Du Ruo didn't expect someone to come rent the room so quickly. Yesterday, after her bank balance dropped to three digits, she finally decided to post a roommate wanted ad online. Of course, she specified that only females were allowed.
When she opened the door, a beautiful woman in a purple coat was standing outside, struggling with a large suitcase, waiting expectantly. Her fair face was flushed from exercise, and her lovely long hair fell over her chest, which was rising and falling rhythmically.
"Excuse me, is this place available for rent?" The beauty at the door glanced past Du Ruo, examining the limited view of the living room's furnishings.
"Yes, come in first," Du Ruo said, turning around and tossing a pair of slippers on the floor. "No men allowed, one person per bedroom, all expenses split equally, and no interference with each other." Du Ruo turned again to help the beauty drag her suitcase into the living room. "The rent is eighteen hundred yuan per month, paid half-yearly. If you can manage that, you can take your room." Du Ruo pointed to a door and forced a small smile.
The beauty opened the door and looked around, seemingly satisfied. "As long as you can keep your word, I think it should be fine."
---
Honestly, teaming up with Thunder Axe and the others feels like exploiting them. The 46th-level Demon Cavalry and the 47th-level Cavalry Captain don’t provide suitable experience for a mage like me, and my Advanced Siphon and Death's Light spells can’t handle them. Only under the combined assault of Thunder Axe and the other two warriors can we quickly take down the monsters. Even then, their leveling speed has become extraordinarily slow—my level is about ten levels higher than theirs. Even without fighting, the experience from killing monsters that is distributed among the team members flows mostly into my account.
Despite this, my leveling speed has become incredibly slow, nothing like the thrill of fighting mutated skeletons. Sigh, having meat but complaining about the hair!
Thunder Axe and the others obviously noticed this problem too, but with outsiders present, they couldn't ask too much. So, they just fought harder. We passed half an hour in frustration before Wanderer Cloud showed up.
"Haha, Little Ji, you're here too. What, trying to play Zorro?" Wanderer Cloud, always his boisterous self, greeted me with a punch and quickly joined the team. His ultimate Advanced Siphon—Life Steal and the high-level Death’s Light—Death Mark were used effortlessly. With a strong mage added, the pressure on Thunder Axe and the other warriors eased a bit.
But the two warriors couldn’t stand having me, the high-level 'baby,' sharing their experience and, apologizing to Thunder Axe, left one by one.
"Old Ji, now that there’s no one else, honestly, what level are you?" Star Grass asked, somewhat frustrated. He was currently level 39, about to reach level 40 and learn all his skills. But he got stuck with me, a major experience hog.
"Hehe, no point hiding it from you. Star Grass, try using Pause Spell on me." I didn’t plan on hiding my level from them; it’s better to be clear to avoid any misunderstandings.
Hearing this, Star Grass quickly activated forced PK mode on me. The blue light of Pause Spell fell on me—MISS!
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I made a provocative gesture at Star Grass, signaling him to continue. When his skill recovered, another MISS.
"Impossible! I can even trap the Demon Cavalry Captain here, what level are you?" Star Grass glared at me with unwilling eyes, casting Pause Spell again, trapping a roaring Cavalry Captain nearby.
"Let me try!" Seeing me in a 'come at me' stance, Wanderer Cloud and Thunder Axe also activated forced PK mode on me. After rounds of attacks, Thunder Axe finally trapped me with Battle Binding. But Star Grass still got only MISS...
"Level 49?" Thunder Axe wiped the sweat from his forehead, surprised. If there’s a 10-level difference, trapping skills become ineffective. He and Wanderer Cloud had just reached level 40, so they barely managed to trap me.
I nodded. Seeing no one was paying attention, I loudly chanted at another approaching Cavalry Captain, "Those who see my visage will be forever sealed in stone, Medusa's Gaze!" The Demon Cavalry Captain cooperated by turning into a statue.
Everyone was stunned! This was petrification! A legendary powerful skill, infamous like paralysis and stun. Once hit, you can’t move at all and are at the mercy of others.
I had no reason to hide anything from them. Not only were they the first people I met in the game, but also due to their care during our short time together, I didn't need to keep secrets from them. Besides, there's a desire to show off good stuff!
Seeing their dumbfounded expressions, I was very satisfied. Fortunately, no one showed any greedy looks. I decided to show off more: "Holy Spirit of Light, grant me boundless power, let the light pierce the darkness, and condemn the dark beings! Holy Word of Light!" As I finished chanting, a swath of milky white light descended, fully engulfing the Demon Cavalry Captain.
The petrified Demon Cavalry Captain made no sound and shattered into pieces!
Impossible! Can Holy Word attack non-undead creatures too? Now I was stunned. Honestly, I used Holy Word just to show off, thinking it only worked on dark creatures.
Wanderer Cloud, who had thoroughly researched mage skills, was the first to recover. Seeing me dazed, he quickly figured out why. "Don't be surprised, Holy Word can attack all targets, but it has extra damage against dark creatures. Holy Word is the ultimate attack skill for combat clerics, their bread and butter."
"Right, I've heard that when warlocks specialize in priest and bishop paths and meet certain conditions, they can get skill books through quests, or skill books might drop," Star Grass added, his eyes burning with "You lucky dog" admiration.
"Yeah, Medusa's Gaze and Holy Word, indeed boss-level moves. Got any healing spells?" Wanderer Cloud fixed his eyes on my staff. From the moment I cast Medusa’s Gaze, he had guessed it was the second-ranked Medusa's Staff.
"Eh, how did you know?" I asked curiously. I’d always wondered why Medusa was linked to healing spells and Holy Word.
"Obviously, Medusa was a beautiful priestess before her fall!" Wanderer Cloud rolled his eyes. "Medusa's Staff should have been called Dawn Goddess Staff. Later, Medusa cursed it with petrification, but for players, this skill is... well! People die when compared!"
With my Holy Word, leveling speed increased rapidly. I didn't use the petrification skill under Wanderer Cloud's well-intentioned advice, as it was too enviable. Holy Word was less terrifying. Although sometimes it could one-shot a Cavalry Captain, more often it was ineffective or just slowed the monster down. Even so, it was much better than leeching experience, and I could secretly heal Thunder Axe, a priest’s specialty far better than a non-transcended warlock's emergency healing, earning frequent grateful glances from Thunder Axe.
Near noon, Star Grass finally reached level 40. After upgrading all his skills, the leveling speed improved significantly. During a break, I surprised them again by swapping rings, using Master-level Appraisal to "restore the original luster to all dusty treasures," making Star Grass and Wanderer Cloud shout unfairness.
Then, the long-lost beauty in purple messaged me directly without texting.
"Ji, come to Tai West Gate and save me." Her tone was anxious and aggrieved, even changing how she addressed me, followed by a "Bastard, get lost!"
Stunned, the last sentence was clearly not meant for me. It seemed she really encountered trouble.