Chapter 67: Coldmoon Rose (1/2)

A bolt of lightning tore the sky and black clouds roiled, both signs that a downpour was about to descend.

The Weeping Fire Blade in hand, I swiftly bore my way through the little road in the forest with my Dark Wasp. Players around Level 30 could be seen on both sides of the path, teaming up to kill the monsters there. There was no hesitation in their actions even though a storm was approaching. Their determination to level up could not be shaken by unfavorable weather conditions.

I checked my experience. I was Level 40 at 24%. I had to get to Level 50 as soon as possible. Only at Level 50 could my skills reach Rank 5, which would let me challenge Level 60 bosses. Otherwise, I could forget about getting a Hero’s Token. Bloody Mercenaries couldn’t just operate with us three forever. We could only attract long range attackers like archers, mages, and support players like priests, tacticians, and bards after establishing a guild.

A strong guild should have good, balanced composition of classes.

Beep~!

Du Thirteen sent me a message: “Lu Chen, I feel that our Bloody Mercenaries should have a priest. We’re all a bunch of melee damage dealers that need to be healed. Not having our own exclusive priest sucks.”

I replied, “You have someone in mind?”

“Not at the moment. But I’m asking for your opinion right now. Should we pick a girl or boy for our priest?”

“Is there a difference?”

“Yes! I was planning on recruiting two people. A female priest and a female mage, or a female archer. If we do that, our workshop won’t have any problems leveling or killing bosses.”

I thought for a while, then replied. “If we can, we should try to recruit a male priest and a male archer. With women, trouble would start too easily. We are a proper gaming workshop, we don’t need to deal with these messy things. I really want our workshop to become one of the best.”

Du Thirteen did not respond until several minutes later. “Yes, you’re right. I’ll go look around first. If I really can’t find guys, then I can only reluctantly pick girls. Haha…”

I was a bit speechless. It may be hard to find three-legged toads nowadays, but two-legged men were everywhere on the streets!

In fact, this was all because of me. There was an intangible resistance in me that was against girls joining our Bloody Mercenaries workshop, though I myself did not know why this was so.

……

Reflection Hills was an extremely vast zone within a mountainous forest. Wild animals were everywhere and evil spirits ran amok. This was a grinding paradise for high-level players, and hell for newbies.

I saw a succubus archer girl wielding a longbow jumping out of the shrubbery in the forest. She was Level 34, and as a succubus, she enjoyed an innate advantage—5% boost to accuracy, perception and detection abilities. Furthermore, succubi were petite and very nimble. They were the best choice for archers. Lin Yixin was also a succubus but she chose to be the close-range type, becoming a legendary female battle god.

Even though this succubus archer wasn’t as beautiful as Lin Yixin, she won in the mature charm department. Leather armor hugged her lustrous body, revealing her curves. The graceful way she walked on the path while carrying her longbow would invoke a deep impression in any man’s mind.

Coldmoon Rose LV-34, Bronze Archer.

Her level is pretty high. Well, at least high enough to run about this high-level map.

“Hey, don’t continue onward! Hey, handsome!” the archer girl shouted, with heavy emphasis on the words “handsome” too.

I turned around, my terrifying face concealed by my cloak smiling. “Why, pretty girl?”

Coldmoon Rose was stunned, then answered right after, “A really dangerous map is up ahead, Reflection Hills. The mobs there are already Level 45, so if you go any deeper, nine out of ten times, you’ll die. How about we team up and kill some Forest Leopards? I have a quest to kill them, I can share it with you.”

I couldn’t help but smile. After a brief exchange, she seemed more like a little girl who wanted to drag me along to grind.

I shook my head and said apologetically, “Sorry but I’m not here to do quests. I’m here to forage. You should see that I’m a forager.”

The archer girl nodded with a smile. “Alright then, since you’re going in despite knowing the dangers, good luck!”

When I was turning back around, I accidentally saw a vicious glint flash in her eyes. I faintly sensed that something was wrong but I didn’t know what was amiss so I just continued onward with my Weeping Fire Blade.

Who cares what she was scheming. With my pet and I together, who in Floating Ice City could stop us?!

……

Not too long after, a burst of mountain wind erupted in the forest, followed by the howl of a wolf. Two cyan-colored giant wolves then appeared before me. They were just like the succubus girl had described.

Hill Wolf LV-45

I took a deep breath when I saw the two Level 45 mobs advance. I shouldn’t be too pressured by these two!

I commanded my Dark Wasp to attack the wolf on the left while I lifted my longsword and aimed at the Hill Wolf on the right. I ran and then slid toward it, back ramrod straight, two attacks immediately landing on its head!

MISS!

1792!

Pardon and Slayer Slash were so strong that even a Level 45 monster would instantly lose half its HP.