novellhall Chapter 2 What on earth is this guy talking about?
Chapter 2 What on earth is this guy talking about?
"Combined!"
As Rhodes confirmed the fusion, the previously gray system panel instantly lit up.
[Loading materials... Swift Ranger has logged in]
"Huh?!"
Before Alina could react, she felt a powerful suction force pull her over, and then her whole body turned into countless cyan-gold light spots, spreading from Rhode's arm to his entire body.
Om-! ! !
A violent whirlwind suddenly rose around the two of them, bending the weeds and kicking up dust. The goblins that had surrounded them were forced to retreat by the sudden gust of wind, their turbid eyes filled with terror, emitting frantic, gurgling cries.
In the blink of an eye, as the gust of wind dissipated, Rhodes' appearance had been completely transformed.
The drab, gray cloth clothes had vanished, replaced by a sleek, dark blue leather armor that covered his entire body, its tight lines accentuating his tall and upright figure.
The edges of the light armor were adorned with flowing dark gold lines, and the shawl at the back of the shoulders draped down like wings, fluttering in the breeze and creating a clean, sharp arc.
Despite having an extra set of equipment, there was no feeling of heaviness or sluggishness in movement; instead, an unprecedented lightness and agility permeated the entire body.
[Career loading successful]
[Current Combination: Swift Ranger (Best Pairing)]
[Fusing Material: Elina (Half-Elf), Material Compatibility: High, Material Condition: Poor]
[Resonance Level: 15%, Job Skills Unlocked (Expand to View)]
[Note: The combination will automatically disengage if the resonance level drops below 10%]
"What... what's going on?!"
Alina's helpless voice rang out as she anxiously and curiously surveyed the empty, unfamiliar place, asking the man who had caused all of this.
"You are in my consciousness space; this is our combined form."
Rhodes clenched his fist, feeling a mysterious power flowing through his body. His senses overlapped with those of the other person inside him, as if a thread connected him to Alina.
The wind's path, the scent of grass and trees, and even the girl's bewildered and timid emotions can all be clearly perceived.
The world is still the same world, but because of each other's existence, we see completely different scenery.
The contract is now complete.
From that moment on, their fates became inextricably linked.
The wind gradually died down.
The surrounding goblins scattered, wondering where their two prey had gone and where the adventurer before them had come from.
They paced back and forth anxiously until the leader roared at them, which calmed them down.
"Wow!"
Faced with its intimidation, Rod's mind stirred slightly, and he spread his five fingers, and a longbow made entirely of blue crystal appeared out of thin air in his hand.
The green bow is smooth and warm to the touch, and you can feel the fine texture when you run your fingertips over it. The texture, which is neither gold nor jade, has a slightly cool and resilient feel, and is neither rough nor slippery.
The bow shimmered with a soft light, felt light and resilient in the hand, but had no bowstring or physical arrows.
"What are you doing? Before those goblins can react, hurry..." Alina anxiously reminded him that the danger was not over yet.
"I'm wondering how to use this bow?" Rhodes replied, troubled. "There's nothing here, how am I supposed to shoot it?"
At this critical moment, Alina dared not hesitate for a moment and hurriedly said, "I'll help you shoot."
The speed of communication through consciousness is much faster than normal speech. Before the goblin in front of him could react, the invisible air currents around him were commanded and quickly converged on the ranger in front of him.
At the center of the vortex, the two's thoughts intertwined. Even though he had never touched a bow and arrow before, with Alina's guidance, his body developed a certain instinct.
Weapon Mastery: Bow and Arrow Specialization (Beginner)
He stepped back with his left foot to create distance, placed his fingertips on the bowstring, and aimed at the monster in front of him. The whole process was smooth and natural, as if he had practiced it countless times.
[Class Skill: Magic Arrow (LV1)]
This was the first time Rhodes had experienced the feeling of magic surging within his body. Wind elements rapidly gathered in his palm, condensing into a cyan-gold arrow, ready to be released.
Aim, pull back fully, fire!
call out!
The arrow, trailing a bluish afterimage, hurtled straight towards the goblin leader.
"Huh?"
Those mixed yellow eyes widened slightly, and he immediately grabbed a goblin next to him and used it as a shield.
Its reaction was swift, but it still underestimated the power of the arrow.
With a "thud," the arrow pierced straight through the chest of the goblin meat shield, its momentum undiminished, and plunged into the leader's chest.
Blood splattered as the leader's massive body was flung away by the force, crashing heavily into the tree trunk. The rusty axe slipped from his hand, and he let out a painful, piercing howl, terrifying the rest of the goblins into trembling fear.
"Gah—!!"
Along with the screams, Rhodes also expressed his感慨 (gǎnkǎi, a deep sense of awe or admiration) about his own strength.
"So strong."
He was invigorated and decided to strike while the iron was hot and wipe out the goblins in one fell swoop.
He drew his bow again and aimed an arrow at the leader.
The bow glowed with a faint cyan-gold light, and the wind element gathered in the palm of the hand again. But the light flickered twice and then dimmed completely, along with the wind element dissipating completely.
Sizzle... Pfft—
"?"
"Um..." Alina's slightly apologetic voice came from the consciousness space, "I think I'm out of energy."
"No way?" Rhodes was stunned for a moment, then glanced at the system panel. "It's already done after just one shot?"
[Decreased resonance]
[Material Condition: Extremely Poor ↓]
Just now, the resonance level dropped from 15% to 11%, and the combined state of the two could be broken at any time.
Alina, already critically injured and on the verge of death, will likely not last much longer after exhausting her remaining strength.
If you can't win, then you can only run away.
Without hesitating for long, Rhodes made a decisive move and suddenly threw something straight at the goblin leader's face.
call out--
Having witnessed the power of the previous arrow, the heavily wounded goblin leader dared not underestimate its opponent again. Even as strong as it was, it was so frightened that it scrambled to avoid the sudden projectile.
By the time it finally managed to dodge and discovered it was just a pebble, the adventurer had already vanished.
"roar!"
Realizing he had been tricked, the leader roared in anger, picked up his short axe, and was about to give chase.
By this time, the other goblins finally realized what was happening and rushed forward with their leader.
That adventurer was just bluffing; he was afraid of them!
Taking advantage of this moment, Rhodes had already darted into the dense forest, with no intention of engaging them in a prolonged fight.
Although it was already dusk, the surrounding world gradually darkened, and even the rugged mountain path became eerie and terrifying, with winding vines and sharp rocks threatening to ambush any prey that was busy running for its life.
But instead of being held back by these obstacles, Rod's speed increased.
"call……"
The fleeting figure kicked up the withered leaves and left them behind.
Thanks to the Swift Ranger's passive ability, Rhodes' running speed was much faster than usual. In addition, with the night vision ability brought by Alina's half-elf racial characteristics, he could see the grass, trees and stones on the ground clearly in the dim forest at dusk.
However, there was not a trace of joy on Rhodes' face.
[Current resonance level: 10%↓]
The red warning light kept flashing before his eyes. He could clearly feel that his connection with Alina was getting weaker and weaker, and his power was gradually fading.
The combined state could be broken at any time, but the stench of goblins behind them grew stronger and stronger, making them nauseating.
"They're on the left and right...they're surrounding us!" Alina cried out urgently. "If they catch up, we're finished!"
"I know." Rhodes could only run as fast as he could towards the town, using various natural obstacles to try and shake off his opponent.
But goblins, who spend years lurking in the forest, are more familiar with the terrain than humans. Compared to the tall humans, their small bodies move through the bushes without any hindrance, and the distance between them is gradually shrinking.
Fortunately, Rhodes' speed after merging was always a little faster than theirs. If they could just hold on a little longer and enter the territory of humans, the cunning creatures like goblins would naturally retreat and leave.
Just then, the goblin leader behind him suddenly threw a short axe, which flew straight at Rhodes' head.
Rhodes instinctively turned to the side, the axe grazing his back before finally embedding itself in the tree trunk in front of him, sending splinters flying.
Just then, a nimble goblin pounced on him, trying to rip the adventurer apart with its sharp claws.
"Watch out for the one on the side!" Alina shouted a warning.
Faced with the claws rushing towards him, Rod, unable to dodge in time, could only use his bow as a staff, swinging it back to try and block the claw attack.
call--
The sharp wind from the stick sliced through the air, and the sturdy bow whipped the green-skinned monster until its skin was torn and its flesh was ripped open. It screamed and flew backward, crashing into a tree trunk and dying instantly.
"Gurgle, gurgle!"
He swiftly and decisively eliminated one goblin, but this also allowed the remaining goblins to completely surround Rhodes.
The goblins blocked the road from all sides.
Can't run away.
Rhode scanned the surrounding goblins, quickly calculating their chances of survival.
A wounded leader and four henchmen who can cooperate in battle.
With a commander in command, breaking through the encirclement of multiple goblins while harassing and ambushing is difficult.
In the past, Rod could have considered how to bury himself in a way that would allow him to die with some dignity.
However, if he can eliminate their leader first, given the goblins' tendency to bully the weak and fear the strong, the remaining monsters will most likely be scared into scattering.
"What to do, what to do..." Alina squatted in the consciousness space with her knees drawn up, no longer able to pretend to be calm.
Am I going to die here?
Is it so hard for her to just live and go back to her mother?
"I'm not willing to die like this," Rhodes's calm voice came through. "I want to live. What about you?"
"Who wouldn't want to live, but..." Thinking of the current situation, Alina felt a pang of despair. "We simply can't..."
Before she could finish speaking, Rod's voice rang out again.
"Then let's work together to defeat them," he said, holding his longbow horizontally in front of him. "We will never fall here."
He had only just figured out how to combine the two, and had not yet embarked on the true adventurer's journey, so naturally he could not stop there.
Alina pursed her lips and remained silent, but sensing Rhodes's unwavering conviction, she ultimately refrained from uttering any more discouraging words.
The previously trembling red resonance gradually stabilized and even showed signs of recovery.
[Resonance Level: 11%↑]
Just then, two goblins pounced from the left and right sides at the same time, their sharp claws carrying a foul stench, aiming straight for Rhodes' vitals.
Using the speed advantage of the Swift Ranger, Rhode nimbly dodged backward, simultaneously using his longbow to block the goblin's claw attack from the right and deflect it.
"There's another one behind!" Alina shouted a warning.
Rhodes' eyes narrowed, and he swiftly drew the short sword from his waist with his left hand. With a flash of cold light, he spun around and stabbed at the chest of the goblin that was lunging from behind.
Weapon Mastery: Short Weapon Specialization (Beginner)
With a "thud," the short knife pierced the vital spot precisely, the goblin's scream abruptly stopped, and blood splattered on the grass, sticky and foul-smelling.
He drew his short knife and deftly flicked the blood off the blade.
Before he could catch his breath, the goblin leader roared, and the remaining goblins, as if they had gone mad, launched an attack from all directions at the same time.
Rhodes dodged the two bone clubs by sidestepping, but he couldn't avoid the insidious attack from a blind spot behind him.
"Hmm!"
Rhodes groaned, a dull pain shooting through his head. He stumbled, nearly failing to block the next attack.
Although the combined leather armor could withstand some attacks, it couldn't stop heavy blows at close range. Rhode felt a wet liquid gather from his forehead, slowly dripping down his chin and splashing onto the ground, creating blood flowers.
The blood of their prey diluted the fear brought on by the death of their companions, fully unleashing the ferocity of these monsters.
They roared excitedly, their eyes filled with greed, and they charged at Rhodes with increasing ferocity.
"You're injured!" Alina paced anxiously, yet felt helpless. "Can you hold on? How can I help you?"
Rhode, feeling dizzy, grunted in response, struggling to fend off the goblins' attacks, but still managing to share his plan with Alina:
"If we can increase the resonance level, maybe we'll have a chance to take down their leader..."
As he spoke, he slashed a goblin with his backhand under pressure, but also took an extra blow.
This crazy act of exchanging injury for injury did deter the monsters to some extent, giving him a chance to catch his breath.
Upon seeing this, the goblin leader, with its cunning yellow eyes, turned its gaze around. It growled and ordered its underlings to continue the attack, while quietly retreating a few steps to the side to create some distance.
It waits until its prey is exhausted before ambushing and killing Rhodes.
"Resonance? What's that?" Alina was a little confused, but then quickly realized, "No, just tell me how to do it."
She didn't understand what Rhodes meant by resonance, but she remembered that it was Rhodes' earlier mention of "fusion" that gave them the power to fight goblins and allowed them to survive until now.
"Low resonance means we're not in sync enough," Rod said encouragingly, looking at the resonance level rising to 13%. "You have to believe we'll win, and learn to let loose."
"Huh?" Alina was stunned after hearing that.
What does "releasing oneself" mean? What part of oneself should be released?
What on earth is this guy talking about?