Chapter 110: A Sudden Encounter
Two months later.
On the outskirts of the Mist Forest, in a certain goblin nest.
Silence.
An eerie silence.
“Drip.”
A drop of crystalline, bloody water refracted the pus-green glow of the fungal moss as it fell, creating a fine ripple on the surface of the pool of blood.
Only a phantom-like echo of the horrifying shrieks that had resounded between the stone walls remained, and the frenzied, distorted roars had also dissipated into nothingness.
The air was still filled with a filthy, foul stench, but compared to before, it was now tinged with a much richer sll of blood.
This was a goblin colony with a population of twenty-three.
Even without the existence of an elite individual.
These inferior and lowly bottom-tier monsters, relying on the primitive hunting instincts inherited from the depths of their bloodline, ford packs. With their almost frenzied aggression and an exaggerated reproductive ability akin to another species, they had carved out a place for themselves in the perilous Mist Forest.
Tree bark and grass roots, wild fruits and mud fungus, common beasts, careless adventurers... their wide-ranging diet and a tenacious vitality like that of insects, beasts, and plants allowed them to survive as long as they had a bite to eat.
As if their biological characteristics were inherently enhanced for survival and reproduction, goblins were like those nauseating and ubiquitous mosquitoes, flies, and cockroaches.
You might only see one on the surface, but in reality, their nests had already silently bred in the darkness, spreading to every corner you hadn't noticed.
To so extent, a group of over twenty green-skinned goblins, if the timing and environnt were right, already possessed the ability to attack a human caravan.
And if there was a leader-type elite individual like a "hobgoblin," their numbers and actual combat power would increase exponentially in a short period of ti.
If left to develop, even a small human village with its own guards would be threatened by them.
However, right now, at least for this goblin colony, that possibility no longer existed.
As if ravaged by so sharp weapon, fragnted limbs with smooth cuts, pieces of skulls encased in a red and white viscous fluid, glaring fresh blood, and writhing internal organs.
They covered almost the entire cave.
The aura of death seed to have solidified.
“Ska... Ska...”
In the silence, a sharp and pain-filled wail suddenly sounded.
Its legs were off the ground, its muscles atrophied, its emaciated limbs, like withered branches, thrashed and struggled frantically in a convulsive manner;
Its scarlet eyes, filled with desire and ferocity, now only held deep despair and fear.
A two-handed longsword, gleaming with an iron-gray tallic luster, had pierced through the center of the goblin's chest.
Like a javelin, it pinned the goblin firmly to the hard stone wall.
Blood continuously flowed from the wound.
And not far in front of this goblin.
On a rock, slightly cleaner than the muddy and filthy ground of the cave.
Sat a black-haired youth with a wooden sword on his back and sharp features.
My tough and thick chainmail links were stained with the foul blood of goblins, but upon closer inspection, only a few minor scratches could be found on its surface, without a single sign of being breached.
And if one looked further inside, through the fine, overlapping tal chain links, one could see the perfectly intact, supple leather armor it protected.
Facing the goblin pinned to the wall before , my face did not show the pathological smile of soone tornting an enemy as one might imagine.
I just kept a straight face, fully focused, my eyes staring unblinkingly at the drops of blood trickling from the wound where the goblin was pierced by the sword.
Calming my breath and steadying my spirit.
One second, two seconds, three seconds...
It was unknown how much ti had passed.
It wasn't until the goblin's limbs struggled with decreasing intensity and its wails gradually subsided.
Finally, its head drooped, and it completely lost consciousness and fainted.
Only then did a spark return to my eyes.
I let out a silent sigh.
I stood up, walked forward, and pulled the beheading longsword out of the stone wall with one hand.
With a simple and unadorned flourish, I flicked the blood from the blade's surface and sheathed the sword.
Without the support of the blade, the goblin that was pinned to the wall also fell to the ground.
I took out a short, sharp dagger gleaming with a cold light from my waist.
I bent down, first giving the green-skin a couple more stabs to confirm it was completely dead.
Only then did I, with considerable skill, step on its head, cut off its left ear with the dagger, and stuff it into the bulging, blood-stained trophy sack behind .
Of course, I did not do this to torture the goblin or vent so emotion.
These goblins acted like beasts in their daily lives and could barely speak a few words of the Common tongue. Torturing them wouldn't be very interesting.
And that wasn't my personality.
The reason why I, after clearing out the entire goblin nest, deliberately left one alive and "watched" it die.
Was mainly to test the [Gravity Compression] (simplified version) that I had unexpectedly obtained from the wild mage's diary.
It did not require filtering raw magic through the Weave, nor did it require constructing a spell model in advance.
In the simplest way, it used ntal power to influence the magic particles in the air, affecting the unseen and untouchable "gravity."
Like the beast priests and bloodline sorcerers of the ancient wilderness, it did not require learning complex and vast magical knowledge.
It was very suitable for a novice like who had started halfway.
However, perhaps it was because I truly lacked talent in this area.
It had been over two months since I got the notes.
The results were minimal.
Following the thod left by the wild mage, I concentrated my attention, and although I could faintly feel my consciousness extending outwards like tentacles.
The distance was very short, and what I could perceive was very blurry.
Never mind adjusting the magnitude of gravity, I couldn't even control the magic particles in the air.
I even suspected that before I started training, I might need to find so kind of "ditation technique" to improve my ntal power.
But I wasn't anxious.
Spellcasters were rare and powerful. This was a universally acknowledged fact, whether in the vast majority of ani and novels from my past life, or in this current fantasy world.
But since I ca to this world, I had always fought up close with my body, having no connection to spells, nor had I ever tead up with a spellcaster, so I didn't have a real sense of it.
Now that I had unexpectedly obtained the simplified spell of a wild mage from three hundred years ago, if I could learn it, that would naturally be for the best.
And if I could not learn it in a short ti, there was no rush.
I could take my ti.
I had the patience.
Even if it turned out in the end that I really had no talent in this area, I would at most feel a little regretful, and then give up decisively.
With the attribute panel in my possession, it had already given a clear and distinct path for advancent.
Even with the most common "Warrior" profession, if I walked this path all the way, advancing through job changes, to extraordinary, to legendary... with the accumulation of countless specialties, attribute points, and equipnt, I was confident that my combat power would not be much weaker than a spellcaster of the sa level.
Besides, over the past two months, my main goal was not this simplified spell.
Tightening the backpack on my back, I took two steps towards the cave entrance.
My gaze moved down.
Reflected in the faint light of the nest, the viscous, bright red blood faintly mirrored my blurry figure.
My eyes focused.
Translucent characters appeared before .
[Fang Hunt] lv2: (89/100)
Sixty, seventy days, nearly two hundred proficiency points.
All I can say is, I had a blast grinding.
I even felt that during this period, I worked harder than in the days of my past life when I had just graduated and was struggling at a big internet company.
Prepare supplies - accept missions - kill goblins - return to town - prepare supplies - accept missions...
It was a continuous cycle, I had barely rested at all.
And the rewards from such hard work were naturally quite substantial.
Not only did I raise the newly learned [Fang Hunt] to a level close to lv3 "Skilled," my savings in the bank also shot up.
My net worth had reached 576 gold, 8 silver, and 2 copper.
Adding the reward and loot from this mission, I should be able to earn another twenty-sothing gold coins.
I was rolling in it.
Of course, the reason I, all by myself without joining any team, was able to accept missions and earn money so smoothly and steadily, and increase my proficiency.
My own strength was one aspect.
Another was thanks to my cautious attitude of not getting arrogant at all, and only treating myself as a novice adventurer who had just started.
I spent a large amount of gold before setting out (even if so of it would be wasted), to ensure I had enough supplies to survive in the forest for a long ti. I only accepted goblin-related missions, and the location had to be near the outer edge of the Mist Forest, with a round trip of no more than three days.
Before entering a goblin nest, I had to thoroughly observe the surrounding environnt.
If I discovered that the number of green-skins was too large, exceeding my ability to handle, or if there was a possibility of bear goblins or hobgoblins...
Without hesitation, I would retreat imdiately.
[Fang Hunt], as a movent-type combat technique, with my current physical fitness, could be used multiple tis in a short period.
I could easily pull away from my enemies.
With their short little legs, the goblins couldn't catch up at all.
I scanned the nest one last ti to make sure nothing was missed.
With twin swords on my back, I left the cave.
The turbid air in the nest instantly cleared.
Although I could still sll a faint stench wafting from the passage, it was undoubtedly much fresher than inside the cave.
In my ears, there were also many sounds of insects chirping and the "rustling" of leaves rubbing against each other.
My gaze glanced into the depths of the forest for a mont. I hesitated slightly, but soon my resolve fird.
Right now, my [Fang Hunt] proficiency had been trained to (89/100).
I was only 11 points away from reaching lv3.
If I could get into a few more fights, I could level it up quickly.
But I gave up the idea of training it to lv3 in the forest before returning to River Valley Town.
On one hand, the reason I had been so successful these past two months, even though I was alone and hadn't encountered many dangerous situations.
Was because I adhered to the principle of not staying in the forest for long periods. Finish the mission, and imdiately return to town.
Even this goblin cave behind was sothing I had accidentally discovered on my way back to town. I only entered after a detailed investigation confird there was no risk.
I had not yet obtained a professional level, and there were many dangerous monsters on the outskirts of the Mist Forest that I couldn't handle.
On the other hand, when [Fang Hunt] leveled up from lv1 to lv2, it did not give an attribute point reward like [Whirlwind Slash] did before.
It felt like only the proficiency had increased.
I guessed, perhaps it would only grant attribute points and specialties at lv5 max level?
In this situation, the reward was completely disproportionate to the risk required.
As for goblin caves and the like, I didn't have a corresponding sensory combat technique, so they weren't sothing I could just find easily.
Instead of risking my life wandering around the forest, hoping to find a suitable enemy by luck.
It would be much safer to just practice in River Valley Town for ten days or so, or go back, accept another mission, and co out again.
Having made up my mind, I was about to leave.
“Rustle, rustle!”
From a dense bush not far from my side, a violent rustling of branches and leaves suddenly sounded.
Hum—
An iron-gray sword light flashed.
The beheading longsword was instantly unsheathed.
In the blink of an eye, I was already prepared for battle.
A light gray mist drifted in the air. Accompanied by the sound of approaching footsteps, three figures appeared before my eyes.
“Three of them?”
My gaze focused, but my breathing couldn't help but beco slower and longer.
Power brewed silently within my body.
Walking at the very front, the first to pass through the bushes and enter my field of vision, was a sturdy man with short, fine black hair...
A woman?
I rembered very clearly. She was the female adventurer I had t before in the alchemy shop, the one who was arguing with the owner.
I had thought she was just a passerby I had accidentally t during a mission break, but I never expected to run into her again at this mont.
I had only caught a hurried glimpse of her in the guild, and only rembered a few of her morable features.
Now, eting her face to face, the light filtering through the canopy of the trees revealed her true appearance to my sight.
Her short black hair looked as if it had been roughly and haphazardly trimd by herself, like a butcher's pelt, ssy and disheveled;
Her skin, tanned dark and rough by the constant sun, had nothing to do with terms like "fair" or "delicate," and one could vaguely see scars on its surface;
Over her faded gray linen shirt, she wore a set of scale mail that reflected a tallic luster. It was well-maintained, almost the cleanest thing on her entire body.
If not for her facial features, which showed a faint softness amidst their ruggedness, and the feminine voice I rembered from her argunt with the alchemy shop owner.
At a glance, one would not be aware of her gender difference at all, and would only take her for an ordinary low-level adventurer.
The environnt of the Mist Forest was complex, with low visibility.
But at such a close distance, there were no conditions to conceal one's figure.
When I saw her, the woman also discovered my presence at the sa ti.
Her body froze for a mont.
The two male adventurers behind her also stopped in their tracks.
The mist was thick, and there was also the cover of branches and leaves.
It was difficult to accurately discern the expression on her face.
I still maintained my sword-ready, guarded posture.
While watching the three people in front of , I also remained vigilant of my sides and my back at all tis.
But my legs did not move an inch, showing no intention of retreating.
To say sothing counter-intuitive.
At a ti like this, especially for , who was at a nurical disadvantage.
If I showed even the slightest hint of retreat or cowardice.
Then a life-and-death encounter would be unavoidable.
1 against 3.
No supervision from the guild or peacekeepers, in the desolate and uninhabited wilderness.
In the eyes of most adventurers.
A lone adventurer, and a green-skinned goblin.
There is no difference.
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