CHAPTER 76 – Encounter in the Desert
“Divine Boy, Mage, don’t give up on me! I’ll ensure your safe passage out of here!” Rainy hoisted up the fallen Divine Boy and gave encouraging words to the mage on the verge of collapse, single-handedly shouldering the life and d*ath situation of the team.
“Not…not possible! I can’t run anymore!” The physically weak mage was gasping for breath, red-faced and drenched in sweat, looking like his lungs would explode if he ran further.
These mages, who are normally pampered, and the Divine Boy are as weak as they couldn’t lift a wisp of cotton. How could they endure such a long-distance sprint?
Instead, it was the Divine Boy and mage who became the weakest links. Rainy turned into both parents, taking care of these two Buddhas and evacuating them to safety.
After confirming that Tillysha hadn’t followed up, Rainy sighed in relief. Just as Tillysha had anticipated, under the condition that the team had no means to fight back, her power was like a turtle shell, only buying time. Once it wears off, they would lose even more comprehensively. Fortunately, Tillysha seemed to have some sort of reservation and didn’t pursue.
Helping the two who were leaning against the rock back to their feet, it’s undeniable that the two would begin to take Rainy seriously. At least this time, thanks to her, the team managed to escape perilous and dangerous moments. Even someone as pure as them wouldn’t pick a fight now.
No matter what, Tillysha has given Rainy the chance to show off. The rest is up to Rainy’s own performance.
—
After this little episode, Tillysha continued her journey toward the northern valley. The purple dot on the map had not changed its distance from her, indicating that the Crown Gem was still far away.
She inspected her current condition using the inner observation.
She still had three reserves of the Emerald Fragrance. The expenditure of power was not too significant but also not negligible.
Before reaching here, Tillysha had condensed several arrows of light, used Holy Oblivion to forge her blade a few times, and also released the Emerald Fragrance three times.
During her journey in the forest, she managed to restore her abilities, and currently, she still had about four-fifths of her power left.
Glancing at the endless wilderness, Tillysha couldn’t expect there to be forest terrains ahead.
If everything goes as anticipated, the remaining power would have to sustain her throughout the game.
After leaving the forest, the elven senses suffered significant weakening, but compared to humans, they remained exceptionally sharp.
Because her Divine Analysis Technique is of such high level, keeping it on all the time would drain her spiritual energy. Thus, Tillysha couldn’t keep it activated all the time to prevent attacks. At such times, her excellent vision, hearing, and perception compensated for this shortcoming.
The transition from the wilderness to the desert indicated that the road ahead would become increasingly barren.
Tillysha switched from carrying her bow on her back to holding it, entering battle readiness. The desert is quite disadvantageous for elves, as they can’t mount sudden ambushes like they could in the forest.
On a barren desert, neither she nor the enemies could hide.
Currently, she hadn’t reached the northern valley yet, but she was on the way. In layman’s and professional terms, the northern valley was both the area of destiny and a supply drop point, stacking buffs beyond measure.
The broadcast had been going on since earlier, announcing which team had been eliminated by whom, and most likely these eliminations occurred due to the chaotic battles in the northern valley.
Among all that, two names stood out: Aistride and Princess Filisia.
As expected, it’s them.
The standout newcomers this year can’t just be the two of them. Tillysha completely ignored the school gossip, so she didn’t know other well-known figures in the school.
These renowned figures, if it were in other years, might have pulled the head of the newcomer crown, becoming the new leaders. Unfortunately, this year they encountered the two human cheats and ended up as the greenery accompanying the flourishing flowers.
Tillysha remembered that Princess Filisia’s realm level was LV17, while Aistride’s was LV19. They wouldn’t just be newcomers; even in the second year, these levels were hard to catch up with. Participating in the Crown Cup for newcomers was pure dimensional suppression, bullying kids.
Tillysha then glanced at her own realms and divine abilities.
Sacred Tree Shelter (LV1)
Destruction and Forging in Holy Oblivion (LV1)
Emerald Fragrance (LV2)
Realm of the Collective Forest Authority (No Level)
Except for her Emerald Fragrance, which inexplicably leveled up, her realms and divine abilities were all LV1. The no-level Realm of the Collective Forest Authority intrigued Tillysha; she hadn’t seen any divine ability in books that couldn’t be leveled up.
Just awoken, her levels were pretty low. Competing with them on level was not an option, but she could try to outdo them in numbers.
Tillysha remembered Aistride had more divine abilities just like her, but so far, Tillysha had never seen what Aistride’s other divine ability looked like.
“Hmm?” Tillysha felt like she stepped on something. Thinking it may have been a large creature’s bone, she squatted down and brushed off the dirt covering it. It turned out to be a broken scroll.
Faint spell writings could still be seen, written in common language. Tillysha used her Divine Analysis Technique to analyze it, discovering that it was a regular small fireball spell scroll. Moreover, it was abandoned here not long ago…
Yet this scroll hadn’t been used. When magical scrolls were activated, fire scrolls would be burned into ashes, and thunder scrolls would turn into thunder. This scroll being preserved so well indicated it hadn’t gotten the chance to be used.
Tillysha recreated the scene in her mind: the team that passed through the sandy area was ambushed. The mage, caught off guard, released the scroll. However, before the scroll could activate, the mage was torn in half…
There were enemies around here.
Her sharp senses caught a vibration in the ground, and Tillysha quickly reacted, jumping nimbly into the air.
“BOOM!” The next moment, the ground cracked, and a figure leaped out. Realizing it hadn’t hit the target, the figure shook off the dirt and squinted its little eyes at the landing golden-haired girl.
“Huh? Managed to dodge Borton’s attack?…Let’s see which unlucky soul got isolated…” A group of three men slowly walked out from the nearby sand dune, their eyes brightening as they spotted Tillysha’s figure.
“Tsk, tsk, haven’t seen such a fresh beauty in a long time. Wonder how she’ll scream in pleasure when I tear her skin?” The short bald man who appeared out of the soil and attacked Tillysha earlier licked his steel claws, smacking his lips. The skinny, rat-like faced man with a long nose and sharp pointed face was repulsive, looking like a rat.
“This somewhat disrespectful fellow elder, attacking enemies with a saliva-drenched weapon is quite impolite, isn’t it?” Tillysha lifted her gaze slightly.
“E,Elder?!?” The bald man’s small eyes widened. “Golden-haired girlie, who you calling Elder?!”
“Didn’t intend to offend.” Bowing slightly, claiming no offense as she spoke, yet Tillysha’s gaze remained fixed on the bald man without wavering.
“HAHAHA!…” This statement provoked laughter among the bald man’s teammates.
“Stop laughing, stop laughing! I’m only 16, the bloom of youth, a handsome teenager!” This got the rat-like man furious, shouting and screeching.
