Chapter 57: Refreshing

"Ring! Ring!"

An urgent ringing pierced through the night.

A wooden bowl fell to the ground, spilling half-finished orange-red stew across the meadow.

*Vroom—*

Accompanied by the crisp sound of a sword being drawn with a metallic vibration, a flash of iron-gray light flickered momentarily in the air.

In the next second, the executioner's longsword was already gripped in Xia Nan's hand.

Beside him, Aldon's reaction was equally swift.

Just a moment ago, he had been smilingly sharing stories of his hometown with Xia Nan, but the instant the bell rang, his expression froze abruptly.

His legs moved so fast they nearly left afterimages.

With a series of agile maneuvers, he had already leaped onto the roof of a roadside carriage.

While scanning the direction of the sound, a miniature and exquisite lute appeared in his hands.

The cheerful and lively nature of Halflings did not mean they were fools to be bullied.

A strong sense of responsibility often allowed these small folk to display extraordinary courage and steadfast will, far exceeding their stature, when defending friends, family, or their villages.

Their compact, non-bulky physiques also granted them agility beyond that of ordinary humans and stealth capabilities similar to those of a rogue.

In fact, the fact that a "Lightfoot" Halfling was permitted to leave their communal extended family to venture out as an adventurer was proof enough of Aldon's capability.

The reactions of the other adventurers nearby were not much different.

Following a clatter of pots and pans hitting the ground, the guards had, within a few short seconds, gripped their weapons and taken their positions according to their pre-arranged formation.

It was only then, once the adventurers were fully prepared for combat, that a noisy commotion erupted from the other side of the convoy's camp.

"Goblins, twenty-three of them. No sub-species detected."

Quickly tuning the strings of his lute, the Halfling calmly and precisely reported his findings to the group.

As soon as he finished speaking, Xia Nan felt the surrounding, tense adventurers visibly relax.

"It's fine, just goblins."

It made sense; in a location this close to a town, those daring enough to launch an active raid on a human convoy were either monsters that had lost their sense of threat due to extreme hunger, or these brainless green-skinned mongrels.

"Klee, Wilson, get ready!"

In the group, a guard who appeared to be the leader shouted to two adventurers carrying longbows.

Their movements were swift, suggesting they had cooperated many times before.

The two archers scrambled up a roadside carriage to occupy the high ground.

Then, they aimed at the goblins, who were appearing as flickering shadows in the dark, charging rapidly toward them.

Draw bows, notch arrows.

*Swish!*

Wooden arrows tipped with fletching turned into slender, blurred silhouettes, vanishing into the darkness.

Two dark figures collapsed instantly.

"Keep going!" the adventurer shouted.

The sound of whistling air rang out again, but this time, several coachmen from the convoy joined the attack.

Their clothes were disheveled, and some were even smeared with mud and grass roots, clearly having tripped on their way there.

Holding crossbows, they squinted their eyes and aimed toward the direction of the approaching figures.

This time, three goblins fell.

However, it was all thanks to the two professional marksmen, as one arrow had pierced through the chests of two green-skinned rats simultaneously.

Visibility at night was too poor; ordinary people without combat experience lacked both the strength and accuracy of adventurers who frequently fought in the Misty Forest.

Accompanied by shrill screeches, the sound of dense, rapid footsteps grew increasingly distinct.

The commanding adventurer glanced at the cargo on the carriage behind him, hesitated for a moment, and then looked at Jeff, the convoy leader, who stood beside him gripping a polearm tightly.

Only then did he make up his mind, raising his longsword high and shouting to everyone around him

"Don't let these beasts get near the convoy!"

"Brothers, charge!"

As one of the front-liners in the team, Xia Nan could not afford to lag behind at the rear.

With a stride, he charged forward.

Simultaneously, his gaze swept the surroundings as his body lunged.

Only after confirming there were no signs of an ambush on either side and that teammates were responsible for rear support and vigilance did he feel slightly relieved.

*Vroom-dong—*

Amidst the air condensed by high tension, a high-pitched, stirring melody from a lute suddenly rang out.

It was not complex, seemingly composed of nothing more than repeated, soaring notes.

Yet, it seemed to contain a peculiar rhythm that caused one to become unconsciously immersed in it.

Muscular strength was not increased, nor did consciousness become clearer.

The notes were like invisible illusions in the air, seeping into flesh and bone through the pores.

It created a certain illusion of being more combat-ready.

It felt as if the body had suddenly become lighter, and the strength accumulated in the arms felt more abundant.

Xia Nan's forward momentum suddenly accelerated.

His mind flashed back to the lute he had just glimpsed in the Halfling's hands, combined with the other's light and colorful attire.

"A Bard?"

The thought flashed through his mind.

In the blink of an eye, he had reached the very front of the formation.

Beside him were the roars of his teammates and the sharp clashing of metal.

Xia Nan focused intently, tuning out the surrounding noise.

Directly ahead, four goblins were brandishing clubs, lunging at him with claws outstretched!

He lowered the tip of his sword to the ground.

With a Constitution as high as 8 after absorbing the dewdrop, Xia Nan did not need to worry about the impact of combat techniques on his physical functions.

He simply lunged forward!

His leather boots sank into the soft soil beneath the meadow.

As the brownish, moist earth swallowed his heels, it felt as if it were suddenly delivering power from deep within the earth!

A powerful force surged from his soles, scavenging and gathering the strength usually hidden deep within his flesh, concentrating it at a single point in an instant.

The force traveled through the hilt of the sword, driving the blade in a sophisticated manner that had long since become muscle memory through countless practices.

[Whirlwind Slash]

*Whoosh—*

Under the reflection of the firelight, a sharp, iron-gray arc tore through the night.

Xia Nan felt four slight moments of resistance through the blade.

Flesh was like paper; bone was like kindling.

With the addition of such intense force, the goblins' lives were snatched away by the cold light before they even had time to let out painful screams.

Stinking, dark blood erupted like a spring, tossing severed limbs and entrails into the air.

The crimson blood clinging to the blade sprayed across the ground with the force of the swing.

The stray hairs on his forehead swayed violently, and the smell of blood rushing into his nostrils made Xia Nan frown slightly.

But what welled up in his heart was an inexplicable sense of exhilaration.

It was like a butcher skillfully dismantling pork on a chopping block; the indescribable pressure that had been building up inside him from fighting Bugbears, Petrified Lizards, and even that giant snake that remained impenetrable even in death, was released in an instant with the death of these four green-skinned mongrels.

At this moment, Xia Nan had only one thought

"This feels amazing!"

(End of Chapter)