Escort Elemental Sprites

After accepting the quest, a group of people quickly gathered in front of the Adventurer's Guild.

According to the quest prompt, these people were her companions. Generally speaking, for quests requiring a team, after a solo player accepted one, the system would arrange NPCs or other players who had accepted the same quest as companions.

Quests that involved escorting something to a certain place were essentially small-scale dungeon quests. Monsters would attack endlessly along the way, making them difficult for ordinary players to complete.

Moreover, the monsters encountered in this quest would not lower their levels just because Su Jiang's level was low.

As always, getting ahead of others meant taking on responsibilities ahead of them.

The monsters they needed to face for this quest were all level 30!

Only after transforming into Kurumi in secret did Su Jiang appear before them.

No players could reach this town yet, so Kurumi was not worried about anyone recognizing her appearance or recording her and uploading the video online.

Kurumi stepped forward and greeted them. She saw admiration in their eyes, along with a trace of disdain.

With over a decade of gaming experience, Kurumi knew these NPCs thought she was only here to pad her résumé.

Kurumi did not argue. After briefly getting acquainted with them, she quietly sat to one side and waited for the Elemental Association to deliver the Elemental Sprite.

The Elemental Association differed from the Adventurer's Guild. The Adventurer's Guild allowed adventurers to join other associations, but the Elemental Association did not. Therefore, the Elemental Association often hired the Adventurer's Guild to handle matters they did not want to deal with.

After waiting for quite a while.

A tall, thin NPC draped in a black mage robe walked over. His complexion was fair, and his ears were slightly pointed.

He was a Half-elf.

The offspring of a human and an elf.

Kurumi had not expected the quest client to be a Half-elf.

In the setting of Meta World, Half-elves were not a group jointly discriminated against by humans and elves. Instead, they were an important bridge of communication between the two races.

After all, if there was no genuine affection, how could two different races like humans and elves possibly bear offspring?

As for true elves, they looked down equally upon all races. Only when facing Half-elves did they slightly rein in the arrogance on their faces.

The Elf race possessed the largest territory, with extremely abundant resources. They were also born with a talent: Heart of Nature. It allowed them to move freely through forests, never become lost within them, and reduce the hostility of monster units.

If one could build a good relationship with Half-elves, adventuring in forests would become far easier. It might even make it possible to enter a high-level region that was currently absolutely inaccessible: the Dawn Elf Empire!

The NPC leading the group stepped forward respectfully. "Hello, Mr. Half-elf. We are the escort team arranged by the Adventurer's Guild. May I ask where the Elemental Sprite we need to escort is?"

"Just you lot?" the Half-elf asked incredulously.

"Our team's quest completion rate is as high as 67%. The guild must have trusted us to assign this quest to us. Besides, according to the Adventurer's Guild's statistics, none of the Escort Elemental Sprites quests completed this year encountered any powerful monsters," the leader said with a smile.

"Hmph."

The Half-elf still looked unconvinced.

The NPC leading the quest was only level 35, while the NPCs following him were all between levels 30 and 35. On top of that, there was Kurumi, who was only level 12. It was no wonder he did not trust them.

The Half-elf looked over the dozen or so people who had accepted the quest.

Then his eyes suddenly lit up. He walked toward Kurumi and said, "I've heard of you. Some old fellows in the association said there was a little girl in a black-and-red dress who single-handedly dealt with the Fear Deity's kin. Was that you?"

Word had already spread here so quickly?

Kurumi was slightly stunned. After thinking about it, it was probably the effect of reputation.

"It was me."

"In that case, I'll leave the escort target to you. I believe in your strength," the Half-elf said seriously.

The NPC leader also nodded at Kurumi, signaling for her to accept.

Kurumi hurriedly said, "All right. I will do everything I can to protect the Elemental Sprite."

System Prompt: Because you possess 300 reputation with the Carron Empire, Patrick, a mage of the Elemental Association, acknowledges your strength and has decided to entrust the protection of the Elemental Sprite Axi to you.

Quest Prompt: Elemental Sprites easily attract the attention of monsters. Please proceed carefully along the way. If you successfully escort Axi to the destination, the Elemental Sprite will reward you.

She had originally thought she was just a peripheral tagalong, yet she had directly become the quest's primary beneficiary!

Kurumi was a little surprised.

It seemed that reputation with the Carron Empire was extremely useful.

Thinking about it, that was only natural. Since they lived within the Carron Empire, if they did not recognize the empire's reputation, what would they recognize?

Of course, this was also partly because Kurumi's attributes exceeded the standard. NPCs could roughly sense a player's strength, and the attributes of the level 12 Kurumi Incarnation were actually a little higher than those of an ordinary level 27 player.

Patrick quickly released a tiny sprite with membranous wings and miniature clothing, telling her to fly over to Kurumi's side and listen to Kurumi properly.

"Axi!"

The little sprite fluttered her wings in the air, spun around several times, and responded happily.

The Half-elf had other matters to handle, so he left.

"Since Mr. Half-elf trusts you, why don't you take over as the leader?"

As soon as the leader finished speaking, several brazenly appraising gazes appeared within the group, clearly questioning her strength.

Kurumi immediately refused. She only wanted to finish this quest quickly, then strike out on her own.

The leader said nothing and directly led everyone toward the destination.

After passing through several streets, the group arrived at the exit of Forest City.

After submitting their quest proof and exit permits, Kurumi and the NPCs successfully arrived before a dense forest.

Lush greenery stretched before their eyes. Once they entered, the light became sparse, weeds grew wildly, and only a small path marked with mottled footprints lay hidden within.

Following this path, they could reach their destination in about half a day.

This forest stretched for tens of thousands of miles. Besides being home to the Dawn Elf Empire, it was also the habitat of all magical beasts.

Thus, along the way, they would also need to deal with magical beasts lurking in the forest.

"Axi~"

At the sight of the forest, the little sprite's eyes sparkled. She cried out excitedly and flapped her wings.

However, because of the Half-elf's instructions, she did not stray too far from Kurumi.

"Newcomer, protect that little sprite well. If you truly can't protect her, you can give up. There are many enemies in the forest. If you don't want to die, stay on high alert," one of the accompanying NPCs said to Kurumi with a wary expression.

"Enemies? Aren't there only magical beasts?" Kurumi glanced at the Elemental Sprite floating beside her.

To magical beasts, Elemental Sprites were essentially supplements. After consuming one, a magical beast had a chance to evolve or comprehend a skill.

This was a small trick discovered by players of pet classes in the future.

Kurumi still remembered it.

"If it were only magical beasts, that would be fine. What I'm afraid of is..." The NPC let out a cold laugh, then fell silent.