"What is swordsmanship? It's nothing more than chopping, piercing, and slicing. It's powerful enough, fast enough, and the timing of the attack is accurate. It uses a good sword of sufficient weight. Only when you can kill the opponent with one sword can you be called swordsmanship. ! Those fancy swordsmanship techniques are of no use!"
Harry, the deputy captain of the Braun Town Guard, casually threw two oak cups on the table, and said with a disdainful and angrily expression: "You remember Richard, right? A mere civilian who doesn't even have the qualifications for the Awakening specialty, who thinks that through hard work he can He can surpass professionals. He practices swordsmanship every day, and he practices swordsmanship every day, and he is completely stupid... He is good at playing swordsmanship. He can draw a sword and cut off the wings of a dragonfly, and pierce six fallen leaves with one sword. He is still fine. He likes to compete with us in sword competition. None of us are his opponents. He even cut my belt off... The entire adventure group really believes that Richard is as powerful as a fourth-level swordsman. Our stupid leader He actually took us to the Thorny Plains where the Bone Collectors’ activities are most rampant to make a fortune, but what’s the result?”
"...In the first encounter with the orc bone collector, that idiot Richard instantly stabbed a jackal with six swords, and then the jackal jumped on him and bit off his face. We were all stunned at the time, Fortunately, you rushed over and cut the jackal into two pieces with an ordinary slash, finally stabilizing the situation. However, we still killed a dozen of our friends, and even Ina died. "
Harry's voice became hoarse, and after a while he shrugged nonchalantly and said, "From now on, I only believe in swordsmanship that can kill the enemy."
The depressed mood of his old comrade-in-arms infected Bottom, taking his mind back to thirty years ago, when he retired from the legion early and joined an adventure group with a group of close comrades-in-arms. I can't remember the name of the old group leader, but he has a beautiful daughter named Ina, who is Harry's secret crush. It was precisely because of Harry's insistence that they chose to join that small black iron-level adventure group.
Later, the old regiment leader was very happy to announce to everyone that he had recruited a very powerful swordsman. That person is Richard, whom Harry has always held a grudge against. The feud between the two is all about the beautiful daughter of the group leader. Harry likes Ina, and Ina favors Richard. However, Richard has no feelings for Ina and has repeatedly rejected her bold displays of love. This was what Harry couldn't stand.
What happened next was ridiculous. Harry kept provoking Richard, and the two young men finally competed in public. As a result, Harry lost miserably and even his pants fell off. The comrades who came from the legion were unconvinced and challenged Richard in turn, but failed without exception. Only Bottom refused Richard's invitation to fight. At that time, he thought Richard had mastered the Heart of the Mirror.
Bottom's choice to avoid fighting can be said to have changed the mentality of all members of the adventure group, and also changed everyone's destiny.
After so many years, Richard and Ina have long since turned into clay and returned to the embrace of Mother Earth. Bottom didn't expect that Harry was still worried about this. He came to Harry to discuss things, not because he wanted to hear the other person recall the past.
Bottom felt speechless, picked up a knife prepared in advance, and quickly tapped an intact oak wine glass. The oak wine glass cracked in half.
Harry looked up suddenly and said in surprise: "Head, what are you..."
Red Lion Bottom laughed and said, "We have been retired for more than ten years. I have nothing to do and am also studying sword skills." As he said that, he picked up two oak cups, looked at them carefully for a moment, and sighed, He handed the cup to Harry and said dejectedly: "I have been studying swordsmanship for more than ten years, but I can't compare to a little guy who hasn't grown a beard yet."
Harry checked the cross-sections of the two oak cups and found that one was cracked, while the other had a smooth cross-section. Someone had used a sharp tool to cut it all the way to the bottom.
Harry didn't know why Bottom wanted to practice fancy swordsmanship, and he didn't know how to comfort him. He said dryly: "Boss, it's not easy for you to do this sword. It didn't take much effort, and the blade just touched it. The cup cracked..."
Bottom shook his head and said solemnly: "On the battlefield, the army has reasons why it cannot retreat and fight to the end, but adventurers are different from the army. Adventurers try to avoid fighting. If they have to fight, then they have to use any means. , bringing the characteristics to their limit. Adventurers’ battles are more complex and dangerous than military battles. No one knows who will win or lose until the last moment of life and death.”
"At the beginning, when we first encountered the Orc Bone Collector, we had not yet transformed from legion warriors to adventurers. In fact, we cannot blame Richard for that fiasco. Even without him, we would have to pay the price of blood to complete the transformation from legion warriors to adventurers. The transformation into an adventurer.”
"You have to know that we all encouraged us to storm the Bone Collector's camp and rob the treasures they collected, because storming is the legion's method we are most familiar with! Richard just gave the old regiment leader the courage to agree to the storm."
"Head, you..." Harry hesitated.
Bottom waved his hand and continued: "More than ten years ago, I realized that my career path had come to an end, and there was no possibility of progress. I just thought about Richard's set of things, hoping to Master the 'Heart of the Mirror' by honing your swordsmanship skills... I often think that if we had met Richard two years later, with his persistent pursuit of the realm of swordsmanship, we might have successfully mastered the 'Heart of the Mirror'."
The hotel owner said this, which is tantamount to admitting that honing sword skills is a way to master the heart of the mirror.
"However, Richard did not die unjustly." Bottom suddenly changed the topic and said: "He was a commoner without awakening expertise. He did not go to work and exhausted his family property in order to practice swordsmanship. In the end, he just wanted to make a living. , he joined the adventure group without any adventure experience. It would be a surprise if he could survive."
Harry said happily: "That is, a commoner without awakening qualifications should sell himself to a famous family as a slave. Maybe there will be a chance to become a follower in the future... What kind of adventurer should he be?"
Bottom's eyes lit up and he asked with a smile: "Do you also think that selling yourself as a servant of a famous family is better than being an adventurer?"
"Aren't all people in the city-state like this? People with some ability first find a way to get into a famous family, and then they run to become adventurers if the famous family refuses." Harry looked at Bottom and asked suspiciously: "Boss, what are you doing today? What's wrong? The whole person feels weird..."
"I was scared by Vertok." Bottom said truthfully: "I thought he didn't know how to use a scimitar, but he actually used the scimitar to use the whipping technique. The edge of the knife cut open the cup without touching the surface of the bar."
Harry was horrified and tried to ask: "Is he a strong 'Jingxin' person?"
Bottom shook his head and said: "Maybe, maybe not. In short, his swordsmanship has reached its peak and is not inferior to Richard's back then. What kind of person do you know who can delve into swordsmanship?"
"The people who have enough to eat every day and have nothing to do...are the people from the famous families in the highlands."
Harry hesitated and said: "Cole said that Wiltok was not a son of a famous family."
Bottom was silent for a moment and said, "Yes or no, I'm here to discuss it with you today. What do you think about us making Vertok one of our own?"
Harry was shocked and asked hurriedly: "Boss, you won't regret the things we agreed on, right?"
Bottom glared and asked sadly: "What do you regret? Regret selling Wiltok? Do you know how much treasure we have accumulated? So much that I tossed and turned at night and couldn't sleep. But I still Asking Sarah to take care of Vertok is to tell others that the Adventurer's House needs a big share of the fat meat of Vertok! Because we can't show any weakness, even if I don't care about the benefits brought by Vertok at all , otherwise a pack of hungry wolves will pounce on us and eat us right down to our skin and bones.”
Harry was silent for a long time, and then said: "We also have Sister Sarah... We have a good relationship with Master Gangyan."
The Red Lion Bottom laughed angrily, hit Harry on the head with his pipe, and said angrily: "Open your eyes and see, who of those young boys can stand up to the situation we have worked so hard to manage? By the way. , and Gang Yan, he is a member of the Taku tribe who worships the Earth Mother. He is like a lion guarding the territory and abides by the Earth Mother's ways of the weak eating the strong. Whoever takes charge of Bolang Town will be the same to both the Taku tribe and the Hemo tribe. "
"Even if we are willing to abandon Braun Town and return to the main city to buy land for retirement, there will still be people who smell the smell of treasure and come after us. Unless they know that touching retired old guys like us will definitely lead to brutal revenge!"
"At this point today, we cannot live without power."
Bottom bit his pipe and said slowly: "The factions of the famous highland families in the main city are complex and the struggle is fierce. If we join any faction, we will be regarded as enemies by the other faction. Moreover, we have treasures that the famous families want, but no famous families value us. Talent. I’m worried about giving away my treasure, joining a famous faction, and being treated as an outcast in the end.”
"There is someone who understands my troubles."
"Who?" Harry asked curiously.
"Vertok's sister, Lina."
Bottom thought to himself: "That woman is really powerful. She knew our situation well, so she entrusted Wiltok to me. And Wiltok changed my mind with a casual sword... She was planning to recruit our group. Is the power used by her?"
The Red Lion Bottom shook his head, gathered his divergent thoughts, and said to Harry: "Whether Wiltok is a famous nobleman in trouble or someone else, in short, he has talent and a future, and he has lost his memory now. , it is a good opportunity to develop a deep relationship with him. His sister Lina saw this, so she safely handed him over to us. Use your rusty brain and think carefully about whether you should recruit Weir Tok, or follow him as a servant in the future?"
"This is a gamble related to our destiny... So, don't worry, think about it while you're at it, think it through and then tell me. I will talk to the other old guys one by one."
