Chapter 25: A Happy Day
Under the dim candlelight, Soren and Vivian sat opposite each other at a small table, with white bread, smoked meat, fish soup, and lettuce laid out before them.
In this era, human affairs were relatively simple and barren; in fact, with a historical background characteristic of the Western races, the food itself lacked creativity. True culinary skills were found in the Elf Kingdom and among the small-bodied halflings, the latter of whom often had master-level cooking skills. However, for Vivian, the food before her already seemed quite lavish.
“Brother.”
The little girl swallowed, blinking her eyes and saying, “Isn’t this too wasteful?”
There was meat, soup, and white bread.
Previously, they could only eat such good things during the New Year.
Soren didn’t answer; he just affectionately patted her little head and then flicked his fingertip, causing a shiny Gind to appear on the back of his hand. Under the dim candlelight, the Gind sparkled, causing a hint of astonishment on Vivian’s pretty little face. She soon smiled with her eyes narrowed like a crescent moon, quietly saying, “Brother.”
“Are we getting rich?”
She didn’t care how the money came! Since it had come into their hands, it was theirs.
The little girl’s secretive whispering made Soren chuckle. He reached out and pinched Vivian’s little cheek, then took out an embroidered pouch, gently shaking it with his fingers, producing a crisp sound. He smiled and said, “This is for you.”
“Vivian’s share!”
The little girl didn’t understand what Soren meant, but that didn’t prevent her from knowing it was something for her.
She extended her small hand to take the pouch, which was sewn from simple patterned fabric. Only the noble ladies in the city would use such a coin pouch, with a thin string that could be tied tight. Vivian opened the pouch and was immediately dazzled by the light inside. She saw several Gind and quite a few Silver coins.
“We’re rich!”
The little girl smiled with her eyes all squinted, happily putting the pouch away, and sweetly said, “Thank you, Brother!”
This was Gind!
She had never held this much money before, enough to buy a lot of food and even a new dress.
“Let’s eat.”
Soren rubbed her little head and placed a slice of meat into her bowl. At first, he wasn’t used to eating without chopsticks, but after spending time in this world, it eventually didn’t matter.
Adventurers in the wild didn’t have so many rules; many times he just ate with his hands!
The little girl happily took a bite, her face showing a hint of satisfaction. Then she scooped a little fish soup with a spoon, blew on it, and held it out to Soren, winking and saying, “Brother.”
“Open your mouth!”
Soren smiled helplessly and then opened his mouth.
Vivian giggled, suddenly drank the fish soup herself, and pretended to smack her lips, saying, “So delicious!”
“Such a tease!”
Soren’s expression was one of mixed amusement, but inside he felt inexplicably joyful.
He hadn’t been this happy for a long time!
…………
It was a quiet day.
The turbulent waves within Amber City did not affect the good mood of the two!
Soren got up early to practice swordsmanship. Basic sword techniques could be perfectly applied to any weapon because their core was about slashing, hacking, and thrusting.
The memories of past battles were still fresh, and Soren remembered them clearly!
He practiced the routines from memory, familiarizing himself with the weapon in his hand while also getting acquainted with his body.
——!
This was a very practical combat skill, the key to which was concentrating the body’s entire strength into a single slashing attack for explosive force.
For example, when you throw a punch.
If you’re only using the strength of your arm, it’s obviously inadequate.
The force generated is not even one-third of your full strength; it wouldn’t be lethal if it hit someone!
However, if you can incorporate the strength of your waist, then congratulations, you have the most basic combat technique, and a punch thrown with this strength can severely injure your opponent. But if you can unleash the strength of your whole body in that punch, then you truly have entered the realm of mastery, mastering a combat skill that could be deadly.
This is the essence of combat skills.
You must concentrate all your body’s strength into a single line during a slashing attack, aiming for maximum speed and maximum lethality!
Only then can you be said to have truly mastered your abilities.
It is a combat skill applicable to all weapons, which allows you to unleash your full power. Even an ordinary person with 10 points of strength, after mastering this skill, can split through 20 centimeters of thick wood with a single slashing attack. This is because concentrating all your strength into a line results in combat power several times that of your usual capability!
According to data-related terms.
When using this combat skill, your lethality can reach its peak value!
It’s somewhat similar to the “Qi Slash” skill learned by warriors at higher levels, except that it’s a one-time attack, while “Qi Slash” can sustain the body’s qi and blood for about thirty seconds through special means. If one can advance to “Sword Saint,” they could even exceed their usual limits at the risk of injury, bursting forth with double the lethality!
This is what has made many fear—“a lethal attack that doesn’t require hitting vital points.”
However, the advancement to Sword Saint has special requirements; their explosive method requires them to wear no armor or protective gear, or else the physical burden would reduce both their speed and lethality significantly. For instance, Soren never wore anything heavier than leather armor, as that would reduce his agility and significantly lower his evasion skills. It can be said that thieves survive by evading through agility.
If one must wear armor, it must be heavy armor, sacrificing agility in exchange for powerful protection.
Time passed little by little.
Soren trained for half a day before beginning.
That’s right.
It was those books found in the treasure cave. Although he recognized the words, he needed to memorize them again.
Perhaps due to having the specialty of “photographic memory,” Soren’s memorization speed was rapid.
When he had written down the text of a book about basic spell knowledge and relevant wizardry regional data.
A line of data also appeared:
“Reading completed.”
“You have successfully read and memorized a book!……”
“Knowledge +1, Spell Recognition +1.”
…………
Without the foundation of a scholar’s career.
Soren could only improve his knowledge through the cumbersome method of reading books, as these documented the spells of wizards. Thus, Soren also improved a bit in his spell recognition skills. Simply put, it was about familiarity with various spells; for instance, if an enemy used a spell, you could judge it based on their pronunciation and gestures and prepare to avoid it in advance. Or, for some special spell devices and various enchanted extraordinary items, you could recognize them through your knowledge of spell recognition.
In battle, no one would openly declare what techniques they were using.
Your ability to anticipate your enemy’s spell attacks entirely depended on your skill points in spell recognition.
This skill isn’t very useful against warriors.
But when dealing with spellcasters, it was a life-saving skill that needed to be mastered.
Several times, Soren had relied on this to predict the spells cast by wizards and avoided attacks within the coverage of those spells.
For example, if you know your opponent is using the Fireball Spell, rolling to dodge in advance might reduce the damage you receive to at most half.
But if you don’t know.
You could find yourself right in the explosion range of the Fireball Spell, and instantly, you’d be done for.
If your spell recognition skill points are high enough, you could even judge the enemy’s chanting spells and instant spells by sensing the fluctuations of arcane energy around you.
To dodge an instant spell, mastering spell recognition is essential!
By noon.
Soren took Vivian into Amber City, where he needed to buy some daily supplies in the commercial district, including camping tools and potential small items.
Of course!
The adorable little girl also needed a new dress.
Since they were going on an outdoor journey, those fancy but impractical dresses had to be abandoned. The first criteria for Soren’s purchase was sturdiness and durability, preferably with some protective capability. The minimum standard was that it shouldn’t be easily snagged by thorns from wildflowers or trees.
So skirts had to be abandoned, and he could only prepare some sturdy pants.
Next were shoes, which are one of the most important things for wild adventures. They must be durable, thick, and, most importantly, keep warm.
On this point, Soren spared no expense, directly spending three Gind to buy a pair of high-quality deer leather boots.
This made Vivian complain a bit.
When the little girl got the new boots, although she said it was a waste and too expensive, that a pair of ordinary thick cloth shoes would do, her eyes were already squinted into two slits, wearing a smile all day long.
They really were very exquisite and beautiful boots!
Only noble ladies in the city might be able to afford them, although they were a bit big, even the smallest size of boots.
“But it’s okay.”
“I’ll grow bigger soon, and then they’ll fit just right.”
“I can put some things inside for now.”
The little girl’s mind wandered with trivial thoughts, and a smile involuntarily appeared at the corner of her mouth, her beautiful big eyes squinting with joy.
“I have new clothes and new boots now!”
“Hmm.”
“And a new headband, pink, very pretty.”
“Today is really happy!”
And so.
Vivian’s happy day passed just like that.
She hardly cared about leaving Amber City for a journey, as the little girl had a vague concept of her hometown.
Moreover.
In her heart, only where her brother was could be called home.
So her home was very simple.
Wherever the home goes, she goes.
