Chapter 52 – Einpat’s Flute

Both elves turned their backs and frantically dashed towards the ravine's exit. Like a pair of hares, their movements were quite nimble. Nonetheless, they were quite fragile as well and only had around a hundred health. A single round of spells was enough to kill them instantly.

"You want to run? In your dreams!" As if he were an arrow released from a bow, Nie Yan quickly shot out from behind.

The rest of the group trailed him and followed in pursuit.

Right now, Yu Lan's group should've already blocked off the exit.

Before the two elves made it too far, they were immediately stopped in their tracks upon reaching the ravine's passage. Sure enough, Yu Lan and her group had already arrived and firmly stood in place, blocking off the elves' only path to freedom.

They were already trapped with no hope of escape!

The two elves quickly glanced at each other before dashing towards the cliff face. When they had scaled three meters of the cliff, Nie Yan arrived right behind them and suddenly leaped into the air. He reached out with his arm and managed to grab one of the elves by the leg. He then extended his left hand and shot out a line of webbing from his Silk Spinner Ring. As the web line wrapped itself around the other elf's leg, he pulled back sharply and flung the two elves off the cliff face.「Crash!」Their bodies made heavy contact with the ground, causing a cloud of dust to form and rise in the air.

With Nie Yan's Dexterity and jump range being so high, his range of movements and speed were astonishing to a frightening degree. These two dark elves simply weren't his match.

Shortly after the rest of the team arrived and surrounded the two elves, the Mages raised their staffs and prepared to unleash a rain of spells.

"Ryeehgh… Ryeghkh…" The two elves revealed pleading expressions on their faces.

"Hold up! Don't kill them for now." Nie Yan's heart jumped in excitement. In his previous life, the player only needed to kill these two elves and Einpat's flute would drop. When they handed the flute back to Einpat, they could proceed with the dungeon. However, he had never come across a situation such as this, where the elves wouldn't fight back and instead pleaded for their lives.

In his previous life, the highest completion rate attained for this dungeon was only around seventy-five percent. Even ten years into the game, no one beat the dungeon to full completion. Yet at present, he couldn't say for sure these two elves wouldn't lead him to any information regarding the missing twenty-five percent.

When he was Level 4 in his previous life, the stats of his game character simply couldn't compare with his stats right now. At that time, he was only an average low-level player, unable to obtain even a simple set of Bronze-grade equipment for himself. There was no need to even mention ludicrous aspirations such as attaining the legendary Chapter of Courage. In short, the Dexterity and jump range of his previous character were too inadequate. Let alone capturing these dark elves, even overtaking them was impossible. Therefore every team at the time—including his own—could only blast them with magic when they attempted to scale the ravine's walls.

With their two bodies curled up like potato bugs, the two elves knelt on the ground and gazed at Nie Yan with begging expressions in the hopes that he would spare their lives.

The elves spoke in an ancient language Nie Yan wasn't proficient with, the language of the elves. However, from their body language and expressions, he could roughly tell they were begging for forgiveness.

"Who here can speak Elvish?" Nie Yan turned around and asked the team.

The surrounding team members gazed at each other before shaking their heads. They only knew one language in the game, and that was the common language spoken in the empire. As for Elvish? From the start, let alone understanding it, no one had even heard of its existence before.

Nie Yan silently pondered. If no one knew Elvish, communicating with these two dark elves would basically be impossible.

He glanced at his own language menu. At present, there were only four languages: Common, Dragon, Ancient Common, and Kasate Giant. Suddenly, he had another thought, These dark elves are an ancient race and possess extremely long lifespans. Perhaps they'll understand other languages?

"Petty and frail dark elves, why have you come here?" Nie Yan spoke in Dragon Tongue.

Nie Yan spoke various syllables in a deep tone. The sound of his voice frightened the surrounding team members; however, they soon realized he was simply speaking another language.

Upon hearing the Dragon language, the two elves were badly frightened, even trembling as they gazed at Nie Yan. One of the elves who was somewhat more courageous continued to stare at him with caution and bewilderment. Eventually, he drummed up enough courage and crawled towards Nie Yan's feet, kissing them before he fell back and began to speak.

The elf also spoke in Dragon Tongue. "Long live the Dragon God. This one's name is Vasa Rhine. M'lord, I sincerely ask of you… are you of the dragon race, disguised as human?"

During the distant Dark Era, the dark elves were unlike the other races. As one of the races enslaved by the dragon race, they didn't join the rebellion with races such as humans, high elves, and dwarves in fighting for their freedom. Their society and faith remained pious in their belief of the dragons. Even now, those existences that were currently hidden within the deepest corners of the world were still worthy of their reverence and loyalty.

Nie Yan felt elated. Humans who knew Dragon Tongue were few and far between. This dark elf had been scared witless and mistook him for an actual dragon. It's best if I take advantage of this misunderstanding!

"Indeed! Long live the Dragon God! Vasa Rhine, I do not wish to repeat myself. Why have you come to this place?" Nie Yan spoke in Dragon Tongue once again.

"M'lord, our Drow Dark Elf Tribe suffered a crushing defeat at the Hilton Stronghold. In the chaos and confusion, my companion and I passed through the plains and escaped to this forest," Vasa Rhine replied.

"Ah? Vasa Rhine… So it turns out you two were deserters from the battle at Hilton Stronghold!"

"M'lord, we are not deserters! This one named Vasa Rhine is a brave and courageous soldier! We are gathering intelligence for our tribe. In the evening three days from now, our Drow Tribe will strike back at the Hilton Stronghold. At that time, Vasa Rhine will once again return to the battlefield!"

Vasa Rhine spoke with courage and conviction.

「System: New quest received! Bring the heads of the two dark elves to Sir Kavrote in the HIlton Stronghold and inform him before the Drow Tribe commences their counterattack.」

A branching quest line! This was an exciting discovery; however, Nie Yan still maintained a calm and collected outer appearance. He continued to speak to Vasa Rhine as if everything was normal. As for the opposite party, Vasa Rhine believed Nie Yan was a dragon. He truthfully answered each and one of Nie Yan's questions without exception and didn't dare to conceal even a shred of information.

As Nie Yan and the dark elf continued to speak in the strange language, the team members had various thoughts. Just what were they talking about? Those dark elves seemed to be quite fearful of Nie Yan as well. Why was that? Everyone felt shocked. Just when did Nie Yan learn the language of other races?

"Vasa Rhine, the Treant Caretaker is a friend of mine. He informed me that you've stolen his flute. Tell me, how shall I enact your punishment?"

Upon hearing Nie Yan's words, Vasa Rhine kowtowed repeatedly and begged for forgiveness. He then took out the flute and handed it to Nie Yan.

The entire flute was lacquer black while its surface was carved in turtle shell patterns. As Nie Yan examined it, he noticed the flute appeared very simple and unadorned.

He then glanced at its properties.

Einpat's Flute (Quest Item)

Requirements: Level 0

Description: A flute used by the Treant Caretaker. Able to affect surrounding Treants.

Properties: Willpower +20, Strength +20, Reflex +20, Health +300. Reduces the stats of surrounding Treants by 50%.

Restrictions: Can only be equipped within the Treant Forest.

No mistake, that's the flute we're looking for. Once Nie Yan put the flute away, he sent an order through the team chat.「Kill them!」

The surrounding Mages raised their staffs and began chanting their magic. To the team's surprise, the two dark elves didn't resist and remained kneeling on the ground. They stayed motionless and silent as they awaited their deaths.

「Boom! Boom! Boom!」The spells rained down on the two elves. They remained firmly kneeling even when suffering the assault. It was only until their health bars fell empty that the two could no longer hold themselves up. Their lifeless corpses slumped to the ground, collapsing with a gentle thud that brought a small cloud of dust into the air.

…

「System: You've obtained Dark Elf's Head. Quantity: 2」

"Alright, now that's settled and done with. Good! They even dropped a pair of Warrior boots when they died. Decide between yourselves who gets it. We'll be heading off to kill the Treant King next," Nie Yan announced. This is going to be the first time in history a team finishes this dungeon with a perfect completion rate. Capturing those two dark elves led to a pleasant surprise.

"Nie Yan, what did you and those dark elves talk about? Why did it seem like they were very afraid of you? Not to mention when we were attacking them, they didn't even dare to retaliate," Yao Yao asked after walking to Nie Yan's side.

The rest of the team also stared at Nie Yan with inquisitive gazes. Even Yu Lan couldn't help but focus her attention on him.