Volume 2 Wandering Chapter 1: First Blood
In addition to a magic crystal, the mad dog Kaplan also left us some other things. His fur was peeled off by Xian Ge Yayi - in addition to being a poor ranger and an orator with extremely confusing logic, our elf partner is also an extremely bad leatherworker - the skinning process was even bloodier than the battle we just had. The skinning knife in his hand was heavier than an axe. He almost used both hands to tear the dog skin off Kaplan's body piece by piece. When he finally skinned the mad dog naked, I couldn't believe that the pile of things in his hands, which were more tattered than a rag, were once a piece of animal leather as smooth and flexible as satin. At this moment, I almost felt sympathy for the dead dog - no matter what atrocities it had done in its life, it was too cruel for it to receive such retribution after death.
I no longer believe in those nonsense like “elves are a race that loves nature and animals ”.
What is most puzzling to me is that, after completing such a heinous and ugly job, Xiange Yayi, the most shoddy leatherworker I have ever seen, actually got promoted?!
As I selected my trophies, I thought of the claw and tooth marks that Kaplan had left on my sturdy shield. The beast's claws and teeth were so sharp and hard that they made most steel swords look pale. Its two longest teeth were four inches long, curved in a fierce arc, and the sharp points made me feel a stinging pain just by looking at them. These were two natural weapons, and I had to work hard to pry them out of the mad dog's mouth.
During the tooth extraction process, I unexpectedly discovered that the blood flowing out of Kaplan's mouth was not the usual bright red, but some dark green viscous liquid with a foul odor. I thought it was a bit strange, so I asked Niu Baiwan for an empty bottle of medicine he prepared and took away a little dog blood.
After doing all this, we dragged our exhausted bodies towards Campunavia in the twilight.
…
"Oh, it's great that you killed these fanged beasts. They've been causing me a lot of trouble lately, and my wife has always wanted a dog-skin mattress... Anyway, thank you for your contribution to the city's security. Take it. This is the reward you deserve."
This was the first time I met Sheriff Gerard, although he should be - or "used to be" - my superior. He obviously had no impression of the city gate guards under his command, so he didn't have any special reaction to me.
Mr. Gerard was a middle-aged man with no spirit. He was fat, had a red nose, and a large bald spot on his forehead. If he took off the uniform of the city defense officer and changed into an ordinary person's clothes, I would probably think he was an ordinary citizen like a butcher . He took the three wild dog skins from Niu Baiwan and me, and put the reward for the task in our hands. The reward for this task should be five silver coins, but I got 25 copper coins more than Niu Baiwan - this is the result of my "mercenary" nature as a human being. At the same time, we also gained 800 points of soul power - this shows that slaughter is not the only way to grow the soul.
After completing this simple formality, Mr. Gerard sat down at his large desk, frowning as he continued to flip through a thick stack of documents. No doubt, he was troubled by some difficult things and needed some strong help, because no matter what we said to him at this time, he would reply dejectedly: "I have some troubles to solve, but you are obviously not strong enough."
After walking out of the sheriff's office, Niu Baiwan stretched himself:
"It's too late. I have to go to bed, or I'll be late tomorrow."
"I should rest too..." Xiange Yayi was also exhausted, "...will you come tomorrow?"
"I think so. It's about this time..." Then Niu Baiwan asked me, "...What about you, Jeff?"
"Me?" I didn't know how to answer his question. There were always some incomprehensible exchanges between spacers. They seemed to have completely different concepts of time and space from us. I knew that my two friends thought I was also a spacer - or what they called a "player". It was not their fault. After all, there were too few restless natives like me who had a sense of freedom. When I was with them, I almost had an illusion about my identity, and felt that I was also a spacer.
After a moment's hesitation, I finally didn't emphasize the differences between me and them. I had a strange feeling: they wouldn't understand my origins, nor my life. If I told them about my experiences, they would regard me as an alien, and therefore laugh at me and distance themselves from me. I didn't want to lose the two friends I just made, and I didn't want to be treated like a monster.
"I'll always be here..." I forced a smile and said to them vaguely, "...I have nowhere else to go anyway."
After hearing my answer, Xiange Yayi let out a long sigh: "It seems that you are not very old. It is really good to be young. You have a lot of time to waste and don't have to rush for a living..."
Young? Perhaps, for the long-lived elves, an adult human is about the same age as a child. But in my opinion, the words of the elf ranger clearly have a completely different meaning.
"Let's add each other as friends, and keep in touch." Niu Baiwan suggested. He took out his magic diary and shone it on me and Xiange Yayi. Xiange Yayi did the same.
I just learned that the magic diary can be used in this way, so I tried it. Niu Baiwan and Xiange Yayi's names immediately appeared on the "Social" page, with the handwriting shining with gold.
"Okay, I'm going to bed. See you tomorrow."
"See you tomorrow."
After saying that, their bodies suddenly became blurry, like a wisp of smoke, gradually becoming thinner and more transparent until they completely disappeared. At this time, the magic diary in my hand had not yet been closed, and I happened to see their names change from glittering gold to gray - this should mean that these two space travelers no longer exist in this plane.
From this, we can see how strange the living habits of the space travelers are: they can sleep in a cheap hotel for one night - although I don't think this is necessary, because in my memory, there seems to be no such thing as "sleeping". I just "know" its meaning and theoretically understand how it "should" be done, just like many other inexplicable knowledge in my mind - but the space travelers must leave here and go to another time and space plane to complete this simple physiological activity. Perhaps among the countless planes in the universe, there is one that is specially used for these time and space travelers to sleep.
In my opinion, this is just like taking off your pants to fart - a waste of time.
Well, my only two friends have temporarily left my world and gone to another quiet place to sleep. I am left alone, and now I should go... uh... go...
Damn it, I suddenly discovered a serious problem: since I just got rid of the fate of guarding the city gate and gained freedom of action, I have been spending my time in adventurous hunting with my partners. My actions always seem to be aimed at their goals, and my choices have always been dominated by their suggestions and wishes. It seems that from beginning to end, there is no decision that truly belongs to me.
And before all this began, in that brief moment of solitude when I was free and before I met Niu Baiwan, this is what I was doing...
...I am thinking about what I should do...
According to legend, behind every person, there is a spirit that will accompany him till the end of his life. These spirits hold a whip called desire, driving people to march along the path of their own destiny and run for their lives. This invisible whip lashes directly at people's souls, making them thirsty and pursuing, and letting everyone know what they want and how to get it.
I turned around and looked behind me. There was the door of the sheriff's office. It was dark and gloomy inside the door, and the god of my destiny was not there.
This is exactly my problem. I seem to be an empty person, without goals, direction, and pursuits of my own. My origin is strange and different. No one is walking on my life path. I don't know where to go, but I can't go back to the beginning. My life is awkward and lonely, and I always need to find direction under the orders and suggestions of others.
So what should I do now? Continue the boring hunting and killing, aimlessly increasing the level of my soul? Or stand there in a daze until my two companions come again and follow their wishes?
I stood in the corner, lonely, took off my backpack and rummaged around in boredom. Suddenly, my hand touched a small, cold, unfamiliar object, and when I took it out, I saw that it was a bottle of green liquid.
I remembered that this was a vial of blood I had taken from Poirot when we were dividing his body. When I discovered that the blood of this beast was not the usual red color, I felt strange and took some. This seemed to be the first time I felt that something was "strange" and wanted to find out what it was.
A group of wild dogs suddenly appeared and harassed the city, a beast leader suddenly mutated into a monster, a bottle of green blood, all of which seemed to have some special meaning, pointing to a suspicious result. I like this feeling, although confused, it makes me think about something in my mind, which is better than being alone in emptiness.
I think I should take this to the sheriff. After all, this unusual bottle of blood was obtained from the leader of the wild dogs, and the city is being invaded by the wild dogs.
I reentered the sheriff's office and approached him:
"Sir, I have something to report to you..."
"I have some problems to solve, but you are obviously not strong enough." As I expected, Mr. Gerard still repeated his troubles dejectedly.
I didn't say anything else. I just took out the bottle of green dog blood and placed it in front of him.
My guess was correct. When the respectable sheriff saw the bottle, he immediately became more energetic. He picked up the bottle, looked at it, and then took off the cap and sniffed it gently:
"Where did you get this?" He asked me with a slightly changed expression.
"This is the blood of the leader of the wild dogs outside the city. I think this is very unusual and I should report it to you," I replied.
He frowned. "It looks like something I've seen before, but I'm not sure. You'd better take it to Elder, the pharmacist in town. His pharmacy is behind the trading district. You shouldn't have any trouble finding him."
After saying this, he immediately went back to sorting out the thick pile of documents and thinking about the dilemma that was troubling him.
I quickly found the pharmacist Elder - in fact, I had been to his pharmacy more than once. Every time we went back to the city to resupply, Niu Baiwan would always set up a stall in front of his pharmacy and sell small doses of life potions at a price slightly lower than his.
Elder, the pharmacist, didn't seem to be angry about our business competition. After I explained it, the gray-haired old man just complained in a low voice: "Oh, it's this troublesome sheriff again. He has troubled me more than once and never paid. Maybe I should give him a laboratory bill to prevent him from spending all the sheriff's funds on treating his own head."
He placed the green dog blood in a clear crystal container, handed me the empty bottle, and said, "To find out what this is, I need a blood analyzer. Fortunately for you, I just ordered one a few days ago. You have to go to the alchemist Edgwell and get it for me."
The alchemist Edgwell lived in a remote corner in the south of the city. I found it without much trouble. In fact, no one would mistake this place, because in this city of connected houses, it seemed that this house was the only one that was isolated and isolated, surrounded by nothing, and the nearest house was fifty steps away. This was simply unimaginable in Campnavia, where every inch of land was valuable and expensive.
On the way, I also visited the warrior trainer in the city and further improved my longsword combat skills. I upgraded the "straight stab" and "slashing" skills to level two, and learned a new combat skill "slam", which can suppress the opponent with great force, paralyzing the opponent's defensive arm and thus reducing his attack speed.
I think that in comparison, the combat skills taught by these trainers are simple and basic. Although we often use them, they don't have the same obvious effect in combat as the skills we have learned by ourselves.
Walking into the house in Edgware, I felt as if it had just been hit by an earthquake or a hurricane. The bookshelf with missing legs lay on the ground, and the broken desk was half placed at the door and half thrown at the staircase. The ground was piled with all kinds of miscellaneous items. Everyday necessities that every family has were displayed here in an unusual posture, such as: rotten and greasy vegetable leaves, broken bottles, cracked plates, and pans without bottoms. In addition, there were many expensive, rare, and precious items that were hard to see... derivatives, such as: marble statues with smashed heads, large oil paintings with half of their sides burned, dresses inlaid with gold threads and gems but missing a sleeve and half of the hem, or heavy hardcover books that were soaked in water and gnawed by mice, etc.
I trudged through the hall with difficulty and finally reached the staircase. On the wall at the staircase, the red firelight flickered, casting a thin shadow on the wall, followed by a fanatical and shrill "hehe" laugh. As the only human in this house, I have reason to believe that this figure is the target of my trip, the alchemist Edgwell from Campnavia City.
I was just about to step upstairs when suddenly there was a loud "bang" from upstairs. Fire suddenly broke out, and some fragments of utensils flew out from the stairs, hitting the wall violently and shattering into pieces, which scared me.
When everything calmed down, I dared to go upstairs. Standing at the stairs, I saw that the originally spacious space was filled with all kinds of strange instruments, making it difficult to turn around. I am not sure that these things can be called "instruments". They are all badly damaged, and some are even made of scraps. If they were not placed here, I am afraid that most people would classify them as "garbage".
A tall and thin figure stood in the middle of the garbage. In front of him was a messy stone platform. The stone platform was piled with various debris. A twisted and deformed metal frame stood on the platform in an extremely painful posture. A layer of black smoke was still coming out of it, which reminded me of the violent explosion just now. On the wall of the second floor, two glaring holes were hanging there, replacing the original function of the window - it was obviously the result of a strong explosion.
Now I understand why this house is so isolated and secluded here - I guess no one would be brave enough to get along with such a dangerous neighbor who could blow their house up at any time.
While I was stunned, the figure turned towards me. His face was burnt black, his hair was curly, his clothes were tattered, and he opened his mouth and spewed out a thick stream of black smoke.
"Don't worry..." He chuckled, revealing two rows of snow-white teeth on his face that was blackened by the explosion, forming a strong contrast.
"…It was just a small accident."
