Chapter 127 Agility +1

Unlike Green-Skinned Goblins, which were driven entirely by desire and instinct and could barely be considered "intelligent creatures," gnolls were a cut above in both average individual combat power and intelligence.

Though equally frenzied and hostile toward humans due to their demonic bloodline, they were noticeably more flexible in combat.

At the very least, they knew to have their ranged attackers hide in the forest and wait for the right moment after a battle began, rather than showing themselves and swarming forward all at once like goblins.

However—that was the extent of it.

The gnolls knew how to bypass traps and launch surprise attacks late at night when adventurers were resting; they could also employ some effective but rudimentary tactics.

But once the battle truly began and they faced "weak" prey whose numbers were clearly fewer than their own, these simple-minded savage hyenas threw all their plans and preparations out the window.

That included the elite individual, the Flesh Devourer, whose massive frame was several sizes larger than its kin's. Using all four limbs, it charged toward the Green Blood Squad in a swift and reckless frenzy.

This gave Xia Nan the opportunity to flank them and cut in from behind.

Gripping the hilt tightly with both hands, he angled the blade slightly backward and upward, maintaining a posture best suited for movement and explosive power.

With a long stride, he broke away from the squad's original formation and arrived at the flank of the battlefield.

The flat, open ground offered no cover, so his movements were naturally exposed to the gnolls.

Perhaps thinking he was trying to flee, one of the five rapidly approaching gnolls let out a low howl and split off from the main pack to chase him.

Xia Nan didn't stop.

Keeping his body tense and ready to dodge any arrows from the forest, he prepared to use his combat techniques and weapon advantage to finish off the pursuing gnoll mid-stride.

Unexpectedly, a sharp whistle ripped through the air behind him.

A wooden arrow spun through the air, flashing right past him and plunging straight into the pack.

It sank deep into the thigh of the gnoll that had changed targets to pursue Xia Nan.

This was support from Berg at the rear of the formation.

Since he was retreating toward the back of the battlefield and firing on the move, the arrow lacked full power, prioritizing pure accuracy instead.

Yet it achieved its purpose perfectly.

Namely—drawing its ire.

Struck by the arrow, the gnoll that had separated from the pack to approach Xia Nan instantly shifted its attention back.

Ignoring the flanking Xia Nan, it locked onto Berg, who was also distancing himself from the battlefield and "suspected of fleeing."

'Nice shot!'

Although his performance on the road over the past two days had been somewhat lacking, once he found his rhythm, his rich combat experience as a veteran adventurer allowed Berg to display excellent tactical awareness and judgment.

Xia Nan didn't even need to say a word; Berg had guessed his intentions just by watching his movements and proactively fired an arrow to help clear his path.

Xia Nan didn't waste the opportunity his teammate had bought him.

As he moved at high speed, he carefully observed the rapidly approaching dense forest.

The blurry figure that had been lurking in the shadows earlier had disappeared at some point.

It seemed to have sensed his intentions and proactively changed positions to evade him.

He didn't panic in the slightest.

Focusing his mind intensely, the Perception he had slowly developed through his recent spiritual training kicked in.

"Rustle—"

The vegetation swayed as a faint yet clear rustle came from a dense patch of bushes not far to his left.

His head turned instinctively, and the corner of his eye caught a fleeting flash of yellowish-brown fur.

"Found you."

His figure came to a sudden halt, channeling his body's momentum. His muscles swelled with power as his right leg, which had been stepping lightly, planted itself into the ground with deceptive slowness.

Mud and grass splattered outward as a deep footprint was instantly stamped into the earth.

But the figure above it had vanished in the blink of an eye.

In his place came the wolf-like howl of highly compressed air, accompanied by a swirling storm of shredded leaves and grass roots.

[Fang Hunt]!

The air around him suddenly grew as thick as water, and the scenery on both sides blurred backward.

The bushes, which had been a fair distance away, closed in the blink of an eye as he crashed right through them.

What met his eyes was a scrawny gnoll with filthy, matted fur, clutching a crude crossbow.

Seemingly not expecting Xia Nan to find it so quickly, the gnoll's beastly eyes, which reflected a sickly green light in the darkness, contracted sharply.

Then, a flicker of vicious flame surged from the depths of its pupils.

But it didn't have time to fully ignite, remaining nothing more than a tiny spark.

In the next second, it was ruthlessly snuffed out by a flash of iron-gray sword light.

[Spinning Slash]!

The Decapitating Longsword howled, carving a flawless, razor-sharp arc through the dense woods.

Slicing through the nearby bushes and brambles, it cleaved through flesh and severed bone, leaving a thick mixture of red and white fluid lingering on the edge of the blade.

His body half-turned, the tip of his sword tapping the ground.

Behind him, the gnoll's headless corpse collapsed.

Taking only a brief breath, Xia Nan didn't waste half a second after cleanly dispatching the gnoll archer.

He smoothly drew his sword back to his side, shifted his footing, and dashed out of the woods.

His gaze swept across the battlefield.

Xia Nan had moved incredibly fast.

To avoid any unexpected complications, he had gone all out on his very first strike. By the time he finished his fight, the five gnolls in the clearing had only just clashed with the Green Blood Squad.

He didn't stop. As he quickly closed the distance, his eyes scanned the area, rapidly analyzing the situation on the field:

Their formation had been completely shattered.

Captain Adeline stood at the very front, single-handedly holding off the Flesh Devourer and another gnoll.

The surface of the wooden shield in her left hand bore several obvious impact marks, but she had only suffered a few superficial scratches.

An iron hammer was gripped tightly in her hand, hanging slightly low. She didn't launch any proactive attacks, but every swing forced the enemies back, buying her a fleeting moment to catch her breath.

An unnatural red glow radiated from her skin, and her already robust muscles had swollen in size.

Her physical agility had dropped, but her strength and endurance had surged in return.

'It must be some kind of buffing combat technique she mastered?' Xia Nan guessed subconsciously.

Her overall condition was fine. Sticking to this defensive counterattack strategy, she should be able to hold out for a while.

He shifted his gaze further back.

Berg was still moving, but his direction was no longer a simple retreat; he darted left and right erratically.

As he moved his feet, the air around his heels seemed to blur, leaving behind afterimages.

His overall speed was vastly faster than before.

It was likely another combat technique.

Kiting the two gnolls trailing behind him, he occasionally drew his bow to loose a few quick arrows. He actually looked more relaxed than Adeline.

He clearly still had strength to spare.

And then, there was Abi.

Compared to the other two in the squad, this rookie adventurer—who had only killed a few goblins since joining the trade—looked exceptionally miserable facing a gnoll with a Challenge Rating of 0.5, even if there was only one.

He was essentially being chased around in a completely one-sided pursuit.

Using both hands and feet, he rolled, leaped, and sprinted frantically.

Having lent his original wooden shield to Adeline, he gripped a single-handed sword but had absolutely no opportunity to strike.

If he hadn't been relatively quick-witted, scrambling and rolling to dodge a few heavy blows, he would have been severely injured by now.

Even so, his situation was incredibly precarious.

Just tripping accidentally while dodging, or getting grazed by the gnoll's iron club and losing speed, would spell his doom.

His eyes swept across the field.

A brief moment of thought flashed in his eyes as he made his decision.

Xia Nan instantly quickened his pace.

"Bang!"

The iron club crashed down, the bloody gust of wind stinging his cheek.

He lay flat on the ground, hard gravel digging into his spine, sending intense pain shooting up his back.

He instinctively opened his mouth to cry out in pain, but he didn't dare stop moving for a second.

With black mud packed beneath his fingernails, Abi rolled over and pushed himself up from the ground in a pathetic scramble.

He only dared to glance out of the corner of his eye at the lean and vicious gnoll behind him before lowering his body to flee in a panic once again.

Before this, he had never fought a monster of such strength, having only heard sporadic rumors about them from tavern patrons.

He had assumed that since it was just a low-tier monster, even if he couldn't defeat it, he could at least hold his own for a few rounds.

Thus, when the gnoll charged toward him, his immediate reaction hadn't been to dodge, but to actively meet it head-on.

As for the result—

His still-numb right arm and the faint throbbing pain in his chest and abdomen were proof enough of the gap in strength between them.

The gnoll's deceptively slim body possessed the raw strength and explosive power of a wild beast.

Just one strike had nearly sent his weapon flying from his grasp.

If Berg hadn't fired a timely arrow from across the battlefield to delay its movements, he would likely have been smashed to a pulp on the ground by now.

'Run! Keep running!'

'I don't want to die—'

The immense pressure of life and death had stripped Abi of his ability to think.

Sweat streamed down his dirt-caked face. His eyes were hollow, relying solely on instinct to dodge the attacks from behind.

But the gap in their strength meant that for Abi, who was blindly running away, his margin for error was practically zero.

"Thud."

A single, ordinary pebble hidden in the grass was all it took to throw his sprinting body off balance, sending him pitching forward into the dirt.

A bloodcurdling screech that made his hairs stand on end echoed behind him, and the relentless footsteps haunting his heels suddenly stopped.

Abi could even picture it: the blood-stained gnoll, clad in ill-fitting armor, excitedly raising its iron club and roaring as it smashed it down.

He instinctively squeezed his eyes shut...

Yet the anticipated pain never arrived.

Whoosh—

Accompanied by a fierce gale, there was a ringing sound like a wolf's howl, followed by the dull thud of a blade biting into flesh.

The gnoll's piercing roar was cut short. Boiling hot blood splashed onto Abi, soaking his clothes.

Huff.

Chest heaving, Xia Nan gasped for breath.

He glanced down at the motionless Abi, who was lying with his eyes closed, waiting for death.

He frowned.

Lifting his leg, he gave him a light kick.

"Wake up."

"Go wait on the sidelines."

Then, ignoring Abi's bewildered gaze, he turned and sprinted in Adeline's direction.

Abi's strength was average. He was somewhat useful when dealing with ordinary goblins, but he fell woefully short against gnolls.

Even protecting himself was a stretch, let alone intervening in the actual fight.

Right now, having him stay on the sidelines and keep watch for other dangers was the most this rookie could do.

Berg was still maintaining his previous speed. Although his declining stamina meant he no longer had the extra energy to draw his bow and nock arrows, he could probably kite those two gnolls for a little while longer.

Adeline, on the other hand, was beginning to show signs of faltering in her close-quarters brawl.

Through repeated clashes and probes, those insidious, cunning hyenas seemed to gradually realize that the human before them wasn't as strong as they had thought, and they escalated the aggression of their attacks.

As a result, while tanking the Flesh Devourer from the front, Adeline was forced to frequently swing her iron hammer—which she had been holding back—to drive away the other gnoll hovering around her.

The red glow on her body grew more pronounced, yet obvious exhaustion surfaced on her face. She was clearly scraping the bottom of the barrel, pushing what little strength she had left.

She urgently needed support!

Without a shred of hesitation, Xia Nan rushed forward, gripping the Decapitating Longsword with both hands.

Only then did he get the chance to carefully observe the Gnoll Flesh-Eater before him, whose name he had seen on the Association's quest board many days ago.

It stood seven feet tall, almost as tall as a Bugbear, but its frame wasn't nearly as bloated, making it look much more agile. Its hard brown mane was matted with mud and congealed blood, acting like a natural layer of armor. With every step of its powerful, digitigrade legs, the muscles beneath its fur could be seen bulging.

It wasn't in its peak condition.

The pitch-black scorch marks covering its body seemed to have severely hindered its movements.

Even though its combat prowess still far exceeded that of an ordinary gnoll, it fell short of a normal adult Bugbear.

And that was exactly why Adeline had been able to hold out against it for so long.

Xia Nan's gaze swept over the three figures in front of him as he pondered his combat strategy.

Adeline was quite skilled, but he had only ever dealt with goblins alongside her; they had never faced an enemy of this caliber together.

If he hastily intervened in an attempt to coordinate with her, poor timing could instead result in a scenario where one plus one equaled less than two.

'I need to keep it simple.'

Xia Nan shifted his gaze to the ordinary gnoll prowling around her.

His right foot slammed forward.

In the next second, he vanished from his spot.

[Fang Hunt]!

The blade bit into flesh.

A combat technique personally imparted by a powerhouse near the Legendary rank from the distant Northlands was not something a low-tier monster like this could easily react to.

Simply estimating the distance, he let his body's momentum drive the blade.

The gnoll's body was cleanly and effortlessly cleaved in two, like tofu.

Blood and viscera spilled all over the ground.

Between training and actual combat, he had used [Fang Hunt] countless times.

But for some reason, Xia Nan felt a faint difference this time.

Semi-transparent characters flashed before his eyes.

He didn't have time to read them closely, but he already knew what they meant.

Without waiting to pull his strength back, not even fully withdrawing the gray sword in his hand, he kicked off the ground and unleashed another [Fang Hunt].

It was the same sharp shriek of compressed air, but compared to before, the sound was much more concentrated and drawn out, faintly resembling the demonstration the barbarian Forgan had once given.

Accompanied by his high-speed movement, Xia Nan felt the already viscous air around him become even thicker and heavier.

Using the sword as a fang, the converging currents of compressed air on both sides acted like swaying fur, dragging in the mist and grass clippings to take shape.

In that instant, enveloping his body, the phantom of a roaring Wolf Head actually materialized in the air.

Boom—

It vanished in a flash.

The blood spraying from the wound was scattered by the violent gale.

Caught off guard, Adeline was blown off her feet by the strong wind and tumbled to the ground, the resolve to fight to the death still lingering in her eyes.

As for the Gnoll Flesh-Eater in front of her, it had been reduced to a riddled corpse, slashed to pieces by the sharp blade.

Xia Nan stood in place, a few shreds of minced meat clinging to his body.

He focused his mind slightly.

The panel prompt before his eyes instantly became clear:

"Proficiency +1"

"[Fang Hunt] lv2 (100/100) — [Fang Hunt] lv3 (0/100)"

"Agility +1"