Chapter 136: Crack
Three hours later,
Mo Tan and Wen Qiu, after a brief resupply in a small village, resumed their journey. Riding their Direwolf, Little White, they left the nameless village located between Ina Town and Hofur City and continued northward…
“Brother Black Vatican, you’ve gone the wrong way!” The girl, sitting sideways in front of Mo Tan, covered her mouth and chuckled, “The small path you need to turn onto is to the northeast.”
Mo Tan gave an embarrassed laugh, then took out the map from Fire Claw Territory from his satchel. He studied it for a long time but couldn’t find the correct path…
This was unavoidable, as the map given to him by Steward Le Wen wasn't very precise. Besides the relatively detailed southeastern continent, other areas were quite sketchy. Places like Anka Market and Tian Zhu Mountain in the Northwest continent only had simple markers without any details.
And while the Misha County area, not too far from Fire Claw Territory, didn't have any positional errors, its practical value wasn't very high. At least, neither of the two small paths in front of Mo Tan were recorded on it…
【But thankfully, Wen Qiu is here.】
Mo Tan affectionately ruffled the girl’s hair and chuckled, “Thanks to you. I’m really not good at this kind of thing…”
He secretly vowed to get a detailed map of the continent later, even if it was just one he could glance at!
Wen Qiu leaned into Mo Tan’s embrace with a smile, shaking her head, “Actually, Wen Qiu’s sense of direction isn’t very good either. It’s just that I’ve taken this path before, so I remember it quite clearly. Big Brother doesn’t need to thank me.”
“Then let’s continue our journey. It’s time for Little White to pick up the pace.” Mo Tan carefully secured the girl in his arms and instructed, “Make sure to hold onto me tightly. This way of riding is very dangerous; you could easily slide off the side, and it’s hard to maintain balance. It’s better to use the normal…”
Wen Qiu stuck out her tongue, snuggled into Mo Tan’s arms, and whined, “No way! Sitting astride like that isn’t ladylike at all. I’ll be fine. Don’t always treat me like a child!”
Seeing how adorable she was, Mo Tan eventually surrendered. Of course, he wasn’t a loli-con; rather, he was quite confident in his ability to protect Wen Qiu. As long as he held her carefully, there shouldn’t be any problems.
Moreover, Wen Qiu was very well-behaved most of the time. After changing her sitting position, she neither moved around nor made a fuss. Even her small hands gripping Mo Tan were tighter, showing that the girl really didn’t want to cause him trouble.
So, Mo Tan gently patted Little White’s neck, signaling that it could run freely…
Little White barked happily, its leg muscles tensed simultaneously. After a brief pause, it shot forward like an arrow released from a bow. The refreshing morning breeze swept over the two of them. Even though it was just a virtual sensation in the game, the utterly realistic touch was enough to invigorate anyone~
After a burst of speed, in just over ten minutes, they had already left the small path and reached the main road that led directly to Hofur City.
【Now I don’t have to worry about getting lost.】
Holding Little White’s reins with one hand and embracing Wen Qiu with the other, Mo Tan let out a sigh of relief. Upon reaching this road, he was able to match his current location with the map in his memory. From now on, he just needed to follow this main road, named Horadi, straight ahead.
He roughly calculated that he would arrive at Hofur City by tomorrow at the latest, and then prepared to send a message to Yu Cheng. However, just then…
“Help, brave warrior!”
A piercing cry for help came from nearby.
“Slow down, Little White!” Mo Tan immediately had Little White reduce its speed, then tightened his left arm around Wen Qiu and looked closely…
Two disheveled figures were running for their lives. Their attire didn't seem like ordinary commoners. The panting man on the left was wearing a light green robe and holding a crooked staff, clearly a spellcaster. The person on the right held two longswords and wore a heavy set of chainmail, likely a melee combatant.
Behind the two of them were seven or eight… Skeleton Soldiers wielding rusty knives, broken swords, and tattered bows.
“Brother Black Vatican!” Wen Qiu merely glanced quickly in that direction, then buried her head in Mo Tan’s arms, asking tremblingly, “Wh-what is that?”
Mo Tan didn't answer her question, but instead leaped off Little White, softly instructing the girl, “I’ll go take a look up ahead. You and Little White stay here. Don’t run off.”
“Mm!” Wen Qiu nodded very obediently.
“Good girl.” Mo Tan ruffled the girl’s hair, then ran towards the two callers for help and the several Skeleton Soldiers. A faint Holy Light slowly gathered at his fingertips, and an instant Condensing Light Arrow had already formed.
Although his personality was not 【lawful good】 at the moment, it didn't mean Mo Tan would ignore the two people crying for help and the monsters behind them. At least, if he was capable, he would still try to help.
A pale golden light arrow shot between the two figures, then ‘thwack’ it embedded itself into one of the Skeleton Soldiers. The latter let out silent howls, and in a blink of an eye, a good part of its arm was dissolved.
【As expected, it's elemental counter. This makes things easier!】
Mo Tan, seeing his only offensive skill was quite effective, immediately breathed a sigh of relief and quickened his pace. He took the Ode Holy Scripture from his waist with his left hand, opened it towards the spellcaster who had several injuries, and pointed his right hand, gripping a crucifix, towards Wen Qiu.
【Holy Healing】
【Law Decree Shield】
Because skills in Innocent World don't have a global cooldown, Mo Tan had just used two skills at the same time, giving the fleeing spellcaster a simple recovery while also applying a damage absorption shield to Wen Qiu.
This was not a simple operation, but it was not particularly high-end either. After all, both of these skills were instant-cast spells with extremely low thresholds. As long as the target lock was precise enough, the thought process fast enough, and the timing was slightly staggered by a few tenths of a second, anyone could achieve this kind of ‘simultaneous casting.’ However, if it were a skill that required chanting, it wouldn't work, at least not in most cases…
After using both skills, Mo Tan immediately pointed the Holy Scripture in his hand towards the other escapee. After he softly recited a prayer, Tenacity Prayer, which effectively increased constitution, was also applied to that person.
“Run towards me.” Mo Tan called out to the two of them, and a flash of Holy Light bloomed from the crucifix in his hand as his words fell.
Luminescence…
Mo Tan used this skill, which was mostly used for illumination, to light up the crucifix, and this action of his actually made those agile Skeleton Soldiers somewhat hesitant.
“Holy cow! Big bro!” The spellcaster was overjoyed at the sight, scrambling towards Mo Tan.
The other person, however, appeared much calmer. He backhanded a sword, knocking the closest Skeleton Soldier to the two off balance, before running over.
【Player?】
Mo Tan glanced at the spellcaster who was about to run to his side, thinking with some uncertainty. He was much more relaxed now, as the strength of those Skeleton Soldiers didn't seem to be anything special. They were within the scope that he, plus the two people in front of him, could handle. However, the unusually smooth test result from earlier might not be entirely accurate; it could also be due to the counter effect of Holy Light School spells against Undead creatures.
Mo Tan was well aware that his strength was far from strong, whether among players or NPCs. If there wasn't a special reason, there was no reason for those two guys to be chased around by a few monsters that he could cripple with a single Condensing Light Arrow.
Sure enough…
“Thanks, big bro!” The spellcaster, who was the first to reach Mo Tan’s side, grinned and then turned to throw a fireball, only for it to be casually swatted away by one of the Skeleton Soldiers wielding a rusty knife!
“You’re welcome.” Mo Tan responded casually, and a cooled-down Condensing Light Arrow shot out again, easily piercing the arm of the knife-wielding Skeleton Soldier. He turned to look at the relieved spellcaster beside him and asked, “Would you mind explaining what’s going on?”
The other party was a rather handsome human young man, who immediately replied rapidly, “Okay, big bro, we were on our way to the southern blockade when suddenly a bunch of Skeleton Soldiers inexplicably rushed out. After we killed a few, we felt like we couldn’t kill them all, so we ran. Then, just as our stamina was about to bottom out, we ran into you guys…”
“Stamina?” Mo Tan was slightly taken aback.
“Oh, you’re not a player.” The other shrugged, “Then it’s fine.”
【Player… stamina… can that be said casually?】
Mo Tan looked at the indifferent young man in front of him, wondering.
However, he pondered for a few seconds and then realized that in the other party's concept, such words could indeed be spoken casually…
Although cautious players like Mo Tan, Shuang Ye, and Ji Xiaoge would subconsciously hide their identities, in fact, most people probably wouldn't care about these things. It's like when we play certain role-playing games; even if there are NPCs standing nearby, everyone basically says whatever they want and doesn't have any reservations.
Compared to players like Mo Tan who are meticulous and try to avoid NPC suspicion, those who have no qualms are the majority.
【But Innocent World isn’t like other games…】
Mo Tan frowned. When he was ‘Tan Mo,’ he had experimented on Cole, so he knew that Innocent World’s NPCs would not ignore players’ ‘player actions.’ They would also be puzzled, curious, think, and speculate. Moreover, NPCs were not like the AI in most games; they always felt like real people to Mo Tan!
But now was not the time to think about such things.
Mo Tan shrugged at the spellcaster player in front of him and smiled, “I’m also a player. You help cover that friend, and we’ll clear out these Skeleton Soldiers first, then we can talk properly.”
A dozen seconds later, the other person also ran to Mo Tan’s side, greeting him breathlessly.
“I only have one offensive skill, and its cooldown isn’t short.” Mo Tan lit up Luminescence again, saying quite easily to the two, “I hope you two can help interfere with them while my cooldown is refreshing, especially don’t let these Skeleton Soldiers get close to the girl behind me. During this process, I’ll use this current skill to restrain them.”
Although it was just a simple illumination skill, Luminescence from the Holy Light School could still make those Skeleton Soldiers hesitate.
“No problem.”
“Alright!”
Mo Tan’s simple tactic worked quite well. Over the next ten minutes, constantly adjusting his position, he controlled the situation using only Luminescence and Condensing Light Arrow. The two players, meanwhile, interspersed attacks and displacement skills whenever there was an opening, both preventing the Skeleton Soldiers from getting close to Wen Qiu and waiting for Mo Tan to use Condensing Light Arrow to reduce their numbers.
【If it were the Fenrir Squad… the battle would probably have ended long ago.】
Mo Tan thought with a hint of melancholy, releasing a 【Holy Healing】 on the last Skeleton Soldier.
That’s right, it was Holy Healing, and Mo Tan did it on purpose. If this world was truly realistic, then…
Crack!
The Skeleton Soldier fell, its legs directly melted by the gentle light.
“Indeed, Holy Light-type healing spells can also cause damage to Undead creatures.” Mo Tan watched as the Skeleton Soldier, now only half a body, gradually turned to ash, and murmured, “It’s truly realistic. I should have tried it sooner.”
Then he turned around, smiled at the two players, and then…
He disconnected.
?!
Watching the great Priest in front of them disappear into a white light, the two guys were instantly stunned.
The mage player named ‘A Dou’ blinked, “This is… huh?”
The other, a bearded warrior named ‘Xiao Qian,’ nodded blankly, “Probably.”
“But what the hell are these Skeleton Soldiers?” A Dou looked at the scattered bone fragments not far away with lingering fear, whispering, “I only knew there was a Plague, but where did these things come from?!”
Xiao Qian shrugged and spread his hands, “Who am I supposed to ask? Anyway, it’s great to be alive. I really don’t want to restart my character. Do you remember that post I showed you earlier?”
A Dou immediately laughed, “I remember, I remember, it was that poor guy who died so much he questioned life, tsk tsk, he was really, really miserable.”
“Wait a minute.” Xiao Qian suddenly slapped his forehead and looked back at the spot not far behind them: “Where’s that little girl?”
A Dou also turned to look at where Little White and Wen Qiu had been, and exclaimed, “Where are they?”
Crack!
The ground behind them suddenly split open, and a bony hand slowly emerged from within…
“Hey, what’s going on?!”
“Who the hell am I supposed to ask? It’s fine, it’s just one. The two of us… Ugh! Uh uh uh uh uh?!?”
Crack… crack… crack crack crack crack crack!!!
A peal of silvery laughter came from not far away…
But the two, immersed in terror and despair, could no longer hear it!
The next second, having just escaped death, they were instantly torn into countless bloody, mangled fragments…
“Oh dear, oh dear, thankfully Brother Black Vatican went offline. That was really dangerous just now…”
Behind a withered tree not far away, the girl revealed a playful smile.
“If it were discovered that those Skeleton Soldiers wouldn’t attack me, with Brother Black Vatican’s perceptiveness, he would definitely notice something, right? Hmm, this is really good. I need to clean up the scene quickly!”
The girl stuck out her tongue.
“Time to work, my toys~”
The Skeleton Soldiers in the pool of blood quickly cleaned up the scene.
The Skeleton Soldiers in the pool of blood…
The Skeleton Soldiers in the pool of blood — 【Summon Skeleton】 * 59
Chapter 133: End