Chapter 25: Sword Technique · Tier Town

A numbing sensation surged into Potts’s body from the wound on his chest like a tide. Even the leg wound that had been suppressed by [Power Burst] began to flare up at this moment!

Clang!

The sound of a longsword being unsheathed clearly reached Potts’s ears. He looked at Dean, who had drawn his longsword, and ignored the toxin beginning to erupt in his body. Instead, he charged straight toward Dean. He was confident that he could kill his opponent before the poison took full effect; after all, he was a Knight, while the other was just a trick-playing minor Noble.

“Hah!”

With this thought in mind, Potts, shouting even louder than before, used his most power ful technique—a technique he had kept deeply hidden. This was because the technique did not come from the Emerald Kingdom, but from that emerging Kingdom: City.

As a former deserter of City, Potts might have forgotten his honor, but he had not forgotten the techniques learned in that Military Camp which seemed like Hell. He even practiced them secretly in the dead of night, because Potts considered this his trump card!

Within the borders of the Emerald Kingdom, few were familiar with City’s sword techniques. Once used, it would surely form a killing stance. In fact, Potts was able to rise to the position of Ferrchelen Knight Order Regiment Commander not only because of the Knight Talent [Power Burst], but also by relying on this technique.

Even during raids, it was by relying on this technique that he was able to kill two caravan guards whose Strength was no less than his. He still remembered the look in their eyes before they died, unable to rest in peace.

And now, he used this technique, naturally intending to make his final strike foolproof. The muscle swelling sensation brought by [Power Burst] was disappearing!

“Die!”

With a face twisted into a ferocious expression, Potts held his longsword in his left hand, placing it upside down at his right waist. Then, when he rushed in front of Dean to a position where the blade could exert its maximum power, Potts’s left hand suddenly swung upward from below.

Whoosh!

A thin blade wind appeared on the edge of the sword, even striking a tree trunk over a dozen feet away and cutting a shallow mark. This was undoubtedly a sword strike of immense power.

However, such a strike missed!

Potts looked in disbelief at the wound on his left leg. He turned his body with difficulty and looked at Dean standing on his left side, asking in a murmur, “How did you know? This is City’s Sword Technique?”

Dean remained silent; he had no obligation to answer an enemy’s question. Did he need to tell the other party that in the future, he had encountered and assassinated more than one expert in City’s Sword Technique?

That was, of course, impossible!

Dean had sworn to keep this secret buried in his stomach and would not tell anyone.

However, this did not make Dean deny the power of City’s Sword Technique. Compared to the dexterous Emerald Sword Technique, City’s Sword Technique was undoubtedly sharper and more invincible, without losing adaptability. Just like the strike Potts had unleashed earlier, it was actually not a complete move, but only half a move!

When everyone saw someone holding a longsword upside down at their waist, they would subconsciously think the next move would be a horizontal slash. But City’s Sword Technique did the opposite: not a horizontal slash, but a vertical slash, and two consecutive vertical slashes at that—one reverse-hand vertical slash rising from the waist, followed immediately by a forehand downward vertical slash.

Therefore, when one mistakenly thought it was a horizontal slash and retreated, one would definitely not fall into a hopeless situation.

Let alone a large difference in Strength, even if the Strength were equal, one would definitely be severely injured. Even if Dean had not instantly activated the [Emerald Sword Technique] state, and the longsword in his hand had not received the enhancement of the Skill [Cold Weapon (Sword/Hammer/Spear)], gaining a temporary bonus of +0.3 Agility and +0.1 Strength, and if Potts had not been using his right hand, and his original leg injury hadn’t made movement difficult, and the numbing effect of the poison hadn’t appeared, then even if Dean knew the opponent’s following moves, it would have been useless.

After all, a complete set of techniques is definitely not composed of just one or two moves.

Constant improvement is for dealing with those sudden situations. However, it was obvious that Potts had no use for it now. With [Power Burst] fading and the toxin erupting, after Dean pierced his throat with a sword, he immediately fell to the ground, twitched a few times, and moved no more.

[XP+20]

An experience orb a full size smaller than the one for shooting the Snow Bear floated into Dean’s body. According to Dean’s memory, a normal Knight was worth 20-25 experience. Combined with their current gap, obtaining a quarter to a third more experience would be no problem.

In other words, he should have gained at least 25-31 experience, or 26-33 if it was a bit more.

And now, only 20 experience was given, which was undoubtedly due to the palm strike from the Snow Bear earlier. Dean did not regret this; on the contrary, he was full of gratitude. If that Snow Bear hadn’t completely ruined Potts’s right arm, the situation might be very different now.

Creak, creak!

Dean’s boots stepped on the thick snow, making such sounds. He stood before the unconscious Ryder and, without the slightest hesitation, swung his longsword.

[XP+3]

The sword light flashed, and after contributing 3 experience points, the other party followed in the footsteps of the other formal members of the Ferrchelen Knight Order.

[XP: 67]

Looking at the total experience, and seeing that skills including [Military Organization], [Armor Application], [Riding], and [Swimming], as well as [Ranged Weapon (Bow/Crossbow)], could still be upgraded, Dean did not choose to invest his experience points immediately. Because skills had the characteristic of ‘Profession Level +1’, after completing the Warrior’s main basic skills and applied skills, Dean chose to temporarily save his experience points to raise the [Warrior] profession to Lv2.

Among all skills, because he had spent nearly a continuous month on horseback, the skill [Riding] had also reached [Lv1: 3/10].

[Warrior Lv1: 0/88]

Glancing at the experience points needed for the Warrior, calculating the gap, Dean quickly cleaned up the Battlefield. After all, according to his original plan, there was a more important thing to do after daybreak!

…

The morning of Tier Town was hazy in a mist of snow. Unless the Sun rose to the top of the head, this snow mist would not disperse. However, the people of Tier Town could not wait until then. At the entrance of the small town, not only were the men of Tier Town gathering, but men from the other four villages belonging to the Tier Territory were also rubbing their fists in preparation. The older ones sat together studying the maps in their hands, determining the route into the forest, while the younger ones checked their Longbows, hunting knives, and bundles of arrows.

Of course, the women were not idle either. Bags of baked dry food and Strong Liquor were placed in the travel bags of their husbands or sons. From time to time, they gave instructions regarding safety.

In a place further away, the people standing there presented a different scene. Their clothes were noticeably better, even mixed with one or two people wearing furs. Their faces habitually bore smiles, and they conversed quite politely; however, the looks they cast at the people around them from time to time all carried a hint of vigilance.

And when they saw more people appearing at the town entrance, this trace of vigilance became even heavier.

Dean, having changed into similar attire, mingled at the town entrance. He clearly felt this vigilance. Regarding this, Dean could only secretly shrug his shoulders, expressing his innocence.

Winter in the Tier Territory began in late October every year. The entire period from November to May of the following year was winter. A winter lasting seven months was somewhat unimaginable for people outside the Tier Territory, but the people of the Tier Territory had long been used to it. Even the people of the Tier Territory who had lived here for generations had made a more detailed plan for the entire winter.

In October, snow would appear in the Tier Territory; however, the truly continuous heavy snow days would not appear until mid-to-late November. Therefore, many people in the Tier Territory would enter the Snowplains Dense Forest before the real heavy snow sealed the forest to hunt for the last prey of the year. Of course, this time was also the last moment for merchants from Vauban County to gather in the Tier Territory.

Hunters used the furs obtained from hunting to exchange for winter necessities with merchants, while merchants used the obtained furs to transport to Vauban City in exchange for higher returns.

However, competition existed everywhere!

Dean perfunctorily dealt with the merchants beside him without leaving a trace, putting on a cautious appearance. Therefore, very soon, the merchants standing beside Dean turned their attention to other competitors. After all, in their view, Dean was the kind of opponent easiest to deal with.

Facing such an opponent, they wouldn’t even need many tactics; a little intimidation would probably get them what they wanted.

As for those tougher opponents who couldn’t be scared away?

The Tier Territory was not a comfortable haven. Bordering the Snowplains Dense Forest, this place not only had many beasts, but also more bandits and Barbarian tribes.

The number of merchants who went missing every year was not just one or two.

That deceased Ferrchelen Knight Order Regiment Commander was able to disguise himself as a bandit and succeed repeatedly without being suspected; it was absolutely not without reason.