Chapter 58

Lacking elite individuals, goblins might be able to use their numerical advantage to boost morale and launch a charge at the enemy.

But once they discover the huge gap in strength between themselves and the enemy, and encounter a strong and resolute counterattack, their combat effectiveness will plummet accordingly.

Right now, Xia Nan's exaggerated combat record of "one sword, four kills" had clearly scared the wits out of those despicable and cowardly green-skinned mongrels.

He even saw a goblin, trailing at the end of the team and arriving late, after discovering the tragic end of the four of its kind in front of it.

Its body, which had been charging over baring fangs and brandishing claws, stopped in place as if it had slammed on the brakes, leaving two pathetic footprints on the soft meadow.

It turned around abruptly,

even throwing the wooden club in its hand to the side, wailing in terror as it fled.

The memory of the scene in the Goblin Cave at the beginning of his transmigration was still fresh.

Xia Nan naturally could not let these disgusting, cockroach-like mongrel livestock go.

He chased after them with long strides, his iron-grey longsword raised high at an angle; as long as it fell, it would end the other party's short life.

Suddenly, he seemed to remember something.

His body paused, and he retracted the high-raised longsword to his side, the tip pointing forward.

His arms bent, shifting into a stance for gathering power.

Just like a machine executing a pre-set program, Xia Nan's originally fluid posture became stiff and awkward.

His right leg stepped forward.

"Forward Thrust!"

Cold light flickered, and the sensation of resistance as the sharp blade entered the body traveled from the sword hilt in his hand.

Without the slightest suspense, the panic-stricken, fleeing goblin was pierced through the chest and abdomen by the sword tip.

The enemy had completely lost the ability to fight.

Xia Nan, however, was not satisfied with this, his brows slightly furrowed.

No matter how high his talent was, in half a month, this was all he had managed to practice.

And using such an unskilled, stiff combat technique in high-intensity combat was undoubtedly courting death.

Right now, it was just to prove his hypothesis.

The translucent characters for "Proficiency +1" that he had expected did not appear, and Xia Nan could not help but show a thoughtful expression on his face.

He casually finished off the goblin that was twitching and struggling on the ground with a stab.

He looked to the side.

Two goblins were crouching low, drifting along the edge of the battlefield, seemingly wanting to sneak around to the rear and attack the ordinary people in the caravan.

It was just that they seemed too focused and had not discovered that the battle on his side had already ended.

Without hesitation, and without concealing his movements, Xia Nan stepped forward quickly.

Facing the two goblins that turned around in a panic, the longsword slashed down in an instant.

The sharp blade easily tore through flesh.

The goblin's thin, small body was split in two.

And the other green-skinned rat he had deliberately left behind also smashed the club in its hand toward Xia Nan in terror.

Its morale had already fallen to the bottom, and the attack was purely a reaction driven by survival instinct.

The falling club was light and airy, with no force to speak of.

But Xia Nan was exceptionally focused, his eyes fixed on the wooden club stained with dust and blood on its surface.

He pressed his wrist down, the sword tip pointing diagonally downward.

"Thud."

A dull sound rang out in the air.

The wooden club knocked weakly against the sword blade, and the resulting reaction force made the goblin's slender arm tremble violently.

"Block and Upward Slash!"

Xia Nan's hands, gripping the sword hilt, exerted force suddenly, the moment after blocking the opponent's attack.

Step forward, upward slash.

Blood splattered.

Half a goblin head, spraying a viscous liquid of mixed red and white, spun and rolled onto the ground.

The attribute panel still had no movement.

"Take it slow."

Xia Nan sighed slightly in his heart.

First, through the acquisition method of the last two points of proficiency for 【Spinning Slash】, it was clear that:

At the level of combat techniques, he possessed an improvement speed far exceeding his predecessor.

But as for the specific reasons, lacking experiments, he could only blindly guess that it was the convenience brought by the attribute panel, or perhaps because "actual combat" could significantly increase the efficiency of proficiency acquisition compared to daily training.

The reason he used those two unskilled "suspected" combat techniques just now was also to see if he could accelerate their training progress through actual combat.

As for the result... naturally, he had seen it.

"Perhaps the experimental sample size is too small to reach the point of a qualitative change?"

Xia Nan thought to himself.

His gaze, however, looked toward other directions of the battlefield, at those goblins retreating steadily under the counterattack of the adventurers.

The battle came suddenly, and it ended quickly.

Counting from the moment Xia Nan slashed out that 【Spinning Slash】, in less than ten minutes, the meadow by the caravan had returned to calm.

It is worth mentioning that, as if it were some kind of unwritten rule among adventurers, not a single one of those goblins was able to escape their blades.

23 of them, all dead and neatly accounted for.

One of them had even escaped to the edge of a nearby forest and was about to disappear into the dense shrubbery.

It was also chased down by an adventurer who ran fast, who brought it back by its head.

The disgusting habits of these green-skinned rats might be one reason.

But Xia Nan felt it was more likely that the adventurers in the team were reluctant to give up the three silver and seven copper bounty on it.

Cleaning up the battlefield.

There was nothing worth fighting over with these goblins, who had nothing on them but rags and wooden clubs.

They just cut off the left ear as before, keeping it to exchange for the bounty at the association.

"Huff... huff..."

Jeff was panting heavily, his long-handled spear propped on the ground, his simple linen clothes still stained with some goblin blood.

This simple, honest middle-aged man, who wouldn't even talk back when provoked by a drunkard.

Faced with the goblins attacking the caravan, he acted contrary to his usual self, performing with exceptional bravery and fearlessness.

It was as if he had become a different person, gritting his teeth and staying at the very front of the line, charging even faster than Xia Nan.

If it weren't for his somewhat unrefined combat techniques, people might even believe he was a barbarian from somewhere.

Watching everyone preparing to clean up the battlefield, Jeff hesitated for a moment, then suddenly cleared his throat.

"Everyone, we are expected to rest in Kalanfur for two days, but there is no Adventurer Association there, and coupled with the return trip, it might not be very convenient to carry these 'trophies'."

"If you don't mind, the bounty for these goblins can be counted as part of the guards' remuneration. After we return to River Valley Town, I will settle it for you all."

It is currently the Month of Flowering, almost one of the hottest months of the year.

A few days would be enough for those goblin ears to spoil and stink.

However, for the sake of the bounty, adventurers often didn't care.

Right now, with the caravan captain making such a proposal, the guards present were naturally happy to save some effort and couldn't help but cheer.

Putting the dagger he had already taken into his hand back to his waist, Xia Nan looked at Jeff with some surprise.

Even though he only ate the cheapest set meal when eating at a tavern, and even his clothes were coarse linen with patches.

He was able to be extremely generous, spending nearly double-digit gold coins to provide subsidies for the accompanying adventurers.

You certainly deserve to make money.

(End of Chapter)