[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-bear-school-astartes":3,"chapter-bear-school-astartes-bear-school-astartes-chapter-582":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Bear School Astartes",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1620327,2087,"Chapter 582 - 584. Face Off","bear-school-astartes-chapter-582",582,"\u003Cp>When Lann, Geralt, and Ged arrived at the inn at the crossroads.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They saw a mobile barber unfolding his gear from his cart, with his body tense, shaving the head of a woman with a soft hat around her neck.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Beside her, three men stood scattered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All wore leather vests, light attire, each touching their freshly shaved heads.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The free barber let them fully unleash their creativity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One had a Mohawk, another a yin-yang haircut.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But apart from their various new hairstyles, Lann could subtly discern their quality from their subconscious postures and positions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The men used the inn’s structure to block most shooting directions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were likely very familiar with the performance of various standard bows and crossbows, so even subconsciously, they avoided angles threatened by different intensities of bows and crossbows.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With current market-standard bow and crossbow performances, if one wanted to shoot cold arrows from afar, they’d have to aim within their line of sight to find a feasible angle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was a display of tactical awareness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Geralt slightly lifted a branch blocking his view and whispered to the side.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Their weight is focused on the front half of the left foot’s sole, the easiest position to react swiftly.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Maintaining such a state naturally during rest periods shows they’re indeed on par with the group we first encountered... this is a special forces unit!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Geralt’s tactical thinking was different from Lann’s, who was used to the long periods in the [Deep Memory] interstellar wars.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Geralt focused first on swordsmanship, whereas Lann noticed shooting angles first.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This difference wasn’t about superiority or inferiority; it stemmed from different war perceptions and experiences.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"So what now...\" Ged looked at Geralt and Lann with an inquisitive gaze, his hand eagerly caressing the steel sword handle on his back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The new Valerian Steel Sword he hadn’t yet used against a worthy opponent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lann nodded towards the two of them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>-----------------\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The barber was shaving the woman’s head according to her request, creating patterns on the short side.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The woman seemed to be a hybrid, with a quarter elf blood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The barber imagined fearfully how this group, who casually wiped out a gang, would treat him after they were done.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Meanwhile, he noticed the woman’s mouth opening wide with laughter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No canine teeth were visible, a testimony to her elf heritage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Among elves, canine teeth were seen as a primitive, incomplete evolutionary trait.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet, the actions of the woman devoid of ’primitive traits’ were anything but civilized.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her throat and nasal cavity made a snoring sound, then she tilted her head and spat a thick phlegm mixed with mucus into the slushy ground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was already the countless time she had spat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>People high on drug powders salivate and produce mucus uncontrollably.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The high-quality drug powder found on Long-toothed Rat’s corpse was consumed entirely within less than an hour!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were thus in a frenzy, moving with abnormal agility, their eyes dreamy and glowing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The barber was truly frightened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although they promised that after service he could leave unharmed, everyone knew the truth—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not even demon spirits believe what those addicted to drug powders say!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These people could lie without blinking even in a temple!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet the hybrid woman under the barber’s razor spat out another phlegm and mucus, then raised her eyes towards the direction outside the inn’s courtyard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her drug-induced nervous eyeballs first looked puzzled, then seemed to understand, suddenly widening!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Aha! Two ’guests’ have arrived!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The three men scattered in the yard instantly changed their movements.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their previously lazy stance turned sharp and menacing with tightened muscles.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their positions didn’t change, but their hands had already grasped the sword handles on their waists.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their neurotic gazes locked onto the two approaching shadows.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Silhouettes with long swords slung like bows and arrows.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If this were before the event that spread across the continent, these southern travelers might have been merely baffled and amused. But nowadays, anyone would understand what these two swords represented.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Looks like today’s our lucky day? First, we got premium drug powder for free, now a target is delivered to us?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Blas, who wiped out an entire gang with a single sword, grinned widely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The man with the soft hat, despite consuming a fair amount of drug powder, remained somewhat rational.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Assuming they truly are Demon Hunters, not impostors deceiving farmers for extra girls and coins amidst the chaos.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After saying this, the soft-hat man also tilted his head to spit out another mix of phlegm and mucus. In a less hostile tone, he called to the two nearing shadows.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Who are you? If friends, why not come for a drink of vodka. It’s not easy finding good people in these turbulent times, my treat.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The atmosphere was peculiar, both inside and outside the inn’s courtyard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The barber instinctively paused.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ged and Geralt kept moving.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Demon Hunter with the bushy beard split a gap in his thick facial hair: \"Vodka? I like.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"But at the very least, it shouldn’t be vodka with additives.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Demon Hunters walked close enough for the courtyard’s occupants to see the silver pendants around their necks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The ’friendly atmosphere’ instantly vanished.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In a moment of drug-induced strange gaze meeting the Demon Hunters’ cat eyes...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Crash!\" *4\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The sound of bowstrings twanging! Four hand crossbows were fired, prepared ahead!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Short but still lethal crossbar arrows volleyed toward targets!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the surprise shots didn’t hit anyone at all!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The two Demon Hunters swiftly sidestepped, which wasn’t surprising.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the widespread tales about Demon Hunters, people had come to begrudgingly accept such formerly shocking actions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But even the opposing side reacted in the nick of time to the surprise crossbow shots!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ged’s crossbow arrow aimed at the least mobile woman, but the elf hybrid woman wickedly twisted her body.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though getting a cut from the stunned barber’s shaving razor, the crossbow arrow aimed at her thudded into the barber’s cart instead.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The other’s actions exceeded normal human limits.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Harris, originally drinking with Blas, flickered a near-dagger short sword in a flash of silver to strike down Geralt’s crossbow arrow mid-air!\u003C\u002Fp>",1015,"2026-06-06T10:40:23.767Z",1,"novelbin.me","26fe48d122fcee0acfee3ba643687a2ba4baccf305a72240cc66961ef2e82c1a","bear-school-astartes-chapter-516","bear-school-astartes-chapter-515",1043,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fbear-school-astartes-cover.jpg"]