New information forced its way into Liu Ye’s brain but he wasn’t as affected as before. It was an upgrade for his Waterbending which was already quite developed and couldn’t compare to his newly unlocked Earthbending.

Liu Ye followed Queen Luna into the building as he quickly pulled up the stats for his new ability.

[Ice Fist]

[Description: Player can cover their fist with Ice and deal high damage with their punches. Each punch ignores a percentage of the enemy’s defense.]

[Cost: 5 MP + 2 MP for each successful hit.]

[Damage: 50 + 60% Elemental Power + 100% Physical Power.]

[Defense Reduction: Ignores 50% Defense.]

Liu Ye gazed at all the numbers and immediately saw their unique value. Even though the damage seemed much lower than the Ice Claws, it was actually higher if one calculated it based on mana per successful hit. He had to hit more shots to achieve the same result but at least he saved mana which was crucial in extended battles.

The first addition of Physical Power was interesting since it had a high scaling of 100% but Liu Ye already decided not to invest in it. Elemental Power was more useful as it worked on all abilities and wasn’t just restricted to close combat.

“Perfect,” Liu Ye muttered to himself as he dipped his fists into water and ice formed into a miniature gauntlet. He naturally had to test his new ability, especially after seeing its 50% damage penetration.

It wasn’t long before he was presented with testing subjects as two new soldiers showed up on their way.

“Hey! Who are y—” The Fire Empire Soldiers shouted their usual line but they weren’t able to finish it. Liu Ye and Queen Luna have made their intentions clear by rushing straight at them with their fists drawn.

Queen Luna quickly punched twice and sent Air Shockwaves at their feet while Liu Ye followed with his own Water Jets that aimed to cut their escape route. Even when the two soldiers reacted to dodge, they were still hit and pushed back to the floor.

-53

-53

Liu Ye wanted to laugh at the pitiful damage of his ranged abilities and quickly jumped into close combat. It was a more dangerous approach since he had less time to dodge but the effects were astonishing.

Pa!

-186

Liu Ye smacked the soldier in the face which stunned him. He already made this mistake earlier and let the soldiers counterattack so he could only become more brutal. The damage was almost a hundred less but he also used three less Mana on each punch which returned itself with each following swing.

[Ding! You killed the Fire Empire Soldier. You received 10,000 Experience and 30 gold.]

“Hu…” Liu Ye breathed out deeply as adrenaline pumped through his body. It was just the game but the realism was too much for a normal person to handle.

Liu Ye would be surprised if any normal player would take such a brutal approach and beat the enemies to death with their punches. The game rewarded close combat with increased damage but killing with distant abilities was much easier to accept.

‘I need to abuse close combat until the players learn to adapt,’ Liu Ye thought as he rushed to join Queen Luna who was already running through the corridor.

“We are too loud. Let’s move quicker. We have no time to hide the bodies,” Queen Luna announced cautiously. “We will alert the City Lord either way so let’s just kill whoever we see and escape before he shows up.”

“Sure,” Liu Ye nodded as they saw two more soldiers walking down the stairs to face them. He already knew they wouldn’t be able to avoid the City Lord but he wasn’t worried with Queen Luna by his side.

“Intruders!!!” the Fire Empire Soldiers cried out at the top of their lungs and pulled out black pills from their pockets. They didn’t hesitate to swallow them and their eyes immediately widened.

“Watch out,” Queen Luna warned just before the corridor filled with flames. They expanded rapidly but Liu Ye simply placed multiple Ice Walls on the way as they withdrew behind the cover.

Liu Ye finally understood why the quest was ranked as SSS difficulty when the flames just didn’t stop and all his Ice Walls melted within seconds. When they thought the soldiers got exhausted, two more soldiers appeared and joined them by fueling fire through the narrow corridor.

“Damn, they are alerting more soldiers and grouping up,” Liu Ye commented and he gathered more water to shield himself from the excessive temperature. With bonus damage of 100%, he didn’t plan on being hit by those buffed flames.

“It’s okay, we can kill them all in a clean swoop,” Queen Luna replied calmly and walked up to him to steal some water. She dipped her arms into his water armor and two ice spikes formed on her hands.

‘Ice Gauntlet?’ Liu Ye questioned in his mind as that was one of the upgrades left. He needed Level 50 to even think about unlocking it but it definitely looked cool.

“I will break through the flames and finish the backline. You can kill whoever is left,” Queen Luna informed without waiting for his approval and suddenly stomped on the floor. A thick slab of rock ripped from the ground and she used it as a shield to block the flames.

“Quick! Block the entrance! Lock them out!” the soldiers called out in panic as Queen Luna advanced but it was a useless effect against an expert Earthbender. She kicked the wall and she bombarded anyone on the way with tens of boulders.

What happened next was something that only made Liu Ye ecstatic.

They broke between the enemy ranks and Queen Luna joined him in close combat with two ice spikes piercing one solder after another. Their armors couldn’t even protect them as it pierced right through their chests and they died on the spot.

-3000!

-3000!

-3000!

Three thrusts, three kills in the span of two seconds, and Queen Luna rushed up the stairs to chase the escaping soldiers.

‘What kind of percentages that Ability has?!’ Liu Ye cried out in wonder but he had to focus on the two soldiers she left him. They were in a state of shock but Liu Ye didn’t give them time to recover.

Liu Ye’s boxing was just a fraction of his Martial Arts training and he jabbed the two soldiers from up close.

-186

-186

They tried to punch with flames coming out of their fists but Liu Ye’s makeshift water armor blocked them off. Even though the kills took much longer, his Elemental Mastery kept rising by 1% every fifteen successful hits. If he could, he would sit there for an hour just to gather more Elemental Points.

[Ding! You killed the Fire Empire Soldier. You received 10,000 Experience, 30 gold, and 5 Black Lotus Pills.]

[Ding! You killed the Fire Empire Soldier. You received 10,000 Experience, 30 gold, and 5 Black Lotus Pills.]

Liu Ye didn’t hesitate to gulp down a Mana Potion and ran up the stairs to the second floor, but it seemed like his further assistance wasn’t needed. The stench of blood hit like as soon as he entered and he was welcomed with tens of bodies scattered all over the floor.

In the middle stood Queen Luna with a cold expression and two Ice Gauntlets covered in blood. The difference in strength was just immense and Liu Ye couldn’t wait to see someone who can actually match her in strength.

“Now we can be sure the City Lord knows about us.”