Chapter 86: The Forest Archer
Chapter 86: The Forest Archer
"Uncle An Rui, what do you think is the truth behind all this?"
When it came to discussing the world's mysteries, Lin Sai knew he couldn't compete with the knowledge of An Rui before him.
So, instead of making wild guesses, he sought the wisdom of his senior, and An Rui would not hide anything from Lin Sai regarding these matters.
An Rui pointed to his empty left sleeve and began to speak,
"When that monster injected its venom into my body, I also took the opportunity to verify its level of fusion with the changing world environment and the dominant power of the high-ranking monsters within it."
"It willingly accepted and is even promoting this process."
"In other words, in the path of the Dragon Beast's advancement to the eighth stage, that Black Spider is also one of the key individuals under observation, and it might even have its essence extracted."
"Monsters in nature would never willingly choose to harm themselves. Therefore, it's highly likely that it's loyal to that Dragon Beast and that its actions of leading its subordinates to the edge of the world are also likely under the command of that Dragon Beast."
Upon hearing this, Lin Sai suddenly understood,
"I remember you mentioning that the mountainous forest area is the only route to the Black Mountain World!"
"So, could this spider have been sent by the Dragon Beast to check if there are any Awakened individuals attempting to break through the surveillance of the Black Mountain World?"
An Rui nodded in agreement with Lin Sai's speculation, "I also believe that's what's happening."
The abnormal appearance of the spiders was explained, but Lin Sai still had another question that puzzled him, "Then why are they allowing these ordinary monsters to escape upwards?"
"That doesn't make sense, does it?"
"..."
An Rui remained silent and shook his head at this question.
Was it to cause some minor trouble for the Hidden Frontier?
Or were these spiders simply not interested, completely disregarding these monsters?
These reasons couldn't explain the phenomenon before them!
Such behavior would only result in alerting the Hidden Frontier: the Black Mountain World is undergoing a transformation!
The underlying truth was hard to fathom.
...
The torchlight flickered in the pitch-black cave, illuminating the darkness.
After finishing their roasted meat, An Rui fell into a deep sleep, his heavily injured body in dire need of rest.
However, Lin Sai didn't have the luxury of rest.
He opened his task bar first, finding no new tasks, and then shifted his attention to the map.
Due to the previous effect of the Treant Wreath, the red dots representing monsters outside had now turned into neutral yellow markers.
Lin Sai could judge the increasing number of monsters and their movements towards the Hidden Frontier by observing the map's information.
But soon, as expected,
The red dots symbolizing the spider army appeared at the edge of the map.
The enraged spiders, regardless of species, launched a massacre on the monsters on the lake's surface, swiftly eliminating the yellow markers.
At the same time, some red dots climbed upwards along the vines.
Lin Sai felt tense, even afraid to make a sound. During this time, spiders scurried across the lake's surface, searching for something.
But the Mirror Lake's surface erased their scents and traces.
Combined with the hidden passage that only opened with fire, the spiders, though restless and running around, couldn't find Lin Sai and An Rui, already hidden within the vines.
Time passed under the torchlight.
Through the changing information on the map, Lin Sai knew that monsters kept appearing and were being hunted by the spiders.
Approximately four to five hours had passed.
As the spiders finally retreated like a receding tide, just as they had appeared earlier.
But Lin Sai remained vigilant, never letting his guard down.
It wasn't until two hours later that other ordinary monsters began to emerge from Mirror Lake, allowing Lin Sai to finally breathe a sigh of relief.
And it was at this very moment—
Lin Sai felt something amiss with his body.
"Wait, my strength..."
Realizing his transformation, Lin Sai quickly opened his attribute panel.
Since An Rui had forced him to level up prematurely, the RPG module remained unchanged.
But with the consecutive encounters, Lin Sai was deeply involved.
As the spiders withdrew, the entire incident concluded.
The experience points accumulated from this day-long journey began to be tallied and converted.
Lin Sai's attributes were refreshed.
Constitution: 15 → 17, Strength: 12 → 13, Agility: 13 → 15, Intelligence: 9 → 10, Charm: 6 → 8.
All basic attributes, except Willpower, surged upward.
Among the skills Lin Sai had learned, due to his ability to severely wound a Fifth-Stage monster with a single arrow, his Basic Archery directly broke through to the Mastery level. The suffix (Rapid Shot) also changed—(Forest Archer).
"Forest Archer..."
Lin Sai murmured, taking out his oak bow and arrows from his portable bag.
As he held the familiar bow and arrows, he sensed a difference from the past. While retaining his rapid shooting ability, his predictive skills for moving targets had greatly improved.
Moreover, he had a vague premonition that this ability would perform even better in the forest!
"Lin Sai, what are you doing?"
At this moment, a voice of inquiry sounded beside Lin Sai.
He turned to see that it was An Rui, who had just awakened from his slumber.
This Fifth-Stage Awakened, compared to when he fell asleep, looked much better. Seeing Lin Sai nocking an arrow, An Rui thought there was some danger about to occur, so his expression was solemn.
Lin Sai quickly put away his weapon and explained, "Nothing, we're safe now!"
"I was just checking my weapon to see if it was damaged in the previous battle!"
An Rui, who had just awakened, was very cautious:
"Lin Sai, are you sure?"
Lin Sai nodded firmly:
"Yes, I'm very sure!"
"Moreover, while you were resting, those spiders appeared outside Mirror Lake and left two hours ago."
An Rui confirmed once again:
"How long did they stay at Mirror Lake?"
Lin Sai explained in detail:
"Around five hours."
"Most of them hunted monsters near Mirror Lake, and a small portion climbed up the vines but never came down, probably remaining frozen like the other monsters."
An Rui's heart, which had been hanging, finally relaxed.
His rescue was due to Lin Sai's special ability, so naturally, he didn't doubt Lin Sai's capabilities.
Seeing An Rui relax, Lin Sai thought of another question.
Looking at the warrior who was now in good condition, Lin Sai asked, "Uncle An Rui, I actually have another question."
"Since these monsters are affected by the world's changes, even to the point of being frozen by the wind, what about human Awakened?"
An Rui smiled and shook his head, "Theoretically, it's possible to affect humans."
"But with this Dragon Beast's current reckless advancement, you don't need to worry about that aspect."
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
