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Chapter 8: Slaying the Dogs
"Hey, listen to me, close your eyes and don't look down!" In the awkward moment when Elegant Strings was stuck on the tree unable to move, I suddenly had an idea and shouted at him, "Aim your bow downwards, don't look at anything, just follow my commands!"
Elegant Strings did as instructed. Closing his eyes, the acrophobic elf's complexion improved significantly; he no longer clung to the tree trunk like a sloth. He skillfully nocked an arrow, adjusting his movements left and right according to my directions.
"...A little to the left..." Through the gaps in the branches, I watched the elven ranger's actions, gradually adjusting his bow towards the position I desired. The evening sunlight occasionally pierced through the leaves, stinging my eyes.
"...Too far, a little to the right, just a bit. Good, listen for my command. When I shout 'fire,' release the arrow as fast as possible. When I say 'stop,' cease firing and maintain that position. Understand?" I commanded loudly.
"I... I understand..." Standing atop the tree, Elegant Strings tilted his ear, resembling a blind person discerning the direction of sound.
Seeing him ready, I said to Millionfold, "Looks like I have to take a risk. Give me a few more potions, you... just wait here."
Millionfold must have understood my intention. Surprisingly, upon hearing my plan, he blushed furiously, as if insulted, and loudly protested:
"No, I must go with you!"
"What?" I thought I misheard. This eccentric cowardly tauren intends to adventure with me? Based on his performance in battles, I always thought if we hadn't insisted repeatedly, he might spend his whole life killing chickens at the foot of the city walls. Perhaps he really could become the first legendary figure to reach level ninety-nine by killing chickens—ninety-nine being the highest limit ordinary beings can achieve. Only a few peak powerhouses can surpass this limit, and their names inevitably became legends on the Falvy continent.
"You should stay here," I said.
"Why!" he argued back defiantly.
"It's just a hypothesis, it may not succeed. If these wild dogs are lured over and we can't shake them off, I alone have a chance to escape. If you join..."
I eyed him up and down, not hiding my doubts about his combat abilities.
"Hey, you underestimate me too much. I'm not that bad," Millionfold blushed upon hearing my explanation, his voice dropped significantly but still stubbornly argued.
"..." My skeptical gaze answered him.
"I do contribute, like earlier, I lured quite a few monsters..."
"..." My gaze reminded him of some overlooked facts.
He shook his head, unwillingly added, "...Just lured a bit too many. Elegant Strings wasn't dead then, he still had fifteen HP left..."
"And I can tank some hits, attract attacks..."
"..." I gestured for him to complete his statement.
"...I know I didn’t hold them, but it’s not entirely my fault. My armor's defense is so low, and my pain index is set too high... In the end, you held them all..."
"And my damage isn't low either, one hit takes away a quarter of a wild dog's HP... Just the hit rate is low, out of ten strikes, I usually hit one or two..."
"..." I had nothing to say, only looked at him sympathetically.
"Alright, alright..." His pitiful self-esteem finally crumbled under my gaze, "...I admit I play poorly, am cowardly, have poor skills, low accuracy, minimal damage, basically leeching experience with you guys..."
I don't know who first proposed it, but all Planewalkers refer to the soul power they gain as "experience." This term is indeed vivid. While fighting alongside them, I gradually got used to these simple yet strange terms.
"But..." he continued somewhat aggrieved, "...since we formed a team, I want to be helpful. Feeling like a parasite is terrible! Watching you fight desperately while I idly share the experience, do you think I can feel at ease? What kind of person do you take me for?"
"Now you’re going to lure monsters. Regardless, I’m one level higher than you and have 'War Stomp' to save my life. Maybe I can help you. At worst, if something goes wrong, I'll draw fire alone to save you, consider it my contribution to the team..."
Though he spoke with a constant grin, seemingly unserious, his words genuinely touched me. When you're about to embark on an adventure, trying something dangerous, having someone tell you they're willing to risk their life to help and support you—I think everyone would feel this way.
Even if they offer no benefit to you.
Even if they’re just an unrelated stranger...
Suddenly, I felt warm, a strange yet fervent feeling enveloping me, like a ray of light piercing my heart, banishing a shadow called "loneliness"—a feeling I never experienced as a gate guard.
"What are you guys doing? Taking so long without giving a signal, I almost fell asleep... Hey, you haven’t run off, have you?" From the treetop, the sightless archer Elegant Strings anxiously shouted.
Millionfold and I exchanged a smile.
"Don’t worry, we’ll be right there!" Millionfold shouted at him, then turned to me quite heroically, "Let’s go save that acrophobic coward!"
"When calling others cowards, try not to let your legs tremble so obviously..." I said as we walked.
"I’m not afraid, it’s just a dozen wild dogs..."
"Oh?"
"I’m just relaxing my muscles, preparing to run..."
"..."
As we spoke, we slowly approached the pack of wild dogs surrounding Elegant Strings. They saw us but showed little interest. Based on past experiences, we knew this was temporary calm. Once we approached a certain range and posed a threat, they would chase us relentlessly.
Sure enough, when we were about ten steps away, the nearest wild dog suddenly perked its ears and barked loudly. Its call startled the others. In an instant, all the wild dogs left the hollow and charged towards us at full speed.
Millionfold and I were prepared. As soon as we saw them move, we immediately turned and ran. After running about twenty steps, I turned to estimate the distance and angle, confirming the pack had entered Elegant Strings’ shooting range, and shouted, "Fire!"
A sharp arrow descended from the sky like a bolt of lightning, accurately striking a wild dog, making it howl painfully. This arrow was both precise and ruthless, costing it nearly half its life.
Elegant Strings probably didn’t know his first shot hit the target. After releasing one arrow, he immediately drew another, continuously pouring more arrows downward. Some grazed the wild dogs, leaving minor wounds; some missed entirely, sticking straight into the ground; but two hit their marks, achieving results no less impressive than the first arrow, severely injuring two wild dogs.
Based on my observations, when these beasts hunt prey and get attacked, they immediately abandon the prey to retaliate against the attacker causing harm. If attacked from multiple directions, the enemy dealing the most damage becomes their primary target.
My guess proved correct. Upon being hit by the rain of arrows, the pack immediately turned around, rushing back towards the base of the tree where Elegant Strings stood, angrily barking up at him, wishing to tear this sneaky attacker to pieces. As for us two "unrelated people," they showed no interest at all.
Things went surprisingly smoothly, delighting Millionfold and me.
With vision completely lost, Elegant Strings could temporarily suppress his fear of heights. Under my command, he transformed from a free and flexible ranger into a directional arrow tower, unleashing powerful attacks.
For anyone else, this approach would be counterproductive—any ordinary ranger could stand on a branch and shoot the wild dogs below one by one with enough patience. But this tactic worked wonders specifically for—or only for—our elven companion. For this ranger who used his eyeballs as ornaments, the wild dogs below were too scattered. Relying on his archery to clear them precisely was less reliable than hoping the wild dogs would starve themselves to death. Our role was to attract the pack, gather them together, and lure them into Elegant Strings’ shooting range. Others aim at targets to shoot arrows, but this time we dragged a huge target to find the ranger's aim, which significantly increased this clumsy ranger's hit rate.
Without needing to aim, Elegant Strings could focus solely on the simplest archery actions: taking arrows, drawing the bow, and shooting. Since the pack passed through his shooting range for a limited time each time, only firing as many arrows as possible in the shortest time could maximize damage.
At first, our elven companion was clearly unaccustomed to this high-frequency shooting. Undoubtedly, his accuracy suffered, but his movements remained standard. For some reason, every time I saw him continuously draw and shoot arrows, his body and arm movements seemed uncoordinated, appearing stiff. Despite his efforts to increase hand speed, he managed to shoot only seven or eight arrows at most each time.
Gradually, subtle changes occurred in his movements. I couldn’t specifically describe how his current movements differed from before, but I was certain something changed within him. Each time, his movements became smoother and more fluid. The muscles on his arms flowed like lively mountain springs, full of vitality and without any stagnation. His movements gave me an indescribable feeling, like...
Like a gentle breeze blowing.
Yes, wind—it’s a very wondrous thing. When it brushes past your cheeks, bringing coolness and comfort, you don’t sense its speed. But when you truly try to reach out and touch it, you find it has already quietly disappeared without notice. No matter how fast your capturing motion is, you're destined to miss because this seemingly gentle breeze is always faster than you.
Elegant Strings’ movements were just like that. He wasn’t fast, even akin to a slowed dance, allowing you to see every detail clearly. Yet undoubtedly, his arrow-firing speed kept increasing. The tightly drawn bowstring between his fingers emitted rapid, pleasant small sounds, as if plucking the evening breeze in the forest.
Much later, recalling this scene, I realized what exactly was different about Elegant Strings’ movements. Actually, whenever we do anything, deviations occur, leading to many unnecessary actions. These actions are so subtle that we often overlook them. But in fact, these extra movements make us unknowingly slower than we imagine.
Elegant Strings noticed this while continuously shooting. To pursue higher speed, he instinctively eliminated these unnecessary actions, making his movements cleaner, more direct, and more efficient. This was why his movements appeared not very fast but had actually greatly improved.
When he once fired fifteen consecutive arrows, we suddenly heard him cheer with an "Ah!" A rarely seen pale green halo rose from beneath his feet, flashing momentarily—I remembered seeing this halo last when Millionfold first unleashed "Power Cyclone."
"You lucky guy, you’ve mastered a new skill!" Millionfold stood afar, saying enviously, "Quick, check what skill it is?"
"Rapid Fire, firing fifteen consecutive arrows in a short time, consuming fifty stamina points, five-minute cooldown!" Elegant Strings shouted back. In the excitement of mastering a new skill, he forgot where he was and opened his eyes to check. Now, he resumed a bear-hugging-the-tree stance, his face red and white, probably unsure whether to be happy or scared.
With the mastery of Rapid Fire, Elegant Strings performed even more valiantly. In subsequent luring and killing sessions, he consecutively shot dead more than half of the wild dogs. Thanks to him, I also reached level five. However, as the number of wild dogs decreased, his chances of hitting targets also dwindled, from roughly one-third each time to one-fourth, one-fifth, until it became difficult to even hit one arrow. The area he aimed at was densely packed with arrows, resembling a field of weeds.
No ranger could withstand such consumption. When Rabid Hound Kaplan had less than one-third of its life left, along with three other injured wild dogs, Elegant Strings finally ran out of arrows.
"What now?" Millionfold asked me. His excited gaze had already betrayed the answer in his heart.
"What else?" I smiled at him, sword in hand. Then, we simultaneously looked at the remaining few injured dogs and shouted in unison:
"Kill these damn dogs!"
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