Monster collectors on the cross-platform

As soon as they entered the mining area, the kobold overseers nearby spotted the intruders. A chorus of barks erupted as all the kobolds swarmed toward Paladin.

This was exactly what Paladin wanted, since apart from Huo, none of his other teammates seemed to have melee capabilities. By attracting all the kobolds, he wouldn't have to worry about protecting his teammates.

Although the others came to curry favor, they weren't just mascots; they all pulled out their weapons and techniques.

The innocent and introverted dog summoned a frost wolf, and the one who wanted to lose weight summoned two semi-transparent armored swordsmen who looked like semi-energy creatures. As for Huakai Zeming, he didn't summon any creatures, but instead took out a palm-sized energy pistol and started picking off the kobold overseers.

Huo, still holding his shield, thought for a moment and decided not to join the battle. His remaining teammates all seemed to be fragile, and they didn't need him to deal damage. He decided to stay on the sidelines to prevent any from slipping through the net.

The kobolds died quickly under the attack of the group, but there were too many of them. Before they could all be killed, the sound of dogs barking came from another mine tunnel.

The sound of barking came, and before Huo could even see the dog's head, a bright orange-red fireball the size of a human head flew out of the mine tunnel and hurtled towards the most dazzling Holy Knight.

"Watch out!" someone in the back exclaimed, wanting to lose weight.

The paladin, surrounded by dogs, clearly noticed the fireball hurtling towards him. He lowered his center of gravity slightly, raised his shield in his left hand, and his equipment emitted a faint white light.

"Boom!" The fireball slammed into the shield with a loud bang, sparks flying everywhere. The kobolds around the paladin were doomed, screaming as they died in the flames.

As the flames died down, the Paladin's equipment was charred, but he himself didn't seem to be injured. However, the kobolds around him had been completely wiped out.

Chapter 10 Completed

However, there wasn't much free time. Soon, a large number of kobolds emerged from the tunnel. However, these kobolds were no longer carrying pickaxes. Instead, they were all wearing leather armor and carrying scimitars, looking more like soldiers than miners.

A horde of kobolds surged out of the tunnel, with a kobold wearing a robe and holding a staff at the very back—clearly the kobold warlock who had cast the fireball earlier.

Upon seeing the enemy spellcaster appear, Hua Kai Zeming immediately pulled out a gun as thick as a thigh from his spatial backpack.

A gun was pulled at the kobold warlock who was shaking his head and preparing to cast another spell. In the next instant, a beam of light as thick as a forearm shot out of the gun and hit the kobold warlock's head precisely.

With a 'sizzle,' the kobold warlock fell straight to the ground, never to be confused again.

Without the spellcaster, the remaining kobolds pose no threat. However, the appearance of the first kobold warlock also means that the final boss of the dungeon is on its way.

Sure enough, the kobolds' cries echoed through the tunnel again not long afterward.

Another large group of kobolds emerged from the tunnel, but this time, the one leading the charge was an unusually 'tall' kobold.

Unlike its kin who are generally under 1.5 meters tall, the leader is over 1.8 meters tall, with bulging muscles all over its body. It carries a machete that is over a meter long and is covered in fine, matte black scales. It is the final boss of this dungeon - the Dragonvein Kobold Warlock.

Following closely behind were two more kobold warlocks, and a large group of kobold soldiers.

"Exorcising Slash!" As the boss appeared, the Paladin shouted, and his longsword shone with golden light as he slashed at the Dragonvein Kobold Warlock.

The Dragonvein Kobold Warlock remained unfazed. After casting a mage armor spell on himself, he picked up his cleaver and charged into battle.

A clang echoed through the mine as swords clashed. The seemingly strong kobold boss unconsciously took a step back, clearly outmatched by the paladin.

Seeing that their leader was slightly outmatched, the two kobold warlocks immediately shook their heads and prepared to cast spells. The other kobold soldiers did not join the battle between the two strongest, but instead rushed towards Huo Huan and his group in the distance.

Huo, who had been slacking off for a long time, suddenly perked up. He finally had a chance to use his skills and immediately led the Frostwolf and two armored swordsmen to meet them.

Hua Kai Zeming, behind him, raised his gun again and pulled the trigger on the kobold warlock. The energy ray, as thick as a forearm, successfully hit the kobold warlock's head before it could cast a spell.

The gun used by Huakai Zeming obviously couldn't fire in rapid succession, and the other kobold warlock, without any interference, successfully cast a fireball.

The orange-red streak swept through the mine shaft and flew towards Huo Huan and his group.

Huo glanced back at his teammates, then gritted his teeth, picked up his shield, and charged forward.

Huo, who had successfully intercepted the fireball spell with a 'boom,' felt as if he had been hit hard with a hammer and was sent flying on the spot.

Before he even landed, two magical beams of light from his two teammates landed on Huo Huan, one after the other. One was a healing spell for minor injuries, and the other was a blessing spell, both spells that could restore his health.

After landing, Huo Huan, covered in the smell of burnt food, quickly got up from the ground. Despite his disheveled appearance, Huo Huan's injuries were not serious.

The shield absorbed some of the impact of the fireball explosion, leaving mainly the burning from the high temperature. However, with the healing spells from his teammates, Huo Huan's injuries had mostly healed. The roar of the fireball explosion at close range, however, caused Huo Huan to experience some tinnitus for a short period of time.

Shaking his slightly dizzy head, Huo stood up and looked at the battlefield.

The other kobold warlock has been dealt with by Huakai Zeming, and the kobold soldiers have also been firmly held back. On the paladin's side, the kobold boss has clearly fallen into a disadvantageous position and has begun to be suppressed by the paladin.

After retrieving his shield and axe from the ground, Huo rejoined the battle.

A dozen minutes later, all the ordinary kobolds were wiped out, and the remaining kobold boss had its weapon cut off by the paladin, and was struggling to resist the paladin's offensive.

"Roar!" Seeing that it was about to be defeated, the kobold boss roared, then took a deep breath and spewed out a dragon breath with corrosive power from its mouth.

Faced with the oncoming dragon breath, the paladin, who had no room to dodge, became more serious and raised his shield in his left hand, with pale golden light flowing across it.

With a hissing sound, the dragon's breath landed on the shield. After a brief stalemate, the dragon's breath ultimately failed to break through the paladin's defense and disappeared into the air.

The last resort failed, and the unwilling dragon vein kobold warlock soon fell to the paladin's sword.

[Dungeon clear conditions met, rewards being calculated]

The rewards you will receive from this dungeon are: 300 General Coins, 500 Universal Experience, Kobold Warlock's Staff (Blue), and Dungeon Invitation: Kobold's Mine Nest.

The timely appearance of the notification from the network meant that this run of the Purgatory dungeon had been successfully completed.

"Well done," Holy Knight said with a gentle smile, and then gave Huo a healing spell.

The gentle energy enveloped Huo Huan, and when the light faded, apart from looking somewhat disheveled, Huo Huan felt better than ever before.

After a few words of mutual flattery, it was time to divide the spoils. These kobolds didn't have many good items, but their ore warehouses contained a considerable amount of ore, as well as the kobold boss's private treasure chest.

After careful inventory, the ore warehouse contains approximately 20 tons of copper ore, worth about 280 Zongwang coins. The kobold boss's private treasure chest contains 1.5 kilograms of star copper, a white-quality two-handed greatsword, and several black dragon scales, with a total value of about 2000 Zongwang coins.

It would be a lie to say Huo wasn't tempted by the valuable loot. However, Huo was also self-aware enough to know that his contribution to the entire dungeon was negligible. Rather than shamelessly sharing the loot, he decided to give up the loot and ask for the kobold boss's corpse.

"Brother Paladin, I don't want the loot. If you don't need the boss's corpse, why don't you give it to me?"

Upon hearing Huo say this, the other team members all spoke up, saying they didn't want the trophy either.

Ultimately, the paladin made the decision, and Huo also received loot worth around 400, as well as all the kobold corpses, since these kobold corpses were useless to the others.

Summoning the Book of Collections, Huo began to get busy, first taking in the corpse of the Dragonvein Kobold Warlock, then the Kobold Warlock and the other Kobolds.

After the containment was completed, Huo hadn't had a chance to examine it closely. The Paladin had just said to try again, as clearing the dungeon was the priority.

An hour later, Huo said goodbye to his teammates one by one and returned to the Gravekeeper's Hut via the portal.

Next, it's time to take stock of what we've gained.

Chapter 11 A Different Kind of Collection

[Network notification: You have met the upgrade requirements]

"upgrade"

Ding--

Your job level has been increased to 3.

Based on your profession, your maximum collection value +10, and your loading slots +1.

You have activated the professional skill: Polishing.

Polishing: Different individual collectibles have different potentials. By consuming materials to polish the collectibles, their unique characteristics can be enhanced.

The attributes remain unchanged, but there is one more job skill compared to when it leveled up 2 times. The collection value has reached 39 points, and the maximum loading slot has 3 slots, so you can load one more.

Thinking of this, Huo summoned the Book of Collections to check what traits the Dragon Vein Kobold Warlock possessed.

Race Name: Dragonvein Kobold

Description: A kobold who has been lucky enough to awaken the dragon vein. The dragon vein has strengthened his body and given him great power. He is a lucky one among thousands.

Special traits: Pseudo-dragon scales, dragon vein breath

Pseudo-Dragon Scales: The awakening of the dragon veins has caused kobolds to grow pseudo-dragon scales that are slightly weaker than dragon scales. When equipped, they grant a natural armor bonus of +2 and energy resistance of +1.

Dragon Breath: The awakening of the dragon vein affects a part of the kobold's body, giving it the ability to breathe dragon breath. The type of breath varies depending on the awakened dragon bloodline. Once equipped, it grants 1 acid breath per day.

Awesome! After looking at the Dragon Vein Kobolds' collection page, Huo has made a huge profit. One collection has two traits, which is equivalent to having two traits in one inventory slot.

Eagerly dragging the Dragonvein Kobold into the loading bar, Huo felt a tickle in his throat, wanting to spray something. He didn't really feel anything about the Pseudo-Dragon Scale trait, just that his skin felt a little tighter.

In addition to the improvement in strength, the income from the integrated network currency is also considerable.

I earned 600 Zongwang coins from two runs, and about 800 from the loot. In addition, I got the Kobold Warlock Staff, the dungeon invitation, and the skill card Fireball (which dropped from the second dungeon run) that dropped after the dungeon run. This income can be described as becoming rich overnight.

Contact Merchant Qiqi and sell all the loot except for the Kobold Staff. The dungeon invitation letter sold for 1000, the Fireball skill card for 500, and the Heavy Strike skill card that I had kept for 100, for a total of 2400 Zongwang coins.

As for why the Fireball skill card is being sold, it's because this skill card requires magic spell slots or energy like magic power to cast. While Huo's collection value isn't irreplaceable, the cost is more than three times that of magic power.

Ultimately, Fireball is just a third-circle spell. Although it is powerful, Huo was still unwilling to spend 15 collection points to cast it once.

15 collection points are equivalent to 15 minutes of enhancement, enough for Huo to kill countless more kobolds.

So Huo also kept the blue item, the Kobold Warlock Staff.

Name: Kobold Warlock Staff (Blue)

Type: Staff

Weight: 2 kg

Effect: Saves spellcasting time; Fireball (3 times/day)

Description: A staff given to the kobold warlock of the Dragonvein by an unknown person. When equipped, it reduces the mana cost of casting spells and comes with a Fireball spell (3 times/day).

Having taken stock of our gains, let's now see what the newly awakened class skills are useful for.

I opened the book of my collection and randomly selected a kobold to polish.

[Skill refinement detected; potential assessment failed; this individual cannot proceed with refinement]

Huo frowned. Was the kobold's potential too low? He selected a dragon vein kobold warlock, but it still showed low potential.

The potential of the Dragon Vein Kobold is too low, so what kind of talent is needed to hone it?

Huo instinctively felt something was wrong. After thinking for a while, he suddenly remembered the goblins whose names were different colors from the ones he had seen before.

Huo then turned to the page about goblins, found the one with a pale silver name among dozens of goblins, and tried to polish it.

[Professional skills development detected; potential assessment passed!]

The potential assessment was successful, and the Book of Collections displayed several materials that Huo had never heard of before. Clearly, refining them would require spending money.

Ignoring the materials needed by the goblins, Huo flipped to the page about the kobolds. The two Infernal Dungeons had given Huo materials for nearly a hundred of them, so finding one with potential shouldn't be difficult.

Sure enough, after a careful examination, Huo also found nine kobolds with pale silver names and two with pale gold names.