Chapter 454 The Tabaxi and "Blood-Pattern" Aken

"Furries" and "catgirls" were two entirely different kinds of creatures.

The former was essentially an anthropomorphized animal. While it might possess human-like facial features, limbs, and movements, its main body remained that of a beast.

The most obvious trait was a body entirely covered in fur.

The latter barely differed from a normal human in appearance, save for a tail, a pair of animal ears, and occasionally slightly bestial hands.

During his naive youth in his previous life, Xia Nan had harbored unrealistic fantasies about these two nonexistent creatures thanks to pop-culture characters, imagining what all that fur might actually feel like.

But once he stepped into the crucible of society, the crushing pressure of work left him with no time for anything else, putting an end to those childhood interests.

Now, he had transmigrated to a fantasy continent where supernatural powers truly existed.

At first, as an ordinary Adventurer at the very bottom of the ladder, the pressure of mere survival left him no room to think about such things.

But as he slowly found his footing on the Aifala Continent, met more people, and experienced more of the world, his physical attributes strengthened until he could casually shatter the world records of his past life. When a swing of his sword could literally unleash flashes of sword aura, Xia Nan finally felt the true reality of his transmigration.

He realized that the fantasy species that had only existed in fiction had actually... become reality.

Come to think of it, since transmigrating, Xia Nan had yet to actually encounter anything like a "catgirl."

The closest match was probably Mint, the Lycanthrope whose head he had half-caved in with a single punch. She usually looked thin and petite, and her face wasn't exactly ugly, but she possessed no bestial traits in her human form. Only after transforming did she turn into a bear-like beast.

Strictly speaking, she didn't fit the definition of a "monster girl."

He had heard that the offspring of curse-infected Lycanthropes and normal humans were born with partial bestial traits.

But Xia Nan had never seen one, so he had nothing to say on the matter.

As for "furries," strictly speaking, he actually did have some experience interacting with one.

While not exactly fluffy, the dragonborn he had encountered during the mission to acquire the [Dream Weaving Corridor] checked the boxes for an anthropomorphic beast—though, of course, that individual had already been dead for a long time.

Given the nature of that mission and the dragonborn's own personality, Xia Nan hadn't had the chance to interact much with him, so naturally he didn't think too deeply about it.

But right now, the creature standing beside the Druid, Hein, almost perfectly matched every stereotypical trait of a "furry"—fluffy, beast-like... its base form even seemed to be feline.

He was a Tabaxi, a species quite rare in Barracuda Bay!

The adult male stood about six feet tall. While not short, he was far from imposing on the docks. However, his proportions were excellent. Paired with a lean, sinewy build, his long, powerful legs gave him an air of nimble efficiency.

He wore a set of Fine light leather armor on his upper body. Perhaps due to the sweltering heat, he wore no undershirt beneath it, exposing his fluffy, tawny fur dotted with irregular black spots. Faint, crisscrossing scars were vaguely visible beneath the thick pelt.

He had a very long tail, similarly covered in tawny fuzz, though its spots were much sparser. Right now, it curled up behind him, swaying slightly like a cat's. To an extent, it helped stabilize his center of gravity, keeping him balanced whether high above the ground or on a deck battered by ocean waves.

It was worth noting that this Tabaxi wore no boots.

He let his wide paws and thick, soft pads rest flat against the deck, the claws barely visible, sheathed deep within.

Whether it was a racial habit or a personal preference, logically speaking, going barefoot likely provided a bonus to stealth and climbing for a species with such distinct bestial traits.

"Hello, my name is Alton!"

"Xia Nan."

As newly joined teammates, Xia Nan and Alton had come up to the deck and taken the initiative to introduce themselves.

"I... I'm Sasha..."

It was quite the contrast. When seen from below the ship, this Tabaxi named Sasha had kept a straight face, looking every bit the picture of feline aloofness and elegance. But in actual conversation, he turned out to be rather shy.

His gaze darted around, afraid to meet the eyes of the people greeting him. As he stammered out his name, the tail behind him twitched a bit faster.

"Don't mind him, the kid's just a bit shy around strangers," Hein said from the side, stepping in to smooth things over as the atmosphere turned a bit awkward. "He's been with the ship for years, but he's still the exact same."

"Rest assured, Sasha isn't a bad guy, and he's quite reliable during missions," she added.

Hearing his teammate say this, the already introverted Tabaxi lowered his head reflexively, his long tail curling inward in embarrassment, much like a human curling their toes.

Xia Nan, of course, didn't mind.

He was just a bit introverted. It wasn't like he harbored any hostility—it was perfectly normal.

Besides, Xia Nan was a Class Holder himself. Actual combat strength aside, solely in terms of Class Level, lv3 wasn't considered low on the docks. He had even made a bit of a name for himself recently, earning the moniker "Sea Fang."

He had joined the Blade of Vengeance as a temporary member by personal invitation from Captain Lorraine, and there was a high probability he would leave after three months.

Whether in terms of strength, reputation, or threat level, his presence brought no downside to the Adventurers on the ship.

Anyone with half a brain wouldn't provoke him for no reason, much less look down on him out of nowhere.

At most, they would just give him a slight cold shoulder out of unfamiliarity.

That was actually very easy to resolve, especially since both sides were members of the same Adventurer Squad.

As Xia Nan saw it, no matter how distant their relationship might be, as long as there were no fundamental conflicts... once they went through a battle together, all problems would be solved.

Compared to the other party's reaction, Xia Nan was far more focused on this Tabaxi's physical traits.

A pair of pointed ears stood atop his head, the insides lined with cream-colored fuzz. The tip of his left ear bore a small V-shaped notch, likely a scar from a past battle, and his ears would twitch alertly every now and then in response to the cries of seagulls overhead.

His feline eyes were disproportionately large, taking up nearly a third of his furry face. The irises were a striking amber, far more vibrant than the color of his pelt.

He wore a small copper ring in his left ear and a shark-tooth necklace strung on a leather cord around his neck.

Xia Nan knew about this!

The varied knowledge he had been cramming daily, almost in tandem with his routine training since his transmigration, finally had a chance to shine.

He remembered reading in some Bard's travelogue that Tabaxi loved wearing earrings and necklaces to accentuate the lines of their ears and necks.

It was a piece of trivia that, if one wasn't observant, they might never notice even after spending a long time together.

Beyond that, Xia Nan had a decent understanding of the Tabaxi race as a whole.

Overall, they sounded a bit like Halflings such as Alton: they were passionate about objects and crafts, and loved novelties. A never-before-heard legendary tale would catch the attention of these furry fellows far more effectively than a bag of gold coins.

Much like actual cats, they were fickle and cunning. Sometimes they would even use their racial talents for petty theft to satisfy an itch they couldn't scratch otherwise. They were also considered somewhat gifted in the arts.

Seeing the things he studied finally prove useful gave Xia Nan a faint thrill, leaving him quite eager to chat with the Sasha standing before him.

However, it was their very first meeting, and seeing how shy the other party was, his interest cooled significantly. He decided to leave it for later.

Furthermore, judging by Xia Nan's own Perception, this Tabaxi, Sasha, was no pushover. His aura was far more intense than that of the twin Warriors.

lv4? lv5?

As for his class, based on the short crossbow on his back and the twin short swords hanging from his waist, he was likely something akin to a [ranger]—a type that mixed ranged and melee combat.

He wasn't weak at all.

While he pondered this, before Xia Nan could say another word, a set of heavy, rapidly approaching footsteps was accompanied by a gruff voice from behind.

"Sea Fang?"

"I heard Boss Lorraine mention you were joining the ship a few days ago, but I didn't believe it. I thought they were ganging up to pull my leg."

"Hahaha, I didn't expect it to actually be true!"

Xia Nan was still not used to being called by his nickname to his face.

His expression remained unchanged, but his heart couldn't help but twitch.

He turned around, his gaze shifting to the source of the voice.

What entered his vision was an exceptionally massive, burly human man.

Standing nearly two meters tall, his bulging muscles stretched his clothes taut. Despite this, his thick, sturdy frame didn't look bloated in the slightest; rather, he appeared sturdier than many half-orcs.

His highly developed trapezius muscles made his neck look practically nonexistent, leaving only his bald head sitting on top.

The man had a ferocious face. His pronounced brow ridges caused his brown eyes to sink deep into their sockets, shrouded in shadow and hard to read, revealing only a glint of sheer hostility.

The most striking thing about him, however, was the garish tattoos covering his entire body, even his bald head.

Sea snakes thrashing in the waves, sharks with maws wide open, tangled squid tentacles, iron shields, harpoons, and, of course, the crossed scimitars symbolizing the Blade of Vengeance...

To some extent, based purely on appearances, this brute was the person on the entire ship who best fit Xia Nan's imagination of a seafaring Adventurer.

To put it bluntly, back in his past life, if this guy walked down the street, probably no one would even dare make eye contact with him.

If he made even a slightly aggressive move, passersby would likely be calling the cops immediately.

Yet this brute's actual behavior was just as much of a contrast.

Since he spent most of his downtime between missions mingling in taverns and brothels, he naturally had heard about Xia Nan, whose reputation had been brewing among the town's Adventurer community over the past couple of days.

And as everyone knew, in most cases, as a story spread wider and longer, its contents tended to drift further and further from the truth.

Perhaps at first, the rumor was just that an Adventurer named Xia Nan, nicknamed "Sea Fang," had chased down and killed the Horned Shark Gang's fleeing second-in-command, "Broken Brow."

Later on, it gradually morphed into an exaggerated saga: Sea Fang single-handedly storming the Horned Shark Gang's lair, tearing the entire shanty district to pieces all by himself, rescuing the Baron's daughter in a heroic display, and even getting engaged to her afterward.

Xia Nan had no idea which version this brute charging toward him had heard, but the man's thrilled, 'where have you been all my life' expression was practically overflowing from his fleshy, thuggish face.

"Aken, calm down! You're embarrassing yourself!" Hein said, unable to maintain her composed expression as she reached out to stop the burly man halfway, looking utterly helpless. She had only meant to bring Xia Nan and Alton over to introduce them to their teammates for the next three months. She never expected one to be excruciatingly shy, while the other was so enthusiastic he was practically getting in their faces.

Evidently, as the team's only Spellcaster and a veteran second only to Captain Lorraine, Hein held a very high status in the hearts of the crew.

She barely had to extend her slender arm, adorned with a silver-black bracelet, before the brute came to a halt on his own. He flashed a wide, hearty grin and introduced himself to Xia Nan from a distance, "'Blood-Pattern' Aken. Just call me Aken!"

It was a very distinctive personal quirk—proactively shouting his own moniker during an introduction.

After introducing himself, he even vaguely revealed a look of anticipation, as if expecting Xia Nan to recognize his nickname.

Unfortunately, Xia Nan truly had no impression of this "Blood-Pattern." If he blindly played along, the man would only need to ask one follow-up question to expose the lie. Pondering this, he locked eyes with Aken for a long moment before keeping his expression flat and nodding.

"I'm Xia Nan."

Scrape—

It was the sound of claws scraping against the floorboards.

Unable to bear the awkward atmosphere any longer, the already introverted Tabaxi, Sasha, muttered some tribal dialect and fled, tail tucked behind him.

"Heh heh." Seemingly realizing that his behavior was indeed inappropriate, Aken grinned, scratched his head, and gave a dry laugh.

"Go back to what you were doing. Don't cause trouble," Hein said, waving him off in exasperation. "I'm going to take Xia Nan and Alton to report to the Captain first. If you want to chat, there'll be plenty of time after we set sail."

Hearing the Druid say this, Aken nodded repeatedly. He winked at Xia Nan from a distance and threw him a "see you later" gesture before finally turning to leave.

With that, Xia Nan had now met all the core members of the Blade of Vengeance Adventurer Squad.

Captain: Lorraine;

Frontline: the twin Warriors, Ryan and Gordon; "Blood-Pattern" Aken;

Backline: Hein and the Tabaxi, Sasha.

A total of six people, all of them veteran Adventurers with a Class Level of lv3 or higher. They even had a rare Spellcaster in the form of a Druid, and Captain Lorraine was suspected to have reached lv6 or even lv7.

It was no wonder the Blade of Vengeance had such a stellar reputation in Barracuda Bay. Such a team composition was practically the highest limit an ordinary Adventurer could ever hope to reach in their lifetime.

And right now, as temporary members, they were also adding a favored of the Goddess of Luck and a passing mystery man.