500 EXP was not a small amount, especially when it was required more than once. Big Watermelon and the Mage God of Close Combat quickly calculated that if they wanted to satisfy the prerequisite affection points, they had to at least spend…
7500 EXP!
Per person!
If it was in the past, they would definitely be scared away. But now, they were only hesitant.
Without a doubt, the more they interacted with the "Witch", the more they realized that Vivian's missions were indeed evil, completely different from normal NPCs.
After all, which NPC would collect back more than half of the mission rewards after giving out the mission?
They were at a crossroads now.
Although they had complained about Vivian before, they had still freeloaded off her rewards. However, if they wanted to get more benefits now, they would have to pay a corresponding price.
Big Watermelon and the Mage God of Close Combat had two choices at the moment. The first was to directly give up the mission. At worst, they would just be killed after the Witch got angry. The 5000 EXP that they had gained previously was already enough to recoup their losses.
The second option was to sacrifice EXP to Vivian. If they did that, it would be equivalent to them truly investing their capital and getting on the pirate ship.
Liao Zixuan could tell that the two players were still reluctant to pay, so he chose to add fuel to the fire.
[Ding…]
[Stage 2 "Miss Witch Wants to Eat" has been completed]
[You have received… 10,000 EXP]
[You have received one "Deadwood Staff (Refined)"]
[You have not met the special condition of "Reach 10 affection points with Vivian (Normal)". The follow-up mission cannot be activated.]
This was like gambling.
After giving you enough benefits in the beginning, you will continue to play willingly.
"Damn it, let's do it!"
When the 10,000 EXP reward was received, it instantly gave the two players confidence and courage. After gritting their teeth, they started to spend EXP to buy affection.
[You have spent… 5000 EXP]
[Vivian's affection+1]
[You have spent… 5000 EXP]
[Vivian's affection+1]
[You have…]
The little wolf pup called out comfortably as he carefully stroked his fur while being fed by the little girl.
The young girl thought that her stroking skills had improved and was smiling foolishly. But in reality, what made Liao Zixuan happy was the two sets of 7500 EXP, which totaled up to 15,000 EXP bar.
All the EXP obtained through exploiting the system's loopholes had passed through the players and returned to Liao Zixuan. He invested all the EXP into himself and immediately gained a level.
This one level shouldn't be underestimated.
A normal native Dark Flame Wolf would take at least a month to reach Level 16 from Level 15. After all, the more noble the bloodline, the longer the development period would be.
The fur on the little wolf pup's body suddenly grew longer and shinier, its short limbs extending slightly. Although it was still a little wolf pup, it was obvious that it had put on some weight.
To the Dark Flame Wolf, level 0-20 was the infancy stage. Liao Zixuan's current goal was to get through the infancy stage as soon as possible. Once he entered the growth stage, he could truly stand firmly in the world of "Fallen God" and have the strength to fight against those big shots.
That's right.
Liao Zixuan only needed a Dark Flame Wolf at the growth stage to sweep through most human forces.
He used to be five levels away, but he was now only four levels away from all-important level 20. Hence, every level was extremely important to him.
If this continued, Liao Zixuan might be able to enter the "growth stage" in less than three months.
Still…
Three months was still too long.
The ripple effect caused by the flutter of his figurative butterfly wings would not wait for him to slowly prepare.
This was not…
New trouble had unknowingly targeted them and was about to come knocking on their door.
Sigh…
He sighed.
Liao Zixuan reluctantly stood up from the little girl's lap pillow. He first extended his front claws and stretched his tendons to adapt to his growing body.
Then, he raised his small wolf head and looked at the sky above the forest where his group was resting.
A flash of darkness flickered in his amber wolf eyes.
Following which, there was a cracking sound, as though glass had been smashed.
A crack suddenly appeared in the sky, growing larger and larger, bursting apart like the pattern of a spider web. Eventually, it completely disappeared and returned to its original state.
"Black, that was…" Vivian was the first to notice Black's shift in demeanor, so she naturally saw everything clearly.
"Someone is using magic to monitor us."
After thinking about it, Liao Zixuan yawned and added,
"It should be when we were approaching the depths of the forest, right?"
Meanwhile…
In the heart of the Dreadclaw Forest, in the zone forbidden to all forest monsters, in a huge underground nest…
There was an extremely strange scene here.
The huge cave was filled with crystalline grass that was emitting a purple glow. They swayed slowly despite the lack of wind, like the rise and fall of a tide.
And around these purple crystal bushes, there were about ten figures busily moving about.
Some of these people were harvesting the mature purple grass and packing them into bags for transporting, some were using carts to transport soil, some were holding smaller sacks and continuously scattering something around.
If these were acceptable, then the most discordant and difficult to explain was the owner of the underground lair.
The Tyrannosaurus Rex monster known as "Dreadclaw".
However, at this moment, the Tyrannosaurus Rex which was like a small mountain was curled up and lying in the middle of the cave as if it was hibernating.
On its rough outer skin, there were strange demonic and evil patterns that did not belong to it. Although it was sleeping, its breathing was abnormally rapid. Its weighty breathing noises filled the entire nest.
If one looked at the cave from a distance and looked down at the entire cave, they would be surprised to discover that this place seemed to be a complicated magic formation, with the Tyrannosaurus Rex monster as the source of energy for said formation.
The magic formation hypnotized the Dreadclaw, but it also stimulated the magic power in its body to expand rapidly. Eventually, it became nutrients that were lost in the air and absorbed by the surrounding purple crystalline grass.
"Your Eminence, the magic vision has been broken."
In the deepest part of the nest, a woman lazily sat on a chair. She was wearing a ceremonial robe untidily, unintentionally revealing a large portion of her skin.
Below, there were also people wearing robes, but the standard was much lower. They should be disciples or deacons, and they were half-kneeling as they reported to the woman on the chair.
"Tsk. I didn't expect that there would be powerful Spellcasters in such a remote place." On the main seat, the woman addressed as "Bishop" chuckled.
"Then… send someone to kill them."
The woman paused for a few seconds after she finished speaking. After a few seconds, she suddenly stopped her subordinate who was about to leave.
"The leading Spellcaster… is she female?"
"Yes, Your Eminence."
"In that case…"
"Then, kill the rest of them. Leave the female Spellcaster behind and bring her here. I want to meet her." As she spoke, the Bishop subconsciously licked her plump red lips.