A righteous three-on-one

Chen Xu put the potion swaying in his hand back into his storage space and stopped to enjoy the live-action battle royale before him.

On the damp dirt road, two [Soldier] Chosen stumbled along, fleeing for their lives in utter disarray.

Guan Chuan was covered in wounds, and the left side of his body looked as though it had been scorched by flames.

His pinned-up long hair had come loose, and the hair on the left side of his head had been burned away along with his eyebrow.

A perfectly fine young swordsman of twenty had turned into a rebellious punk by their next meeting.

"Save your strength and just leave the battlefield." The pursuer quickly caught up. He stood seven feet tall, powerfully built.

Yet his angular, narrow, elf-like face stood in stark contrast to his fierce bearing.

For some reason, he vaguely reminded Chen Xu of the Wild Hunt.

The busted-hand Chosen, who was in better shape, was forced to turn and fight him.

Chen Xu noticed that this unfamiliar Chosen had a sword in his hand and another on his back. His slit pupils glowed faintly.

Cat eyes? A witcher?

He did not immediately use [Detection], partly because the man was out of range, and partly because his own extraordinary senses let him make a rough judgment from the man's breathing and speed alone: he was no ordinary opponent.

The other man had clearly noticed him too, but showed no obvious hostility. Why make an enemy for no reason?

The busted-hand Chosen had not shown much combat prowess before. In Chen Xu's impression, he was merely a cowardly little fellow. Unexpectedly, facing a fight to the death, he displayed a surprising level of ability.

His figure alternated between tall and short-not through footwork, but through actual changes in his height and size!

The angles of his sword strikes were difficult to predict, and the drastic changes in his appearance seemed to affect his physical capabilities as well.

When his body shrank, his Reaction attribute surged by 20-30%!

When his body grew, his Reaction fell, while his Strength attribute soared proportionally.

The baron's guard armor he had worn was long gone, replaced by a black, stretchy bodysuit that could accommodate his ability to grow and shrink.

The pressure created by these rapid reversals between two extremes was like facing two opponents with different specialties!

It could catch some enemies off guard and cost them dearly, especially those who specialized in brute strength.

But his opponent, the Chosen suspected of having the [Witcher] identity, clearly did not fall for it.

If he could reverse his attributes between those extremes without changing his outward appearance, perhaps it would have given the man some trouble.

His powerful reaction speed let him respond precisely to both modes of attack, with enough attention to spare for banter:

"So you're one of those freaks from Daughter's Dock. How about spending a night with me? I could consider letting you hunt on this battlefield!"

...Aren't they both men...?

Chen Xu rubbed between his brows, his trigeminal nerve faintly aching. Why have I been running into nothing but perverts these past two days?

The busted-hand Chosen was the fellow whose palm Chen Xu had pierced with his "flying sword": Annisha Nomankov.

His race was indeed [Daughter's Dock Celestial].

Chen Xu had checked that with [Detection] during their first confrontation, back before Zhaotian Zhi had earned the title of "Great Inventor."

He had originally thought this so-called "Celestial" was some badass race, but from the way this unfamiliar Chosen spoke... it seemed rather less glorious?

"Sure, then stop attacking first." Annisha compromised verbally, but his hands never hesitated. He fought with all his strength to hold his opponent back, solely to buy Guan Chuan time.

Guan Chuan had been gravely wounded protecting him. He could not abandon him.

Besides, without Guan Chuan, he could not complete the task that Pro had assigned him. He had no choice but to give it everything.

Crow's Perch was less than a kilometer away now. Once there, they could use their [Soldier] identities to obtain support and protection.

He was bitter too. If Zhaotian Zhi had not gone crazy and blown himself up, and that damned, absurdly overpowered [Civilian], Pro Gram, had not cost him another two teammates...

With their five-man alliance, the one being hunted would definitely have been their opponent!

"Aren't you going to help?" Guan Chuan finally stumbled past Chen Xu, unable to understand why he was still sitting so calmly on horseback.

"Why? He hasn't done anything to me." The question amused Chen Xu:

"Do you think I'm like you reckless idiots, hammering everyone I see?"

With the [Shaelmaar Decoction] in his stomach, his Reaction attribute had reached a full 20 points under the enhancements of his talent and specialties.

Naturally, his perspective was different.

Currently stuck at an advancement bottleneck, with points and experience practically burning a hole in his pocket, why fight and make a fool of himself without sufficient benefit to motivate him?

Besides, this was an excellent chance to peek at other people's trump cards. How could he pass it up?

The swordsman's breathing grew heavier, but he ultimately swallowed his anger and tried to reason with him:

"This guy attacked first. He said this battlefield was already claimed, and we either had to leave Velen or withdraw from the battlefield.

"Do you think you can stay out of it?"

"He's really that arrogant?" Chen Xu gave the unfamiliar Chosen fighting nearby a surprised glance.

The battle was nearing its end. Annisha's rhythm of attack and defense had broken down, and he was struggling to keep up.

The unknown Chosen seized an opening and raised his palm. A stream of flame shot straight at his opponent's face!

That all but confirmed his [Witcher] identity.

Annisha immediately shrank. The surging heat grazed his scalp, instantly leaving him with a bald crown.

Just as he was about to swing his sword in retaliation, his opponent's follow-up slash knocked it aside, and a long-prepared left front kick struck his vulnerable face.

Blood and tears sprayed everywhere. He probably suffered at least two facial fractures.

"Forget it. Looking like that, you'd have to pay me to spend the night." The unfamiliar Chosen curled his lips in a taunt, seemingly quite satisfied with the power of his face-disfiguring kick.

Just as he was about to advance and finish him off, Guan Chuan and the spectator on the tall horse joined the fray simultaneously:

"Think carefully. These two still owe me 400 points." Chen Xu swung down from his horse and drew his steel sword:

"If you drive them off, will you take responsibility for their debt to me?"

The tree longs for stillness, but the wind will not cease...

Both sides activated [Detection] almost simultaneously, and both their pupils contracted:

Chosen: Bong Chigurh (Chigurh Legion)

Race: Navia Dark Elf

Main class: Blood Qi Fighter Lv.2, identity enhancement: (Monster Hunter)

Secondary classes: Star Pirate Lv.5 (max), Adventurer Lv.5 (max)

Attributes: Constitution 16, Strength 13, Reaction 16, Soul Quality 5, Spirit 3, Will 5

Dark Energy: 19/54

Talent: ?

Cultivation method: Blood Refining Method

Specialties: Shared Lineage, Sword Technique Beginner, Fighting Beginner, Basic Harsh Environment Resistance

Skills: Sneak Attack Lv.3, Tracking Lv.1, Blood Explosion Technique, Small Starship Piloting; Sign, Alchemy Lv.1 (identity enhancement)

Rank: Qi Sense Lower Stage

Did dark elves count as elves? Even without Mother Nature's favor, even as their bloodline inheritance grew ever thinner...

But if they said they did, the other elves dared not say otherwise.

His attributes were terrifying. He could even overwhelmingly surpass Geralt, the true pinnacle of witchers!

Had Chen Xu's own Reaction not been slightly higher, he might not even have been able to view all his attributes.

Chen Xu instinctively tightened his grip on Gram, his peripheral vision sweeping over the two [Soldier] Chosen. It seemed he really would have to take part in a "righteous gang-up" this time.

"This area has been requisitioned by the Chigurh Legion." Facing three opponents alone, the Chosen named Bong remained extremely composed.

This newly arrived low-tier Chosen merely had an absurd Reaction attribute. That was not enough to make him back down.

Everyone in the universe with even a passing knowledge of the extraordinary knew:

Of the six basic attributes, Constitution, Strength, Soul Quality, and Will were basic combat attributes, directly providing combat power, offensive capability, or Dark Energy reserves.

Reaction and Spirit, meanwhile, were also known as auxiliary combat attributes, meant to enhance technique and skill power.

They were what people called "aptitude," and their strongest stage was not among low-tier extraordinary beings.

For example, a year earlier, the chief justice of the Yuanwo System's Judiciary Department, the Force Field Level powerhouse-Elena Sutter.

Her [Explosion-Proof Angel] armament required at least 200 Reaction merely to control it without being controlled by it instead.

It was said that Elena had relied on her astonishing gift of over 400 Reaction to bring out the full effectiveness of that legendary mechanical armament.

She had single-handedly cut her way through the corruption domain invading Yuanwo, then joined forces with the leaders of Yuanwo's various factions to drive back the Corruption Calamity Soldier behind it in a frontal confrontation!

It was an astonishing feat spanning an entire major rank.

But if a Mortal Tier mage had 20 Spirit and 10 Will, the total amount of elements he could gather would still depend solely on those 10 points of Will.

Even if he sensed higher-tier elements, he could only communicate with them, not tame them.

Unless he possessed some form of elemental affinity that lowered the difficulty of taming them.