Battlefield First Aid

Su Fei stared at his Attributes for a while, but ultimately still didn't make a decision. He might as well take things one step at a time. Besides, it wasn't time yet, was it?

However, the ten skill experience points he had gained from raising his Militia level had to be used immediately. After all, in such a perilous environment, every bit of extra strength counted. Of course, using them to learn swordsmanship seemed like a good choice, or perhaps a combat skill. An ordinary person here would definitely choose one of those. But after hesitating for a moment, Su Fei thought of something else.

He let the data fade from his retinas and raised his head to look at the others. The young militiamen were still immersed in their earlier excitement. He was slightly startled, then his expression turned solemn.

This was not a good sign.

He gestured for Roman to help him sit up a little, then raised his voice and asked, "Tell me, do you think you're safe now?"

His voice wasn't loud, but it made everyone present freeze. The surroundings instantly became so quiet that one could hear a pin drop.

Su Fei's influence still lingered, and the young militiamen had not forgotten who had guided them to victory. Come to think of it, hadn't that young man's dire warnings from not long ago now become reality? Only then did they suddenly realize that this probably wasn't the time to celebrate. With the enemy holding the knife and them being the fish, yet still dancing around, did feel rather strange.

Thus, everyone stopped in unison and turned their eyes toward him. Su Fei was very weak, but he possessed a quality that could lead them to victory.

Everyone thought so—

Even Freya let out a soft sigh. This should have been her responsibility, but she had lost control of her emotions just like her team members and momentarily forgotten the duty she ought to bear as their captain.

Thinking of this, the girl with the long ponytail couldn't help looking guilty.

"Bandage your wounds, clean up the battlefield, and think about what you learned during training. Do I really need to remind you?" Su Fei sighed as well. These hotheaded youths were even more inexperienced than beginners. Fortunately, their physical qualities were far superior to those of ordinary NPCs. Of course, that was only compared to NPCs. Compared to players, they were nothing. A hero template was a hero template. Just thinking about those starting Attributes and growth rates—forget it. Better not to think about it.

Su Fei couldn't help rubbing his forehead.

Under his reminder, the young militiamen from Buchi sprang into action. The wounded indeed needed to stop their bleeding and have their wounds cleaned, while the Bone Frames' swords and armor could also be salvaged. Their chainmail in particular offered much better protection than the leather armor they wore.

Under Su Fei's guidance, some of the others extinguished the bonfire. This left him somewhat speechless—lighting a bonfire behind enemy lines. He really had no idea what these people had been thinking.

Freya had initially wanted to see if she could lend a hand. After all, Su Fei wasn't familiar with them, was he? But the girl with the long ponytail soon realized there was no need. No matter how she looked at it, that young man named Brando had considered things far more thoroughly than she had.

She couldn't help fiddling with her long, slender ponytail, puzzled. They were both militiamen, so how could Brags and Buchi be so different?

Freya had never believed that the people in the city could be that much stronger than them. But now, standing before Su Fei, she couldn't help feeling somewhat discouraged.

How could this be?

By comparison, Miss Romane had far fewer concerns. She had already cheerfully gone with the others to sort through the spoils. It seemed this future merchant girl was interested in exactly that sort of thing.

Su Fei noticed that the greenhorn named Little Finis had run alone to the unconscious Josen. He raised his head and asked everyone, "What should we do about Josen?"

The question left everyone stunned.

For a moment, an unusual silence spread between them.

Indeed, they were all young people from the same village who knew one another well and could be considered good friends. Josen was the most cowardly among them, but they had never expected him to do something like this.

Although he had been forced into it, this act, which was tantamount to betrayal, had still wounded them. It was as though a crack had appeared in an innocent world. That was how distrust between people came into being.

Even Freya didn't know how to face this loss of connection between them. She wanted to protect every companion, but Josen had not only hurt the others—he had deeply hurt himself as well.

Although the Ponytail Girl wanted to speak, she had no confidence that she could persuade the others.

Once she spoke, the harmonious relationship between the friends would probably cease to exist.

Every one of them held the same thought. They were, after all, merely simple young people, with weakness and stubborn uprightness existing side by side within them. They hesitated, then unconsciously turned their eyes toward the only outsider present.

Su Fei.

Our protagonist couldn't help sighing.

"Miss Freya?" he asked Freya.

"I... I don't know..."

"Then bandage him. We don't even know whether the bleeding can be stopped. He might die before sunrise." Su Fei sighed. He found it strange that he could remain so calm. Wasn't this his first time seeing a dead person as well?

Everyone let out a silent sigh of relief in unison. This was an order from Su Fei, so all they had to do was carry it out.

It was a form of avoidance, but sometimes people had to rely on avoidance.

Meanwhile, Su Fei waved Freya over from the side, signaling for her to come closer. The Ponytail Girl paused slightly and looked at him in confusion.

"You know first aid, right, Miss Freya?" Su Fei asked.

"Just call me Freya." Freya nodded. "I've studied a little. I learned from Captain Maden."

"Captain Maden? Damn, that old fellow taught first aid too?" Su Fei nearly choked.

In the game, the first NPC to train players in first aid in the Golan-Elson region was Doctor Borg of Ridenburg. That fellow gave players a quest to collect fifty bundles of flax, which was simply infuriating. As a result, many people skipped straight to Brags, where they only needed to pay ten silver coins to the Temple of Flames.

Although the market price of fifty bundles of flax was not much different from ten silver coins, the process was far more troublesome.

This was an undiscovered secret! Su Fei's heart leaped with excitement. But before he could enjoy it for even a moment, he suddenly remembered that he could never go back anymore. What was he thinking?

His excitement immediately faded, and he became listless. "Could you tell me about it?"

Freya drew a breath and couldn't help gritting her teeth. She glanced at him. Damn it, hadn't this fellow said her skills were poor? Fortunately, the girl wasn't one to hold a grudge. After thinking for a moment, she still asked, "What do you want to know...?"

"The methods and key points."

The Ponytail Girl didn't answer immediately. Instead, she came over and examined the girl who had fainted from fright. Earlier, Roman had run off to sort through the spoils with a trace of excitement and left her here.

Fortunately, she had only been shocked.

She turned back to look at the young man whose complexion wasn't very good and hesitated. "Let me look at your injuries."

"No need. I know my own injuries."

"You..."

"Alright, what did you learn?" Su Fei changed the subject.

"Mainly bandaging and bleeding-control techniques, as well as cleaning wounds."

Su Fei's heart stirred. It was like telepathy—not a voice, nor text, yet he clearly sensed a message:

"Freya is teaching you 'Battlefield First Aid.' It will cost 8 experience points to raise it to level 0. Would you like to learn?"

He let out a long breath. This was it! Sure enough, it was exactly the same as in the game. Of course he wanted to learn it. He had never expected it to be Battlefield First Aid. What an unexpected delight!

Battlefield First Aid mainly strengthened bleeding control and prevented wounds from becoming infected. Even when environmental factors were ignored, its success rate increased considerably. It was precisely what Su Fei urgently needed. He remembered that, in the game, only military priests of the Temple of Flames knew Battlefield First Aid, and players from theological schools had the easiest time learning the skill—as for other players, they had to grind reputation.

But Maden actually knew it too. This was a major discovery. As he thought, Su Fei agreed to the request in his mind. Another message immediately followed:

"No matching profession for Battlefield First Aid was found. Which profession would you like to assign it to?"

It didn't really matter, but Su Fei still casually placed it under the Militia profession. Although Battlefield First Aid was a non-professional skill for both militiamen and commoners, meaning that leveling it required twice the experience, Militia was a profession that could be leveled up, while commoner was a basic identity that could not.

After all, a skill's level could not exceed that of the profession itself.

Freya carefully explained the key points of bandaging, but the spirited girl soon noticed that the young man lying on the ground had been staring blankly at her the entire time, seemingly not reacting to her words at all.

She froze, then immediately felt anger rising from the depths of her heart.

This bastard—was he using this as an excuse to take advantage of her?

The girl clenched her fists, so furious that even her long ponytail trembled. How could this jerk do this? How could he face Roman, when that girl had clearly thrown herself wholeheartedly at him?

Freya struggled to restrain herself from waving her hand in front of Su Fei's face. There was no reaction.

If she hadn't considered that he was still wounded, she would have nearly kicked him. But at that very moment, Su Fei's eyes shifted, and clarity returned to them.

He organized the skill, and only then felt a little satisfaction. With first aid, at least he had a guarantee of sustained combat capability in the battles ahead.

A team's recovery ability was an important measure of whether it could survive. Experienced players in the game never overlooked this, and Su Fei was no exception. That was why he had given up swordsmanship and combat in favor of first aid.

But when he raised his head, he saw Freya looking at him with deep displeasure.

"What's wrong?" He couldn't help being startled.

"Were you listening?" the girl asked through gritted teeth.

"Of course. I've already learned it." Su Fei answered as though it were only natural.

"You—" Freya almost lost her breath. "I hadn't even finished explaining, and you already learned it?" She scrutinized him with an intensely distrustful look.

"Of course."

Freya choked. She was just about to retort when someone shouted from over there, "Big Sis, we can't stop Josen's bleeding! Come take a look—"

The Ponytail Girl instinctively turned her head, only to hear Su Fei say behind her, "Perfect. How about letting me try?"

"You?"

Deep suspicion appeared on Freya's face.

"Help me over there."

"D-don't push yourself."

"Then should I ask Miss Romane to help me?"

"In your dreams. I'm not letting her near you again, you shameless scoundrel!" Freya rejected the suggestion through gritted teeth, but she still went over and helped Su Fei to his feet.

"What do you mean, shameless?" Su Fei was stunned. How had he suddenly gained another title?

"You know perfectly well."

"Huh?"