Chapter 119 "Greysword"

"Proficiency +1"

A translucent line of text flashed before his eyes alongside a fleeting iron-gray arc.

His hands, gripping the hilt tightly, could still feel the intermittent, sluggish resistance of three distinct impacts.

A wave of air surged behind him. The soft forest soil parted as if cleaved by an invisible plow, scattering clumps of dirt and leaving a deep furrow.

Riding the momentum of his slash, Xia Nan smoothly turned around.

The tip of his greatsword, gleaming with cold light, lightly touched the ground.

"Squelch!"

Blood spurted from the severed stumps as three heads spun flying off their necks.

It was a specialized combat technique originating from the Northlands Highlands, passed down in an ancient Barbarian Tribe, and personally taught through the guidance of the cold wind by a Transcendent Tier powerhouse nearing the Legendary rank.

In both sheer power and suitability.

It pushed the absolute limit of Xia Nan's current capabilities.

It acted as a binding agent.

The instant explosive power and mobility granted by [Fang Hunt] combined with [Spinning Slash]—which had been trained to Mastery and become bodily instinct—along with the "5% Slashing Damage" and "5% Decapitation Damage" bonuses from [Slashing Expert] and the [Decapitating Longsword].

In a single instant, he unleashed all his strength.

The result was three headless corpses.

The "Gap-Toothed" party that had just dreamed of reaping their lives lost three men, including their leader, "Bennett," to a single strike from Xia Nan.

The tense six-on-four standoff became three-on-four.

The tables had turned in a flash!

"Drip."

A drop of scarlet blood splashed onto the reddish-brown Scale Armor, blending in with the dried bloodstains already coating its surface.

Adeline still gripped her two One-Handed Hammers.

Her gaze, previously focused as she desperately thought of a way out of their predicament, now seemed unfocused.

'What just happened!?'

Just a moment ago, she had resolved to pay the price of severe injuries to forcefully withstand the three-man siege, pinning Bennett in place to buy time for her teammates.

But now, the three corpses before her acted like a freezing agent, instantly cooling the heart that had been prepared to fight to the death.

Her dark brown eyes subconsciously glanced forward at Xia Nan; the faint echoes of a wolf's howl and the flash of a sword seemed to linger in her mind.

Suddenly, she snapped back to reality.

Her daze had only lasted a second.

The battle wasn't over yet; she couldn't afford to drop her guard.

As a highly experienced adventurer and squad leader, Adeline reacted before the corpse of "Gap-Toothed" had even hit the ground.

Without hesitation, she entrusted her unprotected back to Xia Nan and charged toward the other side of the battlefield, where two hostile adventurers remained.

With a quick thought, Xia Nan also turned and headed over to support Berg, the archer who was ill-suited for close combat.

It wasn't until then that the rookie, Abi, who had been frozen in shock by the sudden reversal of the situation, finally gave a violent shudder. Staring at the three headless corpses lying on the ground in front of him, his Adam's apple bobbed as he gulped.

"Smack!"

He suddenly slapped himself in the face, trying to force himself to calm down.

Gritting his teeth, he picked up the single-handed sword he had dropped and ran in Xia Nan's direction.

The battle ended very quickly.

The three strongest members of the "Gap-Toothed" party, including Bennett himself who had mastered two combat techniques, had all died on the spot under Xia Nan's full-power explosive strike.

As for the remaining three, even though they were all experienced adventurers, they couldn't gain any advantage whatsoever against Xia Nan and Adeline, who were both on the verge of obtaining a Class Level and had each mastered two combat techniques.

Not to mention that Xia Nan's exaggerated performance, which resembled that of a true Class Holder, had completely shattered their mental defenses.

Let alone fighting to the death, the moment they noticed they were at a disadvantage, they threw down their weapons and knelt to surrender without a shred of backbone.

Earning a living in the Misty Forest, an environment teeming with dangerous monsters, meant keeping company with death day and night.

When it came to these "Hyena" bandits who had just been trying to force them to hand over their gear, even Abi, a rookie who had never killed anyone before today, felt absolutely no pity or sympathy.

Swords severed spines; hammers shattered skulls.

Just as the adventurer blocking their path had sneered earlier, there was no torture—they were simply and efficiently sent down to reunite with Gap-Toothed.

"Squelch."

The metal blade scraped against taut muscle, dragging out a long string of blood droplets.

Xia Nan pulled the Decapitating Longsword out of the chest of the adventurer before him—the very same man who had previously clamored to give him a quick death.

Compared to when the battle started, his chainmail only had a few more streaks of wet blood; there wasn't even a single scratch on it.

At least it saved him the cost of future repairs.

Judging by how long the battle lasted and the damage they had inflicted, these scumbags were worse than the goblins in the Goblin Lair behind them.

"Here, wipe yourself off."

Beside him, the veteran Berg reached out and handed him a clean piece of white gauze. The smile on his face was noticeably more genuine than when Xia Nan had first joined the party.

His attitude had clearly shifted without him realizing it.

Having narrowly escaped death, Abi sat slumped on the ground, panting heavily and drenched in sweat.

Though he still hadn't interacted with Xia Nan, the way he looked at him was no longer as distant as before.

For adventurers, nothing could foster a bond better than fighting side by side in a life-or-death battle.

Carrying her two iron hammers, Adeline walked over.

Her gaze swept over the body of the final enemy, who was thoroughly dead on the ground, before moving up to look at Xia Nan holding his greatsword, and pausing.

"You..."

When she first met him, the tragic scene inside the Goblin Cave had already made her estimate Xia Nan's strength as highly as possible.

But she hadn't expected that she would still end up underestimating him.

If it weren't for the fact that he occasionally displayed a lack of basic adventuring common sense during their missions, she would have even suspected that she'd recruited a Class Holder into the party.

She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but then shook her head.

"Forget it. Let's talk after we return to town."

The battle was completely over, but they were still deep within the dangerous Misty Forest.

They had to hurry up and clear the battlefield...

The haul wasn't as high as they'd imagined, but it was still pretty good.

Since they weren't the type of desperadoes to pull off one heist and run, these adventurers couldn't possibly carry all their worldly possessions on them at all times.

Even so, searching the six corpses one by one yielded nearly thirty gold coins.

And that was only the smaller portion of the loot.

The real jackpot lay in their armor and weapons.

They were all experienced veteran adventurers, so their equipment was of Fine quality and well-maintained.

Even if they were second-hand goods that would sell for half price at best, the combined profit was still far more than the total rewards from several of the "Greenblood" squad's missions.

It proved that the logic behind "murder and arson bring belts of gold" held true in any world.

Since the mission was already complete, Abi, as the rookie of the squad, volunteered to carry the loot.

He knew very well that he was the weakest and hadn't been of much help during the battle just now.

Therefore, he took the initiative to shoulder the heavy armor and iron weapons, easing the burden on the rest of the team.

According to the rules established by Adeline's party, Xia Nan had undoubtedly made an outstanding contribution to the entire team during this battle.

Thus, the loot scavenged from "Gap-Toothed" and the others would be divided, granting him a much larger share once converted into gold coins.

It counted as an unexpected windfall.

...

...

Ten days later.

White Chickadee Tavern, second-floor guest room.

Xia Nan sat on the bed, his hands resting naturally on his knees, his body perfectly still.

On the wooden table in front of him sat a glass of clear water.

Mixed with the creaking of the old floorboards as guests passed by his door, the raucous noise from the tavern lobby downstairs reached his ears.

He was already used to it.

He simply treated it as white noise—like the chirping of insects or the sound of the wind—subconsciously filtering it out of his awareness.

Xia Nan's eyes were tightly shut.

He sat quietly, as if a mage deep in meditation.

It wasn't until the morning light outside the window grew brighter and a light breeze rattled the windowpane, making a sudden noise, that he slowly opened his eyes.

Having anticipated this, he didn't show much disappointment on his face.

He had been practicing [Gravity Compression] ever since he found the rogue mage's diary in the Goblin Lair three months ago.

He hadn't slacked off in the slightest.

These past few days, whenever he had free time after completing his daily combat technique training, he would carve out some time to find a quiet place where he wouldn't be disturbed and practice for a while.

However, progress was slow.

Even though he had patiently followed the methods outlined in the notes, taking it slowly step by step, there still weren't any exciting results.

Yet Xia Nan had no intention of giving up.

The progress was just "slow"; it wasn't completely nonexistent.

Following the concepts and methods provided by the rogue mage in the diary, he felt that over the past three months, it had become easier for him to focus, and his attention span was gradually lengthening.

Sometimes, Xia Nan could even vaguely sense a certain dense, rippling collision flowing through the surrounding air.

But the moment his thoughts shifted and he tried to take a step further, that bizarre sensation would vanish like an illusion.

Thinking back on it later, perhaps those ripples were his breakthrough point.

"Knock, knock, knock."

A crisp knocking sound echoed in the quiet room.

"Xia Nan, we should head out."

It was Abi, speaking in that high-spirited tone unique to rookies.

"Coming."

Replying, Xia Nan stood up and strapped the two longswords leaning against the bed back onto his back.

Since Hunting Day hadn't ended yet, he naturally hadn't left the party.

Over the past ten days, he had gone on a few more missions with Adeline and the others.

They were all on the outskirts of the forest, and they hadn't run into any more unexpected situations.

The harvests were just average.

A few points of proficiency, a few gold coins.

It wasn't much, but it was steady progress according to plan.

"Thud."

The wooden door was pulled shut.

The room fell quiet once more.

He hadn't had time to tidy up, and that glass of clear water still sat quietly on the table.

Perhaps the commotion of the door closing was too loud, or perhaps it was for some other reason.

But after Xia Nan left, the originally calm surface of the water in the glass suddenly began to ripple.

...

Xia Nan pushed open the door.

Abi was leaning against the wall, looking a bit bored.

Seeing him come out, he smiled. "Boss is already waiting for us downstairs. Let's go."

Ever since the battle with "Gap-Toothed," this rookie adventurer who had just joined the trade had completely dropped his previous timid yet secretly competitive attitude, truly treating Xia Nan as a reliable teammate.

It exposed his true personality: obedient but stubborn, and sometimes a bit pigheaded.

In contrast, Berg, who had been extremely enthusiastic toward him when he first joined the party, spoke a lot less now.

As a result, it was now actually Abi who was closer to Xia Nan.

Stepping on the creaky stairs that felt like they would collapse if he pushed even slightly too hard, he arrived at the tavern lobby.

His gaze swept the room; they were in the same spot near the entrance.

Adeline sat at the table, chatting idly with Berg across from her.

On the table sat several bowls of steaming meat stew.

As she gripped her spoon, her thick arms bent and her muscles bulged.

She had already cleaned herself up, no longer looking as scruffy as she had right after a mission, yet the faint metallic scent of blood still lingered around her.

After greeting Chapton, the tavern owner who was wiping glasses behind the counter, Xia Nan walked straight over to the table and sat down.

On the table in front of him was a bowl of cream of mushroom soup that had been ordered for him in advance.

Clearly, over the past dozen days, his teammates had learned of his little preferences.

Nodding in acknowledgment, he didn't waste time; he gave it a quick stir and shoveled a few spoonfuls into his mouth.

Beside him, Berg was jokingly teasing Abi about the newly bought leather armor he was wearing, saying he had overpaid by a few gold coins.

Abi kept his chin raised, stubbornly insisting it was a premium item from the shop, so being a bit expensive was normal.

But his face couldn't help but show a look of heartache and regret.

"What are your plans for the future?" a hoarse, raspy voice came from beside him.

Adeline had her arms crossed over her chest, her closely cropped hair distinctly illuminated by the sunlight streaming in from outside. She looked at Xia Nan and asked, "Are you going to form your own party?"

Hunting Day wouldn't last much longer. By then, the young man before her—whose formidable strength completely belied his youthful appearance—would also leave the team.

His strength was already approaching that of a Class Holder; he was probably only one combat technique short of obtaining a Class Level.

It was only natural for him to continue moving up.

She didn't expect that after the event ended, he would stay in the party and keep clearing out the seemingly endless hordes of goblins with her.

"For now... probably not," Xia Nan replied, shaking his head as he chewed on the tender, crisp mushrooms.

He possessed the Attribute Panel. It seemed useless on the surface, only able to identify information about equipment and combat techniques for him.

But in reality, its existence drastically increased the speed at which he grew stronger.

Even if he were to form a party right now, given his current standing, the people joining would basically be bottom-tier adventurers without a Class Level.

They would soon be left in the dust by him.

Mismatched combat power meant that whether they were taking on missions or just going about their daily routines, he would have to take many extra things into consideration, which would be extremely troublesome.

Hurriedly finishing the food in his bowl, Xia Nan wiped his mouth and was just about to tell his teammates it was time to go.

Suddenly, a bout of whispering broke out among the adventurers at a neighboring table.

He could clearly feel several gazes sweeping over his short black hair, his young face, and the Decapitating Longsword on his back.

It seemed they had recognized his identity.

Xia Nan wore a subtle expression and simply pretended he hadn't noticed.

This sort of thing had happened often ever since he killed "Gap-Toothed" and returned to Rivervale Town.

He had felt a bit uncomfortable at first, but slowly got used to it.

Moreover, though it was a bit awkward to admit, just like "Greenblood" Adeline and "Gap-Toothed" Bennett, it seemed that in place of his name, he had also earned a widely circulated moniker among the low-tier adventurers around the White Titmouse:

— "Greysword".