As for how long he needed to sleep in observer mode, that was unclear.
Perhaps he would never wake up, after all, he was just a mortal soul. Plus, with this terrible outcome, as he guessed, the trial settlement might affect everything about him in Dimension Space.
He absolutely couldn't accept this outcome!
If not to be king and conquer, at least he should be a lord of some region, right? Or at the very least, a noble merchant?
A beggar?
Being a beggar was impossible.
He could never be a beggar in this life! Even if he died on the battlefield, shot to death by random arrows, or hacked to death by chaotic blades, he could never become a beggar.
A man strives for wealth and honor on the battlefield!
Just do it.
Since he was in the Human Form, he would fight until the last moment!
Consciousness returned.
Duncan resumed the first-person perspective, that is, his consciousness entered this 'Human Form', a nineteen-year-old imperial poor commoner whose parents were both dead and relatives were killed by the empire's rout soldiers.
This escape was not the end!
His legendary journey had just begun.
.........
Duncan flexed his limbs, picked up the Northern Land war bow, and aimed at a crow on the roadside treetop; there should be corpses nearby, which attracted scavengers like crows.
He traded the war bow from the Northern Land and a spare bowstring from a caravan guard with spoils taken from a Barbarian rout soldier, although his cheat was a god view of the game screen, everything follows basic physical laws in real battles.
Blades would dull, strings would break, and equipment would wear down with use; injuries could lead to crippling.
Everyone was in one-life mode.
Face life directly.
No choice.
"The bruise on the face is still there."
Duncan touched the bruise on his side face, slightly swollen. That Grim Knight's armored punch probably hit the temple, causing this Human Form's original owner to die. Despite his consciousness entering the Human Form, the side face's injury hadn't fully healed, leaving a bit of color, the health bar nearly depleted a segment, and hadn't fully recovered after almost two days.
"Don't get injured."
"My body can't withstand any injuries, any carelessness might lead to crippling!"
"After all, this world is real, not actually playing a game."
Duncan aimed at the crow on the roadside treetop for a while, then lowered the Northern Land war bow in his hand, seeming to be pondering something.
"Don't activate god view."
"My archery skills are on par with ordinary archers, hardly able to perform extraordinarily."
"That is to say,"
"In the first-person perspective, my melee strength is about equal to an imperial infantry, and archery close to Barbarians' forest hunters. In terms of game understanding, Barbarians' forest hunters are roughly considered a bit above ordinary archer troops in strength."
Only with god view could he perform extraordinarily, applying his past gaming skills directly to reality, achieving surprisingly impressive battle achievements.
"Currently, the most important thing is to improve strength."
"In chaotic times, human life is worth less than a dog's."
"Since I can seize enemies' abilities, my growth rate should be extremely fast."
After three battles, he was quite a seasoned veteran.
Duncan currently feared this world's supernatural power the most. Although overall it seemed like a Low Magic World, there was still a witch with a skull mark in the caravan and the Barbarian leader he encountered could enter frenzy, shockingly enduring arrows to charge at him.
At that time, Duncan saw clearly; the opponent's lungs were pierced through, yet he could forcefully charge another thirty meters.
"Other than that mysterious witch."
"Everyone I've encountered so far, were fragile ordinary people, the Barbarian leader a bit harder to kill, but still could be."
He himself was also a fragile ordinary person.
The punch to his face wouldn't heal in a week.
"Under these circumstances, it's easy for me to kill, and easy for others to kill me too."
A commotion came from the front of the caravan.
A guard rode over, approaching Duncan, slightly bowed his head, and said respectfully: "The road ahead is blocked by a fallen tree."
"There are bodies nearby."
Duncan leapt off the carriage, without entering combat mode, could smell a hint of corpse stench from a distance; there were over ten bodies nearby, some pecked beyond recognition by crows.
"It should have been done by rout soldiers," the seasoned calm guard leader said, stopping on horseback.
Duncan surveyed the surroundings and said somberly: "Clear it up quickly, and move on."
He squatted down beside a body and found gnawing marks, probably left by some large animal, but the bite marks resembled human teeth.
The deaths of these people hadn't been long, but the degree of corpse decay was high, seemingly accelerated by something.
"Something's not right!"
The caravan found a way to move the tree, resuming travel after a half-hour delay.
It wasn't until they traveled over ten miles that Duncan slightly relaxed.
After crossing a mountain, the guard leader ordered a slight rest, while he himself led two riders to scout the surroundings. The entire caravan largely consisted of mules and horses; only a few elite guards rode travel horses, considered a slightly higher grade of mounts.
The Empire lacked horses, true warhorses were unattainable for ordinary people.
"What are you doing?" a gentle female voice rang out.
Duncan looked up, seeing a pair of blue eyes, a proud figure that couldn't be concealed by a grayish robe, clearly possessing such exquisite curves, yet the other men nearby did not notice, which didn't align with a man's nature.
It was that witch!
Duncan hadn't found a chance to strike up a conversation with her, yet she brought a clay pot of clear water to him instead.
"Thank you," Duncan naturally reached out to take it.
He faced her curious eyes, put down a small piece of parchment, and said calmly: "Counting heads."
Killed three in the village.
Killed five upon meeting the caravan.
Last night's night raid by Barbarian rout soldiers, he killed roughly seven.
Total of fifteen heads.
He didn't know how many he needed to kill to truly adapt to this world.
But he definitely wouldn't hesitate to kill now.
The witch was wordless for a moment, only giving him a deep look.
"Are you from Bulan Village?" the witch probed.
At this, Duncan's eyes narrowed slightly, the village of the original owner was very small, with only a few dozen people, yet she knew.
He nodded with an expressionless face and said: "Hmm."
The witch hesitated slightly and asked: "What about the others in the village?"
Duncan's voice was hoarse: "All dead."
"Rout soldiers massacred the village."
"I'm the only one alive."
The witch's eyes carried a hint of apology; she softly apologized and then turned away.
Duncan watched her leave, then began scouring the original owner's memories. In a fragment of not-very-deep memory, he found a clue.
In childhood, an old hunter from the village mentioned once that on the other side of the mountains, deep in the dense forest, there was a rumored treehouse inhabited by a Forest Fairy, who once rescued an injured and lost hunter, and guided him out of that primeval forest.
If the legendary Forest Fairy were the witch before him, she must have lived for over a hundred years.
The original owner never believed these tales, dismissing them as stories concocted by village elders to amuse children.
"If she's truly the legendary forest witch?"
"Then why did she leave?"
"Couldn't be avoiding war, right?"
Duncan didn't know how strong the witch was, but in imperial rumors, some young pretty girls were burnt as witches.
Witch Hunting Movement.
That had a history of almost several decades within the Empire.
Even historically, one of the Empire's emperors was rumored to have been poisoned by a witch.
"Witch."
"A powerful individual with supernatural power."
"But can also be killed."
According to Duncan's guess, although witches possessed some strange supernatural powers, they probably weren't overwhelmingly powerful; otherwise, witches wouldn't be hunted by the church.
"Enter combat mode!"
Suddenly, Duncan's consciousness entered the void, and the next second he saw two blue marks appear at the edge of god view.
Followed by several scattered red marks.
He finally saw the Empire's enemies at last, judging by their attire, they seemed a bit like semi-nomadic warriors.
It was the Ranger from the Pamitia!
.........