Somewhere in the depths of the cursed region, Vaan continued to advance when half of the hired mercenaries had already pulled back to the camp.
At that moment, there was no one else who had ventured as far as Vaan did. The closest mercenary group was more than four hundred and sixty yards behind him.
Swish!
Vaan’s eyes sharpened as he weaved through a volley of poisoned arrows and darts before nimbly scaling up a random tree and stomping on its trunk with one foot to shoot forward with explosive speed.
Bang!
A very round crack appeared on the tree trunk as if it had been drilled while the tree itself shook heavily and the leaves rustled endlessly.
In the same instance that the round crack appeared, Vaan’s body seemingly disappeared, closing a gap of fifty yards between him and the group of goblin archers ahead in a mere instance.
<[Total Speed: 185 → 360 (Mid-level Rank 2 → Mid-level Rank 3)]>
It was only for a brief instance, but Vaan’s speed nearly doubled, reaching a level only achievable by Mid Rank 3 Aura Grandmasters.
Naturally, the group of two dozen goblin archers was caught off guard by his massive burst of speed. By the time they panicked and turned to flee, two dozen heads fell in the next several breaths.
The goblins may have learned a few tricks, but they couldn’t overcome the absolute gap in strength between them.
Ding!.
<You have successfully executed Earth Acceleration (Low rank) and Illusory Lightning Steps (Mid rank) simultaneously>
<You have created a new movement-type magic-martial skill, Extreme Lightning Flash Step (High-rank)>
…
‘A movement skill with lightning in its name when it uses earth magic, huh?’ Vaan thought comically at the irony.
Nevertheless, Earth Acceleration worked as he had theorized.
Although it could only be applied to objects with earth elements, his Earth Spirit Body could be listed under such a category.
Even so, the burden of using Earth Acceleration on his own body was especially great. He could barely withstand it without his organs rupturing, thanks to his high defense, which had reached Rank 3.
That said, he would most likely suffer some internal injuries if he used the skill consecutively within a short period.
‘I need to increase my body’s defense attributes to the Mid-level Rank 2 if I want to use this skill without side effects,’ Vaan noted.
Even without the Mid-rank movement-type martial skill, just Earth Acceleration alone gave him 150 bonus points in speed.
…
After collecting the left ears from the goblins’ heads, accumulating a total of eighty left goblin ears, Vaan continued to explore the depths of the cursed region.
Without anyone around, he could act more freely.
Earth Acceleration wasn’t a Specialized Magic he would like to use on his Earth Spirit Body around others, even if they wouldn’t be able to guess it was a Specialized Magic.
Instead, they would suspect that he had mastered a high or even peak-rank movement-type martial art.
Such a level of martial art was bound to attract attention and envy, even greed. And in a lawless place like the Red Goblin Mountains, it would only bring unwarranted problems.
Although Vaan didn’t care about killing other humans, it didn’t mean he had to bring unnecessary troubles upon himself.
Vaan’s following step slowed by half a beat as his Omni-Sense picked up another group of goblins.
‘Twelve on the tree branches, seventy-five yards ahead, six in the bushes behind the trees on the left, and another eight on the right, huh?’
In a short moment, Vaan locked onto their positions and numbers.
While the goblins did their best to hide, they failed to escape his detection. Their irregular breathing and movements were all picked up by him.
And as he got closer, even their heartbeats could be sensed.
When Vaan failed to pick up any other goblin group within his detection range, he immediately went in for the kill, coming from their left side.
The abrupt noise startled them.
When they quickly turned to look and spotted Vaan, who had already entered their proximity, a few froze while others felt intimidated.
The subtle difference in their emotions compared to the last group was noticed by him.
Nevertheless, Vaan slaughtered the twenty-four goblins, all the same, making quick work of them with his crude knives, blades, and swords he had picked up and added to his collection.
Ding!
<Your throwing mastery proficiency has increased>
<Your blade mastery proficiency has increased>
<Your sword mastery proficiency has increased>
…
<You have killed a hundred Rank 1 Green Goblins>
<Your Killing Intent (Low rank) has improved>
<Your Killing Intent (Low rank) has gained a special trait, Goblin Hunter>
=====
[Killing Intent (Low rank)]
Overview: When directing your killing intent at other living beings, there is a slight chance of inflicting fear to intimidate or break their fighting spirit.
Effect 1 [Normal]: 10% chance to inflict fear on Rank 1 beings or weaker.
Effect 2 [Goblin Hunter]: There’s a 20% higher chance of inflicting fear on Rank 1 goblins or weaker.
=====
‘Interesting…’ Vaan thought.
He believed it was possible to inflict fear with killing intent by first growing the killing intent from killing other living beings.
However, he didn’t believe it was as easy or quick as the system made it appear.
‘Does the system have a way to reap the vengeful souls of those I killed and feed them to my killing intent?’ Vaan suspected.
Alas, he hardly knew anything about the soul. It was a realm he was still far from grasping.
Boom…
While Vaan was collecting left goblin ears and his spoils of war from the goblin corpses, he felt a distant tremor.
Although it was picked up within his detection rage, the actual source of the tremor was definitely, much further away, at least five miles.
Boom…! Boom…!
Vaan sensed the distant noises again.
The ground rumbled, trees shook, leaves rustled, and the wind swirled. At first, the disturbance came from behind him. But in a short time, it came from ahead.
Someone had passed him and ventured deeper.
However, the person was still far enough from his location that he didn’t see the person as they passed him.
But with such a ruckus, he could only think of one person.
‘That use of brute strength… That’s Headmaster Astoria fighting, no doubt. If she trying to scare all the birds away from the Red Goblin Mountains?’ Vaan thought amusedly.