Sleep is essential for humans.
Many people have experienced the experience of being unable to sleep occasionally and being very tired due to work or other reasons at some time in their lives.
Most cases of insomnia caused by excessive mental stress can be solved by just having an experience of extreme fatigue like this. Although how long it can last is another question, but when you are so tired that you can't open your eyes, the quality of your sleep is very important. It's usually better than usual.
So.
What if you are extremely tired but still can’t get enough sleep?
The first thing that will be affected is your concentration.
It can be used easily when you are full of energy and well rested. You can even play with fancy knives such as "winding around your fingers". When you are extremely sleep-deprived, even if you hold it in your hand to cut vegetables, you may end up cutting it. Cut yourself.
Forget about the small details that require concentration, even walking will stagger, as if the body is no longer one's own.
Then there’s your memory.
You start doing things over and over again, forgetting the fact that you've done them many times before.
Many things become blurry, like instinct. You lose the ability to judge when doing things and even no longer have the ability to distinguish between ourselves and the enemy because of forgetfulness. You become like a hedgehog raising its spikes at harmless rabbits and harmful wolves. You start hurting the people around you, and you forget even the things you hurt them.
Closely followed is the ability to express language.
Something is engraved in your memory, or even happened right before your eyes. You know its causes and consequences clearly, but when it is transferred from the brain to the mouthpiece, thinking seems to have become countless small fragments, and the entire process cannot be effectively pieced together to express it in a smooth language.
He moves like a stiff puppet and speaks like a country bumpkin who hasn't used it in ten years and still suffers from a stammer.
The Lamanite idiom sums it up brilliantly as "the walking dead" - and that's exactly what our little Mila finds best to call herself at the moment.
She could hardly hold the sword in her hand.
When she was in good condition, she could easily swing this long sword, which weighed 1.7 kilograms and had good balance, continuously and even held it with one hand. But now, even when she made a starting position, it felt like the tip of the sword was hanging down. Like a huge piece of lead, it will fall to the ground if you don't pay attention, and the door will be wide open.
Also hanging down were her eyelids with long, curly eyelashes. Mila's eyelids were beating non-stop due to not getting enough rest for a long time. The Luoan culture believes that eyelid twitching means something big is about to happen, while the Lamanites believe that "the left eye will jump for wealth and the right eye will jump for disaster" - maybe they are both right, who knows, what will happen when you are exhausted Neither is surprising.
"Huh--" She breathed out. She didn't know whether her skin had lost consciousness due to overexertion or was blown by the cold wind. She could only feel the sweat sliding over it, but she could only feel it very slightly.
"Hiss—" His chest rose and fell under the scratched chest armor, and his lungs were filled with air again. But even breathing seemed to become difficult.
I really want to let go of everything.
"Uh-" The first time this idea came up, Mira bit her lower lip decisively, dispelling it with pain.
In the case of extreme fatigue, she exerted a little too much force, and the bloody smell of the bitten lip began to fill her mouth, but even the pain could only temporarily dispel the strong feeling of fatigue, and it came back again after an instant.
It's like there's a demon whispering in your ear.
"Give up, give up, put down the sword, lie down, close your eyes and have a good sleep."
"Shut up--" The girl began to be confused about the reality. She whispered, while trying to adjust her posture and change her center of gravity to rest and relax her bruised right leg.
"Crack--" This was a wrong decision. She ignored the fact that she could no longer control her body freely in this situation. Mira's step caused her to almost fall.
"Snapped--"
"Hold on." Filippo pulled her and shouted. The young man's condition was not much better. He was holding a broken shield in one hand to protect most of his body, while the other hand was holding a scarred stabbing sword.
"——" The four villagers standing opposite were holding hatchets with heavy heads. Two simple spears on the ground had been cut off. This was the result of the cooperation of Mira and Filippo. They stopped the first Wave's attack, but it is still uncertain whether the two sides can reconcile and exchange for a chance for dialogue.
"I told you, witch, you know, those monsters attacking you are also related to witches!" Because he didn't wear armor, the young man had more energy than the Luoan girl, but he had emphasized this sentence over and over again. Still couldn't completely convince the villagers opposite.
because of them.
From the mixed-inhabited village before.
"Where can the noble's dog spit out ivory? Those ghouls may be the black magic you are playing." The leader of the villagers was the head of the family that Margaret wanted to help that day. He had a messy head. The black hair is tied on the left side with a small braid common among highlanders, which is very distinctive.
"If I had this ability, would I still be surrounded by you here, idiot!" Filippo cursed angrily, but then there was some commotion outside.
"Brother, something is coming again!" A voice shouted from the dilapidated thatched house.
"You still haven't gotten rid of it!" "Brother, what should I do?" There were chaotic voices, and the leader of the villagers gritted his teeth and didn't know which side to deal with first. And Mira, who finally couldn't hold on anymore and started to feel trance-like, the last thought that came to her mind before she closed her eyes and passed out was——
How did it all come to this?
————
They first appear in the evening.
Although these "things" should be regarded as very good ambushers, they failed to give the group a real surprise when there were two experienced scouts, Henry and Horno, in the team.
Just like Horno's time, Henry noticed their existence from a long distance, and after realizing that they were obviously coming to attack his group, the sage and his serious attitude asked everyone to take up arms immediately. Be prepared to respond.
But even he could only do this.
Their movement speed was so fast that the team that had prepared to camp was surrounded before they could get back on the road. Therefore, Henry decisively gave up the idea and asked everyone to prepare for on-site defense.
quick.
This is Mira's first impression of them.
There are many creatures in nature that can surpass humans in running speed. Even the seemingly slow and honest brown bear can actually easily catch up with humans.
Quadrupeds have a natural advantage in this regard. To be fair, these things run much slower than bears, so the girl shouldn't be surprised by this. But she still left such a deep impression, which was inseparable from the second impression she had on them.
What kind of abominable monster is this?
Mira has seen many ferocious beasts in her ten-year life, which is not long, but she has seen many ferocious beasts. But whether it is the huge green dragon lizard or Deinosuchus, she has been given more. Shocking and tense, it even has a unique beauty like admiring the mountains and the sea.
Vigorous and powerful predators, as a beautiful and cruel part of nature, complement the surrounding environment.
But what appeared in front of me under the torches and evening light was definitely different from them.
It has a human appearance, human facial features, and even the whimpering sounds from its mouth are the same as those of humans. But his hair was disheveled and he walked on all fours.
Even if you don't understand what this is, as a living person, a feeling of nausea arises spontaneously.
Then they met its gaze.
It was a pair of animal-like eyes, filled with pupils and no whites at all.
Weird.
It is like placing the behavior of an animal in a human body. It has no part of its own in nature. It cannot integrate into the natural cycle of the environment and can only turn everything it goes into death.
It was neither created by nature nor conceived in any mother's womb.
Everything about it seems to have been deliberately twisted just to express its mockery to the god who created mankind. Everything is twisted and weird.
This feeling is indescribable, like internal organs churning and nauseating, making living beings instinctively feel disgusted.
No one asked any more questions, and that was before Henry said their names.
After hearing the name of "lower ghoul", people did not know whether it was fear or disgust. They waved their swords and other available weapons, and tried their best to transform these four weird things into monsters again and again. He became unable to move.
Until their hands, feet and necks were completely turned into a puddle of foul-smelling gray-black dirt, several mercenaries continued to beat them in anger.
"Use clean water to clean the dirt on weapons and armor, and don't let their body fluids get on you!"
Even blood is poisonous to living creatures. The black blood flowing from the chopped ghoul made the nearby grass droop. Looking again after a while, it turned black from the bottom, which was obviously completely necrotic.
"What kind of blasphemous existence is this? Sure enough, the witch is nearby! Damn it, get out of here!" the mercenary shouted loudly to cover up his inner fear.
After the battle, Mira found that her hands were shaking.
Henry told everyone with a serious face that this was just the beginning.
——His judgment was correct, as always.
"Dong dong dong dong dong -" The sound of horse hooves trampled heavily on the stone slabs, and the strong wind howled past my ears.
"Shua—shua—" Black shadows flashed one after another in the jungle on the side.
"Orno, left!" Mira turned her head suddenly, her white hair flying with her movements. She was holding the reins with one hand and the sword with the other hand.
"Huh--" The strong wind during the journey blew the elf girl's blond hair wildly, and the high-speed carriage bumped up and down but it seemed to have no effect on her movements. She drew her bow, and the moment the arrow left the string, cyan light that could be seen clearly in broad daylight spread out.
"Click - click -" The bow made from temporary wood last night could not withstand the blessing of magic power, and exploded into two pieces the moment it was shot. The flying bow string cut the side of the elf girl's face, and blood flowed down, but she remained unmoved. Her eyes, which exuded light blue power, focused on the arrow.
"Whee--" The sound of flying was sharp and harsh. With the assistance of wind magic, the arrow shot by Horno seemed to have exceeded the speed of sound.
"Boom--ka!" A blue trajectory was drawn, and the arrow hit this monster, which was much larger than the previous ghoul.
There are already some traces of trauma on its thick cuticle. Judging from the length of the scratches, it should be caused by large sword weapons. Obviously, the defense power is not inferior to ordinary leather armor, but under the impact of such a high-speed arrow, Underneath, the skin was still shot through like a piece of tissue paper.
"Boom!!" "Bang--" The giant ghoul whose spine was cut off fell to the ground and rolled several times, crushing several low-level ghouls behind him until they were like wrung towels, and body fluids were splashed everywhere. The elf girl's eyes flashed with blue light after excessive consumption of magic power, and she fell limply on the flatbed carriage.
Barrow took her in silence.
"Coming over!" Filippo shouted from the other side, and the remaining ghouls rushed out from the woods and rushed towards the slow-moving carriage.
"Back to defense!" Henry shouted, but he was not the first to take action. The old butler Ferruccio finally had an answer to where his battlefield experience came from. He grabbed a makeshift lance made of a small balsa wood that was not even straight, stepped down heavily with his horse's hooves and poked the tip of the lance. He threw the ghoul closest to the carriage to death.
"Ka-boom!" In comparison, the sage's fighting style seemed much more barbaric. He took Barrow's long-handled ax and swung it with one hand, smashing one at a time.
"Mira, your right side!" Filippo's shout sounded again. The girl turned back quickly, and then narrowly missed the ghoul that was rushing towards her with one sword.
But after all, she was still young and lacked strength, so the sword she wielded with one hand was too light, and the ghoul with a shallow wound disappeared nearby again without paying attention.
"Where are you running?" The team continued to move forward, panting, Mira grabbed the reins and turned the horse's head. Moro shouted this on the carriage. This is not because there is any problem with their eyesight. The reason why the elves chose to settle in the Bao Forest and why this road was abandoned is related to the fact that it is called "Wetland". It is not difficult to guess the score.
If there is fog outside the forest, there is also fog inside the forest; if there is no fog outside the forest, there is also fog inside the forest.
The winter rain that fell a few days ago washed away the entire world, but after entering the forest, the thick moisture here began to show its original appearance.
"Before continuing -" "Bang - boom!" The disadvantages of merchants' unwillingness to give up their products finally emerged. As soon as Morrow finished speaking, a giant ghoul suddenly appeared and started to attack like a bull. gesture, knocking over the carriage he and a businessman were in.
"Haaah!" Mira couldn't remember clearly what happened next, and she didn't know whether it was a misjudgment caused by fatigue or something else. She grabbed the sword with one hand and controlled the horse to rush over there.
As a result, one slash of the sword failed to even split the skin, and the shock made his right hand sore and he almost didn't let go of the weapon in his hand.
But her act of buying time was regarded as helping the mercenaries and merchants. After shouting "We are fine, you should evacuate quickly", Morrow grabbed the merchant who finally recognized the truth, cut off the reins, got on his horse and escaped from the overturned carriage. Then after Filippo came to help, the two of them chopped down a few more ghouls and hurriedly evacuated.
Unable to determine the direction in the fog, coupled with the existence of these strange and aggressive ghouls, Mira and Filippo, who were eager to join Henry and his group, ran all the way, and finally escaped to this place without knowing how. In a village that has long been dilapidated and abandoned.
The many classical Laman style buildings in the village prove that they are obviously human creations, and the reason for being abandoned does not seem to have anything to do with the witch. Therefore, the exhausted two people decided to take a short rest, but as soon as they dismounted and prepared to let their horses rest, and walked towards the village on foot, they discovered that they were not alone.
More than a dozen heavily armed bandits with similar fatigues were checking whether the ancient well in the village could still be used. However, upon closer inspection, they found that these people were their old acquaintances, the mixed residents who had desperately fled at the beginning.
Apparently they were indeed on the road to becoming bandits.
What happened after that was no surprise.
Although both parties were in trouble due to the harassment of ghouls, they had no trust in the first place and were obviously more willing to communicate with weapons than to speak.
"Wake up——"
"Wake up quickly——"
"Pa—!" A burning feeling came to her cheeks, and Mira jumped up in excitement. "I'm sorry, but you were too deep in sleep." Filippo clapped his hands and apologized, and the Luoan girl shook her head, and she understood what was going on.
Although the rest of just a few minutes was not enough, it allowed her to regain a little bit of energy. The girl took a deep breath, then reached out to touch her sword, but she noticed something wrong.
"It seems that those who came are not those ghouls." Filippo took the initiative to explain to her, and there was no sound of killing from outside.
"Let's go out and have a look. Maybe it's the eldest lady and the others." The young man said this. Mira nodded in agreement, and then climbed up with his help.
The armor on her body made her feel extremely heavy in this state, but the girl took a deep breath and walked out anyway.
Thick fog hung around the village, and she noticed that the highlanders were hiding in the corners of the houses.
The noisy sounds grew from small to loud from far to near. The fog prevented them from seeing clearly what they were, but at this moment, many people were able to identify them. They were obviously human voices.
Although the sound was a bit messy, it was obviously not the sound of crawling ghouls, but more like the sound of humans walking. And most importantly, along with the sound of walking is the unique metallic sound of armor clashing.
"Wow -" came out of the fog, and standing at the front was an imperial knight wearing armor and carrying an axe.
"Uh-" There was a small commotion among the villagers hiding in the dark. They whispered to each other for a while, and then nodded to each other as if they had made some decision.
"No -" Mira frowned, and Filippo next to her seemed to feel something.
The young man sniffed his nose, but was unable to determine whether it was his imagination due to fatigue.
"Lord Knight!" A disarmed villager was dispatched: "Lord Knight of the Empire, we are nearby villagers-" More and more sounds of armor and footsteps sounded, and he began to move towards the other party. Complain and plead for mercy.
"wrong."
"Stop" the villagers continued to complain.
"Stop it." Mira realized something was wrong.
"Go back quickly!" She shouted involuntarily, and the knight raised his ax gun high.
A strong putrid smell filled the air, and in the next second, countless highly decomposed zombies wearing imperial armor and holding weapons broke through the fog and walked out.
"Crack--" The sharp and heavy ax blade split open the collarbone, and the villagers fell to the ground with distorted expressions in pain.
