Level 1 to Infinity: My Bloodline Is the Ultimate Cheat - Chapter 115

Chapter 115: Pricey Gamble
In the earlier battle, only Skyblade was taking damage. His gear had been reinforced by 30%, reducing the damage he took to less than 200 HP per hit.

Any random healer could patch him up with a single cast. So Ethan had all the healers focus on dealing damage instead, leaving only SeraphWarrior to keep Skyblade alive, since his healing didn’t even consume mana.

Once the boss dropped below half health, the incoming area-wide damage would require heavy healing. Until then, conserving resources was the priority.

This time, Lyla didn’t dare to go all out, and Skyblade was now fully focused on studying the boss’s attack patterns.

Earlier, Ethan had given him a basic guide on tanking basics via private message, and he was putting that knowledge to the test. On top of that, he felt guilty. Lyla had died because he lost control of the boss, and that didn’t sit well with him. He thought he was tough enough to tank anything, but clearly, his positioning was off.

To distract himself, he started chatting with Lyla in private.

She reassured him, “It’s fine! My damage was too high anyway. And since I got revived mid-fight, I didn’t even lose any experience. No big deal. But my gear durability dropped by 10%, so you’re covering my repair bill, yeah?”

Skyblade chuckled, “Come on Boss lady, don’t flex on me like that. If your damage is insane, keep it to yourself, alright? You’re crushing my ego here. And forget 10%, even if your gear was completely broken, I got you.”

Ethan overheard this and smirked. “You’re gonna regret that.”

Sure enough, when Lyla told him the repair cost, Skyblade froze.

Her weapon was Legendary-tier, and fixing just 10% of its durability cost 52 silver. Factoring in the rest of her gear, the total came to 54 silver.

Skyblade’s daily wage? 10 silver. Which meant he was now 44 silver in the hole.

Higher-tier equipment had absurd repair costs. Ethan knew this, which was why he had warned him earlier. And Lyla’s weapon was only at level 28, its upkeep would get even worse as it leveled up.

It was all part of Ethereal’s built-in gold sink, designed to drain currency from the economy. That’s why dying stung so much, it wasn’t just the lost experience, levels, and gear durability.

Soon, the giant turtle’s health dropped to 30%, and it grew even larger.

“Melee, back off! Skyblade, pop a potion! Healers, keep him topped off!” Ethan commanded.

As the turtle shell loomed overhead, Skyblade threw the potion into his mouth and bit down.

Crunch.

The bottle shattered like candy, releasing a fruity aroma. The potion melted in his mouth, and he swallowed it down. Instantly, his body swelled in size.

At the same time, the enormous turtle shell came crashing down. His giant shield, now also enlarged, rose to meet it

Boom!

The shell and shield collided with a thunderous impact.

-1,892!

Skyblade’s health dropped dangerously low—

But six healers were on him, and his HP shot back up in an instant.

“Damn, that’s it? One potion handled it?” Skyblade muttered.

Ethan rolled his eyes. “That one potion cost 12 gold. You’re paying me back.”

“…Boss, just leave me to die next time. It’ll be cheaper for both of us.”

The rest of the fight was much easier.

When the giant turtle’s health dropped to 10%, it swelled in size again.

Another potion. Another gulp. Another clean finish.

Ethan glanced at Skyblade. “That’s 24 gold now.”

Skyblade nearly keeled over. Twenty-four gold. That was over $40,000 in real-world money. Where the hell was he supposed to get that kind of cash?

The other players overheard and were just as shocked. Spending that much on a single mob? What was their guild leader thinking? Why not just go around it, clear the other mobs, and take down the main boss?

Did this turtle drop some kind of god-tier loot?

A few minutes later, the giant turtle crashed to the ground. Its massive body vanished, leaving a single item behind.

Its shell.

Ethan picked it up.

Skyblade blinked. “Wait… after all that effort, all we got was a turtle shell?”

He had been convinced this thing would drop something insane. Ethan wouldn’t have spent a fortune killing it otherwise, right?

“Boss, what’s the item’s stats?” someone asked.

Ethan wasn’t bothered by the skepticism. He simply shared the item’s details with the team.

[Hardened Shell]

Use: Throw a reinforced shell to knock a target off their mount.

Uses: (1)

Only usable inside Howling Caverns.

SeraphWarrior frowned. “…And what exactly does this do for us?”

Everyone else was just as puzzled. Spending 24 gold, nearly 50 grand in real-world currency, for this?

And if they hadn’t pulled aggro on it early, they would’ve needed another potion. That would’ve brought the cost up to 36 gold.

“What a waste,” Skyblade muttered under his breath.

Ethan smirked. “You’ll see.”

With that, he rallied the group and led them across the river, toward the dense forest on the other side. The thirty-man team moved cautiously, warriors and paladins taking point while mages and ranged fighters stayed in the back.

Under Ethan’s orders, everyone kept their spacing tight—no more than a meter apart.

After about 100 meters, Ethan called for a stop.

“Rogues, scout ahead. Clear any branches or vines that could get in our way. We need to move through as a unit,” Ethan instructed.

The rogues exchanged puzzled looks but did as told, slipping into stealth and moving forward. They were used to scouting missions. This was standard procedure.

But what they didn’t understand was why Ethan was so adamant about it. In lower difficulty runs, this path had been empty.

Sure, the guild leader was strong, but was he just micromanaging to flex his leadership? Many players silently wondered if Ethan was just showing off.

They failed to remember that the first-ever raid guide for the Starter Zone dungeon had come from Ethan himself.

Watching from behind, Ethan observed the four rogues moving ahead, their movements precise yet lacking a certain sharpness.

He sighed internally. They were decent. Mid-tier, at best.

In his past life, he had played a rogue himself. And while he wasn’t really some god-tier pro, he had at least been high-level.

The deeper they ventured, the denser the foliage became. This underground world was already dimly lit, but in this part of the forest, visibility dropped even further.

A cold wind rustled through the undergrowth. And with it came an eerie sensation, like something unseen was watching them.