The goblin's yellow eyes locked on Adam, its cracked lips twisting into a sadistic grin.
At first, it approached with cautious steps, sniffing the air like a feral dog.
But the moment it sensed the faint, nearly nonexistent essence flowing through Adam's body, that caution vanished.
To the creature, Adam wasn't a threat, he was easy prey.
The goblin's muscles tensed, its claws twitching with anticipation.
It wore no armor and carried no weapon, only a ragged loincloth clinged to its waist.
But it didn't need tools.
Its claws were sharp enough to tear through flesh, and its jagged teeth dripped with venom potent enough to paralyze anything that still breathed after being bitten.
It could already taste victory.
In the next instant, it lunged forward with a guttural snarl, claws outstretched and eyes gleaming with hunger.
It didn't plan to kill Adam immediately, no, it wanted him alive for now so it could have it's way with him.
The goblin licked its lips.
But before its claws could reach their mark, its entire world blurred.
Adam's left hand shot forward like lightning, catching the goblin's face mid-lunge.
The creature didn't even have time to process what had happened before Adam slammed it into the ground with a crushing force.
BOOM!
Dirt and grass scattered, leaving a small crater beneath them.
The goblin thrashed violently, claws flailing, but Adam didn't let go.
His grip tightened around the creature's skull, fingers digging in just above the mouth, covering its eyes and nose, leaving its mouth wide open.
The goblin let out a distorted shriek, "Kahhrrhhhhh!!" but Adam's hand was already moving.
His right hand flashed, the Common Knife slicing through the air in a fast silver arc.
The goblin's right hand fell first, then the left, both severed roughly at the wrists.
Green blood sprayed in all directions, hot and foul-smelling, splattering across Adam's jacket and face.
The goblin writhed, trying to scream again, but Adam's knife was faster, tearing through the creature's tongue in one clean cut.
But Adam didn't stop their as he adjusted his grip and drove the knife across the creature's throat.
The goblin's vocal cord was instantly torn open, and the only sound it could now make was a pitiful hiss of escaping air.
The monster's resilience kept it alive far longer than any human could endure.
Even as blood poured from its neck and stumps, it kicked weakly, eyes rolling in terror.
Adam knelt over it, his knees pinning its twitching handless-arms.
His expression was devoid of sympathy.
He didn't stop.
The goblin's body convulsed beneath him as his strikes grew faster and more erratic, seconds passed then minutes but he continued the assault.
Only stopping when the goblin's movements ceased completely.
Adam stood over the mutilated corpse, chest heaving and knife trembling faintly in his grip.
The goblin's head had rolled away, separated from its mutilated body and the ground beneath them was painted in thick-reeking green blood.
To any observer, it would have been a gruesome sight, one that spoke of rage and inexperience more than skill.
But Adam didn't care.
He stood, drenched in blood, staring down at the corpse in silence.
****
For the past nine years, Adam had never truly felt satisfaction.
Not once.
Even when he'd awakened, he hadn't felt joy, hope, or even pride.
There had been no excitement at the idea of gaining power.
Only the cold, burning purpose that power could grant him: to kill the things he despised the most.
But that awakening had failed him.
It hadn't brought him vengeance.
It hadn't given him strength.
Only his rebirth had.
Now, as he stood over the mangled corpse of the goblin, blood dripping from his sleeve, Adam's breathing slowed.
The storm inside him quieted and his emerald eyes softened just a little as he stared at what he'd done.
"It seems I went overboard,"
The creature's body was unrecognizable, torn limbs, shredded flesh, a face smashed beyond repair.
Even for a goblin, it was a brutal sight.
Normally, martial artists aimed for clean kills, to preserve any valuable part, because every monster part had value, skin, claws, bones, even organs could fetch a price depending on the rift grade.
But this? This was nothing more than pulp.
He sighed faintly, rubbing the back of his hand against his neck.
"I'll try to hold back next time."
Kneeling beside the corpse, Adam took a deep breath, then pried open the goblin's chest cavity with the tip of his knife.
The ribs cracked one by one as he reached inside, fingers slick with green blood until he finally touched something solid, smooth and glasslike.
It was a small, transparent crystal, that glimmered faintly in his palm, catching the dim light of the rift.
The granulite.
Every monster had one, it was a useless organ with no essence value, no energy to extract and no alchemical use.
Its only purpose was to serve as proof of a kill and a verification for the Mission Hall that the job was done.
Martial artists turned them in to claim their pay.
Adam turned it over once before slipping it carefully into his backpack.
He stared down at the hollow chest cavity again, then at the lifeless eyes of the goblin.
A quiet thought surfaced in his mind.
'Is it still possible to equip its talent?'
The faint glow of essence in his eye pulsed once, as if in response.
Adam's lips curved slightly.
"Let's find out."
*****
A faint chime echoed in Adam's mind as a translucent blue notification flickered before his eyes.
[Do you want to equip the talent: Poison (G)]?
Adam stared at the message, with an amused smile tugging at his lips.
His hands were still buried in the goblin's chest cavity, as a small, flameless orb flickered faintly in his vision from the activation of his talent, [Connect].
"So it works after all."
He leaned back slightly, examining the ruined corpse.
"As long as it's a dead body, I can equip the talent regardless of its condition."
That had been a concern earlier, he'd assumed his ability would only function on whole, undamaged corpses.
If the monster had to be perfectly preserved for Equip & Connect to work, he would've been in trouble.
But now, seeing the notification even after the goblin's body had been reduced to a mess, he felt a quiet wave of relief.
Still, Adam didn't hesitate. He dismissed the prompt with a thought.
[Talent Equip: Canceled].
The notification dissolved into sparks of essence, fading into the air.
Poison, as a talent, wasn't bad, especially for lower-ranked martial artists.
But Adam's lip curled slightly at the idea.