Goblin Heavy Dependence

Chapter 170 Etching and Charging
As the lowest level of monsters living on the continent of Aifara, goblins and gray rats share many commonalities.

Both are weak individuals who rely on group cooperation to overwhelm their opponents with numerical superiority; both live in dark, damp, and dirty underground environments; both let instinct drive their bodies and wantonly vent their desires.

To some extent, it seems plausible to call goblins "humanoid gray rats" or gray rats "rat goblins".

In actual combat, Xia Nan experienced something similar in both situations.

Fragile flesh is like delicate green plants under the blade of a lawnmower, unable to even touch the hem of Xia Nan's clothes, before being transformed into scattered limbs and pieces of flesh amidst the fierce howl of the [Fang Hunt] wolf with its razor-sharp wind.

The iron-gray decapitation sword drew a perfect arc in the air, an enhanced version of the [Whirlwind Slash] amplified by the momentum of its forward charge.

The burst of blood mist that followed proved once again that these rats, like goblins, had a defense that was utterly vulnerable.

And they are proud of it, and rely on it to run rampant in the underground passages, their enormous numbers are terrifying.

Facing an opponent with extremely high mobility, inflicting area damage while moving, and possessing both great speed and abundant stamina.

It also seemed so pale and ridiculous.

"Proficiency +1"

"【Fang Hunting】lv3: (27/100)"

Before my eyes, all too familiar semi-transparent characters flashed by.

Since advancing to the next level, the long-awaited battles have caused my combat skills, which had been improving more and more slowly under daily training, to increase rapidly once again.

The howling wolf head, covered in blood and bits of flesh, seemed to absorb the life force of those weakened by its death, turning them into cold numbers on the attribute panel.

Muscles stretch and bulge, and blood rushes throughout the body as the heart pumps faster.

Amidst the rapid movement where even the surrounding air was vaguely blurred, the exhilarating sensation of flesh being torn apart came from the edge of the blade, the constant agonizing screams echoed in my ears, and severed limbs and bits of flesh were swept away by the air currents...

It was still a swarm of gray and black rats that filled almost every inch of the field of vision.

Xia Nan no longer felt the resistance and aversion she had before.

Like those goblins who once cast a deep shadow over him, now he only sees them as tools to improve his combat skills.

At this moment, the gray rats in his eyes seemed to gradually shed their monster identity and become walking "experience packs".

hold head high--

The long, sharp howl of wolves echoed continuously in the corridor, seemingly drowning out the massive squeaks of countless gray rats in the air.

Looking ahead at the swarm of rats, there was a hideous wolf head made of blood and bits of flesh, whistling and weaving through the crowd.

"Gulu."

Eight Fingers suddenly swallowed.

His gaze involuntarily drifted to Tie Tou, who was panting heavily and had just returned to his side while the rats were distracted by the sudden appearance of a powerful enemy. He instinctively asked:
"Where did you bring this person from?"

Professional!
Undoubtedly a professional!
As the leader of the Badger Gang, Eight Fingers had been an adventurer for many years in his youth. While he might not have been the most experienced, he had seen quite a few seasoned veterans with excellent equipment and a commanding presence.

I even had relatively in-depth contact with some of them.

Therefore, he knew perfectly well how exaggerated the gap between people would become after obtaining a professional rank.

Eight Fingers had no idea who the cold-looking young man with a gray longsword as his weapon and a head of black, tousled hair was. He couldn't even tell what the other man's profession was because of his unusual fighting style.

But one thing is certain: this man, who single-handedly wiped out almost the entire rat swarm, is definitely not a newbie who has only recently obtained a professional level and has not even fully understood his own power.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but turn his head again, shifting his gaze from the battlefield to Tie Tou beside him, who hadn't even had time to catch his breath, and asked in surprise:
"Weren't you out collecting money? How did you know there was a problem here?"

Because of the fact that Tie Tou and Xia Nan appeared one after the other, Ba Zhi subconsciously assumed that it was one of the underlings he sent out to collect protection money who had learned of the dangerous situation in the sewers and had specially asked someone he knew to come and help.

If that's the case, he'll probably have to raise Tie Tou's status within the gang in the future.

Thinking of this, Eight Fingers couldn't help but curse inwardly.

"Damn it, if you know such a ruthless character, why are you even here as a thug?"

"I'll give you my position as the leader of the Badger Gang!"

Unaware of what Bazhi was thinking, Tietou, who had run all the way back with great difficulty, looked at the devastating scene on the field and couldn't help but feel fortunate.

Luckily, I had some sense and didn't offend the other party, otherwise... I'm afraid I would have been infested with maggots by now.

At the same time, he was thinking that he should ask the guys in charge of Yujin Street to be more careful in the future, especially to that tailor shop. They should pay more attention to it and not let any ignorant people cause trouble.

"No, no," Tie Tou replied, panting heavily. "Those two are here to see you, boss."

Upon hearing this, Bazhi's heart tightened immediately.

My mind started frantically trying to recall if I had offended either of them, and whether my recent actions might have involved them.

For a moment, he even considered escape routes, wondering if he should just run away.

But the next second, when Eight Fingers saw with his own eyes the ferocious wolf head in the rat swarm ahead, disappearing from one end of the corridor to the other in the blink of an eye, he abandoned his idea.

After pondering for a moment, he gritted his teeth and casually beckoned one of his underlings:
"You, yes, you, come here!"

"Go and move the box from under my bed. It's the smallest one hidden at the very back. Hurry up!"

……

"Buzz... Boom!"

The ochre-red light, like some kind of ever-changing runes, was condensed on the iron-gray sword blade.

Xia Nan was able to sense, in a way, an invisible connection between himself and the red light.

The body, which was moving at high speed under the influence of the wolf's howl, suddenly stopped, and the long sword thrust out straight out.

Without any deliberate aim, the sword, its surface inlaid with red light, pierced the body of a certain unfortunate gray rat, which squeaked and struggled in pain.

Meanwhile, the ochre-red light that condensed in a peculiar way on the sword, flowing and exuding a dangerous aura of instability, was not ignited by the fierce stimulation of this sword.

Instead, it waited patiently until Xia Nan's mind stirred slightly before bursting forth like an explosion.

It transformed into a miniature, ochre-red firework, instantly piercing the gray-skinned rat beneath the sword's blade, along with parts of three or four of its kind beside it, and engulfing them with a deafening roar.

"Proficiency +1"

"【Gravity Etching】lv1: (62/100)"

Whoosh——

His attention was slightly diverted by the semi-transparent text that appeared before him, and his body, which had paused slightly due to the use of combat skills, began to move again under the wolf head.

Unlike [Fang Hunt], which has already undergone a qualitative leap from lv2 to lv3 and entered the "proficient" level.

[Gravity Etching], as the [Meteor Blade Hunter] class's accompanying combat skill, has only been available for a little over a month.

"lv1" is a beginner proficiency level, which allows its proficiency to increase relatively quickly. Xia Nan has already trained it to over sixty points.

Moreover, in his view, the training process was significantly simpler than other combat skills.

Leaving aside the fact that [Gravity Control] still only has a pitiful "3" points of proficiency, let's take [Fang Hunt] as an example.

Even in daily life without actual combat, he would spend an entire afternoon training in [Fang Hunt].

Even with this level 3 dash-type combat skill, progress is slow and there's no guarantee of gaining even a little proficiency.

But Gravity Etching is different.

One reason is the relatively low proficiency level.

On the other hand, it is also due to its consumable usage of "3/3 (can be used three times in normal conditions)" and its cooldown of charging once every six hours.

This means that Xia Nan was training this combat skill.

The premise is to reserve two opportunities for use as a routine measure, in order to deal with any sudden battles that may occur at any time.

If you want to make the most of every opportunity and get the combat skills honed to their fullest potential.

Therefore, it is necessary to time it precisely according to the "recharge once every six hours" time point.

Every time the 6-hour cooldown expires and the number of uses returns to "3/3", Xia Nan needs to use this use anytime, anywhere to maximize the rate at which he gains proficiency.

After a period of exploration, he even flexibly integrated the time spent waiting for skills to cool down with his daily routine.

Practice once before bed, and the six hours of sleep will be just enough to recharge you. Then you can practice again after you wake up.

Then I washed up and did my daily morning exercise until noon, which took six hours to recharge and complete one workout.

In the afternoon, depending on the situation, train or rest. Use it once before dinner, and then use it for the last time before going to bed late at night.

Perhaps it is precisely because of the limitation on the number of times this combat skill can be used that its training efficiency is very high, with improvement almost every day.

Moreover, it does not require the tedious and continuous long-term training that other combat skills require.

All you need to do is wait until it's fully charged, then you can train it that time.

In just a few dozen days, the proficiency progress bar was already more than halfway done.

It was completely easy.

However, its fixed charging time also limits the upper limit of training speed.

Anyway, it only happens once every six hours, so you can't really try harder even if you want to.

It's okay since my level is low now, my proficiency is increasing quite quickly.

However, if we wait until level 3 or 4, the training speed of [Gravity Etching] will likely decrease significantly.

Xia Nan only hopes that as the combat skill level increases, the number of times [Gravity Etching] can be used or the charging time can also be upgraded accordingly.

The battle did not last long.

Like a common biological trait in group combat, when the gray rats turned into pieces of shattered flesh amidst the howling of wolves, their numbers, which originally covered the ground, decreased rapidly at a visible rate, while the enemy showed no sign of weakness.

These rats living in the sewers, driven by their survival instincts, finally suppressed their berserk, bloodthirsty rage caused by the impending "Lunar Feast."

From just a few at the beginning, to a whole swarm later, they fled in panic, dragging their long tails, towards the dark exits hidden around the utility tunnel.

The dark and complex terrain, along with the scattered formation of the rats as they fled, dissuaded Xia Nan from pursuing them.

He gripped his longsword again and used [Fang Hunt] to sweep twice over the densely packed rat swarm.

On the field, there were no more gray rats that dared to attack him again.

A figure flashed by in the corner of my eye.

As the footsteps drew closer, Wood, clad in black leather armor, appeared before Xia Nan.

The two daggers in his hands were stained with blood, there were no obvious tears in his clothes, and there were indeed a few drops of sweat on his forehead.

He certainly participated in the battle against the rats.

However, the [Wanderer] class and the combat skills they possess seem to be geared towards one-on-one single combat.

There is no good solution for these hundreds or thousands of rats.

Because of the hasty departure, he did not bring any throwing items such as "oil bombs" with him.

They could only roam the edge of the battlefield, filling in the gaps for Xia Nan, or focusing on taking out a few of the slightly larger gray rats.

That's just their fighting style, and they're even willing to take the time to help me complete my mission, so Xia Nan naturally doesn't have any objections.

Upon seeing the other person approach, he nodded in greeting.

On the contrary, Wood's gaze toward Xia Nan became strange once again, just like when they met in the tavern and discovered that the other party had already obtained a professional level.

Clearly, Xia Nan's performance in the battle had exceeded his understanding of what a typical newly promoted professional should be.

If he hadn't known that Fugang had already left River Valley and probably wouldn't be taking on any apprentices anytime soon, he would have even suspected that the other party had passed on the tribe's most treasured secret techniques to this young man.

He frowned and removed a few rat hairs from the surface of the decapitation sword.

Sheathing his sword, Xia Nan stood still, his gaze sweeping over the scattered rat carcasses around him, a hint of regret in his expression.

Unlike those high-level monsters, whose organs alone can fetch high prices in relevant shops.

The bodies of numerous low-level monsters like goblins and gray rats are completely worthless.

The former is better; you might even be able to find some junk equipment, mineral crystals, or something similar in the goblin's lair.

The latter, however, wouldn't even leave a bone behind.

The only value might be taking some of the relatively intact corpses with them to see if any restaurants in the city would be willing to take them.

"I wonder how much it can sell for. I would be happy if I could get a gold coin."

"But with so many, can I really transport them all by myself?"

The habit Xia Nan developed over several months of adventure made him always think about finding some loot after a battle.

But these filthy, hairy rats in front of us don't seem to have anything of value.

He pondered it to himself.

Meanwhile, the rescued members of the Badger Gang, led by their gang leader "Eight Fingers," were already heading towards Xia Nan.

(End of this chapter)