Chapter 418 Sahuagin

Compared to the planet Xia Nan lived on before his transmigration, the Aifala Continent differed vastly in its worldview and cultural environment.

But when the ancients first looked up at the starry sky, the sprouts of wisdom began to grow in their minds.

Contemplating existence itself, pondering the world and the "self," formulating the foundational philosophies that drove civilization forward—the developmental progress of this other world bore a striking resemblance to his past life.

"All things have spirits." This philosophical concept, known in his past life as Animism, asserted that all things possessed souls and life. It somewhat aligned with the natural spirits of the many races and religions across the continent, leading to it being mentioned in various ways and from multiple perspectives.

The tangible existence of magic particles in the air even proved the theory itself.

Relevant scholars believed that nature inherently possessed life and consciousness. It went unnoticed simply because it was so massive, ancient, and slow—bordering on the eternal—that it exceeded the comprehension of normal living beings.

The gods in the heavens, who held various authorities over nature, were the personifications of natural laws. They were distinct entities differentiated from the primal will of nature, serving as bridges connecting chaotic forces and intelligent creatures.

The flesh-and-blood beings of the continent, meanwhile, were a more direct, materialized expression of nature's consciousness.

Vast forests nurtured tree spirits and vine monsters, while desert wastelands spawned lizard beasts and hyenas.

Vastly different natural environments and those primal, chaotic energies naturally birthed different forms of life.

The "Sahuagin" were one of the most inconspicuous among the billions of species in this world.

Born amidst the waves and cruel pillaging of the deep ocean, they possessed the traits of eels and sea sharks, combined with the humanoid characteristics of intelligent creatures. Together, these formed this bizarre, half-human, half-fish species.

Under normal circumstances, Adventurers on the sea considered them monsters with an average Challenge Rating of "0.5."

Yet from another perspective, they had already birthed a primitive civilization and could even be described as an "intelligent race."

They had their own unique language and script, could use basic tools, possessed a relatively long racial history, and maintained clear social divisions and class hierarchies within their tribes.

If they continued to develop over the long term, constantly exploring and innovating, they might truly create an oceanic civilization as radiant as the stars.

Unfortunately, constraints from other races—along with the gaze and games of those great existences above the divine kingdoms—doomed these seemingly bright-futured fishmen. On the sea, they were destined to pillage and fight like beasts, ultimately serving as stepping stones for the other major races of the continent.

Lacking highly developed brains, the physical structure of the vast majority of Sahuagin had evolved almost entirely for combat and environmental adaptation.

Their streamlined bodies significantly reduced resistance while swimming. Their huge, ink-black eyes helped them catch the faintest light on the dim ocean floor. Their continuously regenerating, backward-curving sharp teeth—like hooked claws—allowed them to fiercely bite into prey, effortlessly tearing through the shells of crabs and shrimp with the help of powerful jaw muscles.

They had well-developed muscles and skin covered in fine blue-green scales. Their sharp claws and the thick webbing between their fingers were effective for both tearing flesh and paddling water. Their lower limb muscles were exceptionally strong, with massive flippers providing propulsion like propellers in the water, and they were quite fast when moving in a crouching posture on land.

An average height of nearly six feet allowed these fishmen, when armed, to easily handle a professionally trained human soldier. If the environment shifted to the water, their combat power would multiply exponentially.

Their habit of moving in swarms and tribal squads, combined with their bloodthirsty and cruel raiding style, earned them the nickname "sea devils" among the islanders.

To some extent, these fishmen shared similar traits with the Goblins on land.

Of course, this was only a superficial similarity.

In actual experience, one could still feel the difference between the two.

Xia Nan understood this deeply.

He had to admit, it was like a heavy smoker who had long quit suddenly catching a whiff of that familiar, dreamlike scent late on a night when their willpower was weak.

The moment he heard Ellison's comparison that "fishmen are like goblins," a desire began to grow wildly like weeds. It was a craving he had suppressed and deliberately ignored since arriving at Barracuda Bay days ago, all because of his clear goal regarding the [Dream Weaving Corridor] key.

Walking a tightrope with their lives on the line and constantly facing the threat of death, the pressure in the Adventurer profession was intense to the extreme.

When a "Class Holder" who had already secured a foothold in the industry neither indulged in alcohol nor enjoyed the thrill of the gambling table, and even shunned crude flesh trades out of satisfaction and obsession with their own perfect body—if they didn't want to self-destruct, the stress and desires accumulating in their heart required a direct outlet.

He certainly had to find the cliffside cave that supposedly held traces of Morton's life. But along the way, chopping down a few blind "fishman goblins" blocking his path seemed... completely justified.

Xia Nan remained cautious, but compared to when he was climbing the rocky cliffs earlier, his heart held a bit more faint anticipation.

The result, however, disappointed him.

Facts proved that these Sahuagin were not sufficient substitutes for Green-Skinned Goblins.

When Xia Nan used Green-Skinned Goblins to release his stress, what was he enjoying?

It was the complete transformation on the Goblins' scar-covered, expressive, ugly faces—from their initial bloodthirsty excitement at discovering human prey to their subsequent terrified panic when death descended;

He appreciated the way these inferior beasts went from noisy to dead silent, shivering before him. He also found it fascinating to observe their varying reactions—putting up a stubborn resistance, attempting to flee, or betraying their companions.

It was the exquisite tactile sensation of a weapon slicing into flesh during a close-quarters kill, the definitive feedback of a filthy life slipping away by his hands, and the momentary thrill of tearing and shattering those already fragile, sinful bodies.

The countless wails fading beneath his blade, and the Goblin Lairs reduced to nothing but severed limbs and minced meat, had even taught him a few simple Goblin vocabulary words—such as "prey," "adventurer," "flee," and "save."

It was standing alone in a messy pile of corpses after a battle, bathed in blood, reducing the once incessantly squawking environment to peace. It was that profound, hollow sense of tranquility when the noise faded from the world.

But the experience with the Sahuagin was worse by more than half a margin.

They were tall and imposing. Though they also moved in swarms, their numbers were generally only half that of a normal Goblin tribe, and their individual strength was much greater.

Although to Xia Nan, they still only took one strike of his sword each.

But when his blade struck those hard fish scales, slicing and tearing through flesh and bone that possessed far greater resilience... the tactile feel was completely different.

Facing a powerful, insurmountable enemy, the fishmen might show fear just like Goblins. However, their higher intelligence and nascent civilization meant that the attitudes and expressions of the Sahuagin lacked the dramatic reversal of a Goblin's blend of humanity and bestial desire.

Finally, this was Xia Nan's first time encountering these monsters, entirely different from the Goblins that had left a severe psychological shadow in his heart right after his transmigration.

All this made the experience of hacking down these dozen or so fishmen particularly terrible.

He merely treated them as ordinary monsters encountered during a mission, hastily chopping off their heads to finish the job, too lazy to drag things out.

"Slash!"

The dark gray blade left a perfect arc of light in the air.

The [Spinning Slash], boosted by his powerful physical attributes, made the already sharp [Ember Fall] display even more might.

The scales on the neck, along with the bones, flesh, and blood beneath, were instantly severed and shredded.

The last Sahuagin on the field lost its head.

Standing in place, Xia Nan pulled gauze from his waist pouch to wipe the blade. He glanced at his armor, stained with fluorescent blue fish blood, and frowned slightly.

Even though he was on the shore, with the endless, vast ocean right next to him.

He currently had no way to clean his armor.

As a mandatory piece of common sense among Adventurers in the Southern Archipelagos, using seawater to wash metal equipment was an absolutely terrible choice.

The salt in seawater would drastically accelerate the armor's rusting process and significantly weaken its internal metallic structure, making it far more prone to cracking. To an Adventurer, it was tantamount to a slow suicide;

Furthermore, after the moisture evaporated, the separated salt crystals would form tiny particles that clung to the gaps between the armor plates and the rings, exacerbating wear and tear while producing strange noises that could expose one's tracks.

His [Purgatory Pulse] had already sustained some damage after the battle with the crystalline Cleric. Xia Nan naturally wouldn't actively reduce the lifespan of this equipment.

At the very least, it was a proper piece of enchanted gear. Even if he couldn't pass it down to his descendants, he should at least be able to use it a few more times.

Carefully wiping [Ember Fall] clean, Xia Nan sheathed his sword.

He glanced at the fishman corpses on the ground, his expression thoughtful.

Right now, it had only been about ten minutes since he left the wooden house on the cliff to arrive at this reef cave.

Thanks to Ellison's warning, he had already prepared for battle before coming.

Sure enough, on the only path along the beach leading to the cave the man had mentioned, he encountered this group of Sahuagin.

With the rock wall on his left and the ocean on his right, there was no possibility of a detour.

Combat with these ferocious monsters was unavoidable; Xia Nan knew this full well.

But the strange thing was, when he arrived here, there were already many fishman corpses scattered on the beach.

Moreover, their wounds were jagged, as if they had been bitten and torn apart by some kind of beast.

He guessed that before running into him, these fishmen had already suffered an attack from some monster.

If that was the case, they were truly quite unlucky.

Based on Xia Nan's Perception, these fishmen had died a few hours ago. At that time, the Black Gull was still out at sea and hadn't even reached the island.

Therefore, this monster likely hadn't come for them, but was a species native to this island.

Connecting this to the commissioned mission from the "Flying Fish Oil Barrel" pirate crew, he faintly formed a few theories in his mind.

Just now, during the battle, he had also maintained constant vigilance, especially guarding against any danger coming from the sea.

However, whether the creature's stealth abilities exceeded his Perception, or if it simply wasn't nearby, Xia Nan hadn't detected any movement up until now.

Perhaps he needed to continue moving toward the cave Ellison mentioned to find some...

His thoughts suddenly paused.

Xia Nan abruptly raised his head and looked toward the cave entrance, his right hand instantly resting on the hilt of his sheathed sword.

But just a second later, as if sensing something, his body quietly relaxed, and his hand dropped from the hilt.

Without bothering to mask his footsteps, he walked straight out toward the cave entrance.

...

"Don't be nervous, it's me."

Waving a hand at the two members of the Silver Claw Osprey Squad in the distance—who were completely tense and gripping their weapons as if they had suffered a fright—Xia Nan stepped over the scattered corpses on the ground and slowly approached.

"Xia Nan!?"

"Why are you here?"

Reacting to Xia Nan's appearance, squad leader Nick first showed shock, then pleasant surprise.

The Halfling Alton didn't look very surprised. Standing in place with a warm smile on his face, he hopped up and down, waving from a distance.

"It's a long story. But what about you guys? Shouldn't you be enjoying the banquet in the village? Why did you run over to this place?" Xia Nan asked Nick and the Half-Elf Leda, nodding in greeting to the little guy to the side.

At the same time, his gaze swept across the group. Seeing that the half-orc Guka was nowhere to be found, combined with the complex expressions on the two's faces right now, he already had a theory in mind.

Sure enough, the other party gave the answer he had guessed.

"The village suffered a monster attack. Guka happened to be separated, and he was snatched away after a battle. We followed the scent left by the monster and tracked it here. Steven, Gregory, and the others have already taken people to block the other side of the North Cliff," Nick explained.

"In that case, some of these corpses were also left behind by that monster?" Xia Nan raised an eyebrow, confirming with Nick.

At this point, with the black-haired Adventurer who had left such a deep impression on the Silver Claw Osprey Squad during the naval battle standing right in front of them, how could Nick and Leda not know? Aside from the monster bites, the fishman corpses on the beach right now had clearly died under the other party's blade.

Their inner doubts instantly resolved, they explained the detailed situation to Xia Nan.

"Judging by the tracks, that's the case," Nick said. "This monster should also be an aquatic type. Its body is massive and heavy, and it possesses a certain level of intelligence, but it doesn't really use weapons. It leans toward close-quarters combat."

Subconsciously recalling the information he had observed and sensed, Xia Nan nodded slightly. His expression was calm, only the blood and minced meat staining his body somewhat out of place with the scenery.

"So, are you planning to continue deeper in?"

"Of course!" Glancing at the Half-Elf Leda beside him from the corner of his eye, Nick nodded heavily. "Even if all that's left is a corpse, Guka is still my teammate."

He knew the other man's demeanor contained an element of acting, and what he was thinking in his heart likely differed from what his mouth said.

Xia Nan didn't expose him, merely nodding his head in agreement.

He needed to find the beachside cave that might hold clues related to Morton, and the other party wanted to venture deeper to search for traces of Guka. With their target paths overlapping, an opportunity for cooperation presented itself.

"Then let's go. It shouldn't be too far," Xia Nan said.