Chapter 36: Fierce Battle

But everyone was well aware in their hearts that the youth before them, whose age was similar to their own, was by no means an ordinary player. His insight far surpassed that of normal people, his skills were astoundingly formidable, and he even reminded the girls of details to watch out for in the wild, arranging them into the standard formation of scout, mage, healer, and warrior. He produced several bottles and jars that even Qingyi didn’t recognize, instructing them to smear the contents on their skin, which proved to be remarkably effective at repelling insects.

Unconsciously, the three of them grew somewhat curious about Lu Kuan.

“All right, we’ve rested enough, let’s keep looking. We still don’t know exactly where those cave dwellers are hiding~” A’Kui, ever boisterous, waved everyone onward, unconcerned.

Lu Kuan stood and was about to turn away when, as if noticing something, he suddenly looked back, his eyes narrowing as he fixed his gaze on the thicket behind Bai Keke.

Among the three, Bai Keke was the most timid. When Lu Kuan looked at her like that, she immediately cowered behind A’Kui. At that moment, all three saw a line of text flash in the party channel.

“Enemies to the northwest, three in number. Priest, begin pre-casting!”

The forest was utterly quiet, and the girls hadn’t noticed anything unusual, but at Lu Kuan’s order, they instinctively reacted.

Bai Keke hesitated for a moment, then immediately began chanting Chain Heal. By now, Qingyi had already raised her shield to stand in front of her, while A’Kui, at the rear, promptly cast “Stoneskin” on Qingyi.

A second later, the tranquil scene was shattered in an instant!

“Grrr!”

A burly cave dweller suddenly charged out, stone axe raised high as it rushed headlong at Qingyi in the lead!

Tall and slender, Qingyi crouched slightly, angling her shield. With a resounding “bang!” she met the stone axe head-on. Fortunately, most of the force was already deflected. A “-30” appeared above her head as a damage indicator, but at the same time, her sword struck true, piercing the cave dweller’s belly.

Almost simultaneously, Bai Keke’s spell finished casting, and a gentle green light linked her and Qingyi. Above their heads, “+15” and “+8” healing numbers floated up.

At the back of the group, A’Kui was alarmed: Qingyi was protected by Stoneskin, which added 10% extra armor, and she was in a defensive stance. Yet she still took 30 points of damage from a single hit!?

A’Kui reflexively glanced at the monster’s info, and his heart sank: Level 11 Elite!

Though shocked, A’Kui’s hands did not slow. He raised his staff, readying the next spell.

Just then, they heard Lu Kuan’s shout: “Hold off the cave dweller captain; I’ll take care of the others!”

Even as he spoke, a white-feathered arrow shot from the rear, and as if to echo his words, two slightly smaller cave dwellers suddenly burst from what had seemed an empty stretch of forest.

The leader of the tundra cave dwellers crashed headlong into the arrow, instantly pinned in place. The other shrieked wildly and charged at the female warrior, only to be met by two successive Bonebreaker Arrows!

“Thud! Thud!”

One arrow struck the cave dweller’s knee, the other buried itself in its chest, damage numbers “-14!” and “-47!” springing forth.

Lu Kuan was delighted to see these numbers: The two points of strength granted by the ring made a tangible difference. The damage now was worlds apart from before—even a shot to the protected chest could inflict a critical hit of over 40!

Just then, a flash of green light danced over Lu Kuan’s right thumb, turning both bowstring and arrow a vibrant emerald. A crisp, pleasant system chime sounded in his ear.

“System prompt: Valenthiel’s Resolve activated. All damage +20%, hit rate +20, lasts 15 seconds!”

“Haha! Take this!” Lu Kuan laughed, drawing his bow to the full and aiming at the staggering cave dweller. A volley of green arrows shot forth, all striking the creature squarely in the face!

“-60!”

“-75!”

“-82!”

Massive damage numbers erupted without warning, startling the three girls. Before they could even process what was happening, the unfortunate cave dweller was already screaming as it crashed to the ground, a flash of brilliant white light marking its demise.

Lu Kuan repeated the process, eliminating the other cave dweller before the 15-second effect wore off, then directed all his firepower at the cave dweller captain.

On the other side, Qingyi was being steadily forced back by the captain’s relentless assault. Lu Kuan had learned during their earlier conversation that Qingyi had allocated all her free attribute points to constitution, giving her over 300 health, but this made her struggle against strength-based monsters.

“Bang!”

“Aaah…”

The squad leader brought his heavy axe crashing down on Qingyi, who blocked with textbook form. Yet the gap in strength was too great—Qingyi was hammered to one knee, a cry of pain escaping her lips.

“-70!”

Seeing the red number above Qingyi’s head, Bai Keke panicked and immediately began casting the more powerful “Healing Wave.”

“Don’t use Healing Wave—use a quick spell!” Lu Kuan saw what she was doing and called out urgently. Healing Wave took three full seconds to cast—there wasn’t enough time!

Lacking combat experience, Bai Keke froze at Lu Kuan’s shout, even more flustered than before.

In that instant of hesitation, the cave dweller captain’s second heavy blow came crashing down!

“Boom!”

This time, the hit landed squarely. Qingyi was sent flying, tumbling through the air before landing heavily on the ground, a glaring “-90!” floating above her.

The next moment, Bai Keke was left utterly unprotected, facing the cave dweller captain directly. She could see the spray of saliva and filthy hands reaching for her from the creature’s gaping maw.

Both A’Kui and Bai Keke’s hearts sank at the sight, despair written in their eyes.

Only Lu Kuan remained cold and composed. While peppering the cave dweller’s knees with arrows to slow it down, he shouted, “Don’t panic! A’Kui, cast Lightfoot on the cave dweller—Keke, drop a Binding Totem and run right!”

Lu Kuan’s commanding voice snapped the other two out of their daze, and both turned instinctively to him. They didn’t understand his plan, but the unyielding tone and determined look in his eyes inspired a sudden surge of confidence.

They couldn’t give up!

A’Kui’s staff flared with light, and after a swift incantation, a white glow flashed around the cave dweller captain’s legs, its speed suddenly surging. The massive stone axe was now within reach of Bai Keke.

But the cave dweller seemed extremely unaccustomed to this state. Its huge body struggled to keep balance, lurching awkwardly from side to side.

At that moment, Bai Keke’s spell completed as well. She hurled a totem as thick as an arm to the ground, and a circle of earthen light spread five meters around it.

Already off-balance, the cave dweller could no longer keep its footing. It was as if it had plunged into water—its step faltered, and its own momentum sent it sprawling face-first to the ground.