It was already late summer, and the evening breeze was no longer so hot.
But the goblin crouching in the grass only felt a wave of intense dread repeatedly washing over its heart.
Suddenly, this sense of dread reached its peak, to the point where it could genuinely feel something staring at its back.
Instinctively, it took a step to the side and looked back.
A sudden gust of wind swept in.
A pitchfork thrust out from a dark corner, stabbing straight into its waist.
Green blood spurted from its abdomen. The goblin felt as if its internal organs had been completely shredded, and all strength drained from its body.
“Phew... Phew...”
As for the wielder of the pitchfork, Lynn, a wave of exhaustion washed over him once the rush of adrenaline faded.
He checked the notification in his mind.
“Killed 1 Goblin Minion. Obtained Talent Point (Goblin) *1”
The third one...
Seeing his hard work yield visible rewards, Lynn smiled slightly.
...
Just a few minutes ago,
while Lynn was working in the fields, three or four green-skinned runts had quietly appeared out of nowhere.
This was the first time Lynn had ever seen what a goblin actually looked like.
Though short, they were hideous and filthy.
A goblin stood only about 1.2 meters tall, barely reaching Lynn's waist.
Yet, with their aggressive aura, even these short runts pressured Lynn no less than a rabid dog would.
Lynn had no doubt that if he were injured by them, he could very well die from a secondary wound infection in this countryside with its extremely primitive medical care.
But why were there goblins near the village?
Although his dozen or so years of experience since transmigrating had already taught him that this was no ordinary medieval era, but a fantasy world where swords and magic coexisted,
his adrenaline still surged with panic when he found himself actually cornered by these monsters.
His mind raced, and Lynn quickly formulated a plan.
His biggest advantage right now was that this pack of goblins hadn't noticed him yet.
They were out in the open while he was in the dark. There was still a chance!
Lynn gripped the pitchfork with both hands. Under the influence of adrenaline, his hands trembled.
Keeping his footsteps light and relying on his familiarity with the terrain, he crept silently toward one of the green-skinned runts.
Thrust!
Without any warning, Lynn suddenly lunged, executing a simple straight thrust directly at the nearby green-skinned runt.
There were no flashy techniques.
After all, Lynn was no swordmaster from some children's palace.
Yet, to Lynn's surprise, it was incredibly effective.
The goblin barely had time to react before he pierced its chest from behind, killing it on the spot!
Still, the goblin used its last ounce of strength to call out to its companions.
Fortunately, though the goblin wanted to cry out, the blood bubbling from its pierced chest choked its voice.
Moreover, the goblins were scattered, so only one of them heard the muffled struggle.
A voice echoed in his mind after he killed the first goblin, but Lynn couldn't afford to pay attention to it.
His ears twitched as he caught another sound behind him.
Another goblin, armed with a sling, was already closing in.
A gust of wind rushed toward his back; there was no time to dodge.
Lynn could only roll forward, doing his best to minimize the damage from the attack behind him.
Thud!
A fist-sized stone slung at high speed flew toward Lynn.
But thanks to his timely evasion, the stone didn't land a solid hit, only grazing his back.
Compared to being slashed by a stone knife practically enchanted with tetanus, taking a single hit from a stone was already the best possible outcome for an untrained villager like Lynn.
Counterattack!
End this quickly!
The panic in Lynn's heart was entirely overtaken by sheer adrenaline and fighting spirit.
He quickly lunged at the newly arrived goblin, repeatedly thrusting the pitchfork, pulling it back, and thrusting again...
The method was crude, but it worked.
These short goblins with primitive weapons had little way to resist Lynn's physical advantage and the reach of his pitchfork.
After three or four thrusts, the goblin slipped up, and the iron fork struck it squarely in the chest.
The iron farming tool easily punctured the green skin, passing between the ribs and through the beating heart before protruding from the goblin's back, dragging out green blood.
The goblin's corpse collapsed to the ground with a thud.
Gradually recovering from his tension, Lynn realized that although goblins were called monsters, they weren't actually that terrifying.
In a direct one-on-one, a goblin standing barely 1.2 meters tall and weighing only sixty to seventy pounds stood no chance against a young man.
With both goblins dead, the surroundings fell silent. He seemed to finally be safe.
As the pain-numbing effect of the adrenaline wore off, a burning sensation spread across his back.
Lynn touched his back.
Fortunately, his clothes weren't torn; it was likely just a superficial scrape.
Now, Lynn finally had time to examine the thing that had abruptly appeared in his mind.
It seemed to be... a book?
On the cover was written: 《Monster Identification Manual》
With a thought from Lynn, the manual flipped open.
The first page was his personal panel—
[Adventurer Lynn · Classless]
[Strength: 5]
[Constitution: 4]
[Dexterity: 5]
[Wisdom: 7]
[Intelligence: 8]
[Charisma: 5]
...
His attributes were mediocre, with only Intelligence and Wisdom being relatively outstanding—likely a benefit brought by his transmigration.
Judging by his Intelligence alone, Lynn was practically a natural-born spellcaster!
Turning another page,
“Killed 1 Goblin Minion. Obtained Talent Point (Goblin) *1”
“Killed 1 Goblin Minion. Obtained Talent Point (Goblin) *1”
It was log-like content; he skimmed over it.
Flipping to the third page—
The content of the book suddenly became much more abundant.
The third page depicted a tree-like branching diagram, spreading out tier by tier.
Various types of goblin talents seemed to hang from the tree, though the vast majority were locked and unselectable.
A talent tree?
Lynn focused his mind on the root of the talent tree.
【Activate "Goblin Minion" talent? Consumes Talent Point (Goblin) *1. Currently held Talent Points: 2】
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【Goblin】: A weak monster with a Challenge Rating of 1/8. Even an angry commoner can easily kill one in a direct one-on-one fight, and a fully armed soldier can handle several at once. Although there are some powerful variants within the race, the potential of their bloodline is not very high.
(Note: Challenge Rating divisions—1/8 is roughly equivalent to a medium dog, 1/4 is roughly equivalent to an armed civilian, 1/2 is roughly equivalent to an inexperienced fully armored soldier, and a Level 1 official class-holder is slightly stronger than a battle-hardened veteran soldier.)
Rate on N.U.
