Reign of the Hunters

Chapter 263 Soul Restoration (Part 1)

My brain must not be functioning. Thought Ye Ci, or I wouldn’t have not known where I am and what I’m doing, and I would’ve recognised the person kneeling in front of me.

“Are you awake?” asked an anxious voice. Through his tone, Ye Ci was able to tell that the person had significantly calmed down. He had even extended an arm to help her up from the ground.

It took Ye Ci quite a moment to recover, but her mind was still numb. She sat on the floor with her eyes shut for a long moment and was finally able to regain her bearings. Such a situation was very rare in Ye Ci’s long gaming career.

The first thing that Ye Ci saw when she opened her eyes once again was a sea of yellow sand. She narrowed her eyes, and could even see the gusting wind that blew up the yellowish sand as it gushed past the land at a distance. This was a bizarre sight. There was not even a single patch of green as far as Ye Ci’s eyes can see. The few plants that she laid her eyes on were almost dead. There was no sign of life in this place, nor was there an exit.

This scenery was a direct contrast to the dark cave and the beautiful lake that surrounded her mere moments ago. She was awed by how things could change in the blink of an eye.

“How long have we been here, Alaunar?” The question was Ye Ci’s first reaction. She was unsure of how much time has transpired as she laid on the ground in a daze. The boy might not even have passed out like her.

“Not for long. It’s just a little while.” it was apparent that Alaunar remained unaffected by the bright light as he was able to retain a clear thought.

Ye Ci cast a glance at Alaunar, and called up her map, but was met with the chime of a system notification, “You are not allowed to view the map.”. I can’t view the map? Ye Ci raised her eyebrows. Something interesting is going on. A player’s inability to view a map could only mean a few things. The map itself could be a Hidden Map that was not yet made available to players, and would require a thorough exploration by players before they could obtain a copy of the map and finally view the map itself. There was also the possibility that the map was controlled by an opposing faction, which meant that the players exploring the map would have to defeat the Final Boss in the map before they could gain access to view the map. Of course, there was also the possibility that the map was categorized as a Top Priority map, which includes maps the Grand Shrine of the Gods, or the Demonic Realm. Players would not be able to have a copy of a map of such locations without the permission of specific NPCs.

Well, just what sort of situation am I in? The third possibility is definitely out of the window, which leaves the first two open.

“Where exactly are we, Elf?” asked Alaunar as Ye Ci was deep in thought. The boy could not recognise the place, but he could feel the danger that was lurking in this sea of sand.

“We’re in the Shrine of Sha’jia.” Ye Ci stood up. She knew the futility of staying in her current location, and made the conclusion that the best way to gather intelligence without the guide of a map was to explore the location.

“The Shrine of Sha’jia?” Aluanar was confused, but he stood up as well and followed after Ye Ci, “Who is Sha’jia? Is he a God?”

Sha’jia was not a God, but was merely a lowly pawn of the Dark Lord Naga. Chaos had fallen upon the Majia Continent after the Great War, and many of the races forgot about their Gods. This gave rise to many evil entities that claimed to be Gods. They began recruiting their apostles, and built their own shrines in an attempt to capitalize on the chaos. Sha’jia was one one of them. He was nothing compared to the Dark Lord, but to Ye Ci in her current state, Sha’jia was still a height that she could still not surpass.

Before her reincarnation, Sha’jia was a mere dungeon BOSS that must be slain before players could challenge the Dark Lord Naga. In this place however, Sha’jia was a god-like existence.

Not a single player has discovered the Shrine of Sha’jia in Ye Ci’s past life, which meant that she had not even a single piece of information about the map. The only thing that Ye Ci could rely on to gauge the type of monsters and the difficulty of the map was her knowledge about Sha’jia.

Sha’jia himself was a Sand Demon, and Ye Ci was in the desert. This means she would be facing off against sand-based monsters. But with the seemingly borderless map, she did not have the slightest clue about the location of the shrine.

Ye Ci’s guess was correct. The most common foe she came across in the Shrine of Sha’jia was the Sand Beast. These monsters would hide underneath the yellowish sand and would appear when they sense danger nearby. Dealing with the lvl80 monsters was a tough challenge for Ye Ci, but with the help of Alaunar and Ol’ Four, she could dispatch a Sand Beast easily. These monsters roam alone, and would rarely form into packs, which greatly reduced the burden on Ye Ci.

Ye Ci knew not how much experience points she gained throughout her encounters, but Alaunar was already a lvl82 NPC with double the amount of Ye Ci’s Health and Mana, making him the main damage dealer of the party. Alaunar was a somewhat intelligent NPC, but he lacked wisdom when it came to actual combat. He would often require directions from Ye Ci as they engaged the monsters. Ye Ci herself was able to slowly retire from the position of being the main combatant of the party, and spent most of her time directing Alaunar and Ol’ Four in combat while launching an occasional attack on the enemies. Her experience points gained was drastically reduced, but so was the strain of fighting against high leveled opponents. This gave her more time to study her surroundings.

The Sand Beast offered a lot of experience points, and had very group drop rates. Despite the low equipment drop, Ye Ci was able to obtain a large number of skill books. A large number of those skill books, however, belonged to the mage classes. The only physical damage skill books that Ye Ci had managed to obtain from the Sand Beasts were a Rogue’s Dual Evisceration and a Warrior’s Relentless Assault.

After another round of combat, Ye Ci was able to obtain yet another AOE spell of the Shaman class, and she handed it to Alaunar without hesitation. He was a very effective tool in defeating the mobs, and Ye Ci was able to greatly benefit from an improvement in his combat capabilities. And her plan to bring Alaunar with her when she eventually leave the Doluo Tribe meant that it was only natural for her to cultivate the boy into a more capable fighter.

An untold amount of time later, Ye Ci had finally made her way into the heart of the desert.

The scenery was no longer filled with nothing but the yellowish sand. Crumbling fences and broken walls were slowly appearing in Ye Ci’s view. It was apparent that she had arrived before the site of a once bustling city.

Ye Ci walked past a crumbling courtyard and arrived before a crumbling building. Judging from the objects in her surrounding, Ye Ci deduced that this was once a lavish mansion. Wind blew through the broken windows of the building, giving off the sound of a wolf’s howl. Ye Ci slowly explored the courtyard, and noticed a golden shine behind one of the broken walls. She immediately quickened her pace, and what she found...

Was a golden chest that still retained its shiny glow even when the delicate carvings on its surface had long since been eroded by the sand. It was apparent that the chest was nothing ordinary. A locked chest in such a populated lvl80 map will definitely drop some good loots thought Ye Ci.

Ye Ci would usually avoid such a thing due to her inability to unlock a chest, but with the Master Key in her possession, things were different.

But is it possible for a chest like this to be left unguarded? No.

According to Ye Ci’s knowledge of the game, a chest that was ahove lvl4 would definitely be guarded by at least an Elite monster. A high grade chest like this will never be left unguarded. So where is its guardian?

Ye Ci scanned her surroundings, and found nothing peculiar.

“Wow! Those are very large birds!” shouted Alaunar just as Ye Ci was about to open the chest.

She lifted her head, and spotted two gigantic vultures with the wingspan of at least 8 yards circling the air above the chest. The traces of blood on their beaks were especially menacing as they stared at Ye Ci. She had no doubt that the vultures would dive down at her and tear her from limb to limb as soon as she approached the chest.

Ye Ci cast Detection at the vultures, and they turned out to be lvl85 Elite monsters. If both of the vultures launched their attacks on Ye Ci, she would without a doubt be killed instantly. Despite their ferocity, the monsters had their weakness. They would only circle in the air around the chest, and would never leave its vicinity. As long as a player did not approach the chest, the monsters aggro would not be triggered even if a player was right beside them.

Do I leave?

There’s no way! Letting go of a piece of tasty meat that was right in front of her was not Ye Ci’s style. Besides, the more challenging it is, the more enjoyable the loot.

Judging from the distance between the two vultures, Ye Ci could tell that as long as one of them was attacked, the other would immediately react as well. She would not be able to take on the vultures at her current stage, but with Alaunar’s help, such a task would be easy. Ye Ci called out for Alaunar and began explaining her strategy to him.

Alaunar nodded, signifying that he fully understood Ye Ci’s battle plan. The current Alaunar was an entirely different person compared to the Alaunar that Ye Ci had first met. His level was greatly increased, and his combat capabilities and intelligence vastly improved as well. The boy was able to easily understand his roles in Ye Ci’s plan.

“Will you be alright? You’ll be fighting against a vulture with Ol’ Four.” Ye Ci was still worried even after she had given the instruction on how to deal with the vulture in full. After all, Alaunar was an NPC. He might not be able to react to sudden changes like a player.

“Don’t worry, I’ve learned Recovery. I can heal myself up.” Alaunar smiled at Ye Ci. The Shaman class is so OP! It’s just like a Holy Knight! A Shaman can act as a tank, can heal, and can even take up the role of a DPS like a mage! It’s such a versatile class! But a Shaman was also a jack of all trades, but master of none, and was why Ye Ci was worried about Alaunar. If the boy died, her plans would fall into ruin.

Ye Ci had even assigned Ol’ Four to aid Alaunar in combat out of fear that the boy might get killed. With Ol’ Four as his shield, Alaunar would not be as strained. Ye Ci herself would be able to kite the vulture easily despite the differences in their level.

Ye Ci and Alaunar were able to attract the attention of each vulture when the battle began. An true to Ye Ci’s expectation, Alaunar was not very flexible in combat due to his status as a normal NPC. Things would be greatly different once he was promoted to an Elite or even a Legendary NPC. Ol’ Four was able to quickly attract the aggro of the vulture with his attacks. Even as a lvl60 pet, Ol’ Four was an Epic-tier monster. It was able to weather the vulture’s attacks with its formidable defences and with the healing from Alaunar. The boy on the other hand, was already a lvl85 NPC. He had no difficulties in handling the vulture.

Alaunar was able to dispatch his opponent within 6 minutes with the help of buffs and totems. The vulture slumped onto the ground after letting out a dying shriek. Ye Ci immediately led the other vulture to Alaunar, passing on the responsibility of dealing with the monster to the boy. She was able to deal a considerable amount of damage to the remaining vulture during the course of the battle, and Alaunar was able to finish the monster off quickly.

Ye Ci looted the carcass, and found nothing but a few gold coins and some feathers. She was unsure of the function of the feathers, but they were glowing with a silvery aura that was a sign that they were anything but common. These feathers were dropped by lvl85 Elite monsters. Even if their rarity was not high, they were still considered rare. This was why Ye Ci immediately stored them into her inventory.

The demand of rare materials is always high, and the only way for players to maintain the supply was to hoard every piece of rare materials that they could get their hands on. As the saying goes, “if not now, then when?”

Ye Ci then walked up to the golden chest and once again scanned her surroundings. Once she was certain that there were no longer any monsters around, she inserted the Master Key into the keyhole.

Her prediction was correct. The chest was a lvl9 chest. The metallic parts of the chest were made of gold. Despite the erosion of the sand, the gold shone still shone brightly. The wooden parts of the chest, however, were not as lucky.

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