Surgeons, no matter where they were, belonged to the support and logistics category of auxiliary professions.
This profession required a great deal of time to study specialized medical and pharmaceutical knowledge, so generally speaking, few doctors had extra energy to delve into martial skills.
Moreover, the attributes awakened by the potion sequences they advanced through were usually related to "memory," "learning," "brain development," and "mental focus." With their relatively frail bodies, they were not particularly suited to learning close-combat martial skills.
Even though Rein had pestered Sam into teaching him some common warrior skills over the past two days, in Canossa's eyes, it merely looked like a young man newly entering the Transcendent realm taking an interest in martial arts.
How could she have known that Rein had only recently advanced into an Awakened, and still lacked much fundamental Transcendent knowledge?
A novice at this level normally could not possibly be a match for an adult Gale Wolf.
Yet once actual combat began, she realized that Rein's combat power was not as "pathetic" as she had expected.
His performance was even astonishing!
"Huh, this Mechanical Arm of his is rather interesting."
Watching Rein easily block the Gale Wolf's claws with his Mechanical Arm, a gleam of surprise flashed through Canossa's beautiful eyes.
Naturally, she knew he was not a veterinarian, but she had assumed that the Mechanical Arm he never parted with was some kind of surgical aid.
Now that she looked at it, it was actually a close-combat weapon used by fighters?
Once that miniature Steam Boiler activated, it allowed him to easily crush the lower jaw caught in the giant wolf's bite! Such terrifying strength amplification had to come from high-precision steam skeletons, not some worn-out street junk as it appeared to be.
"Oh, I misjudged it. This looks like the work of some Mechanical Master. Could it have been left to him by Her Highness Ymir?"
Canossa's eyes shifted as she felt she had guessed something.
Originally, she had wanted to have a few attendants look after Rein. It would be fine if he got hurt, but she could not let such an interesting doctor get bitten to death by the Gale Wolves.
But now, Rein's performance was not inferior in the slightest to those veteran Scavenger Gang members!
Facing the Gale Wolves' attacks, he was exceptionally composed, without the slightest panic. With the aid of that excellent Mechanical Arm, he was even more at ease than the others.
"This Movement Technique and instinctive reaction have clearly received professional training. Before advancing into the Transcendent realm, he must have learned beginner assassin martial skills."
With Canossa's discerning eye, she naturally saw through Rein's martial foundation at a glance. She sighed inwardly, "To bring basic martial skills to the level of mastery, he must have put in quite a bit of hard work."
But precisely because she had seen through it, she grew increasingly curious.
Rein was a doctor. It was already unexpected enough for him to use such a heavy close-combat Mechanical Arm.
Yet as the fight continued, he was actually using skilled assassin techniques?
Ruthless, tricky, lethal strikes.
He was clearly a seasoned thief. How did he resemble a frail doctor or a fighter?
"Calm in a crisis, decisive when striking. He probably was not born a noble; he resembles a professional killer trained by some organization instead. Where exactly did that Princess find such a... strange fellow?"
Based on her experience, Canossa quickly analyzed some information.
Yet she understood him less and less.
Before her eyes, his martial path seemed wildly mixed, but no matter how she looked at it, he should not have been a doctor—yet he truly was.
Not only could he fight in close combat, he could also skillfully help treat severely wounded people, and his surgical techniques were solid as well.
And that was not all.
What surprised Canossa came afterward!
On the battlefield, Rein's blood was boiling as he entered a focused combat state.
This was not his first time fighting Gale Wolves, so he remained relatively composed.
Back when he was at the Weasel Bandit Group's rookie training base, the instructors would also capture Gale Wolves for live training. Quite a few recruits from his batch had died in the wolves' jaws.
But now, he was not facing one Gale Wolf, but a pack of Gale Wolves that knew how to cooperate!
Although the alloy Steam Mechanical Arm meant he did not fear the Gale Wolves' claws and bites, there were simply too many of them.
And at that moment, danger suddenly appeared.
As Rein was stopping the bleeding of an injured person, a lone Gale Wolf actually broke through the defensive perimeter. Carrying a foul gust with it, it bared its fangs and pounced at him.
A transparent aura condensed around its claws. This was a "Sharpness" strike formed from wind-element energy.
Rein instinctively raised his arm to block, precisely using his Mechanical Arm to stop the Gale Wolf's bite. Then, using the same trick again, he bent his fingers and thrust them in, crushing the soft flesh at the base of its tongue.
But just as blood sprayed out, another starving wolf lunged from his blind spot and went straight for his neck!
At that moment, Rein's Mechanical Arm was still trapped in the other Gale Wolf's mouth. There was no time for him to pull it free and swing it up to block again.
Rein's ear twitched slightly, and his pupils suddenly contracted.
"Danger!"
Seeing this, a flash rippled through Canossa's beautiful eyes as concern surged through her heart.
But before that concern could show on her face, she witnessed something unbelievable!
Rein, unable to block in time, showed no trace of panic. Nor did he intend to uselessly raise his arm in haste. Instead, he lowered his center of gravity, kicked off the ground, and violently charged forward.
Rather than retreating, he advanced, directly avoiding the wolf claws and slamming his shoulder into the Gale Wolf's lower ribs.
Bang! It sounded like a sandbag crashing heavily to the ground.
To everyone's surprise, the Gale Wolf—more than three meters long and weighing over two hundred kilograms—let out a muffled whimper and was sent flying backward by the blow!
Iron Mountain Lean!
Canossa's eyes widened as though she had seen something impossible. Shocked and doubtful, she thought, He used it so skillfully? Hasn't he only been learning for two days?
Rein's drop, charge, and shock just now—what else could it have been but the three-stage Iron Mountain Lean Sam had demonstrated the day before yesterday?
Although the power he displayed with the martial skill could not compare to Sam's, it was absolutely not something a novice who had only learned for two days could perform.
Judging by that foundation, how could he have moved so smoothly without months of hard training?
"His talent for learning is far too outrageous."
At last, Canossa felt she understood something.
During the past few days of traveling together, she had thought Rein's character, ability, and other qualities were all fairly good—but merely good.
A young talent of that level would not stand out much among the upper nobility.
But after seeing that Iron Mountain Lean, she was truly astonished, as though she had spotted a "bright point" on him brilliant enough to blind people!
"No wonder Ymir keeps him by her side. He is a martial arts genius."
Canossa felt that must be the truth. Otherwise, how could anyone master a martial skill they had never touched before to such a degree in just two days?
Although Iron Mountain Lean was not difficult as a common Transcendent skill for combat classes, beginners normally needed two or three months just to gain an initial grasp of it.
(Martial skill realms: Initial Grasp - Mastery - Consummate Mastery - Pinnacle.)
To perfectly produce that charge, shock, and knockback from earlier—the three stages of damage—
Reaching such mastery was simply impossible without half a year to a year of bitter training!
The only explanation was that he possessed extraordinary talent for learning!
Seeing this, Canossa seemed to think of something. A trace of anticipation flashed through her eyes as she murmured, "Perhaps... he could give it a try."
Not far away, Sam, who was locked in a brute-force struggle against the Explosive Brown Bear, was naturally keeping an eye on the battlefield as well.
When he saw Rein send that Gale Wolf flying, he revealed an expression of shock as if he had seen a ghost.
No one could have been more shaken than him, because he had personally taught that brat the Iron Mountain Lean!
He knew perfectly well that Rein was a "rookie" with absolutely no fighter foundation. Yet after only two days, he had already reached mastery?!
For that brief instant, Sam seemed to see his own shadow in Rein. In terms of technique alone, he could not have executed that charge any better himself.
Everyone knew that even the same martial skill could differ greatly when used by different people.
Yet Rein's Iron Mountain Lean just now—his force generation, breath control, charge, even the tiny details of rounding his back, drawing in his shoulder armor, and storing power—were completely identical to Sam's demonstration that day!
This... that kid named Rein had actually remembered every single bit of it?
Such exaggerated proficiency was practically "skill replication." What monstrous learning talent was this?
It was not just Canossa and Sam. Everyone present who noticed the scene was stunned.
The Scavenger Gang members also glanced over from the corners of their eyes. They had just been worried that the young doctor who came to help would die beneath the wolves' claws, yet the danger had now been silently resolved.
Originally, they had thought Rein was merely some male companion or attendant of that beautiful Countess.
But now, it seemed this unassuming private doctor possessed combat ability so formidable that he was not inferior in the slightest to veteran scavengers like them!
And his reaction speed and calm response were incredibly seasoned. Was he really a surgeon?
Thank you to "Dark Night Demon Shadow ZY" and "20180512085735993" for your support and tips. Thank you.
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