A gunshot rang out, and the two of them leapt in opposite directions to dodge the gun bullets!
Suddenly, an explosion sounded in the air as the bullets fired by the hunter burst into shrapnel, and both Ash and Sonia were inevitably grazed by them!
Ash thought it would hurt, but as the bullets passed through his body, he only felt as if he had lost something, and it felt as exhausting as running a 400-meter race.
He suddenly remembered that he was in a state of consciousness, not actually a true physical body. Being hit by bullets only resulted in a loss of soul energy.
Compared to Ash's sudden realization, Sonia, who had attended Void Realm advanced courses, had foreseen this.
After dodging, she immediately charged toward the hunter, raising her wooden sword high and slashing at the hunter from a distance. The blade gathered a faint white light, which transformed into a crescent wave moving toward the hunter as she swung it!
This was the Vosloda Family's secret technique spirit, Wave Motion Sword! Among the sword technique faction, it was a rare long-range attack technique spirit, capable of branching out into powerful attack miracles such as "Crack Wave Slash" and "Silver Wheel Burst!"
"Three-thousand techniques, with a gun in hand, nothing can rival its speed, nothing can withstand!"
The hunter sang as he dodged, and his long-barreled gun glimmered with light, astonishingly firing another bullet, even though it appeared to be an ancient flintlock!
But Ash and Sonia, well-prepared, were naturally not flustered. Not to mention Ash dodging with a lazy donkey roll, Sonia directly sheathed her sword, performed an iaido step, and unleashed a rotating wave slash!
Not only were the bullets deflected, but even the hunter, several steps away, was severely cut by the rotating slash, with the long barrel of his gun cleaved off!
Without needing words, Ash rushed forward to bear-hug and restrained the hunter. Sonia, recovering from her iaido stance, took two steps in three strides, lifted the wooden sword, and struck fiercely!
Without any sound, under the violent hit of the wooden sword, the hunter transformed into a thick mist and dissipated, dropping a cowhide-bound notebook onto the rocky ground.
"Hey, hey, hey, you almost blew my head off!"
Ash looked at the wooden sword embedded in the rock and touched his head fearfully.
"There was just a little distance left," Sonia said with a tone full of regret, bending down to pick up the cowhide notebook. She flipped through a couple of pages, shook her head, and handed it to Ash.
Ash took it and looked, discovering it was a... well, a hunting record?
The first page was the information of a rat, detailing its weight, size, fur color, cause of death, and even a photo showing the rat pinned to a wall by an arrow.
The second page featured a spider, the third a rabbit, the fourth a roe deer... and by the tenth page, there was finally something different. Not only was the prey this time a ferocious carnivore, a wild wolf, but the notebook's owner had also learned a new skill: He trapped and killed the wild wolf using a trap.
By the twenty-third page, the one logged in the notebook was a Beastman soldier clad in full iron armor, wielding a long-barreled gun.
The next twenty pages were all Beastman soldiers shot to death, but what caught Ash's attention more was that the notebook owner seemed to have abandoned his past archery skills, relying on the long gun brought by the Beastman soldiers and the use of traps in the jungle, single-handedly opposing an entire Beastman battalion.
The notebook didn't mention any details regarding the notebook's owner, but Ash vaguely discerned a story: A young boy born in a hunter family, living in a jungle village, inherited the hunting skills of his ancestors, but a sudden Beastman army destroyed everything. Their proud archery couldn't penetrate the Beastmen's armor, while the Beastmen's muskets easily shattered their bodies.
The boy abandoned archery and quickly mastered gun techniques, hunting Beastman soldiers like a Death God in the jungle he knew so well he could navigate with his eyes closed, avenging the villagers.
The formidable presence of the boy was evident from the Beastman's expressions before death: The first few killed appeared calm, likely shot while urinating or defecating. The later ones showed increasing fear, clearly while fleeing. The last one abandoned his weapons, hiding in the bushes, face filled with piety, as if begging the Death God to overlook him.
After all the Beastman soldiers had died, the notebook's owner seemed to have gone through a period of confusion. The hunting targets in the notebook included animals, people, Beastmen, Goblins, rich men, robbers, prostitutes, and common folk.
After one hundred pages, the hunting targets of the notebook's owner suddenly stabilized on one: Beastmen.
There were a full three hundred pages of information, all different Beastmen hunted by the notebook's owner.
Although nothing was directly mentioned, Ash speculated from the death causes of the Beastmen:
First, the Beastmen were all killed by the notebook owner with a 'Type V Standard Tribal Rifle.'
Second, the Beastmen bore more than one bullet hole.
Therefore, Ash inferred that the notebook owner probably joined the army and killed Beastmen during the war.
He didn't just kill soldiers but also children, women, old people, and even his comrades... Regardless of who the target was, he never changed weapons, always ending their lives with a single bullet.
Later, the notebook owner seemed to settle down, either because his hunting targets were herbivores like rabbits and deer, or because those dying by his hand were no longer soldiers and robbers, but maids, servants, and slaves.
Notably, the servants' death rate wasn't slow.
He likely owned an estate with many servants attending to him, but due to war aftereffects, he constantly kept a gun, and fired without hesitation at servants upon suspicion...
Suddenly, an old woman appeared in the hunting notes.
Ash guessed she might be the notebook owner's wife because her eyes showed not horror, fear, or bewilderment, but pity.
Pity towards the notebook owner.
When Ash flipped to the last page, he confirmed that the deceased's details were actually the notebook owner's:
"Human Race, male, 56 years."
"Weight: 72 kilograms."
"Height: 1.76 meters."
"Features: Brown skin, abundant hair, body odor."
"Cause of death: Killed by bow and arrow."
The photo depicted a worn, yet dignified old man, already raising his hand cannon towards the enemy, but forever failing to pull the trigger, pierced through the eyes by an arrow.
Ash didn't know who killed him with a bow, possibly an old nemesis, the old woman's son, or a burglar; Ash also wasn't sure why he, despite being battle-hardened, was slower than the bow this time, whether due to body sluggishness, or contempt for the bow?
Anyway, Carbin Story's hunting record ended there. Perhaps his name would appear in someone else's hunting record.
Turning to the end, Ash discovered an iron medal inside. The words on the medal were unreadable to Ash, but since it was made of iron, it likely held little value, perhaps being Carbin's first medal.
Perhaps, this medal symbolized the golden moments of Carbin's life.
Ash picked up the medal, feeling a warm current flow into his hand, followed by a message popping up on the light screen:
"One-winged Technique Spirit."
"Restriction: Requires possessing a long-range shooting tool."
"Basic Effect: After one shot, instantly perform a second shot."
"Passive Effect: Increases accuracy of long-range shooting."
"'There are moments when a few seconds delay can never be caught up in a lifetime.'"
At the same time, a message automatically popped up in the game:
"Detected convertible currency, exchange for points?"