"#$@!#!# (Can we help you with anything?)" Ye Cang's words stunned everyone. The Locust Tree Elder stared blankly before saying: "I didn't think there would be a half-elf friend amongst you. At the end of this path, you'll find Kunqi and his lackeys. I hope you can put an end to them, and then bring their cores back to me so that I may cleanse myself. Only then can I help you defeat the flower fairy - Alice."
"Hurry, brave adventurers. I don't have much power left…" Kunsa slowly closed it's eyes, and sank into a deep sleep.
"This should be a time limited quest. Let's quickly heal up and get him those cores…" ThornyRose said. She thought back to his words but couldn't determine how long they had, so they had to go as fast as possible.
"If there are no mishaps, then according to the current rate, we have less than 4 hours before he withers or becomes corrupted." Little Ye Tian said after carefully observing the rate of corruption, the amount of resistance the tree could put up, and the quality of the soil.
Now that she knew the time limit, ThornyRose had an idea. She slowly nodded. "I got it. Lele, how many flame flasks do we have left?"
"Let me count. 1, 2, 3, 4…" Lin Le opened his bag and began counting them one by one. ThornyRose looked helplessly towards Little Ye Tian. "Little Tian, help him count."
Little Ye Tian merely glanced into the bag. "81 bottles."
"Everyone come heal up…" Ye Cang quickly took out the food. Because they were in a rush, no one stalled or complained. After all, this quest was related to completing the rest of the instance. After waking up from their shock and dry heaving for a bit, they quickly made their way further down the path. While they walked, ThornyRose assigned everyone their tasks so they had a plan when they had to fight and also for when they ran low on supplies.
ThornyRose also assigned healing duties. Especially Zhang ZhengXiong who only healed when he was about to die, or when he was free. How good would it be if the skill belonged to Little Tian. However, without that spell, he might as well not even be a priest. His mana would just be a decoration. Trying to decide on his role gave her a headache. She couldn't make him a dedicated healer because he was their best tank. He had life saving skills and his shield was as good as half her equipment put together. She covered her forehead. He must have not taken his meds when he picked that class. Otherwise it must be that damn lowlife's fault.
"Any further down and we'll see a lot of treants. They are in groups of around 3 to 5." Ye Cang described what he saw in the darkness.
"FrozenBlood and I will guard the back. PaleSnow, GreenDew, Little Tian, you guys try to stay in the middle. Shaking Bear, Lil'Dino, Lele, you clear the front. Lele, it's up to you! Go! Charge to the end!!" ThornyRose shouted. Zhang ZhengXiong, FrozenCloud and Lin Le led everyone to charge in.
Lin Le ran straight at the treants and 3 flame flasks flew out. Among the flames and howls of pain, his anti-cavalry blade hacked away. Zhang ZhengXiong collided into a treant. FrozenCloud's wolverine strike struck out. Everyone quickly dealt with them, without any sloppiness.
"Don't bother with the corpses. We'll loot them later. It's not like they'll disappear." ThornyRose said when she saw Ye Cang stop his steps and look at the body.
Ye Cang sighed. He activated his shoes' speed boost and chased up to the rest. They left blazing flames everywhere they passed by. Any surviving trees were cut down by ThornyRose and FrozenBlood. Wherever Lin Le looked, flame flasks would fly. He was becoming a master arsonist.
The further in they went, the more fearful ThornyRose felt. If it weren't for Lin Le breaking their defences and restraining them, this quest would be impossible. "Lele, how many more!?"
"Let me count. 1, 2, 3, 4…" Lin Le suddenly stopped and began counting one by one again.
Little Ye Tian helped him out again. "48!"
"We're using them up so fast." Ye Cang said, as he drew his bow into an arc. Precise Shot, Double Shot. His arrows penetrated the hard bark, and hit the soul wrapped inside it. Straight thrust combo. His mithril rapier screeched as if a bird had cried out, and the blade faintly vibrated. The special effect activated, and the sword stabbed through one of them, killing it. He pulled the sword out and sheathed it while at the same time, grabbing his longbow, entering long distance mode again. It was done in one smooth motion.
NalanMoon, SpyingBlade, and FrozenBlood were like butterflies fluttering around the flames, their weapons dancing about. GreenDew was controlling her mana usage. Little Ye Tian also stopped after using a few skills, in order to avoid using too much. Ye Cang assisted Zhang ZhengXiong, ThornyRose and FrozenCloud who were losing the most health.
ThornyRose sighed. The highest healing in the group was actually Ye Cang's Healing Stream and Zhang ZhengXiong's Healing Light. Originally she wanted to ask SpyingBlade if he could take Zhang ZhengXiong's place, as his dodging ability was the highest. She then saw the jack-of-all-trades ranger - Ye Cang and asked: "Damn lowlife, can you replace your brother, Shaking Bear, for a bit?"
Ye Cang knew what she wanted. He could save some mana, while Zhang ZhengXiong could use up his unneeded mana. Moreover, Zhang ZhengXiong's heal was more effective; unlike the healing over time spells they possessed. However, to replace Zhang ZhengXiong, he needed a defensive item. Oh right, there's that. He quickly shouted back: "Crazy Madam, I'll try. A'Xiong, come back! Lele, summon your handcart…"
Zhang ZhengXiong nodded. He knocked a treant aside and leapt back. Lin Le quickly summoned his handcart.
Ye Cang reached in and took out the tonfa FrozenCloud had swapped out. Now in his left hand was a tonfa and in his right hand was a mithril rapier. Seeing the treant, that Zhang ZhengXiong had knocked away, making its way back, he charged over with a Dashing Straight Thrust. He was now in Zhang ZhengXiong's previous position.
FrozenCloud raised an eyebrow. He's swapping with Shaking Bear? Rangers sure can use many different weapons, most grapple weapons and skills are useable by rangers. She watched as he deflected an attack with the tonfa in his left hand while stabbing at the treant's weak point with the rapier in his right, performing a straight thrust combo. He then turned, swishing his feathery coat, sending 5 feathers shooting out. With this, one treant was easily dealt with. Although, he didn't have Zhang ZhengXiong's ferocity, he still gave others a strange sense of security. She recalled the ranger's role in a party, the know it all that everyone looks down on. Although the description said they could tank, but no one really believed it until now. Even Ye Cang could only tank temporarily. Afterall, he wasn't wearing defense specialized equipment. He took more damage than Zhang ZhengXiong, so could not afford to make any mistakes.