For low-level adventurers like the Stinky Fish and Shrimp Group, often you can judge a person's strength just by their appearance.
A man who looks thin and frail, in most cases, won't have high combat strength.
Similarly, if your opponent is a barbarian with muscles hard and large as stone, it's evident that they possess strength corresponding to their physique.
An adult Bear Goblin stands about seven feet tall, roughly around two meters and two.
Coupled with its imposing form filled with strong muscles and thick fat like a grizzly bear, it looks like a small mountain of flesh from afar.
In comparison, Gag, though possessing a thin Beastman bloodline, is only slightly taller and bulkier than an ordinary adult human.
Even if he triggers his bloodline and enters combat mode, he barely reaches the shoulder of a Bear Goblin.
Standing side by side, it's almost the difference between an adult and a child.
The actual combat ability is even more pathetic.
Before, Xia Nan's entire attention was focused on battling the goblin, unable to spare a glance at his surroundings.
Thus, he was unaware of what happened on the other side of the battlefield in those twenty seconds.
He only saw the scene before him.
Compared to the ambush encountered last night, Gag's body was clean, a bit dirty, and hardly any blood stains could be seen.
He was also very quiet.
There were no incomprehensible Beastman slang or deafening roars of rage.
Of course, that wasn't because the Half orc suddenly learned human etiquette.
It was because, at this moment, he had lost the ability to speak.
Shafts of white, broken bones pierced through the flesh, protruding from his abdomen.
At the center of his chest was a deep, inward-set hole.
His eyes turned white, his mouth opened unconsciously, with frothy blood dribbling down from the corners.
Like a broken toy, Gag was lifted by one ankle by the Bear Goblin, hanging upside down.
The dark nail head hammer, covered in iron thorns, was poised in the icy cold air.
In that instant, Xia Nan, seeing such a scene, inexplicably thought of the night watchman striking a gong in ancient times.
The next second, the nail head hammer disappeared, and a drumbeat echoed.
Whoosh—bang—
Accompanying the whistling of a hard object through the air was a peculiar sound, as if an egg cracked, the hard shell mingling with viscous liquid.
The Half orc's body swung like a pendulum.
The hammerhead was smeared with a patch of red and white, and Gag lost the ability to make a sound in the physical sense.
"Plop."
The headless corpse was casually thrown to the ground, blood gushing like a fountain, gradually pooling beneath him.
"Die!"
Just after Xia Nan witnessed the Bear Goblin utterly crumble Gag, a hoarse shout tinged with hope echoed in his ear.
Though Gag died miserably, he ultimately fulfilled his task of "stalling for time."
The bowstring tightly stretched, the bow bending almost to breaking point.
A metal-glossed iron arrow was tightly clamped between Magi's fingers, the slightly purple arrowhead aimed directly at the Bear Goblin's head.
[Precise Strike]
A prerequisite for the Ranger profession.
Also, the only offensive Battle Skill Magi mastered in his adventure career over the years.
In higher-level battles, this move's effect naturally lies mainly in the precise targeting of attack positions.
But for low-level adventurers like Magi, the "weak" power bonus it provides, as deemed by higher-level professionals, is enough to handle most situations.
Even faced with the Bear Goblin, known as a "Newbie Killer," he held full expectations.
If the arrow could penetrate the eye socket and enter the brain, it could instantly kill the Bear Goblin.
If it hit the skull, the force accompanying the arrow would be enough to leave the Bear Goblin in a moribund state, with Magi having the capacity to finish it off.
Even in the worst case where the arrow missed, the characteristic of the [Precise Strike] Battle Skill ensures a wound is left on the opponent.
At that point, as Magi's trump card, the specially crafted metal arrowhead, for which he spent a lot of Gold Coins, could play its role.
The horned viper venom smeared on its surface could quickly paralyze the Bear Goblin's body, greatly reducing its speed and slowing its reactions in a short time.
By then, whether to pursue or turn and flee, the choice would be his.
Complex thoughts flashed through his mind.
Magi held his breath, aimed at the enemy's vital spot, and gently released his grip.
Whoosh—
The sound of the air breaking came from the front, the impact from the bowstring's rebound causing a numbing tremor from his fingertips to his forearm.
At the moment the arrow flew, decades of experience in the jungle told him:
"This shot is on target."
Under extreme pressure, the Hunter performed at his best, executing almost every movement perfectly.
A few strands of white hair by his temple swayed gently with the breeze brought by the arrow.
Magi was utterly confident, seemingly able to hear the dull sound of the arrowhead penetrating the eye socket and embedding in the brain, hearing the Bear Goblin's abruptly ended agonizing scream.
But then, a touch of reddish-brown appeared, shattering all his dreams like waking from a nightmare.
As if sensing the imminent fatal strike on the Bear Goblin, a semi-transparent red-tinged shield appeared out of nowhere in the air before it.
The material seemed neither light nor air, possibly some wandering energy temporarily drawn together, forming an unstable reddish-brown force field.
The iron arrow, propelled by the Hunter's full strength, slightly touched it, then skewed away under the reddish-brown energy's influence.
The force remained, but the arrowhead's target shifted from the Bear Goblin's head to the wall behind it.
"Whoosh—bam!"
The metallic arrow easily penetrated the cave's dirt-covered stone wall, leaving only the violent quiver of the tail feathers and the Hunter's pale, despairing face.
"How... how can it be!?" Magi's bloodless lips quivered, his body trembling with fear, "My arrow..."
And facing Hunter Magi, who had unveiled his last card, the Bear Goblin spoke for the first time since appearing in front of everyone.
"Your little tricks, spell."
A coarse voice like gravel echoed faintly in the cave, the broken Universal Language making its meaning incomprehensible.
But at this moment, what the Bear Goblin said no longer mattered.
Because in the next instant, its death-filled, ominous shadow was in front of Magi, engulfing him.