Prosperous Age Rose

Chapter 3

Since they were members of the same guild, it was inevitable that they would be brought out to introduce each other.

When Devin McDaniel pointed to the female priest and said, "This is Rouge Moon, the strongest priest in our guild."

——Willow buffered for two seconds, thinking that this Rouge Moon was the one. With her exquisite features, yet the modified appearance couldn't hide her strong sense of aversion and curiosity towards Willow.

After all, as everyone said in the game, she was Devin McDaniel's "rumored girlfriend."

Thinking of this, she turned her head and gave Devin McDaniel an innocently harmless smile without warning.

——Not bad, there's a lady.

——Stop kidding, I'm begging you.

The exchange of thoughts between the two was certainly not audible to others, but it clearly seemed to outsiders as if they were conveying emotions through their eyes.

Rouge Moon raised an eyebrow, displaying a slightly condescending smile, "Since she was brought in by the vice president, we will certainly take good care of her." She casually opened her backpack and took out a few pieces of equipment, "Consider these few pieces of equipment dropped by BOSS as a welcome gift."

If it weren't for the few shouts Devin McDaniel had made in the guild chat before, she might have thought these were Rouge Moon's personal belongings and would have been greatly impressed by her generosity.

But it was merely the generosity of others.

Willow pondered inwardly, but still expressed her gratitude profusely.

Only someone like Devin McDaniel, who had grown up with her since childhood, would understand the quirky thoughts of this girl. With cold sweat trickling down his back, he recalled everything that had happened from the beginning to now, wondering if implying that he invited this peculiar girl to play the game was a mistake.

——He would get the answer a long time later.

After introducing the newcomer, Rouge Moon turned to Devin McDaniel and said, "Spring Breeze went abroad for something a few days ago. She asked me to manage the guild with you. The equipment in the guild warehouse shouldn't be left unused for too long. Let's allocate it sometime."

Listening to these topics she couldn't understand, Willow naturally lowered her head with a knowing look, amusing the meow meow in her arms.

Rouge Moon saw this and felt somewhat proud. Bringing up guild matters indicated that her relationship with the Elegant Young Master was much deeper than this girl could comprehend. At least there were many things that this newbie couldn't understand.

The fellow in the group, Archer Hundred Steps, was much more interested in the meow meow in Willow's arms. "Willow, catching a kitten as a pet with low attack power isn't right. As a support class, you should find a more powerful high-attack pet."

——He treated the meow meow as a regular domesticated pet.

She smiled, casually stroking the thin ears of the meow meow, "Meow meow is very powerful. I think it's the most powerful pet in the game."——This was a statement of fact.

But to onlookers, it sounded like naive and foolish talk.

Rouge Moon and the Elegant Young Master still paid attention to the conversation here, feeling rather disdainful.

Hundred Steps Archer also found it quite amusing, thinking that this girl was still a novice after all, and a cat was just a pet, to be held and played with in her arms. So, with a thought, he summoned his Level 1 attendant pet, the 60th-level Water Elemental Soul Beast. Although it wasn't comparable to the extraterrestrial Blue-Eyed Demon Dragon, for most players, a pure elemental monster as a pet was already quite impressive.

"What's the use of this pet?" Willow was indeed very curious.

"The healing ability of the Water Elemental is extraordinary. This Soul Beast uses water-based skills to protect its owner."

"Oh." She blinked and looked at the water-blue Soul Beast, which looked like a palm-sized elf. Beautiful as it was, it wasn't as cute as the meow meow. Thinking so, she also voiced this sentiment.

Rouge Moon chuckled softly, putting an end to her conversation with the Elegant Young Master, and sat beside Willow, saying with a hint of pride, "In this world, strength is not determined by cuteness."

There was a subtle implication.

Everyone could see that although Willow's character was still at the LOLI level of service, the hints of beauty were already emerging. Coupled with her novelty towards the game, her eyes appeared exceptionally pure and clear, quickly gaining the favor of the others present.

Devin McDaniel watched from the side without interjecting. He thought, you ignorant folks, my sister's pet was just announced as a divine beast by the system a moment ago.

"Indeed, the system just said something about the divine beast recognizing its master. Did you receive any news?" The Wizard spoke brazenly. "I wonder who's so lucky—could it be from beyond the heavens?"

"How is that possible?" The male priest, I Am Kind, vetoed, "If it were him, the ragtag soldiers under his command would have already issued a server-wide congratulatory announcement for their big boss. Don't you remember the last time he tamed the Blue-Eyed Demon Dragon? The entire server saw his congratulatory announcement."

"That's so cool." Hundred Steps Archer's eyes sparkled with anticipation. "If it's not from beyond the heavens, then who else could have the ability to tame a divine beast like that? When I meet the player in person, I must pay my respects properly."

Willow chuckled lightly at the remark, earning a warning glance from Devin McDaniel not to act rashly. She gestured understandingly and continued to sit as her ignorant LOLI self.

"It's nothing to worry about. People will know soon enough, after all, such an impressive pet as the divine beast is bound to appear before others." Rouge Moon said solemnly. "When we see it, we must invite that person to join the guild. Having a divine-level pet is quite a deterrent."

Willow nodded smugly, thinking, yes, I'm right here in front of you.

——"Speaking of which, Elegant, didn't Spring Breeze say before to try not to bring players below the second-tier profession into the guild?" Rouge Moon looked at the Elegant Young Master.

"This is my little sister, it doesn't matter if we bend the rules a bit for family ties." The Elegant Young Master joked. As the vice president, exercising a little privilege wasn't unreasonable.

"It's fine, we'll quickly help Willow advance to the second tier and become a priest." Hundred Steps Archer said, "Since Spring Breeze isn't around these days, by the time he gets back, Willow will surely be a second-tier priest. There won't be anything to say then."

"Agreed." Rouge Moon nodded. "Let's settle on that. These days, I'll focus on leveling up to advance to High Priest, or else I could also help Willow."

"No need, no need, thank you for your kindness. I can do it myself." Willow hastily declined, knowing that her leveling was entirely dependent on Meow Meow for mob grinding. If they accompanied her, she would have to rely on her meager attack output to get by, and she didn't want that!

"Yeah, I'll take care of her. You focus on advancing to High Priest. It would be quite an honor if the first person to become a High Priest in this server is also from our guild." Devin McDaniel quickly stepped in to deflect.

"Alright," Hundred Steps Archer checked the notes in his pocket, "the next Demon Spirit Tower King respawns in three minutes. Let's go. Good luck, everyone."

Defeating bosses is a shortcut to leveling up and obtaining good equipment—provided one is skilled and operates well. They were now fighting bosses to help Rouge Moon accumulate experience.

"Good luck, everyone." Willow smiled, waved, and discreetly patted Meow Meow, signaling it not to scare off the Elemental Spirit Beast, which had been ignored since it was summoned. The poor Elemental Spirit Beast had already petrified under the divine beast's warning gaze and dared not move, but no one had noticed until just now.

Meow Meow obediently turned its face back into Willow's embrace, pretending to be a docile little cat.

Only Hundred Steps Archer hesitated for a moment as he recalled his pet, wondering why the Elemental Spirit Beast, which usually enjoyed frolicking outside, seemed eager to shrink into a pet egg and go into shock today.

As he left, Hundred Steps Archer turned back and smiled at Willow.

"Hundred Steps Archer has added you as a friend. Do you accept?"

"Yes."

"Willow, in the future, if you need help with leveling or anything else, and can't find anyone, come find me. I'll take you." Striking a pose he believed to be charming, Hundred Steps Archer disappeared into the teleportation array.

——In online games, the term "brother" is often twisted and loses its original meaning.

Willow glanced sympathetically at Devin McDaniel. "No wonder you call me 'sis,' others are so ambiguous about it."

Devin McDaniel smiled helplessly, patting her head. "Alright, let's go back and check. The flowers should have respawned by now."

"Leveling up is too boring. I think my Meow Meow could take on the boss we just fought by itself." She lifted the cute little yellow cat in her hand. "Right, Meow Meow?"

"Meow~" Meow Meow let out a monosyllabic meow, seemingly agreeing.

"By the way, pets also have skills. Does yours have any?" Devin McDaniel thought of it when Hundred Steps Archer's pet appeared earlier. "Pets' skills are controlled by the owner and will obey your commands."

"Um..." She stroked Meow Meow's back. "Where do I check?"

"There's a bound skill book in your backpack, which records the skills you can use. The last page lists your pet's skills." ——Devin McDaniel fell silent.

Apart from two pages at the front recording her existing servant skills, the rest of the book was thick with pet skills.

——Cheats, cheats everywhere. Tears streamed down his face. Willow's pet possessed all the skills of all pets, and undoubtedly, these skills would be more effective when used by Meow Meow than by other pets.

"I mean, why bother leveling up anymore... Just let Meow Meow handle everything." Willow said coolly. "It excels in offense and defense, and its power is endless..."

"You see this..." Devin McDaniel flipped to the first page of the appendix, where tiny print recorded, "The skills that pets can use cannot exceed the owner's level."

——"That's motivating." Willow's tears flowed. "I'm leveling up for my Meow Meow."

"Yeah, level up quickly, it'll be powerful when you do." Devin McDaniel thought of the prospect of this girl sweeping through the online game with a cat and felt infinitely dark. With her around, other players striving hard to level up seemed like a joke.

"Oh, by the way, who's this Spring Breeze you mentioned earlier?"

"He's the leader of our guild, Spring Breeze, an assassin—just five minutes after becoming the first guild leader from beyond the heavens, he leveled up to the third-tier profession. He has strict requirements for the levels of guild members and dislikes weaker ones."

"What if I don't become a priest before he comes back?"

"He'll kick you out of the guild—"

"Does he look down on those with low levels like this? Didn't he come up the same way?" Willow said indignantly. What's with the attitude?

"You are unaware that in the early days of the guild's development, there was an incident. A low-level character caused chaos within the guild, and many elders were so infuriated that they left the guild. It took us a long time to adjust and gradually recover." Devin McDaniel spoke up for him. "Actually, he doesn't dislike low levels; it's just that in the game, low level often implies a short appearance time and lack of understanding of the intricacies. Keeping such individuals around can easily lead to problems."

"Indeed." She nodded, realizing that once bitten by a snake, she decided to abandon her preconceptions about him. Thinking it over, she took out the small package given to her by Vermilion Moon and unfolded each item, replacing her basic equipment. Checking her attributes, her defense increased by 10%. Vermilion Moon wasn't entirely stingy either; theoretically, she could use these items herself, and perhaps they would be more effective on her. But she still gave them to her, so she decided not to hold onto her initial animosity.

"Meow Meow, let's go ravage those flowers!"

Meow Meow continued to devote itself to the noble cause of flower picking.

She sat on a flat boulder in the safety zone, the transparent wings of angels continuously rising above her head. Contented.

The virtual sunlight fell on her tender face, her translucent skin glowing with a jade-like radiance, foreshadowing her future stunning appearance. The light-colored sash gently fluttered, transcending the mundane.

Devin McDaniel watched her delicate and lazy demeanor, feeling as if something had pricked his heart, causing a tingling sensation. Willow, he brought him into this world, a world detached from reality. Originally intending to forget the past together, but now, it seemed like he was entangling himself, the thread on his heart not only remained, but tightened even more.