Collapsed?
Collapsed?!
Karen’s mouth hung open, unable to believe it for a long time. If what this guy said was true, this was way worse than being a mere traitor—it was just pure…
“What, thinking about me?”
Suddenly, a gentle yet slightly teasing voice sounded behind Karen, and two delicate little hands landed right on her messy hair.
It was Truth. From behind, she rubbed Karen’s head:
“How can you be this worked up right after waking up? That won’t do. As an injured patient, you need to rest.”
“You—!”
Karen gritted her teeth, and all the things Truth had done since they entered the ruins flashed through her mind.
Sure, during the Expedition against the Lin Emerald Spider, Truth’s help was beyond question and absolutely crucial, letting Karen make it through the crisis unscathed.
But thinking about it again, who caused that crisis in the first place?
It was one thing to ignore Karen’s advice and wander recklessly in the ruins—she could still chalk that up to some naive young lady who didn’t know the dangers of the world.
But pouring out her Antidote Potion—what the hell was she thinking?!
Karen grabbed Truth’s arm and coldly questioned her, even suspecting Truth might be trying to harm her, making the atmosphere suddenly tense.
Anderson and the other two by the campfire didn’t even dare to breathe.
They all knew that only a few special items, including Antidote Potions, could completely remove the negative effects of poisons; most other methods would leave lasting injuries, meaning “all Attribute Points -1”, and you’d always be a little weaker than others of the same rank.
But Truth remained calm, her voice just tinged with a trace of grievance:
“How could you think that of me? It’s kind of hurtful, you know—I’ve been giving it my all healing you up to now…”
Truth had already been healing Karen for the whole afternoon.
All the severe injuries on Karen had turned into minor wounds, and the minor wounds had been fully healed, leaving no scars at all.
“Uh… That’s not the point! My question is, why did you pour out my Antidote Potion? Don’t you know, without it, I might…”
“Because I was afraid you’d end up with a lasting injury.”
“Eh?”
Karen froze. She was just about to say that without the Antidote Potion, she might get a lingering injury, but Truth beat her to the punch. What was going on?
“The potion you brought was just mid-grade, and pretty mediocre at that. Besides, it was a cheap bargain-bin bottle from the Association. I was afraid you’d get hurt by a fake, so I poured it out and handled the detoxification myself.”
Truth explained, sounding genuinely aggrieved. Karen didn’t know what to say for a moment… Afraid I’d get hurt by a fake? She’s thought it through that thoroughly?
“Then what did you use to detox me?”
“My Healing Spell, of course. Even though it’s only a first-rank skill, the Lin Emerald Spider’s poison is just second rank, and not lethal, so with enough time I can fully dispel it.”
The last time she leveled up, Truth’s Mist Healing Art had gained a detox effect.
With the Life Saintess talent’s power on top of that, healing a non-lethal poison above her rank was just barely doable.
“I won’t be left with any lingering injuries… right?” Karen’s voice had gotten very quiet, sounding guilty.
“Of course not. Why else would I pour out your potion? And besides—so in your eyes, I’m really that vicious? Ugh…” Truth took two steps back, sounding like she was about to cry.
“Eh? That’s not what I meant!”
Karen scrambled to her feet, apologizing over and over, even though she still couldn’t quite figure out why Truth poured out her Antidote Potion. Even if she didn’t use it, she could have saved it for resale!
Maybe in the worldview of a rich young lady, the concept of ‘saving’ just didn’t exist.
“I’m sorry, Miss Ariel, please, don’t cry! I admit I was a bit harsh earlier, but the things you did before really were a little… questionable, so I…”
“Ugh…”
Truth squatted down, covering her face with both hands.
“Tsk—” Watching the adorable little loli squatting there, sobbing in grievance, Karen, usually so straightforward, drew a sharp breath. She’d never seen this kind of scene before!
Her hands flailed awkwardly around Truth:
“My fault, it’s all my fault! I didn’t appreciate your kindness, I was too petty—I’ll make it up to you, please stop crying…”
“Really make it up to me?” Truth asked in a tiny voice, still covering her face.
“As long as it’s within my ability!”
“Then…” Truth peeked up a little, those silvery, ethereal eyes glancing at Karen through her fingers:
“Can you go right now and take down another Elite Monster?”
“Mhm mhm… Eh?!”
……
Two hours earlier, noon. The sky above Watchfort was clear for ten thousand miles. Besides the sun’s halo, a small ring of light had appeared above the fort.
It was a golden bird with a wingspan close to a meter, called a Sunbird—a monster the Sun Family used to transmit messages across long distances.
After circling above Watchfort once, the Sunbird landed in a secluded cottage, squawked twice, and Bazelle, the Sun Family scout, opened the window and removed the letter from the bird’s leg.
After negotiating with Truth before, Bazelle had immediately given a detailed report to his family, and today, he finally received a reply from Sun City.
The message was simple: apart from “make sure to recruit the Ninth Holy Maiden”, it only contained the projected route of the coming month’s catastrophe—Huoyun Island.
“I still can’t believe the Ninth Holy Maiden’s request is the simplest among all the maidens. I hope she doesn’t go back on her word.”
After copying down Huoyun Island’s route, Bazelle immediately set out to find Truth…
……
On the Sylvia Border Army’s side, inside a random second-rank Dungeon.
When the Dungeon’s other Elite Monster, the Stinger Mantis, finally fell exhausted beneath Karen’s Runic Greatsword, Karen herself collapsed on the ground in a spread-eagle position, panting for breath.
Now Miss Ariel will forgive me, right?
Karen had originally planned to rest and come back the next day for another Elite Monster, but Truth had sweet-talked her so much, saying she wanted to see Karen’s brave figure in battle again…
Karen’s face immediately turned red—no wonder Truth had watched her up close during the Lin Emerald Spider fight.
She nodded to herself:
So she’s actually just mesmerized by me, hehehe…
With Truth guaranteeing that, with her around, they’d definitely win, Karen agreed: “Alright, I’m on it!”
And so she ended up lying on the ground all banged up again, though this time her wounds weren’t as bad as when fighting the Lin Emerald Spider, mainly thanks to Truth’s Shield that could protect vital areas at any time.
“Karen-sis, are you okay, sweetie? Let me heal you, sweetie.” Truth smiled as she quickly moved forward to help Karen up and fussed over her, while Healing Mist enveloped all of Karen’s wounds.
The cool sensation gradually replaced the pain, and Karen finally relaxed a bit.
So this is the benefit of having a priest in the party.
No wonder all those high-ranked seniors say you absolutely need to build good relationships with priests after mid-rank.
You get strong protection in battle, instant healing afterward, and no worries about running out of healing potions—it’s just too reassuring!
Wait, do all priests have crazy strong continuous Shields like Miss Ariel, plus Mist that can heal multiple wounds at once?
If so, she absolutely needed to find a priest for long-term party-up in the future!
“Yay!”
While Karen was receiving Truth’s healing, Anderson and Kovado excitedly got to work harvesting the valuable materials from the Stinger Mantis.
This time, they actually contributed a bit. Since the Stinger Mantis had no ranged attacks, the two of them could safely draw its attention from afar to create perfect openings for Karen.
According to Adventurer’s Association rules, this meant they could take a bigger share of the mantis materials…
After about ten minutes, the pair finished harvesting, but since the sun was about to set, the group decided to relight the campfire and rest, planning to leave early the next morning.
“But we haven’t fought the BOSS yet.”
At the campfire, as Truth tended to Karen’s wounds, she suddenly piped up, scaring Anderson and Kovado—who were roasting mantis legs—so much that their whole bodies tensed up.
Come on, fighting Elite Monsters was enough—the Holy Maiden couldn’t possibly want to take on a BOSS that was practically at third rank, right?
Karen just patted Truth’s head and sighed:
“Sigh, the four of us barely managed to take down an Elite Monster—how could we possibly go after the BOSS? Besides, let alone a BOSS, we’re having trouble with regular monsters now. All my gear is nearly worn out.”
Karen’s Anti-Magic Armor was battered and covered with scars—just raising her arm made the pauldron threaten to fall off.
Her Runic Greatsword too—the stored magic spells had all been used up, and its sharpness had taken a big hit.
You could say her fighting strength was at about forty percent of peak now—any more fighting and she’d really be heading for a defeat CG. As for Anderson and Kovado’s fighting strength…
Just ignore it.
Truth had basically brought those two just to up Karen’s challenge—after all, healing severe wounds gave much more experience than light ones, so Karen had to get badly hurt!
Oh right, didn’t the Church of the Goddess of Life plan some big Demon-Hunting Campaign after this?
She remembered that all the Demon Hunters were at least second rank—she could probably go to the army camp later and earn some more experience there.
But in truth, Truth much preferred joining an adventurer team.
After all, clearing Dungeons and hunting monsters gave lots of experience, and it wasn’t boring at all…
【Name: Truth】
【Level: LV.14 (1602/1911)】
【Race: Human】
【Attributes: Life 48, Constitution 52, Magic 99, Intelligence 72, Strength 22, Agility 31, Faith 1142】
【Skills: Healing Mist (Pending Advancement) Enhanced Senses (Proficiency 25%) Lens Shield (33%)】
【Talents: Mistveil Exalted (Fusion Progress 14%) Mist Faithful (4) Life Saintess (LV.1)】
【Faith Points: 34,722】【Available Attribute Points: 3】【Mist Energy…】
While resting, Truth took a moment to check her priest status panel, noticing she was only three hundred EXP away from Level 15.
Plus, every five percent fusion progress with the Supreme Authority of the Mist Lord unlocked another strange function…
“So if I can manage to take down the BOSS, I’ll gain three whole levels in this Dungeon?” Truth rubbed her chin, deep in thought.
“What are you mumbling about? Did I hear ‘take down the BOSS’? Come on, Ariel, are you still thinking about that? I already said there’s no way we can beat a BOSS!”
Karen munched on the bland mantis leg and addressed Truth, thinking that this little priest had the temperament of a natural battle maniac.
Weren’t priests supposed to say things like “That’s enough for today, let’s not get hurt anymore”? How did Miss Ariel turn it into “Just one more round!”?
But Karen at least knew her own limits—no matter how sweet Miss Ariel’s words were, she absolutely wasn’t going to try for the BOSS in this state!
Better to keep chatting with Digger and Kovado. Right now, Kovado was asking Digger where he got so many Thief’s Treasure Maps.
The past few days, Mr. Digger had been selling tons of these mysterious Treasure Maps at high prices in the Association, claiming they led to the legendary thief’s gold stash.
At first, not many believed him. But then, a few people actually followed the map in the Mist and found nearly thirty gold coins!
Remember, Anderson only sold a map for one coin.
At first, everyone thought the maps were overpriced, but when a single coin could turn into thirty, well…
Anderson’s business boomed. As for the source of the maps, he just said he had lots of friends in the Association and got all kinds of news.
He definitely couldn’t admit that he’d been laundering dirty money by hiding it in various Mist locations and then making up real and fake maps to sell at high prices to others, right?
Truth found it all rather amusing—someone hiding things in the Mist, and Anderson actively channeling people into it?
That was great! Maybe she could try a long-term partnership with that thief and Anderson…
“Mr. Digger, do you know who that legendary thief is? I want to meet him.”
“Uh… best not. He’s pretty shy.”
“I can offer two hundred gold coins as a meeting gift.”
“Uh, well…”
Crap, this Holy Maiden and rich kid is using her money power again! Anderson frowned, struggling to resist the temptation.
No, he already had enough trouble. If he got mixed up with her, he’d…
“I’ll try to pass your message along. It might take some time.”
Too bad—after only two seconds, Anderson fell to the evil power of gold. Who could hate more money?
At least get that 200 gold for the meeting first.
“Did she just casually offer two hundred coins? That’s way too generous…” Kovado sighed nearby, and Karen was a bit shocked too.
For real? That much just for a meeting?
She remembered that before setting out, this girl even said she’d give Karen five hundred gold coins. Adding this up, was she really going to spend seven hundred?
Wow!
In Deya City, there weren’t even ten nobles with over five hundred gold in total assets.
It was like being a lifelong villager in XX Village, XX Town, Donglan County, Hechi City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, thinking your life would always be simple and quiet, then suddenly a benefactor drops from the sky and tosses you five million, telling you to go buy chestnuts.
That level of wealth—it was hard to believe this benefactor was a local…
“Miss Ariel, are you really from the Sun Family?” Karen asked carefully, worried Truth might be bluffing and she wouldn’t get her five hundred coins.
Actually, even fifty coins would have been enough…
“Yep~”
“Can you show us your Sun Family badge?”
“Didn’t bring it~”
“Then… could you use whatever means you have to prove your identity? We’re just really curious…”
Tsk, why do they care so much about my background? Are they just hoping to climb the social ladder, or afraid I’ll skip out on paying? Do I look like that type?
“I mean…”
But just as she started to speak, with the sun nearly set, a sudden strange breeze blew, and the next second, a scout wearing a Sun badge appeared right before them!
Before anyone could react, he dropped to one knee in front of Truth and handed her an envelope.
That scout named Bazelle? Truth tilted her head; she didn’t expect he’d actually find her out here—he must’ve been looking for her a while now…
So Truth simply took the envelope, and without another word, Bazelle vanished into the darkness.