Chapter 113 : Arriving at the Seaside
Arriving at the Seaside
The reason Cecilia asked this question was actually quite simple.
This time, the D-rank world boss [Harpy] wasn't massive or bloated—quite different from other bosses Cecilia had faced before. So, it could only be an agility-type or magic-type boss.
Based on Cecilia's observations, although its body was slender, many of its muscles were extremely developed and powerful. The long feathers at the end of its wings were as sharp as blades, and when it dove quickly, applying the force of gravity, it could easily slice through a player's fragile body.
From this, it was easy to deduce: it wasn't a magic-type boss, but a melee agility-type boss that fought relying on physical strength.
Since the boss this time was an agility type, and the Mage's skills required considerable chanting time, here came the problem.
Yuewu's ice magic was hard to hit a Harpy with high agility. Facing such an important task as controlling a D-rank boss, Yuewu herself wasn't very confident either. Thus, Cecilia could only lower her expectations—not hoping for Yuewu to freeze the boss solid, but just hoping that she could temporarily freeze a section of the sea's surface in the area.
This way, even though Cecilia couldn't swim, she could briefly step onto the domain of the sea and engage the boss in close combat.
Except for Gu Yanxi, the other three present were all veteran players in the online gaming community. Within seconds they immediately understood what Cecilia was getting at.
Dawn's Light, wearing his Bear Fury helmet, stroked his stubbly chin and said thoughtfully, "This method is indeed feasible. As far as I know, fire mages can heat the in-game water to boiling, so logically, ice mages should be able to freeze it too."
As soon as he finished speaking, little Persimmon Puppy chimed in with her own opinion, "But didn't Lya say there're lots of monsters in the sea, and she can't swim—what if the ice breaks and she falls in?"
"True, that is a bit dangerous. Maybe we should think it through again."
Hearing this, Dawn's Light hurriedly changed his mind.
As the team's only frontline class, if a boss fight in the sea broke out, regardless of whether he was effective or not, Dawn's Light would definitely lead the charge alongside Cecilia.
His weight was much greater than Cecilia's—if the ice that Yuewu created turned out too fragile, putting Cecilia aside, he'd be the first to take a dunk for sure.
Yuewu opened up her personal interface and looked through her info panel for a long time before speaking, "A distance of over 200 meters is too far. I just checked—only skills above level 40 could barely freeze an entire sea area. At my current level, I can probably just make a few footholds for you. Of course, we should check the specific circumstances on site first."
Yuewu's words were almost a flat denial.
Thanks to Cecilia, she was now the world's top-ranked mage player, but her level was just 15. With the game barely open for a month, it was simply unrealistic to freeze a swath of ocean.
Still, Cecilia was already quite satisfied with this answer. With her athletic skills in-game, as long as Yuewu could create a few floating ice blocks on the sea, it'd be just like flat land for her.
The five discussed what to do next while casually chatting about the new update, though for the most part, it was Dawn's Light asking Little Persimmon Puppy about tonight's auction. In under half an hour, under Cecilia's lead, the squad quickly delved into the depths of the Hillside Prairie.
Seeing they were now deep enough that they were unlikely to run into other players, Cecilia opened her pet bag and summoned the Darkwing Demon Bat to scout ahead.
Looking at the Darkwing Demon Bat dutifully carrying out orders, though Dawn's Light didn't say anything, his eyes betrayed his inner envy.
Seeing that, Cecilia suddenly remembered the Sawtooth Demon King Crocodile egg and casually asked, "Your egg still hasn't hatched yet?"
"Not yet, for now."
Dawn's Light let a slight smile slip, "But it should be soon. I sent a few teammates back to where you found the egg, buried it in the sand again, and they've been guarding it day and night. They said this morning, you could already hear the baby crocodile moving inside."
"Then you'd better keep a good eye on it these next couple of days. I heard that when these egg-laying creatures hatch, they'll treat the first thing they see as their mother,"
Yuewu teased from the side.
"Oh no, how could I forget that!"
Upon hearing this, Dawn's Light's eyes went wide. He hurriedly opened up his private messaging screen to send a message to the teammates guarding the egg.
If in Legend of Kaloran, pets really did recognize their owner in the way Yuewu described, and the Demon King Crocodile hatched while he wasn't there, the loss would be enormous.
Watching Dawn's Light getting flustered, Yuewu lost interest and turned to Little Persimmon Puppy, grumbling, "Hey, where're your two eggs?"
"Sitting safely in my bag, and don't you dare think about them,"
Little Persimmon Puppy glanced at her and replied coolly.
To make sure the first auction would be a huge success, she'd practically bet everything she owned and even borrowed a lot from her sister, all to buy those two boss eggs from Cecilia. She planned to auction them tonight along with several epic pieces of equipment as the highlights.
Since her future business depended on them, little Persimmon Puppy guarded these items like no one else—she hadn't let them leave her side for days, afraid someone might lose them.
Because they were traveling as a team and to accommodate Gu Yanxi and Little Persimmon Puppy, who lacked combat power, their overall speed wasn't fast—but it was still much better than the trip to fight the Sawtooth Demon King Crocodile.
After walking for over an hour across the broad, flat prairie, they finally reached the edge of the wild zone. Standing atop a high cliff, their view abruptly opened up, and an endless expanse of ocean came into sight before them.
Feeling the sea breeze against their faces, the group—except for Cecilia—couldn't hide their amazement. Who would've thought that one day in a game world, they'd witness such a vast sea, rivaling reality itself?
While the others were still absorbed in their emotions, Cecilia quickly scanned the coastline below, and only after she saw that familiar patch of sand and wooden planks did she quietly let out a sigh of relief.
...
Although they'd succeeded in reaching the seaside, after the brief excitement dissipated, an even tougher problem immediately presented itself.
Their current location was technically still within the Hillside Prairie. Up ahead was a massive stair-like fault; they stood atop the upper tier, while the ocean was on the lower, separated by a height difference of roughly 40 meters, nearly vertical compared to the sea's surface.
Figuring out how to safely descend to the seaside and cross this vertical drop became the problem to solve.
First of all, this didn't bother Cecilia.
Though 40 meters wasn't exactly low, it wasn't very high either—not even as tall as an Ultraman. With her current defense and HP, even if she jumped directly, she might break a leg, but she'd hardly die from it.
Even if luck was truly awful and she landed headfirst, she had items like the resurrection armor to get her back on her feet.
Not to mention, she had floating skills like [Sky Fission]. As long as she cast the skill mid-fall to buffer gravity, landing safely was perfectly possible.
But the other four obviously couldn't do that, and Cecilia couldn't use Vampire skills in front of so many people, so she could only discuss other solutions with Dawn's Light and the rest.
Gathered at the edge of the towering cliff, after animated debate, Cecilia finally called the shots and a consensus was reached a few minutes later.
While the Darkwing Demon Bat hadn't yet unlocked the mount feature, with its current size, it could serve as a glider for short distances.
Cecilia's plan was to divide the five into three groups: Little Persimmon Puppy and Yuewu in one, herself and Gu Yanxi in another, with Dawn's Light on his own.
Members of each group would hold onto the Darkwing Demon Bat's huge claws and let it fly them down, safely bridging the dozen-meter height difference. Yet the idea, while sound, still needed a safety test.
Since Cecilia was both the pet's owner and the party leader, the task naturally fell to her.
To avoid accidental injury, the other four stepped back a dozen meters to watch, as Cecilia whispered in the Darkwing Demon Bat's ear before firmly grabbing one of its claws. The Darkwing Demon Bat spread its wings with a blast of wind, carrying Cecilia over the cliff edge and down.
As Cecilia and the Darkwing Demon Bat disappeared below the cliff, the others rushed to the edge and peeked over.
Cecilia dangled by one hand from the bat's foot, her white dress fluttering wildly in the salty wind. Though the Darkwing Demon Bat looked a bit shaky, it lopsidedly glided toward the beach.
When she was a dozen meters off the ground, Cecilia released her right hand, did a neat forward roll to soften the impact, then stood up smoothly and waved to the others.