I am the Arcane Archer, and all my skills are self-created.

It was a lifeless, murky body of water.

Li Wu stood at the edge of the mangrove forest, looking at the enormous creature lying in the middle of the swamp.

Its back, which is exposed above the water, is as big as a small car.

Its dark brown skin is covered with a thick layer of keratin that looks like dried mud, and it is dotted with menacing bone spurs, each more than a meter long, with tips that gleam with a pale light.

Its head was buried deep in the mud, and only two murky yellow eyes, about the size of lanterns, could be seen, half-open and half-closed, exuding an aura of savagery and bloodlust.

An invisible pressure emanated from it, enveloping the entire area.

[Swamp Lurker (Elite)]

[Level: LV5]

[HP: 3200/3200]

Attack Power: 45

[Skills: Mud Spray, Death Roll]

Upon seeing this data, Li Wu gasped in shock.

3200 HP!

A 45-point attack!

This is practically a moving city wall!

Furthermore, it has an attack power of 45 points. If it just grazes Hua Zitong, it will take away nearly a third of her health bar!

Even more critically, Li Wu noticed that the murky waters surrounding the central island were completely different from the surrounding mudflats.

The mud there had an eerie, deep black color and was wriggling at an extremely slow pace, like a living thing.

"That's a slowdown quagmire."

Hua Zitong's voice rang out from the side, unusually solemn. She had clearly also seen the Boss's attributes, and her expression was more serious than ever before.

"Once we step inside, our movement speed will be reduced by at least 30%. The boss is a swamp creature and will not be affected by it inside. With this trade-off, we won't even be able to move around properly."

Her gaze was fixed on the giant beast as she quickly explained everything she knew.

"Its normal attacks are twofold: one is a bite, which deals high single-target damage; the other is a tail whip, which deals small-area AOE damage. With your healing, I can withstand both of them."

"The key is its two special skills. The first is called 'Mud Spit,' which sprays a large area of ​​slowing mud in one direction, and inflicts continuous corrosive damage."

"This skill has a very obvious wind-up, but a large range, so you have to anticipate it and move in advance to dodge it."

She took a deep breath, her tone becoming even heavier.

"The second, and most deadly, is called 'Death Roll'."

"Once activated, this skill will curl into a ball and spin at high speed like a wheel, causing devastating crushing damage to everything in its path. It's extremely fast, has a huge range, and deals extremely high damage, making it almost impossible to dodge!"

Hua Zitong turned her head, and Li Wu's figure was reflected in her clear eyes.

"Once the battle begins, I'll be the main tank and the main damage dealer. You don't need to do anything, just stand outside the slowing mud pit and find a safe spot."

"Your only task is to keep an eye on my health bar! After I get hit by the mud spit, or after I tank the death roll, restore my health as quickly as possible!"

"Do you understand?"

"clear."

Li Wu nodded heavily, his eyes filled with a mixture of tension and excitement.

Hua Zitong no longer hesitated.

"superior!"

With a low growl, she gripped her machete and charged headlong into the deadly, slowing swamp!

The moment she stepped into the black mud, a tremendous resistance came from beneath her feet, and her speed suddenly slowed down.

Her actions completely awakened the sleeping behemoth!

At the same time, Li Wu raised his hand and drew back the Arcane Bow.

"Whoosh!"

A dark purple siphon arrow shot out silently, accurately striking the swamp lurker in the forehead.

A perfect dark purple energy connection was established, and cool magic power flowed continuously into Li Wu's body along the band of light.

"roar!!!"

A deafening roar erupted from the center of the swamp.

The "Swamp Lurker" suddenly raised its ferocious and terrifying head, and its two lantern-sized yellow eyes instantly locked onto the tiny human who dared to trespass into its territory!

The next second, it moved!

Its limbs paddled through the mud at an astonishing speed, almost unaffected by any slowing effect, creating a black wave that rushed straight towards Hua Zitong!

Faced with this overwhelming aura, Hua Zitong showed no fear whatsoever.

She calmly calculated the distance, and just as the Boss opened its blood-red maw and was about to bite her, she suddenly held the wood-chopping knife in front of her!

Parry!

"clang--!!"

A piercing clang of metal clashing rang out!

-15!

A damage figure far lower than expected appeared above Hua Zitong's head.

The precise parry not only negated most of the damage, but also allowed her to use the immense impact to slide backward a short distance, cleverly avoiding the Boss's subsequent claw sweep!

The opening clash was textbook perfect!

Watching this scene from a distance, Li Wu felt a slight relief from his tension.

The battle continues.

Hua Zitong's figure darted and weaved through the mud with difficulty, her machete repeatedly slashing at the Boss's thick shell.

-17!

-16!

-18!

Each of her attacks could deal more than ten points of damage.

Compared to the boss's 3200 HP, this is nothing.

But she was not discouraged at all. Her attacks were steady and precise, constantly accumulating negligible damage on the Boss and slowly whittling down its terrifyingly long health bar.

Finally, after a long period of grinding, the Boss's health was whittled down to 80%!

"roar!"

The swamp lurker seemed to be completely enraged. It suddenly raised its head, the muscles in its neck bulging high!

"It's coming!" Hua Zitong warned sharply!

Li Wu's heart jumped into her throat!

The giant beast took a deep breath and then suddenly opened its huge mouth!

"puff--!"

A stream of black mud, mixed with foul odor and corrosive liquid, shot out like a high-pressure water gun, covering a large fan-shaped area in front!

Mudslide!

The moment the Boss raised his head, Hua Zitong had already begun to move to the side.

But the slowing effect of the mud was too deadly; her movements were a beat too slow!

Although she avoided the core area of ​​the skill, she was still splashed with mud from the edge.

-42!

A huge damage number popped up!

Immediately afterwards, a series of -5, -5 corrosion damage numbers kept popping up above her head.

Her health bar instantly dropped below half!

It's now!

A vibrant green arrow, imbued with rich life energy, traced a perfect parabola, traversing a distance of tens of meters, and struck Hua Zitong precisely in the back of the heart!

+38!

A warm halo burst open, and Hua Zitong's health bar surged up significantly, stopping steadily at the safety line!

It worked!

A tremendous sense of accomplishment welled up in Li Wu's heart.

However, an even greater crisis is quietly approaching.