The following day.
Rustle! Rustle!
The sound of leaves rubbing together echoed through the jungle, carried by a morning breeze.
Adam, with his legs draped over a sturdy branch and his back against the tree trunk, opened his eyes and pulled out a pocket watch.
"Eight-oh-seven. I wonder if this world's time is exactly the same as my old one." Adam snapped the watch shut and gazed at the forest, still shrouded in a dim atmosphere.
Even though the sun had risen, the dense canopy blocked most of the sunlight.
Compared to the darkness of night, however, his vision was much clearer now.
Adam had woken up long ago, or rather, he had spent the entire night in a state of half-sleep, perhaps due to the enhanced constitution granted by his level.
Though he hadn't slept much, he felt neither drowsy nor fatigued.
If the jungle's visibility weren't so poor, Adam would have already started moving.
Whoosh!
Seated on the sturdy branch, Adam tilted his shoulder, letting his body slide off the tree.
Just before hitting the ground,
Thud!
Adam adjusted his landing posture, his feet touching down smoothly.
"Time to move."
Gripping his iron sword, Adam spoke softly, his gaze calm.
As he ventured deeper into the ogre tribes' territory, the number of goblins he encountered in the jungle gradually increased. At the same time, those goblins became experience points for Adam.
One day!
Two days!
…
Four days!
Over several consecutive days, over a hundred goblins were turned into experience points for Adam, along with some wild beasts and ordinary monsters.
His "Sword Saint" Class leveled up again, reaching 9th Level!
Though the number of goblins slain might seem significant, it was actually quite modest. The Great Forest of Tob was vast, and a hundred goblins were merely a tiny fraction of the many inhabiting the ogre tribes' territory.
Moreover, these goblins were simply the ones Adam encountered naturally in the jungle, averaging only about twenty per day.
So, it wasn't much.
Additionally, Adam noticed that not all goblins lived in tribes. Many roamed in small groups of a few, hunting and surviving together.
It wasn't that Adam wasn't trying to kill more goblins.
The jungle's environment was simply too restrictive. For thirteen hours each day, the forest was plunged into complete darkness.
For a human like Adam, this was far from ideal. Goblins, though weak, possessed the innate racial ability of "Night Vision."
Nighttime was not suitable for hunting.
Furthermore, the dense jungle hindered Adam's movements, severely limiting the range he could cover each day and further restricting his actions.
In the days that followed, Adam's routine became monotonous: either killing goblins or heading toward more goblins to kill.
On lucky days, he might encounter an ogre.
Ogres were a boon, as their presence almost always meant a nearby goblin tribe.
As time passed, Adam didn't even realize that the growing number of dead goblins was causing a faint, bloody stench to pervade the forest's outer regions.
The unprocessed goblin corpses, left to rot, began to emit an odor.
Instead of attracting the jungle's many beasts, the smell caused them to flee the outer regions in fear, migrating toward the forest's central areas.
The beasts had begun to sense that a terrifying monster had appeared in the forest's outskirts!
New Calendar, Year -4.
Lower Wind Month, June 11th.
Ten days had passed since Adam entered the Great Forest of Tob on June 2nd.
In a small goblin tribe,
"Waa!!"
"Waa!"
"…"
The goblins' screams and wails rang out in rapid succession.
Adam, expressionless, swung his iron sword, its blade flashing through the air.
Whether due to the sheer number of goblins he had slain or the leveling of his "Sword Saint" Class, Adam's swordsmanship had grown increasingly refined.
With a swift kick, he sent a goblin flying with heavy force, crashing into several others attempting to flee.
Adam lunged forward, closing the distance in a few steps, his sword flicking upward.
The heads of several goblins soared into the air, landing on the ground.
Moments later, all the goblins were dealt with. As usual, Adam cut off their ears, packed them into a pouch, and stored them in his item box.
Glug~ Glug~
Adam grabbed the water skin from his waist, gulping down several mouthfuls before exhaling.
Ignoring the corpses strewn about and the bloody stench in the air, he pulled out a piece of well-cooked boar meat and began chewing heartily.
"This goblin tribe didn't have an ogre? That's a shame."
Adam's cheeks bulged as he chewed, his thoughts drifting.
The goblin corpses around him didn't affect his meal. After spending so much time in the jungle, he had grown accustomed to such scenes.
With that thought, Adam squatted on the ground, setting his iron sword aside. One hand held the water skin, the other the boar meat, as he replenished his stamina and rested.
A few days ago, he had caught a wild boar and used the "Heat" Spell to cook it, slicing it up and storing it in his item box for easy access whenever he needed to eat.
At this moment, Adam's appearance was almost indistinguishable from that of a savage.
His sturdy burlap clothing was tattered, covered in plant leaves and traces of branches from the underbrush.
His once-short black hair had grown longer, now a disheveled mess.
This was already his fifth set of clothes; the previous ones had been even more ragged.
If not for his mastery of the "Odorless" Spell, Adam's body would likely reek by now.
However, through the rips in his clothing, his exposed skin revealed a physique that had, unbeknownst to him, grown visibly toned and muscular.
"Attribute panel."
Adam muttered in his mind.
[Attribute Panel]
Player: Adam
Justice Value: 35 [Neutral]
HP: 113 (8%)
MP: 13 (1%)
Physical Attack: 113 (8%)
Physical Defense: 13 (1%)
Agility: 113 (8%)
Magic Attack: 13 (1%)
Magic Defense: 13 (1%)
Total Resistance: 0 (0%)
Special Attributes: 0 (0%)
Total: 28%
…
[Ability Panel]
[Talent: Player]
[Total Level: 11]
[Experience: 1721/5000]
[Job Class:
[Basic Job: Genius 1st Level (Warrior…)]
[Mid-Tier Job: Sword Saint 10th Level]
[Skill Points: 19]
[Passive Skills: Item Box, Slash Enhancement (10%)]
[Active Skills:
[Warrior: Instant Reflection, Fourfold Light Slash, Rapid Slash, Stealth]
[Magic: Papermaking (1st Tier), Heat (1st Tier), Minor Healing (1st Tier), Magic Arrow (1st Tier), Odorless (1st Tier)]
[Class Skills: Pharmacy, Alchemy]
***
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