BXBX NOVEL Chapter 173: Chapter173-Vampire Bat
Meanwhile, John's movements forward became even more cautious, and the dizzying, foul stench in the air intensified.
The small pool that had shimmered with vibrant colors was now a sinister black, emitting a horrendous odor.
Even the stones nearby were stained with patches of white and black, looking particularly nauseating.
John proceeded carefully, but suddenly his foot slipped, and he fell uncontrollably to the side.
His hand instinctively reached out to a nearby rock for support but touched something slimy instead.
The repulsive feeling made his skin crawl.
[You have received everglowing sand (Damaged)*3.]
Huh?
John looked at the sticky substance on his hand, his expression twisting in disgust.
Everglowing sand—that wasn't... bat droppings, was it?
Damn it!
Did I just fall into a pile of crap?!
The revulsion made John almost leap up instantly.
Because of his abrupt movement, a rock fell into the nearby pool, making a sound.
Instantly, the sound of flapping wings ahead grew louder. .
John, suppressing his nausea, used the torch to scan his surroundings.
He realized that the area was indeed covered in everglowing sand, though it was only of ordinary quality.
Although everglowing sand could be used in medicine, the thought made John feel queasy...
Considering the possibility of better quality sand near the bats' nest ahead, he gritted his teeth against the disgust, washed the sticky sand off his hands meticulously, yet he still felt a lingering foul smell on his skin.
As he moved deeper along the path, the flapping of wings within the cave grew louder, and the stench in the air became increasingly overpowering.
The cloth mask was no longer sufficient to block the foul odor, and John nearly felt dizzy from the smell.
He steadied himself against a nearby rock, nearly stumbling in the process.
Sensing something was off, he quickly checked his buff bar and discovered that he had somehow contracted a mild poisoning buff.
[Miasma Pervasion: You have been infected with miasma, losing one point of constitution per minute.]
Upon realizing his condition, John sharply inhaled in shock.
The poison was not depleting his HP or MP, but his constitution—a much more insidious effect.
No wonder he hadn't noticed it right away! It was only the sudden wave of nausea that made him feel dizzy.
This poison was vicious.
After all, not everyone constantly monitors their constitution.
If his constitution dropped to a critical level, his HP and stamina would plummet drastically.
His attack power and MP would also significantly decrease, leaving him utterly powerless against the Vampire Bats.
A cold sweat broke out on John's back; he thought he had been cautious enough, but it seemed he had almost been caught off guard.
He quickly composed himself.
This kind of buff couldn't possibly be permanent.
After all, constitution was extremely difficult to increase—if it were all deducted at once, there'd be no game left to play.
It had to be temporary and dispellable, he just hadn't found a way to dispel it yet.
Or perhaps, he just needed to get out quickly, and then the buff would dissipate on its own.
Once again gripping his torch tightly, he dared not even take deep breaths, instead minimizing his breathing rate as he slowly moved forward.
When he finally emerged from the cave entrance, a wave of intense stench hit him, nearly knocking him unconscious.
The pool in front of him had turned into something resembling a swamp, making his scalp tingle.
He knew that these pools were likely all filled with what was called everglowing sand.
Which meant… he was wading through a swamp of excrement…
The thought of trudging through this filth made John feel nauseous.
Despite his long trek, there was still no sign of the energy stone.
Was he really supposed to kill all these creatures to trigger the appearance of the stone?
John felt a slight twinge of doubt, but soon, he was too overwhelmed to worry about it any longer.
Although bats have poor vision, they navigate using echolocation! When an intruder who did not belong appeared in their nest, the bats sensed it almost instantly.
Chirp, chirp, chirp!!!
The intense agitation and the flapping of bat wings echoed throughout the cave.
John felt a sharp pain in his ears and instinctively stepped back.
[You have suffered a sonic attack, HP decreased by 1346!]
[You have suffered a sonic attack, HP decreased by 1179!]
...
John's HP dropped slightly, but he remained calm.
If these were the only attack methods, then these bats weren't as terrifying as he thought.
The torch's flame altered the temperature around him, and almost instantly, the bats pinpointed the location of this anomaly!
Countless Vampire Bats swiftly dove towards John!
John planted the torch to the side and quickly unleashed his skills.
"Fire Meteor!"
"Light Sword Rain!"
"Wind Tornado!"
However, John soon realized that his skills were significantly less effective here.
What's going on?
While his skills did kill many of the lesser creatures, the damage did not align with his expectations.
Could it be that the creatures here were immune to magical damage?
If that was the case, things were about to get much worse…
Facing so many foes, the best strategy would usually be to use spell damage for critical hits.
If he had to rely solely on physical damage, how long would he have to fight?
Countless Vampire Bats fell into the small pool in front of John, causing ripples to spread across the water's surface.
The foul odor was almost overwhelming, but John, fighting off nausea, continued to slay the lesser creatures.
[You have received energy stone (damaged) *1.]
[You have received everglowing sand (precious) *4.]
Hmm?
John took a step forward, automatically picking up the loot around him.
His eyes lit up when he saw what he had gathered.
Just as he had suspected, the energy only dropped after killing the creatures!
And there was also precious-grade everglowing sand, which was certainly better than having to wade into the water to retrieve it...
It seemed the bats weren't as disgusting after all.
The corners of John's mouth curled up slightly in a smile as he continued to unleash a barrage of skills.
Even if the damage from his skills was slightly reduced, what did it matter? As long as he had enough skills, the total damage would be explosive!
He was confident that he could annihilate the entire swarm of bats, provided there were no more unexpected complications.
As the bodies piled up on the ground, John's collection of items grew.
[You have received energy stone (common) *1.]
[You have received everglowing sand (precious) *4.]
Most were damaged energy stones, with only a few being of common quality.
Damaged energy stones were only the size of a pinky fingernail, while the common ones were as big as a thumb nail.
This made John wonder what the state of precious or rare energy stones might be like.
Moreover, how long could these small energy stones actually be used? The damaged ones didn't seem very promising, but the common ones were somewhat acceptable.
Given the scarcity of energy stones, it was always beneficial to collect as many as possible.
As John continued to slay wave after wave of bats, his backpack filled up with numerous energy stones.
Eventually, it seemed as if the bats stopped attacking.
Seizing the moment, John took out a stamina recovery potion and took a sip.
Although he hadn't depleted much mana thanks to his continuous use of skills, his stamina had started to decline.
From the start until now, his constitution had dropped by nearly 53 points—a terrifying number.
Consequently, his stamina had significantly decreased, and his maximum HP was now only 95% of what it used to be.
This was the frightening aspect of a dropping constitution: both HP and MP maximum levels continuously declined.