Inside the carriage tent.
"Let's arrange our tactics briefly."
"With Raine joining us, we can appropriately adjust our original strategy."
"Fabian, after your reconnaissance, select the most suitable combat point. At that time, Chris will be responsible for pouring the water."
At this moment, Reya turned her head, her bright brown eyes looking at Raine, and said: "Raine, shoot the Freezing Ray onto the wet soil, forming a smooth ice surface."
"Once the two Wild Boar People slip, I'll aim and shoot to distract one."
"As for the other one, you can gain the initial advantage using Poisoned Crossbow Arrows, and then quickly finish it to assist me."
Hearing this, Raine fully understood Reya's strategy.
A typical kiting tactic.
Reya would use her high mobility to lead one of the Wild Boar People away, while the rest of them, including Raine, would attack the other one together, quickly taking it down.
After that, everyone would converge to deal with the Wild Boar Person she had led away.
But the issue was that this plan demanded a very high skill level from the team member distracting the Wild Boar Person.
Thinking of this, Raine couldn't help but glance worriedly at Reya, sitting across from him.
She wore leather armor, showing off her great figure, but this wasn't about physical strength...
Noticing something, Chris smiled and patted Raine's shoulder, saying: "Don't worry, the captain is about to become an official Class member."
"So impressive!" Raine's eyes widened, unable to contain his exclamation.
Raine, having stayed in Mill Town for over a month and completed two small tasks, was no longer that ignorant farmer from Oak Village.
Regarding some basic concepts among Adventurers, he had some understanding, such as Classes.
While mostly based on hearsay and practice among young men in the backyard, Raine's somewhat crude and straightforward understanding was that Class members most likely could fight a Wild Boar Person one-on-one.
Of course, it's likely they could get injured, maybe seriously, but nevertheless, it still proved the strength of a Class member.
"When fighting with the Wild Boar Person, be careful, as their strength is great," Reya said, looking towards Chris.
Raine deeply agreed with this.
He had seen the images and related descriptions of the Wild Boar People in the Basic Monster Atlas.
The Deadwater Wild Boar People, being Challenge Level 1 creatures, were entirely different in terms of combat power compared to goblins.
Their physique was as sturdy as an adult black bear, but they had an enormous pig's head. Their brown-black mane grew from the forehead down to the back and waist, with a pair of curved tusks protruding from the corners of their mouths, sharp at the tips. Once hit by them, one would either die or be severely wounded.
Their torso retained a humanoid shape, with a slightly hunched back. Their arms were nearly twice as thick as those of an adult male.
Their skin was filthy and covered in hair, and they liked wallowing in mud, so their body surface was often covered with dried clumps, which made them incredibly durable.
Common arrows or short weapons like daggers, if not hitting a vital point, typically only caused minor wounds and further enraged them.
So, regarding what Reya had just said, reducing melee encounters as much as possible and ideally using a Poisoned Hand Crossbow to take them down, Raine strongly agreed.
That's also why Raine wanted to find a strong team.
"Don't worry, captain!"
"Originally, both Grande and I were prepared to each hold back one, just to test our mettle against the Wild Boar People."
"Now with Raine, it's much easier," Chris said with a smile.
Yesterday, during a casual chat with Chris, Raine learned of their original tactical arrangements.
The two Warrior Apprentices, Chris and Grande, would each hold off one Wild Boar Person's attack with a shield. Then, Reya and Fabian would quickly join forces to besiege the Wild Boar Person that Grande was holding off and complete the kill as soon as possible.
Afterward, the three would rush to Chris's aid.
This plan obviously carried certain risks.
Although Grande and Chris seemed like experienced warriors, they might still struggle when facing a Challenge Level 1 Wild Boar Person.
Of course, if that weren't the case, they wouldn't have been looking to recruit a skilled archer in the Adventurer's Association hall.
Thanks to the double-horse-drawn carriage, not an ordinary ox cart, about three hours later, just before noon, Raine and his group arrived near the sighting location.
Since the passersby and villagers had only seen the silhouette of the Wild Boar People from afar by the roadside at that time,
Raine and his group still needed to search on their own.
Of course, according to the team's division of labor, this task was up to Fabian, the Rogue Apprentice.
Without needing Reya's special instructions, Fabian leaped from the carriage and began quickly heading towards the nearby dense forest.
As a Quasi-Rogue, he had dabbled in tracking, traps, and poisoning. As for proficiency, that varied from person to person.
"Chris, let the driver wait for us at the roadside clearing."
"Take the water buckets down; let's set up an ambush over there first."
"Okay, captain!"
Raine looked up and saw that the side of the road was mostly hilly terrain with low shrubs and grass. And near the sighting point was a large area of green woodland conducive to hiding.
Obviously, if there were Wild Boar People, they were most likely hiding in this dense forest.
As Chris carried two large buckets of water to Reya's side, intending to find a suitable ambush spot,
suddenly, the sound of branches snapping came from the forest.
"Cuckoo! Cuckoo!"
Immediately followed by the urgent call of a cuckoo bird!
"That's Fabian's contact signal!" Reya's delicate face changed slightly.
Raine was slightly stunned, thinking, 'This situation seems different than anticipated.'
Previously, the group's plan was—'It might take quite some time to find traces of the Wild Boar People, then find a suitable ambush spot, and lure the Wild Boar People over.'
But obviously, the situation now was vastly different from what they had imagined.
They were now in direct contact with the Wild Boar People!
However, upon careful thought, Raine realized that this wasn't entirely unexpected.
Because whether it was in the 'Monster Atlas of the Mill Town Area' produced by the Mill Town Adventurer Association Branch or during Reya's discussion of the battle plan in the carriage, it was mentioned that the Wild Boar People's sense of smell was extremely keen.
In unclear wind directions or merely with a slight breeze, they often sensed the other party earlier than the adventurers.
Nevertheless, what reassured Raine was that Reya's face only changed slightly, but her tone wasn't hurried. He heard her calmly assign tasks:
"Prepare for battle!"
"Chris, pour the water right here."
"Raine, once the Wild Boar People reach this area, release the Freezing Ray."
"Umm... probably two seconds in advance, don't be nervous."
"If Raine encounters any issues, you two prepare to step up," Reya instructed Chris and Grande.
Compared to the untested new teammate Raine, naturally, Reya trusted her two familiar old teammates more.
"Alright!"
"Rest assured, captain!"
The group responded successively.
"Crack!"
The sound of breaking branches came closer.
Raine and his team hid behind the nearby trees, eyes fixed on the forest ahead.