Chapter 13: Stuck
“Isn’t the follow-up quest still not accepted?” Endless Sea hesitated.
Starry shook her head. “That’s a solo quest; I’ve already accepted it. Instead, did you check the forum?”
“No, I was busy cooking noodles just now and didn’t look. What’s up?”
“Someone released a guide video for the Beginner Village’s North Gate.” Zane said.
“What? Then we have to rush to progress! I heard that the first few players to reach level 10 will receive additional system rewards. Let’s go!”
…
“Hey, have you heard of the Temple?” Zane asked while on the way.
“Temple?! Is that the strategy they discovered?”
“Yes, I used to play other games, so I’m not very clear about this.”
“The Temple is one of the top 10 guilds in the Glass Bridge Flower. The top 10 guilds have been constantly reorganizing, but they’ve consistently remained stable at around rank eight or nine without being pushed out. With them releasing such videos, it looks like they’re trying to stir the waters!” Endless Sea said.
“What do you mean?”
“Look at their levels; they are mostly around level 3-4, which means they recorded this within two hours of the server opening. Such a big move wouldn’t go unnoticed by others, so they’ve decided to release the strategy online, gaining quite a bit of fame. Once the guild order is announced, many players will flock to them.”
“And it’s highly likely that they encountered some tricky problems as well. This is our opportunity. If they clear the path first, our storyline will be overshadowed!”
Exactly, Zane still had two S-rank quests on hand! They had to race ahead of them.
Arriving at the familiar fork in the road, the right side led to a small hill, where they previously gathered herbs; now they were heading left.
Letting Starry lead the way to ensure safety, it was true that the animals in this area had mutated, and they launched attacks upon seeing Starry.
With the agility necklace equipped, Starry’s attack power had reached a high of 68-73, even level 8 monsters couldn’t withstand two of her strikes.
The air was thick with the smell of blood.
As they continued to carve a path, a cave appeared ahead.
This must be the place the old man spoke of.
“We’re here,” Zane said.
“Why do I feel so uneasy inside… it’s too dark, and the smell of blood is getting stronger,” Endless Sea said.
“It is a bit,” Zane pinched his nose.
At that moment, a bat flew out of the cave, its crimson fangs looking quite menacing.
Just then, a rabbit passed by and was caught underfoot, drawing near for a bite.
“Hiss”
In the blink of an eye, the rabbit fell down. The bat then flew back into the cave.
“That scared me! Thankfully, it wasn’t interested in me,” Endless Sea said, trembling as the Blood Bat’s panel appeared.
Blood Bat
Rarity: Blue
Level: 10
Health: 350
Attack: 45-50
Defense: 10
Skills: Bloodsucking, Sonic Attack
Description: A new species evolved from ordinary bats infected by an unknown force; every target that has been drained of blood has invariably contracted an unknown virus.
“This attack power… is actually higher than that of a mountain pig, and it has 350 health points,” Zane said.
“Not just that, the bats are too small and hard to hit accurately, and this description is a bit concerning. I wonder if getting drained will cause any debuffs,” Endless Sea analyzed.
“Let’s lure in a wave first, let’s go!” Zane raised his shining iron sword and dashed in.
“Hey, wait up!” Endless Sea shouted.
Starry waited outside for them.
The cave was pitch black; even Starry could only act on instinct. If she got hit, it would be quite disastrous; with her health of 190, she might be taken down in an instant, after all, Starry had maxed out her agility, and such a large cave likely had more than one Blood Bat.
Zane, on the other hand, had 370 health points, and if he sensed the monster in time, he should be able to escape.
Zane stepped cautiously into the cave.
Suddenly, he felt countless eyes gazing at him.
Trembling, he raised his head…
At least a hundred pairs of crimson eyes were staring right at him!
“Oh no!” Zane turned to run.
With the sound of flapping wings, a cacophony of rustling and a peculiar vibration mixed together; Zane felt as if his ears were going to explode, his head was spinning, and his legs felt numb.
System Notification: The Blood Bat has activated “Sonic Attack,” putting you in a state of confusion, reducing reaction speed by 30% and movement speed by 30%.
He finally reached the cave entrance, but the Blood Bats were only a few dozen centimeters from his neck. The thought of the swarm of bats behind him sent chills down Zane’s spine.
Before changing jobs, he had no skills to use, let alone area attack skills, leaving him completely powerless against such a mass of creatures.
With all his might, he jumped forward!
Zane fell to the ground. From Starry’s perspective, the Blood Bats surged into the air and then quickly dove back into the cave.
“Wow… that scared me.”
“You were way too reckless, just charging in! Thankfully, they didn’t chase you out; otherwise, it would have meant total annihilation for the group,” Endless Sea said, wide-eyed.
“My bad! Thankfully nothing happened, but I managed to lure out a skill.”
Zane shared the information about the Sonic Attack with the team.
“This slow effect is too brutal; it can even reduce reaction speed?”
“Yeah, I felt dizzy just now; it must be taken literally.”
“How do we fight… No wonder the Temple is stuck here; so many bats and we can’t lure them one by one. Given the size of that cave, anyone who goes in will just be fodder,” Endless Sea said.
It’s clear why this is rated as an S-rank quest. The entrance alone is a dead end. Unless they learn AoE skills or have overwhelming attributes, they likely won’t pass through this cave smoothly, or rather, it simply wasn’t designed for players at this stage, destined to return and tackle it later.
But evidently, the two of them weren’t ready to give up easily.
“How about we try traps or some items?” Endless Sea suggested.
The special materials they had left included poisonous fangs and Slime mucus.
Although the idea of sealing the entire cave entrance with mucus and leaving only a gap was tempting… the mucus didn’t stick well and couldn’t hold anything.
Both ingredients are harmful to the human body, and mixed together, they might create a poison.
However, without a secondary profession, they couldn’t concoct anything.
“Let’s go find the apothecary,” Zane said.
“That’s all we can do.”
…
“Poison?” He Caixia confirmed.
“Yes, there are just too many Blood Bats in the cave, and we can’t handle them,” Zane said.
“Sigh, it’s not that I don’t want to help you; there are simply no extra herbs right now to make poison, and the resources in this small village are extremely limited. Even if I did create it, it would only cause the Blood Bats mild pain, not much use.”
“Okay, sorry for the disturbance,” Starry said, closing the door.
For a moment, the team fell silent.
