reign of the hunters

Chapter 7 Lukewarm Water

Ye Ci took a look at the black wolf that was a actually Lycan. In her past life, she would never have even thought of stopping to help. At that time, she had deemed matters that were not related to her unworthy of her attention.

However, the current Ye Ci was no longer her past self. She drew out her bow despite the horde of spiders that were closing in on the Lycan’s heels. She drew an arrow from her quiver and nocked it onto the bow. She let the arrow loose, after which it flew straight and true.

Ye Ci had never played as a Huntress before. But after having spent ten years playing as a Sorceress, she developed the accuracy necessary for launching a ranged attack. The first arrow flew right into a spider’s eye. The spider hissed in agony and turned its attention to Ye Ci.

Ye Ci, of course, did not stand still.

She unleashed a flurry of arrows at the spider while running away from it. An Elven Huntress had very high balance. In a high speed chase, their advantage was obvious when it came to balance.

Ye Ci kited the spider while leaping up from time to time. She defied gravity, landing on tree after tree. The spider could not even get close to her.

She slew a spider and drew the attention of another.

Her damage had not been very high, but the copper arrow managed to raise it exponentially.

The lvl 4-5 spiders were ferocious. Since Ye Ci was kiting and leaping around, however, none of them managed to get close. A vast majority of them could not even close the distance before they were slain and subsequently converted into experience points.

Ye Ci’s aid greatly reduced the Lycan’s pressure. He morphed into human form and swung his blade at the nearest spider.

The Lycan glanced at Ye Ci from time to time. He could not help but marvel at the Elven Huntress’ graceful and precise movements, as well as her ruthless attacks.

Even if they’d never crossed swords, the Lycan could tell from the excellent positioning and the extremely fast reaction speed of the Elven Huntress that she was an expert when it came to PvP.

But the Lycan was more amazed by how adept the Elven Huntress was at controlling her character. The server was opened for only a few hours, but she had already reached lvl 5 (only lvl 5 characters could obtain beginner class-related weapons). Besides that, the way she moved about was not something that a newbie could pull off.

She looked more like an expert that was smurfing.

Was Fate openly tested before? Other than the beta test that was so shrouded in mystery that its very existence was debatable, there was no other occasion.

The Lycan’s curiosity towards Ye Ci increased.

They took care of the horde of spiders in no time. Before Ye Ci could speak, the Lycan was already smiling at her. “Thank you so much, Huntress.”

Ye Ci felt slightly reserved. She was never good when it came to interacting with people. She nodded and said after a slight pause, “You’re welcome.” With that she turned around with the intention to leave.

The Lycan did not feel awkward despite Ye Ci’s reserved attitude, he laughed and said, “I’m Lukewarm Water. That was close. I could’ve died.”

Judging from what he said, Ye Ci could tell that he had died more than once.

“It’s ok even if you die. There’s no death penalty before you reach lv10.” Said Ye Ci with a smile.

“I know, but if I die, I need to get back here from the village. Just so you know, it’s not simple.” Lukewarm Water explained. He shook his head and let out a sigh.

It was Ye Ci’s turn to be curious. Lukewarm Water’s equipment was clearly pre-lvl 5. Common sense dictated that he should be questing near the Lycan newbie village. Even when Lycan villages were pretty close to the Elven villages, there was no reason at all for him to be questing on the Elven side…

“What are you doing here?”

“I’m questing of course!” Said Lukewarm Water without hesitation. He raised his eyebrow after sizing up Ye Ci, “Oh yeah, isn’t an Elf supposed to be questing in Elven Territory? What are you doing in the Lycan Black Forest?”

This… This…

Isn’t this like the kettle calling the pot black?

Ye Ci was baffled. Could Lukewarm Water be one of those people with…absolutely no sense of direction? She pursed her lips and said, “This is the Elven Forest.”

“Eh?” Lukewarm Water’s attention was still focused on the Altar of Molor. He was surprised by Ye Ci’s words. He stared at her and grabbed his hair. “It can’t be!”

At this point, Ye Ci was fully aware that Lukewarm Water was an idiot with no sense of direction. She nodded her head, “This is the Elven Forest.”

“Damn!” Lukewarm Water cursed under his breath, “I got it wrong again! I’ve wasted my 30 minutes of advantage just by navigating around the map!” He then looked at Ye Ci and let out an embarrassed laugh. “See, I’ve been so long-winded that I did not even ask for your name yet.”

“Gongzi You.” Ye Ci made no attempt to hide her name. After all, the Lycan had already introduced himself.

“This is a rather…” Lukewarm Water stole a glance at Ye Ci and said, “A very, very gender neutral name.”

Ye Ci knew this would happen. If a character’s gender in Fate was not set according to the player’s original gender, she would’ve been mistaken as a ladyboy.

“It is very neutral.” Said Ye Ci with a sigh. She was ready to part with Lukewarm Water and head into the Icy Cave.

“Wait, wait.” Lukewarm Water stopped Ye Ci, “Little You, I still have something I need to ask you.”

Little You… Ye Ci was even more baffled.

Lukewarm Water was acting as if they had known each other well. The problem was…they had just met…

“What is it?”

“I’m from Blank Space, and I can see that you’re a pro. You’re a good person too. Do you want to join our guild?” Lukewarm Water was straightforward.

Ye Ci was stunned.

It was not because of Lukewarm Water’s invitation. Blank Space had a feud with her in her last life.

At that time, she stole a Field BOSS from Blank Space alone. Not only did she steal a tremendous amount of experience points from the guild, she stole many top-tier items as well. Blank Space was, of course, significantly angered by her action.

Blank Space hunted Ye Ci down for nearly half a year. She fought back every time and killed hundreds of their members.

Blank Space was bullying the weak, but Ye Ci was the one who started it.

Lukewarm Water was worried when he received no response from Ye Ci. “Don’t tell me you’ve never heard of us!? We’re one of the top 10 guilds in Z Country!”

“Of course I’ve heard of it…” said Ye Ci with a smile. Not only had Ye Ci heard of the guild, she was also very familiar with it — in her past life of course. “If it’s about joining up, I have no such intention yet. But I’m willing to help if you guys run into trouble.”

Lukewarm Water did not attempt to persuade Ye Ci. He added Ye Ci as his friend and said, “Ok, let’s work together in the future.”

It was only for courtesy’s sake.

Both of them knew that.

Blank Space was a guild with the capabilities of making it into the top 10 of an entire nation. They had a lot of experts, therefore they wouldn’t need outside help, especially from someone that they barely knew.

Despite that, it was still nothing bad to have a friend.

The fastest route to get back to the Lycan newbie village from the Elven Forest? Suicide. Lukewarm Water waved goodbye to Ye Ci and rushed into a swarm of monsters. Within moments, he was gone.

Ye Ci saw her encounter with Lukewarm Water as an interlude in her new journey in Fate. She did not take it to heart.

The Icy Cave was situated in a dense part of the forest, northwest of the Altar of Molor. It was hidden but not hard to find. It was all thanks to the Gathering Stone that sone with holy light just outside of the entrance.

There was an eternally lit campfire underneath the Gathering Stone, but it was so common that most newbies would fail to notice it. Ye Ci took one of the thicker burning sticks that functioned as a torch and headed into the Icy Cave.

A flash of blue light later and Ye Ci was already in the Icy Cave.

Before clearing a dungeon in Normal Difficulty, it was impossible to unlock the higher difficulties of a dungeon. The difficulty of the Icy Cave was set to Normal when Ye Ci entered the dungeon for the first time.

Ye Ci lit up the torches placed in the Icy Cave with expertise and brought lighting to the pitch black cave.

The dungeon at the Normal difficulty setting was easy for Ye Ci. She headed deep into the cave after lighting up the torches at the entrance.

The mobs in the dungeon were tougher than the ones outside, and if one ran into an Elite, it would be harder to kill. However, all those were nothing to Ye Ci. She moved effortlessly in the cave, clearing a path without even the need of consuming a single health potion.

Ye Ci managed to reach the deepest part of Icy Cave in no time. 3 BOSSes were present: the first one was Sator the Wild Boar, and the other two were his Ratman Bodyguard and a Kobold Bodyguard.

The three of them were far away from each other and they did not move together. It was easy to take care of those three.

They fell and were converted into experience points that flowed into Ye Ci’s EXP Gauge after some intense kiting.

As Sator died glaring at Ye Ci, the system notification chimed in, “Congratulations for being the first player to clear the dungeon ‘Icy Cave’, do you wish for your ID to be hidden?”

Chapter 7 Lukewarm Water

Ye Ci took a look at the black wolf that was a actually Lycan. In her past life, she would never have even thought of stopping to help. At that time, she had deemed matters that were not related to her unworthy of her attention.

However, the current Ye Ci was no longer her past self. She drew out her bow despite the horde of spiders that were closing in on the Lycan’s heels. She drew an arrow from her quiver and nocked it onto the bow. She let the arrow loose, after which it flew straight and true.

Ye Ci had never played as a Huntress before. But after having spent ten years playing as a Sorceress, she developed the accuracy necessary for launching a ranged attack. The first arrow flew right into a spider’s eye. The spider hissed in agony and turned its attention to Ye Ci.

Ye Ci, of course, did not stand still.

She unleashed a flurry of arrows at the spider while running away from it. An Elven Huntress had very high balance. In a high speed chase, their advantage was obvious when it came to balance.

Ye Ci kited the spider while leaping up from time to time. She defied gravity, landing on tree after tree. The spider could not even get close to her.

She slew a spider and drew the attention of another.

Her damage had not been very high, but the copper arrow managed to raise it exponentially.

The lvl 4-5 spiders were ferocious. Since Ye Ci was kiting and leaping around, however, none of them managed to get close. A vast majority of them could not even close the distance before they were slain and subsequently converted into experience points.

Ye Ci’s aid greatly reduced the Lycan’s pressure. He morphed into human form and swung his blade at the nearest spider.

The Lycan glanced at Ye Ci from time to time. He could not help but marvel at the Elven Huntress’ graceful and precise movements, as well as her ruthless attacks.

Even if they’d never crossed swords, the Lycan could tell from the excellent positioning and the extremely fast reaction speed of the Elven Huntress that she was an expert when it came to PvP.

But the Lycan was more amazed by how adept the Elven Huntress was at controlling her character. The server was opened for only a few hours, but she had already reached lvl 5 (only lvl 5 characters could obtain beginner class-related weapons). Besides that, the way she moved about was not something that a newbie could pull off.

She looked more like an expert that was smurfing.

Was Fate openly tested before? Other than the beta test that was so shrouded in mystery that its very existence was debatable, there was no other occasion.

The Lycan’s curiosity towards Ye Ci increased.

They took care of the horde of spiders in no time. Before Ye Ci could speak, the Lycan was already smiling at her. “Thank you so much, Huntress.”

Ye Ci felt slightly reserved. She was never good when it came to interacting with people. She nodded and said after a slight pause, “You’re welcome.” With that she turned around with the intention to leave.

The Lycan did not feel awkward despite Ye Ci’s reserved attitude, he laughed and said, “I’m Lukewarm Water. That was close. I could’ve died.”

Judging from what he said, Ye Ci could tell that he had died more than once.

“It’s ok even if you die. There’s no death penalty before you reach lv10.” Said Ye Ci with a smile.

“I know, but if I die, I need to get back here from the village. Just so you know, it’s not simple.” Lukewarm Water explained. He shook his head and let out a sigh.

It was Ye Ci’s turn to be curious. Lukewarm Water’s equipment was clearly pre-lvl 5. Common sense dictated that he should be questing near the Lycan newbie village. Even when Lycan villages were pretty close to the Elven villages, there was no reason at all for him to be questing on the Elven side…

“What are you doing here?”

“I’m questing of course!” Said Lukewarm Water without hesitation. He raised his eyebrow after sizing up Ye Ci, “Oh yeah, isn’t an Elf supposed to be questing in Elven Territory? What are you doing in the Lycan Black Forest?”

This… This…

Isn’t this like the kettle calling the pot black?

Ye Ci was baffled. Could Lukewarm Water be one of those people with…absolutely no sense of direction? She pursed her lips and said, “This is the Elven Forest.”

“Eh?” Lukewarm Water’s attention was still focused on the Altar of Molor. He was surprised by Ye Ci’s words. He stared at her and grabbed his hair. “It can’t be!”

At this point, Ye Ci was fully aware that Lukewarm Water was an idiot with no sense of direction. She nodded her head, “This is the Elven Forest.”

“Damn!” Lukewarm Water cursed under his breath, “I got it wrong again! I’ve wasted my 30 minutes of advantage just by navigating around the map!” He then looked at Ye Ci and let out an embarrassed laugh. “See, I’ve been so long-winded that I did not even ask for your name yet.”

“Gongzi You.” Ye Ci made no attempt to hide her name. After all, the Lycan had already introduced himself.

“This is a rather…” Lukewarm Water stole a glance at Ye Ci and said, “A very, very gender neutral name.”

Ye Ci knew this would happen. If a character’s gender in Fate was not set according to the player’s original gender, she would’ve been mistaken as a ladyboy.

“It is very neutral.” Said Ye Ci with a sigh. She was ready to part with Lukewarm Water and head into the Icy Cave.

“Wait, wait.” Lukewarm Water stopped Ye Ci, “Little You, I still have something I need to ask you.”

Little You… Ye Ci was even more baffled.

Lukewarm Water was acting as if they had known each other well. The problem was…they had just met…

“What is it?”

“I’m from Blank Space, and I can see that you’re a pro. You’re a good person too. Do you want to join our guild?” Lukewarm Water was straightforward.

Ye Ci was stunned.

It was not because of Lukewarm Water’s invitation. Blank Space had a feud with her in her last life.

At that time, she stole a Field BOSS from Blank Space alone. Not only did she steal a tremendous amount of experience points from the guild, she stole many top-tier items as well. Blank Space was, of course, significantly angered by her action.

Blank Space hunted Ye Ci down for nearly half a year. She fought back every time and killed hundreds of their members.

Blank Space was bullying the weak, but Ye Ci was the one who started it.

Lukewarm Water was worried when he received no response from Ye Ci. “Don’t tell me you’ve never heard of us!? We’re one of the top 10 guilds in Z Country!”

“Of course I’ve heard of it…” said Ye Ci with a smile. Not only had Ye Ci heard of the guild, she was also very familiar with it — in her past life of course. “If it’s about joining up, I have no such intention yet. But I’m willing to help if you guys run into trouble.”

Lukewarm Water did not attempt to persuade Ye Ci. He added Ye Ci as his friend and said, “Ok, let’s work together in the future.”

It was only for courtesy’s sake.

Both of them knew that.

Blank Space was a guild with the capabilities of making it into the top 10 of an entire nation. They had a lot of experts, therefore they wouldn’t need outside help, especially from someone that they barely knew.

Despite that, it was still nothing bad to have a friend.

The fastest route to get back to the Lycan newbie village from the Elven Forest? Suicide. Lukewarm Water waved goodbye to Ye Ci and rushed into a swarm of monsters. Within moments, he was gone.

Ye Ci saw her encounter with Lukewarm Water as an interlude in her new journey in Fate. She did not take it to heart.

The Icy Cave was situated in a dense part of the forest, northwest of the Altar of Molor. It was hidden but not hard to find. It was all thanks to the Gathering Stone that sone with holy light just outside of the entrance.

There was an eternally lit campfire underneath the Gathering Stone, but it was so common that most newbies would fail to notice it. Ye Ci took one of the thicker burning sticks that functioned as a torch and headed into the Icy Cave.

A flash of blue light later and Ye Ci was already in the Icy Cave.

Before clearing a dungeon in Normal Difficulty, it was impossible to unlock the higher difficulties of a dungeon. The difficulty of the Icy Cave was set to Normal when Ye Ci entered the dungeon for the first time.

Ye Ci lit up the torches placed in the Icy Cave with expertise and brought lighting to the pitch black cave.

The dungeon at the Normal difficulty setting was easy for Ye Ci. She headed deep into the cave after lighting up the torches at the entrance.

The mobs in the dungeon were tougher than the ones outside, and if one ran into an Elite, it would be harder to kill. However, all those were nothing to Ye Ci. She moved effortlessly in the cave, clearing a path without even the need of consuming a single health potion.

Ye Ci managed to reach the deepest part of Icy Cave in no time. 3 BOSSes were present: the first one was Sator the Wild Boar, and the other two were his Ratman Bodyguard and a Kobold Bodyguard.

The three of them were far away from each other and they did not move together. It was easy to take care of those three.

They fell and were converted into experience points that flowed into Ye Ci’s EXP Gauge after some intense kiting.

As Sator died glaring at Ye Ci, the system notification chimed in, “Congratulations for being the first player to clear the dungeon ‘Icy Cave’, do you wish for your ID to be hidden?”