Soul of Searing Steel

Chapter 3: A world of strife

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Countless memories poured into his mind like a river, and Joshua's memory returned to chaos.

—Human beings are a species that grows and evolves in wars and advances in massacres to survive.

Therefore, when the warrior used his giant sword to tear apart the orc in front of him, he didn't think about anything.

The gloomy sky covered with dark clouds was torn apart by the thunder that passed straight through. The sound of horns was faintly heard in the howling north wind. Along with the thunder, the rain began to fall. It was just a drizzle at first, but it turned into a downpour after a while. heavy rain.

After a while, the accumulated blood had already covered his leg armor.

Panting, Joshua took off his damaged helmet, and the green blood belonging to the orcs hung down from the tips of his black hair and dripped into the blood puddle.

He looked around.

Corpses were strewn across the field, surrounded by body parts and internal organs, and the corpses piled up in mountains. There was no enemy left to fight, and he was the only survivor.

After succeeding, he slowly opened his mouth, and Joshua laughed silently.

With one person, he killed more than a hundred orcs.

Even the most exaggerated legendary novels would not write this plot, and now it really happened to him.

"... Huh." Half-kneeling on the ground, holding a sword with one hand, Joshua felt the pain of tearing inside his body, and his brain was also a ball of mush. The sequelae of fighting to madness began to show, and he fainted like a twisted soul. The dizziness invaded the mental will, and countless illusions appeared in front of his eyes, floating like real scenes.

Demon... Meteor... Kill... Betrayal!

Orcs... war... territory... ahhhh! ! !

Blue veins popped out, and the right hand was bombarded with violent power. Countless limbs were turned into flesh under the strong force. Fragments of blood and steel were knocked away, fell, and turned into bloody rain. Madness took over the will, and chaos Instead of wisdom, what exists here at this moment is not Joshua, but a hungry wolf fighting for his life.

"Devil... Orc!!!"

In the darkness, two red lights lit up.

In short, it’s definitely a good idea to kill these bastards!

For some reason, his body moved. The hilt of the big steel sword was held tightly without any trembling, but the solid hilt slowly deformed under the huge force.

"It's not enough." He raised his head, and the eyes in his eyes seemed to be burning. He looked not far away, where the approaching orcs were defeated, and the stinging red light surged in his pupils: "It's not enough at all."

The next moment, he dragged his giant sword and disappeared from everyone's sight. A few breaths later, a few hundred meters away, a huge wave of blood suddenly surged among the remnants of the fleeing orcs.

The battle has just begun.

"-Why did you, mother, I be so reckless at that time!"

Shaking his head, Joshua looked pained and covered his forehead with his left hand. He couldn't help but complain: "It turns out that I traveled through time during the battle. I'm really lucky that I didn't die!"

After complaining, normal memories quickly flooded into my mind.

Joshua Van Radcliffe. The eldest son of a northern military Earl and the only heir to the family, according to the Radcliffe family's practice, he spent his coming-of-age ceremony after being trained by the family's knights and his father to cry for his father and call his mother for his mother. He was sent to the army and allowed to expand his contacts and social circle in the army alone.

Everything went well. Joshua is a cheerful and gentle person. As a heir to a powerful noble with a territory, he is not weak in strength. Naturally, many people want to befriend him. As time goes by, His achievements and positions in the army have been promoted step by step, and his connections and strength have also developed rapidly.

This process was perfect until one day, a text message from afar broke everything.

The reason why Joshua's family moved away from the wealthy south of the empire and took root in the cold north was to guard 'something'. This responsibility was so secretive and important that the old earl never even mentioned it in front of others, even if It was Joshua who asked again and again, but he just used the excuse "You are not strong enough, so you don't need to know for the time being."

It is precisely in order to shoulder as much responsibility as possible that young warriors hone their martial arts and strength so diligently.

After learning that there was a text message from the territory, Joshua was a little confused at first. He knew his father's character very well. He had a temper as hard as stone. He never contacted him and showed no concern for him in the past few years. But when he opened it and watched the content, a rush of blood immediately rushed to his forehead -

[The seal of the guarded place is urgent. The master has personally gone to deal with the situation. There is no one in charge of the city. It seems that someone is taking this opportunity to plot secretly. The current situation is critical. Please return as soon as possible to stabilize the territory.]

The signature was the old housekeeper in the family. Joshua might not believe what others said, but the old housekeeper who had been taking care of him since he was born would never lie to him.

Changes occurred in his hometown, and the young warrior was eager to return home.

However, just when he was about to say goodbye to his comrades and apply to retire and return to his hometown, the damn empire's top brass suddenly launched a war against the Western Orcs! There was no news about this incident before, and it was just like that. If you want to deceive the enemy, you must first deceive your own people. This caught Joshua off guard. The laws of the empire are strict. [No retirement during war] is the founder of the country. One of the laws, not to mention that Joshua was just the son of an earl, even the royal family and nobles must abide by the holy law. Now that the war has begun, he can only suppress his urgent thoughts and go to the battlefield with full of anger.

And a soul from another world, full of war desire, merged with him at this time.

In the chaotic fighting spirit, the memories of him and 'him' rolled back and forth. The experience of the legendary warrior and his own strength allowed 'Joshua' to break through the enemy formation on the battlefield, and even kill all the enemy groups with one against a hundred. , after going berserk, he broke through many battle lines, broke into the orcs' defeated army with one person's power, and killed them wantonly.

This is also the reason why the body was so seriously damaged - no matter what, after fighting with all his strength for a day and a night, one man was in charge of the pass in the gorge, and three hundred were killed in the formation. The bodies of the orcs accumulated into mountains, and even the iron-clad man had to be scrapped.

"interesting."

Standing up slowly and calming down, Joshua looked up at the dark sky and faint thunder, and said with some emotion: "It seems that this is the Mycroft Continent, the place where all the disputes originate, which is also the place in the game. The main world

As he spoke, he looked up at the starlight revealed between the gaps in the clouds, stretched out his hand to dip some muddy water, tasted it, and then gestured to the wind: "The position of the moonlight, the wind direction and the temperature, the soil the taste of… "

"It should be late autumn, mid-October, year 831 of the Starfall Calendar. The epic battle 'Glory Crusade' should be coming to an end at this time. The orcs' eternal fortress of Sedaris will be breached when the first snow falls."

"I'm actually back at this time." Joshua sighed and said, "It's not too late."

Before time travel, he was a hardcore player who fully immersed himself in the immersive game "Conflict Continent". He was the third-ranked legendary warrior overall and the first-ranked fighter in the game. Conflict Continent was launched eight years ago and has been in the game for thirty-two years. , after four major version updates, twelve epic events, and hundreds of legendary missions, the four major servers of the Far Southern Alliance, Northern Empire, Eastern Plains, and Western Mountains all have their own independent plot lines. Before he crossed over, he was originally Developing in the Far Southern Alliance, I occasionally go to the Northland to visit, and I know some of the main events in the Northland.

The 'Glory Crusade' launched by the empire against the orcs is the second epic event in the Northland server, and the first one is the 'World of Strife' on behalf of players.

Back then, he was invited by a friend to serve as a member of the Empire's Foreign Legion for a period of time, carrying out missions to sweep the orc plains. Now that he came to the alien Northland, he could not be said to know anything about it.

"Humanity's victory is inevitable. The empire has been working hard for three generations. Now when it breaks out, it can sweep away the orcs without any pressure. The overall situation has been decided. I should be able to retire."

Thinking of this, Joshua was extremely calm. At this time, he completely put aside the matter of time travel and began to think about future plans in a very realistic way: "The top priority now should be to find other humans and go to a safe place. Recuperate your body and then think about returning to the territory.”

The doubts and panic about time travel, the reluctance and confusion about the original world, were not helpful to survival at all, so he quickly abandoned them because they were useless.

No matter who Joshua is, he is a person with a big heart and doesn't care about such things. One is already accustomed to such urban legends, and the other does not understand and is too lazy to think about it. Of course, the most important thing is the matter. It has already happened. Since we cannot reverse the course of time, it is better to accept the facts directly than to dwell on it.

Focusing on the soul of the earth, what the newborn Joshua needs is to think through every step of the future. Although the changes in his home territory certainly make him anxious, it is useless to worry without good health.

"Let me see how things are going now."

Joshua opened the attribute board and took a rough look.

[Name: Joshua Van Radcliffe]

[Template: Leader]

[Title: Brave Warrior - When attacking, there is a chance of intimidation judgment]

[Race: Northwest Branch of Humanity - Race Skills: Combat Race (Combat Skill Experience × 1.1)]

[Level: LV28·Silver (Challenge Level LV29·Silver)]

[Attributes:…]

[Shape: Medium humanoid life form]

[Health value: Severely endangered]

[Stamina value: Severely endangered]

[Fighting Qi: Severe depletion]

[Magic: Not turned on]

[Status: Muscle tear-severe fatigue-exhaustion]

[Occupation: Black Crow Raider/Northland War Rider]

[Talent: Weapon Mastery (Professional), Bloody Battle Return (Personal)]

[Life occupation: blacksmith]

[Skill: MAX Ultimate Intent]

[Life Skills: LV21 Weapon Forging, LV22 Armor Forging, LV9 Magic Weapon Forging, LV3 Magic Armor Forging, LV1 Magic Equipment Forging]

[Equipment: broken helmet, broken armor, rusty leg armor, leather boots]

[Weapon: Imperial Standard Long Spear Type 3 (Wear)]

[Your enemies never dare to appear in front of you.]

"Mortal, black iron, silver, gold, ultimate mind, legend, I actually returned directly from the peak of legend to the silver realm... My attributes are really shabby compared to the original, but at the high level of silver, it's pretty good, everything is there They are all above the average. He is worthy of being from a noble family with great military exploits and has a good training routine."

In the game of Strife Continent, everything is the same as in reality. To release skills, you need to make corresponding movements and recite the correct spells. When you are injured, you will feel pain and lose strength. Basic attributes are improved through exercise.

Of course, the most important thing is level and skills. Level provides skill points, and profession is just a means to acquire skills. Collecting skills to form your own skill tree and perfecting your own fighting style is the first step to becoming a true master.

Before traveling through time, Joshua had already achieved the element of [Extreme Skills] to become a legend, and all skills were completely unlocked. He never expected to be recognized in this world, which means that now he can freely combine skills without being restricted to skill trees. .

"But what's up with that template? There's also a challenge level. Do players have such a thing? It sounds like I'm a BOSS."

As for attributes, Joshua doesn't care. He has always ignored such things that can be exercised and improved. Anyway, as long as his body can move normally, he is confident to kill all opponents, but now, his state is too miserable. , the self-recovery speed is very slow, and treatment is urgently needed.

After closing the attribute board, Joshua used his spear as a crutch in his left hand and began to move in the direction of the human army. But until he had already walked down the slope and reached the bottom of the canyon, walking towards the human army formation in his memory - he Only then did I realize that something seemed to be wrong!

"Wait, what happened just now!?" Because he was so used to it, he only reacted now. Joshua opened his eyes wide: "Didn't I travel through time? Even if I stayed in the game of Strife Continent for so long , but there is no reason to be able to figure out a system after traveling through time!"

A little frightened, Joshua quickly opened the attribute version again and read it from beginning to end.

"Really?!" Joshua looked surprised as he touched his chin, then frowned: "Could it be a hallucination? I've heard before that someone was in a trance at Christmas and imagined a girlfriend to spend the holidays with him. , could I be in the same situation?"

At this moment, he discovered that several pieces of information were brushing across the edge of his retina.

[The battle is over and settlement begins]

[Kill the Orc Ax Warrior Tuogu (19·Silver), kill the Orc Predator Valen (18·Silver), kill the Orc Elite Guard Nael (23·Silver)]

[You have gained 45 expeditionary force prestige points]

[Expeditionary Force Prestige: Reverence (5037)]

"It's actually true..." Joshua relaxed his brows and said happily: "In that case, there is nothing to be afraid of."

If he was a little worried about his fate after traveling before, but now, he has no worries at all.

As a former legendary warrior, Joshua has experience and strength. He will not be afraid of any challenge based on this alone. Now with the addition of the system, he has no idea how high he is.

With this level of advantage, you can easily control your destiny, and even... influence the direction of the world!

There were countless epic and legendary events in the Continent of Disputes, many of which had consequences that made him unhappy. But now, nothing had happened, and there were still opportunities for change. Thinking of this, Joshua couldn't help but feel his heart surge, and he tightened his grip. He took out the spear in his hand and a glimmer of light appeared in his eyes: "It's not just that."

A real other world will definitely be wider than the game. He will definitely be able to see a bigger world, encounter more characters, fight stronger people, and fight worse enemies—

He will definitely be able to get rid of the shackles of the ordinary and become a real strong man!

"Of course, go back first and find a place to rest."

After all the lofty words, Joshua finally understood the truth: "Otherwise, I will starve to death or die of thirst here."

This is not a game, but reality. He only has one life. At this time, he is in a very bad state. Although when he killed the orcs, the secretion of adrenal hormones temporarily gave him some strength, but now, the feeling of weakness has returned. This broken body.

He must leave this dangerous place as soon as possible. There was a small team of orcs retreating before, and there might be a large army of orcs in the future. Now he no longer has the strength to fight one hundred against one.

After determining the direction, Joshua used his gun as a crutch and stepped over corpses and trenches in the dark, moving forward.

silence.

I don’t know how much time passed, but some fire suddenly appeared in front of me.

That was the fire in the military formation.

Not far away, the sound of neat footsteps came. In Joshua's perception, a large group of humanoid creatures with obvious energy fluctuations appeared not far ahead. And when he looked up to observe, the fire began to shake. This The crowd suddenly became restless.

"Vice Commander?!"

In the middle of doubt, Joshua suddenly heard this exclamation, and right in front of him, a large group of people wearing black armor decorated with death crows stopped their uniform steps and scattered in all directions.

From his perspective, many people broke away from the team and rushed towards him at a speed that was almost like a charge.

Joshua couldn't help but take a step back and took a breath: "Damn you, I'm scared!"