit, weaving past melee attackers and making a beeline for the archers and mages. Though the melee enemies struck at him, their hits only dealt 1 damage due to his extreme defense. Even the warriors' skills, which should have broken through his armor, were neutralized by the Petrified Skin Scroll's 50% damage reduction.