Sensing Kai's gaze, the goblin captain tilted its head as its left hand grasped a man's head, who was struggling to break free while screaming for help.
When the goblin noticed Kai's smile, it felt offended as this low-level young man was giving the vibes that he didn't put it in his eyes.
It then tightened its grip, crushing the man's head as blood and brain were splattered on the street.
Looking at the goblin captain, who seemed to be furious, Kai smirked as he raised his palm upward, beckoning arrogantly with four fingers, taunting the goblin.
Naturally, the goblin captain immediately became enraged, as it had never expected that a low-level human would taunt it just like that.
The goblin captain snarled with blood still dripping from its clawed fingers. It then charged forward, intending to crush this seemingly arrogant human who dared provoke it.
Despite the discomfort feeling over his current strength that he was unfamiliar with, Kai couldn't help but stretch out his neck as he couldn't wait to test his current combat strength.
Looking at the incoming enraged goblin captain, Kai tightened his grip on the azure sword in his right hand while positioning himself to be ready to dodge aside at a moment's notice.
As the goblin slashed overhead wildly, Kai dodged with relative ease to the side as he depended on his superior agility. With each swing, the goblin carved gouges into the pavement or sent shattered debris flying everywhere.
A single direct hit would have been a disaster for Kai as its pure strength was much stronger than him. However, he continued to slip around the goblin's muscular arms in a graceful dance of evasion.
Despite the gap in raw power, Kai managed to land a few glancing blows whenever the goblin overcommitted. Sparks and shards of battered metal flew whenever the azure sword bit into the goblin's rough armor, leaving shallow cuts in its thick skin.
But each time Kai managed to land each hit, the goblin roared back and swung even harder, forcing him to take a step back.
Kai was forced to acknowledge how vulnerable he truly felt at his current strength, which was much weaker compared to his peak.
As he determined to adapt with his new strength, Kai decided to be in the offensive mode instead of dodging and defending while waiting for an opening.
He then slipped behind the goblin's side with a slight feint and swung the azure sword in a low slash, aiming at its abdomen.
The goblin spun faster than Kai had expected as it crossed its short sword to parry his attack. Metal screeched upon contact, forcing Kai to grit his teeth under the intense impact reverberating through his arm.
He tried to lash out with a quick follow-up, but the goblin rammed its shoulder forward, slamming into Kai's chest with raw ferocity.
Kai stumbled back, barely regaining balance in time to deflect a slamming chop that might at least break his arm if he defended against it.
The rush of close brushes with heavy injury hammered home one undeniable fact now, as even a slight error could cost him dearly with his current situation.
Kai then took this battle more seriously as he circled around again while forcing himself to read the goblin's every movement.
His slightly smaller body let him duck below a sideways slash, and he retaliated with an upward stab as he intended to pierce the goblin's shoulder.
However, the goblin twisted at the last second, making the blade merely skim its flesh. It then lashed out with a furious cry in retaliation.
Kai had only realized that his stance was off, resulting in his first serious injury as the blade slashed deep into his left arm.
He hissed in pain as his blood splattered onto the cracked pavement. This gave him a shock, catching him off guard for a split second as memories of his past life being the strongest of the same rank and level came flooding back in a bitter rush.
"Tch, I was careless for a second." Kai muttered, gripping the azure sword tighter with his right hand as he retreated a few steps back.
The goblin captain snarled, baring its fangs as it savored its small triumph.
Looking at the goblin's expression, Kai only smirked before activating his [Heal] skill. Since this was his first time using the skill, he intended to use as much mana as it needed to heal his injury because he didn't even know its effectiveness.
However, what Kai hadn't expected was that the moment a faint white-golden glow enveloped the wound, it instantly healed the torn flesh in a split second without leaving a scar.
Kai was shocked, opening his eyes widely when he saw it since he never expected that the mana he used for it was so little that he could afford to be hurt like this dozens of times.
He already guessed that his [Heal (??? level skill)] should be able to heal his wound, but not with the low-level consumption of mana as well as the instant process that only took a split second.
That's why when he knew that he had a healing skill, he never tried to heal his little sister's legs because he thought that it wouldn't work as he didn't know the effectiveness and the amount of mana that he needed to heal Nana's legs.
Let alone the fact that he was in a situation where he needed to preserve his strength with the world that was in chaos with the dungeon break everywhere.