Goblin Dependency

Fink, riding on Leslie, his temporary mount, entered the goblin cave that was noticeably cleaner than an ordinary lair.

Then at once, they discovered the bizarre goblin wearing clothing made of bark and leaves.

Against the mongoose with physical prowess far exceeding ordinary goblins, and the toad's venom, the battle was essentially a foregone conclusion.

The green-skinned goblin, transformed from a Furious Tide Battle Gang adventurer, had its neck bitten off in one go.

However, just a second after its death, a familiar blue glow emerged from its body, drawn and infused into Leslie the mongoose.

Realizing his body seemed to be strengthening, Leslie conveyed this information to Fink through text.

They perceived that this might be the mechanism of this Secret Realm ritual.

Fink decided decisively, thinking that Leslie should drag the body out from the cave and leave quickly to avoid attracting the forest's predators with the scent of blood after the slaughter.

But as soon as they crawled out of the cave, the Soluble Sore Poison Toad's demon-level Perception Attribute detected a feeling of being watched from above.

"Sizzle!"

Venom sprayed out.

Amidst the corroded and pierced leaves and branches.

A black wolf, rare in the forest with its pitch-black fur, descended lightly to the ground from the treetop.

Gazing into those golden wolf eyes that possessed an eerie, calm brilliance unusual for beasts, Leslie's heart tightened sharply.

It's an adventurer!

He let out a loud frog croak suddenly, reminding Leslie beneath him.

Meanwhile, the mongoose, recognizing their identity, seemed as if it had practiced countless times, swiftly traced on the soft ground.

In just a few seconds, it drew an emblem that, although somewhat crude, was enough to identify allies and enemies: the "Wind Forger" team emblem.

It was visibly obvious that the moment the emblem appeared on the ground.

The black wolf, confronting them, hesitated and then eased its body, the hostility and alertness in its wolf eyes seeming to dissipate along with it.

"Could it be... a teammate?"

Fink thought, but still felt inexplicably strange.

At the same moment, Leslie the mongoose, without pondering further, observed the black wolf's reaction to the emblem and assumed it was a Wind Forger teammate.

Just as he was about to step forward, he was halted by the frog croak from behind.

"Guolong!"

The drum-like loud croak made Leslie halt instinctively.

However, the black wolf ahead seemed unaffected, approaching with light steps towards the two just as before.

Something's wrong!

This black wolf, something's very wrong!

Fink was about to use text to further confirm the identity of the other.

Yet from up front, suddenly came a wolf howl unlike anything a body could produce, as if formed by the stirring of powerful winds.

Lying behind the mongoose, he couldn't clearly see the entire scene ahead.

But he still caught the black, forceful qi resembling a lawnmower tearing through the grass and the rapidly forming blurred wolf head in the air.

From the Soluble Sore Poison Toad's biological instinct, a deadly sensation erupted in his heart, making his body tremble involuntarily.

Not even having time to alert his teammate, his powerful toad legs pushed hard off the mongoose's back.

His dark purple pus-covered body used his teammate's body for leverage, propelling backward.

Due to the rushed action, Fink didn't carefully control the power.

Leslie the mongoose was kicked directly to the ground, and Fink himself temporarily lost his balance due to the excessive exertion.

He flipped 360 degrees in the air, landing on the ground in an entirely clumsy manner.

Buzz—Boom!

Accompanied by the high-frequency buzzing of energy, the ochre-red light flashed briefly in the forest.

Fink raised his head, instinctively looking toward the sound's direction.

Leslie the mongoose remained in the prone position where he was kicked to the ground.

Having just absorbed the blue glow, not yet having finished the evolution of life level, his muscles swelled visibly under his fur.

Yet his beefier body had already lost the ability for free movement, stiffly convulsing.

Blood, mixed with sticky white brain fluid, slowly flowed across the meadow.

A wolf paw rested on the mongoose's head.

Or rather, on where the mongoose's head should have been.

The ochre-red light, just now, emerged and exploded from this spot.

And the result was a beast carcass that had lost its head.

Why?

What is this!?

Did he descend upon a high-level demon?

No! There's no such wolf-type demon that can control force field energy!

And that displacement speed just now isn't something ordinary beasts possess.

So... is it a battle skill?

How's that possible!?

I clearly tried many times before; battle skills from the real world don't work during the ritual, but...

Whoosh——

The sudden cold wind through the forest froze Fink's chaotic thoughts instantly.

Not far away, the shadow-like Black Wolf cast its golden Wolf Eyes upon the purple-skinned toad in the woodland.

This was their second confrontation.

Even less than thirty seconds had passed since the last, yet the situation had changed.

"Quaa!!!"

Feeling the unspeakable killing intent more piercing than the cold wind of deep winter.

Fink seemed to react by opening his mouth wide towards Xia Nan, with the hideous skin on his back full of folds, pustules were drawn in, turning into fatal venom gathered in the throat pouch.

But before it could be launched, during the brief charging moment.

"Puff."

A faint flapping sound came from above.

A brown petite figure could be glimpsed flying through the forest.

From one treetop to another, without pausing.

Only dropping a small cluster of branches with lush leaves from the sky.

Fink was in the critical moment of charging, unable to dodge.

In fact, considering the weight capacity of the brown sparrow, the branch wasn't enough to interrupt the charging process.

It only obscured the toad's vision with dense leaves.

"Sizzle!"

In the next second, the compressed venom, akin to a high-pressure water gun, shot out as a thin line.

However, what followed wasn't the painful howl Fink imagined, hitting the wolf beast.

But a high-pitched, long wolf howl already echoing from the side.

Buzz——

Crimson light resonated in the forest again.

Only this time, it genuinely fell upon himself.

Fink didn't even feel pain.

His vision went black, losing consciousness completely.

In the real world, after the adventurer from the Furious Tide Battle Gang fell to the ground, two adventurers from the Wind Forger's team lost the enveloping blue light and slowly floated down, pale.

Confirming no identity deception, nor had he killed the wrong person, Xia Nan withdrew attention from human bodies in the real world.

Wolf Mouth slightly agape, pants softly as he lifts his head, gazing at the treetops above.

There, a sparrow no larger than a palm, clawing onto a branch, quietly watching him.

In its bird eyes, an obvious human-like intelligence gleamed without hostility.

Xia Nan wanted to communicate, but only emitted a low howl unique to wolves.

Realizing lacking the capability for speech now.

Wanting to confirm the identity, pondering how to further converse.

From front and back, two beams of blue light floated upward from the incomplete corpses of the purple toad and mongoose, pouring into his body.

Before his eyes, the symbols representing the attribute panel quickly flashed by.

"Skill Level +2"

"[Gravity Control]Level 1 (50/100)→[Gravity Control]Level 1 (52/100)"

"Skill Level +3"

"[Embers Resonance]Level 2 (32/100)→[Embers Resonance]Level 2 (35/100)"

"Skill Level +10"

"[Heavy Tide]Level 3 (13/100)→[Heavy Tide]Level 3 (23/100)"

"..."

"Ding!"

"Evolution condition met!"

"Automatically searching evolution path..."