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Bang!
A clash of great momentum and heavy force.
The Hobgoblin Warlord displayed extraordinary combat skills and terrifying strength.
Facing cavalry on foot, he actually didn't fall at a disadvantage.
"Make way, watch me!" Following closely behind Zalanda, the Nort Knight Cavalry dislodged his stirrups, leaped up from the galloping warhorse, and with strong momentum, hacked at the Hobgoblin Warlord!
Boom!
Another head-on collision.
But this time, the Hobgoblin Warlord didn't gain a bit of advantage and staggered back four or five steps.
The Nort Knight Cavalry, now on foot, was no smaller in stature than the Hobgoblin Warlord, both thick and tall, with arms thicker than Gaven's thighs, standing on the ground at even height with those on horseback.
If not the diamond-hard Nola, who else could it be?
Although Zalanda was the captain of Nort Castle's garrison, he was not the highest force in Nort Castle, Nola was, a ninth-level Barbarian.
Cavalry combat was not her specialty, infantry combat was.
The moment she leaped down from the warhorse, her eyes turned blood red, entering the Barbarian's unique Berserk State, her muscles seemingly bulging even thicker.
Not giving the Hobgoblin Warlord a chance to recover, from start to finish, she kept chopping with her huge axe, chopping and chopping again, fully utilizing the strength advantage of the Barbarian's Berserk State.
The Hobgoblin Warlord could only defend passively, block, block, and block again.
He finally understood the despair of those enemies whom he had defeated by leveraging his strength advantage.
Now he couldn't change his strikes, nor did he dare to, because nobody dared to take the Barbarian's berserk attacks head-on, especially when blinded.
The problem was, the enemies had no sense of honor, they were not prepared to duel him one-on-one, as there was still a string of charging cavalry behind.
While the furious Barbarian tied him down, they drove their long spears, infused with the force of the charge, into his body, fortunately, the plate armor was strong enough to fend off most of the damage.
What the Hobgoblin Warlord feared most were the two Battlefield Spellcasters in the enemy's Cavalry Squad; nobody knew what spells they remembered or what Magic Wands they were equipped with. First and second ring attack spells he wasn't that afraid of, he feared spells that could bind and limit his movements, those were deadly.
But to the end, the Hobgoblin Warlord didn't wait for the Nort Knight Cavalry's Battlefield Spellcasters to cast their spells.
In everyone's eyes, the Hobgoblin Warlord was already a Desperate Struggle Beast, Nola alone was enough to wear him to death, so why waste precious magic on him?
The battle had just begun, and there was still a series of fights awaiting them.
Once Nola arrived and engaged the Hobgoblin Warlord in combat.
Zalanda, along with Gaven, led the majority of the Nort Knight Cavalry back into the fray, launching a relentless pursuit of the fleeing Hobgoblins.
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With one less of these monsters, there's one less potential threat to their great retreat later on.
Less than a minute into the chase, Gaven felt a tremor throughout his body, as if both his body and the surrounding air had entered a peculiar vibration, while magic power surged towards him from all directions.
"Magic Network synchronization! Have you activated your class template!?" Riding alongside Gaven, Zalanda felt the anomaly too and asked in surprise.
But in retrospect, considering Gaven's astoundingly brilliant performance earlier, and the number of Goblins and Hobgoblins he had flung away or chopped down along the way, everything seemed to make sense.
"Hmm!" Gaven appeared quite calm in response, as a veteran of such experiences, not only was he familiar with this situation, but he also understood the underlying rules that governed Magic Network synchronization—the basic principle behind career advancement.
Many professionals mistakenly believe that the more monsters they kill, the more magic power they gain from them, with some evil beings even turning their malevolent hands towards innocent people.
In fact, that is a misunderstanding.
The career advancement rules in Felen, much like the gods' faith, are very similar and can be seen as a simplified version of the faith system operated by the Magic Network.
When a person's actions interact with and influence other beings in this world, a series of cause and effect is formed, which generates a kind of magic power within the Magic Network that converges onto the individual.
This magic power, called 'law' by the Elves and 'experience value' by Zhang You, regardless of its name, is one and the same.
By consuming this magic power and deeply synchronizing with the Magic Network, warriors will gain specialized expertise and attribute points to enhance their souls and bodies, while magicians and spellcasters will gain greater magical abilities.
Having the contrast of his past life's historical experiences, Gaven was very clear about the extent of influence and change he had brought about in following Zalanda on this sortie, even if only as a supporting role to Zalanda, he had still gained a massive amount of experience value.
Especially with that Hobgoblin Warlord, who was left behind entirely because of him, Gaven had a feeling that the synchronizing magic power that kicked in at the last moment did not come from the Hobgoblin Rout Soldiers he had just slain, but rather Nola had successfully taken care of the Hobgoblin Warlord.
As expected, Nola's victorious roar came from elsewhere, brandishing the head of the Hobgoblin Warlord to display to the surrounding Hobgoblin Soldiers, further shattering their already dwindling morale, hastening their fleeing pace.
"Aren't you going to synchronize with the Magic Network first?" Pursuing the Hobgoblin Rout Soldiers posed no difficulty for Zalanda, who could still afford to pay attention to Gaven's situation.
"What's the hurry? It's not like that's going anywhere. It won't be too late to do so after we've cleaned them up," Gaven replied, quite unbothered.
"Magic Network synchronization isn't a big deal, just plan out your career and expertise choices in advance, and it can significantly enhance your combat ability," Zalanda suggested kindly.
"Do you really think I need to do that to deal with these rout soldiers?"
"Definitely not." Zalanda smiled and shook her head, "Gaven, your performance earlier made me see you in a new light. The skilled offensive coordination you demonstrated is something that even Nola and the others would find difficult to achieve. How did you manage that? I don't recall teaching you!"
"Does the captain not know that I'm a rare genius of this world? There is a term called 'self-taught.'" Gaven cheekily quipped, while keeping the secret of his rebirth even from his closest confidante, Zalanda, at least not right now.
"I think you're referring to your own thick skin!" Zalanda didn't linger on his diversion, "Well, when we're less busy, I'll discuss your future career planning with you, so you don't take unnecessary detours like I did."
"Alright!" Gaven responded noncommittally, knowing that in this matter, Zalanda was probably not as experienced as him—he had learned from painful mistakes in his past life, but back then, as a slave warrior, his priority was staying alive, not planning for the future. By the time he had the opportunity, many paths had been wrongly chosen.
Moreover, Zalanda may not even have time to spare. Every minute and second from now on was crucial to the soldiers and citizens of Nort Castle; they needed to reach the outskirts of Mir Forest as quickly as possible to prevent these rout soldiers from regrouping and snapping at their heels.
They had too few cavalry to annihilate all the Goblins; at least half had escaped into the surrounding wilderness, with some even fleeing all the way back to the Marching Mountains.
These rout soldiers would carry the news of Nort Castle to other monster groups.