The best trackers and warriors on the Abu Sera grasslands come from a group called the Abusgunti?32??
Just as the west coast also has ethnic differences such as the Sivaliers, the Avenelas, the Ridelas, and the Thoratins, the vast Abu Sera prairie has no differences between ethnic groups in all directions. There are considerable differences in human race, appearance and customs - and the Abusgunti people are the most typical of them.
The word "Abusgunti" comes from the Lamantic abbreviation, the full name is "Los-Abustor-Agunti" - meaning "the one who hides behind the bushes", it truly represents life The image of this group in the area where forests, grasslands, and shrubs are intertwined in the Kursimu area, and we can literally see that the Lamanites who migrated westward may have gained something here. Such terrible memories that the remaining word that refers specifically to a specific race of people still retains the meaning of "the strongest hunter on the grassland" in civilized society.
The Absgenti people have a small body. Although most grassland people are only about 1.7 meters tall, the Absgenti people are even lower by this standard. Most of the men among them are only 1.5 to 1.6 meters tall and weigh no more than 55 kilograms, while the women may be even smaller in comparison - this may be why they can hide Surprise attacks from behind bushes were an important factor in attacking Lamanite troops, but perhaps more important than these typical appearance features was their reputation for being good at fighting and tracking.
——Our protagonist Henry may be regarded as a pretty good stealth and a master in tracking. His rich experience and keen observation are enough to throw away most hunters around the world. But this is not his home field after all. No matter how experienced he is, an outsider will never be able to compare with the locals, not to mention that the tracking skills of the Absgunti have almost reached the level of masters.
A proverb also invented by the Lamanites and believed to be true by Thoradin and the people of the South, who had been at war with them for many years, was this: "Even a spider re-weaving its web can tell them that someone has recently passed by." ——This detail very intuitively shows their meticulous observation and the degree of integration into the environment. As the main target of Thoradin's countless losses in the past, their appearance is naturally also regarded by the civilized world. ——At least Thoradin and the Southland remember it deeply.
Let's shift the camera to the protagonist and his party of three.
At this time, twenty-one days had passed since they escaped from the Red-billed Clan's camp. After discovering the hut and resting for a few days, the three of them embarked on the journey again and walked for several days. It was already the beginning of January, and winter was gradually entering the Thoradin region. Even though it was in the tropics, it would not be as cold as places further north. The shorter days can still give people a real sense of seasonal changes.
They had now truly entered the inhabited area south of Thoradin, and had seen many small villages in the distance along the way. But the sage did not intend to go to those places to buy things for supplies - forget it when traveling to other areas in the north of Thoradin and the west coast. In a mercenary kingdom like Corey Conrad, all the villagers are very accustomed to it. Mercenaries conduct trade, but in the southern areas that have been plagued by wars between grasslands and mercenaries, they still stubbornly stay here and do not move or go to strong castles, but exist in the form of small villages. residents, their existence is extremely complex.
In the eyes of these people, neither the mercenaries nor the prairie people were good people. The war burned their home, and the originally vast and rich forests and shrubs in front of them had disappeared. For them to grow back, humans would have to not come here for at least a century. Moreover, during the many years of war, when supplies were needed, the mercenaries always forced local residents to donate voluntarily. If they refused to help, they would be labeled as complicit with the prairie people and lose everything. Slaves forced the local people to make a living.
It is true that the so-called steppe people invaded the Thoradin region and attacked the kind-hearted settled people. But it has existed since thousands of years ago, just like bandit groups that also exist within settled peoples. The people who raised all this to the level of war were none other than the missionaries of the White Church and the local noble lords and mercenary groups who had designs on Absera or wanted to make war fortune. They loudly claimed that they were for Thoradin. Even the mercenaries themselves may not believe that the residents of the north launched a war to repel the evil and barbaric prairie people because they were not harmed by the prairie people. In fact, most of the small villages that still stay here have negotiated and compromised with the grassland people to a certain extent. If war comes, they will selectively help the grassland people in exchange for the peace that will not be destroyed. Intrusion in short——
In these villages that have no favorable impression of mercenaries, Henry and his three people, who look like mercenaries and wear mercenary badges, will definitely not be greeted by delicious food, shelter and bonfires but by a bright and stinging light. hostility.
He still carries a lot of gold coins, and it is a good habit of Henry to carry important small things like flints and other small things in a small leather bag on his armed belt instead of putting them on the horseback. But in order to replenish supplies, replenish the lost luggage and other things, buy new clothes, and take the real road instead of walking through the mountains, forests and wastelands, they still need to reach a place composed of mercenaries and nobles. Build a real castle.
They had not been replaced after more than two months of walking in the wild, and the horseshoes of the two war horses were quite worn. Even though you are walking on dirt instead of stone pavement, the shoe shoe is quite effective. In addition to protecting horses from damaging their hooves during high-intensity exercise, special shapes such as spiked shoes can also enhance the grip in mud or frozen soil. After they wear out, it will be more difficult for the horse to run, and When sprinting at full speed, you still have to worry about slipping and falling.
There are a lot of things that I want to do, but things like plans always fail to keep up with changes. Before worrying about a series of other problems, the three people who stayed close to the edge of the forest out of vigilance in order to use the terrain to avoid the pursuit of the prairie people in time, A new problem was discovered.
It was an unexpected encounter. On the afternoon of the 22nd day after escaping from the Red-billed Clan camp, a group of three people who were riding horses into the forest and looking for a place to camp saw a small-sized animal more than 20 meters away. The little wild boar screamed and rushed out of the bushes. Then it fell to the ground and died after not running a few steps. Henry, who had sharp eyes, saw a few white arrows that were smaller than ordinary arrows and immediately frowned: "Turn around and run back." He said this in a very serious tone, so Mira was decisive The ground reacted, and the moment they turned their horses' heads, a rather short brown-skinned man wearing animal skin clothing ran out holding a small bow.
"Are they the pursuers of the prairie people?" Yavenella's horse's speed-accelerating ability was truly top-notch. They quickly distanced themselves and ran out of range of the small bow that was obviously poisonous on the arrow. Mira spoke. He asked, and Henry nodded: "And it's the best. I don't know what ability Albany has to find these people, but he did it anyway."
He said, and the three of them ran away quickly, and Henry gradually slowed down until they were quite far apart.
"That's the Abusgunti." He turned back and glanced behind him, and then continued: "The best trackers in the entire Absera. Although they look thin, they are like ponies on the grassland, possessing Extremely high physical strength and endurance.”
"And they are from the Kursimu area. Unlike Abu Sera, there are many forests and shrubs there. The grassland people invited these people as guides during the war with Thoradin's mercenaries. Relying on their ability to track through the jungle, they were able to draw a tie or even gain the upper hand with the southern border and Thoradin's army."
"We have to hurry up. The Abusgunti people have a sparse population and are mainly hired as expert teams in the big clans on the grassland. But even if they face the stone castle, they have no choice but to retreat. As long as we rush It will be safe inside the castle." Henry said as he directed the horses to move forward. They controlled the speed and moved forward in an orderly manner. They had determined that the pursuers were these master hunter sages and no longer planned to use the jungle to hide themselves. The trail - they'd meet these people here and they'd obviously never really gotten rid of them, maybe they had done it once at the cabin, but then they were quickly caught up with them again when they got back on the road.
These people even managed to come in front of them, obviously intending to intercept them before they reached the town area. It was only because they happened to be caught by them while hunting that their whereabouts were really exposed. Otherwise, facing the ambush of these highly skilled masters, I am afraid that even the sages, with only one of the three people not being able to effectively fight, Mira, and the team that has lost its main weapon and lacked enough rest, will also be able to deal with it. It's a dead body without a whole body.
Even if they are tall, powerful, and powerful, Henry, a dozen or twenty Absgentians, can easily deal with them in close combat. However, a certain weapon possessed by these great prairie hunters is something that any powerful mercenary or knight can feel. Afraid.
Due to their body size, the Absgunti people are unable to use the curved bows common in the grasslands or the West Coast-style long bows. The small bows in their hands are shorter than the arms of an adult man on the West Coast. The small size makes it impossible to have enough power to knock down the enemy with the lethality of the bow and arrow itself. Therefore, these people went to the other extreme and used weapons from The venom extracted from the insects is tied to the back end of a small arrow with a thin hemp rope, and then the hemp rope is dipped in poison.
Compared with the ordinary grassland people's method of directly applying poison to the arrows, this method can maintain the activity of the venom more effectively, and better avoids poisoning and death if you accidentally cut yourself. The arrow needs to be shot into the prey. Attack - and the toxin they used is enough to knock down a large prey weighing three hundred kilograms, and if more is used, the powerful Avenella war horse will be no problem.
These are extremely dangerous and sophisticated opponents, thin but deadly, and know how to choose very well - three minutes after Henry and the others ran out, the three people who no longer intended to hide their traces ran on the wide plain as expected. I saw a dozen figures appearing behind me.
Apparently they had given up on the prey they had just acquired and came to follow their group.
From a distance, the thinnest figures on horseback are obviously Absgenti's pursuers, and the remaining ten or so people are dressed like ordinary prairie warriors that I have seen before. It seems that they are from the same clan, and then for some reason they separated and then merged together - no matter what, they must move forward quickly.
"Teacher, castle!" Mira's voice rang from the side. Seeing the accessible stone building as a symbol of civilized society again made the girl's voice involuntarily filled with excitement. The flags of unrecognizable nobles or royal families were flying fiercely at the top of the castle. The sentries above obviously noticed them. "Take off the mercenary badges." Henry said this, and then took off the badge from his waist first. Then he raised his hand and vigorously shook the reflective object made of gemstones - this is a common rule in the civilized world, to identify yourself and tell them that you are not hostile so that you can enter the city - but obviously it does not always work.
"These cowards." Henry clicked his tongue, because he could clearly see the castle gate in the distance beginning to slowly close. This kind of castle built by the mercenary groups and nobles fighting here was 100% the same as that of the prairie people. Hostile, but the problem is that there are only a dozen prairie people chasing them. Although this castle is not particularly big, it is only three times the size of the original Ellen's Fort in Avenella - almost the smallest. Castle - but there are at least three to four hundred people stationed in it. Facing a dozen or so prairie cavalry, they are like frightened birds. It is simply not too embarrassing.
"Don't stop, keep running!" Henry turned back to Mira and said, the area has become full of forests, and across the grasslands and plains behind him, this area has shown the familiar scenery along the Tambur Mountains. The scenery, if they continue to run forward, they can encounter another castle, so the three and two horses have no intention of slowing down. Seeing the castle getting closer and closer, they can almost clearly see the moss on the surface of the limestone used for the construction above. Got——
"Pah!" Mud splashed, and a large crossbow fell into the ground beside them.
"" The people on the castle fired ballistae at them. If there was a slight mistake, people and horses would be killed on the spot. "Don't come any closer! Don't lure those grassland people to us!" Thoradin said with an accent. West Coast Common Tongue shouted loudly, and a large group of mercenaries holding crossbows in demonstration appeared on the battlements above the castle.
"Teacher!" Mira's voice quickly changed from a mixture of relief and excitement as if she had just been rescued, to worry, disbelief, and suppressed anger. At the same time, her beautiful eyebrows also knitted together. Henry looked at it again. Glancing at Lina behind her, the worry on the latter's expression was even more obvious.
"Turn around, they are serious." Henry said this, and at the moment when the three men and two horses turned to face the other direction, a dozen prairie pursuers officially came to them.
"La——" The steppe pony, which was much smaller than the Vennella war horse, quickly slowed down with small steps. Seventeen steppe light cavalry surrounded the three of them in a semicircle and paced slowly, Except for four Abusgunti and one other person, the other twelve grassland warriors drew their bows and pointed in their direction. And the only person who is neither a prairie warrior nor a tracking master is a brown-skinned, short-haired prairie who is about the same age as Mira and is smaller than the Absgunti people. He should obviously have their bloodline. The girl, with a smile showing her little tiger teeth, drove the pony up slowly.
"It seems that you have been abandoned by your own people, as always, mercenaries." She spoke in Lamani with a strong accent, but the pronunciation and wording were far more formal than Mustafa's.
"Don't try to resist, otherwise you will be pierced by an arrow and captured." The girl said, and Henry raised his hands and motioned to the two people next to him to do the same.
