Chapter 1278: Layered Armor Elephant_2

Chapter 1278: Chapter 627: Layered Armor Elephant_2

Perhaps it might even offer some inspiration.

Xia Nan, of course, understood what Fugang meant.

But if I truly want to completely relax and pursue my so-called quirks… uh, hobbies…

With the other party present, it might not be very convenient.

Nevertheless, what they said does indeed make sense.

The current distance to the Blood Castle seems to be only a few days’ journey, so even if we don’t encounter goblins, I can slightly slow down the originally intense training routine.

Thinking of this, Xia Nan couldn’t help but look at the Winter Wolf Fenney beneath him, who was wagging her tail furiously, circling around him, occasionally giving a gentle bite on his pants with a dog-like gesture, inviting him to play.

His heart stirred involuntarily.

According to the experiences in the [Dream Weaving Corridor] dream, the origin of [Teeth Hunting] comes precisely from a certain mixed-blood barbarian’s observation of a colorful Winter Wolf, “Karlosh.”

Perhaps I can’t replicate such a legendary experience, but spending more time with Fenney, who is also a Winter Wolf, might yield some unexpected gains.

Thinking it over, seeing that the sun had not completely set and today’s journey had concluded, he agreed to Fenney’s enthusiastic invitation.

After getting Barbarian Fugang’s approval, he took the Winter Wolf and left the camp.

…

Though possessing decent intelligence and rapid growth, she had ultimately not even been two years reborn from a wolf spirit.

Perhaps usually due to the inherent nature of a Winter Wolf, she acted aloof and proud.

But when it came to someone close, Fenney’s actual actions and expressions reverted to a level befitting her age.

Seeing Xia Nan agree to her request, she couldn’t help but whimper excitedly, wagging her tail so hard it seemed as if she would lift her body into the sky.

After leaving the camp, she was leading the charge at the front.

Each time she would dash far ahead, and upon seeing Xia Nan hadn’t caught up, she would return excitedly, circle around him twice, then dart off again.

Repeating this, relishing in it.

Regarding this, Xia Nan, with exceptional perception, truly feeling the Winter Wolf’s affection for him, naturally couldn’t generate any negative thoughts or emotions.

He simply obliged by speeding up his steps, and when Fenney returned, he would reach out to ruffle her pleasantly textured, furry, and cool head.

This was different from the “dog fetching a frisbee” of the previous world or walking a leashed dog.

When it is said to take her out to play…

But in a world harboring supernatural power in a fantasy continent, in a location riddled with beasts and demons in dense forest hills…

And the playful pair, one being a senior adventurer with outstanding power level, and the other a demon Winter Wolf reborn from a wolf spirit.

Their “play” naturally had to be more hardcore and thrilling for both parties.

——Xia Nan intended to take Fenney hunting.

There wasn’t a specified target for the prey.

High-challenge-level demons needed to be within the scope of safe handling, harmless ordinary beasts didn’t matter either.

The main enjoyment was in battling alongside Fenney, hunting together.

“Squeak…”

The beast’s cry abruptly ended.

A hapless rabbit foraging in a bush was discovered by the passing Winter Wolf.

It couldn’t even react to flee before the sharp fangs glittering with icy light snapped its neck.

“Well done, Little Snowflake!”

Having learned Fenney’s nickname from Barbarian Fugang, Xia Nan praised without reservation, encouraging this little wolf coming forward to claim merit while vigorously ruffling her head, making Fenney close her eyes contentedly, with the wagging wolf tail kicking up dust.

Hanging the rabbit hunted by her on his waist, he was just thinking of proceeding further with her to see if there could be any discovery.

Suddenly, as if sensing something.

Xia Nan’s movements paused involuntarily, his gaze instinctively turned toward the northeast.

Fenney’s reflexes were a fraction delayed, her sharp ears pricked up, her previously relaxed body from enjoying the petting abruptly tense, her wolf eyes looking in the same direction.

Only at this moment, the monster’s roars and the angry shouts from intelligent beings from the distant northeastern forest, traveled belatedly through the air to their ears.

…

A dense, acrid stench of blood filled the air.

When Xia Nan brought Fenney to the scene, the battle was already nearing its end.

The trunk of a massive oak tree, requiring two people to encircle, seemed forcibly snapped halfway by some brute force, revealing its internal fibrous texture; the ground scattered with pits and indentations of various sizes, some still holding crimson blood not yet fully seeped into the earth.

An adventurer team fully equipped was nearly wiped out.

A swordsman in plate chain composite armor had half his body in one of the pits, his chest, where the most defensive and thickest metal plate armor was located, entirely twisted, sunken, with fractured ribs protruding through the skin, lying motionless on the ground, devoid of life;

The wanderer in light leather armor died in a much more gruesome state, with the left thigh completely broken, exposing the pale bone spurs, the round head smashed to pieces, with splatter-like bloodstains still lingering on the ground around the corpse;

A half-orc adventurer with light green skin, owing to his race’s inherent formidable life force, despite having his spine shattered, and organs turned into a lump merging together, still whimpered, clawing at the ground, attempting to crawl away, expiring by the time Xia Nan arrived.

The entire four-person adventurer team, now with only one survivor remaining: the archer within the team.

In contrast to the traditional impression of a slender, agile ranger, this archer was more akin to a frontline warrior with a short, stout build, sporting a bald head stained with blood, his clothes strained by bulging muscles.

Though his injuries were severe, a wooden longbow lying on the ground beside his hand, backed against a slanted pine tree, his chest slightly sunken, breathing rapid and arduous, seemingly on the brink of drawing his last breath.

Didn’t witness the full course of the adventurer team’s battle, but under keen perception, Xia Nan could still broadly gauge their strength level via their finely crafted equipment, the remaining combat traces on the ground, and the faint aura emanating from the survivor.

The average professional level, should be around Level 4?

Meanwhile, the culprit causing this “senior” team of professional adventurers in most scenarios to face annihilation in such dire straits, now stood in the center of the field.

——A gray-brown giant elephant, clad in layered, wrinkled skin armor, standing almost five meters tall!

From a distance, it’s akin to a gigantic boulder erected on the ground.

The thick, overlapping armor plates, like some naturally formed armor, envelop the elephant’s body;

The coarse surface, four enormous, column-like elephant legs, supported the heavy body above;

It had no tusks, instead, its trunk’s end resembled a spade, with a sharp and hardened leathery structure along its edge.

Xia Nan had never seen such a demon with his own eyes in the real world.

Yet the scene didn’t feel unfamiliar.

The enormous elephant beast’s body, the layered shell covering its surface, and the distinctive shovel-like trunk…

The highly recognizable appearance allowed him to identify the giant elephant demon before him at a glance through the monster encyclopedia he’d studied earlier:

——A Challenge Level 5, herbivorous demon residing in the northeastern hills and woodlands of the continent, a Layered Armor Elephant!

He couldn’t help but find it bizarre.

Based on his prior readings and memory from the monster encyclopedia, despite their enormous size and combat-suited appearance, these demons are very gentle in temperament.

Even when attacked by unwise hunters, they typically use their massive body and solid shell to passively defend and repel, rarely initiating attacks.

And in his observation, had there been any sense prevailing among this Level 4 average team of four adventurers, it wouldn’t have been possible to select a Level 5 Challenge, higher than the average power level of their squad, risky demon like the Layered Armor Elephant as their hunting target.

Additionally, the economic value of Layered Armor Elephant’s material wasn’t high, providing no reasonable incentive for interaction.

Yet the current scene…

“Hiss-ang!”

The eyes glinting red.

The loud-bellowing elephant roar abruptly snapped Xia Nan’s thoughts.