[Killed a Will Priest of Red Apple Church, gained 20 Experience Points.]
[Warning: Your actions have attracted the enmity and attention of the Red Apple Church!]
Chen Lun curled his lip; he had never intended to be on good terms with the Red Apple Church anyway, so let them be hostile.
Instead, he was more concerned that the death of Will only awarded him 20 points of experience.
How stingy!
But there was nothing he could do; even though the other party had some status in the Red Apple Church as a monk, he was just an ordinary person.
In the eyes of the system's judgment, he wasn't worth much.
[Triggered a C-level mission: Mercy]
Mission Description: You've killed Will, a monk of Red Apple Church, and you must be prepared for their retaliation.
Will you have mercy and take the opportunity to free the wretched prisoners?
Mission Reward: 500 Experience Points and 800 Copper Kro.
Chen Lun thought for a moment and decided to accept the mission.
The money reward was pathetic, but he urgently needed the experience points.
Moreover, rescuing those sacrifices was also a blow to the Red Apple Church.
Rewards, saving people, backstabbing.
Three birds with one stone, indeed a beautiful deal.
"What should we do next?"
Floey approached Chen Lun, glanced at Will lying on the ground gazing up at the starry sky, and then looked away, no longer concerned.
"You've killed Will, and it won't be long before the guards outside notice something's wrong, and then they will heavily surround this place."
Chen Lun leisurely collected the diary from the altar and then turned around.
"I've dug a tunnel in the corner of my cell that leads outside, escape through there first."
"What about you?"
Floey asked with a hint of confusion.
"I have other things to do, and with me drawing their attention, you'll have an easier time escaping."
Chen Lun crouched down, called a large black rat using Beast Speech, and then sent it outside the basement to look around.
Soon, the big black rat scurried back in and reported the situation with a couple of squeaks.
Chen Lun stood up and looked at Floey.
"There are only two guards outside now; you can easily slip past them."
Floey silently stared at him for a while before she finally said,
"...Alright, then I'll go first."
"Yeah, take care of yourself."
After speaking, Chen Lun sat on the altar and began to ponder his next move.
Hints about the prison's layout that the rats offered slowly emerged in his mind, along with the patrol distribution of the guards.
"I still don't know your name, can you tell me?"
Floey's ethereal voice came through.
Chen Lun lifted his head and saw her standing at the door, turning back to look at him.
He was taken aback for a moment, then smiled.
"You can call me Chen Lun."
"Okay... My name is Floey."
"I know, that's what they all call you."
For the first time, Floey smiled; she looked back at the man on the altar deeply before leaving the room.
"You be careful too."
…
After Floey left, Chen Lun purposefully waited some time, his thoughts becoming clearer by the minute.
Then footsteps echoed from the entrance of the basement.
Side by side, a man with two small mustaches and another guard cautiously pushed open the iron door.
"Monk Will?"
What greeted their eyes was Will's angry face, blocking their path.
"You two idiots! Didn't I tell you not to come in!?"
The men with the small mustaches were startled and immediately lowered their heads submissively.
"I'm so sorry, Lord Will! We just came because..."
Mid-sentence, Small Mustache realized something was wrong.
The voice of Monk Will had changed, and... why was his back turned to us?
"Not good...!"
Before Small Mustache and his companion could draw their swords, they looked up to find Monk Will's body already hurtling toward them.
Bang!!
The two were knocked off balance by the tremendous force, while Chen Lun's figure agilely darted out from behind the door.
His hands shot out simultaneously, his arms transforming into sinuous serpents, tightly winding around the necks of the two guards.
The mustachioed man and his companions' eyes bulged, their faces flushed red with no sound escaping their throats, as they watched their bodies being slowly dragged into the underground basement.
Bang!
The door to the basement closed slowly.
A while later, when The Great Gate opened again, a figure clad in a leather coat and wearing a brimmed hat walked out from inside.
[Killed a Red Apple Church Prison Guard, gained 10 Experience Points]
[Killed a Red Apple Church Prison Guard, gained 10 Experience Points]
The guards weren't very strong, perhaps because they had the profession of "Prison Guard," their panel attributes were slightly higher than Chen Lun's current ones.
But they were still just ordinary people and were no match for a Transcendent stepping into the Mystic Realm.
Chen Lun pulled out the set of keys he had taken from the mustachioed man and headed straight for the cell where the sacrificial offerings were kept.
The key ring had keys for all the cells in the prison.
On the way, he casually opened his panel and invested the accumulated 1000-plus Experience Points entirely into his Main Occupation "Beast Tamer," leveling up seven times on the spot.
[Main Occupation Level increased, you feel your body has been strengthened, Life Limit +140, Physical Strength Limit +70, Sanity Limit +1, Strength +2, Agility +7, Intelligence +4]
[You gained 7 Skill Points, 7 Attribute Points]
Then Chen Lun spent 4 Skill Points to upgrade "Animal Mimicry LV1" to max level 5.
Chen Lun's panel then changed to the following—
Name: Chen Lun
Race: Human (Eastern Continent)
Template: NPC (Countdown to Version 1.0 Public Beta: 401 days 11 hours 12 minutes 25 seconds)
Level: 11
Experience: 10/190
Life: 180/180
Physical Strength: 110/130
Sanity: 6/6
Main Occupation: [Sequence Nine Beast Tamer LV8] (Destiny Faction)
Sub Occupation: [Fisherman LV3]
Attributes: Strength 6, Agility 13, Endurance 5, Intelligence 7, Faith 3
Special Attributes: Charm 7 (+2), Willpower 5, Insight 3, Luck 3
Remaining Points: 4 Skill Points, 9 Attribute Points
Skills: Quick Reflexes LV1 (Passive), Seafaring Balance LV1 (Passive), Beast Speech LV1, Animal Mimicry LVMAX, Friend of Animals LVMAX (Passive)
Combat Power: 17
[Evaluation: A newbie stepping onto the Mystic Path, the floor Combat Power of a Transcendent. Apart from a randy gorilla, perhaps no one would take you seriously...]
Chen Lun ignored the comment.
Then he nodded his head in satisfaction.
Just as he was passing a corner, two guards walked toward him.
As they drew closer, one of them turned his head in confusion and took a few good looks at Chen Lun, who pulled his brimmed hat down.
"Hey, wait a minute, buddy..."
One stood in front of Chen Lun with a torch while the other placed his hand on the hilt of the short sword at his waist.
Chen Lun noticed that their gaze fixated on the back of his clean hands, immediately realizing they had become suspicious.
Because there was no simple Red Apple tattoo on the back of his hand!
"It's an intruder! Take him down!"
Chen Lun sighed inwardly.
He knew he couldn't hide for long, but he didn't expect to be discovered just after leaving, though he had never intended to rely on stealth and assassination to pass this level.
The guards drew their swords with a cling, but Chen Lun was faster and had already drawn the regulation short sword at his waist, sweeping it horizontally.
A cold glint flickered, crossing the throats of the two men.
[-97][-98]
Two bright red damage numbers popped up.
Rip—
Blood spattered as the burning torch and the guards' bodies fell to the ground.
Clang!
The sword that was just drawn by the guard now fell as well.
"Hey! What's going on over there!?"
"Quick, check it out!"
Voices and footsteps approached rapidly from the end of the corridor.
Chen Lun remained calm, merely waving his hand, and his index finger shone with light while he emitted a piercing cry.
Suddenly, dozens, perhaps hundreds, of large black rats scurried out from all directions of the dim hallway, squeaking wildly as they pounced forward.
Against the mottled walls lit by firelight, the shadows of three or four guards coming in for support were instantly brought down.
Then, accompanied by the rats' squeaking and gnawing sounds, terrified screams echoed through the corridor.
— Arghhh!!