Peeking out from the sound, I could see several familiar figures that I hadn't seen in a long time, as well as the angry fists of the newcomers, at a slightly lower position.
"It feels like they might even start fighting right away."
We stood close together, watching the event unfold in bewilderment. Perhaps because the tree hole was slightly higher than the ground, we could only barely make out each other's stares, and our voices could not be heard.
"This is the first time I've seen Shan and the others so angry," Sheng whispered from the side. "Even when we disagreed before, we never got this worked up during our arguments."
I nodded.
Whether it's Shan, Xiaoxi, or even Shadow Butterfly who joined the team last, none of them are particularly fond of making noise. Shan takes every task seriously and does his job well, Xiaoxi prefers a gentler approach, and Shadow Butterfly, after getting to know her over the past few days, also seems to be a quiet person, both inside and out.
Even if we don't stand in the shoes of the members who have overcome numerous pitfalls and come together as a team, just based on this, if all three of them are simultaneously angered about something, it's highly likely that the problem wasn't caused by them, but rather by the actions of the person standing opposite them.
Sheng and I exchanged a glance, paying even closer attention to how things were developing, while also using our own methods to try and find out what might have caused the argument.
Then, at almost the same moment, focus attention on the same target object.
"It's an elf."
The same sigh came from our mouths.
By simply peeking out a little further from the tree hollow, I could clearly see, through the leaves, a handsome figure clad in distinctive leaf-woven clothing, with slender, graceful limbs and unusually long ears. Although I hadn't had the privilege of seeing such a person many times, I could still identify them at a glance from those features.
"It seems he was knocked unconscious by those people. There's a shallow mark on the back of his neck, and the wound on his forehead was from when he fell and hit a rock. His breathing is stable, and there are no other external injuries." Sheng breathed a sigh of relief after quickly confirming the person's condition. "Thank goodness, it seems we found him in time, otherwise we would have been in serious trouble."
I noticed the implication in his words: "If we hurt that spirit, will it trigger some kind of terrible path?"
After all, the prototype is a game, so it's common for making the wrong choices to lead to a hostile storyline.
Sheng nodded slightly in affirmation: "Although I don't know the other party's identity, the elven race deep in this labyrinth seems to value their people highly due to difficulties in reproduction. Attacking them, or injuring or killing any of their members, would usually trigger hostile relations."
"At that time, it won't just be like before, where monsters occasionally jump out to attack us. The elves themselves, as well as the monsters they tame, will come to attack us, and their numbers will be far beyond what our small team can withstand and escape from."
It seems that even a lightweight squad specially formed for ease of movement may pose certain safety risks.
If we were to use common gaming terminology, from the current team configuration, although our squad's overall structure is quite balanced, with a tank in the front row capable of blocking most attacks, mages and archers in the back row, elves in the middle to support the front and back, and assassins roaming around, we are lacking a warrior character who can single-handedly take on a thousand enemies in the front row, and the balance between physical and magical attacks is too obvious.
A short-term or high-intensity battle might be able to be resolved beautifully, but if it progresses to a long-term battle, or if the team is surrounded by a large number of enemies, or if it is in a special terrain situation, the strength of some members will be limited, and then it will be hard to say what the final outcome will be.
The previous annihilation of the giant dragon was only possible because they joined forces with the mermaids and took advantage of the terrain of the pirate ship they had temporarily intercepted. Even so, it was still a very difficult battle.
Fortunately, I now have a backup energy source to replenish my magic power, so even in long battles or battles requiring short bursts of power, it's not impossible to give it a try.
But I'm not so arrogant as to deliberately invite trouble on someone else's turf.
"That madman Sword Demon might be quite happy to fight the elves."
Sheng's muttering voice came from the side. Seeing me turn to him with wide eyes, he hurriedly waved his hands and explained, "Ah, no! I didn't mean to do that! It's just that in one game I happened to confirm that my attributes were high enough, so I wanted to test my combat power... I didn't expect to just kill my way through..."
...In a way, aren't you crazy too?
"Who knew back then! I thought it was really a game! Isn't it a gamer's instinct to try to complete every hidden side quest and figure out all the possible directions of each branch?"
He whispered in my ear, looking like he wanted to yell, but his posture—which shouldn't attract attention below—was so conspicuous that it made me want to laugh: "If I had known back then that this game would appear so realistically before me, I definitely wouldn't have done that! I would have worked much harder to create a strategy that would ensure everyone's safety, instead of ending up like this with so many details still unclear..."
In the end, Sheng lowered his head with a gloomy expression, and the ends of his once flowing blue hair withered and fell to the ground.
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