NABC Chapter 40 Penetration
Chapter 40 Penetration
Two days later.
On the outskirts of the Frostclaw tribe, in a training open area.
Jiang Yuan held a hunting bow, the standard equipment of the Frostclaw tribe warriors. Apart from being more difficult to use, it was much more powerful than his crossbow.
He exhaled a puff of white air and slowly drew his bow.
The magic rose from the spine, down the shoulder blades, and into the forearms.
Perhaps he has an extraordinary innate talent for understanding how magic flows through his body.
But releasing magic externally is a completely different matter.
He focused his attention on sensing the surge of magic, and a faint glow appeared on the ordinary arrows.
It's so thin that you could blow it away with a breath.
Release.
puff!
The arrow flew out and hit the bullseye, making a muffled thud and shattering the shafts of the arrows that had been stuck in it.
Unlike the previous times, it had a heavier, more blunt feel.
"It's done?" Jiang Yuan was overjoyed, but then he realized something was wrong.
Ke Shan's arrow pierced straight through the target, and the remaining force could have driven into the tree trunk behind it.
His arrow only penetrated the target a few inches deep; it was far from piercing through.
A fluorescent blue panel appears.
[Abilities: Gate to Realms, ???, Universal Knowledge, Eagle Eye, --]
As expected, its penetrating power did not materialize.
"It'll take another day or two to get it right." He flicked his wrist.
Since he couldn't replenish his magic in reality, he'd been spending the last two days in this other world. Fortunately, he'd finally figured it out and was just one step away from success.
My gaze swept to the bottom of the panel, where a countdown was quietly ticking away.
【19:12:33】
In less than a day, he will be able to absorb the magic core again to increase his power.
I wonder what the third ability will be, I'm really looking forward to it...
He snapped out of his reverie and nocked the arrow again.
Half an hour later.
The muffled thud of footsteps on the snow came from the direction of the village.
Ke Shan walked at the front, with his hunting knife hanging at his waist and his hunting bow on his shoulder.
He was accompanied by two young soldiers.
The one on the left with a slightly flat nose is called Gray Rock. As he walked, he wiped his mouth with his finger and swept his tongue back and forth between his teeth, as if he was savoring something.
The one on the right with a small tuft of dark gray down on the tip of its ear is called a pine needle.
All three of them looked cheerful.
The reason is that, in addition to the usual meals, each person in the tribe has been given an extra bowl of white rice these past two days.
Pine needles are much more unconventional than gray rock; at this moment, they are gesturing with their hands in front of their chest:
"Finally, I can eat again! I was thinking about it while I was on night duty last night, my stomach was growling all night..."
Gray Rock finally licked the grain of rice out of his teeth, swallowed it, and said, "When will your stomach stop growling?"
"It's different." Pine Needle waved his hand, his expression serious. "Before, when I ate wild rice porridge, my stomach growled because I was hungry; now it's because I'm craving it!"
Ke Shan ignored the two of them, turned past a giant tree, and saw Jiang Yuan nocking an arrow.
"Hey! Still practicing?" Ke Shan stopped next to Jiang Yuan, speaking in a friendly tone.
Jiang Yuan nodded.
Ke Shan looked at him and suddenly said:
"Actually, the fastest way to cultivate oneself is not through training, but through actual combat. When I was learning archery, I suddenly had an epiphany while fighting a stone beetle."
Limestone chimed in from the side, "Captain, I heard you were almost pushed into a snow pit by the stone beetles back then."
Pine Needle immediately added, "I heard he's already crawled in, and Uncle Ke Shan climbed out on his own."
"You talk too much." Ke Shan glared at him, then turned to Jiang Yuan and grinned.
"We're going on patrol now, do you want to come with us? We'll be your bodyguards."
Real combat? Jiang Yuan was somewhat tempted.
He realized that Ke Shan wanted to repay a favor.
Ever since he brought rice to the Frostclaw tribe, the Cat-eared people have been exceptionally polite to him.
He also brought wine for Ke Shan, so was he trying to repay a favor?
Based on Jiang Yuan's understanding of Qiyue Valley, most of the magical beasts active outside Gray Cover Forest are only of the first or second rank, and very few of the third rank venture out of the forest.
He was able to contend with top-tier second-tier magical beasts back then in that cave, and now his physical attributes at level sixteen are far superior to what they were back then.
With Ke Shan, the third-tier hunting team leader, and two second-tier warriors nearby, it was indeed very safe.
"Okay." He slung his hunting bow over his shoulder and agreed.
The four of them walked outside through the snow.
After leaving the tribe, the terrain began to rise and fall gently.
The snow here has never been compacted; it can go up to your ankles when you step on it, and with each step your shoes sink in and then pull out, making a continuous crunching sound.
Pine Needle led the way, her steps light and quick, but she couldn't hold back her chatter after walking only a short distance:
"Human friend, how exactly did you conjure up that rice using divine magic? Did you chant some kind of spell and then sacks of rice just rained down from the sky?"
Gray Rock gave him a push from behind, "The priest said it was divine magic. How can you possibly fathom divine magic?"
The pine needle shrank its head:
"I just want to know if there was any sound when it fell. If there was, could you please let me know in advance next time so I can catch it under the tree hole?"
Ke Shan, who was walking at the front, couldn't help but chuckle when he heard this:
"You're trying to sneak a bite, aren't you afraid of getting beaten up?"
The group chatted as they walked.
After walking for about 15 minutes, the terrain gradually flattened out.
The snow layer here is thinner than that over in the tribe, and in some places the frozen black soil underneath is even exposed.
Several waist-high stones were scattered in the snow, covered with a thin layer of ice.
Ke Shan suddenly stopped walking.
His nostrils twitched twice, his cat ears snapped to one side, and he pointed to a pile of rubble on his left:
There's something over there.
Jiang Yuan looked in the direction he pointed. A pile of boulders lay a hundred meters away, with several stones of varying sizes half-buried in the snow.
The largest piece is more than two people tall, and its surface is covered with a grayish-white ice shell.
He squinted and looked closely, and vaguely saw a grayish-brown shadow squatting on the ground next to the stone.
It wasn't very big, like an enlarged mouse, and was using its front paws to dig at something under the snow.
Hawkeye!
Jiang Yuan activated his magic, and his vision suddenly zoomed in.
The details of that monster unfolded before my eyes.
Its greyish-brown skin revealed the faint outline of its ribs beneath the fur, indicating that it had been starving for quite some time.
Its forepaws are larger than its body, with hooked tips, and it is digging at the frozen ground beneath the snow layer.
Ke Shan, who was standing nearby, noticed the change in him and paused for a moment, then asked, "You've learned Eagle Eye?"
Jiang Yuan hummed in agreement.
Ke Shan said:
"This is a rock rat, only level one. It usually digs up grass roots to eat on the edge of the Graycap Forest. This one probably ran out because it was starving. Judging from its appearance, it won't be long before it dies."
He paused, then added:
"This thing is very agile. It will burrow underground and run away at the slightest sound. You have to anticipate its movements and move half a body length away from where it might run."
Jiang Yuan didn't reply. He slowly raised his hunting bow, nocked an arrow, and drew the string.
He drew the bowstring taut, and in his eagle-eye vision, every tiny movement of the rock rat was magnified.
It scratched the ground twice, paused with its front paws, the fur around its small ear holes trembled slightly, and its center of gravity shifted to the right by an inch without it realizing it.
It is listening to the wind.
When this magical beast forages in open areas, it shifts its center of gravity every few breaths so that it can be launched in the opposite direction at any time.
Right now.
Release.
The arrow traced a low, flat arc, flying over a distance of several hundred meters.
The rock rat sprang out the instant the bowstring twanged, its body twisting into a grayish-brown arc as it darted half a body length to the right.
The arrow landed precisely in the direction its head was turning.
puff.
The arrow pierced the snow, its tip cutting through fur and frozen earth, pinning the still-twitching rock rat to the ground.
"Great!" Pine Needle exclaimed in surprise.
Gray Rock nodded and said in a deep voice, "Impressive."
Ke Shan watched as Jiang Yuan lowered his bow, and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.
He had always thought Jiang Yuan hadn't mastered Eagle Eye yet, but it's only been a few days? He already seems to be using it quite skillfully.
"I'll go pick it up." Gray Rock jogged over.
The rock rat's corpse was nailed to the edge of the pile of rocks, next to a huge rock more than a person tall and covered with an ice shell.
Gray Rock ran up to it, bent down, and reached out to grab the rock rat's hind leg.
The instant his hand touched the rock rat's corpse, Ke Shan's expression suddenly changed, and he roared:
"Retreat now!"
The bent-over body of the gray rock stiffened for a moment.
He was trained in the Keshan team, and his body reacted the moment he heard the command. He pushed off the ground with both feet and bounced backward.
But we were still a step too late.
Next to the "giant rock" covered with an ice shell, a seemingly flat snowfield suddenly exploded open.
Snow and frozen soil splashed in all directions, and a huge, dark iron-colored shadow emerged from the ground.
When it was buried under the snow, it was completely invisible. The color and texture of its carapace were almost identical to the surrounding rocks. The gaps in its carapace were filled with snow foam, and when it was still, even its breathing was imperceptible.
When it leaps up, its pair of enormous upper jaws open, each as thick as an adult's arm, with serrated horny teeth on the inside.
It sweeps and cuts off the upper jaw laterally.
Limestone was still retreating, but that angle was exactly the most awkward position when bending over and standing up. His center of gravity had not been fully regained, and his left arm swung open a gap at his side.
The upper palate closes.
Click.
Limestone's left arm was severed three fingers above the elbow.
Like scissors cutting a tree branch, the cut is clean and smooth.
The severed arm lay on the snow, its fingers still in the position they had just been in when they reached for the rock rat's hind leg.
Gray Rock groaned, using the momentum of his push-off to continue retreating.
His face turned pale the instant his arm was severed, then he gritted his teeth, slammed his right leg against the ground, and bounced back two steps.
Blood gushed from the severed wound on his left shoulder, staining the snow and leaving a red line.
He staggered to his feet.
At this moment, Ke Shan had already taken out his hunting bow and shot an arrow.
The arrow gleamed with a thick layer of light, and the force of its piercing shot compressed the entire arrow into a white line, striking straight into the enormous creature that had completely emerged from the snow.
The arrow struck the black iron-colored back armor, exploding into a small burst of light, and the shaft broke into two pieces that flew away.
The thing was only jolted back one step.
Then, the entire body of the monster crawled out of the snow pit.
It is nearly three meters long, with six thick insect legs supporting its heavy body, and its black iron-colored carapace is covered with rough, granular protrusions.
Its head is extremely small, almost tucked under its breastplate, and its huge upper jaw occupies the entire front of its body, with serrated upper jaws.
The forelegs are two flat, shovel-like feet, and it is these forelegs that dug the pits in the snow.
Its small, dark yellow eyes darted to the sides of its shrunken head, locking onto the retreating limestone.
With all six legs exerting force simultaneously, its heavy body shot out a straight impact line on the snow, its mandibles wide open, chasing after the gray rock.
"Damn it!" Ke Shan threw his hunting bow onto the snow, drew his broadsword from his waist, and charged toward the thing.
The pine needles also realized what was happening.
He drew an arrow, nocked it on the bowstring, and the shaft gleamed with a penetrating light as it shot out, striking the side of the carapace of the giant shovel at the top corner.
The arrow also bounced off, leaving a very shallow white mark on the armor.
Jiang Yuan had already drawn his hunting bow and aimed at the monster, firing an arrow.
But when it struck, not even a white mark was left. He quickly asked:
"What kind of monster is this?"
"Horned Beast!" Pine Needle fired another arrow, this time aiming at the joint of the insect's leg.
The arrow struck a gap in the armor at a joint, finally chipping off a small piece of armor and causing the monster to pause.
Pine Needle gritted his teeth and continued nocking the arrow, speaking at an extremely fast pace:
"This magical beast prefers to ambush; it's incredibly fast and a top hunter in the Graycap Forest. It's a third-tier magical beast, the same tier as the captain!"
He quickly drew the arrow again.
Meanwhile, Ke Shan had already met the giant shovel with its top corner.
The hunting knife collided with the upper jaw, exploding into a shower of sparks.
Ke Shan is a seasoned hunting team captain who remains calm even when facing third-tier magical beasts.
He turned around and slashed at the carapace again with his sword.
The blade cut a shallow groove in the carapace.
He intercepted the monster's pursuit route.
Taking advantage of this opening, Gray Rock retreated back to Jiangyuan.
His face was frighteningly pale, and blood was still gushing out from the cut on his left shoulder.
"Are you alright?" Songzhen asked, her voice strained, the arrow still nocked on the bowstring.
Gray Rock shook his head.
He looked down at his empty left shoulder, then glanced at the lifeless arm lying on the snow in the distance, and his lips trembled.
If his arm cannot be reattached in time, he will no longer be able to be a soldier.
He looked up at Songzhen and Jiangyuan, "I'm going back to the tribe for help!"
Then his gaze fell on Jiang Yuan.
Why are you looking at me... Jiang Yuan asked, puzzled.
Pine Needle nodded, speaking very quickly: "Yes, human, you go back with Grayrock to rescue it. The captain and I can hold it off."
"I'll stay," Jiang Yuan refused.
The pine needles grew impatient and roared:
"I'm already at level two, and even a penetrating shot can only scrape off a layer of skin!"
"This thing is top-tier even among Tier 3 fighters. It would take at least two Tier 2 or higher warriors to use Piercing Shot to interrupt its attack rhythm in turn, otherwise even the captain alone would have a hard time holding on! We need to call for reinforcements immediately; you're useless staying here..."
The rest of his sentence got stuck in his throat.
Jiang Yuan drew his bow.
A gleam appeared on the arrow shaft.
The cold, white light shone like a spear brimming with power under the hazy sky.
Piercing shot?! Pine Needle's eyes widened. Gray Rock, clutching his severed arm, was also stunned.