Chapter Seventy-Six: Half-Elven Ranger
2014-11-28
Author: Floating Tower (诸生浮屠)
The loot was not particularly rich. Soren and his companion split it, netting about thirty Ginds each. This was only from the cooperation of two people; if it were a five-person team, each would get only about ten Ginds. Wild monsters do not gather in groups; finding a den of Werewolves would at least require half a day’s time, so wilderness adventures reach their peak at the fourth tier. No matter how powerful adventurers may be, they would avoid the wilderness for challenges; instead, they would head to the Underdark or directly into the Abyss.
After the battle, Soren gained 1200 points of Killing Experience.
Not many of this batch of Werewolves had advanced, providing only around 200 Killing Experience each. The half-elven ranger in front of him took out half, while he himself took out the other half. Due to the reduced difficulty of the battle, Soren’s skills did not see much enhancement; he only gained 1 point in Stealth, probably because he had just successfully executed a kill with a backstab. A backstab is not just any random attack; it must be aimed at the heart and require explosive power—the moment of execution must be a full-force strike.
There’s a saying that goes “punch with seven parts strength,” which is mainly to leave three parts of reserve to ensure you can withdraw. Normally, slashes are done with seven parts strength, but in moments of explosive action, it requires twelve parts of force. If an ordinary warrior’s “unity of waist and horse” is ten parts, then when executing a backstab, Soren must coordinate even his internal organs to unleash a full twelve parts of his power. Hence, before his explosive action, he takes a deep breath. Other warriors also take a deep breath before launching a powerful strike, as this breath is the source of their explosive strength, instantly increasing their oxygen intake to provide a foundation for their superhuman explosive power. High-level melee professionists all possess unique techniques.
These techniques are not of the supernatural realm yet are not something ordinary people can master. They are somewhat akin to “internal training of breath, external training of muscles and skin.” Before the monk profession became widespread, most high-level warriors did not practice meditation; instead, they would engage in meditative-like methods to train themselves, not to cultivate fighting spirit or any such thing, but to refine their inherent potential.
Under certain conditions, human neural reflexes can achieve millisecond-level responses.
One second equals 1000 milliseconds. After entering a state that achieves millisecond-level neural reaction, high-level melee professionists can easily dodge bullets. The representative professions are the monk and sword saint, both of which have special training methods. Soren has seen the training of a sword saint, and their natural evasion ability far surpasses that of other professions; legendary sword saints can even block high-speed machine gun fire with a straight blade.
Among thieves, there are also advanced professions that can dodge bullets, known as the rare Shadow, whose neural reflexes are beyond imagination!
There are many such abilities; they fall under the realm of extraordinary abilities, but are not classified as supernatural abilities. Some ordinary people in the real world can even achieve this, such as waking up suddenly while still asleep, with their eyes closed but their consciousness fully aware. In this state, their perception of the external world is amplified many times over; even minor sounds can be easily detected. High-level professionists develop these abilities through particularly difficult and extreme training. Otherwise, the strongest among monks wouldn’t be ascetics.
Soren has not yet reached the point where such extreme training is necessary, but the recent explosive charge of the half-elven ranger reminded him of an exercise for extraordinary abilities.
—Extreme Sprint.
Thieves often refer to it as “rapid running,” a skill that forces explosive potential into a sprint, and when trained to a certain level, allows running on water.
It’s an impressive and flashy combat skill.
…
The two continued their reconnaissance, tracing tracks along the forest.
In the distance, there were faint sounds of combat; the scouts were engaged with scattered wild monsters. Ogres and Lizardmen had not yet entered the outskirts of White Horse City; the real battles lay ahead. These early encounters were merely appetizers to hone their skills, so that when they faced the most dangerous creatures in the wilderness later on, they wouldn’t make mistakes due to unfamiliarity.
As evening fell.
The army had pushed to the edge of human activity, with the front-line scouts and adventurer teams spreading out among the dense forest, and battles occasionally breaking out. There were casualties to some extent; a guy died at the hands of an ogre, hit squarely in the waist by a morning star. Before the accompanying priest and apothecary could arrive to render aid, he had already met his end.
Soren sat on a rock eating rations. They had completed their assigned tasks early and returned to the army’s camp.
“It looks like White Horse City intends to clear everything out at once.” The half-elven ranger leaped onto a four-meter-high rock, handing Soren a flask of strong alcohol and said, “It’s about that time for the five-year sweep. These nobles really have their calculations; I bet they’ll manage to pocket quite a bit from this.”
The army regularly clears the areas surrounding human settlements, mainly to guard against the explosive increase in wild monster populations.
These creatures are like weeds, sprouting up considerably every year. A Werewolf can bear a litter of wolf cubs; if food is adequate, they can expand into a large tribe within two to three years. Other intelligent races, while slightly less capable, still grow faster than humans, who do not breed as prolifically as they think.
Soren gently waved his hand and said, “I don’t drink.”
The half-elven ranger didn’t mind and took a sip himself, then said, “Some folks ahead ran into a troll; I just heard three died, and the army has sent a wizard to assist.”
A troll?
Soren paused upon hearing this and said, “Trolls are already near the outskirts?”
“Yeah!” Yas frowned and stood up, taking out his arrows one by one to wipe them down. True adventurers are very protective of their gear; he even used a finger to test whether the two wolf-fang arrows he used today had suffered any imbalance from being fired. He was a skilled longbowman, a rarity among half-elves.
“This is not a good omen!” He sharpened one of his arrows with a bone knife, then carefully placed it back into the quiver, and added, “Those things are a bother; they’re impossible to kill without proper preparation.”
“Hopefully, we won’t encounter a migration of tribes. Have you heard of the Gray Hill Battle near Leaffall City?”
Soren gently shook his head, saying, “I don’t know.”
Yas meticulously wiped the blood from his bone knife, reminiscing, “That was a battle from five years ago; the hill giants expelled the Black Iron Ogre Tribe. Those guys migrated into the vicinity of Leaffall City. Dealing with small-scale monsters is manageable, but once they form tribes, it becomes much more difficult.”
“A lot of people died back then, and the half-elven guard took heavy losses.”
“These human armies might be well-equipped, but against the half-elven guard, they’re probably not much stronger. Five hundred elite longbowmen almost got wiped out by those ogres.”
He lifted his shirt, revealing a scar on his belly, resembling a gory centipede. He said slowly, “I was lucky not to die, but I took a flying axe here and lost half my intestines.”
“After that, I retired, wandering outside for these years, trying to earn some retirement money while my abilities haven’t declined.”
…
The half-elven ranger laughed lightly, revealing his true age was likely quite advanced.
Melee professionists enter their decline phase much earlier than wizards do, who become stronger as they age. If they can’t break into the Legendary Domain, they’ll eventually face a decline. Human abilities begin to deteriorate after forty; after fifty, retaining half is already impressive. Although they gain more experience, their physical abilities and condition greatly diminish. Some thresholds can’t be crossed, and they remain mere mortals. Mortals face birth, aging, sickness, and death, and aging is an unavoidable fate.
Half-elves experience a much delayed decline; the ranger before him with such concerns likely has a real age of over forty or fifty. While half-elves can live to over a hundred, their agility declines significantly after fifty or sixty. Though they appear relatively young, their power has begun to wane. At this time, rangers typically turn towards studies of divine techniques; high-level rangers often utilize some low-level divine techniques.
No wonder he seems so experienced; he has likely faced many battles.
Soren fell silent.
The other’s actions were straightforward; they aimed to deepen mutual communication. They were both solitary adventurers, and such battles surely required a minimally trustworthy person to cover their back. However, Soren was reluctant to share his own circumstances, especially with a stranger. Instead, he reached out his palm and slowly said, “Frontline fighting should be managed by the army; we should just be careful.”
Yas smiled and shook his hand, then took a sip of strong alcohol and said, “Though you look quite human, I feel you are actually half-elven.”
“My intuition has always been accurate.”
The two didn’t exchange much; trust was scarcely established, but the goodwill expressed represented a mutual need for someone to cover each other’s backs.
That was enough for them.
Having someone to cover your back on the battlefield significantly increases survival chances.
Woo woo woo!
A horn sounded from the camp, followed by a team of fully armed soldiers returning while carrying a troll’s corpse. These troublesome creatures have astonishing regenerative abilities; without fire or strong acid, it’s very difficult to kill them. Their strength surpasses that of ogres, with innate constitution scores often above 20, most having a constitution of 25; severed limbs can regrow, making them difficult to kill without prior preparation.
Seeing the troll’s body, many adventurers’ expressions turned grim.
Trolls had already appeared at the outskirts of the wilderness; just how many monsters had migrated out this time? It seemed opening up the roads was not as easy as imagined!
One could only hope the army could form a suppressive combat power.
After all, their configuration was meant for dragon-slaying standards, and Soren even saw some heavy siege artillery.
…
