Volume 2 Wandering Chapter 4: Traveling Together
When I said goodbye to Xiange Yayi, he said he would come to this plane again the next day. But when his name appeared again in my magic diary, it was already the afternoon of the sixth day. According to my previous experience, the concept of time used by space-related people is very different from mine. What they call "a day" often takes six to seven days. I think this is probably due to the difference caused by the different time and space planes.
Not long after he arrived, my magic diary gave a signal. I turned the diary to the "social" page with his name on it, and saw a line of small words under his name:
"You're really diligent. You're online so early. What level are you now?"
This is another function of the magic diary. People who have exchanged soul marks can communicate remotely through it. This function is very suitable for adventurers who like to wander around: no matter how erratic your whereabouts are, your friends can always contact you conveniently when they miss you. Correspondingly, its inconvenience is also that when you want to be alone for a while, others can always find you easily.
I clicked on Xiange Yayi's name, wrote "Almost level nine" under his name, and sent it to him.
Soon I received a reply:
"Oh my god, so fast! How did you do it? Did you use an external @￥% cheat?"
In these three short sentences, there are two that I cannot understand. One is the strange letter "K" in the first sentence. I don't know what it means, but it seems to express a tone of amazement; and the "external @￥% plug-in" with chaotic symbols in the last sentence exudes a cunning atmosphere, as if it contains some special magical meaning, which makes it impossible for me to even guess its meaning. I can only answer based on the only sentence I can understand:
"I completed a few missions, killed a few wild dogs, and then I leveled up."
"Wow, you're awesome..." Another confusing symbol, "...did you accept the Sabertooth Mountain Bandit mission?"
"No, I was just about to pick it up."
"That's perfect. I found a few friends to complete this mission together. With you in, we'll have a complete team. Come on, we'll be waiting for you at the city gate."
It is a pleasant thing to be invited by a friend, especially when I have nothing to do. I came to the city gate and saw my poor-sighted elf friend waiting there, and standing beside him were three strange adventurers, two men and one woman.
Although Xian Ge Yayi had been staring wide-eyed and trying to find me, he still looked anxious and confused until I walked up to him - it was obvious that his poor eyesight was not enough to recognize me from the crowd.
"I'm here!" I knew that if I didn't say hello to him first, he might not be able to find me even if I put my face under his nose.
"Ah, you're finally here!" My appearance was not unexpected but still surprised him. He took my hand enthusiastically, brought me to his companions, and introduced me to them:
"His name is Changgong Sheri, he's a priest, and he's already level six." He pointed at the only female adventurer next to him.
This was a human girl, who looked gentle and quiet, with her long eyebrows drooping, as if she was too shy to look at people. She was wearing a white dress with shiny metallic threads, which was very suitable for a priest. The only thing that made me feel a little wrong was that the words "Fei Yin" were clearly written above her head where her name was displayed.
The girl smiled at me tenderly, then gently stretched out her fair and slender right hand and gently held the inside of Xiange Yayi's right arm. Just when I thought this was an intimate gesture with ambiguous meaning, her thumb and index finger suddenly tightened...
"Oh...oh..." Immediately, Xiange Yayi showed us his hidden tenor talent, and the sharp scream was enough to make the most passionate bard pale in comparison. The most shocking thing was that the girl's two fingers showed a strength no less than the claws of the rabid dog Capelan, and created a vital impact, instantly causing Xiange Yayi's life index to drop by 30 points.
"Where are you pointing? Look carefully at who I am before you speak! You actually confused a gentle and beautiful lady like me with this perverted murderer. This is simply an unforgivable and hopeless crime..." The beautiful girl pinched Xiange Yayi's arm and stepped on his toes with her beautiful little boots, shouting angrily. Such a "gentle and beautiful" "lady" is really the only one I have ever seen in my life. After a long time, the female magician let go of her hand, and then rubbed two fingers with ulterior motives and said to the elf ranger who wanted to cry but had no tears:
"To make you remember this lesson, buy me the Emerald Star ring next time."
"I didn't mean it. I just couldn't see clearly for the moment. Please forgive me. That thing costs three gold coins. I'll sell everything I have to buy it..." Xiange Yayi pleaded with a sad face.
"I still lack a blue crystal necklace that can restore my magic power..." The girl ignored Xiange Yayi's plea. She played with the ornament on her chest meaningfully and looked at Xiange Yayi with squinted eyes.
My elf friend immediately made a wise decision. He straightened his chest and answered loudly with a bit of chivalry:
"It is my honor to serve you. Tomorrow I will use the Emerald Star to grace the most beautiful Lady Feiyin!"
His face was full of tragedy, like a martyr who died heroically.
After receiving Xian Ge Yayi's affirmative answer, the girl smiled with satisfaction. Suddenly, she turned around and looked at me. At this moment, she underwent an incredible and wonderful change: the fierce and frightening look just now was instantly replaced by a gentle and peaceful look. A layer of shy blush covered her cheeks, and her long eyelashes made her bright eyes particularly pure.
I never knew that a person's expression could change so much in such a short time. Although her face did not change at all, her temperament was completely different. The difference was as obvious as if she were two completely different people. The most incredible thing was that she changed from the most violent and fierce creditor to the most beautiful and lovely girl in just a short smile.
"He's mistaken, I'm Feiyin..." She whispered to me as if she was afraid of strangers, her voice as clear and gentle as a harp, "... a level 10 mage. He's the one who can shoot the sun with a longbow..." As she spoke, she pointed at the sturdy dwarf beside her. I don't know if it was an illusion, but when Feiyin pointed at the dwarf priest, he seemed to shudder.
At this time, the orc standing next to us did not wait for Feiyin to speak, and introduced himself, "My name is Chang Sanjiao, an eighth-level wanderer."
In my impression, wanderers seem to be small and agile guys. They like to appear in the dark shadows and cut people's throats from behind. But the appearance of the Yangtze River Triangle completely overturned my understanding. To be honest, his name has no meaning. I mean this guy is neither "long" nor "triangular". If you erase his hands and feet, his basic shape is two tangent spheres-the neck part can be basically ignored. I think you have understood that he is a fat man, and not just ordinary fat. His belly is round and upright, flexible and elastic. When he walks, it keeps shaking, and the flesh on his belly will ripple out circles of soft waves. If he wants to see his toes-believe me, he has to work very hard to do this.
With this kind of physique, if he rushed towards the enemy group with two axes and madly hacked them, he might be majestic and heroic, but as a wanderer...
Perhaps noticing the confusion in my eyes, this "large" orc immediately pulled out a dagger from his waist - the most common weapon of a wanderer - and skillfully played some tricks with his fingers. Then, he patted his belly and explained awkwardly, "I haven't exercised for a long time, and my figure is a little out of shape. But I really am a wanderer..."
The dagger looked very sharp, with a dangerous and cruel sheen flowing through the blade. But such a weapon always looked a bit out of place in the hands of Chang Sanjiao - I even felt that even if this oversized wanderer wore nothing, this dagger might not be able to destroy the defense on his belly and cause him any substantial damage.
Sabertooth Mountain is the highest and most dangerous mountain near Campnavia. There are a lot of wild beasts living in the jungle below the mountain. Whether it is the "red maned hyena" or the "mountain wolf", or the "vampire red bat" with wings as wide as three or four people, they are generally one or two levels higher than their relatives scattered elsewhere, ranging from level 8 to level 10. Moreover, they live in a very dense density, usually gathering together in groups, which greatly affects our speed of advancement - of course, this effect is not entirely caused by the battle:
"Xiange Yayi, peel off the skin of this bat... You just peeled it when I told you to. There are also scraps of cloth, wings, and nails... These are all money. A little bit of it adds up to a lot... Ah, iron ore! Yangtze River Delta, dig out that ore. Yes, dig it all out, including the stones... Shoot the sun, shoot the sun! Take the wolf's eyeballs. What? The backpack is full? Let me take it? Let a gentle and weak girl like me take such a scary thing. Don't you know what shame is? Bring your bag here... Oh, my, throw all these things away... I know this is a quest item. You can just do it again. Every meal should be appreciated. It's not easy to come by... Ah, sage, there are so many herbs here. Damn it, why isn't there anyone studying pharmacy? These are all money..."
As you can see, the magical girl Feiyin seems to have an unusual hobby of collecting anything that can be sold for money. After each battle, she would like to comb the battlefield with the finest comb two or three times. She would never leave any spoils that could be taken away, even the most worthless animal nails, but would find ways to put them in her backpack and take them away. In any battlefield she cleaned, even the corpses would rot very quickly - because there really wasn't much left to rot.
"Another pack of wild wolves, what should we do?" Chang Sanjiao pointed to the bushes in front of him on the left and asked. This pack of wild wolves did not block our way up the mountain. If we took a detour, we would not alarm them at all.
Feiyin glanced at the place where the wolves were lurking, with an indecisive expression on her face: in her eyes, these huge and ferocious beasts were no different from a pile of gold coins with claws and fur, and she was unwilling to let them go for nothing; but so far, before we even walked up the hill, everyone's pockets were almost two-thirds full, and if this continued, the more valuable loot that would be taken from the robbers might have nowhere to go. Waste time or waste money? This was obviously a difficult choice for the magic money-grubber.
"Why are you so nagging? Kill them all first!" While Feiyin was hesitating, another guy among us rushed out alone. As long as you hear his rude and unrestrained language and hoarse and reckless voice, you will know that our pastor has gone berserk again.
If the magician Feiyin was only immersed in currency exchange and had some basic rational judgment on other things not involving money, then the dwarf named Changgong Sheri was a completely hopeless - in Feiyin's words - perverted killer. He was a typical worshiper of violence, a bloodthirsty maniac, a corpse abuser, with an unstoppable craze for killing deep in his blood. He definitely had great potential to become an excellent berserker, and he would not regain consciousness as long as there was a living opponent. Even the most ferocious monsters would be ashamed in front of his sturdy and brave figure. As for his priest profession - that was absolutely ironic: who had ever seen such a priest who would charge into battle with a stick?
The Longbow Sun Shooting Weapon is definitely worth mentioning. When we first met in battle, I was standing in front of him and Feiyin with my shield raised as usual, but he rushed out from under my belt and rushed into an eighth-level hyena. He held a short staff in his hand, about the length of my forearm - of course, it looked longer in the dwarf's hand. Just when I thought he was going to be taught a lesson for this stupid move, his shocking move immediately deprived my brain of oxygen...
He grabbed both ends of the staff with both hands, and pulled it hard to the left and right, and actually pulled it into two parts, connected in the middle with an iron chain. Then, he held one end tightly and swung it with his backhand, muttering loudly in a vague but special rhythmic voice, "Use the nunchaku quickly, hum hum ha xi ...
The dwarf priest, who had taken advantage, was relentless and pursued him relentlessly with his staff in two pieces. The staff flew up and down between his hands, elbows, and waist, like a jugglery that was too much to watch. All you could see were the shadows of the sticks, like a curtain of light covering him, accompanied by his constant shrill "hum hum ha ..." sounds, making it hard not to feel a kind of violent beauty with extreme contrast.
A priest in cloth armor, holding two short sticks, only fought hand-to-hand, and knocked down four level 7 or 8 hyenas in an instant, while I, a warrior holding a sharp sword, was still entangled with two hyenas. This huge gap made me a little discouraged. Later, Xiange Yayi told me that Changgong Sheri's secondary job was a weapon maker, and the staff in his hand called "Nunchuck" was his own proud work. This was originally the first staff he tried to make, and he failed without any suspense at that time. Unexpectedly, he had an idea and added an iron chain between the two broken pieces of the staff, which made him succeed.
This strange-looking staff is an out-and-out weapon. The heavy iron sheets wrapped around both ends of the staff increase its attack power by 3 points, and the attack speed of this short staff is far superior to other weapons. What is puzzling is that this short-handled striking weapon that looks like a fire stick when put together and like... well... two fire sticks when separated, and does not add any magic power or spell effects, is actually recognized as a "staff".
What was most surprising was that the violent and frenzied skill that Changgong Sheri displayed in the battle was actually a kind of magic, and it was a magic that he had comprehended himself. This so-called "magic" that looked like a martial art was given a name that looked like a martial art by its creator - "Jeet Kune Do". And the "Hum Hum Ha Xi" that he kept chanting enthusiastically was the spell that activated this magic.
This was the first time I saw "magic" performed with fists, feet, and sticks. It was said that this genuine "magic" would produce an effect similar to a magic shield, which could reflect 50% of the enemy's close-range attacks and had a 20% chance of causing triple physical damage to surrounding enemies. In addition, it consumed real magic power - and it was consumed very quickly.
Now, Changgong Sheri has rushed to the middle of the group of "mountain wolves" and cast his passionate and strange magic. We have no choice but to follow him and kill him. I have to admit that although Changgong Sheri has an inexplicable enthusiasm for fighting, he is not completely carried away after all. In very rare cases, he will suddenly remember his duties as a "priest" and "accidentally" use his remaining magic to restore the dried up vitality of his teammates - but, at least for me, his crazy good deeds always happen belatedly after I drink a bottle of life potion.
Although there were five of us in our team, in reality you usually only saw four in combat, and the one that disappeared was the overweight Wanderer Yangtze River Delta.
Yes, I said "disappear". Wanderers have an enviable professional skill: "Stealth". This is a special ability that allows them to hide in front of the enemy without being seen. This is not a kind of magic, but a special skill. It is said that this is because they can find the "blind spot" in the opponent's vision range in the shortest time and hide in it until they find an opportunity to kill the opponent.
I really couldn't imagine how the Yangtze River Delta did this. According to this principle, I always felt that if he wanted to be invisible, it might be like this: when his left half was hidden in the opponent's blind spot, his right half would be revealed without any suspense; and when he hid his right half, his left half would immediately be exposed. But in fact, when we killed the wolves, his large figure had disappeared in the shade of the trees in the afternoon.
Although his body looks a bit funny, Chang Sanjiao does have the talent to be a wanderer. Even in peacetime, his movements are unusually vulgar: he likes to walk in the dark with dense shadows, hates the sun, always walks along the roadside, tree roots or the side of rocks, with small and dense steps, and sometimes habitually throws stones three steps ahead of his feet, as if testing whether there is a trap.
Once in combat, Chang Sanjiao can do even better. Even when not in stealth mode, his movements are very erratic, like a bloated ghost, interspersed in the gaps of the melee with "lewd" movements, and he takes the opportunity to take advantage. He is the most agile fat man I have ever seen, and also the most despicable guy I have ever seen.
This is not sarcasm; for a rogue in combat, "mean" is the highest compliment that can be given to him.
Chang Sanjiao showed me his dagger, but he didn't often use this insidious left-handed weapon. More often, he liked to solve problems with the hammer in his right hand. He was a conservative opportunist, and I never seemed to see him attack any beast face to face. He always flashed his sinister figure from behind the enemy, and hit the enemy on the head with a hammer, making the enemy dizzy and unable to move. Only when the opponent was on the verge of death and his life was at the bottom, he would use the dagger to cruelly strangle the enemy's throat and give it a fatal blow.
In contrast to Changgong Sheri, Changsanjiao is a guy who can keep calm at all times. He can always choose his opponents at the first opportunity, pick out the strongest enemy, and knock him out from behind, which reduces the defensive pressure on us - of course, mainly me. And his highly targeted way of killing enemies also makes our battle simpler and more effective.
Just like that, when, under the leadership of Feiyin, we killed the last batch of wild beasts, peeled off the last skin, pulled out the last fang, and scraped off the last layer of oily soil, the road up the mountain finally appeared in front of us.
