Wind Tree Spirit Kirby had dropped a total of 21 gold coins, which were divided equally. Two pieces of equipment had also fallen, a weapon and a single piece of armor, both bronze-grade. Neither of which Don could actually use.

[Rare Wood War Boots — Bronze Grade]

[Metal Armor ]

[Level Req: 20 ]

[Physical DEF +125]

[Magic DEF +30]

[+7 STR ]

[+7 AGI ]

[+7 CON]

[Sealed Slot: 1]

[Collecting all five pieces unlocks a set bonus.]

[Forest of Strange Sounds Halberd — Bronze Grade]

[Halberd ]

[Level Req: 20]

[ATK: 140–250]

[+32 STR]

[+15 AGI]

[+25 CON]

[Sealed Slot: 1]

"This boss is such a miser, only two pieces of equipment? We fought him for so long for this?" Lily grumbled, making another of her trademark boastful remarks.

Everyone laughed good-naturedly, speechless at the newbie. Actually, two pieces of equipment from a Normal Boss was already a generous haul.

The distribute-by-need principle was alive and well in the team. Cappuccino happily took the Rare Wood Boots, his set was now only missing the shoulders. After some back-and-forth, the two mercenaries decided to roll for the halberd, and Cappuccino won with a higher roll, picking up the solid polearm. His luck today was mixed, though, he failed to unseal the weapon three times in a row. Finally succeeding on the fourth, the Rare Wood Boots unlocked a +30% durability attribute. The halberd fared better, yielding a +120 physical defense attribute that compensated nicely for the loss on the boots.

After passing that small junction, the view suddenly opened up, and everyone in the group, men and women alike, gaped in astonishment. Compared to the bleak and chilly atmosphere just moments before, this place could only be described as serene. The ground was covered in lush green grass, ringed by towering ancient trees. A shallow lake sat in the middle of the meadow, its water as clear and clean as a polished mirror. At the center of the clear lake stood a massive ancient tree, its branches draped with thick vines as wide as large bowls. The vines even bore traces of human carving, resembling staircases. The tree stretched up as far as the eye could see, faint glimmers of fluorescent light visible only at its very top.

On the ground, animals moved with a fluorescent green glow, resembling cheetahs in size and shape. Don quickly pulled up their attributes.

[Fluorescent Stone Leopard — Elite Monster]

[Level 24 ]

[HP: 150,000]

[ATK: 650–740 ]

[PDEF: 420]

[MDEF: 360]

[Skills: Bite, Pounce]

Looking at his own pathetic defense, Don decided to stay well back. But these leopards clearly had better vision than the tree spirits, four of them, about ten meters away, had already spotted the team.

The snarling fluorescent leopards startled Lily. The novice beauty retreated repeatedly, gripping her crossbow tightly, her hands trembling as she loaded ammunition into the chamber.

Diana rushed forward in a few strides, wielding her longsword and striking two of the fluorescent stone leopards with a combo attack. They howled in pain as damage numbers of 1,204 and 1,468 bloomed above their heads. Meanwhile, Dust and Cappuccino each grabbed one leopard, and the three main tanks took three to five steps back, pulling the leopards out of the other monsters’ line of sight. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Looking closely, Don realized the leopards in this beautiful area were relatively few and scattered sparsely. As long as they controlled distance and didn’t pull too many at once, they could clear the whole zone.

The three tanks positioned themselves well. Dust, now fully kitted out, unleashed Sweeping Strike in the middle of the four leopards, while Diana and Cappuccino moved closer to him and fired off single-target burst skills. None of the three lost too much health, and Bernita only had to heal them intermittently.

Lily was a ranged player, so although Don stayed on the sidelines with her, he didn’t slack off. He moved dutifully behind the leopard Diana was engaging, and with a burst of strength in his arms, activated Killing Intent before driving a Backstab into its spine. The leopard convulsed, a column of fluorescent ink-like blood spurting from its back and splattering across him.

[Critical hit, 6,094!]

The fluorescent stone leopard didn’t turn around, because Diana’s longsword had already unleashed its red killing intent, slashing fiercely at the creature’s head. Another powerful Heaven and Earth Strike stripped over 4,000 HP.

But what happened next brought Don real satisfaction. A black arrow whistled through the gap between him and Diana and flew straight into the fluorescent stone leopard’s left eye. The eyeball burst like a water-filled sac, fluorescent liquid gushing out.

[Critical hit, 25,094!]

Unmistakably a weak-point hit.

But coincidentally, Lily’s next arrow was even more accurate, destroying the leopard’s other eye as well. This time the damage number was truly shocking.

[Critical hit, 39,968!]

[System: Fluorescent Stone Leopard’s eyes have suffered severe injury. Permanently blinded. Accuracy reduced by 90%]

"Little girl, you’ve got some skills!" Don smiled.

"Hehe, of course! This girl is very quick-witted, and incredibly intelligent and clever, and... waaah, why are you stinky men gagging? So annoying!"

Dust wiped his brow and remarked, "A beautiful woman cracking jokes now and then really helps make monotonous monster-hunting more interesting."

Cappuccino chimed in. "Yeah. Lots of seasoning."

Lily gritted her teeth. "Actually, Dust isn’t annoying at all. He’s just a troublemaker. What I hate most is someone like Cappuccino who jumps in to stir the pot. So I curse you, you’ll never get your shoulder piece."

Cappuccino remained calm. "No need to curse. I suspect the Fluorescent Stone Leopard doesn’t drop Rare Wood armor. If I want the shoulders, I’ll just come back next time."

"Ugh, can’t you at least pretend to look sad?"

"Can’t..."

Seeing the pretty girl jumping up and down in frustration, everyone laughed again. Honestly, girls with Lily’s personality were very popular. Being outgoing and carefree was refreshing, far better than girls who acted cute and coquettish all the time.

But just as Cappuccino had predicted, after the four fluorescent leopards went down, they didn’t drop any Rare Wood armor. Instead, they dropped a semi-transparent, fluorescent piece of equipment. The material was soft and warm to the touch, and its surface had an incredible texture. Don couldn’t help marveling, "This chainmail is just too beautiful."

[Green Glow Breastplate — Bronze Grade] [Chainmail]

[Level Req: 20]

[PDEF +180 ]

[MDEF +80]

[+10 STR]

[+10 INT]

[+10 AGI]

[+10 CON]

[Sealed Slot: 1]

[Collecting all five pieces unlocks a set bonus.]

Lily, that unprofessional newbie, asked a very professional question. "Brother Don, why does chainmail have Strength points? Sister Bernita is a priest, she doesn’t need Strength."

"Because it’s not just priests who can wear chainmail. Nimi dwarves can wear it too, and dwarves have high Strength, so the stats have to accommodate the race."

"But dwarves rely on physical attacks. They should wear heavy armor."

"Dwarves’ gathering skills consume too much mana, and heavy armor doesn’t give Intelligence. Imagine a dwarf mining, having to drink a mana potion every thirty seconds to keep gathering. That’s miserable efficiency."

"Oh, that makes sense. Then why don’t dwarves wear robes? Robes give the most Intelligence."

"Well, you could take that up with the head of Realms Online... invite him out for tea or McDonald’s, maybe he’ll agree."

The pretty girl actually took him seriously. "Great! Give me his number, I’ll call him later."

Listening to their endless daydreaming, the three tanks were helpless and finally pulled a few more Fluorescent Stone Leopards just to shut them up.

The leopards weren’t pushovers, their attacks carried a slight armor-piercing effect, so even the three heavily armored warriors didn’t dare pull too many at once, taking three to five at a time. The team’s efficiency wasn’t slow, given how well-equipped everyone was. In a pleasant atmosphere, they slowly cleared the area.

Because the Fluorescent Stone Leopards were high level and Elite grade, the experience was substantial. Don had already reached Level 22 at 45 percent, still comfortably in the American region’s top ten. Everyone else had leveled up as well.

Bernita was a bit frustrated, her luck could only be described as mixed. She had gathered five pieces of Green Glow equipment, but surprisingly, two of them were shoulder pieces and she was missing a pair of boots, which meant the set bonus couldn’t activate. Still, her luck on the unseals was excellent, all five Unsealing Stones succeeded on the first attempt. And the attributes revealed were genuinely powerful, boosting both HP and magic defense, which significantly improved her survivability. On top of that, the set was beautiful and delicate, perfectly accentuating Bernita’s petite figure.

Cappuccino was a little disappointed. "It’s translucent... why can’t I see anything at all?"

Before Bernita could answer, Diana punched him in annoyance. "You men are all the same."

Don broke out in a cold sweat. "Sister Diana, don’t generalize and condemn everyone."

"Hmph. You’re just as shameless. You seem nice on the surface, but you’re actually a completely repressed pervert."

Lily’s eyes were glazed over, her lips pressed tightly together. "Sister Diana, let’s not discuss this now. There’s a big guy up ahead..."