First Death and Great Deed

Just then.

Lance's keen senses caught a faintly unusual sound in the wind.

Scouts had actually circled around behind them!

It turned out those scouts' synchronized heavy blows earlier had not been meant to break his shield, but to cover the footsteps of their companions and create an opening for the one flanking them.

A cunning Goblin scout had already slipped around to the rear flank, raised its stone spear high, and viciously thrust it toward unconscious Damian's head.

If that blow landed, Damian would undoubtedly die.

Without a second thought, Lance spun around, using the centrifugal force of the turn to slam his shield backward.

Bang!

The ambushing scout was sent flying, its bones shattered and tendons torn.

But that life-saving strike also completely exposed Lance's back to the enemies in front of him.

It was a fatal opening.

Thud! Thud!

Two muffled impacts rang out.

Even with the protection of leather armor, it was still pitifully fragile against full-force stone spear thrusts at such close range.

The sharp spearheads pierced the leather and drove deep into Lance's lower back.

Blood immediately seeped out, staining the gray leather armor red.

The weakened pain sensation brought by his physique mutation kept Lance from losing his form to the agony, and his fighting spirit remained as fierce as ever.

But physical damage to the body could not be ignored.

The pierced muscles began to spasm, causing a fatal delay in his once-agile movements.

The rhythm of the battle was completely thrown into chaos.

The next few seconds became Lance's one-sided suffering.

Unable to dodge in time, he was struck in the shoulder and knee by the frontal brutes in quick succession.

"Die!"

Lance's eyes reddened as he endured another spear through the chest and forcibly stepped forward.

The shortsword in his hand became a flash of cold light, accurately piercing the chest of the scout that had succeeded in its ambush and was about to retreat.

This was the last one.

Almost at the same time.

A thick, spiked wooden club tore through the air and smashed heavily into his back.

Crack.

The crisp sound of his spine breaking was clearly audible, and a large section of Lance's back visibly caved in.

Several stone spears followed mercilessly, plunging into his chest and turning him into a porcupine.

Lance swayed, and the shortsword slipped weakly from his hand.

He slowly fell to his knees before Damian and completely lost all signs of life.

The shallows were now littered with corpses.

Of the original Goblin force of nearly twenty, fewer than ten battered survivors remained.

Seeing this terrifying human finally fall, the surviving Goblins looked at one another before letting out victory cries.

"Wala! Wala!"

They waved their weapons, celebrating this hard-won victory.

However.

At the height of their cheers, a blue screen that only Lance could see suddenly unfolded in the air.

[Biological Research level increased: LV1→ LV2]

[Race trait unlocked: Weakness Insight (Goblin)]

As those lines appeared.

The Goblins' originally piercing cheers on the shallows suddenly grew strangely quieter.

"Wala?!"

The Goblins that had been cheering and jumping about suddenly fell silent like ducks with their throats clutched.

The green-skinned monsters discovered in horror that the human corpse that should have been dead was undergoing an extremely bizarre change.

A massive amount of scorching white steam suddenly burst from Lance's horrifying wounds.

The steam billowed upward with a strange shrieking sound.

The stone spears lodged in his chest were forcibly pushed out by the erupting steam, falling onto the pebble shore with several clatters.

The mangled flesh that had once looked so gruesome began writhing and healing at a frenzied pace visible to the naked eye.

In the blink of an eye, it was restored to normal without leaving even the slightest scar.

Even the broken bones of his spine were forcibly reset amid a series of teeth-grating crackles.

Only a few seconds had passed since he fell.

The terrifying human, who had clearly stopped breathing, slowly rose to his feet amid the swirling white steam.

"Is this what death feels like?"

Lance lowered his head, looked at his palm, and clenched his fist tightly.

It seemed no different from his previous life.

He bent down and silently picked up the shortsword and round shield that had fallen to the ground.

The handle of the iron-rimmed round shield had already loosened somewhat, and its covering was in tatters. It would probably be completely ruined after this battle.

As he adjusted his breathing, Lance felt his body instantly return to its peak condition.

All the pain from before vanished.

Thinking back on it now, his earlier belief that he could kill dozens or even hundreds of monsters a day after gaining his talent had been far too ignorant and arrogant.

No matter what kind of creature it was, when you had yet to establish an overwhelming advantage, numbers could truly bring about a qualitative change.

These Goblin brutes had strength attributes of at most three or four points, while his own strength already exceeded theirs by one and a half times.

Yet even so, he had still been surrounded and killed in the chaotic fight.

"It seems I underestimated these low-level monsters."

Lance's gaze turned cold.

Looking at this human who had returned from the dead, the Goblins instinctively felt a chill run through them and gripped their weapons as they retreated several steps.

Taking advantage of the opening, Lance glanced at the system notifications rapidly flooding across his retina.

The topmost one explained Weakness Insight.

No wonder.

In his current vision, the Goblins before him were covered in red spots of various sizes.

Some were on their throats, some beneath their arms, and some on their abdomens.

The system notification clearly indicated that striking those glowing spots could deal up to 200% critical damage.

For a species as frail as Goblins, being struck in a weak point basically meant instant death.

As Lance's icy gaze swept across their bodies.

The Goblins felt an inexplicable, trembling chill, as though an invisible blade were pressed against their necks.

Below the trait was a long string of densely packed information.

[Life signs lost. Beginning death assessment...]

[Talent: Ouroboros Ring activating...]

[Assessment passed: Congratulations, you successfully defied death.]

[Great Deed information detected...]

--

1. Completely lose all life signs during a battle.

2. Revive and return to the world of the living within 60 seconds.

3. At the time of death, possess a strong desire to protect, and not die by suicide or accident.

--

[Congratulations, you have achieved the Great Deed: "I Successfully Defied Death"]

[Great Deed effect: When you face another death check, all attributes temporarily increase by 10%. For three minutes, you are immune to instant-death effects, mental control, and fear effects. Unless physical mutilation leaves you unable to act, you can continue fighting until death. (Note: Those who have defied death are less likely to die again.)]

[Several compatible Great Deed Profession information streams detected. Decrypting...]

[Successfully decrypted a Great Deed Profession path: Pale Sentinel...]