Chapter 1281: Experience and Discovery

Chapter 1281: Chapter 629: Experience and Discovery

Xia Nan’s initial attempt to find his own battle technique through actual combat ultimately ended in failure.

As it turns out, “Shield Counter” type techniques cannot be perfectly integrated into the combination technique of [Vortex Slash] and [Teeth Hunting].

In contrast, pure “Shield Strike” or “Shield Charge” types might be more worth trying.

However, Xia Nan didn’t come away from this battle completely empty-handed.

On the one hand, he at least ruled out an incorrect option, confirming through practical testing that “Shield Counter” type techniques are not suitable for him at the moment;

On the other hand, Xia Nan also truly determined the direction for further research on battle techniques.

Sitting and thinking gets you nowhere; one must exploit one’s perception strengths as much as possible and continually feel and try in actual combat.

To put it bluntly, even if he can only use the most basic method of elimination, excluding one incorrect option per battle as he just did,

in a few months’ time, he will inevitably find a battle technique direction that suits his current combat style.

With these thoughts in mind, when Xia Nan looked again to where the surviving party member had just been leaning, he found that the person had vanished from their original spot.

His gaze swept over.

The short, stout Bald Ranger had somehow dragged his heavily injured, nearly dying body next to the corpse of his already-deceased swordsman teammate.

His fingers trembled violently due to exhaustion. Completely ignoring the horrific state of his teammate’s half-crushed body, he finally managed to fish out a bottle of Healing Potion with only a third remaining from the other’s pouch.

He gulped it down, thirstily as if he were a lost wanderer in a desert, even tilting his head to catch the last, almost-falling drop with his tongue.

Only when the potion took effect, halting his worsening life-threatening injuries, did a slight flush of color return to his pale face.

Finally, gasping for air, looking like he barely survived, he lay back down on the ground.

But before he could rest for long or even catch his breath, he seemed to remember something.

With a pained expression, he struggled to get up and staggered to stand before Xia Nan.

His cautious and restrained gaze swept over Winter Wolf Fenney, Xia Nan, and the Layered Armor Elephant behind him.

His tone was humble and filled with gratitude, lowered almost to a theatrical extent:

“S-sir, thank you for lending a hand!”

“I will repay you, anything at all!”

Is this gratitude truly from the heart?

Perhaps, to some extent, it is, for it is true that Xia Nan saved him from the Layered Armor Elephant, and without Xia Nan’s intervention, his only fate would have been the same as his teammates’, turning into a pitiful cold corpse.

But more importantly, it was the dread for the powerful ability Xia Nan exhibited.

Imagine, had the Layered Armor Elephant been equally gravely injured, and the ones who landed the killing blow, saving the Bald Ranger, been low level adventurers without even Professional Level achievements.

The gratitude might be there, but how could the actual attitude compared to now be the same?

There’s nothing much worth criticizing here; for the vast majority of adventurers or, from a purely human nature perspective, this is all too normal.

The main aim was to explore the direction for self-research of battle techniques, and saving him was just incidental.

Seeing the Bald Ranger before him so respectful and grateful, Xia Nan simply nodded in response.

“Almost forgot to introduce myself, I’m Tal, a Ranger.” The middle-aged man before him said, touching his blood-streaked bald head, “But most of my acquaintance call me ‘Round Head’, which isn’t exactly a flattering nickname.”

He grinned, seemingly trying to appear harmlessly honest to possibly offset the aggression that comes from years of adventuring and to improve his survival odds in front of a strong adventurer like Xia Nan.

Perceptive Xia Nan naturally sensed the traces of performance in his words and actions at a glance.

He didn’t feel any honesty, rather, the slickness and worldliness were evident in his behavior.

That said, for most ordinary adventurers, to last longer in this line of work, unless they have unique talents, this so-called “worldliness” is almost essential.

Unconsciously recalling the scene where the Bald Ranger was searching his teammate’s body, Xia Nan casually asked:

“You and those three on the ground… were temporary teammates?”

“Sir, your insight is truly above anyone I’ve ever known combined. You even figured that out!”

Still flattering, the short and stout Bald Ranger Tal instantly marveled and explained:

“I was slightly familiar with Hekote, the deceased half orc, as we did a couple of missions together in the past.”

“The other two, I met them for the first time just after taking on a mission at Blood Castle not long ago.”

This wasn’t unexpected at all.

Given Xia Nan’s observation of Tal, while he indeed seems somewhat slick, he probably isn’t someone who is completely cold and heartless.

If the dead were longtime comrades who could entrust each other with their backs, surely seeing their corpses after a battle would stir some emotions, unlike the calm indifference depicted earlier, as if they were strangers.

Additionally… Blood Castle?