"You have reached level 13!" "You gain 5 free attribute points!" "The power of shadows gathers within you, you gain an additional 5 free attribute points!" "Beast Blessing activated, you gain 5 more free attribute points!"
As soon as the upgrade notification appeared, it was immediately drowned out by a flood of new messages.
On Tristan's first attack, he had killed over 400 goblins. The area around Bonecrusher was limited in space, with close-range campfires that made the Toxic Blood Plague work to its fullest. If the campfires outside were a bit closer, he could have wiped out all the regular goblins in the valley in one round.
Then, the goblins' display of loyalty brought about another round of casualties, adding to the total body count. With just two attacks, nearly a thousand goblins were wiped out, providing him with a massive amount of experience.
By the time the second round of the Toxic Blood Plague subsided and the notifications finally slowed down, Tristan's experience was already nearly half full. The goblins here were all high-level, and with additional bonuses, the experience gain was exceptionally good. If he finished off the remaining goblins, he would probably level up twice more.
He distributed his attribute points and moved to find his next opportunity.
At this point, Bonecrusher's expression had turned as dark as the storm clouds. It never expected that its enemy would be this tricky. Not only did the invader possess incredible Stealth abilities, but also the power of the blood kin, causing catastrophic casualties with a single strike.
If this opponent continued unchecked, it feared none of its goblins would escape alive.
A Silver Grade goblin, seeing the situation, approached Bonecrusher and asked, "Bonecrusher, should we retreat?"
Its intentions were good. Although regular goblins were like weeds that would quickly grow back, it would still take time. If all three thousand goblins died, their forces would be severely weakened—possibly leaving them leaderless.
But Bonecrusher didn't think like that. If they retreated now, what would happen to its pride? Bonecrusher had ambitions of building a goblin kingdom, and retreating in the face of adversity would never command respect. More importantly, this enemy could Stealth, and if it didn't deal with it now, retreating would only bring them closer to death.
The previous brief exchange had already made Bonecrusher realize that the enemy's speed was extraordinary. It might not even be able to shake off the chase, let alone the other goblins.
Retreating would only hasten their demise!
Bonecrusher roared, "Don't panic! Split up into small teams, stay alert, and find that invader!"
Several Silver Grade goblins were reluctant but swallowed their objections when they saw Bonecrusher's bloodshot eyes. No one dared to voice any dissent—it would be a death sentence.
The ordinary goblins, who had already been nervous and ready to flee, now had no choice but to fight on, their fear quashed by Bonecrusher's roar. Thankfully, they had taken some countermeasures. Each squad was spaced apart, so even if one group was attacked, it wouldn't affect the others. Once the enemy revealed itself, they would unleash a barrage of arrows and skills to pin them down.
With over two thousand goblins remaining, they didn't believe they couldn't deal with a single Stealth user!
Tristan watched all of this from the shadows, seeing Bonecrusher's plan clearly. He understood that the goblins were being used as bait to keep him in the valley. The moment he exposed himself, Bonecrusher would launch a fierce assault.
This was a hunter's game. Whoever made the first mistake would die.
Would Tristan back down? Not at all. On the contrary, this was exactly what he wanted. He wasn't afraid of Bonecrusher fighting to the death; what he feared was the regular goblins panicking and running away, ruining his plans.
If Bonecrusher wanted to kill him, he also wanted to wipe out all the goblins in the valley.
Shadow Dagger! Rain of Corruption!
The battle in the valley continued, though it deviated slightly from Tristan's original plan. Bonecrusher reacted quickly and adapted its strategy by dispersing the goblin squads to prevent a third outbreak of the Toxic Blood Plague. While it had some effect, it wasn't significant.
Tristan couldn't wipe out the remaining goblins in one go, but each strike still took down several squads, and his experience continued to grow steadily. The star of the show was Rain of Corruption, which dealt damage multiple times and covered a large area, killing several goblins from each squad and spreading the Toxic Blood Plague further.
Of course, this wasn't an easy battle. It was filled with danger. Bonecrusher's Leap and Charge were fast, and Tristan had to rely on Bone-Cutting Twin Daggers and Blink to avoid being hit. Each time, he managed to narrowly escape, retaliating by taking down dozens of goblins, frustrating Bonecrusher to no end.
Fifteen minutes into the battle, Tristan had leveled up again, reaching level 14. This caused quite a stir outside.
Players had the habit of checking the level leaderboard while grinding. Blackshade had been in the lead, but Ivan had quickly caught up, causing players from the Valoria Kingdom to get anxious.
"What's Blackshade doing? Why hasn't he leveled up in so long? Has he fallen asleep? If Ivan surpasses him, then they'll have to start calling it a day."
Meanwhile, players from Rovinia were celebrating. "See? I told you, they could never beat us. Blackshade is losing momentum, but Ivan is skyrocketing. It won't be long before he takes the top spot!"
But among these players, DarkSaber from 9527 Newbie Village was watching the level rankings with a smug expression. "I knew it. Blackshade's out of steam. It's been hours since he hit level 12. How come he hasn't leveled up?"
His Shadow Legion members nodded in agreement.
Just as DarkSaber was about to continue, one of his teammates suddenly shouted, "Holy crap, Blackshade just leveled up again!"
DarkSaber's smile faltered, but he quickly regained his composure, explaining, "He was stuck at level 12 for hours. It was bound to happen eventually."
The Shadow Legion members nodded again.
But not long after, they heard another shout: "What the hell? Blackshade leveled up again!"