Chapter 65: The Female Mercenary’s Greatly Increased Strength

“Sister Ileena, is this the barbarian warrior you couldn’t stop thinking about? Wow, he’s nothing like I imagined! I never thought a barbarian could be so handsome!”

“Hehe, yes, look at his muscles, they’re so well-developed… No wonder he can fearlessly travel alone through the monster-infested wilderness relying on his own strength!”

“Warrior, you must take good care of Sister Ileena. She is the most, most, most beautiful Flower of the Rogues in the camp, and the strongest, most reliable magic archer… Hehe, you don’t know how worried Sister Ileena has been these past few days after hearing you were going to the Hell town alone to challenge the fallen paladin Griswold. She even called out your name in her sleep!”

A group of young female Rogues, lively like flowers, chattered like sparrows as they surrounded Sun Fei and Ileena. They teased them with ambiguous smiles and playful expressions.

A few of the bolder young Loris even giggled mischievously, coming forward to touch Sun Fei’s well-developed chest muscles and biceps with their cool little hands. These usually stern female warriors, who fought and bled to protect the Rogue Encampment and battle demons in the wilderness, now showed a rare playful side.

Women ‘acting like ruffians’ was a terrifying thing. Surrounded by this lively, chirping group, Sun Fei found it hard to cope. He felt like rows of black lines were cascading down his forehead like a waterfall. Even Ileena’s delicate, fair face was instantly covered in a blush. No wonder people said women were tigers. Seeing the situation turning unfavorable, Sun Fei immediately took Ileena’s small hand and made a run for it. Behind them came the girls’ silvery, bell-like laughter.

“We really envy Sister Ileena. That barbarian warrior is such an upright guy!”

“Yeah, Ileena is so lucky. Friendly adventurers like him are very rare.”

“Hehe, if I were Sister Ileena, I’d make him my man right away…”

At the entrance of the mercenary tent, the girls watched playfully as the two walked away, their eyes filled with envy. In this world where even survival was difficult to guarantee, love had always been a luxury. An upright and friendly adventurer like Sun Fei was the perfect dream lover in the hearts of many female Rogues. But most of them, if they didn’t die in battle against demons, would ultimately end up becoming a farmer’s wife, bearing the next generation for the camp.

…

The Barbarian character was currently Sun Fei’s highest-level character. Whether in attack or defense, it was the strongest. Sun Fei had long decided to focus mainly on developing the Barbarian character, leveling it up as quickly as possible. Only by doing this could he enhance his own strength swiftly. Other professions like the Sorceress and Paladin were temporarily defined by Sun Fei as support roles.

Before officially going into the wilderness to kill monsters and level up, Sun Fei needed to make some preparations.

Because he had destroyed the Barbarian character’s Two-Handed Greataxe while breaking the Stone Bridge in the real world, Sun Fei had to first go to the female NPC blacksmith Charsi to buy equipment. This time, he spent 2000 Gold Coins to purchase a super Two-Handed Greataxe with a damage value of 1-30. Its appearance and shape were similar to the previously destroyed greataxe, but its maximum damage had increased by 3 points. This was already the highest damage axe-type weapon available from the female blacksmith.

After purchasing the equipment, Sun Fei suddenly noticed that a golden exclamation mark appeared above the female NPC blacksmith Charsi’s head. His heart stirred; this meant there was a new quest available. So, Sun Fei tried to strike up a conversation with this somewhat melancholic brown-haired girl. As expected, after about twenty seconds, he received a quest from Charsi to go to the Barracks and find a hammer capable of forging Magical Equipment.

After receiving the quest, he set off immediately.

Sun Fei made a plan, recalling the quest map. He decided the order to complete the quests based on convenience of the route. Therefore, before fulfilling the female NPC blacksmith Charsi’s request, he planned to first complete the third novice quest that was triggered during the previous mission – killing The Countess in the Forgotten Tower. He took Ileena, who was filled with joy after reuniting, and used the Teleportation Circle in the Rogue Encampment to arrive at the Dark Forest.

At this time, it was noon in the World of Diablo. Surprisingly, it wasn’t raining. Even the ever-present gloomy clouds had unexpectedly disappeared. The sun was overhead, and its warm rays shone on the two of them, feeling very comfortable.

After identifying the direction and drinking a Stamina Potion, the two of them ran fiercely towards the Black Morass, like a young couple eloping.

“Oh, right, Ileena, this bow might be useful for you…” While running, the two killed many monsters. Sun Fei suddenly remembered that he had obtained a golden equipment “Wretched Feather Short Bow” last time, which he had specifically saved for Ileena. He immediately pulled it out from his backpack and handed it to the beautiful mercenary.

It was a very lightweight short bow, pale gold overall. The curved bow body was carved with mysterious and profound patterns. A thin golden thread emitting a soft glow connected the two ends of the bow, brimming with faint magical power, like a exquisite piece of artwork.

Ileena’s face flushed red.

This powerful sorceress archer lowered her head, showing a rare girlish demeanor. She stretched out her fair hand and gently took the short bow from Sun Fei. Her voice was as faint as a mosquito’s, saying, “Thank you, my lord.”

“Uh… Ileena, from now on, don’t call me ‘my lord.’ Just use my name directly.” Sun Fei was a bit dazed by the beautiful mercenary’s delicate manner. After a moment’s pause, he scratched his head and laughed.

Ileena: “Yes, Lord Sun Fei.”

Sun Fei: “…”

…

The task of eliminating The Countess was relatively simple.

The quest location was the Forgotten Tower in the Black Morass. After entering the tower, they had to go deep down to the fifth underground level to find The Countess hiding within. Each level of the Forgotten Tower was filled with various monsters and had minor bosses in charge. The difficulty was not small. Clearly, compared to the wilderness outside, such an underground environment was more suitable for the existence of dark creatures. Sun Fei and Ileena exerted tremendous effort and finally fought their way to the fifth underground level of the Forgotten Tower.

Sun Fei had originally made many plans. If the situation turned bad, he would immediately open a Portal to send Ileena back to the Rogue Encampment first. Then he would continue to wear down The Countess using sneaky hit-and-run tactics. Who would have thought that as soon as they entered the fifth level, Ice Arrows continuously bloomed from the short bow in Ileena’s hand, like the call of the God of Death. The chief boss of the Forgotten Tower, the Dark Countess, didn’t even have time to cast her Magic before being easily hit by Ileena. Her body was covered in a blue layer of ice, making movement difficult. Seeing this rare opportunity, Sun Fei charged forward, brandishing his Great Axe. Amidst the flashing cold light, the Dark Countess fell to the ground, feeling utterly frustrated.

“Whoa, how could it be this easy?” Sun Fei was instantly stunned.

He found that Ileena’s strength had increased beyond his imagination. The attack power she displayed just now could almost rival that of an level 8 sorceress archer. But Sun Fei clearly remembered that during his last entry into the World of Diablo, this Valkyrie was only at level 5 strength. How could her strength grow so rapidly in such a short time?

Just as Sun Fei was stunned, another change occurred –

A large amount of white lightning suddenly burst forth from the body of The Countess lying on the ground. The entire Forgotten Tower began to shake as if the sky was falling and the earth was splitting. Then a golden treasure chest suddenly appeared out of thin air, enveloped in a milky white mist of light. With crisp “swish, swish, swish” sounds, the treasure chest, like a cornucopia, continuously spewed out Gold Coins…

“Whoa, we’re rich this time!” Sun Fei’s eyes were filled with Gold Coins.

Shrouded in dazzling treasures, in the blink of an eye, the entire hall floor was covered with a vast expanse of glittering gold. The Gold Coins shimmered, numerous and dense, looking from afar as if the floor was paved with gold bricks. The crisp “swish, swish, swish” sounds were like heavenly music. The golden treasure chest spewed Gold Coins for a full twenty seconds before slowly disappearing.

Looking around, the entire hall floor was covered with Gold Coins.

Sun Fei turned his head to look at Ileena and found that, as had happened many times before when killing monsters, the native residents of the World of Diablo seemed completely unable to see the dropped equipment rewards or the shocking scene that had just occurred. The beautiful mercenary acted as if nothing had happened, holding her Longbow and vigilantly watching their surroundings. Sensing Sun Fei’s gaze upon her, Ileena’s fair face instantly reddened. She lowered her head, looking somewhat flustered.

Sun Fei was momentarily stunned by the mercenary’s charming demeanor, his heart swaying.

He quickly lowered his head to pick up the equipment and Gold Coins on the ground.

What slightly disappointed Sun Fei was that perhaps because The Countess felt her death was too humiliating – as the chief boss of the Forgotten Tower, she was killed without even casting a single small flame – she didn’t drop any good equipment. There were only a few ordinary blue items on the ground. However, there were quite a few Gold Coins. Sun Fei counted them; there were over 5000 in total.

After cleaning up the battlefield, Sun Fei checked the Barbarian’s current experience points.

He found that he was still about five or six percent away from reaching level 13. An hour had already passed. As he had guessed earlier, the higher the level, the more experience points required, and the slower the leveling speed.

After killing The Countess, Sun Fei and the beautiful mercenary Ileena went directly to the next quest location without stopping – the Monastery on the Tristram Plateau, to fulfill the female blacksmith NPC Charsi’s request. This monastery was originally a holy place where nuns and monks served God, but after being occupied by demons, it became a miserable hell on earth. It was worth mentioning that the lair of the supreme super big boss of the entire novice village, the Rogue Encampment – Andariel, the Maiden of Anguish – was hidden here.