----

After running for upwards of three hours, Kieran and the rest finally reached the area of the Barren Mountain Range that led to the quest area. However, the narrow entrance was infested by a dense encirclement of goblins with varying levels and archetypes. There were some with crude bows and some with simple swords, but every goblin seemed to be on par with the Goblin Demolishers from the Goblin Cave.

「Lv.25 Goblin Warrior (Special Elite)

Goblin Type

Health: 85,000/85,000 (100%)

Special Trait: ?Sharp?」

「Lv.25 Goblin Marksman (Special Elite)

Goblin Type

Health: 72,000/72,000 (100%)

Special Trait: ?Pierce?」

"Oh?! They're Special Elites and they're Lv.25. This should be some good experience," Altair commented while excitedly spinning his daggers around his fingers until he grasped them properly. The others in the party prepared for battle while Kieran withdrew the Scarlet Steel Greatsword from his inventory.

The exterior seemed to glisten with a vibrant crimson hue that danced down the blood. This sight attracted the party's eyes to the blade because although there were a few cracks on its surface, the weapon somehow gave off the impression of ample power.

However, this wasn't due to the weapon. Instead, it was due to Kieran's newly received innate skill given to him upon completing his transformation into a True Berserker. Blood Mania was a vital skill for his class.

「 Blood Mania (Lv.1)

Skill Rank: *S

Skill Type: Hybrid

Mastery (00.00%)

?Passive?- The weapon in the True Berserker's possession gains a sanguine coating at the cost of 0.5% Health per second due to their penchant for blood. Based on the Health threshold, the coating increases the user's Attack Power accordingly.

100% - 81% Health: Attack Power +10%

80% - 51% Health: Attack Power +20%

50% - 21% Health: Attack Power +35%

20% or below Health: Attack Power +100%

The user gains a 1% Lifesteal trait. This trait allows the user to absorb the blood from enemies afflicted by the Bleed Status and turn it into Health equal to 1% of the inflicted damage.

?Active?- The skill can be canceled to reabsorb the sanguine coating. Doing so will heal the user equal to 5% of the damage inflicted while the skill is active. This effect has a cooldown of 300 seconds.

Prerequisites: True Berserker 」

Aside from the Ancient Crimson Aegis, with its numerous stipulations, mainly that it was a skill Kieran couldn't wantonly activate, Blood Mania was the undisputed best skill in his arsenal. In simple terms, it translated into an insane attack power boost, and it could also heal him in times of need.

Although the inverse relationship between Health and power was quite alarming, Kieran felt this type of skill forced the user to understand proper resource management.

Meanwhile, the team was taken aback when they watched as Kieran's health bar drained at a visible rate. The battle hadn't even started, yet his Health approached 90%.

"Sera, heal the party leader," Bastion said. As a result, Sera lifted her staff encased in a soft radiance and launched a Healing Light, but something insane happened. Once the light touched Kieran's body, it dimmed before crumbling altogether, while Kieran was virtually unaffected.

Despite her attempt to heal him, Kieran's Health continued to fall.

"Don't worry about me. My current state is related to my class, so I don't need healing. Instead, I want you guys to work together and handle all of those Goblin Marksman. The Goblin Warriors are mine," Kieran instructed.

"Wait, all of them?" Altair blinked incredulously. There were more than 15 Goblin Warriors present! Claiming to want to handle them all by himself was unheard of.

"It's manageable," Kieran said before dashing forward. The Agility he exploded with was astonishing, given that his Strength assisted in his explosive acceleration.

Nemean silently watched as Kieran reached his targets in no time and became filled with excitement. 'So this is the unanimously agreed number 1 warrior they were raving about on the forum and stream. I want to watch more, but I also can't lose to him in terms of ability.'

Nemean immediately grabbed both shields from his back and wielded them in a way a swordsman could wield dual longswords. With a firm grip on the handles inside the shields, Nemean charged forward while employing a skill that seemed to be a notch above Charge.

The arrows fired at Nemean were blocked when he smashed the shields together before him. A few seconds later, he reached the first Goblin Marksman that only specialized in long-range attacks, meaning they were helpless in close-range combat.

Bang!

Nemean smashed the shield into the Goblin Marksman and inflicted an inherent Stun state that his class specialized in. Afterward, he unleashed a flurry of shield strikes that seemed more like a Fighter unleashing a chain combo with fluid strikes.

"Is this what a Shield Enforcer is? He wouldn't reveal it beforehand, but that definitely isn't a tanking style. It's like a mix of offense and defense. Wait.. since when did shields gain an attack value?!" Bastion muttered with a stupefied expression.

Nemean's Shield Enforcer Class was a Unique Class that fused the skills of a Pugilist and Shield Warrior together. They were the regular promotion of a Fighter and Warrior class, respectively. This allowed Nemean to specialize in both attack and defense, but it wasn't perfect since fusing both types together meant he could reach the epitome in neither.

Nevertheless, as long as the user had the ability, bridging the incongruity birthed by melding the two classes wasn't too problematic.

On the other hand, Kieran caught a glimpse of the battle from his peripheral vision. 'Those movements are of one trained in real combat like the hand-to-hand combat training soldiers are subject experience. His style is similar to Altair's but with subtle differences. I wonder what country he hails from.'

Aside from the few questions in his mind, Kieran primarily focused on the combat at hand. A thin red mist surfaced around Kieran's body as he suddenly accelerated and slammed into the nearest Goblin Warrior; this caused the light mist to combust and damage nearby enemies in a 10-meter radius.

It was clear from his movements that this skill was an upgrade of the Charge skill he possessed priorly. Instead, it was now called Fury Rush.historical

「 Fury Rush (Lv.1)

Skill Rank: B

Skill Type: Active

Mastery (00.00%)

Description: Channels the sanguine power of the True Berserks to explode with incredible momentum. The decisive rush deals 495% of the user's Attack Power + 100% of their Strength value and leaves the enemy in a ?Fainted? state for 4 seconds. Upon explosion, the sanguine aura deals damage equal to 40% of the initial attack to all enemies in a 10-meter radius.

Consumption: 2% Health and 55 Mana

Prerequisites: True Berserker Class

Cooldown: 30 seconds 」

Compared to Charge, Fury Rush was many times more powerful despite the considerably high costs of the skill. Although it didn't increase the damage of the subsequent attack, its damage dealing capabilities were insane when coupled with the abilities of Kieran's class.

-7,500

-3,000

It was a simple attack, yet large numbers continually appeared above the Goblin Warrior's head. Immediately after, Kieran held the Scarlet Steel Greatsword at an odd angle before launching it forward explosively.

Three beams of condensed sanguine winds fired forward that annihilated everything in their path.

-41,985

-41,977

-41,885

Even Kieran was taken aback by the destruction he caused. "This.. is what happens when this class's attack system upgrades Tempest Strikes?"

The skill Kieran unleashed was the former Tempest Strike, now known as Sanguinem Tempest. Not only had the rank of the skill increased, but the attack value was fortified as well, becoming a skill capable of untold destruction.

Out of curiosity, Kieran activated another one of the changed skills—Wild Crash, which also doubled as an upgrade of Savage Break.

Bang!

Kieran's attack had no real target because, unlike Savage Break, Wild Crash evolved into an AoE attack, that dealt high amounts of damage. In exchange for the incredibly high damage, the chance of decreasing the enemy's defense changed from guaranteed to possible, and it was somewhat low.

-16,818

None of the attacks Kieran unleashed thus far were Critical Hits, yet they all outclassed his previous damage by an impressive margin. It was a substantial change to wrap his mind around. While he expected to become stronger, he didn't expect the difference to exceed 300%.

What's more, the damage would only grow more frightening as his Health dropped. Right now, it was still above 70%. Be that as it may, many of the Goblin Warriors failed to resist the onslaught of Kieran's attacks and became nothing more than experience for him.

More than ten copies of the same message appeared before Kieran and his party members as they stared at Kieran in slight awe.

〈System: You have gained 5,568 Experience.〉

Excitement welled in Kieran as he momentarily reveled in his current power. Fortunately, it didn't last for too long since he understood that these monsters were remarkably weak. They didn't hold a candle to the supposed ogres they needed to face for his quest.

Still, his current power came as a pleasant surprise.

"What do you think the ranks of those skills are? I mean, they literally turned that part of the battlefield into a bloody mess. While it hasn't destroyed the terrain, per se.. there are certainly plenty of marks," Altair commented as his rapid display of dagger brandishing caused a tiny wind squall before the goblin before him.

Numerous minor cuts appeared on the goblin's body simultaneously while Nemean smashed another goblin to paste essentially.

"I say they're at least Rank B since my Rank C skill can't cause that effect," Nemean commented.

"Rank C? Damn, I only have two of those. How many do you have?" Bastion asked.

"6," Nemean answered.

"WHAT?! And how many Rank D?"

"1," Nemean answered.

"Urgh," Bastion groaned. "Your class is better than mine, isn't it? This is why going for a normal class sucks! All of my skills as a Guardian Knight is centered strictly around defending and cementing aggro values."

"Well, as a strict tank, that's your role. Don't complain about it; it's what you wanted," Nemean teased with a smug smirk.

"I oughta bash your face," Bastion growled with narrowed eyes.

"Do that, and I'll return the favor. Let's see whose shield emerges superior. Hehe," Nemean said with a mischievous smirk. It seemed the relationship between Neman and Bastion was indeed a brotherly one.

A few seconds later, Kieran appeared before the others after finishing the goblins on his side. The effects of the Goblin Slayer title were not to be underestimated. It was perfect for effortlessly slaying these monsters.

"You all still aren't done?" Kieran said while feigning a sigh and shaking his head. A few more Goblin Marksman remained. But, just then, Alice raised her staff to the sky and cast a mana ball that split into many smaller orbs and bombarded the area.

Once the dust cleared, all that remained was goblin corpses with ample holes in their body.

"Damn," Bastion muttered with a bitter smile.