Unfortunate timing

A player named Thunderous rushed toward another Flying Demon whose HP was dangerously low. He did not immediately attack. He waited for the NPC soldier to strike first and then swiftly followed up, landing the killing blow. Thunderous instantly leveled up.

"What are you doing? Didn't the captain tell you to go and meet the princess' team?" shouted the NPC soldier whose target was just killed.

Thunderous smiled and replied: "We are helping you to kill these demons faster. Our strength alone is not enough to deal with such demons, we will be useless if we are the only one protecting the princess anyway; we might as well help you get here quicker."

Similar scenes were taking place all over the clearing. The players were patient and did not want to miss the great source of exp! The main reason they took this mission was to avoid the penalty of not participating. However, the reward of the quest was only 10000 exp. Just by killing two Flying Demons, they would earn as much DP as completing the quest.

There was no penalty for failing the quest or at the very least, the quest description did not mention any.

Li Wei commanded his horse to advance. He repositioned himself to get a better aim. He was not the only one, the two mages of the team also readied their spells.

He threw a throwing needle at one of the Flying Demons but the mages were faster. Before his needle could hit its target, several blue projectiles exploded on the Flying Demon, taking out the rest of its HP.

Li Wei frowned. He briefly looked at the mages but he did not hold any grudges; it was part of the game, they were all trying to kill steal.

'Looks like I won't be getting much now. My fatigue is already at 73% and my Dexterity fell down by two. My throwing needles deal at most 15 damage with the [Weapon Throwing] skill but the mages' spells easily deal 30...'

The mages leveled up and many other players started getting involved in the fight. Li Wei pulled his horse to the side. There were only eight players fighting to land the killing blow but the area felt cramped up.

'Instead of fighting here, would it not be best to head to the princess' group? Maybe they encountered another group of demons like that and with fewer players, it would be easier to farm,' thought Li Wei.

'Furthermore, I doubt the game would allow this. We are essentially forgetting about the quest and taking advantage of it to get some exp.'

He briefly looked at the other players focusing on the demons' HP bar. He then kicked his horse and without a word, departed in the direction of the princess' group.

"Hey, that guy is leaving. Should we follow him?" asked one of the mages.

"Him? Let him go. He already knows he cannot compete for the last hit of the demons. He should not be very confident in his reflexes. Why do we need to give up such a great exp farm?"

However, as soon as the mage spoke, a loud shriek sounded from the sky.

Several Flying demons flew down but this time, they did not aim for the soldier; instead, they attacked the players.

...

Li Wei was unaware of the trouble the players got themselves into. He continued forward and soon, joined the princess' group.

As he expected, they were already engaged in another battle but this time, the demons did not have any wings. Above their head was "Level 25 One-Horned Demon". They pale in comparison to the soldiers but there were so many that the soldiers were overwhelmed.

'I was right! The princess' group is going to constantly encounter enemies. The problem is just how long this quest is going to last... Boroughton is not very far but with my fatigue level, I won't make it there,' thought Li Wei.

'The system should not be so heartless. The quest should be completable but since it started late in the middle of the night, everyone's fatigue is high.'

Li Wei looked at the princess who was protected by three maids. 'Tsssk, does she even need our help?' sarcastically murmured Li Wei. The princess was a level 25 NPC and the three maids were all above level 30.

He did not waste too much time and drew his swords. 'The hardest part of the quest should not be very far... All the twenty soldiers are already fighting and a few are injured... Well, I will think about it later. For now, let's try to get some exp.'

A One-Horned Demon roared. It viciously clawed the soldier in front of it, ripping apart its shield. However, another soldier pierced its shell with a long spear.

Li Wei positioned himself next to the soldiers, carefully observing the demon's HP bar displaying 68. He waited and as soon as the demon's HP fell to 25, Li Wei hurried attacked.

His Dark Runic Swords sliced the air toward the One-Horned Demon but to his surprise, Li Wei failed to cut through the demon's tough shell.

"-7", "-9"

Two pitiful numbers appeared above the demon. It roared and turned its attention to Li Wei who attracted its aggro with the two attacks. Fortunately, before it could attack, the soldier swiftly beheaded the demon with his spear.

"Be careful, these demons have a tough armor. Just stay near the princess to protect her," advised the soldier holding the shield. The soldiers did not bother with Li Wei and quickly moved to the next demon.

'Looks like I overestimated myself. Kill stealing monsters is not easy but it will be good practice for the future. The -2 on my strength is not helping either.'

Li Wei was not let down by his failure. He continued to persevere. He failed a few times but eventually, he succeeded:

[System prompt: You have slain a One-Horned Demon. You have gained 5190 exp]

Li Wei's eyes lit up, he finally got his first kill and the amount of exp was more than he could hope for. He quickly crouched next to the demon corpse. "Collect"

He wore a satisfied expression as he looked at the eight [Demon Horn] and the nine [Demon Shell] in his inventory. Li Wei was not only focused on getting the last kills. He was also traveling across the battlefield, collecting the loot of the dead demons.

[System prompt: You have slain a One-Horned Demon. You have gained 4860 exp]

[System prompt: You have slain a One-Horned Demon. You have gained 5300 exp]

After a few minutes, the loud footsteps of horses sounded in the distance. Several players rushed into the clearing, bringing with them a small pack of hungry beasts.

"Looks like I will have to share the exp with them now..."

About twenty enraged beasts charged at the soldiers entangled with the demons. The soldiers were taken by surprise, causing their HP to drop.

Li Wei quickly reacted and joined the soldiers. He was too weak to deal with the demons but he could hold his ground against a beast.

"Sorry, there are too few of us to deal with this pack," shouted one of the players with an embarrassed expression.

The battle continued but with the help of the enraged beasts, the demons gradually gained the upper hand. Two of the three maids beside the princess drew their weapons and rushed toward the beasts but despite their strength, they were still unable to turn the tides.

In the distance, Li Wei could already see the bright red eyes of the beasts looking at them. 'This is getting really complicated. I must not die here!'

At that moment, Li Wei's fatigue went up again and reached 80%, further decreasing his strength and dexterity stat. 'D*mn... At this rate, I will just lose consciousness. Well, it is better to fail the quest than to lose my items.'

He pushed away the corpse of the Enraged Red Fox and search around him for an escape path. They were completely surrounded; the demons and beasts were attacking from all the sides.

A One-Horned Demon roared and charged at Thunderous, one of the few players still alive. The latter was taken by surprise; he had been staying away from the demons and was focusing on the weaker beasts but he did not expect a demon to ignore the soldiers to attack him. He was impaled by the horn as the demon continued to rush forward.

"Boom!" The One-Horned Demon collided with a large tree, mercilessly smashing Thunderous' body against the stem. Fully absorbing the damage of a level 25 monster, Thunderous' HP bar was instantly depleted. He looked in grief at the large demon; all the exp he accumulated while kill stealing would be lost.

Li Wei bit his lips; another player died. The situation did not look good at all but when he saw Thunderous' death, he found a possible escape path.

He jumped back, disregarding the Enraged Silver Wolf he was dealing with and ran away from the princess.

[Gliding Steps]

Using his technique, he skillfully dodged the attack of the beasts and reached the edge of the clearing. Without hesitation, he swapped his Dark Runic Swords for the Natta Blades and swung the daggers at the largest tree he could find. Using the daggers, he hastily climbed the large trunk, completely ignoring the howls of the beasts converging to the roots of the tree.

Li Wei's moves did not go unnoticed. The remaining maid beside the princess looked at Li Wei and said, "Princess, we should also escape. There are more beasts and demons heading this way and looking at how cowardly the adventurers are, I doubt they will be of much use."

The princess had been observing the whole battlefield since the beginning. She naturally also saw Li Wei's actions. "I know but maybe his move is the correct one. We should also look for a place to hide. It is not normal for so many demons to come after us. Their target should have been the Earl's treasury... So why are they all coming after us? Unless... It has to do with this..."

As she spoke, the princess took out a small pouch from the pocket of her shorts. A faint glow could be seen coming out of the small opening of the pouch. "Could it be that we were tricked by the Earl? Instead of sending us to safety, he is planning to use us to bait the demons away?"

Li Wei jumped onto the thick branch of the tree, sending the Natta Blades back to his inventory. He slowly caught his breath and drank a few recovery potions. At the same time, from his vantage point, Li Wei observed the battle.

Only four players were still alive, constantly attacking the beasts. The two maids and twelve soldiers were still holding off the demons but it was clear that they would not last for very long. 'It is useless. The casualties will just increase as long as they stay here. The demons and beasts will keep spawning but the soldiers are limited. They should find a way to break the encirclement.'

At that moment, Li Wei saw a few reinforcements rushing toward the beasts and demons. The group that previously separated from the princess' group finally caught up with the main group. Seven soldiers and five players joined the fray.

However, despite the arrival of the reinforcement, the escort team still failed to take the upper hand. Everyone was tired and their mana pool was almost completely empty.

A few players decided to run away from the fight just like Li Wei did, putting even more pressure on the few persistent defenders.

"Derrick! Stop fighting with us. Take the princess with you and break from the encirclement. We will hold them back!" shouted the captain. The courageous man was covered with blood and sweat. He furiously lowered his large sword, cutting a One-Horned Demon in half.

Li Wei watched from his safe spot out of range of the demons as a group of soldiers hurriedly got into a formation and rushed toward the demons. Somehow, they succeeded in pushing them away and disappeared behind the trees.

Li Wei sighed. "This quest is way too difficult. Weren't all the quests supposed to have the same level of difficulty?"

Only three other players were still actively participating in this quest and were in the princess' group. The rest either died or deserted the group like Li Wei.

The latter did not regret his decision. Chances were, this was the only way he might not die and lose all his loot. Boroughton was still two hours away and at the rate his fatigue level was going up, he would at most last for one more hour.

The ten remaining soldiers, together with the captain, valiantly fought the demons but soon, despite their level advantage, they fell one by one to the One-Horned Demons.

Li Wei stood still on the branch. He did not dare to move to avoid attracting the demons' attention. The captain eventually fell and the clearing became silent. The One-Horned demons grunted and soon, they disappeared in the direction the princess' group took. The beasts all rushed in the same direction.

None of the monsters seemed to have detected Li Wei's presence but he did not dare to move, in fear that a few demons were still nearby.

'Am I safe? It is unfortunate to have abandoned the quest but at least, I can keep all my items. I just hope that if there is a punishment, it won't be too harsh,' thought Li Wei as he scanned his strangely silent surroundings.

At that moment, as if answering his question, a series of announcements rang through his ears:

[World Announcement: Congratulations to the player, ???, for being the first player to reach level 20]

[World Announcement: The conditions have been fulfilled for the first world expansion. The system will be updated immediately. Please consult the document in your inventory for more information about the changes.]

[Server Announcement: The first expansion has been triggered. The rewards for the three trials: Alyssa's Lair, The Graveyard of Longsoul and the Island of Desolation, will be provided now. Congratulations to all the players on the leaderboards.]

[System prompt: You are ranked first on the World Leaderboard of Alyssa's Lair. You have been rewarded with 1 level, a piece of equipment: [Coarse Hide Helmet] and a skill: [Socialite Aura]]

[System Prompt: Congratulations Player Seven. You leveled up. You have gained a free stat point.]

[System Prompt: You only have two inventory slots available, would you like to retrieve [Coarse Hide Helmet] now?]

[System Prompt: [Socialite Aura] has been automatically learned]

[Socialite Aura (level 0)]

A passive skill that increases all NPCs' favorability toward you, regardless of their background.

Favorability +5%

"What? Somebody already reached level 20?" exclaimed Li Wei. He was overwhelmed by all the system prompts. He felt lost and defeated. Despite all his efforts, there were players who were still so far ahead; he himself was only level 16 before receiving the rewards of the leaderboard but someone had already reached level 20.

As he was complaining, the sky suddenly brightened. Several shooting stars appeared at the horizon and soon covered the whole sky.

Li Wei paused as he observed the beautiful scene. Time seemed to pause but he quickly recollected his thoughts. He wanted to check all the notifications again but before he could, the necklace at his neck, the Tear of Fairies suddenly shone brightly, emitting a deep blue light.

'What is happening again? Why are there so many events happening just on the night I really need to recover my fatigue?'

"Seven? Are you here?" asked a melodious childish voice.

'The lake fairy is calling me?' Li Wei was about to answer but before he could, the flapping of wings sounded above his head, followed by a loud shriek.

Li Wei trembled, he did not need to look up to know he had been found. Flying Demons were rushing toward him.

"D*mn... Of all the time, it had to be now," cursed Li Wei as he jumped off the tree and ran into the forest. The Tear of Fairies was emitting so much light, turning Li Wei into a walking lamp. He pulled the necklace and decisively sent it into his inventory, before barely avoiding the claw of the Flying Demon.