Chapter 9 Isandra
Having successfully achieved the first kill, Ethan wasn't overly elated. His mind was exceptionally clear, knowing that the danger hadn't completely passed, and there was still a zombie right before his eyes, ready to turn him into its meal for the day.
He forcefully pulled out the short sword, and just in case, he followed up with another swift cut, directly severing the head of the zombie beneath him.
The decayed body made it easy; even the tough bones had become brittle. Ethan didn't even need much strength to cut off the zombie's head before standing up to face the remaining enemy.
"I can't fight it head-on."
Zombies have stiff bodies and slow movements. Correspondingly, their strength is immense, far greater than Ethan's.
Ethan's body was better than in his previous life, and he was in the prime of his youth, full of energy and at his physical peak, but strength wasn't his forte.
"Use agility to maneuver. Try to attack from behind."
Attacking from the side was a secondary option; facing the zombie head-on was to be strictly avoided.
With the plan decided, Ethan tensed his spirit, raised his short sword, and charged forward again, then suddenly changed direction mid-way, circling to the zombie's side while feigning a forward charge and swing.
The zombie's movements were stiff, but its reaction wasn't slow. Its hands, which had been extended forward, suddenly swung sideways with a whooshing sound, proving the astonishing power of this strike. If hit, he might instantly lose his ability to resist.
However, Ethan was prepared. His charging posture was just a feint to anticipate the zombie's reaction. Seeing the zombie indeed swing its arm to strike him, he immediately checked his forward momentum, then again used his excellent agility to dart past from a direction the zombie couldn't reach, successfully getting to the zombie's side.
Taking advantage of the zombie's inability to react again, he forcefully slammed the round shield, targeting the zombie's neck.
That earlier sword strike had made him notice that the zombie's neck was exceptionally fragile. Perhaps he could break its neck just by using the round shield.
Things turned out just as Ethan expected. The zombie's neck was indeed quite fragile. Although his shield bash didn't break its neck, it severely injured the zombie, twisting its neck at a strange angle and affecting its control over its body, causing a momentary stiffness.
"Opportunity!"
Highly focused, Ethan immediately seized this fleeting chance. His short sword followed closely, stabbing towards the zombie's head again.
Pffft!
The fragile skull was pierced by Ethan's sword. Again, for safety, when pulling out the short sword, Ethan followed up with another shield bash, directly smashing the head off. Only then did he finally stop.
He then quickly retreated a few steps, looked around for a while, and only after confirming both zombies were thoroughly dead did he relax slightly.
"First battle, two zombies killed without injury. Truly perfect."
He quietly gave himself full marks for this battle, using this method to alleviate his highly aroused emotions.
At the same time, he was carefully recalling the details of the battle, summarizing experience to improve himself.
"When I was highly focused just now, did I feel like every detail was very clear?"
He wasn't sure if this was a benefit brought by the increase in mental power. If it was, even if his strength was still a bit weak, he wasn't completely without the means to protect himself.
Whether this was the case, he could test it several more times in the coming period, while continuing to hone his combat skills.
"Must stay calm, and act decisively!"
Ethan sheathed his short sword back into the scabbard at his waist, then carefully examined the bodies of the two zombies. He wanted to see if these 'monsters' had 'dropped' any equipment or items for him.
"This isn't a game world after all, there's no such concept as dropping equipment..."
He shook his head regretfully. If equipment could be dropped, he could hunt lone zombies in the vicinity, and his goal of obtaining some good equipment would be easier to achieve. But it seemed this was a more realistic world, quite different from a game.
No longer looking at the two zombies, Ethan began gathering herbs. This was his main mission for this trip; honing his combat skills was secondary.
After gathering and storing the herbs, Ethan continued searching the surroundings. He cautiously controlled his distance from the Rogue Encampment. Whenever he lost sight of it, he would walk back a bit, then move in an arc within sight of the Encampment, and then appropriately explore further out.
Found herbs, collected them. Encountered lone zombies, killed them. Then retreated, continued arcing around the camp. Explored further out after a certain distance.
Repeating this process, in half a day he collected several herbs and killed about ten lone zombies.
Fortunately, he didn't encounter the Quill Rats and Fallen, which he greatly feared.
Quill Rats like to hide in grass and shadows, blending in with the environment and being very difficult to spot. They also attack from range. With Ethan's current strength, without warning, he could very likely be instantly killed by a surprise attack from a Quill Rat.
Fallen, on the other hand, act in groups and are led by Fallen Shaman who can cast fireballs and resurrection spells, making them very troublesome—killed and revived, killed and revived. They also don't engage you head-on, always darting around, making them very hard to kill. They run especially fast; if you try to shake them off, they'll chase you down and entangle you, making even escape impossible.
With Ethan's current strength, encountering Fallen... even the smallest group of five, would result in his unquestionable defeat.
So, when Ethan, exploring a bit further out, saw several red-skinned Fallen in the distance, loudly yelling and making a fuss around a bonfire, he decisively began to retreat.
"I really am... quite weak."
He shook his head helplessly. Back in the game, even level 1 characters were weaklings he could kill at will. Now, he doesn't even have the qualification to face them head-on. Thinking about this feeling is quite depressing.
"If Akara really asks me to clear the Den of Evil, it seems I can only timidly refuse."
Carefully retreating, Ethan controlled his movements to avoid being noticed by the Fallen, while also continuously observing that small camp.
"I'll tell Kashya when I get back. She should send Rogues to clear these Fallen... At such a close distance, if the Fallen grow stronger, it will cause a lot of trouble..."
As he was thinking this, a figure seemed to appear in the distance. Before Ethan could doubt if he was mistaken, he saw the figure suddenly flicker. Then a flash of light appeared outside the Fallen camp, and the figure, which had been far away, abruptly stood before the Fallen.
Then, the figure raised a long staff, waved it at the Fallen, and a huge fireball whistled towards them. It exploded in the middle of the Fallen. The fiercely erupting flames instantly engulfed the Fallen. The dazzling firelight brightened the otherwise dim sky.
When everything calmed down, the Fallen were completely gone, and only the woman holding the long staff remained in the camp—yes, Ethan had clearly seen it was a woman, and that woman had also seen him.
Ethan straightened up. Before he could react, a flash of light appeared before him, and the woman who had just been standing in the distant camp abruptly appeared in front of him.
"Hello!" Ethan understood this sentence.
"My name is Isendra." Ethan understood this sentence too.
"I am a Sorceress from the East. Are there any towns nearby that can provide lodging and food?" Ethan didn't understand this sentence.
So his response was simple: "Hello, my name is Ethan."
"..." The atmosphere instantly became very awkward. Isendra hadn't expected her question to receive no response. Why didn't this young man named Ethan answer her question? Was it a difficult question to answer? Or was he wary of her?
"I don't mean anything else, I just want to find a place to rest and buy some food."
Still no answer from Ethan, but her words finally received some response. The young man pointed in the direction in front of him. Was this showing her the way?
In fact, if the word "food" hadn't allowed Ethan to guess Isendra's general meaning, he wouldn't have been able to point out the location of the Rogue Encampment to her.
As for why he so easily told a stranger the location of the camp, it was because he had recognized the identity of the woman before him.
One of the five initial playable characters in the game Diablo 2, the Sorceress who uses the elemental powers of fire, ice, and lightning.
Ethan didn't know the background story back then, not even the Sorceress's real name, but her appearance was easily recognizable.
Her slightly dark complexion, a green top that looked like leather armor but exposed a large area of her waist and abdomen; a black short skirt-like bottom; brown leather boots; and golden trim and various golden accessories filled with mysterious energy.
The long staff in her hand looked unremarkable, but standing beside her, Ethan could feel surging magical power from it. Without a doubt, it was a staff, and its quality was not low.
For a moment, he even wanted to reach out and claim this long staff for himself. Ethan suddenly realized that this state was not a good sign and immediately used the method Ancient One had taught him to cultivate mental power, calming his inexplicably restless emotions.
All of this, of course, was seen by Isendra.
"Oh? So you're a magic apprentice... Although a bit weak, your will is quite firm." She glanced at the herbs on Ethan's back. "Are you gathering herbs? It seems your teacher is skilled in making magic potions. Take me to see your teacher, I can ask why the dark energy is so dense around here."