If it were daytime, they would definitely know where Duncan was hiding, but now it's the pitch-black night, the very time of their chosen stealthy night attack.
Duncan stood up unhurriedly and moved slowly while shooting, arrow after arrow, not aiming for a kill, just to hit.
In the darkness.
The fleeing Barbarian soldiers only heard the sound of arrows breaking the air, and then people around them were continuously hit and fell to the ground. Soon, they were completely routed.
"A marksman!"
"It's that marksman! He found us!..."
"He can see us!..."
Even the best Forest Hunter in the northern Alps Mountain couldn't achieve a nearly hundred shots hundred hits in such a dark environment, terrifying those Barbarian deserters instantly.
But Duncan found them noisy.
Anyone who's played a mounted combat game knows that when the enemy clusters in one place, you don't need to aim carefully at all, just shoot crazily into the crowd. In such a situation, shooting speed is all that matters, nothing else is important, roughly aiming at the area, one person can shoot dozens of enemies to death.
These Barbarian deserters were completely dazed by the shots!
By the time someone leapt into the river, others finally reacted, and one after another jumped into the small river canal, while others tried to turn around and flee back to the forest. After all, trees provide cover, and arrows can easily be blocked by the foliage.
Duncan slightly accelerated.
He found that with his current archery skills, he might need to stand still and aim at the crosshair to stabilize, and once he moved, it started wobbling, significantly decreasing accuracy.
"Shooting while stationary, I've already mastered it."
"Shooting while moving, it's evident my archery skills still lack a lot."
"Mounted archery, the crosshair probably wobbles everywhere."
Duncan's target was only one.
Take down that Barbarian chief marked with a star, that Barbarian Berserker wearing bear's fur. If he wasn't taken down, this matter wouldn't be over.
But he seemed prepared, having found a piece of armor and a bear's fur helmet for his head.
No worries.
If one arrow doesn't kill, then shoot a few more.
For many veteran players, without cheating, to solo a squad of thirty to forty men on horseback with just a gun and a bow is considered routine operation.
Let alone Duncan had a god's-eye view; that Barbarian chief couldn't escape his field of vision.
One arrow!
Whoosh.
Amidst the sound of breaking air, the Barbarian chief grunted, an arrow to the abdomen, but it wasn't a big problem because his health bar appeared, only dropping by about one-sixth. His health bar was roughly twice that of Duncan's, it was the first time seeing someone with such a long health bar.
It was as if a stroke of divine wisdom suddenly struck the Barbarian chief, mysteriously guided in the pitch dark, he found Duncan's position.
A vague silhouette.
Their distance was about a hundred meters. From his current position, it was only fifty meters to escape into the forest; once inside, it would be hard to hit him. But to chase Duncan, he needed to sprint a hundred meters. On the country road, it wasn't easy to sprint smoothly, but as long as he got close to the target, even unarmed, this Barbarian chief was confident he could strangle the marksman to death with his bare hands.
Roar!
Under the god's-eye view, the marked Barbarian chief's unit suddenly flashed red.
His running speed suddenly burst forth.
"Adrenaline Burst?"
"Barbarian's Frenzy State?"
The distance was rapidly closing: eighty meters, seventy meters, sixty meters, fifty meters. He could already lock onto Duncan's position.
In the space of consciousness.
Duncan decisively activated the 'Adrenaline Burst' skill, a Special Ability that clearly favored close-range combat, but upon activation, the character under mind control underwent a peculiar transformation. His pupils began to contract, bow-drawing speed increased drastically, and the crosshair aimed directly with stability, barely wobbling at all.
Adrenaline Burst enhances comprehensively, not just strength, agility, and speed, but also body coordination, pupil focus, etc., all improve together.
One arrow, two arrows, three arrows.
The force Duncan used to draw the bow was quite fierce, making people wonder if the bowstring would snap the next second, yet his body coordination perfectly harnessed the war bow's limits, each arrow unleashing astonishing power!
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The Barbarian chief was like an enraged beast at this moment, stubbornly pushing forward against Duncan's shots, running at a very fast speed, and while moving, he could still slightly dodge the shots.
Thud.
When he finally charged up to Duncan, the brawny giant, nearly 1.9 meters tall, collapsed to the ground with a thud, blood soaking through the bear skin, with five or six arrows already lodged in his chest.
Duncan took out an arrow, expressionless, and aimed at the enemy's head.
Snap!
The bowstring snapped; this Northern Land battle bow finally gave way.
Duncan didn't hesitate for a moment, immediately grabbed the France throwing axe from his waist, and struck the enemy's skull with a heavy blow.
Headshot!
The health bar completely disappeared; this guy had astonishing endurance.
Target terminated.
Duncan withdrew immediately, not even bothering to loot, retreating towards the caravan since already there were regrouping barbarian deserters running this way.
Glorious victory.
This ambush of his took out the leader of the barbarian deserters, shot dead five or six, and injured many. The enemy basically had little fighting capacity left.
With the leader dead, those barbarian deserters all scattered.
Duncan returned to the camp.
The mercenary guards of the caravan did not dare to act rashly. It was not until dawn that someone cautiously went out to clear the battlefield.
Upon returning, those mercenaries looked at Duncan as if they were gazing at a 'Divine' figure.
The combat strength of the Empire's barbarian mercenaries was well-known; a hundred-man squad alone could rout an imperial army of hundreds, yet Duncan alone defeated so many. Though they were dispirited deserters, it was still the regular army of the barbarian race, something they could hardly imagine under normal circumstances.
The barbarian warriors were indeed formidable, even regular soldiers had longer health bars than the Empire's knights.
Duncan sat expressionless by the wagon, eating, feeling that the witch's gaze would occasionally fall on him as if unintentionally.
— "Strength: Barbarian warriors living in the land of bitter cold possess physiques far superior to ordinary people due to nature's trials."
— "Master of Archery: Your archery skills have become increasingly advanced, comparable to the barbarian forest hunters. Greatly increases accuracy, shooting speed, enhances mobility shooting, and further strengthens hunting traits."
— "Frenzy [Special Ability]: An advanced ability branching from Adrenaline Burst, greatly enhancing physical strength, and during its duration, you will not die from non-lethal injuries. Enter severe weakness and fatigue state after it ends. Additional negative status: Rage."
The gains from the battle were acceptable.
It seems that the abilities he could loot were all the ones that the barbarian warriors had; if the enemy didn't have them, he couldn't take them.
Frenzy and Adrenaline Burst can only be activated one at a time, and after the duration ends, it feels like he's been utterly drained, fatigued, and quite weak.
This special ability cannot be activated lightly; once used, combat capability is at least halved.
When Duncan stood up, his arms were slightly trembling, no wonder barbarian berserkers in battles on the Empire's side could only fight one wave; they would likely become weak as if on their last legs for the second wave.
Other basic combat skills improved slightly but were not very noticeable.
The barbarian warriors' weapons were all of the knife and axe type, the basic forms were moves that could be used with corresponding weapons. The moves of knives mainly included chopping, hacking, slicing, stabbing, intercepting, blocking, snapping, cutting, and slashing. The barbarian warriors' usual training surely consisted of wide-open and powerful chopping; overly technical basic forms were not their combat style.
"Basic forms can be generalized."
"The stabbing technique functions the same when using swords, spears, among other weapons."
"I somewhat understand how to use the Combat Bar forms now."
Stab.
You've been stabbing with a spear for many years, would you not be able to execute this move with a sword or knife?
Similarly.
You can chop with a knife, would you not be able to chop with a sword or axe?
As for that 'Combat Style - Beheading', it counts as a combo, no matter what weapon you're using—knife, sword, or axe, they all work for beheading. Its power actually depends on the most basic forms, its core essentially being the techniques of 'chop' and 'hack'.
Duncan roughly understood what the basic forms of the Combat Bar were about, clearly, his current stabbing, chopping, hacking power was the greatest, equivalent to having repetitively practiced these simple moves for three to five years.
The caravan soon set off again.
However, this time, Duncan sat on a wagon, as his combat exertion had been quite significant.
There were no spies inside, how about some Empire jokes?
.........