Isendra

Having successfully secured the first kill, Ethan didn't feel overly elated. His mind was exceptionally clear, and he knew the danger hadn't completely passed. Another Zombie was right in front of him, ready to turn him into its meal for the day.

He forcefully pulled out the Short Sword, and just to be safe, Ethan gave it another quick slash, directly cutting off the head of the Zombie beneath him.

The rotten body made it easy; even the tough bones had become brittle. Ethan didn't even need much strength to sever the Zombie's head before standing up to face the remaining enemy.

"I can't fight head-on."

The Zombie's body was stiff and its movements were slow. In contrast, they possessed great strength, far more than Ethan.

Ethan's body was better than in his previous life, and he was in the prime of his youth, full of energy and at his physical peak, but strength wasn't his strong suit.

"Use agility to maneuver, try to attack from behind."

The side was the second-best option; he absolutely had to avoid facing the Zombie head-on.

With the plan set, Ethan tensed his spirit, raised the Short Sword, and charged forward again, then suddenly changed direction mid-way, circling to the side of the Zombie, while making a forward charge and swinging motion.

The Zombie's movements were stiff, but its reaction wasn't slow. The hands that were originally stretched forward suddenly swung sideways. The whooshing sound they made proved how astonishing the power of this strike was. If hit, he might instantly lose the ability to resist.

However, Ethan was already prepared. His forward charging posture was just a feint, intended to guard against the Zombie's reaction. Seeing the Zombie indeed swing its arm to smash him, he immediately stopped his forward momentum, then once again used his excellent agility to dart away in a direction the Zombie couldn't reach, successfully rushing to the Zombie's side.

Taking advantage of the Zombie's inability to react again, he forcefully smashed the Round Shield in his hand towards the Zombie's neck.

That previous sword strike had made him notice that the Zombie's neck was unusually fragile. Perhaps he could use the Round Shield to break its neck.

Things turned out just as Ethan expected. The Zombie's neck was indeed quite fragile. Although his shield bash didn't break its neck, it severely injured the Zombie, twisting its neck to a strange angle and affecting the Zombie's control over its body, causing a momentary stiffness.

"Opportunity!"

The highly focused Ethan immediately seized this fleeting opportunity. The Short Sword in his hand followed closely, once again thrusting towards the Zombie's head.

Puff!

The fragile head was pierced through by Ethan's sword. Again, for the sake of caution, when Ethan pulled out the Short Sword, he added another shield bash, directly smashing the head off. Only then did he completely stop.

Then he quickly retreated a few steps, observed left and right for a while, and only after confirming that both Zombies were thoroughly dead did he relax a little.

"First battle, killed two Zombies without injury. Truly perfect."

He quietly gave himself a perfect score for this battle, using this method to relieve his highly excited emotions.

At the same time, he was carefully recalling the details of the battle just now, summarizing some experience to improve himself.

"When I was highly focused just now, did it seem like all the details were very clear?"

He wasn't sure if this was a benefit brought by the improvement of his spiritual power. If it was, even if his strength was still a bit weak, he wasn't completely without the ability to protect himself.

Whether this was the case, he could experiment more times in the coming period, while continuing to hone his combat skills.

"Stay calm, and act decisively!"

Ethan sheathed the Short Sword back into the scabbard at his waist, then carefully examined the bodies of the two Zombies. He wanted to see if these two 'monsters' had 'dropped' any equipment or items for him.

"This isn't a game world after all, there's no such setting as dropping equipment..."

He shook his head regretfully. If they could drop equipment, he could hunt solitary Zombies in this vicinity, and his goal of obtaining some good equipment would be easier to achieve. But now it seemed, this was a more realistic world, and there were big differences from the game.

No longer looking at the two Zombies, Ethan began to gather herbs. This was his main task this time; honing his combat skills was just a side benefit.

After gathering and storing the herbs, Ethan began to search the surroundings. He cautiously controlled his distance from the Rogue Encampment. Whenever he couldn't see it, he would walk back a bit, then move in an arc at a distance where he could see the Rogue Encampment, and then explore further out appropriately.

Find herbs, collect them. Encounter a solitary Zombie, kill it. Then retreat, continue to walk in an arc centered on the encampment, and after walking a certain distance, explore further out.

Repeating this process, half a day allowed him to collect several herbs and also kill about ten solitary Zombies.

Fortunately, he didn't encounter the Quill Rats and Fallen that he was very wary of.

Quill Rats liked to hide in the grass and shadows, blending in with the environment and being very difficult to spot. They also attacked from a distance. With Ethan's current strength, he could very likely be instantly killed by a surprise attack from a Quill Rat if he wasn't alert.

Fallen, on the other hand, acted in groups and were led by Fallen Shamans who could cast Fireball and Resurrection. They were very troublesome – they died and came back to life, and they didn't fight you head-on, always scampering around, making them very difficult to kill. They also ran very fast. If you tried to get rid of them, they would chase after you and entangle you, making it impossible to even escape.

With Ethan's current strength, encountering Fallen... even the smallest group of five, meant he was guaranteed to be defeated without question.

So, when Ethan didn't go far on one of his explorations and saw several red-skinned Fallen in the distance, gathered around a bonfire, yelling and shouting non-stop, he decisively started to retreat.

"I really am... quite weak."

He shook his head helplessly. Back in the game, even level 1 characters were weaklings he could kill whenever he wanted. Now, he didn't even have the qualifications to face them head-on. Thinking about this felt quite depressing.

"If Akara really asks me to clear the Den of Evil, it seems I can only cowardly refuse."

He cautiously retreated, controlling his body to avoid being noticed by the Fallen, while also constantly observing that small camp.

"I'll tell Kashya when I get back. She should send Rogues to clear out these few Fallen... At such a close distance, if the Fallen grow stronger, it will be a big problem..."

Just as he was thinking this, a figure seemed to appear in the distance. Before Ethan could doubt if he was seeing things, he saw that figure suddenly flicker, and then a flash of light appeared outside the Fallen's camp. The figure that was still far away just abruptly stood in front of the Fallen.

Then, that figure raised a long Staff and swung it at the Fallen. A huge Fireball whistled towards the Fallen, and when it reached the middle of the group, it exploded with a boom. The fiercely erupting flames instantly engulfed several Fallen, and the dazzling firelight illuminated the originally dim sky a little.

When everything calmed down, those few Fallen were completely gone, and the only thing left in that camp was the woman holding the long Staff – that's right, Ethan had seen clearly that it was a woman, and that woman had also seen him.

Ethan straightened up. Before he could react, a flash of light suddenly appeared in front of him, and the woman who was still standing in the distant camp just abruptly appeared in front of him.

"Hello!"

Ethan understood this sentence.

"My name is Isendra."

Ethan understood that sentence too.

"I am a Sorcerer from the East. Are there any towns nearby that can provide lodging and food?"

Ethan didn't understand that sentence.

So his response was simple: "Hello, my name is Ethan."

"..."

The atmosphere instantly became very awkward. Isendra hadn't expected her question to go unanswered. Why wouldn't this young man named Ethan answer her question? Was it a difficult question? Or was he wary of her?

"I don't mean anything by it, I just want to find a place to rest and buy some food."

She still didn't get an answer from Ethan, but her words finally elicited some response. The young man in front of her pointed in the direction ahead of him. Was he showing her the way?

In reality, if it weren't for the word "food" allowing Ethan to guess Isendra's general meaning, he wouldn't have been able to point out the location of the Rogue Encampment to her.

As for why he so easily told a stranger the location of the encampment, it was because he had already recognized the identity of the woman in front of him.

One of the five initial playable characters in the game Diablo 2, the female Sorcerer who wields the elemental powers of fire, ice, and lightning.

Ethan wasn't clear on the background lore back then, and he didn't even know the Sorceress's real name, but her appearance was easily recognizable.

Slightly dark skin, green-colored armor that looked like leather but exposed a large area of her waist and abdomen, black skirt-like lower wear, brown leather boots, and golden trim and various golden ornaments filled with mysterious energy.

The long staff in her hand looked unremarkable, but standing next to her, Ethan could feel a surge of magical power emanating from it. Without a doubt, it was a Staff, and its quality was not low.

For a moment, he even wanted to reach out and claim the long staff for himself. Ethan suddenly snapped out of it. This state was not a good sign. He immediately used the method the Ancient One had taught him to cultivate his mental strength, calming his inexplicably restless emotions.

All of this, of course, was seen by Isendra.

"Oh? So you're a Sorcerer's Apprentice... Although a bit weak, your will is quite firm." She glanced at the herbs Ethan was carrying on his back. "Are you collecting herbs? It seems your teacher is skilled in making Magic Potions. Take me to see your teacher. I can also ask why the Dark Energy is so dense around here."