Adventurer of Many Professions

Lorene looked like she wanted to argue, but before she could, Raymond glanced past her, his focus shifting. "Where's Sylph?" he asked, his tone sharp with concern.

"I'm fine!" came Sylph's voice, weak but steady, from behind Lorene.

Raymond's shoulders relaxed slightly, though his expression didn't lose its edge. "Good," he said, turning back to Lorene with a faint smirk. "See? We're all in one piece."

Lorene still looked worried, but she sighed and relented, lowering her hand. "Next time, be more careful," she said, her voice soft but firm. "You're not invincible, you know." Experience new stories on My Virtual Library Empire

Raymond chuckled again, wiping the blood from his cheek with the back of his hand. "Not invincible, no," he agreed, his eyes glinting with humor. "But close enough."

Sylph steadied herself and walked over to join them, her steps still a little shaky but purposeful. "Lorene just gave me a mana recovery potion," she said, her voice stronger than before. "I've recovered enough to cast another spell if needed."

Raymond gave a small nod. "That's good to hear."

Sylph turned to Lorene, her expression softening as she spoke with heartfelt sincerity. "Lorene, thank you so much for what you did back there. You saved me." The memory of Lorene shielding her, putting her own life at risk, struck a deep chord in Sylph's heart.

Lorene blinked in surprise, her cheeks turning a shade redder. "Oh, that? I... I wasn't thinking too much about it," she stammered, scratching her head awkwardly. "I just... wanted to protect you, that's all."

Before Sylph could respond, Raymond interjected, his tone firm. "Lorene, you shouldn't do something like that again."

Both Sylph and Lorene looked at him in surprise, though Lorene's reaction was different. She didn't question him, nor did she seem offended. Instead, she nodded, her expression resolute. "You're right, Raymond. I'll work on changing that from now on."

Raymond blinked, caught off guard by her immediate agreement. He had been expecting some resistance, perhaps a question or a bit of defiance. Instead, Lorene went on, explaining herself with a calm clarity.

"As a priest, I know my role is to support and heal. If I put myself in danger, like I did just now, and something happens to me, the entire team could be at risk. My job is to keep everyone else alive, not to jeopardize myself."

Raymond studied her, his brow lifting slightly. He hadn't expected her to be so aware of her responsibility. "Exactly," he said, nodding approvingly. "That's the right mindset."

Sylph, however, seemed surprised by Lorene's statement. "Wait, there's a rule about this?" she asked, tilting her head curiously. "How do you even know all of that?"

Lorene's cheeks flushed again as she laughed nervously, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "Oh, well... it's something the senior priest at the temple drilled into me during my training. She always said, 'A reckless priest is a useless priest.' It stuck with me."

Raymond chuckled at her words, a small smirk crossing his face. 'That senior priest really knows her stuff,' he thought to himself. It was reassuring to see that Lorene's training hadn't been in vain.

Before the conversation could shift, Sylph's eyes lit up as though a realization had struck her. She turned to Raymond, her brows furrowed slightly in thought. "Wait a second," she said. "When those two stinger wasps were about to attack us... why did they suddenly turn and charge at you instead? That wasn't natural."

Her words hung in the air, her voice tinged with curiosity and disbelief. The way the wasps had suddenly abandoned their target reminded her of a particular skill, one she hadn't expected Raymond to possess.

Raymond met her gaze and, with a faint smirk, gave a simple nod. "I used 'Taunt.'"

"I 'knew' it!" Sylph exclaimed, her voice rising with excitement. She was about to continue, perhaps to shower him with questions, but her words were cut short by a familiar and ominous sound.

'Buzz... buzz... buzz...'

The unmistakable drone of wasp wings echoed from the direction of the hive. All three of them froze, their heads snapping toward the source of the sound. The low hum grew louder, reverberating through the forest like a warning drumbeat.

"What now?" Sylph whispered, her voice tense.

Dark clouds drifted across the sky, snuffing out the moonlight and plunging the forest into total darkness. The buzzing grew closer, but the blackened woods made it impossible to see what was happening.

Without hesitation, Raymond pulled the last white stone from his pouch and hurled it toward the hive. The glowing stone hit the ground with a faint thud, its light spreading like a beacon across the clearing. The scene it revealed made all three of them go still.

A massive, pale white queen wasp emerged from the wreckage of the hive, its body grotesquely mangled. Half of it had been blown apart by Sylph's 'Exploding Fireball' spell, leaving trails of ichor dripping from its wounds. Yet, it clung to life, its remaining legs twitching weakly.

Three smaller stinger wasps hovered around it, their limbs latched onto the queen's broken body. With great effort, they were carrying her, their wings buzzing frantically as they began to ascend. They weren't retreating, they were fleeing.

"They're trying to escape!" Raymond growled, his grip tightening on his sword.

Sylph's jaw dropped. "That's... that's the queen! I thought we'd taken her out with the fireball!"

Lorene looked between them, panic creeping into her voice. "What do we do? If they get away—"

The giant queen bee hovered just a meter above the ground, its grotesque body missing half of its form. Ichor and shredded organs oozed from its massive wounds, pooling on the forest floor in a sickening trail. Despite its condition, the queen was still too large and cumbersome for the three stinger wasps to carry. Their wings strained as they buzzed frantically, managing only a sluggish pace that rivaled the walking speed of an ordinary human.

It was painfully slow.

"Raymond! What do we do? They're getting away!" Sylph's voice cracked with urgency as she pointed toward the escaping wasps. Her wide eyes flickered with panic.

The mission was clear: eliminate all the stinger wasps and destroy the hive. If even one escaped; especially the queen, their commission would be considered a failure, not to mention the potential danger the survivors could bring to nearby settlements.

But Sylph wasn't just worried about the mission. There were still three stinger wasps guarding the queen. If the plan went wrong, the entire team could be in danger, especially her and Lorene, who lacked the combat skills to fend off another attack.

Raymond didn't panic. He opened his panel, checking his stats.

"Magic Value: 309/549"

He frowned slightly, mentally calculating. 'Taunt' had drained 240 mana earlier, leaving him with 309. That was plenty for another round. Seeing his remaining mana, he felt a wave of reassurance. He turned to the others with calm confidence.

"It's fine," he said. "I'll take care of it. You two stay here. Without the white Stone, they won't be able to see you in the dark."

Lorene's brow furrowed in concern. "Are you sure? You've already used 'Taunt'... You can't have much mana left." Her voice was tinged with doubt. As a priest, she understood the limits of magic users. She also knew Raymond had only recently awakened as a dual-class player. The strain on his mana reserves must have been immense.

Sylph chimed in, stamping her foot in frustration. "Raymond, let's just forget it! Even if we fail, it's not the end of the world. The guild gave us a special case for this promotion anyway. If we don't succeed, we can just take normal commissions and earn experience the slow way. It's not worth the risk!"

She hesitated for a moment, then muttered with regret, "If I had known this would happen, we should've teamed up with some archers or hunters back at the guild hall. Bows and arrows would've made this so much easier..."

Raymond couldn't help but laugh softly at their concern. "Don't worry," he said, his voice steady. "I value my life more than anyone else does. If I thought this was too dangerous, I wouldn't do it." He gave them a reassuring smile. "Just stay here and watch. I've got this."

Before either of them could protest further, Raymond turned and sprinted toward the massive, mangled queen bee, his sword glinting faintly in the dim light.

As he ran, a thought crossed his mind: 'How much skill accumulation value will I get for killing this queen bee?' The memory of his last major kill flashed before him, the giant mutant rat. That single kill had rewarded him with 50% skill accumulation. A queen bee like this? The potential rewards were immense.

Raymond's steps quickened, his grip tightening on his sword. He was low on skill points, and this could be the breakthrough he desperately needed.

When he broke through the edge of the forest into the open clearing, the stinger wasps noticed him immediately. Their buzzing intensified as they sent out frantic signals, the sound vibrating through the air like an alarm.

"'Gurgle! Gurgle!'"

The queen bee let out a low, guttural sound in response. Raymond tensed, expecting the massive creature to do something, perhaps summon reinforcements or lash out in a final act of desperation.

But to his surprise, the queen bee suddenly sank lower to the ground, as if it had become heavier. The three stinger wasps carrying it struggled even more, their buzzing growing erratic.

'What's happening?' Raymond thought, slowing his pace slightly. His sharp eyes scanned the scene. It wasn't long before he realized the truth.

One of the stinger wasps had detached itself from the group, no longer helping to carry the queen. Instead, it flew out from under the queen's abdomen, its glossy black body reflecting faint light. It was noticeably larger than the others, its movements more deliberate, more menacing.

Raymond's breath hitched as recognition struck him like a thunderbolt.

"The real queen…" he muttered under his breath.

This wasn't just a bloated, dying queen bee they'd been chasing. This was a decoy, the queen's outer shell, likely meant to protect the true queen beneath it. The worst-case scenario had just come true: the true queen bee had survived the explosion, and it was still very much alive.

The glossy black wasp hovered menacingly in the air, its compound eyes gleaming with intelligence and malice. It was clear now, this wasn't an ordinary queen bee. This was the mastermind behind the hive, the one directing every move.

Raymond's jaw tightened as his mind raced. The decoy had almost fooled them completely. It was only now, as the smaller wasps struggled to carry the mangled shell, that the truth was revealed.

The real queen bee had been hidden all along, tucked beneath the massive decoy like a sinister puppet master. And now, it was free.

"This just got a whole lot harder," Raymond muttered, gripping his sword tighter. But his resolve didn't waver.

The real fight was about to begin.