Chapter 193: The Classic Fantasy Duo, Dwarf and Elf
Under the intervention of Cheng Mouren, the Mammoth Knight, and the calm response of leader Arthur, the Roman Empire's opportunistic night raid failed, and the camp never truly caught fire.
However, this night raid severely drained the energy of the Knights of the Round Table warriors.
After such a disturbance, it was certainly impossible to sleep soundly, and under the tension, not many would have been able to fall asleep anyway.
But a full-night counterattack was clearly unreasonable, because in the current worldview, the proportion of soldiers and militiamen with night blindness was even higher than imagined.
Without a light source, even with moonlight, their visibility was very limited, let alone directly attacking the Prince's army in the dark.
This wasn't even the main point. The main point was, if the other side was already prepared, the Great Plains were truly too suitable for cavalry charges. Mowing down the Knights of the Round Table, primarily composed of militiamen, would be as easy as slicing melons and dicing vegetables.
Cheng Tian's Mammoth was indeed a perfect counter to the enemy's cavalry charges, but they only had one Mammoth, which could only protect one charging arrowhead, while other positions would still be indefensible.
Good steel must be used on the cutting edge. Arthur did not want such a powerful Holy Grail Knight, a Mammoth capable of overturning the battle, to be wasted in an unknown charge.
After learning that Cheng Tian's Mammoth was also a magical mount, which he could carry with him like their warhorse chess pieces, Cheng Tian's role temporarily shifted from a legion's charging arrowhead to a commando squad.
Arthur was initially surprised, but quickly recovered, when he later heard from others that Cheng Tian also had a magical two-legged dragon (the original wyvern only had two legs) he could ride.
Such a flying mount was indeed rarer than an elephant, but it wasn't something that could directly overturn the battle. In his opinion, its strategic significance was not as high as that of an elephant.
And based on the uniqueness of Cheng Tian's identity and the legion's cohesion he had already successfully demonstrated, Arthur would not assign such reconnaissance missions to Cheng Tian.
Arthur was not someone who wanted to be king from the start. His ideals and beliefs revolved around 'expelling invaders,' 'saving people displaced by war,' and 'bringing peace back to the Holy Kingdom of Britannia.' Therefore, Arthur completely ignored Cheng Tian's show-off behavior, which subtly tended to seize command.
He only cared about how to better and faster drive out these damned invaders.
So, not only would he not reject or resent Cheng Tian, who had the potential to seize power, but he would choose to further empower him... and this decision, in turn, made his kingly demeanor even more pronounced.
Under Arthur's arranged rotating shifts, the Knights of the Round Table's camp also passed a night that made countless people tense, welcoming the sunrise once again.
The carefree Cheng Mouren, on the other hand, slept very soundly on the Mammoth's back. It was also fortunate that Mammoth slept very steadily and didn't have the habit of rolling over, otherwise, this guy would definitely have been crushed.
After confirming last night that he possessed the ability of Random Step Cutting, which guaranteed a special treasure drop given the opportunity, Cheng Tian immediately chose to ride the dragon back to the camp, rather than venturing alone into the Silver Fortress to seize treasure chests or anything similar.
Upon returning, Cheng Tian did not inquire much about the deaths of other hostile faction players. After reporting to Arthur, he simply found a clean, empty spot and went to sleep. After all, there was nothing else he could do, so what else could he do but sleep and recuperate?
Kill when it's time to kill, hunt for treasure when it's time to hunt for treasure, sleep when it's time to sleep. After the previous soul equipment unsealing incident, Cheng Tian had clearly grown significantly in terms of willpower.
As someone who had successfully overcome his own desires and greed once, at least for a long time in the future, Cheng Tian would not be easily controlled by the same things again.
He was here to play the game, not to be played by the game!
"How can you sleep?!"
When the first ray of morning sun shone directly on Cheng Tian's eyelids, Cheng Mouren, who instinctively opened his eyes, heard a resentful voice coming from his lower right.
He turned his head and saw that it was Luo Meiling, sporting faint dark circles under her eyes.
"Oh, it's you..."
Cheng Tian rubbed his eyes, yawned, and then looked around Luo Meiling.
"Don't look, Eve is sleeping inside me."
Luo Meiling said to Cheng Tian, looking annoyed.
Based on her ability's characteristics and her lingering fear of the night raid, Luo Meiling hadn't slept at all the entire night.
Eve, on the other hand, had possessed Luo Meiling through the OD system and was comfortably sleeping.
Of course, it wasn't entirely without cost. The cost was that when Luo Meiling needed to rest, Eve had to actively take over the body and face the dungeon alone while her 'older sister' slept.
"Your combination is quite convenient."
After understanding the existence of these two women, Cheng Tian also praised them, because it was indeed fun, second only to the fun of a two-headed Ogre Mage.
"Don't tell anyone about our situation."
"Don't worry, I'm not that talkative... What do you need me for?"
..."If it's convenient for you, please help keep an eye on Eve a little later."
Before Luo Meiling could finish her sentence, a hand uncontrollably covered her mouth, pressing all the remaining words in.
Clearly, this was done by the girl inside her body after snatching control of the body.
Then Cheng Tian witnessed a rather rare solo internal struggle. Before long, the helpless, flat-chested Luo Meiling disappeared, replaced by the more voluptuous, short-blonde-haired Jerusalem.
The two had already exchanged body control. Luo Meiling, who had been awake all night, went to catch up on sleep, and now Eve was in charge.
This girl's eyes weren't as resentful as when they first met, but she seemed a bit flustered, standing still but fidgeting with her hands and feet, as if she didn't know where to put them... Was this girl severely socially anxious?
And just as Cheng Tian had this thought, the people who came to help arrived.
They were the two fellow faction players who had also stood behind Cheng Tian yesterday during the foreign mercenary lineup.
Seeing 'outsiders' appear, Eve didn't hesitate to take a few quick steps and hide directly behind Mammoth, the Mammoth's head, using its big ears to cover her face, secretly peeking at the two newcomers.
When encountering more unfamiliar outsiders, Eve would choose to rely on relatively familiar people or animals.
At least in her opinion, besides her older sister, Cheng Mouren was more reliable than everyone else in the entire camp.
Cheng Tian, seeing this, also jumped down from the elephant's back, landing lightly.
Actually, he had wanted to ask yesterday, but hadn't found an opportunity. So, seeing them actively approach, Cheng Tian, whose curiosity was overflowing, very presumptuously chose to speak.
"You two... are you really a Elf-Dwarf combination?"
Looking at the combination in front of him, like the fat and thin monks—one short, stout, and rugged, the other tall and slender—Cheng Tian couldn't help but blurt out the question.
"Human! You should say Dwarf-Elf combination! Dwarves go first!"
The Dwarf, raising his double-bladed battle-axe, heard Cheng Tian put 'Elf' first and blew his beard and glared, arguing loudly.
The male Elf, clad in a magic robe, glanced at the Dwarf, ignored his nitpicking, and replied unhurriedly:
"If milord refers to our original races... Yes, what milord sees are our original races."
"Longbeard Dwarf, Ironsbeard." He pointed to his side.
"Morningstar Elf, just call me Ivan." He pointed to himself.
"Please guide us."
My first encounter with treasure hunting in 'Knights of the Round Table' was around 2000.
At that time, in those old-building black internet cafes, popular games included Diablo, StarCraft, Legend of Sword and Fairy, and Romance of the Three Kingdoms series.
And I, who would dive into black internet cafes after class back then, successfully befriended the owner. He then demonstrated for me, right in front of me, how to beat 'Knights of the Round Table' on an arcade emulator, getting all the treasures.
It was amazing!
However, it was only more than ten years later that I had the opportunity to encounter Random Step Treasure Hunting again and understand its principles.