The group headed south into the nearby forest. From what Nobina had overheard, they already knew the locations where they’d find the targets of the hunt.


    Their current goal was to hunt five goblins, two wolves, and two wolf-chickens. The goblins were going to be from the nearest goblin nest, which was ironically the same cave that was culled by Guild Master Eric a while back.


    Remembering the map they saw, the northeast goblin nest that they dealt with wasn’t too far from Tugan. The only real reason the goblins likely didn’t attack Tugan was because the village was about twice as far from the nest. Otherwise, they would have discussed checking the status of Tugen once the whole goblin invasion matter was concluded.


    As for the wolves and wolf-chickens, those creatures were more sporadic around the south, acting as a means to keep the goblin population in check. Of course, the concern of goblin riders forming was always there, but it wasn’t something that was too common if culling’s were handled as they should have been.


    “So,” said Parcen, giving a grin. “How long do you think it’ll take for us to finish this test? The three of us should be able to take out those goblins and wolves with ease.”


    Lily gave it a bit of thought before giving her own answer.


    “Well… We haven’t seen many goblins recently. I believe Agora culled the nest not too long ago, so it might be difficult finding enough goblins,” said Lily.


    Parcen stopped, his face reflecting how dumbfounded he was.


    “What do you mean it was culled?”


    “You’ve… read the notice, right?” asked Lily, staring directly at Parcen. “How there was a goblin invasion, and the nest had to be culled?”


    “Where was that? I never saw it before,” replied Parcen, trying to figure out when it was announced.


    “The weekly notice,” said Denvaun, joining into the conversation.


    “No wonder!” laughed Parcen. “Who has time to read any of those where there’s training and questing to be done.”


    As Parcen continued to laugh, both Lily and Denvaun couldn’t hide how disappointing it was seeing Parcen. He was a higher rank than them, yet also more ignorant of the state of affairs of the guild.


    Nobina couldn’t help but be a bit disappointed too. One of the things about high-ranking adventurers is that there was a general hope that those adventurers would represent the ideal adventurer. Someone who was strong yet knowledgeable about everything related to adventuring. Of course, no one was expected to know everything, including anything about monsters, plants, or world affairs, but prioritizing training and questing over being informed was not a good sign.


    “Parcen,” said Nobina, drawing his attention. “You really should consider reading those notices. I will tell you that while it is important to train and get quests done, knowing the situations about your area is also important. After all, research is a part of being an adventurer and those who don’t research might find themselves attacked by something they aren’t ready to handle.”


    Parcen gave another laugh, shaking his head.


    “We totally can handle anything that appears around these parts. After all…”


    Lily immediately stopped, causing everyone to stop as well.


    “What’s going on Lily,” asked Parcen, turning to her.


    “I see movement,” she replied, looking towards the south. “Twenty meters I believe. Three goblins.”


    “Alright!” said Parcen, drawing his mace. He looked ready to smash everything that headed his way as both Lily and Denvaun drew their bows. All of them had a serious look on their faces, ready to act now that their target was nearby.


    Both Nobina and Harton took a few steps back, avoiding drawing attention to themselves. Minutes seemed to pass before Lily gave an update on what she was seeing.


    “The goblins are moving further south. Shall we pursue?” she asked Parcen, who gave a nod.


    “Three should be easy enough for us to handle. Even I can take out three without breaking a sweat,” he nodded, his expression keeping its seriousness.


    Following Parcen’s lead, the four of them got closer and closer to where the goblins were. It was only after arriving where they were originally spotted that Lily grabbed Parcen to stop.


    “What’s up,” said Parcen, stopping immediately upon feeling her tug on his shit.


    “There are now seven goblins,” she replied, her voice now reflecting a bit of worry.


    “What do you mean seven?” said Parcen, stepping back a bit. “I thought you said the goblin amount should be lower. We aren’t even that far from Tugan right now.”


    “I’m not sure, but we need to be careful,” said Lily.


    Nobina could instantly recognize the seriousness of the situation. Seven goblins about two hours from Tugan normally wouldn’t be a big deal if the nest was close to needing to be culled, but it hadn’t even been too long since the last culling.


    “Harton,” said Nobina. “Do you think this might be a serious situation? This sounds like an overcrowded nest.”


    Harton gave a nod.


    “I think our actions earlier might have moved a lot more goblins away from the west and eastwards. I wouldn’t be surprised if the goblins to the west joined with the ones from the east.”


    Hearing that, Nobina gave a nod. It was their duty to confirm if this was true, as this might spark another invasion, despite how insane that would be.


    Stepping back a bit, Harto kept his voice down as he spoke.


    “What do you want to do Nobina?” asked Harton. “Do you want to check the nest? I know you humans try to do something called ‘culling’ but I’m not sure I can do much unless you instruct me on the process.”


    Nobina thought about it and shook her head.


    “We have a bit of time, and I rather have Fay back as well before we act. For now, we’ll cancel the quest and return.”


    As Nobina went to tell the group, she noticed them heading towards the goblins. She was about to tell them to stop but held back. Seven goblins, despite being a difficult target for three adventurers of their rank, wasn’t something they wouldn’t be able to beat. As long as they worked efficiently together, Nobina was sure they’d be fine.


    Nobina turned to Harton, who gave a look and said that it was her call on what they did. With that in mind, she merely got closer to the others, making sure to keep enough distance so as to not get involved. When they finally stopped, Nobina waited for one of them to act first.


    The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    Both Lily and Denvaun drew their bows, their targets in their mind. Parcen held up one hand, which seemed to be a signal. After a minute, motioned it forward, with both of them shooting at two separate goblins on the edges.


    To their relief, the two goblins they aimed at went down immediately, drawing a bit of panic from the goblins. However, it was short-lived as they recognized their targets and began the charge.


    “Listen to my words. Taunt!” yelled Parcen, drawing the attention of all five. The goblins gave a screech before heading straight to Parcen. At the same time, Lily and Denvaun fired off two more arrows each, managing to take down two more goblins. Despite their numbers dwindling, all the goblins could do was focus on Parcen, who swung and crushed the first goblin that got within range. With two more left, the three made quick worth of them as Lily and Devaun managed to fire off another set of arrows, injuring one and killing another. Denvaun crushed the injured one with his mace, having a smirk form on his face.


    “Let’s go!” he screamed. “Was that good enough Nobina?”


    Nobina, who was watching the whole thing, gave a nod.


    “Yes. I can confirm the required five goblins have been killed. Well done,” she smiled.


    All of them seemed excited, yet also a bit relieved. Dealing with seven goblins wasn’t the easiest feat, despite how well the three did. A combination of surprise and skill played a key factor, as taking out the two immediately and the two that approached made the situation much easier to deal with. However, there was also another factor at play.


    Not all goblins were equal in strength. Besides each goblin’s strength being based on whether or not they had a Path, another factor that came into play was the age and development of individual goblins. Younger goblins or elderly goblins, for example, were weaker than goblins in adulthood. Goblins that were also not eating well or well-practiced with their weapons were generally easier to defeat as well.


    Nobina was aware that there were a decent number of books that focused on talking about the various monsters and the details behind them. It was a reason it was important to study and research, as one could recognize danger or an advantage that they might have not saw otherwise.


    “Next up… the wolves and wolf-chickens,” said Parcen. “If I’m correct, they should be eastward.”


    “You did your research,” chuckled Lily.


    Parcen nodded his head.


    “I might not read that weekly report, but I do some research at least,” said Parcen, giving a proud nod. “Else we’d take forever finding our hunt targets.”


    “But you don’t research the monsters themselves, right?” said Denvaun.


    “Exactly,” replied Parcen, snapping his fingers. “Just locations.”


    The look of joy from Lily immediately was replaced with disappointment as Parcen merely laughed.


    Nobina thought about canceling the quest but decided against it. They likely would wait till Fay was back anyway to perform the culling, as she likely knew the proper procedure. Not only that, but the guild was likely in no position to act immediately. The best bet for now was to report it after the quest was completed.


    “Alright. Let’s go,” said Parcen, taking over leading the group.


    An hour had passed since they started traveling to the next location. It didn’t take long before their next targets were in sight. To their luck or unluck, there were both wolves and wolf-chickens in the same area. Lily motioned for the group to stop.


    “Two wolves and three wolf-chickens,” said Lily.


    Nobina, who had only a brief knowledge of wolf-chickens, knew they got their name due to their taste and the chicken-like attributes they had. The most notable part of wolf-chickens, who mostly looked like wolves, were the feathers that covered their spin, and their tail being feathers. Other than that, they were basically wolves.


    “Careful,” said Lily, drawing their attention. “Wolf-chickens might seem like wolves, but they are far scarier. They are much faster, yet more likely to flee. If we give chase, they will likely lure us into a wolf-chicken pack, which can be fatal.”


    Parcen gave a nod.


    “So, we take the three wolf-chickens first and then the wolves,” said Parcen.


    “We’d be lucky if we could even take out one,” said Lily. “They flee when they sense danger, and a sneak attack will likely prompt it. We should focus on taking out at least one and once the other two flee, take out the wolves. From then on, it’s hunting one at a time till we reach the target of three.”


    Nobina gave a smile, happy with Lily taking the lead. Despite how she was acting initially, she seemed to have been comfortable enough with the group to take charge when necessary or express herself when needed. Both Parcen and Lily were displaying traits that would benefit them as they continued to prove themselves capable adventurers.


    “Actually,” said Denvaun, cutting into the conversation. “I can use my ability Net Shot and capture two of them at least. It’s a once a day ability, but its large and strong.”


    “Perfect,” said Lily. “We’ll see if we can get all three together. If so, I’ll lay into them with my arrows, and we’d take them down.”


    “Do you have an ability as well?” asked Parcen to Lily.


    She nodded her head, looking a bit disappointed.


    “My ability is a passive one called Extended Sight. It just means I can naturally see a bit farther than what I’d normally be able to.”


    “And I just have Taunt so far,” replied Parcen. “But I’m hoping to one day get a mace skill. The moment I do… B-Rank here I come.”


    Both Lily and Denvaun smiled and nodded.


    “Let’s all strive for it one day,” said Lily, drawing their attention. “After this… we should form a party.”


    “I’m good with that,” said Parcen, who then turned to Denvaun.


    “Likewise,” he nodded.


    With the three in sync, they began getting in formation to enact their plan. With a similar positioning to the last time, Lily stood by as she looked at the targets. She was waiting for the moment at least two were grouped before raising her hand, three fingers in the air. With the notice given, Denvaun merely said his ability, Net Capture, firing off an arrow that, once it was close enough, expanded into a large net. To their surprise, it managed to catch all three wolf-chickens, prompting the three to launch their attacks.


    Immediately, the wolves charged in their direction, with both Denvaun and Lily targeting one wolf down. Before both could reach Parcen, who used his Taunt once more, they managed to take down one with four arrows between the two. The second wolf attempted to take down Parcen, but he managed to hit the wolf each time it attempted to bite and claw him down. Before he knew it, the second wolf was dead.


    The three rushed to the net, which was being torn at by all three wolves. Denvaun could tell it would break any second now, telling them to kill the wolves.


    With their arrows, they manage to land easy headshots on two of the wolves, while Parcen managed to crush one of the wolf-chicken heads with his mace. With the targets down, Nobina was feeling relieved.


    “And that concludes the test,” said Nobina.


    “We did it,” the three celebrated.


    It was certainly a job well done as far as Nobina was concerned. All three of them were well-suited to work together to complete the quest together. With Parcen leading the front while Lily and Denvaun supported from the rear, the group composition likely would be able to take down a large assortment of monsters. Ideally, they’d get a mage or even a healer Path, but that would be later down the line.


    “So how did we do?” asked Lily.


    “Well, the three of you passed, so congrats on that,” replied Nobina.


    “But… how was our general performance,” pressed Lily. “I… want to know what I could improve on, if you could answer.”


    “Same,” replied Parcen, nodding his head. “As much as I’m happy with our success, I do want to know what your general thoughts are.”


    Nobina gave a nod.


    “Well… I will start with the positives. A lot of your success has to do with all of you excelling on your roles and executing your plans well. For example, those seven goblins were taken down with ease thanks to two working together to trim down their numbers before they could get close. Not to mention the sneak attack helped level the playing field immediately. Next, being able to divide and conquer the monsters using your net ability allowed you to take them out in small groups. That level of teamwork will be key moving forward, as it will let you handle threats you would never be able to handle alone.”


    All of them gave a nod, continuing to listen as Nobina went on.


    “However, you three should be aware that I was close to cancelling your examination.”


    The three of them stared at Nobina confusingly before she continued.


    “Seven goblins in close proximity despite the recent nest being cleared should be an indication something appears wrong. Of course, I understand the desire to complete the quest, but it would have been preferable to cancel and report the sighting so we can begin our investigation. A part of being an adventurer is reporting things like this in general, because it could be a sign of something serious.”


    “That makes sense,” said Parcen. “Thank you for letting us know.”


    “What does this mean Nobina?” asked Lily. “Do you think we’ll also experience a goblin invasion.”


    Nobina found herself frozen for a second. Doubt and worries filled her mind as she began wondering if she was once again the cause of it. However, Harton whispered something in her ear to break her out of her worries.


    “Nobina. Don’t worry about the nest. I’ll scout it out and let you know what the status is. Just return with the others for now.”


    “Got it,” said Nobina, feeling relieved Harton was there to help.


    As Harton ran off towards the nest, Nobina began feeling there was a growing need to look up her Path and the Gaze more and more. What was happening was not normal in the slightest.