Chapter 68: Title Upgrade
Opening the Adventurer’s Handbook, he discovered that the title related to goblins had been upgraded.
"You have cumulatively killed 50 goblins, and the title [Goblin Hunter] has been upgraded to [Goblin Slayer]."
After the title upgrade, the entry effects have undergone a brand-new transformation.
Current Effect: Star Destruction. In battles against goblins and related advanced race creatures, the damage caused by your attacks is increased by an additional 20%.
(Critical Hit bonus included, with a certain probability of triggering a critical hit, the power of attacks during the critical state is greatly increased. After activation, this effect cannot be triggered again in a short period.)
The title upgrade has increased the damage bonus effect of Star Destruction from 10% to 20%.
Don’t underestimate this 10% increase; damage bonuses are, by themselves, the most straightforward and violent enhancement compared to other flashy effects. The original Star Destruction effect had already allowed him to thrive in the face of many goblins.
Now raised to 20%, ordinary goblins will have an even harder time resisting him.
He even suspected that now, relying on Basic Swordsmanship and a 20% damage bonus, he might already be able to confront the mutated large goblin he encountered on his first mission head-on.
Moreover, the title upgrade has added a critical hit special effect to Star Destruction, which, when triggered, significantly increases attack damage once again.
Gauss browsed through the panel, feeling like he was steadfastly heading down the path of the Goblin Slayer.
He temporarily believed that this was not a bad thing.
His Adventurer’s Handbook required him to accumulate the total number of monster kills, making goblins a prime target.
Because there are plenty of goblins, they reproduce robustly and are one of the most common low-level monsters.
Although the vast majority of individual goblins aren’t too strong for him now, encountering too many at once can still be risky.
Furthermore, powerful individuals with challenge levels will also appear among goblins, and special attacks against goblins will provide more assurance when carrying out related commissions.
He wondered how many goblins would need to be killed for the next title upgrade?
Gauss pondered in his heart.
After thinking for a moment, his mind returned to reality.
He looked around, took out a dagger, and proficiently began cutting off the large ears of the goblins, then searched the surroundings for loot.
Unfortunately, this group of goblins were paupers.
Aside from some wooden tools and stone tools, there were only a few tattered pieces of cloth used for covering.
In fact, this was within his expectations.
Generally, the weaker the goblin’s combat ability and desires, the cheaper their collections.
Only those goblins who can genuinely threaten humans and caravans could rob or steal enough valuable items.
However, deep in the cave, Gauss discovered a scrawny female wild goat tied up with rope and wooden stakes.
This discovery left Gauss in a state of indescribable complexity.
Because the female goat lay weakly on the ground, with its belly swollen. Upon closer inspection, it seemed as though there was a worm-like squirming movement under its abdomen.
It was a pregnant female goat.
Although Gauss had long heard that goblins could reproduce offspring relying on other animals’ bodies, and there was no reproductive isolation, witnessing this scene himself still startled him with the goblins’ extravagant reproductive capabilities.
The goblins’ um, were surprisingly liberal.
Glancing at the bleating goat on the ground, Gauss decided to put it out of its misery.
"Slash!"
Accompanied by a swift strike, the sword blade severed the rope imprisoning the goat and simultaneously claimed its life.
After dealing with the goat, Gauss did not stop his actions.
He placed the sword’s tip against the goat’s abdomen, gently slid it through, and the soft skin slowly split, revealing the goat’s warm internal organs.
Gauss found the small green-skinned offspring inside the goat’s belly, resembling little mice, and prodded them out one by one with the sword’s tip.
Arranging them in a line, he counted a total of six goblin embryos.
The number was neither too many nor too few, indicating the goblin embryos’ quantity and survival rate, when incubated, were closely related to the host body’s size.
Gauss had previously heard that if goblins chose small animals like rabbits as a host, they could usually only produce one or two offspring, while larger animals could yield several litters, possibly ten or more.
Insufficient nutritional supply from the host also resulted in the goblins being smaller in size.
It’s no wonder the goblins nearby were not large. Gauss had found the answer.
The six goblin embryos killed, similar to the previous Kobold cubs, would not accumulate the Monster Atlas numbers, but Gauss still felt it was necessary to do this.
Although killing these six embryos couldn’t change the rampant goblin situation, it could at least reduce potential risks for the nearby villages in the short term.
Moreover, it was just a matter of convenience.
After checking the cave surroundings again and ensuring nothing was overlooked, he gathered his belongings and departed.
That goat’s corpse was left in the cave as well.
Goblins’ flesh is poisonous to humans and most creatures, unsuitable for consumption as normal food. After being contaminated as a host for goblins, the goat’s flesh likely absorbed some toxins, and besides, Gauss, having seen the prior scene, couldn’t bear to feed on it.
He returned to the wheat field area where he killed four goblins earlier, cutting off the loot-ears and removing the goblin corpses from the farmland, dumping them in the wasteland before heading towards the village.
He greeted the burly guards before passing through the village’s mud walls and fences, entering the village itself.
The village had a scene of tranquility.
On the dirt path, a freckled girl, holding onto her faded hemp dress, her bare feet stained with mud mixed with grass clippings, frolicked with her companions along the way.
Next to the stone and wooden houses of each household, small gardens enclosed by fences were planted with various flowers and shade-providing vine plants.
Gauss paused to observe for a moment. Compared to villages further to the south, this one indeed appeared more prosperous and peaceful.
He became somewhat engrossed; the original owner’s memories of his homeland were gradually drawn out.
However, some commotion brought him back to the present.
It turned out a girl, while amusing herself with her companions, absentmindedly collided into him, not paying attention to the road ahead.
Gauss quickly reacted, hurriedly steadying the girl in the hemp dress who was about to fall.
"Are you alright?"
"I’m alright." The girl was initially a bit tense from bumping into a stranger, but after glancing at Gauss’s warm, good-looking face, she naturally relaxed. "Thank you."
"Mhm, be careful next time." Gauss helped the girl up.
Watching the girl wave at him before shyly running back towards her companions, he couldn’t help but smile.
At some point, his Charm had quietly increased from 5 to 6.
While Charm enhancement potentially optimizes appearances, it primarily involves an alteration in temperament and amiability. When necessary, higher Charm values also make it easier to earn others’ trust.
Looking at the peaceful village.
Gauss decided not to leave in a hurry; he planned to clear the surrounding goblins, first developing in this area for a while.
To see if he could accumulate the total number of monster kills to 100.
Additionally, the progress of spell practice accelerates in combat; having found a group of weak goblins, he must seize this opportunity.
0th Ring Trick Mage’s Hand Level 3 (1/50)
1st-level Spell Magic Missile Level 2 (15/20)
1st-level Spell Mage Armor Level 2 (19/20)
Mage’s Hand has reached Level 3.
Mage Armor is also about to break through to the next level, and he wonders if it’s just an illusion, but every time he casts Mage’s Armor recently, a peculiar warm current seems to surge through his body.