Eric seriously suspected that the girl named Judy was Atai'er's biological daughter.
Even if not his biological daughter, she was at least related to the old man next door.
Look at the roasted pig over the bonfire.
Normally, they didn't have this; it was either rat slices (rat slices: rats would be flattened by traps, hence rat slices) or squirrels.
The best meal they had was just two rabbits.
Now that Judy was here, Atai'er had a roasted pig ready.
And he was using the seasonings Eric had gathered.
Eric secretly glanced at Judy from the corner of his eye; this round-faced little dumpling didn't look like the daughter of Atai'er's deadpan face at all.
Atai'er poked the bonfire with a stick, glared at Eric, then looked at Judy.
"Have you calmed down? Why would your master let you come to a place like this?"
Judy looked at the roasted pig in front of her and said, "Teacher said I was too much of a homebody and told me to come out and get some exercise."
Then she started to wipe away tears again, saying, "My staff was stolen by a Necromancer, Uncle Atai'er, can you help me get it back?"
Atai'er rubbed his temples once more.
After asking a few more questions, Atai'er and Eric finally understood what was going on.
Swamp Witch Alina had divined that an unknown magical power had appeared in the Sunset Forest, but she felt the power was not strong.
So she sent her young disciple, Judy, to investigate.
As a result, little Judy was scared out of her wits.
"What did you see?"
Eric felt a bit confused.
Although Judy looked weak, her strength was not weak at all.
She was a Three-Ring Witch, which, converted to levels, meant her Witch level was at least 5, possessing at least 12 spell skills.
Eric was still a Level 1 Hunter and a Level 1 Ranger.
He only had two combat skills.
Judy could easily defeat Eric.
Unfortunately, facing Eric's question, Judy's eyes unfocused again, and she buried her head in her knees.
Eric looked at Atai'er.
Atai'er shook his head, cut off the tenderest piece of roasted meat from the pig's neck, and handed it to Eric.
His teacher still loved him.
Look, roasted meat cut by his own hands.
Eric was about to express his thanks.
"Give it to little Judy."
Bah!
Eric handed the roasted meat to Judy and was about to cut a piece for himself.
"Eric, you cut and smoke the meat tonight; we'll take it with us tomorrow."
Eric's hand paused.
"Yes, Teacher."
As the night wind blew, Eric felt that the moon was weeping tonight.
The next morning, the three packed their belongings and set off on their journey once again.
In front of the city ruins was the cemetery Eric had mentioned.
By the time the three arrived, the sun had already set.
There was still lingering sunlight in the sky, but the area around the cemetery was a desolate gray.
Trees were dead, and gravestones were covered in frost.
Revived skeletons roamed the cemetery, and wailing specters circled in the air.
Eric gasped.
"Teacher, you can go the rest of the way by yourself; I think I'm still young."
Atai'er did not respond; his gaze remained fixed on the cemetery ahead.
Judy, behind the two, huddled her head and said, "There's a Necromancer here; it was commanding them to chase me when I came out of the city ruins."
Atai'er did not respond.
He looked at the white frost on the tombstones from afar, pondered for a moment, then placed his hand on the ground.
Eric sensed a fluctuation of magical power, but he didn't know what skill Atai'er was activating.
After a few minutes, Atai'er stood up and said, "There's no time left; we'll fight our way through this cemetery."
Eric's heart sank.
We?
Fight through the cemetery?
"Teacher, I think I..."
"It's fine, Judy will cover you from behind, and I'm still here."
Judy will cover me?
Eric looked at Judy behind him.
She looked up slightly.
Judy should be older than him, around 13 or 14, so she was taller than his undernourished self.
But the current Judy was clearly not a normal combatant.
And Judy also froze for a moment, then shook her head like a rattle drum.
"No, I can't, my staff was stolen, and I can't cast spells now."
Atai'er's gaze swept over Judy.
At this moment, his previous gentleness towards Judy completely vanished, and he said coldly, "Witches no longer need a staff from the first ring."
He then looked at Eric and said, "You and Judy are responsible for the melee skeletons in front, and the Necromancers, Skeleton Archers, and specters in the back are all up to me."
Eric turned to look at the cemetery.
Every step the undead took inside made a sound of bones colliding; even from far away, Eric could hear the "clack" of their jaws hitting each other.
Teacher doesn't seem to be in a mood to negotiate, so let's just go.
"I understand, Teacher."
Atai'er patted Eric's shoulder and said, "Protect Judy well."
"Okay, Teacher."
Atai'er nodded and rushed towards a withered tree nearby.
He kicked off the tree trunk, and as his body leaped, he hooked his hand and grabbed a branch in mid-air.
Soon, Atai'er stood at the top of the tree.
He drew the short sword from his waist, reached into his embrace, and pulled out another short sword.
Without a running start, Atai'er jumped directly down.
His black cloak unfurled like wings, helping him glide through the air.
The specters in the air were drawn to him, but under Atai'er's short swords, not one lasted more than a single round.
Cool.
Eric thought to himself, he also wanted to show off like that in the future.
And Atai'er's movements also drew the attention of the skeletons; a few skeletons, holding wooden sticks and farming tools, tottered towards them.
Eric then looked at Judy behind him.
Although Atai'er said Judy would help cover him, Eric looked at the teary-eyed Judy and knew in his heart that this child couldn't possibly help.
"You hide here, I'll distract the skeletons."
"Don't go, let's escape, there are too many of them, you'll die."
Judy pulled Eric's clothes, hunched over, trying to pull him back.
"Uncle Atai'er is very strong, no matter how many skeletons there are, they can't hurt him, let's escape, you'll get hurt."
Eric sighed, placed his hands on Judy's shoulders, pressed her down into a squat, and said, "Calm down first, watch me, these skeletons aren't that strong."
With that, Eric pried open Judy's hands, turned around, pulled out his dagger from his waist, jumped out from behind the tree, and shouted loudly, "Over here, everyone, come here."
The skeletons were indeed attracted to Eric and walked towards him.
While counting the number of skeletons and leading them away from where Judy was hiding, Eric scanned his system.
【Character Name: Eric Garanode (Murmur of the Moon)
Information: Human (Half-elf)
Status: Good
Rank: Level 1 Hunter
Hero Rank: Level 1 Ranger
Legendary Rank: None
Title: None
Equipment: Vigorous Death-Thorn (Divine Artifact) Wind Wolf Boots (Excellent)
Talent: Child of the Moon (Not Activated)
Skills:
Basic Archery (Beginner)
Leatherworking (Beginner)
Altair Swordsmanship (Beginner)】
"Just over a dozen skeleton soldiers, minor problem."