Standing still, surrounded by Fishn corpses at his feet.
The face of this middle-aged man rarely carried a trace of bewildernt.
Whether with other adventurers, pirates, or the various demons of the Southern Islands, he had experienced many simple battles.
But like this ti, where both the start and the end were so swift and baffling, it was the first he encountered.
Clearly, before entering the cave, plans for the battle had been made. Yet when the Fishman Priest, a spellcaster, had his head chopped off by the black-haired adventurer in the team, everything fell into chaos.
Now, Nick still didn’t have much of a sense of reality.
Even though he contributed during the battle, killing many Fishn, he felt no sense of achievent or satisfaction in victory.
The whole process seed too simple, leaving him feeling sowhat hollow.
"Tsk."
A pale hand gripped an arrow shaft, pulling it from the corpse.
Half-Elf Laida walked by, patting her captain’s shoulder.
Nick snapped back to reality, as if recalling sothing, his gaze abruptly shifting to the altar, rushing towards Bone Card’s corpse.
There was no such thing as "playing dead."
The half-orc teammate who had been gnawed at was completely dead.
This ant that until they could recruit trustworthy and capable teammates, the "Silver Claw Fish Eagle" team lost its competitiveness in the Southern Islands.
With only two people, they couldn’t even form the basic structure of an adventurer team.
Calling it a "team" was more like so temporary, simple combination.
They couldn’t even take tasks under the na of an adventurer team in the Association anymore, only survive on low-difficulty, ager-paying ordinary commissions.
Undoubtedly, the death of a teammate with years of collaboration and a certain combat effectiveness was a huge blow to the "Silver Claw Fish Eagle" team.
If unlucky, they might struggle for years.
For a mont, Nick’s eyes slightly reddened.
About one-fifth was for the forr teammate’s death, while the remaining four-fifths ca from anxiety and worry about future life.
Looking at Bone Card’s corpse on the altar, Nick suddenly turned to gaze at Xia Nan.
If... if he could be recruited into the team, even giving him the captain position, I...
Nick sharply shook his head, dismissing the unrealistic thoughts.
Though not long acquainted, he had sowhat understood the nature of this skilled young adventurer, Xia Nan.
Judging by Xia Nan’s attitude and conduct, the odds of successfully recruiting him were under one percent.
The imnse disparity in strength caused the team dynamics to transcend re cooperation.
Take the recent battle, to put it bluntly, it was entirely led by him.
In such circumstances, what price could Nick offer, or why would the other party form a fixed team and share task rewards ant solely for himself?
Thinking this, Nick let out a silent sigh.
His mind began contemplating future directions.
anwhile, on the other side of the cave, Xia Nan wouldn’t know Nick’s thoughts.
Even if he knew, he’d rely praise Nick for his clarity and sense of propriety.
Currently, Xia Nan focused on residual clues in the cave concerning Morton.
Ellison hadn’t deceived him.
As ntioned earlier, Xia Nan indeed found traces of human habitation deeper in the cave.
These traces dated far back, likely aligning with the tiline when Morton lived on Cliff Island, as described by Chief Steven.
It was likely left by him.
But due to the long ti and Fishn occupying the cave, many traces blurred, leaving Xia Nan finding nothing discernible, let alone clues related to the {Dream Weaving Corridor} key.
The clue ended there, yet Xia Nan remained unperturbed.
Originally, it was intelligence acquired during the task. Any gain was good, but finding nothing rely ant returning to the main task, advancing towards participating in the "Moon Tide Banquet".
While contemplating, a slightly noisy dispute reached his ears.
Xia Nan frowned, looking towards the direction of the sound.
He saw the Half-Elf Laida having a heated argunt with her captain, Nick, with words like "corpse," "burial," and "can’t remain here" vaguely audible.
Xia Nan certainly didn’t want to ddle in others’ affairs.
He rely felt it wasn’t the ti for such discussions.
The two seed to have forgotten the abundance of Fishn corpses along the way.
The wounds on those bodies weren’t left by the priest he just slew.
The monster that attacked the village might have been temporarily driven away by the Fishn, perhaps hiding in the sea outside the cave.
The threat could return at any mont.
The crisis wasn’t over.
Their urgent task was to clean the battlefield and return...
Suddenly, as if realizing sothing, Xia Nan’s gaze froze on the altar where the two stood.
The thoughts of "the powerful aquatic monster that attacked the village," "the sacrificial ritual of the Sha Hua Fishman Priest" connected.
Though not forming a truth, sensitive Xia Nan sensed sothing amiss.
A vague sense of wrongness erged.
anwhile, behind the altar, deep within the cave, the surface of the calm, dark pool quietly, almost imperceptibly, bubbled with a "gululu."
An intense feeling of danger surged in his heart, Xia Nan instinctively warned:
"Watch out!"
But as he spoke...
Boom—
A massive, robust shadow suddenly leaped from the pool, lunging at the two on the altar.
...
Despite her mixed appearance, Laida was very conservative and traditional at heart.
Of course, like her daily proud deanor facing others, her traditions stemd from her Elf Clan heritage due to being one-quarter Elf.
It had nothing to do with humans.
Though after years of adventures and contact with adventurers of other races, developing vices like gambling and drinking.
She was still heartfully proud of her Elf bloodline, so whenever soone called her "Half-Elf," the "Half" always stung.
Sowhat contradictory, her mixed race made her unwelco in the Elf Kingdom, yet the discrimination fueled her longing for "Elf."
Ultimately, she beca more steadfast and traditional than certain old scholars of the Elf Race.
Half-Orc Bone Card, also hybrid, was always despised by Laida for his dull intellect and crude personality.
Yet, having spent years together, she acknowledged him as a teammate and couldn’t simply watch his corpse rot on the altar.
Following the Elf Race’s burial traditions for friends and family, Laida wished to return Bone Card’s body to his hotown for burial witnessed by his elder kin from his birth tribe.
Nick entirely opposed this.
He understood the trouble he’d face when returning Bone Card’s body to the tribe after once promising Bone Card’s elders a bright future.
Burying the body was fine, even returning to Suo Yu Bay, but never to Bone Card’s hotown.
The disagreent led to a quarrel.
It wasn’t a big deal; knowing each other’s temperant, after venting a bit, a solution could be found.
Perhaps letting the Half-Elf return alone with Bone Card’s body, waiting outside the tribe for support.
Regrettably, the dispute was destined for no resolution.
Because the very next second after Nick spoke harshly.
The tall, stubbornly proud Half-Elf before him was bitten off at the waist by a large shadow leaping from behind.
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