“How Dare you defy me?!”
The Heavy Cavalry Knight immediately maneuvered his steed to stand before Tyler, raising his long-handled battle hammer towards Tyler’s head.
Tyler, unfazed, returned the stare squarely.
Such an assertive demeanor seemed incongruous with Tyler’s usual sly and understated manner. Indeed, this was an intentional ploy by Tyler.
After discerning the Heavy Cavalry Knight’s intentions through his mind-reading ability, Tyler decided to probe the character of this “Emerald City Cavalry Unit · First Cavalry Unit · Captain”.
If he proved to be a man of no worth, he would be disposed of accordingly, but if he was a man of substance, Tyler would leave him an avenue for survival.
“I’ve already made it clear, I’m busy. I need to head back for my meal!”
Tyler disregarded the Cavalry Knight’s intimidation and skirted around him, continuing on his way.
At this point, the Knight rummaged in his bag and tossed something towards Tyler.
“Then eat here. I haven’t eaten either. We’ll eat together, and then you can guide me!”
What the Heavy Cavalry Knight tossed to Tyler was a white bread roll. He then took one for himself, sitting astride his warhorse and lifting his helmet, ready to eat.
Tyler looked at the white bread roll in his hand, aware that this was not something a commoner could afford. Regardless of the cost, white bread rolls were in such high demand that they were only enjoyed by the upper classes.
Seeing the boy’s hesitation, the Heavy Cavalry Knight tossed a silver coin towards him.
“What are you afraid of? I won’t shortchange you for guiding me. Eat quickly, don’t waste my time!”
Tyler chuckled, pocketed the silver coin, took a bite of the bread roll, and indeed, it was far tastier than the regular black bread roll which was as hard as a brick.
·
“You, lad, you have no idea who I am, do you?”
The Heavy Cavalry Knight began to strike up a conversation with Tyler as he chewed on his bread.
“No idea, who are you?” Tyler asked, feigning ignorance.
“Hahaha! I knew it! No wonder you’re so brash, even daring to refuse a knight’s command.”
The Heavy Cavalry Knight burst into laughter, and then began to enlighten this ignorant boy wrapped in a tattered cloak.
“You better remember, I am the captain of the first cavalry unit of the Emerald City Cavalry Unit, Sir Garvit! You common people need to comply obediently when you see us, understood?”
“Why should we? Are you a noble?”
The boy’s question left Garvit momentarily speechless, as the boy had accurately pinpointed Garvit’s lack of noble lineage.
“Er, I… I may not exactly be a noble, but I am quasi-noble! In any case, I am a class above you commoners!”
Garvit managed to bluster his way through, relieved when the boy did not press further.
“Oh, alright. Since you’ve paid, where do you want me to guide you to?”
“Take me to the Poison Blade Rat King. According to your Quest Guild’s report, it’s in a forest called Sun… something.”
“The Sunny Forest?”
“Yes, yes, that’s the one!”
It was at this point that Tyler realized why Garvit wanted to hunt the Poison Blade Rat King; it was a request from the Quest Guild.
However, something puzzled Tyler. Why was the Emerald City Cavalry Unit, not the Emerald City’s Quest Guild’s bounty hunters, providing the assistance?
It wasn’t the right moment to raise this question, so Tyler set it aside and asked another one.
“Uncle Garvit, are you… planning to take down the Poison Blade Rat King alone?”
“Yes, that’s precisely why I’m here. Also, don’t call me Uncle Garvit, call me Captain!”
When it came to the purpose of his visit, Garvit spoke eloquently.
“I heard that your Sunny Town’s Quest Guild has suffered a serious blow, and the Poison Blade Rat King is lurking nearby. It’s a critical time of survival, and I can’t just stand by.”
“Er, but why didn’t your cavalry unit come along?”
“I alone am enough. There’s no need to mobilize a whole unit. You commoners wouldn’t understand, you like making a big fuss, hmph!” 𝒪𝗏𝒍xt.𝐜𝒐𝓶
Garvit seemed to be hiding something, but Tyler didn’t detect anything from his inner thoughts. This man, brash and boisterous on the outside, was surprisingly reticent and quiet within.
“Alright, we’ve had our meal. Let’s set off. You know where the forest is, right?”
“Yes, I do. Follow me.”
.
After a few minutes of interaction, Tyler had essentially understood this knight named Garvit.
This man was prone to arrogance, impatience, carelessness, and deeply ingrained class consciousness. Nevertheless, he was fundamentally decent, straightforward in words and deeds, and had a certain degree of competency.
From the moment he first saw him, Tyler, using mind-reading, knew that he was here to exterminate the Poison Blade Rat King.
At that time, Tyler thought that if he were “hell-bent” on his own destruction, he would oblige him. If there was a chance of salvation, he would help, depending on the circumstances—because this would be of “benefit” to Tyler.
The “benefit” was not about white breads and silver coins, but the chance for Tyler to observe the fighting styles of other professions.
For Tyler, this was the truly valuable thing.
·
On the way to the Sunny Forest with Garvit, Tyler took the opportunity to assess Garvit’s warhorse and equipment.
Garvit’s warhorse was tall and large, with a size one round bigger than Moto-chan.
Consequently, its attributes were about 20% more than Moto-chan’s, which made Tyler understand that powerful natural creatures were not inferior to lower-level monsters.
Nevertheless, Moto-chan was only at level three, making Tyler look forward to whether its appearance would change as its level increased.
And after breaking through the level bottlenecks of 20, 50, etc., would Moto-chan welcome evolution.
After looking at the warhorse, Tyler began to examine Garvit’s equipment, which turned out to be a complete “set”.
━━━━━━━━━
“Silver Heavy Helmet”:
Strength +10, Dexterity -1;
When the head is attacked, it can absorb 40 points of damage. If a single head injury exceeds 800 points, it will be destroyed;
·
“Silver Heavy Armor”:
Strength +20, Dexterity -5;
When the torso is attacked, it can absorb 80 points of damage. If a single torso injury exceeds 1600 points, it will be destroyed;
·
“Silver Heavy Boots”:
Strength +5, Dexterity -1;
When the legs are attacked, it can absorb 40 points of damage. If a single leg injury exceeds 800 points, it will be destroyed.
·
“Silver Edged Large Shield”:
Strength +10, Dexterity -2;
It can withstand a maximum of 2000 points of single damage, piercing resistance +5;
━━━━━━━━━
After examining Garvit’s equipment, Tyler learned new knowledge.
Tyler remembers that Albert’s fine silver chainmail was labeled with the damage type “physical,” while none of the equipment on Garvit was marked with damage types.
This means that his equipment can reduce both physical and magical damage.
(Is it the special properties of silver? But silver is so soft, should it be mixed with other metals?)
In addition to this, Garvit’s equipment also introduced Tyler to a new concept called “set effect.”
Each of Garvit’s equipment shows:
“Set Effect · Silver Heavy Defence (4/4)”: Reduce the damage received by 10%, and then calculate according to the equipment effect of the actual hit part.
(This is just like a RPG game…)
Tyler murmured in his heart, and then they had already arrived at the Sunny Forest.
Even on the periphery, Tyler could smell the unique stench of the rotting black rat group.