Chapter 18

With a heavy thud, the prison door closed. Mu Feng found that the elf cell, though somewhat dim, was quite comfortable. He found a corner to sit in and began to sort through the gains from this mission.

First and foremost was the newly acquired demon value bar, which initially had only 500 demon points, but was enough to last for over 500 seconds, allowing him to do many things. Demons were the main monsters in this game world, so there was no need to worry about replenishing demon points. However, the demons he could currently kill were not of a high level, and since Mu Feng was locked in the prison, it was better not to activate the demon value burst. Just by carefully reading the descriptions of the skills in the burst state, Mu Feng had a general idea of what to expect.

Another gain was the pet egg given to Mu Feng by the dying elf queen, Essara! Mu Feng took it out of his backpack and held it in his hands. The crystal-clear shell emitted a soft white light, but it was impossible to see what was inside. It felt warm and soft, very comfortable to hold. Mu Feng opened the list and began to hatch the pet egg.

After initiating the hatching, the pet egg emitted an increasingly bright light. Mu Feng even felt something moving inside. Suddenly, the soft glow dimmed, and the originally warm and soft shell became hard, trembling in Mu Feng's hand. Finally, cracks began to appear on the pet egg.

The cracks grew more numerous and wider. With a burst of white light from inside the egg, a small hole appeared at the top. A delicate little hand reached out, trying to break open a larger space. Seeing the little one's efforts, Mu Feng couldn't help but smile and helped break the egg open. The little one finally revealed itself to Mu Feng.

It was actually a tiny elf, even smaller than Mu Feng's palm! The little one seemed not yet accustomed to the outside world, looking around timidly. When it met Mu Feng's gaze, the watery eyes filled with a pitiful look that made Mu Feng want to care for it.

The little one was born wearing a beautiful white dress, though small, it had a perfect figure like a normal elf. On its back were a pair of emerald wings, which should allow it to fly. Its face was strikingly similar to the late elf queen Essara, and Mu Feng couldn't resist reaching out to gently touch the little one's soft cheek. The little one, curious, hugged his hand and rubbed against it with its tiny body.

"Congratulations, player, you have successfully hatched the elf queen's pet egg. Please name your pet!" the system prompt sounded.

"Naming... I'll call her Xiao Xi." Mu Feng remembered the scene when the queen handed him the pet egg, like passing on a hope.

"Congratulations, you have successfully named your new pet Xiao Xi. The pet system is now activated. You have the opportunity for a server-wide announcement. Do you want to hide your name?"

"No, I won't hide it." Mu Feng chose not to hide it. Why hide when there was an opportunity for a server-wide announcement? He was who he was, and he had returned!

"Congratulations, player Melancholy Wind, you have obtained the first pet in 'Skyrim.' The pet system is now officially activated. Pets are divided into ornamental, combat, and auxiliary pets. Please explore the methods to obtain them. Wishing everyone a satisfactory pet."

"Melancholy Wind again?" In just a few hours, Mu Feng had received three server-wide announcements, shocking the players in the game. The first was for discovering the free combat mode, the second for being the first to complete the hero difficulty class change, and now for activating the pet system... No one doubted that Melancholy Wind was the real person. He was the one who had been absent for five years but still dominated the Chinese player rankings, and he had truly returned!

Xiao Xi, a humanoid auxiliary pet. Level: 1. Health: 1. Cannot be attacked. Skill 1: Nature's Blessing. Grants the owner powerful recovery abilities borrowed from nature, restoring 1% health and mana per second for 10 seconds, with a 30-second cooldown. Upgradable.

So strong! This was Mu Feng's conclusion after reading Xiao Xi's attributes. With her, he wouldn't need to eat anything to recover health and mana! And she could be upgraded. She was the perfect pet for a solo leveling player!

A strange sensation on his hand woke Mu Feng up. He found that the little one had been licking his finger while he was lost in thought. The tiny tongue felt strange but very comfortable.

The little one must be hungry. After searching his backpack, Mu Feng found only a piece of bread for health recovery. He broke off a small piece and gently fed it to her. The little one's eyes lit up with joy at the sight of food, and she quickly began to eat.

However, Xiao Xi was so small that she could only eat a little before starting to burp. Mu Feng quickly poured some water into his palm for her to drink. After eating and drinking, the little one gently flapped her emerald wings and flew up, landing on Mu Feng's left shoulder.

"Lalala..." The little one seemed to like this spot, happily calling out and rolling and kicking on Mu Feng's shoulder, playing happily. Mu Feng couldn't help but smile, momentarily forgetting that he was still in prison.

"Time acceleration is now starting, connecting with the real 'Skyrim' timeline. Please prepare!" The system prompt sounded again. Mu Feng's vision went black, and a progress bar appeared.

"10... 9... 3... 2... Time acceleration complete. It is now ten years after Essara's destruction, officially connecting with the 'Skyrim' timeline!" The system prompt sounded. Footsteps could be heard outside the prison. Theresa arrived with a group of elf warriors.

"Theresa?" Theresa's appearance surprised Mu Feng, but he was also a bit worried. Had she been imprisoned too?

"I'm sorry, I'm late. It's been ten years, and I'm here to release you." Theresa's eyes were full of regret. She had worked hard to seize the queen's power and suppress the ambitious druid sect, but it took her ten years to gain absolute power. After succeeding, the first thing she did was to rescue Mu Feng.

"Um... thank you. I can go out? That's great!" Mu Feng felt a bit embarrassed to tell Theresa that he had only waited for ten seconds... The ten seconds of darkness in the game had actually passed ten years. It turned out that the story from entering the game to the Shadow Valley was an independent plot, and the time track only connected with the real game world after those few seconds of darkness. He hadn't expected the demon hunter's beginner mission to be so epic and dramatic...

"What happened to your face?" Lin Feng suddenly noticed that Theresa's face looked different, as if something had been added.

"Oh, you mean this?" Theresa smiled and pointed to a red teardrop-shaped pattern near her left eye. "This is a facial tattoo. The drastic changes ten years ago greatly weakened the elf race. To protect the safety of elf women, all women in the tribe had to get facial tattoos. As the new queen, I couldn't avoid it, so I got a blood tear tattoo here to remember this hatred!"

"..." Lin Feng could imagine how difficult the past ten years must have been for Theresa.

"Your sentence is over, you can go out now!"

"Really?"

"I'm sorry, I couldn't speak up for you back then!"

"It's okay, you were just a new queen. The elders wouldn't listen to you. Being in prison is better than being exiled. Now that ten years have passed, I believe you must have successfully subdued them, right?"

"Yes! The elves who left with Kael have formed their own faction, calling themselves dark elves and joining the dark tribe, which opposes our light alliance. We practically handed our strength to our enemies." Theresa still felt regret when talking about this history. "But I have now consolidated the internal forces of the elf race and will not be outdone by anyone!"

The mystery of why demon hunters could only choose elves was finally revealed. All elf classes except druids would receive a faction choice mission after completing the level 10 class change task, allowing them to freely choose to stay in the light alliance or follow Kael to the dark tribe.

As they spoke, the two had already reached the outside of the prison. Since the time in the prison was so short, Mu Feng didn't feel like he had been reborn; instead, it felt like he had just taken a rest at an inn.

"Here, take this!" Theresa handed a bag to Lin Feng.

"What is it?" Lin Feng took it.

"Congratulations, you have received 500 gold from Theresa."

"Why are you giving me money?" Mu Feng asked curiously.

"You will need it! Due to the curse on your body, the elves cannot have a good impression of you and won't give you any quests. I suggest you go to the human lands to level up. Humans are more accepting of various things, and this is all I can do for you..."

"I see, I understand." Mu Feng happily accepted the gold.

"The ship to the human lands is at the northern port, with departures every half hour. Take a look around the newly rebuilt Essara before you leave; you will surely find something useful. Remember to visit the class guild!" After giving Mu Feng this final advice, Theresa rode away on a white tiger. As the queen of the elves, she had many things to do.

Mu Feng, with the gold he received, planned to thoroughly explore the rebuilt elf capital. Xiao Xi, on his shoulder, looked around with curious eyes at all the new things.