Julian swaggered towards the entrance of the Goblin Nest.
As he walked, his murderous eyes glowed crimson like blood but inside, he was struggling to retain his rationality.
This battle already taught him a lot of things about himself and this world.
The first was that the System was not the only way for him to grow and level up. Apart from the system reward that was promised, engaging in acts of debauchery could naturally give him EXP to grow.
'Since everyone is an Awakened and has levels in this world, does that mean they also gain EXP to grow too?'
Also, he learned about himself.
Even at Lvl. 10, he was already OP for his level and rank but that came with a drawback, Julian already realized just how hard it was for him to gain substantial EXP.
'Just 2000+ EXP gain after killing a Lvl. 18 Goblin Warrior?'
Julian was convinced that it was because of his unique nature. Not only was he a pure-blooded Demon, but he also had Dragon bloodline.
Now that he thought of it, it was only natural that it was hard for him to gain EXP especially when the target was from a minor monster race like Goblins.
He didn't just learn about how OP he was for his rank and how hard it was for him to gain EXP though, he also learned about his bloodlines.
His face scrunched up slightly. 'Are all bloodlines like this or it's just mine?'
The just concluded battle already proved to him that blood and slaughter stimulates him, making him aggressive and putting him in a state of frenzied outburst and bloodlust.
His guess was that this was related to his Demon bloodline and the racial traits- Infernal Qi and Sin Catalyst of the Demon Race.
But that was not his only problem though, his Dragon bloodline also came with its own baggage of problems.
When fighting against the Goblins, one of the main reasons that pushed him to not use his Kinetic Shield and rely just on his Dragon Scale was because of an irrational arrogance and disdain for the Goblins that he felt as the battle escalated.
It was an innate arrogance that stemmed from his bloodline, making him look down on the Goblins and rate them too fickle to go all-out on.
'F*CK!' Julian cursed with a grimace. 'Is this the price of power?'
As these thoughts went through his mind as he approached the jagged entrance of the Goblin Nest, he finally noticed commotion underground.
'They finally reacted?'
He already expected this since.
Afterall, he wasn't subtle at all when he slaughtered the 14 Goblins, the commotion from the battle in the surface must have attracted the Goblins in the underground nest. He was right.
Just as Julian walked in front of the jagged opening on the ground, a Goblin garbed in primitive leather hide jumped out with a cutlass and a shield unlike the previous Goblin Warriors who wielded 2 cutlasses.
His weapon choice immediately revealed his Class to Julian- a Warrior.
Immediately after the Goblin Warrior jumped out of the opening while roaring like a mad dog, before he could attack Julian's left leg stabbed forward towards the Goblin's chest in a devastating front kick.
BAM!
The ribs of the Goblin groaned under the force as he wobbled unsteadily in mid-air, losing balance.
Julian stabbed with the Goblin Cleaver at the Goblin Warrior but the Goblin reacted fast and blocked with his sturdy thick wooden shield despite losing balance in mid-air but Julian didn't stop.
Aether Bolt!
A reddish brown blast of qi energy surged towards the shield at point-blank range. When it hit, the shield resisted at first but then the qi energy supporting the concussive blast turned aggressive, growing more powerful and violent.
Bang!
The surge of qi energy blasted a fist-sized hole through the shield
The Goblin Warrior was alarmed and in his shock, he failed to react appropriately to Julian's follow-up attack as he stabbed again with the Goblin Cleaver.
The Goblin Warrior didn't react appropriately, but it still reacted as instead of the short blade severing its head, it simply cut deeply into its neck.
But even that was lethal.
The System lit up with a notification.
DING!
~----~
[CRITICAL HIT!]
[Bleed Status triggered!]
>-3 VIT every sec for 6 seconds.
~----~
The Goblin Warrior staggered as he bled heavily from all his orifices; it was a gruesome sight as he fought for his life.
Julian ignored him as he grabbed the planks and scavenged shields of the Goblin Nest's entrance, widening it enough for him to pass through then he nonchalantly jumped inside.
As he jumped inside, the Goblin Warrior bled to death.
DING!
~----~
[You have killed a Lvl. 14 Goblin Warrior!]
[You have gained +1778 EXP!]
…
[Mission Progress Tracker: 15/44 Goblins killed]
~----~
Julian arrogantly entered the homegrown of the Goblins, yet his momentum didn't slow down.
Instead, the slaughter only accelerated.
With the Goblin Cleaver on his right hand, his Dragon Scale, and with his immense reserves of qi, he was a one-man army as he went on a rampage across the Goblin Nest without any true resistance.
For dozens of minutes, Julian slaughtered, fishing the Goblins out of their hiding spots inside the nest.
Inside the Goblin Nest, the tunnels were cramped and uneven.
Torchlight flickered weakly from greasy, foul-smelling flames fed by animal fat and scraps. Bones- some animal, some disturbingly human were piled along the walls, gnawed clean and marked with crude carvings that passed for goblin totems.
Julian didn't care about all this as he slaughtered his way deeper.
For a towering Demon like him, walking efficiently inside this nest was hard but he managed.
Afterall, they couldn't even truly dent his Dragon Scale.
The deeper chambers of the Goblin Nest widened just enough to serve as sleeping dens. Filthy nests of straw, fur, and stolen cloth littered the ground, crawling with insects.
Crude weapons like rusted knives, chipped spears, and broken arrows were stacked carelessly in corners, while stolen trinkets and shiny trash were hoarded in shallow pits like treasure.
Every sound echoed as the battle raged.
And then, after 30 minutes of an indiscriminate slaughter, the commotion finally died down as the nest became eerily quiet.
DING!
With a satisfied gleam filled with lingering bloodlust in his eyes, Julian focused on the System notification.
~----~
[Mission Progress Tracker: 43/44 Goblins killed]
~----~
'Huh?' Julian was surprised. 'There's still 1 more Goblin?'
And then, he suddenly saw something move at the periphery of his vision.
Julian immediately snapped his head in that direction and looked but there was nothing.
He frowned. 'A shadow? Was it just my head?'
But then he remembered the mission progress tracker. 'NO!'
His eyes constricted. 'Is this the leader of the Goblin Nest? The Boss?'
He scanned his surroundings, observing every corner of the tunnels with his keen eyesight yet he saw nothing substantial, just a feeling like something was watching him from the dark and it unnerved him.
'What the heck!' He frowned. 'This guy is dangerous!'
Qi Sight!
He looked, scanning the qi residues around but he only detected the residue left by the dead.
Julian's eyes constricted. 'This Goblin can hide his qi residue from my Qi Sight?!'
He saw another shadow move at the left side of his periphery vision and instantly he turned to his left, but the true shadow squirmed from his right side which was now his blind spot!
Shadow Step!
Backstab!
"…!"