After sending a text message to Xu Lin, informing her that the transaction was successful, I remembered that I still had a quest to turn in. The quest item, the Dire Wolf Leader's Head, was still quietly lying in my inventory.
I quickly walked into the village chief's hut, pulled out the head, and showed it to the old man. What followed was the classic dialogue: "Oh my, is this real? You truly avenged Captain Amy! His soul will surely find comfort. Take this, brave young man, and forge a path that belongs only to you with your weapon!"
"Ding~!"
System Notification: You have completed the quest - Amy's Last Wish, gaining 32000 experience and 4 gold coins! Reputation +120!
"Ding~!"
System Notification: You have obtained "Swordsman's Rage!"
I was stunned for a moment. "Swordsman's Rage"? What was that? I quickly opened my inventory to check.
[Swordsman's Rage] (Skill Book)
Description: Swordsman class players will acquire the "Swordsman's Rage" skill upon use.
A wave of excitement surged through me. With trembling hands, I clicked to learn it, and a new skill immediately appeared in my skill bar!
Swordsman's Rage: Passive skill, permanently increases the current attack and defense of Swordsman class players by 10%.
I quickly checked my attributes. My attack was still 50-86, but a blue line (×110%) had appeared next to it. This meant that the 94 attack was actually a hidden attribute and not displayed.
Not bad. Although it was only 10% and didn't have a huge impact on me now, imagine if my level increased later and my attack reached 1000. Then the hidden attack would be 1100. 1100 and 1000 are absolutely two completely different effects, especially in PK battles of the same level. This could play a decisive role.
I opened the level rankings and saw that I had dropped from my previous position in the 200s globally to over 3000. Could there really be fanatics who played games for twenty-four hours straight without sleeping?
I checked my friends' levels and found that Lu Xuehan was already level 9, while the highest among the others were Xu Lin at level 8 and Xin Yu at level 8. The rest were all level 7. Overall, it wasn't bad.
I sent Lu Xuehan a text message, and she told me she was still fighting level 9 monsters. I broke out in a sweat. This girl was truly persistent. She fought the same type of monster for 10 hours and didn't get bored. Yes, she's a good prospect!
"Lu Xuehan, I'll be right over. I'll take you to a good place where you can level up quickly!"
Perhaps annoyed by leveling from 9 to 10, Lu Xuehan immediately replied: "Okay, I'll wait for you here!"
By the time I arrived, Lu Xuehan had already cleared out all the level 9 monsters there, which made it convenient for us to go to the Dire Wolf Leader's location.
Along the way, we cautiously cleared out the scattered level 11 monsters. When a large pack of Dire Wolves appeared before us, Lu Xuehan's beautiful eyes widened in surprise as she asked me, "Are we really going to fight these monsters?"
"Yes, don't be nervous~" I pulled Lu Xuehan's small hand, not noticing the blush on her face, and continued, "You follow behind me later and act on my command!"
"Okay." Lu Xuehan was still a bit nervous.
I nodded, drew my longsword, and charged towards the wolf pack. Then, I led the pack of wolves around the rock barrier, and at the appropriate moment, I shouted to Lu Xuehan, "Get into that rock crevice!"
Lu Xuehan hesitated for a moment but immediately complied. I also quickly squeezed in with the pack of wolves. It was really cramped!
The already small space was now crammed with two people. I could even feel Lu Xuehan's soft bosoms pressing against my back, though I didn't know that Lu Xuehan had enabled light touch at this moment.
Under the moonlit flowers, a romantic rendezvous... but the Dire Wolves had no such inclinations. One after another, they immediately charged in, which was exactly what I wanted. At this point, my attack power could only be described as "abnormal." Ordinary level 11 Dire Wolves only required 4 sword strikes to take down, and with the Heavy Strike skill, killing monsters seemed even more efficient. To Lu Xuehan, the level 11 Dire Wolves seemed incredibly difficult, but I cut through them as easily as slicing vegetables.
Although I also anticipated the collision with Lu Xuehan's full bosoms, I was still careful to control my posture so as not to fall backward. It wouldn't be good to be mistaken for a pervert by a young girl.
Experience points soared rapidly. From Lu Xuehan's joyful expression, I could tell that her experience gain was certainly not small either. A priest's level is extremely important for a team. My sacrificing a portion of my leveling time to help Lu Xuehan was also a small contribution to our little studio!
I don't know how much time passed... "Lin Fan..." Lu Xuehan called out softly from behind.
"Hm?"
Lu Xuehan bit her lip and continued, "I heard Xin Yu say that you already have a girlfriend, is that true?"
My movements paused slightly: "I used to..."
There was a hint of bitterness in my voice that even I found surprising.
Lu Xuehan hesitated, then said, "But Xin Yu said you do!"
"The girlfriend she's talking about must be herself, that shameless fellow!" I muttered softly.
Lu Xuehan let out a "Pfft~" and laughed, pushing my shoulder. "Xin Yu is actually not bad, just a little bit of a hooligan. You know, the real her, she's actually not happy..."
Pulling my longsword from the corpse of a wolf, I said without turning my head, "She's not happy?"
"She was originally a university student..." Lu Xuehan's voice trembled slightly.
"University students are even more deadly when they..."
I suddenly paused: "Wait... a university student? She seems to be only 22, could it be like me..."
Lu Xuehan nodded and said softly, "That's right, she stopped going to school in her third year of university. Originally, she had a boyfriend, who also swore he would find a future with Xin Yu... But unfortunately, that kind of petty man couldn't endure hardship. After he tricked Xin Yu into bed, he found a rich woman and went carousing every day."
Lu Xuehan sighed faintly, then continued, "Sometimes women are really foolish. After Xin Yu broke up with her boyfriend, she went to work in a hair salon. When her former roommates saw her again, they felt she had changed completely, becoming dissolute... and no longer serious. Perhaps she felt that this kind of degradation was a form of release."
I remained focused on fighting monsters. I had long known that everyone here would have a story, but I never expected the always cheerful Xin Yu to have such a past. She had been here for nearly two months, and I had never heard these things. Damn it, her boyfriend was truly a 'gem' among men! He was actually willing to be kept by a woman?
For a man, what is most important?
Dignity!