That's right, that's what adventure is like!

The silver-gray blade traced a beautiful semi-circular arc, stirring up the darkness before Roland, and landing precisely and cleanly on the goblin.

Bright red blood splattered, warmly patting his arm, soaking through the thin linen cloth, and dripping down the bulging muscles onto the straw on the ground.

"Not a bad counterattack," the woman said, leaning against the railing and watching Roland's every move, a smile never fading from her lips. "But be careful, this is a goblin."

Roland had no time to heed the well-intentioned reminder, as his injuries did not faze the goblin before him, which gripped its bone spikes and launched a new attack.

Boom!

The dark green goblin leaped into the air, its expression revealing a ferocious, bloodthirsty look. Its stinking feet slammed into Roland's chest, sending him crashing against the iron railing with a dull thud.

Pulling a pebble from the strips of cloth covering his body, he viciously hurled it at Roland's eyes, while simultaneously charging forward with his bone spikes once more.

This time, the target was between Roland's legs.

Through countless interactions with humans, it has long understood that this location is their weakness.

However, it still underestimated its opponent. Despite it being their first battle, Roland seemed to possess a unique talent. Not only did the blood fail to move him, but he also clearly understood all of the goblin's intentions.

He gently tilted his head, letting the swiftly approaching stones graz his hair and disappear into the darkness. At the same time, he stepped and twisted to avoid the goblin's attack, and Roland swung his longsword again with lightness and precision.

The cold blade swept across the fragile skin, the writhing flesh tried to stop the longsword's attack, and the frantic hands tried to grab Roland's neck, but all of this was in vain.

The fragile, low-level monster's body was no match for the well-maintained longsword; after the initial stagnation, it became as smooth as chopping wheat.

Gollum—

The arm gripping the bone spur rolled on the ground, spurting blood like rain hitting Roland's robes, instantly staining them red.

"ah!!!"

The goblin's face was contorted with pain as it curled up on the ground, clutching its wound. Its body trembled in the cold air as it bowed its head to the human before it.

Roland had already learned his lesson once, so he naturally wouldn't believe such pleas for mercy again. He raised his longsword to cut off the other's head, but suddenly realized something and abruptly stepped back.

boom!

Intense flames flashed before his eyes, and a powerful force sent his entire body flying against the railing before landing on the ground, turning the area in front of him into a cloud of white smoke.

"Cough cough..."

Using his longsword to prop himself up, Roland coughed twice, instinctively gripping his only weapon tightly, his eyes scanning the aftermath of the explosion with wary intent.

He worried that this was yet another goblin trick.

"Don't be afraid, this is a routine warning," a woman's voice came from behind. "Each monster has been implanted with a magic crystal, which will produce a small explosion before it dies. It looks scary, but it's not very powerful."

Roland was stunned for a moment, and sure enough, as the white smoke dissipated, there was only a large pile of bloody and mangled corpses on the ground, and the goblin was nowhere to be seen.

What is this?

He turned to look at the woman who had reopened the cell door: "Is the battle over?"

"Yes," the woman said, fiddling with the pieces of meat on the ground, trying to put them back together. "The association's boring tricks are never about fighting, but about letting you experience the wickedness of the human heart."

"Whether you choose from the booklet or let me pick, it will lead you to a monster of the same kind that doesn't match the description. This is to prevent you from completely trusting information."

"Generally speaking, this monster will look weak, but it is actually a little stronger than you think. This is to prevent you from being deceived by preconceived notions."

"So, the final explosion was telling us that even when victory is within reach, we must not let our guard down?" Roland continued.

The woman had already pieced together the general outline of the corpse. She stood up and nodded with satisfaction: "Not bad. It seems you have a good understanding and are suited to be an adventurer."

Roland shook his head, finding the trial rather wickedly funny, though it was indeed effective. After this series of tricks, even slow-reacting novices would fall down.

He glanced at the goblin fragments on the ground, about to say something more, when the woman interrupted him: "Alright, you can go now. As agreed with the association, this trial is free. Remember to take the silver coins on the table with you."

Roland nodded slightly, and just as he was about to turn and leave, he suddenly asked, "What's your name?"

The woman didn't even look up, simply replying, "Slave trader, Ramona."

……

It was late at night when I came out of the shop. The market was deserted, and the stars in the sky were covered by dark clouds. Only the howling wind was still cold.

Roland simply wiped the blood off his body, but found it was completely useless. The blood-stained robe needed liquid to remove the stains, so he stopped caring and turned to go into the alley to find a deserted corner.

This battle was simpler than he had expected, but it was enough to fulfill the system's requirements, as evidenced by the semi-transparent text floating before his eyes.

The story "Goblin Trial" has been recorded.

Story type: Battle/Monster

Story Rank: Third-rate

Synopsis: On a cold winter night, Roland Glor accidentally discovered a slave trader's shop and tried fighting for the first time, killing a vile goblin and discovering his talent for swordsmanship.

A reader commented: "What a pity about this goblin."

Change in honors: Quiet and unnoticed (0/100)

Roland looked at the handwriting in front of him, his attention lingering for a moment on the words "reader reviews," but then he was pleasantly surprised.

[You have completed a battle story carrying the "Old Iron Sword," and the power of its former master has been extracted.]

A surge of heat rushed from his heart, coursing through his body like a hot spring, soothing every part of him as if countless invisible hands were massaging his tired muscles.

A faint white glow flickered from the longsword in his hand, and Roland's vision blurred as vast fields of golden wheat appeared before his eyes.

It was a village, with broken wooden planks scattered on the ground, and blood mixed with brain matter making the soil wet.

He saw a blurry but determined figure standing in front of a swaying fence, facing a mob of bandits who outnumbered him several times over and had menacing smiles on their faces.

He heard the sharp clang of metal weapons clashing, the desperate cries of villagers, and a deep, furious roar—"Hold on!"

He felt as if his arm muscles were being guided by a steady and powerful hand, imprinting a kind of honed nerve response into them. It wasn't a head-on collision, but rather, at the moment of impact, using that force to rebound and deliver a fatal counterattack.

The final scene shows a blood-stained, blurred but smiling face solemnly pushing the longsword in its hand into the arms of the grandfather in this body.

"Brother...guard...the village..."

The combat skill "Parry Counterattack" has been extracted, and the item tier has been upgraded.

[Do you wish to spread the story "The Goblin Trial"?]

【whether】