These were not the sounds of training or sparring; they were sounds filled with the murderous intent of someone seeking to kill. They were the final death rattles of the dying.
The moment he recognized those sounds, Kai hastily called out the name of his friend and loyal steed.
"Criphon!"
The monstrous horse galloped with incredible speed, living up to its formidable appearance. They soon arrived at the place where the screams and various sounds of bloodlust echoed. Kai immediately scanned the battlefield with a quick glance.
His vision was filled with an immense number of goblins and the humans fighting against them.
'A hundred? No, more than that.' 'Who are those fighting them?' 'About twenty people fighting professionally. Another twenty or so huddling together, struggling to survive.' 'Carriages, cargo. From the look of it, a merchant caravan and the mercenaries they hired!'
With a single sweep of his eyes, Kai grasped the situation of the battlefield instantly. There were many goblin corpses, yet the number of goblins remained overwhelming, and the humans were clearly being pushed back.
'This is strange.'
Kai was puzzled. The mercenaries were equipped with leather armor, iron swords, iron spears, leather shields, and even crossbows. Their equipment was quite excellent. Furthermore, the skill of the surviving mercenaries was decent enough. It was a force more than capable of quickly taking down a hundred or so goblins.
'And yet, they're being overwhelmed by mere goblins?'
Why?
The doubt that arose while surveying the battlefield was soon resolved by the appearance of a status window.
[A Higher Species' mental attack has begun.][An evil will takes root.][The Will of White Light resists the evil will.]
'A Higher Species! And one that uses mental attacks at that!'
Higher Species were special entities among the man-eating monsters. They were creatures endowed with various abilities—much like knights or mages—and most served as racial leaders or tribal chiefs. Among them, those who utilized mental attacks were quite troublesome.
A mental attack caused targets to see hallucinations and perceive allies as enemies. Falling victim to such an attack during combat led directly to death. It was reason enough for well-armed mercenaries to be slaughtered by goblins.
'If I only had my strength as a knight before I Awakened—'
He would have crushed the goblins alone in a display of peerless might, but in that time, the number of survivors would have dwindled. However, he had now inherited his magical powers through Awakening. Therefore, he had a way to increase the survival rate of those still standing.
From his awakened magic powers, Kai instantly thought of a spell that could counter status ailments and another that could momentarily halt the enemy's offensive.
"White Light Purification!"
White light spread in all directions through the instantaneous incantation. The light restored the sanity of the mercenaries and people who were struggling under the mental attack.
"White Light Radiance!"
An immense white light, blinding in its intensity, simultaneously consumed the vision of both friend and foe.
"Kieeek!" "Keeeek!"
The swarming goblins, who had been closing in, let out agonizing shrieks at the intense white light.
'What is this? Were Purification and Radiance always this wide-ranging and powerful?'
It was the power of a 1st Circle spell, yet it felt entirely different from before! While he was marvelling at the power, the screams of the goblins continued to echo. At that moment, the status window appeared once again.
[The Higher Species' nefarious power recedes.][The strength of the subordinates who received the nefarious power is temporarily weakened.]
'As I thought, these bastards were under the influence of a Higher Species' evil power!'
A Higher Species possessed a passive ability to strengthen their kin just by existing. They were truly bothersome creatures. Fortunately, they had a weakness: light. Light forced the passive power applied to their kin to recede and temporarily weakened them.
The light used to repel that power could be anything—torches, campfires, or any other source. Thus, the intense white light emitted by the White Light Radiance was more than enough to nullify the Higher Species' passive.
'I'll think about why the range and power have changed later!'
For now, prioritizing the disposal of these goblins came first. Kai entered the battlefield, where the engagement had momentarily paused due to the intense radiance. With sharp eyes, he searched for the Higher Species.
He soon discovered a goblin with two heads and dozens of eyes.
'Oh, for fuck's sake!'
It was so revoltingly hideous that a curse escaped his lips automatically. Like the surrounding goblins, the Higher Species was also suffering from the effects of the White Light Radiance. However, several of its dozens of eyes spotted Kai and snapped wide open.
"Damn it!"
The curse he had muttered in his heart slipped out loud. As the white light that had dyed the world faded, natural colors returned. The Higher Species goblin, which had been stumbling from the loss of power, steadied its posture.
"Keeeek!!"
With a shout like a scream, it hurled the iron spear it was holding.
Shwaaaack!
The spear flew with the sharp sound of tearing wind. Kai tracked it with his eyes and tilted his body to the side, dodging it. He reached out and snatched the shaft of the iron spear as it grazed past him by a paper-thin margin, then thrust it toward the goblins charging at him as they recovered from the pain.
Kwaaaaang!!
From the tip of the thrust spear, an invisible force of wind exploded, gouging the earth in a straight line. Dozens of goblins charging with all sorts of weapons—swords, clubs, daggers, bones—were blown apart in succession.
"Kieeek!!"
At that moment, a goblin lunged at Criphon's side with an eerie shriek. Kai swung the spear shaft and pulverized the creature's entire body.
Bang! Pieces of goblin flesh burst and rained down. Behind them, wind poured out like blades once more. Dozens of goblins were shredded by those wind blades with a series of Kwagagagak! explosions.
"Keek!!"
A goblin leaped from the front to attack. Kai retracted the spear shaft he had swung to the side and swung it downward simultaneously.
Shwaack! With the sound of the wind tearing, the spear, which had retracted while folding space, directly exploded the head of the lunging goblin. A crescent-shaped force of wind poured out again, grinding the ground and tearing apart the goblins standing behind.
While Kai was shredding and smashing the goblins in that manner, Criphon was also decimating them. He crushed them under his forehooves, rammed them with his head, and tore them apart with his teeth.
Kwaang! Kwajik! Puh-ung! The sounds of flesh bursting followed by various sounds of destruction continued without end. Criphon and Kai were like an unstoppable eight-wheeled wagon with broken brakes.
At the end of the path where the broken wagon's brakes would have been was the Higher Species goblin. Perhaps it hadn't expected Kai to approach while shredding its subordinates, or perhaps it hadn't expected him to catch the spear it threw so easily. The numerous eyes on its two faces were wide with shock.
"You're even more disgusting up close, you son of a bitch!"
Looking at a visage that would make even a noble priest swear, Kai spat out a curse without reservation and hurled the spear with all his might.
Kwaaaaang!!
A massive boom shook the world. In the place where the sound subsided, only a massive, blood-stained crater remained.
"Keek!?" "Kieeek!?"
With the Higher Species dead, the goblins—now leaderless—began to panic. Kai drew the mace hanging from Criphon's side—a weapon made of solid steel, 1.5 times larger than a normal mace—and held it high, shouting:
"I am Kai Pendragon!"
A wandering knight had to make his name known to gain honor. This was because it was a profession where one was likely to starve to death without reputation. Furthermore, Kai had the grand dream of city construction. Therefore, he needed more honor than other wandering knights to serve as a reliable source of income and a foundation.
'I cannot miss this moment when all eyes are on me for taking down a Higher Species!'
"I am!"
While effortlessly bursting the heads of the surviving goblins as if he were merely breathing, Kai announced himself with all his might until the heavens shook.
"Kai Pendragon! I am Kai Pendragon!!"
With this, his name would be firmly etched into the minds of the people he saved today, and his honor would be highly regarded!
[Pa-pa-pang!]
It was just after he had crushed the head of the final goblin. A message announcing a level-up appeared before Kai's eyes, accompanied by a cheerful fanfare.
[Level Up! ×5][Overall stats have slightly increased.][You can select a Trait.]
'Oh. My level went up by five at once. Well, I suppose this is natural after taking down a Higher Species and over a hundred goblins.'
The system where one's stats and traits grew through leveling up was similar to his past life, so he was familiar with it.
'But I can select a trait? This is the first time I've seen this.'
In his previous life, there were only two ways to obtain a trait: through Awakening or as a reward from a Tower boss room. Yet, in this world, he could obtain a trait just by leveling up? Kai smiled, feeling as though the heavens were somehow pushing him forward.
Suddenly, a famous quote from Peter Parker's uncle came to mind: 'With great power comes great responsibility.'
He felt a brief, uneasy premonition that something he would have to take responsibility for might arise. However, it wasn't a problem that had an answer right now.
'Establishing my dream comes first. Let's check the traits.'
Pushing deep concerns aside, he focused on the trait window before him.
[Please select a Trait.]1. Mana Heart2. Regeneration3. Insight
'Mana Heart.'
He saw a familiar name.
'Mana Heart, Regeneration, and Insight—the ones I obtained in my past life. Regeneration and Insight seem to be recovery and observation traits. I should check the details just in case.'
If he was curious about the contents of a trait, he only needed to think about it. Then, the information would be automatically injected into his mind. Kai scanned the descriptions of each trait. After a moment of thought, he ultimately chose Mana Heart.
'The others aren't bad. However, if I must walk the two paths of a mage and a knight—'
Mana Heart, which helped him gather, use, and understand mana better, was the best choice.
'If I have two classes, the mana consumption will be doubled. Besides, compared to my past life, the amount of mana used for the magic in this life seems to have increased by about twofold overall.'
It seemed that the power of the magic had also increased by more than twice the amount.
[You have selected the Trait 'Mana Heart'.]
His heart stung briefly.
'I didn't know when it was a basic trait, but this is how it feels to obtain a Mana Heart. Fortunately, it doesn't clash with a knight's Aura Beads.'
A knight learning Aura cultivation methods develops a bead-shaped mana storage area below the solar plexus and above the groin, which is called an Aura Bead. The Mana Heart engraved in his heart had become a separate entity from the Aura Bead, so it didn't feel particularly burdensome.
'I heard in novels that having two mana storages causes the body to overclock. Was that a lie? Or is it because it's a trait? Well, mages develop a mana storage called a Circle instead of a Heart, so I suppose it's different for me.'
Concluding that it was likely due to the special circumstances of it being a "Trait," Kai accepted it and finally surveyed his surroundings.
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