213: Chapter 213 Mechanism

-4, -4, -1, -1, +7...

Among a string of red damage numbers, a green +7 suddenly appeared, immediately catching Hu Gualing's attention. He was naturally very clear about the '-1' damage numbers; that was the reflected damage from the Millennium Tree Demon BOSS. But this '+7'... Hu Gualing had a flash of insight and immediately realized it was the trait of the [pants of the vibrant white boar] he was wearing, which restores health upon taking damage, taking effect! It turned out that Xiao Niao telling him to keep attacking the Millennium Tree Demon with both hands wasn't just talking idly; he had considered that the reflected damage, just like the previous poison damage, could also trigger the health recovery trait of these leather pants... Ah, I should have thought of this earlier!

Hu Gualing suddenly felt a bit embarrassed. Such an obvious game 'mechanism' that could be exploited, yet a game expert like himself hadn't noticed and utilized it immediately. Instead, he only remembered it after seeing the healing effect following Xiao Niao's reminder.

However, in an instant, Hu Gualing became happy again. Because after triggering the health recovery trait, the health lost from the Millennium Tree Demon BOSS's reflected damage was instantly replenished. With this mechanism, he could attack with peace of mind! Moreover, the faster his attack speed, the more frequent the Millennium Tree Demon's reflected damage would be. The more times the Millennium Tree Demon reflected damage, the more frequently his health recovery mechanism would trigger. In other words, as long as he punched faster, his health would recover faster. Theoretically, once his punching speed reached a certain level, his health wouldn't drop at all!

Of course, this was only a theoretical possibility. Although the Millennium Tree Demon BOSS had no legs and couldn't move, it couldn't possibly be a target that just let players attack it. Just as Hu Gualing was punching bang bang bang bang vigorously, to the point where he didn't even care that his knuckles were red and painful, he felt the ground beneath him soften again. Hu Gualing's heart tightened; he knew he hadn't been paying attention to his defenses because he was too excited about not having to worry about reflected damage. At this moment, he didn't even have time to pull back his fists, so he forcibly used the [Lazy Donkey Roll] skill. Under the control of the game System, his body twisted into a ball, defying the laws of physics, and rolled back two and a half times to dodge the BOSS's Earth Spike Technique. Although the burden on his body from forcibly using the skill was much greater than normal, Hu Gualing had only been fighting the Millennium Tree Demon BOSS for a short time and was still full of stamina and energy, so he was fine after getting up.

However, after dodging the BOSS's Earth Spike Technique and standing up, Hu Gualing didn't go back to attack the BOSS immediately. Instead, he looked down at his two fists. Good grief, he hadn't realized until he looked that the knuckles of both fists were already red and skinned, with pale red blood seeping from the broken capillaries onto the silver-white steel knuckle duster and his knuckles.

It seemed this Tree Demon BOSS truly lived up to its 'Millennium' prefix; that bark was indeed as if it had grown for a thousand years, hard as a steel plate. Not only that, but it was also covered in countless cracks of varying depths. Hitting it with his fists was no different from hitting an unplastered concrete wall. After such a round of attacks, the bark showed no change, but Hu Gualing's own fists were suffering. Now that he had stepped back from his focused state of attack, he could feel the pain coming from his fists.

Hu Gualing shook his hands helplessly. There was no choice; who told him to learn Fist Technique and use brass knuckles, which couldn't even fully protect his fists? He could only fight in this miserable fist-to-flesh manner. Although the sense of impact was great and fully satisfied his addiction to fighting, the feeling of it hurting his own hands while hitting the BOSS was truly unpleasant. 'If I had known, I would have used a sword or a blade; at the very least, a large iron hammer would have worked. Anyway, it seems I also have a Hammer Mastery passive skill. Fighting with a hammer certainly wouldn't be much worse; at least I wouldn't have to trade injuries with monsters like this...'

Hu Gualing thought so, but of course, it was just a thought. He also knew that although brass knuckles lacked defensive capabilities, they were one of the lightest weapons. If he switched to fighting with a large hammer, let alone this Millennium Tree Demon, he might not even have been able to deal with that Mutated White Wild Boar he killed earlier. Because although swords and large hammers have a longer reach than brass knuckles and can ensure he doesn't get hurt when hitting monsters, he might not be able to dodge when the monsters attack. The reason Hu Gualing could dodge and move around while monsters attacked at close range was largely due to the lightness and convenience of the brass knuckles. Wearing them on his fists had almost no impact on his movements. If he really switched to a large iron hammer, even if Hu Gualing did possess the Hammer Mastery passive proficiency to swing it, he probably wouldn't even be able to perform a Lazy Donkey Roll while holding a hammer, let alone dodge the BOSS's attacks based on reaction alone.