Chapter 4: Chapter 2: Battle against the Demon_2
But what does any of this have to do with Duanmu Huai?
No matter how many there are, just kill them.
As Duanmu Huai finishes off the Demon in front of him, a system prompt appears.
[Task “Chaotic Intrusion” Completed]
[Task Evaluation: Quite Good]
[Reward: 1500 experience points, additional 1000 experience points, level increased to 8, Attribute Points +1, Specialization Points +1, Obtained “Maintenance Device—Skull Repair”]
[Follow-up Task “Guardian” Triggered]
[Task Introduction: You have defeated the followers of Chaos and rescued the sacrificial victim. But this is just the beginning. You can choose to take her away from here and send her back safely. Or you can leave her here, letting her fend for herself. Regardless, the decision is yours.]
Duanmu Huai is not surprised by the task completion. Virtually every task has similar settings where actions within the task, or even the actions of those inadvertently involved, can affect the task grading, which in turn affects the task reward.
This is one of the most appealing aspects of Star Ocean Online, where many players will painstakingly study each task to ensure they get the best rewards.
Clearly, saving the young girl is the reason for his high task rating. If Duanmu Huai had ignored her, his task rating certainly wouldn’t have been this high.
As for the specialization points, Duanmu Huai invested them in “Attack Weak Points” to boost damage. This was his leveling plan from before his incarnation, where even though his character build was a cute girl, it still followed Duanmu Huai’s aggressive melee style– as evidenced by his ID.
As for the attribute point, Duanmu Huai again invested it in Strength, raising it to 11 points, and leveled up his Star Warrior combat training to LV4. After all, his charm was stuck, so he couldn’t improve that, leaving him no other choice.
Having decided on this, Duanmu Huai turned to the ragged girl, who was peeking out nervously at him. When she saw him, she shrank back in fear, uncertain about what to do. Duanmu Huai didn’t mind it; he simply strode towards her, glancing at her as he passed.
“Follow me if you want.”
Having said that, Duanmu Huai left the polluted evil lands without hesitation. The girl hesitated for a moment before bravely following him. She couldn’t possibly be left alone with the burnt corpses of the Evil God Cultists.
The Evil God Cultists would not choose a bustling city as their Demon summoning site. In fact, this was a scarcely trodden wilderness. Duanmu Huai obviously didn’t know where this was, but it didn’t matter as beside him stood a local.
The girl followed him and shared her story. She was Elisa, daughter of the Lord of this domain. Although this was a desolate territory on the Imperial frontier, it was home to them. They had been returning home from a merchant’s feast in the city when they encountered the Evil God Cultists and were kidnapped. All her guards and her father were killed, leaving her as the only sacrificial victim… It was clear that without Duanmu Huai’s arrival, she would have been sacrificed by the Evil God Cultists.
As Elisa told her story in tears, Duanmu Huai remained indifferent. Players have done similar tasks thousands of times. Although he sympathized with the young lady, there was nothing he could do except to move on.
The dead can’t be brought back to life after all.
“Do you know where this is?”
Upon hearing Duanmu Huai’s question, Elisa nodded earnestly.
“This is the wilderness beyond the Imperial frontier……”
“Do you know how to get out of here?”
Duanmu Huai decided to complete the follow-up task quickly. After all, finding the Holy Artifact was a complicated matter. Each planet’s Holy Artifact has a different main storyline. Some are deeply buried in ruins, requiring players to investigate numerous clues, then pinpoint the location of the ruins before going in to find the artifact.
That was the easy part. Some artifacts were even worshipped as Divine Artifacts on the local planet, which complicated matters. Players either had to charge in and steal them, risking reputation loss, or follow the storyline and see if there were peaceful means to obtain it. Of course, this also depended on each planet’s civilization level and status.
This “Novice Planet” was easy by comparison, its civilization at a medieval level, but the star civilizations in later stages would be a different story. This was precisely why players needed to build their fleets.
One person can’t possibly go against a cosmic fleet.
It’s not something that couldn’t be accomplished in the later stages, though.
Even though Elisa was eager to leave as soon as possible, she herself was utterly exhausted, and with the day growing late. After escaping from the lair of the Evil God Cultist and temporarily eluding their pursuit, they could do nothing more than quickly find a place to rest, only being able to continue on their journey at the break of dawn.
Duanmu Huai didn’t mind, after all, his Power Armor had also been damaged in the previous battle against the Brutal Demon and needed repairs.
Cowering by the fire, Elisa cautiously watched the tall dark figure in the distance. They had travelled together for so long, yet she had never seen this mysterious knight remove his helmet and reveal his true features.
However, just as Elisa gathered the courage to strike up a conversation, she was taken aback to see the metal box behind the knight suddenly open. Following that, a white skull head flew out from it and was whizzing around the Black Knight, occasionally emitting a sinister glow from the dark eye socket, illuminating the Black Knight’s armor.
Upon seeing this bizarre object, Elisa jumped in fright.
What on earth is this thing?
Is it the skull of a deceased person? Could he be the legendary Death Knight?
Speaking of which, he has skull insignias on both his shoulders and waist… Isn’t that a Necromancer’s favorite symbol?
Did he save me because he wants to turn me into an undead creature?
Could the skull currently whirling around him also be a former victim of his?
Elisa looked at Duanmu Huai with anxiety, but she didn’t know what to do. Even though she badly wanted to get up and leave, where she could go from here? If she ended up lost in the wilderness, she could possibly become food for the wolves.
But staying here… Is it really safe?
Noticing Elisa’s gaze, Duanmu Huai turned his head her way. He had just activated his Maintenance Device—Skull Repair and was fixing his Power Armor. As an Heirloom Equipment, this set of Power Armor not only increases its power alongside the player’s level, but it can also obtain unique abilities through installing various plug-ins. Basically, this equipment could serve Duanmu Huai till max level without issues.
After all, it’s the equipment used to help low level accounts navigate through their story mode…
Hearing Duanmu Huai speak, Elisa hesitated for a while before plucking up the courage to ask a question.
“Excuse me… Sir Knight, are you… a human being?”
“Of course, is there any problem?”
“If it’s possible, I hope to see your face.”
Silence greeted her unusual request.
Hearing Elisa’s request, Duanmu Huai rolled his eyes. He then removed his helmet and looked at her.
Elisa didn’t say anything. She just stared blankly at Duanmu Huai and then… fell to the ground unconscious.
Seeing this, Duanmu Huai shrugged his shoulders and quietly put on his helmet.
Just as he thought it would end this way.