But Namenis arrived too late.

He complained while limping towards the corpse, thinking that since the Black Hand aura had already visited once, there was no fear of further contamination. Besides, maybe with some luck, a negative might turn into a positive. He first picked up the bow and used the attribute interface on his retina to check it out, discovering it was indeed the Shale Longbow:

Shale Longbow [Magic], Penetrating Trauma: 25-29, +4 dexterity, +2 strength, Activation: Creates a Petrification Arrow (one week cooldown).

Brand weighed the bow in his hand, feeling reasonably satisfied with its attributes. Although the Shale Longbow only had a Brass Label, its attributes were about the average level for a level 40 equipment in the same category. However, its activation ability was quite practical—the Petrification Arrow is one of the few magic arrows that cannot be crafted by a spell, and its effect is to petrify the enemy upon hitting them—the extent of petrification depends on the opponent's constitution. Generally, opponents below Silver would turn into stone sculptures with one arrow, and of course, Brand wouldn't waste such a precious petrification arrow on Black Iron level foes. This item poses a significant threat even to Silver Upper rank opponents and can impact Gold Middle Lower rank foes as well.

Especially since the Petrification Arrow, like other magic arrows, doesn't lose its effectiveness over time—at least not in the short term. Therefore, it's highly valuable for players to accumulate. Back in the day, many archer players would prepare these arrows as a reserve, considering that magic arrows can be shot with any bow.

Although the Shale Longbow is decent, it still doesn't match the drops expected from a perfectly-rated level 55 BOSS. Hence, he eagerly turned his gaze towards Eckmen's massive corpse. Even knowing that Alorz was still beside him, the allure of finding dream equipment from an unknown drop was simply irresistible to any player.

He casually placed the Golden Apple by his feet and pulled out a necklace from under the corpse:

Flame Star [Magic], Fire Element Pool capacity increased by half, Fire Element Strengthened by 10.

Brand couldn't help wanting to laugh out loud upon seeing this Brass-level necklace. Apparently, even the Black Hand has its benefits. This item is a great find for a Fire Element Master; in the past, if he had gotten this item from defeating a BOSS, he'd want to drag the design team of Torrential Rain out and beat them up—because neither the Fire Element Pool capacity expansion nor the 10% Fire Magic damage increase would be useful for a warrior. But now things are different. Although the latter attribute is still useless to him, the Fire Element Pool capacity increase is exceptionally important to someone as terrible at Elemental Sensing as he is.

The true significance is that this necklace opened up a new line of thought for him. Brand had always been troubled by his small Element Pool, but Flame Star made him realize—he could equip the items of an Elemental Mage. For example, Flame Star, Frost, and even the legendary Asilica—Elemental Brooch. With these items, it's simple to expand the Element Pool several times, turning even the worst Elemental Sensing ability into a passable Elemental Mage.

This must be what they mean by compensating for lack of talent with equipment.

Brand put away the necklace, then heard a soft sound behind him. He turned around, seeing a group emerging from the bushes behind the forest—Brand couldn't help but be stunned, subconsciously thinking, "Enemies always meet." Because the newcomers were none other than Macaro and Bujia and their group. Of course, there were more than just those two; they were accompanied by seven or eight others, but from their attire, they didn't look like Grey Wolf Mercenaries.

Brand's gaze mainly focused on the old man between the two, furrowing his brows, feeling that he had seen this guy somewhere before.

Compared to Brand's surprise at the coincidence, Macaro and Bujia were even more shocked—one could say they were astonished. In fact, they were already stunned upon seeing Brand, recognizing this young man instantly, though he looked somewhat fierce at the moment. He supported a Short Sword with one hand, sitting grandly on Eckmen's bloodied corpse, his own body drenched in blood, instantly giving the impression:

This guy had a tough battle and took down this monster single-handedly.

Knowing that Macaro and Bujia personally experienced the battle with Eckmen a few nights ago—they weren't a match for the 55-level BOSS whose strength almost reached that of a 70-level ordinary monster. Moreover, Eckmen and Bujia's Elemental Domains shared the same source—once engaged in combat, the decisive factor would be absolute strength. The difference in absolute strength was clear, leading to their defeat and the eventual downfall of Grey Wolf Mercenary Group.

Thus, Macaro and Bujia's pupils couldn't help but shrink back upon seeing the corpse.

This young man...

"It's you!" Bujia was the first to speak.

"It's you guys." Brand turned his head, lazily responding. Meanwhile, he laughed inside, thinking fate really works fast—Lord Martha arranged for them to meet here, so they could only blame their bad luck. Joking aside, if he didn't fiercely reclaim this revenge, he wouldn't deserve the title of a veteran hardcore player; he might as well go home and farm sweet potatoes.

After saying this, he looked at the group leisurely, leading to an awkward silence as Bujia spoke—

...

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