Slow Bird Flies First

He didn't have time to check the anomaly in his status bar.

Roger flipped and jumped, lunging at another Gray Dwarf.

Although the previous assassination attempt was sufficiently stealthy, the target's violent struggles immediately alerted its companions—this showed that Gray Dwarves themselves possessed extremely high Tenacity.

The other Gray Dwarf was holding a short crossbow.

Seeing Roger charge, it didn't say a word and fired an arrow! But the distance between them was too close, and the arrow went wide.

The Gray Dwarf frantically and clumsily pulled at the mechanism, appearing to want to reload another bolt.

But Roger wouldn't give it another chance.

He adjusted his angle in mid-air, then raised his hand—

A bundle of Magic Rope was thrown from his palm, quickly wrapping around the Gray Dwarf several times.

Accompanied by a simple incantation.

The Magic Rope, like a constricting python, automatically bound the Gray Dwarf.

This Magic Rope was obtained by Roger from a Blood Mage Apprentice.

The spell used also came from the Mystra's Popular Spellbook series.

However, the magic ring used the ninth incantation, while the Magic Rope used the fourth.

Seeing that the Magic Rope's control was very effective, Roger didn't hesitate. He pulled the end of the Magic Rope, wrapped it around a nearby branch, and then jumped down from the tree.

The Gray Dwarf let out a miserable wail, immediately hanging from the tree like a roasted duck.

This sound quickly alerted the Gray Dwarves on the shore.

Roger landed steadily, tying the Magic Rope to the Locust Tree as he did so.

Then he took out the "Little Finger."

He loaded a pebble, gently drew the bow, aimed at the Gray Dwarf's mouth, and released.

This series of actions was executed flawlessly.

The next second, the almost inaudible sound of cracking teeth was heard.

The Gray Dwarf's cries also became Fall Apart.

With his objective achieved, Roger climbed the old Locust Tree again from the other side.

He picked a relatively hidden branch, activated the skill "Stealth."

On the shore, the three Gray Dwarves were somewhat bewildered.

Their eyesight was poor, and from their position, they couldn't clearly see their companion's situation, only hearing him shouting.

Moreover, this fellow's teeth were leaking air, and his shouts were unclear even from a distance.

Annoyed by the shouting, the three decided to go and see what was happening.

Taking the land route to the tree would require a large detour.

The agitated Gray Dwarves naturally prepared to swim over.

The Gray Dwarf hanging from the tree saw this scene hazily and called out even more urgently!

Unfortunately, his companions couldn't understand his anxiety. Instead, because of his roars, they swam even more energetically.

On the old Locust Tree, Roger's figure quietly appeared.

In his hand, he held the short crossbow he had picked up from the deceased Gray Dwarf.

The next second, he lightly pulled the trigger.

With a "whoosh," he successfully took the life of a Gray Dwarf.

The crossbow stringing speed was slow, but Roger wasn't in a hurry.

He sat on the tree, leisurely stringing the bow.

At this moment, the Gray Dwarves in the water realized something was wrong.

But they had no retreat! Continuing forward was undoubtedly walking into a firing line.

Turning back to the shore was also a joke.

Amidst this torment of choosing between deaths.

Roger easily killed all the Gray Dwarves.

Next was the wonderful time to collect Loot.

The most valuable items on the Gray Dwarves were their crossbows and bolts, with their attributes as follows: ...

"Gray Dwarf's Simple Crossbow"

"Rating: A"

"Durability 3, Elasticity 7, Tenacity 6, Balance 3"

"Simple Penetrating Arrow (Poisoned)"

"Rating: A"

"Durability 3, Piercing 6, Durability 2, Balance 4"

Roger found a total of 4 crossbows and 18 poison-coated penetrating arrows.

If he took these to Tongma Town to sell, he was sure to get a fortune.

This type of short crossbow had a very low barrier to entry.

Even a beginner could use it to kill an adventurer much stronger than themselves.

At medium to close range, the killing power of a crossbow was terrifying, especially when coated with poison.

Its only drawback was that it was too clunky.

Unless you were skilled, it took a second to shoot an arrow and half a minute to reload.

"Rachel's luck was pretty good. The ones who attacked her were vagrants. They must have just gotten the crossbows and penetrating arrows from the Gray Dwarves and hadn't had time to poison them yet."

Gazing at the faint green sheen on the arrowheads by the moonlight, Roger's caution grew.

The Swamp Gray Dwarves were indeed formidable prey.

The fact that they could equip expensive short crossbows almost like a personal item indicated that their tribe had abundant mineral resources and mature smelting technology.

Considering their mobilization and execution in setting up outposts around Yellowstone Island.

This was far beyond the level of ordinary monsters.

Roger even began to wonder if he should level up.

Besides the crossbow bolts, the most valuable items were the caruncles on the Gray Dwarves.

Roger patiently cut off each caruncle.

These things were somewhat similar to the glands of the Magic Explosion Frog.

He planned to collect them and see if he could create something similar to an "Elemental Bottle."

After all, this was going to be a protracted battle.

During this fight, some of his Elemental Bottles would definitely be consumed.

He couldn't just sit around and deplete his resources, could he?

After looting the spoils, Roger finally had time to check the system prompts.

He studied them and found that the "Milestone" category had changed.

"What are Milestone Points for?"

Roger was a bit curious.

As far as he knew, Milestone Points could only be used to exchange for specific "Titles."

Only by unlocking the relevant milestones could one exchange Milestone Points for the corresponding titles.

For example.

The "Yuntai Mountain Frog Hunter" milestone corresponded to the title "Frog Nemesis."

The equipment effect of this title was "Damage to all frog-like creatures doubled."

And to obtain this title, one needed to spend 1 Milestone Point.

When Roger saw this effect, he just smiled and shook his head.

If it were "Damage to all amphibian creatures doubled," he might have considered it.

Frog-like creatures...

Who in their right mind would squat around and kill frog-like creatures! What a waste of time.

The other titles were similarly outrageous.

"Small Test of Strength" corresponded to "Confident Novice," with the effect "Your confidence increased by 5%."

"Crumble Bones and Scatter Ashes" corresponded to "Vicious Killer," with the effect "You will carry the scent of bone ash."

"Assassin's Creed" was a bit better, corresponding to "Cold-Blooded Assassin," with the effect "Your body temperature will not be detectable by infrared vision or similar spells."

Apart from "Cold-Blooded Assassin," Roger didn't want to exchange for anything else!

That's why he had been saving his Milestone Points until now.

Perhaps it was because his Milestone Points had accumulated to a certain amount, triggering a notification.

Now Roger was told he could use his Milestone Points to exchange for other things! As Roger carefully read the description of what those things were, his eyes immediately lit up! ...

"Slow Bird Flies First Coupon"

"Type: Consumable"

"Price: 10 Milestone Points"

"Usage: After using this coupon, you can learn/master/obtain any skill/secret technique/feat within 10 levels of your own level in advance."

Although I always feel like I'm troubling everyone, as a new author with a new book, I really need everyone's voting support!

by, Humble Little Key.