Chapter 386 It Really Is a Craft

"Screech!!!"

Shrill, piercing wails echoed between the stone walls, and the stench of death filled the dimly lit cave.

When true terror and brutality descended, these green-skinned beasts—creatures driven solely by slaughter and lust—fared no better than captive livestock.

They were like cockroaches beneath a trash can, or sewer rats caught in a beam of light.

Bereft of order, they collided and scrambled over one another, fleeing frantically through the lair in total chaos.

Yet even so, not a single one dared to approach the flank's only exit to the surface.

A burly, headless corpse, blood still geysering from its severed neck, formed an invisible barrier of flesh that kept the green-skinned goblins at bay.

This was the price of resistance.

Just as Hunter John had deduced, this goblin tribe nesting near the village—numbering over fifty—harbored an elite subspecies far stronger than the rest.

A Bugbear with a Challenge Rating of "1"!

This already exceeded what an ordinary Adventurer Squad could handle.

Therefore, after carefully searching the cave entrance and discovering further traces of the Bugbear, a worried John had suggested to Xia Nan that they retreat temporarily. He wanted to gather more hands from the village or consider alternative plans to avoid fighting the Bugbear head-on.

In response, Xia Nan simply told the two of them to wait outside the cave.

If he hadn't returned in half an hour, they were to head straight back to the village without him.

He had specifically set this "thirty-minute" time limit for a reason.

Naturally, it wasn't because Xia Nan actually needed that much time to fight the goblins.

He was merely worried he might get too immersed in his enjoyment and lose track of time, leaving the two waiting outside for nothing. Thus, he clarified it in advance.

Faced with this strange human intruder, the creatures reacted almost exactly like the triple-digit number of goblin lairs Xia Nan had already wiped out.

Excited and frenzied, the goblins shoved forward with bizarre screeches. Their fanatical, eager posture made it seem as though a single slow step would cost them a bite of meat.

Then, right in front of the horde, Xia Nan expertly grabbed their leader—the burly Bugbear charging at the very front—and twisted its head off with both hands like he was pulling a radish.

After that, the scene devolved into its current state.

The goblins originally rushing at the front halted in panic and turned to flee. The shrieks of excitement and fervor that once filled the air morphed into wails of terror and helplessness.

The situation was far too chaotic.

Xia Nan even saw a few of the scrawnier green-skinned goblins lose their footing, shoved to the ground by their kin.

Before they could even attempt to get back up, they were trampled into a bloody paste by an endless barrage of filthy toes.

Compounded by the scent of blood slowly permeating the air, the terror felt almost tangible.

Like pleasant background music in a high-end restaurant, the terrified shrieks of the goblins echoing in his ears quietly elevated Xia Nan's mood.

Hum—

The dusk-like Gray-Black Straight Sword drew a chilling arc through the frigid air as the bone-white greaves shifted, stepping forward.

"Time to kill..."

...

In most cases, the sheer numbers on both sides determined the outcome of a battle.

The idea that quantitative changes led to qualitative changes held true.

However, against the current Xia Nan, the fifty-plus goblins in this subterranean lair were nowhere near enough to reach that boundary of "quantitative change."

To some extent, even if another zero were added to their numbers, the result would remain exactly the same.

8 points of Constitution, 9 points of Strength, 11 points of Agility, and 12 points of Perception.

Xia Nan wasn't sure what tier his current physical attributes placed him in among Class Holders.

But without a doubt, they far exceeded the average standards expected of a Level 3 Class Level.

He had actually made some private speculations.

An extraordinary powerhouse whose Class Level reached Level 11—even if every one of their combat techniques was of the lowest quality, only providing attribute bonuses at max-level "Mastery"—would still have undergone eleven bodily enhancements.

Going from an ordinary person to Level 11 equated to undergoing eleven physical enhancements.

Using his own status panel from when he first arrived in this world as a reference, every attribute had been at "5".

Did that mean once a single attribute reached 15 points, it crossed the threshold between "Mortal" and the "Transcendent Tier"?

And if his speculations were true, did the so-called [Legendary rank]... also represent a certain attribute breaking past 25 points?

Perhaps due to insufficient clearance, he hadn't found any relevant information in the Adventurers' Association. His time spent with the Barbarian Forgan had also been too brief. Back then, he hadn't even acquired a Class Level, so he naturally couldn't have thought that far ahead to ask about such matters.

'Maybe once I get to Barracuda Bay, I can gather some advanced intelligence regarding Class Holders. I might just find something useful,' he thought.

It did not matter what tier Xia Nan's current physical fitness placed him in, however.

Against these green-skinned goblins—whose arm bones were thinner and more fragile than dead twigs—he already displayed an absolute, crushing dominance.

The [Ember Fall] straight sword swung lightly, kicking up showers of blood and severed limbs wherever the blade reached, much like a lawnmower.

Later on, because the blade's surface was coated in too much blood, Xia Nan couldn't even be bothered to swing it anymore to avoid looking too sloppy. He simply picked up the rusty nail-studded wooden clubs left behind by the goblins, or outright used his bare hands, to bestow death upon them.

"Screech!"

A hideous, reeking maw sprayed viscous saliva. The hunched, scrawny body scurried like a panicked green-skinned rat, desperate to flee the danger behind it.

But for some reason, it felt as though a magnet had been embedded in its back. Pulled by an invisible attractive force from behind, its speed steadily decreased.

In the end, even taking a single step forward required all of its strength.

Covered in pustules, its muscles tensed and trembled, bulging as though they were about to tear through the paper-thin skin. Its entire body emitted the crisp pops of overstressed bones, looking as though it would completely fall apart in the next second.

It was a stark contrast to its mutilated kin, who could only lie on the ground and wail as their life force gradually ebbed away.

This goblin died a rather quick death.

A bloodstained fist landed squarely on the center of the goblin's back, seemingly without much force behind it.

He had purposely held back his strength.

Under normal circumstances, this punch would at most shatter the opponent's ribs and internal organs, leaving a deep indentation on the body's surface.

Having personally experimented on countless goblins, Xia Nan knew the anatomical structure of these scrawny monsters like the back of his hand, so he naturally wouldn't miss.

Yet compared to usual, the surface of his fist seemed laced with an invisible energy, causing the surrounding air to faintly distort.

As soon as this objectively light punch touched the goblin's skin, its flesh and bones shattered and splattered like tofu. His knuckles burst straight through the other side of the goblin's chest.

The internal organs in its path were churned into paste.

—[Heavy Tide]: Channel gravity to imbue your next strike with "Heavy" momentum. Melee attack damage increased by 25%–100%.

He yanked his bloodied arm out of the goblin's body, letting the spasming corpse collapse to the ground.

'Did I still use too much strength?'

Xia Nan pondered.

He ignored the increasingly terrified shrieks of the surrounding goblins.

He merely manipulated gravity slightly, pulling another goblin over.

Unlike its kin, this goblin seemed exceptionally brave.

Even as it was dragged right up to Xia Nan by gravity, it still gripped its hilariously ugly rusty nail-studded wooden club.

Realizing escape was impossible, it actually raised its club and charged at him on its own initiative.

Xia Nan couldn't help but feel a surge of delight.

He immediately dispersed the gravity applied to the goblin. He waited until the creature brought him into its attack range and swung the wooden club down with all its might before suddenly springing into action.

He thrust his right index finger forward with blistering speed, only to abruptly pull back right before it struck the goblin.

He merely gave the goblin's chest a light tap with that finger, which was also wreathed in the invisible, air-distorting power.

"Hum..."

—[Heavy Tide]: During execution, the gravity you apply will forcefully interrupt the enemy's current action. Upon landing, there is a probability of putting the enemy in an "Off-Balance" state.

Almost the very instant Xia Nan's fingertip touched the goblin's body, its previously stable center of gravity violently shifted. Its entire body wobbled as if sucked into an invisible vortex, instantly scrambling its nearly completed swinging motion.

Then, its body lurched heavily. It tipped over and crashed to the ground like it had been hit by an earthquake, unable to rise for a long time.

Testing this newly mastered combat technique, he felt satisfied with its effects.

He casually plucked off the heads of two goblins that had accidentally sprinted too close in their terror.

He watched the goblin before him finally break free from the "Off-Balance" state and struggle to its feet.

Xia Nan lightly tapped it again.

The goblin embarrassingly faceplanted into the dirt once more.

With the struggling, wobbling goblin reflected in his dark eyes, he mused to himself.

'The concrete effects of this [Heavy Tide] combat technique seem even stronger than I imagined,' he thought.

'Its inherent damage boost is even more exaggerated when multiplied by my physical attributes. If I apply gravity at full power for the maximum 100% bonus, I could probably even cleave through steel.'

'And the subsequent "interrupt action" and "Off-Balance" checks are incredibly useful.'

'In intense, high-level combat, I wouldn't even need the enemy to completely lose control of their body and fall over like this goblin.'

'Just a slight disruption to their center of gravity would be enough for me to seize the fleeting opening and deal a heavy, fatal blow.'

'The only shame is that [Heavy Tide]'s bonus damage only applies to "melee attacks." It can't be used with thrown weapons.'

'Otherwise, when facing ranged classes like archers and mages in the future, I wouldn't have to burn a ton of mental energy activating [Heart-Guided Vision] in advance to locate their movement core, just to interrupt them from afar with [Gravity Control].'

'I could just carry a pouch of pebbles, toss a handful at whoever I see, and coat every single pebble with [Heavy Tide].'

'As long as even one takes effect, their casting would be interrupted.'

'That would create an opening to charge in.'

Nodding slightly, Xia Nan felt satisfied.

He brought his leg down, crushing the head of the goblin that had finally managed to struggle out of the "Off-Balance" state yet again.

As he shifted his gaze to the increasingly terrified and frantic goblins around him, a bizarre, indescribable expression crept onto his face.

...

Xia Nan timed it perfectly.

When he emerged from the cave drenched in blood, Colin and Hunter John were just debating whether to leave.

Bizarrely, the moment they laid eyes on Xia Nan, their faces didn't display the anticipated relief and ease of seeing him escape safely.

Instead, they wore strange expressions, looking as though they wanted to speak but couldn't find the words.

A Bugbear's roar was completely different from a regular goblin's—far rougher and more resonant.

Waiting outside the cave, the two of them had personally heard the Bugbear's furious bellows echoing from the depths of the tunnel.

They couldn't help but worry for Xia Nan, who was fighting alone.

But immediately after, they clearly heard that furious roar abruptly cut off, followed by the goblins' screeches shifting from over-excited frenzy to horrified panic.

Even the somewhat naive Colin could vaguely guess what was happening inside based on the changing screams.

But this was precisely what made it strange.

The Bugbear's roar had ended so quickly—a clear indicator of a massive gap in strength between the two sides. Yet, the rate at which the weaker goblins' wails subsequently diminished had suddenly slowed, dropping at a steady, rhythmic pace.

Furthermore, those wails... seemed a little too agonizing.

After the goblin shrieks had completely died out, this adventurer seemed to have lingered inside for a few extra minutes, only emerging right at the deadline.

Proactively handing Xia Nan clean water and gauze to wash up, Colin opened his mouth, seeming as though he wanted to ask something.

Under John's warning glare, however, he shut his mouth. Swallowing the words that had reached his throat, he buried his doubts in his heart.

Truthfully, even if the two had asked, Xia Nan wouldn't have answered. He would have just tossed out a couple of evasive remarks and changed the subject.

It wasn't because it involved any great secret.

But if he were forced to tell the truth, he could hardly tell them that the reason the goblins died so slowly at the end was because he had been savoring the slaughter.

And that he had stayed alone in the cave for a few extra minutes after the fight to prepare for an intimidation ritual required by his secondary class, trying to build blocks with goblin heads...

He had to admit, this ancient, time-honored ritual really was a craft.

He had only managed to stack three layers before the round heads refused to balance.

'Maybe next time I should try using bones as a structural framework and clotted blood as an adhesive?' he thought.

'But I still have too few heads. Fifty-something isn't even enough for one layer under normal circumstances.'

'Looks like I'll have to kill more next time.'