New Attributes

Rachel's stubbornness took Roger by surprise.

Even after Cindy repeatedly urged her not to, she insisted on getting out of bed.

The two sides remained deadlocked for a short while.

In the end, the Dragonkin Priest helped her outside.

Seeing Rachel walking barefoot with difficulty while supported by Cindy, Roger felt somewhat 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 as soon as possible was the right choice.

The Flying Dragon Beasts had not gone far.

Especially Misha, the one Rachel had mentioned. She was lying atop the Banyan Tree in the center of Dragon Tooth Village.

The moment she heard Rachel's call, the three-meter-long dragon beast began cheering excitedly.

She flapped her wings with all her might, bringing gusts of cool wind as she arrived before Rachel.

The other Flying Dragon Beasts gathered around as well.

But unlike Misha, they did not dare approach Rachel intimately.

"Their injuries..."

Just then, Rachel discovered in surprise that the wounds of the few Flying Dragon Beasts struck by arrows in the abdomen had also been properly bandaged.

"Who treated them?" she asked.

Cindy reluctantly jerked her chin toward Roger.

Roger gave a slight nod.

"It was nothing."

Rachel's eyes widened.

It was the first time Roger had seen such a wealth of expressions on her face.

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

Roger naturally explained, "I know a little about communicating with animals."

In fact,

his Animal Taming skill was at 49 points, enough to establish some basic communication with and soothe the wounded Flying Dragon Beasts.

Bandaging their wounds had naturally been easy.

With the help of this skill, Roger was capable of taming one or two animals to become his combat companions.

It was just that he had never found suitable candidates.

In Tongma Town, the creatures he encountered every day were either Magic Explosion Frogs or undead creatures such as Red Tide Zombies.

He couldn't exactly take two frogs around with him, could he? That would be ridiculous.

As for creatures like Rachel's Flying Dragon Beasts, Roger actually liked them quite a bit.

However, he also knew very well that although Flying Dragon Beasts were draconic species that had degenerated over several generations, they were not something ordinary people could obtain.

It required an enormous stroke of luck.

Moreover, Flying Dragon Beasts were social creatures. Once tamed, they were often tamed as an entire group.

When the day came that he opened his eyes to find a whole pack of these howling creatures, feeding them would become a top-priority problem.

That was why Rachel led the Flying Dragon Beasts deep into the swamp to forage at regular intervals.

For Roger, however, the process itself was fraught with danger.

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

In the open ground outside the medical hut,

Rachel gently stroked Misha's long neck, then whispered into her ear for a while.

The tenderness she displayed toward the Flying Dragon Beast was quite pleasing to the eye.

Even her usually wooden expression had become much more animated.

"I've finished discussing things with Misha."

"She agreed."

"It will take two days one way to get from here to Paramount. Are you ready?"

At the end, Rachel patted Misha's back and looked toward Roger.

Judging from her deathly pale lips, the stubborn short woman was already close to her limit.

"I'm ready."

Roger stepped forward and evenly hung the various pieces of luggage beneath Misha's ribs on both sides.

The latter resisted slightly, evidently uncomfortable.

Only after Rachel soothed her did she reluctantly stop.

"Get on."

Urged by Rachel, Roger turned and climbed onto the dragon beast.

"I left some hemostatic ointment in the hut. It might be useful to you later."

Before leaving, he said this to Cindy.

Cindy nodded, her gaze complicated. "Have a safe journey."

"Go, Misha! Come back soon!"

Rachel released Misha's reins.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! The Flying Dragon Beast beat her enormous wings, whipping up fierce winds across the ground as she carried Roger rapidly into the air.

The scenery all around them receded below.

His field of vision suddenly expanded immensely.

Before long, Roger had grown accustomed to the dizzying sensation.

Misha circled the Banyan Tree twice.

Only then did she reluctantly fly south.

"I hope they stay safe, too."

Sitting steadily on Misha's back, Roger silently offered a prayer.

Over the past few days, he had developed some goodwill toward Dragon Tooth Village.

That was why he had left the ointment behind, hoping it would help them weather the crisis.

He had learned from Eric that apart from the old woman named Angelica, the village had no other doctor.

If war really broke out, the ointment would certainly come in handy.

This was the only thing Roger could do.

The wind continued to roar beside his ears.

Misha gradually lowered her flying altitude.

This was normal.

Flying Dragon Beasts could not even be considered true draconic beasts.

To make up for their lack of endurance, they relied more on gliding while flying.

It was sunset now, and heavy fog had already spread across the swamp.

Misha flew very quickly.

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

Roger was admiring the beautiful sunset over the swamp when

a strange premonition suddenly welled up in his heart.

Whoosh! A threatening crossbow bolt flew past his ear and shot higher into the sky, only falling weakly after two or three seconds.

If Roger had not lowered his head in time, the bolt would have struck him directly in the temple!

Misha, beneath him, let out a piercing cry.

She was extremely agitated, seeming both furious and afraid.

Swish, swish, swish! Several more crossbow bolts shot up from below.

Misha barely dodged them, but she no longer dared fly forward. She could only keep climbing and circle around in place.

"Gray Dwarves?"

Roger narrowed his eyes.

With the aid of Qi Divination Technique, he finally saw the creatures lying on the branches and firing at him.

Swamp Gray Dwarf LV12 Life 200 Defense 9

Trait 1: Rough Stone Skin LV3

Rough Stone Skin: The skin of Swamp Gray Dwarves is extremely rough, and most areas are covered by an outer layer nearly as hard as stone. This grants them exceptionally strong resistance, especially against physical damage.

Trait 2: Proficient with Crossbows LV1

Proficient with Crossbows: Gray Dwarves have always excelled at forging and using weapons, with crossbows being their specialty. They can skillfully use these vicious ranged weapons, and gain +2 accuracy when using crossbows against airborne targets.

"Have they been this severely mutated by magical contamination?"

"They can't be considered an intelligent species anymore, can they?"

What shocked Roger most about these Swamp Gray Dwarves was not their attributes, but their terrifying bodies and appearances!

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

These tumors emanated an aura of decaying magic.

Compared to their enormous tumors,

their faces were emaciated to the point of being nothing but skin and bone. Their sunken eyes and protruding cheekbones made them look like skeletons.

Roger did not see even the slightest trace of reason in their eyes.

He tried throwing a Sin Mark at one of them.

The result showed that the judgment had succeeded.

This meant that within the Hidden Hero template, these Gray Dwarves no longer counted as intelligent creatures.

Instead, they belonged to the category of monsters!

"Misha, good girl. Fly a little lower. Don't be afraid."

While soothing the Flying Dragon Beast, Roger drew out Purple Gleam.

The Swamp Gray Dwarves were using hand crossbows. Their advantages lay in their high rate of fire and great power, while their range was somewhat shorter.

If the Flying Dragon Beast had not been unable to fly any higher, he could have completely ignored their harassment.

But that was not possible now.

He had to deal with them.

Under Roger's soothing, Misha lowered her altitude and dodged several scattered shots from the Gray Dwarves.

Roger seized the opportunity and fired an arrow.

The whistling arrowhead tore through the swamp's mist.

It pierced straight through a Gray Dwarf's eye socket!

"Lucky."

Roger let out a breath of relief. Since entering the swamp, his archery had improved somewhat.

He planned to eliminate these Gray Dwarves before continuing on, which would also count as helping Rachel avenge herself and vent her anger.

But at that moment,

the data panel quietly refreshed.

You killed 1 Swamp Gray Dwarf

You gained 10 XP

Your "Toughness" increased slightly

"What? Toughness?"

The look Roger gave the Gray Dwarves changed instantly.