Pale Emblem

Chapter 73 My Root Is Not Here
By the bonfire, Huck relayed the conversation that everyone had just said to Vertok verbatim, and even tried to imitate everyone's expressions and attitudes at the time.

The half-elf professionals were all stunned. Who would have thought that the vice-captain Huck of Braun Town was such a person?

Not only did he report the content of the conversation to Vertok, but he also reported it in front of everyone.

Lord Huck, can't you have a little self-respect of a mirror-hearted person?

Captain Rhodes complained secretly. He didn't think he was slandering Vertok, but when Huck did such a naive and immoral thing, he felt a little uneasy in his heart, as if he really said what Vertok said. bad words.

Everyone thought Vertoc was underage, and the youngest of the other half-elves were in their thirties.A group of adult half-elf professionals froze in front of a young man, feeling somewhat ashamed and embarrassed in their hearts.

It may be because the hard-edged Vertok makes everyone feel an inexplicable pressure.They suddenly realized that Vertoc had established an authority in the team that no one could shake.

He led the team to find food; he used the resources in the forest to make many available tools and weapons; he and Huck took turns dragging the supplies of the entire team, never sparing their physical strength; Huck, the strong mirror-hearted man, only gave him Fate is to follow; now, he's out on his own again, proving he's capable of escaping danger by killing a ferocious gnoll.

Vertok's role is indispensable, so how can other members help Vertok?
Without help, there is no right to speak, but Captain Rhodes made it clear again.Everyone can only wait for him to make his own decision.

After listening to Huck's narration, Vertok didn't think too much.He had just slaughtered a vicious gnoll, vented the anger in his chest, and when he regained his composure, he realized that something was wrong with his emotions.

He now regains control of his emotional fluctuations, but it is impossible for his mental body to return to the state he was in when he had affinity with the water element.

Vertok's affinity with the water element has become more thoughtful and his wrists are sleek, while Vertok, who is friendly with the wind element, works vigorously and doesn't like to be restrained.He naturally doesn't care about other people's thoughts and worries.

"Captain Rhodes is right." Vertok nodded in agreement, pointing to the seized leather armor and mace, and said, "The orc bone collectors can't trap me anymore, I can leave whenever I want. Can."

After completing the second, fifth-round competitive match, Vertok briefly regained all his memories, and the rewards he chose for himself were all based on the current situation.Although his stamina has been reduced and his gluttony and self-healing talents have been nerfed, psychic perception, popularity, and the "Gnoll Killer" title can help him escape the hunted by orc bone gatherers.

At the same time, Vertoc knew very well that with his current talent and strength, it was impossible to kill all the violent gnolls on the opposite side.

Gnolls are not dead, and since their companions have been killed, they will definitely be on guard.As long as three or more gnolls are held together, Vertoc will not have the chance to repeat his old tricks and defeat the dire gnolls one by one.

Vertok can protect himself, but is powerless to save everyone.Captain Rhode said that he had no obligation to stay and accompany everyone to die, which was in line with the reality.

In the unpredictable wild, half-elves need to rely on the power of the group to survive, but it does not mean that they can sit back and relax by joining a group.In fact, any adventure group has members who fall in the wild adventure activities, especially those weaker members always die first.

The core members of the adventure group are stable, and they recruit newbies mainly to act as scapegoats.Veteran adventurers must recognize a harsh reality: you may not run as fast as the monster, but if you run faster than your companions, you have a chance to survive.

Adventurers have never been a romantic profession!

Everyone understands the truth, but it is difficult to practice the truth, not to mention that it is related to one's own life and death.

In the more than ten years of Huck and Max's adventure career, from cannon fodder newcomers to the core of the adventure group, this kind of thing has been seen a lot.Even in the face of desperation, they also showed free and easy calm.The professionals of the Iron Cross are different, they actually have a hard time accepting their situation.

Hearing that Vertok agreed with his point of view, Rhodes was not happy, but depressed, and even regretted why he was "speaking nonsense", and resented Hacker for being too talkative.

Vertok didn't care about the mood of Rhodes and others. He kicked the rhino leather armor and thick iron mace with his toes, and asked curiously, "It's strange... When I killed the violent gnoll, it It seems to know a little martial arts, does anyone know why?"

The half-elves looked at each other, and Captain Rhode answered first: "I heard that the elite bone gatherers in the Goblin Kingdom do know some combat skills... Mr. Vertoc, does this have anything to do with us?"

Vertok shook his head, raised the long sword in his hand and swung a cold sword flower.He did everything in his power, strength, skill, timing and distance to sneak up on the savage gnoll from behind.Logically, his sharp sword should cut off the enemy's head flat.However, the sturdy neck muscles of the Dire Gnoll prevent the blade from cutting and deform slightly.The dire gnoll's dodging failed to change the fate of the separation, but Vertoc's sword was deflected, causing a sloping wound.

That in itself is no big deal.

If Vertoc ignited the fire of his mind, had meticulous control of his body, and could adjust the small changes in the blade's edge, he would surely be able to cut off the head of a dire gnoll perfectly.

The fire of the mind represents the pinnacle of martial arts.

Even though Vertok has greatly increased his strength and possesses extraordinary talents, he still has more losses than wins in close combat with Huck, who ignited the fire of his soul.

But apart from the strong mirror heart, he is confident that no one has more martial arts skills than himself.

It's not scary that the bone collector gnoll knows some superficial martial arts, but it takes time for them to practice martial arts, which leads to many problems.

To put it simply, wild gnolls are busy hunting and patrolling their territory every day, and they have no time to ponder combat skills. They fight by instinct.And the gnolls, the bone collectors, had to be supported by someone to practice martial arts, which meant the division of labor in the group, which had the characteristics of civilization.

When it comes to civilization, things get complicated, and even the experience of hobgoblin Wowo and gnoll Huo is not accurate.

Civilization will restrain the natural instincts of individuals, and Vertoc has begun to doubt whether the title of "goblin slayer" is still useful for the claw goblins of the orc kingdom.

This is a key factor for him to lead the half-elf professionals out of danger together.

The ferocious gnolls among the Orc Bone Collectors are good at tracking and have outstanding stamina, and Veltok has never been able to get rid of them before.Rather than being hunted to death by the feral gnolls, it is better to find a way to deal with them.Vertoc united the half-elf professionals around him, and with his deep knowledge of goblins and gnolls, he planned to adopt a strategy of sticking to counterattacks to eliminate the threat of orc bone collectors.

He's been thinking about specific tactics, and gathering resources to make preparations.However, things have changed now, and so has Vertok's mentality.

Vertoc unites half-elf professionals in order to survive together.However, now that he has the ability to escape the danger alone, he wants to see if the sticky tactics he has formulated can work.

Vertoc, who is a friendly wind element, is arrogant. He disdains to explain more to the professionals of the Iron Cross, but he wants to give an explanation to the two companions of the Adventurer's Home.

"Huck, Max..."

"Lord Vertoc, what are your orders?"

"Uh, Mr. Vertoc, I'm..."

The two half-elves responded in unison.

Virtok was silent for a moment, and continued: "Sarah, before she died, asked me to take care of you. But she once told me to do what is good for me... If I choose to take care of you, it will be detrimental to myself; if I choose to take care of you, it will be bad for myself; Do what's good for you, and you shouldn't stay to take care of you."

Huck said without hesitation: "Lord Vertoc, you don't need to worry about us. It's better to go one by one at this time than to wipe out the entire army."

Max also smiled and said to the other half-elves: "Hey, whoever of you has a last word, you can ask Mr. Vertok to tell your family. For example, tell Vertok where you keep your treasures. As usual, Vertok can Take [-]% of it, and give the remaining half to your relatives and children..."

Vertok shook his head and laughed and said, "Don't come to me about your last words, I don't want to care... I know what I should do, and I will help you out of danger on the premise that it is beneficial to me." Immediately, he wrinkled again. He raised his eyebrows and turned to say: "It should be normal to do things that are beneficial to you. Sarah made such a request to me, and I accepted it happily. But I don't understand why the Tagu people in Braun Town chose to sacrifice themselves and cover. The Hemers and the underage Taku boys evacuated? Why did Sarah sacrifice herself to protect me? Why did Boss Bartom choose to break up alone and buy time for others to escape?"

Max thought for a while and replied: "Sir Steel Rock and Sister Sarah are both ground bound, they can't leave the marked land... As for Bartom, I think there is always something in everyone's heart that is more precious than their own life. ."

"It's not that simple."

Vertoc smiled slightly and said, "Steel Rock is ground bound, and Sarah is also ground bound, but Sarah chose to leave the marked land in order to protect me. As for Boss Bartom, he is not ground bound, and he made sacrifices. ."

"Sacrificing yourself to protect others is not good for yourself. It goes against your nature. You say there is something more precious than your own life. Tell me, what is that?"

Max looked left and right, but no one gave him any hints, so he shrugged and said, "I can't tell, maybe everyone's situation is different, right?"

Vertok nodded and said, "You can say it's emotion, belief, principle, but what I'm going to say is 'root'... My memory is very confusing, and sometimes I don't know if I'm a male or not. Female, half-elf, or something else? But the word that comes to my mind most often is 'root'..."

"At first, I didn't understand what 'root' was, I just knew it was very important to me, very important! Until Steel Rock chose to fight to the death; Bartom chose to stay in Braun Town; Sarah chose to leave the marked land... I These days I have come to understand the meaning of 'root'."

"If the law is only unjust to me, I don't need to obey the law; if morality only oppresses me, I will not obey morality; if the group is only good for me, I need not be loyal to the group. Peel the skin of these rules and you will find , Laws, morals, and groups all benefit others first, and then benefit yourself. If these rules are only beneficial to others and harmful to yourself, you won't live long at all, so what's the point of abiding by them?"

"The only thing I can't betray is the 'root'... that's my beginning in this world, the destination of my soul, only by finding my 'root' will I know who I am, and those chaotic memories will not be able to Interfere with me, change me, kill me!"

The breeze was surging around Vertok, he clenched his fists and his eyes were extremely firm.

Time can change many things, and those that cannot be changed are the roots of everyone.If a person has no roots and is constantly changing, then emotions, beliefs and principles are meaningless.

The half-elves all fell into contemplation. Under the desperate situation, why did they survive and why they fought? Each had their own understanding and benefited from it, keeping fear and anxiety away from their hearts.

Huck touched the beard on his lower jaw and said seriously: "Sir, I don't quite understand what you said, but I think you are right. You gave me this life, and you are my 'root'. ."

Vertok smiled and said: "I'm sorry, there is no 'root' here, I won't die here. I just try to help you, but I won't sacrifice for you."

After speaking, he turned his eyes to the depths of the forest, took a deep breath and said, "The main force of the orc bone collectors is here, and there are many of them... Everyone, prepare to fight!"

　Every day.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)