The task was extremely complicated.
But it was tremendously important to the later development of the Diablo World's story.
That was because Cain, the extremely sleazy old man you rescued from the ruined town of Tristram-that mysterious space-would afterward become a grinning tagalong, always trailing behind the player character and constantly handing you all kinds of quests that tied together the progression of the entire Diablo World storyline.
Before setting off, Sun Fei checked his equipment and quest stats once more.
Based on his experience in his previous life, completing the quest at his current strength shouldn't be difficult. Judging by the time, if everything went smoothly, he could definitely finish it within two hours.
That way, Sun Fei could also carry out his next plan.
Time was short, so he decided to set off at once to find the Tree of Inifuss.
But before leaving the Rogue Encampment, Sun Fei glanced at Elena, the beautiful female mercenary who had been quietly following him, and suddenly thought of something. He turned back and returned to Charsi, the female blacksmith. Under Elena's astonished gaze, he spent over 1,000 gold coins on a powerful bow, a set of strong leather armor, a pair of heavy leather boots, and a fine leather cap suited for a woman.
"Beautiful, you should be able to use this equipment, right?"
Sun Fei put on what he thought was a dazzling smile and said to Elena, "If you can, hurry and find somewhere to change into it. When you're facing demons and monsters, every bit of extra strength gives you a better chance of staying alive."
"All this... you're giving it to me?"
Elena froze, seemingly caught completely off guard and a little disbelieving.
"If I'm not giving it to you, would I be perverted enough to wear women's equipment myself?"
Sun Fei noticed that, for some reason, the beautiful mercenary seemed a little too excited. He was slightly puzzled. In his eyes, equipment worth a little over 1,000 gold coins wasn't all that good. At the very least, it was worlds apart from the set he was wearing. Was there any need to get so excited?
"Thank you, young warrior."
Once she finally confirmed that Sun Fei really had bought the equipment for her, the beautiful mercenary quickly composed herself. She bowed to thank him, then took the equipment into the tent behind Charsi.
Soon, the rustling of someone changing clothes came from inside, making Sun Fei's blood stir.
After twenty-odd seconds, Elena emerged from the tent.
Sun Fei's eyes lit up.
In her new equipment, the mercenary Elena looked exceptionally valiant. The strong leather armor, glowing faintly blue, outlined her perfect figure dazzlingly. With a longbow in hand and sharp arrows across her back, she looked just like an incomparably beautiful valkyrie, making one want to fall to one's knees in worship.
The allure of a uniform.
This was the legendary allure of a uniform!
"Ha, it really fits. Let's go!"
Sun Fei was so tempted by the extraordinarily beautiful mercenary that he nearly had a nosebleed. He hurriedly put on an air of nonchalance, turned and waved, then headed out of the Rogue Encampment.
He hadn't bought Elena equipment to win the beauty's favor. After all, this beautiful mercenary was also a first-rate powerhouse. Improving his "powerhouse's" strength could only benefit Sun Fei, her master, in completing the quest as quickly as possible.
A faint smile appeared at the corners of Elena's mouth, but it vanished in a flash, and her serene expression soon returned. Like an orchid quietly coming into bloom, she followed silently behind Sun Fei.
Whoosh!
Three Dark Hunter demons fell to the ground, wailing.
There was a clatter.
A piece of blue equipment dropped from the corpses and landed on the ground.
Delighted, Sun Fei picked it up and found it was an oddly shaped ring. But it hadn't been identified, so he didn't know its exact stats.
Sun Fei picked it up and used a Scroll of Identify on it. Once identified, the ring turned out to be called the Ring of Deep Blue, with the effects of 8 mana and 5 light radius. For a character like a barbarian, who was accustomed to fighting at close range, the ring wasn't particularly useful, but it was better than nothing. After some thought, Sun Fei put it on.
Throughout the process, the beautiful mercenary Elena remained on full alert beside him, her eyes roaming as she watched their surroundings carefully.
What struck Sun Fei as strange was that he found himself under a very absurd impression: Elena seemingly couldn't see the equipment dropped by the monsters. The beauty kept giving his actions odd looks, as though she were watching a strange, silent pantomime.
Could it be that natives of the Diablo World like Elena can't see the equipment monsters drop when they kill them? A thought occurred to Sun Fei. In other words... am I the only person in the entire Diablo World who can get equipment drops from killing monsters?
The discovery gave Sun Fei a slight shock.
He seemed to have caught a vague glimpse of something, but he couldn't quite grasp it.
He began observing carefully.
Time was short.
The two hurried forward.
The Underground Passage lay deep within the Stony Field. Sun Fei took Elena through a wilderness waypoint and found the monster-infested passage in the shortest possible time.
They stepped into the passage, and darkness lay before them.
There was no light in the cave, and a cold wind howled through it.
From deep within the cave came a constant stream of agonized demonic roars, mingling with the howling wind. A faint, oppressive, blood-fouled stench hung in the air, making the place exceptionally terrifying.
"Be careful and stay behind me. Remember, whatever you do, don't go ahead of me."
Sun Fei turned to instruct the mercenary.
He was a barbarian, with plenty of health and high defense, so he could serve as a meat shield at the front. Elena, on the other hand, was a magic archer who attacked from a distance. Her attack power was good, but she was relatively fragile and her defense was low. If the monsters and demons reached her and forced her into close combat, she'd be in danger.
Elena froze.
She had never expected the young adventurer to make such a decision. It was completely at odds with the terrifying stories circulating in the Rogue Encampment about adventurers ruthlessly exploiting their mercenaries. Until now, Elena had believed her fate would be the same as that of the female Rogues from over sixty years ago: Sun Fei would use her as demon bait or as a meat shield to block attacks, but...
While the beautiful mercenary was still dazed, Sun Fei had already charged out.
Roar!
With an angry shout, Sun Fei sent the blade of his great axe flashing coldly.
With just three casual swings, he easily chopped three Fallen that had suddenly charged out into six pieces at the waist.
"Come on, keep up! We need to get through here quickly."
Sun Fei called back to her and continued rushing forward, soon disappearing into the darkness. Only then did Elena come to her senses and hurry after him.
Ahead, the little demons charged toward them like a tide.
Sun Fei swung his great axe and went to meet them, ready to cut them down. But just then, several whooshes rang out, and sharp blue arrows flew through the air. In the blink of an eye, three or four little demons were struck in the forehead, fell wailing to the ground, and froze solid, each killed by a single arrow.
"Beautiful shooting. Impressive!"
Sun Fei turned and gave Elena a thumbs-up.
The mercenary was no mere pretty face. Her archery was almost divine: even in such dim surroundings, all four of her arrows had struck running little demons. Her tremendous skill made Sun Fei see her in a new light.
Elena made no response to Sun Fei's praise.
Her bowstring twanged repeatedly. Three more arrows flew with a whoosh, flashing with cold as they sent another three Fallen charging out of the distance with howls back home to hell.
Sun Fei realized that the beautiful mercenary was an ice-attribute archer. Her arrows carried a piercing chill that not only gave them astonishing killing power but also slowed enemies' movement and attacks on impact. She truly was the ideal support for killing monsters and farming equipment in the Diablo World.
Men and women working together made light work.
The two continued deeper into the cave.
The Underground Cave was like a maze, its winding routes making it easy to get lost. Monsters charged out of dark corners from time to time. With the cold wind howling, it was a living hell, utterly terrifying.
Fortunately, Sun Fei had experienced enough killing that he was gradually growing used to it.
The beautiful mercenary Elena also seemed to have experienced similar scenes long ago. She was quite accustomed to the terrifying atmosphere and showed no fear at all.
Her longbow sang, and every arrow took the life of a low-level little demon. Of course, higher-level monsters like Gargantuan Beasts, Dark Hunters, and Cyan Zombies took a little more effort. Without Sun Fei's help, she could still deal with an opponent in three arrows at most. In the process, she had to maintain a certain distance from the monsters to make the most of her bow.
After more than ten minutes, the two began working together more skillfully.
As though they were naturally in tune, they coordinated more and more seamlessly, even though they spoke little throughout. Sun Fei swung his great axe to kill nearby monsters, while Elena's ice arrows swept down distant demons. They advanced so quickly that they exceeded Sun Fei's earlier expectations.
At this rate, it'll probably take half an hour at most to fight through the Underground Passage to the Tree of Inifuss in the Dark Wood and get that damned scroll!
Sun Fei grew optimistic about completing the quest quickly.
Just then, something unexpected happened-
"Ah..."
Behind Sun Fei, the beautiful mercenary Elena, who had been silently shooting down monsters and demons all along, suddenly cried out in grief and indignation. Her voice was filled with panic, grief, and indignation, as though she had encountered something extremely terrible.
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