Chapter 10: Feats

Often, influenced by scenes in movies and television, people tend to believe that individuals possessing large frames and bulging muscles, while specialized in strength, must be lacking in agility and nimbleness.

To a certain extent, that is indeed the case.

Muscles that are overly developed to the point of appearing bloated can heavily impede one’s flexibility, and a body weight far exceeding ordinary humans prevents their stance from being light and graceful.

However, all of this hinges on a premise:

The opponent must be at the same level of strength as you.

In modern society, this premise might not be all that important. After all, supernatural powers do not exist, and no matter how much you train, you ultimately remain within the mortal tier.

But placed within a fantasy world where earthly legends, saintly avatars, gods, and demons genuinely coexist, this point becomes exceptionally vital.

Compared to Xia Nan, a “field boy” who had just reached adulthood at eighteen, the bugbear was entirely ahead in every single aspect, except for intelligence and farming.

This even included scholarship—he understood two languages, Goblin and Common.

Therefore, even though Xia Nan temporarily forgot his fear under the effect of adrenaline and launched an offensive immediately after evading, the bugbear “Henk” still reacted with considerable ease.

He did not even pull out his morningstar, which had smashed into the ground. Facing the swinging longsword, he merely swept his thick, brownish-haired arm with force.

Bang—

Xia Nan’s entire person was instantly sent flying backward.

As if colliding head-on with a train, he only felt a surge of colossal force travel from his chest, causing even his thoughts to halt. An extreme sensation of vertigo, accompanied by intense agony, nearly scattered his consciousness.

“Fuck!”

He struggled to climb to his feet, a thick, bloody stench flooding his mouth.

On the other side, Henk’s burly figure already stood before him.

“Bug, not good!” The bugbear allowed the shallow wound on his neck to stream with blood, his yellowish-brown eyes packed with rage and humiliation, as if he had been bitten by a rabbit that was about to be lifted onto the chopping board.

“Henk wants to eat you alive!”

Bugbear tribes had not developed methods resembling “torture.” With their cognitive understanding akin to primitive humans, letting prey watch themselves be eaten alive was the most cruel act.

To this end, the tribal priest had even found a type of plant capable of keeping a prey conscious despite being heavily wounded.

Of course, the current Henk did not have those conditions, nor did he possess such advanced “cooking” techniques.

Thus, Xia Nan could probably die a bit more swiftly.

Things had come to this point.

Staring at the bugbear gradually closing in on him, having gained a further clear understanding of the disparity in strength between them, no thoughts of begging for mercy arose in his heart.

On one hand, he did not feel that with the opponent’s moral standards, the creature would have the good intentions to spare him.

On the other hand, it was also because Xia Nan noticed that not far behind the flank of the bugbear, the hunter Maji, who had just had his lower leg smashed to pieces and was howling in agony, was slowly sitting up against the wall. His right hand gripped his longbow tightly, while his left reached toward his quiver.

Their gazes quietly met and separated in a split second.

Although the two had not known each other for long and possessed absolutely no tacit understanding to speak of, at this moment, Xia Nan still instinctively read the implicit meaning within the other’s eyes.

Delay time, draw the enemy’s attention.

His brain operated at rapid speed. Opening his mouth, he spoke up:

“Hey, doing it this way won’t taste good.”

“Huh?” Realizing the little bug was speaking, Henk, who held the iron hammer high, could not help but daze for a moment. “No! Humans, tasty!”

“If you want to eat me directly without roasting, I recommend using a raw-marinated method.”

Seeing that the other party seemed drawn in by his words, Xia Nan did not care what he was saying at this point, merely blurting out randomly.

“You can first place me in a basin to wash clean, then add fine salt to sterilize and infuse flavor. After stirring for five minutes, put in ginger, garlic, chili, and soy sauce, and seal it up to wait for thirty minutes.”

“That flavor…” Seeing Henk appear impatient because of the steps he casually made up, Xia Nan caught on instantly, shifting the focus of the topic onto the taste.

“The texture is fresh and sweet. It can guarantee my original flavor while allowing you to taste the sour and spicy texture of the ingredients. It’s very appetizing.”

“Sweet? Spicy… what flavor is that?” Henk held his morningstar high in his hand, yet it never fell, instead asking with a hint of confusion.

But he was a bugbear, after all, not a single-threaded ogre who was far more covetous of flesh.

The moment he spoke, Henk snapped back to his senses.

“Little bug, wants to trick me. Deserves to die!”

He fiercely took two steps forward, the muscles of his right arm holding the morningstar expanding, looking as though he would smash this annoying bug beneath him into mincemeat in the next second.

And right at this moment, Maji was finally prepared once more.

Drawing his bow and nocking an arrow, storing power as he aimed.

Shoom—

The familiar metallic whistling sound echoed through the air once again.

Compared to before, the distance between him and the bugbear this time was even shorter, meaning that even if the other party possessed reaction capabilities far exceeding ordinary people, it would be very difficult to evade.

Moreover, the energy barrier that could almost become the nightmare of all archers did not appear.

Thus…

Slash!

Blood splattered.

Maji, whose lower leg was smashed, had shot the arrow while sitting on the ground, almost brushing against the stone wall of the cave.

Although it remained precise under the effect of the combat skill, its power was quite a bit lesser.

Therefore, even though the metallic arrow penetrated the bugbear’s right eye almost the instant he turned his head due to the noise, only a small half of the arrowhead sunk into the opponent’s eye socket.

The toxin carrying a paralyzing effect rapidly spread inward from the wound.

He was heavily wounded, but it was far from fatal.

Facing this final opportunity to claim life, Xia Nan did not show a single shred of cowardice either.

Just as the bugbear howled from the intense pain of his eyeball being pierced, he gripped the one-handed sword in his palms tightly with both hands. Bracing against the hard-to-describe soreness that felt like his arm muscles were tearing, he forcibly unleashed his fourth [Whirlwind Slash] of the day.

Cold light flickered.

The brownish-red fur possessed no resistance whatsoever against the sharp blade;

The thick hide, akin to cowhide, served as the first obstacle, feeling slightly sluggish;

The accumulated fat resembled muddy water in a swamp—the blade remained smooth, yet its force was consumed invisibly;

The muscles, as hard and solid as boulders, digested almost all the sharpness carried by the longsword, but it was still broken through with difficulty under the bonus of [Whirlwind Slash];

Then, the blade that had broken through fur, blood, and flesh all the way encountered the hardest line of defense within a biological body—

Bone.

Snap.

Without needing to be passed around any longer in the hands of rookie adventurers, the battle-worn one-handed sword finally met its deserved end.

In a fierce encounter that was entirely sufficient to be etched into its combat history, it snapped apart.

The sudden sensation of empty disconnection in his hands left the accumulated force unable to pour out.

Xia Nan watched with his own eyes as fractures manifested upon the blade and gradually expanded. Subsequently, under the influence of the inertia brought by [Whirlwind Slash], his entire person flew out diagonally.

“Roar!!!”

Howling wildly, the intense pain he had never suffered before caused the beast, with a frame as burly as a brown bear, to completely lose his remaining sanity.

Along with the eyeball, he pulled the arrow straight out of his eye socket. The crimson blood that emerged subsequently dyed his torso red like a waterfall, adding a few more degrees of ferocity.

Facing this crazed beast of an animal, there was a weakened hunter with a smashed lower leg, coupled with a rookie adventurer whose stamina was drained and whose weapon was destroyed.

The ending of the bottom-of-the-barrel party seemed already clear.

Despair flooded Maji’s face.

The secondary use of [Precise Shot] had completely plunged his body into a state of paralysis following an overload.

It felt as though every strand of muscle was twitching and pulsing, to the point that he could not marshal even a trace of strength.

His gaze was hollow, completely unknown what he was thinking.

Perhaps he regretted barging into this cave due to greed, or perhaps he hated himself for always failing to learn his lesson and not being more cautious;

Of course, it was also possible that he was reminiscing about the girl who looked at him with a face full of smiles beneath the white oak tree back in his hometown.

Unexpectedly.

Compared to the hunter Maji who had completely lost hope for life, the expression on Xia Nan’s face—whose body was likewise verging on collapse—looked somewhat complicated.

Yes, complicated.

Just like when playing mahjong in his previous life, holding a hand of terrible tiles and intending to defend to finish the round, yet unexpectedly putting together a minor win right before a draw; or spending thousands in a game without pulling a single gold, only to pull an SSR using the final free pull provided by the official developers right before quitting the game.

That was a peculiar mix of relief, pleasant surprise, and resentment that amounted to, “Why the fuck didn’t you come a bit earlier?”

Because right at the same time he used [Whirlwind Slash] and swung that strike just now.

A massive string of semi-transparent characters had flashed across his eyes like a screen spam.

“Proficiency +1”

“【Whirlwind Slash】lv4（100/100）——【Whirlwind Slash】lv5（Max）”

“Strength +1, Dexterity +1”

“Feat 【Slashing Adept】has been unlocked”

…

【Slashing Adept】

Category: Feat

Effect: Slashing damage +5%

Description:

Day after day of practice has allowed you to gradually comprehend the mysteries hidden between the edges of blades.

Note 1:

“Back in the day, I held this sword in my hand and hacked all the way from Mount Celestia to the Nine Hells. For five years and six months, back and forth, without blinking an eye once.”

——Ragnarok · 35th Contractor of the “Sword of Extermination and Finality” · The Abandoned · Julius

Note 2:

“Sweat will not betray you!”

——Stone Saint · Legendary Monk of the “Grit and Integrity Sect” · Yongwu

…

Facing a crisis of life and death, Xia Nan had absolutely no opportunity to carefully examine this information.

He merely scanned it in a hurry, knowing that during the combat just now, he had obtained the final point of proficiency for [Whirlwind Slash], raising it to the max level of Lv5, and had obtained a series of enhancements accordingly.

Subsequently, a mysterious force burst and surged from deep within his body like a spring, rapidly spreading across his entire form.

His exhausted muscles were soothed and relaxed as if bathing in a hot spring; his originally slightly loose stance instantly tightened by a ring, and his strength and explosive power received a remarkable enhancement; the ground beneath his feet seemed to suddenly turn soft, as if springs were installed in his shoes, making him agile and light.

As if changing into another body entirely, those original traces of fatigue and agony were swept clean in an instant.

Xia Nan lifted his head, his pitch-black eyes noting the ferocious figure ahead that was currently charging straight toward him with a wild roar.

He threw the one-handed sword—which had only a hilt left in his hand—aside.

A silver-white glint seemed to flash past the corner of his eye. Turning his head to glimpse—

Gagu’s corpse lay on the ground, and by his feet, his two-handed axe that was half the height of a person stood stuck upside down.

His thoughts drifted past, and a decision was already made in his heart.

The bugbear “Henk” had completely plunged into an uncontrollable state of frenzy due to his heavy injuries.

His brain was manipulated by an endless desire for destruction; even if his dead goblin lackeys were to stand before him, they would be torn to pieces by him without a shred of mercy.

In this state, he naturally would not realize what kind of change had occurred within this weak human youth before him.

Henk merely instinctively repeated his countless hunting steps from the past dozen years.

Charging, aiming at the prey, lifting the morningstar, smashing…

Buzz—

A silver-white flash that was purer and briefer compared to before flickered and vanished within the dim cave.

What was implied within it was a further powerful explosive force and more exquisite technique.

[Whirlwind Slash], which had been raised to the max level of Lv5, allowed Xia Nan to completely fathom everything regarding this move.

How to exert the greatest power while saving the most stamina, what kind of angle to swing from to cause greater lethality, the most appropriate timing…

It had almost become a part of his body.

And the 5% bonus brought by [Slashing Adept], though the number looked small, was a damage enhancement that was practically accumulated upon every single attack without restriction.

Not to mention the most critical part: the two precious attribute points obtained in “Strength” and “Dexterity.”

Muscle strength and physical potential, reaction speed and degree of agility…

Going from “5” to “6” was by no means a 20% increase on a numerical level, but rather a more complex, all-around growth involving various levels.

Combined under this, within the span of a short few seconds, Xia Nan’s combat power had practically leapt across several tiers.

And the [Whirlwind Slash] unleashed based on this foundation also possessed a qualitative change in the power it could generate.

The two-handed axe that should have been incomparably heavy turned out to be quite handy after his body received the reinforcement.

Abundant strength pulled up from beneath his legs, rapidly gathering and transmitting.

The blade of the axe swung diagonally upward, gathering the strength of his entire body into a single point, and then erupted fiercely!

“Roar!”

A foul stench carrying the scent of blood rushed over his face, and the shadow of the morningstar raised high above his head shrouded him.

Xia Nan could even clearly see the strands of bloodshot lines surfacing within the bugbear’s yellowish-brown, turbid eyes, and feel the air waves vibrating slightly due to his roar.

But it was only to that extent.

Because in the next second, from his hands traveled that sluggish sensation of a sharp blade breaking through a body, which had gradually grown familiar across multiple battles.

Fur, flesh, bone… the defense that had just stopped his already snapped blade was broken through with ease.

Following an instant of sluggish deceleration was an incomparable smoothness and gratification.

The blade of the axe drove Xia Nan’s body forward, completing a hundred-and-eighty-degree rotation.

Slash—

The bugbear’s massive head flew spinning away from the position where it should have remained, his face even maintaining its roaring expression.

The hammer fell to the ground.

Scarlet, scalding blood pumped out like a fountain, and the burly body collapsed along with it.