I Am Not Goblin Slayer

Chapter 98: Adding Points and Sub-Core

Gauss, after killing the last two qualifying Goblins, made a few great leaps and quickly pulled away from the Goblins.

He drew his wand, then lightly vaulted over the wall, leaping out of the Goblin Village. Using the short wall—this simple defensive structure—as cover, his figure temporarily vanished from the Goblins’ sight.

Left behind in the square were Goblins who had just mustered the courage to shout and fight, now staring blankly at the enemy who had suddenly "fled".

Perplexed, they looked toward the leader in their ranks—the Redcap Goblin.

Redcap was just as baffled at the moment.

As one of the rare high-intelligence individuals among the non-elite Goblins,

It could sense that the enemy had come with ill intent. In a very short time, he had already slain over a dozen of the tribe’s capable fighters.

Especially the archers, who were elite units painstakingly trained by the tribe—now all dead.

Though its heart was still filled with hatred, even more prominent was the dread and unease in the face of an unknown, powerful enemy. Therefore, it did not command its trembling, weakened tribesmen to give chase.

Perhaps in its mind, between continuing to fight the powerful human male and watching him leave after slaying a dozen kin, it preferred the latter scenario.

Having temporarily left the Goblin Village, Gauss looked at the Adventurer’s Handbook.

「Monster Kill Count has reached 200.」

「Reward acquired: Strength +1」

「Reward acquired: Sub-core Skill Slot *1」

「Next stage: Accumulate a total of 500 monster kills.」

As the text briefly flashed before his eyes—

A familiar wave of heat flowed through Gauss’s body.

He knew it was the effect of the Strength +1 reward. After all, this wasn’t his first time experiencing the sensation of stat enhancement.

But if he had to say, it did feel a little different.

Last time, it was an increase from the average of 5 points to 6 points. Now, it was from 6 to 7—an elevation atop an already superhuman foundation.

The surging heat quickly merged into all the muscles in Gauss’s body.

He could feel his muscles starting to swell slightly, a solid tightness without any soreness.

Under the heat’s influence, the muscle fibers became more compact, taut like a bowstring, full of explosive strength.

「Crack crack!」

Soon after, his bones and joints began to emit soft, crisp popping sounds. The mysterious heat that surged into his bones seemed to make them rapidly harden in a very short time.

Several breaths later, Gauss let out a long exhale.

Temporarily done absorbing the bodily changes brought by the attribute boost, he straightened up.

「Crack crack crack!」

A series of explosive cracks rang out from the tendons and bones all over his body.

He tightened his grip on the sword.

Feeling a massive power surging within his body, it was as if the entire world had become lighter.

The most noticeable change was in the sword in his hand—it now felt almost weightless.

This clear contrast in physical sensation made Gauss realize more deeply that 7 points in an attribute was an entirely different tier from 6 points.

If a regular person from an average household could perhaps, through rigorous training, reach a Strength of 6 points, then reaching 7 without a fortuitous encounter was nearly impossible.

To put it in perspective: Strength 5 is a healthy human, 6 is a strong human, and 7 could be considered the initial threshold of superhuman—someone capable of easily handling over a dozen adult men in a fair, unarmed fight. With trained skills and weapons, that efficiency could increase severalfold.

「Strength: 7」

When he previously advanced to Magic User, Strength was not among the stats that increased. This time, the reward from the Adventurer’s Handbook made up for it.

Gauss once again had attributes of all 7s, except for Intelligence, which remained at 8.

From this, Gauss could preliminarily determine—

The stat increases from monster kills recorded in the Adventurer’s Handbook weren’t random, but rather prioritized reinforcing weaker attributes, aiming for an overall balance.

Understanding this, Gauss had no complaints.

Compared to other Professionals, he already had a significant natural advantage.

In addition to the stat boosts that came with level-ups like everyone else, the Handbook also filled in his attribute gaps. In other words, in the long run, his total in all six attributes would pull ahead of others.

The greatest benefit of being a “hexagonal warrior” was having no weak points. Even when facing a large number of enemies weaker than himself, he was unlikely to be overwhelmed.

That was the main reason why he could remain unfazed just now, even when facing numerous Goblins—his strong foundation across all six attributes gave him absolute confidence.

Aside from the Strength boost, the second reward this time was another new feature he had never encountered before: the Sub-core Skill Slot.

Gauss focused his attention on it and quickly grasped its function.

It was somewhat similar to his current Core Skill, Omni Protection.

As the name suggests, the Sub-core Skill Slot allows any skill he has mastered to be set as a secondary core skill.

Once designated, the skill would receive benefits similar to a core skill, though not as pronounced—

The enhancements would be less obvious.

The advantage was that this sub-core slot could be switched. After each successful change, a cooldown recovery period would commence.

Without much hesitation—

Gauss assigned Magic Missile to the Sub-core Skill Slot.

No sooner had he done so than he suddenly noticed a subtle change in the Magic Missile model in his mental space.

The bonus effect from the Sub-core Skill Slot seemed to have temporarily optimized the spell while in this state.

「I think I can do a triple missile now? And the mana cost has decreased further.」

Gauss raised his brow, a subtle sense from the void conveying this information to him.

If previously, his mana could only support the casting of around twenty downgraded Magic Missiles without recovery, now that number might jump to about thirty.

Not bad at all.

Gauss was quite satisfied with the effect of the Sub-core Skill Slot.

Even if it only yielded a few extra missiles, mana was something you could never have too much of. The mana he saved with Magic Missile could now be used on other spells.

He took a moment to adjust to the changes in his body.

Gauss reentered the Goblin Village.

Walking through the main gate, he looked upon the still foul-smelling and filthy village.

Gauss came face-to-face once again with the Goblins who had just been preparing to collect the bodies of their fallen kin.

「Wah wah wah!!!」

Shrill cries of alarm burst forth from the Goblins’ mouths, their expressions visibly tightening with tension.

The Redcap Goblin, which had just broken away from the ranks, leapt lightly several times and slipped back into the Goblin formation.

At the same time, its fierce, wolf-like glare toward Gauss now carried a hint of confusion.

It could no longer comprehend this human’s behavioral patterns.

Just as it was preparing to deliver a victory speech to the tribe, intending to use the inexplicable "victory" from the enemy's withdrawal to further solidify its prestige, Gauss had unexpectedly returned before the plan could be enacted.

「Wah wah wah!!」

Seeing the trembling tribesmen, Redcap cried out loudly again, using its immense authority within the tribe to calm their unease.

Then it issued the hunting command.

The Goblins, uneasy and frightened, had no choice but to obey its orders out of habit.

「Magic Missile!」

Gauss gripped the Unbreaking Staff.

Three blue flashes shimmered before him like stars, then suddenly intensified in brightness and shot forward in an instant.

「Whoosh!」「Whoosh!」「Whoosh!」

Gauss was casting the spell.

Now that Magic Missile had become his Sub-core Skill, using it felt even more effortless.

As natural as breathing.

An indescribable sense of smoothness lingered in Gauss’s heart.

Though it wasn’t quite as instantaneous as Mage Armor, it was still fast. In fact, the slight casting time made him feel more involved, as if casting spells itself was a pleasure.

The three front-line Goblins, locked on by downgraded yet still powerful Magic Missiles, were directly struck by the explosive impact. Like rags, they were blasted away, dead before hitting the ground, their bodies smashed upon impact.

Even the Goblins behind them were knocked back and injured by the flying corpses.

Unfortunately, the Goblins weren’t standing densely enough, or the Magic Missile could have taken out even more.

「Goblins killed: *3」

「Monster Kill Count: 203」

Still, that was enough.

Another function of magic was intimidation.

Especially effective against these low-intelligence Goblins.

Gauss could already sense the spreading unease and confusion among the few dozen Goblins in the distance.

He looked toward the vague splash of red within the ranks.

He really wanted to know—could its leadership truly surpass the magic in his hands?

As if hearing Gauss’s inner thoughts, or perhaps sensing the retreating will of its tribesmen, the Redcap Goblin let out another dry scream. Together with four larger Goblins at its side, it began forcing the Goblins forward from the rear.

And so, the Goblin formation, which had briefly stalled, launched another charge.

After a momentary pause, Gauss resumed casting without any change in expression.

「Magic Missile!」

Three flashes lit up before him, forming a triangular pattern.

The Goblins, previously urged forward by Redcap, slowed down upon seeing the ominous blue light that symbolized death.

Especially those at the very front—yellow-brown fluid quietly trickled down their thighs.

They had been literally scared witless.

「Whoosh!」

But magic is merciless.

It does not halt just because it senses the Goblins’ despair.

「Boom!」

This time, the explosion seemed even louder than before.

「Goblins killed: *3」

「Monster Kill Count: 206」

The Goblins’ flesh and blood burst apart like rotting tofu the moment the missiles made contact.

Wet, sticky chunks of flesh and filthy blood splattered in all directions, soaking the Goblins within several meters completely from head to toe.

「Thud!」

「Thud!」

Seven or eight Goblins, already weakened and exhausted from the purge medicine, were so horrified by their comrades’ explosive deaths that their "mental fortitude shattered." Their legs gave out, and they collapsed to the ground with heavy thumps.

Against such an enemy—an enemy they couldn’t possibly resist—

Some of the Goblins had already lost the will to fight.

Why did they have to face an enemy they had no chance of defeating?