Chapter 65: Puffy

Zhenzhen's body shook harder when Black Arrow's body dropped on the ground before turning to pixels. She opened her mouth to speak but words were stuck in her throat. 

How did it happen?!

She wanted to push him away from her but she never planned to kill anyone. 

"I… I didn't do anything..." Zhenzhen muttered while stuttering but her voice was overwhelmed by other players shouting. 

"Guards! Call the guards! She is killing in broad daylight!" 

"Get away or she will kill us too!" 

"No, we should catch her and get revenge for Black Arrow!" 

Suddenly all the players around gazed at her with malicious intent. Zhenzhen couldn't handle so much pressure anymore. Her instinct told her to run but her legs were frozen. Her only solution was diving to the ground and hiding her face in her knees.

'Let me disappear… Let me disappear… Let me disappear…' Zhenzhen thought repeatedly as if hoping she would teleport away to the grasslands, back to her cute rabbit friend.

Suddenly, all the noises around her disappeared, and muffled whispers replaced them. Zhenzhen thought it was her mind that blocked all the sounds when she felt something land on her arms. 

She didn't want to look up until that thing started nudging her with something sharp while chirping lovely. 

"Birdy…?" Zhenzhen muttered, looking up only to see a cute blue bird sitting on her arm. It wasn't the only thing that surprised her. 

Her whole body was now glowing while the players around her acted as if they didn't see her anymore. They were running around while searching for her before kicking the ground madly. 

"Was this your doing? Did you help me disappear?" Zhenzhen asked softly, slowly calming down. 

Chirp!

The bird nodded happily and did a spin in the air. 

"Thank you, I really needed it," Zhenzhen acknowledged with a smile and rubbed the bird's cheek. "You are cute. Want to be my friend?" 

Chirp!

The bird returned the favor by caressing her hand before catching her finger with its claws. It flew up while pulling on her finger as if it wanted her to get up. 

"Do you want me to follow you? Sure."

It was strange but her worries and the stress completely disappeared after leaving the scene. With each second the bird held her, she felt more calm and collected. It led her towards one of the unused alleys and her glow disappeared. 

All her senses returned back to normal but just as she thought it was over, the birdy jumped on her left forearm and began poking it with its beak. 

"Huh? What do you want?" Zhenzhen questioned confused as her inventory displayed. "Do you want me to take out the Dungeon Key?" 

If it was anyone else asking her to follow such orders, she would find it suspicious but she would do anything for the cute birdy who just saved her. 

Ah! 

She didn't know how but as soon as she pulled it out, the Key activated and the portal to the dungeon opened right in front of her. 

[Dungeon Portal]

[Time Remaining: 00:04:58]

Chirp!

"You want me to enter it? But I can't fight…" Zhenzhen explained seeing the eager birdy doing flips in front of the portal but before she could convince it, the birdy flew inside on its own. 

Zhenzhen swallowed hard as she hesitated but then she heard footsteps outside the Alley. Her body moved on its own and she stepped inside the portal with her eyes closed. 

[Ding! You have entered the Bandit Leader Dungeon. Kill the Bandit Leader to clear the dungeon! You will receive a reward based on your performance. Good luck!] 

[Time: 00:00:01] 

The timer started as soon as she appeared in another location and the Masked Bandit immediately attacked her. 

"What are you doing here?!"

Zhenzhen's eyes widened seeing flames coming out from the bandit's palms but then the birdy came in clutch. 

Swoosh!

It flew straight at the enemy and passed the Masked Bandit through his chest. 

-200!

[Ding! You killed the Masked Bandit. You received 200 Experience and 5 silver.] 

"Just like that...?"

The Masked Bandit got one shot by the birdy as if it was nothing before it returned back and landed on her shoulder. It looked so tired that Zhenzhen couldn't help but feel bad. 

"Wait… Remember what Big Sis said, you dummy," Zhenzhen scolded herself as she suddenly noticed her Mana was down to 0. 

Xu Yue spent time preparing her for the game and taught her the basics. To use abilities one needed Mana and to get Mana one had to add points to Intelligence or use Mana Potions.

It was clear the Birdy used her Mana so she needed to get more. 

"Don't worry, I will help you soon," Zhenzhen assured as she pulled out her profile. She already added 5 points into Luck but she still had 9 Skill Points left that she didn't use yet. 

She dumped them all into intelligence and her Mana skyrocketed all the way to 100. 

Chirp!

The birdy immediately regained its energy and cuddled happily into her neck. 

"Too bad I don't have any Potions for you…" Zhenzhen lamented and checked her Inbox that had tones of unread messages. 

[Ding! You have formed a bond with a Battle Spirit: Blue Sparrow. It became your companion and will not leave your side.] 

[Ding! Congratulations! Thanks to your Battle Spirit, you acquired a second Element: Spirit. You can use your Spirit Element Abilities through your Battle Spirit to lower your Mana cost.]

[Ding! You have unlocked Spirit Cloak.]

[Ding! You have unlocked Spirit Punch.]

[Ding! You have unlocked Spirit Dive.]

Zhenzhen couldn't help but stare at the screen dumbfounded. She didn't really do anything yet she acquired so much thanks to her new friend.

"So you are my companion now," Zhenzhen muttered as she rubbed the blue sparrow's body. "I will call you Puffy because your cheeks are really soft. Do you like it?"

Puffy only chirped in agreement, causing Zhenzhen to laugh sweetly. 

"Shall we continue then?"