Chapter 1282: Encounters and Discoveries (2)

Chapter 1282: Chapter 629: Encounters and Discoveries (2)

According to what Tal said, they became temporary teammates only after accepting a mission at Bloodcast Fortress.

It also made him think of that recruitment team heading to Salt Rock Port they encountered on the way.

“So it seems, none of you are locals from Anlun Province?”

“I didn’t expect you to figure that out, sir,” Tal said with a grin, both praising and explaining, “I originally lived at the border of Pan Yun Province and Anlun Province, doing some unsavory work with no future.”

“A while ago, I heard from other adventurers in the tavern that there were better earning jobs here, so I came to see if there were any opportunities.”

Though now they looked somewhat miserable, being legitimate professionals, their sources of information were far more extensive than those low-level adventurers in Salt Rock Port who only knew about things due to a recruitment order.

They probably learned about Bloodcast Fortress recruiting adventurers through other peers much earlier.

Judging from perception, the other party did not seem to be lying, Xia Nan nodded, glancing subtly at the corpse of the Layered Armor Elephant not far away, his tone nuanced:

“So… was this the target of your mission?”

He had harbored suspicions in his mind.

The Challenge Level of an adult Layered Armor Elephant was Level 5, while the average level of the almost wiped-out adventurer team before him was roughly around Level 4.

Choosing such a target for hunting, unless the reward was irresistibly tempting, or the team included an individual whose actual combat power far exceeded their apparent level like a supermodel, would otherwise be too arrogant, with risks too high, which was not a decision a senior adventurer should make.

From the current tragic scene, it was evidently not the latter.

Just as the words fell, the bald ranger named “Tal” displayed a wry, genuinely heartfelt smile without any hint of acting on his face.

“Of course not, sir!”

He was merely an ordinary professional adventurer; having been in this line for so many years, having self-awareness was one of the reasons he was still alive today.

Speaking of which, forget about Demon kinds like the Layered Armor Elephant of that level, even those with a usual Challenge Level of around Level 4, Level 3, for the sake of safety, he rarely accepted missions concerning them.

His survival relied on some low-tier Demons that posed no pressure and ensured a stable and ongoing income.

“Myself and a few others in the team just arrived at Bloodcast Fortress not long ago, so we’re unfamiliar with the local terrain and monster distribution.”

“To be cautious, we accepted a task with slightly less danger, targeting a Scorpion-tailed Lion with a Challenge Level of Level 3, hmm… possibly carrying two cubs.”

Although this already slightly exceeded the usual danger levels of missions Tal usually took, his teammates’ skills were exceptionally good this time, and he hoped that this opportunity would let him form a fixed team with them, seeking greater profits from Bloodcast Fortress in the future.

So he slightly broke his usual rule and accepted the mission with his teammates.

“But what was unexpected was that just two days after setting out from Bloodcast Fortress, they encountered…”

As he spoke, Tal once again looked towards the corpse of the Layered Armor Elephant with a complicated expression.

“This type of monster is usually quite gentle, as far as I understand. Did you provoke it?” Xia Nan asked.

“No! Absolutely not!”

Perhaps because the attack of the Layered Armor Elephant had left a shadow in his heart, Tal’s reaction was intense, and his voice subconsciously increased two octaves.

Then he realized and gave an awkward smile, saying:

“You’re absolutely right; Demons like the Layered Armor Elephant aren’t the type that will proactively attack adventurers.”

“Not to mention that it’s not their mating season, which would make them irritable, nor were there any offspring nearby that needed protection.”

“Under normal circumstances, passing by it, or even briefly touching it, wouldn’t elicit any reaction from it.”

And even so, given the cautious and rich experiences of these senior adventurers in the team, they wouldn’t recklessly approach if they encountered such a monster during their adventure.

“But it just rushed over itself!”

At that time, Tal’s adventurer team had already set up camp and was planning to spend the night nearby.

Whether it was because that rampaging Layered Armor Elephant somehow caught their scent, it charged at them directly from quite a distance away.

The noise it made was even more noticeable than the alarm traps they had set up around the camp in advance.

And due to the dense trees and bushes providing cover, they couldn’t identify the incoming creature.

They could only watch helplessly as the traps were triggered one-by-one and as trees fell one after the other.

It was their first time forming a team; their synergy was quite lacking. Even though everyone’s responses were fairly quick, forming a battle formation still took a substantial amount of time.

Moreover, their thoughts were different.

“I originally intended to retreat directly,” Tal hesitated a bit, recalling:

“After all, the noise coming from the forest was quite large. Judging from its size and strength, it was not an ordinary demon.”

“But I couldn’t oppose Nat and Hekote’s decision to stay, and another hesitant member was also convinced to remain.”

Nat, at this moment, was the swordsman on the ground, half of whose body was crushed. He was also the captain of this temporary team.

This illustrates the difference between a team and a lone wolf.

Excluding the influence of inherent combat power and actual survival difficulty, at the moment of hesitation Tal felt, had he been a lone wolf like Xia Nan, taking actions and making decisions accountable only to himself, he might not have gone through such an ordeal.

If he heard the commotion from a distance, found it troublesome, and didn’t want to take unnecessary risks, he would just turn around and leave, completely avoiding forced combat.

But at that time, as a member of the team, not knowing the enemy’s identity ahead nor foreseeing the team’s disastrous outcome,

with the basic professional ethics he developed over the years, he couldn’t just abandon the team and escape.

He knew clearly that if he did so, and if his teammates survived the subsequent combat, his name “Round Head” Tal would be ruined forever in Bloodcast Fortress.

No serious team would recruit a teammate who abandons the group when facing danger.

So, despite the hesitation in his heart, given the choice of his three teammates to stay, Tal ultimately decided to stay with the team.

On the other hand, the identity of the Layered Armor Elephant possessed a certain degree of enticing ambiguity.

If a mature Red Dragon or Abyssal Flame Demon had burst from the forest, they likely couldn’t even escape in time, let alone consider fighting or attempting to counter.

But coincidentally, the Challenge Level of the Layered Armor Elephant was Level 5, and with the team’s average professional level being Level 4, they had a small chance of victory, albeit risky and likely involving some injuries.

If by some luck they could slay such a high-ranking demon, though its loot might not be very valuable, they could earn substantial rewards from the Bloodcast Fortress authorities.

Furthermore, such a grueling battle could greatly enhance the team’s cohesion, and if future profits were shared fairly, forming a fixed team was practically guaranteed.

The situation was a hasty one; no one knew what was in the minds of the adventurers who insisted on staying. It might’ve been akin to those aforementioned reasons.

In conclusion…

It only shows that the outcome was not ideal compared to expectations.

Overall, it was mainly due to a misjudgment from the leader, resulting in the team’s near annihilation.

“The suddenly aggressive, previously docile monster,” “the border fortress recruiting a large number of adventurers” … Xia Nan analyzed the information he obtained from Tal in his mind.

Beside him, Fanny the Winter Wolf, whose original aloof and arrogant nature returned due to the presence of outsiders, silently swept Xia Nan’s calf with her tail.

Realizing the sky was getting late and they should return to camp.

Xia Nan glanced at the bald ranger standing in front of him, now exhibiting much respect, and asked:

“What are you planning to do next?”

“Continue the mission, or…”