Mystery carefully walked forward. She had already kept her daggers. They served no purpose right now. Instead, they would be a burden to her if she wanted to dodge any attacks.

She was fully focused right now. She didn't care about Blue Maple's actions at all. To her, he had nothing to do with her. He could do whatever he wanted.

After they appear, there's some time before they attack. The puppet with the dagger attacks with great sharpness and precision, but it has a rigid style. I can control the rhythm if I manage to avoid its attacks a few times.

The puppet with the hammer lags a little with its attack. However, it generates strong shockwaves after its attacks. These shockwaves can span a rather large distance.

There might also be unknown dangers. I must still approach this situation cautiously and give myself some freedom to adapt to any unforeseen circ.u.mstances.

Mystery quickly a.n.a.lyzed the situation in her head. She was filled with focus right now. At the same time, she slowly approached her front.

The attack came just as she took another step forward.

A puppet holding onto a sharp dagger suddenly appeared behind her! It didn't attack when it crept past her. instead, it only attacked after it was behind her. This was to caught her off guard.

However, she remained alert throughout!

“Swis.h.!.+”

A sharp dagger was approaching Mystery from the back!

“Horizontal slas.h.!.+”

Mystery immediately discovered how the puppet was unleas.h.i.+ng its attack. She made that conjecture from the sound the dagger made in the air. Upon realizing this, she quickly squatted down and charged forward with great speed.

“Swis.h.!.+”

The puppet made three 'Z's as it tried to slash Mystery. However, she managed to dodge the slashes rather easily. But this was just the beginning.

Mystery took another three steps forward. A huge robotic puppet holding onto a giant hammer blocked her and decisively smashed the hammer towards her!

“Boom!”

However, she was very agile as she avoided the attack once again. She also exploited the shockwaves that ensued after the attack to roll towards the back of the robotic puppet.

But before she could even stabilize herself, another tall and huge puppet holding onto a gigantic hammer appeared behind her. She was astonished, and her pupils shrank momentarily. However, she still managed to react very quickly.

“Hmph.”

Mystery groaned as she was slightly hurt from the shockwaves. However, she still managed to avoid the imminent attack and relied on her momentum to roll forward once again.

She had no choice. These puppets were too quick. If Blue Maple was here instead, he might perform better than her. His smelted gear increased his mobility by 35%. However, that was temporarily not the case because his gear had been taken away for an upgrade…

“This little doll's reaction speed and adaptability are impressive. If she avoids the third puppet's attack, I'll give her a break…this rascal only knows how to skive!” The old man was rather fortunate that he didn't insist on Blue Maple becoming his disciple…

“He doesn't even know how to get into her good books by offering to go with her. Hmm…they seem like they could fight anytime. It's fine even if he doesn't get into her good books. But I don't think their relations.h.i.+p is that bad either.” The old man sounded just as playful and cheeky as Old Man Fang.

Mystery managed to proceed another few steps forward, albeit suffering a few scares along the way.

She was still struggling to avoid the puppets' attacks. She did seem slightly fatigued from all the action. There was even a ghastly wound on her right arm. She sustained it when she frantically tried to avoid the daggers. She was also forced back by a hammer-wielding robotic puppet then. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been hurt at all.

“Boom!”

It was another hammer, but she dodged the attack once again. However, she was flung to one side by the intense shockwave that came after the attack. Just as she was flung mid-air, a puppet holding a dagger suddenly appeared by her side.

Her pupils shrank quickly and she gritted her teeth as she forcefully changed her trajectory using her injured arm.

“Swoos.h.!.+”

“Hmph!”

The dagger struck Mystery's back. A hideously raw wound instantly surfaced on her back. Her armor had been slashed apart and her blood splattered. Her jade-white skin contrasted the b.l.o.o.d.y wound that was on her back now.

Mystery groaned and slid to one side. However, she swiftly got up and was ready to rush forward again. She knew that she couldn't stop right now because she would be in grave danger, even if it was just for one second!

However, she heard another echo in the air just as she crawled up!

“Swis.h.!.+”

It's not a dagger!

Mystery's pupils shrank as she horrifically thought to herself.

It's a flying dart!

She turned back and realized that there were flying darts being shot towards her from three different directions. There were six darts from each direction, so there was a total of…18 darts!

“Cheh!”

She was petrified for a moment, but quickly summoned her two daggers. There was a strong killing intent on her face now!

If I can't avoid all of them, I'll just have to…strike them away!

She desperately thought to herself as she started wielding her daggers!

“Ding!”

She deflected the closest dart first before starting to make strange twists with her body. She gave off a very ethereal feel, as if she was a spirit. After this, she was ready to deflect the next dart that was coming as she held her dagger in a rather strange angle.

“Ding ding ding ding ding…”

“Impressive!” The old man exclaimed from one side. On closer look, his eyes were actually s.h.i.+ning right now.

Mystery managed to hit away 13 flying darts in such a short span time even though she was only a Level 40 player!

Her technique was terrifying yet outstanding!

However, just as she thought everything was over, another flying dart suddenly appeared less than 20 centimeters in front of her!

It was an originally invisible flying dart!

It also managed to conceal the sound it made in the air. Otherwise, Mystery would have spotted it!

What?!

Her pupils immediately shrank at this moment1

I can't make it with my daggers!

She panicked for a moment, but soon reacted. At this critical moment, she couldn't hesitate at all.

At least I can't be hurt. Mystery knew what she had to do. Even if she was carrying injuries, she still had to do whatever she could to survive this attack!

The dart was getting closer and closer, but she had only s.h.i.+fted slightly.

Faster!

This thought flashed across her mind instantly as she controlled her body movement. However, a Level 40 player wasn't as mobile as she would like herself to be.

I'm safe!

She managed to successfully avoid the flying dart hitting a vital spot! It was a major scare, but…

“Swis.h.!.+”

s.h.i.+t!

The dart sc.r.a.ped past Mystery's shoulder, but it was not the ending she wanted. She rather the dart hit her shoulder than this ending.

The dart had snapped her bra strap underneath her armor!

f.u.c.k!

Mystery instinctively covered herself before quickly rus.h.i.+ng towards the stone door.

“Oh s.h.i.+t…seems like there's a problem. This…I should give her more leeway now…” The old man awkwardly muttered. He had been observing from one side. Of course he knew what had just happened.

Indeed, Mystery easily crossed the remaining path. Even though she was holding onto her strap with one hand, she still managed to easily cross the dangerous path.

When she came to the stone door, she saw Blue Maple playing around with his Heavenly Fire.

She wasn't confused why he managed to make it over faster than her. She only glanced at him, but the coldness in her eyes was very obvious.

Blue Maple wasn't bothered at all, and he wasn't just playing with his Heavenly Fire. He had been watching Mystery the whole while. Naturally, he knew what happened.

Suddenly, blue fire appeared all around Mystery. It formed an opaque, blue protective s.h.i.+eld that covered Mystery.

“Hey, rascal, what's the meaning of this? Do you really think I'm a voyeur?!” The old man screamed and his voice echoed throughout the entire cave.

“It's best to be cautious. Why are you so agitated?” Blue Maple coldly replied. He didn't give the old man face at all.

“You…hmph!” The old man was speechless. He didn't want to explain himself either. It would only make things worse. After all, this was the result of his doing. It was best if he kept quiet.

“Ha.”

Mystery's soft laughter came from within the protective s.h.i.+eld at this moment. It was a pity Blue Maple couldn't see how she was like when she laughed. This was also her first time exhibiting a different emotion too.

Although Blue Maple heard the laughter, he acted as if he heard nothing. He indifferently stood where he was with his back facing the s.h.i.+eld.

What a strange fellow. Mystery thought to herself. At the same time, she calmed herself down. She wore Blue Maple's coat inside the s.h.i.+eld and changed out of her broken clothing.

She was no longer as unnatural as before.

It was all because of Blue Maple's 'strange' words.

The old man could easily see through this s.h.i.+eld. However, just like what Blue Maple mentioned, it's best to be cautious.

The key was Blue Maple's tone of voice. While he was usually a very cold person, he wasn't completely heartless. It sounded like he was really infuriated with the old man, or that he was trying to protect something that belonged to him.

Clearly, he had fought Mystery more than once. He even abandoned her earlier. However, he still tried to protect her on this occasion.

Indeed, he was a strange fellow.