Volume 1: Awakening Chapter 3 The Hen and the Giant Bull
Following the screams for help, a huge figure flashed out from the depths of the dense forest. It had two sharp horns on its head and two hard round hooves where its feet should have been. It was roaring and staggering towards me.
Obviously, this is a minotaur, one of the strongest and most heroic intelligent races on the Farvi continent. In fact, many people have expressed doubts about the concept of their "intelligent race", because up to now, the minotaur on the continent still live in scattered small-scale groups in the form of very primitive tribes and clans, and their impulsive and irritable personalities are more like a monster than an "intelligent race". The only quality they have that has something to do with "wisdom" is their extremely strong self-esteem and pride, which often become the main reason for them to do stupid things.
Even among this powerful race, the guy approaching me was the tallest and strongest. I couldn't accurately estimate how tall he was, but my head could only reach his chest at most. His naked upper body and rough face were covered with black and red patterns. These patterns were squeezed together by his strong muscles, making him look particularly sturdy and brave, like a demon that had just crawled out of hell.
According to tradition, the name of a tauren is usually very long, which includes his own name, his father's name, the title he has won, the name of the most powerful opponent he has ever defeated, and his tribe name. For example, if a tauren's name is "Hodel Karen Red Eyes Highland Tiger Windhorn", it means that this is a tauren named Hodel from the Windhorn tribe, his father's name is Karen, his nickname is Red Eyes, and the most powerful opponent he has ever defeated is a Highland Tiger.
But these rules do not apply to the big guy in front of me. His name is indeed very long, and it is unimaginably long. Above his head, I saw the name mark printed on his soul making three turns. What surprised was not just this, but his name was so magnificent and lofty that even the God of War himself would be ashamed to receive such a title.
"Unprecedented in history, earth-shaking, unrivaled in the world, handsome, smart, loyal, righteous, knowledgeable, brave, resourceful, young and rich, punching the South Mountain, kicking the North Sea, black-scaled dragon, looking up to the sky to grab the moon, looking down to the five oceans to catch turtles, elegant and handsome in this turbid world, beautiful and charming boy in the world, the world's number one hero, great hero, great chivalrous man, great master, full of energy, full of sweat, just trying out his skills, strong as an ox, tiger back, ox waist, tiger sitting, ox coiling, ox falling, dragon flying, ox dancing, giant ox, ...
What was most shocking was that this Minotaur warrior, whose name was so powerful that it could make the God of War ashamed, was running away, and the one chasing after him was...
...a flock of chirping hens?!
The minotaur was swinging a large wooden stake in his hand. The stake was thick enough to be used as a pillar of a magnificent palace. However, in the hands of this clumsy owner, this huge weapon was no more lethal than a plowshare. The minotaur warrior swung the stake clumsily and with all his strength, and each blow seemed to break the ground. In fact, most of his attacks did fall to the ground in vain, and did not pose much substantial threat to the hens chasing him.
Following closely behind our "great hero, great hero, great knight, great master", those poultry that were not really cruel took turns to peck at the minotaur with their tiny short beaks again and again, making him jump up and down. Every time they pecked, a flower of blood appeared on the big guy's body, and at the same time, a "-2" or "-3" word floated above his head - this was the amount of his soul weakened.
Originally, as long as you run at full speed, the hens will not be able to catch up. But this minotaur warrior, whose name is so long that it can be written to the sky, has no idea what is wrong with him. He runs very stiffly and slowly, with one foot deep and one foot shallow, one step long and one step short. He seems to never find balance, and sometimes he even "turns sideways" with his hands and feet. Therefore, he will fall into the encirclement of the hens before he runs far.
Whenever surrounded by hens, the Tauren would always stomp his hooves hard, creating a shock wave on the ground, making the poultry chasing him unstable. He could take the opportunity to break out of the encirclement, raise his head and drink a small bottle of soul potion, and then continue his desperate journey. This was due to the two racial characteristics of the Tauren: war trampling, which slowed the movement speed of surrounding creatures by 50%; natural constitution, which increased the speed of drug effect by 50%. If it weren't for these, maybe this guy wouldn't have lasted until now, and would have become fresh feed in the mouths of these poultry.
It is said that the Tauren are a proud and conceited race, and in this respect, the guy in front of me is also an extraordinary outlier. When he saw me standing by the woods, he was so excited that his eyes were about to moisten, and he quickly spat out the chicken feathers in his mouth, tilted his neck and drank a large bottle of soul potion, and ran towards me staggeringly, shouting in embarrassment: "Brother, help me, help me..."
In this world , race and combat skills are not the only criteria for determining whether you are strong or not. In many cases, the strength level of the soul can better illustrate the power of a life. For example, the soul strength of this group of hens is level one, which is basically the level that every space traveler who has just entered the Farvi Continent can fight.
Through the magic mirror, I saw that the soul strength of the minotaur warrior Niu Baiwan (his name is too long, according to tradition, it should be acceptable to call him that) was also level one, which means he was not much stronger than this group of docile poultry. This also proved from another aspect how weak this seemingly powerful guy was, and made me understand more deeply why people always call the act of boasting "bragging".
In a blink of an eye, Niu Baiwan had already flashed behind me. He leaned on the wooden stake with one hand and put the other hand on my shoulder, trying to curl up his body, as if he was going to hide his whole body behind me so that the hens couldn't find him. However, this method was obviously not feasible. He was too tall. Even if he just sat on the ground, he was almost as tall as me. There was nowhere to hide.
It was a terrifying scene. A dozen hens jumped high and flew towards us, pecking at us. Their sharp claws kept scratching my armor, making a "crunching" sound that made my teeth ache. In an instant, I was engulfed by this chaotic disaster. My eyes were filled with messy chicken feathers, my ears were filled with noisy "clucking", and the smell of chicken manure mixed with the strong smell of rotten grass hit my sense of smell, almost suffocating me. I have never encountered such a terrible thing. If I could choose , I would rather face a violent lion than fight against these angry hens.
"What's going on? Are you going to open a chicken farm?" I grabbed the neck of a hen that was about to peck my belt off, and asked loudly to the culprit who caused this big commotion - the unfortunate minotaur was trying hard to pull away a poultry that was hitting him in the face, leaving several clearly visible bloody marks on his broad nose.
"I don't know why..." he shouted at the top of his lungs, "...I just accidentally crushed a few eggs!"
Soon, the hens showed us their powerful killing power. Although each peck could only cost me one or two points of health, their pecking and scratching speed was fast enough to make the most skilled warriors ashamed, not to mention that there were not just three or five hens launching this wave of attacks at the same time, but more than ten hens. If it weren't for my armor that helped me resist most of the attacks, I'm afraid I would have been forced to run for my life.
It seemed that if I didn't help this reckless big guy solve this pile of trouble, I was afraid that I would have a hard time getting out of this mess. In the chaos, I finally found the hilt of my sword and swung it at the chaotic flock of chickens in front of me. A fat hen screamed and fell to the ground. A ball of milky white light floated up into the air and flew towards me, then merged into my body.
This ball of light is its soul. In this world, every life has a soul. If you kill another life, its soul will merge into your soul and become a part of your soul. If you absorb enough souls, your soul will become stronger. This process is called "upgrading".
The tragic death of their companions did not have any effect on the remaining hens, who continued to peck at my armor. Their courage was admirable, but their persistence caused me a lot of trouble. It was no exaggeration to say that I was risking my life to fight this group of crazy poultry. Moreover, my danger did not only come from them...
"Hey, where are you hitting!" I turned around and barely avoided the big wooden stick that the Minotaur dropped from the air. A solid hole was smashed where I had landed - this was not the first time he had accidentally hit me.
"I'm sorry..." Niu Baiwan apologized to me in a shrill voice. He seemed to be frightened by these crazy poultry. He waved the wooden stake hysterically and smashed it at the hens without any reason.
"...This is my first time using the brain wave sensor. I can't control my balance. Be careful..." He screamed to remind me, and then hit me in the face.
Brainwave sensor? I don't know what it is, but according to my past experience, if there is something I don't understand, it must be the secret code of the people involved in the air. As for these, I don't have the curiosity to delve deeper.
I don't know what words to use to describe Niu Baiwan's performance at this time. He was simply challenging the limits of linguists' description of clumsy movements. Facing these birds that were far from being ferocious, this "heroic" warrior stuck out his butt, stretched out his arms, and pushed the wooden stake in his hand forward stiffly and weakly, as if trying his best to distance himself from the hens in front of him.
Niu Baiwan's movements were just like a shy woman playing pranks - no, not even as good as women, at least they know how to grab their opponents' hair. I almost doubted whether he was a tauren known for his bravery and aggressiveness, or a tall goblin with a special body and avant-garde appearance - this underground race was as famous for its cowardly character as its superb industrial manufacturing level.
Every time he swung the stake, he would be pulled by the strong inertia and unable to stand steadily - in fact, even if he stood there and did nothing, he would inevitably fall back and forth. His extremely slow movements made it difficult for him to pose a real threat to these clucking opponents. When he saw a hen and wanted to hit it, the flat-feathered poultry had already run away; and when the stake fell with a heavy sound, his original target had already circled around and pecked his butt.
In the battle, chickens were flying and cows were jumping, and screams were heard from time to time.
Before long, these powerful mothers who were eager to avenge their eggs put me in danger. Although I had killed seven or eight hens, my health had been reduced to a shocking level. I could feel my life draining away with the blood from my wounds. The desperation of dying made me forget the pain, which reduced the extent of my damage, but it also showed that my health was less than 5%.
I was going to die! Although I was still fighting, I could already sense my fear. The freedom and life I had just gained ended in the hands of a group of hens. It was unacceptable, but I could do nothing about it.
Just when I was about to despair, Niu Baiwan's wooden stake could not be stopped and swept across my waist. I hurriedly bent down to dodge, but the wooden stake accidentally hit a hen that was trying to attack me from behind, knocking it far away. After a long time, its soul flew back, split into two and merged into my body and Niu Baiwan's body.
This inaccurate attack was unexpectedly powerful and actually killed the target with one strike.
Seeing this, I suddenly had an idea. I lay on the ground and shouted, "Don't stop, keep turning! Turn two more times!"
I don't know if the frightened minotaur could clearly understand my intention at this time, but he still did as I said - I think it was more out of blind obedience in fear - he held the big wooden stake horizontally and spun in circles. One circle, two circles, the wooden stake danced faster and faster, gradually blurring into a thick black shadow, swept over my head with the whistling wind. The group of hens eager for revenge didn't know what was good for them, and they kept rushing forward, but they were blown away one by one by this wild whirlwind and turned into dead souls.
When the last hen was knocked away, a stream of heat flowed through my body along with its soul power. My life value, which had been at the bottom, was restored to full, and from inside my body, I also felt a new power from the depths of my soul. It was not just me, Niu Baiwan was the same.
We upgraded.
I quickly used the mirror to check my soul. Now, I have become a level 2 warrior, with strength 13, wisdom 10-2, agility 12-2, health 200/200, fighting spirit 100/100. The attack power and defense power have also increased by two points each.
Hey, where did that Niu Baiwan go?
I turned around suddenly and found that this rough guy was lying on the ground with his legs up in the air, his eyes were still spinning involuntarily, and he said in a dreamy voice:
"I feel dizzy... I feel sick... There are so many stars..."
It took a long time for Niu Baiwan to wake up from his spinning coma. He staggered to his feet and did not forget to thank me.
"Thanks to you, brother, I would be dead otherwise." At this time, Niu Baiwan limped over, rubbing his butt and saying in annoyance, "Oh my... it hurts so much. If I had known, I would not have adjusted the touch level so high. I didn't expect that being bitten by a hen would hurt so much."
As he said this, he also took out a mirror to look at his soul attributes. As he looked, he suddenly exclaimed in surprise.
In his "Battle Skills" column, the words "Powerful Cyclone" suddenly appeared. Behind it were the following: Close-range attack by multiple people, 50% bonus to attack power, 100% increase in attack speed, knockback effect, one minute of stun after use, 70 points of fighting spirit consumed.
Obviously, the "battle" just now (if fighting a group of hens can be considered a "battle") has enabled this reckless big guy to master a special fighting skill. As a comrade who just escaped death with him, I am very happy for his growth. But when I think about the fact that this skill originated from my sudden inspiration and I got nothing, I feel a strange bitterness in my heart.
"Where are you from, Niu Baiwan, the Son of the Earth..." I asked. His name sounded really strange, "...As far as I know, there is no Tauren tribe stationed nearby."
After hearing my question, Niu Baiwan scratched his head awkwardly: "I came from Jianti Valley. Originally, I just wanted to do a primary task of collecting herbs, but I didn't know the way back, and I didn't know how to run here. Where is this?"
"This is Campnavia..." I answered casually, and then asked him curiously, "...Why don't you look at the map? You should be able to find the way home by following the map."
"Map?" Unexpectedly, the Minotaur asked me in surprise, "What map? I've never seen one before."
"You don't have a map? How is that possible?" I took out my map from my backpack and showed it to him. "Don't you have this thing?"
"Oh, this is a map..." He suddenly realized, slapped his head and shouted in regret, "...I...sold it!"
"Sold it?"
"Yes, I thought it was useless, so I sold it to a merchant for a copper coin..." His voice became lower and lower, and he stammered like a child who had done something wrong.
I was completely speechless. Even among the not very intelligent minotaurs, this big guy was probably one of the least intelligent.
"Brother, I'm a newbie and I don't know anyone here. Can you guide me?" He asked me like this, and a pitiful expression appeared on his face full of fierce wrinkles. He looked really out of place.
Being repeatedly called "big brother" by a "great hero, great hero, great knight, great master" who was half my height made me break out in a cold sweat. I quickly waved my hand at him:
"You should call me Jeff. I'll take you into the city and buy you a map first..."
Once the magic map is in the hands of the owner, it will immediately show the distance he has traveled. Niu Baiwan's map really opened my eyes. His birthplace is in the northern plateau area, which is 60 days away from Campnavia. On the road he explored along the way, there are two cities destroyed by demons, a large area of primitive jungles infested by wild beasts, many cemeteries occupied by the heart-killing undead, and even a dragon's lair. It is hard for me to imagine that this reckless person who is only level one actually passed through these extremely dangerous areas safely and arrived at Campnavia City alive and well. If he is not the greatest traveler I have ever seen, then he must be the most lucky person with a bad luck in finding his way. I even doubt whether he can walk all the way to the moon under the guidance of this map.
There was no need to consider sending him home. If we really did that, we would be torn to pieces by the wild beasts in the jungle before we could even walk for a day. In fact, if we really died in the mouth of a wild beast, it would be a heroic fate for a warrior, but considering the comparison between our fighting power and that of the hens, I think it is more likely that we would be trampled to death by a group of docile small animals such as rabbits in a very dishonorable way.
"Then what? What should I do?" Niu Baiwan put the map back into his backpack and continued to ask me.
"What should I do?" I was stunned, not knowing how to answer his question. Niu Baiwan didn't know that before I met him, I was also troubled by this seemingly simple but confusing question.
It's really ironic that I don't even know what I should do, but now I have to tell others what to do. And life is often like this. Although people are confused because they can't find their own goals, as a bystander, they can always give correct suggestions for other people's problems.
"We can... find some work to do first..." I said to him hesitantly, "...I know there are some jobs we can do together."
No one knows better than me where a newcomer to Campnavia should start his journey in this city. I brought Niu Baiwan to the city gate and stood in front of the gate guard Jeffreys Kidd.
“Cosplay!” Seeing the appearance of the city gate guard, Niu Baiwan exclaimed as expected, “You imitated it so well! If you stood there and didn’t move, I would definitely recognize the wrong person.”
I couldn't fully understand what he said, and I didn't want to talk about it any more. After confirming that Niu Baiwan had accepted the commission to hunt wild dogs, we walked out of the city gate quickly.
