Earth Spike Technique Lv.2

The night faded from the horizon.

In the air of Plint Town, the scent of blood mixed with the unique stench of goblins, lingering for a long time.

The extermination of goblins was still ongoing.

Ever since the purple-skinned Shaman was impaled, the remaining goblins had completely lost their leader. Like cockroaches whose nests had been destroyed, they scattered and fled throughout the town.

Baron Ul and Captain Kadan were directing guards and townsfolk to clear them out in groups.

He Xi didn't choose to join the main force. Instead, he led Bruce through the alleys, searching for any stragglers.

At this moment, he was leaning against a wall, catching his breath slightly, recovering his spent stamina and magic.

Suddenly, Bruce's ears twitched, and his nostrils flared rapidly. "He Xi! To the front left! By the wall! There's movement!"

He Xi's gaze sharpened, and he looked in the direction Bruce indicated.

He saw a goblin with a broken leg, dragging its injured limb, trying to hide behind the wall.

He Xi's eyes were calm as he raised his hand.

[Earth Spike Technique]!

With a thought!

Puchi!

Stone spikes emerged from the ground beneath the goblin!

The goblin let out a "Gak!" from its throat, convulsed a few times, and then lay still.

He Xi frowned slightly. "As expected... killing them doesn't always grant proficiency."

He recalled the previous battles. "Killing that Giant Goblin and the Shaman increased my proficiency by 6 points! Killing normal goblins... I've killed 12 in total including that last one, and only gained 1 point before.

It seems that to quickly improve skills, I need to find stronger opponents."

"But... what about the skill traits? That Giant Goblin and the Shaman, and even the normal goblins, didn't yield a single trait!"

"Could it be that getting [Swarm Leader] from the blood mosquitoes was pure luck?"

"Sigh..." He Xi felt a bit dejected. "Although I don't expect to get any good traits from these green-skins, this feeling of getting nothing at all is still unpleasant!"

"My magic has almost recovered, and my stamina is okay, I'm just a bit sleepy..." He Xi yawned. "But I probably won't be able to sleep if I go back now. I'll kill a few more! I don't believe it! I won't get a single trait tonight!"

He and Bruce continued searching through various alleys.

Several hours passed.

Dawn began to break.

He Xi had killed six more hiding goblins.

His proficiency hadn't changed, and the skill traits... were still nowhere to be found.

He Xi rubbed his sore eyes and looked at the pale sky, ready to give up.

"Forget it... I'll go back to sleep. It seems my luck ran out tonight."

Just as he turned to leave, Bruce suddenly sniffed hard. "He Xi! Behind that big pile of grass up ahead, there's a 'big guy' hiding."

He Xi's spirits lifted!

"A big guy?"

He and Bruce immediately crept around from the side.

Sure enough!

Behind a haystack, an unusually plump green backside was completely exposed to the outside, completely unguarded.

Its whole body was tucked into the grass, revealing half of a thick lower leg and a huge foot.

Judging by the size of the backside and the thick lower leg... although this goblin wasn't as terrifying as the Giant Goblin from last night, it was definitely a size larger than a normal goblin! It was an "elite monster"!

"Good heavens! It hid pretty well."

[Earth Spike Technique]

He locked onto that protruding, plump backside!

Puchi--

A meter-long stone spike shot out from the ground at an angle!

The angle was tricky!

"Gua-a-a-a-a-a--!!!!"

A piercing, distorted scream erupted instantly.

The sound was filled with pain.

Bruce's ears twitched from the scream. "He Xi, you're acting strange! But this is definitely the most miserable scream of the night... it broke pitch!"

The goblin, whose backside had been stabbed, suddenly sprang up from the haystack.

It clutched its rear end tightly with both hands, its legs falling to the ground in a pigeon-toed stance.

The thick stone spike had pierced straight through its crotch.

Green blood flowed out along the stone spike, gurgling…

It lay on the ground with its rear end sticking up, its screams echoing endlessly, and soon it fell silent.

[Earth Spike Technique Proficiency +1, Lv.2 (0/20)]

He Xi: "..."

He looked at the gruesome scene, his mouth twitching.

"Uh… this angle…"

"Did I get proficiency because I 'aimed'?"

However, the next notification instantly replaced his slight embarrassment with overwhelming joy!

[You have mastered skill: Earth Spike Technique Lv.2!]

[Intelligence +1!]

A cool sensation surged into his mind, invigorating He Xi.

"Intelligence +1!"

"Gained a point in intelligence?"

He Xi was overjoyed.

"I was so focused on leveling up Earth Spike Technique to Lv.2 that I almost forgot what Teacher Edwin said—mastering a skill itself can train your attributes!"

"I wonder if more powerful, more complex skills will increase attributes more?"

"I'll worry about that when I learn them! For now, let's test the changes in Lv.2 Earth Spike Technique!"

He eagerly began to experiment.

Same position, same target, same length.

Earth Spike Technique!

Squelch!

A stone spike instantly formed, accurately piercing the target still sticking its rear end up on the ground.

"Magic consumption… is noticeably less!" He Xi's eyes lit up. "And the formation speed is faster! The earth element response is more swift and condensed! It feels much easier to control!"

He began to try guiding more earth elements simultaneously!

With a slight shift of his will!

This time, it wasn't locking onto one point!

But… three!

Earth Spike Technique!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Three muffled thuds, almost simultaneous!

On the open ground ahead, three sharp stone spikes erupted from the earth in a triangular formation.

"Success!" He Xi rejoiced inwardly.

"Before, I needed to cast it three times in a row to release three spikes! Now… I can do it all at once!"

"The total magic consumption is less than casting them consecutively! And it saves time!"

"This upgrade is so practical!"

Having completed his objective, He Xi, satisfied, returned to the cabin with Bruce.

After a simple wash to remove the bloodstains and dirt, he collapsed into bed.

He slept deeply.

Until the next morning, when the harsh sunlight streaming through the worn-out window onto his face woke him up slowly.

After waking up, He Xi began to pack his belongings in an orderly fashion.

He changed into a clean, coarse linen outfit and put David's notebook and the few bottles of potions into his backpack.

The strangely shaped dagger was hung at his waist.

As he was organizing his backpack, Bruce seemed to remember something:

"He Xi! I almost forgot! When I bit that Mud Doll last night, I smelled something!"

"Smelled what?"

"The black hair on that doll's head isn't fake hair, I can tell. It's human hair! It carries a scent like long-buried soil mixed with blood!"

He Xi's movements froze instantly, and he felt a chill creep up from the soles of his feet.

Human hair?!

That bizarre Mud Doll… was made with real human hair?!