Please vote, everyone. My success is inseparable from your support. Thank you.
Speaking of which, it's been thundering non-stop in Guangdong these past few days, making me afraid to turn on my computer to write. It's really depressing.
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"Mr. Fan, you're the amazing one. To become a great Druid at 23, that's truly impressive. I've never heard of anyone becoming a Druid so young before." Lin Ya lowered her head, her face completely red. Before, only others had praised her; she had never praised a strange man like this. It was her first time sitting with someone else in a Tavern, her first time hearing such pleasant words, her first time being approached by a strange man... Today was full of too many firsts for her...
"Well, you can call me Wu from now on, or Big Brother Wu is fine too. My friends all call me that. Calling me Mr. Fan feels a bit strange," I said with a wry smile. The naming here was the same as in the Western countries of my original world, so everyone thought my surname was Fan.
"Okay... okay, Fan... Wu..." Lin Ya lowered her head even further, her voice like a mosquito's buzz. It seemed the 'training index' wasn't high enough yet. The time was too short, no help for it. In the future, I must find a way to make her call me 'Big Brother' in that angelic voice, soft and charming. I bet it would melt my bones, ohoho...
Lost in my daydreaming, I didn't realize that here, calling someone by their first name directly required a relatively intimate relationship, especially between opposite sexes, where it was even stricter. Lin Ya not running away in embarrassment was already a crucial step forward for me, indicating she already had a certain degree of goodwill towards me in her heart.
"Oh right, Lin Ya..." In my boredom, I suddenly remembered our previous conversation.
"You said you could change Class so early because you have an excellent bloodline, so you must be from a Noble Family."
"Eh?" Hearing my question, Lin Ya couldn't even bother with shyness anymore. She looked up at me in surprise.
"Uh~~" Looks like I said something stupid again.
"You don't know my family?" Lin Ya asked, very surprised. This interesting man in front of her dared to walk up and talk to her without even knowing her family. That was a bit too much, she thought, her face flushed.
Hmm, I tried hard to recall. Had she revealed any information in the previous conversation? Generally, a family's name... Hmm? Right, the name. A family's name is usually related to its members' names. I remember she was indeed called Lin Ya Adel Sprafield or something.
"Oh, I remember now, it's the Sprafield Family," I said, feigning surprise, not forgetting to shoot out rays of admiration from my eyes.
A sudden cold wind blew past for no reason.
"..."
"..."
"It's the Adel Family," Lin Ya looked at me blankly with her big eyes for a long, long time. It made me a little embarrassed before she suddenly lowered her head and said. Perhaps she didn't want to see my awkward expression. What a kind little girl.
"Uh..."
Pretending to know when you're ignorant is indeed a man's original sin. This time I really lost face. I desperately rubbed my nose; even my face, whose thick skin had defense comparable to Templar Armor, couldn't help but turn red.
"Right, Lin Ya, what level are you now?" I coughed, planning to gloss over the topic.
"I, I'm already level 3," Before I even finished speaking, Lin Ya, for some reason, immediately replied excitedly.
The kind-hearted little beauty Lin Ya no longer wanted to see the man beside her remain so awkward. She wanted to help him out, but being inexperienced in the world, she couldn't immediately find a topic to talk about and was feeling anxious. She hadn't been this happy in many years, and deep down, she had already started paying attention to this interesting, slightly strange, and seemingly silly man.
Seeing my question at this moment, she was so happy that she immediately stood up with a whoosh, like being called out by a superior, and answered me, as if afraid I wouldn't hear.
"Uh, oh, so... so you're already level three?" Not understanding the reason, I was momentarily stunned by Lin Ya's intense reaction.
"Phew..." Seeing that I was no longer awkward (thick skin really makes a difference), Lin Ya seemed to have a huge weight lifted from her heart and let out a big sigh of relief. Her swelling chest rose and fell in another wave.
"Eh..." Seeing everyone's eyes focused on her, Lin Ya, who had just sat down and still didn't understand why, tilted her head in confusion. She suddenly remembered how she had lost her composure just now. Even the impassive Old Mages at the nearby tables were casting surprised glances her way.
"I'm... I'm sorry," she quickly stood up again and bowed to the others, apologizing in a choked tone. Sigh, what a silly cute girl. I must not miss the chance to grab her. I just don't know if her so-called family will look down on a little Druid like me. But it doesn't matter; at worst, we can elope. I don't believe that in such a vast Dark Continent, there's no place for us to live. I instantly considered the future very far ahead and drafted countless versions of touching love stories comparable to Romeo and Juliet or Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai.
Bah, bah, both of those stories ended in tragedy. Look at this mouth of mine.
Ignorance is indeed the most terrifying. If I had known that the Adel Family's influence spreads throughout the entire Dark Continent, that they are one of the few Noble Families on the entire Continent, that 60% of the family members are excellent Class Holders, and that there are more than ten Archmages above level 60, I wonder if I would still think so easily?
"Training is very hard." Coming here, of course, you can't call leveling up 'leveling up'. Low levels are called Training, and high levels must be said as "fighting for light, resisting the Evil Forces from Hell." Understand?
I looked at Lin Ya with a sympathetic gaze. I was only level 1 with over 300 Experience and had already been tormented by Lars to the point of wishing for death. I didn't know how this delicate little girl endured it.
"En en en..." Speaking of this, the little beauty forgot even her shyness and nodded desperately with empathy. Don't think she gets special care just because she's a Noble Family's pampered daughter. In this cruel Dark Continent, indulgence and protection mean death. So, the suffering Lin Ya endured these past few months was no less than someone who just switched from the Wily Style, and even the strict, almost cruel training she received since childhood added together wasn't as hard as this.
As if I had hit a nerve, Lin Ya immediately started complaining to me, unconsciously with a spoiled tone—those ugly Fallen, they even danced weirdly, and being cut by that machete hurt so much. And the disgusting Rotting Corpse, she didn't even dare to look at it at first. When she finally made up her mind to Attack with her eyes closed, she got hit a few times instead and was almost finished off. Luckily, the person secretly sent by the family intervened in time, and she escaped death. And those Quill Rats, they were too, too, too insidious! They actually hid in the grass and shot arrows from behind, shooting her butt so many times, it hurt so much...
Having opened up the topic, Lin Ya completely changed from her shy and timid appearance just now. Her little mouth chattered non-stop like a machine gun. Such a huge change indicated that she really had deep resentment towards the so-called Training.
Lin Ya felt very strange all of a sudden. She didn't even know why. These shy little Secrets she originally planned to bury in her heart, these grievances she hadn't even confided to her family, she was actually pouring out to a stranger she had just met.
After speaking for over half an hour, Lin Ya seemed to have finally vented. But when she came to her senses, she suddenly became flustered. She didn't know when, but her whole body was already leaning on me. In the eyes of others, it was already intimate. And she was still pulling my sleeve, wiping away tears of grievance from her eyes from time to time.
Like slow motion, she slowly raised her head and stared at me fixedly. That face that was so cute it could kill was magnified before my eyes, only an inch away from me. That breath like orchid musk tickled my face.
"Ah..." After a long while, she finally came to her senses and let out a shriek. She suddenly stood up, feeling dizzy, staggered and spun around a few times, then suddenly darted out like a startled field mouse and disappeared without a trace, leaving the crowd dumbfounded. Even those two cool Assassin Uncles looked astonished, then lowered their heads in deep thought, probably calculating whether they could catch up to that little Mage if they used acceleration.
"Ha..." I smiled wryly and shook my sleeve that was already soaked—a woman in a state of oblivion is indeed the most terrifying.
Just then, a waiter walked over with a professional smile: "This gentleman, that lady's bill hasn't been paid yet. Would you mind...?"
Me: "..."
After paying for Lin Ya's money too, I looked around and found that my existence was really out of place. I didn't know what the little beauty was thinking before I came, that she could actually space out in this ghost place.
Before going out, I looked back at the First Area. At this moment, Doug was acting as a human loudspeaker, making a scene with the other four Barbarians, one against four. Forget it, I don't want to go up and suffer. It looks like they might stay here for a long time. I'd better go for a walk first and come back later to greet them.
Thinking of this, I pushed open the door and left the Tavern alone.
Standing outside the Tavern door, I took a deep breath. This air is different from the polluted air in my original world, like it's been sweetened and purified with lemon.
I looked at the busy street around me. It was so strange, not a single familiar face, not a single familiar place, like being suddenly thrown into a strange, never-before-visited place. A trace of fear suddenly emerged deep in my heart. Lars and the other two accompanied me all the way, so I didn't feel lonely, but now I finally have to face this familiar yet strange world alone.
"Ha..." I tried hard to take a breath and fiercely cheered myself on. Wu Fan, you are the greatest Druid in history who will punch Mephisto, kick Diablo, and club the Demon King Baal! How can you get cold feet over such a small matter?
Then, I took the first step...
(end of chapter)