I'm not a goblin Frankenstein's monster.

Xia Lin nodded to himself.

This confirms his previous idea that in this world, blindly pursuing being a "jack of all trades" is likely to lead to being a "jack of all trades," which will instead slow down his promotion.

This is the exact opposite of the so-called "bucket theory" of the past; "mastering one thing" is a more realistic choice.

Of course, all of the above assumes that Xia Lin is different from others under normal circumstances.

"Others acquire their power through hard work, but it's superficial and might even have side effects." He murmured to himself, gazing at the trees receding outside the car window. "I, on the other hand, reached the other side step by step through the entries, with a solid foundation of cultivation. The difference in skill is immediately apparent."

"Huh? What did you say?" Pete, who was drunk and bleary-eyed, turned his head, looking completely bewildered.

Suddenly, a sound came from the dense forest on both sides of the road.

Five goblins darted out from the shadows of the trees and charged straight at the carriage.

One of them charged straight at the old horse pulling the cart, its wooden spear stabbing fiercely into the horse's belly.

His old friend was in danger. The dwarf Pete snapped out of his drunken stupor and roared in fury, "You dare kill my horse?!"

"You bunch of green-skinned dwarfs, you're tired of living!"

He leaped off the carriage, grabbed a long-handled battle axe, swept aside the wooden spear, and then delivered a standard dwarf flying kick, sending the goblin flying back into the forest, where it slammed into a tree trunk with a dull thud.

Xia Lin leaped off the carriage and raised his shield to meet the slash of a goblin's scimitar.

A piercing metallic clang rang out as he stomped on the goblin's bare toes before it could retract its blade.

"Crack—"

The sickening cracking of bones was accompanied by the goblin's piercing screams of pain.

The little green monster immediately lost its balance and couldn't even hold its weapon.

good chance.

Xia Lin swung his sword horizontally, the blade easily slicing open the goblin's fragile neck.

The foul-smelling green blood splattered onto the small round shield. Expressionless, he stepped over the still convulsing corpse, took two running steps, and slammed the shield into another spear-wielding goblin.

The guy was knocked off course, and Xia Lin swung his longsword upwards.

[Despicable Sword Attack]

With a flash of sword light, the goblin let out a wail as it was torn in two, its internal organs spilling out like rain of blood.

Unstoppable!

A goblin nearby witnessed its companion being brutally murdered, and, terrified, turned and fled.

But before it could take more than a few steps, it caught a glimpse of a dark shadow carrying the scent of blood as it swept past.

brush-

A green head rolled to the ground.

[Vile Sword Strike (Green) Experience Points +2] ×3

【Despicable Sword Strike (Green) lv2 (0/20)】

Effect: When attacking from the enemy's blind spot or when they are out of balance, the damage is increased by approximately 10% → 15%.

The attribute has been upgraded, increasing the damage dealt to targets under abnormal status conditions.

puff--

The last goblin's head was smashed like a rotten watermelon by the dwarf's battle axe.

For some reason, Xia Lin noticed that dwarves seemed particularly fond of headshots—was it a personal preference or some kind of custom of the dwarf race?

Xia Lin had long heard rumors about the chef named Jiang Bao at the dwarf tavern in town. The dwarf chef's specialty, "Secret Recipe Crispy Rice with Exploding Eggs," was said to explode instantly when drizzled with sauce.

Xia Lin stroked his chin, pondering. Was the scene similar to a dwarf smashing a goblin's skull open with an axe? *Splash!* Sauce splattered everywhere?

Next comes cleaning up the battlefield.

Goblin left ears can be brought back to the Adventurers' Guild for a reward. These green-skinned pests are a long-term target for eradication, and each one is worth 3 to 4 silver coins.

A faint ball of light appeared on one of the goblins.

These green-skinned people are very poor. Most of their equipment is stolen from passing merchants and adventurers, and they never maintain it. Rusty blades and cracked leather are common occurrences.

After searching through everything, only a short knife was still intact, which could be exchanged for a few copper coins.

Since it was inconvenient for Xia Lin to carry it, he simply handed it to the dwarf as payment for his travel expenses.

The ball of light then dissipated.

[Entry: Wooden Stick Economics (White)]

Effect: Damage increased by 1% when wielding a wooden stick, but you'll find yourself calculating "how many hits do I need to break even?"

Description: "This stick costs 3 copper coins, but must produce the effect of 5 copper coins!"

Evaluation: "37th robbery, expenses: one wooden stick (15% wear), three portions of green ointment; income: human money bag (12 copper coins), half a black bread; net profit: -2 copper coins. Note: Don't rob poor people next time." — From the ledger of a goblin obsessed with "quantitative combat".

Goblin Encounters +1

Once back in the carriage, Pete cast an approving glance his way: "Not bad, Xia Lin. Your moves were ruthless and cunning, nothing like a novice."

The dwarf originally thought that Xia Lin would be overwhelmed by dealing with three at the same time, but when he turned around, there were already two corpses lying on the ground. Then, he saw Xia Lin move like a nimble black panther, catch up with the fleeing one, and behead it with a single sword stroke.

He paused, then asked, "By the way, were you using combat techniques during the chase?"

He himself had mastered a combat technique called "Charged Hammer Strike," so he was quite sensitive to combat techniques.

Xia Lin asked in confusion, "The person who sold me this combat skill said that many adventurers know it, isn't it quite common?"

Pete shook his head: "I've seen plenty of acceleration-type combat techniques, but this is the first time I've ever seen one." He suddenly realized, "Wait, where did you buy this from?"

Xia Lin then briefly explained how he had obtained the combat skill booklet at the market by exchanging a few copper coins for it.

After hearing this, the dwarf sighed and said, "You've probably been fooled."

Your combat technique must fall into the category of amateur combat techniques that haven't been officially recognized by the association.

"Amateur science combat technology?"

"They're just some low-level, amateurish fighting techniques," Pete explained.

"Under normal circumstances, if an adventurer develops a new combat skill, he can register it with the association and receive a reward."

When others learn this combat skill in the future, the registered learners can receive a share as patent revenue.

This has led many opportunists to fabricate seemingly plausible but actually flawed combat techniques to swindle money.

Later, the association tightened its vetting process, requiring registrants to be at least formally employed professionals, and their combat skills to undergo long-term, effective evaluation.

Xia Lin felt a chill run down her spine: "What problems could arise from this kind of combat technique? Is it life-threatening?"

Pete gave him a sympathetic look: "It's not usually fatal, but the aftereffects can be quite varied."

I've heard of people who practiced "Iron Crotch Kung Fu" and got kicked so often they couldn't get an erection, people who practiced "Ultimate Bladder Sword" and developed kidney disease from holding their urine, and people who claimed to be able to "catch a blade barehanded" but had to find someone to practice their reaction by sparring with, and almost lost their hands in the process.

The most outrageous thing is that there's a "trick of invisibility" that's practiced by sneaking into the women's bathhouse.

Xia Lin was speechless. These amateur combat techniques were really chaotic. Just by listening to them, you could tell they were unreliable. They must have put in a lot of effort just to scam some subsidies from the association.

Fortunately, I seem to be doing fairly well for now.

Perhaps the hidden dangers have not yet manifested?

Xia Lin felt scared and a chill ran down her spine.

You can't possibly ruin yourself by practicing too much, can you?

The carriage dropped Xia Lin off, and she had to walk the rest of the way herself.

Waving goodbye to Pete, I watched the carriage disappear into the distance along the forest dirt road, wondering when we would meet again.

Xia Lin turned and disappeared into the dense forest.

The road had clearly been deserted for a long time, covered with slippery moss, and crowded with unknown ferns and shrubs on both sides.

He moved cautiously, frequently unfolding the hand-drawn map given to him by the elves to compare his movements and try to avoid the dangerous areas marked on the map.