Chapter 522: Chapter 265: [Dampening Old Coin (Incomplete)]
As soon as the words fell, Leon’s body visibly stiffened for a moment, and he unconsciously swallowed.
His face, already pale from the gruesome scene on the grounds, became even paler.
After all, he was just a fifteen-year-old boy.
Bearing expectations and harboring thoughts of protecting his family, he might be able to charge to the front lines amid the goblin attack on the village, fueled by a surge of bravery and alongside those familiar older brothers and uncles, if only to momentarily forget the threat of death and his fear of demons.
But the current situation was completely different.
The environment, the enemies, and the fear ingrained from countless adult warnings since childhood left Leon feeling empty inside, unable to find his footing.
Luckily, Xia Nan remained by his side, and the hatred for his deceased parents continued to smolder slowly within his heart.
"Shing!"
The worn Iron Sword, stained with rust, was drawn fiercely.
With the sword tip outward, his hands grasped the hilt tightly, shaking violently, yet the boy’s eyes gradually grew resolute.
Not far away, Xia Nan observed Leon’s actions and demeanor closely.
Seeing this, he couldn’t help but nod slightly.
"Be careful," he said aloud.
Then, he released the constraint of [Gravity Control] on the goblin.
"Scree!"
"Aaaaaa!"
The shrill screeches of the goblin mixed with the young boy’s roar, echoing between the stone walls.
With the sound of a sharp object tearing through flesh, the goblin’s howl abruptly ceased.
Only the boy’s heavy breathing remained in the arena.
The battle ended quickly.
Having witnessed Xia Nan slaughter an entire goblin nest and received his guidance on goblin combat techniques, Leon’s fear of goblins had quietly dissipated considerably.
The Green-skinned Goblin, freed from its gravitational constraint and lacking the usual morale boost from ’gang activity,’ only screeched in a show of false bravado, with its cries being more of panic and fear.
In this situation, even if Leon missed his strike, the sword aimed at the neck but landed on the shoulder, the goblin could not even retaliate.
Tipped over with a kick from the young boy, the Iron Sword was withdrawn and thrust into its chest.
Seeing this, Xia Nan, who stood quietly on the side and was ready to release [Gravity Control] again to prevent any unforeseen circumstances, also relaxed his concentrated spiritual power.
"Well done."
He praised timely.
"Remember the feeling just now."
"When facing goblins as the enemy, unless ambushed or exceptionally unlucky, your margin for error is quite high, meaning even if your first sword misses, you still have the chance for a second swing."
"Do not panic; calmness is the key to victory."
"Yes, I remember, Mr. Xia Nan." Leon nodded meekly, yet his eyes remained somewhat dazed as he gazed at the goblin’s corpse ahead, seemingly unable to believe he had just killed a goblin.
"Alright, that’s enough for today; you should go back and rest well."
Xia Nan clapped his hands, pulling Leon back to reality from his stupor.
"Now, help me clean up the battlefield."
"No need to cut off the ears, as there is no adventurer association nearby to sell them to."
"Sort through and see if there are any Gold Coins or silver coins to help your sister and brother-in-law improve their living conditions."
Goblins are the same worldwide, with little variation, but the richness of their nest’s spoils varies significantly.
For example, in the Mist Forest, where the usual prey are adventurers earning a living through training in the forest, their nests naturally contain more gold coins, equipment, and other spoils;
Similarly, like the goblin community near Grey Valley Village, which at most attacks some stray ordinary villagers, they rely more on forest wild animals to survive, and Xia Nan estimated there were only a few bones or some copper coins with little value inside their nest.
Having Leon search through the pile of goblin corpses might, to some extent, also help reduce his fear of goblins.
As suspected by Xia Nan, the search results showed that a large goblin nest ended up yielding only six silver and seven copper, with the rest being worthless scraps of iron, tattered cloth, and such.
This small amount of money might be gone in a few meals at the White Sparrow Tavern for Xia Nan, but for Leon’s family, it was a rare extra income, so he handed over the Coins without much thought.
"And this, Mr. Xia Nan." Just as he was about to take Leon back to the village out of the cave, the latter suddenly called him again.
He saw Leon’s blood-stained hand holding a half-bathed-in-blood coin.
"I just found this on a goblin. Can such a damaged coin still be used?"
Xia Nan took it and glanced at it, suddenly frowning.
This coin, although only half remaining, was evidently different from the common gold, silver, or copper coins found within the Sevia Kingdom based on its size, density, and tactile sense.
He took a water pouch from his waist, used his fingertips to rub it, and washed away the blood and dirt from the coin’s surface with clear water.
As the patterns on the coin’s surface became clearer under the washing water, the eyes Xia Nan squinted to better inspect the object in the dim light instinctively focused on it with more attention.
Unexpectedly, lines of familiar translucent characters appeared above the coin in the air:
...
[Dampening’s Old Coin (Fragment)]
Type: Coins
Level: /
Introduction:
An old, damaged metal coin, the legacy of the Lansen Easton Kingdom, once circulated among countless thirsty palms—even if it couldn’t even exchange for half a hard loaf.
Note:
"Riches of the ownerless."
—Zaret Ash Church graffiti in the tunnel
...
With his black eyes intently scanning over the floating attribute panel before him, summer’s confirmation through his Golden Finger left no doubt: the fragmented coin had no special effects, not even the basic item level.
But for some reason, words on the panel like "Dampening," and "Ashen Church," which he had never heard before, combined with the increasingly clear yet unfamiliar appearance of the coin itself, filled him with a sense of strangeness.
"Lansen Easton Kingdom? Is there such a nation on the Aifala Continent?"
He wondered, all the while carefully scrutinizing the coin fragment in his palm.
Half a coin, about the size of a thumb-nail, yet exceedingly heavy, giving an impression of weightiness when resting on the lines of his palm; its surface cloaked with ochre rust and peculiar mortar-like grey, while the broken edges revealed a dull lead-grey iron core.
The front patterns, nearly smoothed by time, could only faintly convey through its blurry and incomplete outline that the design was of a spiraling, ascending flame;
Compared to the reverse, with limited clarity, it was only a half-solar wheel hanging high in the sky, corroded, turned into formless sunspots from oxidation.
Flicking the fragmented coin with his fingertip, placing it near his ear, a subtle whiff of flame-like sound—a metallic reverberation—echoed as a wispy sound akin to an hallucination.
"Have you ever seen this type of coin before?"
Xia Nan asked Leon before him.
If it originated from some ancient relic near Grey Valley Village, the locals should have discovered something, with generations living on the same land.
Leon merely shook his head.
"Never seen it."
"But..." He seemed hesitant, as if worried about saying the wrong thing and causing the powerful adventurer before him to make a wasted trip, leading to irritation, "I might know its origin."
"No worries, I’m just asking. Feel free to speak your mind."
With Xia Nan’s encouragement, Leon no longer hesitated.
He turned his body half away, pointing towards the corner of the cave, at the grey-white stones the goblins used to build bonfires and primitive furniture.
He also directed his gaze towards the fragmented coin in Xia Nan’s hand, with peculiar lime clinging to its surface alongside rust.
The two, sharing the same color.
"These stones should all have been brought from over by Grey Valley."
"And the coin’s surface also has remnants of the same strange lime."
"These stones should all have been moved by them from over that way at Grey Valley."
"""