Chapter 2: Ambush
Xia Nan was a farmer, and dealing with the golden wheat in the fields was his main job.
The so-called 'adventures' that often only appeared in the mouths of bards and village elders might never have anything to do with him in his lifetime.
But at this moment, being able to sit in this simple camp as a member of the 'Stinking Fish and Rotten Shrimp' team, Xia Nan naturally had his own outstanding qualities.
According to the memories left by his previous self, the earliest the matter could be traced back was five years ago, when he was thirteen.
At that time, his previous self's family had hosted a down-and-out bard.
Besides performing tricks in front of the village children, opening the door to a fantasy world for the young Xia Nan.
Thanks to his previous self's mother's notoriously stingy nature, known throughout the ten-mile radius.
When the bard left the village, he even had to leave them a page from a skill book.
Calling it a 'book' was actually a bit of a stretch.
From its appearance, it was actually just half a page of paper recording a certain training technique.
But no matter what, it was, after all, once part of a genuine professional skill book.
The whole family treated it like a treasure.
Even the youngest daughter in the family, 'Beatrice', who was only seven at the time, practiced with it for a while.
It was a pity, perhaps that half page of the skill book was just waste paper the bard hastily wrote to get away, or perhaps none of their family had any related talent.
More than half a year passed, and not a single person made significant progress.
Coupled with the king's tax increase and busy farm work, the matter was eventually dropped.
It was also because his previous self had a straightforward personality, and the tricks the bard performed back then left too deep an impression on him.
So even during the busy autumn harvest when he was too tired to straighten his back, he would still, after a full day of hard labor, push through his almost collapsed body and swing the simple wooden sword he had planed and crafted over three days at the straw on the field ridge.
Just like that, day after day, year after year, he broke countless wooden swords.
No one knew where this farm boy got his perseverance; he didn't even rest for a single day, as if swinging his sword had become a part of his life.
Finally, on a certain afternoon three months ago.
When Xia Nan, just like the thousands of days and nights before, was swinging his wooden sword at the scarecrow he had made on the field ridge near his home.
It was a wonderful feeling he had never experienced before.
An inexplicable power suddenly surged from his legs, firmly planted in the mud, and traveled upward.
His back, chest, abdomen, arms... finally transmitted through his fingertips to the wooden sword in his hand.
It was as if all the strength and concentration in his entire body were twisted into a single point in an instant, pouring out in a flash.
Buzz—
The broken wooden sword spun and fell to the ground, and tiny, scattered grass clippings flew wildly in the air.
The scarecrow, split in two, slowly fell.
The cut was clean.
【Spinning Slash】
At that moment, Xia Nan knew its name.
...
Xia Nan had completely mastered the technique that only 'Knight Lords' could use.
The subsequent developments were then logical.
An ordinary farmer's family whose entire assets amounted to no more than a mill and a few small fields.
Raising three sons and a young daughter.
Among them, the eldest and second sons happened to reach the age for starting a family and a career.
Naturally, the struggle for the pitifully small inheritance rights began, both openly and secretly.
From the distribution of profits from the mill to the usage time of the kitchen stove...
All sorts of trivial quarrels and disputes filled almost every inch of air in that small wooden hut.
Watching his two respected elder brothers argue fiercely over a single candle made his previous self, who had just come of age, feel deep suspicion.
He also thought that in another two years, when he reached the age to start a family, this kind of thing would happen to him again.
Xia Nan couldn't help but want to retreat.
Coincidentally, having learned the professional skill 【Whirlwind Slash】, driven by the recklessness and spirit unique to young people.
His previous self registered his name at the Adventurers' Association in a nearby town, and then joined the 'Stinking Fish and Rotten Shrimp' team.
"Sigh..."
Recalling his previous self's rash actions, Xia Nan couldn't help but sigh.
When he transmigrated to this world, his previous self was already in the team.
And by the time he groggily absorbed the memories and realized what he was doing, he had already entered the Thin Mist Forest with the team, leaving no chance to turn back.
Since things had come to this, complaining would only add to internal friction.
Lowering his head, he wiped the blade on his knee with a cotton cloth.
Speaking of which, although the two elder brothers of this body were deeply embroiled in property disputes, they were extremely good to their younger brother.
This one-handed sword was put together for him by his two elder brothers using their respective savings.
His previous self cherished it immensely and often maintained it.
So much so that even though it was long past its prime, the blade still maintained a considerable sharpness.
Perhaps it could still endure a few tough battles?
"Hey, kid?"
Perhaps Xia Nan's prolonged silence made Captain Maji mistakenly think he was too nervous, so he opened his mouth to comfort him:
"There's nothing to be afraid of, just a few Goblin."
"Things like these, two or three of them, can't even beat the stray dogs in town."
Xia Nan didn't speak, just grinned at the Hunter, indicating he was fine.
Nervous?
Of course there was.
After all, this was his first time going on an adventure as an 'Adventurer'.
The 'Glorious Achievements' on the one-handed sword's stats panel were left by the sword's previous owners and had nothing to do with him.
And the fact that this battle-hardened longsword ended up in his hands perhaps, to some extent, foreshadowed the fate of its previous masters.
Whoosh—
A chill brushed past Xia Nan's neck, making him shiver.
The Thin Mist Forest was just like its name suggested.
Even during the fierce midday sun, a faint layer of mist always permeated the air.
Not to mention that the sun had already set, and the thin moonlight had almost merged with the mist, making visibility extremely low.
Even sitting by the campfire, he could only barely make out the blurry outlines of the surrounding weeds and bushes.
"Farm boy, first time in the Thin Mist Forest?"
A slightly smiling voice sounded by his ear.
Looking over, he saw the gnome Aier Ji on the other side of the camp, about five or six meters away, looking at him with a teasing expression.
"You've been here many times?" Xia Nan nodded and replied.
"Of course!"
As if he was just waiting for him to say that, Aier Ji immediately became animated.
"You wouldn't know, I have a distant cousin who was an attendant for a spellcaster for two years. Tsk, that was a big shot who genuinely graduated from the Huosuo En Royal Academy and was registered with the spellcasters' Association!"
"Hey, you haven't even heard of the Huosuo En Royal Academy, have you? Let me tell you—"
His voice abruptly stopped.
Even with a bit of bragging mixed in, Xia Nan was still very interested in the gnome's topic.
Having just transmigrated to this world, anything involving supernatural power held an extraordinary attraction for him.
However, at least for today, he probably wouldn't get any more information about the 'Huosuo En Royal Academy'.
Because just a second ago, Xia Nan personally watched a crooked wooden club embedded with many iron nails stir the mist and emerge from the darkness behind Aier Ji's head.
Then it swung down violently, smashing directly onto the gnome's cheerful face, which was full of enthusiasm.
The rusty red metal spikes instantly pierced through the fragile skin and flesh on the side of the opponent's head.
Like a watermelon accidentally dropped on the ground, dazzling blood mixed with some kind of nauseating white viscous liquid splattered from the wound.
"ENEMY ATTACK!!!!!!!!!!!"
