She didn’t linger. With a few blinks of movement, her body streaked toward the ordinary goblins who were fleeing into the interior of the Tree City.
By now, it wasn’t just Gauss—several of his teammates had, without realizing it, also become experts at mowing down small mobs.
Gauss floated in midair, looking at the goblin leader standing on a tree branch.
Up close, it looked more like a giant ape. Its upper body was much more developed than its lower body; the muscles on its two arms bulged like cords, screaming destructive power at a glance.
Only by focusing on its face could one recognize what it was.
Say what you will, a goblin’s face is ugly in a very distinctive way—no matter how it changes, it never escapes that same core ugliness.
While Gauss was observing the goblin leader, it was like it had been hit by an Immobilization Skill, not moving a single step the whole time.
Looking closely, bean-sized beads of sweat were sliding down from its forehead, tracing along those ravine-like wrinkles and finally dripping onto the trunk, bursting into tiny splashes.
As Gauss drew closer, the pressure weighing on it became even heavier.
Death!
I’ll die!
A voice in its head was frantically blaring warnings.
That human clearly looked so slim and fragile, yet at this moment, his figure kept enlarging in its eyes.
Meanwhile its own three-meter-tall body was made to look incomparably small in front of him.
"Huu—"
It let out a breath.
Instinctively, it stepped back twice.
This was definitely the most terrifying human it had ever encountered in its gob life.
So small, yet the sense of oppression was that strong!
Gauss met its gaze and read fear in its eyes.
He was a bit surprised in his heart.
Although this goblin leader’s reaction wasn’t like that of other ordinary goblins—instantly killed by his gaze or losing all ability to act—it was still under considerable psychological pressure.
Is it because its strength is lower than mine?
Gauss guessed that might be the case.
The weaker a goblin is, the stronger the effect of the title "Intimidation" on it; conversely, the stronger they are, the weaker the effect.
And targets stronger than him might only be affected very slightly.
After a brief observation—
Gauss suddenly moved.
"Crack—crack—"
His body slowly stretched in the air, black and white streams of qi wrapping around him. His hair quietly turned snow white, and the two small horns on his forehead fit perfectly through the gaps inside the double-horned helmet.
He tilted his head left and right.
The extensibility of this mithril light armor was excellent; the size change brought by activating the Tier Two Ghost Transformation was still within its design tolerance.
Clearly, Albena had put in a lot of effort.
No wonder she’d specifically asked him to activate Tier Two Ghost Transformation several times before forging the armor—it turned out she was gathering data.
"Now, let’s start the fight."
His figure flickered once and appeared beside the goblin leader.
"Monster Strength Transformation!"
He lashed out with a kick at the goblin.
Even though its reaction was already fast—it had raised both arms to guard in front of itself—that terrifying power still exploded. In just an instant, its massive body was sent flying with a kick.
"Thud!"
It crashed into the trunk of a giant tree.
Countless pieces of bark fell like an avalanche.
And the main trunk of that tree had already sunk inward, forming a deep crater.
"Cough, cough!"
The goblin leader coughed up a mouthful of blood, as if kicked awake, snapping out from that drowsy, suffocating aura of oppression.
It twisted its neck and looked in Gauss’s direction. The cowardice in its eyes faded, and a surge of hatred slowly surfaced.
"So if I’ve pulled its aggro, some of the effects of the mental suppression will be weakened?"
Floating in the air, Gauss muttered under his breath as he looked at the goblin leader embedded in the giant tree.
This goblin leader did not give him a particularly strong sense of threat.
So he simply used it to test the practical performance of the mithril light armor and the intimidation effect of the title [Goblin Expert].
This goblin leader’s strength was just right as a lab rat—too weak and there’d be no experimental value, too strong and there was a chance of things going south.
Intimidation was a form of mental suppression.
So when the target was in an extreme emotional state, its effects would undergo some subtle changes.
Since rage could stir up its desire to resist, then if emotions like fear and unease were greatly amplified, would the effect of Intimidation rapidly strengthen?
Gauss felt this was a direction worth exploring.
Maybe he could find a way later to pick up some bluff-type skills, or Illusion Techniques that instilled fear and anxiety, then use Intimidation to apply maximum suppression on the enemy before the battle even started.
"Roar!"
Facing the goblin leader that leapt high, claws bared as it pounced—
Gauss blinked again and appeared right next to it, his armored boot bracing against its waist and abdomen, unleashing explosive force.
"Thud!"
It was once again kicked flying, slamming into the trunk of another giant tree.
This goblin leader’s strength was still around level 6–7.
But compared to the one from the time he rescued Toga, this goblin leader’s combat power was slightly inferior; its offense and bursts weren’t as impressive, perhaps related to the other one having divine favor.
Besides, his titles had been upgraded, and over this period his strength had also grown by a fair margin, so dealing with it naturally felt much easier.
When all was said and done, being of a similar level to him and belonging to a goblin race that he inherently restrained meant this goblin was doomed to have very little room to struggle in front of Gauss.
Having been cleanly kicked away twice in a row, the goblin leader lay in the dent, its eyes gradually becoming much clearer.
That human’s movements were too fast.
Not only could he fly, his reactions were also frighteningly quick.
Relying solely on jumping between giant trees to launch attacks at him was undeniably too clumsy, and it had no way to maneuver flexibly while in midair.