Henry was rarely serious.
Because most of the time he doesn't have to.
We have said before that although many people focus on skills like combat, in fact it only accounts for about 40% of the share. The proportion of "strength" determined by a series of factors such as explosive power, endurance, height and weight is higher, and it can even form a crushing advantage when the physiques of the two sides are very different.
Looking at the opponents we have encountered so far, there is basically no one who can surpass the sage in terms of height and weight.
With a tall man and a large horse, the Claymore sword far exceeds the size and power of ordinary weapons. His battles do not always require careful thinking about details like our Roan maiden. He just makes sure to swing the sword and hit it. Enemies on it.
His physical ability is enough to form an overwhelming advantage, coupled with his honed skills and experience accumulated through countless battles, he is able to handle many battles as if they are just strolling in the garden.
But what if these advantages are limited?
"Wha—" Under the light blue moonlight, the dust was suddenly swept up by the airflow, and then a huge ax blade with a width of 45 centimeters flashed past.
"Bang! Click!" It was embedded heavily into the trunk of the tree. "Shasha——" The trunk of at least 60 centimeters in diameter shook, and many dead leaves fell down. This was like a reappearance of a classic scene. The opponent's weapon was Getting stuck - at least in the eyes of laymen - is a standard opportunity to attack, but Henry's reaction was to take a step back.
"Bang -" His judgment was just right. The opponent took a steady step, grabbed the end of the ax handle with both hands, and used the strength of stepping and twisting to turn around and pull the entire ax out of the trunk. "Shasha——" Under the moonlight, sap flowed out from the gap in the tree trunk, and the man's next move was a large diagonal chop.
"Wha—" The tomahawk swung in a circle, and its trajectory was very different from that of a sword.
Henry observed every move of the opponent. Although the visibility was extremely low, his opponent's movements were clearly visible to him - but this was where it was difficult for him to start.
Taking the various types of swordsmanship he taught Mira as an example, most of the high-level professional swordsmanship in Rigar's world will focus on a technique called "half-cut".
In layman's terms, this technique means that you do not use a large slash, nor do you cut all the way to the end. Instead, you keep the tip of the sword pointed at your enemy to ensure that you do not expose too much space for someone to take advantage of the opportunity to counterattack.
But it is only one of the fighting styles, and it is only suitable for sword-type weapons that have a rear center of gravity and are relatively small and easy to control. When applied to large weapons such as tomahawks, in order to take advantage of their forward center of gravity, a large amount of action is the correct approach.
——This opponent is weird.
Henry judged this as soon as they made contact.
"Wha—" He dodged another violent swing again, always keeping the distance to a point where he wouldn't be too far away.
"Huh-huh-" Although it is obvious that there is no way to judge the specific location of the sage, the opponent uses good combat skills to always keep pressing every step - and if it is our little Mira or Filippo who has such a system Anyone who has studied swordsmanship regularly can definitely identify the advanced skills this person used after a diagonal slash.
"Wha—" He held the ax with both hands, and when he reached the bottom of the swing, he flipped his wrist at just the right distance to turn the action into a diagonal swing.
This technique, named "one move" in swordsmanship terminology, seems simple, but it requires strong control and years of experience to perform perfectly - and it is still used on the sword.
To perform this technique with a typical Danlasso battle ax with a length of more than one meter and a huge blade puts a heavy burden on the muscles and bones of the forearm and wrist.
Not as strong as an orc, very few people can do this, let alone the opponent - '9' The sage once again dodged a swing from his opponent while counting silently in his mind.
9 consecutive swings.
Not to mention that he was able to dodge just right every time, but his opponent was at least close to Henry in terms of physical fitness.
It was really lucky that this person did not approach the camp, otherwise without long-range weapons, others would probably not be able to stop him even if they joined forces.
"Wha—" He dodged another attack.
What factors determine combat is a very complex question.
If data is used, height, weight, arm length, age and even experience and skills can be quantified to a certain extent, but in more cases they are not what determines the success or failure of the battle.
"Calm down and be patient."
"Careful and decisive."
In the final analysis, psychological factors are far more important than physical and experiential factors.
If a tall and strong person does not know how to examine the situation and ignores the details and only acts recklessly, he will die inexplicably for no reason; on the other hand, if he shrinks back and jumps back when he sees some trouble, he will miss the opportunity. Being cornered.
Master the distance, grasp the rhythm, observe the environment, and observe the opponent.
Henry can do these things as easily as eating and breathing. He will do this in every battle, but this time is different - this time even the sage must concentrate.
Rare land.
He felt his blood boil.
The last time this happened was when I fought Joshua.
"Whoosh——" Then the opponent's ax fell for the thirteenth time. This time he did not retreat but advanced, directly closing the distance of more than one meter between the lightning and flint——"Whoosh——" The man struck again Using the "one move" technique, Henry seemed to have jumped into a trap deliberately designed by his opponent and fell into the attack range of the tomahawk that came back - but it was him after all.
"Wha--" He stood still, and the hem of his breastplate and skirt was still raised due to the range of movements. Before it fell down, Henry reached out his left hand at an astonishing speed and grabbed the ax handle that was moving at high speed.
"Thump—thump—" The broad palm grasped the deep surface of the hardwood ax handle, and after feeling the force, the sage frowned and stretched out his other hand to grab it.
"Bang!!" His entire arm shrank back a large distance visibly to the naked eye. His muscles were tight and veins popped out, and his bones creaked as he withstood the powerful impact. However, the ax that could not be fully swung to reach the peak of centrifugal force made contact with his hands, and the force that exploded in an instant even shook the air.
"Uh--" The opponent was stunned. He had missed more than 20 consecutive swings and actually hit it this time. However, he was also an experienced person, and he quickly judged from the feel that it was not a fluke. The opponent caught the weapon instead of hitting it.
"Hey!" He roared again, then grabbed the handle of the ax and pulled it toward him. At the same time, he raised his foot and kicked Henry.
"Bang!" But the sage released his left hand at the same time and kicked the sole of his foot with a lightning-fast punch.
"Uh-huh." The heartbreaking pain was followed by the soreness that shook his bones. The man whose center of gravity was unstable fell backwards, but before he hit the ground, he stood up again with one hand. Although he staggered a bit with his right foot on the ground, he still assumed a fighting stance and pulled out a spare one-handed ax about 60 centimeters long from his lower back.
——This is a fighter.
Judging from his fighting style and physique, he is obviously from Danlasso, or at least has some connection to these areas.
A fighter who regards death as his own, the Northlanders are worthy of being called a fighting nation in the eyes of people from other regions.
Henry turned the ax he had just taken away from his hand, holding it in an overhand position. The ax handle's very smooth surface and heavy weight due to years of use all tell its reliability. This familiar touch combined with the opponent's fighting style, in addition to a little boiling blood, also made Henry feel a little nostalgic.
Because the area is barren and materials are precious, in the far north, which is cold and sparsely populated but is divided into several kingdoms, it is common for the kingdoms and the similar ethnic groups to fight against each other and fight with each other.
And in Henry's era, there were many such tall fighters, just like this man:
When the weapon breaks, another weapon is drawn.
Another weapon was broken, and the others' weapons were picked up from the battlefield.
My right hand is broken, so I fight with my left hand.
When his leg was broken, he limped and changed his stance to continue fighting.
Even if their hands and feet are hit and chopped off, they will still struggle on the muddy battlefield covered in blood to crawl over and give you a headbutt.
The northerners are now able to maintain relative independence and maintain sovereignty even when they are neighbors with the still powerful Padrosi Empire. In addition to the local barrenness and lack of valuable resources, it is also related to the national nature of longing for freedom and not fearing sacrifice. Bar.
What makes people miss me is my hometown that I have not returned to for a long, long time.
Is it because he came to the East Coast? When he met this person, Henry became a little sentimental.
"Huh——" The opponent controlled his breathing and concentrated to avoid being affected by his injured right leg. He was also a little panicked. The wear-resistant soles sewn with thick cowhide were almost on the same level as leather armor. Moreover, he used a more powerful kick and punched the sage casually. The one who was injured was actually It's him.
'Who is this guy, is he really human? '
As soon as the idea came up, he bit his lower lip and used the pain to focus his attention again. It is not a good idea to stick to this point of view, as it will completely lose confidence. He instinctively got rid of these - he had someone to protect, he thought, and a fragment suddenly appeared in his mind, and it seemed that there was only one thought left.
An indomitable, experienced, and admirable Northland fighter.
But fight.
It has ended.
Because Henry got the weapon.
He needed to be serious before because even he was still uncomfortable facing an armed enemy with bare hands.
Even though he is wearing armor, if he is hit when facing an opponent of similar size, the impact will interrupt the rhythm, and he will be trapped in the opponent's attack and unable to fight back.
It is very necessary to master the attack distance and attack timing. In addition, the length of the weapon is also an important decisive factor. Large two-handed weapons measuring more than one meter can have a crushing advantage over one-handed weapons, and longer spears and spears can have a crushing advantage against them.
When there is no suitable weapon in hand, even if the armor can block it, he will fall into a situation of being beaten one-sidedly, and Henry is not wearing a full set of armor. The head, upper half of the neck, arms, and below the knees were all without armor. These places were hit by a sharp axe, which weighed more than 35 kilograms. He did not have a pair of armor that could avoid being chopped in this situation. Broken steel frame.
So wait for the opportunity, observe, wait for the moment when the opponent changes his breath and starts to show fatigue, and bully him in. This was his initial plan, but because of the opponent's seemingly endless weird physical strength, the sage had no choice but to risk his way in. Catch it with your hands.
Even he is not as relaxed as he looks.
In fact, due to the friction of the huge force, the palm of his left hand, which bears most of the force, has been worn out, and a slight soreness can be felt in his forearm.
It was with this in mind that the sage did not use his dominant hand to pick it up.
"" The two of them faced each other, a little blood remaining along the broken skin on the palm, and then sliding down the surface of the ax handle. Henry raised his eyebrows at the long-lost tingling sensation, but his opponent's reaction was far more intense than him——
"Sniff, sniff--" He moved his nose, and then suddenly tensed up his body.
“Uh-ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh- ‐human cry cries of cries, inhuman sounds, echoing in the forest.
"Crack——" This is the sound made by bones.
"Stab-" This was the sound of the clothes beginning to be torn apart by the deformed skeleton.
"Wha—" This was the sound made by Henry taking a decisive step forward.
"Crack-" This was the noise he made when he turned the ax over with his backhand so that the end of the ax handle was in front.
"Boom!!" The hardwood and the skull were in real contact.
"Ahem - Dong -" The opponent fell to the ground, and the sage turned his wrist again, holding a huge battle ax that was a bit heavy for ordinary people with both hands, and pointed the sharp ax blade at the neck of the fallen enemy. superior.
He performed this action, and then slowly raised the ax in a leisurely manner.
"Os! Espardino (stop, stop)." The elf staggered out of the bushes where he was hiding and rushed out in a hurry.
As expected, she is a petite woman.
Henry observed her.
He was wearing typical elf clothing with a somewhat short hem to make it easier to walk through the forest. Under the moonlight, the slender pointed ears and pale golden hair were the same as those in the books and the elves he had seen in the past. Judging from the body shape, they should indeed be from the southern branch of the east coast.
"Well, I'm listening." The elf spoke in Lamani. Although the accent and wording were a bit unique, you could still hear it clearly. Henry looked at her leisurely, while the elf girl looked a little panicked by his eyes. It trembled like a frightened little animal, but then turned its attention to the sage.
She stared at him, or rather at his left hand that was supposed to be injured.
For the elves, whose adaptability and mastery of magic power rank first among the five major races, they can detect even the smallest changes.
The petite female elf hesitated for a while, and then approached in small steps. After taking a glance to confirm that the person who fell on the ground was just unconscious, she stared at Henry and looked him up and down for several minutes.
Finally, he tentatively and cautiously opened his mouth to Henry.
"Valakuriel?" She spoke a word again, but this time it wasn't Lamani, or any other human language, or even Elvish.
"" The sage shrugged, then released his left hand to show her the intact palm, and then opened his collar, allowing her to see the tattoos whose meanings could not be understood by normal people.
"Ah - bang!" The female elf sighed, then slapped her forehead. There was a trace of annoyance and helplessness in his expression and movements.
Then, as if he finally breathed a sigh of relief, his whole body relaxed, his legs softened, and he sat down on the ground.
"It seems the matter has been resolved."
"Crack-" Henry put the ax next to him and said.
"So, it's the undead?" What he said was a bit confusing, but based on the fact that both parties had the same level of knowledge, the elf immediately nodded: "Yes, I used transformation spells to suppress some of them. , but the infection is a little too deep, and your blood is very irritating to him."
"Is the caster nearby?" the sage then asked.
"Nirvana" She denied but affirmed this statement in Elvish language at the same time, and then explained: "It was an accidental contact, it has been about two months. The caster is indeed nearby."
"Sounds like a big trouble." Henry raised his eyebrows.
"Yes." The elf woman nodded, then lowered her head: "My village is gone."
As she said this, her long eyelashes were drooping, and she looked very melancholy - for an elf with indifferent emotions, this was already a sign of extreme sadness.
"It's very complicated, and it will be a long story." Henry said this while turning his head.
The light of the torch behind him was swaying, and coupled with the noisy sound of collective human action, it was obvious that everyone in the camp who had heard the huge roar and the noise of the previous battle came towards this direction.
"Fortunately, we have time to listen to what you have to say." The sage said softly the moment the torch illuminated his face.
