Volume 2 Wandering Chapter 5: The fatal five seconds
I think I have said that Sabertooth Mountain is a relatively steep mountain. There is only a winding road at the foot of the mountain leading to the top. This is not a wide mountain road at all, and it can only allow about six or seven people to walk side by side. On the left side of the mountain road is a towering cliff, and on the right side is a steep cliff. As we go higher and higher, there are more and more traces of human intervention on the mountain road, such as the simple railings on the edge of the cliff, or the traces of the carriage on the ground.
Since we set foot on the mountain road, the traces of wild beasts have obviously become less, and they have been replaced by those guys who are all called "Sabertooth Bandits". These are strong and fierce criminals, usually between level 8 and 10. What is different from other opponents we have encountered is that behind the soul mark of "Sabertooth Bandits" written on their heads, there is a word "violent" in a bracket. When I first saw them, I thought it should be similar to the "leader" mark after the name of the mad dog Kaplan, which should mean some characteristics of them. Sure enough, their attack power is far more ferocious and powerful than that of wild beasts of the same level, and their movements are also faster. At the same level, I think it will be difficult for us to defeat them one-on-one.
Fortunately, these unorganized bandits didn't seem to like collective action. They were scattered on the mountain trails in twos and threes , wandering aimlessly. When we approached, they would shout, "Leave your money bag, stupid guy!" or "This is not the place for you, reckless guy!" and then wave their weapons to kill us. Most of the time, they fought alone, sometimes in pairs, and only rarely would three people attack us together.
Although they had the advantage in numbers, their rough and brave fighting style still made us feel exhausted. I believe that if they rushed forward like the beasts at the foot of the mountain, we would have fled long ago. But for some reason, they didn't seem to want to do that at all. Even when they saw their comrades being beaten to death by us, they didn't even raise their eyelids. I guess they are a group of crazy people full of chivalry. They think it is immoral to interfere in other people's battles, but they don't think that it will bring disaster to themselves.
With a "block", I blocked the bandit's blade with my sword, and then with a "slash", I cut off 27 points of his health. When we passed each other, I hit him in the head in time, and when he was dizzy and slow, I stabbed him in the abdomen. He cried out and fell to the ground and died immediately. At this time, my fighting spirit value was almost at the bottom.
After this period of non-stop fighting, I gradually figured out some experience in using fighting skills and found the rhythm of fighting. I found that the previous way of fighting without following the moves and skills, purely out of instinct, was more flexible, but not as effective as the damage caused by the reasonable application of skills. The combination of various skills can allow me to take the initiative in the battle and defeat the opponent more easily. For example, this time, facing a desperado of the same level, I only lost half of my life and killed him on the spot. If I still fight each other with a knife and a sword as before, I am afraid it will be difficult for me to succeed so easily.
If I could use various skills continuously, my record would definitely be much more remarkable than it is now. However, these special fighting skills cannot be used endlessly. If you want to use them again, you must re-control your body's balance and learn to use force correctly, which takes a while to adjust. This is the so-called "skill cooling" time.
In addition, I must consume a certain amount of fighting spirit to use skills. In fact, this is a kind of ability that everyone has from the inside of the body, lurking in our bones, muscles and blood. Through training, we can make full use of it and let it help our bodies generate strength that ordinary people cannot match. Strong warriors can even condense them into entities and kill enemies with only fighting spirit.
Just like the "magic power" gathered in the bodies of those spellcasters, "fighting spirit" is not an inexhaustible and cheap energy source. When a warrior's "fighting spirit" is exhausted, his body will not be able to withstand many difficult combat techniques, and he can only fight like an ordinary strong man. Until our body gets a rest, the "fighting spirit" will gradually re-condense. According to my pitiful fighting spirit, I only need to release five or six ordinary skills in a row to consume it.
"Don't push me out! I'm about to fall down~~~~~~~~" Xian Ge Yayi cried out in panic behind me, his screams almost broke my eardrums.
When facing the siege of numerous wild beasts at the foot of the mountain, Xian Ge Yayi and his "continuous shooting" skill created a proud record - at such a close distance he did not have to worry about the issue of accuracy, and the ability of this unconventional ranger to kill at close range was amazing.
But when we walked up the mountain road, the helpless fear of heights immediately turned him into a person who could not be relied on. For example, now, the distance between him and the cliff was at least enough for a buffalo to run across calmly, but he looked as green as a giant squid that had just been sprayed with ink, his hands and feet were weak, and his expression was desperate, as if he had fallen off the cliff and died.
"It's so annoying. If you keep screaming, I'll stuff this thing into your stomach and then kick you down!" The magician Fei Yin beside him immediately condensed a thick and sharp ice spike in her left hand and shouted threateningly at the elf ranger.
Xian Ge Yayi's lips moved weakly, he looked at Fei Yin's fierce expression (of course, what he saw might be a hideous and blurry irregular polyhedron), then looked back at the cliff, swallowed dryly, and finally said nothing.
In the contest between the beautiful female magician and the abyss, the female magician easily won with overwhelming power and became the object of even greater fear for Xian Ge Yayi.
The decline of Xiange Yayi's attack power directly led to Feiyin becoming the only effective long-range attacker in our adventure team - although the priest also has some long-range attack methods, Changgong Sheri is obviously more keen on playing the role of a berserker. Feiyin is the highest level among us, but the damage she causes is not outstanding. Although she has learned a lot of large-scale killing spells, she is still more keen on the primary ice magic "Ice Arrow". This spell, like "Fire Bomb" and "Electric Shock", is a simple spell that every magician learns first. Although the lethality is not strong, it can freeze the movements of those who are hit by the arrow with cold air and make them move slowly.
She could have used higher-level spells to kill the enemy, but she had good reasons not to do so:
"Magic potions are expensive!"
…
The Sabertooth Bandits' lair was built on a vacant lot near the top of the mountain, facing the mountain road and backed by the mountain peak. The side near the cliff was tightly blocked by a wooden wall made of tall fir trees. Inside the wooden wall, there were several wooden houses scattered around, and many bandits were wandering in groups outside the houses.
In addition to the "Sabertooth Bandits" with short knives that we are already very familiar with, there are also "Sabertooth Rangers" using bows and arrows, "Sabertooth Mages" wearing cloth robes and holding staffs, and "Sabertooth Assassins" holding daggers and hiding in the dark. Behind their names, there is also the word "violent". These "Sabertooth Assassins" are particularly difficult to deal with. We often have to walk close to them to discover their sneaky figures. Several times during the battle, their sudden appearance also disrupted our rhythm of the battle and put us in danger several times.
We finally got to the big wooden house inside the robbers' den. Standing outside the door and looking in from afar, we could see a sturdy guy who was much taller than ordinary robbers sitting in the house. The words "Sabertooth Bandit Leader Ridades (Leader)" were displayed on his head. He was the target we were looking for. Some bandits were guarding their leader in the house. We didn't dare to get too close, so we couldn't see him clearly.
"You stay here first, I'll go in and explore the way." The half-orc wanderer Chang Sanjiao volunteered. He took out his dagger and slowly walked towards the wooden house. Just after taking two steps, his tall and fat body suddenly melted out of thin air like a puff of smoke. Only if we looked very carefully could we vaguely see a round human-shaped mist tiptoeing towards the house.
Although I am very familiar with the professional skills of our half-orc companion, I am still amazed at his ability to successfully perform a "living person" under the gaze of eight pairs of eyes. You know, considering his size, it is twice as difficult for him to use this skill as for other ordinary wanderers.
When he successfully got into the cabin, my admiration immediately turned into worship - how did this fat guy not get stuck in the door?!
Soon, the figure of the Orc Wanderer reappeared outside the door. As soon as he appeared, he immediately ran towards us with a look of fear on his face.
"It was really close..." He said to us while wiping the sweat off his forehead, "...He was staring at me before I even got close to the leader. I thought I was discovered. Luckily I ran away quickly..."
As we all know, although the rogue's "stealth" skills are clever, they are not completely traceless. In many cases, they will reveal some flaws, allowing the enemy to discover their tracks. If the opponent's level is much higher than yours, the chance of you being discovered will be greatly increased. Therefore, experienced rogues will not stay in one position for a long time when they are stealthed, but will avoid the opponent's detection by constantly moving.
"There are six people in the room..." Chang Sanjiao told us in detail what he had found out. "...There is a bandit by the wall at the entrance and in the middle of the room, an assassin in each of the left and right corners, and a wizard standing next to the bandit leader. The leader is a level 12 warrior and looks very difficult to deal with."
The words of the Yangtze River Delta made us look at each other in bewilderment. This was not good news. Although we had fought our way here, Xian Ge Ya Yi and I had both reached level nine, and Chang Gong She Ri was already a level seven priest, but compared to this group of bandits, our level was still not advantageous, even in a five-on-five situation, we had a hard time. Now we were outnumbered, and our chances were even smaller, not to mention that the other side had a high-level leader warrior.
The female magician Feiyin lowered her head and pondered for a moment, then looked at us: "It looks like the problem is serious, does anyone have any good suggestions?"
"I have a good idea..." Immediately, the tough dwarf priest Longbow Shooting Sun shouted in a hoarse voice, "... Let's rush in and kill them all!"
Oh, of course. This paranoid battle fanatic never had a second idea during this journey.
Feiyin frowned tightly, and I seemed to see a few blue-black blood vessels faintly appearing on her forehead.
"That sounds like a good idea..." Her voice was gentle and graceful, and even had a hint of joy, as if she was very happy to accept the idea. However, for this extremely abnormal female demon (short for female magician, but I don't recommend you to call her that in front of her), this abnormal gentleness always concealed a layer of tyrannical murderous intent.
"…Tell us, how do you plan to implement this plan?" she asked Changbow Sheri.
Changgong Sheri was obviously unaware of the danger he was facing. He actually thought seriously for a moment, and then stated his plan in a very serious manner:
"Two steps. First, we rush in. Second, we kill them all!"
Silence, dangerous silence...
An angry aura seemed to be constantly emerging from Feiyin's body, like a tangible substance, stinging my skin. Although I knew nothing about magic, I seemed to feel that the magical aura in the air around me became extremely unstable.
"Ah..." A sharp scream suddenly broke the silence, and I shuddered. Then, the emotionally broken female magician found the best way to vent her anger:
"...You idiot, I knew you would say that! When others are thinking hard, you still make such a cheap joke, which is simply unforgivable! We all know that you are a psychopath, but we didn't expect you to be so abnormal! Look, I will punish you, a murderer, on behalf of the moon, ah..."
Feiyin's hands rained down on Changgong Sheri's face, and her slender and sharp nails immediately showed the great power of women's exclusive weapons. Although Changgong Sheri's health was not greatly damaged by Feiyin's attack, the splattered blood and miserable wails always made people feel that his actual damage was much more serious than it looked.
"What's wrong? What's wrong?" Xian Ge Yayi couldn't see the actual situation, so she could only pull Chang Sanjiao and ask curiously.
"Well... how should I put it? The Forbidden 1,211 Styles·Eight Young Maidens, the True·North Star Hundred Strike Fist, the Platinum Star·Ora Ora Explosion Fist... you figure it out on your own!" Chang Sanjiao covered his eyes with his right hand, lowered his head as if he couldn't bear to watch, and said to Xian Ge Yayi meaningfully.
"Oh..." There was obviously a deep tacit understanding between these two people that I could not understand. Xian Ge Yayi immediately sighed as if he suddenly realized something, and kept making clicking sounds in his mouth and shaking his head with a look of resentment on his face.
My bewildered look fell into Chang Sanjiao's eyes, and he seemed to find it very strange: "Why, Jeff, you don't understand what I'm saying?"
…I nodded honestly.
"Hey, young man, you still have a lot to learn..." Chang Sanjiao immediately patted my shoulder earnestly, then raised his head forward and cast his gaze towards the white clouds in the distance. There seemed to be some complicated emotions flowing in his eyes:
"...Generation gap...?"
The last scream came from Changgong Sheri's mouth, and then he fell straight to the ground, his face covered with blood, a horrible sight. Although we all know that this level of skin injury will only take a moment to heal, his miserable situation still makes the rest of us tremble with fear.
"Xiao Xianzi, do you have any ideas?" The magician Fei Yin put one foot on the dwarf priest's head and pointed at the elf ranger and asked.
"I..." The tragic end of the longbow shooting at the sun forced Xian Ge Yayi to think carefully about his answer. He thought for a moment, then said:
"...The idea of shooting the sun is a mistake of left-wing adventurism. We must resolutely defeat it. I think we should despise the enemy strategically and take the enemy seriously tactically. When we are not in an advantageous position on the front battlefield, we should choose strategic shift, accumulate strength, and choose the right time to fight again. So, we..." He coughed lightly, straightened his chest, nodded confidently, and suddenly stood up and bowed to Feiyin, saying flatteringly: "...Otherwise, go back first and come back tomorrow to complete this task?"
"Hmm..." After hearing what Xiange Yayi said, Fei Yin nodded gently. Seeing this, Xiange Yayi sighed and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. Just when he thought he had survived...
"Nonsense! You say others are left-leaning and reckless, but you are purely a restoration of right-wing capitulationism. We have come all the way here, but we didn't get anything valuable. Isn't this a wasted trip? What did I usually teach you? A thief never leaves empty-handed, don't you know?" Fei Yin raised her eyebrows and kicked the smart-aleck elf aside.
The kicked Elf Ranger lay on the ground rubbing his buttocks, still complaining softly; "But, we are not thieves..."
"I have a suggestion..." Before Feiyin could ask, Chang Sanjiao, who had witnessed the whole process, immediately took the initiative to speak, "...We can lure the bandit out first. I've seen him moving around inside, and when he's at the outside, he'll walk near the door. If we use a long-range attack, we might not be able to lure the other people in the room. After we kill him, there will only be five people left in the room. I can knock the bandit leader unconscious with a club, and you go kill the others first. It would be best if we can kill one or two during this time. The rest of us may have a fighting chance."
Fei Yin thought about it carefully and felt that this idea was not very feasible: "In this short time, we can only kill one person at most, and that is a mage with the lowest defense. If the bandit leader wakes up, I am afraid we still can't stop him. His dizziness time is too short. It would be better if you can make him dizzy for a while longer."
The orc wanderer spread his hands and said, "There's nothing I can do. The cooldown time of the sap is longer than his stun time, and it can only be used when in stealth mode. The only way is to let him chop me to death, which will delay him for a while longer."
"Then there's nothing we can do..." Chang Sanjiao's answer made Fei Yin feel helpless. The female magician looked into the room unwillingly and stamped her feet angrily.
Seeing that the battle plan was thwarted, I suddenly remembered something and said, "Well... if you just want to restrict the bandit leader, I might be able to help."
"You?" Feiyin's eyes lit up and she looked at me inquiringly. Being stared at by this emotional money-worshiping magician really made me a little scared.
"I have learned a skill myself, which is to hit the opponent with a shield, which can make him stun for about..." I used the time unit popular among space travelers to make a rough estimate, "...about five seconds..."
“That’s enough!” Before I could finish, Chang Sanjiao cheered. “Before that, I can use the Refraction Potion to become invisible again. The cooldown of the sap should be up soon.”
"But..." I added hesitantly , "...If I want to use the shield strike, I have to get close to the bandit leader. There are a lot of people in the room, so it's not easy to rush over..." At this point, I looked at the Yangtze River Delta:
"…I'm not a rogue, so I don't know how to hide my tracks…"
"This problem is not difficult to solve..." Unexpectedly, Fei Yin actually said this, "... Don't worry, I'll take care of it..."
