Chapter 108 Magic Weave

"Drip."

Murky drops of putrid water dripped from above, splashing sparsely against a floor slick with feces and muddy soil.

The cramped, narrow stone walls reflected a cold, dim light. It occasionally glinted off the half-exposed blade that rose and fell gently with his movements, its iron-gray edge flashing fleetingly.

The Decapitating Longsword, which he had long since mastered and made his primary weapon, was securely fastened to his back.

In his hand was the one-handed wooden sword [Green Pine]—slightly less sharp, but far more suited to the current situation.

His pitch-black eyes reflected the sickly green of the fungal moss clinging to the crevices in the stone walls.

He kept his eyes locked on the depths of the dimly lit tunnel ahead, his focus razor-sharp as he stayed alert for any suspicious movement.

Xia Nan held his left Arm Shield lightly in front of him. His right palm was glued to the hilt of his sword, its tip angled downward.

Making as little noise as possible, he maintained a stance ready for combat at any second.

It was now his second day out after taking the quest from the Adventurers' Association.

No matter how eager he was to test [Fang Hunt], itching to hack down hundreds or even thousands of goblins to grind his proficiency, his encounters during previous quests and the memory of those tavern adventurers who vanished after a single meeting had forced him to suppress his impatience and make ample preparations back in Rivervale Town.

For a quest expected to take just over two days, he had brought enough food to survive in the wild for a week, along with a sleeping bag, a blanket, a waterskin, and a coil of hemp rope...

He had even taken half a night to conduct a little experiment.

Only at the break of dawn on the second day did he finally leave Rivervale Town, brimming with energy.

Remaining cautious along the way, he followed the general coordinates provided by the Association, eventually navigating his way to this Goblin Cave on the outer fringes of the Misty Forest.

As he stepped slowly forward, the only sounds in the air were his long, steady breaths and the faint friction of his Chainmail Shirt's lining against his tough leather armor.

His gaze swept over the narrow stone walls on both sides of the cave.

'The entrance is cramped. It doesn't look like there are any Bugbears around.'

'A single tunnel leads straight inside without any traps or forks in the path, so there shouldn't be any Hobgoblins either.'

But considering the possibilities—another entrance, an unfinished nest, or the presence of other elite green-skin subspecies—he told himself, 'I still need to be careful.'

Xia Nan shifted his feet lightly, internally calculating the distance to the cave entrance and estimating how long it would take to turn around and escape.

'If I encounter an enemy I can't handle, or one that's too difficult to fight in this environment, I can throw a Fire Oil Bomb to block the path and buy time to retreat.'

Crackle. The crisp sound of popping embers echoed out.

Pressing his body flat against the stone wall, Xia Nan hid in the shadows and peered deeper into the cave.

A campfire had already died out, leaving behind only wood embers radiating a faint glow. An iron pot covered in creeping rust sat suspended over the firewood. He couldn't see what was inside, but it likely only held some leftover dregs.

Then, he saw those hunched, emaciated, and ugly green-skins.

His gaze swept over them as he quickly estimated their numbers.

'Two, four, six...'

'Twelve?'

It was slightly more than he expected, but completely within the range he could handle.

A flash of pale white suddenly caught the corner of his eye.

It was a human skull covered in hairline fractures, resting in the mud.

Xia Nan's expression darkened.

The tragic, gruesome scene from the first time he ever set foot in a Goblin Lair resurfaced in his mind.

But this time, there was no fear or retreat.

Taking their place was a deep, roiling surge of disgust and loathing.

After confirming there were no other exits to the cave and no other enemies aside from the twelve goblins before him, Xia Nan stopped hiding his presence. He deliberately let his footsteps fall heavily as he walked out of the tunnel.

"Screee!"

Treating him like food delivered straight to their doorstep, the green-skins shrieked in excitement.

Lacking a Hobgoblin to command them or a Bugbear to boost their morale, the dozen or so goblins squeezed together chaotically. Raising their twig-like, spindly arms high and brandishing crudely made dark-brown wooden clubs, they swarmed him all at once.

A surging battle intent, ignited by his killing aura, boiled within his chest and stomach, yet his mind remained incomparably calm.

Xia Nan constantly reminded himself that clearing out this Goblin Lair was just a side task to earn some extra money.

His primary goal for this trip was not these few dozen gold coins.

He stood firmly in place.

"Huu..."

He took a deep breath.

The piercing, bone-chilling cold that had once seeped into his very marrow surged up once more from the muscles in his waist, abdomen, and legs.

It looked entirely unremarkable, seemingly no different from usual.

He lifted his leg slightly and took a step forward.

[Fang Hunt]!

Bang! The scenery before his eyes instantly blurred and froze. Beneath his skin, muscle fibers were pulled and torn by the sheer power erupting in that split second.

The air, turning viscous like water due to his high-speed movement, was compressed by the collision of his body, letting out a faint, drawn-out wolf howl.

A biting, blade-like gale exploded through the air, sweeping up filthy mud splatters and choking stenches.

In the span of a single breath—or even less!

Xia Nan, who had just been standing at the lair's entrance, transformed into a blur. Amid the howl of the wolf-beast and the echoing gale, he crossed the space in an instant and arrived directly in front of the mound of green-skins packed together like rotting meat.

His movements did not pause for a moment.

Leveraging the impact and physical momentum brought by [Fang Hunt], he unleashed [Spinning Slash]—a combat technique he had long since mastered until it merged with his body. It lashed out amid the dense, sharp whistle of the wooden sword tearing through the air.

Hum—it was a dark brown arc of light, much fuller, thinner, and more powerful than in its ordinary state.

The power of the two combat techniques was stacked together in that split second, transforming into a sword beam far swifter and sharper than ever before.

He did not even feel the sluggish resistance of a blade severing flesh from the slightly less sharp wooden sword in his hand.

Just a step, a dash, and a swing.

In the next second, the excited and ugly expressions on the green-skins before him froze.

Like a timed fountain erupting in a city square, smoothly sheared skull fragments, twitching spindly limbs, and steaming red organs were lifted upwards from their bodies by a thick, red-and-white spray.

The row of sickly green flesh slumped over.

Eight goblins, instantly killed.

"Proficiency +1"

The translucent characters flashed across the empty air before his eyes.

Lacking a Bugbear for a morale boost or a Hobgoblin to supervise from the rear, Xia Nan's single strike shattered the courage of the remaining four green-skins.

Throwing away their wooden clubs, they screamed and fled in panic.

Enemies who had lost their will to fight held no value for honing combat techniques.

Gripping his wooden sword, he took large strides to catch up. A slash, a thrust, a hack, a cleave—he ruthlessly finished off the last four cowardly low-tier monsters one by one, sending them to hell to reunite with their dead kin.

The Goblin Lair, once filled with shrill and chaotic shrieks, fell instantly silent.

Only the sound of Xia Nan's steady and drawn-out breaths remained.

Turning around, he confirmed that all the goblins were dead.

Xia Nan drew the Decapitating Longsword from his back. Aided by the faint glow of the luminescent moss tucked in the folds of the stone walls, he stared at his own reflection on the blade's surface.

[Fang Hunt] Lv1: (3/100)

A satisfied look appeared on his face.

'Just as I thought!'

'Using combat techniques in real battle builds proficiency much faster than blindly practicing against the air alone!'

Last night, after finishing all his preparations and gathering supplies for the trip, Xia Nan had used the time saved by his minimal six-hour sleep requirement to practice [Fang Hunt] on the outskirts of Rivervale Town late into the night.

Roughly calculating it, he had trained for a total of eight hours.

That was only enough to push the combat technique's upgrade progress bar to (2/100). Right now, even counting the time he spent carefully navigating the narrow tunnel, he had been inside the cave for ten minutes at most, yet he had still gained a precious point of proficiency.

The reason for this massive difference could not possibly be the change in environment or the difference between day and night.

It was just as Xia Nan had originally hypothesized.

With his Attribute Panel, engaging in actual combat could vastly accelerate the rate at which he gained proficiency.

Furthermore, high-intensity battles would likely still yield excellent results even for high-level combat techniques.

His somewhat anxious heart instantly relaxed.

He felt that his future was filled with bright prospects.

Xia Nan sheathed his greatsword.

His gaze swept over the corpses and purulent blood scattered across the ground, scanning the interior of the lair.

He would cut off the goblins' ears later.

Once the cleanup was finished, the 25 gold coin bounty from the Association quest would be his.

Driven by the desire to maximize his profits, he naturally would not complain about the filth. He planned to thoroughly search the cave again to see if there was any loot worth selling.

After all, it was a short-distance quest and he was returning to town soon, so carrying a bit of extra weight would not be an issue.

Clink— A bright golden gleam seemed to flash fleetingly beneath the muddy soil.

"Oh?"

Xia Nan immediately stepped forward, bent down, and plucked a gold coin from the dirt.

It was not entirely surprising.

Without Bugbears and Hobgoblins present, ordinary green-skins rarely had the habit of actively collecting loot. They simply followed their instincts and desires to hunt and fill their bellies.

Under such circumstances, if the unfortunate souls who became their food happened to carry any coins, it would be a stroke of luck for whoever came later.

Finding a gold coin or two was perfectly normal.

That was what Xia Nan initially thought.

Until he picked up more and more gold coins, and even discovered a finely crafted pearl necklace.

He couldn't help but wonder, 'This all adds up to nearly 30 gold, doesn't it?'

'This shouldn't be right. It's just a dozen or so goblins; they couldn't even defeat a regular merchant convoy. How could they have plundered this much money?'

Amidst his confusion, his gaze suddenly locked onto something.

In the corner of the cave ahead, resting silently beside white bones and severed limbs, lay a small box stained with dust and blood.

Its mechanical lock seemed to have already been opened, leaving a gap between the lid and the base.

He picked it up and opened it.

What caught his eye was a thin book with a pale red cover.

Quite surprised, he pulled it out of the Book Box.

He flipped it open.

Arcane Calendar, Year 712, 21st of the Blazing Sun Month.

Things are very expensive in Chromatic Ring City, and the housing prices are much higher than in Nym.

Relying on the gold coins I saved from performing tricks on the road and Lia's savings, we managed to rent a small room in the city.

The landlord is a Calishite, but he's a decent person. He only asked us for a three-month deposit.

But I don't think we'll be staying that long.

The freshman assessment for the Hawthorne Royal Academy is next month, and I've been preparing for it for three years.

As long as I can become an official student at the academy, I can bring Lia to live in the dormitories with me.

I have to admit, I'm a little nervous.

I can definitely do this. I can definitely do this.

Arcane Calendar, Year 712, 7th of the Month of Wither.

The assessment is over. I failed.

Arcane Calendar, Year 712, 26th of the Month of Wither.

Lia found a job as a jewelry appraisal apprentice at a workshop. It's what her family used to do, anyway.

The academy's next entrance assessment isn't for another two years.

By then, I will be twenty-nine—still under the academy's thirty-year age limit.

Lia urged me to try again.

She's right. I've been preparing for so long; I refuse to just give up like this.

Then I'll try one more time.

Arcane Calendar, Year 712, 5th of the Month of Falling Leaves.

The academy's assessment is far more difficult than I previously imagined.

Sitting in this room and stubbornly waiting for two years definitely won't work.

A mage tower in the city is currently recruiting apprentices. They say the master of the tower is an archmage proficient in gravity magic. I want to give it a shot.

Arcane Calendar, Year 712, 28th of the Month of Falling Leaves.

Fantastic, I made it!

I seem to have some talent in gravitational magic. The young mage in charge of reception even picked out a room for me in the tower that's quite close to the laboratory.

Lia is happy for me as well.

Tonight, we went to a tavern in the city for a grand feast, something we hadn't done in a long time.

By the time we headed home, we were both drunk.

Arcane Calendar, Year 713, 3rd of the Month of the Duskclaw.

It has been almost half a year since I entered the mage tower.

I spend every day soaked in the laboratory, leaving me with a scruffy beard. When I saw Lia today, she was startled.

Haha.

I told her not to worry, that I've been living a fulfilling life and learning a great deal.

By next year, I will absolutely pass the assessment and become a student of the Royal Academy.

Arcane Calendar, Year 713, 30th of the Month of the Duskclaw.

During our daily experiment today, Jerry accidentally mistook sulfur powder for meteoric iron shavings and scattered it into the gravity rune array.

They clearly have completely different colors and weights. I have no idea how that careless guy mixed them up.

Our mentor flew into a terrible rage, and none of us dared to speak.

Unlucky Jerry was kicked out of the mage tower.

As his roommate, I was forced by our mentor to stay behind and clean the lab.

And then—guess what I saw?

The experiment actually succeeded!

Arcane Calendar, Year 713, 1st of the Month of the Windclaw.

Jerry was expelled from the tower, leaving me alone in the dorm room.

After living together for over half a year, suddenly not hearing his snoring actually made it hard to sleep.

My mind tends to wander at night.

I suddenly remembered the scene while cleaning the lab the day before yesterday.

Why did it succeed?

Even though the spellcasting material, the meteoric iron shavings, was swapped for sulfur powder, the gravity field within the array still changed.

Was it because of the runes on the enchanted steel plate?

If it could succeed without the casting material, why add that unnecessary step in the first place?

Tomorrow is my day off. I'm going to verify my hypothesis.

Arcane Calendar, Year 713, 2nd of the Month of the Windclaw.

The experiment succeeded again!

Not just sulfur powder—I tried replacing the casting material with silver-iron dust, talcum powder, and finally, I even tossed in a handful of laundry detergent from my dorm.

Why?

Why?

I suddenly recalled what our mentor once told us.

The essence of spellcasting is to mobilize prima materia through the "Magic Weave" of the [Mystic Lady], allowing a mage to safely and smoothly control primordial magic.

The role of "spellcasting materials" in this process is to act as a physical medium to stabilize the spell structure.

Without the appropriate and correct amount of spellcasting materials, many spells simply cannot take form.

I can't help but wonder.

If the casting materials in a rune array can be arbitrarily swapped out, does that mean a stable spell model actually isn't important at all?

But if there is no spell model, even if one can connect to the Magic Weave with their mental strength, how is the magic power within supposed to be released?

Or perhaps, the Magic Weave itself is merely a temporary—: (The handwriting gradually becomes illegible, and the final characters are crossed out.)