Chapter 225: Chapter 213: The Octopus Monster that Returns

The heroes are divided into three types based on their roles. The first type is Strategic Heroes, usually referring to heroes who have special talents in managing lords. National war is all about national power, and warfare is about consumption; strategic heroes truly reflect strength in the later stages.

The second type is Tactical Heroes, who have the ability to determine the direction of a battle.

The third type, and the most common, is Battle Heroes, who determine the victory or defeat of a fight.

Currently, international players favor Battle Heroes, as those with extraordinary talents are often dubbed “God-level Heroes.” Indeed, a good start is half the battle; only robust initial development can gradually accumulate the tactical and strategic advantages of the mid-to-late stages. This is a three-step process. Of course, the vast majority of players remain stuck in the grunt work of Battle Heroes.

Clearly, Da Fei had already reached the second step, entering the era of Tactical Heroes! Alicia was Da Fei’s Tactical Hero.

Her value lay in winning without a fight and using the weak to overcome the strong! In online game terms, it’s like “defeating a boss above your level,” “taking quests higher than your level,” and “zero-kill clearance,” realms that so-called God-level Battle Heroes could not reach.

So now, Da Fei definitely was all-in on cultivating Alicia.

Since her knowledge and magic power were severely lacking, he reluctantly decided to have the Little Nun sacrifice and hand over the Divine Artifact Wand to Alicia for now. With an additional 20 points in magic power and 20 points in knowledge, it equated to an attribute point gain worth 20 levels for an average Magic Hero. The improvements were unimaginable. All sorts of summoning spells like Summoning Mist, Summon Phoenix, Summon Earthquake, and those of Master-level Mages could now be utilized. Honestly, why hadn’t he thought of changing her outfit last night when she said she ran out of mana? Probably because they weren’t on the same ship, and he didn’t consider that strategic weapons have no class restrictions.

Da Fei opened the Vice Hero equipment bar to start the gear change. Hmm? Couldn’t retrieve the equipment? What’s going on?

Da Fei looked in surprise at the blonde Little Heart, who was nervously clutching the Magic Wand, glaring at him.

What was this! Da Fei chuckled and said to Selvia, “What’s going on? I’m just swapping gear.”

Selvia shook her head and questioned, “Why swap with her?”

–Ah poo! Da Fei spat out a mouthful of blood! Was this a joke? A Vice Hero defying a player’s gear change command! Such a thing was unheard of! No, wait, this happened before! When Da Fei first recruited Catherine, he had tried to strip her of her sexy leather armor for his own pleasure, but she laughed it off, and he didn’t pay much attention at the time. So Vice Heroes could defy a player’s gear change requests!

Indeed, if a Vice Hero possessed any personal items and a player attempted to take them, the Vice Hero would immediately turn hostile. This was something that the official data had warned about.

Could it be that Selvia resisted Da Fei’s gear change because she couldn’t part with the Divine Artifact? Da Fei quickly opened Selvia’s attribute bar to see, loyalty 100!!!

Ah poo! Da Fei spat out a mouthful of blood again! The power of the Divine Artifact! It had to be the power of the Divine Artifact!

When players met other races and other factions’ top-tier heroes in taverns, and they couldn’t win them over in any way, there was always an ultimate move: give them treasures! The higher the level of the gift, the more likely the other side would give in, while the given treasure would become the hero’s personal item, sacred and inviolable. This was the same trick Da Fei used when he gave the telescope to Catherine. If a high-level treasure could have such a magical effect, what about a Divine Artifact!

The problem is, my dear, this is just on loan to you, not given to you, so it’s not your personal item, right? How could you do this to me?

In other words, is this the charm of a Divine Artifact, igniting the possessive desire of Vice Heroes? Is this a preset feature of the Divine Artifact? Was there any introduction on the official website? No, right? Or is this Divine Artifact very special? Dang it, once you accept this design, it’s quite a headache!

Da Fei had no choice but to continue smiling, “This is just a temporary requisition, Selvia darling–”

Selvia interrupted, “I am not a child. Captain, don’t you think it’s a waste for a Ranger to use a magic artifact?”

Da Fei was stunned! This kid was angrier than when he caught him flirting with the Banshee! Could the power of the Divine Artifact be so great as to corrupt a Nun? What if he forcibly removed her Divine Artifact? Da Fei couldn’t even imagine! It might cause loyalty to plummet!

Da Fei didn’t dare to take that risk. He could only sigh heavily, “Alright, alright, I’m in the wrong. It’s most suitable for you to use it.”

But Selvia’s eyes reddened and reluctantly handed over the Magic Wand, “I’m sorry, it’s my fault. I shouldn’t have defied Captain’s orders.”

–System Prompt: You have removed Vice Hero Selvia’s equipment “Sea Soul Staff.”

–System Prompt: Selvia’s loyalty has decreased to 70 points.

Da Fei was stunned on the spot! Her loyalty had indeed dropped! Alright, alright, this kid was still sensible.

Da Fei quickly patted her head to comfort her, “Don’t worry. When I, Captain, slay a few more demigods, any magic artifacts will definitely be prioritized for you!”

Selvia tilted her head, frowned, and said, “Captain, could you please stop patting my head? I’m not a child.”

Huh? This attitude and tone seemed to return to normal, huh? So what happened just now? Was it a special scenario triggered by the Divine Artifact?

Da Fei curiously examined the wand, which was shaped like a sea beast’s bone claw holding a white glass ball, and couldn’t see any underlying meaning. Anyway, it was time to get to work.

Da Fei returned to his ship, and the fleet continued moving forward.

Once back on the ship, Da Fei equipped Alicia with the Divine Artifact Wand and watched her reaction intently.

“So this is a Divine Artifact? Is there anything special about it?” Alicia twirled the wand with great interest, swung it around making a whooshing sound, clearly not as reverent as Selvia.

That was her reaction? Alright, fair enough. Da Fei was afraid of being alarmed and would prefer no special occurrences at all.

In any case, with the Divine Artifact in hand and abundant mana, the next step was to accompany her in practice, repeatedly, until fully developing the complete version of Skira’s Illusionary Magic. The day magic succeeded would definitely be when God-level Arcane was advanced! It would also be the time Da Fei Master comprehended Navigation Skills!

Of course, with Alicia’s innate genius, having received information on God-level Skills, advancing to the God-level was inevitable. But Da Fei’s goal certainly did not stop there. His target was to surpass God-level and develop a new profession that, according to legends, transcended skills!

The practice began!

As Da Fei’s Phantom March activated, Alicia waved the magic wand glimmering with demon light, and Da Fei’s vision blurred once more, only to see the boat swell rapidly like a balloon. A yellow-black-white mixture, much larger than the previous Skira’s form, appeared once more.

–System Prompt: Your Vice Hero Alicia cast an unknown arcane magic on your boat!

–System Prompt: You combined a new unnamed magic skill! You gained information on a new magic skill!

–System Prompt: You obtained information on Master-level Navigation Skill.

–System Prompt: Your Vice Hero Alicia obtained information on God-level Arcane.

–“Insignificant beings, scram!” The piano sound resounded, as Coltner opportunely added musical input, causing the surrounding Ice Ocean to surge and scare off endless shrimp soldiers and crab generals. Yes, that was precisely the desired effect.

Alicia chuckled, “Not bad. With the enhanced magic power, the illusion’s size increased significantly, and its colors have slightly started resembling the remembered black of Skira. As long as I practice more, deepening and fixing Skira’s image until it completely resembles Skira’s real appearance, there should be a breakthrough.”

Da Fei exclaimed happily, “Yes, yes, that’s exactly what we need, more practice!”

At this moment, a sudden red flash startled Da Fei’s screen!

–System Prompt: Reconnaissance Skill Alert! A formidable enemy is approaching your fleet. Please ensure caution!

Da Fei was startled, seeing a large red dot on the radar rapidly approaching his fleet. Gosh! Another Sea Monster! Was it not afraid of Skira?

The fleet immediately prepared for battle, while Alicia hurriedly sat down, sipping water and nibbling on cakes to restore mana. Simultaneously, Da Fei took out a telescope to inspect the swiftly approaching red dot–a giant octopus!

Damn! It was back!

Could it be it realized it was deceived? Was it why it neither submerged nor retreated but assailed boldly? What should be done this time? The legend goes that the same tactic never works twice on a Saint–suggesting this was a fight not to be avoided?

However, things were different now. Alicia’s mana allowed her to summon Mist Technique, suggesting a fighting chance!

Da Fei hurriedly instructed Alicia, “Prepare Mist Technique!”

Alicia, with puffed-up cheeks full of food, mumbled, “*&&…%Y=!”

Come on, are you speaking octopus language or something?

Meanwhile, the massive octopus, moving like a torpedo, abruptly splayed its eight tentacles, causing massive waves as it halted abruptly behind the fleet. Clearly, it noticed the illusion left from practice that resembled Skira.

This significantly larger illusion than before tested the intelligence of the Octopus Monster once more!

–“Fool! Scram!” Again, piano sound resounded, and the furious roar echoed across the Ice Ocean!

Splash! A tremendous splash of water followed; the frightened octopus jerked its eight tentacles, swiftly turned around, reverting into a torpedo, fleeing in panic.

–System Prompt: The enemy has fled the battlefield! You gained battle experience +200,000!

–System Prompt: Congratulations! Your Vice Hero Alicia has advanced to Level 25! Attack +1, free attribute point +1, Damage +1…

“Ah poo!” Alicia spurted with a mouthful of food crumbs.

Da Fei stood frozen! What was the intention of this creature? Was it here to give experience?

Alicia wiped her mouth and said, “No way, things shouldn’t be done more than twice. This octopus might return, and by then, the trick may not fool it again.”

Da Fei nodded numbly; legend had it that the same tactic never works thrice on a Saint. It seemed a quick resolution was necessary; better to make a decisive choice while there was still time to escape.

Da Fei made a firm decision, “Messenger!” (To be continued. If you like this work, please go to wuxiaworld.site to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets; your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.wuxiaworld.site to read.)