Clunk, hiss—thud!
With a distinct deflating sound, the dust-covered jeep finally stopped in the yellow sand.
"Ha, I think the driveshaft broke. After all, it ran half of Sargon. My poor old fellow finally broke down. I will miss you."
Gavial shook the pointed ears on her head helplessly, patted the dust off her shoulders, released the steering wheel, and got out of the jeep's driver's seat.
"Goki, Skadi, from now on we'll have to walk on our own two feet—I've been away from home for several years, but this broken place of ours might not change in ten or more years, so I should remember the way."
Turning her head to look at the two people sleeping soundly in the jeep, Gavial sighed.
"Ha, sleeping so soundly."
The journey of more than twenty days saw the group stop and go, driving, resting, resupplying, and occasionally encountering bandits and wild beasts blocking the road, which allowed them to stretch their bodies. In short, nothing major happened.
And Gavial, this wanderer, on her way home, became exceptionally familiar with these two "bounty hunters" who were originally strangers.
In the back seat of the jeep, the man in the scorched black trench coat was in his usual calm posture, with his legs crossed, maintaining a seated position as he slept deeply.
Beside him, a white-haired girl, also in a hunter's uniform, leaned quietly on his shoulder, her small hands clutching the man's arm.
"Ha, if he just sleeps and doesn't talk, he's quite a handsome young man. It's a pity he turns into a comedian the moment he opens his mouth—if only he had more strength."
Gavial knelt on the car seat, looking at the man's handsome face, which somewhat fit her aesthetic, and sighed softly.
All the men in her hometown had crocodile heads. Only after leaving the Rainforest did Gavial slowly develop a normal aesthetic.
His name is Goki, a strange person. Don't let his current deep sleep fool you; even if an Originium Slug scurries by, he will immediately grab his Saw Cleaver and get up.
This guy claimed to be a hunter, but his physical strength was very weak. However, Gavial believed him when he explained that many Aegir people are physically frail.
Of course, he was indeed an excellent hunter.
The wilderness of Sargon is full of jackals and fierce beasts, from acid-spitting Originium Slugs to giant Rock Crabs and Sandworms larger than cars. The first time Goki dealt with them—to be honest, he was quite disheveled.
Although he said he knew high-energy Originium Slugs would self-destruct, he still misjudged the self-destruction range and was blown directly into a tree.
But as long as he successfully discerned the opponent's weakness, in the next encounter, he would truly transform into a hunter, turning his initial dishevelment into pure slaughter.
According to Goki, this is called—a Hunter of Yharnam will not be defeated twice by the same move, unless he is clumsy.
Gavial had to admit that Goki's combat skills and fighting prowess far surpassed her own; he was like a machine honed for hunting.
If it came to an arm wrestle, Gavial alone could beat four or five Gokis.
But if it were a real life-and-death struggle... Gavial wasn't sure who would survive between her and Goki, because—
Crack, crack crack, crunch—
With a crisp, teeth-gritting sound of bone breaking, Gavial watched as Goki's arm, which could easily wield a great blade, was effortlessly broken into three sections by those much more slender small hands.
"Gulp."
Gavial swallowed, subconsciously rubbing her forearm. She had never experienced such pain—no one had ever been able to break her bones.
Such a severe comminuted fracture, even for a strong Adaklis person, would surely bring tears of pain. Even with timely treatment, it would take a month to heal and two or three months to recover its original strength.
Yet, after suffering such a severe injury, this man, Goki, would smile, inject a bottle of blood extracted from prey like wild boars, large Feline beasts, Rock Crabs, and Originium Slugs into his body, and then heal it in less than half a minute.
This is also why Gavial didn't think she could beat this guy. His recovery ability had already exceeded medical common sense and physiological limits. Even if ten Originium Arts medical practitioners gathered to treat him, it would be impossible to achieve such rapid regeneration!
However, if she couldn't beat him, she couldn't beat him. Gavial wasn't discouraged at all—she was a doctor, a future white-clad angel. How could an angel need to hit people!
Definitely not needed! Right!
"Mmm… don't move, it hurts."
Even with the bones in his forearm broken into three sections, this man named Goki didn't wake up from the pain. Instead, he continued to sleep sweetly, even subconsciously patting the back of the white-haired girl's hand with his intact hand.
If not for this bizarre, twisted arm, Gavial would definitely have thought these two were a young couple.
And it was obvious that Goki had already adapted to this pain.
When they first set off, Gavial always saw him rubbing his caved-in chest as he got up, straightening each broken rib.
Now, no matter how severe the injury, it could no longer affect Goki's sleep.
This guy's existence would definitely infuriate orthopedic surgeons.
Incidentally, that sharp "Saw Cleaver" was very much to Gavial's aesthetic. Gavial quite liked playing with it; the clanging sound during transformation was exceptionally pleasant, and she never tired of wielding it.
Goki was fair-skinned and clean, unlike Gavial herself, who was a sickly person infected with oripathy.
However, he wasn't afraid of Gavial, a person with oripathy, at all. This was also why Gavial admired him.
As for the girl beside Goki, with soft white long hair, a cute and serene face like a princess from a fairy tale, yet effortlessly crushing Goki's arm into three sections with her hands, her name was Skadi.
She was also an Aegir, but Goki said that her monstrous strength was the result of Acquired practice and had nothing to do with Innate bloodline—what a load of nonsense!
Skadi could kick a several-hundred-pound Sandworm like a ball, use the great sword on her back as a bat to smash a bandit's car dozens of meters away, and tear open the almost bulletproof armor plates of a Rock Crab with her bare hands... Gavial's strength was already considerable, but after she enthusiastically challenged Skadi to an arm wrestle for the first time and was instantly defeated in less than half a second, she understood the gap between herself and Skadi.
Ten times, a hundred times? Skadi's strength was as absurd as Goki's recovery ability.
The strong races Gavial had seen, besides the Adaklis people, included the Sarkaz. As for the Vouivre / Wyvern, they were even more formidable; those guys were even more outrageous.
And in legends, the Draco royalty of Victoria and the Imperial Dragon Clan of the distant Yan Country were said to possess physical qualities surpassing the Vouivre / Wyvern.
However, it was clear that those strengths were still within the human realm. As for Skadi... that was like absurdity's mother opening the door for absurdity—it was utterly absurd!
But fortunately, although Skadi was strong, she wasn't an omnipotent superhuman.
Skadi was extremely lacking in common sense, curious about everything, and always liked to pester Goki with questions.
Moreover, socially, this girl's personality was even more blunt than Gavial's; she almost completely lacked social skills.
Her expressionless face, coupled with the great sword on her back, made it easy to scare people even when asking for directions, causing them to think she was a bandit, begging for mercy on their knees while handing over their valuables.
Of course, situations like a few days ago, where she was tricked by a crude scam, then beat up the scammer, only to be mistaken for someone causing trouble and chased by a crowd, also happened occasionally.
Skadi gave the impression of a naive child; even with her power, she was easily taken advantage of.
Fortunately, there was a guardian—Goki—with her. Their relationship, in Gavial's eyes, was not that of a couple, but rather more like father and daughter.
Goki satisfied all of Skadi's requests, and his cooking skills were excellent, which Gavial also enjoyed greatly.
Now, beside Skadi, there was also a half-eaten charcoal-grilled Sandworm leg.
Of course, similarly, Skadi had no discrimination against people with oripathy.
However, unlike Goki, who deeply understood the suffering of people with oripathy, Skadi seemed to have never heard of such a disease and had no understanding of oripathy at all.
Gavial felt that this girl might come from a good place without oripathy.
But no matter what, even though these two bounty hunters were oddities among oddities...
Gavial was quite happy to travel with them.
Seeing Goki and Skadi, Gavial finally realized that the legendary warriors in heroic tales, who could form an army or destroy a nation alone, these human Incarnations of disaster, were not just stories.
But that's what makes it interesting!
Meeting two Aegir people from Iberia, Gavial finally remembered that the world might not be as small as Sargon.
Continuing to stay in a mercenary team was, by any measure, a path without a future.
"Forget it, coming back this time was just to confirm what Grandma Priestess had told us—let's consider it a farewell to my hometown before I leave!"
Gavial flicked her large tail behind her and made her decision.
After visiting her companions in her hometown this time, she would leave Sargon and continue her journey as a healer!
"Alright, alright, stop sleeping. Your arm is broken into three pieces, it's creepy to look at—we're here!"
Extending her slender hand, Gavial vigorously patted Goki's cheek and pinched his somewhat fleshy big face.
"Mmm, uh, hiss—ouch, ouch, ouch! My arm!"
A sensation not belonging to Skadi came from his body, and Goki instantly woke up, stimulated by the pain to be exceptionally alert.
"Skadi, wake up."
Noticing his arm broken into three sections, Goki habitually pulled out a blood vial, jabbed it into his thigh with a smack, and while straightening the bones, he nudged Skadi beside him and looked at Gavial in front of him.
"Mmm... Hat, are we there?"
Skadi also woke up groggily, prioritizing adjusting the hat on her head.
"That's right, we're here. Welcome to my hometown, hunters, although there's not much to see in this broken place—"
Finally waking the two, Gavial stylishly tossed her emerald green long hair, shook the pointed ears on either side of her head, and spread her arms, showing the two hunters the beautiful scenery behind her.
Beneath the sand-covered hill, in the distance, a vast, sea-like emerald green dense forest appeared, along with a mirror-like lake surface and continuously flowing long river waterfalls, filling their entire view with green.
"But still, welcome to Acahuala, the most primitive and wild tropical Rainforest!"
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