As the dust slowly settled, the two could see each other more clearly. They were both using crossbows. If they fired normal attacks at each other, neither would gain the upper hand. But Ye Ci was a Huntress; she had more abilities in her arsenal. Before long, she was able to gain the upper hand.
They hopped from rock to rock. Although he had a lot of Health Potions, the Rogue’s weakness was soon exposed: His attack range was shorter than Ye Ci’s, and his arsenal did not include the “Fire on the Move” Talent, which meant he would be immobile for 0.5 seconds whenever he fired off a shot.
Ye Ci was quick to discover the Rogue’s problem. She smiled coldly and cast a Rapid Fire on the Rogue.
He had only 30% of his hitpoints left, if one of the arrows fired under the effect of Rapid Fire was a critical hit, the Rogue would’ve died then and there. Ye Ci pulled the trigger of her crossbow, fwiip, fwiip, fwiip, The bolts sliced through the air with a screeching sound, flying straight and true towards the Rogue.
The Rogue knew that he would not be able to dodge the bolts. He had just fired off a shot and was still immobile. He had lost again.
Before the bolts could hit the Rogue however, several even sharper noises rang out, and the couple of bolts fired by Ye Ci were knocked away by an unknown assailant’s bolts.
It happened so quickly that even Ye Ci was unable to react.
Was that a player? If she was here because of the ring, and the Rogue was here because of a quest, who else would venture to this place? Had a lvl 70 map became a hotspot for lvl 20 players?
“You’re a sorry excuse for a Rogue.” Remarked a sarcastic voice. Ye Ci looked in the general direction of the voice, and saw a tall man wearing a cape and holding a jet-black crossbow.
His name and level were unknown to Ye Ci.
However, he was not a player, but an NPC.
Ye Ci almost immediately knew who he was. He must’ve been the Master Rogue hiding in the Morrow Canyon.
The NPC stared at the Rogue with disgust written all over his face, “Our class’ high standards have declined exactly because of Rogues like you.”
The hair on Ye Ci’s neck immediately stood up, and she sensed a grave danger approaching.
As expected, the NPC raised his crossbow and pointed it at Ye Ci, “Although I hate Rogues who are utter trash, there’s nothing more that I hate than the Hunter who brought embarrassment to the Rogue class.”
Ye Ci of course, would not just sit and wait for death to come to her. The moment the Master Rogue pull the trigger, she dodged and rolled on the floor, several crossbow bolts barely missing her.Just when she was about to counterattack, she discovered that the name of her assailant was green.
In Fate, if an NPC’s name was green, it meant that the NPC was considered friendly. A player could never attack an NPC with a green name. If the NPC’s name was yellow, it was neutral. It meant that it would only attack players after being attacked by players. NPC’s with red names would actively attack any players they came across.
The Master Rogue that was attacking Ye Ci had a green name.
It meant that Ye Ci could only give up on counterattacking. Her only option was to run away, as she could not even attack the NPC.
“Andy, you can’t act so impetuously, it doesn’t suit your age.” Said a sharp voice just as Ye Ci was having a hard time trying to dodge the bolts.
So the Master Rogue’s name was Andy. He lowered the crossbow and shrugged at the owner of that voice. He then laughed, “I went easy on her. Do you think she could really last that long if I didn’t?”
Ye Ci stopped moving and gasped for air after noticing that Andy’s attacks had stopped. The past 30 minutes were quite eventful for her. First she stepped on a mine, got ambushed, almost got blown up, ended up in a PK with a player from the opposing faction and was then chased around by an NPC. If Andy did not stop, she would’ve definitely died.
The one who spoke was a Gnome with a white beard. He was La’ Pito, the NPC that Ye Ci was looking for.
La’ Pito did not waste his time on Andy. He looked up at Ye Ci and shouted, “Hey, Tall One, get down here! We Gnomes hate to have to look up at people.”
Ye Ci climbed down from the rock that she was standing on and stood beside La’ Pito. Before she could speak, La’ Pito closed his eyes and sniffed at Ye Ci. His expression changed, “I can smell the scent of Naga…”
He then opened his eyes and turned around immediately, “Oh, what are you waiting for, Tall One? Follow me. You must be here to see me.”
Ye Ci followed La’ Pito into the cave. As she glanced back, the Rogue had also left with Andy.
Ye Ci felt that it was worth it to meet with La’ Pito, despite the troubles she had faced earlier. She handed the ring to La’ Pito, who held the ring in his palm and stared at it with a face full of anxiety. He clasped the ring between his palms and when he opened his hands again, the ring looked more delicate than it was before.
La’ Pito returned the ring to Ye Ci, and she immediately too a look at its stats.
Mysterious Ring
White Equipment
Strength +20
Intelligence +2
Required level: 0
Special Attribute: Can activate “Featherfall” for 3 minutes. Cooldown: 20 minutes.
The ring was not as simple as it appeared to be. The Featherfall was a high tier Sorcerer spell that could only be learned by lvl 50 Sorcerers. It was a spell that could slow down the speed at which a player was falling from high places. Featherfall was a very useful survival skill.
Ye Ci had come across equipment that had Featherfall as well, but they were usually rare and pricey, which were something that could never be afforded by the average players.
She had never thought that the ring would have such a skill after being appraised by La’ Pito. At that moment, all the troubles she went through were worth the effort.
“Oh, Tall One, you’re certainly not a bearer of good news.” Said La’ Pito with a face full of depression. When an NPC showed such behavior, it usually meant that there was a quest coming; “Although I’ve been living in the Morrow Canyon, I do not wish to see my homeland destroyed by Naga. My strength alone is not enough. I need the help of others. Can you help me get in touch with a few of my friends?”
A quest was definitely coming.
Ye Ci immediately bowed to him and said with a tone full of respect, “Mister La’ Pito, it’s an honor to be of service.”
La’ Pito was very pleased with Ye Ci’s manners. He handed a letter to her and began giving her instructions. Ye Ci of course, skipped the conversation. It seemed that she would be acting as a courier.
Ye Ci gritted her teeth as she saw the quest targets. She had to contact people from three different continents, as well as one underground and another up in the skies. This was not a simple mission. By the time Ye Ci had located all the NPCs, she would be at least lvl 80.
The quest definitely had something to do with the Dark Lord Naga.
Ye Ci was immediately reminded of the Death’s Abyss dungeon.
Despite the inhumanely difficult task required by the quest, Ye Ci accepted it. She then shifted her attention to La’ Pito. His place was stashed full of high-tier products such as automatons, high-powered bombs, mechanical birds and even a semi-completed plane.
Since she was already in the house of this Great Engineer, she would feel sorry if she left just like that without some of the good stuff. But La’ Pito was very stingy. He flatly rejected Ye Ci’s request to take some of his items. He even rejected Ye Ci’s request to learn Engineering because she “did not have the talent.” Ye Ci could only leave with her heart full of anger.
Ye Ci did not run into the Rogue on her way out, nor did she step on any landmines.
After travelling carefully for 2-3 hours, Ye Ci had finally reached the Expeditionary Forces Camp at the entrance of the Morrow Canyon. She suddenly sensed danger, before she could teleport away from the map.
Ye Ci turned around while simultaneously jumping away, and cast Snake Venom Needle at the source of the danger.
-171
-50
-50
Red letters representing damage values appeared, revealing the form of the Rogue that Ye Ci had encountered earlier. The NPCs in the Expeditionary Forces Camp immediately slew the Rogue after noticing that he was not an allied player.
Ye Ci was baffled. Even if her assailant wanted to farm some Kill Glory, why would he be so stupid as to try it in a camp full of lvl 70 NPCs…?
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