Chapter 110 Sudden Encounter

Two months later.

A goblin lair on the outskirts of the Misty Forest.

Quiet.

Eerily quiet.

"Drip."

Glistening blood reflected the sickly green glow of the moss as it fell, sending fine ripples across the pooled gore.

The terrifying shrieks that had echoed between the stone walls were now little more than phantom ringing, and the frenzied, twisted roars had faded into nothingness.

The air still carried their filthy, nauseating stench, but compared to before, it was choked with a much heavier scent of blood.

This was a goblin tribe twenty-three strong.

Even without any elite individuals among them.

Driven by the primal hunting instincts etched into their bloodlines, these lowly, wretched bottom-feeders moved in packs. With near-insane aggression and a grotesque breeding rate that seemed to belong to an entirely different species, they had carved out a place for themselves in the peril-filled Misty Forest.

Tree bark, grass roots, wild fruits, muddy fungi, ordinary beasts, careless adventurers... Their diet was vast, and their vitality was as stubborn as weeds and insects. As long as there was a bite to eat, they would survive.

Their biology seemed engineered purely to multiply and endure. Goblins were like flies or cockroaches—disgusting and ubiquitous.

You might only see one in the open, but in truth, their nest had already festered in the dark, creeping into every corner you hadn't noticed.

In a sense, over twenty green-skinned goblins—given the right timing and environment—already possessed the strength to ambush a human caravan.

And if they were led by an elite individual like a "hobgoblin," their numbers and actual combat power would multiply geometrically in a terrifyingly short span of time.

Left unchecked, they could threaten even a small human village guarded by soldiers.

Except, right now, at least for this particular goblin tribe, that possibility was gone.

It looked as though some razor-sharp weapon had ravaged the place. Cleanly severed limbs, skull fragments coated in a mix of red and white slime, blindingly bright blood, and twitching viscera.

The carnage practically carpeted the entire cave.

The scent of death was so thick it felt tangible.

"Hssga... hssga..."

Through the silence came a sharp, agonizing wail.

Suspended off the ground, a goblin's scrawny, twig-like limbs—muscles long atrophied—flailed and spasmed in frantic struggle.

Its crimson eyes, once brimming with lust and savagery, now held only deep despair and terror.

An iron-gray, two-handed greatsword pierced dead center through its chest.

Like a javelin, the blade pinned it firmly to the hard stone wall.

Blood poured endlessly from the wound.

Not far in front of this goblin.

On a rock slightly cleaner than the muddy, filth-caked floor of the cave.

Sat a black-haired young man with sharp features and a wooden sword strapped to his back.

His tough, heavy chainmail was splattered with foul goblin blood, but a closer look revealed only a few faint scratches on the surface—not a single strike had broken through.

And peering deeper, past those tightly layered metal rings, one could see the supple leather armor beneath, entirely unscathed.

Facing the goblin pinned to the wall, the young man didn't wear the twisted, sadistic smile of a torturer.

Instead, his face was tense, entirely focused. Without blinking, his eyes tracked every single drop of blood trailing from the wound where the blade had pierced the creature.

Calm and collected.

One second, two seconds, three seconds...

Who knew how much time had passed.

He waited as the goblin's struggles grew faint and its wails subsided.

He watched until its head finally drooped, consciousness completely fading away.

Only then did the light return to the young man's eyes.

He let out a silent sigh.

Xia Nan stood up, stepped forward, and pulled the Decapitating Longsword from the stone wall with one hand.

With a simple, unadorned flick of his wrist, he flung the blood from the blade and sheathed it.

Without the sword holding it up, the pinned goblin slumped to the floor.

He drew a gleaming dagger from his waist.

Xia Nan crouched down and drove the blade into the green-skin two more times to ensure it was completely dead.

Then, with practiced ease, he stepped on its skull, sliced off the left ear with his dagger, and stuffed it into the bulging, bloodstained loot sack on his back.

He didn't do this to torture the goblin or vent his frustrations.

These creatures acted like beasts in their daily lives and could barely speak a few words of Common. Torturing them was pointless.

And he wasn't the type anyway.

The reason Xia Nan had deliberately kept one alive after clearing the entire goblin lair—watching it die—

was mainly to test the simplified version of [Gravity Compression] he had stumbled upon in the wild mage's journal.

It didn't require filtering raw magic through the Magic Weave, nor did it demand constructing a spell model in advance.

It was the simplest method: using mental power to stir the magical particles in the air, thereby influencing that invisible, untouchable force of "gravity."

Just like the beast priests and bloodline sorcerers of the ancient wilderness, he didn't need to learn complex and vast magical theory.

It was actually quite suitable for a complete layman like Xia Nan who was picking it up halfway.

Except, it seemed he really didn't have any talent for it.

Over two months had passed since he got the journal.

And the results were negligible.

Following the wild mage's method, he focused his attention. He could faintly feel his consciousness reaching outward like tentacles, but the distance was pitifully short, and whatever he could sense was incredibly blurry.

Forget adjusting the strength of gravity—he couldn't even manipulate the magical particles in the air.

Xia Nan even wondered if he needed to find some kind of "Meditation Technique" to boost his mental power before training this.

But he wasn't anxious.

Spellcasters were rare and powerful. Whether in the vast majority of anime and novels from his past life or in this fantasy-themed world, that was a universally acknowledged truth.

But ever since arriving in this world, Xia Nan had always fought up close with his physical body. He had nothing to do with spells and had never even partied up with a spellcaster, so he lacked any real sense of it.

Now that he had unexpectedly obtained a simplified spell from a wild mage three hundred years ago, if he could learn it, that would naturally be for the best.

And if he couldn't grasp it in the short term, there was no rush.

He could take his time.

He had the patience for it.

Even if it ultimately proved he truly had no talent in this area, Xia Nan would, at most, feel it was a bit of a pity and then decisively give up.

The Attribute Panel had already laid out a clear and defined path of progression for him.

Even if he just followed the most common Warrior class all the way to the end—advancing to a higher class, reaching the Transcendent Tier, achieving Legendary rank... With the accumulation of countless Feats, attribute points, and gear, he was confident his combat power wouldn't be much weaker than a spellcaster of the same level.

Besides, over these past two months, this simplified spell hadn't been Xia Nan's primary goal.

Tightening the straps of the backpack on his shoulders, he took two steps toward the cave entrance.

His gaze shifted down.

Reflecting the faint light within the lair, the thick, bright red blood vaguely mirrored his silhouette.

He focused his eyes.

Translucent text surfaced before him.

[Fang Hunt] lv2: (89/100)

In sixty or seventy days, he had ground out nearly two hundred proficiency points.

He had been grinding his heart out.

Xia Nan even felt that during this period, he was working harder than he ever did right after graduation, grinding away at a major tech company in his past life.

Prepare supplies—take a quest—slaughter goblins—return to town—prepare supplies—take a quest...

Back to back, he had barely rested at all.

And the rewards of such grueling effort were naturally substantial.

Not only had he pushed his newly learned [Fang Hunt] close to the lv3 Proficient rank, but his bank savings had also skyrocketed.

His net worth had reached 576 gold, 8 silver, and 2 copper.

Adding the quest reward and loot from this trip, he should be able to pull in another twenty-something gold coins.

He was making a killing.

Of course, the reason he could take quests, earn money, and raise his proficiency so smoothly and steadily all by himself, without joining any party, was partly due to his own strength.

And partly due to his absolute lack of arrogance, maintaining the cautious attitude of a complete novice adventurer.

Before heading out, he would spend a large amount of gold (even knowing some would be wasted) to ensure he had ample supplies to survive in the forest for extended periods. He only accepted goblin-related quests, and the locations had to be near the outer edge of the Misty Forest—no more than a three-day round trip.

Before entering a goblin lair, he strictly observed the surrounding environment.

The moment he found too many green-skins to handle, or suspected the presence of bugbears or "hobgoblins"...

He would retreat immediately without hesitation.

[Fang Hunt], as a movement-based combat technique, could be used multiple times in quick succession given his current physical condition.

It easily allowed him to pull away from his enemies.

With their stubby little legs, goblins could never catch him.

He scanned the lair one last time to ensure he hadn't missed anything.

Xia Nan left the cave, his two swords on his back.

The stagnant air of the lair instantly cleared.

Though he could still smell some of the stench wafting from the tunnel, it was undeniably much fresher than inside.

The chirping of insects and the rustling of leaves rubbing together filled his ears.

Xia Nan glanced toward the Deep Forest, hesitated briefly, and then his gaze hardened.

Right now, his [Fang Hunt] proficiency had reached (89/100).

Just 11 more points and it would level up to lv3.

A few more fights and he would rank up.

But Xia Nan abandoned the thought of grinding it to lv3 in the forest before returning to Rivervale Town.

For one, the reason things had gone so smoothly over the past two months, despite him being alone, without encountering too much danger, was because he adhered to the rule of never staying in the forest too long. Finish the quest, return to town immediately.

Even this goblin cave behind him was something he stumbled upon during his return trip. He only entered after carefully scouting it and confirming there was no risk.

Without a Class Level yet, the outskirts of the Misty Forest still held many dangerous monsters he couldn't handle.

Furthermore, when [Fang Hunt] went from lv1 to lv2, it hadn't rewarded him with attribute points like [Spinning Slash] had.

It seemed like it was just a pure proficiency increase.

Xia Nan guessed that maybe he wouldn't get attribute points and Feats until it maxed out at lv5?

Under these circumstances, the potential reward was completely disproportionate to the risk.

It wasn't like he could easily track down goblin caves anyway—he lacked any Perception-based combat techniques.

Rather than risking his life wandering the forest hoping to get lucky and find suitable enemies, it was much safer to return to Rivervale Town and practice blindly for ten or so days, or pick up another quest and come back out.

Having made up his mind, he prepared to leave.

"Rustle!"

Suddenly, the dense bushes nearby shook violently.

Thrum—

A flash of iron-gray sword light.

The Decapitating Longsword was instantly drawn.

In the blink of an eye, Xia Nan was ready for battle.

Pale gray mist drifted through the air, and accompanied by the approaching footsteps, three figures appeared before him.

'Three?'

Xia Nan's gaze sharpened, his breathing unconsciously turning deep and slow.

Strength silently gathered and built up within his body.

Walking in the front, the first to break through the tall grass and enter his line of sight, was a sturdy, short-haired man...

Woman?

Xia Nan remembered clearly—it was the female adventurer he had bumped into at the alchemy shop, the one arguing with the owner.

He thought she was just a passerby he'd seen between quests, but to think they would run into each other again here and now.

He had only caught a brief glimpse of her at the Association, remembering just a few striking features.

Now, coming face to face, the light filtering through the canopy revealed her true appearance.

Her short black hair looked as if she had roughly and haphazardly hacked it off herself—a messy, unruly mop resembling a pelt butchered by a novice.

Her skin, weathered by constant exposure to the harsh sun, was a coarse, dark brown, completely devoid of anything "pale" or "delicate." Faint, jagged scars could be seen across it.

Over a faded, grayish linen shirt, she wore a set of metallic Scale Armor. It was well-maintained, easily the cleanest thing on her.

If not for the faint softness hidden within her rugged features, and the memory of her feminine voice during the argument with the alchemist, at a glance, no one would even register her gender; they'd just see a standard, low-tier adventurer.

The Misty Forest's environment was complex, visibility low.

But at such close range, there was nowhere to hide.

The moment Xia Nan saw her, the woman spotted him as well.

She froze in her tracks.

Behind her, the two male adventurers also came to a halt.

The mist hung heavy, and leaves obscured the view.

It was difficult to read the expressions on their faces.

Xia Nan maintained his guarded stance, sword at the ready.

While keeping his eyes on the three ahead, he remained vigilant of his flanks and rear.

His legs were planted firm; he had no intention of retreating.

To state a counterintuitive truth.

At times like this, especially when outnumbered.

If you showed even a hint of wanting to retreat or back down.

A life-and-death skirmish became inevitable.

1 versus 3.

Out in the desolate wilderness, with no Association or guards to watch over them.

In the eyes of the vast majority of adventurers.

A lone adventurer and a Green-Skinned Goblin.

Were exactly the same.