"Roar!"
A deep growl echoed as the ground suddenly exploded. With a "boom," a pale white arm burst from the soil. Moments later, a skeleton clad only in tattered rags emerged, its empty eye sockets glowing with an eerie light as it stared intently at Diana and me.
The sudden appearance of the monster startled me. I quickly took two steps back, shielding Diana behind me.
Diana seemed pleased with my reaction, smiling softly. "Not bad, Silas. You're braver than I thought."
I thought to myself: Damn, my legs are shaking. How is that 'not bad'?
Without further ado, I swiftly examined the skeleton's attributes:
[Bone Warrior] (Common Monster)
Level: 30
Attack: 245-280
Defense: 60
HP: 1500
Attack Type: Weak Point Strike, reduces target's defense by 25%
I was shocked. "Whoa! Its attack power goes up to 280. That's terrifying!"
Diana chuckled. "Silas, look at its HP and defense."
I instantly understood. These undead monsters had weak defense and HP, but their attacks were incredibly powerful.
Without hesitation, I drew my iron arrow and skillfully fired an Ice Arrow.
"Thwack!"
A damage number of 724 appeared above the Bone Warrior's head. I immediately followed up with a Fire Arrow, dealing another 879 damage.
"Woooo..."
The Bone Warrior had no chance to counterattack and fell to the ground.
Diana's eyes widened in surprise. "Wow, Silas! Your physical attack is impressive!"
The implication was clear - her magic attack was no slouch either.
I caught her meaning and smiled. "Why don't you give it a try, Diana?"
Diana grinned and casually tossed a fireball at another Bone Warrior's head.
"1894!"
One-shot kill! She had obliterated the level 30 monster with a single critical hit.
No wonder Diana wanted to level up here. Her fire magic damage was phenomenal!
Diana looked at me, smiling. "Looks like our little duo is quite the powerhouse, huh?"
I was speechless. This two-person team wasn't just powerful - our damage output was probably unrivaled worldwide!
From that point on, things became much simpler. I scouted ahead while Diana followed closely behind. Her fireballs whizzed through the air, annihilating every monster in sight. My Fire Arrows occasionally burst forth as well. Though not quite as potent as Diana's Fireball spell, they could still take down a level 30 Bone Warrior in two shots.
Our experience bars skyrocketed. Almost every monster gave over 1000 experience points. Whenever a monster dropped a blue potion, Diana would eagerly exclaim, "Silas, hurry and pick up that potion!"
Diana was quite frugal, despite having bought 24 gold coins worth of potions before coming here.
Within an hour, we had swept through all the monsters on the hillside. I had leveled up from 25 to 27, an astonishing speed. Diana remained at level 30, indicating how difficult it became to level up in the later stages. Of course, I knew that because of my lower level, I was probably siphoning off a good portion of her experience.
Finally, we arrived at the entrance of a cave. Ominous words were carved above the opening: Phantom Cavern.
Diana smiled. "This is my destination. Silas, see that pile of bones on the right? If you interact with it, you can receive the Phantom Cavern quest. Let's go in together and see if we can complete it."
I glanced over and indeed saw a pile of ancient bones scattered on the ground to the right of the entrance.
I turned back to Diana, surprised. "Diana, this place is creepy as hell. Aren't you scared?"
Diana gave a soft laugh. "Of course I'm scared. Can't you see I'm keeping my distance?"
I was speechless. I opened the dialogue with the pile of bones, and sure enough, the system responded:
"Ding!"
System Prompt: These bones seem to hide a secret. Would you like to investigate further?
I quickly confirmed, and another system chime sounded:
"Ding!"
System Prompt: You have accepted the quest [Phantom Cavern] (Current quest difficulty: 550)!
Quest details: A kingdom general has been slain outside the cave. Enter the fifth level of the cavern, find the culprit, and eliminate them!
The quest was straightforward - enter the Phantom Cavern, kill a certain monster, and that would be it!
Diana asked from beside me, "What's the quest difficulty?"
"550. What about yours?"
"450. Hehe!"
Probably because Diana was a higher level, her difficulty was much lower.
As I stood up, Diana smiled. "Originally, I planned to find someone with high attack and defense from among American top ten players to complete this quest together. Now it seems that's unnecessary. You'll do just fine, Silas!"
As she spoke, Diana's beautiful eyes scanned my Crimson Flame set, a mischievous glint in her gaze.
I inwardly groaned. Dealing with smart girls was never easy. She must have noticed something special about the Crimson Flame set!
I played dumb. "No way, I'm just a frail archer. You don't expect me to tank, do you?"
Diana shot me an exasperated look. "Don't play coy with me. That armor set must have at least 150 defense. My eye for these things is quite sharp!"
I was secretly amazed. She had guessed it spot on!
At that moment, Diana smiled slightly and revealed her equipment effects one by one. In an instant, a dazzling light shone forth. Her mage equipment set glowed brilliantly, catching the eye.
Diana didn't hide anything, sharing the attributes of each piece of equipment with the party. She was wearing the Blaze set, a level 30 mage bronze equipment set!
Almost every piece of the Blaze set added about 5% fire magic damage. The set effect itself boosted fire magic damage by a whopping 50% and came with a Flame Shield skill that could protect the mage from physical damage for a short time!
I was in awe. It's true that comparisons are odious. I had thought my Crimson Flame set was impressive, but it paled in comparison to Diana's Blaze set!
So, I decided to come clean and shared the attributes of my Crimson Flame set with her, as well as those of my Golden Bow.
When Diana saw the attributes of the Golden Bow, her mouth fell open in surprise. "Holy cow! So... so the first silver-tier equipment is actually in your hands! Hmph... and here you were, acting all pitiful every day. You actually had such powerful gear!"
I sighed helplessly. "I had no choice but to keep it under wraps. Otherwise, my equipment would have been looted who knows how many times by now. It's not the thief you fear, but the one who covets what you have. How could I level up peacefully if I was constantly on edge?"
Diana smiled gently. "That's true! Now I'm even more confident! Let's push through to the fifth level of the Phantom Cavern today and complete this quest. The reward must be substantial!"
I nodded. A quest with a difficulty of 550 was bound to have generous rewards!
So, I stepped into the cave. The temperature dropped sharply, and I couldn't help but shiver.
The interior of the Phantom Cavern looked like a large circular pit, with stairs leading to the next level on the opposite side.
A hoarse roar echoed, and Diana urgently said, "Watch out on your right!"
I turned to look and was startled. At some point, a skeletal monster in armor had appeared on the right, swinging a heavy sword at me!
"Crack!"
With a light sound, the sword grazed my shoulder. A sharp pain shot through me, and I saw my HP drop by nearly 300 points!
What terrifying attack power!
I quickly checked its attributes, but the result left me speechless:
[Phantom Knight] (Common Monster)
Level: ???
Attack: ???
Defense: ???
HP: ???
By this time, Diana had already skillfully thrown a Fireball, causing the skeleton to stagger and lose nearly a quarter of its HP!
My heart skipped a beat. No wonder Diana needed help. The monsters in the Phantom Cavern were much stronger than those on Ghostking Hill outside!
I raised my hand and shot a Fire Arrow. With a "boom," the skeleton lost 421 HP!
I wasn't satisfied with this damage. Diana had just blasted away 600 HP in one go!
So, I quickly switched to Armor-Piercing Arrow. A white light flashed, piercing straight through the skeleton's armor. A "894" floated above its head!
Diana followed up with another Fireball, dealing 558 damage. The skeleton finally fell.
Diana looked at me in astonishment. "What skill did you just use? It's so powerful, taking away 900 HP in one shot!"
I couldn't help but feel proud as I told her about the Armor-Piercing Arrow's ability to ignore 50% of defense. Luna's smile grew wider. "In that case, we have an even better chance of completing the quest! Many of the monsters below have heavy armor defenses. The Armor-Piercing Arrow will come in handy!"
Just then, another Phantom Knight was detected nearby. However, I couldn't see its level or attributes at all. Diana informed me that these Phantom Knights were level 34, with an attack of 250-320 and 2400 HP.
At level 27, the monster's level exceeded mine by 6, making it impossible for me to see its stats.
I bent down to pick up the silver coins dropped by the previous Phantom Knight, then teamed up with Diana to take down another one with two Armor-Piercing Arrows.
But at that very moment, a shadowy figure appeared behind Diana. Before she could react, the glint of a dagger flashed!