Not going to Qing Village?
That's impossible. Brand knows something that could greatly influence his plans moving forward. Therefore, whether it's for stockpiling food or verifying that idea, he must go to that village, which might already be occupied by Madara.
So he thought for a moment, then asked calmly, "If I don't go, do you know how to start? Sneaking and searching are not things that can be done on a whim. They require detailed planning and prior reconnaissance."
Sneaking and searching were the strengths of those who had undergone extensive training in the shadows, such as nightingales and hunters. As a warrior, Brand didn't know much about them, but he had teamed up with them and completed missions before. From just these memories, he could do much better than these militia members.
Frey shook her head. She understood, but Brand's injury was too severe. "You can tell us what to do, and we'll handle the rest."
Brand wasn't surprised by Frey's refusal. He knew he needed to choose a persuasion method he excelled at, such as the wisdom of a senior warrior. "Romantic."
"Here!"
"Give me your sword." He held out his hand to the side.
"Here, Brand." Romantic handed him the sword confidently with both hands.
"Thank you."
Brand took the sword, took a deep breath, and tried to adjust his state to the best condition. He was in a weakened state with less than 40% of his life remaining, and the Corpse Rot Poison prevented him from using an additional 20% of his strength. In other words, he could only use up to 0.6 of an energy level.
Roughly equivalent to a fourteen-year-old boy.
"Time is short. To prove that I have the ability to participate in this adventure, why don't we use an ancient and traditional method to decide?" He drew his sword. "A warriors' way of communication."
Our protagonist looked around and found that everyone had a look of disbelief. Martha on high, Frey was undoubtedly the number one in swordsmanship among the current militia of Buqi, and even Essen had been defeated by her.
Buddy, do you really understand how bad your current condition is? They all had this question in their minds.
"Brand, don't joke around," Frey said, a bit angry. She was quite confident in her swordsmanship. If Brand thought he could defeat her in his current state—did he think he was a veteran of the November War?
Brand said nothing, just raised his longsword in a 'please' gesture.
The ponytailed girl was so angry she almost blacked out. She thought there should be a limit to recklessness, but it seemed reality wasn't as she imagined. She ground her teeth and decided to give Brand a lesson with reality.
Frey straightened her sword and instinctively slashed vertically. Her basic skills were excellent, the sword steady, bringing up a thin blade wind.
Brand parried with his sword, the massive force almost dislocating his wrist. But he immediately moved his sword blade across and slashed down along Frey's blade edge. The young man's strength wasn't great, but it startled Frey—she hadn't even reached her attacking range, yet his sword was already approaching her guard.
Though unwilling, the ponytailed captain had to retreat in vain.
In fact, her loss wasn't unfair. Brand's move was very famous in a warrior's swordsmanship. It came from Kruz's battle formation swordsmanship and was known in the game as Cato's Counter Slash. This was advanced swordsmanship, and while Brand could only perform it crudely based on the original body's swordsmanship foundations, it was more than enough to deal with a half-baked swordsman like Frey.
Brand recalled learning this move with great effort years ago from a mercenary in exchange for two barrels of Madara's Bone Wine.
Now it seemed those two barrels of Bone Wine were worth it.
Frey retreated, clutching her sword with both hands, trying to counter Brand's follow-up attack by pressing his sword to one side. Her response was quick but not clever enough. Brand had already taken a step back, and by the time she reacted, his longsword was pointing at her chest.
Frey gritted her teeth and used the hilt of her sword to push Brand's sword tip aside, then followed with a thrust. But to Brand, this thrust was disorganized and was purely due to her unwillingness to admit defeat. He lightly tapped her sword, causing her to lose balance and fall to the ground.