“Retreat! Retreat! Retreat!”
Tongque shrieked as she yanked down the Periscope Probe. The sisters activated their jetpacks, catapulting backward along the tunnel they had come from like two cannonballs.
Behind them, a sizzling sound echoed as something scorched the layer of soil.
They tumbled and rolled quite a distance, only stopping when they crashed into a corner.
Tiechui's goggles were shattered, and a large bump had swollen on her forehead.
But she ignored the pain, frantically checking on Tongque in her arms. In the darkness, the sisters' rapid breathing mingled.
“Are you hurt?” Tiechui asked, lingering fear in her voice.
She was rarely afraid. During her internship, she had dared to slam her hand on the table to protest against her lead instructor, and her first assignment after becoming a full member was restoring the trade route through the Cursed Forest—a task that had been suspended for decades. Yet now, the arm she wrapped around her sister was trembling slightly.
“I'm fine,” Tongque gasped, her heart pounding so hard it felt like it would leap out of her chest.
She had seen witches a few times in the black market. Those witches hid in the shadows, concealing their faces and appearances, and even their breathing was cautious. Avoiding attention was their consistent rule of survival.
But the one above... that existence completely transcended her understanding.
“She really is a witch.” Tongque calmed down, her brain, which had been frozen by fear, starting to function again. “A very powerful witch.”
Silence fell over the tunnel. Tiechui had not yet recovered from the image of the witch throwing a Fireball at them.
The large bump on her forehead throbbed with pain, and she rummaged through her pack for some special medicine.
Tongque's thoughts drifted, and she hit upon another possibility. “We can cooperate with her.”
“Are you crazy?!” Tiechui nearly jumped, her swollen forehead narrowly avoiding another collision with the tunnel ceiling.
“She looks more dangerous than all the monsters in the forest combined! She almost burned us to ashes just now!”
“But she is highly likely to be a witch who holds a heritage.” Tongque took a deep breath, her fingers unconsciously rubbing the dial of the detector in her arms, her gaze firm.
“No matter how dangerous she seems, she is still a witch, and she won't harm us without reason. Just now, she only mistook us for a monster. I believe that when we stand before her, she won't hurt us. Sis, imagine if we could build a friendship with a living, powerful witch...”
Tiechui opened her mouth, instinctively wanting to object, but as she followed Tongque's logic, she had to admit her sister was right.
Goblins were pragmatic most of the time, but they knew better than any other race that to seize massive profits, one must accept the accompanying risks.
“Then what do you suggest we do?” Tiechui shrugged helplessly. Her expression had clearly shifted to interest, though she remained tense, unwilling to admit defeat too easily for the sake of her pride.
“We can't just rush up and say, ‘Hi, powerful Lady Witch, are you interested in making a deal with us?’ That would be too stupid!”
Tongque flashed a sly smile—the standard expression of a goblin merchant preparing to make a big deal.
“Let's observe first. She's clearing and purifying this area, which means she plans to stay here. Perhaps she has already established a stronghold.”
Tongque pulled a folding seismic listening device from her backpack and waved it triumphantly.
“We'll follow her underground to gather intelligence. Once the Silver Moon rises tonight and the activity of the corrupted creatures drops, we'll go up and make contact with her.”
As she spoke, she inserted the probe of the listening device into the upper mycelium layer. The runic crystal at the tip of the probe glowed with a faint blue light, translating the ground's vibrations into waveforms on the crystal screen.
“What if she attacks us?”
“Then we'll use this.” Tongque reached deep into her backpack again and pulled out a small box wrapped in soft leather. Opening the lid, she revealed a silver metal plate emitting a soft glow.
“As long as she's a witch, she won't hurt us.”
The silver metal plate was only half the size of a palm, polished into the shape of a full moon. Its surface was engraved with fine runic patterns, resembling a miniature silver moon in the darkness.
Tiechui stared at the metal plate and sighed. “Fine. Let's hope she recognizes the Moon Token crafted by the Path of the Silver Moon. I really don't want to be turned into a roasted goblin...”
“Hey, Sis, where's that grand ambition of yours from earlier?!” Tongque grinned, revealing two protruding fangs.
Right above their heads, Wu Yao stood amidst the filthy blood covering the ground, scratching her head in confusion.
“Strange, I could have sworn I felt something there just now...” she muttered. She casually threw a few more Fireballs around, blasting down two reckless corrupted giant birds, which turned into two Corrupted Cores as they fell. “Was it an illusion?”
She didn't think much of it, grabbing a handful of Corrupted Cores from the ground and skillfully purifying them with flame.
After grinding monsters for so long, she had now reached Level 7. The numbers on her status panel had undergone earth-shattering changes compared to when she first entered the game.
【Level: Lv.7】
【Experience: 827/1600】
【Faction: Witch】
【Reputation: 0】
【Strength: 3 Agility: 3 Constitution: 3 Mana: 26】
【Intelligence: 17 Perception: 3 Charisma: 3 Willpower: 3】
【Health Points: 35/60】
【Mana Points: 106/283.5】
【Stamina: 37/60】
【Spells: Fireball (Lv.8), Waterball (Lv.5), Earth Wall (Lv.6), Cleaning (Lv.3), Weeding (Lv.1), Soil Cracking (Lv.1), Water Condensation (Lv.1), Illumination (Lv.1)】
【Skills: Spell (Lv.10), Specialization Direction not yet selected】
She had consistently allocated the three attribute points gained from leveling up to Mana and Intelligence.
However, upon reaching Level 5, she had received an additional +1 to all attributes, which brought a bit of balance to her extreme stat distribution.
But what she struggled with most at the moment was the specialization direction of her skill.
The selection box that had suddenly popped up during combat had forced her to load a previous save once again.
Fortunately, this wave of monsters was now completely cleared, so she could finally spare some time to study it carefully.
【Please select your spell specialization direction. Once confirmed, specializations cannot be changed (including through loading previous saves)】
Wu Yao, who originally wanted to try out each one, shook her head in regret. Since she couldn't load a save to change it, she could only make a decision based on the descriptions.
【Specialization Directions: Flame Heart (Fire Element Specialization), Tide (Water Element Specialization), Monolith (Earth Element Specialization), Windchaser (Wind Element Specialization)...】
The specialization directions were incredibly rich, and some special ones even required prerequisites to unlock. Wu Yao was completely spoiled for choice.
Referencing the brief descriptions of each specialization direction, Wu Yao picked and chose.
In the end, only two specialization directions made it to the final round.
Rate on N.U.
