Chapter 58: The Experiment

Lacking elite individuals, the goblins might have relied on their sheer numerical advantage to boost morale and charge at the enemy.

However, the moment they discovered the massive gap in strength between themselves and their foes, and encountered a powerful, resolute counterattack, their combat effectiveness would plummet accordingly.

Right now, Shanan's exaggerated feat of "one slash taking out four" had evidently terrified those despicable and cowardly green-skinned bastards.

He even saw a goblin that was lagging at the very back of the formation, arriving late, only to discover the grisly fate of its four companions right in front of it.

Its body, which had been charging forward with claws bared, stopped dead in its tracks as if slamming on the brakes, leaving two awkward footprints in the soft meadow.

It spun around abruptly,

throwing its wooden club aside, and fled in terror while wailing in fear.

Memories of the scenes inside the goblin cave from right after his transmigration remained fresh in his mind.

Naturally, Shanan would not let these cockroach-like, repulsive, trash-like beasts escape.

He strode forward, raising his iron-gray head-executioner's greatsword high at an angle. A single drop would end the creature's brief existence.

Suddenly, as if remembering something,

he paused. He retracted the elevated sword, bringing it down to his side with the tip pointing forward.

Bending his arms, he shifted into a posture of gathering force.

Like a machine executing a pre-set program, Shanan's previously fluid posture became stiff and awkward.

He stepped forward with his right leg.

"Forward Thrust!"

A flash of cold light, followed by the sluggish sensation of the sharp blade piercing flesh, traveled up through the hilt in his hand.

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

The enemy had completely lost its ability to fight.

Yet, Shanan was not satisfied, his brows furrowing slightly.

No matter how high his talent was, half a month of practice could only yield this much.

Using such unpracticed, stiff combat techniques in high-intensity combat was undoubtedly courting death.

He had merely done this now to test his hypothesis.

The semi-transparent characters of "proficiency +1" that he had anticipated did not appear, leaving a thoughtful look on Shanan's face.

He delivered a casual finishing blow, stabbing the convulsing, struggling goblin on the ground to death.

His gaze shifted to the side.

Two goblins were crouching, lingering near the edge of the battlefield, seemingly trying to sneak around the flank to the rear and attack the ordinary people in the wagon train.

They were simply too focused, it seemed, and had failed to realize that the battle on this side had already concluded.

Without hesitation, and making no effort to conceal his movements, Shanan strode forward.

Facing the two goblins that spun around in a panic, the greatsword cleaved downward in an instant.

The razor-sharp blade easily tore through flesh.

The goblin's slender body was split neatly in two.

Meanwhile, the other green-skinned rat he had intentionally left alive also smashed its wooden club down toward Shanan in blind terror.

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

The descending club drifted down, completely devoid of any force.

Yet Shanan remained intensely focused, his eyes locked onto the wooden club stained with dust and blood on its surface.

He pressed his wrist downward, pointing the sword tip slightly downward.

"Thud."

A dull sound echoed through the air.

The wooden club struck the flat of the blade feebly, and the resulting recoil caused the goblin's slender arm to tremble violently.

"Parry and Upward Slash!"

Shanan suddenly exerted force with both hands gripping the hilt, the very next instant after blocking the opponent's attack.

Step forward, upward slash.

Blood splattered.

Half of a goblin's head, scattering a viscous fluid of mixed red and white, spun and rolled onto the ground.

The status panel still showed no movement.

"Take it slow, I suppose."

Shanan sighed inwardly.

First, through the acquisition path of those last two points of proficiency for [Whirlwind Slash], one thing was certain:

In terms of combat techniques, he possessed an improvement speed far surpassing his predecessor.

However, lacking experimental data on the specific reasons, he could only blindly guess whether it was the convenience brought by the status panel, or because "actual combat" drastically increased the efficiency of acquiring proficiency compared to daily training.

The reason he had used those two unpracticed, "suspected" combat techniques just now was also to test whether actual combat could accelerate their training progress.

As for the result... well, everyone had seen it.

"Perhaps the sample size is simply too small to reach a qualitative change?"

Shanan thought to himself.

His gaze, however, turned to other directions on the battlefield, toward those goblins steadily retreating under the adventurers' counterattack.

The battle had come suddenly and ended quickly.

Counting from the moment Shanan cleaved out that stroke of [Whirlwind Slash], less than ten minutes had passed before calm was restored to the grassy area beside the wagon train.

It was worth mentioning that, as if following some unwritten rule among adventurers, not a single goblin managed to escape their blades.

Twenty-three of them, all neatly dead.

One of them had even fled to the edge of a nearby forest, about to vanish into the dense bushes.

Only to be hunted down by a fast-running adventurer who brought it back by the hair.

The repulsive habits of these green-skinned rats were perhaps part of the reason.

Yet Shanan suspected it was more likely because the adventurers in the team simply couldn't bear to let go of its bounty of three silvers and seven coppers.

Cleaning up the battlefield.

These goblins, whose entire inventory consisted of nothing more than rags and wooden clubs, offered nothing worth fighting over.

They simply did as before, severing the left ears to keep and exchange for the bounty at the guild.

"Hoo... hoo..."

Jeff panted heavily, resting his polearm against the ground, his simple linen tunic still stained with traces of goblin blood.

This honest, steady-natured middle-aged man, who hadn't even talked back when provoked by a drunkard,

had behaved with entirely uncharacteristic, exceptional bravery and fearlessness when facing the goblins attacking the caravan.

As if transformed into a different person, he had gritted his teeth and stood his ground at the front of the formation, charging even faster than Shanan.

Had it not been for his somewhat raw combat skills, anyone would have believed he was some sort of savage warrior.

Watching the others preparing to pack up the battlefield, Jeff hesitated for a moment before clearing his throat.

"Everyone, we are scheduled to rest in Kalanfur for two days, but there is no Adventurer's Guild there. Coupled with the return trip, carrying these 'trophies' might be rather inconvenient."

"If you don't mind, the bounties for these goblins can be factored into your escort pay, and I'll settle it with you all once we return to River Valley Town."

This was the Month of Blossoms, virtually one of the hottest months of the entire year.

A few days would be more than enough for those goblin ears to spoil and reek.

Even so, for the sake of the bounty, adventurers generally wouldn't mind.

Now, with the caravan leader making such a proposal, the guards present were naturally quite glad to save themselves some trouble, bursting into cheers.

Tucking the short dagger he had already drawn back into his waist scabbard, Shanan glanced at Jeff with considerable surprise.

Here was a man who only ordered the cheapest set meal when eating at a tavern, wearing coarse linen clothes patched with cloth,

yet he was generous enough to spend nearly double-digit gold coins to provide subsidies for the accompanying adventurers.

You certainly deserve to make your money.