Half Elf Ranger

Chapter 306 The Gap
"call out!"

A sharp arrow with light orange flames and deep purple arcs flashed across the deep and dark cave.

"Pfft!"

Suddenly, the fat body of the ogre who was walking towards the cave twitched violently, and the bloody Gnoll corpse slipped from his trembling broad arms and fell to the cold rocky ground, making a dull sound.

"Giggle..."

The ogre, whose face was distorted due to the pain, was gasping for breath, trying to breathe fresh air, but what he got in exchange was scarlet blood.

He struggled to stretch out his palm the size of a cattail fan, trying to pull out the sharp arrow that pierced his throat.

Immediately afterwards, the ogre holding the arrow feathers tightly with both hands fell to the rocky ground together with the corpse of the wolf man that slid to the ground with a dull 'plop' sound, and soon became silent.

Seeing the sudden death of his companion, the half-orc with a hatchet growled in a low voice, and his scarlet eyes searched for the hunter hiding in the dark.

The two tauren directly lowered their bull-like heads, showed their curved and sharp horns, and launched the most vicious slam in the direction of the arrow.

At this time, the shadow above the cave trembled slightly, and a black shadow the size of an adult emerged.

With the accompaniment of a low growl, the black shadow swiftly rushed over, instantly crushing the half-orc holding the hatchet under his claws, scratching and biting.

"Bang! Bang!"

With the loud bang, the two stalactite pillars in the cave were subdued under the hard horns of the tauren, forcing another hidden hunter out of shape.

The two tauren locked their eyes on this figure again, lowered their bull-like heads, and prepared to launch a new round of charge.

Seeing this situation, Thorne rushed up quickly, and he hit the first tauren from the side, a long sword cut deeply into the tauren's tangled thigh, stopping his charge.

The Fulong Beast who had dealt with the half-orc followed closely, and jumped on the back of the tauren, its sharp front claws firmly grasped the broad shoulders of the tauren, opened its strong upper and lower jaws, and bit the howling tauren. go.

At the same time, Thorne turned his body around again, knelt down on one knee, and stabbed straight up with the long sword in his hand. The blade of the sword flashing with pale orange flame easily tore apart the knee of another tauren.

The knee-wounded tauren snarled and crouched down, leaning over Thorne, but the ranger's nimble body was already on his feet, and he dodged it easily, causing the tauren to slam into the rock.

Taking advantage of the moment the tauren leaned over to slam the rock, Thorne breathed out, clenched the hilt of his sword with both hands and slashed at the bull-like head of the tauren with all his strength.

The sharp blade was slashed down by Thorne's full strength, and he slashed down fiercely with an unrivaled momentum.

"Pfft!"

The tauren just raised his head felt a wave of heat passing by his eyes, and then a pain mixed with burning and tearing suddenly appeared in his head, his eyes went dark, and he threw himself into the embrace of the king of the tauren.

The moment the tauren died, Thorne immediately locked his eyes on the last tauren who was entangled with the dragon beast.

Looking at the horned monster with his hands behind his back, he tried his best to twist his tangled body, trying to throw off the Flying Dragon Beast.

Thorne rushed to the tauren with the middle door wide open at an incredible speed.

"Pfft!"

I saw him waving his long sword, and a horizontal slash across the neck of the tauren. The roaring tauren lay on the ground without a sound under the throbbing of its throat.

Target is dead!
Extract the soul energy of the target and get 2500 experience points!
Through the understanding of the battle, you get 200 practice points!
……

"go!"

The ranger glanced at the animal companion, stepped on the body of the tauren and quickly disappeared into the deep darkness.

……

In a very hidden small cave, Thorne slowly opened his eyes, and immediately called up his attribute bar:

XP: 117300
Ranger: Level 8 (0/117000)

"Finally, I have accumulated enough upgrade experience points." Looking at the data that emerged, Thorn looked relieved and whispered to himself.

Then, he took a look at the Ranger Divine Art that had just been restored, and knew that a new day had arrived, that is to say, it was the time agreed with the players in Rezim King City.

So I got up and prepared to return to Lighthouse Town.

Since the last deal with the priestess of Rose named Evelyn in the bar, the other party revealed to him that he was asked to wait at the bar in the early morning of the third day, and someone would lead him to the city of Rezim.

Although it was already early morning, Thorne was not in a hurry at all, because with the vigilance of the other party, it was impossible to foolishly reveal the detailed raid time to him.

Even if he has arrived at Rezim King City now, the raid plan is likely to be postponed for another day or two.

Since the experience points were about to meet the leveling requirements, he took advantage of these three days to wander around the Underdark region to brush monsters and level up.

However, since he learned a lesson last time, he has become extra cautious in his ambush in the past few days. As long as the hunt is successful, he will immediately flee away without hesitation.

Even when encountering difficult underground monsters, he only chooses to use long-range attacks to kill one by one. When the other party finds his figure, he turns around and leaves, absolutely not letting himself fall into a chaotic and bitter battle.

And as long as he doesn't provoke the drow elves, it's still easy for Thorne to deal with other underground monsters.

So, he focused his attention on the ranger's professional level, and thought:
"Ding!"

Consume 117000 experience points to increase the ranger level!

The ranger level has been raised to level 9!
Gain 6 skill points and increase HP by 10 points.

Gain occupational feature: reflection dodge.

Gain the ability to cast three rings of magic (not activated).

The first-ring magical position +1, the second-ring magical position +1, and the third-ring magical position +1.

……

[Reflex evasion (professional specialty): During your long-term training and fighting, conditioned reflex is almost an instinctive habit for you.When you encounter a sneak attack, assassination, or sudden attack, you will not appear panicked, because your trained nerve reflexes are sufficient to cope with such sudden situations.And when receiving some range attacks and spell attacks, you can also rely on nerve reflexes to avoid the core area of ​​the attack and reduce the damage you receive. 】

The so-called "reflex evasion" is actually very easy to understand, because it originally belongs to a person's innate neural activity.

It’s like when someone tries to stab your eyes with needles, and when you find out, you will close your eyes instinctively. When you accidentally get an electric shock and feel pain, your hands will suddenly withdraw uncontrollably. An instinctive self-protection mechanism.

The principle of the "Reflex Dodge" specialty is to greatly strengthen the function in this aspect.

With Thorn's current ability, after possessing the "Reflex Dodge" feat, combined with the Steel Soul faction's counter skill "Be Ahead", as long as his mobility is not restricted, those directional spell attacks will be difficult to hit he.

And the reason why he wants to raise the ranger's level as soon as possible is to obtain this very critical evasion specialty in advance before the battle begins.

Then Thorn once again put all the 6 skill points on the "Focus" skill.

The "Concentration" skill is not only effective in combat, but it can also be of great help to him in meditation to quickly calm his mind, so this skill will be his main attack skill in the future.

Then he glanced at the unactivated three-ring magic, and ignored it, because the three-ring magic had to wait until it returned to the surface before making plans.

……

Lighthouse town.

Although the chaotic streets looked crowded, it did not prevent Thorne from walking among buyers, merchants and slaves.

The ranger, shrouded in a black cloak, walked in silence while casually sizing up the pedestrians on the street.

Drows, subterranean gnomes, gray dwarves, orcs, and other races appeared in groups. All kinds of shouts mixed with curses like firecrackers from a distance, forming a rhythmic noise, which made him very audible. is upset.

So he passed a drunken ogre directly, and walked towards the underground bar at a faster pace.

Pushing open the door of the bar, Thorne stepped into the bar accompanied by the clear and pleasant sound of wind chimes.

However, he couldn't help frowning and glanced at the hanging wind chime.

The Underdark is a deep, dark, suffocating and oppressive world as if everyone is carrying a huge boulder. To him, the melodious sound of wind chimes seems a bit out of place.

The bar was still the same as usual, the light was dim and soft enough for him with dark vision to see any corner clearly.

"It would be great if there is a piece of sad and melodious music in the bar at this time." Thorne felt the tranquility around him that was incompatible with the outside world, and this idea suddenly appeared in his mind.

Immediately afterwards, he was in a daze for a moment, as if he had returned to the scene when he entered Anderina's bar for the first time in Winter City.

He was also dressed in the same way at that time, and he looked very inconspicuous. He walked silently in Anderina's small bar, enjoying the light music played by the harp in the hands of the elf bard, and walked to one of them as if nothing had happened. Bandit player's table.

Then he draws his sword, kills, withdraws his sword, turns around and leaves, his movements are not muddled at all.

When the beautiful female sorceress at the counter closed the book in her hand and found something unusual, all he had left was a leaving figure. As for whether there was any confusion after he left, he was not quite sure.

There were very few people in the bar at this time, except for the bar owner who turned into a smoker and the ogre dressed as a waiter, there were only two people in the neatly arranged wine tables.

Surprisingly, the little girl Sigrit was not here.

Squidgovikz was still sitting silently in that familiar position in the corner, with an extra-large wine glass full of liquor placed on the table.

Before he left, he casually threw a few gold coins to the other party, so the brother squid's wine glass was no longer the cheapest ale, but light orange moss wine.

Fire moss is a light orange fungus that grows in warm geothermal areas. After it is crushed or fermented, it can be made into a spicy sauce like chili sauce, which can be added to food to have a different flavor.

However, the gray dwarves who are addicted to alcohol will use fire moss to ferment to make a high-concentration spicy spirit, which is spicy and strong, which is most suitable for the taste of dwarves.

Then Thorn turned his attention to another figure, which was a male drow. He was wearing a magical black cloak decorated with scarlet lace and a delicate black chain armor, with two identical sheaths hanging from his waist long sword.

The drow seemed to be sitting neatly, with one arm resting on the table, swinging gently with a glass of apple juice in his hand, his eyes hidden in the cloak quietly watching the sparkling juice in the glass goblet .

And the other hand was placed squarely on the thigh, as if there was a slight movement, and a sharp sword with cold light would be unsheathed in an instant.

When Thorne noticed another full glass of apple juice opposite the drow and the chair that hadn't been pulled out, he knew immediately that the other party was waiting for him.

So he stopped hesitating and walked over directly.

"You are a half-elven ranger from the surface, Thorne, aren't you?"

When Thorn approached the drow's table, the other party put down the wine glass in his hand, looked at him with the deep eyes hidden in the hood, and stood up straight.

Thorn met the drow elf's deep red eyes, his expression fluctuated, he regained his composure, nodded and said, "Yes, I am."

Through the eyes of the other party, Thorn judged that the real age of the drow was definitely not as simple as that of a young man, and the other party did not give him the feeling of being as deep and cold as Sharis, but the tone of the drow was still With a little gentle meaning.

Being able to maintain this kind of personality in Rezim King City is either an act or his original personality.

But no matter which type the opponent belongs to, it is indirectly proving to him that this player definitely has his own advantages.

"Let me introduce, I'm Karlock from the Royal City of Rezim, a drow wandering swordsman."

Carlock took off the hood on his head, revealing messy white hair and a gentle smile on his face. He first patted the sword hilt hanging on his waist, and then reached out to signal Thorne to sit down.

"You give me a strange feeling." Thorne pulled out the chair and sat on it, with a calm tone.

"I feel the same way as you, and you also feel very strange to me." The drow elf Karlock took the opportunity to sit down, and raised his wine glass with a faint smile to signal to Thorn.

"I can see that you are a person with goodness in your heart, so you really shouldn't come here. Rezim King City will pollute your heart."

The two were silent for a moment, Carlock hesitated, and said first: "If you regret it now, there is still time, after all, the surface world is where we should be."

"Us?" Thorne quietly watched the drow whose voice suddenly became low.

"I am longing for a life on the surface world, but unfortunately I still have one unfulfilled wish." Carlock sighed and looked at Thorn: "Little brother, can you tell me why you want to join this rebellion?"

"Is it because of the reward?" Carlock guessed again after finishing speaking.

Thorne looked at each other calmly, did not speak, just shook his head slightly.

A drow player who longed for a life on the surface never left because his wish was fulfilled, and then tried to persuade him not to participate in this rebellion. Thorne felt that his brain circuit was a little confused.

"That means you have a reason you can't refuse, right?" Carlock put down the wine glass in his hand and asked patiently.

"It's kind of like that." Thorne looked at this strange drow elf, and always felt that the other party seemed to have something to hide, and he always seemed hesitant to speak.

"Forget it, everyone has their own choice, it is impossible for me to impose something I don't like on others."

Carlock laughed, shook his head, stretched out his hand and patted it a few more times, then straightened his messy hair, with a deep self-mockery in his tone.

"Then can we go?" Seeing that the other party no longer struggled with this matter, Thorn asked directly.

"Don't worry, we still have plenty of time, so please forgive my waywardness, because I still want to enjoy a moment of peace here.

Otherwise, I am afraid that there will be no such opportunities in the future. Carlock picked up his wine glass and raised his glass to Thorne with a smile.

So the two fell into silence again.

The drow elf Karlock seemed to be very preoccupied, holding a glass of apple juice that he could never finish, sipping a small sip from time to time, sighing slightly, and going back and forth...

Thorne leaned on the back of the chair, looked up at the roof, and thought about his future plans.

"I heard Sharis mention you. Your swordsmanship is so fast that you were able to let him suffer twice in your hands." Suddenly, Karlock struggled in his heart and broke the silence again.

"It's just some opportunistic methods, nothing to show off." Thorne returned his gaze and replied.

In the simple fight with another drow player, he was indeed suspected of being tricky. The first blinding caught the opponent by surprise, and only then did he have a chance to succeed in the sneak attack.

The second "blade shell" perfectly defended Sharis' sneak attack, causing his hand to pause for a moment, and he seized the opportunity instantly.

If this method is used against Sharis again, Thorne believes that the drow swordsmanship master will definitely be able to deal with it accurately.

"Then do you know where is the most essential gap between the strength of our players and the original residents?" Carlock squeezed his wine glass tightly, remained silent for a long time, and asked again.

"The strength of the original residents is all achieved through their own hard work, and we have a lot of things obtained through upgrading. Although we have mastered these skills and specialties, we can't apply them with ease. There is no time to settle. It's hard to compete with the original residents."

Thorne didn't quite understand why the other party asked such a question suddenly, but after thinking about it, he still expressed his thoughts.

In fact, there are many skills and specialties that he also wants to master through his own efforts, but time does not allow them.

Just like the two-weapon combat specialty in the ranger genre, in the world of the original inhabitants, it would take at least a year of continuous practice to fully master it, and it was impossible for him to waste all his time here.

The only thing that can be done is that after acquiring these abilities, slowly adapt them in the battle, and as time goes on, they will naturally merge into one's soul.

This is like playing a competitive game. With the same equipment attributes, there is a significant difference between the heroes operated by professional players and the heroes operated by passers-by.

In the case of the same strength, the original residents are professional players, and their players are more like passerby players, but passerby players still have a lot of room for improvement.

They seem to be manipulating a body that does not belong to them at all. If they want to truly exert their maximum strength, they can only practice and adapt slowly, and fully master it with time.

"Then do you know how big the gap is?" Carlock asked again.

"I'm not sure about that." Thorne couldn't answer this question, because he had never met an original resident whose strength matched his.

"You are a ranger, so your two-weapon combat expertise has reached the proficient level, that's right." Carlock thought for a moment and guessed.

"That's right." Thorne gave him a strange look, and nodded in response, because he didn't quite understand what the drow player meant.

"I think we can learn from each other, and you will probably understand." Carlock said his purpose.

"This is a bar." Although Thorne wanted to try it out, he didn't want to make trouble here on purpose because of what happened a few days ago.

"It doesn't need to be so troublesome." Carlock smiled slightly, took out eight gold coins from his pocket, and handed them to Thorne, meeting the other's puzzled eyes: "Throw it all into the air, and then take four gold coins with each hand .”

Thorne held the eight gold coins in his hands in confusion, then got up, and gently threw them into the air. Watching the gold coins slide down from the air, he immediately stretched out his hands and waved them in the air.

"Ding!"

After a slightly embarrassing operation, a gold coin fell to the ground, making a jingling sound.

"Does it feel very strenuous?" Carlock picked up the gold coins on the ground, put them on the table, and said with a smile.

"It's really hard." Thorne put the gold coin in his hand back on the table and replied truthfully.

Picking up the same amount of gold coins with both hands was a skill that tested the dexterity of both hands. As the gold coins fell, he unexpectedly appeared a little flustered and embarrassed.

Carlock smiled slightly, took out four gold coins from his pocket again, then took all the remaining eight gold coins on the table, and looked at Thorn: "I am also proficient in two-weapon fighting."

As soon as the words fell, Carlock immediately threw all the gold coins in his hand into the air, and then he turned around on the spot, waving his hands in the air like lightning, turning into blurred afterimages, and then he stopped moving and put The hands clenched into fists spread out, and there were six gold coins in each hand.

"Have you practiced before?"

Thorne asked subconsciously. The reason why he asked this question was mainly because the other party's movement of receiving gold coins was so smooth, it felt like he had practiced for many years.

"No, I practiced dual sword skills in the real world, so after mastering this body, I can master it more flexibly." Carlock looked at Thorne and replied: "This is the gap between specialties. .”

"Then, what do you want to express." Thorne slowed down, staring calmly at the other party's deep scarlet eyes.

"True masters of swordsmanship, their hands are very perfect, because every inch of bone and skin in their palms is perfectly balanced, and will play its due value with exquisite swordsmanship."

Carlock met Thorne's gaze, smiled, and shifted his attention to his palm: "Let's go, while it's still early, I'll teach you some sword skills."

After Carlock finished speaking, he glanced around, drank the apple juice in the glass goblet, and walked towards the door.

Thorne looked at the back of the drow, hesitated for a moment, and finally followed.

"Remember, children are innocent."

Just as Thorn was about to push the door and leave, a voice suddenly echoed in his mind. He was stunned for a moment, turned around and glanced at the smoky figure at the counter, and then disappeared into the cozy bar.

(End of this chapter)