Chapter Thirty-Seven: Escorting the Princess Home

“How can I take you back, Princess?” This was the question I needed to concern myself with at the moment.

Princess Misha's soul was so weak that she could barely speak. She whispered, “Take this Soul Staff—it will guide my soul to find my body. My body is in the basement. You must find it!”

As soon as she finished, her soul began to fade, then attached itself to a battered staff lying on the ground. I checked and saw that my health had recovered sufficiently, so I grabbed the staff and hurried into the dim, damp basement. Sure enough, the princess’s body was there. Though it was in a sorry state, it was at least more pleasant to look at than the female ghost’s appearance.

I brought the glowing tip of the staff close to the princess’s forehead. A milky white light flashed, and she slowly opened her eyes. When she saw me, a look of surprise crossed her face, quickly replaced by relief.

“Thank you for saving me. My body is still weak—could you escort me back to the royal city?” she asked.

Flustered, I nodded. Immediately, the system notification sounded.

System notification: You have accepted the intermediate quest of rescuing the princess. Escort Princess Misha back to Hurricane City and ensure her safety along the way!

Princess Misha stood and began to walk slowly outside. Wait—there are still monsters out there! How could this foolish woman just rush out?!

I ran ahead of Misha, clearing the way by slaying monsters. It wasn’t too difficult, but being surrounded and battered by a gang of skeletal warriors was far from fun. I could even hear two high-level mage girls outside the cemetery pointing in our direction, saying, “Look, there’s a handsome guy tanking a whole group of monsters. Wow, could he be our town’s top expert, Soup of Greens and Jade?”

All the way back to Hurricane City, I felt like a lone hero holding the pass against thousands. Misha followed silently behind me. She was an NPC, and it was rare for a player to bring an NPC back to town, causing quite a stir—there was a crowd of onlookers. In the alleyways among the residences, Lance was still as shabby as ever, but when he saw Princess Misha behind me, his wrinkled face broke into a smile so strange it gave me goosebumps.

“Young man, I never expected you to rescue the princess from those evil demons. Thank you so much!”

“Well... The reward should be generous then!” I blurted out.

Lance paused, perhaps affected by my words, but thankfully I hadn’t said anything that would crash the main program.

“Of course, the reward is due. With the princess safe, the old king will be delighted! Young man, here is your reward!”

“Ding~!”

System notification: You have completed the quest to rescue Princess Misha. You have received 82,000 experience, 12 gold coins, +500 reputation, and the item: Guard Captain’s Armor!

Got another piece of equipment—excellent!

[Guard Captain’s Armor] (Blue Equipment)
Defense: 52
Vitality: +16
Strength: +14
Agility: +15
Required Level: 21
…

Hmm, the blue armor seems to be the equipment the quest arranged for me! Right, I also picked up two pieces of equipment and a book when I defeated the princess’s soul. Let’s check the inventory:

[Ghost Gauntlets] (Green Equipment)
Defense: 26
Vitality: +10
Strength: +8
Required Level: 18

[Wizard Hat] (Green Equipment)
Defense: 14
Vitality: +8
Intelligence: +11
Required Level: 18

[Holy Guardian] (Skill Book)
Allows priests to learn the Guardian skill, granting themselves or allies a defensive shield.
…

I was dumbfounded for a while. It seemed all the recent equipment drops were meant for Xu Lin. Luckily, the Ghost Gauntlets were usable by me, and the armor couldn’t be equipped by the delicate mage Xu Lin.

After all this time, I finally managed to get a skill book for Xue Han. Her level now was second only to mine in our clan, but without good skills, high level alone was useless.

I quickly equipped the items I could use, then went to the marketplace to consign a green Soldier’s Armor with 22 defense for 120 RMB. With everyone’s levels rising, prices were depreciating fast—probably only worth 100 in a week.

After calling Xu Lin and Xue Han back to town, I sorted out my equipment. Though several body parts were still unequipped, wherever I had gear, it was top-tier—no filler, and the stats were astonishingly high.

Soup of Greens and Jade (Swordsman)
Level: 22
Health: 1020
Attack: 150-186 (x110%)
Defense: 152 (x110%)
Reputation: 1110
Luck: 0

Equipment:
Both Hands—[Pinewood Giant Sword] (Green Equipment)
Attack: 24-45
Strength: +8
Vitality: +7
Required Level: 12

Chest—[Guard Captain’s Armor] (Blue Equipment)
Defense: 52
Vitality: +16
Strength: +14
Agility: +15
Required Level: 21

Legs—[Wild Wolf Greaves] (Green Equipment)
Defense: +8
Vitality: +3
Strength: +2
Required Level: 4

Hands—[Ghost Gauntlets] (Green Equipment)
Defense: 26
Vitality: +10
Strength: +8
Required Level: 18

[Gravekeeper’s Ring] (Blue Equipment)
Strength: +15
Vitality: +12
Agility: +16
Special Effect: Absorbs 3% of the opponent’s health as damage dealt when equipped
Required Level: 20

[Favorite Necklace] (No grade)
Vitality: +10
Strength: +12
Intelligence: +8
Agility: +14
Bonus: Increases skill success rate by 50%

…

Looking at my stats, I was speechless. Clearly, in “Moon Eternal,” equipment could greatly boost a player’s attributes far above others of the same level. My health had originally been 742, but after equipping two blue and two green items, it soared to 1020. If I unequipped everything, a typical swordsman who didn’t invest points in vitality would only have at most 500 health at this level—probably less. As for attack, my current gear added a total of 61 points to strength, and with the weapon’s 24-45 damage, my total attack reached 150-186. Without so many top-tier items, an all-strength swordsman at this level would only have 65-80 attack—barely able to deal double-digit damage to monsters above level 20.

Few players had green gear at this stage; most wore white gear, and anyone with a single green item was regarded as a master. With two blue items, I wouldn’t dare expose my attributes publicly, or else I’d become famous overnight on the game forums.

In “Moon Eternal,” equipment is divided into ten slots: weapon, shield, helmet, chest armor, leg guards, boots, gauntlets, cape, necklace, and ring. Currently, I only had six items, mostly green gear under level 10, so my equipment wasn’t considered excellent, but for players at this stage, these items were already remarkable.