Goblin Heavy Dependence

Chapter 420 The Shark Beast Enters the Scene
Nick was born in a remote village in the northeastern mountainous region of Subin province.

His family was relatively well-off, at least by village standards. His father was a carpenter who took on odd jobs to support his large family.

This also meant that Nick didn't have to waste his precious childhood years on seemingly endless farm work, unlike other children his age in the village.

On the hottest afternoons of summer, he would often go to the back mountain of the village to escape the heat. The shade of the dense forest made it much cooler than outside. Villagers often came in to cut wood and gather firewood, so he felt safe.

Often, I would lean against a tree trunk, lie in the shade, listen to the rustling of the branches above me, close my eyes, and an afternoon would pass by.

Of course, a young man's energy is like that of stray dogs running around in the village—it seems inexhaustible. In just a few years, he had explored almost every corner of the back mountain.

Near the summit, there is a small pool of water, reflecting the tree canopy, its water clear and green.

I don’t know where they came from, but there were a few fish swimming in the pool. They weren’t very big, maybe the length of a palm, but they were very conspicuous because of the crystal clear water.

Like innocent teenagers who have lived deep in the mountains since childhood, these fish that grew up in the secluded pools have never experienced the influence of the outside world and are completely defenseless against even the slightest temptation.

Even though Nick was using a makeshift fishing rod he made from fallen tree branches, discarded ropes, and thorns, and baited with earthworms he dug up at random, the fish were completely unaware and took the bait again and again.

To be honest, these small fish weren't very tasty; the flesh was full of tiny bones. After eating them twice, Nick stopped bringing the fish home and instead released them back into the pond.

This may be why he will be able to stand out among countless low-level adventurers, successfully obtain a professional level, and become a veteran.

Unlike other children, Nick did not quickly lose interest in fishing because the results were too easy.

His attention shifted to something deeper.

He began to carefully observe the fish's movements when it took the bait.

Attracted by the subtle vibrations of an earthworm struggling in the water, the worm gently wiggles its tail fin, quietly approaches, and tentatively touches it with its upper lip to confirm its "harmless food" nature.

Retreat to leave enough space for a final sprint.

immediately……

"Shh!"

To this day, Nick still remembers how the palm-sized fish attacked and hunted.

The muscles of the cheeks, jaw, and throat contract in unison at an astonishing speed, like a compressed spring, and then suddenly expand as the fish lunges forward, forming an expanding cavity.

The earthworm, along with the fishhook, was suddenly sucked into the fish's mouth. The fish quickly closed its upper and lower jaws and opened and closed its gill covers to filter out the water from its mouth.

Nick found the process very interesting and had never experienced anything like it before.

After all, he was the one in control of that fishing rod.

Whether to continue or leave, the decision is in your own hands.

Even when he was young, he jumped directly into the pond, and the small fish posed no danger to him whatsoever...

Until now.

The violent gust of wind that was whipped up stung my cheeks, and the glaring crimson reflected on my pupils.

When the hunter becomes the prey, the angler holding the fishing rod becomes the bait on the hook.

An intense sense of danger surged from within, accompanied by the mournful echo of death's voice in my mind.

Nick finally realized the rules by which this world works.

The beautiful, haughty half-elf with delicate features stood opposite them.

Born with elven blood, she was already tall and slender, and years of adventures had given her body, beneath her tight-fitting clothes, more curves and a powerful, beautiful physique.

Her delicate, long, leaf-shaped eyebrows, meticulously trimmed in imitation of ancient elven traditions, were now furrowed together. Her small, exquisite nostrils flared slightly due to intense emotions, and her thin lips were slightly parted, revealing saliva clinging between her white teeth. Her stubborn, clear voice still echoed from the corners of her mouth.

But in this seemingly frozen space and time, what stands in stark contrast is the gray-blue trail that is frozen in the air, carrying countless splashed water droplets.

It was a gaping, grotesque, blood-red maw that sent chills down one's spine.

Five rows of serrated, cold, sharp teeth resemble a brilliantly blooming white flower of bone. An indescribable stench emanates from the throat with each breath, revealing the dark red flesh writhing deep within.

"Sizzle... Crack!"

It was a heavy, muffled sound composed of a mixture of various sounds.

The shriek of metal bursting forth under brute force, the hiss of something plump and juicy being instantly crushed by bones, internal organs, and muscles that have been violently crushed.

The gaping jaws of the half-elf fit precisely at his waist.

She didn't scream; her delicate face didn't even have time to show any sign of pain.

Everything happened so fast, as if even the pain was shielded.

Leda's upper body remained in the same position she had been in when she was arguing, and her right hand was still clutching a wooden arrow that she had just pulled from the corpse.

But from the waist down, the two long legs covered in deerskin boots, the knee pads specially chosen to match the colors, and the skirt armor engraved with traditional elven patterns had all disappeared.

All that remains are jagged, broken edges, as if brutally gnawed by some wild beast.

"puff."

The scarlet blood and internal organs, freed from the constraints of flesh and blood, sprayed onto the ground with a crackling sound under the influence of gravity.

It wasn't until the half-elf's upper body also fell to the ground that Leda's painful and desperate screams rang in Nick's ears.

Perhaps it was the raging wind coming from the front, or perhaps it was some kind of psychological factor.

The middle-aged man, who had been adventuring for many years, unconsciously took two steps back, his leather boots splattered with blood.

His neck stiffened, and he turned his head to look at the huge, muscular, and ferocious figure not far away beside him.

Nick had never seen such a monster before.

Standing nearly nine feet tall, with a slightly forward-leaning posture, a low and stable center of gravity, and a streamlined appearance rarely seen in land creatures, its shoulders are exceptionally broad, tapering sharply from the chest down to form an exaggerated inverted triangular torso.

It's like a forbidden product born from the intercourse of a "hunter shark" from the deep ocean and a human.

A towering dorsal fin grows along the spine from the short, thick, and powerful nape of the neck, while small lateral fins on either side of the shoulder blades assist in steering in the water; the entire body is covered with a rough, sandpaper-like gray-blue skin, with dark spots and stripes faintly visible on its surface.

The muscles under the skin of the arms are clearly bulging, and the arm circumference is thicker than the waist and abdomen of an average adult male. The hands are four black claws connected by thick webbing. The lower limbs are slightly slender, more suitable for swimming and hunting in the water. The tail vertebrae are slightly elongated, extending into a crescent-shaped tail fin that is wider at the top and narrower at the bottom.

Of course, the most eye-catching feature of this monster is its enormous, ferocious shark head, which is completely disproportionate to its body.

Its snout is a sharp, inverted triangle, thick and long, with serrated teeth arranged in layers. Its eyes are dark and dull, and the gill slits on the back of its cheeks open and close, spitting out blood.

Leda's lower body was currently inside the shark's mouth.

Two calves clad in leather boots dangled outside, but with a slight tilt of its head as if swallowing, accompanied by a chilling chewing sound that sent shivers down one's spine, the flesh and blood of the half-elf were completely swallowed. Spurting blood, like saliva, cascaded down from the corners of its mouth like a waterfall.

Nick stood there, his mind blank, while the half-elf, not quite dead yet, continued to scream.

At this moment, what he was thinking was not the despair of the annihilation of the "Silver Claw Osprey" squad that he had painstakingly built up over many years, nor the sadness of the tragic death of yet another teammate.

The sudden impact, the shadow of death, and the violent aura emanating from the demons left him in a state of shock, much like those vulnerable enemies affected by [Night Mother's Gaze].

Fortunately, the muscle memory developed through years of training allowed Nick to instinctively raise his twin swords and cross them over his chest, even before his mind could process it. The automatically activated combat technique caused the swords to gleam with a solid metallic sheen the moment they crossed, greatly enhancing his defensive capabilities.

Nick was spared from instant death by the relentless onslaught of the shark beast, but was instead blasted away like a rag doll, crashing violently into the rock wall.

hold head high--

The wolf howl had already sounded the moment the shark beast appeared.

The barrier of space was instantly overcome, and the gray-black wolf fangs, wrapped in ochre-red light, drew a perfect arc in the air, slashing towards the back of the monster's neck.

The highly condensed energy field, resembling runes, contracted and expanded, about to burst forth at its maximum. The demon seemed to vaguely sense the danger coming from behind, and under the influence of its beastly instincts, it forcibly twisted its body, causing the ochre-red sword light that should have struck its vital neck to move to its left shoulder.

"Boom boom!"

Clearly lacking any special resistance to force field energy, the rough, gray-blue sharkskin was blasted open, revealing a bloody, mangled wound.

The massive body swayed slightly, passing the "imbalance" check of [Replenishment].

hold head high--

The first attack missed, and the wolf's howl rang out again in the air.

As the shark-like beast's thick arm, capable of crushing steel, lashed out from behind its body like a whip, the lithe, dark wolf had already leaped back to the other side of the cave.

The leather boots stomped on the ground, squeezing out bits of flesh from the soles and drawing blood.

Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced in the direction where Nick had been sent flying, and seeing that there was still movement there, he stopped paying attention.

With his dark eyes fixed on the huge, muscular, deformed monster in front of him, Xia Nan's face remained expressionless, but his heart grew increasingly cautious.

Just seconds have passed since the shark beast leaped out of the pool, and of the four adventurers on the field, one is dead and another is injured.

He has already completed the first round of probing.

My brain is working at lightning speed, gathering information from the field.

Xia Nan had never seen this strange monster, which resembled a combination of a human and a shark, in the encyclopedia. Although he had some vague guesses about its origins because of the sacrificial actions of the Shahua fishmen and the altar deep in the cave, now was clearly not the time to investigate further.

After one round of combat, he had a rough estimate of the monster's actual combat strength.

First, it has a certain level of intelligence and an excellent ability to remain hidden.

Even with the pool of water as a barrier, it wouldn't be easy to evade Xia Nan's senses.

Its existence was only revealed by the surging killing intent that erupted the moment it launched its attack.

This proves its ability to submerge in water.

They kept their whereabouts hidden until their battle with the Shahua fishmen was completely over, when the two members of the Silver Claw Osprey Squad relaxed their guard and launched a surprise attack.

The patience demonstrated throughout this process is something that no ordinary wild beast could possess.

Xia Nan even suspected that while they were fighting the Shahua fishmen, the latter had been hiding in the water, observing and looking for suitable prey or a weak point to exploit.

Secondly, this monster's physical attributes are incredibly strong.

While she may have the advantage of stealth and ambush, the half-elf Lyda's profession is [Ranger], and her physical attributes are biased towards "agility," making reaction speed her forte.

Just like a few seconds ago, before it could even dodge, its lower body was bitten off.

This demonstrates the Shark Beast's explosive power, which far surpasses that of ordinary monsters.

Finally, Xia Nan observed very carefully when he swung his sword.

【Gravity Etching】The special effect of the force field energy, which is like "true damage", is still there, but the ochre-red energy that blooms like fireworks is slightly slower in tearing the skin of the opponent.

He certainly knew what that meant.

This means that the opponent's gray-blue sharkskin has considerable defensive strength and toughness.

A simple slash, without the added damage bonus of combat skills, would likely be difficult to inflict effective damage.

Currently, [Gravity Etching], which has been upgraded to the maximum level and has increased its usage count, has three usage opportunities remaining.

Xia Nan needs to carefully grasp the timing and cannot, like before, attach force field energy to the sword in advance and release it along with the [Whirlwind Slash] in order to maximize the lethality.

It's better to sacrifice some damage output than to use it when you're sure you can hit the opponent's vitals; otherwise, if the opponent dodges it, you'll easily waste the opportunity.

"The challenge level of this monster has probably exceeded that of the Owl Bear (level 3) and reached the level of the Armored Monster (level 4)."

"Be careful!"

Even though many of his trump cards are still yet to be revealed, Xia Nan remains highly vigilant in the face of the unfamiliar enemy before him.

boom boom—

Just as they were pondering this, a familiar melody of a zither quietly rose in the cave.

Alton, the halfling, stood a little distance away, his expression focused, his eyelids slightly lowered, his fingertips dancing rapidly on the strings of the lute in his arms.

Unlike his usual lively and active nature, the small guy is always reliable in battle and never lets you down.

Faced with the sudden change on the field, he remained calm and quickly reacted.

Unlike previous battles, Alton is aware of the formidable enemy entering the fray and is now playing a piece that is significantly more difficult, requiring complete concentration.

Similarly, the music was exceptionally stirring and resonant.

The invisible musical notes seemed to solidify in the air and seep into the skin through the pores.

"Buzz!"

Xia Nan felt a sudden surge of inexplicable heat within his body, coursing through his entire being, accompanied by an explosion of abundant power.

The fighting spirit is burning fiercely!

(End of this chapter)