Chapter 58 Experiment

Without an elite among them, goblins could still use superior numbers to work themselves into a frenzy and charge an enemy.

But the moment they realized the gap in strength was too great, and the other side answered with a firm and brutal counterattack, that courage collapsed almost instantly.

Xia Nan’s ridiculous feat of cutting down four goblins with a single swing had clearly scared the cowardly green-skinned bastards half to death.

One goblin in particular had arrived late after falling behind the rest of the group.

It came charging forward with its club raised.

Then it saw what was left of the four goblins in front of Xia Nan.

Its entire body stopped.

The abrupt halt left two long, ugly tracks in the soft grass.

For one frozen second, the creature simply stood there.

Then it spun around.

The wooden club flew from its hand.

With a terrified shriek, it ran.

The memories of that goblin cave from the beginning of Xia Nan’s transmigration were still far too fresh.

There was no way he intended to let one of these cockroach-like creatures escape.

He strode after it.

The iron-gray Decapitating Longsword rose diagonally above his shoulder.

One swing.

That was all it would take.

Then Xia Nan suddenly remembered something.

He stopped.

Instead of bringing the blade down, he drew it back to his side and aimed the tip forward.

His elbows bent.

His body shifted into a stance for gathering power.

The difference was immediate.

His movements, which had been smooth only moments ago, suddenly became stiff and awkward.

It looked almost as if a machine were following a set of instructions step by step instead of moving naturally.

Xia Nan stepped forward with his right foot.

“Forward Thrust!”

Cold light flashed.

The familiar resistance of steel entering flesh traveled through the hilt.

The sword tip punched through the fleeing goblin’s chest and abdomen.

There was no suspense.

The creature was finished.

Xia Nan, however, frowned.

He was not satisfied at all.

Talent or not, half a month of practice had only brought him this far.

A rigid, poorly mastered combat technique like this might work against a fleeing goblin.

In a real high-intensity fight?

It would be suicide.

Still, he had not used the move because he thought it was useful.

He had used it to test an idea.

Xia Nan waited.

Nothing happened.

The translucent words [Proficiency +1] did not appear.

His expression turned thoughtful.

Then, almost casually, he thrust his sword down and finished off the goblin twitching on the ground.

His gaze shifted.

Two more goblins were crouched low near the edge of the battlefield.

They seemed to be trying to slip around the flank and reach the ordinary people behind the adventurers.

Apparently, they had been so focused on sneaking past that they had failed to notice the fight on Xia Nan’s side was already over.

Xia Nan did not bother hiding his approach.

He simply strode toward them.

The two goblins finally noticed him and turned in panic.

The Decapitating Longsword came down.

The blade cut through flesh with almost no resistance.

One goblin split apart.

Xia Nan had deliberately left the other one alive.

The surviving green-skinned rat stared at him in horror, then swung its club out of pure desperation.

Its morale had already shattered.

There was no technique behind the attack, no aggression, not even much strength.

It was nothing more than a survival reflex.

The club came down weakly.

Xia Nan’s expression, however, became intensely focused.

His eyes locked onto the dirt-and-blood-stained wooden weapon.

He lowered his wrist.

The sword tip angled down.

“Thud.”

The club struck the flat of the blade.

The impact was so weak that it barely mattered, but the recoil still shook the goblin’s thin arm violently.

“Block and Rising Slash!”

The instant the blow was stopped, Xia Nan’s hands tightened around the hilt.

Step.

Rise.

Slash.

Blood sprayed.

Half of the goblin’s head spun through the air, trailing a sticky mixture of red and white before hitting the ground.

Xia Nan waited again.

Still nothing.

The attribute panel remained unchanged.

[I’ll have to take it slowly.]

He sighed inwardly.

At least one thing was already clear.

From the way he had gained the final two proficiency points for [Spinning Slash], Xia Nan knew that his rate of improvement with combat techniques was far beyond that of the body’s original owner.

The question was why.

He had too little evidence to know.

Perhaps the attribute panel itself accelerated his learning.

Or perhaps actual combat simply granted far more proficiency than ordinary training.

That was why he had deliberately used those two clumsy, not-quite-mastered moves.

He wanted to see whether using them in actual battle would speed up the training process.

The result was obvious.

Nothing.

At least, nothing yet.

[Maybe I just haven’t tested them enough to reach whatever threshold is needed?]

Xia Nan’s gaze moved across the battlefield.

Elsewhere, the remaining goblins were already being driven back by the adventurers.

There were still test subjects.

…

The battle had come suddenly.

It ended just as quickly.

Less than ten minutes after Xia Nan unleashed [Spinning Slash], the grass beside the caravan fell quiet again.

One detail stood out.

It seemed to be some kind of unspoken rule among adventurers, because not a single goblin was allowed to escape.

Twenty-three had attacked.

Twenty-three died.

Every last one.

One goblin had even reached the edge of the nearby woods and was only a few steps from disappearing into the dense undergrowth.

An adventurer who happened to be fast on his feet still chased it down.

A short while later, he came back carrying the creature’s head.

Maybe everyone simply hated these green-skinned rats that much.

Xia Nan suspected there was another reason.

No one wanted to throw away a bounty worth three silver and seven copper.

The group began cleaning up.

There was nothing worth fighting over.

The goblins wore rags and carried little more than crude wooden clubs.

As usual, the adventurers simply cut off their left ears and kept them for the bounty at the Association.

“Huff… huff…”

Jeff leaned heavily on his long spear, breathing hard.

Goblin blood stained his plain linen clothes.

The middle-aged man was honest and mild-tempered.

When a drunk had provoked him before, he had not even bothered arguing back.

But the moment goblins threatened his caravan, Jeff had changed completely.

He had fought with startling courage.

Grinding his teeth, he had planted himself near the front and charged so aggressively that, for a moment, he had even outrun Xia Nan.

If his technique had not been so obviously inexperienced, someone might easily have mistaken him for a barbarian.

Now Jeff watched the adventurers preparing to clean up the battlefield.

He hesitated.

Then he cleared his throat.

“Everyone, we’re planning to rest in Kalanfor for two days. There isn’t an Adventurers’ Association there, though, and once you count the return trip, carrying these ‘trophies’ around could become inconvenient.”

He glanced at the goblin ears.

“If no one minds, I can simply add their bounty to your guard pay. Once we return to Rivervale Town, I’ll settle the full amount with everyone.”

It was currently the Month of Bloom, one of the hottest periods of the year.

A few days in that weather would be more than enough for goblin ears to rot and stink.

Adventurers normally endured it for the sake of the bounty.

Now Jeff was offering to spare them the trouble and pay the money himself.

Naturally, the guards were delighted.

A cheer went up almost at once.

Xia Nan slid the short dagger he had already drawn back into its sheath and gave Jeff a surprised look.

This was a man who ordered the cheapest meal in a tavern.

His clothes were coarse linen covered in patches.

Yet he was willing to spend close to ten gold coins out of his own pocket just so the adventurers traveling with him would not lose money.

Xia Nan had to admit it.

A man like this deserved to make money.