New Attributes

Rachel's stubbornness exceeded Roger's expectations.

Even with Cindy's repeated dissuasion, she insisted on getting up.

The two sides remained at a stalemate for a short while.

In the end, it was the Dragonkin Priest who helped her out.

Watching Rachel walk with bare feet, barely managing with Cindy's support, Roger felt a bit embarrassed.

But he knew Rachel was right; this war had nothing to do with him.

From a rational perspective.

He had no reason to get involved.

Leaving sooner was the sensible thing to do.

The Flying Dragon Beasts hadn't gone far.

Especially Misha, whom Rachel had mentioned, was perched on the canopy of the large banyan tree in the center of Dragon Tooth Village.

Upon hearing Rachel's call, the three-meter-long dragon beast chirped joyfully.

She flapped her wings with all her might, bringing a gust of cool breeze as she arrived before Rachel.

The other Flying Dragon Beasts also gathered around.

However, they dared not get as close and affectionate with Rachel as Misha did.

"Their injuries..."

At that moment, Rachel discovered with surprise that the wounds of the Flying Dragon Beasts that had been shot in the abdomen were also perfectly bandaged.

"Who did it?" she asked.

Cindy grudgingly pointed at Roger.

Roger nodded slightly:

"It was just a small gesture."

Rachel's eyes widened.

This was the first time Roger had seen such a rich expression on her face:

"How is that possible? How did they let you get close?"

Roger naturally explained:

"I know a little technique for communicating with animals."

In fact.

His "Animal Taming" skill was at 49 points, enough to establish initial communication and soothe the injured Flying Dragon Beasts.

Bandaging their wounds was naturally not difficult.

With the help of this skill, Roger had the ability to tame one or two animals to become his combat companions.

It was just that he hadn't found suitable candidates.

In Tongma Town, he spent his days facing undead creatures like Magic Explosion Frogs and Red Tide Zombies.

He couldn't possibly keep two frogs with him, could he? That would be too ridiculous.

As for Rachel's Flying Dragon Beasts, Roger actually quite liked them.

However, he was also well aware that although Flying Dragon Beasts were sub-dragon species that had degenerated over several generations, they were not something ordinary people could obtain.

It required immense fortune.

Moreover, Flying Dragon Beasts were gregarious creatures; taming one often meant taming a whole group.

Then, every morning upon waking, the feeding of this group of noisy creatures would be the primary problem.

This was why Rachel had to lead the Flying Dragon Beasts into the depths of the swamp to forage periodically.

And for Roger, this process itself was fraught with danger.

In the mysterious and vast swamp, the roles of hunter and prey could be exchanged at any moment.

In the open space outside the medical hut.

Rachel gently stroked Misha's long neck and whispered something in her ear.

The gentle demeanor she displayed towards the Flying Dragon Beasts was a pleasant sight.

Even her usually wooden expression became more animated.

"I've finished negotiating with Misha."

"She agreed."

"It takes 2 days one way to get to Paramount from here. Are you ready?"

Finally, Rachel patted Misha on the back and looked at Roger.

Judging by her pale lips, the stubborn shorty was almost at his limit.

"I'm fine now."

Roger stepped forward and balanced the luggage, large and small, on either side of Misha's ribs.

The latter resisted slightly, showing discomfort.

Under Rachel's soothing words, Misha reluctantly stopped.

"Go on."

At Rachel's urging, Roger climbed onto the dragon beast.

"I've left some hemostatic ointment in the house. It might be helpful to you in the future."

Before leaving, he said to Cindy.

Cindy nodded, her eyes complex. "Have a safe journey."

"Go, Misha, come back soon!"

Rachel released Misha's reins.

Whoosh! The Flying Dragon Beast flapped its huge wings, stirring up gusts of wind on the ground, and powerfully ascended with Roger on its back.

The scenery around them receded downwards.

Their field of vision became extremely vast.

Before long, Roger had adapted to the dizzying sensation.

Misha circled the large banyan tree twice.

Then, reluctantly, it flew south.

"I wish them good luck too."

Sitting steadily on Misha's back, Roger silently prayed.

Over the past few days, he had developed a certain fondness for Dragon Tooth Village.

That's why he left the ointment, hoping to help them through the difficult times.

He had learned from Eric that besides the old woman named Angelica, there was no other healer in the village.

If war truly broke out, this ointment would definitely come in handy.

This was the only thing Roger could do.

The wind whistled past his ears.

Misha gradually lowered its flying altitude.

This was normal.

Flying Dragon Beasts weren't even considered lesser dragons.

To compensate for their lack of stamina, they adopted a gliding mode more often during flight.

It was sunset, and a thick fog was already rising from the Swamp Land.

Misha flew very fast.

In the blink of an eye, it had flown out of Yellowstone Island.

Roger was admiring the beauty of the swamp sunset when suddenly a premonition surged into his heart.

Whoosh! A menacing crossbow bolt flew past his ear and shot higher into the sky, falling powerlessly a few seconds later.

If Roger hadn't ducked in time, that arrow would have hit his temple!

Misha, beneath him, let out a piercing cry.

Its emotions were very unstable, as if enraged, or perhaps terrified.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! Several more crossbow bolts shot up from below.

Misha dodged them with difficulty but no longer dared to fly forward, only daring to ascend and hover in place.

"Gray Dwarves?"

Roger narrowed his eyes.

With the aid of the Qi Divination Technique, he could finally see the creatures perched on the thick tree branches, shooting at him.

[Swamp Gray Dwarf LV12 HP 200 Defense 9]
[Trait 1: Rough Stone Skin LV3]
[Rough Stone Skin: Swamp Gray Dwarves have very rough skin, and most areas are covered by a layer of hide as hard as rock. This grants them extremely high resistance, especially to physical damage.]

"Trait 2: Proficient with Crossbows LV1"

"Proficient with Crossbows: Gray Dwarves have always excelled at forging and utilizing weapons, with crossbows being their specialty. They can skillfully wield these ranged instruments of destruction, and their hit rate increases by 2 when firing crossbows at aerial targets."

"Mutated so severely by magic?"

"These can't even be considered intelligent beings anymore, can they?"

What shocked Roger the most about these Swamp Gray Dwarves wasn't their stats, but their terrifying physique and appearance!

Each Gray Dwarf had a fist-sized tumor growing on its face or neck.

These tumors emitted a foul, decaying magical odor.

Compared to their bloated tumors, their faces were gaunt to the point of being skin and bone, with protruding eye sockets and cheekbones giving them a skeletal appearance.

Roger couldn't see even a sliver of rationality in their eyes.

He tried casting Sin Mark on them.

The result showed the judgment was successful.

This meant that, according to the Hidden Hero template, these Gray Dwarves were no longer considered intelligent creatures.

They belonged to the category of Monsters! "Misha, good girl, fly a little lower, don't be scared."

Roger soothed the Flying Dragon Beast while taking out Purple Bindweed.

These Gray Dwarves used short crossbows, which excelled in rate of fire and power, but had a shorter range.

If the Flying Dragon Beast could actually fly higher, he could completely ignore their harassment.

But now, he couldn't.

He had to deal with them.

Under Roger's soothing, Misha lowered its altitude and dodged a few scattered shots from the Gray Dwarves.

Roger seized the opportunity and fired an arrow.

The whistling arrow pierced through the swamp's mist.

It directly penetrated a Gray Dwarf's eye socket! "Good luck."

Roger breathed a sigh of relief. His archery had improved slightly since entering the Swamp Land.

He decided to eliminate these Gray Dwarves before moving on, which would also serve as revenge for Rachel.

However, just then.

The status bar quietly refreshed.

"You have killed 1 Swamp Gray Dwarf"

"You have gained 10 XP"

"Your 'Tenacity' has slightly increased"

"What, Tenacity?"

Roger's gaze towards the Gray Dwarves instantly changed.