“Lure? How exactly does one lure enemies with this?”
Weierda scrutinized the skull that continued to emit a bright light.
He found no unique functions, but he did notice that once placed back on the ground, it returned to its initial white glow—a detail that set it apart from other items.
“Oh—” Weierda suddenly understood.
“In the Mist Dungeon, some items remain in a white glow state until picked up. To identify the item, one must pick it up. So, if I place this in a conspicuous spot, wouldn’t it lure in many adventurers?”
What a great find! Weierda grew excited immediately. For a squad like theirs that loved collecting toll fees, this item was nothing short of a divine artifact!
Wait… just as he prepared to take the Lure Skull with him, Weierda felt a sudden sense of doubt.
“Since this skull is specifically designed to bait enemies, and it was sitting here… could it be—?”
For some reason, Weierda felt a chill run down his spine. He carefully looked back, but as he turned, a pair of dark red eyes appeared from the darkness, staring directly at him.
“-Weierda, behind you!” A desperate warning rang out from their captain, Jibusi, in the distance. Weierda spun around violently and scrambled back toward his teammates.
There were monsters ambushing him right next to the Lure Skull. How could this dungeon be so disgusting?!
Indeed, Weierda had been lured by the Lure Skull. Zhendi was very satisfied with this; it proved that her design was highly logical.
It could trick many adventurers entering the Abandoned Cellar for the first time and then teach them the proper way to use a Lure Skull.
In the mist, crushing the Lure Skull would directly summon monsters from the shadows. However, if placed gently on the ground, the Lure Skull would mimic a white glowing light to attract passing adventurers.
That was right; Zhendi wanted the adventurers to engage in some PVP in the mist. As long as the pressure was high enough, the adventurers would definitely activate their Insurance of Life before exploring further. So, everyone, go and farm monsters!
“Argh!”
Following that, Weierda’s scream echoed throughout the cellar. Although his reaction speed had been quite fast, unfortunately, he was not being attacked by just one monster, but by three—one on the left, one on the right, and one behind!
Three small Water Sprites, with ferocious expressions and stunted bodies, held rusted blades and reeked of decay.
They leaped at Weierda simultaneously, their rusted blades hacking into him repeatedly as blood sprayed everywhere.
Perhaps Zhendi had set the stat values for the Water Sprites too high; Weierda, wearing medium warrior armor, entered a near-death state after being struck only 6 times, triggering his Insurance of Life.
“Weierda!” Jibusi, wearing a panicked expression, watched helplessly as Weierda was swallowed by mist appearing from nowhere, then whisked away rapidly into the depths of the cellar, leaving behind only a pair of leg guards, a chest piece, and a storage bag.
“Where did he go? After triggering the Insurance of Life, shouldn’t he be sent back to the nearest bonfire behind us?” Jibusi asked Anderson and the others urgently while drawing his weapon to face the enemies.
Zhendi replied slowly.
“Did you not touch the bonfire at the entrance earlier? If you didn’t touch it, triggering your Insurance of Life in the cellar will send you directly to the Safe Zone outside. Your teammate has ended his dungeon exploration prematurely.”
“?! “
“That’s a thing? Then why didn’t I see you all touch the bonfire earlier?”
“Alice already touched it for us.” Zhendi glanced at Alice, who gave a smug hum toward Jibusi and his group. This was the benefit of doing one’s homework in advance!
“Damn it, you didn’t even remind us! Bulutusi, go touch the bonfire immediately!” Jibusi ordered one of his lackeys to run back to the bonfire while he led the remaining teammate to combat the three Water Sprites.
“Understood!”
The 16-year-old warrior named Bulutusi turned and ran back immediately, ignoring the sounds of battle behind him.
“Should we help? Or maybe…” Seeing the fight break out, Anderson whispered to Zhendi and surreptitiously made a throat-slitting gesture. He thought it was a perfect time for a backstab.
But Zhendi did not intend to take advantage of them; she still needed Jibusi and the others to test the subsequent mini-challenges.
“Help. Earning some experience won’t hurt.”
With Zhendi’s response, Alice and Eldon immediately moved forward to provide support. They felt more and more like the captain of the squad wasn’t Anderson, but Miss Zhendi.
*
[Archive Point Refreshed]
At the entrance to the Abandoned Cellar, Bulutusi breathed a sigh of relief as the prompt for touching the bonfire flashed before his eyes.
With this, they wouldn’t be warped out of the dungeon after triggering their Insurance of Life.
He rushed back to support his teammates, though by the time he returned, Jibusi and the others had already finished off the 3 Water Sprites.
Monsters in the Mist Dungeon generally dealt high damage but had very low health, which truly tested the adventurers’ decision-making in combat.
Mindlessly spamming attacks would likely lead to them being wiped out by the monsters in one wave.
Coincidentally, everyone present except Zhendi was unaware of this, causing all the melee fighters, including Eldon, to suffer varying degrees of injury.
“Why is the attack of a Rank 1 monster so high? My armor, which I bought just a few days ago, was actually pierced by a single strike!”
Jibusi sat on the ground, applying a portable Healing Potion to his wounds to stop the bleeding.
He felt no grief over the departure of his teammate.
After all, Weierda wasn’t dead.
This type of topical Healing Potion was very expensive, and its blood-stopping effect was exceptional. In Deya City, a bottle sold for about 10 silver coins, while common topical healing potions usually cost only 4 to 5 silver coins.
“Here.” After stabilizing his wound, Jibusi handed the remaining half of the Healing Potion to his other injured teammate before going to retrieve Weierda’s dropped items.
As warriors with no recovery abilities, Healing Potions were their only means of restoration, so they were never stingy in this regard.
“High-end goods are definitely different.” It was the first time the other warrior had used this kind of Healing Potion; it felt cool and soothing. Simultaneously, an idea popped into his head. He said to Jibusi:
“There’s still a bit of potion left. Should we offer it to that guy? We could charge him 5 silver coins to recoup some of the costs.”
“That works.” Jibusi gave a cold smile. He had noticed Eldon’s gear wasn’t very good; he looked like the type of adventurer who was usually strapped for cash, and the potions he used were probably mediocre.
“What do you say, Eldon? For 5 silver coins, you can use a high-end Healing Potion you’ve never used before. Don’t complain about the price, it’s worth it… Never mind, it can be free. After that battle, I quite appreciate you. Why don’t you just join us? I guarantee I can make you… er…”
In the next second, Jibusi, who had just been thinking about poaching talent to reduce Anderson’s squad, choked on his words.
When he turned to look at Eldon, he discovered that the Rank 2 Priest, Zhendi, was already healing Eldon’s injuries.
He had forgotten that Eldon’s squad had a priest…
And it didn’t end there; another female adventurer was fussing over Eldon by his side. With the only two women present hovering around Eldon, Jibusi couldn’t deny he was envious.
Eldon looked at Jibusi with disdain. High-end potions? Could they even compare to a Rank 2 Priestess?