[Stage reward available: Bugbear Shaman Magic Liver, First Circle Spell: Lightning Arrow]
Orum hadn't expected that after killing the bugbear shaman, the interface wouldn't classify it as an ordinary "bugbear," but instead created an entirely new category: "Magical Beast Shaman"!
The reward dropped by bugbears was [Bugbear Tendon], clearly a strength-type magical beast organ far tougher than [Goblin Tendon], serving as a superior replacement for goblin tendon.
And this [Bugbear Shaman Magic Liver] pointed toward a completely different enhancement direction!
Magic power!
At this moment, Felix issued team orders:
"Time is limited. We split up and eliminate the remaining monsters in Locke Village before nightfall, while searching for survivors!" Felix's voice interrupted Orum's train of thought.
With the bugbear shaman dead, the goblins were like a swarm without a head, scattered like loose sand, no longer posing any threat.
Orum, Raygore, Felix, and Ronald split into three groups, advancing from the village outskirts inward, searching house by house.
This arrangement suited Orum perfectly.
He needed exactly this kind of private moment to claim the interface's rewards.
After going solo, Orum left Felix and the others' line of sight and came to the back of a silent waterwheel mill.
"Gwa..." A green-skinned monster leaped from the mill's roof, aiming for Orum's neck, opening its gaping maw to bite down viciously!
But its ambush had long been detected by Orum. His wrist turned, the snow-pattern steel sword thrusting upward, piercing precisely through its mouth, penetrating the skull, and emerging from the top of its head.
[Goblin Kill Count +1]!
Orum flicked his wrist, flinging the goblin corpse hanging on his sword like a kebab on a skewer to the ground.
Then he pushed open the mill's wooden door, confirming no one was inside.
Orum summoned the interface again, silently reciting in his mind:
"Claim."
What Orum chose to claim was [Bugbear Tendon]. According to the interface, as the superior version of [Goblin Tendon], this magical beast organ would directly replace [Goblin Tendon].
The instant Orum claimed [Bugbear Tendon], bone-piercing pain erupted from his limbs!
The sensation was like being subjected to death by a thousand cuts, as if hundreds of scalpels were slicing across his muscles, precisely peeling away, tearing apart, and crushing every bundle of tendons!
Orum hadn't expected the violent intensity of the pain to far exceed his imagination.
His limbs suddenly convulsed, his body falling backward out of control, crashing heavily onto a pile of straw!
"Urgh... ahhh!" An irrepressible roar of pain exploded from deep in Orum's throat!
Straw scattered everywhere. After a long several dozen seconds, Orum finally felt the muscle pain in his limbs ease, that sensation of being cut apart by scalpels slowly receding at last!
Orum was drenched in cold sweat, gasping for air like a drowning man regaining oxygen.
Immediately after, a surging heat flow appeared out of nowhere, pouring violently into his limbs like a mighty river. His muscle fibers groaned under the unbearable burden of the searing heat!
In this moment, Orum's limbs seemed to be injected with high-pressure gas, swelling dramatically at a visible rate!
Countless muscle fibers grew wildly. The extreme feeling of swelling accompanied by itching nearly drove Orum mad again!
Orum could clearly feel his muscle tissue reorganizing, as if experiencing thousands of cycles of tearing and regeneration every minute, every second!
Dozens of seconds passed before the enormous swelling sensation in his limbs gradually subsided.
Orum looked down to see, as if by magic, his limbs slowly contracting, returning to normal, even appearing more proportionate and streamlined than before.
But Orum understood that beneath his skin, those incredibly solid muscles had undergone earth-shattering changes.
His muscle volume had decreased, but the muscle density far exceeded normal humans several times over.
Every bundle of fiber was refined like steel cable. Infinite strength flowed through his limbs. Orum even felt an urge that he could crush boulders!
With just a slight sensation, Orum could clearly perceive that his limbs felt as if he'd gained the brute strength of an entire bugbear!
Bugbears themselves were monsters renowned for their strength, capable of easily lifting boulders weighing 500 kilograms(1102 lbs).
At this very moment, Orum felt his strength had become incredibly exaggerated. He was even confident that if he wrestled with a giant bear, he could pin it down!
Even the snow-pattern steel sword in his hand now felt light as a feather. Orum could easily grip the hilt with just two fingers, letting the blade spin freely between them like twirling a pencil.
And this was the result without Orum even using [Enhancement Points]!
According to the interface prompt, after Orum possessed [Bugbear Tendon], his previous [Goblin Tendon] would automatically convert into 1 enhancement point, usable for strengthening any acquired magical beast organ!
However, at this moment, Orum fell into brief contemplation: where should this 1 enhancement point be used to maximize its benefit?
[Bugbear Tendon]: Its effect was simple yet extremely effective, providing pure physical strength. If he enhanced it, the benefit would be most stable and immediate.
[Ancient Tree Heart]: It covered two important combat areas—stamina and vitality—but currently, further enhancement seemed less meaningful, because Orum couldn't exhaust such abundant stamina, nor had he encountered a powerful enemy that would force him to use all 3 life recovery charges.
[Bugbear Shaman Magic Liver]: As the name suggested, this magical beast organ should be magic-related. Orum hadn't claimed it yet, so he wasn't clear on its specific effects.
[Cross-Species Compatible Reproductive System]...
Currently its use wasn't apparent. He'd claim it through the interface when it became necessary.
Thoughts flashed through Orum's mind like lightning, and he quickly finished deliberating.
After confirming no one was around and both Raygore and Felix were far away, Orum silently recited in his mind again:
"Claim!"
This time, what Orum claimed was [Bugbear Shaman Magic Liver], along with the accompanying spell: First Circle Spell: Lightning Arrow!
Orum's spirit instantly tensed. He held his breath, already prepared to face the heart-wrenching pain when his liver was replaced...
His previous experiences obtaining magical beast organs had all been quite painful.
And a large internal organ like the liver, when being replaced, would surely be exceptionally intense and torturous.
But contrary to Orum's expectations, the anticipated severe pain never arrived.
Instead, a warm and tingling pleasure, like an electric current, passed through his flesh, instantly filling his right abdomen!
In an instant, as if pure streams of heat surged forth from his liver's location, rapidly flooding into his limbs and throughout his entire body.
This warm flow made Orum feel incredibly comfortable, and his spirit lifted!
The fatigue from the earlier battle was completely swept away!
Orum looked at the interface to discover that in his status bar, a new entry had appeared: [Poison Resistance]!
This [Bugbear Shaman Magic Liver] actually had powerful detoxification and poison resistance properties?!
This discovery was an unexpected pleasant surprise.
At the same time, Orum suddenly seemed to hear a sound he'd never heard before in his life!
It was the sound of surging magic power flooding in from all directions! This sound was like being instantly thrown into an incredibly noisy, chaotic marketplace, countless voices mixing together, growing louder and louder, eventually becoming deafening!
This sensation was very strange, as if beyond the traditional five senses of sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste, his body had spontaneously gained an entirely new magical sense! It opened up a dimension of perception he'd never experienced before!
This feeling was hard to describe, just as a person blind from birth couldn't comprehend the magnificence of color, and a two-eyed human couldn't imagine the visual experience of a three-eyed creature!
"Is this... the Weave?" Orum was incredibly shaken. He'd heard that mages could hear the sound of the Weave's tides and described it as the most beautiful music in the world.
But at this moment, Orum couldn't hear anything that could be called "music." What flooded his ears was nothing but harsh noise!
A clear thought flashed through Orum's mind: "Could it be that my Weave affinity is so low that even with the help of a magical beast organ forcibly opening the permission to listen to the Weave, I can only hear this chaotic noise?"
Orum didn't panic. Instead, he tried taking deep breaths, concentrating his mind, and sinking his consciousness inward.
As his mental state grew increasingly tranquil, like an ancient well without ripples, the clamorous magical sounds from outside gradually diminished, finally subsiding completely and returning to profound silence.
At this moment, Orum had initially mastered the method of controlling this new sense.
When Orum opened his eyes again, from the depths of his pupils, a barely perceptible arc of electricity suddenly shot forth, flashing through the air and producing a crisp "crack."
That was the embryonic form of thunder, the purest embodiment of nature's destruction.
First Circle Spell: Lightning Arrow.
All knowledge, techniques, and insights regarding this spell were no longer cold information.
At this moment, they were like innate instinct, deeply engraved in Orum's soul.
Whether it was the hand gestures during spellcasting, the mental intent constructing the spell model, or the frequency of guiding magic output, everything seemed to have been through countless refinements, incredibly familiar!
Although this spell hadn't yet reached mastery level, compared to ordinary beginner spellcasters, it was incomparably stronger!
At this very moment, Orum only needed a thought, pressing his palms together then pushing forward forcefully, to release surging magic power, creating violent lightning to electrocute enemies before him into charcoal!
Even facing large monsters with thick hides and tough flesh, this sudden Lightning Arrow could still cause powerful paralysis effects, creating deadly openings for Orum's blade.
Therefore, this spell was tactically excellent as well!
The only flaw was that Orum's total magic power was far too low. The consumption of just one Lightning Arrow would completely drain him.
But regardless, mastering a genuine spell still made Orum feel incredibly excited and deeply satisfied.
Imagine in the future when encountering a powerful enemy, the opponent would be completely focused on Orum's masterful swordsmanship, then suddenly a Lightning Arrow would blast them in the face...
Their mental state would probably explode on the spot!
Though countless thoughts raced through Orum's mind, not much time had actually passed in reality.
When he walked out of the dark waterwheel mill, only a few minutes had gone by.
Gripping his snow-pattern steel sword, Orum headed toward the next house, kicking open the teetering door without hesitation.
"Gugwa..."
A shrill goblin howl had just started when it was interrupted by the muffled sound of a blade entering flesh, cutting off abruptly.
...
After an unknown amount of time had passed, the sun slanted westward. The twilight's afterglow, like melted gold and congealed blood, dyed both sky and earth a deep crimson, magnificent yet melancholic.
The small village of corpse mountains and blood seas, under this afterglow's illumination, didn't seem so bloody.
The entire scene was like a beautiful, quiet painting.
And at this moment, the only two running figures in the painting, like two drops of ink out of place, shattered this deep red silence.
"Flee gwa!"
A short green-skinned goblin, face full of terror, was fleeing forward desperately, eyes filled with enormous despair.
It hadn't expected that hiding under a human's bed, it would still be found!
Behind the goblin, the swordsman gripping a snow-pattern steel sword charged from behind at a speed exceeding human limits, like a galloping wild horse. In an instant, he reached the goblin's back!
His arm swung, thrusting out viciously! The sharp blade pierced through the goblin's chest without obstruction.
As the gleaming sword tip emerged from the front, from the huge opening gushed a spray of scalding blood!
The goblin, its heart instantly pierced, let out a final roar, struggling to swing its claws at the swordsman.
However, when the sharp claws swept across the helmet, there was only a crisp "clang."
They merely left a few shallow white scratches on the solid metal faceplate.
This specially made helmet for dealing with small monsters had excellent defensive capability, naturally not something that could be penetrated by a dying goblin's fingernail scratches.
Orum's eyes were cold. His wrist twisted, the hilt rotating. The goblin's heart was instantly ground into pulp by the spiral force of the snow-pattern steel sword.
The goblin's limbs immediately went limp like a puppet with cut strings.
The second after the goblin died, that familiar semi-transparent fluorescent blue interface prompt appeared once more in Orum's vision:
[Goblin Kill Count +1]!
[You have killed 50 goblins]
[Obtained advanced goblin magical beast organ:]
[Green Skin (Hardened)]
[Claim reward?]
Orum: "?"
Looking at the reward information that popped up on the interface, Orum was completely stunned, as if a huge question mark appeared above his head.
What the hell is green skin?! Reward me to become a green-skinned goblin?
Orum didn't hesitate for even a second. His inner resistance magnified to the extreme.
Not claiming it. Not claiming it even if it killed him!
What kind of international joke was this? If he claimed this reward, wouldn't he become a green-skinned person?
He'd probably be pointed at on the streets of Blackwater Town!
Just imagining it made Orum want to vomit!
Fortunately, the system was still quite user-friendly. Monster organs wouldn't be forcibly claimed and could be submitted to the interface for recycling.
Orum chose recycling without hesitation, exchanging [Green Skin] for 1 enhancement point.
Orum immediately disposed of [Green Skin], lest some day his hand slipped and he accidentally claimed it. Then he'd be finished, with nowhere to cry.
Just then, a brand new interface prompt appeared:
[You have killed 50 goblins]
[Congratulations, you have obtained the title:]
['Goblin Slayer']
[Effect 1: All your slashing damage gains a 10% damage bonus!]
[Effect 2: Your damage against the 'Goblin Species' gains a 30% damage bonus!]
"A title?!" Orum's eyes widened slightly.
He hadn't expected that besides magical beast organs, the interface would also grant "titles," rewards that leaned more toward the rules layer!
A 10% increase in slashing damage seemed modest, but it was a prestigious independent multiplier, meaning it would genuinely apply to the final damage of every slash!
Even if in the future Orum's strength grew increasingly powerful, and strength attribute bonuses were gradually diluted, with the marginal benefit of pure attribute bonuses infinitely decreasing, this "10% slashing damage increase" multiplicative effect would still bring Orum substantial amplification!
Additionally, the trait 'damage against goblin species increased by 30%' was even more formidably impressive, also functioning as an independent multiplicative zone! And it could stack with the first effect!
In other words, Orum's single slash against a goblin now, after going through two independent damage increase calculations, could deliver a devastating 143% killing power!
Chest bones that previously required forceful swinging to sever could now be split in two like a hot knife through butter with just a casual swing, easily cleaving a goblin's entire torso!
Moreover, the description of the 'Goblin Slayer' title clearly stated this title targeted the 'Goblin Species'!
In other words, monsters with goblin bloodlines, including bugbears, hobgoblins, and so on, were all included!