Adam didn't have to go far to find his first targets. Seven goblins stood scattered across the clearing, idle and initially unaware of his presence.
The tall grass brushed against his belt as he walked toward them, the common knife held loosely in his hand, blade angled downward at his side.
The goblins sensed him before they saw him. Their heads snapped toward the disturbance, ready to shriek, charge and tear apart whatever prey had wandered into their territory.
But the moment their yellow eyes landed on Adam…
Something shifted.
Something primal.
Something that had never existed in them until this very moment.
Dread.
A raw, instinctual terror gripped the creatures, it was so alien that even they didn't understand it.
Adam's steps slowed as he prepared to activate Rapid E, intending to cleanly slaughter them.
But before he could move, all seven goblins turned their backs and ran.
"…"
There was complete silence.
Adam stared blankly as the creatures sprinted in panic, their shrill cries fading into the distance.
He didn't understand what he had just witnessed, but whatever this was, he wouldn't let them escape.
A surge of power erupted from him.
Essence rippled, and his figure blurred, vanishing from the spot.
He reappeared instantly ahead of the fleeing goblins, back turned toward them, his common knife already dripping green blood.
The goblins skidded to a halt, trembling.
A heartbeat later, seven heads toppled to the ground, followed by seven geysers of Verdant blood.
Their bodies collapsed soon after.
Adam didn't know why they feared him when he had done nothing to them yet and honestly he didn't care, not now.
Answers could come later.
For now, abominations did not get to run.
He moved carefully, avoiding any splatter on his clothes as he harvested granulites and the valuable goblin parts, placing them neatly into his newly, acquired, absurdly-expensive storage ring.
His chest stung at the memory of the cost, but he would never admit it aloud.
Rising, he lifted his gaze.
Through [Connect], the world shifted, revealing dozens of distant soul flames flickering deeper within Gob Valley.
More goblins.
Good.
If he was truly going to achieve a clear, then speed was everything.
There would be no savoring the hunt, no long drawn-out engagements, not this time.
Adam burst forward, dashing through the grass toward the cluster of goblin souls.
"But it won't hurt to indulge a little."
A dark smile unfurled across his face as he closed in on the next group of goblins.
****
After the goblins' first reaction to seeing him, Adam wasn't too surprised when it happened again.
But when it kept repeating, he began to notice the pattern clearly.
In the past hour, he had encountered twenty-five separate goblin troops.
And every single one reacted the same way.
Not a single goblin tried to challenge him.
Not a single one attempted a formation.
Not even the elites tried to delay him.
The moment they saw him, their eyes widened in primal terror, their bodies trembled, and they bolted, scrambling, shrieking and trying to escape in any direction possible.
But Adam didn't allow that.
He spared none.
Now he knelt in the tall grass, calmly placing the freshly harvested monster parts into his storage ring.
His expression remained blank, but his thoughts churned faintly beneath the surface.
He wasn't thrilled by the fact that they were already terrified before he even lifted a hand.
Yes, their fear brought him a strange spark of satisfaction.
But the process of creating that fear, that was the part he enjoyed the most.
"Guess I can't do anything about it," Adam muttered as he rose to his feet.
He had a hunch why the goblins were behaving this way, why they fled before he even moved.
But he couldn't reach a solid conclusion yet.
And thinking too hard about it wouldn't earn him anything of value.
So he turned away and resumed his hunt.
He left the clearing behind him, the rift's artificial sun beating down on the piles of worthless left-over goblin remains he hadn't bothered to take.
The warm air carried the stench of blood, baking it into the soil.
Time passed and Adam was long gone.
Eventually, the tall grass rustled.
Something crawled out, dragging itself slowly and cautiously.
A goblin.
Its leathery green skin was darker than usual, its muscles stringy and lean.
It lifted its head to sniff the air, searching for danger.
When none came, it crept toward the busted, mutilated carcasses of its kin.
A faint, unfamiliar expression glimmered in its yellow eyes, an emotion almost resembling grief.
It reached the nearest corpse and hesitated for a heartbeat.
Then something in it changed.
Its mouth opened wide, revealing jagged teeth dripping with verdant saliva.
And without a hint of hesitation, it bit into the corpses, and ate them.
Every piece Adam didn't take.
It devoured flesh, bone, sinew, anything left.
Their was no guilt.
Their was no pause.
Just ravenous hunger.
When it finished, nothing remained but stained grass and the faint echo of crunching bones.
The goblin's yellow eyes gleamed, not with fear, but with a strange, rising intelligence.
Then its body seized.
It clutched its chest, collapsing to its knees as its limbs trembled violently.
Things like thin worms writhed beneath its skin, shifting and squirming as if the creature's flesh itself rebelled.
CRACK!
It's bones cracked, popping grotesquely as its spine arched and its muscles swelled.
Its frame expanded.
It was slow at first, but in a short moment it became extremely violent.
"KRAAAAAA!!!"
A feral, agonized scream tore from its throat, echoing across the rift.
****
At the same time Adam was cutting down goblins in pursuit of a one-man rift clear, another scene unfolded deeper within Gob Valley, one far more grounded in reality.
A group of seven Martial Apprentices battled desperately against four mob-unit goblins.
Each goblin required two martial artists to keep at bay, except for one fierce goblin being held back by a single man.
Unlike Adam, who dealt with goblins as though they were an afterthought, this battle showed the true struggle of a Martial Apprentice.
The contrast was stark, almost jarring.
Where Adam carved through foes like a force of nature, these martial artists fought with sweat, grit, fear, and everything they had.