Chapter 55: Block and Counterattack and Thunderous Wave

Chapter 55: Chapter 55: Block and Counterattack and Thunderous Wave

"Lorin, what kind of person do you think Pip’s teacher will be?" the little guy asked excitedly, sitting on a trunk of luggage.

"I’m guessing a Barbarian," Lorin replied casually.

After collecting the bounty for the Rock-dwelling Salamander, the two bid farewell to Hiv and boarded a carriage, setting off for Frost Valley City.

As previously discussed, the caravan flew the flag of the Church. After all, Anya had originally prepared some supplies for the Spring Banquet that needed to be transported to the Divine Hall.

As for their reward, since Pip’s hammer had already completed its Enchantment, the two simply had Nathan cash out the previously promised materials. Nathan naturally agreed with pleasure, as it saved him the effort of searching for them.

Quite a few materials were also harvested from the two Rock-dwelling Salamanders. Nathan, being highly sensible, directly bought them all with cash, saving the VIPs the trouble of worrying about such petty matters. Altogether, Lorin received a solid 35 Gold Coins, making his total assets jump to 50 Gold Coins, 13 silver, and 6 copper.

The carriage traveled unhurriedly along the trade route at the foot of the Gray Stone Ridge.

The Cold Month lived up to its name. The temperature was now several degrees lower than during the Resting Month. The snow, which previously only fell occasionally, gradually showed signs of not stopping.

The pine trees flanking the road grew increasingly dense, their canopies heavily weighed down by a thick layer of snow. Occasionally, a gust of wind would blow past, and the snow would thud onto the carriage roof with a THUMP THUMP.

Lorin leaned against the carriage boards, pretending to rest with his eyes closed, but in reality, he had opened the system panel.

He had just gained 400 Points of Exploration Experience last night. For this draw, he had taken a thorough bath in the morning, scrubbing his face squeaky clean.

"System, draw!" he commanded inwardly.

[Using 100 Points of Exploration Experience, you rolled the dice: 1]

[Points: Five]

[Reward Obtained: Block and Counterattack]

[Type: Passive Skills]

[When you successfully block a melee attack with a weapon, the speed of your next swing with this weapon increases by 30%.]

"Huh? Passive Skills," he mused.

Lorin carefully read the description. The Skills did not restrict the type of weapon, making it a rather versatile reward. Though it wasn’t some world-destroying ultimate move, it won out in practicality, and one could say it arrived at the perfect time.

His Continuous Slash had already reached the Skilled Level, but these Combat Skills inherently had a problem: they required continuous attacks and couldn’t be interrupted midway. If the first sword strike was blocked or dodged, the subsequent two strikes would be difficult to connect.

However, now with Block and Counterattack, as long as he could block the enemy’s attack with his sword, the speed of his next strike would be thirty percent faster.

"What does this mean?" he wondered.

It meant he could immediately transition into a counterattack the moment he blocked, executing Continuous Slash at a faster speed—possibly even faster than Hiv’s Continuous Slash, which had been practiced for over two decades!

"Washing my face really works," he thought. "Isn’t this much better than some Goblin King’s underpants? Again!"

[Using 100 Points of Exploration Experience, you rolled the dice: 1]

[Points: Five]

[Reward Obtained: Charm +1]

[Charm: 12→13]

"Why is it Charm again..." he sighed inwardly.

Lorin calmed down and felt it out carefully this time. He touched his face again but still didn’t notice the slightest abnormality.

"Pip, do you see any changes in me?" he asked.

"What changes?"

"Look at my face. Do you think I’ve gotten more handsome?"

The little guy seriously studied him for three seconds and said, "Pip thinks there might be a problem with your brain."

"I shouldn’t have even asked you."

Lorin still didn’t understand the use of these Attributes. He hadn’t felt anything special after adding to it last time, and it was the same this time.

"It would be so much better to add to something else," he thought. "Power, agility, Constitution, Intelligence, or even Perception. Forget it. Increasing Attributes is always a good thing."

He rubbed his face, confirmed that there was nothing unusual with his body, and returned his attention to the panel.

[Using 100 Points of Exploration Experience, you rolled the dice: 1]

[Fate has favored you.]

[Points: Six]

[Magic Obtained: Lorin’s Thunderous Wave]

[Type: Molding Faction]

[Casting Range: 15 feet]

[Release a Thunderous Wave with yourself as the origin. Unsecured items or enemies within a 15-foot cubic area will automatically fly towards you and take thunder damage.]

"Six Points!" he cheered internally.

Lorin’s eyes went wide.

"Magic, new Magic!" he thought excitedly.

He quickly scanned the description. Although it still wasn’t the ranged Magic he had been yearning for, it looked much more powerful than his previous Magic.

"Unsecured items or enemies... That means if an enemy doesn’t have a firm footing or is jumping, they’ll also be sucked over and enter my attack range," he analyzed.

From this perspective, the purpose of this Magic was very obvious. It was to suck surrounding enemies towards him all at once, achieving a crowd-control effect, after which he could harvest them with Continuous Slash.

"But if I suck in too many things, having all those weapons and debris smash into my body would be no joke," he pondered.

Lorin decided to first find an uninhabited place to test it out after arriving at Frost Valley City.

"However, why does it feel like my combat role is getting weirder and weirder? I’m even starting to lean toward an assassin..." he thought. "Forget it, as long as it’s useful."

He took a deep breath and threw out his last 100 Points of Exploration Experience.

[Using 100 Points of Exploration Experience, you rolled the dice: 1]

[Current Balance: 52 Points of Exploration Experience]

[Points: Five]

[Reward Obtained: Constitution +1]

[Constitution: 10→11]

The sensation of enhanced Constitution was much more pronounced. A warm, slender stream spread outward from his chest, flowed down his spine, and quickly permeated every bone and limb in his body. Unlike the explosive sense of improvement after a Power enhancement, the increase in Constitution was more like a gentle drizzle, silently nourishing everything it touched.

All sorts of discomforts that had lingered for so long that his body had grown accustomed to them vanished along with the warm current. He stretched his body and felt much more comfortable from head to toe.

"...Pip thinks the teacher should be a highly knowledgeable old Dwarf. His beard would be thiiiis long—" he gestured a length that was nearly the same as his height, "—the kind that can be tied into braids."

The little guy’s voice drifted over from the side, carrying a dreamlike longing. "He definitely lives deep in the mountains, owns a hammer ten times bigger than Pip, and the first thing he does every morning when he wakes up is drink a huge mug of ale. Then, he uses his beard like a scarf to wrap around his neck..."

Lorin’s attention was still on the system panel. Pip’s rambling voice acted as a sort of background music, significantly easing his tension during the draws.

"Wait... What the hell is a beard scarf? And what on earth is a knowledgeable Barbarian old Dwarf?" he thought incredulously.

He opened his eyes and turned to look at Pip. The little guy was hugging his hammer, his head tilted as he leaned against the carriage board. He stared blankly at the carriage ceiling with a silly grin, clearly immersed in the imagery he had woven for himself.

"What does a Barbarian have to do with a beard scarf?" Lorin asked.

"Of course a Barbarian has to have a beard!" the little guy said righteously. "Pip is going to grow a beard in the future too. Even though a Halfling’s beard can’t grow that long, I can still weave it into little braids and hang a few Beast teeth from it. Heh! How majestic!"

Lorin imagined that scene and twitched the corner of his mouth, at a loss for words.