Manst's Relics

System notification: You ate honey cake. Your favorability toward Fish That Doesn't Eat Cats increased by 10 points.

What? That worked too! Teddy was speechless when he heard the system notification. It looked like feeding was the main way hunters raised their pets' favorability. He considered not eating, but he was afraid they would see through him, and the honey cake really was delicious. After struggling with himself for a moment, Teddy thought, Forget it. I've already been caught anyway, so I might as well give up and go with it. He began eating in big mouthfuls.

System notification: You ate honey cake. Your favorability toward Fish That Doesn't Eat Cats increased by 10 points.

The notification sounded several times in a row, raising his favorability straight to the maximum.

"Hahaha, it finally worked! I told you my little sister was a genius. Look, she tamed him, and even his favorability is maxed out."

"Ah, if only he'd gotten that ultimate move off!" Hellboy's Dad and Surviving Fighter said glumly. Hunters were about to rise to prominence if they could tame beasts this powerful. Unfortunately, that also meant he wouldn't drop any equipment.

The two looked at Teddy with eyes full of resentment. Fortunately, the gnoll boss had dropped plenty of equipment earlier, enough for them to split the loot.

[Name: Victim's Wrap]

[Category: Equipment-chest armor (leather)]

[Quality: Excellent. Equipment requirement: level 14]

[Effect: Armor +14, stamina +6]

[Note: Armor sewn together from various strange kinds of hide. Gnolls were said to have a particularly brutal tradition: they skinned enemies they killed and sewed their hides onto their armor. The more hides sewn onto the armor, the more vicious the gnoll.]

[Name: Gnoll Leader's Insignia]

[Category: Equipment-accessory]

[Quality: Excellent]

[Effect: Maximum health +66]

[Note: A strange metal insignia marking the leader of the gnolls. (Gnolls only)]

[Name: Derek's Decapitating Blade]

[Category: Equipment-weapon (two-handed sword)]

[Quality: Excellent. Equipment requirement: level 14]

[Effect: Attack 19-27. Hits have a chance to trigger a decapitation effect, dealing critical damage and silencing the target for one second.]

[Note: The best way to stop a man from speaking is not to gag him, but to sever his neck.]

[Name: Manster's Pelt]

[Category: Equipment-chest armor (leather)]

[Quality: Top-tier. Equipment requirement: level 17]

[Effect: Armor +20, stamina +10]

[Equipment skill 1: Bear Disguise (active)-use to disguise yourself as a black bear. Attributes and skills are unaffected.]

[Equipment skill 2: Manst's Resentment (passive)-while wearing this equipment, you often hear a strange voice whispering in your ear.]

[Note: A beautiful bearskin coat with faint druid facial markings visible on it. What they mean is unknown.]

Derek had actually dropped more than that, but the other items had all been snatched by others. Even so, these four pieces alone were enough to get those who had stayed with them excited.

"Damn, this scripted kill really was satisfying! It dropped so much equipment all at once!"

"Yeah, yeah, there was even a top-tier item! But what's the deal with Manster's Pelt?"

"Wait, wasn't that archdruid called Manst? Could it be-"

The group discussed it excitedly, and their resentment over being unable to kill Teddy eased considerably.

Supreme Greatsword's eyes darted around, and he said to Water Falls Without a Trace, "Since you've already caught this elite as a pet, we should get first pick of the equipment, right?"

Water Moon Without a Trace shrugged. Equipment really didn't mean much to her. She had plenty of premium currency anyway, so if she wanted good equipment, she could just buy it at the auction house. What mattered most was that her little sister was happy.

"You can have all the equipment. Split it among yourselves."

Ha, we get this too? Teaming up with a rich lady really is great. All three of them had the same thought.

"Then we won't stand on ceremony." None of the three held back, and they divided up the equipment in the blink of an eye.

Supreme Private Room took the two-handed sword, Surviving Fighter took Manster's Pelt, and Hellboy's Dad took the Victim's Wrapping Cloth and the Gnoll Leader's Insignia. Only gnolls could use the insignia, and although he couldn't use it himself, he could dump it at the auction house. There were gnoll mercenaries in the game who could use it, so it would still fetch some money.

Once they had divided the loot, the group turned their attention to the gap in the wall. By now, adventurers had already charged through it in pursuit of the fleeing bosses.

"So, should we keep going?"

"Of course! My greatsword is already thirsting for action," Supreme Greatsword said excitedly. His resentment toward the goblin boss had never faded.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's get moving." The group charged out through the wall in high spirits.

"Run! I can't stop, absolutely can't stop!"

Xiao Yu urged himself on as he ran, and even in the midst of the chaos, he didn't forget to check his attributes.

Eric (goblin diviner)-

Monster category: Humanoid (junior boss).

Affiliation: Mud Pit Camp (Goblin Wanderers).

Monster level: 18.

Monster talent: Cower (passive).

Health: 2,400 (+2,000).

Mana: 430.

Strength: 28.

Stamina: 29.

Agility: 16.

Intellect: 14.

Spirit: 13.

Skills: Campfire, Lesser Fireball, Lesser Healing Wave, Summon Fire Elemental, Flame Bomb Storm (boss skill), Summon Goblin Whelp (equipment skill), Activate Flame Mark (divine skill).

Equipment: Goblin Chieftain's Scepter, Evil God Priest's Robe, Storm Scepter.

Powerful! This boss template really was great. The 500% health bonus alone was impressive enough, raising his health straight to the frightening figure of 2,400. With the boss template, the effects of many control skills on him would also be weakened or even nullified. Hard crowd-control skills like Polymorph, Fear, Mind Control, and Charm no longer worked on him at all.

Add in his newly acquired weapon, and his strength had increased by more than a little. At that thought, Xiao Yu couldn't help looking at the staff in his hand again.

The Storm Scepter was one of the archdruid's relics. After killing the archdruid earlier, the group had quickly divided the loot. Feeling that he didn't have much time left, Xiao Yu hadn't fussed over it and had only taken this staff. But he had to admit, it was much better than his old Goblin Chieftain's Scepter.

[Name: Storm Scepter]

[Category: Equipment-weapon (two-handed staff)]

[Quality: Top-tier. Level requirement: 17.]

[Effect: Attack 13-18, spell power +6, spirit +4.]

[Equipment skill: Wind Barrier-summons a flowing whirlwind to protect the user, knocking away all objects within eight yards. The larger the object, the weaker the effect. Lasts 30 seconds. Skill cooldown: 30 minutes.]

[Note: Produced by the Cenarion Circle, a symbol of an elemental archdruid's status.]

What a great item! With its high attributes and Wind Barrier's protective effect, it would be incredibly useful in a group fight.

But now wasn't the time to be happy. He needed to think about how to survive these 24 hours.

Xiao Yu ran at full speed. It was hard to imagine a goblin's short little legs could reach Liu Xiang's speed, but no matter how fast he ran, it seemed he couldn't outrun four legs. Beowulf ran faster than a dog, zipping right past him.

"Hey, don't run so fast! Where is everyone else?"

Beowulf couldn't even be bothered to answer. "Awoo!" He let out a wolf howl, and with a flash of white, he was gone.

"Boss, wait for us!" Invincible Hero and Killer Codename 38 called from behind him, panting. Xiao Yu looked back. Of the large force he had brought, only two goblin underlings remained, along with a few gnolls, all of them Derek's classmates.

Finally, unable to run any farther, Xiao Yu saw that no adventurers seemed to have caught up for the moment and came to an abrupt stop.