Kite Tactics

Zhang Ruofeng charged forward without warning Xin Mu this time. After all, not every battle would give you time to prepare. Although monsters were generally unintelligent, many could still catch even Zhang Ruofeng off guard with a sneak attack. Since Xin Mu had an advantage over him in agility, she especially needed to learn how to protect herself in all kinds of situations. Zhang Ruofeng hoped she would become better than him at handling the unexpected, because he was always worried she might get hurt.

"Whoosh!" Zhang Ruofeng saw Xin Mu flick her throwing knife toward him and shifted slightly to the left, barely dodging it as he kept running. Xin Mu had improved a lot since last time. The moment her first attack missed, she began retreating and threw another knife, aiming straight for Zhang Ruofeng's torso. To avoid getting hurt, he had no choice but to sidestep to the right, slowing down and allowing the distance between them to widen to five steps again.

Xin Mu continued retreating. Her goal this time was to throw all ten wooden daggers, so she didn't want Zhang Ruofeng to get close. Although she had never had much stamina, ever since becoming an adventurer, her speed had gradually begun to surpass his. If they both ran at full speed now, and she weren't so unused to all the obstacles in the forest, she was confident she could keep Zhang Ruofeng at a distance with a kite strategy.

Zhang Ruofeng wasn't going to be a target, either. He didn't think there was any need to train Xin Mu's accuracy; he already had confidence in it. What she mainly needed to work on now was handling unexpected situations in a fight and defending herself in close combat. He was delighted that she was quickly figuring out how to fight him. Although Xin Mu was a well-behaved girl, she had played plenty of games, and the term "kiting" came up all the time.

"Phew." Zhang Ruofeng crouched slightly, and then suddenly vanished from Xin Mu's field of vision. She stopped at once and started moving to the right to find him. Then Zhang Ruofeng suddenly burst out from her left. With only two steps between them, Xin Mu held a dagger in each hand. As Zhang Ruofeng punched, she sharply swung her body to the right, dodging his attack while throwing herself into his arms. Her dagger pointed straight at his chest.

"Better than before." As Zhang Ruofeng commented, he grabbed Xin Mu's right hand and lightly tripped her. She lost her balance, and he lifted her slightly before she landed seated on his foot.

"Your attacks should prioritize speed over power. Focusing too much on strength and hitting weak points will make you lose your advantage in close combat. Just now, instead of trying to stab me in the heart at close range, you could have taken a step back and aimed your dagger at my eyes. I'd have to dodge, giving you room to retreat and keep kiting me." Zhang Ruofeng explained, patting Xin Mu on the head. "You did really well. The second time, you lasted more than ten seconds longer than the first."

"Again." Xin Mu had gotten competitive, and this time she was determined to use all ten of her throwing knives.

"Sure." Zhang Ruofeng was happy to train with her. After all, he didn't want to return to the surface covered in wounds and dressed in rags every time, so both of them getting stronger would make their work easier. He pulled Xin Mu to her feet and lightly punched her in the stomach. Although her endurance was already fairly high, her vision still went black for a moment. Zhang Ruofeng was now far stronger than an adult dwarf.

Xin Mu looked at Zhang Ruofeng with a pained, puzzled expression. Zhang Ruofeng was always kind to women, so the sudden punch had caught her by surprise.

"At first, my uncle told me I had to learn to take a hit before I could hit someone." Seeing the pained look on Zhang Ruofeng's face, Xin Mu knew that hitting a girl was something he was very reluctant to do. "Later, I understood. Unless you can make sure no one can ever attack you, if you can't endure pain, then the moment you get hit, you'll lose the strength to fight back. After that, you'll just be at their mercy. And you've never been hit before, so you panic when you're hurt. That's why I'm going to hit you hard enough to hurt a little today, so you can get used to fighting." Zhang Ruofeng lowered his head and apologized. "I can do anything I'm capable of to make it up to you."

"Okay." Xin Mu knew Zhang Ruofeng had had to work up a lot of courage to attack her. He was still a little hesitant, but she knew he was doing it for her own good. Without another word, she gritted her teeth through the pain, kicked him in the stomach, and used the force to retreat a step before throwing a dagger.

Seeing that Xin Mu was ready, Zhang Ruofeng put aside his reluctance to use such an extreme method. He blocked the flying knife with his left hand, letting it pierce straight through his hand, then stepped forward to chase after Xin Mu. She was ready, too, and immediately ran backward.

After about two hours, Zhang Ruofeng and Xin Mu emerged from the edge of the forest. His clothes had been slashed in three places and were stained with a lot of blood, but it was clearly all his own. Xin Mu, meanwhile, lay limp on his back, her face pale.

"Five times." Xin Mu murmured weakly from Zhang Ruofeng's back. Although he had held back and softened his blows each time, the four hits to her stomach and back had all left her feeling as if she couldn't breathe. She had never experienced anything like that before. The last hit, which was why she could only lie on his back now, had been when Zhang Ruofeng suddenly burst out from her side. Before she could react, he had rammed her away. Although he hadn't used all his strength, the force of the blow—about seventy percent—sent her flying into a tree, and she had nearly passed out.

"Hahaha, I was wrong." Zhang Ruofeng laughed awkwardly. He had indeed meant to use a little more force on that last charge, but hadn't expected Xin Mu to be completely unable to defend herself. Their long struggle had badly drained her stamina, while Zhang Ruofeng, whose endurance had long since reached A rank, wasn't very tired.

"Next time, let's do it again." Xin Mu said, still a little unconvinced. Zhang Ruofeng nodded. "No problem. I'm always ready."