Call it a stroke of luck, but as Su Chen stepped out of the RV, he had the strange feeling of having recovered something he had lost.
That Water Element Essence had rolled right to his feet.
Without a second thought, Su Chen took two steps forward. As he bent down to pick it up, his eyes cut through the thin, boiling steam rising from the river to lock onto the Demon Dog on the opposite bank.
A fire-breathing dog was something he had never seen before.
The earlier attack, which resembled a Flame Bullet, put him on high alert.
The beast had clearly noticed his gaze. Perhaps feeling provoked, its crimson eyes suddenly narrowed. It began to pace anxiously back and forth on the bank, its sharp claws scraping against the rocks with a piercing sound, yet it never dared to cross the river.
"GRRR..."
A low roar rumbled from deep within the Demon Dog’s throat. Light flickered from the fire rising at the corners of its snarling mouth, but it didn’t immediately shoot another Flame Bullet.
’Limited range,’ Su Chen guessed. ’It can’t reach me from over twenty meters away.’
"AWOOO!"
A frantic bark echoed from the distance. Another Demon Dog of a similar size appeared by the arch bridge. The bridge connecting the two banks had been discovered.
Answering its companion’s call, the hot-tempered Demon Dog on the other side of the river immediately took off running.
"Run!"
The other fishermen were stunned. They had long since abandoned their fishing tackle and boxes. Gripped by a primal, unknown panic, they all wished their parents had given them two more legs.
As for the yellow-haired man who had been attacked and knocked down, he was already on the brink of death, and no one went to help him.
Su Chen finished picking up the Water Element Essence. The strange phenomenon that prevented the yellow-haired man from absorbing it didn’t affect him. With a slight squeeze of his left hand, the essence merged into his palm as he’d hoped.
’It’s finally complete.’
What concerned him more was the brand on his hand, which suddenly erupted in a brilliant blue light. The mysterious, triangular rune structure was finally closed by the completion of its bottom-right corner.
The Elemental Rune, which looked like a cross between a character and a painting, seemed about to leap off his skin. Vaguely, shimmering ripples of light formed a refracting water mirror that flickered into existence.
But the next second,
the newly formed Elemental Rune gradually faded, traveling up his arm and into his brain.
VMM!!
In that instant, a faint Spiritual Light bloomed in the depths of his consciousness. The mysterious Rune, something between a word and a totem, rose up within his sea of consciousness.
Along with it came a flood of information.
Those previously obscure Elemental Runes were now being rapidly deciphered in a way he could understand.
**[Water Mirror Refraction] (Lv. 1):** Generate a Water Mirror Screen to reflect incoming attack damage.
Synthesis Formula: Water + Light + Water (Elemental Essence).
Promotion Requirement: Water Mirror Rune 0/1.
’Magic.’
Su Chen mulled it over for a moment before confirming that the Elemental Rune had entered his brain, and that he had obtained an incredible and peculiar Skill.
According to the information, he needed to collect one full set of Water, Light, and Water Element Essence again to raise his Rune Level.
The imminent threat gave him no time to digest this new information.
Now, the two Demon Dogs had crossed the wooden bridge.
One Demon Dog chased the fishermen down the greenway path, while the other trotted along the riverbank. This one held a grudge; it was clearly coming for him.
Seeing this, Su Chen showed no intention of backing down.
When he’d gotten out of the RV earlier, he had the foresight to pull a baseball bat out from under the passenger seat.
When traveling long-term in an RV, one had to consider personal safety. Barring regulated weapons, many people kept an Engineer Shovel, a baseball bat, or a golf club in their vehicle.
Su Chen’s bat was a high-strength, solid alloy model. It was silver-white all over, and as he gave it a test swing, its heavy weight felt reassuring.
The Demon Dog drew closer, baring its ghastly white fangs as drool dripped from its jaws. A flicker of fire rose once more from its mouth.
WHOOSH!
After steadying his breath, Su Chen lowered his center of gravity. He watched with cold eyes, the baseball bat angled toward the ground.
The next second, when the two were less than ten meters apart, the Demon Dog used its old trick. It opened its mouth and spat, and a crimson Fireball shot through the air. A wave of scorching heat instantly kicked up a cloud of dust. It was so fast that it was in front of Su Chen in the blink of an eye.
However...
when it was half a meter from Su Chen, it suddenly struck a mirror-like barrier that rippled like water and shimmered faintly.
Unable to penetrate the barrier, the Fireball was instantly refracted. Its trajectory changed abruptly, and the Crimson Flame arced back, flying diagonally toward the nearby riverbank.
BOOM!!
The Flame Bullet slammed into the surface of the river, sending a column of water shooting into the air. The vaporized water turned into billowing white smoke.
The Demon Dog’s eyes went wide with shock and suspicion, seemingly unable to comprehend why its attack had been inexplicably deflected.
However, seeing its enemy charging forward, it let out an angry growl. Its four paws dug into the ground, and after a short sprint, it leaped into the air.
SWOOSH!
A violent tearing sound filled the air as the metal bat’s shriek split the air, making one’s eardrums ache.
Su Chen gripped the baseball bat with both hands, the muscles in his arms tensing into sharp lines. As the pouncing Demon Dog closed in, he twisted at the waist and hips, swinging the solid Alloy Baseball Bat in a bright, silver arc of death.
BAM!
With a dull, heavy thud, the end of the bat precisely struck the top of the Demon Dog’s skull, producing the sickening, muffled sound of cracking bone.
The Demon Dog’s ferocious face instantly deformed from the impact. Foul-smelling, bloody foam sprayed from its mouth. Under the force of the mighty blow, its body was thrown heavily through the air.
’Good, it bleeds.’
A faint smile touched Su Chen’s cold face.
At the end of the day, this fire-breathing dog was only a little taller than his knees.
The collision confirmed it: the Demon Dog was merely flesh and blood, and the strength of its bones couldn’t withstand the force of a hard alloy baseball bat.
As Su Chen quickly approached, he noticed that amid its intermittent, pathetic whimpers, the Demon Dog’s eyes had become much clearer. At least they were no longer a bloodthirsty red.
’Looks like it can be reasoned with after all.’
Su Chen thought to himself. ’Violence really is a universal language.’
Immediately, without any hesitation, he raised the baseball bat high with his right hand and brought it crashing down.
A few seconds later, the Demon Dog’s skull had completely caved in. Crimson blood mixed with grayish-white brain matter flowed onto the ground. Its convulsing body went limp, now completely and utterly dead.
’An unexpected bonus.’
Su Chen looked closer and saw a Fire Element Essence, glowing with a crimson luster, that had flowed out of the Demon Dog’s mouth.
He hadn’t found a single one earlier while searching around a pile of barbecue grills, but now he had gotten his hands on one through sheer luck.
Following that logic, it was possible that killing monsters was a reliable way to obtain Elemental Essence.
’It’s a little hot.’
This time, Su Chen put down the baseball bat and picked it up with his right hand.
The moment his palm made full contact, an intense, scorching heat pierced through his skin. It felt like grabbing a scalding-hot, hard-boiled egg.
He frowned and endured the discomfort, forcing his right hand to grip it tighter. Fortunately, there were no complications. Within seconds, the Fire Element Essence had completely merged into the flesh of his palm.
Su Chen looked at his palm. Aside from the skin being a little red, there were no injuries.
He thought, ’That didn’t feel like phantom pain.’
If he didn’t possess some kind of innate talent and had failed to absorb the Fire Element Essence, his entire right hand would have probably been severely burned.
’Is this... Elemental Affinity?’
Su Chen recalled how the yellow-haired man couldn’t even absorb a gentle Water Element Essence. If he attributed all these individual differences to Elemental Affinity, it would explain a lot.
With this in mind, he glanced at the yellow-haired man collapsed not far away, his gaze meeting the man’s vacant, lifeless eyes.
The man was dead.
The wound on his back was too severe. Dark red blood was still seeping out, forming a small pool beneath his body.
In his final moments, he had apparently noticed the fight. His face was frozen with a hint of relief.
’Rest in peace.’
In a way, Su Chen had avenged him.

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