The welcome banquet lasted until late into the night. The Adaklis people ate their fill, drank their fill, and fought their fill, then helped each other home to their mothers.
Of course, compared to Goki, the man that Big Sister Gavial brought back, the one more popular at the banquet was actually Goki's other partner, in their eyes.
After five people suffered comminuted fractures, seven dislocated their arms, and Gavial grumbled as she spent half the day treating them and individually punching them on the head, they had to admit that they truly couldn't compare to this seemingly delicate, white-haired Nona.
Such a formidable woman could be pursued and taken as a wife; it seemed that Big Brother Goki had definitely held back earlier! He could have easily defeated them!
And so, in a place Goki was completely unaware of, his image suddenly grew grander, and his tales of strength became increasingly fantastical.
Later, it even spread to the point where "Goki could crush ten Adaklis people with one hand."
But regardless, as midnight approached, the Wild Will Tribe finally quieted down.
"Coo—coo-coo."
Outside the window, the calls of forest animals echoed. Goki lay on a tribal bed covered with dry leaves, suddenly unable to sleep.
"Skadi went to sleep with Gavial. It took a lot of convincing to stop her from hugging Gavial. Sigh, I hope she doesn't hurt her."
Tonight, Skadi ultimately didn't continue to sleep with Goki. Perhaps she realized something, or perhaps the strange state they were in earlier left her a bit confused, but in any case, she wasn't by Goki's side tonight.
"Sigh, I used to complain about the pain, but now I feel a sense of emptiness."
Without Skadi, Goki wouldn't have his pelvis fractured by a suddenly draped leg tonight, nor would his arm be twisted into a third-degree sprain by soft hands, and the softness resting against his back wouldn't break his spine.
However, without this accustomed pain, Goki felt a bit lonely instead.
"Did I open some strange door? I don't have any weird XP System."
Liking tails doesn't count.
Goki had to admit that during their long journey, Skadi had grown accustomed to his presence, and he himself couldn't do without her.
"Sigh, I guess I'll have to give myself to her. I need to find a way that isn't too deliberate to let Titi know what liking is, what love is—I need to find a chance to buy some shojo manga or something."
Goki, whose psychological age was unknown but physically still a virgin, tossed and turned for a long time, thinking about the girl.
Although he knew the Doll Nona was definitely listening, both of them tacitly avoided calling out to each other.
Finally, Goki began to consider serious matters.
"It's been two months since I arrived in Terra, and I can pretty much figure out what these attributes of mine truly mean."
Goki closed his eyes and looked at the Hunter's "attribute panel" in his mind.
Current blood echoes: 34621
Rank: 20
Vitality: 10+5 = 15
Endurance: 11
Strength: 12+3 = 15
Skill: 11
Bloodtinge: 10
Arcane: 9
Along the way, Goki's hunting continued.
Whether it was hunting missions taken to earn travel expenses, Originium Slugs he casually eliminated, or the desert bandits he killed, all yielded blood echoes.
Depending on the species and age, the amount of blood echoes would vary. The higher the intelligence, stronger the power, and older the age of the prey, the more blood echoes would drop.
Of course, although blood vials made from human blood were more effective, Goki never collected them out of consideration for Skadi and Gavial's feelings.
Each time, he didn't get much blood echoes, but after a month, he had accumulated over 50,000 blood echoes.
During the journey, because Skadi would hug Goki to severe injury every night, Goki had no choice but to prematurely raise Vitality and Strength to 15 each. Coupled with the exchange for antidotes and other items, he was left with just over 30,000.
As the Rank gets higher, each point costs more, and the remaining 30,000 can at most add 7 attribute points.
Actually, based on his experience in Yharnam, it's best to distribute the first four attributes evenly in the early stage, and the latter two can be supplemented later.
However, having been in Terra for so long, fighting against various opponents including beasts, kin, mercenaries, and bandits, and people of various races, Goki finally didn't have to rely on estimation but could directly compare his own attributes with the physical qualities of Terra people.
First, Bloodtinge and Arcane were naturally no longer within consideration.
Terra might have Sarkaz who manipulate blood, but he hadn't encountered them yet, so Goki temporarily couldn't deduce the effect of Bloodtinge, which affects bullet damage.
As for Arcane ability, Goki currently had no Arcane weapons or items, so it was temporarily useless.
However, Goki's body contained a large amount of radiation-free, high-energy liquid Originium, and not only did it not disappear, but it constantly self-reproduced, maintaining a stable value.
According to Kal'tsit's speculation, Goki, like other Infected, had the opportunity to learn to unleash Originium Arts.
If this hypothesis held true, Goki's Arcane attribute might become useful.
However, he neither directly used weak Originium Arts like the Infected, nor did he possess enough theoretical knowledge and the process of learning and understanding like true Casters.
To learn Originium Arts, unless he found an alternative path, Goki would need a long time—he planned to find a teaching reference book on Originium Arts and study it when he had time.
The next four attributes were worth discussing. For comparison, Goki specifically compared them with Rhodes Island Operator files.
Strength value, needless to say, is an Operator's physical strength, affecting the magnitude of their output and the amount of damage they deal.
Vitality is an Operator's physiological tolerance, affecting how much a person can withstand and what kind of damage they can take before losing combat capability.
Endurance and Skill, together, affect battlefield mobility, short-term burst speed, and the ability to maintain high-speed movement for extended periods, all related to these.
As for combat skills and tactical planning ability, these are unrelated to attributes and only concern experience and wisdom, and they are the only two skills Goki hasn't lost.
It was thanks to these that Goki could win arm-wrestling matches against Aegir strongmen, not to disgrace the name of the Old Hunter.
As a reference, Goki had encountered various enemies, and also had elites like Gavial and super-standard characters like Skadi by his side.
Based on this, he also made a rough comparison according to the attribute values.
Of course, it wasn't an accurate comparison, just a rough estimation.
Attribute points 0-5 are basically the defective tier, similar to ordinary humans and inferior to Hunters. Among super Terra people, it's already considered half-crippled.
Skadi's Originium Arts adaptability is a defect. Abyssal Hunters absolutely cannot use Originium Arts and cannot defend against them specifically; they can only endure them with their physical strength.
Attribute 5-10 is generally the normal tier, slightly higher than Earthlings and similar to novice Hunters. Most ordinary residents of non-superhuman races in Terra fall into this range.
Surtr's physical strength is normal. Even Goki, if he didn't consider getting burned to ashes, could suppress her with brute force.
10-20, a long range, belongs to the standard tier, far exceeding Earthlings but not exceptional.
From strength alone, mercenaries with combat experience approach 10 points, while Adaklis people are close to 20. Goki needs to reach 15 points to barely cope.
Gavial's tactical planning ability is standard. When she starts fighting, her only combat method is to hit people with her staff—but she knows when to hit whom, and she hits exceptionally accurately; she's a good Operator.
And 20-30 is the excellent tier, only those who have undergone specialized training and are exceptionally outstanding among their own race can enter this range.
Still Gavial, her strength surpasses other Adaklis people. No matter how much Goki arm-wrestled, he couldn't beat her; she had roughly 25 points of Strength.
As for 30-40, that's truly exceptional, almost exceeding human common sense.
Skadi and Specter's physiological tolerance are both excellent. Their skin alone can deflect ordinary bullets. If Goki's Vitality reached 40, he probably wouldn't fear being cut by knives or chopped by axes.
But... he would still be fractured by Skadi at night.
Because her physical strength is two black frames, surpassing excellent, truly achieving a broken-tier existence.
Goki was 100% certain that his Strength would need to reach 50 to arm-wrestle with Skadi.
Of course, this is just a rough estimation. Low Winged Kuriboh attributes don't mean it's not useful; real combat still needs to consider various factors.
But, no matter what, attribute points are always a case of the more, the merrier.
"Before leaving tomorrow, I need to make some fire paper. This stuff is expensive. It's better to save blood echoes for adding attribute points. The higher the Rank, the more expensive it is to add points, and the source is so scarce... After all, it's a society governed by law."
Looking at the dense forest outside the window, Goki began to plan for tomorrow's activities.
In Yharnam, there were no laws long ago. Everything that could move on the streets was prey, and their numbers grew faster than leeks, so blood echoes were naturally abundant.
But in Terra, the channels for acquiring blood echoes were fewer, and enemies would run if they couldn't win, so he couldn't just farm them like in Yharnam.
"Perhaps there's a faster way than hunting prey. If only there were more kin to kill..."
Thinking this, Goki closed his eyes and fell into a lonely dream.
And just then, Goki's Hunter instincts suddenly detected a subtle Qi fluctuation.
A petite child seemed to be approaching the house.
His ears twitched, and Goki seemed to hear an extremely faint sound as a large tail swished through the air.
This was Goki's top-tier combat skill and tactical planning ability; at least for him, any prey trying to hide would be immediately discovered.
"Heh... so you still came, my dear Tomimi. Let your 'brother-in-law' properly educate you, my disobedient sister-in-law."
Thinking this, Goki closed his eyes and began to feign sleep.
This time, he was determined to teach this little one who dared to launch a night raid a lesson.
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