Chapter 8: The Ruse

For a low-tier adventurer squad like the Rotten Fish and Decayed Shrimp, one’s strength could often be judged merely by appearance.

A man who looked frail and thin rarely possessed great combat power.

Similarly, if your opponent was a burly barbarian, all muscles and rock-solid physique, it was obvious that his strength matched his build.

An adult bear goblin stood about seven feet tall, roughly two meters two in height.

Coupled with a robust frame packed with thick muscles and solid fat, much like a brown bear, it resembled a small mountain of flesh from a distance.

In comparison, Gaku, despite his faint orc bloodline, was only slightly larger than an average adult human.

Even when he activated his bloodline and entered combat mode, he barely reached the bear goblin’s shoulder.

Together, they looked like an adult standing beside a child.

Their actual combat abilities were even more disproportionate.

Previously, Shan Nan had been fully focused on fighting goblins, paying no attention to his surroundings.

Thus, he was unaware of what had transpired on the other side of the battlefield during those twenty seconds.

He only saw the scene unfolding before his eyes.

Compared to the ambush they had faced the previous night, Gaku’s body was quite clean now, only dusted with some mud and scarcely stained with blood.

He was quiet.

No meaningless orcish slang, no ear-splitting roar of rage.

Of course, this wasn’t because the half-orc had suddenly learned human etiquette.

Rather, it was because at this moment, he had lost the ability to speak.

Jagged pale bones pierced through flesh, protruding from his abdomen.

Right at the center of his chest was a deep, inward cavernous hole.

His eyes rolled back, mouth slack and unconscious, white foam streaked with blood dripping from the corners.

Like a broken toy, Gaku was hoisted upside down by one ankle by the bear goblin.

Nearby, a black spiked mace bristling with iron thorns loomed ominously, poised to strike in the cold air.

For some reason, at that instant, Shan Nan’s mind involuntarily recalled the ancient night watchmen who struck gongs in the dead of night.

The next second, the mace vanished from sight, and the sound of drums echoed.

—

Whish—thud—

Along with the whistle of a hard object slicing through the air came an odd sound, like eggshells cracking—hard shells mingling with viscous liquid.

The half-orc’s body swung like a pendulum.

A patch of red and white viscous fluid appeared on the mace’s face, and Gaku lost the ability to vocalize in the physical sense.

“Plop.”

The headless corpse was carelessly thrown to the ground; blood gushed out like a fountain, pooling beneath him.

“Die, aaaaaaah!”

Just as Shan Nan witnessed the bear goblin utterly crush the half-orc, a hoarse roar filled with faint hope rang in his ear.

Though Gaku had died a miserable death, he had accomplished his task of buying time.

The bowstring was drawn taut, the bow’s back bent nearly to the breaking point.

A metal-shining iron arrow was tightly held between Magi’s fingers, its slightly purple tip aimed straight at the bear goblin’s head.

[Precision Strike]

A prerequisite skill for the Ranger class.

The only offensive combat skill Magi had mastered in his decades as an adventurer.

At higher levels of combat, this move primarily enhanced the accuracy of attack placement.

But for a low-tier adventurer like Magi now, even the modest damage boost it provided was enough for most situations.

Even facing a bear goblin, known as a “newbie killer,” he held full hope.

If this arrow pierced through the eye socket into the skull, it would instantly kill the beast;

If it struck the head, the force alone could leave the goblin dying and severely wounded, allowing Magi to finish it off.

At worst, if he missed the mark, the nature of [Precision Strike] would still guarantee at least a wound.

At that moment, his trump card—the specially crafted metal arrowhead he had spent a fortune on—would come into play.

The arrowhead was coated with horned serpent venom, capable of quickly paralyzing the goblin’s body, drastically slowing its speed and dulling its reflexes.

Then, whether pursuing the advantage or retreating, the choice would be his.

A flurry of thoughts flashed through his mind.

—

Magi held his breath, aimed at the vital point, and gently relaxed his fingers.

Shhh—

The sound of air parting came forward; the bowstring’s recoil sent a tremor from his fingertips up his forearm.

At the instant the arrow was released, decades of experience in the wilderness whispered in his heart:

“This shot is sure.”

Under extreme pressure, the hunter performed at his peak, every movement precise and flawless.

A few strands of white hair at his temple fluttered softly in the breeze stirred by the arrow.

Magi’s confidence was absolute, as if he could already hear the arrowhead piercing through an eye socket, burrowing into the brain, and the bear goblin’s agonized scream abruptly ending.

But then, a flash of reddish-brown shattered his illusions like waking from a dream.

As if sensing the lethal blow about to strike, a faintly glowing transparent shield appeared inexplicably in the air before the goblin.

Its substance was neither light nor air, seeming to be some stray energy temporarily condensed into an unstable reddish-brown force field.

The iron arrow, laden with the hunter’s full strength, merely grazed this reddish energy and veered off course.

Its force remained unchanged, but the target shifted from the goblin’s head to the wall behind it.

“Thwack!”

The metal arrow easily pierced the mud and stone wall inside the cave, leaving only the violent vibration of the fletching and the hunter’s pale, despairing face.

“How… how is this possible?!” Magi’s lips quivered, his body trembling with fear. “My arrow…”

Facing the hunter who had just revealed his final trump card, the bear goblin uttered its first words since appearing in their sight.

“You petty tricks… magic.”

Its grating voice echoed faintly through the cavern, the half-baked common tongue incomprehensible.

But at this moment, what the bear goblin said no longer mattered.

For the next second, its deathly shadow loomed over Magi, engulfing him completely.