Testing the Waters

"Come here~ my darlings~"

Dave whispered in a voice that was suppressed to an unnatural degree, the mist from his hands completely enveloping the area, as if some kind of medium was making his whispers echo wildly in the clearing, the frequency astonishingly high...

It was as if hundreds of people were murmuring at the same time, yet they were strangely in unison, and it didn't sound noisy or jarring.

The two Crimson Ridge Beasts simultaneously took two steps forward, lowering their bodies and lying motionless at Dave's feet.

"Very good~" The temporary Holy Knight smiled slightly, grasped the holy silver greatsword tightly in both hands, raised it high above his head, and laughed wildly, "You are joyful! You are happy!"

Accompanied by a gust of wind, the greatsword containing holy power whistled through the air and slashed down, smashing one of the monster's front claws, followed by a horizontal sweep that severed several of the other's back spines.

"You are peaceful! You are obedient!"

The splashing blood landed on Dave's body, but was blocked by the invisible power emanating from the silver armor. At the same time, in the process of driving that unknown power, the divine radiance around Dave's body became even stronger.

He murmured softly while wielding the blade, frantically destroying... or rather, torturing the two Crimson Ridge Beasts, but they maintained a strange serenity, even though their bodies were covered in blood, even though the injuries Dave inflicted on them looked terrifying beyond compare, they still lay motionless, as if asleep.

If you looked closely, you could even see that they seemed to be enjoying something, which was quite bizarre.

"You sing! You praise!"

The greatsword in his hand seemed as light as a feather as it flew up and down, constantly hacking at the two Crimson Ridge Beasts. Dave's strength was not weak to begin with, and now he had received a seemingly effective temporary buff, and he was like he had eaten some miracle fertilizer, quickly tormenting the two Crimson Ridge Beasts, who showed no signs of resistance, to the point of near death.

But even so, they still had no intention of resisting, and remained peacefully at his mercy.

"You are devout! You bow your heads in submission!" Dave leaped up in place, swinging his sword down from mid-air, and in that instant, a holy radiance even appeared behind him, the holy radiance of the God of Courage and Justice, whom he 'believed' in!

Two huge monster heads rolled to the ground. Dave thrust the greatsword upside down into the scabbard at his side, his eyes filled with turbidity and intoxication. He spread his hands and groaned hoarsely, "We are devout..."

Then, he exploded.

Well, to be precise, about half of Dave's armor exploded, and then a large number of hideous and terrifying wounds began to appear on his body. Even the greatsword in his hand, which was still intact except for being covered in blood, had countless scratches on it.

In the blink of an eye, Dave was seriously injured, looking like he might die at any moment.

But there was no pain on his face, instead, he looked radiant.

"Hmm, it'd be best if it was more serious." Dave examined his battered body and incomplete armor for a while, then frowned and raised his intact left arm.

"My arm should break..."

Bang!!

As if struck hard by an invisible warhammer, Dave's originally unscathed arm was instantly twisted into a bizarre angle, and even the shoulder and arm armor had several dents.

It looked as if it had been struck by something with great force.

"That's about right." Dave nodded contentedly, pulled out the greatsword with his still intact hand, inserted it into the scabbard behind him, then walked forward, bent down and picked up one of the Crimson Ridge Beast's heads, and turned to leave.

But unexpectedly...

"Is there any need to be in such a hurry?"

A frivolous voice came from not far away. Dave suddenly turned his head and saw a figure completely hidden in a gray robe slowly walking out from behind a tree, and even nodded slightly to him.

Everyone has probably guessed by now that, at this moment, more than twelve hundred words after the beginning of this chapter, the protagonist has finally appeared.

But Dave, who didn't have a god's-eye view, was completely stunned, looking at the guy who suddenly appeared in front of him with suspicion: "Who are you?"

"Does it matter who I am?" Mo Tan shrugged and said, "I think what's more important to you is what I saw, what I know, and how much I saw and know."

Sweat appeared on Dave's forehead, but he desperately tried to force himself to calm down, and snorted coldly: "It seems you know quite a bit?"

"Not really~" Mo Tan spread his hands and said, "I roughly learned what kind of person you are from the mouth of someone I accidentally saved, and incidentally saw some interesting things just now, but it's far from enough to warrant being silenced."

Are you kidding me?! This isn't enough to warrant being silenced?!

Anyway, whether Dave really thought so or not, his expression was very ugly...

"Don't worry, those two little guys were already on their last legs when I found them." Mo Tan casually told a lie, and said very calmly, "And they don't have the strength to crawl back to the city to expose you for the time being, so don't be so nervous~"

Dave's face immediately improved a lot after hearing this. He forced a rather awkward smile. "Really...? I think there must be some misunderstanding here. Actually, I..."

"Misunderstanding?" Mo Tan raised his eyebrows and said helplessly, "This is really a bit beyond my expectations, you wouldn't... really only be this level, would you?"

Dave had already put down the Crimson Ridge Beast's head in his arms, and quietly put his right hand behind his back, and said with a dry smile: "I don't understand what you're talking about."

"Almost a single-celled organism's cunning and sophistication..." Mo Tan sighed softly, then shook his head at the other party: "Alright, then let's proceed to the second test."

In a place where Mo Tan couldn't see, Dave's injuries were visibly recovering. He asked with a pale face: "What exactly do you want to say?"

"I saw you killed those two monsters." Mo Tan pointed to the two headless Crimson Ridge Beasts that were already dead not far away, and shrugged: "So I'm curious how you did it. If it's for some interesting reason, I think I can give you a hand, provided you satisfy my curiosity..."

Dave immediately looked pious: "That is the power bestowed upon me by the God of Courage and Justice, he allowed me to have..."

"Enough." Mo Tan rudely interrupted him, his voice suddenly turning cold: "I think I'm wasting time, so, one last confirmation..."

"You!"

"Let us be quiet for a while..."

Skill activated—[Guile]!

Dave stopped talking. He didn't know why he suddenly fell silent, but he felt that the other party definitely didn't want to harm him, but wanted to do what was best for him...

This strange silence between the two lasted for nearly a minute!

Then Dave suddenly came back to his senses and exclaimed: "What did you do?!"

"Ah... it's nothing..." Mo Tan's voice sounded listless. "I just realized how pitiable your intelligence truly is."

Let's recall the effect of the skill [Guile]:

[Guile: Charm a target, causing them to regard you as an ally. Success rate and duration depend on the target's mental state and the intelligence of both parties. Cooldown: 1 hour]

The rest speaks for itself...

"You can't resist!!" Dave suddenly roared, charging toward Mo Tan. The greatsword on his back instantly unsheathed, sweeping toward the latter in a streak of bright silver.

A strong sense of powerlessness washed over him. For some reason, Mo Tan suddenly felt as though this battered man before him was invincible—so strong, so very strong!

But what of it?

"I never thought I could beat you anyway~" Mo Tan rolled his eyes, drawing a dagger from his waist with a backhand motion, holding it in front of him, and whispering, "But your power seems quite interesting~"

Backhand Spin Thrust!

Clang!

A piercing clang exploded as Mo Tan, who had lost a small chunk of his health bar in an instant, spun around and slashed out a cold light, his short dagger aimed straight for Dave's left eye.

"Your struggles are in vain!" Seeing that Mo Tan was putting on such a tough act, Dave didn't dodge or evade, but simply muttered this sentence.

Mo Tan's dagger slid past his cheek in a bizarre fashion. The strike that should have pierced his eyeball only left a bloody scratch on Dave's face.

"Interesting!"

Mo Tan was still a bit faster than the knight clad in armor. He ducked low and darted behind Dave, his dagger dancing as he slashed at Dave's neck.

[Gouge Throat]

Rogue School Active Skill

Mastery Requirement: Rogue School Lv.1

Cost/Restriction: 20 Acuity, equipped with a bladed short weapon

Effect: Perform a quick cut on the target's throat, enjoying the benefits of Weakness Strike. Has a chance to inflict 2 seconds of Silence. When attacking from behind, Silence is guaranteed and causes a Bleeding effect. Cooldown: 2 minutes

[Note: There are many ways to shut someone up; the simplest and most direct is to give their windpipe a good slash.]

Blood splattered, but it had no real effect. The bloody gash on his throat didn't affect him in the slightest. After all, the difference in strength between the two was still too great. At this point, Mo Tan probably couldn't even beat Cole, let alone Dave.

But he never intended to kill Dave here in the first place. He just wanted to confirm a few things...

The moment Dave turned around, two daggers were already plunged into his shoulders!

[Swift Thrust]

Rogue School Active Skill

Mastery Requirement: Rogue School Lv.4, 10 Dexterity

Cost/Restriction: 60 Acuity

Effect: Perform a rapid thrust at a target within a five-meter radius, dealing equal damage and immediately returning to the original position. The process is 100% guaranteed to evade any theoretically non-inescapable physical attack. Cooldown: 1 hour.

[Note: A long, long time ago, 'fast' was a word people used to praise each other, not to mock them.]

This strike allowed Mo Tan to dodge the sword that Dave swung back at him, and successfully deal some damage to the opponent.

Moreover...

[It's useless under Silence, is it? I see~]

After this strike, Mo Tan immediately retreated, activating the escape skill that had given him confidence all along.

Mo Tan's figure blurred in place, and he vanished from Dave's sight. Only a hysterical laughter echoed through the air~

"Haha... Hahaha! Tremble! Shudder! Fear! 'Hero' blessed by the gods, return to your fragile and cheap stage, ring the final death knell for yourself, and open your arms to embrace that true glory!!"

[Escape]

Rogue School Active Skill

Mastery Requirement: Rogue School Lv.5

Cost/Restriction: 50% of current health

Effect: Conceal all traces of yourself, increasing Stealth level to maximum for 10 seconds. During this time, your movement speed is increased by 150%. Casting skills or making any attacking actions will cause this effect to disappear. After the Escape duration ends, your Stamina, Acuity, and movement speed will be reduced to 10% of normal, and will recover at a rate of 5%/minute. Cooldown: 12 hours

[Note: If you're going to run, please focus. Worrying about being caught is just adding to your troubles.]

[Mental connection detected, synchronizing personal information]

[Connection complete, reading character information]

[Welcome back, Lawful Good Mo Tan, loading Innocent World. Good night.]

When Mo Tan appeared at No. 11 Incense Avenue in Anka Market, the game time had just reached noon. The earthy fragrance and warm sunlight flooding the courtyard in front of him made him feel a little sleepy...

Wait...

Earthy fragrance?!

Recalling the chaotic scene from when this character was last kicked offline, Mo Tan immediately gasped and looked up...

"Huh?"

The giant man-eating plants that Mo Tan remembered, the ones that two Orcs couldn't encircle even with their arms linked, the vines covered in barbs and fangs, and all the other plants he couldn't name, were all gone!

Estimated that this quest has already been completed by someone else...

He sighed as he looked at the bare courtyard, deeply feeling his lack of strength, and then turned to leave.

Mo Tan planned to return to the Adventurers' Guild first. Too many unexpected things had happened recently, and his original plan had gone way off the rails. Not only had he not completed a single quest, but his strength hadn't improved at all.

He was really dejected...

As a result, a dozen minutes later, the moment he stepped into the first-floor lobby of the Adventurers' Guild, something even more depressing happened!

"It's him!!!"

A joyful shout came from who knows where, and Mo Tan was immediately swallowed by the crowd.

In the midst of the chaos, he heard several things...

"Is that his dog?!"

"Yes, yes, yes! I saw them come together!"

"Damn, Ms. Molly and House Guluo's victim has finally been found!"

"I heard Ms. Molly is going crazy."

"Of course, you'd go crazy too if you opened the door and found half your house had been demolished."

"A Half-Dragon and a dog, no doubt about it!"

"Hold him down!"

Mo Tan: "???"

Chapter 35: The End

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