Chapter 198 Tidal Hunter

Xia Nan remembered it clearly.

It had been the second day after he decided to join the Sea Thorn squad, in a corner of the White Chickadee Tavern's hall.

He was recalling his very first meeting with Mint.

He vividly recalled the subtle changes in the girl's expression when Cash led him over to their table.

First was an instinctive resistance to anything new, born of her introverted nature.

As a newcomer who had only recently joined the squad, she wasn't even fully acquainted with the other two members before suddenly having another companion thrust upon her.

Feeling uncomfortable was perfectly normal.

But after that fleeting resistance came a touch of curiosity hidden deep in her eyes.

This was especially true after she saw Xia Nan's overly young face and the gear on his body, which could absolutely be considered Fine grade.

As a newcomer, she had no say in who stayed or left the squad, but she was still a proper Class Holder.

She possessed a certain level of discernment.

This was especially true given that her class was a branch under the "Druid" banner, using "Perception" as its primary spellcasting attribute.

Mint could detect the solid, condensed aura radiating from Xia Nan.

Then came the moment Cash introduced him by his nickname, "Greysword," and emphasized his outstanding strength—all while Xia Nan wore a subtle, hesitant expression.

Xia Nan took the initiative to greet her.

She had stood up in a flurry to shake his hand, blushing shyly as she stumbled through her own introduction.

Finally, when Xia Nan sat at the table and seriously discussed the mission plan with Cash and Veris...

She revealed a gradual adaptation to the squad's newest member. There were even times when she proactively chimed in with a soft voice, interacting with him.

From her initial resistance, to her subsequent curiosity and shyness, and finally to her adaptation.

It was normal. It was simply far too normal.

She almost perfectly displayed the exact shifts in expression and demeanor that an introverted rookie Spellcaster should have when facing a new team member.

It formed a stark contrast with Cash and Veris, those two "natural extroverts."

She was like a method actor with peerless skill, capable of using indirect empathy and external techniques to control her facial muscles and body posture, vividly bringing a character to life.

Yet in reality, she lacked the slightest genuine immersion. Her true self and the role she played were completely divided, existing in a state of utter detachment.

His Perception, which far exceeded that of ordinary people and even remained beyond the reach of average Class Holders, made Xia Nan constantly feel that there was something strange about this frail, slightly built girl.

He had once followed up on a topic to tentatively ask about her background and origins.

After all, a support role like hers that could balance both healing and crowd control was an incredibly sought-after prospect in the eyes of Adventurers.

Even before acquiring a Class Level, professional teams would likely have been extending olive branches to her.

Wasn't it a bit too coincidental for her to just join the Sea Thorn Squad like this?

In response to this, Cash explained that Mint had previously been following a certain Druid mentor of hers, cultivating and training deep in the forest. It was only after she became a Class Holder that she was allowed to leave and venture out.

The Sea Thorn Squad was the very first team she joined after leaving the forest.

Hmm...

It was hard to say.

While it wasn't impossible for things to be this coincidental...

If he factored in his previous odd feelings regarding Mint...

Then the situation became a bit delicate.

Xia Nan couldn't help but raise his guard, even ranking the girl's potential threat above the other two.

Even when he occasionally had to entrust his back to her during combat, he still diverted some of his attention, leaving enough reaction time to remain secretly vigilant.

"Ugh..."

Having finally broken free from Veris's embrace, Mint panted slightly, her bangs soaked with sweat.

Evidently, that kind of rapid-healing spell was not easy for her either and took quite a toll.

But even so, this frail girl in a plain robe immediately looked over at Xia Nan, who was sitting on the other side, the moment she finished her healing.

She pressed her fingers together and gestured with both hands.

It seemed she was asking if he was injured and needed any help.

Waving a hand to indicate he was in good condition, Xia Nan nodded to politely express his thanks.

He didn't say anything superfluous, maintaining his consistently cold persona. He simply drew the Decapitating Longsword once more and laid it horizontally across his knees to maintain and polish it.

At the same time, the fully healed Veris seemed to be in rather high spirits.

Stretching her smooth arm, which bore not a single lingering scar, she strode over to the wild boar's corpse on her long legs.

Right now, she was still wearing the same form-fitting leather outfit she had on when they first met in the tavern.

Previously, Xia Nan had assumed it was purely a decorative garment meant to show off her figure.

But after several days in the Misty Forest, the leather surface didn't bear a single scratch from the thorns or branches along the way.

Evidently, alongside being lightweight, it also possessed a certain level of defensive capability.

"Thud!"

A pointed leather boot embroidered with a few dark patterns, bought from who knew where, slammed heavily onto the wild boar's head.

Veris crossed her arms over her chest and leaned forward, showing off her full curves while carefully examining the wounds on the boar's corpse.

Her crystalline eyes shifted slightly, her gaze sweeping over the gashes on the boar's spine and flanks.

Finally, it lingered on the deep wound at the back of its neck.

Her face, turned away from the others, quietly sank for a moment before instantly returning to normal.

Wearing a smile at the corners of her lips, she deliberately raised her pitch and teased, "Tsk, tsk, a fatal one-strike kill."

"Mr. Greysword, your skills seem even sharper than the rumors say."

"Did you often come to the forest to hunt beasts in the past?"

Xia Nan's expression was calm. He gently wiped the longsword with the gauze in his hand, not even lifting his head.

"I chopped up Goblins more often," he replied.

He didn't directly answer her question, yet it wasn't a lie either.

He handled her probing with ambiguous words.

It wasn't that he had made a mistake during the fight and exposed his true strength.

The marks left on the wild boar were exactly what he wanted the people in the squad to see.

Xia Nan had thought it through very clearly.

They were all veteran Adventurers who had obtained a Class Level; there were no naive rookies who would give someone unconditional trust just because they joined the team.

Just as he was observing them, they were also scrutinizing him.

While he analyzed Cash and Veris's classes, levels, and combat styles through their performance in battle, they were definitely sizing up his skills in secret too.

And obviously, both sides were holding back and hadn't used their full strength.

Under these circumstances, he could certainly fight using only [Spinning Slash], but hiding too much would only exacerbate their mutual distrust and create rifts in the team.

Therefore, at the very beginning of the adventure, he didn't shy away from displaying his combat abilities.

Whether it was his physical attributes that surpassed ordinary Adventurers or his Mastery level in [Spinning Slash], he held none of it back.

Xia Nan didn't even plan on hiding [Fang Hunt]; it was just that he hadn't encountered an opponent strong enough yet.

After all, they were all Class Holders. No one could fool anyone else; everyone knew that advancing required three combat techniques.

They currently hadn't shown any hostility, and he was a part of the team.

If he only used a single combat technique from the beginning of the mission to the end, anyone would be able to tell he was slacking off, and that wasn't in his nature anyway.

Xia Nan's true trump cards were [Gravity Control], which was extremely difficult for outsiders to detect when used, and [Gravity Etching], which could ignore armor defenses and detonate from the inside, as well as the flexible combinations of his various combat techniques.

That was already enough to let him handle the vast majority of unexpected situations.

As for the rest, he still had a few precious pieces of equipment and items on his person that could turn the tide in a moment of true crisis.

On the other side, Cash had also finished stripping the materials.

This robust, muscular man with tattoos running from his neck to the side of his face walked toward the group, carrying a leopard skin in one hand and a slightly bloodstained loot bag in the other.

"Not bad luck. We definitely can't eat this jungle leopard, but the completeness and quality of its useful parts are quite good," he said.

"It should sell for a few gold coins when we get back."

As he spoke, his gaze couldn't help but shift to the wild boar corpse collapsed on the ground nearby.

"The quality of its two tusks is pretty good too. I think I saw a general store in town collecting them earlier, so we might be able to negotiate a decent price."

"Hmm... The money we spent on supplies for this mission has paid for itself."

Cash laughed out loud, seemingly in a very good mood.

Class Holders were perhaps deified by bottom-tier Adventurers because of their extremely difficult advancement conditions and the formidable strength they gained after leveling up.

But when you actually obtained a Class Level, you would discover a different truth.

An adventuring life really didn't have much of a difference.

You would still get excited over unexpected gains during a mission, and you would still rejoice that the adventure wouldn't run at a loss.

At most, the margin for error was just a bit higher.

"While it isn't dark yet, everyone get some good rest and build up your energy," Cash instructed the group, packing away the loot and glancing up at the sky.

"In about three or four hours, once the silver moon rises, we'll head out."

Under most circumstances, moving around the Misty Forest at night was an absolutely forbidden taboo for Adventurers.

Many dangerous predators were accustomed to hunting at night. Without the sunlight to illuminate the area, visibility in the dark under the thick fog was extremely low.

Adventurers with slightly weaker Perception might not even notice a venomous snake coiled right by their feet.

It was extremely dangerous!

However, the Sea Thorn Squad's target for this trip was a pack of Temple Nightwalker Wolves, which only went out to hunt at night.

During the day, they basically hid deep within their dens.

Unless one possessed some kind of relevant tracking ability, it was basically impossible to catch sight of them.

Therefore, the group had already formulated a detailed plan and made ample preparations long before setting out.

They would travel in the morning, make minor adjustments in the afternoon, use the relatively safe first half of the night to search for their target, and return to camp to rest in the latter half of the night.

They were all Class Holders, and they were still on the outskirts of the Misty Forest.

While danger certainly existed for night operations, they still had a certain degree of combat power compared to bottom-tier Adventurers.

Right now, there was still some time before the operation began.

Veris took Mint to check the warning traps around the camp.

Xia Nan followed Cash, and together they butchered the wild boar corpse he had dragged back.

"Squelch."

The sluggish sound of a sharp blade slicing through flesh and blood echoed faintly in the air, mixing with the chirping of insects and the rustling of leaves.

The small dagger from the Rockhammer Workshop, specialized for carving up loot, finally tasted fresh game after having sliced off countless Goblin ears.

Ssshk—

The thick, coarse bristles quivered slightly as the sharp, cold glint of the blade slid smoothly through the flesh and blood along the muscle fibers, much like a shark's fin cutting across the surface of the sea.

Xia Nan's expression was focused. He grabbed the boar's hoof with his left hand and gave a fierce yank, slicing off a complete right foreleg.

Off to the side, a hint of surprise appeared on Cash's face.

"You don't look very old; how are you so skilled?"

"Do you have butchers in your family?"

Xia Nan shook his head. He didn't say much else, simply replying with a calm expression, "Practice makes perfect."

Again, it wasn't a lie.

Although he had been a true Adventurer for less than a year, plenty of creatures had already died under his sword.

This was especially true for those Goblins; he had slaughtered them nest by nest.

With that as a premise.

A wild boar's anatomical structure definitely had massive differences from a Goblin's.

However, there were still similarities in certain minute details, such as how the bones and muscles connected, or the layout patterns of tendons and fascia.

Just by feeling around a little and making a couple of cuts with the dagger, he already understood seventy or eighty percent of it.

To some extent, a wild boar was just a big-nosed Goblin.

Dismembering and butchering it was a breeze.

"You've got good strength and a bit of a reputation in town, so why haven't you formed your own squad?" Cash asked aloud, seemingly casual.

It was half idle chatter, half probing.

"Forming a squad earns too little," Xia Nan said, his expression focused as he carved through flesh and blood. "A mission takes half a month, and when you get back, you can't even afford to replace your armor. I'm better off working alone."

"Uh..."

Xia Nan's answer made Cash choke sharply on his words.

The words he had been ready to speak were jammed in his throat.

He shot an odd glance at the Fine grade Plate-Chain Composite Armor on Xia Nan's body, which boasted formidable defensive capabilities.

He didn't dwell on it, simply assuming the other party didn't want to discuss the topic.

Cash paused for a moment before deliberately letting out a sigh.

"Sigh..."

"You can probably tell that I'm from the Continental Coast."

"I was born by the sea; even the milk I drank as a kid was laced with a salty flavor."

"I grew up dealing with the fish and shrimp in the sea, following my father. Year round, I spent more time on a boat than at home."

"Even when I got lucky later on, learned a few combat techniques, and barely managed to scrape together a Class Level, I still couldn't cut ties with that ocean."

"[Tidal Hunter], ever heard of it?"

"It's my class."

Xia Nan's hand movements suddenly stopped, a surge of astonishment running through him.

He had only just joined the squad not long ago, and the two of them couldn't even be considered friends.

'He's revealing his background to me just like that?'

Figuring it probably wasn't that simple, he merely made a mental note of the name "Tidal Hunter" without completely believing it.

Cash didn't notice Xia Nan's reaction beside him and continued, "Speaking of which, this class of mine should be a branch under the "ranger" category; it's just more suited for naval combat rather than jungles and plains."

"You should be able to tell that much from the name."

Xia Nan nodded silently.

"An obscure class like mine certainly has its benefits—as long as we're close to the sea, Adventurers of the same level basically aren't my match."

"But the drawbacks are equally obvious, exceptionally awful even."

When the words "obscure class" entered his ears, Xia Nan instantly perked up.

After all, his own [Meteor Blade Hunter] class was the most obscure of the obscure, something that he was highly likely the only person in the world to possess.

Suppressing his superfluous emotions, he kept his surface expression normal and didn't even turn his head.

"How so?" he asked.

"When I first ran into you on the Association Second Floor, I mentioned that future class advancements are determined by the combat techniques you've previously learned, right?"

"Yeah, I remember," Xia Nan replied.

"The problem lies exactly there!"