Chapter 32: Poison Gland (4k)

"Whoosh!"

The sharp wind whipped up by high-speed movement caused the black, shaggy hair on Xia Nan's forehead to sway violently.

A phantom flashed across his vision, and Wood, wielding two daggers, had already arrived before him.

"Young Master, are you alright?"

His anxious and concerned gaze swept carefully up and down the half-elf's body.

Seeing no external injuries, he finally let out a sigh of relief.

In truth, Wood was just blinded by his own concern; with no obstacles in the way, he had seen everything that happened on his way over.

He naturally knew that the Rust Monster hadn't even touched Haian before its head was sliced off.

But the urgency born from his own dereliction of duty, combined with the lingering fear of what could have happened, left him unable to stop blaming himself.

"It's fine, it's fine."

Wood thought to himself in relief.

Then, he turned his head and looked with utmost seriousness at Xia Nan, who was standing beside them, holding a longsword and intending to continue forward to support the others.

He nodded sincerely and earnestly.

The battle was urgent, and Wood was not a man of many words.

But in this moment, he had truly recognized in his heart this young lad in the squad—someone he had once doubted, but who had now proven with his actions that he was worthy of trust.

"Shoo."

Like a shadow, the figure clad in black leather armor vanished once more.

Only then did the half-elf Haian, who had just experienced a brush with death, finally snap back to reality.

"Hoo... hoo..."

He breathed heavily, his fair face already covered in sweat.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry... thank you!"

Haian apologized incoherently to Xia Nan beside him.

To this, Xia Nan didn't even respond; he had already rushed out from beside the half-elf.

On one hand, in his view, even if Haian and the others had been total strangers just a few days ago,

now that he had joined the squad and become a member,

even if only for the sake of those 100 gold coins, he had to fulfill his responsibilities to the best of his ability.

On the other hand, it was also because—

One of the two remaining Rust Monsters on the field had taken advantage of this moment to crawl right in front of them.

"Hiss!!!"

The sharp, high-pitched screech sounded as if it would shatter their eardrums.

Its long, finned tail, covered in wavy, yellowish-brown armor, whipped through the air, kicking up countless grass clippings with every strike.

Unlike Green-skinned Goblins, whose "combat power" is determined by "numbers," Rust Monsters, which rarely live in large groups, do not feel fear or anger at the death of their kin.

These large bugs, which usually roam the deep caves, seemed to have been stimulated by something, displaying extreme aggression.

Even though there were metal weapons at their feet that had been corroded by venom and were edible, they showed no interest at all, only attacking the living creatures before them with madness.

With his iron-grey longsword held horizontally across his chest, Xia Nan was in no rush to attack, instead circling the Rust Monster and maneuvering to its side.

His brain raced at high speed.

Everything that had happened since the start of the battle flashed through his mind.

First, the greatest threat to him was naturally the corrosive venom sprayed from the Rust Monster's mouth.

Whether it splashed on his body or accidentally touched his blade, he felt a pang of heartache and found it unacceptable.

He had to be extra cautious!

Second, the Rust Monster was covered in thick, solid armor.

Judging by the blow Lali had landed with his single-handed hammer, Xia Nan couldn't be sure if a single strike from his sword would break the armor.

If he failed to cut through the bug's defense instantly, without flesh to transmit the force, the subsequent recoil would leave him in a state of rigidity.

The margin for error was extremely low!

Therefore, just as Wood had done before, finding a breakthrough point along the gaps in the Rust Monster's armor was undoubtedly the best strategy for dealing with this type of insectoid magic beast.

But...

A trace of hesitation flashed in Xia Nan's dark eyes.

A few seconds ago, he had indeed used 【Circle Slash】 to slice off a Rust Monster's head.

It was just that at the time, he hadn't thought much of it; seeing his teammate in crisis, he had instinctively followed Wood's technique and swung his sword.

He hadn't even aimed carefully, yet the blade had bitten into the insect beast's armor.

Thinking back on it now, was it a coincidence, or some kind of combat talent?

He didn't understand it well.

Yet, he wouldn't let such a highly uncertain illusion interfere with the battle at hand, which concerned his own life.

"Bang!"

The powerful finned tail whipped against the ground like a lash, splashing mud everywhere.

Xia Nan barely managed to dodge.

He followed through with his longsword, striking sparks against the yellowish-brown armor.

"Tsk, a pity, just missed."

It wasn't a stationary toy on a table; through countless years of evolution and inheritance, the Rust Monster naturally knew the weaknesses in its own structure.

The armor, varying in thickness and undulating like waves, made the gaps between them appear exceptionally narrow and difficult to penetrate.

Added to that was its constantly moving body and the long tail whistling behind it like an iron whip.

One had to be a "Professional" like Wood, who had already attained a professional level and possessed excellent skills far beyond those of an ordinary person.

Otherwise, in the heat of battle, it was very difficult to catch the bug's weak points.

Unless...

"Whoosh!"

A sharp sound of breaking air suddenly erupted from behind him.

Xia Nan's body paused involuntarily, but he reacted immediately.

He leaped backward violently.

Whether to build up power or retreat temporarily, he needed to leave enough space.

Then, a wooden arrow tipped with white tail feathers flew past him with a "hum," churning through the mist.

The half-elf Haian, having regained his senses after the surprise attack, immediately provided an assist for his teammate.

Unlike the previous rapid, straight shots, the speed of this arrow in Xia Nan's vision appeared significantly slower.

But it seemed as if the half-elf had used some unique technique, causing the tail feathers to vibrate violently while making the entire arrow rotate at high speed.

Just like the wake left by an airplane crossing the sky, the wooden arrow streaked through, leaving a clear path in the mist-filled air.

"Ssh!"

Extremely precise.

The metal arrowhead, with incredible accuracy, spun and pierced the Rust Monster's eye, which was tiny and hidden under the cover of its armor.

The powerful force carried by the arrow itself even caused half of the magic beast's insect face to shatter and distort.

Hiss—

The insect screech echoed!

The extreme pain caused the Rust Monster to instinctively rear up, shaking its head as if trying to shake off the arrow that had embedded itself deep into its skull.

"Now is the time!"

Xia Nan didn't hesitate in the slightest.

His legs, already prepared to exert force, lunged forward.

Being at a slight disadvantage in positioning, he didn't use 【Circle Slash】, which wasn't suitable at this moment, but instinctively thrust his iron-grey longsword diagonally upward.

"Ssh!"

Insect blood splattered!

Driven by the force of his entire body, the blade pierced through the Rust Monster's relatively fragile lower jaw almost instantly.

Neck, spine... all the way up!

Bang—

The Rust Monster's heavy, reared-up body fell backward onto the ground with the inertia of Xia Nan's thrust, making a dull thud.

The insect head, still trailing the arrow, rolled onto the meadow.

The chelicerae twitched unconsciously.

Xia Nan didn't dare to slack off for a second; the moment he confirmed the Rust Monster was dead, he erupted with even more intense force than before.

Stepping on the insect beast's abdomen, he pulled out the decapitation longsword that had embedded itself in its armor with all his might!

Then, he carefully inspected the blade!

"Don't let it touch, please don't let it touch..."

He prayed devoutly in his heart.

The opportunity was rare; he hadn't been able to worry about venom just now, he had just struck with his sword the moment he caught it.

While he didn't regret it, he couldn't help but worry about the blade being corroded by the insect beast's saliva.

Fortunately,

although there were a few more obvious scratches on the blade and the surface was covered in thick green insect blood,

it had ultimately avoided the Rust Monster's venom, the natural enemy of metal equipment.

Maneuver, pause, thrust.

Truly intense battles are often decided in a matter of seconds.

When Xia Nan pulled his longsword from the insect beast while panting, Wood, at the other end of the camp, had also finished off the last Rust Monster on the field.

The battle was over.

The Rust Monster attack had come suddenly.

If it had been an ordinary low-level adventurer squad, facing the siege of these four disgusting insect beasts, even if they hadn't been wiped out, the entire team would likely have suffered heavy losses.

Fortunately, Xia Nan's team had an experienced Professional.

Not only did he alert everyone to the attack through traps set around the camp in advance,

but he also clearly and concisely pointed out the dangers of the Rust Monsters at the first opportunity, even taking the lead to dispose of one with clean methods and revealing their weak points.

Added to the coordination of Xia Nan, Haian, and the others,

throughout the entire battle, only Lali had suffered a minor injury from accidentally getting Rust Monster saliva on himself while running away; the other four were unscathed.

Zla—

Lali shook the venom off his single-handed hammer onto the meadow with some disgust.

"This thing... should still be usable, right..."

He muttered, looking at the metal hammer face in front of him, which was severely deformed as if gnawed by rats under the corrosion of the Rust Monster's saliva.

His arm was already wrapped in a thick layer of bandages.

"Lali, what are you doing there? Come help quickly!"

Behind him, Doris called out in a low voice while packing their luggage.

"Coming!"

The commotion caused by the battle and the stench of the insect blood meant this place was no longer safe.

Before the sky turned completely dark, they had to quickly find another place to camp.

On the other side, Xia Nan stood before the corpse of a Rust Monster, his decapitation longsword already wiped clean.

At this moment, he was frowning, carefully flipping through the 【Adventurer's Handbook】 in his hand.

"Rust Monster... Rust Monster..."

"How come it's not here?"

Having finally ended the battle, he naturally didn't want to give up the loot before him.

With Xia Nan's relatively shallow adventurer knowledge, such a large bug, just the chitinous armor with its astonishing defensive power, should be worth quite a bit of money.

But given the current situation, these shells were too heavy and obviously couldn't be carried back.

Even if he found a place to bury them and left a mark, by the time they returned after the mission, they would likely have been dug up and eaten by the sensitive-smelling creatures in the Mist Forest.

Therefore, he wondered if there was anything on the Rust Monster that was easy to carry and had value on the market, which he could take this opportunity to collect.

But the Adventurer's Handbook in his hand contained no records of such magic beasts.

"This is a bit tricky."

He worried in his heart.

And just then, seemingly sensing Xia Nan's thoughts,

Wood, clad in black leather armor, walked over silently.

Unlike the vigilance and silence he had maintained along the way, he took the initiative to speak, his tone calm:

"The most valuable thing on a Rust Monster is the poison gland located on the upper left side of its abdominal cavity."

"It's dark purple, thumb-sized, very obvious; you'll find it after flipping it over a couple of times—the outer skin is a bit tough and doesn't break easily, just find any cloth bag to put it in, but be careful not to put it together with metal items, as it might corrode them."

"I suggest forgetting about the armor; first, it's not convenient to carry, and second, because of the environment of the Mist Forest, this kind of thing will rot quickly once the body dies, unless you brought protective materials."

"If you have the chance to go to towns near Dwarf settlements in the future and encounter these bugs again, you can also take their antennae."

"Just like cutting off a Goblin's left ear, the Dwarves there will give Youan extra bounty."

This was the first time Xia Nan had heard Wood speak such a long passage.

Realizing the other party was helping him, he couldn't help but thank him:

"Alright, thank you very much."

He took out his dagger from his waist, just about to hurry and collect the poison gland,

when the half-elf Haian walked over.

"Here, I've already flipped out the poison glands from the other three bugs for you; added together, they should count as a bit of pocket money."

His fair hands were covered in thick green insect blood, and in his palm were three dark purple, oval-shaped organs.

Hearing this, Xia Nan couldn't help but be stunned for a moment.

"You..."

"Just consider it compensation for this mission," the half-elf said with a smile, putting the poison glands into a cloth bag and stuffing it into Xia Nan's hand. "After all, we agreed beforehand that it was just the outskirts of the Mist Forest and there wouldn't be any risks."

"Now that we've actually encountered a magic beast of the Rust Monster's level, it's not realistic to expect me to just pretend it didn't happen."

"Besides, you saved me just now... regarding that, after this mission is over and we return to Niumu..."

"Let's talk about that later." Xia Nan waved his hand, interrupting the other party's words.

He wasn't the type to hold a favor over someone's head, and his actions in the battle had just been a matter of course.

They were teammates, and his own situation hadn't been that bad at the time; he couldn't just watch the other person die.

Therefore, he didn't really care about the so-called "life-saving grace."

On the contrary, the three poison glands in the other party's hand were more appealing to him.

"I wonder how much they'll sell for when we get back." Xia Nan, whose savings before the trip were only 24 gold, 2 silver, and 7 copper, pondered in his heart.

At the same time, Wood, standing beside them, looked at the Rust Monster corpses on the meadow; even though the battle was over, his expression appeared even more solemn.

"These bugs usually live in caves in the Underdark."

"How did so many suddenly appear in the Mist Forest?"

"Who drove these Rust Monsters out of their habitat? Or is it that something here attracted them?"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 33 =====