Zul's Blessing

The three of them successfully cleared out all the Dark Creatures in the Den of Evil, and then took the opportunity to clean up the area around the cave as well. It wasn't until the evening of the fourth day that they returned to the encampment.

There were only a few days left before Ethan would leave this world. After some thought, he decided to continue working with the two Sorcerers to eliminate Blood Raven.

Blood Raven, Moreina, was the female Archer the player could choose in Diablo 1, a hero who once defeated Diablo and saved the world.

Unfortunately, after defeating Diablo, this former idol of all Rogues slowly fell into darkness. When the Dark Energy surged, Blood Raven completely succumbed, becoming Andariel's enforcer, and was sent to deal with her former comrades.

"For this hero, the only thing we can do is free her from the control of the Dark Energy."

How to free her? Everyone understood there was only one way.

After resting for a night, the two Sorcerers and one apprentice once again embarked on a journey to confront the darkness. This time, it was far from as easy as the previous one.

Blood Raven herself was a powerful hero. After her fall, not only did her strength increase, but she also gained the ability to control Undead Creatures. A sea of Skeleton Soldiers surrounded Blood Raven, protecting her. Behind layers of defense, Blood Raven could fully display her prowess as a top Rogue Archer.

Ethan was in a sorry state during this 'crusade against Blood Raven'. Although he wasn't seriously injured under the protection of the two powerful Sorcerers, he did lose the Magic Item he had just crafted himself – after shooting all the arrows from the Bracers, their biggest use was to parry the Skeletons' attacks at crucial moments.

One instance was when Ethan hastily parried a Skeleton's slash after his Shield was damaged. It's worth noting that Charsi was an excellent blacksmith and didn't cut corners, so this strike didn't sever Ethan's hand. But it did completely destroy the already fragile Magic Array on the Bracers.

Another time, when Ethan was caught in a melee, he was noticed by Blood Raven from a distance, who suddenly shot an arrow intending to kill him instantly.

At the critical moment, a warning sign suddenly arose in Ethan's heart. With his Mental Power highly concentrated, the ability to make everything seem to slow down was pushed to its limit, allowing him to accurately block the arrow with his Bracers.

Compared to the previous time when he was just chopped, leaving his wrist numb from the impact, this injury was much more serious. Both his wrist and the Bracers were shot through by Blood Raven. Even after penetrating his entire wrist and two layers of Bracers, the arrow's momentum didn't decrease. Fortunately, Ethan tilted his head in time and twisted his wrist to change the arrow's direction, thus avoiding a fatal blow.

After that, Ethan spent the entire time watching the two Sorcerers display their might. His role in this battle was limited to eliminating some minor enemies at the beginning.

"Must keep getting stronger!"

Treating wounds, clearing the battlefield.

After everything was done, Ethan looked at Zul and Isendra who had returned to him and smiled helplessly, "It seems I can only accompany you this far."

The two Sorcerers, just as they hadn't refused Ethan's joining in the beginning, also didn't try to make him stay. They just smiled and nodded, "Although it wasn't long, I will always remember this time."

Isendra then asked, "Are you planning to stay in the Rogue Encampment next?"

With Ethan's current strength, he couldn't continue to fight Dark Creatures alongside them. Blood Raven was already his limit. If they continued and encountered stronger Demons, sacrifice was almost inevitable – and Ethan couldn't inflict much damage on Demons, so such a sacrifice would be pointless.

If he stayed in the Rogue Encampment, Ethan could do many things. For example, helping Akara collect herbs or even make Magic Potions, helping the Rogues with simple medical treatment and bandaging – which he learned from the nuns; he could even help the Rogues patrol the surrounding area and clear out Dark Creatures. With Ethan's current strength, the Dark Creatures in the Blood Moor wouldn't pose too much of a threat to him, as long as he was careful.

As for going home? Ethan had previously said he was from the East, and now the fortress leading to the East was occupied by Andariel. If Ethan wanted to go home, he would probably have to wait until he and Zul eliminated or sealed Andariel, allowing the Sisterhood of the Sightless Eye to retake the Eastern Gate fortress.

She couldn't possibly know that Ethan only had two days left to stay in this world, and even if he was strong enough, he wouldn't be able to continue accompanying them to fight Diablo.

For the past few days, he had been thinking of a suitable excuse. Now was a good time to say it.

"Actually, my teacher has located my position through special magic, and will use Teleportation Magic to bring me back in the next couple of days."

Isendra's eyes widened instantly. Ethan swore that since meeting this female Sorcerer, he had never imagined her eyes could be so large.

"You can actually do something like that? Your teacher... is indeed a powerful Sorcerer."

Neither of the two Sorcerers doubted Ethan's words. In fact, many Sorcerers, as their cultivation increased, gradually realized that their understanding of mysterious powers was merely superficial. Therefore, they wouldn't easily dismiss many things that sounded absurd.

Of course, there were also some Sorcerers who felt their understanding of mysterious powers had reached its peak, and thus denied everything they couldn't do.

Fortunately, neither Zul nor Isendra were such arrogant people. They easily believed Ethan's words.

Even if they didn't believe him, Ethan didn't care. When he was teleported back to that ocean by the Space-Time Magic Array in front of them in a couple of days, they wouldn't be able to disbelieve.

After packing up, the three of them returned to the Rogue Encampment.

Ethan's impending departure was not kept a secret from the people in the encampment, so both Akara and Kashya knew he was leaving. While he was still there, they all came to bid him farewell.

"Thank you for everything you've done for us during this time. You will always be a friend of the Sisterhood of the Sightless Eye. If you have time, we hope you can come back to visit."

Akara gave Ethan some herbs. These herbs had been simply processed, most of them made into powder, which was easy to carry.

Kashya gave Ethan a refined long sword. It could be used with one hand or two. The hilt and guard were simple, without any decorative patterns, seeming like an ordinary long sword. However, when Ethan drew the long sword and swung it around, he noticed it emitted magical fluctuations.

"Magic Equipment?"

Kashya smiled and nodded, "This long sword doesn't have any special abilities, it's just reinforced with magical means, so it's much sturdier than an ordinary long sword."

Ethan, hearing about such a simple 'special effect', was not unhappy at all, but even happier. The most troublesome things about many weapons are maintenance and durability. Blade weapons, in particular, are very easy to become scrap after a high-intensity battle, fundamentally because they are not sturdy enough. Therefore, this simple magical effect was much more practical than things like fireballs, frost, or lightning.

Kashya didn't just prepare these things. He knew that although Ethan had learned simple close combat and could now use weapons like Short Swords decently, he didn't know much about weapons like long swords. So, she also gave him an extra notebook.

"Here are basic sword techniques and practice methods, as well as some of my personal understanding and cultivation experience with swordsmanship. I hope it will be helpful to you."

Ethan took the notebook and thanked Kashya very solemnly. This was exactly what he needed. He hadn't expected Kashya to give him such a thing. Moreover, he was neither a Rogue nor Kashya's disciple. This kind of thing was not something that could be given away casually in this world.

Even Akara, with whom he had spent more time, had only given him some herbal powder, and hadn't mentioned giving him a notebook of Magic Potion making experience.

Perhaps... it's because many of my actions indirectly saved more Rogues?

Afterward, other people in the encampment also came to say goodbye to Ethan one after another. However, Isendra and Zul were nowhere to be seen. Ethan thought they might be busy with something, or they would only appear when he left tomorrow.

However, things didn't go as Ethan expected. The next morning, Ethan packed his luggage and brought it to an open space, quietly waiting for the time the Teleportation Magic would activate.

At this moment, Isendra and Zul finally appeared, along with Charsi, the encampment's blacksmith.

"I thought you wouldn't come to see me off."

"How could that be? It's just that you're suddenly leaving, so I needed some time to prepare a gift. Fortunately, I made it." Zul spoke first, then opened his hand to reveal the ordinary Copper Ring in his palm.

At this scene, Ethan suddenly felt like complaining, but for a moment he didn't know where to start, so he could only force himself to hold it back: "What is this?"

He didn't think Zul would just give him a plain Copper Ring for no reason. Guessing would be a waste of time, so he might as well ask directly.

"This is a ring, Ethan." Zul said with a playful smile, "I just enchanted it with a Curse."

Ethan immediately pulled back the hand he'd just extended, looking at Zul with an expression that screamed, You're trying to harm me! Zul just looked back with a speechless expression.

"It's an Active Spell that you can cast using your Mental Power to help you deal with enemies."

Zul stopped joking with Ethan and explained the ring in detail. As he said, its function was straightforward, and it was simple to use. Ethan could use his Mental Power to control the Magic Power stored in the ring and then actively cast a Weakness Curse to attack enemies.

Weakness: A Curse that reduces the target's Strength, Dexterity, and Endurance across the board. The specific effect depends on the target's own condition. It is the most basic level of Curse spells for Rathma Cult Priests.

However, considering Ethan's Mental Power strength and current lack of Magic Power, this level of Curse was the most suitable for him.

In addition, the ring could automatically absorb Primal Magic Power from its surroundings, so Ethan didn't need to provide extra energy. The only drawback was that it didn't store much Magic Power and could only be cast three times consecutively before needing time to recover its Magic Power. In fact, this automatic absorption and storage of Primal Magic Power was the most difficult part of making this small item.

"Nice item, does it have a name?"

Zul nodded. "I thought of a name last night. It's called 'Zul's Blessing!' Isn't that very fitting?"

"..."