Li Wei immediately recognized the young girl in front of him. Although she looked human, the taint of blue of her skin betrayed her origin. She was a Lake Fairy of the Gassian Lake.

Before making his trip, Li Wei carefully did some research at the library about the places he would have to visit. This was how he knew what beasts were present at Abe's Forest and since he was close to the Gassian Lake, he naturally had a look at the information available.

Lake Fairies were creatures that often appeared near the Gassian Lake. Not much information was available about them but they were known to be a friendly race. They rarely appeared in front of humans but were often seen at night floating above the lake.

The Lake Fairies rarely interacted with humans but in the past, two cases occurred where people were rescued by these fairies from drowning and since then, they have been considered as the friends of humans. This was why a small community decided to settle down at the lake. One of the elders there was actually one of the two people who were rescued in the past.

Although they looked like young children, it was actually their adult form and they could live for hundreds of years still looking young. The Lake Fairies were considered as the lowest tier of water elementals, their bodies were made of the water of the lake and were intangible.

According to the legends, a deep secret was buried at the center of the Gassian Lake and these Lake Fairies were the guardians of this place. Many adventurers dived into the lake to find treasures but they all came back empty handed. The lake was vast and even when some powerful mages came to look for the treasure, they found nothing.

As for the gnome, many small tribes of such races existed over the continent. While gnomes were only minor races, they fought alongside humans when the demons invaded Zero in the past, and so, they obtained the rights to settle down over the continent. But due to racial discrimination, they preferred to live away from humans. Not everyone acknowledged them and they were in fact, hunted in the past.

Li Wei knew that the Lake Fairies were normally friendly, but he could not help but hesitate upon seeing the unconscious gnome in front of him. There was an obvious injury on the gnome's arm, but due to the distance, he could not identify it correctly.

"Was she the one that did that?" thought Li Wei.

The Lake Fairy was absentmindedly looking at him, she slightly tilted her body and moved towards Li Wei. Her tiny body floated above the grass as she blinked her dark blue eyes.

Instinctively, Li Wei immediately took a step back.

"Do not worry human, I don't want to harm you," a voice suddenly rang inside Li Wei's head.

The latter froze for a second but quickly nodded. However, he did not let his guard down, he understood he did not stand a chance against the Lake Fairy. She was level 25 while he was only level 11. But he still believed that he might be able to run away; according to the books of the library, lake fairies had to remain within a certain distance of the lake. Although he was not certain about that, Li Wei knew that they were already at a reasonable distance from the lake.

"I know what you are thinking. I did not harm this gnome. He was already in this state when I found him... In fact, I am the one preserving his life right now," declared the Lake Fairy in Li Wei's head.

Li Wei started to feel uncomfortable. Her large blue eyes were fixedly staring at him. Adding her expressionless tone, it felt like the lake fairy was threatening him.

"He does not have long to live... He was clearly poisoned by the Forest Spiders... Although I can keep him alive for now, my spell can only last for another hour. I will need your help to save him... Will you help me?" declared the Lake Fairy.

"Could it be a quest?" thought Li Wei. It was normal to find quest everywhere in the game. So far, he ignored most of them as he thought hunting was a faster way to level up. Since he was being asked, he might as well look at the details before deciding first.

"How may I help you then?" asked Li Wei.

"I can treat him. However, I will need the poison sacs of the Forest Spiders to obtain a sample of their poison first. I will need about 15 to produce an effective treatment. He was poisoned by the Forest Spider Queen, but even the poison sac of the normal Forest Spider would be enough" said the Lake Fairy.

At the same time, a system prompt occurred,

[System prompt: You have obtained the quest, "Save the gnome". Do you want to accept it?]

[Information]

The lake Fairy needs you to collect poison sacs to make an antidote. Collect 15 poison sacs from the Forest Spiders and bring them to the Lake Fairy.

Rewards: 1500 exp, (Unknown)

Completion: (0/15)

Duration: 1 hour

"A quest about killing monsters! And they are Forest Spiders!" thought Li Wei. They were the weakest monsters in this forest, however, Li Wei did not find any so far.

“Wait a minute, if it is just saving the gnome, I have some antidotes there,” said Li Wei as he took out some pills from his inventory. It was the one he purchased at Little Root Town. He was never poisoned to the point where he needed to consume one.

His antidote was in form of a pill such that he could instantly consume it by placing it in his mouth. It was different from a health potion which required some time to drink it and could be interrupted.

“These are just Grade 0 antidotes. They won’t be effective. I need those materials to make a Grade 1 antidote!” answered the Lake Fairy with her monotonous voice.

"In that case, I will gladly help you. But do you know where the Forest Spiders can be found?" asked Li Wei.

"There's a spider lair deep in the forest to the west. A large part of the forest there is covered with spider web, but I doubt you will be able to kill any of the spiders there. I suggest that you move North. A small colony of spiders seems to have recently moved there. They have not settled down yet and most of them only have average strength." replied the Lake Fairy.

"Alright, I will bring back the poison sacs as fast as possible," declared Li Wei. At the same time, a notification rang, informing him that the quest has been accepted.

He found it uncomfortable to converse with the Lake Fairy, especially since the latter was speaking in its head while he was verbally answering.

The north was a part of the forest he never explored before. Several collectibles could be found everywhere. However, Li Wei did not dare lose time to collect those. He only had 1 hour for this quest and needed to kill 8 Forest Spiders since 2 poison sacs would be dropped for each.

10 minutes later, Li Wei was still carefully walking North. "Damn it! Did she give me the wrong direction?" thought Li Wei, he still did not meet any Forest Spiders. In fact, he did not meet any beast at all.

Another 5 minutes later, Li Wei finally found a lonely spider web connecting two branches together, but there were no spiders in sight. He knew that he has now entered a dangerous territory. A few meters ahead, another spider web was covering a lonely bush.

More careful than ever, Li Wei grabbed his 2 swords. Suddenly, he suddenly saw something move in the corner of his eyes, but when he focused on that area, everything was normal. Li Wei was certain that something just moved. All he could hear was the constant rustling of the leaves.

Li Wei carefully approached the suspect area and finally, he found his target.

A large brown spider could be seen hanging from a branch. A tiny white web was connecting the spider to the branch. Forest Spiders could vary in appearance. According to the book Li Wei browsed at the library, they could sometimes be red, yellow, brown and even green.

All the Forest spider’s eyes were intently looking towards Li Wei. Its legs trembled for a moment and without warning, the Forest Spider suddenly moved and spat its venom towards Li Wei.

The latter noticed the greenish liquid fly towards him and quickly jumped to the side to avoid it. Fortunately, he was on alert and responded in time. Seeing its attack miss, the Forest Spider started to lower itself to the ground.

As it landed, another shot of venom was sent towards Li Wei which he easily dodged. Seeing its target voluntarily delivering itself to him, Li Wei quickly charged towards the Forest Spider.

Forest Spiders were the weakest beast within Abe's Fores. However, they had relatively high defenses and 120 HP. They mostly relied on their venom that dealt damage over time to take down their opponent.

Li Wei quickly brought down his swords towards the Forest Spider. The latter only slightly raised its legs, as if trying to defend itself, "-13","-14".

"Hmmm"

The damage was very low. He only took out a small portion of the Forest Spider's HP with his 2 sword strikes. Li Wei was disappointed, especially when comparing it to the damage he dealt to the Scarlet Macaws earlier.

As soon as Li Wei retracted his swords to attack again, the Forest Spider took a few steps back and immediately spat another shot of venom. Despite the short distance between them, Li Wei successfully evaded the liquid.

He once again charged at the Forest Spider which was constantly taking steps back. Another sword strike landed on the spider, Li Wei was about to swing his second sword when he suddenly felt something hit his back. And a few moments later, pain suddenly spread across his body.

[System prompt: You have been bitten by a Forest Spider. You have been poisoned by the Forest Spider, -10 HP every 10 seconds for 30 seconds]

Li Wei immediately panicked, "-10" appeared above his head due to the spider's attack. He immediately struggled and violently shook his body to push the forest spider away, but the latter was still firmly attached to his back.

"Ahhg! Get off me! Disgusting!"

Li Wei was not sure where the spider was. He blindly stabbed his sword but he did not feel anything. The other Forest Spider was also not just watching the fight, it quickly spat some venom towards Li Wei. But the latter quickly jumped back, even if he was hit by the venom, there would be no effect since he was already under the effect of the poison.

Frustrated, Li Wei started wildly jumping and stabbing his sword, but the Forest Spider was still firmly holding only Li Wei.

"-10"

10 seconds already went by since he was bitten by the Forest Spider. He started to panick. Out of ideas, he went for the crudest method possible.

"Since you want to play with me, let's see who is the more persistent!" shouted Li Wei with a grin.

[Strengthen]

Li Wei quickly activated his skill and rammed at a nearby tree. Just before hitting the thick stem, he quickly turned around, allowing his back to take the hit.

"Boom"

The tree slightly shook at the collision, causing a few leaves to fall off. But more importantly, "-6", 6 damage was dealt to Li Wei due to self-harm. However, he had no way of knowing whether the Forest Spider took damage.

He turned around but did not find any spider beside the first one that was slowly approaching him. At the same time, “-9” appeared above his head as he once again felt pain on his back. Due to the difference in damage, Li Wei easily deduced that the spider was still on him and just bit him.

Quickly, Li Wei charged at another nearby tree and once again turned just before hitting it. But this time, he tried to adjust his position to hit another part of his back.

"Shrii"

Hearing the scream, Li Wei immediately charged back at the previous tree and hit the same spot as before.

"Shrii"

Another scream came out as Li Wei suddenly felt him get lighter. A smaller green spider jumped off his back.

"-10"

The whole process took another 10 seconds, but now, the two spiders were in front of Li Wei. One had half of its HP while the other had about 80%.

“So you are the little bastard that sneak attacked me!”

The two spiders both quickly spat their venom towards Li Wei, but the latter easily dodged the green liquid and counterattacked,

[Blade Draw]

The wind blade cut through the 2 spiders. Each took 20 damage. But Li Wei did not stop there. It was time for revenge.

[Strengthen] was still active. He quickly swung his 2 swords at the spider with the lower amount of HP, the latter raised its legs to protect itself but in vain. It quickly fell to Li Wei's sword. He was about to turn to the remaining spider when he suddenly felt a familiar feeling.

"Not again!"

Without hesitating, he quickly rolled to the side. Where he was standing a second earlier, another Forest Spider heavily landed on the ground.

The latter smirked; that forest spider tried to use the same strategy as the previous one, but fortunately, he was able to react in time and did not suffer like last time.

When it fell, the spider actually took some damage from the fall and was stunned to find that its target dodged its assault. It only reacted when it saw the shining blade swing towards it, but it was too late. It could only take the hit.

“-18”

“-17”

Without hesitation, Li Wei continuously swung his swords dealing as much damage as possible. The spider was strong enough to take some hits but it did not take long for its HP bar to reach zero.