Chapter 94: Mutation

"Clang."

In the dimly lit cave, sparks flew.

A well-made standard machete, flashing with cold light, slashed fiercely at the stone wall surface.

Yet it only crushed sparse moss.

Evading the opponent's attack in a sorry state.

Xia Nan rolled and stood up, the tip of his greatsword pointing to the ground.

Panting violently, the bangs on his forehead were matted by sweat, and there were a few mud stains on his cheeks.

The trousers on the outside of his thigh were torn, and one could vaguely see the blood gradually seeping out from beneath.

—This was a cut accidentally made by a sharp, angular stone on the cave floor during the battle just now.

Fortunately, the wound wasn't deep, and with his constitution, it would soon scab over and recover on its own, so there was no need to worry about excessive blood loss.

And in front of him, the enemy he was fighting.

Was a humanoid monster with an adult male build and reddish-brown skin.

"Hobgoblin!"

Like the Hobgoblin, this type of creature was also a subspecies of the Goblin.

It was like two branches of the same twig.

If the Hobgoblin's evolutionary direction was body size and strength;

then the Hobgoblin was intelligence and command ability.

A challenge rating of "0.5" meant that an ordinary Hobgoblin without any other talents was basically no match for its burly cousin in a one-on-one situation.

But far superior intelligence allowed them to gain higher potential.

These natural leaders and commanders could easily become the leaders of a large Goblin nest after reaching adulthood, and through generations of inherited plundering experience, develop the tribe into a scourge that threatened other intelligent creatures at an extremely fast speed.

In some extremely special cases, some elite individuals could even master combat techniques, obtain professional levels, and even manipulate magic particles under the protection of their main god...

Of course, these had nothing to do with the one Xia Nan was facing at this moment.

"ROAR!!!"

At the tips of its yellowish-brown fangs, viscous saliva dripped.

The Hobgoblin waved the machete in its hand and hissed angrily.

Having engaged in fierce combat with Xia Nan, it naturally couldn't be unscathed.

Its arms, waist, abdomen, and calves were full of wounds left by the sword blade.

And the gradually fading life and physical strength made it increasingly impatient.

"Damn flea, I'm going to chop off your head and feed your brains to the maggots in the cesspit!"

It was just that this roar, full of tribal flavor, did not disturb its opponent's rhythm or cause the other to perform poorly due to agitated emotions.

Xia Nan's expression was calm.

He even wanted to laugh in his heart.

In his past life, he had spent thousands of days and nights battling masters from all over the world on forums while typing on a keyboard.

These threats from the Hobgoblin had no offensive power to him.

If he really wanted to enrage the other.

He could just pick one or two of the countless retorts that were unconsciously flashing in his mind and read them out.

This "innocent" tribal youth would probably break down on the spot and rush over to fight him to the death.

There was no need for that.

Xia Nan took the initiative to enter the cave just to make as much use of actual combat as possible to accelerate the learning of combat techniques.

Now that the opponent's injuries were gradually worsening, its combat ability was rapidly declining, and it had lost the value of sparring.

He didn't want to waste any more time.

Just kill it and be done with it.

"Clang!"

The iron-grey greatsword was held horizontally in front of Xia Nan's chest, firmly blocking the slash from the Hobgoblin.

The sword body trembled slightly due to the violent collision.

As if about to enter the stage of sword-locking, Xia Nan's arms, which were firmly holding the hilt, suddenly relaxed.

"Bang."

The boots covered in ice crystals, grinding against the mud and moss on the cave floor, suddenly exerted force!

The scenery on both sides retreated, and the air around him instantly stagnated, as if immersed in deep water.

In his ears, some kind of beast roar seemed to be brewing and accumulating.

And just at the moment when the beast roar became increasingly loud, as if it would explode completely in the next second.

Suddenly, it stopped abruptly.

"Pity, just a little bit off."

Thoughts emerged in his heart.

Xia Nan, who should have moved straight behind the enemy under the effect of 【Tooth Hunt】,

because the combat technique had not yet been fully mastered, only displaced to the side of the Hobgoblin, and his speed slowed down.

But it was enough.

Like a taut string, Xia Nan exerted force from his waist and abdomen, using the inertia of the forward charge to rotate his body, and the greatsword drew a perfect arc.

【Spinning Slash】!

Hum—

The iron-grey, sharp arc of light, like a crescent moon, flashed and disappeared in the air.

【Slashing Expert】's 5% slashing damage bonus, superimposed with the greatsword's 5% decapitation entry.

Diagonally upward,

just one sword.

It shaved off the Hobgoblin's left shoulder bone and half of its head.

"Thump."

The incomplete corpse fell powerlessly, Xia Nan wiped off the obvious bloodstains on the sword blade and slowly sheathed it.

At this moment, it had been exactly four days since he followed the Barbarian into the forest.

The boring and dull daily training, plus a large amount of actual combat tempering, made his familiarity with 【Tooth Hunt】 skyrocket at an astonishing speed.

At this moment, he was just one step away from truly entering the entry level.

Perhaps... one more high-quality battle, and he would be able to master it completely and make 【Tooth Hunt】 appear on his attribute panel.

His pitch-black pupils glanced at the Hobgoblin on the ground, and Xia Nan subconsciously turned around and scanned the Goblin cave, which was clearly cleaner and more spacious than the previous few nests.

A thoughtful expression appeared on his face.

Having killed his way down from the entrance on the ground, he knew better than anyone.

This exceptionally spacious nest, which looked like a small square,

actually only housed less than twenty Goblins.

The Hobgoblin's combat power was far less powerful than the Hobgoblin's.

But in terms of how troublesome it was, it was far beyond the latter.

Intelligence close to that of a human, and various military means that seemed to be understood by nature, allowed it to suppress the chaotic nature of its Goblin younger brothers with strict means.

As if it were an army, it made them obey orders and listen to commands.

With just over a dozen Goblins, under the Hobgoblin's command, they could build the nest to be as intricate as an anthill, filled with forks and narrow paths.

Some places were even set up with some simple traps to guard against intruders.

And when facing Xia Nan, who had broken into the nest, those green-skins, who were usually reckless and crazy and only rushed forward with wooden clubs,

actually showed a bit of tactical literacy under the Hobgoblin's command, flanking from front and back, surrounding from left and right, and even some stayed at the back of the team, responsible for throwing stones at him.

If there were just a few more Goblins, or if they had a few decent ranged weapons... no, as long as they had some precautions against his intrusion.

He wouldn't have been able to kill his way through like this and reach the Hobgoblin in the deepest part of the cave.

Xia Nan estimated in his heart that as long as there were 10 more Goblins, even if he had dual swords and was fully armed, for the sake of safety, he could only retreat for the time being.

"Awooo~"

In the corner of the cave, came the whimpering sound of canine creatures.

Those were two Dire Wolves, about the height of an adult's thigh, having just left the juvenile stage.

Yes,

just like other intelligent creatures that had formed civilizations on the continent.

Livestock that provided meat, cattle and horses that transported goods, birds and beasts that delivered letters...

Besides a certain military capability, Hobgoblins also possessed the ability to tame animals.

The techniques inherited in the tribe allowed them to cultivate Dire Wolves from a young age, letting these creatures, which also had naturally evil natures, obey their masters' commands.

After reaching adulthood, they were paired with Goblins who had corresponding techniques to become low-profile versions of "Wolf Cavalry."

They also had decent intelligence.

Xia Nan even felt that the intelligence of these two Dire Wolves was much higher than that of ordinary Goblin cannon fodder.

He just walked two steps toward them.

The two Dire Wolves whimpered and lay low, lying on the ground.

With a reach of his hand, they stuck out their tongues and flipped their bodies, exposing the soft bellies under their grey-black fur.

They didn't care at all that he had just slaughtered their master, being incomparably docile.

One of the smarter ones even wagged its tail and brought the half of the Hobgoblin's skull over, placing it at his feet in a fawning manner.

Xia Nan couldn't help but marvel.

But before he could act, in the next second, accompanied by the slow footsteps coming from behind him, a chilling cold wind suddenly blew past.

In the blink of an eye, the Dire Wolves in front of him turned into two crystalline ice sculptures, completely losing their vitality.

They even retained the fawning posture they had before they died.

"Can't be tamed, don't touch."

The obsidian hand-axe swayed lightly at his waist, and Fugang said slowly.

Normally, if they were just ordinary wild beasts, there was no distinction between good and evil; everything they did was just for survival instinct.

But Dire Wolves were different.

Their intelligence was very high, almost reaching the level of a young human.

Some individuals even understood simple Common and Gnomish.

Under these circumstances, they, who were naturally vicious and cunning, undoubtedly belonged to the evil alignment.

Wild Dire Wolves often roamed the wilderness in packs, stealing livestock raised by humans, hunting lone farmers, and attacking passing merchant caravans.

Even when facing the green-skins who had raised them from a young age, if they were just slightly dissatisfied, they would be driven by hunting instincts to bite their throats and turn them into dinner.

Temperament was fickle; they were "untamable" in the true sense.

Only those Druids who revered nature and lived with wild beasts could rely on their own class abilities to coexist harmoniously with them.

If Xia Nan kept these two Dire Wolves by his side, he would probably never have to sleep again.

After all, who knew if some beast, just because the bone at dinner was one piece less than yesterday, would hold a grudge and bite him to death while he was resting.

Shrugging his shoulders, Xia Nan stopped paying attention.

He turned to collect the trophies in the cave.

The Barbarian behind him stood still as usual, summoning the Wolf Spirit to investigate something.

Before, he had been puzzled why, even though the Mist Forest was so large and there were countless monsters suitable for his actual combat, he specifically chose to slaughter green-skins, as if he had a grudge.

After these few days, he had figured out the reason.

—The thing the other was investigating should be related to Goblins.

It was just because he had taken on the commission to teach combat techniques, so he brought Xia Nan along to practice on various Goblins in the nest.

After the battle ended, he even left him half an hour to collect trophies.

When encountering elite individuals like the Hobgoblin, he would even help him freeze and preserve the parts that could be exchanged for bounties.

"He's actually a pretty good person."

Xia Nan praised in his heart.

At the same time, he guessed that the other might have been in this line of work when he was young, knowing that it wasn't easy for bottom-tier adventurers like himself to make money.

Although he was living quite comfortably, even if he didn't have a penny of income for ten days or half a month, and used everything to learn combat techniques, he could still maintain a certain quality of life with his savings.

But since the other took the initiative to show kindness, he had no reason to refuse.

Twenty minutes later.

Standing in the center of the cave, Xia Nan crossed his arms over his chest, his brows furrowed.

"That's strange."

The Hobgoblin's left ear was cut off by him during the battle and no longer had the function of exchanging for a bounty.

After all, the battle was fierce, and if there was a chance to kill, he naturally couldn't care about that much.

Losing a few gold coins of income was acceptable.

But what made Xia Nan feel strange was that after searching this entire cave, he didn't find even a single copper coin.

This was unusual.

You know, even in the most rudimentary nest of those green-skins with only single-digit numbers, one could find a few small stones that could be sold for a price.

Given the scale of the cave, he should have harvested more.

And at the same time, the Wolf Spirit floating in mid-air, which usually just circled once and returned to the Barbarian's side, didn't stop its movements.

It was as if it had discovered the trail of something, slowing down its pace to search carefully.

Xia Nan's gaze also followed the circling Wolf Spirit, scanning the cave over and over again.

Suddenly, he paused.

He saw that in the corner of the cave, a half-person-high broken rock was blocking it.

Compared to the surroundings, there wasn't much dust on the surface of the broken rock, and there were many friction marks on the ground around it, as if it were moved frequently.

He stepped forward quickly, and Xia Nan pushed the rock away with both hands.

Immediately, a small, pitch-black wooden box embedded in the stone wall appeared in his line of sight.

Suppressing the excitement in his heart, he remained cautious and retreated a few steps to the side.

Then he drew his greatsword and pried the box open with the tip of the sword.

He opened it gently.

"Hum..."

Silver-white luster, mixed with a significant amount of gold, entered his eyes with the dim light.

"Whoa!"

Seeing that no traps were triggered, he hurriedly walked in and examined it carefully.

He reached into the small box and grabbed a handful, feeling the touch of the coins falling through his fingers.

He estimated the value in his heart.

At least thirty gold!

And that was without counting the dozen or so shiny little stones in the money box; it was just the income from the coins alone.

He held the wooden box in his arms.

Xia Nan had just turned around.

*Whoosh—*

An unusual biting cold wind, mixed with some kind of indescribable chilling aura, suddenly blew from the cave.

In those pure, ice-blue eyes, scarlet bloodshot veins appeared like cracks; what rumbled in the throat was a dull, suffocating, and dangerous low growl.

Fugang still stood where he was, the wolf-skin cloak with overlapping wolf mouths was like some kind of pale cold flame emerging from beneath the ice, burning his body.

The Wolf Spirit was on all fours, its body taut, and its ice-cone-like fangs flashed with cold light amidst the alert wolf howls.

In front was the Hobgoblin corpse with only half a head left.

At some point, its fingers, covered in thick fur, had merged with a certain patch of moss on the damp ground.

Dense mycelium climbed and grew.

It turned into a light green mushroom swaying in the wind.

"Plan changed."

"Return to the city."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 95 =====