Chapter 34: Unexpected Change
This quest was complicated, but it was very important to the plot in the Diablo World as a whole. This was because after the player rescued the ‘obscene’ old man Cain from the mysterious space called Tristram, the old man would be around the player wherever he went and would give out all types of quests to link the plot together in Diablo.
Before Fei started the quest, he double checked his items and the details of the quest.
It wasn’t too challenging for Fei in his current condition. After calculating the time, Fei felt that he could complete the quest in two hours if everything went smoothly. There would also be extra time for him to do the things he planned before he would get kicked out. Fei decided to go and find the tree of Inifuss.
Before he left the encampment, he looked at the hot mercenary Elena who was following him quietly. He thought of something and went back to the female blacksmith Charsi. He spent around 1,000 gold coins and purchased a strong bow, heavy leather armour, a pair of heavy leather boots and a top quality hat that was made for female characters.
“Hey beauty, you can use these items, right?”
Fei had a bright smile on his face. He said to Elena, “If you can use these, then put them on. When facing monsters and demons, a bit more strength will increase our chance of survival.”
“These…..these are for me?” Elena was surprised; she didn’t expect this at all. It seemed too unbelievable.
“Do you thinking I’m that sick to use female items?” Fei felt that the hot mercenary in front him was very excited. He was a little confused; these items valued around 1,000 gold coins weren’t that good under Fei’s standards. It was like comparing a small patch of grass to a large tree if they were put beside Fei’s weapons and armour.
“Why are you so excited?” Fei didn’t know.
“Thank you, young warrior.” After confirming that those items were meant for her, Elena calmed herself. She bowed and thanked Fei and took the items into the tent behind Charsi.
Soon, sounds of Elena changing her clothes came from the tent; Fei wished he had x-ray vision.
After about 20 seconds, Elena walked out. Fei’s eyes shined. Elena’s new look was just too damn fine. The heavy leather armour covered in light blue light had outlined her perfect body. With the bow in her hand and arrows on her back, she looked like the goddess of war.
“Haha, it fits you perfectly. Let’s go!”
Fei felt his nose was about to bleed any second. He pretended everything was fine, turned around and started walking towards the gate of the encampment.
The reason Fei bought this hot mercenary items wasn’t purely because he was perverted; Elena was a great fighter. Increasing her strength would help Fei complete his quest quickly.
A smiled appeared on Elena’s face, but it was gone the next second and her calm demeanor returned. She didn’t say anything and followed Fei quietly.
……
……
“Woosh!”
Three 【Fallen Shaman】 screamed as they fell on the ground.
“Tink!”
A blue magic item dropped from the monster’s corpse. Fei was excited. He picked it up and saw a unique shaped ring. It wasn’t identified, so he didn’t know the properties of the item.
After using a 【Identify Scroll】, Fei found out that the ring was 【Glimmering Ring】, +8 Resources (Fury), +5 light radius. It wasn’t too useful to a barbarian who fought in close combat, but Fei put it on; it was better than nothing.
Elena glanced around carefully, maintaining full alert while Fei was doing that. What made Fei feel strange was that he felt that Elena couldn’t see the items that dropped from the monsters. This was because the hot mercenary looked at him strangely, as if he was a mime artist.
“Could it be that the residents in the Diablo world like Elena can’t see the items that drop from monsters?” Something hit Fei, “So that means…In this world, I’m the only one who can obtain items from killing monsters?”
This hypothesis surprised Fei. He felt he had discovered something, but he just couldn’t wrap his mind around it.
……
……
Time was tight. Fei and Elena moved quickly through the map.
In the deepest location of 【Stoney Field】 which was connected to 【Cold Plain】, Fei took Elena through a portal that brought both of them into the 【Underground Passage】.
After they stepped foot into the 【Underground Passage】, all they could see was darkness.
There wasn’t any light in the passage, and the chilling wind blew against them.
The sharp and devastating screams of the monsters echoed through the deepest part of the passage. A fishy stench filled the passage and made it even more terrifying.
“Be careful! Stay behind me. Remember, don’t ever go in front of me.” Fei turned around and ordered the mercenary.
He was a barbarian, which innately had more health and armour. He could act as a tank that blocked all the damage in the front. Elena on the other hand was a ranged magic archer. She had a high damage, but low health and armour. If monsters got close to her, she would be in a dangerous situation.
Elena was stunned. She didn’t expect the young traveller in front of her to make such a decision. It was totally different from the scary myths that were passed around in 【Rogue Encampment】, where travellers would get the most value out of their mercenaries as possible. Before, Elena thought that her fate would be just like the female rogues from 60 years ago; she would be used as bait to attract monsters by Fei and act as a human shield, but……
While the hot mercenary was still in shock, Fei already started charging.
“Roar – !”
Fei used warcry-【Howl】 as he swung his huge axe.
He chopped three times easily and he separated the three 【Goatman】 that were rushing towards him into six pieces from the waist.
“Come on! We have to move through here fast!”
Fei turned around and said to Elena as he continued charging. He soon disappeared into the darkness; Elena finally reacted and chased after Fei.
Numerous monsters and demons rushed towards Fei like a flood. He stepped forward and was about to strike when he heard a whooshing sound coming from behind him. Blue arrows flew past Fei and nailed four monsters right in their heads. The magic on the arrow exploded and turned them into ice statues; there were no life inside them.
“Sick!”
Fei gave Elena a big thumbs up.
This female rogue was not just a pretty girl to look at. Her shooting skills were outstanding. All four of her arrows hit the agile monsters accurately in such a dark environment; her ability had proven her worth to Fei.
Elena didn’t react at all to Fei’s compliment.
Her bowstring kept on stretching, “Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh -” three more arrows were shot out and sent three more 【Goatman】 to hell.
Fei discovered that this hot mercenary was an ice magic archer. All the arrows she shot weren’t just powerful and did a ton of damage. It also slowed their movement and attack speed. She was literally the best supportive mercenary Fei could hope for.
They kept moving through the passage.
The 【Underground Passage】 was like a maze. There were a lot of curved paths and forks in the passage; it was very easy to get lost. Monsters attacked from various hidden corners and places. It was like the easier version of hell; the cold wind blew and monsters screamed.
Fei had done enough killing and had enough experience to not be affected by this.
Elena seemed like she experienced a similar scene and was not scared, either.
Every time she pulled the bowstring, a monster was killed. Of course, when faced with 【Disfigured Taints】, 【Giant Spiders】 and 【Yeti Wendigos】, all of which were higher leveled monster, it took more work than just one arrow. Without Fei’s assistance, she needed three arrows to take one of them down. Moreover, she had to keep her distance from the monsters during the process in order to fully utilize her bow and arrows.
After about 20 minutes, their coordination became more proficient. As if they knew exactly what the other person was going to do, they barely talked to each other during the process, but they were becoming more coordinated. Fei swung his axe and smashed all the monsters that were close, while Elena shot her frost arrows to kill the monsters further away. The pace they were moving at was beyond Fei’s expectations.
“If we can keep this up, we could get to 【Dark Wood】 and find that damn scroll under the tree of Inifuss in less than half an hour!”
Fei was becoming more optimistic about the mission.
At this moment, something unexpected happened –
“AHHH!!!”
The hot mercenary who was shooting at the monsters behind Fei suddenly screamed. Fei heard panic, anger and sadness in the scream; as if something terrifying had happened.