Techniques (Bonus Chapter-Come Hang Out, Handsome Guys and Beautiful Girls)

Sensing danger approaching, the Village Guardian started in alarm. He decisively abandoned his shot, grabbed one end of the bow, and swung it out like a wooden sword.

Yet the attacker charged straight into the Village Guardian's swing at that very moment.

The Village Guardian was no weakling. Even with only a bow in hand, he instantly tore through the other party's clothes.

Then, that "person" split apart.

Their upper body leaped high into the air, twisting as it plunged a dagger downward, aiming to pierce through the Village Guardian's head.

Meanwhile, the lower body crouched low. A head emerged, and slightly long arms gripped daggers in both forward and reverse holds as they stabbed toward the Village Guardian's feet.

"Halflings?" The attackers were actually a pair of Halflings.

Halflings were considered a human subspecies.

Such subspecies, along with creatures like elves and dwarves, had not originally been rare.

But after the age of Sky Whales began, their Sky Whales had seldom interacted with humans.

As a result, it had become rare to see these "non-human" intelligent beings under normal circumstances.

Who would have thought that this usually robed, somewhat strange person was actually formed by two Halflings stacked atop one another?

They were agile, and practicing the Breathing Technique further enhanced their dexterity.

Facing the pair of Halflings' assault, the Village Guardian drew a deep breath, black spots already appearing across his body.

Yet unlike the round black spots from before, they had now changed into patterns.

Naimus had made certain adjustments to his Whale-ification Disease. Although he had not gained the Colossus trait, he had acquired another trait: Tough Skin.

The Halflings' daggers struck his tough skin, leaving only a few cuts.

And those cuts healed within the next few breaths.

The Whale-ified Village Guardian clenched his short blade, ignored the flea-like Halflings, and directly slashed at Aro, who was charging at him with his blade once more.

Their blades met, and Aro was clearly at a disadvantage.

However, the instant Aro sensed the force behind the blow, he twisted his wrist and used his blade's edge to redirect the Village Guardian's strength.

He then turned and closed in on the Village Guardian. With another twist of his blade, its point picked into the tendons of the Village Guardian's hand.

The slight break in his skin did not make the Village Guardian bleed, but his hand went numb. His grip loosened, and Aro sent the short blade flying.

"Guarding some little village and fighting a few Nest Beasts... your technique is terrible." Though he had only one arm and was disadvantaged in attributes such as strength and defense,

Aro did not fear the Whale-ified Village Guardian. That was the confidence his technique gave him.

As an ordinary race whose attributes could no longer improve, he could only fight again and again, practicing his swordsmanship over and over.

"Someone who knows nothing of technique is nothing more than a clumsy Beast!" Aro swung his blade again, striking the short blade that had just been knocked up and was now falling.

The short blade shot toward the Village Guardian's eye.

At the same time, Aro advanced, twisting his body as he thrust toward the Village Guardian's slightly open mouth.

The two Halflings coordinated as well.

One flipped up from the ground, sending his dagger toward the Village Guardian's rear, while the other grabbed the Village Guardian's head with one hand, reaching his fingers toward his nostrils. He used the dagger's pommel to strike the blood vessels in his neck, trying to make the Village Guardian dizzy and disrupt his movements.

"I'm not a Beast, and your swordsmanship isn't as strong as you claim." The Village Guardian let the others attack him, clenched his teeth around Aro's blade, and spoke in a low voice through his throat.

What surfaced in his mind was not his daughter's figure, but Naimus's terrifying oppressive presence.

Having witnessed something even more oppressive, the pressure before him did not throw him into panic.

Because a greater evil existed, his own evil could be tolerated, allowing him to feel at ease.

On the Village Guardian's other side were three more people. Two were shooting villagers, while the third stood not far from Otto, protecting him as he cast his spell.

Around them, some weaker merchant caravan lackeys surrounded the area with bows, shooting any villagers who tried to escape.

They were also somewhat surprised by this sight. Aro had actually failed to take down the Village Guardian right away?

Aro was the strongest among them. His attributes had reached eight, and his technique could amplify that eight considerably.

Many experts with the same attributes found it difficult to stand against Aro.

Especially his will to kill. Aro did not fear death, and that utter disregard for his own life and the lives of others allowed him to seize victory in life-and-death struggles.

The two Halflings were relatively weak, but they were truly nimble.

Working together, they could precisely detect an enemy's movements and interrupt them.

But the battle did not stop because of that. The three attacked in coordination once more.

The Village Guardian sensed danger closing in. Tough Skin had granted him extremely strong defense,

but it did not make him invincible. Places unprotected by skin were still his weak points.

These people were all highly experienced fighters. When their first probing assault failed to achieve sufficient results against Tough Skin, they immediately shifted toward the various vulnerabilities of his body.

He abruptly twisted away from Aro's attack while kicking at the Halfling beside him.

Yet the Halfling on his body detected that movement the instant it began.

His small body clung to the Village Guardian. He could immediately sense every change in the Village Guardian's muscles.

Then...

He twisted his body, clamped a dagger in his mouth, and grabbed the Village Guardian's neck like he was on a swing. Borrowing the force of the Village Guardian's turning body, he swung himself up, released with both hands, and launched himself forward.

The Village Guardian's kicking foot was struck by that human-shaped cannonball.

A sudden weight landed on his foot, shifting the Village Guardian's center of gravity and forcibly interrupting his kick.

His Halfling brother then coordinated perfectly, lunging forward with both daggers aimed beneath the Village Guardian's crotch.

The two Halflings worked seamlessly together and moved with great agility. Even an ordinary person clad in full heavy armor would be toyed with by them, their every motion continuously interrupted before they were killed through attacks on their weak points.

More critically, Otto's spell was about to be completed.

"Snake follows its path, feathers drift through the sky; like a river of old, rise, twist, and surge!"

As Otto finished his incantation, several transparent things descended from the air.

Their bodies were nearly transparent, though their medium was still different enough to slightly distort the light.

Summoning School spell: Summon Feather Sky Snake!

The moment these nearly transparent Feather Sky Snakes appeared, they brought with them an intense sense of mortal danger.

At that moment, an arrow shot through the air.

A ring on Otto's finger grew faintly warm.

On instinct, Otto turned around and called the Feather Sky Snakes over to protect him.

Thank you all for your support, dear readers. Please keep following along—Xu Ming is endlessly grateful.