Goblin Heavy Dependence

Chapter 419 Death
Xia Nan's professional level is seriously inconsistent with his actual combat strength.

Under normal circumstances, a steady and solid level 3 warrior should be the backbone of a veteran adventurer's team. Their position in the team is neither too high nor too low. Occasionally, they may perform exceptionally well in suitable situations, but most of the time they will fight around the back row of the team to deal damage.

Take the current Merman Cave as an example.

Facing a group of enemies led by a Shahua fishman priest with a challenge level of "2", and composed of nearly twenty Shahua fishmen with a challenge level of "0.5".

Even a well-organized and well-prepared four-person adventurer team with an average job level of "3" might not necessarily be able to end the battle without taking any damage.

After all, there are too many enemies, including spellcasters. Level 3 is just the beginning of one's career path. One's expertise, combat skills, and even physical attributes are still lacking. One has not yet reached the point where one can "ignore the numbers" and achieve a qualitative leap.

Unless a complete plan is prepared in advance, including the terrain, battlefield style, surprise attacks and decapitation strikes, and clearing out the remaining enemies, and it is guaranteed that no unexpected situations will occur during the execution and everything will be as expected, it is impossible to win without taking any damage.

Otherwise, some injuries during the battle are inevitable.

However, if you add a level 3 Xia Nan to the adventurer's party, the situation will be completely different.

The exaggerated mobility granted by [Fang Hunt] allows him to break through the enemy's minions in a very short time and attempt to cut into the back row;

The combination of the combat skills [Whirlwind Slash], [Gravity Etching], and [Heavy Tide] makes his instantaneous burst power far exceed what one should have at his class level. Not to mention archers and mages wearing light leather armor and robes, even a proper heavy warrior might not be able to withstand a direct sword strike.

They were almost perfect implementers of the "decapitation tactic".

In addition, the group intimidation effect granted by his special skill [Night Mother's Gaze] makes him a powerful weapon in low-level group battles.

Often, as soon as the wolf howls, a small portion of the enemy, like cockroaches under a trash can, lose their will to fight and flee in panic.

As it is now.

"Garu!!!"

The terrified screams unique to the Shahua fish-men, mixed with the angry roars of some of the individuals who had passed the test, echoed through the spacious cave.

The headless corpse of the murloc priest, cut into three pieces, lay quietly on the altar, blue blood gushing out, and the muscles inside the broken wounds could be faintly seen writhing and spasming.

But the nearly twenty shahua fishmen who were originally kneeling below the altar were now in complete chaos.

They might flee in panic due to fear, or angrily pick up weapons and attempt to attack the enemy who has vanished from the spot.

Xia Nan couldn't possibly be foolish enough to stay on the altar and wait for the fishmen to attack.

Knowing that his mobility far surpassed that of enemies of the same level, almost the instant he finished off the Murloc Priest, he once again rode the wolf beast phantom away from the scene and sped to the other end of the cave.

Although the two members of the "Silver Claw Osprey" team were much weaker, they were both experienced adventurers.

Seeing Xia Nan charge forward and behead the enemy's core as he had done before when facing pirate attacks, Xia Nan instilled fear in many enemies.

Without the slightest hesitation, they also launched an attack on the fishmen.

The efficiency is very good.

The squad leader, wielding two short swords, swung them with the speed of the wind. From time to time, one could hear a rapid, short roar amidst the whistling of the blades, accompanied by "X"-shaped flashes of sword light, leaving hideous wounds on the bodies of the fishmen in front of him.
The half-elf Lyda had a swift, green wind swirling between her feet. She moved with incredible speed, and her specially made wooden arrows, each adorned with tail feathers, seemed to have some kind of tracking function, precisely killing the fleeing sava fishmen one by one. Her killing efficiency was even higher than Nick's.
Compared to the other two, Alton gave the impression of taking advantage of the chaos. He first hid at the back of the group, took out his lute and slowly played a little tune to boost the morale of the people on the field. Only then did he take out his two small curved blades again and charge into the school of fish. He was short and light-footed. Often, in one round or two, several fishmen would lose their legs and tails and lie on the ground howling in pain.

To some extent, the outcome of this battle was already predetermined when Xia Nan beheaded the priest in front of the numerous Shahua fishmen before anyone could react.

What happened afterward was merely a matter of how long it would take to wrap things up.

It probably only takes about ten minutes in total.

A battle that should have been incredibly difficult for an ordinary adventurer ended abruptly.

The only price Xia Nan and his group paid was a few more bits of meat stuck to his already filthy, unwashed armor, and two minor scratches on Nick's shoulder.

"call……"

Nick was breathing heavily, and his hot breath condensed into water vapor in the air.

I felt a faint pain in my left arm, and I could see the wound beneath my torn shirt.

This was left behind by a Shahua fishman who attacked from the side during the battle just now.

Previously, due to the surge of passion, the pain was lessened, so I didn't notice it much. Now that the battle is over, the pain is becoming increasingly intense.

He moved his arm slightly to check the injury and determined that it was only a minor injury that would not affect his physical activity. He could just have it bandaged up in a while, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

Standing still, surrounded by the corpses of merfolk.

A rare look of bewilderment crossed the middle-aged man's face.

He has experienced countless battles, whether against other adventurers, pirates, or the many monsters of the Southern Islands.

But this was the first time he had encountered something so swift and baffling, both in its beginning and end.

Despite having devised a battle plan before entering the cave, everything descended into chaos after the merman priest, who was the first spellcaster, had his head sliced ​​off by the black-haired adventurer in the party.

Even now, Nick doesn't even feel like it's real.

Even though he had contributed to the battle and killed many murlocs, he felt no sense of accomplishment or satisfaction from the victory.

The whole process seemed too simple, which made him feel somewhat empty.

"laugh."

Her slender white hand grasped the arrow shaft and pulled it from the corpse.

The half-elf Leda walked by and patted her captain on the shoulder.

Nick snapped back to his senses, as if remembering something, and his gaze abruptly shifted to the altar, rushing towards Bone Card's corpse.

There is no such thing as "pretending to be dead".

Their orc teammate, whose body had been partially gnawed off, was now completely dead.

This means that until they can find trustworthy and capable teammates, the Silverclaw Osprey squad has completely lost its competitiveness in the Southern Islands.

With only two people, they couldn't even put together the basic structure of an adventurer's party.

Rather than a "squad," it's more like a simple, temporary group.

They can no longer even accept missions in the guild as an adventurer's party, and can only make a living by taking ordinary commissions that are less difficult and have relatively meager rewards.

Undoubtedly, the death of a teammate with whom they had fought together for many years, with excellent teamwork and considerable combat capabilities, was a huge blow to the entire "Silver Claw Osprey" squad.

If you're unlucky, you might not be able to breathe for several years.

For a moment, Nick's eyes reddened slightly.

One-fifth of the reason might be the death of a former teammate, while the remaining four-fifths might stem from anxiety and worry about the future.

Gazing at the corpse of Bone Card on the altar, Nick suddenly turned and looked at Xia Nan on the other side. If... if I could recruit him into the team, I'd even give him the captaincy...

Nick shook his head violently, trying to shake off those unrealistic thoughts.

He hadn't spent much time with Xia Nan, but he had managed to get a general idea of ​​the personality of this outstanding young adventurer.

Judging from Xia Nan's attitude and style of doing things, the probability of him successfully recruiting the other party is no more than one percent.

The vast difference in strength between them meant that the members of the same team were no longer simply cooperating.

Just like the battle just now, to put it bluntly, the other side was completely leading us.

In this situation, what price could he possibly pay, or rather, why would the other party want to form a fixed team with them and share the mission rewards that should have been theirs?
Thinking of this, Nick couldn't help but sigh silently.

I've already started thinking about what the future holds and what I should do.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the field, Xia Nan had no idea what Nick was thinking.

Of course, even if they found out, they would at most praise the other party for being wise and knowing when to advance and retreat.

His current focus is on the remaining clues about Morton in the cave.

Ellison was not deceiving himself.

As he had said before, Xia Nan did indeed find many traces of human habitation deep within the cave.

Moreover, these traces are from a long period of time, and by estimation, they roughly coincide with the time period that Chief Steven mentioned when Morton lived on Cliff Rock Island.

It's highly likely that it was left by the other party.

However, precisely because of this, the excessively long time interval and the fish people's usurpation of the territory have made most of these traces blurred. Even with Xia Nan's perception, he couldn't find anything, let alone any remnants that might be related to the key to the [Dream Corridor].

The trail went cold, but Xia Nan was not discouraged.

It was just unexpected information obtained during the mission. Of course, it would be best if we could gain something, but if we didn't find anything, we would just return to the main storyline and continue our progress toward participating in the "Moonlit Feast".

Just as I was pondering this, I suddenly heard a slightly noisy argument.

Xia Nan frowned and looked in the direction from which the sound came.

The half-elf Lyda was seen arguing fiercely with her captain Nick, and the words "corpse," "burial," and "cannot stay here" could be faintly heard in the conversation.

Xia Nan certainly didn't want to get involved in the private affairs of the opposing team.

He just felt that now was not the time to discuss these things.

The two people in front of them seemed to have forgotten the large number of fishman corpses they had encountered along the way.

The wounds on those corpses were not something the priests he had just killed could have left behind.

The monster that attacked the village may have only been temporarily repelled by the fish-men and has now hidden in the sea outside the cave.

There is always the possibility of going back.

The crisis is not completely over.

Their immediate priority is to quickly clean up the battlefield and then return...

Suddenly, as if he had thought of something, Xia Nan's gaze froze on the altar where the two people in front of him were standing.

"The powerful aquatic monster that attacked the village," "The Shahua fishman priest who held a sacrificial ceremony"... all sorts of clues surfaced and connected in my mind.

Although it didn't immediately piece together the truth, it did allow the perceptive Xia Nan to notice something amiss.

I had a vague feeling that something was wrong.

At the same time, behind the altar, in the deepest part of the entire grotto, on the surface of the calm and still dark pool, a bubble suddenly and almost imperceptibly rose with a "gurgling" sound.

A sudden sense of danger surged within Xia Nan, and he instinctively shouted a warning:
"careful!"

But at the very moment he spoke...

boom--

A huge, imposing shadow suddenly leaped out of the pool and rushed straight toward the two people on the altar.

……

Despite her mixed-race appearance, Leda is very conservative and traditional at heart.

Of course, just like her haughty demeanor towards others in daily life, the traditions she followed came from the quarter-elf clan in her bloodline.

It has nothing to do with humans.

Despite years of experience traveling and encountering adventurers of many other races, he also developed vices such as gambling and alcoholism.

But deep down, she was still proud of the elven blood in her veins, so much so that whenever someone called her a "half-elf," the word "half" always stung her.

It's somewhat paradoxical that her mixed-race identity made her even less welcome in the Elf Kingdom, but it was precisely because of this discrimination that Leda longed for "elves" themselves even more.

Ultimately, they became even more rigid and traditional in their behavior than some of the old scholars of the Elven race.

The half-orc Bone Card, also a hybrid, was always despised by Leda for his low intelligence and crude personality.

But after so many years together, he had become a teammate she recognized, so it was impossible to just let his body rot on the altar.

Following the elven custom of burying relatives, Leda wanted to take Boneka's body back to his hometown and bury him in the presence of his elders and relatives from his birth tribe.

Nick, however, was completely opposed to this.

He knew perfectly well how much trouble he would encounter when he returned to the tribe with the corpse of the orc who had once solemnly promised to give Boneka a bright future.

Burial is fine, and the body can be taken back to Suyu Bay, but it must never be returned to Guka's hometown.

The two then got into an argument.

It's really not a big deal. We know each other's personalities, and after venting our emotions a little, we can quickly find a solution.

For example, sending the half-elf back with Bonecard's corpse alone, while Nick waits outside the tribe to meet him.

Unfortunately, this dispute was destined to be fruitless.

Because the very next second after Nick made that harsh statement.

The tall, proud, and stubborn half-elf in front of him had her lower body bitten off by a huge black shadow that leaped out from behind her right before his eyes.

(End of this chapter)