Chapter 2: Raid

Xia Nan is a farmer; dealing with the golden wheat in the fields is his true profession.

Those so-called "adventures" that only ever appear in the mouths of bards and village elders were things that, perhaps, would never have anything to do with him in his entire life.

But at this very moment, being able to sit in this crude campsite as a member of the "Stinking Fish and Rotten Shrimp" squad, Xia Nan naturally has his own extraordinary qualities.

According to the memories left behind by his predecessor, the matter can be traced back to five years ago, when he was thirteen years old.

At that time, his predecessor’s family had hosted a down-and-out bard.

Beyond performing tricks in front of the village children and opening the door to a fantasy world for the young Xia Nan, there was another factor.

Thanks to his predecessor’s mother’s stingy nature—a personality trait famous for ten miles around, known for plucking a feather from every passing goose—the bard was forced to leave behind a page of a skill book when he departed the village.

Calling it a "book" was, in truth, a bit of a stretch.

In terms of appearance, it was actually just half a page of paper recording some kind of training technique.

But regardless, it had, after all, once been a component of a genuine professional skill book.

The whole family treated it like a precious treasure.

Even the youngest daughter in the family, Beatrice, who was only seven at the time, practiced it for a while.

It was just a pity that perhaps that half-page of skills was merely waste paper the bard had scribbled down randomly to escape, or perhaps their family simply lacked any talent related to it.

Over half a year passed, and not a single person made any noticeable progress.

Coupled with the King’s tax hikes and the busy farming season, the matter was eventually left unsettled.

It was also because his predecessor had a straightforward temperament, and the tricks the bard had displayed left too deep an impression on him.

So, even during the autumn harvest when he was so busy he couldn't straighten his back, he would still, after finishing a full day of hard labor, stand on the ridges of the fields with a body that felt like it was about to collapse, swinging a crude wooden sword he had spent three days carving at a straw dummy.

Just like that, day after day, year after year, he had even swung until he broke countless wooden swords.

No one knew where this farm boy got such perseverance; he hadn't rested for even a single day, as if swinging the sword had become a part of his life.

Finally, on an afternoon three months ago.

When Xia Nan was swinging his wooden sword at the straw dummy he had fashioned near his home, just as he had for those thousands of days and nights before.

It was a marvelous sensation he had never experienced before.

An inexplicable force surged suddenly from his legs, which were firmly planted in the mud, traveling all the way up.

His waist, his chest and abdomen, his arms... and finally, it flowed through his fingertips into the wooden sword in his hand.

It felt as if all the strength in his body and his entire focus were twisted into a single point in an instant, pouring out in a flash.

*Hum—*

The broken wooden sword spun as it fell to the ground, and fine, messy straw debris danced wantonly in the air.

The straw dummy, split in two, slowly toppled over.

The cut was clean.

【Spinning Slash】

In that moment, Xia Nan knew its name.

...

Xia Nan had completely mastered the technique that only "Knight Lords" could employ.

What followed was a logical progression of events.

An ordinary farming family, whose total assets consisted of nothing more than a mill and a few thin plots of land.

Raising three sons and one little daughter.

The eldest and second eldest happened to be at the age to marry and establish their own households.

Naturally, the struggle for the inheritance of that pitifully small family property began, both openly and in secret.

From the distribution of profits from the mill to the usage time of the kitchen stove...

All sorts of petty, infuriating arguments and disputes filled every inch of air in that small wooden house.

Watching his two respected older brothers bickering endlessly over a single candle left his predecessor, who had only just reached adulthood, feeling deeply disillusioned.

Thinking that in two years, when he reached the age to marry, this same thing would happen to him, Xia Nan couldn't help but feel the urge to retreat.

Coincidentally, having learned the professional skill 【Spinning Slash】, and driven by the recklessness and spirit unique to a youth.

His predecessor registered his name at the Adventurers' Guild in a nearby town and subsequently joined the "Stinking Fish and Rotten Shrimp" squad.

"Sigh..."

Recalling his predecessor's rash actions, Xia Nan couldn't help but sigh.

When he transmigrated into this world, his predecessor was already in the squad.

And by the time he had groggily absorbed the memories and realized what he was doing, he had already entered the Mist Forest with the squad, leaving no chance to turn back.

Since things had reached this point, complaining would only increase his internal friction.

Lowering his head, he wiped the blade on his knee with a cotton cloth again.

Come to think of it, although his two brothers were deeply mired in the family property dispute, they were exceptionally good to him, their youngest brother.

This single-handed sword was something his two brothers had pooled their respective savings together to buy for him.

His predecessor had cherished it immensely and maintained it often.

So much so that even though it was long past its prime, the blade still maintained a considerable degree of sharpness.

Perhaps, it could still survive a few tough battles?

"Hey, kid?"

Perhaps it was Xia Nan's prolonged silence that led the captain, Maji, to mistakenly believe he was too nervous, so he spoke up to comfort him

"Nothing to be afraid of, just a few goblins."

"Things like these, two or three of them, aren't even a match for the stray dogs in town."

Xia Nan didn't speak; he just grinned at the hunter, signaling that he was fine.

Nervous?

Of course he was.

After all, this was his first time venturing out as an "adventurer."

The "glorious record" on the single-handed sword's attribute panel was left by its previous owners and had nothing to do with him.

And the fact that this battle-hardened longsword had ended up in his hands perhaps, to some extent, foreshadowed the fate of its previous owners.

*Whoosh—*

A chill brushed against the back of Xia Nan's neck, making him shiver.

The Mist Forest was just as its name suggested.

Even at high noon when the sun was fierce, a thin 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, resulting in extremely low visibility.

Even sitting by the campfire, he could barely make out the blurry outlines of the surrounding weeds and shrubs.

"Farm boy, first time in the Mist Forest?"

A slightly amused voice rang in his ear.

Looking over, he saw the gnome, Erki, looking at him with a teasing expression from about five or six meters away on the other side of the camp.

"Have you been here many times?" Xia Nan nodded and replied.

"Of course!"

As if waiting for him to ask, Erki immediately became animated.

"You wouldn't know, I have a distant cousin who once served as an attendant for an Arcanist for two years. Tsk, that was a real big shot who graduated from the Hawthorne Royal Academy and was registered with the Spellcasters' Association!"

"Hey, you haven't even heard of Hawthorne Royal Academy, have you? Let me tell you—"

The voice stopped abruptly.

Even if there was a bit of bragging involved, Xia Nan was still very interested in the gnome's topic.

Having just transmigrated into this world, anything involving supernatural power held an extraordinary attraction for him.

However, at least for today, he would likely not get any more information about "Hawthorne Royal Academy."

Because just a second ago, Xia Nan watched with his own eyes as a crooked wooden club embedded with many iron nails stirred the mist and emerged from the darkness behind Erki's head.

Then, it swung down violently, smashing squarely into the gnome's face, which had been brimming with such immense enthusiasm.

The rusty red metal spikes instantly pierced through the fragile flesh on the side of the gnome's head.

Like a watermelon accidentally dropped on the ground, blinding blood mixed with some kind of nauseating white viscous fluid splattered out from the wound.

"ENEMY ATTACK!!!!!!!!!!!"