System Prompt: You have obtained an "Unsigned Letter"!
Unsigned Letter: A very ordinary letter. Strangely, the letter has no signature at the end, yet for some reason, Montu always carries it with him!
"Here he comes again! That's the one who stole from us! Kill him!" After the illusion emerged to steal, the Fire Mage recognized it and shouted loudly.
The two mages and the archer prepared to shift their attacks to the illusion. Seeing the letter in his backpack, Xiao Hua was delighted and ordered the illusion to self-destruct.
The moment Montu noticed the letter being stolen, his usually emotionless face showed a brief surprise. In the next instant, when he realized what had happened, he angrily redirected his hatred towards the illusion behind him, wanting to kill it to retrieve the letter. However, before he could turn around, the illusion exploded!
"Give me back my letter!" Watching the thief self-destruct, Montu yelled frantically, his eyes wide open, completely ignoring the attacks landing on him as he searched for Xiao Hua's figure.
The six-person team was momentarily confused about what had happened, but they seized the opportunity to launch a full-scale attack. Surprisingly, Montu's originally thin body began emitting wisps of black smoke and started to swell, although his HP didn't increase, his defense became incredibly high. Their attacks could only deal single-digit damage to Montu!
Looking at Montu's body, Xiao Hua was shocked. The black smoke was familiar, and at this moment, Abooli flew down from the sky, standing on Xiao Hua's shoulder and exclaimed fearfully, "This person has the aura of dark energy! Although it's weak, it's definitely not wrong!"
Indeed, Xiao Hua had suspected the same thing, and now Abooli confirmed it!
Stimulated by the dark energy, Montu's attributes greatly increased, yet he did not retaliate. Instead, he looked around furiously, unable to find Xiao Hua. Finally, he turned around and shouted at the Knight and Warrior attacking him, "Give me back my letter, and I'll tell you everything I know!"
Not knowing where the letter went, Montu naturally suspected that the thief was working with the people attacking him.
"You tell us what you know first, and we'll return your letter!" The Knight Captain had figured out what had happened. The thief had apparently stolen a letter that could trigger the next part of the quest, and it was likely different from the usual quests.
With a quick thought, the Knight Captain ordered his teammates to stop attacking, hoping to extract information about the next quest from Montu. Deceiving NPCs to progress missions was not uncommon in many quests, the key was finding a believable way to deceive them.
Hearing the Knight Captain's words, Xiao Hua, who was hiding nearby, felt a surge of dread. If these people got the information about the next part of the quest, his efforts would be in vain.
"Hand over the letter first!" Montu stared at the group before him, unwilling to reveal anything.
"You tell us what you know, and we'll return the letter immediately!" The Knight said firmly, leaving no room for negotiation since they did not have the letter.
Seeing the Knight's resolute face, Montu hesitated for a moment but then said, "Let me see the letter first, then I'll talk."
Not bad, Montu, you're quite smart!
Xiao Hua praised Montu inwardly, relieved that he was not going to reveal anything rashly.
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The Knight's face changed slightly. Montu was willing to talk now, and logically, he should produce the letter. If he had the letter, he would have taken it out without hesitation. However, he had none to offer!
Montu sensed the Knight's unease and shouted, swinging his axe!
—4400!
Montu's attack power had doubled, and the Knight was shocked, shouting, "Retreat!" The Priest used a healing spell while the Knight drank a potion, preparing to retreat under the cover of the ranged classes.
Montu did not pursue but bent down to pick up pieces of wood, throwing them with his arms covered in black smoke. Each piece of wood whizzed through the air like cannonballs, flying towards the six people!
Each of the six received one or two pieces of wood. Xiao Hua watched from the woods as each of them was hit and turned into white light, dying.
Montu walked over, circled around, but found no letter. He returned to the wooden house, pacing restlessly, occasionally glancing into the distance, slowly reverting to his original form.
"What do we do now?" During this time, Xiao Hua had relayed the events to the others in the party channel to discuss their next move.
"This letter holds special significance to Montu. If we return it, he should tell us what he knows. However, he has dark energy, suggesting a quest related to dark magic."
Seeing Montu revert to his original state, Xiao Hua noticed he was becoming fatigued due to the aftereffects of using dark energy. Xiao Hua decided to approach him.
Taking the letter out of his backpack, he waved it in front of Montu. Montu immediately exclaimed, "Give me the letter!"
"I can return it, but tell me what you know, especially about dark energy, and I'll give it back right away," Xiao Hua said with a smile.
"Do you know about dark energy?" Montu asked, surprised and uncertain.
"A little bit."
"The letter is from my daughter who has been missing for years. Give it back to me, and I'll tell you everything I know. I may have a bad temper, but I keep my promises." Montu decided to get the letter back first.
Xiao Hua hesitated for a moment and then handed the letter back. Montu read it carefully and then tucked it back into his chest.
"Regarding the missing citizens, I have no information, but I know something that might be related.
Many years ago, I was an adventurer. Once, our team discovered an ancient temple. Inside the temple, we encountered a mutated monster. This creature was extremely powerful. Out of six members in our party, only my fellow Mage and I survived after losing four teammates to kill the monster. After the monster died, two black orbs of dark energy floated from its corpse and entered our bodies!
Initially, we didn't know what they were, but later we learned from a book that they were dark energy, lurking within our bodies!
We were alarmed and sought ways to remove the dark energy. We feared that if others found out, they would eliminate us before the dark energy took over our bodies.
After searching through countless resources, we eventually found some information about dark energy but discovered that removing it completely required visiting the Holy Priests at the Light Church, which was impossible. We knew from experience that the Holy Priests would capture us instead of helping us.
Reluctantly, we found ways to conceal the dark energy. Fortunately, we not only found a method to hide it but also discovered how to utilize it!"
Utilize dark energy?
Xiao Hua was startled and asked immediately, "Mr. Montu, how can one utilize dark energy?"
"That knowledge won't be useful to you. Only those with dark energy can understand it!" Montu was unhappy that Xiao Hua interrupted him and waved his hand, unwilling to elaborate further.
"Is the dark energy you mentioned similar to this?" Xiao Hua lifted his clothes to reveal the three dark flowers on his arm.
"Dark energy? Such concentrated dark energy!" Montu looked at Xiao Hua with fear in his eyes!
"I'm like you. I killed a monster and got infused with dark energy. Could Mr. Montu teach me how to utilize it?" Thinking about the changes Montu underwent using dark energy, Xiao Hua was intrigued. Learning this skill could make negotiations easier, and no reward could compare to such a practical ability!
"No problem, but are you sure you want to learn it? This method is a double-edged sword, useful but with significant drawbacks." Montu did not hesitate but warned Xiao Hua.
"Learn it!" Skills taught by NPCs count as class skills, not occupying free skill slots. It was worth learning, even if he didn't end up using it.
Montu nodded slightly, and Xiao Hua received a system prompt.
System Prompt: You have learned the skill "Demonization"!
Demonization (Low Level): Utilize dark energy to enter a demonized state, instantly increasing all attributes by 20%. The effect lasts for 10 minutes, during which damage from light attribute attacks is doubled. After the demonized state ends, the character enters a weakened state with all attributes reduced by 50%, lasting for 180 minutes. This skill cannot be used again until the weakened state ends.
Phew! This skill is like a short-term stimulant with severe side effects. Unlike stimulants that claim to maintain effects for hours, this skill only lasts for 10 minutes!